Bolder's Training Log

[Clearwater47]

Nice Deadlift session. I've played around with intentionally rounding my upper back and ended up feeling like it threw me off rather than helping. There's definitely an advantage if you can figure it out though. Very cool that you're able to do that and reap the benefits.

[SaviorSelf]

Anyway, the deadlifts went well; I purposely rounded my back a bit, and the bar speed off the floor was tremendous. I thought I was only going to get 1 rep, but I got 3 reps. Gonna try 185kg for 3 next session. Feels a little nicer to finally be able to rep four plates for reps on deadlifts.

Good to see this worked

Another exercise you can try, you can replace some of your deadlift days with this too, so can help if deadlifts are making you too tired. Use a really light weight (start with the bar) and basically do deadlifts rounding your back as much as possible at the bottom and stand up straight at the end. I call them lumbar curls

[DanCR]

Another exercise you can try, you can replace some of your deadlift days with this too, so can help if deadlifts are making you too tired. Use a really light weight (start with the bar) and basically do deadlifts rounding your back as much as possible at the bottom and stand up straight at the end. I call them lumbar curls

Jefferson curls, yeah?

[SaviorSelf]

Jefferson curls is what I started doing, cause I wanted an exercise where my lower back muscles underwent flexion versus just being a static support. I used to stand on a cinder block and have the bar go to my toes but no cinderblock now. Essentially not enough ROM to call it a Jefferson curl IMO

[Bolder]

Nice Deadlift session. I've played around with intentionally rounding my upper back and ended up feeling like it threw me off rather than helping. There's definitely an advantage if you can figure it out though. Very cool that you're able to do that and reap the benefits.

Thank you. Well, it does help sort of putting your shoulders down (also helps with reducing some of the ROM). Kinda want to think about keeping your arms long as well.

Anyway, the deadlifts went well; I purposely rounded my back a bit, and the bar speed off the floor was tremendous. I thought I was only going to get 1 rep, but I got 3 reps. Gonna try 185kg for 3 next session. Feels a little nicer to finally be able to rep four plates for reps on deadlifts.

Good to see this worked

Another exercise you can try, you can replace some of your deadlift days with this too, so can help if deadlifts are making you too tired. Use a really light weight (start with the bar) and basically do deadlifts rounding your back as much as possible at the bottom and stand up straight at the end. I call them lumbar curls

Thank you very much, man. Your advice definitely helped me a lot; I cannot thank you enough. I've been dealing with this problem for months, not being able to budge the deadlift much off the floor.

Yeah, I've seen those. Perhaps I'll play around with those whenever I deload. Anyway, how do you find doing the lumbar curls yourself?

[Bolder]

22/5/24

Squats, high-bar and beltess:
155kg x 1
125kg x 3
125kg x 3

Goblet Squats with Step-Ups:
BW + 10kg x 15 (these felt good)
Then played around for another set

GHR with 90-degree Back Extensions:
BW x F
BW x F

Single-legged Calf Raises:
BW x 6
BW x 5

I had a bit of weird groin/hip pain (but nothing too severe) on that top single of squats, and my knees felt a little weird. Hopefully, it's nothing worse. Anyway, as the session went on, I felt better (and those exercises felt pretty theuraptic), strangely. Gonna keep those new accessory lifts in, I like them and they feel good.

[DanCR]

Goblet Squats with Step-Ups:
BW + 10kg x 15 (these felt good)
…
Gonna keep those new accessory lifts in, I like them and they feel good.

Goblet squats are the best feeling squats, by far. I’ve spent an awful lot of time thinking on how I could just do them, and nothing else, forever. It sucks that that’s just not feasible.

[Bolder]

Goblet Squats with Step-Ups:
BW + 10kg x 15 (these felt good)
…
Gonna keep those new accessory lifts in, I like them and they feel good.

Goblet squats are the best feeling squats, by far. I’ve spent an awful lot of time thinking on how I could just do them, and nothing else, forever. It sucks that that’s just not feasible.

This is kind of weird, but I was actually thinking about you while I was doing goblet squats. No wonder you love doing them, lol.

Definitely a good exercise.

[SaviorSelf]

Thank you very much, man. Your advice definitely helped me a lot; I cannot thank you enough. I've been dealing with this problem for months, not being able to budge the deadlift much off the floor.

Yeah, I've seen those. Perhaps I'll play around with those whenever I deload. Anyway, how do you find doing the lumbar curls yourself?

