Magick's Training Log

Training Training Logs
281

Weds-11-5

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185/205/225lbx1
185lb, 4x8

I did those singles in an attempt to get my body more fired up for the 185lb sets. Not sure if it worked, but at least it didn’t interfere with them.

Also attempted to increase the tempo on these. I normally take two breaths between each rep. Only took one breath between rep for the first two sets and a portion of the third set. End result- The fourth set fucking sucked.

DB row-
70lbx5

And then I did a bunch of random shit with some sort of machine row. Built up to 90lb with that. A lot more focused tension on the back, which I liked. I might do this for a while.

Lorez- Thanks!

282

Thurs-11-6

OHP-
45lb, 3x5
65/75/85/95lbx3
105lbx1
115lb, 3x2

Bench-
45lb, 2x5
65/95/115lbx3
125lb, 4x8
Additional minute of rest for the last set.

I think I figured out why I’m having such a hard time with improving on upper body stuff. Even when I’m exhausted with the squat, I can still stand with the bar on my back for a while, and so I have the confidence to just keep at it.

I can’t do the same with the bench and OHP. My upper body is simply too tired to hold the bar up at a certain point, and so I give up.

How do I fix this? Isometric holds at the top with a good amount of weight? A ridiculous amount of volume spread across lots of sets and reps with a light weight just to get my upper body used to working through exhaustion? Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Chin-up-
3x5
First two sets were solid pauses. Last set was normal chin-ups.

Oh, practiced judo yesterday.

283

Fri-11-7

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/175/195lbx3
215/235lbx1
255lb, 3/2/2/2/1

Wanted to do 3x3, but decided after the first set that 2x3 was probably the limit if I continued with triples.
Depth was good.

ATG squat-
135lb, 4x5

DB row-
70lb, 3x10

Practiced judo yesterday.

284

Sat-11-8

Bench-
45lb, 4x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
145lbx1
165lb, 3/3/2/1/1

Slight improvement.

OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
85lb, 2x6.

Started getting very annoying pains somewhere in my right arm-pit as I did these. I had these pains back on Thurs when I did the OHP and so did 6 reps to account for it. But the pain got too much for me to continue with this, so I stopped. Hopefully it’ll be gone on Tues.

Chin-up-
6x5, not paused.

Face-pull-
60lb, 5x10

285

Mon-11-10

Squat-
Body squats.
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/175lbx3
195lbx1
215lb, 8/8/6 (15 seconds later)/1

These felt real hard.

ATG squat-
135lb, 4x6

DB row-
70lbx5
95lb, 3x5

Treadmill runs-
8.0 speed, 12 times.

286

Tues-11-11

Bench-
45lb, 3x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
150lb, 6/6/5 (10 seconds later)/1

I changed my form today so that the bar movement would be like the “J-curve” mentioned in this article-

It essentially made every single set before the 150lb feel effortless. I actually had to hold back on every set before the 135lb because it felt like I would have flung myself off the bench if I hadn’t. The first rep I did with the 150lb also felt effortless, but then I had a big problem with getting the bar back down- it felt very draining and just plain hard. I think it’s because I don’t have the form down right. Perhaps my body placement in relation to the bar isn’t good. I dunno.

Anyways, I spent way more energy than I should have with the first set. I went back to normal form with the next 2 sets, which made repping out the weight much easier, but I already bled a lot of strength with the first set and so couldn’t do the 7 reps I wanted to.

Form needs a lot more practice.

OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
85lb, 4x6

The random pain in right arm-pit is gone now.

Chin-up-
5x6, not paused.

Face-pull-
60lb, 5x10

287

Weds-11-12

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185/205/225lbx1
185lb, 6 or 7/3x8

I lost my balance on either the 6th or 7th rep of the first set and had to dump the bar onto the safety pins. Safety pins saved my life here, because it was not a controlled dump.

DB row-
70lbx5
95lb, 3x5

Practiced judo yesterday.

288

Thurs-11-13

OHP-
45lb, 4x5
65/75/85/95lbx3
105/115lbx1
125lbx0
105lb, 2x3

Triceps remain the sticking point. Bleh.

Bench-
45lb, 3x5
65/95/105lbx3
125lb, 4x8
An extra minute of rest for the last set.
Used form similar to what I attempted last bench session. Need to be able to control the weight better. I let it get away from me, and so the effort spent getting it back under control is what tired me so out so much last session.

