To Infinity.... and Beyond!

haven't had time to unbox it yet, my new place is a studio loft with a raised loft sleeping area, its super cool but a minimalist lift style, so I am donating the old mattress (that i bought in june) this weekend then unpacking the new mattress. the company I bought my mattress from in june is reimbursing me 100% for the price since it didn't work out if I send them a picture of the donation receipt.

for what its worth if anyone is interested the company is Tuft & Needle. they are maybe the single best company i've ever worked with and I think their mattress is fantastic, its just way too firm for me. I really wish I could have made it work because I think they're a great company with great service.
 
slept on the new mattress last night for the first time... its a bit firm. so we'll see.

bench
95 x 20
135 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
235 x 3
245 x 3
 
notes
3 years or so ago i had back issues i blamed on bad snatch form. I did my research and shortly after famine bought a foam mattress I did the same. I got hte tranquility by bedinabox. the next day my back issues were cured.
january 2016 my back issues crept up again, the same time that I got a new mattress. 450lb deadlift and 300+lb back squat fell all year to all time lows of 135/95 due to pain, not strength.
In June i tried the tuft&needle foam mattress. it was too firm and left me with a sore UPPER back. I tried it all summer before returning it (awesome company to work with.)
this last week I called bedinabox and told them I was coming back to them. they gave me a discount as a repeat customer and i told them I wanted a slightly softer mattress this time so instead of the tranquility I got their flagship mattress, the Pacbed.
last night was my first night on the pacbed. it seems like the most retarded, uncomfortable, rock hard mattress i've ever had. however, I woke up today with zero back pain. I sneezed (I suddenly have a bad head cold) and had zero pain.
tonight I squatted my best numbers since March. my first over 200lb squat I think since then.

one night is too soon to thank the bed but I wanted it in my log so I had a date to reference on these improvements, if the improvements do indeed happen. after a month if the mattress is still too firm I may go back to the tranquilty (I've been trying to save money. I went from a nearly $2k mattress, to a $600 mattress, and now i'm back on a $900 mattress).

regardless. tonight while not impressive numbers, were probably a 6 month PR that I needed.

long story short I dont think form ever caused my back issues. I think it was bad beds more than anything. I am the type of guy who will lose the thoracic a bit in heavy pulls but for the most part my squats and snatch dont sacrifice lumbar and all my pain is SI area so I dont think my form is causing it.
 
warm up
row 500m
double unders
jog
med ball work, hamstring, adductor, and calf stretching.

back squats
95 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 1
175 x 1
185 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 1

notes
I still had some pain all the way up but it was very manageable and what I'm finding is that I can move more weight with similar pain that I had before. so I dont think its that my threshold is improving as much as i'm recovering.

wod
20 min amrap
15 russian kb swings
20 air squats
15 x 95lb power snatch
20 air squats
15 x 95lb clean and jerk
20 air squats

I got 3 rounds. I think 4 would have been easy 6 months ago when i was in better shape. but again the big news for me was the 45 power snatches with zero back pain in the wod. ZERO. not just manageable, but zero. my squats (albeit, air squats) felt solid in form and easy.

I'm cautiously optimistic.

weight
175lbs (LOL)
 
squats
95 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 1
175 x 3
195 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 1
185 x 5

front squats
95 x 10
95 x 15
95 x 10

notes
back hurt on the 225 but again, weight is going back up. the amount of weight I can move through the pain is going up. the 185 felt super easy. the lighter weights are moving faster too. for a long time there all of my squats looked like pause squats lol.

front squats totally blew up my quads. couldn't walk straight for an hour. need to work on that...
 
great to see you stick it out with your injury. i'm happy that you're getting back to what you were doing before things went south for you.
 
i've never wanted to squat so badly in my life, lol.

my deadlift form has gone to **** too. I recorded my lifts this week and they're quite straight legged so I need to work on that.
 
bench
95 x 15
135 x 10
185 x 5
215 x 3
230 x 5
240 x 2

notes
felt like a solid bench day. 230 x 5 was easy so that's a big plus.

db curls
3 sets

hammer curls
3 sets

dips
bw x 15
+45lbs x 10
+70lbs x 10
+90lbs x 10

squats
95 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
190 x 5
200 x 1

notes
felt like i could go all day long at 175 but for some reason over 190 just stresses the lower back.
 
deads
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 21
250 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
225 x 10

seated rows
5 sets

hang power clean and press
95lbs x 3 sets x 10reps

hang power cleans
@ 135lbs

notes
315 was a big day for me. had to really toughen up mentally to push through the SI pain and force myself to even attempt it. the 225 x 21 felt amazing, zero pain. and its a good baseline accomplishment for certain wods. feels good to be moving more weight again finally.
 
did you use straps for the big set at 225? i think my forearms would fall off otherwise.
 
no straps on the big set and all touch and go except maybe the last 4. I think I paused at the top of rep 17 for a moment, but the arms did get a decent pump out of it. feels good to be moving a little weight again.

in other news, my creatine arrived on saturday as well so I'm cycling back in there as well. it seems to always have a good affect on me.
 
