A Tale Told by an Idiot

[EricK]

Mon, 2/13/23

201.5

Squat / chin:
135 x 8 / BW x 10
225 x 8 / BW x 10
275 x 3 / BW x 10
[ 260 x 5 / BW x 10 ] x 3

Bench / curl:
135 x 15 / 82 x 12
[ 205 x 5 / 82 x 12 ] x 5

Treadmill:
30:00, 413 cal, 3.14 mi

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I feel like when we match, it just brings us closer together.

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I mean, socks and sneakers, but yeah…

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I mean, socks and sneakers, but yeah…

That’s how I ride our exercise bike…

3 socks or two?

[EricK]

Tue, 2/14/2023

202.7

Bench / chin:
155 x 15 / BW x 12
[ 185 x 8 / BW x 10, 185 x 4 / BW x 5 ] x 3

Deadlift / dip:
225 x 8 / BW x 12
275 x 8 / BW x 12
[ 325 x 5 / BW x 12 ] x 3

Treadmill:
30:00, 372 cal, 2.79 mi

Started using a belt on deadlift and squat. Already have pinch bruises and lines.

[cgeorg]

Started using a belt on deadlift and squat. Already have pinch bruises and lines.

Oh man, the belt kisses when you first start using it again incredible.

[EricK]

Started using a belt on deadlift and squat. Already have pinch bruises and lines.

Oh man, the belt kisses when you first start using it again incredible.

Chef-Kiss.gif

[alek]

Mon, 2/13/23

201.5

Squat / chin:
135 x 8 / BW x 10
225 x 8 / BW x 10
275 x 3 / BW x 10
[ 260 x 5 / BW x 10 ] x 3

Bench / curl:
135 x 15 / 82 x 12
[ 205 x 5 / 82 x 12 ] x 5

Treadmill:
30:00, 413 cal, 3.14 mi

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I feel like when we match, it just brings us closer together.

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I mean, socks and sneakers, but yeah…

I can run in my underwear on a treadmill

Twinsies

I mean, socks and sneakers, but yeah…

That’s how I ride our exercise bike…

3 socks or two?

2/9/23 Thursday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
188.9 & 34.79 I guess I'm bulking now.

Recomp.

You, sir. No shitposting in my log!! Do that in your own log.

Ah, I see that you have. Carry on.

As for the socks, you'll just have to entertain yourself with those thoughts.

[EricK]

Thu, 2/16/23

200.7

Squat / chin:
135 x 8 / BW x 12
[ 225 x 7 / BW x 10 ] x 4

Bench / curl:
155 x 15 / 82 x 12
[ 185 x 8 / 82 x 12 ] x 4

Treadmill:
30:00, 416 cal, 3.16 mi

[EricK]

Fri, 2/17/2023

201.0

Bench / chin:
155 x 15 / BW x 15
[ 185 x 8 / BW x 10, 185 x 4 / BW x 5 ] x 3
275 x 1*

Deadlift / dip:
225 x 8 / BW x 12
[ 275 x 8 / BW x 12 ] x 4

Treadmill:
30:00, 372 cal, 2.80 mi

229 BW chins this week, 120 BW dips. Might start weighting my dips.

Leaning towards a HVLF 4-5 day per week format... That sentence makes it sound like I know what I'm doing way better than reality, but I haven't felt as desperately bleak the past couple weeks and I think exercise really helps with that. Anyway, I guess I'll do:

1. For squats/deadlifts - maybe a heavy-ish single/double/triple, followed by a few sets of moderate 5s one day, then more volume at a lower load the second day for each lift.
2. Bench - basically the same, but repeated twice during the week.
3. Might do some density sets or something BB-like on Wednesdays just for shits. I like shrugs and BB rows, but don't do them often. Press might be fun to do for no other purpose than to make my shoulders burn... Then again I might not do anything on Wednesdays; consider it a bonus.

I'd like to get back into PR territory for lifts but not look like a butterball. We'll see. Maybe I'll just go through the motions and stay where I am, that wouldn't be so terrible, either...

*Done before the last round of bench/chins just to see if I could. Felt fairly light (though still a little awkward), considering I had already done so many working reps up to that point.

[EricK]

Even though I'm almost certainly doing it wrong, can I take a moment to just thank @Hanley for his contributions to this forum and doing high volume training "right"?

I believe it is Hanley Normalized Fatigue Metric, also known as H-Value. It is just a way of sizing stress. HNFM per rep = 1/(1-% of 1RM)^2. As an example the HNFM for 5x5@75% = 5x5/(1-75%)^2 = 400.

Thank you. Been seeing it used and was wondering as it wasn't in the glossary thing

Real crude guidelines (this assumes about 48 hours recovery for upper body and ~72 hours for lower body compound lifts):

HNFM
200-350 = " I have a history of getting beat-up by most templates/programs" OR "my recovery hygiene kinda sucks"
350-450 = "normalish work capacity and recovery hygiene"
450-600 = "years worth of base-building for work-capacity and solid recovery hygiene"
600+ = eh, you'll know if you can tolerate this sort of stress.

If I try to be not-stupid and apply what he's saying:

Doing 5x5 at 75% and 8x4@65% will work for lower body while 5x5@75% and 12x4@65% will work for upper body...

[EricK]

Worked up to an easy single at 315 on squat yesterday but didn't get a full session in; chose to take a half day and hang out with the family. It was nice. Didn't do anything this morning either. I can still get 4 sessions in this week if I stop being such a POS.

