6/10/25 - Push/Biceps
Larson Press + 38 lbs. chains - 245 x 1, 195 x 9, 195 x 8
Weighted Dip - 115 x 8, 115 x 6
EZ Bar Curl - 75 x 11, 75 x 11
Bayesian Curl - 27.5 x 11, 27.5 x 10
Summary
Had to drop my planned BTN Press for today due to a big time crunch, but other than that I was really happy with how this workout turned out. I added 10 pounds and kept the same reps on my backdowns for the Larson Press with chains and added 20 pounds to the top single, which totals a 283 pound lockout with no leg drive. Iāve seen my numbers trending this way recently in a few of these lifts that subtly suggest to me that my new flat bench max could very well be 285-295ish in the near future, which would be great. I think starting to focus on a lot of these midpoint and lockout-dominant bench variations is starting to help correct that weakness. At this rate if this progress keeps holding steady (progress is never linear, to be fair, but still) then Iām wondering if itās too much to hope for 315 by the end of July? Who knows, Iām patient. 
3 Likes
6/19/25 - Pull/Triceps
Weighted Super Wide Pull Ups - 60 x 6, 60 x 6
Weighted BTN Pull Ups - 45 x 6
Small Mag Grip Ghetto Pulldown - 160 x 11, 160 x 11
One Arm Cable Inverted Row - 85 x 9, 85 x 9
Incline One Arm Pushdown - 32.5 x12, 32.5 x 12
EZ Bar Overhead Extensions - 65 x 10, 65 x 10
3 Likes
6/24/25 - Legs
Trap Bar Deadlift - 365 x 1
Belt Squats - 320 x 13, 320 x 15
Unilateral Belt Calf Raises - 105 x 13, 105 x 13
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squat - 75 x 10, 75 x 10
Unilateral Cable Hamstring Curls - 60 x 11, 60 x 10
One Arm Cable Pushdown - 30 x 12, 30 x 12
Summary
Started off this workout by hitting up a local gym for the trap bar deadlift and ramped up to 365 for a top single, which I was decently happy with considering I never deadlift. Then I drove home (~10 minutes or so) and did the rest of the workout, which I thought went pretty well.
7/2/25 - Chest/Biceps
Reverse Grip Bench Press - 275 x 1, 215 x 7, 215 x 6
AD Press +38 lbs. Chains - 65 x 12, 65 x 10
Paused Weighted Dips - 90 x 10, 90 x 10
Barbell Curls - 85 x 12, 85 x 12
Straight Bar Cable Floor Curls - 50 x 12, 50 x 12
Summary
Did this one pretty fatigued and the bench was very midā¦only was able to match my previous max and the rep work suffered a lot. Other than that the rest of the workout was pretty good and I got a pretty good pump from it.
2 Likes
Good to see you plugging away mate.
1 Like
7/10/25 - Back/Triceps
Weighted Super Wide Pull Ups - 60 x 7, 60 x 7
Weighted BTN Pull Ups - 45 x 6
One Arm Ghetto Pulldown - 70 x 11, 70 x 11
Small Mag Grip Cable Inverted Row - 180 x 12, 180 x 12
Incline One Arm Pushdown - 35 x 10, 35 x 10
Overhead Cable Extensions (Straight Bar) - 50 x 12, 50 x 11
3 Likes
7/11/25 - Legs
Belt Squats - 500 x 1, 400 x 12, 400 x 12
Good Mornings - 125 x 12, 125 x 12
Unilateral Belt Calf Raises - 110 x 10, 110 x 10
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squats - 75 x 11, 75 x 10
Standing Unilateral Cable Hamstring Curls - 20 x 10, 20 x 10
Incline Dumbbell Curls - 20 x 12, 20 x 12
Summary
Super solid leg day, I got another pair of 45s over the weekend so I celebrated by maxing out on belt squats lolā¦used all of my 45s and my set of 25s so now I want to get more 45s in the near future. XD Going to switch the squat variation and work on bringing up some barbell variations in the near future. Also tried a standing variation of the usual cable hamstring curls and that absolutely fried my hamstrings.
