Abraiz's log

[Abraiz]

September 21, 2020

Upper Body Day

Push Press

Warmups

20 kg x 5 reps
30 kg x 4 reps
40 kg x 3 reps
50 kg x 3 reps - should have done 2 reps. My mistake
60 kg x 1 rep

Work Sets

62.5 kg x 3 reps
65 kg x 3 reps
67.5 kg x 3 reps

Back-off sets

55 kg for 24 reps anyhow

Accessory work

Pendlay Row - 30 kg - 50 reps in 3 sets
Incline dumbbell bench press - 30 reps in 3 sets with 15 kg dumbbells
Barbell Curl - 48 in 3 sets

Observations: Nice workout. Put up 7.5 kg on the push press. I would have been happy getting 2.5 kg more than what I got last week, but pushed myself. Really nice. I guess I was shortchanging myself. The Pendlay Row once again surprised me. I thought I should not have gotten 50 reps in 3 sets this week, but I got it. A close one, but I got it. This weight actually felt like my back was being worked. The earlier ones didn't give me this feeling. However, if I get 50 in 3 reps in the first workout itself for 35 kilos as well, I will start moving up 10 kilos instead of 5. The curl is going okay. I am not gonna chase weight on it. From next week, the last 3 week phase is starting. Let us see how it goes.

 

[Abraiz]

September 26, 2020

Lower Body Day

Front Squat

Warmups

30 kg x 5 reps
40 kg x 4 reps
50 kg x 3 reps
60 kg x 2 reps
70 kg x 1 rep

Work Sets

80 kg x 3 reps
85 kg x 3 reps
90 kg x 3 reps

Back-off sets

72.5 kg for 15 reps anyhow

Accessory work

Bulgarian split squat – 8-8-5 with 15 kg dumbbell
Lat pulldown – 50 in 3 sets with 30 kg

Observations: Nice workout. Was a little apprehensive about the final set of front squats, but went fine. Front-squatted my bodyweight for a triple for the first time. The last rep was a grinder, but completed it. The rest of the workout went fine. The Bulgarian split squat too went fine. The next 3 weeks are the last final phase of this 9-week cycle. Let us see how it goes.

 

[Abraiz]

September 29, 2020

Upper Body Day

Floor Press

Warmups

20 kg x 5 reps
25 kg x 5 reps
30 kg x 5 reps
35 kg x 5 reps
40 kg x 5 reps

Work Sets

45 kg x 3 reps
50 kg x 3 reps
55 kg x 3 reps
60 kg x 3 reps

Back-off sets

47.5 kg for 25 reps anyhow

Accessory work

Pendlay row – 35 kg - Did not complete 50 in 3 sets. Got confused somehow and don’t remember how many reps I did. But did not complete 50. For sure.
Incline dumbbell bench press – 42 in 3 sets with 15 kg dumbbells
Barbell curl – 50 in 3 sets with 25 kg.

Observations: Surprising workout. The floor press. I read up on it and found that it won’t be more than 85% of my bench. One author said it won’t be more than 55% because the lower body is not contributing at all. However, I found it easy. Real easy. I think if I wanted to, I could have matched my best bench press. In the back-off sets, I did 10 reps for the first set! Hasn’t happened before. Just goes to say how easy it is to be misled if you don’t try something for yourself. Next week, I will surely match my bench and maybe go further. Who knows? However, this exercise makes my upper body sore in a much different way. The rest of the workout went fine.

 

[Abraiz]

October 3, 2020

Lower Body Day

Power Clean

Warmups

30 kg x 5 reps
35 kg x 4 reps
40 kg x 3 reps
45 kg x 2 reps
50 kg x 1 rep

Work Sets

60 kg x 3 reps

Accessory work

Bulgarian split squat – 3x8 with 15 kg
Lat pulldown – 50 in 3 sets with 30 kg

Observations: Fiasco. Total fiasco. The warmups went kind of fine. The work sets were s***, literally. This may be because I did the warmups with the other (not Olympic) barbell. Those plates were big. The height of the standard Olympic plates is kind of low. Cannot drop the weight after the lift either for either of them. Am going to replace it with snatch grip high pull. Kind of the same movement without the Clean's accoutrements. Let us see.

