Timmy: The Quest for 315

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout IX
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 @ BW
  Dips: 11, 7, 5, 4, 3, 3 @ BW
  
  Superset B
  DB Shoulder Press: 2 @ 15 lbs; 4x6 @ 35 lbs (+1 rep, all sets)
  One-Armed DB Row: 4x6 @ 50 lbs
  
  Superset C
  Neutral-Grip Face Pull: 3x12 @ 70 lbs (+10 lbs)
  DB Press to Raise: 3x12 @ 15 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 163 lbs (+.6 lbs; weekly average of 162.3 lbs)

Chins are coming along.

Shoulder Presses are coming along. I'll probably increase the weight. Same with rows.

Steadily increasing the weight for face pulls. I'm going slow to ensure I'm doing true horizontal abduction, rather than lowering my arm and going into extension.

And I'm gaining weight. Good. Good.

Adjustments: Level up shoulder press to 40 lbs, level up rows to 55 lbs, level up face pulls to 80 lbs. I'll probably add weight to the press-to-raise, but I'll drop the rep range a little.

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout X
  
  Deficit Deadlift (Off 6 inch platform):
  4 @ 135 lbs
  5x4 @ 215 lbs
  
  BB Front Squat:
  4 @ 95 lbs
  3x2 @ 165 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 162.4 lbs (-.6 lb; weekly average of 162.6 lbs)

Ow. My ass tingles again.

Straight grip through first two sets, then alternated. I felt fine through first four sets, matching what I did last workout. I decided against increasing the weight. I figured that a pain in my rump was a message from my body. I should listen to it. First rep of fifth set was a grinder, but the rest of the reps were fine. And after that, my ass hurt a bit. Having gotten sufficient volume, I ditched the sixth set so I could get in a few front squats.

I did my front squat warm-up slow, but an aching ass still effected me. Okay, it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't squat, but it was impending. After three sets, my body didn't want to do any more.

Weight is a pound up from last Saturday. Steady as she goes.

I was thinking about volume. Those deadlifts add up to 4300 lbs. I realized that was actually less than a set of 3x12 @ 155 lbs squats. (Which would add up to 5580 lbs.) Eh, I'm not going to get too caught up in little shit. I'm lifting heavier per rep than I have in a long time. It's good for the soul.

It's important to find the happy medium between listening to your body, and trudging on.

Adjustments: I'll probably increase to 225 lbs, anyway. Maybe drop back to triples. I'll try to be more aggressive on front squats. Man, that's hard after deadlifts. I just have to trust myself a little more. NO PAIN! NO PAIN!

[TimmyTM]

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout XI
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 9, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3 @ BW
  Dips: 10, 7, 4, 4, 3, 3 @ BW
  
  Superset B
  DB Shoulder Press: 3 @ 15 lbs; 4x3 @ 40 lbs (+5 lbs)
  One-Armed DB Row: 3 @ 20 lbs; 4x4 @ 55 lbs (+5 lbs)
  
  Superset C
  Neutral-Grip Face Pull: 3x12 @ 80 lbs (+10 lbs)
  DB Press to Raise: 3x6 @ 20 lbs (+5 lbs)
  
  current bodyweight: 161.2 lbs (-1.2 lbs; weekly average of 162.25 lbs)

Nine chins on the first set. I'll try to get ten in the first set on Friday. I haven't done ten chins in over a year. Of course, chins are easier than pull-ups. But shh. I feel like the top portion is slowly getting easier. Typically I end up stopping at the bottom of the rep. If I can get halfway up, I can just struggle to get my chin up over the bar. But below that, forget it.

With all the focus I have on chins, I'm probably not putting as much effort into dips. I try to make sure I lock out completely at the top of the rep, so I don't screw up my form. I've also been trying to depress my scapula at the top of the rep, rather than just letting myself hang between my shoulders. First set, I don't care about. I do care about not having such a drastic rep drop-off. I'd swear I read somewhere that the lats are used in dips. It's possible.

I strained my neck a little on the fifth set of chins. Not the first time I've done that. Maybe I'll break out my kinesiology book and figure out what it is. Didn't effect the rest of my workout, but I can't rotate or laterally flex my neck to the right all the way. It's a minor thing. I gotta watch what my neck is doing when I do chins, damn it.

