6/8/15 - Monday
Bench: 25, 19 with 190
One Arm BB Row: 210 with 100lbs
Rear Delts: 29, 24 with 30s
Squats: 35 with 270
6/10/15 - Wednesday
Push Press: 35 with 165
Weighted Chins: 27 with +50lbs
Rear Delts: 29, 25 with 30s
Deads: 1*9 with 315
Push press felt pretty good. Almost got 8 on the first set of chins, like literally a cm from gettin over the damn bar. But this will hopefully let me progress next workout so I’m cool, because I added another rep on the second set anyways. Added a couple reps on deads since I first started.
6/12/15 - Friday
Bench: 25, 17 with 195
Rows: 8, 9 with 105lbs
Rear Delts: 30, 27 with 30s
Squats: 3*5 with 275
Pissed I didn’t get another rep on bench. Added weight on rows and they felt pretty damn heavy but it was a good day. Somehow managed to add a few reps on rear delts when I’ve only been adding like one at a time. I was really happy with squats though. My form was pretty decent and I got all my reps.
6/19/15 - Friday
Missed some time because I was at the beach. It was a much needed vacation of doing nothing but drink and relax.
Bench: 25, 110 with 190
One Arm BB Row: 19, 110 with 105lbs
Rear Delts: 30, 26 with the 30s
Squats: 25, 19 with 245
Pretty decent day. Added a rep to my bench pr at this weight. Added a rep to each set of rows, and I kept them pretty controlled too. Lost a rep on rear delts but its not a big deal. I’ll be back at these in a couple days. Should’ve gone for 10 on squats but my form, which was solid according to my brother, started to slip just a little on the last rep.
6/22/2015 - Monday
Push Press: 4, 3, 3 with 170
Weighted Chins: 6, 5 with +50lbs
Rear Delts: 24, 21 with 35s
Squats: 25, 110 with 250
Interesting day. I felt fine for the most part, just didn’t have it on some lifts. Push press, for instance, needs a reset. I was actually thinking about resetting it for this workout, but decided to go ahead and try this weight. All good.
Weighted chins felt really heavy, and they sucked. Not unexpected, however, because my BW chins during the day have felt pretty heavy too. I’ve let myself get a little soft from eating crap during training and a few days at the beach. That’s an easy fix.
There are 3 pairs and 30lb DBs in the gym, and all were being “used.” So I moved up to the 35s, which actually felt pretty good. I was getting pretty close to moving up anyways so it’s all good.
Squats felt strong for some reason. I’ve been doing everything I can to keep my back from caving over and it has been working.
6/24/2015 - Wednesday
Bench: 25, 17 with 195
One Arm BB Row: 210 with 105lbs
Rear Delts: 25, 22 with 35s
Deads: 18 with 320
I was ridiculously close to getting 8 on bench. Kind of annoyed because my sister was spotting me and was putting her hands all around the bar when I didn’t need it and just not spotting well at all. I wasn’t mad because she didn’t know, even though I told her not to touch it unless I said something, but it was annoying because it may have cost me that last rep, who knows.
Time to move up in weight on rows, rear delts are doing well. Deads were fine as well.
6/27/15 - Saturday
Push Press: 25, 19 with 150
Weighted Chins: 6, 5 with 50lbs
Rear Delts: 26, 23 with 35s
Squats: 25, 19 with 255
PR for push press. Last rep was tough. Weighted chins suck because I’m fat right now. I need to lose probably 10 pounds right now; I’ve let myself get a little soft. Still moving up in weight on rear delts.
I think this was a squatting PR too, but I’ll have to double check. My form has felt better recently. I focus on keeping my upper back up and locked in. It seems to be slowly improving after years of struggling with this issue.
