Dan's Log - I used to lift. I still do, but I used to, too. (Gary Knuckles Style currently)

[Dan]

Friday 5/11/18

Squat 180 5x3

Bench 175 4x(3+1paused rep)

SGDL 195 4x5

Bad news/good news kind of day. Bad - whooo boy, the hip is killing me. Checked the video and the short leg still looks short with the shimmed shoe. Found some thin plywood to stand on, which actually made it level. Looks like ~21mm is the number to shoot for. Not sure what to do about this besides load up on ibuprofen and molest my soft tissues with a lacrosse ball. Stretching my calves before the squats didn't help today, oh well. Not giving up yet. Bench was fine, but shoulders were a little sore at the front. Possibly need to ease into the close-grips even a bit slower on Wednesdays. Found out I can in fact SGDL. I just had to set up with the bar 2 or so inches from my shins to get my lumbar extended. The SGRDLs were great for keeping my hams loose, but I don't think they were doing much for strength. I'll keep RDLs in rotation as a mobilizer before deads and squats, though.

Looking forward to week 2!

[Dan]

This was a good read. I see we have similar issues, here and there. For my leg length difference and anterior pelvic tilt, I got custom insoles. My feet are a little malformed. Well, I got terrible meniscus and patella pain from said custom insoles to the point where I was dragging my left knee behind me for a week. Stopped wearing them and the pain went away. Started wearing them again and it came back! I have never bothered since then.

You mentioned SGDL, which I will be incorporating from tomorrow on. On sumo: I am built for conventional (no torso, long arms), but I tried sumo to see if I could and kept it in mind as a possible variation for a future cycle. My hips just won't do it, either. "Toes to the plates" does not work. So I would be doing a narrow sumo, which a friend referred to as half sumo. Some people have argued that you are not getting what they would claim to be the full benefits of sumo that way, but it seems to work well enough for others. If you are not bound to the guidelines of a federation, I would not worry. After SS, some of us might need to re-learn that we have to make the exercises fit our anthropometry, not the other way around.

Oh, you got the leg length thing too? It's funny, the only thing it affects is lifting. Just everyday walking or standing or working is fine, for me at least. What I found worked best for deads was not wearing heeled shoes! Socks are fine, I just have to stand on some plywood on the left foot. I tried the half sumo (or semi sumo) too, but surprisingly the sock foot conventional is the best, least hurting option. This guy did a pretty decent article on what he calls the "squat stance dead."
https://www.t-nation.com/training/brand ... o-deadlift

[Dan]

Week 11

Monday 5/14/18

Squat 170 3x4, 4x3

Bench 165 3x4, 4x3

T bar rows 50lbs 48 reps in 7 minutes [goal 58]

Tuesday 5/15/18

Press 115, 21 reps in 10 minutes

DB hammer curls 30lbs 5 + 32 reps in 8 minutes = 37 [goal 45]

Sweetest Jesus, squats were super painful yesterday. Now both hips are burning around the joint. Pretty sure it's soft tissue, though. I keep having to adjust my stance bit by bit to avoid pain, but nothing worked this time. This seems to be a common pattern: start squatting, get my 1rm to somewhere between 225 and 275, inflammation builds faster than I can dissipate it, quit squatting. It's almost as if the universe is saying, hey bro, don't bother with the squats, just get your 500lb deadlift. I will back off the squats for now and concentrate on my pulls, which cause zero pain.

If anyone reading this has any ideas how to modify the 2 week MM template for no squats and more deads, feel free to share ideas. What would an H day dead variation be--RDLs, rack pulls, hip thrusts? I don't have the knees for leg extensions.

I've been following more logs lately and I see people inserting links of their training music. I like that idea. It should distract from my poor lifts and complaining.

Pandora gave me this one. Turns out the video is alright too. Of course she brought the stick...

[Dan]

Wednesday 5/16/18

Bench 130x3, 155x2, 170 2x1, 185x1, 200x1, 210x1

Dead 330x1, 285 5x3

AND NO SQUATS

Working on a bit of a sleep deficit this week. I have to answer phones after hours every 6th week, and it's been unusually busy. Not squatting left me a little fresher for bench, which grooved well. And it feels great to let the hips calm down some. I dropped the CGBP for now. 4 challenging pressing sessions per week is way more than I've ever done and I don't want to burn out prematurely. I'd rather add LTEs if/when I need to. That seems to be one of those exercises you either love or hate, but when I did them during Andy Baker's programs, my triceps blew up with no elbow issues. I could tell that 5x4 at 80% would be too stressful for deads. 5x3 was plenty challenging, but doable.

