The Flywheel Effect

[Clearwater47]

Your refusal to program hop is admirable.

For sure. I've hopped programs at times, but I'll stick with something that's working and this is when I've made the best progress.

Have you considered going full bodybuilder?

Yes. From a training standpoint I'd say I pretty much am now. I'm still Benching, but in a muscle building rep range. Still doing deads, but they'll probably be the next lift I replace because the fatigue cost is high. Aside from that I'm not really doing anything that's geared specifically towards strength.

I'm eating like a bodybuilder too - one that's on an endless bulk, lmao.

[Clearwater47]

Bench Press:
145 Pounds - 2 Sets x 8 Reps
Goal = 2 sets x 6-8 Reps

Bulldozer Lateral Raise: Rest Pause
Left Arm =27.5lb DB's x 29 Reps (15/8/6)
Right Arm = 27.5lb DB's x 28 Reps (15/7/6)
Goal = 15-20 Reps
Usually right arm is stronger than left, so this was a little strange.

Behind the Neck Press: Rest Pause
65 Pounds x 22 Reps (12/6/4)
Goal = 20-25 Reps
This put a fair amount of stress on my lower back, which hadn't been an issue at all before today. Aside from that it went really well. We'll see how it goes next time.

Single Arm French Press: Rest Pause
22.5lb DB's x 20 Reps (12/5/3)
Goal = 15-20 Reps

First workout of my newly tweaked program. All went well. Busy day today so I did this workout pretty quickly, and am getting this posted up now so I can get to work on other stuff.

[DanCR]

Still doing deads, but they'll probably be the next lift I replace because the fatigue cost is high.

I’ve been toying with bringing back higher rep deficit deadlifts for a minute, just been too lazy to work out specifically where. If you like pulling, might be an option for you. Much better muscle builder and lower fatigue due to much less weight.

I'm eating like a bodybuilder too - one that's on an endless bulk, lmao.

I’d say the same except that I’m pretty sure bodybuilders get their carbs from a source other than beer.

[Clearwater47]

I’ve been toying with bringing back higher rep deficit deadlifts for a minute, just been too lazy to work out specifically where. If you like pulling, might be an option for you. Much better muscle builder and lower fatigue due to much less weight.

I love both Deficit Deads and Snatch Grip Deads. Unfortunately, my knees don't anymore. I did some snatch grip deads with 135lbs as part of my warm up last time, trying to get a good stretch everywhere. That's what tweaked my right knee.

I’d say the same except that I’m pretty sure bodybuilders get their carbs from a source other than beer.

Probably true, but I still think you're making the right choice.

[SaviorSelf]

Really curious how the snatch grip deads tweaked your knee. Are your toes pointed outward or forward?

[Clearwater47]

Really curious how the snatch grip deads tweaked your knee. Are your toes pointed outward or forward?

Mostly forward. On this occasion I was intentionally sitting down more than I typically would when deadlifting, trying to get the knees loosened up. There's something about having the bar in front of me when sitting down and standing back up that seems to cause it. Must put stress on them in a very specific way. I feel it right above my kneecap (Patellar Tendon?).

[Bolder]

I like how we both have a similar pattern of doing four lifts/movements in a session lol. It would seem sort of unusual to do a fifth or sixth lift (or going over four lifts) lol.

As for deadlifts... well, deadlifts are sort of an anomaly of its own lol. I suppose most of the recovery points drained from the deadlifts come from the very initial portion or budging the bar off the floor (breaking inertia). I suppose if you're concerned about recovery, there's always mid-shin rack pulls.

[Clearwater47]

I like how we both have a similar pattern of doing four lifts/movements in a session lol. It would seem sort of unusual to do a fifth or sixth lift (or going over four lifts) lol.

As for deadlifts... well, deadlifts are sort of an anomaly of its own lol. I suppose most of the recovery points drained from the deadlifts come from the very initial portion or budging the bar off the floor (breaking inertia). I suppose if you're concerned about recovery, there's always mid-shin rack pulls.

Yeah, we have a lot of similarities in how we think about and approach training.
Heck, even our avatars are almost the same, lol.

Next in line once I've exhausted progress on conventional deadlifts is probably T-Bar Rows. After that I definitely have Rack Pulls as one of my top options.
If all goes well though, that might be 6-9 months down the line.

