Squat
152,5kg 3
132,5kg 4x3
Leg extension, band back extension, standing abs 3x8-12
Paused bench
135,0kg 3 - Rep PR
120,0kg 4x2
Flat DB bench, cable chest press, chin-grip pulldown 3x8-12
I managed to stumble while carrying boxes today and hurt the outside of my right forearm. Only the surface muscles hurt and there was no impact on the bone so I benched anyway. Had to ditch wrist wraps though and I also paused each bench rep for a bit longer than usual. Great workout altogether with very little sleep and moving to a new apartment on the background for several days now.
Tuesday:
Deadlift
195,0kg 2
5cm deficit DL
160,0kg 3x3
Lower and middle back were absolutely bombarded so the main deadlift was full of shit. Had to cut the workout short due to tight scheduling.
Wednesday:
Slingshot bench
145,0kg 4x2, 1x5
Seated shoulder press
85,0kg 4x3, 1x7
Superset 3x8-12 triceps pushdown and face pulls
Had to cut the workout short again due to tight as shit scheduling again. Lower and middle back are both experiencing the most intense DOMS to date. It feels actually good but both are practically orbitally bombarded.
Skipping front squats and barbell rows tomorrow and most likely will be skipping deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, front squats and barbell rows next week to let my back recover completely.
Front squat
102,5kg 4x2, 1x3
Barbell row
80,0kg 5x5
Shrugs 3x8-12
Decided to shoot for the regular workout despite recent setbacks and it went nicely. The only problem seemed to be my inability to hold my back tight as soon as the reps became difficult. Some changes will take place next week.
Paused bench
115,0kg 7x5
DB incline, triceps with cables, cable high row, biceps with cables 3x8-12
Sweet chocolaty Jesus benching was brütal today. I felt like crying in a corner after the third five-rep set, but instead I decided to blast Two Steps From Hell from my headphones and go full silverback apeshit on the bar. Nailed it.
Squat
157,5kg 2
145,0kg 4x2
And nothing else. No time to finish the workout. My entire back was so sore and weak that I didn’t even try to break my previous 4x157,5kg rep PR.
Paused bench
137,5kg 1
125,0kg 4x2
This bench workout went to absolute shit. Warm-ups until 1x130 with a long pause felt really solid. The 1x130 felt very heavy but still solid. 137,5kg was a weight I have never even unracked before but the setup, unracking and descent went perfectly. Upon touching my chest however, something happened in my brain and I used a ton of leg drive (something I normally only utilize in overload touch and go benching) so no pause and my elbows flared out to the sides badly. The rep was easy as all hell but I didn’t go for another because the form was shit. If the first rep hadn’t gone like this, I would have had a 100% guaranteed double in the tank.
Back still isn’t recovered and front delts got banged up during the heavy bench single so no assistance today.
Deadlift
130,0kg 15 singles
Romanian deadlift
120,0kg 5x5
Cable crunch 3x5-10
Should have had an AMRAP set with 200 today but my back is still acting up. Speed singles felt really good for a change.
Touch and go bench
130,0kg 4x1, 1x3
Seated smith press
90,0kg 4x1
Seated barbell press
90,0kg 2
60,0kg 20
Right shoulder has been acting up the entire week so I decided to ditch slingshot benching and just do regular touch and go bench. It was a breeze and felt extremely good. Very slow reps and zero leg drive.
Gym was crowded right from the start so I did smith presses at first to at least keep me warm before the rack was free. Smith pressing was shit and it showed during the only work set with a barbell. I also ran out of time so I just did one feel-good set with 60kg instead of regular assistance.
Front squat
107,5kg 4x1, 1x4
Chest-supported row
100,0kg 5x8
Edit: Last set of front squats was 1x4, not 1x3.
Paused bench
117,5kg 8x4
Cable fly, triceps, biceps 3x5-10
Jesus Fuckin’ Christ the bench was intense. My shoulders were not even almost recovered from this week’s earlier work so I had to lift apeshit on almost every set.
