Deadlifts

Fri, 29 Dec 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x1, 365x2x2
Shrugs : 315x5x5

I've lost some strength, but I am down to 202 lbs.

Upper body hypertrophy (DB 50x10)

Weds, 27 Dec 17

DB Bench : 35x10, 40x10, 45x10, 50x10
Ez-Bar Curls : 4x10x50
Tricep Pressdown : 37.5x10, 47.5x10, 57,5x10, 67.5x10
Dual Pulley Row :  50x10, 60x10, 70x10, 80x10
Dual Pulley Pulldown : 60x4x10
Pec deck : 100x9x10

Lower body

Sat,  23 Dec 17

Squats : 135x10, 225x5, 315x5x2, 365x2x1
Leg Extensions : 50x5x15
Leg Press : 2x15, 4x10, 6x10, 8x10, 6x10, 4x2x10
Calf Raises : 45x15, 55x3x15
Low Pulley Pull through : 42.5x3x15
Glute Bridges:2x20

I really pushed myself today, my legs were shaking trying to drive home.  i was working out at a gym near my house.  The leg extension machine was different and placed my feet wider apart - you could really see the effect on the legs though, just pumped!

Bench (255 max with Slingshot)

Thurs, 21 Dec 17

Bench Press: 135x10, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 235x3, 245x2, 255x1, 225x2x5
Ez-Bar Curls : 60x2x10, 8, 4
DB OHP  20x10, 25x12, 30x2x10 


Plan is overload today - using the homemade slingshot.  I got a lot of benching done - felt good.  The curls were quite a workout - I did them spider style, using the reverse preacher bench - so full extension and isolation.  It doesn't sound like much until you realize, no body english - just straight biceps only, arm completely immobilized.  I finished up with a new OHP exercise, so I kept the weight light to see the form.  

I'm going to be home for the next few weeks and will have plenty of time to get some super long sessions, so I'll see how this works out.  I typically haven't been one for using dumbbells, because I never owned any, and they weren't a powerlifting exercise.  But now that I'm working some on hypertrophy and appearance I've got to try some different things and see what sticks.  Even though it looked like I lifted weights before I didn't feel like I looked like someone who was strong as I was.  (not boasting - there are tons of huge looking guys in the gym moving weights FAR lighter than what I was moving.)

Lower body hypertrophy

Tues, 19 Dec 17

Leg press : 2x15, 4x15, 6x15, 8x15, 6x15, 4x15
Calf Raises : 90x15, 70x3x15
Leg Extensions : 120x5x15
Glute Bridges (5 sec hold, bw) : 2x20

A lot of volume today. I decided to try some glute bridges instead of the Adductor / Abductor machines.

Upper body hypertrophy

Mon, 18 Dec 17

Bench: 135x4x14
Smith Machine Seated OHP : 50x4x15
Ez-Bar Curls : 50x4x15
Dual Pulley Pulldown : 85x4x15
Tricep Press : 90x4x15

I had to take a few pauses in the third and fourth sets. Mostly the fourth. i tried to keep the rest periods no longer than a minute and the pauses no more than ten seconds. The pump is just soooooooo brutal!

Squats (315x3x5 working)

Thurs, 14 Dec 17

Squats: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3x5, 365x1

Short and sweet.  3 working sets at 315.  I really felt like crap yesterday, but felt pretty normal today.  

Upper body hypertrophy

Weds, 13 Dec 17

Seated Smith Machine OHP CG:  60x6x10
Ez-Bar Curls : 50x6x10
Dual Pulley Row:  60x6x10

I upped the weight by 10 lbs each, and changed the rep scheme from 4x15 to 6x10.  My nutrition was off today as we had a work breakfast.  I figured I'd rock the weight room, but surprisingly all that happened was I got insanely hot and sweaty, and ran out of gas after the dual pulley rows.  Stupid me tried to kill a skin tag under my arm, then covered it with adhesive tape.  Not only did it swell up, but ripping the tape off really irritated the skin.  So, when doing the smith machine and row I kept rubbing it with the inside of my arm.  (it's on the left side of my ribs).  By the end of the session I was exhausted, hot, sweaty and the skin tag was on fire.

