The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope

[El Exorcisto]

I didn't mean to come off sounding like a dick. I'm really just beating myself up over fucking around too much over the past year and not getting stronger while program hopping incessantly and being injured almost as much as I wasn't. I'm sticking with Cube to periodize my big lifts for at least a year and am forcing myself to train my assistance work like a bodybuilder instead of trying to move weight at the expense of volume. There are 16 year old gym rats out-benching me because they are doing so much that I'm not.

[Disil]

Then it's even more important to take compliments for what they are. I've seen you struggle with your injured back these past months and you're changing / optimizing a lot, also figuring out why you injured yourself and how to prevent and fix it and I'm glad that you're doing as well as you do right now. Other than that you're making the age old mistake of measuring yourself up against others instead of just the iron. Getting ready for competition or not, that's still the only comparison that's really important.

[El Exorcisto]

RE press

Strict log: 15 @ 50, 12 @ 70, 10 @ 90, 8 @ 100, 8 @ 110, 5 @ 120

Slingshot CGBP: 10 @ 135, 155; 8 @ 155

   both superset with

Bar chins: 4x6

T-bar row: 15 @ 50, 12 @ 75, 10 @ 100, 8 @ 125, 5 @ 150

Straight bar curl: 28,12,10 @ 45 rest-pause

Reverse ring fly: 3x10

 

I wanted to get dips in as well superset with the t-bar rows but didn't realize that I don't have enough bars to make it happen and didn't want to do rows with the axle. Ah well. I'm thoroughly trashed anyway.

 

I got video of the log at 50 and 100. I'll have video uploaded later on.

[El Exorcisto]

[El Exorcisto]

[matty_mcfly]

Is it still freezing in this dungeon or is does it have a Dave Tate/Kai Greene effect?

And these look MUCH more similar to my log cleans from earlier today

[Rooks]

Damn... that wood log looks pretty damn sweet in use.  Tempted to start designing... although I should just shutup and fab one out of metal if I do it since I have the background and know-how....

 

DAMN YOU AND MATTY AND YOUR STRONGMAN PROPAGANDA!

[CrazyMags]

Is it still freezing in this dungeon or is does it have a Dave Tate/Kai Greene effect?

And these look MUCH more similar to my log cleans from earlier today

I thought he was just going incognito...

Sent from Tapatalk, all errors are the app's fault! ;-)

[El Exorcisto]

Is it still freezing in this dungeon or is does it have a Dave Tate/Kai Greene effect?

And these look MUCH more similar to my log cleans from earlier today

 

It was 18 when I opened the door yesterday and about 33 when I went out to train. I do get a training effect from putting my hood up though. More Dave Tate than Kai.

 

Damn... that wood log looks pretty damn sweet in use.  Tempted to start designing... although I should just shutup and fab one out of metal if I do it since I have the background and know-how....

 

DAMN YOU AND MATTY AND YOUR STRONGMAN PROPAGANDA!

 

If you have access to a decent wood shop then the wood log is fairly easy to put together. I forget exact dimensions but it was 2x6s cut to 22.5 degrees and 3/4" plywood  for the ends. The ends are two layers of plywood spaced about 4" apart and the sleeves are just 1 1/2" sch 40. Handles are some junk galvanized pipe we had laying around but could be anything 1" or a little over.

 

Building a steel log is a pain in the balls. I traded an old 8hp Tecumseh for my piece of 12" sch 40 pipe and had a local welder build the log. It's unbalanced as fuck and 130 pounds naked after having some lightening cuts taken out of the back. You'd optimally want to get some thin wall 12" tubing so you could keep it more balanced and have something that comes in closer to 80 pounds naked so you could get some quality reps in.

 

This summer I'm going to tip over a tree and make a solid wood log. I've read that Slater's are the nicest, best balanced logs out there so I'll try to mimic their design without all the prettiness.

[matty_mcfly]

It was 18 when I opened the door yesterday and about 33 when I went out to train. I do get a training effect from putting my hood up though. More Dave Tate than Kai.

You sure? It sounds like you're doing more high rep work.

[El Exorcisto]

So is Dave. Kai lives and dies by machines and going though the motions. Dave is still pouring himself out on the platform after essentially becoming the six million dollar man.

[El Exorcisto]

Thursday is dynamic deadlifts and I'm going to be doing conventional singles against bands. My next training block is still up in the air. Dynamic box squats seemed to have great carry over to my high bar max effort day. Max conventional deadlift remained the same so I'm going to drop for 18" deadlifts since that's what I need to grind through at my contest. I haven't maxed on the DB yet, and my axle hasn't seen any use at all this cycle. I'm thinking my big lifts in the next block will be:

 

Press: DE log, ME DB, RE axle jerk (cleaned first rep)

Squat: RE front squat, DE parallel box, ME low bar

Deadlift: ME 18", RE conventional, DE 4" block pull

 

Does anyone have any idea for a different spread or reasons to reconsider? Rep days are going to be pyramids instead of the specced 2x10. I like how they feel great, completely trash whatever the prime movers are, and it's worked for piling slabs of meat on bodybuilders for a century. They also keep me working with comparatively heavier weights at the top set while killing volume too.

