Wave 4 Bench 29/05
Bench press:
5@20kg
5@40
5@60
3@80
6x3@95
6@95
Close grip foam press:
5x5@80
DB lateral raise:
15@15
10@17. 5
8@20 straight into 10@12.5 into standing DB press 15@12.5
2 sets of 20 band pull-aparts
Had to rush today, but felt quite strong and fast. Hoping to rep 120 pretty soon. Definitely liking the foam press, really stops my shoulders getting so torn-up with the close grip.
Wave 4 Deadlift 31/05
Deadlift:
5@60
5@100
5@140
3@180
6x3@205
4@205
Dead-stop squats:
3x2@140
Lying leg-curl / 45 degree back extension:
8@40 / 10@BW
8@50 / 10@25
6@50 / 10@25
8@40 / 10@25
No energy today, felt half asleep and weak. Had a big session of couch stretching and barbell rolling for my hip flexors and quads yesterday, with seemed to actually have an impact. Felt pumped up yesterday, but lost it today. Not to worry. Going to get my backload on today to see if I feel any better.
Wave 4 Press 01/06
Military press:
8@20
5@20
2x3@40
3@55
6x3@65
10@65
Dips:
5@BW
5@BW plus light bands
supersetted with some leg raises because why not?
Seated DB press:
8@25/side
8@30
5@35
2x6@30
DB front raise / Db lateral raise:
8@17.5 / 10@15
6@20 / 10@12.5
Much happier with today’s efforts, but still feeling a bit crap. Got a couple of decent head-spins with the pressing, but got some good speed on too. Happy with the last set, too. Going to test the banded dips with some heavier tension next week, they were fun. Didn’t seem too hard, but obviously ate into my ability to seated press.
Getting a bit stressed. Uni exams are coming up, and I’m signing a lease for a house with my fiance on Monday.
Wave 4 Back & Biceps 02/06
Barbell shrug / Chinup
10@60 / 10
10@100 / 10
10@140 / 10
8@180 / 10
8@180 / 10
21@100 / 10
Pinwheel curl:
8@37.5
2x8@40
Burnout concentration curls:
5@15, 10@12.5, 4x10@7.5 no rest between sets
Bent-over row:
15@60
12@90
Wasn’t as strict because my arms were rooted
Added FatGripz
2x12@60
Biceps are dead, triceps are stuffed after yesterday. Pretty stoked. Going to work on my hips a bit today and tomorrow.
Wave 4 Squat 04/06
Squat:
6@20
5@40
5@60
3@80
3@100
1@125
1@140
4x3@150
Added belt
5@150
Heavy banded deficit deadlift:
3@60
3@100
3x1@120
Paused leg extension / Bulgarian split squat :
10@40 / 10@BW
10@60 / 8@22.5
10@60 / 10@22.5
10@70 / 15@BW
Still no energy, but everything came together alright. Definitely a PR volume wise with 150kg, and I was sinking them all bloody deep, too. Looking forward to having a big day once I get back in the zone. Didn’t push the deadlifts because I was pretty sapped. Got a really massive pump from the quad sets.
In other news, signed the lease for the house today.
Wave 4 Bench 05/05
Bench press:
8@20kg
5@40
5@60
3@80
1@90
1@95
5x3@105
Close grip foam press:
5x5@90
Overhead cable extension:
20@26
20@33
15@33
DB lateral raise:
2x15@15/side
15@10
3 sets of 20 band pull-aparts
Nice and simple today. Didn’t rep out on the last set of bench because I didn’t have a spotter. Definitely getting a lift-off at least next week.
Wave 4 Squat 11/06
Squat:
6@20
5@40
5@60
3@80
5@95
3@110
2@130
1@140
1@150
Added belt
0@160
1@160
Dead stop squats:
3x3@120
Squat :
5x1@120
Paused leg extension / Bulgarian split squat :
10@40 / 10@20
10@60 / 10@20
10@70 / 15@BW
8@70
Absolute shocker, got really sick last Wednesday and haven’t trained since. Lost 5kg at least. On the up since the weekend, but still poor. The first set of 160 I cinched my belt extra tight, and lost it coming out of the hole, so I loosened it off and got one out. Going to repeat the realisation for squats next Monday. Everything else worked alright I guess.
Wave 4 Press 12/06
Military press:
10@20kg
5@45
3@55
2@65
1@70
1@75
3@80
3x3@60
Banded dips / leg raises
5x6@BW / 5x12
Overhead cable extension:
20@18
20@28
20@33
10@38
15@28
3 sets of 20 band pull-aparts
Still crawling my way back up. Only weighed 89kg before training, so that’s a factor. I swapped press with bench this week so I can get a bit more recovery time in.
