Lol, it definitely was both of those things!
Woke at 219.8lbs this morning. I thought I was going to weigh in light, because I was SOOOO HUNGRY when I woke up. Feeling good, not looking bad, scale weight heavier than I hopedā¦meh 2/3.
I still plan on trimming down for the T-ransformation 2019, but with this new program Iām going to really need to make sure I donāt dig into too deep of a deficit. This is a significant volume increase for me, working with a coach and other younger guys that he trains (read: Iāll be pushing a lot harder; yeah, Iām an entertainer), and Iāll be working out 4 days a week (no excuses). I will try to sprinkle in a low calorie day or two per week if Iām feeling recovered, but strength is still priority #1, fat loss is priority #2. I wouldnāt be surprised if I slabbed on a little mass during this program as waking up muscles that have been asleep for the last year or two (any muscle not directly worked from squat/bench/dead/ohp)!
Iām going to do what it takes to hit that all natty 700lb pull this year. Wouldnāt mind topping it off with a 600lb squat and a 405lb bench, but that 700lb pull is the ultimate goal. I honestly donāt see any of these goals being out of reach or unrealistic. It is going to take some serious effort, but Iāve decided to bump training back up on my priorities while I still have the available time to do so (house has not started construction yet, no kids, not travelling for work right now, no excuses, etc, etc).
So, to all my readers, get used to reading āPRā, cuz shit is about to get serious up in this log.
HERE WE GOOOO!
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Pretend I know how to do the dank meme thing and mine is posted below 
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I can do GIF because my phone keyboard has a button for them. I struggle with the T-Nation emojis because I have to type them in specifically. I canāt browse on my phone. I donāt know where you found that finger.
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I hate waking up starving lolā¦ thats one of the worst feelings
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Haha! I love it. Sometimes I go to bed early dreaming of breakfast in the morning 
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Bring out the pop corn Iām waiting.
Go Sleepy go
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Thanks all, I love my T-Nation Family! It is definitely going to be a fun ride.
Well due to freezing rain, Traphouse Barbell was closed today and I was sent home early from work (shucks!). They have closed down all schools (even colleges) in the area, and it is coming down like crazy out there. We had to pull over several times on the way home to re-scrape the windshield because ice was accumulating and you couldnāt see! Wipers, heater, and windshield fluid wasnāt enough. But since my home gym is actually close to where my coach lives he came to my buddyās place (my home gym at the moment) to coach me through the session today!
Traphouse Barbell W1 D3
DE Bench Day
Barbell Bench Press - red mini bands, doubled; 1" foam block under my shirt (40%)
45 x 5
135 x 3 - regular grip
135 x 3 - regular grip
135 x 3 - regular grip
135 x 3 - close grip
135 x 3 - close grip
135 x 3 - close grip
135 x 3 - extra wide grip
135 x 3 - extra wide grip
135 x 3 - extra wide grip
These actually tore up my chest quite a bit. Coach kept screaming at me that it wasnāt fast enough haha. So I was really pushing on each rep as fast as humanly possible. Touch and go, just down-up!
Seated DB OHP - not back supported
50lbs x 20 - RPE damn close to 10
50lbs x 10, 5, 5 - had to split these up to get the 20reps
"Rock nā Rolls - dumbbell triceps extension with a bit more movement of the humerus back-and-forth (hence the name)
50lbs x 8 - too heavy
30lbs x 10
30lbs x 10
Elbows actually didnāt mind these too much which was surprising.
Banded Triceps Pulldowns
300 of them broken up in many sets.
Started with green medium band, then two red minis, then one red mini until I accumulated 300 reps.
SUPERSET
Green Medium Band Lat Pulldown
30
30
30 (broken up into a few mini sets, lats were friiieddd)
Really focused on driving my elbows down and back, and oh boy were my lats screaming.
BW Chinups
5
3, 1, 1
2, 1, 1, 1
Not much leftā¦
GIANT SET
Green Medium Band Shrugs - doubled
30
30
30
Green Medium Band Hammer Curls
25
25
25
Coach reiterated that we will be doing a lot of work with bands for joint health.
