Mike's “I don’t really feel like lifting weights now “ Log

[DanCR]

Seated DL

What are these?

The RFE split squats are a reminder of what an uncoordinated human being I am.

Always. I whip these out every few years and it’s a total joke. I never end up doing them a second time. Which of course means they’re something that I should do, but… no care.

[MikeMullany]

Hey Dan. They might be called wheelchair deadlifts also. Basically a lower back accessory that Andy Baker would program. First time trying them and good for the home gym.

[DanCR]

Hey Dan. They might be called wheelchair deadlifts also. Basically a lower back accessory that Andy Baker would program. First time trying them and good for the home gym.

Interesting. That might be something that I’d try as a substitute for good mornings, which make me nervous. Ha, not that I’m doing them right now either, but in the future.

[MikeMullany]

Yeah, I’ve never been able to get a feel for GM’s either. The seated DL’s had me very sore in the glutes the past few days.

Tuesday May 14, 2024

Paused Bench
Bar x 10,10,10
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 2
175 lbs x 2
185 lbs x 2
195 lbs x 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (8 x 2, 60 seconds)

Strict Press
Bar x 5,5,5
65 lbs x 5
85 lbs x 5
95 lbs x 5
105 lbs x 5
110 lbs x 5

Lat Pulldown
100 lbs x 8,8,8,8,14

BB Curl
45 lbs x 8,8,8

Push Ups
BW x 20,20

[MikeMullany]

Wednesday May 15, 2024

Paused Pin Squat
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 2
225 lbs x 1
275 lbs x 1
295 lbs x 1
250 lbs x 3,3,3

Lying Leg Curl
50 lbs x 10,10,10

Leg Extension
50 lbs x 12,12,12

Incline Treadmill Walk
30 minutes, moderate

[MikeMullany]

Sunday May 19, 2024

Hike
Pine Meadow Lake Loop, Harriman St Pk
7.66 miles
1,379’ Ascent
4:22

Notes: First ‘training’ hike of the year. Nice to get out and stretch the legs a bit. Saw 2 large black snakes. Signs in the park warned of Timber and copperhead rattlesnakes. My wife saw the tail of one slither into the woods. Have done this hike 3 times and never saw that warning. I felt pretty good for the first hike of the season, and we had a pretty good pace. Bugs were bad so no stopping for lunch.

[MikeMullany]

Monday May 20, 2024

Paused Floor Press
Bar x 10,10,10
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 4
175 lbs x 3
185 lbs x 2
195 lbs x 1
205 lbs x 1
215 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 1
235 lbs x 1
185 lbs x 5,5,5

DB Floor Fly
20 lbs x 10
25 lbs x 10
30 lbs x 15

Pendlay Rows
185 lbs x 8
205 lbs x 8
225 lbs x 8

Facepulls
X 15,15,15

EZ Bar French Press
75 lbs x 8,8,8

[Clearwater47]

Looks like a solid session.

Pardon me for asking rather than looking back over the last few months of your log, but what kind of programming are you doing right now? Almost looks like Conjugate, but I'm not sure if that's intentional or not...

I love me some Floor Presses. I don't even know if they really help me, but I just enjoy them.
Never thought of doing Floor Fly's. What are your thoughts on this exercise? Is it something you've done in the past and benefitted from? Or are just trying different things out right now?

[DanCR]

Looks like a solid session.

Pardon me for asking rather than looking back over the last few months of your log, but what kind of programming are you doing right now? Almost looks like Conjugate, but I'm not sure if that's intentional or not...

I love me some Floor Presses. I don't even know if they really help me, but I just enjoy them.
Never thought of doing Floor Fly's. What are your thoughts on this exercise? Is it something you've done in the past and benefitted from? Or are just trying different things out right now?

You may want to also put this query to @dlocas7 - he is the floor presser extraordinaire.