My right arm/shoulder still feels a little weird during rows. On the bright side, if I keep my scapula stable, and pull directly back (rather than cheating and rotating in), it feels okay. Meaning, don't cheat your form.

I wasn't expecting to be able to face pull so much. It's getting near the weight I bent-over row! I had to work for the reps on the third set, so I'm assuming I'll hit a wall at 90 lbs.

Adjustments: Ten chins! Ten chins! If I do make it to ten, I think I'll cap my reps there, and see if I can bring up my second set to match. I don't think I have time to pull it off, but if I could do three sets of ten, I'd be awesome.

[slimsaw00]

you've got the 10 chins twice next time for sure man. are you getting sore from all the chins/dips?

before starting what I'm doing right now I just had an impromptu gym session and I tried to do 25 pullups. . . needless to say I failed; and damn was I sore fore a couple days.

Nice work man!



-Matt

[TimmyTM]

First week or so, I was sore like I'd never been sore before. My chest AND my lats. I was stretching like crazy. Now? I feel a pump after the first superset, but that's about it. It's amazing how our bodies adapt.

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout XII
  
  Deficit Deadlift (Off 6 inch platform):
  4 @ 135 lbs
  4, 4, 4, 4, 1* @ 225 lbs
  F, F @ 225 lbs (from floor)
  
  DB Lunges:
  3x8 @ 35 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 162.4 lbs (+1.2 lb; weekly average of 162.25 lbs)

Massive glute pain. At least, it was. Again, the first pull is the hardest, and the subsequent reps aren't nearly as hard. It's really strange.

The good squat rack was taken, so I just found and empty spot on the floor. Man, I'm never doing that again. It took me at least ten minutes to put the plates on and off. Pain in the ass.

Fifth set, I hit one of the pegs on the outside of the squat cage. No injury, but that threw my concentration, so I stopped the set.

I felt like I couldn't pull anything else. So I thought I'd just see how many times I could pull 225 from the floor. Low and behold, I couldn't. That seems strange. Deficits are supposed to make pulling from the floor easier, not harder. Unless I literaly ran out of gas and didn't have the energy for it. I don't know, I was resting way longer than I should have, waiting for the pain to dissapate.

I tossed in some easy lunges, because there was no way I could do front squats.

Adjustments: Get a damn squat rack next time, I don't give a shit. Even if it means I'm doing it on the track. Keep the weight at 225 lbs. Either next week or the week after, I'll deload. I'll base it on how I feel.

[TimmyTM]

I had a dream last night that I went to Barnes and Noble to look for New Rules of Lifting. There were a whole bunch of them intermingled with Book of Muscle. What's scary is that the NROL cover had the actual cover to it, as I've seen it on Amazon before.

Why can't I dream of naked females with large posteriors? Sigh.

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout XIII
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 2 @ BW
  Dips: 10, 7, 6, 4, 4, 2 @ BW
  
  Superset B
  DB Shoulder Press: 3 @ 15 lbs; 4x4 @ 40 lbs (+1 rep)
  One-Armed DB Row: 3 @ 20 lbs; 4x3 @ 55 lbs
  
  Superset C
  Neutral-Grip Face Pull: 12, 11, 10 @ 90 lbs (+10 lbs)
  DB Press to Raise: 3x6 @ 20 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 162.6 lbs (+.2 lbs; weekly average of 162.15 lbs)

I've noticed that every time I get one more rep on the initial set of chins, there's a drop-off on the rest of the sets. Relatively speaking. I'm going to cap the first set at 10 (woohoo!) and see if I can get that second set stronger.

There were a pair of girls doing chin-ups. It was towards the end of my sets, and I heard her partner counting out five or six reps. She finished and I said to them, "You're doing more chins than me!" Her partner said, "You should see her do dips." I'll always be reminded of how I randomly knocked out 11 chin-ups in High School - weighing 125 lbs. If I dropped 35 pounds and kept all my muscle, I'd do far more than ten chins. Though, I'm not even sure if I COULD lose 35 pounds. Conservatively, if my bodyfat is 15%, if I went down to 0% bodyfat, I'd weigh around 137 lbs. Hrm, math is fun.

