Veni, vidi, levavi, BenM Blathers

[BenM]

@slowmotion thanks, I'm sure you're right. It's certainly feeling a lot better than it did and I'm quietly hopeful of benching heavy again relatively soon.

@MarkKO yeah that's what I mean about being confused. Yes tendons don't have much of a blood supply so they do take a long time but they certainly can remodel and realign, that's how tendinopathies resolve themselves.

But the way the physio explained it is that the tear won't heal, but I can build new muscle tissue around it and the tendon itself will grow stronger and thicker so what might be a 20% tear now will ultimately end up being a smaller percentage of the overall tendon.

At least I think that's what he said. English isn't his first language either.

[slowmotion]

As far as I know Michael Kjær is one of the people who have done a lot of research on tendons. I haven't read anything by him, but if you want you could look into it.

[MarkKO]

@slowmotion thanks, I'm sure you're right. It's certainly feeling a lot better than it did and I'm quietly hopeful of benching heavy again relatively soon.

@MarkKO yeah that's what I mean about being confused. Yes tendons don't have much of a blood supply so they do take a long time but they certainly can remodel and realign, that's how tendinopathies resolve themselves.

But the way the physio explained it is that the tear won't heal, but I can build new muscle tissue around it and the tendon itself will grow stronger and thicker so what might be a 20% tear now will ultimately end up being a smaller percentage of the overall tendon.

At least I think that's what he said. English isn't his first language either.

That sounds kind of ridiculous. Muscle tissue growing around the tendon surely would be a problem, wouldn't it?

I'd probably try to find a better physio if I were in your position. This sounds sounds kind of not great.

[Clearwater47]

Reverse Hyperextension (on Incline Bench):
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
1 minute rests between supersets

Why did I never think of this.?.! Definitely going to give these a shot at some point.

Injuries suck. A couple of years back I was unable to do any pressing for several months due to a shoulder injury. It wasn't a tendon issue, but I fully understand the frustration that can come up when you're not able to do something you want to do. Patience and diligence will pay off in the end.

[BenM]

That sounds kind of ridiculous. Muscle tissue growing around the tendon surely would be a problem, wouldn't it?

I'd probably try to find a better physio if I were in your position. This sounds sounds kind of not great.

I don't know. I might have misinterpreted him or misrepresented what he meant. More like the muscles around the area grow stronger to compensate? Either way he was very clear that the tear itself won't heal, but I'll still adapt to it and get back to normality, which is the main point I took from it.

Reverse Hyperextension (on Incline Bench):
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
1 minute rests between supersets

Why did I never think of this.?.! Definitely going to give these a shot at some point.

Injuries suck. A couple of years back I was unable to do any pressing for several months due to a shoulder injury. It wasn't a tendon issue, but I fully understand the frustration that can come up when you're not able to do something you want to do. Patience and diligence will pay off in the end.

Yeah, I don't know where I picked those up. They're not muscularly demanding but they can sure make you sweat and blow. I've been doing a bit of stuff like this especially lately - sometimes it's nice to do something that isn't heavy and just gets you moving around, it's a mental break as much as anything.

And thanks - yeah it's frustrating, I have had a leg/hip issue for a long time which has killed my squat and this on top was a real kick in the nuts. But I'm not dirty about it any more, in some ways it's been nice to just go into the gym and take things relatively easy for a while.

[MarkKO]

That sounds kind of ridiculous. Muscle tissue growing around the tendon surely would be a problem, wouldn't it?

I'd probably try to find a better physio if I were in your position. This sounds sounds kind of not great.

I don't know. I might have misinterpreted him or misrepresented what he meant. More like the muscles around the area grow stronger to compensate? Either way he was very clear that the tear itself won't heal, but I'll still adapt to it and get back to normality, which is the main point I took from it.

Reverse Hyperextension (on Incline Bench):
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
1 minute rests between supersets

Why did I never think of this.?.! Definitely going to give these a shot at some point.

Injuries suck. A couple of years back I was unable to do any pressing for several months due to a shoulder injury. It wasn't a tendon issue, but I fully understand the frustration that can come up when you're not able to do something you want to do. Patience and diligence will pay off in the end.

Yeah, I don't know where I picked those up. They're not muscularly demanding but they can sure make you sweat and blow. I've been doing a bit of stuff like this especially lately - sometimes it's nice to do something that isn't heavy and just gets you moving around, it's a mental break as much as anything.

