Vanity Log: how much in a year?

Front Squat 1RM day today.

FRONT SQUATS

70*5
100*1
110*1
115*1
120*f

Quite happy with 115kg, but it was a bit messy. If I can get my back tension sorted out (and my head), I reckon I've got enough legs to push through 120kg. Possibly would have nailed it if I'd skipped 115...


DBSS 6-6-6-6-6

25(3f)-BW-8-14-18

25s caused my coccyx pain to flare up again. Irritating because I know I should always warm up with BW work first. This is the second time I've done this... :mad:


OHP 5-4-3-3

50-55-60-60(2+PP)

Nice to get back up to 60kg, although it was hard!


A bit of an easy workout, but figured I'd see where my front squat 1RM was after my time on CBL. I'm down a rep on my previous best (115*2), but that's not catastrophic at the end of all things.

I'm switching to the 'density bulking' protocol of CBL because my body just can't cope on the 'strength accumulation' one - too much delay in recovery for five consecutive days training, and too much power loss.

Off for a week to the US next week, so hotel gym-ing with some cardio stuff and a swimming pool... much just powerclean the treadmill and front squat with that (in my head, I could do this).
 
LiE said:
Nice PB :)
That's always the trouble when picking a weight for a 1RM, if you nail it you wonder if you should have picked more.
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Indeed - just need to get my home gym and programme sorted and with a bit of luck 115kg will get repped at some point next year. :o :D
 
First session back in the gym after my trip to the US.

To start: hotel gyms are rubbish. I don't even know why I am posting this, but they are just awful. Dumbells to 25lbs, and shedloads of ellipticals, treadmills and steppers.

And then a pec dec and OHP machine (this just seems a recipe for shoulder agony).

Stupid business people and their fixation with 'fitness'.

/RANT

Anyway...

PAUSED OVERHEAD SQUATS 5-3-3-3-3-3

50-70-60-60-65-65

Tried 80% of 90kg, and that was too heavy for reps (just managed the first triple). I suspect this may have been too much, too soon because the 65s were fine, but... Anyway. Pauses on these are good fun and really force the core to work. :)


PAUSED FRONT SQUATS 5-3-3-3-3-3

70-90-80-80-85-85

Same story again with the loading pattern. Shape was good with these even if the weight is miles off where it should be, and pausing at the bottom was entertaining. It also highlights some glute med quirks as these pauses were causing my knees to come in on some reps.


With a bit of luck, will have my home gym up and running for heavy stuff next week. It's been put off due to a rather painful car bill, but that problem has gone and it's just a question of choosing the right bumper plates.

The Jordan Elite Steel bar (the one with the yellow caps) is an interesting piece of kit: £169, but seems to be really nicely machined from a very nice bit of unfinished (mmmmmmmmhmmmmmmm) steel. However, the sleeves clunk ever so slightly when spun (they spin reasonably freely) and the bearings are open, meaning a snatch grip for me may result in something unpleasant as the side of my palm gets eaten.

The knurling is also quite nice for a cheap bar: very even, but is more pronounced on the wide grip (identical on each side so I don't think this is a manufacturing error). The 'teeth' (?) are pronounced, but soft (if that makes sense), meaning that I can get a good grip on the bar (admittedly, without much weight - only the MP blue band doubled up) without it chewing off my callouses.

We'll see how it stands up to actual load next week, and how it deals with my bad technique and being dropped. Either way, happy days! :D
 
I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry about that, really. :eek:

I am looking forward to using chalk, however, instead of straps/nothing. Palmar aponeuro-whatever inflammation really hurts. :D
 
Ooof.

DBSS 8(WU)-6-6-6

BW-10-18-25

After squatting yesterday, these hurt. I should have appended them to yesterday's workout, but there we go. :)


DUMBELL BENCH 6-6-6-6

35-35-35-35(5f)

Well, those felt heavy. :) Nice chest pump and - for some reason - arm snake. :confused: :cool:


DB ROW ss/ CG PULL UP 8/5-8/5-8/5

ROW: 40kg
CGPU: +10kg

Rows were tough but I just love rowing. Chinups were also really hard, which suggests more gun work required. :D


Overall, not really a session I would normally do, but still waiting for the home gym stuff to pile through.

Either way, worked what I wanted to work, even if there was no Olympic lifting... damn I miss that stuff. :(
 
I walked out feeling huge.

Deflated a couple of hours later, however, leaving serious DOMS in my quads and hams. :cool:

Should be ordering some plates this evening that will hopefully arrive Friday.

Gains from Gainzville will be my next appointment. :o :)
 
Another funny day...