No problem, I had the same issue too. It's weird how there's a "cognitive dissonance" with form. Every deadlift tutorial out there stresses keeping a neutral or arched back, chest up etc. But look at people deadlifting heavy weights and.....they're not doing that

Re: lumbar curls, the first few times I did them I got a wicked lower back pump implying they were being hit hard. Nowadays I just feel them in my hamstrings; I think my low back strength has exceeded my hamstrings. I can do heavy rows, deadlifts, squats, can slump in an office chair all day, no back issues

[Bolder]

25/5/24

I started the Juggernaut Method for bench press (and my chest/delts/triceps are quite fatigued... lol). Not used to the light weight, higher-volume and submaximal work lol. A 3-4 month gamble... let's see how I go, if it doesn't work, then I may give Smolov. Jr and/or some heavy single + 3x5 or 2x3 in the near distant future. The reason why I'm doing Juggernaut (is that I may lack the necessary muscle mass to bench 140kg or 3 plates and because of the volume work it provides).

Bench Press, touch and go:
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 10
72.5kg x 12 (AMRAP set, couldn't do anymore rep)


Overhead Press, strict:
52.5kg x 2
52.5kg x 3 (need to reduce the weight but likely my shoulders and triceps were already fatigued from the bench press portion of the workout)

Chest Press Machine:
96kg x 5
96kg x 6 (gonna try to get 8 reps before jumping on the weight)

Cable Tricep Extensions:
??? x 4 x ??? (messed around with some variations and also in order to make room for the other chest exercise earlier)

I think the reason as to why I get easily fatigued is because of the long ROM I have on bench. Also, the cross-body tricep extensions felt awkward (perhaps I may need to change since I'm lifting heavier and heavier, and becomes more awkward to grab the cables down diagonally).

[Bolder]

27/5/24

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps:
185kg x 3 (PR!)
150kg x 3
150kg x 3
- Did some grip work between

Pull-ups, Assisted w/ deadhangs:
-35kg x 7
-42kg x 6 (different machine)

Variety of Rows:
Experimented and Messed around with three different rows (machine hi-row, hammer strength iso-lateral row, and chest-supported t-bar row. Founded I like the hammer strength iso-lateral row the most; however, I may max out too soon from it because of how thick the plates are...)

Preacher Curls:
Played around with different set-ups. Prefer the machine version more.

Alll in all a good session and nice bicep pump towards the end. Gonna try to get 190kg for 3 next time on deadlifts!

[Bolder]

29/5/24

Squats, high-bar and beltess:
160kg x 1
130kg x 3
130kg x 3

Goblet Squats with Step-Ups:
12kg (goblet squats) + BW (step-ups) x 16 + 5
12kg (goblet squats) + BW (step-ups) x 5 + 3

GHR/BE:
BW x 5/3
BW x 5/3 + partials

Single-legged Calf Raises:
BW x 5
BW x 5

An okay session overall, good quad pump (but quite cardiovascularly exhausting doing the step-ups one leg at a time supersetted with goblet squats lol and thrown in some lengthened partials as well. However, it's definitely making my knees feel good). Squats were a little grindy. I had a bit of low-back pain at the end of the session (but that went away in like half an hour).

Gonna start doing smaller jumps on squats on per session basis. Let's see if I can nip 172.5kg or 180kg (if I'm healthy) in a few weeks.

Once I get some stipends, I'll invest in a good lifting belt.

[Bolder]

31/5/24

Bench Press, touch and go:
81kg x 10
81kg x 10
81kg x 11 (chest was too fatigued)
75kg x 5
65kg x 5 (was meant to do those two sets earlier before the main worksets and AMRAP sets, but I forgot)

Overhead Press, strict:
45kg x 6
45kg x 6

Mystery Tricep Extensions #1:
10kg x 4
10kg x 4
Drop a bit of weight to burn out the triceps more

Mystery Tricep Extensions #2:
46kg x 6
46kg x 6

Not used to working with higher rep ranges on bench press (definitely feeling my chest getting worked more though).

[Bolder]

2/6/24

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps:
160kg x 1
191kg x 0 (couldn't budge it off the floor. I thought I'd be able to get it since I repped out 185kg from the last session)

Pull-ups, Assisted:
-40kg x 9
-40kg x 6

Rows:
75kg x 9
75kg x 7
- Tried a slightly different set up

Preacher Curls:
39kg x 6
7.5kg x 8 (neutral/hammer grip)
39kg x 6
7.5kg x 8 (neutral/hammer grip)

Trained later in the day. Probably wasn't recovered from the last deadlift session or the recent heavy squat session.

[Bolder]

3/6/24

Decided to do a squat/leg session today because I'll be a little busy tomorrow. Was meant to do this session on Tuesday, but decided to do it a day earlier.

