Showing posts with label pushdowns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pushdowns. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 12. Day "C".

sRPE @7.5
BW - 224

Bench - up to 225X1 @8

Lever Incline - 100X9, 8, 7 @~9

Reverse SSB Box Squats - 210X3, 3 @7.5/9

FFE BSS - BWX10, 9 @8.5/9.5

Chins - BWX1, 1 @~8*
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X11, 10 @8.5/9.5

Pushdowns - X17, 14 @~9
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X13, 10 @~10

Coming back from a long camping weekend.  Kind of went in and did whatever I felt like doing, but ended up with mostly a "Day C" vibe.

Bench actually felt pretty good.  Maybe a slight peak from the time off.

Got a wild hair to do "Eliminators" (Reverse SSB Box Squats).  Kind of cheated them, though, because I forgot you need to keep the pad high on your neck and a loose grip on the handles to really get the upper back stress you want from these. 

Also threw in some Front Foot Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats (Both Feet Elevated Split Squats?  not sure which is clearest).  I'm thinking these are a likely component of a future Squat specialization block, so wanted to start re-familiarizing myself with them.

My left elbow is generally slightly aggravated all the time now, and starting to having some lingering discomfort in the right.  I've been in some kind of pressing specialization going back to December, and I'm thinking having all this travel interfering with training in June may be an opportunity to just kind of mess around in the gym the rest of the month, and then pivot to something else when I get a clear runway. 

Friday, May 30, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 11. Day C.

sRPE @
BW - 225

Bench - 190X3, 3 @7

DB Bench - 75sX10(PR), 8, 5 @9/10

BB Rows - 185X6, 6 @~8
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X12, 9 @~10

Pushdowns - X12, 10, 9 @10
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X16, 13 @10

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

Good session.

Added a rep to DB Bench for a PR with the 75s, and also added a set there.

Saturday, May 24, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 10. Day C.

sRPE @7.5
BW - 224

Bench - 185X3, 3 @~7

DB Bench - 75sX9(PR), 6 @9/10

Chin-Ups - BWX2, 2 @7/8
super-set with
Copenhagen Planks - BWX15, 11 @8/9

Pushdowns - X17, 12, 11 @10
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X14, 12 @10

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

Haven't been able to get a 3rd session in a training week very often the last month or so, and this one felt good.

When I do get one in, I've usually gotten a DB Bench PR like I did today, and that's always encouraging about the direction my general pressing strength is trending.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 8. Day C.

sRPE @5.5
BW - 223

Bench - 185X3, 3 @7/8

DB Bench - 35sX12, 8 @9

Chins - X2, 2 @8
super-set with
Copenhagen Planks - BWX15, 10 @8/7

Pushdowns - X10, 11 @~10
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X12, 11 @~10

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

Very nice little session.  Subjective measures of difficulty (sRPE) have steadily declined all week while ~objective training stress (setsXrepsXRPE) has remained about the same.  So I'll go ahead and start selectively bumping volume and intensity next week. 

Friday, April 4, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 4. Day B.

sRPE @7
BW - 224

Bench - 205X1, 1 @~8

Hypers - 35 behind head X7, 6, 5 @8/9

Machine Flyes - X7, 7 @8
super-set with
Rope Bayesian Curls - X6, 6 X8/10

Pushdowns - X18, 7, 7 @10
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X15, 13 @10

Gnarly chest cold interfering with sleep and generally knocking my recovery in the dirt.

Wild how hard singles on Bench were with 80% of Monday's e1RM.

Was no way DL was gonna happen so replaced with weighted Hypers.

Skipped conditioning.

Delayed this session by a day in the hopes I'd feel better.  While I did feel a bit better, my schedule the rest of the week is pretty tight, and so I might not be able to make it in again.  But that's why I train Fully Body: so that schedule disruptions don't result in something getting skipped in a training week.

