Did twenty rep squats on thursday and my legs are still in so much pain that i can barely walk
Today:
Bench
5x 175
5x 175
2.5x 185
175x 4
Unilateral French Press
8x 25
8x 25
8x 25
Chins
10x bw
9x bw
6x bw
6x bw
Upright row
10x 95
10x 95
10x 95
some curls
some crunches
Bench
6x 175 (pr)
4x 175
5x 175
4x 165
Incline DB Bench
6x 60
6x 60
6x 60
6x 60
5x 60
BORs
6x 175
6x 175
6x 175
6x 175
Sitting DB Power Cleans
12x 40
12x 40
12x 40
some abdominal work
Oh and in case I didn’t mention, I was trying to cut weight starting in early January from 196 lbs, nailed my goal of one pound a week (I hear that’s about all you can safely lose without losing muscle) and when I took two weeks off (not eating that much at all, just allowed myself a slice of cheesecake and prime rib every once in a while, trying to exercise common sense most of the time), I gained back every single fuckin pound plus a brand new one.
I went from 196 in early January to 189 in mid March and now I’m 198 in early April. It looks like in 2.5 months of excruciating work I made backwards progress. So my four weeks of recharging my ****bolism and thyroid are now done, and I guess i’ll try cutting again starting tomorrow.
Now it’s off to the quad to do some HIIT.
EDIT: Hehe…I got dunked today…7.9% BODY FAT!!! a new PR! I’m so fuckin stoked. I must have misread that scale, or it must have been off because I’m 187, officially. I gained 9 pounds of muscle and lost 14 pounds of fat since my last dunking (about half of my total fat was shed).
I was flyin blind for a while and honestly thought I hadn’t lost any fat. It’s VERY gratifying to see that all of your ass-busting labor has been paying off. I’m gonna try and cleanly bulk until October, and after that it’s “4% here I come!”
Bench
5x 175 (had a couple more in the tank but pussed out due to no spotter)
5x 175
5x 175
DB Incline Bench
8x 60 (pr)
6x 65 (pr)
6x 65
6x 65 (or maybe 5x i forget)
6x 65
Chins
10x bw
10x bw
10x bw
10x bw (pr)
Upright Row
8x 105
8x 105
8x 105
Crunches
Yesterday
DB Bench
5x 45
5x 55
5x 65
4x 75
2x 75
5x 70
5x 70
DB Incline Bench
65x 5
65x 2
Chins
5x bw+20
5x bw+20
5x bw+20
5x bw+20
Lateral Raise
30x 10
25x 12
25x 12
Swiss ball/medicine ball crunch
15x 15
20x 15
20x 15
Some scott curls
Today’s conditioning
Tabata DB squat session @ 50lbs
approx. 3-3.5 mile run
approx 1.25 - 1.5 mile walk
5x 200m sprint HIIT style
Wednesday
DB Flat Bench
5x 75
5x 75
5x 75
4x 75
2x 75
DB Incline Bench
5x 65
5x 65
5x 65
BORs
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
Sitting DB Power Cleans
12x 40
12x 40
12x 40
Preacher Curls (EZ curl bar)
10x 75
10x 75
10x 75
Low Pulley Swiss Ball Crunch
10x 80
10x 80
10x 80
fit all of that in under an hour which was nice. Think I finally figured out what glute activation means too, as i slowly deadlifted the BOR weight from the floor. Not much weight, but I focused on performing it slowly and with good form (humping the bar) and I felt my ass begin to squeeze.
Yesterday
Back Squat
5x 115
5x 135
5x 185
5x 225
5x 235
5x 235
5x 235
25x 135
DB Lunges
8x 55
8x 55
8x 55
Heavy DB holds
30 secs x 100
30 secs x 100
Plate Pinch
30 secs x 20 (2x 10lb plates)
SLDL
12x 135
20x 135
10x 135
Wednesday (I was in the midst of a pretty harsh cold, just now recovering, but did okay considering)
DB Bench
5x 70
5x 75
4x 75
3x 75
4x 70
Dips
12x bw
12x bw
10x bw
BORs
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
5x 180
Sitting DB Power Cleans
12x 45
12x 45
blew outta there, pretty tired
some crunches at home
Thursday (felt pretty much the same, but couldnt miss squats)
warmed up with front squats to 135 or 185, but it hurt the delts a little, so i want back to back squats
Back Squats
5x 185
5x 225
5x 245
5x 245
4x 245
5x 225
Lunges and reverse Lunges
8x 55
8x 55
8x 55
SLDL
12x 145
12x 145
12x 145
was ready to leave and pass out, so I said ‘fuckit’ to grip strength and left.
Side Note: Do squats put anyone else to sleep? I get out one max set and I break out in a cold sweat, feel clammy, and feel real sleepy. Strange.
Saturday
Flat Bench
10x 160
7x 160
6x 160
6x 135
go figure, I think I might have drained myself on set no. 1.
Skull Crushers
10x 65 (easy)
8x 75
8x 75
8x 65
Chins
10x bw
10x bw
8x bw
8x bw
Lateral Raise
10x 25
10x 25
10x 25
some curls and an ab circuit
Thanks, they’re gettin back up there. That being said, I ditched squats for complexes today because I lacked a spotter and thought I had a 4 hour drive ahead of me today. Things didn’t pan out. I did have one of the best conditioning workouts of my life though. All sets except for the last set of lunges performed without rest.
