Training Log: Entry 2428

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 16 (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 4)


AM WORKOUT
Axle bench press 281
2x10
1x9

CG axle bench press 236
2x10
1x9

Swiss bar incline bench 200
3x10

Dips
1x27
2x20

Notes: 2:20 between sets.  This was a fantastic workout.  It's a shame to finally reach a snag on the flat bench, but the other two movements saw some serious progress, and in general I was feeling strong.  Plan for next week is to still increase weight across all movements.  29 out of 30 reps is close enough, and I run the risk of regression keeping the weight the same and trying to eek out the final rep.  As the rest times get shorter, it's a question of holding on until I can increase them again. Left elbow still hit or miss: felt myself straining it a little on the final set of dips.

Woke up at 202.6.  Stomach is upset, don't know why.  Cheat meal tonight will be stuffed crust pizza and maybe a dessert, in prep for the squatpocolypse Saturday morning.  Been thinking more, and I think I'm going to go 16 on the first set and then 7x12.  That seems to be settling better with me psychologically.

Training Log: Entry 2427

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 14 (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 2)

AM WORKOUT

Axle strict press 146
1x12
8x11*

SUPERSET W/

Band pull aparts
9x10

Axle curls 108
3x10
2x8

Notes: 3:50 between sets.  Put an asterisk on it because I had to rack the axle on the 9th rep of the final set, take a few breaths, then finish it.  Biggest x-factor was hitting the bench workout yesterday.  Woke up and the front delts were pretty pissed off.  I think coming into this fresh it woulda been no problem, but it was still a solid challenge.  Really letting the slop creep in on the curls, but it seems to be paying off.  Ran out of time for the lateral raises, might get them in later.

Woke up at 201.8.

Training Log: Entry 2426

DEEP WATER WORKOUT 13* (WEEK 4, WORKOUT 1)

AM WORKOUT

Axle bench press 276
3x10

Close grip axle bench press 236
1x10
1x9
1x7

Incline swiss bar bench 200
1x10
1x9
1x7

Dips
1x25
1x22
1x21

Notes: 2:50 between sets.  Workout rotation still a little jacked up for the holidays, but I got it all in in some way.  This is now 50lbs up on my bench since starting the program, it's getting pretty nuts.


No weigh in this morning.

Training Log: Entry 2425

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 12* (WEEK 3, WORKOUT 4)

LUNCHTIME WORKOUT

Texas Deadlift Bar touch and go deadlifts 368
1x12
8x11

Box jumps
5x10

Buffalo bar squats 225
1x20
1x10

Notes: 3:45 between sets.  Put an asterisk up because this was supposed to be the bench workout, but a slight audible called today.  Wife has company in town and schedule is getting a little adjusted, and I found myself with a large window of freetime so I decided to take it.  Kept the rest consistent between rounds: no struggling at the end.  I imagine a lunch time workout the day after Thanksgiving was a big part of it.  I've had zero high carb meals since starting the beginner program, so a day of moderate carbs with some dessert felt like rocket fuel.

I must admit I am a coward when it comes to box jumps.  Set up the plyo box again and found my mind's internal govenor preventend me from landing.  Just didn't have the confidence in it.  I have a plan though: I'm going to start from the horse stall mat next time to reduce the height slightly, and use a ROM progression approach to work up to the real height.  Focused on going for max height today with the jumps I did.

Squats looked awful, even for me. Feet were all jacked up.

Woke up at 201.0.  Need to focus on getting in more calories, as I'm soon approaching the hardest workout of the program.

Training Log: Entry 2424

PM WORKOUT

Prowler

Notes: Just going to describe this.  Wore my 45lb vest.  Low handle push 50'/reverse drag 50' twice w/150lbs loaded and zero rest, strip 50lbs off, repeat for 2 rounds, strip 50lbs off, 1 more round.  Pointing my toes forward really seemed to pay off.

Woke up at 201.6.

