TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

[TylerPK4L]

Friday - Day 3 - Upper

Paused Bench:
4x8x275

Incline DB Bench:
2x15x85s
25x85s

Jettison Fly (Cable+Bands → Cable → Bands):
3x10+10+10x25 w/ Minis

Cable Lateral Raise:
Bunch of 12s at 20 with and without pausing

Cable Rear Delt Fly:
Bunch of 12s at 15 with and without pausing

Band Triceps Pushdowns:
Bunch of 15s with minis until I finally broke one and then using a light band

Bench still feels tough on the pecs, specifically my right is feeling tight, so I’ll be working that out with soft tissue stuff more throughout the workouts.

Saturday - Day 4 - Lower

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x405
2x495
1x545
1x585
1x635
1x675 - Actual PR this time! No downward motion

Conventional TnG w/ Belt/Straps:
3x8x405

Belt Squat:
3x12x180

Hack Squat w/ Bands - Heels Together:
4x10x50+2 Lights

Slider Adductor Squat w/ Band:
3x10/10xMini

Link to 675, who cares about any other notes

Sunday - Day 5 - Back

Prone Single-Arm Dead Stop KB Row:
10/10x53
10/10x70
3x10/10x97

Banded KB Farmer’s Walk:
2 x 50 yds x 70s
4 x 50 yds x 97s

T-Bar Row:
12x45
12x90
3x12x135

Lat Pulldown to Top of Head - Neutral Grip:
15x105
15x120
15x135 + 15x105 - Drop set

Single Arm Cable Low Row - Full ROM Stretch:
2x15/15x60

Pivot Brachialis Curl:
12/12x55
12/12x65

Pivot Biceps Curl:
2x10/10x65

Bell Curl:
3x10x53 - Holding bottom of KB

Banded KB farmer’s walks are using bands quadrupled around a KB handle and used as the handle. The KBs bounce up and down and with the 97s I have to shrug and slightly row to keep them from hitting the ground. They suck.

[TylerPK4L]

Monday - Day 1 - Upper

Feet Up DB Bench:
10x85s
10x105s
3x10x115s
20x115s - Might be a PR

Machine Incline Press:
12x90
12x180
2x12x230
2x12x270

Triceps Pushdown:
15x55
15x70
10x85 - These felt real rough on the triceps today
15x70

Ladder Push-Ups:
20, 12, 12
15, 12, 6 - With mini band til rep 8, then was all outta push

Prone Rear Delt Fly:
3x20x30s

Very condensed week due to flying to Chicago for a wedding. 4 days in a row, so I won’t be trying to push anything really hard.

Tuesday - Day 2 - Lower

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt/Barefoot:
2x385
2x415
3x2x435
6x435
2x10x335 - Paused squats

SLDL on Machine:
3x20x270

Lying Cable Single Leg Curl:
3x12/12x37.5

BW Squat w/ Band TKE:
3x20xDbl Light

Went up on squat and it wasn’t too bad, just not super fast. Still maintained a decent position throughout.

Wednesday - Day 3 - Upper

A1 | Close Grip Incline Bench:
4x8x225

A2 | Seal Row w/ Trap Bar:
2x12x150
2x12x150 - Paused

B1 | Feet Up DB Bench:
25x40s
25x60s
2x25x80s

B2 | Band Lateral Raise:
3x15xMinis

C1 | Incline KB Skullcrusher:
3x15x26s

C2 | Prone Rope+KB Facepull:
3x15x53

D1 | Single Arm Cable Rear Delt Fly:
3x15/15x25

D2 | EZ Spider Curl:
15x55
12x75
12x75 + 10x55 + 10x35 - Drop set

Haven’t done incline barbell in a while and it felt like shit. No pains, just weak. I think I could press DBs better at this point. Added a couple cool variations of things with the facepulls and the band laterals. On the latter, I had the 2 bands attached to a DB in front of me and stepped back, so I had to pull back and to the sides, hitting both middle and posterior delts and completely avoiding anterior as far as I could tell. The facepulls felt a million times better than cable ones too.

Thursday - Day 4 - Lower

Paused Sumo:
10x405
5x455 - Felt awful
6x3x405 - Beltless, 3 ct pause

I don’t remember anything else from this, I’m editing the post 11 days later.

