3/17/20
Upper body press focused
Strict press 4x8 115
Wide grip bench 205 4x8
Ss with db rows 65lbs with 1 second pause at top and controlled negative
Face pulls 4x12 reps good control on cables with 55 lbs
This was a very easy day and wasn’t challenging. But it felt good to focus on the movement and just get the work done and moving on. Things will be heavier after a few weeks and challenging.
If at the end of this I can nail a 205 strict press I’ll be very happy.
Rest day today. Morning weight 200.8 which is a 7 year low on body weight. I feel good. Lots of energy and hard to not lift this morning. Me and my son went for a 11/2 mile walk last night and it felt good this morning. Tomorrow I have deadlifts with lower body accessories. Still an easy week so looking forward to smashing it and being done.
Logging for yesterday . Bodyweight 200.2 in the am. Ate fine and stuck to prepped meals. Good energy and slept well.
Deadlift
Snatch grip deads 255 4x8
Cable ham curls 3x8 50 lbs of plate weight
Back extensions with medium band 3x8
Threw in a little glute and calf work 3x8 to stick with the prescribed rep ranges. Nothing fancy.
Very light workout still in first week. Snatch grip deads are a new movement for me and they aren’t super comfortable but I can hold form and lift it easy enough so as I perform them I’ll feel better on the movement (maybe) I think next week I’ll do some iso holds for grip with my rogue cable pin. It’s a 2 inch diameter pipe and hard to hold onto with a decent load.
3/20/20
Last workout of the first week. Upper body and was basically 2 super sets. Push pull
Flat bench 4x8 225
Ss with neutral grip pull ups 4x8
Seated wide grip bb press with no back support 100 4x8 ss with wide grip pull ups 4x8
I added a ss of (vanity/health) light db stuff. Curls lateral raises and rot cuff movements.nothing crazy just pump work
The bench wasn’t bad at all. I haven’t done straight sets in a long time. So this week has been a little change of pace and as such I feel good about it all.
Seated bb press today was really light and I picked the weight on these. I kept the weight low because it’s a starter week and I wanted to just hammer the workout and get the movement pattern trained. They’re supposed to DB but don’t have effective db for pressing as I stated earlier so just doing a wider grip.
As far as a first week goes it was easy and I feel very good about it. Next week very similar with increased loads
Today is a rest day. I was 200.6 this morning. My diet yesterday wasn’t bad. Ate as scheduled. Plan to do some walking later today but mostly rest. Next workout squat focused
3/22/20
Day 1 of week 2. Squat LE focus
Stretching, hip ROM warm up
Squat high bar 4x5 265
Walking lunges with ssb 110 3x8
Single leg calf raises with 130 3x10
Everything performed with good form and speed. Just trying to perfect form while I’m in these lighter weights. Was still a good workout. The lunges are the worst part.
Morning weight was 199.8. Finally got a sub 200 lb weigh in. Diets going good. Slowly losing. Weight and have a lot of energy.
3/23/20
Lifted mid morning
Weight 199.8
Upper focused
Press 120 4x8
Wide grip bench 210 4x8 ss with 70 lb db rows 4x8
Face pulls/lateral raises/ biceps tricep 4x12
Everything felt good still a light day I think by next week things will get harder. Went for a 2 mile walk this afternoon. Looking like a good day over all. Tomorrow back to work and I’ll take Tuesday and Wednesday off gym and just take walks each day.
3/25/20 pm workout
Deadlift Lower focus
Snatch grip deads 4x8 270
Ham curls 3x12 with 45 lbs (single legged)
Back extensions with medium band. 3x10
So my weight has been consistent and not changed much 199.8-200.8 this morning 200 even. Just water fluctuations but I’ve modified my diet and reduced intake a little bit. So I’m hoping to see some changes in the next few days. I’ve increased my cardio a little bit and adding walking in 3-4x week in any shape I can. It’s been raining a lot so walking around in the living room if nothing else.
3/28/20
Am workout bench focused
235 4x8 ss with neutral grip pull ups 4x10
Seated bb press no trunk support 100 4x10 ss with wide grip pull ups 4x10
Lateral raises, bicep curls and a little rear delt work for balance.
