Saturday, January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013 – Day 3, Week 8

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Savickas Presses – Up to a couple sets of 135x5

2) Dumbbell Overhead Extensions – 55x2x12

3) Band Pull-Aparts – 3×12 w/ Monster Mini Band

4) IYT’s – 5’sx3x12

5) Rope Cable Face Pulls – 90x3x10

6) Floor Paused Triceps Extensions – 70x3x8

7) Hanging Leg Raises – 3×15

24 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Back finally starting to not feel like it has been gnawed on by dogs. A bit of indigestion flared up but nothing to stop me. Easy workout, just getting the work done. Nothing really stood out or bothered me while lifting. Just good, smooth session of light stuff.

January 24, 2013 – Day 2, Week 8

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Squats – Up to a few sets of 345×3

2) Olympic Pause Squats – 225 for sets of 6

3) Weighted Crunches – 100x3x12

4) 12″ Log Cleans – 178x2x5

5) One Legged Romanian Dumbbell Deadlifts - 55'sx2x5

6) Land Mines – 25x4x8

29 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Still an angry ball of hurt. Lower back and hamstrings keep twitching. Felt like I was favoring one side on the squats. Not very fast on these. Short rests for everything. Oly squats felt really heavy on my back but they were really easy. Not too bad for the rest of the workout.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

January 23, 2013 – Day 1, Week 8

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Strict Presses – Up to several sets of 155×3

2) Barbell Close Grip Bench Presses – 180 for sets of 5

3) Neutral Grip Pullups – bwx2x6

4) Parallel Bar Dips – bwx2x8

5) Axle Curls (5 sec negatives) – 40x2x12

6) Isometric Abs

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Achy, just in a bad mood. Angry at myself. Back is all twitchy and tight from attempted deadlifting on Sunday. I always feel worse during deloads than normal lifting. It's as if all the pain and soreness from the previous sessions just hits me all at once. I guess I let my mental guard down and I get hit with it. Not much effort really being put in to it. Just warm-up (which felt awful) and go. Most of the stuff felt better as I did sets. Very low intensity. Quite a bit of stretching to make up for the two missed days.

Monday, January 21, 2013

January 19, 2013 – Day 3, Week 7 & January 20, 2013 – Day 4, Week 7

January 19, 2013 – Day 3, Week 7

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Savickas Presses – Several singles with 210

2) Dumbbell Overhead Extensions – 100x3x12

3) Band Pull-Aparts – 3×12 w/ Monster Mini Band

4) IYT’s – 5’sx3x12

5) Rope Cable Face Pulls – 90x3x10

6) Floor Paused Triceps Extensions – 110x5x8

7) Hanging Leg Raises – 3×15

Comments: Got to the gym late. I spent most of the day watching the LA Fit Expo All American Strongman Challenge on livestream. Meant I had to go through this workout at light-speed to be done before the gym closed. Luckily this is a workout that can be done with short rests. No idea why z-pressing is still so tough. It's not much weight. I felt stronger before I got sick. Decreased reps on triceps played to my advantage as I went through them. Fatigue was definitely setting in on the upper back accessory stuff. Hardest face pulls have felt this whole cycle. No time to stretch.

January 20, 2013 – Day 4, Week 7

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Deadlifts – Up to 545×2

Comments: Just awful. Wanted to just punch something. I felt slow on warm-ups but this was just unacceptable. I'm not sure if only getting a double with 545 or only pulling singles with the speed weight pissed me off more. No point in continuing the workout at this point.

Friday, January 18, 2013

January 16, 2013 – Day 1, Week 7 & January 17, 2013 – Day 2, Week 7

January 16, 2013 – Day 1, Week 7

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Strict Presses – Up to several sets of 260×1

2) Barbell Close Grip Bench Presses – Up to 320x2

3) Neutral Grip Pullups – bw+30x3x6

4) Parallel Bar Dips – bw+120x2x8

5) Chinups – bw+15 for 45 reps total

6) Axle Curls – 87x3x12 (5 sec negatives)

7) Isometric Abs

26 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Back to workouts without having a major sickness or crappy diet going on. A tad nervous with the working weight but never felt that I was going to miss any of the reps. Benching felt ok, didn't feel like I had to push it hard. Probably helped that I'm strict pressing so heavy right before hand. Pull-ups were quite good and dips felt better this time as well. Decreased the reps and increased the weight for the chin-ups. Still challenging but manageable, no where near as bad as last week's suckfest. Curls were just torture, a minutes worth of negatives is no fun each set haha. Finished up with abs and stretching.

