So I’ve decided what’s gonna happen.
I’m continuing with Henriques deadlift, and hopefully squat. Once that’s done, I’m focusing on squat form, so I’ll stick around 100kg and do a ton of sets. My hips are weak, so assistance will shift to focus on them - glute bridges, RDLs, and a hip dominant heavy movement on Mondays (probably not deadlifts, maybe box squats). Quads will get their heavy work from unilateral movements. If I start to miss reps on squats, I’ll go to the lighter form sets earlier than planned, but I’m determined to get my 3 plate squat first.
Coan bench is coming back, and I’m going to follow the same progression (maybe with a reduced max) on OHP on saturdays before light benching and shoulder isolations with light weight and controlled full rom, instead of swinging heavy dumbbells round like a lunatic.
Back work’s gonna get spread out a bit more - traps after deadlifts, rows/upper back/prehab stuff after benching, and pullups for higher reps after squats or on light bench day.
Cardio following lower body days - tabata stuff.
Diet - what happens happens
Back from seeing the girlfriend in Ireland, zero activity apart from the pushups, and a hike up the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland (which wasn’t that tall in the end). Oh, and quite a lot of hip extension.
Anyway, compressed deadlifts and first week of Coan bench into one session, then it’ll be back to normal next week.
Henriques deadlift cycle 2 week 3, Coan bench cycle 2 week 1
Warmup - foam roller, dynamic hamstring stretches, wide squats, thoracic extension, shoulder stuff
Swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first 3 sets of Sumo pulls
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 1
Henriques sets
130kg x 2
Lower back felt odd, add belt
140kg x 2
150kg x 2
157.5kg x 2 - 5kg PR - awesome set, even though I took a good 20 seconds rest between reps to reset plates. 160kg x 2 will get crushed in 2 weeks.
Dog walk/run shouting expletives through pouring rain while a hyperactive ball of black fur tries to trip me up. Good cardio.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
Coan sets
65kg x 2 x 10
CGBP
57.5kg x 2 x 10
Incline bench
57.5kg x 2 x 10
Pullups
Blue band x 5 x 5 spread over the rest of the day
Calories - 2962
Pro - 253g
Carbs - 253g
Fat - 100g
Henriques squat cycle 3 week 3
Warmup - Foam roll, leg swings, Cossack squats, thoracic extension, lat and pec stretches
KDog swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first sets of Squats
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 1
Henriques sets
112.5kg x 2
120kg x 2 - almost bailed backwards on rep 2 - weird.
Add belt
127.5kg x 2
136kg x 2 - 3.5kg PR and so easy. I honestly thought I’d struggle with rep one after last weeks crapness
I’ve always resisted using a belt, but on both deads and squats this week everything was so much tighter. Screw being 100% RAW.
Only had time for the main lift today.
Coan press week 1 - using the bench routine, but with ohp and push press, using different maxes for each lift. Hoping better overhead strength will carry over to benching. Maxes are slightly deflated, in an attempt to prevent over training, but if anything starts feeling dodgy, overhead volume will drop.
Anyway,
Warmup - foam roll, thoracic extension, band stuff
OHP (max used: 57.5kg)
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 2 x 10
Push press (max used: 65kg)
45kg x 2 x 10 - easier than I expected them to be, especially after the other pressing
Bench
55kg x 2 x 10 - I’m going to bump up the volume and keep the weight the same for a few weeks - I feel like 10 more reps focusing on form would be more useful than adding 2.5kg every other week.
Six ways
5kg x 4 x 10 - slooooooooow
Ss/Pullaparts
Black band x 3 x 20
1 x 40
Major brain fart unloading the plates from yesterdays squatting - took all 60kg off of one side at once, the other side shot down, and the two 1.25kg plates on the end were mullered. They will be missed.
Henriques deadlift cycle 2 week 4
Swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first 3 sets of Sumo pulls
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 1
Henriques sets
130kg x 5
140kg x 4
152.5kg x 3 - PR? After the previous sets, this was harder than it should’ve been. Not looking forward to doing the same rep scheme with squats on Friday.
RDLs into shrugs
100kg x 5
110kg x 5
120kg x 5 - PR
100kg x 15 - PR?
Gonna push the reps up instead of the weight for a few weeks. 120kg was easier than expected
Tabata Swings with 24kg
Coan bench cycle 2 week 2
Warmup - foam roller, thoracic extension, shoulder stuff
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
Coan sets
65kg x 2 x 10
CGBP
57.5kg x 2 x 10
Incline bench
57.5kg x 2 x 10
JM press - not sure if I was doing this right, felt nothing in the triceps, but the reps were easy, so it may just be a case of adding a few kg to the bar.
