Nemesis

Training Training Logs
361

03/02/2014 Week 10 Day 1
BW 90.0

Bench press first rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
2x4@90
2x3@105
5x3@110

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
2x5@110
5x5@130
Front squat
3@100

Bench press paused 1" from chest
Feet up
6@75
2x6@90
4x6@100 no pause last set

Ran out of time before accessories. Feeling OK today, nothing special. I’ve migrated the bar a bit lower on my back for squats and it feels alright, if a bit new and different. Much more upright. I’ve been eating much more, and consistently, but the scales aren’t moving yet, so there’s more work to do there.

04/02 Armbo: First Blood part XVII

Band upright rows: severalx30
these feel pretty good
Rope pushdowns/rope curl: 4x20 plus a drop set of 10 and a rest pause 10
Dead-stop concentration hammer curl/FatGripz DB curl: 8/8
Machine triceps: 3x10
Overhead rope extension: 4x12

362

05/02/2014 Week 10 Day 2
BW 90.0

Deadlift
2x5@60
2x5@100
5@140
4x4@195
2@225
0@250
4@195
Feeling my high hamstring and hip again

45 degree extension
10@BW
10@1 plate
10@2
7@3, 7@2, 7@1, 8@BW triple drop set
3x10@ plate

HS incline press
15@1 plate per side
10@2
8@2.5
6@3, 8@2 + partials, 10@1 + partials

HS CSR 3x10

Lateral raise 5x12 plus a drop set of 8, and 8 after a rest pause. Then 2x40 wall spider crawl things.

Deadlifting felt quite good up until the top set, when my hip and hamstring just weren’t having a bar of it. Hence the disappointing back-off set, and getting on the back extensions fairly hard. Got a great big lower back and glute pump.

Felt a little put out, so I went a bit meathead on the accessories. Still, I’m sure they’ll help somehow. Shoulders feel a little stronger.

363

08/02/2014 Week 10 Day 3
BW 91.5

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
7@75
6@80
5@90
4@95
2x3@105
2x2@110
Feet up, each rep paused 1" from chest
2x3@105
4@100
6@90
No pause
8@80 (16)
10@70 (16)

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
2x4@110
2x3@130
5x3@140
Front squat
6@100

Leg press feet wide and low
3x6@5 plates per side
21…5…5@ 3 plates

Took an extra day to recover, but my hamstrings are still broken from the back extensions on Wednesday. Squats didn’t feel amazing, as a result, but I’m not unhappy with the form. Had a bit of pain in my neck which put me off a little but didn’t change the technique.

Aside from that, bench was alright and the leg press felt good. Going to get another little extra workout in this afternoon to make up what I’d otherwise miss. Hoping that next week is a step forward.

PM Back and shoulders

Reverse pec deck: 4x20
Seated DB press/lateral raise:4x12/20
Chinup: 3x8

364

10/02/2014 Week 11 Day 1
BW 91.5

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
2x4@110
2x3@130
4x2@150
Belt on
4@150

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
6x2@120

Front squat
3@85
3@95
1x3,3x2@105

Leg extension hold at contraction
4x20

Felt alright. Knees got a little sore during squats, but not too bad.

365

11/02 Arm-mitzvah

Rope pushdown/rope curl: 6x12 plus 2 drop sets of 12 each
Dead stop concentration hammer curl/FG DB curl: 4x8/8
Overhead rope extension: 6x15 plus a drop set

10/02/2014 Week 11 Day 2
BW 90.5

Deadlift
2x5@60
2x5@100
5@140
4x4@195
2@225
Belt on
0@250
10@195 touch and go

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
2x5@90
4x5@105 (supposed to do 5 sets of 4)

Meadows row 4x10, 1x15 down set

45 degree extension
11@3 plates
Drop set 6@2
Drop set 6@1
Drop set 6@BW
2x12@1 plate

Reverse pec deck/band upright row 3x20/20

Pissed off with deadlifts. Did the first double at 225 and it felt rough, and 250 didn’t budge; my left hamstring and hip giving me crap again. Pushed the back down set to see what I could do, and at least that was passable. Had a couple more reps but I didn’t want to tear my hamstring off. I guess it’s an improvement over last week. Bench was alright, I was a bit worn out though, not to mention all the triceps from yesterday.

