Avasatu's Training Journal

[avasatu]

I am fortunate enough (I just found out) to have essentially unlimited access to a super high end, constantly calibrated scale thanks to my fiance's dad. He even brought me a not quite so high end but still unaffordable analog scale he said I could keep.

[avasatu]

Bodyweight during workout: 166 lb

1/22/16: Grippers

Workout (right hand//left when needed):

All warmups MS. Between warmups, fast opens/closes for 10-30 reps. Between worksets, I switch to expand bands for 20-30 reps and wrist rolls. I also did a short contrast bath 30 minutes prior to workout.

Guide x 10

Sport x 5

Trainer x 1

Point Five x 1 (2 min)

#1 x 1 (2 min)

#1.5 x 1 (2 min)

This week is 10 mm chokers.

10 mm Choke:

Warmup:

#2 x 1 (2 min)

GH5 x 1 (2 min)

#2.5 x 1 (3 min)

GH6 x 1 (3 min)

#3 x 1 (3 min)

#3.5 x 1, SNM (4 min)

Work:

GH8 x 1 // No Left Attempt (4 min)

GH 8 x 2 // #3 x 2 (4 min)

#3.5 x 3 // #2.5 x 2 (4 min)

#3 x 4 // GH6 x 6 (4 min)

#3 x 4 // GH6 x 4

Glossary: M is miss, NM is near miss, SNM is super near miss.

Huge PR on both hands. Filmed my best sets, but when I would actually go to squeeze all out, my hands would jump way out of frame. Props to you guys who film all your heaviest closes. I move around a ton lol. Should explain why my work sets are oddly ordered. I realized today that my GH6 is easier than my 2.5, which is only slightly easier than my 3. It goes: #2, GH5, GH6, #2.5, #3, #3.5, GH8, #4. Weird spread. Ordered a full set of Heavy Grips and a GH7 today. Gonna still mess around unrated for now. I like the mystery and figuring out the spread myself.

Notes: Felt good. Did a bunch of leg stuff today afterward. Also, I was measuring inaccurately last time I did this (too high); my 11 mm was actually 10, thank God. Today is the huge rehab day: Active Recovery, Massage, Scraping, Stretching/Flossing, Contrast.

Edited January 23, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

1/24/16: Bench/V Bar/Row

BW going into workout: 165 lb

5/3/1 Training Maxes: 255 bench, 175 strict press (should I get back on track pressing)

Squats and Rear Delts between all bench sets until after first work set. Contrast bath 30 min before.

I did V Bar today instead of Hub. Plan is to train each one every other week. From my own experience so far, Hub doesn't need to be trained weekly, and Marco Buhl, who just pulled 77 with vertical fingers without training it at all, seems to agree. Needed something to fill in the off weeks, so I chose something that I would probably need a decent amount of recovery from, V Bar. It's also in November's contest which I may attend, so there's that. However, I used Sorinex's 2" V Bar attachment instead of an actual V Bar, for two reasons: more degrees of freedom for my untrained open hand/wrist, and cheaper lol.

If anyone knows how lifts between the FBBC 2" V Bar and the Sorinex 2" Vertical Handle compare, I'd love to know.

Close Grip Bench, full count paused on chest:

bar x 20

95 lb. x 10

135 x 8

165 x 3

190 x 5

215 x 3

240 x 3 with 1 left. Better than last week, not quite where I was at the old gym.

190 x 10

Sorinex 2" V Bar Attachment:

Took a max:

51 lb. x 5

96 lb. x 3

141 x 1

167 x NM

152 x 1 both hands.

This is a hard movement for me. My max was probably a little higher, but no need to push. A little bit of work set action:

120 x 5 (4 min)

120 x 5

Confident this will go up by like 10 pounds every two weeks for a little while. It's extremely CNS and technique dependent from what I can tell, and both of those things are at total noob levels. Assumed all 45s were 45, for now, even though I bet they're 46.

HS Mid Row (strict, two handed):

90 lb x 10 (no straps)

180 x 10 (no straps)

240 x 10 (straps)

Finished with two sets of 10 ft. back crawls with a 25 lb plate. Really hard drill.