January 17, 2013 – Day 2, Week 7

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Squats – Up to 495×2

2) Pause Squats w/ 100lbs of Chains – 375 for sets of 3

3) Olympic Pause Squats – 355 for sets of 5

4) Weighted Crunches – 105x3x12

5) Car Deadlifts – 3x5

6) One Legged Romanian Dumbbell Deadlifts – 105’sx2x5

7) Land Mines – 25x4x8

28 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Interested in how this day would go. First time in the program working with my former 1rm on any exercise. Feeling stronger, more confident in squats but never know until you get under the weight. I got two solid reps and missed a third halfway up. I don't think I've missed a squat there before. Again, felt off on chain squats but I feel I got better as the sets went on. As per usual, high bar stuff was super tough the first set but only tough on following. Did my crunches and then setup the car deadlift. Tried the front of the car at first, big difference, couldn't budge it. Guess I have a new goal. Switched to the normal setup and did easy sets of five. One legged rdl's were a bear, must have been from the heavy squats as these were insanely tough this time around. Finished up with more abs and stretching.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

January 12, 2013 – Day 3, Week 6 & January 14, 2013 – Day 4, Week 6

January 12, 2013 – Day 3, Week 6

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Savickas Presses – Several singles with 205

2) Dumbbell Overhead Extensions – 95x3x15

3) Band Pull-Aparts – 3×12 w/ Monster Mini Band

4) IYT’s – 5’sx3x12

5) Rope Cable Face Pulls – 90x3x10

6) Floor Paused Triceps Extensions – 100x5x15

7) Hanging Leg Raises – 3×15

20 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Nowhere near by best this day. Only had two bowls of rice in me but I thought I could push through it as this is the least stressful workout day in the week. Certainly had to fight to push the strict pressing through. Felt quite a bit of fatigue on the extensions but managed to get all the reps for every set. Didn’t feel too bad doing any of the upper back stuff. Some tightness in my biceps doing face pulls. Despite wrecking me, the barbell extensions were about the same difficulty as last time. Finished up the workout with abs and thankfully end the day.

January 14, 2013 – Day 4, Week 6

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Deadlifts – Up to 535×5, then 455 for sets of 3 with short rest

2) 2" Platform Deadlifts – A few singles with 465

3) One Arm Barbell Shrugs – 135x3x15

4) Bent Over Dead Stop Rows – 310x3x5

5) Glute Ham Raises – bw+10x3x7

6) Tire Flips – 800 for sets of 3

7) Atlas Stones – 385 for sets of 6 (58”)

Comments: Felt like total crap Sunday so didn’t even bother attempting to leave the house. Despite feeling like crap, I decided to finish out the week. Goal weight for this week was only a 10lbs increase but I had other plans. One was that it was much easier to just add 50lbs a set but two was that I took it as a challenge. Squat was bumped up 15lbs, why not deadlifts?! Despite feeling sickly, this set felt better than last week. My hand placement felt off on the speed sets but all in all, deadlifting felt markedly improved. Not much difference between 135lbs and 95lbs on one arm shrugs it seems. Rows felt better than last week which was good. Glute hams are pretty easy, might have lost count on a set or two though and did an extra rep. I wasn’t looking forward to tire flipping. I quite good at it but I don’t have the best stuff to work with as the heavy tires are outside in the grass and mud. Just covered in filth after these. Didn’t help that it was raining/hailing while I was doing it. Had to have Jenkins wrap my tape for stones as I was just too dirty to do it myself. I was sweating quite a bit more than I usually do so it made this tougher than it usually is. Tape slid off near the end of the first set. Gym was closed after that so no time do another event.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

January 08, 2013 – Day 1, Week 6 & January 09, 2013 – Day 2, Week 6

January 08, 2013 – Day 1, Week 6

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Strict Presses – Up to several sets of 245×2

2) Barbell Close Grip Bench Presses – Up to 305x2

3) Neutral Grip Pullups – bw+30x3x6

4) Parallel Bar Dips – bw+115x2x8

5) Chinups – 75 reps total

6) Axle Curls – 87x3x8 (5 sec negatives)

7) Isometric Abs

26 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: I went in to this workout knowing I wasn’t feeling my best. Dealing with some intestinal problems since Sunday so very dehydrated and tired. Pushed through it. Got mad at myself after the second set of overhead as it was such garbage. Helped me regain my focus. Sloppy but still going strong. Benching felt heavy in my hands but it was still easy. I blame it on how I was feeling and from how sore my triceps still were from last week. Got to use the dip belt this time for pull-ups. Easy but fatigue was evident half through the each set. Dips are definitely challenging now but still a lot of it could be not feeling well and triceps soreness. I was not looking forward to the chin-ups with the short rests, especially with how I was feeling. Definitely where how I was feeling became most evident. It was true struggle to match what I did last time. Used my axle for the curls this time. Wanted to make sure I was getting a good count on the negatives. Finished up with abs and stretching.

