Weds-12-24
Merry Christmas Eve.
Didn’t lift yesterday.
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185/205lbx3
225/245/265lbx1
ATG squat-
205lb, 3x5
I wasn’t as upright as I should be, since I didn’t feel my quads get engaged as much as they should. My core probably isn’t strong enough to stay perfectly straight.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
105lb, 5x3
Oof. Not explosive enough, and so the bar doesn’t get as high as it needs to.
Fri-12-26
Merry Day After Christmas.
Gym wasn’t open yesterday, so I just did 100 push-ups spread across sets of 10. Wish I had my pull-up bar.
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185lbx3
205/225lbx1
245lb, 3x3/1
I chickened out again because the bar felt heavy and reps weren’t moving well.
…
=(
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
105lb, 5x3
The 4th set was great. Had great acceleration on the bar and it just went up easy. I wish every set went as well.
Sat-12-27
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
150lb, 5x3
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
75lb, 4x8
Chin-up-
3x6, 3x4
Cuban rotations (because all the cables were taken and I didn’t want to wait)-
5lb, 3x10
Everything felt off, particularly the warm-up for the bench and the entirety of the OHP and the chin-ups. Still, not bad for getting only 4 hours of sleep and not doing any upper body work for 6 days.
Mon-12-29
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185/205lbx3
225/245lbx1
ATG squat-
215lb, 2x5, 3/ (1 min) 2
Quads became the limiting factor. They’re also why I’m starting to lean forward.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang power-clean
65lbx3
95lbx1
105lb, 5x3
Quite a bit better than last week in terms of power production. Now have to work on getting a real good pull up with my arms.
Tues-12-30
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
150lb, 2x5, 4/(10 sec) 1
More for safety reasons. Don’t want to get pinned again. That being said, this felt harder than it should have. I’ll repeat it until it feels as easy as it should.
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
75lb, 4x8
This also felt harder than it should have. Meh.
Chin-up-
4x6, 2x3
Face-pull-
30lb, 5x10
Weds-12-31
Happy New Years Eve.
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185lbx3
205/225lbx1
245lb, 3/2/2/1 or something. Got pissed off near the end and didn’t bother committing things to memory.
This marks the 2nd week of heavy squats sucking. My guess is the hang power-cleans are stressing my CNS beyond what I expected and so my attempts at heavy squatting suffer. Pretty much everything below 245lb feels normal, so my guess is that it’s not an issue with muscle or anything.
I want to get my hang power-clean up to at least 135lb, so I’ll just have to live with it for now.
DB row-
80lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
105lb, 5x3
These are getting much easier. Still need to work on really getting my upper body into the action though.
Thurs-1-1
Happy New Years.
OHP-
45lb, 5x5
65/75/85lbx3
95/105lbx1
115lb, 2x2,0
105lb, 3x3
… Fuck you 115lb. 110lb went up easy two weeks ago and 115lb is a giant struggle. WTF.
Even if I felt just plain lethargic today, one would imagine I can do at least 2 sets of triples, simply because I can do 3x5 with 110lb with no trouble. But no…
I don’t even know what to do with the OHP anymore. This is absurd.
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115lbx3
125lb, 3x8/5
Chin-up-
2x2
5x3 with 10lb DB
3
Face-pull-
30lb, 5x10
Fri-1-2
Squat-
Body squats.
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185/205lbx3
225lb, 3x5
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
115lb, 3/3/3/2/1/2/2/1 or…something like that.
The 2nd set was by far the best. The rest simply lacked explosiveness.
Sat-1-3
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135lbx1
155lb, 5x3
Besides the last set, this felt like the best bench-pressing I’ve done in a long while. No weight wobbling during the press, the bar didn’t lean over to one side as I unracked and brought it out, etc.
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
75lb, 4x8
Better than the last two sessions, but not great compared to three weeks ago when I literally just blasted the reps off without any fatigue whatsoever.
Chin-up-
4x6, 4/2
Face-pull-
30lb, 5x10
Overall, felt like the best session I’ve had in the last two weeks. It’s nice to leave the gym feeling invigorated.
