TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
901

Rebuilding - Week 13 - Day 1

Paused Incline Bench - 0.5" Board (FatGripz as boards):
2x6x185
6x205
2x6x225 - 5 ct pause on last reps

DB Floor Press - Paused:
3x12x80s - Flared elbows to hit pecs more instead of relying on delts

Prone Incline DB Row w/ Band:
3x12x80s+Dbl Mini

Unilateral Machine Lat Pulldown:
3x10/10x90

KB Push-Ups:
3x12 - This is just a lower level balance thing. Used the KB handles as my support, not as a load

Cable Facepull:
3x15x50

Not much to say here. The incline felt good for the most part. Didnā€™t want to push anything else really. Hoping to feel up for hopping on some sort of programming within a couple of weeks.

902

Rebuilding - Week 13 - Day 2

2" Sumo Block Pull w/ Belt/Straps:
3x495
1x585
1x675 - Too slow to move up

Beltless SSB Box Squat:
10x5x245 - Alternated comp, wide, and narrow stances

Cossack Squat:
3x8/8xBW+25

GHR:
10xBW
6xBW - Cue cramp, cue leaving

I was hoping I would feel strong today to help me take out some school frustration, but my timing and bracing was just off on the block pulls. Still happy to pull 7 plates when feeling like that though. Should have just done some volume with another movement probably.

Cossack squats are just side to side squats. Used it as a hip mobility type of exercise, since I need to make sure my hips are strong in difficult positions with my new squat stance.

903

Rebuilding - Week 13 - Day 3-4

Friday

Bench w/ Chains (+70):
9x3x225+70 - Alternated wide, normal, and close grips. Pecs and shoulder felt like shit

Spoto Incline Bench w/ American Bar:
5x8x128

Seal Row w/ Horizontally Loaded Band:
4x8x185+Mini

Unilateral Incline Fly:
3x10/10x10 - Did a few versions, including a super slow around-the-world type of motion. Just for trying to find things to increase my strength in shitty positions

A1 | Triceps Pushdown w/ Slow Eccentric:
4x12x55

A2 | Cable Curl on Low Row:
4x12x50

This was the end of a really long and frustrating day, so I wasnā€™t mentally into it, especially when I felt my shoulders and pecs being assholes. But whatever, the next day is where it was all saved.

Saturday

Belt Squat:
12x45
2x12x90

Squat w/ Belt:
3x405
1x455
1x495
1x545 - Match all-time PR!

1.5 Rep Sumo - Beltless/Straps:
5x4/4x405

A1 | Seated Band Leg Curls:
4x15xAvg

A2 | Belt Squat:
10x90
2x10x180
10x90 - 5 ct eccentrics

The last time I had 545 on my back was at the meet in May in wraps where I got crushed and dumped the bar over my head. Iā€™m back to hitting it in sleeves, and under control for the first time. Feel free to read my description on IG here for more context if you donā€™t know about my knee issues over the last 2+ years. This lift means so much to me.

Practically speaking now: This squat was done with basically no programming whatsoever other than squatting heavy every 1-2 weeks where I include something Iā€™m shitty at (i.e. SSB) and heavy accommodating resistance pretty often. Iā€™ve been considering it for a while and this pretty much cemented that Iā€™m going to try out conjugate training again. No having to hit certain numbers and a lack of specificity will hopefully stave off any injuries, especially of the overuse variety. Obviously bench is not ready for this, but Iā€™m going to start soon for squat and deadlift, and bench will just catch up as I figure it out.

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904

Rebuilding - Week 14 - Day 1

4 Ct. Eccentric Bench - Feet Flat:
7x5x225

Incline DB Bench - Elbows Flared:
3x8x65s

Cable Low Row - Medium MagGrip:
12x150
12x180
10x210
8x240, 8x210, 8x180 - Drop set

EZ Bar JM Press - 5 Ct Eccentric:
3x12x75 - Triceps are weak AF right now

Cable Pull-Apart:
3x15x25 - John Meadows did these in a recent IG video if youā€™re interested

DB Yā€™s and Shoulder External Rotation:
3x10+10x5s

Iā€™m basically going to try and fix my bench, shoulders, pecs, and tricep the same way I fixed my knees for squats. So Iā€™ll be doing lots of slow eccentric stuff for the next few weeks. It may drastically change what my bench looks like, but maybe thatā€™s necessary.

