TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
1581

FORTITUDE

Week 10 - Day 2 - Upper

Bench Press:
3x12x225 - No pec pain, just deconditioned to the movement, so this was pretty damn hard

KB Z-Press:
3x12x50s

Cable Low Row:
Don’t remember details, but 1 normal working set at 200 and 1 Myo-Rep set at 200

A1 | FatGripz Hammer Curls:
10/10x40s
2x8/8x40s

A2 | Machine Preacher Curl:
10x55
2x8x55

Incline Triceps Overhead Extension - Strap+KB:
12x50
3x8x80 - This was hard as shit, like last set was true RPE 10

Slightly more traditional workout here, which will still happen on my new system. Not every day is going to be weird. But it’s nice to get some bench press back in the mix and not have pec pain. I’m going to keep working on them with more ROM and movement variety to keep them healthy.

Week 10 - Day 3 - Lower

SSB Hatfield Split Squat - Short-Stride - On Wedge:
6/6x210
6/6x250
6/6x280
6/6x300 - Spooky PR. Left side was much harder, but it also went second

Beltless SSB Squat w/ Oly Shoes:
5x5x300 - Speed work, 60 sec rests

DB RDL:
12x90s - Big stretch focus
8/8x90s + 8/90s - Kickstand R/L and then bilateral again

Lying Leg Curl:
2x8x100
2x8x75

Crunch Over Bosu Ball:
Some work with BW and 25 lb KB, low reps before I started cramping though

This was a pretty big milestone to hit on the split squats considering it was 90 lbs over anything I’d ever done for unilateral work just 2 weeks ago. I think I probably could have done 10s with 300 with 1 less set of warm-ups, especially on the right side. But the left was definitely feeling it.

I do plan on translating these to a hands-free split squat as well. I’m primarily using my hands for balance support, not really pulling myself up.

Here’s a video of the top set

1582

FORTITUDE

Week 10 - Day 4 - Upper

A1 | Dips:
3x10xBW

A2 | Unilateral DB Clean & Press:
3x8/8x70

A3 | KB Transfer Plank:
3x8/8x50

A4 | Band Assisted Pull-Up:
3x10xBW-Light Band

Then:
Machine Chest Press
Superset FatGripz Curls + Machine Preacher
Superset Cable Rear Delt Fly + Facepull

I was very conservative on dips for the pec’s sake. Ended up feeling several little tweaks during machine chest press and the rear delt fly. We’ll see if those were an issue later.

Week 11 - Day 1 - Lower

2" Deficit Conventional Deadlift w/ Stiff Bar - Belt/Straps:
3x5x455

Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
3x8x315

Leg Extension:
3x10x250 - Partials on sets 2 and 3 to get to 10 reps. Set this up in basically full knee flexion and overloaded the beginning and mid-range

Landmine Core Rotations:
3x8/8xBar+70

Adductor Machine:
15, 10 x 90 - Pausing at both ends killed me

Machine Chest Press:
25, 15 x 130 - More pec rehab

I don’t usually do deficits at quite this height, but it was fun. Very hard, but fun. I’ll probably be doing more conventional variations than sumo for the time being until I want to take a run for 700 on sumo. I just know conventional has been getting weak in favor of sumo, which hasn’t exactly been top-end strong recently either anyway.

1583

I don’t remember the 2nd day last week well enough to log it. Went on vacation to Chicago from Friday-Tuesday. Tons of walking, no training. Got travel cold symptoms by Tuesday evening. So I didn’t go to the gym til Thursday this week. Took it pretty easy here as a result.

FORTITUDE

Week 11 - Day 1 - Upper

Paused Bench w/ Bands (+70):
5x3x225+70

KB Jefferson Deadlift:
3x8x140 - Standing on 3 bumpers to have hands reach toes

KB Hammer Curls:
15/15x30
12/12x30

Band Triceps Pushdown - Multiple Angles:
4x10-15x2 Monster Minis

DB Lateral Raise - Long ROM, Controlled Eccentric:
12x20s
10x20s

KB Curl:
10, 8, 6, 4, 2 x 30 - Alternating sets between each arm without rest otherwise

KB Arm-Bar:
2x8/8x60

Pec felt mostly okay with the bands today. Some shoulder discomfort on bench and lateral raises though. Attributing that to travel, being sick, and not training for a week.

