Week 8 - Day 2
Incline Bench:
3x225
3x245
3x275 @ 9 - This is my 3RM from a few years ago. I guess it’s good to match it while attempting to avoid pec pain. Need to get better at this though.
10x225
2x8x225
Bent Over Barbell Row - Straps:
8x225
8x255
4x8x275
Edit: Lat Pulldown:
3x15x160
Standing Machine Incline Press (using Iso-Row backwards):
3x15x180 - 2pps - First time doing these and they felt very good for my triceps and shoulders.
EZ Bar Curl:
2x10/10x80 - 10 narrow, 10 wide
10/10x60
Decline Fly:
3x15x15s
I’ll keep this short, as I just got back from an impromptu metal concert with my girlfriend after working out and now I’m fading quick but still need to shove macros into the lowest hole on my head.
I was planning on overhead press today, but there wasn’t any room and the seated MP was being used. So I decided to try some incline. I could feel my pec on a few of the reps, but overall it didn’t bother me too much. It bothers me more that I’m so awful at incline benching.
Rowing weight was just chosen by what my girlfriend was deadlifting. Bent over rows are on another level than Pendlay. Holding that mid-shin deadlift position is brutal, but useful.
Week 8 - Day 3
Beltless 1.5" Deficit Deadlift:
3x365
3x405
3x455
3x475
3x495 @ 8.5
3x515 @ 9 - 20 lb. all time deficit PR! Previous was a belted 3x495 a long time ago. Can’t even find it in my logs. Video below.
3x3x455
Beltless Paused High Bar Squat:
5x315
2x5x365
7x365 @ 9 - Benchmark PR. might beat any other paused PR I have other than 3x415, but that was with a belt. Video below.
Lat Pulldown - V-Grip:
3x8x200
Cable Ab Pulldown:
3x15x75
Lying Hamstring Curls:
3x15x95
Bench:
100xBar
After several weeks of shitty deadlifting, I finally got a decent pulling session in. I realized I haven’t really done a lot of deadlift variation recently, which may be why I’ve had shitty deadlifts, so I decided to do some deficit pulls. I was just standing on a 45 lb. plate. Looks like 1.25-1.5" or something. Really happy with my top set, even though my form wasn’t the best. My hips shot up and my back was too round in the middle, even for me. Despite that, the weight moved really well. I also hit 7x3 > 455 with this session.
I didn’t get in a lot of volume on the paused squats because of being pretty fatigued from deadlift. I knew I had one good set in me at least, so I just did an AMRAP @ RPE 9 and called it there. High bar is actually feelling very good when it comes to my eccentric groove and even keeping the bar centered on the way up. I’m wondering if this is how I should be squatting for real.
Week 8 - Day 4
Seated Military Press:
3x185
3x205
2x225 - Missed 3rd - Did a 3x3 with this a few weeks ago. Just wasn’t strong today.
2x8x185
6x185
Chest-Supported T-Bar Row:
4x10x135 (3p)
Cable Triceps Pushdown - Straight Bar:
3x12x70
20x70
6-Way Shoulder Raise:
3x10x15s - Brutal. Video description below.
Band Pull-Apart:
2x50 @ Mini
No bench today still 
My pec isn’t feeling great, so I may need to wait another week, but I’ll still be starting my programming for squat and deadlift next week. Seated OHP didn’t really feel strong today, I was having a hard time staying in control and balanced. But it’s my first day like that I’ve had in a while for OHP, so I’m not worried about it.
6-way shoulder raises were just ridiculous. I chose the 15s to be conservative I thought, but 10s may have been better. They will be included a lot more for sure. It’s just seated lateral raise, adduct the arms to straight out in front, then front raise from there, and reverse to the bottom for 1 rep. I did them with a short pause at each position, I’ll probably do them like in the video from now on.
