Bolder's Training Log

[Bolder]

23/2/24

Another grindy session (but made it), lol.

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

150kg/331lb x 1 x 1
120kg/264lb x 3 x 3

Bench Press, touch and go:

127.5kg/281 x 1 x 1
108.5kg/239lb x 3 x 2

Assisted Chin-Ups:

-33kg/72lb x 1 x 7
-33kg/72lb x 1 x 4
-33kg/72lb x 1 x 4

Barbell Curl:

40kg/88lb x 1 x 4
30kg/66lb x 1 x 5
30kg/66lb x 1 x 5

Gym was packed and my right mid-traps hurt while I was benching (probably from the squats I've grinded out from). There was also a guy walking around impatiently, swearing his mouth off with all of the racks he could be waiting for... he specifically waited for mine... I'm generally open to sharing equipment with other gym members, but my goodness... (look I don't consider myself to be "strong" in the powerlifting/strength world and on this forum, but relatively compared to the commercial gym population, I'm lifting "serious" weights, and of course it's going to take a while for me to warm-up and get through my sets. I was the guy that was lifting the heaviest weights at that time while others lifting lighter than me and some of them even finished before me, but he still waited specifically for my rack (while all the other racks are the same lol). Perhaps he wants to get a good spot to flip out his phone and record the weights he was lifting lol. In the gym I go to, almost everyone is a fitness influencer wearing their gymshark gear lol.

This also happened two weeks ago when I was benching (I was benching the "heaviest weights" at that time). He asked me "how many sets I got left?" and I said "two, but you can jump in" and he was like "nah." Then I was like "well, alright then." Also, walked around impatiently while the other guy next to me finished using the bench... and he didn't took it... he just specifically waited for me to finish...

[Bolder]

26/2/24

Squats were okay, but bench press really felt grindy (I probably need to reduce the load for the next session). Also, I suspect what was giving me the right mid trap pain was from the OHP, so for today's session I did shoulder raises, side and rear superset instead of overhead pressing, and it also may have been from the way I've grinded out my squats lately.

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

152.5kg/336lb x 1 x 1
137.5kg/303lb x 2 x 2

Bench Press, touch and go:

128.5kg/283lb x 1 x 1
116kg/255lb x 2 x 2

Then some shoulder raises and tricep work.

For the bench press programming, it's sort of going alright at the moment, but it's definitely becoming more grindy. I thought about doing top singles with 3 heavy sets of 5 reps or one of Nuckol's programs. I think what I would do is slightly modify it (add more voluminous bench press for more hypertropy to drive further strength adaptations) and try to grind that out for a while until I switch to either one of the two programs.

So for now, it may look like this now:

On Mondays: heavy single (max out), 2x2 @ 90% of the top single

On Wednesdays: lighter to moderate single (95% of Monday's top single), 3x3 @ 8% of Wednesday's moderate single, then 65% of Monday's single (but with 3 sets to failure for bench press hypertrophy)

On Fridays: heavy single (max out), 3x2 @ 85% of the top single on Friday. If that starts failing, I'll try to emulate Monday's top single or do 97% of Monday's single (all depending on how the last warm-up feels).

Of course try to milk it all out before switching programs for bench and I suspect deadlifts may come to a halt soon, but the squats will keep going up more (it's less grindy than the bench press and deadlifts).

[Bolder]

28/2/24

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps:

180kg/397lb x 1 x 1 (beltless "PR")
192.5kg/424lb x 1 x 0 (failed)
162.5kg/358lb x 4 x 1

Bench Press, touch and go:

122.5kg/270lb x 1 x 1
130kg/286lb x 1 x 0 (failed)
100kg/220lb x 3 x 3

Accessories: Belt Squat, GHR, ..., etc.

[Bolder]

1/3/24

Very grindy session. Grinded on both squats and bench... I think I'm usually better at taking bigger weight jumps on the bench press than smaller ones...

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

155kg/341lb x 1 x 1
125kg/275lb x 3 x 3

Bench Press, touch and go:

120kg/264lb x 1 x 1
130kg/286lb x 1 x 0
105kg/231lb x 2 x 4, 2

Chin-Ups, Assisted:
-26kg/57lb x 3 x 5, 4, 3

Then whatever curls.

