Small Mag Grip Ghetto Pulldown - 170 x 12, 170 x 11
Cambered Swiss Bar Chest Supported Row - 150 x 10, 150 x 9
Straight Bar Cable Pushdown - 80 x 12, 80 x 12
Cable Overhead Extensions (Tricep Strap) - 50 x 10, 50 x 8
Summary
Yeah, I skipped legs this time around. No, I will not be taking questions during this time. Honestly I was just not feeling it at all so I skipped a day and moved on to pull day. Gets me one day closer to deadlifts and then bench lol. Not a norm thatās going to start happening but this week it felt right tbh.
Really liked the chin up max, thatās my current non-paused 1RM so I think a new PR is there if I do regular weighted chins on a good day when Iām recovered. My rep work for vertical pulls feel a bit stagnant but Iām seeing subtle signs of the maxes going up, which is kind of the goal this spring so itās going well enough.
Absolutely massive pump on this one, Igniter remains undefeated lol.
Got a great deal on a Titan SSB thatās only been used three times. Brought it home and did a couple reps with just the bar before I left for work tonight, this thing is going to be awesome. Iām super stoked for Hatfield squats, SSB good mornings, and just generally taking the exercise selection to another level for my leg day compounds. Iāve heard people prefer using the SSB if they have shoulder or low back paināI have neither but I still like it better than a straight bar at the moment because it just feels better in the bottom. Super stoked to finally get one, letās see if my squat starts shooting up as fast as my deadlift has been lol.
We have one of these. (1 3/4 of these actually, but thatās a whole different story. Lol). My husband seems to love it. I have yet to use it. Not sure if I will. I hope you love it!!
Unilateral Standing Cable Calf Raises - 100 x 12, 100 x 12
Barbell Good Mornings - 145 x 12, 145 x 12
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curls (Facing Away) - 35 x 9, 35 x 9
Lying Unilateral Cable Shrugs - 110 x 16, 110 x 16
Summary
Great workout today, decided to try paused deadlifts to work on strengthening the bottom, and I felt like I could have pulled 10-20 more pounds but the effort was good regardless and i was reasonably happy with four plates. Started figuring out SSB squats, I think next time Iām going to probably try for 225-235 for my working sets and see where that gets me. Excited to start maxing out on SSB variations and see how that compares.
Hard to believe weāre halfway through nowā¦10 more weeks to go. The last five weeks were really busy for me and I was away for a few long weekends in addition to working nights for most of the last month and a half. Iām not planning on traveling at all during the next five weeks even if Iām still working graveyard shift with a bunch of overtime lol. Just trying to get the most results out of what I have to work with each week whether that be navigating time, recovery, or other factors. Quick thoughts for each of my current goals:
Weighted Pull Up: Pretty sure this has increased a bit, Iām just not sure how much at the moment. Doing a lot more chins, pause reps, and chains have helped with the top end, I thinkāto the point where my weighted chin PR is now only five pounds above my new paused weighted chin PR. So I expect at least a small increase in my weighted pull upā¦this has been slow but Iāve never gained strength on this lift fast, to be fair. My rep work still feels really difficult and stagnant, and Iām not quite sure why. I think there might be a bit of room to push a bit harder on my working sets these next ten weeks. I think all the variations Iām doing right now target the top end weakness pretty well so Iām probably going to keep rolling with that for now and keep letting that train keep rolling since itās working at the momentā¦essentially just keep doing what Iām doing, push it really hard, and be patient.
Squat: Iām still using ramps on pretty much everything, and thatās still been humbling. But itās for the greater good, even if my maxes donāt go up a ton this spring. The new SSB is still going to be amazing though, so Iām hoping working in some more movements (especially ones that are a bit more comfortable for me to max out on) and being able to rotate max effort variations kicks off some new gains in the last half of the challenge. Not a particularly great first half but Iām hoping (and working) for the last half to get some weight added to this max for sure as I can.