905

Rebuilding - Week 14 - Day 2-3

Tuesday

I lightly strained my hip flexor playing kickball. Nowhere near as bad as last year. Itā€™s Saturday as I write this and itā€™s almost fine. Probably the last time Iā€™ll be talked into that sport though. lol

Wednesday

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
6x3x455 - First set hook grip, PR for reps for that probably

A1 | SSB Pin Squats - Several Inches Above Depth:
5x6x245 - Hip flexor wasnā€™t okay with full depth, these worked fine

A2 | Band Pulldown:
12x2 dbl minis
12x1 dbl light
12x1 dbl mini+1 dbl light
12x2 dbl minis

I donā€™t remember what else I did on this day. It wasnā€™t much, but I ended up lightly stretching and working my hip flexor.

Friday

Paused Bench:
3x5x275
2x5x315 - 30 lbs more than Iā€™ve had in my hands since May

Incline Bench w/ American Bar - Narrow Neutral:
8x128
2x6x178 - PR. Added elbow cuffs to make sure triceps were okay with this weight
6x178 + 15x128 + 12x87 - Drop set

American Bar Curls - Partial Supinated:
3x12x87

Triceps Pushdown - V Bar:
3x12x70

Overhead Triceps Extension - Long Chain:
10x40
12x55
10x55 + 7x40 - Drop set

A1 | Push-Ups on KBs:
3x15 - Did these on smaller KBs to reduce the base of support surface area

A2 | Machine Reverse Fly:
15x70
2x15x90

DB Ys:
3x10x5s

Really happy with how bench felt today for the most part. I was just going to do 5x5x275 but that was very easy. Iā€™m setting my scapula a little differently than before, which Iā€™ll describe later, but it felt good with a wider grip. The first set of 315 was done with my ring fingers on the rings and the second was with my pinkies on the rings. The former felt great and the latter was much more uncomfortable. So Iā€™ll have to work on figuring out how to best use the set up.

Still going to continue with rehabbing my shoulder and such. This one good day doesnā€™t distract me from the fact that bench has felt like shit for almost 5 months. But itā€™s a good marker for movement in the right direction.

906

Rebuilding - Week 14 - Day 4

Belt Squat:
2x20x45

Sumo w/ Chains (+60) - Belt/Straps:
1x495+60
1x545+60
1x585+60 - Real hard near the top
2x1x585 - No chains

Beltless Paused Squat:
5x5x315 - Some pulling on hip flexor during pause, but otherwise seemed fine. Just kept it light for safety

Prowler Drags:
3 x 75 yds x 255 - Prowler weighs 75 lbs, added 4 plates to it. Turnarounds at 25 yd increments. This kills the hips

Standing Single Leg Curl:
12/12x"10/18"
2x12/12x"14/18"
20/20x"10/18"

Planks:
2x1:00 - No hip flexor issues with these

Iā€™m having some bilateral tightness in my hip external rotators, especially at the top of sumo pulls, so I need to be careful with that and probably jam a LAX ball in there. But I am happy to still pull 6 plates with 4 chains when the hips are feeling like that and I have a hip flexor issue. Will likely have chains in the max effort exercise rotation.

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907

Rebuilding - Week 15 - Day 1

Floor Press w/ Bands (Short Mini + Short Monster Mini = +90):
10x3x185+90 - Alternated 3 grips, wide felt best
2x15x185 - No bands

Cable Row - Wide Neutral:
15x150
12x180
8x210
6x240

BTN Lat Pulldown - Semi-Circle Attachment:
4x10x105

Unilateral Cable Fly:
2x15/15x25 - High to low for sternal head
2x15/15x15 - Low to high for clavicular head

Unilateral Decline DB Triceps Extension:
3x10/10x20 - Just went back and forth between hands with no rest

Supinated DB Curls:
3x20x20s

Triceps Pushdown:
12x55
2x12x70

This was after a very long day, but it helped me feel better. The floor press felt okay for the most part, but I had some anterior shoulder pain if I tucked my elbows too much. Otherwise the reps were smooth.