And thanks - yeah it's frustrating, I have had a leg/hip issue for a long time which has killed my squat and this on top was a real kick in the nuts. But I'm not dirty about it any more, in some ways it's been nice to just go into the gym and take things relatively easy for a while.

Even a brief google brings up two peer reviewed articles that talk about tendons and ligaments healing. They're just very slow to do it. It does absolutely look like they do heal though, just in a more involved process than a muscle.

[BenM]

Sat 04/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W3 D4

AM BW: 87.1kg

Background Noise: Bathurst 12 Hour supports / quali

Close Grip Push Up:
10xBW
10xBW
10xBW
1 minute rests

Dumbbell Squeeze Press:
20x30lb / hand
20x30lb / hand
20x30lb / hand
1 minute rests

Face Pull:
20x17.5kg
20x17.5kg
20x17.5kg
--- Supersetted with ---
Triceps Pushdown w/Rope:
15x17.5kg @ 6.5
15x17.5kg @ 8
15x17.5kg @ 9.5
1 minute rests between supersets

Reverse Nordic Curl:
20 reps w/black band
20 reps w/black band
20 reps w/black band
--- Supersetted with ---
Incline Dumbbell Curl:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand @ 8
1 minute rests between supersets

Hamstring Curl:
15x45kg @ 6.5
12x45kg @ 9
10x45kg @ 10
10x40kg @ 7.5
2 minute rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Slept like an absolute log last night and didn't get up until 7:30am, did some mundane stuff this morning and even managed a nap after lunch before hitting the gym. Still tired.

Training Notes:

• Push ups felt much better than last week and I managed three very easy sets of ten with only minor discomfort. So I went and added 5lb to the squeeze presses and did sets of twenty instead of fifteen like last week. They felt like a lot of triceps and not much chest but the shoulder felt pretty good.
• Face pulls and triceps were a touch heavier than last time out too, the face pulls also didn't feel bad, the triceps got pretty challenging and I probably let some body english drift in, but no shoulder problems from these either.
• I changed things up a bit and did reverse nordics with the incline curls today; also tried a pool noodle to support my ankles. It wasn't quite thick enough probably, and I got a pretty fair cramp in the second set. But banged out a few sets, went a little heavier with the curls and kept them quite submaximal until the last one.
• Hamstring curls to finish, with a bit more weight than last week, and although I pushed rests to two minutes it wasn't enough to maintain what I did then. But that's not surprising since I was effectively resting a lot longer due to supersetting reverse nordics with them. So I did a drop set and called it good, my hamstrings were toast.
• Pretty good day. 52 minutes.

[BenM]

Sun 05/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W4 D1

AM BW: 87.4kg

Background Noise: Bathurst 12 Hour

2 Count Pause SSB Squat:
6x17kg
6x17kg
6x57kg
6x72kg
6x72kg
6x72kg
90 second rests

RDL to Floor:
12x70kg
12x105kg
11x105kg (grip fail)
16x105kg @ 6.5
2 minute rests

Front Foot Elevated Split Squat:
12x35lb
12x35lb
12x35lb @ 7
90 second rests

Decline Sit Up:
12 reps @ 6.5
12 reps @ 7.5
12 reps @ 9.5
10 reps @ 9 (slightly flatter incline)
--- Supersetted with ---
EZ Bar Curl:
8x35kg @ 7.5
8x35kg @ 9.5
8x30kg @ 8.5
8x30kg @ 10
90 seconds between supersets

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Slept very soundly again, and would've liked to stay in bed a bit longer, but at least it was a pretty cruisy morning, and a beautiful day too. Opened up all the big sliding doors to the gym and let some fresh air in while I lifted, was nice.

