Jan. 14
Bench press: 95, 125, 145, 170, 195 x 5 (Had 1-2 more reps in the tank)
Squat: 145, 185, 205, 235, 275 x 5 (Hard, but it’s supposed to be. Probably could have done more. I recorded a video for form critique and will upload it when I get some extra time)
Back extensions: BW x 20, 25lb x 10, 30lb x 10
A short workout. Had some errands and stuff before work, so I did the important stuff and got out of the gym.
Thursday, Jan. 16
Military press: 65, 95, 115, 137.5 x 4
Deadlift: 135lb, 165lb, 165lb. A well-respected powerlifter showed me a different way to start the lift, and to be honest it felt GREAT. I actually felt it in my hamstrings. I am going to be extremely patient with this lift until I get the motion correct.
Pullups: 5 x 4 w/ bodyweight
Front squat: 115, 145, 185, 185 x 5 (Hard…I like the difficulty of breathing that comes along with holding the bar near my throat)
Weighted situps: 15 pounds: 1 x 20, 1 x 15, 1 x 15
Note: I switched up the program a little bit and will follow this until all of my lifts stall out. If it doesn’t work perfectly, I don’t care…I will not blame madcow, Bill Starr, or anybody who came up with the program. But for MY lifting needs/wants, I wanted to add a little more balance. I place equal important on bench/military press, so I will now be alternating weeks in which I do bench/military two times. I will also be doing pullups instead of rows on any military press (vertical push/pull balance) days. I also do front squats on my light day instead of lighter load back squats.
If you don’t like it, I personally don’t give a shit. It’s what I feel is best for me and I believe in it. It already feels good after a couple of weeks, so I’m curious to see where this modified program takes me. I need to update original post, but I will be on this program until at least mid-April when I go on a vacation to Denver.
Monday, Jan. 20
Bench press: 95, 115, 145, 170, 197.5 x 3, 145 x 8
Squat: 145, 185, 205, 235, 280 x 3, 205 x 8
Rows: 65, 95, 105, 115, 135 x 5
Weighted dips: BW 25 (1 x 6, 1 x 8, 1 x 7)
Skullcrushers: 60lb, 3 x 6
Bicep curl (superset) 3 x 8
Thursday, Jan. 23
Military press: 65, 85, 105, 115, 137.5 x 5 (Fairly easy…140 x 3 in a few days)
Squat: 145, 185, 205, 235, 280 x 5 (Hard as shit…stance was a bit too wide. Will try to post a video soon).
Pullups: BW x 4, 5, 5
Chinups: BW x 5, 5, 3
Weighted situps: 15lbs, 3 x 15
Back extensions: BW x 10, 3 x 10 w/ 25 pounds
Just realized I haven’t been doing ANY cardio. I’ve been busy with work but it’s no excuse to not be hitting at least some. Goal is to try to stop being a p*ssy this week and start hitting 1 intense session and 1 lighter session each week.
Saturday, Jan. 25
Bench press: 115, 145, 170, 200 x 3 (easy)
Front squat: 115, 145, 190, 190 x 5
Deadlift: 135 x 4, 155 x 4, 175 x 4
Barbell row: 95, 105, 115, 125, 140 x 5
Good mornings: 3 x 10 w/ the bar only. Just to learn the motion
Face pulls: 3 x 12 w/ 30 pounds
Monday, Jan. 27
Military press: 65, 85, 105, 120, 140 x 3, 105 x 8
Squat: 145, 185, 210, 240, 285 x 3, 210 x 8
Pullups: 3 x 5
Chinups: 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3
Weighted dips: 1 x 6, 1 x 6, 1 x 8 w/ 27.5 pounds
Skullcrushers: 65 pounds: 3 x 6
Barbell curls: 65 pounds: 3 x 8
Thursday, Jan. 29
Bench press: 100, 120, 145, 175, 200 x 4 (Missed the 5th rep…I think my form/concentration were off)
Squat: 145, 175, 210, 245, 285 x 5
Rows: 95, 105, 115, 125, 145 x 5
Sunday, Feb. 2
Military press: 65, 95, 115, 142.5 x 3
Sumo deadlift: 135, 155, 185, 205 x 4 (Felt much better than conventional…gonna switch to these for the remainder of the program. Tired of one lift holding my back. I’m gonna switch back to conventional in the future, but I can clearly move more weight for the short term with this style)
Front squat: 115, 145, 195, 195 x 5
Pullups: 2 x 5
Chinups: 2 x 5
What a shit workout today. Felt drained and unmotivated for the first time in a while. My diet has been poor lately so that very well could be the culprit.
