Bb shoulder press 105lbs X 5 115lbs X 5 130 X 8 fail (very almost 9)
dips body 210lbs X 10 X 6 X 5
BB bicep curls 65lbs x 10 X 10 X 3
Back into the start of cycle 3, I didn’t really deload for this day 1, but I had time off since sick before I started last sunday.
I am calling this a good day. shoulder press calculates as slightly better than last week 1. Considering that I failed to pull a second blanket over myself overnight and my sleep was a bit off, the fact I was barely short of full extension on the 9th attempt has me confident things are marching along. As one might expect, a drop off in assistance is no worry.
I today started a sincere run of creatine as a supplement. I will drive through until my supply is out and maybe continue.
I skipped rope yesterday. i was off I think the two previous weeks so I am allowing that I gave up after 8 minutes and some seconds for a break, the balance of 20 minutes in intervals as I could get it. The rope caught on my toes 3 times.
deadlift 225lbs x 5 265 X 5 295 X 8 fail, almost 9
situps body + 25lbs x 10 x 10 X 8 X 4
Db one arm rows 47.5lbs X left10,right10 X 10,10 X 10,6
Good day today. I had a bad energy day, and I am surprised I got as much as I did. I am last set 10lbs heavier than last week 1. When I count that the 9th attempt was almost there I am maybe slightly better than last week 2, when I got 300lbs for 8. My hamstring came out fine.
this is miserable. I did last week 1 accidentally 5lbs heavier than I planned, so I kept to it here. No improvement, and the same reps as 200lbs last week 3. My inclines are 10lbs heavier across 2 sides, but I did not do much with it, maybe 2 X 52.5lbs next time.
I am unsure how to progress with squats tomorrow. I repeated 240lbs on last week 2, so maybe I should start there. Still, the number to beat is 10 reps and I think that is a high range to go towards. I am tempted to try 245lbs, and see if I can still nail that 10 reps. It maybe depends on my sense of energy at the time.
Do the upright rows with a shoulder width grip and only as high as your nipples
First 2 weeks to 3 sets of 15 reps every exercise. This is to give the joints and muscles rest and recover from previous workouts and do not count as any of the 12 weeks.
Bench press increasse the weight 5 pounds each week. If you can not complete all of the sets for all of the reps repeat the same weight next week.
First bench day (this example is for someone with a 255lbs 1 RM)
15 reps warmup with empty bar. Keep your eyes closed and feel the balance of the bar.
10 reps 135 warm up 1 or 2 sets.
8 reps 165lbs
6 reps 185lbs
4 reps 205lbs
2 reps 225lbs
1 rep 245lbs
4 reps 165lbs
Uh, yeah, I didn’t succeed at getting the gridlines into it. let me know if it doesn’t make sense, and i will try to fix things.
Db hammer curls 2 X 32.5lbs X l10,R10 X 10,10 x 8,8
Great day today. Last cycle, due to advice on the powerlifting forum, I repeated the 240lbs last set weight for week 2. I was tempted going into today to try 250lbs, but knew that is only 5lbs lighter than last week 3. So I outdid last week 2 this week 1 and still hopefully didn’t get too ahead of myself. My left adductor was twanging to boot, so it is nice this type of thing doesn’t always set me behind.
increased weight for situps. Hammers improving.
I started creatine on Saturday, and hope to see it through long enough to judge if it does me any good. I had a 300g bottle of the pure stuff that I had trouble properly measuring, so I gave up. I then saw the Six Star brand 20% off someplace and went for it. I was able to generally measure 80g remaining from the old supply and I mixed it down with the sugary formula of the six star. The six star has about 200g of active ingredient in the whole thing so i eyeball about 30% less than a full scoop each application. the concoction should make use of all I have and last me longer.
Good, maybe great day today. I made a definite improvement in shoulders, and everything else.
