T-Bars!
Warm up stuff
4x35# plates for 5 sets, +25# last two sets, pretty sure I did an extra set in there 
Notes:
I thought I would love the T-Bar setup at this gym, but the handles (attached, sad face) are a little too long. I had wanted to do these with my upper body above parallel but these handles had me a little higher than I had intended. BUT, this did force me to do them from a sort of dead stop each rep which was, well, something. I will say that the fifth rep of each set with four 35’s was pretty tough, the last two sets I had to put some body english on 'em. Tomorrow will tell the tale.
Speaking of tales, my ass is angry about yesterday’s squats. My thighs are merely disgruntled. I think that means I was doin’ it right.
Related:
Talked with a CO who was finishing up when I got there and he told me another gym ~10 minutes away is $20/month AND that they sent him a coupon for a sign up for 1 year/get 1 year free deal. If it has what I need I’ll definitely pay (effectively) $10/month and drive the extra 10 minutes. nod
Military Press
Warm up stuff
95x5, 115x5, 125x5, 135x5, 115x5, 125x5, 135x5
Notes:
Other gym (one of them) has as a specific rule “No Powerlifting No Chalk”. Lawl, as they say. I know I ‘should’ go in and see if it’s a rule that’s not followed but I’m not inclined to. The other place was listed on google map as almost 30 minutes away but some conversation reveals it’s more like 10; I’ll look in on them next week.
MP went well, I could maybe have gone a little heavier but not by much. My back (?) is a little angry with me, presumably from the T-Bars the other day. It will need to go ahead and shut up before front squats tomorrow.
And now, to work!
Tune:
(apologies if a repost, love this one!)
Front Squats!
Warm up stuff
135x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5*
Notes:
I’m doing these with a slight pause at the bottom, as suggested by Chris Colucci. I’ve never really done that (paused squat) and good god is it a different ballgame. My quads are already in rebellion. laugh Good times though, despite my back protesting a little.
A guy who also peruses T Nation (and who I chat with now and then) was in there today; he’d dislocated his wrist but was squatting with his cast on. It’s not as ‘wow!’ as the one-armed squatters but still impressive.
*I should have stayed at 185 or gone to only 195, the pauses went away on the last three of these reps.
Tune:
One of my favorite bands covering one of my favorite songs
Bench Press
Warm up stuff
205x3, 225x3x5
Notes:
Not bad, not bad. I could’ve gone up a few pounds on a few sets but my time was very, very short so I banged out the triples I knew I could get. I did a few sets of clap push ups when I got home while waiting for my food to heat up; chest and tri’s are very sore today. I continue to enjoy going in knowing I have only one lift to do and putting all my focus into that lift.
Squats today (this was yesterday’s workout), looking forward to 'em.
Squats!
From yesterday, again on a tight timeline. Happily that’s over though as all my shit (amazing how much you accumulate without trying) is now moved.
275x3, 315x3x5
Notes:
The third rep on each set was a decent challenge, and my main focus on these sets was ‘knees out’. It was cool to feel that give me an extra little push when coming up. The bar also left some rust lines where chalk lines would normally be on my shirt, which was fun.
Rowing Day
Warm up stuff
Bent Over Rows: 225x3x6
Notes:
I’m really pleased with bent over rows vs. those t-bars at this place. The setup was awkward on the t’s, and it felt good to be bent over rowing again. I did several feeler sets due to my last rowing session being such a relative bust (prednisone induced weakness shakes fist), and settled on 2 plates. The last two or three sets I would do 2 reps, set the weight down for a few (like three) seconds, then do one more pendlay-esque row. All in all good fun.
Related: Turns out the promotion for this month is waiving of the enrollment fee, so that was very unexpected win.
Edit: laugh Two hours later and my back is like “Sup- going to express my hatred now.” On the plus side it’s centered exactly where I want more meat on my back.
Military Press
Warm up stuff
MP: 155x3x2, 135x3, 145x3x3
Notes:
I actually did a set of 135x3 and was going to count it as my first set but it felt way too light. Then my second set of 155x3 let me know I was not going to be able to get more sets of 3 at that weight. Dropped down and then settled at 145 for the last 3 sets. Did another set of 135x3 as bonus work then called it a night. Pleased with the workout overall though my overhead press sometimes makes me sad. Progress with time though. nod
Front Squats (now with a layer of pause!)
Warm up stuff
205x3, 225x3x2, 245x3, 205x3, 245x3
Notes:
Good 'ole front squats. I’m going to check the bar in this place because today felt easier than it should have. Not to say those 245 sets weren’t hard (they were), but if I’m honest with myself I probably could’ve added 10# to each set. Still got a pretty good training effect; took a 2.5 hour car ride almost immediately after the gym and walking was hard when I got out of the car.
