Wooden Platform, Iron Men!

[dlocas7]

Sunday August 30th

Dumbbell Alternate Press -- I use this lift to add to my weekly tonnage
44 pounders x 6 x 2 sets
54's x 6
64's x 6 x 4 sets

Dumbbell hammer curls
54's x 3
59's x 2 x 3 sets
64's x 2 x 2 sets (PR)

[dlocas7]

Monday August 31st

Clean & Press (strict)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
158 lbs x 3
178 lbs x 1
200 lbs x 3 x 5 sets -- This was my best pressing in several months! I am in a good place now.
First set filmed...


"The Press is one lift you cannot force. You just have to wait and take it as it comes." -- John Davis, twice Olympic champion (1948, 1952) http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2017/07/im ... tions.html

Muscle Snatch
128 lbs x 3
148 lbs x 3
163 lbs x 3 x 4 sets

Snatch Pulls
200 lbs x 3, 229 lbs x 3, 259 lbs x 2, 279 lbs x 2
300 lbs x 3 x 4 sets

Floor Press (close-to-medium grip)
148 lbs x 5
178 lbs x 5 -- I felt inflammation coming back in my right elbow, so I terminated this lift right away. There are other assistance lifts for the Press and their sole purpose is to maintain/slightly increase muscle mass. It looks like I can rely on the Alternate Dumbbell Press for some added volume, as I didn't get any elbow pain from it yesterday.

Dumbbell hammer curls
54's x 3
59's x 3 x 5 sets

[dlocas7]

Friday September 4th

Clean & Press (strict)
128 lbs x 2 x 3 sets
158 lbs x 3
178 lbs x 1
200 lbs x 3 x 4 sets

Dumbbell Alternate Press (overhead)
54's x 8
64's x 6 x 4 sets -- I really, really like this lift!

Snatch Deadlift
200 lbs x 5 -- regular grip & no straps
250 lbs x 3 -- regular grip & no straps
300 lbs x 1 -- regular grip & no straps... lift & hold bar for a few seconds to see how my grip strength is doing
330 lbs x 1 -- straps
350 lbs x 3 x 5 sets

Dumbbell hammer curls
54's x 3
59's x 4 x 2 sets... x 3 x 2 sets

[dlocas7]

Monday September 7th

Clean & Press (wider grip = each hand is 4 inches away from knurling end)
128 lbs x 5
138 lbs x 5
148 lbs x 5
158 lbs x 5 x 6 sets -- using a variation is a relief for my joints, especially my elbows

Clean Pull (wider grip)
220 lbs x 3 x 2 sets
250 lbs x 3 x 2 sets -- this is a rest week for my lower body & easy week overall

Dumbbell alternate press
54 pounders x 8
64 pounders x 6 x 4 sets

Dumbbell hammer curls
54 pounders x 3 x 4 sets

[dlocas7]

Wednesday September 9th -- This week is meant to be very easy on volume

Clean & Press (wider grip & paused 2-3 sec. at the start)
128 lbs x 3 x 2 sets
148 lbs x 3
168 lbs x 3 (70%)
178 lbs x 3 x 2 sets (75%)
168 lbs x 3 x 2 sets

Muscle Snatch
128 x 3 x 2 sets
148 x 3 x 2 sets
168 x 2
178 x 2
183 x 1 x 2 singles (PR) -- 1st lift filmed


Muscle Clean (regular grip for the Press)
178 x 3
200 x 2
220 x 2
225 x 2 (felt strong! I can tell I am more recovered now)

Clean Deadlift -- work up to a training max single!
250 lbs x 3
300 lbs x 1
370 lbs x 1 -- DOH no straps... grip feels very strong
410 lbs x 1 -- straps on, as I need to concentrate on the actual Clean Deadlift
460 lbs x 1 -- getting closer to my limit for tonight; I estimate I have still about 30-40 lbs left in me
484 lbs x 1 (PR) -- 98% effort from my reckoning. Getting the bar moving off the floor from the Clean start position is much harder than a conventional deadlift! Video...


