+10% day

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 95 x 5
  • 115 x 4
  • 135 x 3
  • 165 x 2
  • 185 x 1
  • 150 x 15
  • 150 x 6
• DB Bench Press
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 8
  • 50 x 8
  • 50 x 6
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
• Seated DB Press
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
• Rope Pushdowns
  • 20 x 100
• 20 minutes on the elliptical

It’s said that 80% of your sessions should be “good”. That they are what they are, you do what you need to do, all works out well. That’s good. Then 10% will be crap, and 10% will be stellar. That you shouldn’t judge by the 10%’s because they are exceptions. True enough. Today? Felt like a +10% day. It was great. Since last week, I’ve been rethinking some of my diet approach, made some small tweaks, and I think today’s excellent session was directly related to those tweaks. It’s too soon to comment much more — need a lot more time. But we shall see, and I’m hopeful.

I intended to go up 5# across the work-up on inclines, but knew due to the changes I could do more. So I went for 10 across the board. That 185 was easy. I even opted to stay at the 150 for the reps, and that was a LOT more reps than I did last week. So yeah, this gives me some good feedback.

Everything else got adjusted too. Some weight up, some weight stable, but just trying to keep it so it pushed things. Actual weight doesn’t matter, so long as I’m getting proper work. and work I did.

What was great was feeling worked and running out of steam because the muscles were actually exhausted — my triceps were peeding out. It was great! This is as opposed to everything not being worked, but just being flat out of gas due to dietary choices.

And yes… I feel like a loser for continuing on the elliptical, but I gotta say that I’m kinda liking it. First, the regular session goes pretty quickly because I’m resting maybe 1 minute between sets. I just move from one thing to the next and keep going. Helps keep things short, and I find it’s keeping my heart rate “up”. And then the elliptical seems to keep my heart rate in the same zone (if I take strides at a particular rate). And you know… the reading I’m doing to pass the time is nice. I’m reading the magazines at the gym, and because they are things I wouldn’t normally read but are still intellectually stimulating (i.e. I’m not reading “People”), it’s kinda nice for the old brain. I may keep this up because a little mental break like that is kinda nice. And if 20 minutes of this is going to help me, fine. I will say, it does hurt a fair bit… the plantar fasciitis gets aggravated pretty heavily. But well, we’ll just see how this goes.

Anyways, time will tell.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Chins
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
• BB Rows
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 6
• Shrugs
  • 145 x 20
  • 145 x 20
  • 145 x 20
  • 145 x 20
• Close-grip Pulldowns
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 8
• BB Curls
  • 20 x 100
• 20 minutes on the elliptical

Today went well. I’m finding a groove with this workout. I still feel like I need to do more, or something different. I dunno… I don’t necessarily feel like my back is getting worked heavily. I’m not sure what it is. I do recall t-bar rows really felt productive so who knows, I might switch to those. I will say the close-grip pulldowns kinda hurt my shoulder sockets… not sure why. Maybe I’ll switch to a wider grip, ligher weight and more reps, or just dump ’em and do t-bars or something. 🙂

But all in all, good.

As the ankle improves, so will the program change.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
• One-Legged Bulgarian Split Squats
  • BW x 10 (each leg)
  • BW x 5e
  • BW x 5e
• Leg Press
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 20 x 15 (straight)
  • 20 x 15 (out)
  • 20 x 12 (in)
• Elliptical
  • 20 minutes

My ankle is getting better, no question. It’s not out of the woods yet, but I can see progress.

So, I opted to try modifying the session to be closer to the LRB template I’m ultimately wanting to follow.

Squat was fine. It feels better at the bottom, the dorsiflexion is improving.

I switched to stiff-legged deadlifts. Again, this is from the proper template. No idea what weight to use, and I’m not going heavy on things yet. But there was 135 on the bar from squats, so I just put the bar on the floor and did that. Certainly could go up, but this was good.

