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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Obligatory End of 2013 Post

It's that time again (the year flew by quickly) when I analyze my training achievements and failures over the previous year, see how it went compared to the previous year. In summary I can say 2013 went very well lifting-wise. Good gains on the squat and (somewhat stalled) bench press and I finally broke the 500 pound deadlift barrier. So now I can deadlift as much weight as a high school athlete - hell yeah!

Squat:
2012 Max - 515 lbs. @ 210 lbs. BW
2013 Max - 535 lbs. @ 213 lbs. BW

Increase: 20 lbs. My squat is going up steadily. I did implement some changes (more paused squats, dramatically reduced heavy set volume) and am really pleased that I still made progress. Goes to show that I can keep getting stronger by doing far less work. Also hit 500x3.

Bench Press:
2012 Max - 370 lbs. @ 210 lbs. BW
2013 Max - 385 lbs. @ 214 lbs. BW

Increase: 15 lbs. Very pleased with this. I kept getting better at 5RM and 2RM work, hitting 325x5, 340x3 and 355x2, and found a program that works very well for me. Maybe I hit that planned 405 in 2014... maybe. Also the SlingShot seems to have helped a lot.

Deadlift:
2012 Max - 495 lbs. @ 210 lbs. BW
2013 Max - 515 lbs. @ 213 lbs. BW

Increase: 20 lbs. Stoked to finally hit 500+, and this after setting a PR in the squat. After years of zero progress and frustration, I have found a good groove for deadlifts and will continue to exploit it in the next year. Also nailed 455x2.

Overhead press - no progress here, I have been doing behind-the-neck seated presses almost exclusively over the past several months. I did hit a very easy standing military press with 225 lbs. and narrowly missed 245, which I now realize would have been a standing press PR. I don't see switching back to standing front presses anytime soon.

Things that worked well:

- Paused squats and bench presses
- SlingShot work on the bench press
- Seated and standing BTN presses for reps
- More frequency, consistency and volume on arm work
- More upper back volume
- Using a quasi-Texas Method program for the squat and deadlift
- Cable pulling for volume
- Piriformis, knee and pectoral pain healed over time
- Very few scheduled workouts missed

Things that could have gone better:

- Pain in tricep elbow attachment (right) that still comes and goes
- Inconsistent conditioning - started the year pretty strong, but slacked off toward the end
- Eating was at times all over the place. Nothing close to how I used to binge before, but not very clean either.
- I need to build up my quads

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Lower Body Intensity

29 December 2013


Deadlift 135x8, 225x5, 315x4, 385x2, 415x2, then 455x2

This might be a 2RM, wanted three but couldn't even budge the third.

Leg curl 3s x 10

Weighted Roman chair situp 4s x 8

Chest-supported rows 3s x 12

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Bench Press - Heavy

28 December 2013


Bench press 340 lbs. 2s x 3, 335 lbs. x 3 - felt strangely achy today, so I dropped the weight on the last set. Still was a grinder.

Bench press w. SlingShot 360 lbs. x 3

Seated BTN press 135x8, 185x5, 205x5, then tried 185x10 but only got 7 reps.

EZ bar combo curls 3s x 10 (strict+cheat)

DB hammer curls 2s x 8

Tricep pushdown 2s x 15, 1s x 12

Cable curls 2s x 10-12

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Light Upper Body

26 December 2013


Lifted at the gym at work, so no bench presses or seated BTN presses.

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 135x8

Bent-over row 135x10, 185x5, 225x2sx5

Pulldown 3s x 8

Tricep pushdown 5s x 10

Lateral raise x20, x10, x 10

Bent-over lateral raise x15, x12

EZ bar curl 3s x 8

Seated DB curl 3s x 8

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Volume Squat Day

23 December 2013


Paused high-bar close-stance squat 245 lbs. 3s x 5

Regular HBCS squat 320 lbs. 3s x 5

All 6 sets done in something like 20 minutes, so sort of like speed squatting.

Romanian DL 225 lbs. 3s x 5 - nice deep stretch for the hamstrings.

Leg extension 3s x 12

Seated leg curl 3s x 12

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Bench Press Heavy Day

22 December 2013


Bench press warmup to 300x2, then 335 lbs. 3x3 - pretty fast.

Bench press w. SlingShot 355 lbs. x 5 - had one or maybe two left in the tank.

Seated DB curls 5s x 8

Pulldowns x15, x10, x8, x6 pyramiding up in weight.

Standing BTN press 135 x 10, 145 x 10, x 8

Hammer curls 2s x 8

Cable pushdowns 3s x 10

Cable curls 4s x 10-12

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Squat - Heavy Day

19 December 2013


By "heavy day" I really mean a medium-weight day with all sets done explosively.

Paused high bar close stance squat up to 290 lbs. x 3, 335 x 3

Regular squat 375 lbs. x 3 - every rep done very fast

Speed deadlift 305 lbs. x 6 singles on the minute - every rep was strong and explosive

Chest-supported row x 18, x 11, x 10 for 39 total reps

Leg extension x18, x 15, x 15 for 48 total reps

Leg curl x 20, x 10, x 12 for 42 total reps

The goal is to hit 50 reps over 3 sets with a certain weight, an idea I picked up from the Lift-Run-Bang site.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Light Bench Press Day

17 December 2013


Paused bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

Seated cable row 2s x 10, 2s x 8

Seated BTN press 135x8, 185x5, 195 2s x 5

EZ bar curls 3s x 8

Tricep pushdown 2s x 12, 1s x 15

Cable curl 3s x AMAP

Light Squat Day

16 December 2013


Paused high-bar squat 225 lbs. 3s x 5

Regular high-bar close-stance squat 295 lbs. 3s x 5

All done in ca. 20 minutes. The high-bar squat seems to be more forgiving on my lower back and hips, and I feel like I could do this several times per week. Of course, the weights are still very low, so maybe that's the reason. I'll keep high-bar-ing it until the weights get too heavy.

Leg extension 4s x 10

Leg curl, seated 4s x 10

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Bench Press - Heavy

14 December 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2, 300x2, then 330 lbs. 3x3 - felt tired today, but these were explosive and strong.

Bench press w. SlingShot 350 lbs. x 7 - don't know where that came from.

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5

Standing BTN press 135x10, 145x10

DB hammer curl 2s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

KB and plate curls for a few set

Friday, December 13, 2013

Heavy Lower Body Day

12 December 2013


Deadlift 135x10, 225x6, 315x4, 385x2, 405x2, 445 x 3 - strong and explosive

Chest-supported hammer rows 1s x 10, 2s x 8

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Heavy machine situps 2s x 8

Weighted back raise 2s x 10

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Light Press Day

10 December 2013


Paused bench press 285 lbs. x 3s x 5 - good

Seated cable row 2s x 10, 2s x 6

Seated BTN press 135x5, 185x5, 195x5

Pulldowns 1s x 8, 2s x 6

Hammer curls 2s x 12

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

EZ bar combo curls 2s x 10

Messed around some more with KB and plate curls for random reps and sets.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Light Squat Day

9 December 2013


Today I started a new squat program, which will be kinda similar to the last one (1 day per week light squat, 1 day heavy lower body alternating squats and deadlifts from week to week). I have also decided that I should pay more attention to my quads, as they seem to be somewhat lagging. So I'll be doing more high-bar, close-stance, upright squats to offset years of ham-intensive squatmornings. This will require the use of lower poundages, as my best high-bar squat is only around 450 or so (probably less now).

Paused high-bar squat 205 lbs. x 3s x 5, 265 lbs. x 2s x 5

The sets with 265 didn't have to be paused, but I paused them anyway because the weight is still so light.

Roman chair situps 2s x 12

Leg extensions 3s x 12

Leg curl 3s x 10

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Bench Press Intensity Day

6 December 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2, 300x2, then 325x5, 315x5, x4

The set with 325 is a "rep PR" (I think), but the two 315s felt super heavy after that. Looking forward to switching to triples for the next three weeks.

With SlingShot 345 lbs. x 5

Standing BTN press 135 x 10, 145 x 2s x 10

Hammer curl 2s x 10

Tricep pushdown 2s x 12, 1s x 8

Pulldowns 2s x 6, 1s x 5

Messed around with some kettlebell and plate curls for about 4-5 sets.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

5 December 2013


Warmup leg extensions 1x15, leg curl 1x10

Paused squat triples, up to 345x3, then 370x3

Regular squat 385x3, 405x3, 455x3

Speed deadlift 300 lbs. 7 singles on the minute

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Roman chair situps 3s x 10

Will be changing my lower body training slightly, lowering the squat weight significantly on rep day and working up to comfortable singles on the heavy day, while also alternating heavy squats with heavy deadlifts every week. My squats feel a bit off and I think I need to drop the weight and concentrate more on the explosive part of the lift. Also I have made very good progress on the squat in recent years and would like to focus a bit more on my pitiful deadlift in 2014.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Light Pressing and Upper Body

2 December 2013


Opened with some light hamstring curls because the hams were killing me from squatting the day before. I don't know why it's my hams that hurt the most after taking a week off, I never experience much soreness in the other muscle groups lifting after a layoff.

Hamstring curls (light) x 20, x 15

Abductor machine x 20

Paused bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5 - easy, but not easy enough to up the weight.

Seated pulley row 4s x 8

Seated BTN press 135 x 5, 185 lbs. 3s x 5 - heavier than it should have felt.

DB hammer curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Concentration curls 3s x 6, heavy-ish.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Post-Holiday Training - Legs

1 December 2013


I took last week off from the gym due to holiday travel, so this was my first post-holiday workout. I did keep training with cables and some BW squats and split squats, so didn't get completely lazy.

High-bar paused squats 275x5, 315x5 - these were really hard.

High-bar regular squats 335x5, 365x5, 385x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlifts 225 lbs. 3s x 5

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Leg curls 3s x 10

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 10-12

Friday, November 22, 2013

Bench Press Intensity Day

22 November 2013


Bench press 320 lbs. x 2s x 5, 1s x 4 - missed the groove on the last rep and it almost drifted back into my face. Still, this was pretty good.

Bench press w. SlingShot 340 lbs. x 6 - also pretty good

Did a bunch of seated DB curls between the bench press sets, 7 or so sets of 8-10.

Hammer curls 2s x 10

Preacher curl machine 3s x 8-10

Tricep pushdowns 2s x 15

Lower Body Intensity Day

21 November 2013


Did a quick circuit to warm up for the pulls:

Roman chair situps - Back raises - Leg extensions - Leg curls - all for one set of 10-12 reps

Deadlift: 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 365x2, then a surprising 425x5

I was going to try for 3 reps, but they felt light, so I reset, did one more, reset, another one. This is a pretty significant 5-rep PR (never pulled more than 405 for 5).

Bent-over rows 135x12, 185x10

Weighted RC situps 2s x 12

Weighted back raise 2s x 8

Leg curls 2s x 10

Chest-supported row 1s x 10, 2s x 8

Reverse curl 2s x 10

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Combined Volume Day - Suck

18 November 2013


Felt weak all day, maybe I'm coming down with something. Went to the gym and tried paused squats, but things felt off. My knees and glutes are all over the place when I squat for some reason, and I only used 315, or less than 60% of my 1RM.

Paused squat 315 lbs. x 3s x 5

Paused bench 285 lbs. x 2s x 5, 1s x 4 - could have hit the fifth rep on that last set, but did not have a spotter and chickened out.