Mon-1-5
With the start of a new year comes new plans and new resolutions.
Mine is simple. I start my new job today and I lose my flexible timing schedule. So now I wake up at 6, eat breakfast and lift at 7. Today went ok. Hopefully it stays ok. Add to this judo (ideally) 3x a week.
I also plan on doing deloads on the bench and squat, with the intention to actually make progress for the entire year. That’s my new year resolution- Actually make progress in numbers each month. 10lb/month on squat. 5lb a month on bench. I will be hitting a TM of 365lb on the squat and 220lb on the bench by the end of the year. Deadlift and OHP can go fuck itself. I presume if I can hit a 220lb TM on bench, then the OHP will take care of itself. Ditto for the deadlift even if I don’t train the thing.
Anyways, today’s session-
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185lb, 3x8
Going too deep again.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Grip sucked on this today.
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lb, 5x3
Tues-1-6
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/85/95/105lbx3
120lb, 3x8
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx3
75lb, 4x8
Chin-up-
4x6, 4/ (1 min) 2
Face-pull-
30lb, 5x10
Everything felt slow.
I need more sleep.
Weds-1-7
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185lbx3
205/225/235/245/255lbx1
The 255lb felt a bit slow.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
These are fucking painful to do when your fingers have cracked and split-open skin due to the weather.
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
115lb, 5x3
Sets 2-5 moved well. I think I’m getting better with transferring power to the bar, since it seems to be moving a lot faster.
Thurs-1-8
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115/125lbx3
135/145/150/155/160lbx1
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx5
95lb, 3x5
Paused chin-up-
3
5/3/3/3 (+10lb)
3
These felt very slow and tiring, complete opposite of last week.
Fri-1-9
Squat
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185lbx16
Supposed to be AMRAP. Went in wanting 15 or so. That sapped any motivation to go beyond 15-16ish, but I could have hit a 20 rep squat if I wanted to. Would have sucked though.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Both back and grip was tired. Probably from judo.
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lb, 5x3
The bar feels weightless now when I perform the power-clean.
Sat-1-10
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105lbx3
120lbx14
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65/75/85/95/105lbx3
Chin-up-
4x6, 2x4
Mon-1-12
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185lbx1
205lb, 3x5
First two sets felt off. Only last set felt as easy as this should feel. I just don’t get how two days of no weighted squats is enough to do this to me.
DB row-
75lbx5
100lb, 3x5
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
105lb, 5x3
Felt easy. A bit worried that I might be catching the bar wrong and putting undue pressure onto my wrists though.
Tues-1-13
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105/115lbx3
125lbx1
135lb, 3x5
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65lbx5
75lb, 4x8
Chin-up-
3x6/5/4/4
More or less a repeat of last week in terms of feeling. I’m starting to think that early morning workout+rest day=slow nerves.
Weds-1-14
Squat-
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155/185/205lbx3
225/245/265lbx1
Felt solid.
DB row-
85lb, 4x5. 30 second rest.
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx1
115lb, 5x3
Fri-1-16
Squat
Body squats
45lb, 2x5
95/115/135/155lbx3
185lbx1
205lbx12
DB row-
75lbx5
105lb, 3x3. Each rep off the ground
Hang power-clean-
65lbx3
95lbx3
115lb, 5x3. Last set broken up by 10 sec rest in between.
Chin-up-
5/4/3/2/1
Today felt fantastic. The power-cleans felt effortless, but I ran out of steam on the fourth set. That’s why I broke the last set up into mini-sets.
I didn’t lift yesterday because I apparently forgot to set my alarm and so woke up at 7:20ish. Today, I swore that I set my alarm, but I woke up at 7:00 instead. Went to lift after work instead.
My glute, and only my glute, is sore. I take that as good news.
Sat-1-17
Bench-
45lb, 5x5
65/95/105lbx3
115/125lbx1
135lbx10
OHP-
45lb, 2x5
65/75/85/95/105lbx3
Chin-up-
4x6, 5/3