Mr.CaffeineHead's Battle Log

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Patellar Tendonitis Troubleshooting Quest & 1st Time Challenge Raid

 

25 August 20

 

Observations: For not having lifted the past 6 days, this workout wasn't too terrible. I didn't have any issues at all w/ the knee and wasn't feeling as sore I as I did last week. The front squat movement is starting to become a grinder (moving a lot slower than I'd like), and I may switch out w/ another front squat variant tomorrow. I did cycle out the good morning exercise w/ a stiff leg good morning exercise, and I'll start doing that for the next few workouts. Managed to consume the 64 oz of water, and thankfully didn't have too many trips to the restroom.

 

25 August Challenge Stats:

 

1. Numbers on Goal 1 Met: Yes

2. Drank 64 oz of water: Yes

3. New guitar song: Hadn't had time today to get around to learning an entirely new song today...but should tomorrow

4. Sleep: Lights were out at designated time (11:15), but didn't really shut down until 11:30

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Patellar Tendonitis Troubleshooting Quest & 1st Time Challenge Raid

 

26 August 20

 

Observations: Good workout today. Managed to work with doubles at 275 lbs and the weight moved pretty good. Switched out the 3-second tempo front squat with a 3-second tempo military front squat (what a mouthful). Basically, just place the heels together at a 45-degree angle and do a front squat--that's essentially the movement. Worked with 4 x 1 at 165 lbs on that movement and was accelerating the weight pretty powerfully. That's a good starting weight for the exercise. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Mary Chapin Carpenter's song "Passionate Kisses" playing over the loudspeakers in the gym. I should attempt a 1 RM with that song playing cause I was lifting quite well while it was playing. While I did consume 64 oz of water today, I almost feel like I'm better consuming the liquids later in the morning. I started consuming as soon as I came into my office, and it felt like I was taking a bathroom break every 30 min. Didn't have that problem yesterday, but I also didn't start putting down the 64 oz until later into the morning. Overall, as Ice Cube would say--today was a good day.

 

26 August Challenge Stats:

 

1. Numbers on Goal 1 Met: Yes

2. Drank 64 oz of water: Yes

3. New guitar song: Rush: Closer To The Heart

4. Sleep: Same as yesterday, didn't really shut down until 11:30

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Patellar Tendonitis Troubleshooting Quest & 1st Time Challenge Raid

 

31 August 20

 

Observations: Felt pretty drained, energy-wise, with today's workout. Sleep and caloric intake were no different than other days, so it was kind of odd. I did workout on Saturday to make up for Friday's missed session (was working late), but that wasn't demanding in terms of volume and intensity. Just did acceleration work by working with 60% and 70% of a 1 RM for doubles for six sets. Nonetheless, I managed to complete the workout today w/o too many issues with the knee. My goal is to test my 5-rep maximum on Wednesday, so I'll see where I stand on that day with regards to Goal 1 on this first 5-Week Challenge.

 

31 August Challenge Stats:

 

1. Numbers on Goal 1 Met: Yes

2. Drank 64 oz of water: No, 32 oz and some additional glasses

3. New guitar song: Michael Jackson: Thriller

4. Sleep: Was out by 11:30

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Patellar Tendonitis Troubleshooting Quest & 1st Time Challenge Raid

 

1 September 20

 

Observations: Changed up today's workout by going with the acceleration-style workout I did back on Saturday, working with 60% and 70% for doubles. Saving up energy to test my 5-rep squat for tomorrow. The goal is to do a set of 5 at 275 lbs. Overall, body felt pretty good both in and out of the gym. Knee isn't bothering me much at all. Water intake was definitely lower than usual, partly because I worked from home today and didn't fill up my 32 oz bottle like I usually do when I go into my office. I'll be at home tomorrow again, so hopefully I'll remember to fill up the 32 oz bottle. 