Then…. the one-legged split squats. GEEZ! I wanted to do some one-leg work because I think that will be a help for the ankle. While the template says lunges, that’s going to be a little too impactful on my ankle yet. But these? Holy crap! First set I held onto something for balance, but found I was using it too much to help me go up and down. So the other sets were me just sticking my arms out for balance and dealing with it. I like that better, because it’s my legs that must do the work. I also think the balance work is going to help with the ankle. Make the ankle area work and get stronger. I’ll increase the reps and sets over time. These really suck, but they should be good for me. The goal being 100 reps (I think 50 per leg).

The leg press is again from the template proper. I left the sled empty (it’s still somewhat heavy) just to see how it would fare on the ankle. Not bad. There was a little more issue at the bottom, the dorsiflexion, but I think if I keep this light for a bit, it should help in that area.

Finally… no KB swings. My body said “no”. All the other stuff I did did take enough out of me, and something about the positioning on the leg press left my hips feeling funny. The swings wouldn’t have helped my situation. But I’m going to do something every session, so 20 minutes of slow steady on the elliptical. Not proud to have done it but I’m going to do something, durn-it!

KB swings are going to be the death of me. 🙂

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 4
  • 125 x 3
  • 155 x 2
  • 175 x 1
  • 150 x 12
  • 150 x 6
• DB Bench Press
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 8
  • 50 x 8
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 75 x 8
  • 75 x 8
  • 75 x 8
• Seated DB Press
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
• Rope Pushdowns
  • 20 x 100
• KB swings
  • 35# db
  • swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds
  • 10 times
• Foam Rolling

On the session:

Overall felt good. I’m liking the template of exercises to weights to progression. I feel like I get things properly worked. I dig it. I do think that if I stick with this template for a while, I might do something like every 6 weeks swap something… like instead of the BNP do some sort of pec flies instead. But just minor changes.

I will tweak the weights a bit more next week, but I’m getting things dialed in.

KB swings are going to be the death of me. Went up to 35# today and 5# makes such a difference… geez! I do hope these will pay off in conditioning, helping my ankle, and leaning out.

On my ankle:

Spent all day Saturday standing and walking around on it. It managed pretty well. There are still some small things, like the dorsiflexion, but even that seems to be improving. I am thinking I might want to add some one-legged split-squats to try to help me overcome any sort of preference/compensation towards my right (and keeping things off my left). But all in all, feeling better. I will keep going slowly tho.

On my diet/leaning:

I don’t know. I’m frustrated. If I look in the mirror, I swear it looks like I’m leaning out… could be fooling myself. But on the scale, nope. In fact, I appear to have gone up a bit. WTF? I’m working to adjust my macros and basically just eat less. I’m also looking at options for more conditioning work that will be friendly to my ankle rehab. I refuse to give up, but damnit I’m feeling so defeated right now. But that’s when you gotta fall back, reassess, regroup, figure out what’s wrong, fix it, continue forward.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Chins
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x .75
• BB Rows
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 7
• Shrugs
  • 140 x 20
  • 140 x 20
  • 140 x 20
  • 140 x 20
• Close-grip Pulldowns
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 8
• BB Curls
  • 20 x 100
• KB swings
  • 30# db
  • swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds
  • 10 times

I like the adjustments.

Yeah, I suck at chins, but I’ll just keep doing them and someday I won’t suck. Putting emphasis on the negative.

Did regular BB rows… so the back is just above parallel, and a little body english permissable. But still have to get full range of motion, etc.. I want these to be the heavier movement here, so yeah… a little more weight, a little more “what it takes” to get it to happen. That should be alright.

The KB swings are kicking my ass, but that’s good. I will probably go up to 35# and see how things go. I hate them, but I think they’re going to do a lot for me. Not just conditioning, but for my ankle too.

Speaking of the diet….

It’s not working.

I actually appear to have regained some weight. WTF?

Yes, I’m frustrated. I don’t know what gives. The best I can think at this point is macros.

I’m adjusting my macros. It doesn’t take much. Like instead of 6 whole eggs in the morning, 3 whole and 3 whites. Instead of 2 sausage patties, just 1. And then a little less cream in my coffee. I’m also dropping some of the morning whey. Right there that drops me like 400-500 calories! That should be a sufficient first step. Between that and the KB swings well…. maybe things will get back on track.

