Bench Press
BAR x 12
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 5
265 x 5
275 x 5
275 x 5
Swiss Ball Push-Up/Dumbbell Bench Press (¾ slow eccentric + ¼ explosive)
8/70 x 10
8/70 x 9
Iso-Dynamic X Grip Cable Row/Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
100 x 6 (12,9,7,5,3,1)/30 x 12
120 x 6 (12,9,7,5,3,1)/40 x 8
120 x 6 (12,9,7,5,3,1)/45 x 8
Trap Bar Walking Shrugs
135 x 30 yards + 5 shrugs
225 x 30 yards/5 shrugs
225 x 30 yards/5 shrugs
Dumbbell Standing Curls (¾ slow eccentric + ¼ explosive)
30 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 8 good reps + 2 mediocre reps
One of the best upper body workouts this summer. Thibs para-workout protocol was felt today and it felt insane. I was surged with energy the entire workout, and my muscles were extremely full and pumped up. I recognize that the pump doesnâ??t necessarily mean muscle growth, but today felt amazing, and I hope every workout goes like this one. The Iso-Dynamic Rows were a Thibs special also. They were brutal, holding the row in the contracted position for 12 sec-1 sec was brutal, but I will definitely continue to add more training like that. I added the swiss ball pushups as an â??activationâ?? exercise before the dumbbell presses to stimulate the nervous system more to yield more potential growth. Great day overall. The 275 on the bench for 5 was nowhere near a PR, but I havenâ??t really trained bench press in a few months and it felt pretty good.
Dynamic Box Squats (3 mats)
245 + Purple Band x 2
6 total sets
Front Foot Elevated Barbell Reverse Lunges
135 x 8 LR
145 x 8 LR
45 Degrees Back Extensions
BW x 15
Purple Band x 10
BW x 5 + Purple Band x 10
Seated Calf Raises
90 x 60 seconds
Wipers/Cable Low-High Chops
20/42.5 x 5 LR
20/42.5 x 5 LR
Good overall dynamic lower body day. Went a little easier on all the sets today because I didnâ??t want to take too much away from the workout this coming Monday.
Box Squats
135 x 8
225 x 6
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
425 x 3
Burnout
315 x 12
Eccentric Natural GH Raise
3 x 5
Front Foot Elevated Split Squat
40 x 10 LR
40 x 10 LR
40 x 10 LR
Seated Calf Raise
90 x 60 sec
90 x 60 sec
90 x 60 sec
Week 2 of Defranco’s greatest gains lower body went really well. Box squAts felt great and all my lifts were really strong and increased from the previous week.
[quote]whup wrote:
Damn, you’re a strong mofo. You still weighing 215? You have a cool log and I like your training style.[/quote]
Thanks man! Actually, right now I weigh 205, but have a significantly lower bodyfat and am overall stronger than I was at 215. Ya currently my training is an upper/lower split twice a week with conditioning work thrown in 2-3 times. It works well for me.
Tuesday July 28th, 2009
Bench Press
BAR x 20
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
275 x 3
295 x 3
305 x 2
Dumbbell Incline Press
85 x 20
85 x 10
T Bar Rows/Purple Band PullAparts
90 x 12/ 20
135 x 12/ 20
180 x 8/ 20
Barbell Shrugs Mixed Grip
135 x 20
225 x 20
315 x 12
365 x 12
405 x 8
Dumbbell Curl Set
Bilateral Curls (40 x 8 lr)
Zottoman Curls (27.5 x 6 lr)
Cross Body Curls (40 x 30 lr)
Pink Band Pushdowns
100 total reps
Bench isn’t great right now, but this is really the first time I’ve lifted “heavy” all summer for it. The best I’ve done for 3 reps was around 320, so I’m not too far off, I just need to get back into a groove. Every other exercise felt awesome today tho.
Front Squat
135 x 5
155 x 3
185 x 3
Medley Set (15-30 seconds rest between sets)
225 x 10
245 x 8
255 x 6
265 x 3 (bar slipped)
275 x 4
Walking Dumbbell Lunges
75 x 10 LR
80 x 10 LR
Good Morning/Dumbbell RDL
135 x 8/50 x 10
155 x 8/55 x 10
Today was an endurance/pain tolerance lower body day. The squat medley was pretty sweet, never hit failure and was using relatively light weights for the reps, but it was brutal.
Front Squat
135 x 5
155 x 3
185 x 3
Medley Set (15-30 seconds rest between sets)
225 x 10
245 x 8
255 x 6
265 x 3 (bar slipped)
275 x 4
Walking Dumbbell Lunges
75 x 10 LR
80 x 10 LR
Good Morning/Dumbbell RDL
135 x 8/50 x 10
155 x 8/55 x 10
Today was an endurance/pain tolerance lower body day. The squat medley was pretty sweet, never hit failure and was using relatively light weights for the reps, but it was brutal.