Deadlifts (405 max)

Tues, 12 Dec 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x5, 385x2x2, 405x2x1

While my top end was lower my volume was almost doubled*.  I've been cutting calories to try and shave off some of this weight I slapped on while I was injured.  I've been keeping the calories moderate and focused around the workout, and am down 19 lbs after close to two months.  I'm almost back into my "skinny" lever belt.

* Today's volume 11400 vs 5835 last deadlift day.

Bench (235 max)

Mon, 11 Dec 17

Bench Press: 135x2x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3, 235x1, 185x5, 135x3x10
Ez-Bar Curls : 40x4x15
Seated Smith Machine OHP CG:  50x4x15
Dual Pulley Row:  50x4x15 
Tricep Press : 90x4x15

Not too bad.  It was certainly a hard workout with minimal rest periods.  Arms are starting to come up nicely.

Leg hypertrophy

Wed, 6 Dec 17

Leg Press : 4x15, 6x15, 8x15, 6x15, 4x15
Calf Raises : 45x5x15
Leg Extensions : 115x5x15
Hip Adduction : 160x5x15
Hip Abduction : 250x5x15

Phew!  That was a lot of work.

Upper body

Tues, 5 Dec 17

Ez-Bar Curls : 40x4x15
Seated Smith Machine OHP CG:  50x4x15
Pec deck : 100x4x15
Dual Pulley Row:  50x4x15
Tricep Press : 90x4x15

A nice light, pumpy day.  Not saying it was easy - those high reps really start to get painful.  I tried a different bar on the dual pulley row and definitely found it isolated my lats a lot more.  I'm always worried about just turning it into a seated bicep curl, instead of hitting the target.

Squats (405 max)

Mon, 4 Dec 17

Squats: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3x5, 365, 405

I was expecting to have a poor lifting day, but it didn't turn out too bad.

Bench (225x3x5)

Fri, 1 Dec 17

Bench : 135x10, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3x5

Meh.  Wasn't feeling it today.  Following the bench I did a bunch of high rep work, 3x15-20 sets of Ez bar curls, pec deck, pulley row, tricep press machine.

Deadlifts (425 max)

Wed, 29 Nov 17

Deadlifts: 225x5, 315x2x5, 365x2, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1, 445F

OK, so the 445 was a little ambitious.  My strength seems to be improving and my cardio system is compensating better than it was.  I had a few stars at 385, and lightheadedness at 385 and 405, but that's not unexpected, and I wasn't in danger of fainting and smashing my face open or anything.

Light upper body

Tues, 28 Nov 17

Bench: 135x3x20, 4x10
Reverse Grip Curls: 40x20, 40x3x10
Ez-Bar Curls :  40x20, 40x3x10

Dual Pulley Pulldown : 70x5x20

Face Pulls: 25x5x20Tricep Press: 70x5x20

Just managed to get through the first three sets in bench, then had to go to 10 reps instead of 20.  The curl weight was tricky.  I needed enough weight for the bicep to work, but still had to be able to do a lot of reps.  I think if I had done 30 lbs with the preacher bench to isolate the bicep more I might have been able to do the sets of 20 across the board.  That being said, my arms were looking really nice (for me) during the curls.  I managed the sets of 20 for the rest of the exercises.  I supersetted the pulldown and face pulls, and kept the rests really short for the tricep press.  I could probably add 10 lbs to the last 3 exercises. 

Light legs

Mon, 27 Nov 17

Leg Press: 2 plates x 20, 4 plates x 20, 6 plates x 3 x 20
Calf Raises: 45x5x20
Leg Extensions: 100x5x20
Adductor/Abductor supersets: 250x10x10

By the time I hit the adductor/abductor I could only manage 10x10 instead of 5x20.  My muscles were becoming too fatigued.  The burn on the calf raise and leg extensions is insane.

Upper body

Fri, 24 Nov 17

Bench: 135x10x10
Ez-Bar Curls : 40x10x10
Dual Pulley Pulldown : 70x5x20
Face Pulls: 25x5x20
Tricep Press: 70x5x20

Another light, but hard day.  Many reps = jeez that's hard.  Once hit the 80+ rep in bench my last two reps per set were getting pretty difficult.  The curls were torturous.  I started out doing them spider style off of a reverse preachers bench, but then just started doing them standing after the 50th rep as the pump was brutal.

