Adarq.org
Members Area => Progress Journals & Experimental Routines => Topic started by: Raptor on September 27, 2023, 02:35:16 am
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Leg day:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x3
100x2
110x1
100x4,3,3
Dumbbell BSS:
10x8,6
Bodyweight: 94 kg
Comments:
First time squatting over 100 kg in 8 years. The dumbbell Bulgarian split squats were surprisingly difficult, although they did come right after squats so I was already tired. Vert is in the ~24 inch range, but I'm not trying to jump at this weight since it's pretty dangerous and my right knee is acting up.
PS. It would've been nice to still be able to use my old log and read through it.
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Leg day:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x3
100x2
110x1
100x4,3,3
Dumbbell BSS:
10x8,6
Bodyweight: 94 kg
Comments:
First time squatting over 100 kg in 8 years. The dumbbell Bulgarian split squats were surprisingly difficult, although they did come right after squats so I was already tired. Vert is in the ~24 inch range, but I'm not trying to jump at this weight since it's pretty dangerous and my right knee is acting up.
PS. It would've been nice to still be able to use my old log and read through it.
Hey, welcome back mate. :highfive: :welcome:
What you been up to?
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How dare you?? Continue the old journal!!!
:welcome: :headbang:
Edit:
i just noticed you mentioned it on your own
PS. It would've been nice to still be able to use my old log and read through it.
Well, it's right there :
http://www.adarq.org/old-journals/raptor's-strength-power-journal/
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Welcome back!
Yeah, I think Andrew purged inactive journals a few years ago. Don't remember why.
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Is there any way to reinstate the old journal?
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Is there any way to reinstate the old journal?
Forgot how to read? :P
Edit:
i just noticed you mentioned it on your own
PS. It would've been nice to still be able to use my old log and read through it.
Well, it's right there :
http://www.adarq.org/old-journals/raptor's-strength-power-journal/
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Is there any way to reinstate the old journal?
Forgot how to read? :P
Edit:
i just noticed you mentioned it on your own
PS. It would've been nice to still be able to use my old log and read through it.
Well, it's right there :
http://www.adarq.org/old-journals/raptor's-strength-power-journal/
I meant from the old journals area back in here, in this section.
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Upperbody day:
Bench press:
20x5x2
50x5
60x3
70x3
67.5x3
65x4
60x5
Pullups: 5, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Neutral grip chinups: 3, 3
Landmine push press: 20x8 (each arm)
Some other pulling stuff
Ab machine: 10 pins x 10 reps
Bodyweight: 93.7 kg
Comments:
Also walked a few km and played ball for 2 or so hours. Watch shows I burned 2300 kcal (together with the gym work) but it's probably not that much.
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Leg day:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x3
80x2
100x1
60x10x3
RDL + Leg curls superset:
60x10x2 + 32x10x2 (each leg)
Leg extensions hold: 32x10sx2 each leg
Bodyweight: 93.7 kg
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
Very tiring workout. Unfortunately my now 1.5 year+ daily chronic cervicothoracic pain is still going strong and eating all my energy. No doctor has been able to help, I have to live in a world where I don't even consider doctors exist since they are useless.
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Upperbody day 2:
Bench press:
20x10x2
50x3
60x2
70x1
50x10
50x8
50x8
Pullups: 5, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Landmine push press: 20x8 (each arm) - difficult
V-grip pulls to chest: 40x6, 32x8 (each arm)
Ab machine: 10 pins x 10 reps x 2
Bodyweight: 93.7 kg
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Difficult workout, started feeling dizzy with some chest pain as soon as I did my first bench press work set. I start feeling really weird whenever I pass 5, 6 reps, maybe it's my breathing pattern or some sort of muscle exhaustion thing.
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Leg day 2:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x3
90x2
100x1
70x10x3
BSS + Leg curls superset:
15x5x1 + 40x10x2 (each leg) (very tiring)
Leg extensions hold: 40x10sx2 each leg
Leg extensions (5 second eccentric phase): 40x10x2
Single leg calf raise (slow eccentric phase): BWx10, 20x10
Bodyweight: 93.4 kg
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Tiring workout, as usual, although pretty good, I enjoyed it. I think these higher rep sets help with work capacity and also the form is a little better because the bar is lighter, at least at the beginning. They do push my heart rate into the 160s, though. In fact, I'm using my Apple Watch heart rate monitor to determine my rest intervals: I usually go when my heart rate goes below 120, preferrably below 110.
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Upperbody day 3:
Paused Bench Press:
20x10x2
50x3
60x3
70x3
50x10
50x8
50x8
Pullups: 5, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Landmine push press: 15x8 (each arm) - good
V-grip pulls to chest: 32x8 (each arm)
Wide grip pulls to chest: 56x10
Wide grip pulls to back of head: 56x10
Ab machine: 10 pins x 10 reps x 2
Bodyweight: 93.2 kg
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments:
Easier workout, probably because I slept better and went earlier to sleep. However, it's crazy how bad the bench press gets as I get past the 6th rep or so. It's like the form is perfect and then boom, the movement becomes uncoordinated.
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I just came home from a park basketball session and for the first time in 7 and 1/2 years I felt like "flying" - I could dunk a few times on the smaller rim (about 2.90m). The key was playing a lot of 3 on 3 games and getting really warmed up, wearing long pants (keeps the legs warmer) and having some great running shoes instead of clunky basketball shoes (this is the biggest difference, I guess). I searched so hard for some good running shoes and I think I finally found them. In fact, I'm considering going and buying a few more pairs.
My "vert" was for quite some time about 50 cm or so, but today was about 70, I think. Quite a difference. Remember, I weigh 94 kg and I'm working to get leaner and lighter, my plan is to get to 86 kg by the end of the year (more realistically, 90 kg should be doable).
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Leg day 3:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x3
100x2
110x2 (old age PR)
80x10
80x7
80x6
Hip thrusts:
60x8
60x8
80x6
80x6
80x6
Leg curls (single leg):
40x10
56x10 (old age PR)
Leg extensions (5 second eccentric phase): 40x10x2
Leg extensions hold: 40x40s
Leg extensions: Full rack x 5 (probably a bad idea as it flares up my knee)
Barbell calf raise (slow eccentric phase): 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Bodyweight: 94.1 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
Best (old age) workout ever. Did a lot of things: high volume squats, PR 110x2 squat, hip thrusts, leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises, stretching, you name it. Surprisingly, I'm not feeling that tired. Also surprisingly, this comes after eating cleaner, just 350 kcal for my morning meal. I did eat one chocolate biscuit before leaving to the gym to raise the blood sugar a little.
I'm eating very clean lately, trying to be under 2000 kcal per day (one day ago I was at 1850 and yesterday at 2090). My calorie burn per day is about 3000 or so. Target weight is 86 kg, so that's 8 kg less than where I am right now. Hopefully I can get under 90 kg by the end of the year if I keep this up.
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Just took a look at my first post in my old journal, it was Oct 17th 2010, basically 13 years ago.
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Man i literally thought you might have died!
Welcome back!
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Man i literally thought you might have died!
Welcome back!