Training Notes:

• First time with a bar on my back for a little while so trying to feel these out; also first time trying a band around my legs to try and encourage me to drive my knees out as I think that takes a lot of the strain off the problematic tendon. Feel like it was a success, there was some very minor discomfort but they felt pretty good overall and no lingering soreness immediately afterwards, although they were very light.
• Back to barbell RDLs too, and again trying to start conservative for similar reasons plus shoulder as well. I went DOH for the first two sets but I just couldn't hang on for twelve reps in the second, so I hooked the third set and clearly had zero grip issues since I banged out quite a few more. Hip/quad felt fine at this weight, so I guess I'd better try a bit harder with these next time.
• Subbed in front foot elevated squats since I'm a bit sick of lunges and bulgarian split squats, these were pretty hard by the end.
• Then it was the old sit ups and curls to finish, although to start with I elevated the bench a little more than usual. Did that for three sets, and then dropped it back to the flatter setting for the last one. Really struggled with curls, almost bailed on the first set after two or three reps as I just felt like I had nothing in the tank. Pushed on though and ended up doing some reasonably solid work - I probably would have liked to get five sets like I did the last couple of sessions, but I used my discretion and called it at four because I felt completely gassed out.
• Still a pretty decent day in 51 minutes. Thanks for reading!

[BenM]

Mon 06/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W4 D2

AM BW: 87.2kg

Background Noise: Nirvana - Nirvana

Close Grip Bench Press:
15x20kg
15x20kg
12x50kg
12x50kg
12x50kg
1 minute rests

Dumbbell Fly:
15x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand
--- Supersetted with ---
Paused Lat Pulldown:
12x55kg
12x55kg
12x55kg @ 9
1 minute rests between supersets

Dumbbell Triceps Kickback:
12x27.5lb / hand
12x27.5lb / hand
12x27.5lb / hand
--- Supersetted with ---
Lateral Raise:
15x7.5lb / hand
15x7.5lb / hand
15x7.5lb / hand
1 minute rests between supersets

Banded Lateral Walk:
20 reps w/green band
20 reps w/green band
25 reps w/green band
--- Supersetted with ---
Plyo Box Step Up:
12x27.5lb / hand
12x27.5lb / hand
15x27.5lb / hand
90 second rests between supersets

Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Didn't get to sleep early enough last night - the Sunday night transition kinda sucks. Wasn't reluctant to train though, especially the upper body stuff.

Training Notes:

• Added 10kg to bench and pushed to twelve instead of ten reps, which was quite an aggressive jump. Last set actually got a little bit challenging and crampy, plus my elbows are clearly not used to benching! But zero shoulder pain from these, so no big deal. I actually did a set of five with just the bar and my normal max legal grip afterwards, and that felt a bit crappy, although it didn't hurt much.
• Supersetted flys and the lat pulldowns, which I kinda regret doing - I might have been better to do the pulldowns with bench. I felt like I pushed them a bit too hard last week so I dropped the load a bit, but even with 5kg less they were a bit of a struggle by the end. The flys were noticeably harder than last week too with 5lb more per hand, but still well within the safety margin so no issues there.
• Slightly heavier triceps and lateral raises had me blowing a bit, but pretty happy that the laterals felt much like last week, just a bit of tightness in the first rep then pretty much plain sailing, apart from struggling to pinch grip two plates in each hand. Hopefully I'll go to 10lb in a week or two, that's the bare dumbbells and locking screws.
• Reluctantly finished with lateral walks and step ups like usual, and although I started thinking I would keep the banded walks easy and maybe do fifteens, I pushed myself to twenty anyway and even out to twenty five at the finish - had a bad glute burn. Left leg felt crap all the way through the step ups but pushed the last set of those a little harder too.
• Solid effort despite tiredness - 51 minutes. Didn't bother filming. Still keeping on.

[BenM]

Wed 08/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W4 D3

AM BW: 88.0kg

Background Noise: The Living End - Modern Artillery

Trap Bar Deadlift:
8x120kg
8x120kg
8x165kg
8x165kg
10x165kg @ 7.5
2 minute rests

Pause Goblet Squat:
15x60lb
15x60lb
15x60lb
1 minute rests

Dumbbell Squeeze Press:
20x32.5lb / hand
20x32.5lb / hand
20x32.5lb / hand @ 7
--- Supersetted with ---
Hamstring Curl:
12x40kg
12x40kg
12x40kg @ 7.5
1 minute, then 90 seconds rest between supersets

Back Extension:
15xBW+10kg
15xBW+10kg
15xBW+10kg @ 6.5
1 minute rests I think, forgot to note it down

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Actually managed to get into bed pretty much on time last night and the alarm at 4:40am was just a gentle bump instead of a punch in the face. Still took me a bit to get going, and I wasn't real keen to deadlift, but eh, I drank some coffee and sucked it up.

