This felt pretty good today. My grip felt strong on the rack pulls (from just below the knee), but then I almost dropped the bar on my last set of RDLs (double overhand grip). It felt good to go back to both legs on the calves too. I’ve got the glute machine maxed out now, so I guess it’s time to go back to the barbell hip thrusts.
May 6th
PMT Deadlift 475x1, 1, 1, 1 405x1
RDLs 275x5
Standing Calves 450x5 500x5
Glute Machine 150x20
Seated Calves (140x10)x2 (180x10)x2 200x4
So, I felt pretty bad on Friday and yesterday (Monday) so I didn’t hit the gym all weekend, but I was back in there this morning.
Got a rep PR on BP 225 for 6 that’s +2 reps!
Got a rep PR on Chin-Ups BW+70 for 8 that’s +4 reps!
I also nailed 5 good reps on Close Grip BP with 195 (last week I only got 4 with 185)
May 11th
Bench Press (max reps @ 90%) 225x6
Chin-Ups (max reps @ 90%) BW+70x8
DB OHP 60x5
Upright Rows ($5x10, 35x10, 25x10)x3 (no rest)
Close Grip BP 195x5
Dips BW+45x6
I think I must be a pansy when it comes to squats. Anyway, I got one more rep with 275 today than before, so progress at least. I’ll be testing the max on Monday!
May 13th
Box Squats 275x3 185x12
Standing Calves 500x5
Bulgarian Split Squats 135x5 (gassed)
Seated Calves (140x10)x2 (160x10)x2
May 14th
BB Row 225x5 165x10
DB Incline 80x5
EZ Bar Curls 110x3
French Curls 90x5 70x12
Rev. BB Curls 60x2 45x15
Well, next week is going to be fun. I’ll be searching for my max in the deadlift on Monday (anxious to see what this is after the PMT deadlift routine), the bench press on Tuesday, and Squat on Thursday. I think I am going to make the change for DLs on Mondays and Squats on Thursdays for awhile.
I seem to have made gains using that 4 week bench template working up to max reps with 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% on respective weeks, so I think I’ll keep it (for chin-ups too) and reset the maxes after next week.
Deadlift aiming for 475
Bench Press aiming for 280
Squat aiming for 315
What a great day! I pulled a 70 lb PR on Deadlift to get 475!
May 17th
Deadlifts (Look for max then a back off set) 225x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 475x1
DLs (Dynamic Effort) 225x5
RDLs 225x5
BB Hip Thrust 185x5
Well I didn’t get as high as I wanted on bench today my attempt at 270 and 265 were unsteady and I couldn’t control the weight on the way down. Oh well, 255 is still a PR by 10 pounds.
May 18th
Bench Press (Look for max then a back off set) 255x1
Incline DB Curls 45x3
DB Flies (spotted resisted) 30x5
Tricep Extensions 10x5
Hammer Curls 45x3
DB Bench Press (3 partials at bottom one full) 50x5
Plate Front Raises 45x10, 35x10, 25x10 2nd set 8, 8, 8 3rd set 6, 6, 6
I seem to be a pansy when it comes to squats. Gotta get that number up.
May 20th
Box Squats (Look for max then a back off set) 315x1, 225x5
Good Mornings 175x5, 115x10
Donkey Calf Raises 135x10
Leg Press 360x5
Mod. GHR BWx8, 8, 6 (lots of arm assist on these!)
May 21st
BB Row 185x12
Close Grip BP 195x5, 215x2
Chin-Ups 50 total BW (throughout workout) 10, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 8
DB Incline 70x5
Incline BB Raises 35x10, 45x10, 45x10 w/ sup. grip on last set
Decline BB Pull-Over (45x10)x3
May 24th (Back Strain, Let the bar get out front!)
Deadlifts (Dynamic Effort) 275x5 was going for 20 singles, which I think I can do but I need to really lock in my form better even with light weight!
Seated Calves 90x10, 110x10, 130x10, 150x10
Abductors and Adductors Only things I could do that didnâ??t hurt my back!
Well, after jacking my back all up I went to the chiropractor and got straightened back out which felt great, but now I’ve still got to deal with some strained and inflamed muscles. Oh well, I guess it may be leg press instead of squats this week.
It looks like I am going to be out of commission for awhile with this back injury. Hopefully it won’t be too long, but in the mean time I’ll be doing everything that doesn’t hurt. It looks like this might give me some time to work out some muscle tension imbalances also, so that’s good. I’ll be going full bore on stretching my hip flexors, calves, and everything around my shoulders and it looks like I’ll be doing lots of BW calf raises. So, my log is going to be boring for awhile.
