Reps and Volume. Week 15. Bench

BW - 214 (PR)

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X4
135X3
155X2
165X12, 5

Reverse Camber Bench - 205X5, 5, 5, 4

DB Bench - 55sX12, 10, 7
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 20, 15

DB Hammer Curls - 40sX15, 10, 10

165X12 is an all-around PR for Incline, and matches a Rep PR for Flat Bench.  I had that as a back-of-mind goal for this session, and I'm happy to hit it.  The 5 reps on the 2nd set meets my goal 15+ total reps, so moving up next week.

However, the reverse camber bench was not good.  My shoulder started hurting after the 1st set, and I missed the 5th rep on set #4.  My shoulder was really achy by that point and is really achy today.  I'd settled on the hypothesis that whatever is wrong with my shoulder was only exacerbated by heavy movements that took the elbow behind the center line of my body, but that is CLEARLY not the case with this short ROM lift.  So until I get examined by a professional, I don't know what.  I'm just going to have to abandon this movement for now.  Next week, I will try some machine pressing and see what that's like.

DB Bench was okay, but felt like it could have been better if my shoulder wasn't bothering me so much.

Reps and Volume. Week 15. Squat

BW - 213

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
245X15, 5

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

GMs - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 16, 15

245X15 is a Rep PR, and together with 19+ total reps meets my goal for this weight.  Moving up to 275 next week.

Also, my 315 felt like it may have been a touch high this week, however it was ridiculously easy.  That should boost my confidence for the 315X1 going forward.

High-Bars are juuuuust starting to feel like I might need to do more reps with 225 for the volume supplement.  Since next week's jump on Low Bar from 245 to 275 is larger than normal, I'll still plan on sticking to 5X3.  That's actually the last week of this phase before I start shaping up for a beach vacation in early March.  No reason to expect to push assistance extra hard in that instance.

Back to Good-Mornings and my low back felt totally fine.  I really, really hate this movement, but it felt better today than it has in a while.  In effort to feel a good stretch in both my glutes and my hamstrings, I ended up bending my knees a bit and letting my hips move down at the "bottom" of the movement.  That seems technically incorrect, but my hips and spine felt perfectly stable/neutral, and I was able to really feel the stretch all through those two muscle groups before firing back up into the starting position.  Both areas are fairly sore today as well.

Reps and Volume. Week 14. Accessories

BW - 209

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X4
95X3
115X7, 4, 3, 1
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX10, 8, 6, 5, 6 (35 total)

DB Rows - 70sX20, 12

Machine Pullovers - X12 (upped the weight)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX15, 10
super-set with
DB Press - 45sX15, 10

DB Curls - 30sX12, 13
super-set with
Rolling Triceps - 30sX15, 12

Incline Treadmill - 15 minutes; walking

Mixed session.  115X7 is a Rep PR, and combined with 15 total reps meets my goal for this weight.  Moving up next week.

Everything else was a mix of slightly better, about the same, or slightly worse.  Weirdly, my biceps curling strength seems to be regressing.  May need to just try switching out some movements for a while.  I've been doing those same two types of curls, in the same order, on Saturdays for about 20 weeks straight.

Reps and Volume. Week 14. Squat

BW - 211

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
225X20

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

GHR - BWX10, 10
super-set with
Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 15

Incline Treadmill - 15 minutes; walking

315X1 is a one-rep PR, and 225X20 is an all-around PR!  I took last week completely off in the hopes that my low-back strain would finish healing up, and lookee!  Two big PRs.  I knew that if my back was healed that the 315 would be there for me, but I was totally surprised by the 225X20.  That was a goal I was looking at for mid-January at the earliest.  That sets my total work-set volume level for the march to 365; meaning the workweight will gradually increase and the reps decrease but the total number of sets will be dictated by matching this level of volume.

I videoed the 315X1, but didn't get the 225X20 because I wasn't expecting it:

After the two PRs, I almost just left for the day, but I still got some other work in.

225X3X5 on High-Bars all felt solid.  Don't yet feel the "need" to go  for 5X5 with that weight so I'll let it ride.

I was finally starting to truly run out of gas so I cut the hamstring/quad isolation short at 2 super-sets. Got some quick treadmill work in, and called it a day.

Reps and Volume. Week 13. Accessories

BW - 210

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X4
95X3
115X2
105X11, 6
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX10, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4 (38 total reps)

DB Rows - 65X20, 18

Machine Pullover - X15 (burn-out set)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX15, 10
super-set with
DB Press - 40sX20, 10

DB Curls - 30sX15, 12
super-set with
Rolling Triceps - 30sX15, 12

Mixed session.  105X11 is a Rep PR and together with the 17 total reps meets my goal for that weight.  Move up to 115 next week.

Because my low back strain is lingering and I haven't done my regular Deadlift day in a few weeks, I decided to replace pull-downs with DB rows for a while so that in the meantime I'm getting a more well-rounded approach to Back.

I didn't seem to have any gas left by the time I got to Arms.  Except for DB Press where the 40sX20 is an all-around PR.  However, I got less reps on everything else with the same weight as last week.

I also sat up after the last set of Rolling Triceps with the weight still over my chest, and re-aggravated my low back a bit.  Yay.  I will probably just take this entire week off from training to try and get this healed.  If arm training is going to aggravate it, what could be safe?

Reps and Volume. Week 13. Bench

BW - 206 (fuck me)

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
155X13, 5

Reverse Cambered Bench - 205X5, 5, 3, 5, 5

DB Bench - 55sX12, 10, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 17, 20

Hammer Curls - 40sX15, 14, 10, 8

Incline Treadmill - 20 minutes; walking

Good session.  155X13 is a Rep PR and only 2 off my best flat bench with that weight.

Pushed the weight up again on lock-outs with the reversed cambered bar.  That middle set of 3 is because I changed up my foot and shoulder positions simultaneously resulting in a greater ROM on the movement and also hitting the hooks at lock-out.  I corrected everything and got back to 5's.  Still, I should probably just repeat this weight next week.

Upped the reps on DB Bench and curls, and upped the weight on rear delts.

Reps and Volume. Week 13. Squat

BW - 207 (basically forgot to eat all day Sunday)

Squat -
BarX10, 10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
305X2, 1, 1
225X10

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 2

GHR - BWX10, 10, 10
super-set with
Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 15, 15

Back strain seemed almost gone, but I was still really nervous about going in to squat today.  I warmed up with empty bar low-bar and high-bar squats since high-bars seemed to aggravate the injury the most last week.  Both felt good so I went forward.  The goal for 305 was 2 reps, which I got for a Rep PR.  The goal was also 13 total reps with the weight.  I thought, "fuck it, I'll just play it safe and do it with singles."  Because of my caution I was slow at the bottom and wasn't getting much rebound.  This was making everything harder, and I felt whatever muscles are strained in my back really working hard on the 2nd single, so I decided to stop.  I did a back-off set with 225 and called it good.  Still, I'm filled with more confidence for next week, and I think it's time to go ahead and get my 315 squat done.

I re-tested High-Bars with an empty bar and they still felt good so I moved on to them.  Here I thought I would play it safe and do sets of 3 instead of the sets of 5 I'd been doing.  What I didn't do was remember that I'd been using 205!  Only after the 2nd set did I realise I'd jumped weight up that much, but decided to move forward with it.  On the last set, I hesitated a moment in the bottom on the 3rd rep and didn't feel confident I could get it back up so I let it go.  Still, these sets also worked to increase my confidence for next week.

I didn't want to tempt fate with Good Mornings, so I did some glute-hams instead and super-setted them with the single-leg work.  All good.

Reps and Volume. Week 12. Accessories

BW - 209

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X3
95X2
115X1
95X16, 8
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX12, 6, 7, 5, 5 (35 total)
and
CG Pull-Downs - X16, 15 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers - X15 (burn-out set)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX16, 13
super-set with
DB Press - 40sX16, 14

DB Curls - 30sX18, 12
super-set with
DB Rolling Triceps - 30sX18, 12

BB Curls - 50ishX15 (burn-out set)

Standing Calves - X12, 15, 12
super-set with
Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill - 20 minutes; walking

Whew, that looks like a lot.  With the super-setting, it didn't take much time, though.  And a lot of those movements only had 2-3 sets so it's not THAT much stuff.

If you actually add it up, that's 9 sets of Pressing, 8 sets of Lats, 5 sets of biceps, 2 of triceps, then 84 non-stop reps of calves.  Compare that to my last full Squat day, where I did 18 sets of squats, 3 sets of quads, and 2 of hams/glutes.  That's 25 sets vs. 23 sets.  This is a day to fill in little gaps and therefore just has more variety instead of being focused on building one specific movement.

95X16 is an all-around PR for all OHP.  Together with the total volume goal of 18+ means moving up to 105 next week.

For the calf work I'm adding in to try and take advantage of BW gains, I did these super-sets completely non-stop just going from one machine to the other.  This hurt like hell, but combined with the high-incline walking immediately afterwards, my calves finally got sore for a few days.  So this will be something I stick with.

