Training Logs and Autism

Today I was helping my gf, her sister and her friend train. I was just sting around more than anything. Elevated Dragon squat 3,5,2,1,2,3 Doing dragon squats with lighter shoes balancing off of a heavy Dumbell feels a lot better than my setup at work in boots. I also like the idea that people are watching me do them. My gfs sister and her friend were in the process of buying their membership so I did as many as I could before they finished. Barbell squats @ 135 10 I did these as a demonstration. Quick and powerful. Usually I'd warm up with 95lbs but the dragon squats made it unaccassary. Going forward I'm going to make them part of my lower body warm ups. It's a great way to include skill work for free. Headstand pushup on wall 4 Surprisingly not difficult. I actually came OFF the wall while pressing for the last two and lost balance (gracefully let myself fall into a roll).

This next week is the last few sessions I have before going on vacation. When I come back I'm going to run a 5/3/1 template I've been dying to do and I want my training maxes to be accurate.  SQUAT: 315 DEADLIFT: 315 I failed both of these because my trunk is weak. My legs are certainly stronger than ever. When I used to max on either of these lifts my quads, adductors and glutes would feel it. Right now after the session they feel like they haven't even done anything and it's probably because they're capable of moving a LOT more.  BENCH: 225 PRESS: 135x2 I've got these lifts back to a baseline I'm not ashamed of. My injury is getting a lot better but still something that's fighting me a little.  Wide neutral Pull-ups x 6 I did these just to do a pull today. I think maxing on 4 lifts in a row fatigued me. The 6 reps I did were lightning quick and controlled, but I fell right off after. 

315x1 I deluded myself into thinking I was feeling good enough to do the most fatigueing lift i could possibly do. I popped 2 dayquils, some pre and went outside.   I couldn't budge 365.  At the very least my technique is much better than before. Ive finally learned how to stack myself properly to avoid low back pain and get the most from my hips.  A thought I had during the session: Conventional deadlifts are over-hated for no reason while their benefits are minimized. I felt them pretty damn well in my glutes. Even if the leverages aren't "optimized" for glute isolation, the absolute load you can move with them makes up for it.  I thought I was going to do a squat focused routine after vacation next week, but I think my performance and physique can really benefit from fixing my deadlift first. 

B stance squat 45lb x 5,5,7 65lb x 5 95lb x 5 115lb x 3 135lb x 3, 3 I decided to try this movement to do a light squat. I can't say I like it as much as B stance deadlifts. They take a lot of mental bandwidth to stay in the proper position to isolate glutes and not cheat with the inactive leg. On the plus: when the form is good, the glute stulimulus feels great. I DO like that they let me go much heavier than true single leg work. Maybe with some practice this can be a very good movement to rotate in.  10:00 hip thrust @ 135 20, 12, 11, 20, 12 Again, I wanted to stay light. Perhaps a real Warmup would have helped my reps more. I can get 20 reps with 225 on a regular day. I feel like I should have been able to do more with 135, but maybe this cold is affecting me more than I thought.

I did this abbreviated session right before bed. My baby was sick so I couldn't go outside. B stance cross stance Dumbell SLDL. @75lb 12, 14, 13, 11 I enjoy this movement more than true single leg deadlifts. The stability lets me directly target my glutes better. I'll keep true single leg work in my pocket for variety.  Kroc Row @75lb 20 I think I lost reps because I was tired.  1 arm kettlebell press @20lbs 16, 16, 16 I didn't want to take the plates off my Dumbell so I used the slightly lighter kettlebell. I worked through pain with my injured shoulder but it felt progressively better with each set. 

Squats 280x0 (last Warmup was 265x1) I was suffering a ton of axial fatigue. My spine was tired. I even took an extra day to recover. I warmed up. Took my time. Took extra warm-up sets. Went down with the weight and got stuck in the hole. Those SLDLs from almost a week ago REALLY messed me up. I'd love to see where my conventional stands  Update(10/12/24): turns out I was just sick.  10:00 single leg deficit hip thrust 20, 10, 10, 10, 7, 5, 5 Normally I do 100 reps, but I had to find time to squeeze these in at the very end of my shift because it was a lot busier than normal. I tried to rest as little as possible.

Pullup + chinup 11, 4 + 5, 6, 7, 5 The pull-ups were my daily work. Nice and clean. The chin-ups were extra sets I did with my friends at work. Perfect pushup 21, 15, 7, 12, 7, 5 OOF. this is what I get for not practicing over the long weekend like I said I would.  Shrug with box of unknown weight 70, 20 70 reps was torture. I couldn't push further than 20 on the second.  Lying leg raise 15, 15, 15 I used a form that kept my abs under constant tension.  Handstand (wall start) 27s, 20s, 16s, 9s Balance is getting better but for the last two sets my wrists were hurting. I need to warm up more. Elevated Dragon squat 4, 4, 2 Getting reps back. Almost didn't do them because I have a squat workout tomorrow. I think I'll live.

