Incline DB Press:
65x5
70x4
75x3
75x5
80x4
85x3
Cable Crunch (between sets of Incline):
5x10 @ 110
Standing DB Military
50x5
55x4
60x3
55x5
60x4
65x3
Had to go down 5 lbs compared to usual since I did incline first.
Side Bends w/ Smith Barbell:
2x12 ea @ 75
Suitcase Hold w/ Smith Barbell:
2x30 sec ea @ 115
Overhead Rope Extension:
2x8, 10-3-4 (double rest/pause) @ 140
Woke at 223.4 which was kind of surprising because I probably overdid it at dinner.
Not sure of yesterday’s total nutrition because I threw in the towel trying to log dinner. We went to Bricktown Brewery. I had my share of chips and salsa and queso. I went with the Turkey Bacon Guacamole Melt with a big helping of fried okra. The melt was delicious and probably not awful in terms of calories (<700) but I have no idea about the fried okra and appetizer. I’m sure I could figure it all out but I just don’t care today. I don’t even know all of the ingredients on the melt. I just know it was delicious.
No training today. Just going to get through work and hopefully not overeat again.
Woke at 220.2 lbs lol. My body is awesome. I did know how I’m keeping this low weight with so many cheat meals. One new thing is that I can feel it in my body when I eat clean after a bad day. It’s weird. I was hungry most of the day yesterday but by the time I got off work I felt lean and free of junk (mostly sodium). I had good vascularity and looked good despite it being late in the day.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
2494 calories, 142g carbs, 56g fat, 238g protein.
At Home
Deadlift:
185x5
185x5
205x5
235x5
255x5
275x5
295x3
325x3
345x1
365x1
365x1 (forgot to change the weight while I rested)
385x1
405x1
405x1
415x1
High Pulls:
3x5 @ 225
RDL’s:
2x5 @ 275—I believe this is a bit too heavy. I’ll be dropping back to 225 and adding reps instead.
This concludes my training in the basement. My son woke up from his nap so I had about 45-60 minutes of rest while I got the kids ready for the Y.
Back at it after checking the kids into the Kid Zone…
Conditioning:
2 lap dynamic warm-up (1/3 mile)
3 laps running the straightaway and walking the curve. This consisted of 3 runs that were about 80m @ 80-85% and 3 runs that were 40m @ 95% effort. I need to hit top speed occasionally so I’m going to start working these in more often. Total Time: 11:25.
Pull-Ups:
3x10, 6-3-3 (double rest/pause)—decided that if I get 10 on the 3rd set then I’ll add a 4th set.
DB Row:
The Y has DB’s in increments of 5 up to 100’s and then a set of 110’s and 120’s. I’ve exceeded this in my wave loading so I did my best.
100x6
110x5
120x4
100x7
110x6
120x5
Typically the second wave starts with the middle weight from the first wave so I should’ve done 110x5, 120x4, 120+x3. Since I ran out of weight I just added a rep. It seemed to have a similar effect.
Reverse Cable Fly:
2x8 @ 40
1x10/10/10 @ 20 (like 21’s. 1st half of movement, 2nd half of movement, then full movement)
Reverse Cable Curl:
2x8, 10-3-3 (double rest/pause) @ 120
Hip Abduction/Adduction Machine:
3x10 each direction @ 90
Ab Circuit 2 Rounds (not my best work):
Back Extension x 15
Side Crunch x 15 ea side
Pulse Ups x 12
I use the 45 degree back extension thing for my extensions and these side crunches.
And that’s it. I intended to play basketball afterwards but I got called to the Kid Zone right as I finished round two of my ab circuit. My poor boy is running a fever so we got kicked out. And we can’t go back tomorrow because kids have to be fever-free for 24 hours. This kind of screws my week up. I intended to get in more basketball this week so I’m not too rusty for the 3-on-3 tourney on Saturday.
Nutritional Update
I ate the leftover pizza from Thursday and realized I miscounted how many slices my wife cut the pizza into. I thought I ate 10 out of 15 slices but there were 6 leftover and I wasn’t the only one eating. I think it was 20 pieces so I only ate half of it! Bonus discovery 
You’ve probably already done this, but if you haven’t…
Ever used your kids as implements? Our young bloke loves it. Plus it’s actually a good pump session. For example:
Squats and good mornings with child on shoulders
Lunges with child on shoulders or zercher hold
Single arm press with child in laundry basket (the soft kind with two handles so it’s like a giant kettlebell)
Swings with child in laundry basket
Push-ups with child on back
I’ve done leg extensions with my kids as well as weighted plank holds. Children really can be useful every once in a while.
I think maybe you should try to get some volume in. LOL. That’s a lot of work today.
Not yet. My daughter likes to come downstairs and “do exercises” with me. She’s a big fan of pull-ups. I bench press my boy but’s he’s only 11 months and weighs between 20-25 lbs. He enjoys it but it’s a risk because he’s quite the drooler.
Equipment-wise, I’m set so I haven’t had to get that creative yet.
It really doesn’t seem like a lot when I put it on paper! I’ll probably make some bigger jumps on the deadlifts next week so it doesn’t take so long to top out. I’m still paranoid about my back development (or at least maintaining it). I don’t trust deadlifts and the other pulls to be enough of a training stimulus because it’s mostly stabilizing/isometric work.
