Modified day.

With my grandmother’s funeral this weekend, I had to make some adjustments so I could get some work in. Opted to just deadlift and press today. That gets the basic work in. Not ideal, but neither are circumstances. No big deal tho, you just do what you can and over the long run it all works out.

That said, it wasn’t the greatest day either. 🙂 I should have been able to get more pressing reps but it just didn’t happen: the 5th rep was a tough one. And with deadlifts, I should have been able to crank out to 10, but I got to 8, felt “good enough” and just stopped. I was not in the groove at all, and not sure what exactly to attribute it to but I do know my brain is elsewhere (all the planning and running around I have to do to prep for the trip). It’s what it was tho. In the end I got the basic work, and that’s the main thing.

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 75 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 120 x 5
  • 140 x 5
  • 155 x 5
• Deadlift
  • 155 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 235 x 3
  • 255 x 5
  • 290 x 5
  • 330 x 8

Today was pretty good, with modifications.

I was most interested in how today would go with regards to the arm/shoulder pain, as bench pressing seems to be the worst for it. I also opted to modify my approach, taking a cue from Paul Carter’s rep approach: 5,4,3,2,1,AMRAP (vs. the 5/3/1 5,5,3,5,5,5+). It dovetails pretty nicely. It would be a little less volume during the work-up, to hopefully avoid aggravating the issue. Save it all for the top set.

All in all, it worked well to do this. I did start to feel some pain, but not as much. The pain was mostly focused in my lower biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis. But there was some pain in my upper back/rotator area. Is it from the work done last Friday? Is it from the reduced volume? Hard to tell, but probably a little of both.

That said, things didn’t feel great; good, but not great. I felt a little stiff, a little shakey/unstable — for sure, my shoulder is at the root of all of this. My feeling at this point is to continue this abridged approach, preserve myself as much as possible, and try for the 1RM workup conservatively. If I don’t set a PR, then I don’t. Just do the best I can, take what I can, and go from there. The worst that it means is I have a longer road ahead (fine), and when I reset and recalculate my percentages I’d be working at a lighter weight, which will probably do me good anyways. So, it’ll be what it’ll be.

Otherwise, things felt good today. DB inclines didn’t give me trouble, and the pain reduced as the sets went along. I am trying to focus on all assistance work, having it be “the muscle moving” instead of anything else contributing to the movement. So reps are dropping, and I may drop the weight some too. But for now, I really want to get myself into that bodybuilding mindset.

5/3/1-based program

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 105 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 225 x 10
• Incline DB Press
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
• Cable Rows
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 8
• Shrugs
  • 215 x 12
  • 215 x 12
  • 215 x 9
• Rope-handle Pressdowns
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 9
• BB Curls
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 10
  • 65 x 8

Despite forgetting my belt, today was excellent.

First, update on my shoulder/arm pain. I feel MUCH better. Had my first session on Friday and still today everything feels good and loose. I’m working to find ways to keep my pectoralis minor stretched, as that’s for sure the main culprit. Continuing to evolve my warm-up accordingly.

In terms of getting under the bar for squatting, I’m still a ways away in terms of the mobility needed, but I am continuing to adjust my form. So elbows are back instead of down (i.e. forearms closer to parallel to the floor than perpendicular). There’s a lot of disagreement on this “in the community”, but I’m taking that Mark Rippetoe approach here because yes it means less pressure on the arms/elbows/shoulders — precisely what I need. I still have a thumbless grip, but the wrists are bent as it’s just going to take time to get to a straight-wrist position; but I will keep working towards that mobility. But either way, the main goal is to keep pressure off the arms.

But in the end? I have no pain. I experienced zero pain or aggravation during my squat sessions today. Most awesome. Tomorrow when I bench press will be interesting.

I did forget my belt today. Ugh. The gym has a belt, but it’s one of those cheap Everlast belts. It’s like 5mm thin, old, maybe 3″ wide in the back and 2″ in the front, double-prong, flimsy…. ugh. But it’s better than nothing. I wore it, but reversed it (so the buckle was on my back and the wider part of the belt across my abs).

And so, I worked up to 8 reps at 285, which surprised me. I take my approach: 1 rep at a time. I just kept going and everything felt good, so I kept going. When I finished 8 I felt like I could do 9 and it might grind a wee bit and 10 would certainly grind, so I went ahead and racked it at 8. That’s still really good given how I’ve been going, the progression of things. I’m really surprised and happy about it.

