2023 Collaborative Training Log and Discussion

[Camarija]

Almost done with my diet

Visited an old school gym with a woman I'm dating and did an upper body pump session together

Incline Bench
Chest Dip
Overhead Tricep supset Tricep Dip

Pullup
Pronate Grip Chest Supported Row
Cable Bicep Curls

Lateral Raise superset Reverse Cable Crossover

Maybe an hour total, just a quick pump, nothing fancy

[EliKoehn]

Last week I randomly broke out in a borderline-severe rash which I was about to go get checked out before it started going away, with a bit of time and common-sense home remedy. I had quite bad eczema as a kid and the symptoms are familiar, but it's never been prominent since I've been an adult. I suppose it's possible but not unrealistic. Either way, I took a break from lifting while I was concerned with contracting or making worse a potential infection. Probably 75% better now.

Today...

A.S.
Flat Bench (T&G):
2 x 5 at 275, 2 x 8 at 225 @9, 9, 8, 9
Pull-Up:
3, 3, 3 (final set chin-up) all ~@8

[coachcalande]

Last week I randomly broke out in a borderline-severe rash which I was about to go get checked out before it started going away, with a bit of time and common-sense home remedy. I had quite bad eczema as a kid and the symptoms are familiar, but it's never been prominent since I've been an adult. I suppose it's possible but not unrealistic. Either way, I took a break from lifting while I was concerned with contracting or making worse a potential infection. Probably 75% better now.

Today...

A.S.
Flat Bench (T&G):
2 x 5 at 275, 2 x 8 at 225 @9, 9, 8, 9
Pull-Up:
3, 3, 3 (final set chin-up) all ~@8

Any connection to food? Some people get rashes from things like hot sauce or red pepper for example. The idea being that skin health is a reflection of gut health…could it be something you ate?

Recently I learned that while I can eat shrimp, I can no longer tolerate scallops. Sadly the last two times I ate scallops I had awful stomach pain and got acne a couple days later.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Re: skin rash, new clothes, soaps, bedsheets, laundry detergent or anything?

——-
Squats:
375x1
365x2
315x6

Bench:
295x1
275x5
245x6

Cheat row:
275x6
225x15

Pull-ups
3
3
3

Light RDLs:
135x8
135x8
135x8

[EliKoehn]

I did switch detergents so it might have been that, though the rash was pretty extreme which makes me somewhat doubtful it would have done anything other than potentially exacerbate it somewhat. I haven't been eating differently or anything too unusual that I know of... but who knows? Lots of peppers and spiciness lately, though that's not new for me and I haven't had an issue with it before.

A.S.
Flat Bench:
4 x 8 at 225
Supinated DB Curl / Standing EZ Bar Curl:
2 x 8 w/ 50s / 2 x 6 at 100

Benching was feeling pretty heavy today. Definitely lost a little bit of momentum training infrequently lately.

[coachcalande]

259 this am.

Crazy because Ive missed two runs this week and am eating quite liberally. Had five slices bacon with my other meat and eggs all month.

Anyways today looks like a nice day so I need to make up quite a bit of running- have a minor trap spasm anyway.

[coachcalande]

Every time…when you finish a workout…

https://youtu.be/LJb8hQjdZIw

[EliKoehn]

^^ It's a good feeling!

Not sure what was going on last time -- must have been just an anomaly. Benched with my dad yesterday and was close to as strong as I've ever been. Rash is also almost entirely cleared up (just some faint redness where the skin was most itchy and raised up previously, but it's otherwise soft and smooth again). This past week I bought lots of fresh peppers and have been eating them every day: bells, serranoes, jalapenos, habeneros, New Mexico chilis, and have been feeling a higher level of wellness. I think peppers are my favorite source of micronutrients; I love the spice and flavor and many of them are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants in a high concentration.

From yesterday...

