The Flywheel Effect

[Clearwater47]

SSB Squat: 195 pounds x 7 reps

SSB Calf Raise] 285 pounds x 20/15/15 reps
Decline Crunch: Bodyweight x 20/20/18 reps

Bench Press: 145 pounds x 8/7/5 reps
Pullup: Bodyweight - 3 sets x 7 reps

My left elbow is feeling the best it has in over a year and I was able to do pullups with very little pain. Hopefully it will keep on improving.
Was a challenge getting through this workout and it showed on the Bench Press. Still happy to have hit 8 reps on the first set.
Tomorrow will probably be a rest day because I have some other commitments after work.

[Clearwater47]

Walking Lunge: 20's - 2 sets x 12 reps
Single Leg Curl: 40 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
DB Fly Press: 30's - 1 sets x 12 reps
DB Row: 75 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
French Press: 40 pounds - 1 sets x 12 reps

Took it pretty easy today because I was very tired today, and also still had some tenderness in my shoulder from the bench work a couple of days ago.
I may need to drop the French Press at some point because even though I don't have any pain I'm getting a clicking in my left elbow on every rep.

[DanCR]

I may need to drop the French Press at some point because even though I don't have any pain I'm getting a clicking in my left elbow on every rep.

Funny, French press always has done the same to me - no pain but elbows/shoulders doing… things. I’ve never stuck with it long enough to find out if building up that neglected triceps head would make any difference. I’d like to do that, soon.

[Clearwater47]

I may need to drop the French Press at some point because even though I don't have any pain I'm getting a clicking in my left elbow on every rep.

Funny, French press always has done the same to me - no pain but elbows/shoulders doing… things. I’ve never stuck with it long enough to find out if building up that neglected triceps head would make any difference. I’d like to do that, soon.

Yes, same boat here. I'm going to take it a week at a time for now. If I start feeling pain at any point I'll probably need to cut it, but until then I think I'll press my luck...

[Clearwater47]

Front Squat: 110 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Donkey Calf Raise: 110 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Cambered Bar Bench Press: 120 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip: 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Shortened up the range of motion on front squats to reduce the stress on my knees. Shown in the video below.

[Clearwater47]

Conventional Deadlift: 335 pounds x 8 reps

Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press: 105 pounds x8/7/6 reps
Hammer Curl: 40 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Lateral Raise: 12.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Cable Crunch: 60 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Good hard work all through. 335 pounds is my 3 rep best on Deads. 90 pounds was my previous 8 rep max on Pin Press. Virtually everything I'm doing in every session is PR territory for the rep range I'm doing it in. Strength is increasing steadily in these ranges.

Here's the Deadlift:

[DanCR]

Conventional Deadlift: 335 pounds x 8 reps
…
335 pounds is my 3 rep best on Deads.

Turning your 3RM into 8 while dressed to go grab some dinner is pretty damn impressive.

[Clearwater47]

Single Leg Extension: 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Cable Single Leg Curl: 20 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Lu Raise: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
Skiers: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps

DB Pullover: 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Concentration Curl: 25 - 2 sets x 12 reps

Tried out a cable leg curl today using wrist/ankle straps and putting a barbell at knee height for support. Worked pretty well. I took video of it which I'll post below, but the set shown was the roughest one - the others were much smoother after I figured out correct positioning and slowed down the rep speed a little bit.

Added in skiers for rear delt work because I think the shoulder discomfort I've been having recently is due to a rear delt weakness. I'm feeling much stronger on the Lu Raises than I was when I started them a few weeks ago, and I think these and the lateral raises are the main reason for my increased overhead pressing strength recently.

I'm still not doing DB Pullovers quite right. I keep taking video and adjusting and it's getting better, but still not quite there. Going to try to get a bigger stretch next time, and not pull as far through because I'm totally losing tension on the lats on the follow through. Still liking this lift though and I think it will prove to be a good lat movement for me since it hits them so much differently than everything else.

On curls I still tend to turn it into a more dynamic movement rather than focusing on contracting the bicep. Some reps are better than others and I can clearly feel the difference. Just need to stay focused when doing these. In general I've become so conditioned to moving weights with speed that I tend to default back to that even on exercise that I want to be more muscle focused. Always a work in progress...

