TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
221

Explosive Bench

Speed Bench w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
5 @ 135+50
2 @ 185+50
8x2 @ 185+90

Military Press from Pins:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
3 @ 185
1 @ 205 (Way overshot apparently)
2x3 @ 185 (Plus 30 second hold on last rep)

Superset:
A1 | 3/4 Deficit Push-Ups:
5x20 @ BW

A2 | Standing T-Bar Row (Fat Neutral Grip):
12 @ 50+Bar
12 @ 100+Bar
12 @ 145+Bar
5x8 @ 190+Bar

Band Triceps Pushdown:
25, 20, 20 @ Light

Some front/back squats with bar

Not bad. My pecs were fine for the most part but started bothering some me after bench. Al the speed sets were very fast, but Iā€™m not surprised since it was so light.

Military press felt alright at 185, so I was surprised that I failed at 205 on the second rep. Oh well, I hadnā€™t done these in a very long time aside from the past 2 weeks.

The T-Bar rows were brutal. Seems like one of the only back exercises that doesnā€™t make me predominantly use my biceps.

222

Lower - Back to Skwatz

Front Squat (w/ Oly Shoes):
Bar
3x5 @ 135
3x5 @ 225 (Add Spud belt on last set)
3 @ 275
3x3 @ 315
3 @ 275

SSB Box Squat (Parallel):
5 @ Bar
5 @ 145
5 @ 235
5x3 @ 285

Superset:
A1 | GHR:
15 @ BW
3x10 @ BW (Moved the foot pad closer, made it significantly harder)

A2 | Isometric Parallel Wide Squat Hold w/ Band Around Knees:
3x30 seconds @ Doubled Mini

A3 | Cable Pulldown Abs (w/ Spud Strap):
3x12 @ ā€œ120ā€

This was pretty brutal. Front squats and SSB squats are basically just ruiners of the upper back and a way to make me feel terrible, which is why I did them. FS actually felt decent, since I was able to get to 315 for some triples. I havenā€™t front squatted 315 in a very long time (mainly because my FS frequency historically has been once every never), but 365 is my PR for a single. So Iā€™m happy with that.

I havenā€™t used the SSB other than once before and 315 killed me. I was able to control this better with the box there and setting at parallel. Going too deep with these puts me in a position in which I just bio-mechanically have to curl under, so Iā€™ll probably stick to the box, seemed to hit my back and hips decently.

Accessories were an afterthought today. The squats killed me. Hopefully using these movements will help me get healthier and stronger where I need it for when I come back to regular back squats in a couple/few weeks.

Weā€™ll see how the injury feels tomorrow.

223

Yesterday - Body Day

DB Bench:
15 @ 25s
10 @ 50s
10 @ 75s
10 @ 100s
15 @ 100s
21 @ 100s (1 rep PR)

2-Board Press w/ Chains:
Canā€™t remember all the warm-ups, just made sure my pec was fine.
5x3 @ 225+130 (Wraps)

Swiss Bar Rows from Pins (Wide Neutral):
Bar (Assuming 45 lbs)
2x8 @ 135
5x8 @ 225

Superset:
A1 | Chain Curls w/ Fat V-Grip:
3x10 @ 65

A2 | Chain Incline Triceps Ext. w/ Fat V-Grip:
3x12 @ 85

Band Pull-Apart:
2x25 @ MIni

Iā€™m really happy with how this went. My pec didnā€™t give me any issues at all and I felt pretty strong. My right shoulder was tight a lot of the time though. I did DB press first to make sure the pec was fine and thatā€™s basically why I built up in reps at 100s to keep testing it before I went to board press.

Board press was really heavy on the top sets since it was about 355 at the top. This was the largest chain to weight ratio Iā€™ve ever held, so that was interesting. I just didnā€™t want too much straight weight and hurt my pec.

224

Today - Lower - Moar Skwatz

Paused Squat w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
5 @ 225
3 @ 225+50
3 @ 225+90
3 @ 275+90
8x3 @ 315+90 (PR)
15 @ 315 (Spud belt. No pause. PR, I think)

Superset:
A1 | Banded GHR:
3x12 @ BW+2 Minis

A2 | Band Good Morning:
3x15 @ Avg

Superset:
B1 | McGill Pull-Ups:
3x8

B2 | Straight Leg Sit-Ups:
2x20 @ BW+75

First time Iā€™ve done back squats in a few weeks and I killed it today. I took a sample of Chaos and Painā€™s Cannibal Ferox (pre-workout) and holy shit did it work. I was sweating by the time I squatted the bar for a couple sets and did one set at 135. Iā€™ve never gotten much out of pre-workouts until this one.

