I’ve been lax about updating my training log recently, but I haven’t missed any sessions. Here’s today’s session.
Deadlift:
1@7: 195 kg
4@7: 160 kg x 3 sets
2-ct. Paused Bench:
4@6: 87.5 kg x 5 sets
Deadlift wasn’t moving as well as I wanted it to today, but I got the volume that I wanted to in so I’m happy with that. The 2-ct. Paused Bench has been getting easier as I’ve done it for the last few weeks and is catching up to my competition-pause. 85 kg x 4 was RPE7 last week, so 87.5 kg being RPE6 this week was very encouraging.
Today was supposed to start with Paused Squats, but something I ate yesterday was giving me stomach troubles all night and when I woke up this morning. I decided to bench only today, which I was able to do despite feeling a bit queasy between sets.
Bench:
100 kg x 6@8 (This was supposed to be 5, counting is hard)
100 kg x 5@7.5 x 4 sets
Deadlift:
1@7: 197.5 kg
150 kg x 5@7 x 2 sets + 10s hold on last rep
2-count Paused Bench:
90 kg x 4@6 x 5 sets
Squat, no belt:
120 kg x 5@7 x 3 sets
Lat Pull Downs:
120 lbs. x 10 x 4 sets
Longish but really solid workout today. Used mixed grip on the deadlifts and that was my limiting factor today. Hook grip has been getting iffy and I still find it too uncomfortable to use for volume work, but my grip without it definitely needs work.
2-count paused bench is getting better and better each week. The weight jumps week-to-week are keeping pace with my competition/1-count pause but the RPE on each work set has dropped from 7.5 a month ago to 6 for all sets today. Very happy with how my bench is progressing in this block.
Based on some feedback from peeps in the Starting Strength Discord server, I widened my stance for some beltless squats today. Felt good.
Comp. Paused Bench:
102.5 kg x 5 x 4 sets (RPE: 7, 7.5, 7.5, 8)
Seated Rows:
130 lbs. x 10 x 4 sets
Hammer Curls:
25 lbs. x 10 x 3 sets
30 lbs. x 10
Paused squats felt hard today, I think because I didn’t do them last week. RPE on my comp bench volume sets is starting to creep up, so I’m going to keep the volume work at 102.5 for next week.
Sumo Deadlift:
150 kg x 5@6
150 kg x 4@5 x 3 sets (Hook grip @10)
Press:
60 kg x 6@7 x 3 sets
Lat Pull Downs:
130 lbs. x 10 x 4 sets
Pulled sumo today, which felt great except for my thumbs. I’m trying out hook grip with no tape to see if my grip is improved. It was feeling better by the end of the workout, but the first 2 sets were. . . unpleasant.
I’ve been pulling sumo on the bridge because I messed up my back both times I tried doing week one pulling conventional. I’ve found I can pull sumo while .my back isn’t healed enough to do conventional yet, but if the sumo pulling goes well I’m not sure if I should switch back and maybe hurt myself again,
I’m just curious cause I’ve never heard of anyone else pulling sumo around here and it seems all the programs are written for conventional by default.
Bench:
120 kg x 1@7
100 kg x 4@6 x 4 sets (last 3 sets were @7)
Hammer Curls
25 lbs. x 10 x 4 sets
Wasn’t sure how today was going to go since I took a couple of extra days off for family Christmas stuff, but Squats and Bench were good enough.
Why did you pull sumo?
I’ve been pulling sumo on the bridge because I messed up my back both times I tried doing week one pulling conventional. I’ve found I can pull sumo while .my back isn’t healed enough to do conventional yet, but if the sumo pulling goes well I’m not sure if I should switch back and maybe hurt myself again,
I’m just curious cause I’ve never heard of anyone else pulling sumo around here and it seems all the programs are written for conventional by default.
Mostly just to change things up a bit. I’m including sumo in my variation rotation (with Paused DLs and Deficit DLs currently). I’m also trying to get decently good form for sumo so that I can test it vs. my conventional pull to see which is stronger, but that will be waiting til some time after my next meet in Feb.
If you’re going to be a sumo cheater it makes sense that you are also a hookgrip cheater so I would recommend sticking with it.
You should try just doing the first or last rep of each set with hookgrip. 4x3 of hookgrip sounds… unpleasant indeed.
Sumo is always cheating, even when it’s a variation. Hook grip may be cheating, but it makes you pay dearly for the benefit at least. TBH it doesn’t hurt at all anymore if I tape my thumbs, but I’ve had a bit of slipping recently when I’ve taped my thumbs. I suspect I’ll get used to the pain again, maybe I’ll tape up for volume work and go full raw on singles?
Deadlift:
1@8: 190 kg
0@10: 200 kg (failed)
4@8: 160 kg
Sumo:
4@6: 160 kg x 2 sets
2-ct. Paused Bench:
4@6: 92.5 kg x 4 sets
Deadlift was awful today. 190 kg was supposed to be my last warmup, but it was RPE8. I decided to go for 200 kg anyway and couldn’t break the floor. I switched to sumo after one volume set and it moved much better, so that’s a plus I guess.
Bench was much better. The 2-count pause feels like it’s going to catch up with competition pause, at least for volume work.
