W1D3 12/18/2015
Deadlift
295x12, 8, 8, 8
Paused High Bar Squat
155x8, 8, 8
DB Row
100x8, 8, 8
Hanging Leg Raise
11, 11, 11
Deadlift form felt like junk today. Was not squeezing up setting my back angle, and my electors are telling me. They are very sore after all those reps. Weight was moving fast, but I knew it didn’t feel right. Will keep plugging away.
W1D4 12/19/2015
OHP
110x12, 100x12, 95x15
CGBP
175x8, 8, 8
Incline DB Press
60x8, 8, 8
DB Rolling Tri Ext / BB Curl
30x8 / 75x8 x 3
Shoulder Density Raises Thib Style
3 sets
Deadlift form Work
I’m super sore from all the DLs yestErday. OHP was all around 8RPE. Really trying to focus on making all reps quality and clean. At the end I took about 15 minutes on my deadlift form with 135-185. Working hard on not dropping my hips, rather squeezing my chest up.
W2W1 12/21/2015
Squat
245x10, 230x10, 210x15
RDL
135x10, 10, 10
BB Lunge
65x10, 10, 10
Abs x 3
Workout was at home, so did not have access to some stuff I typically incorporate. Entire posterior chain is still sore from DL on Friday. Squats were strong, but weight is still light. I should probably put more weight on RDL, but it’s nice to actually feel the movement. Lunges were done instead of Leg Press since I was at home. Good workout. 210 was probably RPE5-6.
W2W2 12/23/2015
Bench Press
225x2, 255x1 paused, 195x10, 180x10, 170x13*
Pull-ups (In between bench sets)
BWx8, 8, 8, 8
Seated DB Press
45x10, 10, 10
Dip
BWx10, 10, 10
DB Fly
25x10, 10, 10
Thib Growth Factor Delt
X3
Arms
X3
Have a cold, but not holding me back too bad. 170x13 was a 12+ set, and this was probably RPE7. Need to clean up diet, but it’s going to have to wait till after Christmas. Good workout.
W2W3 12/25/2015
Deadlift
315x10, 6, 6, 6
High Bar Pause Squat
155x10, 10, 10
DB Row
100x10, 10, 10
BB Abb Roll-Out
10, 10, 10
Have noticed my DL form is far better without a belt. Perhaps it is obstructing my set up. I may need to position it higher. Only set I used belt for was 315x10. Strange pop in knee on 9th rep of 3rd set of high bar. No pain though, but a hair sore. Will monitor. All DB rows are dead hang for a 2 count. Making progress on DL form, squeezing and starting position is noticeably improving.
W2W4 12/27/2015
OHP
120x10, 110x10, 100x15*
CGBP
175x10, 10, 10
Incline DB Press
60x10, 10, 10
Arms
X3
Thib Delt Growth Factor
X3
Solid all around. Also did 5x20 pull a parts between pressing sets. The 100 set of OHP was RPE7. CGBP and incline was stronger than last week. Will do 12s next week same weight. Did BB Curls 75x15 and DB lying ext 35x15 for 3 supersets. Loving the growth factor stuff from Thib. Already looking forward to testing rep maxes in a few weeks, but trying not to focus on it, as the work being put in is more important.
W3W1 12/28/2015 Home Gym
Squat
265x8, 245x8, 230x13*
RDL
135x12, 12, 12
Paused Goblet Squat
40x12, 12, 12
Lying Leg Raise holding BB w/135
20, 20, 20
I keep forgetting to do an over warm up at home for some reason. Will try to start remembering, because it makes the first heavy set feel lighter and smoother, and keeps me dialed into the heavier weights. For this reason 265 felt pretty heavy today. Right knee is still a bit sore. I think throwing in the high bar and last weeks BB lunges caused it. I will take out high bar paused and replace with low bar paused. Just noticed next weeks my test and deload week. Thought I had one more week of building. Next week will be a set of 280x8+ and will decide if I adjust my training max. Will be shooting for 280x10.
12/29/2015 Conditioning
1/2 mile jog
125M x 6 hill sprints
Shot basketball for 15 minutes
1 mile walk
I love sprints. Nothing hurts better.
