Flow's Unflow Training Log?

[Flow]

9-22-08

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Box Front Squats
45X3
95X3
115X3
135X3
155X3
Working Sets
185X3
185X3
190X3
195X3 PR
200X3 PR
205X3,3,3,2*,3,1** PRs
*Form broke down slightly so I racked it
**Felt a bit of a strain in my groin. I think this is because of the adductor tightness I have going on, but I racked the weight anyways. Live to train another day.
A2. Scap Push Ups
15,15
A3. Clams
15

B. DB Lateral Lunges
50X10,10,10,10
Volume PR

C. Leg Curl
105X10
125X6,6,6
Volume PR

D. Single Leg Plank
30s/side,30s/side,30s/side

E. Right leg hip adduction
95X15,13

Really great session today. I’m very happy with the front squats. My friend watched them. He commented that my back had a curve to it on the first set of 205, which made me disappointed until I asked for clarification. He meant that my butt was back and my lumbar spine was in extension. How’s that for improvement?

[Flow]

9-23-08

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Bench Press
145X3
155X3
160X3
165X3
170X3
175X3
170X3
155X3,3
160X3,3,3
I told myself that I had to get 175 for three to make this a successful session. I got that and my form is starting to look better. The only issue is that my spot noted my left arm came up faster than my right arm on the 175 triple. Looks like I’m still weaker on the right side. Gotta keep hammering the tricep. . . Going to get some subscap work going as well. Figured that may contribute.

B1. Incline DB Press
50X10
55X8,6,5

B2. Seated Cable Row
145X12
150X10
155X10
160X8

C. Unilateral Press Down
45X10,8,7

D. DB Curl
35X8,6 Shitty. . .

E. Kneeling Pallof press holds
30lbs.X30s/side
40lbs.X30s/side
40lbs.X30s/side

Not a bad day in they gym. Not used to training at 9pm, but it’s no big deal. I had class all day

Later all. Job hunting tomorrow. . .

[Flow]

9-24-08

Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility

Recently, I did this cycle ergometer test to predict my V02max. My results for this variant of V02 prediction put me in the “fair” category. I’m not happy with this result, even though the other V02max prediction test put me at “above average” and has a greater statistical accuracy.

I’m going to start doing 10 minutes of incline walking after each session, and next week I’m going to get used to sprinting again. I’ll do some 60m accelerations, focusing on running form, next Wednesday. That may help me recover some, but the goal in mind is getting me used to sprinting again, before I put an interval training session in my next program.

Also, my heart rate ranges between 65-70bpm, which is shit. When I ran cross country I was regularly at 45 beats per minute. The goal in mind is still to get bigger and stronger, but I’m keeping my CV fitness in the mix for health reasons.

Hope training is INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE MOTHA TRUCKAS!!!

[Flow]

9-25-08

Felt good to have something heavy in my hands. . .

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Rack Pulls
45Xreps
135X3
185X3
225X3
255X3
Working Sets
275X3
285X3
295X3
300X3
305X3
315X3,3,3
325X3,3,3
I tried resetting between reps for most of the sets, but the last two sets I started from the ‘bottom’ position- gripping the bar. I felt like that works much better for me.

Excited to actually put three plates on the bar again. I really need to keep focusing on a full stomach of air each rep. That really puts the weight on my abs.

B. Single Leg Squat
X8/side
+15/sideX8,8,8,8

C. Pull Throughs
210X10,10,10,10

D. Single Leg 1" birddogs
30s/side,30s/side,30s/side

Great session today. I did some random mobility drills between sets to keep the blood flowing and my focus on lifting. Lots of people I know were in the gym today, so timing the sets well was a struggle. I succeeded though

Random thoughts on this cycle as the ‘real’ stuff comes to an end. . .

I’m getting more confident with my flexibility and stability, and I know I’m only one or two training cycles away from free squats and full deadlifts.

I’m going to continue getting stronger with things I know I can do, so next training cycle my main pull movement for lower body may end up being RDLs or Rack Pulls from shins. Also, next cylce will focus on strength/size like this one, but I’m going to do something very similar to WSFSB and use a power exercise for my second lower body day’s ‘main’ exercise.

I’m considering box jumps, standing long jumps, or something of the sort. This split works well for me, so I’m not going to go crazy and swap up everything. I’ll stick to what works, and these rep ranges seem to work very well for me. Anything using a rep factor of 24-36 seems to be great for progress.

