2023 Collaborative Training Log and Discussion

[Ausaric]

If it’s a submaximsl load I can’t see you hurting yourself even while rounding out your back

[coachcalande]

Pretty easy 415 squat this morning. I’m tempted to try more…

https://youtube.com/shorts/0LKgmLcHBDw


Here’s my second single at 415 again.

https://youtube.com/shorts/V4l4_bIUpwY


Here are some really smooth pause squats with 315.

https://youtube.com/shorts/eoNgLbazvzg

Thinking I might squat, do deads and then leg press. We will see.

[CW47]

Nice squatting coach!


Conventional Deadlift: 335 pounds x 8 reps

Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press: 105 pounds x8/7/6 reps
Hammer Curl: 40 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Lateral Raise: 12.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Cable Crunch: 60 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Good hard work all through. 335 pounds is my 3 rep best on Deads. 90 pounds was my previous 8 rep max on Pin Press. Virtually everything I'm doing in every session is PR territory for the rep range I'm doing it in. Strength is increasing steadily in these ranges.

Here's the Deadlift:

[SaviorSelfJT]

Good set of deadlifts CW. Do you get really out of breath after a set like that?

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Lower day - and my legs are STILL sore from the last lower day, especially my glutes (must be the DB lunges)

Deadlifts-
warmups with bodyweight lunges and light deadlifts, not enough to lose energy
455x3

Been two weeks since I've deadlifted. Last time I only got 2 reps, this time 3. I don't really think I'm strengthening anything, just testing. If anything I'm probably holding back progress because deadlifts take forever to recover from and I could be doing more volume of actually good exercises

Squats-
135
225
315 (5 singles, low rest time)

315 felt really heavy so didn't go past that

DB lunges-
25s x 10
45s x 8
45s x 8

Jefferson curls from a block-
115 x 8
115 x 12
115 x 12

I really felt these in my lumbar (in a good way), and holy chit at the lower back pump. If you do these, save them till the end, cause this low back pump could completely ruin the rest of your workout

[CW47]

Good set of deadlifts CW. Do you get really out of breath after a set like that?

Nice session. The glute soreness is almost certainly from the Lunges. Over time I've gradually shortened up my strides to put the focus more on quads, but they can be really good for building hams and glutes too.

I got slightly winded from that deadlift set, but not bad. Once I get to 10-12 reps I notice it more. I feel like I go against the norm in that I struggle much more doing high rep squats than deadlifts. Even 5 rep squats usually leave me really short of breath. I've always been able to handle more deadlift volume than squat volume and recover faster as well, which I know is not typical.

[CW47]

Single Leg Extension: 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Cable Single Leg Curl: 20 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Lu Raise: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
Skiers: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps

DB Pullover: 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Concentration Curl: 25 - 2 sets x 12 reps

Tried out a cable leg curl today using wrist/ankle straps and putting a barbell at knee height for support. Worked pretty well. I took video of it which I'll post below, but the set shown was the roughest one - the others were much smoother after I figured out correct positioning and slowed down the rep speed a little bit.

Added in skiers for rear delt work because I think the shoulder discomfort I've been having recently is due to a rear delt weakness. I'm feeling much stronger on the Lu Raises than I was when I started them a few weeks ago, and I think these and the lateral raises are the main reason for my increased overhead pressing strength recently.

I'm still not doing DB Pullovers quite right. I keep taking video and adjusting and it's getting better, but still not quite there. Going to try to get a bigger stretch next time, and not pull as far through because I'm totally losing tension on the lats on the follow through. Still liking this lift though and I think it will prove to be a good lat movement for me since it hits them so much differently than everything else.

On curls I still tend to turn it into a more dynamic movement rather than focusing on contracting the bicep. Some reps are better than others and I can clearly feel the difference. Just need to stay focused when doing these. In general I've become so conditioned to moving weights with speed that I tend to default back to that even on exercise that I want to be more muscle focused. Always a work in progress...

[coachcalande]

Decent abbreviation workout this am. Daughters bday so kept my training short so we could celebrate before school.

Bench 4x 5-6 with 275
Incline bench was incredulous as I gained two reps hitting 225x10, 230x7,7,6

Rows and narrow pds for back 4x6-10 reps

Seated press 165x9,9, 7, 7

[coachcalande]

Some video of todays back work

https://youtu.be/pGtaxFP89gY

https://youtu.be/8fVUuoAWdOU

[CW47]

Stiff Legged Deadlift: 275 pounds 2 sets x 10 reps
Seated DB Overhead Press: 35's - 3 sets x 10 reps

Incline DB Curl: 25's - 3 sets x 10/9/10 reps
Cable Triceps Pushdown: 35 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

The weight wasn't a problem on the deads, but I did get pretty light headed.

Feeling strong on DB Presses - plenty of room for steady weight increases I think.

This is going to sound wild, but using straps on the incline curls was a game changer. Was able to do them with a thumbless grip and had no elbow discomfort and was able to better focus on the biceps. Had a long break between the 2nd and 3rd sets because I'd been on a phone call, and that's why I was able to do 10 reps again on the 3rd set.