1584

FORTITUDE

Week 11 - Day 2 - Lower

High Bar Buffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
3x8x318

Beltless Clean High Pulls w/ Straps:
5x135
2x5x185 - Got decent at these here
5x225 - Too heavy to be good here

Seated Leg Curl:
12x80
12x120
10x160
8x160 + 8x120 + 8x80 - Drop set

Lat Pulldown:
15x130 - Facing away, arched back
10x180 - Same as above
10x180 - Normal position

This is the thicc ass Titan buffalo bar variety, so I sat it high to not feel like it was going to fall off my back. High bar made this load pretty far forward at the bottom and wobbly enough that this was hard with just 3 plates. Good to be squatting without any knee discomfort though.

1585

FORTITUDE

Week 12 - Day 1 - Lower

SSB Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
3x340
3x390
7x430 - Randomly PRs lol
3x5x340 - Paused

Beltless Kickstand Deadlift:
6/6x225
10/10x225 - This is very hard

Hypers:
15xBW+135
12xBW+135

Adductor Machine:
Some amount to hard enough

Half-Kneeling KB Windmill:
8/8x40
8/8x50 - PR

Honestly, this is a decently big milestone PR to set with the SSB. With 485x2, 445x3, and 406x10 being my recorded PRs with that, 430x7 is very solid. Especially with a 455x7 competition squat PR and SSB usually squishing me to death.

Look at me being a powerlifter, “Oh it’s a PR for when Neptune is in retrograde on the 3rd day of the Blood Moon, especially considering I was sick last week and haven’t trained but 4 times in 2 weeks and I was sad today”.

But it was nice.

Also, kickstand deadlifts are going to kill me. Definitely including more to see what I can adapt to with that.

Week 12 - Day 2 - Upper

Low Incline Pause Bench:
4x6x275 - RPEs 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9

Beltless Pendlay Row w/ Straps:
4x6x275

A1 | Triceps Pushdown:
2x12x125
12x100
15x70

A2 | Hammer Zottman Curls:
2x10x30-35s

Cable Curl - 1 Myo-Rep Set:
15 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 x 75

DB Rear Delt Fly:
3x15-20x25s

I haven’t been able to bench much in the past couple of months due to pec pains, but this wasn’t bad. A lot of shoulder soreness followed it, so it may have been pushing the volume/intensity a bit too suddenly. We’ll see, still felt good to do some hard pressing.

1 Like
1586

FORTITUDE

Week 12 - Day 3 - Lower

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
2x5x495
8x495 @ RPE 8.5

SSB Hatfield Split Squat:
10/10x160
10/10x250

SSB Close Stance Squat:
2x8x250

Leg Press:
10 + 5 + 5 x 360 - Very deep, paused

Seated Leg Curl:
15x80
12x120
8x120 - Hamstrings were done from deadlift it seemed

It’s been a bit since I’ve pulled conventional with a deadlift bar and I’m pretty happy with the results. Definitely got caught on the whip once I was getting fatigued, but the reps prior were all solid.

On the Hatfield split squats, when I switch my working leg to the left, my right was pushing my foot rest (bumper plate for increased depth) further and further back away from me each rep. Ended up in pretty much full end range for hip extension on the right side lol. Just went with it for the challenge and survived.

2 Likes
1587

A lot of killer workouts over the week!

1 Like
1588

FORTITUDE

Week 12 - Day 4 - Upper

A1 | Lat Pulldown w/ Angles90 Grips:
15x150
2x12x180
12x150

A2 | Smith Machine JM Press w/ Bands:
15x50+2 Dbl Minis
12x90+2 Dbl Minis
10x110+2 Dbl Minis
8x110+2 Dbl Minis

Cable Incline Overhead Triceps Extension:
15x70
3x12x100

Cable Curls - Behind-The-Back / Lengthened Position:
15x55
15x70

A1 | Seated Cable Y-Raise:
2x12-15x50

A2 | Lying Cable Lateral Raise:
2x10-12x50

Good workout, mostly bodybuilding today. Not much else to describe!

