Jhusk's WS4SB Log

Training Logs
21

Dude, you’ve got impressive endurance. When I was benching 275 for 3-5 I could only get 135 for a bit over 30. When I was doing this [and I ran a few cycles] I found I made better progress when I switched the ME exercise every few weeks. It’s easy to get excited about progressing for a few weeks and get stubborn about switching when you stall.

Maybe have a handful of ME lifts that you cycle through at a few weeks at a time focusing on improving one main lift. Like, if you want to improve your bench spend a few weeks on regular bench, CG, 2-board, incline, and paused then test. Just an idea.

22

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Dude, you’ve got impressive endurance. When I was benching 275 for 3-5 I could only get 135 for a bit over 30. When I was doing this [and I ran a few cycles] I found I made better progress when I switched the ME exercise every few weeks. It’s easy to get excited about progressing for a few weeks and get stubborn about switching when you stall.

Maybe have a handful of ME lifts that you cycle through at a few weeks at a time focusing on improving one main lift. Like, if you want to improve your bench spend a few weeks on regular bench, CG, 2-board, incline, and paused then test. Just an idea.[/quote]

Yeah, I’m about to cycle out the ME lifts, but I’m going to have about a week over Christmas that I won’t be able to go to the gym. I’m only going to go through one more workout cycle before I hit that break, so I’m going to give it one more shot then switch it up–at least the bench; I still feel like I’m adding weight on my squat.

12/9/09 - Day 15 - ME Upper Body

ME Lift: Bench Press. PR: 205x3.
Today got 205x3 easy, but still couldn’t get 215 for 3. Got it twice, then hit the wall.

DB Decline Press: 140x8, 140x8, 140x8, 140x8
Seated Cable Rows: 11 (plates) x10, 11x10, 11x10, 11x10
Rear Delt: 95x12, 95x12, 95x12
Hammer Curls: 50x8, 50x8, 50x8, 50x8
Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch: 90x15, 90x15, 90x15, 90x15

23

12/11/09 - Day 16 - ME Lower Body

ME Lift: Squat. PR: 335x5
I’m going to write down that today I got 345x5, but, really, they were pussy sets. Much closer to half reps than full reps. But, I got deeper with 315 and 335, and I’m getting to the point that I’ve never had this much weight on my back before. It’ll help me in workouts down the road to get used to having that load on me.

Reverse Lunge: 215x8, 225x8, 235x8
Romanian Deadlift: 235x6, 235x6, 245x6, 245x6
DB Holds: 110x30 sec., 110x30 sec., 110x20 sec.

24

12/13/09 - Day 17 - Repetition Upper Body

Repetition Lift: Bench Press, max with 135 lbs.

Set 1: 25
Set 2: 14
Set 3: 10

Rope Pushdowns: 10 (plates) x10, 10x10, 10x10, 10x10
Pull-Ups: 5 (asst. plates) x8, 5x5, 5x6, 5x5
Lateral Raises: 20x12, 20x12, 20x12
Thick Bar Curls: 85x8, 85x8, 85x8, 85x8
Ab Circuit:

Hanging Leg Raises x12
Standing Crunches x17
Russian Twists x12
Side Planks x35 sec.

Today sucked. No energy, didn’t go up in any of my lifts, went down in my repetition lifts. Haven’t felt that crappy in the gym in awhile. I think the problem was the day before, I ate like crap. Busy day at work, had breakfast then didn’t eat again for close to 8 hours. I definitely paid for it.

25

12/15/09 - Quad Shock Day

So I’m taking a week break from WS4SB, because I’ll be going out of town for Christmas in a week and without access to a gym. So I’m doing a shock week where I obliterate my muscles and try to get a little supercompensation happening.

Squats: 5x3 with 315
Deadman Quad Raises: BWx10, 10x10, 10x10
2 minute Leg Press: 2 pps, 78 reps
Leg Extension: 115x12, 115x12,115x12

And I wrapped everything up with a nice widowmaker squat with 245. Was definitely walking funny when I left.

26

12/16/09 - Back Shock Day

Rack Pulls:
135x3
225x3
275x5
285x3
295x3
315x2
325x3 *Grip failed before my muscles actually did.

