To Infinity.... and Beyond!

[Dustin07]

Lat pull downs
3 x 15 x 115

Chin-ups
3 x 10

Face pulls
3 x 15

Seated incline DB curls
3 x 12 x 35s

Standing DB curls
3 x 10-12 x 30s
(Middle 2/3 ROM, sorta a spotto style)

Kroc rows
3 x 10+ x 60lbs

Cybex t bar
15 x +70lbs
2 x 12 x +90lbs
10 x +115lbs
20 x +45lbs (immediate dropset)

Preacher curls
3 x 10 x 60lb

Standing ez bar
5 x 12 x 60lb
+ 15 x 45lb straight bar dropset wide grip


Notes
Up at 5am to drive an hour for a 7am tee time today, then an hour back north to gym. Figured worst case scenario, just go a little lighter today and get some volume in.

Had my normal full supp stack at 5am (1/2) and the other half after golf on way to gym. That alpha one I suspect is hitting hard!

Looks like a ton of volume but it was about an hour of work. Lol

 

[Dustin07]

After 8 months of research and procrastination, moved to a new carrier yesterday so I could finally replace my falling apart phone.

They gave me a free Samsung 7 watch with the new plan, which I accepted cause, free.... But I'm not really sure how or why to use it.

Any advice?

I tried a golf app for it today, that was no good. Wore it for my cardio postWO, that was interesting.

I don't really want a ton of health info in my head all the time (curse of too much info). But it might work well for say neighborhood runs instead of taking my phone me with me since it syncs up to my music and earbuds.


Cardio
LISS Incline 20min
With a couple 1/4mile jogs thrown in to see if I could

 

[akboom87]

After 8 months of research and procrastination, moved to a new carrier yesterday so I could finally replace my falling apart phone.

They gave me a free Samsung 7 watch with the new plan, which I accepted cause, free.... But I'm not really sure how or why to use it.

Any advice?

I tried a golf app for it today, that was no good. Wore it for my cardio postWO, that was interesting.

I don't really want a ton of health info in my head all the time (curse of too much info). But it might work well for say neighborhood runs instead of taking my phone me with me since it syncs up to my music and earbuds.


Cardio
LISS Incline 20min
With a couple 1/4mile jogs thrown in to see if I could

I have the Apple Watch at first I was not a fan. Now I am enjoying it. I use it for steps, hrs standing the typical phone health tracking. But some other stuff I always have my phone on silent so my watch buzzes if someone is calling and I can see who it is, same with texts. I find that I use that a lot

Also with ear buds in I can change songs from my watch I record my gym sessions on my watch as well.

Also I do timers a lot and yeah I run those off my watch.

So yeah I have used mine way more than I thought I would. It even tells time

 

[Dustin07]

I have the Apple Watch at first I was not a fan. Now I am enjoying it. I use it for steps, hrs standing the typical phone health tracking. But some other stuff I always have my phone on silent so my watch buzzes if someone is calling and I can see who it is, same with texts. I find that I use that a lot

Also with ear buds in I can change songs from my watch I record my gym sessions on my watch as well.

Also I do timers a lot and yeah I run those off my watch.

So yeah I have used mine way more than I thought I would. It even tells time

Do you have any apps I should check the android store for? The Grint golf app I loaded up but basically every feature I actually wanted it for required a $60 purchase so I passed on that.

I can't see myself wearing a watch around iron because I'm constantly fiddling with wrist wraps or gymnastics grips but I could see it elevating my cardio a bit ..... Maybe even motivating.

 

[akboom87]

Do you have any apps I should check the android store for? The Grint golf app I loaded up but basically every feature I actually wanted it for required a $60 purchase so I passed on that.

I can't see myself wearing a watch around iron because I'm constantly fiddling with wrist wraps or gymnastics grips but I could see it elevating my cardio a bit ..... Maybe even motivating.

I don’t use any apps really, I also slide it up on my forearm when I’m at the gym so it’s out of the way and all.

