The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope

[El Exorcisto]

I got the body laid up today but my dad had an appointment to go to. I'll be finishing it sometime tomorrow evening. Here's the progress so far:

 

[El Exorcisto]

RE deadlift

Sumo deadlift: 12 @ 265 raw, 8 @ 285 belted

Good morning: 2x10 @ 135

Power shrug: 3 @ 335, 5x3 @ 355

Hyper: 15 @ bw, 2x15 +25

   superset with

Hanging leg raise: 15, 2x10

 

I hate repping deadlifts and I hate pulling sumo. Why not combine two things I fucking loathe and get it over with? They felt awesome. Rep 12 of the first set started to run away out front so I called the set there. I belted up and put another pair of dimes on the bar and went at it again. My Lucky Charms started to revisit me around rep 6 and were almost out on rep 8. I had a lot more in the tank but I wasn't in the mood to puke.

 

Oh good mornings... I always regret leaving them out of my programming when I come back to them. They felt great.

 

Shrugs are one of my favorite things these days. I do them Bill Starr style like a 6" explosive rack pull and my upper back gets lit up hard.

 

Erector pump and sore abs... yep.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Powermatic. Nice. Log looks like it's going to turn out well.

[matty_mcfly]

That is one sexy piece of wood...

But seriously the log looks great. How are you doing the handles? I'm assuming you don't wanna use wood, splinters and such.

Why the hate of pulling sumo? I love the stance, until my hips get angry.

And pulls right to the point of almost puking? Sounds like a good session

[El Exorcisto]

My dad builds furniture for a living. I' spoiled fucking rotten when it comes to anything involving wood.

 

I have some 1 1/4" galvanized pipe for sleeves and 1 1/2" sch 40 pipe for the sleeves.

 

It wasn't the "holy shit I went there" kind of puke. It was the "you should have let that settle for a minute before training" almost puke. As for the hate, well, I'm a lot weaker at it than conventional. I can tough-and-go a lot easier sumo than I can conventional, though.

[matty_mcfly]

I rarely have either puking sensation though sometimes I do have an issue with food wanting to come out the other end....

[El Exorcisto]

Bro day

Bench press: 10 @ 135; 10,8 @ 155, short rests

Slingshot bench with 2 count pause: 3 @ 185, 3 @ 205

Ring chins: 5x5

Single DB press: 10 @ 40; 10,9 @ 45

   superset with

Straight bar curl: 10 @ 65, 2x10 @ 55

 

My arms and shoulders are about to explode. That is all.

[El Exorcisto]

RE squat

Parallel box squat: 10 @ 225, 8 @ 245

Snatch high pull: 5x3 @ 205

Hip thrust: 12 @ 245, 2x12 @ 265

GHD razor curl: 7,9,10 @ bw

   superset with

Roll-out: 3x15

 

RE lower days just suck. I wanted to get ore in but my form was getting sloppy and sloppy box squats lay me out for a few weeks. My legs still felt like jelly after and high pulls were slow as a result. Hip thrusts felt great and I'm getting better on the new GHR pad. There wasn't anything really remarkable about today.

[El Exorcisto]

 

I epoxied in the pipes this morning and just jigsawed out the hand holes when I got home from work tonight. It feels like a completely different animal than my steel log. It weighed in at 53 pounds before I expanded the hand holes so I'm going to just run with 50 pounds to keep the math easy. I did a few strict presses, a push jerk, and a split jerk with 100 and the push jerk felt really good. Tomorrow is DE press day.

[matty_mcfly]

I epoxied in the pipes this morning and just jigsawed out the hand holes when I got home from work tonight. It feels like a completely different animal than my steel log. It weighed in at 53 pounds before I expanded the hand holes so I'm going to just run with 50 pounds to keep the math easy. I did a few strict presses, a push jerk, and a split jerk with 100 and the push jerk felt really good. Tomorrow is DE press day.

That is actually really sexy.

When you say it's a different beast, is that because this one is actually balanced? Or is this one smaller/bigger diameter wise?

[El Exorcisto]

Both. It's 12 1/4" across the flats and 13 3/8" across the points but it has such better balance. It wants to press straight instead of trying to get out ahead of me.

[El Exorcisto]

DE press

Log C&P: 1x2 @ 120, 6x2 @ 130

DB row: 1x5 @ 110, 5x5 @ 160

Weighted dips: 3x5 @ +45

Hammer curl: 13,9,8 @ 35

   superset with

Dips: 12,12,10 @ bw

 

The new log is everything I'd hope it would be and more. I jerked all of these and didn't even come close to losing it out front. I couldn't even get a good dip with my other log let alone jerk it. Since it's an octagon there's only one position it can be in at the lap to sit right at the rack, so everything has to be done the same every rep. It should do a good job of grooving form. My last double was slower than the rest but my speed is feeling pretty good. I can channel a lot of hate through this log instead of worrying so much.

 

I put 3 quarters on each end of my Oly DBs, which is the stated limit on them. I have room to get another 50 pounds on them so I'll be seeing in the next few months how true that rating is. My lats are crushed.