Light legs

Thurs, 27 Nov 17

Leg press: 2x20, 4x20, 6x20, 4x20, 2x20
Leg Extensions: 100x20, 115x20, 130x20, 115x20, 100x20
Calf Raises: 45x20, 55x20, 65x20, 55x20, 45x20
Hip Adduction: 205x20, 215x10, 205x5, 190x10
Hip Abduction: 160x20, 175x20, 185x20, 175x20, 160x20

The first number in the leg press is the number of plates.  I put 45 seconds between all sets today.  I overreached a bit on the calf raises and hip adduction, but seemed to have nailed the weights correctly for the other sets.  

The leg extensions burned like hell.  The calf raises burned like hell and my range of motion became VERY small at the end.  I could barely close my legs on the adduction - I need more work on my adductors.

Upper body

Wed, 22 Nov 17

Seated Smith Machine OHP: 50x3x10 (w/m/n)
Straight Bar Spider Curls: 50x5x8
Dual Pulley Pulldown: 70x15, 85x3x15
Pec Fly: 30x5x15

It doesn't look like I did much when I look at it.  But then I realize - 90 reps of OHP, 40 reps of full extension curls on the backside of the preacher bench (those were brutal), 60 pull downs, and 75 pec flyes.  I was trying a better technique on the pull downs - retracting the scapula at the bottom of each move - I definitely felt it in my lats, they were burning hard.  The pec fly as well seems easy at first glance - I used a cable machine and by the 15th rep the center of my pecs were on fire. 

I'm feeling a bit better today.  Yesterday I felt like deep fried cat crap.  I'm going to do a complete light week to deload a bit, as I've been trying to taper my calories back a bit, which I must have did a little too aggressively at first.

Lower body, meh.

Tues, 21 Nov 17

I was going to squat today, but once I started I just felt off and crappy.  I ended up just doing machine lower body work, high rep, and even that was torturous.  Meh, next time.

Upper body (225x5,4,3 max)

Mon, 20 Nov 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 205x5, 225x5, 225x4, 225x3, 205x2x5

Ez-Bar Curls : 50x10, 70x2x10

Standing Tricep Pressdown: 67.5x10, 72.5x10, 77.5x10

I was tired today, but I did manage to add another rep to the 225 sets.  I ended the workout early as I just felt like crap by the end of the pressdowns.  I started to do the single arm pec dec and it just felt gross.

Lower body (405 max)

Fri, 17 Nov 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5, 315x5, 365x5, 385, 405
Calf Raises : 70x10, 80x10, 90x10, 100x10
Two Minute Leg Press : 4 plates x 37 reps
Two Minute Leg Extensions :  115 x 47 reps

Deadlifts went well.  I initially failed at the 405, but I think I rushed the rest period.  So I took a little longer and tried again.  Very slight light-headedness, which is good, since I was experiencing it earlier a few weeks back.  I tried the two minute leg work again.  The leg press is brutal on my FEET.  My arches were on fire by the time I hitting the mid-20's.  The 30+ reps were just agony with a break every 1-2 reps.  The leg extensions were super-pumpy.  My legs were burning soooooo bad as I past the mid-20s.  

It's funny how low endurance is when you don't train it at all.  I added 7 reps to the press since last time, so it will be interesting to see how it develops over time, and if it has any actual hypertrophic effect.

Upper body

Thurs, 16 Nov 17

Seated Smith Machine OHP : 50X10, 70x10, 90x10, 110x3x10
Ez-Bar Curls: 50x3x15
Dual Pulley Pulldown : 110x3x15
Dual Pulley Row: 70x4x10

I had DOMS in my right pec from Tuesdays workout.  That made today a little painful lol, but the masochistic side of me loves it.  The constant rubbing of my right pec probably made a few people look at me funny(er).

Anyhow, I kept the workout light and pumpy.  The seated OHP went quite well, rocking the 110.  Curls became grueling - I was intending to do 4 sets of 15, but I barely made it through the third set!  Dual pulley pulldown REALLY hit the pec hard haha.  I was going to do 100 lb reps, but didn't realize someone had put the 10 lb adaptor on top of the plates.

  

Squats (405 max)

Weds, 15 Nov 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 385, 405, 365x2, 315x3

Strength day today - feeling out the max.  Hit 4 plates, no issues, decided not to push it past there as I'm still sketched out by lifting heavy.  The takeaway is that I am gaining strength back despite the hypertrophy work I'm doing, and I should continue on as I have been.

