Really nice numbers on the rack pulls, definitely giving me some nice numbers to chase!
^ thanks man, high rack pulls are going to become a mainstay in my back training for thickness… Adam (ashy) mentioned CT had said they were great for that specific purpose. It probably looks like ‘ego-rack pulls’ but all I’m saying is my back is sore as hell from midback all the way through to traps… And I’ve never really felt that sort of soreness before… Only lat soreness or trap soreness from shrugs.
I’m sorry for not checking into your logs guys, it takes me 5-10 minutes just to get to the posting stage on my phones internet so I’m only managing to update this log… It may be awhile till I get internet installed too-
On the above point though- I’ve been amazingly productive eating/training/recovery wise and that’s a big part of the reason why… Internet is to be used sparingly in creating a bodybuilding physique imo- paralysis by analysis is an all too real threat when its in the gym where the real usable knowledge is learned. I will say the logs and bodypart. Threads in both bodybuilding/alpha have been very useful and will serve to be great reference points.
On with the training…
Legs (kg/lbs) (was supposed to be shoulders but I really felt ready to give the quads a beating today… Shoulders tomorrow)
Front Squat
80/176 x 8 - 90/198 x 7 - 100/220 x 4
Leg Press
5 pps x 8 - 6 pps x 8 - 7 pps x 7 PR (of sorts, my campus leg press is less rom then my home gym)
Fatigued Squat
100/220 x 10 - 110 x 6…
Leg Extension
62.5/138 x 12 - 72.5/160 x 11 - 82.5/187 (stack) x 8 - drop - 62.5 x 5
Plate-loaded Calf Raise w/ 2+ second neg. & 2 second pause
1pps x 10 - 1pps +10/22 x 10 - 2pps x 6
Seated Calf Raise w/ pause at bottom, dumbells on knees, feet on box
40/88s x 15 (set 1 pr) - 46/101 x 12 (set 2 pr) - 50/110s (max db available) x 9 PR
Front squats felt decent today, weight definitely doesn’t move up easily on them though… Leg press should literally beasy to get to 10+ plates in not that long as its much more angled then my home one, may be good for quad iso though… Back squats were pussy… Think I’m just going to go for a widowmaker attempt and try up that number every week as I don’t have it in me for 2/3 really strong sets after everything else… Calves felt good… Just don’t know what to do on the seated dumbells when I can get the 50kgs for 20 reps multiple sets… Guess more tut, more double pop, more pause…
So the first one of the three things on my timetable to attend this week… my lecturer didn’t turn up! Value for money of this degree = amazing…
Shoudlers & Traps (kg/lb)
Seated DB Military (1 notch inclined)
28/61s x 8 (set #1 PR) - 30/66s x 7 (set #2 PR) - 32/70.4s x 7 PR (best is 8 @ .4kg less!..)
^ will improve above quickly as I’m gaining weight AND I discovered kicking up the DBs in the right way is twice as easy as cleaning them and trying to sit down… less energy wasted and easier to ask for a spot on the rep up that way (duh… I know)
DB Seated Laterals (feet on bench for side delt iso)
14/30.8s x 10 - 16/35.2s x 10 - 20/44s x 4.5 PR (of sorts, reps aren’t high enough… 18s next week)
DB Front Raise (standing, fairly loose form)
20/44s x 10 PR - 22/48.4s x 6 PR - straps - 22/48.4s x 7 PR
Machine Laterals
42.5/93.5 x 10 - 52.5/115.5 x 8? (… doing this from memory, log books at home & I’m at uni using the internet) - dropset - 32.5/71.5 x 12
Reverse Incline Bench Flyes (for rear delts)
8/17.6s x 25, 18, 15 (easily PR… though normally done after reverse pec dec)
Bent-over Cable Reverse Flyes (for rear delts) (using both cable stacks, number is per side)
2.5/5.5 x 12 - 3.75/8.25 x 7 (obviously can’t use much/any weight but great pumps)
Deadstop BB Shrugs
110/242 x 8 - 120/264 x 8 - 130/286 x 8 PR - 140/308 x 6 PR
DB Shrugs w/ 3 sec. hold
32/70.4s x 10 (pr by the .4…) - 38/84 x 10 (set #2 PR) - 42/92.4 x 6 reps - no hold - 50/110s x 16
Gotta get them traps! Had 'mazin rear/side delt pump after this one too. Good stuff
Nice military Pr’s! Repping 32s for that amount of reps is no joke, tonnes of gains happening in here at the moment!