 

1 September Challenge Stats:

 

1. Numbers on Goal 1 Met: Yes

2. Drank 64 oz of water: No

3. New guitar song: The Spinners: Working My Way Back to You

4. Sleep: Was out past 11:15

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Show Continues & 2nd Challenge

 

14 September 20

 

Observations: Took a week off this past week and had quite a rusty performance coming back. 4 x 2 on the squat was much more of a grinder than it probably should have been, and the box squat also felt the same. On the bright side, the knee is doing alright and didn't give me any issues. I did high pulls and power cleans off of rack pins at knee level (4 x 1 for both movements) with 125 lbs, and the movements felt solid. The plan is to do these movements this week and then move the pins up to thigh level next week. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Show Continues & 2nd Challenge

 

15 September 20

 

Observations: This workout was alright. The focus was on acceleration w/ lighter weights (60% and 70% of a 1 RM), but the movements just didn't feel as powerful as I would have liked. Squatting the tempo-style has affected my normal squat--the eccentric portion at normal cadence just feels odd. I had this same issue in the past when I was primarily training the pause squat; when I tested my regular squat, I actually lost strength. If anything, I plan to have the normal squat as the primary movement and the tempo squats as accessories. Didn't have any issues knee-wise other than just feeling less powerful. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The Show Continues & 2nd Challenge

 

16 September 20

 

Observations: Today's workout was better, performance-wise, than the past two days. 4 x 3 at 255 lbs felt fluid in terms of moving the weight, but it almost seemed to move slow out of the bottom of the hole. I may look at incorporating pause squats that focus on acceleration (40-50% of my 1RM) into my training. If I can build up explosion out of the bottom, I'll be really set since everything at the top is extremely powerful. Knee felt good, and other than the typical "pump" being felt in the lower legs, everything else felt fine as well. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

Looking back over the posts on this battle log since July, I can't help but see how dry and mundane the material is. Therefore, I'm going to change things up a bit, and make my posts somewhat more "interesting". I'm turning my challenges into "enemy boss storylines" where the challenge is an enemy boss. The enemy boss for this challenge is King K. Rool--the arch enemy of Donkey Kong: 

 

    

 

So far, this boss has proven to be quite a "weight-full". Friday's workout was designed to serve as an acceleration-focused day ( 6 sets of 1s and 3s at 60% of my 1 RM) with the focus on accelerating hard out of the bottom of the squat. One the first set, I somehow strained my glutes (well, let's be honest, I didn't go through my usual warm-up, so I kinda had it coming to me), and literally just hinging/bending over felt like: 

 

 

But, I wanted to at least try and complete the workout, and managed to do so. Oddly, I could do the squats without too much issue. The movements felt great, acceleration-wise. But later in the evening, getting up and bending over was not fun at all. I've learned if I do somewhat of a choreographed movement (where I slowly and easily make movements), it'll lessen the pain a great amount. So far today, I'm definitely sore and planning to hit the pool and hot tub. Which, hopefully, will help some. So, while King K Rool may have left me feeling like Cranky Kong this past week:

 

I shall continue forward and keep pounding this behemoth crocodile!

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

21 September 20

 

Well, swimming did wonders on helping my glutes back on Saturday. But, somehow, it came with the exchange of a strained index finger that was sustained during the swim. This has to be the oddest "ache" I've ever had. It wasn't like I was grappling or had a traumatic impact to the finger; I was just doing a breast stroke and then all of the sudden had a sharp sting. The finger was quite painful Saturday evening after the swim, and it's been sore the past few days. Just plain weird.

 

Today's workout was changed up from last Mondays. I decided to work on doubles at 45% and 85% of my 1 RM. Basically, split between acceleration and force. I'm trying to focus more on acceleration development during this challenge compared to the last challenge where I was working to get a "basecoat" layer of strength established. Doing doubles at 265 just doesn't feel quite the same as it did months ago, but I'm also 10 lbs lighter so that could be a factor. Doubles at 145 lbs felt like a rocket

 

 

Anyhow, the fight against King K. Rool continues...

