box squat
bar x 5
45kg x 4
60kg x 2
68kg x 2 x 10 sets
free squat
85kg x 5 x 2 sets
good morning
65kg x 10 x 5 sets
sit-up
4kg (top of head) x 10, 8, 7, 9, 8
(60 mins)
Good day. Great to be back after that week off. Everything felt pretty good. I decided to run through the two DE days first before getting to the ME work. Should help prepare me a bit.
My bw is down 3 or 4 kg from a week ago, but it should be mostly fat. I ate quite well, but I was extremely active. And my belt was noticeably looser today when lifting. Nice bonus.
sumo deadlift
45kg x 5
57kg x 5
69kg x 3
81kg x 3
94kg x 3
105kg x 3
114kg x 3
122kg x 1
130kg x 1
138kg x 1
146kg x miss
130kg x 1
db reverse lunge
30kg (2 db total) x 8, 8, 9, 9, 10
barbell russian twist
24kg x 5 (per side)
36kg x 5 x 3 sets
24kg x 10
(75 mins)
Good day. I couldn’t improve my DL max over last time, but the pull at 138 was MUCH cleaner. I also did more volume on the build-up and an extra heavy single, so there is still good progress. I’m sure I could have pulled more than 138. Maybe 146 was too optimistic.
Did all the DL sets with a mixed grip. Wanted to get a good feel for it. This made a big difference. Last time I had trouble locking out 138 as it nearly slipped out of my hands. This time holding it was easy.
Also, 2 days of rest after high volume chinning seems like a good idea before DLing. I’ve taken my sumo stance in a bit and it feels better. I’m actually wondering if it would be useful to return to conventional pulling. Maybe next cycle.
Not sure if the twists were a good ab movement. I got a huge pump in my shoulders rather. Maybe I was doing them wrong. We’ll see if I have any midsection soreness tomorrow.
Lifting soon after breakfast seems to be best for me. This is how I used to do it.
bench
bar x 5
28kg x 5
36kg x 3
45kg x 3
53kg x 3
60kg x 3
2-board press
68kg x 3
76kg x 3
80kg x 1
85kg x 1, 1, 1
4-board press
76kg x 3
80kg x 3
85kg x 2
80kg x 4
bench
60kg x 7
ghetto t-bar row
1 plate x 10
2 plate x 10
3 plate x 10, 12
2 plate x 15
1 plate x 20
(80 mins)
Phew. Lot of work today. I had planned on reaching 90kg on the 2-board, but the first single at 85kg was pretty tough. I lost my concentration. The next two reps were solid though, so I should have more for next time.
I was considering db rowing instead of the t-bar, but this movement just feels so much better for me. Maybe in a few weeks.
mobility (add plate adduction/abduction, drop fire hydrants)
box squat (parallel box)
bar x 5
45kg x 5
60kg x 2
73kg x 2 x 10 sets (loose belt)
free squat
85kg x 3
93kg x 3 (tight belt)
101kg x 3 (tight belt)
good morning (beltless)
65kg x 10 x 2 sets
60kg x 10 x 3 sets
sit-up
4kg (top of head) x 10 x 5 sets
(60 mins)
Good one. The speed sets were pretty good. The last set or two were not quite as quick though.
I decided to throw in a few ramped sets of normal squats after. I was pretty fatigued by then, but I’m very satisfied with the 101kg. It didn’t feel heavy at all. It might be interesting to do free squats as my next ME movement. I wonder where they are at right now.
I usually use a belt on the GM sets, but I decided to ditch it. This made things more difficult, but hopefully I get a better training effect out of it.
bench
bar x 6
36kg x 4
50kg x 3 x 10 sets
58kg x 3
66kg x 3
74kg x 3
hang clean and press
bar x 3
36kg x 3
45kg x 6 x 5 sets (+3 reps)
chin-up
bw x 3 x 6 sets
bw x 2 x 2 sets
(65 mins)
Not bad. After the speed sets I went with some ramped sets like on squat day. I like this.
I’ll keep pushing for more reps on the clean and press till I’m around 10, then I’ll increment. I’ve also thought about push pressing instead of just a press as the hang clean portion of the lift is pretty easy. Probably it does not matter a whole lot.
Chins were fine. I did 2 less reps than last time, but I was wearing my full warmup gear as well as my chucks. I normally strip down to my shorts for these. It is a bit ridiculous, but I suppose this is still progress, heh.
sumo deadlift
45kg x 5
57kg x 5
69kg x 3
81kg x 3
94kg x 3
105kg x 3
114kg x 3
122kg x 1
130kg x 1
138kg x 1
142kg (313 lbs) x 1
db reverse lunge
30kg (db total) x 10 x 5 sets
sprinter sit-ups
20 x 3 sets
(80 mins)
Pretty good. Another deadlift PR. That’s 3 (metric) plates too. Next time I’ll be aiming to clear 315. I’ve had trouble keeping my air on the heaviest sets, but this time I really focused on pushing out hard and keeping my breath as I started the pull and it seemed to help a lot.
bench
bar x 5
28kg x 5
36kg x 3
45kg x 3
53kg x 3
60kg x 3
2-board press
68kg x 3
76kg x 3
80kg x 1
85kg x 1
89kg x miss
85kg x 1
rack lockout (approx unrack height)
76kg x 5
80kg x 5
85kg x 5
90kg x 5
t-bar row
1 plate x 10
2 plate x 10
3 plate x 10, 13
2 plate x 15
1 plate x 20
(80 mins)
Not so great. I’m pretty worn out today from a long night. I couldn’t beat last week’s best 2-board press which is a bit annoying. As it is my 1RM is the same for this as my normal bench. I’m thinking of trying some rack lockouts at approx. 2-board height instead.