I think Iā€™ll complete this week, then take a deload next week, and then start the conjugate template after that.

908

Rebuilding - Week 15 - Day 2 - Wednesday

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt:
3x325
3x375
5x2x415
3x2x325

Beltless Paused Deadlift w/ Stiff Bar - Straps:
3x5x405 - Conventional
3x5x405 - Sumo

Lying Hamstring Curl:
3x12x50

Suitcase Hold:
3 sets per side with 135 for 20-30 secs - Tried hook grip, but left thumb was dying. Canā€™t have any extra nail on it or it feels like it will pull off. lol

Hip flexor seems to be able to handle squats almost normally at this point. Had some tightness, but it should be completely good to go by the next week or so.

The squats today were basically speed focused, which is cool since Iā€™m back over 4 plates feeling that comfortable, even though it was feeling heavy on my back. Duffalo bar basically makes me sit into a high bar torso position too, so the quads are still relatively strong.

909

Rebuilding - Week 15 - Day 3

Paused Bench - Ring Fingers Width:
3x275
1x315
1x345
1x365 - Not bad at all

3 Ct Paused Bench - Same Width:
5x3x275 - Feet flat too

Incline Bench w/ American Cambered Yoke Bar (55 lbs):
8x145
3x8x195 - This in an EliteFTS bar, just Google the name if youā€™re interested

Chest-Supported Rear Delt Fly:
3x15x45s

A1 | Seated Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:
15x40
3x12x55

A2 | Prone EZ Bar Curls:
15x75
3x12x95

Got to use some of my newly formed transfer and deductive physical therapy skills when a guy in the gym wrecked his back during squats while I was doing those last exercises. Could have done more work, but helped him for about 30 minutes instead. Sucks a lot for him obviously, but it was really cool being able to help out.

Benching was good, just have some hip flexor tightness which didnā€™t make my leg drive the best. Still using the new scapular position and so far so good. Basically, Iā€™m not retracting them as much as possible, instead I am pushing them laterally as if to start a lat spread. Iā€™m not necessarily protracting them, just pushing laterally and then depressing them. Iā€™m probably retracting them a bit from there, but not as much as my usual setup. Itā€™s like it creates a wider base of support. Iā€™m still arching my upper back as much as possible, but this position is letting me flare more and not put as much pressure on the biceps tendon and anterior delt. Is this safe? I donā€™t know, but it feels good with the wider grip, so Iā€™m going to keep working with it.

910

Rebuilding - Week 15 - Day 4 - Saturday

2" Sumo Block Pull - Belt/Straps:
1x585
1x675 - Made this harder than it should have been by rushing the setup
0x730 - Wanted to try despite the previous rep. Got it to my knees

Beltless Squat:
6x6x315

Reverse Hyper:
3x15xBW+90

Hollow Body Hold + Bicycle Kicks:
3x20

Meh, just wanted to try for a PR on the block pulls for fun. I didnā€™t have my setup right the whole time really, my hips were much higher than when I pulled 725 from this height. One of the things I definitely want to work on is getting my torso more upright and pulling back.

Deload week coming up and then Iā€™ll start on my conjugate-ish template.

911

Rebuilding - Week 16 - Day 1 - Deload

Cambered Bar Bench:
2x10x135
10x185
2x10x135

A1 | Incline DB Bench:
5x10x60s

A2 | Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - Long Lever Machine:
5x12x45

B1 | Machine Lat Pulldown:
12x180
2x12x230
2x12x180

B2 | Standing Chest Press:
20x45
2x20x90

C1 | Triceps Pushdown - Rope:
15x40
3x12x55

C2 | Cable Curls - Rope:
15x40
3x12x55

Just going to do a really light and high rep deload week. The cambered bar was the type that you would use for rows, not the rackable cambered bar, so when my hands are at chest level, the bar has not touched my chest. I went down to maybe an inch below where a straight bar would have touched. It felt good with 135, but 185 felt like it was putting too much strain on the pecs and delts. May be something to work up on, but Iā€™m not going to force that one.