I was close, several times. Took all the mental will that I had not to do it, for years.
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Upperbody day 3:
Paused Bench Press:
20x10x2
50x3
60x3
70x2
50x10 (could've been 55, not 50 kg)
50x7 (could've been 55, not 50 kg)
50x6 (could've been 55, not 50 kg)
Pullups: 5, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Landmine push press: 20x8, 20x8 (each arm) - good
V-grip pulls to chest (supersets with lighter sets): 80x6+72x4, 72x5+64x5
Ab machine: 6pins x 10 reps x 2
Bodyweight: 92.4 kg low weight :personal-record:
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
I woke up a bit lighter, at under 93 kg today, which is good. For the bench press it was difficult, but I have a feeling that the barbell was actually 25 kg - it was thicker and seemed heavier than the other barbells. If that is the case, then it's a :personal-record:
The bench press is always difficult, even with low weights, because I have long arms and I just can't find the right grip where I feel confortable.
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Leg day 4:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x3
100x2
110x2 (old age PR)
100x3
100x3
90x3
High bar ATG full squat:
60x5
60x5
RDL:
20x5
60x5
80x5
100x5
120x3 :personal-record:
75x5
75x5
Leg curls (single leg):
40x10
40x10
Leg extensions (5 second eccentric phase): 32x10x2
Leg extensions hold: 40x10s
One leg calf raises: 15kgx10x3
Bodyweight: 93.4 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
Felt weak in the squat, maybe due to playing basketball yesterday. However, after doing my low bar squat I was like "let me try some high bar squats and try to get really deep on them". Surprisingly, I went full, ATG and they felt amazing. You could really feel the movement was given by the legs (they felt like what you see when you watch olympic lifters do squats). So I think I will try to do some ATG high bar squats from now on, provided my knees agree with them.
My thinking is that I can use a lighter weight and a better range of motion in a "leg-dominant" fashion. Win-win. It really feels like if I were stronger in them I would really be more athletic. The same can't be said when I do low bar squats - there it feels like the weight is heavier just to load up my back uselessly.
Also, never deadlifted over 100 kg in the last 8 years. The three reps in the RDL were pretty difficult, mini lightning bolts were going through my arms for holding the barbell.
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Thoracic/cervical pain that stops me from sleeping well these last two days.
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Upperbody day 4:
Paused Bench Press:
20x5x2
50x10
50x10
50x8 :personal-record:
Pullups: 5, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Landmine push press: 20x8, 20x8 (each arm) - good, will increase weight next workout
Wide grip pulls to chest + wide grip pulls to back of head: 72x8+72x6, 64x8+64x5 (difficult, for some reason)
Ab machine: 6pins x 10 reps x 2 - good, will increase weight the next workout
Bodyweight: 93.6 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
:personal-record: in the bench press, was able to do 2 sets of 10 with 50 kg but at my last rep (also for my 8th rep in the last set) I have to immediately put the bar back because I feel like if I stay just one second more with it it will fall on me. So I will not increase the weight but instead want to improve the form and endurance with it, to have it be easier to do.
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Leg day 5:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x10
60x10
60x10
Hip thrust: 60x10 (will stop doing these)
RDL:
20x5
60x10
60x10
Leg curls:
64x10
64x10
Barbell calf raises:
60x10
60x10
60x10
Bodyweight: 93.2 kg
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
Very tiring workout. Squat was good. I will probably switch to 5x5 instead of 3x10 as it allows me to keep focus on all the reps, with high rep ranges I tend to rush them because the set gets very tiring towards the end.
Will also stop doing hip thrusts as they take a long time to set up and they hurt my pelvis even with a lot of padding.
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My sister died on 30th October 2023. I have to take a break from everything, although I might go back to the gym just to take my mind off it. She had a food addiction, she basically lived to eat, so she got heavier and fatter week by week until she was 162 kg at 1.65m tall. Her oxygen levels went as low as 60 or even in the 50s and she refused to go to the hospital (she went there a few times, the ambulance also gave her oxygen a few times).
We found her dead after Sunday's night, she died in her sleep. She was 48 years old. I sometimes think I might be going crazy, soon, although I'm trying to keep it together.
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My sister died on 30th February 2023. I have to take a break from everything, although I might go back to the gym just to take my mind off it. She had a food addiction, she basically lived to eat, so she got heavier and fatter week by week until she was 162 kg at 1.65m tall. Her oxygen levels went as low as 60 or even in the 50s and she refused to go to the hospital (she went there a few times, the ambulance also gave her oxygen a few times).
We found her dead after Sunday's night, she died in her sleep. She was 48 years old. I sometimes think I might be going crazy, soon, although I'm trying to keep it together.
Oh man, Raptor, I'm so sorry. My heart goes out to you. It's horrible to lose a sibling, even when you can see it coming. I lost my brother in January 2018, after watching him struggle for years with addiction (drugs, in his case) and mental illness. IME, the grief never goes away but time does help it recede.
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My sister died on 30th February 2023. I have to take a break from everything, although I might go back to the gym just to take my mind off it. She had a food addiction, she basically lived to eat, so she got heavier and fatter week by week until she was 162 kg at 1.65m tall. Her oxygen levels went as low as 60 or even in the 50s and she refused to go to the hospital (she went there a few times, the ambulance also gave her oxygen a few times).
We found her dead after Sunday's night, she died in her sleep. She was 48 years old. I sometimes think I might be going crazy, soon, although I'm trying to keep it together.
Oh man, Raptor, I'm so sorry. My heart goes out to you. It's horrible to lose a sibling, even when you can see it coming. I lost my brother in January 2018, after watching him struggle for years with addiction (drugs, in his case) and mental illness. IME, the grief never goes away but time does help it recede.
I'm sorry to hear that. Yes, it's bad. You always wonder if you could have done something more to save him/her, but the truth is that nobody appointed you to be a superhero that always comes to save the day. The truth is that she did all these excesses "freely" (whether you can call that action "free" considering it's a mental illness is another discussion). She willingly and knowingly poured oil, salt (sometimes for 10 seconds straight she would put salt in her food) and refused to do any kind of physical activity. She didn't even want to put money to buy an oxygen machine!
She had borderline personality disorder and no psychiatrist cared enough to suggest a psychotherapist or an actual treatment scheme.
She also called about 120 ambulances in the last few years and none of them tried to convince her too much that an oxygen under 70 is bad enough to go to the hospital. They would ask and she would say "no" and they would just go their merry way, like nothing happened.
A pinnacle of incompetence, carelessness, lack of culture, you name it. It seemed the only way to save her was violence, but then you'd bump into other kinds of ethical issues.
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First workout after the death of my sister.
Squat focus day 6:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
Bench press:
20x5x2
50x5
60x5
60x5
60x5 (pretty difficult)
Dumbbell step-ups:
40x8
40x8 (felt great!)
Landmine push presses:
40x8
40x8 (40 means barbell+20kg plate)
Bodyweight: 91.5 kg
Exhaustion level: 6/10
Comments:
I decided to always do squat and bench whenever I go to the gym. There was too much pause in between workouts. It's just that my squat focus day has squat for 5x5 and bench for 3x5, whereas my bench focus day has bench 5x5 and squat 3x5. Then I do two assistance exercises, step-ups and landmine push presses and I'm done.
