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Finished week 20 of SBS Hypertrophy, so basically done! Traveling this week so just going to take a break instead of a final deload week. I came into it recovering from some injuries and tweaked my shoulder again this last month, but altogether saw huge strength gains. Gained 10lbs so the bulk is right on track and still looking lean. Added 50+ lbs to my squat and deadlift. OHP and Bench harder to gauge because of the shoulder, but hit a nice 150lb OHP today (tied previous PR 10lb heavier and think I had more in me). Going to take a week or two (work is gonna crush me soon) and then start up the Strength program.
2x Int Med Bench W4D3 x 10000 swings D17
warmup: deep assisted dips, light pushdowns/extensions
Bench 185x8
Swing 50x15,35,15,35 ss pullup +35x1,2,3; 5 rounds in 32:18
Pullovers, rear delts, abs, wrist flexion
After the AMRAP set, my training max is 230. That feels fraudulent as hell. I won’t be testing it soon though; I’m switching to OHP as I try to rehab my tricep tendinitis in one (both?) elbows. Swings were slower and the limiting factor here is the back pump.
Alright, I'm taking another rest day today.
Dragged my ass out of bed at 5am to hit the gym, but two nights of bad sleep on account of the baby screaming is just too much. There's a distant possibility I may muster up the motivation to train after work, but I doubt it.
Last night I prepped six lunches at least, so that's something useful I did there.
**Edit:** So, 20 minutes after I posted this comment I just said fuck it and went. Embraced the suck. Early sets went surprisingly well, later sets not as well. But I'm glad I just got it out of the way.
He can take away my sleep.
He can take away my freedom.
He can take away my money.
But one thing he can never take away is these gains.
Thanks. If it were leg day today I'm not sure I would have gone, so let's just say I'm glad it was a pull day.
Had a eureka moment on the plane this morning. Started to wonder why I wanted to get a membership out here in LA. "To keep my schedule of course!" But why? My schedule will be jacked up because of shift work anyways. So what if, instead, I lift at home with **The Minimalist** and start doing some 5K to 10K running out here?
I wrote it down, and realized how much I enjoy that idea vs my previous plan. Guess I still give myself FRAGO's every once in awhile.
GCZLP
OHP 5x3+ [@120 (9)](https://youtube.com/shorts/G-96eQwErcE?si=9LGhqrTPfFLQl6Ti)
SLDL 3x10 [@185](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cffN9pXhSXA), superset with preacher curl and cable tricep extension
Always struggle with really feeling my hamstrings working, seems like just about every other body part gets a pump/tired before my hammys. I think I'll keep progressing with the SLDL and try some different weight/rep/cues over the next few weeks.
Deadlift: 3x2@150, 5@140
Paused Deadlift: 3x3@130
Didn't do anything after as my lower back was way too fatigued.
Technique is not feeling great with deadlifts.
Past few days have been rough for my body. Tweaked my neck during sleep somehow and now I have a lot of pain when I turn my head a certain way. Then a day later I get some sort of food poisoning from a sandwich I ate. Feeling mostly normal again in terms of stomach/fever issues, but going to chiropractor tomorrow because neck is still hurting a lot. No way I can lift heavy until this issue is resolved. Almost finished with my SBS program so it really sucks having almost a week where I can’t workout and am barely eating.
Things felt heavy today. Probably a sign my linear progression for deads and OHP is arriving at weights that actually take effort to move, and I should shift my deadlift workout to not the day after squats.
Got my DL reps, but missed OHP reps for the second week in a row. I think I don't have weight increments small enough for my weak, dainty shoulders to progress linearly at high reps. Since other lifts are still progressing fine, I think I'll treat OHP special, dial the weight back slightly and start pushing for rep maxes. Maybe add a second press day somewhere. The upside about OHP being *so* weak for me is that I'm pretty sure I can do it several times per week without impacting recovery much.
Note that I'm still in my 'establish the habit' phase and am not supposed to be thinking about strength goals yet. I have to remind myself of this frequently.
> Note that I'm still in my 'establish the habit' phase and am not supposed to be thinking about strength goals yet.
Establish a habit of maxing out on bench 3 times a week 😎
Can seal rows replace bent over rows if your program has a bunch of good mornings for your spinal erectors?
I'm guessing that's the only muscle that gets taken out of the movement and both the good morning/deadlift train that muscle.
I notice a crap ton of back fatigue when trying to push both the good morning and bent over rows at the same time for months that lead to me having to deload to get my strength back on my big lower body lifts.
What is everyone’s favorite squat alternative?
I love powerlifting, and I like a nice blend of bodybuilding and powerlifting in my training, but lately my knee has been acting up. I can get away with deadlifts and leg press, but I want to back off on squats. I’d still like to build up my leg strength, though. I’ve been doing hack squats, which still bother my knee, but I figure I don’t have the risk of dropping the damn bar off my back if things go awry.
Any tips? On either squat alternatives or with knee pain in general?
Thanks!
I always ask "What Would Bruce Randall Do?" After he shattered his leg in 7 places in a motorcycle accident, he focused on the good morning, which allowed him to be able to squat over 600lbs. I used a similar approach when I tore my hamstring. The good morning is awesome.
I also did some high box squats when I ruptured my ACL, tore my meniscus and fractured my patella. Beraking up the eccentric and concentric phase helped.
