15th
Bench: w/u with 10x60kg, 5x60kg, 5x100kg, 4x120kg; 3 x 130kg, 3 x 140kg, 2 x 145kg, 2 x 147.5kg (recent PR), 2 x 140kg, 6 x 120kg
Pull-ups: 8, 6, 4, (change grip for narrower neutral handles) 6, 5, 2 + long hold at midpoint
Stat. Bike: tough sprint intervals, total time of 8 mins.
Strong bench session. Double of 147.5kg was easy, without a spotter, so not far from hitting my best lifts again and then surpassing them.
17th
Cambered Safety Squat Bar Squat: 8 x 60kg, 5 x 100kg, 8 x 3 x 140kg
Hamstring Curl: 2 x 10 x 95kg, 10+partials x 95kg
Core Work: 25 mins.
Thought I’d give my upper back tweak a break and try out this monstrosity that’s been staring me down at the gym for a few weeks… Not comfortable! That thing just tries to bury your face in the ground, it’s seriously tough to squat deep without being stapled to the floor; still, a great workout for the core stabilizers and quads on top of the usual squatting stimulus, and something I’d use again, albeit with far less weight than I’d use normally (the same as this time). 140kg did get easier as I got used to it, but fatigue far outweighed that.
Good session overall, a lot of work for exams at the moment but obviously training will continue as usual, if slightly abridged due to time restraints.
18th
Beltless 1/4 Front Squat from Pins: w/u with standard FS, 4x60kg, 2x100kg; 3 x 100kg, 3 x 130kg, 2 x 160kg, 3, 1, 2, 2, x 170kg
Later Sets SS w/ Pull-ups: 8, 6, 5, 5
Bench: w/u with 8x60kg, 5x100kg; 8, 7, 6, x 120kg
Core Work: 15 mins.
Decent session. I felt surprisingly strong on the “Anderson”-style front squat partials, so that’s a plus. Still progressing with this short break from back squats.
20th
Squat: w/u with 3x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 180kg, 2 x 1 x 200kg, 2 x 180kg
Cambered Safety SQ: 5 x 100kg, 5 x 120kg, 3 x 140kg, 2 x 150kg, 3 x 3 x 140kg
Hamstring Curls: 4 sets
Stat. Bike: 10 mins w/ intervals etc. (intense).
21st
Squat: w/u with 3x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 2 x 2 x 190kg, 3 x 170kg
Pull-ups: Just one set of 8 while waiting for the bench, but I thought I’d mention that they felt easier than they have in the past.
Bench: w/u with 10x60kg, 5x100kg; 5 x 120kg, 5, 4, 4, 4, x 130kg
Upper back still not perfect, but SSB work is giving it a chance to rest some more and normal squats today felt alright aside from some minor pulling on the heaviest sets. Bench doing well.
22nd
Stat. Bike: 10 mins
Deadlift (Conv.): w/u with 3x70kg, 3x110kg; 2 x 160kg, 1 x 190kg, 1 x 210kg (PR), 1 x 220kg (PR!), 2 x 190kg, 10 x 1 x 190kg
Seated Machine Row: 15 x 75kg, 12 x 85kg, 10 x 95kg, 6 x 105kg, 8 (wide grip, double pause) x 65kg
Stat. Bike: 5 mins, 10 second 90-100% speed sprint on the minute each minute, slower cycling between (all on high resistance).
Good session! Deadlift PRs have been a long time coming for various reasons, but I knew I had the 220kg easily today so took it. I was lifting on one of the Olympic lifting platforms instead of the gym floor, and used a standard (rather than thick) bar, hence the ease with these PRs (though still major progress). I didn’t go for any more as I didn’t really need to and I hadn’t prepared for a max today, but I hope 230kg is not too far down the road.
It is probably worth noting that I’ve had an average of about 4.5 hours of sleep a night this week due to work for exams and my inability to avoid feeling perfectly awake after being up for 20 hours (despite having felt tired a few hours before); so I am genuinely surprised that I feel strong and not too drained today!
It seems many lifters can function well without a great deal of sleep, and it does make me wonder whether the benefits of long sleeping hours are real or just commonly exaggerated and inaccurate. Still, I think I’d draw the line at 6-7 hours rather than 3-5!
