Aquarian's 531 odyssey
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| Aquarian |  | Mon CGBP | 09-12-2014 @ 00:27 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | For once slept well the last 2 days. Did it help - the jury is out as you'll see. So last two days, iced the pecs under the arms (no idea if this is a good or bad idea but I did it in the past with pec strains and it seemed to help), rubbed in some arnica gel into the pecs and elbows, and wore a sweatshirt all day to keep the chest and elbows warm as well as wearing my elbow sleeve for 3-4 hours. Did f*** all help! CGBP Warmups 20x20,40x10,60x6,80x4,100x3,120x2 - apart from the first set all others were lovely and painful! Main pain was in unracking the bar. Working Sets 140x2,150x2,160x2,170x2,180x1,185x0.99 - only on the 180 set did the pain subside and I actually felt strong. On the 185 attempt I got it comfortably over the catches but couldn't lock out fully - probably 1in from full lockout. Would definitely have gotten this if I had gone for it first, but wasn't even sure I could get 180 and I got it easily in the end. Elbows weren't too bad - got another elbow sleeve and wore it on the left elbow - which is only very slightly sore but thought it best to be careful in case it gets worse. Push Press Warmups 20x10 - ouch sharp pain in left knee but did some full squats and it was fine. 40x6,60x3,80x2,100x1 - took a wider stance and dipped and pressed slower to protect right hip. Working Sets 110x2,120x2,130x1.5(missed 2nd rep backwards - lost balance),140x1 - last set wasn't too bad but had to lean back a lot to lock it out. Shrugs (Wide grip) 20x10,60x10,100x10,140x6,180x10(straps),220x5 - bit of elbow pain doing this with a wide grip. Curls (ez-bar) 14x10,24x10,34x10,44x8,49x5,39x10 - ok. So finally I realised I have reached the limit as far as benching goes - after I finish off the next three bench sessions (1 doubles workout and 2 max effort ones) I'm going to either take a complete break from benching or reduce the weight to next to nothing and do a lot of light volume for 2-4 weeks to get rid of the soreness. Obviously the strength is still there but the soreness has gotten worse and not going until I'm right at my limit strength and sooner or later it will lead to an injury. And in cold weather it's going to struggle to get better unless it's properly rested. I think I can just about pull off the 200kg bench and maybe 187.5 or so on the close grip next week. Will aim for 195 on the bench this week in 4 days time. If it gets much worse though then I will just stop after the next bench session. Probably a good idea to consider cutting down overhead pressing too - push press wasn't too bad - except the very top of the lockout - and the hip was painful but better than last time. In the future I may have to reconsider all the volume - I think unracking a heavy-ish bar for 6-9 sets may be the main reason for the pec and elbow problems so cutting a few sets on the triples workout and going up 10kg rather than 5 may be the answer. I was thinking of doing this anyway on the squats and deads as it was getting quite exhausting. Next up LBBS - hopefully hip won't be a problem as it wasn't last time I did LBBS. | ||
| ChrisMcCarthy | | ... | 09-12-2014 @ 11:06 |
Lost his pen, then found his pen. #phew Member 4899, 2956 posts | Sounds like a sensible plan. | ||
| Aquarian | | Wed LBBS | 11-12-2014 @ 00:29 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Felt a bit crappy pre workout probably a bit sleep deprived as usual. LBBS Warmups 20x10,60x10,100x6,140x3,180x2,200x1 - last week had no pain doing these, this week I could feel the glute - not hip or quad as I thought initially - getting worse through the sets. Working Sets (loose belt) 210x2,220x2,230x2,240x2,250x1 - quite painful mainly when pushing up from the bottom. Still managed to do 250 without too much strain. On the plus side the new technique keeping the upper back tight definitely helped a lot and I consciously made the effort to straighten out by pushing the head into the bar when I started to stall, rather than continuing to go forwards as in the past. That will probably be the last heavy squat I do this