W3W2 12/30/2015 Ayersley
Bench Press
225x2 paused, 255x1 paused, 210x8, 195x8, 180x13* RPE8
Pull-ups (in between bench sets)
BWx8, 8, 8, 8, 8
DB Seated Press
40x12, 12, 12
Dips
BWx12, 12, 12
Arms x 3
Thib Delt Growth Factor x 3
Farmers Carries
60x3 (long distance for fat burning)
180x13 amrap was RPE8 or so. Last weeks set of 170x13 proves good progress there, at similar RPE. Shoulder press I moved down 5 lbs to make sure I got all my reps. 45 would have been close. These are super strict, taken all the way down to a soft touch on shoulder, some paused. Have to get my dip performance up. Just doing them should help. Cleaning up my diet should help too. Would like to get back to adding weight, but don’t want to get anywhere close to missing reps. The farmers carries were done for longer distance rather than strength. Trying to throw in some finishers for added fat burning effects.
W3W3 1/1/16 Ayersley
Warmup
Box jumps 2x5
Med ball slams 2x5
Squat stretch in hole
Deadlift
355x5, 355x3, 3, 3
Paused 2 ct Low Bar Squat
155x12, 12, 12
2 ct dead hang DB Row
100x12, 12, 12
Toe to bar
10, 10, 10
Only belted DL set was the 5 rep set. 355x5 was probably RPE 6-7. Thought about going up to 375, but didn’t want to risk quantity for quality, injury or the volume work. Knees feel a lot better, no pain today. They didn’t like high bar. Dead hang rows are so tough. Helluva way to assist deadlift though.
1/2/2016 Conditioning
1/2 mile jog
4 125M Hill Sprints
4 50M Sprints
1 mile walk
Sprints were not so fast today due to whole body fatigue from yesterday’s lift and the coldness (lungs). Still, hit upwards of 90% all out on several.
OHP + Supplemental + Assistance tomorrow.
W3W4 1/3/2016 Home Gym
Warm Up
Various 5 lb Laterals
Squat Stretch
BW Squats
OHP
135x2, 155x1, 130x8, 120x8, 110x14* RPE7
CGBP
175x12, 12, 12
DB Incline Press
60x12, 12, 12
BB Curl / DB Lying Tri Ext
70x20 / 30x20 x 3
Thib Delt Growth Factor
X3
Holy pump. Strong workout from start to finish. A couple clean reps in the tank on 110x14, clear progression. Was a bit concerned I’d complete the sets across of cgbp and incline as fatigue mounted, but managed to finish all reps cleanly. Both cgbp and incline DB were probably RPE8-9 on last sets. Sick pump after arms and Delt work. A rare 10/10 session.
W4W1 Test & Deload
Warmup
Leg swings
Squat stretch
BW Squats
Squat
275x1, 315x1, 280x10* RPE9
RDL
135x6, 6, 6
Leg Press
8 plates x 6, 6, 6
Leg Raises
BW x 11, 11, 11
Hit the rep goal of 280x10, somewhere around technical failure RPE9. max moves up 10 lbs to 360 for next training block. Deloaded the rest of the supplemental/assistance work.
W4W2 - 1/6/2015 Test and Deload - Home Gym
Warmup
Leg Swings
Squat Stretch
50 various 5lb laterals
Bench Press
225x1, 255x1, 225x10* RPE9
DB Press
45x6, 6, 6
Dip
BW x 6, 6, 6
DB Fly
25x6, 6, 6
10 was the goal, but I should have pushed for one more. oh well. 10 reps with 225 means I add 10 lbs to training max for next block moving bench max to 290. Rest of the w/o was half volume deload. I hate deloads.
W4W3 - 1/8/2015 Deload Ayersley
Warmup
Box Jumps 2x5
Med Ball Slams 2x5
Squat Stretch + BW Squats
Deadlift
315x3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Paused 2 ct Squat
155x6, 6, 6
DB 2 ct Deadhang Row
100x6, 6, 6
Ab Wheel
12, 12, 12
Pull-ups
10, 10, 5, 5
not much to note, just a full deload workout. DL is not tested in wk 4. Wil test 135 on OHP tomorrow or Sunday, then move on to the next block next week. Body feels rested and ready to go from the low volume this week.