ALSO I just got a pair of the Titan Fitness loadable dumbbell handles and I am absolutely looking forward to starting to incorporate more dumbbell variationsā¦I donāt have enough smaller plates right now to go for super heavy things but I can definitely do a lot even right now and Iām stoked about trying it all out. Iāve never seriously messed around with dumbbells since Iāve never had them in the home gym till now so itās going to be fun trying out some new stuff. 
3 Likes
7/15/25 - Push/Biceps
Floor Press - 255 x 1, 205 x 8, 205 x 8
Seated BTN Press - 80 x 12, 80 x 10
Dumbbell Flies - 25 x 7, 25 x 8
Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 20 x 14, 20 x 14
Unilateral Cable Curls - 32.5 x 10, 32.5 x 10
Summary
Massive 30-lb. PR on my floor press, itās been about 3 months since Iāve last done this movement but +30 pounds in three months is pretty good for one of my weaker bench variationsāand I was pretty surprised to see it go up by that much if Iām being honest. Iām seeing some small PRs in a lot of variations recently and that makes me hypothesize that my flat bench is about to go up next time I test it. Still feeling like 285-295 is definitely possible for me next time I flat bench, which would be great. Taking it one step at a time and embracing the small PRs, the plus one reps, and such to build it up over time. Going to try hard to make sure my sleep and recovery is better in the next month than itās been recently as well as dialing in my consistency after a hectic time at work.
Tried a couple dumbbell movements today as well, Iām starting out by erring a bit on the lighter side as I get used to new movements. Really good session today, if I had time I probably would have thrown in another curl or something since I was feeling really good at the end of this one.
3 Likes
7/16/25 - Back/Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups +19 lbs chains - 60 x 9, 60 x 8
Weighted BTN Pull Ups - 45 x 6
Wide Mag Grip Ghetto Lat Pulldown - 150 x 12, 150 x 10
Chest Supported/Incline Barbell Row - 115 x 10, 115 x 10
Straight Bar Pushdown +19 lbs. chains - 70 x 11, 70 x 9
EZ Bar Overhead Extensions - 65 x 10, 65 x 10
7/18/25 - Legs
Trap Bar Deadlift - 365 x 1
Box Squat - 185 x 8, 185 x 8
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squats - 75 x 12, 75 x 12
Standing Unilateral Cable Hamstring Curls - 20 x 12, 20 x 12
Decline Dumbbell Extensions - 20 x 15, 20 x 12
Summary
Went to the gym and ramped up to a top single on deadlifts againā¦failed 385 but matched my previous PR so it was solid effort. Went home and kept the momentum goingā¦decided to try box squats and man they are so much harder than regular. It stripped half a plate and some reps off my regular squat, which already isnāt amazing to be fair. Honestly though, why is there such a massive difference between axially loaded variations vs. my belt squat in terms of absolute load? I guess it means that I have so much progression potential for a lot of my barbell squat variations. Also those standing hamstring cable curls fry my hamstrings in the best way possible, I love that variation right now.
3 Likes
7/22/25 - Push/Biceps
Larson Press - 275 x 1, 215 x 10, 215 x 8
AD Press - 95 x 12, 95 x 11
Weighted Dips - 90 x 10, 90 x 10
EZ Bar Curls - 75 x 12, 75 x 12
Unilateral Cable Floor Curls - 30 x 11, 30 x 10
Summary
Really good session, started it with some really easy Larson Press warmups and decided to shoot high. Previous PR was 255 x 1 so I decided to try for 265 and it went up so smoothly I decided to add ten more poundsāand that went up great too. Probably could have gotten at least five more pounds up, maybe ten more if I was really going to grind it out. My experience has been that my Larson Press has always been about 20 pounds less than my flat bench, so this is yet another variation that has been trending up recently. I think Iām going to do some board press and possibly some more floor press before I try flat bench again, but Iāll definitely be shooting for 295 next time and maaaaybe in a week or two I might be able to crack 300 if itās a good day. Either way, itās more indication that what Iām doing is working well provided I donāt get too impatient so thatās always great.
