Thanks! Next time I go for a 1rm I should hit 315+ easily, hopefully.
So, I’ve got a 305 bench, 415 squat, and a 435 deadlift (OLD pr. Much stronger now.). This is from a 275x2 bench, 370x3 squat, and 425 deadlift. Seems I’m doing SOMETHING right. (gaining weight? laugh!) Whether I can keep these gains up is yet to be seen, though.
Last I weighed myself I was 213. At the height it was closer to 220. I recently modified my diet. I took the milk out. I am lactose intolerant and I do believe it caused me to gain a whole shitload of fat due to an increase in cortisol. I also am taking in less calories on my off days (2500-3000). The days I lift I take in about 3500.
DB Curls:
30x16
30x~15 (rest paused, not sure of count)
H.S. Shrugs:
320x15
360x10
Well. Like a dumbass I left my dip belt at the gym last week, and of course, it’s not there at their “lost and found.” I attempted to do dips holding a DB between my feet. I got to rep 5 and it slipped. So I decided just to rep out on incline.
I’m happy with the pendlay rows. I love those things. They really get my heart & lungs going.
Floor Press:
135x5
185x3
245x3
295x3 (spotters hands ALL over the bar. Grrr.)
315x1 (spotter may have touched it at the very bottom of lift.) PR?
DB Press:
85x15
85x16
DB Row:
90x3x8
Incline DB Curl:
30x8
30x2x10
Ok. So, apparently, I chose the wrong spotter tonight. God damned hands all over the bar for my set at 295. So, not wanting to “waste” the workout, I rested ~8 minutes, and tried 315. I got someone else to spot me this time. His hands were very close to the bar at the bottom, but I didn’t actually see him touch it… not sure.
I like those incline curls! They stretched the shit outta my bicep.
Happy. Good mornings seemed a good deal easier this week. I was kinda dickin’ around (Ripped my shorts again. I kid you not.) after the front squats, though… so I had a lot of rest (10+ minutes). Whatever.
A 3 plate front squat would be way cool. I’m pretty damn close, too.
Incline bench kicked my ass. It was quite the fight to get up that last rep; I was very close to failing.
I feel like I’m not gonna get anymore out of those facepulls, so I decided to hit up the rear delt machine. It’s my first time “seriously” using a machine. Heh. I used a lot less weight than I expected. Maybe I should just do rear delt flies with DBs; I’ll give the machine a few weeks.
Didn’t really progress on the shoulder presses. Same amount of total reps as last time (I forgot to log it, but I believe I got 10, 10, 8).
Shoulder Press:
95x5
125x3
155x3
185x2 (went for 3, missed the 3rd. :()
DB Bench Press:
85x17
85x16
DB Rows:
95x3x8
Incline Curls:
35x8
35x7
35x6
Swapped out the floor presses because I need a reliable spotter to do them properly at my gym. I can’t set the power rack hooks low enough to unrack it myself, and I sure as shit don’t wanna do them in the smith.
I’m a little disappointed on the shoulder press; not sure if it’s exactly warranted. 155 felt pretty light, though. That was a good feeling. I’ll probably go for 175x3, then 185x3, then 190x3. I’ll make sure to do 5 sets, too.
EZ barbell curls:
30x50 (My buddy didn’t think I could(?!). I now have five more dollars.)
Great workout. First rep of 295 on the front squat almost pulled me over; I was NOT ready for how much it was going to try & pull me forward. Next 2 reps were much smoother. My face was as red as a fire truck, though. 315 falls next week!
My rest times were a bit longer than usual due to bullshitting with my buddy & other gym members.
Had some trouble with the rows: form was shit on the last few reps of second set, and really started to break down on rep 17.
Had some trouble with the DB presses, too. I was having trouble progressing, so I backed down in weight, but still didn’t really do so well. I REALLY struggled to get the last rep of the last set; it started to look like an incline press.
I tried to barbell shrug. Just felt like my body was saying “NOOOOO!” so … I left.
And I wore my g/f’s pants today to the gym. They were huge on her … but too short and too tight on me. I didn’t really care, though. I’m sure a few people got some chuckles out of it. Heh.
Next week is going to be a deload week - much less volume, much less intensity.
That 185 for 10 was the most leisurely set of squats I have ever done. Deadlifts were fun. Took a snatch grip on a couple of the reps and really felt it in my hamstrings.
Bench:
135x5
185x3
235x2
275x1
paused:
305x0
290x1 baseline PR.
Deadlift:
135x8
225x3
315x3
385x1
445x1 PR.
465x0
Ok. The coach had us bench following the usual commands. I never practiced that, and that pause feels like a friggin’ eternity. Suffice it to say that I started to press 305 before he said “press”, so I lowered it back down… and then waited for “press” again. I missed it, obviously. 290 wasn’t too bad.
The deadlift went up fairly easily. I tried for 465 but BARELY missed it… just cuoldn’t lock it out.
Squat gets tested monday.
And I’m fat. 221. Haha. I guess I’ll be lifting in the 220 class! Shitty ass la-fitness scales!
Squat:
135x5
225x3
275x3
345x1
420x1 PR! Heh… a 5 lb PR, but w/e.
Leg Press:
1x10x400
2x10x450
DB Shoulder Press:
4x8x55 (Crap, I forget. Something like that.)
DB Front Raise followed by Lateral Raise:
20x3x10 (I think? Or was it 4x8? or 4x10?)
BB Shrugs:
225x10
275x10
275x12
Rest times were low here. I’m happy with the squat.
I’m going to trust this guys program, even if it does seem weird to me. I’ve got a meet april 13th (iirc.)! So, that’s like 7 weeks of hard lifting, and a deload week. I’ll be in the 220 class.
Got a cheap 5 lb PR on the squat. I only went for 5 lbs for a few reasons: I was nervous (new gym, people, bar, rack, etc.)), I wasn’t in front of a mirror, and I had a slight buzz from a couple beers I had not too long before (I don’t drink often).
Press: (Supposed to be “light” clean & press, but I can’t clean. :))
4x4x95
Bench:
4x8x205 (~70% of my max)
DB Incline:
65x3x10
DB Flies:
35x3x10
E-Z bar skullcrushers:
60x10
70x2x10
Tricep pushdowns:
130x20 (Heh. Too light.)
190x9 (Bit too heavy.)
170x10 (That’s more like it.)
Rest times were kept short, as instructed. I rested about 1-2 minutes on each set. Doing westside I was going around 3-4! :-/
I felt GREAT after this workout, too.
Lower back is still sore on my left side ever since I tested my deadlift on friday. too.
I was supposed to do like 150-200 reps of “non weighted abs.” and do 3 more sets of another tricep exercise (reverse grip pushdowns?) supersetted with the regular pushdowns. That just seemed like too much, and the 150-200 reps of “non weighted abs” just seemed silly.
Hammer DB Curls:
40x6 (Holy shit, my biceps were fried!)
30x2x10
Ok. I modified the workout AGAIN. I was supposed to do cleans for 5 sets of 4. I can’t do them. I’ve never done them. So, I subbed them with pendlay rows. After set 4, I wondered if that was really a good idea.
The workout apparently called for 3x10 chins supersetted with 3x10 pullups. Yeah. Riiiight. I tried my best with the chins. F the pullups.
On a good note… I was sweating my ass off. Been a while since that’s occurred. I was out of the gym in ~45 minutes, too!
