Meditations, Musings & Muscular Contractions

Lower day completed today.

Single-side Leg Curl: 50kg for 6
Hip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 8
Hip Adduction: 205lb+5kg for 14

Leg curl still in that sunken place. Maybe I should just skip them for one session. Anyway, heavier than ever on abduction, entire stack, plus those little extra places that are part of the machine that you can slide on, plus a 5kg plate I stuck the pin through, for 8. On adduction, added a rep here too, very nice.

Single-leg Leg Extension: 140lb for 8.8, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 135kg for 10

Very good here - added the majority of a rep on leg extensions, & on hip thrusts, added 5kg & kept my reps at 10.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 7
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 9
Leg Press Calf Raises: 180lb for 9, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 110lb for 9
Hyper-Extension: BW for 10

Great PR on the calf raises, hitting 9 reps with 180lb. On single-leg leg press on the same machine as other one was occupied & did more than I’d previously done on this machine, so I’ll take it.

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Upper session done 4 days ago, lower done yesterday.

Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 6.9
Hammerstrength Decline: 100kg for 8.5
Pullover: 70kg per side for 7

Upped the weight a lot on incline. Just couldn’t lock the last one.

Hammerstrength OHP: 60kg for 12
Tbar Row: 90kg for 7

Didn’t want the risk of chestpad collapsing on the machine row so I did Tbar, felt good as always, never fails me. OHP went well too.

Decline JM Press: 87.5kg for 7
Wide-grip Shrug: 145kg for 17
Incline DB Tricep Extension: 44kg for 10
Lateral: 10kg for 25
Laying Rev Fly: 12kg for 10


Lower day.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 9
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 10

Didn’t do leg curls since they’re in that sunken place where you hit less than you’ve done before like 5 workouts in a row. But anyway, added a rep on abduction, & on adduction, used a 10kg extra plate for the first time & hit 10 reps. Nice.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 195lb for 7, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Extension: 140lb for 9, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 150kg for 10
Awesome wins. First time using 195lb on single-leg calf raises & decent rep count. Full PR on leg extensions, 140lb for 9 reps, & added 5kg on hip thrusts & kept my reps at 10 again.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 8
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 9
Single-leg Leg Press: 125lb for 8
Hyper-Extension: BW for 12
Leg Curls: 90kg for 7

Just fooling around on leg curls at the end, getting some blood in there. But PR on single-leg leg press, which is nice.

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Upper session just done.

Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 100kg for 9
Pullover: 70kg per side for 7.5

Turned it into 7 reps on incline, & locked in 9 reps on decline.

Hammerstrength OHP: 60kg for 11
Machine Row: 90kg for 9

Machine OHP feels good but the issue is that like many hammerstrength presses, it’s hardest at the top due to the angles of the rungs. Meanwhile I’m doing bottom partials, which kinda cheats the form. Maybe I’ll actually try using a barbell, free weight on these.

Decline JM Press: 87.5kg for 8
Wide-grip Shrug: 145kg for 17
Incline DB Tricep Extension: Two 18kg dumbbells for 10
Lateral: 10kg for 25
Laying Rev Fly: 12kg for 11

Experimenting with two dumbbells on tricep extensions. Felt perfectly fine but I’d be shocked if they didn’t. Laterals I got 20 count-able reps before partialing the last 5. And PR on cross body rear delts.

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Lower day today. A couple of good things to report here.

Leg Curl: 50kg for 7
ip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 10
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 10

Leg curls still in a rut. But I managed to once again add another rep on abduction, solid.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 195lb for 8, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Extension: 140lb for 9.8, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 155kg for 10

Several significant things here. Added a rep on calves, added 0.8 reps on leg extension, & again added 5kg onto my hip thrust & kept the reps at 10.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 8.2
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 9
Single-leg Leg Press: 135lb for 6
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 8
Ab Crunch: 55kg for 9

Added weight on the leg press, up by 15lb from 120 to 135. Big jump.

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Pullover: 70kg for 8
Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 105kg for 7

Good day on pullovers. Hit the 7 reps I hit on incline press & even tried for 8 but it wasn’t happening. Added weight on decline press too, 2.5kg a side, 5kg total added load, & hit 7 reps.

Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 40kg for 10, 42.5kg for 8
Machine Row: 95kg for 7

BTN OHP with the barbell felt good. Never did these standing before.