Flat Bench (T&G):
315 x 1, 325 x 1, 275 x 7, 225 x 14 @10 per all maxes and failure sets

Dips:
7, 6, 4 at BW

Dips were a great addition and I'm glad my dad encouraged me to finish out with them. I brace up and maintain tightness but otherwise lower myself literally as low as possible and then come up to just shy of a lock at the top. My triceps are more prominently experiencing DOMS than any other muscle and those burnout sets on bench tend to be more manifest in the chest. Those first two max sets moved up smoothly without a grind.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Got back from a vacation today

Did a machine based workout today

treadmill warm up - about 15 mins
Machine chest press
Quad extension
Hamstring curl
Chest fly
Dumbbell curl
Back extension (light/easy on this, just to get blood going to lower back)

What I usually do for these machine exercises is quickly warm up to a top weight I can do for 8 reps (usually the whole stack, except for hamstring curls which I'm weaker at), do 8 reps, immediately lower the weight by a couple discs, do another 8 reps with no rest, and keep repeating until I'm just doing like 10 lbs for 8. One massive superset (if this is the right term) basically

This workout absolutely beat my ass, when I got into the car to go home I could barely get my seat belt on because it uses my pecs to move my arm over to the other side to grab the seat belt. And I was walking a little funny for a while after the hamstring curls

I felt like I may have gotten a low blood sugar attack after the workout maybe?

Also - not sure what happened to my avatar lol

[EliKoehn]

^^ Sounds like a chad workout. What's wrong with your avi?

[munirashraf9821]

Picking up where we left off on last years thread -

For those that are new to this, anyone and everyone is free to join. We recognize that each person has different goals, and goals of all types are welcomed. The purpose of this thread is to inspire, learn, commiserate, and share with others that have an interest in weight/resistance training.

For those that are not new to this, you know what to do.

Good luck to all in reaching your goals for 2023!

It's wonderful to see the inclusivity and support for everyone's fitness goals. Best of luck to all in their fitness journeys for 2023! Whether you're new to weight training or a seasoned pro, the shared motivation and knowledge in this community can be incredibly valuable. Here's to a successful and healthy year ahead!

[SaviorSelfJT]

^^ Sounds like a chad workout. What's wrong with your avi?

Huh, it's working now. Yesterday I just had the default avatar, mine was gone. I even checked with my phone which wasn't logged in. The site must've glitched

[SaviorSelfJT]

Really sore, especially chest but got in some work

Squat
Up to 365x1
315x3

Deadlift
365x3

These weights didn’t feel heavy but they felt hard. Also the first few squat sets were sorta painful cause my pecs are so sore

Also did a few pull-ups

[coachcalande]

Lifting is going great but cardio time is tough to find after work. I got out of work late today, had to pick up ,y daughter at college, then home, made dinner, had coffee, said hello to my wife, then have to pick up my son from football…there’s just too much in some afternoons. So glad I have a home gym for mornings. I need a treadmill for morning runs.

[EliKoehn]

Lifting is going great but cardio time is tough to find after work. I got out of work late today, had to pick up ,y daughter at college, then home, made dinner, had coffee, said hello to my wife, then have to pick up my son from football…there’s just too much in some afternoons. So glad I have a home gym for mornings. I need a treadmill for morning runs.

I'm still a bachelor but my job has been laying a pretty big claim on most of my psychological resources lately too; I'm glad for it in more ways than not and it's healthy to come home mentally taxed especially if it's not physically demanding in any way. In your case, all of the family responsibilities on top of that can surely only compound the picture...

On that note, I was going to run with my friend in the park as we do on Tuesdays, but we got massive rain this morning and so we were going to lift together as a substitute, but then I had to work about an hour late unexpectedly so that got postponed too. I'm pretty much bench only mode right now but that's better than skipping altogether to my mind so I went ahead and did this. (I didn't stop paying concerted attention to what I was doing at my job for more than probably a grand total of ten minutes throughout the whole day and was pretty tempted to just go home instead of lift at all, and am glad that I didn't.)

I've gotten this a few times in recent months, but I don't think I ever had a video for it so here's the recording before AI invalidates this whole concept of proving a lift with a video:



With that included:

Flat Bench (T&G):
315 x 1, 275 x 8, 275 x 6

I did single pullups between these bench sets (and the warmups) and then a single set of EZ bar curls at 110 x 8. The pullups were pretty easy as singles but I was just doing them to help maintain tightness and a brace for the benching.

