Inspiring stuff for me since I’m hitting up incline bench soon. So strong for close-grip!
9.12.11
AM: Cardio
20 minutes medium state elliptical
Legs later today.
9.12.11
PM: Legs
Standing Calf Raise
4 sets, last to failure, heavy set
Back Squats
ramped up to 455 x 5
Lying Hamstring Curl
1 x 25, 1 x 15, 1 x 8 (failure) drop to 1 x 12, drop to 1 x failure, back up to heavy weight for 50 partials
Leg Press (3 seconds negatives no lockout)
3 pps x 20
6 pps x 20
8 pps x 10
10 pps x 10 to 8 pps x 6-8 (normal reps) to 6 pps x a bunch to 4 pps x a bunch
Standing Single Leg Curl BodyMasters
50 x 8 LR
65 x 8 LR
75 x 8 LR
80 x 8 LR
85 x 8 LR (failure) drop to 50 x 8-8-7-7-6-6 drop to 45 x 6-6-6-6 (all done back and forth no rest) LR
Leg Extensions/Single Leg Press
25/2 pps x 10 LR
25/10
20/10
20/10
20/10
Barbell RDL (using 25s, only bottom-half of movement with focus on stretch at bottom)
95 x 20
145 x 20
195 x 20, 20
Very solid leg session. It’s a little tough when your squat is getting weaker, but these numbers are still bodyweight PRs, so I have to be happy. 455 felt heavy as hell, but still cranked out 5 reps. Leg press set was insane and I really liked the single leg curls. Chest/triceps tomorrow morning and HIIT tomorrow night.
9.13.11
Chest/Triceps
Low Incline Dumbbell Press
55 x 12
75 x 10
100 x 8
110 x 8
Top Sets (to failure)
125 x 9
135 x 4
HS Iso Bench Press (one of the toughest HS I have tried) Dead-Stop Reps, slow negative
1 pps x 12
2 pps x 10, 8, 8
Incline Dumbbell Flies (long stretch, squeeze)
65 x 12
75 x 12 to 45 x 10
45 x 12 (4 seconds negatives, stretch as much as possible)
Pushdown Superset
Reverse EZ Cable Pushdown/V-Grip Power Pushdown
15/8
15/8
Rest 30-40 seconds
15/8
15/8
Rest 60 seconds
Failure/Failure
AWesome overall chest/triceps day…haven’t DB pressed heavy in about a month and a half and these actually felt pretty good…I wanna hit 130s x 8-10 on this in a week or 2.
10 sets of pushdowns were awesome for Tri’s…really liking high volume pushdowns.
Awesome training Evan. Mid 400s for top set of squats is very solid and you don’t see very many people pick up those sort of dumbells for pressing. Impressed as usual. One of many goalsI have is to get up to 110s (max dumbells at my uni) for flat press then work up to the same incline as incline bench with them…
Here’s a vid of the leg press set from leg day…was happy. I wanna hit 11 pps next time or see how heavy I can go with a normal tempo.
9.13.11
PM: HIIT
10 minute warmup on elliptical
5 Bike sprint intervals: 30 seconds all out on highest resistance/4 minutes 30 seconds medium at 50 percent resistance
10 minute cooldown on elliptical
Forgot to mention today that I weighed in at 202, .5 lb down from last week so Layne is dropping carbs a bit more to see if we can start really dialing everything in.
My life nowadays is crazy with LSAT prep, classes, twice a day workouts, food prep, and everything else, but I’m determined to push through and bring the best damn package I can come showtime. Once it’s all said and done, there will be no regrets.
Your an inspiration Evan. You get work done with all that going on and it just proves it can be done. You will deserve every ounce of your conditioning come showtime.
That leg press looks awesome quality and the gym very hardcore without being too busy, I’d love to train somewhere like that. Great strength too, slow negatives on legs really take it out of you and you can still use 4 pps more then me or so…
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Your an inspiration Evan. You get work done with all that going on and it just proves it can be done. You will deserve every ounce of your conditioning come showtime.
That leg press looks awesome quality and the gym very hardcore without being too busy, I’d love to train somewhere like that. Great strength too, slow negatives on legs really take it out of you and you can still use 4 pps more then me or so… [/quote]
Ya, it’s an amazing gym…no BS.
Negatives are brutal…I believe that increasing/focusing on TUT for legs is one of the keys to growth.
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Negatives are brutal…I believe that increasing/focusing on TUT for legs is one of the keys to growth.
[/quote]
The evidence is there for TUT & higher-rep stuff for legs for sure! Widowmakers. Tom Platz “High weight, low reps? Low reps, high weight? I prefer high weight and high reps”…
Would you agree a potential a trainee should get to a certain level of squatting strength before really focusing on it though (I guess this can apply for most bodyparts)? I am still considering using a widowmaker to add some intensity and extra TUT but in general my plan uses the 6-10 rep range since my top set for back squat would still be around 3 plates for 6 and I still have a way to go strength wise.
It’s funny that some people mock encyclopedia of bodybuilding but the reccomendation to “train legs in the 10-15 rep range” seems to have some validity… as well as many other principles some “functional” trainers may think are laughable…
9.14.11
AM: Medium-State Cardio
30 minutes elliptical
I call it medium state because it is definitely not slow, but it’s not fast…if you know the elliptical, I was doing between 160-180 revolutions/minute on it.
Back later today, going for a rack pull PR and might do some pendlay rows.
