Adarq.org

Mon (10/2/2020)
Recovery BS 6x2x100
OHP 6x55, 6x55, 5x56, 5x55.5, 5x55, 5x55
Chinup 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5 x BW
KB row 3x8x24kg

Only could do 2 6s with 55, wasnt recovered enough.

Fri (14/2/2020)
Recovery BS 6x2x110
BP 5x6x80, 5x80
Dips 15x5kg, 14x5kg, 14xBW
KB swings
Row 8:30, Bike 8:30

Notes:
On the last set of bench i knew i most probably didnt have a 6 in me (the previous set's 6th was a very very slow and grindy max effort) so i asked someone to watch over me in case i failed. Made him stop like 5m away and insisted only if i fail, and which he found confusing cos he was no doubt thinking is this guy for real, who doesn't know how to spot a bench? and ofc, the first 4 went up smoothly, 5th slowed down a bit and i didnt want to deal with someone interveing so i just stopped the set at 5 instead of attempting a 6th rep. lol. i miss my old gym which had a safety setup ..

I don't think I could ever go back to a gym without a power rack these days. 100% about the spotters as well. Years ago when I trained at Fitness First (they are now called Goodlife) there were no power racks and whenever I wanted to bench heavy I'd need a spot. Half the time the spotter would assist me when I was trying to grind it out.

so true. it's so nice to have a good bench setup though. the rack im using has safeties but they're not very finely adjustable, there isn't a setting where i can bench and fail safely. im either touching the safeties on reps or the rail is too low to fail safely. in addition to this, the way the rack is setup, you have to take the bar out on an awkward angle and at the top of the rep you can't be exactly 90 deg with the bench because you'll clip the top of the bench pins. it's horrible. and finally the flooring is rubber so not as good as a stiff floor (really good benchers can lift 180kg for reps on rubber but overachieving weakos like me struggle with small details like that).

Tue (18/2/2020)
Recovery BS 6x90, 6x100
OHP 6x6x55 (PR?)
Chinup 3x5x3.25kg, 3x6xBW
Pendlay Row 3x8x65 (shit form, repeat?)
Row 12:30, Bike 12:30

Notes:
So no one really has time to do 6 sets of recovery squats every time. I thought to drop the weight and do more reps and less sets. I managed to get 6x6 on OHP. Made some friends at the gym. A PL guy asked me about squat shoes and i said i'll bring my romaloes next time for him to try and see if they help him. He trains hard so it's nice to make a connection like that.

Pendlay rows i went 2 weeks between sessions so i prob should have reset back to 60kg. my setup was off, next time use lifting shoes to do them.

Going to clean up my diet and get daily activity to 7.5k units. And cardio regularly (bike/row on training days, walking on rest days). Basketball is knocking again, im tempted. As a rule, any time i do 6x6 in any exercise (squat, bench or ohp) i will eat more carbs on that night. this should self regulate body comp and allow me to get stronger and leaner, as long as cardio is there i'll be fitter as well. that's the goal.

Do it!

I was asked to fill in a game last night and i was like nope, give me a week notice so i can get some reps in, havent touched a ball in a year. but i know once i have that first game, the thrill will take over. right now im spending 3 hours (!) in the gym to get through these high volume workouts, im hoping to cut that down to an hour and have more energy for ball once ive got 60/90/140 on ohp/bp/bs. right now im at 57.5/82.5/120. i mean training not even playing, just going to the courts now seems kind of daunting since ive been away so long

jumping in late to join the complaining about bad spotters. it isn't that fucking hard to spot without touching the bar inadvertently: you just stand there, in position, and pay attention. if the bar stops or starts to go down you reach out and grab it. not rocket science.

