alek’s log

[alek]

2/21/23 Tuesday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
188.9 & 34.84

Leg Curl
165 x 8 x 3
Under 4 minutes

SSB
290 x 8 @ 6,6,7; e1rm = 426
Under 8 minutes

TnG Bench
175 x 8 @ 7.5,8.5,10; e1rm = 242
Under 7 minutes.

RDL
275 x 8 @ 6,7,8
Under 7 minutes.

DB Fly
30's x 8 x 2
35's x 8 @ 8

Lateral Raise
Superset; rest pause
15's x 15
10's x 15

Rear Lateral Raise
Superset
15's x 15
15's x 15

DB Biceps Curl
Rest pause
25's x 15,13

Triceps Pushdown
66 x 15,5,5, 5,5,4
Myoreps

Session Length
1:21

Notes
Not sure what I'm going to do with the pulling slot on Mondays. I'm done with the sets at 20 for now, and I'm not sure if the RDLs did anything for my legs today. I might switch to Good Mornings or something. I could have also started them too heavy.

Today I was a participant/guinea pig for my wife as she was teaching a Stop the Bleed certification course to her students today. As part of the certification, the students had to point to a person and say, "You. Call 911, bring a first aid kit, and come back!" One of the students pointed to me during his certification and said, "You, jacked guy in the gray t-shirt. Call 911 and bring me a first aid kit!"

That was nice.

[broseph]

Today I was a participant/guinea pig for my wife as she was teaching a Stop the Bleed certification course to her students today. As part of the certification, the students had to point to a person and say, "You. Call 911, bring a first aid kit, and come back!" One of the students pointed to me during his certification and said, "You, jacked guy in the gray t-shirt. Call 911 and bring me a first aid kit!"

That was nice.

#winning

[DCR]

- A dude incline bench press 585. Not a typo.

I don't think I would know how to comprehend seeing that.

To be fair the guy was lineman size, easily somewhere over three bills, so the press was something less than two times bodyweight. But… still.

He asked for a spot from a young dude who I knew from lifting at the place. Afterward I asked the kid what the fuck he was planning to do if the guy couldn’t handle the rep. Admitted he had no idea.

[alek]

2/24/23 Friday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
189.9 & 35.02

Leg Curl
170 x 8 x 3
Under 4 minutes.

Paused Squat
295 x 4 @ 6,6
315 x 4 @ 6
315 x 8 @ 10; e1rm = 401
Under 10 minutes.

SlingShot Bench
225 x 4 @ 7,7,8

TnG Bench
225 x 2 @ 9
Under 7 minutes.

Paused Deadlift
275 x 3
Fatigued from the squats.

Session Length
???

Notes
That set of 8 fatigued my back pretty good, so I cut the session short. I'll probably do some bro stuff at home today. My routine has been off all this week, and it makes me feel weird. Next week should be normal, and the week after that will be weird again.

I should max out the lying leg curl next Friday. That's somethin'.

[alek]

2/27/23 Monday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
190 & 35.07

Leg Curl
175 x 8 x 3
Under 4 minutes

SSB
290 x 8 @ 7,7,8; e1rm = 410
Under 8 minutes

TnG Bench
185 x 5 @ 6.5,6.5,7, 7.5,8; e1rm = 239
160 x 5 @ 6
Under 11 minutes.

Deficit Deadlift
2" deficit
275 x 4 x 4
Just getting my feet wet with this again.

Flexion Cable Row
121 x 12,12

DB Fly
30's x 8 x 2
35's x 8 @ 8

Cable Y Raises
25 x 10,10

Session Length
1:28

Notes
Will do some bro work later.

[alek]

2/28/23 Tuesday [Training?]

Dead Hangs
40 seconds
30 seconds
20 seconds
20 seconds
10 seconds

Notes
Decided to give this a go since I've got a pullup bar in the garage and it's easy to do. We'll see how long that lasts.

[Conditioning]

Peloton
6.18 miles in 20 minutes

Notes
I really should be doing more cardio, especially when bulking. I'm going to try to keep this in a low intensity zone for a while to build a base, so to speak.

