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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