End of Fuckarounditis - Week 8 - Day 5
Low Bar Squat w/ Belt - For Speed:
6x3x365 - 1 minute rest periods
Dips w/ Chain:
3x15xBW+35
A1 | Kettlebell Swing:
3x25x55
A2 | Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Overhead Press:
3x12x20s
B1 | DB Side Bend:
3x15/15x85
B2 | Cable Facepull:
3x15x50
Since I did my OHP yesterday and will likely do it on Tuesday, I wasn’t going to do it again today. That also meant I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do today. I decided to squat for the third time this week since that will be part of my new programming. Low bar was very tough on my lower back. The only reason I can think of is that I haven’t done it in almost 2 weeks, but that seems really quick for de-conditioning it. Oh well, I will keep both low bar and high bar each week anyway.
So this ended up being a pretty easy full body day. Dips felt fine and grip is building a bit I think, as the side bends weren’t awful and I didn’t use chalk.
Will post about the program tomorrow or on the next log.
Back on Track - New Program - Week 1 - Day 1 - 12 Weeks Out from Mock Meet
Beltless Low Bar Squat - 75% AMRAPs @ 9:
5x315
3x365
7x405 @ 9
6x405 @ 9
6x405 @ 9
6x405 @ 9
5x405 @ 9 - Reps dropped by about 1/3 from initial set, stop here.
Military Press:
8x135
8x165 @ 8
7x165 @ 8
8x155 @ 8
8x155 @ 9
Single-Arm HS Iso-Row - Per side:
10x135
3x10x180 - 4 plates
10x180 + 10x135 + 10x90 + 10x45 - Drop sets
Band Seated Leg Curl:
2x25 @ Avg.
Cable Ab Pulldown:
3x10x130
Okay, I don’t have much time to write a bunch about the program tonight, but basically I’m going to implement what I’ve just been calling AMRAPs to RPE. As you can tell from the squat sets, I worked at 75% for AMRAPs to an RPE 9 and I auto-regulated the fatigue by stopping when I had dropped a couple reps from the initial set. I won’t do this for every single main or supplemental lift, but I’m going to be implementing it a lot along with more classic RTS principles.
I tried to use AMRAPs to RPE 8 on the military press, but it’s too hard for me to judge that. This exercise will likely just be a rep range and RPE rather than a specific weight and RPE.
Squats didn’t feel great going in today, my back had been sore all day from those low bar squats the other day. There seemed to be a disconnect between my lower and upper back, so my form broke down by way of my upper back rounding. It was also hot as shit in the gym, so I was drenched in sweat. But I still managed to get a lot of good reps in too. Hell this was probably a beltless PR for volume.
More info - I’m planning on doing a mock meet on July 25, two days before my birthday. It just happens to land right at 12 weeks, so I think that’d be a good time to test myself. It’s tentative still, but that’s the plan.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 1 - Day 2
Incline Bench:
6x225
4x6x245 @ 8-8.5 - No spotter tonight, pretty happy considering that.
Sumo Deadlift - Belted for Singles / Beltess for Reps:
1x405
1x455
1x495
1x545 - Pretty slow, not surprising
2x3x435 - Dropped to 80% of single. These were to find my groove while beltless. Added straps.
8x435 @ 8
2x6x435 @ 8
Lat Pulldown:
5x8x180
Band Triceps Pushdown:
2x20/20 @ Light / Mini
Cardio - Kettlebell Swing for Time:
1:30 x 55 lbs
3x1:00 x 55 lbs
Two things I suck at: Incline bench and pulling sumo from the floor. I’m not unhappy with my performance on either of the lifts, but I still wish they were better. Incline didn’t hurt my pecs at all this time, so that’s promising. My strength curve for it is hilarious though. 4x6 @ 8 with 245 and apparently my 3RM is 275 or so according to last week. Oh well, it’s getting better.
Sumo for me is just very difficult to get into a good position with a mixed grip, I think. I’m much better at the lift when I use straps to allow double overhand and I can focus on my hips. Apparently my 1RM all time on sumo was 555 from when I was doing sumo exclusively, and this lift tonight wasn’t awful, just pretty slow, so I stopped there. Due to the variance on quality of reps, I wasn’t really able to follow a certain auto-regulation template. I just sort of went until I felt like I needed to stop, which still landed me in Prilepin’s table.
Completely forgot about doing DB bench like I had written. Need to print out my plan each week.