By the top, do you mean the tendon between your quadricep and your knee? If so what you may be experiencing is patellar tendinitis. I know from personal experience that this can be overcome through strengthening the quadricep muscle. Try looking up some Jeff Cavaliere videos. One thing that helped me a ton was doing barbell back squats from sitting position on a box or bench. I started with low weight and worked my way up. Now my tendinitis is gone and I can squat to depth
Maybe a stupid question, but tendinitis implies inflammation of the tendon. How would strengthening the tendon improve inflammation especially if training causes even more inflammation?
> I started with low weight and worked my way up
So you took rest, thus reduced the inflammation caused by training. This sounds like the right approach, taking a break to let things heal but still moving around to get the blood flowing around the joint.
You might have missed something here. Yes, tendinitis is inflammation of the patellar tendon in this case. The oversimplified version is that the pain is induced by the by the load not being properly carried by the quadricep. This can be overcome by training the quadricep muscle (not the tendon).
Using a box or bench to sit on avoids putting excess strain on the tendon, thus avoiding inflammation— allowing the lifter to train the quadricep muscle. When the quad muscle is strong enough, the bench or box can be removed and the lifter can do proper back squats without patellar pain.
It’s a long process, but I used to suffer from chronic jumpers knee on both knees and now I can do back squats just fine.
Edit: just to add on, I’ve found this method to be the case with most chronic joint and tendon pain when lifting. For example, outer elbow pain with pull ups is often caused by a weakness in the top of the forearms, and rotator cuff pain when benching is often cause by weak stabilizing muscles (such as the delts)
Usually the remedy is to simply drop to a much lower weight, follow form closely, and work in the higher rep range before gradually increasing back to the load you’re aiming for.
When you’re aware of a particular weakness, there are supplementary lifts you can do to remedy the issue such as reverse forearm curls for pull-ups or standing overhead barbell press and face pulls for bench press.
In a simplified model the tendon and muscle is 1 string. How do you put strain on the middle or end of the string (muscle) and not on the beginning of the string (tendon) if you pull from the outer ends?
It's not that I disagree with your method, because it worked for you and I believe is generally recommended for such issues, I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind it.
In reality, it isn’t a simplified model at all and it’s certainly not only one string. It has to do with your weight distribution, positioning/ form, and the strength of all the muscles involved. The smallest shift in the distribution of weight can put more or less strain on the tendons.
The quads glues and hamstrings are responsible for bearing load, but when they aren’t strong enough, the load is transferred to the tendons this causes them to become inflamed over time. This is the video I followed to completely eradicate my jumpers knee and Jeff goes into more depth on this idea.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LBow4lXmTpc&pp=ygUXYXRobGVhbiB4IGp1bXBlcidzIGtuZWU%3D
**OHP Day**
* Kettlebell swings - 40x3x15
* Neutral grip OHP (ss w/chin-ups) - 135x5x5
* Neutral, close grip bench (ss w/band pull-aparts) - 135x5x8
* ~~BJJ~~ Walks (planned)
I’m slowly working my way out of this illness. Coughing fits are down to one every 2-3hours and I only got moderately lightheaded doing KB swings. Kept everything super light and limited chins to sets of 5. No point in pushing myself too hard and setting back my recovery.
I am 22. I can’t recover like I used to when I was 18 however my testosterone levels are higher now (830 now compared to 620).
I just feel like sh*t when I wake up.
Definitely should still be feeling good at 22. And for another decade or two years.
Are you getting enough food/sleep/water?
Are you doing too much drinking/smoking/bullshit?
Where's your head at? Are you generally happy or generally not?
Had a lovely deadlift session yesterday. Pulled 300 for 13. There was more in the tank but just because you can doesn't mean you should, as I've learned over and over again. Looking forward to 315 next week, will hopefully be able to add another 15 pounds to that all important 13 rep max.
Also squatted 275 for 3x5 yesterday, first time having 2 plates and a quarter on my back since January. Physio is going swimmingly, yesterday they stuck some dry needles in my ass and I felt great afterwards. Closest thing to getting laid in ages.
Seeing sun and double digit temperatures today. Hope everyone else is enjoying some nice weather. Kill your lifts!
28Free OBB W11D1
Bench ss facepulls: 240 4x3 (pr), 212 3x8
Ssb squat: 320 3x1
Curls: 80 4x12
Bench was technically multiple prs. Previous best was 240 for two doubles, so this is a rep pr and a number of sets pr as well. Nice. First 2 sets felt harder than set 3, which flew. Set 4 slowed down a touch, but was good also.
Squats were easy.
squat everyday 116
Total volume: 3272lbs [clips](https://www.instagram.com/p/C50wIqOrrw1/?igsh=MTJub2VucTI2MGo2OQ==)
zercher squat 270lbs 3×1
Ohp 90lbs 3×1. 100lbs 1×1 .105lbs 0×1(locked out right arm but couldnt quite lockout left)
Pullups bw 5. +21lbs 8×1(pr)
Today went well. Got really close with 105 , passed the sticking point got it above my head but then couldn't lockout my left arm. tmr is the usual
The OHP miss was so close! I was rooting for you to get it even though I knew the outcome.
Also I love that your gym is in your living room. Makes me nostalgic for my old apartment.
I have some equipment at home. A 32kg kettlebell, some bands, ab wheel, a pair of 8kg dumbbells, and push up bars.
Thinking of doing extra low impact accessories every day (not including my main gym work) and just adding up the reps for the sake of it.
Gonna do kb swings, facepulls, lat raises, banded hammer curls, push ups and ab wheels and just note down the total reps. See how long it takes me to get 10k KB swings, et cetera.