23rd
Squat: w/u with 3x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 2 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 2 x 200kg (equalling PR double), 2 x 190kg
Hamstring Curl: 12, 10, 10, x 75kg
Prowler Push: 5 sets of 2 lengths with 80kg, 45 sec. rest b/w.
Stat. Bike: 5 mins.
Another strong session. Used a standard (rather than thick) bar, which helped me to avoid aggravating the upper back pull by keeping better tension and avoiding upper back rounding when racking the bar. My speed on the heavy sets was very good, and I felt massively strong in the upper half of the lifts - probably down to the SSB and deadlift work.
EDIT: I went for a walk followed by a 20 min. run later, moderate pace.
24th
Bench: w/u with 9x60kg, 5x100kg; 4 x 120kg, 5 x 130kg, 2 x 140kg, 1+M x 145kg, 4 x 4 x 120kg
SSB Squat: w/u with 5x60kg, 5x100kg; 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, x 140kg
SS w/
Pull-ups: 8, 6, 6 (on last sets)
Rowing Machine: 1000m in 3:40
Bench was feeling off; I missed the second rep of 145kg at lockout and just didn’t seem to get going very well. The set of 5 with 130kg was good though, so not all bad. I wanted a break from standard squats again to allow my shoulder blade issue to resolve itself completely, and so went back to the SSB for some solid reps to work the legs and keep my hips mobile.
25th
Squat: w/u with 6x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 2 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 3 x 2 x 190kg, 4 x 180kg
Core Work: 30 mins.
The 180kg and 200kg sets were slow, so I opted for a higher volume of back-offs rather than going for a greater max. I was pleased to find that doubles with 190kg got progressively easier as the sets went on, and generally I felt pretty good by the end.
26th
Squat: w/u with 6x60kg, 5x100kg, 3x140kg; 2 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, M x 205kg, 6 x 3 x 180kg
Seated Machine Row: 3 x 10 x 85kg
Fatigue from yesterday and a different bar combined to cause me to fail 205kg on this occasion; it should be an easy lift, but I wasn’t fresh going into it so it isn’t a shock that I struggled, heavy work yesterday. Back-offs were very good, tons of volume at 80-90% this week and today contributed nicely - building and progressing every session.
27th
Bench: w/u with 12x60kg, 5x100kg; 4 x 120kg, 4 x 140kg, 2 x 145kg, 2 x 4 x 130kg
Lat. Pulldown: 12 x 82kg, 10 x 95 kg, 8 x 105kg
DB Hammer Curl: 20 kg e/a x 15, 12, 12, 10
SS. with -
Lateral Raise: 10kg e/a x 10, 10, 5kg e/a x 15, 12
Stat. Bike: 8 mins with flat-out sprints on the minute.
Near-PR for four reps with 140kg, feeling quite happy with my progress so far. First day off squatting in a while.
28th
Away for a couple of days, so training in a different gym:-
DB Seated OHP: w/u with 15x20kg DBs; 15, 13, 8, 6, x 27.5kg DBs, 2 x 8 x 20kg DBs
Lateral Raise Medley, superset to failure: 7.5kg DBs for 3 sets, 5kg DBs for 1 set
Deadlift from Pins (2" below knee): w/u with 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 4 x 3 x 180kg
DB Rows: 10, 8, x 52.5kg DB, 11, 11, 11, x 30kg DB (all for each arm; separately)
Hamstring Curls: 2 sets to near failure with 77.5kg
Machine Hack Squat: built up to 140kg, then realized how tough these are and got stuck on my third rep going really deep, so went on to do…) 5 x (2 plates a side), 2 x 15+ x (1 plate a side)
Reasonable session. Fast paced and pretty strong.
29th
Squat: w/u with 6x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 180kg, 2 x 1 x 200kg, 2 x 190kg, 2 x 3 x 180kg
Not happy. Depth was poor on the first single of 200kg, so had to go for it again. Didn’t get into any kind of groove, possibly because I’d been travelling back earlier in the day and my hips were stiff.