Almost forgot about cardio and then threw it in at the end. About 200 reps of swings. Not sure if it was cardio or just lower back pumping.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 1 - Day 3 - Friday
Squat w/ Belt:
3x365
3x405
6x435 @ 7.5
6x435 @ 8
6x435 @ 8
8x435 @ 9 - +1 rep PR! e1RM = 561. Video below.
Beltless Paused Deadlift:
5x6x365
Bulgarian Split Squat:
3x15/15 @ BW+50
Cable Ab Pulldown:
10x100
3x12x130
Really happy about my squats tonight. I’m learning that if I sit straight down and almost not back at all, then I’m much better off in every way. I crushed the 6’s leading up to the AMRAP set. Hitting that e1RM of 561 in a fatigued state is pretty awesome. Hopefully it translates to the platform.
My back was really not into paused deadlifting, but I forced my way through it. Almost used straps, but decided against it, can’t let go of another deadlift on meet day.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 1 - Day 4
Paused Bench:
5x6x275
10x275 @ 8.5
Slight Decline DB Bench:
10x85s
3x10x100s
17x100s
Unilateral Cable Row:
3x15x160
Single Arm DB Preacher Curl:
2x15/15x25
10/5/5/5/5 per side alternating myoreps
Dips:
3x20xBW
6-Way Shoulder Raise:
3x10x15s
Single Arm Reverse Fly (Pec Deck):
3x15/15x80
This was the first time I’ve done flat bench in a couple of weeks due to my pec. It was a little tight near the beginning with 275, so I just stuck with that. It was basically a joke weight by the time I finished though. I have an actually sports massage scheduled for next Saturday, so hopefully that will help get the pecs all figured out for good after some sessions.
The rest of the workout was mostly bodybuilding oriented. Tomorrow is deadlifts and more squats somehow. Very sore from squats and deadlift currently.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 1 - Day 5
Deadlift w/ Belt:
3x365
3x405
3x455
5x4x485 - These were much harder than I would have hoped. Bar was significantly lacking knurling, so that was a big limiting factor.
Beltless Paused High Bar Squat:
8x315
2x8x335
8x315
SLDL - Straps:
12x275
10x275
12x275
Cable Pallof Press:
3x12/12x40
Cardio - Arc Trainer:
4 x 2:30 on / 1:30 off @ 35 (Out of 100)
Sundays are either going to break me or they’re going to really help my deadlift on meet days. I’m beat up by the end of the week, so going into my main deadlift day last is rough. I’m obviously learning how to ration my efforts throughout the week on this program. Like working up to a single on sumo earlier this week, completely unnecessary. Today I really just did not feel great pulling, my callouses were getting pushed pretty hard because of the lack of knurling for one, and I wasn’t able to really get my back into a good position the whole time. Regardless, I still got a decent amount of work in. I was destroyed by the end of the workout honestly.
Third day squatting this week and my joints felt pretty much fine. High rep paused squats are the worst though.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 2 - Day 1
Beltless High Bar Squat:
3x315
3x365
6x415 @ 9 - Pretty big benchmark PR. Didn’t realize it at the time. Closest other PR is 435x3 @ 9.5 a few weeks ago.
6x405 @ 9 - Dropped weight here because the previous set felt too heavy and back has been feeling iffy.
5x405 @ 9
5x405 @ 9 - Planned for this to be my last set prior to doing it. Auto-regulation not based on any numbers, just feel.
Spoto Press:
3x12x225
Lat Pulldown - Neutral:
10x180
8x200 - Too much to keep it on lats
3x10x180
Bulgarian Split Squat:
3x20/20 @ BW+55 - This was brutal
“Free Motion” Ab Pulldown:
15x70
2x15x80
I actually thought I had a shitty squat workout until I looked at my PR spreadsheet. I don’t know why I thought that 415 was some weight I’ve hit on high bar regularly. This is why the mental aspect of lifting is probably the most important piece of the puzzle. If you think a weight is no big deal, it probably won’t be provided you always set up the same way. Go by feel, not by what you think is supposed to be hard.
Spoto press was very light obviously, but I’m still getting back into some flat bench variations slowly. These felt fine on the pec, but it seems to pull pretty hard on my shoulders/delts. Need to figure out how to avoid that before going heavier.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 2 - Day 2
3 Ct. Pause Bench:
4x8x275 - All were around RPE 7-8. Really easy, still being conservative for the pecs. Benchmark PR for this too.