 

[Dustin07]

I don’t use any apps really, I also slide it up on my forearm when I’m at the gym so it’s out of the way and all.

Genius. Big brain energy.

 

[gphagan1]

Lat pull downs
3 x 15 x 115

Chin-ups
3 x 10

Face pulls
3 x 15

Seated incline DB curls
3 x 12 x 35s

Standing DB curls
3 x 10-12 x 30s
(Middle 2/3 ROM, sorta a spotto style)

Kroc rows
3 x 10+ x 60lbs

Cybex t bar
15 x +70lbs
2 x 12 x +90lbs
10 x +115lbs
20 x +45lbs (immediate dropset)

Preacher curls
3 x 10 x 60lb

Standing ez bar
5 x 12 x 60lb
+ 15 x 45lb straight bar dropset wide grip


Notes
Up at 5am to drive an hour for a 7am tee time today, then an hour back north to gym. Figured worst case scenario, just go a little lighter today and get some volume in.

Had my normal full supp stack at 5am (1/2) and the other half after golf on way to gym. That alpha one I suspect is hitting hard!

Looks like a ton of volume but it was about an hour of work. Lol

I bet you got a good bicep pump out of that workout. Even your pull work for your upper back probably kept that fire going in your biceps. As far as the watch pretty much the way akboom uses his Apple Watch is right on the money with the benefits of them.

 

[Segansational]

I don't know about you guys but work always seems like feast or famine. Some days you simply can't find enough hours in the day, other days it feels like you could put a mannequin at your desk and sneak out the back

These days it's all feast for me, but unfortunately I'm the meal

boy catch 22 to the post cycle natty run; so many caps/pills to swallow every day again.
but there is no lack of hydration when choking down that many capsules, lol. My morning regiment was an extra 1lb of water just during supplementation process, ha.

Truth. Either on or post the # of Capsules is outrageous.

You got your arm up for the 8 second ride

8 seconds?! That's showing off, who is he, Superman??

 

[Dustin07]

I bet you got a good bicep pump out of that workout. Even your pull work for your upper back probably kept that fire going in your biceps. As far as the watch pretty much the way akboom uses his Apple Watch is right on the money with the benefits of them.

it was solid! this current natty stack has a nice pop in gym energy. probably helped that I did not start a back day with heavy deads, so I had a lot of energy to expel, but I was still pretty shocked.

Watch will really depend what you want out of it, as so many nowadays have, if anything, way too many features (considering how inaccurate or not really validated so many of the “health” features are on them).

Yeah I never really understood the appeal to them so half of my intention was to give it a thorough try to learn it, see what it does and see if it can be something that appeals to me.

Right now I am thinking where the watch would likely be best is replacing my early 2000s Dell Jukebox, Ipod, microsoft Zune mp3 player lifestyle on a run. Being able to wear a watch to connect ipods and track a run is definitely very appealing. If I can get my feet good and healthy, I could see that motivating me to bring legit outdoor running back into my regiment.

I've never had issues while training, but I guess I don’t really use wraps ever.

it's 90% ritual/habit for me. I love mine on heavy press, heavy squats, and even when I'm curling I notice my wrists appreciate it. Yet if I'm travelling I have many times found myself hitting the same weight without wraps, without pain/issues so..... a lot of it is just in the headgame for me.

 

[KlausCoin]

how is PCT treating you post gear cream?

youve got me considering picking up a bottle to kick off snowboarding szn

 

[Dustin07]

how is PCT treating you post gear cream?

I texted @sns8778 this weekend to tell him how I felt with his Natty stack I'm on, let me find the text real quick.

"since dropping gear cream, I'd say this natty stack is 90% of the way there mentally, but physically Alpha One is way stronger. woke up at 5am drove an hour to golf in 30F with windchill freezing temps, drove an hour back to the gym after. knocked out 90minutes of work in 60min, I had to stop myself because I wanted to keep going. then got on the treadmill for another 20 minutes. My gym energy is crazy high. the only difference is the type of aggression is more mellow, less rage".