yesterday was an off day yet bench still went OK.

warm up
db bench @ 45lbs
side raises
forward raises
db curls


bench
115 x 15
155 x 10
195 x 5
220 x 5
235 x 3
235 x 2

note
maybe I had my 235 x 5 in me if i had a spot, but I dont like risking looking like that guy if I get into trouble. considering how exhausted and off I felt, i'm fairly happy with the numbers. i'd love to add 5lbs to my 5 rep each week in december if at all possible..... 250 x 5 by NYE would be awesome.


supps are on. foods pretty good. sleeping a tad more (when i force myself to bed) new mattress seems to be good.
 
bench
95 x 15
135 x 10
185 x 10
205 x 3

with a 5 second pause at the bottom
215 x 1
225 x 1
225 x 1
215 x 1

wod
3 sets of:

2 rounds
9 x 95lb overhead squats
12 x box jump overs
15 x kb swings
rest 90 seconds

(so 6 total rounds).


notes
back felt pretty darn good. zero sciatica pain, just a little stiffness at first that went away. the biggest issue here was how winded i got. i am not in crossfit shape anymore!
 
oh last night i took a 3/4 scoop of C4 for the first time in a long time and had no over stim side affects. so i'm going to assume i'm in the clear there and get back on the stim junkie bandwagon. hoping for good results during these dark winter days.
 
maybe i've already said this but doing split squats and tons of core work(especially rotation and anti rotation) worked wonders for my back, glad you are also feeling a bit better :)
 
man i was on fire yesterday but flew to Spokane, drove into idaho for meeting, then flew home the same day. I thought I might make it to the gym but traffic took about an hour and a half from airport to home so I was just dragging. I need about 12 hours of sleep tonight.
 
cramped for time last night:

warm up
lateral raises
forward raises
db curls

db bench
45 x 15
65 x 15
80 x 10

bench
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 5
215 x 1
235 x 4
235 x 3
235 x 3
240 x 5 singles
185 x 10
155 x 20

db curls
3 sets

hammer curls
3 sets

notes
I always do the same warm up pre bench. a set of lateral raises, a set of forward raises, and a light set of db curls. it seems to really make the shoulders and elbows happy before benching. wakes me up some too.

my big goal this week is 235 x 5. i'm hoping for a 5lb increase each week to end the year at 250 x 5.
 
I didn't get enough sleep last night so I'm a little apprehensive. I really want to make the gains. My buddy has micro plates and I'm going to probably bench with him tonight. so that means instead of forcing a 240 attempt I can go after 237.5lbs. that might be smart. ..

last night:

squats
95 x 10
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 5
205 x 1

stopped cause pain.

wod
3 x 7 min amraps, no rest between.

1 was
15 wallballs, 20lb ball
8 kb snatch

1 was rowing
100m max speed sprint
150m @ 45 seconds over max speed pace
50m max speed
200m at 20 seconds over max speed pace

1 was
16 pistols
12 V ups


the pistols are getting super easy, lol.
 
Micro plates are a good way mentally to get past certain weights. Sometimes 5lbs just seems to much but 2.5lbs seems more do able.
 
I'm torn. i'm headed to my buddies to bench tonight, so I'll have a spotter and can go all out. I'll see how strong I feel when I get started. i'm not sure if i'm going for 240 x 5 or 237.5 x 5 yet tonight.
 
missed by one rep! went to my buddies and lifted in his garage. we left the door open even though its 30F out

bench
95 x 20
135 x 10
185 x 5
205 x 1
225 x 1
237.5 x 4
250 x 1
260 x 1
 
Dustin07 said:
i'm hoping for a 5lb increase each week to end the year at 250 x 5.
Click to expand...

i was looking through your log and noticed you hit (235x5)x3 about a month ago. If you could do that for 3 sets, you ought to be able to do 250x5 for one!
 
that sounds a little higher than I remember doing, but I did find this 230 x 3 x 5

Invalid Link Removed .

I think my biggest issue right now is lack of sleep!
 
boom, PR.

warm up
lateral raises 15lbs x 10, 20lbs x 10
forward raises 15lbs x 10
db curls 30lbs x 15, 35lbs x 10

I just do these movements to warmup the shoulders and elbows before benching.

bench
95 x 20
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 1
215 x 1
230 x 1
240 x 5 (PR, no spot, I think i had 7 in me)
240 x 4

notes
felt great. i'm on track. just gotta stay the course. taking 10g of creatine a day right now. slept a solid 8hrs+ last night. it was cold as balls today, we gotsome snow last night so the elbows felt cold but all good otherwise.
 
thanks! that 240 felt so good i'm still on cloud nine. this weekend I went snowshoeing for the first time, that was pretty fun, slept a lot. but still todays session I felt really out of shape and winded. still grabbed some OK numbers, but just got winded easy.

bench
95 x 20
135 x 10
175 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 3
250 x 2
225 x 5
185 x 10

grace
30 x 135lb clean and jerks for time:
4:40
my old PR was 2:11 so i'm out of shape here.
I did 5 x sets of 5 with steel plates, so no dumping reps.

deads
225 x 10
315 x 5
325 x 1

notes
again, super happy deads are slowly coming back, no back issues today. only hurts when I squat.

