Monday, June 25 - Main Bench day
Bench press - 1st rep paused
310x7 - not sure if another rep would have gone up but it wasn’t RPE10 either. 315-320 would be a 7rm
Wide grip bench - paused
285x9, 7, 7 - one rep in the tank, maybe two on the 2nd set
Close grip incline
225x9, 7, 7 - same thing here - weird
Flys w/super mini
35’s x15x3 sets - time to increase the weight here
Chin ups - supinated
bw+25x10, 8, 7 ,7
Tuesday, June 26 - Main squat day
Squat w/ wraps
475x4 - could have done two more. 6 revolutions instead of 7, still tight but first of all easier to tie off and then also because I figured it would be easier to hit depth. Last warmup was a single with 435 and it was definitely to depth, however the actual work set was borderline. The wraps are one thing but I know what I’m doing wrong, the cue is “sit into your glutes” and that is what I did with 435. Somehow it all went out the window with 475 though. 6 revolutions doesn’t make it much easier to hit depth but it slightly reduces the rebound out of the hole. I know exactly what I need to do to hit depth in wraps now it’s just a matter of doing it.
Hatfield squat
485x7, 6, 5 - not gasping for air like before but this still doesn’t feel any easier. Next week the plan is 500x6, maybe two sets of 6.
Paused SSB squat
305x6, 6
Snatch grip RDL
385x7x3 - 7’s instead of 8’s but 10lbs more, not sure if it’s the weight or I’m more fatigued but I think I pushed these just as hard as last week.
Glutes feel more dead than anything. Upper back is next. Legs started to feel sore in the afternoon. Quads are getting huge.
In what way is it hard to hit depth with wraps? Is there so much support that you need to “relax” at the bottom? By relax I don’t actually mean relax, you obviously still need to stay tight, but is the support so strong that you need to “stop pushing” in a sense? It’s kind of hard to explain what I’m trying to say lol
They add resistance to knee flexion. You wouldn’t be able to bend your knees all the way with them on. It also feels different and can throw off your perception of depth. It depends on the wraps and how tight they are but some can totally stop your knees from bending further, these ones make the last few inches hard to get through.
Thursday, June 28 - Bench assistance day
Close grip floor press
295x7, 5, 5 - not sure if I could have done another rep on the first set but I had my mind set on 7 reps so I did it. Had another one left in me on each of the following two, I was planning to cut the last one at 4 but it was kind of easy so I did one more. I find it easier to grind out reps with heavier weights, if I’m doing 10’s then the last couple reps feel agonizing even if I could do 12.
Military press
215x8, 6 - could do one more on each set
Push ups - on dumbbells, neutral grip, light band
14, 8 - forced myself to do 14 since I did 13 last week, again only managed 8 on the 2nd set
Skull crusher
110x13, 12, 11
Face pulls
light band x18, 15, 13, 10 - the light band works for this after all. Could have done more total reps but kept breaks to 1 min. Once you’re doing 5+ reps there doesn’t seem to be any difference in hypertrophy as long as equal effort is given, this is just an exercise that you don’t want to go heavy on.
Hey Chris,
Been peaking in your log here and there, so apologies if it’s been listed and I’ve missed it, but do you do any kind of incline pressing for assistance work?
I have been doing close grip incline for the last while on Mondays. I don’t really see incline as an essential exercise though, the only real benefit is more shoulder involvement. I’m doing it with a close grip to get some tricep work at the same time.
Gotcha, makes sense.
Was curious if you aimed for a different contact point on the chest at all. I tend to touch the bar at the bottom of my pecs on a flat bench, but for inclined that seems to be too low. I’ve seen some folks reiterate versions of that statement, but you seem to have good info and experience so figured it’d be worthwhile to hear your take too.
FWIW I don’t train for powerlifting, but my goals are all performance related before aesthetics, tends to align itself well with PL I’d wager.
Yeah, I touch way higher with incline. For bench I touch closer to the bottom of my sternum, incline I touch somewhere above my nipples. I never even gave it much thought, just touch wherever feels right and do it the same way on every rep. It will probably vary depending on the incline angle as well, I’m doing these at about 45 degrees.
Right on, thanks man!