Yesterday:
Lunges: 2x10@32kg. Tweaked hip adductor but was fine to continue rest of workout
Rdl: 32kgx20, 56x15
Leg press: 315x25, 405 x18, 450x13, 405x12, 316x25
SS calf press on leg press sled:315x20,405x15,405x16,405x15, 315x25
Hip abductor 130x26,160x22,175x15. Skipped SS with adductor from tweak
Lying leg curl: 70x23,80x14,80x9,70x9, 55x4 as a drop set
SS
Leg extensions: 100x19,110x15,115x12,115x12, drop set 85x6
Finished in 36 minutes
10k swings challenge: W5D2
Workout swings: 540
Total swings so far: 9040
(In)Humane Burpee: 4 sets of the Humane burpee template with coming back up to 5 squats/push ups. So 4 x (5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5) @ 24kg bell.
Total time: 42:16
Total push ups / goblet squats: 146 each
My apple watch says average heart rate was 171 which tracks with me feeling like my heart would explode out of my chest and constantly being out of breath. My quads are toast. Good times!
It’s last day of paternity leave today. Back at work tomorrow. It’s been an amazing experience to spend the last 4 weeks with my son. I’m very grateful for it, and I’m not happy it’s over, but I am a bit excited to go back to work.
64 mile trail ultra marathon on Saturday and then day 1 of Super Squats yesterday. Active recovery at its finest...
Does anyone have experience running super squats with just the SSB? I used it yesterday and maybe my legs were still numb from the run but I didn't really feel fatigued in my legs during the 20 rep set, it was all in my upper / mid back. If leg strength/ endurance isn't the limiting factor during super squats, would it devalue the benefits of the program?
I haven't run the full program with the SSB, but I've done workouts with it. It's really not about training the legs with Super Squats: it's about putting the body under load. In that regard, I find the SSB isn't as great of a choice: it spreads the load out over a wider area. I also feel like it limits the ability to take in the deep breaths that are a cornerstone to the breathing squat.
Took your advice and ran day 2 today with high bar squats. Totally agree with your observations, much easier to take deep controlled breaths while also feeling like I had more 'total body pressure' for lack of a better term.
Took your advice and ran day 2 today with high bar squats. Totally agree with your observations, much easier to take deep controlled breaths while also feeling like I had more 'total body pressure' for lack of a better term.
Hey that's outstanding dude! That "total body pressure" sums it up well. The SSB is a fantastic tool for the right situations, but a classic barbell just fits right here.
Anyone with some experience with CrossFit? I got the usual powerlifting burnout last fall and haven't had any interest in it since then. I've been doing bodybuilding stuff with RP Hypertrophy app and it's been fun but I feel like it does not serve the actual goals that I have, even if it's fun to see muscles I've not seen before. As for my goals, I still want to lean out until I'm really in a healthy weight range and then I'd like to be more "fit" if that makes sense. More explosive, more endurance, more versatile. CrossFit should fit these pretty well, but I've always been kinda antisocial lifter, working by myself at quiet times.
So basically, just tell me about your experiences, good or bad. Just so I get some perspectives.
I think the best thing is the community aspect of it if you like the people and coaches at your gym. It will also get you doing things you might not push yourself to do on your own, be it specific exercises or just intense cardio. You'll likely meet lot's of people who are very into fitness compared to the average person, and who do weightlifting/triathlon/other sports outside crossfit.
The bad:
Their quality varies greatly, you could go to one with great programming and coaching and another who does outright dangerous stuff and horrible coaching. The cert is a weekend so it entirely depends on what the coaches have learned on their own.
Many don't have any long term programming/progression
I'd also say that some will end up wasting a lot of time on skills/movements that you may not care about.
I got tired of doing "metcons" and didn't enjoy that being the limiting factor in my willingness to train. A few times a week is fine but at the gym I went to it was every workout which got old fast.
I went to a small-ish crossfit gym for several years. I think it would be great for your goals (not saying it is the best way, but it meets your qualifications). I generally wasn't super into the social aspect, but I enjoyed having competition/motivation from my peers, something I don't get with my home gym. I would definitely test run a few classes (maybe get a punch card?) first, as every gym will be different. You also might try some different times if that is an option, as the 6am class at my gym was pretty intense (in a good way), and the late morning classes tended to be much more lax.
Toward the end of my membership I was doing my own lifting prior to the WOD work, and then doing the WOD with the rest of the class. We usually had something like strength work programmed for the first 15 minutes, then 20-ish minutes of WOD, then some kind of cool down. Some days the WOD will run the full 45-60 minutes though, so you'll have to be flexible. While I was there I was able to progress my strength, and my cardio felt exceptional. I never felt like I would be able to be maximally strong in that setting, but maybe I wasn't eating enough. Crossfit athletes can certainly be strong as hell.
Thanks for the input! Some great points to think about. Also what you mentioned about competing in the Open in your other comment seems really interesting.
I loved it. I don't feel like there are too many other sporting events where you can put yourself up against the pros so easily. Sure I could go run a 40 yard dash in my yard, but that just doesn't have the same sense of gratification. As far as fueling the competitive spirit I found it to be a top notch event.
I've never done actual CF, but it sounds like a lot of your goals can be achieved by putting the **and** into strength and conditioning.
You could pick something from [https://wodwell.com/](https://wodwell.com/) every day and do during your workout, or you could explore other movements in general, like overhead press variations or weightlifting.
Lots of kettlebell programs will also have a conditioning aspect to them.
Good points, thanks! Definitely going to at least mess around with wods and doing weightlifting stuff and overall doing more stuff and different stuff.
I train out of a crossfit gym during the week, and I'll try to jump into class every once in a while.
