Training - Incline Press

29 November 2012


Incline bench press 205 lbs. x 3 sets x 6, 1 set x 7 - next time bump up to 210.

T-bar rows 2 plates x 15, 3 plates x 15, 3 plates + 25 x 12, 4 plates x 8

Standing OH press 135x5, 155x5, 185x2, 205x1

Lat pulldown, light, 1 set x 20 reps, 1 set x 15 reps

Rubber band pushdowns x 20, x 15, x 15

EZ bar curl, elbows/back/had against wall 4 sets

Concentration curl 3 sets x 6

Training - Squat

27 November 2012


High-bar close-stance back squat:

bar x a bunch - 135x8 - 185x3 - 235x5 - 255x3 - 290x3 - 335x5 - 385x5 - 455 x 3 sets x 4

Leg press:

5 plates x 10
6 plates x 10
7 plates + 10s x 10
7 plates + 10s + 25s x 6

Glute-ham raise 3 sets x 8

Weighted incline ab board situps x 4 sets

Leg extensions 2 sets x 10, 1 set x 8, heavy

Back extensions 2 sets x 10

Adductor machine 1 set x 20

Standing calf raise 1 set x 20 w. stack

Training - Incline Press

26 November 2012


Incline press 135x5, 190 lbs. x 3 sets x 6, 1 set x 9

Seated chest-supported row, 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Standing BTN military press 115 lbs. x 12, 125 lbs. x 12, 125 x 10

Pullups 3 sets x 5

Rubber band tricep pushdowns 3 sets x 15-20 (huge loop, not sure about exact resistance but it was tough)

This might be my tricep exercise of choice for a while, superb pump and zero joint pain.

EZ bar curl with elbows against wall 3 sets x 10

 Concentration curl 3 sets x 6

Inclines felt strong, will be upping the weight to 205 lbs. next time. I'm hoping to hit something like 250 lbs. for sets of 6 over the next couple of months, we'll see how it goes. Right pec/shoulder felt better, not sure if it's placebo effect or not.

Training - Deadlift

24 November 2012


Deadlift:

135x10 - 225x5 - 315x2 - 365x1 - 415x1 - 435x1 - 485xfail - 345x5

Shrugs 455 lbs. x 8, x 8, x 5

Glute-ham raise 3 sets

Weighted incline ab board situps 3 sets

Training - Press (Flat and Incline Bench)

23 November 2012


Tried to bench press again and the pain is still there. I've decided to drop the flat bench press for two months and concentrate on getting my pathetic incline press numbers up, using the same twice-per-week, sets of six approach which has worked well on the bench press. This will provide the necessary break for my injured pec muscle and increase shoulder strength - or at least that's the idea.

I can still bench press with this pain as it's not too bad, but I'd rather not take chances. I feel like I gained a lot of strength in this second cycle: last time my max for the sets of 6 was 280 lbs., this time I ended the cycle at 295, with a corresponding increase in my triples and doubles. However, seeing as I didn't max out after this cycle, I'll never know.

Bench press: 135x8 - 185x3 - 225x3 - 275x2 - 315x1 - 335xfail (a weight I was doing doubles with last time - definitely time to try something else).

Incline press 135x6 - 185 x 3 sets x 6, x 1 set x 7

Seated low pulley rows 4 sets x 10

Standing front press - worked up to 185 lbs. x 1, but was very tired at this point

Pullups 3 sets x 5

Flat bench flyes 1 set x 15, light

EZ bar curls w. elbows against wall 4 sets

DB skullcrushers - 55x10, 60x10, 65x10

Incline bench seated curls 3 sets x AMAP

Sample Non-Weight-Training Day

20 November 2012


Today I did some running and cable pulls. I normally don't log this stuff, but this is what a non-weight-training day looks like:

Front chest pull 2 sets x 12 (enough resistance to barely finish each set)
Overhead downward pull 2 sets x 12
Behind-the-neck tricep extension 2 sets x 10
Bicep curl 2 sets x 12
Front lateral raise 1 set x 10

Then run ca. 2.5 miles, stretching and foam rolling. Lots of painful areas to work on.

Training - Light Press

19 November 2012


Did a light upper body workout to prime the (still painful) pec/shoulder for maxing out over the weekend.

Incline press - 3 sets of 6 with 155, a few sets of 5-3 reps with 185. And even that was painful. However, I feel lime some progress is being made.

