Green2Blue wrote:
-Been building to this for weeks now. I was nervous, but I hit it with no problem.
Fabulous work G2B!
By the way, playing around with the OHP lead me to switch my cluster plan too. You said once that you struggle with the BP relative to your other lifts? That might actually make me less likely to switch to OHP, especially if you see some movement on the BP after this block.
Green2Blue wrote:
-Been building to this for weeks now. I was nervous, but I hit it with no problem.
Fabulous work G2B!
By the way, playing around with the OHP lead me to switch my cluster plan too. You said once that you struggle with the BP relative to your other lifts? That might actually make me less likely to switch to OHP, especially if you see some movement on the BP after this block.
Thank you. I appreciate the input on BP, it's a very valid point.
Notes
-Been building to this for weeks now. I was nervous, but I hit it with no problem.
The first five or so minutes before the body kicks in gear suck eh?
Good job man.
Thanks! Ya honestly when I was building up to the full 20 with the interval-tempo's the real ass kicker was having to burn through that anaerobic system every single time to get the heart rate up. Once it's up it's not that bad.
SQ 5x5@345 lbs (was supposed to be 350)
BP 3x5@205 lbs (was supposed to be 190)
DL 5x5@385 lbs
Accessory Lifts
N/A
Notes
-This is going to be a long post, that's why it took me a while to get to it. So this was a very significant workout for me in a few ways. I discovered some important things. The reason I discovered them is that I decided to lift at home.
1. I have a rack and bench at home. I don't use them because I don't have enough plates for my heavy days and in the past I used to just enjoy the gym environment. My wife uses the home equipment and I go to the gym. However, TB had really expanded my athletic interests in a way that makes driving to the gym every day a pretty inefficient method of training. It eats up too much time. So for this workout I tried working out at home. I loved it. Minus a few inconveniences like not having all of the plates I needed (hence the wonky weights listed above), and a bench that's too wide, it was great. I found 690 lbs in Olympic plates on Craigslist for less than $.5/lb that my wife is picking up this very moment, and I'll buy a new bench eventually.
2. This was my most significant discovery of the day. So I mentioned before that all of my squats are box squats (not paused, just touch). These end up being an inch or so above competition depth. About half a decade ago I started having severe pain when I went to full depth in my right hip. I would literally drop the bar. Eventually I had to quit squatting all together. I tried mobility, I tried icing, I tried this fancy "Muscle Activation Technique" with certified specialists, nothing worked. After a few years of not squatting I learned utilizing a box to control my depth allowed me to squat pain free, and have been doing that for the last few years.
Fast forward to the last couple weeks. As I said TB expanded my athletic interests and I wanted to start learning Olympic lifts. I knew my mobility needed to improve first so I hit the mobility work HARD. 30-60 minutes a day. So when I did this workout at home I didn't have a box to squat on to. So I figured what the heck I'll try it. No hip pain at all. Full competitive depth for the first time in years. Surprisingly enough too I did it with only 5lbs under what I was going to box squat. Obviously I'll have to adjust the weight a bit for a complete training max, I'll probably cut it by 10 lbs, but I'm pretty excited about this.
3. I didn't have the right plates I needed for 190 on BP. Closest I could get was 205, so I figured what the hell. Honestly it wasn't bad at all. So next block I'm doing forced progression of 10 instead of my typical 5. If you follow my log you'll know that BP is my weakest lift, so I'm very happy about this.
4. Now for the bad discovery. I'm having a LOT of knee pain in the last week. Not when I exercise, but the rest of the day. I've changed 2 things recently: increased my squat volume from 3 to 5 sets (occasionally 7), and done a lot of mobility work which puts my on my knees a lot. I'm hoping and leaning towards the later cause because my knees don't hurt when I squat, and some of the weight on my knees on the hard ground in awkward positions during the mobility work can be painful. I started doing my mobility work on my bed and I'm going to skip my squats on my next lifting day to let my knees recover. I might also return to fewer sets of squats for a week. Hopefully that fixes it.
SQ 5x5@345 lbs (was supposed to be 350)
BP 3x5@205 lbs (was supposed to be 190)
DL 5x5@385 lbs
Accessory Lifts
N/A
Notes
-This is going to be a long post, that's why it took me a while to get to it. So this was a very significant workout for me in a few ways. I discovered some important things. The reason I discovered them is that I decided to lift at home.
