Overhead Press Training - Week 3, Cycle 4

31 March 2011

This week has just been... weak.

Overhead press (no clean):

Warmup 1 set
155 lbs. x 5
175 lbs. x 3
200 lbs. x 3

Behind the neck press 2 sets x 10, x 8

Pullups / chinups 5x5

Close-grip BP 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x3

Incline bench DB curls 4 sets

One-arm KB clean&press - worked up to 78 lbs. x 1 per arm. I'm sure the gym has heavier KBs, but I can't find them; I would like to try the 88 lb-er.

Some wrist flexions/extensions with a thick-handled kettlebell

Syd Devis Course No. 3 - Week 7

Also done today, all at increased resistances:

One-arm FCP, anyhow - resistance used: two orange and one red cable (ORO)

One-arm upward push, anyhow - three greens (GGG)

Two-arms FCP, anyhow - two yellows and a red (YRY)

Two-arms back press, anyhow - GRG

Dislocation, anyhow - one orange, one red

Overhead downward pull, knuckles out - YYY

Two-arms upward front chest pull, legs apart - one red, one yellow

One-arm military press - YRY

Five reps each.

Squat Training - Week 3, Cycle 4

29 March 2011

Back squat:

Warmup 4 sets
325 lbs. x 5
365 lbs. x 3
405 lbs. x 3 (felt heavy)

I think I might have overdone it with the partials in previous weeks, my entire body seems to protest as soon as I get under the bar. Hit around three more reps with the 405 but they were not deep enough.

Close-stance high-bar super deep squat:

190 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 3
250 lbs. x 4

Leg press 3 sets

Leg extension 3 sets

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 sets

Bench Press Training - Week 3, Cycle 4

28 March 2011

Bench press:

Warmup 3 sets
240 lbs. x 5
270 lbs. x 3
300 lbs. x 2

My bench press has definitely stalled. I used to get 4-6 reps with this weight before, so it is in fact going down (the two reps I got in today were not done with the best form either). So I will be switching over to an Ed Coan-inspired bench routine for the next 13 weeks to see if I can kick-start some progress. I will be keeping the bottom-position bench press in the new program.

To be honest, I have lost over 10 lbs. since my benching glory days when I put up 353 lbs. (160 kgs) in December. I have often read that weight loss affects one's pressing, but I didn't know it was this dramatic.

I am also looking forward to starting a new program. The 5/3/1 has done a lot for all my lifts and it is definitely something I'll stick with in the long term, but 18 months is long enough. If I manage to make progress on the Coan bench routine I will go back to 5/3/1 for the bench press for a while.

Other lifts will still be trained using the 5/3/1 template, as they are progressing nicely.

Bottom-position bench press:

195 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 3
250 lbs. x 4 reps (this, on the other hand, felt so easy I had to re-check if I'd misloaded the bar)

Some pin presses from sticking point - light weight

Pullups/chinups 7 x 5

DB bench presses - worked up to 105 lbs. x 2

Bent-over row 135x5, 185x5, 235x5, 255x4

Olympic bar bicep curl 4 sets

Olympic bar skullcrushers 3 sets

DB hammer curls 4 sets

Tricep pushdowns 3 sets

Skipped the weighted ab work - will be done tomorrow.

Deadlift Training - Week 2, Cycle 4

26 March 2011

Deadlift:

Warmup 2 sets
285 lbs. x 3 (double OH grip)
325 lbs. x 3 (2 reps DOH)
365 lbs. x 9

Rack pulls - only managed up to 515 lbs. x 1 today. I think I should lay off the heavy partials for the time being, take a few weeks off then hit them again.

Weighted back raise 3 sets x 10

Leg curl 3 sets x 10

A few light sets of squats

1 set hanging leg raise

Weight as of this morning - 200.8 lbs.