Sigh... Well, I kind of knew this (my bench press already peaked off sometime ago, but my squats and deadlifts are continuing to go up. However, I will continue this program for squats and deadlifts until they stop going up....). I'm going to switch bench presses (the bench I was using wasn't that great. I bench in that area because that's where powerlifters hang around and I'm able to get a spot from them sometime. Also, there are spotter arms there) and switch bench press programming... either doing forced LP 3x5 three times a week or one of Greg Nuckol's programs. I think I may switch to Greg Nuckol's program instead... I trust Greg Nuckol's programming more than mine, lol.

If the Nuckol's program doesn't work, then I may switch to a powerbuilding/bodybuilding bench press routine (as doing a lot of accessories has always worked for my bench and I can start my bench press fresh as well without having to do squats or deadlifts before) or do a forced 3x5 LP (may try that first before resorting back to a bodybuilding/powerbuilding routine. However, the main problem is how would I fit squatting twice a week? If I go back to the bodybuilding route). However, I never liked doing four or five exercises for the chest muscles and other bodyparts lol. Always preferred doing one lift per muscle group... I've become better at grinding with singles on bench, but however it's hard to tell, especially if 120kg/264lb flies up on bench, but then 130kg/286lb is damn near impossible? I probably need more chest hypertrophy work, not just shoulders and triceps (but not gonna do that now) or perhaps more bench press volume coupled with a reasonable amount of intensity.

Anyways, I may as well start this next week (or this coming Monday) for my bench press programming (people all over the internet and reddit have noted great success with this bench press program and the higher intermediate one, so gonna do this one). Hopefully, I can get 135kg/297lb on bench press (by the end of this block):

[Bolder]

4/3/24

Did a bit of an aggressive increase on squats, squats were grindy, but bench press felt good - I started the program (obviously I'm lifting lighter sets of 5s). I may end up snagging a beltless high-bar squat PR on Friday.

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

160kg/353lb x 1 x 1
145kg/319lb x 2 x 2

Bench Press, touch and go:

97.5kg/215lb x 5 x 5

Accessories: Shoulder raises, lying tricep extensions, ..., etc.

[Clearwater47]

Nuckols programming is usually a safe bet. Hope it goes well for you.

[Bolder]

Nuckols programming is usually a safe bet. Hope it goes well for you.

Thank you.

I've used his bench 2x beginner and intermediate templates in the past, and it was good, but only worked for a short while. Also, recently I've used his high frequency program, which was oddly good for my squats and deadlifts, but not so much for my bench press oddly lol.

Anyway, how did you find his programming? What were your experiences with it?

[Clearwater47]

Nuckols programming is usually a safe bet. Hope it goes well for you.

Thank you.

I've used his bench 2x beginner and intermediate templates in the past, and it was good, but only worked for a short while. Also, recently I've used his high frequency program, which was oddly good for my squats and deadlifts, but not so much for my bench press oddly lol.

Anyway, how did you find his programming? What were your experiences with it?

I'm mostly judging it based upon my own 'opinion' of what good training looks like. He clearly has a deep understanding of what the fundamentals are, and is able to incorporate them into his programs. Oddly enough, the only program I've run of his is 'The Superman Effect' from 'The Bulgarian Manual'. It's probably one of his most 'out there' programs. I've had really good success with running it for 2-4 weeks in between higher volume programming.

[Bolder]

Nuckols programming is usually a safe bet. Hope it goes well for you.

Thank you.

I've used his bench 2x beginner and intermediate templates in the past, and it was good, but only worked for a short while. Also, recently I've used his high frequency program, which was oddly good for my squats and deadlifts, but not so much for my bench press oddly lol.

Anyway, how did you find his programming? What were your experiences with it?

I'm mostly judging it based upon my own 'opinion' of what good training looks like. He clearly has a deep understanding of what the fundamentals are, and is able to incorporate them into his programs. Oddly enough, the only program I've run of his is 'The Superman Effect' from 'The Bulgarian Manual'. It's probably one of his most 'out there' programs. I've had really good success with running it for 2-4 weeks in between higher volume programming.

Interesting and awesome that you got some good results out of it. I've heard of Nuckol's Bulgarian program but never heard of the superman effect.

[Bolder]

28/2/24

Deadlifts starting to get grindy. Bench press was smooth, but I accidentally overshot one of my sets... and started developing a bit of right elbow pain (need to get back to doing forearm work). I was using a different bench, but I think this was the bench before that was giving me elbow pain (weird connection), strangely or perhaps it was just simply upping the bench press volume (which did happened like last time).