Decline JM Press: 87.5kg for 7.5
Wide-grip Shrug: 147.5kg for 17
Incline DB Tricep Extension: Two 18kg dumbbells for 8
Lateral: 10kg for 25
Laying Rev Fly: 12kg for 12

PR on rear delts. Also on laterals - 21 reps that I’d count as full reps before it drifted to partials. The key here is to attempt to be explosive. If you do the reps without any oomph, then you sorta can keep going & going, but if you go hard, your muscle gets to that point where it can’t produce that force any more & you get what you needed to get out of the set. Small PR on shrugs too.

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Leg Curl: 50kg for 6
Hip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 10
Leg Press Calf Raises: 195lb for 9, 5 partials

Nothing on leg curls, (I’d switch to seated but all the seated ones I don’t really like), same on abduction. Added a rep on calves though which is awesome.

Single-leg Leg Extension: 140lb for 10, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 160kg for 10

Time to go up on leg extensions, hell yeah. Added 5kg on hip thrusts, (single-leg), & am finally up to 4 plates per side. I will keep going.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 8.5
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 8
Single-leg Leg Press: 100kg for 7
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 8
Ab Crunch: 55kg for 12

Back to the leg press I haven’t used in a few weeks for a PR. Half the entire stack, (stack = 200kg), for single-leg for 7 reps. Added a couple of reps on abs too. Forgot adduction but that’s fine.

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Upper day done with some good results.

Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 8
Hammerstrength Decline: 105kg for 8
Pullover: 70kg for 8

This made the whole workout. Adding a rep on both presses, very good. Pullover kept my performance despite doing this after.

Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 42.5kg for 9
Machine Row: 95kg for 8

Kinda expected to add a rep here on Barbell BTN OHP due to less fatigue from not messing around with 40kg first, (I did it but just for 3, a true warmup), but it’s a good feeling. I can’t wait to go back & try 45kg next time.

Decline JM Press: 87.5kg for 7
Wide-grip Shrug: 147.5kg for 17
Incline DB Tricep Extension: Two 18kg dumbbells for 11
Lateral: 10kg for 26
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 8

Couple good things here. Incline tricep extension did 11 reps which is solid. And on laterals, I managed 22 real reps before the partials kicked in. I think I’ll actually go up to the 12kg dumbbells now. But maybe it’s good where it is. We’ll see. New weight on cross body rear delts, nice.

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Hip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 12
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 9 (skipped these last time)
Leg Press Calf Raises: 195lb for 9, 5 partials

After no reps added last time on abduction, I add 2 reps on it today, tremendous. Same reps on calf raises but focused on ensuring great depth today.

Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 7, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 165kg for 10

Good first performance on leg extensions with this weight, up 15lb which is a big jump for single leg movement like this. Once again, added 5kg on hip thrusts, (single-leg), 4 plates & a 5kg plate too.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 8
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 8
Single-leg Leg Press: 100kg for 7
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 8
Ab Crunch: 55kg for 13

Up a rep on crunches. Hypers are interesting, so many ways to do them. Trying to take my hips out of it & make it really lower back oriented as I’m getting good glute volume from my other stuff.

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Lower & upper sessions done, logging both below.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+5kg for 13
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 5
Leg Press Calf Raises: 195lb for 9, 5 partials

Really good on abduction. Adduction was simply that the machine this particular day had strong friction, unlucky.

Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 7.8, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 170kg for 10

Nearly 8 reps on the leg extensions & successfully added 5kg again on hip thrusts. 175kg next time.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 7
Incline Hammer Curl: 20kg for 7
Single-leg Leg Press: 130lb for 7
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 9
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 8

Added a rep on this particular leg press machine too, nice. Heavier on abs as well.


Upper day done this morning.

Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 8
Hammerstrength Decline: 105kg for 9
Pullover: 70kg for 8

Added a rep on decline press was nice. Pullover I was thinking about ribcage orientation, actually focusing on moving it around less, less arching at the top, actually felt quite targeted in my lats.

Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 45kg for 8.5
Machine Row: 100kg for 6.5

Not bad on rows. I’m hungry to go up on these presses, 47.5kg next time. 45kg is probably still the ‘best’ weight but I just really wanna try the next one.

Decline JM Press: 80kg for 10
Wide-grip Shrug: 150kg for 17
Single-arm Pushdown: 12.5kg for 15
Lateral: 12kg for 13, 7 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 9

Good stuff on laterals. Single arm pushdowns feel really good. Ideally I’d have two stations two feet apart & use one for each arm. Having the attachment be situated in front of where my arm is rather than the middle of my body is great.

