matek's training log

[matek]

2022/09/03 Pinching

Supposed to be a gripper day, but the skin on my right palm is in a really bad shape from yesterday's volume bending. It would have been a very bad idea to do grippers, so I decided to do pinching.

60mm pinch block

Same weights with both hands.

- 3x 26.9kg/59.3lb

- 3x 29.4kg/64.8lb

- 3x 30.7kg/67.7lb

3" x 40mm hub

- Both hands: 2x 16.4kg/36.2lb

- RH 4x 18.9kg/41.7lb

- LH 4x 17.7kg/39lb

I'm not sure how to hold this. For now, I'm using basically my last finger joints to pinch the hub.

Blob 40 (18.7kg/41.2lb)

- 2 attempts with both hands:

RH: a few cm off the ground both times

LH: couldn't lift it, but more movement than last week

- 6x slow assisted reps with both hands

Edited September 3, 2022 by matek

[Blacksmith513]

^

1 hour ago, matek said:

Thanks, I'll buy some rubber bands for the WD2 when I decide to train it more frequently/seriously I rarely go full effort on it, so adding a rep or holding the rep longer was enough so far. Actually I might skip it this week because the inside of my elbows are a little bit irritated from pullups. But maybe I'll do some light work on it because I like playing with it 
The mankiller challange sounds fun, go for it!

Funny you say that, my elbows started bothering me yesterday.. Not real bad, but must be from the high reps with the WD.  Normally its my wrists that get sore, but probably because i did easy high reps I worked something I don't normally work.

All this grip stuff really is trial and error.

[matek]

5 hours ago, Blacksmith513 said:

^

Funny you say that, my elbows started bothering me yesterday.. Not real bad, but must be from the high reps with the WD.  Normally its my wrists that get sore, but probably because i did easy high reps I worked something I don't normally work.

All this grip stuff really is trial and error.

Careful! Hopefully just a day or two and it will be gone. But these things happen. We can't stop working out from every sign of discomfort, we would get nowhere (especially bending). 

[matek]

2022/09/04 Push 

 

Weighted pushups with pushup stands (elbow sleeves)
- 5x10 40kg/88lb
All weight was on my upper body which is nice, but putting a backpack with plates on the weight vest is very uncomfortable. 
- 8x15 20kg/44lb
I had to put down my knees just a little bit and regroup at set 7/rep 13. Same in the last set, at rep 12 and 14. 

 

Chest armbar
- 5x16 on max resistance, arms slightly extended
- 8x12 with 2 sec holds at close, relatively high resistance, arms almost fully extended 

In the last sets, I had to move the instrument closer to my body, I had no power left. 

 

Triceps pushdown
- 5x16 with purple band

These were not hard, just some pump

Edited September 4, 2022 by matek

[SteinWillems1]

Very nice! What does your weekly routine looks like at the moment? How often do you train grip and how often do you train general strenght?

[matek]

8 hours ago, SteinWillems1 said:

Very nice! What does your weekly routine looks like at the moment? How often do you train grip and how often do you train general strenght?

Thanks!

This is the  "ideal" week, but I can rarely do them all. I often merge some days with less volume. Order is not very important.

1: push (weighted pushups or OHP + some accessory)

2: thick bar (fat gripz deadlifts and/or one handed dumbbell lift + just a few squats as warmup)

3: DU bending 

4: pull (weighted neutral grip pullups + some accessory)

5: cardio or braced bending (short bar, very rarely medium length), and maybe some forearm and wrist work

6: grippers and some wrist developer (the latter is more like biweekly)

7: pinch 

+ If my wrist hurts or just feels uncomfortable I do some super high rep wrist/forearm work with bands and the Twist yo wrist. But this is like 5-8 minutes and it's done, not really a workout. 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by matek

[matek]

2022/09/06 Thick bar

 

Fat Gripz original (2.25") double overhand deadlifts

- 10x1 125kg/276lb

 

Fat Gripz Extreme (2.75") double overhand deadlifts

- 5x1 97.5kg/215lb

 

Fat Gripz original (2.4" on dumbbell ) dumbbell lift

- 10x1 61.2kg/135lb

Clear reps, controlled on the way down as well. Around set 5-7 it felt the easiest, so I should warm up more for these (even if I did deadlifts before). Next time I'll try 140lb for a few sets. 

