Sunday
15 min stationary bike intervals. Then hours of walkin around the mall Christmas shopping.
Starting to get a bit more of a belly than I’m happy with. I know eating above maintenance I’m going to lose my LTDs and get softer, but I’m not trying to let it get out of control. Currently I’m at 240 p 90 f 320 c. Probably going to drop 40g c and see how it goes.
Monday
Squat
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x5
325x5
Bench
140x5
170x5
205x5
240x5
275x4
T bar row
45x5
60x5
90x5
115x5
115x5
Good morning
3x15
Reverse crunch
3x15
Squats felt awesome so I was stoked for a good full workout. Then bench felt terrible. Really having trouble getting past 275x4. Back home for the holidays so good to see some old familiar faces at the gym.
Wednesday
Squats
165x5
205x5
245x5
245x5
Press
95x5
115x5
130x5
150x5
Deadlift
215x5
250x5
300x5
340x5
Chins
3x9
Leg raise
3x15
Three years ago on Christmas Eve I spent most of the day in the ER due to a lifting injury. I was feeling a bad luck vibe this morning, but made it out unscathed today.
Thursday
15 min stationary bike sprints
Friday
Squats
165x5
205x5
245x5
285x5
335x3
245x8
Bench
135x5
160x5
190x5
225x5
260x3
190x8
T bar row
25x5
45x5
70x5
90x5
115x3
70x8
Dips
3x8
Curl ss w/ DB oh ext
3x8
Since bench felt pretty weak on Monday I backed up a good bit and went lighter today. Was reading on some other thread about strength coming in peaks and valleys. Figure I’m in a valley right now and backing off a bit will help me ride to the peak.
Monday
Got some unexpected conditioning in today when I lost my car at the airport. Not only did I not remember what floor I parked on, I didn’t even remember what lot I was in. Walked up 2 7 story parking structures and did the half mile walk between the two with 60lbs of luggage… that sucked - mostly due to my anger at my own stupidity. I’ll soon look back and laugh, but still not ready for that yet.
Later in the day -
Squats
170x5
210x5
250x5
295x5
335x5
Bench
135x5
165x5
195x5
230x5
260x5
Chest supported row
25x5
55x5
90x5
115x5
135x5
Reverse hypers
3x12
Ab wheel
3x15
Wights felt fine. A little tighter than usual, but that’s probably because I was on a plane for 6 hours.
Wednesday
Squats
170x5
210x5
250x5
250x5
Press
95x5
115x5
135x5
150x5
Deads
215x5
250x5
300x5
340x5
Chins
9,9,10
Rear delt fly
3x12
Friday
Squats
170x5
210x5
250x5
295x5
345x2
250x8
Bench
135x5
165x5
190x5
230x5
265x3
190x8
Row
105x5
135x5
160x5
195x5
220x3
160x8
Dips
3x10
Curls ss w/ DB OH ext
3x8
No gas in the tank during squats. 335x5 on Monday wasn’t crazy difficult, but couldn’t even get 345x3 today.
Didn’t do any sprint work this week like I usually do, maybe that’s been helping me with some active recovery.
Noticed I’ve been letting my wrist bend back while benching. Focused on keeping it tighter and felt stronger.
Sunday -
Did about an hour of bouldering in the morning and then got outside for a 7 mile hike. It was my second time climbing and it was pretty hard. I’d guess technique has a ton to do with it and I don’t know what the hell i’m doing. Also seems like it takes a different kind of strength - doesn’t matter how many pull ups you can do if your fingers can’t hold on.
Monday -
Squats
160x5
200x5
240x5
280x5
320x5
Bench
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
265x5
Row
110x5
135x5
160x6
190x5
215x5
Reverse Hyper
3x12
Ab Wheel
3x15
About 2 hours before lifting I had laser tattoo removal on my upper back, right where the bar sits for squat. So that didn’t feel all that good, but all lifts felt strong and solid today. Focusing on not breaking my wrists too much has really helped bench feel smoother.
As for the tattoo, I wasn’t getting anything embarrassing removed, like a chick’s name or anything. It’s just an old piece that wasn’t really quality work and I’m making room for a new better piece.
Tuesday
15 min stationary bike intervals
exploring the idea of other indoor sprint/interval type work. i hate sitting on that bike seat, my gooch just isn’t tough enough.
Wednesday
Squats
160x5
200x5
240x5
240x5
Press
100x5
120x5
140x5
160x3
Deadlift
220x5
265x5
310x5
355x5
Chins
10,10,9
Rear delt fly
3x12
Deads have been feeling great lately up until this work out. It’s hard to describe, but the weight didn’t feel particularly heavy, but the pressure on my lower back was huge. On last rep it felt like I was a hair away from injury.
