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Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 in the Rearview

29 December 2015


SlingShot bench press 370 lbs. x 2, 355 lbs. 2x2

Pulldowns 30 total reps

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155 2s x 5

Barbell curl 30 total reps

Cable fly 2s x 10

Bodyweight was at 210 after the holiday week, which I was happy about (zero to insignificant weight gain). Pressing was hard but doable, which I'm also happy about.


30 December 2015

Squat 435 lbs. 3s x 2

Had to use the shitty rack with weird hooks, which I haven't used in a while and which felt super awkward. On my last warmup set I misstepped and rammed the bar against one of the hooks (instead of over it) and had to do a shuffle dance with 405 on my back. This did not feel good at all. My injured knee hurt and squat depth was questionable on one of the sets (I think 3).

Bench press 310 lbs. x 3, 295 lbs. x 3

Only did one back-off set, as I was pretty fried from the awful squat workout.

Leg extension 3s x AMAP

Leg curl 3s x AMAP

Pushdowns 3s x AMAP


Usually a do an end-of-the-year post in which I summarize any improvements in my lifts over the year, exercises and programs that I experimented with, what worked and what didn't, etc. 2015 can be summed up as: I got hurt, worked around one injury after another, made zero progress on the big lifts. On the plus side, I kept lifting even though the weights and workouts were unmotivating and disappointing, so I was able to maintain some continuity.

I also saw some modest improvements physique-wise, mostly via lost bodyfat. It has taken me a while to let go of my bigorexia and permabulk dreams (not easy for a former skinny person who struggled to gain weight for years), but I'm pretty sure my "eat big lift mediocre" days are over.

In 2016 I'll keep rehabbing and I plan to get back on the Texas Method - inspired routine that served me well in 2013 and 2014. I'm probably too detrained to hit a new PR in the squat in the next 12 months, but getting back to around 5 plates would be nice. Here's to best wishes for the future and lessons learned, etc., etc.

2 comments:

Brahma Bill said...

Look at it this way. You got the shitty year done with, so coming up you've got at least one good and three mediocre years before you hit a crappy one again. Here's to an injury free 2016.

Fatman said...

That's a good way to look at it, thanks man!