year - I'll probably keep the weight to 140 or less and just do sets of 6-12 bodybuilding style - but still squatting to full depth - for a few weeks to let this niggle get better. Rack Pulls As I was doing the squats the gym owner gave me a print out of an email exchange with a new neighbour of the gym. He was complaining about heavy vibrations coming from the gym and based on the date and time of the noises it was determined that i was the culprit! So I did my rack pulls in the other rack further away from this chap's residence and he still complained! Amazingly neither the trains going overhead every 2 minutes - we are right under the railway arch - or the oly lifters dropping weights from their shoulders every 10s or the handful of big deadlifters doing pulls bothers him! So the gym owner is looking into getting blocks for me but I told him I'm fine doing Romanians or Pause deads instead. So this may be my last rack pull for a while! Anyway... Warmups 20x10,60x6,100x4,140x4,180x3,220x1,260x1 - all ok. Working Sets 280x2 - each rep done with a dead stop so as not to disturb the peace! 300x1,1 - 2nd rep down with straps. Didn't want to make too much noise after all! 320x2 - gym owner was there when I did these and he didnt think they were too noisy! So long beloved rack pull, you have served me well, even if I have lost a fair bit of skin and tweaked the odd bicep and back in the process! Ah well one door slams in your face and another one opens eh? Maybe switching to a different assistance movement for the dl may help with the lockout better than rack pulls - which to be fair I didn't really do for the lockout - just nice holding 50kg more weight in my hands than I'll ever come close to pulling from the floor  So bit annoying the glute problem flared up here but I kind of expected it due to the nature of most of these niggles and injuries. Hopefully it will not become an issue on the deads too. Meantime I will cut the weight back on the squats for a few weeks or a month or so, cut out the push press and foam roll and heat/ice the problem away. Next up BP/SOHP - the plan is 195/135 what I maxed on 2 weeks ago. I foam rolled the pecs today after training and they feel a bit better but I'm expecting a lot of soreness again. But hopefully can manage another 3 bench workouts before I deload. Otherwise I may just dig out my copy of Beef It and take a giant leap back into my sordid past! Lat raises, tricep kickbacks and leg extensions here I come... | ||
| Aquarian | | Fri BP | 13-12-2014 @ 00:37 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Thankfully slept well last 2 days and temp was a bit milder too. Yesterday first time rubbed in a bit of deep heat into pec minors. Rubbed in more before lifting today - would advise anyone to go conservative with the deep heat in sensitive parts - under the arms is definitely a sensitive part! Burned like a b**ch for some time before it settled down! BP Warmups 20x20,40x10,60x6,80x4,100x3,120x2 - all fine, pec felt a lot better, elbow was almost painless. Working Sets 145x2,155x2,165x2,175x2 - all were quite easy, felt the pec a bit on the 175 so decided not to jump straight into 195. 185x1 - little bit slower than I wanted. 192.5x1 - pretty much on the limit. 99% sure if I had gone 175 to 195 in one go would have gotten it but will probably do me good to go slightly lighter today. Strict Overhead Press Warmups 20x10,40x6,60x3,80x2 - Elbow as usual flared up on these. Probably should have put deep heat on them before starting. Working Sets 100x2,110x2,120x2,132.5x1 - could have done 135 but again decided to leave a bit in the tank for next week. Seated Rows 180x10,240x10,300x10,360x10,420x6 - felt a bit easier than usual. No pec or elbow pain on these. Barbell Curls (olympic bar) 20x10,30x10,40x10,50x4 - should have done 45 rather than 50 but otherwise ok. So pleased the pec was a lot better today, elbow was fine on the bench but not the ohp. The plan was to stop benching after next week and just do overheads but since I probably need to drop the push press and the strict overhead is pretty painful - if the pecs get a bit better I may just keep benching and drop the overheads. I'll see how it goes, if it gets a bit milder I should get less pain. Next week I'll go for either 197.5/137.5 or 200/140 - I think I can just about get the latter if the pecs and elbow hold up. Next up dead max on Sunday - 295 again - will be tough doing it earlier in the day but has to be done - and some light/moderate high bar or front squats. | ||