@phlegms: it wasn’t the greatest of prs but I listed it as one mainly because I normally don’t go quite as heavy in the first 2 sets. Expect to smash that performance next week and hopefully give the 34s a try. Thanks for the words though, appreciated
Triceps & Biceps (kg/lb)
CGBP
72.5/160 x 8 (set #1 pr) - 80/176 x 8 - 87.5 x 5/193 (pr by .5kg…)
Cross-body Hammer Curls
18/40s x 8 - 20/44s x 8 PR - 22/48s x 7 PR (had to put down for 5-10 seconds on my right arm set because I always do my strongest arm right second and by the time I started grip was an issue)… Don’t want to use straps as it will take away the forearm element in hammers
Upright Dips (focusing on tricep stretch/lockout)
BW x 8 - +10/22 x 8 - +20/44 x 2… Might replace these
Preacher Curls (ez bar)
Bar + 20/44 x 10 + 22.5/50 x 8 - close grip - 22.5/50 x 6 + 1 wide grip
^ trying to work out how people do these without forearm/wrist pain… Feels so unnatural but I will continue to try and switch back to db preachers if its just not happening. Arms looked decent in mirror doing them, they used to look embarrassingly small like before summer. I guess that’s good.
EZ-Skullcrusher (pjr? Style using stretch/lower then bench)
Bar + 20/44 x 10 - +25/55 x 10 - +30/66 x 10 - +32.5/72 x 5
Alt. DB Curl
16/35s x 10 - 18/40s x 4
DB Hammer Curl
18/40s x 10 - 20/44s x 6 PR I think…
DC Bicep stretch x 55 seconds (owwwww)
OH Tricep extensions (slanted bar)
15/33 x 12 - 25/55 x 12 - 30/66 x 9 - drop to normal extensions- 30/66 x 8
DB kickbacks (john meadows style)
6/13s x 12, 9 (didn’t feel much from them but was a couple minute experiment)
DC Tri Stretch
10/22s x 60 seconds
Great arm today, amazing pump… For sure my arms have never looked so good. Applying a combo of john meadows style arm training and kingbeefs recommendation to hit 2 hammer grip/braichii (?) And 2 long-head tricep movements to transform arms asap. The pump in the right areas suggested this is as pretty decent layout.
Good workouts man, just keep the consistency! Your pretty strong too and lift heavy so ill be following
Good to hear your arms are coming along, I wish I could properly train arms without my wrists wanting to die…
so many PR’s I dont even know what to say hahaha.
That arm workout looks nice. I’m looking forward to getting back to BB style workouts soon.
@blackagger: much appreciated coming from someone as strong as yourself! I have a huge way to go but with lots of geniune weight gain happening/to happen in the next few months I know my strength will fly up even without specifically focusing on it. I believe the mantra that says: no top bb natty got there with 135 benches etcetc.
However I also believe when your not specifically focusing on the ‘big 3’ strength gains should be consistant but gradual… meaning I don’t feel an inclination (anymore) to always squat/deadlift/bench as heavy as possible as my training style simply isn’t set up for quick as possible strength gains anyway so there’s no point kidding myself. To counter this I also believe I will always at least do a variation of the big 3… Incline benches, rack deads and front squats are all things I think work well… even though I’m trying to deadlift too.
Wow I write some crap. But yeah my consistency is 100% so should be quite the transformation.
