TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
1321

Focused - Week 32

Day 1

Paused Bench:
3x3x330
7x330 - Last rep misgrooved, otherwise if I had stopped at 6 I would have called it RPE 7 probably

Chain Bench - Like just chains and a handle:
8x85 - Incline, felt awful, very uncomfy
2x12x85 - Flat, much better

Can’t remember the rest of the workout now. Lat rehab was done. Probably arms and shoulders. Top bench set felt excellent.

Day 3

Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt:
2x2x375+75 - RNT band warm-ups until 2nd set here
2x420+75
2x4x375+75 - RNT re-added

Hatfield Squat - Beltless:
8x395 - No lat feels at all
6x395 - Lat feels. Sharp pain, cut the set there

GHR and GHR Hypers:
4x10+10xBW

Med Ball Carries:
10 x 180 ft x 100 - These were superset with the previous 2 exercises

Lat rehab:
Continued cable rows to tolerance, checking for additional pain due to Hatfield
Not too much pain, added a couple birddog rows with 15 lbs as well

No issues with straight bar squats today for the lat. They actually felt really strong relative to recent squats. I was curious about Hatfields being a problem, but I was taking extra caution to not actually push down with my hands. Guess I did though. Oh well. Feels like it may have set back the rehab a day or so. They did feel very good though, so I will be using those as a more useful leg press sort of movement. Just been a minute since I’ve only had access to the shittier SSB until now.

Day 4

Low Incline Football Bar Bench w/ Chains (+75):
2x15x135+75
20x135

A1 | Single Arm DB Incline Bench:
12/12x60
2x12/12x75

A2 | Chaos Bench w/ Bamboo Bar:
4x8x105

B1 | Cable Rear Delt Row:
20-25 x 70, 90, 110, 130, 130

B2 | EZ Bar Curl:
3x15x85

Trap Bar Carry:
3 x 200 ft x 170

Turkish Get-Ups:
2x3/3x32

Good day here for some rep work stuff. Trap bar carries were mostly a test and additional rehab for the lat to get used to a deadlift type of isometric hold.

1322

Focused - Week 33 - Day 1

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
6x350
3x6x406
10x406 - +1 rep and +15 lb PR - Video here

A1 | Hip Thrust:
2x12x265

A2 | KB Deadlift w/ Hips Banded:
2x20x110 - Sumo
2x20x110 - Conventional

Hack Squat:
2x12x200

Lat Rehab:
More band rows, pullovers, and pulldowns. Just mini band today.

Real big SSB day here for me. Previous PR was 390x9. Highest rep max I’ve ever done with it. It was pretty crushingly difficult, not gonna lie. Probably not technically an RPE 10, but uh… it was technically an RPE 10 as I felt like my upper thoracic spine was going to poop.

But I made it. Definitely a big volume PR to hit 28 total reps there too.

KB deadlift was very easy, but I’m doing it as my first deadlift variation for my lat. I’m feeling really tentative about it because it seems like that position is when I’m having the most obvious symptoms. Pulling heavy is going to take a few weeks to get back into, I’m thinking. Just going to stay the course though.

1323

always a smart to listen to the body…keep grinding

1324

Yessir, one of the most important skills we have is being objective about what we’re feeling and dial things back when necessary

Focused - Week 33 - Day 2

Paused Bench:
3x275
3x315
5x335 - RPE 7.5, very casual
10x275 - Close grip to Bench Blokz 1 board
15x275 - Normal grip to 1 board

Football Bar OHP:
8x110
8x135
5x175 - This got hard fast
2x8x135

A1 | Triceps Pushdown:
2x25x90

A2 | Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:
2x15x90

Lat Pulldown - Neutral MAG Grip:
4x20x80-90 - Slow, pauses, isometrics, and stretches all included

A set of curls and a set of cable D2 PNF shoulder flexion

My mind was not in it today, so like I just mentioned, it’s good to be able to dial it back when needed. Dedicated and planned deloads aren’t necessary if you can do this. So, impromptu intensity/volume decrease today.

Very happy with the top bench set though. Absolutely had 2 more in me, if not 3, with precisely zero hype. My PR near here is 340x7 at RPE 9.5, so I’m right about there at this point.