January 09, 2013 – Day 2, Week 6

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Squats – Up to 480×3

2) Pause Squats w/ 100lbs of Chains – 355 for sets of 3

3) Olympic Pause Squats – 340 for sets of 5

4) Weighted Crunches – 105x3x12

5) Car Deadlifts – 3x5

6) One Legged Romanian Dumbbell Deadlifts – 105’sx2x3

7) Land Mines – 25x4x8

24 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Still feeling like crap but such is life. Goal for the day was to work up to 480lbs and do my thing. I was worried with how this would go considering but I did alright. Felt off on chain squats but I feel I got better as the sets went on. High bar stuff was still rough but certainly better than last time. Did my crunches and then setup the car deadlift. First set was so so but I got it down pat for the last two sets and it was almost speed work. Really pleased with that. Upped the weight on one leg rdl's. Not bad but tightness in hamstrings from dehydration was noticeable. Finished up with more abs and stretching.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

January 04, 2013 – Day 3, Week 5 & January 06, 2013 – Day 4, Week 5

January 04, 2013 – Day 3, Week 5

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Savickas Presses – Several singles with 200

2) Dumbbell Overhead Extensions – 90x3x15

3) Band Pull-Aparts – 3×12 w/ Monster Mini Band

4) IYT’s – 5’sx3x12

5) Rope Cable Face Pulls – 90x3x10

6) Floor Paused Triceps Extensions – 100x5x12

7) Hanging Leg Raises – 3×15

26 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Same weight as last time. Felt heavier for some reason but still ok. Next triceps exercises threw me for a loop. Wrists were bothering me on the first set with the dumbbell. Whacked the back of my head a few times too until I got it figured out haha. As with the last heavy session, I tried to keep the rests shorter than last time. On band scap stuff I tried gripping the bands closer to make the tension greater. IYT's are noticeably tougher now that I'm doing the I portion correctly. Really despised the paused floor extensions. Right elbow was achy. Triceps were mega sore and pumped from those two exercises. Finished up with some easy leg raises.

January 06, 2013 – Day 4, Week 5

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Deadlifts – Up to 520×5, then 440 for sets of 3 with short rest

2) 2" Platform Deadlifts – A few singles with 455

3) One Arm Barbell Shrugs – 95x3x15

4) Bent Over Dead Stop Rows – 305x3x5

5) Glute Ham Raises – bw+10x3x6

6) Power Stairs – 340 for sets of 4 (21")

7) Atlas Stones – 385 for sets of 6 (58”)

8) Car Deadlifts – 800 tire w/ 270 on frame for sets of 6

Comments: Did the entire workout at Jenkins' as he was there in the morning to do rehab stuff. Deadlifting still feels off to me some how. I did alright with the top set I guess, just got a ways to go to get back to where I was. Speed work with 440lbs is a nice break from the 495lbs stuff. Even felt slow on platform pulls as well. Cold, dry weather and deadlifting are not good things for skin on my hands. New shrug variation, a bit too easy. Takes a little time to find a good sweet spot to keep it from awkwardly tilting. Rows felt tough too. I guess just about everything felt tough this workout haha. No tightness in my hamstrings doing glute hams so that was a plus. Power stairs were just too easy. Used the duck walk implement and loaded them to a tire. I wasn't expecting it to be so easy. Stones was just as tough as last time. Again the tape was a problem. Add to that I was having issues getting my hips in to it for a good extension. The last bit of this workout was messy. Last time I had tested the car deadlift frame on Tuesday with my car, I couldn't budge it, so I had to use something lighter. I picked the heaviest tire (about 800lbs) to put on it. It was dirty, filled with rain water, snow and ice. Pretty sure I got the black lung from lifting it and rolling it. Just covered in black dust. I was expecting it to be heavy and when it wasn't I added plates to the front. Did two sets with the pins maxed out. I decided that there was no way this wasn't tougher or heavier than the back of my car so I tested that out. It was so easy lifting my car that I had to video it to make sure I was actually lifting it and it wasn't the frame sliding. Guess it was all mental last time. Won't have to use that dirty tire next time.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

January 01, 2013 – Day 2, Week 5

Dynamic Warm-ups

1) Squats – Up to 465×4

2) Pause Squats w/ 100lbs of Chains - 330 for sets of 3

3) Olympic Pause Squats – 340 for sets of 5

4) Weighted Crunches – 100x3x12

5) Axle Cleans – 230x3x5

6) One Legged Romanian Dumbbell Deadlifts – 90’sx2x6

7) Land Mines – 25x4x8

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Had to opportunity to workout today even with most places closed so I took it. Slept in a tad later than I had planned but I was exhausted from yesterday. Goal for the day was to work up to 465lbs and do my thing. Kind of worried with how it would go since I've been doing multiple sets with my work weights for the past few weeks. Maybe I wouldn't be firing on all cylinders just like that. Luckily those fears evaporated when I got under the bar. Quite pleased with how it went considering a double had been my best a couple months ago. Going from the heavy squats to chain pause squats was weird. Balance troubles walking out the weight were the first issue. The second was I it felt strange in the hole since the weight was much lighter. I'm used to feeling crushed and loading the legs like springs in the hole. Both things surprised me on the first set. I adapted and got better at it as the sets went on. Actually quite easy, almost speed work. High bar stuff was rough. Not getting any easier haha. Abs are almost active rest at this point. Decided to do axle cleans to keep my options open. First set was total garbage. I blame some of it on getting cooled down too much messing around with my car deadlift frame. I rectified that for the next two sets. I broke down the lift in my head and found it was a much crisper movement if I secured my grip and flexed it off the floor rather than a rip and grip style. Increased volume on one leg rdl's was definitely noticed. Quite challenging now, especially after all the squatting. Finished up with more abs.