Shoulder presses are being magical. And I can not understand why my right arm is feeling weaker during rows. Maybe I use it more during chin-ups, who knows. It didn't feel weird at all today. For the sake of warm-up, I've been doing some quick external rotations with a 5 lb plate prior to chins.

I'm really loving face pulls.

Adjustments: New month. I want to hit 165 lbs by the end of the month. I want to see if I can do 10/8/6 for my first three sets of chins. Soon.

[ParanoidAndroid]

nice rows

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout XIV
  
  Deficit Deadlift (Off 6 inch platform):
  4 @ 135 lbs
  4, 4, 4, 4, F @ 225 lbs
  
  DB Lunges:
  3x8 @ 40 lbs (+5 lbs)
  
  current bodyweight: 162.2 lbs (-.4 lb; weekly average of 162.1 lbs)

Hit failure on the fifth set. I actually got it off the ground a few inches, but that was all she wrote. I let it come back to the ground, and marked down the F on my notecard. Hrm. I wonder if we should be annotating "M" for miss rather than "F" for fail. :: shrugs ::

I noticed that in recent pulls, I wasn't breathing properly. I caught myself breathing during reps. I forget when I noticed this. In fact, watching my breathing didn't even occur to me until I got in the gym. I have a lot of little tidbits floating in my head when I pull. "Heels through the floor." "Don't waste too much energy lowering the weight." Heh, I don't drop the weight, but I do spend too much time gingerly lowering the weight.

Anyway, I tried bringing the bar over my feet, literally tucking them under the bar. This seems to be where the bar ends up when I lower it, so that should be my starting position. I took a deep breath, grabbed the bar, and exhaled as I pulled. I swear, I could feel a difference.

I had two delimiters for ending this phase. One: I pull 245 from a deficit. Two: I hit failure on deadlifts. There's nothing complicated about this. I wanted to pull from a deficit, and see how far I could take it. There's three reasons I wanted to do it like this. One: My sticking point seemed to be the floor. So I wanted to work the floor. Two: It had been a while since I've deadlifted. They say you can't train the deadlift directly. I say my problem is partly mental. I needed to just get down and start pulling. Three: Again, it had been a while since I last deadlifted. I wanted to go slowly and deliberately, to make sure I didn't hurt myself. My grip's okay and my back feels dandy. If I had any blaring weak points in my posterior chain, I'd assume I knocked them all out in the process.

This coming Tuesday, I'll return to the floor, and see what I'm made of. Then I'll take a week off. (Technically six days, as I intend to lift on the following Monday.) I have no need to do any sort of max effort day for my upper body, I'll just do it as usual. I'll probably do a little dicking around in the gym next Saturday, but only a little bit. I'm overdue to show my dad a new workout. I decided I can't see him making it through HGM, so I'll just try to create something he can't screw up.

Adjustments: While 255 lbs would break my PR, I'm hoping for 275 lbs. I'll probably do:

3 @ 135 lbs
2 @ 225 lbs
1 @ 255 lbs
1 @ 265 lbs
etc

While I do find subsequent repetitions easier than the first, and do like being able to do exercises for multiple reps, I don't want to tire myself out needlessly. Singles it is.

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Upper Day, Workout XV
  
  Superset A
  Chins: 9, 7, 4, 3, 3, 1 @ BW
  Dips: 10, 7, 4, 4, 3, 3 @ BW
  
  Superset B
  DB Shoulder Press: 3 @ 20 lbs; 5, 4, 5, 4 @ 40 lbs
  One-Armed DB Row: 3 @ 25 lbs; 4x5 @ 55 lbs
  
  Superset C
  Neutral-Grip Face Pull: 3x12 @ 90 lbs
  DB Press to Raise: 3x7 @ 15* lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 163.6 lbs (+1.4 lbs; weekly average of 162.7 lbs)

Pace was good today. Right arm felt fine during rows. I bet I could row 60, if not 65 lb dumbbells. I should be able to DB bench similar. Actually, I have on record rowing 5x5 @ 55 lbs last October.