| Aquarian | | Sun DL Max | 14-12-2014 @ 22:03 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Firstly I slept fine the last 2 days so no excuses there. But Sunday workouts usually suck due to training 4 hours earlier than norm - and deads or squats on Sundays are even worse. No way around it - I train every 2 days that means 1 Sunday workout every 2 weeks - and I can't train much earlier on weekdays to make the transition to Sundays better. Just have to accept that I will be a bit weaker on Sundays and adjust expectations and weights accordingly. Deadlifts Warmups 60x10,100x6,140x3,180x2,220x1 - from 60 onwards just felt slightly off. 220 the grip was going on the right hand - which is extremely rare not had any grip problems for months. Working Sets 240x3 - again grip went on the 2nd rep and had to readjust for the 3rd. Later discovered belt was 1 notch too loose. I was thinking it was a bit too easy getting into position - had I lost weight? Ha not likely! 270x2 - as above except after 1st rep. Not exactly confidence building! 290x0.9 - predictably, even going 5kg lighter, grip was going on the right. Not my day just felt flat and couldn't get a solid grip on the bar for some reason. HBBS (all beltless) 20x10,60x6,100x4,140x3,180x2,200x2,210x1 - apart from the last set on which I possibly came down too fast, the others were fine pain wise. I came down very slow, almost paused at the bottom and came up without much pain. An improvement over the last time. I think I may just stick around 200 and do as many reps with it as possible. Also may stay beltless to encourage me to do it slowly and with near-perfect technique. Ah well not a great dl session - something was clearly off. Maybe due to the Sunday training, maybe something else. On the plus side I can keep the squats around the 200 level without pain so won't lose too much there. Pec and elbow feeling a lot better today (famous last words no doubt!) so maybe just maybe will go for a pb on the cgbp in 2 days (my best is 186) - hoping for 187.5. Push press IDK if I will be able to go heavy on that but will try to do over 140. | ||
| Aquarian | | Tue CGBP Max | 17-12-2014 @ 00:14 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Not the best night's sleep as I had to get up earlier than norm but could've been worse. Shortly after waking up just walking in the flat got a sharp pain on the outside of the left knee. Never felt anything like that before. I thought I was a goner but luckily most of the pain went after an hour or so and didn't feel it again until I was walking back from the gym to the tube station. It's ok now but may flare up tomorrow when walking. No issues squatting or push pressing or bending the knee so fingers crossed it's just one of those 24 hour weird pains. CGBP Warmups(deep heat applied to both pecs but not elbow) 20x20,40x10,60x6,80x4,100x3,120x2 - pecs were fine, elbow was sore throughout, mainly in the unrack. Working Sets 140x3 - easy 160x2 - pretty easy 187.9ish(bar is 20.4kg)x0.99! - missed full lockout by around 1in - but got it comfortably over the catches. Would have been a new pb but I'm sure I would've gotten 186.5 or even 187! Push Press Warmups 20x10,40x6,60x3,80x2 - all ok, leg was fine I only dipped a couple of inches and exploded up as hard as possible and didn't feel any pain in the leg. Working Sets 100x3,120x2,140x1,147.5x0 - All were pretty easy, on the last one I didn't unrack it very cleanly and that may have cost me some strength but I probably still wouldn't have gotten it. Shrugs(narrow grip) 20x10,60x10,100x10,140x6,180x10(straps),220x8,240x6 - bit stronger on these than usual. Barbell Curls (ez bar) 14x10,24x10,34x10,44x10,49x5 - all ok. Not too bad - other than the elbow pain on the cgbp, pecs were fine and leg was fine on the pp. Bench strength looks on target for at least 197.5 on sat and I am leaning towards continuing benching after that since the pec is considerably better and only the elbow is still an issue on the cgbp and ohp. If it gets a bit milder the elbow may be less of an issue. Next up LBBS and some new DL Lockout assistance movement - undecided as yet what that will be. On the LBBS will just go as heavy as I can without the leg hurting so probably between 200 and 220. | ||
