The irony is i lived in the states and Canada previously and have done some monstrous drives in my life as well. 3 hours shouldn’t seem a lot but it does these days. I once drove from Northern cal all the way down to mexico, now that’s a drive.
1 Like
Week 22/52 26th January
Upper/ lower
Upper 2
-
DB incline (2m rest)
18kg DBs x 8
24kg DBs x 8
28kg DBs x 8
32kg DBs x 8
30kg DBs x 10 -
HS seated row (2m rest)
25kg each side x 8
30kg each side x 8
35kg each side x 8
45kg each side x 8
40kg each side x 10 -
Dips (2m rest)
BW plus 25kg x 8
BW plus 15kg x 10 -
Neutral grip pull up (2m rest)
X 6
X 6
These were pathetic!!!
-
Upright row (1m rest)
20kg x 20
20kg x 20
20kg x 15 -
Toe taps (1m rest)
X 8
X 7
X 7 -
Tricep bar Pushdowns (1m rest)
X 20
X 20
X 12 - just hit a wall!!!
Enjoyed the session today. Long term I need to keep dips on my programme. Feeling like a beast with 25kg strapped to me!!!
Anyhow onwards and upwards!
3 Likes
Dem be some strong dips! That’s like 275-280lb with your body weight added.
1 Like
Week 22/52 27th January
Upper/ lower
Lower 2 - very much just made this up today.
- DB RDL
12kg DBs x 8
20kg DBs x 8
26kg DBs x 8
30kg DBs x 8
36kg DBs x 8
42kg DBs x 8
Just went until It was hard.
-
Hack squat - all about the feel of then reps
40kg x 8
60kg x 8
80kg x 8 -
SL leg press seated
65kg x 12
X 12 -
Good girl
100kg x 12
X 11 -
Seated calf raises
40kg x 8
X 8
X 8
X 8 -
Rack chins (palms facing) for my biceps
X 12
X 10
X 8
Then one set of BB curls for 16 reps.
No real plan today, just did what I wanted. Feeling a little lost while cutting. Might change programme completely (move to my bulking programme) and just cut the volume on it a little. Not sure but I feel like I’m planless!
7 Likes
Some people feel the need to change programs when cutting. I’ve always preferred to stick to the same one or just do 2-3x5-6 on the main movements. I like to be able to measure how well I’m holding onto my strength.
If I’m 2lbs down and held onto my 3x5 bench I use that as my progress. I feel like doing that tells my body “Hey, you still need that strength, don’t go throwing away any muscle now boy!”
1 Like
When I’m cutting I do my best to just pick a program that’s close to my default (Meadows for me) and then just stop “caring.” Good days don’t matter, bad days don’t matter. Just show up, get the reps in, do the cardio for the minutes without obsessing over heart rate or effort, and just be a drone for a couple months.
In fact, that’s advice to me and I’m about to get at it.
6 Likes
Week 23/52 30th January
Started my new programme today because I wanted to.
Triple progression
Reach your genetic potential
Pull, push, legs, upper
Pull - all sets are about feeling the mechanical tension in the muscle.
-
1 arm row (straddling the bench like mr Meadows suggests) 2m rest
Warm ups
40kg db x 3 sets of 6 reps -
Lat pull down 2m rest
77kg 3 sets of 8 reps -
Upward row/ high pull
25kg x 12
X 12
X 12
Not sure on these for traps with my form.
-
Hypers
4 sets of 10 reps -
Abs - toe taps
X 10
X 8
X 7
X 6
I’m not improving on these any more so probably need a change.
- Was supposed to do calves and some biceps but the clock in the gym was 10 minutes fast so I left for work before I realised lol
4 Likes
Week 23/52 31st January
Pull/Push/legs/Upper
Push session - focus on mechanical tension, triple progression
- BB Bench (2m rest)
Warm up sets
100kg x 5
90kg x 6
80kg x 8
So i don’t bench for a few weeks prior and my BB bench shoots down!! This is ridiculous!
-
Incline DB press - 2m rest
32kg DBs
x 7
x 6
x 6 -
DB OH Press - 2m rest
18kg DBs x 8
22kg DBS x 8
22kg dbs x 8
Little circuit with 1.3m rest between sets
-
Lat riases
6kg dbs x 20
8kg dbs x 15
8kg dbs x 15 -
Tricep bar pushdowns
7 x 30 reps (way too light)
10 x 20
12 x 15 -
double leg lifts - abs
x 10
x 9
x 9
Feeling bummed about my bench being rubbish. It does seem that if i drop BB bench for a few weeks then it drops off massively. Very frustrating! Maybe a lesson for me for the rest of the year to keep progressing on the main lifts:
Chest
BB Bench
Incline DB press
Shoulders
OH DB press
Back
1 arm row
Lat pull down
Arms
Dips
Pull ups
Legs
hack Squat
DB RDL
6 Likes
Give it a week or two, you didn’t lose anything. All my lifts do the same thing
2 Likes
Week 23/52 2nd February
Pull/Push/legs/Upper
Legs session - focus on mechanical tension, triple progression
-
Hack squat 2m rest
0 x 8
20kg x 8
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
80kg x 8
80kg x 8
80kg x 8 -
Db RDL 2m rest
40kg DBs
X 8
X 8
X 8 -
Leg extensions 1.3m rest
30kg each side
X 12
x 11
x10 -
Good girl/ bad girl superset 1.3m rest
Good - 100kg x 10 x 10
Bad -100kg x 12 x 10 -
Hip thrust machine 1.3m rest
40kg
X 12
X 12
X 12
A different leg session today but legs without squats just arnt that fun. Looking forward to an upper body / arms session tomorrow. Just need to plan it with cognisance of my overall weekly volume.
