Dumbbell LTE:
12x37.5lb / hand
12x37.5lb / hand
12x37.5lb / hand @ 8
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
12x67.5kg
12x67.5kg
12x67.5kg
2 minute rests
Reverse Dumbbell Fly:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
2 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Pretty busy day yesterday, lots of driving, I slept like a log last night but still feel no closer to buying a car. All good though, made it out to the gym mid morning and felt alright about it.
Training Notes:
Wanted to add a little weight to the top single but did a double instead. Felt a little shoulder twinge after that, so kept the back off work at the same light weight. The first set felt a bit shaky, but they all felt pretty good after that.
Kept the flys at two sets again with just a little more weight than last week - again felt pretty good, not terribly difficult and got a good chest burn.
Added a bit of weight to the lat pulldowns and again ran out of gas a bit at the end.
Swapped in dumbbell LTEs this week as I thought they'd be easier on my elbows than the EZ curl bar. Turns out I was right, they were certainly cracking and popping a lot but didn't hurt. Got hard at the end of the third set.
More lying leg extensions, just 2.5kg more than last week, and still light and pumpy as intended.
Finished with some reverse flys, again a bit of minor shoulder discomfort early on, but the second set felt pretty good and the third was a little easier than last week.
Well, I intended to train yesterday AM but woke up feeling pretty shitty about life in general and just plain skipped it. Almost did the same again this morning, but in the end thought screw it, I'll just go completely off plan and squat/bench/deadlift whatever feels good and call it quits. If it's a choice between this and not training, I'll take this.
Weight is still trending down at a nice gentle rate, and my weekly average will be into the 85.x kilo range within another week or two, which is about where I wanted to be. So that's OK. I haven't been terribly hungry really, but I'm just a little tired of it. And this is the lightest I've been since October 2020.
Training Notes:
So I wanted to see if my shoulder could cope with high bar squats, although I had a few twinges, at this light weight I think it was fine. Some easy fives and then squeezed out a set of eight to finish, which had me puffing a little but still wasn't that heavy. I high bar squatted 130kg for eight in November 2021 according to my log, but I also weighed 6kg more then.
Figured I'd do the same with bench, hit some sets of five and test out the shoulder, they felt alright once I'd warmed up, so much so I went for eight from the last set of these too.
Just some nice easy RDLs to finish - didn't push too hard - but glad to get them done all the same.
Finished this in 40 minutes, managed to get some (day job) work done before breakfast, and had a pretty productive day overall. Also bought a car this afternoon. Maybe I'll come out of this funk now! Thanks for reading.
Woke up tired and sore and unmotivated, glad it's Friday and it's also an upper body day. Might squat tomorrow.
Training Notes:
Shoulder and back have been feeling sore (DOMSey I think) since Wednesday's session, and bench just generally felt like trash today in general but the weights are still easy so I got it done.
Did some rows with a little more weight than last week and kept 'em pretty easy, then triceps, some seated press and pullovers. Really nothing to get worked about about any of it. Shoulder certainly was pushed a bit with the seated press but everything else, meh.
Just 50 minutes today, bit of a clock punchy day, but good enough.
Slept ok last night, had a pretty cruisy morning but still didn't get out to the gym til middayish. Wasn't super motivated to train but kinda wanted to get squatting done.
Training Notes:
I decided to drop lunges and put high bar squats back into this slot after the other day. Wanted to work up to something a little heavier to start and then do some fairly easy volume. I'd intended to hit a single at 140kg or so, but while I was pleasantly surprised with how the double with 130kg felt and moved (it's the heaviest I've squatted with any variation for quite a few months) it did cause a little hip twinge so I decided to stop there today and just to the work sets. They were all pretty good, the last set might've got close to RPE 6 but not quite. Maybe I can do a heavier top single next week.
My log from last week said to keep the weight at 55lb for this benching but I didn't notice that until after I'd started with a little 2.5lb jump. My shoulder was clicking and feeling a bit stiff again, but no actual pain, so these were alright, though they did start getting a bit challenging. It's gonna take some time to get strength levels back but oh well.
Dumbbell RDLs, again all fairly straightforward, although I was going to drop the dumbbell if I did another rep in that third set.
Added a little weight to the rows, didn't expect them to get so difficult, I guess my energy was flagging a bit.
Finished off with some cable crunches, once again found that pushing past 40kg makes it difficult not to get pulled out of position. I did manage a reasonably good first set which was nice, but the second wasn't so good, so I dropped the load a little and banged out three more to finish. Ab burn intensifies.