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 3. Day C.

sRPE @6.5
BW - 223

Bench - 200X3, 3 @~7.5

DB Bench - 70sX10(PR), 7 @8

BB Rows - 165X8, 8, 8 @8/9
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X9, 8 @~8

Pushdowns - X11, 10 @10
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Press - X13, 10 @~9

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

Another PR on DB Bench even still keeping RPE @8.  Next week I push these to AMRAPs, and then start adding volume in the following weeks.

Added a set to BB Rows.  Felt solid.  Probably stay at this weight and rep range for most of this block.

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Son of a Bench Week 2. Day C.

sRPE @6
BW - 222

Bench - 195X3, 3 @7

DB Bench - 70sX9(PR), 7 @~8

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @8/10
super-set with
Copenhagen Planks - BWX12, 10 @7.5

Pushdowns - X8, 8 @~9
super-set with
Machine SL Calf Presses - 180X13, 11 @~9

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

Was confident DB Bench PRs would start falling this week.  Plenty of room to keep pushing those.

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Son of a Bench. Week 1. Day C.

sRPE @6
BW - 225

Bench - 190X3, 3 @7.5

DB Bench - 70sX8, 6 @~8

BB Hanging Rows - 165X8, 5 @~8
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X10, 8 @8

Pushdowns - X8, 8 @8
super-set with
Machine Calf Press - X10, 9 @~10

Rower - HIIT, 5 rounds

Solid session.  A lot to be optimistic about.

Sunday, March 2, 2025

Pressin' Out Week 9. Day C.

sRPE @ 7
BW - 226

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7

High Incline DB Bench - 55sX11, 8, 6 @10

Deficit Flexion Rows - 145X9, 9 @9/10
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X10, 8 @~10

Pushdowns - X9, 8, 7 @~10

Almost skipped this session because of schedule.  But also maybe a sign that overall stress (life, gym, etc.) is starting to get a bit much, and may need to look at a pivot.

If things are going well on Monday, I could try to chip my lifetime Press PR, and then pivot to the next thing.

Saturday, February 22, 2025

Pressin' Out Week 8. Day C.

sRPE @7.5
BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7

High Incline DB Bench - 50sX13, 9, 9, 8 @~10

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @7.5/9
super-set with
Copenhagen Planks - BWX14, 14 @~9

Pushdowns - X14, 9, 8 @10

Solid session.

Need to be better about doing Copenhagen Planks.  They just hit different than the adductor machine.

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Pressin' Out Week 7. Day C.

sRPE @8
BW - 224

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7

High Incline DB Bench - 50sX14, 8, 8, 7 @10

Deficit Flexion Rows - 145X8, 8, 8 @8.5/10

Seated Leg Curls - X15, 13 @~10

Pushdowns - X16, 13, 10 @10

Wasn't feeling Seated DB Press today so switched to High Incline DB Bench.

Getting better acclimated to the Deficit Flexion Rows.  Still a ways to go.

Beat the log book on leg curls.

Felt like I got hit by a truck after Squats in the prior session.  Made everything today harder.  I'm super annoyed when this happens.  The only way I've found to really avoid it is to have frequent Squatting in my program, but that makes all my programs Squat focused, and I went through years of always having Squat be my best lift because of it.  Anytime I try to get away and try to really build up other lifts, Squatting starts to bury me.  But there I was again last night, starting to write out a frequent Squat program when what I really wanted to do was move on to Bench and Rows after this.  Oh well.

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Pressin' Out Week 5. Day C.

sRPE @7.5
BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7/8

DB Seated Press - 45sX13, 11, 8, 7 @10

Deficit BB Flexion Rows - 145X8, 8, 7 @~10

Seated Leg Curls - X12, 8 @10

Pushdowns - X14, 12, 10 @10

Nice session.  Technical acclimation on the Deficit Flexion Rows has a lot of headroom, but the upper back burn was very real.  

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Chin-Up War Week 10. Day B.

sRPE @7
BW - 226

Chins -
-    up to BW+45X1(PR) @10
-    BWX3, 3 @~8

Pullovers - X16, 13, 11 @10

SLDL - 
-    up to 315X1 @8
-    275X5, 5 @7/8

Pushdowns - X20, 16 @7/10

Rope Bayesian Hammer Curls - X13, 12, 10 @~10

Haven't done weighted chins in a long time so I decided to see what was what.  Will probably start working them in more regularly.

