Mkral's Rebuilding

11/2

Speed pulls +bands (bout 130# at lockout)
185x3
235x3
275x1
305x1
335x1 (still fairly fast)
355x1 (not fast enough to be called a speed pull)

DB Rows
100s x 15e x 3

CS TBar Rows, narrow underhand grip
3 sets of 12, 1 set of 20

All interspersed with 150-200 reps of very light ab work. I tried exercise ball crunches, and cramped up in the 3rd set. My core is officially on the “untrained” level right now.

The original plan today was a light leg session, but my hamstrings were still pretty sore. Deadlifts felt fine on em, but I didn’t wanna push too hard, and this way I can do heavy(ish) squats tomorrow. I feel like I’m behind on back work, and my core is absolute crap.

11/3

Squats
285x12
285x8 (buried way low, at least 2 inches below parallel)
285x8 (switched to high bar, also extra deep and slightly paused)

Bunch of super light assistance, leg press, leg curl, calf raise

I’ve always squatted high bar because that’s what my shoulders/back allowed, but for some reason since my surgery I switched to low bar. Didn’t even really think about it. Went back to high bar on the last set for some variety, and it was a harder set than the other two.

I find it odd that my core sucks, and is extremely sore, as well as my back, and it’s not affecting my squat. I’ll take it.

11/4

Bench
250x12 (~2 in the tank)
250x8

Incline
200x9 (miscounted)
200x8

Close Grip
195x8 (paused last two)
195x8 (almost missed last rep)

Flat DB press
70s for 3 sets of 12

150 each SA cable curls and SA cable pushdowns, pretty light.

My traps were so sore I couldnt get into my bench setup today, and I felt slow, but the weights moved. I slacked on assistance today, was busy watching my Vikings get outcoached again.

11/6

Reverse Band deadlift with straps
275x1
365x1
455x1
505x1
545x1 (all reps very fast still)
600x1 (still prett quick, like an opener)
600x1 (slight grind)

Bulgarians 3x12

Lying leg curls 3x12

Leg press high and wide 3x12

Calf raise 3x12

So, my DL PR is 475, and those sets at 600 were 450 on the floor, 600 an inch or two below lockout. Not sure where that came from.

11/7

Cambered bench
200x5
225x5
250x5
275x3
295x2

Seated DB press
75s x 5
85s x 5
95s x 5
105s x 5
115s x 5

Rear delts
4 sets of 12

Pullover machine
4 sets of 12

Tricep pushdown machine
4 sets of 15

11/8

Squats
300x11
300x8

Leg press/calf raise superset
15/20x4

Leg curl x 100ish light

Leg ext x 100ish heavier

11/9

Bench
265x11 (maybe 1 left in the tank, not sure. Wasnt leavin without 10+)
265x8

Incline
210x8x2 (easier than previous incline sets)

Close grip
205x8x2 (no pauses, tougher sets than they should be)

DB circuit
A: DB fly x 10
B: DB skullcrusher x10
C: DB press x 10 no rest between, 3 sets

Tricep pushdown machine (im kinda likin this machine, same movement as a dip but no pain)
2 sets of 15

I had more in mind, but my triceps were shot. My right pec was a little off today, that worked itself out during flat bench sets. Left shoulder was also tweaked a bit, that worsened during incline. Next cycle i may replace the incline with something else, wide grip, bands, boards, i dunno.

Pretty excited to get out of high reps next week, i did enjoy the changeup, but im ready for heavier weights.

Edit:typo

11/12

Reverse band deads
205x some
295x some
385x1
435x1
475x1 (add straps)
525x1
565x1(crazy fast)
615x0(got it, but hitched)

Cambered bar squat
125x5
215x5
240x5
265x5
290x5
315x5

100 leg curls, heavy
100 leg ext. lighter

I wasnt sold on that 600 pull last week, so i got a bug up my ass to check it. Think i woulda been good for the 615 if my knee wasnt messed up from this weekends mosh pit.

Ive never done cambered squats, so just kinda worked up in weight to see where im at. They were easy but it seemed like i had to focus extra on not coming up on my toes.

Also, i want to note here in my log that staying up all night drinking, driving to a metal concert and goin nuts, then not being able to sleep at the hotel is not conducive to traing goals, and i am just generally too damn old for this shit. My nose may be broken, knee is sightly messed up, split my lip a bit, and probly got 4 hours of sleep total in a 48 hour period.

That being said, Hatebreed, In Flames, and Lamb of God was a pretty damn good show.

11/13

Push press
135x5
155x5
175x5
195x3
210x1
225x1(add belt and wrist wraps, easy)

Incline DB
70s x 15
75s x 15
80s x 15
85s x 14(damnit)

DB reverse fly
20s x 12 x 4

Machine circuit:
A: pullovers x 12
B: tricep pushdown x 15
C: reverse flies x 10
3 sets

8 sets of light ab work

Never done push press, so my plan was to work up to my PR strict press, and it was alot easier than expected. 210 i was a bit off balance and it was somewhat difficult, got amped and focused and 225 was cake. I will have to check logs for that DB incline, it doesnt seem like i shoulda had any problem getting 85s for 15. This machine circuit gave me the best upper body pump ive ever had, gonna keep doing this on my light/shoulder day.

