Thanks man. Other than my 260 fail I’ve been real pleased with bench. I think I’ve performed well on all of my main lifts except for squats.
Cycle 6
Week 1
Day 4 (67)
Deadlift
Deadlift
135 x 5
205 x 5
245 x 2
295 x 5
315 x 5
332.50 x 8
Hammer Grip Chins
BW x 8
+35 x 6
+35 x 5
+35 x 5
T-Bar Row
135 x 13
135 x 13
160 x 10
160 x 10
Bent Over Barbell Row
135 x 15
165 x 12
165 x 12
165 x 12
45-degree back extension
4x12x25lbs
Cardio: 14 minutes Tabata
-5 min warm-up, 4 minutes at 8.9mph @6.5 incline- 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off & repeat, 5 min cooldown
Total gym time = 86 minutes
Thoughts
Assuming on T-Bar rows the weight of the bar is not included. Everything else went fine and I got stronger as time went on. Deads were a little tough but not brutal. I think I’m strong enough to hit at least 10 reps at that weight but I’ve never been able to dead high reps. I feel like once you get to 3 plates everything feels the same, lol.
Cycle 6
Week 1
Day 5 (68)
Standing Military Press
Standing Military Press
Bar x 14
75 x 5
100 x 5
125 x 5
132.50 x 5
142.50 x 10
105 x 7
BB Upright Row
80 x 12
100 x 9
100 x 9
100 x 9
Seated DB Shoulder Press
45 x 12
60 x 9
60 x 9
60 x 9
Face Pulls
85 x 15
115 x 15
115 x 15
115 x 15
Barbell Curl
65 x 12
85 x 11
85 x 11
85 x 10
4x15 hanging leg raise
4x20 weighted crunches
Thoughts
Had some trouble with both pressing movements tonight. I’m not sure if it’s the effects from going pretty heavy last night or just one of those nights. On the MP I had to use some lower body momentum to bang out those last few reps. I’m considering stopping the cheat reps and just go back to straight, strict reps w/o any cheating. Last week I did great with the DB presses but had a little trouble this week. I probably should have found a spotter.
Yeah, man, stop the cheat reps on OHP. You gotta commit to either OHP or Push Press. That’s good work, though.
How do you get 15 on hanging leg raise? My head is about to explode after 8.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Yeah, man, stop the cheat reps on OHP. You gotta commit to either OHP or Push Press. That’s good work, though.
How do you get 15 on hanging leg raise? My head is about to explode after 8. [/quote]
I figured the cheap reps were a bad idea but a few weeks ago when I got in a rut I just started doing them and it’s like I knew it was a bad idea but I just kept it up anyway, lol. I’ll continue at this weight with strict reps but not sure how many I’ll be able to get out.
I usually do 20 reps each actually for HLR. I just keep my feet together and come all the way up. The first ten usually feel like I’m not working anything but those final reps end up burning like hell!
Cycle 6
Week 2
Day 1 (69)
Squat
Squat (ATG)
115 x 6
155 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 3
265 x 3
280 x 6
205 x 5
Hack Squat
160 x 9
250 x 9
250 x 9
250 x 9
Leg Extension
70 x 20
120 x 15
130 x 15
145 x 15
Lying Leg Curl
115 x 15
120 x 15
120 x 13
120 x 13
Alt. DB Curls
40 x 12
45 x 10
40 x 12
Cardio 14 minutes 3.6mph @13.5 incline
Gym time = 75 minutes
Thoughts
I couldn’t do my normal cardio session. I just wasn’t feeling it and it was probably because I hit legs kind of hard. Overall a good workout. For squats I left 1 or 2 reps in the tank. I sucked again at hacks so I took out my frustration on leg extensions by upping the weight and really banging out those reps. It may not look like the best workout on paper but I’m very pleased with it. It was one of those workouts where there was no F-ing around. I stayed focused and intense and got everything done without being gassed and having to take long breaks.
Nice job, man. I read your post on my log and I figured that once you hit the gym you’d be fine.
Just a thought, how about good mornings instead of hack squats? Hack squats hit the quads a lot harder than the hams, then your leg extensions seem to usually be more work than your leg curls. Your hams are going to need more development as your squat weights go up.
On your hanging leg raise, do you take your toes to the bar? If so, 20 reps is amazing.
Wow, you’re blowing it up on two websites! Good job!
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Nice job, man. I read your post on my log and I figured that once you hit the gym you’d be fine.
Just a thought, how about good mornings instead of hack squats? Hack squats hit the quads a lot harder than the hams, then your leg extensions seem to usually be more work than your leg curls. Your hams are going to need more development as your squat weights go up.
On your hanging leg raise, do you take your toes to the bar? If so, 20 reps is amazing. [/quote]
I’ve wanted to swap out hacks for a while. I tried lunges for a bit but just had some trouble keeping good form. I tried good mornings a while back, early in my lifting career, and never felt comfortable with the form. But now that I’ve been lifting for a while I’m sure I shouldn’t have too much trouble so maybe I’ll give it a go. I think that sounds like a good plan to drop the hacks in favor of good mornings.
As for the HLRs I realized I made a mistake. I had been copying and pasting it from a previous workout when I did HLRs but recently I’ve just been doing straight ones from the dip station. I believe for hanging I could do 12-15 and I’d bring my feet a little above parallel to the floor.
[quote]BBriere wrote:
Wow, you’re blowing it up on two websites! Good job![/quote]
Thanks man, been trying. Do you have a journal on here?