Chin-up-
3x5, paused.

Practiced judo yesterday. Body is doing better than I expected with all of this, which is great.

289

Fri-11-14

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/175/195lbx3
215/235/255lbx1
275lb, 3x1, 1x0,
245lb, 2x1

Eh, today was a bit of a clusterfuck. Based on how the 275lb felt two weeks ago, I figured I could get at least a double. Instead, it was incredibly slow.

Now, I know I tend to get very slow when I get poor sleep, and I certainly didn’t have great sleep today. But I think the rep became a grind more because I actually went deeper than I ever did with that kind of weight more than sleep. Which really begs the question - just how deep am I going when I go very close to my max?

In any case, on the third rep I deliberately stopped myself from going deep, and on the fourth rep I just flat out lost tightness and control and just laid the bar down on to the safety pins, which I brought up one step because I expected something to go wrong.

I’ll redo this next week, hopefully with better sleep then, and see what happens.

ATG squat-
135lb, 3x6/2

Form sucked on the last set. Back wasn’t straight and the ankle didn’t move right. So I just stopped the set.

DB row-
70lbx5
95lb, 3x5

290

Sat-11-15

Bench-
45lb, 4x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135/155lbx1
175lb, 1/(10 second rest) 1/(normal rest) 1
165lb, 2/1/1/1/1

A straight double of 175lb was probably out of the question, so instead I did two singles with 10 seconds of rest in between. 2nd rep almost buried me, but I muscled through it.

OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
85lb, 4x6

Chin-up-
5x6, not paused.

Face-pull-
60lb, 5x10

291

Mon-11-17

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185lbx3
205lbx1
225lb, 2x7/5/(10 sec rest) 1/(10 sec rest) 1

Quite happy with this. A year or so ago 225lb was a giant wall that seemed unbeatable. Now it’s not.

Good mornings-
45lb, 3x5
65/95lbx5

I haven’t done these in close to a year now, and figured it would be a good exercise to restart. My hamstring flexibility has been … greatly reduced to say the least (esp with my left side), and I’ve been starting to notice it while squatting. I’ve never bothered to go heavy with these and used them more for stretching. I’ll probably continue to do the same.

DB row-
75lbx5
95lb, 3x5

Didn’t run because I forgot to wear my running shoes.

292

Tues-11-18

Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
145lb, 2x8, 5/(10 sec)1/(10 sec)1/(10 sec)1

Much easier than last time I attempted 145lb.

Unfortunately, this killed my triceps, and everything else suffered.

OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
85lb, 3x6/5

Failed to get another rep.

Chin-up-
3x7/4/(1 min later)3

Triceps gave out on the last set and so I had to break it up.

Face-pull-
60lb, 5x10

293

Weds-11-19

Squat-
Body squats
45lbx5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185/205/225/245lbx1
185lb, 4x8

30 sec rest for everything up till the main work sets. I normally rest for a min between each singles, but I waited close to 30 minutes for the rack today and I said fuck it to resting. As a result (I think), the 185lb felt harder today. Recovery is still better than last week though.

Good mornings-
45lb, 2x5
65/95lbx5

DB row-
70lbx5
95lb, 3x5

Practiced judo yesterday.

294

Thurs-11-20

OHP-
45lb, 4x5
65/75/85/95lbx3
105lbx1
115lb, 3x2

Bench-
45lb, 3x5
65lb/95lb/105lbx3
115lbx1
125lb, 3x8/6/(10 sec) 1/(10 sec) 1

Paused chin-up-
3x5

Edit- Typo.

295

Looks like your OHP is coming along well.

I couldn’t really follow your programming. Mostly I just looked at the weights/sets/reps of your squats, but I couldn’t really find much of a pattern. Care to explain?

296

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Looks like your OHP is coming along well.

I couldn’t really follow your programming. Mostly I just looked at the weights/sets/reps of your squats, but I couldn’t really find much of a pattern. Care to explain?[/quote]

OHP was easier today, which is a good sign.