Also, you may have noticed that I decided to go for 10X3s instead of 6X5s for this third ‘high’ week. I wanted more low rep work. I’m pretty slow twitch, so anything focusing as much as possible on the ATP-CP ES is much desired

Oh, and I’ve surpassed my goals in rack pulls and front squats with flying colors, but my bench is still lagging behind. Saturday we’ll see how my pullups have done.

Have a good one peoples

[Flow]

9-26-08

Dynamic Mobility drills

A. Chin Ups
BWX3
+10X3
+15X3
+20X3,3,3,3
+25X3
+20X3,3
I’m quite pleased with this.

B. Overhead Press
20X2
30X2
35X2
45X8,8,7*,5
*That was one of the longest reps I’ve ever performed on any exercise, LOL. Seems like my left shoulder wants to give out before my right. That may contribute to my benching dysfunction, to be honest. My left tricep may have to do more work than it should be to compensate in horizontal adduction movements. Anyways. . .

C. DB Row
45X2
60X2
70X2
85X6
90X6,6,5

D. Unilateral French Press
25X10,10

E. Zottman Curl
30X13,12

F. Reverse Pec Dec
100X20+partials

G. Side planks with hip abduction
20s/side,20s/side,20s/side

Great day in da gym.

I usually don’t do my second upper body day on Fridays, but I had an ich I just couldn’t resist scratching. My performance tells me that it wasn’t a bad idea to do it early.

Now I sit and wait two days to hit the gym again.

I hope this planned deload shit works, because, right now, I don’t feel like I need one. Despite that, I’ve seen the results that people who plan their deloads intelligently get, so I’m sold until it fails to work for me.

Have a great weekend folks.

Poker tonight. Getting some $$ ^.^

EDIT: I won 40$

[Flow]

9-29-08

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Front Squats
*Slightly lower box today (it was roughly an inch below parallel because the box I normally use wasn’t around)
45Xreps
95X3
135X3
155X3
175X3
205X1
(Ditched this set because this is supposed to be a miniature deload and I can feel how tough last week’s high volume has been on me)
185X3,3,3

B. DB Lateral Lunges
50X10/side,10/side
Again, I feel these way too much in my glute med/ lateral structures in my right leg

C. Leg Curl
125X4**
125X1***
**I felt biceps femoris twinge a bit.
***Again. Live to train another day. Looks like I’m going to be foam rolling the hell out of my right leg’s lateral structures and my right leg’s adductors.

D. Single leg plank
30s/side,30s/side,30s/side
These aren’t easy, but they aren’t hard enough. Next training cycle I’m going to do 3X15-20s/side Birddog planks. Can’t wait for that shit

Ok, so what I’ve got out of this session is that last week really was pretty brutal on my body neurally. I haven’t been able to front squat this well in a while, so I’m still cool with where I’m at. Basically I’m at lumbar extension throughout these entire reps, contrary to my old front squat form (check my old videos). This week will indeed by a low week, the following week an introductory week for some similar exercises (maybe 2setsX6reps) with an intensity/power focused mesocycle to follow.

After that I may lay off the higher intensity work for 6~ weeks. Maybe go into a hypertrophy focused mesocycle. Something like 4X6-8 for the first exercise, 3-4X10 for the second, and 3X12-15 for the third exercise for each bodypart. Yeah, a body part split. That’d be fun ^.^

Studying and eating begin. . .

Later

[Flow]

After only doing 6 working sets on legs as opposed to 12+, I feel antsy.

I don’t need a fucking deload. I’m not going to get bigger and stronger if I keep working within my means. I front squatted 225 lbs. almost a year ago today. I’m still at or around that same strength level from a year ago simply because of a cut that lasted too long and a damned unwelcome back problem.

The only difference is that I can actually stay upright during squats now, so it can reasonably be said that the only progress I’ve made in a year is a losing 40 lbs. of fat, gaining ~6 lbs. of muscle, getting a much stronger core, and moving better. I’m not satisfied with that in the least. In fact, that’s shit.

Tomorrow I’m doing 5X3-5 on flat bench and 3X8-10 for the rest of the stuff.

[Flow]

9-30-08

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Bench Press
45Xreps
65X3
95X3
115X3
135X3
155X1
working sets_
165X3,3
170X3,3,3
These reps were explosive and my arms extended evenly. Looks like a bit of progress back to normal strength levels. Just gotta keep pressing on.

