Wednesday, July 1 - Main bench day
Bench press
375x2 - a 3rd rep wasn’t going to happen
335x5 - RPE 9
Floor pause DB flys/floor press
80’s x12/5
65’s x15/6
Arnold press
60’s x13, 10
Friday, July 3 - Deadlift day
Conventional - beltless
Worked up to a single with 525, hook grip. Felt alright, it moved slow but more because I was extra careful lifting it than because it was heavy. I think I have the back position and everything sorted out, I just need to figure out how to coordinate things so I can move it fast. Technique is not totally stable, but it will get there soon enough. Also this is an 18lb conventional PR, heaviest I have gone since I pulled 230kg in my first meet.
Hook gripping conventional on this extra sharp DL bar is rough on the hands, so I will keep doing most of the work with straps
435x3x3 - straps - Just some technique work, heavy enough to feel like something but still easy. Conventional feels much better without a belt for some reason, maybe the belt is the reason I was having problems in the past.
Barbell row
370x8
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+55x5 - I stopped when I got to the point that I had to strain to get to the top, I don’t want to do a bunch of cheating partial reps
bw+25x10
This felt like an easy workout, maybe I should have done another set of rows. I’m sick of doing curls though, that must be the most tedious exercise.
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Saturday, July 4 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
up to 355x1 - Not going as heavy on slingshot bench plus haven’t been seeing any improvement on my warmup singles with 375 so I will go lighter for now.
Slingshot bench
405x5x2 sets - Maybe could do another rep on both sets.
Close grip 2 board press
285x10, 8 - I’m doing this more as a tricep exercise than some sort of bench variation for weak points. I’m flaring my elbows and touching higher than I would otherwise to make my triceps do as much of the work as possible. My elbows were starting to get a little bit sore the last few weeks, I was mostly feeling it when I start to warm up and on JM presses so I concluded the JM presses must be to blame. It was nothing major and I could have kept doing the same thing but it could lead to worse elbow problems, plus it doesn’t hurt to change up assistance work now and then. This didn’t bother my elbows at all, so it should work out just fine.
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x 3 sets
Monday, July 6 - Squat day
Squat - wraps - kraits
515x3 - This was supposed to be a fairly easy triple, the first 2 went well but on the 3rd I kind of shifted forward and had to strain a bit. I didn’t tip forward, it was like everything just shifted forward together and the bar path was fucked up. Looked like I hit depth at least, but I wasn’t happy with this at all.
I had this sort of lazy feeling warming up, not like I was tired and physically I feel totally recovered but I’m just not feeling it today. Looking at my training log, I haven’t actually had an easy squat session in a long time and also the last few weeks didn’t go too great so maybe I need to start throwing in some easy days here and there. I cut it after the top set, but it would have been better for the sake of recovery if I just did a double instead. I don’t know what it is maybe it’s a mental thing, but it’s hard to keep pushing the same lift every week without a break here and there.
Also, I notice my adductors feel better than usual today. I think I have chronically tight adductors, and I know they get tighter from sumo deadlifts but last week was the first time I didn’t do any sumo pulls at all in a long time and it seems to have made a big difference. I was already considering switching to conventional for a moment (unless it ends up ahead of my sumo) but now I’m thinking it might help with my squat too. Normally I’m pretty stiff when I start squatting but not today, and I was able to squat to depth in wraps no problem (despite the other issues) so maybe there is something to it. I’m not going to give up on sumo completely, maybe keep it for lighter sessions or something like that, but I’m going to see where this goes.
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I’ve been trying to figure out why all of a sudden things aren’t going so great with my squat, the only major difference between now and a few months ago is that I have been trying to go heavy basically every week on both squat and deadlift. It worked for a bit to get back on track after things went downhill in April, but the weights were lighter too so it would have been a bit less taxing. If I was going to focus more on hypertrophy it would make sense to do a bit more volume and higher reps, but I don’t think that is what I need at the moment. Lately I’m not working much due to COVID-related bullshit and I’m getting lots of sleep so I feel good overall, it’s just that I can’t go all out all the time and keep making progress.
Wednesday, July 8 - Main bench day
Bench press
380x2 - maybe on track for a PR, we will see
340x5
Arnold press
75’s x10, 8
Dumbbell pushups with band
+light band x rest pause: 12, 4, 2
I decided to change up my assistance work, I had enough of the flys for now. It kind of looks like I get stuck a bit lower than before sometimes which is supposed to be an indication that shoulders are a weak link so maybe prioritizing shoulders a little bit more might help. I saw a video of James Strickland doing the same floor pause flys with 100’s, I’m using 80’s and based on that you would think I should be benching 500+ but not a chance. I get the feeling that pushing the flys isn’t going to do much for my bench so I’m taking a break.
