Gillman Tries Not to Screw Up for 20 Seconds

[Mkgillman]

Alright, FINE, back to an online training log. I haven't been logging electronically for about 18 months now. I had been pretty consistent with my old log for a decent amount of time, but injuries, a significant move, and being completely burned out on the other site pretty much put an end to that. In the spring of 2017 I had come off of a solid training block where I got PR's on all the lifts. I also managed to give myself a nice case of sciatica.

This all happened a couple of months before my family was relocating from the Boston area to Juneau, Alaska. Training had to take a back seat.

Starting in July 2017 I got back into training once again, swallowed my pride, and started a liner progression from 275/225/295. I was able to get back to decent numbers fairly quickly and have been working on a couple of hybridized programs since late fall 2017.

As of right now, my best lifts are:

Gym:
Squat: 550
Bench: 365
Deadlift: 535

Platform:
Squat: 475
Bench: 345
Deadlift: 505

Currently 37 years old and 234 pounds. Well, I was 234 this morning.

[Mkgillman]

19Sep2017

I should have included this in the previous message, but this will do fine as well. I am currently running a LP phase to build back from some tendinitis in my right knee that I picked up from the last training block. I'm 6 weeks into that and getting ready to move back into the next block. I don't know what the next block is going to be yet, but I'll be moving into soon.

I will also be doing Weight x Reps x Sets as standard notation.

Squat:
45x5x3
155x10
225x5
315x5
395x5x3

Easy and squats were feeling really dialed in.

RDL
155x5
225x5
And then got a call that my youngest son had an accident at school and lifting was done for the day.



20Sep2017
Conditioning
3.9 miles on the singlespeed mountain bike, fast loop.

[Manveer]

Best log title!

[Mkgillman]

Best log title!

Thanks. I figured that even if the lifts are mediocre, the title could be strong.

[Mkgillman]

22Sep2017

Squats
45x5x3
155x10
225x5
315x5
405x5x3

Finally back to four wheels, even if it isn't four wheels because of the 25 kilo plates, but whatever. Reps were fast and snappy. Things felt very solid. I'm going to run the LP for another week and go for 435 next Friday.

CG Bench
135x15
185x10
225x10
250x10x3

Easy

Bro Down
DB Rows
Incline DB Press
Ez bar Curlz

[Idlehands]

Always a good log.
And video? Who is this guy?

[KDW]

HEY look who it is! I'm trying to find out if there is a way to subscribe to logs...is that just a tapatalk option?

[Mkgillman]

HEY look who it is! I'm trying to find out if there is a way to subscribe to logs...is that just a tapatalk option?

There is! You go down to the footer of the page and click subscribe. I’m pretty excited. This forum feels like getting the band back together.

[Mkgillman]

23Sep2017

Holy crap, Saturday morning gym is some of the dumbest gym there is...

Press
45x10
95x10
135x10
155x8
170x8,6,6

Didn't go as well as I was hoping, but I just did a bunch of bench and arms yesterday, so not that surprising that I was a little flat this morning.

RDL
155x5
225x5
335x5x3

Easy

LTE

Face Pulls

Cable Pulldowns with Chin Grip

[Mkgillman]

25Sep2017

I am in a pissy mood. Big time. My wife got deployed last night and I am solo dad for at least three weeks. To really take the level of suck to 11, I was supposed to be on a plane next week to go visit Idlehands. It is very likely not going to happen now and this makes me very angry.

To pile on the cab that we had called for a 0400 pick up for the wife didn't bother to show up, so I had to drive her to the airport. Wasn't a massive issue as it is only a mile away, but I just couldn't get back to sleep when I got home. Finally drifted off after about an hour to be woken up by the kids screaming over a wifi issue. Felt like garbage all morning.

Tough luck all around, so I slammed a caffeine pill and headed to the gym.

Squats
45x5x3
155x15
225x5
315x5
355x5
410x5x3

I had set up my plan to go to 5 pound jumps this week since I was planning on missing next Friday's lift due to travel. Since that isn't going to happen I could adjust the program, but figure to just stick with what I've got. Squats felt solid and were moving well. The weight is lending more fatigue, but nothing terrible yet.

Bench
135x15
185x10
225x10
275x10
275x8x4

I was pretty pleased to get 275x10, now I need to get 315x10

Chin grip pulldowns
Face pulls

[Mkgillman]

26Sep2017

Lousy start to the day. Sent thing 3 with thing 2's backpack which caused a minor catastrophe for no very good reason. Cold and pouring outside and I was not feeling great. Ended up just sucking it up and going out for the cardio anyway

10.9 miles on the road bike, mostly gravel and trails. I was soaked and dirty by the end and feel much, much better.

[Mkgillman]

27Sep2017

After I posted my ride yesterday, things kind of went to shit. There was some very real world drama that came about from one of my kids at school. What seemed like a very scary situation turned in a pretty complicated situation which is sorta better. I guess. To follow that all up there was a late hockey practice that I got to bring all three kids to because that was the only option. Didn't get home until 8:30 and I didn't get done with my chores until 9.

Then I decided to start the new Spider-man movie because I have really wanted to see it and wound up watching the whole thing. It was really, really good and exactly what I needed after the past few days. Of course, that cut down on sleep and I wasn't sure how the gym was going to be today.