Cycle 6
Week 2
Day 2 (70)
Bench
Bench Press
135 x 6
155 x 4
185 x 5
220 x 3
235 x 3
250 x 7
185 x 7
Barbell Incline
135 x 8
175 x 8
175 x 5
165 x 8
Dips
BW x 10
+45 x 8
+45 x 8
+45 x 8
Pec Deck Fly
80 x 20
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
CGBP
145 x 10
145 x 10
V-Bar Pushdown
110 x 12
110 x 10
110 x 10
4 sets leg raises
4 sets weighted crunches
Thoughts
Sadly I think a lot of those reps on my bench were assisted. The spotter claims he never touched the bar but I find it really hard to believe that I did 7 reps at 250 all unassisted. In theory, with his help, I could have done another 2 reps and that doesn’t seem right. He’s just a kid and I think he doesn’t understand that just guiding the bar is helping. Normally I have him stand away from the bar and then just help if I get stuck but for whatever reason he stayed with me the whole time. If he was helping, which I think he was, it was very slight so I did do majority of the work.
My only concern is the last two times this happened to me I had a real crappy week to followup so hopefully I’m good to up my bench to 260 or 265 next week without any problems. I still suck at BB incline. I have really long arms so do you guys think that could be a reason?
Just because the weight isn’t that high doesn’t mean you suck at it. As long as you are using good technique and advancing the weight, you’re making progress and won’t “suck” for long.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Just because the weight isn’t that high doesn’t mean you suck at it. As long as you are using good technique and advancing the weight, you’re making progress and won’t “suck” for long.[/quote]
You’re right man but maybe my technique is a bit off. I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable when doing this. I just assumed I sucked at it but maybe I have the seat in the wrong spot or something. I hate to compare myself to others and normally never do but I know guys who bench a lot less than me and do 205 no problem on incline. I’m still gonna work hard at it, definitely won’t give up.
Cycle 6
Week 2
Day 4 (71)
Deadlift
Deadlift
145 x 5
205 x 5
255 x 2
315 x 3
332.50 x 3
352.50 x 7
Hammer Grip Chins
BW x 10
+35 x 6
+35 x 5
+35 x 5
T-Bar Row
70 x 15
135 x 13
135 x 15
170 x 10
Bent Over Barbell Row
135 x 12
175 x 10
175 x 10
175 x 10
45-degree back extension
4x12x25lbs
Cardio: 14 minutes Tabata
-5 min warm-up, 4 minutes at 8.9mph @6.0 incline- 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off & repeat, 5 min cooldown
Total gym time = 86 minutes
Thoughts
As usual with the deads I left one or two reps in the tank. I had a facepalm moment with t-bar rows. The second and third set I thought I had 4 plates on there and was thinking damn this is light, good stuff so I then added a 25 for the 4th set. When I was done and taking the plates off I noticed it was only 3 plates and a 25, doh!
At least you didn’t go all out and break your nose with the lighter weight!
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
At least you didn’t go all out and break your nose with the lighter weight![/quote]
Haha, not that strong yet. If I get too strong then I gotta watch it!
Cycle 6
Week 2
Day 5 (72)
Standing Military Press
Standing Military Press
Bar x 10
75 x 6
95 x 6
125 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 7
100 x 9
BB Upright Row
80 x 12
100 x 9
100 x 9
100 x 9
Seated DB Shoulder Press
45 x 12
60 x 9
60 x 10
60 x 11
Face Pulls
85 x 15
115 x 15
110 x 12
110 x 15
Barbell Curl
65 x 12
85 x 11
85 x 11
85 x 10
4x20 leg raises
4x20 weighted crunches
Cardio: 14 minutes 3.6 @ 13.5 incline
Thoughts
No more cheat reps on military press, that was strict form with zero movement in the lower body. Gym was dead tonight, would have liked to have a spotter for those DB presses as I think I could have done better. It takes a good amount of energy to kick those up and bang out the first rep. Gym closes at 11am on Monday due to the holiday. I despise early morning workouts so we’ll see what happens.
[quote]Soda Popinski wrote:
[quote]BBriere wrote:
Wow, you’re blowing it up on two websites! Good job![/quote]
Thanks man, been trying. Do you have a journal on here?[/quote]
Nah, I don’t want the people here to know how weak I really am. I keep mine on JP Fitness.
[quote]BBriere wrote:
[quote]Soda Popinski wrote:
[quote]BBriere wrote:
Wow, you’re blowing it up on two websites! Good job![/quote]
Thanks man, been trying. Do you have a journal on here?[/quote]
Nah, I don’t want the people here to know how weak I really am. I keep mine on JP Fitness.[/quote]
I’m weak too so don’t worry. We all have different strength levels and in my opinion all that really counts is how you progress each week.
Cycle 6
Week 3
Day 1 (73)
Squat
Squat (ATG)no belt
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 3
232.50 x 5
262.50 x 3
290 x 5
Hack Squat
250 x 9
250 x 9
250 x 9
Leg Extension
130 x 15
150 x 13
150 x 13
150 x 13
Lying Leg Curl
115 x 15
120 x 15
120 x 13
120 x 12
Alt. DB Curls
40 x 12
45 x 10
40 x 12
Thoughts
Never thought I’d get this workout in. Last night, middle of the night I woke up and had awful stomach cramps. I felt so bloated. I ended up having the runs, really bad I might add, from middle of the night up until about 1pm today. My gym closed at 11am. The plan was to go there but my stomach issues kept me from getting there. The other gym, 40 minute drive, closed at 3 so thankfully after lunch my stomach was finally better. The gym is beautiful but sadly no lifting belt. I was shocked I was able to squat that heavy considering what I had been through over the last few hours and didn’t have a belt either. One thing that really sucked for me at this gym is that they have a big gap between levels on all the racks. So of course one level is way too low for me and one level is way too high. I tried standing on a mat but that high level was still too high so I had to use the lower level on the rack. It was tough but I managed. I still can’t believe I got this workout in; didn’t think I had a chance.