[Clearwater47]

Meadows Row: Rest Pause
Left Arm = 50 Pounds x 28 Reps (15/8/5)
Right Arm = 50 Pounds x 29 Reps (15/8/6)
Goal = 20-25 Reps
Feels really good to do these again after an extended break from them. They were done with an upper back focus (pulling towards upper chest like a Pendlay Row as opposed to pulling more towards the belly to work the lats). I've apparently gained a fair amount of strength in my upper back since doing them last because I'm pretty sure I recall sets of 12 with 35 pounds being pretty difficult. Will add weight next time.

Hammer Curl: Rest Pause
35lb DB's x 32 Reps (20/7/5)
Goal = 20-25 Reps
Not sure where this came from. I believe when I did these a few weeks ago I hit 15 and 8 in the first 2 sets. Will add weight next time.

Close Grip Lat Pulldown: Rest Pause
115 Pounds x 17 Reps (12/3/2)
Goal = 15-20 Reps
Really fought for the 13th rep on the first set and I paid for it in the last 2. Still ended up in my goal rep range though. Weight will stay the sameand I should have a good chance of getting to 20 reps next time.

Monkey Row: Rest Pause
35lb DB's x 21 Reps (10/6/5)
Goal = 10-15 reps
These felt very hard today, but I still ended up well beyond my goal reps. Weight will increase next time.

Flew through this in 28 minutes today. I'm planning to flip Hammer Curls and Monkey Rows so that I'm doing the heavier lift (which should be the Monkey Rows) earlier on when I'm fresher. Aside from that I'm very happy with how this day is laid out - kept me feeling quite fresh on every exercise.

[DanCR]

Close Grip Lat Pulldown: Rest Pause
115 Pounds x 17 Reps (12/3/2)
Goal = 15-20 Reps
Really fought for the 13th rep on the first set and I paid for it in the last 2.

Worth it.

[Bolder]

I like how we both have a similar pattern of doing four lifts/movements in a session lol. It would seem sort of unusual to do a fifth or sixth lift (or going over four lifts) lol.

As for deadlifts... well, deadlifts are sort of an anomaly of its own lol. I suppose most of the recovery points drained from the deadlifts come from the very initial portion or budging the bar off the floor (breaking inertia). I suppose if you're concerned about recovery, there's always mid-shin rack pulls.

Yeah, we have a lot of similarities in how we think about and approach training.
Heck, even our avatars are almost the same, lol.

Next in line once I've exhausted progress on conventional deadlifts is probably T-Bar Rows. After that I definitely have Rack Pulls as one of my top options.
If all goes well though, that might be 6-9 months down the line.

The thought that just came to my mind (earlier before) was like, "Hey, twinsie mode!" but then realized that sounded cringe and kept it to myself lol

Yeah, 4 lifts per session seems like a good fit.

[cgeorg]

How did you arrive at your initial weights/rep targets on this?

[Clearwater47]

How did you arrive at your initial weights/rep targets on this?

I started out by using the rep ranges from DoggCrapp training, but they've changed slightly over the last couple of months.

Mostly it's pretty simple... I've selected a Light, a Medium, and a Heavy exercise for each muscle group. I've then assigned them a rep range according to that. My goal has been to aim for a specific number of reps on the first failure set. Heavy work in the 6-8 rep range, medium around 8-12, light around 12-15, and based the overarching rep goal on that. So my Heavy work is primarily 10-15 reps, medium 15-20, and light 20-25. I'm using 'whole' numbers just for the sake of simplicity at this point.

I'm also not really sticking to these ranges super strictly (example: for rear delts and side delts I'm not doing anything in the 10-15 rep range). Calves are basically always in the 10-15 rep range, and some other idiosyncrasies based upon injury history and other factors.

I'm not sure I'm using the 'right' rep ranges, and I expect I'll continue to tweak them over time. 2 months of experimenting really doesn't feel like enough time to dial them in. I also wonder how important it really is. It seems like, especially with this approach to training, the number of reps done somewhat close to failure is probably what matters most, and there's probably going to be very little difference between a 10-15 and a 15-20 rep range in the grand scheme of things.

[Clearwater47]

The thought that just came to my mind (earlier before) was like, "Hey, twinsie mode!" but then realized that sounded cringe and kept it to myself lol

Haha! If the shoe fits...

[Clearwater47]

Walking Lunge
27.5lb DB's - 2 sets x 12 reps
Goal = 2 sets x 8-12 reps
Lunges haven't been bad for the last couple of month, but today they freaking sucked. I rested like 10 minutes after the first set and took another 10 after the second. Tweaked my left knee on one of the reps. Not sure what (if anything) I did wrong that caused it but I'm sure it'll be fine in a day or two.

