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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Last Workout of 2014

30 December 2014


Volume squat 325 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

Tried to do these with a closer stance, and the quads definitely felt it.

Front squat 5s x 3 - I feel like these work better than 3 sets of 5.

Leg curl 3s x 8

Ab crunch machine 3s x 8-10

3,500m row.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Inclines

26 December 2014


Straight-arm pulldown 3s x 8-10

BTB row + shrug combo 3s x 10-12

Incline bench press 135x5, 185x6, 205x5, 215x5, 225x5, 235 x 2s x 5

Wasn't supposed to go this heavy today, but the reps felt nice and fast.

Close-grip bench press 185x5, 205x5, 225 x 2s x 5 - triceps were a bit fried after the inclines.

Pulldowns 12-10-6-6

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Cable pec machine 3s x 10

Cable curls 4s x 10-12

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Minor Deadlift PR and Some Squatting

26 December 2014

Did some presses and rows on the Smith machine at work, along with a few arm exercises. Better than missing a workout, I guess.


27 December 2014

Squat 135x6, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3 (belt+wraps), 455x3 (B+W)

I kept the squats pretty light in order to have some energy for the deadlift.

Deadlift 295x1, 365x1, 435x1, 485x1, 525 x fail x 2, 515x1 (PR)

I was supposed to hit 525 and attempted it twice. First time wasn't even close, second time the bar stalled out around mid-shin. By this time I was pretty tired, but I wanted to set at least a symbolic PR for the year, so I tried 515 and it went up. My deadlift training has been spotty this year, so any increase is good, I guess.

Hip thrust 2s x 5 warmup, then three work sets of 5 - still trying to figure out the right weight and form here.

Chest-supported DB row 3s x 8

Ab machine 3s x 8

EZ bar reverse curls with Fat Gripz 3s x 8 - wanted to try out my new toy, it's pretty great.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Volume Squat

22 December 2014


Instead of cardio and arms, did the volume squat workout today.

Squat 315 lbs. x 5 paused, 390 lbs. 2s x 5

Front squat to 1x5

Leg curl 3s x 8

Ab crunch machine 4s x 8-10

30 minutes cycling.

Monday, December 22, 2014

More Light Pressing

21 December 2014


Straight-arm front pulldowns 3s x 8

Superset BTB rows + paused shrugs 3s x 10-12

Incline bench press 205 lbs. 5x5

Pulldowns 12-10-8-6

Close-grip bench press 185x5, 205x5, 225x3sx5

Cable bicep curl 4s x 8-10

Mini-workout tomorrow - cardio and arms.

Squats and Deadlifts

20 December 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455x1 (belt and wraps), 495x3 (B+W)

Deadlift singles up to 450 x 1, 475 x 1, 450 x 1

Squats felt strong, so I went ahead with the planned progression on the last set. But then my back was tired for deadlifts and the three heavy-ish singles felt really hard. Next week I'll probably only do 455x3 on the last squat set because the deadlift schedule calls for a modest max-out (planning to do 525).

Hip thrust 5x5, 2 warmup sets and 3 working sets. These feel good after the squatting and pulling.

Chest-supported DB row 4s x 8-10

Bodyweight today (and last week) was around 215, which is the lowest it's been in a while.

Friday, December 19, 2014

More Inclines

18 December 2014


Straight-arm pulldowns 3s x 8

Upper back superset (behind-the-back row + paused high pull) 3 sets

Incline bench up to 225x5

Push press up to 225x1

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Close-grip bench press 185x5, 205 x 3s x 5 - I might start doing these with at least medium-heavy weights. But I'm a bit reluctant because even the light stuff is a bit hard on my wrists.

Forearm superset (hammer curl + reverse EZ bar curl) 3 sets

15 minutes cycling.

Will probably do a short workout tomorrow, rowing + BTN presses + something for triceps.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Squat Volume

16 December 2014


Upping the weights and dropping the sets a bit for my light squat day. Also not trying to focus on speed so much anymore, just lifting the weight as explosively as possible.

Squat 315 lbs. x 5 paused, 390 lbs. 2s x 5 unpaused

Front squat to 1s x 5

Leg curl 3s x 8

Ab machine 3s x 8-10

30 minutes cycling

Monday, December 15, 2014

Volume Training

15 December 2014

Straight-arm pulldown 3s x 10

Upper body superset (behind-the-back row + paused shrug) 3s x 10-12

Incline bench press 200 lbs. 5x5

Pulldowns 12-10-8-6 (top set at 180)

Close-grip bench press 185 lbs. 4s x 5

DB flyes 3s x 12

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Bicep tri-set 3 sets

12 minutes rowing.

Hip Trouble

14 December 2014


Left hip feels jacked up again. I tried foam rolling and it helped a bit, but I no longer believe it's just the IT band.  Plague is in mild remission. Still, squatting went okay and there was no pain during the deadlifts.

Squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x4, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455x1 (belt + wraps), 485x3 (B+W), 405x4

Felt pretty good, even did a back-off set of squats, which I never do. Not a good idea before deadlifting though, the first and last reps of deadlifts were super tough.

Deadlift 4 singles @ 465 lbs.

Upper back superset (behind-the-back rows + paused shrugs) 3 sets

Now that the bench press cycle is over, time to get back to training upper back 2-3 times per week.

Chest-supported DB rows on incline bench 3s x 8

Some arm work

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Bench Press PR Day and the Plague

12 December 2014


I've come down with what feels like the plague. Was still able to lift, but energy levels were down and people at the gym were giving me the evil eye when I would sneeze or blow my nose. I made sure I wiped everything down after I was done using it, so maybe that helped.

Bench press 135x8, 185x4, 225x3, 275x2, 315x2, 335x1, 355x1, 375x1, 395x1

Lifted butt off bench a bit on that last one, but I'll take it.

Bench press w. SlingShot 415 x fail

Spotter had to intervene. The weight crushed me like a ton of bricks coming down, but came up nicely from the bottom and only stalled about halfway up. Was super tired from the previous single too, felt like my entire upper body had cramped up.

Push press 135x5, 165x2, 185x2, 205x2 - called it a day. Zero wrist pain today, which was great.

A bunch of sets for arms on various cable machines - curls, pushdowns, neutral-grip pulldowns.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Multiple Squats

9 December 2014


Speed/volume squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

Front squat 5x5 - had to lower the weight on last two sets.

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 8-10

25 minutes cycling.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Light Press

8 December 2014


Went pretty light today and cut out the paused bench press because I'll try to max out later this week. Everything felt good, but I did notice a few niggling shoulder and elbow pains. Hopefully these will be gone by Friday.

Bench press 275 lbs. 2s x 5, 285 lbs. 1x5 - all easy and explosive.

Seated cable row 12-10-8-6

Pec deck cable machine 3s x 8-10

Dips 3s x 12

Bicep tri-set (preacher curl + EZ bar curl + spider curl) 2 sets

12 minutes on rowing machine.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Squats and Deadlifts - Crippled Edition

4 December 2014


Today my left hip started hurting for no particular reason, a sharp stabbing pain like someone knifing me way inside the hip. At some point it got so bad I had to walk funny (or funnier than usual).

I've had this kind of pain before (the first time it happened I thought I'd torn something in my hip) and I was pretty sure I knew how to get rid of it, so I foam rolled my left IT band when I got home and found incredibly tight and painful trigger points. I can't get to the gym tomorrow and will be out of town for the weekend, so I went ahead and squatted anyway.

The pain got a lot better, but didn't go away by the time I started squatting. I couldn't push my knees out far enough when squatting, because as soon as I passed a certain depth my hip would seize up. So I had to squat with my knees more forward than usual. Still decided to go through with the planned workout, depth might have been iffy on a couple of reps but the weight was relatively light so I didn't think this was a big deal.

Squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 375x3, 405x3, 435x3 (belt and wraps), 475x3 (B+W)

Deadlift 450 lbs. x 5 singles - no pain here, I was able to hit the planned weight, which is just under 90%.

Hammer curls supersetted with reverse EZ bar curls x 3 sets - didn't want to do more lower body stuff, so did this instead.

BTN press (light) and arms scheduled for tomorrow.


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Bench Press - Doubles Week

3 December 2014


Bench press 135x7, 185x4, 225x3, 275x3, 295x2, 320x3, 350x2, SlingShot 385x2

Wanted three reps on the 350 set, but even 2 felt tough. I also managed to double my SlingShot-less 1RM, which is great. Maxing out next week, trying to beat 385 "raw" and 410 with the SlingShot.

After max-out week I'll focus on incline pressing for a month, then restart the cycle with the sets of 6.

Push press 135x3, 165x2, 185x2, 205x2 - wrist pain (again), stopped there.

Bent-over row (for a change) 10-8-6-6

Will do arms in a separate session on Friday.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Hip Drive

1 December 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

Much faster than last week.

Front squat, light, x5, x5, x5, x3, x5

Hack squat 3s x 8

Leg curl 3s x 8

Monday, December 1, 2014

Drudgery

30 November 2014


Paused speed bench press 275 lbs. 4s x 3

Seated cable row 12-10-8-6

DB flyes 3s x 10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 10-12

Bicep tri-sets (preacher curl + EZ bar curl + concentration curl) x 3

Friday, November 28, 2014

Squats and Deadlifts Week 5 or Something

28 November 2014


Squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 375x3, 405x3, 425x3 (belt+wraps), 465x4

Repeated the weight from last week, felt much easier this time round.

Deadlift 445 lbs. x 6 singles

Tried a few light sets of front squats, then did squat machine for 12-10-8-8.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving Bench Press

27 November 2014


Bench press 135x7, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 345x3, SlingShot 375x3, 315x7

Did an extra SlingShot set for kicks and pumps.

Push press 135x3, 185x2, 205x2, 225x2 - not bad.

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Hammer curl + reverse curl 3 sets

Pulldowns 12-10-10-8-4

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Blah Squat

25 November 2014


Speed/volume squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

This felt awful, more like 470 than 370. I haven't had a good squat session since maxing out three weeks ago.

Hack squats 3s x 8

Good mornings, light 2s x 8

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

No (Wrist) Pain, No Gain?

24 November 2014


Paused speed bench press 275 lbs. 2s x 3, 265 lbs. 2s x 3

First two sets were not fast at all. Dropped the weight and it was slightly better.

Wrist pain is back, and shoulder is flaring up again, both on the same side. Great.

Seated cable row 3s x 8

Pec deck machine 3s x 10

DB tricep extension 3s x 12

Bicep trisets (preacher curl + EZ curl + spider curl) 3 sets

Monday, November 24, 2014

Some Squatting

22 November 2014


Back squat 135x6, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 415x2, 435x3 (belt+wraps), 465x3 (B+W)

Squats felt heavy and awkward until 435, then all was well.

Deadlift 425 lbs. x 8 singles, 90 seconds or less rest in between.

Incline board situps 3s x 8

Leg curl 3s x 8

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Heavy Bench Press Triple

21 November 2014


Bench press 135x5, 185x4, 225x3, 285x2, 315x3, 340x3, SlingShot 375x2

Will try 345x3 next week. SlingShot set was the hardest of the lot.

Push press 135x3, 165x2, 185x2, 205x2, 225x1

Chest supported DB row 3s x 8-10

Smith machine JM press 4s x 8

Hammer curl + reverse curl superset 3 sets

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Quick Squat

18 November 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5 with pause, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

These felt very slow and heavy for some reason.