[TylerPK4L]

Back in the Gym

I’ve been in the gym 3 times this week since getting back home. Traveling and the end of the semester was rough on me mentally and this has lead to feeling shitty physically, but I’m past it and moving forward. The first 2 workouts were very much just getting some movement in and being careful. These were mostly prehab sort of movements and no major barbell or dumbbell lifts. I’m not going to worry about logging the first two. Today was the third day.

Day 3 - Upper

Rowing:
1:00 on / 0:30 off - 10 rounds for a total of 2,500 meters

Feet-Up DB Bench:
5x12x105s

A1 | Seated DB OHP:
15x40s
12x60s
12x75s
10x75s

A2 | Band Fly:
5x10xMonster Minis

Chain Lying Triceps Extension:
12x36
2x12x72
12x72 + 8x54 + 8x36 - Drop set

Lateral Raise:
3x15x25s

B1 | Seal Row - Rear Delts:
3x20x95

B2 | Triceps Pushdown:
15x70
15x85
15x100

Band Tate Press:
3x30/30xMini

Feeling fat as hell from the past 11 days of eating out most meals and not exercising enough, so I’m adding some cardio along with eating “clean” 90% of the time for a while to get the calories down and make sure I’m not getting too fat.

[TylerPK4L]

Tuesday - Day 1 - Upper

A1 | Incline DB Bench:
12x60s
12x75s
12x90s
3x12x90s

A2 | Prone Towel+KB Facepull:
4x15x26

Single Arm Iso-Row:
4x12/12x135

Standing OHP:
5x10x135

DB Curls:
10/10x40 - Standing
15/15x50 - Standing. Alternating 5s
2x10/10x30 - Concentration

Band Lateral Raise:
3x12/12xMini

Since this was only 48 hours after my last upper body session, I took it somewhat easy on the intensity and didn’t do any horizontal pressing to avoid any potential injuries. Still got some good volume in and the OHP feel good, so I may get those back in the rotation for the ol’ delts.

[TylerPK4L]

Wednesday - Day 2 - Lower

Squat w/ Belt - Barefoot:
2x365
2x405
2x455
3x3x405 - Paused

TnG Snatch Grip Deadlift - Beltless:
2x12x315
20x315 - Oof

Lying Hamstring Curl:
2x15x60

Shin Box Get Up:
3x10/10xBW+40

Deficit Split Squat:
3x10/10xBW - Very hard on the control aspect of end ROM

I hadn’t squatted with a straight bar in a while, so I decided to see how the Duffalo bar was translating. It felt pretty good, but I need to focus more on not letting my lumbar round. Otherwise it’s feeling decent. 455 was tough, but I stayed in a good position. Paused squats had good control all the way to depth too.

I’m going to keep doing the shin box get ups to work on my right hip ER and left hip IR. The other way around is very controlled, but this way was awful. The deficit split squats seem very good too for warm up and just full ROM squatting/lunging.

[TylerPK4L]

Friday - Day 3 - Upper

Rowing:
0:30 on / 0:30 off - 15 rounds for a total of 2,150 meters

Paused Bench:
4x8x275
12x275 - TnG AMRAP. Left wrist wrap unraveled on first rep and I didn’t want to get too off balance and hurt myself, otherwise it felt like I had something like 4-5 reps left in the tank

A1 | Single Arm Incline Bench:
12/12x45
12/12x70
10/10x90 - Oof this was hard
20/20x70

A2 | Prone Rope+KB Facepull:
4x10x53

B1 | Deficit Push-Ups on Cambered Bar:
3x20xBW

B2 | Bent-Over Row w/ Cambered Bar:
15x135
2x15x225

C1 | Band Triceps Pushdown:
15xLight
2x10x2 Lights
10x2 Lights + 10xLight - Drop set

C2 | Band Rear Delt Fly:
3x15/15xMini

Pretty happy with the bench pressin’ moving as well as it did. Last time I pressed 275, it was feeling way too heavy relatively.