This morning I was 199.2 so I feel like I cleared that plateau . Weights were still pretty light today. This ended the second week. Next week will be a little tougher on this workout. I made a few little tweaks to my diet as well. Nothing other than cleaning it up a bit more. Removed egg yolks from my French toast mix and decreased my snacks by about 150 cals. All together it should be about a 400 cal decrease per day. Also been much more active last few days. Not working out per day just being more active .
3/29/20
Day 1 weeks 3
Squat focused
Wasn’t able to get my normal morning weight. My afternoon weight was 199.8 so I think I was under 199 in the am. I’ll weigh tomorrow regardless.
275 4x5 high bar squats
Walking kindred with ssb 4x8 alternating with 120 lbs
Single leg calf raises 160 lbs ssb 4x8
So yesterday a tornado tore through my town and missed our house by about 300 yards. The west part of our neighborhood was destroyed. No fatalities which is a miracle. I was very active all weekend , clearing roads, helping ppl remove debris from their homes, yards, boarding up windows etc. I finally decide to squat this afternoon and I figured I’d feel like crap but I felt amazing. (Maybe was adrenaline)after all we heard the funnel cloud go by and felt the suction they produce. Squats are feeling like a normal movement again and today felt like a joke. My max is set low as going into this I was under trained on the movement but my body’s has re adapted quickly. If next week feels easy I’ll bump my max up a little during the deload week and go into strength block with a little more load. Regardless I wanted to increase activity and only slightly reduce cals but cleaning of destroyed homes wasn’t what I had in mind.
So I’ve missed a few days but 3/30/20
Morning weight 198.6
Weight is a little lower. Despite having all this tornado business my diet has been on point since i luckily had all my food prepped.
PM
Press focused upper body.
4x8 125
Wide grip bench 4x8 215 ss db rows 75 lbs 4x8
Face pulls, con curls, lateral raises 4x12 tri set. Good control on all movements
So today on press I felt strong. Everything moved good. Wide grip bench is doing well I could go much heavier but it isn’t the time for that yet. So have to stay a little disciplined. Really it was a good workout and wasn’t really super challenging but again I just started doing these movements agine a few weeks ago so I’m adapting. My personal best strict press was 225 lbs. that was of course with an extra 30ish lbs of bodyweight. If at the end of this I’m at around 200 lb strict press which would be a little over my bodyweight I’d be happy. But for now I’m just ramping up, getting quite a bit of weekly volume on the movement or a variation of it and hoping it improves.
3/31/20
Rest day
Weight 198.00
Lost a little more and feeling pretty good about it. Went for 2 mile walk carrying my little boy a good ways on my shoulders so that was nice. In any case not injured, feel good, feeling stronger and everything’s going well
4/1/20
Deadlift Lower body day
Snatch grip deads 4x8 285
Ham curls 3x10 reps 45 lbs
Back extensions 3x10 with medium band
Didn’t do anything extra just what the programs says. I feel like I get a lot from the snatch grip deads as they’re higher rep (for me) on what I do for deadlifts normally. So it’s been different. After next week o get into strength blocks and will be pulling conv but I’ve enjoyed this variation more than I thought I would. It hasn’t been that tough besides breathing. Something about that extra ROM from the wider grip. But I feel my traps and upper mid back a lot better after I do these. I’d rate my final set RPE pretty low however I could have kept grinding them out but that’s not what I’m after here. Next week is quite a bit heavier
So this will be a couplday’s in one.
4/2/20
Weighed 197.4 and was bench day ss with neutral grip pull ups 4x10
Bench 4x8 245 last set was pretty hard but I was rushed and didn’t take full rest time. So was kinda on me.
Seated bb press with no trunk support with 100 ss with wide grip pull ups 4x8
Lateral raises and bicep curls added. Light weight and sets of 12-15
4/3/20
Weighed in at 196.8. My weight is dropping pretty fast and maybe a little faster than I want it to. I am gonna add a couple hundred cals a day. And see how it goes. I’m wanting 2 lbs a week tops and I’ve lost that much since Monday. I know that there are water fluctuations and all that but things have been steady. So I’m gonna add some cals back in to slow it down to avoid nose diving over the next few weeks. I’ll add 200 to start and decide a few days later if there needs to be a change.