M-Test is working, hitting hard. I keep noticing my voice gets deeper on it.
Alpha One is a HARD hitting awesome physical reaction in the gym. my work capacity is up, and the pumps do not disappear like they normally would at depletion.

My hair shedding has basically stopped completely one week post gear cream.

youve got me considering picking up a bottle to kick off snowboarding szn

I honestly really liked it. I do feel like I grabbed a little lean mass on a cut, and the angry aggression was top notch. But this natty stack I'm on now feels damn good. I have no idea what I'll do in 2025. I have an international trip in late january so I'm thinking I may just go natty until Feb Unless I throw in a month of epiandrolean in mid Dec or something.

 

[Dustin07]

Bench
20 x bar
5 x 95, 135, 185
1 x 205, 225, 255, 275, 290
9 x 230

Wide grip
25 x 135

Reverse grip
10 x 135

Standing cable skullies
20, 15, 15, 20

DB laterals
12 x 27.5s, 30s,32.5s

Superset machine dips
4 x 15

Pec deck
3 x 15

Rear delt (same machine)
3 x 12

Lifefitness shoulder press
3 x 10


Notes
Do not like the LF shoulder press as much as the roc-it. The ROM doesn't feel as natural

Weight 189

 

[Dustin07]

My appetite has been insatiable lately. brief fasts have suddenly been so much harder. I'm throwing one down today, and it's crazy how I'm feeling the massive hunger pangs I hadn't experienced in a long time.

 

[Dustin07]

Contemplated starting a new log for just an Oct hard cut. Came across a couple pictures of when I caught me checking me out last month on our Arizona trip and am feeling pretty good about the leanness. Obviously not there yet, but well on my way. we headed down to that trip at 188lbs and since we got back I spent Sept largely maintaining between 188-190. So I'm going to make a hard push in Oct to see if I can get that scale to tilt down to about 185 before dia de los muertos.

My plan is to hit it with increased cardio (which I largely let go of in Sept) and basically bring back nutrition to where it was in August. high protein, maintenance level on lifting days, and likely 20:4 on rest days.

I'm throwing in a 36hr today to kick the month off. Lord knows there's more than 5lbs of blubber in there, but considering the wave I've ridden so far, I'll definitely be holding more lean mass at 180-185 than ever before.

it's been a hell of a 2 year ride so far.

 

[Dustin07]

The renpho only shows avg weights on the measurements so that 200.4 number was actually a 207lb day for me when I hit my last deadlift PR.

 

[Dustin07]

Fasted Cardio
Incline LISS - 40min
With a couple jogs sprinkled in.

 

[akboom87]

Man I’m impressed with your physique, no homo

You have made a lot of progress in the last 2 years pretty damn cool to see that graph mapping it out.

 

[gphagan1]

Looks like you’re starting from a good place for a cut, with the muscle you’ve added this year. You should see some good results.

 

[Dustin07]

Man I’m impressed with your physique, no homo

You have made a lot of progress in the last 2 years pretty damn cool to see that graph mapping it out.

dude isn't that cool? you can pretty much correalate 90% of my PRs with the peaks. I love looking at that graph.

Looks like you’re starting from a good place for a cut, with the muscle you’ve added this year. You should see some good results.

thanks man! definitely getting closer. I feel like I'm at that point now where its easy to slip the wrong way, and all hard work here on out to keep the cut train going. I can tell the difference in my Sept stall vs July/August by just removing the cardio, really. So going to make a hard push in Oct.

I'm thinking it might be good to get just lean enough to justify a mini bulk around thanksgiving to new years, then reverse it back into a cut until we travel around Feb 1.

woke up at a fasted 186 today. so it's nice to be trending back the right way. I think between a 36hr fast clearing out my gut, and the new XPG Napalm and Lipoderm I've been playing with it really trimmed that mid section.