Notes: Felt good tonight. Will just do some moderate stretching/flossing and some active recovery with a contrast bath.

Edited January 25, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

1/25/16: Arms/Wrists

BW going into workout: 164 lb

Squats for CNS between all sets of first movement. Contrast bath 30 min before workout.

Strict DB Standing Alternating Curls:

15 x 10

25 x 8

35 x 6

45 x 3

55 x 8

45 x 10

Did some fast explosive tricep pushdown band work for 50 reps here.

Two Arm Cable Reverse Curl:

100 lb x 16

PR

Paused (at full flexion and just before fingers start to open) BB Bench Wrist Curls (For Work Capacity):

50 lb x 20 (10 seconds)

x 10 (10 seconds)

x 7 (10 seconds)

x 7 (10 seconds)

x 6

=50

Brutal.

Paused (at full contraction and extension) DB Bench Reverse Wrist Curls:

15 lb x 10

25 lb x 15 L // 16 R

PR

With "The Pronator":

Standing Table Supported Pronation: 6 lb x 8

Standing Table Supported Supination: 6 lb x 10+

Seated Table Supported Radial Deviation: 6 lb. x 6 L // 7 R

Kneeling Table Supported Ulnar Deviation: 8 lb x 8

These were all done with full ROM, pauses at both ends. These are finally getting heavy.

Did a bunch of Reverse Hypers and other little drills.

Notes: Everything felt good. Pretty beat down after this one. Stretch/floss and heat bath today for recovery. I Don't think the cold water does anything for me.

Changes to routine effective immediately:

1) As stated in the above workout, Hub will done on alternating weeks, with V Bar on the other alternating weeks.

2) Work capacity for the forearm flexors will also alternate weeks, with Wrist Wrench filling in the other alternating weeks, The weeks without V Bar will be the Wrist Wrench weeks.

[avasatu]

3) To begin contest prep and slowly begin working on my set, grippers will rotate in a 4 week cycle: CCS with swipes for 10 singles, then 20mm choker for 3 low rep worksets as usual, then CCS with swipes for 3 low rep worksets, then 10mm choker for 3 low rep worksets as usual. This one comes from a lot of thought and a long talk with a really strong grip guy. He helped me come up with a way to combine what works for him with what my goals are and what I like,

Edited January 26, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

Workout Bodyweight: 165 lb

1/27/16: Press/Block Pinch

Contrast before workout. Squats for CNS. Rear delt flies between Press sets. Took a shot of sparkling juice before I left. Really helps get fuel in the energy tank.

Seated DB Shoulder Press (paused on shoulders, full extension):

45s x 10

55s x 6

65s x 4

75s x 6

PR

2" Sorinex Overhand One Hand Block Pinch (RH // LH) :

42 lb. x 5

48 x 1

54 x 1

57 x 5 (4 min)

57 x 5 (5 min)

57 x 6 // 10

Big PR

So, my first two work sets were actually to failure, I will admit. For the third set, I took an extra minute rest, and decided to focus on accelerating the weight off the floor, digging my feet into the floor, and not only creating tension with my thumb pad, but transversely with my thumb tip. MAN did that all make a difference. I'm expecting this change in technique to really give me some great gains over the next month or two, especially if I can hone it more. All reps were regripped, with no rest between any of them. Going to start alternating hands, as it seems more fair chalkwise.

One Arm Assisted Neutral Grip Pullups:

60 lb. x 5

50 lb. x 4

40 lb. x 3

Functional Trainer Rear Delt Flies (2 Handed):

lvl13 x 15, switching top hand at rep 8. Not sure of weight.

Notes: Felt good. Really happy about improvement in pinch technique. Not really sure why my left hand out pinches my right, when my right is so much better at crushing. Will stretch/floss, contrast.

Edited January 28, 2016 by avasatu

[vickg]

What rep # do you feel works best for size and strength?

[avasatu]

What rep # do you feel works best for size and strength?

Do you mean which range works best for both, or which ranges work best for each individually? Also, to what exercises are you referring?

