Meditations, Musings & Muscular Contractions

Training Training Logs
63

Pull & leg workout a couple of days ago, & chest+delts+arms+RDL&Shrugs earlier today. I’ve been in a deficit for a few days but have been back in a surplus recently as my health improves. This day was slightly different as I’ve added leg curls to this day instead of doing them on the other day.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 8.5, 100kg 8
Leg Curls: 75kg 8, 65kg 8
Tbar Rows: 55kg for 8, 65kg for 8, 55kg for 6

So lat pulldowns went really well, especially considering the deficit. This was like 99% powered by a large Chinese meal the night before with all the cals & sodium still in me. Leg curls I basically went 5kg heavier on both sets for a similar number of reps to when I’d go 5kg lighter after RDLs or Good Mornings & have a little fatigue from those, (evidently). Nice to see these stronger, although the entire stack is 90kg so I hope I don’t have a load issue eventually. Rows sorta fell away on the last set. Super important: The day after my first RDL session I had novel soreness in my upper back. Not the top of the traps & not the lats but various midback muscles. So RDLs seem to hit the upper back a lot harder than Good Mornings. Interesting. And this affected my rows a little bit but I’m not too worried about it, I actually think my recovery will improve since it was such a novel stimulus. In fact RDLs sound super fucking efficient.

Leg Press (pin loaded): 165lb 6, 6, 6
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 12
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 151kg for 10

PR on leg press but it’s still a novel stimulus so no biggie. I did adduction like one minute later since it was free, hence the 12 reps compared to 15 the previous session. Situps I’m working on holding the plate above my head further back for harder leverage, literally wasn’t capable of it earlier on so this is a PR in some respect. Calf Raises nothing special today.

Pec Deck: 115kg for 6, 100kg for 7, 95kg for 7
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 8
Star Trak OHP: 50kg for 7, 60kg for 9, 50kg for 6 (SS)
DB Overhead Extension: 30kg for 7, 24kg for 10

Went way way heavier on DB overhead extensions, maybe shoulda left it at 28kg but whatever.

Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 7, 4
Rope Pushdown: 25kg for 8, 30kg for 9/4, 30kg for 6/4

I normally do biceps at the same time as the above, then hip hinge & shrug later in the day, (after work since it’s not a weekend), but today I decided to curl after I RDL & shrug since it’s weird holding that heavy bar with tired biceps.

RDL: 120kg for 10, 10
Shrug: 130kg for 8, 8
Preacher Curl: 28kg 12, 9
Hammer Incline Curl: 16kg 8, 14kg 8

1 Like
64

A lovely Saturday training session. Felt good to also have leg curls here on this day. Made the workout feel slightly more substantial. Without the leg curls, this training day would have six exercises versus the other workout - chest/arms/delts + RDL/shrugs/leg curls, containing eleven exercises. Now it’s Seven exercises to ten, a better balance. It doesn’t need to be 1:1 on the number of exercises. It’s a matter of feeling it out basically, due to the different levels of fatigue from different movements. I think in that respect it’s now close to 1:1. A step in the right direction.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 8.6, 100kg 8
Leg Curls: 75kg 9, 65kg 9

Getting closer to 110kg lat pulldowns for that top set of 9 reps. Closer than last time at least. Leg curls - this is actually a cause for celebration, adding an entire rep to the top set & backoff set from last session to this one. Felt strong, came out on top, nice. One of the two proper highlights of the workout.

Leg Press (switch-pin loaded): 100kg 6, 6, 7
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 12

Back on this leg press after doing a different one the session before. Went up one pin amount basically but again, it’s mostly neural at this stage. Hip adduction literally like one minute afterwards, so only hit 12 reps. Kinda hoped to do more actually.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 8, 65kg for 9, 55kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 151kg for 8

Tbar rows, great win, hitting 65kg for a top set of 9 reps, very good stuff. Calf raises were underrecovered it seems, quite odd. Decline situps, I managed to do all 6 reps with the weight held behind my head well & proper.

1 Like
65

RDL/Shrugs/Bro Day today. This was slightly different. I trained RDLs, shrugs & curls at lunch time & then did chest, delts & tris in the evening after work.

RDLs: 122.5kg for 10, 10
Shrugs: 135kg for 9, 8

Added 2.5kg on the RDLs & still managed two sets of 10, not losing any reps despite the load increase. I filmed the set from side on & the speed looked fine, felt harder than it looked. Shrugs, also adding a rep here. 7 hours after the RDLs & I still feel that fatigue in my lower back, big time.