One thing that I noticed when I stopped doing them for a bit is that it felt like my pecs were barely working on bench and my shoulders were taking over, which in itself isn’t really a problem except my shoulders were getting beat up and I wasn’t making any progress. I think maybe I will just do a couple sets of band flys as I warm up to get them working. I don’t post my warmup stuff but I do a couple sets of band pushdowns and band pull aparts when I get started.
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Friday, July 10 - Deadlift day
Conventional DL
535x1 - Another 10lb PR. Didn’t really feel hard, just had this brief moment where I felt like I didn’t know which direction to push or pull. Turns out I let the bar drift way forward, but it didn’t slow at all. This is 5lbs short of 90% of my best sumo pull, seeing as I wasn’t training conventional with any really seriousness I think I can really get somewhere with this. And to think, all this time I thought I couldn’t set up properly for conventional because the belt was messing with me, it’s just weird.
445x3x3 - straps - Finally starting to move fast
Barbell row
375x8 - My back is feeling strong
Chin ups - 45 degree supinated grip
bw x12, 8 this is the grip between neutral and supinated on those angled handles, I never really did them like this and supinated doesn’t feel too good on my forearms so I guess this is it for now. Also really feel this in the biceps so it gives me an excuse not to do curls.
So going forward I’m going to stick with conventional for now and see where it ends up. I’m going to do some moderately heavy singles here and there, but mostly I’m going to do submax volume work because my technique could use some adjustments and the lift just feels unfamiliar to me. Also I don’t want to do anything stupid and blow out my back. It’s feeling good though, seems like I can actually get in a stronger position than on sumo.
Tomorrow is going to be an easy bench session, easy deadlift next week, I’m thinking a few singles around 480 and some chin ups. I want 385x2 bench next week, I’m not planning any squat PRs but the plan is a solid triple in wraps and a couple down sets in sleeves. We will see how it goes, the main objective is for it not to suck.
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Saturday, July 11 - 2nd bench day - easy session
Bench press
up to 355x1
Slingshot bench
405x2
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x 3 sets
Monday, July 13 - Squat day
I was planning to do an easy triple in wraps, but after the way my last warmup set in sleeves with 455 moved I started thinking I should go for something bigger.
Squat - wraps - kraits
505x1 - easy, fast, good depth
555x1 - not quite as fast but still easy and good
585x1 - easier than expected, I could have doubled it. I cut depth a little bit though, looks like I need about 2 more inches. I’m not even peaked or anything and this feels easy enough, I think I could squat something big.
Squat - sleeves
405x6 - Feels weird taking 180lbs off between sets, but it is what it is. Felt like I could do 2 more reps but on video it looked much easier than that, maybe I’m just lazy when it comes to reps. I will just go heavier next time.
Split squat - SSB
95x15, 12 (per leg) - This totally destroyed my quads, it was like the sort of feeling you get if you haven’t trained for months and then you go to the gym and do a hard leg workout, I could barely walk after the 2nd set. Hopefully that’s a good sign. I did these holding the rack for balance, because that is an issue for me with single leg movements, but not trying to really assist myself. Also barefoot incase that helps with balance and foot position. And this was the “normal” type of split squats, not the Bulgarian style with the rear leg elevated. I find with the leg elevated I have a tendency to twist around a bit and sometimes it irritates my hip flexors, this way is like a lunge but without switching legs between reps. Hopefully it pays off.
Wednesday, July 15 - Main bench day
Things just didn’t go my way today
Bench press
385x1 - Failed 2nd rep a bit past halfway up. Warmups felt good but this just wasn’t happening. The first rep moved well at least, looks like I have at least another 20lbs for a single
345x3 - failed 4th rep, just couldn’t lock it out. This is pretty bad, I went from 380x2 and 340x5 last week to this. I feel totally recovered and I had an easy bench session on Saturday, its just one of those days where nothing goes my way.
Arnold press
75’s x11, 8
DB pushups
+light band - rest pause: 13, 3, 2
Bench press is frustrating, it starts to look like a PR is around the corner and then nothing happens. Seems like this past winter I was making some decent progress, I need to figure out what I was doing then that I’m not doing now.
I’m thinking about doing a block of singles, not 1rm attempts but heavy singles. Conventional DL feels a bit skeptical with heavy reps and squatting in wraps tends to get sloppy when I do reps too, maybe some bench singles won’t hurt either.
Friday, July 17 - Deadlift day - easy session
Conventional DL
485x5 singles - Easy, moved well. Just hard on the thumbs with hook grip on the knurling, I was starting to get a blister too.
Chin ups - 45 degree supinated grip
bw x10x2 sets
A nice easy workout, maybe pull something heavy next week.
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Saturday, July 18 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
325x3x3 - I decided it was time to switch things up a bit, doesn’t seem like slingshot bench is doing much for me now so I will just do some moderately heavy submax work on comp. bench instead. This is about 80%. I tried high volume benching and it didn’t get far, I tried cutting it down to once a week and that didn’t look like it was going to work either, so maybe an easier 2nd bench day is the answer.
