Phase 1/ Week 3/ Monday 11JAN
Box Squat: 205
Speed Deadlift: 145
Walking DB lunge: 35
Took me a couple of sets to get comfortable with the Box Squats, almost like my CNS needed a few sets to get firing good. I have to say I am really happy with the loads I have been able to use on the Box Squat, next week is 3X3 on them and I am going to try to use 225.
Phase 1/ Week 3/ Wed 13Jan
Bench Press: 185
Neutral-Grip Low-Incline DB Press: 45
Seated Cable Row: Medium Pronated Grip: 120
Man the bench press kicked our ass! The last few sets I was only able to get 2 and had to have a little spot on the 3rd and final rep. Overall though I am very happy with my load as this was my 1RM for packing Day. Next week is 3X3 and I am going to try 190 on the first set, and adjust from there.
For those of you reading this who haven’t tried this I would STRONGLY encourage you to. It’s only 16 weeks long and the exercises change every 4 weeks so Eric essentially made it impossible to get bored with. Plus with the gains you make week-to-week it should definitely keep you motivated. One caveat (Eric talks about this in the book) You almost have to have a training partner, I can say 100% if I did not have my training partner I would not have made the gains I have so far.
Phase 1/ Week 3/ Fri 15JAN
Front squat: 145
Rack pull from Kneecap: 225
DB Bulgarian SS: 30
I had my training partner take a video of my front squats to critique my form, however I don’t know how to get the video to rotate so it is sideways. I apologize if you get a neck cramp trying to view my video.
Looked very technically sound to me. Time to add more weight 
Haha, yeah I know I know. I am planning on adding 20 lbs to it next week, I finally felt like I hit the groove this week on them so I feel comfortable adding 20 next week.
Phase 1/ Week 4/ MON 18JAN
Box Squat: 225
Speed DL @ 65% 1RM: 155
Walking DB Lunge: 35
This was a light workout besides the Box Squats which felt exceptionally easy considering this was my 1RM only 4 weeks ago.
So I went to the base today to get my BF% done on their BodPod machine. What a humbling experience, I weighed in at 177, and my BF% according to the machine was 25.2%! I honestly in a million years would have never guessed that high. Has anyone had a similar experience with this machine?
Great job with all the progress you’ve made so far.
[quote]armygrunt82 wrote:
So I went to the base today to get my BF% done on their BodPod machine. What a humbling experience, I weighed in at 177, and my BF% according to the machine was 25.2%! I honestly in a million years would have never guessed that high. Has anyone had a similar experience with this machine? [/quote]
As far as body fat percentages, I’m not totally familiar with BodPod. But I have used a couple of those “electrical sensor” type scale things, and they always give me a percentage over 19% which is absolutely ridiculous considering how I look in the mirror. Not that I particularly train or diet for aesthetics, but I know that what I see isn’t a 19% BF. So it may be the same thing with you?
Phase 1/ Week 4/ WED 20JAN
Bench Press: 185
Neutral-grip low-incline DB Press: 50
seated cable row: Medium Pronated Grip: 130
Stayed with 185 on the Bench since I needed a spot on them last week, did all 3X3 this time with no spot.
Phase 1/ Week 4/ FRI 22JAN
Front Squat: 165
Rack pull from kneecaps: 235
DB Bulgarian SS: 35
Felt pretty good on the Front Squats, glad I decided to add 20 this week instead of the usual 10. Next week starts phase 2, and the dreaded cluster sets. Eric prescribes we use our 5RM for these which I am guessing for me will be 170?
Phase 1/ Week 4/ SAT 23JAN
1-Arm DB push Press: 50
close-grip chin-up: BW+10
Push-up: BW+45
1-Arm DB Row: 50
PHEW! Phase 1 done. No injuries to report, although I do have a little soreness in my elbow’s and pateller-tendon area. I have said it before and I will say it again, for only being 4 weeks into this program this is by far the most gains I have seen in a program in this short amount of time. I know realistically I cannot expect to keep seeing the same gains in the subsequent phases. I continue to foam roll before every workout however I think it’s time to schedule some ART or Graston as the foam roller no longer hurts me. I am also going to start throwing in some corrective exercises from Assess & Correct to try to remedy this lower-crossed problem I have. I may do these in place of the prescribed warm-up routine Eric has in the book.
Get ready for some clusters…
Phase 2/ Week 5/ Mon 25JAN
Front Squat (Cluster Sets): 165
DB Step-Up: 30
Bar Rollout
Natural Glute-Ham Raise
Pistol Squats to Bench
Let me just say I was skeptical at how “hard” everyone was making these cluster sets out to be, I assure you they are EXTREMELY taxing. My first cluster set I used 170 and could barely make the last set of 2, so the next cluster I backed it down to 165 and felt a lot more stable.