Preacher Curls: 30.5kg 11 28kg 9
Machine Preacher Curls: 55kg 7, 45kg 8

EZ bar preacher curls, I added 2.5kg onto the bar, going from 28kg last time, to 30.5kg this time. Big jump, but this was fine because it was like my third time doing these so I only lost a rep & ended up with 11. Dropped to 28kg on the backoff set for 9 reps. Went to the familiar movement, machine preacher curls, but only matched my performance, not beating it.

Back in the gym six hours later, (rush hour, busy as hell).

Pec Deck: 115kg for 6, 100kg for 6, 95kg for 7
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 9

Nothing here, (well, the reverse one was ok). Progress has been shit on pec deck since I increased the ROM. Not sure if I’m under-recovered, (additional stimulus from the stretched position). I could never ever ‘feel’ under-recovered when it comes to the vast majority of my body. I did tens of chest work twice a week & made no gains but I wasn’t feeling like crap all the time, or at all really.

DB OHP: 24kg for 7, 9, 22kg for 9
DB Overhead Extension: 24kg for 6, 30kg for 8, 24kg for 11

First time doing DB OHP in a long time, this year for sure. First set felt like crap but improved shortly after. Stabilizers. Here’s my reason for the change - if recent exercise science literature is to be trusted, then the stretched position is much more consequential to growth than the short position. I liked machine OHP because of the stress it puts on the front delt when you’re near full extension, but I now wonder if that’s pointless if you’re losing out on the brute damage of the bottom of the lift. So, I’ll go back to DB for a little while. BIG win on DB overhead extensions, hitting that 30kg dumbbell up for 8 reps, & then backoff set adding a rep there too. Win, win.

Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 8.5, 5
Rope Pushdown: 25kg for 8, 30kg for 11/2, 27.5kg for 9/2

Little PR also on rope pushdowns, I’ll gladly take it. And promising performance on laterals.

1 Like
66

Writing this workout without commentary as it was three days ago.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 8, 100kg 8
Leg Curls: 80kg 7, 65kg 9
Leg Press (plate loaded): 120kg for 6, 6, 6
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 13
Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 70kg for 6, 55kg for 10
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 105kg for 8

Today’s session. Saturday morning, got it all done uninterrupted.

RDLs: 125kg for 10, 6
Shrugs: 140kg for 8, 8

Unfortunately my lower back felt funky on that second set, could feel my disk bulging a little bit, so cut it short. Strong on shrugs though.

Pec Deck: 115kg for 7, 100kg for 7, 95kg for 8
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 8

Good performance on pec deck today.

DB OHP: 24kg for 10, 22kg for 10
DB Overhead Extension: 24kg for 6, 30kg for 9, 24kg for 11

Adding a rep on my top set of OHP, & also adding a rep on DB overhead extensions, hitting that 30kg dumbbell for 9 reps, awesome.

Preacher Curls: 33kg 9, 30.5kg 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 20.5kg for 10, 8

Went heavier on preacher curls by 2.5kg today, going from 30.5kg on the top set to 33kg, reps went from 11 to 9. Increased the weight on the backoff set from 28kg for 9 to 30.5kg for 10 which is really awesome. New lift - preacher curls with a reverse grip! Good choice of weight. Yep, I’m going all-in on the preacher bench for bicep stuff, no more machines for a little while. Weighted stretch lifts are getting that priority & I’ll see what happens.

Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 7, 4
Rope Pushdown: 25kg for 8, 30kg for 12/2, 27.5kg for 9/2

Good PR on pushdowns, adding a rep on my top set with 30kg, awesome awesome.

1 Like
67

Yesterday’s training session.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 7, 100kg 7
Leg Curls: 80kg 8, 65kg 9

Guess I was a little under-recovered on pulldowns, getting one less rep than my best. Leg curls went amazing however, since I turned my previous performance of 80kg by a rep & securing a new PR with 80kg for 8.

Leg Press (switchpin loaded): 100kg 6, 110kg 6, 100kg 6
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 14

I think the neural gains on leg press have come & now it’s about adding muscle to get stronger. Still, little PR today with 110kg for 6.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 70kg for 7, 55kg for 9
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 100kg for 9

Great PR on Tbar rows with 70kg for 7, adding a whole rep on the previous performance, awesome stuff.

1 Like
68

I wouldn’t normally train today, the day after my previous workout, but tomorrow I have a work lunch so I can’t train at mid-day, and I don’t really want to do the chest, delts, arms & RDLs & shrugs workout after work before a rehearsal for a theatre production, (5 weeks out). So, I did chest, delts, and arms today, and I’ll do the RDLs and shrugs tomorrow, which should take me all of 20 minutes.