Boring… but admittedly useful.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 95 x 10
• Deadlift
  • 65 x 10
  • 65 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Leg Extensions
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
• Leg Curls
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 20 x 10
  • 20 x 10
  • 20 x 10
• KB swings
  • 30# db
  • swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds
  • 10 times

I really hate these days… squatting 95#? Ugh. But so be it.

The ankle is feeling better. I walked to/from the gym, not a slow mosey, but not a brisk walk either. I kept a good pace and the ankle was mostly ok with it (some discomfort grew on the walk home).

Dorsiflexion continues to have some limits. I played with it some. It’s not limited due to tight calves or anything (if anything, my left has more range than my right, in this regard). It’s something up front that’s “in the way”. This is consistent with the injury. I don’t know if this is something I can improve or it may just be how things are going to be forever. Still, I’m going to have my at-home daily rehab work focus some more on that range and area to see what I can do. Meantime, I will keep weights light, but I’m going to start increasing a little bit… like next week I’ll probably do something like 2xBW, 2xbar, then 1×95, 1×115, 1×135. I do want my Wednesdays to put more stress on it to signal the body to adapt, but again, keep it slow. Reps are very slow, very methodical… I’m not focused so much on the squat as I am feeling my body, where is it moving, how it is moving, am I compensating (e.g. leaning more on my right), and other such things to just try to get this ankle better.

So… yeah… it’s boring, but it’s just how it goes for now. I am looking forward to when I can do more tho. Higher rep squats should be something novel and killer for me.

I also think calf raises are going to become a staple movement. I’m going to keep working up here to more reps/sets, weight doesn’t matter much. Going slow, feeling everything, ensuring I don’t fuck the ankle, good stretch at the bottom, good range, etc.. Today I even tried 1 set toes forward, 1 set toes out, 1 set toes in. Not so much to try to “hit all the angles” but more to see if there was any range or movement issues with the ankle; I think toes in may actually be good for me for rehab, given what I was feeling. Or more to the point, ensuring I get up not on my big toe, but onto my pinky toe.

KB swings. I opted to drop hypers because the swings should hit all the same stuff and give me greater benefit. Plus, the way the apparatus requires me to hook the back of my heels, it just causes too many weird forces on my ankle, which I don’t need right now. I dropped weight down to 30# but upped it to 10 rounds. I liked that. I would rather have 10 rounds. I do think 35# may be better, but I’ll just keep it here for a couple more sessions and see if today was just a fluke or if I’m getting into the groove of the movement and can progress. Oddly, I think this may also do well for my ankle, in terms of stability needs.

All in all, it’s about training economy, towards what will help me still achieve my goals (getting leaner), but also to help my ankle get better so I can train normally.

I’m liking this.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 80 x 5
  • 100 x 4
  • 120 x 3
  • 150 x 2
  • 170 x 1
  • 145 x 15
  • 145 x 8
• DB Bench Press
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
  • 45e x 10
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 70 x 8
  • 70 x 8
  • 70 x 8
• Seated DB Press
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
  • 30 x 10
• Rope Pushdowns
  • 15 x 100
• KB swings
  • 40# db
  • swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds
  • 6 times

This is feeling alright. I am liking this change in program, and think it will suit me well for a while. I’m still getting in the groove of it tho. On the one hand, just getting the weights, reps, and numbers right. I’m close, and hopefully next week I’ll have things dialed in enough to officially start down the “rep progression” route. It’s also the movements, because I’ve been so used to the Wendler 5/3/1 approach for what? 2.5 years? everything’s different and it takes a little getting used to.

But I also like it. I think the change has a good psychological impact I hadn’t considered. You get caught up in numbers. You’re trying to get stronger, so you want to see your numbers go up in the weight and reps (to a lesser extent). With the CarbNite stuff, my numbers went down — no way they wouldn’t. It’s a little depressing, but you know to put it aside. Well, changing the exercises I’m doing, changing the routine, that totally changes the numbers you work with. So I have no reference point… no way to say “oh man, my numbers are blah blah compared to blah blah”. My numbers now are what they are. And yea, they are nothing like the stuff I saw this past weekend watching the RUM7 stream (wow, what a show!), but hey… at least I can’t get caught up in the crap of myself any more. Things just wind up being what they are.