[MikeMullany]

Hey @Clearwater47. Thanks, yes it was a solid session and yes I am using Conjugate programming. I was in Andy Bakers group for a while, and have been defaulting to this when I don’t want to think about what to do. I recently joined a gym again so I could have access to machines and heavy dumbells to follow more closely. This was done at home though.

I feel the same way about floor presses. I like them, but don’t think they add anything g special. Just a slightly different stress that may be helpful when ‘maxing out’ as this was an ME session. First time doing the floor Flyes, so I’ll hold off on offering g an opinion on them. I will need a little more weight for them though.

Not sure Conjugate is the best option for me now. Lifting will be inconsistent as it tends to be in the summer. Golf and hiking tend to take priority now. I usually resort to more of a 1@8, then 5 sets of 4 set up as a holding pattern.

[dlocas7]

I love me some Floor Presses. I don't even know if they really help me, but I just enjoy them.
Never thought of doing Floor Fly's. What are your thoughts on this exercise? Is it something you've done in the past and benefitted from? Or are just trying different things out right now?

You may want to also put this query to @dlocas7 - he is the floor presser extraordinaire.

Floor Press done with a narrow grip has helped me put on size on my arms, shoulders and pectorals as well. It doesn't really have direct carryover to my overhead pressing (may be different for other lifters), but it probably has some indirect carryover to other upper-body lifts = once you get a solid movement pattern, then you may get a boost from the extra muscle mass. I do them off blocks starting off bottom, shoulder width, and I've never done more than 295 lbs sucessfully (attempted 300).

[MikeMullany]

In the past I’d always done them with a close grip and do like that better. These were done bench width.

Wednesday May 22, 2014

Paused HB Squat
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 3
185 lbs x 2
205 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 3,3,3,3,3,3 ( 6x 3, 75-90 seconds)

Speed DL
135 lbs x 5
225 lbs x 2
275 lbs x 1
275 + 30 lbs chains x 1
275 + 60 lbs chains x 2,2,2,2 (4 x 2, 60 seconds)

Banded GM
X 20,20,20

Notes: Done at home. Cons, no real assistance work. Pros, drinking a beer during it.

[DanCR]

Notes: Done at home. Cons, no real assistance work. Pros, drinking a beer during it.

Beer seems to keep popping up before and after my sessions lately, but I lift at a commercial gym and don’t have the opportunity for peri-session brews. I wish that I did lol.

[MikeMullany]

It’s great. I used to keep some whiskey in there too, but have t done that in a while.

Sunday May 26, 2024

HB Squat
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 3
225 lbs x 2
275 lbs x 1
285 lbs x 1
250 lbs x 3
235 lbs x 4,4

Bench
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 5
185 lbs x 1
205 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 1
170 lbs x 5,5,5,5,5 (5x5, 90 seconds)

Lat Pulldowns (Myo-Reps)
100 lbs x 15,5,3

[MikeMullany]

Tuesday May 28, 2024

Press
Bar x 5,5,5
65 lbs x 5
85 lbs x 5
95 lbs x 5
105 lbs x 4
115 lbs x 3
125 lbs x 2
135 lbs x F WTF
135 lbs x F WTF
95 lbs x 4,4,4,4,4

Triceps Pressdown
50 lbs x 20,15,10

Hammer Curls
15 lbs x 20,15,10

Band Pull-aparts
X 20,20,15

Notes: Not sure what happened on the top press single. Have t really been training g the press heavy, but I’d always thought 135 was an ‘anytime’ weight for me. Pretty sure I let the first single get out in front too much. Maybe I did it with the second as well. Anyway, backed down more than I planned just to get some volume in. Did the other stuff as a circuit

[MikeMullany]

Thursday May 30, 2024

HB Squat
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 5
225 lbs x 5,5,5

Bench
Bar x 7,7,7
135 lbs x 7
160 lbs x 7,7,7,7,7 (5x7, 90 seconds)

DL
135 lbs x 3
225 lbs x 2
315 lbs x 1
365 lbs x 1
325 lbs x 3

[MikeMullany]