[Clearwater47]

Turning your 3RM into 8 while dressed to go grab some dinner is pretty damn impressive.

Ha! I did wear that to dinner! I haven't worn traditional exercise gear in a long time. Many a time I have come home from work and lifted in dress slacks and shirt. Sometimes squatting in tightish jeans feels really good because of the slight extra tightness around the leg muscles. Seems like it maybe encourages a better mind-muscle connection or something.

That 3 rep max was probably from 18+ months ago, and I've never really done a great job of tracking maxes at anything higher than 3 reps, but I'll take it.

[DanCR]

Turning your 3RM into 8 while dressed to go grab some dinner is pretty damn impressive.

Ha! I did wear that to dinner! I haven't worn traditional exercise gear in a long time. Many a time I have come home from work and lifted in dress slacks and shirt. Sometimes squatting in tightish jeans feels really good because of the slight extra tightness around the leg muscles. Seems like it maybe encourages a better mind-muscle connection or something.

I love this.

I’ve squatted in thicker/tighter sweatpants and had the same experience. I found it odd how there seems to be a notoceable imcrease in stability. Going a TMI step further, I also distinctly notice it when I wear my one pair of shorts under which I wear boxer briefs. All of my other gym shorts have a liner where you don’t/can’t wear anything under them. Not quite free balling because of the liner, but not far from it either.

[Clearwater47]

I love this.

I’ve squatted in thicker/tighter sweatpants and had the same experience. I found it odd how there seems to be a notoceable imcrease in stability. Going a TMI step further, I also distinctly notice it when I wear my one pair of shorts under which I wear boxer briefs. All of my other gym shorts have a liner where you don’t/can’t wear anything under them. Not quite free balling because of the liner, but not far from it either.

Yep. Know exactly what you mean. I rarely wear tight undies because I don't like feeling restricted down there, but had some tighter boxer briefs for a while and it definitely gives a different (better) feel when lifting. It's pretty amazing how much proprioception alone can impact performance. It seems like a person should be able to mentally activate awareness to the parts of the body required to move the weight in a given lift and have that same effect, but I've never been able to come close to duplicating the 'activation' that seems to be triggered by tighter fitting garments.

[Clearwater47]

Stiff Legged Deadlift: 275 pounds 2 sets x 10 reps
Seated DB Overhead Press: 35's - 3 sets x 10 reps

Incline DB Curl: 25's - 3 sets x 10/9/10 reps
Cable Triceps Pushdown: 35 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

The weight wasn't a problem on the deads, but I did get pretty light headed.

Feeling strong on DB Presses - plenty of room for steady weight increases I think.

This is going to sound wild, but using straps on the incline curls was a game changer. Was able to do them with a thumbless grip and had no elbow discomfort and was able to better focus on the biceps. Had a long break between the 2nd and 3rd sets because I'd been on a phone call, and that's why I was able to do 10 reps again on the 3rd set.

Have visitors at the house the next couple of days, so they may very well both turn into recovery days.

[Clearwater47]

SSB Squat: 275 Pounds x 1 Rep [PR]

Close Grip Bench Press: 175 Pounds x 1 Rep / 195 Pounds x Fail

Was not feeling at all good going into this workout. I've been short of sleep and was exhausted and queasy. I'm trying to do heavy singles every 2 weeks or so and today seemed like a good day to do that since I wasn't up to doing much volume. Expectations were very low, but I ended up being much stronger than expected.

SSB squats felt strong right from the beginning. The single at 245 felt like a warmup so I took a 30 pound jump. It was my poorest rep, getting my weight a little too far forward, but still got it up relatively easily for a 20 pound PR.

Bench was feeling strong as well. 175 moved very well so I took a 20 pound jump to try to match my PR. You know how you can tell as you're lowering the bar whether or not you're going to be able to lift it back up...I felt sure I had that 195, but it got stuck and would not budge.

I wasn't expecting to do anywhere near this well on max(ish) attempts today and it was really encouraging. It tells me at the very least that my programming approach is working well, and gives me confidence to stick with it.

