Getting Less Weak

[Macho Man]

Decided to do my stairmaster first today to help warm up my legs......

Stairmaster
10 mins level 10

Squats
265- 5,5,5,5,4 (these felt really solid today)

[Macho Man]

Pretty happy with how I’m feeling right now. I’ve been able to beat the piss out of my quads on a tennis ball lately, which has made my legs feel really good throughout the day and made squats more comfortable.

Really enjoyed the pre-weights cardio the other day so I opted for that again.

Stairmaster
Level 8- 10 mins

Squats
215- 5x4

Bench
150- 5x4

[Macho Man]

Fucked up my deads and accidentally went 10lbs heavier than I was supposed to. Oh well.

Stairmaster
Level 8- 12 mins

Deads
385- 5,5,4,4,3

Hook Grip Acclimation Holds
225- 10 count
275- 10 count
315- hahahaha
225- 5 count

I need to start remembering to do these on all days, not just dead days. It really sucks having tiny hands (7.5 in from base of palm to tip of middle finger), I can barely reach my fingers over my thumbs for the hook grip. Really hope the big boss lets me stop running the tilt-a-whirl soon and moves me up to a main attraction like the haunted house, then I’ll be able to afford my new teeth!

[Macho Man]

Stairmaster
Level 8- 10 mins

Bench
195- 5,5,4,4,3

Hook Grip Holds
5 sec holds- 225, 275, 325, 345 (lasted about 2)

Dry Sauna
10 mins

[johndylan15]

How are you liking your current programming as far as just the one movement per day?

[Macho Man]

Really liking the simplicity of it!!

[Macho Man]

Stairmaster
Level 10- 8 mins

Skwats
275- 5,5,4,4,3

Dry Sauna
12 mins

Wasn’t feeling squats at all today when I walked in the gym. Everything felt tight, weak, and off through my first three sets. The last two sets, while lower in reps and clearly showing signs of weakness and fatigue from the workout, felt phen-fucking-nominal. Very odd, but very good way to end a workout!

Seeing a sports chiro on Thurs to help me beat the piss out of the right side of my neck/trap and hopefully give my IT band a run for its money. The neck issues I have had since high school (results of several “stingers” to that side of the neck) and feel like thick guitar strings under the skin, I have pretty much given up on resolving those on my own after years of trying. The IT bands have me frazzled lately though. I’ll beat the piss out of them on a tennis ball, find a couple terrible trigger points and let it rest, then feel wonderfully mobile for several hours afterwards. Then I wake up the next day and it is like I didn’t put in any work on them at all and they are sore and tight as shit all over again. Shit fuck.

[Macho Man]

Numbers are improving, very happy to see that.

Stairmaster
Level 10- 10 mins

Bench
195- 5,5,5,5,5

Hook Grip Holds
225- 10 count
275- 5 count
325- 5 count
395- nope

[Macho Man]

Stairmaster
Level 10- 10 mins

Deads
385- 5,5,5,5,5

Used hook grip during warm ups, was able to get a rep at 365 with it.

These felt faaaaaaaaantastic. Really happy with how the weights are progressing/feeling right now!!

[Macho Man]

Good workout last night

Squats (5x[email protected]%)
225

Bench ([email protected]%)
155

My intra-workout is a bit grainy and I got a chunk stuck in my throat last night, causing me to cough. That was fun.

[ucsumma]

Seeing a sports chiro on Thurs to help me beat the piss out of the right side of my neck/trap and hopefully give my IT band a run for its money.

I started seeing a sports chiro for the first time ever this year. He said he couldn't even believe how tight the fascia of my Quads were. He does Graston once a week and it's some of the worst pain I've ever felt. When he's done it looks like I've been in a car accident but damn if my legs aren't growing for the first time in years.

[phoenix13]

It's good to see you posting! Is your 5x5 program based on stronglifts principles? Is it something you can run long term?

[Macho Man]

The garage gym came together about two months ago and have been trying to find a routine again. Bench has gone up nicely, but I'm not sure how much of that was actual strength gains and how much is attributable to the 15lbs of weight I've gained, hahahahaha. For plates, I have one set of everything from 25 to 2.5 (yeah, I forgot to order two sets of 10s) but my order of a few sets of 45lb plates was taking forever and I eventually just cancelled it in the hopes of slowly finding what I need locally. I was able to get dumbbell sets from 20-45 in early May, so it has worked for me to just hang 45lb dumbbells from each end of the bar with short chains for the time being. Haven't been able to do deads or pick up anything heavy in a while, so we'll see how that goes once I get more weights. I'm also fairly certain I tore a small flap of cartilage in my knee when playing in the slip-n-slide with the kids. It was a small, painless pop when it happened and I didn't think much of it, but now I am getting some pain in the back of my knee when I flex it, and it takes me a while to get into or out of a squat position. I had to drop any serious leg work for the time being, and have been doing body weight bulgarian split squats to a tolerable depth instead.

Workout this AM:

Rower- 5 mins

Bench
210- 5,5,5,5,5

[Ganggreen]

Nice setup. How is strength progressing other then bench?

[Macho Man]

Nice setup. How is strength progressing other then bench?

Hard to know as I was only focusing on weight on bench, squat, and dead and I can’t do two of those at the moment, hahah. Pull-ups have gotten harder as I got fatter, but I have only dropped a rep or so.

[Macho Man]

Cardio, blah. Starting very slowly with this. I think if I can actually knock out three days of cardio per week consistently I might consider getting a wheeled sled to push in the street, as I’m not really going for fat loss right now but more for overall conditioning and cardiovascular health.


Jumprope
4 sets of 50 (god I feel old doing these)

Rower
1min intervals- 8 mins

Followed by tons of stretching for the calves