 

 

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

22 September 20

 

2nd day of the week doing acceleration work, and things moved very well on all exercises. Well, at least they did on the lower body exercises. The pin clean and high pull sucked with that messed up index finger of mine. Literally walked away from the platform like this after each set:

 

 

It would be one thing if I had dropped a 45 lb plate right on it from 3 ft off the ground, but getting this strain from doing a breast-stroke in the pool? C'mon. Anyhow, everything else on the body felt good. Knee held up alright. Hips were a little bit stiff at the start of the workout, but no surprise there--that's what I get for doing the lower/lower split. As long as I don't walk around looking like Humpty-Dumpty post-fall, I'll be good. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

23 & 25 September 20

 

Missed posting the last two days, so this is a double-day post. The last two days were pretty darn good, in terms of performance. Was a little stiff starting each workout, but after a few sets in, things started to move well. I liken stiffness/soreness of muscles to those annoying little beavers from Donkey Kong--they're not awful, but they're annoying:

 

 

^That literally describes what Mon-Wed was like the first 2 sets starting each workout.

 

Wednesday is practically Singles' Day (hmm...that sounds like Bachelors' Day), where I'm doing singles at around 85% of my 1 RM. This is a good compromise between lifting heavier weights, but also moving the heavier weights powerfully. Really, I'm trying to attack heavier weights with the same power that Rocky displayed when attacking Apollo:

 

 

So far, it seems to be working good. The finger isn't completely back to normal, but it's feeling better compared to last week. Really it's only on the power pulls and cleans when it starts to act up. Planning to go swim today--hopefully that doesn't re-aggravate it. The fight continues..

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

12 October 20

 

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Literally, it's like my gym attendance just passed away never to return.

 

^Me after 3-straight days of squatting

 

Actually, I was out two weeks ago for my bro's wedding and spent last week playing catch up at work. While I was away from the squat racks, I thought deeply about my training regimen and came to the realization that I missed doing PCP. 

 

 

No, not Phencyclidine--rather its Pulling, Cleaning, & Pushing which I have abbreviated to PCP (If someone asks what you do in the gym, it's a great way to get a "jaw drop"). I did a training program last year during the spring where the focus was on PCP. And I felt great during that time. I ended becoming super vascular during that period, and my power production was quite good. So, coming back into the gym, my plan going forward is to drop some accessory lower body exercises and incorporate PCP as a regular staple. I plan to do a regular squat on Monday, a 3-second tempo squat on Tuesday, a front squat on Wednesday, and a 3-second tempo squat on Friday. So, I'll still be squatting 4-days/week, but it'll be 1 squat type per day. Following the squats, I plan to do a pull, clean, and push regimen. My plan is to do deficit PCPs on Monday, pin PCPs on Tuesday, ground PCPs on Wednesday and power PCPs on Friday. Like most of my exercises post-lockdown, I'm having to re-start from a baseline and build back up. But, as long as the numbers continue to go up, I'll be cool.

 

So, while Ivan Drago would say the following to my two week gym absence, 

 

 

I have resumed lifting and the second challenge will now have an additional 2 weeks to make up for the lost time. I also need to work on the battle log. Fight on.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

13 October 20

 

2nd day of Squats & PCP was like 

 

 

Everything felt good and no issues to be had. The tempo squats could've moved a little bit faster, but that's just me nitpicking performance. The PCPs off pins were light, but since I'm trying to go for this on them in terms of speed and intensity:

 

 

the weight needs to be light starting off. Dinner afterwards was chili, and man was it good. I could live off chili like a car lives off gas. Overall, it was a good day. Now, I shall turn it into a "ehhh" night when I go get owned in Titanfall 2. At least it's fun.

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

19 October 20

 

Didn't post last Wednesday, and was out of town again on Friday. Overall, last week back in the gym was pretty good. Unfortunately, I got word over the weekend that my grandfather passed, and I'll be flying out to the funeral later in the week. To preserve paid time off, I'm going to work extra hours this week, so it's another week out of the gym. Not really feeling the vibes on this post today, so I'll continue back where I left off next week. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

26 October 20

 

Well, it's been 12 days since I was last in the gym. So today, I felt somewhat rusty. Granted, I did increase the weight on everything, but being out for close to two weeks definitely made the movements feel more foreign than Cambodia. Prior to working out, I had some sort of stomach thing going on that was causing me to run from my desk to the restroom every 5 min

 

Thankfully, that didn't last the entire day, and by the time I got to the end of the day, I felt ok. So, the game has resumed from the long pause...