Accessories were cool. Back extensions killed my whole posterior chain. Didn’t have much left at all for shoulders after that.

366

14/02/2014 Week 11 Day 3
BW 91.5

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
6x3@140 (Did it as 6,5,4,3)

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
6@75
5@90
2x4@105
2x3@115
2x2@125
4@115
5@105
6@90
7@75 (17)

Leg press
15…10@5 plates

Had to leave it there because I needed to get some errands done. Felt good today, much more punch. Hopefully that’s a new trend and not just a once-off.

15/02 Dorsal surface and shoulders

Seated DB press/lateral raise: 4x12/20
Rear delt flyes: 3x10 heavy partials plus 3x10 full reps
Pulldown: 5x12, 1x8

367

17/02/2014 Week 12 Day 1
BW 92.0

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
5x3@150 (did 4x4@150)

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
5x3@120

Front squat last rep paused
5@60
5@80
5x5@90

Leg extension hold at contraction
5x20

Had a good time today. Everything felt quite strong. I pushed for reps on squats but didn’t grind, so that’s progress. Bench was pretty fine, too. Made some strong pauses and the reps had alright speed for the weight. Front squats started out being hard to keep my arms up, but I found that by really getting my delts in front of the bar (and choking myself out), everything was a lot smoother.

I had a quick look at the 8 week chinup program, and I’m going to give it a whirl. A few sets of 10 everyday isn’t much. Not sure how exactly I’ll log them, but to date I got 3 sets in yesterday.

368

19/02/2014 Week 12 Day 2
BW 92.0

Deadlift
2x5@60
2x5@100
5@140
3@180
4x4@200
2@230

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
6@75
5@90
2x4@105
2x3@115
2x2@125
Feet up
2x3@115
4@105
5@100
6@90
7@80
8@75

Back extension
12@3 plates
10@2 plates
10@1 plate
3@BW
2x10@2 plates

Meadows row 3x8 fairly heavy

Lateral raise 4x15

I think this deadlift program had run its course, what with my hip playing up. I’ll take the deload that I’m supposed to take next week, and then either get back on regular Sheiko deadlifting or possibly even go for something lower volume.

Otherwise, bench was pretty good again; fairly tight and reasonable speed. Went hard on the back extensions and they hurt pretty deep.

369

21/02/2014 Week 12 Day 3
BW 92.0

Bench press all paused 1" from chest
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
5x2@120

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
5@110
2x5@130
5x4@140 (did 4x5)

Bench press all paused
6@75
2x6@90
4x6@100 (did 3x8, first and last rep paused)

Leg press wide stance
8@3 plates
8@4
8@5
6@6
20…8@4

Good session today. Felt like a challenge, but every rep was pretty sexy.

I’m definitely going to finish this cycle; from there the question is whether to stick with what I’m doing or increase the frequency. I’m considering going full Bulgarian for squats and bench. I’m pretty convinced my squat responds to high frequency, my bench to volume and frequency, and deadlift likes low frequency and moderate intensity. We’ll see; I might go for another Sheiko cycle before then considering how they’ve felt so far.

22/02 Back and shoulders

Chinup Challenge set 50 in 5 minutes
280 chinups for the week

Seated DB press/lateral raise: 6x12/15. Top 3 sets of press with 32.5
CSR: 2x12, 1x10, 1x8, 2x12
Band spider crawl: 3x40
Rope overhead extension: 6x15 plus a drop set of 15

370

24/02/2014 Week 13 Day 1
BW 91.5

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
2x3@150
Belt on
3x2@160 (did 2x3)

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
5x3@120

Front squat last rep paused
5@80
4@90
2x3@100
3x2@110

Knees were feeling a bit fried so I called it. I didn’t feel as explosive as I have the last couple of sessions, but it wasn’t such a bad session.