Training Log: Entry 2423

DEEP WATER WORKOUT  11 (WEEK 3, WORKOUT 3)

LUNCHTIME WORKOUT

Power cleans 148lbs
1x12
8x11

Chins
1x18

Notes: 3:50 between sets. First few sets of cleans were rough, but after that I found my groove.  I have "double extension" rather than triple, in that it's either my ankles and hips, hips and traps, or ankles and traps that extend, but never all 3 at the same time.  Still some manner of progress.  I owe 2 sets of clean pulls, but those are just going to be a wash.

Went for the AM workout today.  Made it through 2 sets of chins (22 and 21 reps respectively), 1 set of clean pulls and 1 set of cleans before work called me in early.  At least I wasn't halfway through the workout, as then I woulda been pissed.  I'll get it done at lunch.

That said, I think I'm going to need to move the clean pulls to the end of the workout on the weeks I do squats.  My hamstrings were feeling fine this morning, and then after 1 set of pulls they tightened right up again.  Same thing happened last time.  Puts me in a bad place for cleans.

Woke up at 200.8.  Had some bad GI issues.  Think a batch of pork ribs I made was ultimately a failure.

Training Log: Entry 2422

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 10 (WEEK 3, WORKOUT 2)

Axle push press 161
1x12
8x11

superset w/

Band pull aparts
1x12
8x11

DB lateral raise
10x35
2x10x30

Axle curls
1x50

Notes: 3:50 between sets.  Probably my best day of push presses.  Legs were absolutely shot from the squats, could barely bend them at the start, which meant I got a lot of my hips into it.  No re-racks.  Right elbow is still a little tender from my time with the tire iron yesterday, so I cut the weight off the curls and just did some reps to get blood flowing.

Woke up at 203.4.  Been a long time since I was this heavy.

Training Log: Entry 2421

Incline treadmill walking w/45lb weightvest

20 minutes
Incline 3

Notes: Started at 3.1 mph, and went up .1 every 5 minutes.  Just wanted to get in something active.  Helped my wife put on her snow tires this afternoon, and I was just feeling fried after that, so something a little low intensity sounded right.

No weigh in this morning.

Training Log: Entry 2420

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 9 (WEEK 3, WORKOUT 1)

AM WORKOUT

Buffalo bar squat 290lbs
1x12
8x11

Axle deadlift 256
3x10

SUPERSET w/

Reverse hyper 290
5x10

Notes: 3:50 between sets for the first 7 sets of squats.  For sets 8 and 9, it was resting until recovered.  I totally didn't want to do this workout.  I spent 3 hours yesterday driving through a blizzard and missed a bunch of meals, came in dehydrated, just not feeling it.  Only thing that got me through was knowing that today marks 3 years since my ACL reconstruction and I felt like I had something to prove.  I ended up failing on the final rep of the final set, but I felt like unloading the bar, re-racking it, reloading it and hitting the final squat was just as much a test of my abilities. 

Words really can't described how much this workotu sucks.

Woke up at 200.8.

Training Log: Entry 2419

DEEP WATER INTERMEIDATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 8 (WEEK 2, WORKOUT 4)

AM WORKOUT

Axle bench press 271
3x10

Axle close grip bench 231
3x10

Swiss bar incline press 200
2x10
1x8

Dips
1x31
1x26
1x22

Notes: 3:20 between sets. It’s pretty amazing how well my bench has responded to this program, as it’s very much NOT the “Deep Water” part of Deep Water. I’m up 45lbs on the bench with no real sign of slowing down. I’m definitely stealing this when time comes to break from the program.

Woke up at 201.6.

Training Log: Entry 2418

DEEP WATER WORKOUT 7 (WEEK 2, WORKOUT 3)

AM WORKOUT

Clean pulls 205
3x10

Power cleans 148
10x10

Chins
1x21 double overhand
1x20 NG

Notes: 2:50 between sets.  Opened up a cut on my knee on the 6th set

Was more annoying than anything else, but it's funny how, because of years of deadlifts, log and stones, I have no hair on my shins, and therefore the blood just flowed straight into the knee sleeve.
Cleans were MUCH better this week compared to last.  Helps that my hamstrings didn't lock up.  Focused on getting my heels off the floor and just trying to be explosive in general.  Added a little weight and shaved a minute off the rest times compared to last week.
I owe 1 more set of chins.  Will get it done on my lunch break.

