30 January
The 29th I took as a day off as I ease back in to strength circuits. Did train my wife. I recently built a version of strength circuits for her as well. There is literally not a day that goes by where she does not blame me for being sore. I just respond: “You are welcome - the pain is you becoming more awesome every day”.
Today I did the ‘B’ day of strength circuits - again modified to get back into the swing of things:
Back Squats 225 for all 5 sets. Did 5 reps each time.
Dips 25 30 35 40 45
SGHP 135 for all 5 sets. Did 5 reps each time.
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up 25 34 45 55 65
31-January Chest/Tri Hypertrophy
Last night took weighted vest walk of about 2.5 miles with 44lbs. The vest makes my shoulders sore but this has been lessening as I get used to the weight. The load also does a good job of stressing my cardio-vascular system a bit more than a normal walk. I feel no joint issues at all. In another week or two I will be ready to up the weight to 52. The vest goes up to 60lbs.
I also have now increased my calories again: 200 more per day for a target of 3200. The increase comes from a bit more chicken and rice at lunch (and lowered protein shake by one scoop). First day I definitely felt full… will probably take a few days to get used to the change.
Bench Press 115 x 12 - 4 sets
DB Fly 25 x 15 - 4 sets
super set with
Dips BW x 6 - 4 sets
Incline Bench 95 x 12 - 4 sets
super set with
one hand DB tri extension 15 x 10 - 4 sets
1-February Strength Circuits
Catching up on log updates - I have been training; just have not had time to write it down.
Finally feeling good enough on my back to resume heavy training. I decided to do a reset on my strength circuits as I believe that my injury was caused in part to not being adapted yet to this volume of heavier lifting. So I will be starting over with Cycle 1 of the strength circuits. Here is the updated plan:
Cycle 1:
Strength Circuit A (5 sets of 5,4,3,2,1 reps):
5 4 3 2 1
Deadlift 265 270 280 295 315
Bench 155 160 165 170 180
SGHP 135 135 135 135 135 - 5 sets each
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up +25 +35 +45 +55 +65
Strength Circuit B (5 sets of 5,4,3,2,1 reps):
5 4 3 2 1
Back Squat 225 230 235 240 245
Dips +25 +35 +40 +45 +50
SGHP 135 135 135 135 135 - 5 sets each
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up +25 +35 +45 +55 +65
Today I did Cycle 1, Circuit A. I felt quite good considering. Still feel the potential for the back to tweak again but no issues so far. I want to concentrate on perfect form and ‘owning’ the weights
2-February Back/Shoulder Hypertrophy and Mega-climb of death
Pull-ups BW x 6 for 4 sets
superset with
Lateral raise 10 x 15, 4 sets
Barbell Row 85 x 15, 4 sets
superset with
reverse fly 10 x 15, 4 sets
T-bar row 60 x 15, 4 sets
superset with
Band face pull 15, 4 sets
Then… did one 1/2 mile 4% grade (with 6% section) weighted climb with 42 lb vest and 95lb barbell on my back. At over 70% body weight being carried I was sucking wind. I could only do one climb and my fee were shuffling at a slow pace toward the end of the climb. Downhill was tough as well. Looking forward to adapting to this!
3-February - Weighted walk with the wife at night: 3 miles with 42 lbs.
4-February - Strength Circuit Cycle 1, Day B1
My programming schedule is:
1 - SC Cycle N, Day A1
2 - Back/Shoulder hypertrophy
3 - SC Cycle, N, Day B1
4 - Legs hypertrophy
5 - SC Cycle N, Day A2
6 - Chest/Tri Hypertrophy
7 - SC Cycle N, Day B2
With this schedule I take a day off whenever circumstances force me too or I feel that I need one.
Today was Cycle 1, Day B1:
5 4 3 2 1
Back Squat 225 230 235 240 245
Dips +25 +35 +40 +45 +50
SGHP 135 135 135 135 135 - 5 sets each
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up +25 +35 +45 +55 +65
5-February Legs Hypertrophy
RDL 135 x 15, 4 sets
Leg extension 80 x 15, 4 sets
Front Squat 85 x 15, 4 sets - working on tight back and form
Good mornings 85 x 15, 4 sets
Ham. curls 35 x 15, 4 sets
At night I took a weighted vest walk with my wife. 3 miles. Upped the vest to 52 lbs.
6-February Strength Circuits Cycle 1, Day A2
5 4 3 2 1
Deadlift 265 270 280 295 315
Bench 155 160 165 170 180
SGHP 135 135 135 135 135 - 5 sets each
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up +25 +35 +45 +55 +65
7-February Chest/Tri Hypertrophy
Ah, nothing like the soreness of hamstrings…
Push-ups BW x 10 4 sets
super set with
Incline Bench Press 105 x 12 3 sets, 95x10, 1 set
CGBP 75 x 15 4 sets
super set with
Dumbbell Fly 25 x 15 4 sets
time ran out - had to end early.
8-February Strength Circuits
Cycle 1, Day B2
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Back Squat 225 230 235 240 245
Dips 25 35 40 45 50
SGHP 135 140 145 150 155
Press 85 90 95 100 105
Pull up 25 35 45 55 65
9-February Back / Shoulder Hypertrophy
Pull-up Partials BW x 12 - 3 sets x8 - 4th set
super set with
Lateral Raise 11.8 x 15 - 4 sets
T-bar row 70 x 15 - 4 sets
super set with
Reverse Fly 11.8 x 15 - 4 sets
One-arm row 60 x 12 - 4 sets
super set with
Face-pulls Strong Band x 15 - 4 sets
Read a comment from Pwnisher stating that he does partial pull-ups as they work the lats really good without hitting the arms as much. So I tried today and I have not had my lats this sore in a long time. I used straps as well to further reduce grip/arm from the equation.