Overhead Press Training - Week 2, Cycle 4

25 March 2011

Clean&Press:

Warmup 1 set
145 lbs. x 3
165 lbs. x 3
185 lbs. x 8 reps

Behind-the-neck press 2 sets x 8 (light weight - getting back into this exercise and it feels very hard)

Close-grip bench press - worked up to 295 lbs. x 2, which was a pleasant surprise

Incline bench DB curl 4 sets

Concentration curl 2 sets

Kettlebell clean&press - one arm: 35 lbs. x 1, 44 lbs. x 1, 53 lbs. x 1, 62 lbs. x 1, 70 lbs. x 1, 78 lbs. x 1

Weighted ab work 3 sets

Squat Training - Week 2, Cycle 4

23 March 2011

Back squat:

Warmup 3 sets
300 lbs. x 3
340 lbs. x 3
380 lbs. x 5 reps

Close-stance high-bar deep squat:

185 lbs. x 3
210 lbs. x 3
235 lbs. x 4

Skipped the partials today, did some extra leg work instead:

Bent-knee good mornings 3 sets

Leg press 3 sets

Leg extensions 3 sets

SOme kettlebell swings and snatches

Hanging leg raises 1 set

Bench Press Training - Week 2, Cycle 4

22 March 2011

Bench press:

Warmup 2 sets
225 lbs. x 3
255 lbs. x 3
285 lbs. x 3

Bench press is still lagging.

Bottoms-up bench press:

185 lbs. x 3
210 lbs. x 3
235 lbs. x 3

Rack presses - did not feel like doing super-heavy lockouts, so I did presses from the sticking point instead. Worked up to 305 lbs. x 1, which was a pleasant surprise, having in mind my sub-par bench pressing earlier.

Chinups 7 sets x 5 (did these instead of pullups as I don't use this variation much)

DB bench presses 3 sets (60 x 10, 85 x 10, 100 lbs. x 5)

Bent-over rows 135 x 10, 185 x 5, 235 x 5, 255 x 5, 265 lbs. x 3

Olympic bar bicep curls 3 sets, cheat curls 2 sets

Olympic bar skullcrushers 5 sets

DB hammer curls 4 sets

Tricep pushdowns 3 sets

Incline ab board situps, weighted, 4 sets

Weekend Training - Syd Devis Course No. 3, Week 6

Over the weekend:

One-arm FCP, anyhow - resistance used: three orange cables (OOO)

One-arm upward push, anyhow - two greens and a yellow (GYG)

Two-arms FCP, anyhow - two yellows and an orange (YOY)

Two-arms back press, anyhow - GOG

Dislocation, anyhow - double oranges

Overhead downward pull, knuckles out - YRY

Two-arms upward front chest pull, legs apart - double reds

One-arm military press - triple reds

Ten reps each, all executed with flawless form, will be increasing the resistance next turn and starting at 5 reps again.

Deadlift Training - Week 1, Cycle 4

18 March 2011

Deadlift:

Warmup 2 sets
265 lbs. x 5 (all double overhand)
305 lbs. x 5 (3 DOH)
345 lbs. x 11 reps

Rack pulls - worked up to 585 lbs. x 1. My hands look like raw hamburger :)

Leg curl 3 sets x 10

Weighted back raise 3 sets x 10

Overhead Press Training - Week 1, Cycle 4

17 March 2011

Clean&Press:

Warmup 1 set
135 lbs. x 5
155 lbs. x 5
175 lbs. x 10

Push presses and behind-the-neck jerks - just a few light sets

Pullups 5x5

Close-grip bench presses 4 sets, worked up to a 275 lb. single

Incline bench DB curls 4 sets

Concantration curls 3 sets

Olympic bar skullcrushers 3 sets

Weighted situps on incline ab bench 4 sets

Squat Training - Week 1, Cycle 4

15 March 2011

Back squat:

Warmup 3 sets
275 lbs. x 5
315 lbs. x 5
355 lbs. x 10 reps

High-bar close-stance squat:

170 lbs. x 5
195 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 6

Quarter-squat - worked up to 525 lbs. x 1 this time.

Leg press machine 3 sets

Back extension machine 3 sets x 10

KB swings x 15, x 10 w/ 35 lbs.