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Negatives are brutal…I believe that increasing/focusing on TUT for legs is one of the keys to growth.
[/quote]
The evidence is there for TUT & higher-rep stuff for legs for sure! Widowmakers. Tom Platz “High weight, low reps? Low reps, high weight? I prefer high weight and high reps”…
Would you agree a potential a trainee should get to a certain level of squatting strength before really focusing on it though (I guess this can apply for most bodyparts)? I am still considering using a widowmaker to add some intensity and extra TUT but in general my plan uses the 6-10 rep range since my top set for back squat would still be around 3 plates for 6 and I still have a way to go strength wise.
It’s funny that some people mock encyclopedia of bodybuilding but the reccomendation to “train legs in the 10-15 rep range” seems to have some validity… as well as many other principles some “functional” trainers may think are laughable…[/quote]
Well, I think a certain level of strength is definitely necessary to make the “high reps high weight” attitude more effective, but it can be used by everyone and yield results.
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Well, I think a certain level of strength is definitely necessary to make the “high reps high weight” attitude more effective, but it can be used by everyone and yield results.
[/quote]
Thanks Evan. I guess adding 80+lbs to my front and back squat will make a ton of difference for now… when I start to truly stagnate I will use the higher reps attitude with much more effectiveness
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Well, I think a certain level of strength is definitely necessary to make the “high reps high weight” attitude more effective, but it can be used by everyone and yield results.
[/quote]
Thanks Evan. I guess adding 80+lbs to my front and back squat will make a ton of difference for now… when I start to truly stagnate I will use the higher reps attitude with much more effectiveness[/quote]
Definitely a good change of pace technique.
9.14.11
PM: Back/Biceps
Close Grip Pulldowns
(hold at bottom/squeeze lats, full stretch + at the top)
2 x 20 (increase weight on second set)
same tempo, increase weight a bunch (don’t know the weights, they are odd at school)
1 x 8, failure
5 second squeeze at bottom (decrease to 20 rep weight)
1 x 6, 2 x 8
1 x 20 to failure
(lots of sets lol)
Rack Pulls (prob about 3 inches below the knee, you be the judge)
ramped to 585 x 6
Close Grip Cable Rows (slight forward lean, all row no momentum)
Started weight at plate ‘15’ out of 20
15 x 8, 8, 8, 8
14 x 8
13 x 8
12 x 8, 8
This 8x8 set was inspired by the article on Gironda’s 8x8…I rested 30-45 seconds between each set
Single Arm Dead-Stop Cable Rows to Hip (exaggerated motion to row as far back and as low as possible)
6 x 8 LR
4 x 8, 8, 8 LR
6 x failure LR
Close Grip Cable Row
1 x 30 (failure set)
Barbell Curls (let wrists hang forward to put emphasis on biceps…perform movement with slight forward lean, explode + flex as fast as possible, lower with 2 second negative to hips, pause, repeat)
95 x 8
75 x 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
rested 20-40 seconds between sets
Very solid back/biceps day. The close grip pulldowns utilizing the various tempo techniques always ignite my lats and prime them for heavier compound movements. Didn’t realize how many worksets I did until now, but I guess it was somewhere around 7-8…rack pulls felt great, except they are tough to do at school as the bar always seems to bounce more in these racks than at a better gym…whatever, 585 x 6 was a PR.
The close grip cable and single arm rows really capped off the day and fried my entire back from all angles.
Really like barbell curls when I focus on exploding and flexing as opposed to just getting the weight up there.
Video of the rack pulls is uploading to youtube…I’ll post it in a little.
Great back training Evan, I appreciate the comments after the exercise name… whilst they are probably mostly for your reference, little descriptions like that can make the difference with the feel of any exercise and will help if I try any of your variations. Excellent working weight on the rack pulls… must have felt amazingly good to pull 6 plates for 6…
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Great back training Evan, I appreciate the comments after the exercise name… whilst they are probably mostly for your reference, little descriptions like that can make the difference with the feel of any exercise and will help if I try any of your variations. Excellent working weight on the rack pulls… must have felt amazingly good to pull 6 plates for 6… [/quote]
Ya, I like to describe every exercise exactly how I do it a it as slight modifications can change the intensity/style of an exercise entirely.
If I were to just say “close grip cable rows” or “single arm cable rows” you wouldn’t fully comprehend what I did or why I did them a certain way.
Thanks man, the rack pulls felt great…was very pleased with that weight especially considering my current bodyweight/state.
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Great back training Evan, I appreciate the comments after the exercise name… whilst they are probably mostly for your reference, little descriptions like that can make the difference with the feel of any exercise and will help if I try any of your variations. Excellent working weight on the rack pulls… must have felt amazingly good to pull 6 plates for 6… [/quote]
Ya, I like to describe every exercise exactly how I do it a it as slight modifications can change the intensity/style of an exercise entirely.
If I were to just say “close grip cable rows” or “single arm cable rows” you wouldn’t fully comprehend what I did or why I did them a certain way.
Thanks man, the rack pulls felt great…was very pleased with that weight especially considering my current bodyweight/state. [/quote]
No problem… would you say the importance of this cannot be understated? As I recently saw someone commenting on the difference between progressing because “form got looser” or progressing because the muscle got stronger when speaking of seated vs. standing DB curls… and I have to agree to an extent. If the exact same form isn’t used each time then progression is hard to quantify…
Awesome back training! Rack pulls are downright nasty. 6 plates for 6 is insane, especially with you being on a diet and all.