Yesterday I skipped rope, and made the first 10 minutes nonstop, the balance of 20 minutes in whatever intervals I could get. I want to lose several pounds, although I don’t tend to think I look too tubby. I also practiced muay thai kicks, going more for better form before I try to wing into it hard.
Great day today. I at first waking thought I lacked the energy to do much and thought I would be happy with 8 reps. I immediately after thought shit, I should have tried at least a 9th. I wonder if creatine is helping, or if it is a placebo effect.
Sort of a shitty day. I am trying to progress too fast with bench periodization. Back to basics for that next week. Interestingly, I am making good progress with inclines, but it is only accessory.
I really look forward to squats tomorrow, i feel I have something to prove.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
How do you do your weighted situps? I do mine on a decline bench with a plate (a small one!) behind my head.[/quote]
Is that to say your head is lower than your feet? I know that is more challenging, but I am just flat on the floor with my feet anchored by the cross support of my bench. It is interesting you asked, because I was just today thinking to myself that I change the day 2 after deadlift situps. The idea is to do twists because I should make my obliques stronger instead of just the middle. So, 1 rep left elbow across, 1 rep right elbow across, 5 each side a set for a goal of 10 in total each set. Does that sound like a good idea? I wonder your thoughts on it.
Creatine I am just doing because I heard it is good for strength, the size I don’t care about. Actually I hope to drop some fat with more rope skipping work.
The 300lbs program, if you look at it again, the first 3 weeks are mostly pyramids of 10/8/6. The next 3 weeks are 8/6/6/4, then 5/5/5/5/5, then 3/3/3/3/3. you might just copy the data from sight onto a spreadsheet to make it easier to understand and then there you are.
Terrible day today. I forgot the forecast for overnight and didn’t have enough blankets on when sleeping, I had dreams of being cold. So maybe it figures. Then again if I do well with deadlifts tomorrow I will feel good.
For programming variety I switched dips with DB chest press, maybe that will help with bench on day 3.
Yesterday I skipped rope. I try now to motivate myself by going a few minutes and then trying to guess how long it has been and how long until my first break. this was going good until the rope repeatedly started grazing my toes and then I subconscious plug gave out and I stopped at 8:50. damn! Still I did my 20 minute session and am glad I at least tried something. My right calf was badly sore after and ruined my evening plans.
situps body + 25lbs X left5,right5 X 5,5 X 3,3 stopped
DB one arm rows 47.5lbs X L10,R10 X 10,10 stopped
Great day today. I went to bed really too early yesterday night and awoke at 2:30 am, no further sleep to be had. I had something on my mind and it has been weighing on my stress tolerance. Energy felt nil. I warmed up as best I could (my right calf was still sore from rope skipping Friday) and got to the 265lbs set and said fuck it, tomorrow.
I have nothing much to do today so it wormed into my head not to leave until Monday. I cautiously did the warmup and at heaviest stayed 5lbs lighter than the 330lbs I had hoped to attempt. Straps were readied and I am pleased still with what I got, although I paused on the floor for a few seconds before the 7th rep.
During situps ( I am switching to twist situps to hit my obliques for a change) I felt a muscle spasm when I did something stupid so I curtailed it.
Rows i just didn’t have the energy to complete, but fuck it, I am getting better with deads. In fact from now on all heaviest non deload weights for it will be above 300lbs.
shitty day. I was ruminating in bed a lot of the night about stuff, and my sleep was trash. Strange how upper body days seem to get buggered. Bench calculates actually as slightly better than last week, although there is a drop off in inclines. Maybe daylight savings has an influence.
Progress with pullovers, that is the main thing I have going with my lats now that I can’t do chinups. Could be part of why bench is stagnant. Next week deload and start afresh I suppose.
I look forward to a good sleep tonight and I want to destroy my legs with squats tomorrow.
