Training Log: Entry 692

ME upper

CG bench press with chains
Barx10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x1
275x1
295x1
305x1 (New PR)
295x1
275x1

Notes: Went with a longer pause on the last set.  Have a bone bruise on my right palm in the exact spot I use to press, so all of my benching was cockeyed.  My arch was really strong on my warm-ups, then went away as the weight got heavier.  Need to troubleshoot that.  Had trouble tucking my shoulder blades.

Strict press of 185
3x3, 1x1

Notes: Felt strong on here.  Last set was just to see what I had left in me.  I'm suprised on how strong I still am on this after having not trained it for a few weeks.

Band pulldowns w/light per hand
25,21,21,21

DB rows of 135
4x6

Notes: This blew my lats away.  I might just stick with heavyweight on these, as higher reps tend to retard my form.

Band pull aparts w/light
15,20

Notes: Held the pause, got good recruitment.

Training Log: Entry 691

ME lower

Slightly below parallel box squats
Barx5
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x3
425x1

Notes: Got some more patio tiles to make a box with.  It takes 11 tiles and two 35lb plates to get to just the right height.  The triple was the real ME work today, and I might've been able to eek out a 4th, but not with good form.  My knees were tracking inside slightly on the final set and the 425.  Need to focus on pushing the knees out.  The RE lower is working for developing power out of the hole, but I'm not as used to the heavy weight on my back.  The walkout was actually the most difficult part.

My choice of ME work is reflecting my lack of technical proficiency.  Strength I got, technique I don't, and I'm training away from the stretch reflex and using movements that allow me to press from a dead stop.  After I get back from my cruise, I'm gonna bite the bullet and see what I can do with a free squat, but right now, I like this movement, and thinking of training this and SSB with chains for heavy triples, and reverse band deadlifts for singles.  Might stick with trap bar lifts as an alternate.

Deadlifts from plates w/385
1x3

Notes: Hit a twinge in my back on the final rep, so terminated the rest of the sets.  It wasn't a bad one, just a familiar twang, and I most likely could have continued to train the movement, but I've learned my lesson on back injury.  Sitting here right now, my back is feeling damn near indestructible, but the real test will be when I'm laying in bed. If I experience no pain there, then I'm free and clear.  I've been on this movement long enough anyway, so I'll be hitting elevated trap bar lifts, or maybe even deadlifts from mats.

Band good mornings w/average+light
4x10

Notes: Picked this just for the sake of keeping my back healthy, but it was nice to come back to them.

Band side bends w/average
3x12

Notes: Don't bend the knee on these.

Training Log: Entry 690

RE upper

Touch and go bench press of 215
20,6,5

Notes: Deload needs to come up soon.  Weight was feeling light, but my joints and ligaments are all beat up.

3-board press of 305
3x3

Notes: Touch light and control on these.  Dropping the weight into the board takes away my ability to tense.

Band flyes w/2 minis
12,12,10,8

Notes: Right shoulder was bugging me until I did these.  Good re/pre-hab.  Actually got my chest involved here by squeezing at the top of the rep.

Pull-ups
25,11,11,11,9,8

Notes: Need to start weighing these things up.  These high reps are great for my back, but my body is getting thrashed.  3 week waves sound like the best strategy.

Wide grip EZ bar curls of 75
12,10,10

Notes: Massive cheating for massive gunz.

Hise shrugs of 275
2x30

Notes: I need to work my extensor work on my grip training, as my left forearm has horrible tendonitis when I try to grip the bar here.  My fault really.  I train my grip at work, and my schedule has been real heavy, so I've been training grip too much.

 

My legs are increibly sore and not healing.  My appetite is through the roof, and I'm eating tons, but my theory is that since I haven't had any snow recently, my GPP is going down due to a lack of shoveling, and I'm also getting no active recovery.  I might just go outside and shovel snow onto my driveway and then back off at this point.

Training Log: Entry 689

RE lower

Squats of 245
15,12,10

Notes: Had a great stretch reflex here today.  My hip mobility is through the roof, and my GPP and work capacity has increased to the point that I didn't even break a sweat the entire workout.  I'm fixing several of the issues I was dealing with before, now I just gotta make sure my squat is actually increasing.  I think the 3 week waves of chains and no chains is helping out a ton.

Band pull throughs w/light
3x12, 1x5

Notes: Had the usual lower back pump to deal with.  I like this for light work, but I'm getting bored of it. I might actually try some band good mornings again and see how I deal with it.

