Squat (Friday 03DEC10)
Squat
265x12
Front Squat
225x8
Seated GM
65x10
85x10
95x6
265 felt like death incarnate (just a bad day, I still don’t think I’m anywhere near maxing yet) but I can’t complain since Alex is doing Smolov right now. It really is brutal to watch. Got some plate pushes in too but not nearly as many as I wanted.
Bench (Monday 06DEC10)
Bench
235x3 miss 4th, still a PR
Flat DB
50x8
60x8
70x8
80x14
Ring Pushup
11, 11, 11, 11, 11
CURLMAGEDDON
Really wanted 4 reps but 3 was all the program called for today. Flat Bench has been feeling really good lately.
Deadlift (Tuesday 07DEC10)
No pulling today. Back is still not 100%.
DB Bulgarian
20x8
30x8
40x8
Back Extension (plate behind head)
BWx15
+10x10
+10x10
Not sure why I ever stopped doing these, they’re a great movement with hip motion and not flexion. I can only see the increase in strength endurance helping.
Obviously my number one priority is fixing whatever my issue is so I can pull again but it’s also getting a training effect without aggravating it. I have a list of ART and Graston specialists that I want to see when I get home so finally I can maybe get some resolution.
Also it may help if I start pulling from the floor every other week and utilize good mornings and pulls from blocks/the rack around mid shin for my other training. I’m deprived of my main form of assistance work (deficit pulling) for my weakness (pulling from the floor) but if I can still progress slower but safer this way than I think it’s worth it.
Accessory (Thursday 08DEC10)
Close Grip
225x2
2-Board
225x3
245x1
Band Pushdown
5x10
Ring Face Pull
5x10
Pure shit. Very unusual of me to have two terrible sessions from week to week. Probably just shows me that it’s a terrible idea to go heavy on regular bench and close grip in the same week.
What the hell is a butterbar?
Ct - Urban Dictionary: Butterbar
Squat (Friday 10DEC10)
Squat
275x8
Front Squat
225x9
Seated Good Morning
45x10
65x10
85x10
105x10
Full Contact Twist
25x10
Falling behind in my updates again, always happens during Finals week.
This session felt like crap to be honest. I was getting an unusual amount of sacral pain and it felt like I wasn’t getting anything from the quads today. Drive on and get it done though- not much else to do.
Bench (Monday 13DEC10)
Went full retard and tried to (unsuccessfully) bench 265 today instead of deloading like I was supposed to. Wanted to get it in since I’m not going to have a training partner over the winter back at home, but it didn’t work out. Going to give it another shot next week.
Finals Week (13-17DEC10)
Might as well just roll the rest of the week together into one post, wasn’t terribly eventful. Pulling was out of the question on Tuesday so that session was a lot of prehab, Thursday was deload bench and I had enough pain when I got to 275 squatting on Friday to stop it right there and just help Alex get through his 2nd to last day of Smolov Jr.
Looking back on this semester I made some of the best gains that I’ve had since I was a beginner up until the beginning of November when my class load hit me and I had 3 papers due in the same week on two separate occasions- might not be a lot for some people but most classes in EXSS it’s one paper a class tops and obviously getting hurt again didn’t help any. I’ve never been as stressed for a semester as I was this one. But now it’s over and just a huge learning point for me- it takes a lot to focus on training in the midst of real life.
Deadlift (Monday 20DEC10)
AM -
Airdyne 3 Mile in 9:53
Pretty pathetic but it’s my first time on an Airdyne in probably 8 months or better. Picked up a flawless model off of Craigslist for $75 after 3 weeks of hunting. I can’t escape the pain now that it’s lurking in my basement.
PM-
Rack Pull w/Chain
Mid Shin- Pin #2
135x5
135+50x3
185+50x3
225+50x3
275+50x3
295+50x3
305+50x1
315+50x1
Very weak from this height as you can see! Pin #2 is low mid shin, I could pull off of #1 and may in the future but that’s barely off the floor. This was pain free and I can see some good carryover occurring if I bust my ass and get this to 405+ by the time I head back to school.
SSB Squats
Waited until 5:30 for my Yoke Bar to be delivered (in my experience that’s the latest that UPS delivers in my area) and then went to the gym disappointed- should have remembered that it’s Christmas Rush week and that they’d be running late. It was there when I got back in all of it’s black epoxied glory but it was missing one of the handles! Got on the phone with Elite though and another is on it’s way. Can’t wait to try this thing out, the looks I got when I brought it into the gym were priceless.
DB Bulgarian
BWx12
30x10
50x8
Back Extension
BWx3x15
Bench (Tuesday 21DEC10)
AM
Sled dragging, forward and backwards. I’ll post a pic of my basement setup later on. I haven’t measured the distance yet but I’d say at least 20m.
PM
Bench
45x6
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x1
245x1
Didn’t feel confident going any higher than this. Disappointing but I moved on.
Floor Press
95x5
135x3
185x3
205x3
215x3
195x5
195x5
Very weak movement.
Face Pull w/External Rotation
50x12
60x12
70x6
Decline Pushup on Handles
21, 16
Band Rear Delts
I hope everyone had a great Christmas with the family. I got a new laptop for the first time in 4 years (Alienware 15x) and the upgrade is blowing my mind right now.
Lower (Thursday 23DEC10)
Front Squat
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x3
255x5
Like a boss.
SSB Squat
Yoke Bar weighs 82 lbs so I’ll just say 80.
80x5
130x5
150x5
170x5
190x5
210x8
190x12
This bar is sick but I don’t have the extended handles yet- I imagine it’ll only get better.