135lbs Barbell Ab Wheel
10
10
10
Wow, biceps/chest/lats were giving out on these! Running out of steam here.
Finisher:
Pushups Drop Set - one set followed by āmicro restsā in between
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
PUMPED UP. Shirt came off, cuzā¦pump.
Another great workout. All said and done in under an hour. Feeling great!
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Mate that looks like a great session. Good to hear your comments about the speed and aggression on bench. I have been thinking that my own volume work is t fast enough. Looks like I need to get aggressive and start firing that bar up.
I think I actually prefer seated without the back support.
Were these done while lying down? If so then the extra movement is great for hitting the triceps high in the armpit.
Donāt forget he had bands! That helps stop the weight. If you want to be explosive then you can always do plyo push ups.
It will help your bench. Seems silly but it forces explosion throughout the movement.
@littlesleeper nice work man. Interesting that he had you do DE work today. Westside does ME today. We did ME work.
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Lot of work there Sleepy, youāll feel it tomorrow.
Exactly, 135lbs is under 40% of my competition 1RM. So the focus is PURELY on speed. Coach said that the minute a set decreases in speed, we know we have gone too heavy. Every set should be maximum speed. It shouldnāt be hard, this is a speed day. But I could actually feel it in my chest more that I would an FSL 5x5 at a much heavier weight.
Yeppers, lying with my back on the bench. The top of the dumbbells came down to tap the top of my shoulders, and then ārockedā my humerus back and then forward to initiate the movement.
They were just red mini bands doubled, so not really adding a ton of weight. These were still done so explosively that the 45lb plates āclankedā (?) from the fast up/down of the movement. The speed bench was not being used for form as much as it was for just building that speed.
Similar principles to Westside for sure, but he doesnāt really follow their plans per se. Iām also pretty sure he likes to have ME Upper days on Saturday because that is when he gets the most guys out to his little gym, and everyone loves a ME Bench day lol.
So for us it is:
Saturday: ME Upper
Monday: ME Lower
Wednesday: DE Upper
Friday: DE Lower
Are you a psychic? Chest, bis, tris, and abs are all reminding me of that workout. Not in a bad way, just some good, old fashioned, mild DOMS.
My wife and I picked up a pizza from the corner store (two competing corner stores within 1km from our house that both make phenomenal pizza), so good! Did not weight myself this morning, but looked tighter this morning than I expected, that maybe my body was happy to receive all those carbs/fat (lol, not likely).
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I think the bands would be beneficial for the speed reps. Did they help at lockout in terms of stopping the weight on the ascent? I know when Iāve done fast reps on bench with light weight it felt like I had to do a little pull at lockout to get the way to stop going up and come back down.
Well, the stretch of the bands definitely added weight to the top of the movement vs the bottom. They also add a degree of instability to the lift, so you have to really try and stay in a straight bar path or you end up fighting against the bands.
Iām not sure what you mean about the pull at lockout.
Another cue the coach is trying to make me use is ābending the barā and keeping the elbows in throughout the entire movement. Iāve never really been able to successfully apply this cue before, but might finally be starting to understand it. We will see if this still applies when I use it with some heavier loads.
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You know how the bar flies up when you push as far as you can with light weight? It wants to keep going - like youāve thrown it - when you reach lockout. Iām referring to the transition from up to down at that point. Thereās a moment when your hands/elbows drop (for the eccentric portion of the lift) but the weight is still moving up so it feels like you have to pull the weight - or stop its ascent - for a split second.
Maybe Iām the only one who notices that or Iām crazy. 
I think it also depends on whether or not you pause at lockout between reps.
Ah yes, I guess I was just having trouble picturing it because it kind of just happens instinctively.
These triples were just bang/bang/bang! Oh, I actually forgot to mention I added a 1" foam block under my shirt (adding to my workout log now). Extremely fast in the transition at the top and bottom. I feel like these will do some good for my bench.
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