I set my training max at 490 lbs for the Clean Deadlift. I now have good percentages to work with for the next couple of months.
440 = 90% / 390 = 80% / 340 = 70% / 290 = 60%

I set my training max at 440 lbs for the Snatch Deadlift; my 420 lbs x 1 was a 95% effort. 390 = 90% / 350 = 80% / 310 = 70% / 270 = 60%

[dlocas7]

Thursday September 10th

Dumbbell Alternate Press -- this is 3,900 total lbs moved above 50% intensity, even if it's a very easy session
54 pounders x 5 x 3 sets
64 pounders x 6 x 3 sets

Dumbbell hammer curls
54 pounders x 3 x 4 sets -- it was very easy, but my biceps have accumulated lots of fatigue & I have built a solid motor pattern for this lift... it's time to use another session finisher! I have to let my biceps and tendons recover from the cumulated work, otherwise this lift will no longer be effective.

The same goes for overhead pressing. As much as I love the Press, it's still tiring for the lower back when it's done several weeks unabated, not mentioning the overuse of elbows, shoulders, wrists, etc. I am not a snob who shuns benching. As a matter of fact, I did floor presses 90% of the time the first year I trained and hit 250 lbs. When I began to strict press, I found I could already do 135 for reps, just from my general shoulder and triceps strength.
My floor press seems to respond well to volume work at 65-75%... I will see if there is a grip width that agrees with my elbows. Last time I PR'd I floor pressed 290 lbs with a close grip (shoulder width) from blocks, starting from bottom... without training it heavier than 220 lbs! All I have to do is start at 200 lbs for 5 x 5 and go from there. It's not sexy and won't get me Instagram likes, but it's effective!

[dlocas7]

Saturday September 12th

Muscle Snatch (80% of my best)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
148 lbs x 3 x 5 sets

Floor Press, regular grip (adjusted in such a way that my forearms are perfectly vertical at the starting position)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
158 lbs x 5
178 lbs x 5 x 5 -- I simply used 60-ish % of my PR with the most vanilla set-rep scheme. Lying down while pressing gives my lower back a break. The change in motor pattern and the drop in load are a great relief for my elbows. I think my close-grip start position was too high on my chest line and it put undue stress on my elbows; it may be what caused the issue. I filmed my first set...

Floor presses from blocks is a very safe form of horizontal benching for someone who always lifts alone.

Snatch Deadlift (60%)
200 lbs x 5
240 lbs x 5 -- no straps up to this weight, so I can cumulate some work to maintain/improve my grip strength.
270 lbs x 5 x 5 -- this was surprisingly taxing, as I was giving all I had to accelerate the bar up! I think my quads are going to be a little sore. The smaller load doesn't mean I am goofing off. It means I can still train productively while giving my joints a well-deserved holliday!

I don't have time for my last exercise, so I'll make an exception and do it tomorrow (it's a low stress lift).

[dlocas7]

Monday September 14th

Floor Press, regular grip (off blocks)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
158 lbs x 5
188 lbs x 3 x 8 sets -- reestablishing the lifting pattern @ 65%

Clean Pulls (grip for the Cl & Press)
128 lbs x 5
168 lbs x 5 (muscle cleans)
210 lbs x 4
250 lbs x 4
290 lbs x 4 x 5 sets -- first time doing sets of 4 at this weight; my technique is now reliable enough to do so. This is 60% of my best Clean Deadlift.

Dumbbell hammer curls -- my arms felt well rested, so why not?
54 pounders x 3 x 2 sets
61½ pounders x 2 x 4 sets -- I felt very strong, so I replaced the last set with two singles with increased resistance.
66½ pounders x 1 x 2 singles -- PR! ... still relatively easy & this was fun!

[dlocas7]

Wednesday September 16th

Muscle Snatch
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
148 lbs x 3 x 5 sets

Snatch Pulls
200 x 5
250 x 5
270 x 5
290 x 5
310 x 4
330 x 4 (PR) filmed...


