Wednesday 5-26-15
B.w -225
1 min rests/belted working sets
BENCH REPS- 1 max rep set of paused bench
Warmup- everything plus 1 set of chains.lockout noted. Paused.
45x10 55
135x8 145
205x6 215
Work set
225x22 235 got 16/rest20/got3/rest20/got3
INCLINE BENCH- paused
45x10
135x8
Work
205x8 yup
205x6
205x6
205x6
ROWS- off floor. Deadstop.
135x10
155x10
Work
185x10
185x10
185x10
185x10
185x10 extra
135x10 deadhang. Extra
Curls- tng. E.z bar
44x15
85x15. easy
85x15. last few harder
85x15. Last few very hard
Bench- quite happy with the total. At like 12 I felt good, but once those chains kick in they murder you. By 15 I could barely lockout! Bam.
Incline- no reps pre planned .just a weight for 4 sets. That scheme was about right . Last Cple were hard.
Rows- going well. I like doing more reps than planned where possible here. 80 reps today? I am belted for these as they are a diff goal than before. I think allot of ppl can relate to getting a tight back from benching. So on benching Iāll warmup fullyā¦then just on working sets beltup. Help with this tightness and also prevents the massive cramping that sometimes happens entirely. So I just keep it on for rows after. As its and upper body/back acessory now vs. When they were after deads. Still getting some work on the lowback and hams but not over fatiguing them needleslly. I did them unbelted before and am getting some carry over by going belted nowā¦ more reps ectā¦
Curls- got some pump n burn.
Friday 5-29-15
B.w 224
No belt/ 1 min rests mostly
Lower body/Back acessory day
Highbar paused squats@ .75% 5x5
Beltless. Atg. 2 sec pause.
B.wx5
Barx5
135 x 5
205x5
205x5
205x5 1 min rests thru here
205x5 2 min rest herd
205x5 3 min rest here. Added chains for 215 lockout. Widegrip
Power shrugs- 3" deficit. Beltless.deadstop
135x5
205x5
235x5
235x5
235x5
135x5
Chins- b.w
2sec hang n hold
X2
X2
X2
Work- 1 sec hold at top only
X5
X5
X5
X5
X5
Pause squats- went really well. Def. Had to stay tight to stay I. Groove after 2 sec long pauses. The last cpl.sets went very well. Doing longer rests helps allot. I do 90 percent or more of my work on timed 1 min rests. The other times is 2 min timed rests. So when I go 2 and 3 minutes I really felt strong. Added chains to the last set again and widegrip. Once again was Pry my best set. The point of these 2 sec paused squat 5X5 s is a lead in to hitting my real paused 5X5 a .80%ā¦which Iāll attempt next week.
Powershrugs- Nothin special. After that squatting I was over sweattin and energy was low. A sore neck doesnāt provide much motivation either. Got em all in tho.
Chins- I had a 4x5 planned. Last weekās 3x5 I barely got. In all fairness the rests were untied by now so I did an extra set cus I had the ability to do so. My real 5X5 is planned for next week and Iāll be sure to time rests for it. But it felt good hitting it early too!
couple things I was wonderin about, One was what exactly a power shrug was, iām always struggling to add size to my traps, mabey this could help. Two was what your goals are at present, are you training for a bigger total, and maybe a meet, or training for physique goals. I know sometimes with me I loose sight of my exact goals, and my training becomes convoluted serving too many masterās. ATG paused squats make my bad knee ache just reading about them 
keep up the good fight bro, Later !
Well by most definitions itās a partial deadlift that you explosively do right into a shrug. So say from big blocks or off pins in a rack. However, I just do them as regular deadlifts Into to a shrug. My current cycle Iām doing them from a 3" deficit! Itās lighter weight and unbelted. I do the Initial setup and break off the ground as I would a normal deadlift, as soon as Iām at about my knees I explode up Into a shrug.
I love doing shrugs of all sorts. Diff. Holds and sets.
Snatchgrip highpulls are supposed to be the king. Maybe I was doing them wrong but I never got much outta them.
high rep sets of deadlifts that deliver time under tension make my traps and upper back sore.