[matek]

2022/09/07 Pull

 

Bodyweight was 104.2kg/230lb

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups

- 5x2 61 kg/134lb

No problem.

- 5x1 66kg/146lb

Last two reps were ugly and not high enough, but not too bad. I should've started with these.

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups with 3 sec pause midway up

- 10x3 31kg/68lb

Recommended by @mcalpine1986, great accessory exercise! Thanks dude! Completely takes out the momentum you gain from "exploding" into the pull. From set 6, the 3rd reps were much harder than rep 1. 

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups

- 5x8 20kg/44lb

Felt like I was on a trampoline after the pause sets haha. I wanted to do 8 sets but tore a callus at set 4, so I stopped at set 5 (I have some serious bending to do on Friday). 

 

I made a 700g steak with tallow + butter after the workout, so recovery 2000%

Edited September 7, 2022 by matek

[Blacksmith513]

Steak with tallow and butter sounds good.

[matek]

7 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Steak with tallow and butter sounds good.

I found I like tallow-butter basted steak more than just butter basted. Good tallow makes even a mediocre cut of steak super delicious. 

[Blacksmith513]

4 minutes ago, matek said:

I found I like tallow-butter basted steak more than just butter basted. Good tallow makes even a mediocre cut of steak super delicious. 

I’ll have to try it. I’m sure I’ve had tallow before. Sometimes I put butter on steak but then I feel guilty.  You ever eat that expensive Japanese Waygu beef or whatever it’s called?

[matek]

2 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

I’ll have to try it. I’m sure I’ve had tallow before. Sometimes I put butter on steak but then I feel guilty.  You ever eat that expensive Japanese Waygu beef or whatever it’s called?

Tallow is good stuff man. I get it from a really small business, but you can make it yourself (little bit troublesome though). 

I tried wagyu a lot of times, once Kobe beef (steak), once Matsuzaka beef (steak), and Omi beef on multiple occasions (bbq). It's super good, but it's not something you want to eat in quantity. The marbling makes them really delicious and tender, but high grade stuff is also very "heavy". 

[mcalpine1986]

On 9/7/2022 at 1:36 PM, matek said:

2022/09/07 Pull

 

Bodyweight was 104.2kg/230lb

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups

- 5x2 61 kg/134lb

No problem.

- 5x1 66kg/146lb

Last two reps were ugly and not high enough, but not too bad. I should've started with these.

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups with 3 sec pause midway up

- 10x3 31kg/68lb

Recommended by @mcalpine1986, great accessory exercise! Thanks dude! Completely takes out the momentum you gain from "exploding" into the pull. From set 6, the 3rd reps were much harder than rep 1. 

 

Neutral grip weighted pullups

- 5x8 20kg/44lb

Felt like I was on a trampoline after the pause sets haha. I wanted to do 8 sets but tore a callus at set 4, so I stopped at set 5 (I have some serious bending to do on Friday). 

 

I made a 700g steak with tallow + butter after the workout, so recovery 2000%

Brilliant session, that's a very strong normal Pullup. 66kg! Is crazy, especially for your bodyweight. 

Very strong paused reps as well, the 3 second count is the longest 3 seconds ever haha. 

I bet you abs and core will be very sore tomorrow from the paused reps. 

Thats some great nutrition to recover though, beef fat  and butter are awesome for humans, they have the perfect ratio of saturated and mono unsaturated fatty acids and very low in poly unsaturated.

I always use grassfed butter myself.

[matek]

54 minutes ago, mcalpine1986 said:

Brilliant session, that's a very strong normal Pullup. 66kg! Is crazy, especially for your bodyweight. 

Very strong paused reps as well, the 3 second count is the longest 3 seconds ever haha. 

I bet you abs and core will be very sore tomorrow from the paused reps. 

Thanks bro! I should lose some weight though to optimize things. I'm 190cm and 97-102kg felt the best overall (I'm natural so I doubt my muscle mass would drastically change at this point).

I will incorporate the paused pullups to my routine, I think it's just what I need to get stronger. 

59 minutes ago, mcalpine1986 said:

Thats some great nutrition to recover though, beef fat  and butter are awesome for humans, they have the perfect ratio of saturated and mono unsaturated fatty acids and very low in poly unsaturated.