Friday, June 29 - Light squat/deadlift day
1-1/4 squat - transformer bar in back squat position
305x2x6 - 45 sec. rest
Deadlift
455x7 - could have done another rep, possibly two
Deficit deadlift
415x7, 7, 6 - planned for 7 on the first set but it was kind of easy, could have done another two good reps. So I repeated that for another set and then set of 6, 1 and possibly 2 reps in the tank on the last two.
Barbell row
335x10, 10, 8, 7 - fatigue caught up with me here
Overhand hold - smooth/thick/stiff bar
305x15 sec.x2
Overall, things are progressing well. Looks like my deadlift might be ahead of my wrapped squat again. Only significant issue is squat depth but I’m close and I’m sure I will fix that soon, after all I have only been doing one work set in wraps and that is also the only low bar squats I’m doing unless you count the light work with the transformer bar. I expect some big PRs in October.
Right now we are experiencing a heat wave and yesterday was particularly bad, around 36c and apparently over 40 with the humidity. At work there is no air conditioning in the kitchen and not even a fan, one of the maintenance guys found me one halfway through my shift but that still didn’t make much difference. Anyway, I woke up feeling like complete shit (no, despite the fact it was Canada day I wasn’t drinking, I was exhausted and went to bed at 10pm) but somehow I felt better by the end of my workout. I also drank 1.5L of Gatorade during my workout, maybe I was dehydrated. I drank lots of water yesterday but my clothes were soaked with sweat the whole afternoon. And yes, I realize that there are plenty of other places in the world with this same weather but it comes as a shock for us, considering it was -40c for a good part of the winter and we last had a snow storm two months ago. Somehow I managed to get the work done though.
Monday, July 2 - Main bench day
Bench press - 1st rep paused
320x6 - this is what I was expecting today except that the last rep was an all-out grind, the bar almost came to a complete stop but I still managed to lock it out. I was thinking 6 @9-9.5 RPE or something like that based on how things went recently, I don’t think that I overreached from training but the heat yesterday really drained my energy. My ass may or may not have come off the bench on the last rep, I changed my setup slightly to prevent that but I can’t tell for sure because of the shorts I was wearing. It doesn’t make benching any easier, it’s just something I have to avoid doing if I want my lifts to pass.
Wide grip bench - paused
295x8, 6, 6 - about one rep from failure on each set, maybe two on the second. More or less as expected.
At this point I had finished the litre of Gatorade I had mixed up and started drinking just before I stated training, often I don’t even finish it all on upper body days. So I mixed up another half litre. I felt more fatigued than expected, but I felt like shit to start with so that doesn’t say much.
Close grip incline
235x7, 6, 5 - about a rep in the tank on each set. It’s 10lbs over last week so maybe a little bit below expectations but not by much. Can’t really complain.
Dumbbell flys w/ super mini
40’s x12, 11, 10 - 5lbs more makes a big difference it seems. At this point I was starting to feel better though, this isn’t a very demanding exercise and I had drank lots of Gatorade.
Chin ups - supinated
bw+30x10, 9, 8, 7 - this actually went better than last week (+25x10, 8, 8, 7) which is weird, and the even weirder thing is that I felt better than when I started this workout. Upper body days aren’t that fatiguing but usually they still leave me feeling a bit tired. I don’t really know what to think, this was a weird day.
Dude your lifts are exploding week to week. Very nice progress going on in here !
I wouldn’t say they are exploding, I definitely made some progress though. Right now the weights are increasing but reps are dropping off too (which is part of the plan) so it might look like I’m making more progress than I really am.
Tuesday, July 3 - Main squat day
Squat w/ wraps
480x3 - it felt heavier than it should so I cut it at 3 instead of pushing for 4. Could have done another rep but it probably would have been ugly. Depth was good on the first rep, just barely there on the 2nd (shorts again so can’t say for sure but I would have wanted another inch or two at least just to be safe) and the 3rd was right at parallel. I remember thinking to myself “sit into your glutes” as I went to unrack the bar, somehow I completely forgot that after the first rep. Whatever, strength is there, I’m going to do more work in wraps in the next block and more actual low bar squats so I expect some major improvements.
