Today, I lifted light Tabata style. Since I lifted at home for a change, all you’ll see are cable or BW exercises.
A1. 20-rep cable front squats
70x20 (very light.)
B1. Tabata lat pulldowns to the front, 70 lbs (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, 4 minutes total)
C1. Tabata pushups (same parameters as above)
I’ll continue to workout in the afternoon and I’ll attempt Tabata cable bent-over rows followed by Tabata thrusters. Meanwhile, I’ll sleep.
Very tiring workout to say the least, even if it took less than 30 minutes to complete.
A1. Tabata cable bent-over rows, 50 lbs (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, 4 minutes total)
B1. Tabata thrusters, 10 lb dumbells each hand (same as above)
C1. Tabata lying cable pullovers, 30 lbs (same as above)
D1. Standing cable crunches, 90 lbs, 8x8 Gironda style
I felt bad today and I don’t know why. I couldn’t go all out because of this.
15 minute PR zone (EDT)
A1. Nautilus back extensions (345 lbs)
A2. Swiss ball crunches (45 lbs behind head)
*Total of 80 reps per exercise in 15 minutes
B1. Decline lying cable pullovers (30 lbs), 5 sets to failure w/ 10 seconds rest between sets
C1. Gironda DB swings, 2 sets
-Drop set from 25 lbs to 5 lbs in 5 lb incriments w/o rest in between drops
-5 reps per drop
-after going to 5 lbs, rebound to 15 pounds w/o rest, repeat drops to 5 lbs, repeat until 5 reps are impossible for any drop.
This is the only time I’ll do this workout. I felt like giving my core area and my shoulders a blast today because they looked out of proportion, so I did it.
A1. DB Bench Press w/ 10 degree incline
50x7
55x5
60x3
55x7
60x5
65x3
60x7 (PR!)
65x2 (failure)
*90 seconds rest
A2. Bent-over BB Rows
145x7
155x5
165x3
155x7
165x5
175x3
165x7
175x3 (failure)
*90 seconds rest
B1. Lying decline cable pullovers, 30 seconds rest between sets
40x8
40x8
40x8
40x8
40x8
40x8
40x6
40x6
I love today’s shoulder workout. Although my first exercise didn’t go so well because my triceps felt weak today, the others were great. My shoulders feel awesome from anterior to posterior, and I bet they’ll be sore tomorrow.
A1. Arnold Press, 120 second rest between sets
40x7
45x5
50x3
45x4 (failure)
B1. Bent-over Gironda DB Swings, 8 sets of 8 (15 lbs), 30 second rest between sets
C1. BB Clean and Press, 3 sets of 1 (95 lbs)
C2. BB Overhead Shrugs, 3 sets of 10 (same barbell)
60 second rest between supersets
D1. Fatman Pullups to the neck, 8 sets of 8 (BW), 30 second rest between sets
E1. 3-phase shoulder builder, 3 sets of 10 (5 lbs), 60 second rest between sets
A1. Deadlift
225x7
245x5
265x2 (failure)
B1. 40-rep leg press, 1 continuos drop set w/ no rest between drops (inspired by Matt Kroczaleski and the late Jesse Marunde)
315x8
255x8
195x8
135x8
75x8
C1. Leg curls, 8 sets of 8 (105 lbs), 30 second rest between sets
D1. Standing calf raises, 8 sets of 8 (215 lbs), 30 second rest between sets
After this, I had a hypoglycemia attack. It totally threw me off guard because I ate today like every other day. I ate right away and recovered.
Although it’s my favorite exercise aside from clean and presses, I’m gonna give deadlifts a rest for a couple of weeks. I think it needs rest because I’ve plataued in it despite the fact that I’m improving in all of my other lifts.
There are many things that could’ve contributed to this, like lack of sleep, my low blood sugar at that time (hence the hypoglycemia attack I had after the workout), the exam I had right before my workout, my sucky grip, etc. Nevertheless, I’m gonna take deadlifts out of my workout and see what happens.
A1. Power Clean and Press, 5 sets of 115x5, classic cluster set style, 10 seconds between reps
B1. Decline Smith-Machine Bench Press, 5-4-3-2-1 cluster style, 20 seconds between clusters
160x5-4-3-2-1
160x5-4-3-2-1
160x5-4-3-2-1
Based on Thib’s new article, I tried a new workout designed for strength.
3x5 on all exercises, 3 minutes rest between sets
A. Power snatches, 95 lbs
B. Power cleans, 115 lbs
C. Sumo stiff-legged deadlifts, 185 lbs
D. Bent-over rows, 155 lbs
E. Wide grip pullups, BW+10 lbs
F. Leg curls, 165 lbs
That was supposed to be 5x5 with 2 minutes rest between sets, but I was afraid doing to much volume. Are my fears valid or baseless?
5x5 on all exercises, 2 minutes rest between sets
A. Power jerks, 115 lbs
B. Leg press w/ arm assist, 375 lbs
C. BB bench press, 155 lbs
D. Arnold press, 40 lbs
5x5 on all exercises, 2 minutes rest between sets
A. Power snatch, 95 lbs
B. Sumo SLDL, 185 lbs
C. Wide grip pullups, BW+10 lbs
D. Seated rows, 150 lbs
Because my shoulder hurts, I dropped all exercises that involve the anterior deltoids as a prime mover or synergist. This was supposed to be my workout today:
5x5 on all exercises, 2 minutes rest between sets
A. Power jerk
B. Zercher squats
C. Weighted Dips
D. Arnold press
This is what I did:
5x5 on all exercises, 2 minutes rest between sets
A. Zercher squats, 160 lbs
B. Zercher walking lunges, 110 lbs
I forgot to post yesterday’s workout:
5x5 on all exercises, 2 minutes rest between sets
A. Sumo SLDL, 205 lbs
B. Bent-over rows, 135 lbs
C. Pullups, BW+10 lbs
D. Leg curls, 165 lbs
I had to use a lower wieght for bent-over rows because I used to do these rows with torso bent 45 degrees, but I started bending my back as low as I can.
Today’s workout:
3x10, 1 minute rest between sets
A. Assisted dips, BW-70 lbs
B. DB bench press, 30 lbs
C. Arnold press, 15 lbs
5x5, 2 minutes rest between sets
D. Zercher squats, 160 lbs
E. Decline crunches w/ 25 lb plate behind head
I did my first 3 exercises to rehab my shoulders (they hurt). I used very light weights and employed a slow eccentric tempo. However, since I have no such problems with my legs or abs, I went all-out. I was supposed to do lunges after squats, but I guess lack of sleep took its toll on me.