Single leg deficit hip thrust @ BW 20,  13,7,  13,7,  13,7,  13,7 I was hoping for a straight 5x20, but just couldn't break past 13 reps. This time it  Pullup  10,5 My reps are so clean. All of the barbell plans Dumbell pulls are paying off. Dragon flag  3,2 Painful in my hands more than anywhere else Elevated dragon squat 1,4,2,3 My butt was cooked from the day before AND from the 100 rep work. and I'm coming back from a week of not practicing.  Handstand (wall start) 20s, 7s, 12, 16s, 10s, 12s, 

Row @135 (145 next) 5,5,  10 Im trying to really feel my lower traps when I pull but honestly I'm not feeling much of anything. I'm gonna look up some form tips. SLDL @280 (same) 5,5,  5 My straps broke on the second set. For the amrap set I alternated my mixed grip with every rep. I couldn't focus and lost momentum. In any case I think I was using way too much lower back.  Bench @175 (185 next) 5,5,  10 Great set. I focused on keeping good form in my shoulders and lats.... my injured shoulder actually feels a little better after doing these.  Hip thrust I worked up to 4pl8 with the intention to hit a few amrap sets. My rack shifted even with this weight..... im starting to get frustrated.

---75lb dumbell--- Glute focused B-stance DB SLDL 12, 11, 10, 7, 10 I saw a guy on Instagram do this movement, demo'd it myself and really enjoyed the stimulus. After committing a session to it I can say I'm extremely pleased. I got a very nice pump with minimal fatigue and in a lot less time.  1 arm DB shrug 12, 16, 14 Im starting to fall in love with back training. Visualizing myself with a big thick back to match my legs and glutes gets me motivated. I want that POWERFUL look that strongmen and wrestlers have.  --- ---20lb kettlebell--- Kettlebell curl 15, 10, 6 Im done ignoring my arms. This session I played around with form. For the last set I kept the kettlebell straight for a more disadvantage leverage.  1h Lu raise 5, 5, 6 Im hoping this will help my shoulder injury. I was quite surprised that Iw as able to do reps with 20lbs.  ---

Squat @ 280 5,5,  6 I accidentally loaded my sldl weight. No biggie, just 5lbs off. I'm not used to working this close to my top end strength anymore, but the foundation I built makes this feel better than ever. Maybe I could have done 1 or even 2 more reps. OHP @ 110 5,5,  7 Fighting the injury again. At least I was able to push through because I did an extra shoulder rotation/raise Warmup before the last set. Yates row @ 185 5,6,  10 This was fun. I chose this movement to emphasize my traps.  Hip thrust 405x5 455x2* 405x6 I was originally going to go for 500x5 today... but my rack can't stay in place. Equipment malfunction ruined my set again. 

Row @115 (135 next) 5,5,  20 SLDL @250 (280 next) 5,5,  13 Bench @160 (175 next) 5,5,  11 All of the work I've been doing in my room and at work has been paying off. I'm seeing my strength grow RAPIDLY. My weak areas are coming back up and my strong points are growing further beyond. I

Elevated Dragon squat 5, 2, 3 Lying leg raise 30, 15 + 13, 17 Dragon flag 1, Handstand (wall start) 37s, 10s, 6s, 28s, 7s, 8s Pull-up (support beam) + (pole) 10 + 5 Perfect pushup  23, 6, 11 Shrugs (with box of unknown weight) 60,65,50

Squats @ 265 (275 next) 5,5,8 Not impressive on paper but I only slept a couple of hours the night before. My brain couldn't focus, BUT I used it to my advantage and the numbness killed the pre-squat anxiety I normally get. My form is the best it's ever been in my life. I only had 30 minutes to train at home. The rest of my work will be done.... at work.... --- 100 single leg deficit hip thrusts --- 17,3,  12,8,  10 11,9,  12,8,  10 --- I did that same sectioning strategy from my SLDL session except I did groups of 20,20,10. I could have done 5 groups of 20, but I wanted to feel a half-way point. It doesn't feel as hardcore as taking every single set to failure, but I think this wave in intensity allows me to have more total hard sets per session. Two things to note: 1. The glute pump was more ridiculous than last time. My ass felt like two giant balloons attached to my backside.  2. I think this work has been really helping my barbell hip thrust.  Perfect ...