Is it because of the pain reduction? The form change? The fact I’ve been working on my sleep and getting a little bit more of it the past few weeks? That I took last week as a deload and the break did me good? That I carbed up just right this past weekend? Or it’s just solid progression? Who knows. But I’m happy.

Everything else just continues to be — it’s assistance work. But that said, RDL’s I continue to focus more on form than weight. I’ll probably stay at 165 a little longer and see about going a little deeper, getting a little more range and form. But so far so good.

Happy day.

5/3/1-based program

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 220 x 5
  • 250 x 5
  • 285 x 8 (8RM PR)
• Romanian Deadlift
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
• Crunches
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 85 x 12
  • 85 x 12
  • 85 x 8

Here endeth the deload week.

I’m glad I took it as I think my body appreciated it. I’ve been working on posture, additional and specific mobility and rehab work on my arms/shoulders, adjusted a few things in my office so I can sit better during the day, and my shoulders/arms are feeling better. I’m also going to start seeing someone today to get some body work done in hopes that aids the process. We shall see.

Things felt good today, and I’m really looking forward to this next cycle. I’m starting to think that the 1+ week will actually wind up being a testing week and not a true 1+ week. I’m good with that, as it caps things off, then lets me take the week between Christmas and New Years to just relax, stay out of the gym, and get myself ready for the gear change.

In specific, I really am liking the Arnold Press. Again, if I focus on not pressing the weight — which mentally shifts focus to the arms and pushing the weight up — but instead focus as if it’s about rotating at the shoulder, contracting the anterior delt and upper back muscles to rotate upwards, MAN… that works things so different and nice. That shift in how you execute makes a huge difference.

Same with the chest-supported rows. Really works things well when you focus on the back and moving “from the shoulders/elbows”.

So to that, my thinking towards the gear change — about being more hypertrophy focused to combat the cut diet — about trying to really focus more on the muscles, really try to take more of a bodybuilding mentality. It’s going to be challenging, but I suspect I’ll get more out of it if I do. I find this mentality creeping into my work now, and it sure works things differently. Good stuff.

5/3/1-based program

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 70 x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 5
  • 110 x 5
• Arnold Press
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
• Chest Supported DB Rows
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
• Straight-arm Lat Pulldowns
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
• Cable Lateral Raises
  • 20 x 12
  • 20 x 12
• Machine Triceps
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 15
• DB Curls (alternate, neutral-to-supinated hand while curling)
  • 35e x 12
  • 35e x 11

Nothing to write home about. It’s deloading.

I did mess up on the top-sets tho. Was to do 230, did 260 – data entry typo. 🙂

In other news, I am going to start seeing someone tomorrow about my shoulder/arm issues. Again, the more I investigate and discuss the issue, the more I am sure it’s shoulder/upper-back issues. I also am growing in support of the notion that posture has been the silent contributor, and lifting just exposed it. So I’m really working to address posture issues, throughout my day.

For example, I’m going to see if I can rearrange some things in my office so I can perhaps stand part of the day. While one can still slouch a bit while standing, it’s nothing as bad as one can get while sitting.

The main problem for me is sticking with it. I often have these cycles of posture fail then posture correct, repeat. I need to make this a constant. I have to work on it. I have to improve on it, probably more so than getting my lifting numbers up, y’know?

5/3/1-based program

• Deadlift
  • 150 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 260 x 5
  • 260 x 5
• Walking Lunges
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
• Leg Curls
  • 45 x 12
  • 45 x 12
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

My shoulder/arm issues flared up a little bit today. For sure, pressing seems to hit it more. But is it truly pressing? or is it that the weight is directly upon those areas? Again, like with squats, if I grip the bar in a manner that doesn’t put weight on my arms (e.g. elbows back instead of under the bar), no real issues.

That all said, it’s made me think about a way to manage it a bit.

I’m thinking about keeping the general 5/3/1 progression, but changing the rep scheme to be more like Paul Carter’s 5,4,3,2,1 approach. Yes, then it’s not truly 5/3/1 but that’s fine. I would keep the sets and weight progressions the same, but swap Paul’s rep scheme for Jim’s. So of the 5 basic sets, it’d be 5/4/3/2/1, then the 6th set would remain a PR set with the goal of at least prescribed reps but more if I’m feeling good. When you step back and look at the way Jim and Paul program things respectively, they really are very close and I think this could be workable. The intention here is to see if reduction in volume helps minimize aggrevation of the issue, yet still getting work in, y’know?

This would just be for bench press, at least right now. I don’t feel a need to do this for anything else, tho press might get it if it winds up being an issue as well (tho so far pressing hasn’t been, which is curious). Going to try it for this next 3-week cycle and see how it goes, then I’ll see what happens after that (because things will be changing anyways due to cutting diet).