Hatfield squat
500x6, 5, 4 - had another rep in me on the first two, nothing left on the last one. 500x6 was a number I just came up with at the beginning of this phase of training as some kind of big, out of reach goal. It wasn’t as bad as I would have thought. Maybe I will post a video later, right now I feel dead.
Paused SSB squat
310x6, 6 - weird how taking 190lbs off the bar feels so light, but this exercise was still hard.
Snatch grip RDL
395x6x3 sets - more weight, more fatigue, less reps each week. I did what I could.
Thursday, July 5 - Bench assistance day
Close grip floor press
300x6, 5, 4 - all sets one rep short of failure. This was good, first set is only 20lbs behind my bench the other day which is weird. I might have to experiment with a closer bench grip, seems like I might be stronger at the bottom. I felt good today too, slept well and I’m getting used to the heat (which will be over in a couple days anyway), it was too sudden of a change in weather. Now I get to spend the rest of the day in a hot, sweaty kitchen.
Military press
225x6, 4 - 7 was the goal on the first set but I wasn’t sure if another rep was there so I cut it. Whatever. Josh Bryant told me that OHP should be around 70% of your bench (ideally, so shoulder strength is not a limiting factor) and based on what I have been doing I’m there already.
Pushups - neutral grip, on dumbbells, with light band
15, 9 - surprise pushup PR
Skull crusher
115x12, 11, 9 - triceps gave out on the last one
Face pulls
light band x22, 18, 15, 12 - quite a few more reps than last week, this and the pushups has me wondering if the bands got softer due to the heat. I’m making big gains in all the wrong places.
Friday, July 6 - light squat/deadlift day
1-1/4 squat - transformer bar - back squat position
305x2x6 - 45 sec. rest
Deadlift
470x6 - maybe one more rep
Deficit DL
430x6, 5, 4 - energy and motivation faded after the first set, I’m ready for a deload. Could do maybe 2 more reps on the first 2 sets, could have done more on the last one but energy is gone at this point.
Barbell row
345x9, 8, 7, 7 - felt like dying on every set
Overhand hold
310x15 sec. x2 - barely held on both times. A couple weeks ago I figured out it was easier if I squeeze the hell out of the bar, no squeeze power today. I might have to back down the weights on this if it doesn’t go well next time
Finally, deload time. Next block is going to start with a lot of heavy-ish 5’ (like 7-8 RPE to start) and gradually get heavier, then about two months of heavier work and peak for the meet in October. At least that is the plan, I haven’t signed up yet. I’m moving in a couple weeks (only 2 blocks away, but still) and other bullshit is going on so I don’t want to commit to something and send money and end up dropping out, but I’m training with that meet in mind. It’s in Longueil, Quebec, just past Montreal.
Monday, July 9 - Main bench day - Deload
I already switched up the exercises to the new ones for the coming block. Deloads are boring as it is, with the same exercises I have been doing for the last 9 weeks it will be worse.
Bench (all reps paused)
290x3x2 sets
Spoto press - almost touching my chest
260x3x3
Close grip slingshot
295x4x2
Floor pause dumbbell flys
35’sx8x2 sets
Chin ups -supinated (I will keep doing them this way, eliminates the need for curls)
bw x6x3
Tuesday, July 10 - Main squat day
Squat w/ wraps
430x3x3
Some reps were good depth, others were borderline. That’s my main issue with squatting at the moment, aside from trying to get stronger.
Pause squat (low bar)
315x3x3 - feels way easier than paused SSB squats
Snatch grip RDL
355x5x2 sets
Ab wheel rollout
5x2 sets - haven’t done this in a while, starting off easy. Extra easy since this is a deload, but 5 reps still felt like something. I figure that all the higher rep squatting and deadlifting I was doing replaces ab work to some extent (I definitely felt it in my abs) and now I’m reducing volume so I’m going to do this to make sure my abs stay strong.
Thursday, July 12 - Bench assistance day
Close grip bench
270x3x2 sets
Close grip 2 board
300x3x2
Military press
205x3x2
JM press
135x6x3
Face pulls
Light band x12x3 sets
A nice, easy workout. I feel pretty much recovered now, earlier in the week I wasn’t really feeling it. I’m ready to kill the weights next week.