Close-stance leg press x 15, x 12, x 10

Hack squat 3s x 8

Will do a mini workout of front squats and BTN presses (both light) tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Fast Press

17 November 2014


Paused speed bench press 275 lbs. 4s x 3

Seated cable row 3s x 8

Tricep pressdown 3s x 10

Cable pec fly 3s x 10

Bicep tri-sets (DB preacher curl + EZ bar curl + spider curl) 3 sets

Reduced the upper back work this week as the heavy bench press day weights are supposed to increase. I'll do a few sets of chest-supported rows once a week for the next 3 weeks as I work up to a 1RM, but that will be it.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Lighter Heavy Squats

16 November 2014


I reduced the heavy squat weight a bit and will be working with lower weights for a while as my deadlift singles weight ramps up. Should be good, and by good I mean it'll probably fail.

Squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x1, 425x3, 455x2 (belt and wraps)

Deadlift singles 415 lbs. x 8 singles, around 90 seconds rest between reps.

Freemotion squat 12-10-8-6 for the quads

Freemotion pulldown 12-10-8-6

That was it.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Heavy Bench Press Woes

13 November 2014


The pain in my right wrist seems to have migrated up my forearm and elbow and into the top of my shoulder. Pressing today didn't totally suck, but wasn't great either. Hopefully it'll clear by next week, when I'm planning to work up to a heavy triple.

Bench press 135x6, 185x4, 225x2, 275x2, 315x1, 335 lbs. x3, x2, x3, SlingShot 360 lbs. x 3

Pain is in top of right shoulder. I've been trying to find the trigger point but it doesn't seems to be where the pain's at, most likely in my right subscapular muscle and/or lower trap.

Push press up to 205x1, then it looked like a good idea to stop.

Chest-supported row 3s x 8 (incline bench)

Hammer curl + reverse EZ bar curl 3 sets

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Speed Squat and Misc

11 November 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Freemotion squat machine 12-10-8-6, increasing weight

Seated leg curl 3s x 10

Monday, November 10, 2014

Light Press

10 November 2014


Straight arm pulldown + behind-the-back row 3 sets x 8 each

Speed bench press with pause 275 lbs. 4s x 3

Used the fat squat bar (55 instead of 45 pounds), all others were taken. Did not feel good.

Incline bench chest supported row 3s x 10

Freemotion pec fly 3s x 10

DB tricep press 3s x 12

Bicep triset (preacher DB curl + EZ bar curl + spider curl) 3 sets

Squattings With a Modest PR

9 November 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 385x2, 425x2, 455x2 (belt and wraps), 500x1, 520x1, 540x1

I feel like I should have tried 545 or even 550, since it went pretty well. But whatever. I'll try to upload some footage in a few days, camera was working (I think) but the connector cable might be messed up because neither my home nor work computer read the camera when I plug it in.

Deadlift 400 lbs. 10 singles with 90 seconds or less rest in between - this got somewhat hard toward the end, but I managed to beat the clock a few times (i.e. rest less than 90 seconds between singles) so success.

My gym got a new line of "freemotion" machines, so I tried the squat simulator for some extra quad work. The exercise is something like a hack/sissy squat hybrid, I did 3 sets of 10 with light weight and quads swelled up nicely.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Pushing Yourself to Power

5 November 2014


Upper back pre-exhaust 3 sets x 8 (straight-arm front pulldown + behind-the-back row)

Bench press 135x6, 185x4, 225x3, 275x2, 295x2, 330 2s x 3, 1s x 4

With SlingShot 370 lbs. x 3

Wrists felt much better this week, and 330 a bit easier than 325 last week. One more week left of 3x3, then I drop the upper back work and start working up to a single heavy triple or double. Then max out.

Push press 135x4, 165x2, 185x2, 205x2, 225x1

Some wrist pain on the last set, decided not to risk it.

Chest-supported row machine 3s x 8-10

Will do military press and arms tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Speed Squat

4 November 2014


Didn't do too much today as I'll be maxing out later this week.

Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

Hack squat 4s x 8

Incline board situps 3s x 10-12

Calf raise 3s x 10-12

Monday, November 3, 2014

Light Press

2 November 2014


Straight-arm pulldowns 3s x 8

Behind-the-back upright rows 3s x 8

Speed bench press w. pause 265 lbs. 4s x 3

DB chest-supported row on flat bench 4s x 8-10

DB flyes 3s x 10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8

Bicep tri-sets (hammer curl + EZ bar curl + seated DB curl) 3 sets

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Sqwatz and Deadlifts, Week 3

1 November 2014


Squat 135x8, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 375x3, 415x3, 445x1 (belt and wraps), 485x2, 520x2

Maxing out next week, aiming for 540. Last set went well, but I definitely felt my blood pressure surge and wasn't too stable walking the weight out.

Deadlift 375 lbs. 10 singles, 60 seconds rest between. - not bad.

Back raises 1sx12 unweighted, 3s x 6 weighted

Leg extensions 2s x 8-10

Seated leg curl 2s x 8-10

Friday, October 31, 2014

Wrist Pain

30 October 2014


Bench press 325 lbs. 2sx3, 1sx4, w/ SlingShot 365x3

The wrist pain from last week was suddenly back, and with a vengeance. I struggled with the first triple and almost failed the last rep. Second set was a bit better, and by the third one I figured how to position my wrists so they didn't hurt at the bottom of the press. But it's pretty intense, I can't even get into pushup position and put all my weight on my hands without pain radiating up my forearms. Wrist pain is usually due to tight muscles / trigger points in the forearms, so I've been doing some stretching and massaging, will see if it works.

BTN standing press 135x8, 155x2sx6 - did these instead of push presses due to wrist pain.

Chest-supported row machine 4s x 8 - did these instead of DBs for a change.

Lateral raise pyramid sets x 1.5

One pyramid set is as follows:

10 lbs. x 10
15 lbs. x 6
20 lbs. x 6
25 lbs. x 6
30 lbs. x 3
25 lbs. x 5
20 lbs. x 5
15 lbs. x 5
10 lbs. x 5

And on the second go I did 30x3, then 25x3 and quit, so only half set done.

Smith machine incline bench tricep press 3s x 8

Bicep tri-sets (reverse curl + preacher curl + DB curl) 3 sets

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Light Squat

28 October 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

I didn't feel 100% today, but the squats were reasonably fast.

Hack squat 4s x 8

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Incline board situps 3s x 10-12

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Light Bench Press and Other Stuff

27 October 2014


Speed bench press 265 lbs. 4s x 3 - paused above chest.

Straight-arm pulldowns 3s x 8

Smith machine upright row 3s x 8

Chest-supported DB row on incline bench 3s x 8

DB flyes 3s x 8-10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 10

Bicep tri-sets (hammer curl + EZ bar curl + seated DB curl) 3 sets

Friday, October 24, 2014

Skwatz and Deadlift Singles Routine Week 2

23 October 2014


Squat 135x6, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 375x3, 415x3, 445x1 (belt and wraps), 465x3, 515x2

Belt and wraps on both last sets. Almost didn't go to the gym because of acid reflux (which I've had like once before), the first few sets of squats were pretty tough but by the time I hit 445 it magically went away. So squats = cure for acid reflux.

I'll bump the weight up to 520 next week and try a double, then maybe go for a conservative max at 540-545 the week after that (if 520 goes well). Then drop the weight down as the deadlift weights go up.

Deadlift 350 lbs. x 15 singles, 60 seconds rest

Significantly easier than last week's 325x15@30s.

Close-stance leg press 4s x 10

Incline board situps 3s x 8-12

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Bench Pressing and Back

22 October 2014


Upper back pre-exhaust: straight arm pulldowns + behind-the-back rows, 4s x 8 each

Bench press 320 lbs. 2s x 5, 1s x 6, with SlingShot 355 lbs. x 5

Push press 2x2 - wrists started hurting on the second set, so I bailed.

Smith machine upright row 3s x 8

Smith machine JM press 4s x 6-8 - tried these last week for the first time, 10/10.

Bicep tri-set x 3 (hammer curl + EZ bar curl + seated DB curl, 4-6 reps each)

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Legs

21 October 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5 - pretty fast.

Hack squat 4s x 8 - didn't wrap knees this time, but they felt fine.

Bike sprint intervals 10 minutes - absolute torture for the quads. I should do these more often.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Speed Paused Bench Press

19 October 2014


Speed bench press paused above chest 265 lbs. 2s x 3, 245 lbs. 2s x 3

Reduced weight on last couple of sets to keep the speed.

Chest-supported DB row on flat bench, 4s x 6-7 reps

DB flyes 4s x 8-10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8-10

Squats and Deadlifts

18 October 2014


Squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 370x3, 410x3, 440x1 (belt+wraps), 475x3 (B+W), 510x3 (B+W)

Felt more solid than last week.

Deadlift 325 lbs. x 15 singles, 30 seconds or less between reps

I've decided to try one of those singles-only deadlift routines and pull every week for a cycle (11-12 weeks). Even tho the weight is very light at first, the short breaks between reps quickly catch up with you.

Front squat 2s x 5, 1s x 3 - was just destroyed at this point.

Later I moved some furniture around the house and my back wasn't too happy.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Presses

15 October 2014


Bench press 315 lbs. 2s x 5, 1s x 7, w. SlingShot 350 lbs. x 5

Weight felt pretty light today, 315x7 might be some sort of meaningless PR. I feel like I could've also gotten 7 on the SlingShot set.

Incline bench chest-supported row 5 or 6 sets of 5

Push press 135x3, 155x2, 175x2, 195x2, 215x2, 225x2

I used to military press 225 for 2. Now I can barely push press it for the same reps. It's fine.

Will train upper back and arms tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Lysenkoism

14 October 2014


Speed squat 300 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5

Hack squat 4s x 8

Romanian deadlift 265 lbs. 3x3

Incline board situps 3s x 8-10

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Blastoff

12 October 2014


Did a bunch of foam rolling for the first time in forever. Lots of painful areas, I really need to roll more often.

Speed bench press 245 lbs. 5s x 3 - bumping up to 70% next week.

Pulldowns x12, x10, x8, x6, x4

DB flyes 3s x 10

DB tricep extensions 3s x 10

Hammer DB curl 3s x 8

Preacher machine curl 2s x 6-8

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Pulling - Slightly Better

11 October 2014


Deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 385x1, 415x1, 435x1, 455x1, 475x1

This still felt heavy, but much better than last week. I didn't feel a significant difference between 385, 415 and 435, then 455 felt like 500. The extra upper back work is definitely affecting pulls, but it should be worth it.

Also I think I started the cycle too heavy, I'm only on week 2 (of 12) and my heaviest single is already only 35 lbs. under my max.

Rack pull below knee 365x3, 385x3, 405x3

Neutral-grip wide pulldowns 3s x 8

Incline bench DB rows 5x5

Glute-ham raises 3s x 5

Good mornings x5, 2s x 8

Incline board situps 3s x 8-10

Friday, October 10, 2014

Bench Pressing

9 October 2014


Did an upper back complex at the gym at work, biceps curls, some light presses and lateral raises to failure. Normally I wouldn't log this workout, but I was definitely feeling the mid-back exhaustion bench pressing the next day.


10 October 2014


Upper back pre-exhaust - straight arm pulldowns + upright cable rows, 3s x 8

Bench press 310 lbs. 3s x 5, SlingShot 345 x 5

The first two sets of bench press felt so light I was planning to rep out on the third, see if I can get 6 or 7 reps. But then on Rep 4 I slammed the bar into the hooks like a moron and ended up doing an isometric. I managed to finish the set, but a sixth rep would've been impossible.

