9/12/11-monday- squat day
squats-
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x3
210x3
235x5
trap bar deadlifts-
225x5x5
bench-
45x5
135x5
175x5x5
comments- squats were pretty hard today just didnt have as much energy and both assistance exercises were light and really explosive with not that much rest between sets.
9/14/11-wed.-mil press day
squats-
165x5x5
mp-
45x5
65x5x2
95x3
110x3
125x9
weighted pullups
10(pounds)x5x4(sets)
bodyweight pullups-
6,8 reps
comments- was still pretty sore from monday, but got the work in today squats went alright could pushed out a couple more on the last set of military press but decided not to push it too far. pullups felt ehh not as good as expected but its just assistance work so its fine.
9/16/11-friday-deads day
squats-
165x5x3(sets)
165x10x1
deadlifts-
working sets:
285x5
320x3
360x5
comments-that was all i did this workout because i had to get to work for an 11 hr shift. but despite the very very short rest periods the deadlifts weren’t that bad if i had proper time to train and rest for this day i would have had an easy 8 on the 360lb. deads. well can’t make excuses sooo next time ill just make sure i make time for enough time in the gym
9/17/11-saturday-extra workout
leg press-
2pps x 20
4pps x 20
6pps x 20
7pps x 8
Rdl’s-
135x15
155x10
175x10
195x6
squats(close stance)-
135x12
135x15
135x20
comments- So today was supposed to be a day off but because yesterday was such a short workout and i had no workout today i felt the need to do an extra workout for one of my weaker body parts, legs. This was a workout meant more for hypertrophy than anything else. this won’t be an every week thing, just every once in a while i will sporadically throw in an extra day for legs, my main goal though is and will still be to get stronger in the main lifts from week to week. oh and the close stance squats were to hit the quads more since i have been doing very wide squats for the past few months. I still went ass to grass on these squats tho while pausing at the bottom every rep my quads were on fire from this is was great.
9/19/11- monday- bench day
squats
175x5x5
bench
45x5x2
95x5
135x3
165x5
185x3
210x8
31 pullups(few sets)
meadows rows
25x10
50x10
75x6
comments- The squats were really easy even though i’m still sore as hell from saturday’s workout. I suck at bench as usual, but slowly not sucking as bad. and I gave meadows rows a try named after john meadows. the weight i used is just the 25 lb plates i put on there wasnt counting the bar. I kind of liked these, but next time i am going to pull a bench over to where i do them so i have something to lean against.
9/21/11-wed.-squat day
squats
195x5
220x3
245x3
deadlifts
245x5x5
incline dumbbell press
40’s x 10
80’s x 15, 12
9/23/11-friday- squat/press day
squat
185x2
235x1
285xM
military press
135x1
155x1
175xM
push press
175x3x1(set)
pullups- lots of them
dumbbell rows
50x10
110x8x2(sets)
deadlifts/shrugs
135x10
225x10x2
comments- So even though i did squats on wednesday my legs felt no soreness at all today so i decided i wanted to go for a max on squats, 235 was an easy single leading up to the 285 which i considered a miss because I only count it as a PR if i go ass to grass like i always do on squats and i was training by myself and i’m pretty sure i just barely hit parallel on this squat. so since i didnt get the depth that i wanted i will call it a miss, so this really pissed me off, then it was on to military press where i also was going for a max, i missed 175 so i decided to do one set of push presses with 175 for a super easy 3 reps on it. still pissed off about the squat at this point so i decided to do my like 7 or so sets of pullups, and then hammer away on myself with the dumbbell rows and the deadlifts/shrugs. the deadlifts and shrugs were done with 0 rest, i would finish my deadlifting reps and then stand there and do shrugs with the weight. really hoping that this little extra work at the end helped my grip at least, if anything it helped my mental toughness since i was shot
Hey, some advice. When I miss PRs, I got for a reverse pyramid. I go to whatever weight I hit last, hit the same reps, then drop 15-20 lbs, do one more rep than that, and then do another drop and add a rep. So, for example for your squat, I’d do this:
235 x1
220 x2
205 x3
I know it’s not too applicable in this situation, but for other times you do this, go for it.
thats a great idea! thanks man i will do that either that or just one back off a set like ive seen you do in your log i believe.