The paused squats were like speed work for the majority of the reps and my form held up really well. I had no pain at all in my injured area. I could have done another squat exercise after those but wanted to put a cap on it for the injuryā€™s sake.

Rest of the workout went well too.

Week Recap (Qualities out of 5):

Mornings:
Mood: 4.6 - All good except for one day.
Sleep Quality: 4.9 - Pretty much perfect obviously.
Soreness: 4.1 - There were a couple days of 3ā€™s that I had, nothing terrible though.
Stress: 4.6 - Woke up perfect every day but one, which was a 2. Nothing to do with lifting though.

Afternoons/Workouts:
Motivation: 5 - All good. I donā€™t have much problem wanting to get into the gym.
Power: 4.8 - This was the first week I was able to test this due to all the injuries. But considering the front and paused squat and board press, this got a high score.
Nutrition: 4.6 - All 4s and 5s this week. I started tracking my food this week and Iā€™m attempting to get 3,000 kcal with 35% protein and carbs (263g) and 30% fat (100g). Iā€™ve been eating much less than I thought I was. Went great this week.
Stress: 5 - I donā€™t have enough fucks to give to work so I just donā€™t do it by the time the afternoons hit and it works for keeping the stress away.

225

Heavy Bench

Bench Press w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
5 @ 135+50
2x3 @ 225+50
2x3 @ 225+90
2 @ 275+90 (Add wraps)
3x2 @ 295+90
1 @ 315+90 (PR for a single! PR double is 305+90 though)

Superset:
A1 | DB Floor Press:
15 @ 40s
12 @ 75s
2x12 and 2x10 @ 115s (Wraps)

A2 | Cable Low Row (Close/Neutral):
12 @ ā€œ180ā€
12 @ ā€œ210ā€
3x12 @ ā€œ225ā€

Superset:
B1 | Cable Facepull:
3x15 @ ā€œ130ā€

B2 | BB Curl:
20 @ Bar (Supinated)
20 @ Bar (Pronated)

I was pleasantly surprised by my performance tonight. My pec was feeling fine all day, so I was hoping I would be able to get some weight on the bar. It took me a while to trust my pec, so thatā€™s why I had a lot of warm up sets. Iā€™ve been wanting that 315+90 for a while now, just so that Iā€™m finally overloading the top above 100%. Since I got 400 at the meet, this constitutes that. It was a real grinder, mostly because the decent was too slow, but was never going to fail. The preceding sets went really well when I stayed tight.

Iā€™m obviously off the Cube at the moment, otherwise this would have been rep day. Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll be back on a bastardized version in the next couple of weeks now that Iā€™m back to squatting. Itā€™ll just take some more time before Iā€™m comfortable deadlifting

226

Lower Day

Paused Front Squat w/ Chains (Oly Shoes):
Bar
5 @ 135
5 @ 135+50 (Chains completely off the ground, freely swinging. Left them like that)
1 or 2x3 @ 225+50
5x3 @ 275+50 (Spud belt)

6-8" Block Pull:
2x8 @ 135
5x8 @ 225

Superset:
A1 | Single Leg Seated Band Hamstring Curl:
3x15/15 @ Light

A2 | Bad Girl Machine (Abductor):
3x20 @ ā€œ130ā€

Cable Ab Pulldown w/ Spud Strap:
2x15 @ ā€œ120ā€
12 @ ā€œ135ā€
15 @ ā€œ120ā€

Paused front squats with chains? Why do I do these things to myself? These were hard as hell, but other than a few reps they moved really well. The Oly shoes are working really well for them so far. If you have followed my log for a while, youā€™ll know that I tried them out about a year ago when I first got them for back squats, but they didnā€™t work with my form at all and I had knee and calf issues as a result. So Iā€™m happy that my form has improved and Iā€™ve learned how to front squat with them.

The block pulls were the first form of deadlift Iā€™ve done since the meet. Obviously at 225 they were not hard at all, but I really need to ease into pulling again to make sure Iā€™m okay to do it. This is also a great time to fix my form that has always been an issue for me. So today I just wanted to stay tight and try to activate my glutes and lats.

