Hill-Sprints - 25 minutes
Jogged home - 1.2 miles
This was done first thing in the morning, completely fasted (water only). Last session, I went for just over 20 minutes. Here, I was nowhere near done, but realized I was going to run late for the follow-up appointment with my chiropractor and massage therapist, so I had to shut it down. Pretty awesome to know I could have kept going. Really want to do a session to complete failure soon, but with my folks coming in for a visit this weekend, I'm not sure when that will be. Maybe I can get out there next week on July 4th.
Had to jog/run all the way home in order to get cleaned up and back out the door to make my appointment.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 2. Pause Squats
Gym BW - 202
Pause Squats -
BarX5
115X5
145X3
165X3
190X3
215X4
RDL -
115X10
185X5
205X5
235X5
185X12
Swiss-Ball Crunches - 5 sets of 20-25
Bodyweight is down, and pause squats felt heavy. Hoped to get at least 5 reps on the top set, but felt a twinge in my left adductor/lower left abdomen on the last two reps, so I stopped. I'm pondering some stuff my chiro/massage therapy team said to me, and going back and reading some Tate and Rippetoe stuff about how to use the abdomen during squats. Once again, squat form confusion is messing with my mind and my set-up, and I'm again considering hiring a coach.
Took the RDL's up to a new 5 rep PR, and projected 1RM increase, then hit a back-off set to grip failure. For 48 hours after this, my hamstrings, and traps/upper back felt sore as hell. Good stuff.
Starting to push the reps up on the chriopractor crunches.
Pause Squats -
BarX5
115X5
145X3
165X3
190X3
215X4
RDL -
115X10
185X5
205X5
235X5
185X12
Swiss-Ball Crunches - 5 sets of 20-25
Bodyweight is down, and pause squats felt heavy. Hoped to get at least 5 reps on the top set, but felt a twinge in my left adductor/lower left abdomen on the last two reps, so I stopped. I'm pondering some stuff my chiro/massage therapy team said to me, and going back and reading some Tate and Rippetoe stuff about how to use the abdomen during squats. Once again, squat form confusion is messing with my mind and my set-up, and I'm again considering hiring a coach.
Took the RDL's up to a new 5 rep PR, and projected 1RM increase, then hit a back-off set to grip failure. For 48 hours after this, my hamstrings, and traps/upper back felt sore as hell. Good stuff.
Starting to push the reps up on the chriopractor crunches.
Monday, June 18, 2012
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 1. Press
Defranco Shoulder Mobility
Press -
BarX5
65X5X2
80X5
95X5
110X8
95X5
Chin-ups, neutral grip - BW(204)X10, 6
Standing, single-leg curls - 5 sets of 10-12
Swiss-Ball Crunches - 5 sets of 20
110X8 is a Rep PR, and a minor increase to my projected 1RM. I didn't expect to be setting any 1RM increases on Press or DL on this 2-day split program, but I felt good today so I went for it and got it. Just one of the smart things about this program philosophy is that it teaches this. I expect that this is something that becomes ingrained, and years from now when I am likely doing my own thing rather than someone else's program design, I will still work with this concept of having a minimum to meet in a given session, that I can then exceed based on feel.
Press -
BarX5
65X5X2
80X5
95X5
110X8
95X5
Chin-ups, neutral grip - BW(204)X10, 6
Standing, single-leg curls - 5 sets of 10-12
Swiss-Ball Crunches - 5 sets of 20
110X8 is a Rep PR, and a minor increase to my projected 1RM. I didn't expect to be setting any 1RM increases on Press or DL on this 2-day split program, but I felt good today so I went for it and got it. Just one of the smart things about this program philosophy is that it teaches this. I expect that this is something that becomes ingrained, and years from now when I am likely doing my own thing rather than someone else's program design, I will still work with this concept of having a minimum to meet in a given session, that I can then exceed based on feel.
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 1. Hills
Hill Sprints - 20 minutes
I live in Chicago and don't keep a car, so finding anything steep to run up has been a challenge. I finally took Wendler's advice and started google searching for sledding-hills in my area, and lo and behold there is a great, man-made hill I didn't know about nestled in the middle of a park that's only a 15-20 minute walk from my house:
This is really great, and I expect to get out here at least for one day a week as long as the weather is decent.
I was also pleased to be able to to rattle off 20 minutes on this guy with just the walk back down as my rest. At least I know the much less steep incline sprints I'd been doing had accomplished something. Next weekend, I will go for 22+ minutes, and progress from there.
I live in Chicago and don't keep a car, so finding anything steep to run up has been a challenge. I finally took Wendler's advice and started google searching for sledding-hills in my area, and lo and behold there is a great, man-made hill I didn't know about nestled in the middle of a park that's only a 15-20 minute walk from my house:
This is really great, and I expect to get out here at least for one day a week as long as the weather is decent.