@phlegms: if your wrists are bothering you I’d say stay away from barbel/ez bar work unless its post-fatigued so the poundages are ss but the strain on wrist is also less. Try standard alt dumbell, alt hammer, cross-body curls, pinwheel curls or seated variations of the first 2 if they still bother you because with the lower weights it should definitely be fine. Incline bench curls too… Just experiment because bb cheat curls are not the be all and end all imo.
@gregron: thanks man. Wayyyy too much thought went into my exercise selection now (thinking about it in bed at night rather then sleeping… Wassup) however now I believe I’m starting to find some good sequencing or logical sequencing its a lot less stressful. It is a pretty decent arm workout, I’d just rather be doing a tricep machine dip or bench dips instead of the weighted dips. I’m hoping my body just adapts to the ez-preachers asap… Because I want to be able to preacher curl with ‘1pps’…
Thanks for the tips man! Cable stuff doesn’t seem to agitate my wrists too badly as long as I do the exercises unilaterally. Any time my wrists get forced into a position like with a barbell or straight bar cable attachment for bicep work they start to act up. So for the time being I’ll just be sticking to single arm cable work and seeing how far I get with that, DB hammer curls don’t seem to mess with them too much either so I’ll throw some sets of those in every once in a while too.
Hot today in england! Evenings are so bustling when the weathers actually nice. Everyone wearing shorts in the evening is cool. Anyway today:
Hamstring/Deadlift & calves day (kg/lb)
Deadlift (mixed grip, stapless)
150/330 x 6 - 170/374 x 6 - 190/418 x 3 PR
SLDL/Romanian deads
120/264 x 10 - 135/297 x 10 - 150/330 x 4
SLDL (w/ 10kg plates for stretch/huge rom)
60/132 x 12 - 80/176 x 12 - 100/220 x 7
Seated Leg Curl
57.5/131 x 12 - 62.5/138 x 10 - drop - 42.5g/94 x 10
Plate-loaded Calf Raise Machine (2+ second neg. & 2 second pause & double popped)
1pps x 12 (set #1 pr) - 1pps +10/22 x 10 - 2pps x 7 PR
Seated DB Calf Raise (using box in front of bench)
46/101 (set #1 PR) x 15 - 50/110s x 8 (set #2 PR) - 50/110s x 11 PR
Pretty good day today… The SLDL w/10kgs ‘for dat stretch’ did actually give me a hamstring pump I’m really not used to… They definitely take the place of good mornings which were pretty hit and miss… Still not sure about romanians either… Oh hamstring day… Why can’t you be more obvious… Or why can’t I have a glute-ham raise…
Calves went well though… The seated ones should be like top dbs for multiple 15 rep sets in no time… Then I’ll move on to trying to use a smith machine loaded bar combined with pussy pad or towel…
Killin those deads dude! MUST CATCH U
Nice work recently man. 500+ on rack pulls is pretty intense.
You doing arm days makes me miss mine, but i’m also really liking the higher frequency training, and unfortunately I can’t have both. Oh well lol.
Keep killing it man!