Banded Deadlift - Beltless:
4x6x315+2 Minis - No idea how much weight these added. Seemed like at least 405 at the top. I draped them over the bar and stood on them like Cameron McKenzie does in the video below, except without the deficit.
Iso-Row - Wide Neutral:
10x270 (3pps)
4x10x320 (3.5 pps)
HS Iso-Chest Press:
3x12x180 (2pps)
Cable Triceps Pushdown:
3x15x70
Cardio:
Recumbent Bike - Tried this for 5 minutes but VMOs were locking up and straining.
Battling Ropes - 5 x 15 on / 30 off
Nothing too special about this workout. I’m pretty happy with how easily I can still move 275 with the long pauses for high reps. There’s a lot of time under tension on those, so they should be doing something.
I’m not sure I like banded deadlift. I haven’t done it in a long time and I’m feeling like it was throwing off my groove. Maybe I just need more practice on it. Regardless, the sets today weren’t that hard because it doesn’t feel like a movement I’d should take to an RPE 9 due to potential form breakdown.
The rest of the workout filled the slots for horizontal row, chest, triceps, and cardio.
https://instagram.com/p/2DUF2iJ63X/?taken-by=camstrength
Friday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 2 - Day 3
Squat w/ Belt:
3x365
3x405
1x435
4x5x455 - All around RPE 9. Huge volume PR at this weight. Previous was 2x3 with a 6 rep AMRAP.
7x455 @ 9 - +1 rep PR! e1RM: 569. Video below
Beltless Snatch Grip Deadlift - Straps:
4x5x405
HS Iso-High Row:
3x12 @ 230 (2.5 pps)
Band Pull-Through:
4x15 @ Avg.
Lying Hamstring Curl:
3x15x95
“Free Motion” Ab Pulldown:
15x90
2x15x100
This was one of the best squat workouts I’ve ever done, if not the best period. My previous volume PR at 455 was 12 reps in 3 sets and I fuckin demolished that with 27 reps in 5 sets. I wish I had gone for an 8th rep on the AMRAP just because of a deadlift set of 455x8 that I did a couple years ago that I considered the best set of deadlifts I had ever done at the time. Regardless, 7 reps at 455 is crazy to me. And that estimated 1RM is probably the highest it’s ever been.
Snatch grip gets really difficult really quickly for me around 405. Not sure why, but maybe I should see if getting better at it helps my deadlift. I messed up my deadlifts this week, I have deadlift slots 1, 2, 3, and 4 which basically are in order of importance (comp > deficit/paused/block > snatch/chain/bands > RDL/SLDL/Pendlay). Well I meant to switch DL 2 to Wednesday, but I did the band pulls which would be in DL 3, so I did two DL 3 lifts this week and I was missing a DL 2. Not a huge deal I guess, but wanted to note it.
Next week will be weird. I’m going to D.C. with my girlfriend on Wednesday night and getting back on Monday. I think we’ll probably lift up there once, maybe twice. So by the time we leave on Wednesday, we will have lifted Friday-Tuesday. Hopefully the recovery won’t be horrible.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 2 - Day 4
Bench w/ Pause:
2x5x325 - Endurance is not where it needs to be for 5’s
3x4x325
SlingShot Bench:
4x365 - lol nope
5x335
7x335
8x335
Standing Machine Incline Press (using Iso-Row backwards):
4x10x230 (2.5 pps)
Band Triceps Extension:
3x20 @ Avg
EZ Bar Curl:
3x20x80
Single Arm Reverse Fly (Pec Deck):
3x20/20x145
Not the best bench day I’ve ever had, but I’m not too worried about this. As I noted, my endurance was not where it needs to be and it was affecting most of my sets. 325 didn’t feel especially heavy, but the last rep on each set was pretty slow. No pec issues today though, which is the important part.
SlingShot was all over the place, I just couldn’t find my groove until the last 2 sets, but even that was 30 lbs under my 8RM.