Saturday - Day 4 - Lower

Sumo w/ Chains (+60):
3x315+60
3x405+60
3x495+60 - Position felt real bad, moving to conventional

TnG Conventional w/ Chains (+75):
3x8x405+75

Inverted Leg Press:
15x135
2x15x235

DB Seated Thoracic Good Morning:
4x10x60

Hyperextension - Constant Tension:
4x10xBW - Stole this from IG (coacheugeneteo). Really focused to tension the hamstrings and glutes rather than just swinging around some weight

BFR Leg Extension:
30 + 15 + 15 + 15 x 110+Mini - 30 sec rests

After I set up my chains for sumo, I got some pretty significant medial knee pain that seemingly came from nowhere. It didn’t happen during the lift, I was just walking around after setting up the chains and flexed my knee and it was hurting. I did my next set without pain, but it was still there in an open chained knee flexion. As I kept moving and moved onto conventional, it seemed fine and it went away entirely, but it was very concerning because it was right around the pes anserinus, which is the insertion point of the sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosis. As far as I can think, it could have been a super acute bursitis, but I was not wanting to rip my shit off the bone and the pain was around a 6/10 with no added load in open chain. All this to say, this is why I moved on from sumo and didn’t squat today.

The DB thoracic good morning is basically front racking a DB in sitting and just flex and extend the thoracic spine only. Basically to differentiate the lumbar from the thoracic for squat positioning, since my main issue tends to be thoracic flexion leaking my force through the bar.

[TylerPK4L]

Day 1 - Upper

Rowing:
1:00 on / 0:30 off - 10 rounds for a total of 2,588 meters

Feet-Up DB Bench:
2x15x105s
2x12x120s

Chain Fly:
15x40s
2x12x60s
12x60s + 6x60s (press) - Drop set

A1 | Standing Bradford Press:
4x16x95

A2 | Bent Over Row on Shrug Machine:
12x90
12x180
2x12x270

B1 | EZ Bar Spider Curl:
3x15x65

B2 | Prone Rear Delt Fly:
3x20x25s

Cable Reverse Grip Curl:
20x20
20x25
20x32.5

Triceps Pushdown:
3x20x55

Felt pretty good today for the most part. I didn’t do an AMRAP on DB bench because of some pec tightness, but otherwise it was fine. Bradford press felt good because I kept it very light. I’ll likely try to keep the 95 lbs as my working weight for a bit on these and focus on tension and extending the time under tension.

[TylerPK4L]

Catch Up

Been busy getting my last didactic semester started. Gym has been subpar due to some aches like my low back and knees. I squatted a 5x2x415 with the Duffalo bar but didn’t feel strong enough for an AMRAP then the next week (yesterday) I started squatting and the bar felt “heavy” and slow moving. Got up to 315 for a triple with hip and knee pains and decided to cut it there. The plan was higher reps, but it just felt like a dumb move to keep squatting. So I did some single-leg things like Cossack squats and hip thrusts, then some prowler pushing forwards and backwards. Still got some good quad work in. Planning on backing off the 5x2 style now that I’m back in the 400s and do some volume work at lower weights. Need to keep up with more control and tensioning movements like single-leg things so that the intensity stays low but I can get some good work in. Back is getting better, it’s just been oddly unstable outside of the gym, so I want to be careful there. Upper body has been going decently well and I most recently did DB feet up for 4x12+ with 120s and got 17 on the AMRAP. When I used the 120s on my 3x12+ day, I had gotten 18, so I’m happy with adding another set prior and getting 17. Some left pec tightness throughout this workout, but I’m working on it outside of the gym too.

Also did more Bradford press with one more cycle per set, completing a 4x18x95.

I can’t remember specifics past all of that, I’ve just been trying to do work. I’ll probably get an actual notebook to write in at the gym because I don’t like taking notes on my phone. Powerlifting workouts are a lot easier to remember than bodybuilding ones, it seems.

[TylerPK4L]

Friday - Day 3 - Upper

Incline Bench w/ Football Bar:
4x6x245
10x245 - Forced rep on 10th

Push-Ups on Barbell with Chains:
15xBW+1 chain
15xBW+2 chains
20, 19, 16 x BW+3 chains

Cable Fly:
20x25 + 20 second eccentric on last rep
20x32.5 + 15 second eccentric on last rep
20x40 + 10 second eccentric on last rep

Triceps Pushdown:
5x15x70

Facepull:
2x20x55

Incline Skullcrusher w/ Slow Eccentric:
3x10x65

Cardio - Treadmill Incline Walking:
15 minutes at 10-13 degrees incline at 3.0 mph
5 minutes cool down 0 degrees at 2.5 mph

Avoided heavy flat bench today to make sure the pecs were okay. I was pressing to a decently high RPE on incline without issue, so that was good. Chain push-ups also felt really good. I rigged up a couple small chains in an X pattern across my chest so that the big ones would chain directly from my chest rather than off my neck.