So, I’ve got some minor tweaks to make, but all in all things are looking good.

Oh and KB swings? Holy crap those are kicking my ass. I actually didn’t do the full setup like I wrote… because on the last sets I was just peeding out. I’m not sure if I should lower the weight and work up “more reps”? or if I should just keep going as it is. When in doubt, I’ll stay the course, but I do wonder if maybe I should try dropping down to 30 or 35# to see if I can get 10 minutes out of it without dying, then build up.

That was different.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Chins
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1
  • BW x almost 1
  • BW x almost 1 (yes, I suck)
• Pendlay Rows
  • 115 x 8
  • 115 x 8
  • 115 x 8
  • 115 x 8
  • 115 x 8
• Shrugs
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
• Close-grip Pulldowns
  • 110 x 8
  • 120 x 8
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
• BB Curls
  • 20 x 100
• Kettlebell (well, dumbbell) swings
  • 40# db
  • swing for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds
  • 6 times
• Foam Rolling

Today was interesting on a few levels.

First, doing just a “back/pull” workout was novel, as I’ve been so used to doing upper body work all on the same day. And in a weird way, it didn’t feel like I got enough volume. I suspect that’s in part because I suck at chin-ups. As you can see, I could get 1 good one, then could get my chin almost to the bar but not over it… yeah, I suck. I made the best of it tho, making sure to do very slow negatives (e.g. 10 count to lower myself). I will eventually not suck…. either because I got stronger, or because I’ve lost enough weight, or preferrably both. 🙂

So due to the lack of volume there, I’m not doing the template precisely as Paul laid out — added (and going to keep adding) extra sets on the other exercises just to get enough volume. A lot of this week wasn’t about being productive as much as figuring out the program.

Some weights were good, others were adjusted. I actually think the heavy pulldowns won’t happen, but not sure. My shoulders did not like them, but I’m not sure if it’s true dislike or just that I usually do pulldowns with lighter weight for more reps. I will play with this.

I might actually see about doing the rows less strict with more weight then the pulldowns stricter, lighter, more reps.

My ankle was fine with all of this, which was relevant. I mean, holding that 135# for the shrugs was no problem (tho I picked the bar off a rack, not the floor, just to be safe). Hopefully this means I can do a little more work and my ankle be happy.

And with that, by welcome timing T-Nation posted an article yesterday about “maximal fat loss, minimal equipment“. In short, kettlebell swings with some other work. See, I can’t really do much for cardio because it all involves things that my ankle can’t really handle right now (e.g. sprints aren’t going to happen, farmers walks neither, jumping, running, etc..). But this? This I can do. There’s no movement, and frankly if I can’t do these for some ankle or other physical reason, then I can’t deadlift nor squat either, y’know? While the gym doesn’t have any kettlebells, I just held a dumbbbell and did the same motion. I opted to start simple today and just swing: 30 seconds of swing, 30 seconds of rest. I was aiming for 10 minutes, but after 6 rounds enough things in my body said “stop, else you risk hurting something”. I’ll work up to it. I figure if I can work up to 10 minutes of this, then I can up the weight, then I can up the intensity with other things.

This I can do.

I may wind up hating it. But you know, I’m getting enough stuff put in front of my face that are saying “suck it up, man”. By chance I reread something from Dave Tate where he spoke about how he couldn’t squat… back could squat a grand, but the rest of him couldn’t, beause his abs sucked. He hates sled drags, he hates ab work, but he did it because he knew he had to — and he was happy with the end results. And so yeah, that’s what I need. My end results are leaning out, and if shit like KB swings or other cardio will get me there? Suck it up. And if KB swings can be intensive enough cardio that I can do it for 10-15 minutes 3x week (end of each gym session) and be done? fine… better than 60 boring minutes on a treadmill.

Gonna give it a try.