I don't do any kind of pullups or ab work - I will do this as a separate focus in a chalistenics park that I have nearby - that way I will be fresh for these and also do a walk/run afterwards.
Let's see how it goes.
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Pull focus day 6:
Pullups: 5
Chinups: 5
Neutral grip chinups: 3
Pullups: 3
Chinups: 3
Walked about 5 km.
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Sorry about your sister.
I have to ask though, what's the deal with the 30th of February?
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Sorry about your sister.
I have to ask though, what's the deal with the 30th of February?
None, I don't know why I wrote February. It happened two weeks ago, 30th October. I think I unconsciously wrote February because in the past I used to joke about "what zodiac sign am I if I'm born on 30th February" and people would think really hard what zodiac sign am I while ignoring that 30th February doesn't even exist.
Really, really weird that I wrote that.
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Bench focus day 7:
Bench press:
20x5x2
50x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x4
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x5
60x5
60x5
Dumbbell step-ups:
45x8
Leg curls:
40x10 (each leg)
Landmine push presses:
40x10
40x10 (difficult)
A bunch of really good stretching
Bodyweight: 92.1 kg
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments:
Good workout. The bench is still shaky so I'm going to use the same 60 kg the next one. I did some stretching and felt amazing afterwards, like I had 20 year old legs.
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Squat focus day 7:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
50x5
80x3
100x1 (pretty difficult)
70x5
70x5
70x5
70x5
70x5
Bench press (this could've been a 25 kg barbell):
20x5x2
50x5
60x5
60x5
Leg curls:
56x10
80x10
80x10
56x10
Landmine push presses:
45x10
45x10 (very difficult)
Bodyweight: 92.0 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
Pretty tiring workout, although squatting was good. I did one less set in the bench press because I have some back issues that flare up when I do upperbody work - issues that I have no idea what are caused by. It's a long story that I didn't expand on in here - a lot of stuff has happened during these pause years.
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Pull focus day 7:
Pullups: 5, 3, 3
Chinups: 5, 3, 3
Feet-supported pullups to horizontal bar: 10, 10
Walked about 3 km.
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Bench focus day 8:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60xDND
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x3
80x3
100x1
70x5
70x5
70x5
Landmine push presses:
30x10
30x10 (very explosive)
Dumbbell step-ups:
60x3
60x5 (very difficult)
Leg curls:
80x10
80x10
Leg extensions:
32x10
48x10
Bodyweight: 92.8 kg
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Pretty tiring workout. Bench was good in the beginning but after 4 sets I decided to stop and not do the 5th one as I was feeling weird. The stepups were crazy, felt very good and very difficult at the same time.
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Squat focus day 8:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x5
80x5
80x5
80x5
80x5
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
Romanian Deadlifts superset with leg curls:
60x8+64x8
80x8+80x8
80x8+80x8
Bodyweight: 93.5 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
Pain in the neck, cervical area and thoracic area (chronic, by the way, for the last 2 years). Squats were good but somewhat difficult, especially the last set.
Bench felt a little better.
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Bench focus day 8:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
Deadlift:
20x5
60x5
90x5
120x3
Bodyweight: 93.5 kg
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments:
Squat rack was occupied so I did a short bench + deadlift workout. Finally got 5 sets of 5 reps with 60 kg.
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Squat focus day 8:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x5
85x5
85x5
85x5
85x5
85x5 (felt great) :personal-record:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
Romanian Deadlifts superset with leg curls:
60x8+64x8
85x8+88x8
85x8+88x8 :personal-record:
Landmind push press:
40x8 each arm
Bodyweight: 93.5 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
One of the best old age workouts. Squats felt great. Bench was pretty good, too.
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Busy going to the doctor these days and taking a break.
Anyway,
Bench focus day 9:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5 (surprisingly easy)
Squat: 20x10
40x5
60x5
90x5 (pretty good)
Pullups: 5
Chinups: 5
Bodyweight: 92.3 kg
Exhaustion level: 5/10
Comments:
Did the squat first, then the bench. Everything was pretty easy, surprisingly. I'm also 1 kg lighter.
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Squat focus day 9:
High bar full squat:
20x5x2
60x5
90x5
90x5
90x5
Bench press:
20x5x2
60x5
60x5
60x5
Some pulls to chest and back of head
Bodyweight: 92.3 kg
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments:
Great squatting, felt very leg dominated. Also felt the right quad engaged in the movement. But I feel kind of weak right now after coming back home, like I overtrained myself. Found a guy that played hockey, just 22 years old, and spoke about a bunch of stuff.
There is something wrong with me health-wise, every time I do certain movements I feel like there's a "tickling" in my body, in my chest, in my neck, like something is wrong "inside".
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Bench focus day 10:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
65x4
65x4
65x3
65x3
65x3
Squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
100x3 (hard)
90x3
90x3
Straight leg deadlifts + leg curls:
60x8+56x8
80x8+80x8
80x8+80x8
Some landmine push presses and calf raises
Bodyweight: 92.2 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
Felt good but was not as strong as I expected. Still, a useful workout.
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Went in the park, played some 3-on-3 at the small rim (2.90 or 9.6) and after that threw down three dunks on it on three attempts. Pretty good.
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Went in the park, played some ball, filmed a dunk on the small, 2.90m rim (9'6).
Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBqHDpL_leQ
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Picture with the highest point of my jump:
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New squat video (110 kg low bar): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KWbk-RttF0E
Squat focus day 10:
Low bar squat:
20x5x2
60x5
80x5
100x1
110x1
80x5
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
RDL + Leg curls:
60x8 + 56x8
90x8 + 80x8
90x7 + 80x5
Calf raises at the Smith machine.
Bodyweight: 92.4 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
Knee pain so I switched to low bar. Despite the long pause, I could squat well. I recorded my top set, but by the looks of it I could do 130 kg or so right now.
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Bench focus day 11:
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
65x5
65x5
65x4
65x4
65x4 old age :personal-record:
High bar full squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x5
80x5
80x3 (felt great, first time when the right quad feels alive)
Reverse hypers on regular hyper machine:
10, 10
Leg press with narrow stance:
50x20, 50x20
Leg press calf raises:
50x20, 50x20
Bodyweight: 91.7 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
Amazing workout - :personal-record: in the bench press and amazing quad activation during the high bar squats and leg presses. I also did reverse hyper for the first time on the regular hyper machine. The leg press calf raises were bombs, too.
This while going lower in bodyweight.
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Back and Abs day 1
Pullups: 4, 4
Chinups: 5, 4
Neutral grip chinups: 3, 3 (tired)
One hand pulls to chest: 32x10, 40x6
Pulls to back of head: 64x6, 56x8
Front planck + Ab Machine: 45s + 8 pins x 10, 30s + 8 pins x 10
Lots of stretching.
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Squat focus day 11:
Low bar squat:
20x8
60x5
80x5
100x3
110x1
100x3
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
A bunch of snatches, RDLs and leg curls.
Calf raises at the Smith machine.