Band ab pull downs w/average
100,60

Notes: Hold the band higher for more resistance.

Neck harness work w/50lbs.

Training Log: Entry 688

ME upper

Illegally wide grip pause bench press with chains
Barx10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1 (New PR)
315x1
315x1

Notes: Felt really strong on this one.  Had a good pause going on the first two sets.  Unracking the weight was taking out too much energy, so I need to lower it one peg.  Ended up narrowing the grip a touch on the last set just to make it easier to take out of the racks.  Still an imbalance between left and right side.

Strict press of 175
4,3,4,1

Notes: Light weight just because I hadn't used this movement in a while.  Took the grip width in a little just from all the wide grip work on the benching.  Felt really strong on this.  Important to hold the breath on the rep.  That last set was just experimenting belting up for the lift.  I might keep that up, as it didn't really negatively impact the lift.

Band pulldowns with light per hand
25,20,20,15

DB rows of 125
4x8

Notes: Got a great stretch in the lats here, and kept the movement where I needed.  Dunno if I'm gonna up the weight or try some higher volume stuff here.

Band pull aparts with light
10,20

Notes: Focused more on pausing for 2-3 seconds per rep here for the sake of form.  It's rear delt work anyway.

Training Log: Entry 687

ME lower

Reverse band deadlifts w/lights
135x10
185x6
225x5
275x3
315x3
365x2
405x1
455x1
495x1
515x1 (New PR)
535x1 (New PR)
495x1

Notes: Didn't feel much strain on the lower back, and the weight went up fast.  Focus on "humping" the bar on lockout.  Getting good leg drive, as a factor of my plate deadlifts I'm sure.

Deadlifts off of plates of 375
3x3

Notes: Was struggling on these today.  Going to up the weight next week and see if it was just too many deadlifts in a row or if it's time to swap out movements.

SSB good mornings of 155
4x10

Notes: Felt some pain on my left hip.  Kept going though, and broke it up.  I need to seriously start foam rolling.  I got a bunch of tissue to work through.

Band side bends w/average
3x10

Notes: Look forward when doing this, not to the side.  Gets a much better stretch.  I really like this movement.  It doesn't place my shoulders in a vulnerable state.

Training Log: Entry 686

RE upper

Touch and go bench of 215
18,6,5

Notes: I'm prolly getting close to peaking.  Everything I touch feels incredibly light, and I just feel way stronger than I have in months.  I'm gonna ride this out and hit a serious deload in feb when I go on break (only bringing bands and grippers, gonna be doing some bodybuilding junk on the cruise ship).  I widened my grip a fingerwidth here, gonna keep experimenting.

3-board press of 295
4,4,3

Notes: Dropped it into the board on the first rep of the third set and lost most of my air, killing a rep in the process.  Still, it's 305 next week. 

Band flyes w/2 minis
12,10,8,8

Notes: This hit my delts right where it needed to, all the tie ins.  Gotta be very careful with this movement, high risk of shoulder injury if I junk up the form.

Pull-ups
25,10,10,10,8,7

Notes: Hit my 70.  Lots of rest pausing.  Thinking of adding some weight again here, but sticking with pull-ups instead of chins.  Gonna see if that saves my joints and ligaments any abuse.

EZ bar wide grip curls w/75
3x10

Notes: Lots of cheating, but who cares.

Hise shrugs of 275
2x25

Notes: Massive shoulder spasm from holding the bar too close on the left side.  Could explain why that shoulder is bugging me.

 

Weighing in at 207, which considering I'm cooking for myself, I'm happy with.  My job is nuts at the moment, and I pretty much come home, lift and sleep, then start over again.

Training Log: Entry 685

RE lower

Squats of 245
15,10,18

Notes: Went without chains for the new weight.  Notice I get less of a back and quad workout here and more of a glute and hamstring kick.  Maybe I'll go 3 on and 3 off.

Band pull throughs w/light
4x11

Notes: Hand to pull fast to keep the back cramp from happening.

Band ab pulldowns w/average
50,100

Notes: Forearms fried out from holding the band so long.

 

Was gonna do some Hise Shrugs, but stupidly unloaded the weight after squats and didn't have enough left in my back to re-load it.

Training Log: Entry 684

ME upper

2-board press
Barx10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x1
315x1
345x1
345x1
345x1

Notes: This is a 55lb drop off from the last time I attempted this lift about a year ago, but I blame most of it on just CNS adaptation.  My lockout strength isn't where I want it to be, and my hands and tendons aren't used to handling heavy weight, so I'm cutting chains from this movement.  Need to focus on keeping the shoulder blades pinched tight together to shorter then ROM.  After reviewing my bench grip, I'm just going too damn narrow.  I'm going to start taking advantage of my new shoulder stability and bench wider.

