MrKleen73
Legend
Trap Bar Deads from yesterday and other updates.
Well I met up with Matt (Oufinny) last night to trade out some supps, got me some Shift, and now he has some GH supplements. Not a bad trade at all. We had a beer and chatted for a bit but I am used to getting in my room about 9 to begin winding down and I ended up getting there about 10 last night and took al little longer to wind down since amped up from being out and of course due to the lift when I got home so I did not get up this morning for cardio. I knew I had some time I can use at lunch so today I may turn up the intensity on my walk just a notch. Either via doing some hill sprints or just walking up and down some hills, bear crawling, calisthenics, who really knows what I am going to feel like once I get out there but either way I will get out there and burn a few calories at lunch for sure since I missed this morning skipping it at lunch is not an option.
Now back to yesterday and me going for my raw grip high rep PR.
Okay so I had a little extra carbs for my pre-workout meal, I added in a post workout drink someone here at work gave me but to my surprise it set on my stomach and didn't want to move. I was a little worried coming up on the time I knew I was going to be going outside because I had that heavy gut feeling and lets be honest a heavy gut feeling is never good when you are about do do high rep dead lifts. Especially in a garage in Texas. Thanks goodness it wasn't too bad out there. I know that pulling 315 for 20 solid reps is going to be some work, so I have to get my head right. I told myself when a got started I was not going to bounce or use any spring loading to get my reps so each one was deliberately separated enough that I knew for sure that I was at a dead stop then I would pull the weight from the floor. A few things of note, the particle board roof decking I put down under where I do my deads is not quite strong enough to take the last few reps of 315 and there seemed to be some denting going on there. I am definitely going to put a piece of plywood under there as soon as I get the chance.
I had to do some creative plate loading here to get to 315, I only have 2 sets of 45's and several 25 lbs weights because I used to do a lot of loading the bar up with 25 lbs to get really deep in the trap bar deads. Man it basically turns it into a below parallel DB squat at that point. Anyway I digress. I had to do some creative additions of weight so I ended up with a 45, 3 25's, a 10, and a 5 on each side to get to 315. How fun that was coming up with the right combination not to run out of weights or go over for that matter.
Well now lets get down to business. I rosin up my hands get them nice and ready for the lift. Quick warm up sets of 135x12, and 235x8, then it is time for 315x20. I get everything loaded up and start pulling, I get to about 10 and the difference between 305 and 315 starts to become evident. On top of that my hands are really starting to feel the knurls on the bar since it isn't used like a commercial one the knurls are still very fresh. Push on to 12, 13 wow 10 lbs made a difference in the effort here for sure. Things start getting harder and I begin to question if I am going to be able to make it through the set especially with just a raw grip instead of using my versa which were on and flipped around the back of my wrists just in case my grip became the point of failure. By rep 15 I was really working hard to keep moving, I could feel the knurls digging into my flesh with each pull, and making sure that each pull was seperate from the last really seemed to be taking more effort than last time when the first 5-8 reps were basically touch and go type reps that were using a bit of the recoil to get the movement done. So it was more work than I had done in the previous attempts just in the fact I was taking the efficiency out of the move by making sure it was from a dead stop. Soldiering on! About the 17th rep I feel a major sting in my grip, both hands are on fire but my left hand is really bitching, I really need to re-grip the weight but I can tell that I may not be able to get a good grip again if I move hand position. I put that bad boy down and take a second or two never letting go of the bar and continue to pull on through, 18, gasp, gasp, 19, suck wind for a second and PULL, the weight separates from the floor and my ascent is strong. Locked out! 315x20, raw grip, no momentum used, all she wrote BEEEYOTCH!!!
I let go of the bar and stand up, look down at my hands and notice I am missing a callous, part of the skin still stuck to the knurls of the bar. Must have ripped it loose on that 17th rep. Good thing I didn't regrip or I may have noticed it and ended the set prematurely. I am still pretty sure that my max on this would be about 335x20 right now if I just pursued it but I am also pretty sure that my grip would not hold up to that right now. I am going to continue on my journey to get to 405x20 but at some point my grip is going to be a limiting factor. However I am REALLY IMPRESSED with the fact I was able to hold 315 for 20 reps with no grip assistance other than rosin. I will keep my versa's on through out this journey and use them as needed but only once my grip can't be held on it's own. 315x20 with no wraps or gloves is a PR for me. Only because this is the first time I have attempted it. Also any weight that I do after 315x20 will be a PR for me whether using wraps or not. I have never gone beyond 315x20 on Dead Lifts so we are now officially into new territory for me.
Finding them isn't a problem, getting the best price is. Even more so than that is getting off my arse to actually do it. I bought a digital antenna for the house so I can cancel cable at home. I have had it now for 2 weeks and it still isn't on my roof. Yet I stand to save $80 a month just by getting my ass up on my roof and doing it... Just one of those things that keeps getting put on a back burner. Now my Dad will be in town this weekend so still not sure I will get that done unless I get up there tonight.
I bet it was a little gross doing the roto rooter in those drains... I imagine some flesh and bone made it back up when retracting those rooters...
Well I met up with Matt (Oufinny) last night to trade out some supps, got me some Shift, and now he has some GH supplements. Not a bad trade at all. We had a beer and chatted for a bit but I am used to getting in my room about 9 to begin winding down and I ended up getting there about 10 last night and took al little longer to wind down since amped up from being out and of course due to the lift when I got home so I did not get up this morning for cardio. I knew I had some time I can use at lunch so today I may turn up the intensity on my walk just a notch. Either via doing some hill sprints or just walking up and down some hills, bear crawling, calisthenics, who really knows what I am going to feel like once I get out there but either way I will get out there and burn a few calories at lunch for sure since I missed this morning skipping it at lunch is not an option.