I might go for a rep-out set with 315 next week. However, upper back is now constantly sore and I feel less stable and strong out of the bottom even with moderate weights. The plan is to gradually cut out the upper back work as the weights get heavier, rest and recover and use my new upper back strength to hit a new bench press PR. I'm sure it'll go well.

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155x5, 165x3, 175x3

BTN pressing with a sore upper back = not win. Weights felt much heavier than they actually were.

Reverse curl 3s x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Seated DB curls 2s x 6-8

Monday, October 6, 2014

Speed Squat - First Week of 70%

6 October 2014


Speed squat 305 lbs. 2s x 5, 370 lbs. 2s x 5, high bar 315 lbs. x 5

Didn't feel at all sore all day until I started squatting, and then I definitely remembered the heavy squats from Saturday. But 370 went up super fast, so no complaints.

Hack squats 4s x 5 - again with wrapped knees.

Leg extensions 3s x 10

That was it for today.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

No Title

5 October 2014


Pre-exhaust upper back routine, straight-arm pulldowns + cable upright rows 3s x 8

Speed bench press with pause above chest 245 lbs. 5s x 3

Chest-supported DB row, flat bench, 5x5

DB flyes 3s x 10

DB extensions x10, x9, x8 - tried to get 3x10

Lateral raise pyramid:

10 lbs. x 20 - 15 x 10 - 20 x 8 - 25 x 5 - 30 x 3 - 25 x 5 - 20 x 8 - 15 x 8 - didn't quite make it all the way back down, the burn was insane.

DB hammer curl 3s x 8

Machine preacher curl 3s x 8

Extended-negative EZ bar curl 3s x AMAP

Seated press, light, 3s x 6-8

Weighted situps 3 sets

Rod On Spin, Again

4 October 2014


Back squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 435x1 (belt+wraps), 475x3 (B+W), 510x3 (B+W)

Did a single with 435 because 405-475 seemed like too much of a jump. The set with 510 felt easier than last week's 505x2. Not sure if 510x3 is some kind of meaningless, i.e. "rep" PR, will check.

Front squat 2s x 5, 2s x 3 - went over bodyweight on last two sets, awesome and pathetic at the same time.

Speed deadlift 305 lbs. 6 singles on the minute - will reintroduce these on heavy squat days.

Leg extension 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 8-10

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Bench Press and Upper Back Extravaganza

2 October 2014


Warmed up by supersetting two upper back exercises:

Straight-arm pulldown 3s x 8

Cable upright row 3s x 8

Then on to bench presses, 305 lbs. 3s x 6, SlingShot 340 x 6

All good, on to sets of five next three weeks.

Wide-grip paused bench press 3x3

Behind-the back barbell row 4s x 8 - like a shrug but not quite. Hold bar behind back and raise above ass level by raising your shoulders vertically and bending your elbows, keeping it close to the body. A wicked burner of an exercise.

Chest supported DB row on incline bench 3s x 5, heavy

Short range rear delt laterals on incline bench, 1 set x 30

Seated front military press 3 sets x random reps, light weights

Short range heavy side laterals, 1 x 20

DB hammer curl 3s x 8

Tricep pushdown 3s x 10-12

Machine preacher curl 3s x 8

Tricep machine press 3s x 8

EZ bar curl with extended negative 3s x AMAP

Will probably start doing an extra light training day where I just do shoulder presses and the upper back exercises as a giant complex. Good times.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Speed Squat - Last Week of 60%

30 September 2014


Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5, 325 lbs. 2s x 5

Nice and fast. Bumping up to 70% next week - 300 for the bottom-paused squat and 370 for the regular.

Hack squats 4s x 8 - wrapped knees on these

Leg extension 3s x 10

Weighted situps 3 sets

Romanian deadlift, light, 5s x 3

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Moar Benching

29 September 2014


Weighted situps 3 sets - done while waiting for bench.

Speed bench press paused at bottom 245 lbs. 5s x 3

That long pause right above the chest is still kicking my ass. Will do these for a couple weeks more, then up to 70%. Probably will only pause those on the chest.

Pulldowns 2s x 15, 1s x 10

Incline bench chest supported rows 3s x 10

DB flyes 3s x 8-10

DB extensions 3s x 8-10

EZ bar curl supersetted with DB curl 3 sets

Friday, September 26, 2014

Heavy Pulls - Suckage

26 September 2014


Deadlift 135x4, 225x3, 315x2, 365x1, 415x1, 455x1, 465xfail

Highly embarrassing. Even the 455 felt neither here nor there. The speed squats kicked my ass this week (still sore from Tuesday), but there's no excuse for the above. 465 is barely above 90%, I was doing triples with this weight a few months ago, or pretty close.

Below-knee pulls 315x3, 365x3, 415x3

Heavy abs 4 sets

Seated hamstring curls 3s x 10

Heavy Bench Press - Second Week of Sixes

25 September 2014


Bench press 300 lbs. 3s x 6, SlingShot 335x7

Sets of six felt super light and explosive. Total contrast to last week's torture with 295.

Chest-supported flat bench rows 5s x 5-6

Getting addicted to these.

Pulldowns 3s x 10, light-medium

DB flyes 3s x 8

DB extensions 3s x 8-10

Preacher curl machine 4s x 8

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Speed Squats

23 September 2014


Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5 paused, 325 lbs. 2s x 5 regular

Very good speed. I'll stay at 60% one more week, then (if it feels this fast again next week) bump it up to 70%.

Hack squats 5s x 8-10

My knees were bothering me a bit today, and hack squats make me feel like my knees are about to pop out anyway, so I used knee wraps on these. Not very tight, just to sort of keep the knees warm. Much better hack squatting experience: more weight used, better quad pump, zero knee discomfort. Will definitely be using wraps for hack squats in the future.

Leg extensions 2s x 10 - quads were fried at this point.

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 sets

Monday, September 22, 2014

Pressing Matters

22 September 2014


Speed bench press 245 lbs. 5s x 3

Did these with a 2-second pause right above the chest, hence the reduced reps. Gotta say these are pretty tough. I've pressed 355 with a decent pause on the chest, but one inch higher and even 245 feels heavy.

Chest-supported rows 5x5 - was able to rig these up on a flat bench (as opposed to incline). Did them two days in a row, and upper back is feeling it. Great exercise.

DB flyes 3s x 8

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8

Bicep superset EZ bar curl + DB hammer curl 3.5 sets (could barely move the weights on the last set)

Lateral raises 3s x 8

Saturday's Workout Continued

21 September 2014


Stiff-leg deadlift 375 lbs. x 5 - this would be some sort of meaningless PR.

Front squat 5x5

Chest supported DB row 4s x 8

Heavy abs 3 sets

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Squat... And That's It

20 September 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 465x3 (belt+wraps), 505x2 (B+W)

Felt a bit dizzy after the second rep, so didn't try for a third. But the double felt pretty comfortable.

That was it for today, not a lot of time to train plus I had to lift less than an hour after getting out of bed. So pretty pleased with what I did. Stiff-legged deadlifts and front squats tomorrow, maybe throw in some light bench pressing.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Heavy Bench Press

17 September 2014


Bench press 295 lbs. 3s x 6, SlingShot 325 lbs. x 6

Felt awful heavy today. 295 felt like 315. 325 (almost) felt like no SlingShot.

Seated cable row 3s x 8

Chest-supported DB row 4s x 6-10 - tried out a new exercise

Incline bench press 185 x 3, 205 x 2s x 3, 215 x 3

Incline bench tricep press 135 3s x 6-8

Machine preacher curl 4s x 8

Rope pushdown 3s x 12

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Speed Squats - Still At 60%

15 September 2014


Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5, 325 lbs. 2s x 5

Hack squat 4s x 8

Leg curl 3s x 8

Seated paused DB shrug 3s x 20

Calf raise, standing 3s x AMAP

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Back Again

14 September 2014


Speed bench press 245 lbs. 5x5 - decent speed

Smith machine bent over row 3 sets warmup, then 4s x 5

Cable rear delt laterals 4s x 15 - like these better than face pulls

Standing BTN press 135x8, 155x5, 175x5

DB flyes 3s x 8

DB tricep extensions 3s x 10

EZ bar curls supersetted with seated DB curls 3 sets

Lateral raises 3s x 8

Friday, September 5, 2014

Combo Session

5 September 2014


Going on vacation tomorrow, so combined two sessions into one.

Bench press 315x2, 335x1, 355x1, 380x1, SlingShot 410x1

That's a SlingShot PR. Hit 380 lbs. without it, wasn't planning to max out but it felt explosive enough for me to regret not trying 390 for a SlingShot-less PR. Oh well.

Deficit deadlift - worked up to a tough 420x1.

Snatch-grip DL 275 lbs. 3s x 5

Incline bench press 205x3, 225x3, 245x3

Arm mega sets (inspired by the T-Nation 1000 rep arm challenge):

EZ bar curls supersetted with rope pushdowns 3s x 20 each
Cable curls supersetted with overhead extensions 3s x 20 each
Seated barbell curl supersetted with tricep dip machine 3s x 20 each

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Speed Squat - Back to 60%

2 September 2014


Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5 paused, 325 lbs. 2s x 5 regular

Hack squat 4s x 8

Seated cable row 3s x 8

Leg extension 3s x 10

Bike sprints 10 minutes

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Speed Bench Press - 60%

31 August 2014


Bit the bullet and reduced my speed bench press weight to 60% of my 1RM. Actually I dropped it to 245 which is more like 64%, but whatever. I'll do 60% for 5x5 for 5 weeks, then move up to 70% for 4 sets x 5 for 5 weeks and finally 80%, 3 sets of 5 for 5 weeks. Something like what I do for the squat.

Speed bench press 245 lbs. 5x5 - these moved very fast.

High row machine 4s x 8

Pulldowns 3s x 8

DB flyes 3s x 8

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8

Cheat lat raises 3s x 8

Rear delt machine 3s x 8

Bicep superset: EZ curl + seated DB curl 3 sets

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Squatting

30 August 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455x3 (belt + wraps), 505x3 (B+W)

Stiff-leg deadlift up to 365 lbs. x 5

Front squat 5x5

Bench Press - Heavy

29 August 2014


Bench press:

315x3/320x2/330x1
320x3/325x2/335x1
345x3/355x2/375x1

375 for a very fatigued single is not bad. But I don't think I like this ladder program very much, it takes way too long and my joints kinda hurt from the constant heavy singles. Will do it one more week, then take a week off (vacation), then restart the 6/5/3/2/1 heavy bench press program.

Push press 135x3, 185x3, 205x3 - this didn't feel good. Instead of push presses which I've always sucked at, I'll just do incline presses on a 3x3 scheme.

Partial close-grip presses 295x3, 300x2sx3 - these felt pretty good

Preacher curl machine 3 sets

Face pulls 4-5 sets of 20, didn't really count

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Fast Squat

27 August 2014


Speed squat 320 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

Tried to do these without much forward lean. It was tougher on the quads, but still pretty fast. Next week I'll recalculate my percentages and start from 60% again. So 260 lbs. for paused speed squats (3 sets) and 315 for regular speed squats (2 sets).

Hack squat 3s x 8 - knees felt weird on this one.