| ChrisMcCarthy | | ... | 17-12-2014 @ 10:57 |
Lost his pen, then found his pen. #phew Member 4899, 2956 posts | Ha, thought you would keep bencing!! I am now not suprised when things start to hurt randomly and then clear up without explanation... | ||
| Aquarian | | ... | 17-12-2014 @ 13:28 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | ChrisMcCarthy said:Ha, thought you would keep bencing!! I was seriously going to stop after the bench max on Sat but the pecs have gotten better - deep heat and wearing a sweatshirt has definitely helped - and the elbow only hurts on the close grip and strict overhead and even there the pain goes down after a few working sets. Still a chance it may get worse again but I think the risk of a acute injury has gone down. I am now not suprised when things start to hurt randomly and then clear up without explanation... Yeah it's pretty much the norm for me too but still scares me when it happens, especially when it comes to the knees - have had a lot of grief with them over the years and when it affects my ability to walk it makes me wonder how much longer I can carry all this weight and keep pushing myself. So far today no pain but walking later tonight so we'll see! | ||
| ChrisMcCarthy | | ... | 17-12-2014 @ 14:42 |
Lost his pen, then found his pen. #phew Member 4899, 2956 posts | I wonder if just working up to your penultimate sets for a couple of weeks might not be a good idea. I certainly understand the urge to push it when things are otherwise going well however! | ||
| Aquarian | | ... | 17-12-2014 @ 16:05 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | ChrisMcCarthy said:I wonder if just working up to your penultimate sets for a couple of weeks might not be a good idea. I certainly understand the urge to push it when things are otherwise going well however! On the squat I'm going to do this because the pain just gets worse as I go heavier. I've started going down much slower which has helped but still can't do much more than 200 or so before the pain kicks in. On the bench and overhead the pain actually gets better as I go heavier and afterwards is almost completely gone. But I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks or so and adjust accordingly. I may tinker with the cgbp and ohp - maybe start getting a lift-off on the former and take a wider grip on the latter - to cut down the strain on the elbow. But I'd like to get a 140 strict overhead before I do so and I'm probably 2.5kg away from this right now. Sometimes you have to go for the short term gain and accept the long term pain | ||
| Aquarian | | Thurs LBBS 'Max' | 19-12-2014 @ 00:23 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Not so much a max session as a max session without pain on the lbbs! LBBS Warmups 20x10,60x10,100x4,140x3,180x2,200x1 - ok, felt a bit of pain from the start but it didn't get worse and 200 actually felt really good. Wide stance and coming down really slowly and almost pausing at the bottom. Before getting 200 out of the blue had sharp knee pain in the left knee (not the same as 2 days ago) but just did some bodyweight high bar style squats and it cleared up. Working Sets 220x3(belt) - straight away this felt painful so should've stopped at 1. 200x1,210x1,220x1,180x1 - did these all beltless. I think my limit here will be 200 for a while unless I really cut depth to just below parallel or do box squats - neither of which I am keen to do. The first tends to give me sore knees after a while and the 2nd a sore back. So I will probably just stick to 200 for a while and consider going even lighter if there is no improvement after a month or so. Block Pulls First time ever! Took some time to set this up and had to stand on 3 rubber mats to get the right height - probably could've taken a mat off and still comfortably below the knees. Warmups 20x10,60x6,100x4,140x3,180x3,220x3 Working Sets 260x3 - pretty easy but felt a bit of pain in left bicep - possibly bent the arm a bit. 300x0.9 - just missed lockout, probably thinking a bit too much about the bicep. 