I got a massage today, which went really well. Apparently my back muscles are pretty healthy, my pecs need some work obviously, and my legs are all kinds of fucked up. lol Will be going back for more sessions regularly though.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 2 - Day 5
Deadlift w/ Belt - Straps:
3x405
3x455
7x3x495 - Added the straps on the 3rd set after my second set was cut short when the bar was slipping out of my hands. Not due to grip issues, but the knurling is just not there and the bars are stiff as hell. I guess I need to do more work on the Okie bar.
Beltless Front Squat:
4x8x225
Beltless RDL:
4x8x315 - No straps here, I used a squat bar, very stiff and knurled. Not sure if I could pull heavy with it.
Hyperextension:
3x20 @ BW
RKC Plank:
3x5x0:10
Cardio - Rowing:
5 x 300m w/ 1:00 rest - Finished the 1500m in about 5:50 work time.
I’m not too thrilled about deadlift again. It has just not been going well for me. My back is rounding more than usual and I can’t figure out my starting position with my hips. Not to mention the slippery bars. I did end up getting a lot of work done at a high RPE at 495, but I wouldn’t have been able to come close to that without the straps. I would like to get better at using the Okie bar, but I don’t know if I can handle it for reps honestly.
The rest of the workout was not terrible. I have a tough time figuring out what to do for cardio each time. I tried some light jogging on the treadmill for about 90 seconds before realizing my right calf was not up for it (part of the massage thing, definitely needs fixing), then an elliptical, which I didn’t like for several reasons. I settled on the rowing, which I knew would screw with my hip flexors, but I still got some work done.
I’m fully not prepared for a 4th workout in a row tomorrow and then a 5th on Tuesday. I may need to take it easy-ish to avoid getting injured. We’ll see.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 3 - Day 1
Beltless High Bar Squat:
3x315
3x365
5x3x405 @ RPE 7-8 each
Incline Bench:
4x6x225
10x225
Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip - 350 Method:
21x160
15x160
14x160
Calf Raise on Leg Press:
4x10x180 - Pause at peak and at stretch
Lying Leg Curl:
2x15x95
25x95 - Last few were partials
This morning I woke up with some knee pain and some swelling the left side to the medial side of the patella. I could squat down without any unusual pain, both knees were sore at the same place. I took some ibuprofen and fish oil before going to work and it felt better. I still wanted to be very careful in the gym and I think I was. I made sure to not take any caffeine or ibuprofen so that I could feel any pain and stop squatting if I needed to. I was careful warming up and I didn’t divebomb any of my reps. The sets at 405 didn’t hurt any more than what I thought they would for being just sore from the past three days. I’ve since iced my knees a couple of times and I’m about to go to sleep. Hopefully it isn’t worse in the morning.
Incline felt pretty good, my pec is a little weird on the first rep each time, but it sorts itself out by the 2nd. I kept this light to be careful basically.
I did calves for the first time in forever because the massage therapist says I should work them so that I don’t get as much pain in my lower right leg while squatting. Apparently the lower part of the gastroc is fucked up, in his words. So, they will be something I try to work on. I started with low volume because I know my calves get unbelievably sore from any direct work.
Tuesday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 3 - Day 2
Paused Close Grip Bench:
5x275
5x5x315
1.5" Block Pull - Okie Bar - Straps:
5x5x405 - Did a set without straps, I’m going to have to work my way into no straps on this cheese grater.
HS Iso-Row - 350 Method:
15x360
14x360
12x360 - 41/50 reps achieved.
JM Press:
3x12x135
Deficit Push-Ups - 3/4 Reps for Pecs:
20xBW
2x15xBW
Band Pull-Apart:
2x50 @ Mini
This was a very carefully done workout. My pec was feeling pretty tight from the get-go, so I wasn’t able to really explode off my chest. Same goes for my knees hurting not allowing a lot of leg drive. I’m not sure if those contribute to me letting the bar float to the left more as well, but that’s been happening recently and I need to fix it. Regardless, I didn’t push myself too far today, and the bench stayed around RPE 8.5, I’d say.
Block pulls felt pretty awful for the first few warm up sets, but got better once I got to 405. Seems like no matter what I do, the whippy bars make me shake a lot. Gotta keep trying with that bar though, otherwise I’ll keep getting fucked at meets.