7/6/15 - Monday
Bench: 35 with 205
One Arm BB Rows: 18, 110 with 115lbs (I think)
Rear Delts: 28, 24 with 35s
Squats: 25, 1*7 with 265
7/8/15 - Wednesday
Push Press: 25, 17 with 155
Weighted Chins: 7, 6 with +50lbs
Rear Delts: 28, 22 with 35s
Deads: 1*7 with 325
7/10/15 - Friday
Bench: 5, 5, 4 with 210
One Arm BB Rows: 210 with 115
Rear Delts: 28, 25 with 35s
Squats: 25, 1*6 with 270
7/15/15 - Wednesday
Push press: 35 with 160
Weighted chins: 27 with 50lbs
Rear delts: 29, 25 with 35s
Deads: 1*7 with 330
Solid day.
7/17/15 - Friday
Bench: 35 with 210
Row: 210 with +120lbs
Rear Delts: 30, 25 with 35s
Squats: 3*5 with 275
7/20/15 - Monday
Push Press: 35 with 165
Chins: 8, 7 with 50 lbs
Rear Delts: 30, 25 with 35s
Squats: 25, 1*6 with 280
I haven’t been writing much lately, but this workout deserves a mention. Push press was interesting. The weight felt pretty light on my shoulders, but I wasn’t being as explosive as I should have been. I missed a rep at the end of my last set, then went for it again and locked it out, but it was a grinder.
Nice performance on chins. This probably means I am losing weight, but my other lifts are looking ok so I’m not worried about it. Rear delts are going ok. I don’t progress every workout, but I have been from week to week so I don’t see a need to make a change here.
Squats have been looking pretty good. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m working out with my brother again and am feeling more motivated. My form has, without question, improved. I can’t be satisfied and it still needs to improve even more, but I’m heading in the right direction. In any case, I set serious PRs today, as 280 is the heaviest I’ve gone for reps, plus I managed to get 6 on my last set.
Overall, my lifting is going well. I’ve also been playing a good amount of basketball. I’ve backed off of the frequent pull/pushups a bit lately because my damn elbows get pissy, but I’m easing back into it. My peak was something like 10 pullups/30 pushups both performed for 7 or 8 sets throughout the day, 6 days a week. Right now I’m doing 3 or 4 sets of 11/35 about 4 days a week.
7/22/15 - Wednesday
Bench: 4, 3, 3 with 215
Rows: 210 with +125lbs
Rear delts: 30, 26 with 35s
Deads: 16 with 335
Obviously need to reset my bench. This time, I am going to try and repeat each bench session once, so I have more time building up my rep strength before I reach heavier weights. The program calls for 2.5lb increases for upper body lifts, but I don’t have access to fractional plates and I just don’t think they’re necessary to get stronger.
I’ve been strapping up for rows instead of using chalk. I have to admit that I prefer the straps for this exercise. Added a rep on rear delts. I’ll probably try and add another rep or two before moving up to the 40s.
Deads actually felt kinda heavy, but I suppose they were, so that makes sense.
7/27/15 - Monday
Push Press: 11 with 170; 5, 5, 11 with 140
Chins: 7, 6 with 55lbs
Rear Delts: 23, 20 with 40s
Squats: 35 with 285
I moved this weekend and had a lot going on, missed last Friday’s workout, didn’t eat a lot during that time, and just generally sucked over the last few days as far as the gym is concerned. Push press felt heavy as shit, and one rep with my working weight was a grind. Decided to drop way down and get some reps in. I went a little too light, actually, but it got me in the right mindset for the rest of the workout.
Moved up in weight on chins. Stayed in my rep range so I’m happy with that. Also increased the weight for rear delts, which felt pretty heavy but I managed to get my reps here too.
I have to admit I am stoked about my squatting. All I can say is that the work I have been doing on my technique is paying off. I wore the wrong shoes today (squishy nikes that don’t feel very stable) and a few reps came forward on me, but I was strong enough to get all of my reps today.
7/29/15
Bench: 35 with 195
Rows: 210 with 130lbs added
Rear Delts: 24, 20 with 40s
Deads: 1*6 with 340
8.17.15 - Monday
Haven’t logged the past week or so but it’s time to get back on it.