 

[Abraiz]

October 6, 2020

Upper Body Day

Floor Press

Warmups

20 kg x 7 reps
30 kg x 6 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 3 reps
60 kg x 2 reps

Work Sets

65 kg x 3 reps
70 kg x 3 reps
75 kg x 3 reps

Back-off sets

60 kg for 24 reps anyhow

Accessory work

Pendlay row – 47 in 3 sets with 35 kg
Barbell curl – 30 in 3 sets with 30 kg
Dumbbell incline bench press – 30 in 3 sets with 15 kg dumbbell (single hand only)

Observations: Nice workout. The floor press went fine. I easily outmatched my hitherto highest bench press. The last set was a grinder, but okay. The dumbbell bench was a mess today. The 15 kg pair was somehow not in the gym. You see, the gym is in a sports complex. There is boxing, Judo, wrestling and many more sports in the same premises. People from other disciplines sometimes carry the weights to their halls. Anyways, there was no 15 kg dumbbell pair. Just a single 15 kg dumbbell. I tried to use it. Benching with just one hand is a whole different animal. The body wants to slide to one side and it is just plain difficult. Couldn’t do as many reps as I did with the pair. Next week is the last week of this 9-week cycle. I have high hopes. Let us see how that goes.

 

[Abraiz]

October 8, 2020

Lower Body Day

Snatch grip high pull/snatch grip deadlift

Warmups

30 kg x 3 reps
35 kg x 3 reps
40 kg x 3 reps
45 kg x 3 reps
50 kg x 3 reps

Work Sets

Snatch grip high pull

60 kg x 3 reps
65 kg x 3 reps

Snatch grip deadlift

70 kg x 3
75 kg x 3
80 kg x 3
85 kg x 3
90 kg – ripped callus

No back-off sets

Accessory work

Bulgarian split squat – 8-8-5 with 20 kg dumbbell
Lat pulldown – 38 reps with 35 kg

Observations: Once again a fiasco. Tried the snatch grip high pull. Failure. Not a total failure, but still a failure. I think this is not one of those exercises that can be used a main lift. This is good as an accessory lift only. Mid workout I switched to snatch grip deadlifts. My hands couldn’t take it. After a couple of sets, had a ripped callus. I think I should have stuck with my original plan of sumo deadlifts or maybe clean grip deadlifts. I will do one of these next week. The rest of the workout went fine. I can actually feel my quads working in the Bulgarian split squats with the 20 kg dumbbell. Let us see what will happen next week.

 

[Abraiz]

October 16, 2020

Upper Body Day

Floor Press

Warmups

30 kg x 7 reps
40 kg x 6 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 4 reps
70 kg x 3 reps

Work Sets

75 kg x 3 reps
80 kg x 1 rep
77.5 x 3 reps
80 kg missed lift

Back-off sets

62.5 kg for 25 reps anyhow

Accessory work

Pendlay row – 48 reps with 35 kg
Dumbbell incline bench press – 38 reps with 15 kg
Barbell curl – 32 reps with 30 kg

Observations: Last upper body workout of this 9-week cycle. Difficult workout. The warmups didn’t feel as smooth. The last warmup set was a grinder. The first set of 75 kg was again a grinder. Then I moved up to 80 kg. Got just 1 wobbly rep. Based on past experience, I immediately reduced the weight to 77.5. Got 3 reps. Rested. Waited. Tried 80 kg. Didn’t get even 1 rep. Ended my workout. The accessory work went fine. The incline dumbbell bench press went fine. Still no 15 kg dumbbell pair. This time held a 10 kg dumbbell in my non-working hand. Went better than expected. Got more reps. The last time when I held a dumbbell in only 1 hand, my body was slipping to one side. This time, not so much. The Pendlay row too went fine. The last rep was not up to the mark. The curls went fine. Next week is a rest week. The cycle will restart after that. My city (Hyderabad) is receiving too much rainfall these days. Don't know if I will be able to complete the lower body workout this week.