Not sure when I’ll be training in D.C. or if I’ll be able to update the log until I get back.
Saturday - Road to Mock Meet - Week 3 - Day 3
Bench:
4x315
4x335 @ 9.5 - Narrow bench, bumper plates, and spinny Oly bar made this really difficult
3x4x315
Beltless Snatch Grip Deadlift - Straps:
5x5x365
Lat Pulldown:
4x8x190
15x190
Triceps Pushdown:
3x12x50
Cable Rope Curls:
3x12x50
This was the only lifting I did in D.C. Other than that, I walked for 5 hours on both Friday and Sunday, so I guess that was cardio. This training was done at a super fancy Lifetime Fitness and they let us into their “Alpha Room” which was just 5 power rack / platform set ups. It was cool other than just having bumpers (Crossfit) and Oly bars that had very freely moving sleeves.
It wasn’t a bad workout, my bench was just very unstable, so I didn’t push it.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 4 - Day 1
Beltless Low Bar Squat:
5x3x405 - Ugh, very shitty. Knee pain, elbow pain, no strength available.
15x315 - Wanted 20 for the fun of it, probably could have with a spotter.
Military Press:
10x155 @ 8.5
10x155 @ 9.5
2x6x155 - Severe strength drop from the first two sets, cut it here
Lat Pulldown - Wide Neutral:
2x10x160
2x10x180
10x200
Standing Machine Hack Squat:
4x10x180 (2pps)
Calf Raise (On Hack Squat):
4x10x180 - 2 ct. pauses on peak and stretch
Lying Leg Curl:
3x15x95
Cable Wood Chopper:
3x10/10x55
After sitting in the car for 11 hours yesterday and then not getting good, or nearly enough, sleep, I couldn’t really expect to feel great during this workout. My knees and elbows were not happy about squatting at all. The knees were hurting from the moment I got under the bar, so I knew I wouldn’t be pushing it. But I wanted to get 405 on my back and I did the same amount I did last week. It didn’t help that I didn’t have my spotter there for psychological reassurance. Hopefully this knee issue clears up soon.
Military press was pretty weird. I was happy with my 2x10 and thought It’d be able to get 2x8 after that, but it just wasn’t close. Not really worried about it though.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 4 - Day 2
3 Ct. Paused Bench:
4x5x315
4x315 - Almost a 5x5 with 10 lbs. under my 5RM for this.
Beltless Paused Deadlift:
6x4x405
Chest Supported T-Bar Row:
5x10x135 (3p)
Paused DB Floor Press:
3x12x100s
Band Triceps Pushdown:
3x15 @ Light
Cable Rope Curl:
3x12x50
Cable Facepull:
3x20x50
Not really feeling like writing a lot, so I’ll just say that this went decently well. I had a different spotter than usual, but at least I had one. Pec was feeling tight, so I didn’t push the 5th rep on the last set.
Deadlift felt good. Figuring out a better starting position.
Road to Mock Meet - Week 4 - Day 3
Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x455 - All around RPE 8-8.5. Not nearly as good as last week’s 5x5+, but still no spotter and some knee pain, so I’m not too worried.
Beltless Deadlift w/ Chain - Straps:
4x5x405+75 - Benchmark PR. Still working on my setup on deadlifts, this went pretty well.
HS Iso-Row - Paused - Standing:
3x15x180 (2pps)
Seated Hamstring Curl:
3x15x100
Hyperextension:
3x15xBW+45
“Free Motion” Ab Pulldown:
15x100
15x110
15x120
I don’t really have any complaints about this workout, so I guess that means it went pretty well. I filmed the last set of squats from directly behind me and definitely need to work on opening up my right hip, because my left moves much better. It’s going to cause some issues if I don’t fix it. Other than that, 455 didn’t feel very heavy. Probably could have hit a 5x4 @ 9 with a spot.
Deadlifts were tough, but I’m happy with them, though I need to use chains more often. It’s only 480 or so at the top, but my straight weight PR beltless at 495 is 7 reps. Therefore I should be able to hit this 480 at the top for more than that. This is where we figure out if chains help my deadlift by getting better at using them.
