Had to really move fast in today’s chest and back session as I had to fit it in between two calls. That meant shorter rest breaks, no music, no posing or stretching between sets. Just hard sets, about 30 seconds to catch my breath and repeat. Managed to get it finished in 55 minutes! The pump was fantastic. This was just what I needed. I think the steak and potatoes from yesterday really fueled me for this bust ass session today!
Rest day today, but hit a new low weight PR. 187.4 on the scale this morning. Haven’t had to take any low or high days recently. Just been consistently hitting around 2,400 calories a day. I’m hitting the road for Oklahoma on Friday so I’m sure that’ll be a low day, as it’s about a 16 hour drive. Probably a lot of shakes and pickled eggs haha
Today has been a busy day! In preparation for a long Drive Friday and knowing that I wouldn’t be training that day, I decided to train twice today! Morning session was legs. Nice brutal session with my usual hamstring curl, Squat superset, Reverse Nordics supersetted with Zercher Reverse Lunges and ab and calf supersets, but I also added an insane twist to this one! I added 3 sets of 100 bodyweight squats on wedges! Serge Nubret would apparently work up to 10 sets of 300! I’m not there yet, but this is day 1 of my road to try to get there. Needless to say, my quad pump was the most insane I’ve had in a long time!
In the evening I hit Shoulders and Arms! The arm supersets I performed with zero rest. I would hit biceps then triceps then repeat the cycle immediately with no rest! Exactly a month out now, so there’s no room to mess around and half ass anything. Needless to say, today was a high day. 6 air fried chicken drumsticks(800+ grams of meat), a baked potato and green beans was my big meal in between sessions as well as my usual egg white and fruit smoothie. Post workout, I had a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie. I’ll have a protein shake before bed as well. 3,300 calorie, 330 gram of protein performance by me today. The highest of my entire prep! I think it was crucial to have that today so I can be reinvigorated for tomorrow’s chest and back session!
Last training session before I hit the road tomorrow! This was a fun one, my brother-in-law came in to train at the same time as me! Rest periods were extremely short again today, sometimes not even resting in between supersets! Used the 100s today on Dumbbell Bench press for 7x12. I would’ve gone for 8 but I definitely would’ve failed before rep 12 based on how set 7 went. Maybe in a week or two it’ll be there! Also hit some behind the neck Pulldowns for the first time in a few years and they felt great! Was really just feeling good and energetic across the board! I’m sure I’ll be feeling it tomorrow on the drive haha!
I have fallen behind on logging my sessions since arriving in Oklahoma, but I rectify that today!! I have been so extremely busy since I got here as I’ve been balancing work, spending time with family, going out and seeing attractions such as the zoo and arcade and shopping. Last night I wasn’t able to get to the gym until 3 in the morning to hit legs after a day of 15k steps at the zoo, but I’ve got a show coming up and I refuse to relent! Diet has been on-point since I brought my food scale with me and bought groceries on day 1. It’s also been fantastic Training with my brother this week! Without further ado, I present the sessions:
Big family picnic today! Saw a couple of my cousins and asked if they wanted to get a lift in tonight, they obliged and we had a great workout! Gym was empty so my brother and I were able to guide my cousins through what they described as “The best workout they’ve ever had”! Definitely felt good to hear that! It’s funny how much I’ve settled into a teacher type of role with lifting. It’s my full-time job and I even get to help my family and friends. Just feels very satisfying! At the same time, I’m still very much a student. Trying to constantly study and learn. Anyway, The Workout itself was just a super awesome Shoulder and arm day! The pump was just absurd and veins were coming out across my delts and chest and arms! Now hoping for a relaxing night!
