Holy crap! You are like a bench press super hero 
^^^I’m blushing like a schoolgirl thanks to that comment. I need to get to 400x4 before getting too pleased with myself, and who knows when that will happen…but I really appreciate the support.
Thursday
Sumo DL
405x2, 425x2, 455x2, 485x1, 500x1.5
Soooo close on the 2nd rep, so I guess I was slightly disappointed here. However, I think my form was significantly improved, and I should be able to hit 480-485 for a triple next week. Plus this was only the 3rd time I’ve pulled 500+, so all in all a good effort.
Devil’s Triangle Complex
155x6, 165x6
Good God, this nearly put me on the ground. Great complex and will be kept in the routine for sure.
NG Pullup
BWx8, +25x6, +45x6, +70x5
Grip was essentially gone after the first two lifts, so I lost a rep or two on the last set.
Wide Cable Face-pull
150x10, 180x10, 217.5x8
Great lift, and my back felt really good after DL. I’m trying to give my knee a rest to give it a chance to heal, so I think I’ll move front squat to Monday after back squat. I’m also reducing the olympic lifts, so I’ll do cleans tomorrow and snatches on Thursday next week.
Hey HeavyT. Nice work over here. You are strong!
I followed you over here from Gregron’s log. I’ve been looking for your Prone Horizontal Abduction move, and don’t see a good video. Do you have one? Or a description? I don’t have any injuries, but I’m looking to keep it that way.
Best,
Puff
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Hey HeavyT. Nice work over here. You are strong!
I followed you over here from Gregron’s log. I’ve been looking for your Prone Horizontal Abduction move, and don’t see a good video. Do you have one? Or a description? I don’t have any injuries, but I’m looking to keep it that way.
Best,
Puff[/quote]
Thanks! I’ll answer in your log.
Friday
Clean
135x4, 185x2, 225x1, 245x1, 255x1, 270x0,0
Damn. By all rights I should have nailed that second attempt at 270; the bar was on my shoulders, but I’m just a hair forward. Otherwise pleased, though. Knee felt good and I did well considering it’s been over a week since I’ve done cleans. 270 and 275 coming soon…
HS Shoulder Press
2PPSx10, 3PPSx10, 3+25x10 (PR), 4PPSx5 (PR)
Felt great…4 plates was a bit crazy, but I was grinding near the top. Shoulder strength seems to be good.
OH Tri Bar Press
70x10, 120x10,10,10
Last set was paused, finally hit 10. Felt really strong on this today.
OH Rope Press
120x12, 140x10, 160x10
V-squat Push Press
2PPSx10, 3PPSx8
Prone Horiz Abd
5x10, 10x12
Shoulders were fried again. Had to resist the urge to get on the military press, but I’m really happy with how my shoulder feels right now. Back felt excellent even after a heavy DL.
Thanks for posting the video on my log. I tried them today. When I started, I had a bit of a winged shoulder blade on one side, and internally rotated shoulders. I think I’ve come a long way in fixing it, but that’s a particularly good one for me. Sturat warned me that I needed to do more to prevent impingement/ imbalances so I’m trying to be proactive. YAY. Have a good weekend.
Saturday
BB Row
275x10, 315x10, 350x9 (PR)
Shrug
405x8, 455x8, 495x8
Back felt fine. Stayed pretty strict.
Supinated Narrow Pulldown
180x8, 225x8, 255x8
Really liked these and will probably replace the low row with them. I’ll probably do them on the HS Machine next time, though, so I have some room to move up.
Face Pull
157.5x12, 177.5x12, 197.5x11
Going to have to start throwing a dumbell on these since the stack only goes to 190.
Simultaneous DB Curl
50x8,8
This seemed effective. Stayed strict and curled both at the same time to take momentum out of it.
One of these days I’m going to start hitting my biceps harder, but that day was not today. Good workout though.
DTC claims another soul…
^^^Perhaps, unless I turn the tables and make DTC the victim…
Monday
Squat
355x3, 385x3, 415x2, 425x3, 445x1
Experimented a little today. Widened my stance slightly and opened up my feet a little. It really put all of the weight on my heel and made my legs feel they were worked harder, and it also allowed me to get deeper. I probably should have done 1 more rep at 425 and called it; my knee did not feel good and wasn’t stable, which hurt me at 445. My hamstrings are also a little weak atm, so I’ll play around next week and see if it’s worth sticking to this stance.
Beltless Oly FS
275x3, 300x3
Took it easy here since it’s the first time in ages I’ve done both squats on the same day. I’ll probably go to 315 or 325 next week for 3.
