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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Squats and Deadlifts, Rehab Mode, Week 4

30 March 2015


Squat 345 lbs. 3s x 5 -felt very heavy

Rack pull 335 lbs. 3s x 5 - this felt OK. I might go back to my singles-only program, except with mid-shin pulls instead of deadlifts from the floor.

Glute-ham raise 3s x 8

Leg press 5 plates 2s x 20, 1s x 10

Leg curl 21s x 2 sets

Leg extensions 3s x 10

15 minutes cycling - all the legs could take

Monday, March 30, 2015

Mixed Weekend Work

28 March 2015


Took a day off on Friday and woke up to everything hurting on Saturday. My hip injury was flaring up big time, but there was also pain in my shoulders, elbows, wrists, etc. So I decided to work everything at the gym and see what happens.

Squat 335 lbs. 3s x 5 - moved stance in closer on last two sets because the hip hurt. Then my knees hurt. Good times.

Bench press 315 lbs. 3x3 - was going to do 3sx5, but the weight felt too heavy.

Rack pull 325 lbs. 3s x 5 - this felt okay.

Standing overhead press 135 lbs. 3s x 5 - also felt heavy.

DB curls 3s x 8

Cable pushdowns 3s x 12

Ab crunch machine 3s x 12

Friday, March 27, 2015

Pressing More

26 March 2015


Close-grip bench press 235x5, 255x5, 275x5, 235x8

Pulldowns 2 sets warmup, 3 sets heavy

Standing front press 135x2, 165x1, 185x1, 205x1, 210 x 4 singles

Bent-over rows 4s x 10

Seated DB curls 4s x 15

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 15

Thursday, March 26, 2015

More Rehab - Week 3, Day 2

25 March 2015


Did a bunch of stretches and activation exercises for the hips and glutes.

Back squat 335 lbs. 3s x 5

Rack pull 325 lbs. 3s x 5

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Leg curl 21s 1 set

15 minutes cycling.

Riveting.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Bench Press - Heavy Single

24 March 2015


Bench press 135x8, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 325x1, 345x1, 365x1, 390x1

The rep with 365 felt slow, so I kept that last attempt pretty conservative. 390 still felt heavy. I was thinking about trying 405 with the Reactive SlingShot and 420 with the Original, but decided not to push it, so didn't do any SS work.

Back-off sets 315 x 2s x 5

Seated cable rows 3s x 6 heavy

Seated DB press 3s x 6 (60s)

Machine preacher curl, one armed, 5s x 8-10

Dips 3s x 10

25 minutes cycling

Just did a bunch of random stuff.

Bodyweight today - 209.4 lbs.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Lower Back Rehab Week 3 Day 1

23 March 2015


Stupid post title, stupid post content.

Back squat 335x5, 345x5, 335x5, 235x10 close stance

Was okay, but left leg felt a bit dead after the set with 345, which wasn't so okay.

Rack pull 325 lbs. 3s x 5

Lower back was super pumped after this, I wasn't even able to do glute-ham raises. Not sure what happened.

Glute-ham raise x 6

Machine split squat 2s x 16-20 (8-10 per leg)

Tried cycling, but back hurt after 10 minutes.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Mixed Day

22 March 2015


Close-grip bench press 135x8, 185x5, 235x6, 255 x 2s x 6

Bent-over row 4s x 10

Standing front press 135x5, 155 2s x 5

Pullups 5x5

Incline bench DB curls 3s x 12

DB tricep extensions 3s x 12

Cable curl 3s x AMAP

Tricep pushdown (rope) 3s x 12

Plan is to max out the bench press on Tuesday or Wednesday, do some medium-heavy work the rest of the week and then reset the weights for the 6-week program. For the max-out, anything between 375 and 395 would be great due to lower bodyweight and caloric deficit.

Rehab Addict

21 March 2015


Back raises, weighted 1s x 15 - been slacking on these

Squat 325 lbs. 3s x 5, back-off close-stance 225x10

Somehow the close stance hurt my injury more.

Rack pull 315 lbs. 3s x 5, stiff-legged 225 x 10

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Lever machine split squats 3s x 15-20 (8-10 per leg)

Leg curls 2s x 21's (7 partials at bottom of ROM, 7 partials at top, 7 full reps)

Rubber band crunches 3-4 sets

Back/hip are feeling OK, but the pain is still there. Recovery has slowed down a bit. I guess I just have to be patient and push through.

Will increase weight by 10 lbs. on the squat and rack pull next week and try to get 3 workouts in.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Press Lite

19 March 2015


Lifted at the gym at work, so wasn't able to go as heavy on the OH press as I wanted.

Overhead press 135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 190x1, 195x1, 200x1, 205x1, 210x1, 215x1

Bodyweight was around 211 today.

