Squat and other leg stuff-
As I’ve said before- all of my lifting is done to improve my deadlift. All of my squat variations are done to hopefully help me pull heavier weight. I’ve been doing all of my leg work without a belt to enhance my core stability and i’ve also been pausing without and supports under me to, hopefully, improve my initial pull off the floor. Things are going well and i’ve been getting pretty sore from the leg workouts.
Buffalo bar squats- no belt, paused- topped out at a 10lb increase from last week at 400lbs. My goal is to get to 500lbs with no belt and still pausing at the bottom. the lower back takes a beating as the weight gets heavier without the belt.
**leg press-**the camera angle is poor but i like to go as deep as possible while still keeping my heals firmly planted on the platform. I like to do a really long pause as well. This is one of my middle sets. I top out around 16- 45lb plates. i had a guy come over after i finished and loaded it up with 20 plates but just did this crappy short ROM shit show. I guess he felt accomplished afterwards because he “lifted” more weight than me…lol.
seated calf work- a bunch of some.
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still training hard but have been slacking on posting my training. Still focusing my training on a big deadlift.
squats and other leg stuff
Buffalo bar squat- paused, no belt- my goal is to get to 500lbs on these without a belt. once i reach 500 then i’ll try and get my reps to 10 with 500. i don’t need to go any heavier than that, IMO.
smith machine lunges- started with 25lbs each side for 10 reps and then added 10lbs to each side for 10 reps until i got into the 200lb range.
seated calf raises- some x some
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Deadlifts and back/biceps
Deadlifts- worked up to 5 sets of 3 reps with 545. I videoed my last set to see if fatigue had slowed me down. they felt slower but didn’t look too bad in the video. Lifts always look easier in videos.
Pendlay Rows- I used wraps this time to see if I could up the weight a bit…I never use a belt for these though. I think I can still move up more in weight before my form goes to total shit.
Preacher curlzzzs- some for some
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Strong work man. Do you think those Pendlays carry over to your deadlift pretty well?
Absolutely!! From bracing to keep your upper body from coming up, to generating the force needed to get the bar moving fast from a dead stop. I credit having a health lower back to doing exercises like this that allow me to keep an arch in my lower back while under a heavy load. The buffalo bar squats are similiar in that I have to lock in using my back muscles to maintain my lower back arch. I don’t have my arms in close and locked under that bar to keep that position. All of my training that focuses on building the muscle to maintain proper positioning has kept my back healthy. I literally feel nothing in my lower back when i lift.
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Appreciate the detailed response. I will add them in to my routine for a while as a staple. That is a good take on using your back muscles for keeping the arch and how it has kept your back healthy.
Thanks again. 
no problem!! All of my years of training have taught me that multi-joint exercises are the best for overall health and carry over to real world activities. I don’t have any fluff in my training anymore. everything has to help me in some way get better at doing real world shit. that’s why i focus mostly on deadlifts. If i can pick heavy shit up without getting hurt, I’m doing pretty good IMO.
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squats and other leg work
Buffalo bar squats- worked up to 420 without a belt. I’ve been thinking about pushing this to 500 or so but i think i’ll stay here and just up the reps. These can put my lower back in a vulnerable spot if i go too heavy. I think i’ll just push the reps until i’m up around 10 or so.
one legged leg press- worked up to 4 plates a side.
seated calf raises- some x a lot.
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Bench day- chest, shoulders and triceps-
****Flat bench-****worked up to a pretty easy 425.
**Standing overhead press in smith machine-**i really like these. i use a narrow grip.
worked up to 215x5
**super set using elbows out, extensions, and flyes into presses-**I really like adding a few exericses to a super set to increase the TUT and really exhaust everything. I don’t usually video this stuff but a lot of my bodybuilding style of training looks like this. I started with elbow’s out, which really isolates the triceps, then i move into extensions which is still a tricep exercise but i can use some of the chest to keep it moving. i finished with flyes into a press. I like to get a really good stretch on the flyes and then drop my elbows and finish with a press. the concentric portion of a fly can be dangerous so i just do the eccentric portion which is the most important anyway, IMO.
-started with 35’s and finished with 60’s.
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I like those tricep extensions using an incline bench. I usually do them on the flat bench. Resting the DBs on the shoulders is a good trick after burn out to maybe squeak another rep out.
doesn’t stress the elbows as much either.
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squats and leg stuff
Buffalo bar squats- no belt- I was toying with the idea of continuing to increase the weight on these until i hit 5 plates. that would be 510lbs but without a belt i’m afraid of a possible injury. Instead, I’m going to push the reps each week with 4 plates. I did three reps last week and upped them to 5 this week. I think i’ll top out a 12. once i can get 12 reps with 4 plates (420lbs) then i’ll move onto another squat variation.
Slant board with land mine set up. these really hit the quads.
seated calf stuff
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Nice squats. I would be pretty ecstatic with a single at that right now.
I dig those slant board landmines too. My quads really need more work. I am glute and ham dominant squatter. Might give those a try in place of my lunges this Friday.
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I really like the look of these! Thanks for sharing them.
squats are inherently ass and hamy dominant, at least if you wanna save your knees. I’ve always squatted with a low bar and wide stance. you are stronger this way and it puts the stress back on the hips, ass and hams. Because of that, you need to do quad dominant stuff to keep the legs balanced. anything on a slant board will do the trick.
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That makes a lot of sense.
Deadlifts, rows and curls
worked up to a 5x5 today with 515lbs. The goal, as always, is to keep my bar speed and form tight throughout all of the sets. The days of grinding through reps letting my form break down to get the weight up are over. With that I now don’t have the nagging injuries and pain that i used to have.
Here’s a video of my last set. I was tired but I felt the set was still pretty fast and my form was good.
Bent over barbell rows-
Haven’t done these in awhile so i wasn’t really sure how much weight i could handle keeping my form tight. I was happy working up to 335. I think i could push these to 405lbs.
here’s my last two work up sets.
Barbell curls
this is another exercise that I haven’t done in a long time. I started with the 45lb bar for 10 reps and added 20lbs or so for each set until i got up to 155lbs. still felt pretty light but didn’t want to push a new exercise that puts a lot of stress on the distal biceps tendon.
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Squats- other leg stuff
Buffalo Bar squats- I worked outside all weekend long picking heavy shit up. As a result, my back was exhausted going into these. The weight felt heavy on my back but i still managed to get one more rep than last time. That’s really the key to training- set small goals. I try and hit some sort of PR everytime i train so that i feel like i’m always moving forward. It might not be a weight PR but even a rep PR can keep you motivated.
Finished with 420x6 reps- no belt.
Slant board with land mine set up- started with 1- 45lb plate for 10 reps and then added a 45lb plate for each set until I got to 4 plates. Finished with what I fondly call a Fuck, Fuck set because when you finally finish all you can say is Fuck…fuck!! this is a giant set where you and your training partner pick a weight and the weight stays the same. you each do 3 reps, then immidiately go to 5, then 7, then 10, then 12, then 15 , then 17 and finally 20. no rest between sets. you only rest when your partner is doing their set.
seated calf raises- went heavy on these. started with 1-45lb plate for 10 and added one plate for each set of 10 until we had 6-45lb plates on the machine. i do these without holding onto the machine with my hands. i feel that if you hold on with your hands you ultimately end up pulling up with your hands lessening the weight.
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