true it is that simple but their understanding of 'don't touch the bar' is that when the lifter seems to be struggling, that's where you are allowed to tag in and help out. i kind of get it, you've asked someone to watch over you (even if it's not in the sense of lifting the weight for you) so they feel obligated at some point to be useful, so when the chance arises that you're struggling, they might not know you can very much grind through a hard slow rep on your own and instead they feel they should give you just a little help (in their mind). which is what we don't want lol. you can try to explain the difference between 'dont help me but if i fail get the bar up', but i find ppl will nod and still not get it. ive been on the other side where people have asked me to spot them and then im in that weird place of not knowing what to do because if i don't touch the bar and 'help them out' then i was a shitty spotter (in their perspective) .. so you kind of have to do some mind reading to know what ppl really want out of the spot. when ppl asked me to spot their backsquats i just chill back cos if they get stuck as long as they're not complete spazzes about it and failing out of control, i can jump in and help them get bar back in the rack if they're got stuck.

btw, i dont even ask them to help if the bar goes backward, i dont think that would be easy for someone new to watching you to figure out when the bar is going down. i just say if i fail it on my chest, help me put it back in the rack. sounds simple but it hasnt worked yet, ppl will stick jump in too early. next time if there is a spare bench i can just go through a mock failure to illustrate what i mean with an empty bar? might be the best way. but they may still feel obligated to help outside of the simulation because there are real weights involved.

also glad you really seem to be not just on the mend but getting into the swing of things the last couple weeks. be really careful about returning to basketball, though. like maybe start with one pickup game. such a different kind of challenge for your body and brain. would be easy to let the thrill take over and then overdo it and get hurt. happened to me back when i used to play ultimate.

good point. im going to start very conservative, just put up some jumpers, maybe play 3pt line pickup. but i dont think i can play basketball again, whenever i have tested SL strength in the gym, with easy SL jumps, my R leg is pretty much useless at this point, i cant even do basic one leg hops of it for more than 6", for someone who does 99% of game time moves off R leg, and i was always a very mediocre slow athlete to begin with, this is prob a death sentence for my basketball life. but i might be able to turn into the catch and shoot guy i always wanted to be lol.

but it's fine, i think i need to take this lesson seriously, my R leg needs to get stronger, i was favouring my stronger L side heavily on most of the heavy reps tonight, if i didnt get hurt today, i prob wouldn't have stopped to focus on rehabbing my R leg back up to symmetry. So will focus on that from here on, it will pay off long term. im also going to see a podiatrist and try get an orthothic soles cos i think that's a big reason for why my R knee takes such a beating. That and probably my shitty ankle mobility on my R foot which is prob due to ankle injuries from basketball (ive started focusing on mobility, used the band resisted stretch tonight for 2 minutes, will do that regularly until i feel ive improved R mobility enough).

I know I'm biased but seriously check out @kneesovertoesguy on IG. The split squat is incredible for evening up single leg strength and increasing ankle mobility. That and a reverse deadmill has my knees feeling like a million dollars. I hate seeing people injured mate and would love to see you getting back on the court.

Also, be wary of orthotics. It's a bandaid approach that caused so many ankle injuries for me in the past. YMMV though.

Sat (22/2/2020)
BS 6x50, 6x70, 8x50
BP 6x80, 6x2x85
Dips 3x15x5kg (PR)
Row 15min, Bike 15min
KB swings 20x24kg (pr; first time recording reps)
Ankle band stretch - 2:30

Notes:
Not a bad session. i was going to repeat for 6x6x80kg on bp (only did 5 on the 6th set last time) but the first set felt so hard that there was no way i was getting another 5. So decided it was a good time to progress the weights instead and do less reps. Happy with that arrangement, cos it means volume goes reciprocally with ohp rather than identically. this should work better from here on.

rehab squats were good, i did load up 90kg, my back told me not to be stupid because it felt heavy (that's the nervous system disengaging out of something potentially dangerous). so next time i'll progress it a little, and eventually i'll be back to normal heavy weights but with a rehabbed R leg. That's the silver lining. And a chance to bring my conditioning up which im enjoying.