TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
921

Conjugate - Week 3 - Day 2
Wednesday - DE Lower

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
10x2x405

Beltless TnG Deadlift - Stiff Bar/Straps:
8x345 - Sumo
3x8x345 - Conv. This turned into RDL

A1 | Cable Low Row:
12x150
12x180
12x210
12x240
20x150

A2 | Seated Leg Curl w/ Bandles:
3x15x95

Some band ab stuff

I’m at home for Thanksgiving and went to the Y with my parents, so there was no way to attach bands to the shitty rack. But no big deal, the paused squats were close enough. It was pretty tough by the end. Really would like to get those stronger, because they are exposing my out-of-the-hole weakness with my new stance.

Deadlift felt like utter shit, so I didn’t push it at all. I also just had 35s to work with after the first 45, so that’s why I used a weird number.

922

Conjugate - Week 3 - Days 3-4

Friday - ME Upper

Bench - Soft Pause:
2x315
2x365
2x385 - RPE 10. Hit another hard sticking point and made it through

A1 | Close Grip Incline Bench:
6x225
5x255 - Pretty hard
4x255 - Very hard, decreasing weight
4x5x225

A2 | Prone Incline DB Row:
5x10x90s

B1 | Band Pushdown:
3x20xLight

B2 | BW Triceps Extension:
3x15xBW

C1 | Seated Facepull:
3x12x60
20x40

C2 | Cable Fly:
10x25s
10x32.5s
10x40s
20x20s

DB Curl:
3x10/10x35

Another successful max effort bench day in the books. This was done in an unusual gym, on non-competition equipment, so I’m very happy to have been able to hit 385x2. That’s only 20 lbs off my PR. Here’s a video of it.

But there was another lesson learned: Don’t incline press twice in a week. Not only did I feel weak, this absolutely wrecked my shoulders. It’s fine though, I’ll have a nice list of lessons to tweak my programming with.

Sunday - ME Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
2x455
2x475
2x495 - RPE 9.5 - Lost my upper back, but otherwise it move well

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
3x5x405

4" Sumo Rack Pull w/ Belt/Straps:
5x4x495 - Worked up to first set beltless

A1 | Iso-Leg Press w/ Band:
3x10x270+Dbl Light

A2 | Lying Leg Curl - Plate Loaded:
5x10x50

Machine Pullover:
3x10x150

Kneeling Cable Crunch:
10x150
3x10x200

Drove back to Augusta from Birmingham for 4.5 hours and went directly to the gym to find out that it was closing (again). But I have a membership to Gold’s, so I just went there and it was pretty well equipped compared to the Gold’s Express that I went to last time this happened. Regardless, I was hoping to do something other than straight bar squats, but that’s what I had to do.

They went well though and I am nearing my all-time PRs again, even after sitting in the car for a while. The paused squats were hard as hell, but I maintained my positioning well.

I haven’t done rack pulls in years, but they felt alright. Forced me to control the eccentric because I’m not an asshole and didn’t want to fuck up their bar. Speaking of that, I didn’t put stiff bar because it wasn’t very stiff, but it wasn’t a deadlift bar.

Here are videos of 475x2, 495x2, and one of the rack pull sets.

923

Conjugate - Week 4 - Day 1
Tuesday - Upper Deload

A1 | Feet Up DB Bench:
10x10x60s

A2 | DB Rear Delt Fly:
5x20x20s - Done on odd numbered sets

A3 | DB Curl:
5x20x20s - Done on even numbered sets

Iso-Row:
5x10x180

Reverse Hyper:
3x12xBW+140

Needed this deload badly. For my body and school, I have tons of stuff I gotta do. So this was in and out of the gym in under an hour today.

924

Conjugate - Week 4 - Days 2-4

Thursday- Lower Deload

SSB Box Squat w/ Belt:
6x3x335

Plus some other stuff I can’t remember other than pull-throughs and leg curls.

Saturday- Upper Deload

A1 | Paused Larsen Press - Feet Supported:
5x8x225

A2 | Seal Row:
5x8x185

B1 | Triceps Pushdown:
3x12x85

B2 | Band Facepull:
3x15xDbl mini

C1 | Unilateral Incline DB Press:
3x12/12x50

C2 | Fat Bar Curls:
3x10x115

Nothing special here. I liked the Larsen press with the feet supported on a box. It’s more about the pressing than the balance because of that addition. I’m thinking that it would be a good supplement.