Reps and Volume. Week 12. Squat and Bench

BW - 210

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
305X1

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
145X13, 6

Reverse Cambered Bench - 195X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 55sX11, 10, 9
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX25, 25, 25

Hammer Curls - 40sX14, 13, 11, 13

Thought I would give Squats a try even with my tweaked back.  It was dicey working up, but with a ton of sit back and keeping my shins fairly vertical, I managed to work up to a new 1 Rep PR of 305.  I went for 2, but I felt my back strain tweak a little and dumped the bar.  I stipped it down to see if I could move on to High Bars, but even with the empty bar they hurt pretty bad at the bottom of the movement, so I moved on to a bench day.

145X13, 6 beats my single-set and total volume rep goals for this weight, so I can move up to 155 next week.

Managed to eke out 5X5 with 195 on the reverse cambered bench, but it was hard as hell.  I'm going to go ahead and move up next week since I got the full 5X5, but it's getting dicey.

Upped the weight on DB Bench and the reps on Rear Delts.  Also upped the weight on hammer curls.

Reps and Volume. Week 11. Holiday Training

BW - ???

PBN (standing) -
BarX20
65X5
85X3
95X2
115X1
85X20
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX11, 8, 6, 6, 4 (35 total reps)

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
345X4 (strained back on attempted 5th)

Chest-Supported Hammer Rows -
1ppsX15
1.5ppsX12, 12, 11

Rolling Triceps -
25sX20
30sX15, 12

85X20 is the Rep PR on PBN I was looking for before moving up to work-sets with 95.  It seems a lot easier to get these standing vs. seated.  Some of that is that I find it awkward to unrack the bar by myself on the PBN bench, and sometimes the bar hits the pins as well.  May just try to do them standing from now on.

Since I was back home for Thanksgiving, I was just going to work up to a single set of my next tier working-weight with Deadlifts.  I thought maybe a triple or a set of 4.  When I got the 4th rep, I decided to go for a 5th which would have been a PR.  Strained something in my lower or mid-back on the attempt.  That's two Thanksgivings in a row where I've injured my back in the gym.  I'm blaming air-travel and the guest bed at my parents house.

So I was completely on track for some big Squat PR's over the next couple of weeks, and that will probably be de-railed while my back heals up.  I'll go in for squatting and see how it feels, but will absolutely not push it.  If anything feels even unusually tight, I'll just make this a bench focus week, hahahaha.

Reps and Volume. Week 11. Squat

BW - 211

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
295X3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

GMs - 135X13, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 18, 15

Good session.  295X3 is a Rep PR and, along with 14 total reps, my goal for that weight.  I'll move up to 305 after Thanksgiving, and everything looks on track to hit 315 next month and start working towards my next squat (and other lift) goals.

All the assistance was good.  135X13 is a Rep PR on GMs, and I pushed up the reps on the single-leg work.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Bench

BW - 208

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
135X15, 6

Reverse Cambered Bench - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX16, 14, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 20

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 12

Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill Walking - 20 minutes

Wasn't able to hit bench on my regular day, and will be traveling this week, so I got it in on Saturday instead.

135X15 and for >18 total reps meets that goal, so I move up to 145 next time.  Shoulder feels terrible for the first several reps with the empty bar, but by the time I get into the high-teens/low-20s with it everything feels okay and I can do the rest of the programmed day.

Bumped the lockout/triceps work up to 185 for 5X5.  I'll move up to 195 next time.  My thinking with these right now is:  We've got a pin-press bench at the gym.  If I can take this lockout work up to 225 for 5X5 with the cambered bar, then I will move that weight over to the pin-bench and try to stay at that weight while gradually increasing the ROM with ever-lower pins.  All other things being equal, the pin-presses should be easier than the reverse cambered bar.  With the bar, the pad on the camber sort of makes you pause the reps because of the way it sinks into you.  At the same time, you have to keep really tight to stabilize the bar so it doesn't roll forwards or backward on your chest.  With the pin-presses you can actually stop the bar on the pins without having to keep it stable.  Anyway, hopefully this will work out and I can take the pin presses with some good weight down at least to the point where my elbows come even with my center-line.  That seems to be the threshold beyond which ROM starts to aggravate the shoulder.

DB Bench was solid.  Bumped the reps up well past where they've been the last two sessions.  Need to get these to 60-65s for 15-20 to be back in the range of my best DB benching.  If I can do that after Inclines and volume lock-out work, I will feel pretty happy about it.

As my bodyweight is going up, I've been toying with the idea of some direct calf work to add some extra intensity work onto the volume I'm getting by walking around with an increased load.  Tried seated calves followed by incline treadmill on this day, but my calves didn't have any soreness or DOMS.  That's not the be-all-end-all, but I would expect some DOMS for a muscle group/movement pattern I haven't trained directly in a long time.  If I'm gonna do this, I may need to hit it harder and with more variety.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Deadlift

BW - 207

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
275X2
315X1
335X5, 5, 4

RDL - 185X15, 12, 12

DB Rows - 65X20, 18, 15

Single-Leg Curls - X16, 20, 12 (long break between 1st and 2nd sets)

So 335X5 is a Rep PR, and I did it for 2 sets.  This is my 2nd highest all-time, perceived 1RM, as well.  The highest was 345X4.  I stopped at 4 on my 3rd set because a mistake on my program sheet showed 14 total reps for the day, but it should have been 16.  You know what?  Since I got a Rep PR and then the same # of reps on the 2nd set, I'm going to call that good and go ahead and move up next week!

Had some chalk today so I didn't use straps on the RDLs.  This actually limited me on the 2nd and 3rd sets.  I even when mixed grip on the 3rd set.  I may start strapping up on the last set or two of these to make sure I'm getting the hamstring and glute work I want without being limited by weakened grip strength from all the deadlifting beforehand.

Chest-Supported Rows were all occupied so I busted out some one-arm DB Rows.  Easily matched a previous PR of 65X20.

Hung out between the 1st and 2nd set of single-leg curls talking to the strongest guy in the gym.  He talked to me about the bottoms-up squats he was doing (worked up to singles at 515 while I was there), a push-pull meet he'd just done and some other powerlifting discussion.  Nice guy.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Bench Accessory

BW - 207

DB Incline -
30sX25
45sX20
50sX12, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 15, 15

Rolling DB Triceps - 25sX12, 12, 12

Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 12


Wouldn't have been able to get to the gym last night or tonight for my regular Bench session.  Instead of pushing it back, I hit some accessory work at the office gym to keep myself on schedule.

I've got the wife starting to do Rolling DB's in her workouts as push-up accessory, and I realized I hadn't done them in forever.  Fun movement to switch up with.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
285X5, 3, 2, 2, 2

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

GM's - 135X10, 10, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 16, 14 (straight-weight; same as last week)

Good session.  285X5 was my goal, and 4 reps more than I've done with this weight.  I also got my total volume goal of 14 reps, but it was a slog.

5X5 volume sets on High-Bars were fine.  I could possibly consider bumping up to 215 here, but the volume sets on low bar are only going to get harder next week with 295, so we'll have to see.  I stayed at 185 on those for 6 weeks even though it got easy, and my low bar kept going up.  No need to go nuts on the accessory work as long as the main lift is still moving, right?

Good Mornings are still brutal, but this session felt like a bit of progress as I started contemplating a Rep PR with 135 on the 2nd set.  The thing that makes them so hard is that my eccentric is agonizingly slow because I'm working so hard to keep my back flat while I push my butt back.  And I wait until I feel the bar weight shift fully onto the back of my traps and off of my delts before I drive back up.  It ends up being a 3-4 second tempo on the eccentric.

Pushed the reps up on single-leg work a bit this week.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Accessories

BW - 203

PBN -
BarX20
65X4
85X3
95X2
115X1
85X17, 6
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX17, 10, 7, 5 (35 total)
and
CG Pull-downs - X15, 10, 8 (straight-weight; more weight than last week)

Machine Pullovers - X14 (same weight as last week)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX17, 12
super-set with
DB OHP - 40sX15, 12

DB Curls - 30sX13, 12
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X15

Had to catch a bus, so cut the session a tad short at the end.

Pressing strength was a little bit off this week from last week.  Probably just one of those things, but to be sure, I'm adding DB Pressing back in on this day instead of the DB Laterals I did last week.

On most everything else, I was able to up the weight and/or reps over last week.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
275X2
315X1
335X2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

RDL - 185X15, 15, 15

Chest-Supported Rows - 90X15, 13, 11, 10

Single-Leg Curls - X15, 15, 10

Made a mistake on my notes for the day, and only thought I needed 14 reps at 335, but it was supposed to be 16.  Oh well, I could have gotten another set, and I was planning on staying at this weight next week anyway and just upping the reps-per-set.  Might like to start working toward 4X4 at this weight before moving up again.

Been awhile since I was able to fit in RDL.  The reps and volume were there much stronger than the last time I was doing these regularly.  That's a little surprising because my top end Deadlift strength has been off, and I thought it was because I hadn't been getting heavy hamstring and glute work in, so now I'm not sure.  The one caveat here is that I didn't have any chalk today, and so I strapped up for these.  It's possible that grip strength may have been limiting me on these more than I previously thought.  Regardless, as long as I'm pulling a bunch of volume sets on DL, I don't see any reason not to stay with straps for these for awhile and make sure I'm really getting the most work on the back of my legs.