Step-Ups actually felt easy after those damn Front Squat Cluster’s.
Bar Rollout felt kinda awkward as I have never performed this type of exercise before, felt a sort of pinching in my mid-back when extended out. This pain was not severe but definitely felt it.
Natural Glute ham raise are pretty weird too, as I have always done them eccentrically instead of concentrically. Second rep on my first set my right hamstring decided to cramp up and left a nice little knot.
Pistols were very humbling as I did not realize how shitty my balance is, I will be very surprised if I am able to progress to doing them to my 15" box.
Phase 2/ Week 5/ WED 27JAN
Incline BB Press: 135
Weighted Medium-Grip Pull-up: 10/10/5/bw/bw
DB Bench Press: 50
Head-Supported DB Row: 40
Cable Backhand: 20
Standing Zottman Curl: 15
This workout took FOREVER, including rolling, warm-up, and completion of all exercises our total time in the gym was TWO HOURS! We really didn’t rest much between sets either but when you are doing cluster-sets supersetted it takes a pretty good deal of time.
I am a weak bitch when it comes to pull-ups, and I am anal about form so this is why I lowered the weight. I would rather do BW with full ROM, than do half-ass pull-ups with weight.
Phase 2/ Week 5/ FRI 29JAN
Broad Jump: Done as prescribed, average for the five jumps was 86"
Deadlift With Bar Slightly Elevated: 205
DB Reverse Lunge: 30
Pallof Press: 80
Deadlift felt very good, definitely going up 10 lbs next week. Pallof press was awkward as my cable system is not adjustable, I have one low pulley, or two high pulley’s so I just put the d-handle on one of the high-pulley’s and it seemed to work ok.
Phase 2/ Week 5/ SAT 30JAN
Speed Bench Press: 95
Close-Grip Bench: 155
Chest-Supported Row: 70
Not a bad workout, out of the four for the week this one was by far the easiest and that’s good because I have a feeling Monday’s workout is going to kick my ass. I stopped doing the energy workouts since PT in ROTC = lots of,long distance running everyday. First week back to school we ran 25 miles over 4 days! I despise conventional Army PT!
Phase 2/ Week 6/ MON 1FEB
Front Squat: 175/175/180/180/185
DB Step-up: 40
Bar Rollout: BW
Natural glute ham raise: BW
single-leg squat to box: BW
These cluster sets were MUCH easier, I was not as gassed nearly as bad as last week. I wanted to use more weight on the step-ups, however the plyo boxes at the gym were uneven on the bottom causing them to rock a little as I stepped up.
[quote]armygrunt82 wrote:
Not a bad workout, out of the four for the week this one was by far the easiest and that’s good because I have a feeling Monday’s workout is going to kick my ass. I stopped doing the energy workouts since PT in ROTC = lots of,long distance running everyday. First week back to school we ran 25 miles over 4 days! I despise conventional Army PT! [/quote]
I hear ya man. Our new Colonel has us trying out 3-4 days a week of intervals after weights and one day of endurance running/Ruck Marching. It’s incredibly demanding but I think it’s going to work well for everyone.
Don’t be surprised if you make a big bench PR coming up after Speed Bench in a couple weeks!
Phase 2/ Week 6/ WED 3FEB
Incline Bench Press: 145
Medium-Grip Pull-up: 10/10/10/BW/BW
DB Bench Press: 60
Head-Supported Row: 50
Cable Backhand: 20
Standing Zottman Curl: 25
Mother !@#$%&$ PT Test yesterday had my chest sore as hell today, I rolled the shit out of it with a tennis ball, but it was still sore during the Incline Bench. Would have liked to gone up 20lbs on the Incline but I was getting a little strain feeling in my right pec so I decided to stick with 145. After my first two cluster sets on pull-ups my form starts suffering horribly which is why I dropped to BW on the last two clusters. Have I mentioned this workout takes FOR-EV-ER, started warm-up at 1730, walked out of the gym at 1915! Looking forward to Friday and pulling some heavy (for me) weight.
Phase 2/ Week 6/ FRI 5FEB
Broad Jump: Done as Rx’d, best 5 Jump average was 88"
Deadlift bar slightly elevated: 225
DB Reverse Lunge: 35
Pallof Press: Used a resistance band since I dont have an adjustable cable pulley
Felt strong on the DL, reverse lunges feel way too easy, going to go up to 45lbs next week.