Veni, vidi, levavi, BenM Blathers

[BenM]

Fri 06/10/23: Spring Swole D22

AM BW: 91.1kg

Background Noise: Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You

Medium Grip Pause Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
5x100kg
5x92.5kg
5x92.5kg
5x92.5kg
2 minute rests

Pause Lat Pulldown:
8x60kg
8x60kg
8x60kg
8x60kg @ 7
2 minute rests

Walking Lunge:
20x25lb / hand
20x25lb / hand
20x25lb / hand
2 minute rests

Triceps Pushdown w/Rope:
12x20kg
10x20kg @ 8
10x20kg @ 10
2 minute rests

Hammer Curl w/Twist:
15x25lb / hand
15x25lb / hand
15x25lb / hand
2 minute rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Got back from work trip on Wednesday night which included 18 holes of golf and not enough food or sleep, so I just wasn't up for a 4:30am start yesterday. Took an extra day off the gym, didn't get the lights out until 10pm last night but slept like the dead and got back into it this morning.

Training Notes:

• Half expected to go light or skip lifts today but did everything pretty much as programmed. The 100kg bench set felt stupid heavy to start with but I found a groove with the back off sets eventually, was breathing a bit heavier than I'd like to be after easy sets of five though.
• Little bit of easy work on the lat pulldowns too, got a little challenging towards the end.
• Decided to do these lunges early instead of leaving them until last - I wasn't awfully puffed but did have a quad burn by the end and didn't enjoy these much.
• Triceps pushdowns were meh, started easy, last set was about all I had. Was actually going to skip curls altogether but compromised and just took the weight that was already loaded for a few easy sets to finish the session.
• All done in 57 minutes. That'll do.

[slowmotion]

How goes it?

[DCR]

Was wondering the same. Due to the time difference, I got used to this being the first log that I’d peruse during my initial morning dump. Shitting hasn’t been the same.

[BenM]

Geeze has it been that long since I updated this?

I've been mucking around, mostly. Got sick of my knee hurting all the time and started doing a bunch of spanish squats and generally taking it pretty easy. Actually just came off a bit of a break, until this morning I hadn't even set foot in the gym for a week. Just kinda over the whole thing right now to be honest, I've been finding other ways to occupy my time. Got a basketball ring setup at home a few weeks ago, so I've been playing with that a little bit, and just doing what I can.

I'll update this sometime soon with a whole bunch more blathering

[DCR]

I'll update this sometime soon with a whole bunch more blathering

Where’s the blather?

[BenM]

It's funny you bumped this today.

Since that last post I've still been struggling for consistency, I've taken a week off here and there, but I've managed to get in at least a couple of sessions most weeks. It's generally been light though, and I've barely hit the big three at all apart from sporadic barbell benching, been doing mostly light dumbbell bench variation, Spanish squats with bands, lunges etc. I did some trap bar deadlifts last week too.

My biggest issue has been getting out of bed in the morning, I just haven't got back to the really early starts, and my knee is still sore. But my hip might be almost ready for light squats. And my shoulder does not hurt at all benching, although overhead work is still a bit sketchy. I have all the logs in my app, but I haven't typed out a log or videoed anything. I sold my action camera this week since I hadn't been using it, then today for some reason I decided to pull out the old camera and record the session.

So here it is, I'm out of condition but hopefully this is the start of something.

Sat 20/01/24

AM BW: 89.8kg

Background Noise: Random Google Music Stuff

Comp Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
3x95kg
2x110kg @ 9.5
5x92.5kg
5x92.5kg
5x92.5kg
3 minute rests

Reverse Lunge:
10x32.5lb / hand
10x32.5lb / hand
10x32.5lb / hand
2.5minute rests

Pause Lat Pulldown:
10x52.5kg
10x52.5kg
8x52.5kg @ 7
2.5 minute rests

Hamstring Curl:
12x35kg
12x35kg
12x35kg
--- Supersetted with ---
Dumbbell LTE:
12x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand
2.5 minute rests between supersets

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Haven't been training consistently at all over the last few months and at one point had about 3 weeks off. But I got 4 sessions in last week, this is only my second this week. Hopefully a fresh start - still managing a sore knee and hip, but at least my shoulder now seems to be up for normal benching, it's only sketchy with overhead work.
• Stayed in bed too long this morning and woke up with a throbbing headache, but I had a window to train so I took it anyway.

