Warm-up
BPAs - 2x red x 4 x 20
Curl, lateral, extensions, OHP - 8lbs x 15
Already fatigued from warming up! Is this how the entire workouts gonna go…???
Wide neutral EZ bar rows / DB OHP
85 x 10 / 25 x 10
105 x 6 / 35 x 5
125 x 3 / 45 x 2
135 x 10 / 55 x 6
135 x 7 / 55 x 6
115 x 14 / 55 x 8
115 x 10
Great combo, shoulders are feeling good, increased OHP reps at weight, glad I found this exercise pair.
Chest supported rear delt flyes / pushups w handles & feet elevated / spider curls
18 x 10 / 30 x 13 / 25 x 12
18 x 10 / 30 x 13 / 25 x 12
18 x 11 / 30 x 14 / 25 x 12
This triple set smoked me. I was tired from the week of hard yard work and deadlift maxing, and it finally caught up to me here. The 90* temperature when lifting was probably a factor too. All told this was a good cap to the week’s exercises.
Sore City today. My legs don’t wanna walk, much less exert the force necessary to stand up! Post deadlift max DOMS (and 20 other sets of leg exercises) is real.
Single leg plate curls w/ chain
17.5 x 15
17.5 x 15
Front squats, clean from ground 1st rep
65 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 3
135 x 5
I’ve been wanting to try light squats again and also pair front squats wih deadlifts. Both went well. I’m going to keep them super light, work up using straight sets, and keep cleaning the bar from the ground to slowly increase that lift too. I intend for my other leg day to have unilateral lifts, Bulgarians and step-ups.
Deficit deadlifts
165 x 3
195 x 3
225 x 3
250 x 3
275 x 8
275 x 5
275 x 5
275 x 8 deficit deads were way more taxing than conventional 375 x 1!
Canine carries
Dog x 36 yards
Dog x 36 yards
I have an 85-pound, year-old puppy that loves to be carried. So he’s now exercise equipment, helping me warm up for weighted carries.
Farmer walks, weight is per dumbbell
73 x 36 yards
83 x 36 yards
93 x 36 yards
I’ve been meaning to do these again. I was slightly surprised to find the 93 pounders not super difficult.
DB curls / single leg calf raises
30 x 15 / 25 x 15
30 x 15 / 25 x 15
The body puts out more tesosterone after working legs, right? Well, I’ll do what others have and curl on leg day. Here come the hyoooge gunz. We hope.
Warm-up
BPA - 4 x 2x red bands x 20 supersetted w
8lbs x 15 x curl, lateral, tri ext, OHP
Towel pullups
bw x 5
bw x 5
bw x 4
bw x 4
Flat bench DB press
53 x 10
63 x 8
73 x 3
83 x 10
83 x 6
73 x 10
Same heavy sets reps as last time. Temp was 103* today, I was working outside, and I’ve not slept much the last two nights. If I don’t get more reps next time, I’m going to change the rep scheme.
EZ bar rows, semi-supinated grip
170 x 8
170 x 8
170 x 9
140 x 12
Dropped a pullup set and added the back off rows. Did one more rep each set than last session, even tho my back was still tired from deadlifts.
Incline pec flyes
25 x 10
30 x 15
30 x 15
To increase my DB press strength, I need more pec exercise. Hopefully, this will help.
Rear delt flyes, chest supported
18 x 11
18 x 11
18 x 12
Standing triceps DB extensions
65 x 43 total
Today was difficult. Heat and a draining week conspired against an inspired session. All the same, my pulling exercises have moved up, and it felt good to dump some stress through the iron and my pores.
My phone’s on the fritz, but I’d like to see it too This puppy is unique, in that he loves it when I carry him. He demands at least one sit-on- lap session a day and had a big smile and looks perfectly content whenever I pick him up and carry him.
Lengthy, slow walk today. I started and it felt so good, I kept going. It was a nice way to end the week and discover my hams and glutres are still sore from my last leg day.
Warm-up
BPA - 4 x 2x red x 20 supersetted w/
Laterals, tri ext, OHP, curls 8 lbs x 15
DB OHP
25 x 8
35 x 5
45 x 3
55 x 7
55 x 7
55 x 8
43 x 12
Added two reps to the working sets. Slow, steady gains.
Wide neutral rows w/ EZ bar
85 x 8
105 x 5
125 x 2
140 x 6
140 x 6
140 x 7
110 x 14
No energy for higher rep sets, so I broke it into bite-sized pieces.
Pushups, handles + feet elevated
35 x 12
35 x 12
35 x 11
bw x 20
I felt the pecs working; last week’s flyes seem to have helped.
EZ bar curls / rear delt flyes (no support)
85 x 8 / 18 x 15
85 x 8 / 18 x 12
85 x 5 / 18 x 14
Good workout. I added five pounds to the pushups, a couple more reps of OHP, and tried lower reps for the wide rows. This is my current favorite upper body workout.
Single leg glute bridges
bw x 8 (5-second pause at top)
bw x 15 (pushing foot on step)
Bulgarian Split Squats
bw x 8
15 x 8
35 x 8
These sucked. But I did a few sets.
Squats (various)
115 x 3 (front)
125 x 3 (front)
135 x 3 (front)
145 x 3 (front)
155 x 3 (back)
165 x 3 (back)
175 x 3 (back)
185 x 3 (back)
This is the most I’ve squatted since janking my knee. It felt good, so I ended here.
RDLs
135 x 6
155 x 6
175 x 6
195 x 6
205 x 6
Because…why not? Felt pretty good.