Leg curls 3s x 10

Seated cable row 3s x 10

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Heavy Bench Press

16 November 2013


Bench press 315 lbs. x 3s x 5 - very fast and explosive, a big milestone in my training.

Bench press w. SlingShot 335 lbs. x 8 - this was also easier than I expected.

Standing BTN military press 135x8, 155 x 2s x 8

Seated curls - did a bunch of light sets between my pressing sets, probably 7 or 8 in total

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Pulldowns 2s x 10

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Squat - Intensity Day (Sort Of)

13 November 2013


Paused squat up to 365 lbs. x 3

No belt no wraps regular squat 405x3, 425x3, 445x3 - kept it light, as my lower body is yet to recover

Speed deadlift 300 lbs. x 7 singles on the minute (4 sumo, 3 conventional)

Leg curl 2s x 12

Romanian chair situps, 1s x 12 unweighted, 2s x 12 weighted

EZ bar reverse curls 3s x 12

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

11 November 2013


Paused bench press 280 lbs. 3s x 6

Seated cable row 1x10, 1x8, 2sx6

Seated BTN press 135x5, 155x3, 185x3sx5

Hammer DB curls 3s x 10

EZ bar curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Cable Pulls and Volume Leg Day

10 November 2013



Today I did some cable pulls before the gym:

Front chest pull 2s x 10

Overhead downward pull 2s x 10

Scapular shrug 2s x 12

Front tricep stretch 2s x 10

Bicep curl 2s x 10

Any serious squatting was out of the question, as I was sore from head to toes.

Paused squat 335 lbs. x 5 sets x 3 - even this weight felt heavy

Squat starts (from pins) 2s x 5

Leg extension 3s x 12

Leg curl 3s x 12

Roman chair situps, weighted 2s x 12

Ab crunch machine 3s x 12

Lower back extension machine 3s x 12

Saturday, November 9, 2013

World Powerlifting Championships of Powerlifting

9 November 2013


In honor of the IPF World Championship, today I did a 1RM testing day at my gym. The goal was to set a new 1RM for the squat and deadlift and work up to a heavy single on the bench and standing military press.

In preparation I took almost the entire week off training (did some light stuff on Tuesday) and took creatine every day from Monday to Friday

Weighed in this morning at 213.6 lbs.

Had a light breakfast and took some BCAA tabs and a banana directly prior to leaving for the gym.

Squat:

Worked up to 365 lbs. 'raw', then hit 385, 405 and 455 with belt and wraps. All felt strong and solid. The "attempts" went like so:

500 lbs. x 1 - this one felt a bit shaky
515 lbs. x 1 - tied old PR, but I knew I had more in me and the weight felt lighter than 500.
535 lbs. x 1 - new PR, this one was pretty solid. I now regret I didn't try 540 just to get a round number :)

Bench press:

Bench press was going to be uneventful because I had no spotter (I was videoing the attempts and didn't want to creep anyone out, as I didn't know any of the people at the gym). So I warmed up to 295x1 and played it safe from there.

315 lbs. x 1 - very light
335 lbs. x 1 - felt heavier than it should have, since this is a weight I can press for three reps even on a bad day
355 lbs. x 1 - much smoother and faster. I have doubled this weight in the past so I was confident it wouldn't crush me. Good, solid weight.

Deadlift:

At this point I was psyched from how well the squat and bench press went, but also starting to fade a little. Stupidly I had not brought any energy bars or Gatorade or anything to pick me up. My legs and lower back were definitely feeling the squats. So I did a few reps adding one plate per side to 315, then 385 and 425. All fast and explosive, which I wasn't expecting.

Last week I had worked up to 475 and it felt heavy, so I decided to start lower this time:

455 lbs. x 1 - smooth, confident pull, but by now I was thoroughly exhausted. I really wanted to set a new 1RM.
515 x fail - as often happens to me with the deadlift, the bar came off the floor with speed but died somewhere below the knee. My hands now felt like hamburger and my hopes were pretty low, but I had another go so I decided why the hell not.
515 x 1 - this time the weight went up with only a slight grind near lockout. Like I had taken 30 pounds off the previous try, or something. New deadlift PR, and first pull over 500 lbs.

Standing military press:

I didn't expect much here, because I was already starting to feel faint, but the last warmup at 185 felt ridiculously light, so away I went:

205 lbs. x 1 - lighter than the 185
225 lbs. x 1 - same here, I had to check to make sure I had actually put the right plates on
245 lbs. x fail - went halfway up, then stalled. Still very happy with this.

Points to ponder for next time:

- Eat more before lifting.
- Bring energy food and drinks to the gym.
- Take more rest between lifts. I feel like nerves got the better of me and I sort of rushed through the squats, then didn't have much energy for the later stuff.
- Pick better camera angles for videos. I had to move after my first squat because I had placed the camera on the nearby lifting platform, and someone wanted to use it. Also on the bench press the first camera angle was a pretty ridiculous shot of my legs in the foreground, so I changed to a side view.
- Video editing is not my strong suit.


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Light Session

5 November 2013


Leg extension 3s x 12

Leg curl 3s x 12

Roman chair situp 3s x 12

Back raise 3s x 10

Lat pulldown 3s x 12

Pec deck 3s x 12

Shoulder press machine 3s x 12

Preacher curl machine 3s x 12

Tricep pushdown 3s x 12

Monday, November 4, 2013

Testing One Week Out

3 November 2013


Worked up to first attempts for next weekend:

Squat (with belt and knee wraps) - 390x1, 455x1, 500x1 - this was tough, but not too bad. Definitely had more in me, but not sure if "more" is 20 lbs., which I need to set a PR. Planning to go for something like 500-515-525.

Bench press - 295x1, 315x1 - no spotter and unracked by myself. Very easy. Taking the bar off the hooks is actually not that hard, you just have to stay close to the uprights and then need to be extra careful about not hitting them on the way up. Plan here is 315-335 and maybe a third attempt that's well below a max.

Deadlift - 395x1, 445x1, 475x1 - very hard. The 445x1 was stupid, and the 475x1 too heavy. I'll start out with 455 or so, just so I get at least one of the attempts, then move to 500-ish.

Did not do overhead presses. I'll just do whatever I feel like on these.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Heavy Bench Press

2 November 2013


Bench press 310 lbs. x 3s x 6 - last set was a grinder, but overall this was pretty good. Training, sleeping and diet were terrible last week.

Bench press w. SlingShot 330 lbs. x 8 - massive pump from this.

Standing BTN military press 135x8, 145 x 2s x 8

Hammer curl 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Incline bench seated DB curl 3s x 10

I've decided to experiment with the BTN presses and do them three times per week. Standing light sets of 8 on the heavy press day, medium sets of 5 (seated) on light bench press day, work up to a seated heavy triple on the heavy lower body day. They do not seem to affect my recovery much and my bench press numbers keep increasing when I do them regularly.

Also next Saturday is my mock-meet day and I haven't really adjusted my training at all over the past few months, mostly because it has been going so well. So I have decided to adjust my goals for the World Powerlifting Championships of Powerlifting:

Squat - since I'll be doing this lift first, I'll go for a conservative PR in it. Best ever in belt and wraps was 515.
Bench press - a token-ish weight I feel comfortable with. No spotter to hand off the bar: my training buddy won't be around, and since I'll be videoing it I feel awkward asking some random dude, so I'll just have to see how it feels.
Deadlift - I'd like to hit 500 for a PR, but I'll have to see how I feel. The goal is to make at least one attempt in each lift.
Standing OH press - whatever I feel like.

So the plan of action is:

3 November - go to the gym and work up to my "opening" weights. Something like 500-315-455. Again, bench press is relatively light because I have to unrack the bar on my own, and I haven't done much of that.

4 November - upper and lower body "bodybuilding" exercises.

6 November - one set of 5 with 225 lbs. for each of the 3 lifts, 135 for press, go home.

9 November - World Powerlifting Championships of Powerlifting. Weigh-in in the AM, eat, lift in the early afternoon and hopefully set a PR in the squat.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Supplementary Session

31 October 2013


Tried the gym at work because I saw that they have a power rack and some plates. I had a scheduled squat day today and no time to lift after work. But the power rack is shoddy, the bar is some kind of thin bar (from the looks of it, below the regulation 45 pounds) and they do not have enough plates. The bar was actually visibly bending from three 45 pound plates per side, and when I added a 25 and unracked it to squat it actually started to oscillate up and down. So I ditched the squats and did an impromptu back session:

Bent-over rows 1s x 10, 3s x 6

Pullups 3s x 5

Face pulls 2s x 20

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Volume Bench Press

29 October 2013


Paused bench press 280 lbs. x 6, x 5, x 7 - missed on the second set, but third one went well. Nice long pauses too.

Seated cable row 1s x 10, 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Seated BTN press 135x6, 155x6, 175x5, 190x5 - these felt pretty good

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5

DB hammer curls 3s x 8

Tricep pushdowns 2s x 10, light

Preacher curl machine 3 sets

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

27 October 2013


Paused squat 335 lbs. x 3s x 5 - these felt very heavy for some reason

Bottom-position squat starts 225 lbs. x 2s x 5 - a cruel and unusual exercise for the hips

Regular squat 405x5, 415x5

Hack squat 3s x 10

Weighted Roman chair situp 3s x 12

Leg extension 3s x 10

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Bench Press - Heavy

26 October 2013


Bench press 305 lbs. x 3s x 6 - pretty smooth, last set gave me some trouble.

Bench press w. SlingShot 325 lbs. x 8 - nice

Chest-supported rows 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Seated incline bench DB curls 3s x 12

Tricep pushdowns 1s x 12 - very light, tricep tendon feels better but I don't want to push it.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Deadlift - Heavy

24 October 2013


Warmed up with a combo of leg curl, adductor and abductor machine, around 12 reps each without rest.

Deadlift 135x10, 225x8, 315x4, 385x2, 415x2, 445x3 - rep PR

On the sets of two, the first one was sumo. On the other sets I tried to mostly do sumo. I think I'm getting the hang of sumo pulling... sort of.

Snatch-grip DL 365x3

Roman chair situps, weighted 3s x 12

Back raise, weighted 3s x 10

Leg curl 2s x 12

Leg extension 2s x 10

Bench Press Volume Day

22 October 2013


Paused bench press 280 lbs. x 3s x 6

Seated cable row 1s x 10, 2s x 8, 1s x 6 (increasing weight)

Seated BTN press - did this in the Smith machine because both racks were busy, 1x10, 1x8, 1x6 - going up in weight

Hammer curl 3s x 10

Seated incline bench curl 3s x as many as possible

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Right tricep tendon hurts again, and it's pretty bad.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Quick Leg Volume Day

20 October 2013


Not much time to train today, so I just did the squats and left.

Paused squat 335 lbs. x 3s x 5

Regular squat 405x5, 425x5

Weighted Roman chair situps 1s x 12

Leg extensions 1s x 20

Bench Press - Intensity Day

19 October 2013


Bench press 300 lbs. x 3s x 6 - easy start to a new cycle

Bench press w. SlingShot 320 lbs. x 8 - was pretty surprised by this

Chest-supported rows 3s x 10

Seated BTN press 135x10, 155x8, 175x6

Hammer curls 3s x 10

EZ bar combo curls (against the wall, then cheating) 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Squat - Intensity Day

18 October 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 355x3, 385x3

Regular squat 405x3, 455x3 (belt+wraps), 495x3 (b+w)

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Pressing - Volume Day

15 October 2013


Bench press 280 lbs. x 3s x 6, all paused - this was hard, but a different kind of hard. Pauses of one second.