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

27 October 20

 

3-second tempo squat and pin PCPs day. Hit my planned numbers w/o any aches or pains. If today's performance was Mortal Kombat, it would be this: 

 

 

I'll take it.

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

28 October 20

 

Front squats and kneeling PCPs day. Was dealt 4-tails for each set on the kneeling high pull, so that was 4 sets x 5 reps, which is a first for this challenge. Normally I've had a nice balance of singles and 5s for all exercises. Oh well, it's like a casino--some days have luck and other days have suck.

 

 

With the exception of the high pull, everything was in between today. Friday will be my first Friday training day this entire challenge (life's like a boss--sometimes you get beat up and lose time from other events/commitments), so I'll enjoy the off day tomorrow. Peace.

 

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

30 October 20

 

Gassed...that's the best way I could described this workout today. The power high pulls (which go up to forehead level) definitely gave me a good breathing like poor Gimli.

 

 

But, I will say this, doing those pulls, in an indirect way, is a good cardio workout. 4 sets of 5 reps will feel like you've done wind sprints. At least it wasn't a suffocating type out of breath--I'd say it was a "good kind" of out of breath like (if such a thing exists). Anyhow, this was a good full-week in the gym. Gonna try to hit up the pool over the weekend. And hopefully I don't strain anything like a did last month. 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

2 November 20

 

225 lbs--60% of my 1 RM for today's session on the squat. Everything felt good and powerful for the most part. The PCPs off the 45 lb bumper plate deficit didn't gas me out compared to Friday, so that's a plus. Overall, good day in the gym and no injuries to be had.

 

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

3 November 20

 

This is what the gym looks like on a daily basis in terms of traffic: 

 

 

In all honesty, though, it's sorta nice. There's several regulars in the weight room area w/ me, but I pretty much have an open rack every time I'm in. Anyhow, the tempo squats today were alright. I need to work on tightening my upper back during the movement; there were some sets that were less powerful than other sets, and I noticed this was due to not tightening as much as I could. The pin PCP stuff was overall good; the power clean singles didn't feel as quick as I'd like, but I was able to get the weight up. Overall Tuesday's session:  ?.

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

4 November 20

 

Had quite a bit of a burn during the kneeling high pull and clean sets. Movement, in terms of efficiently, was fine, but I just started having a stinging burn in my right delt. It wasn't terribly painful; if I had to rate it in terms of fire, it would be like George's fire below:

 

 

Fortunately, it went away after the set(s) finished. Just more of a nuisance burn. Other than that pleasant side effect, everything else went well. One of the guys lifting next to me asked what the kneeling clean I was doing was---I just replied it's a kneeling clean that's another clean to practice lol.

 

 

But, in all honestly, I just split the PCPs up based off positional locations (deficit, pin, kneel, etc.). The kneeling clean is designed to supplement my power clean, and if that movement isn't going up in terms of weight, than I'd likely switch out w/ a more productive supplement movement. Anyhow, 3/4 of the week down, and the fight is going good. 

 

 

Now to enjoy the off day tomorrow. 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

6 November 20

 

Wrapping up the week--today's workout went pretty good. Had that burn feeling going on during the push press sets, but it wasn't bad enough to compromise form. Just a nuisance burn. The tempo front squats felt really good and powerful. If there's one particular exercise I can credit towards helping me combat patellar tendonitis, it would be tempo squats where the eccentric component of the movement is slowed down significantly. I haven't had any knee issues whatsoever the past few months. Anyhow, the weekend is here, and this is how it will be spent: 

 

 

Lots and lots of leaves to pick up. But, hey, it's the weekend.

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

Is It Possible to Make Progress Indefinitely?

 

I've been training regularly now for about 7 years (I did lift back in high school, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing; I just wanted to have big arms and a nice bench). The first year of my training, 2013, was more focused on exercising and less so on structure. I was working for the Army in a fitness center on post, and I'd go in and lift before starting my scheduled shift. It was a smaller gym where (usually) I had the entire gym to myself. So, I'd come in w/ a deck of cards, and from the deck I'd pick out 4 exercises corresponding to the shapes on the cards. Bench press was the heart, seated shoulder press was a diamond, row was a club, and spade was a deadlift (shape corresponding to the exercise may have been different than what I described, but you get the point). I would go through the deck. Sometimes an entire deck, sometimes a portion of the deck. If it was the entire deck, that would be 105 reps of each exercise. Needless to say, it was a lot of work but a lot of fun too. And, I developed a nice base-layer of strength from doing it.