Related: I had hoped to run this lifting scheme for two months total but that will not be possible. I now live and work in two different places and the timing of days just doesn’t work out (har har). Recent Bulgarian-Style lifting article, here I come!
Bench 
Warm up stuff
205x5, 235x3, 245x1*
Notes:
Could’ve gotten two on 245 (I should bloody well hope so), but my shoulder which had been griping since last night stated in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t into the idea. I’m thinking it’s my overhead pressing that aggravates it? I’ve noticed after some MP workouts where I push that last rep (grind it, if you will) that my shoulder is unhappy later in the day. Since I’m about to embark on a plan with no overhead pressing we’ll see I guess.
On the other hand I did go in and get some work in. Long term that’s the important part I think.
Looking forward to squats tomorrow.
Hey pal 
(will read after foooood!)
Squats
Warm up stuff
275x5, 315x3, 355x2
Notes:
This is why I try not to get down about bench. I am super stoked about 355x2, mostly because I know I could absolutely gotten a third with it and probably a fourth if I wanted to push it. That’s not far off my PR for a relatively easy double. If I’m honest with myself (and I try to be) I’m putting most of my mental energy into squatting. I’m also probably sabotaging myself with neutral-at-best thoughts on benching, as far as that goes.
I kind of hate to be switching off this routine with tonight’s squatting, but I feel like doing 355 for a single 5 times in a week will also be helpful for mah strength so I’m not going to sweat that too much. I also know I’m not (strictly speaking) program hopping which I hear is bad (mmm’kay?). Barring injury or other weird stuff I’ll be bulgarianing for 3-4 months.
Finally, I’m especially pleased with the squat having spent the last two days not sleeping much, walking around the woods a whole lot, climbing up in some decidedly unsafe trees to some decidedly unsafe tree stands, and sitting cramped up on the cold ground a good bit. I was expecting a less than stellar night under the bar and got a pleasant surprise instead.
(I ‘did’ watch a Ray Lewis montage before going in though, so there’s that :D)
Edit: Rawr, old school style!
First day of Bulgarian article program.
Warm up stuff (6 minutes on the rower, 3 sets of 5 NG pull ups)
Squat: 335x1 top set
Bench: 245x1 top set
YTWL’s: 5#'s, some reps (8 or 10 over two sets)
Notes:
I went in with a generous floor of 315 for squat and 225 for bench, with the intention of doing a few YTWL’s at the end of it. The 335 was pretty easy, the bench was medium, the YTWL’s felt good. I plan to rotate between a few sets of 5 pull ups and a few sets of 8 or 10 inverted rows after my rowing. Tomorrow will be the same (laugh A theme of this program in fact) with the addition of a little pulling.
I think I like it, we’ll see by the end of the week. Plan now is to stay on this until the end of February. nod
Edit: Will be swapping in front squats and possibly high bar squats now and then. I had debated swapping in incline press for flat press now and then but I’m leaning towards not doing that. Rather, I lean towards bullheadedly continuing with one motion in hopes of improving my ability in that one motion.
Warm up stuff (5 minutes of rowing, 3 of 8 inverted rows)
Squat: 355x1
Bench: 245x1
Dead: 365x1x5
Notes:
So my bench should (sadly) probably come down to 235 since it’s supposed to be what I could get for a triple. That said I’m going to stick with the 245 for this week and see what happens. Look ma, no brains! The squat felt good, probably do that the rest of the week and bump it on up next week to 365. Front squats tomorrow. The deads were a little heavy (lol?) at first, but once I remembered what I was doing they came up as easily as they should have.
Random ex-pro bodybuilder/trainer to the stars note:
So there’s four guys sitting around talking football. One of them was doing (as in thirty minutes before) leg presses with ten or twelve plates/side, waaay toward the knee bend end of the sliding scale of full vs. no range of motion. He then goes on to tell the story (all true, of course, he has the initial conversation on audio tape and the final workout on video) of how a pro football player (I forget the name; fail) heard that he was in town. This pro football player asked him if he could help him get from 265 to 275 and get a little faster/stronger. Guy says to pro player: “How 'bout this? How 'bout I get you to 295, 8% bodyfat, AND make you faster and stronger?”
Long story short he puts the guy on a grueling training program for 2.5 months that does just that. Took him from 265 to 295, dropped him to 8% bodyfat, and took his bench from 300 to 500x5, squat from high 300’s to 800, and turned him into a beast on the field. He also went on to talk about how singles are dumb, and how no professional bodybuilder ever does full range of motion squats or leg presses. It was an educational night.
p.s. It ‘may’ be that I heard him say he took him from squatting high 300’s for a single to squatting that for 8 reps, but I’m 99% sure he got him up to 800 raw squat. Impressive to say the least.
Ahhh yeah.