I was also pleased to be able to to rattle off 20 minutes on this guy with just the walk back down as my rest. At least I know the much less steep incline sprints I'd been doing had accomplished something. Next weekend, I will go for 22+ minutes, and progress from there.
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 1. Pause Squats
Defranco Hip Mobility
Pause Squats -
BarX5
115X5
135X5
155X5
180X5
200X5
Deadlift -
135X5X2
225X3
255X3
290X3
GHR - 5 sets of 8-10
Swiss-Ball Crunch - 5 sets of 15-20
Really long pause on the squats today. Slightly shorter on the top set. Similar to deadlifts, there may be a tipping point with these where things just feel heavy no matter where your 1RM is. For deadlifts that used to be 200-225 for me, but of course after a while it moved up. With long-paused squats, it's in the 185-200 range right now, or around 75% of my 1RM.
Pause Squats -
BarX5
115X5
135X5
155X5
180X5
200X5
Deadlift -
135X5X2
225X3
255X3
290X3
GHR - 5 sets of 8-10
Swiss-Ball Crunch - 5 sets of 15-20
Really long pause on the squats today. Slightly shorter on the top set. Similar to deadlifts, there may be a tipping point with these where things just feel heavy no matter where your 1RM is. For deadlifts that used to be 200-225 for me, but of course after a while it moved up. With long-paused squats, it's in the 185-200 range right now, or around 75% of my 1RM.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 3. Incline
Defranco Shoulder Mobility
Incline -
BarX10
95X5
120X5
135X3
150X3
125X10
Klokov Press -
45X5
65X3
75X2
85XFail
Chin-ups - BW(206)X10, 4
Cable Rows - 3 sets of 10-12
Swiss Ball Crunches - 3 sets of 15
Not a bad session for having been out of the gym for over a week with a low back strain. I used a different incline bench that's a little less vertical, and my pressing was predictably stronger. I guess I'll just have to start tracking which bench I use in a session. Still, because my incline was weaker than anticipated in my first week, for the next three weeks, I'm dialing back my training max in the hopes to get more reps on my top set. Because I could only get 3 reps on my top set here, I decided to do the back-off set with 125. Both the 150X3 and the 125X10 projected to increased maxes on this movement, but again, it was a shallower bench.
Incline -
BarX10
95X5
120X5
135X3
150X3
125X10
Klokov Press -
45X5
65X3
75X2
85XFail
Chin-ups - BW(206)X10, 4
Cable Rows - 3 sets of 10-12
Swiss Ball Crunches - 3 sets of 15
Not a bad session for having been out of the gym for over a week with a low back strain. I used a different incline bench that's a little less vertical, and my pressing was predictably stronger. I guess I'll just have to start tracking which bench I use in a session. Still, because my incline was weaker than anticipated in my first week, for the next three weeks, I'm dialing back my training max in the hopes to get more reps on my top set. Because I could only get 3 reps on my top set here, I decided to do the back-off set with 125. Both the 150X3 and the 125X10 projected to increased maxes on this movement, but again, it was a shallower bench.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Chiropractor Visit
Went to see a chiropractor yesterday to see about help with recovery and prevention with this back strain. It was my first visit to this doctor, but I was impressed as hell. They required a 2-hour block for a first visit as a get to know you period, and we used up all that time very well. Primarily with discussion of my background: how I lift, how long I've been lifting, how I prepare for lifting, how life was before lifting, my day job, my diet, etc.
I told her I had gotten this strain twice in the past year, once back-squatting and once front-squatting. She brought in some kind of padded bar and had me demonstrate my technique on both lifts, then called her partner in to watch me do them again. They looked at each other and basically said in unison "abs." And they discussed the knee possibly not tracking correctly, and hyper extending at lock-out which they would like me to avoid. I've NEVER heard or seen discussion of knee hyper extension with squats before, and I see no reason not to take that advice. Very interesting. She prescribed some transverse abdominus work, and a neat little VMO exercise. She also asked me to get in some short-ROM swiss-ball crunches and abductor work in full hip extension.
When I discussed all the varieties of ab work I've been doing over the last year, she felt that a lot of that was very hip-flexor dominant, and not enough actual abdominal isolation. That was also very interesting to hear. She discussed the role of the abdomen in bracing the trunk, and even taking some load off the spine, and that being weak in that area was likely causing me these problems with the squat even though my form looked good on both variations. We also discussed the anterior hip strain I got around the new year, and she agreed that it was likely the TFL, and that it was also symptomatic of asymetrical hip mobility
Another impressive thing she did, and I've never had a chiropractor do this, is that after deciding that the problem is with my right hip not moving very independently, she only adjusted my hips. Not once have I been to a chiropractor, and not gotten a full adjustment from skull to tail-bone. She didn't say anything about this one way or the other, it's just what she did. Looking back on the session, that just made a lot of damn sense to me. Find the problem, work on the problem, why fuck around with my neck, or thoracic spine if the problem is down around the sacrum?