I needed something aggressive to keep me focused today. Yes, it's supposed to sound totally blown out like that.

[Dan]

Friday 5/18/18

Bench 180 4x3, 2x2

SGDL 215 3x5

I don't think SGDLs are in the cards for me. I can't seem to get my back flat. Low hips, high hips, bar over midfoot, bar out towards ball of foot - if my grip is more than an inch or two wider than my dead grip, my back sucks. Bench was fine. Workout was rushed, had to get to airport.

Yeah boy

[Dan]

Week 12 - remedial posterior chain work

Monday 5/21/18

Bench 155 8x5

Good mornings 95 5x6

Cable rows 50lbs 59 in 10 minutes - goal of 58 met, time to increase weight

A couple things going on here. My e1rm bench is low enough that adding 5lbs to H, P and S days every cycle will be too much. Hanley recommended I keep the weight on H days the same for two 2-week cycles, but add a set on the second cycle. So, for me it would be 155 7x5, then 165 3x4, 4x3, then 155 8x5, then 165 4x4, 4x3. He recommended I add the 5 lbs to P and S days every cycle and see how that goes.

Since I dropped squats, I've been looking at video of sets from the last couple months. It appears I have a bad habit of losing extension at the bottom of the movement. Sometimes upper back, sometimes lower, but even at light weight. I think part of this is really tight hamstrings. Probably also poor proprioception and general weak-assedness. So in the spirit of better mobilizing and strengthening these weak points, I am adding good mornings on H days. I will probably do SGRDLs on S day as well, as SGDLs are more trouble than they're worth for me. I'd never done a good morning before today, so I went light, probably too light, but whatever. Back position looked and felt good. I could almost get parallel to the floor with a slight knee bend. Also, my hips felt great all day afterwards. Between those and the 40 bench reps at 70%, I was unbelievably hungry all day.

Tuesday 5/22/18

Press 145 @9, 115 x 17 in 7 minutes

DB hammer curls 30lbs 6 + 30 in 8 minutes = 36 total reps [goal of 45]

Heavy single on press did not increase this week, but the number and quality of backoff reps did, so OK.

Fuckin' magpies...

[Dan]

Wednesday 5/23/18

Bench 135x3, 160x2, 175 2x1, 190x1 205x1

Dead 330x1, 275 5x4

Nothing to report, except I love Rose Byrne.

[Dan]

Friday 5/25/18

At Urban Athletic in Canton, NC. Pretty nice, only one flat bench press, plenty of bars, bumpers and floor space.

Bench 180 4x(3 + 1 paused rep)

SGRDL 185 4x5

Shoulders and elbows were creaky during bench, not just DOMS. Got worse as the sets progressed even though the reps were nowhere near grinding. Hmmm....

[Dan]

Week 13 - why do my arms hurt?

Monday 5/28/18

Bench 160 7x5

Good mornings 105 5x6

T bar rows 50lbs 63 in 10 minutes

Still have wrist, elbow and shoulder pain from last week. Aaand, I lost track of my programming. This is what happens on vacation I guess. Not a huge deal, but the 7x5 at 70% should have been 3x4 and 4x3 at 75%. I guess I'll just repeat this H day next week. Also forgot to increase the weight on my rows since I met the rep goal last week, but I SUPER met the goal this week, so what the hell. Good mornings are kind of fun. I have a plan for this arm bullshit.

[Dan]

Wednesday 5/30/18

Press 140 @8 120 3,3,2 105 3x5

Dead 335x1, 295 5x3

DB hammer curls 30lbs 6 + 34 in 8 minutes = 40 reps [goal of 45]

I've been reflecting on this since last week when the arm joint/tendon pain started building up. This is not a new phenomenon for me, although it was previously triggered by high intensity low volume philosophy in action. I think going from an Andy Baker setup to MM has increased my bench/press volume a bit too much. I need to customize a bit and I have come to a few conclusions (for my situation, anyway):

• Confining presses to a density block is not comfortable for me. I don't like having to race the clock with a major exercise.
• I'm no longer of the opinion that there must be a 1:1 ratio of press to bench, but I do want to train the movement in a sensible way at least once per week.
• H day bench takes away from pressing, and pressing takes away from P day bench.
• P day bench to me seems like little more than a warmup to a heavy single or two. I'm not getting any benefit from a fast double at 70%, etc.
• H day bench is very important. I (and people who know me) are definitely seeing upper body growth all of a sudden, which is fantastic.
• S day bench is obviously important and well designed, and the paused reps help my technique a bunch.
• I need to incorporate RPE. I started this and then dropped it for MM, but it is becoming obvious with my work travel schedule that percentages become too rigid some weeks. Singles and strength work should be autoregulated.
• H day does not need autoregulation beyond adding a set if exceedingly easy or dropping a set if exceedingly hard. If my 70% work is actually at 68% or 72%, who cares?