Squat
162,5kg 1
150,0kg 2x2
That does it. Next Monday’s bench will be done as usual, Tuesday’s deadlifts MUCH lighter than usual, Wednesday’s bench will be skipped entirely, Thursday’s Front Squats done lighter, Friday’s bench done as usual and Saturday’s squats much lighter. This whole training block seems to have gone to absolute shit in all lower body lifts.
Easing back into training with an off-limits lower back.
Bench press
82,5kg 5
95,0kg 5
107,5kg 7
80,0kg 5x10
Chest-supported row
100,0kg 5x10
20min of free time. Chin-grip pulldowns, chest isolation with cables and triceps with cables to failure for as many sets as I managed in 20min.
Bench was a poor display of strength. Prolly will take some time to ease into longer sets.
Leg curls
60,0kg 3x20
Drop-set from 70,0kg downwards each phase to failure
Leg extensions
40,0kg 3x20
Drop-set from 60,0kg downwards each phase to failure
Unilateral leg press favoring the hamstrings
100,0kg 1xF
75,0kg 1xF
50,0kg 1xF
Also tried doing light hack squats in a smith machine and step-ups. Hack squats irritated the fuck out of my hip extenders or whatever the hell they are, leg press only very slightly and I had absolutely no strength to do any kind of step-ups anymore. Still experimenting with what I can and can’t do.
Dips
BW (105kg) 5x10
Pre-exhaustion circuit for shoulders. Repeat each time before shoulder press.
DB front raise 1x8
DB side raise 1x8
Band pullapart 1x8
Standing barbell press
40,0kg 4xF
Superset for back
Hammer-grip pulldown
70,0kg 4x8
Cable pullover for back
40,0kg 4xF
Seems like lower back can handle 40kg for shoulder press easily. Will try higher weights on that next week. Deadlifting 60kg to rack a barbell felt like shit though.
Soooo apparently my lower back and hips can handle front squats with ease.
ATG paused front squat
110,0kg 2 PR
Legicus extendius torturous maximus
60,0kg 3xF
Drop-set 70,0kg to 30,0kg every set to absolute failure
Bench press
87,5kg 3
100,0kg 3
112,5kg 7 - Rep PR
DB incline bench
36,0kg 3x10
Chest supported row
100,0kg 3x10
Some random tricep destruction to finish. Prolly have to make the assistance sets shorter due to training with completely depleted glycogen levels. Still, this was one of my stronger workouts and it felt amazing.
Decided to do standing press today instead of seated so the weights had to be taken down a notch. Standing seems to cause way less spinal compression and I easily pressed pain free.
Standing barbell press
60,0kg 3
70,0kg 3
80,0kg 3 - Monster rep PR
Seated DB press
2x35,0kg 5
2x40,0kg 5
2x35,0kg 5
Weighed dip (BW 104,4kg)
15,0kg 5x5
Wide-grip pulldown
75,0kg 5x5
Random bicep and rear-delt work to finish. I had a lot of excess energy today so I got a bit carried away with training. In the past I have pressed 80,0kg and 85,0kg both for a single so 4x80 was a really big rep PR. Also I have never even tried to press 40’s and have only done one 6x32,5 set so this was a really good day for me. I also had to commit the biggest sin in the history of training, curling in the squat rack since every single god damn barbell and spot was taken aside from that. Thank Odin I trained in a commercial gym during rush hour where absolutely nobody uses the squat rack.
Went to a different gym today so I got to experiment with the safety squat bar.
Paused ATG SSB squat - no idea what the bar weighed so weights are the plates only
100,0kg 1x2
Did doubles until I found a challenging enough weight and left it at that. Finished by murdering my quads and hams with extensions and curls.
Bench press
95,0kg 5
107,5kg 3
120,0kg 4
DB incline bench
30,0kg 5x10
Chest-supported row
80,0kg 5x10
Triceps and rear-delts to finish. The last work set on bench felt ungodly light for that weight. As I hit the third rep, it felt like all energy in the world disappeared into the unfathomable void of unmanliness. Strength was still there like before but muscular endurance was 100% down the drain.