Sweat Saga, a training log

[SaviorSelf]

Looking diesel, @SaviorSelf.

Thanks! I sometimes take pics or think I look jacked in a clip of me lifting, then I see a youtube video of a pro lifter and then think I look like a toothpick lol

I've mostly been maintaining my weight (with some slight ups and downs) for quite a while, if it was easier for me to keep eating food I'd probably be bulking right now

Best feeling ever when you take weight that should be somewhat challenging and it moves like it's an empty bar.

I use straps when doing Hammer Curls sometimes and it always surprises me how much it helps me get more out of the movement.

Yup, I've sort of been sandbagging my squats, by not letting them progress too much compared to my deadlift. I figured otherwise the intensity of squats would cannibalize the effort I can put into other lifts. I really want to put some heavy weight on the bar though


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Today's workout was pretty good:

Squats:
warm ups
300x5
300x5
300x5

easy

OHP:
warmups
205x1
135x15

Felt like I could have done reps with the 205, but was just planning to do a heavy single rep

Deadlift
warm ups
295x3

More reps than last time (3 vs 1) but my grip still failed me. On the 3rd rep, the bar rolled down to my fingertips in my left hand but I still completed the rep. On the 4th rep it just fell out of my hand on the way up

Lumbar curl:
135x5
185x5

Barbell curl:
95x5
135x5
145x8

Pretty sure I was starting to get tunnel vision/black out on the last few reps with 145

Wrist curl:
45x8
85x5
95x8

Fly Press:
45s x 8
65s x 9

1 arm hangs (grip)
right hand: 7 seconds
left hand: 5 seconds

this tracks cause the bar fell out of my left hand in deadlifts. But making progress

[Clearwater47]

Glad to see that the shoulder's doing well. A 205 OHP is no joke.
Grip strength should even out if you keep doing dedicated work for it.

[SaviorSelf]

Glad to see that the shoulder's doing well. A 205 OHP is no joke.
Grip strength should even out if you keep doing dedicated work for it.

Thanks, yeah shoulder really feeling much better. I've always read that grip strength can be built quickly


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Squat:
warm up sets
275x1
315x1
345x1
375x1
405x1 (vid)

No work sets, I didn't want to move up cause I'm waiting on my deadlift

Bench:
warm up sets
275x5
275x5
275x5

first 2 sets felt easy, but on the 3rd it felt like my back was getting tired of keeping things "tight"

Gonna stop increasing bench 10lbs per workout, just 5lbs per now on


DB rows (weight per hand):
65x8
85x8
125x8

Was gonna do some more things, but getting headache

I didn't do any forearm/grip work, but measured my forearms flexed, just under 14 inches at the widest part:

405 squat single:

[Clearwater47]

Great squat! Definitely had more there if you had wanted to push it. But I agree that pushing hard on squats would affect deads.

[DanCR]

Great squat! Definitely had more there if you had wanted to push it.

+1

I wish that I could set up with that narrow a grip without issues.

[SaviorSelf]

Thanks! Next workout gonna try some deads again


Today went to the cheap big box gym, did some random machines, not particularly hard. Hamstrings, shoulders, pec fly, rear delts. Then did the jacobs ladder for a couple minutes

Hate working out here. Very crowded, and the average age of the gym-goer seems to be about 20 years old. Lots of kids that must still be in highschool. Someone should really make a 30 and up gym. And one that's not so crowded. I guess that's the equinox/lifetime gyms cause they're so expensive it keeps the kids out

Anyway, I'm scoping out buying a new house, and it would have a bigger/more useful basement than the one I have now. Could do some improvements on my equipment at home with that space

[Clearwater47]

I guess that's the equinox/lifetime gyms cause they're so expensive it keeps the kids out.

Yep - definitely an older crowd. You don't have as many high school and college aged kids. But the likelihood of having an old dude in the locker room using the hair dryer to dry his private parts is exponentially higher. So pick your poison I guess, lmao.

Good luck with the house hunting!

[SaviorSelf]

Yep - definitely an older crowd. You don't have as many high school and college aged kids. But the likelihood of having an old dude in the locker room using the hair dryer to dry his private parts is exponentially higher. So pick your poison I guess, lmao.

Good luck with the house hunting!