For the rest of the workout, I added weight and/or reps to pretty much everything else (took dips down 25 pounds because I wanted a higher rep range but it felt pretty great and I was happy with it), which makes me happy. Really enjoyed this one!
3 Likes
7/25/25 - Pull/Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups +19 lbs chains - 60 x 9, 60 x 8
Weighted BTN Pull Ups - 45 x 6
Chest Supported/Incline Barbell Row - 115 x 12, 115 x 12
Unilateral Cable Pushdown - 30 x 12, 30 x 12
Dumbbell French Press - 40 x 9, 40 x 9
JM Press - 105 x 10, 105 x 10
Summary
Solid workout, I was pretty pressed for time today so I dropped my usual pulldown variation but other than that it was good. I think Iām going to try to do three arm isolations on my push and pull days and none on leg day and see if that does anythingā¦my thought process is that I want to add a bit more volume for my arms each cycle of my workout split but also to take away arms from my leg day to avoid overreaching and letting them recover. For now Iāll probably use that slot on my leg days for things like traps and whatever else I want to add a smidge more volume to, but I would say mostly traps starting out since I rarely train them and I think thereās some decent potential thereā¦I think thatās all of my musings for one day lol. Weāll see how those tweaks go, Iām excited to see what happens!
3 Likes
8/1/25 - Legs
Behind the Back Deadlift - 365 x 1
Box Squats - 185 x 9, 185 x 9
Barbell Calf Raises - 135 x 20, 135 x 20
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squat - 80 x 12, 80 x 12
Standing Unilateral Cable Hamstring Curls - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
Barbell Shrugs - 135 x 12, 135 x 12
3 Likes
8/2/25 - Chest + Biceps
1-Board Press + 38 lbs. chains - 255 x 1, 205 x 10, 205 x 9
AD Press + 38 lbs. chains - 65 x 12, 65 x 11
Dumbbell Flies - 25 x 10, 25 x 10
Dumbbell Concentration Curls - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
EZ Bar Spider Curls - 55 x 11, 55 x 11
Bayesian Curls - 27.5 x 11, 27.5 x 10
Summary
Super solid workout today! Started out with a 1 board press with chains to really target the midpoint and top end of my bench. Hit a massive 30-pound PR on the top single and took the backdowns from 190 x 10, 190 x 10 to what they are now, adding 15 pounds for similar reps (probably could have gotten ten reps on the second set today since I know I didnāt go quite to failure but today I came in to the workout a bit sleep deprived so I wasnāt feeling like really grinding out that last rep even though I probably could have in hindsight. I think Iām going to do floor press again next time to really target that 90 degree sticking point and then try flat bench again after that and aim for 295.
Also I noticed two small programming improvements I could have made today. First was doing accommodating resistance for my bench and my shoulder press variations, especially considering they were next to each other in orderā¦that built up a lot of fatigue and I donāt think that was the best decision from a blending perspective. I really should have done an OHP variation without chains today with my chosen bench variation and a non-accommodating resistance bench variation next time and the shoulder press with chains but the chains are noisy and I had a quiet house today to work with so I decided to take full advantage of it despite knowing it wasnāt the best exercise selection. The second thing I should have done is put the concentration curls last, I think it would have been a lot better to start out with spider curls on a fixed bar, then move to a cable variation, and then save the most grindable, most stable variation for last. I realized this during my sets of spider curls because those were HARD and I realized then that it probably would have been better to move the concentration curls to the end. XD
Regardless, three curls in a row really pumped my arms and right before my final set of curls I measured an even 15 inches around my biceps, which is a long time coming. When I started lifting about 5-6 years ago my arms were a bit under 14" pumped, then they were stuck at an even pumped and flexed 14.5" for years. I estimate that most recent half inch came in the last 8ish months, and it was awesome to finally hit 15" today. Iām hoping adding a third arm isolation to the push and pull workouts will give a bit more volume and force some more growth in the last half of this year.