Thatās my ideas.
Goals- good question. I have no meets planned. No bro goals of abs or anything. Lol
I want to continue to get stronger at the main lifts. Slowly pack on some muscle and look better overall.
One goal I guess - Iāve stated recently is too get my olympic (ish) style squat up to par. I have the mobility and no injuries in the way. Just unrack a weight step back and atg squat it. Hit 315ā¦ so 365/405 would be next goalsā¦
My 1st week on this programā¦I hit 265 for a belted 14 rep set .atg. tng. Iād never done 265 for more than 5 reps atgā¦so progress is imenent!
Just a note: looking at this week, itās the last week of school. I have field trips wednesday a d thursday with my kids. Soā¦ Mondays squat day as usual, pull Wednesdays bench to tuesday. Still hit lower body/back acessories on friday.
Priorities this week are squat and reg bench. Hitting closegrip for high reps Monday knowing Tuesday is max weight reg bench is not optimal. So I did closegrip portion sunday night to give so.e recovery time. Iāll write it up tomorrow as normalā¦but know I did it sunday nightā¦at like 2a.m. hah.
Monday 6-1-15
Summer begins!
B.w 227
Belted working sets/ 1 min rests.
HEAVY SQUAT -.87 percent for max reps.atg. Belted tng.
Warmup- beltless. Long 3-5 pause 1st rep only then tng
Barx10
135x8
205x6
Add belt. Tng explosive as possible
225x2
245x2
265x2
Work- max reps. All out.
275x14 got 10/rest20/got 4 . Matched my set at265!2weeksago.
Speed deads - deadstop from Ground
225x3
225x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
Stiff legged deads- deadstop from ground.
245x6
245x6
CLOSEGRIP BENCH - paused reps day
2sec pause
Barx10
135x5
205x
1sec pause plus 1 set chains
225x16 (235) got14/rest20/got2
Squats - very well. Iād never done more than 5 atg reps with 275 before. They felt heavy at rep 5ā¦ but I took each rep as a single and really stayed in groove. 10 wasnāt prettyā¦bbut not awfullā¦everything burning by then. After the rest pause I felt like an animalā¦everything activated and truly alive the 1st 2 reps felt fast n lightā¦thirdly fought some leanā¦ 4th fought more lean n everything burning. Smart calling it hereā¦ no Injury or dumping a squat without safeties is still a smart priority. Awesome numbers to me! Very suprised.
Deads- pretty easyā¦bbut smoked from the squatting. ā¦
Closegrip- matched my reps from 215, weeks ago. With one less rest pause.
Fyi- my rest pause is this. Rack the weightā¦take 10 seconds breakā¦ get back under the weight and setup, hence the other 10 seconds. ā¦ start lifting again .
Rest10/ssetup10/lift.
Tuesday 6-2-15
1-2 min rests/belted working sets
HEAVY BENCH N upper body acessory day
PAUSED BENCH
warmup- 1 sec pause
Barx10
135x8
225x6
245x4
2 sec paused singles- add belt n chalk
265x1
275x1
295x1
Overload -tng,lockout noted as I add chains
305x1 305
305x1 315
305x3 325
INCLINE BENCH
1 sec pause
135x8
205x6
Work-tng
225x6
225x6
225x6
225x8 yep
BARBELL ROWS - FROM floor
deadstop
135x10
185x8
Tng
205x6
205x6
205x6
205x6 rest paused a bunch on this final set----->
X4
X4
X4
X2 total = 20
E.Z BAR CURLS
tng
45x20
85x10
Deadstop at bottom
105x8
105x8
105x8 !!!
AB WHEELZ- tng
X8
X8
X8
X8 Full pause this set only
Bench- felt o.k. ā¦ better once warmed up. Honestly a diff feeling do in an all paused cycle. Hard to feel ā¦explosive? Got a nice 3 sec pause on the top set of 295 paused. Them long pauses help the overload feel lighter if you will, too. Top set on over load was 325 lockout for 3ā¦ happy here.