Pec Deck: 115kg for 7.7, 100kg for 8, 7
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 9

Pec deck went well, small PR there.

DB OHP: 26kg for 8, 22kg for 10
DB Overhead Extension: 24kg for 6, 30kg for 10, 24kg for 11

Increased the weight from 24kg to 26kg on my top set of dumbbell OHP, & got enough reps with the heavier weight to consider it a small improvement. Awesome PR today on overhead extensions, increasing the top set from 30kg for 9 to 30kg for 10.

Preacher Curls: 33kg 10, 30.5kg 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 20.5kg for 11, 9

Really busted my ass on preacher curls to get that 10th rep with 33kg, feels awesome. Second time performing reverse preacher curls, in which I turned the rep count from 10, 8, to 11, 9 which is nice but I also expected it considering it’s the second time doing this new movement.

Behind the Back Cable Lateral: 5kg 9, 7
Pushdown: 25kg 8, 32.5kg 9/2, 27.5kg 9/2

Performed behind the back cable lateral raises for the first time and they were great. You can get a stretch on this movement if your hand is in front of your body or behind, but I think it’s slightly better with the hand behind the body. Another thing that I noticed is that the top position is a little bit easier and the bottom is a little bit harder compared to in front of the body, which is strange because I can’t fully envision why, since the height of the cable is the same, and my height is the same, hmm. Added weight on pushdowns & they went pretty good too!

EDIT:

RDLs: 125kg for 11, 11
Shrugs: 140kg for 8, 8

Went to the gym just to do these. Awesome PR on RDLs, adding not just a rep on the first set but also the second by a significant margin. May jump to 130kg for next time.

1 Like
69

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 7.5, 100kg 6.5
Leg Curls: 80kg 9, 65kg 9

No dice on pulldowns today either. However, big news on lying leg curls, hitting 80kg for 9 reps, an all-time PR. The entire stack is 90kg so I may run into an overload issue at some point. Especially since I’m already doing two seconds up two seconds down rep speed.

Leg Press (pin loaded): 165lb 6, 180lb 7, 6
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 12

Firstly, nice PR on this leg press. But man, little things that you don’t necessarily get told - leg pressing DEEP definitely hits the adductors pretty hard because they’re more tired from this than they ever were on hack squats, hence why I’m just coasting on hip adduction machine while the leg press gets stronger.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 70kg for 8, 55kg for 9
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 151kg for 11

Really nice stuff on rows, adding a rep on the top set - it was a little weak so I’m gonna try to consolidate it & make it look more convincing next time. And calf raises with 151kg, (obviously a different machine to the one where I struggle with 105kg), for 11 reps, a PR on this machine, which is nice.

Monday is a public holiday so I’ll definitely be lifting then - Chest/Delts/Arms & RDLs+Shrugs. I’m looking forward to trying out 130kg RDLs, adding a rep on DB OHP & DB overhead extensions, doing preacher curls again & reverse preacher curls, & doing cable laterals behind the back once again.

1 Like
70

RDLs: 130kg for 10, 10
Shrugs: 140kg for 9, 8

RDLs today going heavier than before, increasing from 125kg to 130kg & hitting two sets of 10 reps, went pretty well! I’ll probably do 135kg next time on the first set & probably drop to 130kg on the second set. 140kg not too far away.

Pec Deck: 115kg for 8, 100kg for 9, 8
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 7

Another PR on pec deck, finally hitting 115kg for 8 with the handles a little further back. I think RDLs & shrugs very very marginally fatigued my rear delts hence the shitty performance on these today.

DB OHP: 26kg for 8, 22kg for 10
DB Overhead Extension: 26kg for 6, 32kg for 9, 26kg for 9

Nothing progression-wise on DB OHP unfortunately, ah well. Anyway, a real nice PR on overhead extensions. Increased the acclimation set weight from 24kg to 26kg for 6, & increased the top set weight from 30kg to 32kg & went from 10 to 9 reps with this increase, which I consider a small PR. Dropped down to 26kg instead of 24kg about 90 seconds later for a set of 9 reps.

Preacher Curls: 35.5kg 7, 30.5kg 11
Reverse Preacher Curls: 23kg for 10, 8

Added 2.5kg on the top set of preacher curls, going up to 35.5kg. It was heavy, just got 7 reps, wouldn’t go heavier than this. Same backoff set weight, 30.5kg, where I added a rep somehow, this was brutally hard. Reverse preacher curls I also added 2.5kg which is a tremendous amount of weight to add to a reverse curl, & managed to hit 10, 8, which is only a rep drop by 1 with all that weight added, very happy with this.