This workout has been mentally challenging. The problem with dips and chins in most programs for me is that I can't hit the damn rep ranges. So I threw those ranges out the window and tried to do as many as I could. There's a relative inconsistency from work-to-workout - I just challenge myself to do the best I can. Maybe if I study the numbers I'll find a pattern. *shrugs*

I used the wrong weight for press-to-raise. No wonder I was able to hold form so well! It was an entertaining exercise for the end of a workout. Gets some extra blood flow. One of these days, I'll try the Ahren Press. That's just brutal.

I love how Sunday is the day I let myself eat less, and I managed to gain weight from Saturday to today. I'm amused.

I'm excited and nervous about deadlifting tomorrow. I'll eat as much as I can today, and allot over nine hours to sleep. Something I've been overlooking is the fact that the last time I tried pulling 255, I did it after squatting. That's a no-no? Yeah. I'll pull 255 and then some.

I get really insane ideas sometimes. Like this:

6" Deficit Deadlift 2x3
3" Deficit Deadlift 2x3
Conventional Deadlift 2x3
Romanian Deadlift 2x3
Rack Pull 2x3

Who says you have to do 10x3 with one exercise? Boorrrring. Your range of motion progressively gets higher and higher, as well as the load - though for each you'd probably want to stay around 5RM or lighter. I also thought of how I could do rack pulls in the squat rack - just stand on the damn platform. I'll see where the bar ends up. Doing rack pulls in the squat cage makes such a dramatic crashing noise, plus doing it this way could save time.

And then there's supersetting front squats with back squats. Can you say density?

Hrm, I have class soon.

[slimsaw00]

Damn man it looks like you've got some intense workouts coming up.


Good luck, and I'll be watching.



-Matt

[TimmyTM]

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Phase I, Lower Day, Workout XVI
  
  Conventional Deadlift:
  3 @ 135 lbs
  2 @ 225 lbs
  F @ 255 lbs
  2 @ 225 lbs
  F @ 245 lbs

How anticlimactic. 255 didn't even budge. I reset with 225 to keep my legs fresh, and remind myself that I'm not a weakling. It's good for the ego that I own 225. But I couldn't budge 245, either. Amazing what a difference all of 20 lbs can make. I racked the weights, and pondered for a while, eventually doing my post-workout stretching. I have to say, doin those groin stretches has been working. I can get more range of motion than I used to. Plus, my legs feel better afterwards. I weighed myself, but I completely forgot what the number was. No biggie.

I was pretty demoralized afterwards. I toyed with trying to do some glute-ham raises, but I'm not strong to do them yet. I should work up to it. The last time I tried manual hamstring curls done sitting backwards at a lat pull apparatus, my left kneecap ended up slipping. Since then I've been careful to make sure that when I'm prone on my knees, to make sure I'm not actually on my knees - that the pressure is either on my lower thigh or just below the knee.

It's possible my plan of attack was backwards. I pulled 225 from a deficit last Saturday and last week. This may sound retarded, but pulling it while standing on the floor made it felt heavier. How the hell is that possible, there's less range of motion! It's possible I'm able to generate more force in the low position, and just accelerate through my proverbial sticking point. It's a thought.

I can't say it's all mental. I think I just need to get stronger. Back to the drawing board, as they say. Work the assistance lifts. There's not much you need to know about legs. Glutes, hamstrings, quads, and maybe your calves. I don't lift with my lower back. Working up to glute-ham raises would fix any hamstring weakness, if that was the weak point. But picking out weak points just seems silly. I need to get strong - period.

I thought I'd keep the volume low, as I thought the deadlifting would take a lot out of me both physically and neurologically. But perhaps I should try the opposite direction to see what will happen. I had great success with an A/B type split last year, so I'm going to do that next. But after that, I'll probably try an upper/lower with a squat day and a deadlift day. What may be required isn't necessarily heavier weights, but lifting masochism. Screw the rules, screw what's supposed to work, I'm going to figure out what works for me.

This isn't over.

[slimsaw00]

just a bump in the road man. . . . . . just a bump in the road.


I do like the fact that you are giving lots of stuff a shot; and like you said figuring out what works for you.