Broke the fast with ground beef, egg whites, spread on those sandwhich thins with a ton of homemade salsa my buddy brought into work for me. Good way to start the morning!

 

[Dustin07]

I honestly really liked it. I do feel like I grabbed a little lean mass on a cut, and the angry aggression was top notch. But this natty stack I'm on now feels damn good. I have no idea what I'll do in 2025. I have an international trip in late january so I'm thinking I may just go natty until Feb Unless I throw in a month of epiandrolean in mid Dec or something.

My mood has improved substantially now that I'm a week+ off gear cream. My fuse has gotten longer. My libido is now "normal" (LOL)

honestly, I don't like this numbed down version of me as much. Everyone else does I'm sure, but I did not mind the angry aggression vibes I got on GC.

 

[SkRaw85]

Contemplated starting a new log for just an Oct hard cut. Came across a couple pictures of when I caught me checking me out last month on our Arizona trip and am feeling pretty good about the leanness. Obviously not there yet, but well on my way. we headed down to that trip at 188lbs and since we got back I spent Sept largely maintaining between 188-190. So I'm going to make a hard push in Oct to see if I can get that scale to tilt down to about 185 before dia de los muertos.

My plan is to hit it with increased cardio (which I largely let go of in Sept) and basically bring back nutrition to where it was in August. high protein, maintenance level on lifting days, and likely 20:4 on rest days.

I'm throwing in a 36hr today to kick the month off. Lord knows there's more than 5lbs of blubber in there, but considering the wave I've ridden so far, I'll definitely be holding more lean mass at 180-185 than ever before.

View attachment 246189

View attachment 246190
View attachment 246192

View attachment 246191



it's been a hell of a 2 year ride so far.

View attachment 246193

Hard work pays

 

[Dustin07]

Squats
Air x 20
5 x 95, 135
1 x 185, 225, 265, 305, 335
1 x 355 (PR)

Walk out
405lbs plus a couple third squats to test

2 second pause
2 x 5 x 225

H/S hack squats
10 x 200, 250, 290
5 x 340
15 x 20

Leg curls - single leg
3 sets
-extra reps left leg-

Leg ext
3 sets

Adductors
3 x 10 to 205lbs



Notes
Work was sucking so my lifting buddy said fuk it, let's go squat a PR

Left elbow popped something nasty, during my ascent on the PR I had to look to see if it was dislocated. Was tender for a minute then felt pretty great. Wonder if it was just scar tissue that finally broke up.

My buddy hit his lifetime PR 500lb squat and it was clean! He buried that thing!

405 felt sooo light today for the walk out and little partial squats. I need to work on my lower weight pauses.

Weight 186.

 

[Dustin07]

Man I'm so pumped for him on that 500lb squat. I gave him a big hug and almost felt emotional over it. He and started lifting together like 10 years ago when I was a new crossfitter, he was a new Rippetoe evangelite and we were both hitting our 5's at like 185, 225, etc. his PR honestly feels like something I got to be a part of. Mine doesn't mean **** to me until it's 365 then 405 lol.

 

[Hyde]

Man I'm so pumped for him on that 500lb squat. I gave him a big hug and almost felt emotional over it. He and started lifting together like 10 years ago when I was a new crossfitter, he was a new Rippetoe evangelite and we were both hitting our 5's at like 185, 225, etc. his PR honestly feels like something I got to be a part of. Mine doesn't mean **** to me until it's 365 then 405 lol.

I know what you mean; it’s great to witness a friend succeed in breaking an important barrier for them! 500 is a really great one, because it’s high enough that for many it may be the last hundred barrier they will see through, and 500 is objectively heavy to the average person in gen pop.

It doesn’t even matter the lift; if you answer 500lbs they go, “Oh, wow”, Like if you say that for anything, they are going to ask for your help moving their furniture at some point.

 

[Hyde]

It’s really great you both got to PR together too - that’s a lot of fun! I’m glad you got that, and I believe you are very close to taking 365 as well.

