bigm141414

Hello fellow warrior! It's been a while since a member discovered a fondness for the olympic lifts. They are some of the most beautiful lifts imaginable. Ballet with a barbell if you will. 2 other resources for learning the olympic lifts I recommend are: 1) Catalyst Athletics youtube channel (Greg Everret is a National/World level coach, who also wrote one of the better books on the subject Olympic Weightlifting A complete Guide). Here's a link to his technique youtube playlist. It's 1-3 minute videos breaking down various aspects of the movements. I like these a lot for new people to learn from and compare their form to the video, instead of trying to scroll through a 15 minute coaching vid. 2) California Strength instructional video series. here's the link. Easily the classic learning videos from coach Gregg Pendlay. Again, they are really good short videos breaking down form plus progressions for each of the lifts and discussions on training accessories. Happy lifting!

Color me intrigued. I am going to have to look for this option when I get my weekly peloton ride in. Home projects should definitely be tracked here! Everyone knows that home renovations are part of functional fitness. I look forward to your 4 hour AMRAP supersets of paint rolling and furniture moving. Sucks to hear about the job taking a sharp left turn, but bright side you get to be paid to learn about a new thing? Huzzah?

I am always inspired and awed by your pressing prowess. Amazing work KW!

Wooo good job in reaching the finish line!

Love the shopping, the purchasing portion can be a but painful XD I used to be this way too, and one of the main reasons I invested in a home gym. But after 2 years of lockdowns, and WFH, and generally not going anywhere, I am enjoying the excuse to get out of the house and go lift some place different. Plus, my home gym is crammed into 1/4 of a garage parking space which have definitely become a bit claustrophobic over the years as I have added more equipment. The only reason I haven't plopped down money for a proper 3x3 beastly power rack is lack of space and not wanting to rearrange my garage.