Rows felt stronger, and single-leg curls continue to suck all the ass.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Bench

BW - 206

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
125X17, 8

Reverse Camber Bench - 175X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX13, 12, 11
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 20

Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 11

Bench Dips - BWX20, 25, 15

Dumb, dumb, dumb.  After I got done with Hammer Curls, I had 20+ minutes till the bus was swinging around so I thought "I wonder if Dips still hurt my shoulder since I haven't been BB Benching?"  And then I thought, "I'll try it out on bench dips since it reduces my bodyweight."  Great.  And look I got a lot of reps in.  However the bench dip forces the elbows to stay behind the body the entire time since you can't get any forward lean.  That meant my shoulder was in a more extreme position throughout the movement, and TA-DA!  My shoulder feels like shit today.

While I'm most mad that I'm dealing with this pain now, I'm intellectually pissed off that I muddied the data to see if this programming would have allowed me to progress on Inclines relatively pain-free. At best, I won't be able to look at that from a reset point for at least 2 weeks.

Whatever.

Incline was fine.  Shoulder was a bit wonky when I started the empty bar warm-ups, but I just kept pressing the empty bar until it felt better.  125X17 and 20 total reps was my goal for this weight.

Last week on the reverse cambered bar, I worked up to 175X5 for 3 sets.  Upped that to 5X5 this week.  Will look to push the 5X5 weight from here.  Last week doing these for the first time, the DOMS were located primarily right above my elbow which was a new experience for triceps work for me.

R/P'd the Hammer Curls to more reps.

Stupid, dumb bench dips.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3, 3
275X7, 2, 3, 3

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

275X7 is a +2 Rep PR, and an all around PR.  I stalled out on repping 275 in late Feb./early March before moving my focus to conditioning and fat loss for the spring and summer.  I'd been looking forward to working my way back up to the day when I could go for this one again.  I felt good walking into the gym, and the initial warm-ups felt good.  The 1st set of 225X3 didn't feel awesome, so I took a 2nd set and it felt good.  I needed 6 reps for a PR with 275.  The 6th rep didn't feel too slow, to I took a 7th, slower rep.  I also took some video for the first time in a while, and I see that I'm knee caving pretty hard.  That will be something to keep focused on, but I'm very happy to get this 275 goal well out of the way so I can continue the march to 315.

I also upped the weight on my High-Bar "volume" sets.  I didn't know if I'd be able to get 5X5 at the increased weight after all the heavy sets of Low Bar.  Feel good about those.

Now that my schedule has freed up and I can Squat and Deadlift on different days again, I'm able to add GM's back to squat day.  I hate GMs.  But I've felt a lot of soreness in my glutes after lower body days lately, and so I know I need to get some of this kind of work back in.

Was able to push reps on single-leg work a bit, as well.  Just one of those days where you're able to push on everything.

Reps and Volume. Week 8. Accessories

BW - 204

PBN -
BarX20
65X4
85X3
95X2
115X1
85X18, 8
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX13, 8, 9 (30 total reps)
and
CG Pull-Downs - X17, 12, 10, 8 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers - X12 (more weight than last week)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX16, 12, 9
super-set with
DB Side Laterals - 20sX18, 17, 12

DB Curls - 30sX12, 12, 12
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X22, 16, 14 (straight-weight)

BB Curls - BarX17

85X18 is a Rep PR for PBN.  That PR rep was a grinder, though.

Chin-up strength is holding steady for a 2nd week.  Time to push total reps up to 35, I think.

Really pushed myself on the biceps work today.  A lot of R/P to get extra reps in.

Reps and Volume. Week 8. Bench

BW - 209

Incline -
BarX20
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
115X21, 10

Reverse Cambered Bar Bench -
135X5
155X5
175X5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX14, 11, 10
super-set with
Bent Over Flyes - 25sX20, 20, 14

Hammer Curls - 35sX15, 14, 11, 10

Trying to find a way to work some benching back in without aggravating my shoulder too badly, and this is my first shot at that.

115X20+ was my target for that weight, so I'll move up to 125 next session.

We've got a cambered bench bar at my gym that's meant for extreme range of motion benching.  I used it myself for that a lot last winter to try and build strength off the chest.  It's got a foam pad taped to the camber that sinks into your chest and naturally "suggests" a pause at the bottom when you use it.  I'm flipping it around and using it for partials to work triceps strength at lock-out.  That's some geared-style stuff that I've never considered doing before, but since I can't do full ROM barbell benching without aggravating my shoulder for a week+, I'm just trying to get something in.

And despite all the OHP I've been doing, this movement told me how weak I've gotten in the flat bench.  Last winter, I was doing full ROM bench with 175X10, 185X8, 195X6, and 205X4.  These 175X5 sets were all grinders to lock-out.  Anyway, my initial thought is to see if I can push the weight on these up closer to 200+.  Then we've got a pin-bench at the gym, and I can switch over to that and try to start hitting the same numbers on ever lower pins, and see how that works out.

Oh, and yes.  My shoulder does feel a little crappy a day later.

Reps and Volume. Week 8. Deadlift

BW - 206

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X3
315X1
365X1
325X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2

Chest-Supported Rows -
50X10
70X12
95X10, 10, 10

Single-Leg Curls - X15, 15, 10

Things are not going well on Deadlift.  That 365X1 was the heaviest it's been in a loooong time.  After this week, I'll be able to go back to Squatting and Deadlifting on different days, and also be able to do a little more DL specific accessory work, namely RDL's.  I'll give that a few weeks to see if it gets things back on track.

Reps and Volume. Week 7. More Accessories

BW - 202

Horizontal Leg Press -
Warm-Up - X12, 15
Work-Sets - X15, 15, 15, 15, 20 (straight-weight)

super-set with

Leg Curls - X20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

super-set with

Machine Rows -
Warm-Ups - X15, 15
Work-Sets - X15, 15, 15, 15, 13 (straight-weight)

Tech rehearsals started this week, so no way to make it to the regular gym until the weekend.  Since I didn't get my regular accessory day in until Sunday, I didn't want to do the usual office gym pressing work-out becuase there's a lot of redundency with Acessory day.  Instead I did some Deadlift-specific accessory work.  These were non-stop giant-sets.  Good BB workout.

Reps and Volume. Week 7. Accessories

BW - 203

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X3
95X2
115X1
85X16, 8
super-set with
Chins - BWX12, 10, 8 (!!!!)
and
Pull-Downs (Neutral, CG) - X15, 12, 12, 10 (straight weight; more weight than last week)

Machine Pullovers - X16 (more weight than last week)

Reverse-Grip Preacher Curls -
50ishX18, 12
40ishX15
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX20, 15, 12

DB Curls - 25sX20, 12, 12
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X22, 20, 18

BB Curls - 40ishX12, 12

I dropped back on the work-weight on PBN.  I was getting ahead of myself, as I usually like to hit a 20 rep target before I start moving up.  Not being able to get 20 reps with 85 shows that I still need to do that work first.

I don't know WTF was going on with chins today.  I'm confident I wasn't cutting them high, or kipping or anything.  I've never gotten double-digit reps on a 2nd set of chin-ups EVER.  And then to go well over 5 on the 3rd set is just mind-boggling.  I'm sure it will be a one-off, hahahah.

Still, since I only did one AMAP set of pullovers last week, and then had an awesome chin-up day this week, I figured I'd roll with that.  I upped the weight by one plate and still got one more rep than last week.  These and the pulldowns are all very controlled reps with a squeeze at peak contraction and a pause at full extension.

Upped the weight on the reverse curls as well, and got good reps on most everything else.

All-in-all a good session.

Reps and Volume. Week 7. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
265X7, 4, 4

High-Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
185X3
225X3
275X3
315X3
325X3

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

Good session.  265X7 and for 15 total reps was my goal for this weight.  7 reps also ties a PR from earlier this year.  I had to really gut out a few reps on the 2nd and 3rd sets to get 4 reps on each set.  Wiped me out a little bit for High-Bars and Deadlifts.

Still not sure if it's time to move up to 325 on Deadlift day yet.  May stick at 315 on the next Volume Deadlift day.

Reps and Volume. Week 7. Press (Office Gym)

BW - 202

Machine Press -
Warm-Ups - X10, 8, 6
Work-Sets - X15, 12, 10, 8 (straight-weight; same as last week)

DB Incline - 45sX13, 10, 10
super-set with
Reverse Machine Flyes - X20, 20, 18 (straight-weight; same as last week)

Rope Curls - X25, 20, 20 (straight-weight; increased from last week0
super-set with
DB Incline Flyes (pronated) - 15sX20, 20, 20

Rope OH Extensions - X20

Good session, I managed to push up either reps or weight on every single movement.  Unlike last week, my shoulders and upper pec area feel a bit sore the next day.

Made good time, so added one AMAP set of overhead extensions.

Reps and Volume. Week 6. Accessories

BW - 201

Seated PBN -
BarX20
65X8
85X5
95X3
115X2
125X1
95X12, 5
super-set with
Chins - BWX10, 7, 5, 6, 4
and
CG Pull-downs - X19, 13, 10 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers - X15 (burn-out set)

RG Preacher Curls - 40ishX22, 15
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX20, 18

DB Curls - 25sX20, 15
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X16, 15

BB Curl - 40ishX13, 12

Lots of time and energy today.  The machine-only press workouts I've been getting in at the office gym have stopped giving me any DOMS in my shoulders even though I'm going after it hard.  So I decided to add in some barbell PBN in addition to the DB OHP on accessory day and see what happens.

