No Colon, Still Rollin' Or: Spite Alone Holds Me Aloft

[tsor]

Thursday, Feb 18, 2021
Little cardio/upper back workout.

10 rounds of 5 pullups super-setted with 2:00 stationary bike

BB curls:
50 x 16 x 3

[gymdad150]

Wanted to get a feel for how strong my OHP and deadlift are, and was pretty pleased with the numbers. Feels good to finally be able to lift 405 again!

Nice!!!

[tsor]

Wanted to get a feel for how strong my OHP and deadlift are, and was pretty pleased with the numbers. Feels good to finally be able to lift 405 again!

Nice!!!

Thanks! It's nice to hit that 4 plate milestone... again.

[tsor]

Oof, been lax on logging lately. Not going to try to catch up, but for the tldr, I was starting to stall on what I was doing, so it's seems like the right time to move. I got about a month of decent progress, and history tells me that's about as long as things "work" for me before getting stale, and I don't want to repeat the past mistake of trying to hammer away at the same thing without making progress.

The plan for now is to focus on improving conditioning and body composition a bit, so lifting wise, I'm just doing a kind of bench/squat focused 5/3/1 type of thing. For me, OHP/DL progress always seems to follow bench/squat, which also benefit from more practice, so what I'm thinking is:

Mon:
Bench 5/3/1 PR sets for main work, bench boring but big supplemental

Tuesday:
Squat 5/3/1 PR sets for main work, squat boring but big supplemental

Thursday:
Bench 5's pro for main work, OHP either FSL or SSL for supplemental work

Friday:
Squat 5's pro for main work, DL either FSL or SSL for supplemental work

Monday, March 1, 2021

Bench:
125 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 12
100 x 10 x 5

Pullups: 6, 5, 5, 5, 5

Lateral raises: 15 x 20, 15, 15
Band row: blue x 20 x 3

Skullcrusher: 65 x 18, 15, 15
BB curl: 50 x 15 x 3
Reverse fly: 15 x 15 x 3

[tsor]

Tues, March 2, 2021

LB squat:
160 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 12
125 x 10 x 5

DB RDL: 25 x 15 x 3
Bicycle crunches: 3 sets of 15

[tsor]

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Bench:
125 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 5

OHP (SSL):
90 x 5 x 5

Chinups:
6, 6, 6, 6, 5

DB skullcrusher: 25 x 20 x 3
Hammer curls: 25 x 16, 16, 20
Band pull-aparts: lots

Current mood:

[tsor]

Friday, March 6, 2021

LB squat:
160 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 5

Deads:
255 x 5 x 5

And some unweighted lunges and hanging leg raises as assistance.

[tsor]

Week of March 7 - 14, 2021

Monday:

Bench:
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 10
115 x 10 x 5

DB row:
65 x 10 x 5

Assistance:
Lateral raises
Band pulldown
Skullcrusher
BB curl
Rev DB fly

Tuesday:

LB squat:
170 x 3
195 x 3
220 x 10
145 x 10 x 5

Assistance:
Bicycle crunches

Thursday:

Bench:
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5

Pullups:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2

OHP:
95 x 5 x 5

Assistance:
DB curl
DB skullcrusher
Band pull-aparts

Friday:

LB squat:
170 x 5
195 x 5
220 x 5

DL:
275 x 5 x 5
Played around with hook grip on these since they're still (somewhat) light

Assistance:
Hanging leg raises, knees bent

[tsor]

Monday, March 15, 2021

Bench:
145 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 10
135 x 10 x 5

(super-setted with)
Trap-bar rows:
150 x 5
170 x 3
190 x 8
150 x 10 x 5
Done from a hang, and a little bit of body english (inspired by the rather amusing thread in the training forum)

Skullcrusher: 65 x 41 rest-paused
BB curl: 45 x 41 RP
Lateral raises: 20 x 27 RP
Rev fly: 20 x 45 RP

Was hoping to get 185 x 8 on the bench AMRAP, so was happy to get 10. I think that puts me close to PR territory.