[Camarija]

Strong Bench Eli

This is probably my favorote exercise these days



I try to make awkward eye contact mid set if possible

[coachcalande]

258 lbs

Ran 3 miles including sprints and lifted yesterday
Ran 2 today slow and easy

Tomorrow is legs n arms
Still eating as much as I want day to day

[EliKoehn]

Strong Bench Eli

This is probably my favorote exercise these days



I try to make awkward eye contact mid set if possible

Thanks. Looks like that hits core as much as the direct hinge musculature itself; kind of like what the isometry of the deadlift does on the back but reversed and with that 45 degree angle changing the moment arm in a way which takes more to maintain core stability.

--

Finally knocked some rust off of the deadlift. It is unusual for me for sure that I've actually squatted a handful of times in the meantime of not deadlifting in over two months. This was deliberately moderate because I wanted to get a feel for where I was and ramp up so that subsequent sessions can be properly challenging without needless injury risk. Some detraining was apparent but it didn't seem too bad fortunately. These latter two sets were mildly effortful but still ended probably @6-7, which is promising.

Conventional Deadlift (Beltless):
2 x 8 at 225, 2 x 6 at 315

I also attempted to clean 225 off the floor because my friend I was lifting with wanted to see if he and I each could. We both failed but got quite close; in my case I kind of straight leg deadlifted it up which made it shoot off the floor but the angle was severely bad with that setup to raise my forearms with it, and it slammed hard into my chest and partially knocked the wind out of me. I started seeing stars and certain twists of my torso are now painful, but I don't think it is an actual injury and I'll probably be fine in a handful of days. I do expect some kind of gnarly bruise though lol.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Another machine based workout today, with super sets or drop sets or whatever they’re called

Either I’m in terrible shape or these are really hard workouts. I felt so sick like I was going to puke. Before driving off I was just sitting in my car for a little bit with the door open cause I thought I might puke


—

Also, after the previous machine workout with the chest press and chest flys, my pecs were sore for several days and were sore to the touch. But I can swear my pecs feel more developed after just that one single workout srs

[SaviorSelfJT]

Thanks. Looks like that hits core as much as the direct hinge musculature itself; kind of like what the isometry of the deadlift does on the back but reversed and with that 45 degree angle changing the moment arm in a way which takes more to maintain core stability.

--

Finally knocked some rust off of the deadlift. It is unusual for me for sure that I've actually squatted a handful of times in the meantime of not deadlifting in over two months. This was deliberately moderate because I wanted to get a feel for where I was and ramp up so that subsequent sessions can be properly challenging without needless injury risk. Some detraining was apparent but it didn't seem too bad fortunately. These latter two sets were mildly effortful but still ended probably @6-7, which is promising.

Conventional Deadlift (Beltless):
2 x 8 at 225, 2 x 6 at 315

I also attempted to clean 225 off the floor because my friend I was lifting with wanted to see if he and I each could. We both failed but got quite close; in my case I kind of straight leg deadlifted it up which made it shoot off the floor but the angle was severely bad with that setup to raise my forearms with it, and it slammed hard into my chest and partially knocked the wind out of me. I started seeing stars and certain twists of my torso are now painful, but I don't think it is an actual injury and I'll probably be fine in a handful of days. I do expect some kind of gnarly bruise though lol.

I feel like those exercises can be really dangerous if you are already strong but don’t know the form because you can do enough weight to really hurt yourself

Apparent John haack was able to hang clean 385 lbs his first time doing the lift

[coachcalande]

Got a lift on legs and arms this am.

Smith squats
Leg press
Ez curls
Pushdowns

Four lifts, 1 hour/

Down to 257.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Bench
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x2 (had to rack the bar for a sec in between reps)
225x10+185x7+135x4 drop set

Curls
95x5
115x5
135x5+115x5+95x5 drop set

OHP
95x5
135x5
155x5+135x3 plus 2 partials (the second partial rep I could only nudge the bar up a couple inches)

Lateral flies with plates
25sx10
25sx10

——

My chest or shoulders felt weaker going into the workout, could only get 2 reps with 275 and I had to pause for a sec between those 2 reps. 135 OHP also felt heavy. I don’t think I’m actually weaker just not fully recovered from the previous machine workout

[coachcalande]

Trained chest back and shoulders today

Hanging onto a fair amount of strength.