Training Notes:

• Badly misgrooved the first rep of the double so it was kinda hard, my strength is down a fair bit as expected since I haven't been benching heavy at all really. The back off work was fine. My head was throbbing.
• Just trying to keep these lunges easy, they had me blowing though.
• Ran out of energy and motivation for the lat pulldowns. Finished with some pretty easy hamstrings and triceps.
• All done in 54 minutes.

[slowmotion]

Hey, there you are! Good to see you back. I guess it is mid summer where you are, what's the temperatures at? Here we have minus 25-28 degrees C right now. I can't wait for spring to get here.

[BenM]

Wow - I don't know how you cope with that, although I guess you get used to it. It's very pleasant here at the moment, was 22 C and cloudy today but we're supposed to get 25 degrees tomorrow. I took the family out for a drive in my weekend cruiser this afternoon.

[BenM]

Sun 21/01/24: Something Light

AM BW: 90.3kg

Background Noise: Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

High Bar Pause Squat:
8x20kg
8x20kg
6x60kg
6x80kg
6x80kg
6x80kg
2.5 minute rests

RDL To Floor:
8x70kg
8x110kg
8x110kg
8x110kg
2.5 minute rests

Low Incline Paused Dumbbell Bench:
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
3 minute rests

Dumbbell Seal Row:
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
12x50lb / hand
2.5 minute rests

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Afternoon session after a pretty lazy morning.

Training Notes:

• First time barbell squatting in a while, so took these pretty easy. My right glute started to get a bit sore after the first set or two. Also really struggled to get my knee sleeves on, my legs can't have got bigger so they must have shrunk.
• RDLs were nice and easy. First set of bench felt pretty good for a change, although it got a bit challenging towards the end. First set of rows felt surprisingly hard given the weight, but I think that was just because the RDLs impacted it. Wasn't too difficult by the end, just a bit shaky.
• All done in 47 minutes.

[BenM]

Thu 25/01/24: Something Light

AM BW: 90.2kg

Background Noise: Random Google Music

Medium Grip Pause Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
5x95kg
5x95kg
5x95kg
9x85kg @ 9.5
2.5 minute rests

Spanish Squat:
12xBW+10kg
12xBW+10kg
12xBW+10kg
12xBW+10kg
2.5 minute rests

Pause Lat Pulldown:
8x55kg
8x55kg
8x55kg
8x55kg @ 7.5
2 minute rests

Incline Dumbbell Curl:
12x25lb / hand
10x25lb / hand
10x25lb / hand @ 9
2 minute rests

Decline Sit Up:
12xBW
12xBW
12xBW @ 7
2 minute rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• My right glute pulled up really sore after Sunday's session, and (as usual) I went back to sleep instead of training early Tuesday, so I've had a few days off. But had a day off work today, no excuses. Plus I had a big cafe lunch.

Training Notes:

• Bench went OK, pushed the last set pretty close to failure, wanted 8+ so 9 was good.
• No glute pain from the spanish squats but didn't have a lot of energy either so took these pretty easy. Also had a sore knee as usual.
• Not much else to say about the back, biceps and abs - at least I didn't make any notes, so they must have been pretty smooth.
• All done in 55 minutes.

[BenM]

Sat 27/01/24: Something Light

AM BW: 90.2kg

Background Noise: Cricket - second test

High Bar Pin Squat:
8x20kg
8x20kg
8x70kg
6x90kg
6x90kg
6x90kg
6x90kg
2 minute rests

RDL to Floor:
8x90kg
6x120kg
6x120kg
6x120kg
8x120kg
2.5 minute rests

Close Grip Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
6x85kg
6x85kg
6x85kg
6x85kg @ 7.5
2 minute rests

Dumbbell LTE:
12x35lb / hand
12x35lb / hand @ 8
2 minutes rest

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Afternoon session after doing chores and stuff in the morning. Discovered that the TV in the gym has died. That made me sad (and late starting).