Well, that house was kind of a dud. Two rants:

• The photography they use in real estate listings now is absolutely unhinged and MLSs need to put some restrictions on it. They're using these weird camera lenses that distort the pictures, making rooms look way bigger than they actually are. You can notice it if you see an object dead on, and then in another photo its on the wall sideways. For example, an oven dead on will be perfectly square. Then in another picture the oven is on the side, and it appears 3 times wide as it is tall. Then they digitally enhance the colors, remove smudges etc. They can make a little crack shack look like the Taj Mahal
• Most agents are absolutely useless and its insane they get the commissions they do. I met the listing agent there and one of the first things she said was that the sellers "replaced the cast iron supply lines from the street" "....umm your thinking the drain lines, not the supply lines" "well its what the sellers told me, cast iron something and to the street". Then in the basement I can clearly see the main stack, cast iron, and going out the basement walls

Anyway, that basement would have been wholly unsuitable. The ceiling height would have been too short

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Great workout today:

Squat:
45x5, 3 sets (extreme deload, sandbagging etc)

Bench:
warm up sets
280x5, 3 sets
(the third set was the easiest, and the first rep of that set felt weightless)

Deadlift:
warm ups
395x5
(got all 5 finally! My grip barely made it through, on the 5th rep the weight rolled down to my fingertips at the start, my thumb had no contact with the weight at all)

Dead hangs, 1 arm:
10 seconds per arm. Much improvement

Wrist curls:
45x5
85x5
105x5

Chins:
8

Lateral DB raises:
25s x8, 2 sets

[SaviorSelf]

Seated barbell OHP:
warm up sets
200x4
135x16

Incline fly press:
25s x8
45s x8
65s x8

Seated DB curls:
25s x8
45s x8
65s x5

Lumbar curls:
135x8
155x10
185x8

Pullups:
10

[SaviorSelf]

Seated barbell OHP:
warm up sets
200x4
135x16

Incline fly press:
25s x8
45s x8
65s x8

Seated DB curls:
25s x8
45s x8
65s x5

Lumbar curls:
135x8
155x10
185x8

Pullups:
10

[DanCR]

Seated DB curls:
25s x8
45s x8
65s x5

Goddamn, dude.

[SaviorSelf]

Goddamn, dude.

Thanks, I'm really feeling it from that workout still lol. Lats, pecs, shoulders are all very sore, so much so that I don't think I should try and lift today

Did about 25 minutes brisk incline walk on treadmill. Bodyweight right at 205 after the walk

[SaviorSelf]

200mg ibuprofen preworkout cause my body was feeling a little cranky

Stimulants and painkillers preworkout, chocolate milk and protein shakes postworkout, what could go wrong...

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Squat:
warm ups
305x5
305x5
305x5

Bench:
warm ups
285x5
285x5
285x5

Heavy ass barbell rows (with belt & straps):
225x8
295x8
315x8
335x8

Pullups (with straps):
10

Dead hangs, one arm:
13 seconds right arm, 12 seconds left arm

Right arm could've held longer but my body started to rotate too much

[DanCR]

Stimulants and painkillers preworkout, chocolate milk and protein shakes postworkout, what could go wrong...

Congratulations, sir. You have wrested the Bro Post of the Week title away from @lheugh this week.

[Clearwater47]

Stimulants and painkillers preworkout, chocolate milk and protein shakes postworkout, what could go wrong...

Congratulations, sir. You have wrested the Bro Post of the Week title away from @lheugh this week.

And here I thought I had some good fuel today...

Good stuff Savior. I'm always impressed by your BB Rows. 335x8 is no joke!

[DanCR]

Stimulants and painkillers preworkout, chocolate milk and protein shakes postworkout, what could go wrong...

Congratulations, sir. You have wrested the Bro Post of the Week title away from @lheugh this week.

And here I thought I had some good fuel today...

Good stuff Savior. I'm always impressed by your BB Rows. 335x8 is no joke!

It’s fucking crazy.

[SaviorSelf]

Thanks but y'all should know I'm doing these rows Ronnie Coleman style, not super strict pendlay type rows. Like this:

I've really been focusing on rows the past few months cause I think they're helping keep my shoulders healthy from benching. Still have hopes I can set another bench press PR soon, and I need good shoulders to do that

I used to try to do rows really strict but I only felt them in my low back and biceps. So much so that I couldn't do them often cause my lower back couldn't take the stress from rows, deadlifts, and squats. Doing them Ronnie's way I feel them in my traps, lats, rear delts, and not in my low back or biceps. Would really recommend trying them this way

[Clearwater47]

I hear you, but still...

Also, I agree that BB rows are better performed in this fashion. It may be partially (or even largely) a personal thing, but they just don't feel right when doing them strict.