Bodyweight: 91.7 kg
Exhaustion level: 9.5/10
Comments:
Not recovered enough. Felt dizzy and exhausted in the gym, with pain in the plexus area.
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Bench focus day 12:
Bench press:
20x5x2
50x5
65x5
65x5
65x5 old age :personal-record:
High bar full squat:
20x5
50x5
90x5
90x3 (felt tired so stopped, did a few half squats with 50 kg)
Leg press with narrow stance:
100x20, 100x20
Leg press calf raises:
100x20, 100x20
Bodyweight: 92.4 kg
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
:personal-record: in the bench press - decided to do less sets, just 3, so I don't overtrain. I feel like I don't recover well as my sleep is usually interrupted. Squat was good but difficult from a heart rate/cardio perspective, felt overwhelming.
Still, the leg press quad+calf high rep sets were good. Also did some stretching.
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Squat focus day 12:
Cable kickbacks (used to wake up my glutes):
25x10
25x10 (felt great)
Low bar squat:
20x8
50x5
80x5
100x5
100x5 old age :personal-record:
80x5 (explosive)
Bench press:
20x5x2
40x5
60x5
60x5
60x5
RDL + Leg curls:
60x8 + 64x8
80x8 + 80x8
Bodyweight: 92.6 kg
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
Very high heart rate after every set. After the squat sets I had ~165 heart rate with dizziness. Even while moving around in the gym after a few minutes my heart rate was ~135 or so. I need some input on how you guys have your heart rate immediately after 5-rep sets and after a few minutes.
I also found out that my heart rate during sleep increased from about 53-55 bpm to 60 or so - a clear sign or overtraining. Will need to rest a few days and focus on recovering.
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Old age PRs is real deal! Much harder than all time PRs when young. :highfive:
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Old age PRs is real deal! Much harder than all time PRs when young. :highfive:
I think I can squat low bar about 130 kg. The problem right now is with very high heart rates - I'm afraid something bad might happen if I keep this up. What's your heart rate after a heavy set of 5 squats and usually during your rest periods?
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Very high heart rate after every set. After the squat sets I had ~165 heart rate with dizziness. Even while moving around in the gym after a few minutes my heart rate was ~135 or so. I need some input on how you guys have your heart rate immediately after 5-rep sets and after a few minutes.
I don't have data from a watch, but this lines up with my experience after near-failure sets on heavy leg things like RDLs/Squats/Leg Press etc.
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^^^
*2
Haven't squatted near failure recently but it has always been like that for me too.
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...so...it's not really that high of a heart rate? The other people in the gym don't seem to wobble around after every squat set they do.
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Ever get you iron levels checked? What about D3? B12?
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Bench focus day 13:
Bench press:
20x8
20x5
40x5
60x5
70x4
70x3
70x3 old-age :personal-record:
Cable kickbacks:
25x10
25x10 (glute activation felt good)
High bar full squat:
20x8
60x8
60x8 (felt tired so ditched the 3rd set)
Leg press calf raises:
120x18, 120x20
Bodyweight: 92.6 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
:personal-record: in the bench press again. I rarely went in the 70 kg range until now.
I also did some good high bar full squats with a high rep range, should actually do 10 reps but I feel super dizzy and tired after each such set. The idea is quad and glute development, since in the high bar I take the hamstring contributions away from the hole.
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Back focus day 1:
Pullups: 5, 5 (assisted with 27 kg-tension cable)
Chinups: 5, 4 (assisted)
Neutral grip pullups: 3, 2 (assisted and unassisted) - terrible
Hip thrust:
20x10
60x10
60x10
60x10
60x10 (felt good)
Barbell calf raises:
20x12
60x12
80x12
80x12
Bodyweight: 92.1 kg
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments: Very weak in the pullups and chinups for some reason. Felt really weak. Hip thrusts were good, I bought some good padding and it was well worth it.
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Ever get you iron levels checked? What about D3? B12?
I terribly dislike taking blood samples, so no. But I will tell you a story about vitamin B6, soon.
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Squat focus day 13:
Low bar squat:
20x8
50x5
80x5
100x5
110x3
100x5 old age :personal-record: in terms of effort and intensity
Bench press:
20x10
50x10
50x8
50x8 (difficult, high rep ranges are very difficult)
RDL + Leg curls:
50x10
80x8+80x8
80x8+104x5++96x2++88x2++80x2++72x2++64x2 (++ means I continue the set with a lower weight)
Bodyweight: 92.6 kg
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
I feel super bad daily and today was no exception. My hunch is a hiatal hernia which gives me the vast majority of my symptoms. Still, went to the gym and the workout was very good, especially the squat. High rep ranges are very difficult for me in the bench press and any exercise in general, but should be useful.
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Bench focus day 14:
Bench press:
20x8
40x5
60x2
70x3
65x4
65x4 (weak)
Cable kickbacks:
20x10
20x10 (glute activation felt good)
High bar full squat:
20x8
60x10
60x10
60x5
V-grip pulls to chest:
48x12, 48x12
Bodyweight: 91.6 kg (lowest old age weight)
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Coming back after sickness, felt "light" on my feet but still weak.
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Back focus day 2:
Pullups: 4, 3, 3 (didn't focus on sets but instead on totalling 10 reps)
Chinups: 4, 3, 3
Hip thrust:
60x5
80x10
80x10
80x10
80x10 (great, felt really good)
Dumbbell incline bench press:
15x10
20x10
20x10
Leg extensions (double leg concentric, single leg eccentric):
24x10
24x10
24x10
Leg curls: 80x8
Bodyweight: 92.3 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments: Very weak in the chinups and pullups. One reason could be the fact that the handles are very thin and my hand is very long so I don't grip them well.
Hip thrusts were good although I used lots of padding, some big double sponges and additional bar padding.
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Squat focus day 14:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x3
100x1
120x1 old age :personal-record:
100x5
100x5
100x5 old age :personal-record:
Bench press:
20x10
50x10
50x10 old age :personal-record:
50xDND (was too tired and felt weird)
Landmine single leg deadlift:
20x8
20x8
Bodyweight: 92.9 kg
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments:
Best workout since I re-started training. I haven't squatted 120 kg or above in about 8 years so it was great to do it. I probably could've done about 2 or 3 reps, all out. I can probably squat 130 kg with a belt.
The 100x5 work sets were pretty difficult and the last rep of the last set was very difficult (although I bet it looked explosive from the outside).
Bench press was good in the beginning but after two sets of 10 reps I started feeling pretty bad so I decided not to do the third set.
I also found my new favorite exercise, the landmine single leg deadlift - the glutes fire like crazy when I do it.
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I've stopped training due to terrible cervical and thoracic pain and dizziness.
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damn that sucks man. hope you feel better soon
its been 15 days since last training, any improvements? any doctor explanation/cure?
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It's been like this for the last two years. I just didn't mention it.
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have you been to the doctor?
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Yup. 8 or so. They are useless and have no clue, blaming it on the patient so they don't look incompetent.
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Shoot man. If you ever end up traveling to neighboring countries maybe check out a doc over there?