Saturday - Day 4 - Lower

Cambered SSB Squat w/ Belt/Barefoot:
4x8x335

Lying Single Leg Band Curl:
4x12/12xMonster Mini

RDL w/ Belt:
3x10x405

Backwards Prowler Drag with TRX:
3 x 25yds x 70xProwler+370

BFR Walking Lunges:
4x10/10xBW - <30 second rests

Squatting felt at least reasonable today, so I went with it. I think I’m still lacking internal rotation in my left hip, which is causing some of the issues downstream. I think with working on that along with continuing to work on foot/ankle control, I should get some reduction in pain-causing issues.

Sunday - Day 5 - Back

A1 | Seal Row:
2x6x205
2x8x205

A2 | Machine Lat Pulldown:
3x15x180

B1 | Lat Pulldown - Neutral Grip:
10x135
10x165
2x10x180

B2 | Low Row - MAG Grip Semi-Supinated:
15x135
2x15x150
15x135

DB+Band Pullover w/ Slow Eccentric:
4x10x30+Mini

Lat Pull-In:
20x40
15x55
20x55 - Some partials

Pretty basic back day here. The low back issue got exacerbated a bit today after this workout when I went to play flag football. Working to figure it out so it doesn’t affect workouts much, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem when I’m bracing.

[TylerPK4L]

Last week - Day 1 - Upper

DB Incline:
4x12x105s

Bradford Press:
4x20x95

Machine Fly:
10x75
10x120
10x150
15x120

Plate Raise:
3x20x25

Machine Chest Press:
20x90
15, 20 x 90+Light band

A1 | KB Lateral Raise
3x15/15x19

A2 | FB Floor Press:
3x15/15x53

Day 2 - Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
4x10x315

A1 | SLDL on Machine:
12x90, 180, 270
3x15x360

A2 | Lying Slider Leg Curl:
5x10xBW

B1 | Paused Lat Pulldown:
3x12x150

B2 | Thoracic Good Morning with DB+Band:
2x10x60+Mini
20x60+Mini

BFR Leg Press:
30, 15, 15, 15 x 200

Leg Press Calf Raise:
2x15x200

Day 3 - Back

Single Arm DB Row - Dead Stop:
3x12/12x140

Lat Pulldown - Dual Handle Underhand:
3x15x150

Prone Incline KB Row:
3x10x97s

A1 | Cable Pullover:
3x15x55

A2 | Band Crossover Row:
3x15xMonster Minis

Day 4 - Upper

3 Ct Eccentric / 3 Ct Pause Bench:
3x5x275

Bench:
3x12x225

A1 | Football Bar Curls:
4x15x95

A2 | Dips:
4x20xBW - Slight right pec strain on like…76th rep

B1 | Machine Pushdown:
3x15x140

B2 | Cable Curl:
3x15/15x25

C1 | Cable OH Triceps:
30, 25 x 40

C2 | DB Concentration Curl:
2x20/20x25 - Lots of concentric help on second sets

Day 5 - Lower

Slow Eccentric / Slow Concentric KB Sumo:
2x6x70
2x6x70 - Deficit

Slow Eccentric / Slow Concentric KB SLDL:
2x6x70

Chaos Squats:
4x8x135+106

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x3x495

Pec strain is annoying but oh well. Working on figuring out my movement in general. On day 5, I just felt like trash going in, so I decided to focus on that movement correction sort of stuff for the most part. The slow eccentric and concentric reps were very, very hard. The point is to fully tension the working muscles the whole time and to do the movement for about a minute straight at least. So I did about 5 seconds per direction. Definitely want to push these as a control and mind/muscle connection assist. Deadlift moved well after all this too. For squats, the KBs rested on the ground a few inches above parallel and it felt good. May do these for a bit too.

