Even without feeling the chest working, it was sore as hell today. I blame inclines being a movement that I never do.
Henriques squat week 1/legs
High bar Squat
40kg x 2 x some
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
Henriques sets
95kg x 2
102.5kg x 2
110kg x 2
All felt good - first sets felt bit heavy on my back - haven’t had a loaded bar there for a few weeks
Paused front squats
60kg x 2 x 5
Pain around the mid trapezius area, so I stopped.
Low bar good mornings
60kg x 10
80kg x 5
80kg x 10 default PR - and had more left
Paused Speed-skater (1 1/2 rep) Bulgarians
BW x 3 x 10 10 half reps
Saving the upper back from having to carry a load.
I suck at doing quad focused assistance work. Even if I’m not too fussed about size gains, I should still be hitting them harder.
This workout’s a day late due to being away for a few days. No upper back today - need that for deads tomorrow.
Couldn’t resist the urge to put heavy stuff overhead. My 40kg rep PRs will now be performed after heavier ohp work.
Ohp - bar x some
Push jerk - bar x some - fast
40kg x 4
40kg x 3
Btn push jerk - 40kg x 3
50kg x 4
55kg x 5
55kg x 5
These are awesome. I could probably get into the 60s for five, but I’m not going to push it while on Coan. They might even get dropped when Coan gets hard.
Ohp - 40kg x 11 - matched PR - happy with that. First few reps were #fast
Bench press - 47.5kg x 3 x 10
These made me feel strong. Form was solid too.
Without upper back and vanity stuff, this session felt cut short, but it was still awesome, and I’ll benefit from the lack of volume tomorrow.
Henriques deadlift week 2/back/hams
Sumo deadlift
60kg x 8
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
Henriques sets
120kg x 4
130kg x 3
142.5kg x 2 - got a vid, but it’s not showing up on my iPod. Will upload when it shows up. EDIT: It never showed up. Ah well. 5kg PR anyway
No speed pulls - short on time
B.O.R - pronated grip - 80kg x 3 x 12 - PRs and very clean form
Ss/ lying leg curls - 32.5kg x 3 x 6
Pullups - BW x 3 x 5- assisted concentric, controlled negative
Ss/RDLs - 80kg x 10
80kg x 10
90kg x 10
Focusing on the stretch - paused at the bottom of each rep
Ss/band scarecrows - 3 x some
Kroc row - left arm - 45kg x 27
Kroc row - right arm - 45kg x 27
Not sure if PRs
Reminder to self - if you drop btn jerks, put kettlebell presses in somewhere - you paid thirty quid for the thing, now use it.
I have work later - won’t be off my feet for 7 and a half hours, and I might have to do some lifting. Depending on how I cope, I might cut down my volume a little.
When I get back I might hit up some abs - 50 ab wheel rollouts sounds fun
Didn’t do abs, but I don’t think I need to drop any exercises either - work was fine.
Ed Coan Bench week 2
Bench
Bar x some x some
40kg x some
50kg x 5
Coan Sets
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
CGBP
52.5kg x 10
52.5kg x 10
Incline Bench
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
All sets felt better this week. Coan doesn’t look like it really gets hard until week 5ish. Looking forward to that.
Triceps stuff
JM Press - 40kg x 2 x 8 - small discomfort in the muscles of the triceps and forearms near the inside edge of the elbow on my right arm. It’s passed now.
Band pushdowns - 5 sets of 10 - about 10 seconds between each set.
Reminder no. 2 - get nice, strict, controlled Meadows rows in for back. Snatch grip deadlifts could be good too
Henriques squat week 2
Squat
40kg x some x some
60kg x 5
80kg x 4
Henriques sets
95kg x 4
105kg x 3
115kg x 2 - 1 less than belted PR, but had some left.
Solved my problem of hating single leg/quad work - do it earlier in the workout, and go heavier.
Bulgarians
24kg x 8
45kg x 5
24kg kettlebell 45kg dbell = 69kg x 5 - fun to balance.
PR, and I can go heavier. The ghetto weighted vest may return.
I’ll need to film them and check depth and other cues.
High box squat (parallel) - 3 count pause, fast on the way up.
100kg x 5 x 5 reps
These are replacing the front squats. Wide stance will probably help my sumo deads more than fronts, plus they’re not iffy on my upper back.
Ice skating - this was embarrassing.
12 hours post workout I’m finding sitting down pretty uncomfortable.
Ohp and push press
Bar x some x some
Btn Push jerk
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
55kg x 3
62.5kg x 2 x 2
62.5kg x 5 - easy. Don’t think I’ll push these higher than 70kg until benching is less stressful.
Ohp
40kg x 13 - 2 rep PR - up to 45kg next week
Decline bench
50kg x 3 x 10
Chin ups superset with all pressing sets, something like 10 doubles. Easiest doubles I’ve done in a while.
Curls
40kg x 2 x 8
Ss/band lateral raises
2 x some
Ss/band facepulls
2 x some
Henriques deadlift week 3/back/hams
Sumo deadlift
60kg x 8
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
Henriques sets
120kg x 2
130kg x 2
137.5 x 2
147.5kg x 2 - PR - one of the great things about a home gym is that you can scream like a douchebag, and the only person who gives you weird looks is your dog.
Snatch grip speed pulls - 80kg - 8 reps, 15 count between reps
Meadows rows - 30kg x 8
40kg x 2 x 8
Ss/ lying leg curls - 40kg x 3 x 5
Rom was a bit short. Improve on it next week.
Pullovers - 20kg x 2 x 10 - big stretch.
Ss/band iron cross (been watching the Olympics) - 2 x 30 seconds
Cut Kroc rows and kb swings out - shattered.
