Monday DE Bench
Bench w/ Doubled Minis
bar x5
135 x3
135 x3
135 x3
135 x3
185 x3
185 x3
185 x3
185 x3
Decline
225 x10
225 x10
315 x1 (stopped here, this made my shoulder hurt)
Fat Bar Tricep Pushdowns
70x20
70x16
70x15
KB Military Press
54lb x12
54lb x12
54lb x12
Face Pulls
3x20
Lat Pulldowns
4x15
Hammercurlzzzzzzzz
Tuesday 8/9 – RE Lower
Chain Suspended Strict SSB Good Mornings
bar x10
bar x10
155 x6
245 x3
295 x5
295 x5
295 x5
Speed Pulls
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
KB Pull Throughs
70lb x15
70lb x15
70lb x14 (almost ate the ground here so I skipped the last rep to laugh it off)
Chest Supported Row
90 x15
135 x10
135 x10
Standing Ab Crunch Thingers
70 x20
120 x10
130 x8
… did some more sets here never exceeding 6-8 reps …
Reverse Hyper
80 x12
115 x12
115 x12
Cashed. Felt great today.
Thursday 8/11 ME Upper
Floor Press w/ Swiss Bar
bar x10
bar x10
95 x3
135 x3
185 x3
225 x1
275 x1
295 x1
315 x1
330 x0 (would’ve been a 5 lb pr)
Floor JM Press
135 x10
135 x10
135 x10
Incline Skullcrushers
50 x10
70 x10
90 x10
Band Tricep Extensions (different setups)
Light Band x20
Monster Mini x10
Elbows Out Extensions
30x10
30x10
30x10
Felt like I got some good work in today.
Took Friday and the weekend off to help build a deck. Did this in lieu of any weight training
Monday 8/15 – DE Bench
95 + boat chains x3
95 + boat chains x3
95 + boat chains x3
95 + boat chains x3
115 + boat chains x3
115 + boat chains x3
115 + boat chains x3
115 + boat chains x3
115 + boat chains x3
Close Grip
2 boat chains x5
3 boat chains x12 (1 rep PR)
Elbows Out Extensions
25x10
30x10
35x10
I trained all last week, but didn’t have a whole lot to update on.
Tuesday – RE Lower
Suspended Chain Good Morning
Worked up to 275 x3 for 2 sets
Speed Pulls
315x3
315x3
add 3 inch box
315 x3
365 x2
365 x2
Hypers & Abs
Thursday – ME Bench
Bench against mini bands
135 x1
165 x1
185 x1
205 x1
225 x1
245 x1
265 x0 3 times
All 3 times my shoulder was killing me on the way down so I had my partners grab it. There’s no doubt I can press this, but I wasn’t going to risk injury for it. I kept moving my grip in further and further and it did no good.
Friday – ME Squat
Worked up to 545 in briefs only which is a PR
then
Rack Pull pin 3
225 x1
315 x1
405 x1
495 x1
545 x1
585 x1
635 x1 (PR tie)
655 x1 (+20 lb PR)
Abs Hypers, 45 degree Back Extensions
Monday – 8/22 DE Bench
I’ll be honest, I didn’t do shit here.
Tuesday 8/24 – DEish Squat
SSB to Box w/ Blue Bands
bar x10
bar + bands x3
155 + bands x3
245 + bands x1
265 + bands x1
295 + bands x1 (and done)
SSB Good Mornings against Blue Band
bar x10
155 + bands x8
3 sets of speed pulls
1 leg hyper extensions
70 x12
70 x12
70 x12
regular hyper extensions
140x10
140x10
Standing Abs
120x20
120x20
120x16
My grandfather passed away last Wednesday so I’ve been out of the gym. To be honest, I only have a day or two left before I get married / go away on a honeymoon for 2 weeks.
My motivation level is hovering around a 1 right now.
In the past 3 weeks there has been a family death, I got married, went on a honeymoon. Didn’t even get to my own apartment before I went to the gym yesterday.
It was ME Upper so I hopped in
Hanging Blue Bench
225x10
225x10 (and I’m already pumped from this)
315x5
365x3
405x1
425x1
450x1 (5 lb PR after not training for 3 weeks)
Close Grip Hanging Blue
315x15
Incline Band Skullcrushers (aka the Jerry O Press)
Light Band 4 sets of AMRAP
Close Grip Pulldowns
2 sets
Felt good to be back. My triceps are pretty sore today, I guess you’ll have that. Today is ME Lower. Going to put some gear on and see what I feel like – if I feel good I might try to lift in the October Lexen meet.
ME Lower
Squats
bar 4 sets of 5
155 x5
245 x3
add Metal Briefs
335 x3
425 x2
515 x1
briefs off, Leviathon on
605 x1
add reverse average band
695 x1
Deadlift
135 x3
225 x1
315 x1
405 x1
495 x1
585 x1 (waaaaaay too heavy)
I gained 15 pounds on my honeymoon (thank you Big Swell IPA) so all my gear fit a lot tighter. I couldn’t get the briefs and suit on, so I just went suit. 605 went up slower than I would have liked but whatever.