Was thinking:
Flys
Upper back work?
Chins
Dips
Hammer curl
Tricep extensions
Bicep curl
Db French press
Abs and calves
A nice amount of bro in that!
4 Likes
Going along with your agonist/antagonist theme…
Either Reverse flyes, band Pull-Aparts, or some form of Trap work. I often find programs neglect this muscle and i never understood it.
Were i to have chosen exercises for everything else, I’d have picked the same ones you did.
1 Like
I think this is where goals start mattering. It’s obviously a question of practice, because you didn’t lose muscle or strength in 2 weeks.
So the question is: do you care? Do you want to get bigger and stronger or do you want a bigger bench?
Since the answer is always “both,” and the gap is practice reps, I think you have two fun options:
- Keep bench as part of your main workouts, accepting you’ll kind of have to work around that.
- Put in some relatively non-fatiguing practice reps with bench and gain freedom in your main workouts (somewhat similar concept to DE method). Maybe you kick off a couple of your sessions with 3-5 sets of 3-5 crisp reps at 80%, then get on with your day.
Just my random thoughts.
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Not trying to disagree with anyone, but cutting is where pressing movements go to die. Pair that with a break causing a slight loss in technique and it’s not surprising. The best thing you can do is just not worry about it, keep grinding and you can expect it to come right back when all that extra glycogen and carbs fill your shoulder back up. It is super hard mentally but it WILL come right back.
If it helps, a lad I know in the gyms bench dropped from a 315 to 275 being a struggle in a couple of months’ cut. Around a month after he hit his previous PR weight for 2 or 3 reps at a lower bodyweight.
1 Like
** Week 23/52 3rd February**
Pull/Push/legs/Upper
Upper session - focus on mechanical tension, triple progression
-
Pec Dec SS with Reverse fly - 1.3m rest
Pec Dec
61kg
x 10
x 10
x 10 -
Reverse Fly
47kg
x 10
x 10
x 10 -
Dips - 1.3m rest
25kg x 8
20kg x 8
20kg x 5 -
Rack Chins (palms facing) 1.3m rest
x 10
x 10
x 10 -
Hammer Curls SS with tricep cable extensions - 1m rest
Hammer curls
12kg DBS
x 10
x 10
x 10 -
Tricep extensions
40kg x 10
50kg x 12
60kg x 12 -
DB Curl SS with DB French press - 1m rest
DB Curl
10kg dbs
x 10
x 10
x 10 -
DB French Press
10kg DBs
x 12
x 12
x 12
Will do calves and abs when i get home. Enjoyed the session but didn’t find it too taxing, but maybe my obsession with wanting to feel ‘beat up’ after training isn’t a good thing!
4 Likes
@Andrewgen_Receptors took your advice and did fly and then reverse fly, they do make a good combo! I had upright rows in on back day to hit my traps but might swap them out for shrugs.
@TrainForPain my goals are always do get massssssiveeeee!!! but i feel (maybe incorrectly) that you need to lift big to look big. So in theory my goals of benching and getting ‘swole’ are the same. When i’ve done my 52 week trial i might be proved wrong, but we shall see.
@cdep89 i am 100% on board with this, when i cut my presses seem to drop down, although i will say that i’ve not been cutting very well these past couple of weeks and my DB press seems to be increasing still. So no idea whats going on there.
1 Like
Yeah, but not necessarily on the big 3.
I don’t think they’re conflicting, but they’re obviously not exactly the same because your bench suffers due to lack of practice (technique-dependent) when you’re clearly not losing muscle in a couple weeks.
Anyway, I’m with you that bigger and stronger trend together. If the bench is your preferred movement to drive, I think you’re good to go!
1 Like
Do you mean DB OH Press? From what I can tell you haven’t done it much so there are probably a lot of neurological gains happening each week, your body learning the movement and doing it more efficiently. Apologies if wrong or you meant DB Bench, I just seem to recall you mostly doing incline stuff. Strength gains often come quickly when bringing a new exercise in.
1 Like
Meant flat DB and incline DB, both seem to be increasing although maybe it’s just the consistency of not jumping from just benching to just DBs benching for a while.
2 Likes
** Week 24/52 6th February**
Pull/Push/legs/Upper
Pull session - focus on mechanical tension, triple progression
-
1 arm row - 2m rest
Warm ups
40kg db
X 6
X 7
X 8 -
Lat pull down - 2m rest
80.4kg
X 6
X 6
X 6 -
Straight arm lat pushdown things (can’t remember their proper name) - superset with shrugs 1.3m rest
Straight arms things
45kg
X 12
X 12
X 12 -
Shrugs 4 second hold
28kg DBs
X 12
X 12
X 8 -
Hypers
X 10
X 10
X 9
X 8
Diet has been all over the shop this weekend and even today. Ran out of tuna and chicken so eating 2 pints of milk for lunch with some weerabix!! Need to go shopping urgently!
5 Likes
Eating 2 pints of milk. Gone off is it? 
Did you manage to stay sober for the Six Nations?
1 Like