Upper body (225x5, 2x3)

Tues, 14 Nov 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 205x5, 225x5, 225x2x3, 205x2x5, 185x5
Ez-Bar Curls : 50x10, 60x10, 70x10
Standing Tricep Pressdown: 62.5x10, 72.5x10, 77.5x10
Pec deck (one armed) : 115x10, 145x10, 160x10
Seated Tricep Press : 110X15, 150X15, 170x10

I added 5 more reps to the 185 set, and did an extra 2 reps on the first set of the 225.  Had I rested longer I might have done 3x5, but that's still an increase in 2 reps over a week ago.  I have no spotters, so the reps are not to failure - one to two reps shy.

Added a few reps to the hypertrophy work, otherwise no major change this week.

Deadlifts (385 max)

Fri, 10 Nov 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x5, 385, 315x5

First day deadlifting "heavy" in a while.  I've had very few sessions since the beginning of my injuries this year, and have been a bit timid.  I worked my way up to 385, same as last time I deadlifted heavy before injuring my calves, but didn't have to grip in me to hit 405.  I didn't want to use straps on the big singles as I don't like the way it exposes me at the start of the lift.  I'd much rather walk up, take a few big breaths, tense, grip and rip.  

When I was done the main event I did a few holds at 405 to work on my cardiovascular system.  I did them just below the knees, off the pins, so that I still had to load up my legs to lift.  I was just trying to expose the hamstrings less. and concentrate on being able to smoothly lock out and hold.

Upper body (DB 55x10)

Thurs, 9 Nov 17

Seated OHP: 50x15, 70x15, 90x3x10
Db Bench: 40x10, 45x10, 50x10, 55x10

Db seated curls: 30x3x10 (supersetted with the last three bench presses)
Standing Tricep Pressdown : 62.5x15, 67.5x15, 72.5x3x10
Dual Pulley Row: 80x3x12
Pec Deck: 100x3x15

Dumbbell presses went a little easier today - the only real issue is the first rep.  I have to work on that take off - but other than that it's pretty easy.  I felt a good pump today, once again, had trouble taking off my shirt!  Granted, it is a tight shirt, but aren't they all?

Quad hypertrophy day

Wed, 8 Nov 17

Leg extensions : 130x2x15, 160x2x15

High Bar Squats: 135x5x10

Db Lunges (per leg) : 30x2x10

Leg Presses: 2 mins, 6 plates, 30 reps

Kettlebell Swings:  10 kg x 3 x 20

LOL.  I had higher expectations for this workout.  Reality set in quickly.

1. Leg extensions - the weight was good.  Got the blood flowing.  A bit of burning, but nothing extreme.

2. High bar squats - originally I planned this to be smith machine front squats.  I couldn't get the movement right.  So, then I tried regular front squats - this required too much technique.  I settled on fast, deep back squats.  I kept the bar nice and high, legs close together (in line with shoulders) and feet straight forward.  Fast tempo.  I'm starting to get a bit winded now.

3. Dumbbell Lunges - I thought I'd be able to manage more weight - but my balance SUCKS!  That being said, I figured it out by the end and was getting good quad activation.  I'm getting REALLY out of breath now though.

4. The two minute leg press torture.  Feet in line with the inside of my shoulders, positioned low on the plate.  Initially my tempo was pretty decent, but after about rep 15 I started to slow down.  Around rep 20 my feet were BURNING and I was sweating HARD.  I fought to stay in it, and was soooooo glad to hear the two minute alarm go off.  

5. I tried the quad raises exercise, where you kneel and lean back.  It certainly stretches everything, but I didn't feel anything I could call measureable.  I decided to use that old standby, kettlebell swings, to be my finisher.  Initial goal was 100 reps, preferably split 5x20.  By the end of 3x20 I was toast.  I was still breathing heavy by the time I walked back to the office, that's how hard they were!

Upper body (225x3x3)

Tues, 7 Nov 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3x3, 205x2x5, 185x5
Ez-Bar Curls : 50x10, 60x10, 70x10
Standing Tricep Pressdown: 62.5x10, 72.5x10, 77.5x10
Pec deck (one armed) : 115x10, 145x10, 160x10
Seated Tricep Press : 110X15, 150X10, 170x10

Great session.  I'd like to start seeing that bench number go up - but as long as I'm staying at 2 plates a side I'm happy.  I'll just keep pounding away until 2 plates becomes easy again.  I really hammered my triceps today.