Different types. Chiro, PT, even an acupuncturist. Anything. This sounds like it can pktentially be very serious
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OK, so here's the deal.
Back in February 2022 I decided to restart training. I found a chalistenics place nearby with pullup bars and so on so I thought "let me try to take it easy and do some of this stuff before even going to the gym again" so that's what I did. I also did some flexibility and mobility work at home.
One day I was at this chalistenics thing and did a bunch of pullups, chinups, pushups, dips and leg raises. The dips and leg raises in particular gave me some pain in the chest and belly, around the plexus area, immediately underneath my sternum. I went home and was a normal day. I also started to do some jumps but I was at 97 kg in bodyweight. After one jump, as I landed, white spots began to appear in my visual field due to the shock of the landing. On top of it all, my right knee was messed up so I couldn't put my right leg into my landings, meaning that the shock of the landings propagated through my spine. I also did some overhead kettlebell presses with my 24 kg kettlebells for a while.
On Feburary 24th (the same time when Russia invaded Ukraine) I woke up at about 6 AM or so, suddenly, with an incredible "rush" (I can't describe it in any other way, just an incredibly scary rush) in my body and I was sure it was a heart attack, it was like a "pressure" in my entire body combined with an extremely powerful (more powerful than anything ever experienced) rush of adrenaline. So I got up and was sure I was going to die, but I tried to focus on surviving, to calm down. It took about 5 to 10 seconds to recover. Incredibly scary stuff.
For the rest of the day I felt super weird but my blood pressure was normal, heart rate was normal and so on. I took some EKGs with my watch, they were normal. Then it happened again, always when trying to sleep. It would happen pretty much immediately if I tried to sleep on my belly, with my head turned to the left - in a few seconds that incredible adrenaline rush would immediately launch and it feels exactly like dying, there's no any other way to describe it.
So I though to myself "if this ever happens or I feel it happening, I will take my heart rate and oxygen levels exactly then" and that's what I did. If it was a panic attack or something like that, I should see a high heart rate. It happened and my heart rate was 57 bpm, so I don't think it's a panic attack, it's some other thing.
I also found out that if I tried to do some kettlebell overhead presses it would immediately worsen the symptoms - dizziness when turning the head and a feeling of "losing control of my body", plus some "tickling" in the chest area.
After a while, the symptoms went away (this "rush" thing happened about 6 times or so and it was equally terrifying every time it did). I thought maybe it was just exhaustion from not being used to physical effort anymore (which in part I bet it was) and you know, I started training again but with less volume, so I don't get too tired. I also went in the park and jumped here and there.
But one day after I jumped and landed I felt some bad pain in my cervical spine, like a neck injury (again, possibly because I coulnd't brake the landing properly due to my right knee being hurt and due to being too heavy) and immediately knew it was worse than it looked. This was in April 2022. The next day I started having pain in the cervicothoracic area, sometimes upwards towards the head.
This has continued ever since - the weird thing is that it sometimes gets better after physical effort, even after squats. But there is pain in the thoracic area as well, especially where the bar sits when you low bar squat. The symptoms improve with beer, xanax or aspirin.
Also, for a few years or so I've started staying "stiff" with my trapezius so I stay upright and not hunched back - but the problem with this is that I can't "relax" anymore - I always stay stiff and tight with my trapezius (which is the place where it hurts) automatically. It's just how I stay, I have to actively think to relax and even then I don't relax completely.
MRI shows C2, C5, T6, T9, T12 and L5 issues with my spine. My guess is that the weird rush symptoms were an inflammation somewhere in the thoracic spine which made me feel like "losing control of my internal organs" (I have no other way to put it, it was like disconnecting the self from the internal organs). And since there are spinal nerves in the thoracic spine which innervate the area in that spot, this is my hypothesis.
I'm going to the neurologist tomorrow but I don't have much hope - the problem is complex, with a lot of details, and these people are there to just make an opinion in 15 minutes and come up with something and most of the time they don't care, they simply say "you're imagining, it's a psychiatric thing" etc. It's been going on for two years, already, and I don't even know its nature, its ethiology - is it nervous? Is it mental? Is it exhaustion? Is it circulatory? I even went as far to assume that the vaccine might be involved, as there is a lack of explanation for these weird symptoms.
But in truth, it has to be the spine, it's the most straightforward explanation. I now have pain the left clavicle and left shoulder, which should be consistent with the cervical nerves projecting pain there. I will update you after the neurologist visit, tomorrow.
EDIT: One more thing - I feel much better if I don't stay in bed. If I walk around I'm pretty good. As soon as I stay in bed, with my back against something, then it's much worse - there's dizziness and weakness.
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damn man that sounds terrifying, thanks for sharing. maybe try coming clean with the neurologist about this part, if you haven't already:
don't have much hope - the problem is complex, with a lot of details, and these people are there to just make an opinion in 15 minutes and come up with something and most of the time they don't care, they simply say "you're imagining, it's a psychiatric thing" etc. It's been going on for two years, already, and I don't even know its nature, its ethiology - is it nervous? Is it mental? Is it exhaustion? Is it circulatory? I even went as far to assume that the vaccine might be involved, as there is a lack of explanation for these weird symptoms.
just throw it on the doc as a challenge? like, "you gonna be one of these 15 minute assholes or you gonna try to help me?" idk, hope it goes well tomorrow, good luck.
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Alright unusual question but are you having strange dreams?
- seeing snakes
- people shaped weirdly
- falling from a high place
- someone threatening you in the dream
- someone having sex with you
Anything of that sort? How often?
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Not really, but I have had a lot of nights when I wake up randomly or I feel really bad trying to fall asleep. Sometimes it's because my back hurts so that wakes me up - remember, I'm worse when I lie down in bed. Other times I just feel really bad in a way I can't describe. Also, I can't relax my trapezius and shoulders, I continuously pull them up and I have to actively think to relax.
There's another weird detail: I play a motorcycling game on my PS5, MotoGP 23. I even have a league where I play races. And in order to have the controller stable during gaming, I stay very tight with my back so the controller doesn't move at all (I sit in bed in a particular position, with my left leg straight and my right leg bent, so that my hands are in the middle and the controller is stable). I've been doing this a lot when the symptoms appear, so I'm pretty sure it contributes.
Still, that landing where my neck really hurt happened and it felt like something important happened there, I knew it was worse than it looked on the outside.
Another detail is that if I do hip thrusts (where my thoracic spine rests on a bench) then it's worse after two days or so. There seem to be two issues: the thoracic spine thing and the cervical spine thing.
It seems like if I walk a lot the pain is less, maybe it's because I move my arms when I walk so I don't get stuck in the same position with my trapezius tight 100% of the time. I don't know.
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after we moved in together my wife started having pain in her neck and getting frozen, where she couldn't turn her head very far to either side. this coincided with her starting to use a big armchair that i inherited as a primary desk, sitting with her body facing forward and the laptop balanced on the left arm of the chair. once she changed her position in the chair so that she is facing the arm with her legs tucked under, the neck pain went away.
also, i get tension headaches from time to time, which are referred pain from my upper back when i'm stressed out by something. i don't notice the extra tension in my back but it is obviously there, i end up with big knots. moving my shoulders, thoracic spine, and neck through their full range of motion - carefully, as in through feldenkrais - helps a lot. e.g., https://nickellson.com.au/2020/04/06/feldenkrais-shoulder-spine-integrator/.
point is, sounds like it might be good to find a different position for your racing game, and spend some time moving your shoulders deliberately.