Woke up at 202.6.  Been a long time since I was this heavy.

Training Log: Entry 2417


DEEP WATER WORKOUT 6 (WEEK 2, WORKOUT 2)

PM WORKOUT

Axle strict press 146lbs
10x10

superset w/

Band pull aparts
10x10


Axle curls 103
5x10

DB laterals 35
3x10

Notes: 3:45 between sets.  This was an awesome workout.  Had the day off work, had a big lunch beforehand, and really got to let out the throttle and see what I could do.  Actually upped the weight on the axle presses more than I should have based on percentages, but I went with 5/3/1 rules in that, it had been 6 weeks so I upped the max by 10lbs.  Seems to have worked out.  The curls are just plain awesome, and far more "full body", which is fine for me.  My forearms were screaming.  DB laterals just had me feeling strong.  I'm definitely slinging weight these days vs focusing on the pump, but it seems like the right move at the right time.  I'm feeling ridiculously strong, and I imagine the weight gain is a big part of that.

On that note, I weighed in at 202lbs this morning.  Significant in 2 regards.  That's 10lbs up from the start, and this is also typically where I read the "Holy crap" moment physique wise, and not in a good way.  Usually 202lbs is when I realize I've gotten too fat and need to start slimming down.  Right now, I'm certainly fatter than when I started, but still not approaching "fat" for me.  I'm seeing the telltale signs that I am creeping up in weight, but that typically happens more towards the mid to late 190s.  Means to me I still have a little room to ride this out, so I'm gonna do it and see what happens.   

---

In memory of Stan Lee, a scan from the Punisher Back to School Special #2 story "No Pain", wherein Frank ALSO overhead pressed for 100 reps before kicking the crap out of someone

Marvel comics were, and still are, a big part of my life.  It's a significant blow, but not unexpected.  Stan was 95, that's a helluva run.

Training Log: Entry 2416

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 5 (WEEK 2, WORKOUT 1)

AM WORKOUT

Texas Deadlift Bar touch and go deadlifts 368
10x10

Box jumps
5x10

Buffalo bar squats 210
2x15

Notes: 3:45 between sets.  As usual, sets 9 and 10 are where things got interesting.  Doubled rest times between sets 9 and 10, still failed on the 10th rep of the 10th set.  I am apparently in the middle of a 90s action movie, because the phrase "I ain't going down like that" came out of my mouth before I set up to finish the 100th rep.

These were the first box jumps I had done since like 2005.  I DO have a plyo box (that is actually my wife's), but it honestly seemed a bridge too far, so I jumped on all of my rubber patio tiles stacked on top of themselves.  Gained confidence as I went.  I'll give the box a try next time.

Technically supposed to be 3x10 for squats, but I had been in the gym forever at that point, and just wanted to get out.

No weigh in this morning.

Training Log: Entry 2415

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 4 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 4)

AM WORKOUT

Axle bench press 265
3x10

Close grip axle bench press 225
3x10

Swiss bar incline bench 195
3x10

Dips
1x31
1x25
1x23

Notes: 3:50 between sets.  With the extra rest time, I passed the previous plateaus I had.  Think this might be a viable general construct for progression.  Push the weight while reducing the rest time until the weight no longer moves, hold it there, then increase the rest and keep pushing the weights.  Might be onto something.  In either case, the bench keeps moving.  I set my all time highest bench in a meet while following DoggCrapp, and could never recapture that magic, which makes me wonder if I just need to train chest like a bodybuilder to see my best growth.

Woke up at 201.0.  I'm getting fluffier, but still looking the best I ever had at this bodyweight.  Normally this is when the lovehandles really start to spill over, but they're staying pretty tight to my midsection.  I'm more just becoming thicker around the middle in general, which seems better.