227

[quote]TylerPK4L wrote:
So today I just wanted to stay tight and try to activate myā€¦ and lats.
[/quote]
I need to do thisā€¦what mental cues do you use

228

Chobbs: Iā€™m probably not the right person to ask for deadlift, I have a terrible time with it. But instead of trying to pull my shoulder blades into my pockets like a lot of coaches say, I feel it more by trying to bend the bar across my shins. Itā€™s not touching my shins, but itā€™s the idea. So if I wasnā€™t holding the bar, externally rotating at the shoulder and moving my arms slightly back.

Yesterday - Body Day

Paused 1.5 Board Press:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x3 @ 225
3 @ 275
5x3 @ 315 (Wraps)

Superset:
A1 | TRX Inverted Rows (Feet Elevated):
10 @ BW
3x10 @ BW+40 (Chains)
10 @ BW

A2 | Incline Deficit Push-Ups:
3x20 @ BW

Superset:
B1 | DB Lateral Raise:
3x12 @ 25s

B2 | Cable Pushdown:
12 @ ā€œ75ā€
12 @ ā€œ90ā€
12 @ ā€œ115ā€

I didnā€™t feel powerful today, but the weights still moved well regardless. Either it was an off day or I think I need to work in the 1.5 board range, because I feel weakest around there.

No pec pain at all today.

229

Today - Squats

Squat w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x3 @ 225+50
3 @ 275+50
2x2 @ 315+50 (Spud belt)
2 @ 365+50 (Switch to single prong)
2 @ 405+50
2 @ 425+50
2 @ 455+50

Superset:
A1 | Hyperextension:
4x12 @ BW+100 (Med ball)

A2 | Lat Pulldown (Wide/Fat Bar):
4x10 @ ā€œ180ā€

Straight-Leg Sit-Ups:
3x20 @ BW+75

I wasnā€™t sure what I wanted to do when I came into the gym, but I was pretty sure I wanted to go heavy, since I basically did speed work last week. My form was feeling off until I got to 405+50. Not sure why, but I fixed it. The 2 @ 455+50 was pretty rough on the second rep, but that was big for not having squatted over 315 bar weight for the past month. Hell, 4 @ 455 is my PR at that weight, and this was 505 at the top.

Hypers with 100 extra pounds was a whole different exercise. I think I want to stay heavy with those for my hip extension exercise while I try to get back to deadlifting.

Week Overview (Qualities out of 5):
Going to try to keep this more concise.

Mornings:
My sleep wasnā€™t great early this week and it affected my mood. Ended up with about 4ā€™s on each, but without the weekend, they would have been 3.5ā€™s. Soreness wasnā€™t bad other than the day after squats, but Iā€™m getting back to being conditioned for them. Ended up at 4 for that. Stress was mostly not an issue. 4.6 for that.

Afternoons/Workouts:
Motivation was fine as usual other than yesterday (4.75). Power was somewhat off on the past two days (4.3). Nutrition was very good for the most part (4.4). No issues on stress at all (5).

230

Letā€™s Try This Again - Cycle Restart - Wave 1 - Week 1 - Rep Bench

Bench w/ Chains:
Bar
2x10 @ 135
5 @ 225
5 @ 225+50
3x5 @ 275+50 (Had planned on 6ā€™s at 295+50, but my pec wasnā€™t feeling great)

Giant Sets (a la Alphaā€™s log)
3 Rounds - No rest between exercises, couple minutes between rounds. Does not include warm-ups:
A1 | DB Floor Press:
17, 15, 15 @ 100s

A2 | Pendlay Row:
8, 8, 8 @ 225

A3 | Seated DB Military Press:
8, 8, 8 @ 50s

A4 | Lat Pulldown (Narrow/Neutral/Fat):
8, 8, 8 @ ā€œ180ā€

Superset:
B1 | Band Pec Fly:
50, 35 @ Mini

B2 | Band Pull-Apart:
50, 35 @ Mini

Alright, Iā€™m attempting to start another Cube cycle. Hopefully my injuries will get better if I maintain recovery discipline with icing, stretching, etc. Today went pretty well Iā€™d say, the bench sets werenā€™t particularly difficult, but I was feeling some pulling on my pec and decided to cut the reps by 1 and weight by 20. This is also why I didnā€™t do any close grip sets and moved to the giant sets.

If you look at Alphaā€™s log, youā€™ll see he does some absolutely ridiculous density training in the form of giant sets. Heā€™ll do like 6 rounds of 8 exercises with a couple being max effort sometimes. I wonā€™t be doing that, but I think it could be useful for reducing my gym time and getting my conditioning up. I could have done a 4th round, but I just wanted to get a feel for it. Iā€™ll most likely only be able to do this 1-2 times a week because of the size of my gym and how crowded it can get.