Edit:
The rest of the deload

I did some light stuff, nothing special. Main things were 5x6x225 on bench with American Cambered Yoke bar and 5x5x405 paused sumo with the stiff bar. My body felt like hot garbage all week, which I guess meant that I timed the deload well.

912

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 1 - DE Upper

Bench w/ Bands - Dbl Minis (+70):
12x3x185+70 - Alternated 3 grips, about a minute rest between sets

Incline Bench w/ American Bar - Narrow Neutral:
10x128
3x10x158 - RPE 6-7

Triceps Pushdown:
20x55
15x62.5
12x70

Cable Tate Press:
3x15x40

Facepull on Lat Pulldown with Band Handles:
4x15x50

Cable Fly with Band Handles:
3x15x20s

DB Rear Delt Fly:
3x20x10s

Yay some programming! This was a good workout to start my new training, which is obviously some sort of conjugate work. It wonā€™t be exactly like the internet thinks Westside works, itā€™s just some general principles.

Speed bench was speedy after a couple of sets. I didnā€™t pause the reps, I tried to rep em out real quick. Not sure if Iā€™ll continue with that all the time though. Some right shoulder discomfort there, but Iā€™m figuring out things to fix that.

The exercises with ā€œband handlesā€ = Think about any handle you use and then replace it with short bands. So when I did the facepull, I got to my fully externally rotated position and then, due to the elastic, the weight bounced back and tried to pull me out of position. Will get a video next time, but it seems very useful.

913

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 2
Wednesday - DE Lower

Squat w/ Bands (+130) - Belt:
10x2x315+130

TnG Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x10x405

A1 | Standing Single Leg Curl:
15/15x"10/18"
2x15/15x"14/18"
15/15x"12/18"

A2 | Paused Cable Low Row w/ Band Handles:
4x10x105

B1 | Reverse Hyper:
3x15xBW

B2 | Straight Leg Sit-Ups:
3x15

Solid workout here. The squats were pretty fast, but I would like to control my descent more next time to mimic my heavier squats more. TnG sumo continues to be hard as hell for me, but I think it is good for my hip strength and mobility.

I think I may have figured out a setup in order to regulate my lower body fatigue, and therefore hopefully reduce injury risk, while at the same time having enough variability to avoid chronic issues. This first wave of 4 weeks, I am going to pull with a stiff bar only, which will cause the weights to be lower and I will be improving something I suck at. During this wave, I will be focusing on more straight bar squats and close variations. The next 4 week wave will switch to a deadlift focus, in which I will use the deadlift bar again, hopefully seeing a strength increase from the previous 4 weeks of stiff bar use. At the same time, I will be using almost entirely specialty bars for squats, taking the stress off my shoulders and also reducing the absolute loads in the same way the stiff bar did for deadlifts. So, Iā€™ll be waving intensity and specialization for my lower body. Itā€™ll take a while to see if itā€™s working, but it makes sense to me. All I know is, the last time I pulled on a stiff bar for a couple of weeks, I hit my 3RM PR of 585 shortly after, and increasing my SSB squat at least correlated with getting back to a 545 squat suddenly.

914

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 3
Friday - ME Upper

Lat Facepulls w/ Bandlesā„¢:
3x10x50

Reverse Band Bench (-5 top, -50 bottom):
3x315
3x365
3x385
3x405 @ 9 - PR, basically baseline since I havenā€™t done this in so long

Floor Press:
5x6x275

Prone Incline BB Row:
4x6x225

A1 | Cable Fly:
2x10x32.5s
10x40s
30x20s

A2 | Facepulls with Bandlesā„¢:
3x10x55

Band Tate Press:
4x15xLight - Band wrapped up the bench, so this was a good amount of tension

Single-Arm DB Curl - Alternating w/o Rest:
1x15/15, 3x10/10 x 25

Wasnā€™t expecting to have 400 in my hands this soon, but the weight was moving. After the 365 set, I had some twitching going on in my pecs, so that had me slightly worried. But I got a LAX ball in there to loosen up the pec minor and also got a hand-off for the 385 and 405 sets, which both helped a lot. In my PR spreadsheet, I had 405-75 for my 3RM, but I canā€™t find when I did that.