1589

FORTITUDE

Week 13 - Day 1 - Lower

Squat w/ Oly Shoes:
2x4x315 - Left adductor giving me too much trouble to push through it like I have been recently

Dual KB Swing Cleans:
3x10x70s

A1 | Leg Extension:
3x12x160 - To failure and couple of partial lockouts by the end of 2nd and 3rd set

A2 | BW Piston Squat:
3x15 - Barely making it on each of these lol

Adductor Machine:
20x90
20x70
15x50

Bosu Ball Crunch - Lengthened Position Abs:
2x15xBW - Cramping, as per usual with ab work lol

I’ve been (carefully) ignoring my left adductor being irritated during squats and split squats for a few weeks. This past week’s SSB squat and Hatfield split squats (with the ever lengthening back leg on the left side’s set lol) probably took it over the edge into “don’t be stupid” territory. So, I’ll just work on it like rehab for a couple of weeks and find other things to do.

Dual KB swing cleans are rather hard. That transition from rack to dropping into the next swing is spooky. Good stuff though.

1590

FORTITUDE

Week 13 - Day 2 - Upper

A1 | Floor Press:
5x10x225 - Varied grips

A2 | Bent Over KB Row - Paused at Top:
5x10x70s

Machine Incline Bench - Slow Eccentric/Paused:
12, 8, 8 x 150

B1 | Machine Preacher Curl:
15, 12, 10 x 50

B2 | Smith Machine Drag Curl:
3x8x50

DB Curl:
2x12x20s

Adductor Machine:
2x15-20x70 - Just rehabbing with slow eccentrics, pauses, etc. til it’s too hard to keep going

Dead Hangs:
1:00 no straps
1:00 with straps

I’ve been doing a couple of sets of dead hangs after upper body days for a few months, just letting the shoulders, pecs, and lats get a full stretch basically. Recently started doing it without straps for a grip exercise too, so I’ll start recording it at least when I get some progress. 1 minute seems to be about the limit at the moment.

Still not pushing bench very hard due to the pec not feeling 100%. Just working my way through it with different things though. I’m in no rush.

1 Like
1591

FORTITUDE

Week 13 - Day 3 - Lower

1.5" Deficit Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps - Deadlift Bar:
3x455
3x495
8x455
3x3x405 - Speed work

Leg Press - Close Stance:
2x12x450

A1 | Standing Cable Ab Pulldown to Toes:
3x12-15x100 - These are a fun way to mix up the cable ab movement

A2 | Cable Standing Adductor - Rehab on Left Side:
3x10-15x50

Sumo Deadlift 1/2 Reps on Belt Squat - Adductor Rehab:
2x15x90

Not a ton to note other than the deadlifts today. The top triple at 495 was probably harder than it should have been based on the previous set, because I was feeling the adductor just a bit and I wasn’t sure of it. Otherwise it was solid. 3x515 @ RPE 9 is my recorded beltless deficit PR, but it was probably on a smaller deficit based on what I usually would choose. This was 2 stacked mats, which feels higher to me at least. So, not a bad day.

I’m going to keep pushing for some conventional strength, since it seems happy to be decent again.

Week 13 - Day 4 - Upper

A1 | Deficit Push-Ups:
2x10xBW
10xBW+45
3x10xBW+90 - “Hard” but not high RPE technically, just focused on technique and not over-doing it on the pec

A2 | Barbell Flexion Rows:
10x145
3x10x195

Triceps Pushdown - 1 Myo-Rep Set:
Multiple lighter warm-ups
10 + 5 + 5 + 5 x 130

Incline Cable Triceps Extension:
2x10x75 - To failure

Lying Cable Incline Lateral Raise:
15x55 - To failure
12x65 - To failure

Cardio - Stationary Bike:
30 minutes x Level 11
146 BPM Avg HR
270 Calories
8.6 miles

Biggest thing of note today is the cardio probably. I don’t know when the last time I did a simple 30 minutes straight, no intervals at all, “Zone 2” style cardio. I’ll definitely be doing more of it to see how it affects my general fitness and ability to recover intra- and inter- session.

Stationary bike definitely not super comfy on the taint though. Not sure how road cyclist do it lol

1592

FORTITUDE

Week 14 - Day 1 - Lower

A1 | Close Stance Hatfield Squat w/ Oly Shoes - Beltless:
3x6x340 - Had to really focus on pushing the knees forward to avoid feeling the adductor pulling

A2 | Cossack Squat to Low Box:
2x10/10xBW
10/10xBW+30

Snatch Grip High Pull:
4x4x185 - First time trying these without a mirror. Felt way off

B1 | Leg Extension:
3x12x150 - RPE 8,9,10

B2 | BW Piston Squat:
3x15xBW

C1 | Band Adductor Standing Mobilization w/ Movement:
2x15xLight Band

C2 | Adductor Machine:
2x15x70

SSB felt very heavy on my back today, but that’s fine since I wasn’t going over 3 plates regardless knowing how the adductor would feel. Just working my way through it and maintaining everything I can.

