Hybrid Training. Week 9. Light Lower, and LSR

Saturday:
BW - 225

Squats - 265X2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Pause Squats - 255X2, 2, 2, 2

 Deadlift, 3 sec. pause at knee on eccentric -
245X2, 2, 2, 2, 2

GHR Hypers - BW+45X20, 18, 10*
super-set with
GHR Sit-Ups - BWX20, 18, 15

Sunday:
Long Slow "Run" - 45 minutes walking with a 15 lb. pack.

Okay session.  A lot of tightness in the back of my left hip, so I had to be more careful on the speed squats.  It was especially tender on the Unrack, Lockout, and releasing after the Rack.

Pause Squats were all good, though.

Same with paused DLs.

I've been doing the hypers with a 45 held to my chest.  After my 2nd set, a guy worked in with me that held it above (not behind) his head.  I tried that on my last set.  I knew it would be a lot harder, and I'm actually pretty happy that I got 10!  I'll keep that approach for a while.

For the LSR day, I've been having a hell of a time motivating myself to go to the gym for incline treadmill walking, so instead I pulled some of the weight packets out of my old weighted vest, threw them in a cinched-down backpack, and took a long, brisk walk down to the beach.  So much better than being on a treadmill in a basement gym.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 2. Walking

Weighted Vest - 30 minutes; walking

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 1. Walking

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes; walking

Fully loaded the vest to 40 lbs.  Reset the time back down for a tiny bit of progression.  Will probably just top out at 30 minutes for the cycle, unless I'm feeling froggy on a particular day.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 1. Bench

BW - 199

Bench -
BarX12
95X5, 5
135X3, 3
155X1, 1, 1
135X8

BW Circuit -
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 8, 6, 4, 2
Chins (neutral grip) - 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Push-ups - 5, 10, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Leg Raises - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 8, 6, 4, 2

Weighted Vest - 45 minutes; walking

First session of the new phase and a big wake-up call with the BW ladders, but I'll get to that in a sec.

The barbell movement on each of these days is optional on the weight used, so just go by feel using the Strong-15 template.  However, I prefer to make bigger jumps if possible, but as weak as I am that doesn't really pan out as well with the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 rep scheme.  So what I'm doing for this phase is using 25's, 45's, and only ONE 10lb. plate per side.  So the above is what my bench will likely look like through most of the phase, unless I'm feeling particularly strong and decide to hit 185 for a top single and/or back-off with 155.

Also, I got the last walking session of the previous phase in on this day.

So, the ladders.  In an effort to keep this brief, I haven't done push-ups since June of 2012, and lo and behold I suck at them.  This whole bodyweight session took A LOT of Rest/Pause to get through and was sheer hell, and I had to cut down the intervals for just about everything.  I'm going to drop everything down to intervals of 2.  If I make rapid progress on any movement, I will inch it back up to where it was supposed to be.

So, for instance, if dips start to come back strong (which I suspect they will), I will bump them back up to 3's.  If sit-ups or BW Squats come back, or are good to go when I do them later this week, I will bump them to 3's, and then again to 5's if that is going well.

The point here is to try and retain my motivation by not making every lifting day a hell that I dread, to keep the reps higher-quality (strict-ish, good ROM, etc.), and to keep the pace up.  Whew.  See how it goes.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 6. Deadlift

BW - 197

Weighted Vest - 40 minutes; walking

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
185X3
195X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
205X4
225X3
265X2
295X1
305X1
315X1 (20 sec. hold at top)

Shrugs -
135X76, 24 (no straps)

Nice little session.  Pause Squats felt strong, and so did Deads.  As always, my forearms got nicely fried by the strap-less shrugs.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 6. Squat

BW - 200 (wow)

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
175X3
195X2
235X1, 1
245X1

Cable Rows - X80, 25

Lunges - BWX40, 40, 20

Ab Wheel - 5 sets of 10

Brutally tired.  I needed to walk to keep on schedule, but I was done.  Fell asleep on the couch at 7:45, and went to bed at 8:30.  I have a feeling the lack of sleep is somehow related to the weight gain as well.

Nevertheless, Squats all felt strong.

Rows felt strong as well, getting 10 more reps than last time.

Lunges were crap, though, I'm sure due in part to hill-sprints the day before.