Incline bench- 225 moved easier than expected. All paused work leading up to tng session is a big reason ā¦and some activation. From bench before handā¦
Rows- a diff sorry here. Felt very heavy even on warmups. Until my 3rd working set did I even feel decent. 6 rep sets was disappointing to me. Did a Nasty finisher on the last set for 20 total reps. Each rest pause was 10 breathes and then get at it.
Curls- suprised here ā¦ffrom a deadstop that I got 8 reps at 105 for 3 sets. No way I had that in mind necessarily.
AB wheels- easy money.
Just some notes:
My neck is still sore! Not even sure how this all started. 3 weeks now!.No specific Incident in mind. But i do know that throwing up all the doors at work(on bay trucks) and squatting ,agrevate it.
Which led to this- I also have frostbite! Yes serious. Itās on my very upper middle back and lower neck where they meet each other. After some research itās only stage one- but was quite painfull at times and is def. Dis colored. . Not black, no blisters no peeling tho. Howed that happen you ask? Wellā¦ I been icing my neck because itās been sore. Iāve used the ice packs we have and even bought a jumbo bag of ice that I use and put back in the freezer. Iāve used them both for 10-15 minutesā¦ bare skinā¦most nightsā¦for days ā¦with no problem.
Well my wife found an idea of how to make your own sports type ice packs for icing yourself. The claim is that they donāt freezeā¦but rather stay liquid or like a slushy and therfore manipulate much better to the exact area. I agreeā¦they are amazing. Form fitting no matter the area. I use them the first day she made themā¦and it was liquid like. Full 10 mins no problem. The next night I go to use them and now they are slushy like, but not frozen. By minute 3 I thought it felt painfullā¦but shrugged it offā¦by minute 6 I couldnāt stand it and took it off. I have a general high tolerance for painā¦so only at this point was I alarmed. Within minutes it felt warm and glowing. Wtf? After icing itās usually cold and.no feeling at all for like a half hour. ā¦ so I check it out in the mirror and I see itās welted a good 1/4 inch or more above skin level !! Wtf. Finally just went to bed like that. Woke and the swelling had went downā¦but the.exact spot was very tender and red. And remained that way for about 3 daysā¦nowā¦day 6ish is not very tender. .but purple ish in color and def. Still sensitive to a touch.
My theory is that since they bags donāt freezeā¦they have a colder freezing temp than water. The first night they were still liquid soo not as cold as the 2nd night. The 2nd night they were slushyā¦so a much colder temp. Than even ice. From what I gather it was kinda like putting dry ice on my skin. Yikes. While I have.no idea exactly how close in temp that would actually beā¦ I do have the evidence it was enough for frostbite. ( 6 days later, the ice packs are still slushy and will not freeze)
Friday 6-5-15
B.w 224
2 min rests. No belt.
Lower body /back accesory day
PAUSED SQUATS 5X5 @80%
Warmup- 3 sec pause. 1 set chains.
B.wx6
barx6 55
135x3 145
205x3 215
1sec pause
220x5
220x5
220x5
220x5
220x5 230 added 1 set chains. Last 2 hard.
POWER SHRUGS- deadstop from floor.
135x5
235x5
255x5
255x5
255x5
235x5
Chins- b.w plus shoes n water. Unkown.
warmup- 2 sec hold and hang.
X2
X2
X2
Tng-timed 1 min rests
X5
X5
X5
X5
X5 2 mins here only.
Pause squats- went well. Last Cple on each set harder. Never had any real leanā¦ just fought harder at the breaking point at timesā¦mostly last 2 reps. Last set w. Chains was a nice finisher. By this set Iām totally primed and been suprised how well it goes. This was at 80 percentā¦so a true 5X5 test. Next week I overload with a 3x5, then Iāll restart cycle.
Deads- Nothin special. Explosive as possible once at the knees into a shrugā¦
Chins- hit the 1 min. timed 5X5 I wanted. 2 minās on last set onlyā¦happy with that
Just a note- my frostbite peeled, just like a reg . Sunburn. Doesnāt appear to be any worse than that at this point. In the beginning I was quite unsure. .it was really tender and the look of it in between now and then was def. Worse than a sunburn*.