Wave 4 Deadlift 14/06
Deadlift:
6@60kg
5@100
5@140
3@160
2@190
1@205
1@215
1@230
1@240
Front squat:
5@40
5@60
5@80
3@100
2x5@70
Lying leg curl / back extension:
6@40 / 10@10
6@50 / 10@30
6@50 / 10@30
Came in stronger mentally today, but still not there physically. 240 didn’t feel like a grind, but I was pretty spent after one rep so I didn’t push it. Front squats were alright.
Wave 4 Bench Press 16/06
Bench press:
8@20
5@40
5@65
3@75
2@90
1@95
1@100
1@105
3@115 PR
Close-grip foam press:
5@90
4x5@95
Pinwheel curl:
10@37.5/side
10@40
6@40 into curls 8@20, 8@15, 8@10, 15@7.5
Fatgripz bent-over row / Overhead cable triceps:
10@60 / 20@25
10@60 / 20@35
10@60 / 16@35
10@60 / 16@35
Wasn’t too bad today, but wasn’t able to get as tight as I’d like. Getting there
The plan is now to take a deload week, but if I feel a bit better, I’ll take Monday to do the Squat Realisation day again. Following the deload, I’m going to run the 10s wave for bench and overhead press, and 5/3/1 for PL for squats and deads. That’ll take me up to my wedding, which will give me a couple of weeks away from training. Then I have to decide what to do in terms of training cycles and meets.
Wave 4 Deload Squat 18/06
Squat:
6@20
5@40
5@60
5@80
5@95
3@110
2@130
1@140
1@150
Added belt
1@160
0@170 Waved up to 160 again
1@100
1@140
1@160
Speed squat:
6x5@60
Back extension:
5x10@BW
Definitely up on last week. Came in much better mentally, and didn’t get so smashed physically, but the strength isn’t back yet. Really noticed a lack of explosiveness, hoping to get that after a week’s deload.
Wave 4 Deload Bench/Deadlifts 20/06
Bench Press:
10@20
5@40
5@60
5@70
Deadlifts to knees:
5@60
5@100
5@140
2x3@180
Back extension:
10@BW
3x10@20kg
Did a bit of shoulder/md back prehab to finish off. Enjoyed the deadlifts to knees, felt interesting and new. Now I’m eating like a monster and having a great time.
Wave 4 Deload Press/ Back & Biceps 23/06
Military Press / Behind the neck push-press
5@20 / 5@20
5@40 / 5@40
5@60 / 3@60
Barbell shrug / Fatgripz Chinup
12@60 / 8
12@100 / 8
12@140 / 8
10@180 / 8
5@200 / 8
25@100 / 8
Pinwheel curl:
8@40/side
2x6@42.5
Straight into dumbbell curl:
8@20, 8@15, 8@10 no rest between sets
2x15@10
Fatgripz bent-over row:
2x12@60
6@80
My forearms are completely shattered; at the expense of my back, I think. There’s always a few band pull-aparts and rows to do later. Exams are finished, so there’s hopefully a little bit less stress over the next few weeks…oh wait, wedding :P.
Looking forward to the next cycle starting Monday.
Wave 5 Squat 3s Week 25/06
Squat:
8@20
5@40
5@60
5@80
5@100
3@112.5
3@130
Added belt
6@145
Pin squat:
3@100 super low pins
6x3@120 at parallel
Front squat holds:
10s@120
2x10s@140
15s@140
Paused leg extensions / Bulgarian split-squats:
10@40 / 10@BW
10@60 / 10@20
10@75 / 10@20
10@60 / 10@BW
Ab roll-outs:
2x10@BW
Didn’t push the squats too hard, tried to keep the speed up. I’m going to e rotating speed squats, pin squats and good mornings as supplementary lifts depending on how everything feels on the core lift.
25/06 PM
Good mornings:
5@60
5@80
4x3@100
2x5@60
Felt like a good choice, core and posterior chain were hammered.
Wave 5 Bench Accumulation 26/06
Bench press:
2x6@20
5@40
5@60
4x10@70
18@70 PR probably
Dumbbell incline press:
8@25/side
8@30
8@35
Decline JM press / Dumbbell jerk:
8@40 / 5@20
8@50 / 3@25
8@50 / 3@25
8@50 / 3@30
T-bar row:
10@40
8@80
5@120 straight into 10@60
3x20 band pull-aparts
Back and abs were extremely sore after the GMs last night; fortunately the weight wasn’t huge today. Last set of bench may have been a PR, but I’m not too fussed at this rep range. Good for later reference, I guess. Triceps were pretty stuffed afterwards, couldn’t get much out with the dumbbell press, but had a good day in general.