[vickg]

Just overall your opinion. I'm doing 6-8 reps on my majority of isolation/compound exercises.

[avasatu]

If your goal is compound movement strength, look no further than Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program with his First Set Last variation. Back when I was PLing, my bench went from a paused 220 to a TNG 305 in less than a year, my deadlift went from 345 to 485, and my extremely subparallel strict box squat was 350 when I got hurt, up from 180. It is a strength routine, so if you eat enough, you will get bigger, but it will be a "thick" look as opposed to an aesthetic one in all likelihood. I went from 160 to 195 on this program in a matter of months just to give a frame of reference. I lift at 160-165 now by choice. If you want straight size, most pro BBers are doing really high reps sets with moderate to high volume and really focusing on the squeeze of each reps and getting the full ROM worked.

I don't particularly advise going for a 500/50 hybrid of strength/power and size, but if I were to try that, I would run a 5x5 on my compounds with good rest between sets, and a "moderate" volume of asisstance work using 8-10 rep sets which approach but don't quite hit failure.

I would pick one over the other and go in cycles if you reallllly crave both.

Edited January 28, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

Bodyweight during workout: 164 lb

1/29/16: Grippers

Workout (right hand//left when needed):

All warmups MS. Between warmups, fast opens/closes for 10-30 reps. Between worksets, I switch to expand bands for 20-30 reps and wrist rolls. I also did a short contrast bath 30 minutes prior to workout.

Guide x 10

Sport x 5

Trainer x 1

Point Five x 1 (2 min)

#1 x 1 (2 min)

This week is CCS Singles with swipes, with short rest periods between:

Work:

GH4 x 1 x 9 sets, then GH4 x 4 x 1 set right hand

alternating with:

GH4 x 1 x 2, then GH4 NM x 1 set, then #1.5 x 1 x 2 sets, then #1.5 x SNM x 3 sets, then #1.5 x 1 x 1 set left hand

Sets went: RH, start timer, left hand, timer hits two minutes, start over.

I ended with Trainer x 40 // 10. Only 10 reps LH because my pinky started to tear. All reps swiped, no regrips.

Glossary: M is miss, NM is near miss, SNM is super near miss.

PR on left hand for sure, and I'm also certain that my right hand is stronger. GH4 felt quite easy, to be honest. Now, onto the good news:

Sent in 13 gripper starting at CoC #2 through CoC #4 to be rated by CPW a few days ago. Tomorrow I will ship my #1, #1.5, and GHP 4 to them as well. So I will have 16 rated grippers to work with soon!

Notes: Felt good. Did a bunch of hyper/reverse hyper stuff afterward. Active Recovery, Massage, Scraping, Stretching/Flossing, Contrast.

[avasatu]

1/31/16: Bench/Hub/Row

BW going into workout: 165 lb

5/3/1 Training Maxe: 255 bench

Squats and Rear Delts between all bench sets until after first work set. Heat bath 30 min before.

Deload Week for all nongrip stuff.

Close Grip Bench, 3 count paused on chest:

bar x 20

100 lb. x 10

130 x 10

155 x 10

IM Hub (vertical fingers):

All reps alternating between LH/RH now on hub/pinch stuff:

32 lb x 7

37 x 1

40 x 5 (4 min)

40 x 5 (4 min)

40 x 18//11

PR. Hub slipped out of left hand once during second set due to improper setup. Lesson learned. Pretty deep blood blister on tip of thumb. Thus the lower numbers on set 3 for LH. Could have done a few more reps each side, but stopped when I failed a rep.

HS Mid Row (strict, two handed):

90 lb x 10 (no straps)

180 x 10, then 10 wide grip immediately (straps)

Finished with two sets of 60 step back crawls with a 35 lb plate.

Notes: Felt good tonight. Blood blister isn't so bad, and it's on by LH so it's fine. That said, my LH has been a better block pincher lately slightly, which is my next lift. Will just do some stretching/flossing and some active recovery with a heat bath.

Edited February 1, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

2/1/16: Arms/Wrists

BW going into workout: 164 lb

Squats for CNS between all sets of first movement. Contrast bath 30 min before workout. All-but-grip-deload week.