Bench: 35 with 205
Shank lever: 16, 13 with 65lbs (barbell)
Rear Delts: 30, 23 with the 40s
Squats: 35 with 270
I pulled something in my neck a week or so ago while doing rows. Using this as a chance to rest and recover, so I subbed in those level things that were on the main site by Max Shank. I would like to improve my deadlifting/squatting posture.
8/19/15 - Wednesday
Push Press: 5, 5, 3 with 165
Weighted chins: 6, 6 with 55lbs
Rear Delts: 30, 25 with 40s
Deads 1*5 with 355
I’m going to go back as far as I can remember.
8/26/15 - Wednesday
Bench: 5, 4, 4 with 215
Rows: 2 sets of 8/9 with +140
Rear Delts: some stuff
Deads: 1*4 with 360
8/29/15 - Saturday
Push Press: 5, 5, 3 with 170
Weighted chins: 6, 5 with +55lbs
Rear Delts
Squats: 25, 17 with 285
hell yeah
8/31/15 - Monday
Bench: 5, 5, 4 with 215
Rows: 210 with +140lbs
Rear Delts: 24, 21 with 45s
Squats: 35 with 290
9/2/15 - Wednesday
Push Press: 34 with 170
Weighted chins: 7, 6 with +55lbs
Rear Delts: 26, 21 with 45s
Deads: 15 with 360
I’ll just give a quick rundown of my lifts and workout in general.
Push press is ok. Kinda stuck around 170 it seems. I can’t quite seem to put a good enough day together to get those last couple reps. I am brain-storming this problem right now but I haven’t decided what change(s), if any, I am going to make.
Bench is similarly stuck around 215. I am going to give this weight another try to see if I can squeeze that last rep or two out. Actually, for bench and push press, I want to try repeating each weight once in order to spend more time in a higher rep range. I talked about this before, but I have yet to implement it. It’s very tempting to move up in weight, but I believe the 5 lb jumps aren’t giving me enough time to grow before I hit the heavy weight again.
Rear delts are slowly but surely moving up, which is great. I have been struggling with pull-ups lately, partly due to the fact that I have all but stopped doing my frequency pull-ups due to my living situation, and partly because I have been eating crap and putting on a little blubber. We’re only talking about a few pounds, but I believe that affects my performance on bodyweight exercises like this. I cleaned up the diet a bit over the past few days, and my performance was much improved during this most recent session. I have adjusted my form on rows, and my neck feels a lot better as a result.
Deads are decent. I’ve been focusing a lot on my form here, similar to my squat, so my numbers took a little bit of a dip. I missed my last rep during last week’s session, but nailed it this week. Squats are doing great, I got 285 for 7, then PR’d two days later with 290.
9/7/15 - Monday
Push Press: 25, 18 with 150
Weighted chins: 7, 6 with 55lbs
Rear Delts: 27, 22 with 45s
Squats: 25, 110 with 260
Would’ve liked another rep on push press. Definitely sticking with this weight again next session; my plan is to repeat each pressing session, so that I hit any given pressing weight twice as I progressively add weight. Weighted chins felt pretty good although I didn’t add any reps. I need to think of tweaking something here. Added reps of rear delts. Squats felt really good. I decided to go with a reset instead of attempting 295 again. I have definitely gotten stronger on squats, and I feel ready to crush some reps at lighter weights.
Forgot to discuss Friday’s (9/4/15) workout, although I mentioned it in my previous post. Basically benched 215 for 3*5, rows felt really good, rear delts were fine, and squatted 295 for 5, 4, 4. Heavy as shit.
9/9/15 - Wednesday
Bench: 4, 3 ,2 with 220
Rows: 10, 10 with +150lbs
Rear Delts: 27, 21 or something with 45s
Deads: 1*3 with 365
9/11/15 - Friday
Push Press: 25, 110 with 150
Weighted Chins: 7, 5 with 55lbs
Rear Delts: 28, 23 with 45s
Squats: 25, 110 with 265