9/26/11- monday- deadlift day
squats-
135x5x2(sets)
135x30(reps)
deadlifts-
250x5
285x5
325x1
365x1x2(sets)
incline db bench-
50x10
60x10
70x10
80x12
comments- today was the first day wave 4, week 1 for me. I did just 1 rep with the 325 bc i wanted to pull a couple heavy singles. i was gonna go up in weight on the last set but decided 365 felt heavy enough today so i did 2 sets of it. the last set of squats was a rep max with 135 just to see how many i could do with it, was pretty happy with 30 reps. and i was gonna do flat bench but its monday and so of course those were all in use so i decided to just do incline bench and get outta there. everything felt pretty good.
9/28/11-wed- bench day
squats
135x5x5
bench
145x5
165x5
190x9
kroc rows
50x10
80x5
100x10
pullups-50total
tricep pressdowns/lat pulldowns- lots
comments- I was aiming for 11 on the 190 but 9 is alright. decided to add in a little more accessory work with the pullups, pressdowns, and pulldowns. really got a lot of blood into my lats and arms with those exercises.
9/30/11-friday-squat/mil. press day
squat
175x5
200x5
225x8
mil press
90x5
105x5
120x9
ASSISTANCE
pullups-100totalreps(several sets)
GHR variation on situp bench-3x10(bodyweight)
facepulls-4x20ish reps
comments- today was a pretty good workout i got the reps i wanted to reach on the last set of squats and military press with ease. Also doing glute ham raises on a situp bench was hard but awesome i will be doing these two times a week to help bring up my hamstring strength. the pullups and facepulls felt pretty easy today as well. the lats and rear delts got a good pump in them.
9/30/11-friday-squat/military press day
squat
175x5
200x5
225x8
press
90x5
105x5
120x9
pullups-100
GHR’s on situp bench-3x10
facepulls-4x20ish
comments- everything felt great today, expecting some good soreness in the hamstrings tommorrow.
Great training in here man! Keep up the hard work. Youll smoke that squat soon enough!
thanks man. I am going to try to get a video camera soon too so expect to see some videos up within the next month or so. Hoping my squat will catch up to my deadlift with in the next year or so.
10/1/11-saturday
no training today just wanted to say ive been walking like i got pounded in the ass all day because of the glutehamraises i did yesterday for the first time ever, it hurts so good!
10/3/11-monday-deadlift day
squat
135x5x5
deadlift
275x3
315x3
345x6(pr? maybe)
415x1(definitely a new PR!)
bench
135x5x5
comments- well my hamstrings were still pretty sore today so i was unsure about deadlifting but i went for anyway bc my friend tony was there to deadlift with me. and i’m glad i did bc i hit 415 for a new max! i used just chalk and i deadlift conventional if anyone was wondering. Could anyone tell me the benefits of using a belt to deadlift/squat? would my max deadlift go up just from using a belt alone?
Nice job on the deadlift PR! 415 is awesome.
If I were more experienced, I would try to give you advice on the belt, but I can’t explain it that well. I do have an econo belt from EliteFTS that I use for squats and deadlifts. There are a lot of videos and articles out there describing how to use a belt and why. I’d recommend trying a belt at least.
thanks kday, its funny that you mentioned the econo belt from Elitefts bc thats the belt i plan on getting, cant wait to use it.
10/5/11-wednesday-bench
squat
135x10x5(sets)
bench
155x3
180x3
200x1
245x1
285xMiss
incline dumbbell press
80’sx10x5(sets)
pullups
40 pullups(different grips)
kroc rows
80x5
100x12
100x10
comments- bench went pretty good, i tried for 285 but only got it about half way up before my spotter had to grab it. I will try 285 again in a month or so. incline presses were easy as were the squats. and kroc rows weren’t as high of reps as i would have liked bc i did them at the end of the workout after doing pullups. but i’ll still take 12 and 10 reps. I might start using my fat grips again to work on my grip.