Floor press was done with pinkies on the rings, a finger in from the reverse band sets. They went decently well, all at about RPE 6.5-7, but they didnā€™t feel easy. Added elbow cuffs for my triceps. This was also the first time Iā€™ve gone moderately heavy on cable flies. Pecs are sore as all hell today.

Iā€™m also coming down with a head cold or something, so weā€™ll see how well I can squat today and lift in the coming week.

Link to 385 and 405 IG vids.

915

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 4
Saturday - ME Lower

Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt:
2x405+75
2x445+75
2x475+75 - RPE 10. 20 lb PR!

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
4x4x405

2" Conventional Block Pull w/ Belt/Straps - Stiff Bar:
5x495 @ RPE 7
3x5x455

I was planning on possibly hitting 455+75 for a triple, but it became apparent that would be too hard with my cold killing me. But I decided I could probably go up 30 lbs from 445 for another double. Probably couldnā€™t do 5 more lbs today lol. Really happy with getting through it.

Paused squats were both hard, but not awful. Maintained form pretty well and such. I was done by the end of the block pulls though. Thatā€™s what my Sundays are for, Iā€™ll be doing some extra accessories that I missed throughout the week.

IG vids of top sets

916

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 5
Sunday - Extra Day

Assault Bike:
1 mile in about 3 mins at 50 RPM

A1 | Shin Box Get-Ups:
5/5xBW
5/5xBW+26
2x5/5xBW+53
10/10xBW

A2 | DB Yā€™s:
4x15x5s

B1 | Lat Pulldown:
12x120
12x150
10x180
10x210

B2 | Cable Seated Leg Curls w/ Bandles:
4x15x40

C1 | Machine Chest Press + Serratus Protractions:
3x20+15x45

C2 | Isometric GHR Abs:
2x20x45 - Did these holding a barbell at stomach level and moved it like a paddle 10 swings per side
1x20x25 - This was with a DB holding straight up above me and transferring it back and forth between hands 10 per side

Shin box get-ups are demonstrated in a recent KMS video on Chris Duffinā€™s YouTube channel. I just weighted them with a KB. Will likely add those as a part of my warm-ups to see if I can get my hips more symmetrical in strength and mobility.

Ab work was mostly just fucking around honestly. It was a sort of test for my hip flexor too though and it didnā€™t hurt at all.

917

Conjugate - Week 2 - Day 1
Tuesday - DE Upper

Bench w/ Bands (+60) + Chains (+40):
12x3x185+60+40 - Alternating 3 grips and 60-90 sec rest. Band tension is slightly lower than last week because I didnā€™t have a bench with pegs and had to use DBs as anchors

Incline Bench w/ American Bar - Narrow Neutral:
8x128
10x168
2x10x178 - RPE 7ish. PR. Previous best was 2x6.

Triceps Pushdown w/ Bandles:
3x15x55

Cable Tate Press:
2x15x47.5
15x40

Facepull on Lat Pulldown with Bandles:
2x15x50
2x15x60

Cable Fly with Band Handles:
15x20s
15x25s
15x32.5s

Machine Rear Delt Fly:
20x70
2x20x95

Still sick, but I killed this workout. The speed bench was fast and controlled with pretty much no pains. The incline with the American bar is getting easier to control. When I had 1.5 plates on there before it was wobbly as hell, so at least my forearms are getting stronger there. My right triceps also felt iffy last time and this time it was fine. Though by the time I got to the cable Tate presses, the pump was making it feel sore in between sets.

Dynamic bench plan is to have bands only week 1, then add a chain week 2, and then add a second chain week 3. After deloading, I would increase the bar weight slightly or change the exercise entirely, like to long pauses with the same weight as the previous wave or something.

I keep meaning to take a video of the Bandlesā„¢ in action. Used them on pushdowns this time and they were very difficult.