Have visitors at the house the next couple of days, so they may very well both turn into recovery days.

[SaviorSelfJT]

^ Yeah there's really something with using straps for random exercises. I've even seen pros use straps on machines (like hammer strength row machine) even though the handles don't even rotate and have rubber. It really lets you 'relax' your arms and focus on the muscles you want to hit

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Upper day:
OHP:
warm up sets
205x3
185x5 + 5 partials

Really thought I could PR on OHP, but I think I lost my form on the 3rd rep and lost the set

Seated DB shoulders:
45s x 12
65s x 10
65s x 8 ( I think? )

Hammer curls:
65s x 8
65s x 10

Bench Press:
45x5
95 x 2

Mainly wanted to see if the shoulder pain is still there....yup its still there

Rear delt cheated:
45s x 10


Wtf did I do to my shoulder that I can still OHP 205 for reps but can't bench more than 95 even after weeks of not doing bench. Did I tear something that's only used in bench?

[coachcalande]

Did arms this am, Im hoping to have time after work to train legs.

Close grip bench press on the smith

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qa2y76TcYs

[coachcalande]

I’m a big fan of pause squats. Here was my third set today.
https://youtu.be/wyDy2mPl8Ws

[CW47]

SSB Squat: 275 Pounds x 1 Rep [PR]

Close Grip Bench Press: 175 Pounds x 1 Rep / 195 Pounds x Fail

Was not feeling at all good going into this workout. I've been short of sleep and was exhausted and queasy. I'm trying to do heavy singles every 2 weeks or so and today seemed like a good day to do that since I wasn't up to doing much volume. Expectations were very low, but I ended up being much stronger than expected.

SSB squats felt strong right from the beginning. The single at 245 felt like a warmup so I took a 30 pound jump. It was my poorest rep, getting my weight a little too far forward, but still got it up relatively easily for a 20 pound PR.

Bench was feeling strong as well. 175 moved very well so I took a 20 pound jump to try to match my PR. You know how you can tell as you're lowering the bar whether or not you're going to be able to lift it back up...I felt sure I had that 195, but it got stuck and would not budge.

I wasn't expecting to do anywhere near this well on max(ish) attempts today and it was really encouraging. It tells me at the very least that my programming approach is working well, and gives me confidence to stick with it.

Video shows all 3 of the attempts listed at the top:

[coachcalande]

SSB Squat: 275 Pounds x 1 Rep [PR]

Close Grip Bench Press: 175 Pounds x 1 Rep / 195 Pounds x Fail

Was not feeling at all good going into this workout. I've been short of sleep and was exhausted and queasy. I'm trying to do heavy singles every 2 weeks or so and today seemed like a good day to do that since I wasn't up to doing much volume. Expectations were very low, but I ended up being much stronger than expected.

SSB squats felt strong right from the beginning. The single at 245 felt like a warmup so I took a 30 pound jump. It was my poorest rep, getting my weight a little too far forward, but still got it up relatively easily for a 20 pound PR.

Bench was feeling strong as well. 175 moved very well so I took a 20 pound jump to try to match my PR. You know how you can tell as you're lowering the bar whether or not you're going to be able to lift it back up...I felt sure I had that 195, but it got stuck and would not budge.

I wasn't expecting to do anywhere near this well on max(ish) attempts today and it was really encouraging. It tells me at the very least that my programming approach is working well, and gives me confidence to stick with it.

Video shows all 3 of the attempts listed at the top:

Always so satisfying to see the results and feel like you crush weights!

[coachcalande]

Today’s bench
https://youtu.be/3S6O_rUO4r8

I’m happy with my first set of incline at 235x6 and had some heavy OHP using 185 for 3-5 rep sets. My back stuff is as strong as it ever has been.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Legs:

Bodyweight lunges and jefferson to warm up

Squat:
135x3
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x5
365x5 (paused the last rep)
315x5 (all paused)

All three of those last work sets were really hard

The most I've ever done with 405 is 5 reps, so I'm tied with my all time best. But, I did these high bar (I think? At least higher bar), and with chucks instead of squat shoes. And in the past, I remember my back kind of folded a little on the last rep to help get the weight up, this time my form was rock solid. So I'm perhaps strongest ever on squats right now

DB lunges:
45s x 5
55s x 8

After the second set, I just rolled on the floor after I set the weights down. I was begging for mercy halfway thru the set

Jefferson: from floor, not a block, but did use wide grip
95 x 8
95 x 8


-----

Feeling like I need to pivot, I'm not giving these workouts my all anymore like I'm getting burned out. May do a week or two of very low volume high intensity workouts to recover up and then get back to it

Today’s bench
https://youtu.be/3S6O_rUO4r8

That's about triple the weight I can do for bench right now....srs

[SaviorSelfJT]

Easy workout, trying to recoup so very little volume/work

OHP
Up to 195x1

Felt pretty hard/slow, so I’m probably a little overreached

Incline bench
Up to 205x1
Didn’t feel heavy but I could feel my shoulder wanting to get a little aggravated

BB Row from floor
Up to 345 X 0.9 not quite a rep