Squats (375 max)

Mon, 6 Nov 17

Squats : 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 335x3, 355x1, 375x1, 315x2x5

Kept it pretty simple today. Heavier squats was the plan, and I simply worked my way up to a heavy single and did a couple of 3 plate sets at the end.  I felt good, and might have even had 395 or even 4 plates in me - but I don't want to rush too fast.  

I did a few seated squat adductor things (full stack x 3x15) then hopped on the GHR to see how my strength was.  My right hamstring felt a little weak, I only managed one set of 5 and then stopped on the second rep of the second set as my right hamstring really didn't feel right and I (am probably being paranoid) didn't want to risk a new injury.

Upper body (225x5 max)

Fri,  3 Nov 17

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

DB Bench: 40x12, 50x10, 60x5, 55x5

Ez-Bar Curls (21s): 50x3x21

Tricep Press: 52. 5x15, 62. 5x10, 72.5x10, 82.5x1, 67.5x10, 62.5x15

Pec Deck : 100x10, 130x10, 160x5

Bench was a bit of a grinder, but made it.  I have to work at a better method of getting the dumbbells in position.  I could handle more weight for actual pressing, but getting the weights up was really hard, and after heavy benching I really didn't have a lot left in my triceps.

Did some more curls today - 21's.  These are truly brutal even at low weights.  The pump just kills.  Couldn't do as many tricep presses or pec deck as I had hoped, kept the weight low as the fatigue was just brutal at that point.

I'm happy with the progress I'm making - I hit the bench number I was hoping for this week.  25x5 raw is a good start point.  I'll continue with messing with the weight and reps in the more classical sense - ie - next week say 235x5x1 or something like that, then go doubles, etc.

Squats (315x5x5 max)

Thurs, 2 Nov 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5,  315x5x5

Calf Raises: 90x5x10

Leg Extensions: 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 205x5x10
Seated hip abductor squats: 315x5x10

I felt good today.  Warmed up a bit with barless squats while waiting for a rack, then went right to work.  Did my squats belted, just to get used to wearing it again.  Had to loosen it a notch - my waist went up an inch or two.  :)  Now that I'm getting more work done I should start to shrink down a bit around the midsection - hard to eat like your working out heavy when you're not.

Upper body (light)

Wed, 1 Nov 17

Smith Seated OHP: 90x10, 110x10, 130x5x5, 110x10, 90x10 

Ez-Bar Curls : 60x4x10

Tricep Press: 62.5x3x15

Dual Pulley Pulldown : 60x3x10, 8

It's funny.  When you're in the gym working out it seems like you've done a lot of work.  Then you get back to edit the blog and see the above.  I didn't include the weight of the bar on the smith because I have no idea how much it weighs.  I believe it feels like 45, but the drag on the cables as you push makes it feel a lot harder.

I actually supersetted the curls and tricep press, and would have done more, but someone came and took over the tricep apparatus while I was doing my curls.  In any case, I got a pretty good arm workout - I could barely reach my collar to pull my shirt over my head when I was getting changed, so much pump!

Squats (335x2 max)

Tues, 31 Oct 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 315x5, 335x2,  275x5

Calf Raises: 60x10, 70x10, 80x4x10
Leg Press (plates total): 4x10, 6x10, 8x10, 10x5

Leg Extensions: 130x12, 160x10, 190x10, 205x3x10

No tricks today, all treats.  Everything went well.  I thought I was feeling something odd in my left hamstring during leg presses, but it was likely all in my head.  Despite that I decided not to do another set, just in case it actually was something.  My back is getting used to squats again, the weight on my traps isn't really crushing me anymore.

Upper body (225x2x2 max)

Mon,  30 Oct 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10,  205x5, 225x2x2, 185x2x10

Ez-Bar Curls: 60x10, 70x10, 80x2x3, 70x2x5, 60x10

Tricep Press: 50x15, 65x10, 72.5x10, 80x10, 72.5x10, 65x15

My workout went quite well today.  Decided two sets of doubles after my last triple last week.  No problem, might have had a third or fourth set in me.  In any case, light is the game.  Weds will be light upper body, a lot of smith presses and more curls, rows.  If I'm feeling good I might try for a set of five at 2 plates of Friday.