Deadlifts felt terrible. 585 shouldn’t be hard for me but it was an all out effort.
Training continues but it’s not been anything worth writing about. Some of my training partners have been getting ready for the LexenXtreme meet this weekend, so we’ve been catering to them. Here are some of the numbers I’ve hit recently:
Flat Bench 275lbs + 120 lbs of chains
Then the next week …
Flat Bench 280lbs + 120 lbs of chains
Pin 3 Pull w/ Doubled Short Light Bands 455 x1 (estimating ~300 lbs tension)
SSB w/ Heavy Bands 365 x2, 405x0, 365x3
Sunday 10/9 – DE Bench
Flat Bench
135 + Short Light Bands 8 sets x 3 reps
Incline Bench (45s rest between sets)
225x5
245x5
255x5
Chest Supported Row
3 plates / side 10, 8, 4 (30s rest)
Dumbell Extensions
40lb DB x10, x5 (30s rest)
Lat Pulldowns
200 x10
Hammer Curls
45 x11, x6, x4 (20s rest)
Today felt good. I’ve had good luck in the past with rest-pause style training and I was short on time today so I figured I’d hit it. I am a little beat up from yesterday as I was spotting and loading all day at the Lexen meet.
I got all of this done in about 45 minutes. I rather enjoyed it, felt good leaving the gym like I had accomplished something.
Tuesday 10/11 – DE Squat
My hips have gotten tight and weak so I did everything today wide stance.
Below Parallel Box Squat
bar x10
bar x10
155 x3
245 x3
245 x3
245 x3
295 x3
295 x3
295 x3
335 x3
335 x3
335 x3
Super Wide Sumo Pulls
135 x1
225 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
315 x3
Kettlebell Pull Throughs
70 x15
70 x15
85 x15
Hyperextensions w/ Weight Bag Thingy
x 12
x 12
x 10
Weight Situps
bw x20
20 x10
bw x15
Did all of this in about an hour. This was a hateful ass whooping. I needed it because I got lazy.
10/13 – ME Bench
Today was ME 2 board. The group likes to do shirt work once every 4-5 weeks, progressively lowering the board. So we’ll hit another 2 board in about 3-4 months. The goal is to carry over your PRs to a lower board each time. All of the guys put their shirts on, so I followed suit. Even though my shirt is about 4 sizes too big on me. Started off with straight bench for warmups
Flat Bench (raw & full range – no boards)
bar x15
95 x5
135 x5
185 x3
225 x3
275 x3
315 x1
add shirt, add 2 board
405 x1 smoke
415 x1 even faster
435 x1 not so fast but still locked it out (and a 30lb PR)
455 x0 lost the grove of the shirt, touched too high and almost died
4 board press (still a decent range of motion for my long ass arms)
315 x6
315 x9
Fat Bar Pushdowns
80 x15, x12, x10 (45s rest between sets)
Face Pulls
1 set x30 reps
My hamstrings are incredibly sore from Tuesday. I didn’t stretch enough Tuesday night. Lesson learned there. Squatting tomorrow is going to be a pain in the ass.
Hey, enjoy your log. Quick question though. It’s titled road to Rawww Elite. What’s up with benching in a shirt?
[quote]ragoo wrote:
Hey, enjoy your log. Quick question though. It’s titled road to Rawww Elite. What’s up with benching in a shirt? [/quote]
Great question. I originally started training raw. I got the opportunity to train with a group of really experienced guys (who are multiply) so my training focus switched. I still like raw lifting and will sooner or later get back to it. You’ll notice we only do shirt work every 3-5 weeks or so, most others we focus on raw work. I think it’s actually helped my raw numbers.
That being said, this was tonight’s total gear whore squat session.
ME Reverse Average Band Squat
265 x10
355 x3
445 x3
add briefs
535 x2
625 x2 (+1 rep PR, both easy)
add Leviathon (could actually get both briefs and suit on this time)
715 x1
765 x 1/2 (came up about 2 inches high – just didn’t feel right)
765 x1
805 x1
The last set was more weight than my eye balls could take.
Pin 1 pulls
245 x1
335 x1
425 x1
515 x1
Decided to cut it here, as I am still sore as shit from Tuesday. Also, this took about 3 FREAKING hours.
Tuesday 10/18 – Assistance Lower
Belt Squats (super wide)
1 plate per side x10
1.5 plates per side x10
2 plates per side x8 (4 second negative) 3 sets
Stiff Leg Deadlift out of Belt Squat
3 sets x 12 reps (60s rest) 2 PPS
KB Pull Through’s
3x12 70lb KB
KB Shrugs
70lb x20 3 sets
Standing Abs
130 x13
130 x21
130 x21
10/20 - ME Bench
The goal today was to just hit some reps with a reverse band and get some raw work in. But one of the guys wanted to try out a new shirt, and I got another hand me down to try out. So I ended up working up to a raw PR and then throwing on a new (to me) Metal Shirt.