By the time I got done with chins and pulldowns, my lats were already on fire.  So instead of doing 3-4 sets of pullovers, I decided to drop the weight a tad and do one set to failure.  As I was only able to get 15 reps with a relatively light weight, I think that was a fine choice.

Everything else went fine.

Reps and Volume. Week 6. Deadlift

BW - 207 (including 2 slices of deep dish)

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X3
185X3
225X3
265X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X3
315X1
365X1
315X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2

T-Bar Rows -
45X10
70X10
80X10
90X8
100X8
110X8

Single-Leg Curls - X12, 12, 10

Things felt a little heavy today.  Maybe I over-ate heading into the gym.

265X3 warm-up on Squat was do-able, but I would have been hard pressed to hit the 265X7 I'm targeting for the next full Squat session.

I got all the Deadlift volume I wanted with 315 (17 total reps), but this was not easy.  I'll have to decide if I want to repeat this next DL session, or move up to 325 (maybe for doubles).

Since I added Squat, I needed to drop either RDL or Chest-Supported Rows.  I decided to keep rows in, but go with free-standing T-Bars since my low back hadn't taken the usual hit from DL+RDL.

Reps and Volume. Week 6. Press (Office Gym)

BW - 201

Machine Shoulder Press -
Warm-ups - X12, 10, 10
Work-Sets - X12, 12, 10, 8 (straight-weight, same as last week)

DB Incline - 45sX12, 11, 10
super-set with
Machine Reverse Flyes - X15, 15, 18 (straight-weigh, more than last week)

Rope Curls - X37, 20, 20, 20 (straight-weight, same as last week)
super-set with
DB Flyes (pronated) - 15sX20, 15, 15, 15

Reps and Volume. Week 5. Accessories

BW - 205

Chins - BWX10, 6, 5, 5, 4 (30 total reps)

CG Pulldowns - X16, 10, 10 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers- X15, 12, 10 (straight-weight)

RG Preacher-Curls - 40ishX22, 15, 12
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX25, 14, 10

DB Biceps Curls - 25sX15, 15, 14
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X16, 15, 13 (straight-weight)

BB Curls - 40ishX20, 15, 16

Ate a giant burrito beforehand, which accounts for the big BW jump.  May have cut into my chin-up reps a bit, but that's kind of beside the point as long as I get my volume in.  After the chins, got a pretty good BB session in.

BB Curls were "40ish" because I just slapped a 10 on either side of an EZ curl bar and grabbed it wide-grip out to the collars where it's a straight bar.

Reps and Volume. Week 5. Squat

BW - 202

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
255X9, 5, 3

High-Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
135X3
185X3
225X3
275X3
315X3

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15, 12

First session with the modification to Squat/Deadlift on the same day; alternating which one is heavy each week.

Squats went well.  255X9 and for 16 total reps met both my goals for this weight, so I'll move up to 265 next Squat day.  For my light Squats next time, I will probably work up to 265X3-4.  Maybe just triples all the way up.

High-Bars were bothering the outside of my left hip a bit.  That area had felt tender since my last squat session.  I think I might have been pushing me knees out too hard at the bottom of this lift.  On the later sets here, I started controlling my descent a bit more and making sure my knees just stayed over my toes, and the discomfort subsided.

I'll be doing triples with 315 for volume next week, so I just worked up to one triple here.  That seemed like plenty as I was getting pretty gassed from squatting.

Reps and Volume. Week 5. Press (Office Gym)

BW - 198

Machine Press -
Warm-Ups - X10, 8, 6
Work-Sets - X12, 12, 10, 8 (straight-weight, increased over last week)

DB Incline - 45sX12, 10, 10
super-set with
Machine Reverse Flyes - X20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Rope Hammer Curls - X30, 20, 20, 20
super-set with
DB Incline Flyes - 15sX20, 18, 18, 18

Went a little heavier on some stuff this week with only a slight step-back in reps.

Decided to try Incline flyes instead of overhead triceps.  Chest isn't getting much work lately with the bench/shoulder issues.  I did incline because I want to see what the effect is if I keep my grip at a similar angle to the DB Incline Bench.  I'm thinking a little more shoulder involvement that may help with the OHP and Incline work down the road.  Also, a minor change for fun.

Reps and Volume. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 197

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
305X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2

RDL -
185X12, 12, 10

BB Rows -
175X6
155X7
135X8

Single-Leg Curls - X20, 15, 12 (ascending weight)

Tough session at a big-box gym.  Stop-Sign shaped plates are the worst for Deadlifting.  Nevertheless, I target triples with 305, and 17 total reps, and I got them.

I was planning on using this commercial chain as my "away" gym for the next couple of months while I rehearse and perform a new show, but the bastards tried to pull a bait and switch on me.  I called them on Monday and told them I was looking for their monthly rate.  They said they didn't have one, but they had 2 months for $70 total and no sign-up fee and that I could use the membership at any location outside of downtown.  That would have worked great for me because they have locations near the rehearsal space and the performance space, and two months would have covered me through the run of my show.  Like I said, that was on Monday.  I went in on Saturday to sign up, and they said, "Oh, that deal ended in September."  Ohhhh-kay, well what's available now?  "The best we can do now is $49.95 to sign up, then $39.95 a month."  So, that's $130 for 2 months as opposed to the $70 you told me on the phone (and didn't mention it would run out a day after you quoted it).  "I guess if you want to think of it that way."  Well.  Here's my $15 for a single day rate, and I will find someplace else for the future.

Anyway, I may try to do without an "away" gym this time around.  If I Squat and Deadlift on the same day, and alternate which one is heavy each week, I can probably get by doing that at my regular gym on the weekend, and just doing Upper-Body Body-Building stuff at the office gym during the week.  It's not like I can Bench heavy with my shoulder anyway.

Reps and Volume. Week 4. Press (Office Gym)

BW - 197 (sketchy office gym scale)

Machine Press -
Warm-Ups - X10, 8
Work-Sets - X15, 12, 12, 10 (straight-weight)

DB Incline -
50sX10
35sX15, 13
super-set with
Machine Reverse Flyes - X15, 15, 22 (straight-weight)

Rope Overhead Extensions - X15, 16, 12, 10 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Rope Hammer Curls - X30, 25, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Still feeling the schedule crunch this week, so I got in a session of Overhead BB style work at the office gym.

Solid session.

Only thing to really note is that I've never done OH Rope Extensions and they seemed much harder at the same weight than Rope Pushdowns.  Interesting.

Reps and Volume. Week 4. Squat

BW - 201

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
245X10, 3, 3

High Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good-Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15

Good session back after taking a week off from barbell work.

245X10, and for 16 total reps meet my goals for that weight, so I can move up to 255 next week.

Everything else was fine.

Off Week. Full Body, Machine Day

BW - 198

Leg Press Machine -
Warm-Up - X15, 10, 15
Work-Sets - X15, 15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Machine Shoulder Press -
Warm-Up - X10, 10
Work-Sets - X12, 12, 10, 10 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Reverse Machine Flyes - X20, 20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Machine Chest-Supported Rows -
Work-Sets - X15, 12, 12, 10 (increased weight between sets 2 and 3)
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X20, 20, 20, 20 (increase weight between sets 1 and 2)

Rope Hammer Curls - X20, 20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

My schedule was all fucked up this week as I'm closing one show while I started rehearsals for another.  I need some time between work and rehearsals to work on my script, so I took most of the week off.

At the last minute, I decided to hop down to the office gym and get a full-body, body-building workout on the machines down there.  Worked up a good sweat with all the super-setting, and I expect to be fairly sore in places over the next few days.  Decent session.

Reps and Volume. Week 4. Accessories

BW - 197 (suspicious office gym scale)

Chins - BWX13, 6, 6, 5 (30 total reps)

Pulldowns - X20, 15, 12 (straight weight)

Straight-Arm Pulldowns - X20, 15, 12 (straight weight)

Reverse Grip Preacher Machine - X15, 12 (straight weight)
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX18, 10

DB Curls - 25sX15, 12
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X25, 20 (ascending weight)

Cable Curls - X21 (burn-out set)

Real good BB session at the office gym.  First set of chins felt really strong.

I may have had an interesting breakthrough on pulldowns.  The machine at this gym is one of the fake iso-laterals where the one cable attached to the weight splits into two and goes to some rope-ish handles.  While trying to find the right groove with this awkward thing, I started allowing my elbows to travel more forward throughout the movement as opposed to out to the sides.  Kind of like a combo pull-down/pull-over.  This really seemed to start making my lats burn.  Something I'll definitely keep in mind and see if I can replicate it with more traditional pulldown machines.

Reps and Volume. Week 3. Squat and Bench

BW - 200

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
245X6, 4, 3, 3 (terrible)

High-Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
135X12, 8, 3

CG Bench - 135X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5

My schedule is all jerked around this week, so I tried combining Squat and Bench into one day.

Squat was pretty terrible.  I got 235X13 last week, but could only get 245X6 this week.  Oh well, at least I added the volume control to make sure that I get around the same amount of total work-set volume each week.

High-Bar sets were fine.

Bench was also pretty shitty, but mostly because my shoulder started hurting on the empty bar warm-up.  It started to feel a little better as things went along, but between the shoulder and the fatigue from squatting, it was a blah day for bench.

I did manage to up another tail-end set of CG bench to 5 reps.  Actually the first few sets of CGX3 felt stronger than the last set of regular benchX3.  Interesting...