1st week of summer vacation for the kids. Means no 8 a.m alarm clock or running kids to school. Straight sleep ???
My neck is still sore. After two days away from everything it finally starts to feel better and mostly goneā¦but boom 3rd day Iāll have to work and or squat in some fashion and that re irritate s it. Viscous cycle.
My squat is feeling like itās rising. Unsure of everything elseā¦ not in a bad way just not as obvious as my squat. In a Cple weeks I should have a better feel. Never done a full paused cycle on all my pressing so itās hard to judge. Deads Iāve never done just heavy sets for max repsā¦and itās takin a backseat to my squat.
Monday 6-8-15
B.w 231 - w. Shoes n water. Nearly forgotā¦
Belted working sets/ 1-2 min rests
HEAVY DEADS- 87% for max reps
Warmup- beltless. Bench grip. Paused deadlifts.
Barx6
135x6
225x3
245x3
265x1
285x1 moved well.
305x1 heavierā¦but smooth
Beltup. Mixed grip. Deadstop
315x1
335x1
355x3 top set
335x3
315x6
CLOSEGRIP BENCH- paused .87% FOR MAX REPS
Warmup - 1sec pause
Barx5
135x5
205x5
225x5
2sec pause- beltup. Chalk
235x1
255x1
275x1 top set
Overload-tng. Lockout noted
285x1 285
285x1 295 1 set chains
285x5 305 2 set chains
PAUSED SQUATS- no belt. Atg
3 sec pause w. Chains
B.wx3
Barx3 55
135x3 145
155x3 165
Work- 5 sec pause. No chains
195x3
195x3
195x3
AB wheels
X8 tng
Full pause
X8
X8
X12
Deads- ended up o.k. got a good sunburn Saturday as I spent the afternoon opening the pool. Then Sunday layed around a bit n watched movies. Got my mobility work inā¦but woke to a mostly stiff back still and could tell today wouldnāt be great. The singles leading up to the top set felt quite heavyā¦ but a triple wasnāt bad for the top set either.
PAUSED squats - felt like crap Warmin upā¦but by last set felt good.
Closegrip- went real well. Bit sluggish on warmups tooā¦but top sets felt good.
AB wheels- nice full pause. Then explode back.
Wednesday 6-10-15
Logging this 330 a.m after work and what not. Had no time before work to do so. Got my training in but went straight out to the pool as we are finally opening it. Takes about 4 days. Here goesā¦
B.w 224
2 min rests/belted working set
BENCH REPS - 1 paused amrap set
Warmup- all paused
Barx10
135x8
205x6
Work- Plus 1 set chains. Paused
235 (245) x18 got 14/rest20/got 4
INCLINE BENCH
warmup- paused
135x8
205x6
225x4
Work- tng
245x5
245x3
245x3
245x4 yup
BARBELL ROWS
deadstop
135x12
185x10
205x8
Tng
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5
Back off sets
205x8 deadstop
135x8 pause top n bottom
EZ BAR CURLS
Deadstop bottom
45x15
85x10
Work- tng
105x10
105x10
105 X10
Done. Blown.
Honestly with the heat kicking in today and this being the heaviest day for acessories it hit me hard. I was huffing n puffin and sweattin perfusily. I took longer rests on every set just to make it. I was seeing stars on some sets. Ended up with an exertion headache the whole night at work. I drank a bunch of water, took some anti Inflammatory s and jumped in the pool aS soon as I got home. ā¦which immediately helped.
Bench- went well. 14 is a damn good number for paused reps. The rest pause was brutal, my front delts felt like theyād explode on last two .lol. good set!
Incline- this is where I started struggling. I superset this with the rowsā¦but write it up as is for clarity. By the time warmups were done I was fatiguing. An all out bench set before hand Pry started it all. Warmup felt good hereā¦but my first 245 set I hit 5 and took all I hadā¦should went with 3sā¦cus I felt weak after that. Got thru tho and even got a suprise 4th rep on last setā¦ Pry the accumulation of longer breaks finally panning out.