Floor Press off blocks, medium grip (midway between rings and knurling limit)
128 x 5 x 2 sets
168 x 5 (58%)
200 x 5 x 2 sets (69%)
230 x 3 x 2 sets (79%)
250 x 2 x 2 sets (86%)

[dlocas7]

Saturday September 19th

Clean & Press (wider grip -- 4 in. from knurling end)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
148 lbs x 3 x 2
168 lbs x 3 x 2 (70%)
178 lbs x 3 x 3 (74%)

Clean & Push Press
178 lbs x 5
200 x 4 x 4 sets -- I think I have improved my leg drive

Clean Pulls
250 x 5
300 x 3
350 x 3

Clean Deadlift
390 x 3
410 x 3 x 4 sets

Hammer curls, both arms
54 pounders x 3 x 2 sets
61½ 's x 2 x 5 sets

[dlocas7]

Monday September 21st

Clean & Press (wider grip)
128 lbs x 6 x 5 sets (54%) -- Even at this low weight, I was noticing some speed loss at the end of each set.

Muscle Snatch
128 lbs x 6 x 4 sets (70%) -- Very light, but it still trains the movement & stamina. The bar travels from the floor all the way to arms length overhead in one motion with no dip; it's a lot more distance per rep than a press.

[dlocas7]

Wednesday September 23rd

Clean & Press (wider grip)
128 lbs x 5 x 2 sets
148 x 3 x 2
168 x 3 x 2
178 x 3 x 2
188 x 3 (one rep left in tank) The wider grip feels like driving in the "wrong gear"; at least my elbows are no longer irritated and that's the priority.

Clean & Push Press
178 x 5
200 x 3
210 x 3 x 4 -- all sets were easy; however my elbows are now slightly irritated as I write this (the day after). Considering the fact that I have done 24 total work sets of strict/push press this week, it is no surprise. Over the next two weeks, the focus will be on my lower body (15 work sets total over three sessions) and my press will be at something like 10-12 work sets (over two sessions).

Clean Pulls
250 x 3, 290 x 3

Clean Deadlifts
340 x 5 x 3 sets
370 x 5 (all far from my limits)

Hammer curls
54's x 3 x 2 sets
61½ 's x 2 x 3 sets
64's x 2 x 2 sets (PR) This used to be my 2RM

[dlocas7]

Wednesday September 30th

Snatch Pulls (as warm-up)
138 lbs x 3 x 2 sets
188 x 2
229 x 2
280 x 2
320 x 2 x 3 sets -- somewhat harder than my PR set of 330 x 4 because now, after one week of complete rest, my CNS is no longer in an upregulated state; I am very well rested, but my fitness for power is slightly down. Power detrains faster than strength.

Snatch Deadlift
370 x 4 x 5 sets -- hard sets; the two last sets were very hard... Training weight is 20 lbs up with one extra rep per set, and it went very well!

Push-ups -- Elbow recovery
BWT x 10 x 2 sets -- just flushing the muscles and tendons with blood

Stiff-leg Deadlift off 4½ inch blocks
229 x 3, 320 x 2, 370 x 1
410 x 6

Hammer curls
54 pounders x 5
61½ pounders x 3 x 3 sets, x 2 x 3 sets

[dlocas7]

Hi! I haven't been around here in a while. I still lift weights.

I am returning from a week's rest, and now that my lower back is fine, I'm heading to Week 1 of experimenting a Hepburn-type of programming that entails more volume. This is mostly Doug Hepburn's old "program A", where you do a string of doubles followed with some lighter volume work.

This was my first session, which was more testing with some volume thrown in.

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Dumbbell Clean & Press,
54's, 2 sets x 5, 64's x 3, 74's x 2, 84's x 1, 94's x 1 (very near limit), 74's 5 sets x 4

Snatch Pulls,
128 lbs x 5, 178, 2 sets x 3, 200 x 3, 220 lbs 2 x 3, 240 lbs 3 x 2 (very happy with bar height & acceleration --- this lift seems to be improving)

Deadlift,
280 lbs x 1, 340 x 1, 410 x 1, 460 x 1, 500 lbs 3 sets x 1 --- The first single felt great; the last one was almost a limit effort. I'm not very far from my best shape.

[dlocas7]

Monday March 14th

Dumbbell overhead press, parallel grip
54 pounders, 2 sets x 5
64's x 3
74's x 3
84's, 5 x 2 --- These doubles felt strong. My PR on this lift being a pair of 96½ pounders, the 84's are my 87%.
69's, 5 x 5 --- The exact sets and reps don't need to be identical to any "Hepburn Gospel" The basic principle is heavier work to specifically train max strength and then lighter volume-based work. I'll start with just this and see how I respond!