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Totally.
I just came back from the neurologist. He said that he doesn't see that much stuff in the MRIs (for both the cervical spine and the thoracic spine) and that there is degenerative stuff in there but you could find that for any random guy off the street if you would take an MRI for him or her. That there are some areas that might slightly impinge on the spinal cord and that he recommends swimming, doesn't necessarily advocates for me to stop going to the gym, thinks I should be active and I should do kinetotherapy.
As I say this, the paper bag that held the MRI films and documents broke so I had to carry it under my armpit, with my hand underneath it. After I did this, I had terrible pain in the back, in the middle of my back. So I decided to do 10 pushups and a few swings with my light kettlebell and it was better after two minutes or so. It seems like the muscular part of things definitely contributes, considering this.
He also gave me pregabalin, a medicine for chronic pain, to take for 2 weeks or so - maybe my body will "forget" that pain "needs" to be there. I will try.
My idea is to continue to go to the gym but use moderate weights instead of heavy weights. That should put less pressure on the back and allow me to use better form. He said that he thinks my landings from jumps are the most probable cause, since that is much more impactful on the spine than gym work, especially as my right leg was injured and couldn't properly absorb the landing.
What do you guys think?
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He also gave me pregabalin, a medicine for chronic pain, to take for 2 weeks or so - maybe my body will "forget" that pain "needs" to be there. I will try.
My idea is to continue to go to the gym but use moderate weights instead of heavy weights. That should put less pressure on the back and allow me to use better form. He said that he thinks my landings from jumps are the most probable cause, since that is much more impactful on the spine than gym work, especially as my right leg was injured and couldn't properly absorb the landing.
What do you guys think?
Pretty much all pain experts agree that keeping up some sort of loaded movement that doesn't cause pain is good, so I think this sounds pretty smart. You can always build back into the higher impact stuff over time, not like you are in a rush to achieve some very specific goals at the moment, beyond getting pain-free.
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agree with joe, and also why not try swimming? hard to imagine a better activity to get you moving your shoulders through a big range of motion. also repeating the suggestion of feldenkrais. these people might have suggestions about where you could take a class near yourself: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1469132926443860/. there are lots of free resources online, as well.
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Thanks, these are good suggestions. I hate water, I have a water phobia and dislike being near it, anything wrong goes on in it, you're dead. So I'm not exactly looking forward to any water stuff.
One of things that bothers me, though, is my pain in the left clavicle and left shoulder. That's been there for the last two+ months. I'm thinking of thoracic outlet syndrome, maybe caused by me doing kettlebell overhead presses for quite a while. But I don't know the term in Romanian and to whichever doctors I mentioned this they looked at me like I was crazy. It super pisses me off that you can't have an actual conversation with a doctor these days, they all think that their patients are stupid and that they are so much smarter.
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He also gave me pregabalin, a medicine for chronic pain, to take for 2 weeks or so - maybe my body will "forget" that pain "needs" to be there. I will try.
My fear here is that you may be putting yourself in positions or movements that make the problem worse except you wont stop since you might not feel it due to the painkiller. The concept of “forgetting” the pain does sound interesting though. I dont know anything about it, would be curious to read up on it
+1 on swimming
+1 on doctors not making sense and/or not truly listening to the patients. My wife went through crazy stuff in labor due to the doctors and nurses “following the book.” We were very happy we hired a doula to push back on them. Thats a wholeeee other topic
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Bench focus day 15:
Bench press:
20x8
20x8
40x8
60x7
High bar full squat:
20x8
50x8
80x8
Landmine one-leg deadlift:
empty bar x 8
bar + 10kg x 8
Bodyweight: 92.9 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
First workout after doctor visit. Went... decent. Had to rush it because I had a job meeting. Some right knee pain due to the quad dominant squat style (narrow stance, high bar). Will monitor back issues after this, to see how my body reacts.
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Squat focus day 15:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x5
100x5 (felt strong)
100x3 (stopped intentionally at 3 reps)
60x5 (paused, super explosive)
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
50x10
50x10 :personal-record:
Landmine single leg deadlift:
barx8
bar + 20 kg x 8
Single leg curl:
64x3++56x3++48x3++40x3++32x3 (a continuous superset)
Bodyweight: 93.2 kg
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
Incredibly strong today. Bar was flying. :personal-record: in the bench press, never did two consecutive sets of 10 reps with 50 kg. Squat was very explosive, no idea why. Neck pain is also minimal after physical exercise, it gets worse if I stay in bed.
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Glute/landmine focus day 3:
Hip thrust:
60x5
100x8
100x8
100x8 old age :personal-record:
Landmine squat:
barx8
bar+10kg x 8
bar+10kg x 8
Landmine kneeling press:
barx8
bar+10kg x 6
bar+10kg x 6 (each arm)
Landmine one-leg squat:
barxbad form reps (was muscularly tired)
Landmine standing press:
bar+10kg x 8
bar+10kg x 8
Bodyweight: 93.2 kg
Sleep rating: 3/5
Exhaustion level: 7/10
Comments: Felt super strong, for some reason. Hip thrusts were really good, minus the pain they give to my bony parts even with thick, double spounge padding.
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Bench focus day 16:
Bench press:
20x8
20x8
50x5
60x3
70x3 (weak)
65x4 (weak)
60x5 (weak)
50x5 (explosive, weak)
High bar full squat:
20x8
60x8
80x7 (weak)
80x7 (weak)
Single arm overhead pulls to chest:
32x10
32x10
Leg curls + leg extensions:
56x12+56x12
Bodyweight: 93.1 kg
Sleep rating: 4/5 (see comments below)
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
For some reason felt super weak and exhausted. It was hot in the gym and I had a weird event trying to sleep last night: at some point, something made a loud noise, like a "bang". I went looking for what happened and couldn't find anything obvious, I initially thought my crows pushed a pack of liver from their place down and that made the noise, but I checked and it was still there. No obvious explanation for the loud noise.
But then I found something weird: a necklace on the table, in the living room. How did that end up there? Next thing I know, I find some weird circular "thing" on the floor that I can't figure out what it is.
Looking around, I find a few batteries on the table. One of them didn't have a bottom anymore - it actually exploded. That's what made the noise - the circular thing was the bottom of the exploded battery and the necklace was in the same spot as the battery so it was thrown up and landed there.
These phantoms have too much free time on their hands!
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Squat focus day 16:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
90x5
110x5 old age :personal-record:
125x1 old age :personal-record:
110x3 (could've done 5)
60x5 paused, explosive
20x10 jump squats
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
50x10
50x10
50x8 :personal-record:
Landmine single leg deadlift:
barx8
bar + 15 kg x 8
Single leg curl:
40x10
Slow tempo leg extensions:
40x10
Bodyweight: 94.1 kg
Sleep length&rating: 9.5 h, 4/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Felt super strong. The 125 kg old age :ibsquatting: :personal-record: was close to a 1RM, I also twisted a bit to load the stronger left leg more, but it was good. Probably a 2RM at this point. Also, it feels like my legs did pretty much all of the work - I don't have any back soreness, just leg soreness. Bench was good as well, did 28 reps with 50 kg, I'm very close to doing 3x10.