[tsor]

Wed, Oct 12, 2022

Still alive, still training. Just rather mediocre over all. Made some okay progress in 2021, but things have been a bit stagnant lately. 2022 has been a garbage year all around. Lost both parents, both due to cancer, within about 6 months of each other. Wasn't particularly surprising in either case, but was still a lot tougher than expected.

Recently found out my iron and B12 levels were bottomed out, I guess due to malabsorption. Went through about 5 (!) rounds of iron infusions and have started getting B12 injections recently, so hoping that will start making a difference. Fatigue has felt a little more manageable (was starting to need 2-3hr naps just to get through the day), but haven't noticed a difference in lifting performance.

Got up to around 200 lbs earlier this year, and have dropped about 20 lbs since then. Strength has gone down, but not too surprised about that. Historically have always lost a good bit of strength when cutting. Heck, even have trouble making gains (at least not in fat) when I'm in a surplus. Since lifting is incredibly mediocre and just a means of trying to maintain strength, I guess this will just be a cutting log for now. At least it might help keep me accountable. Was hoping I would be done at 180, but of course, I'm not as lean as I'd like. So, just gonna keep going until I'm satisfied or it becomes too difficult.

AM body weight:
177.2

Squat (high-bar, beltess)
185 x 5 reps x 3 sets

RDL
240 x 8 x 3

Leg raises
16, 12, 12

Row:
~6,000 meters in 30min

Squatting has always been a problem lift, and spent late 2021 through early 2022 building up my high-bar beltless squat, and had been feeling pretty decent, until I strained my hip by jumping right back into low-bar belted squats. Has only recently started feeling better, so have been doing a slow, basic LP. This was all really grindy and right around RPE 10 tonight (which feels pathetic and disappointing, but whatever), so will probably need to start doing something different.

My partner bought a real fancy rower last year, and I wasn't really into it. Of course, now she hardly uses it, and I'm on it almost every day. No idea what a good metric is for performance or even how accurate it is, but it seems to make cutting a lot easier. And it's almost enjoyable at this point.

[mgil]

@tsor, good to see you back!

Condolences on the parents and life stuff. Glad you’re still kicking.

[heidikay]

Sorry for all of the loss in your life. It’s good to see you logging again.

I have a question unrelated to training: Have you seen Lingua Ignota live (nb, your log title)? She’s playing in Austin in a few weeks, and I’m wondering if it’s worth making the drive for. I know it is. . . .I'm just trying to talk myself out of it.

[tsor]

@tsor, good to see you back!

Condolences on the parents and life stuff. Glad you’re still kicking.

Thanks, much appreciated!

[tsor]

Sorry for all of the loss in your life. It’s good to see you logging again.

I have a question unrelated to training: Have you seen Lingua Ignota live (nb, your log title)? She’s playing in Austin in a few weeks, and I’m wondering if it’s worth making the drive for. I know it is. . . .I'm just trying to talk myself out of it.

Thanks, you as well.

I actually only saw her once back in 2018, when she was the opening act and a little more unknown. Back then, she played down on the floor with the audience, and it was pretty intimate, intense, and a little violent (towards herself).

Not 100% sure what her latest show is like, but her last album was a lot more subdued, and the show is as well from what I've seen. But I've heard it's really fantastic. Seems less intense and spontaneous, but a bit more performative along with some new visual elements. Probably not helping to talk you out of driving.

[tsor]

Thursday, Oct 13, 2022

AM body weight:
177.0

OHP:
Worked to up to a hard, but strict, 115.

Pullups:
BW x 8,8,8,7,7,7,5
Aiming to get 50 reps in as few sets as possible.

Dips:
BW x 15, 15, 12 (or something like that)

Plus some arm stuff.