Now back to yesterday and me going for my raw grip high rep PR.
Okay so I had a little extra carbs for my pre-workout meal, I added in a post workout drink someone here at work gave me but to my surprise it set on my stomach and didn't want to move. I was a little worried coming up on the time I knew I was going to be going outside because I had that heavy gut feeling and lets be honest a heavy gut feeling is never good when you are about do do high rep dead lifts. Especially in a garage in Texas. Thanks goodness it wasn't too bad out there. I know that pulling 315 for 20 solid reps is going to be some work, so I have to get my head right. I told myself when a got started I was not going to bounce or use any spring loading to get my reps so each one was deliberately separated enough that I knew for sure that I was at a dead stop then I would pull the weight from the floor. A few things of note, the particle board roof decking I put down under where I do my deads is not quite strong enough to take the last few reps of 315 and there seemed to be some denting going on there. I am definitely going to put a piece of plywood under there as soon as I get the chance.
I had to do some creative plate loading here to get to 315, I only have 2 sets of 45's and several 25 lbs weights because I used to do a lot of loading the bar up with 25 lbs to get really deep in the trap bar deads. Man it basically turns it into a below parallel DB squat at that point. Anyway I digress. I had to do some creative additions of weight so I ended up with a 45, 3 25's, a 10, and a 5 on each side to get to 315. How fun that was coming up with the right combination not to run out of weights or go over for that matter.
Well now lets get down to business. I rosin up my hands get them nice and ready for the lift. Quick warm up sets of 135x12, and 235x8, then it is time for 315x20. I get everything loaded up and start pulling, I get to about 10 and the difference between 305 and 315 starts to become evident. On top of that my hands are really starting to feel the knurls on the bar since it isn't used like a commercial one the knurls are still very fresh. Push on to 12, 13 wow 10 lbs made a difference in the effort here for sure. Things start getting harder and I begin to question if I am going to be able to make it through the set especially with just a raw grip instead of using my versa which were on and flipped around the back of my wrists just in case my grip became the point of failure. By rep 15 I was really working hard to keep moving, I could feel the knurls digging into my flesh with each pull, and making sure that each pull was seperate from the last really seemed to be taking more effort than last time when the first 5-8 reps were basically touch and go type reps that were using a bit of the recoil to get the movement done. So it was more work than I had done in the previous attempts just in the fact I was taking the efficiency out of the move by making sure it was from a dead stop. Soldiering on! About the 17th rep I feel a major sting in my grip, both hands are on fire but my left hand is really bitching, I really need to re-grip the weight but I can tell that I may not be able to get a good grip again if I move hand position. I put that bad boy down and take a second or two never letting go of the bar and continue to pull on through, 18, gasp, gasp, 19, suck wind for a second and PULL, the weight separates from the floor and my ascent is strong. Locked out! 315x20, raw grip, no momentum used, all she wrote BEEEYOTCH!!!
I let go of the bar and stand up, look down at my hands and notice I am missing a callous, part of the skin still stuck to the knurls of the bar. Must have ripped it loose on that 17th rep. Good thing I didn't regrip or I may have noticed it and ended the set prematurely. I am still pretty sure that my max on this would be about 335x20 right now if I just pursued it but I am also pretty sure that my grip would not hold up to that right now. I am going to continue on my journey to get to 405x20 but at some point my grip is going to be a limiting factor. However I am REALLY IMPRESSED with the fact I was able to hold 315 for 20 reps with no grip assistance other than rosin. I will keep my versa's on through out this journey and use them as needed but only once my grip can't be held on it's own. 315x20 with no wraps or gloves is a PR for me. Only because this is the first time I have attempted it. Also any weight that I do after 315x20 will be a PR for me whether using wraps or not. I have never gone beyond 315x20 on Dead Lifts so we are now officially into new territory for me.
I am a firm believer in the practice of lifting 3 times a week to maximize recovery while still getting in enough frequency to make continuous gains. I honestly feel anything more than 4 times a week is excessive unless you are on a cycle of something but even then I still find I get better results with 3 times a week. It gives you some latitude to add in a 4rth workout here and there when you have a lot of drive or want to workout with a friend. It also keeps me on pretty much an every other day low / high calorie cycle with one day at maintenance a week on my rest day which is typically Sunday. However those guys on 4-5 days a week should definitely eat maintenance or just below on one or two of those days when working some of the smaller muscle groups. I include Chest in that as well although it is a HUGE point of focus for many, the actual amount of muscle mass taken up by the pecs/shoulders is pretty minimal. That being the case then for sure the heavy eating days should be used for back training and leg training days. Then maintenance on the other 2-3 lifting days, alternatively you could lower the rest/cardio days calories substancially with no ill effects either. In such cases taking in 50% of maintenance on 2 rest days will not cost you any muscle but will assist in fat burning.
Finding them isn't a problem, getting the best price is. Even more so than that is getting off my arse to actually do it. I bought a digital antenna for the house so I can cancel cable at home. I have had it now for 2 weeks and it still isn't on my roof. Yet I stand to save $80 a month just by getting my ass up on my roof and doing it... Just one of those things that keeps getting put on a back burner. Now my Dad will be in town this weekend so still not sure I will get that done unless I get up there tonight.
I bet it was a little gross doing the roto rooter in those drains... I imagine some flesh and bone made it back up when retracting those rooters...