 

Flash forward to 2014, I started doing a traditional 5 x 5 routine. I managed to progress on the 5 x 5 routine for a few months, but eventually I started to plateau and switched to doing 5s, 3s, and 1s for a few months (not the well-know 5/3/1 program). However, I was in a "flatline" state, meaning that I wasn't increasing my numbers. It was the deadlift and overhead press that was starting to frustrate me. After a couple of months of getting nowhere, I reflected back on how I was lifting a year ago, doing a lot of varying sets with regards to reps performed. And I decided--I'll try building out a program using that structure I had previously used. During this time, I was also reading a lot of strength articles and learned more about accessory movements, and realized the endless options I had with organizing a workout. So I constructed a program that consisted of doing a "Regular" Day where the sets & reps were known, and another day where the reps were card-draws. Looking back, I believe it was 4-day schedule (2 lower body/2 upper body days). For each workout, I also started doing accessory exercises after the main exercises. After months of staying in the mid-300s on my deadlift max, I managed to pull 410 lbs after a month of running the program. And since then, writing my own programs going forward, I've never had another plateau.

 

Now, I should be clear: I've experienced injuries and resets. Resets, meaning that I had to drop weight down and re-build over again. I injured my lower back in 2016 (after months of working out with very heavy weights), and spent a good portion of that year working around that injury to heal. I've experienced elbow tendonitis and learned how to work around that, as well as patellar tendonitis (which was much more difficult to figure out). But through all of that, I still managed to increase weights each time I went into the gym. In an ideal world, I should be squatting 600 lbs by now. But, life just doesn't work out that way. I've maintained a health over performance mentality w/ my training progressions, meaning I'd rather take 10 years to get to a 600 lb squat and be healthy, vs. 2 years and be banged up with injuries. My goal is to avoid medical care bills. So if I was going through a phase where I was trying to recover from a strain, ache, etc., I would normally focus on training an entirely different exercise. That approach has meant I've not squatted nearly as much as I'd prefer for the past couple of years. But, since getting back into a regular squat regimen, I'm managing to re-build my base and do so with a knee that's feeling much better compared to past years. And I'm confident that I'll continue to increase my squat in the time to come.

 

So, to the post's title--is it possible to make progress indefinitely? I would argue, yes; it's possible. But--it will likely be asymmetrical. It likely won't be a straight linear line over time (at least it hasn't been for me). There will likely be aches and pains that will have to be dealt with. And some of those aches and pains could cause numbers to drop. But, if no injuries are present, it is totally possible to be in a state of continual progression. And I'll present my strategies and tactics over time on how I'm working to maintain this state of continual progression.

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

9 November 20

 

Squats today: 

 

 

The reps were completed,  but the execution, especially accelerating out of the bottom, just wasn't all there. I can tell the acceleration is starting to taper off a little bit, which I anticipated. The next program cycle will incorporate heavier sets again in addition to the acceleration sets I've been doing. The PCP movements went well--I'm starting to pull 135 lbs off the deficit now, and it felt smooth. Didn't have the burning sensation that I had last week on the push press, so that's a plus. This is the last squat-deficit PCP day for this challenge. Overall, minus the heavy absences from the gym, I liked this cycle. Recovery has been great, and I haven't had any soreness w/ the knee. Now onto tempo squats tomorrow.

 

 

[Mr.CaffeineHead]

The 2nd Challenge: Fighting King K. Rool

 

10 November 20

 

Compared to yesterday, the tempo squats felt better, performance-wise, than the squats. The body is sometimes like a rubix cube; it's hard to figure out. Anyhow, all exercises were completed w/ no issues to be reported. The only issue I could report today is having too much hair cut off at my haircut. Definitely have a nice burr on top of my head now. Well, that'll wrap up the tempo squat/pin PCP day on this cycle. Tuesdays have been good days in the gym.