LRB Short-15. Week 1. Squat and Deadlift

BW - 208

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
145X5
165X4
205X3
225X2
245X1
255X1
265X1
235X8, 8

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
255X2
275X1
285X1
295X3
275X3, 3

Running the LRB Short-15 as a 2x/wk. routine while I'm rehearsing my new show.  For Squatting and Incline benching, it's set up so that by the end I'm hitting the same weight for the top single that I was using prior to my vacation; 315 and 185 respectively.  For deadlift, I put in the old top single #, 365, as the goal for the cycle.  That will take me to 330X3 as my final lift of the cycle.

This may have been wrong thinking on the squat, as the 265X1 was heavy-ish, and the 235 for 2X8 was gruelling.  But I'm also running on 5 hours of sleep a night with rehearsals and work, and that doesn't help with the higher reps stuff at all.  So I'm going to back that back down and use 315 as my goal weight, which will only have me hitting a single at 295 by the end.

The sets of 295 and 275 on deadlift were all fast.

Training: High Bars

BW - 212

High Bar Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
255X1
205X11, 9, 8

Hack Squats -
1ppsX10, 10, 11

Good session.  I went up to 255 for my last over-warm-up on High Bars just to see how it was moving.  My best ever High Bar Squat is 255X5, I believe.  This single moved pretty well, but the bar was positioned a little bit too high on my neck and so it was fairly painful resting on bone.  I also got 1-2 more reps per work set here for 4 more total work reps than last week.

Hack Squats felt a bit better this week as I got more in the groove.  I thought about adding more weight but said screw it, it's just extra quad volume.

I start rehearsing a new show next week so my schedule's going to go in the toilet.  I'm going to run Paul Carter's Strong-15 Short cyle as a twice-a-week program with a Squat/Dead day and an Incline/Chin day, and then get in some extras at the office gym or what-not as time permits.  Just stuff like biceps and leg curls, maybe some machine rows and that kind of thing.  Nothing crazy.

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 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.

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.

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. 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.

5/3/1 BBB: Cycle 2. Week 2. Dead

BW - 204

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5, 5
225X3
260X3
295X8

Deadlift hold -
295X1X15sec.

Hypers -
BWX12
5X15, 15, 20
10X20

Ab Wheel- 1X2

Swiss Ball Crunches - 4 sets of 15-30

80%+ session.  295X8 is an all-around PR on Deadlift.  I really should try to enjoy these more, as they're bound to dry up again sooner or later, but it's become so routine for me to set PR's in this lift. I've only ever crapped out on Deadlift twice. Once was October of 2011 when I tried 315 for the first time and it wouldn't budge, and the second was in July of this year when I first started 531 Full-Body and ended up having to lower my training maxes across the board because I had lost a lot of strength in the lead up to opening a show.

Grip strength is starting to get dicey double-overhand, and that's why I added another 1 rep set just to time out my holds.  This was just an idea, and I might try to go with something more conventional, as my hands/forearms don't feel sore the day after.  I should probably also just start using chalk for my top sets to make sure it's less of an issue.

Added a bit more weight and reps on the hypers today, so that's cool.

Went to do the ab wheel, and my abs started screaming at me right away.   Guess they weren't fully recovered from last time.  Pretty weak.  I did some chiropractor crunches to get some work in on them anyway.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 5. Week 3. Bench/Dead

BW - 203

Pause Squats -
BarX5
95X5
135X5, 5
185X3
210X3
235X1

Lunges - BW 5 sets of 10

Bench-
BarX15
95X5, 5
130X5
150X3
165X6

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5, 5
225X5
260X3
290X8

Tough session, but with some good results.  This was the last week of 531 Full Body.  I have a tight schedule this week with 2 public readings and rehearsals for same.  Also, I'm going to try and squeeze 2+ full cycles of 531 BBB in before I start rehearsing my next show after the new year.  Therefore, I made the executive decision to combine my last 2 Full Body sessions into one, so that I can start BBB this weekend.  The big loss here is that I had to drop my final session of Kolkovs.  Everything else that got skipped (chins, leg curls) will be present in the next phase.

Pause Squats felt solid.