Lat felt nearly completely fine during pulldowns. I’m transitioning to a more specific pull-up pattern since that’s how I strained it. Going very slowly, pausing right at the point of the strain, etc. Still need to keep working on the deadlift position with pullovers in that position and things like KB/DB deadlifts.

1325

Focused - Week 33

Day 3

Squat w/ Belt:
3x1x440

Paused Squat w/ Belt - RNT band for hip shift:
5x3x375

A1 | Reverse Sled Push - Tank M4 Sled:
4 x 120 ft x 3/3 Setting

A2 | Sled Push - Tank M4 Sled:
4 x 120 ft x 3/3 Setting

A3 | GHR w/ Band:
5x12xBW+Mini

Deadlift w/ RNT Band for Lats:
3x20x135+Mini

Pallof Press Variations:
I did dynamic hinge, split squat, and bouncy Pallofs to film my goofy reel showing these variations.

Going into this workout, I figured I would need to back off squat a bit since I hit that hard 10RM on the SSB earlier this week. 441 felt pretty heavy on the concentric here. I felt like I had good eccentric control, but I didn’t have the same control out of the hole, hence continuing the RNT band stuff. Gotta strengthen that left hip and stop pushing away from it.

No lat pain with the front banded deadlifts. Going to slowly build that up as my main deadlift to make sure I’m not avoiding using the lat.

Day 4

Low Incline Bench:
6x225
4x6x245

A1 | DB Swing to Overhead Press:
5x12x50s

A2 | Sandbag Carry:
5 x 180 ft x 125

Cardio - Assault Runner Treadmill:
30 sec on / 20 sec off - 10 intervals
10.2 mph avg, 0.74 mi, 90 cal (also claims average 5:52 mile pace but I don’t believe that lol)

B1 | Lying Rear Delt Fly:
2x20x30s

B2 | Cable Facepull:
2x15x100

B3 | Rope Cable Curl:
2 x 10x100 + 8x70 - Drop sets

Little bit of different stuff today. I’m working on including more conditioning into my workouts and trying to come up with things that are actually still useful. I really liked the DB swing to press.

I also have a new goal that I’m going to take on for the year. I’m going to run a 5K and try to have a decent time. I haven’t run a mile in like… 15 years? I’ve always been a sprinter for running and most longer cardio has been biking at the gym. So I’ll need to set a time for that before I can really decide what a decent 5K time would be. Running on the Assault treadmill is super comfortable, so I’ll likely use that some along with road running.

Ultimate goal is to not let it interfere with my lifting at all and make it complimentary.

1326

Focused - Week 34

Day 1

Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt:
2x405+75
1x455+75 - Failed 2nd rep hilariously, see video here
3x3x405+75
8x405 - No chains

Paused Conventional Deadlift w/ RNT Band for Lats:
2x8x265+2 Minis
20x265+2 Minis - Hard, but no pain

A1 | Nordic Hamstring Curl:
3x10xBW - They have an actual apparatus for this, nowhere to put a band for assistance, so just using the push-off method

A2 | Hollow Holds on GHR:
3x0:50xBW+25 - Alternating 5 sec holds with plate at stomach and plate at head

Hatfield SSB Split Squat:
2x20/20x130

Felt really strong on squats today, including after the ridiculous fail. No injury there though, so no big deal. When I’m starting to hit in that 530-545 range on accommodating resistance, that means we’re getting somewhere. Also means that I need to avoid injury if I want to actually hit a PR some time in the next century. Increasing focus on recovery.

Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+75):
3x3x275+75
7x275+75 - +1 rep PR - Video here

A1 | Single Arm Seated OHP + Single Arm Incline Bench:
3x8+8/8+8x55

A2 | DB Concentration Waiter Curl:
3x15x55

Lat Pulldown - Neutral MAG Grip:
20x80
20x100 - Lat discomfort on this one

DB Row:
2x15/15x45

Band Triceps Pushdown:
40 + 25 + 25 + 20 x Light

Good benchin’ today. I’ve previously done a 5x5x275+75, so this wasn’t a volume PR, but still got that rep PR on the top set. I was certainly RPE 10, but no change in positioning, so that’s good.