Squats (335 max)

Fri, 27 Oct 17

Calf Raises: 45x10, 60x10, 70x4x10
Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 335x1, 315x3, 275x5
Leg Press (plates total): 6x10, 8x3x5

Leg Extensions: 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 205x3x10

The racks were all in use when I arrived in the gym, so I did my calf raises first so as not to fatigue my squatting muscles!  Knowing I'd be pressed (lol) for time I decided to do a "heavy" squat day, feeling out where my beltless max was.  I didn't push it too far, no grinding, and might have had another 20-40 lbs left in the tank.  I then popped off some leg presses for my quads and hamstrings.  I finished up with some leg extensions for the VMO and anterior quads.

While it was a heavier workout than I have been doing it really wasn't "pushing it".

Upper body, light day (DB 60x12)

Thurs, 26 Oct 17

DB Bench: 30x15, 40x12, 50x12, 60x12, 50x12

Ez-Bar Curls : 50x15, 60x12, 70x12, 60x12

Smith OHP (w, m, c) : 50X10, 70x10, 90x5, 70x10

Farmers walk: 45 plate per side x 300 steps

The overall plan today was to ramp up to a max in which I could still hit 10-12 reps without breaking my form down.  Once I hit the limit - or felt that the next set would be more on the heavy side than light, I'd drop back a few pounds.  

My shoulders were feeling a little beat up this morning from the way I slept last night.  I decided to try DB bench instead, and kept the weight fairly light as I felt out what I was capable of.  I likely could have gone higher, but the goal was to keep my reps high and have a "light" day.  I definitely could feel it in my chest and triceps.

I did curls until the form started to break down - then dropped the weight back.

I spent a lot of time on the Smith doing seated overhead press.  Each round was completed wide, medium and closed grip - so 30 reps total at 50#, 70#, 15 reps at 90#, and another 30 reps at 70#.  

By the time I finished those my shoulders and triceps were feeling pretty fatigued, and I decided to finish up with some forearm work doing farmers walks with plates.  I ran 6 sets of 50 paces with a small rest (less than a minute) in between, and that really pumped up my forearms.

Lower body, light day

Weds, 25 Oct 17

I did a bunch of light work today as I was feeling really tired.  Deadlifts were sumo, conventional, and split squats.  Reps were 135x10, 225x3x10.  Moved on to leg press.  Wide stance, past parallel - 90x15, 180x15, 270x2x10. Seated hip abductor squats - full stack, 5x15.  That did it for the day and I walked back to the office.  The combination of movements really hit everything pretty hard, and my quads and hamstrings were quite fatigued.  I've had the occasional odd feel in the left calf, so I tried to avoid stressing it today.

Upper body (225x3 max)

Tues, 24 Oct 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x5, 205x2x5, 225x3, 185x6, 135x3x15, 12, 10

Ez Curls: 50x15, 60x10, 70x8, x5

Tricep Press : 42.5x15, 50x15,65x2x15, 5

The gym was really packed today and I had a hard time getting a spot for the bench.  Then someone was doing curls exactly the same as me.  Then I couldn't get the pec deck.  Called it a day and went back to the office.  Not bad though, added a rep to my max bench and added 10 lbs to the curl.

Squats (245x5x5)

Mon, 23 Oct 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 245x5x5
Calf Raises: 45x10, 55x10, 65x4x10
Leg Extensions: 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 205x3x10
Adductor/Abductor: 160x10, 205x10, 220x3x5

Squats left me breathless as I kept a pretty fast tempo going.  The weight wasn't too bad though.  Calf raises were definitely pushing the envelope on the last two sets.  Leg extensions were pretty hard - I see a lot of media suggesting it's better to do front squats or split squats, but I really like the way they hit my VMO and they're not super form-dependant.  (ie - if I'm beat up from back squats or deadlifts I don't have the technical requirements of a barbell on my shoulders).  Add/abd were pretty hard at the top set.  The range of motion on the abductors seems so small compared to the adductors.

Upper body (225x2 max)

Thurs, 19 Oct 17

Bench: 135x2x10, 185x2x5, 205x2x3, 225x2, 185x3, 135x3x15

Ez Curls: 50x15, 60x3x15

Pec deck: 130x10, 145x10, 160x10

Tricep Press : 35x15, 50x15, 65x3x10

Went well. Used a wide handled bar for the triceps, and it also really hit my lats. Tried for a Mex on the bench and then did some back off work.