Standing BTN press 120 lbs. x 2 sets x 12, 1 set x 10

Pullups 4 sets x 5

Lateral raise / bent-over raise supersets - 2 sets x 20 (1 set = 20 lat raises + 20 bent raises)

EZ bar curls with elbows against wall 5 sets x 10

Cable pushdowns 3 sets x 10

Training - Legs

18 November 2012


High-bar close-stance squat:

135x8 - 185x3 - 225x3 - 255x3 - 275x4 - 315x5 - 365x5 - 445x3sx5

Took forever to get in the groove.

Leg press: 10 reps with 5, 6, 7 plates

Hack squat x a bunch of reps with 1 plate on each side

Glute-ham raise 3 sets x 8

Leg extension 3 sets x 10

Random hamstring curl 1 set x 10-20

Weighted incline board situps 5 sets

Training - Bench Press

15 November 2012


Weak and painful session, managed to hit a few doubles with 335 but the right pec still hurts.

Bench press 315x2, 332x2x2, 335x1, 315x2, 275x4

Incline press 135x8, 185x3x3

Cable pushdowns, 3 sets x 6, heavy

A 50% session.

Back and Biceps Session

14 November 2012


Decided to rest my pec strain one more day, so I did a quick back and biceps session instead. Will bench press tomorrow.

T-bar row 2 plates x 20, 3 plates x 3 sets x 15

Pullups 5x5

Seated low pulley rows 1 set

EZ bar curl with elbows against wall 4 sets (80 lbs. is quite enough for this exercise, did sets of 10)

Face pulls 2 sets x 20

DB concentration curls 3-4 sets, light

Training - Deadlift

12 November 2012


Felt shitty tonight, went for another PR and missed.

135x10 - 225x5 - 315x2 - 385x1 - 415x1 - 435x1 - 485xfail

Back-off 355x2sx3

Bent-over row from floor 135x10 - 225x3 - 235x2sx3

Shrug 365x6 - 415x6 - 455 lbs. x 8, x 6, x 6

Glute-ham raise 3 sets

Weighted incline board situps 2 sets

Training - Bench Press

11 November 2012


Bench press 330 lbs. x 4 sets x 2, 1 set x 1, back-off 245 lbs. x 6

One-arm DB row (100 lbs.) 3 sets x 6

Seated Smith machine BTN press 4 sets

Straight-arm pulldown 3 sets x 6

Tricep pushdowns 3 sets, heavy

DB concentration curls 4 sets x 6

Training - Squat

8 November 2012


High-bar close-stance back squat:

135x8-200x5-230x5-260x5-315x5-385x5-440x3sx5r

Good morning to power rack pins 135 lbs. x 2s x 5r

Leg press: 5 plates x 10 - 6 plates x 10 - 7 plates x 10

Glute-ham raise, weighted, 2 sets

Weighted incline board situps 4 sets

Training - Bench Press

7 November 2012


Bench press 320 lbs. x 5 sets x 3

Close-grip BP 245 lbs. x 5

Straight-arm pulldown 4 sets x 6

One-arm DB row 105 lbs. x 2 sets x 6

DB skullcrushers (75) 3 sets x 8

Barbell curl 65 lbs. x 6 sets x 8, concentration curl 1 set x 6

Training - Pull (PR)

5 November 2012


Deadlift:

135x10 - 225x5 - 315x2 - 385x1 - 415x1 - 440x1 (almost fail) - 480x1 (PR) - 345x2x3

The single with 440 lbs. almost stalled around knees, so the 480 lb. pull makes me very happy.

Bent-over rows, each rep from floor: 135x5, 225x5, 235x2x3

Seated DB shrugs (115s) 3 sets x 15

Leg curl 2 sets x 10, heavy

Weighted incline board situps 3 sets

Training - Bench Press

4 November 2012

Bench press: 320 lbs. x 2 sets x 3, 3 sets x 2

I'm just not recovering on time, was still sore from the last bench press session. Not a bad effort overall, but definitely not the 5x3 I was looking for. Next week I'm switching to sets of 3 - will start at 325 and take it from there.

Smith machine seated BTN press x 4 sets (last set was sort of heavy, didn't count the weight as I don't know how much the bar weighs)

Straight-arm pulldown 3 sets x 6

Low pulley row 2 sets x 10, 1 set x 8

DB skullcrushers (75s) 3 sets x 8

Seated alternating curls 3 sets

Training - Squat

2 November 2012


High-bar close-stance squat:

Warmup x a few sets - 315x5 - 365x5 - 435x3x5

Belt on last 4 sets. Burned the quads nicely, but I'm not sure if I can keep cranking up the weight on these or revert to my regular low-bar stance.

Leg press 10 reps with: 5 plates - 6 plates - 7 plates (done)]

Glute-ham raise 3 sets x 6-8

Weighted incline board situps 4 sets, heavy