1327

Focused - Week 34

Day 3

3 Ct Eccentric Paused SSB Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x395

Paused SSB Front Squat w/ Belt:
3x6x265

GHR:
3x15xBW

Barbell Flexion Rows - Wide Grip:
3x15x85 - These are brutal for being so light, notes below

Couple sets of weighted planks

Good control focused day here for the squat. PR for 3 ct eccentric with the SSB and no pause is 450 from a couple months ago, so this was good today. Not super high RPE.

Flexion rows are something I’ve recently been made aware of through Mike Israetel. They are explained here. They seem very good for the erectors and upper back. I took the wider grip to avoid some of the shoulder extension due to my lat injury, but I will be trying the grip in the video as well when that’s all healed up.

Day 4

Feet Up DB Bench - Slow Eccentric:
5x10x95s

DB Swing to Overhead Press:
5x10x60s

Cross-Body Unilateral Triceps Pushdown:
2x15/15x60

Rope Standing Pullover:
2x20x60

EZ Bar Curl:
2x15/15x85

DB 6-Way:
2x10x10s

Didn’t really want to be here for this one. Just one of those days. Augmented the workout as a result and chose to do the slower eccentrics with the DBs to reduce the absolute load but keep it hard enough. This is my secret auto-regulation weapon I’m developing.

1328

Focused - Week 35

Day 1

Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt:
2x3x375+75
1x440+75 - Hit the safety again, didn’t have to bail, just shifted hard and had a slow rep. Resetting and removing the safeties
2x440+75 - Had a 3rd in me, but didn’t need it for the day
3x2x440

Conventional Deadlift w/ RNT Band for Lats:
15x155
12x265
2x6x375 - Removed bands to feel it out. Lat felt okay, just nervous. Very easy reps otherwise

GHR + GHR Hyper:
3x10+10xBW

Cable High Row:
3-4x15-20x70-90 - Don’t really remember exactly since it’s just hitting that lat for rehab and trying to get some tension on it. No pain

Cable Woodchoppers:
Some amount for some amount

Looking back on this day the squats were probably a little too much compared to my current capacity for heavy squats. This was a bunch of hard reps. So I’ll probably back down next week and then keep pushing if recovery feels good.

Either way, back up in that 515 at the top range for accommodating resistance. Just gotta be smart and keep moving.

Day 2

3 Ct Paused Bench:
4x2x315 - Pecs feeling shitty, didn’t want to push these

Larsen Press:
20x225 - Hard but I had a few in the tank
15x225

Flexion Rows:
12x65
12x85
2x12x105

A1 | Lying Triceps Extension w/ Chains:
25x75
20x75
15x75

A2 | 4" Deficit + 3 Ct Eccentric Push-Ups:
3x15xBW - Real hard

KB Arm Bar:
3x8/8x35 - Modified, just rolling to the side, not going all the way into the rotation stretch

I think I did some other small things at the end but I can’t remember now. This was a good example of a pivot day. I could have been pissy and farted my way through the rest of the workout after my bench sucked or tried to push through the feeling of danger and hurt myself for no reason. Instead I just pivoted to a higher rep variation for a couple of hard sets and then did some lighter movements that are still hard.

Day 3

SSB Box Squat w/ Belt - 1-2" High and Hands Out Wide:
5x5x335

Sumo Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
6x3x375 - No lat issues

A1 | Seated Leg Curl:
20x80
20x100
20x120

A2 | Campbell Crawls - As seen here:
3x8/8xBW+25

A3 | Single Leg Hip Thrust:
10/10xBW
2x10/10xBW+25

A4 | Lat Pulldown:
2x20x80
20x100 - No lat pain

B1 | Cable Seated Lat Pulldown:
2x15x50

B2 | Sissy Squat:
2x10xBW

Knees have been feeling a little rough for the past couple of days, so I decided to go with box squats, which I haven’t done more than like twice in the past 6 years or something. They felt very heavy and were real difficult right off the box. I’m not doing the traditional Westside sit-back style, I’m squatting like normal and just stopping on the box. I’m going to keep working on these and see if they do anything for me.