The awesome news I got is that she's fairly certain I don't have a herniated disk. This was my number one concern going in for the consultation. She went to great lengths to say that she doesn't expect my disks are "perfect" (no surprise to me, based on what I've read about the spinal health of the general population), but that she saw no evidence of herniation.
I've got a follow-up with her partner in 2 weeks for massage therapy and reevaluation. Only one visit, and I've still got to implement the recommendations and see what the results are, but at this point I would say that if you live in or around the Northern Chicago area, Andersonville Chiropractic might be worthwhile if you are looking for these kinds of services.
I told her I had gotten this strain twice in the past year, once back-squatting and once front-squatting. She brought in some kind of padded bar and had me demonstrate my technique on both lifts, then called her partner in to watch me do them again. They looked at each other and basically said in unison "abs." And they discussed the knee possibly not tracking correctly, and hyper extending at lock-out which they would like me to avoid. I've NEVER heard or seen discussion of knee hyper extension with squats before, and I see no reason not to take that advice. Very interesting. She prescribed some transverse abdominus work, and a neat little VMO exercise. She also asked me to get in some short-ROM swiss-ball crunches and abductor work in full hip extension.
When I discussed all the varieties of ab work I've been doing over the last year, she felt that a lot of that was very hip-flexor dominant, and not enough actual abdominal isolation. That was also very interesting to hear. She discussed the role of the abdomen in bracing the trunk, and even taking some load off the spine, and that being weak in that area was likely causing me these problems with the squat even though my form looked good on both variations. We also discussed the anterior hip strain I got around the new year, and she agreed that it was likely the TFL, and that it was also symptomatic of asymetrical hip mobility
Another impressive thing she did, and I've never had a chiropractor do this, is that after deciding that the problem is with my right hip not moving very independently, she only adjusted my hips. Not once have I been to a chiropractor, and not gotten a full adjustment from skull to tail-bone. She didn't say anything about this one way or the other, it's just what she did. Looking back on the session, that just made a lot of damn sense to me. Find the problem, work on the problem, why fuck around with my neck, or thoracic spine if the problem is down around the sacrum?
The awesome news I got is that she's fairly certain I don't have a herniated disk. This was my number one concern going in for the consultation. She went to great lengths to say that she doesn't expect my disks are "perfect" (no surprise to me, based on what I've read about the spinal health of the general population), but that she saw no evidence of herniation.
I've got a follow-up with her partner in 2 weeks for massage therapy and reevaluation. Only one visit, and I've still got to implement the recommendations and see what the results are, but at this point I would say that if you live in or around the Northern Chicago area, Andersonville Chiropractic might be worthwhile if you are looking for these kinds of services.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Weekend Training
Friday:
Jump Squats - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3
Lunges - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3 each leg
Band RDLs - doubled band under feet; 3 sets of 20
Incline Sprints - 30 yards; 20 minutes
Saturday:
Push-up Progression -
BWX10
Doubled-BandX5
"Reverse Grip"X15
Doubled-BandX6
BWX20
super-set with
Band Pull-Aparts - 5 sets; 165 total reps
Band Medley -
Front Raises; Cross-overs, Upright Rows, Reverse Curls AMRAP
Working around my low-back strain (almost healed), and my heavy rehearsal and performance schedule. I think I'm good to get back in the gym for at least an upper-body dominant session, but I'm not rushing because I need to be 100% when my new show opens in 2 weeks. So I'm adhering very closely to the shake diet and getting in a lot of light band work and some conditioning to help make sure I don't erase my gains while I'm out of the gym.
Jump Squats - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3
Lunges - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3 each leg
Band RDLs - doubled band under feet; 3 sets of 20
Incline Sprints - 30 yards; 20 minutes
Saturday:
Push-up Progression -
BWX10
Doubled-BandX5
"Reverse Grip"X15
Doubled-BandX6
BWX20
super-set with
Band Pull-Aparts - 5 sets; 165 total reps
Band Medley -
Front Raises; Cross-overs, Upright Rows, Reverse Curls AMRAP
Working around my low-back strain (almost healed), and my heavy rehearsal and performance schedule. I think I'm good to get back in the gym for at least an upper-body dominant session, but I'm not rushing because I need to be 100% when my new show opens in 2 weeks. So I'm adhering very closely to the shake diet and getting in a lot of light band work and some conditioning to help make sure I don't erase my gains while I'm out of the gym.