All in all my best workout since I restarted training.
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Went in the park and played a lot of 3 on 3. Turns out my heart rate stays at about 170 when moving around the court and goes to over 180 when defending/jumping/penetrating. I don't think it's normal to have an average of 166 bpm for two hours of play... right?
Here's how my heart rate looks like for the two hours that I played:
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I see your 2 hours of 166bpm average with less than 1 hour over 168 and raise you to:
2 hours of 178 average, with 189 max, at 49.5 years old :o 8) :P
( i think those numbers are fine , for both of us. But if in doubt, ask a doctor )
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I find these values super high. People on the court doing similar effort as me (moving around at the same pace and so on) are barely at 100 or so. How could this be?
Glute/landmine focus day 4:
Hip thrust:
60x5
60x15
100x8
120x6 :personal-record:
60x10
Landmine one-leg deadlift:
bar x 10
bar + 20 kg x 8 (side deadlift)
bar + 20 kg x 8L, 5R (front deadlift)
Seated cable rows:
40x10
80x8
80x8 (felt great)
Triceps cable pulldowns:
30x10
30x10 (felt great)
Bodyweight: 93.0 kg
Sleep rating: 5/5
Exhaustion level: 8.5/10
Comments: Felt strong again, although I didn't warm up too much when I started doing the hip thrusts and they were pretty exhausting. Still, :personal-record: in the hip thrust, most likely, I don't remember ever doing 120x6, although I could be wrong.
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100? Is it Usain Bolt or Kipchoge that you play with?
Here is the first paper that came up googling it:
Results. For the point guards, forwards and centers, respectively, HRmax (in beats•min) were 186±11.7, 176±8.3 and 177±7.7; and HRmean (beats•min-1) were 163±14.3, 151±10.3 and 155±9.4.
That is 160 average +-10 (which means some had 170 average) for professional basketball players!
So relax.
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But that is playing full court, 5 on 5 basketball at high intensity, not making three steps and passing the ball in half court basketball. You can't compare these.
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But also those are professional athletes that train 2*day all their lives, with elite trainers and perfect nutrition, in their mid 20s, not 40+ year old overweight and under-trained cardiovascularly software developers. No offense. Effort is relative.
Anyway, what i am trying to say is that for every level and sport, putting effort makes heart rate rise.
And then you can see that even for pro athletes the variation is +-10 , so for the same level and effort someone has 150 average , someone else 170.
But I won't insist more, i see you don't want to accept any argument that i give, either it is showing my own heart rate at 180+ for 2 hours at 50 years old, or pro bball players study for this exact topic.
Its perfectly fine though. Most important and im out, if you feel your heart function doing something is abnormal, 1) stop doing it immediately and 2) go see a doc ASAP.
pc
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Well, one thing that would definitely be beneficial is to lose weight - less weight, less effort moving that lower weight around. I'm pretty sure if I were ~85 kg right now I would see a difference.
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Of course it would. Think of measuring your HR playing basketball normally, and then wearing a 8kg weighted vest. Or to make it even more graphic, with a backpack that includes 8 1lt oil bottles.
I need to lose some weight/fat too , running 10/21K races carrying a little over 15% of fat and a 86.5 kg body ain't exactly smart/optimal.
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Here's the weird thing: some nights I have pressure in my chest. Last night I had it. Then next thing I know, I check the health app in my phone and it reports me that my heart rate dropped under 45 bpm for 10 minutes at 7:22 (went as low as 41 bpm). So I have bradicardia as well. Do you have your heart rate monitored during sleep, for comparison? Mine usually stays at 52-57.
I'm going to see a cardiologist in a few hours, just to be sure.
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I went and saw the cardiologist, he wasn't too impressed with my issues, said that a heart rate down to 40 is normal during sleep, although it's not typical for me. Also said that the high heart rate during playing is not that unusual but that I could do an effort test to be sure, since I also have some chest pain when running.
The thing that bothers me is this feeling in my body of something not right that I can't communicate. There are no words to describe it - it's like a "tickling" in the body, a "weakness" whose description fits with no words that I can think of. It's like a "magnetic" feeling, if you will, like you'd be metallic and some magnet would interact with you. It could be some compressed nerve in the back or something else, I don't know what it is.
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Squat focus day 17:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
90x3
115x5 (difficult, probably 6RM) old age :ibsquatting: :personal-record:
105x5
95x5
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
50x10
50x8 (possibly a 25 kg bar)
Slow tempo leg extensions:
56x10
56x10
40x10 (single leg)
Leg curls:
64x10
80x8
80x3++72x3++64x3++56x3
Bodyweight: 92.5 kg
Sleep length&rating: 8h55m, 3/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Strong in the squat with 115x5 old age :ibsquatting: :personal-record: , although I'm taking pain medicine which makes you weak, a little. Bench press was difficult but the squat took a lot out of me and the bar might've been a heavier, 25 kg bar (looked thicker and heavier).
I'm doing leg extensions because they train the fully extended portion vs the squat where the flexed portion is emphasized in the quads and I think this helps. It's similar to deadlifts vs hip thrusts: the former helps with the stretched position of the glute, the latter with the squeezed position.
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Bench focus day 17:
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
40x5
60x3
70x4 (hard)
65x4
60x5
High bar full squat:
20x8
60x8
80x8 (medium difficulty, could've done 10-12)
80x8 (medium difficulty)
Hang powersnatch:
20x3
20x3
30x3
35x3
35x3
30x3
Seated cable rows:
40x10
80x8
80x7
Straight-leg deadlifts:
60x8
60x8
Bodyweight: 92.9 kg
Sleep rating: 5/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Pretty good workout. The straight leg deadlifts really used up my hams.
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I told you its unimpressive. My sleeping HR is always monitored yes, it seems that it drops down to around my resting HR , +-2 , this period that is around 50.
As for the magnetic weakness feelings, maybe if all other tests fail, check to see if they are some kind of psychosomatic reactions?
Given the chance , i always wanted to say this: 'psycho' and all its derivatives is one of the most misunderstood words. In English it makes you think of American psycho , psychotic episodes etc, but the word is actually Greek and it literally means "soul", primarily in a warm spitrtual way. And of course also used in clinical Psychiatry ( which is also Greek , psycho-soul + iatriki-medicine , soul-medicine literally ). Some justice has been just served.
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For a long while I used to stay hunchbacked so in the last few years I made a conscious (and potentially unconscious) effort to stay upright. However, now I always stay super tight with my back and with my shoulders pulled up, like you want to fight someone (like some people think makes you look like a tough guy). And my hunch is that it's because of this - my back never relaxes and stays tight hours and hours, including when lying in bed. If I try to relax while in bed it's like something stops me, like the weight of the head would be too much if I relax completely and I would put too much pressure on my cervical spine. It's hard to describe.