Happy with the lat feeling fine with everything. Will continue to be conservative as weight increases for the next month though.

1329

Focused - Week 35 - Day 4

Low Incline Spoto Press w/ Duffalo Bar:
4x12x195

DB Swing to Overhead Press:
3x8x65s

Shoulder Stability Exercises:
Did all of these for this video

Triceps Pushdown:
3x15x120

Couple light sets of DB rows

Running Prior to the Gym (5K Goal):
Update - Last week I ran my first mile in like 15 years and ran it in 7:46, first 800m was good at 3:17, then got gassed
Today - Ran 400m x 6 with 200m walks in between and then finished out with 300m x2 and 150m walks in between

I’m not sure if running took it out of me or if I just wasn’t having a good day, but I was very tired and unmotivated going into this workout. Got some volume pressing in and that’s about it.

I fell off of my own programming since I injured my lat since it affected so much. I need to get back on track so that things I’m doing actually make sense. Re-writing it today.

1330

Focused - Week 36

Day 1

Pin Squat w/ Belt (Full Depth):
4x5x365
2x10x315

Conventional Deadlift w/ RNT Band for Lats - Belt/Straps:
2x5x465 + Monster Mini

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - Slow Eccentric:
3x3x465

A1 | DB Split Squat:
2x12/12x80

A2 | Cable Seated Single Leg Curl:
20/20x50
20/20x70

Cable Woodchop - Split Stance:
2x10/10x60

Here comes the pain of pin squats. I’m going to be working very hard on fixing my hip shift and left hip weakness that’s been limiting my squat for too long. Regardless of the pain leaving, it seems to come back when I start getting to a certain weight, so I need to fix the actual issue. Today I was able to figure out how my squat feels when it’s equally distributed and lemme tell you, it feels like shit. When you’re battling a compensation, the return to “correct” is going to feel stupid and very unnatural. Film yourself every set and continue to groove into the pattern that you actually need and it will feel better over time.

Back up to some decent weight with deadlift. This was the first day with absolutely zero lat discomfort during pulls.

Day 2

Bench:
5x315
5x335
2x5x3315

Larsen Press:
20x225
18x225 - Wanted another 2

KB Farmers Walk:
2 x 360 ft x 70s

Flexion Rows:
3x10x130

DB Hammer Zottman Curls:
2x15x30s

4" Deficit + 4 Ct Eccentric Push-Ups:
15xBW
10xBW + 5xBW - No slow ecc on last 5

Pecs felt better compared to last week, but not perfect. Right shoulder is also feeling a little unstable at the moment, likely from the lat injury somehow, but I’m starting to get back into some more rowing variations soon. Got some good pressing in regardless.

I did the long farmers walks to get the shoulder feeling better and they did the trick. Sometimes you just gotta get the upper back to wake the fuck up.

1331

Focused - Week 36

Day 3

Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x420 - First two slow, last three much better

A1 | Hatfield Squat - Bottom 3/4:
2x12x285

A2 | Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
3x8x375

B1 | GHR w/ Band:
2x15xBW+Mini

B2 | Landmine Split Stance Rotation - Core:
8/8x25
8/8x45

This was a good day for flipping the switch when I was letting too much fear of my hip shift get in my head. Just stopped and took a moment to get more in the zone and here was the result between the 2nd and 3rd sets..

Day 4

Incline DB Bench - Up to 95s, felt poopy, then back to 80s, felt poopy, just called it there
Curls
Delts
Shoulder health things

Not going to bother with specifics here. Just felt weak on this one and took it easy. It happens.

1332

Focused - Week 37 - Day 1

Pin Squat w/ Belt (Full Depth):
4x5x375

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
3x8x330

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
2x3x485 - Post lat strain PR, no issues

Sumo RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
2x10x375

Hip Abduction on Reverse Hyper:
2x15/15x50

A1 | GHR Hyper:
2x15xBW

A2 | GHR Situp:
8xBW - Ab cramp
10xBW - Test, no cramp
20xBW - Better

Got better at pin squats this week, though they’re still not perfect. Continuing to fix the hip shift with just a cue or 2 and it seems to be starting to get me back over to the left. Just need to make sure the hip doesn’t get worked past it’s capacity, since it’s been slacking, and all should be good over time.

