2/14/12 - Tuesday
Cycle 8, Week 3, Day 2
Here goes the best day of the cycle.
Deadlift
5x190
3x215
7x240 - Grip failed before I locked the 8th one all the way out. Can’t compare to previous PRs.
RDL
4x10 - 185
1x0:F - 185
1x10 - 175
1x9:F - 175
Clean
1x6 - 130
1x5:F - 130
2x6 - 125
1x5:F - 130
2/15/12 - Wednesday
Breakdancing practice:
Windmills
5x4
Stabbing hard helped smooth the connection between each windmill. Still not continuous, but I feel myself going through that trouble spot between each windmill faster.
Handstands
12x2
Headswipes
3x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
2
More headswipe and windmill practice until I got kicked out by men’s baskbetball and girl’s volleyball.
DB hold
70-75 seconds
1 drop at 45-50 second mark
95s
2/16/12 - Thursday
Cycle 8, Week 3, Day 3
Bench press
5x110
3x120
9x135 - Beat previous 6x135(7,3) and 8-9x130(8,2). I really surprised myself today. The reps just kept coming out. And yes, I am dead sure that I had a 45-lb plate on BOTH sides.
Bent-over row
1x6 - 155
1x6 - 160
1x4:F - 160
1x6 - 155
DB BP
2x6 - 55s
1x3:F - 60s
1x5:F - 55s
1x5:F - 50s
1x6 - 45s
DB kroc row*
right hand: 1x23:F - 100
left hand: 1x13:F - 100
DB hold
60 seconds, 95s
2 drops @ 35 and 55
*These are starting to hit my legs more than they hit my back. I’m going to reduce weight and reps next cycle and improve on form.
2/17/12 - Friday
Cycle 8, Week 3, Day 4
Squat
5x145
3x165
7x185 - Beat previous 7x175(7,3). Also, this was my 1RM at the end of cycle 4. An uncontrollable grin crept across my face as I loaded up the bar before this set.
RDL
5x10 - 185
1x0:F - 185
1x10 - 175
Doing these helped me build good habits for heavy deadlifting. I focus on keeping my back straight, my chest up, and “sitting back” while dragging the bar along my shins so it doesn’t pull me forward and mess up my balance.
Front squat
1x6 - 160
1x6 - 165
1x3:F - 170
1x3:F - 165
1x5:F - 160
Should have reduced from 170 to 160. Bad on me for having more failed sets than successful ones.
Pull-ups
5,3,1,1,1
11 total
Started doing these really strict. All the way down, stretching the biceps, legs straight on the way up. If I’m grinding one out and I’m close but not quite at the top, I’ll kip myself up to finish the rep and then call it a set. I can really feel my upper back doing the pulling now.
2/18/12 - Saturday
Breakdancing.
Windmills
5x4
Lots of little things to keep in mind while doing these. Today I focused on kicking myself in the face with my right leg to spin around more, and keeping my left leg straight.
Handstands
12x2
Headswipes
3x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
4
More practice with windmills, headswipes, and handstands.
2/19/12 - Sunday
Measurements:
Weight: 151 lbs (no change)
Waist: 29 3/4" (+1/4")
Chest: 38" (-1/4")
Chest and waist measurements last week might have been inaccurate. I have a tendency to make the measuring tape go loose around the chest and tight around the waist. I focused on avoiding that today though.
2/20/12 - Monday
Cycle 8, Week 4, Day 1
Overhead press
5x45
5x60
5x70
DB OHP
6x6 - 20s
DB skull
2x10 - 20
3x10 - 25
2/21/12 - Tuesday
Cycle 8, Week 4, Day 2
Deadlift
5x100
5x125
5x150
RDL
1x10 - 85
5x10 - 90
Clean
4x6 - 60
1x6 - 65
Used this workout as a chance to work on form for cleans.
2/22/12 - Wednesday
Breaking it down.
Windmills
5x4
Handstands
6x2
Got a 20-second one.
Headswipes
3x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
2x1
much more windmill practice
more headswipe practice
Also got a no-handed kip-up today, which I’m happy about. Was easier than I thought it’d be, got it on the first try.
Starting to focus on windmills more. I want to get continuous windmills already. I’m focusing on form cues like legs wide, legs straight, hips high, but the below video is the best I’ve come up with in the past 2-3 months that I’ve been actively pursuing continuous windmills. The link below shows where I’m at right now. I’m whipping myself around quickly but I take too long in between each windmill.
2/23/12 - Thursday
Cycle 8, Week 4, Day 3
Bench press
5x60
5x70
5x85
Bent-over row
3x6 -75
1x6 - 80
DB BP
2x6 - 20s
4x6 - 25s
DB ‘kroc’ row
1x25 - 45
Doing DB rows differently next cycle. Lower reps/weight, better form. As they were this cycle my legs got hit more than my upper back did because that’s where all the drive to bring the weight up was coming from.
2/24/12 - Friday
Cycle 8, Week 4, Day 4
Squat
5x75
5x95
5x115
RDL
1x10 - 85
5x10 - 90
Front squat
2x6 - 75
3x6 - 80
8 cycles down, 5 to go.
