Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Bench: Building Strength

Tues, 31 Aug 16

Bench:  135x20, 185x10, 205x10,  225x5, 240x8

I did a pumpy machine workout at lunch to get the blood flowing.

Bench presses were good. My hands started to slip outwards on the last two reps, and I was worried I was  going to lose it, but held on. I'll redo this one.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Tues, 30 Aug 16

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 275x5, 315x5, 345x3, 360x3x3

My initial calculations called for a final warmup of 335, but when I mathed it out in the gym it seemed like too big a jump.  I had good speed on the 360, even though it was hard.  I've got a bad case of bacne right now, and it was hard to get the bar in the right spot, leading me to tip forward and back and couple of times.  However, 3+ plates a side has annihilated that issue, so I should be GTG for Friday,  I'll add another 10 lbs.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Bench: Building Strength

Fri, 26 Aug 16

Bench: 135x20, 185x10, 205x10,  225x5, 235x8

Went well. Last reps were hard, so I'll only add 5.

Deadlifts: Feeling out the 1RM

Fri, 26 Aug 16

Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 405x1

Did all my lifts sumo, and tried (for some stupid reason) to do a conventional deadlift, to see if it would fly off the floor.  Well, I started to come off the floor and pulled my left adductor.  I tried to pull a 425 sumo after and couldn't.  I'm not terribly disappointed as this is an improvement overall, and had I not pulled that muscle I might have hit the 425.  The only *real* issue I have with sumo is that it doesn't really lend itself well to grip and rip.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Thurs, 25 Aug 16

Squats:  135x10, 225x2x5, 275x2x5, 315x5, 350x3x3

The 350 triples were heavy, but pretty fast.  I feel comfortable adding another 10 lbs.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Bench: Building Strength

Ties, 23 Aug 16

Bench: 135x2x10, 185x2x5, 205x2x5, 225x8

I did a machine upper body workout at noon.  All high rep pumpy-style stuff.  Focus on delts and triceps.

No problems with the bench press. I'll add 10 more pounds.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Mon, 22 Aug 16

Squats:  135x10, 225x2x5, 275x2x5, 315x5, 340x3x3

It's been a little over a week after my first attempt at this set of numbers.  This time I felt fine, and managed to power my way through it with ease.  I will add another 10 lbs.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Bench/Squats: Building Strength (high rep)

Tues, 16 Aug 16

Bench: 135x20, 155x2x10, 170x2x10, 180x2x10
Squats: 145x10, 195x10, 235x10, 250x2x10, 235x10

Phew!  I've been feeling crappy and out of the groove.  I decided to go hi-rep and help grease the groove/get my muscles and joints moving.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Sun, 14 Aug 16

Squats:  135x10, 225x2x5, 275x2x5, 315x5, 340x3, 1

Couldn't finish, felt awful.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Deadlifts: Building Strength

Fri, 12 Aug 16

Deadlifts:  225x3x5, 315x3x3, 355x3x2, 375x4x2

Goal was 8 reps at 375, hit it with doubles.  I'll add 10 more pounds next session as the RPE was a good 8 - and by the time I DL next I should be able to have hit that for a 6 or 7 RPE.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Bench: Building Strength (High rep)

Weds, 10 Aug 16

Bench: 135x20, 155x2x10, 170x2x10, 180x2x10

Last set was hardish - I'll do it again.

Squats: Building Strength (High rep)

Weds, 10 Aug 16

Squats: 145x10, 195x10, 235x10, 250x2x10, 235x10, 195x10, 145x10

That was hard!  The second set at 250 got a bit slower after the fifth rep.  As in - phew, pant pant, squat, phew, pant pant pant.... squat.... etc.  I'm actually sort of glad I decided to do the high rep work this way, because if I am too tired I only miss out on a 145 set, and it feels like an empty bar at 145!


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Bench: Building Strength

Tues, 9 Aug 16

Bench: 140x2x10, 170x2x5, 200x2x5, 220x8

Did a machine workout at noon.  I managed all 8 reps in one set, although the last one was slowwww.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Mon, 8 Aug 16

Squats:  135x10, 225x10, 265x2x5, 315x2x5, 340x3x3

I'm torn on this one.  I upped the warmup weights 5 and 10 lbs to help with plate loading time.  I *did* manage to get 3x3 on the work set, but I'd be lying if I had anymore than a rep left in the tank each time.  My right hip and left quad really felt beat up by the end.  I think I'll do a machine workout tomorrow to get the blood flowing, and a high rep session on Weds.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Fri, 5 Aug 16

Squats:  135x10, 225x10, 260x2x5, 305x2x5, 340x4x2

Good session.  My top sets were all doubles and were an RPE of 7-8.  I think I'll leave this the way it is and see if I can hit 3 triples or 2 fours next time before bumping up the weight.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Bench: Building Strength

Thurs, 4 Aug 16

Bench: 135x2x10, 165x2x5, 195x2x5, 215x8

Super easy. Did all 8 reps at once.  I'll add 5 more next session.  I don't want to rush and hurt myself.

Squats: Building Strength (high rep)

Thurs, 4 Aug 16

Squats: 135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 240x2x10, 225x10, 185x10, 135x10

Fast, snappy and OMG is my back ever fatigued.  I imagine I can safely add 10 next session - although I might have to dial the rest up slightly, as the fatigue factor was pretty intense.



Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Bench: Building Strength (High rep)

Wed, 3 Aug 16

Bench: 135x20, 150x2x10, 165x2x10, 175x2x10

Pretty easy.

Deadlifts: Building Strength

Weds, 3 Aug 16

Deadlifts:  225x3x5, 290x3x3, 340x3x2, 365x8x1

I forgot to increase the deadlift top set weight.  It went quite well though, fast with good hip thrust.  I required only about a minute between reps for the work set.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Squats: Building Strength

Tues, 2 Aug 16

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 250x2x5, 295x2x5, 330x2x3, 330x2

The foundation has been laid and I'm now moving back into doubles and triples.  The goal is to hit 8 reps at the top weight, whatever way I can get there.  Once I can hit an easy pair of triples without excessive dying I will add weight.  Today met that criteria, and I will be adding 10 lbs next day.  I had some extra time so I did a bunch of lat pulldowns on the machine. 

Monday, August 1, 2016

Bench/Squats: Building Strength

Mon, 1 Aug 16

Bench: 135x2x10, 160x2x5, 190x2x5, 210x3x3

Squats (light): 135x2x10, 185x2x10, 215x2x10, 235x2x10

Bench was good.  I hit 9 reps instead of 8.  I'll add 5 lbs next time.  Squats were brutal endurance.  Seemed like a lot more than 80 reps!

I'm now moving into a strength-based training scenario, having put a decent base back on my lifts.  So, heavy low rep days and light high rep days will now be the norm.  I will do a little accessory work if I have time.  Today I was home, so I had a lot of time to kill and put close to an hour and a half in.