3/20
Squats
415x3x3
Leg press x 100 various reps
Misjudged my time today. Squats with a belt today, really feel like I’m learning how to get pounds out of that, but only at higher weights. Felt sick today durin warmups but came around. Good enough day for the time I had.
3/25
Paused bench
335x3x2
355x1
365x1 (paused PR, went fast too)
Paused close grip (long pauses)
300x3x2
Incline (T&G)
285x3x2
Thats it. Strength was all there today but i feel like complete ass. Yet another fuckin cold.
13 of 25 days in the gym this month so far, thats crap. If my active recovery and sleep is in line, i feel like i can train hard every day, but if its not, this is the kind of frequency i end up with. Still making gains and moving weights though i guess.
Im training through this damn cold though, at least the main movements.
3/26
Sumo deads
445x3x2
465x1
495x1 PR
515x1 PR
Kroc rows (straps)
100s x 12 each
110s x 12 each
120s x 12 each
130s x 12 each
Leg curls
5 sets of 20
Lat pulldows
3 sets of 10
So, apparently im a sumo puller. 515 flew up, much easier than my convemtional PR of 485 a couple weeks back. Maybe, anyways. Ill continue to train both.
Kroc rows today had me frickin pouring sweat, i dunno why they gas me so much.
3/27
Soilwork, Jeff Loomis, Blackguard show
This is one of the few bands that has me in the pit for the whole set, so this is relevant to my training since I didn’t pass out or die doing so. Great show.
3/28 spent in bed with this damn cold. Starting to think this isn’t just recurring colds.
3/29
Bench against medium bands, something like 15 sets topped off at 225, which is right around 400 at lockout. No accessory work cuz of the cold.
3/30
Squats
425x2x3
445x1
Leg press
600x12
690x12
780x12
870x6 (light headed)
Leg curl 10x10
Squats went nicely, considering 425 was a PR single for a long damn time. Almost went up to 465 but ill save it for my meet.
4/1
Paused bench
345x2x2
365x1
Paused close grip
315x2x2
DB bench
100s x 3
110s x 3
120s x 3
130s x 3
140s x 4
Tricep cable rope pushdowns x a million
Bench is all goin good, 365 hasnt been a grind for a while although i missed it not too long ago somehow. I think my T&G is close to 405, ill have to give that a crack soon.
My planned meet in a couple weeks, i cant find a sign up form and i havent been able to contact the guy running it, so… I dunno. If it doesnt happen ill do a gym mock meet with videos that day and plan a later meet, probly the one in June in Elk River.
thegym365.com/upa-raw-powerlifting-meet
Also might be doin another Tough Mudder around that time, so i may accidentally lose some weight.
4/2
Sumo deads
455x2x2
475x1
495x1
Some pull ups
Some rows
Some lat pulldowns
Some leg curls
Buddies gym again, gym floor and bars are terrible, and i wasnt fully recovered (tight hips, think i strained my sartorius as well) and 495 still went pretty well. No reason i cant open with that weight.
4/9
Squats
405x6 (beltless, PR)
430x1
455x1 (PR, with belt)
Leg press
6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 pps x 8s, paused all last reps
Leg curl x 100
Leg ext x 50
Some treadmillin
Busy week ended up being an unfortunately timed, but needed deload. Turns out this was a couple squat PR’s, didn’t even notice. I feel like I may be good for 5 plates in the meet.
Edit: typos and PR
4/10
Bench (T&G)
330x6
350x1
370x1
Reverse band
365x5
405x3
435x1
465x1
495x1 *
405x4
365x4
315x4
275x4
225x4
185x25
Step down sets down with no rest
Cable machine skullcrushers x 100
(Set of 15, couple seconds rest, set of 10 for 4 rounds)
Some treadmill
Im gonna stick with pausing my bench pressing for the majority, but ill mix in touch and go here and there. I dont bench often at this gym anymore and its set up much better for reverse bands so i threw those in today. On the 495, i got some unneeded spotter help on one side, so im countin it haha. (Two spotters due to no room behind the rack in rev. Band setup)
4/13
Well, today sucked but Im gonna try to look at the silver lining.
This was originally a meet day, which didn’t happen, so I decided on a test day/mock meet. Last night, I picked up an extra shift at work, got hit so hard in the nuts that my lower back hurts somehow, maybe some kinda whiplash? I don’t fucking know haha. Anyways, up til 4 am at work, then went fishing for trout opener til about noon. Slept for a couple hours and decided to go max out anyways. No food. happened anywhere in there.
BW:221, I usually hover around 225-227 right now so the lack of food was showing.
Squats, my lower back wasn’t allowing me to get to depth, at all. worked up to 475 for a high single.
Bench, started running out of warm up time because I spent it all trying to get my lower back to cooperate, but reps felt fairly okay. 335 and 355 with decent pauses went well, but when I racked 355, my entire body started aching. Tried 375 for a pause anyways and hit a brick wall at about a 2 board.
Did not have time to deadlift.
So, the silver lining part: I’m fairly confident the way 475 felt that I can get it, if not now, by the next meet. Bench, Ive already been pausing 365 just fine, just gotta look at today as a crappy day.
