Nice tomato head on the squat!! 
Good luck going all in with Josh. Iāll be watching, but not in a creepy e-stalker kind of way.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Nice tomato head on the squat!! Good luck going all in with Josh. Iāll be watching, but not in a creepy e-stalker kind of way.[/quote]
āIf your face aināt reddening, you just pretendening?ā
You will be watching me from the behind bushes, I appreciate that.
You didnāt get the fourth rep because your ass was sky-high compared to your normal pulling style. How often do you roll?
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
You didnāt get the fourth rep because your ass was sky-high compared to your normal pulling style. How often do you roll? [/quote]
I roll on X most weekends.
I roll on deadlifts sometimes. For a few weeks there I was trying them more often and felt decent doing it but after watching this video I will probably just stick to what has always worked for me.
October 10th- Deload Shoulders
Yawn, donāt you dare waste your time reading this.
Overhead Press
1x5 85
1x5 95
1x5 105
Seated DB Press
1x20 40s
1x20 45s
1x20 50s
DB Laterals
1x12 30s
1x12 35s
1x12 40s
Facepulls
3x50 30
Calf Machine
3x33 Stack
October 11th- Arms
Close Grip Bench
1x5 135
1x5 155
1x5 185
Lying EZ Bar Extension
1x10 80
1x10 100
1x10 120
Overhead Rope Extension
3xA lot 50
Double DB Preacher Curl (6 Sec Neg)
3x8 40s
Strict BB Curls
1x10 65
1x8 75
1x6 85
1x20 55
Supinated DB Curls
3x10 30s
My arms were blown up after this. My triceps and biceps have both gotten way bigger in the past 6 months.
I measured them when they were pumped and my left arm was at 17.75 and my right was 17.5 and my tape measure measures on the small side (at least I tell myself that). They are at a size now and the rest of my body is at a size now where I am pretty comfortable that I am big enough. Of course I still want to be bigger, but I am ready to let size sit on the back burner and come along for the ride with my strength gains without concentrating on it too much.
October 12th- Back
Deadlift
1x5 185
1x5 225
1x5 275
Wide Pullups
2x10 BW
3x8 BW
Neutral Pullups
5x6 BW
Seated Cable Row
1x10 140
1x10 160
1x10 180
1x10 200
DB Shrugs
3x20 100s
Felt good to give my lower back a break finally, it definitely needed it.
I just had my phone consultation with Josh Bryant, I am very excited to get started. I will be training 4 days a week, which will be nice for a change after training 6 days a week with shorter sessions for a while. I told him that my leg strength is an issue and my squat is my main lift I really want to increase.
We also talked about my bench, for now close grip will stay as my primary bench grip but the accessory work will be wider grip so that I can see how it feels and after a few week I may change my primary grip to a wider grip depending on where I feel strongest. Very excited to start, I will probably be doing my first session on Sunday.
Week 1- Day 1
October 16th
First day of training with Josh Bryant! I took the last three days off to give myself a good break to get fully recovered before the onslaught began.
Today was hard as hell, I had no idea I could get so exhausted on during a bench session.
Close Grip Bench
1x3 265
1x3 285
Close Grip Bench (1 Minute Rest)
6x4 245 -This was rough with such short rest, I barely completed all of the reps.
Wide Grip Paused Bench
1x7 210
1x6 210 -Supposed to be 2x8 but I havenāt benched wide in forever plus I was already dead.
Close Grip Dead Bench (1 Minute Rest)
1x1 260 -This was a serious grinder, these were supposed to all be 260 but I couldnāt get a second set, 245 was still very hard.
5x1 245
Dips
5x5 BW +35
DB Fly
3x10 40s -I havenāt done these in forever so they were tough.
DB Front Raises
3x6 30s
Front Planks
2x1 Minute
Side Planks
1x1 Minute per side
-The planks were all very hard because I havenāt done those in a long time.
This session took me about 80 minutes, definitely havenāt spent that much time on a bench session in a very long time. This really didnāt look that hard on paper but boy I was wrong. My triceps and chest were fried, I really look forward to seeing what kind of results I will get from doing 48 of these sessions over the next 12 weeks.
Jeez, he goes all-in early. Will he adjust downwards or what happens from here? Any idea what he plans to do with you?
Donāt worry, heāll adjust the weights where needed. The lower body stuff always killed me - and just wait until week 3.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Donāt worry, heāll adjust the weights where needed. The lower body stuff always killed me - and just wait until week 3. ;-)[/quote]
Squatting tomorrow will definitely be interesting.
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
[quote]novaeer wrote:
Donāt worry, heāll adjust the weights where needed. The lower body stuff always killed me - and just wait until week 3. ;-)[/quote]
Squatting tomorrow will definitely be interesting.[/quote]
Is he subjecting you to that evil 5x5 loading or something different? I hate 5x5 more than any other set-rep combo for squats.
No, itās actually fairly similar to benching today. Two heavy triples, 6 lighter triples with 1 minute rest (that will be fun), two sets of five of Oly pause squats, and some hamstring and ab stuff.