The pattern I’m following right now for the squat is as follows-

Mon-
3x8/3x7/3x6/3x5 with appropriate load. Currently at 215lbx8/225lbx7/235lbx6/245lbx5. So I’d be doing 235lbx6 next week and 245lb the week after that. Then I’d restart the “cycle” with 225lbx8/235lbx7/245lbx6/255lbx5

As you can tell, I don’t always hit the expected reps, but that’s fine. The entire point is simply to push myself to the utmost limit with that particular rep range. Granted, if I fail to hit the expected rep on the 2nd set then I’d probably do a deload.

Weds-
4x8 with 185lb. The idea is to simply do this faster every week. I rest for a min between each set, and eventually I hope to reduce that down to 50 sec, 40 sec, and finally 30 sec.

Fri-
Just maxing with a weight that is between 90-95% for as many reps and as many sets as I can do without tiring myself out.

Go for a PR at the end of every month. Originally intended to add 10lb a month, but I did 20lb for Oct. because I couldn’t do it for Sept. I was hoping to attempt 315lb this month, but that may not be possible.

It’s not well thought out or anything, it’s simply me butchering the shit out of Wendler’s training ideology. It’s more because I’ve come to the decision that I simply don’t do very well with repetitive training. Simply doing 3x5 or 5x5 every single training day did nothing for me after a certain point; I’d just hit a wall and flounder against it. I mean, look at the clusterfuck I had with 225lb just in June-July. Kept trying to get past 3x5 with 225lb with no real progress whatsoever.

So mid-Julyish I just decided that I’m not going to continue hitting my head against the wall with the 5 rep range and just vary it a lot more. Chose to work between the 5-8 rep range, because I don’t like the numbers 9 and 10.

Really fucking hard, but it seems to work. I’ve made more progress in the last 4 months than I made in the 6-8 months prior to that. I mean… Back in July just 225lbx3 fucked me up. Now I can do 225lbx7 without all that much trouble. That’s progress enough for me.

297

Fri-11-21

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/175/195lbx3
215/235/255lbx1
275lb, 3x1
255lb, 3x1

The 275lb was much better than last week, but still not easy enough for a double.
The last 255lb was high.

DB row-
75lbx5
95lb, 3x5

And that was it.

Edit- Practiced judo yesterday.

298

Sat-11-22

Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135/145lbx1
165lb, 3x3 (sorta), 2/1+0/1

Got a spotter for the third set of the triple. I didn’t quite communicate my desire fully, and so he touched the bar when I hit my sticking points on rep 2 and 3. I get what people mean when sets don’t count if people even just touch the bar. The sticking points didn’t feel like sticking points anymore; much smoother instead of the stall that normally comes with it.

The +0 is a failed rep. I thought I had another rep in me, but my triceps gave out on the sticking point. In hindsight I should have just stopped after that double.

Chin-up-
2x7/6/2x3/2

Triceps gave out on the third set. Afterwards I broke the sets into more manageable chunks.

Face-pull-
60lb, 5x10

Seriously, I hate my triceps strength. It, along with triceps definition, is getting better, but it just takes so damned long…

299

Mon-11-23

Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/175lbx3
195/215lbx1
235lb, 6/2x3/3x2

I chickened out. Was squatting in the stupid squat rack and so had no safety bar. The moment the weight felt genuinely heavy, the 3rd rep of that 2nd set, I just mentally said “nope” and stayed stuck in that mindset for the rest of the squat session.

Which is a damned shame, because the weight moved a lot better than the last time I did 235lb back on the 3rd.

But not as well as it did on Fri when I did 235lb effortlessly. Heck, I’ve realized that the squat just moves plain better on the 2nd and 3rd squat days.

I may have to move things around a bit. I don’t think I should be doing this after two days of no barbell squatting. Either start the week with bench or do the 4x8 with 185lb first.

High-bar squat-
135lb, 7/7/6/7

I lost balance and had to ditch the bar on the third set.

DB row-
75lbx5
95lb, 3x5

Treadmill run-
8.0 speed, 12 times.

Slightly more difficult than usual. Expected since I seem to drop off a lot in running conditioning if I don’t keep it up regularly.

300

Tues-11-25

Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
150lb, 7/6/5/(10 sec) 1/ (10 sec) 1/ (normal rest) 1/1/1 (10 sec between each)

OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
85lb, 4x6

Chin-up-
5x6

Face-pulls-
60lb, 5x10