If it got easier I would be disappointed. The biggest thing I wanted of these 20 rep squats was the toughness I see in alot of the lifters on this site that seem to push harder than humanly possible. I need a little bit of that grit in my life
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Got a bunch of my Christmas presents this week for my home gym and decided I wanted to play with them. I still need a rack but a bar 255 lbs of weights 2 dumbbell handles and short and regular bands of a couple different tensions. Big shout out to my family
New Toys Workout
Date:12/13
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Mini x 25 25 25 25
Floor Press 3 sets
45x10
115x19 15 15
I went from feeling good to being dead out of nowhere on these. Also switched the grips up every set to see how that effected things and wow I can really hit my chest with a wide grip and kill the triceps with the narrow grip.
Underhand Rows 3 sets
45x10
115x18 15 13
I forgot how great these feel on my lats. I used a little bit of momentum and can keep the tension exactly where I want it.
DB Shoulder Press 3 sets
20x22 15 14
Had to do these seated as my basement ceiling is very low. Still got a hell of a pump which is all that’s important.
DB Curls 3 sets
20x17 12 12
Ab Wheel 3 sets
Kneeling x12 10 10
This was an incredibly fun day of lifting. Who knows what I actually accomplished with this session besides a nice little pump but it felt damn good. Back to regularly scheduled brutality with 20 rep squats tomorrow.
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Day B5
Date: 12/14
DB Bench Press 3 sets 50 reps
30x10
45x25 14 12
Squat 1x20
45x10 95x5 135x3 185x1
205x 15
I failed on rep 16.
Few things in life are less fun then fucking something up 75% of the way through.
Chinups 50 total reps
Bodyweight x5 6 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5
Did the first 25 before my squats while waiting for a rack
Date: 12/15
Band Pullaparts 100 reps
35 30 20 15
Row 5RM
45x10 95x10 135x10 155x5
I feel like I need to get a million times better with my row form. There is like no groove for me right now.
Glute Bridge 5RM
45x10 95x10 135x10 155x10 185x10
These feel amazing on the glutes. Will be doing more of them. Also these feel like I could load this up with at least 50 more pounds for a couple reps
Floor Press Wide Grip 5RM
45x10 95x10 135x10 155x5
This hits my chest very hard especially with a slight pause at the bottom
Just decided to ramp up to some heavy ish sets of 5. Still upset about missing my squats yesterday so just wanted to get some good work in
Also decided to test my vertical today, I work at a Y so we have a Velcro wall that we use to measure this.
Standing Vertical Jump 25 inch PR
This is a one inch PR over high school me which is pretty awesome considering I have always had a bad standing jump so just assumed it’d be worse by now.
Just wanted to get some work in with some different training today after my grappling training. I’m really not sure what I want to do going forward with my training right now, I hit my limit with 20 rep squats for me, I would probably need to really overhaul my training to recover better from them and it just wasn’t worth it for me any longer, so just lifting in new ways and trying to make a decision on the next program to pull the trigger on.
Date: 12/18
Curl
45x10 65x5 75x3
Skullcrusher
45x10 65x5 75x1
Just wanted to work some heavier sets for arms than what I usually use here
Jefferson Deadlift
135x10 10
155x5 5
185x5 5
205x5 5
Switched leg that was forward each set. With my right leg forward I am much weaker. This feels really different than a lot of other lifts I’ve ever done. I see why this has the cult following it does.
Stream of conscious incoming
So I’ve just been kinda over lifting for whatever reason. Really think it’s because I’ve been aimless with my goals as nothing had really jumped out and got me excited to chase down. Well after testing my vertical recently I’ve decided to make a 30 plus inch vertical my goal for this upcoming year. I’m at 25 inches now so that will be quite the improvement for a year but I think I can make it as I’m a pretty natural jumper and I haven’t used things like plyometrics or anything to really try and push it up. So I’m gonna start my year with the Beginner Plyometrics Routine from the Vertical Jump Bible and test my vertical after that twelve weeks hoping to be around 28 inch and then I’m gonna do the 12 week Novice Plyometrics Routine after that and hope that takes me pretty close to 30+. I will reassess then to see what I need to do to take me further up up and away if I need to really change gears.
As far as strength training during this I’m going to go forward with the 40 day program by Dan John as I’m really not looking for heavy weights at the moment. So the easy strength concept is really appealing to me if it works. After that I’m leaning towards something like WS4SB as it just has the one heavy leg day a week which I think will be about all I need while focusing on the plyos for the next few months.