Seated cable row 3s x 8, 1s x 6

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Seated BTN press 155x6, 185x5, 135x8 - the 185 felt really hard, so I didn't try to up the weight

Pec deck 2s x 12

Hammer high row machine 2s x 10

EZ bar combo curls (AMAP against wall, then cheat curl for 4-5 reps) 3s x 10

Seated DB incline curl 3s x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10-12 - upped the weight a bit

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Legs - Volume

14 October 2013


My legs felt like I ran a marathon over the weekend (I didn't), so everything today was slow and torturous. Bad eating and too much booze and not enough sleep = I'm too old to do that and expect to recover.

Paused squat 330 lbs. 4s x 5

Regular squat 395x5, 415x5 - legs almost gave out on the last one. Usually my weak point is the lower back.

Hack squats 3s x 10

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Bench Press - 1RM Day (And PR)

10 October 2013


Warmed up something like: 135x5 - 185x3 - 245x1 - 275x1 - 295x1

Then 325x1, 345x1, 365x1 - felt smooth, so I tried 385x1 and got it. New PR by 15 pounds.

Bench press with SlingShot 405 lbs. x 1 - this is where I should be with no SlingShot, but whatever.

Seated pulley rows 3s x 8

Standing BTN military press 135x10, 155 x 2s x 8

EZ bar curl 3s x 6

Tricep pushdown 3s x 12

Pec deck machine 3s x 12

BW today 213.8 lbs.

Deadlift - Heavy Day

9 October 2013


Deadlift: 135x8 - 225x6 - 315x4 - 365x2 - 405x2 - 445 x 2

This would be a rep PR, so I guess that counts for something.

Snatch-grip DL 365 lbs. x 2s x 3

Glute-ham raise x8, x8, x6

Roman chair situp 3s x 12

Weighted back raise 2s x 10

Leg curl 2s x 10

Monday, October 7, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

7 October 2013


Did not recover from Saturday's pressing, so today I only did the bare minimum and some arm work.

Bench press 295 lbs. x 3s x 6 - paused first and last rep of each set. This felt heavy because I was tired, but got them all.

Seated pulley row 2s x 8, 1s x 10

Hammer curl 2s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 5

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Leg Day - Volume

6 October 2013


Paused squat 330 lbs. x 4s x 5

Regular squat 405x5, 425x5 - no belt or wraps

Hack squat 3s x 10

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Leg extension 3s x 10

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Bench Press - Heavy

5 October 2013


Bench press 285 x 2 (paused), 320 x 2, 350 x 2 - last set nice and explosive.

Bench press w. SlingShot 370 lbs. x 2, 390 lbs. x 1.5 - had a spotter bail me out on the second rep, but this was still a massive lift. Very happy about it.

Chest-supported row 3s x 8

DB shoulder press 60s x 10, 70s x 8

Hammer curls 3s x 10-12

Tricep pushdowns x20, x15, x12

Legs - Intensity Day

3 October 2013


Paused squat 325x3, 365x3, 385x3

Regular squat 415 x 3, 475 x 3 (belt and wraps) - took the intensity down a notch, will ramp back up.

Used a weird bendy bar for squats, it whipped around with a mere 415 on and actually bent on the 475 set, so groove was a bit off.

Speed deads 8 singles with 300 lbs. on the minute (5 sumo, 3 regular) - these were actually fast.

Weighted back raise (hips supported) 3s x 8-10

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Leg curls 3s x 10-12

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

1 October 2013


Bench press 285 lbs. x 10, x 9, x 6

Finally nailed the tenth rep and had an awesome second set too, but on the third one the bottom fell out. Still, this is a major rep PR.

Seated pulley row 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Standing BTN military press 135x5, 155x5 - arms and shoulders too gassed for any serious pressing. Will do more on the heavy day.

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8

DB hammer curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 4s x 15 - still light, but right elbow is getting better.

Seated DB incline curls 3s x 8

Rear delt raises 3s x 12-15

Monday, September 30, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

30 September 2013


Paused squat 325 lbs. 5x5

Regular squat 405 lbs. 2s x 5 - all un-belted

Hack squat 3s x 10

Roman chair situps 3s x 10-12

Leg extension 3s x 10

Bench Press - Heavy

27 September 2013


Bench press 285x3, 315x2, 345x2 - second rep was a bit slow.

Bench press w. SlingShot 365 lbs. x 2s x 2 - these somehow felt heavier than usual.

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Seated BTN press 135x8, 185 x 2s x 5 - nice and snappy.

Hammer curl 3s x 10

Tricep pushdown 3s x 15, 2s x 12 - right elbow tendon felt good, so I did a lot of light reps

Seated incline curl 3s x 10

Preacher curl machine 3s x as many as possible

Bent-over raise 3s x 12-15

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Deadlift - Heavy

25 September 2013


Deadlift: 135x8 - 225x5 - 315x4 - 365x3 - 405x2 - 440 x 3

440x3 is a PR (if one counts repetition PRs). Also pulled the first 405 sumo, which is definitely a personal best.

Snatch-grip DL 375x2, tried another set but back felt too beat up. This has not been a high-energy couple of weeks.

Bent-over row 135x8, 225 x 2s x 5 - haven't done these in ages.

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Leg curl 2s x 10

Reverse-grip curl 2s x 12

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

24 September 2013


Did not feel very energetic, so just put in the necessary work and went home.

Right elbow / tricep feels a little better, managed some medium-light pushdowns with a normal grip.

Bench press 285 lbs. x 9, x 8, x 8 - wanted to hit 10 on the first set, but no go.

Seated pulley row 3s x 8

Standing military BTN press 135 lbs. x 3s x 8 - kept it light and fast.

Pulldowns 2s x 10

DB hammer curl 2s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 4s x 12-15

Incline bench DB curl 3s x 8-10

Preacher curl machine 2s x as many as possible

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Squat Volume Day

22 September 2013


Paused squat 325 lbs. x 4s x 5 - the reps felt off and not very solid, so I only did 4 sets.

Regular squat 435 lbs. x 5 - no belt, no wraps

Roman chair situps 3s x 12

Back raise on GHR machine, weighted 3s x 10

Leg extension 3s x 10

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Bench Press Intensity Day

21 September 2013


Bench press 285x2, 315x3, 340x2

Felt good and fast, elbow is not healed yet but it's not messing up my bench press anymore.

Bench press with Sling Shot 355x3, 365x3 - strong

Seated BTN press 135x5, 185 x 3s x 5

Neutral-grip pullups 5x5

Direct tricep work is still painful and out of the question. Did a light set of 10 on the tricep pushdown machine and it hurt. But reverse-grip pushdowns are still OK.

EZ bar curl against wall 1s x 8, 3s x 5

Reverse grip pushdown 3s x 10-12

Preacher curl machine 3s x 12

Bodyweight today - 209.7 lbs. Not bad, 205-215 is my best range.

Squat - Intensity Day

18 September 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 350x3, 380x3

Regular squat (belt and wraps) 405x3, 500x3 - much better than last week. I'll probably lower the weight a bit and cycle back up to 510 or so in a few weeks.

Speed deadlift 300 lbs. for 8 singles on the minute - mostly sumo-style, pretty good speed.

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Did these on the glute-ham machine, with my hips on the pad (like the version popularized by California Strength). Much better lower back activation and zero hamstring and glute targeting. This will be my preferred version for now.

Roman chair situps 3s x 10

Leg extension 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

16 September 2013


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 8 - finally got it, last rep was a bit of a grinder but overall good

Seated BTN press 185 lbs. 3s x 5

Seated pulley row 3s x 8-10

Lat pulldown 3s x 10

EZ bar curl 3s x 8

Tricep pushdown 3s x 10 - right elbow felt okay, so I did three light sets

Preacher curl machine 3s x 10

Monday, September 16, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

15 September 2013


Short on time today, did the squats and left.

Paused squat 325 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat 405 x 5, 425 x 5

Machine ab crunch 2s x 10

Hack squat 3s x 10

Bench Press - Heavy

14 September 2013


Bench press 295x3, then 335 x 2, x 3, x 3

Right tricep tendon (elbow attachment) is seriously inflamed, so bench pressing did not go well today. I didn't do any SlingShot presses in order to not aggravate it further. Will have to give the right elbow some TLC over the next week.

Seated BTN press 185 lbs. x 3s x 5

Seated pulley rows 3s x 8-10

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Reverse grip pushdowns 2s x 12 - this is the only tricep exercise that doesn't hurt, so I'll keep doing it until the elbow is better.

Concentration curl 3s x 6-8

Friday, September 13, 2013

Deadlift - Intensity Day

12 September 2013


Deadlift:

135x10
225x8
315x4
385x2
405x2
440x2 - third rep didn't come up, but this is still a PR.

Snatch-grip DLs 370 x 3, x 2

Speed squat 245 lbs. 8s x 2 on the minute, could have been faster

Glute-ham raise x 8, 2s x 6

Machine ab crunch 3s x 10

Chest-supported high row 3s x 15

Weighted back raises 3s x 10

Reverse curl 3s x 10

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Combined Volume Day

10 September 2013


Due to time constraints I decided to combine the squat and bench volume days into one day, so I can recover for the two intensity days later in the week.

Paused squat 325 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat 385x5, 435x5 - belt on second set

Bench press 285 lbs. x 8, x 6, x 6 - not as bad as I expected. Should get eights for three sets next week.

Machine ab crunches 3s x 10

EZ bar curls 2s x 8

At this point I just went home.

Bench Press - Heavy Day

6 September 2013


Bench press 295x3, then 330 lbs. 3x3

Bench press with SlingShot 355 lbs. x 3

Ring pullups 2s x 5

Hammer curls 3s x 10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 10

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Squat - Intensity Day

4 September 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 355x3, 380x3

Regular squat 405 x 3 (wraps only), 500 x 2 (belt and wraps) - did a third rep with 500, but it was ridiculously high.

Speed deadlift 305 lbs. x 8 singles on the minute - not terribly fast

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

After this I was more or less ready to go home, but I hung around to spot a buddy who was benching.

Roman chair situps 2s x 10

Ab crunch machine 1s x 10

Weighted incline situp 1s x 10

Pulldowns 1s x 10

Reverse curls 3s x 10

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Bench Press Volume Day

2 September 2013


Third day in a row training, so today's session wasn't very strong.

Bench press 285 lbs. x 2s x 8, 1s x 6 - first two sets were pretty easy, then gassed quickly on the third. But I'm pretty sure I could have hit 10 reps on the first set.

Seated pulley rows 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Ring pullups 2s x 5

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12 - right elbow felt better today

Preacher curl machine 3s x 12

Monday, September 2, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

1 September 2013


Paused squat 325 lbs. x 4s x 5

Regular squat 405x5, 435x5 - had to belt up for the second set

Hack squat 3s x 10

Roman chair situps 3s x 10

Machine ab crunch 2s x 10

Adductor machine x 20, x 15

Too tired to do Romanian DLs today.