Next up is squat day technically, but Iā€™m going to continue with front squats for that and back squats for deadlift day. So, itā€™s heavy front squats next for doubles.

231

Wave 1 - Week 1 - Heavy Squat

Front Squat (Oly Shoes):
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x3 @ 225
2 @ 275 (Add Spud belt)
2 @ 315
2 @ 335
2 @ 345 (Goal. PR. 1RM is 365 from a couple years ago)
2 @ 335
2 @ 315

Box Squat (Below Parallel)(Spud Belt):
2x3 @ 315
3 @ 365
3x3 @ 405 (RPE 9)

Giant Sets | 3 Rounds:
A1 | Hypers:
15, 15, 15 @ BW+100 (Med ball)

A2 | DB Bent Over Rows:
10, 10, 10 @ 75s

A3 | Push-Ups:
20, 20, 20 @ BW

A4 | GHR:
15, 15, 15 @ BW

Ruined. My low back was so fucking pumped after this I could barely make it home.

Front squats went really well for the most part. My upper back is my limiting factor on those for sure, but as I get more weight on the bar, the lower weights that were heavy a few weeks ago are starting to feel light. My goal was 345 and I got it, the first rep I hunched over a bit but I forced myself to sit more on my heels and stay upright on the second rep. It was more technically sound albeit slower.

Box squats right after front squats are apparently a bad idea. Really difficult, but I came within 20 lbs. of my goal weight (425). I did these based on RPE 9 obviously. I could have squeezed out a couple more reps, but my technique would have gone to shit. I havenā€™t seriously box squatted in a long time, so Iā€™m not too frustrated that I didnā€™t get as heavy as Iā€™d like. Also, my belt tore free on the second set at 405, so I did that essentially beltless.

Giant sets were what ruined me. I took some Cannibal Ferox and it helped me get through them, but Iā€™m sure it also made my heart jump to 100% for a while. I had to lay on the floor for a couple minutes between rounds. I wanted to get 4 rounds, but my low back wasnā€™t going to allow that safely. Iā€™ll work up to that.

232

Wave 1 - Week 1 - Body Day

Incline Bench:
Bar
5 @ 135
2x3 @ 135
2x3 @ 185
2x3 @ 225 (Canā€™t get pec to feel right. Feels obvious that going heavier will hurt it)

Spoto Press (i.e. Bench w/ Pause 1" Above Chest) w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x3 @ 225
5x3 @ 225+50 (This was hurting my elbows a lot. This workout is a lost cause for avoiding pain at this point)

DB Hammer Curls:
3x10/10 @ 65s

Band Triceps Pushdown:
2x25 @ Light

Band Pull-Apart:
2x50 @ Mini

Bench:
100 @ Bar

Not much to say about this. I wanted to do triples around an RPE 8.5 on incline, but as I said, my pec felt like it was going to get hurt. So I tried to stay smart and went over to flat and did Spoto press. Iā€™m not sure if the incline hurt my elbows or what, but all the sudden they were aching terribly and it was painful to even unrack it.

Basically, I donā€™t know what happened here, but itā€™s in the past now and Iā€™m looking forward to some speed squatting tomorrow.

233

Wave 1 - Week 1 - Explosive Squat (Replacing Deadlift)

Speed Squats w/ Bands:
Bar
Bar+Bands (1 Avg. per side = +135 at the top)
2x3 @ 135+Bands
2x2 @ 225+Bands
8x2 @ 275+Bands

Cambered Bar Paused Squat:
Bar (Assuming 55 lbs. Edit: Itā€™s 65)
5 @ 155
4 @ 245
5x4 @ 335

Superset:
A1 | Walking KB Lunges:
3x10/10 @ 52/hand

A2 | GHR:
3x15 @ BW+25

Lying Leg Raise (Partner resisted):
3x5/5/5/5 (Middle/Left/Right/Middle)

I havenā€™t squatted twice per week or against bands in over a year, but this felt great. I was really explosive on all my sets and I feel like I got a lot of quality work in with the paused squats. I switched to cambered because my elbows were hurting.

This was my first time using the cambered bar and it was really tough once I got to 3 plates. It was swinging back and forth so obviously my core had to be heavily involved. But I was able to stay in a good position in the hole and didnā€™t have any issues otherwise.