Monday, June 4, 2012
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 3. Pause Squats
Defranco Hip Mobility
Pause Squats -
BarX5X2
105X3
155X3
185X3
210X3
235X2
Front Squat -
145X3
145X3
145XFailX2
RDL -
95X10
185X5
205X5
225X5
Back Extensions - 3 sets of 15
Here we go again. Pause Squats went pretty well. I held all my warm-up sets for several seconds in the hole, and then paused all my work sets normally. 235X2 is an all-around PR for the movement. If I'm feeling okay next week (more on this in a sec), I will drop my training max per Paul Carter's suggestion, and try to get a few more reps on my top sets in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.
Front Squats on this cycle were only intended to be medium-heavyish, and a way to get more volume work on my quads. 145 is NOT a heavy weight for me on front squats in this rep range. On the 3rd set, I fucked up my low back somehow. This feels like the same fucking strain as last July. I think it's from some combination of getting too far forward in the bottom and my hips tucking under at the bottom as well. You know the weight isn't too heavy because after I dropped it, I cleaned it back to my fucking shoulders so I could set it back on the stands. I tried to front squat it again, but it still hurt at the bottom so I stopped. Fuck, fuck me.
Pause Squats -
BarX5X2
105X3
155X3
185X3
210X3
235X2
Front Squat -
145X3
145X3
145XFailX2
RDL -
95X10
185X5
205X5
225X5
Back Extensions - 3 sets of 15
Here we go again. Pause Squats went pretty well. I held all my warm-up sets for several seconds in the hole, and then paused all my work sets normally. 235X2 is an all-around PR for the movement. If I'm feeling okay next week (more on this in a sec), I will drop my training max per Paul Carter's suggestion, and try to get a few more reps on my top sets in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.
Front Squats on this cycle were only intended to be medium-heavyish, and a way to get more volume work on my quads. 145 is NOT a heavy weight for me on front squats in this rep range. On the 3rd set, I fucked up my low back somehow. This feels like the same fucking strain as last July. I think it's from some combination of getting too far forward in the bottom and my hips tucking under at the bottom as well. You know the weight isn't too heavy because after I dropped it, I cleaned it back to my fucking shoulders so I could set it back on the stands. I tried to front squat it again, but it still hurt at the bottom so I stopped. Fuck, fuck me.
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 2. Off-Day Training
Saturday AM:
fasted steady-state - 45 minutes
Saturday PM:
Band Pull-Aparts - 5 sets of 20
"Reverse Grip" Push-ups - 3 sets of 10
Band, One-Arm Curls - 5 sets of 15-20
Band OH Extensions - 5 sets of 12-20
Band Reverse Curls - 1 set to failure
fasted steady-state - 45 minutes
Saturday PM:
Band Pull-Aparts - 5 sets of 20
"Reverse Grip" Push-ups - 3 sets of 10
Band, One-Arm Curls - 5 sets of 15-20
Band OH Extensions - 5 sets of 12-20
Band Reverse Curls - 1 set to failure
Friday, June 1, 2012
5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 2. Press
Defranco Shoulder Mobility
Press -
BarX10X2
65X3
85X3
95X3
110X7
DB Rows -
45sX15
50sX10
55sX25
Chin-ups - BW(205)X5 stupid
Leg Curls - 5 sets of 15
Farmers Carries - 18 minutes
Empty Handles (120)X1
160X1
200X1X9
20 minutes brisk walking
My right shoulder has been feeling a bit tweaked lately, and I suspect it's from the rapid sledge hammer swings. I took an extra warm-up set with the empty bar on pressing, and it felt fine on the 2nd set. This was a really great Press session actually. 110X7 ties a Rep PR, and I probably could have gotten 1 more, but I didn't want to push to the limit because it's only the 2nd press day of the cycle, and I was also cognizant of the shoulder issue. Still, it was nice to see that if I get up for it, I can still push up towards my best projected 1RM in this lift. I was worried after my incline session last week.
Press -
BarX10X2
65X3
85X3
95X3
110X7
DB Rows -
45sX15
50sX10
55sX25
Chin-ups - BW(205)X5 stupid
Leg Curls - 5 sets of 15
Farmers Carries - 18 minutes
Empty Handles (120)X1
160X1
200X1X9
20 minutes brisk walking
My right shoulder has been feeling a bit tweaked lately, and I suspect it's from the rapid sledge hammer swings. I took an extra warm-up set with the empty bar on pressing, and it felt fine on the 2nd set. This was a really great Press session actually. 110X7 ties a Rep PR, and I probably could have gotten 1 more, but I didn't want to push to the limit because it's only the 2nd press day of the cycle, and I was also cognizant of the shoulder issue. Still, it was nice to see that if I get up for it, I can still push up towards my best projected 1RM in this lift. I was worried after my incline session last week.
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