Week 7
14.09.21-27
Sunday
AM: 2.7 miles.
Ran first 1.5 miles but then my left knee started to feel sore, so I walked the last 1.2 miles. It felt good to run a bit more than a mile, but it's frustrating that the knee issue is still there. This week I'll try to get better about stretching and massaging throughout the day.
PM: One-mile walk-commute.
Monday
AM: One-mile run-commute.
Knee felt fine. I guess I'll add a block or two each morning while simultaneously massaging and stretching throughout the day. This will be my rehab.
PM: Walked home. Could've run, but I felt like crap, and had a protein shake too close to leaving.
ST:
Deadlift: 2 x 1 x 345(156), 2 x 3 x 305(138), 2 x 5 x 265 (120)
DB Row: 2 x 5 x 105 (48)
Cable Row: 2 x 5 x 170 (77)
Seated OH Press: 2 x 5 x 95 (43)
Russian Twist: 2 x 5 x 100 (45)
Hyperextension: 2 x 5 x 50 (23)
Loaded Carries 2 x 160ft x 100lbs (50-lb db in each hand)
I did every weight just two sets. I really liked the tempo of the workout, and the simplicity. I think this may be my new MO; do pretty much everything 2x5 except for the heavy lifts, where I'll adopt a 2 x 1/3/5 protocol, and DB Rows, where I may add in two sets of triples, i.e., 2x3/5. Might also have to stick to three sets for the OH Press and Pulldowns.
I bumped up each deadlift rep count by 10 pounds, and this felt perfect. Challenging, close to my limits, but with just two sets to get through at each weight, it was actually mentally a little easier. Grip was a bit of a problem on the triples, and my lower back really felt fatigued on the second set of quintuples. Using ExRx's rep calculator (
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html), and 155 as my 1RM, the singles are now a little over 95%, but both the triples and quintuples are almost exactly 85% and 75%, respectively. An easy ratio to remember, although it doesn't jibe with the recommended rep-to-1RM% given below by three experts. My five-rep count in particular should be heavier, but perhaps it would be if I started with it instead of finished with it.
I skipped the DB Row triples, probably should've done them, but I'm still testing a bit to see which exercises irritate the shoulder most. But I'm coming to the conclusion that it's mostly a matter of massaging and stretching and doing more ROM stuff. Next time I'll either include the triples or else boost the quintuples by 5-10 pounds.
I'm really liking the Seated OH Press. The movement feels more exact, and it's nice not to have to deal with all those five-pound plates. Next time I may add five pounds.
Did the Russian Twists for the first time in a while. I read that Westside likes those a lot. It's always nice to have a preference confirmed by the pros. It's yet another angle from which to attack the back. I did them with a lower, chest-high arc this time, but I wonder if I should reduce weight sometimes and do a higher, overhead arc.
Did the Loaded Carries for the first time in a long while. Yes, most excellent. My garage is 20 feet deep, and I walked back and forth four times before my grip gave out, so that equals 160 feet. Did two sets. I'll work on getting up to 200 feet and then start adding weight, or reduce distance and add weight right away? More weight would work my traps more right? And more distance my grip? It was nice to get some use out of my rubber hex dumbbells.
Didn't do the box jumps or hanging knee tucks or kicks. I was out of time, but I think with the new 2 x 5 approach, I should be able to get everything done in an hour with a little more efficiency.
Overall, really happy. A good mix of primary lifts and assistance exercises. Just have to work the plyo/mobility/stabilizer/martial stuff in the last 10-15 minutes and I'll be golden.
Tuesday
AM: One-mile run-commute.
Ran at a slightly faster pace. Knee felt a little something, not even soreness, but a little something to let me know it's still not 100%, but I was still able to run well without favoring it. This knee thing may be a blessing in disguise. Maybe I'll just work on getting my pace down on the one-mile commutes, and then build up distance little by little once it's where I want it. Just have to let go of the mileage fetish for a while.
PM: Good run home. Stretched and massaged a lot during the day, seemed to help.
Wednesday
AM: Woke up to light drizzle, decided to drive. Regretted it as soon as I arrived. The early morning run pattern is taking hold, hopefully.
PM: ST:
Squat: 2 x 1 x 265(120), 2 x 3 x 235(107), 2 x 5 x 205(93)
Bench Press: 2 x 1 x 245(111), 3/2 x 215(98), 2 x 5 x 195(88)
Neutral Pulldown: 3 x 5 x 150(68)
Face Pull: 2 x 5 x 50(23)
Cable Golf Swing 2 x 5 x 30 (14)
Pullover: 2 x 5 x 65(29)
Dips: 2 x 5 x BW@Green Band
Ab Rollout: 2 x 5 x BW
I was just going to raise the squat rep-counts by 10 pounds, but I had a good feeling, so I raised them by 20 and adopted a low-bar position. Everything went well, but on a few reps I don't think I broke parallel. I filmed myself on the triples and quintuples. I guess I'll stick to low-bar squats and heavier weights for a while. That way my squat rep counts are a barely respectable twenty pounds heavier than my bench press rep counts. Maybe I should do Ass-to-Grass front squats as one of my assistance lifts? Also, I'm not sure I should only be doing two sets per rep count with the squats. I think I need the extra two sets, one for the singles, and one for the triples, to help improve my technique, which is still far from automatic.