[TylerPK4L]

Today - Day 1 - Upper

Incline Bench w/ 3" BenchBlok:
5x8x225 - No pec issues

A1 | Rackable Cambered Bar OHP:
12x115
3x12x135

A2 | Low Row from Belt Squat - Semi-Supinated MAG Grip:
12x50
12x100
2x12x150

Band Triceps Kickback:
2x25/25xMini

Slow Eccentric / Slow Concentric Push-Ups:
3x6xBW

Wasn’t planning on much for this workout due to the pec strain, but incline put no stress on it. Decided on the blocks just to avoid full ROM for now. No AMRAP or anything either. Cambered bar OHP is brutal on the scapular stabilizers. And more slow ecc/con stuff with the push-ups. Who woulda thought 6 push-ups could be hard.

[TylerPK4L]

Wednesday - Lower

Squat w/ Belt - Moderate Stance:
6x5x365 - Lots to note below

A1 | SCSE Single Leg Hip Thrust:
4x6/6xBW - “Slow Concentric Slow Eccentric” is ridiculously hard on some movements. Like this one

A2 | 1" Deficit Deadlift w/ Belt - TnG:
3x10x405

Seated Single Leg Cable Curl:
3x15/15x32.5

Brought my stance back out for squats because of the knee pain that has shown up from narrow stance again. My hip issues basically pushed me away from the wide stance, but I think that’s more of a control thing than anything. These SCSE things are going to help with that, I think. I filmed every set from the front and saw that I was significantly more towards the right, with my left hip pushing much further out than the right. I believe this is not that I need to get the right hip more out, but that hip and foot have always seemed stable relative to the left. I’m thinking my lack of internal rotation at the left hip is actually the issue. The reason being that when you get to the bottom of a squat, you need some functional IR to keep the head of the femur centered in the acetabulum. We’ve always been told as lifters to externally rotate ad naseum, but it’s not exactly the case when you don’t have an issue with knee valgus to fix. With my right side having to do more work, it could explain the right adductor pain I’ve had if it is having to help excessively with hip extension to make up for the left not being in a position to help as much. Here is a pic of the first set and a later set at the bottom of a squat. You can see how much I got myself back to midline, but I’m still slightly to the right. Notice also that my depth on the second pic is better. This is essentially the result of the decreased ER/abduction on the left. The midline shift is a matter of awareness of it mostly.

Friday - Upper

Bench:
4x15x225 - No pec pain

SCSE Push-Ups:
4x6xBW

A1 | SCSE Lateral Raise:
3x10x10s - Good lord, an actual delt contraction felt

A2 | Band OH Triceps Extension:
3x20x2 Light

B1 | Cable Triceps Pushdown:
12x62.5, 70, 77.5, 85

B2 | Cable Curl:
15x40, 47.5, 55, 62.5

SCSE Single Arm Spider Curl:
3x6R/8Lx20 - Did two extra reps on the left, gotta bring that arm up to par at some point

Lying Cable Lateral Raise:
15x40
3x12x60

Cable Rear Delts:
2x12/12x15 - First 6 reps SCSE

Yeah I’m doing a lot of slow concentric slow eccentric stuff. It seems like it could be very useful for control, hypertrophy due to time under tension, and possibly some sort of injury prevention benefit. Actually having to contract my pecs throughout a range on push-ups may make it so that they’re more prepared to handle load through benching and not get strained as often. Who knows though, this is something I’m experimenting with. It just feels great so far. The SCSE (pronounced “Sexy” btw. Just made that up) lateral raises were just insane on the mind-muscle aspect. If nothing else, this type of training is perfect for a few instances. One is during injuries in which we need to reduce load but still use the muscle, this can keep someone from going insane because they can’t work hard, because this shit is plenty hard. Two is deloads. Forced reduced intensity, forced reduced shifting out of position or at least forced added time to fix it, and enough time under tension to still induce hypertrophy and blood flow = Good.

[TylerPK4L]

Saturday - Lower

2" Sumo Block Pull - Belt/Straps:
2x3x585
10x495

Squat w/ Belt:
3x315
3x365
3x3x405

Chaos Squat:
3x6x135+106

SCSE Split Squat:
2x8/8xBW - Left leg could barely finish these. Quads wrecked

Didn’t feel great on this day strength-wise. The 585 sets were very sticky off the blocks and then moved well, but it was very fatiguing. The set of 10 was really easy though. But I decided to just move on anyway. For squats, I wanted to see if I could control my issue described in the last post with some more weight. I couldn’t really, so I’ll be working towards that with 405 until it’s better.