Need to plan for avoiding this in the future and I’m thinking the initial issue was just the lack of adductor capacity in the unilateral squat varieties. Going to work those up, including the Cossack squats, which are hard as shit.

1593

FORTITUDE

Week 14 - Catch-Up

I’ve been super busy, but still training. Not a ton to note from the rest of last week. Still working on the adductor. Did some feet up DB bench to 110s relatively comfortably. I did some KB clean and press with 70s. Swinging, not dead stop, which is hard as shit to control. Could only do 3x6 with that and I was dying.

Week 15 - Day 1 - Lower Body

Beltless SSB Squat:
5x3x340 - Mild adductor pain still, but not enough to avoid the movement

Squat Press:
12x450
20x450

Lying Leg Curl:
3x10x75-100 - Differing resistance profiles, started with shortened position for a couple of hard sets, then went to lengthened position emphasis for the last set

Lat Pulldown - Semi-Supinated MAG Grip:
15x150
2x10x180
15x150

Decline Sit-Ups:
15xBW
2x15xBW+25

Just working through things! Still have twinges of pain with any squat pattern / leg press. It seems like the adductor machine isn’t super useful for what’s going on and I’ll need to focus on deep hip flexion patterns with squats / split squats almost entirely for rehab. Should be fine soon, just gotta be smart.

1594

FORTITUDE

Week 15 - Catch-Up Again

Very busy with business stuff, so logging isn’t a priority at the moment clearly. Last week included 3x8x275 on paused bench and 10x495 on conventional deadlift. I did 3x15x80 single arm DB incline bench as the main lift on day 4.

Let’s try logging again:

Week 16 - Day 1 - Lower

Buffalo Bar Squat w/ Oly Shoes:
Up to 3x315 - Adductor not feeling good today
4x10x225 - 90 sec rests and w/ multipurpose wraps around upper thigh for adductors

KB Split Squat to Depth:
2x10/10xBW+50

Machine Glute Push-Down - Or whatever, the exercise on an assisted pull-up machine:
8-15x130-180 - Varying tempos and such, this gets my adductor a lot

Beltless RDL:
2x15x315

Half-Kneeling KB Windmill:
2x8/8x40

I gotta just go with the light weight and high rep format for the adductor I think. It’s being stubborn. I’ll just focus strength toward conventional deadlift for a bit.

1595

FORTITUDE

Week 16 - Day 2 - Upper

3 Ct Paused Bench:
5x5x275 - Got to RPE 9 suddenly on the last set, otherwise these were RPE 6-7

Cable Incline Skullcrusher:
15x80
12x110
12x130

Cable Pushdown:
2x10x130 - Funny note below

Cable EZ Bar Curl:
15 + 8 x 75 - Narrow + Wide
10 + 5 x 100 - Wide + Narrow
8 + 5 x 100 - Wide + Narrow

Machine Chest Press - Selectorized:
15x150
12x180
8 + 5 + 4 x 230 - Rest-pause at 30 sec rests, heaviest I’ve done on this machine

So after 17 years in the gym, I finally got to experience the dreaded unsolicited advice lol. During triceps pushdowns, which were purposefully being done elbows out, cable near the body and inline with it, as opposed to a triceps extension variety.. A dude who has commended me on how I look before waves to me and tries to tell me to “push out, it activates it more” mimicking the triceps extension variety. Now, this dude is a jacked, middle aged, been on gear for decades, bodybuilder. I gave him a “I’m good man” and some other non-committal responses ending in “I appreciate it though”. A couple minutes later he gets my attention again and says he didn’t mean any disrespect. Guess I didn’t hide my reaction lol

All good though. Just a very weird thing to encounter. Never once have I thought to give advice to someone not asking for it, but especially someone who’s clearly been in the gym for a long time. Hell I even avoid the subject of giving advice to a lot of people who DO ask for it depending on how I’m reading them, because most people won’t do shit with the advice anyway.

So if anyone reading is ever thinking about approaching someone to tell them how to “activate it more” during an exercise, remember that you have no idea why they’re doing it, how it’s being programmed, how it relates to the rest of their programming, what they know, or what their history is.