Lower body (295 max)

Wed, 17 Oct 17

Deadlifts: 125x10, 225x2x5, 275x2x5, 295x1

Calf Raises: 50x10, 60x10, 70x10, 80x10

Leg extensions: 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 160x12, 145x14

Seated Leg Curls: 100x10, 115x10, 130x10, 115x2x10

Went pretty well. I'm definitely weaker, but I imagine I'll build up strength quickly. Form was on point. I did all the deadlifts in both conventional and sumo form.

Upper body (205 max)

Mon, 16 Oct 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x9,  185x8, 185x5, 205x1, 135x3x12

Ez-Bar Curls: 50x10, 60x10, 70x10, 60x9, 50x12

Pec Deck (single arm) : 115x10, 145x10, 160x10, 145x7, 130x10

Seated Lat Pulldown : 100x10, 120x10, 140x10, 120x7, 100x10

Tricep Press: 90x15, 110x15, 130x10,  150x10, 130x10, 110x15

The session went quite well.  Did some heavy work with back off sets.  Nice pump.

Squats, at a crossroad (225x5x10)

Fri, 13 Oct 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5x10
Calf Raises: 45x10, 55x5x10
Leg Extensions: 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 205x10
Adductor/Abductor: IDK, like 205-250 x 4 x 10 and the 250 was 1x5.

Felt I got a good mix of areas being hit.  No pain.  The squats were a really fast, up down tempo and I only slowed for the last 3 reps of the final set.

I have to decide whether or not I should just add some more sets of 10 next week or add more weight.  I'm really split on it.  IDK how much I'll actually get out of pounding out 60-100 total reps each.

Upper body (185x4x5)

Thurs, 12 Oct 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 185x4x5
Seated Smith Machine Press (wide, med, narrow): 25x10, 35x10, 40x10
EZ-Curls (full, standing): 40x2x10, 50x3x10
Pec Deck (alternating, single arm): 100x10, 130x10, 150x10
Seated Pulley Row: 50x10, 60x10, 70x10

Good session.  Bench was a little weird, but as the warmup went on I was able to hit depth as my chest muscles stretched out.  Great pump, had trouble reaching back to pull my shirt off lol.

Squats! (225x4x5)

Tues, 10 Oct 17

Squats: 135x2x10, 225x10, 225x4x5
Seated Calf Raises: 45x5x10
Kneeling Leg Curls: 40x10, 50x10, 60x3x10
Seated Leg Extensions: 140x10, 160x10, 190x3x10

Back into squats - goal for everything was 50 reps... had hoped for sets of 10 across the board, but I found the squats pretty tiring (as in out of breath).  Anyhow, functionally I felt fine.  No joint or muscle issues aside from a little right knee stiffness on the initial squats.  All exercises done without supports.

I'm hoping to work my way up to 5x10 on the squats at 225, then toss on 50 lbs and try to work my way back up to 5x10.  Progress will be slow - but I don't really want to hurt myself again.  I will be doing some walking as well, likely at home on the treadmill, starting next week.

Slowly back at it.

Tues, 26 Sept 17

Work and home life have been impacting my workouts greatly.  I managed to get in to do a light upper body workout last Monday, and then had a day with a wife in the hospital and travelling for work.  This week I will be travelling, but there is a half-decent gym in the hotel to get an upper body workout, plus a pool for some cardio.

Today I did high rep upper body work, dumbbells, curl bars, machines, smith overhead presses.  Went well, no discomfort.  I have about two more weeks before I can start working my legs out again.

Another setback

Wed, 6 Sept 17

So, last week I had a great workout.  Since it took so little time I decided to play with a new toy in the gym, a sled.  The Torque Fitness TANK.  It was a pretty interesting little machine, but seemed too easy.  So, I cranked it to max resistance with about 8 plates on it.  Things went well for a bit, really hard a good cardio feel to it, then both of my calves popped.

Bilateral gastroc strains lol.  I had to be taken out by stretcher, couldn't weight bear.  I'm off legs for another 6-8 weeks.  yay.