 

I don't know why, but I think I'm going to drop low bar widowmakers for high bar. I'm not sure why. They both feel good but I think high bar might keep me from fucking myself up again as easily.

[matty_mcfly]

I was pulling with my knees at a slightly negative angle to have some stretch on my hams like a really exaggerated RDL. I backed my feet up a little and keep my shoulders over the bar at the start instead of arching into position when I pull the slack out. It feels a lot more solid and faster off the blocks.

I apparently have shitty block pulls. Doing them tomorrow. Can you re-explain this up here.

My apologies for being dense.

[El Exorcisto]

I'll try. You know how at the bottom of a good morning your shins are at a negative angle, meaning the opposite of in a squat? That's how I was originally starting my 18" deadlifts. It was all hamstring and no quad with my shoulders beginning well forward of the bar. I pulled the slack out by arching and began the pull. Now I set up with my shins straight or just slightly positive with my delts directly over the bar. The very start of the pull is all quad and the posterior chain locks it out as it's supposed to.

 

18" deadlifts start the bar right where my patellar tendon inserts. You'll need to adjust everything for the couple extra inches that you have to pull. As terrible a cue as it is for pulling off the floor, "squat the weight up" works well for me at 18".

[matty_mcfly]

Okay yeah that's makes more sense now. The issue I'm pretty sure I'm having is that I was trying to pull the weight up as opposed to "squatting the weight up".

We'll see how it goes in the morning. Good looks.

[matty_mcfly]

Pulled 385 this morning but I still feel like I was using more lower back to pull as opposed to my legs to push the weight up.  SMH

[El Exorcisto]

DE deadlift

Conventional deadlift against short mini bands: 10x1 @ 225 - 30 seconds rest

High box squat: 8x2 @ 225 - 30 seconds rest

Power shrug: 15 @ 225, 12 @ 275, 10 @ 315, 8 @ 365, 5 @ 385

GHR: 2x7/ Razor curl: 1x12

Hyper: 2x20, 1x30 @ bw

   superset with

Hanging leg (not knees) raise: 3x10

 

Everything felt awesome today. I'm sticking with singles on speed deadlifts. The reset screws up the whole thing on the second pull when doing doubles and I'm sure it would have been a nightmare dealing with bands along with it. Everything was fast and aggressive today but I was losing it towards the end of box squats. My abs and hip flexors are getting a lot stronger. I never used to be able to get my feet above parallel on a HLR and today I knocked out a bunch.

 

Matty, you're going to be using more glutes and back on a higher block pull. It's inevitable. Squatting the weight up is really just for breaking it off the blocks. There's a lot more hip extension going on than knee extension. Getting a little bit of quad in the game helped me with my weakest piece of the lift but it runs out really fast.

[matty_mcfly]

Yea, the issue is that getting it off the blocks I feel my lower back die out before anything moves.  I've never had an issue locking out a deadlift, be it sumo, conventional or block pulls, my weak point has always been breaking it from the floor or blocks in this case.  I have next week to work on it at the heavier weights and the following week just to work on the form with just 3 plates.

[matty_mcfly]

Just downloaded Cube for Strongman and I'm reading thru it now

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 182.4

Bro day

Bench press: 15 @ 45, 12 @ 95, 10 @ 115, 10 @ 135, 8 @ 155, 7 @ 175 - rep PR

   superset with

Barbell row: 15 @ 45, 12 @ 95, 10 @ 115, 10 @ 135, 8 @ 155, 10 @ 175

Strict axle: 10,3,3 @ 100 rest-pause

3-way raise: 3x10 @ 15

Reverse ring fly: 3x10

   superset with

Low incline DB fly: 3x12 @ 15

Barbell curl: 28,12,10 with bare bar

 

So much swole. The bench rep PR was a welcome surprise. I'm loving how the pyramids feel. When I hit 10 on the top set then I'll put a pair of nickels on the bar. I'll be moving my barbell rows up next time.

[matty_mcfly]

This is a poor excuse for a bro day. A proper bro day is bodybuilder style bench and 13 curl variations and an equal number of breaks for selfies. HA! He calls THIS a bro day...smh

[El Exorcisto]

But I did 90 shoulder raises...

[matty_mcfly]

Also...it's a fact...you can't have a bro day in the gym with only one bro. There's a 3 bro minimum. C'mon...act like you've been here EE.

[El Exorcisto]

Do Brodin and the spirit of Zyzz count?

[matty_mcfly]

I'll allow it!