Behind the Back Cable Lateral: 5kg 13, 8
Pushdown: 27.5kg 8, 32.5kg 10/2, 27.5kg 9/2

Waaaaay stronger on these laterals than my first time doing them 4 days ago, but this particular cable station’s 5kg load is about 5% lighter than the one I used at the other gym that other time. Still, this is a big rep increase. I only rested between the sets long enough to do the other arm. Added a rep on rope pushdowns on the top set which is really fantastic too. And that concluded the workout. For a guy who doesn’t do a lot of sets per muscle, this workout sure has a lot of sets.

1 Like
71

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 6
Leg Curls: 80kg 9, 65kg 9

I limited pulldowns to a single set due to my performance indicating under-recovery. We’ll see what the next session looks like.

Leg Press (plate loaded): 120kg 6, 8, 6
Hip Adduction: 100kg for 14

More reps on this leg press than last time I used it maybe 10 days ago, nice.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 70kg for 8, 55kg for 9
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6
Calf Raises: 100kg for 11

Tbar rows were real good - the eighth rep with 70kg was more convincing this time around so I can lock it in as a fully secured rep. Calf raises also went very well, (on the heavier machine obviously).

RDLs: 135kg for 10, 8
Shrugs: 140kg for 4, 120kg for 8

Oh yeah, onto 135kg on RDLs for 10 reps. Nice. I’m hungry to move up to 140kg next time. Shrugs were weird. I tweaked a muscle in my mid-back slightly on the first set so cut it short. Second set I tried using a rather wide grip & it felt good, so I’m going to switch to wide grip shrugs for the time being.

Pec Deck: 120kg for 7, 105kg for 8, 100kg for 9
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 7

Going heavier on pec deck as you can see. RDLs & especially wide grip shrugs probably gassed my rear delts just enough to fatigue me a little for rev pec deck.

DB OHP: 26kg for 9, 22kg for 11
DB Overhead Extension: 26kg for 6, 32kg for 10, 26kg for 11

Glad to add a rep to DB OHP on both sets, & to do the same on DB overhead extensions too, these are a godsend.

Preacher Curls: 35.5kg 8, 30.5kg 12
Reverse Preacher Curls: 23kg for 11, 8

Phenomenally successful day for curls, adding a rep on preachers to the top & backoff set. Reverse preacher curls increasing the reps on the first set from 10 to 11, nice.

Behind the Back Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 7, 5kg for 9
Pushdown: 27.5kg 8, 32.5kg 11/2, 27.5kg 9/2

Trying out 7.5kg on behind the back laterals & it would appear I’m now just about as strong as I was when it was in front of my body - must’ve been a neurological thing. Pushdowns were a success, adding a rep to the top set.

1 Like
72

Pec Deck: 120kg for 7, 105kg for 8, 100kg for 8
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 80kg for 8
DB OHP: 26kg for 9, 22kg for 10

Nothing great here. I’m slowing down the eccentric on reverse pec deck from 1 to 2 seconds though, hence the small drop in weight.

DB Overhead Extension: 26kg for 6, 34kg for 8, 26kg for 12
Preacher Curls: 35.5kg for 9, 33kg for 9
Reverse Preacher Curls: 25.5kg for 9, 23kg for 8
Behind the Back Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 7, 5
Pushdown: 27.5kg 8, 32.5kg 12/2, 27.5kg 9/2

Really good for arm stuff today, getting several PRs particularly on overhead extensions & preacher curls. This was all at midday. I returned to work in the evening to do RDLs & shrugs.

RDLs: 137.55kg for 10, 8
Wide Grip Shrugs: 120kg for 8, 8

Added 2.5kg on RDLs & kept all my reps. Nice. Looking forward to 140kg next time.

This was just yesterday, a lot of good things happening here.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 9
Leg Curls: 85kg 8, 70kg 8

Pulldowns down to a single set as of a couple of workouts & I finally hit my PR, hell yes. Leg curls going heavier than ever, too. The stack itself is 90kg so that will be interesting. But I think my leg curl strength is really quite developed to the point where gains past here will be really getting that last few percent of what I’m capable of. Maybe.