My quads felt mega-pumped after the 5X10 lunges.

165X6 is a tiny, tiny all-around PR on the bench close-grip and pausing every rep on the chest.  I was hoping to go for 8, but 6 was a grind.  The 150X3 was the best feeling set of the bench session as far as tightness of set-up.  Feeling positive about the adjustments I've made, and the results.

290X8 is also a small all-around PR on Deadlift.  I started making a small adjustment here, which is basically just keeping my hips a tad higher.  The bar still banged the fuck out of my knees, but didn't tear up my shins at all.  The last couple reps here were also really tough grip wise, and the final rep BARELY locked out.  I still managed to hold the weight at the top for a second or two, but I could be beginning to see the upper limit of my double-overhand grip.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 3. Incline

Defranco Shoulder Mobility
Incline -
BarX10
95X5
120X5
135X3
150X3
125X10

Klokov Press -
45X5
65X3
75X2
85XFail

Chin-ups - BW(206)X10, 4

Cable Rows - 3 sets of 10-12

Swiss Ball Crunches - 3 sets of 15

Not a bad session for having been out of the gym for over a week with a low back strain.  I used a different incline bench that's a little less vertical, and my pressing was predictably stronger.  I guess I'll just have to start tracking which bench I use in a session.  Still, because my incline was weaker than anticipated in my first week, for the next three weeks, I'm dialing back my training max in the hopes to get more reps on my top set.  Because I could only get 3 reps on my top set here, I decided to do the back-off set with 125.  Both the 150X3 and the 125X10 projected to increased maxes on this movement, but again, it was a shallower bench.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 3. Pause Squats

Defranco Hip Mobility

Pause Squats -
BarX5X2
105X3
155X3
185X3
210X3
235X2

Front Squat -
145X3
145X3
145XFailX2

RDL -
95X10
185X5
205X5
225X5

Back Extensions - 3 sets of 15

Here we go again.  Pause Squats went pretty well.  I held all my warm-up sets for several seconds in the hole, and then paused all my work sets normally.  235X2 is an all-around PR for the movement.  If I'm feeling okay next week (more on this in a sec), I will drop my training max per Paul Carter's suggestion, and try to get a few more reps on my top sets in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.

Front Squats on this cycle were only intended to be medium-heavyish, and a way to get more volume work on my quads.  145 is NOT a heavy weight for me on front squats in this rep range.  On the 3rd set, I fucked up my low back somehow.  This feels like the same fucking strain as last July.  I think it's from some combination of getting too far forward in the bottom and my hips tucking under at the bottom as well.  You know the weight isn't too heavy because after I dropped it, I cleaned it back to my fucking shoulders so I could set it back on the stands.  I tried to front squat it again, but it still hurt at the bottom so I stopped.  Fuck, fuck me.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 2. Press

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Press -
BarX10X2
65X3
85X3
95X3
110X7

DB Rows -
45sX15
50sX10
55sX25

Chin-ups - BW(205)X5 stupid

Leg Curls - 5 sets of 15

Farmers Carries - 18 minutes
Empty Handles (120)X1
160X1
200X1X9

20 minutes brisk walking

My right shoulder has been feeling a bit tweaked lately, and I suspect it's from the rapid sledge hammer swings.  I took an extra warm-up set with the empty bar on pressing, and it felt fine on the 2nd set.  This was a really great Press session actually.  110X7 ties a Rep PR, and I probably could have gotten 1 more, but I didn't want to push to the limit because it's only the 2nd press day of the cycle, and I was also cognizant of the shoulder issue.  Still, it was nice to see that if I get up for it, I can still push up towards my best projected 1RM in this lift.  I was worried after my incline session last week.

BLAB Log: Week 8.Day2

Agile-8

BB Squat Warm-up - 45X5, 65X5, 95X5, 135X6

BB Squat - 160X6, 170X4, 185X10

Split-Squat Jumps - BWX20Sec.X3

DB RDLs - 45sX12X3
super-set with
Plank Shoulder Touches - BWX12(each arm)X3

I had to go straight from this to rehearsal so I cut out the Speed Skater squats from the end in order to make sure my legs were still functional.  Unfortunately, I ended up mostly standing in one spot all rehearsal, so I could have gotten them in.  Better safe than sorry, I guess.