918

Conjugate - Week 2 - Days 2-3

Wednesday - DE Lower

Squat w/ Bands (+130) - Belt:
2x315+130
11x2x335+130

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - Stiff Bar:
12x1x495

A1 | Cable Low Row:
3x12x180

A2 | Reverse Hypers - Paused at Top:
3x15xBW

Couple of things: 1. I thought I had done a 12x2 last week, so I did that again. But turns out I had done a 10x2. That explains why this was so hard. 2. This was way too hard and took way too long for what it is supposed to be. I was on the fence about alternating this day with normal DE squats and RE deadlift like last week and then doing a specialty bar ā€œheavyā€ DE squat day where I would work up to 3-5 reps @ RPE 7 or so and work around there for a few sets and then move to my low rep deadlifts. Doing both normal DE lifts in one day doesnā€™t feel good for me, so I think I will switch to that on the next wave. This just means any DE progressions (like adding bands, chains, or bar weight) will take twice as long, since there will be an extra week in between. This should be fine for strength and good for health.

Friday - ME Upper

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x315
3x335
3x355 @ 10 - PR. Previous was a double, though I had it rated at RPE 8. I think this was the lowest sticking point Iā€™ve ever gotten through. Video below

Floor Press:
6x5x295 @ 7ish - Elbows and shoulders feeling like garbage though. Wore elbow cuffs

Prone Incline BB Row:
4x8x225

A1 | American Bar Curls:
3x12x88 - Semi-supinated grip

A2 | Cable Fly:
4x10x32.5s
20x20s

Facepulls with Bandles:
3x12x40

B1 | DB Curl:
3x15x30s

B2 | Band Triceps Pushdown:
2x40xLight

I didnā€™t realize I was going for a PR until I got home after this workout. I figured I had done 365, but I guess not. As far as I can find, 355 is the most Iā€™ve ever 3 ct paused, so adding a rep to it is cool despite the RPE.

What Iā€™m most happy about is that I can count on one hand the amount of times Iā€™ve felt comfortable grinding out a bench rep in the past couple of years, due to all of my pec strains. Today was practically a full pause a few inches off the chest and I felt okay with trying to get it moving again, which I did.

3x355 video.

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919

Conjugate - Week 2 - Days 4-5

Saturday - ME Lower

Sumo Deadlift w/ Chains (+60) - Stiff Bar - Straps/Belt:
3x495+60
3x535+60
3x545+60 - PR. RPE 9. Had no idea I was going for a PR until I got home
Add pause:
4x405+60
3x4x455+60

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
5x5x335

Another lesson learned today was that my supplement after my ME lift should not be very close to the ME lift. Adding a pause to the same lift knocked me out. It would have been better to remove the chains at least. But Iā€™m still happy with this obviously because of the PR. My form wasnā€™t perfect, so I didnā€™t move up as much as I could have.

Sunday - Extra Day

Standing Cable Low Row - On Belt Squat w/ Semi-Supinated MAG:
10x45
10x90
10x135
10x180
10x135
10x90
10x45

Lat Pulldown:
3x12x150

Standing Single-Leg Curl:
2x15/15x"10/18"

Seated Cable Leg Curl:
3x15x55

Also Yā€™s and cable rear delts, and then some abs. Blah blah blah, Iā€™m not sure if Iā€™ll worry about logging the specific numbers on these days anymore. Iā€™ll probably just list the exercises.

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920

Conjugate - Week 3 - Day 1
Tuesday - DE Upper

Bench w/ Bands (+70) and Chains (+75):
12x3x185+70+75 - Alternating 3 grips. Little longer rests than previous weeks and less TnG

Incline Bench w/ American Bar - Narrow Neutral:
10x128
10x178
2x10x198 - Another PR here

Triceps Pushdown + Band:
3x12x40+Dbl Mini

Cable Overhead Triceps:
3x15x40

A1 | Cable Fly:
15x25s
2x15x32.5s

A2 | Facepull on Lat Pulldown w/ Bandles:
4x10x60

DB Rear Delt Fly:
3x20x20s

I thought bench would be more trouble than it was with the 145 lbs of accommodating resistance. It actually felt pretty good though. I didnā€™t do really fast TnG like I did in previous weeks, but slightly paused, which gave me more control and less elbow strain.

Really happy with the American bar incline gains. Will be switching that slot for the next wave, but will definitely come back to it soon.

Also I finally have a video of the Bandles in action. Here it is along with my first set of 10x198 on incline.

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