Leg Press (pin loaded): 185lb 6, 8, 7
Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): Stack for 4

The regular adduction machine was under repair so I used this other one that was from the 80s. The weight surprised me, big time! I could only do 4 reps with the entire stack & proceeded to pec fly my own legs to the top position for 5 forced reps. I’ll definitely use this one going forward when possible.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 72.5kg for 8, 57.5kg for 9
Decline Situps: 5kg for 7
Calf Raises: 160kg for 10

1 Like
73

I’ve got an important thing on in 15 days so need to lose a little bit of fat. I’ve been in a deficit for 3 days now. I’m not actually unhappy with how my body looks right now but I need sharper facial features for this upcoming thing, (theatre production). In a way, it’s testament to the muscle I’ve gained that my face looks slightly soft at this bodyfat percentage. The total weight of fat tissue on my body that would’ve made me 17% bodyfat at a previous point when my muscle mass was lower now makes me about 12%. Of course, we don’t gain muscle on our face like we do on our body, so we need to get leaner from a % standpoint for the face to look sharp. Anyway…

Pec Deck: 120kg for 6, 105kg for 8, 100kg for 8
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 80kg for 7

Lost a rep on these, ah well.

DB OHP: 26kg for 9, 22kg for 11
DB Overhead Extension: 26kg for 6, 34kg for 9, 28kg for 9

Nothing new for OHP, but PR on overhead extensions, turning 8 reps into 9 with the 34kg dumbbell.

Preacher Curls: 35.5kg for 10, 33kg for 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 25.5kg for 10, 23kg for 8

Great success on these, adding a whole rep to both sets on preacher curls, & adding a rep on my top set of reverse curls.

Behind the Back Cable Lateral: 7.5kg for 8, 6
Pushdown: 27.5kg 8, 35kg 9/2, 27.5kg 10/2

Little PR on cable laterals. Went heavier on pushdowns, up to 35kg on the top set. I returned to work after this. Back to the gym 4 hours later for RDLs & shrugs.

RDLs: 140kg for 10, 8
Wide Grip Shrugs: 120kg for 9, 8

2.5kg added on RDLs & a rep added on shrugs. Nice.

1 Like
74

Haven’t logged in about a week & a half. The theatre production is 4 days out so my energy is largely focused on that. Plus I’ve been in a deficit, with the exception of a couple of days. There’s been a few things though. I’ve dropped RDLs. I’ve been experiencing degenerative pain in my back, bulging of my disk mostly on the lower left side, and a spinal sensation, like tingly but worse, in the days after last time I RDL’d. I herniated my disk many years ago & never had surgery on it so it relates to that. I’ve just done hyper-extensions the last couple of workouts instead. I was hungry to try RDLs one workout so I worked up but after hitting 130kg for two reps as the final warmup set I felt like my lower spine was going to rip through my skin & flick towards the ceiling. RDLs skipped, just did shrugs then hypers.

I’ve also started doing Smith incline press & Smith OHP & I really quite like it. Pec deck I am currently not training. I felt like a change. I avoided this for a while because of the fear of the sole smith machine being occupied, but even if it is, I can literally do a different chest press, or pushups, to warm up my pecs, shoulders & triceps, basically kill like 6 minutes & be ready for a work set. I couldn’t skip the pec deck warmup because even doing some pushups or another chest press, my biceps would be basically cold & that’s no good when they’re getting stretched out on a fly motion. Also my DB OHP strength is really stubborn to increase & I’ve got a weird shot-in-the-dark theory that the inherent instability of the movement is causing some bodily biological resistance to adapting to the stress because my body doesn’t want to be exposed to the injury risk of lifting heavier things above my head with this lack of stability. It’s a pretty random theory, I could be completely wrong, but it’s just my intuition.

Incline Smith Bench: 80kg for 7, 70kg for 8, 8
Smith OHP: 60kg for 8, 55kg for 8

I’m choosing to count the weight of the bar as 20kg because that keeps things simple. It’s not 20kg, but I don’t know what it is. Even if it were 20kg, it doesn’t translate to a freeweight barbell anyway. Smith bars are weird because with no weight, they’re almost weightless but when you add weight, it cuts through the friction of the weightless bar & the weight of the bar itself somehow increases by more than simply the weight you’ve added onto it. I’m stopping the bar slightly off my chest on the incline as the stopping point is nearly neck height & I’m getting a strong stretch as is.

DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 34kg for 9, 28kg for 10
Preacher Curls: 38kg for 8, 33kg for 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 7, 23kg for 9

Curls going well. Officially 15kg on each side of the EZ bar on preacher curls, & officially 10kg on each side of the EZ bar for reverse curls, nice.