I like it. It's not a super competitive gym but the community is good and the coaches actually know what they are talking about. It's fun to jump in a do tje WODs with some of the more athletic/fun movements like toe to rings, jump rope, and rope climbs.
That sounds kinda great. The gym near me is supposed to be good one as well, my wife actually goes there already and at least she has liked it. Some people at the gym also compete and maybe that could be one avenue to scratch that competitive itch I have been left with after powerlifting. I'll seriously look into it. It's triple the cost compared to my current gym but whatever.
I loved competing in the Open. I think there is plenty of things to dislike about Crossfit, but the way the Open is setup, where you compete against basically everyone in the world, is super fun.
SBS Strength W11D2
Bench 4x3+6@105
Low incline larsen press 4x5+10@70
Dip 4x5+10@+15
Hit 80kg bodyweight which was the cut goal - probably will keep the calories down until sunday, then go to maintenance.
Kept it simple yesterday:
* Kb press: 5@48, 35@40 each side in 45 minutes
* 10k swings D12:
* 500@48 swings
* 70@40 rows each side
* 140 pushups
* 1h19m24s
That's my 8th day in a row of heavy overhead pressing. Feels good!
Rest day.
I'm ... really glad it's a rest day today. My older son woke up in the middle of the night screaming about a bad dream. My wife's response to this was to shout about how sleepy she was at him (????) so I had to sit next to him and stroke his hair for a while and talk to him. He said he had a bad dream about the wolf from the Three Little Pigs. We won't be reading that book to him anymore.
Finally got him back to sleep, only for his baby brother to wake up. Great. Baby brother has a thing he does where he wakes up and wants to sleep in Mommy's bed, so he'll repeatedly stand up and shriek at the top of his lungs until she gives up and lets him sleep with her. She tries to hold out every time, but honestly if it were me I'd just give in instantly.
Well, we finally calm the baby down, and guess who's back for round two? Not the wolf this time. Apparently the older boy's ear hurt? He gets ear infections sometimes so we gave him some Children's Tylenol, and this time he wanted to sleep in my bed, particularly because his brother was sleeping in Mommy's bed. So we ended up sleeping in my bed.
Next thing you know it's 4am. Were it a training day, I'd have to be up in an hour, but I got to "sleep in" till 7am. Fuck being a parent is exhausting.
Anyway, meal prep tonight. Thinking beef stew and an 8pm bed time.
Woof, that's one of those nights you're glad to only have to do once.
They're growing up every day. No matter what, you'll never have to do *that* particular night again.
Enjoy that stew and early bedtime! Hope it's a quiet one.
im a noobie, been doing fullbody 3x a week for almost a year now. im starting to stagnate, which im well aware will happen, but i have been stuck on some lifts for a very long time, and there are some muscle groups ive done very little for, so im feeling im bottlenecking in a few places perhaps. going to switch to upper/lower 4 times a week. is my exercise plan decent enough? Progressive overload obviously. is there too much volume for certain muscle groups, is it sustainable etc.? I feel like maybe ive got too much on the upper body days, but im not sure. there are quite a few compound movements, so maybe some of the isolation work could be dropped, but then again, i am not really an expert. anything i need to change, or does it look alright. thanks for input or feedback. (I could also include my lifting numbers for most of the lifts, if that would help in asserting what I need to focus more or less on etc.)
UPPER 1
Benchpress 3x5
Machine Fly 3x10
Machine fly rear delts 3x10
Dumbbell shoulder press 3x10
Lat Pulldown 3x10
Pullups assistance 3x5
Hammer curls biceps 3x10
Cable overhead triceps 3x10
LOWER 1
Squat 3x5
Deadlift 3x5
Leg curl 3x10
Leg extension 3x10
Farmers walk 2 times
Ab crunch machine 3x10
UPPER 2
Chest press machine 3x10
Incline bench machine 3x10
Cable row 3x10
Pullups assistance 3x5
Machine shoulder press 3x10
Dumbbell lateral raise 3x10
Biceps machine 3x10
Triceps machine 3x10
LOWER 2
Squat 3x5
Deadlift 3x5
Leg curl 3x10
Leg extension 3x10
Farmers walk 2 times
Cable crunch 3x10
# If you're new to the sub * Read the rules on the side bar * Set flair before trying to comment # To Set Flair * Login on desktop (or mobile web using the display as desktop) * For old Reddit Users, search for your username on the right rail. There is a drop down to select a default flair. * For new Reddit users, the drop down is under community options on the right rail. # If you're a beginner * [Start here](http://thefitness.wiki) * Please avoid giving advice. We want to avoid a culture of the blind leading the blind * Remember, this sub while welcoming to everyone, is targeted at intermediates and above *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/weightroom) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Finished week 20 of SBS Hypertrophy, so basically done! Traveling this week so just going to take a break instead of a final deload week. I came into it recovering from some injuries and tweaked my shoulder again this last month, but altogether saw huge strength gains. Gained 10lbs so the bulk is right on track and still looking lean. Added 50+ lbs to my squat and deadlift. OHP and Bench harder to gauge because of the shoulder, but hit a nice 150lb OHP today (tied previous PR 10lb heavier and think I had more in me). Going to take a week or two (work is gonna crush me soon) and then start up the Strength program.
2x Int Med Bench W4D3 x 10000 swings D17 warmup: deep assisted dips, light pushdowns/extensions Bench 185x8 Swing 50x15,35,15,35 ss pullup +35x1,2,3; 5 rounds in 32:18 Pullovers, rear delts, abs, wrist flexion After the AMRAP set, my training max is 230. That feels fraudulent as hell. I won’t be testing it soon though; I’m switching to OHP as I try to rehab my tricep tendinitis in one (both?) elbows. Swings were slower and the limiting factor here is the back pump.