Training Log: Entry 2414

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 3 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 3)

AM WORKOUT

Power cleans 140lbs
10x10

NG chins
1x22

Notes: 3:50 between sets.  This was a ROUGH workout.  Yesterday, I somehow pulled something on the left side of my groin.  I have a few operating theories.  My legs are still sore from the squats on Sat, and it's possible I bizarrely compensated in an attempt to move around the soreness and pulled a muscle.  In addition, it snowed yesterday, and it's possible I slipped slightly on the ice and strained something.  Whatever the reason, it was there.  However, what really made it tough as that, when I set up to do some clean pulls at the start of the workout, both hamstrings cramped up and refused to unlock. 

I called an audible, ditched the clean pulls and jumped straight into the cleans.  I knew the weight was light enough that I could just muscle my way through the workout.  I basically had to use the barbell to pull myself down into the clean position for the first rep, which was in turn like a deadlift and jump shrug.  Once I got through the first rep, I had an eccentric phase I could use to get back into a better position, and from there the rest of the set was manageable.

These were ugly, brutal cleans, but I got through it.  Glad I got the echo bar, because my hands and shins woulda been chewed to hell on the power bar.

I still owe 2 more sets of chins.  I'll get those done today.  I also owe 3 sets of clean pulls, but I think I'm willing to call that a wash for now.

Woke up at 201.4.  I've been throttling back on the force feeding and just letting things happen.  It seems I'm pretty primed for growth right now.

Training Log: Entry 2413

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 2 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 2)

AM WORKOUT

Axle Push Press 161
10x10
superset w/


Band pull aparts
10x10


Axle cleans 88lbs
3x10

Superset in a circuit w/

DB lateral raise
10x25lbs
10x20
10x15 

Notes: 3:50 between sets.  Weight was just about perfect.  Had to re-rack after the 99th rep because my lungs ran out of air.  Closing the gap on this will be a solid challenge over the course of the program.  Time ran low, so I cut 2 sets out of the curls and just ran a circuit.

Woke up at 200.2.

Training Log: Entry 2412

PM WORKOUT

Prowler

Notes: Wore the 45lb vest, pushed on the low handles loaded w/140lbs 50', backwards dragged to start, repeat no rest, strip 50lbs and repeat.  Street was rough, I snagged on everything, it was a struggle.  Good for my soul.

Woke up at 199.6. 

Training Log: Entry 2411

DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE WORKOUT 1 (WEEK 1, WORKOUT 1)

AM WORKOUT

Buffalo Bar Squat 290
10x10

Axle deadlift 256
3x10

SUPERSET w/

Reverse hyper 270
5x10


Notes: 3:50 between sets.  In full disclosure, I failed the 10th rep of the 9th set, but I went by viking rules in that, since I failed it on the concentric rather than just racking and quitting I gave it to myself.  As a consequence though, one the buffalo bar crashed onto the pins, I immediately fell backwards into a state of torpor while quietly contemplating which seat I would take at the table in Valhalla.  As the Valkyries began to descend upon me to carry me home, it dawned on me that I still had one more set.  I have no idea how much time passed between when I hit the floor and when I got back up to strip the plates, re-rack the bar, reload the plates and then hit the final set, but I imagine it was more than 4 minutes.

Superset the deads and reverse hypers for now.  I'm fairly certain I bent one of my 105lb dumbbells I was using to anchor the reverse hyper for heavier loads, so I'll need to come up with a new solution for heavier loads.

Woke up at 199.6.  Had my weekly cheat meal yesterday, which these days is really more just eating out, as I'm still keeping the carbs super low.

Training Log: Entry 2410

DEEP WATER WORKOUT 24 (WEEK 6, WORKOUT 4, FINAL WORKOUT OF BEGINNER PROGRAM)

AM WORKOUT

Axle Bench Press 261
3x10

Close grip axle bench press 226
1x10
2x8

Swiss bar incline bench 190
1x10
1x9
1x7

Dips
1x25
2x20

Push ups
3x20

Notes: 1:50 between sets.  As long as SOMETHING improves on this workout, I'm good with it.  My bench has increased 35lbs since the start, so I'd say that's a victory.  CG and swiss are still rough after that, but it all seems to be paying off.

Woke up at 199.6 this morning.  I've been bad about getting in veggies this week. Focus has just been on meat.  I think the intermediate program should do a good job of re-kicking my ass and getting the fork back to my mouth.