 

[Dustin07]

I know what you mean; it’s great to witness a friend succeed in breaking an important barrier for them! 500 is a really great one, because it’s high enough that for many it may be the last hundred barrier they will see through, and 500 is objectively heavy to the average person in gen pop.

man I could see the fire in him today. when he popped up with 315 he was almost too cocky with it. he stood up so fast 315 bounched up in the air a little off his back. he goes "whooops, need to focus a little more". we both knew he was going for it today. he might have had a little more in him, but taking the 500 barrier was enough to be stoked and no less valuable than 505 for todays effort.

It doesn’t even matter the lift; if you answer 500lbs they go, “Oh, wow”, Like if you say that for anything, they are going to ask for your help moving their furniture at some point.

very true

 

[Dustin07]

It’s really great you both got to PR together too - that’s a lot of fun! I’m glad you got that, and I believe you are very close to taking 365 as well.

you know what's funny is how comfortable 405 felt on my back, I did take a couple 1/3 squats with it to feel it. although I hate to do that in public... but I wanted to see what it felt like. I know where my weakness is. I might try to develop a slightly wider stance and see if it helps me get deeper. I think pause squats will help too.

at "heavy" weights, I start to collapse. have a harder time getting into the hole. my 355 take was a real struggle. my 225s were A2G, old school snatch style.

 

[gphagan1]

Congratulations to you and your workout partner on PRs. It’s good you have had your training partner that long. When training together that long you know each other so well it makes workouts go smoother and it’s so much easier to trust that they will spot you correctly when needed as well as better workouts just from being familiar with each other.

 

[Hyde]

you know what's funny is how comfortable 405 felt on my back, I did take a couple 1/3 squats with it to feel it. although I hate to do that in public... but I wanted to see what it felt like. I know where my weakness is. I might try to develop a slightly wider stance and see if it helps me get deeper. I think pause squats will help too.

at "heavy" weights, I start to collapse. have a harder time getting into the hole. my 355 take was a real struggle. my 225s were A2G, old school snatch style.

If you widen your stance, just go out like one toe width per side. Very little changes will end up making a significant difference without being so different that it totally overloads tissues that may not be ready for wholesale changes. Like if you want to get significantly wider, you would spend some months working that out. BUT I do not think most raw squatters should get particularly wide - just outside shoulder width is going to be plenty for many guys. You want to be able to stack your joints up decently still.

 

[Hyde]

1-3 second pause squats, pausing in the bottom position, can be a big aid in reinforcing proper positioning, maintaining a good brace, and being dynamic with the reversal.

~55% of your normal 1RM for 2-3x5 after your primary squat work should be plenty if you decide to try them.

 

[Dustin07]

Congrats on the PR and definitely seem to be looking massive, like the work has paid off.

When you say collapse getting to the hole what or where?

I notice at heavy weight I have a tendancy to drop my chest closer to my knees as I approach bottom. It's almost more like a mental thing in an effort to get the bar lower. I don't think it's a strength issue, spine position seems fine and I can get my chest up right with it, Its more like exposing the weakness in the glutes/hammies in the hole I think. I have some thoughts on how I can work on this. it was an old habit I had years ago so it's interesting to see it creep back in.

Overall you haven't really been doing many squats over the long period of time of gaining weight and focusing on other things. There is a strong likelihood your leverages are changed and it may just take time to get that intramuscular coordination improved in order to see some serious progress. Considering the absolute loads and lack of focus on squats just spending time getting "acquainted" to squats. While pauses and something like pin squats either at bottom or at sticking point can help out of the hole, if you are having trouble even getting there it is either just coordination and practice or the weights are just too heavy. Spending time just squatting for reps and building them back up can be all some people need at times.

that's all true for sure. I'm definitely enjoying the newbie gains again as I bring squats back into the regiment more seriously lately, it's good to be enjoying them again finally!

 

[Hyde]

If you lose position in the hole upon reversal, the pause squats will help force you to leave from the hole with an optimal torso position.