Årmm

Rope pushdown (dead-stop)/dumbbell curl: 3x10/10
Reverse curl/machine preacher: 5x10/10
Rope overhead extension: 6x15

371

26/02/2014 Week 13 Day 2
BW 91.5

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
2x3@120
3x2@125

Deadlift
2x5@60
2x5@100
4@140
4@160
2x3@190
2x3@220

Back extension
15@3 plates drop set
10@2 drop set
10@1 drop set
10@BW
2x10@2 plates

Bench press paused 1" from chest
Feet up
5@80
5@100
4x4@110 (did 3x5)

Wide neutral pull-down 6x10

Meadows row 3x10

Cable one arm lateral raise 2x10
Plus 2x40 band spider crawls

Decent. Deadlifts still need work, but all in good time I guess. Bench feels pretty good, and I think I could have put the weights up today if was that way inclined. Going to keep things the same though, and work on reps and pauses and such while keeping the load-volume about the same.

I hope the back extensions give me some carry-over to something because they’re getting stronger. I might start doing them with a bar so I’m not juggling plates.

372

28/02/2014 Week 13 Day 3
BW 93.0

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
6x3@150 (did 4x3, 1x6)
Front squat
2x5@80

Bench press all paused
Feet up
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
5@90
5x5@105 (8 last set)

Seated leg curl 4x10, partials after last set

Single leg press 3x10

Then some cycle sprints, which were ok considering the shitty bike. I think it may have been broken.

Squats felt really good today. Not perfect but pretty good, especially since my hamstrings are still in pieces after Wednesday. I’m not sure if it’s any kind of a PR, but 6 reps at 150 without a belt seems pretty good for me.

Other than that, just another decent step forward.

373

01/03 Shoulders and back

Chinup Challenge set 62 in 5 minutes
342 for this week

Seated DB press/lateral raise: 5x10/20, 35kg/side on top 2 sets of press
6 way raise/light DB press: 2x12/10
Reverse pec deck: 2x25
CSR: 4x12
Rope overhead extension: 7x15 plus a drop
Rope seated row: 20, 20, 15, 12

Going to get some shoulder prehab in tonight, too.

374

03/02/2014 Week 14 Day 1
BW 92.0

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
2x3@120
3x2@125
2x3@120

Squat last rep paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
5x3@150
Front squat 4@100

Bench press all paused
Feet up
5@80
5@100
5x4@110

Seated calf raise 5x20

Leg extension 5x20 plus a rest-pause set at the end

Bike sprints 2 x 30 seconds

Out of time. Pretty good session. Feeling a little bit of knee pain afterwards, but also some nice quad soreness. Bench is going really well at the moment; I’m handling 120 better than I was 115 a little while ago.

04/03

Rope pushdown/straight handle cable curl: 4x10 plus a drop set of 10 after the last set
One arm machine preacher: 6x12 plus a drop
Overhead rope extension: 5x20

375

Took Wednesday off because I didn’t feel like rushing this one.

06/02/2014 Week 14 Day 2
BW 92.0

Deadlift
2x5@60
2x5@100
4@140
4@160
2x3@180
2x3@210
4x2@220

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
8@75
7@85
6@90
5@100
4@105
2x3@115
2x2@125
3x1@130
2x2@125
3@115
Feet up
4@105
6@100
8@90
10@85
12@75

Rack pull
5@160
4@180
2x3@210
2x3@235

Back extension
16@3 plates, into
10@2, into
5@1, into
10@BW
2x12@2

Ran out of time. Deadlifts felt pretty rough today, but at least they’re in the books now. Stopped short of the top sets at 260 on rack pulls because I want going to push my luck that far. Other than that, bench went quite well. I bumped the weights up a touch with good results. 130 was pretty fast, and it was fairly huge volume overall.

I’ll get the next day’s work in on Saturday. Feeling reasonably happy with how things are moving so far since I picked up Sheiko again with some alterations. For anyone remotely interested and for my own record, it’s looking like:

Monday: Squat, bench as programmed, plus heavyish leg accessories
Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: Deadlift, bench as programmed, heavy back and light shoulders
Friday: Squat, bench as programmed, plus lighter leg accessories
Saturday: Heavy shoulders and light back
Chinup Project every day except Sundays.

