The wolf pack journal

[thewolf]

My neck generally feels pretty good. I go to a chiropractor once per month and he keeps me in-line. Lately I've been messing with my squat bar position and it's causing some muscle soreness which makes my neck hurt a little bit. My surgeon said I didn't have much to worry about seeing as the plate in my neck is made of titanium. So I tend to ignore anything that doesn't cause my arms to go numb, which hasn't happened in a long time. What I've learned is that even significant pain is generally temporary, all in the mind, and I need to push through.

Wolf

 

[Gregger]

Solid work!
I'm subbed and looking forward to following along dude

Greg

 

[thewolf]

Wolf pack journal 7-30-14

today was a little different than the previous two weeks. Shoulders have been really sore from a change in my squat positioning so decided to do variations. Same basic set and rest period format as last two days but not as strict. Just made sure everything was within 3 min. rest periods.

zercher squat: 135x5x1
Flat dumb bell bench: 65x3x1

zercher squat: 225x3x1
flat dumb bell bench: 75x3x1

zercher: 275x3x1
flat dumb bell: 75x3x1

zercher: 315x3x1
flat DBB: 70x4x1

zercher: 275x3x1
flat DBB: 70x4x1

zercher: 275x3x1
FDBB: 70x4x1

zercher: 275x3x1
fdbb: 65x5x1

zercher 275x3x1
fdbb: 65x5x1

After this superset I decided to not do dead lifts and instead created a monster set of: facepulls, seated cable rows, and good mornings.

only about a 15 sec rest period between each lift and then 2 min rest period between sets.


facepulls: 110x8x1
seated row: 120x8x1
good morning: 95x8x1

facepull: 130x8x1
seated row: 130x8x1
GMs: 135x8x1

facepulls: 130x8x1
seated rows: 150x8x1
good mornings: 155x8x1

facepulls: 130x8x1
seated rows: 170x8x1
good mornings: 155x8x1

total sets: 28
total time: 1 hour and 15 min

 

[Bullmuscle7]

That was wild and intense! What an incredible day bro!

 

[Turbolag]

Nice work dude!

Wow that's a lot of volume!

 

[thewolf]

Today is rest day.

will be doing MMA boxing training, footwork training, and maybe some stick-fight training -- all to keep things moving and loose.

shoulders have been really stiff. stretching and lots of motion to get them unstuck.

Wolf.

 

[thewolf]

Wolf pack journal 8-5-14

Finally back in the gym after 4 days off. lower back and shoulders have been sore and hurting during time off.

today moved into a high intensity, low rep, low set phase. Will probably alternate between squats and deads from day to day and train bench every day.

New goals to reach by Christmas:
bench: 315
squat: 505
dead: 505

Today's workout:

warm-up:
elliptical: 15 min
box jumps: 24 inches x 10 x 1
head circles: 25lbs x 10 x 2

squats:
315x1x1
385x1x1
415x1x1
425x1x1
435x1x1 --> PR
365x3x3 --> 86%

Bench:
185x1x1
225 --> missed --> shoulders gave out
135 x 12 x 1
185x2x1
195x1x1
205x1x1
190x3x3 --> 85%

total sets: 15
total reps: 39

squats felt really smooth and strong.
still trying to get solid technique with my bench.


the wolf

 

[Turbolag]

Congrats on the squat PR man!

Sorry about your shoulder. How is it now ?

 

[thewolf]

shoulders are tired but actually feeling pretty good. the set of 12 that I did with 135 was a correction set. I did 4 with my palms at one angle, then changed and did another 4, then changed and did another 4 trying to find the angle of wrist-elbow-shoulder that resulted in the least amount of pain and tension in my shoulders. after that I was able to do more work. so now it's just tired instead of feeling pain.

wolf

 

[Bullmuscle7]

You did a great workout wolf! And I love the PR on the Squat, that has to make you feel good. Another good one bro!

 

[5.0]

How did it go with changing the angles, what worked? I have found only db's offer me no pain. Squat was huge, I'm jealous. Congrats

 

[thewolf]

Usually, I've been doing a hard arch and a really strong shoulder blade pinch and then tucking my feet way under the bench so I'm only on my toes and then when I press I push the heels into the floor. pretty normal technique. along with this I've been turning my grip thumbs toward my head to make sure my elbows don't flare out.

Yesterday, what I found was less pain if I don't tuck my heels so far under the bench and instead start out with them flat. I also brought my grip back to a more neutral position and then only turned thumbs toward my head just slightly. Instead when lowering the bar I focused on "bending-the-bar" to keep my elbows in and my shoulders relatively "relaxed". On the press, I tried to focus more on pressing with pecs, triceps, and lats -- consciously removing the shoulders (hard to do). All of these changes seemed to alleviate pressure directly on the shoulders and allowed larger muscle groups to take more of the workload. by not having such an extreme arch and starting with my feet heels flat moved my shoulders away from pressure due to body position. Instead I focused on building a base under me using my lat pinch with a more mild arch.

Wolf.