Hyde’s Strength Odyssey

AnfoAjax said:
Very nice. This is a win.

How many reps did you have left in reserve you think?
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Hard to say because I haven’t pushed to failure in so long that I’m still probably rusty at gauging. I’m sure I could have did 1-2 more, but that’s as far as I’ll go out on a limb.
 
12/15/24

Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges
Push-ups

Bench
45,45,95,135,185x5
225,250,275x3
290x5
225,235,245,255x6

DB Side Raises
10,20x10
30x3
35 2x8

Band Pullaparts
Monstermini 2x25

This training was rough - last time did 290 for 6 & 8 reps, going for 2x8 this time if possible. 1x5 was all I had. Been hacking up some white drainage the last few days and it has been 12 days since my last bench instead of the usual 9, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. There was no way I was going to unrack 290 for the second set, so dropped it down to get whatever work in I could manage. Even 255 felt heavy at the end! My pulse was very high despite great food, sleep, recovery the last couple days, and normal stimulant intake.

I felt great going into this, mentally driven/excited, checked all the boxes. But sometimes you just don’t have good training.
 
Still a good productive workout…..sometimes we just don’t know how being a little sick or waiting a little longer between workouts is going to affect us until we feel that weight, but good job adjusting on the fly and not pushing too hard and still getting in good work. Hopefully that crud will heal up quickly.
 
Hyde said:
12/15/24

Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges
Push-ups

Bench
45,45,95,135,185x5
225,250,275x3
290x5
225,235,245,255x6

DB Side Raises
10,20x10
30x3
35 2x8

Band Pullaparts
Monstermini 2x25

This training was rough - last time did 290 for 6 & 8 reps, going for 2x8 this time if possible. 1x5 was all I had. Been hacking up some white drainage the last few days and it has been 12 days since my last bench instead of the usual 9, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. There was no way I was going to unrack 290 for the second set, so dropped it down to get whatever work in I could manage. Even 255 felt heavy at the end! My pulse was very high despite great food, sleep, recovery the last couple days, and normal stimulant intake.

I felt great going into this, mentally driven/excited, checked all the boxes. But sometimes you just don’t have good training.
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Sounds like those extra 3 days did it. Kiddo snot never helps either lol. Still got it in right after vaycay!
 
12/17/24
BW 250.4 postWO

VMO Activation
Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges
BW Squats

Squat, Duffalo bar
55 2x10
145,195,235,285x3
+belt
325x3
365 2x3
375 2x3, 1x8

SSB Squat
155,245x3
+belt
315x3
355x5

20” Box Stepups
2x14/leg

This was the training I really needed: to have enough progress in knee comfort & stability to be able to actually progress my work weights on a meaningful level. Added 20lbs over last time and the bar speed is moving well!
 
Some great progress in here, awesome to see you pass that milestone without any pain. Excited for your continued progress!
 
12/18/24

7 min walk
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Hip Stretch
Side Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges

Nautilus High Row
90x10
160,210x3
250 2x8

Nautilus CSR
90x6
180,230x3
280 2x8

BB Shrugs
135,225x5
315x3
+straps
395 2x15

Standing Calf Machine
70x5
100,110x10
30 sec stretch

Wasn’t feeling great last night because I’m still sick & almost skipped this, but decided as sore as my legs were from squats I’d at least benefit from my warmup/bracing protocol. Then I could just go for a walk if I didn’t want to train. Ended up getting into my upper back work & made progress on everything despite how I felt.

Forgot to do my reverse hypers, but they’re more for recovery anyway 🤷‍♂️
 
Dustin07 said:
400lbs is a heavy shrug. definitely a good time for the ol straps!
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One day I’ll get there….one day next week 😝

I figure they don’t take much time or recovery, and they should help condition my upper back to hold better position on deadlift work. Worst case they might make my traps bigger.
 
My son was sounding out letters & reading some 3 letter words at preschool today…that was so cool to watch! He’s not even 4 yet, so I am very excited to see him growing so well. He really seems to enjoy school.
 
Hyde said:
My son was sounding out letters & reading some 3 letter words at preschool today…that was so cool to watch! He’s not even 4 yet, so I am very excited to see him growing so well. He really seems to enjoy school.
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Man that’s awesome!
 
Hyde said:
My son was sounding out letters & reading some 3 letter words at preschool today…that was so cool to watch! He’s not even 4 yet, so I am very excited to see him growing so well. He really seems to enjoy school.
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That’s great….treasure all those little moments, because they grow up so fast. My boys are 34, 39, & 40, but my wife and I still remember all those moments and milestones in their lives like it was just yesterday.👍
 
12/20/24
BW 248.6 yesterday

5 min Assault Bike
Band Pullaparts, BTNP, Tris, Presses
Scap Pushups
Cat Camel
Bird Dogs

Widegrip Bench
45,45,95,145x15
175,180,185,190 2x8 EACH
200x15

Band Pressdowns
Monstermini x100 straight

Honestly I knew by the time I didn’t even have energy to do my activations that I should have skipped today. Had maybe 5 hours of broken sleep from all the drainage waking me last night; just feel sick & weak. So I didn’t do much, and I didn’t push hard. It all felt plenty heavy.
 