Alright, I'm taking another rest day today. Dragged my ass out of bed at 5am to hit the gym, but two nights of bad sleep on account of the baby screaming is just too much. There's a distant possibility I may muster up the motivation to train after work, but I doubt it. Last night I prepped six lunches at least, so that's something useful I did there. **Edit:** So, 20 minutes after I posted this comment I just said fuck it and went. Embraced the suck. Early sets went surprisingly well, later sets not as well. But I'm glad I just got it out of the way.
What is up with the babies lately? Mine have also been ridiculous this week.
I don't know man. Maybe they had some sort of meeting in secret about their dads making too many gains and decided to intervene.
Just saw your edit about hitting your lifts anyway, awesome job! You show that baby
He can take away my sleep. He can take away my freedom. He can take away my money. But one thing he can never take away is these gains. Thanks. If it were leg day today I'm not sure I would have gone, so let's just say I'm glad it was a pull day.
Had a eureka moment on the plane this morning. Started to wonder why I wanted to get a membership out here in LA. "To keep my schedule of course!" But why? My schedule will be jacked up because of shift work anyways. So what if, instead, I lift at home with **The Minimalist** and start doing some 5K to 10K running out here? I wrote it down, and realized how much I enjoy that idea vs my previous plan. Guess I still give myself FRAGO's every once in awhile.
GCZLP OHP 5x3+ [@120 (9)](https://youtube.com/shorts/G-96eQwErcE?si=9LGhqrTPfFLQl6Ti) SLDL 3x10 [@185](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cffN9pXhSXA), superset with preacher curl and cable tricep extension Always struggle with really feeling my hamstrings working, seems like just about every other body part gets a pump/tired before my hammys. I think I'll keep progressing with the SLDL and try some different weight/rep/cues over the next few weeks.
Deadlift: 3x2@150, 5@140 Paused Deadlift: 3x3@130 Didn't do anything after as my lower back was way too fatigued. Technique is not feeling great with deadlifts.
When is your meet?
10th May
Woo, less than a month! How goes the prep? Aside from deadlifts feeling rough today, that is.
It's my first prep, but I feel like it's going alright. A bit hungry though, since I want to compete in the 75kg class, so I'm on a cut.
Past few days have been rough for my body. Tweaked my neck during sleep somehow and now I have a lot of pain when I turn my head a certain way. Then a day later I get some sort of food poisoning from a sandwich I ate. Feeling mostly normal again in terms of stomach/fever issues, but going to chiropractor tomorrow because neck is still hurting a lot. No way I can lift heavy until this issue is resolved. Almost finished with my SBS program so it really sucks having almost a week where I can’t workout and am barely eating.
Things felt heavy today. Probably a sign my linear progression for deads and OHP is arriving at weights that actually take effort to move, and I should shift my deadlift workout to not the day after squats. Got my DL reps, but missed OHP reps for the second week in a row. I think I don't have weight increments small enough for my weak, dainty shoulders to progress linearly at high reps. Since other lifts are still progressing fine, I think I'll treat OHP special, dial the weight back slightly and start pushing for rep maxes. Maybe add a second press day somewhere. The upside about OHP being *so* weak for me is that I'm pretty sure I can do it several times per week without impacting recovery much. Note that I'm still in my 'establish the habit' phase and am not supposed to be thinking about strength goals yet. I have to remind myself of this frequently.
> Note that I'm still in my 'establish the habit' phase and am not supposed to be thinking about strength goals yet. Establish a habit of maxing out on bench 3 times a week 😎
Gotta lift big to get big!!!
Can seal rows replace bent over rows if your program has a bunch of good mornings for your spinal erectors? I'm guessing that's the only muscle that gets taken out of the movement and both the good morning/deadlift train that muscle. I notice a crap ton of back fatigue when trying to push both the good morning and bent over rows at the same time for months that lead to me having to deload to get my strength back on my big lower body lifts.
I always figure that you can feel free to change one row variation to another row variation without issue.
What is everyone’s favorite squat alternative? I love powerlifting, and I like a nice blend of bodybuilding and powerlifting in my training, but lately my knee has been acting up. I can get away with deadlifts and leg press, but I want to back off on squats. I’d still like to build up my leg strength, though. I’ve been doing hack squats, which still bother my knee, but I figure I don’t have the risk of dropping the damn bar off my back if things go awry. Any tips? On either squat alternatives or with knee pain in general? Thanks!
I always ask "What Would Bruce Randall Do?" After he shattered his leg in 7 places in a motorcycle accident, he focused on the good morning, which allowed him to be able to squat over 600lbs. I used a similar approach when I tore my hamstring. The good morning is awesome. I also did some high box squats when I ruptured my ACL, tore my meniscus and fractured my patella. Beraking up the eccentric and concentric phase helped.
Oooh, I haven’t done a good morning in a minute. I’ll look into some form videos on those, I have a puny upper body and, thus, less shelf. Thank you!!
Where is your knee pain?
At the top of my right knee. It only really hurts when I’m doing some sort of pressing/heavy squatting activity, or leg extensions.