Sumo felt good. Form is a little off from the time not practicing it, but not too bad. Likely going to incorporate the sumo RDL more often to challenge the hips with a more upright position. My sumo RDLs are not hips shifted back sort of thing, it’s just mimicking a normal sumo rep, but without the weight touching the floor.

1333

Focused - Week 37

Day 2

Bench w/ Chains (+75):
2x275+75
1x315+75
3x315+75 - +1 rep PR
9x315 - No chains
22x225 - Larsen press, had to put feet down for 23rd rep, so not counting it

Lat Pulldown:
15x100
15x120
2x15x140 - Getting past my warm-up weights now, lat feeling fine

Triceps Pushdown:
15x120
15x140
15x150

Reverse Grip Barbell Curl + Barbell Curl:
2x10+10x60

I forgot if I did anything else. Going to get better at remembering these when I forget to log. Got an app for in-workout logging.

Didn’t do a ton of straight sets on bench, just worked up to that top set then two hard downsets. Really happy with hitting 390 at the top for a triple.

Didn’t mark it as paused because it was more of a sink and go sort of day.

Day 3

Squat w/ Belt:
3x2x450
2x6x420

2" Block Pulls w/ Belt/Straps:
2x5x465 - Conv
2x5x465 - Sumo

A1 | Close Stance Belt Squat - Keep Knees Forward Cue:
3x10x220+2 Short Minis

A2 | Single Leg Seated Hamstring Curl:
2x16/16x70

B1 | Kneeling Band Ab Pulldown:
2x15xLight

B2 | Band Side Bend:
2x10/10xLight

Getting more used to heavy weight on my back again. It’s been a long time since 450+ felt casual, but we’re getting there. Still working on hip shift and twisting, but I’m not letting it stop me from progressing when it does happen.

1334

Focused - Week 37 - Day 4

DB Floor Press:
12x85s
10x100s
2x8x120s

Overhead Press - Slow Eccentrics:
5x135
3x175 - Overshot, not slow ecc
2x5x155

Bent Over DB Row:
20x50s
2x15x75s

Lat Pulldown:
12x100
2x12x120

Bear Crawl Shoulder Taps:
3x10/10

These Day 4s are just killing me recently. No motivation at all and feeling weak. Right shoulder feeling weird with DBs, but feeling fine and hitting PRs earlier in the week. I’ve hit 15s with 120s on DB floor press several times before, but 8s were hard today.

I’ll figure it out.

1335

Focused - Week 38

Day 1

Pin Squat w/ Belt (Full Depth):
3x5x405 - PR

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
2x8x365

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x3x485

Sumo RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
2x12x375

A1 | GHR:
3x10xBW

A2 | GHR Hyper:
3x10xBW

A3 | GHR Sit-Ups:
3x10xBW

Had a pretty sudden improvement in strength in the pin squats this week. This is why performing a variation for multiple weeks in a row makes sense, especially if it’s relatively unusual. Just tossing something in for a week is going to feel bad because you’re not used to it. It’s not actually doing something for you unless you repeat it and get better at the movement, then compare how your competition form feels. I added 40 lbs to the pin squats over this little wave, we’ll see if it helps the comp form.

Day 2

Paused Bench:
1x345
1x375
1x395 - Not bad, been a long time since I’ve hit this
3x7x315

One-Arm DB OHP:
3x12/12x50

Cable Low Row:
20x100
15x120
15x140
25x140

Chain Fly:
2x20x75

Cable Rear Delt Row:
3x25x125

Time flies, let me tell ya. I haven’t benched 395 since August 2018, same month I last hit 405. I had no idea it had been that long. PT school was a lifting vacuum other than deadlift it seems. Goes to show you that not being focused on lifting and forgetting about lifting goals really slows you down lol. I’m really happy with this 395 today though. Form held up just fine and there was no pain anywhere. Just need to continue to stay healthy and not move too quickly. Eyes are definitely set on breaking my 425 PR finally.

