Today’s Legs - was feeling a bit weird today. After my 4th set of hack squats I puked in my mouth a little and then had the feeling that I had to take a shit even though I took one b4 I started lifting. Fuckin weird.
Hack Squat machine (performed as low as possible, ATG style - as always, also very slow controlled negative):
6plates x8
6plates x9
6plates x7
6plates x5
Romanian Deadlift:
315x13
315x12
315x11
315x10
Leg Extension (SLOW) / Leg Curl (SLOW):
150x16 / 110x17
150x16 / 110x13
150x16 / 110x12
I was planning on hitting some calves and abs after legs today but since I threw up in my mouth and had to take a crap mid-session I really wasn’t feelin it.
Okay, the workout got fucked up. I was waiting for my training partner to get out of a test review session and ended up waiting for him for over an hour which kinda killed my initial motivation and I got hungry. I had a weird day of eating too… so blah. I got through it and now I’m fucking wiped.
Thursday - Arms
Alt. DB curls (offset grip)
30’s x 10
40’s x 10
45’s x 10
55’s x 15 or so?
Preacher curls (narrow elbows, wide grip)
45lbs x 10
65lbs x 10
85lbs x 10
105lbs x 11 (wasn’t feeling this today)
Pinwheel curls
50’s x 10
60’s x 10
75’s x 15
In-Human CGBP
135lbs x 10
185lbs x 10
225lbs x 10
275lbs x 8 + 4 + 2 (RP’ed)
295lbs x 5
PJR Pullovers (didn’t do too well, energy levels died)
70lbs x 10
85lbs x 10
100lbs x 8 (poop)
100lbs x 4 (deep stretch to get some more long head activation)
Tricep pressdowns (straight bar, narrow grip)
11plates x 18
12plates x 15
13plates x 12 + 8 + 4 / 10plates x 10 (RP + dropset)
walked my ass home.
I put up decent numbers, but I was just feeling shitty the whole time. Oh well. Off tomorrow.
On the caffeine/stimulant thing from yesterday, I’ll put in my experience. Caffeine has never really messed with me too bad. I get a little more talkative, but nothing crazy. I used to knock down 4-6 sugar free Red Bull per day and never had any problem sleeping later. I can take 2 HRX, wait 20 minutes, and take a nap for 2 hours.
My pre-workout setup for heavy days (like today’s 5x5 deadlift will be) is Power Drive 30 min before heading to the gym and 2 Spike tabs on the way to the gym. This doesn’t make me jumpy at all - just 100% focused.
It helps that I get all worked up for deadlifts too. I get that “gameday” feeling of excitement in my stomach and I keep thinking about it all day prior to getting to the gym. Since I woke up this morning, I’ve been thinking about and visualizing 5x5 @335 going up smoothly for all 5 sets today.
Well, “smoothly for all 5 sets” sure as fuck didn’t happen, but I got every last rep of deadlifts.
Deadlift
5x5 @335
The last rep on the 5th set was tough and my lockout was weak and very brief, but it happened.
My hands are raw as fuck, my hamstrings are twitching like crazy and my whole back is on fire, but I feel fucking great! I’m excited to squat heavy on Sunday and start my 4x4 week on Wednesday.
Nate, thank you so much for sharing this program. The 6x5, 6x6 and 5x5 weeks are pretty brutal, but well worth it.
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Okay, the workout got fucked up. I was waiting for my training partner to get out of a test review session and ended up waiting for him for over an hour which kinda killed my initial motivation and I got hungry. I had a weird day of eating too… so blah. I got through it and now I’m fucking wiped.
Thursday - Arms
Alt. DB curls (offset grip)
30’s x 10
40’s x 10
45’s x 10
55’s x 15 or so?
Preacher curls (narrow elbows, wide grip)
45lbs x 10
65lbs x 10
85lbs x 10
105lbs x 11 (wasn’t feeling this today)
Pinwheel curls
50’s x 10
60’s x 10
75’s x 15
In-Human CGBP
135lbs x 10
185lbs x 10
225lbs x 10
275lbs x 8 + 4 + 2 (RP’ed)
295lbs x 5
PJR Pullovers (didn’t do too well, energy levels died)
70lbs x 10
85lbs x 10
100lbs x 8 (poop)
100lbs x 4 (deep stretch to get some more long head activation)
Tricep pressdowns (straight bar, narrow grip)
11plates x 18
12plates x 15
13plates x 12 + 8 + 4 / 10plates x 10 (RP + dropset)
walked my ass home.
I put up decent numbers, but I was just feeling shitty the whole time. Oh well. Off tomorrow.[/quote]
Shame man… Note: If you end up feeling like shit, then take the day off… There’s little point in just putting up the same numbers and reps (or even less than) as last time… Unless you plan on simply maintaining.