SSB Good Morning
80x10
100x10
120x6
One Leg RDL
Skip, balance fucking sucks right now.
Decline Situp
30, 30
Strength Upper (Monday 27DEC10)
Bench Press
195x5
185x5
175x5
165x5
155x5
Weighted Neutral Chin
BWx5
10x5
10x5
10x5
BWx5
Relative strength needs to come back.
Close Grip Incline
135x5
125x5
115x5
105x5
95x5
Light.
T-Bar Lever
45x5
70x5
90x5
115x5
115x5
Replacing this for next time, probably some variety of Seated Row so I minimize the lower back involvement.
Strength Lower (Tuesday 28DEC10)
Front Squat
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x2
265x3
My plan was 5 reps but that definitely wasn’t in the cards. Go for 4 or 5 next week.
Rack Pull w/Chains
135x3
135 50x3
185 50x3
225 50x3
275 50x3
305 50x3
315 50x3
335 50x1
345 50x1
Can’t claim all the progress here- set up the chains slightly differently.
SSB Good Morning
80 (bar) x 5
100x5
120x5
130x5
Hanging Knee Raise
I took the opportunity today to head up to Fort Drum to get fitted for my Dress Blues. First time on base and my first time in the PX. They were doing haircuts at the barbershop for $6.50, can you believe that?
Anyways, I got back pretty late and only had 20 minutes before the gym closed. Made the best of it.
Hypertrophy Chest/Arms (Thursday 30DEC10)
bodypart split oh nos
Flat DB Bench
30x12
45x8
60x8
70x8
85x10
85x7
Spider EZ Curl
something x something
Standing Cable Skullcrusher
something x something
Strength Upper (Monday 03JAN10)
Maximum Fitness turned out to not be open the rest of the week so I got a couple Airdyne/Sled sessions in.
Flat Bench Press
45x8
95x5
135x5
165x3
205x5
195x5
185x5
175x5
165x5
Weighted Neutral Chin
BWx3
+10x5,5,5,5,5
Close Grip Incline
95x3
145x5
135x5
125x5
115x5
105x5
Pendlay Row
135x5,5,5,5,5
Lateral Raise
10x12
15x12
20x12
25x12
Pinwheel Curl
35x8
35x8
40x8
Everything felt easier than last week, this is a good sign.
did you get u’re branch/unit/duty assignment?
Thanks for dropping by Mac :D. I have but the NG recruiter who’s supposed to be my POC has made himself scarce so I haven’t gotten to speak with the commander yet- 222nd MP Company out of Rochester NY.
Strength Lower (Tuesday 04JAN10) w/Video
AM
Airdyne 3.5 mi in 10:56 (last week)
Airdyne 3.75 mi in 11:44 (this morning)
Recorded another monster session video for today.
Here’s the write up-
Front Squat
45x8
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x2
265x5
Heh, if you watch the video you’ll see that I went for 6 and missed the last rep. I let myself get distracted by something in the mirror and actually lost count so I decided to do one extra rep to be sure. So I was pissed that I missed the rep, but then I thought it was hilarious when I watched the video and saw that I had actually done 5. Better concentration for next time.
Rack Pull w/Chain
135x3
135 50x3
185 50x3
225 50x3
275 50x3
295 50x3
315 50x3
325 50x3
335 50x1
355 50x1
Yoke SSB Good Morning
80x10
100x10
100x10
100x10
Hanging Leg Raise
6,6,6,6
Glute Bridge
BWx30s,30s,30s
I’m jealous of that yoke bar. It looks pretty sweet.
It is awesome!
06-07-08JAN10
My new laptop is in the shop (of course I never set up a System Restore, “It’s only 2 weeks old what could possibly happen?”) so my updates are a week behind here.
Hypertrophy Chest/Arms
Flat DB Bench
85x10,10
Decline Pushup on Handles
12, 8 hahahahahahaha
Barbell Curl
65x10, 75x10, 85x8
Standing Cable Skullcrusher
Incline DB Curl
Tate Press
As you can see I had no endurance left at all. The goal of this entire coming semester is to bring my strength-endurance and conditioning up so I think this scheme will work out.
Hypertrophy Lower
Yoke SSB Squat
220x8,8
Snatch Grip RDL
45x8, 95x8, 135x8, 185x8 then skip
Leg Curl
60x8, 80x8, 100x5
Decline Situp
35, 35
Just the bar on the RDLs gave me such a heavy lower back pump that I couldn’t even decide whether it was causing pain or just uncomfortable. It proceeded to get worse until I just called it quits at 185. It may not be such a good idea to have a bar in my hands twice a week. I’ll reevaluate and come up with something new for next week although the SSB Squats felt great.
Hypertrophy Shoulders/Back
Military Press
65x10, 85x10, 95x10, 105x10, 115x8
L-Lateral
25x10, 30x10
HS High Row
90x8, 140x8, 180x8, 200x8, 220x8, 230x8
Seated Row
120x8, 135x8, 150x8, 165x7
DB Internal/External Rotation
Strength Upper (Monday 10JAN10)
Flat Bench
215x5
205x5
195x5
185x5
175x5
Weighted Neutral Chin
12.5x5,5,5,5,5
Close Grip Incline
155x5
145x5
135x5
125x5
115x5
Pendlay Row
145x5,5,5,5,5
Lateral Raise
10x10, 15x10, 20x10, 25x10, 30x5
Pinwheel Curl
30x6, 35x6, 40x6, 45x6
Overall a good session but I can feel that I’m started to get a little beat up. Deload and more cardio next week I think.