Bench Press - Heavy Day

31 August 2013


Bench press warmup to 295x3, then 325 lbs. x 3 x 3 - last set flew up

Bench press with SlingShot 345 lbs. x 2s x 3

Seated BTN press 135x10, 165 x 2s x 8

Ring pullups 5x5

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10, right tricep hurt at the elbow, so I switched to
Reverse-grip pushdowns 3s x 12 - these almost completely bypass the elbow, but nice pump

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Preacher curl machine 4s x 8

Friday, August 30, 2013

Lower Body - Heavy Day

28 August 2013


Run 1.25 miles.

29 August 2013

Deadlift:

135 x 8, 5 of which sumo, 3 conventional
225 x 8, same as above
315 x 4, 2-2
385 x 2, 1-1
435 x 3, felt cocky and went for a 4th, couldn't budge the bar

Snatch-grip DL (straps) 365 lbs. x 2s x 3

This was nice, but I pulled something in my left glute and hobbled around in pain for the rest of the workout.

Bent-over row 225 x 2s x 5

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Weighted back extension 3s x 10

Machine ab crunch 3s x 12

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Upper Body Volume Day

27 August 2013


Bench press 287.5 lbs. x 3s x 6 - first and last rep of each set paused. Used the heavy collars, hence the weird poundage.

Pullups 2s x 5, on rings 3s x 5

Standing BTN press 135x8, 155x6, 165x6

Hammer curl 3s x 10, upped the weight on these

EZ bar curl against wall 2s x 10, 2s x 5 (heavy)

Rope pushdowns 2s x 10

Lower Body Volume Day

26 August 2013


Paused squat 325 lbs. x 3s x 5 - legs felt weirdly tired today, like I hadn't taken 3 days off training them.

Regular squat 405 x 2s x 5 - didn't want to try going heavier

Romanian DLs 225x5, 245x3, 255x3

Hack squat 2s x 10

Machine ab crunch 4s x 10

Roman chair situp on GHR 2s x 10

Leg extensions 3s x 10 + partials

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Bench Press Intensity Day

24 August 2013


Bench press warmup to 285x2 (long pause), 315x5, 310 x 2s x 5

315x5 was a smokeshow, the next 2 sets were also strong.

Bench press with SlingShot 330 lbs. x 6, x 5

Seated row 3s x 10

Seated BTN press 135x10, 155x6, 185x5

DB tricep extensions 3s x 12

Hammer curl 1s x 12, 2s x 10

Preacher curl 2s x 6

Tricep pushdown 2s x 12

Friday, August 23, 2013

Legs - Heavy

22 August 2013


Paused squat 315 x 3, 345 x 3, 375x3 - these went very well

Regular squat 405x3, 455x3, 495x3 - all with belt and knee wraps.

Second rep of the 495 might have been high.

Speed deadlift 300 x 10 singles on the minute

Chest supported rows 2s x 8 (heavy), 1s x 10 (light)

Glute-ham raise 2s x 6

Machine ab crunch 3s x 10

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Upper Body - Volume

20 August 2013


Bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 10 - easier than I thought

Seated row 3s x 8

Seated BTN press 135 x 10, 155 x 8, 175 x 6

Ring pullups 3s x 5

DB tricep extension 3s x 12

Hammer curls 2s x 12, 1s x 10

EZ bar curl back against wall 3s x 8-10

Tricep pushdown 3s x 12

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Legs - Volume

19 August 2013


Paused squat 315 lbs. x 5s x 5 - these felt strong, will be moving up to 325.

Regular squat 385x5, 435x5 - no belt, squatted pretty upright compared to how I normally squat and felt it in the quads and lower back.

Romanian DLs 225x5, 245x3, 265x3 - form was off on the 265x3, so no point in upping the weight, will just do 245x3x3 next time

Hack squats 3s x 10 - still with baby weights

Machine ab crunch 3s x 12

Roman chair situps 2s x 10 - did these on the glute-ham raise machine, felt kinda weird

Leg extension 3s x 10 plus partials

Friday, August 16, 2013

Bench Press - Heavy

16 August 2013

Tired today, did the bench pressing and went home. Might return to the gym tomorrow and do some GUNZ.

Bench press 305 lbs. x 3s x 5, nice and easy today, minimum grind

Bench press with SlingShot 325x5, 345x3 - at this point, these felt like the same weight and reps without the SS. Triceps were mega pumped.

Seated cable row 3s x 8

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Intensity - Pull

15 August 2013


Deadlift:

135x10, 5 sumo
225x6, 3 sumo
315x4, 2 sumo
385x2
435x2

Last time I did heavy deadlifts I crapped out at 430x1, so improvement, I guess, although reps on deadlift don't indicate much for me.

Snatch grip DL (straps) 335x3, 355x3 - love this exercise

Speed squat 235 lbs. x 8s x 2 on the minute, pretty fast this time

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Glute-ham raise 2s x 6

Machine ab crunch 3s x 10

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Upper Body Volume

13 August 2013


Bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 8 - not too hard, could have gone for 10s on the first and second set

Standing BTN OH press 135x8, 155x6, 175x6

Seated pulley row 3s x 8

Neutral-grip pullup 3s x 5

Preacher curl machine 5s x 8-12

Tricep pushdown 3s x 12-15

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Lower Body Volume

12 August 2013


Paused back squat 315 lbs. x 4s x 5

Regular squat 365x5, 435x5 - no belt

Romanian deadlift 225 lbs 3s x 5 - will start moving these up in weight and doing 3x3 instead

Hack squat machine 3s x 10

Leg extension 3s x 10 + partials

Standing band crunch 1s x 20

Ab machine 2s x 10

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Upper Body Intensity

10 August 2013


Bench press 305 lbs. x 2s x 5, 1s x 4 - wanted 3x5, but meh

Seated row 3s x 8

Seated BTN 135x5, 155x5, 175x5

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 10

DB skullcrushers 3s x 10

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12-15

Then did some max effort testing on the curl for kicks:

EZ bar curl against the wall: 85 x 2, 105 x 1, 125 x f
EZ bar strict curl: 85 x 2, 105 x 1, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 155 x f
EZ bar cheat curl: 105 x 1, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 155 x 1, 175 x f

Made huge jumps, probably could have squeezed out 5-10 pounds more on each type of curl with smarter weight increases (120/140/165), but whatever.

Squat Intensity

9 August 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 345x3, 370x3

Regular squat 405x3, 495x3 - both with belt and wraps, felt quite solid

Speed deadlift 300 lbs. x 10 singles on the minute, 7 sumo, 3 conventional.

First five were not 'speed' at all, then sort of got better but never really fast.

Ab machine 3s x 10

Leg extension 3s x 10

Volume Bench Press

6 August 2013


Bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 5, paused

Seated pulley row 3s x 8

Seated BTN press 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5

Pullups 3s x 5

DB skullcrushers 3s x 10-12

EZ bar 4s x 8

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Volume Squat Day

5 August 2013


Paused back squat 315 lbs. x 3s x 5

Regular squat 385x5, 435x5 - this set was more grindy than it should have been

Romanian deadlifts 225 lbs. x 3s x 5

Hack squat, light 3s x 10

Leg extension 3s x 10 + 10 partial reps at end of each set

Standing band crunches 3s x 20

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Heavy Press - Again

3 August 2013


Was away for a week for work. Too much eating and not enough exercise, although the hotel I was staying at did have a small gym with a Smith machine. Did some upright squats with my feet way out in front and some bench presses with a pause. My knees were not happy. But overall I had a great time, probably the best work trip ever.

Bodyweight upon return - 211.4 lbs., pretty much no weight gained or lost.

Bench press 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 6 - first set was great, but the other two weren't bad either

Seated pulley row 4 sets x 6-8

Seated BTN press 135 x 5, then someone stole my bench so standing 155x5, 165x5

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8, 1s x 6, progressively heavier each set

DB skullcrushers (parallel grip) 3s x 10

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10-12

DB curls, seated 2s x 10

Weighted incline board situps 3s x 10

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Heavy Press

27 July 2013


Had a moderate to severe gastrointestinal disturbance today (first one since 2008 or so), so went to the gym late and felt pretty weak.

Bench press 300 lbs. x 6, x 6, x 5

Seated cable row 3s x 6-8

Seated BTN press 145 x 6, 155 x 2s x 5

Lat pulldown 2s x 10, 1s x 8

DB skullcrusher 3s x 8-10

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10

EEZ bar curls against wall 3s x 6-8

Friday, July 26, 2013

Pulls - Heavy (Sort Of)

25 July 2013


Deadlift 135x10, 225x6, 315x4, 385x2, 420x3

Felt okay, as okay as deadlift reps over 1 can ever feel. Did a few sumo reps up until 315.

I don't think this Texas Method deadlifting template is working out that well for me, I might go back to the old 'bastardized Gillingham' program I used with a lot of success last year, but then I might have to give up squatting 2x/week... to be determined.

Snatch-grip DL 335 x 3, 345 x 3 - strapped. Liking this exercise. If I could get this enthusiastic about actual deadlifts, it would be great.

Bent-over row (strict) 135x10, 155x2sx10

Glute-ham raise x7, x6, x6

Hanging leg raises x10, x10, x8 (tried to touch bar with feet on as many reps as possible.

Face pulls 3s x 20

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Press - Volume Day

24 July 2013


Bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 5, first rep 2-second-paused, 225 x 3 with long pauses

Seated cable row 4s x 6-8

Seated behind-the-neck military press 135 x 7, 145 x 2s x 5

Pullups on rings x7, x5, x5 - elbows are complaining again, and these I can do pain free. I'll have to drop the barbell tricep extensions as they are causing a major flareup of tendonitis.

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10

Hammer curls 3s x 10

Preacher curls with extended negative 3s x 6

Dip machine pushdowns 3s x 10

Pec deck 2s x 10-12

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Lower Body Volume Day

22 July 2013


Paused squats 315 lbs. x 3s x 5 - for the first time these felt very heavy

Regular squats 385x5 (no belt), 425x5 (belt) - same here

Romanian deadlifts 3s x 5 with 225 lbs.

Hack squats 3s x 10-12

Leg extensions 2s x 10 + 10 partial reps at end of set

Standing band crunches 3s x 20, 1s x 12

Overall a weak day. Legs felt heavy and... well, weak.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

21 July 2013


Bench press 295 lbs. x 3s x 6

Heavy weights are fun, but I'm taking a step back and doing volume work (only heavier) for a few weeks before going back to triples, etc.

Long-pause BP 245 x 3

Seated pulley rows 4s x 6

Seated BTN press 135 x 8, 145 x 6, 145 x 6

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Tricep extensions 105x8, 115x8, 125x8

Hammer curls 2s x 10

Pushdowns 2s x 10

EZ bar strict curl 3s x 8

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Lower Body Intensity

17 July 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 335x3, 365x3 - easier than expected

Regular squat 415x5, 485x5 - both done with belt and knee wraps, then 405x5 no belt no wraps. The 485 was shaky as hell while I was unracking and walking it out, but the actual squatting was not too hard.

Speed deadlifts 10 singles on the minute, 7 sumo and 3 conventional with 295 lbs.

Glute-ham raise 2s x 8, 1s x 4

Weighted back raise 2s x 10

Ab rollout from knees 3s x 10

HammerStrength shrugs 3s x 20

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Upper Body Volume

16 July 2013


Went light and easy today, partially to spare energy for the "big" pressing session on Saturday, partially because I was tired. I will probably re-design my bench pressing sessions, back off the weight on 'intensity' days and do more volume (sets of six) with medium weights, then work back up to triples and doubles. Spend more time base building, so to speak. The volume day will then become a real volume day, light bench presses done for sets of 5, followed by some seated behind-the-neck pressing, which has given me good results in the past.