PS, my abs still sucks.

11/14

Squats
315x12 PR
315x5
315x5 paused last rep

Leg press/calf raise
15/20x4

Lying leg curls
4 sets of 12

Goofy single leg press machine thingy
Full stack 4 sets of 10 each leg

20 min treadmill incline walking

So 315 for 12 is a PR, but ive never done 10+ for amrap. Ive also never dumped a squat in training, so my goal today was to maybe do that haha. I only racked it cuz i was seein stars.

Mid back is absolutely fried right now, i think the low bar is working that more.

Really looking forward to heavy squats.

Goofy leg press machine thingy.

It put a lot of pressure on the lower back but i think in a good way. I dunno.

11/15

Bench
275x10
275x5

Incline
220x5x2

Closegrip
215x5x2 all paused

DB bench
85s x 10
95s x 10 (shoulder was bugging, shut down pressing)

Football skullcrushing
95x10
105x10
115x7 (shoulder again)

Machine circuit:
A: tricep pushdowns x 20
B: flies x 15
C: reverse flies x 15
3 sets

Rotator circuit
(140 reps with 5# DBs, maybe ill post a video of em. I used to do these all the time, and never had any shoulder problems, looks like i will be adding em back in)

275x10 was probly all i had in me today, the last rep wasnt a grind but it was horribly slow. Im debating dropping incline cuz im almost certai its causing these shoulder issues, but i think ill give it another week. Im behind on back/bi work too so maybe thats it.

Edit: 20 min incline treadmill

11/16

Deads
440x1 (keeping today light)

Chest supported tbar rows, wide overhand
3 sets of 12

Lat pulldown, neutral
4 sets of 12

Decline hammer curls
20s for 3 sets of 12 each

Cable rows
4 sets of 10

Straight arm cable pushdown
4 sets of 10

20 min incline treadmill

Kept today pretty light, felt good. Tried one pull up, ab almost strained. Also tried one set of exercise ball crunches, abs werent havin any of it. Im honestly not sure how i get out of bed with a core this pathetic.

11/17

Reverse band bench
275x3
315x3
335x3
355x3
375x3
395x2x5-6

315x10
275x15
225x15
185x15
155x20 (only time in between these sets was stripping/loading the bar)

Machine circuit:
A: pullovers x 12
B: tricep pushdowns x 15
C: lat pulldpwns x 12
3 sets

The goal today was to feel some heavy weight in my hands on bench, i dunno why, i just felt i needed that. Also ive never heard of anyone doing high rep reverse band drop sets, but they are by far the best tricep pump exercise ive found.

11/18

Squats
330x10 PR
330x5 paused
330x5 not paused

Leg press/calf raise
15/15x3
20/20x1

Single leg press
3 sets of 12 each

Leg curl
4 sets of 15

Did not feel like comin in today, but i got motivated by a dude in the beginners forum saying that training legs is a waste of time.

11/19

Bench
285x8 (1 in the tank, maybe 2)
285x5 ( tried elbow sleeves here, didnt much like em)
285x5 ( no sleeves, piss easy)

Close grip
225x5x3 all paused, easy

DB bench
100s x 8
110s x 8
120s x 5

EZ bar reverse grip skulls
4 sets of 12

Machine circuit:
A: pullovers x 12
B: tricep pushdowns x 12
C: pec flies x 12
D: reverse flies x 12
4 sets

15 min incline treadmill walk

Another nail in the coffin for incline bench, shoulders felt great today. Pecs felt a little off, but thats just a consequence of my training frequency, not too worried about it.

Close grip sets are beginning to be too easy, i think i just couldnt handle the high reps earlier in this cycle. Something to note fornnext cycle, not gonna dick around with the plan for the rest of this one.

11/20

Pulls against bands (95 at lockout)
225x3
275x3
315x1
365x1
405x1 (nothin was fast today, but all good clean reps)

Bulgarians
50s x 5e
60s x 5e
70s x 5e
80s x 5e (had more strength/endurance but no balance on these today)

Lying leg curls
4 sets o 12

100 various embarrasingly light reps of abs

20 min incline walk

11/22

Speed bench against bands (light bands)
135x3
155x3
170x3
185x3
200x3x3 (295 at the chest, 325 at lockout. Happy with the speed for that weight)

DB bench slight incline
25s for 5 straight minutes (150-200 reps)

Followed immediately by:
Chest supported t bar rows, various grips for 4 straight minutes (200ish reps)

Followed immediately by rope tricep pushdowns til the gym closed (200 reps)

Then my arms fell off.

Short gym hours forced me to improvise a bit, so i stole something from StormTheBeach’s log. I now fucking hate that guy.

Edit: band tension notes

11/23

Squats
340x10 PR
340x5 (long pause on last rep)

RDL
135x10x3

Leg press/calf raise
400ish x 15/25 x 4

Leg curls x 100

Squats felt awesome, coulda kept goin but ill save 10+ sets for next cycle. I got yet another cold, so i ran out of gas pretty damn quick today, but still got good work in. RDLs even that light had my lower back on fire today, not sure what to think of that.

Squat PR inducing.

I’ve been seeing a lot about really strong guys never getting amped up during training, I’m gonna have to look into that. It sounds fucking boring, but if its more effective I will have to consider it.