Missed a couple days of
4/4/20
197.2 bw
Squat
Squat 290 4x5 high bar
Walking lunges with 130 lbs on ssb 3x8
Single leg calf raises with 210 lbs with ssb 3x10
Went well wasn’t much of a challenge Except the lunges next week is a deload week then go into strength block .
4/5/20
196.2 weight
Press focused day.
135 4x8 strict press
Wide grip flat bench 4x8 225 ss with 85lb db rows 4x8
Face pulls, lateral raises, biceps 4x12 giant set
Went well the press 1st set was harder than the last set but it wasn’t bad. I feel like I’ve gotten stronger.
4/7/20
Deadlift focus
Weight 196.4
Snatch grip deads 4x8 at 305
Ham curls 1 rest pause set with 60 lbs 20/15/12
Banded back extensions 3x10 with medium band
Wasn’t bad I decided to do rest pause instead of straight sets for time restraints.
Last day In first 4 weeks of program.
Weight 197
Bench 4x8 255 ss neutral grip pull pull ups 4x10
Seated bb press no trunk support 4x10 105 lbs ss with wide grip pull-ups 4x10
Lateral raises and some shoulder health movements nothing worth noting just stuff I typically do.
Last set on bench was rpe 10 for sure. 4 sets at this weight was my limit. I’m hoping strength will be a little better on this lift going forward. I may have to drop my max to complete program if not. Which I’m fine with I just want to have the program completed mostly and be as close to accurate as I can on everything.
So I have pretty much been logging my info in my phone. However since the ADD challenge is going I will log it here. I plan to log 1 week at a time however today I’m gonna log my last 3 weeks of training.
Leg day
Primary lift SSB front squats
Wk1 4x10 at 190
Wk2 3x8 at 240
We3 3x6 at 270
Ham curls with bands at
2x15,
2x12,
3x10
These I just add a little band resistance each workout nothing to technical. I normally go over over reps on last set and push failure except on the first week (2x15)
Stiff legged Deads
2x15 at 205
2x12 AR 225
3x10 at 235
These are all done with a very slow eccentric and explosive contraction. Basically 2-3 second negative. This makes this crap suck and forces me to lower the weights.
Bench focus day
Bench paused wide grip.(about 2 inches wider than my computer bench)
Wk1 4x10 at 190
Wk2 3x8 at 235
Wk 3 3x6 at 265
Standing press
2x15 at 100
2x12 at 115
2x10 at 135
Lateral raises db ss with face pulls 2x15, 2x12, 3x10
Weights slowly increase on these nothing exciting
Weighted dips
2x15 body weight
2x12 with 60 lbs
3x10 with 80 lbs
Basically all my accessory work is done slow eccentric to increase tut.
Deadlift variation
4 inch block pull Conventional
My con deadlift sucks. I have pulls sumo primarily and decided to focus on conv pulling variations.
Wk1 4x10 at 240
Wk2 3x8 at 315
Wk3 3x6 at 245
Bent over rows
2x15 at 195
2x12 at 225
3x10 at 235
Shrugs
2x15 at 245
2x12 at 295
3x10 at 325
Bicep curls bb
Same set rep scheme per week as all other accessory work with 65,75,85 lbs.
I finish with body weight chins and just kind stay i. The same mind set for all ex.
Notes on this program: week one is a “deload” week. I never plan on going to failure it’s a “pump week” where you do soem easy work get a pump and recover. Accessory work isn’t taken to failure this week.
Week 2-4, all accessory work last set should be failure. Because it’s sometimes hard to plan that exactly, I usually take last set to failure. Some of the sets should have been 2-3 reps extra on the last set in this log but I’ll have those added in future logs.
So basically the way I’m approaching this program is, there isn’t much volume. So what would you do if you only was doing a low level of volume? Slow down the eccentric Movement? Execute each rep with purpose? Try to use perfect form?
Well that’s what I’m doing. I come out of each Workout feeling worked hard with a lot less volume. Also I’m able to work with far less weight which is nice.