All done in 63 minutes, felt like this was a pretty good effort today. Thanks for reading!
Dumbbell LTE:
12x40lb / hand
12x40lb / hand @ 7
11x40lb / hand @ 9.5
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
12x67.5kg
12x67.5kg
12x67.5kg
2 minute rests
Reverse Dumbbell Fly:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand @ 6
2 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Sleep was kinda broken and I got up early to watch quali so I got out to the gym reasonably early too, but energy levels weren't that great. Also had some minor quad DOMs from squatting yesterday.
Weight is 86.1kg average for the week and still trending down so hopefully into the 85s this week, I'm pretty close to where I want to be before I start upping the food. Hopefully that helps my recovery because it feels shit at the moment, everything gives me DOMs.
Training Notes:
Bench wasn't bad today, I had a bit of a shoulder twinge with the last warmup rep but the double at 95kg felt good and fast. The work sets were all nice and quick and painless. Really the shoulder just feels stiff most of the time and not really hurt, so hopefully that'll go away eventually and I'll learn to trust it again.
Added 2.5lb to the flys, last set got a little challenging toward the end, and had a reasonable chest pump afterward.
Repeated last week with the lat pulldowns and felt pretty much the same difficulty really; I did add some load to the triceps work, and while my elbows were clicking a bit less than last week I did go pretty close to failure at the end, I don't think I'd have got one more clean rep.
Did some leg extensions, lightish as usual, and some rear delts to finish, which I do think felt a little less irritating to my shoulder than last week so that's something.
High Bar Squat:
8x20kg
8x20kg
6x70kg
6x110kg
6x110kg
6x110kg
2 minute rests
Dumbbell Squeeze Press:
12x42.5lb / hand
12x42.5lb / hand
12x42.5lb / hand
--- Supersetted with --- Hamstring Curl:
12x42.5kg
10x42.5kg @ 7.5
10x42.5kg @ 9.5
2 minute rests between supersets
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
After a 4am F1 race yesterday morning I was ready for bed pretty early and slept like a log last night - was pretty tired and groggy this morning. Considered skipping again but really didn't want to let deadlifts mentally beat me again so I drank some coffee and had at it.
Training Notes:
Decided (last night) that maybe I'd work up to something a little heavier before the work sets today, and figured I'd start at 190kg since this is my old sumo 1RM (from October 2019 no less). It moved quickly enough, maybe RPE 6-7 at the most, so who knows where I'd be now. Dropped back and did some fairly light sets of eight with a bit more weight than the sixes last time out. Still having major issues scraping my right thigh and causing skin irritation, though - hopefully I will adapt or figure out a way around it.
Did some high bar squats after that, again quite light, because I hate squatting after deadlifting. Even light squats for me are never 'easy' exactly but that last set felt pretty good, nice and smooth, reasonably dialled in, last rep slowed down a tiny bit but not a great deal.
Some squeeze presses and hamstring curls to finish. Presses were easy and shoudler felt pretty good (elbows less so, but nothing too annoying). The last set of hamstring curls felt like it was pretty short at the end.
All done in 55 minutes - much better than last deadlift session, just pleased to get it done.
Footage (with muted sound so our friends in Russia can still watch it, ):
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Slept super well again, but again not enough, least it's Wednesday and I'll take a day off lifting tomorrow.
Weight is spiking this week, which is rather strange, I've been eating completely normally and my waist is actually down a bit over last week, so eh. Doesn't look like I'll be hitting that 85.x kilo average this week that's all, might just have to wait a bit longer. Or I could just give up and bulk, still might happen.
Training Notes:
Shoulder was tight again and benching generally felt a bit shit, the medium grip stuff perhaps less so, but even then this is probably as heavy as I should go with these for now.
Kept weight the same for the rows, just didn't feel like pushing much, the last set was probably a little more difficult than last week too.
I added some weight to the triceps work though, and dropped back to twelves, they felt reasonably easy so I did manage to push the last set a bit harder there.
Just staying conservative with the dumbbell presses and maintaining the same load, the last set felt a little bit easier than last week, but I did take a slightly longer rest between sets too.
Just some lazy pullovers to finish, hard enough I guess - maybe easier than last week but who can tell, really.
Finished in 47 minutes, not a terribly difficult session, and a good way to round out the week (for now).