Sunday - Back

Cardio - Incline Treadmill Walking:
15 minutes alternating between 10 and 12 degrees and 3 and 3.3 mph

Chest-Supported Row - Slow Eccentric+Stretch:
12x25
12x45
2x12x70

Cable Low Row - Wide Grip - Upper Back Focus:
15x105
15x150
15x180

Single-Arm DB Row - Dead Stop:
12/12x75
12/12x105
2x12/12x120

Lat Pulldown - V-Grip:
12x105
12x150
12x180
12x195

A1 | Cable Pullover:
3x15x47.5

A2 | Cable Curl:
20x32.5
20x40
20x47.5

[TylerPK4L]

Guess I forgot to write down last week in my notepad. But here’s a couple of things that happened.

Monday:
DB Bench Feet Up:
2x12x115s
20x115s

Football Bar Incline:
8x135, 185, 205, 225, 225

Single-Arm Standing Arnold Press
Hanging Leg Raise
BW Skullcrusher
Med Ball Toss
Band External Rotation

Other things:

Squat w/ Chains - Belted:
5x3x365+100 cc (3 chains per side, probably one total full chain on the floor at lockout)

Only pulled off 2x10x405 on TnG 1" deficit deadlift on this day after these squats, along with it being a superset with SCSE single-leg hip thrusts.

Bench:
2x8x275
11x275

Not much else of note happened, it was a rushed week since I was going out of town and ended up with Wednesday being my 6th day in a row. That’s when I did my benching with 275 and my shoulders and elbows were just fed up with the consecutive training days.

[TylerPK4L]

Wednesday - Day 1 - Upper

A1 | Feet Up DB Bench:
6x10x105s

A2 | Dual Handle Cable Low Row:
6x10x150

B1 | DB Floor Press:
4x10x105s

B2 | Chest Supported Row:
4x10x70

Decline Cable Triceps Extension:
15x55
2x15x70

KB Lateral Raise:
2x15/15x18

KB Concentration Curl:
2x20/20x26

Band Shoulder ER:
3x10/10xMicro

Decided to do a little German Volume Training with the 10x10s on pressing and rows. I knew coming back after 7 days off that I wouldn’t feel strong enough to do much in the way of heavy lifting. So, 200 reps it is. It felt good to get that volume in though.

Thursday - Day 2 - Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x405
3x6x315 - Still trying to fix lateral shift to the right, so this was mostly focused on that, not accumulating volume or anything

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps- 5 Ct Eccentric:
5x225
5x315
2x5x405

Seated Single Leg Band Curl:
3x10/10xLight

Banded Mountain Climber:
3x8/8xLight - Slow, concentrated reps

This day felt like a load of trash on my elbows and hips. Maybe I should have treated this more like I did with the upper day and just did a ton of volume at lower weights, because I was definitely limiting the quality of my workout with the weights I chose, in hindsight. Still, I survived it and I’ll learn from it.

[TylerPK4L]

Saturday - Day 3 - Upper

Incline Bench:
4x225
2x4x245 - Elbows and shoulders feeling way too bad for this

A1 | Farmer’s Walk w/ KBs:
3 x 200 ft x 97s

A2 | Upright Row to External Rotation w/ KB+Long Strap:
3x20x26

B1 | Preacher Cable Curl:
4x15x55

B2 | Wrist Roller - EXT/FLX:
3/3x50

Did a couple of other things for my shoulders too. I think adding squats back in has put some extra stress on them and I’m seeing those effects. I’ll figure it out, but I’m not going to press very heavy until they’re feeling good. Same with my elbows, which could be coming from the shoulders.