Seated DB shrugs with pause 3s x 20

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Fast Benching

26 August 2014


Speed bench 275 lbs. 3s x 5 - first set wasn't fast, second and third were pretty fast.

DB flyes 5s x 8

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8, heavy

DB lateral raises 3s x 8, heavy

EZ bar curl + seated DB curl superset 3 sets

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Below-Knee Pulls

23 August 2014


Below-knee pulls 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 385x1, 425x1, 455x1, 495x1, 545x1

Not really sure what happened here. I did the pulls in a different rack, so maybe the pin position was half an inch higher than normal and this whole workout was worthless. But 545 pounds from my weakest pull position is pretty sweet.

Snatch-grip deadlift 275x5, 295 x 4sx5

Seated cable rows 2s x 8, 2s x 6

Weighted incline bench situps 3s x 5

Good mornings 4s x 8, light

Leg curl 3s x 8

Side bend 2s x 8

Bench Press Waves

22 August 2014


I went a little lighter today in order to get all 3 waves and some SlingShot singles.

Bench press:

305x3/315x2/325x1
315x3/320x2/330x1
320x3/325x2/335x1

SlingShot 365x1, 375x1

High row machine 3s x 8

Incline bench press 185 x 5, 190 x 4s x 5 - felt easier than usual, so I added weight

Machine preacher curls 4s x 8

Cheat side lateral raise 1s x 10, 3s x 8

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Speed Squat

19 August 2014


Speed squat 320 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

Still fast, but not as fast as I'd like them to be.

Hack squats 4s x 8

Weighted incline ab board situps 3s x 5, heavy

Side bends 3s x 8

Monday, August 18, 2014

Speed Press

18 August 2014


Speed bench press 275 lbs. 3s x 5

These were fast, but could have been faster. 275 is light for repping out, but feels a bit heavy for speed work. I'm thinking about doing something similar to my squat speed sets for the bench press, i.e. where I start at 60% for 5x5, then 70% 4x5 and 80% 3x5. That seems to have made my squats more explosive, maybe it'd work for pressing too.

Seated cable rows 3s x 8

DB tricep extensions 1s x 10, 2s x 8

Incline chest machine 2sx8, 1sx7

Bicep superset EZ bar curls + seated DB curls 4 sets

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Squatz

15 August 2014


Shoulders-and-arms workout at the gym at work. Just to get some extra volume in.

Shoulder superset: standing BTN press + combo raises (10 reps) x 5 sets

BTN press weight x reps 135x5, 155x5, 165x5, 175x5, 135x5

Biceps superset: EZ bar preacher curls + DB concentration curls x 3 sets

Tricep superset: Smith machine incline bench JM presses + pushdowns x 4 sets

Watch John Meadows demonstrate JM press exercise here.


16 August 2014

Squat:

135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 460x3 (belt and wraps), 500x3 (b+w)

Not bad.

Stiff-leg deadlifts up to 355 lbs. x 5

Front squats 5x5 - did these in the rack today, no Smith machine, might finally be getting the hang of them.

Leg curl 2s x 8


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Slam Bars, Break PRs... Or Not Really

14 August 2014


Bench press:

305x3/320x2/340x1
320x2/330x2/370x1 - messed up on first set, forgot I had to do 3

With SlingShot 345x3, 365x2, 395xfail - was debating between 390 or 395, chose wrong.

Incline bench press 185 lbs. 5x5

DB flyes x10, x8, x8

Pushdowns x10, 3s x 8

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Speed Squats

12 August 2014


Squat 320 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

These were easy, but didn't feel very fast today.

Hack squat 4s x 8

Leg extension 4s x 8

Hanging leg raise x10, x8, x8

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Speed Bench

11 August 2014


Today I tried to move my rep bench presses explosively. The first few reps of each set this actually worked, but then they would slow down to the usual grind. But maybe if I keep doing this like I did with squats I'll see decent results.

Bench press 275 lbs. 1s x 5, 285 lbs. 2s x 5

Incline chest press machine 3s x 8

Incline row machine 3s x 8

Seated paused DB shrugs 3s x 20

Pushdowns 3s x 15

Bicep superset EZ bar curls + seated DB curls 3 sets

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Below the Knee Pull and a PR

9 August 2014


Below the knee deadlift:

135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 485x1, 505x1

Not bad at all. My old PR from this height was 455 (back when my deadlift max was 495), so this is a major improvement.

Snatch-grip deadlift 275 lbs. 3s x 5 - went a bit lighter because I wanted to do 5x5, but even 3 sets were hard.

Seated cable row 3 sets x 8, working up in weight

Pulldown 1s x 10, 2s x 8

Leg raise from Roman chair 3s x 10

Side bends 3s x 8

Back raise 3s x 10

Friday, August 8, 2014

Playing Around With Assistance Exercises

6 August 2014

Quick workout in gym in office building:

Standing BTN press supersetted with combo shoulder raises 3 sets (135 x 6, 155 x 2 x 6)

EZ bar curl + seated DB curl 3 sets - this is one hell of a superset.

Chest machine + pushdowns 3s


8 August 2014


Decided to add some incline bench presses to my heavy bench press days, since I suck at this lift and am beginning to suspect it's holding my flat bench press back. Also will start rotating a second assistance exercise to work on different muscle groups each week. E.g. this week it was triceps, so heavy DB extensions. I'll still do tricep work in weeks when I'm focusing on chest and shoulders, but much lighter, and I won't track weight or reps.

Another thing I've figured out is that when I complete all three planned bench press waves I no longer have the energy to do a wave with the SlingShot. So starting next week I'll only do two waves "raw", then add one with the Slanger.

Bench press:

305x3/315x2/330x1
315x3/325x2/340x1
320x3/335x2/365x1 - pretty stoked I made this. Almost 95% territory.

Incline bench press 185 lbs. 5x5 - I thought about doing 225, but was glad I didn't.

Some kind of machine row 4 sets of 8-10, pyramiding up in weight

DB tricep extensions 50s x 10, 55s x 2s x 8

Machine preacher curls supersetted w. concentration curls - 3 sets.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Another Combo Session

4 August 2014


Speed squat 320 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5, hi-bar 335 lbs. x 5

All reps blasted out, lost a bit of speed on the set with 335 but otherwise went great.

Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

These felt terribly heavy because of heavy bench pressing on Saturday. No time to do them another day, tho.

Pullups 3s x 5

Leg curl 3s x 8

Smith machine front squats 2s x 5

Triceps superset - incline press machine plus pushdowns, 3 sets to failure

Biceps superset - machine preacher curls plus DB concentration curls, 3 sets to failure

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Bench Press Saturday

2 August 2014

Bench press:

305x3/315x2/335x1
315x2/325x2/345x1
320x3/330x2/360x1

Pretty good lifting, first time I hit multiple singles above 90% in a while. Did not have time to do a SlingShot wave.

Pulldowns 3s x 10, 1s x 5

Triceps supersets DB extensions + pushdowns 3 sets

Biceps supersets preacher curl machine + barbell drag curl 3 sets

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Heavy Squat and Yesterday's Workout

30 July 2014

Did a quick workout of standing presses and arm exercises, supersetting as follows:

BTN standing press with front/lat raises

Preacher EZ bar curls with concentration curls

Chest machine presses (triceps emphasis) with pushdowns

EZ bar curls with dumbbell kickbacks

Used light weights (BTN presses up to 165x5) and got a huge pump.


31 July 2014

Squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455x3, 495x3

Belt on 405, belt and wraps on last two sets. Felt pretty strong.

Stiff-leg deadlifts worked up to 345 lbs. x 5

Weighted back raise x8, x6

Seated paused DB shrugs 3s x 20

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Combined Squat and Press

29 July 2014


Combined two rep sessions into one, will do some shoulders and small stuff tomorrow.

Speed squat 320 lbs. x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

This was kinda hard (i.e. not fast enough) because my shoulder and wrist kept hurting and I had a hard time placing the bar properly on my traps. Tried wrapping the wrists, but it didn't help.

Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

Shoulders and elbows hurt (both this time), this didn't feel that great either.

Leg press 3s x 10+10 (10 reps feet close, 10 reps feet wide) - only used 4 plates per side.

Seated paused DB shrug 3s x 20 - this was the only exercise that felt OK.

Dips x12, x8, x7 - elbows really started acting up.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Squat and Pull

28 July 2014


Squat: 135x6, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x2, 405x2, 435x1, 460x1

Unnecessarily too heavy for what I wanted to do today. Should have gone with maybe 445 at most. Oh well. No belt or wraps on any sets.

Deficit deadlift - worked up to 415 lbs. for two singles. Used two 45s as a deficit platform, but I think this might be too much of a deficit.

Smith machine front squat 3s x 5 - medium-intensity sets

Leg curl 2s x 8

Weighted situps 3s x 8

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Heavy Push

26 July 2014


Bench press - wave loading again:

305x3 / 315x2 / 330x1
315x3 / 325x2 / 340x1
320x2

Started third wave, but couldn't quite manage all three reps so I stopped (you stop when you miss your first set). A bit heavier than last time, and more reps too.

SlingShot: 350x3/360x2/380x1 - not bad.

Pullups 4s x 5 - token back work, will do deadlifts tomorrow.

HammerStrength incline bench machine 3s x 8

Machine preacher curl 4s x 7-8

Pushdowns 3s x 10

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Speed Squats - 80%

24 July 2014


Decided to up the weights for the speed squatting day to 80%. I'll keep them the same until I hit 500 for a triple, then use 420/520 as the new projected max and work down to 60% of that for the speed day.

Speed squat 320 lbs x 5, 405 lbs. 2s x 5

The sets with 405 were easy enough, but it took me a few reps to figure out how to explode from the hole and fight the ingrained slow squatmourning movement pattern. It was kinda like being a newbie driver in a manual transmission car: I'd hit the bottom, grind for a moment in first gear, revving the engine and trying to find second, then finally shift and lurch upward unsteadily. Once I learn how to make the transition smoother, I think this will do good things for my squat.

Hack squat 4s x 8

Weighted situps on incline board 3s x 6-8

That was all for today.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Volume Monster

22 July 2014


Had to wait a while to do bench presses. I thought Monday was supposed to be International Bench Press Day. Maybe Monday now has a bad rap among the functional / starting strength crowd, so everyone benches on Tuesdays instead. The tryhard revolution eating its children, something something.

Pullups 5x5 while I waited (actually 3 sets pullups, 1 set chinups, 1 set neutral grip)

Bench press 275 lbs. 5/4/3/5/4/3 - fatigue accumulates quickly on these ladder things. That last triple felt like 325.

Seated cable row 4s x 6, increasing weight each set

Machine preacher curls 3s x AMAP - waiting for rack or stands to open up for presses.

Standing BTN press 155 lbs. 5/4/3/5/4/3 - not bad.

EZ bar curls 4s x 6-8

Machine incline presses 4s x 6-8, just as a finisher.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Heavy Bench Press - Wave Loading Experiment

20 July 2014


Tried the wave loading setup for bench presses today. It felt good, although it seems to take a lot of time.

Bench press:

300x3 / 310x2 / 325x1
305x3 / 315x2 / 330x1

SlingShot: 345x3 / 355x2 / 370x1

I'm still not feeling 100% (or even 90%), so only did two waves. The plan is to do 3, then one with the SlingShot for a total of 4.

Smith machine bent over rows 5x5

Weighted dips 5, 6, 5

EZ bar curls 3s x 8

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Squattery

19 July 2014


Sinus infection is still raging, but feeling better today. Not getting much sleep, tho.