I have no idea what's happening with my weight this week, it's up like 0.7kg on average despite me changing nothing about my diet. That said, I've been pretty anxious about some life stuff and my digestive system has been pretty funky the last few days so maybe I'm just generally inflamed? It's not stressing me out because I'm not binging and my body comp is fine (better than it has been for ages, really) but it's just curious.
It might be related, but I turned off all my alarms last night with the intention of sleeping until I woke up naturally, and then training and starting work late. But I woke up at 4:45am with my mind racing over the aforementioned stuff, and my stomach was being annoying so I didn't feel very keen on squatting, and I ended up just having a lazy morning instead. Wasn't sure if I'd lift but ultimately a window opened in my schedule (and my stomach settled down, mostly) so I got out to the gym after 4pm and attempted a session.
Training Notes:
Squatting felt mostly ok to start off with, so I went a little heavier with the top set today and did a triple instead of a double. It didn't move all that well and caused a bit of hip annoyance. But I went back and did sixes with the same weight as last week and that third set felt good and fast enough that I did a fourth.
Kept the bench work at the same weight as last week (as per my notes) and much the same as last week felt pretty good through set two, but the third was a little challenging. Maybe I could add some load, it didn't hurt but was certainly popping and clicking.
No load increase on the deadlifts either, but I probably could have. I had a rep or two left in my grip at the end, and probably at least two or three in my legs so they weren't that hard. There's always straps, too. Or a barbell.
Dropped load a touch for the rows to keep the intensity a bit more sensible. After the second set I wondered if it was enough, but the third was no harder so it was fine, not as difficult as last week.
Cable crunches to finish, managed an extra heavier set this week but that third one started to get a bit short, it felt really noticeable how much more ROM I got after the load drop. Pushed those lighter sets quite hard, until they got short again, this is probably a volume PR I suspect.
This ended up taking 69 (giggity) minutes so a bit longer than usual but it was good to work off some stress and anxiety.
Dumbbell LTE:
12x40lb / hand
12x40lb / hand @ 6.5
12x40lb / hand @ 9.5
2 minute rests
Lying Leg Extension:
10x70kg
10x70kg
12x70kg
2 minute rests
Footage:
Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:
Just didn't feel that motivated to train yesterday so took a rest day, and probably ate a bit more too - the wife baked cookies. Slept super well both nights. Not feeling particularly happy this morning still, but had a lazy start to the day and got out to train mid morning.
Training Notes:
Changing it up this week and doing rear delts first because Lee Priest said so, and while the shoulder was tight to start out as usual, the last set was probably easier than last week, fatigue is a thing.
Bench time after that - decided to push up to three figures for the first time in who knows how long (looked it up - over 5 months, early August apparently). Warmups felt better than last week I think, the double felt heavy but looked fine and the work sets all felt good enough that I took the third set to ten reps. Might do a couple of heavier sets next week and see how it goes.
Did the flys with the same weight as last week and really wasn't much different, not too hard.
Lat pulldowns definitely felt much harder than last week, I can only put it down to doing those reverse flys earlier. Did a fourth hard set because I wanted to add something.
Triceps work was a bit better than last week, I managed to get the twelves for sets across that I missed last time, with a little bit in the tank.
Then I did some leg extensions, added 2.5kg from last week and dropped back to tens, but they felt easy enough I pushed to twelve from the last set.
All up this took 61 minutes, it was a pretty clock punchy session but it was something. Maybe I'll deadlift tomorrow, maybe I won't, my care factor is kinda gone at this point.
Meh, this is not what was programmed for this session, but I've been struck down with a bad case of the doldrums. Woke up yesterday morning and completely noped out on the deadlift session, but I got close to 9 hours of sleep, so there's that.... didn't even bother thinking about training this morning, figured I'd just have a few days off. But work was quiet enough for me to shut down a bit after 4pm and head out to the gym. Figured I'd just do something easy and not worry too much about what.
Training Notes:
Just body weight lunges because my hip has been annoyed after the heavier squats the other day. 25 per leg to start, went a little longer with the third set. Got a little bit sweaty and a bit of a quad burn but they were very easy.
Took the weight that was on the dumbbells and did some easy sets, had some minor tightness and clicking in my shoulder but didn't hurt.
Light back work and hamstrings, all very easy. Then some sit ups to finish, with a slightly harder third set.