Wave 5 Deadlift 3s 28/06
Deadlift:
5@60
5@100
5@140
3@170
3@190
8@215 PR at this weight
Front squat:
3@60
3@80
3x1@100
Natural GHR (cheating) / Back extension:
8@BW / 12@20
8@BW / 12@20
6@BW / 12@20
Side planks:
30s@BW
2x30s with 20kg plate
I was shooting for 10 reps with 215 today, but 8 isn’t too bad. Still sore from Monday, so maybe my hamstrings ran out of push. Plenty of recovery after the session and later tonight, maybe some lighter good mornings or squats.
28/06 PM
Good mornings:
5@60
5@80
3x3@100
5@100
Gave it a little push because I was feeling good technique-wise
Wave 5 Overhead Press Accumulation 29/06
Military Press
8@20
5@40
4x10@50
12@50
Barbell shrug / Fatgripz Chinup
12@60 / 12
10@100 / 10
10@140 / 8
10@180 / 8
7@200 / 8
25@100
Pinwheel curl:
8@40/side
6@42.5
7@42.5
Straight into dumbbell curl:
8@20, 8@15, 8@10 no rest between sets
12@10
Bit slow mentally today, but had a good session. Triceps felt week on the press, so they’re going to get some punishment later. Kind of ran out of puff toward the end around the biceps work, but my forearms weren’t as sore as last week.
It’s my birthday, precious! Going out for Mexican tonight, which is a bit of a novelty here. I also have my buck’s day tomorrow. Go-karting in the morning and steakhouse dinner with the boys. Should be pretty sweet.
Wave 5 Squat 5s 02/07
Squat:
8@20
5@40
5@60
5@80
5@105
5@120
5@137.5
Low pin squat:
3x3@100
3x3@120
Paused leg extensions / Bulgarian split-squats:
10@40 / 10@BW
10@60 / 10@24
10@75 / 12@24
10@75 dropset 6@45 / 12@BW
Ended up doing paintball for my buck’s day, and staying up until 3 playing poker. Still, today was alright. Felt easy, but it shouldn’t have been hard. Didn’t push the last set of squats and probably could have, noticed speed is returning. Also noticed a weird sticking point on pin squats: I get plenty of push off the bottom, but lose a lot of speed just above parallel. Weird.
More good mornings and perhaps some abs tonight.
02/07 PM
Good morning:
5@60
5@80
4x3@110
Speed squat:
6x5@70
Pretty straight-forward. Not going to push the weight on the GMs until I can get sets of 5 or 6, and even then maybe not too hard too fast. Happy with the depth and muscle recruitment, it’s all feeling dandy. The squats were nice and snappy, too.
Wave 5 Bench Press Intensification 04/07
Bench press:
2x5@20
5@40
5@65
5@75
2x10@80
12@80
Close grip bench with Slingshot:
3@80
4x3@100
EZ bar French press:
12@25
12@45
5@65
12@45
T-bar row / DB rear delt fly:
10@40 / 8@20/side
10@80 / 10@20
5@120, 5@80, 10@40 double dropset / 8@20
12@80 / 10@20
Pretty good session overall, but I’m a bit concerned with how hard benching felt. Very little power today; possibly could have warmed up more, but still.
Just got my Slingshot this morning. Kind of bizarre - felt exactly like I imagined it would, but it’s still a very new sensation. The sets of close-grip were very punchy, but took a fair bit of effort. Kind of like bands, but a whole lot more pressure since there’s no deload. Definitely keen to mix in some work with it.
Wave 5 Deadlift 5s 05/06
Deadlift:
5@60
5@100
5@155
5@180
13@205 PR +1 rep
Front squat:
5@60
3@80
3@100
2@100 bar slipped forward
Front squat hold:
10s@140
3x10s@160
Natural GHR (cheating) / Back extension:
8@BW / 12@20
8@BW / 12@20
8@BW / 12@40
8@BW / 12@40
Good day today. Very explosive warmup sets; my head wasn’t quite there, so I took my time setting up for the last two working sets of deadlifts only for the bar to fly up. Front squats also felt okay, apart from losing the bar on the last set. The front squat holds felt fine, now that I have the breathing worked out I don’t think I’ll be blacking out. Hamstrings didn’t get too messed-up by the last accessories, although my lower back was pretty tight. Still waiting for the pump to die down.