Comp Squat - Lowbar, Belt, Heels
135 x 5
275 x 4
345 x 2
405 x 3
405 x 3
405 x 3
445 x 1
475 x 1
495 x 1
520 x 1 @ 5
Comp Bench - Paused
135 x 5
195 x 4
255 x 2
295 x 2
325 x 1
355 x 1
380 x 1 @ 6.5
325 x 2
325 x 2
325 x 2
Incline Spoto Bench
185 x 5
245 x 3
285 x 1
310 x 5 @ 7
205 x 5
205 x 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Stiff Leg, Conventional
505 x 7 @ 5
475 x 7
Leg Press - Squat Stance, Heels
455 x 7 @ 1
455 x 7
One Arm Lat Pulldown 160 3x8
Tricep Pushdown 82.5 3x12
Pec Flye Machine 160 3x12
5lb PR on Incline, had some reps left. Very good. 380 for a single on bench moved okay. Squat also moved great, a little slow but clean.
Summary
Got like 4 hours of sleep the last two nights. Felt a little stiff today but everything moved good. Overall a really good day considering the last couple nights, didn’t have high hopes lol.
Larsen Spoto Close Grip Bench - Paused
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 2
315 x 2 @ 4
315 x 2
305 x 2
305 x 2
Smith Machine Seated OHP - Comp Grip, Paused
300 x 5 @ 6
290 x 5
Swiss Bar Hammer Curl 190 3x8
Standing Lat Pulldown Curl 140 3x8
Neutral Grip Cable Row 350 3x8
Rear Delt Flye 250 3x10
Pec Flye 160 3x15
Leg Press 135 3x15
Im really loving the smith machine for seated overhead pressing. With 4x/wk bench frequency, any extra accessory I add quickly starts derailing my training. I always keep in a heavy shoulder movement to keep my shoulders healthy but was running into issues on what to do, seems like this accessory is the golden child.
Summary
On another note, I usually don’t talk about my training much anymore since it started becoming redundant mentioning it everyday but I think it’s been enough time to at least warrant a well deserved rant lol. The last 4-6 months have training have been the most productive I’ve ever had in my life. No injuries to really note, and the few “tweaks” I’ve had have cleared up within 1-2 days at most. I’ve been stringing together uninterrupted, high volume, high density sessions smoothly, far from the days of me doing insanely heavy rpe 10 top sets with high reps.
The results definitely do show with my ability to handle much more volume & frequency than I thought possible, as well as the session density/tonnage from day to day increasing. It’s been strange to stray from the land of PRs and use Work Capacity, Recovery from session to session, bar speed and volume as a metric for progression but it seems to be the most sustainable way, as a big boris sheiko, bulgarian weightlifting & pavel tsatsouline admirer, this type of training feels close to what aligns with me.
I used to doubt that the training works, but I firmly believe it does for me, it took awhile. I never envisioned I could hit a 1500 training total (under heavy fatigue from accessories) for the week at a low rpe, calm, and feel fine the day after. My goals have switched from trying to hit massive top ends to raising my baseline floor of strength up to my old peaks, and this approach has been making me approach training calm and calculated.
It feels painfully slow most days but I’m grateful and blessed to be able to perform each day to the best of my ability.
Pause Squat - SSB, Belt
135 x 5
135 x 5
225 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 2
345 x 2
375 x 1
405 x 1
430 x 5 @ 6
Incline Spoto Bench
135 x 5
185 x 4
225 x 3
255 x 2
275 x 5 @ 6
275 x 5
Paused 2" Deficit Deadlift - Conventional, Stiffbar, Belt, Raw
135 x 3
225 x 2
315 x 2
365 x 2
405 x 1
445 x 1
475 x 1
505 x 3 (Cluster Singles) @ 4,5,7
425 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
One Arm DB Skullcrusher 100s 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 260 3x10
Pec Flye Machine 175 3x12
My belt popped open coming up the 3rd rep for my SSB squat. Did like a 20 second isometric hold while my training partner tried to get it tight, when that didn’t work, had to rerack and quickly adjust. Despite the impromptu iso hold + rerack, it moved great. Another 20lb SSB PR with reps left.
Incline and deadlifts moved great, 505x3 would be a PR for the paused deficit variation with reps left, only difference for this block is using a belt to help save my back from all the other work I’m doing.
Thanks. It’s kinda wild that I’ve been on tnation for 4 years now. That’s most of my young adult life up to this point lol, I think it just started becoming a daily routine. I’ve tried dropping the forum several times but I end up coming back so I guess I’m here to stay.
Its feels strange to have a public journal of me growing into adulthood but I’m also kinda glad, I’m sure I’ll look back years and years down the road and enjoy reading through all the data and my thought process behind training. I found out I could get an archive of my old log that got deleted so I’ve been digging through that a lot lately
Conventional Deadlift - Raw, Belt, Kilo Plates
155 x 5
265 x 4
375 x 2
435 x 1
475 x 1
515 x 1
545 x 1
575 x 1
615 x 1 @ 5.5
465 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
455 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
440 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
Larsen Close Grip Bench - Paused, Kilo Plates
135 x 5
205 x 4
245 x 3
285 x 2
315 x 2 @ 5
315 x 2
315 x 2
315 x 2
Stiff Leg Deadlift - Belt , Straps
450 x 5 @ 6
450 x 5
Plate Loaded KB Swing
175 x 8 @ 5
150 x 8
Plate Loaded One Arm Row 4pps 3x8
Swiss Bar Hammer Curl 165 3x8
Standing One Arm Cable Curl 100 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 175 3x12
Pec Flye Machine 175 3x12
Leg Press 225 3x12
The best 615 has moved for me in my life. PR due to speed, rpe and control and on a competition setup. Took a very, very long time to find the structure and accessories that actually assist my deadlift and improve my technique. This is the best my form has looked and I can say I’m almost proud of it lol.