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Glute/landmine focus day 4:
Hip thrust:
60x10
90x10
120x8 :personal-record:
140x5 :personal-record:
120x8
90x10
Cable kickbacks:
40x10 (each leg)
Cable side kickbacks (that looked and felt weird):
20x8 (each leg)
Leg abduction machine:
40x10
80x10
120x8
Landmine twists:
bar x 10
bar+10kg x 10
bar+10kg x 10
Seated cable rows:
80x10 :personal-record:
80x8
Ab machine crunches:
6 pins x 10
Bodyweight: 93.3 kg
Sleep rating: 5/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments: All time :personal-record: in the hip thrust with 140x5.
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Squat focus day 18:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x5
100x3
120x2 (very difficult, 2RM)
110x3 (difficult/very difficult)
100x5 (medium/difficult)
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
40x5
50x10
50x8 (possibly a 25 kg bar)
Slow tempo leg extensions:
40x10
40x10
Leg curls:
80x8 (good)
80x7
Bodyweight: 92.3 kg
Sleep length&rating: 6h20m, 3/5
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments:
Felt weak and not recovered. Sleep was mediocre/bad and too short.
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Bench focus day 18:
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
40x5
60x3
70x3 (very hard, 3RM)
65x4
60x5
High bar full squat:
20x8
60x8
80x10 :personal-record:
80x8
Chest machine:
40x10
64x10
64x10
Leg extensions:
40x10
72x10 (good)
Leg curls:
56x10
72x10
Bodyweight: 92.3 kg
Sleep rating: 4/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Very weak in the bench press. Pretty good in the high bar squat, although it's very exhausting. Added some chest machine to supplement chest work. Also, at this point my leg curls are better than my leg extensions.
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Went in the park, played 2:30 hours of 3 on 3, had a bunch of rim-grazing dunks on the 2.92m rim (I think 6 or 7 of them). I would be interesting to see how well I jump if I take a break and rest a bit and also get under 90 kg, hopefully I can find out in a few months.
I also landed on someone's foot going for a rebound a week ago and my left foot swole just a little, amazingly enough. I can barely feel some pain here and there and can jump and play pretty well. I guess my running shoes were OK for an event like this.
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Glute/landmine focus day 5:
Hip thrust:
60x10
100x5
120x5
140x3
100x8
60x10
Quadruped glute machine:
120x10 (too easy even with the max weight)
Leg abduction machine:
120x8
Landmine twists:
bar x 10
Seated cable rows:
80x8
Leg extensions (hold at top, slow eccentric):
64x10
72x10
80x10
Leg curls:
80x10++72x4++64x3
Bodyweight: 92.1 kg
Sleep rating: 3/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments: Forgot the additional padding for the hip thrust at home so going over 100 kg was pretty painful which limited me quite a bit. Still, I did a lot of work.
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Squat focus day 19:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x5
100x3
120x3 old age :personal-record:
130x1 old age :personal-record:
110x3
100x3
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
52.5x10
52.5x10 :personal-record:
Dumbbell stepups:
17.5x8 (each leg)
Slow tempo leg extensions:
96x8++88x4++80x3 :personal-record:
Leg curls:
96x8++88x4++80x3 :personal-record:
Bodyweight: 92.5 kg
Sleep length&rating: 8h, 4/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Felt strong. First time doing the heavy sets of squats with a belt, felt a little weird. Still, :ibsquatting: :personal-record:, haven't squatted 130 kg in 8 years or so.
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Bench focus day 19:
Bench press:
20x8
40x5
60x3
70x3 (wider grip, very hard)
65x5 (narrower grip, easier)
60x6 (narrower grip, easier)
High bar full squat:
20x8
50x8
80x10
80x8 (very tiring)
Chest machine:
48x10
72x10
72x10 :personal-record:
Deadlift:
110x5
110x6 (RDL)
Smith machine calf raises:
Bar x 10
Bar+20kg x 10
Bar+40kg x 10
Bodyweight: 92.9 kg
Sleep rating: 4/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Same sucky 3 reps with 70 kg in the bench press, although with a narrower grip it seems noticeably easier. So I think the grip width is important in my case. I did the next two sets with a narrower grip and it was easier. I could've done 10 reps on my second set of squats but I decided not to.
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When I was flat BB benching regularly, I also found it most comfortable/stronger to bench with a pretty narrow grip (close to hat I often see PLers doing when they do close grip bench). Never really got the hang of wider grip benching. If I try to hit a big bench PR in future, maybe I'll play around with a wider grip just to see if I can make it work.
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When I was flat BB benching regularly, I also found it most comfortable/stronger to bench with a pretty narrow grip (close to hat I often see PLers doing when they do close grip bench). Never really got the hang of wider grip benching. If I try to hit a big bench PR in future, maybe I'll play around with a wider grip just to see if I can make it work.
I also have very long arms so even a slightly wider grip is much harder.
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Glute/landmine focus day 6:
Hip thrust:
60x8
100x5
120x5
150x4 all time :personal-record:
130x8 all time :personal-record:
100x10 old age :personal-record:
Landmine push press (each arm):
bar x 10
bar + 10kg x 10
bar + 20kg x 8
bar + 15kg x 8
bar + 10kg x 8 (explosive)
Leg curls:
64x15
Leg extensions (hold at top, slow eccentric):
64x15
Single leg calf raises:
BWx10
25kgx10
25kgx10
Dumbbell incline bench press:
15x8
15x8
Bodyweight: 92.9 kg
Sleep rating: 4/5
Exhaustion level: 8/10
Comments: Great workout. All time :personal-record: in the hip thrust, although the 150 kg feels like at the limit of safety in terms of form. Will not increase the weight but instead try to do more reps.
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Squat focus day 20:
Low bar squat:
20x5
20x5
60x5
80x5
100x3
120x3 ties :personal-record:
110x3 stopped due to back pain (see comments)
Explosive half squats:
60x5
60x5
Bench press:
20x5
20x5
40x5
55x10 :personal-record:
55x7
Landmine one-leg deadlift:
barx8
bar+20kgx8
bar+25kgx8
Bodyweight: 92.6 kg
Sleep length&rating: 8h15m, 4/5
Exhaustion level: 9/10
Comments:
Did my squats with a belt, but the problem is that the belt makes me lose concentration for some reason and I tweaked my back on the left side a little after my third rep with 120 kg.
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Bench focus day 20:
Bench press:
20x8
40x5
50x5
60x3
70x3 (felt like 3RM)
65x5 (felt like 5RM)
60x5
High bar full squat:
20x8
50x10
80x10
80x10
Chest machine:
48x10
80x10
80x10 :personal-record:
Leg extensions:
40x15
48x15
Leg curls:
40x15
48x15
Bodyweight: 92.6 kg
Sleep rating: 4/5
Exhaustion level: 10/10
Comments:
Very weak bench pressing. Both the 70 kg and the 65 kg sets felt like 3RM and 5RM, respectively, with the last rep a grinding, very close to failure rep. I just can't find the "right" grip width. Squats were good but the entire session was very tiring.