Wide Pull-Ups: 3,3
Medium Pull-Ups: 5,4
Medium Chins: 4,3
Narrow Chins: 4,3
*Did first set of each back-to-back, rested 3 minutes, did it again

Face Pulls: 10 (plates) x12, 12x13, 14x10, 15x9
Bent Over Rows: 135x8, 135x8, 135x8, 135x8
Iso Dynamic Rows (12, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1): 6 (plates) x6, 6x6, 6x6

27

12/17/09 - Chest Shock

ME Bench Press:
95x8
135x5
155x5
185x3
205x3

Chest Dips (Did first with a 25 pound plate on a belt, reached failure, dropped the plate, and repped out):
4, 4
7, 10
DB Incline Bench: 100x8, 110x8, 110x8, 110x9
Fly Aways:
25x11, 9, 4
25x10, 6, 13
Floor Press: 185x3, 205x3, 205x3, 205x3, 215x3
Triple DB Press:
55x7, 4, 4
55x5, 2, 3
Barbell Decline Press: 135x8
Push Ups: 2 max sets
10
11

28

12/19/09 - Hamstring/Posterior Chain Shock

Deadlift:
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x1

Romaian Deadlift: 185x10, 185x10, 195x10, 195x10
Good Morning: 115x8, 115x8, 115x8, 115x8
Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 135x10, 155x10, 165x10
Hamstring Curl: 8 (plates) x6, 9x6, 10x6, 10x6, 10x6
Hamstring Leg Press: 3 pps x8, 3 pps x8, 3 pps x8
Eccentric Leg Curl: 6 (plates) x6 (each)

I’m a couple days behind obviously, but I’m still feeling it in my hammy’s today.

29

12/19/09 - Biceps and Calves Shock

4 supersets of standing calf raises and barbell hops
Raises: 10 (plates) x8; Hops: 65x30
Raises: 11x8; Hops: 65x30
Raises: 11x8; Hops: 65x30
Raises: 11x8; Hops: 65x30

Reverse Incline Hammer Curls: 25x10, 30x10, 30x10, 35x10
Donkey Calf Raises: 35 (plate around waist) x50, 35x50, 35x50
Barbell Curls: 75x12, 75x12, 75x12, 75x12 *First two sets were with wide grip, last two with narrow grip
Standing Calf Raises: 10 (plates) x15, 9x15, 8x15
Rotated Cable Curl: 3 (plates) x10, 4x10, 4x10
Max Reps Seated Calf Raise w/ 90 lbs: Set 1: 18; Set 2: 15

30

12/20/09 - Triceps and Abs Shock

Close Grip Bench Press: 135x5, 155x5, 155x5, 155x9
Dips: BWx8, BWx8, BWx8, BWx9
Accentuated Cable Crunch: 6 (plates) x10, 6x10, 6x10
Side Bends: 50x10, 55x10, 60x10
Seated Half Press: 115x6, 95x8, 95x8, 95x10
Skull Crushers: 10 (per side) x10, 12.5x10, 15x10
Incline Russian Twists: 25x15, 25x15, 25x15
Decline Dragon Flag: 15 seconds, 20 seconds *This wasn’t a strict decline dragon; it was the closest I could get. Instead of just my traps on the bench, it was more my lower back and butt.
Superset of straight bar pulldowns, pushdowns and overhead extensions: pull: 8x10; push 8x10; ext.: 7x5, 5x15, 3x20

31

12/21/09 - Shoulder Shock

ME Military Press:
65x5
95x5
115x3
125x2

Barbell Push Press: 135x1

Extended DB Push Press:
40x8, 4, 4
35x7, 2, 4
30x10, 4, 7

Seated Lateral Raise: 15x8, 15x8
Machine Lateral Raise: 5 (plates) x12, 4x12
Double Cable Lateral Raise: 1 (plate) x15, 1x15

Rear Delt Raise: 15x10, 15x10, 15x10
Lean Away Lateral Raise: 20x10, 20x10
Front Plate Raise: 25x10

Lateral Raise: 15x12, 15x12
Front Raise: 15x12, 15x12

Rear Delt: 1xMax
10x25

Woohoo end of shock week! See you guys after Christmas!

32

Happy New Year and all that stuff!

Back at it, back to WS4SB.