Tuesday June 4, 2024

HB Squat
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 3
185 lbs x 2
225 lbs x 1
245 lbs x 1@7
225 lbs x 1,1,1

Bench
Bar x 5,5,5
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 4
175 lbs x 3
185 lbs x 2
195 lbs x 1@7
135 lbs x 5,5,5,5,5

Notes: Motivation to lift weights is at an all time low. Body is achy. Feeling very fatigued of late. I was away upstate this weekend doing some volunteer trailwork which was hard, but should not have me feeling this way. Have been working a lot of OT. Not even sure why I went into the garage yesterday. I think it was mostly out of habit. I did want to attempt and be very honest with the RPE and see where my strength levels were for this particular day. Haven’t done any cardio in a while. Running has no appeal at all. Just feeling very blah. I don’t even seem to be looking forward to some upcoming hikes, and that is very new. The hassle to pack and fight traffic to get up there is just something I don’t want to deal with. I’ve been down this road before, except the hiking part. Just venting out loud. I guess this is what some may call ‘journaling’.

[DanCR]

Notes: Motivation to lift weights is at an all time low. Body is achy. Feeling very fatigued of late. I was away upstate this weekend doing some volunteer trailwork which was hard, but should not have me feeling this way. Have been working a lot of OT. Not even sure why I went into the garage yesterday. I think it was mostly out of habit. I did want to attempt and be very honest with the RPE and see where my strength levels were for this particular day. Haven’t done any cardio in a while. Running has no appeal at all. Just feeling very blah. I don’t even seem to be looking forward to some upcoming hikes, and that is very new. The hassle to pack and fight traffic to get up there is just something I don’t want to deal with. I’ve been down this road before, except the hiking part. Just venting out loud. I guess this is what some may call ‘journaling’.

I dunno if you'd feel just as blah about this, but it may be a good time to just do some bodyweight / calisthenics work a few times per week and give yourself a well-earned, guilt-free break from lifting weights and from time-consuming and / or intense cardio. As I've mentioned ad nauseum around here, I had a bodyweight only training phase that lasted several years, and it was the most enjoyable period of training that I've ever had. At least once a week I wonder why I don't just go back to that. (I know why - deep seated issues causing me to want to be "big.")

[MikeMullany]

Thanks Dan, that’s a really good idea. And I hadn’t thought of it, but you are right, there is an element of guilt that pushes me into the gym when I do t want to. At this point, I’m not looking to PR anything, or get big. I’m just trying to hang on to what I’ve got.

What did your calisthenics WO’s look like?

[DanCR]

Thanks Dan, that’s a really good idea. And I hadn’t thought of it, but you are right, there is an element of guilt that pushes me into the gym when I do t want to. At this point, I’m not looking to PR anything, or get big. I’m just trying to hang on to what I’ve got.

What did your calisthenics WO’s look like?

For a long time I had no equipment at all and was doing them in my apartment, and so what I did was a circuit of:

- Pullups on a door, meaning the door itself, not the frame (my grip isn't nearly that strong lol). I weighed less than I do now and never was worried about damaging the door, and would hang a doubled over towel over the top to avoid hand discomfort. The friction of my body against the door made these very hard/effective.
- Pushups, usually with some sort of tempo/pause scheme to make them harder such that I never went over 10 reps
- Bodyweight squats, again with some tempo/pause scheme, but in this case trying to keep the reps below 20. I sometimes did these "Hindu style" up on my toes.
- Sit ups

There were periods when I was feeling rowdy when I also utilized pistols (again, I weighed a lot less haha) and handstand pushups (against a wall, not freestanding). I started working on one arm pushups but was lazy about doing an actual progression and never got beyond being able to do a couple of them.

At one point I got concerned about the total lack of spinal loading and bought a 50 lb. KB and added one set of high rep squats using it.

Finished up every session with jumping jacks, again for one high rep set, usually 100 but sometimes more.