Monday: Max-effort Pressing
Thick-Bar Floor Press:
55x10
105x5
145x3 (add doubled up monster mini’s)
165x3
195x2
215x1
225x1 PR (Challenging, but got it)
195x3,3,3
(remove bands:) 235x1,2(barely missed the third, just got out of groove)
incline dumbell bench press
50x12
60x12
80x4
60x10,10
Chest supported rows:
Worked up to 3 plates for 6 solid reps
lateral raises
cuban presses
preacher curls
Tuesday: Max-effort Lower Body
Reverse band Sumo Pulls
135x2
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x2
455x1
500x1 (PR)
bulgarian split squats
45x6
95x6
135x6
145x5 (PR)
135x5
45 degree hyperextensions
+plate for 5x 12
notes: hips got a crazy workout as I usually don’t pull sumo. Split squats felt great and the extensions got a sick lower back pump going. Simple workout, and effective.
New Year’s Workout
Accessory:
Weighted Chin-ups:
BWx1,3,5
BW+45x1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1
cable rows (lots)
Preacher curls (a few)
notes: doing weighted chins after deadlifts yesterday was stupid. felt like my right rhomboid was going to tear. My goal is to get to where I can do a ladder all the way up to 10 reps (so 100 total reps) with the extra 45 lbs. doable within the next year or two, but extremely challenging. Expecting to do speed bench tomorrow with 215. will try to remember to video
Upper Body Dynamic Effort:
Foam-rolling, shoulder mobility work
DE Bench press:
215lbs x9sets x3reps (3 sets for 3 grips. Good speed, feeling strong)
DB flat bench
60’sx10
80’sx10,8,7
Elbows out incline Dumbell Tri extensions (saw a vid of Mike O’Hearn doing these, going to become a go-to exercise for tri’s now)
25x10
30x8
25x10
BW Dipsx15,12
KB lateral raises
8kg DB’sx12,10,10,10,10,
rotator cuff work
more mobility work
notes: Great workout. Pressing strength is really coming around and my shoulders are feeling better and better. Big things coming.
Friday:
Dynamic Effort Lower-Body:
knee snatches
Depth jumps onto a box (unsure of the height but I ‘think’ I was dropping from a 24" box and made it onto a 42" height for a set of 3 reps)
Box Squats against average bands:
225x9x2 (using mid, close, and wide stances: video below)
Speed pulls
worked up to 335x1, felt good but tired
bulgarian split squats
135x5,145x5, 155x5 (PR)
lying band knee pulls against doubled monster mini:
12,12,10,9
GHR:
BWx8,8,7,6
Jump rope: 10 min
notes: great workout. My explosiveness and mobility are really improving. I really want to get my psoas firing properly, my ankle flexibility up to par, and good enough shoulder mobility to safely do overhead work. I was also happy that my barbell split squat continues to improve and that my speed against the average bands (newly acquired) was pretty good.
Monday: Max Effort Upper Body
Reverse Band Bench Press (-65 lbs at the bottom, 0 to -5 at the top)
45x10
95x8
135x3
185(add bands)x3
225x3
255x3
285x1
300x1 (PR)
315xmiss
275x1
275x2
285x1
295x1
305x1 (PR), 15 seconds rest then 275x1
Incline DB Press
60x10
85x4
65x15
Super set
Face Pulls
lying elbows out DB tri extensions
one-arm landmine shoulder presses
platex3x6 each arm
Superset:
Curls
cuban presses
band hip flexor knee raises
Wednesday: Max Effort Lower Body
Wide-stance PL Squats
45x10
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x1
335x1
365x1
(add belt) 385x1
315x2
335x1
Front Squat
225x5
245x5
Straight leg deadlifts (dead stop from floor each rep, focus on hamstring contraction)
135x6
185x6
225x6
275x6,(add straps)8
wide-stance PL squats (went back and did this in my NB minimus shoes instead of Oly shoes and WOW, I’m mad at myself for not doing my top sets like that since that’s what I was wearing when I did 410. They made a huge difference in feel)
135x5
225x3
275x2
295x1
335x1 (felt better than the firsts, despite the fatigue)
Superset
45 degree hypers with a plate
kneeling ab wheel rollouts
10 min of sled pushing:
135x20yds (20 yds low grip there, 20 yards high grip back)
180x20
225x20
270x20
315x20
Notes: I will be doing these style squats again next week as I was displeased with how it went today. Not sure if I’ll use bands or what not but I know I will feel stronger using my minimalist style shoes with this type of squat.
