Saturday, September 3rd
9:00 A.M.
Strongman Training
A. Farmers Walks: 224lbs x 120ft, 244lbs x 120ft, 264lbs x 120ft, 364lbs x 75ft, 404lbs x 75ft
B1. Axel Clean & Press: 115 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5
B2. Reverse Sled Drag: 3 x 60ft @ 200 lbs
C. Keg Load: 2x2 w/ 175lb keg
Keg Loads aside, today was some fun training. I probably could’ve carried more, but my training partner was spent after the 404. Next time I’m wearing some flatter shoes for those, though.
Monday, September 5th
12:00 P.M.
A. Clean & Press: 95x3, 135x3, 155x3, 3x175x3, 155x3, 135x3
B. Thibs’ Lat Pulldowns: 160x8, 180x8, 2x160x8
C. Lateral Raises: 3x10 w/ 25’s
D. BB Shrugs (peak contraction): 135x8, 225x8, 275x8, 295x8, 315x8
E. Close-Grip Bench: 3x135x10
F. Snatch: 95x3, 115x1, 135x1, 155x1
Strongman training took its toll. I was NOT very strong today on clean & press. I’m normally handling 195 with relative ease. Today 175 felt like 205. I guess I just have to continue to do it until my body adapts to that kind of extra work. My friend is having Friday night strongman training sessions regularly, now. So I’ll probably switch my bench day over to Saturday and do strongman on Friday. It’s either that or I need to have one gigantic pressing day on Monday and allow a few days rest between squat/deadlift day and strongman training.
Tuesday, September 6th
5:30 P.M.
A. Squats: 3xBARx3, 135x5, 185x5, 5x235x5
B. Romanian Deadlifts: 4x225x8
C. Speed Squats: 5x115x2
D. Jump Squats: 3x45x10
E. Vertical Jumps: 3x10
The plan with powerlifting squats is a slow, linear progression upward each week until that stalls and then progress even slower. But ultimately, I want to keep pushing forward with these. This week was a 10lb increase over last week. I’mma stay at that progression level for now.
Friday, September 9th
5:00 P.M.
Star Complex - Bench Press - 5 Circuits
–1.) Floor Press: 275 x 3, 4, 3, 3, 3
–2.) Bench Press: 225 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
–3.) Speed Bench: 185 x 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
–4.) Medicine Ball Throws: 12 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
–5.) Plyo Pushups: BW x 8, 7, 10, 10, 10
What do you do when you’re limited on time and want to destroy your horizontal pressing plane? You grab a page out of Thibs’ book. I was feeling this for a day or 2 afterwards. Probably had something to do with only consuming 1 scoop of SWF pre-workout to survive.
It’s really time to stop fucking around with I.F. and go for it for real.
Monday, September 12th
5:30 P.M.
A. Clean & Press: 3xBARx3, 95x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3
B. Standing OHP: 5x185x3
C. BB Shrugs: 225x8, 275x8, 295x8, 315x8
D. Bench Press: 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5, 245x5, 245x4, 245x4, 225x5
E. Seated V-Handle Rows: 150x8, 3x170x8
F1. Close Grip Pushups: 3x15
F2. Weighted Chin-ups: 3 x BW+20 x 6
Most days I try and remind myself at least once to not pay any attention to people around me as I have a bad habit of judging dumbassery. But when one dumbass that doesn’t actually know how to do a Turkish Getup propery is trying to “train” another person to do them, it’s like a train wreck. Couldn’t look away. Normally I’d offer my limited insight to correcting glaring mistakes, but the girl doing the “training” is a bitch. I’d rather like to think she’ll simply hurt herself doing it wrong and then quit the gym.
Oh, yeah, and my workout wasn’t too bad, either. I forgot my BCAA’s to pulse through the workout, though. I think that set me up to feel a little fatigued during the workout psychologically.
P.S. CrossFit sucks
Tuesday, September 13th
5:30 P.M.
A. Parallel Squats: BARx5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 245x4, 245x3, 3x225x5
B. Romanian Deadlifts: 135x8, 225x8, 3x275x8
C. Speed Squats: 5x135x2
D. Jump Squats: 3x45x10
E. Vertical Jumps: 3xBWx10
F. Tire Flipping: 200 lb tire 2x10
I think I’m going to have to readjust to back-to-back high volume days. And I need to eat more in the post workout window since I’m on I.F. The next 2 days are going to be light-to-nothing. Probably just some walking and firefighting drills. Friday will be some strongman training with Ann. She just got some atlas stones, so that’ll be new.