Deadlift: Still pleasantly surprised how well this is going, especially since my only hinge volume outside of ramping up to a heavy deadlift single on leg day consists of RDLās and good morning variations for volume. But itās working well right now, so Iām all in. I think after seeing whatās happened during the last 10 weeks I want to shoot for hitting a 500 conventional 1RM by the end of the challenge, which would be a nice 115 pound increase in only 20 weeks. Iām trending that direction right now, which is exciting. and I canāt wait to push it as hard as I can without being stupid or getting injured.
Iām currently still hanging out in the 168-170ish pounds zip code at the moment, not really gaining but not losing either. I think the biggest barriers to progress right now are recovery (specifically sleep) and giving myself time to hit all the movements I want to each day, especially on leg days. But weāre still moving forward bit by bit! Excited to reach the halfway mark, and I think things are going well overall.
Board Press (1 Board) +38 lbs. chains - 225 x 10, 225 x 8
Seated BTN Press - 80 x 11, 80 x 10
Weighted Dips +38 lbs. chains - 60 x 12, 60 x 10
Unilateral Cable Curls - 32.5 x 12, 32.5 x 11
Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 40 x 12, 40 x 12
Summary
Nice workout, Iām still trying to get back to ten reps on my second set of board press but maybe I was just having a really great day when I did that a couple times ago lol. I think Iām at least maintaining my bench right now even though Iām not maxing out, which is fine by me. Decided to throw chains on my dips as well and while it might have been slightly redundant it went well and overloading the top end of my presses so much in this workout left me feeling it afterword.
3/16/26 - Legs
Hatfield Squats - 385 x 1, 245 x 12, 245 x 12
SSB Calf Raises - 245 x 13, 245 x 13
SSB Good Mornings - 135 x 12, 135 x 12
Summary
Quick little workout in between 12 hour night shiftsā¦this one took about thirty minutes and still left me sore so you know it was intense! Iām not going to lie, I did use the SSB for everything today firstly because I could and secondly because it saved me a few minutes of setting up other variations so I call that a win all the way around lol. The good mornings felt really good and honestly my spinal erectors are the most sore thing right now a few hours later.
The highlight of the day was trying out Hatfield squats for the first time, I think itās probably my favorite bar squat variation ever and also the heaviest squat variation yet with a bar. I think I could work up to 425 for a solid four plates by the end of the T-ransformation? Not sure how feasible that is but the potential is there. Loved how it felt, it felt very comfortable to hit depth, and it was super grindable on the way up and I really felt like I could push it really hard. I think the biggest thing I like about it is itās so much easier to not only hit depth but also not end up with a hingey kind of squat pattern, so all of the tension is driven straight into the legs. I think Iām probably going to rotate this variation in a lot on max effort days this spring and see if it carries over well to barbell squats. So, current goals for lower body this spring thanks to a couple enlightening leg days recently are a 500 deadlift and a 425 Hatfield squat.
Weighted Chin Up +38 lbs. chains - 105 x 1, 60 x 6, 60 x 6
Seated Cable Rows (Straight Bar) - 180 x 11, 180 x 11
Incline Cable Pushdowns (Tricep Strap) - 65 x 11, 65 x 11
Summary
Quick little workout in between work shifts again, just finishing up a 66 hour week of mostly night shifts. Wish I could do more volume this week but thatās what Iāve been able to do so thatās what Iām going to push hard with. With that being said, as much as I wanted to do more, today went well and I added a little bit to everything so it was chill. The chins went better than I thought and my max went up for that more than I had anticipated, so that was awesome. Back at it with legs tomorrow, I will say my quads were looking great this morningā¦I think the fact that they were still sore last night from the Hatfield squats might have something to do with it lol. Considering how many hours Iām at work the past couple weeks, how terrible my sleep schedule and quality has been, and the fact that Iāve had to cut volume here and there, Iām not doing that bad and Iām still progressing which is still good. Just putting one foot forward at a time.
