1/15 Legs
Front Squats
185x3
225x3
255x3
275x1
295x1
315x0 (almost)
Hang Cleans
95x5
135x5
160x5
170x5
Leg Press, high foot placement
4x8
superset with ab wheelin, 4x10
Never done front squats before, and man do they suck. Will be doing more of these. Also cleans, I don’t do enough of, as can be seen by the shitty numbers (170x5 was pretty much a max)
1/16
Incline bench
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
285x2 (no spot)
295x3
Bench against bands
135x3
155x3
175x3x5 (this is where I felt my speed woulda dropped had I added more weight. Bout 300 at the top)
Cable EZ bar curls
5 sets of 15
Nice quick day. My incline has gone to shit though, think I’ll hit that hard this cycle.
1/23 Squats
290x5
320x3
365x5 PR
405x2 PR
315x5x5
Keep the squat PRs comin
Should note, just got back from an ice fishing trip, hence the break. I’m just gonna skip the 5s wave that I was supposed to be on, and shorten or skip my next deload.
1/24 Cardio/Full body
2.5 hours in the pit at First Avenue, In Flames & Trivium
Bloody noses x 2
People knocked out x 2
Crowd surfers launched x 4
note: no, I’m not the jackass in the pit thats just out to fuck people up lol. The bloody noses were mine, I’ve had a problem with them for a while, and the people knocked out were coincidental head to head collisions, and I apparently had a thicker skull. Makes sense to me.
This was followed immediately by intense alcohol tolerance training.
1/25 Bench
265x5
300x3
335x4 PR
355x1
295x4x4 (wanted 5x5 but I was gassed and hungover)
superset with neutral grip pull ups
10x8
Hungover bench PR? I’ll take it. Again though, I really should quit attempting 355 after a different PR, and in such bad shape. First rep was smooth, second one I couldn’t move off my chest, but locked out okay.
1/26 Lower
Deads
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x1
435x1
465x1
495x0
Leg Press
15x5
465 is a post-hammy pull PR. 495 would be a 20# all time PR. I think I can get this, but I hesitated with the heavy strain on the hammy and set it down. Very fast off the floor, though. There’s no question, my DL is going up with what I’m doing. (Pulled 455 at my last meet and it was not near as smooth as the 465 today)
And, holy balls, I’ve never had such a leg pump after those high rep leg presses. Felt like I was walkin on balloons.
1/29 Bench
250x3
290x3
325x3
360x2 PR
375x1 PR
2 boards
315x3x5
superset with wide grip pull ups x 60
360 and 375 felt heavy, but moved FAST, which is new for me. I’m usually the slowest lifter in the world. Messed around with some boards for the first time, think I like em better than pins.
1/31 Squats
275x3
315x3
355x3
385x3 PR
205x10x5
The every week squat PR’s are getting harder. Once they quit, I will be getting some tattoo work done on my upper back and will work front squats and deads.
2/2 Upper stuff
Incline Bench
185x3
225x3
250x3
275x3
300x2 (3 with a touch of help. I recall repping 315 on this, gonna have to check)
185x10x5 (This was a lot harder than expected, but then again its about 60% of my max 5x10)
superset with weighted chins
Bw+45 x 50
In and out in 40 minutes.
2/7
Bench
235x5
270x5
305x8
215x10x5
superset with pull ups
6x10
So I’ve really been dialing in my bench form, and on some rep RP attempts, my hands are slipping outwards a lot, and I think that caused me a rep or two tonight. Either I’m doing really well on “spreading the bar” or I’m not squeezing hard enough. Either way I’m gonna start chalking up on bench.
Note: I skipped a lower day because my lower back is having a hard time catching up with recovery. Squats tomorrow.
2/8 Squats
255x5
295x5
335x7 PR
225x10x5
Gotta love leaving 2-3 reps in the tank and still getting a PR.
2/13 Bench
224x3
270x3
305x3
340x3 PR
225x21
Ran out of time, so just repped out 225 after 5/3/1 sets. 21 kinda sucks, but after a new 3RM I guess it’s not terrible.
2/14 Squats
295x4
335x3
375x3
Leg Presses x15 superset with calf raises x50, 3 sets
And so ends the streak of PR’s every week. Coulda pushed for 375x4 but my form was sloppy on the third, and my lower back is acting up so I let it be. Didn’t wanna do more squatting after that and end up with an injury. I think now may be a good time to get that ink on my upper back and take a break from squats.
2/21
Paused Bench
235x3
270x3
300x3
335x1
350x1 (bit of a grind)
225x6x4 (long pauses)
225x8 (none left in the tank, very long pauses)
superset with neutral grip chins x 100 (8x10, 7, 7, 6)
Found my next meet, in Texas in July. Got a friend that lives 1 mile from the venue, so kinda an excuse to visit. July 14th, USAPL Summer Power Fest 2012 - Spring, TX. Planning on dropping to 198 for this one (I walk around at 220-225 right now, and chubby) with the following goals: 405-365-495, 1265 raw total. This is +100 pounds to my total, while dropping a weight class, and I still feel it’s a little conservative. My best gym lifts to date, that would pass in a comp would total me 1230, and I know I can squat/pull more, and my best paused bench was just today. Pretty sure I can improve on that in 20 weeks.
Anyways, the last two meets, the pause in the bench killed me, so I dropped 30 pounds on my training max and I’m gonna pause every rep. Second upper day I think I’m gonna stick with incline for another cycle or two. Gonna try to add a 3rd upper day as well, for heavier back work, since my lower body training is gonna suck for a while with a full back tattoo. Hopefully I can at least see where my DL is at.
2/22 Extra day
5 min jog, 10 min incline walk
BB Curls
45x8
65x8
75x8
85x6
95x5
105x4
115x3
125x2
135x1
superset with Ab Wheelin 6x5, and then I dicked around with isometric ab wheel holds. Kinda feels like it should when keeping core tight for squats, I dunno.
Preacher curls
75x8x3
superset with exercise ball crunches 20x3
Didn’t feel up for doing legs today, but I wanted to get into the gym. I never isolate my biceps or abs, and it shows.
2/29
Paused Bench
225x5
250x5
285x5
315x1
335x1
345x0 (have yet to hit this weight paused, but got 350 just fine)
superset with pull-ups x 50
Skullcrushers
95x6
105x6
115x6
125x6
135x6
superset with weighted pull-ups, BW+25x4x6
Paused Bench
225x10
Chin-ups x 10
I’ve been busy with work and lazy with going to the gym lately. Haven’t done lower body in two weeks. Time to pick it up a notch.
3/1 Squats
265x3
305x3
325x3
345x3
365x1
225x17
Set up a box an inch of two below parallel, all the benches/chairs at my gym are way too high. I can tell I havent squatted in two weeks haha.
3/5
Paused Bench
250x5
285x3
320x2
225x8x3
chest supported rows 4x10
Wanted to do a lot more but ran out of time. And I still didn’t feel right from drinking entirely too much this last weekend. I think boozing and increasing PL totals are somewhat contradicting eachother.