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 7, 5
Cable Reverse Flies: 5kg for 9, 7.5kg for 8
Rope Pushdown: 27.5kg for 8, 35kg for 8, 27.5kg for 9

Yes, another change - no reverse pec deck - doing cable single arm reverse flies instead. When you do the same volume & same rep range of a new exercise & you feel it the next two days in a way you never felt the old movement, that says something.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 7
Leg Curls: 85kg 9, 70kg 8
Leg Press (switch pin loaded): 100kg for 6, 110kg for 8, 100kg for 8

Pulldowns nothing new here unfortunately. When it’s 130% of my bodyweight for two second concentrics & negatives for moderate reps, it’s probably my most advanced lift so progress is scarce. Awesome leg curl PR, adding a rep on my top set with 85kg. PR also on leg press which is fantastic.

Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 170lb for 7 & 3 forced reps
Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 72.5kg for 7, 57.5kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 8
Calf Raises: 160kg for 11

Tbar rows not so hot today. Situps went really well & actually added a rep on calves, nice.

1 Like
75

Two posts in one day? Yep. My last workout: pulldowns+rows+legs excluding hip hinges workout was yesterday & my last chest, shoulders, arms+hip hinge+ shrug workout was Thursday, 3 days ago. 99 times out of 100 I would wait longer than 3 days before hitting up this workout again but I woke up this Sunday & was just so enthusiastic about doing Smith machine incline and overhead press. Turns out it was a great thing because I got PRs in both.

Incline Smith Bench: 80kg for 8, 70kg for 10, 9
Smith OHP: 62.5kg for 8, 55kg for 9

Turned that incline top set from 7 to 8, & the backoffs from 8, 8 to 10, 9. Smith OHP I added 2.5kg to the top set & still managed 8 reps, & added a rep on the backoff set.

DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 34kg for 10, 28kg for 10
Preacher Curls: 38kg for 8, 33kg for 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 8, 23kg for 9

Added a rep on the top set of overhead extensions, hell yes. Preacher curls were consistent but I turned my top set on reverse preacher curls with 28kg from 7 reps to 8, big win!

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 6, 5kg for 9
Cable Reverse Flies: 5kg for 9, 7.5kg for 8
Rope Pushdown: 27.5kg for 8, 35kg for 8, 27.5kg for 9

Laterals were weak today. I’d say they were the one particular muscle that would have benefited from more rest. But I got a small PR on cable reverse flys. Last time I got eight, but that was at a slightly heavier cable station so me getting 10 reps here really just secures that PR.

Hypers: Bodyweight+20kg for 10, 7
Widegrip Shrugs: 105kg for 9, 9

Not bad on hypers. It’s actually really annoying because I don’t want to be that strong on them because holding that weight in my hands can get impractical at a certain point. 20 kg is ok but further down the line there could be problems. Not to mention, this is with two second concentric and 3 second eccentric which definitely limits the load but maybe not enough. Definitely getting that full contraction on wide grip shrugs basically bringing my traps as high as they can go.

1 Like
76

Another couple of workouts done, yesterday & today. Taken annual leave from work for a few days to focus on the theatre production which gives me a little extra time for gym, & relaxation.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg 8
Leg Curls: 85kg 9.5, 70kg 8
Leg Press (pin loaded): 180lb for 6, 195lb for 8, 7

Little extra on my leg curls. PR on pin loaded leg press, which is awesome.

Seated Calf Raises: 50kg for 9
Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 72.5kg for 7, 57.5kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 8
Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 170lb for 10 & 3 forced reps

Mostly typical performance but hip adduction PR is absolutely wild, added three reps.

This particular workout was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Incline Smith Bench: 82.5kg for 8, 75kg for 8, 8
Smith OHP: 65kg for 8, 55kg for 9

Added 2.5kg on my incline smith & managed to hit 8 reps still, which is tremendous. Equally as fantastic is I upped the Smith OHP from 62.5kg for 8 to 65kg for 8 on the top set, awesome.

Preacher Curls: 38kg for 9, 33kg for 11
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 8, 23kg for 10
DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 34kg for 11, 28kg for 11

Figured I’d curl after doing those two pressing exercises & then do triceps after to give them a little rest. PR on preacher curls, turning 8 reps into 9 with 38kg & adding a rep on the backoff set too. Added a rep also to the backoff set of reverse preacher curls. PR on DB overhead extensions too, hitting 34kg for 11 reps.

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 9, 6
Cable Reverse Flies: 5kg for 9, 7.5kg for 10
Rope Pushdown: 27.5kg for 8, 35kg for 8, 27.5kg for 10

PR on cable laterals of all lifts, awesome, & also a PR on reverse flies, hitting 7.5kg for 10 reps. Consistent on rope pushdowns.

Hypers: Bodyweight+20kg for 11, 8
Widegrip Shrugs: 105kg for 10, 9

Added a rep on both sets of hypers, & also on the first set of wide grip shrugs.