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
No, itās actually fairly similar to benching today. Two heavy triples, 6 lighter triples with 1 minute rest (that will be fun), two sets of five of Oly pause squats, and some hamstring and ab stuff.[/quote]
I hate you. He made me do those damn 5x5s for the first few weeks and I was sore for DAYS. Those speed sets are pretty grueling and the 2x5 on pause squats are pretty tough, too, but they are probably the best variation, IMO, to get your squat moving.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Jeez, he goes all-in early. Will he adjust downwards or what happens from here? Any idea what he plans to do with you?[/quote]
No idea what the long term plan is, basically every week he sends me an excell sheet, I send it back at the end of the week with any lightening of weights I had to do and perceived exertion on every exercise.
It actually feels good just doing the work without the thinking when you have as much faith as I do in Josh.
Week 1- Day 2
October 17th
Surprisingly, today was actually easier than yesterday, weird. I guess my core isnāt as strong as I thought it was because it was still the main thing that was giving me trouble on squats.
Squats
1x3 315
1x3 345
Squats (Explosive) -One Minute Rest
6x3 300 -These werenāt that explosive in the later sets.
Olympic Pause Squats
2x5 265 -I havenāt done olympic style squats in my life, these were tough. I put the bar as high on my back as I could, which was awkward as hell, lined up with my heels about a foot apart, and squatted down until my hamstring touched my calves.
One Leg DB Deadlifts
2x6 45s -Balancing was really awkward, especially on the first set, but they got better as they went on.
Glute Ham Raises
3x12 BW
DB Side Bends
2x6 60
Plate Twists
2x10 25
This took me about 70 minutes and gave me a nice headache.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
No, itās actually fairly similar to benching today. Two heavy triples, 6 lighter triples with 1 minute rest (that will be fun), two sets of five of Oly pause squats, and some hamstring and ab stuff.[/quote]
I hate you. He made me do those damn 5x5s for the first few weeks and I was sore for DAYS. Those speed sets are pretty grueling and the 2x5 on pause squats are pretty tough, too, but they are probably the best variation, IMO, to get your squat moving.[/quote]
Those pause squats were definitely rough and I can definitely see the benefit in them.
Week 1- Day 3
October 19th
My chest and shoulders were sore as hell coming into today, I was surprised I was able to hit all of the reps today.
Closer Grip Bench
2x6 235 -Did these with index finger on the smooth. My chest being so sore made this much more difficult.
Overhead Press
1x3 135
1x3 155
Overhead Press -One Minute Rest
6x4 135 -I really didnāt think I would hit all of these but they all felt relatively good.
Scapular Retractions
3x12 100
Reverse Fly
3x10 15s
Dicks Press
5x10 125 -These were rough, this was my first time doing this exercise and I canāt say I am in love with it but if Josh thinks they work, so be it.
Leg Raises (Knees to chest)
3x12
Leg Raises (Straight Up)
2x10
Week 1- Day 4
October 21st
Today was another hard session, it certainly didnāt help that my hamstrings were still fairly sore all the way until I got warmed up on my first exercise, after that they werenāt sore but still werenāt firing on all cylinders. Still. I hit all of the reps without having to completely grind out anything.
Squat Explosive -45 Sec Rest
6x2 225 -These were all tight and fast.
Deadlift
1x3 375
1x3 405
Deadlift -1 Minute Rest
6x4 315 -Doing these with so little rest was taxing but not impossible, my recovery time between sets has already improved from four sessions with short rest exercises like this.
Pullups
3x5 BW
3 Inch Deficit Deadlift
3x5 300 -This was a very long ROM, but these reps all felt pretty good.
BB Rows
3x5 185
BB Shrugs
3x15 235
Spread Eagle Situps
3x8
Another roughly 80 minute session. This was my last one for this week, I sent the Xcell sheet back to Josh today with my comments and changes to this weeks training and hopefully tomorrow I should get next weeks training. I know he is going to up the ante from here but I now know what to expect from a week of training with Josh and I love it.
I have not worked this hard and had this much fun in the gym in a while, every session is exciting. I cannot wait to start week 2 on Sunday.
Week 2- Day 1
October 23rd
Another rough bench session. I was hoping after a full week of doing this style of training I would be better adapted to handle the volume, but I didnāt do as well as I hoped.
Close Grip Bench
1x3 275
1x3 295
Close Grip Bench (1 Minute Rest)
6x4 245
1x2 245 -Obviously supposed to be four but I missed my groove on my third rep and couldnāt lock it out.
1x4 245 -Hit a better groove on this set and squeaked out all four reps.
Wide Grip Bench Paused
1x6 215
1x5 215 -Supposed to be 2x7, I really suck at benching like a normal person, I had my pinkies on the rings so it wasnāt even that wide.
Dead Bench (1 Minute Rest)
5x1 250
1x0 250 -This was the last set for this exercise, I came sooo damn close to locking it out I am pissed at myself for not getting it.
Dips
5x5 BW +45
DB Fly
3x12 40s
DB Front Raises
3x10 30s
Front Planks
2x1 Minute
Side Planks
1x1 Minute per side
I didnāt get 5 of the scheduled reps for this whole workout, I am definitely not happy with myself. Part of my failure was the fact that the weights were very high and the other part is entirely my fault which was staying out until 3 AM and drinking too much vodka and not eating enough food yesterday. I wasnāt hungover but I was still in a daze when I went to the gym at 1 PM and my focus just wasnāt 100%.
I am pretty pissed that I missed so many reps today but I did have a great time last night āhitting on drunk bhitchesā at a halloween party. So while my training may have suffered by one or two reps today, my mood is up by one or two reps today, it is what it is.