Training Notes:

• Trap bar deadlifts are back in this slot, for now. And while I programmed in three sets of six to eight with 160kg, of course I threw an extra five kilos on the bar and pushed the last set a little harder to ten (which is what I did with 160kg a few weeks ago). So there.
• I had pencilled in landmine hack squats in the second slot but after setting up the landmine, throwing two red plates on and attempting quite awkwardly to throw it on my shoulder, I just decided it was all too hard and went back to goblet squats. Maybe I'll try again with something lighter, maybe I won't. But the goblet squats felt really easy for some reason, so either I misloaded the dumbbell last week and it was heavier than I thought, or the heavy deadlifts beforehand made it seem light.
• Threw in squeeze presses instead of ab work today, because I've had mega DOMS in my chest and shoulders since Monday's session and I wanted to get some blood flowing. Sets of twenty got a little difficult by the end, but had zero shoulder pain so that's a win. And the hamstring curls were supposed to be easy, started out that way, and then got pretty hard at the end.
• Finished with some back extensions and did some decent work with a sensible amount of weight.
• That was enough - 44 minutes.

[BenM]

Fri 10/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W4 D4

AM BW: 88.0kg

Background Noise: Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits - Songs from the South, Vols 1 & 2

Narrow Grip Push Up:
12xBW reps
12xBW reps
1 minute rest

Pause Dumbbell Bench Press:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
15x32.5lb / hand
1 minute rests

Dumbbell Fly:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand
1 minute rest

Face Pull:
20x17.5kg
20x17.5kg
20x17.5kg
--- Supersetted with ---
Triceps Pushdown w/Rope:
15x17.5kg
15x17.5kg @ 7
15x17.5kg @ 9
1 minute rests between supersets

Reverse Nordic Curl:
20 reps w/black band
20 reps w/black band
20 reps w/black band
--- Supersetted with ---
Incline Dumbbell Curl:
12x32.5lb / hand
12x32.5lb / hand @ 8
12x32.5lb / hand @ 10
90 second rests between supersets

Dumbbell Pullover:
15x32.5lb
15x32.5lb
About 90 seconds rest

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Was in bed on time last night and got seven hours of pretty good sleep, but clearly it wasn't enough based on how I felt this morning, I needed coffee plus Monster to get me going. Glad it's Friday.
• Injuries... I've had some random burning in my left hip since just after Wednesday's session. And then today I got a crick in my neck during the face pulls and triceps and it's got steadily stiffer all day. Just can't take a trick at the moment.

Training Notes:

• Push ups didn't feel too bad once I got going, did twelves this morning indeed of tens like last time. I'd programmed squeeze presses after that but since I did those last session I decided to play with some actual dumbbell bench. First set felt a little iffy but after that it was fine, stupidly light weight of course, but it felt good to get some blood flowing. Did some flys too, but stopped at two sets, that was plenty.
• Face pulls and triceps just like last session, except the triceps were just a little bit easier than last week. But my neck... no idea what happened in that second set but it just felt like a crick so I pushed through, tonight it's pretty stiff and sore.
• After that it was reverse nordic curls and incline curls again, my knees were popping a lot during the nordics, and I'm a bit sick of them to be honest. Reasonably happy to get three sets of twelve with the curls, it's an equal PR, although the last set was definitely a max for my left arm if not the right.
• Did some pullovers after that just because they're easy and they're overhead work for my shoulder (kinda) so they made me huff and puff a bit but that's about it.
• Another reasonably good day, in 49 minutes, then a reasonably non-crazy day at work for a change too. Watching the new season of Clarkson's Farm now. Hooray for the weekend.

[BenM]

Sat 11/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W5 D1

AM BW: 87.2kg

Background Noise: First Test, Aus vs India, Day Three

SSB Squat:
8x17kg
8x17kg
8x67kg
5x97kg
3x117kg belted

2 Count Pause SSB Squat:
6x77kg
6x77kg
6x77kg
90 second rests

Beltless RDL to Floor:
12x70kg
12x110kg
12x110kg
12x110kg
2 minute rests

Front Foot Elevated Dumbbell Split Squat:
12x37.5lb
12x37.5lb
12x37.5lb
90 second rests

Decline Sit Up:
15 reps
12 reps @ 8.5
10 reps @ 8.5
10 reps @ 9
--- Supersetted with ---
EZ Bar Curl:
6x35kg
5x40kg @ 9.5
8x32.5kg @ 8
8x32.5kg @ 10
90 second rests between supersets

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Slept solidly but still woke up pretty tired this morning, I'd planned on training before lunch but my tummy was a bit upset and my energy was pretty low so I tried to have a nap instead. It doesn't help that it's my least favourite session of the week and it's a pretty hot day but I cranked up the aircon and got myself out to the gym mid afternoon anyway.