I helped a friend move this morning / early afternoon, then decided to hit the gym for some squats:

Back squat 135x6, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 435x2, 455x3, 485x2, hi-bar 325x5

From 405 on up, wore a belt but no wraps. I realized that I don't know how to put those things on right, because today I didn't wear them and still hit 485x2 (might have done a third but felt a bit tired), which is more or less what I do with the wraps on. On the other hand, my knees are feeling a bit weird.

Leg curl 2s x 8

Weighted back raise 8, 6, 5

Weighted abs 8, 6, 6

Smith machine front squat 3s x 5

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

More Upper Body

15 July 2014

Continuing with the light workouts, did upper body stuff again today.

Bench press 275 lbs. 5/4/3/5/4/3 - this was nice and easy.

Supersetted with:

Seated cable row 8/8/6/8/6/6 - all at same weight

Combo front+lat raise 2s x 20

EZ bar curl 3s x 8

Dips 12, 10, 10 - haven't done dips in over a year, I think

Pushdown 3s x 10-12

Preacher curl machine 3s x 8

Monday, July 14, 2014

Light Squat Repeated

14 July 2014


Decided to give these another shot, and also get stiff leg deadlifts out of the way.

Speed squats 280 lbs. 2s x 5, 350 lbs. 2s x 5

Nice and explosive this time, not 100% but still good.

Stiff-leg deadlifts 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 335x5

Smith machine front squats 3s x 5

Weighted back raise 4s x 5-8

Tried doing these with a light EZ bar behind my neck, felt different from holding the weight at the chest.

Weighted incline board situp 2s x 8

Leg curl 2s x 8

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Light Push

12 July 2014


As I expected, legs are extremely sore today.

Tried to experiment with rep ladders today, didn't get very far. Probably because doing ladders requires a lot of rest between sets, and I was trying to keep rest periods to around 45 seconds (60 seconds later in the workout). Was supposed to do 7/5/3 twice, instead did the following:

Bench press 275 lbs. 5/5/3/5/3

Supersetted with:

Smith machine bent-over row 5/5/3/5/5

Then:

Standing BTN press 155 lbs. 7/5/3/7/5/3

Supersetted with:

Pulldowns 10/10/8 (so only first 3 sets of the press)

EZ bar curls 5x5

Smith machine close-grip floor press 2s x 8

I think I'll keep doing the ladders as I get back into the lifting groove. 7/5/3 done twice is double my usual light day volume of 3 sets of 5, which is pretty decent. I'll keep the weight the same and try to reduce rest periods, then up the weight slightly once I'm getting all the reps in with very short breaks.

For my second press day (heavy) I've decided to give wave loading a shot. Should be an interesting experiment.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Back Again

11 July 2014


First leg workout after traveling always sucks.

Speed squat 285 lbs. 2s x 5, 350 x 5, 330 x 5

350 moved waaaaay too slow. I took the weight down to 330. Still slow. And I know I'll be sore for days after this.

Smith machine front squat 4s x 5

Last 2 sets were the heaviest I've done since starting on the front squats, but moved really well. It seems that 2.5 weeks of not squatting have killed my back squat and made my front squat stronger.

Hack squats 3s x 8

Leg curl 3s x 8

Leg extension 3s x 10

Calf raise 2s x 12

Weighted situp 3s x 8

Monday, June 23, 2014

Pumping Around

22 June 2014


Quick workout just to get some work in.

Incline bench 135x5, 185x5, 215x5, 235x3, 185x10

Pulldowns 1s x 10, 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Close-grip bottom-up bench (from pins) 185x5, 235x5, 255x5, 275x3, x2, 255x2

Should have set the pins higher. This was meant to be a triceps exercise.

Smith machine bent-over rows 3s x 8, 1s x 6

EZ bar curls 4s x 5

Tricep press machine 3s x 8-10

Preacher curl machine 4s x AMAP

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Squatting It Up

21 June 2014


Squat 135x6, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3 (belt), 445x3 (belt+wraps), 485x3 (b+w)

Decent speed, maybe should have gone 5 plates on that last set, but chickened out because lower back felt fried from Thursday.

Smith machine front squat 4s x 5, increasing weight each set - still paltry, but getting stronger

Leg extension 3s x 10

Seated leg curl 3s x 10

Weighted ab board situps 3s x 8

Thursday, June 19, 2014

More Pulling

19 June 2014


Did rack pulls from mid-shin today, will do heavy squats on Saturday. Program is all messed up, plus I found out that I'm traveling for work for 2 weeks starting Tuesday. So I'll just bust my ass and overtrain a bit because I'll have ample time to recover.

Deadlift from mid-shin 135x6, 225x3, 315x2, 385x1, 415x1, 440x1, 465x1, 485x1, 505x1

A surprising 30-lb. PR in the mid-shin pull, which also happens to be my weakest rack pull position. Last time I did this program I maxed out at 475 and hit a 510 deadlift off the floor, so big plans here.

Smith machine bent-over row 4s x 5, increasing weight every set

Smith machine front squat 4s x 5 - still very light, trying to find the right way to do these. Good quad pump again.

Pulldowns x10, x8, x6, pyramiding up in weight

Weighted ab board situps 3s x 8

Hanging leg raise 3s x 8

Paused shrugs 2 sets

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Singles

17 June 2014


Bench press warmup, then 320x1, 335x1, 355x1, 385x1

Tied PR, but not great. This run of the usual program didn't really work that well.

Bench press with SlingShot 405x1, 315x5

Meh.

Smith machine bent-over rows 4s x 5, increasing weight each set

Tricep machine press 3s x 10

Seated DB curl 3s x 8

Monday, June 16, 2014

Legs

15 June 2014


Speed squat 280 lbs. 2s x 5, 350 lbs. 2s x 5, hi-bar 315 lbs. x 5

Not bad.

Smith machine front squat 4s x 5

Did these instead of hack squats. Quads were pleasantly pumped.

Weighted ab board situp 3s x 8

Hanging leg raise 3s x 8

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Leg curl 2s x 10

DB side bends 3s x 8

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Upper Body Pump

14 June 2014


Bench press medium grip 285 lbs. 2s x 5, normal grip 1s x 5

Smith machine bent-over row 2s x 10, 2s x 8, 1s x 6, increasing weight each time

Incline press 145x5, 195x5, 215x5, 225x5, 235x5

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 2s x 5, increasing weight each set

Smith machine seated BTN press 1s x 8, 2s x 5, 1s x 3, again pyramiding up

Tricep machine press 3s x 8-10

Seated hammer curl 3s x 8

EZ bar curl 3s x 10-12

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Squat Again

11 June 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x2, 405x2, 425x1, 445x1

Legs were completely shot, 425x1 felt heavier than 480x3 five days ago.

Stiff-legged deadlifts 325 lbs. x 5

Hanging leg raise 3s x 6-8

Hack squat 1s x 10, 1s x 8, 2s x 5-6

Barely made it through the workout.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Four Days In a Row

10 June 2014


Tired as shit today, but it went well, all things considered.

Bench press 320x1, 345x2, 360x2

Was surprised to hit this after the poor performance last week (340 for ugly 3). 360 lbs. for 2 might be a PR.

Bench press with SlingShot 385 lbs. x 2 - not bad

Smith machine bent over row 3s x 8

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8, 1s x 5

Tricep press machine 3s x 10

EZ bar curl 4s x 5

DB concentration curl 3s x 6

Monday, June 9, 2014

Quick Leg Workout

9 June 2014


Not a lot of time to train this week, as I'll be out of town Friday to Sunday. So I'll have to do heavy press tomorrow and heavy squat/pull on Thursday. So I didn't do much today, just hit the speed squats and some heavy ab work.

Speed squat 285 lbs. 2s x 5, 350 lbs. 2s x 5, hi-bar 325 lbs. x 3

Definitely felt the lack of rest from the heavy squats on Saturday. My quads were especially tired. The 350 moved quickly, but not as quickly as I'd like it to. The high-bar squats were a no-go.

Weighted incline board situps 2s x 8, 1s x 8

Hanging leg raises 3s x 8

DB side bends 3s x 8

Leg extensions 2s x 10

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Bench Lite

8 June 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

Smith machine bent-over rows 2s x 10, 3s x 8

Incline press 185x5, 225x2sx5

Smith machine paused shrugs 3s x 8-10

Seated hammer curls 3s x 8

Tricep press machine 3s x 10-12

EZ bar curls 3s x 10

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Saturday, June 7, 2014

First Week of Combined Squat/Pull Program

7 June 2014


Back squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405 (belt) x3, 435 (belt+wraps) x3, 480 (b+w) x3, 405 (b) x4

Below-knee rack pull up to 465 lbs. x 1. This isn't far from my best effort on this exercise.

Haven't done these in ages. Found some surprising weak spots that I'll need to address going forward.

Some shruggery in between sets. Didn't have time for more, planned to also do heavy abs and back raises.

This will pretty much be the template for the first 12 weeks of bastardized Gillingham:

Week 1 - squat heavy triple, below the knee pull to max
Week 2 - squat to medium single, stiff-legged DLs for 5
Week 3 - squat heavy triple, mid-shin pull to max
Week 4 - squat to medium single, stiff-legged DLs for 5
Week 5 - squat heavy triple, deficit deadlift to max
Week 6 - squat to medium single, stiff-legged DLs for 5

Then repeat the above for 6 more weeks, trying to beat the previous weight. Then 24 weeks of alternating heavy squats and heavy pulls from floor. Goal is a 525-550 deadlift at the end of week 36.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Switchup

5 June 2014


I decided to alter my training template so I can squat/pull heavy on Saturdays, as that's usually my best training day. Also doing heavy squats two days before heavy bench presses sometimes messes with the pressing, while the opposite is not the case. So in order to effect this switch I pressed two times in a row, Tuesday and Thursday (today). Needless to say, it sucked.

Bench press 340 lbs. x fail, x 3

The fail took me by surprise. I'd already pushed the bar through the sticking point and literally could not lift it the last few inches. The guy who was spotting me helped me rack it and walked away in disgust. Dumb meathead, check your ego at the door and use a weight you can actually lift. Or something along those lines.

I took a 5-minute break, tried again. Blasted the first rep, almost completely lost the second, nailed the third. Looked around triumphantly for the first spotter guy. He was already gone.

Bench press with SlingShot 365 lbs. x 3

This felt terrible. First one was paused, other two touch'n'go.

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8, 1s x 5, 1s x 4

Triceps press machine 4s x 10, 1s x 8

DB concentration curl 3s x 6

That was it.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Light Press

3 June 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. x 5, 290 lbs. 2s x 5 - nice and fast

Smith machine bent-over row 3s x 10, 1s x 8, 1s x 6

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

Paused shrug 3s x AMAP

EZ bar curl 4s x 6-7

Triceps press machine 3s x 10-12

Front/lat raise combo 2s x 20

Seated DB curl 3s x 8

Monday, June 2, 2014

Leg Powah

2 June 2014


Speed squat 280 lbs. 2s x 5, 350 lbs. 2s x 5, hi-bar 325x5

There was no difference in speed between the 280s and the 350s. Blasted every rep like the weight wasn't even there. Will stick with these speed squat weights for one more session, then move up to 80% (320 and 405 respectively).