Bench Press Training - Week 1, Cycle 4

14 March 2011

Bench press:

Warmup 1 set
205 lbs. x 5
240 lbs. x 5
270 lbs. x 6 reps

Bottoms-up bench:

170 lbs. x 5
195 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 5

Rack lockouts - worked up to 475 lbs. x 1

Pullups 7 sets x 5 reps

Bent-over rows 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 235 x 2 sets x 5

Assistance work for chest - dips 1 set x 10, DB chest flys 2 sets x 10

Olympic bar curls 3 sets plus 2 sets power curls

Olympic bar skullcrushers 3 sets x 5

DB hammer curls 4 sets

Weighted situps on incline ab bench 4 sets

Syd Devis Course No. 3 - Week 5

12 March 2011

Saturday morning cable pulls:

One-arm FCP, anyhow - resistance used: three orange cables (OOO)

One-arm upward push, anyhow - two greens and a yellow (GYG)

Two-arms FCP, anyhow - two yellows and an orange (YOY)

Two-arms back press, anyhow - GOG

Dislocation, anyhow - double oranges

Overhead downward pull, knuckles out - YRY

Two-arms upward front chest pull, legs apart - double reds

One-arm military press - triple reds

Got nine reps on all of them, except the one-arm upward push on which I repeated the 8 reps I didn't get last time.

Assistance exercise - bicep curl (ROR) x 10 reps each arm

Deadlift Training - Week 3, Cycle 3

11 March 2011

Deadlift:

Warmup 2 sets
300 lbs. x 5 (all double OH)
340 lbs. x 3 (first rep DOH)
380 lbs. x 8 reps (nice and strong)

Rack pulls: worked up to 545 lbs. x 1

Leg curl 3 sets x 10

Weighted back raise 3 sets x 10

Hanging leg raises 1 set x 10

Bodyweight as of this morning - 199.4 lbs. First time below 200 for some time.

Overhead Press Training - Week 3, Cycle 3

10 March 2011

Clean & Press:

Warmup 2 sets
150 lbs. x 5
170 lbs. x 3
195 lbs. x 5

Felt weak today, also like I'm coming down with a cold, so skipped the partials. Instead I did:

Push presses - messed around with a few singles, tried to hit 235 lbs. and failed

Behind-the-neck jerks - first time doing this exercise, managed 200+ lbs. but also almost wrenched my shoulders out of their sockets. Will definitely be revisiting this in the future.

Pullups/chinups 5x5
Close-grip bench press - worked up to 280 lbs. x 1

Biceps work - 7 sets ov various exercises

Hopefully will feel better tomorrow for the deadlifts.

Squat Training - Week 3, Cycle 3

8 March 2011

Back squat:

Warmup 4 sets
315 lbs. x 5
355 lbs. x 3
395 lbs. x 5 reps

Partials are working, I walked out the 395 and felt solid and confident under the bar.

Close-stance super-deep squat:

190 lbs. x 5
215 lbs. x 3
240 lbs. x 4 reps

Squat lockouts - worked up to a single with 565 lbs. doing mostly triples and four reps. Used a belt only when I got past 455.

Leg press: 3 plates with super-slow negatives x 3 sets x 5 reps

Good mornings: 135 lbs. x 5, 185 lbs x 5, 205 lbs. x 3

1 set hanging leg raises

Bench Press Training - Week 3, Cycle 3

7 March 2011

Bench press:

Warmup 2 sets
235 lbs. x 5
265 lbs. x 3
295 lbs. x 2 reps

Bottoms-up bench press:

190 lbs. x 5
215 lbs. x 3
240 lbs. x 3 reps

Bench press lockouts - worked up from 315 x 3 to 475 lbs. x 2 reps. This was pretty tough and I got a bit dizzy from the last set, so did not push it further.

Pullups 7 sets x 5 reps

Dips +45 lbs. x 6 reps, then almost blacked out (this was right after the lockouts) so just hit one unweighted set for 10 reps and called it a day.

Bent-over rows:

135 lbs. x 8
185 lbs. x 5
235 lbs. x 5
255 lbs. x 3

Olympic bar bicep curls 4 sets

Olympic bar skullcrushers 4 sets

Hammer DB curls 4 sets

Mini-Strongman: 8-Year-Old Wrestler Kicks Ass

He sports a mohawk and tosses other kids around like rag dolls!

Hope fame doesn't go to this kid's (or, more likely, his parents') head. If he manages to keep it together, we'll be hearing much more about him in the future.

Definitely inspiring! I added a small bodyweight circuit today, although the plan was to lie around the house slumbering and eating.

Squat
Pushups
Leg Raises
Back Raises

Done at a 2 seconds up - 2 seconds down pace to really burn the muscles. Did 5 sets of this.

