High Bar Box Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 5@155, 5x5@165 (RPE 8)
*Doing high bar to give my shoulder a break. I did not feel strong today but felt better as I went. High bar does not feel good on my knee, thus, the box squatting which I like anyways. But yea, shoulder is still very poppy but hoping to get back to normal by next week.
Wave 2, Week 4-Deload, Day 4, High Bar Box Squat/Box DL
High Bar Box Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@155, 5x3@185, 5@185
*Form was okay on these, just trying not to bring my right shoulder into it at all which means not keeping it tight which makes my steadiness a little rough. But i did okay on these.
Box Deadlift
3x8@135
*shoulder was hurting on these, I suspect it was aggravated a good bit by all the handoffs I was doing for my BF on his bench today.
DB Floor Press Paused
4x12@35
Unilateral Lat Pulldown
3x12@42.5
Goblet Squat (last 2 sets put a double wrapped mini band)
4x15
DB Lateral Raise
3x10@15s
DB Standing Reverse Flies
3x10@15s
Deadlift
bar, 5@135, 5@185, 3@225, 2@255, 1@285 (belt), 1@305, 3x1@315, 3x3@285
*My heavy singles went really well. Not perfect, need to work on my rounding just a touch but the weight moved fairly quickly. The triples were tough, but I’m not used to pulling so heavy of recent.
Block DL
2@225, 4x2@245
Incline DB Row
4x8@40s
Cable Unilateral Row
3x8@38
Cable Face Pulls
3x15@40
Deadlift
bar, 5@135, 5@185, 3@225, 2@255, 1@285 (belt), 1@305, 3x1@315, 3x3@285
*My heavy singles went really well. Not perfect, need to work on my rounding just a touch but the weight moved fairly quickly. The triples were tough, but I’m not used to pulling so heavy of recent.
Block DL
2@225, 4x2@245
Incline DB Row
4x8@40s
Cable Unilateral Row
3x8@38
Cable Face Pulls
3x15@40
Wave 2, Week 5, Day 2, High Bar Box Squat/CG Bench
High Bar Box Squat
bar, 5@95, 3@135, 3@155, 3@175, 6x3@195
*Very difficult today but very proud of how my form held up. My low back was destroyed from yesterday so I felt like I was really packing my lats harder to stabilize better. The last 4 sets were pretty much RPE 9.5’s.
Close Grip Bench
bar, 8@75, 5@95, 5@115, 2x6@125, 5@125
*My right pec is causing my shoulder issues I’m very sure. Its been tight and it feels like there is knot or something. I’ve been using bands and the foam roller. Stretching only seems to make it worse but the point pressure may help a lot. I was suppose to do a 4x6 and I could have, but just not worth actually straining my pec.
Chest supported T bar Row
4x8@35…kept it light and controlled
BB Split Squat
4x8@65 R/L…very awkward movement but I was getting the hang of it. I don’t know if I like these yet.
Leg Curl
4x10@80
Bench
bar, 5@75, 5@95, 3@115, 5x3@130, 6@130 (2 rep PR!)
3 count paused Bench
4@125, 3@125 (failed 4th rep due to shoulder pain), 2x4@115
*Shoulder was giving my a little issue due to my right pec being tight.
Cable Lat Pulldown
4x10@125
Incline CG Pushups of the smith machine
15, 12, 13
Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@155, 2@185, 2@205 (Belt), 5x2@225, 4@225 amrap
*Knee was feeling just fine with all of this, my right shoulder was the thing I was watching out for. I couldn’t engage my upper back as much as I would have like to so I had a little unsteadiness. The weight didn’t feel awful on my back its just my form wasn’t connecting. Very happy with how the squats went relative to the last 4 months.
Paused DL
3@135, 2@225, 2@245, 5x2@265 (belt)…pretty difficult. My first reps were very good and the second reps were also pretty rough with some back rounding. Need to get this on point.
Good Mornings
4x8@95
KB Step UPs
4x8@25 each hand
Banded Hyper
3x10@1 mini band
DB Lat Raise and Reverse Flies
3x10
Pin Press (~2 in above my chest)
3@75, 3@95, 3@115, 3@125, 2@135 (too heavy), 3@130 (RPE 9.5 so went down again), 3x3@125
*It’s been a while since I’ve done these but it would be interesting if these do anything to help me.
Chained DL (40 extra lbs at the top)
3@135, 1@225, 1@245, 8x1@265 (~30-40 sec in between each set)
Cable Low Row (2 neutral, 2 over hand)
4x8@85
DB Paused Bench
3x10@30s
Slingshot Pushups
15, 15, 10
DB Reverse Flies
3x10@10s
Deadlift
bar, 5@135, 4@225, 2@255, 1@285, 1@305, 4x1@325 (felt pretty great other than a touch of upper back rounding), 2x3@295, 3@275 (had to go down a bit because my form was shot)
Block Pulls
4x3@245…easy, good for keeping my lats packed and stay in position
Wave 2, Week 6, Day 2, High Bar Box Squat/CG Bench
High Bar Box Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@155, 3@185, 2x3@205, 2@205 (failed 3rd rep more due to form break down, could have gotten it though, all of these were RPE 10), 3x3@190
*Very happy with these. Grinding almost every rep and fighting for good control and bracing, hope it translates to my competition squat.
Close Grip Bench
bar, 6@75, 6@95, 6@116, 4x6@125 (some of these were very slow or unsteady but overall very happy with this, needed more and controlled leg drive probably)
HS Iso Row
8@2p, 3x8@2p+10lb each side
*Attemped smith machine split squats and strained my left quad a bit. It has started to calm down but it did make me stop these. Did not push through just for some accessory work that I’ve never tried before.