Reps and Volume. Week 3. Accessories

BW - 199

Chin-ups - BWX11, 6, 5, 5, 4 (32 total)

CG Pull-Downs - X18, 12, 10 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers - X15, 10, 8 (straight-weight)

RG Preacher Curls - 40ishX17, 14
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX25, 14

DB Curls - 25sX15, 15
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X18, 15 (straight-weight)

BB Curls - BarX21

Tried switching up the order of the lat work.  The original Pullover/Chins/Pulldowns progression was inspired by reading about Dorian Yates back training.  But I'm not Dorian Yates, and I felt like the trade-off of pre-fatiguing the lats to make them work harder on the chins wasn't worth the drastic reduction in reps per set on chins.  Thought I'd try treating chin-ups more like a power movement for a while by placing them first.

Reps and Volume. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 197

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
295X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 185X12, 12, 12

Chest-Supported Rows - 50X10, 9, 7

Single-Leg Curls -
35X20
45X20, 15

Good session.  I decided I needed to up my volume on Deadlift work-sets.  I realized I'd been working off of a goal of 365 instead of 405.  So the goal here was 6X3 which I got, no problem.  Now I have to decide whether to stay at this weight and up the reps per set, or move up in weight.  I suspect I will move up, because I could have kept doing triple here a while longer.

Added 2 reps to all sets of RDL.  This was hard freakin' work, though.

Chest-supported rows are so humbling.  This weight was actually harder this week than last.  Because of the increased Deadlift volume?

Still digging this plate-loaded hamstring machine at Quads.

Reps and Volume. Week 3. Press

BW - 197

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X5
95X4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5

DB Incline - 45sX12, 10, 10

Cable High Row -
Warm-Up - X20
Work-Sets - X13*, 20, 9 (ascending weight)

French Press - 40ishX40, 35, 12, 14

Doing this every other week instead of benching, along with some other mobility/PT stuff, to see if I can get my left shoulder to STFU.

I'd been doing 8-10 sets of 3 with 95 on PBN the last few months instead of benching.  Going to keep it at 8 sets and try to slowly push the reps per set up starting from the end.  So here I did 7X4 and then 1X5.  That 1X5 was difficult but doable.  Next time, I'll try 6X4 and 2X5, etc.  When I'm doing 8X5, I'll up the weight.

Had to pull way back on the DB Incline after all that Pressing volume.  I did 50sX23 just a few weeks ago.

I thought about doing the same Reverse Pec Deck that I'm doing on the Bench day, but I thought the lighter overall weights that I'm handling here gave me the opportunity to do something slightly heavier for Back.  Decided I wanted to go with High Rows since the recovery shouldn't really negatively impact Deadlifting a couple days later, and it gives a slightly different stimulus than the other back work I've got on the program.
*...Unfortunately they don't have a high-row machine at my regular gym, so I had to set up at a high-cable station.  I took a shot at trying them with just a lean back, but when I got to my work-sets, I was expending a lot of energy just keeping myself in position on the first set.  So I stuck a DB bench up against the cable stack and was able to brace my foot against that.  The jump from 13 reps to 20 reps was with the same weight; just with the different bracing.  TMI.

Triceps were extended repeatedly overhead.

Reps and Volume. Week 2. Squat

BW - 197

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
235X13, 5

High Bar - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X18, 15

235X13 is an all-around PR.  Beats my phase goal for reps, with the 2nd set of X5 it meets my required volume.  Moving up to 245 next week.

Volume sets of High Bar were a bit harder after the Low Bar sets.  It will be interesting to see how these feel as the Rep sets on Low Bar continue to get heavier.

Good Mornings felt slightly better this week.  Slightly.

Dat Quad Pump.

Reps and Volume. Week 2. Accessories

BW - 200

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-ups X15, 20
Work-sets X15, 13

Chins - BWX7, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 (31 total)

Close-Grip Pulldowns - X20, 13, 12

EZ Bar, Reverse Grip, Preacher Curls - 40ishX18, 12
super-set with
DB Press - 35sX18, 10

DB Curls - 25sX12, 10
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X20, 20

BB Curls - 50X15, 12, 9

I little out of gas from a busier than expected day.  Also at the 'away' gym, so it took an extra warm-up set here and there to find the right working weight.

Reps and Volume. Week 2. Bench

BW - 197

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
135X15, 8, 4

CG Bench - 135X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5

Incline (45 deg.)-
115X8
95X12, 8

Rear Delt Machine -
X20, 20, 20, 20, 17 (ascending weight)
X30 (back-off)

Hammer Curls - 30sX18, 14, 11

Shoulder is getting really angry again, really quickly.  I'm going to try alternating flat bench with OHP week-to-week.  And probably start looking at some PT.

Despite that, I still made a good jump in reps on my first set from last week, and also managed to meet my volume goal in only 2 sets.  I threw a 3rd set in to ice the cake (and maybe that kind of behaviour contributes to my shoulder problems).

On close-grips I bumped the reps on the 2nd to last set up to 5.  This might be a fun way to go: seeing if I can add reps/set starting with the last set and moving backwards every session.

I was at my 'away' gym, and their incline benches are more standard incline so I tried upping the weight on the first set, but that was not awesome.  Backed off for the next two, and that was fine.

This gym has a really nice dedicated rear delt machine like this one.  The chest pad is at a good height, and instead of grabbing handles, it's got roller pads at elbow distance.  So you're only using your upper arms on the moment and there's not stress from the elbow to the hands.  Really easy to feel the muscles back there and focus on making them work with this one.  Also, last week my shoulder started bothering me on the reverse flye, but there was zero pain in my shoulder with this one.  Maybe because the lower arm being free allows the shoulder to rotate during the movement instead of locking it into a fixed plane of motion?

Upped weight on hammer curls.  That's really the body just getting accustomed to the programming, I think.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
225X14, 5

High Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15

225X14 ties my Rep PR, and meets my phase goal for this weight.  I also met my volume goal of 18+ total reps.  So next week I move up to 235 and shoot for one set of 12+, and 17+ total reps.

5X5 with 185 was very do-able here.  I might stick with it again next week, and then consider upping the weight slightly.  The idea here is just to get extra, quad-dominant volume.  Not trying to beat any rep or volume records here at this point.

Good Mornings were much harder than I expected.  Last time I did these, I did sets of 10 with 145.  I'll definitely be sitting with 135 for awhile and trying to push the reps up on that.

The High-Bar volume did the trick, because my quads were fried by the time I got to single-leg extensions.  These were all done with one, single plate, and I still could barely get the final reps on each set/leg.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Accessories

BW - 195 (!?!?!)

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up - X13
Work-sets - X15, 10, 8 (straight-weight)

Chin-Ups (V-Handle) - BWX8, 5, 6, 5, 4, 4 (32 total reps)

Pull-Downs (Double-D Handle) - X18, 15, 10 (straight-weight)

EZ Bar, Reverse Grip, Preacher Curls - 40ishX20, 15
super-set with
DB OHP - 35sX20, 15

DB Curls - 25sX15, 13
super-set with
Rope Push-Downs - X20, 18

BB Curls - 45X20, 15

So I opened a new show last week.  I took the week leading up to opening off from training, and I took most of this last week off from tracking my diet.  Somehow over that time, basically 8/15 - 9/1, I lost a solid 5 lbs. of BW.  The first couple times I weighed myself last week and I was at 198 and 197, I thought it might be just a fluke, but now I've gotten consistently lighter over the last week of resuming training and NOT being strict with my diet.  I'm going to assume I've just been casually under-eating.  I'm upping my target daily intake by 250 calories for this phase, so I'll have to buckle down and make sure I'm getting enough food going forward.

Still...my abs are showing pretty well...

Anyway, adding back in a 4th day of body-building style training basically the same as what I did in my Strength and Hypertrophy phases from earlier in the year.  The genesis for this comes from Brandon Lilly's CUBE method.

I'm about 3 plates down from where I was at on Pullovers in early spring.  I expect that strength to rebound quickly once my body gets used to the movement again.

With chins, I'm still just targeting 30+ reps in the fewest sets possible.  On the last phase, I got that down to 4 sets.  After the pullovers, it took me 6 sets here.  I'll be working to try and get it back down to 4 sets.

Supersetting biceps work with Bench accessory.  I think 35sX20 is actually a Rep PR for DB OHP.  I don't really track Rep PRs for movements like that, just Proj.1RM PRs.  Pretty sure about this one though.  Seems like all that PBN volume may have helped out.

Only 2 sets of push-downs, but my triceps were really fucking sore after about 36 hours.  Good stuff.

The idea with finishing with empty bar curls was to just do one burn-out set, but when I only got to 20 reps, I thought I should add another.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 197

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
285X5, 5, 5

RDL - 185X10, 10, 10

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - Bar+50X10, 9, 7

Single-Leg Curls - X20, 20, 12 (ascending weight)

Solid session.  285X5 isn't really close to a PR (I've hit 295X8 before), however the 2nd and 3rd sets were harder than I expected!  I took last week off from training and tracking my diet, and my BW had a big dip as a result.  I tried to eat up for this session though [shrug].

RDLs felt good considering I haven't done them after Deads in a while.