Training Notes:

• Pin squats just above parallel to hopefully not hurt my glute any more. No pain so that was OK.
• Taking the RDLs nice and easy for the same reason, but felt good enough to push the fourth set out to eight, nice and easy.
• Some close grip bench, bit challenging by the end and a bit hard on my elbows, which were then getting a bit sore from the triceps extensions too.
• All finished in exactly an hour.

[BenM]

Tue 30/01/24: Something Light

AM BW: 91.4kg

Background Noise: Random Google Music

Medium Grip Pause Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
2x90kg
5x100kg
6x92.5kg
6x92.5kg
6x92.5kg
2.5 minute rests

Terminal Knee Extension:
30 reps w/black bands
30 reps w/black bands
30 reps w/black bands
2 minute rests

Barbell Row:
6x92.5kg
6x92.5kg
8x82.5kg
8x82.5kg @ 6.5
2 minute rests

Seated Lateral Raise:
1x25lb / hand
8x20lb / hand
8x20lb / hand @ 7.5
2 minute rests

EZ Bar Curl:
8x30kg
8x30kg @ 9
8x25kg @ 8.5
2.5 minute rests

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Kinda ran out of time / skipped Sunday training and then failed to get out of bed early this morning - again. But I was working from home and took a long lunch so I could lift during the day. Also, seem to have unintentionally started gaining more weight.

Training Notes:

• Bench all felt pretty good today considering I was barefoot, managed to get setup pretty tight with my feet flat and these all moved pretty well.
• Went with terminal knee extensions rather than squats, I am so sick of hips and quads and knees hurting but I got a quad pump so meh.
• Barbell rows with the weight I had on the bar were pretty good although I did have some tingling in my shoulder especially during the heavier sets, so I certainly didn't push these all that hard.
• Did one lateral raise with 25lb and my shoulder went zap, so I dropped the load and did a couple of sets of eight, trying to take it easy. No zaps from those.
• My biceps were actually pretty sore for a few days after Saturday so I did some more curls today.
• Knocked this over in 49 minutes.

[platypus]

Your training density never ceases to impress me. Glad to see you're back in action!

[BenM]

Your training density never ceases to impress me. Glad to see you're back in action!

I'm used to it now, better to just keep moving and get it done!

[BenM]

Thu 01/02/24: Something Light

AM BW: 91.4kg

Background Noise: Randomness

Trap Bar Deadlift (High Handles):
8x120kg
8x120kg
5x170kg
5x170kg
5x170kg
5x170kg
8x170kg
2.5 minute rests

Hamstring Curl:
12x37.5kg
12x37.5kg @ 8.5
12x32.5kg @ 9
2.5 minute rests

Low Incline Pause Dumbbell Bench:
12x52.5lb / hand
12x52.5lb / hand
12x52.5lb / hand @ 6.5
3 minute rests

Cable Crunch:
12x40kg
12x40kg
12x40kg
15x40kg
2 minute rests

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Late afternoon session since I couldn't drag myself out of bed early this morning. Again. At this point I feel like I should just stop trying.

Training Notes:

• Deadlifts felt easier than last time out which is positive. The usual soreness but felt good enough to push the last set a bit harder.
• Second set of hamstring curls got a bit short, so I dropped load and struggled a bit for ROM with the last too. Smoked from deadlifts maybe.
• Dumbbell bench moved really fast and easy from the get go although my left wrist was clicking and sending uncomfortable nerve pain down my arm. Pushed the last set a bit harder here too.
• Started to get some foot cramps in the third set of cable crunches but found a groove in the fourth and pushed that a little harder.
• All done in 49 minutes.

[BenM]

Sat 03/02/24: Something Light

AM BW: 91.7kg

Background Noise: Google Shuffle

Comp Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
2x97.5kg
4x105kg @ 9
4x105kg @ 9.5
5x95kg
5x95kg
5x95kg
3 minute rests

Terminal Knee Extension:
30 reps w/black bands
30 reps w/black bands
30 reps w/black bands
2 minute rests

Seated Cable Row:
12x70kg
12x70kg
12x70kg @ 7
2.5 minute rests

Incline Dumbbell Curl:
6x30lb / hand @ 8.5
7x30lb / hand @ 10
10x25lb / hand @ 9
11x25lb / hand @ 10
2 minute rests

Footage of bench:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Overslept this morning and woke up with a headache so worked on the car instead of lifting this morning and trained mid afternoon.