Bench press 275 lbs. x 5, x 5, x 6

Standing overhead press 135 x 5, 155 x 5 - all racks and platforms were busy at this point

Lat pulldowns 140 x 5, x 10, 160 x 10

Tricep extensions to nose 95 x 8, 115 x 8, 120 x 8

DB hammer curls 3s x 10-12

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8

Rope pushdowns 2s x 10

Pec deck 3s x 10

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Legs - Short Volume Day

14 July 2013

Paused squat 315 lbs. x 3s x 5

Regular squat 365x5, 425x5

Hack squats 3s x 12

Leg extension w. burnout reps 1s x AMAP

Standing calf raise 1s x 20, 1s x 18

Band crunch 2s x 20

Ab rollouts 1s x 10

Upper Body - Heavy(ish)

12 July 2013

2-mile run
Some lat pulldowns, 2s x 8 medium weight. The gym in my building has a lat pulldown machine, so I'll be using this on off days for some extra lat work.

13 July 2013

Bench press: warmup, then
300 lbs. x 3
315 lbs. x 2s x 3
295 x 3, 275 x 3 - back-off sets.

No SlingShot sets today, I need some time to work back into heavy weights. The sets with 315 flew up.

Overhead press 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3

BTN standing press 115 x 5

Pullups 3s x 5

Tricep extensions to nose - 95 x 8, 105 x 8, 115 x 8

DB hammer curls 3s x 10-12

Rope extensions 2s x 10

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8

Seated DB curls 2s x 8

Rear delt raises 2s x 15-20

Ab rollouts from knees 3s x 10

Friday, July 12, 2013

Mediocre Pulls

11 July 2013


Still crippled by soreness from Monday, lower back and legs were fried, so I just did some moderately heavy pulls and assistance work. Tried out snatch-grip DLs for the first time, they felt pretty good. I might start to cycle them with speed and heavy deads, like:

Heavy lower body Week 1 - squat, speed DL
Heavy LB W2 - DL, speed squat
Heavy LB W3 - squat, speed DL
Heavy LB W4 - snatch-grip DL, speed squat, etc.

Deadlift - 135 x a bunch, 225x6, 315x4, 365x3, 405x3, 415x1

Gym was so humid that the bar slipped out of my hands on the second 365 rep.

Snatch-grip DL, straps and from small elevation (barbell on plates) - 315 x 3, 335 x 3 - maybe these should be done for higer reps, less weight?

Bent-over row 135 x 10, 155 x 10, 175 x 10 - kept it super strict, felt good

Speed squat 225 lbs. x 5 sets x 2 - no speed at all, so I stopped

Glute-ham raise 2 x 6

Weighted back extension 2 x 10

Standing band crunch 3 x 20

Leg curls 2 x 10 plus burn-out reps at end of each set

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Upper Body Volume Day

9 July 2013


Did a ton of volume today, was extremely sore from the squats yesterday (even my upper back was sore) so  the weights were sort of low. I have gone back to doing the 3x5 on the bench press for volume days, used a light weight and it went well.

Bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 5

Seated chest-supported row 3s x 12

Standing military press 3s x 5

Lat pulldown 3s x 10

Hammer curl 3s x 10-12

Cable pushdown 2s x 10

EZ bar curl against wall 3s x 6-8

Tricep extension 2s x 10

Seated DB curl 2s x 8

Rear delt fly on bench 2s x AMAP

Back to the Gym

8 July 2013


First workout back didn't feel that bad, I haven't lost any strength in 2 weeks (nobody loses strength in 2 weeks) but the soreness today is rather exquisite.

Paused squat 315 lbs. x 3s x 5 - decided to go for the 3 wheels and it felt pretty good.

Regular squat 365x5, 415x3

Romanian DL 225 lbs. x 3s x 5 - did these with a snatch grip

Pullups 3s x 5 (for the hell of it)

Hack squats 3s x 10 - super light weight, these destroyed my quads

Standing band crunch 3s x 20

Leg extensions 3s x 10 with burn-out partial reps at the end of every set

Friday, June 28, 2013

Pre-Vacation Workout

25 June 2013


Paused squat 310 x 3s x 5

Regular squat 365 x 5, 415 x 5

Strength complex:

1 rep deadlift + 1 rep power clean from hang + 1 rep push press ++ 2 reps bent-over row, all done without letting go of the barbell. Did this with 135, 155, 175 and 185 pounds. A killer even at these low weights.

Caught a mid-afternoon flight after this and will be on vacation over the next 2 weeks. Lots of bodyweight and cable pulling exercises during that time.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Press - Heavy

22 June 2013

2 mile run.

23 June 2013

Bench press warmup, then 310x2, 330x2, 355x2 - ugly double, but a double

Bench press w. SlingShot 335 lbs. x 4

Chest-supported row 3s x 5, 1s x 8

Press (without push) 185x2, 205x2, 215x1

Neutral-grip pullups 2s x 5

Curl against wall 1s x 8, 2s x 5, 1s x 3

Skullcrushers 3s x 8

Seated DB curl x10, x8, x6

Tricep pushdown 2s x 15

Pec deck / rear delt machine 2s x 15 each

Lower Body - Intensity Day

20 June 2013


Paused squat 275x3, 315x3, 335x3, 355x3

Regular squat 405x3, 485x3 - belt and knee wraps

Speed deadlift 295 lbs. x 10s x 1 on the minute

Glute-ham raise x8, x7, x6

Standing band crunches 5s x 20

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Pulldowns 4s x 5, 1s x 3 - progressively heavier

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Press - Volume

18 June 2013


Back and hips and legs hurt from the squatting yesterday, just standing under the bar for overhead presses was painful.

Close-grip bench press 265 lbs. x 9 - a pleasant surprise after last week's 255x10

Chest-supported row 5s x 6-8 reps

Standing overhead military press 185 lbs. x 2s x 5, 1s x 4 - last set was a fail

EZ bar curls w. back against wall 4s x 5

Barbell skullcrushers 2s x 8

Seated two-DB curls 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

17 June 2013


Paused squat 305 lbs. x 3s x 5 - very solid and easy

Regular squat 365x5, 415x5 - these felt nice and light as well

Romanian DL 225 lbs. x 3s x 5 - dropped the weight and did stricter reps. Very easy to cheat on these.

Standing band crunch 4s x 20

Leg extension 3s x 15

Abductor/adductor machine 1s x 20 each

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Pressing - Heavy

15 June 2013

Bench press warmup, then 305x2, 325x2, 350x2

305 felt like empty bar, 325 like 305 and 350 was a grinder, but made it anyway. Might be a PR double.

Bench press with SlingShot 335x5

Didn't have anything left for the OH press, so I did a few doubles in the standing BTN press

Neutral-grip pullups 4s x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 4s x 5

Barbell skullcrushers 3s x 5

Pec deck / reverse fly machine 2s x 15 each

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Pull - Heavy

12 June 2013

2-mile run.

13 June 2013

Deadlift 135x10 - 225x5 - 315x3 - 385x2 - 405x1 - 430x1

Managed a 385x1 sumo pull, failed miserably at 430x3. Didn't think I would get all 3, but hoped for at least 2. Pulls felt hard today, my posterior chain (mostly lower back and hams) did not feel up to the task.

Speed squat 6s x 2 on the minute w. 235 lbs.

Glute-ham raise 1s x 8, 2s x 6

Weighted back raises 3s x 10

Deadlift holds w. 275 lbs., did a few sets for time mixed and double overhand grip

Standing band crunches 4s x 20

Calf raise stack x 2s x 20

Pulldowns 4s x 5, 1s x 5, progressively heavier

Face pulls 2s x 30

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Volume Press

11 June 2013


Close-grip BP 255 lbs. x 10.

This felt OK. My best 10-rep weight is 275 for the regular BP, so 255x10 close-grip is more or less in the same range of effort.

Seated pulley row 3s x 8

Standing military press 185 lbs. x 3s x 5 - last set was very tough

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5

Dips 2s x 12, 1s x 10 - I think these might be the cause of my right pec pain (which is really serratus pain). Didn't do them for a week and the pain pretty much went away 100%, did them yesterday and felt some discomfort = not good.

Standing band crunches 3s x 20

EZ bar curls 3s x 5

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10

Seated DB curls 2s x 10

One combined set of front raise + lat raise + bent-over lat raise - total 15 reps

Pec deck x 15, x 10

Reverse seated fly (for upper back) 1s x 15

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Lower Body Volume Day

10 June 2013


Warmup - leg extension 2s x 10, standing band crunches 3s x 20, adductor machine 1s x 20

Paused squat 305 lbs. x 3s x 5 - a bit tough, but not too bad overall. Will stay at this weight for some weeks.

Regular squat 365x5, 410x5 - went no belt on these

Romanian DL 235 lbs. x 2s x 5, 1s x 4 - felt something weird in my lat so cut this set short.

Leg extension 4s x 10, heavy-ish

Standing band crunches 3s x 20 again, a nice change of pace

Adductor machine 1s x 20, heavy

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

8 June 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2, then 305x2, 320x2, 345x2 - 320 flew up, 345 was a grinder, but also a possible two-rep PR

Bench press w. SlingShot 345x4, 335x4

Seated pulley rows 3s x 8, 1s x 6

Push press - total suck, worked up to 215x2 and gave up, hit 135x5 strict press to finish off

Lat pulldowns 3s x 8

EZ bar curls against wall 4s x 5

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

5 June 2013


Paused squat 315x3, 345x3

Regular squat 405x3, 475x3 with belt and wraps - this was fine, felt a lot more solid

Bottom-up half-squats with 5-second hold at top 485x2, 525x2, 545x2 - after failing 505 last time this felt better, I'd like to hit a 525 lb. actual squat by the end of the year

Speed deadlifts 295 lbs. x 6 singles on the minute - not too explosive, should've kept the weight down

Glute-ham raises 3s x 6

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Shrug machine 3s x 20, good form

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Light Pressing

3 June 2013


Third day in a row of training, I have to condense this week's lifting into Monday, Wednesday and Saturday due to time constraints. So volume squats were done on Sunday, volume press on Monday. I'm also experiencing some pain in my right shoulder... upper body is a mess. At least I can squat and pull.

Close-grip BP 245 lbs. x 12 reps

Standing military press 185 lbs. x 5, x 5, x 4

Standing BTN military press (light) 95 lbs. x 2 sets x 10

Seated pulley rows 4s x 6

Neutral-grip pullups 2s x 5

EZ bar curls 2s x 5

DB skullcrushers 2s x 10 - not too much volume for the arms, still sore from Saturday.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Volume Squat Day

2 June 2013


Paused squat 300 lbs. x 4s x 5

Regular squat 365x5, 410x5 - both sets done without belt, second set done with pauses in the standing position to work on torso stability

Bottoms-up squat x a few light sets

Romanian DLs 225 x 3s x 5

Leg extension 3s x 10

Ab wheel 2s x 10, hanging leg raise 1s x 8

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Heavy Pressing

1 June 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2, then 305x2, 320x2, 340x2

Bench press w. SlingShot 340x4, then 340+heavy chains x 1

Not sure how heavy the chains are, maybe 20 lbs. apiece? The gym has 3 sets and these are the heaviest ones. What I do know is that when I unracked the bar my head felt like it was going to explode, so they were probably heavy-ish.