Sunday - Lower Deload

Sumo w/ Deadlift Bar - Belt/Straps:
1x495
1x585
1x635 - Not bad, just felt it a lot everywhere and it wasn’t fast enough to move up

Conventional Deadlift w/ Deadlift Bar - Belt/Straps:
3x5x405

Cambered SSB Bar Squat w/ Belt:
3x6x335

A1 | Standing Single-Leg Curl:
12/12x"12/18"
12/12x"14/18"
12/12x"16/18"

A2 | Bulg Split Squat:
3x15/15xBW

My plan for my final day of my deload is to have my ME lower slot not deloaded. The reason is because I alternate ME squats and deadlifts, as in Week 1 and 3 = ME squats and Week 2 and 4 = ME deadlifts. I’d rather not just have one real ME deadlift day per 4 weeks, so I’m doing it this way. After the ME exercise, I just continue deloading the remaining exercises.

I haven’t really figured out exactly how I want the rest of the deload week to go. I don’t think the way I did this one was completely effective. I still feel kind of beat up. I’ve got 3 weeks to figure it out before the next deload though.

Like I said before, I’m switching to mostly specialty bar squats and back to the deadlift bar for this upcoming wave. EDIT: Actually, come to think of it. I only have a week left in my semester, which means I’ll be going home for a month, including traveling to Pennsylvania for a week. This upcoming wave will not be optimal, nor will I be able to use specialty bars, as far as I know. But, it’ll be okay.

925

Conjugate - Wave 2 - Week 1 - Day 1
Wednesday - DE Upper

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+75):
12x3x205+75 - Alternate 3 grips. 60-90 sec rest

Larsen Press w/ Feet Supported:
8x225
3x8x255

Cable Overhead Triceps w/ Bandles:
3x12x55

Triceps Pushdown:
2x20x40

Lat Pulldown - Neutral Moderate Grip:
4x10x150

A1 | Pec Deck:
15x75
2x15x105

A2 | Band Face-Pull-Apart:
3x15xMini

DB Spider Curl:
3x15x25s

Good workout here. The speed bench was speedy, middle grip felt the best. The Larsen press got pretty hard near the end of each set. Not sure if I’ll add reps or weight next week, but if they are forcing me to learn how to maintain my shoulder position without leg drive, which is much needed.

926

Conjugate - Wave 2 - Week 1 - Day 2
Thursday - DE Lower

Belt Squat:
15x45
2x15x90

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
10x2x335 - ~90 sec rest

Sumo w/ Chains (+75) - Belt/Straps:
5x405+75
5x455+75
5x495+75 - RPE 8. Baseline PR for 5RM
2x5x455+75

A1 | Belt Squat:
3x12x135

A2 | Band Single-Leg Seated Leg Curl:
3x15/15xLight

Weighted Plank:
4 x 0:30/0:30r x 45

I was struggling with a bit of knee and hip pains today. Knee was just the left one and it was from playing basketball on Tuesday night. Both hips were denying me external rotation though. Just real tight n shit even despite trying to warm up well. I even had some muscle twitch going on in there after one of the squat sets. These things affected squat a bit, but I just focused a lot on my cues and controlling everything and the reps were fast.

I figured deadlift would be an issue if I tried sumo, but it turns out the hips were fine with it and I hit that heavy set pretty well. I’m quickly figuring out that I just need to be more patient with my setup on heavier weights, because sitting way back helped with taking the slack out a lot. I can’t do that if I have a hyped up setup.