It just kinda happens once in a while…
Shame man… Note: If you end up feeling like shit, then take the day off… There’s little point in just putting up the same numbers and reps (or even less than) as last time… Unless you plan on simply maintaining.
It just kinda happens once in a while… [/quote]
I’m with you on this. The quality of my workout is directly related to my attitude and overall feeling of well-being going in. The days where I just don’t feel all that great but lift anyways are the days where I miss lifts and feel worse after leaving than I did going in.
I’m going to take your advice in the future and take a day off if I’m not feeling it.
Probably a good idea but my addicted OCDness wont let me skip lifting just because I’m not “feelin it”. I always tell myself not to be a pathetic pussy and lift anyway. And usually I end up being able to beat my previous workout anyway. Maybe deep down I secretly hate myself? lol
I realize in re-reading my post that I was a little unclear. I was talking more about not feeling physically well more so than not feeling mentally 100%. There are plenty of days where I down my Power Drive and Spike and still have to talk myself into getting in the car to head to the gym, yet end up setting a PR and/or having a great session.
It’s when I am felling physically drained or starting to get sick or not quite all the way recovered from an illness that I have shitty sessions and should rest instead.
I know what you mean about the OCD/addiction of lifting. I haven’t missed a planned workout in almost 12 months now. I’ve readjusted a few things on my schedule due to work, but those workouts all got done as planned. It just becomes part of who you are and what you do. It’s no longer if I’m going to go to the gym today, it’s when I’m going.
[quote]josh86 wrote:
Probably a good idea but my addicted OCDness wont let me skip lifting just because I’m not “feelin it”. I always tell myself not to be a pathetic pussy and lift anyway. And usually I end up being able to beat my previous workout anyway. Maybe deep down I secretly hate myself? lol[/quote]
Well, not being in the mood isn’t really what I meant (though I agree with your post).
What I’m specifically talking about are the sessions where you haven’t been eating enough/well during the days leading up to your session, feel generally tired due to lack of sleep, etc.
If you feel rundown, then it’s imo really better to just stay at home and make sure you get the food/protein in, get a good night’s sleep… And then get into the gym the very next day and get those pr’s.
If you train balls-to-the-wall while physically exhausted/rundown and with your body lacking the nutrients that it needs, then there’s a good chance that you’ll end up injured at some point (esp. once you get to the late-intermediate and advanced stages, as far as strength for reps goes).
That’s very evident on rack-pulls in my case, my form just goes to shit…
And you don’t want to rack-pull with a rounded lower back… Which is what happens if I’m rundown and attempting to train in that state (like you just can’t keep tight/tense and it feels like your strength is being sapped once you touch the bar…)
Btw guys, anybody still in contact with AA and knows what he’s up to?
's been a while since his last post in here…
[quote]jstines wrote:
I realize in re-reading my post that I was a little unclear. I was talking more about not feeling physically well more so than not feeling mentally 100%. There are plenty of days where I down my Power Drive and Spike and still have to talk myself into getting in the car to head to the gym, yet end up setting a PR and/or having a great session.
It’s when I am felling physically drained or starting to get sick or not quite all the way recovered from an illness that I have shitty sessions and should rest instead.
[/quote]
My edit didn’t go through aparently. I tried to edit the post and use today as an example.
Today I am still sore in my triceps from Wednesday’s arm session and I tweaked something in my left wrist yesterday, don’t even know how…but its probably just a minor sprain.
However, I’ve already told myself that I AM getting in my chest workout today. Just going to use my wrist wraps and if I still can’t handle doing my dumbbell workout for chest then I’ll use the HS machines and such. Regardless I refuse to miss the workout.
Hammer Strength Hack Squat Standing Calf Raise
315x6-10, didn’t feel any good in the lower back doing these, so we said fuck it.
Walking out we actually stopped and watched the Tae-Bo class that was going on in one of the gyms. And during box squats we yelled, so everyone could see just how fucking jacked we are.
405 was planned on the box squat, but 385 was a struggle, and I have a rugby game tomorrow, so I didn’t want to push it. JB’s excuse? ehhhhhh
Thanks a lot man.
I know it is relatively light weight, but I have been wanting to reach the 300lb squat mark ever since I started lifting.
That was the 2nd time I’ve ever used knee wraps, Either way I came away with a raw squat PR of 280, and the 300 w/ knee wraps was just icing on the cake.
I do think the wraps help a lot, however I wont use them very often. And I will rotate between front squats, box squats, and low box squats for my lower body movement. I think 315 could have gone up, but I will just work at getting stronger all over.
I had a weird day of eating too… so blah. I got through it and now I’m fucking wiped.