Low rows are kind of funny. I was expecting those to be one of the hardest things to get back into with my lat injury, so I was avoiding it until I felt it was safe. Didn’t feel it at all. Very easy lift to avoid using the lats unless you really focus on it, I think.

1336

Focused - Week 38

Day 3

Squat w/ Belt:
2x418
2x463
2x463
4x463 - PR! Video here
3x5x374 - With RNT wrapped around me

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
2x3x485
4x485 - Was going to do another but had a little QL twinge and decided against it. No issues since then

Walking Lunge w/ Plate Overhead:
3x10/10xBW+33

Standing Marches w/ KB:
3x10/10x70

I haven’t hit some good reps over 455 in a long time now. This was far from my most impressive PR around the same weight (which was a 4x5x455 followed by 7x455), but it’s a big step up compared to the last year at least.

Still no issues with the lat for deadlifts at this point. Just gotta get back to being strong now.

Day 4

Pin Incline Bench - Starting from Bottom:
5x185
3x8x185

Rear Delt Fly Complex - Described below:
3x25x20s

Cable Curl:
3x15x120

Cable Incline Curl:
2x15/15x50

A1 | Band Triceps Crossover Pushdown:
3x15x2 Monster Minis

A2 | Band Triceps Crossover Skullcrusher:
3x15x2 Monster Minis

Lat Pulldown w/ Angles90 Grips:
12x90
12x110
12x130
12x150

Better Day 4 than recent ones. Rear delt complex was a normal chest supported rear delt fly with varying shoulder abduction. Starting in the usual “T” position (90 degrees abduction), then to an “A” (45 degrees), and then to an “I” which is practically just shoulder extension. One rep per position cycling up and down the angles until 25 reps was hit.

1337

Focused - Week 39 - Deload

Day 1

Squat w/ Belt - 5 Ct Eccentric:
3x3x374 - Feels real heavy

DB SLDL:
2x20x65s

A1 | Leg Extension:
30x100
20x100

A2 | Seated Leg Curl:
20x100
15x100

Glute-Ham Raise:
2x15xBW

Felt really shitty on this day. Just in time for a nice deload. Squats felt heavy on the back and did not move like I just squatted 90 lbs more for 4 the week before lol

Day 2

Larsen Press - Paused/Wide Grip:
5x10x225

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row:
2x15x45
2x20x70

Chain Lying Triceps Extension:
3x20x75

Chain Curl:
2x12x75

Plate Front Overhead Raise:
2x15x35

Keeping with the easy deload, especially on the intensity for bench, since I just hit a heavy single. Kept volume higher and RPE low.

Day 3

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x3x550 - Post lat strain PR
2x4x485 - Easy but pecs started cramping, never happened before, but I’m likely replacing the lats shoulder IR job with the pecs. Gotta fix that

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
3x375 - Still feeling rough on squats
3x5x265 - 5 Ct Eccentrics

Band Lying Leg Curl:
2x15x2 Minis

Band Mountain Climbers:
2x8/8x2 Minis

Hip Abduction on Reverse Hyper:
2x20/20x50

Sumo felt heavy at the bottom and I was slow to break the floor, but the weight moved fast after that. Going to need to get reacclimated to the bottom position and pulling the slack out.

I haven’t deadlifted before squatting in like 12 weeks now, since the lat strain, not to mention the SSB, so squats felt bad. Not surprised. But this time has proven to me that I should probably focus more on squats than deadlifts, if I actually want my squat to go up. The recovery from both tends to allow me to keep deadlifting, but makes my squat go to shit. Let’s see what happens.

Day 4

A1 | Push-Ups:
3x20

A2 | BW Skullcrusher:
3x10

A2 | HS Iso-Row w/ Angles90 Grips:
3x10/10x90 - Slow eccentrics
2x10/10x115 - Heaviest row I’ve done since the lat strain

B1 | Single-Arm DB OHP:
12/12x40
12/12x50
20/20x60

B2 | Chest-Supported Lat Pulldown:
15x100
15x125
35x150 - This is a very light weight stack, just kept going with partials at the top and bottom for a while to feel the lat

Hammer Zottman Curls:
12x25s
3x8x35s

KB Lateral/Y Raise:
3x15x15s

KB Rear Delt Fly:
3x15x15s

Decided against any real pressing today to make sure I’m recovered for the next wave. Everything felt fine here.