TL;DR from today: bench going up, arms slowly getting bigger, absolutely nasty pump from this workout = happy me XD
2 Likes
8/7/25 - Pull + Triceps
Weighted Super Wide Pull Ups - 60 x 8, 60 x 6
Cable Inverted Row - 190 x 12, 190 x 12
Cambered Swiss Bar Chest Supported Row - 115 x 10, 115 x 10
Rope Pushdown - 60 x 11, 60 x 11
Dumbbell French Press - 40 x 11, 40 x 11
JM Press - 105 x 11, 105 x 11
Summary
Solid pull session, I think adding a third arm isolation is going to be the way forward for now and itās feeling really good on the push and pull days, even if itās a lot more brutal to push through it. Iām primarily focused on increasing my bench right now but while thatās still happening I think Iām going to focus a bit more on rows and horizontal pulls for some back thickness in the near future, as my next goal after the 315 bench is going to be upping my weighted pull up and will be hitting the vertical pulls hard. Iām thinking Iām close enough to hitting my bench goal that Iām going to start hitting a bunch more row variations as opposed to including a pulldown variation in every pull workout. Today I hit a cable row, which is one of my favorite row variations and then followed it up by trying a chest supported row with my cambered Swiss bar, which gives a little bit more range of motion compared to the barbell chest supported row. Iām trying to program different kinds of rows in each workout to blend them together well, and I think these two variations complemented each other quite well without having to worry about overuse.
8/8/25 - Push + Biceps
Floor Press - 265 x 1, 205 x 9, 205 x 9
Seated BTN Press - 80 x 12, 80 x 7
Incline Dumbbell Flies - 20 x 8, 20 x 8
Barbell Curl - 90 x 8, 90 x 7
Dumbbell Hammer Curl - 25 x 12, 25 x 11
Straight Bar Cable Floor Curl - 55 x 11, 55 x 10
Summary
(Skipped legs this rotation because Iām working out with a friend tomorrow and I want to do pull instead of legs.) Came into the session a bit tired after a couple short nights, it really showed on my BTN Press, to be honest. I also thought that my barbell curls today were a bit harder than they should have been for a five pound increase, and that might have been part of it too. The rest of the workout went greatāadded 10 pounds to my floor press max and it went up pretty smooth without a lot of grinding, so Iām getting more and more optimistic about the momentum Iām building on my bench. Planning on testing my flat bench during my next push workout and seeing what happens. I also added a rep to my floor press backdown sets as well, which was great.
3 Likes
8/9/25 - Pull + Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups - 125 x 1, 85 x 5, 85 x 4
Wide Mag Grip Ghetto Lat Pulldown - 150 x 12, 150 x 12
Small Mag Grip Cable Inverted Row - 185 x 12, 185 x 12
Straight Bar Pushdowns +19 lbs. chains - 70 x 11, 70 x 11
Lying Dumbbell Extensions - 20 x 14, 20 x 10
Barbell Overhead Extensions - 75 x 11, 75 x 11
Summary
Had a friend over to the home gym and had a great time, it was nice to get out of my usual habits for a minute. Decided to max out on pull ups since itās been a while and I want to know what Iām starting at and my weakest parts of the lift right now when I start focusing more on vertical pulls later this year. Added five pounds to my max and also realized that was also in addition to weighing 164 pounds today, which is an all time high for me as well.
Solid session, great pump, great way to spend a Saturday morning.
3 Likes
8/12/25 - Legs
Box Squat - 185 x 10, 185 x 10
Barbell Calf Raises - 185 x 15, 185 x 15
Romanian Deadlifts - 135 x 12, 135 x 15
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squat - 85 x 10, 85 x 10
Standing Unilateral Hamstring Cable Curl - 30 x 11, 30 x 11
Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs - 145 x 12, 145 x 12
Summary
Solid leg day, I felt I could have given a bit more on most things today but it wasnāt too bad. Tried RDLs for the first time in a long time as my hinge movement today and it went well. I think I was overly conservative on the weight but Iād rather start light and load gradually from there, especially on things like RDLs and good mornings.