Week 5 Update! Okay final week is over. This was also first week of new training program. The program is structured to be light on intensity, some decent volume, and 3 days a week as a way to ease into things. Coming from 6 days a week under a barbell to only 3 days this week left me a bit restless mentally. The extra rest has been good for recovery but uggh the wait between sessions is frustrating. Anyways, let's look at the break down Tuesday First day was split in to two different sessions. I had a 730am meeting and took that from home so afterwards I went and did the squat and bench portion out in the garage. It was cold lifting. Squats were a bit rough because it was 2x10, 2x8, then 2x6, with a relative intensity of 55%. The weight was light, but man, sets of 10 just suck. Bench was up next at the same rep scheme, 2x10, 2x8, 2x6. at a relative intensity of 65%. I definitely wasn't warm or warmed up enough for these and it felt heavier than it should. I am too used to evening lifting. In the evening after work I went and did deadlifts and the accessories at the work gym. This was the first time being 1) in the work gym on a weekday 2) lifting with more than one person present in the small gym space. I am not at all used to lifting around other people. Now, I don't have anything to be self conscious about because I know what I am doing around the weights, but the thought of mixing my personal outside-work-life with co-workers always raises my anxiety. Like I know they aren't going to talk to me (I hope!) during the sets, but if they did, I would be a big ball of nervousness. Anyways, deadlifts were fine, it was 6x4 at a relative intensity of 60% so extremely light. I did half with double over hand grip just to get some grip work in. Accessories were fine, the biggest issue was the reverse hyper/hyperextension superset. I don't have a proper way of doing either so I made something up that approximated the move: supermans for the hyperextensions, and hanging my legs off a bench for the reverse version. There are probably better ways to do substitute them, but it worked out well enough, even if it looked a little silly. Overall the morning session was just okay, and the evening session, despite the anxiousness, was fine. I am going to try again next week for morning lifting, and if it continues to be sucky I'll reschedule my day with Thursday Day 2 was done all at home and consisted of pause squats (no problems), volume floor presses ( a little awkward to remember how to do them), and Pendlay rows as the main movements. The accessories were some incline DB press, reverse fly work, more rowing (chest supported and a seated cable row, although i gave up trying to do that at more with my diy pulleys) and some DB cuban presses. Lots of shoulders, lots of rowing. My lats were sore. Saturday That's today! Coffee and deadlift day! Woooo! Seriously my favorite day of the training week. I get up early and go have coffee at the local shop, read a bit, then drive to the work gym for lifting after sufficiently caffeinating myself. Deadlifts were fine today: 2x5,2x4,2x3 at a relative intensity of 60%. I benched at the work gym even though I am not a fan of the setup. It's one of those fixed bench setups that you would find in many commercial gyms. It doesn't have spotter arms (the first downside) and the hooks are in a fixed position that is very low to what I am used to so lifting off requires me to half press the bar up and then get it into position. At home I have the J-cups set high enough to where my arms are practically straight as soon as I unrack. So even with the odd setup I managed to get some good work in. Sets were 2x5,2x4,2x3 @ 75% relative intensity. The top set felt pretty good and light, even if the lift off wasn't ideal. After that 3 supersets of accessories, which were overall fine. Oh, while resting between supersets, I tried out the chest press machine at the gym for fun. I maxed out the cable stack easily. I just wish my barbell bench numbers were as impressive as my machine press. One day! In other news: the work gym finally got the Peloton back online! Which means I have a reason to do some form of cardio again! I hate running, I don't really enjoy cycling outdoors these days, and indoor cycling is boring without someone telling me what to do. So I am going to add in a couple of sessions a week. Challenge Completion: Overall a good challenge. I stuck to my lifting goals and hit most of my sessions. I skipped only 2 yoga sessions in January which I am counting as a win. I picked a new program to follow at least for the next few months so I am all set there. I did manage to study quite a bit this past 6 weeks, plowing through 12 chapters in my machine learning book, which is about 350 pages or so. Can't say it all stuck in my brain, but that 's just because I need to practice some of what I read. Looking forward, sticking with the new training program is definitely on the list, and now that the peloton is an option again I am going to add in more cardio. I am also going to attempt to build a stretching habit/routine during my rest days because I don't want to lose the mobility progress I got with all the yoga. It's not going to be yoga, but just a basic stretch routine I can do on the floor in the evenings while the tv plays stuff. Better than sitting on the couch. Oh oh, one last (vain) thing: I am trying to track my measurements on a monthly basis this year, so I wanted to share a minor success after all the curls and tricep stuff I did in January: My noodle arms grew a bit after 4 days a week of training arms. Who knew consistency would lead to results. (caveat emptor: measurements were made in the morning after I woke up on Jan 1 and on Feb 1. some sof the increase will be due to tape placement and generally how strong I flexed my arms. but still, progress)

Week 4 Updates The last half of week ended well. I continued to chew through the machine learning book, although I've dipped into the beginning of the meat of the text. The material is starting to make some sense in my head conceptually, even though I haven't wrapped my brain around all of the math yet. But the book isn't meant to be in depth mathematically, it is doing its job of giving me the overview of the toolsets and getting me started. Lifting was good too. Saturday was the last heavy deadlift day for a while and I finished with all reps feeling easy. The accessories had me gassed once again, but that's because I upped the weights. Failed on my last set of lat pulldowns so at least I know what is now a heavy pulldown for me. Sunday, well, Sunday came and I just didn't want to do anything. I am going to call it just a full on rest day as the new training block starts tomorrow. Not going to beat myself up about missing a yoga session and taking a day off of the squats. All told, I moved something like 350klbs in the month of January, and burned something like 14k in calories during my workout sessions. Not bad. Looking forward, Tuesday starts the new block, and I have to juggle two sessions every day: session one at home for squats and heavy bench, and session 2 at the work gym for deadlifts and accessory work. I'll have to track how this goes throughout the month and if it doesn't work I may need to find an actual factual gym in order to continue. Or buy more home equipment >.>

Modesty, thy name has never been Setheth.