Training Notes:

• Decided to do a sort of heavyish non-paused triple before the pause squats, just to see how the leg feels. It's been about 6 months since I've had this much weight on my back, so unsurprisingly it felt pretty heavy but on replay they look faster than they felt. It did stretch out my sore hip tendon but only a little, I think this was probably a pretty good place to start trying to ease into it. The pause squats felt pretty good and quite easy after that.
• Added 5kg to the RDLs with the intention of just staying quite easy again, they had me blowing a bit but felt pretty good today.
• Don't like these front foot elevated squats all that much but they're done now, the last set got a bit rest-pause for my right leg, I was getting pretty tired.
• Abs and curls to finish - like last week, I used a steeper incline for the first couple of sets (although last week it was the first three) - but I pushed the first set a bit harder and managed one more rep in total than last week. Didn't do anywhere near as many reps with the curls though, I wanted one heavier set today so the first set was a relatively easy warm up, the second was heavy and almost a max, and then the last two were hard and hardest to finish, I'd had enough. Might see if I can add one more set to these next week.
• So, this took a little longer than normal but still just under an hour, 57 minutes. I'm somewhat hopeful I might actually be squatting pretty normally in a month or two, if I'm careful.

[BenM]

Sun 12/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W5 D2

AM BW: 87.0kg

Background Noise: Evanescence - Anywhere But Home

Close Grip Bench Press:
15x20kg
15x20kg
10x55kg
10x55kg
10x55kg
--- work sets supersetted with ---
Paused Lat Pulldown:
10x55kg
10x55kg
10x55kg @ 7
1 minute rests between supersets

Dumbbell Fly:
15x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand
15x30lb / hand
--- supersetted with ---
Dumbbell Triceps Kickback:
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand
12x30lb / hand @ 8.5
1 minute, then 90 second rests between supersets

Dumbbell Thruster:
1x30lb / hand nope, this is silly

Lateral Raise:
12x12.5lb / hand
12x12.5lb / hand
12x12.5lb / hand
90 second rests

Side Lunge:
12x40lb
12x40lb
2 minute rests

Banded Lateral Walk:
20 reps w/x-strong band
20 reps w/x-strong band
20 reps w/x-strong band
90 second rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Slept pretty well, had a pretty lazy morning, not really much else to say really. Got out mid morning which is what I prefer to do on a Sunday.

Training Notes:

• Added 5kg to the bench sets but did tens instead of twelves. Had some very, very minor tightness in the shoulder but no pain, and had plenty of reps in the tank as planned. Learned from last week and supersetted the lat pulldowns in, and slipped back to tens there too since I didn't want that last set getting to RPE 9 again. It was all in about the right ballpark, intensity wise.
• Because of that change I ended up supersetting flys with triceps, which was fine apart from a minor battle hanging onto the dumbbells for that many reps, my hands and forearms were getting pretty crampy. Aside from the last set of triceps though they weren't all that challenging in terms of weight.
• I sort of want to do thrusters in this next slot so I get some leg work and shoulder work at the same time, but it's too soon for that, and I knew it but I tried anyway because impatience. Did one rep and while it didn't hurt hurt, it felt like it would only be a couple of reps before it did, so I bailed straight away and did the normal lateral raises instead. Which was a bit of a weight jump because of the way my dumbbell work, but felt pretty good.
• I'm sick of the step ups so I tried some side lunges with just one dumbbell in the goblet squat position. Felt awkward and crappy and really had me blowing and panting, despite two minutes between sets I just couldn't bring myself to do a third. But I did do three sets of banded lateral walks to finish and got a pretty solid burn in my glutes.
• A nice 53 minutes. But I'm a bit tired and feel like I need a rest day, and when I consider I've trained eight out of the last ten days that's not really surprising. And my shoulder was a bit sore after this, probably from the extended ROM lateral raises, so blah. Need to not push too hard.