Week Overview (Qualities out of 5):

Mornings:
This was much better than last week and I ended up almost perfect on mood, sleep, and stress with 4.7, 4.7, and 5.0 respectively. Soreness was at a 3 on a couple of the days following squats, so I ended up with 4.3 there, but that was expected considering the increased frequency.

Afternoons/Workouts:
Other than last night, my motivation and stress were pretty good (4.5 and 4.25). Power, which Iā€™m usually perfect on had two 4ā€™s and a 2, so I only ended up with a 3.8 there. Nutrition was mostly perfect this week, save for last Sunday. 4.3.

Average of the whole week was a 35.9 out of 40. Not bad.

234

Wave 1 - Week 2 - Heavy Bench

Bench w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x3 @ 135+50
2x3 @ 225+50
2 @ 225+90
2 @ 245+90
2 @ 265+90
2 @ 285+90
2 @ 305+90 (Match PR. Barely, hips raised though)

Giant Sets | 4 Rounds:
A1 | Push-Press:
10, 10, 10, 10 @ 135

A2 | Pendlay Row (Not Strict):
8, 8, 8, 8 @ 225

A3 | GHR:
15, 15, 15, 15 @ BW

A4 | Hanging Leg Raise:
12, 12, 12, 12 @ BW

A5 | 3/4 Push-Ups:
20, 20, 20, 20 @ BW

Superset:
B1 | Slow Band Pull-Aparts (5 count both ways):
2x8 @ Mini

B2 | Incline Push-Ups on Barbell:
2x10/10/10 @ BW (Wide/Comp/Close)

Iā€™m glad I was able to get a heavy double in for the match PR, but I was scared the whole time. My pec felt alright during the lifting, but in between it was aching. I basically just did what I had to in order to keep the volume down to avoid straining again. Iced and heated later.

The giant sets were easier than they were last week, so maybe Iā€™m getting a little more conditioned.

Slow pull-aparts are really difficult, but make sense considering the role of the rear delts in the bench. I got the idea from this EliteFTS article: http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/evening-workouts-designed-for-growth/

235

Wave 1 - Week 2 - Heavy Rep Squat
(Replacing explosive since I did that for back squat on Saturday replacing deadlift)

Front Squat w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
4 @ 225
3 @ 225+50
3 @ 275+50
3 @ 315+50 (PR. Add Spud belt)
3x5 @ 275+50 (PR)

Back Squat (Controlled Descent):
2x3 @ 135
3, 2 @ 225
2 @ 315
2 @ 365
3x2 @ 405 (Spud belt)

Giant Set | 3 Rounds:
A1 | Hyper w/ Med Ball:
15, 15, 15 @ BW+100

A2 | Lat Pulldown (Wide Neutral):
8, 8, 8 @ ā€œ180ā€

A3 | KB Swing:
10, 10, 10 @ 70.5

A4 | Band Ab Pulldown w/ Pause:
12, 12, 12 @ Avg.

This was a pretty great workout. I wanted to do some 4ā€™s at 315+50, but feeling the triple there I knew I wouldnā€™t be doing that, so I moved back down to 275+50 and did some 5ā€™s. I need to do more around that rep range to get my upper back stronger.

Using chains on the front squat really helped me on my controlled descent on the back squat. I usually divebomb pretty much, but Iā€™m really wanting to control it more so that I might actually stop near parallel. 405 felt pretty good, and I definitely could have gone up for more doubles, but I decided to keep it there because this isnā€™t supposed to be a really heavy day.

I wanted 4 rounds on the giant sets, but my lower back started doing all of the work and it got pumped to death and I figured I wasnā€™t getting the correct muscles involved anymore (glutes/hams).

236

Yesterday - Wave 1 - Week 2 - Body Day

Push Press:
Bar
2x5, 1x3 @ 135
3 @ 185
1 @ 185 (Both elbows and shoulders were killing me. It just isnā€™t worth another injury)

Chaos Bench (i.e. KB hanging by bands):
2x10 @ Bar+12 kg per side (~98 lbs)
4x10 @ Bar+16 kg per side (~115 lbs)

Floor Triceps Ext. w/ EZ Bar (Medium Grip):
15 @ 80
4x10 @ 125

EZ Bar Standing Curls:
4x12 @ 80

Cross Body Cable Shoulder Raise:
3x12/12 @ ā€œ40ā€

This basically turned into a recovery workout once I realized my joints are broken. I think it was just a weird day for my shoulders, because I was doing sets of 10 on push press with 135 just a few days ago. Elbows have been hurting for a few days, so I needed to rest those a bit.