-Matt

[ParanoidAndroid]

Originally Posted by TimmyTM

But after that, I'll probably try an upper/lower with a squat day and a deadlift day. What may be required isn't necessarily heavier weights, but lifting masochism. Screw the rules, screw what's supposed to work, I'm going to figure out what works for me.

This isn't over.

I've been doing this in different forms for a while, and it works great. Also, have you ever tried box squats? Great for bringing up the PC

[TimmyTM]

Originally Posted by ParanoidAndroid

I've been doing this in different forms for a while, and it works great. Also, have you ever tried box squats? Great for bringing up the PC

This might sound retarded, but what do you do if you can't get up from a box squat? You're sitting, so you can't exactly lower the weight to the safeties. I think a low squat with a pause at the bottom, or 1 1/2 squats would do the trick.

[TimmyTM]

I have missed the gym. Last week, I purposely took off. This week... I couldn't hit the gym thanks to car problems. Having not lifted since the 6th, I wisely anticipated a drop in my conditioning.

I think I did some tree branch pull-ups and push-ups once, but quite clearly I don't like sweating at home. I recall working on my King Deadlifts a little. I'm getting better at lowering myself. Point is, I'll be seriously screwed if I ever have to rely on bodyweight for exercise. It's like schoolwork: Regardless of how much I want to do it, I just have an easier time doing it elsewhere.

Today's Workout:

• Quest for 315: Conditioning, Workout I
  
  Back Squat: 25, 15 @ 135 lbs
  
  RDL: 2x12 @ 165 lbs
  
  Superset A
  DB Piston Shoulder Press: 2x12 @ 20 lbs
  Wide-Grip Pull-up: 2, 1 @ BW
  
  Superset B
  BB Bench: 12, 9 @ 85 lbs
  BB Bent-over Row: 2x12 @ 80 lbs
  
  current bodyweight: 161.2 lbs

That first number isn't a typo. 135 lbs is usually my warm-up weight, so I figured I'd see if I could squat it for 2x25. I wanted to stay away from failure. So to slap my legs back into shape, I figured higher-than-normal reps would do the trick. Actually, it was so high that I stopped the second set because it was turning into cardio. Though. Again, my conditioning sucks. I could have continued, but I wasn't trying to do breathing squats. If anything, I grooved my CNS. My squat form was as good as it's ever been.

I felt it a little in my lower back, so I eased back my intended RDL weight. I used a 35 and 25 on each side, so I was able to get a hair more range of motion. Felt really good. I really wanted to hold a faster pace, but I just felt slow and sluggish today.

I intend to do one-armed shoulder presses, but I figured doing them for conditioning would take too long, so I did it bilaterally. I remember when 20 lbs was as much as I could do. I probably undershot the weight, because higher rep shoulder presses crush me.

I want to do wide-grip pull-ups for 10x3. I guess I'll have to just do as much as I can, instead. It's strange, those grips they have for wide-grip pull-ups are impossible for me. I think they're too far apart. So I just use the damn squat cage yet again. It's a wider-grip, I swear!

I wasn't intending for my bench to fall off so much. I'm perplexed. First set, I had my ring finger around the notch. Second set, I tried bringing my hands in more. Maybe I just don't know how to bench. The weight feels heavy, and then I can't press anymore. Ridiculous.

My original idea for this workout was far more masochistic. I was thinking of supersetting every upper body exercise with lunges. But after the RDLs, I solemnly decided, "You're out of your goddamned mind." I tried keeping a good pace, but I just didn't have it today. Quite clearly, I'll have to spend more time on conditioning than I originally thought.

For the sake of periodization, I'll alternate between high reps and low reps each workout until I can hold a good clip. I think I'll reel the squat reps back to 20 or something. Ha ha. Above all, stay away from concentric failure. It's not about the weight, I just want to be able to throw some weight around without feeling like death afterwards. Seriously, I was a little woozy afterwards, I was afraid I was going to puke. And I didn't even do lunges!

I'm surprised my weight didn't drop more. I've been horrible about eating. Though, I suppose my activity level has dropped as well.

Yes. When I get my wits about me, I'll add a third set. And once I can go a good clip, then I'll start Phase II. I know what I'm doing.