not sure if I should scrap the neutral grip pullups. I thought that I could keep my right biceps out of the movement, but there’s some DOMS in both arms. the strain in the right doesn’t seem much worse but it sure as hell ain’t better.
breakfast: cup oats, scoop protein, EVOO, 10 egg whites, 2 oranges.
CHEST
INCLINE BB BENCH
215x8, stalled and grinded 7 and 8. back is still tired from deads yesterday.
195x8
175x8, RP x2
FLAT BB BENCH TOP SET OF FLAT BENCH DONE AFTER TOP SET OF INCLINE
235x8, stalled a bit and grinded 8 out.
215x6, RP x1
195x7, RP x3. everything’s heavy today.
CABLE FLYES
80x14 toughh
x7 fuckk 3 reps fewer than last sesh x6 get these sets to 10 then clean up.
70x9
60x9 disgust.
burnouts
post-meal was chicken marsala over white rice with a Gatorade.
spent the whole day driving and moving stuff.
took my measures as follows, flexed as per C_C:
12/15
left arm 16 7/8"
chest 42 1/8"
left leg 25 1/2"
206.6#
the arm measurement isn’t too bad, considering I still gained 3/8" over two months, the first of which had inconsistent direct arm work and the second with no direct bicep work.
though I’ve had a life-long image problem with my legs, I’d be remiss in leaving them out of the log.
I’ll haul my ass to a bodpod by the end of the month in time to officially start the recomp.
breakfast: 80 odd carbs from oats, 10 eggs (2 whole). just messing around with less fat content and seeing if it negatively impacts me.
SQUAT/QUADS/CALVES
BACK SQUAT
225x7. hips/groin just don’t feel right. gonna narrow the stance a bit.
FRONT SQUAT (crossover grip, shoulder width stance) - more comfortable for my hips/groin, more quad stimulation
125x10, much easier than the last sesh, like redic easier.
BACK SQUAT
205x7, the weight is shifting forward more with the narrower stance, push knees out more.
185x8, gonna keep this stance for a bit…
FRONT SQUAT
105x10 x10
STANDING GASTROC RAISE
165x10
165x8 x8^
150x8
135x8
STARTRAC LEG EXTENSION QUAD HELL
150x15 gotta stick with this weight until after I attempt a 405 dead in two weeks.
150x10 x10
135x10
120x12
burnouts, oh, burn. JUST INJECT MY QUADS WITH ACID FUUUAAAAA.
SEATED SOLEUS RAISE
115x12, RP x3
115x7 RP x2, x6 RP x3 get to 10.
90x8 RP x4
90x8 RP x4 get to 12.
had to rush to the bank and car dealer to close the deal on my new(er) Ford Edge. gonna pound a shake when I get home, then crush sushi again at a buffet Xmas dinner tonight.
breakfast: ~100g carbs from oats, 2 scoops beef protein, 4 egg whites and 5-6 tbsp EVOO.
CLOSE GRIP LAT PULLDOWN (star trac machine)
150x10x2, x7 RP x4
135x10, x7 RP x4
120x12, x8 RP x4
DB DEADSTOP ROW
120x8
DB ROW
120x7
110x8
100x10
ROPE STRAIGHT ARM PULLDOWN
100x15 (cheated last 2) x9 (cheated last 1) x8 (cheated last 1)
90x9 (cheated last 2)
80x8 (cheated last 1)
burnouts
SEATED CLOSE GRIP CABLE ROW (supersetted with band pull aparts)
150x12
135x9
120x10
burnouts
lats are fried, plus I did the session in about 1/3 the time I usually do the back width and thickness sessions combined. I’ll do the one combined session for a month or two and see how my chest size and weights are progressing.
bis are much fresher, the right one feels largely unaffected so that’s good. imo the lack of direct bi work is slowing progress on my arm size… I should’ve probably hit 17" arms by now. maybe just another 3-4 weeks then I’ll do direct bicep work again.
post-meal: ~8oz pork chops and 2 cups cooked white rice. 3 tbsp honey in water and some Mio sweet tea flavoring mmmmmm.
breakfast: 90 odd carbs from oats, 2 bananas, scoop of protein in the oats, 3-4 tbsp EVOO, 10 eggs (threw in one whole for the heck of it).
CHEST/SHOULDERS
SEATED BB OHP (shortened rom to exclude lockout over spine)
145x8, RP x2
125x10
105x12, the lighter sets were easier this week.
FLAT BB BENCH TOP SET DONE AFTER TOP SET OF OHP
235x9, probably could’ve ground the 10th rep out. EASY PR +2 REPS
215x8, RP x1
195x9, RP x3. lighter than last week.
STANDING DB FRONT RAISE
35x10 started out as a superset with the laterals, bad idea. went back to straight sets.
35x8 x7
30x8
25x10
burnout partials
GLASS LATERALS (center grip)
30x15, cheated last rep.
30x10 x8
25x12
20x15
burnouts - forced reps with db’s
CABLE FLYES
80x15 x10 x7
70x9
60x10 ugly last rep.
burnouts
PUSHDOWNS (short rest)
130x15, last rep needs to be stronger.
130x10 clean up last rep x6, RP x4 uglayy.
120x7, RP x3
110x8, RP x4
burnouts
I was originally gonna do all my pressing in the AM and isolation work in the PM, but gf and I have my work Xmas party in a few hours. so, I cut out CGBP and did the whole workout in one session.
post-meal was white rice, various kinds of chicken and Gatorade with honey.
I was planning to deload this week and test for a 405 dead next week, but I figured I’d rather feel like a truck hit me over this weekend at work than over my bday weekend. so today was the day.
breakfast: 10 eggs (5 whole), 90g carbs from oats+25g beef protein (Carnivor), and 4 oranges worth of freshly squeezed OJ with the pulp.
warmup
foam rolling
Defranco Agile 8
bar GM’s
light RDL’s
worked up to:
CONVENTIONAL DEADS
all reps shoeless
385xfail
385x1 PR +10 lb
395xfailx2
365x1 (belt)
365x1
335x2 x2
315x3 x3
BACK SQUAT
225x7. def not to depth. the weight and my knees are way too forward.
FRONT SQUAT (crossover grip, shoulder width stance)
135x8, bar kept rolling forward dammit.
BACK SQUAT
205x8, fuck squats, seriously…
took shoes off again…
185x10, WHO’DVE KNOWN THAT SQUATTING BAREFOOT WAS SO HELPFUL GRAAAARRRRRARARAR
FRONT SQUAT
115x10 x8
did some random 2" deficit deads, 225x3x7.
post-meal was some 10 oz or so of salmon sashimi, 2-3 cups white rice and a p/c shake.
not sure if I should bother doing deficit deads as my main deadlift. I am definitely failing off the floor, but given that I have a lot of excuses:
- wearing my new shinguards felt like the bar was starting out a tiny bit further
- overall caloric intake the last two days at work sucked
- I was supposed to deload this week
- I’ve been slacking with abz
there’s way too many other reasons why I could only pull 385 before I make any changes to the program.
edit: I was supposed to go back to do isolation work, but I feel like The Hulk did a rectal exam on me. I’m gonna have to lighten up leg day on this push/pull/legs split.
I have two training days this week, so I’ll be doing a 2-day upper/lower split with compound lifts in the AM then isolation work in the PM.
Breakfast: 10 eggs (4 whole), 2 cups oats blended with 50g beef protein powder, a banana and 3-4 tbsp EVOO. The blended shake went down much more easily than it would’ve had I eaten the oats whole mixed with the protein and EVOO. I should’ve been blending my food sooner.
Warmup: band pull-aparts, straight arm rope pullover, rope tricep extension
TOP SETS OF PRESSING DONE FIRST, THEN LIGHTER SETS
INCLINE BB BENCH
215x8, stalled and grinded rep 8, but a bit less than last time.
195x7, RP x1, conditioning sucks…
175x9, RP x3
CGBP
225x10, stalled, grinded, spotted on last rep.
205x7, RP x1 awful last rep.
185x6, RP x3, RP x1 turrible turrible turrible.
TOP SETS OF PULLS DONE FIRST, THEN LIGHTER SETS
CG LAT PULLDOWN
150x10x2, x8 RP x2
135x10, x8 RP x2
120x12, x9 RP x3
DB DEADSTOP ROW
120x9
DB ROW
120x8
110x9
100x11
Post-meal was ~10 oz of ribeye steak (cut off visible fat), ~80g carbs from Gatorade and honey, a plain baked potato that I blended with steak juice and random amount of watermelon.
Nice PR’s man. Make sure your hammering the tech work for the big 3. A few extra warmup sets never hurt anybody.
Thanks, and I appreciate your stopping in. I definitely do extra warmup reps if technique feels off somewhere or the target muscles don’t feel fully warmed up.
Blender ftw, seriously. I blended 100g oats, 50g beef protein and 3-4 tbsp EVOO for another pre-meal.
This session is all higher rep isolation or cable movements.
CLOSE GRIP CABLE ROW
150x13
135x10
120x11
Burnouts
-
supersetted with -
BAND PULL APARTS
ROPE STRAIGHT ARM PULLOVERS
100x15
90x10
80x8
Burnouts
-
supersetted with -
PUSHDOWNS
130x11
120x5, 110x3 I hadn’t realized how much pullovers would tire out my triceps. Not sure if I should reverse the exercise order here or pick a different lat isolation exercise.
90x7
Burnouts
DB FRONT RAISE - supersetted with - GLASS LATERAL RAISE
30x15
25x15
20x15
CABLE FLYES
80x15 x10 x8
70x8
60x11
Burnouts
I tried out some light incline DB hammer curls with 25’s, but the pain in my right bicep got worse with each rep until I called it after the 7th rep. Did some abz instead.
STANDING ROPE CRUNCH
170x10x3
Post-meal was some 6-8 oz steak, a baked potato, few pieces of broccoli and some honeyed Gatorade.
This bicep pull is getting VERY frustrating. I was finally making some progress with recovery after modifying my pulls, and then I had a couple days at work where one of my patients basically had to be rack pulled up every time I got her out of the bed, chair or commode. I made the big mistake of not holding her closely enough on the first few transfers in addition to holding her up with my hands supinated. She weighed somewhere between 200-250 lb and was basically dead weight from 0-3" elevation until she finally gathered the willpower to drive through her heels. To be fair to her, she’s been basically bed bound since the end of November, so she’s severely deconditioned in addition to already being a fat out of shape lump. Unfortunately, now she’s regaining her mobility at the expense of my bicep.
Lol I avoided her like the plague this past weekend. Bad nurse…
so I’ve mentioned not having enough time to eat at work.
here’s my solution:
that’s about 1.5 lb of chicken, some chinese broccoli, 2-3 cups of quinoa and probably 10 tbsp of EVOO.
tastes like chicken salad, but a bit nuttier due to the quinoa.
WTF man, that looks like baby shit - lol! Does it taste good?!?!
And I see those close-grip rows, have you ever tried V-grip cable rows? Those are fairly nasty.
Lol I kid you not, it tastes like a slightly nutty chicken salad sandwich. Not too bad considering it does look like what I get paid to clean up at work.
And yes, I do use the V-bar handle for the cable rows. I lean forward a bit to get a good stretch then pull my elbows back and squeeze. Gotta be careful because of the bicep pull so I’m pretty strict with the form.
ok, so that green paste wasn’t too palatable, surprise surprise. I sprinkled some salt and pepper on it and ate it with a bit of normal food today, so it might be ok as a very macro-dense side. but not as a main course blechhh.
I was originally gonna do a 2 day upper/lower split this week, but I decided to man up and give squat and deads each their own day. today was squat day, aka leave my soul on the floor under the squat rack day.
breakfast: 5 whole eggs (ran out of eggs), with 2-3 oz random leftover meat thrown into the omelette, and 2 cups oats blended with 3-4 tbsp natty pb.
SQUAT/QUADS/CALVES
BACK SQUAT
225x8, shoeless, much better depth.
FRONT SQUAT (crossover grip, shoulder width stance)
135x8, something felt funny/popped outside my right knee at rep 7, did 1 more and racked it… did some bw squats and leg extensions, it felt fine??
BACK SQUAT
205x9 could’ve gotten the 10th rep…
185x11, conditioning sucks soooo much.
FRONT SQUAT
115x10 x10
STANDING GASTROC PINKY TOE RAISE
180x9 x7 x6
165x6
150x7
STARTRAC LEG EXTENSION QUAD HELL
165x10 x8 x8
150x7
135x9
burnouts
SEATED SOLEUS BIG TOE RAISE
115x13, RP x2
115x8 RP x2, x8 RP x2
90x9 RP x3
90x9 RP x3 get to 12.
post-meal was supposed to be a shit ton of sushi, but I forgot that the local buffet serves crap rolls at lunchtime. I settled for ~3 cups white rice and 8-10oz of the leanest chicken they had, and 2 glasses of lemonade.
took a nice power nap, then had a shake with 2 cups blended oats, probably 15g beef protein powder (ran out…), 3-4 tbsp natty pb and 3-4 oz of pork bellies. also ate that while watching Buried starring Ryan Reynolds. good movie.
it was member appreciation day at my gym, so there were free samples of stuff and a DJ blaring random shit music so loud I couldn’t hear music from my earphones. fuck it, it was so loud I was able to bark like Dave Tate without fear of judgment.
ARMageddon (top sets of deeps and CGBP done first)
DEEPS because they’re deep… dips…
90x8, RP x2. much harder with the squeeze at the top.
70x9
45x10.5 RRRAAAAAHHHHH RP x2
CGBP my peepee
225x8, all good, I knew I wasn’t getting close to 10 reps tonight.
205x7, RP X1? no idea if I did 6 or 7 reps…
185x8, RP x2 yeaaaaaa
STANDING V-BAR BILATERAL TRICEPS EXTENSION cough pushdowns cough
130x15 x10 x8, RP x2
110x10 clean up last 3 reps
90x12 clean up last 3 reps
I totally forgot about reverse grip curls, I tried some and my right biceps feel fine! so I’m gonna do these until I heal up.
REVERSE GRIP CABLE CURL
70x10, super strict, big squeeze, lean back for full bicep stretchiness. first 8 reps of each set were thumbless.
70x10 x10
60x12
50x12
should also mention that I did some Dragon Flags abz afterwards, x10 x8 x6. I was breathing wrong at the top so it felt like my head was gonna explode. I looked up vids when I got home and it turns out I’ve been doing them wrong, with my ass touching the bench.
picked up a waffle, four eggs, and ~4 oz ham for breakfast. added 1 cup oats blended with 25g Carnivor.
foam rolling my outer quads was TORTURE. Jesus wept with me.
DEADLY LIFTS
531 CONVENTIONALLY DEAD
cycle 1 working max 345
week 1: 225x5, 255x5, 295x5+(10)
GM
135x8
125x10
115x12
BB SHRUG TOP SETS DONE FIRST
285x10, x10, x10
265x10
245x10
DB SHRUG aka I’m too diesel for the HS shrug machine
125x10 x10 x8, grip crapped out.
115x10
105x8 5 sec holds, ooooh yeaaaa this grows hair on your chesticles.
SEATED LEG CURL
210x13 x8 x6.5 owowowowow my quads hurt so much from squeezing against the thigh pad =…( it’s like foam rolling while doing leg curls…
195x9
180x10
gonna skip burnouts AGAIN, I might go snowboarding with a buddy tomorrow if my old bones can make it…
CALF MACHINE SHRUGS
270x15, I’m like dumb huge. srs.
270x12 x12
255x12
240x12
burnouts skeeeep
appetite sucks. might start doing fasted/“fasted” walks before breakfast to kick up my appetite a la DC training. had a cup of white rice blended with Gatorade and 50g Carnivor and went to get a haircut. I’ll eat something solid when I get back to the house.
Man, FMC will definitely get your appetite going for real. Throw down some BCAAs or a HumaPro shake or something 10-20 minutes before hand, and do your thing. Earlier you do it, the better for sure. But be warned: You, sir, will be ravenous. You’ll demolish and not feel bad about it. The real bitch of it all is that it sticks through the day. Puh…
lol sounds like EXACTLY what I need right now. most days I don’t even wanna look at food, and on row/squat/deadlift days it’s worse.
honestly if the scale moves in either direction until the end of March, I will be hella surprised.
did about 12 minutes of fragtacular incline walking at home. was super hungry (finally) since the barber took forever so I’m in the process of crushing BBQ pork, white rice and rice/Gatorade shake. I got a freshhh triple fade with a shapeup so idgaffff.