I love how that grace wod blows up my legs. the pull on the power clean gets my hammies and calves and the push on the push jerk gets my quads. it just all around gets my legs great. its a good wod to fall back on. short and sweet.
 
last night:

squats
95 x 20
135 x 10 x 3
Stayed light to avoid causing back issues.

Bulgarian split squats
35lb kb x 10 reps
2 x 20lb kb x 10reps x 2 sets
2 x 35lb kb x 5 reps x 2 sets

pistols
some weighted, some without.
I should have done more but these are getting really easy and kind of fun

wod
15 x 135lb clean and jerk
30 cal bike ride
15 x 135lb clean and jerk
time: 4:45

note
the time on the wod made me laugh cause its the same time I had the day before for 30 x 135lb clean and jerk... except I took almost 2 full minutes on the bike ride in the middle....?

back is feeling really really good.

tonight we are supposed to max on bench. I would rather stick to my goal and aim for my 245 x 5 but I'll go ahead and max now and see if I've improved.
 
i think i would die doing 135x30 c+j
 
bench
95 x 15
135 x 5
185 x 1
225 x 1
255 x 1
275 x 1 (big PR)

wod
20min amrap
8 x dead hang pullups
8 x 30" box jumps
12 x 70lb kb swings
8 x 95lb front squats
6 rounds.

weight
178lbs

notes
creatine at 10g. sleep is good. eating is high. bench press is strong. squats suck and hurt, but deadlifts are coming back.
 
thanks!! I feels as much like a mental milestone as anything. Seeing 2 plates + a 25 on the bar just looked so cool. Plus I feel confident now when I drop back to my 5's at 245-250 that I can really do better, knowing i've pushed 275.
 
deads
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 5 (best since March I think)

power cleans
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 5
195 x 5

push press
185 x sets of 5

notes
progress across the board. rebuilding.
 
I developed an instinct to squeeze the glutes really hard when standing up after deadlifts. I noticed there was no backpain if I did this. well yesterday I found I wasn't really experiencing any back pain during or after deadlifts at all. and definitely no sciatica issues at all which was nice.
 
what helped me greatly with the back pain were reverse squats on a wall ladder(or wall bars, i don't know), you lie on a mat on the floor, on your back, you anchor your feet on the bars and you pull yourself into a deep squat position and then push yourself away again from the bar, trains the hipflexors directly and in a dynamic fashion unlike most ab exercises, my hip flexors are so week that i can only do 6-10 reps, but the key is controlling the movement and going slow if you try to go full force you will just do a legcurl
 
awesome work on the d lifts friend. and you're still looking pretty explosive too with PC 195x5!
 
Warsheeper said:
what helped me greatly with the back pain were reverse squats on a wall ladder(or wall bars, i don't know), you lie on a mat on the floor, on your back, you anchor your feet on the bars and you pull yourself into a deep squat position and then push yourself away again from the bar, trains the hipflexors directly and in a dynamic fashion unlike most ab exercises, my hip flexors are so week that i can only do 6-10 reps, but the key is controlling the movement and going slow if you try to go full force you will just do a legcurl
Click to expand...

do you have any videos on that? I'm having a hard time picturing it but would give it a try. i've been doing a lot of weighted pistols and even though they seem like a silly movement, they're definitely getting stronger.

Balthazar said:
awesome work on the d lifts friend. and you're still looking pretty explosive too with PC 195x5!
Click to expand...
thank man! you know all things considered I'm fairly happy with this! I think my best set of 5 for power cleans was like 230 ish and my best power clean was 260. so a 195 x 5 feels OK considering i haven't been able to train them at all this year!
 
Invalid Link Removed imagine this movement but you lie on your back and you pull yourself into a deep squat position, the friction will give you the resistance(always use a towel or you will stick to the ground) and if you can put plates on yourself
 
Warsheeper said:
Invalid Link Removed imagine this movement but you lie on your back and you pull yourself into a deep squat position, the friction will give you the resistance(always use a towel or you will stick to the ground) and if you can put plates on yourself
Click to expand...
good video. I'm not sure if I learned anything, but I enjoyed it...

Warsheeper said:
nice session, seem like everything is coming along as planned
Click to expand...
getting there!
 
bench
95 x 20
135 x 10
185 x 5
205 x 1
225 x 1
235 x 1
245 x 4
255 x 2
230 x 5
190 x 12

db curls
3 sets
mostly just for elbow maintenance right now

shoulder lateral raises
4 sets

seated db press
3 sets of 10

notes
missed my 5 rep, but my pull back sets are all going up each week. instead of hitting 225 x 5 and 185 x 10 after I missed my 4 rep, i went 230 x 5 and 190 x 12 and they felt good. I was actually feeling pretty tired and a little underfed so all things considered, I'm happy with todays results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top