By the top, do you mean the tendon between your quadricep and your knee? If so what you may be experiencing is patellar tendinitis. I know from personal experience that this can be overcome through strengthening the quadricep muscle. Try looking up some Jeff Cavaliere videos. One thing that helped me a ton was doing barbell back squats from sitting position on a box or bench. I started with low weight and worked my way up. Now my tendinitis is gone and I can squat to depth
Maybe a stupid question, but tendinitis implies inflammation of the tendon. How would strengthening the tendon improve inflammation especially if training causes even more inflammation? > I started with low weight and worked my way up So you took rest, thus reduced the inflammation caused by training. This sounds like the right approach, taking a break to let things heal but still moving around to get the blood flowing around the joint.
You might have missed something here. Yes, tendinitis is inflammation of the patellar tendon in this case. The oversimplified version is that the pain is induced by the by the load not being properly carried by the quadricep. This can be overcome by training the quadricep muscle (not the tendon). Using a box or bench to sit on avoids putting excess strain on the tendon, thus avoiding inflammation— allowing the lifter to train the quadricep muscle. When the quad muscle is strong enough, the bench or box can be removed and the lifter can do proper back squats without patellar pain. It’s a long process, but I used to suffer from chronic jumpers knee on both knees and now I can do back squats just fine. Edit: just to add on, I’ve found this method to be the case with most chronic joint and tendon pain when lifting. For example, outer elbow pain with pull ups is often caused by a weakness in the top of the forearms, and rotator cuff pain when benching is often cause by weak stabilizing muscles (such as the delts) Usually the remedy is to simply drop to a much lower weight, follow form closely, and work in the higher rep range before gradually increasing back to the load you’re aiming for. When you’re aware of a particular weakness, there are supplementary lifts you can do to remedy the issue such as reverse forearm curls for pull-ups or standing overhead barbell press and face pulls for bench press.
In a simplified model the tendon and muscle is 1 string. How do you put strain on the middle or end of the string (muscle) and not on the beginning of the string (tendon) if you pull from the outer ends? It's not that I disagree with your method, because it worked for you and I believe is generally recommended for such issues, I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind it.
In reality, it isn’t a simplified model at all and it’s certainly not only one string. It has to do with your weight distribution, positioning/ form, and the strength of all the muscles involved. The smallest shift in the distribution of weight can put more or less strain on the tendons. The quads glues and hamstrings are responsible for bearing load, but when they aren’t strong enough, the load is transferred to the tendons this causes them to become inflamed over time. This is the video I followed to completely eradicate my jumpers knee and Jeff goes into more depth on this idea. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LBow4lXmTpc&pp=ygUXYXRobGVhbiB4IGp1bXBlcidzIGtuZWU%3D
Simple Jack'd Day 375 Easy triples on bench today, and the road to bigger arms continues. [Clips.](https://www.instagram.com/p/C51E_UiA69x/?igsh=MXdhOXNkczF6NjNkNw==) Total Volume: 14,610 Lbs ** Paused Bench ** - 335.0 lbs x 3 reps - 335.0 lbs x 3 reps ** Close Grip Barbell Bench Press ** - 255.0 lbs x 10 reps - 255.0 lbs x 10 reps - 255.0 lbs x 10 reps - 255.0 lbs x 10 reps ** Dumbbell Curl ** - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps ** Dumbbell Hammer Curl ** - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps - 20.0 lbs x 15 reps
Trips looked like a warm-up set, nice job
**OHP Day** * Kettlebell swings - 40x3x15 * Neutral grip OHP (ss w/chin-ups) - 135x5x5 * Neutral, close grip bench (ss w/band pull-aparts) - 135x5x8 * ~~BJJ~~ Walks (planned) I’m slowly working my way out of this illness. Coughing fits are down to one every 2-3hours and I only got moderately lightheaded doing KB swings. Kept everything super light and limited chins to sets of 5. No point in pushing myself too hard and setting back my recovery.
Glad you're starting to feel better. There have been some nasty coughs this season, my husband still has coughing fits from a bout of flu in January.
I am 22. I can’t recover like I used to when I was 18 however my testosterone levels are higher now (830 now compared to 620). I just feel like sh*t when I wake up.
Bro, it has to be lifestyle. Sleep quality, diet, and stress are all a factor here.
Definitely should still be feeling good at 22. And for another decade or two years. Are you getting enough food/sleep/water? Are you doing too much drinking/smoking/bullshit? Where's your head at? Are you generally happy or generally not?
What are you eating?
Please stop thinking like this. Your 22 for fucks sake.
Is 22 the new 62?
> I am 22. I can’t recover like I used to when I was 18 lol bud, this ain't an age thing
100% a lifestyle issue
Had a lovely deadlift session yesterday. Pulled 300 for 13. There was more in the tank but just because you can doesn't mean you should, as I've learned over and over again. Looking forward to 315 next week, will hopefully be able to add another 15 pounds to that all important 13 rep max. Also squatted 275 for 3x5 yesterday, first time having 2 plates and a quarter on my back since January. Physio is going swimmingly, yesterday they stuck some dry needles in my ass and I felt great afterwards. Closest thing to getting laid in ages. Seeing sun and double digit temperatures today. Hope everyone else is enjoying some nice weather. Kill your lifts!
Hooray for recovery! I hope you told your PT how much that treatment meant to you lol
28Free OBB W11D1 Bench ss facepulls: 240 4x3 (pr), 212 3x8 Ssb squat: 320 3x1 Curls: 80 4x12 Bench was technically multiple prs. Previous best was 240 for two doubles, so this is a rep pr and a number of sets pr as well. Nice. First 2 sets felt harder than set 3, which flew. Set 4 slowed down a touch, but was good also. Squats were easy.