Hack squat 3s x 10-12

Weighted incline bench situps x8, x6, x6

Leg extension 4s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10

Calf raise, standing 3s x 12

Leg raises 2s x 10

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Heavy Press

31 May 2014


Bench press 335 lbs. x 3, x 2, x 3

Paused bench press with SlingShot 360 lbs. x 3

I had a lot of trouble with my feet today for some reason. On the first set with 335 my left foot slipped while I was unracking the bar, then my right moved a couple of inches as I was frantically trying to compensate. Second set was even worse, not sure if it's the shoes or the gym floor. Finally got it together by the third set.

Pulldowns x10, x8, x6, x4 pyramiding up in weight

Triceps press 3s x 10-12

EZ bar curls 3s x 10-12

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Seated DB curls 2s x 8

Front/lateral raise combo 2s x 15

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Pullings... Not So Great

29 May 2014


Deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 365x2, 405x1, 425x1, 465x2, 445x2

Working set felt really heavy... or rather my lower back and abs felt really weak. Maybe it's the extra bent-over rowing and weighted ab work. But more likely I'm stalling on this triples program. So starting next week I'm going back to the "bastardized Gillingham" program that I used before to make good gains on the deadlift. Then eventually that will stall and I'll go back to triples, etc.

Paused shrug 4-5 sets 6-8 reps

Cable row 3s x 8

Weighted abs on incline bench 3s x 6-8

Weighted back raise 3s x 6

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Juicing

Soooo... after long deliberation, I finally manned up and took the plunge:

Anavar only cycle dosage, no side effects

I now guce 2 times a day, like Uncle Dolan said. Already seeing benefits.

Bench press 285 lbs. x 5, 290 lbs. 2s x 5

Smith machine bent-over row 3s x 10, 2s x 8

Paused shrugs 3s x 10-12

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x8, x7

Weighted incline bench situps 3s x 10

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8, 1s x 5

Tricep press machine 3s x 10-12

EZ bar curl 3s x 10-12

Pushdowns 3s x 12

Concentration curl 3s x AMAP

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Speeding Again

25 May 2014


Speed squats 280 lbs. x 2s x 5, 350 lbs. x 2s x 5, hi-bar 315 lbs. x 6

Felt decently fast. Tried an ultra-wide stance on the first set with 350, so that wasn't fast at all. But the other sets went well.

Hack squat 3s x as many as possible

Weighted incline board situp x8, x7, x7

Leg extension 3s x 10-12

Hanging leg raises 2s x 8 - sucked at these, haven't done them in forever

Leg curl 3s x 10

Standing calf raise 3s x 12

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Back On Track... Maybe

24 May 2014


Bench press up to 300x1 paused, then 325 lbs. 1sx3, 330 lbs. 3x3

After a disappointing last week, I decided to use 325 for my first triple and see how it went. It felt light, so I bumped the weight up to 330 for the next two sets. Then those felt good too, so I did an extra triple with 330. Pretty good.

Paused bench press with SlingShot 355 lbs. x 4

Also good.

Standing BTN military press 135x10, 145x10, front military press 145x8

Smith machine bent-over rows 3s x 10, 2s x 8

Pushdowns 3s x 12

Seated DB hammer curls 3s x 8

Combo front and lateral raise 3s x 20 (10 front + 10 lateral)

Seated DB bicep curl 3s x 8

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Heavy Squat Day

22 May 2014


Back squat 135x6, 225x4, 275x3, 315x3, 345x3, 375x3, 405x3, 435 (belt and wraps) x 3, 475 (b+w) x 3

Working set didn't feel light, but was very solid. Did a lot of warmup sets to get used to a heavy weight on my back again.

Then back-off 405x4 and hi-bar 365x5. Could have done a few more with the 405, but it was hot as hell and the bar slipped halfway down my back by rep 4.

Weighted incline bench situps 2s x 8, 1s x 5

Leg press, close stance 2s x 15, 1s x 12, increasing weight a bit between sets

Weighted back raise 3s x 8

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Super Volume

20 May 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

Smith machine bent-over rows 2s x 10, 2s x 8

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x5, seated 185x5, 195x5, 200x3

Pullups 5x5

Smith machine CG floor press 3s x 8-10

Seated DB curl 3s x 8

Pushdowns 3s x 12

EZ ar curls 3s x 6-8

Whole workout took around 55 minutes. Nice pump, lots of volume.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Seventies - Week One

19 May 2014


Speed squat 280 lbs. x 2s x 5, 350 lbs. x 2s x 5, hi-bar 315x5

This felt a lot better than last week. Did the four sets in slightly over 10 minutes. Felt good, so did an extra high-bar set with 315, close stance and very upright. Will keep the weight the same for another 3-4 weeks, then bump up the speed day to 80%.

Hack squat 3s x 10

Incline bench weighted situps x8, x7, x6, x5 - really felt the abs working on these

Leg extension 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10

Standing calf raise 3s x 12

Hope I don't get as sore as I did last time. Heavy(ish) squats on Thursday.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

A Fitting End to the Week

17 May 2014


Some nice, weak pressing to round off a nice, weak week.

Bench press 325 lbs. x3, x 2, x 3

Bench press w. SlingShot 345 lbs. x 3, 355 lbs. x 2

That last set didn't feel too heavy, but I hit the hooks on the way up and decided not to go for a third. Also all bench presses felt weak off the chest (lockout was fine... when I could get the bar high enough to lock it out), which almost never happens to me.

Hopefully next week will be better.

Smith machine bentover rows 5x5 - these felt great

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x6, 165x6, 175x6

Seated hammer curl 3s x 10

Pushdowns x 15, x 12, x 12

Seated DB curl 3s x 8-10

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Pulling

15 May 2014


Legs still sore as all hell. I felt a bit better after work, so I decided to give deadlifting a shot. Used a moderate weight. It was slow, but I made the working set.

Deadlift 135x8, 225x5, 315x4, 365x2, 405x2, 425x1, 455x3, x1

Everything felt fine until 425, which was slow and grindy. 455 went up (a triple, plus a single after a 1 min. break), but it felt a lot heavier than it was.

Incline ab bench situps 3s x 12

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

Weighted Roman chair situps 2s x 8

Weighted back raise 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Lat pulldown 1s x 10, 4s x 8

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sore

13 May 2014


Pressing went slightly better than the squats. Two days later I still have the worst quad/ham soreness in the last 10 years or so.

Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5

Neither fast, nor explosive. But managed all sets relatively easily.

Chest-supported row 3s x 12

Seated BTN press 135x8, 155x5, 175x5

Pulldowns 3s x 10

EZ bar curl x8, x6 - too heavy to be productive. All lighter bars were taken.

Smith machine CG floor press 3s x 8

Seated DB curls 3s x 8-10

Monday, May 12, 2014

Post Vacation Leg Workout

12 May 2014


Today I was supposed to do 2+2 sets of 5 with 70% (2 x 280 and 2 x 350). But after two weeks of relative inactivity the speed just wasn't there. I can maintain strength quite easily over 15-20 days of no training, but speed/technique is a different beast. Every single squat felt slow and out of groove - grinding the bar up was not a problem, but the speed just wasn't there.

My vacation training consisted of one squat workout (worked up to 395x5 or something) and

Speed squat 280 lbs. x 2s x 5, 315x2, 335x2, 345x5, 320x3

Sets with 280 done with pause in the hole. Bolded sets were not fast enough to be "speed squats".

Hack squats 3s x 10

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

Leg curls, seated, 3s x 10

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Calf raises 2s x 12

Friday, April 25, 2014

Sqhuatmourning Everyone

24 April 2014


Squat 135x8, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 435x3, 465x3, 405x5

Used belt and wraps on 435, 465 and last set with 405. 465 was okay as far as the squatting went, but walking the weight out and back in felt super heavy. Then again, I haven't been resting much over the past 6 days (lifted 5 times and did bike sprints on Tuesday), so maybe that was it. I won't be lifting much over the next 2 weeks, so I'll see how it goes once I get back.

Leg extension 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10-12

Weighted back raise 2s x 8

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Triples

23 April 2014


Bench press 325 lbs. 2s x 3, 1s x 4

Decided to do an extra rep on the last set. All sets felt good and explosive - after the weeks of sixes and fives, triples almost feel like slacking off.

Paused bench press with SlingShot 360 lbs. x 5

This was tough, but doable. Was still able to pause all reps. I'll try to stick with fives for two more weeks, then do two sets of three in the last 3 weeks of the program. All this, of course, after I get back from vacation.

Pullups - multiple sets of 2, 3, 4 reps

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155x5, 175x1 - weak at this today, so didn't push it

Seated DB hammer curl 3s x 8 - much better than the standing variant

EZ bar curls 3s x 10

Rope pushdowns 3s x 12-15

Monday, April 21, 2014

Combined Speed Day

21 April 2014

I'll have to squeeze 3 workouts in 4 days this week, so today I combined light squat and bench press. On the plus side, I was done with everything in less than an hour. On the minus side, I sweated buckets and looked like I'm about to have a stroke. It's fine.

Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5, 305 lbs. 2s x 5

Lighter sets paused in the hole. Smoked these in less than 15 minutes. Moving up to 70% next week.

Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5 - also super fast reps, little break between sets.

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

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x5, 165x5

Seated DB curl 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Pushdowns 3s x 10-12

Concentration curl 3s x AMAP

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Pullings

20 April 2014


Deadlift 135x6, 225x3, 315x2, 385x1, 420x1, 465x3, x1, x1

Did a triple, then two singles with a minute of rest in between. Felt good.

Shrugs 135x10, 225x10, 315x10, 365x10, 385x5

Haven't done these in a while.

Weighted Roman chair situps x8, x6, x6

Weighted back raises 3s x 8

Pulldowns 2s x 8, light

Pulldown shrugs 3s x 10, 1s x 6

Saturday, April 19, 2014

More Bench

19 April 2014


Bench press 320 lbs. 3s x 5 - first set was the hardest.

Paused bench press with SlingShot 355 lbs. x 5 - this might be a SlingShot PR. Long pauses too.

Smith machine CG floor press 3s x 5, 1s x 3

Pullups 3s x 5

DB hammer curls 2s x 8

Rope pushdowns 3s x 12

Standing OH press 135 2s x 10, 145 1s x 8

Seated DB curls 3s x 6

Concentration curl 3s x 6

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Volume Work

15 April 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. x4, x5, x5

I tried using suicide grip on first set. It hurt my wrists and bar came up unevenly on all but the first rep. When the bar comes up unevenly at around 75%, it's probably a good idea to stop whatever you're doing. I won't be using suicide grip again anytime soon.

Seated cable rows 1s x 8, 3s x 8

BTN military press 135x10, 155x10, 175x2sx5

Smith machine bent over row 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Pullups 4s x 5

DB hammer curls 3s x 8

Smith machine CG floor press 3s x 6-8

Seated DB curls 3s x 6

This only took about an hour or so. What I might do in the future is time it, then try to beat this time each time I do pressing volume. Once I can do it in 45 minutes or less, I'll up the weights slightly.

On an unrelated note, my legs, hips and glutes get really sore from speed squatting, even though the weights are so low. Don't know if this is good or bad.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Speeding

14 April 2014


Speed squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5, 305 2s x 5

Did some stationary bike sprints yesterday, so these felt neither fast nor explosive. But finished in under 20 mins., so I guess that's something.