927

Conjugate - Wave 2 - Week 1 - Day 3-4

Friday - ME Upper

Paused Reverse Band Bench (-5 at top, -50 at bottom):
2x365
2x395
1x425 @ 9.5 - Wanted a double and probably could have gotten it, but I didn’t hit my groove perfectly and the pecs were feeling iffy. So I didn’t push it

Bench w/ Shoulder Saver Bar:
2x5x290 - Pecs were getting more irritated by the rep, cut it again

Cable Low Row - Swiss Multi Grip Attachment:
10x180
10x220
10x240
10+10+10x180 - All three handle widths

A1 | Cable Fly w/ Slow Eccentrics:
3x10x25s

A2 | Lat Face Pulldown:
15x75
15x100
15x135

B1 | DB Rear Delt Fly:
3x20x20s

B2 | KB Push-Ups:
3x15

First unsuccessful workout of the conjugate training. I’m not unhappy with the 425 speed, I just didn’t flare my elbows correctly, but I gotta stay on top of my pecs. I think the flies with slow eccentrics will be good for them.

Saturday - ME Lower

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
2x425
2x465
2x485 - PR. I’ve never had more than 445 on my back with this bar and it was brutal

Paused Squat w/ Belt - Normal Bar:
4x405
2x2x425 - Felt a pain in my low back on the first set, so I rested and did another
4x405

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
4x495 @ 7.5
3x3x495

A1 | Belt Squat + KB Goblet Squat:
3x10x45+70KB - Well this is hard AF

A2 | Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x12/12x"12/18"

Unfortunately that pain during the paused squats is a minor injury of some sort. I was able to do two more squat sets by very, very focused bracing, but I woke up this morning incredibly stiff and some movements are sharply painful. I think it’s the left QL currently. But I’m in PT school so I’ve got tools/knowledge to take care of it ASAP. I tell you what though, there’s nothing like the fear of more pain to teach me how to brace throughout the entire ROM. I’ve never really been able to actively brace as I near the hole, but I did after that pain happened.

Regardless, I’m really happy with the SSB squat. I wanted to hit 500 with that as soon as I could and the e1RM is around 510. I lost my upper back a lot during the rep, which was expected with this bar, but really my legs had no issues at all and the weight kept moving. The loss of my upper back likely meant the low back wasn’t perfect, so I’m sure than contributed to the subsequent injury. Just things to keep strengthening.

Confirmed that I need to keep sitting back for sumo. Despite the back thing, the pauses were easy and reps smooth.

So moving forward, I’m going to take it sort of easy this week because of my back and the fact that I have a weekend trip happening next weekend where I won’t be lifting. I won’t be in a well equipped gym for a month, so this may not be the most optimal situation for progress on conjugate, but I’ll figure it out.

Link to 425, 465, and 485 sets.

928

Oh…hello

It’s been a while. 4 weeks apparently, which I think is the longest break I’ve taken from my log in the ~10 years that I’ve been writing it. I’ve been on my Christmas break from PT school and I stayed away from my computer almost entirely and just fucked around in the gym. The back injury is mostly gone and I pulled 585x2 and squatted up to 455 over the break. Just being wary of it for a few more weeks. I did get a very minor pec strain last week benching 365, but I’m nearly fine already. I’m also not going to write the workouts I completed during this time, because it doesn’t matter. I’m back in Augusta now and I will get back into conjugate over the next couple of weeks as I get healthy. I’ll basically need to restart.

Sunday - Upper

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
6x3x275

A1 | American Bar Incline Bench - Narrow Neutral:
3x8x175

A2 | Seal Row - Rear Delt Focus:
15x75
12x125
10x175
20x125
20x75

B1 | Triceps Pushdown:
15x65
3x12x70

B2 | Cable Low Row - Iso Handles:
15x135
12x150
10x180

C1 | DB Curl:
3x15x25s

C2 | Overhead Band Triceps Extension:
3x15xDbl Mini

Good to be back at i3 with the best equipment and atmosphere. I’m so spoiled by this place. lol

929

Conjugate Restart - Week 1 - Day 1
Wednesday DE Lower

Belt Squat:
3x12x90

Rackable Cambered Bar Squat w/ Belt:
10x3x350 - Done in 15:10

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - DL Bar:
4x6x495

A1 | Lat Pulldown - Moderate Neutral:
8x150
8x180
3x8x210

A2 | Belt Squat:
15x90
15x135
15x180
15x90

B1 | Standing Single-Leg Curl:
12/12x"12/18"
12/12x"14/18"
12/12x"16/18"

B2 | Calf Raises:
2x12x90 - Donkey raises
2x12x45 - Seated raises

I’m going to go ahead and jump back on the conjugate scheduling, just to get it moving and have structure, even though I may not be doing ME days the normal way for a few weeks. Today felt good for the most part. Squats were very hard aerobically and the cambered bar pitched me forward, putting stress on my back, but the erector strain was not apparent at all, so I think it’s healed. Knees are a little achy, so I did some quad fallouts at the end of the workout for some eccentric loading. Stefi Cohen demonstrated these in a recent IG post.