Therefore, H day bench will remain the same for now. P day bench will be dropped in favor of a press hybrid day. I will start with a single @8 to calculate my e1rm for the day, then proceed to ~8 to 10 reps at 80% and ~12 to 18 reps at 70%. Hopefully this will be enough work to progress my press over time. I may have to play with the sets/reps/% a bit or find a way to cycle them week to week. S day bench will start with me warming up to a heavy single (like P day) and then calculating the ~80%ish work from that number. If I can keep the numbers on a general increase and not have my joints and tendons yelling at me, I'll call it a win.

Deads, for now, are fine the way they are, so no need to autoreg yet. Squats, if I ever get back to them, will definitely have to be autoregulated from the beginning. I found Mike T's answer to Nikipedia's questions about squats and autoimmune issues to be very straightforward - (paraphrasing) If something is very challenging and some days are better or worse than others, autoregulate the shit out of it.

[Dan]

Thursday 5/31/18

Ab plank - accumulated work over 7 minutes (BBM style)

Oh, the DOMS! I need to do more on my off days to improve my work capacity. Conditioning, ab work, calisthenics would be useful.

Friday 6/1/18

Bench 205 @8, then 83% 185 4x3

SGRDL 55% 200 5x4

Combined P and S day for bench. The sets felt better than usual, probably because of the preceding single. Used straps on the pulls, which I probably should have done since the beginning. Fast workout, around 2 half hours.

[Dan]

Week 14 - the one after week 13

Monday 6/4/18

Bench 160 7x5

Good mornings 115 5x6

Cable rows 60lbs 50 in 10 minutes [goal 60]


Wednesday 6/6/18

Press 150 @8, 80% 130 3x3, 70% 115 2x5

Dead 335x1, 280 5x4

DB hammer curls 30lbs 7 + 34 in 8 minutes = 41 [goal 45]

Press went very well today - warmups and singles felt light. Triples were grooved. Wanted 3x5 at 70%, but the second set hit a wall halfway through. Only realized afterwards that I added 10lbs to my @8 from last week. Probably better recovery from only benching twice. Deads were a bit slower than I would have liked. I suspect I got a bit too aggressive with the good mornings, adding 10lbs each week to 30 reps. Will have to be more conservative from now on. However, the GMs have really helped my back extension and hamstring stretchiness. Deadlift form looked better than usual, even if a bit slower moving. It seems to take about 5 weeks to reach my rep goal on curls. 5lbs at a time...does that mean that I will be curling 130lb dumbbells in 2 years? Probably not, but even still, this is the first time I've been able to progress curls without getting forearm splints.

Totally obsessed with Tove Styrke right now. Thank god Exodus doesn't ban for Scandinavian pop.

[Dan]

Thursday 6/7/18

Ab planks accumulated over 7 minutes

yes, that's it

Friday 6/8/18

Bench 205 @8, 180 4x(3 reps + 1 paused)

SGRDLS 190 4x5

LTE with krinkle bar 35lbs 40 reps in 5 minutes

[Dan]

Week 15 - holyshittimeflies

Monday 6/11/18

Bench 170 3x4, 4x3

Good mornings 115 4x6

T bar rows 60lbs 50 reps in 7 minutes [goal 60]

Bench felt very solid, even with sore triceps from LTEs on Friday. Kept the weight the same for good mornings and dropped a set as they really cooked me last week. Will be more conservative with jumps now. T bar rows felt pretty easy.

I'm not a huge fan of Nerdwriter, but I think he's got something here. Never heard this discussed elsewhere.