The rack lockouts I did do were probably too high. I’ll have to experiment with this or find another tri movement. Maybe some close grip bench is my best bet.
[quote]whup wrote:
Great log, you’ve really improved the past 16 months. Whats your current stats?[/quote]
Thanks for the support whup. Progress sometimes feels slow to me, but I am getting consistently stronger so it’s hard to complain. Especially considering how weak I was when I started. I’m not 100% what my maxes are right now, but I think it is safe to say I could hit:
box squat (parallel)
bar x 5
45kg x 5
60kg x 2
78kg x 2 x 10 sets
free squat
85kg x 2
93kg x 2
101kg x 2
good morning
60kg x 10 x 5 sets
sit-up
5kg (on head) x 10, 10, 9, 7, 9
(60 min)
Pretty good. Squats were still quick. I was going to go for a double at 110, but I decided to back off a bit. No need to have 2 ME days. I’m itching to try a max free squat though.
When I really focus on maximizing ROM on the GMs they get pretty nasty. Always get sore.
Solid day. Only went for a 1kg PR, but the set at 122kg was a triple instead of a normal single, so plenty of progress. I probably could have pulled 145kg, but that will have to wait till next DL cycle. I’m considering free squats for my next ME movement. Otherwise, box squats again.
The reverse lunges are good, but when step back with my right leg I have issues with my form. I either need to drop the weight back down or really stretch out my left hip and glute regularly and fix things. This is a constant problem.
close-grip bench
bar x 5
28kg x 5
36kg x 3
45kg x 3
53kg x 3
60kg x 3
68kg x 3
76kg x 3
81kg x 1
86kg x miss
81kg x 1, 1
82kg (181 lbs) x 1
4-board press
82kg x 3, 3, 3
db row
15kg x 10
25kg x 10, 25
(65 mins)
Pretty good. I dropped the 2-board press for close grip. I was unsatisfied with the 2-board. Now my upper and lower cycles are not in sync, but I suppose that is irrelevant.
I hoped I could beat my bench PR with close grip, but I didn’t quite have it in me. Either way this is pretty good evidence that I can beat my 85 from a couple weeks ago. It’d be nice to close grip something like 88 by the end of this cycle.
The 4-board press was good. My lockout is not my weak part, but this lockout work has really made the heavier bench attempts feel more comfortable.
Swapped t-bars out for db rowing. I intend to do this in the Kroc style.
mobility (10 x mountain climber, 10 x rollovers into “V” sits, 10 x toy soldiers, 10 x lateral leg swing, 15 x shoulder dislocations, 10 x band pull-aparts, hip/piriformis stretching)
box squat (parallel)
bar x 5
45kg x 4
60kg x 2
68kg x 2 x 10 sets
free squat
85kg x 2
93kg x 2
101kg x 2
good morning
60kg x 10 x 5 sets
sit-up (30 secs rest)
5kg (on head) x 10, 10, 10, 10, 7
(55 mins)
On the box squats I took the bar a bit further down on my back and widened my grip and I really felt more stable. These were the quickest speed sets yet.
After a pretty messy first set of GMs I really got in the groove. Best ROM yet.
hang clean + overhead press
bar x 3
36kg x 3
45kg x 6, 6, 6, 7, 7 (+0 reps)
wide-grip pull-up
bw x 2 x 10 sets
(60 mins)
Speed bench sets were very quick. Felt good. Then I repped out 60kg. That’s a pr for sure.
Couldn’t do more on the clean and press. I think I’m going to start doing this lift ramping to a 5RM or something. I wanna change it up a bit.
Decided to replace chins with pull-ups. I’m awful at these, so hopefully I can make some decent progress here. Generally I’ve been unsatisfied on my progress on chins and pull-ups.
Nice. Very happy with the squat PR. Actually everything over 101 was a free squat PR, although I’ve hit 126 off a parallel box. The 126 today was a bit ugly, but the 130 was solid. I probably could have hit 135. Feeling like I’ll be able to hit my year’s goal of 3 plates.
Recently I’ve been itching to start a new program thinking I’m not making progress on this one. Today’s work makes me feel otherwise.
close-grip bench
bar x 5
28kg x 5
36kg x 3
45kg x 3
53kg x 3
60kg x 3
68kg x 3
72kg x 3
76kg x 1
80kg x 1
84kg x miss
81kg x 1
4-board press
81kg x 4, 4, 5
db row
12.5kg x 10
22.5kg x 10
30.5kg x 20
(60 mins)
Pretty good. Couldn’t beat last time on the CGBP, but the 4-board press was a lot better, so I’m not too disappointed. I was a bit in a rush so I moved quicker than normal and finished everything in an hour. That’s a nice bonus.
box squat (parallel box)
bar x 5
45kg x 3
60kg x 2
76kg x 2 x 10 sets
60kg x 10
good morning
60kg x 10 x 5 sets
spread-eagle sit-up
2.5kg (on head) x 20
3.5kg x 12
4kg x 10
5kg x 7
db curl
15kg x 10 x 3 sets
(55 mins?)
Pretty good. I went heavier on the speeds sets at this point in the cycle, but this was no sweat. Everything was quick. I’ll go for around 80kg next week.
Good mornings were great. My ROM is getting better and better. At some point I’ll increment the weight, but that’ll be once I’m satisfied with the ROM. As it is I am progressing on this movement week to week.
Changed the sit-ups a bit. This set up forces a much fuller ROM.
I either forgot what time I started or I was going really quickly, so I added some curls at the end. Why not? Maybe if this happens regularly I’ll add some neck work.