Warm-up
Teaching my nephew to rake, shovel, and wheelbarrow
Flat DB bench
53 x 10
73 x 8
78 x 3
83 x 7
83 x 7
83 x 6
73 x 10
The single, high-rep set wasn’t working super great, so I’m doing 3 x 6-10. The total rep amount with 83 pounds was 20 this week, an increase of 4; there’s more than one way to improve.
EZ bar rows / incline pec flyes
130 x 6 / 30 x 15
150 x 4 / 30 x 15
170 x 10
170 x 10
170 x 9
140 x 14
The pec flyes were pinching my shoulders, so I capped them at 2 sets. The rows keep improving.
Single arm DB triceps extensions
30 x 15
30 x 11
30 x 7
I noticed a triceps strength discrepancy during the DB bench so will do a unilateral exercise for a bit. Single arm extensions are definitely more difficult than double!
Rear flyes, chest supported / spider curls
18 x 12 / 30 x 10
18 x 12 / 30 x 10
18 x 14
Good, basic upper body workout. Looking forward to my next leg day. My quads were sore from Tuesday’s squats and step-ups with zero knee pain, so I’m finally hitting on a good balance of warm-up and working sets and therapy and strength movements.
Zero energy this week so far. I emptied my work shed on Sunday, which entailed several wheelbarrow trips and carrying two 7-foot-long wooden work tables. No dolley? No problem I realized this is the last week of the month and the point at which I normally need a deload.
I’m not sure if I’m going totally off-program for the week, or if I’ll decreases weight but maintain volume. My problems with deloading have been 1) getting derailed from a program that was working well and 2) losing strength at stubborn lifts like DB OHP.
I haven’t mastered the deload either. It seems like I rarely run the same program twice in a row so I don’t need to deload and begin again. I just change everything.
It’s August, baby! After six days, I’d had enough of the decomposition, er, deloading. I also realized I’m not going to make the progress I want doing each lift once every nine days. Therefore, I’m going to force myself to lift four days a week.
I’ll stay with the upper-lower split, focusing on DB bench and DB OHP for the upper days (plus counterbalance lifts, accessories, etc.) and deficit deadlifts and some kind of squats, even Bulgarians qualify, for my leg days. The lower body days will likely have just a couple-few lifts, because I plan to finoah with cardio, whether it be walking, running, rucking, or step-ups (and downs) in my backyard. With that said, let the logging commence!
Warm-up
BPAs - 2x red x 4 x 20 supersetted w/
8lbs x 15 x curls/laterals/triceps ext.
Strict DB OHP
25 x 10
38 x 5
48 x 3
58 x 6
58 x 6
58 x 8
45 x 13
Nudged the weights up. Felt good. Progress.
EZ bar wide neutral rows
85 x 10
105 x 5
125 x 3
140 x 7
140 x 7
125 x 10
115 x 14
Weight increases come slow as molasses in January with this exercise. I feel a better MMC with lighter weight, so I finished with two light sets.
Push-ups, handles + feet elevated / chest supported rear delt flyes
35 x 14 / 18 x 14
35 x 15 / 18 x 13
35 x 15 / 18 x 14
bw x 23
EZ bar curls / ab wheel rollouts
85 x 6 / knees x 5
85 x 6 / knees x 5
85 x 8 / knees x 5
30 x 12 (DBs) / knees x 5
Finally started working the (fl)abs again. Good sesh, glad I’m increasing lifting days.
Warm-up
15lbs x 6 each x overhead squats, reverse lunges, side lunges, thrusters
Front squats
65 x 5
95 x 3
115 x 3
130 x 3
145 x 3
160 x 3
Back squats
175 x 3
190 x 3
205 x 3
155 x 8
Top set was 15 pounds heavier than last squat workout. Knee felt almost twingy after the top set, so I dropped the final heavy set and did the burnout - weight and self control progress.
Step-ups - per leg, alternating
bw x 25
50 x 10
bw x 20
50 x 8
bw x 15
50 x 7
85 reps per leg, 8:39 total time. This was both an accessory lift and the day’s conditioning work. I only paused to pick up or set down dumbbells, so it was like an at-home stepmill but with an eccentric portion on each rep.
I thought I wanted to lift four times per week, doing the squat, OHP, deficit deadlifts, and DB bench as the main lifts, following each with its counter-balance lift, and finally accessories. A solid, basic program.
But while reading @Frank_C’s log, @isdatnutty posted a five-day split that’s beautiful in its simplicity. Something about the thought of doing the counter lift each day was grating on my subconscious; the prospect of following bench with rows or squats with RDLs was draining me. Nutty’s split separates upper body pushing and pulling days, but adds a day of calisthenics and single-joint exercises, thus giving some (important mirror) muscles a second weekly session.
The kicker for me is I’m already trying to transition from three to four lifting days. I used to lift five times each week, condition three times, and work 12-hour days. That was me when my body worked right. Now, as I’ve talked about here, I fight to exercise a few times each week. Hence, my proposal -
I’m gonna try Nutty’s five-day split this week, simply because it relaxes something in me and renews my training zeal. If the week doesn’t go super great, I’ll try the four lifting days next week. The new log title reflects my current goal of increasing my strength and conditioning; form may or may not follow function I’m looking for a recoverable program that helps me attain said goal.
Why can’t you just do the 5 day split but do 4 days in a week and the 5 session at the start of the next week. Just keep going, it means you won’t do the same workout every same day but it doesn’t matter a whole lot.
This puppy is unique, in that he loves it when I carry him. He demands at least one sit-on- lap session a day and had a big smile and looks perfectly content whenever I pick him up and carry him.
!!