Leg extension 4s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10

Ab machine 2s x 8

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Benchspotting

12 April 2014


Bench press 315 lbs. x 4, x 6, x 5

I asked a new guy to spot me on the first set. He asked if I wanted a "liftoff", to which I said yes. He then proceeded to almost pull me off the bench as he helped me unrack the bar, then almost dropped the wildly wobbling bar on my face as I was trying to stabilize it. I mean, I have midget arms, how far up do you think they need to go? I managed to pull my shoulderblades back in and eked out a tough set of four.

Got another guy to spot on sets 2 and 3, and did 6 reps on the second set to make up for the fail on the first. This was better spotting.

Paused bench press with SlingShot 350 lbs. x 4 - same thing, Spotter 2 left, asked Spotter 3 to help me unrack (really tough with a SS on), he did almost the same thing as Spotter 1. Still the pauses were long (2-count), so pretty pleased with this set.

Smith machine CG floor press x6, x5, x4

Seated DB curl 4-5 light sets in between bench press sets, then 3sx6 heavy

Farmer's walk with KBs 3 rounds

Some Heavyish Squats

11 April 2014


Squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 425x3, 455x2, 405x6

Last 2 heavy sets (425 and 455) with belt.

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

Weighted back raises 2s x 8

Leg extension 2s x 10-12

Leg curl 2s x 10-12

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Pressings

8 April 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5 - used a different bar this time, I think it is a squat bar. It's thicker and slightly heavier than a regular bar (55 lbs.) and doesn't bend or "whip" even under 500+ pounds. Anyway, all reps were super fast, but my wrists kinda hurt afterwards and my forearms were pumped.

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

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x10, 165x5

DB hammer curl 2s x 8

Smith machine CG floor press 3s x 6-8

Seated DB curl 3s x 6

Pushdowns 2s x 15, 1s x 10

Machine preacher curl 3 sets

Front and lateral DB raises 1s x 20 (each)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Sixty Percent

7 April 2014


Squat 265 lbs. 3s x 5, 305 lbs. 2s x 5

Sets with 265 were done with a pause in the hole + explode up. The other two were just speed sets. Finished them in about 20 minutes and the bar was moving fast. Once I can do all 5 sets in 15 or les I'll move up to 70% and 4 sets of 5.

Speed deadlifts 305 lbs. 6 speed singles on the minute - could have been faster.

Leg extension 3s x 10-12

Leg curl 3s x 10-12

Ab machine crunch 3s x 10

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Again, Bench Press and Curls

5 April 2014


Stayed out late and woke up with an awesome hangover. The headache relented later in the day so I managed to drag myself to the gym. Lifting went surprisingly well, I just had to take long breaks between working sets.

Bench press 310 lbs. 3s x 5 - fast and smooth

Paused bench press w. SlingShot 345 lbs. x 5 - same here, good 2-count pauses

Neutral-grip pullup 2s x 5

Close grip Smith machine floor press 1s x 8, 2s x 6 - last two were heavy

Smith machine bentover row 3s x 6

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x5 - triceps gave up at this point

DB hammer curl 2s x 8

Machine preacher curl 2s x 10

Seated DB curl 3s x 6

Farmer's walk 3 rounds

BW today - 218.8 lbs. After peaking at like 225 over Thanksgiving, I haven't been able to get back to my usual 215 (not that I'm trying, but still).

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Pulls

2 April 2014


Deadlift 135x6, 225x4, 315x3, 385x1, 415x1, 460x3 (belt), 405x2

Everything felt great, then working set sucked. My abs and lower back started cramping up, which almost never happens to me when deadlifting. I almost lost rep no. 2. Tried a backoff set with 405, but the cramping got more intense so I stopped. Really weird, since my last squat workout was light and I had two days to recover from it.

On the other hand, 460 might be a "rep PR", last time I tried this weight I only got two reps. So maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought.

I'm also developing an epic case of plantar fasciitis in my left heel. It's been hurting for a couple months now, but last few weeks have been extremely painful. Maybe that's preventing me from digging in the heels properly? I don't know, but I do want it to go away.

Did 20 reps of ring pullups (total) in between deadlift sets.

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

Weighted back raises 3s x 6

Farmer's walk 3 rounds - lots of fun after deadlifts.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Various Presses

31 March 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5 - easy, fast.

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

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x5, seated 185 lbs. 2s x 5

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8

Smith machine close grip floor press 3s x 8

Seated DB curls 3s x 6

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Speed Squatting

30 March 2014


Low bar squat 250 lbs. 5x5, 300 lbs. 2s x 5

All reps done as fast as possible, good speed. Sets with 250 were paused briefly in the hole, then exploded up. This will probably be my light squat day from now on, with a heavier triple (low volume) done on a second day every other week (alternated with heavy deadlifts).

Leg extensions 5s x 10

Leg curls 5s x 10

Seated ab machine 5s x 10

Friday, March 28, 2014

Attack of the Curlbro

28 March 2014


Bench press 305 lbs. 3s x 5

Smooth and fast. Some of the reps were even paused.

Bench press with SlingShot 345 lbs. x 4 - should have gone with 340.

Light DB seated curls between bench press sets, 5-6 sets of 6

Smith machine close grip floor press 2s x 8, 2s x 6, 1s x 4 - added weight each set

EZ bar curl 5x5

Standing BTN press 145 lbs. 2s x 5 - fried at this point.

Seated DB curl, heavy, 3s x 6

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sqhuatmournings FTW

26 March 2014


Low bar squat 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 335x3, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3, 425x3, 445x2

Forgot that I was low bar squatting on the first rep with 385 and almost got stapled. Otherwise went well. I feel like my quads are stronger and am able to stay more upright than before. I'm not as "in the groove" as I'd like to be due to mostly squatting high bar lately, but I should get it back with some more practice.

Sumo deadlift 325x3, 375x2, 425x2, 445xfail

Don't know why I tried these today. I was so tired I could barely pull the set with 325.

Leg extension 3s x 10

Leg curl 3s x 10

Monday, March 24, 2014

New Exercise

24 March 2014


Bench press 285 lbs. 3s x 5 - fast and easy

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

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x10, 175x5, 185x4

Seated DB curls 3s x 8, 2s x 6, 1s x 4

Tricep pushdowns 2s x 12

Smith machine close grip floor press 3s x 8

I tried the floor press years ago with a barbell and didn't feel like it was particularly useful. Then today I saw this guy at the gym (who bench presses huge weights) doing them and decided to try them out. I used 2 plates per side, so about 180 pounds total. The limited line of motion in the Smith machine really lets me blast the crap out of the triceps. I have a feeling this will be my main triceps exercise from now on.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Squat Super Volume

23 March 2014


High-bar squat 135x5, 225x5, 285x5, 315 x 5s x 5, 335 x 2s x 5, 365x5

Quads feel thoroughly thrashed right now.

Hanging leg raise 3s x 8

Bulgarian split squat 3s x 5 to stretch out the quads.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Benching

22 March 2014


Bench press 300 lbs. 2s x 6, 1s x 7

Wanted to get 8 on the last set, but that didn't happen. Maybe if I'd tried it on the first. Otherwise very fast and explosive, didn't grind any reps.

Paused bench press w. SlingShot 335 lbs. x 6

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x8, 175x5

EZ bar curl against wall 4s x 5

DB tricep extensions 3s x 8-12

Seated DB curl 4s x 8, 2s x 5 (heavy)

Farmer's walk 3 rounds, overhead carry 2 rounds.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Deadlift

20 March 2014


Deadlift 135x6, 225x5, 315x4, 385x1, 405x2, 425x1, 455x4

Bounced the second rep of the 455 so did a fourth. Didn't feel right, but I didn't injure myself either, so I guess all is well.

Low bar squat 265x3, 285x3, 315x3, 335x3, 355x2, 365x2

Did these just to make sure I could still squat after the debacle on Sunday. 365 felt like 75%, which is how it should feel.

Weighted Roman chair situp 3s x 8

Farmers walks 3 rounds

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Light Pressing

18 March 2014


Bench press 275x5, 285 x 2s x 5 - last rep of each set paused.

Paused bench press 290 lbs. x 3s x 1

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

Neutral grip pullups 3s x 5

BTN press standing 135x5, 155x5, seated 175x5, 185x5, 190x5

DB hammer curls 2s x 10

Seated DB curls 4s x 8

Cable pushdowns 2s x 12

Sunday, March 16, 2014

A Bit Of Everything

16 March 2014


I tried squatting today. Legs felt fine and not sore at all from last week's low bar squat and sumo DL session. As soon as I did my first warmup squat with 135, however, it became evident that something was very wrong. I muddled through the paused high-bar squat sets and tried to eke out a few heavier reps, but didn't get very far with that.

Also did some OH presses as I forgot to do them yesterday.

Paused high-bar squat 285 lbs. x 3s x 5, then 315x3, 315x2, 335x2sx2

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 135x2sx5

Glute-ham raise 2s x 6

Bulgarian split squats 3s x 8

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Heavy Pressing

15 March 2014


Bench press 295 lbs. x 6, 300 x 6, 295 x 6

Program called for 295 on all three sets, but the first set felt light.

Bench press with SlingShot, 2-count pause, 325 lbs. x 6

Seated DB curls, light, 5-6 sets of 6-10 reps (between pressing sets)

DB triceps extensions 3s x 12

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Seated DB curls, heavy, 3s x 6-8

Tricep pushdowns 2s x 12

Finished with KB carries, three rounds of farmer's walk and one round of overhead carry. Nice forearm pump. Should do these more often.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Squatting and Pulling

13 March 2014


Back to low bar squats: 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 345x3, 365x3, 405x3, 425 (belt) x 3

These felt pretty good. I haven't done low bar squats in a while, except for a random set here and there. The lighter weights felt super light, but the last set was unexpectedly hard. Maybe it'll take some time for me to adapt to low bar again, or maybe I'm just weaker.

Sumo deadlifts 315x4, 365x2, 405x2, 425x2, 435x1, 445x1

Was going to only do some light speed squats, but then decided to experiment with foot placing, grip and cues (shoulders over bar before pulling). 445 is some sort of PR (I don't think I ever deadlifted more than 405 sumo), could have done more but was pretty tired at this point. A pleasant surprise, and my back doesn't feel totally beat up like it does after real deadlifts.

Leg extensions 2s x 10

Leg curl 1s x 10, then someone was hogging the machine

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Back To Regular Bench Pressing

11 March 2014


Bench press 275 lbs. x 5, 285 lbs. x 2s x 5, paused singles 285 lbs. x 3

No spotter, but these felt super light. I'm going back to doing one day of light presses, then a second heavy day (using the 6-5-3-1 approach like in the last two cycles).

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

Standing BTN press 135x10, 145 x 2s x 8

DB hammer curls 3s x 10

Seated DB curls 3s x 8 - back to doing these again, as strict as possible

Pushdowns 3s x 10

Monday, March 10, 2014

Squat Day

10 March 2014


Speed squats 315 lbs. x 8s x 2

A couple of these were low-bar squats, the rest high-bar and close stance. They, like the rest, felt pretty fast and explosive.

Deficit stiff-leg deadlifts 225x5, 275 lbs 3x3

An exercise of questionable utility. Don't think I'll do this again.

Back extension, weighted x8, x7, x7

Leg extension 4s x 10

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Recovery

8 March 2014


After being laid low by an exotic stomach virus and eating canned chicken soup and toast for two days straight (#FirstWorldProblems), today I ventured into the gym to do a bit of light work.