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Nice lower done today. I’ve gained only a very small amount of weight since finishing dieting formally but I think part of my progress is thanks to nutrition. While my calories don’t really get very high, the fact I’ve been consuming like 400 calories in pure fruit juice before training I think has been really helping. Well hydrated, pure sugar going into my muscle cells, no fat or protein to slow the digestion at all, fast acting. I think it’s not more popular advice because you’re basically telling people to consume like 100g of sugar, which the average person doesn’t need. But for a moderately muscular guy who tries not to have too much sugar outside of this, who needs to fuel his training without a big calorie surplus, it’s a real help.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+10kg for 9
Single-leg Leg Curl: 50kg for 7
Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 6, 5 partials

Yes, a 10kg plate on abduction. The entire stack plus this. And 9 reps too, this was really good. Not only that but heavier than ever on calves, 210lb for single-leg. Solid. Remember this is one exercise I do on a 2/2 tempo - but it’s not a ‘slow’ concentric, rather explosively pushing it to like 60% contracted, then an extremely brief pause before contracting hard again to do the lockout, kinda Jay Cutler style. Very calf specific.

Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 8, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 175kg for 10

Confirmed 8 reps on the leg extension with 155lb & successfully added 5kg again on hip thrusts. 180kg next time.

Incline Curl: 22kg for 6
Rope Curl: 22.5kg for 15

I filmed my incline curl set last week & didn’t really like it. I’m kinda slightly swinging back at the bottom of the negative to force a stretch, which, if my theory on hypertrophy is well founded, won’t really achieve anything. Assuming you’re even building muscle from the weighted stretch, it’s kinda irrelevant here because my bicep isn’t under load. My upper arm is straight down at the bottom despite the bench being at the angle you’d do incline dumbbell press on. So today, I went one angle deeper, super deep, & avoided that swing back. I want my arm in it’s ‘relaxed’ position to be slightly forward facing so that there’s a little tension on my bicep at the bottom position, basically. I think I achieved that. Not surprised I got one fewer reps. Rope curl for variety, honestly.

Single-leg Leg Press: 130lb for 8
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 10
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 9

Awesome, added a rep on leg press, really nice to see. Added one on hypers & abs too, really nice. Especially the leg press. Helps re-affirm to me I’m not completely bullshitting myself on hip thrust & involving my other leg in it, (I’m sure I am like 10% but I’m focused on horse-cocking big loads right now, & I’ll clean up once the quick progression drops off).

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Hammerstrength Incline: 105kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 110kg for 7
Pullover: 70kg for 8.5

Nothing good on incline hammerstrength today. Went heavier by 5kg on decline press & it went ok.

Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 47.5kg for 7
Machine Row: 100kg for 7

Really wanted 8 on OHP but numerically that probably wasn’t realistic. Gives me something for next time.

Decline JM Press: 80kg for 11
Wide-grip Shrug: 150kg for 17

Up slightly on JM, nice. Shrugs are an issue. At this weight, the bar slips out of my hands even with straps. It rotates in my hands & turns the hooks to rack the smith weight, not ideal. I’m going to have to think of something.

Single-arm Pushdown: 15kg for 10
Lateral: 12kg for 14, 6 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 6

Heavier on single arm pushdowns. Added a rep on laterals too. Those 12s feel like a joke on the first few reps. Maybe I’ll jump to the 14s sometime next month. Fatigue crept up on my on rear delts.

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Saturday lower day in the gym.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+10kg for 12
Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 8.9, 5 partials
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 9

Ok, so incredible PR on abduction. Stack+10kg extra weight for 12 reps. It felt smooth today, no additional friction to mess me up. But this is great. I might need to put this after hip thrusts due to practical difficulties adding weight on abduction, (compared to hip thrusts where I can still add like 60kg before worrying about that). And I can’t forget to mention the sweet leg extension PR either. Just about locking in 9 reps here, awesome.

Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 180kg for 10
Incline Curl: 22kg for 6
Pinwheel Hammer Curl: 20kg for 7

Hip thrust was really good. But I think my reps on the second leg were a little short, pushed a bit with the other leg to get it high enough to re-rack it on the last rep. I think I just need to rest longer between legs instead of the 20 seconds I do, now that the weights are getting quite potent. Incline curls again, pinwheel hammer curl for variety, frankly. Haven’t done them before. Didn’t really like them, size of the dumbbells kept me from curling that weight as close to my body as I’d have liked.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 6.5, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 100kg for 9
Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 10
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 9

Added a little on calves, sweet. Really nice on single-leg leg press - half the entire stack, single-leg, for 9 reps, fricking sweet. Near the end of my session, but a great PR.