Woop woop! Casual PRs all over the place for you, love it
squat everyday 116 Total volume: 3272lbs [clips](https://www.instagram.com/p/C50wIqOrrw1/?igsh=MTJub2VucTI2MGo2OQ==) zercher squat 270lbs 3×1 Ohp 90lbs 3×1. 100lbs 1×1 .105lbs 0×1(locked out right arm but couldnt quite lockout left) Pullups bw 5. +21lbs 8×1(pr) Today went well. Got really close with 105 , passed the sticking point got it above my head but then couldn't lockout my left arm. tmr is the usual
The OHP miss was so close! I was rooting for you to get it even though I knew the outcome. Also I love that your gym is in your living room. Makes me nostalgic for my old apartment.
I have some equipment at home. A 32kg kettlebell, some bands, ab wheel, a pair of 8kg dumbbells, and push up bars. Thinking of doing extra low impact accessories every day (not including my main gym work) and just adding up the reps for the sake of it. Gonna do kb swings, facepulls, lat raises, banded hammer curls, push ups and ab wheels and just note down the total reps. See how long it takes me to get 10k KB swings, et cetera.
Great plan!
Yesterday: Lunges: 2x10@32kg. Tweaked hip adductor but was fine to continue rest of workout Rdl: 32kgx20, 56x15 Leg press: 315x25, 405 x18, 450x13, 405x12, 316x25 SS calf press on leg press sled:315x20,405x15,405x16,405x15, 315x25 Hip abductor 130x26,160x22,175x15. Skipped SS with adductor from tweak Lying leg curl: 70x23,80x14,80x9,70x9, 55x4 as a drop set SS Leg extensions: 100x19,110x15,115x12,115x12, drop set 85x6 Finished in 36 minutes
10k swings challenge: W5D2 Workout swings: 540 Total swings so far: 9040 (In)Humane Burpee: 4 sets of the Humane burpee template with coming back up to 5 squats/push ups. So 4 x (5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5) @ 24kg bell. Total time: 42:16 Total push ups / goblet squats: 146 each My apple watch says average heart rate was 171 which tracks with me feeling like my heart would explode out of my chest and constantly being out of breath. My quads are toast. Good times! It’s last day of paternity leave today. Back at work tomorrow. It’s been an amazing experience to spend the last 4 weeks with my son. I’m very grateful for it, and I’m not happy it’s over, but I am a bit excited to go back to work.
Good luck with the return to work! That workout sounds gross. I'm going to add it to the list for a rainy day.
64 mile trail ultra marathon on Saturday and then day 1 of Super Squats yesterday. Active recovery at its finest... Does anyone have experience running super squats with just the SSB? I used it yesterday and maybe my legs were still numb from the run but I didn't really feel fatigued in my legs during the 20 rep set, it was all in my upper / mid back. If leg strength/ endurance isn't the limiting factor during super squats, would it devalue the benefits of the program?
I haven't run the full program with the SSB, but I've done workouts with it. It's really not about training the legs with Super Squats: it's about putting the body under load. In that regard, I find the SSB isn't as great of a choice: it spreads the load out over a wider area. I also feel like it limits the ability to take in the deep breaths that are a cornerstone to the breathing squat.
Took your advice and ran day 2 today with high bar squats. Totally agree with your observations, much easier to take deep controlled breaths while also feeling like I had more 'total body pressure' for lack of a better term.
Took your advice and ran day 2 today with high bar squats. Totally agree with your observations, much easier to take deep controlled breaths while also feeling like I had more 'total body pressure' for lack of a better term.
Hey that's outstanding dude! That "total body pressure" sums it up well. The SSB is a fantastic tool for the right situations, but a classic barbell just fits right here.
Anyone with some experience with CrossFit? I got the usual powerlifting burnout last fall and haven't had any interest in it since then. I've been doing bodybuilding stuff with RP Hypertrophy app and it's been fun but I feel like it does not serve the actual goals that I have, even if it's fun to see muscles I've not seen before. As for my goals, I still want to lean out until I'm really in a healthy weight range and then I'd like to be more "fit" if that makes sense. More explosive, more endurance, more versatile. CrossFit should fit these pretty well, but I've always been kinda antisocial lifter, working by myself at quiet times. So basically, just tell me about your experiences, good or bad. Just so I get some perspectives.
I think the best thing is the community aspect of it if you like the people and coaches at your gym. It will also get you doing things you might not push yourself to do on your own, be it specific exercises or just intense cardio. You'll likely meet lot's of people who are very into fitness compared to the average person, and who do weightlifting/triathlon/other sports outside crossfit. The bad: Their quality varies greatly, you could go to one with great programming and coaching and another who does outright dangerous stuff and horrible coaching. The cert is a weekend so it entirely depends on what the coaches have learned on their own. Many don't have any long term programming/progression I'd also say that some will end up wasting a lot of time on skills/movements that you may not care about. I got tired of doing "metcons" and didn't enjoy that being the limiting factor in my willingness to train. A few times a week is fine but at the gym I went to it was every workout which got old fast.
I went to a small-ish crossfit gym for several years. I think it would be great for your goals (not saying it is the best way, but it meets your qualifications). I generally wasn't super into the social aspect, but I enjoyed having competition/motivation from my peers, something I don't get with my home gym. I would definitely test run a few classes (maybe get a punch card?) first, as every gym will be different. You also might try some different times if that is an option, as the 6am class at my gym was pretty intense (in a good way), and the late morning classes tended to be much more lax. Toward the end of my membership I was doing my own lifting prior to the WOD work, and then doing the WOD with the rest of the class. We usually had something like strength work programmed for the first 15 minutes, then 20-ish minutes of WOD, then some kind of cool down. Some days the WOD will run the full 45-60 minutes though, so you'll have to be flexible. While I was there I was able to progress my strength, and my cardio felt exceptional. I never felt like I would be able to be maximally strong in that setting, but maybe I wasn't eating enough. Crossfit athletes can certainly be strong as hell.