Incline press of 155
15,10,6

Notes: Need to put a pin into the seat to keep it elevated.  I'm thinking of swapping this out soon for some sort of overhead work.  It's calling me.

Band tricep pushdowns w/light per hand
20,17,15,15

Notes: Each hand is holding a band to evenly distribute the load.  Got some tendonitis flaring up in my right elbow, hoping the bands will help.

DB rows of 125
8,8,7,7

Notes: Remember to get a stretch on the lat before the pull, otherwise I'm all bicep and rear delt here.

Band face pulls w/average
3x11

Notes: Nothing special here.

 

Wife is away on a 1 week trip to see the folks, meaning I'm cooking for myself.  I tend to lose weight when they happens, but I at least have a ton of groceries.  It's all south of the border this week.  Last time this happened, I had tacos 4 nights in a row.  What a great week.

Training Log: Entry 683

ME lower

Safety Squat Bar parallel box squats
Bar x a million
115x3
155x3
155+chainsx3 (all weight from this point on is with chains)
205x3
245x1
295x1
335x1
375x0
345x4

Notes: Dumped the 375 from a technical error.  Blew most of my energy on it, and didn't think I'd be hitting a heavy single anymore today.  Loaded up the 345 intending for a triple, hit it, was still angry from the failed 375, and decided to just go for one more.  Put all my anger and agression into it, and cheated some by lifting the handles.  This was a real ME attempt, something I haven't felt in a LONG time.  I shouted loud enough for the entire base to hear, and saw the little metal stars.  From now on, I'm going to go in the 3-5 range on this lift, as the singles just are too hit or miss due to technique. 

Deadlifts off of plates of 365
3x3

Notes: Great technique today.  Focused on setting up my arch first and then pulling myself down to the bar.  Felt no strain whatsoever.  My confidence with deadlifts is increasing a millionfold from this lift, and I feel like I'll be back to my old numbers in plenty of time.

SSB good mornings of 155
10,10,8,6

Notes: Focusing on squeezing the glutes to get more power at the end.  My form is with a rounded back to mimic the position of a bailed squat.

Band side bends w/light
4x10

Notes: After all the heavy lifting, band work was all I had left in me.

Neck harness work of 50lbs.

 

Odin works in mysterious ways.  After the bailed 375, I thought this was gonna be a really crummy ME day, but it turned out to be one of my best so far.

Training Log: Entry 682

RE upper

Bench press of 205
20,7,6

Notes: Weight felt incredibly light today.  Touch and go for every rep.  Think I'm gonna move up 10lbs.

3-board press of 285
3x4

Notes: Noticed my mini band that's holding the board has a tear in it.  Need to order another one sometime.  Otherwise though, felt strong on these, and see no reason to slow down anytime in the near future.  Should hopefully take this up into the 300s and then maybe hit up some dips.

Mini band front raises
4x15

Notes: Done with these for a while.  Maybe back to flyes.

Pull-ups
21,9,10,8,9,8

Notes: Was doing great on these today.  Didn't have to employ as much rest pausing as usual.  Really fried my forearms. 

EZ bar wide grip curls of 75
10,10,8

Notes: My shoulder clicks less with the EZ bar, so I'm canning the DB stuff for a while.

 

My arms are getting huge.  Think RE lower is helping my weight gain in a way similar to 20 rep squats.

Training Log: Entry 681

RE lower

Squats of 225+chains
15,7,15,7

Notes: Fell on my ass on the second set, just lost my balance.  Got mad, threw the weight back up as fast as possible, and hit my third set with no rest.  My quads and lowerback are blown up like balloons, leads me to think they're the weak points.

Ab pull-downs w/average
3x50

Notes: Though this did get tension away from my lower back, once I did band pull throughs, it came back again.  Maybe I'll do 2 sets post squats and another 2 post pull throughs.

Band pull throughs w/light
11,11,10,7

Notes: Back was going nuts at this point.  Focused on arching and pushing through with my hips.

Axed any other supplemental work, including the neck harness.

 

Weighed in at 207 yesterday, naked without any food in me.  Diet is going well.