40kg x 5 x 8
Ss/Band seated row
Big blue x 5 x 10
Picked up some strong (27-68kg) bands. Too heavy for benching, but I think they’ll be fun to use for some deadlifts and potentially squats if I can rig them up right. Also worked nicely for rows.
Henriques squat cycle 3 week 4
Warmup - foam roller, thoracic extension, squatting stretch, wide squats
Swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first 3 sets of Squats
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 1
Henriques sets
112.5kg x 5
Add belt
122.5kg x 4 - last rep paused by accident.
132.5kg x 3 - 1 rep PR - last rep my right knee caved a bit, so I slowed down and pushed it back out. Made it a bit more of a grinder, but still so much better than 2 weeks ago.
Band leg curls
Big blue x 4 x 10
Ss/45° hyper
4 x 15
Then tested the new bands on some deadlifts. If I set up semi sumo with one band looped around the bar and my feet, they’re just light enough for speed pulls with 60kg. With two bands and 60kg, I can’t lock it out.
With squats, each band adds at least 40kg to the bar at the top. Don’t think I’ll be using them for any dynamic squatting anytime soon. Until I’m a lot stronger, I’ll use them as variety for assistance stuff.
Hamstrings have been sore since Tuesday evening. I hate swings.
Coan press week 2
Warmup - foam roll, thoracic extension, band stuff
OHP
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 2 x 10
Push press
45kg x 2 x 10 - gonna push the max up by 2.5kg, these are too easy
Bench
55kg x 3 x 10 - best bench form has felt in a while
Lateral raises
5kg x 3 x 10
Ss/Pullaparts
Black band x 3 x 33
Pullups
Blue band assisted x 3 x 6
These sucked today.
Henriques deadlift cycle 2 week 5
Foam roller, wide squats, adductor stretch
Swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first 3 sets of Sumo pulls
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 1
Henriques sets
130kg x 2
140kg x 2
147.5kg x 2 - didn’t feel very good, slow and sloppy
160kg x 2 - PR - took a while to roll the bar into place for rep 2, small bit of gravel was in the way of the plate.
Add big blue band and 1-2 inch deficit, bring stance in about 10 inches
100kg x 2 x 3
Definitely not speed pulls. Band added around 50-60kg at the top, so the lockout was near max effort. Just a bit of fun really.
RDLs into shrugs
100kg x 5
120kg x 9 - 4 rep PR
120kg x 8
100kg x 20 - I came in wanting to do 20, so I stopped there, but I felt capable of more. Next week…
Coan bench cycle 2 week 3
Warmup - foam roller, thoracic extension, shoulder stuff
Had a couple of friends over, they went through the bench warmups with me and both ended up maxing out around 60kg, then they took one of my old standard bars and did some deadlifts while I went through the rest of my sets. The sets all felt pretty good today, I think it was a mixture of extra warmups and going through all the cues I could think of with them while they were benching, so they were still wizzing round my head.
Bench
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 3
52.5kg x 3
60kg x 3
Coan sets
67.5kg x 2 x 8
CGBP
60kg x 2 x 8
Incline bench
60kg x 2 x 8
JM press
45kg x 8
50kg x 2 x 5
Ss/Band seated row
Big blue x 3 x 15
^All easy
20 minutes of dicking about. I actually managed to push press the 40kg kettlebell during this time, so that was cool.
Henriques squat cycle 3 week 5
Warmup - foam roller, dynamic hamstring stretches, thoracic extension, squatting stretch
Swings
24kg x 3
40kg x 2
64kg x 2 x 2 - Got good height, but it was too unbalanced. Not worth it.
Ss/ first 4 sets of Squats
40kg x 3
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 1
Henriques sets
112.5kg x 2
120kg x 2
130kg x 2
140kg x 2 - first time with 3 plates, felt awesome.
Unrack (no walkout)
160kg x 10 seconds
Paused back offs - 3 count
130kg x 2
120kg x 2
Bulgarians
Big blue x 5
Big blue plus 20kg x 5
Big blue plus 40kg x 5
Big blue plus 20kg x 10
Felt it more in my quads than my ass for once.
Band was lifting the 40kg kb from the floor at the top.
45° hyper
BW x 10
20kg x 3 x 10
Drop to BW x 20
Coan press week 3
Warmup - foam roll, thoracic extension, band stuff
OHP
Bar x some
30kg x 5
42.5kg x 2 x 8
Push press (new max: 67.5kg)
50kg x 2 x 8
Bench
57.5kg x 3 x 10
Pullups
Blue band assisted x 6
X 2 x 5 - these are sucking again. Not too fussed about progressing with them at the moment, but it’d be nice for them not to regress.