Training Notes:

• Bit disappointed with bench, a top set of five really should have been achievable at this weight but clearly strength is down a bit. So I did two top sets of four and some back off work which was fine.
• Both knees were clicky and sore when I started the knee extensions but seemed to improve so I got three set in and got a burn.
• Some nice cable rows which were reasonably easy, then some curls which were a lot less reps than expected, not sure if I had the bench one click flatter or just tired from the rows. Either way, I failed rep eight of the second set with my left arm, and the same arm wouldn't have completed twelve from the last set either, so at least I'm pushing close to failure on these.
• All done in 51 minutes.

[BenM]

Sun 04/02/24: Something Light

AM BW: 91.1kg

Background Noise: More Random Stuff

High Bar Pause Squat:
8x20kg
8x20kg
6x70kg
3x110kg
5x110kg
2 minutes rest

High Bar Pin Squat:
6x92.5kg
6x92.5kg
8x92.5kg
2.5 minute rests

RDL to Floor:
8x100kg
6x135kg
6x135kg
6x135kg
6x135kg @ 7
2.5 minute rests

Overhead Press:
10x20kg
5x40kg
2x60kg

Seated Dumbbell Press:
12x27.5lb / hand
12x27.5lb / hand
Sub 2 minutes rest

Triceps Pushdown:
12x17.5kg
12x17.5kg @ 8.5
10x15kg @ 9.5
2 minute rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Late morning session after decent sleep and a pretty stress free morning.

Training Notes:

• Wanted to attempt one heavier set of regular depth squats, ended up doing two after cutting the first one a bit short. Also wore a belt for the first time in months and had to adjust it bigger. These didn't feel as hard as expected considering how long it's been (good) and glute didn't hurt (also good) but my hip did feel it and has pulled up a little sore as I type this a couple of hours later, so glad I called it there. Did back off sets to pins above parallel and no issues with those other than heavy breathing.
• Went much heavier than last time out with the RDLs and got some good work in.
• Wanted to try one heavier single or double overhead. Happy to get a couple with sixty kilos but the shoulder zaps on the eccentrics made me stop even though they weren't as bad as some I've had. Dropped back and did some really light work with dumbbells and still felt it but less intensely. Shoulders felt pretty worked over after that.
• Finished off with some triceps work, left elbow was a bit sore during the first set but not too bad after that. Had a decent pump.
• All done in 65 minutes.

[Renascent]

Oi! Welcome back!

[BenM]

Oi! Welcome back!

Oh hai! I see you're still killing it!

[BenM]

Tue 06/02/24: Something Light

AM BW: 91.3kg

Background Noise: Random Google (incl many songs from Frozen....)

Strict EZ Bar Curl:
8x25kg
8x25kg
10x25kg
10x25kg @ 7
2 minute rests

Medium Grip Pause Bench:
10x20kg
10x20kg
8x70kg
6x95kg
6x95kg
6x95kg @ 7.5
6x95kg @ 9.5
2.5 minute rests

Terminal Knee Extension:
30 reps w / black bands
30 reps w / black bands
30 reps w / black bands
2 minute rests

Barbell Row:
10x80kg
10x80kg @ 7.5
10x80kg @ 9.5
2 minute rests

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Finally managed to break the sleep in cycle, was up at 5am and out in the gym lifting by 5:10. Although I did succumb and drank a can of Monster for the first time in probably 3 months, hopefully I can get back to a consistent routine again.

Training Notes:

• Started with curls, intending 25kg to be warmups before heavier sets but ended up just doing sets until it got kinda challenging.
• Not super hyped for benching today and just did some sets with these too, the last one was pretty slow.
• Some quad burn stuff for funsies and some rows which were easy then hard to finish.
• All done in 44 minutes. Pretty run of the mill stuff.