The core lifts stay the same as in the Sheiko cycle, but the accessories are changed. I’m also trying to get more reps per set when possible while keeping the volume the same, eg 4x4 instead of 5x3.

376

08/02/2014 Week 14 Day 3
BW 93.0

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
2x3@150
Belt on
4x2@160 (did 3,3,2)
Front squat
3@80
4x3@100

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
Feet up, paused 1" from chest
6x2@120

Chinup Challenge set 54 reps
414 for the week

Leg extension 5x20 plus partials, a drop set and a static hold

Bike sprints x3

Feeling a bit off today, I have a bit of a head cold and major lethargy. Not to worry, got it done. Squats were a bit rough, and my knee is a little bit angry, but not as bad as it was earlier this week. Bench was fine, it was programmed lower volume so I didn’t do anything ridiculous.

377

10/03/2014 Week 15 Day 1
BW 93.5

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
5x3@150 (did 4x4@150)
Front squat
3@80
3x4@100

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
6x2@120

Bulgarian split squat 3x10

378

12/03/2014 Week 15 Day 2
BW 92.0

Deficit deadlift with a pause just off the floor
2x5@60
5@100
4@140
2x3@160
4x2@180

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
5@90
2x4@105
2x3@110
3x2@120
Feet up
2x3@110
2x5@105
7@90
9@75

Deadlift
4@140
4@160
2x3@190
5x2@210

Chest supported t-bar row 6x12

Lateral raise 3x20

Decent session. Deadlifts felt a bit better, but I can still feel my hip playing up. I need to find some time to try to traction and floss it with a band. I think the pauses just off the floor rather than below the knees is probably closer to what I actually need, given that I’m feeling pretty rubbish off the floor at the moment. The volume today was pretty cool too.

Bench was fine, plenty of reps, but I was lazy and didn’t get that tight. Need to learn some damn respect.

379

14/03/2014 Week 15 Day 3
BW 92.0

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
7x3@120 (did 3x4, 3x3)

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
5@110
2x5@130
4x4@140 (did 2x4, 1x8)
Front squat last rep paused
2x8@80

Single leg press 3x10

Pretty happy with today’s work. Didn’t have much energy but still pushed the reps up a little. For the sets of 4 reps with 120 the speed started to drop off, but I don’t know if I’ve ever done that many reps with the weight. So I won’t feel bad. I came in thinking about doing 2x8 instead of 4x4 on squats; I couldn’t get my head around it at first, but then I just did. They weren’t even that ugly.

15/03

Just some hex dumbbell holds for grip. The hex DBs only go up to 10kg at my gym, and then there’s 55s and 60s.

16/03

54 for the last 5 minute chinup test. 494 for the week

380

17/03/2014 Week 16 Day 1
BW 92.5

Squat
2x10@20
8@60
5@90
4@110
2x3@130
2x2@150
Belt on
3x1@170
Belt off
Front squat
4@80
4@100
4x3@110

Bench press all paused
2x10@20
8@60
5@75
4@90
2x3@105
2x3@120
3x2@130

Leg extension 5x20 plus a drop set of 20. Back-down sets 2x20

UDL 4x20@40

Really good day. Didn’t have a great deal of energy, but it wasn’t so bad. Squats felt about as good as they ever do; my right knee is giving me some grief but it didn’t make me struggle too much. My first single flew up as fast as a warmup. The next two were a bit more traditionally slow (normal speed for me) but I could probably have doubled or tripled if I had a gun to my head.

I might have shot myself in the foot by doing the front squats before benching, as I felt drained and struggled to stay tight. That said, although they got pretty bloody slow by the last rep, the top sets got done and I’ve never done doubles with 130 before, except with a Slingshot.

UDLs felt like they’re worth throwing in more frequently. Hopefully with more weight than I used today.

18/03 Spongebob Square-arms

Overhead rope extension/rope curl: 6x15, plus a drop set of 15
Rolling triceps/DB floor press/bench dips: 4x6/12/12
FatGripz barbell curl: 6x12