Two Arm Cable Reverse Curl:

90 lb x 15

Today is first day of Wrist Wrench ever, and third total day of thick bar training (did 2 RT days before if you recall. One was just taking a max at 165):

Wrist Wrench:

32 lb. x 5

43 x 3

54 x 1

63 x 1 (4 min)

74 x 1 // 69 x 1 MAXES (4 min)

58 x 5 (4 min)

58 x 5

That was plenty for today. That thing destroys your wrist tendons. Love it. During a heavier warmup, it slipped once and triggered an extreme tightening in my tendons. Thought I was injured, but I most certainly wasn't. God is good! Lesson learned: control the wrist wrench throughout the entirety of its ROM.

Anyway, I believe my RH max is more along the lines of 77ish. Could have definitely done a bit more than 74, and certainly not 80. My LH max is pretty accurate. Maybe 70 lb. Extremely happy with this for a first time pull with no CNS warmup whatsoever. The only things I did before this were a light set of reverse curls, my typical dynamic stretching warmup, and 2 sets of 10 BW squats.

Paused (at full contraction and extension) DB Bench Reverse Wrist Curls:

15 lb x 10

25 lb x 15 L // 16 R

Tied here for last week, but def. stronger.

With "The Pronator":

Standing Table Supported Pronation: 6 lb x 7 L // 8 R PR

Standing Table Supported Supination: 6 lb x 11 PR

Seated Table Supported Radial Deviation: 6 lb. x 9 L // 11 R Woah Big PR.

Standing Ulnar Deviation: 8 lb x 8 New Ulnar Variation. Other one was killing my thumb soft tissue. Handle would just dig in. This was way better.

These were all done with full ROM, pauses at both ends. Between the WW wrecking my wrists and my thinking I could have been impinged by it, I was shocked to PR like this on these movements. No pain whatsoever through any ROM. God is good!

Did a bunch of Reverse Hypers.

Notes: Everything felt good. Wrists will likely be sore. Stretch/floss, some hand drills, and heat bath today for recovery.

Changes to routine effective immediately:

1) As stated in the above workout, Hub will done on alternating weeks, with V Bar on the other alternating weeks.

2) Work capacity for the forearm flexors will also alternate weeks, with Wrist Wrench filling in the other alternating weeks, The weeks without V Bar will be the Wrist Wrench weeks.

Edited February 2, 2016 by avasatu

[jvance]

Nice work with WW, that thing gets tough quickly

[avasatu]

Thanks man. I'm expecting 10-15 pounds of free gains from CNS and technique while tendons adapt to the load, then for it to get a little harder. It is absolutely the correct play for me to only train this biweekly, along with VBar and Hub. Those lifts just seem to not require weekly attention, and maybe even benefit from NOT having it.

Edited February 2, 2016 by avasatu

[vickg]

Glad your liking the WW I love it myself. Do you have any other revolving handles.

[avasatu]

Glad your liking the WW I love it myself. Do you have any other revolving handles.

I have RT and Sorinex 2 inch. Don't really like to use them. I got 165 first try on RT so in my mind I can just progress on that whenever I decide to bite down, and the Sorinex doesn't roll enough. Crushers look solid, just don't want to buy one. But the single best thing about WW is you don't need much weight. This makes me think it is much more efficient than other RHs.

[vickg]

Yeah, I don't have an RT but I heard it isn't that good and it's expensive. I own a 2' crusher that I bought used. 2.5 RB handle and a wrist wrench. The RB handle spins really good and it's a lot cheaper then both crushers and RT. Once you do reps with the wrist wrench the rolling action of the other handles pales in comparison.

[avasatu]

Yea, I honestly don't see the point in training any other RH at this point. Thickbar is apparently a natural strength of mine anyway, and I've always felt I should train my strengths less to some degree. The plan is WW every other week and Sorinex V Bar Handle every other week. My V Bar is pretty bad.

[vickg]

What's the sorinex v bar handle? Do you do any block weight training?

[avasatu]

Sorinex has a 2" V Bar attachment made of powder coated steel. Not sure how lifts on it compare to the FBBC V Bar, but I only managed 152 my first try. And yes, I train with a Sorinex 2" block weekly.