Snatch
95x2, 115x2, 135x1, 155x1, 170x0,1 (PR)
This felt really good. I was happy to hit a PR on a day where I was changing my workout.
GHR
BWx8, +25x8,8
This is an exercise I need to stop neglecting…it’s a huge help for my squat.
If nothing else, I know this hammered my legs harder than my usual Monday workout, even if I had to take a tiny step back on my squat. We’ll see what happens next week, though. If my knee doesn’t feel better I may have to stick with my old squat, even if it’s borderline parallel.
damn man you’re a beast!
that bench press video was gnarly and 270lb cleans? sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit! Looks like I’ve got some work to do
^^^Thanks Greg, I’m trying to keep it going in here.
Tuesday
BB Bench
305x4, 340x4, 375x4 (PR), Paused: 315x7.5
Still riding this wave, and this set was significantly sexier than my heaviest set last week. No shoulder issues. I seem to be touching slightly lower on my right side, but I figure that’s just a protection mechanism for my left shoulder. I’ll keep an eye on it, though. Also, the paused reps were brutal…totally different feel.
BB Incline
275x6, 315x6 (PR)
Making big strength gains here, won’t move up until I hit 7 reps though.
HS Seated Decline
3PPSx10, 4PPSx10, 4+25x9
Bent Lat Raise
45x10, 55x10, Seated: 35x10, 45x10
Rear Delt Machine
160x10, 180x10, 200x8
Paused.
Prone Horiz Abd
5x10, 10x12
Another crazy bench day, hope this keeps up. In other news, my legs are freaking obliterated; sore quads, hammies, and ass for the first time in months.
Thursday
Sumo DL
405x2, 430x2, 455x2, 485x1
Had to quit at 485…knee was acting up too much. Tried conventional after and it hurt my knee even worse.
DTC
155, 175
Almost threw up.
NG Pullup
BWx8, +25x6, +45x6, +70x6
Wide Seated FP
165x10, 195x10, 225x9
Wasn’t a great workout, but I had interviewed for a graduate assistant position just before and my mind was elsewhere.
Friday
Clean
135x3, 185x2, 225x1
Bad news on this clean…elbow banged into my knee on 225 and once again messed my hand up pretty bad. Tried to do a rep set at this weight but as soon as I gripped the bar I got a searing pain in my hand, so I didn’t attempt it.
Oly Beltless Squat
315x5, 365x5
Had to do something after not being able to complete my set of cleans, so I played around with these. Bar was in a high position, stressed getting below parallel and tried to find the perfect stance. I’d like to keep these in my workout.
HS Shoulder Press
2PPSx10, 3PPSx10,15 (PR)
Shoulder felt fine, but my hand hurt on these as well, so I kept the weight lower and went for a rep PR.
OH Tri Bar Ext
70x10, 125x8,10,10
Paused the last set and still got ten. Another strong week here.
OH Rope Press
130x12, 150x10, 170x10
Prone Horiz Abd
5x12,12
I learned a couple of important lessons here: 1) I think I need to scrap deadlifts so long as my knee is less than 100%. I get the most pain while doing them and am not making enough progress to justify keeping them. Also, they affect my ability to do cleans correctly, leading me to…2) I need to stretch my lats and wrists more before cleans. I don’t need to be breaking my hand because I didn’t feel like stretching.
Tentative Plan: Monday/Tuesday=same. Thursday=cleans, oly squats, back. Friday: Sub-max snatch, same. Sat or Sun=same.
Monday
Squat
355x3, 385x3, 415x2, 445x3 (PR)
Very satisfying PR; knees were sore as shit from reffing 6 basketball games this weekend, but felt pretty good during these sets. 445x3 actually felt easier than 440x3 a couple of weeks ago, too, so a very good day of squatting overall.
Beltless Oly FS
275x3
And this is where my knees proclaimed, “NO MORE ASSHOLE!” Just too much discomfort on these to do anything resembling a heavy set.
Snatch
95x2, 115x2, 135x1, 155x1, 175x0,0
Damn damn damn. These felt really good even on a bum knee, and I really though I had 175 after the last completed rep at 155…that one felt strong and smooth. I did get the bar up over my head, but just couldn’t pull under this week. No biggie, 175 is coming soon enough.
GHR
BWx8, +25x8, +30x8
Had to ref 3 games in a row for 2 consecutive days this weekend…not a good thing for my knee. It was abnormally sore, as were my ankles, but at least it didn’t affect my back squat. It may affect my ability to do cleans, though, so that may mean more snatching on Thursday. As if that weren’t enough, it took place during the only hours my uni gym is open on the weekend, so no Sunday workout. The icing on the shit cake was the fact that I didn’t get paid for any of this, as it is one of their ways of evaluating whether we are ready to be varsity officials. Yay.