High bar squat 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 335x5, 355x5

Close-grip bench press, paused 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275 x 2s x 5, then 1s x 5 unpaused

Ring pullups 3s x 5

Leg extensions 3s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12-15

EZ bar curls 3s x 10

Sucked at everything, but didn't expect anything else. Just happy to be walking around again. I'll get back to regular programming on Monday, or maybe even tomorrow.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Impromptu Extra Workout

21 February 2014


Decided to hit the gym today for some squats and presses. Will be traveling tomorrow and all of next week and a half, so no weights until I come back. So I figured I'd get some additional volume in.

High bar back squat 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 335x3, 365x3, 385x3, 415x3

The sets of five were done "3+2" style, i.e. 3 high bar squats + 2 low bar squats, just to test the groove as I haven't been low bar squatting much.

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x5, 175x5, 135x10

Tricep pushdowns 2s x AMAP

Incline bench DB curls 3s x AMAP

DB raises front+side combo 2s x AMAP

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Blah Blah Blah

20 February 2014


Paused close grip bench press 305 lbs. x 5, x 4, 275 lbs. x 5

Spotter on the first set, and it was a grinder. Hardest bench press set I've done in a while.

Paused CGBP with SlingShot 345 lbs. x 2

Could have done 1 or 2 more, but no spotter. Hate it when that happens.

Seated DB curls 4-5 sets, light

Behind-the-neck press standing 135x10, 155x6, seated 185x5

Pullups 3s x 5

DB hammer curls 2s x 8

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Deathlift

19 February 2014


Deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 475x1

405 and 435 felt lighter than 365. On the heavy set, the bar flew up on the first rep, came off the floor and stalled on the second. So no PR today.

In my defense, I got a yellow fever shot on Monday and have been having mild flu-like symptoms ever since (this is apparently a reaction to the vaccine, I haven't had a cold since 2010 or the flu since probably the early 2000s). So today wasn't 100%, or even 80%. Still, I made decent progress and will lower the deadlift weight to maybe 455x3 when I restart the cycle.

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

KB swings 3s x 15

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

Leg curl seated 1s x 12, prone 1s x 12

Leg extension 2s x 10 - legs were weirdly tired today.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Legs

16 February 2014


Paused high bar squat 280 lbs. 3s x 5

Regular HB squat 365 lbs. 2s x 5

Partial HB squat 365x2, 405x2, 425, 445, 465, 485, 505 fail

Lifted in a different rack and the pins were set a bit higher than in the one I usually lift in. So that's probably why I lifted more than last time.

Leg press close stance 4 plates per side x 15, 5pps x 12, 6pps x 12

Leg press wide stance 6pps x 12, 6p + 35s x 12

Leg curl x 20, x 15

Weighted Roman chair situps 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Did not do leg extensions, as the machine was under siege today.

At home - more cable pulling: front chest pull and overhead downward pull for a few 10-rep sets.

Pressing With Haltings

15 February 2014


Had to wrap up the lifting in 40-45 minutes, so only did the bench press sets and left.

Paused close-grip BP 300 lbs. x 4, x 5, 280 lbs. x 4

Spotter on second set. Was pretty happy with the first set, felt like I could have gotten five but my triceps tend to give out without any warning on the CGBPs so I didn't risk it. Will try 305 next week.

Paused CGBP with SlingShot 335 lbs. x 5

First time SlingShot benching with no spotter. I survived, but racking and unracking the bar felt really awkward. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but the set felt super light, paused for a good 2-count on each rep.

Later in the day I did some cable pulls:

Front chest pull 2s x 10

Overhead downward pull 2s x 10

Seated bicep curl 2s x 10

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Squatstravaganza

13 February 2014


Paused high bar squat 295x3, 335x3, 355x3 - first two sets with Manta Ray.

High bar squat 375x3, 415x3 - belted up on the last set because I was feeling unbalanced.

Partial HB squat 415, 425, 445, 465 fail, 425, 425, 430

Murder on the quads. I wonder if I should belt up on these as well?

Speed deadlifts 305 x 6 singles on the minute, 4 of these sumo - all very fast

Weighted Roman chair situps 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Leg extension 2 sets x 30 secs

Leg curl 2 sets x 30 secs

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Incline Pressing & Misc

11 February 2014


Incline bench press 255 lbs. 3s x 5 - at least this went well this week.

Seated cable row 1x12, 1x10, 1x8

Standing BTN press 135x5, 155x5, seated 185x5, 195x2

Shoulders and arms gave out on the last set. Usually I can get 5 with this weight.

Pec deck 3s x 30 secs

Reverse fly 1s x 15

DB hammer curls 3s x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 30 secs

Incline bench DB curls 3s x 30 secs

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Sqwatz

10 February 2014


Paused high bar close stance squat 260 lbs. x 3s x 5 - all with Manta Ray

Regular HBCS squat 340 lbs. x 2s x 5

Bottom-up partial HBCS squat 340, 375, 400, 415, 435 fail

These are really hard. I used to do a lot of partial squats, low bar and with my normal wide stance. But these are a completely different animal. I set the pins so that the starting point is roughly a half-squat. I can normally HB squat 435, but couldn't even budge the partial (my quads were pretty pumped at this point TBH).

Leg press close stance 4 plates 3s x 15

That was all I had the energy for today. Squats again on Wed / Thurs.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Again, Some Pressing

6 February 2014


Paused close grip bench press 300 lbs. x 5, 275 2s x 5

Spotter on first set, so I decided to go for broke. Turned out pretty good. Don't think I've close grip pressed 300 for more than 1 rep before, definitely not with a pause. Zero leg drive too because legs and back were fatigued from yesterday.

Paused CGBP with SlingShot 335 lbs. x 4

Pulldowns 2s x 10, 1s x 8

DB hammer curl 2s x 8, 1s x 5

Tricep extension (DBs) 1s x 15, 2s x 12 - still no elbow pain.

EZ bar twentyones 3 sets

Cable pushdown 2s x 35 seconds

The Thrust Camp

5 February 2014


Platforms were busy when I got to the gym, so I did some random stuff to warm up:

Pullups 2s x 5
Leg extension 1s x 30 secs
Leg curl 1s x 30 secs
Pulldowns x 10
KB swings (53-lb. KB) x 20

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x4, 385x2, 425x1, 470x2

Pulled a third rep to my knees, but it wasn't going further than that. Still a "rep PR".

Back off set 420 x 2

Smith machine bent over row 1s x 10, 3s x 8

Weighted abs 3s x 8

KB swings 2s x 15 - these felt good, might do them for a while instead of my usual deadlift assistance.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Token Pressing Workout

3 February 2014


I got a weird cramp in my mid-back today (to the right side) and now I have a nagging pain there as well. Maybe my spine's broken. Felt pretty tired overall, so tonight's session was lackluster. Also will have to bench press on Thursday night and need time to recover a bit.

Incline bench 255 lbs. x4, x3, then 235x5

Will keep same weight next week.

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

DB hammer curl 1s x 10, 1s x 8 - upped the weight on these finally

Rope pushdown 2s x 30 seconds

Preacher curl machine 2s x 30 secs

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Speed Squats

2 February 2014


High bar close stance speed squats 315 lbs. 8 sets x 2, 1.5 minute pause between sets

First four sets were done with Manta Ray.

Leg press:

Close stance 4 plates x 15, 5p x 15, 6p x 12

Wide stance 6p x 12, 6.5p x 12

Weighted Roman chair situp 2s x 8, 1s x 6

Weighted back raise 2s x 8

Leg extension 1s x 30 seconds, then failed a second set

Leg curl 1s x 30 secs

Saturday, February 1, 2014

And More Pressing

1 February 2014


Paused close-grip bench press 295 lbs. x4, x5, x4

Had a spotter on the second set and got the five reps pretty easily. Was also close on the first set but chickened out. I'll try 300 next week.

Paused CGBP with SlingShot 330 lbs. x 5

Good pauses on all four sets.

Smith machine bent-over row 4-5 sets of 5-6 reps

Standing BTN press 135x10, 155x8, 175x5

DB hammer curl 3s x 8

DB triceps extension 3s x 12

EZ bar curl 2 sets - tried to do 21s, but arms were way too tired at this point, so I did AMAP.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Squattings With Haltings and Without

29 January 2014


Still sore from the last leg session, the leg press took more out of me than it used to. Especially the hamstrings.

Paused high bar close stance squat 275x3, 315x2, 335x2 (with Manta Ray), 355x3, 375x3, 390x3

Full disclosure - I didn't pause the last rep with 390 and the pause on the one before that was questionable.

Low-bar squat 435 lbs. x 3

Just wanted to check form, used belt and wraps to make sure it was pretty easy. I noticed that I kept my torso way more upright than usual and felt it more in the quads.

Speed deadlift 315 x 6 singles on the minute - should have used less weight

Weighted Roman chair situp 3s x 8

Leg extension 3s x 30 seconds

Leg curl 3s x 30 seconds

Calf raise 3s x 45 secs

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

More Pressing

27 January 2014


Incline press 245 lbs. 3s x 5

Seated cable row 1x12, 1x8, 2sx6

Weighted Roman chair situps 2s x 8

Some kind of chest supported row, but from overhead 2s x 15 - done while waiting for equipment to free up.

Standing BTN press 135x10, 165x5, then seated 185x5, 205x5

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 35 secs

DB hammer curls 3s x 8

EZ bar brocep curls, a.k.a. 21s - 3 sets. Made me feel like (even more of) a douchebag, but the pump was painful.

Concentration curls 2s x AMAP

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Squattings With Haltings

26 January 2014


Paused high bar squat 290 lbs. 3s x 5

Regular HB squat 365x5, 405x5

Leg press (haven't done this in months):

Close stance 4 plates x 15, 5p x 12, 6p x 12

Wide stance 6 plates 2s x 10

Leg extension 2s x 30 seconds

Leg curl 2s x 30 secs

Ab machine 2s x AMAP

Saturday, January 25, 2014

More Press On Back

24 January 2014


Moved some boxes around before lifting, so didn't have much energy today.

Paused close grip bench press 295 lbs. x 3, x 3, x 4

Wanted to get a 5, which turned out to be too ambitious. Still this is pretty good. I can't guarantee all reps were paused for a 2-count, but definitely longer than 1 second.

Paused CG BP with SlingShot 325 lbs. x 5 - good pauses on these

Tricep extension 3s x 12

EZ bar strict curl 3s x 8

Incline bench DB curls 3s x AMAP

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Draft and Inclinations On the Goat

23 January 2014


Deadlift 135x8 or 10, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 415x1, 465x2

First three sets were done with two pauses for each rep, one right off the floor, the other above the knee.

Last set was the mother of all grinders, and a "rep PR".

Back-off 415x3 - don't usually do backoffs, but felt like it today.

Weighted Roman chair situps 3s x 8

Weighted back raise 3s x 8

Pulldowns 2s x 30 seconds, 1s x 35 secs

Face pulls 2s x 35 secs

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Inclines Week Two

21 January 2014


Incline bench press 235 lbs. 3s x 5

Seated cable row 1x12, 1x8, 2s x 6

Seated BTN press 135x8, 185x5, 195x5

Pec deck 2s x 30 seconds

DB hammer curl 3s x 10

EZ bar curl 3s x 8

Rear delt fly machine 3s x 30 seconds

Rope pushdown 2s x 35 secs, 1s x AMAP

Incline bench DB curls 2s x 35 seconds, 1s x 20 secs

Concentration curl 2s x AMAP