Thursday: Dynamic effort Pressing
Bench against choked mini-bands
12x3 (4 wide, 4 narrow, 4 mid)
DB presses, done for speed/power
60’sx2x12 (done very quickly, no decrease in speed)
Ring dips
10,8,6
Ring push-ups
10 (killer!)
elbows out tri extensions
25’sx10,10,10
Tri-set with 15lbs DB’s
rear delt flyes
lateral raises
seated DB power cleans
Curls
machine tri’s
Ring dips, I might try those out. How do you find these different from traditional parallel bar dips?
Maintaining stability is huge. I feel them less in my tri’s (compared to parallel bar) and much more through my entire chest, especially since you can get a pretty intense stretch at the bottom. They give a great chest pump and I feel that the gyration and extra motion is probably good for my shoulder health, though I’d probably look like a retard to a gymnast. If you’ve got access to rings, they’re definitely worth trying for a set or two of assistance work.
Saturday
Dynamic Effort Lower Body
warmp-up:
1000m row, mobility work
box jumps (intially from a seated position)
worked from 30" up to 42" starting from a 24 in box, then started jumping with a 3 step start, and successfully landed a 48" box jump. Something my brother noticed was that I was coming in to the drop phase wayyy too slow and totally ruining my momentum. This is partially due to fear (I’m a wimp) and being out of my comfort zone. I really won’t to throw down a bball so I need to do more jumping that focuses on efficiently utilizing the eccentric phase of the jump (depth jumps, more jumps with a 3 step start, etc.)
Speed pulls
365x11x1 (11 individual pulls in under 7 minutes) <—Speed felt solid, though maybe not what I had hoped for
bulgarian split squats
45x5
95x5
135x5
155x5 (tie PR)
170x5 (PR, solid form)
GHR’s
BWx5,8
+mini bandx8
+2mini bandsx5 (brutal)
BWx8
Abs super set (3-4 sets):
straight arm ab crunches on lat pull machine
one arm land mine presses
Tuesday
Morning BW= 179.6
Flat BB bench press:
45x10
135x8 (slow)
135x3 (fast)
155x3
185x1
205x1
225x1
245x1
260x1 (Most I’ve done since I got 290 last March)
225x1,1,1,3
245x1
Incline DB Bench Press
(short rests)
40x20
50x15
60x10
50x15
40x20
Chest-supported rows
curls
notes: Trained very depleted this morning after playing bball last night and not eating anything in between that and lifting. plus I did a bunch of paused benching yesterday and some benching on Tuesday cuz I’m impatient for gains. Still managed to get a PR of sorts as this was the most I’ve done since getting 290 last March. From now on, I’m going to limit myself to lifting 4 days a week and actually do what I’ve planned on doing. Just to reiterate to myself:
Monday’s:
am- Max-Effort Upper body
pm- pick-up basketball
Tuesday’s:
off or active recovery (which should NOT included lifting weights)
Wednesday’s:
am- Max-Effort Lower-Body
pm- possibly bball
Thursday
am-Dynamic Upper Body lifting (if no ball wednesday night)
pm-volleyball, possibly bball
Friday
-off or active recovery
Saturday
Dynamic Lower Body day
Sunday: Off, or stair running
Goals: I want to do a SLOW and steady lean-out to 170 by June using IF while setting a PR in each of the big three. Ideally, I’d like to weigh in at 170, bench at least 295 (5 lb PR), deadlift 500 (15 lb PR), and squat at least 425 (15 lb PR). If i don’t make it at least half way there by March than I’ll probably do another cut to make sure that I get lean for summer.