[Dan]

Wednesday 6/13/18

Press 150 @8, 130 3x3, 115 3x5

Dead 340 @8, 295 5x3

F. squat 75x3

DB hammer curls 20lbs 4x10

Press single is the same as last week, but I was able to get all the 80% and 70% work in. Last rep of last set was on the edge of grinding, so I think I have the dosage about right. Deads felt heavy and a bit slow, but bar path was the straightest I've ever done. All the SGRDLs and good mornings are really helping my hamstring and back extension, but I think I may be pushing my range of motion a bit too far on the GMs. Back fatigue was an issue today. Still got all reps and they grooved well. I was totally not feeling a beat-the-clock session of curls, so I messed around with front squats instead. My mobility will be an issue with these, but my triple with a massive 75lbs looked better than the empty bar warmup sets. It might just be doable. And then I realized some light curls were better than no heavy ones, so I did 'em.

Not actually live, but I like the energy of the footage.

[Dan]

Thursday 6/14/18

ab planks accumulated over 7 minutes

Friday 6/15/18

Bench 210 @8 190 4x(2 + 1 paused)

SGRDL 205 4x5

LTE 35lbs 50 reps in 6 minutes

Saturday 6/16/18

Prowler 10x40 pushes (2 empty, 8 +50lbs)

Bench grooved well, weight seemed appropriate, slight loss of speed on last double. SGRDLs felt a little slow. LTEs are way light, but I'm trying to minimize DOMS as I work into them. Haven't prowled in weeks, so it was rough. Added less weight than usual and kept the rest times down. Got all 10 passes done in 22 minutes, which is OK. Hips gave me issues starting Thursday morning, which was the day after that truly inhuman front squat triple at 75lbs. So weird.

BBM is lucky to have Alan. Smart move on both their parts.

ALL the female parts.

[Dan]

Week 16 - in which I try hip mobility drills

Monday 6/18/18

Bench 160 8x5

Good mornings 120 2x6

T bar rows 60lbs 62 reps in 10 minutes [goal met]

Farmers' walk on stairs 50lbs DBs - 3 rounds

If I am ever to squat again, I need to loosen, or mobilize, or whatever, my hips. They are clearly tight, there is no sign of bone or cartilage issues so it must be soft tissue. I am doing the GMB drill from the video that Sumo (I think) recommended. I hate it. It's boring and uncomfortable and makes me confront how stiff I am. Gross.

Bench was fine, cut back considerably on the good mornings. The leverages involved are surprisingly potent and they can negatively affect my deadlift strength. However, super good for hamstring stretching, which is great for deadlift start position. Rows went well, met my rep goal, will add weight. Loaded up the DBs to 50lbs each and walked them up and down the stairs a few times. Interestingly, the first thing to fatigue was my grip. I thought I'd feel it in my traps first. Could have done more, but I want to titrate up.

[Dan]

Wednesday 6/20/18

Press 155 @9, 130 4x3, 115 2x5

Dead 340x1, 285 5x4

DB hammer curls 25lbs 8,8,7,7

Added 5lbs to press, but RPE went up too, which effectively renders my e1rm the same as last week. I guess I'll see if I can get that 155 to @8 next time. Added a set at 80%, dropped a set at 70%. Trying some straight sets with curls to get back to where I was on the density blocks. Hip mobility is no fun, but I do feel more relaxed afterwards with less burning pain.

[Dan]

Friday 6/22/18

Bench 210 @8.5, 180 2x(3 + 1 paused rep), 175 3 + 1 paused

SGRDL 205 @7, 160 8x3

Ab work within 7 minutes

What a shit workout. Recently my stress has been down, my sleep and eating great and last few workouts were smooth, so ?? Bench felt way out of the groove and surprisingly hard, decided to drop the weight (probably not enough) and it still was a grind, so I cut it short. This might be because of the (accidentally too) heavy press rep from 48 hours ago, orrrrrr, just one of those days. Decided to RPE the SGRDLs as well with a bunch of reps at 70% because hypertrophy, right? No bro work. I'm actually home tomorrow and want to go push the prowler.

[Dan]

Ah, yes. SGRDL. Better known as "death".

Loving the music in your log!

A visitor! Come in, sit down. Can I get you something to drink?

I had to go to SG RDLs as opposed to DLs because my starting position was terrible - higher hips or lower hips, I couldn't get the extension right. As a bonus, the R component has done wonders for my hamstring flexibility which makes my DL start position achievable.

Aaaaaanyway, glad you like the music. The Euroelectropop (not sure if this is a real term) as well? I thought it might be a bit self indulgent for a lifting forum, but godammit that stuff makes me feel strong. The folks I knew when I played in bands would surely disown me.