Snatch High Pull (all working reps above pec line)
128 lbs, 2 sets x 3 --- The mechanical position of my arms blocks the bar and keeps it from hitting my chin; I'm greasing the groove and warming up.
178, x 3
200, x 3
220, x 2 --- Wow! These were high and fast!
240, 5 x 2 --- I'm really improving on this lift and making my upper back stronger!

Snatch-grip Deadlift
270 lbs no straps, x 5 --- grip felt solid
310 lbs, 3 x 5 --- I'm upping my frequency and volume, so my third weekly session will be very easy to begin with! This isn't very heavy for me, but it still reinforces the motor pattern and trains my recovery ability, and contributes to make my lower body swoller!

Note: I train alone at home. Being on this forum is closest I ever got to joining a gym! AND THERE IS CHALK & LEGACY YORK PLATES IN MY GYM!!! LOL.

[dlocas7]

Wednesday March 16th

Dumbbell overhead press, parallel grip, done standing after cleaning the bells
Pair of 54 pounders, 2 sets x 5
64 x 3
74's x 2
84's 5 x 2 --- Tonight I'm late and short in time; I'm doing the volume 5x5 tomorrow.

High Pulls
138 lbs x 5
209 lbs 2 x 3
229 x 3
249 x 3

Deadlift, conventional
280 lbs x 3
370 x 2
440 lbs 5 x 2 --- Felt heavier than expected; probably some lingering fatigue from my near-limit singles with 500 only four days before.
350 lbs 3 x 5

[dlocas7]

Saturday March 19th

Barbell Clean & Press (each set muscle cleaned)
85 lbs 2 sets x 5 reps
130 lbs 2 x 3
160 lbs x 2
180 x 2
200 lbs 10 x 2 reps --- Doing 10 singles in the muscle clean does have a training effect, even if it's easy. All 10 sets of strict presses were RPE 7.5 or 8. I love overhead pressing!

Deadlift, conventional
290 lbs x 3
360 lbs x 2, no straps double overhand, like the previous set
400 lbs 8 x 3 reps within a time limit of 20 mins; this was a nice challenge! I seldom do this, but I was a little short on time.
This entire session took 1 hour 20 min.

[dlocas7]

Monday March 21st

Clean & Press (strict -- bar is cleaned each set)
85 lbs 2 x 5 reps
128 lbs 2 x 3
158 lbs x 3
178 lbs 8 x 3 -- all sets submaximal, nowhere near failure; the focus was on strongly contracting my lats to help me with starting off the press and then driving it as forcefully as possible with my arms! I wore my belt starting at set #6 as my back was still fatigued from Saturday's deadlifts. Presses are always more stable with a belt on, but I also like to train my midsection by doing most of my training sets without it.

Snatch High Pulls
128 lbs x 5 -- the elbows block the bar and keep it from hitting my chin
178 lbs 2 x 3
200 lbs 5 x 3 --- all reps high and fast; a very good practice weight for me to increase upper body strength. In my experience, sticking to lighter weights tend to do a better job at improving my pull. What's more, I do these pulls on top of my deadlift training. If I start to ego-pull, I might end up with a very sore lower back! LOL.

Pike Push-Ups, with feet on a chair and hands on blocks of wood to increase range of motion
BWT 3 x 5 --- this is submaximal work to increase volume and it's very easy on the joints! It feels a lot like incline pressing.

Have a great training session everyone!

I leave you with a photo of a very young John Davis (perhaps 19 years old, ca. 1940) completing a press with what looks like 260 or 270 (hard to tell). When I say "Old School", I mean it!

[dlocas7]

Tuesday March 29th

Clean & Press (strict, barbell is cleaned every set)
85 lbs 2 x 5
128 lbs x 5
148 lbs x 5
158 lbs 5 x 5

Snatch Pull
128 lbs x 5
178 lbs 2 x 3
200 lbs 2 x 3
220 lbs 3 x 2

Half-Sumo Deadlift --- Completely new to this lift
138 lbs x 5
229 lbs x 5
300 lbs 5 x 3

[slowmotion]

Nice work!