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Highly productive upper day performed late this morning.

Hammerstrength Incline: 110kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 110kg for 8
Pullover: 70kg for 9

Up 5kg on incline & got the same reps as last session with 5kg less, (shitty performance that day vs awesome one this day). That’s terrific. Added a rep on decline, utterly brutally hard. And secured 9 reps on pullovers after that, brilliant stuff.

Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 47.5kg for 8
Machine Row: 100kg for 8

Also locked in 47.5kg on BTN press, awesome awesome. Need to decide between adding a rep or going straight to 50kg here. And great result on rows.

Decline JM Press: 80kg for 11.5
Behind the back Shrugs: 85kg for 12

Not quite 12 on JM. Tried a shrug variant, surprisingly hard to move heavy loads behind the back in my case. Could be a CNS thing & my loads will jump up quickly.

Single-arm Pushdown: 15kg for 12
Lateral: 12kg for 15, 5 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 9

Added 2 on pushdowns, (third time doing them, still rather new). Added another full rep on laterals too, terrific. Numerous PRs in this session.

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Nice midday Wednesday lower day.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+15kg for 11
Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 9.5, 5 partials
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 9.5

Wow, incredible things here. Hip abduction with the stack plus 15kg, (never done before, increased from 10kg), for 11 reps. So, I added 5kg, 10kg up to 15kg, & my reps only dropped by 1. This is really solid. Unfortunately, I think a 20kg plate wouldn’t fit - the circumference would mean there’s not enough space between the pin in the bottom rung of the weight stack, & the bottom of the machine just above the floor. So I’m a bit limited here. Might have to start doing hip thrusts first almost immediately to limit my loads a tad on these. And 9 & 1/2 reps on leg extensions with 155lb. Very nice.

Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 185kg for 10
Incline Curl: 22kg for 6
Preacher Machine Hammer Curl: 60kg for 7

Nothing new on curls, but great result on hip thrust once again. I’m going up to 190kg next time, it’s happening.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 7, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 150lb for 7

Locked in 7 reps on the calves, & 150lb for the first time on this particular leg press, for 7 reps - very hard but got it done. Awesome.

Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 11
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 10

Finished on these for a good result. No leg curls today, just going to let that knee flexion relax a little.

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Upper day this Saturday morning. Not a huge amount to report. No PRs on anything except a couple things.

Hammerstrength Incline: 110kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 110kg for 8
Pullover: 70kg for 9
Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 50kg for 5
Machine Row: 100kg for 8

Only thing of note here is I added weight on BTN press. Not awesome result, only hit 5 reps with 50kg. But, I think 6 next time is possible. Strengthlevel.com is an interesting website because the standards there are skewed by what people input for themselves. Some lifts are enjoyed by smaller weaker people & it’s easy to be in like the top 10%. BTN press is not such a lift. For whatever reason, really strong people seem to do it. I’m sheepish to admit that my strength on this lift is still novice & I’m only stronger than 35% of men who weigh 86kg according to the site.
Behind the back Shrugs: 80kg for 10
Decline JM Press: 80kg for 11

I used the barbell I was BTN pressing with, stayed in the rack & did behind the back shrugs. I think I’m switching to barbell on these. Behind the back shrugs seem to be a lift that’s not a straight line, (because your glutes get in the way). Plus, bringing that bar further back creates a bigger lever arm on the traps & drastically lowers the weight you’re shrugging with.

Single-arm Pushdown: 15kg for 13
Lateral: 12kg for 16, 4 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 10

Nice PR on pushdowns, added a rep, & also on laying rev flys too. Nice way to finish an otherwise somewhat uneventful workout.

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Hip Abduction: 200lb+15kg for 12
Single-leg Leg Extension: 155lb for 9.9, 5 partials
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 8

Another PR on hip abduction. Stack & 15kg for 12. The time to hip thrust before I hip abduct is coming very close. Leg extensions, I could almost call it 10 reps, very solid. I’m going to increase the weight once more on these.

Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 190kg for 10
Single-arm DB Preacher Curl: 14kg for 10, 16kg for 7

New bicep movement, done on an adjustable bench - I don’t like most preacher benches because I think it goes a little too far with the angle & consequent force on the bicep when it’s stretched. Adjustable bench angle here is a bit better. I’ll run this for a little bit. And yes, PR on hip thrust again, fucking sweet.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 7.5, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 150lb for 8

Great stuff here, improvement on both.