But if you are giving up torso position on the descent, you either lack ab strength to keep your chest up, or it is merely lack of technical execution. You claim abs are strong enough, and my guess is the same - like Resolve said, you just need more reps, more practice.

More plain ol’ squat total volume, at weights that are still light enough you can think through & execute proper technique. Like 65-80%. That means all of your money training is going to be with weights between 205-275.

And doing enough work on those to full depth is going to be the best way to build that glute/hole strength.

 

[Dustin07]

or it is merely lack of technical execution. You claim abs are strong enough, and my guess is the same - like Resolve said, you just need more reps, more practice.

I truly think this is it. I might throw in some extra core work though anyways but yes I definitely think it's an excecution issue.

More plain ol’ squat total volume, at weights that are still light enough you can think through & execute proper technique. Like 65-80%. That means all of your money training is going to be with weights between 205-275.

what I like about this is those weights do not make my CNS fall asleep looking at them lol. those are not intimidating working ranges. I had a very similar though though, and 275 was the upper number I thought about really working around.

 

[SkRaw85]

Squats
Air x 20
5 x 95, 135
1 x 185, 225, 265, 305, 335
1 x 355 (PR)

Walk out
405lbs plus a couple third squats to test

2 second pause
2 x 5 x 225

H/S hack squats
10 x 200, 250, 290
5 x 340
15 x 20

Leg curls - single leg
3 sets
-extra reps left leg-

Leg ext
3 sets

Adductors
3 x 10 to 205lbs



Notes
Work was sucking so my lifting buddy said fuk it, let's go squat a PR

Left elbow popped something nasty, during my ascent on the PR I had to look to see if it was dislocated. Was tender for a minute then felt pretty great. Wonder if it was just scar tissue that finally broke up.

My buddy hit his lifetime PR 500lb squat and it was clean! He buried that thing!

405 felt sooo light today for the walk out and little partial squats. I need to work on my lower weight pauses.

Weight 186.

See what happens when you say **** work! Gratz on those PRs for both of you!

 

[SkRaw85]

you know what's funny is how comfortable 405 felt on my back, I did take a couple 1/3 squats with it to feel it. although I hate to do that in public... but I wanted to see what it felt like. I know where my weakness is. I might try to develop a slightly wider stance and see if it helps me get deeper. I think pause squats will help too.

at "heavy" weights, I start to collapse. have a harder time getting into the hole. my 355 take was a real struggle. my 225s were A2G, old school snatch style.

Sounds like pause work will do wonders for you. First time I did a block with all paused squats (sub maximal paused for 3 secs in hole) it blew my squat up. Spending more time in the the most miserable position of the movement bulletproofs.

 

[Dustin07]

Bench - paused
5 x 115, 145, 195, 225, 240

Touch n go
3 x 5 x 230

Incline DB press
3 x 10 x 60
6 x 80
10 x 70

Low incline DB flies
10 x 27.5s , 30s, 37.5s

Standing cable skullies
3 x 15
-pretty light today, some elbow tenderness-

Dips
3 x 15
-long slow pauses on last 5reps/set-

H/S crunches
3 sets, ascending weight

Knees to elbow (hanging)
3 x 10


Cardio
30 min LISS done early to make up for missing last night's.







Notes
Elbows been weird since yesterday. Generally everything felt great though. The pauses at 240 felt incredibly stable.

Simple goal today, get productive bench practice / frequency in, test elbow, leave on a good note without overdoing it.

I think my second cap of today's Alpha One kicked in on my third set of db inclines. Or it was BLS. Idk but **** got weird after that.

 

[Dustin07]

Sounds like pause work will do wonders for you. First time I did a block with all paused squats (sub maximal paused for 3 secs in hole) it blew my squat up. Spending more time in the the most miserable position of the movement bulletproofs.

well put, but yeah I agree, and as of right now maybe more frequency. I'm not feeling a downside from current volume levels yet. I think I can sprinkle more work in somewhere

 

[Dustin07]

I'm still a little confused about my state of mind and mood.
When I did that mega dose epiandro run last spring, coming off it was hard on me. I felt bouts of borderline depression, but a cap of epi here and there for 2 weeks got me right.