Sunday - Day 4 - Lower

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
6x2x495 - 1 minute rests

RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
3x10x405

A1 | DB Belt Squat - Wide Stance:
5x12x75 - Actual belt squat, on blocks with a dip belt and hanging DB, not the cable machine

A2 | Standing Band Single-Leg Curl:
3x15/15xDbl Mini

B1 | Goblet Squat - Close Stance / Heels Elevated:
3x15x100

B2 | Cable Low Row:
12x150
12x180
12x210 + 12x180 + 12x150 - Drop set

Decided to forego squats today due to lacking some water and sleep, and also lots of driving Saturday and Sunday. Deadlifts were okay at best, but the RDLs were pretty solid. Just sorta workin’ stuff.

[TylerPK4L]

Tuesday - Day 1 - Upper

Feet Up DB Bench:
3x10x120s
15x120s

Duffalo Incline Bench - Slow Ecc / Pause:
12x145
2x12x165
12x145

Cable High Row:
15x90
12x130
2x12x165

Triceps Pushdown:
20x47.5
15x62.5
12x77.5
12x92.5

Front DB Raise:
3x15x30

DB Lateral Raise - SCSE:
2x8x15s
2x8x10s

EZ Bar Spider Curl:
3x10x85

Wednesday - Day 2 - Lower

Squat w/ Belt - CAT:
6x5x315 - 60 sec rests

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
5x5x455 - 75 sec rests

Cable Leg Curls
Something else

Friday - Day 3 - Upper

Paused Bench:
4x3x315
8x315 - Not sure if lighter plates at this gym

Incline DB Bench:
3x12x95s

Machine Dips:
15x110
12x170
12x210
2x12x250

HS Iso-Row:
10x180
10x270
2x10x360
10x360 + 10x270 + 10x180 - Drop set

Cable Tate Press:
2x20x57.5

Prone Spider DB Curl:
5/5/5/5 x 35 - Alternate supinated and neutral grip 5s
5/5/5/5 x 45 - Same

Cable Rope Pull-Apart:
2x20x30

Sunday - Day 4 - Lower

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
4x3x495
6x495

Squat w/ Belt:
3x5x365
2x10x315

Machine SLDL:
20x270
2x20x360

Goblet Squat - Close Stance / Heels Elevated / Slow Eccentric:
3x10x100

Banded Mountain Climber:
2x10/10xShort Light

Whole week note: This was a shortened week due to traveling for the 4th, but I got a decent amount done and included back work because of the missing 5th day. Squat is starting to come together a little bit better as I practice more. Deadlift isn’t feeling great, but that’s fine for now, I’ll focus a bit more on squatting and benching in the meantime, since it’s always seemed to be 2 lifts going well while the 3rd lags behind. I’m also bodybuilding or whatever so it doesn’t matter riiiiight

Speaking of which, here’s a progress set of pics. Left is November 2, 2018 and right is July 2, 2019.

[TylerPK4L]

Tuesday - Day 1 - Upper

Incline Bench:
8x185
8x225
8x245
6x265 - PR as far as I can see in the log
5x265 - Should have had another rep but it got out in front of me on the 5th rep and I struggled through that one
12x225 - Match PR

Single-Arm DB Floor Press:
12/12x75
2x12/12x95

Seated KB OHP:
20x53s
15x53s
12x53s

A1 | Cable Fly:
15x25
15x32.5
15x40

A2 | Cable Lateral Raise:
15/15x15
15/15x20
15/15x25

B1 | Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:
20x55
15x62.5
12x70

B2 | DB Lateral Raise:
3x10x15s - Started with 3 ct pauses at the top plus a 3 ct eccentric, next set lost the eccentric, final set pauses went down to 1 ct

DB Swing Laterals:
2x20x35s

C1 | 90/90 Hip Lift:
3x5 breaths

C2 | Prone Blackburns:
3x5

Pretty happy with how incline felt today, despite not getting to that 2nd set of 6 at 265. The subsequent set of 225 was good. Single-arm floor press is very difficult, but probably good for me to continue in order to force the reduction in weight on horizontal pressing sometimes.

Wednesday - Day 2 - Lower

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt - Barefoot:
5x325
5x375
3x5x415

Duffalo Bar Front Squat - Beltless/Barefoot:
8x235
8x255

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
5x315
5x405
2x10x495

Belt Squat - Wide Stance:
15x90
2x15x180

EDIT:
Barbell SLDL:
2x5/5x135 - Left side is uncontrolled as shit. Cue adding these in more frequently, with or without a barbell, KB, or DB

Seated Cable Leg Curl:
15x40
2x15x55

Cable Chest-Supported High Row - All Lats:
15x85
2x15x100

Really happy with how this workout went. Doing some heavier 5s without pain on squats is a very nice feeling to have finally. Decided to not overdo the volume on anything today and mainly kept everything but the 3x5 on squats to 2 heavier sets. I’ve always been one to keep pushing sets just because I can on the day, but I need to figure out an actual sweet spot of volume to not continue to eventually get injured after several months.

