Meadows Rows
Bar/8
25/8
50/6
75/12
90/8
Really got locked in and felt good here
Pull-ups
BW/10, 9, 8
Nautilus Pullover
100/8 x 2
I’m really not finding a good groove on these
Rack DL
135/3
225/3
315/8
335/8 x 3
The pin was one higher than normal and I used 30-50 pounds less than I normally would, but it’s a lot of reps, I wanted to really keep my lats tight, and my back has been cranky… so whatever!
Woke up at 200.2 today, which is headed into lean territory for me. It’s been painless so far, which is critical. If I can get to 195 without being sad, I can get pretty lean this year.
Arms
Did this:
And this:
Shockingly miserable.
Then 12 minutes of incline treadmill.
Tomorrow my wife is doing legs with me and she said she wants to go all out and get crippled sore! Let the games begin!
I mostly agree with this but I really hope the reason my arms suck is because I’ve neglected them for years not because they’re incapable of growth.
I really struggle to buy into programs where it feels like (to me) the author has overcomplicated it (that’s not to say there isn’t value in the authors approach or methods it’s just a turn off for me) - so many posts by guys on this forum who don’t look or arent big or strong asking about minutiae, but I get it, that was me 10 years ago, it’s fun to read and feel like you know a lot but the reality is 99% of this game is just picking up heavy stuff multiple times, doing more than you did last time and eating and sleeping enough to support that.
Haha crippled sore on legs is something I dread, your wife is mental!
Well, it only holds for “no matter how you train,” not “whether you train” - you should have some untapped growth!
Totally agree, even though it may not seem like it. CT’s articles and theories are overly complex, but I do enjoy reading them. His actual workouts, though, always seemed to me to be the ultimate in basics - just different ways of accumulating good reps. Somewhat ironically, this is why I have a tough time giving Paul Carter a pass for being such a dickbag. I know folks will say he had a tip or a cue that helped them, but this stuff really just isn’t rocket surgery. It’s also why it’s utterly meaningless when he tries to measure wieners in terms of iron accomplishments: again, it’s just not that complex. Not to go on a tangent about my little personality whining, but overall I agree this stuff is hard to screw up.
And onto legs!
So I ended up pushing me much harder than my wife today. She’s in great shape but hasn’t been lifting as seriously lately and her form just wasn’t at a place I thought it made sense on some of the exercises we picked. I also screwed up a little on exercise selection. She wants to do this more often, though, so I’ll rearrange my week so we can keep this up.
Lying Leg Curls
We both did 7 or 8 sets working up to one big set:
10 reps, drop weight and go to failure, drop weight and go to failure again, then about 15 partials, then drop one plate and hold on the mid position for about 20 seconds.
Squats
I had her work up to a really solid 115 for 8. She started out very uncomfortable but we found her stance.
I was pulling the bar out of her rack position - which was harder than just doing a rep!
45/10
135/8
225/6
315/4
365/3 + 275/10 + 185/15
Leg Press
I had her work up and do 3 sets of 10. I wanted her to get a little closer to failure, she was definitively leaving at least 5 reps in the tank, but we’re working on getting comfortable with it.
I did something pretty cool! I had her put one plate on just one side at a time, alternating sides. I would do 4 reps, then she’d add, then 4 reps, etc. We worked up to maybe 6 or 7 plates a side and then worked back down the same way. Miserable!
Adductor machine: 3 sets of 15
DB RDL
Slow eccentric, 2-count pause at bottom
65/10 x 2 for me (30s for her)
Smith Machine Calf Raise
245/10
155/10 + 10-second flex x 3 = 1 set, then a 10-second stretch
She did two sets of 20ish with 65
Eh. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. I was definitely smoked for two days. It was more than I’d normally do, obviously from looking back, but not crazy more. All the movements are pretty familiar too.
I’m more likely to get sore from multiple sets of lower reps right now because I don’t do those
That has long been my plan, but now I’ve got some pesky heart issues. It doesn’t seem to take much to keep my BP under control; we’ll see if that, in turn, improves my EF.
Back today… for back today
One-arm BB Row
Finally found a good groove on these - been a long time coming!
-/8
25/8
50/8
75/8 x 2
One-arm Supinated Pulldown
Used thick grips on these, which was not the right call for this exercise
Some amount of weight for a warm-up
A little more for 2 sets of 10
Rack Pulls
First pin - basically enough to take my legs out and go all back; felt like the right angle this time
135/3
225/3
315/6
335/6
365/6
DB Pullover
55/10 x 2
Chest Pull
Used the thick straps - liked it better
Some weight for a warm-up
More weight for 10
A little more weight for another 10