Deadlift felt great. Backs up my plan to focus on a stiff bar for 4 weeks every other wave. I’m actually getting my spine closer to neutral after 10 years of deadlifting. At least for the first rep or when I’m really focusing on it. I also moved my belt higher and it felt good, like a point of contact cue for where I want to extend.

930

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 2
DE Upper - Thursday

Band Pull-Apart:
75xMicro - 25 sec hold every 25th rep

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
10x3x275 - Alternated wide and comp grips

Incline Bench w/ American Bar:
8x175
2x8x215 - PR
8x175

A1 | Seal Row:
3x15x185

A2 | 5 Ct. Eccentric DB Fly:
3x10x15s

B1 | Overhead Triceps Extension:
15x55
15x62.5
15x70

B2 | 5 Ct. Eccentric Hammer Curl:
3x10x30s

Band Pull-Apart:
3x15xMicro

Solid workout here. Bench was easier than the other day, though I would like it to feel lighter than it did. The incline bench went very well. First set was about RPE 7.5 and second was RPE 9. I’m also just logging that bar as 35 lbs instead of 38 because lazy.

931

Conjugate - Week 1 - Day 3-4
Saturday - “ME” Lower

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Chain (+75) - Belt:
2x330+75
2x380+75
2x2x415+75
4x2x330+75

A1 | Rack Pull - Below the Knees - Belt/Straps:
4x5x405 - First 2 sets beltless

A2 | Hatfield Squats - Belt:
4x8x295 - First 2 sets beltless

Reverse Hyper:
3x12/12/12xBW - Single legs for hamstrings and then normal rev hypers

Did not feel good today at all. The squats hurt my quad on the left side (VL) and I figured it was just tightness, but the pain persisted, so I decided not to move up from 4 plates. I was not feeling strong regardless of that. The superset of rack pulls and Hatfield squats were hard, but felt fine. Quad did not hurt during them. But the quad did hurt the rest of the day and through Sunday. Today (Monday), I don’t feel anything in it at all, so I will have to see what it is like for squats tomorrow.

Sunday - ME Bench

Soft Pause Bench:
5x3x315

3 Ct. Eccentric Floor Press:
5x225
4x5x245

A1 | Cable Low Row - MAG Grip Semi Supinated:
10x150
10x165
10x180
10x210

A2 | Overhead Triceps Extension - American Bar Semi Supinated:
2x12x55
2x12x75

Unilateral Cable Triceps Pushdown - Grenade:
I don’t really know what I did here. Multiple sets of 15-25 lbs until pump and failure

Prone DB Shoulder:
Messed around with 5 lb DBs with Y’s and dynamic patterns for a while, just hitting the lower traps and external rotators

This was a better day than the previous one. I felt like I could have continued with 335 for triples at basically the same speed after the first set, but decided to just make sure to have a productive day and stayed conservative. Same with the floor press, which put a lot of stress on my pecs to control the weight, so I will definitely do them more.

932

Conjugate - Week 2 - Days 1-2
Tuesday - DE Lower

Belt Squat:
2x15x45

Rackable Cambered Bar Squat w/ Belt:
10x3x370 - Done in 13:35, no quad pain

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - DL Bar:
5x5x495 - Last set paused

A1 | Hyper w/ Band:
4x10xMini

A2 | KB Goblet Split Squat:
4x10/10x53 - 2 sets front foot elevated, 2 sets rear foot elevated 5"

90/90 Crunch Isometric:
2x60 sec - Mostly to get rid of my back pump

This was great, no pains anywhere. I don’t know what the quad issue was the other day, but there was no hint of it, so I just went up as planned and ended up doing it in less time than the previous week. I think that the cambered bar and Duffalo bar just do too similar of a thing to me, so I wasn’t recovered for ME day last week. We’ll see though, if there are issues this weekend.