If I can just force-feed myself in the postworkout window, I should have much better recovery between Monday and Tuesday.
Friday, September 16th
7:00 P.M.
A. Farmer Walks - 75 ft: 230x2, 290x2
B. Farmer Holds: 370x45 seconds, 35 seconds
C. Stone Loads: 160lb stone - 2x3, 200lb stone 2x2
Monday, September 19th
6:00 P.M.
A. Squats: 135x5, 185x5, 3x225x5
B. Hack Squats: 4x8 @ 225 lbs
C. Seated Leg Extensions: 180x8, 225x8, 2x270x8
D. Serratus Crunches: 2x50x15
E. Hanging Leg Raises: 3x10
Wife came with me. First time she’s been under a bar in a while. Considering she only weighs 95 lbs, squatting 50 lbs to just below parallel for 5 reps on her first day is great. Hope she sticks with it.
Tuesday, September 20th
5:30 P.M.
A. Clean & Press: 3x95x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 3x185x3, 135x5
B. BB Shrugs (peak contraction): 225x8, 275x8, 2x295x8
C. Seated BB Military Press: 95x5, 135x5, 3x185x5, 135x5
D. Pull-ups: towels x 8, BW+20 on towels x 5, BW+20 x 6, BW+20 x 7
E. Lateral Raises: 2x20’s x 10, 2x30’s x 10
F. Lat Pulldowns: 4x140x8
Good day, good day. Glad to see my OHP power coming back.
Rigged up some chains and 10lb plates to do the lateral raises. I like the change in the power curve.
Wednesday, September 21st
7:30 P.M.
Sooo many firefighting drills with full turnout gear and SCBA’s. I sweated so bad that I rang my shirt out once in the middle and about 2 cups of liquid came out…and then did the same thing at the end of training.
Friday, September 23rd
6:30 P.M.
A. Squat Unracks w/ 3 second holds: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 405x5, 3x495x5 (15 sec hold on final rep)
B. Rack Pulls (below kneecap): 4x8 @ 315 lbs
C. Box Jump Rebounds on 30" Box: 3x10
D. Tire Flips w/ 300 lb tire: 2x10
Except for the tire flips, there was no full range motion tonight. My calves have been so sore since those box jumps, too. All in all, it felt like a good workout. I chugged a 51 protein drink, ate a couple of TriPlex cookies and then went out for a little sushi. It was a good night.
Monday, September 26th
6:00 P.M.
Posterior Chain Day
A. Conventional Deadlift: 135x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 3x365x3
B. Romanian Deadlift:4x8 @ 225lbs
C. Power Cleans: 4x6 @ 135lbs (getting so fast at these)
D. Lying Hamstring Curl Dropset: 1 set of 180xmax → 135xmax → 90xmax → 45xmax
I don’t normally do drop set stuff, but after this workout, it was mostly my back that was feeling the fatigue. So why not blast what’s left out of the hamstring tank?
My bodyweight has VERY slowly been decreasing. This time, though, the normal idle must be resetting as well because even when I have a heavy cheat meal my body doesn’t jump back up to 212 for the day. The only unfortunate part is that strength is slowly tapering down as well. I’m trying to hold onto as much as possible, but it seems inevitable that my maxes are all going to come down in raw poundage.
My wife has been doing these workouts with me for the last couple weeks. Her renewed dedication is amazing. At 4’9 and 98 lbs, I’m proud to say she can at least DL her BWx3 pretty comfortably.
Tuesday, September 27th
6:00 P.M.
Horizontal Plane Day
A. Bench Press: 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3, 265x3, 275x1, 225x5
B. Floor Press: 185 + 2 chains x 5, 185 + 4 chains x 5, 205 + 4 chains x 5, 205 + 4 chains x 5, 205 + 4 chains x 5
C. Bentover BB Rows: 135x8, 4x185x8
D. DB Bench Press: 80’s x 8, 2 x 90’s x 8
E. Seated V-handle Rows: 150x8, 170x8, 190x7
F. Preacher Curls: 3 sets of Max reps in full range, upper half, & lower half with 70 lbs
I gotta say, I’m really loving finding ways to add chains to my workout days. Anywhere I can find to attach them and change the power curve. It feels like being a noob in the gym again. I’m excited to try the new stuff out.
Now that the 2 heavy days are out of the way, I have 2 days off. I seem to lean out a bit on my off days. It’s nice to not have to worry about dumb shit like “Am I going to gain weight today because I didn’t workout?!” Friday is going to be some unconventional training again. It’s turning into a sort of strongman training day.