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Bench press: 100, 120, 150, 170, 205 x 3, 150 x 8
Squat: 145, 175, 215, 245, 290 x 3, 215 x 8
Rows: 95, 105, 115, 125, 150 x 5
Weighted dips: 30 pounds, 1 x 6, 1 x 7, 1 x 5
Wednesday, Feb. 5
Agility work and sprinting
Friday, Feb. 7
Military press: 65, 85, 105, 120, 142.5 x 5
Squat: 145, 175, 215, 245, 290 x 5
Pullups: 3 x 4
Chinups: 3 x 4
Glute ham raise: 2 x 10 w/bodyweight
Back extensions: 1 x 10 w/bodyweight, 1 x 10 w/30 pounds
Saturday, Feb. 8
Agile 8
6 rounds of light bag work
Easing into the cardio with the same approach as my weightlifting…just getting to the gym is the important part right now.
And on a side note: My hamstrings are sore as hell from the glute ham raises. They really seem like a great exercise.
Monday, Feb. 10
Bench: 120, 150, 170, 205 x 4 (New PR…still had one rep in the tank, which I will get in a few days)
Deadlift: 135, 165, 215 x 4
Front squat: 115, 160, 205 x 5, 205 x 3 (Had to grind the 3rd rep on final set…a bit surprised)
Bent over rows: 95, 110, 125, 155 x 5
Wednesday Feb. 12
Military press: 70, 85, 105, 122.5, 147.5 x 3, 105 x 8 (Still had some left in the tank after hitting 147.5 x 3)
Squat: 145, 175, 220, 250, 295 x 3, 220 x 8
Pullups: 3 x 4
Chinups: 3 x 4 (Strained the hell out of my neck on the last set…second time in the last 6 months. I need to stop straining)
Weighted dips: 30 pounds, 1 x 6, 2 x 8
Skipped the skullcrushers and bicep curls because of my neck. Everything else felt good though.
Thursday Feb. 13
So a quick update on the neck…it’s stiff as hell and hurts when I look to either side. It also seems like it’s tilted a bit forward right now which kind of freak me out. The pain got a little better today so I’m hoping this continues…
As for the leaning forward thing, does anyone have any advice on what this could be? I can’t really find much info on it. Maybe since my muscles are jacked up it’s just sitting like that as a natural reaction to avoid pain? These kind of things freak me out. After all, I only get one neck.
So after not working out since last Wednesday, I decided my neck felt good enough to hit a deload type of workout.
Bench: 95, 115, 135, 175 x 5
Squat: 135, 155, 185, 225 x 5
I didn’t really feel any pain in the neck. I will hit another deload workout on Thursday, but I will be military pressing around 120 and squatting around 255 x 5.
Thursday, Feb. 20
Military press: 65 x 5, 85 x 5, 115 x 5, 125 x 3 (Felt pretty good…no pain)
Squat: 115 x 5, 145 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 3 (Felt good…no pain)
Second “deload” type of day this week. Everything felt good…my neck is still pretty stiff but not really sore. I have a limited ROM while looking left, right, or up, but it is improving each day. Next week I plan on benching 185-195 x 3, military press 135-140 x 3, and squat 265 x 3 (Mon) and 285 x 3 (Thurs/Friday).
Two weeks from now I will repeat my last week of all out lifting, then I will be setting new PR’s the following week. All together this setback will cost me about a month of progress, which is better than moving up too fast and having a tweaked neck for 4 months.
Monday Feb. 24
Bench: 95, 115, 140, 165, 195 x 3
Squat: 115, 145, 185, 225, 265 x 3
Wednesday, February 26
Military press: 65, 85, 100, 115, 140 x 3
Squat: 145, 185, 215, 245 x 3, 285 x 3
Close to doing my normal weight. Felt a small, short lived pain in my neck on one of my middle sets of press. Need to keel a neutral neck and think I did on my heavy set.
Thursday, Feb. 27
6 rounds on the punching bag
3 sets of 10 box jumps with increasing height.
2 3 minute rounds of jump rope.
I did some thinking and looked over my log and didn’t like what I saw. I’m becoming a weight lifter but not an athlete…that’s not the plan. I’m pleased with the steady strength gains that should continue to go up, but I will start doing more cardio.