300x1 - straps, easy. 340x1 - pretty easy, could've done 345 I think. Well I found these easier to do as you can take the slack out of the bar. But were a pain to setup and take the plates off afterwards. Thought about doing trap bar deads or romanian or pause pulls as well and may try them out too in the coming weeks. Next up BP/OHP max - going for 197.5/137.5 - there's a lot of people wanting me to do 200/140 but I'm going to go conservative partly due to being pretty sore and also not in a rush to do them. A pb is a pb after all! | ||
| Aquarian | | Sat BP Max | 20-12-2014 @ 21:54 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | End of a pretty long week. Bit stressed yesterday at work and ate a bit less. BP Warmups 20x20,40x10,60x6,80x4,100x3,120x2 - ok, not awe-inspiring, just ok! Working Sets 150x3 - ok, pecs felt sore. 172x2 - 2nd rep was a bit slow and uneven. 197.9x0.95 - dithered between going for 196.4 and 197.9 and went for the later at the 12th hour! Missed lockout by 2in. Strict Overhead Press Warmups 20x10,40x6,60x3,80x2 - elbow strangely enough felt better on these. Working Sets 97.5x3 - ok 117.5x2 - felt slow and mis-grooved. Not much power from the shoulders or legs. 127.5x1 - maybe could'be done 130-132.5 but just didn't want to go heavier. Seated Rows 180x10,240x10,300x10,360x10,420x6 - usual! Barbell Curls (olympic bar) 20x10,30x10,40x10,45x5 - ok. Disappointing end to a disappointing week. Clearly feeling weak today as I had nothing left by the time I got to the ohp. Bench wasn't too bad considering this. Next week I will cut down the volume a bit on the deads and bench as I under-performed on both and pecs and elbows need a bit of a deload. Gym is closed Boxing Day too so will get an extra day off - I think I've earned it! | ||
| Aquarian | | Mon DL | 22-12-2014 @ 22:20 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Picked up a new niggle - inside of the left knee - sharp pain when walking but it disappears after 5 mins or so. Pretty sure this was after the block pulls I did last week. Decided to cut the volume by 1/3 or so. DL Warmups 60x10,100x6,140x3,180x2,220x1 - all ok, no grip problems so far. Working Sets 230x3 - very easy. 250x3 - easy. 270x2,1 - ok but split left ring finger in the bottom 3rd. 280x0 - bizarre, just totally lost my shape and almost round backed it. No idea what happened there just got it above the knees. Well so much for the lower volume approach! HBBS (all Paused) 20x10,60x10,100x6,140x3,180x2,200x1,220x1(belted) - 220 was a b**ch and painful, the rest were ok. Not a great success with lowering the volume on the deads - I think I need a certain amount of volume before I feel switched on. Pause squats were better in terms of the glute pain so I'll persist with these for now. Next up...I may or may not close grip bench - leaning towards not - so hope I won't change my mind at the last minute. If I don't will just start with push press. I need about 2-3 weeks off benching to let the pecs heal up and it would be smart to start now with xmas around the corner. | ||
| Aquarian | | xmas eve workout | 24-12-2014 @ 23:47 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | I'd made my mind up to finally stop benching for a while - almost backed out at the last minute but a few timely reminders from my aching pecs made me wise up and take the medicine I'd been avoiding for so long. Push Press Warmups 20x10,40x6,60x3,80x2 - all ok, bit of pain in the elbow locking out but nothing major. Working Sets 100x3,110x3,120x3,130x3,140x0x3 - all were smooth and easy until the 130 where 2/3 reps (first and last) were ugly. I thought I'd get at least 1 with 140 but none of the attempts was close. So despite not benching around 5k kilos before all I got was one extra lousy rep with 130! Wide Grip Press Behind Neck - grip was thumb outside outer ring. 20x10,40x6,60x3,80x2,90x0 - none of these was very comfortable on either the elbows or shoulders - I could've grinded out 90 but would've been painful and potentially dangerous. I won't do these again! Wide Grip Overhead Press - grip was around 2-3in wider on both sides than my normal strict overhead grip. 90x1,100x1,110x1,120x1,130x1 - apart from the last lift which was a bona fide bent press the rest were pretty easy and very easy on the elbow. I'll do these again next week on the other bench workout. Power Snatch/Power Clean - alternated between the 2. 