Aside from deadlifts my back training always has a vertical movement, horizontal movement, and something for my upper back like reverse fly’s or face pulls to keep my posture in check.
And lastly, these workouts make up for my quick pump sessions on Thursdays when I’m pressed for time.
Thanks to @MarkKO’s training I decided to re-read the Training Maximally section of the Beyond 5/3/1 book. It appears to be very similar to what I’ve decided to do but it jumps in 10% increments; I just throw plates on the bar. I think I might follow the Training Maximally program for my main lifts (except bench) for awhile. I’ve already decided to work up to a heavy single each day so I might as well have some method in my madness.
I’m considering doing my push workout tomorrow instead of Wednesday. My legs won’t be as fresh (and definitely not recovered). My son is still battling his fever and has been pretty lethargic so we won’t be leaving the house. I can get in a good pushing workout in the basement and then go shoot around and play basketball on Wednesday (assuming he’s better). That keeps me from being completely worthless tomorrow.
I’ll have to play with front squats and see if they hurt my hip. I still intend to do heavy split squats too so I might be doing the deload version of Training Maximally which is just working up to a single with your TM which is 85% of your 1RM.
Here’s my revised plan:
So what’s the goal of the week/month?
Focusing on bench since my hip is angry. Not going to push any leg movements too much til i can get it straightened out. Well, not going to push squats. I’ll push anything that doesn’t hurt but the main priority is bench.
I’ve been forced to do the same thing since my knees have been bugging me. Race you to a 3 plate bench and 185 lbs OHP?
I’m definitely game for bench. I’ll have to get back to you on OHP. I’ve been doing DB’s for awhile now. Ever notice how some people use leg drive on their “OHP” when you see the videos? I don’t discredit their achievements but it definitely misleads the reader when you claim a ___ OHP but you’re doing push press.
Woke at 219.6 lbs. Might be time to increase calories.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3348 calories, 381g carbs, 79g fat, 194g protein.
I wish the past two to three weeks hadn’t been a roller coaster in terms of my nutrition. Multiple 4000+ calorie days followed by a couple of 2000-2500 calorie days to compensate. I don’t have any desire to be under 220. I’d like to hang around 220-225 for the rest of the year while I train for strength and a bit of hypertrophy. I know that I can’t add 5 lbs of lean mass anymore but I need to start looking at my physique in terms of years and decades. Here are some screen shots of one of my favorite articles because it finally shined a light on reality for me…and released me from my own frivolous pursuit of a physique that isn’t naturally attainable.
Take these for what they’re worth. These are attempts to put a qualitative analysis on the potential of the human body and I don’t think anyone will ever figure it out, but I think these are some good “food for thought” standards.
Edit: The name of the article is “Natural Muscle Building: A Look At Potential, Genetics & Arm Size”. I won’t say where I found it.
This doesn’t bother me as much as when I see Military Press. I’m like “Damn he did a 225 Military Press??” Then I watch the video and see an OHP and get sad.
I view military press as a seated overhead press and OHP as a standing overhead press. I can probably do more on military because of the added stability.
Is that what you consider military press–seated OHP?
A military press is a standing overhead press with feet together standing at attention much like in the military. It is then pressed overhead with very very little to no back bend whatsoever so it’s all shoulders, traps and lats. I’m HUGE into old school lifting and lifters so stuff like this bothers me. Ha It’s said that Arthur Saxon did a military press with 250-260 for one rep on multiple occasions.
That would just be a seated overhead press. I feel like Saxon, Goerner, Cyr and the rest of those big pressers back then would turn in their grave if they saw anything seated now. I like the seated ones too, but I find that most people turn them into an incline press by the end of it. That’s why I just prefer high incline presses.
I have never heard that. Of course some of my vernacular still comes from high school when I first learned about lifting (like my memory of SLDL). Military press always referred to seated overhead presses. I’ve pretty much always used military and overhead press as interchangeable terms. And I would never do a true military press as you described. I’m a big fan of stability. I think seated OHP trains the involved muscles the best because more of your energy can go to the actual movement instead of trying to stabilize your entire body. But I also like the core strength aspect of a standing OHP so I do those as well. I’m always careful to maintain a neutral spine (as close as I can while moving my face out of the way of the bar) so I don’t turn it into an incline press or hurt my back. I already have a herniated disc–I don’t need to give it a reason to act up.
I went ahead and switched my days and did tomorrow’s lifting today instead of light cardio. I feel like I need to get in some conditioning but meh… maybe I’ll go to some Tabata style stuff later.
Bench (Layers Week 5):
Front Squat:
bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 3
195 x 1
215 x 1 ™
225 x 1
These felt good and I had more in the tank. These were all without a belt. I shut it down since they’re not the emphasis right now.
Split Squat:
115 x 5
125 x 4
135 x 5
Lateral Plate Raises—Constant Tension, 2-3 sec up and down:
3 x 10 @ 10’s
Notes:
As usual this seems much faster/shorter as I type it out but it took about 90 minutes. The Layers program takes no less than 30 minutes. I take about 2 minutes rest between sets while going through that. I typically set my timer for 60 seconds and get back to work after it beeps. I figure I’m usually taking around 60-90 seconds between sets regardless of my rep range. That’s probably a bit short for strength training but it’s what I do.