W4W4 - 1/9/2016 - Test & Deload - Home Gym
Warmup
Leg swings
50 various laterals
Squat stretch & BW squats
OHP
135x1, 155x1, 135x11* RPE8
CGBP
175x6, 6, 6
DB Incline Press
60x6, 6, 6
Arms
BB Curl 65x25, 25, 25
Superset with
Lying DB Ext 25x25, 25, 25
Thib Delt Growth Factor
X3
This completes the first block of Greg Nuckols’ Average to Savage program. I’m very please with the results so far, and am having fun with it. Don’t have a lot of data yet to show that I’m progressing, as it’s only one block completed, but the amrap progressions certainly indicate it. Squat, bench and OHP maxes all increase by 10 lbs for the next block. DL will stay the same, and I’ll aim to push the 5 and 3RM attempts harder to bump up the current 420 max. I feel 100% and am ready to crank the intensity back up. Knocking on the door of several all time PRs, and expect to break several of them through this mesocycle.
W5W1 - 1/10/2016 - Home Gym
Warmup
Leg swings
Squat stretch
BW squats
Squats
255x1, 285x1, 315x1, 250x10, 235x10, 215x16* RPE8
RDL
155x8, 8, 8
Bulgarian Split Squat
95x8, 8, 8
Ab Wheel
8, 8, 8
Took awhile to warm up and feel somewhat strong. Workout was scheduled for tomorrow, but moved it up a day BC tomorrow will be a busy day and I had the time today. Hit all the sets on squats. I rarely feel in my squat groove at home. May be BC I’m used to a mirror at the gym, which is probably a bad thing. +20 lbs this block on RDLs. Still light, but that’s fine. Subbed in Bulgarian split squats since at home. Smoked my quads and glutes. Will still probably keep leg press in when I’m at the gym. Tomorrow will be off.
W5W2 - 1/12/2015 - Ayersley
Warmup
Box jumps 2x5
Med ball slams 2x5
Squat stretch
Bench press
225x2 paused, 260x1 paused, 205x10, 190x10, 175x15* RPE9
Pull-ups (in between bench sets)
BWx8x5
Seated DB press
50x8, 8, 8
Dip
+10x8, 8, 8
DB Fly
30x8, 8, 8
Arms
X3
Farmers Walk
60x3
Thib Delt Growth Factor
X3
I did more today then I realized. Had a tough time getting tight on bench today, form felt a little off. That AMRAP was pretty close to it. Had one more probably, maybe 2. Feel like I’m starting to get accustomed to reps. Farmers walks are just there for conditioning effect.
W5W3 - 1/14/2015 - Ayersley
Warmup
Box jumps 2x5
Med ball slams 2x5
Squat stretch and BW squats
Deadlift
325x10, 325x6, 6, 6
Paused Squat
175x8, 8, 8
DB 2 sec hang Row
110x8, 8, 8
Ab Wheel
10, 10, 10
+10lbs from block 1 on DL 10RM with plenty of room to progress. Form felt tight today. Belted on the 10, unbelted on the 6’s. No belt on pause squats. These also +10. +10 on DB rows. Good session.
W5W4 - 1/16/2016 - Home Gym
Warmup
Leg Swings
50 various 5lb plate raises
Squat stretch and bw squats
OHP
135x2, 160x1, 125x10, 115x10, 110x14* RPE8
CGBP
185x8, 8, 8
Incline DB Press
65x8, 8, 8
BB curls ssw lying DB Rolling Tri Ext
95x8/40x8 x 3
Thib Delt Growth Factor
X3
Played 5 games of pickup basketball yesterday which left me very sore today. Not sure if it affected my performance today, but I did notice I was not able to produce the force/explosion as usual. I am still sore from DLs Thur as well. Regardless, it was a good workout. Reps started to slow and get sloppier on the 110 amrap around rep 13, so I called it at 14 as RPE8. Added 10lbs to both cgbp and incline DB, and it was noticeably more difficult. Will hopefully be able to progress on these to 3x12, but it will be close. Need to make sure I’m eating properly, to make it happen. Went heavier on the arm work. Next week I’ll probably switch back to hi reps. Delts are noticeably thicker and larger from thibs growth factor concept. Great tool.