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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

29 May 2013


Deadlift:

135x10 - most reps were done sumo
225x5 - all sumo
315x2 - one sumo, one conventional
375x2 - same here
395x2 - both conventional
425x3

Speed squat 235 lbs. 6s x 2 on the minute

T-bar row x 15, x 12, x 10, x 10

Machine shrug x 20, x 15, x 10

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Date Announced For World Powerlifting Championships of Powerlifting

Lately I have been toying with the idea of doing a mock-meet toward the end of the year. Run a peaking cycle for 2-3 months, weigh myself, then hit the gym and test my maxes in the three powerlifts, all on the same day. There are meets in my area once in a blue moon, but they generally involve a couple hours of driving, each way, and fees to enter and lift against one or two competitors, depending on the weight class. Essentially one could be outlifted by 400 pounds, finish last and still snag second place - much more rewarding to lift alone, dominate the competition and win gold :) So today I was trolling the interwebz as usual and came up with the following idea:

Date: Will coincide with the IPF World Championships, 9 November 2013 (Saturday)
Weigh-in: Saturday morning to be extra fair - there is only one weight category (Fat), so no 24-hour weigh-in nonsense
Sequence of lifts: squat - bench press - deadlift (- maybe overhead strict press)
Gear: belt will be allowed, and knee wraps (because I have some), perhaps the SlingShot for a fourth attempt at the bench press
All attempts will be filmed and televised via YouTube and HaaRHT Prime

Should be an interesting little test. I will run the modified Texas Method for a few more months and switch to something more volume-based closer to November. I'm thinking Korte 3x3 or a "light" version of Sheiko. If this turns out to be fun, I'll make it an annual event, or do a bench-only "competition" next year.

BRB acting like Cartman in Eric's Tea Party.

Upper Body Light

28 May 2013


Close-grip BP 235 lbs. x 12 just for the hell of it, still taking it light and easy on BP volume

Standing military press 180 lbs. x 3s x 5

Seated pulley row 4s x 6

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5

Dips 3s x 12

EZ bar curl against wall 4s x 5

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 12

Seated two-DB Zottmann curls 3s x 6-8 - need to go lighter on these

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Some Squatting

26 May 2013


I decided to do the volume paused squats today and leave the leg presses and Romanian deadlifts for another session. Also worked a bit on bottoms-up squats and partial squats with top hold. I feel like the absence of heavy squatting lately has deconditioned my back to heavy weights and now I feel wobbly even when unracking mediocre weights which I used to squat with ease. So some midsection strengthening is in order.

Warmup leg ext. 1 x 10, abductor/adductor machine 1 x 20 each

Paused back squat 300 lbs. x 3s x 5

Bottom position squat 225x3, 245x3, 275x1

Bottom position half-squat with 10-second hold at top (no belt) - worked up to 475x1, then missed 505 twice. Need to work on these more - 505 isn't even 100% of my 1RM.

Ab wheel rollouts 3 sets x 10

Leg extensions 2s x 10

Upper Body - Heavy Day

25 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 long pause, then 305x2, 315x2, 335x2

Bench press with SlingShot 335x4

Seated low pulley row 6 sets x 6

Push press 225 lbs x 2, x2, x1 - suck at push pressing, on the third set I totally missed the dip and ended up pressing the weight up without the "push". No wonder my best strict press and my best push press are about the same.

Chinups 3s x 5

EZ bar curls x10, x8, x5, x5

DB skullcrushers 3 x 10

Seated DB curls 3s x 10

Rope pushdowns 3s x 10

Friday, May 24, 2013

Legs - Heavy

22 May 2013

Did about 45 minutes of combined running and cycling. Cardio FTW (not).

23 May 2013

Paused squat up to 335 x 3 - decent pauses

Regular squat 405x3, 435x3, unracked 470 but it felt strangely heavy, so I didn't try squatting it.

In retrospect, I should have cut out either the set with 405 or 435. Paused squats are still really light, but they take a lot out of me and I feel strangely wobbly on the regular squats afterwards.

Speed deadlifts on the minute, 285 lbs. x 10 x single, eight of these done sumo-style

Glute-ham raise 3s x 6-8

HammerStrength shrugs 2s x 20, then three progressively heavier sets for 15, 12, 10 reps

Weighted back raise 3s x 10

Light leg extensions 2s x 15

Ab wheel rollout from knees 3s x 10

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Volume Day Pressing

21 May 2013


So I went to see the doc last week, I might have tendinitis in my right pec (where it attaches to the sternum). Much better than the tear I was dreading, but I will have to back off the bench press for a while. Bench pressing twice a week gives me great results in terms of weight lifted, but also seems to bring on nagging little injuries like this one. So for the time being I'll just do the low volume heavy sets on intensity day and ditch the BP on volume days.