2 Likes
8/13/25 - Chest + Biceps
Flat Bench - 295 x 1, 225 x 9, 225 x 8
Dumbbell Lateral Raises - 15 x 8, 15 x 8
Incline Dumbbell Flies - 20 x 9, 20 x 9
EZ Bar Curls - 80 x 12, 80 x 10
Dumbbell Reverse Curl - 15 x 11, 15 x 11
Straight Bar Cable Curl - 60 x 11, 60 x 11
Summary
Got the first bit of a cold yesterday morning but I was still feeling decently well all things considered, so I went ahead with the lift. Not sure if that affected my results but either way I figure itās worth noting. Ramped up and finally hit 295 on bench, which broke a plateau that Iāve been at for a while. I tried to hit 315, 310, and 305 after in that order and failed all threeā¦should have done it in the reverse order but I was curious to see what would stick. While it did give me some useful information (including the fact that I need to rotate in a few more variations that emphasize the stretched and bottom position of the lift in the near future), it was very taxing neurologically to go for those extra attempts, which was not a good decision on my part. Started feeling a bit strained in my shoulders and my tendons/ligaments as well, so I stayed with 225 on my backdowns and matched my previous reps with those, at least. I think Iām going to rotate in flat bench again in a while and shoot for 305, then rotate it in again a bit after that and shoot for the big 315. Going to keep focusing on the lockout and top end to avoid letting that be a limiting factor in the near future while also putting a bit of effort toward the bottom stretched positionā¦Iām thinking my workout log will see a bit of cambered Swiss bar, Larson Press, and maybe some paused reps mixed in with the other variations Iāve been doing a bunch recently and weāll see how I feel about things moving forward. Really want to hit it soon and weāre only 20 pounds away now so weāre getting closer and closer!
Rest of the workout went well, especially considering my nervous system was a bit more taxed than normal after the bench max attempts. I took a rest day to allow an extra day for the cold to run its course (and to get a bit more sleep to further that goal), and to allow my nervous system, and tendons/ligaments a bit more time to recover too, and I was honestly pretty busy today so it wasnāt a hard decision to give it a day before jumping into the next workout. Looking forward to more this week and adding to everything bit by bit!
3 Likes
8/16/25 - Pull + Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups - 85 x 6, 85 x 5
Bent Over Rows - 135 x 12, 135 x 12
One Arm Cable Inverted Row - 85 x 10, 85 x 10
Unilateral Cable Pushdown - 32.5 x 11, 32.5 x 10
Straight Bar Cable Overhead Extensions - 50 x 12, 50 x 12
JM Press - 105 x 12, 105 x 12
Summary
Today was the first day I felt some improvement with my cold, and although itās not very bad (mostly just congestion), Iāve been feeling a bit meh the past couple days. Today I was feeling good and decided to attack back and triceps. Added a rep to my pull ups and decided on a row combo that was bilateral and fatigued the lower back a bit more paired with a unilateral row that has excellent support, bracing, and minimal lower back fatigue and I really liked doing both of these different styles of rows back to back (pun intended lol).
Also my isolations were on point today. I love the unilateral cable pushdown since it is much easier to get my shoulders into external rotation and target the long head better. The overhead cable extension, whether unilateral or bilateral, is ridiculously overpowered in terms of getting a nasty pump in a hurry, no other overhead extension variation hits it just like that and I love doing cable extensions as a result. The JM Press following all this went really well and this trio of exercises today resulted in a ridiculous tricep pump. 11/10 session!