Squats were rough, but I haven’t done enough volume on the competition lift recently so I’m paying for that a bit now. I called the last set RPE9 because the last rep felt like a grind-it-out 10, but on video it didn’t slow as much as I thought it did.
Bench continues to explode, hit a 5-rep PR at 110 kg and it was definitely RPE8. The pauses were sketchy on some of the reps, but were enough that it wasn’t really touch ‘n’ go.
The rows were fatiguing mostly because I haven’t done sets of 10 on barbell lifts in ages.
Starting 2018 on the right foot I think, I’m looking forward to seeing how strong I can get this year. Last year was the year I started to train and I made progress that I didn’t think was possible. The gains will surely be less this year (I’m not adding 300 lbs. to my Squat and Deadlift this year, lol), but I’m resolved to get as strong as I can.
Comp. Press:
5@6: 60 kg
5@7: 62.5 kg
5@8: 65 kg x 2 sets
3-0-3 Squats:
7@7: 110 kg
8@8: 110 kg
Sumo continues to feel strong. The set-o-fahve was done with straps for the first four reps and hook for the last rep with a 5-count hold at the top.
Press felt pretty decent today, I haven’t lost much strength on it even though I haven’t trained it consistently over the last couple of months.
3-0-3 Squats suck, as always. But they’re also effective AF. These were supposed to be for sets of 10, but I put too much weight on the bar and didn’t want to unload it due to time constraints, so I cut a few reps off. This is supposed to be a “low stress” week anyway, so I’m okay with skipping a few reps to keep fatigue in line.
Squat, no belt:
4@7: 120 kg
4@8: 130 kg
4@9: 135 kg
Slingshot Bench:
4@7: 120 kg
4@8: 122.5 kg
4@9: 125 kg
Sumo w/ Bands:
4@8: 150 kg + orange bands x 2 sets
Squats went decently, I was hoping 130 kg would be my RPE7 set, but my legs were still fatigued from yesterday and it was definitely RPE 8.
This was the first time I’ve ever used a slingshot and I liked it a lot. Felt kinda shaky at first, but I got used to it after the first set.
Totally overshot my first work set for deads + bands. I thought 150 kg + orange bands would be a solid RPE7, but it was definitely RPE8. So, I repeated the set and called it a day to keep training stress on the lower side.
Squats yesterday were rough, I think the lower total stress over the holiday season caught up with me. Oh well, onwards and upwards! Bench was great yesterday and Sumo continues to progress very well. I had to move the Squat movement today to another day this week due to A) a gnarly quad cramp in my last press set, and B) running out of time in the gym this morning.
Squat, no belt:
4@7: 130 kg
4@8: 135 kg
4@9: 140 kg
Slingshot Bench:
4@7: 120 kg
4@8: 125 kg
4@9: 130 kg
Close-Grip Incline Bench:
10@7: 50 kg
10@8: 60 kg
10@9: 70 kg
RDLs:
10@7: 70 kg
10@8: 75 kg
10@9: 80 kg
Squats and slingshot bench were great today. I haven’t done incline bench at all in a few years, so I had no idea what weights I would end up at. Pretty happy with 70 kg x 10@9 for a starting point.
RDLs on the other hand were awful and my lower back was killing me between sets. I’m going to sub these out for something else, possibly a combo of pull downs and seated rows to get some additional back work in to complement pulling sumo.
Hey man. Just catching up on your logs here. Have you had issues with RDL’s historically? Can’t tell without seeing the lift but you may be having some issues loading the hamstrings.
I used to get low back issues doing those all the time. I curled myself constantly to push my hips back instead of just bending over and it helped a lot. Just like in the squat pushing the hips back helps load the posterior chain.
Pull downs and rows wont hit the same muscles as the RDL’s. Good exercises just not going to hit the same things.
Maybe throw a form video up here and we can see what’s up?
Hi Neel, thanks for the tips! I’m sure it’s form breakdown that was causing my back to hurt, probably due to them being last in the workout (and I had awful sleep the night before), but unfortunately I didn’t record them. I’ve done them in the past, but not recently and never for high (7+) reps.
I know pull downs and rows aren’t 1:1 with RDLs and I’m leaning toward either a different DL variation or moving Monday’s Pendlay Rows to Thursday to save a little time and scratch the RDLs altogether. Maybe another option would be just doing lower reps for them (5-6) since the first half of the sets did feel better form-wise.
Sumo w/ orange bands:
4@7: 140 kg
4@8: 147.5 kg
4@9: 152.5 kg
Close-grip Bench:
4@7: 95 kg
4@8: 100 kg
4@9: 105 kg
SSB Squats:
6@7: 82 kg
6@8: 92 kg
6@9: 102 kg
Moved the starting weight down on banded DLs today and it was definitely the right call.
Close-grip bench was a lot stronger than I expected it to be. After warming up I took 90 kg for my first set and expected that to be RPE7 but it was easily RPE6. 105 kg may have even been 8.5 rather than 9. Bench has been progressing great on all fronts for the last couple of months and I’m loving it.
SSB Squats were in place of tempo squats for 10s and were a bit humbling. I’ve never used the SSB before but had heard that it tries to fold you at the bottom. It does and having to fight that will be good for my squat I think since I have a tendency to get pitched forward at the bottom.