The lateral/Y raise feels like a new staple. Basically a scapular plan lateral raise that goes nearly overhead. Not a true Y raise either because the shoulders aren’t in external rotation, palms just stay facing down. Delts are hit as well as upper/lower traps.

1338

Focused - Week 40 - Day 1

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt:
4x10x341

2" Deficit Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
4x8x374

A1 | Front Foot Elevated Split Squat:
3x12/12x50s - Oof

A2 | GHR with Band:
3x15xBW+Mini

DB Lateral Lunge:
3x10/10xBW+50

GHR Plank + Med Ball Toss:
2x20x15

Circling back around to a primarily volume block. I haven’t done this many squats in a while and I felt it. RPE wasn’t super high, but the reps got to me.

I probably overshot the volume on deficit pulls for it being the first time I’ve done them in a bit. Good amount of low back soreness from it. But I’ll adapt.

I’m going to a wedding this weekend, so this week is basically a continuation of the deload since I’m missing at least 1 day, maybe 2. It’ll be fine though.

1339

Focused - Week 40 - Day 2

Floor Press:
4x10x255

Push-Ups w/ Chains (+72):
3x15

Lat Pulldown - Semi-Supinated MAG Grip:
15x120
15x150
15x170 - No pain, post-lat strain PR

A1 | One-Arm DB Meadows Row:
15/15x45
2x15/15x60

A2 | DB Preacher Curl:
15/15x20
2x15/15x30

B1 | Band Mountain Climbers:
3x10/10x2 Minis

B2 | Cable Crossover Rear Delt Fly:
25x30s
20x40s
15x50s

Floor press is one of the bench variations I’ve strained my pecs on before, so I’m entering them with caution and making sure I’m not doing anything stupid with intensity. I’m doing them because I suck at them though and I think they’ll help. Today they felt very heavy for the first couple of sets despite moving well and then eventually I got used to the position. Last set was easily the best. RPE was below 7 on all of them.

Happy with the lat progress. I think it’s time to start pushing it a bit more since I didn’t get any pain at all with a somewhat hard set. DB rows got real hard in the time off too.

1340

Focused - Week 41

Day 1

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt:
5x6x374

2" Deficit Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
4x6x418

A1 | Front Foot Elevated Split Squat:
3x12/12x55s

A2 | GHR w/ Band:
3x15xBW+Mini

B1 | DB Lateral Lunge:
2x10/10x55

B2 | GHR Plank with Med Ball Press:
10xBW+35 - Ab cramp that would not go away ended this workout lol

Ended up missing 2 days of training due to the wedding this past weekend. Spent over 20 hours in the car traveling Friday and Sunday and ended up lifting on Monday for this workout, so I wasn’t expecting to feel amazing. Squats were not easy, but they didn’t feel bad per se. Just heavy.

Same goes for the deadlifts and FFE split squats made me want to puke. Happy to have gotten through this one.

Day 2

Floor Press:
4x8x275

Push-Ups w/ Chains (+75):
20, 15, 15

Lat Pulldown - Medium Neutral Grip:
15x160
3x12x170

A1 | DB Row Incline Row:
3x15x60s

A2 | DB Preacher Curl:
12/12x30
10/10x30
2x15/15x20

B1 | Cable Crossover Rear Delt Fly:
20x40s
15x50s
20x40s

B2 | Band Mountain Climbers:
3x10/10x2 Minis

Floor press felt better than expected here. My goal for this wave was to get 4x10x275 and I think it was already there today. I’m just being conservative with the variation.

The medium neutral grip for lat pulldowns was about the same as the pull-up bar used when I strained the lat. It was harder than the MAG Grip used last week, but I’m happy to get some harder reps in at the same angle. Will reintroduce pull-ups with band assistance soon.