Press stalled again and its about as strong as i’ve ever been able to get on this lift, which is to say, not very strong at all. After 13 r 14 weeks I’m about ready to move off of this 5x5 progression. going to start working in some higher rep ranges. I’m leaning towards one of the programs paul carter posted on this site recently. Will see if i have any better success there.
Friday
Squat
165x5
200x5
240x5
280x5
325x3
240x8
Bench
135x5
165x5
200x5
230x5
275x3
200x8
Row
110x5
140x5
165x5
195x5
225x3
165x8
Dips
3x10
Curls and tri ext
3x8
Empty gym, fun workout.
Monday
Bench
95x10
195x5
210x4
245x3
260x2
275x1
245x9
245x4
Incline bench - 350 method
95x27,17,6
T bar row
90x8,8,12,12
Pulldown -350
80x25,15,10
Curl - 350
50x23,16,11
Starting something new. Picked this up from an article on this site. It’s going to take a little bit to dial in on the right weights. Besides that it was a fun workout.
For some reason curls crush me sometimes, just like doing a hard squat set. I hear people talk about throwing easy sets of arms in at end of workout or between other lifts. To me that wouldn’t be all that easy.
Tuesday
15 min bike sprints
Wednesday
Squat
110x10
225x5
240x4
280x3
295x2
315x1
260x12
260x6
Deadlift
225x5
250x5
280x5
305x5
Split squat
95x5x10
Eery quiet in the gym tonight. No music, barely any weights banging, no energy. That kind of stuff helps me get in the flow of a workout. I’ve always planned on having a home gym set up when I move out of the city; I hope I don’t feel this effect with a home set up.
Friday
Press
50x10
100x5
110x4
125x3
135x2
145x1
125x12
125x3
Dips - 350 method
Bw x 24,17,9
T bar row - 350
55 x 23,16,11
Chins
Bw x 7,7,6,5,5
DB curls
30 x 3 x 10
First week of new program always got me feeling crazy sore. Bi’s this week were feeling it especially. Interesting that this program has bi isolation after compound work but no tri or delt isolation. I’m a firm believer that I’m not a special snowflake, so will do program as written and see how it goes.
Sunday
Squats
120x10
235x5
250x4
290x3
305x2
325x1
270x12
270x6
Leg press - 350 method
2 plates x 28,15,7
Lunge
4x10 20lb dumbbell
Started way too light on leg press. Squats were really tough and I don’t often do leg press so I wasn’t quite sure where I should start.
Tuesday
Bench
95x10
195x5
210x4
245x3
260x2
275x1
245x9
245x3
Incline bench - 350 method
115x23,17,10
Machine row
180x8,8,12,12
Lat pulldown -350
100x22,16,12
Curl -350
55x22x15x13
Thursday -
Squats
135x10
245x5
260x4
300x3
315x2
335x1
280x12
280x6
RDL
145x4x10
Split squat
105x5x10
Long day at work, so i was on autopilot mode when i got to the gym - accidentally filled up my plazma with hot water. not as refreshing as usual…
The over warm-up has been great. Going up to a single at about 85% makes the high rep set feel very light.
Sunday
Press
50x10
100x5
110x4
125x3
135x2
145x1
125x12
125x4 60 sec rest
Weighted Dips- 350 method
25 x 48 total reps
T Bar Row - 350 method
60 x 50 total reps
Chins
5x5
Curls
3x10
Good intensity today, session was hard. I didn’t have much left in the tank for chins after higher rep rows.
I read something, I think it was on here, that got me thinking - it was along the lines of “if you can text in between sets you aren’t working hard enough”. While I generally agree that you should keep texting out of the gym, i think this sentiment might be a bit misleading to beginners.
I spun my wheels for a long time thinking that every work out hand to be balls to the wall. I did a million sets of everything to feel like i worked hard by the end of the workout. In reality I just wasn’t strong enough for a proper workout to really kick my ass. For example, benching 95x10 may be a beginners max, but its not as taxing on the body as a more experienced lifter benching 275x10, even if that lifter can do 315x10.
I am by no means suggesting I am strong, but I am now getting to the point where I can train with enough intensity that there is no way I am thinking about texting in between a set.
Tuesday
Squats
135x10
255x5
270x4
310x3
325x2
345x1
290x12
290x6 60 sec rest
Leg press - 350 method
2.5 plates x 3 x 50 total reps
Lunges
25x4x10
Lifts felt great today. I’ve been walking a little more than usual this week because my car is in the shop. Maybe helped my legs feel looser.
Besides the little bit of extra walking, I’ve been slacking on conditioning the last couple weeks. Gotta fix that. For me I think it’s more important to keep consistent with conditioning when trying to grow. When I’m trying to get a bit leaner I feel like diet is a more effective tool and I can be less consistent with conditioning and still see results.