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curls (Facing Away) - 35 x 9, 35 x 9
Barbell Shrugs - 205 x 13, 205 x 13
Summary
Nice leg day, not as much quad volume thrown in there but it was a good session. Was really excited to hit 5 1/2 plates on hack deads, I was hoping to add some weight this time around and push it hard. Ramped up a plate at a time until I hit 495x1 then contemplated going for a ten pound PR or throwing on a pair of 25ās and seeing how it moved. I decided to go big andā¦failed the rep lol. It budged but I couldnāt get it to break off the ground. Rested for about three minutes and figured if it moved a bit and I really dug deep I might be able to get it up. My second try was a grind of a rep but I locked it out! If I can get it off the ground I can usually hit lockout.
Rest of the sesh was good. More SSB work since that feels amazing right now and just getting the work in.
3/20/26 - Push + Biceps
Larson Press - 205 x 12, 205 x 9
Seated BTN Press - 80 x 11, 80 x 10
Incline Dumbbell Flies - 25 x 8, 25 x 8
EZ Bar Spider Curls - 75 x 13, 75 x 13
Incline Dumbbell Curls - 30 x 11, 30 x 11
Summary
Iām a bit confused by this sessionās Larson pressā¦added two reps to my first set and lost a rep on my second? Life makes no sense sometimes lol. But I guess that means more total volume soā¦progression haha. Should be able to hit two sets of twelve on that soon if I bring up that second set to match the first.
Curls went pretty good today, the pump was pretty real from those.
I think either my sleep schedule or double leg days in my current split is adding enough fatigue to the point that Iām starting to notice it a bit on push days. I hate to make a judgement call on which one it is because Iām strongly favoring my sleep schedule being the culprit still to be fair (you know Iāve been loving these overnight shifts for the last month or two haha). Iām strongly considering moving back to asynchronous PPL instead of asynchronous PLPL at the end of the T-ransformation or whenever I decide I want to stop specializing on squats and deadsā¦maybe spend the summer maxing out on different things or on a wider variety of things, I donāt know. Or maybe milk the lower body gains through the summer and then switch back. Iāve got time to figure that out though, so Iām not super worried about it. And Iām still making plenty of progress at the moment on my main goals thanks to the double leg days, so Iām def sticking with that for now since itās working great. Itās just that when Iām done with this current phase of lower specialization Iām likely going to axe the second leg day in the interest of pushing hard on the next goal.
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curls (Facing Away) - 35 x 10, 35 x 9
Barbell Shrugs - 215 x 14, 215 x 14
Summary
Nice leg day today, not a huge pump and I wasnāt absolutely destroyed afterword but I got some nice work done. I didnāt feel like I went all out but it was some good quality work soā¦consistency. The pause at the bottom of my squats really slashes the weight down, but thereās a lot of room for improvement at that weak point of my squat.
Now that I think about it I did add weight and/or reps to everything except the squats (which were new tbf). Good progress.
Weighted Super Wide Pull Up - 90 x 1, 60 x 8, 60 x 7
Wide Grip Ghetto Lat Pulldown (Straight Bar) - 160 x 12, 160 x 12
Cable Inverted Row (Straight Bar) - 215 x 12, 215 x 12
Unilateral Rope Pushdown - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
SSB JM Press - 105 x 12, 105 x 12
Summary
Great workout, after using a a bunch of wide grip work my upper lats were sore afterword! Such a great feeling. Also tried SSB JM Press for the first time, it took a minute to get used to since it feels different from a normal JM Press but it felt really good on the second set. Definitely want to do it again soon and push it harder. Added a little bit to a lot of things during this one which I love to see.
3/27/26 - Legs
Sumo Deadlift - failed 500 x 1, failed 475 x 1, failed 455 x 1
Zercher Squats - 155 x 12, 155 x 12
Unilateral Standing Cable Calf Raises - 105 x 12, 105 x 12
Cable Belt Squats - 135 x 12, 135 x 12
Reverse SSB Good Mornings - 115 x 6, 115 x 8
Summary
Ok kind of day, I really wanted a deadlift PR though lol. I figured with the recent improvement in my conventional dead I could push and get a 500 sumo but it just didnāt happen today. Tried to back it down but I just couldnāt do it and I was a bit burned out, plus I donāt like to do more than three attempts for a 1RM, so I let it slide after I failed all three attemptsā¦was not happy about that but so be it lol. I donāt know why my deads were off today, I got more sleep than my usual the past few deadlift days and I felt really good before the workout so I donāt know what the deal is. But we keep chipping away at it! 500 wonāt happen without some more effort I suppose.