Sumo was great again. Last week was a 4x6x495, but I didn’t feel like going heavier, so I just got my extra rep of volume overall and made it harder by pausing the last set. My paused sumo PR is 6x495, so that’s nice to hit 5 with fatigue.

Wednesday - DE Upper

3 Ct Paused Bench w/ Chain (+40):
5x225+40 - Pec pain on left
4x275+40 - Same
3x225+40 - Same, cutting it

Incline Bench w/ American Bar - Alternate Narrow/Medium Neutral Grips:
2x10x125
6x10x145
2x10x125

Unilateral DB Row:
10/10x105
2x10/10x150

Iso-Row - Wide Pronated/Narrow Neutral Superset:
3x10/10x180

Slow Eccentric Cable Fly w/ Bandles:
3x10x20s - Ecc wasn’t counted, just long as I could do it, ended up at like 5-6 sec probably

Incline Push-Ups - Close/Wide Superset:
3x10/10

This was about the opposite of yesterday, in that I wasn’t expecting any pain, but I got it. I had no reason to think I had a pec strain, but it felt like it was already there when I got to 225. I’m really hating bench as of this past entire year practically. I think the slow eccentric stuff I’ve been doing will eventually help with injury prevention, but I’m pretty frustrated with it at the moment.

Anyway, the 10x10 on incline went decently well. I was pushing near the edge of pain on several sets, so that should be good start for the pec healing.

933

Conjugate - Week 2 - Days 3-4
ME Lower - Friday

2" Sumo Block Pull - Ohio Power Bar - Straps/Belt:
1x495
1x545
1x585
1x635
1x675 - Most I’ve moved with this bar
3x2x585 - Much easier than on the warm-up set. Considered AMRAP, but didn’t want to be stupid

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
3x5x335 - Normal
3x5x335 - Box, wide stance

Belt Squat + KB Goblet Squat:
3x12x130 + 53

Standing Unilateral Leg Curl:
3x15x"10/18"

I had to use the stiff bar because the 2 DL bars were being used by people using less than half the weight I was, but that’s fine. Really though, the difference is immense for me on sumo, but I did maintain decent form and figured it out by the back down sets. SSB didn’t feel great on anything, so that’s why I switched to a box.

ME Upper - Saturday

Larsen Press w/ Feet Supported:
2x5x275 - Pec still not feeling good
1x275 - Yeah, feeling too dangerous

A1 | DB Bench:
5x20x50s

A2 | Prone DB Row:
5x12x75s

B1 | Prone EZ Bar Curl:
4x15x75

B2 | Band Pec Stuff:
4x20/20xMini

C1 | Machine Pulldown:
3x15x180

C2 | KB Lateral Raise:
3x15/15x26

Left pec felt fine during stretching and some push-ups as a warm-up, but the right felt shitty. Went to bench and the left felt shitty again. I’m just going into full recovery mode for a couple of weeks at least. The pec hurt over a larger area than my usual small strain, it’s just odd because it doesn’t feel like a strain, it just hurts to concentrically press. Not exactly sure how to fix it since this is unusual, but I’ll figure it out.

934

Conjugate - Week 3 - Day 1
Tuesday - Switcheroo - RE Upper

Paused Incline Bench w/ Multi-Grip Log Bar - Moderate Neutral:
2x8x175
3x8x195

DB Bench:
5x20x60s

A1 | Cable Low Row:
12x180
3x12x210

A2 | Cable Reverse/Normal Pushdown:
10/10x55
2x10/10x55/70

Seated Cable Overhead Extension:
3x15x55

Bench - 5 Sec Eccentric:
3x6x135 - Just something to stress the tissue in the exact direction I want them to heal

Band Shoulder External Rotation:
3x15/15xMicro

Since I haven’t had a huge bench day to recover from, I figured it would be a good time to switch back to upper days on day 1 and 3 instead of 2 and 4. Just messed up my schedule during my break and didn’t fix it when I restarted.

It’s nice to know that I can still incline bench, at least with a neutral grip, while I get the pecs situated. Maybe if that moves up, I can maintain my delt and triceps strength.