Rows- went well. Last week I was very weak on these and barely got 205 for sets of 5. Today I got 8 for a very doable warmup and again as a back off set.then got 225 for sets of 5ā¦soo yeahhā¦
Curls- last thing. Already whooped. 105 for a 3x10 is good in my book.
This is today. No chemicals yett (pic). !!!
Friday 6-12-15
B.w 224
No belt. 1 min rests
LOWERBODY/BACK ACCESORY DAY
PAUSE SQUAT-atg. work up to paused max set of 5.
Warmup- 1 set chains. 2 sec pause
45x5 55
135x5 145
205x5 215
225x5 235 last two quite hard!
Max 5 set- no chain. 1 sec pause
235x5 last two quite hard
Back off set- 3 sec pause
205x5 last rep harderā¦
POWERSHRUGS
Bench grip. 3 " deficit
135x5
205x5
225x5 vid. For Anytimes referenceā¦
245x5
From floor. Deadlift grip
265x5
back off sets- snatchgrip highpulls
135x5
135x5
135x5
Chins- b.w plus shoes n water (unknown)
2 sec hang n hold
X2
X2
X2
Tng
X8
X6
X6
X2 10.sec after last set
Squat - pretty good really. I think it was .85 of my projected beltless pause squat for a 5 set. Mobility work and lots of warmup are the two main keys to my squat feeling well. As a 3rd Iād say I really like to make the submaximal work as diff. As possibleā¦while keeping it light. Soā¦chainsā¦extra long pauses for squats. ā¦ or even on deads big deficits,pauses and wider grips. Ect.
Anyways ,the last warmup set w. Chains was very difficult. Last two slow and fought leanā¦ but It really primed me for the heavy set of the day that had no chain s and only 1 sec pauses.
Powershrugs - felt quite well. Last Cple on last 2 sets slowerā¦ got a nice example vid. @225. Highpulls were on a wimā¦just wanted something to superset my 3 working sets of chins with.
Chins- felt strong really. So sweatty. Humid here as itās been storming all nightā¦so really grip was the issueā¦not strengthā¦prepped ha d and bar each setzā¦but by last reps was slipping again .
Here it is Anytime.
Beltless. 3" def. Bench grip.
Iām already long torso n short arms. Look at my near 90 degree back angle! Much disadvantages.
What I do like is how it showsā¦ past the knees-being explosive with my hips to lockout.
Monday 6-15-15
B.w- 226
1-2 min rests/ belted working sets
HEAVY SQUAT- .90% for max reps.
Warmup- atg. No belt. Long pause 1st rep only. Then tng.
45x10
135x8
205x6
Beltup- doubles. Explosive as possible.tng
225x2
245x2
265x2
275x2
Max set
285x12 got8/restpause/got 4
CLOSEGRIP PAUSED- paused max reps.
Warmup- everything full pause
Barx5
135x5
225x5
Max set - Plus 1 set chains.
235x12 (245lockout) got 10/restpause/got 2
SPEED DEADS- explosive as possible from dead stop.
135x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
STIFF LEGGED DEADS- controlled. From deadstop
265x3
245x6
225x6
135x12 Romanian here.
AB WHEELS- TNG
X8
X8
X8
X8
What a day. Raining hereā¦sso once again humid and just made me sweaty fast and long. I was well hydrated and ready for today. But it still saps you eventually.
SQUATS - like I said I was very ready. Got big meals in yesterday. No snacks. Lots of water and all my mobility work. A nice dip in the pool before bed finished every thing off. My squat seemed off last week but better nowā¦ warmups went wellā¦not great*. On the Max set it was all mental. At this point all the physical prep in other days Training and mobility work is in. Warmups completeā¦ 285 is a weight Iāve never went for reps on atg. Rep 3 got slowā¦and just felt heavy on my shouldersā¦ part of my brain saidā¦youāll be lucky to get 5. Iād assumed itād be like this at this weight at some point. So from rep 1ā¦I took each as a singleā¦and just continued that way. Rep 6 wasnāt much funā¦ coulda Racked it there. 7 a hair better and 8 a hair worse. Time to rack it. I never know what to expect on a rest pause squat ā¦ but seemingly the first 2 are quite fast and no problem. .but 3ā¦ was much like 6 and 4 was much like 8 from the previous setā¦where 8t got real slow and seemed like it stopped for a second. Time to rack again. Iām getting better at pushing my self here w.o a rack or any safetiesā¦ this seems to be the wayā¦
Closegrip- after squat I was fatigued. And drenched. Iād like to have had a Cple more reps. But it is what is. Not a bad number for the variationā¦so itās good.