Friday, October 11, 2024

Chin-Up War Week 5. Day B.

sRPE @8
BW - 226

Chin-Ups - BWX2, 2, 2 @~8

Lat Pushdowns - X10, 8, 6 @ 10

ATG Pause Squats - 
-    up to 275X1 @7.5
-    185X5, 5 @6/7

Pushdowns - X16, 14 @9.5

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX13, 10, 8 @~10

Sleep has been bad for a few nights, and I was really dragging ass coming into this session.  I thought about swapping out Squats for something easier, but decided to just get the volume in at an easier weight.

Friday, October 4, 2024

Chin-Up War Week 4. Day B.

sRPE @6.5
BW - 223

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @7/8

Lat Pushdowns - X14, 11, 10 @10

Triceps Pushdowns - X15, 10 @10

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX12, 8 @10

SLDL - 
-    up to 345X1(PR) @9.5
-    275X5, 5 @7.5/8.5

Solid session.  Pushed SLDL to the end so I could train it alongside a friend. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Chin-Up War Week 2. Day B.

sRPE @7
BW - 223

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~8

Lat Pushdowns - X16, 11 @9.5/10

Triceps Pushdowns - X12, 10 @10

SLDL - 
-    up to 315X1 @9
-    275X5, 5 @8/9

DB Hammer Curls - 30sX13, 10 @10

SLDLs were tough, but overall a nice session.

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Press, Deadlift, Back and Triceps

sRPE @
BW - 226

Press -
-    up to 135X1 @8
-    155X0, 0
-    135X4 @10

Push Press - up to 165X1 (PR) @9.5

SLDL - up to 335X1 (PR) @9.5

Pulldowns - X12, 10, 8, 8 @10
super-set with
Pushdowns X18, 16, 14, 12 @10

Strict Pressing strength was not there on this day, so I pivoted to Push Press and grabbed a PR there.

Still working on technique on SLDL.  I've done thousands of RDLs, but starting and returning to the floor hits different.

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Press, Squat, Back, Triceps

sRPE @7.5
BW - 222

Press - 
-    up to 155X1 @9.5
-    160X0, 0
-    135X1, 1, 1 @~8

ATG Squat - up to 295X1 @9

Pulldowns - X14, 9, 8, 8 @10

Pushdowns - X18, 15, 13, 13 @10

I think some minor technique tweaks might get me that 160 press, but the bottom line is I'm probably not quite strong enough to hit it reliably if at all.

Decided to work up to a single on ATG.  Thought I might go for 315, but 295 was heavy enough to stop at.  For now.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Rows, Legs, Pecs, Triceps

 sRPE @8
BW - 225

Hanging BB Rows - 195X5, 5, 5, 5 @8/9

Leg Press - 3ppsX13, 11, 8, 9 @9.5/10

Pec Deck Flyes - X10, 10, 10, 10 ~10
super-set with
Cable Pushdowns - X20, 13, 11, 10 @10

First time doing BB rows in 6 months.  Feels like I got the weight about right to start.  Would like to see if I can push the first set for a 5 rep PR over 3 weeks.

I felt like my work capacity was going up at the end of the last block, so I'm gong to try upping supplement and accessory work to 4 sets each on average instead of 3. I also shortened rest periods last block to ~2 minutes, so it doesn't really take that much extra time.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Pause Squats, Pull-Ups, Triceps

sRPE @ 8
BW - 224

Pause Squats -
-    up to 325X1 @8
-    275X3, 3, 3 @6.5/7.5

Band Pull-Ups - Avg.Band Under KneeX5, 5, 4 @9/10

Machine Pull-Overs w/ Rest-Pause - X18/7 @10

Pushdowns w/ Rest-Pause Partials - X14/8, 13/5 @10

Sleep has been rough, and humidity is high so I didn't really want to do any of this today.  But Pause Squats felt good.  Kept elbows down and chest up, but still need to stay back on my heels better.