B. Seated Cable Row
170X8,8,8

C. Incline DB Bench Press
50X10,10,10

D. Unilateral triceps pressdown
50X8,8,8

E. Biceps Curls
35X10,8

F. Cable rear delt thing
35X20
50X18

G. Pallof Press Holds
30X30s/side
40X30s/side,30s/side

Glad with how today went. This bodybuilder from the gym spoke with me. He says I look more like I’m 180 lbs. than 196 lbs… That really sucked, but it’s the truth. It’s good to get that kick in the ass on occasion. That said, a guy that hasn’t seen me since earlier this year told me I look bigger. So I guess that makes for a bitter sweet flavor after today’s training session.

Anyways, I’m going to plan out next training cycle this weekend. I’m looking forward to doing that. Haven’t decided what I’ll do on the deload/volume fluctuation issue though. I’ll have to think about it. The ultimate goal is to train as much as possible as often as possible while recovering adequately. I’m too weaksauce to fluctuate volume like a science project, but I can see how it is an effective method for progressively increasing the overall training stress without hurting progress.

[Flow]

10-1-08

Dynamic Flexibility
+extra stuff

A1. 60m buildups X 6
A2. Pushups
10,10,10,8*
My right pec hurt the slightest bit here, so I let up on the pushups
Rest was walking back 60m back to start again

B. Right Leg Adductor work
80X18,18

C. Front Planks
30s,30s,30s

After more job hunting I’m going to foam roll for 20-25 minutes and do more flexibility work.

Aced a kines. test and practical today. Ankle joint and knee join= yawn.

[Flow]

10-02-08

Dropped a set on the assistance stuff because I added in some sprinting stuff yesterday. Sore in my peroneals, hamstrings, glutes, and VERY sore in my abs & obliques.

Dynamic flexibility stuff

A. Rack Pulls
45Xreps
135X3
185X3
205X3
225X3
255X1
275X1
Working Sets
315X3
325X3
335X3,3,3

I took my stance in some more and that felt very nice. Can’t wait to try my closer stance from the floor. I may be asking for too much, but I’m going to try full deadlifts next cycle

Breathing into my stomach makes me feel this more in my abs than any other part of my body. The hip extension element of these deadlifts is not hard at all, but my abs are so weak that I have to build up to the rack pull weights I was using previously (385 for reps).

B. Single leg squats
+15lbs./sideX10/side,10/side

C. Pull Throughs
220X10,10

D. 1" birddog holds
30s/side,30s/side,30s/side
These were actually difficult this time because my abs were already sore

Later

[Flow]

10-03-08

Dynamic Flexibility

A. Close Grip Chin Ups
Supported X 10
BWX3
+15X3
+20X3
+25X3
+35X3 PR
+25X3
A2. Squat-to-stands
8,8,8
A3. Dynamic Hamstring mobilizations
12,12

B. DB Overhead Press
30X2
40X2
50X6,6,6 PR

C. DB Row
40X2
50X2
70X2
90X6,6
95X6 PR

D. Unilateral French Press
30X6,5F@6 (Right arm only)

E. Zottman Curl
40X6 PR
E2. Reverse Grip BB curl
barX15+5 cheated
Wanted to do these for some reason

F. Cable Lateral Raises
20X20
35X15
40X15
First time doing these

G. Side Planks
30s/side, 30s/side, 30s/side

[Flow]

10-06-08

Thoughts on last cycle:
I got stronger at front squatting, benching, military pressing, curling, and every exercises I performed. I’d say that’s a success for a four week cycle.

Goals

1. get stronger
2. improve hip structural balance
   2a. more quad movements
   2b. more right side adduction
   2c. more left side abduction
   2d. general flexibility
3. begin improving free front squats and deadlifts again
4. improve CV fitness

5.  use a power movement because you make a sloth look like Michael Jordon
   

SPLIT:
S OFF
M L1
T U1
W C1
R L2
F U2
S OFF

L1
Front Squats
2X6, 8X3, 10X3, 3X5
S/S
Hamstring Mob�??s
8/side

Walking Short-Stride Lunges
3X10, 3X10, 4X10, 2X10

Leg Curls 2-1 method
3X4/side, 3X4/side, 4X4/side, 3X4/side

Left leg abduction
2X12�?�
S/S
Hip mobility

Kneeling low cable chops
3X10/side�?�
S/S
Piriformis Stretch
15s.