Deads- quite easy. All moved well. No belt. Got some burn on last set of stiff leggeds where I did them Romanian. .
AB wheels- solid work. No problem.
Wednesday 6-17-15
B.w- 224
1-2 min rests/ belted working sets
HEAVY BENCH- .90% for paused single. Then overload.
warmup- paused.
Barx12
135x6
225x6
245x3
SINGLES - BELT n chalk.
265x1 3sec pause
285x1 2sec pause
305x1 1sec pause
Overload- tng. Lockout noted
315x1 315
315x1 325 1 set chains
315x2 335 2 set chains
315x3 315 spoto 1 sec pause 1 " off chest
INCLINE BENCH- paused.
135x8
135x8
Work- paused plus 1 set chains
185x8 195
185x8 195
185x8 195
185x9 195. Amrap
BARBELL ROWS- off floor. Deadstop
135x12
135x12
work
165x12
165x12
165x12
165x20 amrap
Curls- e.z bar.
45x20 tng
Deadstop
85x15
85x13
85x13
My neck stiff as hell again . Felt decent Monday morning. .but woke to squatsā¦all out squats at that. Soā¦ automatic re irritation. Just annoying nowā¦ like whatā¦week 5? Just go away. Kinda stiff over all tooā¦ got a nice dynamic warmup in and that helped. Along with throwing my squat shoes on and getting some technique work and goblet squats in between sets of bench. Helps warm my back hips and legs up too.
Bench- felt quite strong today . all moved well really. Ida liked a triple on that 2 chain set . And on the right day am sure I have it. It was a solid doubleā¦but those fucking chains! A nice spoto p.r after soothed my mind.
Incline- Iām just repeating last cycle againā¦ plus 1 set chains. By 2nd set I felt the difference! Love the feeling tho. Something pulling it to the ground. .but In Perfect groove.
Rows- deadstop. Many reps. That finisher was Insane. Everything burning after rep 15. Felt sick afterā¦
Curls- felt sick again after that 15 set. Solid explosive reps till near the end of each set.
Fyi- incline n rows are supersetted and near the end I feelā¦the big finisher effectā¦as Jake would say.
Friday 6-19-15
B.w 223.
1-2 min rests. No belt.
LOWER BODY/BACK ACCESORY
Paused Squats- 2 sec pause. Plus 1 set chains. Lockout noted.
Barx5 55
135x5 145
195x5 205
195x5 205
195x5 205
195x5 205
195x5 215 2 set chains. 3 sec pause. (Pic of the setup )
Power shrugs- 3 " deficit.
135x10
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5
Did some back off work. Just trying to figure out a front squat hold
135x3 power clean to front squat
135x8 all singles. Trying every grip known to man. Straps felt best. (Pic)
Chins- b.w plus water n shoes. Unknown .
Ladder- from a deadhang
X1
X2
X3
X4
X5
X5
X5
Add In 2 sec hold at top
X4
X3
X2
X1
Squats- 1st 3 working sets really felt like crap. Expected to be a bit more explosiveā¦though the Chains sap some of that. Set 4 was easy best set so far. Then set 5 I added another set of chains and it went even betterā¦ crazy change of events there. Iāve always done better after many reps of warmup. Pry a good example of needing that still.
Deads- Nothin special. Felt heavier than 225 usually does.
Chins- acceptionally well. These continue to feel better.
Iāll just be honest. 5th week of a sore neck is wearing on me. Energy and motivation low. I feel a bit extra tight overall this week to so that doesnāt help. Just getting up and doing normal things and going to work takes some push. Less motivation in my mobility sessions and warmups too. Just a constant annoyance of a stiff neck gets old.
My strap setup. Felt most controllable and tightest.