Flat Bench w/ Reverse Average Band
245 x10
295 x5
335 x3
385 x3
425 x1 (I think a 20lb PR? Has been forever since I’ve done this)
add Metal Shirt
475 x1 (about 4 inches from touching)
475 x1 (about 3 inches from touching)
515 x2 (about an inch from touching)
515 x0 (dumped it)
535 x0 (touched, then blasted it back into the rack)
add 3 board
535 x1
Taking a million reps in a new shirt wasn’t today’s goal but whatever. The shirt is definitely much tighter than the one I’ve been training in.
Close Grip of a 3 board (w/ Reverse Band)
335 x12
335 x10
10/21 ME Squat / Pull
Today was supposed to be a deload week since we took a heavy reverse band last week. Instead of taking the weight down, we decided that a good substitute would be to just work on our stability by squatting with hanging chains.
The “boat chains” weigh 55 lbs each, and when both ends are hung from the bar, it forces you to stay super tight and not dive into the hole. You have to stay slow & steady the entire movement, or the chains will sway and ruin your life.
Squat
bar x10
bar x10
bar + 1 boat chain x8 (170 lbs)
bar + 2 boat chains x5 (280 lbs)
bar + 3 boat chains x3 (390 lbs)
add Metal Briefs
150 + 3 boat chains x3 (470 lbs)
200 + 3 boat chains x3 (520 lbs)
240 + 3 boat chains x3 (560 lbs)
290 + 3 boat chains x3 (610 lbs)
I was pumped with this. I think my best squat in briefs is 545, so this was a huge PR and with the hanging boat chains I’m very pleased. After taking 800 for a ride last week, this didn’t seem too bad.
Next we decided to pull off 2 mats. This is an awkward position for me. I’m much stronger off the floor (for whatever reason). While I don’t think I’ve ever done a straight-weight pull from 2 mats, I do know that my pin 1 pull is somewhere around 545. So I didn’t have my hopes up going into this.
225 x3
315 x3
405 x1 (woops)
495 x3
585 x1
635 x0
On the last pull, my hips shot back. I may have been able to grind it out but I wasn’t going to try.
Reverse Hypers
140 x12
140 x12
140 x12
140 x12
Hyper Extension w/ Cambered Bar on Shoulders
x10
x10
Great session tonight.
10/24 RE Bench
I spent the weekend drinking and then paying dearly for it all day Sunday. A lesson for all you kids out there: when you get old, hangovers last more than 1 day. And they suck more. Sunday I pretty much felt like a dog’s balloon knot but drank a lot of water and did a lot to just get some blood moving. Monday morning I still felt like death warmed over.
Training went like this
10-15 minutes of shoulder mobility and stretching
Flat Bench
bar x25
135 x10
185 x10
225 x10
275 x5
295 x5
315 x3
Dumbell Military Press (palms facing)
75x12
75x12
75x12
Lateral Raises / Seated Shoulder Raise Thingy’s
20 x15, 20x 8
20 x15, 20x 8
20 x15, 20x 8
Chest Supported Row Machine
1 set of 18
Tricep Pushdowns w/ Orange Band
1x25
After this I was pretty well cooked. Was happy with today, my joints were aching (which is usually a sign of being dehydrated). 315 for a triple is pretty decent, especially considering how I felt and how much volume led up to that.
10/25 - RE Lower
Felt a lot better today, but still feeling it a little bit.
Good Mornings w/ Cambered Bar
bar x12
135 x10
225 x10
315 x5
315 x5
Seated Good Mornings w/ SSB Cambered Bar
135 x5
225 x5
315 x5
365 x5
405 x5
That’s right, 2 heavy good morning movements in one session, bitches.
Stiff Leg Deadlift off 4" box
225x12
225x12
225x12
Leg Extensions
100x12
100x12
100x12
Hyperextensions w/ Green Band and Duct Tape’d Sand Bag Thing (D.T.S.B.T.)
x10
x10
Standing Abs
130 x31 (because my partner did 30 and I’m not afraid)
180 x4 (stupid)
130 x12
Good work today. All of this took about 1 hour. I can tell these fast paced sessions are getting easier. We used to be gasping for breath between sets now we can move around pretty good.
10/27 – ME Upper
For lunch today I ate a fake Chipotle which pretty much ate my stomach from the inside out. It left me feeling like shit for the rest of the day. Enough whining, here was the training:
Floor Press w/ 2 Boat Chains (all weights assume 2 boat chains per side)
bar x15
95 x5
135 x5
185 x3
225 x1
245 x1
285 x1 (+10 lb PR)
I’ll be honest here – the last set probably looked more like a barbell hip thrust than a press. I’m sure my ass was way up in the air here.
Close Grip Floor Press w/ 2 Boat Chains (all weights assume 2 boat chains per side)
185 x11
185 x10
185 x5 (started laughing because one of my partners shit himself and it stunk)
JM Press w/ 2 Boat Chains (all weights assume 2 boat chains per side)
135 x15
Chest Supported Row
90x20
135x12
180x10
Fat Bar Tricep Pushdowns
90 x15
90 x15
100 x10
DB Front Raises
25 x10
25 x10
Band Pull Aparts
3 sets of 20
Today felt real good, despite the fact that I had bubble guts all day.