Friday, September 30th
6:00 P.M.
A. Squats: 3xBARx3, 135x4, 185x4, 225x5, 205x6, 195x7
B. Walking Lunges: 70x7 ea leg, 120x7 ea leg, 170x6 ea leg
C. Clean & Press: 135x5, 2x185x4, 175x5
Back to minimalist for a bit. My ass and legs were STILL sore for a couple days after this. Most likely from the lunges, since I haven’t done them in a while.
Monday, October 3rd
6:00 P.M.
A. Deadlift: 135x5, 225x4, 275x5, 365x5, 335x6
B. Leg Extensions: 180x8, 225x8, 2x270x8
C. Weighed Chinups:BW+40 x 7, BW+60 x 5, BW+40 x 6
It’s good to see that I can handle 365 for 5 even at a reduced bodyweight. Hopefully, next week, I can take that number up 5-10 lbs and still get 5.
Apparently, according to PubMed, setting a goal increases success rate by 5%. That’s significant enough for me.
Tuesday, October 4th
5:30 P.M.
A. Bench Press: 3xBARx5, 135x5, 185x4, 205x4, 265x3, 240x4, 230x5
B. Rows: BW x 7, BW+20 x 7, BW+20 x 6
C. Top-Half Bench: 225+2 chains x 5, 225+4 chains x 5, 225+4 chains x 5
Without a spotter, it wasn’t worth going for a 4th rep on 265. Of course, I’ll have to beat that number next time, but I’m pretty sure I can get it.
Friday, October 7th
7:00 P.M.
Squats: 3xBARx5, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 235x5, 210x6, 200x7
Walking Lunges: 170x7 ea leg, 150x7 ea leg, 130x7 ea leg
Clean & Press: 135x3, 2x185x5
Squats are killing me. I’m so much stronger in the legs than this weight is indicating. Something about the wider stance makes me a bit weaker in the bottom position. Hopefully whatever imbalance is slowing me down will toughen up if I just stay consistent with them.
The vid attached is of the final set of Clean and Press.
Saturday, October 8th
9:00 A.M.
Strongman Training
Yolk Walks: 240lbs for 80ft, 330 lbs for 80ft, 420 for 80ft, 510 for 80ft, 600 for 12ft
Farmer Walks: 240lbs for 60ft, 320 for 60ft, 440 for 60ft, 480 for 60ft, 520 for 60ft, 540 for 60ft
I was so exhausted after doing all that. First time with yolk walks. The balance was the biggest killer. Once that thing starts swinging a little, it becomes difficult to control.
After the workout I went and had a huge PWO and then drove home and took a nap. I’m gonna feel this tomorrow.
Included in the PWO was 6oz grilled chicken breast, 8oz grilled salmon, ~1lb of beef chili, a large baked potato w/ cheese and sour cream, 5.5oz of bread pudding, and 5.5oz of cherry pie. It weighed in at a little over 3lbs, I think.
Monday, October 10th
6:00 P.M.
A. Deadlift: 3x135x3, 225x3, 275x3, 375x5 (PR), 340x6
B. Leg Extensions: 250x8, 275x8, 285x8
C. Chinups: BW+60lbs x 7, BW+40lbs x 7, BW+40lbs x 7
Video attached is of the first set of chinups.
I’ve decided to start recording my wife’s numbers here, as well, to keep track for her. It’ll help me keep pushing her forward if I don’t have to guess what she did last session.
A. Deadlift: 3x20x4-6, 45x5, 65x5, 80x3, 100x5, 90x5, 80x5
B. Leg Extensions: 3x50x8
C. Standing Lat Pulldowns (underhand): 3x60x7
Tuesday, October 11th
6:30 P.M.
A. Bench Press: 2xBARx3, 135x5, 185x3, 205x3, 265x3, 245x4, 235x5
B. Pullups: BW + 1 chains x 7, BW + 1 chain x 8, BW + 1 chain x 7
C. Dips: BW + 4 chains x 5, BW + 5 chains x 5
Disappointed i didn’t beat last week’s number on bench. I need to get a bit more confidence back on bench. I was blasting through 295 for 3 a few months ago.
Video attached is the dips for the night.
Here is my wife’s numbers
A. Bench Press: 2x20x6, 2x35x4, 55x6, 45x7, 40x8
B. Pullups (lat pulldowns, standing): 50x7, 60x5, 50x7