[EricK]

Mon, 2/27/23

??

Squat / chin:
135 x 8 / BW x 12
[ 245 x 5 / BW x 10 ] x 5

Bench / curl:
155 x 15 / 82 x 12
[ 205 x 5 / 82 x 12 ] x 5

Hi. I am still have log. Loads were, ideally, at least close to ~72.5%...

[EricK]

Tue, 2/28/23

200.8

Bench / chin:
155 x 15 / BW x 12
[ 185 x 8 / BW x 10 ] x 5

Might try to deadlift during my lunch if I can manage...

[EricK]

Lunch time deadlifts.

Deadlift / dip:
225 x 8 / BW x 12
[ 295 x 8 / BW x 12 ] x 5

All DOH.

Figured a little too light is way better than a little too heavy and really don't want to mess around with plates smaller than the 10s...

[EricK]

Mon, 11/27/2023

203.7, probably (hopefully?) 3-5 lbs of bloat...

Guitar:
1:20
-15 min Spider exercise on 4/4 timing, 90 bpm, 8th notes, 1-2-3-4 sequence
-Strumming pattern and chord practice, 4/4@90bpm, D-DU-UDU, chords to Mad World (verse: Em, G, D, A, chorus: Em, A)
-Did some chord practice with the chords from Hallelujah as well, arpeggiating 6/8@60bpm (C, G, C, Am, C, Am, F, G, C, G, C, F, G, Am, F, G, E, Am, Am, F, F, Am, Am, F, F, C, G, repeat)
-Still getting frustrated that my open chords aren't very clean, but I've also been pretty lazy about training strictly

Exercise:

Squat / chin:
135 x 10 / BW x 10
[ 225 x 5 / BW x 8 ] x 3

Bench:
135 x 8
185 x 5 x 3

Treadmill:
20:00 min ~2.4 mi (?) 244 cal, 1.83 mi

I wrote the stats for treadmill down in my calendar, which I keep at home. Maybe I'll update it later (unlikely).

I've been in pretty bad shape mentally and emotionally for the past couple years. I've worked out maybe a couple dozen times in the past year or so (total guess, I could check my calendar but probably won't), and feel fat, weak and slow. I've been drinking too much for a while now, often blacking out on weekend nights which messes with my sleep and adds fatigue on top of my despondent apathy. Makes it hard to do anything. I do think exercise could help me a lot in terms of mood so hopefully I can stick to something for longer than a few days.

My only goals right now are to workout every week day, some form of resistance training and cardio. That's why I did so little and went so light today (my shoulder still didn't like it very much, although the basement was cold...). If I get my shit together maybe I can set lifting and running goals some day.

[alek]

Welcome back!

There are a lot of @'s that you need to respond to.

I hope that you can get turned around.

[DCR]

Ahhhemmmmghpohkohgggngsm

Sorry...was choking on my own hypocrisy for a second there.

Ahem. Ok, here goes: Although it's common to claim that lifting weights is good for one's mental health, I think that that isn't the case more often than anyone would like to admit, particularly when any sort of attachment to numbers is involved. Were I you, and especially given that you want to do something every weekday, I would consider coming up with some set routine that you do each day, before you lift weights or even in lieu of it entirely on some days. I'm talking some kind of cardio and/or some bodyweight routine that you can progress but don't necessarily need to. Max a half hour's worth of stuff but 20 mins better. Simply completing it each day is the accomplishment, full stop. Once you've done it on a given day, if you then also feel amped to lift, get after it. This obviously is no way to set PRs but who fucking cares.

I'd also consider specifically doing stuff on weekends, as an impediment to getting black out.

Regardless of how you choose to proceed, rooting for you.

[broseph]

Nice to see you around, man. Thoughts and prayers incoming for your goals and life and stuff.

[EricK]

Welcome back!

There are a lot of @'s that you need to respond to.

I hope that you can get turned around.

Thanks. I only found 1 @, though. They probably have an expiration date. Sorry...

@DCR, thanks. I'm not too worried about numbers at the moment. Just consistency. That being said, I could probably use a good calisthenic warmup routine. I don't want to mess with anything too much until I can keep at it for a few weeks...

Nice to see you around, man. Thoughts and prayers incoming for your goals and life and stuff.

Thanks. Hopefully I can contribute something to the site for a little while...

[EricK]

Tue, 11/28/23

201.8

Guitar: 1:05
-spider 4/4@70bpm (way better accuracy)
-chords Hallelujah, 6/8@60 (rushed chord changes)
-strumming: D-DU-UDU 4/4@90, Mad World

Workout:
Press / BBRow:
[ 135 x 5 / 135 x 8 ] x 3

Treadmill:
25:00, 336 cal, 2.55 mi

[alek]

Welcome back!

There are a lot of @'s that you need to respond to.

I hope that you can get turned around.

Thanks. I only found 1 @, though. They probably have an expiration date. Sorry...

Nah, there was probably only that one. I'm just glad to see you back on the site.

[augeleven]

Welcome back!

-Still getting frustrated that my open chords aren't very clean, but I've also been pretty lazy about training strictly

Unsolicited advice: how curled are your fingers when playing a chord? To help get the string on the tip of the finger as close to the the mail as possible, I like to have the student form a leopard paw strike, or have them check their nails while looking at their palm. This extreme joint flexion helps keep the fingers vertical, which helps the strings ring.