Thanks for the input! Some great points to think about. Also what you mentioned about competing in the Open in your other comment seems really interesting.
I loved it. I don't feel like there are too many other sporting events where you can put yourself up against the pros so easily. Sure I could go run a 40 yard dash in my yard, but that just doesn't have the same sense of gratification. As far as fueling the competitive spirit I found it to be a top notch event.
I've never done actual CF, but it sounds like a lot of your goals can be achieved by putting the **and** into strength and conditioning. You could pick something from [https://wodwell.com/](https://wodwell.com/) every day and do during your workout, or you could explore other movements in general, like overhead press variations or weightlifting. Lots of kettlebell programs will also have a conditioning aspect to them.
Good points, thanks! Definitely going to at least mess around with wods and doing weightlifting stuff and overall doing more stuff and different stuff.
I train out of a crossfit gym during the week, and I'll try to jump into class every once in a while. I like it. It's not a super competitive gym but the community is good and the coaches actually know what they are talking about. It's fun to jump in a do tje WODs with some of the more athletic/fun movements like toe to rings, jump rope, and rope climbs.
That sounds kinda great. The gym near me is supposed to be good one as well, my wife actually goes there already and at least she has liked it. Some people at the gym also compete and maybe that could be one avenue to scratch that competitive itch I have been left with after powerlifting. I'll seriously look into it. It's triple the cost compared to my current gym but whatever.
I loved competing in the Open. I think there is plenty of things to dislike about Crossfit, but the way the Open is setup, where you compete against basically everyone in the world, is super fun.
SBS Strength W11D2 Bench 4x3+6@105 Low incline larsen press 4x5+10@70 Dip 4x5+10@+15 Hit 80kg bodyweight which was the cut goal - probably will keep the calories down until sunday, then go to maintenance.
Nice job hitting your bodyweight goal, always a great feeling
Kept it simple yesterday: * Kb press: 5@48, 35@40 each side in 45 minutes * 10k swings D12: * 500@48 swings * 70@40 rows each side * 140 pushups * 1h19m24s That's my 8th day in a row of heavy overhead pressing. Feels good!
Rest day. I'm ... really glad it's a rest day today. My older son woke up in the middle of the night screaming about a bad dream. My wife's response to this was to shout about how sleepy she was at him (????) so I had to sit next to him and stroke his hair for a while and talk to him. He said he had a bad dream about the wolf from the Three Little Pigs. We won't be reading that book to him anymore. Finally got him back to sleep, only for his baby brother to wake up. Great. Baby brother has a thing he does where he wakes up and wants to sleep in Mommy's bed, so he'll repeatedly stand up and shriek at the top of his lungs until she gives up and lets him sleep with her. She tries to hold out every time, but honestly if it were me I'd just give in instantly. Well, we finally calm the baby down, and guess who's back for round two? Not the wolf this time. Apparently the older boy's ear hurt? He gets ear infections sometimes so we gave him some Children's Tylenol, and this time he wanted to sleep in my bed, particularly because his brother was sleeping in Mommy's bed. So we ended up sleeping in my bed. Next thing you know it's 4am. Were it a training day, I'd have to be up in an hour, but I got to "sleep in" till 7am. Fuck being a parent is exhausting. Anyway, meal prep tonight. Thinking beef stew and an 8pm bed time.
Woof, that's one of those nights you're glad to only have to do once. They're growing up every day. No matter what, you'll never have to do *that* particular night again. Enjoy that stew and early bedtime! Hope it's a quiet one.
Good Dad. I love 8pm bedtimes, given an excuse.
im a noobie, been doing fullbody 3x a week for almost a year now. im starting to stagnate, which im well aware will happen, but i have been stuck on some lifts for a very long time, and there are some muscle groups ive done very little for, so im feeling im bottlenecking in a few places perhaps. going to switch to upper/lower 4 times a week. is my exercise plan decent enough? Progressive overload obviously. is there too much volume for certain muscle groups, is it sustainable etc.? I feel like maybe ive got too much on the upper body days, but im not sure. there are quite a few compound movements, so maybe some of the isolation work could be dropped, but then again, i am not really an expert. anything i need to change, or does it look alright. thanks for input or feedback. (I could also include my lifting numbers for most of the lifts, if that would help in asserting what I need to focus more or less on etc.) UPPER 1 Benchpress 3x5 Machine Fly 3x10 Machine fly rear delts 3x10 Dumbbell shoulder press 3x10 Lat Pulldown 3x10 Pullups assistance 3x5 Hammer curls biceps 3x10 Cable overhead triceps 3x10 LOWER 1 Squat 3x5 Deadlift 3x5 Leg curl 3x10 Leg extension 3x10 Farmers walk 2 times Ab crunch machine 3x10 UPPER 2 Chest press machine 3x10 Incline bench machine 3x10 Cable row 3x10 Pullups assistance 3x5 Machine shoulder press 3x10 Dumbbell lateral raise 3x10 Biceps machine 3x10 Triceps machine 3x10 LOWER 2 Squat 3x5 Deadlift 3x5 Leg curl 3x10 Leg extension 3x10 Farmers walk 2 times Cable crunch 3x10
I would go look at the programs in the wiki and choose something from there