01/11/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
70x5x3
80x3
90x3
100x3
110x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
85lbx4x8
Barbell Rows:
82.5x4x8
Face Pulls:
100lbx3x10
02/11/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Good Mornings:
20x2x5
40x5
60x3
80x3
100x3
110x3
120x3 (PR)
130x3 (PR)
140x3 (PR)
Stiff-legged Sumo Deadlifts:
65x5
105x3
125x3
135x3 (PR)
115x3
Reverse Hypers:
95x3x12
Pikes:
BWx3x6
Tonight’s session was brilliant - 25kg and 10kg PRs for good mornings and stiff-legged sumo deadlifts respectively. After that my lower back and hamstrings were absolutely shattered, so I swapped the usual GHRs for reverse hypers and performed some bodyweight pikes to finish off.
04/11/09
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
80x3
100x2
110x1
125x1 (PR)
Bench Presses:
100x3x5
Pull-ups:
BW+10x4x6
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses:
26x3x10
Seated Dumbbell ‘Power Cleans’:
12x2x15
12x1x12
It’s taken far too long to break my previous bench press PR, so I’m delighted to finally nail 125kg. I’m confident 130 will fall shortly and then I’ll be chasing a 3-plate bench!
06/11/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
60x3
80x2x2
90x2x2
100x2x2
110x2x2
Speed Deadlifts:
70x3
(Added doubled mini bands)
70x1
90x1
110x1
120x1
130x1
135x1 (PR)
Glute/Ham Raises:
4 sets
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx1x8
110lbx1x6
100lbx2x10
Another great session. All of the squats felt very fast, and then we moved onto the speed deadlifts. Another new PR here, and then I finished off with some GHRs and ab pulldowns. Making progress.
08/11/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
75x8x3
Dumbbell Bench Presses:
40x3x8
44x1
Barbell Rows:
85x4x8
Front Plate Raises:
20x3x12
Scarecrows:
5x2x12
5x1x8
Benching wasn’t particularly great today - until the very last set they weren’t feeling all that fast. However, after that, the rest of session was much better. I’ve never done dumbbell bench presses with the 40s for sets of 8 before, and they felt fine. I decided to play with the heaviest dumbbells my shitty commercial gym has - the 44s - but only got a single rep!
The rest of the session was all about volume really - nothing particularly exciting other than a rep PR with 85kg for the rows. This cycle has been pretty productive and I’m feeling strong going into our deload next week.
16/11/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
SSB Squats:
30x2x5
70x5
90x3
110x2
120x1
130x1
140xF
140x1 (PR)
Deficit Deadlifts:
60x3
100x3
140x3
160x3
170x3 (PR)
Deadlifts:
180x2 (PR)
200x1 (Absolutely massive PR)
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x12
Pikes:
BWx3x6
OK, I can’t really express how awesome this session was. I turned up to the gym feeling full of cold and really not in the mood to lift, and when I failed at 140kg with the safety squat bar I was really pissed off.
I came back though and smoked it at the second attempt for a 5kg PR. I was delighted, and ready to pull some easy deadlifts and not much else. I started deadlifting whilst standing on a 50kg plate, and after hitting 170kg for an easy triple my training partners suggested I take a weight from the floor. 180kg went up for a double (and a 15kg weight PR) and then I went for 200kg. My form was horrible, but with those guys shouting at me there was no way I was failing at that weight. That was a 35kg/77lb PR! Fucking insane.
Reverse hypers and some pikes to finish off, and then I went home in a happy daze. I’m sore today though!
I’d just like to point out that there were 3 big, strong guys with over 50 years of Martial Arts experience between us, and we were going to beat the shit out of Russ if he didn’t PR yesterday:)
Great effort mate, onwards and upwards!
Chris
[quote]Youch wrote:
I’d just like to point out that there were 3 big, strong guys with over 50 years of Martial Arts experience between us, and we were going to beat the shit out of Russ if he didn’t PR yesterday:)
Great effort mate, onwards and upwards!
Chris[/quote]
The fear factor is indeed a powerful motivator.
18/11/09
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
(All subsequent sets performed with a 1-board)
80x3
100x2
110x1
120x1
130xF
127.5x1 (PR)
Presses:
60x2x6
60x2x5
Neutral Grip Chin-ups:
BW+10x4x6
Face Pulls:
40x3x15
I’ve had an horrific case of manflu (it’s a real illness dammit) the last couple of days, but was determined to ride the wave of progress I’ve been enjoying recently, so I trained anyway.
Despite feeling like crap and lifting without the aid/threat of being beaten up by my training partners, I was pretty confident of hitting a good board press PR. Unfortunately 130kg stopped moving a couple of inches above the board and I failed the lift. I knew 130 wasn’t going to happen last night, so dropped it down to 127.5 (which went up pretty easily) and settled for a 2.5kg PR. Lame perhaps, but it’s progress.