Hyde said:
12/20/24
BW 248.6 yesterday

5 min Assault Bike
Band Pullaparts, BTNP, Tris, Presses
Scap Pushups
Cat Camel
Bird Dogs

Widegrip Bench
45,45,95,145x15
175,180,185,190 2x8 EACH
200x15

Band Pressdowns
Monstermini x100 straight

Honestly I knew by the time I didn’t even have energy to do my activations that I should have skipped today. Had maybe 5 hours of broken sleep from all the drainage waking me last night; just feel sick & weak. So I didn’t do much, and I didn’t push hard. It all felt plenty heavy.
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I’ve been adding frozen pineapple & blueberries to my shakes (using blender) hoping the extra vitamin c helps keep the immune system supported.
 
12/22/24

7 Min Walk
Nerve Flossing
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges

Box Jumps
KB Farmers Carry
KB One-leg Deadlift

Deadlift, power bar
45x10
135,225,275,315x3
+belt
345,380,410x3
440x5

DB Back Extension, hamstring emphasis
BW,50,100,100x12

Nautilus GHR
BWx6,7,8 on harder setting

Cable Pullthrus
115 2x15

This was very satisfying; I had been thinking about this deadlift for 9 days and I could tell my body was finally recovered & ready.

I don’t know if I mentioned it but something around my right lat/Tricep insert area began tearing on the first rep of RDLs last week, so I stopped flexing my lat so hard and finished out my worj. This week rep 1 of 440 I definitely felt it pull some more for sure. I had so much adrenaline I finished the set out, which was easy, but I let my body cool down completely to assess.

Unloading the barbell hurt in the lat, so I didn’t try RDLs. Holding a 50lb db for the Rubish Raises seemed a lot more prudent than a 385 barbell! It was a little sore the rest of the day and no bruising after 36 hours so it should recover fast if I back off of it for a week or so. Gonna do some TB500 tonight for good measure.
 
That’s some good strong deadlifts….good work. Hopefully nothing too serious with the lat, and the TB500 will clear it up.
 
440 x 5 is definitely on the right track and I love the days of visualization, totally get that. Your body needs to be retaught is capabilities a little bit, that's not a small pull....
 
12/24/24

Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges

Bench
45,45,95x8
135,185x5
225,250,275x3
290x4
275x6

1-Boardpress
275x7,8

DB Side Raises
20,35,35x10

DB Rear Delt Raises
20,35,35x10

Lat and especially my right shoulder giving me grief on bench today - handoffs fixed the lat but the shoulder pain has been causing things to go backwards. My nervous system is undercutting my strength because it just doesn’t feel good. But it’s more important that deadlift is going back up, because it’s easier to build a total off lower body than upper 😅

I think I have a real squat session still Friday, and then it’s time for a deload micro to rest things up.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
 
12/27/24
BW 251.6 postWO

VMO Activation
Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges
Split & BW Squats

Squat, powerbar
45x6
155,221,265,309x3
+belt
353,386,392,397,403x3
386x7

SSB Squat
65,175x3
+belt
265,335x3
370x5

Squatting just takes forever; didn’t have time for any accessory. Last time I worked at 375, and this time was a 391lb average, so a nice 5% increase/progression on tonnage to wrap up the meso - deload begins now, and I need it.

First squats over 400 since my knee injury 12 weeks ago, so that felt like an accomplishment!
 
Glad to see the sickness and lat didn’t slow you down too much. I know it feels great to break that 400 barrier, and 5% volume increase on your average is a good sign coming up on the New Year.💪
 
I hope the wave of momentum builds for an awesome 2025! I may have missed it in this thread, so my apologies… but you have any plans of competing in ‘25?
 
slimsaw00 said:
I hope the wave of momentum builds for an awesome 2025! I may have missed it in this thread, so my apologies… but you have any plans of competing in ‘25?
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Thank you! I truly hope so too.

That’s the plan, provided I can continue to rebuild things back to an acceptable place. I am coming to a point where I need to be peaking within the next few months, to then reset back to more foundational training, so my thoughts are that I might as well do a meet.

There’s a really cool one in just 6 weeks, but that’s too little time to prepare safely. I was talking with my wife about this last night, and eyeing one close to my mother’s on March 29th. Then my son can stay the night with her while we go to the meet an hour away together, while still being close by for emergencies.