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps:

185kg/407lb x 1 x 1 (another beltless "PR," but was hitching up...)
167.5kg/369lb x 4 x 1

Bench Press, touch and go:

65kg/143lb x 1 x 8
77.5kg/171lb x 1 x 6
90kg/198lb x 2 x 4
108.5kg/239lb x 1 x 3 (overshot here, I was supposed to do 103.5kg/228lb for 3 rep).
103.5kg/228lb x 1 x 3

No accessories. I needed to come back home as soon as possible.

[Bolder]

8/3/24

Squats felt great while I am aggressively loading them up; maybe the next session and onwards I can get 170kg/374lb+ next week. However, it may end up catching up to my deadlift lol... I wanted to get 9 reps with 103.5kg/228lb on bench press, but oh well (probably got a little too worn out from the squats IMO).

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

165kg/364lb x 1 x 1 (Beltless PR)
132.5kg/292lb x 3 x 3

Bench Press, touch and go:

103.5kg/228lb x 1 x 8 (weight stays the same until I get 9 reps as prescribed by the program)

Assisted Chin-Ups:

-19kg/42lb x 3 x 5, 2, 2

Then some bicep curls

[Bolder]

11/3/24

Biggest grind on squats... both the top single and back-off sets, and I had a major form breakdown for both. I'm gonna need to do a light session for my next squat session to recover, regardless I got a PR. I don't know if I'll be able to get more weight past 172.5kg/380lb+... Going to need go down 2.5kg/5.5lb, then down to 2kg/4.4lb (both weekly) when I started stalling more (with the micro-plates I have).

Squats, high-bar and beltess:

170kg/375lb x 1 x 1 (very grindy PR, but regardless I got it up, and got the PR. I could probably get 200kg/440lb with a belt, which would beat my all-time belt PR)
153.5kg/338lb x 2 x 2 (very grindy back-offs)

Bench Press, touch and go:

105kg/231lb x 4 x 3

Accessories: Barbell Curl + Lying Tricep Extensions, OHP + Chins, ..., etc.

[Clearwater47]

Grinding lifts wears on you for sure, but a PR is a PR.

[DCR]

Biggest grind on squats... both the top single and back-off sets, and I had a major form breakdown for both. I'm gonna need to do a light session for my next squat session to recover, regardless I got a PR.

Fuck it - take it. Grindier PRs tend to leave me more euphoric. The whole not being dead or maimed thing lol.

[Bolder]

Grinding lifts wears on you for sure, but a PR is a PR.

It certainly did, thank you .

Biggest grind on squats... both the top single and back-off sets, and I had a major form breakdown for both. I'm gonna need to do a light session for my next squat session to recover, regardless I got a PR.

Fuck it - take it. Grindier PRs tend to leave me more euphoric. The whole not being dead or maimed thing lol.

It's definitely a good feeling to have gone through a tough lift, and it's part of the reason why we all lift. Thanks anyway, I hope lifting has been going well for you too.

[Bolder]

13/3/24

Pretty bad session. The squat grinder on Monday took me out; I couldn't budge the heavy deadlift off the floor. I didn't ate much coming into the session as well (that probably impacted it as well). I'm going to take smaller jumps. I feel pretty conflicted about switching back to mixed-grip again because setting up with straps usually ruins my setup for deadlifts, and I still want to develop my grip strength as well. Also, warming up to the deadlifts gave me elbow pain as well?

Deadlifts, conventional and beltess w/ straps:

191kg/421lb x 1 x 0 (a slight lift off the ground, hovered a bit, but couldn't budge it. Yeah, the heavy squat single on Monday worn me out...)
170kg/374lb x 1 x 0 (couldn't budge it as well)
150kg/331lb x 1 x 1 (I got it, but meh lol)
135kg/297lb x 3 x 1 (switched to mixed-grip).

RDL:

100kg/220lb x 2 x 11, 9 (started doing them to build the muscles for the deadlift)

Bench Press, touch and go:

100kg/220lb x 3 x 6 (this was hard to go through. Normally, it doesn't feel this heavy)

Accessories: Leg Press + Calve raises, elbow rehab, ..., etc

[Clearwater47]

Setting up with straps ruins your setup as far as what? Is it something specific like bracing, or just messed with the general sequence/process of getting tight?

I know in general what you mean because I struggled with this at one point too. For myself I ended up feeling like the advantages of lifting with straps outweighed the disadvantages, so I just committed to using them and developing a different setup process around them, but it took me quite a while to really feel comfortable. I definitely still can't get my core quite as tight and hold my air the way I'd like to, but at the same time my start position is more consistent and this seems to make up for it. Not to mention the main issue for me, which is that it eliminated the imbalance I was noticing when using a mixed grip, and it stopped contributing to the elbow pain I was dealing with. There are almost always pros and cons...