Training Log: Entry 680

ME upper

Touch and go bench
Barx5
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
335x1
315x1
315x1*

Notes: Last set was paused.  Decided I'm gonna go pause with chains and touch and go without.  Died at the halfway point of the 335, legs went out and form went to hell.  Ugly rep.  Need to get a rubber mat to put under the bench so I can really drive.  Upper back was cramping  Triceps need more strength.  Thankfully, I got my dip bars today.

Incline bench of 155
15,8,6

Notes: Widened the grip to hit the shoulders and pecs more.

SSB tricep extensions
3x10, 1x8

Notes: Good speed on these.

DB rows of 125
2x8,2x6

Notes: Upped the weight since I dropped the weight on pull-ups.

Face pulls w/average
3x10

Training Log: Entry 679

ME lower

Feet elevated trap bar lifts
135x7
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x1
365x1
405x1
455x1
500x1
515x1
495x1

Notes: All numbers are based on the assumption that the trap bar weighs 45lbs.  Was standing on 25lb plates.  Man I love the strain I can generate with this lift.  Got brave and took the belt out a notch, and will continue to do this for all other deadlifts and possibly squats.  Having the belt out forces me to keep my abs full of air and tight to ensure that the belt is tight around my core.  No problems with grip whatsoever.  Hit a snag above my left hip while lowering the bar.  Remember not to attempt to decelerate.  Slam if necessary.  I can buy a new bar and weights, a new back is hard to come by.

Deadlifts from plates of 355
3x3

Notes: Experimented with different styles.  Hips high and hips low mainly.  Remember to hump the bar once it gets above the knees.

SSB good mornings of 135
15,11,8,6

Notes: Might keep the weight here for a while, or maybe up it more and try for a constant set/rep scheme.  Focused on squeezing the glutes on the way up.

Band side bends w/light
3x10

Notes: Playing around here.  After trying the chops, I've stuck with my original thought that though a twisting oblique movement can be effective, the shearing force it places on the spine isn't worth it for me.  I noticed that during the period of time I was doing the chops my back felt much less stable than it had in a long time, and I was feeling more pain than before.  Possibly a coincidence, but I'm not gonna chance it.

Neck harness work with 50lbs.

 

Diet has been going well.  Lots of greens and fruits.  Wife says I'm looking bigger.  My arms, and specifically my shoulders are looking pretty good in the right light.  I got my dip bar attachment in the mail today, and will hit up some dips soon enough.

Training Log: Entry 678

RE upper

Bench press of 205
18,7,6

Notes: Removing the chains really changed the dynamics of the movement.  Could get a lot more reps in, and fatigued more at the midway point than towards the last 2 inches of lockout.  Think I might run 3 week waves here.

3-board press of 275
3x4

Notes: Felt really strong on these today.  Nice to be holding heavish weight in my hands again.  Had a good pause going.

Mini band raises
15,15,12,12

Notes: Still keeping my shoulders stable.

Pull-ups
20,7,7,8,8,5,5

Notes: First set was incredible, after that I was all out of juice.  Got an insane pump in the lats.

Hammer curls of 35
10,9,8

Notes: Form fell apart.  Ask me how much I care.

Trap bar shrugs of 225
3x10

Notes: Just some light work.  Should prolly get back on the Hise Shrug train.

 

Weighed myself today.  Amazingly at 205.5  My body comp is much better than the last time I was at this weight, and honestly I was expecting myself to be at 190 as a result.  Very pleasant suprise.

Training Log: Entry 677

RE lower

Squats of 225+chains
15,12,8

Notes: Broke out the belt, under the theory that it's best to train the movement exactly how I'll hit it for a heavy PR.  Amazingly, my back got really fried here.  Quads and lowerback were destroyed after it was all said and done, hamstrings didn't take on too much of the impact.  Some rest pausing where needed.  Strict 1 minute rests between sets.  Spent about 5 minutes after the third set just trying not to puke/let the lower back pump die down.

Pull throughs w/light
11,5,11,11

Notes: On second set, lower back kept cramping, and needed more rest.

Band ab pull downs w/average
3x50

Notes: New protocol for this day, ab work will immediately follow the squats.  Futhermore, today will be a frontward movement, and my ME day will be for obliques.  Hitting the pulldowns basically allowed me to stretch out my lower back and let some of the blood out so I could move again.

Straight legged closed stance arched band good mornings w/average
15,10

Notes: Longass name.  Did this to nuke the hamstrings so that they weren't left out.  Stuck my butt out like an RDL, and felt the termor going into it. 

 

I'd have to say the hardest part of the workout was walking up the stairs out of my basement.