Coming off gear cream I feel none of that. I feel chill like a stoner. Even though work absolutely SUCKS right now (my problem, not yours, lol) I'm not going off on anyone, I'm not yelling at the drivers on I5 when I commute. I'm sorta rolling with the punches.

it's not that I'm crying when I see a puppy dog on tv, I haven't gone 180 degrees or anything, lol

but I do miss being angry all the time. This chill vibe isn't as much fun.

 

[Hyde]

Love that song in training. Sets the tone right

Yeah even some extra work with 205-225, done well with extreme intent, is going to yield big dividends. Consider adding 3x5 before deadlifts or somewhere you can squeeze it in. Don’t rush your descent - focus on controlling your position, smoothly lowering while keeping chest up. Then when you reverse, explode & keep accelerating the bar to lockout!

 

[akboom87]

I'm still a little confused about my state of mind and mood.
When I did that mega dose epiandro run last spring, coming off it was hard on me. I felt bouts of borderline depression, but a cap of epi here and there for 2 weeks got me right.

Coming off gear cream I feel none of that. I feel chill like a stoner. Even though work absolutely SUCKS right now (my problem, not yours, lol) I'm not going off on anyone, I'm not yelling at the drivers on I5 when I commute. I'm sorta rolling with the punches.

it's not that I'm crying when I see a puppy dog on tv, I haven't gone 180 degrees or anything, lol

but I do miss being angry all the time. This chill vibe isn't as much fun.

Order more gear cream!

 

[Dustin07]

Yeah even some extra work with 205-225, done well with extreme intent, is going to yield big dividends. Consider adding 3x5 before deadlifts or somewhere you can squeeze it in. Don’t rush your descent - focus on controlling your position, smoothly lowering while keeping chest up. Then when you reverse, explode & keep accelerating the bar to lockout!

that's really awesome and affirming to hear that from you because I told my buddy before doing back work tomorrow I wanted to throw down squats. I said low volume, low reps, maybe work up to like a single at 275 paused, but I wanted to get more frequency in, in a smart way that doestn't trash my body.

Did throw in ab work today. I hate adding abs. I feel like they get hammered doing the compounds but between cutting and working on squats, I figured what the hell, lets get some bonus work in.

 

[Hyde]

that's really awesome and affirming to hear that from you because I told my buddy before doing back work tomorrow I wanted to throw down squats. I said low volume, low reps, maybe work up to like a single at 275 paused, but I wanted to get more frequency in, in a smart way that doestn't trash my body.

Did throw in ab work today. I hate adding abs. I feel like they get hammered doing the compounds but between cutting and working on squats, I figured what the hell, lets get some bonus work in.

You’re never going to really regret a set or two of hanging leg raises, GHD sit-ups, ab wheel, stir the pot, etc tossed into a warmup or cooldown. Just doing one set of ab wheel every training day in warmup I feel makes it so much easier to contract my abs harder in my brace during the session.

 

[MrKleen73]

One other thing, make sure you are positioning the bar appropriately on your back for what you are working. If you want to lessen the bend over and posterior chain involvement, place the bar a little higher on your shoulders / traps, and you will be able to maintain a more upright position allowing your hips to drop down instead of back. More like an Olympic style squat. The wider your feet the more bend and posterior chain is going to be then add the weight being down on your scaps instead of traps and you are just getting closer and closer to a good morning.

 

[SkRaw85]

I'm still a little confused about my state of mind and mood.
When I did that mega dose epiandro run last spring, coming off it was hard on me. I felt bouts of borderline depression, but a cap of epi here and there for 2 weeks got me right.