[alek]

3/1/23 Wednesday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
190.1 & 35.13

Comp Squat
365 x 3 @ 7,7.5,8, 8; e1rm = 436

Comp Bench
205 x 3 @ 8,8,8, 9; e1rm = 237

Comp Deadlift
405 x 1,1,1 @ 7,8,8; e1rm = 484
315 x 1,1,1 @ 5.5

Lat Pulldown
121 x 12
143 x 10,8

SBD Total
975

Session Length
1:21

Notes
Went pretty well today. I think I need just a bit more depth on squats. Bench is weak. I tried resetting for every rep on deadlift, taking about 5 seconds between reps. I saw that in an Alan Thrall video from a few days ago as a way to get more setup practice. It went all right.

[Renascent]

I think I need just a bit more depth on squats.

Why so?

[alek]

I think I need just a bit more depth on squats.

Why so?

They don’t look quite to depth to me. They look okay to you?

[Renascent]

I think I need just a bit more depth on squats.

Why so?

They don’t look quite to depth to me. They look okay to you?

Yep. Deep enough, and then some.

As a disclaimer, I've never squatted in a competitive setting, but I suspect others will agree.

[broseph]

They look good from here too.

You can trust me. Because I don't care enough about you to lie.

[Renascent]

See? Told you.

[DCR]

I think I need just a bit more depth on squats.

Why so?

They don’t look quite to depth to me. They look okay to you?

Yep. Deep enough, and then some.

As a disclaimer, I've never squatted in a competitive setting, but I suspect others will agree.

That. Not even slightly debatable.

[alek]

@DCR, @Renascent, @broseph

Thanks, gentlemen!

They look good from here too.

You can trust me. Because I don't care enough about you to lie.

I immediately thought of this.

[alek]

3/2/23 Thursday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
190 & 35.14

DB Fly
35's x 8 x 3

CGBP
185 x 2 @ 7
155 x 8,8
135 x 8

Chest-Supported Row
70 x 8,8,8
45 x 8

Upright Row
Rest pause
75 x 15,15
65 x 15

Hack Squat Calf Raise
Rest Pause
Sled + 90 x 15,15,15

DB Lateral Raise
Superset; rest pause
15's x 15
10's x 15

DB Rear Lateral Raise
Superset
15's x 15
15's x 15

DB Biceps Curl
Rest pause
25's x 15,15

Triceps Pushdown
Myoreps
66 x 15,5,5, 5,5,5

Crunch Machine
50 x 10 x 3

Session Length
1:18

[alek]

3/3/23 Friday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
189.8 & 35.2

Leg Curl
180 x 8 x 3
Under 4 minutes.

Paused Squat
295 x 4 @ 6,6
315 x 4 @ 6,6; e1rm = 401
Under 10 minutes.

TnG Bench
175 x 7 x 5
Under 10 minutes.

Paused Deadlift
275 x 4
295 x 4
315 x 4
335 x 4 @ 6
Under 10 minutes.

Session Length
???

Notes
Had to do this session at the buttcrack of dawn today, and now I'm tired.

I should max out the lying leg curl next Friday. That's somethin'.

I forgot about the little switch that adds 5 pounds, so I've got that to go.

[alek]

3/8/23 Wednesday [Training]

AMBW & Umbilicus (7-day)
190.1 & 35.2

Leg Curl
185 x 8 x 3
Under 4 minutes

Leg Press
Sled + 360 x 8 @ 5.5
Sled + 450 x 8 @ 6,7
Under 7 minutes

Machine Chest Press
100 x 8 @ 7,6,7
80 x 8 @ 7
Under 8 minutes.

Barbell Hip Thrust
135 x 8 x 4 @ 5.5
Slimy, yet satisfying.

Lat Pulldown
Slow eccentric
121 x 10
143 x 10,7

Session Length
0:56

Notes
Out of town since last Friday, so did the hypertrophy workout today. With respect to minimizing lowback fatigue, today's workout was a success. Now let's see if it gets me some hypertrophy.

Hangin' in there
BW x 30 seconds x 5 rounds

[Conditioning]

Peloton
6.37 miles in 20 minutes

Breathe It In
PowerBreathe Setting 0
17 cmH[math]_2[/math]O x 6 x 5

[alek]

The tl;dr is that I'm taking a break from it because I probably went too hard too quickly with it.