Push press 135x5, 185x2, 205x2, 215x2, 225x2, 225x1 - totally destroyed by the bench press today

Neutral-grip pullups 3 sets x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 4 sets x 5, 1 set x 2

Tricep pushdowns 3 sets x 12

Supersetted machine pec flys + rear delt flys 15 reps each, 2 sets

Seated DB curls 2 sets x 8-10

Seated DB Zottman curls 2 sets x 8

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

29 May 2013


Deadlift:

135x10 - most reps were done sumo
225x5 - all sumo
315x2 - one sumo, one conventional
375x2 - same here
395x2 - both conventional
425x3

Speed squat 235 lbs. 6s x 2 on the minute

T-bar row x 15, x 12, x 10, x 10

Machine shrug x 20, x 15, x 10

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Date Announced For World Powerlifting Championships of Powerlifting

Lately I have been toying with the idea of doing a mock-meet toward the end of the year. Run a peaking cycle for 2-3 months, weigh myself, then hit the gym and test my maxes in the three powerlifts, all on the same day. There are meets in my area once in a blue moon, but they generally involve a couple hours of driving, each way, and fees to enter and lift against one or two competitors, depending on the weight class. Essentially one could be outlifted by 400 pounds, finish last and still snag second place - much more rewarding to lift alone, dominate the competition and win gold :) So today I was trolling the interwebz as usual and came up with the following idea:

Date: Will coincide with the IPF World Championships, 9 November 2013 (Saturday)
Weigh-in: Saturday morning to be extra fair - there is only one weight category (Fat), so no 24-hour weigh-in nonsense
Sequence of lifts: squat - bench press - deadlift (- maybe overhead strict press)
Gear: belt will be allowed, and knee wraps (because I have some), perhaps the SlingShot for a fourth attempt at the bench press
All attempts will be filmed and televised via YouTube and HaaRHT Prime

Should be an interesting little test. I will run the modified Texas Method for a few more months and switch to something more volume-based closer to November. I'm thinking Korte 3x3 or a "light" version of Sheiko. If this turns out to be fun, I'll make it an annual event, or do a bench-only "competition" next year.

BRB acting like Cartman in Eric's Tea Party.

Upper Body Light

28 May 2013


Close-grip BP 235 lbs. x 12 just for the hell of it, still taking it light and easy on BP volume

Standing military press 180 lbs. x 3s x 5

Seated pulley row 4s x 6

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5

Dips 3s x 12

EZ bar curl against wall 4s x 5

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Seated two-DB Zottmann curls 3s x 6-8 - need to go lighter on these

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Some Squatting

26 May 2013


I decided to do the volume paused squats today and leave the leg presses and Romanian deadlifts for another session. Also worked a bit on bottoms-up squats and partial squats with top hold. I feel like the absence of heavy squatting lately has deconditioned my back to heavy weights and now I feel wobbly even when unracking mediocre weights which I used to squat with ease. So some midsection strengthening is in order.

Warmup leg ext. 1 x 10, abductor/adductor machine 1 x 20 each

Paused back squat 300 lbs. x 3s x 5

Bottom position squat 225x3, 245x3, 275x1

Bottom position half-squat with 10-second hold at top (no belt) - worked up to 475x1, then missed 505 twice. Need to work on these more - 505 isn't even 100% of my 1RM.

Ab wheel rollouts 3 sets x 10

Leg extensions 2s x 10

Upper Body - Heavy Day

25 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 long pause, then 305x2, 315x2, 335x2

Bench press with SlingShot 335x4

Seated low pulley row 6 sets x 6

Push press 225 lbs x 2, x2, x1 - suck at push pressing, on the third set I totally missed the dip and ended up pressing the weight up without the "push". No wonder my best strict press and my best push press are about the same.

Chinups 3s x 5

EZ bar curls x10, x8, x5, x5

DB skullcrushers 3 x 10

Seated DB curls 3s x 10

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10

Friday, May 24, 2013

Legs - Heavy

22 May 2013

Did about 45 minutes of combined running and cycling. Cardio FTW (not).

23 May 2013

Paused squat up to 335 x 3 - decent pauses

Regular squat 405x3, 435x3, unracked 470 but it felt strangely heavy, so I didn't try squatting it.

In retrospect, I should have cut out either the set with 405 or 435. Paused squats are still really light, but they take a lot out of me and I feel strangely wobbly on the regular squats afterwards.

Speed deadlifts on the minute, 285 lbs. x 10 x single, eight of these done sumo-style

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6-8

HammerStrength shrugs 2s x 20, then three progressively heavier sets for 15, 12, 10 reps

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Light leg extensions 2s x 15

Ab wheel rollout from knees 3s x 10

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Volume Day Pressing

21 May 2013


So I went to see the doc last week, I might have tendinitis in my right pec (where it attaches to the sternum). Much better than the tear I was dreading, but I will have to back off the bench press for a while. Bench pressing twice a week gives me great results in terms of weight lifted, but also seems to bring on nagging little injuries like this one. So for the time being I'll just do the low volume heavy sets on intensity day and ditch the BP on volume days.

That said, I did sneak in a set of close-grips today :)

Close-grip BP 225 lbs. x 10

Standing military press 175 x 5, 180 x 2 sets x 5 - usually I do these after benching, today they felt super easy

Pullups 1s x 5, neutral-grip 3s x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 1s x 8, 2s x 5

DB skullcrushers 3 x 10

Seated DB curl x 10, x 10, x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Legs - Volume

20 May 2013


Paused squat 300 lbs. x 3s x 5

Regular squat 350x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 225 lbs x 3s x 5

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10

Weighted situps 2s x 8, hanging leg raises 1s x 8

Leg extension 2s x 10

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Pressing - Heavy

18 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 (long pause), then 305x2, 315x2, 325x2

Bench press with SlingShot 325x5, 345x4

Chest-supported row 5s x 8

Push press - went with ascending doubles: 185x2, 205x2, 215x2, 230x1 - failed a second

Neutral grip pullups 3s x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8-10

Barbell skullcrushers 3s x 8

Seated DB curls 1s x 11, upped weight, 2s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Friday, May 17, 2013

Intensity Day - Lower Body

16 May 2013


Deadlift 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 380x2, 420x3

Mixed sumo and regular reps until the last two sets. 420 was a major grinder, I might be able to do one more jump to 425 but that might be it for triples.

Speed squat sets of 2 on the minute, 225x3, 235x7

Weighted back raises 3 x 10

Glute-ham raises 3 x 6-8

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 8

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Upper Body - Volume

14 May 2013


Paused bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 5 - this felt less hard than last time

Standing military press 175 lbs. x 5, x 4, x 5 - belted up on last set, presses are starting to get hard

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5, chinups 2s x 5

Dips x 12, x 15, x 12

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8-10

Barbell skullcrushers 3s x 8

Seated DB curls x12, x 10, x 8

Monday, May 13, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

13 May 2013


Paused squat 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - as with the bench press, I'll keep the weight fixed for a while and focus on getting better and pausing and more explosive out of the 'hole'

Regular squat 350x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 225 lbs. x 3 x 5 - this was sort of heavy

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10, 7p x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 8

Leg extension 3 x 10

Abductor machine 1 x 20

Felt nice and crisp today, reducing the volume from 5x5 to 3x5 seems to be the way to go.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Upper Body - Heavy

11 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 paused, then 305x2, 310x2, 320x2 - felt easy, will be doing doubles for the next few weeks

Bench press with SlingShot 325x5, 330x3

Push press 225 lbs. x 3s x 2

Neutral-grip pullups 4s x 5

Tate press 3 sets x 10, light weight, first time trying these and didn't feel much in the triceps

EZ bar curl 3 x 8

Friday, May 10, 2013

Leg Training - Heavy

9 March 2013


Paused squat 275x3, 315x3, 335x3 - good pauses this time

Regular squat 370x3, 410x3, 465x3

Speed deadlifts w. 285 lbs. 10 x singles on the minute

Glute-ham raise 3 x 8

Chest-supported row 3 x 10

That was it, ran out of time.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Upper Body Volume With A Twist

8 May 2013


Instead of my regular moderate sets of 5 I lowered the weight and did paused sets of five instead. The weight was quite light, but did not feel that way at all. Managed quality one-second pauses on all 15 reps, two on a few of them. I will keep the weight the same for the next few weeks and focus on pausing longer and pressing up more explosively.

Paused bench press 275 lbs. x 3 sets x 5

Seated low pulley row, extended-ROM bar 5 x 6

Standing military press 170 lbs. x 3 x 5 - these are easy again, no belt

Neutral-grip pullup 5 x 5

Dips 3 x 12

Barbell skullcrushers 3 x 8

Hammer curls 3 x 10

Seated curls x 12, x 10, x 8

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

6 May 2013


Warmup/pre-exhaust leg extensions 2 x 10, abductor/adductor 20 reps each

Paused squat 295 lbs. 5x5

Regular squat 345x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 215 lbs. 3 x 5

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 10

Leg extensions 2 x 10

Finished with a bunch of cable crossovers (2 sets x 20) - got some pain in the right pec again :(

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

4 May 2013


Weak day today, I can't seem to get three good sessions in a row for some reason.

Bench press warmup to 275x3 (LP), then 305x2, 315x2, 335x2 - not bad, but not as fast as I'd like it to be

Bench press, SlingShot 355x2, 365x2, 375x1

I'll try lowering the volume day bench press weight to something light, like 275, and doing more triples on intensity day, see how that goes.

Push press 185x2, 205x2, 225x2, 235x1 - awful

Pullups 1x5 regular, 3x5 neutral grip

EZ bar skullcrushers 3 x 8

Hammer curls 3 x 8-10

Seated DB curls 3 x 10

Flyes 2 x 15

Friday, May 3, 2013

Lower Body - Heavy Day

2 May 2013


Speed squats 10 x 2 reps on the minute, 225 lbs. Pretty fast this time round, will bump weight up to 230.

Deadlift 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 415x3, back-off 325x3 sumo

Threw in some sumo reps on the first three sets, still not comfortable with my sumo pulling technique. 415x3 was probably a PR triple, I suck at doing more than 1 rep of deadlifts.

Glute-ham raise 3 x 6

Weighted situps on incline board 3 x 10

Back raises 1 x 10 unweighted, 2 x 10 weighted

Shrug machine 3 sets x 20

Reverse hypers 3 x 6

Chest-supported row 3 x 10

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Volume Day - Upper

30 April 2013


Bench press warmup to 280x3 (3-second pause each), 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - very easy

Bench press with SlingShot 315x8

Seated long pulley row with extra-ROM bar 4 sets x 6

Standing military press 165 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 (later realized I was supposed to do 170, oh well)

Neutral-grip pullups 5 x 5

Dips 3 x 12

Skullcrushers 3 x 6-8

EZ bar curls, 'heavy' 3 x 6

After foam rolling my IT band the horrible hip pain is gone, did some BW squats today and didn't feel a thing. Bodyweight as of today - 210 lbs., pretty much even.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Volume Day - Legs

29 April 2013


Total 50% session today, stabbing pain in left hip has returned and I was barely able to squat to parallel. Several of the reps were a good two inches above parallel. My hip hurt even with 135 pounds on my back and I ended up doing "squatmornings" to avoid the pain.