Ss/Pullaparts
Blue band x 3 x 30-40
Lsit pullup scapula retractions - lsits are hard
2 x 10
Ss/Band laterals
Blue band x 2 x 20
Henriques deadlift cycle 2 week 6
Foam roll, wide squats
Should’ve been in the gym yesterday, but was locked out of the garage for the whole day, then for most of today I was a bit preoccupied turning 19 and going to work (not the best combination). Eventually got into the gym at half 10 in the evening.
Anyway, today was meant to be max reps with 150kg, but I won’t be doing heavy pulling for a while, so I thought why not go for a birthday PR?
Sumo pulls
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 1
130kg x 1 conventional for luls, actually felt pretty cool
130kg x 1
145kg x 1
160kg x 1
170kg x 1 - 10kg PR, pretty smooth
Considered 175kg, but went straight to
180kg x F
180kg x F - both times I failed to get it off the floor, then let go of the bar before switching off my leg drive, which meant I half jumped, half tried not to jump. Looked totally retarded, and made my adductors and hip flexors feel like hell.
175kg x F - didn’t leave the floor, maybe could’ve got it if I hadn’t failed at 180kg twice.
Immediately drop to
140kg x 1 - wondered if it would feel fast, it didn’t.
Drop again
100kg x 1 - pretty fast
Drop again
60kg x 1 - almost flew overhead.
Then hang power clean 60kg back into the rack, and go have the best post workout ever - cake, whey, and a Jack Daniels and coke
Coan bench cycle 2 week 4
Warmup - foam roller, thoracic extension, shoulder stuff
Bench
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
60kg x 3
Coan sets
70kg x 2 x 8 - easy PR. Bench feels awesome at the moment, which isn’t something I think I’ve ever been able to say. Second set I set up a bit too fast, and my shoulders weren’t very depressed, but all the reps were easy.
CGBP
62.5kg x 2 x 8
Incline bench
62.5kg x 2 x 8 - on the last rep my bad shoulder flared outwards and refused to tuck back in. Need to keep an eye on that.
JM press
60kg x 3 x 3 - didn’t realise these would be quite so easy
Ss/Band seated row
Big blue x 3 x 20
Tate extensions
11kg x 3 x 15
Ss/Pullaparts
Black band x 3 x 30
Ss/Incline db flyes
11kg x 3 x 15 - trying to get a good stretch in the chest, felt it more in the delts
Henriques squat cycle 3 week 6
Warmup - foam roller, dynamic hamstring stretches, thoracic extension, squatting stretch
Swings
40kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ first 3 sets of Squats
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 1
Henriques sets
112.5kg x 2
120kg x 1
Add belt
130kg x 6 - ugly. My hips were tight, so I was struggling to open my knees out, and my butt had to go further back than normal, which made the lifts pretty good morning ish
45° hyper
BW x 10
20kg plus black band x 10
40kg x 5
40kg plus black band x 2 - then one of the bars on the hyper bent out of shape. Ebay quality.
My hips are starting to feel pretty beaten up, so I left single leg work out today and I’m taking a week off heavy lower body training.
Coan press week 4
Very rushed today
Warmup - arm swings
OHP
Bar x some
32.5kg x 5
45kg x 2 x 8 - a little leg drive on the last rep
Push press
52.5kg x 2 x 8
Coan bench cycle 2 week 5
Warmup - foam roller, thoracic extension, shoulder stuff
Bench
Bar x some
30kg x 5
45kg x 5
55kg x 3
65kg x 3
Coan sets
75kg x 2 x 5Â
CGBP
65kg x 2 x 5
Incline bench
65kg x 2 x 5
Â
All reps were easy today, but form was lacking. I didn’t get into the gym until midnight, and I wasn’t very focused. Ah well, will put extra focus on form on Saturday.Â
JM press
55kg x 3 x 5
Ss/Bent over row
55kg x 3 x 10 with 3 count pause at top and deadstop on bench at bottom.Â
My lower back’s been twinging a lot recently, especially when I have to work more shifts. Keeping everything that might stress it out light for a while, and stretching/rolling my hips a lot.Â
Tate extensionsÂ
11kg x 4 x 15 - leant back slightly and kept the dumbbells closer together, and felt a massive burn in the triceps near the elbow (short head? I don’t know, it’s late now, felt good anyway)
Ss/Pullaparts
Black band x 4 x 30
Ss/Flat flies
11kg x 1 x 15 - these gave me nothing, changed toÂ
Ss/Seated hammer curls
11kg x 3 x 15