Squats
45x5x3
155x10
225x5
315x5
355x5
415x5x3

The morning went pretty smoothly today and I popped a caffeine pill for good measure on my way out the door. The weight is starting to feel a little bit heavier now, though I am getting consistent again about reviewing video of my work sets. Bar speed is good, though I am noticing a little bit of need slide at the bottom again. Need to stay on top of that because that is my primary suspect for the knee tendinitis from last block.

Press
45x10
95x10
135x8
155x8
175x8,8.6

The last couple of reps on the first two sets were not especially pretty, but they got done. I'd kind of like to get at least one set of 8 all the way up to 185, but I don't know how realistic that is and it doesn't really matter. I'm currently just treating press as a high rep, assistance lift, so I'll take what it gives.

DB rows
Ez bar Curlz

As always, the iron doesn't fix everything going on, but it sure does help.

[Mkgillman]

28Sep2017

My afternoon and evening are going to be crazy and packed full of stress, so I got out for a quick ride on the singlespeed today. Same loop as last week

5.8 miles of easy trails

Legs were feeling a little stiff to start off, but everything else loosened up nicely and it was just awesome to only think about riding for half an hour.

[Mkgillman]

29Sep2017

Squat
45x15
135x10
225x5
315x5
365x5
420x5x3

420 Friday! I wound up not being able to use my favorite rack today, which is always kind of a bummer. There is only one rack that I'm not consistently catching the hooks when I unrack the bar. I suppose I could look at it as making my walk out have to be more of a straight line. I could look at it that way, but I really just think it is a pain in the ass.

Rack aside, the bar was moving well again today. Bar speed and pop are where I want them. I didn't get a chance to video today because of the rack position, but I was trying to keep the knees more solid.

CG Bench
135x15
185x10
225x10
255x10x3

I've been doing a better job controlling bar path. I had been getting a little bit of bar twist on the way up and wasn't having any problems with that today.

Incline DB Press
LTE

Pump dragon engaged.

As I was finishing up today I realized it was the first time in weeks when I had the absolutely cored out feeling from lifting. Just so empty I was almost transparent. I missed that feeling.

[Mkgillman]

2Oct2017

I tripped over some feels during warm ups. A song came on my playlist that I wasn't expecting and kind of caught me off guard. Took a step back and just decided that everything that I've been worrying about and has been weighing on me needed to be left off the platform.

Squat
45x15
155x10
225x5
315x5
355x5
425x5x3

Squats were moving well today. I did one set of video and I'm pleased with bar speed and effort. There shouldn't be any issue getting through 435 at the end of the week. I'm thinking about doing a quick deload next week before starting the next programming block two weeks from today. My plan at this point is to stick to the 3/week lifting schedule. I am enjoying getting two rides in during the week and the bears seem to be off the trails for the most part. Might as well enjoy it before the snow flies or everything gets icy.


Bench
135x15
185x10
225x10
245x8
280x8x5

Played around with set up a little bit. I was playing around with a little more aggressive arch set up. Can't really say that it made much difference with the actual set, but I did feel that my shoulders were more firmly set.

Had to skip my accessory work because all three kids had a dentist appointment this afternoon. Just had enough time to crush a shake and jump through the shower before I had to be off and running.

[Les]

Nice squats! I'm looking forward to see your programming after you peak on the 5's.

[Mkgillman]

Nice squats! I'm looking forward to see your programming after you peak on the 5's.

Thanks. You will recognize the next part of my programming because I'm totally ripping off you and a couple of other lifters. The training days are going to be based off one top set of a competition lift, followed by a bunch of drop sets. The rest of the day will be composed of accessory work.

In the past I have been a real volume hero, but have had difficulty translating it into closer to max lifts. I want to try a lower volume on the main lifts and see if I may not have been beating myself into the ground with extra work. As the weights start getting heavier, the simple plan will be to drop the 5s to 3s and adjust the drop sets accordingly.

[Les]

Nice squats! I'm looking forward to see your programming after you peak on the 5's.

Thanks. You will recognize the next part of my programming because I'm totally ripping off you and a couple of other lifters. The training days are going to be based off one top set of a competition lift, followed by a bunch of drop sets. The rest of the day will be composed of accessory work.

In the past I have been a real volume hero, but have had difficulty translating it into closer to max lifts. I want to try a lower volume on the main lifts and see if I may not have been beating myself into the ground with extra work. As the weights start getting heavier, the simple plan will be to drop the 5s to 3s and adjust the drop sets accordingly.

I hope it works for you. I know that style of training seems to work best for me. And now we (Tom is programming for me right now) are trying to cycle the assistance barbell lifts to limit overuse injuries. My go to assistance lifts are SGDL and closer stance high bar squats. Both of those seem to get a good transfer, but I know everyone is a little different based on weaknesses, etc. I haven't dialed it in for bench 100% yet, but it seems like the second day of benching (done as floor pressing) going lighter after doing OHP may be the trick. I am really not pushing the benching on my second day. Too much work (two full bench days) or no benching (just floor pressing for a block) didn't work as well.

And since you wore a shirt with your name on, I think you should get the verified user badge!

[Mkgillman]

And since you wore a shirt with your name on, I think you should get the verified user badge!

I like that shirt because that lettering on the back sets up really nice on the bench and it is in just the perfect position. That and its a full half size to small, so I can really show off the pump.

[Les]

And since you wore a shirt with your name on, I think you should get the verified user badge!

I like that shirt because that lettering on the back sets up really nice on the bench and it is in just the perfect position. That and its a full half size to small, so I can really show off the pump.

Nice! I agree, you were looking swole in that shirt!