U1
Bench Press
3X5, 6X4, 10X3, 3X5

Chest Supported Row
3X10, 3X10, 4X10, 2X10

Barbell Floor Press
3X10, 3X10, 4X10, 2X10

Unilateral French Press
4X6-10�?�
S/S
Reverse Pec Dec
4X12-15�?�

Side Plank
3X30s/side�?�
S/S
Squat-to-Stands
8�?�

L2
Jump Squats
8X2, 8X2, 8X2, 4X2

Deadlifts
8X2, 8X3, 10X3, 3X5
S/S
Hamstring Mob�??s
8/side

DB medium-box step-ups
3X10, 3X10, 4X10, 2X10

DB RDL�??s
2X12, 2X12, 3X12, 1X15

Right leg adduction
2X12�?�
S/S
Hip mobility

Pallof press holds
3X30s/side�?�
S/S
Hip mobility

U2
Medium grip pullup
3X6, 4X6, 6X6, 3X6

DB Bent Press
3X8/side, 3X8/side, 4X8/side, 2X8/side

One arm Cable Row
3X8/side, 3X8/side, 4X8/side, 2X8/side

Barbell Shrugs
4X12-15�?�
S/S
Hammer Curls
4X8-12�?�

Cable Lateral Raises
4X12-15�?�
S/S
Front Plank Birddogs
3X15s/side�?�

C1
50m sprints with slow jog-back
S/S
Pushups 8-12 reps
5 sets

Prone Internal Rotation
2X12-15
S/S
Birddogs
2X8/side

Grip Trainer
2Xrounds
S/S
Front Planks
3X30s

Pre Training & Daily:
Foam Rolling

Dynamic Flexibility
-Lying Hip Abduction
8
-Single Leg Bridges
6/side
-Arm Circles
15
-Warrior Lunges
8/side
-Scap Wall-Slides
12
-Lateral Lunges
6/side
-Squat-to-stands
8
-Piriformis Stretch
15s
-Hamstring Mob�??s
8/side

Post-Training
10minutes incline walking @3.5mph

[Flow]

10-06-08

Programs are more like guidelines anyway. . .

Foam Rolling
*decided to suck it up and bring this on campus. I’d rather have a foam roller stolen than get injured anyways. Carrying the massive PVC & foam device around the gym makes me feel goofy. Like I’m about to do yoga or something crazy like that.

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. Front Squat
45X6
95X2
115X2
135X2
155X1
165X6,6,6
Went for 3X6 instead of 2X6 because this was feeling too damn good for it to be my first time back at free front squats in a while.

I had a gym attendant look at my form on the last set. He took a photo of the last rep and my lower back was arched at the bottom. I was a good 1.5" below parallel.

Felt these loosening up my hip flexors, so I did dynamic hip flexor mob’s between sets.

A2. Dynamic Hip Flexor Mob’s
8,8,8/side

B. Walking DB Short Stride Lunges
30X10/side
35X10/side,10/side
Wow, an exercise that actually gets my quads pumped. I need the extra quad work, so this will be great for the next few weeks

C. 2-1 Leg Curls
70X8/side
80X8/side
Realized I was doing these incorrectly. I ended up doing 16 reps total concentrically and 8 a side eccentrically. This is twice the reps per set I intended to do. . . Woops

D1. Cable Hip Abduction (left side only)
80X12,12
D2. Kneeling Adductor Mobilizations
10,10

E1. High Cable Chops
60X10/side
70X10/side,10/side
Upping the weight next time on these for sure. . . I feel like I’m actually doing these properly. Thanks, Gray Cook.
E2. Squat-to-Stands
8
E3. Piriformis Stretch
15s,15s

F. Incline Walking
3.5mph; 7.0 incline setting
HR–> 105-115
10minutes

[Flow]

10-07-08

Ahhhhh nothing like lifting after a long day of classes and studying.

Foam Rolling
I had an audience today.

Dynamic Flexibility/Warm up

A. Bench Press
45X5
95X2
115X2
135X2
155X1
Working sets_
165X5
170X5
175X5*
*That last rep was pretty tough. The bar came up evenly on both sides. BALANCED TRICEPS STRENGTH!?

B. Incline Bench Chest Supported DB Row
40X8
50X12
55X12
60X8
*I’m going to stack plates to get the incline on one of the smaller benches next time. The bench I used today has this annoying pin that you use to adjust the bench’s height. The darn thing kept getting in the way. No biggie.