Close grip 2 board
290x8 - This didn’t feel good on my elbows so I decided I should drop this. I did a warmup set with 265 and it didn’t bother me but the last couple reps here didn’t feel too great. A couple weeks ago when I first tried this it felt fine but maybe that was just in comparison to JM presses. It didn’t hurt, just felt like it was bothering something in there.
Band pushdowns
super mini x25, 14, 10 - I have no endurance in my triceps, I wasn’t watching the clock but I would say maybe a minute and a half between sets. This is a great exercise for sore elbows, I always do a couple sets with a mini band before benching to warm up my triceps and elbows. This got my triceps pumped up too. I guess I will have to stick with lighter and higher rep stuff for my triceps for now, JM presses were fine until I got up to heavy sets of 6 and then it started beating up my elbows.
W shoulder rotation
super mini x3 sets
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Monday, July 20 - Squat day
Squat - wraps - kraits
525x1, 565x1 - Both were easy and moved well
605x1 - It went up, but it was a bit sloppy and not quite depth. Something went wrong when I started to descend, I think I folded forward a bit too much or something and as a result the descent was a bit off, then I let the bar drift forward on the way up. Everything feels easy until the bar gets heavy, then the problems start.
Squat -sleeves
425x5 - I was going for 6 but I tipped forward on the 5th rep, probably better to stop there. It wasn’t really hard, just technique was starting to break down and that’s not what I want.
Split squat - SSB
105x15x2 sets per leg - I was only planning to do 12 on the 2nd set but it felt easy so I pushed it to 12, but I paid for it after. My quads were on fire, especially the VMOs. I put away the plates but by that time I could barely stand, I had to lay down for a few minutes. I don’t get it, I have done other high rep leg exercises before like 20 rep squats and stuff like that but something about this hits my quads like nothing else. Hopefully it pays off.
I don’t know what’s going on with me today but I was sweating like crazy, my shirt was soaked after the first few squat warmups and after training I ringed out my shirt, must have squeezed a cup and a half out of it. It’s not even hot today either, a few days ago it was 10+ degrees hotter. Weird.
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Mirin the big squats.
Looks very much like a relatively strong quads v posterior chain squat pattern (knee wraps might do that to everyone anyways). I’ve that pattern in wraps or sleeves and something thats been helping recently is some advice from this dude:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB6ookMgxaJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Cant find the exact link to it but it was something like for quad dominant squat styles on the ascent you gotta aggressively cue getting the hips back through/under you early or else u pop up and get stuck halfway and all kinds of fuckery happens in that position for bar path shifting, back rounding and straight up failing.
So I’ll just cue myself “hips”. Don’t think about much else. Havent really gotten around to it but want to be doing a lot of posterior chain work overall: volume in volume phases and heavier variations in strength blocks.
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To me it seems like I need to focus on pushing the bar up and back, if it’s drifting forward then I can’t really force my hips under. It all sound very straightforward, but it doing it with a heavy weight on your back that is the challenge.
I wasn’t really squatting anything too close to a max for the last while so getting used to heavier loads is another factor in itself. A few more weeks of heavy singles and I should be more comfortable with that sort of stuff.
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Bar back or hips forward is just two sides of the same coin I thinks
More or less
Wednesday, July 22 - Main bench day
My elbows felt totally fine today, all I did is switch my 2nd bench day to some easy submax work and do some band pushdowns. I’m going to give it a few weeks before I do any real tricep work, but this was easier to fix than I expected. Zero discomfort.
Bench press
395x1 - Moved well, nice and smooth, maybe could have doubled it but I wouldn’t count on it. Last time I benched 395 I had to strain.
350x3 - could do another rep for sure, maybe two, but I’m not going for a rep PR so 3 is fine.
Arnold press
75’s x12, 8
DB pushup
+light band x rest pause: 14, 3, 2
Friday, July 24 - Deadlift day
Conventional DL
545x1 - 10lb PR and easy too, I debated throwing on another 30lbs. Technique was much better than on 535 a couple weeks ago, although I need to pull a bit more aggressively. I basically just eased it up of the floor while trying to stay as tight as possible. This is over 90% of my best sumo pull, and it looks like no more than 90% as it is. As my technique and execution improve I should make some significant progress. If someone told me that I was going to switch to beltless conventional I would have taken it for a joke, but it looks like a serious possibility right now.
Only complaint is that I tore some more skin off the spot where I was getting a blister last week, I should do my light sessions with straps. For some reason straps feel much better on conventional than sumo.
A little bit of volume:
455x3x3 - with straps - moved faster and faster on each set
Barbell row
380x8 - It feels like the conventional DLs are making me stronger on this, my back feels more solid than ever. Of course it’s supposed to go the other way around too.
Chin ups - 45 degree supinated grip
BW+10x12, 8 - Biceps seem to be the limiting factor
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Nice. Good luck on ur conventional journey.
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