Keep putting them good days together. Do the little things right and the habits will show in your gains
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That’s the plan, man. I found myself program hopping a bit, which isnt the best. Now I’ve got something dialed in, that I enjoy doing. I just have to get the diet there, which is already leagues better than it’s been in a while.
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2/11/20
Pull-Ups 4×8 WG
Banded Hip Thrusts 3×12
Box Jumps 3×3
Squats 5×6 @ 280lbs RPE 8
Planks +90lbs, 3×45s
Incline Dumbbell Press 3×15 @ 50lbs
Lateral Raise 3×15 10lbs, drop set to 5lbs once fried.
Notes: Pretty gassed today, only got about 5 hours of sleep. Long work day. But still muscled through the day and kept my diet in check.
Also, personal life note, just shelled out over 600 for my AC going out in February, which was 80° yesterday, because the world is ending.
Love NC.
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I’d pay for extra comfort and better sleep and shit. Y have money if not for better quality of life.
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2/13/20
Nasty, shitty, headache filled day.
Paused Pull-Ups WG 3×5
Face-Pulls 3×15
Close Grip Pin Bench (Sloppy Mess)
6×275
6×245 (chest felt extremely tight, couldnt focus on tri’s)
6×225 (same)
6×225
6×315 (got pissed, and spent a second getting focused, all in my head)
Good Mornings 3×8 @ 185lbs
Pendlay Rows 4×5 @ 275lbs
Shit day. Going to bed early to recoup and get a fresh deadlift in tomorrow.
2/14/20
Weighted Pull-Ups 5×6 +25lbs
Bird Dogs 3×15
Deadlift 4×6 335lbs, 1×6 405lbs
Was feeling jumpy, went for it, didnt feel any heavier, and felt good to get some weight in my hands again.
Chained Squat 6×3 225lbs + 70lbs chains
Dicked around with various assistance, trying to burn off some extra energy.
10/10 Day
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U enjoy? These are a favourite of mine whenever I rotate em in.
Since I started the gym via calisthenics has always felt aight. I’m less adept with all the extra powerlifting mass on my lower body but ain’t bad still. While I was waiting for my back to heal up I did a cycle and peaked at +50kg for reps.
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Definitely a favorite. Pull ups are probably my best general gauge for health. Regardless of how much I weigh, my baseline is 10 strict wide grip Pulls, if I can do those, then I can live with the weight gain. Plus, if pull ups feel exceptionally hard, I know I need to dial back the day a bit.
I’ve worked up to some heavy sets of ~90lbs for 3 reps at my best, but generally I just work with multiple sets of 25lbs. I’d probably be more inclined to go really heavy if I had something other than a squat rack to do them on, the grip just isnt quite there.
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I could probs get much fatter than my current ultimate bulk form and still bang out ten then lol.
I just do BW ones when I have pull ups on the back burner and wanna focus on SBD or something. Between super strict form, slow negatives and chest to bar chins there’s plenty there to maintain.
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Oh absolutely. One thing i’ve noticed:
Pull Up Strength is very fleeting. I went 4 weeks without being able to do pullups, went back into the gym and went from ~45lbs for 5×5 sets, to not being able to do a single set of strict 10.
I usually treat my pull ups as a gauge/warm up. They’re always the first thing I do, usually:
Monday/Thursday as a light warm up, 3×5 super strict, with a 1 second pause at the top and bottom. I may even pause half way just to get my shit firing right.
Tuesday: 5×8, or some variation reps of strict wide grip pull ups, with no pausing.
Friday: heavy ass loaded pull ups, usually neutral, just get my body ready for pulling heavy shit.
But at 260lbs, I’ve got to say, I see significantly less progress on them now lol.
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I think it’s easy to overdo it on em. Big load moved through big range of motion using a lot of muscle = big fatigue load.
2/17/20
Weighted Pull Ups WG 3×5 +25lbs, 1 sec pause at bottom.
Facepulls 3×15
Bench 5×6 @ 255lbs (went up, didnt feel any harder, knocked out all 6 on one breath every set)
Front Squat 185×8, 185×8, 205×8. Still new to these. Still fucking suck. But already substantially more comfortable with them.
Kroc Rows 3×12 @ 110lbs. Ow.
Skulls 3×12 @ 85lbs
Good day. Started slow, but got in the groove quick enough. Starting to feel my bracing get tighter due to necessary adaptation on front squats.
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Also, my generic ass “fitness reality” rack got some badass new accessories. All come in a pack:
Triangle dip handle attachments
Landmine receptacle
J-hooks
Plate holders
Ordered the pack this morning. A+++
Random cool thing. I was always the chicken leg guy, and I’ve been busting my ass to get some wheels, today is the first day I’ve really noticed progress:
So I’m pretty fucking stoked about that.
Bad news you still is
Look… it’s getting better lol. I’ve always been extremely chest/upper body dominant, I hate crying genetics, but my dad framed houses for the better part of a decade, and he always had chicken legs too. But I’ll be damned of that’s going to stop me from trying.
2/18/20
Pull Ups WG 4×8
Banded hip thrusts 3×10
Squat 5×6 @ 290lbs. Ow.
Lying Leg Raise 3×10
DB Incline Press 3×15 @ 50lbs
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2/20/20
Lots of rain, flooded/freezing garage.
Banded Hip Thrust 3×10
Bird dog 3×10
Deadlift 5×6 @ 335lbs**
Shrugs 3×10 @ 225/225/315
Curl Ladder for fun at the end, to add something entertaining to an otherwise miserable day.
**note: normally deadlift barefoot. Had to wear shoes today due to the 40° water in my garage. Deadlift was much smoother. Made it through all sets with no belt/straps, without my back feeling tanked. Maybe my weight gain has caused some kind of dynamic shift in my set up. Worth noting for future lifts.
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Note 2: buying fucking drainage soon. This shit is just not working.