Squats, high-bar and beltess:
140kg x 1
162.5kg x 0 (went up a bit, then got stuck. I think my stance was a little too close/narrow. Maybe I over did the quad work last time so didn't had much push from my quads and plus I deadlifted yesterday)
112.5kg x 3 (used 80% of 140kg, supposed to be 80% of 162.5kg, but I didn't get it)
112.5kg x 3

Single-legged Calf Raises:
BW x 6 (supersetted them between the squat back-off sets)
BW x 5

Goblet Squats with Step-Ups:
16kg (goblet squats) + BW (step-ups) x 13 + 6
16kg (goblet squats) + BW (step-ups) x 5 + 3

GHR/BE:
BW x 8/3
BW x 5/3

Meh session (but a short session. Usually, squat/leg days are my shortest session lol, like around ~ 42 minutes to finish the whole workout. Not a lot of volume. Too much higher volume lower body work doesn't usually make me feel good anyway). Anyway, can't wait for the bench/push session on Thursday (so in two more days). I may start doing a heavy single before the bench volume work (so I don't lose the ability to grind heavy weights on bench).

[Bolder]

6/6/24

Bench Press, touch and go:
60kg x 5
72.5kg x 3
85kg x 1
120kg x 0 (failed? Usually, I rep with this weight, but looks like I got weaker. Definitely a sign to switch programs)
88.5kg x 7...

Overhead Press, strict:
50kg x 3
50kg x 3

Mystery Tricep Extensions #1:
??? x F
??? x F

Mystery Tricep Extensions #2:
46kg x 4
46kg x 4

I think the poor performance of the bench press comes from a mixture of the program, diet (been eating salty chips, so that probably is making me constantly sore and messing with my hydration levels), sleep, training at a different time of the day, and pressing on a different bench. I guess this is a good sign that this program is not for me... I'm going to brute force with 3x5 (starting next session) and then, in the future, return to Greg Nuckol's 1x Bench program (the AMRAP version). I definitely cannot ever back away from the intensity/load. Oddly, people tend to respond well doing higher reps and higher-volume on bench (but definitely not me...). Back to heavy sets of 5s, hopefully I can get 105kg for 3 sets of 5 or 110kg for sets of 5. The Juggernaut Method already severely detrained me lol.

[DanCR]

The Juggernaut Method already severely detrained me lol.

My memory may be off, but I thought that I'd read a few times online that Juggernaut Method wrecked people, mainly due to the volume. Was yesterday's session a planned session within the program, or did you just randomly test? I'm asking because if the latter, doing so very early on may not have been a good indicator of the program's value.

Late last year into early this year I ran a wave progression on bench that got me my lifetime PR. During the first few weeks, as I built up the volume, I certainly was "detrained" with regard to my prior max. Fast forward several weeks, though, and I was hitting numbers that I'd never hit before for reps, and ultimately got the 1RM PR. Bottom line, I don't think that you can judge a slow burn program until you've been on it for a good amount of time. I've noticed in following your log that you mention a new program nearly every other entry; you may want to see what happens if you stay on some of them for 8-12 weeks.

[Bolder]

The Juggernaut Method already severely detrained me lol.

My memory may be off, but I thought that I'd read a few times online that Juggernaut Method wrecked people, mainly due to the volume. Was yesterday's session a planned session within the program, or did you just randomly test? I'm asking because if the latter, doing so very early on may not have been a good indicator of the program's value.

Late last year into early this year I ran a wave progression on bench that got me my lifetime PR. During the first few weeks, as I built up the volume, I'd certainly was "detrained" with regard to my prior max. Fast forward several weeks, though, and I was hitting numbers that I'd never hit before for reps, and ultimately got the 1RM PR. Bottom line, I don't think that you can judge a slow burn program until you've been on it for a good amount of time. I've noticed in following your log that you mention a new program nearly every other entry; you may want to see what happens if you stay on some of them for 8-12 weeks.

Most likely from the fatigue from the volume work, yes. It was also a planned session, but I just thought to include a moderately heavy single.

I've seen one guy on Reddit took his 285lb x 1 bench to 315lb x 4 on bench: I was like "hey maybe I can run this sort of program because I have similar'ish numbers" and I probably need more volume/muscle because pushing sets of 3s or 5s, somewhat just kept me running into a wall. Although forced/brute progression has helped me in the past.

Another thing with the Juggernaut Method. I have ran it for three weeks'ish so far and the weeks prior to that session, my performance on the AMRAP sets were just abysmal. I should've been repping weights that low between 16 to 20 reps, but yes, usually I'm used to heavy sets of 3s and 5s. I was also worried about staying away from practicing heavy singles as well.

Also, good job on having success with that program.

Anyway, I'm done with the 10s wave/phase, I suppose you're right about giving it more of a good run, but I'll give the 8s and 5s waves a go (perhaps even the last phase/wave of 3s as well). I don't know if I should still include a heavy single though... Also, how would one peak after the Juggernaut Method?

Thanks for the advice (also noting your anecdote), and what you've said definitely made a lot of sense.

[DanCR]

I was also worried about staying away from practicing heavy singles as well.

That was what worried me too. Turned out, it didn't matter at all, when the time came.

[SaviorSelf]

Once you've been failing some lifts like that consecutively, you may want to consider a deload week, like 135lbs deadlifts, do a few absolute jokes of a workout. You might just be able to jump right back into the program afterwards and kick some ass