Deadlift Training - Week 2, Cycle 3

4 March 2011

Deadlift:

Warmup 2 sets
280 lbs. x 3
320 lbs. x 3
360 lbs. x 10 reps

Rack pull:

315 lbs. x 3
365 lbs. x 2
410 lbs. x 3
455 lbs. x 2
485 lbs. x 1
510 lbs. x 1
525 lbs. x 1

Back raise, weighted, 2 sets x 10

Leg curl 3 sets x 10

BW this morning 201.8 lbs.

Syd Devis Course No. 3 - Week 4

3 March 2011

Struggled to get all the progressons today, my upper body is still fatigued from the pressing session earlier in the day. Still managed to move along nicely:

One-arm FCP, anyhow - resistance used: three orange cables (OOO)
One-arm upward push, anyhow - two greens and a yellow (GYG)
Two-arms FCP, anyhow - two yellows and an orange (YOY)
Two-arms back press, anyhow - GOG
Dislocation, anyhow - double oranges
Overhead downward pull, knuckles out - YRY
Two-arms upward front chest pull, legs apart - double reds
One-arm military press - triple reds

Hit the required eight reps for all exercises except:

One-arm upward push, anyhow - only got 7 with the left arm and did not keep arms properly locked out.

Overhead Press Training - Week 2, Cycle3

3 March 2011

Clean&Press:

Warmup 1 set
140 lbs. x 3
160 lbs. x 3
180 lbs. x 9

Overhead lockouts in the power rack:

185 lbs. x 2
195 lbs. x 2
200 lbs. x 1
205 lbs. x 1
225 lbs. x 2
245 lbs. x 1
255 lbs. x 1
265 lbs. x fail

Close-grip bench press: 135 x 3, 225 x 3, 245 x 3

Close-grip bench press lockouts:

275 lbs. x 3
300 lbs. x 3
315 lbs. x 3
355 lbs. x fail (triceps fried at this point)

Pullups 7 sets x 5

EZ bar curls 4 sets

DB hammer curls 3 sets

Hanging leg raises 1 set x 10

5/3/1 Nutrition

I generally avoid nutritional discussion, but I got some major inspiration from the wisdom of Jim Wendler this morning:

"(On kitchen utensils) First of all, you don't need pots and pans. You need a pot and a pan. The pan is to cook (many) grilled cheese sandwiches. Grilled cheese fucking rules and should be eaten three to four times a day as I've found a direct correlation between being awesome and the uninhibited consumption of grilled cheese.

As for the pot, you need that to cook and sterilize your Fina. That should be a given.

So make sure you have a pan big enough to cook 2-3 grilled cheese at once and a pot big enough to house a massive bottle of Fina."

I'll take a pass on the Fina, but the grilled cheese sounded right on the money this morning. So I had two sandwiches. As for the pot, use it to cook stews, curries and even whole chickens.

How to make grilled cheese in a pan (for the cooking impaired):

Step 1: Take two slices of bread per sandwich.

Step 2: Butter two slices of bread per sandwich.

Step 3: Slice enough cheese.

Step 4: Find a pan. If making more than one sandwich, make sure the slices can fit into the pan with room to spare, otherwise they will not cook properly.

Step 5: Heat the pan.

Step 6: Place slice(s) of bread, buttered side down, into the pan. Place cheese on top of (unbuttered) side of the slice. Place the other slice atop the cheese so that the buttered side is on top.

Step 7: Grill for about a minute and a half, or until frying side is brown and crispy.

Step 8: Flip sandwich over and grill until other buttered side is brown and crispy. Be careful, it will brown much more quickly than the first slice.

Step 9: Eat and enjoy.

Squat Training - Week 2, Cycle 3

1 March 2011

Back squat:

Warmup 4 sets
295 lbs. x 3
335 lbs. x 3
375 lbs. x 8 reps

Close-stance, deep squat:

175 lbs. x 3
200 lbs. x 3
225 lbs. x 5

Quarter-squat:

315 lbs. x 3
385 lbs. x 3
440 lbs. x 3
455 lbs. x 2
475 lbs. x 2
505 lbs. x 2

Leg press:

4 plates x 8
5 plates x 6
6 plates x 4

Good mornings, bent-legged:

135 lbs. x 5
185 lbs. x 5
215 lbs. x 3

One set hanging leg raises x 12