Warmup leg extensions 2 x 10, adductors and abductors 1 x 20 each

Paused squat 295 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat 345 x 5 reps, decided not to try 405x5 today

Romanian deadlifts 205x5, 215 x 2 sets x 5

Leg extensions, heavy 3 sets x 10

Weighted situps on incline board 3 x 10

No leg presses, didn't want to risk hurting the hip even more.

Did some foam rolling after lifting and I think I have isolated the source of pain - it's in the left IT band, not the hip. Which I guess is better than a messed up hip, but hurts like a hot knife in the muscle. Will be rolling IT bands and quads (both hurt like hell when rolled) every day for a week, see what happens.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Upper Body ID - Weak

27 April 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 (long pause), 305x3, 345x1 (failed a second)

This was disappointing, especially since the weight felt light off the chest. My triceps gave out on the second rep. Weirdly enough, the extra work I have been doing with the SlingShot has somehow made me stronger at the bottom of the movement, but done little to improve the lockout part (where I expected the opposite to be the case). When pressing the bar from the bottom position, I felt like I could do at least 3 reps, but the arms were not on board.

More repetitions are necessary, so I'll start adding some high-rep work with the SS on volume days too, a couple of close-grip sets with 315 striving to hit 2 x 10 (after my regular volume sets). I'll also dial the weight for the triples back to 325 lbs. and work up from there. I think I can have 380-385 (un-supported) by the end of the year, I have never felt this strong and explosive off the chest, it's just a question of bringing the triceps up to speed.

Bench press with SlingShot 365x2, 375x1 (375 is 5 lbs. over my all-time 'raw' best)

Seated long pulley row 5 sets x 6 - found a pair of U-shaped handles, they give me 3-4 inches of extra ROM on the pull, so I used lower weight and pauses and really burned the hell out of the upper back

Standing push press 220 lbs. x 4 sets x 2 - this time easy, move up to 225 next week

Neutral-grip pullups 5x5

Seated DB curls 5 sets x 10, 1 set x 8

Barbell skullcrushers 3 x 8

EZ-bar curls 2 x 10, light

Pushdowns 3 x 12, light

Friday, April 26, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

25 April 2013


Paused squat 135x5 - 185x3 - 225x3 - 275x3 - 295x3 - 325x3

Regular squat 365x3, 445x3

Speed deadlift 285 lbs. for 10 singles on the minute - first five were done sumo-style

Glute-ham raise 3 sets x 6

Back extension, weighted, 3 x 10

Incline ab board situps, weighted, 3 x 10-12

Machine shrugs 3 x 15

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Upper Body Volume Day

23 April 2013


Legs and lower back were completely fried today, extreme DOMS the likes of which I haven't experienced in years. Just standing with the bar over my head during military presses felt like I was getting crushed. I had to belt up on the last set, as my lower back started to cramp up.

Bench press warmup to 285x2 (long pause at chest), 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - moderately easy, much better than last week, especially considering zero leg drive today

Bench press with SlingShot 315 lbs. x 8

Standing military press 165 lbs. x 3 x 5 - had to use belt on the last set, legs and back hurt like hell

Neutral-grip pullups 6 sets x 5

Dips 2 sets x 10, 1 x 12

Seated DB curls 4 sets x 8

DB skullcrushers 3 x 8-12

EZ bar curls 2 x 10

Leg Day - Volume

22 April 2013


Warmup / pre-exhaust leg extension 2 x 10, abductor / adductor machine 1 x 20 each

Paused squat 285 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat 335x5, 405x5 - last set was a gasser

Romanian DL 205 lbs. x 3 sets x 5

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10 - too wrecked at this point to pause at the bottom

Seated pulley row 3 x 6

Leg extension 2 x 10, heavy

Monday, April 22, 2013

Cable Training Sunday

21 April 2013


Did some cable work this Sunday (and last Sunday, but forgot to log it). Focused on high reps with medium tension - the burn was exquisite.

Overhead downward pull 2 sets x 15

Front chest pull 2 x 10

Front press 2 x 10

Curl 3 x 10

Back press 2 x 10

Reverse curl 3 x 10

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

20 April 2013


Was short on time, so had to nix a lot of the assistance work.

Bench press warmup to 275x3 (long pause), then 305x3, 340x2

Double went up nicely, but the third rep was a no-go. Will switch to doubles for the next few weeks and see how that goes.

Bench press with SlingShot 360x2, 315x9 (crazy pump here)

Seated rows 2 sets x 8

Push press 220 lbs. x 2, x 1, x 2, x 2 - missed first rep of second set, otherwise OK

Pullups 2 x 5, neutral-grip 2 x 5

Friday, April 19, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

19 April 2013


Felt a stabbing pain in the left hip while warming up, still went ahead and deadlifted but it didn't feel right.

Deadlift 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 410x3

Speed squat 225 lbs. x 10 sets x 2 - first 4 sets were slow and shitty, then got some real speed in

Weighted back raises 3 sets x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 sets x 12

Hammer curls and reverse curls - 5 sets x 8-10

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Upper Body Volume Day

16 April 2013


Bench press - warmup to 275x2 (long pause), then 300 lbs. x 2 sets x 5, 1 set x 4

Gym was hot and humid as hell, my hands slipped wide on the last set despite heavy use of chalk. Not too bothered since I got 3x5 last week and it felt relatively easy, but it would have been nice to hit all reps this week too. First two sets were nice and explosive.

Overall the session was on the weaksauce side, but not devastatingly so.

Seated pulley rows 4 sets x 6-10

Standing military press 160 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - still super easy

Parallel grip pullups 4 sets x 5, chinups 1 x 5

Dips bodyweight 3 sets x 12

Seated DB curls 4 sets x 8

Pushdowns 3 sets x 12

Bodyweight today - an even 210 lbs.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Lower Body Volume Day

15 April 2013


Paused squat 275 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat 335x5, 385x5 - these came up very fast and explosive

I think the volume work done with paused squats is starting to add up, even though the weight is still below 55% of my 1RM. The heavier 'regular' squats feel more explosive than ever, and I don't 'good morning' the weight up as badly as I used to.

Romanian deadlifts 195 lbs. x 5, 205 lbs. x 2 sets x 5

Chest-supported rows 3 sets x 5

Paused leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, x 12

Weighted situps on inclined ab board 3 sets x 8

Leg extensions 2 sets x 10

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

13 April 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 (long pause), 300x3, 335 lbs. x 3 - this is an all-time PR triple, I think

Bench press with SlingShot 355x3, 360x2

Seated pulley row 2 sets x 8 moderate, 3 x 6-8 heavy

Chest-supported row 1 set x 8

Push press 215 lbs. x 4 sets x 2 - easy

Parallel grip pullups 5x5

DB curls 4 sets x 8-10

Barbell skullcrushers 3 sets x 8 with 95 lbs.

Concentration curls - 2 or 3 more sets

Friday, April 12, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

11 April 2013


Paused squat 275x3, 295x3, 305x3, 320x3 - cheated on the pause on the third rep of last set

Regular squat 335x3, 395x3, 445x3

Glute-ham raise 3 sets x 6

Speed deadlift 285 lbs. x 10 sets x 1 - speed wasn't great from rep 7 on

Weighted back raise 3 sets x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 sets x 10

HammerStrength shrug 3 sets x 12

Reverse curl 2 sets x 8, "heavy"

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Training - Upper Body Volume Day

9 April 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x3 with 3-second pause, then 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 5

This is getting easier, I don't think I'll be upping the volume day weight much past 300. Maybe start doing paused reps, etc.

Seated pulley row 2 sets x 8-10, then heavy 3 x 6-8

Standing military press 155 lbs. 3 sets x 5 - still very easy

Neutral-grip pullups 5x5 - finally got a decent neutral-grip bar at the gym

Dips 2 sets x 12, 1 x 10

Seated DB curls 3 sets x 10-12

DB skullcrushers 3 x 8-10

Monday, April 8, 2013

Training - Lower Body Volume Day

8 April 2013


Paused squat 265 lbs. x 5 x 5 - actually felt easier than 255 last week

Regular squat 335x5, 375x5

Romanian deadlift + shrug 185 x 2 sets x 5, 195 x 5

Leg press w. pause at bottom 4p x 10, 5p x 2 sets x 10

Incline ab board situps, weighted 3 sets x 8-10

Leg extension 2 sets x 10

Chest-supported rows 3 x 5 - went kinda heavy on these

Abductor machine 1 x 20

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Training - Upper Body ID

6 April 2012


Bench press warmup to 275x3 paused, then 300x3, 330x3 - last set felt easier than 325x3 last week, but still a grinder

SlingShot bench press 350x3, 355x3

Seated pulley row 1x10 light, then 3x6 heavy

Push press 210 lbs. x 1, 3 sets x 2 - missed the second rep of the first set for some reason

Pullups 4 sets x 5

Seated DB curls 4 x 8-10

DB skullcrushers 4 x 10-12

Concentration curl 3 x as many as possible - not many, arms were pretty pumped at this point

Reverse curl 3 x 12

Friday, April 5, 2013

Lower Body Intensity (Without Much Intensity)

4 April 2013


Deadlift 135x10, 225x5, 315x2, 365x3, 405x3 - I hate rep work on the DL. The set with 365 felt heavier than the 405.

Speed squat 225 lbs. x 8 sets x 2 - increasing the weight from 135-155 has helped me move the bar much faster

One-arm DB rows, 100 lbs. x 5 sets x 6

Glute-ham raises 3 x 6-8

Weighted back raises 3 sets x 10

Weighted incline board situps 3 x 10-12

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Training - Upper Body Volume Day

2 April 2013


Bench press - warmup to 275x3 paused, then 300 lbs. x 5, x 4, x 5 - gassed out really early on this. 295 is a joke, but the 300 felt like a bear.

Seated pulley row 1 x 10 light, then 3 x 6-8 heavy

Standing military press 150 lbs. x 3 x 5 reps (felt very light)

Pullups 2 x 5 - had to stop there, felt really weak and my lats were cramping up for some reason

Dips 3 x 10

EZ bar curl 4 sets x 10-12

Overall a weak session, but still got almost all the prescribed work in.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Training - Lower Body Volume Day

1 April 2013


Paused squat 255 lbs. x 5 x 5

Regular squat (high bar, close stance) 275x8, 315x5, 335x5

Romanian deadlift 175 lbs. x 7, x 7, x 6

Paused leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 2 x 10

Leg extensions 2 x 10, heavy

Incline ab board situps 3 x 20

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

30 March 2013


Doing the two intensity days in a row is a bad idea. I felt slow and tired this morning, despite getting some 9 hours of sleep as opposed to the 6-7 I normally get.

Bench press 275x3 (2-sec pause), 295x3, 325x3 - the weight went up, but it wasn't easy. Definitely too heavy for a triple with 325.