Bench press 245x3, 255x3 - setup is terrible and my right shoulder started to hurt, so instead I did:

Chest press machine 3s x 10

Pulldowns 4s x 6 heavy

Bent-over rows 3s x 10

Biceps 3 sets x AMAP

Triceps 2 sets AMAP

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Bench Press - Last Heavy Workout of 6-Week Program

17 March 2015


Bench press 345 lbs. x 5 singles, then SlingShot (R) 365 lbs. x 2

Everything felt terribly heavy, but at this point I guess that's how it's supposed to be. Will do a light bench press / heavy OH press workout this Thursday, then rest up and go for a heavy single next week. Then reset weights (depending on the outcome) and start over again.

Back-off sets 315 lbs. 3s x 2, 225 lbs. x 5 close grip

Seated cable row 1 set warmup, 4s x 6 heavy

That's all I had time for today.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Lower Body Rehab - Week 3, Day 1

16 March 2015


Weighted back raise 2s x 15

Had to cut these short, the gym was a jungle tonight and I had to grab the power rack before ayone else moved in.

Squat 325 lbs. 3s x 5

These felt hard. Being able to squat 3 plates again is great, but my legs seem to have detrained pretty quickly. Then again, it's been something like 8+ weeks of no or light squatting.

Rack pull 315 lbs. 3s x 5

These were easy, but my lower back gave a little twinge after that last set, which freaked me out a bit.

Shrugs 315x10, 365x10, 385 2s x 8

Lower back did not like these either. I will switch to either seated shrugs with DBs or standing paused shrugs in the Smith machine (where I use a lot less weight).

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Lever machine split squats 4 sets x as many as possible - sick leg burn again.

Monday, March 16, 2015

More Exercisings

13 March 2015


Weighted back raises 2s x 15

Squat 300 lbs. 3s x 5

Rack pull 295 lbs. 3s x 5

Shrugs 315x10, 365 x 2s x 10

Leg press - 2 sets warmup, then 5 plates x 25 reps or so

Leg press is bothering my injured hip big time. Maybe I'll stop doing it for a while.

Lever machine split squat 4-5 sets 8-10 reps

Back and hip felt OK this week, will bump the weight up to 325 (squat) and 315 (pull). Back to 3 plates.


15 March 2015

Back raise 1s x 20

Bench press w. reactive SlingShot 325 lbs. 5s x 3

Shoulder was bothering me a bit today, so I decided to add some weight and use the SlingShot. Felt nice, fast and easy, and, most importantly, no shoulder pain.

Standing front press 135x5, 155 x 3s x 5

Pullups 5x5 - various grips

Bent-over row 4s x 10

Incline bench DB curl 4s x AMAP

Standing overhead tricep extension 3s x 12

25 minutes cycling

Friday, March 13, 2015

Overhead Press and Light Stuff

12 March 2015


Weighted back raises 3s x 15

Bench press 255 lbs. 3s x 5 - shoulders still feel sore from Tuesday, so this was hard. Moved the grip closer and it still hurt.

Standing front press 205 lbs. x 5 singles

Next week I'll try 210, which is more or less equal to bodyweight these days. Good times.

Pulldowns 2 sets warmup, 4s x 6 heavy

Concentration curl 6s x 6-8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Heavy Press, Week 5

10 March 2015


Bench press warmup up to 315x1, then 340 lbs. x 5 singles

With SlingShot 360 lbs. x 3

Back-off 310 lbs. x 2 singles, 280 lbs. 2s x 3

Shoulders started to hurt after that SlingShot set, so I reduced the volume.

Seated cable row 1s x 8 warmup, then 4s x 6 heavy

Seated DB press 3s x 6 (55s)

Barbell preacher curl 5s x 6

Dips 2s x 10

20 minutes cycling.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Lower Body Rehab Week 2 Day 1

9 March 2015


Weighted back raise 3s x 12-15 (45 lbs.)

Seated leg curl 3s x 10 - pre-exhaust for squats

Squats 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 300 lbs. 3s x 5 - felt very easy today

Rack pull 295 lbs. 3s x 5

Leg press 2 sets warmup, then 5 plates x 25 reps

The leg press is the only exercise that bothers my injury now, even with very light weights. I've also figured out that the injury is not in my lower back and glute but in my left hip, so from now on I'll be attacking the pain site through stretches and foam rolling.

Abduction machine 3s x 10-15

Lever squat machine split squats 2s x 10 per leg

This is a fantastic leg exercise, can't believe I never tried it before. I was pretty tired at this point so I didn't do more sets, but will try to remember to do it later in the week.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Some Trainings

6 March 2015


Short workout at work:

Bench press 245 lbs. 3s x 5

Standing front press 185x1, 190 lbs. 3s x 1 - weird bar in the work gym, dropped the weight a bit because it was killing my wrists.

Pulldowns 4s x 6

Standing OH tricep extensions 3s x 12

Concentration curl 6x6


7 March 2015

Combined two days into one.

Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275 3s x 5

Bench press 300 lbs. 5s x 3

Pullups 4s x 5

Deadlift 265 lbs. 3s x 5

Fat Gripz hammer curls 3s x 8

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Lower Body Rehab - Week 1, Day 2

4 March 2015


Weighted back raises 3s x 10-12 (35 lbs.)

Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275 lbs. 3s x 5 - belted up this time

Mid-shin rack pull 265 lbs. 3s x 5

Glute-ham raise 3s x 7-8

Seated leg curl 2s x 10

Lever squat machine 2s x 8

Ab machine - around five sets

20 minutes cycling. Getting that cardio train on.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Bench Press Week 4

3 March 2015


Bench press 335 lbs. x 5 singles, SlingShot (R) 355 lbs. x 3

Back off sets 305 lbs. 2x2, 275 lbs. 2s x 5

Seated cable row 1s x 8 warmup, then 4s x 6 heavy

Seated DB press 4s x 6 (55s)

Barbell preacher curls 6s x 6

Skipped the dips this time.

20 minutes cycling.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Lower Body Rehab - Week 1, Day 1

2 March 2015


Weighted back raise 3s x 15

Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275 lbs. 3s x 5

Mid-shin rack pull 135x5, 225x5, 260 lbs. 3s x 5

Shrug 315x8, 365x8, 385 lbs. 2s x 8

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6-8

Adductor/abductor machine 2s x 12 each

20 minutes cycling.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Rack Pull World Championships

The pain is all but gone now and what I do feel is mostly tightness. I was able to squat some light-moderate weight pain-free and will proceed with structured sets and reps next week, start at 50% of my 1RM and add 5% once those weights start to feel light. So my rehab lower body program will be:

Weighted back raise - aim for sets of 15, once I can do 3x15 add 5 lbs. and start at 10
Squat 3sx5
Mid-shin rack pull 3sx5 - very careful on these, will not go heavy
Shrug 3sx8
Glute-ham raise 3s x 6-8
Leg press 3sx10
Adductor and abductor machine 3s x 10 each
Maybe some leg curls/extensions


23 February 2015

Milestone workout - was finally able to get some squatting and rack pulling done, all with zero pain.

Back warmup:

Back raise 4s x 15

KB swing 3s x 15

Squat 135x8, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 235x5

Rack pull below knee 135x5, 185x5, 235x 5, 255x5

Will do some heavier shrugs next time.

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Leg extension 3s x 10


24 February 2015

100% day, everything felt great.

Bench press 330 lbs. 5 sets x 1 - felt incredibly light and fast.

Bench press w. SlingShot (R) 350 lbs. x 3

Back-off sets 300 lbs. 3s x 2, 270 lbs. 2s x 5

Seated cable rows 1s x 8 warmup, then 4s x 6, went pretty heavy on these too

Neutral-grip pullups 2s x 8 - for no particular reason

Seated DB press 4s x 6 (50s)

Dips 3s x 10

Preacher curls 6s x 6


25 February 2015

Heavy squat day. Managed to work up to 285x3, Dan Green better watch out.

Also looks like I'm in the 'bench press 50 pounds more than squat' club now. Better gain 100 lbs. BW, shave my head, grow a goatee and practice scowling.

In other news, looks like I dropped 6-7 pounds of BW over the past week or so, which is good, but also kinda unusual? Under 210 now.

Back raises 1sx15 unweighted, 2s x 12 weighted (25 lbs.)

Squat 135x8, 185x5, 235x5, 255x5, 285x3

Felt okay, but didn't want to push it.

Rack pull (below knee) 135x10, 225x5, 245x5, 275x5

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Leg press 2s x 10 warmup, 3s x 10 working

Lever squat (Freemotion) 3s x 8, plus partial reps


26 February 2015

Back raises 3s x 15

Light bench press 245 lbs. 4s x 5, with medium-close grip

Pulldowns 4s x 6, did a lot of pullups this week so had to go lighter on these than usual

Standing front press 135x2, 185x1, 200 lbs. x 5 singles

These felt nice and easy. Used wrist wraps, but no belt.

Standing tricep extensions 4s x 10-12

Seated barbell curl 6s x 6-8


28 February 2015

Back raises 3s x 15

Squat 135x8, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 275x5, 275x3, 300x3

Mid-shin rack pull 135x10, 225x5, 245x5, 255x5

Shrug 315x8, 365 lbs. 3s x 8

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6-7

Leg press 2s x 10 warmup, 2s x 10 working

Abductor machine 4s x 10-12

Glute machine 1s x 8

20 minutes cycling


1 March 2015

Bench press 295 lbs. 5s x 3

Pullups 5x5

Standing front military press 135x5, 145x5, 150x5, 150x3

Incline DB curl 3s x 10

Standing OH tricep extensions 3s x 12