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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