Warm up stuff (1km rowing, 3 of 5 pull ups)
Squat: 355x1
Bench: 245x1
YTWL: 2 of 4, 5# DB’s in full effect!
Notes:
The squat was a little harder than yesterday, presumably because of the deads. OR! Because I’m not eating enough (I know this to be the case, course corrected as of now though). The bench was a little easier (the body is so effing weird :D), and the YTWL’s felt good. Decided to wait until tomorrow to front squat, totally arbitrary decision made as I walked through the doors. shrug
Did watch a guy work up to a very smooth bench of 315x1. Not earth-shaking by any stretch, but it was a really pretty single (no homo(?)). nod
Tune!
Warm up stuff (1km rowing, 3 of 5 pull ups, a little stretching)
Squat: 355x1
Bench: 245x1
Deads: 365x1x3
Notes:
So technically I’m supposed to be pulling between 70% and 75% of my max for deads. 365 is a wee bit above that but I think it’ll be okay. That said I may (or may not) pull some 335 singles next week.
The squat was about what it was Thursday, the bench was about the same. I reckon it’ll take a week or two for things to start feeling lighter. I also slept for shit last night, which I blame on recently getting a desktop and SC2. 
A friend of mine kept me up doing some 2v2 until I was like “Okay, it’s 3 a.m. I’m going to sleep.”
I had debated switching the order of squat/bench because it occurred to me that part of the reason bench feels heavier than I think it should is that I’m squatting up to a relatively heavy single before I bench. Then I decided that getting my squat up is, ultimately, more important to me than getting my bench up. When I hit 405 that might change tho’.
Warm up stuff (1km row, 3x8 inverted rows, stretching and such)
Squat: 355x1
Bench: 245x1
YTWL: 2x5 w/5#
Notes:
Everything felt really good tonight. My 315x2 set before the top set of squats was a wee bit heavy, to the point where I almost just did 335x1, but went ahead and did the 355. It only took the tiniest bit of extra effort. The bench went well and I’m sure I could have done a higher (255?) single, but will leave that for next week. laugh I really will front squat one of these days.
Oh, I also slept last night. This is helpful. nod
Warm up stuff (1km row, 3 of 5 pull ups, some stretchy business)
Front Squat: 265x1
Bench: 245x1
Notes:
Today was a fast day, got started later than intended and had to be home sooner than I thought! Got it in though and am pleased with that 265 FS. It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t hard, I think a 275 will be in order next time (completed without any psych up as per instructions). The bench is feeling smooth, looking forward to going up on that in the next few sessions.
I am hungrier more frequently doing this workout. I don’t know if it’s the total days in the gym, the total amount of work near-ish my max, or what, but I am hungry like Rhino all the time lately. I also feel bigger though I know that’s not true; I expect that’s from a confidence increase with the heavy-ish weights. I do know I like it though! (the feeling bigger/confidence, not the hunger.)
Tune:
Short version of last two workouts:
Tuesday:
Warm up
Squat: 365x1
Bench: 255x1
YTWL: 2 of 4 w/5#
Wednesday:
Warm up
Front Squat: 275x1
Bench: 245x1
Notes:
Very pleased with both days. 275 is a front squat PR and wasn’t easy but wasn’t hard. The 365 squat was also not easy but hard, super happy with that one. The bench is unremarkable except that it continues to feel easier. Looking forward to getting back in tomorrow; it’s funny how going several days in a row makes one day off seem like two or three.
Warm up stuff (1km row, 3 of 8 inverted rows, some stretching)
Squat: 335x1
Bench: 255x1
Deadlift: 365x1x6 or 7 (or maybe 8, sort of lost count)
Notes:
Good times. The 335 was pretty darned easy, the 255 felt like a 225, and the deads were good. Some of the gym clowns were in today, and if I had a dollar for every time a DB got dropped on the floor for no good reason I could pay my phone bill in a day. shakes head I also got to hear a story about how a guy got beat up by bouncers for helping his friend (“I said, fuck that, I ain’t gonna let 'em do Steve like that”) and how they (the bouncers) are a bunch of bitches for having backup around. I chuckled.
There were also several older couples in there doing this and that, counting for each other and doing little corrections the way people do who’ve been together for awhile. It was cute.
Yesterday’s efforts:
Warm up stuff (1k row, 3 of 5 pull ups, stretchingnicity)
Squat: 365x1
Bench: 255x1
Notes:
Man. Spent the morning Monday tromping around the woods, went to work that night, got up at 5 to go out and wait for Bambi, got rained on like a mofo. Made it to the gym around 7 that night and so, while the work got done, I should probably have stopped my squats at 335 and my bench at 245. But! I remember reading somewhere (related to this program) that your body will lie to you sometimes. I expect today to be more like normal gravity.
There was also a man and a woman in there separately who should be a couple, since they both had the exact same hairstyle and left their weights on everything they did when they were done.