I always use grassfed butter myself.

Nice! Balance is the key!

[mcalpine1986]

16 hours ago, matek said:

Thanks bro! I should lose some weight though to optimize things. I'm 190cm and 97-102kg felt the best overall (I'm natural so I doubt my muscle mass would drastically change at this point).

I will incorporate the paused pullups to my routine, I think it's just what I need to get stronger. 

Nice! Balance is the key!

Being leaner will help you no doubt but you are already very strong on them.

The paused reps will help you for sure.

Yes nutrition is all about balance, steak and butter are excellent for nutrients though, great for strength gaining.

[matek]

2022/09/09 DU bending

 

DU warmup (after general warmup)
- WD2 in DU position, Orange spring 20x(1-1), 20x(2-2), 10x(3-3), 5x(4-4), 1x(5-5)
- CRS (SS400) 7.1mm x 165mm (9/32" x 6.5")
- CRS (SS400) 7.1mm x 152mm (9/32" x 6")
- CRS (SS400) HEX 7mm x 178mm (9/32" x 7")
- Stainless (304) HEX 7mm x 178mm (9/32" x 7")

 

DU bending: doubles of corduras + leathers
- ECGB Drill rod (O-1) 7.9mm x 152mm (5/16" x 6") - cert attempt
I cut down the cert bar to 6". The video posted below is just the bend itself because it was one hit, but here is the full cert video I sent to Devin.
- Drill rod (SK95) 8mm x 178mm (5/16" x 7")

 

DU bending: IMP cordura singles
- 3x Drill rod (SK95) 7.1mm x 178mm (9/32" x 7")

 

DU bending: leather singles 
- CRS (SS400) 8.3mm x 190mm (21/64" x 7.5")
- Stainless bolt (304) 8mm x 150mm (5/16" x 6")
- Grade 12.9 bolt (CrMo) 6mm x 127mm (15/64" x 5")
Wasn't hard, but the springback... Had to hit it multiple times and hold it forever.
- 2x CRS (SS400) 8mm x 190mm (5/16" x 7.5")
- Drill rod (SK95) 7.7mm x 190mm ("N" size: 0.303" x 7.5")
- Drill rod (SK95) 7.6mm x 190mm (0.299" x 7.5")
- Drill rod (SK95) 7.5mm x 178mm ("M" size: 0.295" x 7")
- Drill rod (SK95) 7.4mm x 178mm ("L" size: 0.291" x 7")

 

All bars were bent 40+ degrees.

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by matek

[matek]

2022/09/10 Grippers, Wrist Developer 

Grippers 
RH
- 2x1 Standard adjustable Ti at flush (RGC 171) 20mm choked 
I was actually able to close the first one. Failed the second, but I really tried. Happy with this one, because my current gripper "goal" is maintenance but seems like lately I actually got somewhat stronger. 
- 1x Standard adjustable Ti at #1 (RGC 156) 28mm choked
- 1x CoC #3 (unrated) MMS
- 2x1 GHP #7 (unrated) MMS
Failed the second, crush was already too tired.

LH
- 8x1 GD Iron 90 (filed stoppers - handles touching) Level 5 at 45mm narrow spread, no set
Barely failed the last one. 

 

Wrist Developer 2 (single suedes)
Orange spring
Both hand positions:
- 20x (1-1), (2-2), (3-3)
- 10x (4-4)
CROM spring
LH front: 
- 2x1 Level 9 (2-2)
RH front: 
- 2x1 Level 8 (2-1)
Both hand positions: 
- 5x Level 7 (1-2)
- 2x8 Level 6 (1-1)

 

[matek]

2022/09/13 Push and Thick bar

 

Seated OHP (elbow sleeves)

- 3x5 80kg/176lb

- 5x 85kg/187lb

- 3x 90kg/198lb

- 2x 95kg/209lb 

Slow second rep but got it.

- 5x6 80kg/176lb

 

Fat gripz original (2.25") double overhand deadlift

- 8x1 126kg/278lb

Microloading with half kilo plates .

 

Fat gripz extreme (2.75") double overhand deadlift

- 6x1 95kg/209lb

[matek]

2022/09/14 Forearm and wrist 

 

A shorter, recovery workout. 