Tuesday
Bench
305x4, 340x4, 380x3 (PR), 390x2 (PR)
Even though both were PRs, neither was a max. I probably had 385 for a triple and 395 for a double if that’s what I was shooting for, but I didn’t have my normal spotter and was OK with what I did. I’ll probably attempt a 4th at 380 next week, but we’ll see.
Incline
225, 275, 315x7 (PR)
Felt good…will probably only jump 5 next week.
HS Seated Decline
3PPS, 4PPS, 4+25x10 (PR)
Bent Lat Raises
45x12, 55x12, Seated: 35x12, 45x12
Real good burn from these.
Rear Delt Mach
160, 180, 200x10
Prone Horiz Abd
5x10, 10x15
Lots of PRs today. Hopefully the bench train keeps rolling next week. The one issue I’m noticing is that with a wide grip, I start to get tendonitis in my pec/delt tie-in after 6 weeks or so, and this is a pattern that happened in the past as well. I’m going to push the weight up as much as I can, hopefully get to 400 for a triple, then narrow my grip and increase reps. I’ll also start a more extensive warmup next week.
Thursday
Cleans and Snatches
Nothing worth mentioning. My hand can’t handle cleans right now, so I’m going to have to take a few weeks off. Snatches were OK, but I wasn’t in the mood to try and go heavy.
NG Pullup
BWx8, +25x6, +45x6, +70x7
Wide Seated Face-pull
185x10, 215x10, 230x9
Cable Curl
90x10, 120x10, 150x10
Not my best effort. Dropping cleans until my hand heals up. I think I’ll go with hang snatches on Monday and full snatches Thursday. No chance of doing oly squats afterwards because my knee was not having it. It was suggested that I start an ibuprofen regimen, so I’ll probably do that.
Friday
HS Shoulder Press
2PPSx15, 3PPSx10, 3+25x8,8,11.5 (PR)
Felt pretty good. Wore my wrist wraps just to be safe.
V-squat Push Press
2PPSx10, 2+25x10, 3PPSx10
OH Tri Bar Ext
70x10, 130x8,9,8
Last set was paused. Might try these seated next week…we’ll see.
OH Rope Press
140x12, 160x9, 180x8,7
Mach Shoulder Press
150x15, 170x13,12, 190x9
Played around with some circuit type things here. Went from standard to neutral grip after eight reps at 170. Seemed good, though I need to do a little less weight next time.
Good workout. I took a little too long in between the rope press and machine press, but I was talking to someone I hadn’t seen in awhile, so I was fine with it.
Sunday
BB Row
275x10, 315x10, 355x8
Don’t remember what I did last time, but this was a good few sets.
Fixed T-bar
3PLatesx10, 4x8,10
Back didn’t feel great so I kept this light and paused at the top.
HS Pulldown
2PPSx10, 3PPSx10, 4PPSx8
Only issue here was that I had to use a pronated grip bc of the setup of the machine.
HS DL Shrug
4PPSx10, 4+25x10,10
Face-pull
somex12,12,12,12
Weights were different at this gym, so I think I did about 2.5 pounds more than last week.
Biceps Mach
70x12, 90x10, 110x10,10
All were paused at the top but the last set.
Very strong benching. Any tips?
^^^Thanks bud, I’ll PM you.
Squat
355x4, 385x3, 415x2, 450x2
From here on, any time I add weight to my heavy set it’s a PR. I’m gradually going to add reps to the lower sets, aiming for 5,5,3,3 or something like that. I want a little more volume so my legs don’t look so small anymore. On 450, first rep was smooth and borderline depth, but I buried the shit out of the second and it took a lot out of me.
Power Snatch
115x2, 135x1, 155x1
These started as full snatches, but it was tough on my hand to catch in a normal position, so they turned into power snatches.
Reverse HS V-squat
3PPSx10, 4PPSx10, 4+25x8
Jesus Christ Monkey Balls this was a good quad workout. I was facing into the machine so it was like a front squat. I also almost puked after that last set…just not used to that kind of burn with legs.
GHR
BWx8, +20x10
Dead after that V-squat.
Great workout, and I’ll probably look like the victim of anal rape for the next few days. My only issue is that I get a mega back pump with high rep stuff on legs, so I’ll have to be aware of that while I adjust over the next few weeks.