I’m going to make a concentrated effort to get my external rotators stronger and gain more external rotation ROM. I noticed today during a shoulder ortho class that my infraspinatus is just not comfortable to contract and hold an externally rotated position, so it could very well be playing into all of my pec issues (being that they are internal rotators).

935

Conjugate - Week 3 - Day 2
Wednesday - DE Lower

Just assume I do warm-up belt squats before every squat session from now on:
3x15x45

Rackable Cambered Bar Squat w/ Belt:
10x3x380 - Done in 17:20

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - DL Bar:
3x7x495 - Could have done another set, but I wasn’t holding my form well enough for that

Belt Squat - Wide Stance:
12x90
3x12x180

Stiff Leg Prowler Push:
4x15/15xP+90 - Did this to target hamstrings mostly, just stayed upright instead of leaning over and pushing with quads. Reps are steps per leg.

Core:
KB Suitcase March - 2x10/10x53
Cable Ab Pulldown - 2x15x105

This was done after a long day and I did not take any caffeine due to going to the gym around 7pm. Considering that, I’m happy with how the main lifts went. I came in with some right knee pain that has been there for a day or two. It’s not really affecting me, but it’s something to be wary of. I did not have the energy to really push the rest periods, but 17:20 isn’t bad. That wraps up the cambered bar DE cycle.

I think I would have pushed myself to hit a 4th set on deadlifts if I had caffeine in me, but I just didn’t have the stamina to hold form. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything over 6s for multiple sets with 495, so I’m still happy with what I did.

936

I have a similar problem. The pain feels like a pinching/tight sensation in my right pec close to my armpit. I also don’t feel any pain when I bench on an incline. I went to a PT and he said it was a strain, but it doesn’t feel like one to me.

I’m in OT school, I looked in my textbooks and research databases and I couldn’t find anything.

937

@benchpresspapi

Yeah trying to figure out your own pain is harder than it seems like it should be when you’re in school with access to so much info. I would just treat it like a strain anyway because it’s likely to resolve itself through movement and you can maybe figure out, in the mean time, if your lower traps, serratus anterior, or infraspinatus are weak and keeping you from a non-compromised position. Lower traps especially for posteriorly tilting the scapula is something I never thought of prior to PT school
My pain is more medial to the armpit, before it flips under, and the pain is directly perpendicular to the fibers over like a 3-4 inch line. It’s very weird and not sharp like a strain would be. I floor pressed with a wide neutral grip the other day and it felt completely fine, so I’m not sure if I’m just internally rotating at the shoulder during barbell bench or something else, because the neutral grip was forcing me into more external rotation.

1 Like
938

Conjugate - Week 3 - Days 3-4
Friday - ME Upper

Floor Press w/ Multi-Grip Log Bar:
5x3x215 - Moderate neutral, this felt like shit all over
3x10x215 - Wide neutral, this felt completely fine all over

Incline Bench:
4x6x185

A1 | Facepull:
4x15x60

A2 | Hammer Curl:
12x30s
3x12x50s

Barbell Curl:
3x20x45

Band Press/Fly:
3x15xLights - This was in between a press and fly

Band Cross-Body Row:
3x15xLights

As mentioned to the user above, I don’t know the exact reason for the wide neutral being fine and the moderate neutral being shitty, but the only thing I can think of is that the wide grip allows for shoulder external rotation, whereas the moderate grip does not allow for that. With the moderate grip, I would have to way over-tuck my elbows to get into external rotation, so I end up pressing with the elbows flared relative to my wrists (in other words, internally rotated). I’m not sure why it feels fine with a narrower grip on incline, but I’m assuming it has to do with my scapula being in a better position.

Regardless, I seem to have found a decent variation while the pec gets to feeling better.

Sunday - ME Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
3x1x495
3x3x455

TnG Conventional Deadlift - Straps:
8x405 - Beltless. RIR 2 before form breakdown
2x8x405 - Belted

A1 | Lat Pulldown - Fat Bar:
12x120
12x150
12x180
12x210

A2 | Seated Cable Hamstring Curl:
4x12x55

Med Ball Hollow-Holds:
3x0:60x20 - 10 sec arms/legs extended, 10 sec deadbug rest, for 1 minute per set

I really didn’t feel like using a specialty bar today, despite it being that wave, so I just did comp squat to see what was up. I’m not really happy with my depth on any of the squats, I was cutting it an inch or so high, in my opinion. I gotta be able to hit depth and maintain my lower back neutrality though.