Coming off gear cream I feel none of that. I feel chill like a stoner. Even though work absolutely SUCKS right now (my problem, not yours, lol) I'm not going off on anyone, I'm not yelling at the drivers on I5 when I commute. I'm sorta rolling with the punches.

it's not that I'm crying when I see a puppy dog on tv, I haven't gone 180 degrees or anything, lol

but I do miss being angry all the time. This chill vibe isn't as much fun.

Lift angry, live chill

 

[SkRaw85]

Order more gear cream!

also this lol

 

[dapack]

Congrats on the PR!!! Hard to believe we are close to the same weight because you look twice the size of me. Would say are bodyfat are close to each other too. Maybe my bones weigh a lot LOL

 

[Dustin07]

One other thing, make sure you are positioning the bar appropriately on your back for what you are working. If you want to lessen the bend over and posterior chain involvement, place the bar a little higher on your shoulders / traps, and you will be able to maintain a more upright position allowing your hips to drop down instead of back. More like an Olympic style squat. The wider your feet the more bend and posterior chain is going to be then add the weight being down on your scaps instead of traps and you are just getting closer and closer to a good morning.

Hilarious you'd say that, it was on my mind. I really dislike Oly style high bar but yeah I feel like what I'm hearing from you guys is confirming some ideas I had in my head.

Ian says and I agree, that it seems like I either still need to develop that hamstring strength or simply learn how to use them lol

I do feel like there's a mental aspect of just getting comfortable in the hole at maximal weight. So given the feedback from you, Hyde and Resolve, I have some good material to work with

 

[Dustin07]

My wife booked me an appt with her LMP so I thought it would be interesting to go ham on my feet and see what she could do. I hit the gym after work on my way.

Cardio
Treadmill - 50min
Mixed in 1/4 and 1/2 mile jogs
Mostly just incline walk 2.7-3mph

She found my normal plantar knot in my heel, a whole bunch of crap in my calves, and a very tight IT band on my left side (the side with all my injuries)

Interesting first visit, feeling good!

 

[Segansational]

I'm still a little confused about my state of mind and mood.
When I did that mega dose epiandro run last spring, coming off it was hard on me. I felt bouts of borderline depression, but a cap of epi here and there for 2 weeks got me right.

Coming off gear cream I feel none of that. I feel chill like a stoner. Even though work absolutely SUCKS right now (my problem, not yours, lol) I'm not going off on anyone, I'm not yelling at the drivers on I5 when I commute. I'm sorta rolling with the punches.

it's not that I'm crying when I see a puppy dog on tv, I haven't gone 180 degrees or anything, lol

but I do miss being angry all the time. This chill vibe isn't as much fun.

Yeah, I'll be honest, I do not like epiandro - at least orally. Definitely gives me more anxiety/aggression, so useful in some scenarios perhaps pre-WO, but generally I much prefer TD if I'm going to use it. That said, I have a bottle of IML caps sitting in my cabinet, so at some point it'll go into rotation.

 

[Dustin07]

Again without actually seeing it this could be totally off though. Just getting back into regular squats with solid rep work to regroove the motion with new leverages, improving the comfort and muscular coordination of the movement, and building squat muscles with just squats should do a lot, but may be worth keeping some weak points in mind as it moves forward.

Yeah man I think you are hitting the nail on the head here. To be fair, I have always had a high differential between squat and DL. even back in my crossfit days first time I squatted 315, I was already pulling 450. But there's other things going on there. I was able to hit 290 for ten before I could clear 315 for one, which I always thought was weird.

Everything you said makes sense to me. last spring when my adductors were flaring up doing bulgarians I started throwing in simple adductor machine work. started out at 70lbs for sets of 20+ just to get loose and get blood flowing. Over time I was pounding the whole stack for reps (250lbs). A squat PR followed... Then my buddy and I doubled down on quad work, adding in hacks with our extensions and other normal work... a PR followed...

so I think you are right on all aspects here.

and have a history of issues with full rom Cleans versus Power Cleans

That's true too, I was power cleaning and jerking 270+ when I could only front squat/squat clean like 235-245, lol.