That said, I did sneak in a set of close-grips today :)

Close-grip BP 225 lbs. x 10

Standing military press 175 x 5, 180 x 2 sets x 5 - usually I do these after benching, today they felt super easy

Pullups 1s x 5, neutral-grip 3s x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 1s x 8, 2s x 5

DB skullcrushers 3 x 10

Seated DB curl x 10, x 10, x 8

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Legs - Volume

20 May 2013


Paused squat 300 lbs. x 3s x 5

Regular squat 350x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 225 lbs x 3s x 5

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10

Weighted situps 2s x 8, hanging leg raises 1s x 8

Leg extension 2s x 10

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Pressing - Heavy

18 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 (long pause), then 305x2, 315x2, 325x2

Bench press with SlingShot 325x5, 345x4

Chest-supported row 5s x 8

Push press - went with ascending doubles: 185x2, 205x2, 215x2, 230x1 - failed a second

Neutral grip pullups 3s x 5

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8-10

Barbell skullcrushers 3s x 8

Seated DB curls 1s x 11, upped weight, 2s x 10

Tricep pushdowns 3s x 10

Friday, May 17, 2013

Intensity Day - Lower Body

16 May 2013


Deadlift 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 380x2, 420x3

Mixed sumo and regular reps until the last two sets. 420 was a major grinder, I might be able to do one more jump to 425 but that might be it for triples.

Speed squat sets of 2 on the minute, 225x3, 235x7

Weighted back raises 3 x 10

Glute-ham raises 3 x 6-8

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 8

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Upper Body - Volume

14 May 2013


Paused bench press 275 lbs. x 3s x 5 - this felt less hard than last time

Standing military press 175 lbs. x 5, x 4, x 5 - belted up on last set, presses are starting to get hard

Neutral-grip pullups 3s x 5, chinups 2s x 5

Dips x 12, x 15, x 12

EZ bar curls against wall 3s x 8-10

Barbell skullcrushers 3s x 8

Seated DB curls x12, x 10, x 8

Monday, May 13, 2013

Legs - Volume Day

13 May 2013


Paused squat 300 lbs. x 3 sets x 5 - as with the bench press, I'll keep the weight fixed for a while and focus on getting better and pausing and more explosive out of the 'hole'

Regular squat 350x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 225 lbs. x 3 x 5 - this was sort of heavy

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10, 7p x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 8

Leg extension 3 x 10

Abductor machine 1 x 20

Felt nice and crisp today, reducing the volume from 5x5 to 3x5 seems to be the way to go.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Upper Body - Heavy

11 May 2013


Bench press warmup to 275x2 paused, then 305x2, 310x2, 320x2 - felt easy, will be doing doubles for the next few weeks

Bench press with SlingShot 325x5, 330x3

Push press 225 lbs. x 3s x 2

Neutral-grip pullups 4s x 5

Tate press 3 sets x 10, light weight, first time trying these and didn't feel much in the triceps

EZ bar curl 3 x 8

Friday, May 10, 2013

Leg Training - Heavy

9 March 2013


Paused squat 275x3, 315x3, 335x3 - good pauses this time

Regular squat 370x3, 410x3, 465x3

Speed deadlifts w. 285 lbs. 10 x singles on the minute

Glute-ham raise 3 x 8

Chest-supported row 3 x 10

That was it, ran out of time.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Upper Body Volume With A Twist

8 May 2013


Instead of my regular moderate sets of 5 I lowered the weight and did paused sets of five instead. The weight was quite light, but did not feel that way at all. Managed quality one-second pauses on all 15 reps, two on a few of them. I will keep the weight the same for the next few weeks and focus on pausing longer and pressing up more explosively.

Paused bench press 275 lbs. x 3 sets x 5

Seated low pulley row, extended-ROM bar 5 x 6

Standing military press 170 lbs. x 3 x 5 - these are easy again, no belt

Neutral-grip pullup 5 x 5

Dips 3 x 12

Barbell skullcrushers 3 x 8

Hammer curls 3 x 10

Seated curls x 12, x 10, x 8

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lower Body Intensity Day

6 May 2013


Warmup/pre-exhaust leg extensions 2 x 10, abductor/adductor 20 reps each

Paused squat 295 lbs. 5x5

Regular squat 345x5, 405x5

Romanian deadlift 215 lbs. 3 x 5

Leg press 4p x 10, 5p x 10, 6p x 10

Weighted situps on incline ab board 3 x 10

Leg extensions 2 x 10

Finished with a bunch of cable crossovers (2 sets x 20) - got some pain in the right pec again :(

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Upper Body Intensity Day

4 May 2013


Weak day today, I can't seem to get three good sessions in a row for some reason.

Bench press warmup to 275x3 (LP), then 305x2, 315x2, 335x2 - not bad, but not as fast as I'd like it to be

Bench press, SlingShot 355x2, 365x2, 375x1

I'll try lowering the volume day bench press weight to something light, like 275, and doing more triples on intensity day, see how that goes.

Push press 185x2, 205x2, 225x2, 235x1 - awful

Pullups 1x5 regular, 3x5 neutral grip

EZ bar skullcrushers 3 x 8

Hammer curls 3 x 8-10

Seated DB curls 3 x 10

Flyes 2 x 15

Friday, May 3, 2013

Lower Body - Heavy Day

2 May 2013


Speed squats 10 x 2 reps on the minute, 225 lbs. Pretty fast this time round, will bump weight up to 230.

Deadlift 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 415x3, back-off 325x3 sumo

Threw in some sumo reps on the first three sets, still not comfortable with my sumo pulling technique. 415x3 was probably a PR triple, I suck at doing more than 1 rep of deadlifts.

Glute-ham raise 3 x 6

Weighted situps on incline board 3 x 10

Back raises 1 x 10 unweighted, 2 x 10 weighted

Shrug machine 3 sets x 20

Reverse hypers 3 x 6

Chest-supported row 3 x 10