May 26th
Back feels awful
There’s nothing like a back injury to show you all your other dysfunctions. It is now painfully obvious that I have tight hip flexors, the resultant lordosis, and poor hip mobility as I can’t even stand up straight right now, but warrior stretches seem to relieve this some. I also have weak glutes as they are now screaming at me from trying to tilt my pelvis so I can be upright.
So, here’s the plan to deal with this.
Stretch: Hip Flexors, Quads, and Low Back
Strengthen: Glutes, Hams, and Abs
I haven’t decided exactly what exercises to do yet, but I will definitely include hip thrusts and warrior stretches for now and as the pain subsides sumo DL, GHR, and Ab wheel. Additionally I think I’ll throw in x band walks and seated knee opens as soon as I can.
May 27th
Every time I got up from a chair: Warrior Stretch
3 times 3 sets of 10 with a ten second hold band knee opens
3 times 2 sets of 10 hip thrusts (cannot get full ROM on these yet)
5 sets of 10 donkey calf raises BW 2 second pause at bottom and 5 second squeeze at the top
Back still hurts a bit today, but I was able to ride my bike to work.
Back in the saddle again…
June 1st
Bench Press (max reps @ 190) 10 (almost 11)
Incline DB Bicep Curl 45x5
DB Flies (added spotter resistance) 35x5
Tricep Ext. 11x3
Hammer Curls 45x5
DB OHP 25x10 (stayed light to protect back)
DB Bench (three bottom partials 1 full ROM) 40x5
My back is still out of whack, but I was able to do all of this. The hardest part being getting up off the bench. I’ll go see the chiropractor tomorrow and hopefully I’m close to returning to squats and deadlifts. I have a vacation/conference coming up all next week, so that’ll be great healing time when I don’t have access to weights.
Got a chiropractic adjustment this morning and my back feels much better. Not 100% still, but better. Still stretching those hip flexors.
June 2nd
Chin-Ups (explode up squeeze 3 second eccentric and deadhang repeat) BW 6, 6, 4
DB Rows 100x6
Back Flies (20x5)x2
Front and Side Planks (experimented with pushing the elbows higher and they are tough that way)
My back didn’t feel up to bent rows yet or hanging weight on my waist for chins. I’ll get back there though. Going to try some bodyweight squats and maybe the bar to see how everything is feeling.
My back is starting to feel much better…
June 7th
Deadlifts (DE) 275x5
Seated Calves 70x20, 12, 12 (fast concentric, squeeze, slow eccentric, and pause at bottom)
RDLs 195x12
DB single leg calf raise 70x5
BB Rows 225x5
June 8th
OHP 135x5 95x10
Dips 70x5
DB Incline 70x3
Plate Raises (45, 35, 25) 4 sets 8, 6, 4, 2
Back from a week of vacation…
June 17th
Back Squats 255x4, 275x2, 185x10
Good Mornings 175x5
Leg Press 360x5, 450x3, 270x10
Donkey Calves 135x15
Felt weak today… I think I need to eat more.
June 18th
BB Row 205x5, 135x10
Close Grip BP 225x1
Chin-Ups (one arm negatives) 3x2 each arm
DB Incline 70x5
So, this is the first time to pull any appreciable weight on the DL in awhile and I chose to try sumo for a bit here. It felt heavy at 365 unfortunately (conventional max before injury was 475). My lifting partner and I also started the same routine we did for deadlifts awhile ago for squats now to try and pick up about 10% in 6 weeks.
The goal is to slowly increase the range of motion with 110% of our 1 rep max. It worked like a charm when I did it for deadlift and added 70 pounds for me there, we’ll see what I get for the squats.
Felt weak this morning… I think I need to sleep more and get up a bit earlier and eat a big breakfast.
June 21st
PMT Back Squats (pins at 9) (350x6)x2
Deadlifts (sumo) 365 3 singles
Donkey Calves 180x10
Front Squats (atg) 185x5
Seated Calves 12x90, 8x110, 6x130
Thanks to that recent article I know I need to work on strength as I am pretty efficient with the stretch shortening cycle stuff, so It looks like I’ll be doing some BP from pins for awhile.
June 22nd
BP (from pins 4 in off chest) 225x3, 2 full ROM 185x10
Incline DB Curls 40x5
OHP 115x5
Reverse Curls (65x5)x2
Dips BWx5, BW+25x5 (elbow started to flare up)