Coan bench week 3
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 6
50kg x 6
Coan sets
62.5kg x 2 x 8
CGBP
55kg x 2 x 8
Incline bench
52.5kg x 2 x 8
Triceps stuff
Paused Kb floor tricep extensions
24kg x 2 x 8
Overhead extensions - stretching
24kg x 5
24kg x 5
24kg x 15 - went for a rep PR
High rep band pushdowns dropping off bands as needed- lost count after 50
Henriques squat week 3
Squat
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
75kg x 3
85kg x 2
Henriques sets
95kg x 2
102.5kg x 2
110kg x 2
117.5kg x 2 - PR (vid) - very smooth - in two weeks time the set reps are my old PR for a double. At the rate this is going, that looks sure to happen (touch wood)
Bulgarians
24kg x 6
40kg vest x 5
64kg x 5
Vest is harder to balance with, but will let me go heavier in the long run.
Low box squats
60kg x 5
80kg x 5 x 5
Good session.
To do later: 50 ab wheel rollouts from the knee
Lots of foam rolling around the hips and chest.
Ohp/Coan light bench
Bench
40kg x 8
50kg x 3 x 10
Btnpp
40kg x 3 (psyche up)
Ohp
40kg x 5
45kg x 8 - default PR - double figures next week
45kg x 2 x 5
Close grip (hands touching) chins superset with all presses - 6 x 2
Kb clean and push press - 24kg x 3 x 5 each arm
Ss/band face pulls - 3 x 20
After doing meadows rows last week, my upper back’s been twinging all week. Cut out heavy rowing today for that reason.
Also had a hamstring twinge form from walking around at work yesterday. Felt fine during deadlifts, but I avoided curls because of it.
Henriques deadlift week 4
Sumo pulls
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
Henriques sets
120kg x 5
132.5kg x 4
142.5kg x 3 - bit hard 
Conventional speed pulls
10 reps, 15s rest, 80kg blue band
Band assisted pullups (black band)
3 x 5
Didn’t rest a lot, and the number of reps I had to kick myself up for went: 2, 3, 4
I suck at pull ups. When I’m done with Henriques deadlift I’ll repeat the squat, then focus on pull ups as a main movement on back day.
Ss/ pullovers
24kg x 3 x 8
Good stretch as always.
Grip focused tabata
Kroc row left arm - 45kg
Kroc row right arm - 45kg
2 handed swing - 24kg
Shrugs - 80kg
Repeat.
That was fun.
Coan Bench week 4
Bench
Bar x lots
40kg x 5
60kg x 4
Coan sets
67.5kg x 2 x 8
Cgbp
60kg x 2 x 8
Incline
60kg x 8
60kg x 7 (I decided to use the same weight for inclines as close grip to save having to unload plates. I missed a rep because of this, but won’t go up in weight next week to counter this. The reps being 5s as well will help)
Paused Kb overhead extension
24kg x 3 x 5
Henriques squat week 4
Squat
BW x some
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
Henriques sets
95kg x 5
105kg x 4
115kg x 3 - equalled belted PR easy
Bulgarians
BW x 5
24kg x 5
45kg x 5
69kg x 8 - PR
Good mornings
80kg x 2 x 10
I’m getting a bit chubby. You know, abs are there if you flex, some definition in legs, veiny forearms - but enough fat to make you look in the mirror and sigh sometimes. I weighed myself this evening after eating a 16oz steak, and it came out to 205 lbs ish. So maybe 200lbs empty. That’s 5lbs heavier and not much softer than when I started this log, but about a stone heavier than when I’d dieted down for the summer about a month ago.
Goal is still to gain weight and eat enough to maintain my lifts, so I’m gonna add in some cardio - mainly low intensity stuff - jogging when I take the dog out, cycling places more.
I like eating too much at the moment to make any real effort to cut down, and I’m still eating pretty clean, if a bit reliant on quicker food options.
When I want to be able to say I can bench more than bodyweight (not something I’ve ever safely been able to claim), then I’ll diet down.
Short version - I’m getting fat, gonna do cardio, l8rs
Cardio - 5 miles cycle to the gf’s house. Nice and gentle - pretty much active recovery. Took about 20 minutes.
Ohp/Coan light bench
Klokov press
Bar x 5
Bar x 5
25kg x 3
30kg x 3
35kg x 2
40kg x 2
40kg x 1 + 1 with leg drive
Ohp
40kg x 3
45kg x 10 - 2 rep PR - quad started cramping up around rep 7.
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
It feels weird to max out on an exercise, then go heavier on a similar exercise for reps afterwards. I think Klokovs might be better placed (for me, at the moment) after other presses for higher reps. Cool exercise though. Wasn’t expecting to get into the 40s so easily.
Reverse band (training ADD) Bench - yellow and blue bands
52.5kg x 4 x 12
Kb clean and press
24kg x 2 x 5 each arm
Ss/band face pulls
2 x some
5 kb snatches per arm - ok I guess
Henriques deadlift week 5
Sumo deadlift
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
Henriques sets
120kg x 2
130kg x 2
137.5kg x 2
150kg x 2 - 1 rep PR with plenty to spare.
Rdl
90kg x 2 x 8
80kg x 3 x 10
Easy and explosive
Straight into pronated grip bent over row
90kg x 2 x 5
80kg x 3 x 5
Pretty nice lower back pump. Rows were a little sloppy on the first two sets, so the weight went down and I focused on moving the RDLs faster.
Kroc row - 45kg - L x 40, R x 40
Kb swings - 24kg x 100
Ss/band pull downs x 100
Swapped between exercises every 20-30 reps. Non stop. Last reps were still easy, but it was very lung heavy