Leg Curl
4x10@80
Eliptical
10 min…~15 rounds of 15 sec spring, 30 sec recovery…HIIT is the way to for me for cardio. Want it over with ASAP
Bench
bar, 5@75, 5@95, 5@115, 3x3@135, 2x3@125
*cut short all 5 sets at 135 due to right pec pain. It felt like I was overcompensating with my left side and I didn’t like it. So dropped the weight and it was super easy. I think this was a rep PR though.
3 Count Pause Bench
4@125, 3x3@125…dropped the volume a bit because pec was hurting still and was tight.
Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 5@155, 2@195 (belt), 2@215, 5x2@235 (RPE 8-9’s), 4@235 (AMRAP, possible match rep PR)
*These felt pretty good, shoulder started to act up towards the end but overall hung in there. Knee has been a touch poppy but no knee pain, I"m just hypersensitive to it so I’m watching it closely.
Paused DL
3@135, 2@225, 2@245, 5x2@275 (belt)
*These went better than last week. Weight was definitely heavy but I held position a bit better I think.
Good Mornings
4x8@95…figured out on last 2 sets I’ve been doing these wrong. Will go up in weight next time.
Step Ups
4x8@25s R/L
Banded Hyperextension
4x10@1 mini band
Shoulder Health: DB Reverse Flies
3x10@10s
Pin Press
bar, 5@75, 3@95, 3@120, 5x3@130…RPE 9 probably on all of these. Felt tough but not terrible. Mostly my pec was a little tight.
Chain DL (added ~40lb at the top)
3@135, 1@225, 1@245, 6x1@275 (belt)
*These felt heavy as fuck. Just tired from the week I guess but I hung in there and moved the weight okay.
Deadlift
bar, 5@135, 3@225, 2@255, 1@285 (belt, flew up), 1@315 (still relatively easy), 4x1@335 (first rep went pretty well, was heavy but my form hung in there fairly well and the bar speed was moderate. The last 3 reps just got worse and worse. I totally psyched myself out and had terrible starting positions in different way on all 3. BUT it’s still a crazy PR and I’m proud that even with atrocious form I was able to pull this weight which is 6 lbs off my 1 RM), 3x2@295 (RPE 9’s…difficult because of the singles but form was a touch better at least)
Block DL
4x4@245
Incline DB Row with pause at top
4x8@40s
Cable Lat Pulldown
3x8@125
Banded Face Pulls
3x10@1 mini band
RKC Planks
2 rounds
Deadlift videos, first set and last set to show how terribly they declined but important to know what I changed.
Set 1
High Bar Box Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@165, 3@185, 3x3@195, 2x3@195 (belt), 4@195 amrap
*Had to add the belt because my form was starting to fall apart due to how sore I was. The belt gave me better quality reps but it was still hard.
CG Bench
bar, 6@75, 6@95, 4@115, 4x6@125…meant to do an AMRAP on the last set and totally could have gotten more but I forgot about it. At least my pec was minimally hurting so that’s good.
HS Iso Row
4x8@2 plate + 10lb
Short Step Walking DB lunges
4x8@25s…pretty touch on the quads
Leg Curls
2x8@95(big PR), 2x10@80
Shoulder Health: DB Incline Reverse Flies
3x8@5s and 10s
Bench
bar, 5@75, 5@95, 3@115, 2@125, 1@135, 5x2@140
*I took video of my last 2 sets and was overall happy with how bench felt. Was heavy but kept decent leg drive together. Only worry is if my butt was coming off the bench but it never feels like I am. But never the less, I will work harder to use leg drive more smoothly.
3 Count Pause Bench
4x4@125…the struggle was real.
Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@165, 2@185, 2@205 (belt), 1@225, 5x2@240, 3@240 amrap set.
*Very happy with squats today. They were no easy by any means but I think I’m on to something with my form. My knee was starting to not be thrilled and I kept falling foward on my 2nd rep. So the last 3 sets I tried to stop at parallel. Which turns out is still below parallel but that just means the previous sets were just too low. I think I’m stronger with a lot more control at the bottom which I think I figured out before but forgot.
Paused DL
bar, 5@135, 2@225, 2@255, 1@285 (belt)…terrible, back rounded and did not have the strength today, 4x2@255 (much better and explosive)
*Did all kinds of leg extension, a set of hypers and leg curls but my right inner knee started feeling like there was a ball in it and tight. So i sat down to feel around in my medial knee and felt a slight knot feeling that hurt with pressure compared to my left. So stopped everything and called the workout quits. Did not get my usual amount of accessory volume in but I’d rather figure out and heal my knee
Pin Press
bar, 5@75, 3@95, 3@115, 3@125, 3@135, 1@135, 3@130…and stopped. My pec was hurting at the top of my reps and I mentally was not up for pushing through that. My right knee was also not cooperating with my arch and the frustration was too much to continue as well as possibly hurting myself more.
Chained DL (add 40 lb at the top, rest 30-45sec in between each set)
bar, 5@135, 2@225, 1@255, 6x1@285
*Moved okay, was kinda meh but still staying strong with these as the weight goes up.
Deadlift
bar, 5@135, 3@225, 3@255, 3x3@275 (belt)
*This was an underwhelming workout. I was mentally and physically beat down from a tough 2 days at work and was low in motivation. But my last set was my best. These felt like they could have been much better but that’s why deload week is here.
Banded SLDL (mini band around my hips to pull me back a bit more, helps my hamstrings stretch better)
3x8@@135
DB Bent Over Row with forward swing
8@35s, 3x8@40s
One Armed Cable Lat Pulldown
3x10@22, 35, 42
Banded Face Pulls
3x15@1 mini band
RKC Planks
3 rounds