DB hammer curls 2 X 32.5lbs X L10,R10 X 10,10 X 8,8
Sort of a good day. My squat setup is not a proper cage or power rack. I use a pressing bench with the standards set higher than for press and facing away from the bench. I prepare a weight, sit on the head of the bench facing out, unrack, do the walkout and squat with household items on either side as a failure safety. Normally this works just fine, but this time I slightly fell short with the walkout and i bumped my butt into the bench that set me off. I then after the 5th rep ended up leaning forward into the failsafe setup and got out from under it. My lower back feels a bit off. I know I would have got maybe 8 or 9 out of it, but of course that is just talk.
Another part of the silver lining with this is my assistance improved. higher weight next time for situps. Actually I am now ready to deload once again, I might leave the increase for next cycle.
supposedly on sale, i looked at it and then went to the store. When I looked at it in the store, I thought the safety catches are fucking small. Reasons I got it anyway include cost on sale, portability to get it home (I took the bus), they store in a much smaller space than most other setups, I can use them with my York 6 foot spinlock bar. I can also have a better setup for shoulder press and I hope it works for chinups with the bare bar across (the bar in my closet doorframe was causing cracks in the wood.)
I cautiously tested it for squats up to 165lbs and I must remark that I require the tiniest walkout to stay within range of the safety catches. It seems to basically work, capacity is called 400lbs that will keep me going for a while.
You’ll have to align just perfectly for those safeties to work. Do you have access to a gym and spotters if you want to test a max? What happens when you fail with your squat setup now as you mentioned you did?
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
You’ll have to align just perfectly for those safeties to work. Do you have access to a gym and spotters if you want to test a max? What happens when you fail with your squat setup now as you mentioned you did?
Why can’t you do chins? [/quote]
I tested it out with a second warmup weight for squats. I was careful to look at the feet of the units for alignment. I also have a mirror at the side I can refer to mid set if I want/would do. So, I tried squatting and reracking and failing (pretending). If I didn’t have a real disaster with my old setup I figure i won’t with this. if I spend more of this coming deload week practicing with weights that don’t ruin recovery I should be in good shape.
Hold on tightly while I describe the old setup. I used my pressing bench, with the bottom of 2 cross supports taken off and set higher. The standards are set higher than for bench, facing the wrong way, and I sit at the head of the bench facing outward. With the cross support out of the way I can drop my heels directly beneath myself and do a box squat to unrack and walk out. I actually when I first came up with this idea didn’t set the standards very high, I have to make myself more erect to unseat. This allows leeway to maneuver the bar back onto the standards after the walk back from a non failure set. I found if I did it more vertically I might miss getting one side or the other back on the standards, and then i would be fucked.
Failure? Oh, shit it happens. I just used a motley assortment of household items as left and right side fail safes. I have times I only had a very brief window of time to get out from under the bar, stand and control the weight before a collapse, other times a heavy weight held.
Tomorrow I deload with shoulder press, so that is use there.
My last chinup setup requires brackets for a telescoping bar screwed into wood. I can’t use less than body weight, so the wooden door frame is showing the beginnings of cracks and I thought not to make it any worse. i then switched to bent arm pullovers for lat work, but I don’t have good arm position or range of motion due to i think how my shoulders are designed. I thought just to put a bare longbar on the new standards and use that, i have yet to experiment with it.
So, deload starting today, as usual nothing about it to really report. I did some more practice with my new squat setup, after shoulder pressing with it.
Yesterday I skipped rope, but I am only partially happy with achievement. I had some upbeat music that was good for pacing myself. I was after a while trying to guess elapsed time, but when I guessed that I should be near done I gave up and was 47 seconds short of the first 10 minutes non stop, the balance of 20 minutes in what I could get in intervals. It is all in my head, and I need to get off this giving up bull. What i might do is get a wall clock set up in front of my area so I can see achievement elapsing, currently I use my watch with the alarm set sitting on a table that i can’t see in progress. I actually again gave up totally at 18 minutes because my right calf was hurting. Not a strain, it just gave outright pain, like last week.