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.

Full Body. Week 3. Hill Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 20 sprints < 24 minutes

Full Body. Week 3. Squat

BW - 207

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X4
155X4
185X3
225X2
245X10, 8

DB Bench -
40sX18
55sX18, 10, 12, 10

BB Complex - 95X4; 6 sets
1-Arm RDL (both arms), High-Pull, OHP, Cheat Curl, Yates Row

Felt good coming in today.  Got a good nights sleep, plenty of food, etc.  As a result, 5 more total reps on the Squat work sets than last week, and with 10 more pounds.  Had a guy I'm friendly with at the gym cuing me on.  Have to admit, I think that helped.

60s were occupied, so I went down to the 55s and added an extra set.

Added rows into this complex.  Want to maintain the Deadlift assistance focus (that's also why I went back to High-Pulls from the floor instead of cheat Upright Row).  Between the extra movement and adding extra reps to the sets, I ran out of gas much faster than the last two weeks.

Full Body. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 209

Bulgarian Split Squat (back leg on roller) - BWX10, 10, 10

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
305X7

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

Decent session.  The split squats seemed a little harder this week.  Don't know if it was just the day, or accumulated fatigue from the first two weeks of this block.

305X7 is actually a Rep PR on Deadlift.  However, anything I attempt over 5 reps is likely to be a Rep PR since I haven't gone that high on Deads in a long time.  I had more reps in the tank.

Ladder circuit was possibly a little easier this week.  The push-ups were for sure, which is ironic because I'm still nursing a strain in some muscle down in my shoulder.

Full Body. Week 2. Timed Mile

Timed Mile - 9:42

Managed a non-stop run this time.  Purposefully started off slow and tried to push the pace after the 1/2 way point.  Still didn't make the same time as when I ran hard and walked the middle 1/4 mile.

Full Body. Week 2. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
185X3
225X2
255X3, 3, 3

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
165X12

BB Complex - 95X3; 10 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Okay session.  The 3 sets of 3 with 255 matches my best for Pausers which was done just a few weeks back.  These were still a little grind-y though.  I was going to progress up to sets of 4 and 5, but I'm questioning the wisdom of that.  At the very least I may want to look at doing fewer top sets.

Bench was going okay, but then the bar drifted left on the set of 155 and I strained something in my left shoulder.  I was able to complete the bench workout, and also do the push-presses in the complex, but it's definitely needed icing and anti-inflammatories since.  165X12 matches my previous Rep PR.

I pushed up both the reps per set and the total sets on this complex.  But it's still a killer.

Full Body. Week 2. Hill-Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 18 sprints in 18 minutes.

Full Body. Week 2. Squat

BW - 208

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
235X8, 5

DB Bench -
40sX15
60sX15, 10, 9

BB Complexes (Deadlift focus) - 95X2X15
1-Arm RDL, *Upright Row, OHP, Cheat Curl

BB Rows - 145X10

Good session.  Squats felt great, an no issues with my knee.

Pushed the reps on DB Bench a bit.  As soon as I get a 10th rep on the 3rd set, I'll add another set.

This Complex is rounding out.  Once again, my hamstrings are quite sore the next day from these, although my lats aren't as sore as they were last week.  *These started to turn into High-Pulls by the last few sets, and I'm not sure if I should just do those the whole time.

Thought to do one burn-out set of rows at the end, so I threw a 25 on each side.  Ended up being a bit more weight than I needed for my purpose because I was so gassed from the complexes.  Next week I'll just leave it at 95 and also may switch to underhand, Yates row.

Full Body. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 207

Bulgarian Split-Squat - BWX12, 12, 12 (each leg)

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
295X8

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

I'd originally planned for the squat movement on this day to be High-Bars, but with the knee issue I was dealing with for a few weeks, I thought it would be smarter to go with single-leg work instead.  I wasn't sure what I would do, but I'd been thinking about the Bulgarian Split-Squat.  Similar to the barbell complexes I'm doing on other days, this is a something I did a lot of during my first year of training, but haven't done since then.  Then I saw this video of John Meadows the other day, and realized I could do them very similarly with a little sit-up bracer they have at my gym.  The genius (and hellishness) of doing them like this with the back foot on a roller is that it's easier to keep the load on the front foot and not 'cheat' with the back leg.  I like 'em.

Waving the top-weight and back-off weight down again on Deadlifts to make sure my low-back gets some recovery and is ready for the other full-body days.  On the other hand, I'm also going to let the back-off reps get above 5 for the first time in forever.  295X8 ties my previous 8 rep max, and I easily had a couple more reps in the tank.