@pbclax1: thanks man! they are going decent, just hoping they gradually increase due to bodyweight increases and I keep roughly my 2.25xbw ratio… Means in <20 pounds time I should be able to try for 500 lol…
@blaze: much appreciated my man. The rack pulls are above knee but going so heavy still felt pretty sweet and since I’m doing them for back thickness iso… I’m happy as I’m not just doing it for ego. For me I never hit arms “seriously” until I gave them their own day… If they were a strong point/i was maintaining them or I wanted to train everything twice a week I guess I would do them with other bodyparts. I try and get some extra braichii work on back day and long head work on chest day if possible… And with that, I’m off to do chest shortly
Yeah so yesterday was…
Chest Day (kg/lb)
Incline Bench
70/154 x 8 - 75/165 x 8 - 80/176 x 6 PR (last time spotted on 6th) - 85/187 x 4 PR (last rep spotted)
Flat DB Press
30/66s x 8 - 34/75s x 8 - 38/84s x 5 PR
Power Flyes
26/57s x 10 - 28/62s x 7 - 20/44s x 12
Cable Flyes/most muscular (per stack) (squeeze/pump movement)
7.5/17 x 12 - 10/22 x 10 - 12.5/28 x 8 - drop - 6.25/14 x 10
DC-stretch using seated fly machines x some
OH Cable Extensions
20/44 x 12 - 25/55 x 12 - slanted bar - 30/66 x 6 - standard extensions 35/77 x 2 - drop 25/55 x 5 facing away from stack
Decent chest session… My db press weights are so low but I’ve literally never done them seriously so I guess it should be pretty easymode progression up to like 44kgs or so… My goal of smashing the 50/110s after incline bench is still very far off for now… But should be a lot closer in a month or so
Back in an hour or 2… Looking forward to it. 'Specially heavy-ass rack pulls
Back Day (kg/lb)
Pull-ups
BW x 8 - BW x 10 - BW x 14 (forgot dip belt)
Lat Pulldown
Wide-grip - 65/143 x 10 (set #1 PR) - 75/165 x 7/8 (set #2 PR)- 85/187 x 5 PR
Rack Pull (~1/2" above knee)
190/418 x 6 - 210/462 x 6 - 230/506 x 6 PR - 250/550 x 4 PR - 260/572 x 3 PR
Yates Row
100/220 x 10 - 110/242 x 10 - 120/264 x 6
Deadstop DB Row
50/110s x 10 - 50/110s x 11 PR
DB Pullover
28/62 x 12 - 32/70 x 8
DC-style Lat Stretch x lat pulldown x 100/220 (stack) x 30~ seconds
Pinwheels
20/44s x 10 - 24/53s x 6
Some might say the rack pulls went well. LOL. 260kg/6 “plates per side” for a triple felt pretty damn cool. This is the minimum setting on my uni gym power racks and puts the bar around 1/2" above my knee. I will keep doing these as even though the ROM is pretty minimal I can feel it so much in the exact area I’m trying to (upper/mid back and traps… even rear delts I think)
Jesus man, 260kg rack pull!? Thats impressive man, keep it up dude!
Geez man. Get some vids of those awesome rack pulls.
@phlegms & aqua: yeah I was pretty happy with them. Being as they are high and my pulling strength is pretty good once I’ve broken the first few inches of the deadlift, it would seem the sky is the limit with them. I’m going to use the 260kg as my 3rd set and if I get 4 or more, most likely try and go even heavier…even with the limited rom, I’m sure I will eventually stagnate & if I do I may start doing them on a small box which should hopefully mean I can put the bar just below the knees and go at them like that for awhile. I might try and video them next week- but it would mean taking my phone in with me, which I never do at my uni gym
Quads/Calves (kg/lbs)
Front Squat
80/176 x 8 - 90/198 x 8 - 100/220 x 4
Leg Press
5 pps x 8 - 6 pps x 8 - 7 pps x 8 PR - 8 pps x 3 PR (ambitious…)
Fatigued Squat
100/220 x 12 (thought that it would be an “easy” 20 repper… turns out I have 0 endurance on squats)
Leg Extension
72.5/160 x 12 (set #1 PR) - 77.5/171 x 12 (set #2 PR) 82.5/187 (stack) x 8 - drop - 47.5 x 7
Plate-loaded Calf Raise w/ 2+ second neg. & 2 second pause
1pps x 12 - 1pps +10/22 x 10 - 2pps x 7 PR
Seated Calf Raise w/ pause at bottom, dumbells on knees, feet on box
50/110s (max db available) x 10 - 50/110s x 12 PR - 50/110s x 13 PR
Need to change up my quad day as I’ve hit the same front squats 4/5 times now. Also need to stop doing it after back day… so actions:
- Next week do shoulders the day after back
- Next week do back squats as first movement, leg press as second and front squats as high 15+ rep volume sets (feel like I need to a little more volume for quads overall)
Unfortunately the second means I may be temporarily giving up on my goal of a 3 plate front squat… unless I can be persuaded otherwise lol