C. Floor Press
45Xreps
115X4
135X12
155X8,6
Really focused on tugging the bar apart for these.

D1. Unilateral French Press
25X10/side, 8R/7LF@8, 7/side, 7R/6LF@7

**I did these with both arms for the first time in quite a while. The last time I did triceps unilaterally with both arms I was more than 6 reps stronger with my left arm than my right. MY PERFORMANCE TODAY MEANS THAT MY RIGHT ARM IS ACTUALLY STRONGER BY ONE REP NOW, LOL. Quite the reversal. The good news is that they are VERY close to being equally strong. Now my left triceps is the weaker one.

D2. Reverse Pec Dec
110X15,15,15,15
Going to up the weight quite a bit next time

E1. Side Plank
30s/side,30s/side,30s/side
E2. Squat-To-Stands
8,8,8

F. Incline Walking
3.5mph; 9.0 incline setting (Black Treadmill)
HR–> 140-150
10minutes
I used a different treadmill so I just guessed the incline setting. The HR tells me that it was higher than yesterday, heh.

[Flow]

10-09-08

Hard to type. Forearms done for.

A. Deadlift
135X2,2,2
185X2,2,2,2
225X2
245X2,2,2,2,2
265X2,2
Great to be deadlifting again. All double overhand. No back issues. Focused on pushing left knee out to activate left glute. This worked well.

B. DB Step ups
50X10/side
60X10/side TOTAL, 10/side TOTAL
Total is a necessary descriptive term because my grip kept giving out. I have terrible grip strength. I had to reset the dumbbells a few times.

Gym closing soon so I combined some stuff. . .

C1. Palloff Press Hold
50X30s/side,30s/side
C2. Right hip adduction
80X20,20

Left the gym because it was closing. On the drive home I was pretty pissed at how my day went and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t do the RDLs. I opted for Barbell RDLs when I got home simply because mixed grip with a barbell = greater loading than dumbbells.

D. BB Romanian Deadlift
185X8
195X8
200X8
Yes, I’ve adjusted the weight for the the differing weight set I have at home. These are the actual weights.

And I’m off. . .

Hope you all are having a good week. Mine is kickin’ like a chicken wing, if you know what I mean.

[Flow]

Morning weight of 200 lbs.

I dunno how I feel about that with the paltry weights I’m moving right now. I am a large framed guy though. My ankles and wrists aren’t the largest but I have large elbows and knees. I dunno what that classifies me as, lol.

The way I see it, if I keep gaining at a reasonable rate I’ll eventually get to a point where cutting would be appropriate. At that point I could get in really good condition and build up again. I started this weight gain at the beginning of summer with a morning BW of 181.8 and 10-11% bodyfat. I’d imagine I’m more in the 14-15% bodyfat range now, but that may be an underestimation.

[Flow]

9-10-08

Dynamic Flexibility

Forgot foam roller. I’ll do it in the PM

A. Medium Grip Pull Up
BwX6,6,6

B. Bent Press
40X8
45X8,7

C. Cable Row Unilateral
80X12
90X8
95X8

D1. Hammer Curl
30X12,10,8
D2. BB Shrug
185X12
205X12 Used body english and slight back pain. Even a TINY bit of back pain means I need to back off, so I took the weight downw.
185X12;4;4 Used double overhand then grip gave up so I did four with each mixed grip

E1. Front Plank Birddogs
15s/side,15s/side, 40s/side Regular front plank
I think these are too much for me for now. I’m saving them for a few months from now.**
E2. Lateral raise
50X12
45X12,12

Good training

Edit: I was being a bitch. I’ll keep these.

[Flow]

10-11-08

I didn’t do my conditioning work earlier in the week because of a huge amount of studying that needed to get done. I did that conditioning work today.

I read “Running Man” by CT quite a while back, and I used those intervals to help lose a significant amount of fat. 230 lbs. → 181.8 lbs.

Well, I was looking through Maximum Strength by EC earlier today and I noticed that the intervals he recommends have very similar Work:Rest ratios to CT’s recommendations. It’s always cool to see parallels between great coaches, but I digress. . .

Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility

A. HIIT
20s FAST;40s Walk X 5

B. Front Plank
30s,30s,30s
B2. Scap Pushups
20

C. RC work
10 lbs. X 12 internal; 12 external X 2 sets

[DCubed]

Keep up the good work, I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread to stay motivated in writing in my own.

[Flow]

[quote]DCubed wrote:
Keep up the good work, I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread to stay motivated in writing in my own.[/quote]

I appreciate it

I’ll be following your log as well.