Decided to try some chest-supported T-Bars for a bit.  I've always hated these because I have trouble getting set-up so that breathing isn't a chore.  I played around with it a bit and got to a place that was a little better.  The one at Quads (my 'away' gym right now) is a little more aggressive looking than most, but I have no idea if the bar and handles weigh any more than an average one.  Whatever the case, I definitely didn't need to be work with anything heavier than two 25s.

Quads also has plate-loaded leg machines, which are cool.  So I did single-legs on a plate-loaded, seated machine.  Went 25, 35, 45.  Haven't done hamstring iso's in a while, and I forgot how much I hate that crampy-tickly feeling of starting to do leg-curls again.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Bench

BW - 198

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
135X12, 8, 5

CG Bench - 135X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5

Incline (steep) - 95X10, 8, 7

Reverse Pec Deck - X20, 20, 20, 15

Hammer Curls - 25sX20, 18, 15

First time benching in 3 months.  Went well during the session, but my shoulder wasn't happy about it later.  I may just push through and see what happens after a few weeks.

I wasn't totally sure how I wanted to approach this as I came in.  I went mostly by instinct, and I'm pretty happy with what I ended up doing.  I'll probably make this the bench template for the coming weeks.

Started off with regular bench.  Did a very light over warm-up, and then repped out 135.  My goal is 20.  PRs will start at 18.  I also want a total of 23+reps on the work sets with 135.  Everyone's talking about volume these days, and it's something I'm going to start tracking closely.

After regular bench, I decided to do endless triples of close-grip with my regular grip working weight.  This is some Paul Carter inspired stuff.  It started off ridiculously easy, but get a bit tougher towards the end.  Still, I was able to hit 5 reps on my 8th set.  Will probably move down to 6X4 next week and just start pushing these up.  When I can do 8X5 with confidence, I will up the weight.

Moved over to the gym's steeper Incline bench next and did 3 sets of AMAP with 95.  It is what it is, and this is what it is right now.

Finished off with some rear delts (which is when my shoulder started feeling bad again weirdly) and then some light biceps.  I'll be doing more thorough biceps work on a different training day.

Deadlift and Chins

BW - 200

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
285X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
315X1
335X1
345X0

Chins - BWX12, 8, 6, 4 (30 total)

Needed to get in and get out, so I pared Full Body down to Deads and Chins.

Added an extra set of 285X3 and then took a shot at Paul Carter's Fatigue Singles again.  Big difference after the volume work.  To be clear, he does not recommend what I did here, which is the over-warm-up, then volume sets, then singles again.  I just wanted to see what it was like.

Got to 30 reps on Chins in only 4 sets.  That may be a personal best.  Definitely the best I've done in the last few months.

Full Body. Week 5. Press

BW - 200

High Bars -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X5
185X15

Fronts - 135X12, 10

BB Rows -
135X8
175X12, 6, 8

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X5
95X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5

Solid session.

I thought it might be good to start adding Front Squats in again.  I've gotten relatively good at High Bar (hit 250X5 last week, while my Low Bar EDM is around 285), but I know Fronts still suck for me.  Still, I decided to start off with High Bar and then use Fronts for back-off sets.  Just what I felt like doing.

Oh, and I guess 135X12 is technically a Rep PR on Front Squats.  It's one of those dumb-ish ones where you just haven't gone that high on reps in a long time.

Rowing strength was a weaker over-all than last week.  If that happens again next week, it might be time to shake it up and move to T-Bars for a while.

Think it's time to push the PBN volume sets to 5's, and start working # of sets back up.

Full Body. Week 5. Squat

BW - 201

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
225X12, 6

RDL -
135X10
185X10, 10, 15

EZ Bar French Press - 40ishX50, 15, 12, 12, 11 (100 total)

Machine Flyes -
X20, 15, 15 (ascending weight)
X20 (back-off set)

Good session.

My PR with 225 is 14, I believe, so I got close and will meet or beat that in the next week or two.  I got over amped before the first set, and the first 4 reps or so were wild and out of control.  I think that expended a lot of unnecessary energy on those.

Pushed the last set of RDLs.  Glad for that.

Triceps extensions were MUCH harder this week than last.  [shrugs]

Flyes were flown.

Full Body. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 204

Bulgarian Split Squats -
BWX15
20X15
BWX15

DB Incline-
40sX15
50sX23, 15, 12

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
285X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Chins - BWX10, 6, 6, 4, 5 (31 total)

Solid session.

Grabbed a DB for my 2nd set of single-leg work, but these just felt crappy this week.   I'll try with weight again next week.

With Paul Carter's 350 method in mind, I got up to 50 reps in 3 sets with the 50's on DB Incline.  Next week I'll go up to the 55's and start over.

Deadlift felt solid.  Upped the weight and dropped the reps a bit on the work-sets.  These felt good, and when 6X3 feels easy, I'll push it up to 5X5, etc.

Chins were okay.  One more total rep than last time.

Felt rushed, so I skipped biceps.

Full Body. Week 4. Press

BW - 201

High Bar -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X5
185X5
225X5
250X5

BB Rows -
135X8
175X12, 10, 6

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X5
95X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Good session.

I didn't feel like going for 20 reps with 185 on High Bars today, so instead I worked up to an all-around PR of 250X5!  Feels good.

175X12 is a Rep PR on Rows.

Upped the overall volume on PBN to 10 sets with 95 lbs.

Full Body. Week 4. Squat

BW - 200

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
195X20, 10

RDL -
135X10
185X10, 10, 10

EZ Bar French Press - 40ishX50, 25, 15, 15

Machine Flyes -
X20, 20, 15 (ascending weight)
X20 (back-off set)

Good session.  195X20 was my main target for this block.  Starting next week, I'll get a bit more serious and start pushing up reps with 225.

Everything else was good.  Moved machine flyes to this day to see if it allows for better recovery prior to DB Inclining on Fridays.

Full Body. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 201

Bulgarian Splits - BWX15, 20, 20

DB Incline -
40sX15
50sX20, 15, 10

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
275X5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chins - BWX12, 6, 5, 4, 3 (30 total reps)

Reverse-Grip Preacher Curls - 40ishX20, 15, 10

Solid session, though a little low energy.

Pushed the reps up on split squats and DB Inclines.  Pec Dec-ing on Wednesday may have gotten in the way of me doing more on my last set or two.  Maybe I'll try moving those to Monday, or maybe it doesn't really matter that much either way.

365 was a bit slow on the Deadlift, but the volume sets were all solid.

Pushed chins and reverse curls up a bit.

Full Body. Week 3. Press

BW - 199

High-Bars -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X5
185X17, 10

BB Rows -
135X8
175X10, 8, 8

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X5
95X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
115X1
135X0

Machine Flyes -
X20, 20, 20, 15 (ascending weight)
X28 (back-off set)

Good session.

185X17 is an all-around PR in High-Bars.

175X10 is a Rep PR in Rows.

115X1 is a Rep PR in PBN, and that after all the volume sets, too.  I tried to go up to 135, which would have been a Rep PR for all overhead work, but it wasn't there (at least by that point).

3 PR day.  Could do worse.

Had some time left, so I threw in a bunch of machine flyes.  I've been looking forward to adding these in as I'm still not benching.  No problem with the shoulder at all.  And actually the shoulder is feeling generally great.  I'm going to keep away from the bench for the remainder of this short cycle, and then start back LIGHT.

Full Body. Week 3. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
195X17, 10

RDL -
135X10
185X10, 10, 10

EZ Bar French Press - 40ishX35, 20, 15, 12, 12, 15 (109 total)

Good session.  Pushed the first set with 195 for a couple more reps. Low back was getting really fatigued on these.

Everything else was fine.

Full Body. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 200

Bulgarian Split Squats - BWX15, 15, 15

DB Incline -
40sX15
50sX17, 11, 11

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X4
275X2
315X1
365X1
275X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chins - BWX10, 7, 6, 5

Reverse Preacher Curls - 40ishX15, 12, 11

Solid session.  Felt a bit run-down and didn't quite have the energy to get after Deadlifts like last time.

Full Body. Week 2. Press

BW - 199

High-Bars -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X5
185X15, 8

BB Rows -
135X8
155X8
175X8, 8, 8

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X5
95X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Solid session.  185X15 ties a Rep PR, and I had a rep or two left in the tank.

Rows were a little bit harder today.  I had to use a little english at the top near the end, but not to get it started.

Shoulder felt fine on PBN.

Full Body. Week 2. Squat

BW - 200

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
195X15, 10

RDL -
135X10
185X10, 10, 10

EZ Bar French Press - 50X25, 18, 10

Solid session.  Managed to push the reps up on 195 a bit.  Ideally for this block, I'd like to hit a solid 20 reps on the 1st set, and start pushing the 2nd set towards 20 as well.  Energy is a bigger obstacle than strength right now.  As long as I'm keeping my calories where they are, that will continue to be an issue.  Bumping up calories is 5 weeks away at the earliest, and when it does happen will only be about 100-150 more calories a day.

Chalked up and added another set of 10 to RDL's.  Felt good.

Since my shoulder didn't love dips last week, but seems okay with PBN and DB Incline, I thought I'd throw in some overhead extensions.  These felt solid.

Full Body. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 199

Bulgarian Split Squats - BWX15, 15, 15

DB Incline -
45sX15
50sX10, 11, 15

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
365X1
275X5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chins - BWX8, 6, 6, 4

EZ Bar, Reverse Grip, Preacher Curls - 40ishX15, 10, 8

No rehearsal, and back at my regular gym, so I was able to get the full session in as originally programmed.