2/25/12 - Saturday
Windmills
10x4
Windmills from freeze
4x3
More windmills*
3x4
Handstands
6x2
Headswipes
3x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
1
some more headswipes
some 1 legged airswipes, just to get them perfect
some somersaults
Windmills got better today. Straightened out left leg more than how it was in the video from this Wednesday. I felt my head drilling into ground and focused on stabbing earlier, which reduced time wasted between windmills. My feet still touch the ground but it’s not as bad as it was Wednesday. My goal was to have continuous ones by today but I guess that’ll have to wait. I am making good progress, though. I am better than I was last Wednesday; I’ll just keep at it like I do. Took a video but I don’t want to post anything short of continuous, quality windmills.
*Normally when I do these I go into a set after doing some footwork first, as if I was doing a dance battle. I thought I might do better if I started from a freeze, but I think starting from footwork gave me more momentum. If it just says “windmills”, then it means I started them after doing a bit of footwork.
2/26/12 - Sunday
Weight: 151 lbs (no change)
Waist: 29 3/4" (no change)
Chest: 37 5/8" (-3/8")
Might have lost chest from deload, or measuring it too high in previous weeks. The only change that I made to my diet this week was to put a tablespoon of shredded cheese (20 calories, REALLY small) on my omelet in the morning every day so I wouldn’t die from the boredom of plain eggs.
2/27/12 - Monday
Cycle 9, Week 1, Day 1
Overhead press
5x80
5x90
9x105 - Beat previous 8x105(8,2).
DB OHP
1x0:F - 50s
1x6 - 45s
1x5:F - 45s
1x4:F - 45s
1x6 - 40s
1x5:F - 40s
1x6 - 40s
DB skull
1x3:F - 60
1x10 - 50
1x5:F - 55
1x6:F - 50
1x9:F - 45
Pull-ups
3,2,2,1,1,1 - 10 total
Stupid of me to hit failure so much in this workout. This type of thing won’t happen again.
2/28/12 - Tuesday
Cycle 9, Week 1, Day 2
Deadlift
5x170
5x195
15x220 - Beat previous 15x215(8,1) and 13x220(7,2).
RDL
3x10 - 185
1x9:F - 185
1x0:F - 180
2x10 - 175
If I hit failure on a lower body assistance exercise, I should always drop weight by 10 lbs. A reduction of only 5 lbs never helps.
Clean
1x6 - 125
1x6 - 130
2x6 - 125
1x6 - 130
Learned how to do full cleans today. In the third or fourth set, I just shot my elbows forward, ducked under the bar, and squatted it straight up. Didn’t have to cut weight off the bar to learn the form, if anything it will probably help me move more weight later on.
2/29/12 - Wednesday
Windmills
15x4
Straightened out left leg.
Handstands
6x2
Got a ~20 second one.
Headswipes
3x2
Air/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
1 - Just fooled around with some footwork moves I looked up earlier.
DB hold
95s
65 seconds total
2 drops at 50 and 65 seconds
It looks like I’ve stopped making progress with this exercise. I’ll start doing it after Saturday’s breakdancing, too.
3/1/12 - Thursday
Cycle 9, Week 1, Day 3
Bench press
5x95
5x110
12x125 - Beat previous 11x120(8,1).
Bent-over row
1x6 - 160
1x4:F - 160
2x6 - 155
DB BP
1x5:F - 60s
1x6 - 55s
1x5:F - 55s
1x6 - 50s
2x5:F - 50s - Was going to drop down to 45s for the last set but I did that before and it was ridiculously easy.
DB row
1x6 - 80
Was easy. Focused on using my back to get it up instead of my legs like I used to.
DB hold
60 seconds
95s
1 drop @ 40 seconds
3/2/12 - Friday
Cycle 9, Week 1, Day 4
Squat
5x130
5x150
12x170 - Beat previous 11x165(8,1).
RDL
5x10 - 185
1x0:F - 185
1x10 - 175
Front squat
1x3:F - 170
1x6 - 160
1x6 - 160 - Spotter helped me more than he should have. Was definitely far from a cakewalk but there were a couple reps where I was grinding it out and I could’ve got it up but he gave me unnecessary help.
1x4:F - 160
1x6:F - 155 - Spotter egged me on to get another rep. Why the hell did I go along with that?
Overall front squat today was a big fuck-up. I’ll stop using a spotter on it so I use weight and reps that I know I can handle. If I hit failure, I’ll dump the bar. I won’t hit failure in more than one set per workout for this exercise anymore.
Pull-ups
3,2,3,2,2,2,0,1
15 total
3/3/12 - Saturday
Breakdancing practice. Was really sore/stiff from the lifting days before today but I knew if I just got my butt in the gym I would loosen up.
Windmills
15x4
Got a set where only my right foot touched the ground. I think this is best for gradually progressing to continuous windmills. It gives me a little more rotation around, has me finish each mill facing the right direction for the next one, and once I get better I think I can take more weight off my right foot, put more weight on my upper body, and do mills continuously.
Handstands
11x2
Headswipes
5x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
3x2
Move sets
1 - Tried a new footwork move I learned.
3/4/12 - Sunday
Measurements
Weight: 152.5 lbs (+1.5 lbs)
Waist: 30 1/2" (+3/4")
Chest: 38" (+3/8")
When I flexed my abs in the mirror, they were the lean six-pack that they normally are. I think the increase in waist is because I had spaghetti instead of rice yesterday (for the sake of some god damn variety). Still the same number of carbs but spaghetti definitely has a record of bloating my gut. I’ll just keep myself to only having spaghetti on Sunday lunches, then; after I already measured myself.
Happy about increase in weight and chest.