10-February Weighted walk
52 lb vest about 3 miles.
11-February Strength Circuit
Cycle 2 Day A1
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Deadlift 265 275 285 295 320
Bench 160 165 170 175 185
SGHP 135 140 145 150 155
Press 87.5 92.5 97.5 102.5 107.5
Pull up +25 +35 +45 +55 +65
My back is feeling good over all. I want to jump back to the higher deadlift and squat weights that I had been using prior to my injury. But reading the collective wisdom of many of you on these forums I have instead decided to take the extra time and build a broader base. So I will just start adding weight progressively and in a little over 2 months I will hopefully be back to where I was and then continue for some time from there. That said, my bench, press and pull-ups are still fairly close to the maximum that I determined over the Holidays.
12-February Leg Hypertrophy
SLDL - 135, 140, 145, 145 for 15 reps per set
super set with
Front Squat - 85, 95, 105, 115 for 12 reps per set
Hamstring curl 35, 35, 35, 40 for 15 reps per set
super set with
One leg steps ups
to 16" box with
weighted vest 52, 52, 52, 52 for 15 reps per set
I am slowly bringing up my front squat. By focusing on back tightness and feeling my elbows more forward than up I seem to have more success… though the weights are so low that I cannot tell for sure.
My right hip/lower back is quite tight. I have been spending time with the foam roller but I really would like to determine the cause. I also need to look for some more hip stretches for this.
13-February
An early work schedule and my wife’s birthday prevented any training.
14-February Strength Circuits
Cycle 2, Day B1
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Back Squat 225 235 240 245 255
Dips 25 35 45 50 55
SGHP 135 140 145 150 155
Press 87.5 92.5 97.5 102.5 107.5
Pull up 25 35 45 55 65
15-February Chest/Tri Hypertrophy
Incline Press 95lb 15 reps 4 sets
Floor Press 135,145,155,155 10 reps 4 sets
Incline DB Fly 26.2, 15 reps 4 sets
CGBP 75, 15 reps, 4 sets
Skull Crusher 45, 15 reps, 4 sets
1hand tri ext 20, ~8reps, 4 sets
I am finally beginning to feel a bit stronger in my chest. Next time I will up the weight on the incline press. Keeping the reps high as this is supposed to be a hypertrophy day.
Loved the floor presses. New to me. My rear delta are really sore afterward. Not sure if this is from floor press but it is the only thing that I have changed.
16-February
Strength Circuit Cycle 2, Day A2
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Deadlift 265 275 285 295 320
Bench 160 165 170 175 185
SGHP 135 140 145 150 155
Press 87.5 92.5 97.5 102.5 107.5
Pull up 25 35 45 55 65
Deads felt really good today. No odd twinging in my back.
Also spent about 30 minutes on my road bike. The weather has been so nice and my 2-year old was sleeping so I enjoyed the weather and got some cardio in.
17-February
Back/Shoulder Hypertrophy
Partial Pull-ups BW 12,12,10,10
super set with
Lateral raise DB 11.2 15x4
T-bar row 70 15x4
super set with
Reverse Fly DB 11.2 15x4
Barbell Row 90 15x4
super set with
Face Pull Band 15x4
Felt the pump. Good workout with minimal resting. Days like today I realize why you don’t really need extra cardio - at least for maintenance. And watching the morning joggers bouncing up and down from my garage my knees thank me for not putting them through that pain. All that said - tonight I plan to walk with weighted vest (52lb) for about 2.5 to 3 miles.
One other quick observation: this weekend when helping my 2 year old I squatted down to look her in the face and realized that I was flat-foot, ATG, with no pain. This is new to me. When I started lifting I did not have this flexibility or strength. Sounds odd to be happy at this considering we are striving to lift hundreds of pounds in our squatting but I was.
18-February Strength Circuits
Cycle 2, Day B2
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Back Squat 225 235 240 245 255
Dips 25 35 45 50 55
SGHP 135 140 145 150 155
Press 87.5 92.5 97.5 102.5 107.5
Pull up 25 35 45 55 65
19-Feb, 20-Feb - Family vacation to Disneyland. Lots of walking and eating. It is actually not too hard to find good food at Disney - a few restaurants offer roast beef, turkey, vegetables, etc.
21-Feb Leg Hypertrophy
Hamstring Curls 35,40,40,40 15 reps
Front Squat 105,115,120,120 15 reps
SLDL 140,145,145,145 15 reps
Good Mornings 95,95,95,95 15 reps
Nice light day to get back into it after vacation. Cycle 3 starts tomorrow.
Edit - also did a 2.5 mile walk with 52 lb weighted vest. My body is beginning to acclimate to this weight as my shoulders are not as sore afterward.
22-Feb Strength Circuits
Cycle 3 starting. Day A1
New weights today. Went up 10 on DL max. Up 10 on Bench max. Up 5 on press and pull-up.
My last set of Press and Bench are now at my original 1RM. I feel like I could lift more so the program seems to have some benefits. Cycles 4 and 5 will really tell - I am really excited to see if I can keep adding weight each week.
Reps 5 4 3 2 1
Deadlift 280 285 295 315 330
Bench 160 165 170 180 190
SGHP 135 140 145 150 160
Press 90 95 100 105 110
Pull up 35 45 55 65 70