185X10 Squat PR.  Last time I did that weight, I took it for 5 reps and threw my back out.  This set makes me feel very good about the decision to restart my training with this program after that injury.  HOWEVER, I did try to pull my elbows down hard on one of the 170 set, and felt pain in my mid-upper back.  It faded, but important to note.  For now I can keep my elbows down without having to over-do it.

Haven't done RDL's in a few months, and my hamstrings are still quite sore.  I know that's bad old habits kicking in though.  I'm going slow on the eccentrics for no reason, and suffering the DOMS as a result.

Another take-away from this session:  First time I've gone back-to-back days on this program.  No apparent drawback to having this squat day right after bench day.  Good to know as I'll be in rehearsal through the rest of this program.

Oh, my! An actual theatre post!

Had the first rehearsal for my new show last night.  I'm basically part of the movement ensemble plus a big monologue and a smattering of additional dialogue, and that's fine because I took the show for the movement work.

I feel like I'm in a good spot for a show like this.  The last time I was involved in this kind of work, I had just gotten in the best shape of my life.  That was back in 2001/2 when I had just shaped up to play the God of frickin' Love in a production back in Portland.  While we were striking that show, I ran into some folks that suggested I go audition for this other show.  I got cast, and I really enjoyed that work even though I wasn't trained for it, and I must have done well enough as that company made some overtures of membership when we were finishing up.

So here I am, having gotten in the best shape of my 30's, and I find myself as a member of my 2nd ever movement-ensemble.  Last night was basically 2+ hours of non-stop moving.  High and low, fast and slow, I sweat plenty, but was never sucking air.  So the conditioning is holding up.

The work itself seems promising so far.  A lot of emotional availability being generated by the movement direction.  And everyone seems committed.  At this point, I'm pretty optimistic about the show and my place in it.

BLAB Log: Week 6.Day 3

Simple-6

Chin-ups - BWX4, BWX3

Pull-downs, slow eccentric, rest/pause - 70X13, X8, X5, X5, X4, X3, X3, 90X1

"Modified" Arnold Press - 30X10, 35X10, 35X6

Blackburns, 4-position - 5'sX15Sec.X2

Cable Curls - 20X15, 25X15X2

Core Circuit - BWX2

Push-ups - BWX20, BWX5

Ah, Chin/Push-up day you continue to ruin my life.

I gotta find a new way to push these chins.  I've been throwing in sets between other work-sets every lifting day, and I also feel much more explosive with them than I used to, but still I'm stuck at 3-5 reps.  Maybe there's a mental block, so I'll take another week to try to break the 5 rep barrier, and then....maybe start doing 2-3 weighted chins in the hope BW chins jump as a result?  Dunno.

Pulldowns were a little screwy because I forgot to do the slow ups on a couple of sets.  I'll be better next week.

The modified Arnolds are odd, but fine.  I started to go ego on the Blackburns and start with 10's (the girls in the Defranco video use 5's), but I'm glad I didn't.  The Arnolds took enough out of my shoulders that the 5's were plenty on the full front and side extended holds.

I feel like a poseur doing biceps cable curls, but the program calls for them. 

I got through the Core circuit, but afterwards I felt wiped out the way I do after the finishers on other days.  This is the kind of problems I worry about running into with static programs like this.  It just can't take into account how weak I am in some areas (Abs, Push-Ups, Chins).  I knew I couldn't get through the finisher again, but since the core circuit feels like a finisher I decided not to try.  I did two sets of max reps push-ups instead, and did some more push-ups at home later.  I think next week I've GOT to try to get through all of them, even if I stay in the gym an extra 30 minutes to do it.  After the next cycle, the rest of the program ends Day 3 with sets of barbell push-ups laddering down every set from the high teens and then a push-up test in the final week.  That should fall on labor day, and I think that's a good plan.  I'll be at the gym early because of holiday hours, and I begin rehearsing a new show the next day so I'll have a few extra days of rest.  More on rehearsing and training at the same time next week.