Shoulder didn't love the DB Incline the next day, but it wasn't as aggravated by these as by dips.  On my last set, I got a guy to stand by and take the DB out of my left hand for me.  Getting it down to the ground without dropping it seemed to be aggravating the shoulder more than the actual pressing.

Deadlifts felt strong.  I was originally going to go super-light and stop at 315 and then drop down to something in the low-to-mid 200's for sets of 5-8.  However, 315 was so fast I decided to jump on up to 365 and then back-off to 275.  365 was fast, and all the sets/reps of 275 felt strong and fast until the last reps on the last couple sets.  Had a lot of fun with this.

Was pretty well blasted for chins afterwards, though.

Full Body. Week 1. Rows

BW - 199

High Bar Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X5
185X13, 8

Rows -
BarX20
95X10
135X8
175X8, 8, 6

Dips - BWX15, 15, 10

High Bars and Rows were all fine.  Today was supposed to be Bench day, but I've been staying away from Bench trying to let my shoulder get better.  Thought I'd try some dips, and they went fine for the most part, but today my shoulder is back to feeling kind of shitty.  Goddammit.

Full Body. Week 1. Squat

BW - 200

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
195X13, 10

RDL -
135X10
185X10, 10

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Started rehearsing a new show, so I joined a new, short-term "away" gym.  The somewhat well known Quads Gym.  The one in northern Chicago, not the one Ed Coan trains at in the South Suburbs.  Anyway, it's relatively well-appointed for strength training, except for only having two Deadlift platforms (one a combo with a squat rack).  Maybe I'm just spoiled by my regular gym.

Took some time to get signed up and shown around, and that cut into my workout time before rehearsal.  This day is programmed to have a couple other things, but I only had time for the essentials.

The 275 single was smooth.  I'll be looking to push reps on the 2 sets of 195 pretty high and see what happens in the coming weeks.  I've done 195 for 20 before, and I want to try and see how close I can get to that on the SECOND set.

I wanted to take it light with the RDL's to start.  I've had some back trouble from intense squatting, Deadlifting and RDL...ing in the same week before.

Volume on PBN is fine.  Shoulder feeling good.  I'll give it another couple sessions or weeks and then maybe see what bench feels like.

"Conditioning." Week 5. Upper Body

BW - 200

BB Rows -
BarX20
95X8
135X8
155X12, 12, 10, 10

Chins - BWX8, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4 (33 total reps)

PBN (warm-ups super-set with pull-aparts) -
BarX20
55X5
65X5
85X3
90X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

BB Curl - BarX40, 30, 20, 15 (105 total reps)

Solid session, although I felt somewhat weaker across the board than Monday.

Rows were solid, but chins were a bit off.

[crossing my fingers] Over the past week and a half of doing PBN, my shoulder is starting to feel better.  I started super-setting with pull aparts, but that actually seemed to make it feel worse so I stopped.  The works sets here felt a touch heavier than they did on Monday.

I did manage to up the reps/set on empty bar curls.

"Conditioning." Week 5. Lower Body plus PBN

BW - 201

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X5
225X5
245X5

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
335X1, 1, 1

PBN (standing) -
BarX20
65X5
75X3
85X3
90X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Everything went well.

The most important thing is that the volume PBN went well, and a day later my shoulder still doesn't feel any worse.  This was programmed based on Paul Carter's Base-Building book; specifically the section on building OHP for Strongman.  Every rep and set, I was focused on keeping my shoulder-blades down and together.

"Conditioning" Week 4. Upper Body

BW - 203

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X3
225X3
275X3
295X3

BB Rows - 175X8, 8, 8, 7

Chins - BWX12, 6, 5, 5, 5 (33 total)

Band - Pull-aparts superset with 'flyes' - somesetsXsomereps

PBN -
BarX10
55X10
65X10, 8

Rope Extensions - X20, 20, 15, 15

BB Curls - BarX35, 25, 20, 20 (100 total)

With all the little injuries, this has become less of a conditioning phase and more of a 2XWeekly-Lifting-Plus-Diet Phase.  The lesson here seems to really be, "if you get an injury that interferes with the plan, don't do the plan minus the stuff you're too injured to do, rather come up with a new plan." Because I really feel like I haven't gotten as much work in the last few weeks of trying to work around injuries with the original plan as I would have if I'd just drafted a whole new plan that incorporated the injuries.

Put the Deadlifting I was supposed to do on Squat day here.  All the reps were fast, and I was really using it as a warm-up for Rowing.

175X8 is a Rep PR on Rows.  Chining also feeling stronger.  203X12 is probably my biggest chin set since sometime last year.

Decided to completely cut out benching for a while as I try to figure out this shoulder issue.  But I'll try to cobble together work on the pressing muscles that don't aggravate it.  So I super-set pull-aparts with band flyes.  I tentatively tried some standing PBN, and almost 24 hours later my shoulder doesn't feel any worse than it did before, which is comforting.  Obviously some triceps extensions as I'm still not going near dips.

Threw in some curls because biceps.

Conditioning. Week 4. Squat, Squat, Squat

BW - 202

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X1
275X1, 1, 1

High Bar / Low Bar (alternating with full rest) -
225X3/3, 3/3, 3/3
185X5/5, 5/5

Fronts / High Bar (alternating with full rest) -
155X3/5, 3/5

Just didn't want to do anything but squat today.  So I threw out Deadlifts, Bench Accessory, and Abs, and just squatted until the wheels fell off.  Yes, my legs hurt today.

The interesting thing was the drop-off in strength when I switched to Front Squats.  By this point in the workout, the 155X3 sets were grinders on Front Squat, but when I switched to High Bar it was no issue.  Those reps were explosive as hell.  I only stopped at 5 reps with that weight in the hopes it would make the next front squat set more viable.  It didn't.  So what this suggests to me is that there is a much larger gap between my Front Squat and High Bar strength than there is between High Bar and Low Bar.  I don't have any idea if that's 'normal,' or if it's indicative of a weakness is my squatting strength.  Unless I want to do a lot more sessions like this and nail down that data, it might not be worth worrying about.

Conditioning. Week 3. Upper Body and Jogging

BW - 202

Friday
Bench -
BarX20, 20
95X5
135X5, 5
165X5

BB Rows -
BarX20
95X10
135X15, 13, 12, 10

Cuff Work - Lots

Chins - BWX10, 6, 5, 5 (26 total)

Decline Sit-Ups - BWX15, 15, 10 (40 total)

Saturday
Jogging - 2 miles; 20 minutes

Bench still feels weak, and my shoulder feels like crap for a few days afterwards.  Probably gonna start looking for a Physical Therapist this week.

Everything else went well.  Including the jogging on Saturday.  I'd hoped to be much further along that a 10 minute mile pace at this point, but with all the set-backs I'm just happy to be able to jog the distance.

Conditioning. Week 3. Lower Body

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X5
215X5
235X5

Deadlift -
135X5
185X3
225X3
275X2
305X2
325X1, 1, 1

Cuff Work - Lots

Rope Extensions - X20, 20, 15, 13

Crunches - BWX80

So what I'm doing here is alternating each week between light volume and weight on one lift and super-light volume and slightly heavier weight on the other.  So today was the heavier Deadlift day.  This worked out well so that I could continue to test out the adductor.  I had no issues with it, and all the squats felt fairly strong.  Deadlift felt good too, however I can tell that both lifts are down from my winter bests.

This was supposed to be a day to work on push-up strength with push-up volume and weighted dips, but I'm continuing to rehab the shoulder strain.  It's feeling better, though.

Doing the rope extensions to keep some triceps work going on my off-bench day since the push-ups and dips are out.

Upped the total reps on crunches.  I could do more here either in the single set, or with more sets, but since the decline sit-ups are so hard, it's nice to have a lighter day on these as well.

Just for a reference diet-wise, this is what my bodyweight fluctuation has looked like over the past 2 1/2 years that I've been tracking it regularly:

I generally feel pretty good about this pattern, but I'm still working to tweak both diet and life-style so that each can meet the goals of the other.

Conditioning. Week 2. Jogging

Jogging - 1.5 miles; 15 minutes

Took the adductor out for a test, and everything went okay.  May be able to keep justifiably calling this a conditioning block.

Conditioning. Week 2. Upper Body

BW - 205

Cuff Work - Lots

CG Bench -
BarX20, 15
95X5
135X4
155X3
165X3, 3, 3

BB Rows -
BarX25
95X10
155X12, 10, 10, 10

Chins - BWX10, 5, 5, 5 (25 total)

Decline Sit-Ups - BWX10, 10, 10, 5, 5 (40 total)

Don't know if the shoulder's getting better or not.  The cuff pain has subsided somewhat, and I can bench...somewhat, but there's  a new issue right around where the outside of my left trap meets the point of my left collar-bone.  My Acromion?  Impingement?  I'm probably a few weeks away from looking for a Physical Therapist.

The bench started to feel strong as I went through the warm-ups, but the 165X3 sets did not.  I dunno.

Rows felt okay, though.

Chins and sit-ups were fine.  Upped the volume on both over last week.