I have the same issue when i read business process books. I've found that I am not really going to learn a lot of new things from said books, but what I look out for is new analogies or metaphors that may resonate with me. It's like strength training: there is no one single cue that works for all lifters, there are several that can work and it's up to you/the coach to find the words that focus/inspire/correct your methods. The barbell teaches much wisdom XD Have you tried deadlifts? 9/10 doctors say deadlifts can cure all things.

Week 3 Updates: So I didn't post a weekly update over the weekend. It was a low energy type of week on the back half. I did get in my liftings and yogas and studyings done for the most part. Saturday's deadlift session left me feeling great for like an hour and then the exhaustion set in and I swear energy vampires were haunting me the rest of the weekend. I did manage a very heavy beltless DL double which is the most I have done without the aid of a belt in years so I count that as a win Week 4 - Mid Week update Sunday was a rough day. The exhaustion I felt from Saturday carried over to the next day. I tried to get under the bar for some squats and managed a very poor heavy triple before I called it for the day. Usually I am able to get over the motivation hump after the warm up sets but today I wasn't feeling it and so it was the right call to finish the day. I also skipped yoga that day because I felt like just being a vegetable. I got back into the swing on things on Monday though. I didn't really want to lift but I still went and did my light weight practice sessions and as always after the warmups were done I was in the groove. Tuesday was more Pendlay row work and they were better today. My next block of training has them more consistently and I am happy that they are getting better. I stopped doing touch and go and just let the bar rest on the floor for a second before pulling the next rep and that's made a world of difference. Speaking of the next block, that starts on Tuesday, so I have one last heavy deadlift session before I start volume-ish/deload month. I am reminding myself here that I won't try and pull a heavy 1RM as that is counterproductive to my long term goals. No matter how bad I want to test my maxes, I know it's not helpful. Nope. Not at all. Nope. Other notes: this week is the 8th anniversary of 4T, which was a thing I hosted for nerds a long while ago. My feeds have been bombarding me with reminders of that event and it's bittersweet. I loved 4T, and hanging out with so many amazing community members but it's a reminder that 8 years ago my lifts were the same numbers. I know rationally why that is, I stopped powerlifting and switched to Olympic lifting, then moved twice across the country, had a stressful career position for a few years, and generally have taken a beating mentally for much of that time, which hasn't left a lot of focus on strength. I've taken a very long strange detour in my strength training to say the least. Can't change any of that now, but like I said: bittersweet

Mid Week 3 Check in Okay half way through the week and today is my rest day. Daily yoga has been on track, and the last few sessions have been short and relaxing, although I know that after the first half of the month the intensity gets turned up. Lifting is going well, although I was minorly grumbling yesterday at Pendlay rows. They shouldn't be as hard as they are. But of course they are hard because I don't consistently have rows in my training sessions. There are just so many muscles to work to get strong and there is never enough time. That was my little pity party. I am over it now I just hate the hard days. Studying is okay. Got through chapter 8 of my machine learning book, and a few chapters on lean business practices, because why not. I've got next month's training sessions at least written down on a spreadsheet, as it stands right now there are 3 sessions a week, which seems so little. I am going to stare at it a bit more and maybe add a fourth day for movement practice. In the past I have always been horrible with actually resting and that's led to burn out, so maybe that is my focus next month: learn to rest.

Sorry to hear you've had a rough week, but hey at least you've front loaded all the bad things so the back half of the week will be easy sailing. That's how things work, right? Right? Will have to remember to check out her sessions when my work gym gets their pelotons back on the network. Were you the victor of this glorious combat? Or did you perish with honor?