1. I have a rack and bench at home. I don't use them because I don't have enough plates for my heavy days and in the past I used to just enjoy the gym environment. My wife uses the home equipment and I go to the gym. However, TB had really expanded my athletic interests in a way that makes driving to the gym every day a pretty inefficient method of training. It eats up too much time. So for this workout I tried working out at home. I loved it. Minus a few inconveniences like not having all of the plates I needed (hence the wonky weights listed above), and a bench that's too wide, it was great. I found 690 lbs in Olympic plates on Craigslist for less than $.5/lb that my wife is picking up this very moment, and I'll buy a new bench eventually.
2. This was my most significant discovery of the day. So I mentioned before that all of my squats are box squats (not paused, just touch). These end up being an inch or so above competition depth. About half a decade ago I started having severe pain when I went to full depth in my right hip. I would literally drop the bar. Eventually I had to quit squatting all together. I tried mobility, I tried icing, I tried this fancy "Muscle Activation Technique" with certified specialists, nothing worked. After a few years of not squatting I learned utilizing a box to control my depth allowed me to squat pain free, and have been doing that for the last few years.
Fast forward to the last couple weeks. As I said TB expanded my athletic interests and I wanted to start learning Olympic lifts. I knew my mobility needed to improve first so I hit the mobility work HARD. 30-60 minutes a day. So when I did this workout at home I didn't have a box to squat on to. So I figured what the heck I'll try it. No hip pain at all. Full competitive depth for the first time in years. Surprisingly enough too I did it with only 5lbs under what I was going to box squat. Obviously I'll have to adjust the weight a bit for a complete training max, I'll probably cut it by 10 lbs, but I'm pretty excited about this.
3. I didn't have the right plates I needed for 190 on BP. Closest I could get was 205, so I figured what the hell. Honestly it wasn't bad at all. So next block I'm doing forced progression of 10 instead of my typical 5. If you follow my log you'll know that BP is my weakest lift, so I'm very happy about this.
4. Now for the bad discovery. I'm having a LOT of knee pain in the last week. Not when I exercise, but the rest of the day. I've changed 2 things recently: increased my squat volume from 3 to 5 sets (occasionally 7), and done a lot of mobility work which puts my on my knees a lot. I'm hoping and leaning towards the later cause because my knees don't hurt when I squat, and some of the weight on my knees on the hard ground in awkward positions during the mobility work can be painful. I started doing my mobility work on my bed and I'm going to skip my squats on my next lifting day to let my knees recover. I might also return to fewer sets of squats for a week. Hopefully that fixes it.
Great log entry!
Training at home is totally different experience. I can't imagined going back to gym. My small basement gym is my world and I love everything about that. Congrats with home lifting!
I used box squats during my recovery. It was front box squats for me. It did help me a lot. As well as Anderson squats from the pins. Those two are the best "getting back to it" recovery exercises. Imho.
Good luck with the knee issue. Personally, I always try to be very careful with any mobility work.
Distance: 6.10 miles
Time: 1:09:10
Pace: 11:18
Average HR: 78% (148)
Average RPE: 5
Notes
-As I mentioned after my last LSS, I'm no longer doing the 50-70% MHR. I'm doing 120-150 instead which the book also recommends.
-I'm losing my interest in these LSS runs. The time/benefit ratio just feels poor. I'll probably stop trying to run half marathons on them. I'll also probably start doing standard Black, or switch back and forth between the two.
-The farthest Mrs. G2B had run in years was about 3 miles, and she ran this with me no problem. She's a beast. She has so much more athletic potential than I do.
Thanks Bark. Honestly it's not the mobility work itself that's causing the issue with my knees. I think it's the fact that I'm on my knees on the hard ground so much. Or at least I'm hoping, because otherwise it's the squat volume which means I'm just getting old.
Notes
-Wow no wonder most people don't squat. Working out is EASY when you don't! I resume squats next MS.
-Lifted at home again. I'm falling in love with it. I was lucky enough to find a bunch of plates on Craigslist. 690 lbs of assorted plates for less than $.5/lb, with a tree and extra barbell. My wonderful wife went and picked them up for me an hour away while I was at work.
The time spent has been cut dramatically because I can prep my other exercises when I'm on my rest time. It's amazing how much time racking and unracking barbells eats up. The fact that I have 3 barbells really helps too.
It's been good for my family too. Obviously this is the best benefit. My wife loves that she can come have my attention during my rest times. And my 3 year old likes to come "workout" with me or go play in the yard where I can still keep an eye on her.
I'm pretty set on equipment now. The only thing I'm considering getting soon is a regular flat bench so I can bench in my power rack. I have a bench press contraption but it takes up a lot of room and the bench is too wide and wonky. Any equipment after that will be nice to haves, not need to haves.