 

Hanging a plate was too much on the dips and I'm sure a lot of them were high. I'll drop back to 35 next week and focus on quality of weight moved.

 

Last week I did band pushdowns but I hate band pushdowns. Since the rack was still set up for dips I just used them as the triceps half of the superset and my arms are about to split. Love it.

[El Exorcisto]

I'm starting a wee cut. I stepped on the scale at 186 this morning. I'm just gonna get back sub-180 again so I don't find myself in March having to drop 20 pounds to make weight. I'm planning shit a little better this time. It'll be boring but reliable.

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 184.0

ME deadlift

Conventional deadlift singles: 365, 385, 2x405 failure

Good morning 5s: 1 @ 135, 4 @ 185

Sandbag over 4' bar (speed): 4x3 @ 100

Power shrug: 5x5 @ 365, 2x3 @ 405

DB side bend: 2x10 @ 80

 

I haven't pulled heavy off the floor since I got hurt and I'm seeing the fallout from it. I wanted 4 plates really bad but I broke it about 3" off the floor and failed. On the second attempt I tried pulling with higher hips and didn't even break it loose. I need to focus on my 18" deadlift for the contest anyway but it still feels bad man.

 

Good mornings felt good, nothing remarkable. Sandbag over bar was for speed work since going heavy after maxing on deadlift probably would have been a bad idea. I reinforced my filler bags with duck tape but after the third drop they burst. It is way nicer lifting it with loose sand. I just hope the seams hold up. Shrugs and side bends because yoke and abs.

[matty_mcfly]

Haha fuck. You know with all your strongman shit and floor pressing and ring push ups, I forget how much stronger than me you are on deads and squats.

[El Exorcisto]

Still feeling like a bitch doe.

[matty_mcfly]

Oh my bad. I wasn't implying that you aren't still a bitch...

[El Exorcisto]

Haha, well done.

 

I think I need to squat more. I like the whole conjugate thing for pressing and deadlifting but the squat seems like it should get hit for more volume than it's programmed for since it's really n assistance movement like the bench press. I might stick 5x5 squats on after my programmed variation in place of hip thrusts and do sandbag loads instead of high pulls since they're really similar movements.

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 182.0

Bro day

Bench press 5s: 1 @ 165, 3 @ 175

Slingshot bench triples: 1 @ 185, 2 @ 195

Ring chins: 5x5

Seated reverse band landmine press: 3x8 @ 50 & EliteFTS light band

   superset with

Incline Zottman curl: 3x10 @ 20

 

Maybe one day I'll get stronger on the bench but today wasn't that day. I tried for a 4th set at 175 but the first rep felt awful so I called it there. Slingshot bench is feeling good and putting a lot of overload on my triceps. I'm really just hoping for carry over to my press but is it too much to ask to get a decent bench, too? FFS.

 

Ring chins were faster and cleaner than last week. Maybe I'll see how 6s go next week.

 

DB press felt awesome last week but I felt like doing some experimenting. I set up for landmine press in my rack but looped a band across my chin bar to screw with the strength curve more. These felt awesome but like anything banded they creep up a lot faster than straight weight since there isn't a single sticking point. Mucho pump in the shoulders and a lot less in the triceps than with straight weight DB press.

 

Incline Zottmans because my rack was occupied by the landmine setup. I love them.

[El Exorcisto]

Here's what I've eaten for lunch and dinner for the last few days, or something really similar at least.

 

 

5-6oz of venison steak, fried egg, and sautéed mushrooms, all cooked in grass fed butter and washed down with a glass of grass fed raw whole milk.  Christ, I feel like such a hippie.

[Rooks]

Damn that looks good sir.  I'd eat the hell outta that...

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 181.8

KB swing: 1x10, 6x20 @ 50

  superset with

Strict press: 7x2 @ 105

 

I hate conditioning work, mainly because it shows me how out of shape I am. I was pretty gassed after these with a rockin pump in my glutes, hams, and forearms. I had lofty ideas of doing a day of Dan John's 10k swings workout but that just wasn't happening. Towards the end of the last set I started feeling it in my low back so I stopped there.

[matty_mcfly]

Morning weigh-in: 181.8

KB swing: 1x10, 6x20 @ 50

superset with

Strict press: 7x2 @ 105

I hate conditioning work, mainly because it shows me how out of shape I am. I was pretty gassed after these with a rockin pump in my glutes, hams, and forearms. I had lofty ideas of doing a day of Dan John's 10k swings workout but that just wasn't happening. Towards the end of the last set I started feeling it in my low back so I stopped there.

Haha do we not remember the shit you gave me when I was doing the 10k swings??

[El Exorcisto]

Ah, but I was just using his set/rep scheme for a day. You actually committed to that shit.

[El Exorcisto]

I just ordered seeds for this year's garden, am in the process of figuring out what potatoes to plant, and planning the orchard. I'm definitely looking forward to spring.