Row:
~6,000 meters in 30 min

Haven't done overhead presses in a while, so just trying to get a feel for this again. And wanted to get a rough idea of a 1RM since I'm thinking about possibly doing a real program instead of just winging it. Probably won't make a difference in the long run since I'm trying to cut, but might help with the feeling of stagnation lately. :shrug:

Pullups at least are improving. Trying to get to the elusive (for me) 50 reps in 5 sets or less. When I ran 531 BBB years back, I could never get all of the 5x10 pullup/chinup work done, so this feels like a challenging, but achievable goal for now. Maybe just focusing on bodyweight work in general would be a good idea.

[tsor]

Friday, October 14, 2022

AM bodyweight: 177.6

Rower: ~6000 meters in 30 minutes

Low on energy and time. Opted to just do some cardio.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

AM bodyweight: 179.8
Need to lay off the late night snacking. That shit's what got me up to 200 unintentionally.

Squats - highbar, beltless:
120 x 10, 10, 10, 15

CGBP:
100 x 12, 12, 12, 18

DB row:
50 x 12, 12, 12, 18 (just matching reps on bench)

And a bunch of leg raises and bodyweight squats with elevated heels. Probably need to do some more serious lower body assistance.

Trying to follow something a little more structured. Started light and will see how it goes.

Rower: ~5900 meters in 30 minutes
Fell a little short of usual performance, but NBD.

[tsor]

Sunday, October 16, 2022

DB OHP:
35 x 12, 12, 12, 15

Pullups:
8, 8 , 8, 8, 7, 7, 4

RDL:
145 x 12, 12, 12, 20

DB skullcrushers:
25 x 20 x 3

DB curls:
25 x 20, 15, 12

Rower:
~6,000 meters in 30 minutes

[tsor]

Monday, October 17, 2022

AM body weight:
177.2

Bench:
120 x 10, 10, 10, 18

Bent-over rows:
120 x 10, 10, 10, 15

Box squat:
95 x 12, 12, 12, 15
First time trying these. Trying to find a decent supplemental squat movement that doesn't aggravate my hip too much. I thought this might be a decent option, but it felt like it was actually putting more strain on it than normal squats, but that might be because the "box" (just some stacked bumpers) forced me to use a wider stance than usual. Thinking of joining a commercial gym just for the sake of having access to machines, especially for lower body work.

Ab work assistance

This all took too long, and I was mentally checking out by the end, so just did some ab work and called it done. Exceeded targets for the stuff that counted, though, so it's fine, I guess.

Rower:
A little less than 6,000 meters in 30 minutes

Did a little searching just now, and this... is not that great of a rowing time Probably not doing myself any favors by doing it immediately after lifting, and just doing it because it's the most convenient way to get in some cardio, so it's whatever for now, but might try to focus on improving this in the future.

[tsor]

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Chinups:
5 sets of 10
I think this might be a PR of sorts. One benefit of cutting, I suppose. My elbow was bothered by this a bit towards to the end, though, so will probably just stick to pullups for now.

DB bench:
60 x 12, 12, 12, 13
Wanted 15 at the end, but didn't quite hit it. Underestimated how hard these would be after not doing them in years.

Good morning:
90 x 12, 12, 12, 15
Did these to the pins to ensure rep consistency. Haven't done these a lot in the past, so it took until around the third set to get the form and pin height dialed in. Sucked but got it done.

Hammer curls:
25 x 20 x 3

LTE:
65 x 15, 15, 10

Rower:
~6000 meters in 30 minutes

[tsor]

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Deadlift:
220 x 10, 10, 10, 13
A little annoyed I didn't get more at the end, but I lose my sense of proprioception, especially regarding my low back, as fatigue starts to set in on deadlifts, and didn't want them to turn into cat-backed shenanigans.

Leg raises and reverse flys for assistance.

Rower:
~6160 meters in 30 minutes
Started out well, but started to feel kind of faint towards the end. Maybe some kind of hypoglycemia? It happens to me from time to time.