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Without further ado here is my first venture into plyometric training
VJB Beginner Plyometrics Routine
Phase One Week 1
Date: 12/19
Ankle Jumps 2x50
4 star drill 2x5
Alternating lunges 2x20 each leg
Jump squat 2x20
Slalom jumps 2x50
Lunge jumps 2x10 each leg
Low squat ankle jumps 2x30
Lots of bouncing and trying to stay light on my feet and land softly being said to myself here. I usually feel pretty athletic but these made me feel like I hadn’t been light on my feet in years
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I decided I’m gonna hit some good old linear periodization in my home gym so I can avoid the hoards at my usual gym. I’ll be alternating 2 days and hopefully can get myself back in the lifting spirit in a few weeks as these get heavier again
Day A
Date: 12/20
Band Pullaparts 100 reps
Paused bodyweight squats 10 reps
Paused Pushups 12 reps
Calf Stretch (spent a good couple minutes doing this as my calves felt real tight today)
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 3x5
135x5 5 5
Man I was worried about mobility here and actually felt pretty comfortable with this
Bridge Press 3x5
135x5 5 5
Felt these way more in my shoulders than I expected. Just happy it feels far different from a floor press which is gonna be my other big push for the next couple months
Underhand Barbell Row 3x5
135x5 5 5
Rdl 3x10
135x10 10 10
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Day B
Date: 12/22
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Paused bodyweight squats 20 reps
Paused Pushups 2x15
Single Leg Calf Raises 20 reps each leg
Ab Wheel Rollouts From knees 2x5
Jefferson Deadlifts 2x5 each leg
135x5 5
Floor Press 3x5
135x5 5 5
Barbell Row 3x5
135x 5 5 5
Widened my grip a bit and seemed to really find a good groove for this lift. I’m eager to see how much better I can make these feel in the next few weeks.
Glute Bridge 1x10-20
135x20
Phase 1 Week 1 Day 2
Ankle Jumps 2x50
4 star drill 2x5
Alternating lunges 2x20 each leg
Jump squat 2x20
Slalom jumps 2x50
Lunge jumps 2x10 each leg
Low squat ankle jumps 2x30
Meant to put this all as one workout as I did it right after lifting but my cut and paste skills on my phone aren’t as good as I’d like to believe. Also I’m really enjoying these explosive and bodyweight work sessions. This is definitely what I needed mentally. Now I just hope my vertical actually goes up haha
Day A
Date: 12/24
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Paused bodyweight squats 20 reps
Pushups 2x15
Single Leg Calf Raises 15 reps each leg
Ab Wheel Rollouts From knees 2x5
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 3x5
140x5 5 5
Bridge Press 3x5
140x5 5 5
Underhand Barbell Row 3x5
140x5 5 5
Rdl 1x10-20
135x14
Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas Duke hope you are enjoying the holiGAIN season!
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Day B
Date: 12/26
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Supported Single Leg squats 5 reps each leg
Pushups 2x15
Ab Wheel Rollouts From knees 2x5
Jefferson Deadlifts 2x5 each leg
140x5 5
Floor Press 3x5
140x5 5 5
Barbell Row 3x5
140x5 5 5
Glute Bridge 1x10-20
135x20
Fat Grip Dumbbell Curls 2 sets
20x12 8
I got a fat gripz like product called duke grips and holy cow these lit my forearms up. I’m eager to really start using these in the future. My grip has never been a strong suit of mine
Phase 1 Week 2 Day 1
Ankle Jumps 3x50
4 star drill 2x10
Alternating lunges 3x20 each leg
Jump squat 3x20
Slalom jumps 3x50
Lunge jumps 3x10 each leg
Low squat ankle jumps 3x30
Man I am excited to see if these plyometrics really help me jump because they are the most tiring thing I’ve done in some time
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Day A
Date: 12/28
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Started to warm up and then remembered I had to shovel today so did that before finishing my workout
Pushups 2x15
Ab Wheel Rollouts From knees 2x5
Single Leg squats 5 reps each leg
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 3x5
145x5 5 5
Bridge Press 3x5
145x5 5 5
Underhand Barbell Row 3x5
145x5 5 5
Rdl 1x10-20
135x20
Fat Grip Dumbbell Curls 2 sets
20x13 10
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Day B
Date: 12/30
Lifted straight after playing basketball for 2 hours. I already feel bouncier on the court. Like it was a lot easier to get up near my max heights for rebounds with little effort.
Jefferson Deadlifts 2x5 each leg
145x5 5
Floor Press 3x5
145x5 5 5
Barbell Row 3x5
145x5
I didn’t finish my last two sets as my girlfriend surprised me at my house for our date that we had planned earlier during the week and I had completely forgotten about. Eventually made it out to watch ufc 219 and Cyborg and Khabib are just killers!
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Just now I actually realized you’re doing Jefferson and snatch grip deads, do you like them?
I actually really like both of them. Especially since I’m just working out at home and have no squat rack so these are gonna be my main way to hit my quads for a while. The Jefferson lifts are actually really what I’m loving though, they feel extremely natural already and I think that’s only gonna get better over time. I’m trying to convince a couple friends to try them but they aren’t ready to convert yet. Snatch grip deads are a good lift, I used to do them back when I first started lifting as I needed more mobility work and felt like I got those gains through this lift then abandoned it. Also its frying my grip and that’s one of my biggest lifting weaknesses and grappling weaknesses so it’s nice to get some work in that area.
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Day A
Date: 1/1
Band Pullaparts 4x25
Pushups 1x20
Ab Wheel Rollouts From knees 2x5
Single Leg squats 5 reps each leg
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 3x5
135x10
155x5 5 5
Bridge Press 3x5
135x5
150x5 5 5
Underhand Barbell Row 3x5
135x5
150x5 5 5
Fat Grip Dumbbell Curls 1 sets
20x12
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