12/31/09 - Day 18 - ME Upper Body (Switched up a couple exercises)

ME lift: Incline Bench
95x6
115x5
135x5
155x3
165x3

Flat DB Bench: 140x8, 140x8, 150x8, 150x5

Seated Cable Rows: 11 (plates) x10, 12x10, 12x10, 12x10

Face Pulls: 9 (plates) x12, 10x12, 11x12

Hammer Curls: 55x8, 55x8, 55x8, 50x8

Hanging Leg Raises: BWx12x4

I’m changing up my training week a bit due to my work schedule changing, and the fact that I want to get in the gym more, and do more work. I’m going to train Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. The order will go ME Upper Body, ME Lower, Repetition Upper, then a day of high-rep squats and a couple sets of shoulder work. This’ll be a big change for me, and I want to see how I react.

I’m going to take the next two months and focus solely on gaining mass and strength. Then, beginning March 1, I’m going to tighten up the diet a bit and add in some cardio on my off days. Some time after that, depending on how things are going, I’m going to add some more cardio, really clean up the diet and try to cut for a few weeks.

Last time I stepped on the scale, I weighed a post-Christmas-break 220. My goal is, by June 1, to be no less than 220 with somewhat visible abs, meaning I will be at the lowest bf % of my life.

33

1/3/10 - Day 19 - ME Lower Body

ME Lift: Deadlift
135x8
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3*
325x1*
*Used straps on these two sets

Walking Lunges: 140x8, 140x8, 140x8
Romanian Deadlift: 245x6, 245x6, 245x6, 245x6
DB Holds: 110x25 sec., 110x25 sec., 110x20 sec.

Ab Circuit:
Sprinter Sit Ups
V-Ups
Toe Touches
Hip Thrusts

34

1/4/10 - Day 20 - Repetition Upper Body

Repetition Lift: Bench Press with 135 lbs.

Set 1: 25 reps
Set 2: 11 reps
Set 3: 8 reps

1-Arm DB Row: 60x8, 65x8, 65x8
Straight-Arm Lat Pulldowns: 3 (plates) x8, 3x8, 4x8

Lateral Raise: 20x12, 20x12, 20x12

Thick Bar Curls: 80x10, 80x10, 80x10
Rope Pushdowns: 11 (plates) x10, 11x10, 11x10

Hanging Leg Raises: 3x12
Reverse Cable Side Bends: 3x12

35

1/5/10 - Day 20 - High Rep Squats

Squats:

95x30
95x30

*note, doing a two week “break-in” period described in the “Mass Made Simple” article from a couple weeks ago.

Seated HS Shoulder Press: 90x10, 100x10, 100x8, 100x9

Rear Delt Raise: 20x12, 20x12, 20x12
Lean Away Lateral Raise: 20x12, 20x12
Front Plate Raise: 25x12

36

1/8/10 - Day 21 - ME Upper Body

ME Lift: Incline Bench

85x3
85x3
110x3
115x3
125x3
135x3
145x3
155x3
165x3
165x3
175x3

Utitlizing Thibs’s “Perfect Rep” here, hence the larger-than-normal amount of sets. Hit my MFP at 165. I got 175 up relatively easily, but definitely was not accelerating the bar.

DB Bench: 150 (total weight) x8, 150x8, 150x8, 150x8
Seated Cable Rows: 11 (plates) x10, 11x10, 11x10, 11x10

Face Pulls: 11 (plates) x12, 13x12, 14x12

Hammer Curls: 60x8, 60x8, 60x8, 55x8
Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch: 95x15x4

37

1/9/10 - Day 22 - ME Lower Body

ME Lift: Deadlift

Almost embarrassed to put this up here…

165x3
165x3
245x3
255x3
265x3
275x3
285x3
295x3

Felt terrible. Didn’t have a good night’s sleep the night before.

Walking Lunges: 150x8x3
Romanian Deadlift: 255x5, 255x6, 255x5, 255x5

38

1/11/10 - Day 23 - Repetition Upper Body

Repetition Lift: DB Floor Press, max reps with 110 (total) lbs

Set 1: 15
Set 2: 10
Set 3: 8

Chin-Ups: BWx8, BWx6, BWx7, BWx5
Seated DB Power Cleans: 30x8x4

Machine Lateral Raise: 6 (plates) x10, 7x10, 7x10, 8x10

Thick Bar Curls: 85x10, 85x10, 85x10
Rope Pushdowns: 11 (plates) x10, 11x10, 11x10

Ab Circuit:
Sprinter Sit Ups x10
V Ups x10
Toe Touch x10
Hip Thrusts x10
*Repeated circuit twice

39

I’m switching my training to 5/3/1, simply because of the quicker workouts. If my daily workouts are quicker, I can get in the gym more days. I’ll be starting another log.