CLEAN FIRST PULL WU(5)-5-5-5-5

70-110-130-130-130

Under tension for the whole lot - bar didn't touch the ground for the working sets, with explosive hamstring pull and then a slower release down. And that hurt! :eek: :D

Massive burn in the hamstrings, but also my upper back. Keeping that tight was quite amusing! :D


PUSH PRESS 3-3-3-3-3

75-75-75-75

Nothing fancy, because my neglect of overhead work for the past few weeks is really showing. Lack of stability for the first few, but the bar went up without too much drama, afterwards.


PUSH JERK 2-2-2-2

80-80-80-80

Very messy. Wasn't getting my head through enough to really fix my scaps, leg drive wasn't really working... needs a lot more practice.


BARBELL OHP 5-4-3-3

55-55-55-55

Hard. Last set required a push-press start but was fine after that. Really struggled with these. :eek:


SINGLE ARM DUMBELL PRESS 6-6-6-6

20-20-20-20(5+1)

Shoulders were borked by this point, so went for volume over weight. Had to restart on the last set because shoulders were on fire. :)


Again, this shows how much I 'suffer' from detraining after only short periods. Goodness knows what it's going to be like when I take Olympic work back up. :( :D

Still, it will be nice to have a dedicated day to overhead work (will have to be in the work gym due to a low ceiling at the home one) whilst making as much noise as I want at home. Next week... :cool:
 
mrthingyx said:
Thanks. :)

I will be paying for it tomorrow. :D
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Yup. Triceps and delts are pretty damn sore. :D

Squat day, today.

FRONT SQUATS 5-3-3-3-3-3

60-80-90-100-105-105(2f)

Happy, happy, happy. :) These seem to be working out quite nicely. The last set was tagged on because I tried overhead squatting and my palm lit up (80% load), so just added another round of fronties. Last rep got half way...


LOW BAR BACK SQUATS 3-3-3-3

110-110-110-110

First set was all back. Then I remembered what I was meant to be doing and the rest were fine. Nice change to stimulus, I guess. These were put in because I couldn't hold the bar in overhead position, and I needed leg damage.


OVERHEAD SQUAT 6-6-6-6

40-50-50-50

Man'd up and dealt. Low weight doesn't seem to trouble my grip on the bar, so went for what I describe as volume. :D Shoulders and arms were complaining all the way. :)


WIDE GRIP CHINS 8-8-8

BW for all.

Lats didn't appreciate these after the overhead squats. :)


I was hoping to get some ring dipping in, but there was no way my tris were going to agree: for some reason, my pecs still hurt from the dumbell bench work on Wednesday. :o

Strangely, my legs didn't feel too bad after this session. I wasn't sure why until I attempted to climb the stairs to my office and realised they had just gone numb. :eek:

Nearly didn't make it.

Still, I've found the backload material of choice that seems to help next-day workouts: 2 packs of Tesco Chocolate Filled Doughnuts.

- 270 calories each;
- 35g carbz.

Managed 9 in an hour last night before I started feeling ill. Then had a roast dinner. BOOM. :cool:

Strangely enough, I felt awesome this morning. :D
 
What do you want out of the movement?

Big quads? Better support for low bar squatting? Or rock stable shoulders and core?

Overhead squats do not tax my legs but they are hell on everything above the pelvis and require serious stability/flexibility to get into a good, stable squat. Great as a core and shoulder workout, and highlighting weaknesses in the general 'squat' chain of muscles (hips? Knees? Core?)...

Front squats will be more taxing on the quads than any back squat, but won't get the same hamstring involvement.

High bar back squats will get you mid-way between the front and low bar work...

I added in back squats today because I needed more stimulus that wasn't going to destroy my quads or stress my upper back stability the same way front squats do... with a bit of luck, I won't be doing them for a while (assuming my hand heals).

I do the overhead squats whilst I can't snatch, at the moment. When I get my home gym, I will probably ditch them for just plain snatches

I've seen a bit of bumf on overhead squats being great for power and whatever, but I think that's a bit misleading. Want legs? That requires big loads, and you won't get those big loads from overhead squatting.

To throw another wild-card in, DBSS. I know you already do these, but considering them as a proper exercise in and of themselves rather than just assistance. Either that, or learn how to clean. ;) :D

So. What do you want? :)
 
Syla5 said:
I was thinking of using them to improve shoulder/upper back stability, while improving my ability to be more upright. I currently cannot squat unloaded and by very upright without holding on to something. Much like using the front squats currently as a range extender/mobility assistance exercise, i was wondering if OH would be good for addressing the points i mention.

The aim is strong legs not big legs, obvisouly they will get bigger and i am fine with that but str > size for me, and for that i have my staple low bar back squats, throw in the split squats and band squats, and i am happy with that work for development.
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Yes to that, then. :)

Be prepared for some fun adductor DOMS as you do this. :D

Get used to big hamstring, rec-fem, groin stretching, and work on some external hip rotation (KStar's hip opener-ish).