I also tried reverse SSb good mornings, the camber of the bar makes the leverages harder which was awesome. Wasnāt expecting it to feel quite like it did, and with the heavy deadlift attempts earlier I think I could have done better but it was good for the first time trying it and I was happy with how it went.
[Been busy with taxes and a few other things the past few days, isnāt this time of year fun?? XD]
Solid lift, I did lose a couple reps off the second set of benchā¦again. I still have no idea why that trend is so consistent across variations lol. Nothing really more to document here to be honest. Iām hoping that sometime in the next 2-4 weeks I can get off most of my graveyard shifts each week as a couple more new hires finish their initial training. I try not to complain and I like getting paid overtime but being at work so much over the past year is getting old tbhā¦but the time and a half is sweet haha.
(But Iām saying this at the beginning of my post and not the end so itās not blatant plagiarism, just a little borrowing hehe. )
Had a bit more time today so I took full advantage and did a full leg workout, it felt good since Iāve been limiting my number of exercises on legs recently due to time constraints and fatigue. But today I felt pretty great and sent it, was definitely feeling it in the legs after this one!
PRād in everything which was awesome, a new thing I tried today is starting to work on Nordic curls, I want to eventually work up to doing them unassisted if possible. To regress them I found that I can run a band peg through the front upright of my cable tower to brace my feet and then hold on to a rope or tricep strap near my head, then curl away. The weight listed is the amount of weight Iām using to assist, so the goal is to get that to zero in the future. Today was moreso getting the setup and basic form right and getting a feel for it. I usually donāt go at full intensity the first time I try anything new, and this was no exception. I did play around with doing negatives when I was primarily calisthenics-based (so maybe around 2021) but honestly it was more of a side quest and as I moved more into weighted calisthenics during the next couple years I never really did anything more. Now I want to add another exercise to my library since I donāt have many that isolated hamstrings right now with my current setup, and Nordic curls are a fantastic movement so itās a no brainer for me to start working on it regularly. Weāll see where that takes me but in a year I think itās going to massively improve my hamstrings so thatās exciting and I know I have a lot of potential there.
Also threw in Hatfield squats today, probably my favorite after belt squats but after a certain point the lever-based belt squat setup becomes less practical to load so much weight on unless I do lower weight and higher reps, and the cable belt squat is amazing but thatās something I donāt do a lot of weight on yet and the cable puts so much tension on my legs throughout the whole movement that I honestly prefer to do that as a secondary quad/squat movement instead to really fry my legs with only three plates, a more out of less weight mentality without being redundant to the main squat. (And my cable tower has a weight limit of 250 pounds so Iām fine slowly working my way up on these and making it a squeezy/more out of less weight secondary variation.) Anyway, that aside Hatfields are awesome and they feel so good. Getting really close to a four plate (425) Hatfield squat and I think I will hit it next time I max out, no problem. I think I can probably rotate in max effort Hatfield variations on my squat-focused leg days for a while, maybe even for a month or two if I feel like it. Thereās the regular Hatfield squat, paused, with chains, on a box, reversing the SSB and putting it upside down to change the camber and leverages to make it harder, etc.āIāve got enough variations to keep drilling Hatfields for a while if I wantā¦and I kind of want to lol. I donāt want to make it Hatfields exclusively this spring but Iām probably going to do a lot of them in the next month or two, especially on the squat-focused leg day so I can keep maxing out on them regularly.
Anyway. Had a productive rest of the day, today is my work Friday so Iām chilling at work for a little bit longer and then I get to have my day off for the week. A Strawbango Ghost is mostly finished (S tier flavor that I donāt see too often) and I believe there will be ice cream in my near future after work. Also watching the Artemis launch today was epic so that makes me happy as well. Good day.