25x2,30x2,40x2,50x2 - not bad at all, first time ever doing power snatches. Hadn't done power cleans in almost a year after injuring myself casually doing 60kg! Could have gone a lot heavier but started to cramp in the right hamstring and was having to lower the weights rather than drop them to avoid upsetting our irate neighbour! Barbell Curls (ez) 14x10,24x10,34x10,44x5 - started getting a lot of forearm pain in these from 24 onwards so I think I will give these a rest for a while. IDK if I can do the olympic bar ones but they also give me sore wrists so may drop both for a bit. That was a fun and interesting workout - glad I dropped the cgbp - much less elbow pain and hopefully in 2-3 weeks the pecs will be fine. I may just do wide grip benching once a week when I restart and drop the cgbp to avoid inflaming the elbow and also be able to do more volume on that. I think maybe doing a lot of volume twice a week on fairly similar lifts may be a bad idea. Loved the oly lifting and surprised I was able to do the snatches that well - my shoulder flexibility isn't great but I had no problem lifting the bar over my body and even a bit behind it. Will continue with these and see how much I can build up to. I think 80/120 on the power snatch/power clean should be possible before the tech and lack of flexibility become an issue. Well now 3 days off and then back to LBBS and I may try doing some clean grip front squats too and see if they are easier on the glute. Merry xmas all! | ||
| Aquarian | | First post xmas session | 27-12-2014 @ 22:36 |
Member 2782, 456 posts SQ 262.5, BP 195, DL 310767.5 kgs @ 113kgs UnEq | Good to be back after 3 days off! LBBS (all beltless) 20x10,60x10,100x6,140x3,180x2,200x1,210x1,220x1 - pain was fine until the last one. pity as 220 felt pretty light and could have done over 230. Tech was good, squeezing the shoulder blades together is really keeping the upper back tight and stopping it rounding. I'll stick with singles here and just try and increase it slowly until it hurts and then stop there. After this I experimented with front squats and couldn't get the clean grip to work even going very wide couldn't keep the elbows up properly so was pretty much holding the bar in the hands. Glute felt no better doing these either. Didn't want to rack pull even though the gym owner has given permission to do these - I think doing block pulls injured the inside of my left knee and they're too fiddly to setup. Tried sumo dls but my glute started to b**ch straight away so no go. Tried deficits but with my short arms and big gut they felt pretty impossible to do standing on a 25kg bumper. Finally decided to do some good old fashioned snatch/wide grip pulls. Started off with the hands outside the rings on the Texas Deadlift bar but this was pulling me too low and aggravating the glute so ended up with the pinkie on the ring - about 4in wider on both sides compared to my normal dl grip. Wide Grip Deadlifts 60x6,100x4,140x3,180x2,220x1,240x1,260x1 - all beltless, felt my back a bit on 260! 270x1(belted) - ok not too bad. Only downer was my left knee pain returned and felt it a few times when walking around in the gym and outside afterwards. Bit of a concern but it seems to go away after a while so don't know what it is - will massage and ice/heat it and see how it goes. It will be interesting to see how this affects my regular deadlift in 4 days - wouldn't be surprised if I feel stronger pulling off the floor twice a week - I'll keep this session low volume and just try and build up to a non-grinding max. Should be ok as I'm not squatting heavy for a while. Next up Wide grip strict overhead, power snatches and cleans and the rest I'll make up as I go along! | ||
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