For the bench press (both days), my warmup generally goes:

bar x a bunch - 135x8 - 185x5 - 225x3 - 275x3 (all paused for 2-3 seconds except the bar-only reps)

Seated low cable row 2 sets x 8 (moderate weight), 1 set x 8, 2 sets x 6 (heavy)

Push press 205 lbs. x 4 sets x 2 (also very easy)

Pullups / chinups 5x5

Light DB flyes x 1 set x as many as possible

Seated DB curls supersetted with DB skullcrushers 3 sets x 8 / 12 on the skullcrushers

Reverse curl 3 x 10

EZ bar curls, right 3 x 10-12

Friday, March 29, 2013

Lower Body Intensity

29 March 2013


Paused squat 135x8 - 185x5 - 225x3 - 265x3 - 285x3 - 305x3x2 sets - 315x3

Regular squat 365x3, 435x3

Speed deadlifts - 10 singles on the minute w. 275 lbs., very fast

Back raises, weighted 3 sets x 10

Incline ab board situps, weighted 3 sets x 12

Glute-ham raise, 2 x 8

Back hypers, 2 x 6

KB swing, 2 x 10

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Upper Body Volume

26 March 2013


Bench press 295 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - didn't exactly fly up but they were comfortable sets. Will move to 300 for my volume days starting next week.

Seated cable row 5 x 8-10 reps

Standing military press 145 lbs. x 3 x 5 - this was extremely easy, felt like 95 on the bar

Pullups/chinups 5x5

Dips, BW x 3 x 10-12

EZ bar curl 5 x 8

DB skullcrushers, very light 3 x 10-12

Seated DB curl 3 x 8

Weighed myself yesterday - BW 211 lbs. This is where I want to be (210-215), so OK with that.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Training - Lower Body Volume

25 March 2013


Paused squat 245 lbs. x 5 x 5 - this thrashed my lower back for some reason, like I had 100lbs. more on the bar.

Romanian deadlift 175 lbs. x 3 sets x 6 - I still can't get over how tough this exercise is.

Paused leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 2 sets x 10

Incline ab board situps 3 x 20

Abductor/adductor machine 1 x 20 each

Leg extension 2 x 10, heavy

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Training - Upper Body Intensity

23 March 2013


Bench press - warmup, then 275 x 3, 295 x 3, 320 x 3 - still feels solid, even on the heavy set I feel like I have one rep in the tank

Bench press with SlingShot 340 x 3, 350 x 3 - got some surprising soreness in the biceps from this

Seated pulley rows 4 sets x 6-8

Chest-supported row 1 x 8 (did this while waiting for the seated row machine to clear)

Push press 200 lbs. 4 sets x 2 - felt light and explosive

Thick-bar pullups 5x5

EZ bar curls 5 sets x 8

DB skullcrushers, light 3 x 8-12

Friday, March 22, 2013

Training - Lower Body Intensity Day

21 March 2013


Speed squat - doubles on the minute, 8 sets total with 155 lbs. I found out I don't have speed out of the bottom of the squat, even with an empty bar. Lots to improve on here.

Deadlift: 315x3, 365x3, 385x3, 395x3

Felt like I could go for 405x3, but didn't want to push it. When it comes to deadlifts, anything over 1 rep is a struggle once I get over 225 lbs.

Back raises 3 x 10, weighted

Back hypers 2 x 5

Incline ab board situps 1 x 20 unweighted, 3 x 8 weighted

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Training - Upper Body Volume

19 March 2013


Bench press 295 lbs. x 3 sets x 5

Seated chest-supported rows 4 sets x 8

Standing OH military press 140 lbs. x 3 x 5

Pullups x 3 x 5

Dips (bodyweight) x 3 x 10

Seated DB curls x 4 x 8

Monday, March 18, 2013

Training - Lower Body Volume

18 March 2013


Warmup leg extensions 2 x 10 reps, adductor machine 1 x 20

Paused squat 235 lbs. x 5 x 5

Romanian DL 155 lbs. x 3 x 8 reps

Ab board situps 3 x 20 reps

Leg press with pause 4p x 10, 5p x 2 x 10 reps

Leg extension, heavy 2 x 10 reps

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

16 March 2013


Bench press - warmup, 275x3 - 295x3 - 315x3

Bench press with SlingShot - 335x3, 340x3

Seated pulley row 4 sets x 6-8

Push press - warmup, then 195 lbs. x 4 sets x 2

Pullups 2 x 5

Tricep pushdowns 2 x 12

Seated bicep DB curl 3 x 8

Seated barbell half-curl 3 x 8

Reverse curl 3 x 6

Friday, March 15, 2013

Training - Intensity Lower

14 March 2013


Paused back squat: bar - 135x8 - 185x5 - 225x3 - 255x3 - 275x3 - 295x3

Regular squat 315x3 - 335x3 - 365x3 - 425x3 - felt OK, but I should have skipped the reg squats

Ab board situps 3 sets unweighted, 2 sets weighted

Speed deadlifts (singles on the minute) - 10

Back raises 3 x 10 (last 2 sets had some reps w. light weight)

Hypers 2 x 5

Leg extensions 3 x 10

Training - Volume Upper

12 March 2013


Bench press 290 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - felt fine

Seated pulley row 4 sets x 6-8

DB flyes - as many as possible with a light weight

Standing OH press 135 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - third set was actually sort of hard

Pullups 3 x 5

Dips 3 x 10 (BW only)

Chinups 2 x 5

Barbell curls 4 sets x 8

DB skullcrushers (light) 2 x 12

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Trying Out a New Training Template, Texas Method Split

After some reading on Texas Method training, I think I'll give it a shot. I have made some progress on the bench press using the Doug Young bench press template and very good progress on the back squat using a simple 5x5/3x5 progression, working up to 485x5 for a few sets and hitting a 515 lbs. single. My stalled and pathetic deadlift went from 455x1 to 495x1 using the Brad Gillingham DL program.

The Texas Method 4-day split seems like a natural extension of these training programs: it alternates volume days (reps) and intensity days (heavy, but still reps), allows me to squat twice a week while not neglecting the deadlift and to (seriously) incorporate the standing overhead press, which I have neglected over the past year. The original version of TM called for squatting 3 days per week and had a "light day", which seems unnecessary to me.

I generally don't see the need to squat more than once per week. However, I have recently scaled my squat weights down significantly in an effort to address some mobility and discomfort issues I'm experiencing and 95% of my training now consists of light paused squats. So two days will be fine, since the weights are light (e.g. paused squats for 275 lbs. x 5, or around 55% of 1RM). Sometimes I'll add a few heavier sets of regular squats, but the bread and butter of my leg training will be paused stuff.

A recent article by 800-lb. squatter Sam Byrd has also got me rethinking my approach to the back squat. This top-level powerlifter spends 10-18 weeks doing preparatory training ("base-building")  during which he never goes over 500 for sets and does most of his work with 420 lbs. Reading this made me wonder about the purpose of my death-sets in the 400-480 range, seeing how I squat about 60% of what he does :) So I'll be pushing the paused squats as the main squat variety for multiple sets of 5 and try to get as strong as possible at them; right now 280-300 feels like too much, and I'd like to hit a 405-lb. paused squat this year.

Overall the template should look something like this:

Week 1

Day 1 - upper body volume day
Bench press 3 sets x 5 - use a close-ish grip and try to up the weight 5 lbs. each week
Standing OH press 3 sets x 5 - strict, try to up by 5 each week
Row - cable low pulley row, 3 sets x 6-8 (alternate with BP)
Weighted dips - 3 sets x 10, add weight once this feels easy but don't push it
Pullups - unweighted to avoid tendinitis (alternate with OHP)
Arm work - BB curls and skullcrushers

Day 2 - lower body volume day
Start with light extensions and abductor/adductor machines
Paused squat 5x5, progress to 3x5 as weight gets heavier - try to up weight 5 lbs. per week
Romanian DL - 3 sets x 5-8 - up weight when possible, but focus on strictness of movement
Leg press with pause at bottom, 3-4 sets of 10
Leg extensions 2-3 sets x 10, heavy
Situps on ab board

Day 3 - upper body intensity day
Bench press - work up to a heavy (not top) triple, try to increase 5 lbs. per week
Bench press w. SlingShot - add 5-10 lbs. and do triple, repeat for 2-3 sets
Push press 4 sets x 2 - suck at these, I've never push pressed more than I could strict press :(
Barbell rows 3 x 5, try to keep strict and don't overdo the weight
Arm work - DB curls and pushdowns

Day 4 - lower body intensity day
Squat heavy - work up to a top triple, no more than 10 reps at 80% or more of max
Deadlift speed - 10 singles on the minute with a light weight, focus on fast pull with good form
Back raises 3 x 10
Hypers or glute-ham raises to finish
Situps on ab board

Week 2

All same except for:

Day 4 - lower body intensity day
Deadlift heavy - to a top double, then 2 sets x 5 light back-off
Squat speed - 6-8 doubles with light weight, focus on bouncing out of the hole, progress to 10x2

Back raises 3 x 10
Hypers or glute-ham raises to finish
Situps on ab board


Speed lifts are progressed only when every rep in the 10 sets moves with maximum explosion.

On volume days, the weight is kept the same across the sets of 5.

I will start out light and try to gain momentum for a steady increase. The above split will increase my squatting volume and reduce my bench pressing volume (presently 4 sets of 6, twice per week).

Training - Legs

11 March 2013


Pre-exhaust leg ext 2 x 12, abductor/adductor 1 x 20 each, light

Pause squats 135x5 - 185x5 - 225x5 x 4 sets - 235x5

Regular squats 315x5

Heels-elevated squats AMAP with 135 lbs.

Romanian DL 2 x 8 w. 135 lbs., 1 x 8 w. 155

Leg press with pause at bottom 4 p x 10, 5 p x 10, x 8

Leg extension, heavy 2 x 10

Incline board situps 1 x 20 unweighted, 2 x 10 weighted

Adductor/abductor machine 1 x 20 each, heavy

Friday, March 8, 2013

Training - Bench Press

7 March 2013


Did bench presses and SlingShot bench presses.

Bench press, regular: 290 lbs. x 3 sets x 6, 1 set x 4

Bench press with SS: 315x5 335x3

One-arm DB rows 4 sets x 6

DB curls, seated on bench, 4 sets x 8

DB skullcrushers 2 x 10, rope pushdowns 1 set x 12

Reverse curls 2 x 8

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Training - Pull

6 March 2013


Deadlifting went OK today considering I did squats yesterday.

Stiff-leg DL: 115x10 - 225x5 - 275x3 - 315x3 - 365x5

Romanian DL 3 sets x 8

Incline ab board situps, 1 x 20 BW, 3 x 10 weighted

Back hyperextensions 3 x 10

Leg press w. pause at bottom: 4 plates x 10, 5p x 2 x 10

Abductor/adductor machines 1 set x 20 each

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Training - Legs

5 March 2013


Still doing rehab squats. Focused on quads today, as I'll be deadlifting tomorrow and wanted to spare the posterior chain somewhat.

Pause squats 135x5 - 185x3 - 225x3 - 245x3 - 275x3 - 295x3 (added belt on last set)

The first three sets were done with small plates under my heels, keeping the upper body completely vertical. Something like the incline squat mentioned here. Definitely something to keep doing, but I won't be going over 135 lbs. on this exercise in the future, as it does strain the knees quite a bit.

Leg extension 3 x 12, heavy

Hack squat (1 plate each side) 3 sets. I don't get how some people can use significant weight on this exercise, one plate per side kicks my ass worse than 400-lb. close-stance squats. Whatever.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Training - Bench Press

5 March 2013


Bench press: 290 lbs. x 3 sets x 6, 1 set x 5

Seated pulley row 3 sets x 6

DB flyes 1 set x AMAP (somewhere around 20)

Standing military press 185x4, 155x6, 135x8

Pullups 3 x 5

Seated two-DB curls 3 x 10

Rope pushdowns 3 x 10-12