Then I can run this deload, one more strength meso, then a peaking block. Trying to stay locked in at this 250lb setpoint, as a base for the next macro later this year.
 
12/29/24

7 min Walk
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Glute Bridges

Ab Wheel
2x15

ss w/ Reverse Hyper
110x10
220 3x10

and Lat Pulldowns
55,85x15
115 2x20

Band Rear Delts & Tris
Push-ups

Widegrip Bench
45,45,95,135x15
155 2x26

CG 2-Board
45,135,185x6
235 2x6

Incline Williams Extensions
15,25,30,30x15

Band Pullaparts
Monstermini 3x30

Finger Rolls on Grip Machine
90 2x10, two hands

Deload second pressing session yesterday at a really cool gym called Fitness 120 up in the Chicagoland area. Strongman/powerlifting area with a full commercial gym, and owner let us train for free while there visiting some friends - this would definitely be my home gym if it wasn’t 3 hours away!

Right shoulder has been giving me more and more grief, like it’s unstable and sloppy - ART guy believes either the labrum or subscap is pissed. Says I can bench but need unrack/rerack assistance on all of it to help rest it, and gave several bloodflow drills to speed recovery. Since it’s connective tissue, when it’s been overworked it gets loose and doesn’t stabilize things like it should. We both think it happened from subscap not getting/staying set on incline DB work several weeks back, and it just hasn’t gotten a break.
 
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You know, there's several of us around here that have mentioned targeting a 2025 meet @Hyde @SkRaw85 @slimsaw00 . Wouldn't it be something if we could find one that we all prep for and do together live? Or at least follow the same program as we head towards it, have one PL log for all of us? Something like that?
 
Segansational said:
You know, there's several of us around here that have mentioned targeting a 2025 meet @Hyde @SkRaw85 @slimsaw00 . Wouldn't it be something if we could find one that we all prep for and do together live? Or at least follow the same program as we head towards it, have one PL log for all of us? Something like that?
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You’d be best off finding a buddy local to you and convincing them to do it with you. Or train with you some & go watch to support you.

A lot can happen in a prep; people rarely make it without some kind of little injuries or illness or some adverse life condition that makes them question whether they’ll be able to actually show on game day. My advice is do not travel a long way to only hope someone will show up. Also, most people do not need the same things, as far as training.

When you’re on that platform, you will have spotters to help keep you safe if you miss, and judges/audience with eyes on you, but you have to lift that barbell alone.
 
12/31/24

Shoulder warmup
Nerve Flossing
5 min Assault Bike
Scap Pushups
Cat Camels
Bird Dogs
Copenhagen Planks
Ab Wheel
Glute Bridges

Deadlift, powerbar
45x15
135x5
225x3 can feel it in lat, shut it down

SSB GM
65x10
155,205x5
+belt
225 3x5

20” Box Stepups
2x10

Band Pullthrus
Avg 2x8

GHR
2x8

Lat stretches

Deadlift deload: did a little more on good mornings since pulling was going to be a bad idea. I basically can’t do anything with my right shoulder & lat until they’re healed up some, so sooner that happens the sooner I can get back to it. Everything with the SSB has felt really hard lately, so that’s probably a great place to target some weakness.

Bloodwork Friday morning to see how the past months on 500 test/wk have been treating me, what my blood thickness & cholesterol look like, before I consider any changes.
 
Hyde said:
When you’re on that platform, you will have spotters to help keep you safe if you miss, and judges/audience with eyes on you, but you have to lift that barbell alone.
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it's been a few years since I competed but both with Oly stages, xfit, and more strongman style I really never saw anything but camaraderie. Everyone there loves the same thing and has worked hard in their own way to be there. My ex used to ask me why I was laughing or talking to people in the middle of an event at times and it just got to where I was so comfortable that everyone there was just a friend I hadn't meant yet, lol.

it can feel daunting to walk into some new gym and "feel" like the outsider on the day of an event your first time, but once you realize half the people there are in the same boat you can warm up pretty fast. next thing you know you're standing up screaming UP UP UP for that guy busting his ass trying to beat you lol
 
Dustin07 said:
it's been a few years since I competed but both with Oly stages, xfit, and more strongman style I really never saw anything but camaraderie. Everyone there loves the same thing and has worked hard in their own way to be there. My ex used to ask me why I was laughing or talking to people in the middle of an event at times and it just got to where I was so comfortable that everyone there was just a friend I hadn't meant yet, lol.

it can feel daunting to walk into some new gym and "feel" like the outsider on the day of an event your first time, but once you realize half the people there are in the same boat you can warm up pretty fast. next thing you know you're standing up screaming UP UP UP for that guy busting his ass trying to beat you lol
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Oh there’s camaraderie, but strongman is much more casual than powerlifting. Everything about it feels casual and less organized, from the local to the absolute highest level in the world. In powerlifting you have such little time doing such a tiny singular thing, and so much going into it. Strongman may have twice the events, run twice as fast, it’s a shitshow for warmups, and these people will likely be doing 3+ shows that year. Everyone stands in a line waiting for their turn, nervously chatting away, until right before. At meets, people are usually more in their heads sooner, listening to music, visualizing, etc.