Good Morning
115 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
Goal = 2 sets x 6-8 reps
Feeling kind of whiny today I guess... These are not fun and I don't think they ever will be. They're uncomfortable and it's hard to breathe, even with just 115. Aside from that it went great, lol.

Face Pull
32.5 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps
Goal = 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Still easily exceeding the rep goal. I'll add another 2.5 pounds next time.

Calf Raise
Bodyweight - 2 sets x 20 reps
Goal = 2 sets x 10-15 reps
Should have done these weighted but I didn't want any more stress on my knees than I needed, so just did a few bodyweight sets.

Rest day tomorrow. Good time for it.

[Clearwater47]

Close Grip Pin Bench: Rest Pause
115 pounds x 29 reps (18/7/4)
Goal = 15-20 reps
Smoked the first set. I was expecting more reps than last time just because it was done as the first exercise today, but wasn't expecting 18 reps. No elbow issues at all = win! Will definitely add weight next time.

High Pull: Rest Pause
115 pounds x 20 reps (9/6/5)[/B]
Goal = 15-20 reps
Probably should have had more reps on the first set. I stopped when I had a rep with a noticeably shorter range of motion, but in retrospect it was probably more of a technique failure than a muscle failure. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do as many reps as I did on the 2nd and 3rd sets. Not a big deal though and I still hit my rep goal. I may keep the weight the same next time anyway, because I'm still working out some kinks on the technique.

Incline Fly Press: Rest Pause
35lb DB's x 25 reps (14/7/4)
Goal = 20-25 reps
These went great today. Wasn't expecting to hit the rep goal since I was going in somewhat fatigue, and I had previously been doing these as the first exercise of the day. Pleasantly surprised. I'll increase weight next time.

6-Ways
5lb Plates - 3 sets x 8 reps
Goal = 3 sets x 6-10 reps
RPE was around 8 on the first set and close to 10 on the third.

Wasn't sure how this exercise ordering would work out, but it went very well. Pull day tomorrow.

[FilmBuff]

Nice work your consistency is always impressive.

[Clearwater47]

Thanks! @FilmBuff. Doing my best.


Long day. Started yard work at about 3PM, thinking I'd do that and then grill up some dinner. Well, as anyone who's ever watched a kid on their own knows, my planned timeline doesn't matter, lol. Finally finished up yard work a little before 9PM and then started my workout pretty much right away.

Pullup: Rest Pause
BW x 13 reps (7/4/2)
Goal = 10-15 reps
Thought I'd probably make it to 15 and almost did. I was about an inch short of completing 1 more rep on both the first and the 3rd set. I should have a good chance of getting to 15 reps next time.

Cable Curl: Rest Pause
37.5 pounds x 21 reps (12/6/3)
Goal = 20-25 reps
When doing these previously and watching back the video I noticed that I wasn't getting as much of a stretch as I could at the bottom. Focused on that today and, not surprisingly, ended up doing fewer reps. I probably still used a little more lean and momentum than I'd like. I'll try to clean that up next time.

Cable Row: Rest Pause
120 pounds x 27 reps (15/7/5)
Goal = 15-20 reps
I had previously been doing these as my first exercise of the day. I expected the pullups to leave me somewhat fatigued on these, but that wasn't the case at all and I ended up well over the rep goal. I'll add weight next time.

Barbell Wrist Curls: Rest Pause
70 pounds x 33 reps (18/9/6)
Goal = 15-20 pounds
Made a small tweak on hand placement and it made a HUGE difference. Was able to isolate my forearms better AND feel stronger. Surpassed my rep goal by 13 reps. I'll obviously add weight next time.

I flew through this workout, only taking about 25 minutes. It was definitely less fatiguing than any of the other workouts I've done recently. Not sure if I'll make any changes, but I'll probably take a look at my other Pull days and see if it makes sense to move some exercises around to even out the fatigue factor. There's probably nothing wrong with having an easier day every now and then though, assuming I can still recover sufficiently from the other days. Legs will be next. Not sure if I'll fit a workout in tomorrow or not. It's Mothers day and we have some plans for that.

[SaviorSelf]

How exactly are you doing those wrist curls? Do you let the weight bend your hands back or roll down your fingers?

[Clearwater47]

How exactly are you doing those wrist curls? Do you let the weight bend your hands back or roll down your fingers?

Hands are behind my back, with the back of my hands up against my buttocks. I'm curling/flexing my wrist as much as I can, but fully gripping the bar throughout (it's not rolling down my fingers at all).

Here - I found a video that shows exactly what I'm doing: