Lifetime PR on Bench Press, and not a grind. This is my first PR of any kind in 8 years. New goal for end of cycle is 305, and 315 is ON MY MIND. Been chasing that 3 plate bench for what seems like an eternity, but I can taste it now.
Band Tri Press downs
40, 20, 20, 20
-with-
Lateral Raises
15x15, 15, 15, 15
Let the 175x1 over warmup get out in front so the rep was slower than it should have been. 135x11 was a solid set, had one maybe two left in the tank. Pressing continues to be strong, with great endurance all the way to Inc DB pressing.
Single Leg Squat
BWx3x5
-with-
Seated Leg Curl
110x3x50
-with-
DB Curls
3 R/P sets
Starting to belt all squats 275 and over, plus high rep sets. So the only unbelted work was warmups up to 255x2 and the 215 and 205 down sets. Good workout.
Seated DB Press
60x6, 6, 6
(DB Rear Delt Raises 20x5x12)
Dips
+45x6, 6, 6
(Face Pulls 70x5x20)
Tempo DB Flys
30x10, 10, 10
Decline DB Tri Ext
20x45, 30x20, 20, 20
More PRs! Have benched 275x3 before, but never paused 2 reps, while still having more in the tank. After all the prior work, I’m calling 205x14 a PR, and probably RPE9. All of this is on two shitty nights of sleep back to back. Knee feels great.
Low energy today due to 3 bad nights of sleep in a row + out late last night with some drinking for business event. Was going to move today to tomorrow, but started to feel human around noon so knocked it out. Good effort overall. Sunk hips too much on DL, but form held OK.
OHP
135x2, 165x1, 180x1, 160x6* RPE9.5
(Lying on incline bench DB rows 60x3x8)
Spoto Bench
135x3x10
(Pullaparts 3x50)
Incline DB Press
40x3x10
(Paused lateral raise 10x3x10)
Band Pressdowns
50, 25+13+9
180 was not a very pretty rep. Letting the heavier stuff get out in front of me. Might have had 1 more on 160, would have been a grind for sure. +10lbs on OHP for last phase, making it 190lbs.
BB Curl
45x70+10+10+10
-with-
Single leg squat
BWx6, 6, 6
Farmers Carry
45x100, 100, 260 steps
Have not squatted at home in a few months. Had a very hard time getting comfortable with my squat, and performance was not what I wanted. 10 was a minimum, 15 would have been preferred. Still breaking too much at hips and not keeping upper back tight enough, so squats are moving forward on me more than I want. Knee feels good! Will add 15lbs to training max moving it to 270 for final block.
Training maxes for final block of Nukol’s Average to Savage:
Squat: 270 (purposely set low for knee recovery and move to high bar; hit 295x2 and 315x1 on over warmups)
Bench: 290 (hit 275x2 (p), 285x1 (p), 295x1, 250x7 and 205x14)
Deadlift: 406 (hit 395x2)
OHP: 190 (hit 160x6)
End of cycle goals:
Squat: 345
Bench: 305
Deadlift: 435
OHP: 190
Thoracic Bridge Work
-with-
Weighted Pull-ups
-with-
Explosive push-ups
Then 20 minutes of incline walking on treadmill with every 5 minutes of more pull-ups and push-ups.
Going to work towards being able to fully execute Max Shank’s Thoracic Flow, obviously starting with being able to correctly perform the bridge and sit. Right arm is always slightly stuck bent, so will address this. Made doing the bridge on right arm difficult/painful. This will become part of my warmup.
New Warmup:
Thoracic Bridge
Hip Circle walks
Box jumps or Med ball slams
-with-
Pull ups
Next 8 weeks of training post Average to Savage: CT’s Layer System
LAYER 1: Ramp up to your 2RM (maximum weight you can lift for 2 reps)
LAYER 2: Perform 3 cluster sets of 4-6 reps with 90% of your 2RM… a cluster set is a set in which you rest 10-15 seconds between every repetition (re-rack the weight)
LAYER 3: Perform 3 sets of 4-6 reps with 70% of your 2RM using a slow eccentric/lowering (5 seconds)
LAYER 4: Perform 1 set of maximum reps with 60% of your 2RM
DAY 1. Overhead press
DAY 2. Squat
DAY 3: OFF
DAY 4: Bench press
DAY 5: OFF
DAY 6: Deadlift (this is brutal so keep the sets for layer 2 and 3 at 1 or maybe 2)
DAY 7: OFF
OHP
Layer System (some type of strict row in between sets)
Dips
Side laterals
-with-
Band Tricep work
Squat
Layer System (push-ups and pull-ups)
DB Rev Lunge
-with-
Back Ext
-with-
Curls
Bench Press
Layer System (weighted pull-ups)
Face Pulls
-with-
Tri Ext
Deadlift
CT revised Layer System (paused push-ups)
(Ramping up to 2RM, 2 clusters sets with 85-90%, 2 sets of 5 with 70-75%)
Leg Press
-with-
DB Rows
Curls
Will edit as I get the assistance worked out. All assistance will be 10+ reps, and only 2-3 exercises per workout supersetted. Will fit in pull-ups, push-ups and prehab/corrective work in between layer system sets.
After this 8 week cycle, will probably go for a second cycle with Average to Savage.
185x1 was a super grind, caught me off guard. wont go above 185 for over warmups until I test at the end of the cycle. 190 is the goal after all. 225x3x6 was PR volume for spoto bench. 85x3x6 is PR volume after all the prior work. Very happy with pressing strength + endurance.
Squats didn’t feel strong today, even though I was able to progress. Lost a little rep quality on the second of 315. Will do a single at 325 next week probably, then 335 the following week, leaving me with the goal weight of 345 for test week.
Decline Tri Ext
20x30, 30x30, 35x20
-with-
DB Curls
Been traveling all week, so this was on minimal sleep. Combined day 3 and 4, and removed a bit of assistance. Happy with performance, didn’t suffer near what I thought it was going to. Didn’t push too hard on any of the assistance, although the fronts were not easy, mostly due to built fatigue. Good one.
Band Pressdowns
50, 25
-with-
Paused Laterals
10x20, 20
Just two days removed from bench and dips. Had 1 for sure, maybe 2 more with 175 on OHP. 190 should be a lock for end of cycle after a proper taper. Endurance has really improved through this cycle. No way I’d have been able to keep the intensity up all the way to that last set of Inc DB, and there were more reps in the tank. Pressing continues to hit new highs. Will shoot for either 280-285x2 pause bench on Wednesday, or possibly 300-305 tng if it feels real fast.
Single Leg Squats
10, 10, 10
-with-
Seated Leg Curl
100x50, 50, 50
BB Curl
45x80+20 (want to get to 100 without putting the bar down).
Knee was a bit wonky today. Had some minor sharp pain on 275 (think I took the decent too fast). No pain on any other sets though. 325 was a good rep. 205x20 about laid me out, pretty pathetic. Oh well, I’ll get back to where I want to be, just have to keep plugging away.
Warmup
Mobility
Med ball slam 3x5
-with-
Pull-ups 3x5
Bench Press
225x3 (p), 270x2 (p), 290x1 (p) PR, 245x3, 230x4, 220x11* RPE9.5 (pull-ups 5x6 feet up head back)
DB Press
55x4, 65x4, 4, 4
(Rear Delt Raise 20x5x12)
Dips
+70x4, 4, 4
(Face pulls 100x5x12)
Tempo DB Flys
30x12, 12, 12
-with-
Decline DB Ext
20x55, 30x25, 40x15
Early morning workout on 5 hours sleep, but performance was good. 290 paused was a smooth rep, for a paused PR. Will probably go with 300 tng next week, leaving 305+ for test week. Left shoulder did not like DB OHP today, not sure what that’s about. Sore now. It gets 3 days of rest now, so hopefully no big deal and back to normal Sunday.
DB Row
120x6, 6, 6
-with-
Paused Back Ext
12, 12, 12, 12
DB Curl
30x5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (10 sec rest between sets)
20x30+20
Toe to Bar
15
Deadlift was up to a 3RM. Probably should have went 405, but didn’t think 395 was going to go that well. Didn’t go for another set because I didn’t want to push my luck. Next week is 1RM test and have a goal weight of 435.