Video of all squats but the first set of 3x455.

939

Conjugate - Week 4 - Days 1-2 - Deload/Sick
Friday - Upper

Incline Bench w/ American Press Bar:
5x5x175

Seal Row:
4x12x185

I don’t know what else I did. It wasn’t much. I got a cold on Sunday and I stayed out of the gym to make sure I recovered from that before my gf came into town. It was not easy getting back into the gym mentally, so this one wasn’t the best. But Saturday’s…

Saturday - ME Lower

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - DL Bar:
1x495
1x585
2x1x635 - I was just going to repeat this a few times because the first was hard, but the 2nd was pretty easy, so I went up
1x655 - 5 lb PR!

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
5x4x315 - Went up to 405 and it felt like shit so I just stuck here instead of ruining my PR high

A1 | Belt Squat:
3x12x180

A2 | KB Suitcase March:
3x10/10x97

Woop! Super happy with how deadlifts went obviously, especially after being sick and not doing anything for a week. Oh, and I also played football for like 2 hours before this. Not super hard, but it’s still running around and fatiguing, especially on my hips/adductors.

I also did not rely on my old habit of shooting my hips up and down before initiating the pull, which means my practice of sitting back is settling into a new habit. Doing that really helped with my positioning because I end up being less forward near my sticking point, so I can just grind out whatever I need to, instead of losing balance.

940

Conjugate - Week 5 - Day 1-2
Tuesday - DE Upper

Bench w/ Multi-Grip Log Bar - Wide Neutral:
5x8x215

Paused Bench:
3x3x275 - Three grip widths, each felt awkward from not practicing, but no pec pain

Dips:
5x10xBW

Prone DB Row:
3x12x105s

A1 | Triceps Pushdown - Slow Eccentric:
15x55
15x62.5
15x70

A2 | Band Fly+Press:
3x15+10x2 minis

Curls:
30/30x30 - Concentration curl - This was done in 10s and just swapping arms with no rest for 3 sets
3x15x45 - Bumper plate curl

Cable Shoulders:
B1 | 3x15x32.5 - Facepulls
B2 | 3x15x20 - Infraspinatus External Rotation

This was a better upper body day than this past weekend. I’m not sure I like the neutral grip bars for full ROM horizontal pressing because of the way I have to touch the bar on my chest. I can’t let it fully come down or the wrists will have to radially deviate, so I just touch the one side of the bar and that prevents me from both keeping tension where I want it and adding more weight.

Regardless, I put 275 back on the barbell and it was okay. I’m going to start working the barbell back in for higher reps now.

I haven’t done dips in forever. I want to include them consistently for once, if my pecs and shoulders allow for it, to see if my triceps can get some actual supplementary load on them, instead of just pushdowns basically.

Wednesday - DE Lower

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
5x5x405

Stiff Bar Sumo w/ Chains (+60) - Belt/Straps:
10x2x405+60 - First 5 sets hook grip. Done in 15 min

A1 | Leg Press:
12x200
12x400
10x600 - I basically only felt this in my knees rather than my muscles
15x490
20x400

A2 | Standing Single Leg Curl:
12/12x"12/18"
12/12x"14/18"
2x12/12x"16/18"
12/12x"16/18" + 12/12x"12/18" + 12/12x"8/18" - Drop set

Ab Wheel Roll-Out:
3x12

Squats were hard as hell today. I had to really focus on everything to get a good rep in, so some of the pauses were not long enough. But I got through it and I think I hit depth more convincingly (to myself) than my last heavy squat day.

I’m going to try alternating 5x5s and 10x3s for squats and 10x2 and 5x5 for deadlift on this day, so that I’m doing a real DE day for each every other week and getting some harder volume on the lift that is not the traditional DE style that week.

Hook grip held up, but didn’t feel good, so I’ll be doing that more often just to make sure I keep the skill and not rely too too much on straps.