Pull Ups 1 x 3, 1 x 4
OK so there’s two pull up bars in my gym. There’s a thinner plastic one that I’m struggling with and hit failure after 3 reps. I tried to do another rep a minute later but couldn’t do one. So then I switch to the thick steel pull up bar and hit 4 reps. I think I’ll just stick to the thick bar in future.
Bench Press
20kg x 10
42.5 kg x 5
52.5 x 3
60kg x 3
67.5kg (149 lbs) x 4
Felt OK, was hoping for 5 but made good progress in the 6weeks for someone that hasn’t benched in years with long skinny arms.
DB Bench press 2 sets of max reps
22.5 kg 1 x 17 reps, 1 x 15 reps
4 rep improvement on last week overall
Seated Cable rows supersetted with DB rear flies
45 kg x 4 sets x 12
DB rear Flies 12.5kg 4 sets x 10
Can’t wait to change exercise on these next week, but I certainly feel them
DB Shrugs
27.5kg DB’s 4 x 20
Grip getting worked on my left hand more so than my traps
EZ bar curls
22.5 kg on ez bar 2 x 11, 1 x 12
ME Upper Body first cycle progress
Pullups
Week 1 5 reps → Week 6 - 4 reps
Bench Press
Week 1 50kg x 5 → Week 6 - 67.5kg x 4
Cable Rows 31kg x 15 → 45kg x 12
Rear Delt flies 5kg x 15 → 12.5kg x 10
DB Shrugs
Wk 1 17.5kg 4 x 20 → Wk 6 27.5kg 4 x 20
EZ bar curls
Wk 1 15kg 3 x 13 → Wk 6 - 22.5kg 2 x 11, 1 x 12
Here are my 60kg x 5 front squats, didn’t do a max set today as its dynamic day. Not the best angle but hope you get the gist.
Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats
15kg 1 x 10
17.5kg 1 x 10
20kg 1 x 8
Bit off pain in my right adductor. I think it was from my last set of reverse lunges earlier in the week, tweaked something. I’m doing them next Thursday without the increased ROM so I’ll attempt 3 x 10-12 with 20kg.
Barbell Hip Thrusts
65 x 12
90 x 12
95 x 12
100 x 15
Insane glute pump doing 15 on the final set
Hanging Knee Raises
3 x 10, 1 x 12
Grip strength feels improved. Overall feel much improved strength in my lower body, only disappointment is lack of front squat progress but feel it’s more a technical thing. The hips and glutes in particular feel more powerful and can feel the muscles developed significantly in only 6 weeks.
Back Squat
20kg x 8
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3
75kg x 5
Don’t push myself too hard on these. Weight felt comfortable enough. On my working set my right knee caved a bit, didnt screw my feet into the ground for that rep. 5th rep was comfortable.
Bulgarian Split Squats
1 set 10kg x 10
1 x 17.5kg x 10
2 x 20kg x 10
Left leg was comfortable. Unfortunately my right adductor is slightly injured and causing pain. The last set wasn’t so bad though, hit all my reps on both legs. Maybe more warm up sets until my adductor heals.
Snatch Grip RDL’s (with straps)
1 x 60kg x 12
2 x 80kg x 12
Took me several attempts to get my set up right. First time doing these and wow they were tough. Can only use 80% of my regular RDL. I found my mid back in particular was getting hammered, lats, upper back, core, hammies and glutes. Grip was feeling it even with straps.
I agree. I’ve used gripping gadgets but I never felt like they did much. I think there’s something to gripping/controlling something that is moving through space vs gripping something that isn’t moving. It’s closer to gripping a human being in a dynamic activity.
Hey Marine77. I’ve just done a 6 week cycle of Front squats. So plan is to do a 6 week cycle of Back Squats and then 3 weeks of Deadlifts and 3 weeks of Zercher Squats. Have you done Zerchers before?
Interesting, I might try farmer carries with the fat gripz. The idea of using fat gripz is to mimic an opponents wrist. That’s why I’m trying the wrist roller with the fat gripz too.
This is the only way I squat now. I love it. Feels more balanced to quads and hamstrings, I can get a deep squat and I find higher reps easier on body than back/front squat.
I’m fairly tall, and back squat doesn’t work well for me . My wrists usually hurt too much from bjj for front squats, although, thats not the reason I don’t do them.
I’m very interested in trying these. I’m a 6ft 2 and long skinny legs and arms. I did hear some people advising against how reps on Zerchers due to possibility of too much bicep strain. Do you use elbow sleeves? I like back squats, my posterior chain is much stronger than my quads so the bottom can get a bit unstable if I lose concentration on my form. The front squats weren’t the most fun, my rack position wasn’t stable enough and is difficult to stay upright.
I’m 6’4” and equally lanky in legs and arms. I’ve pushed weight up to 315 for 3 without issues in biceps. Similarly, I’ve done 20 reps with 225 and no issue either. I don’t wear sleeves. I have a few friends I train with that have cranky biceps tho, so YMMV.
The Raspberry Ape has a whole online class on improving grip strength for BJJ/MMA. he does a bunch of wild stuff. Pressing 4 or 5 bricks together while curling them, differentiating between crush strength and other forms of hand/grip strength. looks pretty cool.
Wow they are good numbers, looking forward to see if Zercher Squats agree with me. So there’s a tolerable pain in your elbow crook or you build up a tolerance for it?
I find if I internally rotate my wrists, I can find a nice spot for the bar to lay on my forearm. My wrists are internally rotated slightly past a neutral grip. I don’t find any discomfort in working sets. Top sets might have a small amount, but it’s really not noticeable.
Raspberry Ape is a beast, I’ve seen some of that wild stuff. I think I’m going to keep it basic for now. Cycling on and off heavy carries/holds, hangs from the pull up bar, curls with Fat Gripz and the Wrist roller with the Fat Gripz.
Loooove Zerchers. But here’s the thing… your “core” will fatigue before you adequately stimulate quads / glutes. I prefer doing Zercher carries… your under / over hook game and upper body control will really benefit. Go heavy on these. Worked up to 225 for 60 feet
Good stuff… did static holds in the shortened position with rings Really helps your lock-down and grip strength. Be sure to keep a close eye on fatigue / recovery though. These things can be taxing on the CNS. I don’t think you need to cycle anything really provided your recovery is on point.