The ssb front squat is the variation I’m sticking with on squats for a while and it has improved in the short time I’ve been doing it. I expect to hit some crazy prs on this lift over the next 12 weeks. 3x6 at 270 on ssb fronts is a pr for for the movement and I felt like I had more in the tank. Actually last set of 6 I could have gotten 3-4 more. I’m saving it for another day though.
Bench I’ll probably stay on bench and maybe just change grips.
Deadlift I think I’m gonna run below the knee pulls(at low/mid shin at the moment) I’ll be able to add weight to the lift and over load a little more but I think it’ll help me with handling a little heavier weight again.
Week 4
Leg day
Ssb front squat 2x3 at 285
Went well o had more in the tank but I left it there. I was surprised . I had 5-6 reps in me on last set.
RDLs 255 4x8
Ham curls with bands
Bench
285 2x3
Plate raises 45 4x8
Lateral raise 50 lbs 4x8
Rear delt flies 15 lbs 4x15-20
Tricep pushdowns 60 lbs
All this was done with slow eccentric and I made the light weight feel heavy. I had to run this different because of hand injury. Thumb hurts extremely bad if used for anything so I couldn’t press, do dips , and bench was extremely painful and had me throbbing in my right hand.
Pull day
4inch block pull
365 2x3
This was easy I had several in the tank. But I wasn’t in here to break records today with an injury. I wanted to get base work in move it fast and be done. Straps used on this with thumbless grip.
Bent rows with 245 x8 this was painful on hand with straps so I decided to just do cable single hand rows. 60 lbs used 4x10-15 with super slow eccentric
Bicep curls super light but high reps I don’t remember the rep count.
That’s all I had in me for this day.
I plan to take 4-5 days off and focus on cardio, stretching and getting diet on point again.
Last week of training went pretty well with modifications for injury. This was a light week with straight sets only.
Leg day Ssb front squats
195 4x10
RDLs 2x15 205
Ham curls bands 2x15
Bench wide grip (2 inch wider than normal grip)
190 4x10
Loadable db front raise 30lbs
Lateral raise 20lbs
Rear delt flies 15lbs
Tri set
Close grip bench 185 2x15
Block pull below knees
255 4x10
Cable rows 60 lbs 2x15
Wide grip pull ups bw only
One armed shrug 125 2x15
Bicep curls 2x15
Overall week was good. I’m able to do everything without any pain in my thumb (because I don’t use it) so it’s working. The only thing that does bother the hand is pressing. Bench hurts it but overhead pressing kills me so I switched that out.
Logging last weeks trading that ended on Sunday
Legs ssb fronts 245 3x8
RDLs 240 2x12
Ham curls 2x12
Calf raises with with ssb with 245 20-20
Bench /push
240 3x8
Db front raises 50 lbs, lateral raises 28 lbs, reverse flies 28 lbs 2x12
Close grip bench 205 x12 then tricep pushdowns 3xfailure.
Deadlift/pull
Block pulls 315x8,8,20(felt like pushing myself hard and just kept going)
Cable rows 70 lbs x12,16
160 lb single arm Shrugs 2xfailure
Pull-ups chins 1xfailure
Biceps concentration curls 2xfailure 38 lbs.
I didn’t feel my lats were hit well enough so I did a light weight v handle cable rows with paused contraction and slow eccentric. Then when I couldn’t do any more with that tempo I did 4-5 extra reps fast and cheating. 3 sets and I feel my lats now.
Pretty good week. Thumb hurt to bad to do anymore close grip bench. So did triceps pushdowns to failure instead . Over all bench went well.
Leg day went great and I’m feeling very strong on ssb fronts. I think I may shoot for a or set soon.
Deadlift day I felt great and working sets felt way to easy. Which my maxes are set very low on purpose. Decided to go for max reps on final set and hit 20 at 315 pretty easy. I had more in the tank just decisee 20 sounded good . I’m gonna bump max on this lift up 20 lbs or so for next cycle . My upper back is sore today and on fire. This isn’t nearly my best numbers ever on dead lift or dead lift variations but It’s a huge improvement over the last few months. I think I’m close to pulling 500 from blocks again. I plan to shoot for a 3 rm on deads in a couple weeks when it’s time.
This coming week is 3x6 at 85% usually this week is 3x failure or close to on all lifts except for deads. It’s the hardest week of this program and pushes me the most.