2 Likes
8/19/25 - Legs
Box Squats - 185 x 12, 185 x 12
Barbell Calf Raises - 205 x 15, 205 x 15
Romanian Deadlifts - 155 x 15, 175 x 12
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squats - 85 x 10, 85 x 10
Standing Unilateral Hamstring Cable Curls - 30 x 12, 30 x 12
Barbell Shrug - 155 x 12, 155 x 12
Summary
Really good session, I really liked my last leg dayās exercise selection and I was honestly lazy and didnāt want to change it this time aroundā¦plus after considering what I did for my last pull session I figured that my exercise selection blended well enough between both sessions that I wouldnāt run into any recovery issues, especially with a couple days in between. Felt good to hit the workout and added weight or reps to pretty much everything, which was great. Squat and deadlift variations are coming up bit by bitātheyāre starting pretty close to the bottom right now to be fair but weāll get there slowly, Iām playing the long game for those. I want to get a pair of crash pads sometime this fall and that should make deads from the floor a lot easier to rotate in a bit more often.
3 Likes
8/20/25 - Chest + Biceps
Cambered Swiss Bar Bench Press - 275 x 1, 220 x 7, 220 x 7
Dumbbell Lateral Raises - 15 x 10, 15 x 10
Weighted Push Ups - 90 x 10, 90 x 10
EZ Bar Preacher Curls - 65 x 12, 65 x 12
Unilateral Cable Curl - 32.5 x 11, 32.5 x 10
Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
Summary
Back to the drawing board for my exercise selection for bench, since the bottom pop off the chest seems to be weaker at 300+ pounds. Iām rotating in variations that will hopefully address that and make that much less of a limiting factor. Started with cambered Swiss bar bench, which I really like because it feels great on my shoulders and I can really strain and the stretch in the bottom is great. Hit 275 or a single which I was decently happy about, although I felt the backdowns could have been a bit better. The key is going to be to keep my lockout in a good spot and not regress in that area while focusing on strengthening the bottom part of the movement now. Was a pretty nice workout overall!
8/22/25 - Back + Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups - 85 x 6, 85 x 6
Cambered Swiss Bar Chest Supported Row - 115 x 13, 115 x 13
Unilateral Seated Cable Row - 60 x 13, 60 x 13
Incline One Arm Pushdown - 35 x 10, 35 x 10
Barbell Overhead Extensions - 75 x 11, 75 x 11
Decline Dumbbell Extensions - 20 x 11, 20 x 11
Summary
Solid workout all around, I felt like I wasnāt straining quite as hard as I could have and my triceps got really fatigued right off the bat from the incline pushdowns, so that wasnāt as good as I would have preferred. Nothing to complain about though, all in all still a decent session even if it wasnāt amazing. Iām seeing some good progress with my chest supported row, which has been great. I did two row variations today that didnāt fatigue the lower back (like a bent over row would, for example) since I want to go for a heavy single tomorrow on my rack pulls and I want to jump into that with a lower back thatās fresh and ready to go, even after pull day today. Spending a bit of thought as to the blending of exercises from session to session helps recovery a ton.
3 Likes
8/23/25 - Legs
Box Squats - 205 x 11, 205 x 11
Barbell Calf Raises - 225 x 15, 225 x 15
Rack Pulls (Knee Height) - 375 x 1
Barbell Good Mornings - 135 x 10, 135 x 10
Weighted Pendulum Sissy Squats - 85 x 11, 85 x 11
Standing Unilateral Cable Hamstring Curls - 35 x 12, 35 x 12
Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs - 155 x 12, 155 x 12
Summary
Was pretty happy with this oneāI had some good effort and added to a few movements, which is great to see. Box squats continue to be brutal, Iāve been doing them on a 12 inch plyo box and and it feels so much harder for me than a belt squat at the same depth. Definitely been humbled but also glad to start bringing up my weaker variations! I think I might stick with this a bit longer until I get 225 for two sets of 12, which Iām guessing will happen soonish, weāll see. Was decently happy with the rack pullāI failed 405 x 1 but it felt like it could have been there if I could have given just a bit more, so that will be fun to work up to in the near future. I might start trying to throw some rack pulls below the knee as well soon if I feel like it.
Honestly now that I look back over my log I added weight and/or reps to every single movement today, which is awesome. Great little weekend lift session!
2 Likes