Video shows all 3 of the attempts listed at the top:

[Clearwater47]

Walking Lunge: 20's x 12/10/10 reps
Single Leg Curl: 45 pounds x 12/12/10 reps
DB Fly Press: 30's - 3 sets x 12 reps

Posting a day late. Legs are sore. Lunges and Leg Curls seem to hit my leg muscles harder than anything else.

[Clearwater47]

Front Squat: 125 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Donkey Calf Raise: 115 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Cambered Bar Bench Press: 125 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip: 65 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Did Pin Squats on the first set of Front Squats - shown in the video below.
All of todays work was very good. Good quality reps. Was difficult, but didn't destroy me. I'll increase weights on everything next time.

[Clearwater47]

Conventional Deadlift: 345 pounds x 8 reps

Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press: 110 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps
Hammer Curl: 42.5 pounds x 11/10/10 reps

Lateral Raise: 15 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Cable Crunch: 65 pounds x 20 reps

Was surprised how easy the deads were. From a strength standpoint I believe I could've done another 4-6 reps. Conditioning would not have allowed that today I don't think, but it's getting better.
First set on OHP was actually the hardest. Even though I thought I did enough of a warmup, I must have needed 1 set to get everything activated. First set is show in the video below, along with the deadlift.
For some reason the crunches wrecked me. I had planned to do 3 sets, but my abs were cramping up after 1 so I just called it there.

[Clearwater47]

Single Leg Extension: 65 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Cable Single Leg Curl: 25 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Lu Raise: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
Skiers: 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps

DB Pullover: 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Concentration Curl: 25 - 2 sets x 12 reps

Got interrupted after the first 2 sets of Leg Extensions and Curls and didn't get back to it until 90 minutes later and my energy level had dipped significantly.
I'm still struggling to do the pullovers correctly - bending elbows too much, even though it doesn't feel like it when I'm doing them. I won't increase the weight until I get the movement figured out.

[Clearwater47]

Stiff Legged Deadlift: 285 pounds x 10 reps
Seated DB Overhead Press: 40's - 3 sets x 10 reps

Incline DB Curl: 30's - 3 sets x 8 reps
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension: 20 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Lower back fatigue has been accumulating. Did only 1 set of deads today because of that.
My energy level has been low recently, so I've just trying to make sure I get some work in, but not pushing the intensity too high.

[Clearwater47]

Bench Press - 1 Board: 185 pounds x 1 rep
Front Squat: 185 pounds x 1 rep

Both singles were somewhere around 8 RPE. I tried 205 on Front Squat but bailed as soon as I realized it was going to be a grind.

Been an interesting last week... I tested positive for Covid on Monday. Our furnace went out on Wednesday and now won't be fixed until after Christmas. We were supposed to be hosting Christmas, but that plan went all to hell, lmao. The rest of the family is staying with my sister in law while I'm home alone (my mother in law is in a very high risk group, so I'm staying away). Going to be a very boring Christmas for me, but at least I'll get to spend some time with my son tomorrow - very much looking forward to that.

I was feeling much better today and got in this short workout. Didn't want to do anything very fatiguing so I opted for heavyish singles. Felt good to get some exercise.

[Clearwater47]

Been continuing to lift the last couple of days. I'm trying to build up weak points and did a bunch of stuff to help with shoulder strength in a variety of positions, and worked on flexibility and building strength in 'compromised' positions.

Did Zercher Squats up to 225x3 and Deadlifts up to 185x3
Hatfield Squats up to 245x5
Step ups to a 20" box with 20 pounds
A bunch of DB Presses, Flies, Raises in various positions and angles.
Ring Pushups
Some Biceps and Triceps work

Found some stuff that I really like, and I'll probably incorporate a lot of these things into my programming at some point. HUGE fan of the Hatfield Squats and the Zercher stuff in particular. Hatfields allowed me to get into a MUCH deeper position than I typically can and should be great for building up knee strength, and power out of the bottom. Zerchers I do with an intentionally slightly rounded back and done this way they're great for all around back 'bulletproofing, and for building quads along with general toughness.

Should be back on a regular program sometime soon.