The long version is that I recently had a heart "thing". The best way I can describe it is that it felt like a hiccup, but my heart instead of my lungs. My rhythm would be normal and then I would feel one, and only one, slower and stronger beat. Then rhythm would return to normal. It started the evening after I had done one of the sandbag calf carries; I had also been lp'ing the powerbreathe I had, and it had gotten difficult to complete the 30 breaths without stopping. The "hiccup" happened several times a day, but never on back to back beats.

Went to the doctor; EKG was clean other than I have an RSR(V1) abnormality, which the doc said happens in athletes or is a precursor to RBBB. They don't think I have RBBB. One possibility is that the RSR(V1) is causing a re-polarization of the heart, which is causing that lone stronger beat. Anyway, it didn't happen in the office, my blood work was even better than last fall's, and the EKG was otherwise great. I'm waiting on a referral to a cardiologist for a full workup, but I otherwise feel great. They did ask interrogate me on my coffee consumption, and I've since switched to decaf.

I think that I did it, whatever it is, to myself. I was drinking too much caffiene in general, I was cutting, I was going hard in the gym, I added the sandbag carries, and I added the PowerBreathe. I do plan to start using the PowerBreathe soon, and I'll be more intelligent less stupid the next go round.

I saw the cardiologist today, and his initial opinion is that I'm just fine. What he thinks is likely going on is either premature atrial contractions (PAC) or premature ventricle contractions (PVC) that are exacerbated by caffeine intake.

I had another EKG, and it was totally normal. Doc isn't going to do an echo cardiogram or stress test as he feels that I don't need it given that I lift and am in pretty good shape.

He actually thinks the breath trainer would help with the PAC or PVC. He was super happy that the "hiccup" did not happen during exertion. I don't know that I've felt it since January.

He wants me to wear a Holter monitor for a couple weeks just to make sure, but he's generally not concerned that I have anything pathological.

[broseph]

The tl;dr is that I'm taking a break from it because I probably went too hard too quickly with it.

The long version is that I recently had a heart "thing". The best way I can describe it is that it felt like a hiccup, but my heart instead of my lungs. My rhythm would be normal and then I would feel one, and only one, slower and stronger beat. Then rhythm would return to normal. It started the evening after I had done one of the sandbag calf carries; I had also been lp'ing the powerbreathe I had, and it had gotten difficult to complete the 30 breaths without stopping. The "hiccup" happened several times a day, but never on back to back beats.

Went to the doctor; EKG was clean other than I have an RSR(V1) abnormality, which the doc said happens in athletes or is a precursor to RBBB. They don't think I have RBBB. One possibility is that the RSR(V1) is causing a re-polarization of the heart, which is causing that lone stronger beat. Anyway, it didn't happen in the office, my blood work was even better than last fall's, and the EKG was otherwise great. I'm waiting on a referral to a cardiologist for a full workup, but I otherwise feel great. They did ask interrogate me on my coffee consumption, and I've since switched to decaf.

I think that I did it, whatever it is, to myself. I was drinking too much caffiene in general, I was cutting, I was going hard in the gym, I added the sandbag carries, and I added the PowerBreathe. I do plan to start using the PowerBreathe soon, and I'll be more intelligent less stupid the next go round.

I saw the cardiologist today, and his initial opinion is that I'm just fine. What he thinks is likely going on is either premature atrial contractions (PAC) or premature ventricle contractions (PVC) that are exacerbated by caffeine intake.

I had another EKG, and it was totally normal. Doc isn't going to do an echo cardiogram or stress test as he feels that I don't need it given that I lift and am in pretty good shape.

He actually thinks the breath trainer would help with the PAC or PVC. He was super happy that the "hiccup" did not happen during exertion. I don't know that I've felt it since January.

He wants me to wear a Holter monitor for a couple weeks just to make sure, but he's generally not concerned that I have anything pathological.

Nice. I appreciate the update on this.

I forgot if you mentioned it previously... Have you adjusted your caffeine intake since the initial episode?

[DCR]

Glad things are looking up on this @alek. I had a few years of drinking - literally - a dozen or so cups of coffee a day. Eventually bad shit started happening. I don’t touch caffeine now but sometimes wonder if my late in life shortness of breath and panic attacks somehow have something to do with what I was doing years ago. I know that doesn’t make any sense.