Hey all. Haven’t been on here in a long time. I’ve lifted weights off and on for years, but have never been consistent. This lack of consistency has been influenced by recurring injuries and personal issues that I can’t begin to get into. I’ve also been lazy and full of excuses. I could have (almost) always worked around the pain, physical and otherwise, and maintained solid progress. This log will help me be accountable for said progress, even when hurt.
I considered putting this in the beginners section due to the puny weights I’ll be moving, but decided against it since I’ve successfully trained myself and others with a variety of templates. Updates to follow.
Today’s training
Close grip bench
-135 lbs * 6,6,6,5
Trap bar rows
-135 * 5 * this sucks(first and last time attempting this. Reaffirms my abject hatred of trap bars for anything but pressing)
T bar rows using rope
-75 lbs plus bar * 5,8,8,13
Giant set of bent laterals, rope pushdowns, axle curls
-who cares * a bunch
In case anyone is interested, I’ll be using a full body(ish) routine. Usually a major push/pull with some kind of squat. The squat will sometimes be left out due to my awful knees and lower back. Deadlifts and power cleans/snatches when I feel like it. No set in stone rep scheme but I’ll try to go heavy for twenty to thirty total reps on compound lifts.
Today
Swiss bar clean and press(first time on these, like it a lot)
-40kg x 5,5
-50kg x 3,3
-60kg x 3,3,3,3
V grip pulldowns
-90lbs x 5, 5
-100 lbs x 5
-110 x 5
-115 x 5, 5
Ghr
-bw x 10, 5, 6
Giant set of swiss bar curls and extensions
Also tried to do some light overhead squats but I swear tiny gremlins were stabbing my right knee. Try squats on Wednesday when I get back from a business trip.
Today
Combo power snatch/overhead squat
-40 kg x 3 x 5
Reverse grip bench from pins
-95lbs x 5 x 5
Superset facepulls and bent laterals
-really light x enough to stop my right shoulder from exiting my torso
What a shitshow. At least the oh squats were easy on the knees. Oh well, sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes it eats you.
Today
Front squats
-warmed up with 40 kg, shut it down when my knee threatened to explode
Swiss bar bench
-135 x 5, 145 x 5, 155 x 3, 165 x 3, 175 x 1, 185 x 1 x 2, 155 x 10
Bent rows
-60 kg x 5 x 2, 70 kg x 5 x 3
Incline flies superset w/ rear laterals
-20’s times 30-40
Really tired of my knee acting up. May start with ghr on Wednesday to see if it helps. Bench was ok and flies felt good with a 3-5 second pause in the bottom position. Nice stretch.
Today
Ghr
-bw x 10 x 2
Swiss bar clean and press
-40kg x 5 x 2, 50kg x 3 x 2, 60kg x 3 x 3
Super wide grip pulldowns
-95lbs x 10, 10, 8
Lateral and bent raises with 15’s
Not a great session. Guess I was more fatigued from yesterday than I realized. Oh well. Got some work done. Ghr made my knee feel slightly better. Gonna try to squat tomorrow or Thursday.
Announcing this publicly so I don’t back out this evening. Going to do as many deadlift singles with 225 as I can in half an hour. This might be really stupid as I haven’t deadlifted in probably three months but it’s light weight so we’ll see. Update later on whether or not I’ve crippled myself.
That was fun
Deadlift
-225 x 1 x 12
-245 x 1 x 2
-275 x 1 x 12
All done in thirty minutes. Gonna do this again using 275 or more the whole time
Paused bench
-worked up to 185 x 1
Close grips
-135 x 5 x 4
Rear delt flies and hammer curls till I couldn’t bend my arms. Tomorrow should be interesting in a masochistic sort of way.
Today
Press
-50 kg x 2 x 5, 55 kg x 2 x 2, 50 kg x 2
Btn press
-40 kg x 10
Front squat
-80 kg x 2 x 4(messed around with high bar and different weights. Suck)
Stretchers
-90 lbs x 10, 5, 5, 5
Superset laterals and bent laterals
Also did some ghr at the beginning for knees. Try to always do before squatting.
I’m done with high bar squats. Fronts are awful in their own way but for me feel more useful. Obviously need to increase volume for them.
Today
Swiss bar bench
-185 x 2 x 3
-155 x 4,4,4,9
Wide grip pulldowns
-120 x 5 x 3
-100 x 12
Kb swings
-24 kg x 60-70 messing around with 1 and 2 hands
I am really out of shape. More swings and other conditioning to follow.
I caught a profile view of myself in the mirror last night. To say I was less than happy with the appearance of my midsection would be the understatement of the year. For the next six weeks I will focus on dropping some chub while drastically increasing general fitness. I’m not obsessed with my physique but I don’t want to look seven months pregnant either.
Today
Paused bench
-175 x 1 x 3
Front squats
-warmed up knee said no thanks
Bunch of kb snatches and one handed swings
This was abysmal. Super run down and weak today. Will do better.