1 Like
77

Trained this evening, & a few highlights to report.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 110kg for 10
Leg Curls: 90kg for 7, 70kg for 9
Leg Press (pin loaded): 180lb for 6, 210lb for 8, 7

Lifetime PR on pulldowns, managing ten reps at last with 110kg. Also going up in weight on leg curls, using 90kg, which is the entire stack on this brand of lying leg curl, (Star Trak). Reps dropped a little with the new weight so won’t call this a PR. PR though on this leg press, adding 15lb & keeping the reps.

Seated Calf Raises: 55kg for 9
Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 72.5kg for 7, 57.5kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 7
Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 175lb for 10 & 3 forced reps

Added 5lb on hip adduction & kept the reps, fricking nice.
Mostly typical performance but hip adduction PR is absolutely wild, added three reps.

78

Hypers: Bodyweight+20kg for 12, 9
Incline Smith Bench: 85kg for 7, 75kg for 8, 8
Smith OHP: 67.5kg for 8, 57.5kg for 8

Smith was busy so I began with hypers, & managed to add a rep to both sets. Added 2.5kg on my incline smith again & went from 8 reps with 82.5kg to 7 reps with 85kg, meh. The really fantastic news is that I also added 2.5kg to the Smith OHP, going from 65kg for 8 to 67.5kg for 8 on the top set.

Preacher Curls: 38kg for 10, 33kg for 12
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 9, 23kg for 10
DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 36kg for 8, 28kg for 12

Another PR on preacher curls, turning 9 reps into 10 with 38kg & adding a rep on the backoff set too. Added a rep also to the reverse preacher curls top set too, from 8 to 9 reps. Heavier than ever on DB overhead extensions, 36kg, almost went for 9 reps, so 8 was quite achievable.

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 10, 5
Cable Reverse Flies: 7.5kg for 7, 10kg for 6
Rope Pushdown: 27.5kg for 8, 35kg for 8, 27.5kg for 10

Another PR on cable laterals, finally hitting 7.5kg for 10 reps, awesome. Cable reverse flies were very interesting, I went straight to 7.5kg, (my previous top set weight), for the acclimation set, then went to a new weight, 10kg, 33% heavier than 7.5kg so huge jump, for 6 heavy reps. It’s so true that somewhat heavy isolation exercises aren’t usually a bad idea just because they’re isolation exercises, it’s because they frequently have the most tension in the short position, which lends itself tremendously to higher reps. Of course for my cable reverse flies they’re generally hardest in the lengthened position to the mid point so doing 6 reps was perfectly comfortable.

Widegrip Shrugs: 105kg for 10, 10

Another little win here.

79

Back & legs session this morning, went pretty well.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 115kg for 8
Leg Curls: 90kg for 8, 70kg for 10
Leg Press (switch pin loaded): 100kg for 7, 110kg for 9, 9

Lat pulldowns going up with 115kg for the first time, (using the 2/2 tempo), managing a set of 8 reps, pretty good actually. Leg curls, lifetime PR, 90kg, (the stack), for a top set of 8 reps, & backoff set with 70kg for 10 reps. Leg press - nice PR on this one too.

Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 180lb for 6 & 4 forced reps
Seated Calf Raises: 50kg for 11

No idea what happened on adduction. From 175lb for 10 to 180lb for 6. Under-recovered? Or maybe because I did it after leg press… Not sure. Calf raises I’m glad to say I can be fully confident on the quality of the 11 reps here being perfect, so nice little PR.

Tbar Rows: 55kg for 6, 72.5kg for 7, 57.5kg for 6
Decline Situps: 5kg for 8

Need to make a change on Tbar rows. I think I’m under-recovered on this specific movement. Got to the backoff set & just felt like I was dying. Think I’ll scrap the acclimation set & officially do it as a warmup set, (so go from like RPE 4 to RPE 1 basically), & see how that helps me. Decline situps feeling good.

80

Incline Smith Bench: 85kg for 8, 75kg for 8, 8
Smith OHP: 70kg for 7, 60kg for 8

Smith incline went well. I added a rep, going from 7 to 8 reps with 85kg, awesome stuff. Also added 2.5kg to the Smith OHP, going from 67.5kg for 8 to 70kg for 7. This is still pretty good. I’ll stay at this weight for a little bit. Backoff set increased from 57.5kg to 60kg.

Preacher Curls: 40.5kg for 7, 35.5kg for 11
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 9, 25.5kg for 8
DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 36kg for 9, 28kg for 12

Added 2.5kg on the top set & backoff set of preacher curls. Heavier than ever. 7 reps with 40.5kg, not bad. Solid win on the backoff set too. Reverse preacher curls same old, added 2.5kg on the backoff set but lost two reps so nothing gained there. OH extensions were brilliant though - 36kg for 9 reps, adding a rep since last session.

