Box Jumps - 3rd bleacher x5x3 <–too easy, may need to up the height
Squats
225x2
245x2
265x4x5 <—struggled a little keeping my hips out, but the reps were strong
Band Resisted Lat Stations Mod GHR
Mini Band x3x8 <—HOLY SHIT
DONE.
The GHRs had my hamstrings and gastrocs cramping so hard I wasn’t sure about doing any unilateral work. Plus, I got in some late night, uhh, cardio we’ll say, so that may explain why I’m a bit beat. Today is the fasting day of the week as well, so I’m quite happy with the way the workout turned out considering that all I’ve eaten since dinner last night (pre-“cardio”) is BCAA’s. Looking forward to a great meal tonight with my family. Going to take tomorrow off to rest up before I start hammering everything hard again.
Hope everyone’s out there puttin in work and gettin shit done. Later.
Looks like my legs are going to be one of the last things to lean out. I’m down to 209 lbs as of last night and my legs still measured 27" this morning. They’re looking leaner to me at least, and with this pic up I’m accountable later down the road. Off day today though, back at it tomorrow.
105x2
120x2
130x4x5 ← felt solid, not perfect, but strong
DB Bench
75x20,11
DB Deadstop Rows
100x3x8
Rear Delt Destroyer (no straps!)
40x60
20x30
10x10 full rom reps
Skipped Shrugs. Explanation below.
Cross Body Hammers
35x10
40x10
45x10
Preacher Curl
85ish (weird bar)x3x8 with 2 sec squeeze at top
Strict DB Curl, 3 sec negative
25x8
20x8
DONE.
I’ve been having some tension headaches from poor posture when working on patients in the clinic, so I had a fellow PT do some cervical, thoracic, and lumbar joint mobs today. This isn’t the “pop” induced stuff you get in Chiro practice, its a little different. Anyways, to avoid reaggravating the symptoms, I decided a move that really tensions the area I just had mobilized would probably be unwise, so I nixed the shrugs for today.
Gonna try and get in a nice long(ish) run with the lady tomorrow after the clinic lets out early. It’ll be a tough morning, as we’re double booked up till noon, so I’ll be seriously stoked to spend some quality time with her again.
Was a little tough this morning, but I got a warrior dash next weekend, so I had to make sure I could still cover the distance in a halfway dece time. I’m pleased, to say the least. Gotta get to work on a presentation for an inservice this week, and then head to the shop to help out for the day. Stay strong, y’all.
Warmup Sumo Style, switched back to conventional for worksets
225x2
250x2
275x4x5 <–almost too light! haha
Leg Press, narrow stance, 3 sec negative, no lockout
3pps x12
5pps x10
6pps x2x8 ← commence gumby legs here
Mod Lat Station GHR
3x8 ← emphasis on not touching the ground if possible, much harder this way
Abs
DONE.
I’m going to start blitzing my abs for about 2 weeks after reading the stuff Thibs had in his training lab. Its funny how I’d kinda followed this myself, albeit more by feel than by plan. And the extra core work can’t hurt.
As for the deads, I switched back to conventional since my back has been feeling super excellent lately. I really made sure I had my form down, and holy shit. I am so much more powerful pulling conventional than sumo. I think I’ll still keep the sumo style warmups though, because it seems to open up my hips a lot more and get things warm.
165x2
185x2
195x4x5 <— felt tight and bar speed was good
DB Deadstop Rows
90x3x8
Partial Pulldowns
205x2x8 <–trying to make sure I got my form tight with the short ROM before I go heavier
Stretchers
100x12 ← some prick started wall squatting next to the lat station and wouldn’t move, and I wasn’t in the mood for murder
Incline Bench
135x8
155x8 ← should have done another set of these, thought I was shorter on time than I was
Pushdowns
65x3x10
55x10
45x10 All sets with 10s rest in between
DONE.
For some reason I thought I was running out of time, and I don’t like checking my phone during the workout, so I got rushed a bit. Still had a solid workout, and was happy with the way my bench felt today. Also, note to self, days like today are why I never bench on a monday. Holy shit madhouseville.
Took a front progress pic so I could compare with the last one I took, which I think was about a month ago. I can tell I’ve dropped fat from my oblique area, and I look much leaner all around in the mirror. My abs are coming back out finally.
170x5
205x3
240x2
255x1
275x1 <—5 lbs heavy
295x7 ← 5 lbs heavy and still knocked two extra reps off before I just gassed out
GHR
2x8
Conditioning
1 mile hard - 6:30
1 mile jog recovery
DONE.
Ran the mile hard because I kind of pussed out in the weight room and didn’t want to end it there. I’m actually really pleased I can still cut a mile at 6:30 clip, much less do so after squatting nearly 300 lbs for reps. I’ve come a helluva long way since this time last year.
Warrior Dash Norco: 3 days
Badass Beach Blowout: 12 days
Also, new Squat working max is going up to 345. Inching my way on up there! And that should skyrocket once my body accommodates to all this extra conditioning.
85x5
100x3
115x2
125x1
130x1
140x10 <—could’ve gotten more, but the rest wouldn’t have counted towards adjusted max
(forgot straps)
Heavy Partial Laterals
50x2x35
Reverse Cable Curls
35x5x10 <–srsly? this machine is wack
Preacher Curl Machine
Quarter n’ change x3x12
Incline DB Curl
30x2x8 <— stretched the bicepzzz after 3rd set
Seated Curl, 3s negative
20x2x8
RAPED.
Decided to hammer arms today after my shoulder stuff didn’t pan out. Despite warming up thoroughly, something felt off in my left shoulder during my second set of heavy partials, so I just cut the rest of the shoulder work to ease it off. I’ll be deloading before long anyways (spring break baby!) so it shouldn’t be an issue. Thought my biceps might explode out of my skin at one point. Holy shit that was brutal.
I went down to New Orleans area Saturday to do the Warrior Dash in Norco, LA. Literally as we park and get out of the car to start changing for the race, they tell us that it’s being cancelled due to inclement weather. And then of course they email us once we’re already almost back home to say they’re running the cancelled heats today (Sunday)… So I’ve basically missed the whole race. Sucks. I’m sure it all happened for a reason, and I had a great time riding down there with friends I haven’t seen in a good while, but damn I wish I had gotten to run that race.
I kind of wanted my viking hat and my giant beer. Bummer.
Also, came down with some sort of coldish/sore throat thing. Going to take today off to try and let the body kill it off, and then I’ll be back at it hard on Monday. I’d normally train anyways, but my body and sinus related infections don’t do well with that. I’d rather miss one day than have 2 weeks straight of shitty, congestion-ruined workouts.
175x5
210x3
245x2
260x1
280x1
295x10 <— holy shit balls these FLEW UP
Leg Curls (lat station was too busy for me to get GHR’s)
2p x12
3p x10
3p+1q x8
Dropset - Max reps till failure, drop a plate and continue down till 1 plate left
2p+1q x25 partials
Leg Press
3pps x15
4pps x15 <–tried to stand up and fell down twice, lol
Headed for home, then did:
Hill Sprints
40m hill x8
BW Abs
DONE.
I’m pleased about today’s workload. Felt strong, and kept rolling despite some tweaks here and there from riding in the car all weekend. Going to eat and then spend the rest of the evening stretching and foam rolling the shit out of everything.
So story is, my friend signed me up for this thing as I was changing into my workout clothes. Today was bench day anyways so I agreed. I needed to find out my max soon anyways. However, I should have read the fine print. I bench with a solid arch, my legs tucked under, with a good deal of my tightness coming from my leg drive. For the contest though, only minimal arch is allowed, and heels have to stay flat on the ground. Trying to get enough leg drive like that made my hammies cramp, haha. Hence, why I only got 265. I’m convinced I can get 3 wheels with proper setup now. Fuel to the fire.
I am a little bummed about the mile time though. I could have made it well under 7 minutes, but I picked too slow of a starting speed. I didn’t figure it out till about a half mile in that I was too slow (it was on a treadmill). Oh well, those are the rules of the contest, and I didn’t make the most of it. I’ll report back with how I fared once they crunch all their numbers and stuff.
Well folks, it finally happened. I have begun my first battle with a wicked painful onset rotator cuff tendinitis (heard a pop, but the negative tests mean it ain’t torn yet). This is what happens when you essentially work for free as a student, and the clinic director decides to use your size to move some awkwardly heavy shit (fucking Kin-Com) without warning you. Essentially, carrying the awkward pieces of equipment along with not letting them fall caused something to tweak in my left shoulder. After a brief analysis of my own, and with my clinical instructor checking a few special tendon tensioning tests for the shoulder, we’ve pretty much narrowed it down to my supraspinatus has somehow become inflamed and nasty.
After discussing my options, we decided it would be best for me to take off at least the next week from pressing exercises, and possibly two weeks, to let the thing heal so it doesn’t become a tear. It’s a bummer, but I’d rather take two weeks and knock it out than deal with a repair down the road. Those fuckers suck. So, I’m limited to back training, leg training, some arm stuff, and unilateral shoulder and chest work. It is what it is. Going to start adding in external rotation stuff starting late next week to try and strengthen it.
I really enjoy Chad’s workout setup. The percentages seem to end up working really well for me, and having to do some sort of organized warmup makes a big difference in whether or not stuff hurts. I keep playing around with the assistance work, mainly just because I have some serious program ADD, but the higher rep waves made a big difference for me in body comp and general joint health.
My favorite setup is still TJM for the main lifts and then Defranco’s WS4SB assistance template as mentioned in the book. Makes me feel strong and quick at the same time. That explosiveness is something I always lacked when I was at my heaviest weight (abt 230, and well before I started this log), and I’d like to keep it. The Juggernaut setup also allows me to make good progress on 3 days a week lifting while getting in all the conditioning stuff I want to do.
And the injury isn’t that serious, I just don’t want to be foolish and let it get worse because I couldn’t slow my roll for a few weeks.
Trav-
You working the Juggernaut stuff too? How do you like it if so?