Conditioning. Week 2. Hill-Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 10 sprints

Despite the 20+ minute walk to the hill, and some mobility work, the adductor strain that began with the Death Sprints of last Thursday, and escalated with Squatting on Sunday, lashed out violently against me on these sprints.  I tried to push through, but only managed 10 sprints, lopes really, in about 17 minutes. 

I was fairly afraid that I would wake up this morning hardly able to walk, but the pain has abated a great deal and with no pain medication.  I believe the long walk back from the hill, plus a healthy walk later in the evening to meet some friends may have helped. 

Obviously, I will now have to hold off on any running for the next few days.  Today was going be an off/walking day, and I may still walk.  Tomorrow was supposed to be my chance to get the flat sprints right on distance and intensity, but that is completely out now.  I will do some walking today and tomorrow, an upper body lifting session on Thursday, and then I will see on Friday or Saturday, after more walking and mobility, if a light jog seems do-able.  This sucks, but what can you do?

Conditioning. Week 2. Lower Body

BW - 205

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X4
155X4
185X3
225X3
265X2, 2

Deadlift -
135X4
185X4
225X4
275X4
285X4

Push-Ups - BWX25, 15, 15, 10, 10, 11; 86 total reps

Rope Extensions - X25, 20, 20

Crunches - X75

Okay session.  I programmed for 3 sets of 2 with 265.  However, all reps but the very 1st were slow, and my left adductor started feeling really sore after the 2nd set, so I stopped.  I think the adductor is still feeling blitzed from 'The Sprints of Death' last week.  I remember being surprised at how sore they were for about 24 hours afterwards.

Deadlifts were all fast.

Push-ups were okay.  Next week I'll shoot for 90 in the same amount of sets or fewer.  Shoulder felt fairly stable throughout.

Speaking of the shoulder issues, I programmed to alternate weekly between weighted and BW dips here, but to be on the safe side, I'm just doing push-downs.

Got all the crunches in 1 set.  That's fine.  I'll just keep progressing them as a single set.  Think of it as a 'light' day, as opposed to the decline sit-ups on the other day.

Conditioning. Week 1. Upper Body

BW - 205

Cuff Work - Lots (capsule stretching, band dislocations, pull aparts, 5lb. plate "cleans," front raises with various grips, band external rotations)

Bench -
BarX20, 20
95X6
115X6
135X6
155X8

BB Rows -
BarX15
95X10
135X15, 12, 15

Chins - BWX10, 5, 5

Decline Sit-Ups - BWX10, 10, 10

Being very careful with the shoulder since I seemed to re-aggravate it by sprinting (!).  Just tried to run through a sequence of everything I've ever done for shoulder cuff and shoulder prehab.

That included an extra warm-up set with just the bar, and more reps and smaller jumps on the warm-up sets.  Originally I programmed for 12 reps of 155, which would normally be slightly challenging but completely do-able.  Everything was very tentative today, and I cut it at 8.

The lay-off and tentativeness about the shoulder seemed to cut into my rowing as well.  This felt more like a neuromuscular issue than a strength issue.  My mind just didn't want to let my body "get after it" today on these.

Chins were okay, though.  Programmed for 20 total, and got it in 3 sets.  Hoped to go over on the last set, but 5 was the limit.

The crunches I did in my BW circuits in the last block did not set me up well for decline sit-ups.  Originally hoped to do 60 or so total reps, but had to bring that down, and will adjust my programming for this block accordingly.

Conditioning. Week 1. Sprints

65* yards -
10 sprints; 0.10 - 11 seconds; 30 seconds rest
3 minutes rest
5 sprints; 0.10 - 12 seconds; 30 seconds rest
3 minutes rest
3 sprints; 0.10 - 11 seconds; 30 seconds rest

*was supposed to be 55.  I used a GPS app to measure it in an empty field.  I could tell the app was unreliable, but I went with it even though the distance looked WAY long.  Checked the distance as best I could with google maps this morning, and it's no LESS than 65 yards.  Woof.

Well this was a surprise!  I was supposed to start off this block doing 3 sets of 10 on sprints, waving time and distance every week.  This week I was shooting for sub 0.10 second sprints, but I couldn't make that no matter how hard I tried (see the *note above).  After the 5 sprints, I knew I was in trouble, and after the first set of 10, my midsection was cramping so hard, I knew there was no way I'd do another set of 10, so I called an audible and did 10, 5, 3 instead.  So that gives me a baseline of 3 sets, 18 total sprints.  Next week, I'll try (getting the distance right and) upping the volume to something like 21 or 22.  I'd at least like to be hitting my target 3 sets of 10 by the end of this 5 week block.

Oh, after two weeks off from pressing, and a week off from training at all, these sprints were enough to bring my shoulder pain screaming back.  Great.

Full Body-ish. Week 5. Squat (again) and Deadlift

BW - 208

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X3
155X3
185X2
225X2
255X1
275X1
285X1
295X1

Deadlift -
135X5
185X3
225X3
275X2
315X2
335X2
365X2
375X0

Circuit - 4 times through; no rest
Chins - BWX5
Rope Extensions - X15
Face Pulls - X20

Last day scheduled for this block, and about to go on a short vacation for 4 days.  Because of the strained shoulder keeping me from doing my programming, and because I have these days completely off coming up, I decided to just set some new PR's in Squat and Deadlift.

285X1 and 295X1 are both Rep PR's in the Squat, and 365X2 is a Rep PR in the Deadlift.  I tried to pull a single at 375, but couldn't break it off the floor.  Legs were gone. 

None of these PR's are remotely surprising giving my training the last several months, and that's why I felt confident that I could come into the gym today and fuck around and hit a bunch of PR's.

Full Body. Week 5. Hill Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 30 sprints; 36 minutes

Full Body-ish. Week 5. Squat

BW - 204

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
265X3, 2

 Cuff Work - external rotation with 5 lb. plates and Face Pulls; 2X20 each

BB Complex - 95X5, 105X5, 5, 95X5
1-Arm RDL, Hang High-Pulls, Cheat Curls, Yates Rows

My shoulder pain came back with a vengeance last week, so I'm dropping pressing this week and just doing legs and back.  It's the last week of the Full Body block anyway.

Absolutely no pop out of the bottom on squats.

Complex was still tough even without the overheads.

Full Body. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 207

Bulgarian Split Squats - BWX15, 15, 15

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X2
325X6

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5

Okay session.  Pushed up the reps on the split squat.

325X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.

Shoulder strain has come back with a vengence.  Made the ladder circuit brutal.  Next week is the last week of the fullbody and conditioning acclimation block.  I'll have to leave out pressing movements and sub in some shoulder recovery instead.

Full Body. Week 4. Timed-Mile

Timed-Mile - 8:49

Windy as hell today.  Time came in about where it was last week.

Full Body. Week 4. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X4
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X5

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
175X10

BB Complex - 95X5; 3 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Solid session.  255X5 is an all-around PR on Pause Squats, and 175X10 matches my previous 10 rep PR, and on reduced carbs and calories.  I went for an 11th, but couldn't get it.

Full Body. Week 4. Conditioning

Light Jog - 1.4 miles

Time crunch and threatening rain wouldn't allow time for me to get out to the hill for sprints today.  I just audibled it and shot for a 1.5 mile jog at an easy pace.  Checked the distance this morning, and came up just a hair short.  No big.

Full Body. Week 4. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
255X7, 3

DB Bench -
60sX16, 12, 6
45sX12

BB Complex - 95X5; 3 sets
1-Arm RDL, High-Pull, Push-Press, Cheat Curl, Yates Row

Gym closing early for Memorial Day, so I had to train in the AM.  I never feel as "strong" training in the morning.  Regardless of sleep and whatever.  I was hoping to approach 10 reps with 255 on the Squat, but I was having trouble even keeping my form tight and consistent.

Tried to push reps on the DB Bench, and I eked out a few on the first set, but then the bottom dropped out.  Finished off with the 45s to just try and up the overall volume.

Complex moved up to 5 reps this week, and was: Hard.  As.  Hell.  Gasping for air after 3 sets, and my forearms were screaming after 2.  Crazy.

Full Body. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 206

Bulgarian Split Squat - BWX12, 12, 12

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X6

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Don't remember a ton of details about this session from Friday.

Got the split squats back up to 12 reps.  Feeling better.

315X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.

Ladder felt a little easier.

Full Body. Week 3. Timed Mile

Timed Mile - 8:47

Got it under 9, now I just need to get it under 8.  I ate a slice of cheese pizza during my warm-up walk, and I felt great during the run.  No urgent desire to stop and walk, had to hold myself back out of the gate, and was able to crank up the speed for the last 1/4 mile.

Full Body. Week 3. Bench

BW - 206

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X4, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
175X7

BB Complex - 95X4; 4 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Everything seemed hard today.  However, 255X4 is an all-around PR in Pause Squats, but I'd hoped to do 2X4.  After the first set, I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Still being cautious with my left shoulder strain.  The strain didn't get aggravated in this workout, but it was really "tired" feeling afterwards.  I'll stay at 175 on Bench and try to hit 10 reps with it.  That would match me previous 10 rep PR.  Doing that with fewer carbs and calories in my diet than previously would be solid, I feel.

Complex was hard as hell today.  I did 10 sets of 3 last week, and that seemed super-human to me during this session.  I did come up with a wrist-saving compromise on the Front/Press/Front issue, and that is to use a rack position on the first Fronts, but use cross-arm on the second and let it drop to the floor from there.