I took video of this debacle, but Im not gonna bother editing and uploading, because they suck.
Cliff notes to this post: I suck, but Im workin on it.
Edit: i want to clarify, i know most russian programming in particular does the opposite of what i do here, but it makes most sense to me to list sets in ascending order of the size of the unit: weight x reps x sets. 185x5 means 185 pounds for 5 reps, 1 set, etc
4/24
Paused bench
185x5
225x4
265x3x2
300x3x2
320x2x4
Squats (with belt)
225x5
265x5x2
315x2, 4, 6, 8, 7, 5, 3
Paused bench (feet on bench)
185x6
225x6x2
245x6x4
Squats (no belt)
225x5
265x5x2
285x4x4
Super busy and lower back issues lately, decided id come back with a sheiko cycle. Picked #31 to start with, with 445/375/515 for training maxes. Thats pretty conservative for squat and dead, but maybe a little aggressive for bench, may tweak as i go. The weights and volume felt fine today, but i wasnt feeling too great and was dealing with some major nausea during squats. Went and puked after the first round, i think the belt contributed some to that. Im pretty nterested to see how this program works for me, i can already guarantee ill get good results, but will they be better than my previous programming?
Oh, im gonna save accesory work and cardio/conditioning for off days.
4/26
Deads to knees
265x4
315x4x2
365x4x4
Paused bench
185x5
225x5
265x1
Rack pulls
315x5
365x4
415x3x2
465x2x4
Out of town, different gym. I was not even close to recovered for this, but deads went just fine. Bench, i felt like my pec was gonna pop so i shut it down. Crappy sleep and not recovered, slacked pn the warmip, i dunno. Sucks
Rack pulls, i do not like. Gonna replace those with pulls against bands or rev band. I just feel like no matter how i set it up i was pulling out of my groove, and thats bad news for DL.
4/28
Squats (w belt)
225x5
265x5
315x3x2
355x3x2
375x2x3
Paused bench
185x5
225x4x2
265x3x2
300x2x6
Squats (beltless)
245x5
295x5
335x4x4
15 min treadmill
Bench felt perfectly fine today, wtf? Weights are light but did feel reasonably heavy today. Got em all done with good pauses and form.
Squats went well, im moving my stance out a but more. Makes sense too, as i recently discovered that i pull sumo. Solid day.
5/1
Paused bench
185x5
225x4
255x3x2
295x2x2
330x1x3 (long paused last one, 3-4 sec)
Squats (belt less)
225x5
276x4
315x3x2
365x2x5 (some short pauses thrown in)
Paused bench
200x5
235x5
275x5x4(some long pauses)
Weights are light, very interested to see how this program pans out for me
5/2
Neutral grip chins x 10
Superset with
Tricep rope push downs x 10
4 rounds
Long paused illegal wide bench x 10
Superset with
Lat pulls downs x 10
4 rounds
Good mornings x 10
Superset with
Leg curls x 10
4 rounds
40 min treadmill at ~145 bpm
Nice little extra day
5/3
Deficit pulls
225x5
255x5x2
315x3x2
335x2x4
Paused bench
185x7
225x5
260x4
275x3x2
295x2x2
315x1x2 (4s pauses)
285x3
245x4
205x7
Deads
255x5
295x5
335x4x2
365x3x2
405x2x2
440x1x3
Forgot my notebook ad iPad today so I had to guess on the numbers. Did pretty well on bench, but slacked a bit on the pulls, was supposed to be a little higher volume.
So, last couple weeks has sucked for training. School and work both got much busier, but I think I’m in the clear. Couple Sheiko sessions didn’t get logged, but really, Sheiko sessions standalone aren’t worth much. It’s not a good program if you miss workouts, as it depends on the frequency. Anyways, starting up a cycle of what I know works for me and I’ll get back to logging consistently. I do wanna give Russian programming a better shot sometime though.
3/16
Squats (belt less)
315x10x2
335x1
355x1 paused
375x1 paused
Deads
330x8 sumo
330x8 conv
360x1
390x1
410x1 paused at knees
Leg curls x 20 superset with
Ab wheel rollouts x 8
3 rounds
Jumps superset with calf raises x some
SL leg press superset with more abs x some
Everything felt super light, which is the idea early in cycle. I still think its weird that conventional feels easier with light weights but I pull much more sumo.
3/17
Paused bench
245x10x2 (4 sec pause last reps)
265x1
285x1
305x1 (4 sec pause all singles)
Paused close grip
210x10 (misload)
220x10x2
Bunch of tricep accessories
Man, even at low weights, high rep paused work kills me, especially close grip
5/20
Rev band box squats
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x3
455x3
495x3 add belt
545x3
585x3
600x1
Leg press
570x10x2
660x10
750x10
Leg curls x70
Wanted 100, hammy cramped. Couldn’t work it out and decided to just call it
10 min treadmill and some leg ext and done.
5/22
Didn’t feel like goin into the gym today, so I just decided to do some stuff at home. Army PFT basic training test fit the bill. Easily got the max for push-ups, had to struggle a bit for minimum passing on sit-ups, and did the 2 mile run a minute faster than the max passing time. About what I woulda expected