Anyways, apart from that it’s just a deload day.

But I did start to think a little more about my programming on the cut. I’m thinking about taking an approach based around the 5/3/1 Powerlifting “off-season for mass” approach, tho perhaps not strictly that book template. Reason is, I will get more out of things like lunges than leg press, so it’s not about the template as much as the underlying philosophy. And I am thinking about reducing to 3x/week because I recall from prior cuts that it was nice to “pare back” then give myself somewhere to go later on in the cut when things got harder. So with 3 days that means 3 days of “eating” and 4 of reduced intake. When things cut back pretty hard, then I can up to 4x/week so I can have another day of eating. That helped both mentally and in terms of progress.

Another thing? Trying to focus more on the eccentric. As it is, I do control the eccentric, but I don’t CARE about the eccentric, if you will. Basically lowering the weight is just something I have to do so I can lift the weight again. I mean, we ask “do you even lift?” we don’t ask “do you even lower?”, y’know? It’s about lifting, not lowering. BUT the eccentric can have a pronounced effect on mass building. Again, it’s a cut so I don’t expect to build mass, but I need to do everything possible to preserve it. Basically my approach is that the eccentric is something I do so I can get back to the concentric. Well, now I need to make the mental shift — and stick with it — that the concentric it something I do so I can get back to the eccentric. It won’t really take anything away from the concentric, but it will make sure I put more into the eccentric and squeeze more out of it.

Bunch of ideas floating in my head. Things are starting to gel.

5/3/1-based program

• Bench Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 130 x 5
  • 130 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 155 x 5
• Incline DB Press
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
  • 50e x 10
• Cable Rows
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
• Shrugs
  • 205 x 15
  • 205 x 15
• Rope-handle Pressdowns
  • 65 x 12
• EZ-Bar Curls
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

Taking this week as a deload. Normally I’d be going into the 2nd part of a 6-week cycle, but given the shoulder/arm issues I figured a deload week would be wise. I want to finish the year on a good note.

That said, squatting today went well. While I still have a ways to go to get the level of mobility needed for false grip and truly straight wrists, I continue to work towards it. Even tho I don’t have that ideal setup yet, I push myself into it as far as I can to work on the stretch. What I noticed today is while my wrists were still somewhat bent, I’m getting more of an angle where my elbows are behind me — think arms more parallel to the ground than perpendicular. Is this ideal? I see so many different takes on “ideal squat form” that who knows. But what I CAN say is this is doing one thing I want, which is ensuring the bar weight is NOT being supported by my arms; there’s no way I could press the weight off me. The arms/hands for sure are keeping the bar in place on my back, but are not truly supporting the weight.

As a result, I felt NO aggrevation of the shoulder/arm issues today. Granted the weights were light and usually the pain doesn’t show up until later, but sometimes it shows up when things are light because I’m hitting things just right – well, really just wrong. 😉 So, this is good! I’ll continue to work on the mobility aspects, but in the meantime I’ll take “reduction of pressure” as a good thing too. I mean, ultimately that is how things should be when I get the proper grip, y’know? Just not as acute.

What will be more telling will be tomorrow’s bench session. It’ll be light, but the past couple bench sessions have aggrevated things right from the get go, so we’ll see.

5/3/1-based program

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Romanian Deadlift
  • 165 x 10
  • 165 x 10
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 12
  • BW x 12
• Crunches
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 80 x 12
  • 80 x 12

Lifetime PR set!

Pressed (overhead) 170 lb. for 3 reps today. My previous best was 165… some time ago for 1 rep, then 2, and about a month ago I did it for 5 reps. So all PR’s in and of themselves, but 170 makes for a place I’ve never been before. And extra cool I did it for 3 reps.

I wonder if I could have gotten 4. A couple problems. First, I was very excited. I knew as I put up 135 then 155 that 170 was going to happen easily. Good confidence going in. But then as I pressed, I just got happy and excited and lost focus. 🙂 So second, my bar path was not very efficient. I doubt I’d have gotten more than a 4th rep, and I might have even been able to grind out the 4th. But, this isn’t about grinding.

All in all, felt quite happy. Press is one of the hardest movements for me to progress on, so moving ahead like this really makes me happy.