Bench sets
245x8
245x8
245x8
245x7

Inclines 4x 6-8 reps at 215

[SaviorSelfJT]

Machine workout

~10 min brisk walking treadmill, steep incline

Tricep extensions
Quad extensions*
Row
More tricep extension (using pulley machine)


*quad extensions: I did 2 sets of 15 reps with almost the full stack, then on the 3rd set I did 15, then immediately halved the weight and did like 6 more, then immediatley halved again (so about a quarter of the stack) and could only do a couple. By the end I could only nudge the weight a little. Quads were smoked

[EliKoehn]

Yes, you're right. I don't think it was wise to attempt to clean 225 without knowing the form. I'll be more careful attempting that exercise in the future, though Oly isn't as interesting to me anyway, so that will likely be few and far between. I felt like I got kicked by a horse for a couple of days but it's better now.

My dad was out of state over the weekend so Saturday's bench session was today in his absence. Just attempted as many total reps of 315 I could get without failing. By the teens it started to become slightly difficult, and the 17th rep was a slow, smooth grind and I called it there.

Flat Bench (T&G):
315 x 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

[SaviorSelfJT]

Whenever you start a bulk again I bet you have a good chance of getting 405

———-


Deadlift
Up to 405 then did RDLs
225x8x3

Rows
225x8x3

OHP
195
185x3
175x3
155x6
135x9.5

Single set of 6 pull-ups

[EliKoehn]

Whenever you start a bulk again I bet you have a good chance of getting 405

———-


Deadlift
Up to 405 then did RDLs
225x8x3

Rows
225x8x3

OHP
195
185x3
175x3
155x6
135x9.5

Single set of 6 pull-ups

Thanks! I've got a year-end goal of 350 so we'll see where that lands me before I consider next steps.

--

Today, just a 2 hour walk in the park with one of my friends. Probably 7-8 miles and a slightly brisk pace up-and-downhill.

[Camarija]

I'm still a bachelor

Thanks. Looks like that hits core as much as the direct hinge musculature itself; kind of like what the isometry of the deadlift does on the back but reversed and with that 45 degree angle changing the moment arm in a way which takes more to maintain core stability.

Yeah, you can make it as much lower back dominant or hamstring / glute dominant as you want depending on form

The important thing is planting your feet on the platform tightly, locking in your ankles, and try locking in your knees asuch as naturally allowed to keep it constant tension on the posterior chain

It works the whole back side, and no need to go very heavy due to leverage weight being harder than a normal deadlift

My sprints have gotten noticeably faster

[SaviorSelfJT]

Machine based workout today. I felt tired at the end, but not the sick kind where I feel like I’m about to puke

———
Light cardio to warmup
Incline smith - 3x8 @ 185. Haven’t used a smith since I was probably in middle school lol

Chest flies- up to most of the deck then a few drop sets by lowering the weight

Lying ham curls, similar to the above

dumbbell bicep curls - got up to 50s for 5 per arm with pretty strict form

Machine preacher curls - 3x8 with about half the stack.

Seated hamstring curls. 2 sets not a lot of weight

Tricep push down, didn’t get far cause it really hurts my left hand for some reason. Next time I’m using the rope attachement

A set of light hammer curls to finish it off, 45s for I think 10 per arm

[coachcalande]

Just to give you guys some insight into how my diet is making me feel and look so much better.
Pros
Asthma gone
Arthritis pain and inflammation gone
Heart burn gone
Sciatica gone
Acne gone
Can eat my fill and don’t gain weight
Easily surpass protein requirements
Only thing I avoid is sugar/starch
Not hungry all day long like I used to be
Weight loss
Maintenance of muscle mass

Cons
Occasional craving for ice cream or pizza (I go Greek Yogurt/choc whey here) or make carb free “meatza”

Sometimes I get calf cramps
Less power? It’s possible


Today I cooked a pan of food that will last two days
3 pounds of lean ground turkey, carton of eggs, carton of whites, ham


Makes several meals. Simple