Ghetto Lat Pulldown (Straight Bar) +38 lbs. chains - 135 x 15, 135 x 13
Small Mag Grip Cable Inverted Row - 200 12, 200 x 12
Unilateral Cable Pushdowns - 35 x 11, 35 x 11
EZ Bar Overhead Extensions - 85 x 10, 85 10
Summary
Great day, I wanted to see where my standard pull up is at. Last time I did them was 110x1 @168 bodyweight on Christmas Eve, which you can see on video at the beginning of this challenge. My lifetime PR was set last August, with a 125x1 @164 BW. Today I not only hit the three plate club on weighted pull ups, but my 135x1 today plus my 168 BW means I pulled 300 pounds total, which is a goal Iāve been chasing for probably about five years now (and Iām four pounds heavier than I was in August when I set my last PR!) This was honestly my original vertical pull goal for the T-ransformation challenge, so itās cool to finally hit something along the way this spring that Iāve been working on for such a long time. Pretty awesome, I think for the rest Iāll keep pushing my maxes and seeing where it goes. Would love to hit 150 for a single this year if possible, or even more if I decide to keep focusing on it! Not sure what I want to do after the challenge tbh but if I want to keep pushing vertical pulls I know I can do even more if Iām patient. For the next couple months, overloading the top end on vertical pulls will be a priority since thatās clearly been working very well if Iām patient and keep inching my way up five and ten pounds at a time on my maxes.
Anyway. Rest of the workout was good, solid results from some solid effort. I underestimated my weight for the ghetto pulldowns but after the low reps on pull ups the higher reps and the burn of the top end load with the chains really did a great number on my back, so Iām not mad with the pump and the soreness I had after lol. Really pushed my isolations too, those were smoked after as well. Good workout to take into the long weekend, Iāll be off for a few days because of work and some plans over the holiday weekend (family time is super important!).
Conventional Deadlift - 405 x 1, [failed 475 x 1, 465 x 1]
Hatfield Squats - 275 x 10, 275 x 10
SSB Calf Raises - 280 x 13, 280 x 13
Reverse SSB Good Mornings - 115 x 8, 115 x 8
Assisted Nordic Curl - 60 x 5, 60 x 4
Summary
Took a bit more time off than I wanted with the long weekend and some more work stuff, so weāll call it a deload of sorts. Still feeling a little bit tired most of the time since 2/3 of my work shifts are either graveyard or overnight 12s. Still putting in work and seeing progress bit by bit, which is the main thing.
Was able to get my top deadlift single just off the floor and no higher. As upset as I was about failing that one (especially with how 455x1 moved last time), I think this is going to pay off more in the long run since this tells me my weak spot is still right off the floor. Hence, I need to build that up more so Iām going to rotate in deficit, pause, and maybe some more sumo deadlift to emphasize the bottom part of the rep. That, paying attention to recovery as much as possible, and some good hard work and patience should do wonders to nudge that back up again.
Did Hatfield squats again for volume, I probably could have squeezed out a couple more reps on those sets but I had just finished deadlifts so I held back a little bit to not beat myself up unnecessarily. Rest of the workout was good, nothing else super fancy and it felt good to hit some iron again. Still pushing hard for my remaining challenge goals in the next month and a half, namely four plate squat and five plate deadlift (well, 500 but yeah lol). Need 80 pounds up from the start to hit squat and I think I still need to make up at least half of that, and then deads I still need another 45 pounds. Doable but itās going to be a grind.
4/9/26 - Push + Biceps
Sling Shot Bench Press - 245 x 10, 245 x 9
Seated BTN Press - 80 x 11, 80 x 11
Weighted Dips +19 lbs. chains - 75 x 11, 75 x 11
EZ Bar Curls - 85 x 12, 85 x 12
Dumbbell Concentration Curls - 35 x 8, 35 x 7
Unilateral Rope Cable Curls - 30 x 10, 30 x 10
Summary
Great one, I was happy to add a rep to the first set of bench from last time, it felt good. Also added a rep on BTN press (finally) and some good progress on isolations as well. The pump was real for this one. Also saw a photo memory and itās already been two years now since I upgraded the home gym setup and bought my rack, bench, bar, plates, and started getting into lifting from my calisthenics/weighted calisthenics background. I can still do muscle ups and hold a front lever for maybe 4 seconds despite not training it consistently since then, and now my legs and arms are looking decent after not being able to really train them hard beforehand. Kind of fun to think about that and also plot out where I would like to be a couple years from now too.