What was extra nice was my arm/shoulder pain not being much of an issue. It’s there, but didn’t get in the way nor get all that bad today. One thing I wonder about is I was watching a video:

Start around 6:45. All those arm/shoulder things. No WAY am I as flexible as Meg, but it’s good stuff and I’m working it into my warmup. And I’m not sure if it was in that video or some other one, but basically a weighted stretch. Think about standing up, then letting your back “curl” down (i.e. not a flat back), towards touching toes. Then I just held an empty bar in my hands and let it dangle. Basically it’s opening up my lower back and pulling my shoulders forward some, with just a little bit of tension. I would just dangle like this, then maybe “roll” up my spine into a fully-upright position (still letting the bar just hang), then roll down and hang there. Boy, I really felt stretch in my rotator cuff muscles like you wouldn’t believe. REALLY good stuff. I’ve done various stretches that “pull” my arms and shoulders out, but for some reason this particular movement hit things differently and in a really good way. I did this in between every set of pressing today and well, don’t know if it helped with the pains, but it sure feels like a great thing to adopt.

Anyways…

So Pressing was awesome.

Arnold Presses took a different approach too. Think about this. When you think the Arnold Press you think about the “untwisting”. And so when you twist something like that, where do you think you initiate the movement from? The forearm/wrist, right? Well, when I started to do Arnold’s again a few weeks ago, I took a cue from exrx.net to instead think about shoulder abduction instead of forearm pronation. Great thing, and if you focus that way it makes a difference. Today I added another change: to think about pressing upwards not by “pressing” – which will involve a lot of triceps – but instead think about lifting up by “rotating” from the shoulder. So in that bottom position it’s just anterior deltoid and upper back muscles contracting. Letting THAT be what raises the upper arm, kinda like a crane. Don’t think about actually pressing, y’know? Makes a big difference.

Chest-supported DB rows continue to be cool. As long as I keep it light and really work the back — again, I’m not pulling, I’m contracting the back, shoulder muscles, etc. moving from the elbows, etc.. Huge difference.

All in all, good stuff today. Just felt great. +10% day.

Thank you Thankgiving Apple Pie. 😉

That all said, I am going to break from the 6-week pattern and take next week as a deload for the sake of my shoulders/arms. I will still hit the gym, just going light and reduced. Then 1 more cycle, 1RM testing with hopefully some new lifetime PR’s, and then… cutting.

5/3/1-based program

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 70 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 3 (3RM PR – lifetime best)
• Arnold Press
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 6
• Chest-supported DB Row
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 12
  • 45e x 10
• Straight-arm Lat Pulldowns
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 10
• Cable Lateral Raises
  • 20 x 15
  • 20 x 12
  • 20 x 10
• Machine triceps Press
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 12
• DB Curls (alternate, neutral-to-supinated hand while curling)
  • 35e x 12
  • 35e x 11
  • 35e x 8

Pretty good day. Gotta earn that turkey, right? 😉

Deadlifting continues to go well. As always, working on form, sitting back more when I lift, pushing the hips through, and generally trying to do things better to get stronger — even if I lift less weight. My back is stronger than my hips/posterior chain so….

I hate lunges, but they are good for me. And everything else is just solid assistance work.

As I get closer to wrapping up this leg of my training I start thinking ahead to what’s next. For sure I’m going to be hopping back on a serious Renaissance Periodization-based cut diet to shed some of the fluff I’ve acquired. In doing so, a “mass building” training program is best. So something like 5/3/1-Powerlifting’s off-season mass program is a good philosophy to follow. Thing is, I’ve wondered about instead switching to some Paul Carter stuff, like basebuilding or Paul’s mass philosophies. The more I thought about it tho, really they wind up being about the same thing. Paul starts with a big movement (e.g. bench press or squat), you work up to some weight (what he calls “over-warm-up”), then back off and do work sets. Well, that’s not much different from something like a 5/3/1, just hitting prescribed reps, then doing something like a first-set-last. Slight differences sure, but fundamentally the same approach.

And what I’m also thinking? Because of the wear-and-tear I’m accumulating, trying to really take more of a bodybuilding approach. So yeah, work the main movement as it works, but then take the assistance work, really drop the weights down, and really focus on not even the slightest bit of momentum, strict-strict-strict form, mind-muscle connection, really making that muscle do the work, eccentric focus, and so on. Not really my favorite way to train, but I am thinking this may be good for me for the 3-months or so that I’m doing the cut diet. Still thinking.

Anyways, good day.

5/3/1-based program

• Deadlift
  • 150 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 260 x 3
  • 285 x 5
  • 325 x 3
  • 360 x 8
• Walking Lunges
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
• Leg Curls
  • 45 x 12
  • 45 x 12
  • 45 x 12
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 15
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 10