Wednesday: Max Effort Lower Body
Morning Weigh-in: 179.2
Squats against mini-bands
45x10
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
295x3, (add belt)
315x3
335x1
360x1 (I’m guessing this was about 365-370 at the bottom and 420-430 at the top)
straight leg deadlifts
135x6
225x6
275x6
295x6
305x6
unilateral band-resisted leg lifts (lying on back)
5x12
Sled pushing-just went till it hurt
notes:
Squats were good. managed to squat 2XBW + mini bands which is good. It may take some time to surpass where my squats were when I was using a more bulgarian-type method but I believe I will set a PR at a lighter bodyweight before summer. straight-leg deadlifts have been excellent and I really feel that they will carryover to my conventional pulls.
Yesterday:
Morning weigh-in: 179.0 lbs
Just stretched and played some 1-on-1 bball at my school’s new rec center
Friday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body
Flat Barbell Bench Press
195x12x3 (4 sets per 3 grips)
Incline DB Press
65x10,10,9
Pull-ups
worked up to +45 for 4 reps, then did a rest-pause with wide grip: 10,5,3
Barbell curls
95x8,6, 8(cheated, but felt great)
rear delt flies
machine tricep extensions
notes: bench felt strong and fast
Saturday: DE Lower Body
Box jumps
worked up to 50 3/4" in box with a 3 step start
Squats against light bands:
225x2
275x2
245x5
265x5
275x5
bulgarian split squats
135x5
GHR’s
3x8
Ab wheel
12,12,10
had to cut it short for a family event
Monday: ME upper body
warm-up
mob work
Reverse band floor press (note: safety pins on ‘3’, bands put outside 2 45’s, straight around the pins (not choked)):
45x10
95x5
135x4 (add bands)
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x1
285x1 (PR)
295x1 (PR)
305x1 (PR)
extra work, all paused:
225x5,7
245x5,5
Ring dips:
BWx8,7,5 (this will be staying in the exercise rotation for a while…)
strictish Chest supported rows: worked up to 3 plates+10 for 5 solid reps)
cuban presses: 50x10,10,10
machine tricep extensions
Notes: Great workout. The band tension was a little more than last time I did reverse band but 305 is definitely a PR regardless. Ring dips feel awesome and I won’t stop doing them until I get much stronger at them. upper back felt great during the rows as well. decreasing my overall weekly volume but cutting down to 4 lifting sessions a week has been very productive so far. bball tonight…
P.S. I got to remember to start taking video before I make a liar out of myself with my log title…
Monday: ME Upper
Floor press:
45x10
95x8
135x5
155x3
185x3
205x3
225x1
245x1
255x1 (PR, only a 5 lb PR but speed was better and butt stayed on the floor)
265xmiss,miss ( was tucking way too hard. got my elbows got off the ground and got stuck 2 inches up. Will try to add rack lockouts~4 inches off the chest)
225x1,1
245x1
close-grip bench press
135x5
185x5
205x5
215x5
225x4
elbows out DB tri extensions
25x10
30x10
35x8 PR
30x12
straight bar tri pushdowns
1setx20reps
1 arm DB rows
100x10,10,10,15(with straps, looser form)
machine tri extensions
machine lateral raises
I’ve decided that I really need more volume for squat and deadlift variations so I will be starting the ‘Cube’ template by having designated squat and DL days while maintaining a DE/ME split for bench press. I’ve also started cutting calories while increasing my volume. I’m all about the lb for lb strength and am optimistic about these coming months.
Wednesday: Squat day
Front squat:
45x10
135x5
185x3
205x5
225x5
245x5
265x5
(add belt) 290x4 (felt pretty good about this, given the volume prior and amount of conditioning I did yesterday)
bulgarian split squats
worked up to 155x5
band psoas work: 5x20
Kettlebell swings
70lbx5x20
sled pushes
worked up to 365x20 yds there and back (40 total)
notes: great workout. feeling strong. Need to keep my volume high for a while to build up my work capacity
Thursday: DE Upper body
bench press:
135 against doubled mini’s for 9x3
flat DB bench press:
95’sx8,5
Incline DB press:
50’sx 45 seconds
40’sx40 seconds (both of these were brutal)
switch to flyes: 20’sx45sec,45 sec
tri extensions
lateral raises
abs
notes: going for time under constant tension with the DB’s was very difficult. I need to do all of my hypertrophy assistance work with the goal of constant and prolonged tension from now on.