[BenM]

Tue 14/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W5 D3

AM BW: 87.9kg

Background Noise: Tool - Ænima

Trap Bar Deadlift:
8x130kg
8x130kg
8x170kg
8x170kg
10x170kg @ 7.5
2 minute rests

Pause Belt Squat:
10x50kg
10x100kg
10x100kg
12x100kg @ 6.5
90 second rests

Dumbbell Squeeze Press:
20x35lb / hand
20x35lb / hand
20x35lb / hand @ 6
--- Supersetted with ---
Hamstring Curl:
12x40kg
12x40kg
12x40kg @ 8
90 second rests between supersets

Back Extension:
15xBW+10kg
15xBW+10kg
20xBW
20xBW
90 second rests

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Was in bed on time, slept well, woke up super groggy. Still need more sleep than I'm actually getting. Not keen to deadlift as usual.

Training Notes:

• Back on the trap bar deadlifts, my lower back was feeling a bit tight warming up but once I got going these went pretty well. They felt heavy, but that's no surprise.
• The next slot needed some heavier quad work and after last week I figured belt squats would be a decent option. These gave me some minor hip niggle but nothing drastic, felt good enough to push the third set a little harder, and my leg felt pretty good on the walk afterwards so I was happy with that.
• Squeeze presses and hamstring curls together again, added a little weight to the squeeze presses and they felt pretty good - fairly good triceps burn but happy shoulder. Kept the hamstring curls in the same place as last week, and the very last rep didn't quite get full ROM so I'm saying they were a bit more difficult.
• Finished with back extensions, but after two weighted sets my back just felt like toast so I did some higher rep sets with body weight and called it good.
• This might be my second favourite session of the week which is weird considering my dislike of deadlifting and squatting, ended up being a pretty good day. Took 50 minutes.

[slowmotion]

Nice work!

[BenM]

Nice work!

I am... a bit sick in the head, I think. I complain about doing this all the time yet I keep going, so I must enjoy it on some level.

[BenM]

Wed 15/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W5 D4

AM BW: 87.9kg

Background Noise: Motörhead - The Best of Motörhead

Narrow Grip Push Up:
15xBW reps
15xBW reps
1 minute rest

Comp Bench Press:
10x20kg
10x20kg
5x40kg
10x55kg
10x55kg
10x55kg
1 minute rests

Pause Dumbbell Bench Press:
15x37.5lb / hand
15x37.5lb / hand
15x37.5lb / hand
--- Supersetted with ---
Face Pull:
15x25kg
15x25kg
15x25kg
90 second rests between supersets

Triceps Pushdown w/Rope:
12x20kg
15x17.5kg @ 8.5
12x17.5kg @ 9
--- Supersetted with --- [/b]
Incline Dumbbell Curl:
12x35lb / hand (PR for twelve; +2.5lb)
10x35lb / hand @ 9
11x32.5lb / hand @ 9.5
90 second rests between supersets - I think

Dumbbell Pullover:
15x40lb
15x40lb
90 seconds rest

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Slept really, really solidly, was a bit shocked when the alarm went off. Wish it was later in the week, it's only Wednesday. Sigh.

Training Notes:

• Did some push ups, shoulder was a bit tight the first rep, fine after that. Then I'd sorta thought last night about trying some light benching with my (wider) comp grip so I decided to go ahead and do that. Reps with 40kg felt way too light so I jumped to 55kg. They felt pretty good - I might've pushed the boundaries a little bit but didn't actually hurt, so eh. Got it done.
• Unfortunately (or fortunately) I then decided to go and do some dumbbell benching as well (which is what was originally programmed) and did three sets of those, supersetted with heavier than last week face pulls. And honestly they both felt pretty much fine, although I do think the face pulls might be starting to outlive their usefulness. I've done these a fair bit heavier but it's already starting to get difficult to maintain stability and not let body english creep in - I think it might be time for some heavier row variation here.
• Because I went a bit heavier with the face pulls I supersetted triceps and biceps today. Went quite heavy on the curls, reasonably happy to get twelve and ten, and the triceps I dropped the load a bit for the second set because my shoulder felt like trash. Might've pushed it a little too much somewhere prior. Anyway, finished the sets out, they were pretty tough, but that's fine.
• Went a little heavier with the pullovers too, and these didn't feel bad at all. Skipped the reverse nordics I normally do on day 4 because I think they're probably a bit pointless and/or unnecessary and I was out of time anyway.
• My shoulder pulled up a little bit sore after this, but it was quite a bit of (light) volume that I'm not really used to, and it was sore after Sunday too but came good really quick so yeah. I'm pushing it about as hard as I can without actually making it worse, I think.
• Anyway a good effort, 48 minutes, moving on.