[DCR]

I've pretty much ditched pulling from the floor, but I too always had problems with straps in terms of losing all of my tightness while fucking around with them. I find mixed grip to be by far the easiest (dip, grip, and rip), with hook grip taking a bit more time to sink in, and straps being the worst. Of course, that also is the order of most to least dangerous.

[Bolder]

Setting up with straps ruins your setup as far as what? Is it something specific like bracing, or just messed with the general sequence/process of getting tight?

I know in general what you mean because I struggled with this at one point too. For myself I ended up feeling like the advantages of lifting with straps outweighed the disadvantages, so I just committed to using them and developing a different setup process around them, but it took me quite a while to really feel comfortable. I definitely still can't get my core quite as tight and hold my air the way I'd like to, but at the same time my start position is more consistent and this seems to make up for it. Not to mention the main issue for me, which is that it eliminated the imbalance I was noticing when using a mixed grip, and it stopped contributing to the elbow pain I was dealing with. There are almost always pros and cons...

I would say when I try to wrap the straps around the bar, the bar of course rolls around, I lose my positioning and tightness. Also, spending more time at the bottom setting up wastes too much energy as well. Sometime I don't know if I should keep the bar a little further from me since I have long femurs and I always try to use my quads in the deadlift, but my deadlift mostly looks like a stiff-legged deadlift. My squats seem to be catching up my deadlift, I should be deadlifting way more than I should be squatting (clearly there's something wrong).

Yeah, that's the thing. You reach a certain dilemma... have you tried gripping and ripping it? Like the deadlift set up of John Haack, I tried experimenting with that yesterday also, but ended up grabbing the bar too wide and unequal. Better to keep the arms at the side before pulling mixed grip. It lets you collect more air at the top and helps with the bracing.

Also, usually pulling with mixed-grip... sometimes grip can be the limiting factor because the posterior chain outpaces in strength gains compared to grip strength. However, by pulling with mixed-grip than using straps, you can be more consistent (while developing grip strength as well).

'

I've pretty much ditched pulling from the floor, but I too always had problems with straps in terms of losing all of my tightness while fucking around with them. I find mixed grip to be by far the easiest (dip, grip, and rip), with hook grip taking a bit more time to sink in, and straps being the worst. Of course, that also is the order of most to least dangerous.

You can still get some carry over to deadlifts doing mid-shin rack pulls. It's kind of funny, usually you would think of straps as being more beneficial, but sometimes a bad set-up makes you potentially lose that lift as well. People would think the deadlift is the most simplest lift out of the three, but it seems rather complex. Even trying to think of certain cues makes you lose other cues. You always end up compromising or giving one to another...

Yeah, that's the thing. One of the advantages of pulling mixed-grip is that you can grip it and rip it (which I've experimented with a bit yesterday). Which seemed to be more explosive and consistent. However, it made me grip the bar unequally (gotta keep the arms to the side when descending down to pull the bar - which I forgot).

[Clearwater47]

My experience with gripping and ripping is about the same as yours. When you get it right it's great, but there have been many times where I've gripped unevenly and ended up slightly tweaking something because of the imbalance. I find generally that it's too inconsistent for my liking. If I could I'd do hook grip, but I have tiny hands and fingers and cannot get that to work for me. So I'm left with using straps as the other option. I tried not to rely on this for a long time because I liked the grip building aspect of the lift. But eventually decided that safety and consistency were more important and have been deadlifting almost exclusively with straps for quite a while now. I have no regrets.

It took me a good while to figure out how to setup in a way that allowed me to get satisfactorily tight, but I was eventually able to find a process that works. I get my feet positioned first and twist them into the floor to activate all of the right muscles. While keeping them tight I bend over and get my straps and grip set while keeping the lower body taut (this is done stiff legged). While still stiff legged I get my brace as best I can. Then I "pull myself down", activating the upper body muscles in the process. As soon as my hips get down to the 'correct' height I pull out the slack and then go like crazy. It's a different approach than the grip and rip, where I typically get everything tight, get my brace, and then go as fast as I can. As already mentioned, the brace is not quite as good because my ribcage is restricted a little bit. But the setup is very consistent and improved positioning seems to more than make up for whatever's lost in the bracing.

I totally get it if you want to continue with mixed grip - nothing wrong with that at all, especially if you can figure out how to get your grip in the right spot consistently. Just wanted to relay that lifting with straps, while different, can also work really well.