Week 2 Wrap Up Okay week 2 in the bag, as the kids say. The last half of the week was the same as the first half. I yoga'd, l lift'd, and I read/studied. Lifts were not bad. On Friday I was feeling a bit run down, but I managed to eek out my light front squats. Just had to get under the bar and into the groove. I've finally gotten over the last of the holiday bloat this week. Now I am back to my regular bloat XD Programming Thoughts - Week 2 Okay so for this week I am going to take stock of some of my weaknesses, for completeness sake. Joints - Let's start with the major joints head to toe Shoulders - My right shoulder is fine, but my left has started acting up as I've added DB presses back into the mix. Benching doesn't seem to aggravate it which means I can't use it as an excuse to not bench. I also notice the left shoulder being weaker during planks when I yoga. So I am going to need to address these issues sooner rather than later. Hips - Hips are always tight but that's because I squat a lot and can always use more stretching and mobility in this region. Nothing stands out as urgent or in need of immediate attention. Knees - Knees are similar story to my shoulders: the right knee is fine, but the left acts up everyone once in a while. I spent a good while last year doing rehab exercises and I thought I had things beat, but about once a week I'll get some tightness during squats. It is better than it was last year, where I had weakness in bending it. Not an urgent need to fix, but I should start bullet proofing the knees again. Ankles - Much better than they were at this time last year. Last year I was wearing a brace on my left ankle (are we seeing a joint pattern yet?) but lately it hasn't been bad. My right side is much tighter and doesn't have quite the range of motion as the left, but it doesn't stop me from hitting depth. I do need to break out the slant board I have and work on that joint more. I will probably combine knee and ankle prehab work through out the year, just don't know what shape it will take Muscle Groups Shoulders Definitely need work here. I didn't press much last year and I was inconsistent with dips so shoulder development was sidelined. Given my joint issues I need to beef these up. Dips and direct deltoid work will be a focus in the first half of this year. Arms - Bigger bench means I need bigger biceps and triceps. Almost everything I read and contemplated will have bicep and trip cep accessories multiple times a week. Hoping to visibly grow these this year to support a bigger bench and this will be a focus for the entire year. Chest - Of course this is a weak point, benching will help, and I might throw some more bodybuilding chest stuff in later, but a lot of the DB accessory work will also help this. It's not a big focus in the short term. Back - Always need more back work. Especially if I want that 6 plate deadlift. Lats/pullups/various rows are all part of the accessory plan this year. Other thing I want to incorporate are more extensions at the beginning of the year to hit the lower back more. It'll be a priority the first half of the year. Glutes and Hammies - These gotta grow if the deadlift is going to go up. I am limited to machine leg curls or bodyweight variations for glute development. It would be totally rad if I could do a nordic curl though. It's been on my list for a while but it's such a tough movement. I'll need to figure out what to do eventually but it is not a focus right now. Quads - These aren't too bad. They'll get a bit bigger I am sure as squats get heavier. I have been using reverse nordic curls as a warm up which are pretty quad-centric. I'm still not able to get all the way to the floor but i can get past 45deg which is something. This muscle group isn't a big focus right now. Calfs - Fuck calfs. They never grow. And I won't be paying them any attention I will forever have chicken legs. So that cover's where my body is at right now. Got a lot of work to do with my shoulders, knees, back, and hamstrings. Those will need the most attention all year long.

Can't fault you there. That game is just absolutely stunning. The story, the mechanics, the enemies, the robots, the scenery. I need to replay it because the new one is coming out soooooon. Sounds like ya did!

Is one of the cues ribcage down? I remember my oly coach drilling me on ribcage down when doing jerks or presses or basically anything overhead. At the time I thought it was so I don't hyperextend my back, but I could see how focusing on ribcage placement would also help brace the lats and delts as well. Please do! I, too, enjoy learning new things. .

I am! Been a subscriber of her youtubes for ages now. I find she is the best for people who just want to stretch without unnecessary woo-woo. Plus Benji is adorable. Python. Mainly because it is what I am used to and also the fact that 90% of the resources are in Python. Sure R has some benefits, like better built in statistical packages, but there isn't much content to help understand the principles. Also, one of the books I am currently studying, Hands On Machine Learning by Geron is written for Python and is kind of the gold standard of learning the tool set right now.