Paused Hatfield Squats - 425 x 1, 245 x 12, 245 x 12
SSB Calf Raises - 280 x 13, 280 x 13
Hatfield Good Mornings - 155 x 12, 155 x 12
Assisted Nordic Curls - 60 x 5, 60 x 4
Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs - 225 x 12, 225 x 12
Summary
Great workout, keeping it basic and effective and sticking with whatās working for me right nowā¦leg days are not super complicated for me at the moment lol.
Am I going completely overboard on Hatfield variations? Eh maybe lol. Ramping up to the top single felt really good and after 1, 2, and 3 plates all felt really good I sent a full 4 plate paused Hatfield out and it went great. Legs were feeling good and I felt ready for it. Went a bit conservative with the weight on the backdown sets and I thought it was about right, it was somewhat challenging but not annihilating for my legs after that top single. Still doing heel elevation for all squats right now including Hatfields and my form is so much better for it, thatās been such a game changer recently and Iāve been doing all of my calf work with toes elevated to get more range of motion as well, and calves have been looking all right recently. Maybe I should have done a leg T-ransformation instead this year and done a Lower-Lower-Upper-Lower split each week.
I also tried Hatfield Good Mornings, it felt good and I think this is going to be a variation I can safely overload a bit on compared to other variations, which is exciting. Felt like a door with all that hingingā¦Iām just binging on hinging and thatās helping my deadlift so whoop whoop. XD
Iām also hoping my work schedule goes back to mostly afternoon/evening instead of graveyard shift, maybe sometime in the next few weeks, which would be awesome. Also the weather here has been nice and sunny and warm recently, which also makes me happy. Good stuff all around.
@BethB sometimes I think of things at night that make me smile, glad you got a kick out of it too lol.
4/13/26 - Back + Triceps
Paused Weighted Chin Ups - 135 x 1, 80 x 9, 80 x 8
Small Mag Grip Ghetto Lat Pulldowns - 170 x 12, 170 x 12
Wide Mag Grip Cable Inverted Rows - 200 x 12, 200 x 12
Cable Pushdown (Tricep Strap) - 60 x 12, 60 x 12
Cable Overhead Extensions (Rope Attachment) - 40 x 11, 40 x 11
Summary
Nice warm day with a throwback World Gym stringer and late 90s/early 00s music on blastā¦the vibes were immaculate and I wished I could have thrown in more exercises today lol. Would have liked a bit more weight on my pull ups and my second set was a bit more loose on form than I would have preferred, but adding the pause takes it to another level.
I love using my Mag grips but Iāve recently started to have a bit more difficulty gripping them for the whole set at the weights Iām doing, especially the small one. Might progress a bit more slowly on these and try to up the amount of squeeze I can get from my hands to help this. I know chalk would probably do the trick but I hate how messy it is so Iāll probably just use it as an opportunity to indirectly work my grip strength lol.
On another happy note, isolations were really good todayā¦I love doing pushdowns and extensions with the tricep strap, it just feels so good. Probably my favorite attachment to use. Overall a really good day.
Honestly I was just not feeling it at all so I skipped a day and moved on to pull day. Gets me one day closer to deadlifts and then bench lol. Not a norm thatās going to start happening but this week it felt right tbh.
The last five weeks were really busy for me and I was away for a few long weekends in addition to working nights for most of the last month and a half. Iām not planning on traveling at all during the next five weeks even if Iām still working graveyard shift with a bunch of overtime lol. Just trying to get the most results out of what I have to work with each week whether that be navigating time, recovery, or other factors. Quick thoughts for each of my current goals:
