So it’s more than half a year since my last update. My training numbers haven’t budged since; I was really stuck in a rut with exhaustion and depression. The only constant was simply sticking with the program and being smart; the aim was simply maintaining the numbers until I was happy that all areas of my lifts became as consistent as before.
The situation was so bad, I actually had some unintentional loss of weight to a low of 88 kg, but I could actually do less pushups versus when I weighed 91 kg (my current weight). Other weak points included my upper body pushes. Hence the aim was that I would not increase my lifting numbers until I could get my BP/MP/pullups back to my performance around my first and only competition in late 2017. But the iron is my Prozac; I just had to keep being consistent.
After so many months, this is my second training week where I’ve finally recovered enough to go +1 reps. During the previous training month, I was able to go +1 in all final sets. But on this week, I wasn’t able to do it during the BP. One reason was that I was away a week before doing my FCAI Clinical Exams in Dublin; I tried my best to maintain my strength exercising in my hotel room. The other was that somehow I couldn’t maintain my arch, with my head sliding up; the rack was getting in the way of the arch of the bar. Doing another rep would be potentially dangerous.
But overall I’m happy with where I’m at lifting-wise. It’s the only thing going right.
I have decided to go back to side planks with DB external rotations for my squat day accessory work as it was more effective in limiting an internally rotated shoulder posture (already bad in the general population but usually worse among lifters) versus face pulls. Added with almost daily stretching of my pecs, my shoulders have been kept neutral.
I have also permanently modified my pistols to have them performed on a bench. With me being fat, I didn’t want my stomach to be crushed in the bottom position, nor work on my hip flexors that needs more stretching in any case. Now I don’t have to focus on keeping the free leg off the floor, and have it generally hang down.
5 week.
Deadlift:
DL - up to 180 kg x 6
Power clean - 72.5 kg x 3
Pistols - 3 x 10
Pushup plank with alternating elbow touches, 10 kg on back - 3 x 24
Bench:
BP - up to 97.5 kg x 5
TRX Inverted Rows - 2x 12, 3 x 11
Standing DB Press - 5 x 10 x 16 kg
Squat - up to 127.5 kg x 6
Single Leg Deadlifts - 3 x 15 x 20 kg
Side Planks with DB External Rotations - 3 x 10 x 8 kg
Military Press:
Pullups - 8 x 6, 2 x 5
Military Press - up to 60 kg x 6
Weighted Push Up - 1 x 12, 2 x 11 x 10 kg