 

4x:

- 36x wrist curls

- 24x reverse wrist curls

- 2x ulnar deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 2x radial deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 16x finger curls

 

Huge pump, felt nice. Mandatory forearm pictures:

Edited September 14, 2022 by matek

[Blacksmith513]

1 hour ago, matek said:

2022/09/14 Forearm and wrist 

 

A shorter, recovery workout. 

 

4x:

- 36x wrist curls

- 24x reverse wrist curls

- 2x ulnar deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 2x radial deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 16x finger curls

 

Huge pump, felt nice. Mandatory forearm pictures:

nice pump!

How are you liking the twist yo wrist? I find the movement a great recovery tool for bending and levering.  I also like how it hits the thumbs.  How do you grip it? Finger tips, cupped, close to the body or out?

[matek]

1 minute ago, Blacksmith513 said:

nice pump!

How are you liking the twist yo wrist? I find the movement a great recovery tool for bending and levering.  I also like how it hits the thumbs.  How do you grip it? Finger tips, cupped, close to the body or out?

Thanks!

I like it a lot, and yes, it does help a lot with recovery and warmups! I don't log it, but actually it's part of my warmup routine for everything grip/wrist related. 

Today I held it in my palms, but when I do the warmups I alternate between palms and fingers (without pinky). I never hold it close to my body or low. This way it helps to warm up my brachioradialis as well. 

[Nuttgens]

5 hours ago, matek said:

2022/09/14 Forearm and wrist 

 

A shorter, recovery workout. 

 

4x:

- 36x wrist curls

- 24x reverse wrist curls

- 2x ulnar deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 2x radial deviation rolls on the Twist yo wrist

- 16x finger curls

 

Huge pump, felt nice. Mandatory forearm pictures:

Jesus man those forearms are nuts 

[matek]

8 minutes ago, Nuttgens said:

Jesus man those forearms are nuts 

Thanks! Pump + good lighting 

[matek]

2022/09/15 DU bending

 

Short session, no time

 

Single IMP corduras:

- Horrido A2-70 stainless bolt (303) 8mm x 152mm (5/16" x 6")

I made an attempt for the @Horrido 2022 competition, because I'm not satisfied with by bend at 7". Unfortunately, I got it only to ~36 degrees in the 60 second competition time limit. Actually, I'm not disappointed because regardless I failed, this is still my strongest DU bend in IMPs so far. Just a little bit frustrating because I was really close. Probably I would have needed ~10 more seconds. 

Doubles of corduras + leathers:

- Bend Sports Canada Nanook bolt (grade 5) 7.9mm x 152mm (5/16" x 6")

Based on ratings, my hardest bend so far was the hexabastard but that was easier than the Nanook. For sure. Only 11 degrees. I'm not disappointed at all - my wrist didn't really hurt and I can't say I was super sore. I was simply not strong enough to bend this bolt today. But that's good, that's exciting. 

 

Usually I'm not very positive when I fail stuff, but honestly this wasn't a bad session at all.

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by matek

[Blacksmith513]

24 minutes ago, matek said:

2022/09/15 DU bending

 

Short session, no time

 

Single IMP corduras:

- Horrido A2-70 stainless bolt (303) 8mm x 152mm (5/16" x 6")

I made an attempt for the @Horrido 2022 competition, because I'm not satisfied with by bend at 7". Unfortunately, I got it only to ~36 degrees in the 60 second competition time limit. Actually, I'm not disappointed because regardless I failed, this is still my strongest DU bend in IMPs so far. Just a little bit frustrating because I was really close. Probably I would have needed ~10 more seconds. 

Doubles of corduras + leathers:

- Bend Sports Canada Nanook bolt (grade 5) 7.9mm x 152mm (5/16" x 6")

Based on ratings, my hardest bend so far was the hexabastard but that was easier than the Nanook. For sure. Only 11 degrees. I'm not disappointed at all - my wrist didn't really hurt and I can't say I was super sore. I was simply not strong enough to bend this bolt today. But that's good, that's exciting. 

 

Usually I'm not very positive when I fail stuff, but honestly this wasn't a bad session at all.

 

I’m the same way, and today i actually had a decent working but felt like crap. At least we showed up and bent something. That is literally 75% of it. 
 

that 60d brite I kinked was very humbling. I do think if I was really fresh I would have bent it. It feels like somewhere between a 60d and G5.