Feel so much better today after getting over 8 hours of sleep.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Deadlift

BW - 196

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
185X3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
205X4
235X3
265X2
285X1
295X1
305X1 (held for 10 seconds)

BB Shrugs - 135X80, 25 (no straps)

Weighted Vest - 40 minutes; walking

Awesome session.  I don't really know how it happened.  I indulged in a bunch of eating and drinking and assorted debauchery the day before and closed down a bar and everything.  Woke up hung-over, ate some eggs, had some coffee and OJ and ibuprofen.  I got down to the gym and warmed-up, and went through the Pause Squats, and they felt pretty good.  Smooth, and the 2nd set with 185 felt better than the first.

Then the bar hit the floor, and for some reason my pulse started racing and I felt aggressive as hell.  I had to calm myself down a little on my work sets because I was worried I was going to spaz out and lose my form.  I just can't describe how awesome these pulls felt.

I took that same aggression to the shrugs and got the PR at 80 reps.  It was my grip that gave out.

Went home and had some more food, and then the wife came along for my walk. And the weather was even pretty nice.  Just an awesome, awesome training day.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Conditioning

Weighted Vest - 35 minutes; walking

Had an awesome Easter dinner and evening out today with the wife and a good friend.  Really great day.  Happy Easter!

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Squat

BW - 196

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
175X3
195X2
205X1
235X1, 1

Cable Rows - X70, 30

Lunges - BWX50, 20, 20, 10

Ab Wheel - 4 sets of 10

Weighted Vest - 35 minutes; walking

Nice session.  Squats still strong and moving with confidence.  So much so that I started toying with my form a little.  I haven't worried about my elbow/arm alignment in a while, but this session I started trying to get in the groove of keeping them pointed down to help keep my chest out.  The mental cue that seemed to help here was thinking aobut trying to bring them down alongside my hip-joints.

Cable rows felt really good today. 

Lunges, however, were a real asshole after the first hill-sprints of the year the day before.  Really brutal.

Had some time before the bus would be along, so I threw in some ab wheel.  I expect a real unwelcome surprise on the next phase when there are lots of sit-ups in the BW ladders.  Gonna try and at least get some wheel in every week to mitigate the coming disaster.

Walking felt great.  Really kind of digging it for the zone-out aspect right now.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Bench

BW - 197

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
105X4
135X3
145X2
155X1, 1
165X1

Pulldowns - X50, 50

EZ Bar OH Extensions - 28X50, 50
super-set with
EZ Bar Curls - 28X50, 50

Weighted Vest - 35 minutes; walking

I was angry and frustrated when I left work yesterday (mainly with myself), so it was a great time to hit they gym.

Bench was fast and aggressive, and everything had a lot of pop.  Rest times were basically just changing weight plus a couple of breaths.

Upped the weight on the pulldowns to dramatic effect.

Also threw 5s on the 18lb. EZ curl bar.

I was still a bit riled up heading home, but after I threw on the vest and did my walk, everything had sort of fallen away and I was feeling at peace again.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX12
95X5
135X5
165X3, 3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
165X4
205X3
235X2
265X1
285X1
295X1 (held for 10 seconds; double-overhand)

BB Shrugs - 135X70, 30 (no straps)

My schedule got all flipped around the last week, and that plus some hard partying this weekend means my workout schedule is getting a bit inverted now as well.  Because Deads had to get moved to the end of the workout "week," that means Week 5 will have to start with Bench so that I have a couple days off between Pulling and Squatting.  Starting my week with Bench...I'm such a bro now.

Also, I ended up wanting a lot of down-time this weekend because I was staying out drinking so much, so I missed my 3rd weighted vest walking session of the week.  I'll pick all this slack back up this week.

Even though I was sweating out a lot because of all the drinking this weekend, this session was still solid.

Pause Squats all felt strong.

Deadlift was a little bit rough, and the 285 felt slow going up.  But I rallied, got my mind right, and the 295 came up like it should have.  Wish I could have held it a bit longer, but I was able to do the shrugs still without straps so I'm okay with it.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 4. Conditioning

Weighted Vest - 30 minutes; walking

Fucking 16 degrees yesterday afternoon.  This week has sucked for the walking, weather-wise.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 4. Bench

BW - 199

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
105X4
135X3
145X2, 2
155X1
165X1

Pulldowns - 1 set of 100

EZ Bar OH Extensions - Bar (18lb.)X100

EZ Bar Curls - Bar (18lb.)X100

Weighted Vest - 30 minutes; walking

Good session.  Bench still smooth.