Edited February 3, 2016 by avasatu

[vickg]

Could you link the item I can't find it?

[avasatu]

http://store.sorinex.com/Sorinex-Mighty-Mitts-Fat-Vertical-Handle-p/mmfp-1.htm

I attach one of these to a loading pin.

[avasatu]

Workout Bodyweight: 165 lb

2/3/16: Press/Block Pinch

Contrast before workout. Squats for CNS. Rear delt flies between Press sets. Opens/Closes/Rolls between pinch sets. Non-grip deload week, 3rd workout.

Almost took today off. Really glad I didn't.

Seated DB Shoulder Press (paused on shoulders, full extension):

30s x 10

40s x 10

45s x 10

2" Sorinex Overhand One Hand Block Pinch (RH // LH) :

43 lb. x 5

54 x 1

58 x 1

61 x 5 (4 min)

61 x 5

61 x 11 R // 15 L

Holy PR. And the warmups even felt heavy. Probably could have done a bit more, but I felt it was time to stop.

Reps were done alternating sides. Fewer reps than my max potential on RH because wrist wrench destroyed my hands, and my RH took the brunt of it. Nothing injured at least! Loving how pinch is moving up and up.

Functional Trainer Rear Delt Flies (2 Handed):

lvl13 x 10

lvl13 x 20, switching top hand at 10.

Decided to add in some light dynamic thumb work once a week on this workout day. Even though I'm making huge pinch gains, I can feel that my weakness is my transverse power output. So I devised a little exercise that seems to hit exactly what I need. I took a steel ring and attached a loading pin to it. Then, I hung it from both of my thumbs at once right in the middle knuckle creases, as my other 4 fingers lay flat on a desk palm down, with the creases of my innermost knuckles locked into the edge of the desk. I then proceed to "clamp" the weight up until the ring touches to desk, but the catch is that my knuckle creases are not allowed to move in any direction, nor are my knuckles allowed to come up off the table. This puts ALL the stress on the thumbpad, and you need hardly any weight. I call it the Thumb Ring. Started off nice and easy, but even 15 lb. was not exactly a joke.

Thumb Ring (pauses at top and at full extension) (2 handed):

15 lb. x 10

15 x 10

Notes: Felt good. Pretty ecstatic right now. Stretched/Flossed. Will do some heat bathing and active recovery stuff a bit later.

Edited February 4, 2016 by avasatu

[avasatu]

Bodyweight during workout: 165 lb

2/05/16: Grippers

Workout (right hand//left when needed):

All warmups TNS. Between warmups, fast opens/closes for 10-30 reps. Between worksets, I switch to expand bands for 20-30 reps and wrist rolls. I also did a short heat bath 30 minutes prior to workout. Wrapped my pinkies in bandaids because I'm tired of tearing them. Non grip deload week, last workout.

Guide x 10

Sport x 5

HG100 x 3

Trainer x 1

Point Five x 1

HG150 x 1

Base strength noticeably improving. These were all totally trivial TNS.

CPW just shipped my stuff today, so I had to work with what I had, which is just IMTUGS! Had a fun, albeit tedious workout:

IMTUG (Weak Fingers, Short Overcrushes):

#2 x 10

#3 x 8

#4 x 1

#5 x 1 x 10 with 1:30 rest between singles.

Glossary: M is miss, NM is near miss, SNM is super near miss.

IMTUG (Strong Fingers, Medium Overcrushes):

#4 x 1

#5 x 1

#6 x SNM both sides

#5 x 1 x 10 with 1:30 between singles.

Waited 4 minutes, then ended with:

CoC #.5 x 22 // 13 CCS with swipes, as fast as possible, and without resetting. I gave up due to lack of pain tolerance, though I was extremely close to failure on both sides.

Notes: Felt really good. IMTUGS are annoying. If you don't set them just perfectly, you totally miss. Skipped everything else due to deload. Will do Active Recovery, Massage, Scraping, Stretching/Flossing, Heat Bath.

Edited February 6, 2016 by avasatu