Thanks man. Paused Deficits & Stiff Legs have really been shoring up the lockout issue. Stiff Leg Belt Squat work really helps with teaching me proper timing & plate loaded swings really help with coordination, I never knew how shifty I was on my feet until I started getting decently heavy on them (which I still think is one of the best & most underrated excercises imo, I wish more gyms had an attachment). It all compounds over time
Squat moved great, fastest it’s moved ever so I suppose it is another RPE PR. Started squatting w/o the mirror (using a sandbag and rubber mat lmao), it feels weird but I’m slowly getting used to it.
385 moved good. I’d say I was good for 415 today, with no belt & wrist wraps, 1x/wk, and recovery & accumulated fatigue from the other 3 days of variations eating up my comp style bench performance, this is an extremely good position to be in. Matching my peaked bench numbers with these factors in mind is a HUGE deal for what my top end strength is at right now.
I’d say 600 to comp standard is close to happening, give it a couple more months to clean things up.
Conventional Deadlift - Raw, Belt, Kilo Plates
155 x 5
265 x 4
375 x 2
425 x 1
465 x 1
495 x 1
525 x 1
555 x 1
575 x 1
615 x 1
640 x 1 @ 6.5/7
465 x 3 (cluster singles)
440 x 3 (cluster singles)
Larsen Close Grip Bench - Paused, Raw, Kilo Plates
325 x 2 @ 4
325 x 2
325 x 2
325 x 2
Neutral Grip Cable Row 250 4x8
Plate Loaded Hamstring Curl 135 4x8
Ez Bar Hammer Curl 195 3x8
Standing One Arm Cable Curl 90 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 185 3x10
Pec Flye Machine 186 3x10
640 moved great for my top single with reps left, 615 moved better than last week. PRs with RPE and Bar Speed for both. This was also one of the few times I felt calm & level headed the entire ramp up to my top singles, I’ve been trying to recreate this feeling as of late.
Some dumbass broke the belt squat attachment, I was like HOW in the hell did they manage to do that. Genuinely pissed me off. The entire reason I go here on Tuesday is due to that machine but I’m going to the strongman gym next week if they don’t fix it, there’s no point being here otherwise. They have a belt squat there but it’s a pain in the ass to get up & takes like 5 years
I decided to replace it with stiff legs and use two 25lb plates to lift the bar up an inch
Conventional Deadlift - Raw , Belt
225 x 3
275 x 2
345 x 2
405 x 1
455 x 1
455 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
455 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
495 x 1
525 x 1
555 x 1
575 x 1 @ 4
Larsen Close Grip Bench - Paused, Raw
135 x 5
185 x 4
225 x 2
265 x 2
295 x 2
335 x 2 @ 4
335 x 2
335 x 2
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Stiff Leg, Conventional Stance
545 x 7 @ 4
525 x 7
Cable Pullthroughs
205 x 8 @ 5
205 x 8
Plate Loaded One Arm Row 6pps 2x8
Ez Bar Reverse Curl 165 2x8
Standing One Arm Cable Curl 50 2x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 195 2x10
Pec Flye Machine 185 2x12
Plate Loaded Hack Squat 135 2x12
Everything moved great for my week 1. Went to the commerical gym earlier since I got my tooth pull later today (procrastinated long enough lol). Had to do some accessory changes
Comp Squat - Belt, Raw, Sleeves, Heels
135 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
345 x 1
385 x 1
405 x 3
405 x 3
435 x 3
465 x 1
495 x 1 @ 6 (lmao)
Comp Bench - Pause, Raw
135 x 5
195 x 4
245 x 2
275 x 2
295 x 2
325 x 2
345 x 2
345 x 2
345 x 2
365 x 1
375 x 1 @ 4
Incline Spoto Bench - Comp Grip, Paused
225 x 2
265 x 2
275 x 5
305 x 5 @ 6.5
Pullups - Deadlift Width Grip
BW x 8 @ 1
BW + 35 x 5 @ 3
BW + 35 x 5
BW + 35 x 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Stiff Leg, Conventional
575 x 7 @ 5
545 x 7
One Leg Leg Press - Heels, Squat Stance
290 x 7 @ 4
290 x 7
Pec Flye Machine 135 3x12
Tricep One Arm pushdowns 90 2x8
Rough start on squats. Lever belt popped off due to missing screw as I was coming out the hole with 465, had to use a cheap prong belt, couldn’t get it close to tight enough for 495, might as well have done it beltless lol. Annoying
Bench moved great though, PR for the top singles since they were quick and fast. Tooth pull didn’t seem to affect anything thankfully.
Larsen Spoto Close Grip - Paused, Raw
135 x 5
185 x 4
235 x 3
265 x 3
295 x 2
315 x 2
345 x 2 @ 5
345 x 2
Smith Machine Seated OHP - Comp Grip, Paused
325 x 5 @ 8 (holy fuck)
295 x 5
Ez Bar Reverse Curl 185 3x8
Standing One Arm Cable Curl 35 3x8
Neutral Grip Cable Row 380 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 250 3x10
Pec Flye Machine 225 3x10
Leg Press 135 3x10
PR on Larsen + Spoto + Close Grip Bench since I have never touched this weight before (I think my best was 295x7 almost a year ago but can’t remember..). 345 for sets of 2 and 5 or so RIR basically matches my comp bench work with 345 at the moment which is a really good spot to be in right now
Been using chatgpt for abt 5 months for training and I’ve hit some massive PRs with it’s help haha. I’ve tried Grok, Gemini, copilot, and I still think chatgpt is the best. Not saying it’s for everyone but I love it.