Midweek 2 Update! Days 1-3: Lifting - Check on all three days. The heavy squat session on Sunday wasn't "heavy" only worked up to 315. I tried out box squats as well just as a form thing. I have never done them seriously before but some of the programming material calls for box squats so I wanted to see where I am at with them. The form is weird and it has been many a year since I have felt so unstable in a squat position. From everything I have read and watched, if you get the proper form down your hip drive capability really goes up. I assume that there will be some good transfer over to getting out of the hole and also off the floor on DLs. Added in Pendlay rows on the DL days as those are also called for in a lot of the programs I am seeing. My back is a weak point, which I'll discuss more in detail on Saturday's Programming Thoughts. Yoga - Pretty okay. I haven't really been in a meditative headspace the last few days so focusing on yoga and not getting distracted has been a challenge. Pullups - No issues here. I am up to sets of 3 for this week. Tried a set of 4 this morning but form wasn't great on the last rep. To be fair, I was wearing a jacket and my good clothes so ROM was restricted. Study - I've been failing this the last 3 days. I am just not motivated in the evenings to sit down and turn my brain back on. I understand it is like working out and that making it a habit will make it easier, but ugh, there are so many other passive consumption things I could do. I'll do better the last half of the week.

What was your rehab work like over the years? Asking for a friend with a junk left shoulder....It's me, I'm the friend. Now now you two, you gotta learn to share the new gym-home equipment. There are plenty of presses to go around. Come for the lifts, stay for the steak. It's Spezzy's Dinner and a Show Spectacular!

That's a sexy looking steak and brussels. Om nom nom nom nom

It motivates me but not in a sustainable way. It's all "RAWR I NEED TO DO ALL THE THINGS ALL AT ONCE TO GET BACK ON TRACK!" for a few weeks in my brain and then I burn out and retreat to my couch with ice cream to lick my mental wounds. One of the strength blogs I follow recently posted an article that resonated with me about training in general. The full article is here, it's worth a read, but I highlight some portions below: First up is this graphic. I don't think an image has so personally attacked me before, because that red line is me, except I have been bad with getting back the the blue progress trend lines. Secondly, the article takes a dig at my favorite squat program of all time, the beloved Smolov: Completely correct, and a good reminder that while I enjoy the fancy ass hard programs, I am no longer 25 with infinite recovery. Better to be slow and steady instead of trying to find the quickest way back to the heavy weights. And then finally, words I need to write in big bold letters and attach to my squat rack:

Updates! Week 1 Day 6: Yoga - Done! It was all abs and I have no abs. Studying - Nope! Lifting - Done! Today was a very light day for squats and bench. 4x4 Paused Front Squats which felt great for my quads and hips. Got real deep down there into that ATG olympic squat. Bench was 4x10 a light weight and I was trying a two new cues/setup changes to help my bench. I've been watching some EliteFTS/Dave Tate coaching videos lately (as one does) and they've mentioned a few things that I never thought of before. The first change I was playing around with was the height of where the bar sits. I set the J-cups one hole higher which should help keep that lats and back tight as i get the bar into position. I don't know if this is going to help when the weights get heavier as I worry I won't get the bar back into the rack XD, but I do feel a difference in back tension. The second cue is for hand placement. One of the bad things with my bench form is I still bend my wrists too much. The cue to remember is to form a diamond with your hands and you put that diamond in the center of your bar, then you slide youyr your hands outward to where your grip is. This helps keep the bar more on the meaty part of the palm than when I was just grabbing the bar. I've included the videos below, with the appropriate time stamps so you can take a look. Week 1 Day 7: Yoga - Check! Deadlift day! Today's deadlift session was a a giant middle finger to gravity. There is no known force in the 'verse that will stop me from getting that bar off the floor. Things felt pretty good. The AMRAP set at the end after the heavy 2x2 was a struggle at the last rep. The heavy sets was the most weight I've deadlifted beltless in 2.5 years. I should probably remember to pack my belt for future sessions at the work gym . After that, I did some DB presses and a super set of lat pulldowns, face pulls, and tricep pushdowns. My arms were feeling it by the end of the session. I also need to remember that while this was a good session, this does not mean I can run away and try to set new PRs. In the past I have always let the post endorphin rush fool me into believing I am ready for the big boy weights. But not this time! I know I am not, and I won't be increasing the weight next week or trying for a new PR, because that would be counterproductive for my year long goals. Speaking of year long training goals it's time for Programming Thoughts for Week 1 First let's talk discuss milestones. After January I will have 11 months to train. I plan to have a year end testing session in the middle of December before the holidays come and mess up my training life. That means November and half of December will be dedicated to a peaking program. I also want a mini test session somewhere towards the end of July as a check point for progress and to see if I need to change anything. So that's 9 months of training that I need to program for. I know that Feburary will be spent as a volume block because I need to up my work capacity. (January training doesn't really count as this month is all about moving consistently). I found a template online for a 36 week long block periodization plan that I have been making notes on. Link to Lift Vault and Spreadsheet here. It is set up nicely and I like that every month is a new block so that it doesn't get overly stale, and if I need to repeat a block . I have some reservations about running the bench portion, the main concern is if I would see a better benefit to something like a 531 to push my max higher. That is something I need to figure out before the March time frame. The other concern I have, and not with this program but in all programs generally, is workout timing. My work gym is great for deadlifts and has most of the equipment for accessory work (basically dumbbells and a cable stack), but does not have a power rack and is only meh for benching due to the bench setup sitting on fixed pins and those pins are really low for my lanky arms. It also doesn't have safety arms so bailing would suck. At home I have a squat rack and a good set up for bench, but heavy DLs aren't great there (noise issues for my upstairs and next door neighbors, and a sloped floor). I can DL, but I enjoy the focus I have at the work gym. Secondly I would have to modify or swap a lot of the accessory work because of the limitation of my equipment. So which ever program I choose I'd have to split the day into a morning/evening session when deadlifts and squats are on the same day. Or I can just split those days into 2, which would mean 5 days a week instead of 4, but that might impact my recovery. Lastly, I could join a gym, but I am still adverse to being around other sweaty breathing humans and also spending the money. So that's where I am at right now. No decisions have been made, but some information and pros/cons have been assembled. This next week I am going to consider my biggest weaknesses right now and write them down so I can have a plan to fix them. That'll be for next week's thoughts.

This is why I keep paper logs. Digital logs just don't have the same impact of flipping through and seeing the progress or in my case regress over the years. It's a humbling experience to remind yourself just how much time has passed. Also, my phone does a great (bad?) job of reminding me of all my past lifts since I have videos and images going back 11 years on my google account. This morning, for instance, my phone reminds me that 6 years ago today was really the last time I had a heavy back squat. It showed a video of my first attempt at a single 365lbs squat, which is similar to where I am today. If only I had been consistent in training for all those intervening years I may be an actual beast. XD

Thanks! I find that the older I get, that a body at rest tends to remain at rest. Week 1 Day 4: Rest day from lifting. Went for a walk during lunch time and did some pullups. That's about it. Week 1 Day 5: Lift - Check Squats: Heavy triple and then 4x6 @ 75% of the triple. Today was the first actual heavy squat day of the year and I was pleased with how it went. Things felt good, the top set was good and heavy but not to the point of form break down, and the back off sets were just the right amount of suck to get the breath and heart rate up but not leave me with wobbly legs. Definitely a better start to 2022 than to 2021, 2020, 2019,....and well a few years more, according to my logs. Bench - 9,6,3 decrease tempo as the reps decrease (e.g the set of 3 was really slow up and down compared to the 9s) This was better today as well, the soreness and stiffness is slowly melting away as the volume. Instead of increasing the weight as the reps decreased, I changed the tempo. I've never really tried this before and I found it to be quite a nice challenge. A 3 second descent/ascent press really makes you question your sanity. Hammer Curls - No issues, just getting some volume for that pump. Pullups - Check. Couple of sets through out the day. Yoga - Done. This was a nice easy session, no fast transitions to worry about Study - Yup, got in a good hour of reading during the lunch break. So a good day.

I put on my robe and wizard hat... No, wait. That's the wrong type of dirty RP game >.>