I would also start doing shoulder dislocations with a barbell, too, This will open up your chest (pecs) and give you a feel for what the load will be doing.

When you do them, imagine bending the bar down, too, to get your lats involved. Without them, you're on a hiding to nowhere. :)

Also, make sure you get fractional plates under your heels.
 
Syla5 said:
Thank you. I already do dislocations with a shortened green band, so hopefully a step to a barbell wont be to painful for to long.

Plates under heels check, all warm ups etc are already done as its squat day so i get all kinds of stretching done :)

If i got that pretty much right then my plan is to use OH squats to promote better upper body behaviour and a stronger more stable upright position, would they help me achieve this? I can post a video later of what my back does when i squat unloaded if that helps show what i want to try and fix?
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Yes and no.

The problem with overhead squats and people with strong backs is it's very tempting to lean forward and take what is (for a back squatter like you, Syla5) not a very big weight onto your back. This completely negates the point you are trying to achieve.

Having had this corrected myself, I know what it's like.

This is pretty tough to do with front squats, because if you tilt, that bar is rolling forward off your shoulders. :) But you still get that nice deep squat.

I think this is what icecold is getting at.
 
85% 1RM day...

CARDIO DAY! :eek:

WARMUP Overhead squats * 5 @ 40kg

FRONT SQUATS 5-5-5-5-5 (85% is 94.3kg, based on 105*3 estimate)

70-95-95-95-95

Ooof. 5 reps is pretty hard work after a diet of triples. :D These were absolutely murder on my quads even with maximum hip draaaaaaaaaahve. That fifth rep on pretty much all the sets was truly unpleasant.


LB BACK SQUATS 5-5-5-5 (85% is 108kg, based on 120*3 estimate)

110-110-110-110

Oh, look - hamstrings are now ruined! :D The fun thing about these is that it's much easier to maintain shape, and so I was really able to torque my hamstrings and glutes into action. Why do I do these? Without heavy clean work, I need something that will really work my posterior chain... and they give me a good feel for what my core is doing, too.


DBSS 6-6-6-6 @ 90sec rest

BW-10-14-18 (weights are for dumbell in each hand)

Well that was foolish. Last rep at 18 was very shaky. Legs were totaled.


I felt physically sick after this workout. Firstly, I'm not used to the rep ranges, and secondly, not at these weights.

Also, I was out of time (busy day of meetings) and wanted some ring dipping, but there we go.

I am going to need a VERY early night to sleep this off. That was horrendous. :cool:
 
Mastered? Sort of.

I say that because It's not something I consciously learned. What I do know is that I need to be very warm, otherwise my adductors, knees and hamstrings just roll over and die.

I will say it is very useful when pushing out of the hole. Because the hole is no longer there. :D

HOWEVER. I'm trying to be more conscious of my technique at the moment, which means my front squats have quite a slow descent as I try and REALLY focus on keeping my core locked down hard. The last two sets today had plenty of bounce. ;)
 
icecold said:
Personally, I think there is a time and a place for a bounce. For certain training purposes I feel that it robs a small amount of stimulus. Like you I'm working on technique with my high bar squats so I don't much rebound, but I also like pausing the occasional rep...

This is all new to me, I've only been able to do this without my ankles exploding for few months :D
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I have always been blessed with better-than-most joint mobility, so my ankles can flex to a silly degree... S the key think has been stabilising my lumbar and upper back for front squats. But regarding the training stimulus: absolutely.

Power and stability out of the hole are big sticking points for me at the moment, and bouncing kind of negates any benefits in that area.
 
Random 'not leg' day...

snatch grip SLDL 5-5-5-5-5

110-110-110-110-110

Not particularly hard on my legs (even after the violating they complained about from yesterday), but keeping the bar pinned against my quads and shins all the way down was hilarious for my back - the pump was just awesome. :cool:

Why no snatching or high pulling? Noise. People in the office next to the gym are hypersensitive to kiddy weights being dropped on the floor, so I had to behave with my pastel-coloured barbell...


Dumbell bench 8-8-8

35-35-35

Could have gone heavier, but it would have gotten messy. I could barely tighten my back after the SLDLs, too... :eek:


Close grip pull-ups ss/w Dumbell row 5-5-5

CGPU: +14-14-14
DBR: 35-35-35

Upper back was still smoked, so originally went for barbell rowing at 90kg but only managed 1 set of 5 before my lats stopped working and had to switch to Dumbells to keep a half-decent shape.


Well, well, well... Looks like my eventual return to proper lifting is going to be thoroughly unpleasant! :cool: :D

Adductors and hammies were sore this morning, and my quads were still pumped from yesterday. Probably a good thing tomorrow is only squatting at 80%... :o :eek:
 
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