Bench Press went well, but I missed the third rep of the second set of triples. The third rep of the first set felt heavy, so I figured I would. Still, I liked having everything ten pounds heavier, so I'll keep it there and work on complete the triples better. The quintuples felt fine and had good bar speed.
Neutral Pulldown feels like it should either be two sets of eight, or three sets of five. Just two sets of five doesn't feel like enough, so I did an extra set.
Face Pull, did pretty light, as I haven't done these for a while and I wanted to see how my left shoulder tolerated it. Felt fine.
Cable Golf Swing was a disaster. It turned into more of a biceps curl. I'll replace it with something else, like an OH Squat or Cable Crossovers. I tried twisting crunches as a possible replacement for the rotational exercises, but I don't think there's much benefit there. Maybe I'll give up on the idea of having a rotational exercise in every workout, and just stick to Russian Twists as a normal assistance exercise.
Pullovers at 65lbs went well. I didn't do a full stretch, so it was more of a triceps extension. I'll slowly allow greater ROM as I see how my left shoulder tolerates it, then begin adding weight.
Did my dips with the green assistance band. My left shoulder didn't seem to like this, nor my right shoulder, but it's a pretty good ROM exercise, so I'll keep doing dips for a while to see if I can re-adapt to them. I haven't done in many months but they used to be fine at five reps.
Skipped the bench hop while I'm rehabbing the left knee, but got around to the Ab Rollouts. These also place a little stress on the shoulders, but I seemed OK doing them to just 120 degrees or so.
Thursday
AM: One-mile run-commute. Woke up too early, tossed and turned for 40 minutes, then decided to hit it. Run felt really good, could've gone farther, but after taking the day off on Wednesday, decided to be super cautious and see how the left knee felt later in the day. If no post-run soreness appears, I'll start adding a bit to the morning run but keep the return run in the afternoon the same, to one mile.
More AM: Mid-morning one-mile run-commute. Once again, knee felt fine.
Friday
AM: 1.5-mile run-commute. Felt pretty good, but a little something in my left knee maybe towards the end of the run. At least the early morning running routine is taking hold again, even if the distances are paltry.
PM: felt tired, walked back.
ST:
Deadlift: EMOM x 4 x 335, 2 x 3 x 315, 2 x 5 x 275
P-Row: 1 x 5 x 185, 1 x 5 x 175.
Seated OH Press: 2 x 5 x 95, 1 x 5 x 105
Tried EMOM at 335. I think physically, I may have been able to do 10 reps, but mentally, one minute wasn't enough time to recharge for a another effort. Once I'm up to 335-355, I need several minutes to gain the necessary focus. Feels like I'm recruiting every last fiber available and those first few inches of pulling require something like a leap of faith to convince myself that it's actually going to be possible to lift all that weight. Maybe if the weight had been lower I could've finished 10xEMOM, but then that kind of defeats the purpose, right? Anyway, I gave up after four reps.
Then I stupidly put two 10-pound plates on either side after subbing the 25-pound grip plates for the 45s. So it ended up equivalent to leaving the 45s on and I did ten pound more than I intended to. Still, got through it OK, although I had to reset after each rep. So I guess 315 is my new triple weight. Once again, triples felt like the true worksets. I was winded afterwards. Having done 315 triples, I decided to keep my 40-pound spacing for the quintuples and tried 275, up from 265 on Monday. Those also went up fine, and I was able to do them continuously, just touching the bar to the floor lightly at the end of each rep. So if I keep the 40-pound spacing, I guess my singles should be 355, not 345. I'll give it a shot next Wednesday, but that might be too much on a regular basis. That's basically my PR.
I tried the P-Rows a little heavy. 185 was a bit too much. I had to reset after each rep. 175 was better, but on the fourth and fifth rep my left elbow flexors felt strained. I think I might give barbell rows a break until my t-grip neutral bar arrives sometime in November. Just do DB Rows and Cable Rows. Another victory for simplification.
Seated OH Press went well. So well that I decided to increase ten pounds and add a third set. So maybe I'll go back to doing them with both a three- and a five-count, something like 2 x 3 x 115, and 2 x 5 x 105.
I skipped everything else. I had spent a lot of time in between sets monkeying around with my equipment set up, looking for ways to streamline things and get rid of the clutter.
I'm also happy to report that my left shoulder feels a lot better after a week of fairly constant massage and ROM exercises.