[slowmotion]

Nice work!

I am... a bit sick in the head, I think. I complain about doing this all the time yet I keep going, so I must enjoy it on some level.

I find that for me, lifting is very relaxing. Maybe it's the dopamine/endorphins thing?

[BenM]

Nice work!

I am... a bit sick in the head, I think. I complain about doing this all the time yet I keep going, so I must enjoy it on some level.

I find that for me, lifting is very relaxing. Maybe it's the dopamine/endorphins thing?

I was thinking about this and you raise a valid point. For me, I mostly think of lifting as something I've just got to do, whether I like it or not, and often I'm not feeling all that up for it but always feel pretty decent afterwards. It can be relaxing sometimes, but usually on weekends when I've got a bit more time and I don't necessarily have to push the pace - weekday mornings I always tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to hit the numbers and get it done in a good clip because I just don't have time otherwise.

Maybe it would feel more relaxing if I just went out there and took my time with it but it's just difficult to do with all the other life stuff happening. But I'm not a competitive lifter and realistically there is probably no need for me to put pressure on myself - I am my own worst enemy when it comes to that, at work and at home.

[BenM]

Fri 17/02/23: The Upward Spiral - W6 D1

AM BW: 87.8kg

Background Noise: Megadeth - Greatest Hits: Back to the Start

SSB Squat:
8x17kg
8x17kg
8x67kg
5x97kg
5x117kg
5x117kg
2 minutes rest

2 Count Pause SSB Squat:
6x77kg
6x77kg
6x77kg
90 second rests

Beltless RDL to Floor:
12x80kg
12x115kg
12x115kg
12x115kg @ 6
2 minute rests

Single Leg Front Foot Elevated Squat:
10x40lb
10x40lb
12x40lb
90 second rests

Decline Sit Up:
15 reps
12 reps @ 9.5
10 reps @ 8.5
10 reps @ 9.5
--- Supersetted with ---
EZ Bar Curl:
8x32.5kg
8x32.5kg @ 6
8x30kg @ 6.5
8x30kg @ 8.5
90 second rests between supersets

Footage:


Nutrition/Health/Life Stuff:

• Got to bed a bit late because wanted to watch Clarkson's Farm with the wife. Then had trouble getting to sleep. Then at some point Miss Eight crawled into bed with us and made it hot and cramped. Woke up at 12:30am, then 3am, then tossed and turned til 4:30am when I got up feeling like warmed up dog crap. So yeah, while I had been feeling reasonably positive about squatting today (because my leg/hip has been feeling a lot less noticeable lately) I didn't feel particularly up for it. Much caffeine was needed.

Training Notes:

• My back was a little tight warming up for squats and leg definitely felt a little more sore than last week's session but I worked up to the same weight and did a couple of fives instead of a triple. The first set felt OK, so I did one more, but my hip felt a little janky after that. Fell back to the pause squats with the same weight as last time, although I did get a much longer hold at the end of the third set, they were all nice and easy.
• On to some RDLs, added 5kg to last week and went on with it. They felt OK I suppose, although I was definitely starting to blow a bit by the end of the third.
• Had thought about dropping these split squats for lunges or something today, and really only intended to do two sets, but seeing as I dropped back to tens and the second set was pretty easy still, I pushed on with a third and went to twelves to finish. Not too bad, and didn't get as rest pausey as last week.
• Sit ups and curls to finish, although I did make a small compromise here. I had some pretty crazy pain in my right elbow since Wednesday's session, I don't think it was the volume so much as moving light weight really explosively and overextending it, then doing curls, then after it tightened up it wasn't all that happy. It's almost completely normal now, but I decided that maybe pushing the curls really heavy mightn't be a great idea so I hung out in a safe zone and didn't let them get too hard until the last set.
• All told, considering how I was feeling, I'll take it. 64 minutes. TGIF.