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 6, 5kg for 6
Cable Reverse Flies: 7.5kg for 7, 10kg for 7
Bar Pushdown: 35kg for 6, 30kg for 6

Cable laterals were supremely under-recovered, holy moly. The theatre production I was doing has now finished & I was helping take down the curtains earlier today, so that arm overhead thing may have fatigued me a little, maybe. Reverse flies look good. Pushdowns I made a change - used the V bar but I made an effort to make this like a drag curl but in reverse, keeping it really close to my body to experiment with getting it harder in the lengthened position. The leverages obviously had me moving similar weight, (fewer reps) than the rope so that’s nice.

Hypers: Bodyweight+20kg for 8, 7
Widegrip Shrugs: 110kg for 9, 8

Hypers I kept my back straight so as to exert a stretch on my hams as early as possible on the negative & this seems to have had an effect on the load. Shrugs went heavier & not bad performance.

81

Back & legs session from Wednesday.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 115kg for 7
Leg Curls: 90kg for 7 & 3/4, 75kg for 6
Leg Press (switch pin loaded): 100kg for 7, 130kg for 5, 120kg for 8

Lat pulldowns, not my day I guess Leg curls, yeah I was under-recovered by the looks of it. Leg press went ok. The switch was stubborn on the 120kg increment hence why I did 130kg on the top set before the switch finally unstuck.

Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 180lb for 9 & 3 forced reps
Seated Calf Raises: 55kg for 11

PRs on both of these - adding three reps on adduction compared to my shitty performance last time, & also somehow adding 5kg on calf raises & keeping my reps.

Tbar Rows: 72.5kg for 7, 57.5kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 9

Situps went well! Tbar rows, better than last time but also annoying - the material that makes up the handles is glued onto the metal that sits beneath it, but it would appear that the glue is now unstuck & the handles now freely rotate around, so grip was a motherfucker on these today, on an otherwise much loved lift. Dammit. Ah well. May wear straps if this occurs again.

Chest, arms & shoulders, (& hypers & shrugs), two days later on Friday night.

Incline Smith Bench: 90kg for 6, 75kg for 9, 9
Smith OHP: 70kg for 5, 60kg for 8

Smith incline I upped the weight by 5kg & did 90kg for 6, not bad. It didn’t feel sickeningly heavy in my hands but obviously my muscles felt different. PR on the backoff sets though, nice. Smith OHP top set sucked, guess it wasn’t my day for that.

Preacher Curls: 40.5kg for 8, 35.5kg for 10
Reverse Preacher Curls: 28kg for 10, 25.5kg for 8
DB OH Extensions: 28kg for 6, 36kg for 10, 30kg for 11

Heavy weight, 40.5kg on preacher curls, & added a rep, going from 7 to 8 reps here. Added a rep on the top set of reverse preacher curls too, hitting 10 reps with 28kg, brilliant. Added a rep too on OH extensions, hitting ten reps with 36kg, & going to a heavier weight on the backoff set & only losing one rep.

Cable Laterals: 7.5kg for 9, 5kg for 9
Cable Reverse Flies: 7.5kg for 7, 10kg for 7
Bar Pushdown: 35kg for 6, 30kg for 7

Cable laterals at the double cable station, where the weight is like 5% heavier than the station where there’s a tower of four cable stacks where I most often use one of them, so decent performance considering. Pushdowns with reverse drag curl form feeling amazing.

Hypers: Bodyweight+20kg for 9, 8
Widegrip Shrugs: 110kg for 10, 8

Adding reps here, gotta take this win.

82

Sunday morning training session.

Underhand Lat Pulldowns: 115kg for 8
Leg Curls: 90kg for 7, 75kg for 6
Leg Press (switch pin loaded): 100kg for 7, 120kg for 10, 9

Still a tad under-recovered on leg curls, ah well. Great results on leg press though.

Hip Adduction, (Cybex Machine): 185lb for 9 & 3 forced reps
Seated Calf Raises: 60kg for 9

Adduction, added 5lb on this & kept my reps, 9 reps unassisted before a few forced ones. Calf raises added 5kg on these. 60kg doesn’t feel like a lot of weight but three 20kg plates on the machine feels more dignified.

Tbar Rows: 72.5kg for 7.9, 57.5kg for 8
Decline Situps: 5kg for 6

So close to 8 on Tbar rows, it was almost a perfect rep at the end. Decline situps at a decline barbell bench station, less angle to the bench so slightly harder.