1596

This could be a double edged sword…usually I agree with you, except when you can tell the person is brand new to the gym and trying to do an exercise. I try to help them more as I explain the benefits of it to avoid injuries like i had when I was younger

1597

I get that too, but I only help if someone is literally looking around because they can’t figure out a machine or something. If some kid is loading up a weight that’s going to literally kill him, I’d say something, of course. But most people just starting are too weak for the weight they’re using to hurt them really. I think most people should work it out themselves and explore movements and positions anyway.

1598

FORTITUDE

Week 16 - Day 3 - Lower

Paused Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
4x4x455

Hack Squat w/ Bands:
3 x [8x180+2 Lights] + [8x180]

Adductor Lateral SL RDL:
3x8/8x30 - This is a single leg RDL with the non-working leg on a box and basically doing a side bend toward the down-leg to rehab the adductor

Cable Ab Pulldown to Feet:
3x10-15

I can’t remember if I did more things, but the first 2 were the main ideas anyway. Deadlift didn’t feel amazing, but it was expected since last week was a lot with hitting 10x495. So I went with the lower volume control work.

I think I’ve done a full workload of hack squats under 5 times in my lifting career. They usually feel like shit on my knees. I decided to just do it at a light weight and make it hard enough. 8 + 8 clusters with the bands + not were very hard. Going to do more of these and break through that avoidance pattern.

Week 16 - Day 4 - Upper

Incline Bench:
8x5x185 - 60 sec rests

Seated Lateral Raise:
30, 25, 20, 15 x 20s

DB One-Arm Row:
8s up to 120s
4x6/6x140 - EMOM, ended up with 15 sec rests between sets

Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip:
15, 12, 10 x 150

Seated Cable Facepull:
3x12x80

Some mobility work

Going to keep playing with more clusters and see how volume-equated work with faster velocities feel with main lifts. So 4x10 becomes 8x5 to get to 40 reps, but velocities remain high for power production. There’s an argument against this for hypertrophy (not getting close enough to failure) and top end strength (not practicing with enough weight to get to slower rep speed), but I’m still playing around with ideas to see how I react to them.

I do know that clustering one-arm rows was fun. Starting at 0 seconds, hitting 6 reps, and then switching sides for another 6 reps got me to 45 seconds and left 15 sec rest + strapping up the first side again. The goal isn’t to hit failure early, it’s to use a heavy weight powerfully, get a little rest, and do it again. Adding another back exercise to traditional hypertrophy styling handles whatever was missed.

Just having fun and seeing what happens.

2 Likes
1599

FORTITUDE

Week 17 - Day 1 - Lower

Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
8x5x315 - 60 sec rest

Single-Leg Leg Press:
3x10/10x90 - Another thing I’d like to see if I can get better at, for the sake of versatility and adding more options for single leg work. This was light because it’s still irritating for the adductor on the left

DB RDL:
3x15x125s

Cable Seated Hip Adduction:
20/20x50

Hanging Knee Raise:
3x10 - Done like this except a lower barbell position. I’ll try this high next time and see the difference, but this felt much better than the usual routes

First time in a while being able to squat with confidence and almost no adductor irritation. Continuing on the last entry’s info: These “Hypertrophy Clusters” are being taken from Jake Tuura from a few years back. Technically they’re not clusters the way he wrote them (on lower body days at least), they’re just short rests interset. I think I’ll take some cues from him, but I’d likely get more out of something like true clusters where today’s scheme should have been 4 x 5+5 with true rest between sets, but short intraset rest between 5s.

1 Like
1600

FORTITUDE

Week 17 - Day 2 - Upper

DB Bench - Clusters:
4 x 5+5 x 125s - 30 sec cluster rests, 2 min set rests

Chest-Supported Swiss Bar Row:
8x185
2x8x235
12x185

Lat Pulldown - Underhand Grip:
2x15x140
12x140

A1 | Cable Wrist Curl:
15x75
15x85
12x100

A2 | Cable Cross-Body Triceps Extension:
3x10/10x65

Band Triceps Pushdown:
2x25/25xMonster Mini

Went with the clusters version I described in the last post and it was more appropriate probably. I think that 4x10x125s would be pretty hard at the moment, but the clusters made the same volume doable. Each first rep of the second cluster (the 6th rep of each full set) was harder from needing to get back into the position again, so that’s a downside for sure. But by the very last set, my velocity was finally truly slowing, so this weight was likely a pretty spot on for the day.