 

[Abraiz]

Starting training again. After a long, long hiatus. I thought of starting a new log or at least giving my log a new title, "Shut up and train" or "Stop thinking, start training" or "You know too much for your own good." All these would've been suitable titles, but let's move on.

I am starting the Tactical Barbell base building protocol. It will take 5 weeks until I have to start strength training, which I don't know what form it will take. Right now Covid is quiescent here and let's hope it remains so.

 

[Abraiz]

August 2, 2021

SE Day

This was the strength-endurance day as per the TB base building block.

Pushups
Goblet squats
Renegade row
Swings
SLDL

20 reps of each exercise in circuit fashion. Total of 3 circuits.

All the KB moves are done with an 8 kg bell. The next one I have is of 16 kg, which would be too heavy for 20 rep circuits.

The program called for 3 circuits of 20 reps for each exercise. I managed just 2 circuits. I hadn't slept the previous night, had had just 1 meal in the entire day and this was after dusk. Apart from my weakness, I think these too contributed to it.

I hope to do 3 circuits in the next SE workout. I should have a bit of carbs right before the workout. Let us see.

 

[Abraiz]

August 3, 2021

Endurance Day

Running for 30 minutes

This was the first running (endurance) day of the TB base building. I am choosing a local playground to run in. It isn't that big, but TB calls for time measurement and not distance. So it will work.

I ran 2 rounds of the playground before I decided to walk for a bit. Then I settled into the pattern of 3 rounds running and 1 round walking. It seemed a bit too rhythmic. I should try to run more and walk less. I had never run before. Like never. Maybe once in 2019, when I tried to do TB base building for a week or so. I was able to move continuously for 30 minutes. Good, but not enough. I need to improve.

I noticed that when walking between runs, I would feel a pain in my toes. Not while running. Also, when walking I would feel really hot, especially in my head, but not while running. Don't know what that is. I remember feeling the same when doing heavy bag work in Muay Thai. Nothing while hitting the bag, but when I would stop, it felt like I was on fire from inside. Don't really understand it.

Let us see how it goes from here.

 

[Abraiz]

August 4, 2021

Endurance Day

Running for 30 minutes

This was the second running day. This went better than expected. I actually managed to run continuously for 32 minutes without stopping. In the last workout, I wore a watch. It was a bit loose, kept chafing against my wrist. The tendency to keep glancing at the watch was too great. Meaning I was always looking at my watch. And the time passed so damn slow.

Today, I didn't take the watch. Took my cellphone instead. When I started running, I put in an alarm for 32 minutes, put the phone in the pocket and zipped it. The freedom to not be able to check my watch with every stride felt great. Yesterday, I had run about 3 rounds of the playground in about 5 minutes. I figured I could run 18 rounds in 30 minutes. I just kept running. Each time I completed a round I told myself to complete just 1 more round and then walk. I managed to complete the 32 minutes without walking a single round. A personal best.

Before going for the run, I had a small bowl of rice. I was able to pace myself better than yesterday. TB Conditioning says that if you have to open your mouth to breathe, then you are going too fast. I didn't have to breathe through my mouth at all. I was able to breathe through the nose the entire time. I think because my pace was slower, the alarm went off when I was in my 17th round. It felt good. It is true that running gets easy the more you do it. I am looking forward to the 3rd endurance workout of this week. I think I will run outside instead of in the playground since TBC says I need to run for 35-60 minutes for this one. Let us see.

 

[Abraiz]

January 24, 2022

Too long a time. What happened? I got lazy first and foremost. Secondly, got injured. Two different occasions. One a rotator cuff tear due to a freak motorbike accident and the other a tailbone injury when I fell. Had to undergo physiotherapy for both. Then got even more lazy. Finally I am starting to train again. This year, I want to concentrate on bodyweight exercises. I want to be able to do 100 pushups and 100 squats easy. I want to be able to do pullups. I want to be able to do pistols. I want to be able to do OAPs.

First off, I am starting with 100 pushups. The program I am going to use is a simple one. Test myself with max pushups. Hit the required number of pushups with sets of half the max. Retest after 2 weeks and recalibrate. May not be the best method for hitting 100 pushups out there, but it works or rather has worked for me in the past. For starters, I am going to start with 50 pushups and then move to 100. I am going to run on alternate days.