30th
Squat: w/u with 5x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 1 x 200kg, 2 x 190kg, 2 x 3 x 180kg
Core Work: 20 mins
Felt better today. Upper back still tired and not always as tight as it should be (especially with the thick bar I used), but fairly good lifting overall.
31st
Squat: w/u with 6x70kg, 3x110kg, 3x150kg; 2 x 170kg, 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 2 x 195kg, 3 x 190kg
DB Curls: 5 x 10 (kept it fairly light)
Pull-aparts: 5 sets
Core Work: 15 mins
Strong session. I would have gone for 210kg, but wanted to get some “volume” (hence the double and triple xD). Didn’t have time for bench unfortunately, that’ll come tomorrow. Extras at home afterwards for injury prevention etc., elbow a bit sore. I’m actually not sure whether or not I hit a second triple of 190kg, I was focused on the lifting and the time left and have completely forgotten what happened after the first triple. Oh well…
1st
Squat: w/u with 6x70kg, 5x110kg, 3x150kg; 2 x 170kg, 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg
Extra-Wide Grip Bench: 8 x 70kg, 6 x 100kg, 6 x 110kg, 6, 5, x 115kg (mostly paused)
Deadlift: 3 x 110kg, 3 x 150kg, 3 x 180kg, 2 x 2 x 200kg (paused), 3 x 180kg, + 4 x 150kg double-stop (tried these out to see whether or not I should incorporate them regularly).
Seated Machine Row: 2 x 11 x 105kg, 3 x 8 x 75kg (different grip and slower, more focused contraction)
Stat. Bike: 5 mins (intense).
Very good session. Didn’t feel too good on squats to begin with, but got going nicely after the first few sets and deadlifts were very easy.
2nd
Pull-ups: some reps to warm up a bit - did a set of 8.
Squat: w/u with 5x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 2 x 205kg (wtf?!), 2 x 3 x 190kg
Well, I don’t know why I did that, but it sure worked out well! I was determined to get a good single with 205kg and managed a decent rep, but I felt it was a bit too strained and the depth might have been iffy for IPF-type feds… So I went for another one. It was quick, deep, and I came right back up without a problem - I guess my singles have been limited by bar changes and other factors recently, so once I was in the groove I could just display my strength and get to work. Still a pleasant surprise though! Good session.
3rd
Bench: w/u with 12x60kg, 5x100kg, 4x120kg; 4 x 130kg, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, x 120kg
SSB Squat: w/u, then 4 x 4 x 140kg
Bench was poor, felt tired.
4th
Squat: w/u with 3x70kg, 3x110kg, 3x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 1 x 210kg, 3 x 190kg
Hamstring Curls: 4 sets
Stat. Bike: 6 mins intense on high resistance
Great session - 210kg was fast, perhaps should have gone for more but I felt that was enough for this session and wanted to do some accessory work quickly.
5th
Squat: w/u with 8x85kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 2 x 195kg, 2 x 190kg
Seated Machine Row: 8 x 115kg, 8 x 105kg, 8 x 95kg
Stat. Bike: 5 mins high intensity
Another strong session. Going well. Odd warm-up weight was due to sharing the rack with someone doing OHP for the first set.
6th
Overhead Press: w/u with bar; 5 x 60kg, 3 x 3 x 80kg, 5, 6, 5, x 70kg, 5, 7, 5, x 60kg, 2 x 7 x 50kg
Wide Pull-ups: 8, 4, 3
Dumbbell Raise Medley: sets of 10-15 with short rests, some pinch grip work etc.; weights were 12.5kg, 10kg, 7.5kg, and 5kg each depending on the set / variation. About 6 sets.
DB Hammer Curls: 2 x 12 x 22.5kg e/a
DB Curls: 2 x 10 x 17.5kg e/a
Core Work: 25 mins
Rushed to get to gym as it was closing early (one area is being refurbished / altered), and forgot half my things so had to train in jeans. A much-needed shoulder and back / curls day seemed the best idea, and it went pretty well.
7th
Squat: w/u with 3x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x140kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 1 x 210kg, 3 x 190kg
Hamstring Curls: 12, 10, x 95kg, 10 x 85kg
Good lifting. Felt strong after warming up for a while.