All the meets I’ve done with friends, I am glad they’re there, especially when we arrive & warm up - but I barely get to watch any lifts because I need to prepare myself for MY lifting. It’s not time to cheer & spend energy, or worry about them - they’re on their own until the flight is over & we can catch up. I trained a fucking year for less than 9 minutes of lifting, so I am coming to collect.

If they’re a better deadlifter than me, I get to cheer for them for their third attempts - I always dump all my adrenaline on whoever is left after me if I can. That’s a great feeling, to scream for the biggest pulls of the meet.
 
Hyde said:
In powerlifting you have such little time doing such a tiny singular thing, and so much going into it. Strongman may have twice the events, run twice as fast, it’s a shitshow for warmups, and these people will likely be doing 3+ shows that year. Everyone stands in a line waiting for their turn, nervously chatting away, until right before. At meets, people are usually more in their heads sooner, listening to music, visualizing, etc.
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For sure the more you broke it down it does remind me a lot of the different events, and I can only assume that oly events are very similar to PL events. I never did a straight PL, just the Oly, but you only have 2 lifts... snatch, and clean and jerk. You're right though the way you describe PL is similar to how I remember Oly.... like... you're on.... when I did it, it was only one platform we all used, one barbell... weight only goes up... so you better have your spot figured out. But I wasn't going to C&J 400lbs so I had plenty of time after my 3rd attempt to watch the big boys 😂

Hyde said:
That’s a great feeling, to scream for the biggest pulls of the meet.
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next to Eve and offspring, Sports have to be the next greatest gift God has given man. To give it your all, and then to sit there and get lost in someone elses effort, to feel their success and failure. It's both poetic and violently male at the sametime.
 
Was just thinking it'd be cool to work towards a same meet/date/timeframe goal with you guys. But I guess I could see how that might not work. I find it an interesting dichotomy with BB and PLing all being individual sports, but you usually need a "team" and support system behind you too.
 
Hyde said:
Oh there’s camaraderie, but strongman is much more casual than powerlifting. Everything about it feels casual and less organized, from the local to the absolute highest level in the world. In powerlifting you have such little time doing such a tiny singular thing, and so much going into it. Strongman may have twice the events, run twice as fast, it’s a shitshow for warmups, and these people will likely be doing 3+ shows that year. Everyone stands in a line waiting for their turn, nervously chatting away, until right before. At meets, people are usually more in their heads sooner, listening to music, visualizing, etc.

All the meets I’ve done with friends, I am glad they’re there, especially when we arrive & warm up - but I barely get to watch any lifts because I need to prepare myself for MY lifting. It’s not time to cheer & spend energy, or worry about them - they’re on their own until the flight is over & we can catch up. I trained a fucking year for less than 9 minutes of lifting, so I am coming to collect.

If they’re a better deadlifter than me, I get to cheer for them for their third attempts - I always dump all my adrenaline on whoever is left after me if I can. That’s a great feeling, to scream for the biggest pulls of the meet.
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Sorry for quoting the whole post, but what you mentioned about strongman is what is intriguing to me. I just need to get stronger, lol.
 
Segansational said:
Was just thinking it'd be cool to work towards a same meet/date/timeframe goal with you guys. But I guess I could see how that might not work. I find it an interesting dichotomy with BB and PLing all being individual sports, but you usually need a "team" and support system behind you too.
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I understand. We’re just in very different places. Your biggest hurdle is just making a decision to commit to something; mine is finding a way to get stronger than ever while managing to make it to the contest more or less in one piece. I have a near constant aspect of autoregulation I have to navigate. There is no “just follow this 12-week template for me,” because it’s not going to go to plan for that long. I used to always sign up for a meet as far out as I could, as soon as it was posted. Now I try to hold off when it’s not filling fast in case I need to bail.

slimsaw00 said:
Sorry for quoting the whole post, but what you mentioned about strongman is what is intriguing to me. I just need to get stronger, lol.
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A lot of people love that, like my wife obviously. Even the biggest shows, there’s more of a sense of pressure & intensity, but at the core you can tell this came from a group of guys meeting up in a mall parking lot to take turns picking up heavy kegs & such.
While powerlifting meets are like coordinated max out gym sessions.
 
Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you a prosperous and wonderful year ahead.

I am more excited than ever to train for the year ahead.
 
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