‘The Bear’ Complex (Hang Clean → Front Squat → Push Press → Back Squat → Push Press [behind neck] → Repeat)
95 lbs x ? (i didnt count how many reps on the first round, mainly because it’s very draining and hard to count while performing this complex in the proper order)
The Bear x 5
Alternating Lunges 8(each leg) x 55
Plyo Pushups x 15
The Bear x 5
Alternating Lunges 8(each leg) x 55
Divebomber Pushups x 10
The Bear x 3
Alternating Lunges 8(each leg) x 55
Hindu Pushups x10
The Bear x 3
Alternating Lunges 8(each leg) x 60
I’d like to note that simply holding the barbell during the front squats was extremely tiring on my front deltoids and limited how many reps I could do of the complexes. Am I mistaken in thinking that the barbell is supposed to be at a state of rest in this position? What might I be doing wrong?
been slackin on the log cuz i just got back from school so here goes
Rep Day (Today)
Flat Barbell Bench
10x 45
6x 25
5x 135
8x 165
4x 165
8x 135
6x 145
Skull Crushers
15x 65
10x 75
8x 75
Chins
10 x bw
10 x bw
8x bw
7x bw
Upright Row
10x 95
10x 95
10x 95
10x 95
scott curls
12x 20
10x 25
10x 25
ab circuit
Back to school…
Forgot to mention that I have been out of my beloved rusty sweat-drenched ancient college gym for a couple of weeks now,
and the past 2 or 3 log entries have been performed in either the YMCA or the fully-loaded, power-rack-filled immaculate gym which my old high school has now incorporated due to the recent addition of a football team and the subsequent influx of private-school-parental donations.
Last Monday…
Back Squats (below parallel)
(accidentally slacked on these for over a week I think so they were extremely rusty, I’ll have to start from scratch again to get my 270 x 5 back)
10x 45
5x 35
5x 135
5x 185
5x 225
1x 245 (bottomed out…sooo mental)
5x 225
4x 225
5x 205
DB lunges
8x 60
8x 60
8x 60
Grip (Timed Barbell Holds)
30 secs x 225
30 secs x 225
30 secs x 225
SLDL
12x 155
12x 155
12x 155 … could have done more, but my grip was slippin! yikes
Today
Burpees with tuck jump
10 reps
45 sec rest
10 reps
45 sec rest
10 reps
45 sec rest
10 reps
45 sec rest
10 reps
45 sec rest
Steep Hill Sprint
3 sets x 5 reps w/ 1-2 min rest
Rope Skipping
15 or 20 mins
Hahahahah…so I totally figured out why my squat has been plummeting week by week. I’m overtraining. Legs hurt for a full week, I have trouble sleeping, etc. Turns out 5 sets of your 5 rep max is a bit too much for new guys.
New plan is the proper 5x5 or 5x4 set up, with only two to three working sets. Then after a few months I’ll progress to 5-4-3-2-1, then experiment with singles and bottom position squats and bench when I’m strong enough. I expect my lifts to start doing very much better within a week or two, once my body recovers.
Starting today this log gets serious again.
Today:
Flat BB Bench Warm Up:
10x 45
6x 95
5x 135
5x 155
Flat DB Bench Warm Up and Work sets
5x 65
3x 75
3x 80
1x 85 (my concetration got thrown off, fucking cell phones)
Chins
9x bw
9x bw
9x bw
10x bw
^(PR for total reps)^
Wide Grip Bench
8x 135
8x 135
Skull Crushers
10x 75
10x 75
12x 75
Preacher Curls
10x 75
10x 75
10x 75
Upright Row
8x 105
10x 95
12x 95
kinda shitty…cheated a few reps
Bottom Position Flat Bench
6x 95
5x 135
5x 165
2x 185
3x 185
I’m not in love with this idea yet. I don’t think I have much to gain from breaking the eccentric-concentric chain at my level, so experiment over. I’ve also been doing flat bench for too long, so I think next Push day I’m switching to close grip incline bench. Can CNS burnout be cured by switching the movement or does it need to be fixed with complete rest?
Incline DB Bench
6x 70
wasnt feelin it, switched to dips
Dips
12x bw
12x bw
12x bw
Dynamic Rows
8x 175
8x 175
8x 175
****bolic Circuit (15 minutes @ 125 lbs)
Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
[BOR] - I forgot to do these
Snatch Hang High Pull
Hang Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
rest a minute and repeat…
Deadlift
5x 135
5x 155
5x 175
5x 205
5x 225
3x 275
2x 305
0x 305 … could have, but decided not to push it on my first day.
What’s weird about these is that the more weight I put on after a point, the better my form seemed to get. It just seemed sloppy in the 175-225 range. Odd.
DB Step-Ups
8x 60
8x 60
8x 65
Good Mornings
8x 135
8x 135
Drank a load of 1% Milk and some whey + whole wheat couscous.
Conditioning:
So far today
2 tabata rounds of 10# sledgehammer on a stump. It didn’t seem very strenuous…what kind of equipment does everyone else use? 16# hammer?
Yesterday
Dynamic Bench
20x 100
20x 100
20x 100
Wide-Grip Chins
8x bw
Chins
10x bw
10x bw
10x bw
Unilateral French Press
8x 25
Straight Bar Skull Crushers
8x 75
8x 65
Lateral Raise
15x 15
15x 15
15x 15
Crunches