Sumo felt very easy today as well, so that was nice. Hadn’t felt good positioning in a while.

[TylerPK4L]

Friday - Day 3 - Upper

Bench:
5x275
2x5x315
8x315

Close Grip Bench w/ Shoulder Saver + Bands:
12x225+2 Dbl Minis (+70 total)
8x225+2 Dbl Minis

Incline DB Bench - Paused at Top/Bottom:
3x12x90s - Full depth, not fully locked to keep stress on pecs

Bent Over DB Curl:
20/20x30
15/15x40
15/15x50
10/10+5/5+5/5+5/5 x 50 + 15/15x30 - Extended set + Dropset

Side-Supported Leaning Lateral Raise:
15/15x20
3x15/15x30

Triceps Kickback:
15/15x25
2x15/15x35

Deficit Push-Ups:
2x20

Reverse Pec Deck:
4x15x105

Band Triceps Pushdown:
50xLight
20+10+10+10 x Light - Extended set

EDIT:
Wrist Roller:
3/3x65 - I do these with an average band attached to a dumbbell and then to the sleeve of a barbell, which is the roller, so it’s thick as hell

Good workout today. Bench was alright, started off well up to the first set of 315, but the last two felt a little off form-wise. But the goal was near the same thing as I did last week with the 5x3+ at 315, but with a 3x5+ and I did exactly the same total reps, but with less sets.

I haven’t done actual close grip in so long, but I figured I would try it out and I got very fatigued very quickly. Both sets were to practical failure and I lost 4 reps between the first and second sets.

Also, just noting that none of the remaining exercises were truly superset but they all had crossover with the last few sets of the previous and subsequent exercises.

[TylerPK4L]

Saturday - Day 4 - Lower

Squat w/ Chains (+110) + Belt:
3x315+110
3x365+110
2x3x405+110

Squat w/ Belt:
2x6x405

SCSE Single-Leg Hip Thrust:
3x5/5

1.5" Deficit Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
10x405
12x405 - Wanted 15 but first few reps didn’t feel great and got me fatigued too quickly

Standing Single-Leg Curl:
3x15/15x"10/18"

SCSE Hyper - Glute/Hams Constant Tension:
2x10

90/90 Hip Lift:
3x5 breaths

Squats are starting to come together, piece by piece. This was a little bit of an intense week relatively with 2 days over 405, so I’ll make sure one of my upcoming days is another CAT day with just 315 and reduced rest periods. The plan is to reintroduce heavier weights as I can handle them with ease. I don’t want to be breaking my form down just to move more weight.

Sunday - Day 5 - Back

Seal Row:
10x135
10x185
10+5+5+5+5+5 x 185 - 30 sec rests

Prone Incline Single-Arm DB Row:
15/15x85
2x15/15x105

Cable High Row:
15x120
12x150
8x180
8x165

A1 | KB Farmer’s Walk w/ Bandles:
3 x 60 yds x 97s - Completely failing on left hand on last set about 10 yards to go

A2 | Front Bumper Plate Carry:
3 x 60 yds x 45 - Just carrying a bumper without it touching the body and elbows at 90 degrees

Cable Curl w/ Single-Arm Eccentrics:
3x8/8x40

B1 | DB Spider Curl:
3x15/15x20

B2 | DB Rear Delts:
3x20x25s

Pretty simple back workout, just getting some work in. A Mark Bell post reminded me of the bumper plate carries. That superset was done as an isometric back grouping, more than a brachioradialis reasoning, though those will obviously get worked since it’s a hammer curl isometric position. The weight being in front makes the scapulae want to elevate and anteriorly tilt. Having to hold the scapulae steady with the added weight and perturbation of walking makes this a great exercise for strengthening those mysterious “scapular stabilizers” under load, namely the lower traps, which are commonly weak as shit.