Hammer Strength Pulldown/Purple Band Pull Apart
180 x 20/25
270 x 15/25
360 x 10/20
380 x 7/25
Standing Military Press
95 x 15
135 x 8
135 x 8
Dumbbell Seated Shrugs
50 x 20
100 x 15
100 x 15
100 x 15
Mechanical Drop Set
65 lb
Barbell Reverse Curls x 8
Barbell Drag Curls x 35
Barbell Curls x 12
85 lb
Barbell Reverse Curls x 8
Barbell Drag Curls x 10
Barbell Curls x 10
Great upper body day. The dumbbell flat benches felt pretty good, and I think that the 100 x 23 is a PR. Everything felt really strong, especially being at my leanest and most depleted prob. I am just beginning to start gaining more weight so my strength should increase exponentially with the increased weight gain.
Track Conditioning Day
Plate Push/Depth Jump â?? Tuck Jump
80 lb x 25 yards/4
80 lb x 25 yards/4
80 lb x 35 yards/4
80 lb x 35 yards/4
Plate Alligator Walk + 20 yard sprint
35 x 10 yards/20
x 2
45 x 10 yards/20
x 2
Hollow Sprint
200 yards x 1
Kicked off August 1st with some conditioning. The Alligator walks are terrible and are a killer core/total body exercise for anyone man enough to give them a go.
Starting a new phase of training this upcoming week for the next month. It is a chest specialization, more specifically, a bench pressing specialization. This is what it will look like:
Chest/Triceps Specialization
Weekly Split
Day 1: Chest/Triceps Heavy
Day 2: Lower Body/Biceps
Day 3: Chest/Triceps Density
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Back/Shoulders
Day 6: Chest Explosion/Speed
Day 5: Rest
Heavy Day:
4â??â?? from Chest Rack Lockouts
Work Up to Heavy 3-5
Heavy Bench Press
Alternate Between Heavy 2-3 reps and Heavy Cluster for 5 reps
Heavy Floor Press
Work Up to 3 rep max
Density Day:
CNS stimulation (RP 4â??â?? from chest)
Bench Press x 15 minutes (2 reps) (80 % of weight used on Day 1) explode the weight
Close Grip Lockout x 15 minutes (2 reps) explode
Dynamic Day:
Iso Relaxation Press
8-12 x 3 (45â??50 % max)/3 reps
Hope this works out well for me. I think it will give my chest/bench pressing a boost after essentially giving it a break for the first 2 months of summer.
Bottoms Up Bench Press (pins 3’’ from chest)
135 x 3
155 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
245 x 3
Cluster Sets (pause 5-10 seconds between reps)
275 x 3
285 x 3
300 x 3
305 x 3
Flat Bench Press
135 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 3
295 x 3
300 x 2
300 x 2
300 x 2
Floor Press
135 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 2
280 x 2
285 x 3
290 x 2
290 x 2
295 x 2
First day of my CT hybrid chest specialization workout. Today was very taxing on the CNS, but not very taxing on my muscles since I stayed above 85 % on most lifts and did not do any negatives or go to failure. Awesome first day, can already feel that my bench press is gonna skyrocket from this. Hopefully I can get back to my personal best of 370 soon and then work from there. I think this program has the potential to boost me to that level. Tomorrows lower body and biceps.
Back Squat
bar x 10
95 x 8
135 x 6
155 x 5
185 x 6
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 3
345 x 3
385 x 2
405 x 3
Front Foot Elevated Reverse Lunge
135 x 6 LR
185 x 6 LR
Good Morning/Dumbbell RDL
155 x 8/70 x 10
175 x 8/70 x 10
Calf Raise Machine/Forearm Gripper
90 x 60 seconds/75 x 10 LR
90 x 60 seconds/75 x 10 LR
A good lower body day. The 3 reps at 405 were really easy and I probably could have gotten 5-6, but didn’t want to push it because I am doing a bench specific program. Overall a good day that wasn’t too taxing.
Bench Press (15 minutes)
275 x 3
8 total sets in time
Close Grip Floor Press (10 minutes)
225/235 x 3
5 total sets in time
A density day for chest/bench pressing. Overall today went well. Accumulated a good amount of sets with above 80 % of my maxes which will hopefuly translate into a bigger bench press and chest in a month or so.
Bent-Over Barbell Rows/Serratus Cable Crunch
135 x 12/56.5 x 10 LR
185 x 12/56.5 x 10 LR
225 x 10/65 x 10 LR
225 x 10/72 x 8 LR
Pro-Grip Lat Pulldown/Decline Bench Russian Twists
200 x 12/10 x 10
220 x 12/25 x 10
240 x 12/25 x 10
Dumbbell Shrugs/Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise
125 x 20/27.5 x 8 LR
125 x 20/27.5 x 8 LR
Zottoman Curls/Regular Curls
35 x 6/35 x 6/12
Today was Back/Shoulders/Biceps/Abdominals. Hit them pretty quickly (45 minute session), but relatively intensely. Didnâ??t want to do a lot of sets that might make me tired for the 3rd Bench workout tomorrow, but I believe that I hit them sufficiently to maintain my size and maybe even grow a little : ).