Might be time to bump up the weight on the pulldowns.

Inexplicably got 100 non-stop reps on both extensions, and curls.  Need to switch to add weight one way or another, I guess.

Getting to where I can just zone out on the vest walking.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Conditioning

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Dead

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
175X3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

BB Shrugs - 135X70, 30 (no straps)

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

Another good session.  Nothing really to say, as everything went about as it should have with bar speed, etc.

Forearms were really burning after the shrugs.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Bench

BW - 196

Bench -
BarX10
85X5
95X4
105X3
125X2
145X1
155X1, 1

Pulldowns - 1 set of 100

EZ Bar OH Extensions - BarX70, 45
superset with
EZ Bar Curls - BarX70, 35

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

Nice session.  Bench was fast and smooth.

Pulldowns were a little rougher this time, but I was using the "other" machine which has no knee brace and the seat is directly under the pulley.  That makes everything sort of awkward, and the muscles at the top of my abdomen and on either side of my sternum are actually a little sore from keeping my torso braced.

The EZ bar I used today was a little lighter.  It's just the one that was nearest, but I weighed it to make sure I wasn't imagining things and it's 2-3 lbs. under the other bar I'd been using.

Wife walked with me this evening.  How much nicer it is to have some company.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Squat

BW - 197

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

Squat -
BarX12 (paused)
115X5 (paused)
135X4
165X3
185X2
215X1, 1
225X1

Cable Rows - 1 set of 100

Lunges - BWX50, 30, 24

Ab Wheel - 2 sets of 10+

Everything was pretty solid.  There is a little mental thing I'm fighting with where the non-existent rest times are making these lighter squats seem harder than they "should."  Just gotta remind myself that rest-time plays into it along with everything else.  Top sets are still smooth and strong.

Cable rows were a little bit rougher today, but I think that was due a lot to training early in the AM.

Max rep lunges still suck.

Had some time till the bus, so threw in some ab wheel.  Throwing this in once a week or so to make sure the sit-ups in the next phase aren't a nightmare.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 2. Squat

BW - 198

Weighted Vest Walking - 25 min.

Squat -
BarX9 (paused)
115X5 (paused)
135X5
165X3
185X2
195X1
215X1, 1

Cable Rows - 1 set of 100

BW Lunges - 1X50, 30, 20

As I was finishing my walk, I turned down my back alley just as a group of 20-something girls came walking out.  They saw my vest, and one of them gave me the weirdest fucking look.

Squats were all fine.  Rests still super short.

Rows were fine, and I got more reps in fewer sets on lunges.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 1. Dead

BW - 200

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X3
225X2
245X1
265X1
275X1

BB Shrugs - 135X50, 50

Weighted Vest Walking - 20 minutes

Everything went fine.

With the light end of the squats, I haven't even been locking out all the way.  More bodybuilder style squatting.  Also, rest times are bare minimum on all the barbell movements.  Set, rack, load, breathe, set.

Deads were all fast and had a lot of pop.

I was originally going to use a plate-loaded shrug machine for the 100 rep shrugs, but I had a barbell loaded with 135 right there after deads so I just used that.  Kind of rough on my junk, though, so I might go ahead and use that machine from here on.

Got another 20 minutes with the vest.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 1. Squat

BW - 201

Weighted Vest Walking - 20 minutes

Squat -
BarX12 (paused)
115X5 (paused)
135X4
165X3
185X2
195X1
205X1
215X1

Cable Rows - 1 set of 100

Lunges - BWX40, 20, 20, 20

Weighted vest looks dorky and/or like a SWAT vest, but there's no way around that so I'm gonna get used to it.  I got all kinds of weird looks, and some people changed direction on the sidewalk so as not to cross my path.  Whatever.  I'll just stay off main roads and try not to walk at peak hours.  Otherwise, a nice little walk with the added weight.

Squats were really fast and easy and had a lot of pop, as they should.

Cable rows were easy and I may add a touch more weight next time.  My brachialis are actually a little sore a day or two afterwards though, so maybe not.

100 lunges were brutal.  My legs have been sore since the session ended.  It didn't set in the next day, it set in immediately.