Back up north! First session back and had my brother with me and it was perhaps the most heinous session I’ve ever done in my life. With the extra rest days, I wanted to do a little extra, so we threw legs in and did chest/back/legs as a giant set. Holy hell, that was nasty. Especially the first two. I intentionally paired all the toughest exercises at the front of the session for the first two rounds. Definitely the right call because I was just finished by the end. It was super hot in the garage today and we had the Rocky IV soundtrack playing, it was amazing. My Apple Watch said I burned 1,200 active calories over the course of this almost 2 hour session. Definitely going to nail the nutrition today and go for a high day, high protein, high carb.
Bad ass shoulder and arm session today! I am simply so excited about the training lately and I’m really going to be dropping the calories here in the final 2 weeks to try to get to a more finished level of conditioning. My enthusiasm is super high and I am ready to do this thing!
One word…Volume!!!
No doubt about that brother! This has been a high, high volume prep! It’s certainly been very fun
Another absolutely hardcore session! Wanted to sneak some legs in again at the end even though they were still quite sore from last workout. So I went a bit more modest with the volume on them this time as compared to the chest and back. I’ll hit some abs and calves tonight as well. I’ve been going ultra high frequency on those. Usually scheduled for a rest on this weekend but I may try to squeeze shoulders and arms in tomorrow. Just really want to leave nothing on the table with the show approaching so fast.
Next level neat log, good work
Thanks man! You can always count on a photo of my actual journal because I have zero patience for re-typing all of that haha
I like it, it reminds me of my old journals from back in the 90’s. Before someone invented excel or google sheets. Can’t go wrong with the pen and paper. Mine is all online now because that way @wiseman83 can spy on my and make sure I am doing my work.
Haha yeah my dad had me using one when we first started then I stopped for a few years then I started logging in a notebook again when I was being coached by Todd Lee because he told me to so I could focus on Progressive overload and then again in 2020 when I started doing Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty, since that’s a major thing that makes that program work (or not work). I have just kept it up since then and have filled up about 4 notebooks haha! I’m inspired by the wise 90s lifters like you!
Slept like an absolute baby last night which led to such a fantastic workout today! Pushed the weights up a little heavier today and it felt good. Doing the weight on behind the neck press for 6 sets, what was once very difficult to get for 3 sets. That’s great progress, especially with all of this taking place during prep! Just still trying to do better, get a better pump. I think keeping training quality very high is so important and a big reason why I’m feeling so big and strong even while dieting for several months. Excited to really go crazy on legs tomorrow!
First early morning lift today, which will be the move for the most part going forward. I liked it! Although I was definitely a little extra tired by the end. Only superset today was Reverse Nordic/Stiff Leg Deadlift. Getting back to some Zerchers was fun and extremely challenging. They just absolutely hammer the quads! My brother was dying haha
Chest and back on deck for tomorrow morning!
2 hour early morning session! Chest and back! No supersets today. Stayed a bit more true to what Serge Nubret’s advice is, staying on one muscle and one movement until it’s finished! Took longer but it absolutely felt great and the pump was superb! This session really even felt therapeutic! Hard to explain, but it was just one of those days (in a good way)! Getting closer to the show Day by day!
Shoulder and arm day was money as usual. All of the arm movements were done with zero rest between exercises/rounds. The pump was just bananas! I’m really in such a flow state right now, I’m feeling super confident just over a week out from the show. Going to book the hotel tonight! Also, didn’t have room on the page to log it, but I also did 4x15 on the ab wheel and 4x50 with bodyweight Donkey Calf raises.
Not much to report today. Ordered my pro tan last night. We went to a cottage for the day with my in-laws, but it was also Leg day and I’m not about to skip a session this close to go-time, so I hit a bodyweight session. A damn brutal one too. All told, it took about an hour. Got the thousand bodyweight squats knocked out in 25 minutes. Walking stairs has been damn near impossible since. I actually planned ahead and packed my amino acids with me and took them during my session. Nailed the nutrition too! The power of planning ahead!
Legs
Bodyweight Squats 1000 total reps
Slider Hamstring Curls 300 total reps
Sit Ups 300 total reps
Single Leg Calf Raises 300 total reps