Press day. Decided to do it TM style today, if for no other reason than it is a good rep scheme to do when you don’t know what else the fuck to do with yourself.
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press (OHP)
35 kg x 5 reps
45 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 3 reps
70 kg x 3 reps
75 kg x 1 reps
85 kg x 1 reps
87 kg x 2 reps (joker)
60 kg x 8 reps
60 kg x 8 reps
60 kg x 8 reps
87 for a pretty dirty double. Had to lean a bit more than usual and RPS 0.5 on the second rep. I think the problem with 87 kilo is that it is heavy as balls. Still, it counted, and that ain’t bad.
Did a bunch of abs, delt flys and even some more curls, but who cares.
Another off day Wednesday. Kinda getting into a pattern of Sundays and Wednesdays off. It probably won’t hold, but my recovery feels pretty decent.
Boobies day. Same plan as last time…TM on decline first without the backoff sets, then inclines with the backoff. Bumped everything up five kilo in the incline this time.
Decline Barbell Bench Press
60 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
85 kg x 5 reps
95 kg x 3 reps
110 kg x 3 reps
120 kg x 1 reps
130 kg x 2 reps (sorta joker)
Barbell Incline Bench Press
45 kg x 5 reps
55 kg x 5 reps
65 kg x 5 reps
75 kg x 3 reps
85 kg x 3 reps
95 kg x 1 reps
105 kg x 1 reps
75 kg x 8 reps
75 kg x 8 reps
75 kg x 8 reps
75 kg x 8 reps
75 kg x 8 reps
Doubled the topset on the decline, just to remind 130 that it belongs to me. Inclines were all fine, but adding five kilo to the backoff sets was actually quite tough. Ouch.
Deadlift day, and I can’t remember if I said it after last time, but I am in the mindset of changing it up or doing something different for a bit. So today I did some rack deads. I feel this must be what it feels like to be Piggy. The nice thing is that I have been lifting with Figure 8 straps for a long while now, so I tried to do this without any straps to see that my grip was okay still. Spoiler Alert, it was fine. Guess once you get to a point, you really don’t need to go strapless any more, seems to be zero benefit.
Rack Deadlift
70 kg x 5 reps
100 kg x 5 reps
120 kg x 5 reps
150 kg x 3 reps
170 kg x 2 reps
200 kg x 2 reps
220 kg x 1 reps
240 kg x 1 reps
200 kg x 3 reps
Pull-Up
3 reps
12 reps
12 reps
12 reps
12 reps
Ab Wheel (standing)
3 reps
1 reps
5 reps
Anyway, this was a good change of pace. Still get to hit the upper back without making my hips cranky, getting overly tired or frying the CNS (so far).
Not using them could very well be why you don’t have a strong grip. When you keep burning your grip out with deads, it’s hard to train it with real grip work.
I agree with this. I remember back in the day having grip problems getting past 150 kilo. A combination of using straps and using chalk solved that problem more or less permanently. I think yesterday was the first time I ever attempted and succeeded holding 240 without straps, and counter-intuitively it was once again the use of straps that got me there.
Feeling some nice doms in my back from yesterday…nothing serious, but went into my Push Press session today with a mind of kinda taking it easy. I was only partly successful.
Push Press
40 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 3 reps
80 kg x 3 reps
90 kg x 2 reps
100 kg x 2 reps
110 kg x 1 reps
100 kg x 7 reps (rep PR)
80 kg x 8 reps
Seated Barbell Press Behind Neck
20 kg x 6 reps
30 kg x 6 reps
40 kg x 6 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 9 reps
50 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 10 reps
Preacher Curl
30 lb x 15 reps
40 lb x 15 reps
50 lb x 15 reps
60 lb x 12 reps
40 lb x 20 reps
7 reps at 100 improves on a previous PR of 4 reps at that weight. Feeling pretty proud of that. Back in June, a single was tough at that weight, but now it’s my bitch.
My left elbow tendonitis seems to be improving - probably due to drastically reduced muscle up numbers - so I seem to be able to do more curling without much pain. Will still never have biceps, but maybe I can at least pretend it is possible!