Hyper-Extension: 5kg for 12
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 11

Nice nice.

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Upper day done late this morning.

Pullover: 72.5kg for 8
Hammerstrength Incline: 110kg for 7
Hammerstrength Decline: 110kg for 8

Pullovers first due to availability. But I was closer to 8 reps with 110kg on incline than ever before.

Machine Row: 100kg for 8.5
Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 50kg for 6

As I expected, added a rep on BTN Press. Next goal is to hit 50kg for 7.

Behind the back Shrugs: 82.5kg for 10 then 4 partials
Single-arm Pushdown: 20kg for 7, 17.5kg for 9
Lateral: 12kg for 17, 4 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 8

Little bump on behind the back shrugs. I tend to do partials on newer exercises. The physical discomfort of going to failure on these was fractional compared to my much used, done 50 times shrugs in front of my body. I might stop the partials once I’ve done these behind the back shrugs for like half a dozen more sessions & the weights, & CNS efficiency, are up. No JM press, rack was busy, so did two sets of single arm extensions. Fricking PR on laterals! Very nice.

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Lower day done today mid-morning Friday. Normally I train Saturday but out of town weekend trip had me hitting this a day early.

Hip Abduction: 200lb+15kg for 13
Single-leg Leg Extension: 170lb for 7, 5 partials
Hip Adduction: 205lb+10kg for 8

Added a rep on hip abduction, awesome stuff. I’ll have to do hip thrusts before these from now on. I’ll still do adduction early since that doesn’t affect other lifts really. Up 15lb on leg extensions. Manageable, obviously the reps dropped but not unacceptably so.

Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 195kg for 10
Single-arm DB Preacher Curl: 16kg for 8, 8

Added a rep on the DB preacher curls. And did two sets. The second set was after calves & leg press, so decent rest. Just felt like doing two supinated sets rather than one supinated one hammer. This is a sign that my CNS is still on the learning curve on these. If I’d done these like 10 times & I had those CNS adaptions, I wouldn’t be able to do two sets for the same reps with RPE higher than 9, but it’s early days. PR on hip thrusts too, nice. Actually didn’t thrust it high enough on the second leg to re-rack it. Had to do it again with a little help from the other leg, ah well.

Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 8, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 150lb for 8

PR on calves, love to see it. Leg press was nowhere close to a PR, 8 reps took it all.

Hyper-Extension: 10kg for 7
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 11

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Upper day just before midday this Monday.

Pullover: 72.5kg for 9
Hammerstrength Incline: 110kg for 8
Hammerstrength Decline: 110kg for 8

Pullovers first due to availability. Started that with a win, 9 reps with 72.5kg. And then a PR on incline, 110kg for 8 reps, fricking awesome.

Machine Row: 100kg for 8.5
Standing Barbell BTN OHP: 50kg for 6

These will be a slow slog. I may switch back to Tbar rows frankly.

Behind the back Shrugs: 90kg for 10 then 4 partials
JM Press: 80kg for 12
Single-arm Pushdown: 17.5kg for 12
Lateral: 12kg for 17, 4 partials
Laying Rev Fly: 14kg for 8

Big win on behind the back shrugs & JM Press. Finally hit 12 on these. Nice.

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Single-leg Leg Extension: 170lb for 7.4, 5 partials
Single-Leg Hip Thrust: 200kg for 10/8
Single-arm DB Preacher Curl: 16kg for 9, 8

No more starting with abduction, since I’m already moving the stack plus as much additional weight as I can put on it. And adduction was taken so I did neither of them until end of session. Good result on leg extensions - funny because it felt extremely heavy but kept moving.
Added another rep on the DB preacher curls. Soon I’ll be up to the 18kg dumbbell. Hip thrust, managed 5 full plates for 10 on one leg, but couldn’t lock out the 9th on the other, sticking with this weight for now.

Leg Curl: 50kg for 6
Leg Press Calf Raises: 210lb for 9, 5 partials
Single-leg Leg Press: 150lb for 9

Really strong result on both calves & leg press here. Nice.

Hyper-Extension: 10kg for 8
Ab Crunch: 60kg for 13
Hip Abduction & Adduction: Entire stack on different machine for like 15

Little boost on hypers, nice. Abs too, very good.

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