Workout A

Indian pushups - 10x5 with 7 swings in between sets.

Observations: The first pushup I did, I could literally feel the bones in my back cracking. I have been out of training for so long. The workout was fine, but it felt too short. I should add some exercises to it and rethink the swings. Tried to do TGUs at the end. But my left shoulder was shaking a bit too much. Stopped after just 1 on each side.

 

[Abraiz]

January 25, 2022

Workout B

Jogging for 30 minutes. Kind of the TB Conditioning protocol. I had a route in mind. Thought it would take me 30 minutes to cover it entirely. I was wrong. It took me just 10 minutes. Took a detour and went back to the old playground and started jogging laps in it. Just walked the last 1-2 minutes.

Observations: Didn't expect to be able to run without stopping, but did do it. Almost. So happy about that. However, after running outside, running on a playground seems very bland. Maybe I should run outside.

 

[Abraiz]

January 26, 2022

Workout A

Indian pushups - 10x5
Indian squats - 10x10
Dead hangs - 10 seconds per set
Each set of each exercise followed by a set of 5 swings with a 16 kg.

Observations: In the beginning, I tried to add situps as well to this, but couldn't do them properly as it felt like sitting on the tailbone directly. These 3 exercises will have to suffice. Good workout if a bit long. I need to tighten up the rest times. By the end of the workout, my hands were giving out much faster in the dead hangs. For the last 2 sets, I just hung for 5 seconds each time.

 

[Abraiz]

January 27, 2022

Workout B

Jogging for 30 mins

Observations: Went well. Didn't have any problems as such. Didn't run as many laps as I thought I would in 30 minutes. But no matter.

 

[Abraiz]

January 28, 2022

Workout A

Indian pushups - 10x5
Indian squats - 10x10
Dead hangs - 10 seconds per set
Done in circuit fashion with each set of each exercise followed by a set of 5 swings with a 16 kg KB.

Observations: Nice workout. I tightened up the rest times and it went much faster. The second half went really fast. I was able to finish the workout in just under an hour. In fact, it went so fast that I thought I had missed some sets, but as far as I could think back, I didn't. Let us see how it goes in the next workout.

 

[Abraiz]

January 29, 2022

Workout B

Running for 30 minutes.

Observations: I was able to run 1 lap more than the last time. So, I guess I have improved somewhat. From next week, I will be running 35 minutes instead of 30. The last time I started running 40 minutes, my knee started feeling unstable. This time I am doing the Indian squats on alternate days and I am moving up slowly. Let us see how it goes.

 

[Abraiz]

January 31, 2022

Workout A

Indian pushups - 10x5
Indian squats - 10x10
Dead hangs - 10 seconds per set
Done in circuit fashion with each set of each exercise followed by a set of 5 swings with a 16 kg KB.

Observations: Okay workout. My right leg has started hurting because of the Indian squats - which are typically done on one's toes. This on-toe position has me hurt behind the leg on the lower part of the calf. I think I should switch to regular squats. Other than that, the workout went fine. It took me just over 45 minutes to finish it. I have 2 more workouts until I test myself. Let us see how it goes.

 

[Abraiz]

February 1, 2022

Workout B

Jogging for 35 minutes

Observations: Okay workout.

 

[Abraiz]

February 2, 2022

Workout A

Indian Pushups - 10x5
Squats - 10x10
Dead Hangs - 10 sets of 10 seconds each
Done in circuit fashion with each set of each exercise followed by a set of 5 swings with a 16 kg KB.

Observations: Good workout. After tightening up the rest times, the workout goes much faster and smoother. Did regular squats today and not Indian squats (the baithak). No pain in the right calf. However, regular squats have a different feel than Indian squats. Pushups seem the easiest exercise. The first set seems a bit cranky. From the 2nd set, it is really smooth. Obviously this means I should warm up before the first set. The dead hangs are fine. I am doing more than 60 seconds worth of sets. I will dial it down when I test myself.