20/11/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed SSB Box Squats:
30x2x5
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
30x3
70x2
90x6x2
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx3x8
100lbx1x12
Still feeling like shit, so I didn’t really do much today.
21/11/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
75x8x3
Dumbbell Bench Presses:
40x8/8/7/6
Barbell Rows:
87.5x1x8
87.5x1x4
80x2x8
Front Plate Raises:
20x3x12
Scarecrows:
5x3x10
21/11/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Cambered Bar Squats:
30x2x5
70x3
90x3
110x2
130x1
150x1
160x1
170xF
165x1 (PR)
Reverse Band Deadlifts:
(With green bands)
100x5
140x3
160x3
200x1
220x1
240x1 (PR)
EDIT: My training partner has now uploaded a video of the 240kg pull:
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx10/8/8/6
Hanging Leg Raises:
BWx1x6
5x1x9
10x2x6
More PRs. Nice.
25/11/09
ME Bench Presses
Close Grip Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
40x5
60x5
80x3
100x1
110x1
115x1
102.5x2x1
90x2x5
Pull-ups:
BW+11.25x2x6
BW+11.25x2x5
Face Pulls:
90lbx3x15
Presses:
50x3x10
I wasn’t overly delighted with the close grip bench pressing today. No new PR, and the heavy sets took a lot out of me. I had to drop the weight all the way down to 90kg to get a couple of sets of 5.
The rest of the session was pretty standard stuff.
27/11/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x3
60x3
90x4x2
100x4x2
Here’s one of the sets with 100kg. Decent first rep, pretty shitty second.
Speed Deadlifts:
70x3
(Added doubled mini bands)
70x1
90x3x1
110x3x1
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x12
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx3x8
Not much to report - decent session.
29/11/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
75x8x3
Dumbbell Bench Presses:
80lbx10
85lbx8
90lbx6
Barbell Rows:
87.5x8/5/6
Front Plate Raises:
20x3x12
Band Pull-aparts:
3x25 w/mini band
I’m writing this log entry whilst sitting with an ice pack covering my left foot. I started off today’s session by dropping a 50kg (110lb) cast iron plate on it. That hurt. Hopefully it’ll be OK to squat and pull heavy tomorrow.
The session itself was a bit shit, apart from the benching, which felt good and fast.
30/11/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Suspended Chain Good Mornings:
20x2x8
40x5
60x5
80x3
100x3x3
Sumo Deadlifts:
65x5
105x3
145x1
Stiff-legged Sumo Deadlifts:
135x2x2
Reverse Hypers:
105x3x12
Pikes:
BWx1x6
BWx2x5
Strange session tonight - the suspended chain good mornings proved to be far harder than I had expected, and although I managed 3 triples with 100kg, 110kg just wouldn’t move.
I moved onto sumo deadlifts and experimented with a slightly narrower stance than one would normally use for a sumo pull. I figured that this stance might be productive for me given my leverages (long torso) but I abandoned the experiment when 145kg took all my strength to get off the floor! I then joined in with my training partner, who was doing stiff legged sumo deadlifts, but the two sets I did do were pretty poor.
Pretty pissed off with the evening’s ‘work’, but I won’t let one crap session derail the progress I’ve been making recently.
02/12/09
ME Bench Presses
Floor Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
40x5
60x5
80x3
90x2
100x1
110x1
120x1 (PR)
125xF
100x4x4
Pull-ups:
BW+11.25x1x6
BW+11.25x3x5
Face Pulls:
42.5x3x15
Presses:
52.5x2x9
52.5x1x8
It was good to get a PR on the floor presses; 120kg flew up but I just didn’t have the strength to drive up 125.
03/12/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x3
60x3
90x6x2
100x2
110x2
120x2
Speed Deadlifts:
60x5
80x3
100x1
120x6x1
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx2x10
BWx1x5
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx3x9
Reverse Hypers:
110x3x12
I worked up to (relatively) heavy double on the box squats. With the chains it was about 160kg at the top, but I kept tight and upright, and it went up pretty well. Then onto deadlifts… I’ve been doing a lot of pulling against bands this cycle, and since I’d gone heavier on the squats, I took it pretty easy on these.
Finished off the session by giant setting GHRs, ab pulldowns and reverse hypers. My ‘core’ and posterior chain were fried afterwards, but hey - it’s deload week next week.
06/12/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
75x6x3
85x3
95x3
105x3
Dumbbell Bench Presses:
85lbx8
90lbx4
80lbx10
80lbx8
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
100lbx3x12
60kgx1x9
Band Pull-aparts:
2x25 w/mini band
Dumbbell Hammer Curls:
45lbx2x12
Not great.
07/12/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Paused Squats:
20x2x5
60x5
80x3
100x2
120x2
140x1
150x1(PR)
Pikes:
BWx2x6
BWx2x5
45 Degree Zercher Hyperextensions:
68x2x12
It’s deload week, but I went for a 5kg PR anyway.