All done in 43 minutes, got a little bit of a sweat on but this was about RPE 4. Nice and easy.
augeleven wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:04 am
Hoping things are ok
Thanks. They (sort of) are. I have such a laundry list of injuries I kinda decided just to do some easy stuff for a while and haven't been logging it here.
augeleven wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:04 am
Hoping things are ok
Thanks. They (sort of) are. I have such a laundry list of injuries I kinda decided just to do some easy stuff for a while and haven't been logging it here.
I hope you figure out a way to work around your injuries and get better.
Huh. Can't believe it's been almost 3 months since I logged anything here.
Still training. Dropped back to 3 days a week for a while, but aside from a couple of short breaks (5-7 days) due to work travel and renovations at home, I've stayed consistent with it even if I haven't really been pushing myself super hard. Shoulder is... not exactly healed, there is still some tightness there, but I'm mostly benching without pain and I've pushed up as high as a 110kg single last week. My hip is feeling a little better, and I'm squatting a couple of times a week, but strength isn't where it used to be and I'm just trying to do what I can without irritating it.
I have only logged up until the 30th of May on my blog, but will try and get some uninterrupted time over the next few days to bring it up to date and copypasta here so it's complete. Our new kitchen went in this week, so hopefully the bulk of the bigger jobs are out of the way and I can get back to some sort of normality, training wise.
BenM wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 7:17 pm
Huh. Can't believe it's been almost 3 months since I logged anything here.
Still training. Dropped back to 3 days a week for a while, but aside from a couple of short breaks (5-7 days) due to work travel and renovations at home, I've stayed consistent with it even if I haven't really been pushing myself super hard. Shoulder is... not exactly healed, there is still some tightness there, but I'm mostly benching without pain and I've pushed up as high as a 110kg single last week. My hip is feeling a little better, and I'm squatting a couple of times a week, but strength isn't where it used to be and I'm just trying to do what I can without irritating it.
I have only logged up until the 30th of May on my blog, but will try and get some uninterrupted time over the next few days to bring it up to date and copypasta here so it's complete. Our new kitchen went in this week, so hopefully the bulk of the bigger jobs are out of the way and I can get back to some sort of normality, training wise.
MarkKO wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 1:56 am
Good to hear you're doing OK.
New kitchen huh? How'd it turn out?
And downstairs laundry / toilet at the same time, too. That room was just gonna be a little freshen up job, then we discovered the walls and ceiling were asbestos sheet, so decided to take it all lout and fix it properly. Fun times.
The plumbing and electrical were only done yesterday so it's only been functional for a day, and there's a whole bunch of changes I'll have to get used to (layout, new appliances, etc) but first impressions are really good. Wife has been going Marie Kondo organising stuff all day and since I do most of the cooking and dishes, I'm completely lost, haha.
MarkKO wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 1:56 am
Good to hear you're doing OK.
New kitchen huh? How'd it turn out?
And downstairs laundry / toilet at the same time, too. That room was just gonna be a little freshen up job, then we discovered the walls and ceiling were asbestos sheet, so decided to take it all lout and fix it properly. Fun times.
The plumbing and electrical were only done yesterday so it's only been functional for a day, and there's a whole bunch of changes I'll have to get used to (layout, new appliances, etc) but first impressions are really good. Wife has been going Marie Kondo organising stuff all day and since I do most of the cooking and dishes, I'm completely lost, haha.
Often the way, I've rarely seen a kitchen only. I think a lot of the time places won't want to do a kitchen by itself as well because it isn't worthwhile. You make more doing a larger job, or at least it costs less.
MarkKO wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 1:56 am
Good to hear you're doing OK.
New kitchen huh? How'd it turn out?
And downstairs laundry / toilet at the same time, too. That room was just gonna be a little freshen up job, then we discovered the walls and ceiling were asbestos sheet, so decided to take it all lout and fix it properly. Fun times.
The plumbing and electrical were only done yesterday so it's only been functional for a day, and there's a whole bunch of changes I'll have to get used to (layout, new appliances, etc) but first impressions are really good. Wife has been going Marie Kondo organising stuff all day and since I do most of the cooking and dishes, I'm completely lost, haha.
Often the way, I've rarely seen a kitchen only. I think a lot of the time places won't want to do a kitchen by itself as well because it isn't worthwhile. You make more doing a larger job, or at least it costs less.
I think they would have, but it was kind helpful to get it all done at once, apart from the inconvenience factor.
KarlM wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 9:14 pm
Hey @BenM, I just started logging too after an extended absence. Looking forward to following along
And welcome back to you too! Hope you're doing well.
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