This body-weight ladder is modeled almost exactly on a section from Paul Carter's LRB 365 program I ran last year.  By the end of July, I'm going to test myself on some military PFT standards, and that's part of the focus here.  In addition, I'm thinking about these and the complexes I'm doing on the other days as having a 'focus' on assistance movements for the big lift from the prior session.  So the session before this was Bench, and the push-ups and dips here are reflecting that.  My next session is Squats, and the complex at the end of that has RDLs, High-Pulls, and Rows as 'Deadlift focus' to follow on this session.  Bench day follows Squat day, and so the complex on Bench day has two squat movements in it.

tl;dr this was a good session.

Full Body. Week 1. Timed Mile

Timed Mile - 9:17

Shaved over a minute off my last two times.  I got off to a too fast start though, and had to walk a 1/2 block after the first 1/2 mile, so it's even more amazing that the time came in so well.

Full Body. Week 1. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
185X3
225X2
255X2, 2, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
155X15

BB Complex - Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, *Front-Squat
95X2; 7 sets

Super low energy today.  I managed to hit all the Pause Squats, but really had to psych myself up for Bench and grind out the 15th rep.  The bad knee didn't display anything like pain during the squats, but I could literally feel it pumping up with blood.  Maybe that means there's already a good deal of inflammation in there?

Even though I was so low energy today, this complex seems significantly hard than the other despite having "bigger" movements in it.  Could be the accumulated fatigue from this first full week of full body and conditioning training, though.

*Getting from the push-press to the front squat and then returning the bar to the floor continues to be awkward.  On the last couple of sets, I tried switching to back squat, but that was just okay.  I contemplated Overhead-Squats, but when I was at the press lockout, it just seemed like a bad idea, so I skipped it.

Full Body. Week 1. Hill Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 15 sprints; just over 15 minutes

First day back out on the hill felt good.  Not trying for any particular speed, just wanted to go for 15 sprints or 15 minutes, whichever came last.  Will go to 20 and 20 next time if everything feels good.

Also, my lats and hamstrings are sore as hell from before the sprinting.  Can that be from the complexes on Monday?

Full Body. Week 1. Squat

BW - 207

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X10, 5

DB Bench - 60sX15, 12, 8, 8

BB Complex - RDL*, High-Pull, OHP, Row*
95X2; 14 sets

Knee is still bothering me.  Mostly it's achy when I wake up.  I can feel it when I'm exercising as well, but it's hard to tell if that's because of discomfort or because I'm hyper-aware of it.  Anyway, it's time to get back to work, so we'll just have to see.

225X10 is solid I believe while being scared of the knee.  14 reps is my all-time best with this weight.

I was only supposed to do 3 sets of DB Bench.  Oh, well.

Playing around with the complexes to see what feels right.  I'd originally programmed for 5 sets; increasing the reps per set every week.  But 5 sets of 2 here was just nothing, so I kept going until I felt worked and that was 14 sets.

* Strict OHP is the weak link in this chain, and I have to keep the weight down to be able to do it.  But the RDLs and Rows just felt ridiculous, and the High-Pulls weren't much harder.  After about 10 sets, I started pulling the RDL's with one-arm and switched from Rows to Cheat Curls.  I'll try this from the top next week.

Full-Body. Trial Week.

BW - 208

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

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X3
155X2
185X1
155X15

Complex - 95X2, 2, 2, 2, 2
(Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat)

Next Day:
One-Mile Run - under 11:00

My knee was bothering me the last few days so I took time off from training.  It was still feeling wonky, but I felt like it was time to get back in the gym and see what was what.

My plan for May has been to do three days of full body training in the gym with complexes as finishers, and two-three days of starting to ramp up conditioning now that the weather's better.  I haven't done complexes in two or three years, so I wanted to take a week to try some stuff out.

My bench day programming seemed like a good place to start.  With pause squats not having a bounce at the bottom, I knew I'd feel safer on them.  Everything went well here.

On bench, I'm backing down to a lower section of my tiered programming for hitting 225, but with no back-off sets.  15 reps with 155 is actually my calculated target for 225, so that's kind of nice to have there even though I didn't quite make is to 225 in my last strength phase.

This complex had mixed results.  I have zero Oly training, so I knew the cleans would be more like reverse-grip cheat curls and I'm fine with that.  Going from front squat rack position into the press position was awkward, and getting the bar back to the floor after the 2nd front squat was REALLY awkward.  Both were kind of rough on my wrists.  I may ask one of the Oly guys at the gym for advice, or I may switch out one or both front squats for overhead squats.

The next day I did a mile run; my second of the season.  Last week, I came in about 10:45.  I was under 11:00 this time as well, but my time-keeping was off so I don't know exactly.  My knee was a bit tender at first, but after about a 1/3 mile or so, it got warm and felt good.  I'm still WAY over my best ever, sub-8:00 mile times, but this is just an acclimation period.