The rest of the workout was alright. Chaos bench felt good. I went moved slowly on them for extra TUT. I think Iā€™ll be doing these over the next few weeks to help my pec get better. I imagine it will help my elbows and shoulders as well.

237

Wave 1 - Week 2 - Rep Squat (Replacing Rep Deadlift)

Buffalo Bar Squat:
Bar (65 lbs)
2x5 @ 155
2x3 @ 245
3 @ 295 (Add Spud belt)
3 @ 335
6 @ 385
6 @ 405
6 @ 425 (1 rep PR!)

Buffalo Bar Paused Squat:
2x8 @ 335 (PR!)

Superset:
A1 | Paused Sumo Deadlift (Very short pause after breaking from the floor):
5 @ 135
10x5 @ 225 (Add doubled mini around knees for last 5 sets)

A2 | GHR (Started on set 6 of deadlift):
5x12 @ BW

Straight-Leg Sit-Ups:
2x20 @ BW+75

Another great squat workout today! Very happy with my performance and control of the weight. My hips did start shooting up as I got more fatigued into that 425 set, but controlling the descent as well as I have been makes me MUCH more confident. I think I could have squeezed out a 7th rep actually. Hopefully it translates to heavier weights once I get it on my back.

I was really surprised by the paused squats. When I unracked it, I was planning on doing 4ā€™s with 335, but it was just easy and I went for more. First set was probably an RPE 8. Second was a 9.

Iā€™m happy that the pulls felt good, I was scared that I would pull a hamstring or something like I did last time, but adding the pause in there helps me feel it out before I explode up. Every single one of these reps were clean and explosive as shit with good form (staying upright and using my hips, which I had issues with). Obviously it was only like 40%, but still.

Updates:
I didnā€™t keep up with the week overview numbers this week. I donā€™t think Iā€™m going to keep doing it, but Iā€™m in the habit of thinking about how I feel each morning now and I think Iā€™m good without actually writing it down.

Iā€™m doing some simple carb cycling with high carbs (300-400g) on training days and low (75-100g) on off days. Iā€™m easing into it so itā€™s not perfect every day, but Iā€™m just hoping to stay consistent and actually figure out what works for me.

238

Iā€™m dieting and I refuse to go under 200 grams of carbs a day lol

Maybe thatā€™s why Iā€™m still fat

239

Chobbs: Yeah a lot of people are like that though. On Shelby Starnesā€™ articles he writes low days around 200g. I honestly think Iā€™d gain a bunch of fat if I did that right now. I just naturally donā€™t eat a whole lot of carbs, so Iā€™m not metabolically acclimated to tons of carbs. Maybe if I work up to something like that and learn to drop the fat a bit.

I struggle to get in my 400g on training days and Iā€™m much more comfortable around 100-200g, that has probably held me back a good bit though. Obviously at some point I canā€™t keep being comfortable, and that time is now apparently. Iā€™m also trying to do this as clean as possible, save for some poptarts/cereal post-workout.

240

Yesterday - Wave 1 - Week 3 - Explosive Bench

Paused Speed Bench w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2 @ 225
8x2 @ 225+50

Superset:
A1 | Chaos Bench:
2x10 @ Bar+16 kg per side
3x10 @ Bar+16 kg per side (Spoto pressed these)

A2 | Chest Supported DB Row (Dead Stop):
10 @ 50s
5x10 @ 100s

Giant Set | 3 Rounds:
B1 | Lat Pulldown (Close/Supinated):
12, 12, 12 @ ā€œ165ā€

B2 | EZ Bar Standing Curl:
12, 12, 12 @ 80

B3 | Band Triceps Pushdown:
15, 15, 15 @ Light (Grabbed pretty high on these to make them heavy)

B4 | Band Curl:
15, 15, 15 @ Light

My pec(s) felt pretty good during bench, but my left elbow started hurting around set 6 of the speed work. Not a huge deal because it was a lighter day, but I just want it to go away. Regardless, the speed sets were all very fast and I was staying tight the whole time.

I did the chaos bench again to continue to aid in the pec recovery. Making it a Spoto press wasnā€™t terribly hard, but it adds an element of needing even more stability.

Chest supported rows felt good, I need to do those more often and work up to the 150s.

This giant set had nothing to do with conditioning and everything to do with mah gunz. Iā€™ve noticed all of the big benchers have gigantic arms and I [think I] have small arms relative to my torso thickness, so I want to build them up. Strength and joint protection will make me happy.