Squats! (375x1)

Tues, 29 Aug 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x4x5, 335x2, 355x1, 375x1

Worked up to 3 plates for reps, then proceeded to test my max after.  Didn't feel too bad, and had I been on stimulants I may have grabbed 405, but who wants to run stimulants every day.

I went for a 3.6 km walk run yesterday.  My cardio capacity dropped off horribly - I could only run a few hundred meters at a time, then walked for a minute or two, then ran, etc.  At about the 2 km mark I started to feel a little strain in my achilles tendon, so I just finished up with a brisk walk.  I did almost all across level ground as opposed to my normal, brutally uphill route.

I was helping my trainee with squats on Sunday, so I did a few reps here and there to demonstrate form.

Upper body (245 max)

Fri, 25 Aug 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 225x5, 245x1, 225x3x3
Smith Machine Seated OHP: 50x10, 70x10, 90x10, 100x2x5
Curls: 40x10, 50x10, 60x2x5, 60x10
BTN Press: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10
Front Delt Raise: 40x10,  50x10, 60x10

Not too bad a day.  I was watching a guy with fantastic delt development doing an exercise and asked him about it - looks like it might be worth trying out because he had crazy striations visible in his front delts when doing this movement.  I find a lot of delt work puts my shoulder in a bad angle, and this didn't.

Deadlifts! (385x2x2)

Thurs, 24 Aug 17

Deadlifts: 225x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x2, 385x2x2, 405xF
Deficit Deadlifts: 365x5, 315x5

Rack pulls (10 sec holds): 315x3, 405x2, 455x2, 475x2

Lifts went well.  I had some issues with dizziness - I'm not accustomed to the load again.  I couldn't break 405 off the floor - tried twice without and with straps.  Did some deficit deads, then moved on to rack pulls.  The goal of the rack pulls was to hold a heavy, heavy load for a long time and work on getting my CNS and cardiac system reaccustomed to the requirements of deadlifting.

My legs felt fine, no noticeable issues.

Legs, and back into cardio (355 max)

23 Aug 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 335x1, 355x1
Calf Raises: 2 plates x 5x10
Leg Curls: 30x15, 40x10, 50x10, 60x10
Leg Extension: 100x10, 130x10, 150x10, 190x10, 200x10, 190x10, 170x10

So did some more heavy squatting today, getting used to having the weight on my back again.  Did a whole pile of machine hypertrophy work once I completed squatting.  Did my first day of cardio since my injury yesterday, a 3.6 km brisk walk.  It went well, and I'll see about getting back into a bit of running as well.

It's just one thing after another,,,, (185x5x5)

Mon, 21 Aug 17

Walked at full speed into a barbell at mid-quad level over the weekend.  Still limping around and feel like a tool.  Anyhow, upper body today.

Bench:  135x10, 185x5x5
Pec Deck (single arm each side): 100x10, 130x10, 150x2x10
Seated Smith Press (wide, med, narrow): 25x5, 35x5, 25x5
Seated rows: 50x10, 100x3x10
Seated lat pulldown: 100x3x10

Feeling tired today, upper body (215x3)

Weds, 16 Aug 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x5, 205x5, 215x3, 215x2, 205x5, 185x2x5, 165x2x5

Rows: 1 plate x 15, 2 plates x 2 x 10

Curls: 50x2x10

After doing the curls and rows supersetted I just felt tired and didn't want to lift anymore.  So, I didn't.  I forgot (second day in a row) to bring my preworkout protein bar, didn't get enough to drink, etc.

More squatz (325 max)

Tues, 15 Aug 17

Squats: 135x10. 225x2x5. 275x5, 295x3, 315, 325
Leg Press (plates): 4x2x10, 6x2x5, 8x2x5
Leg extension: 130x10, 160x10, 190x2x5

Getting back into the groove - squats are still feeling heavy so I decided to see how far I could safely go.  Not terribly high - I was pretty warm today and feeling kind of meh.

Back at it

Mon, 14 Aug 17

I was on vacation last week and did a TON of walking.  I'm going to be training a young Special Olympics athlete, and did some benching (185 for reps), squatting (315) and deadlifting (315) yesterday.

Today I did my normal upper body hypertrophy work.  So curls, rows, cable pulldowns, dumbbell presses, Smith machine incline presses.

Second leg day (315x3x5)

Thurs, 3 Aug 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 275x5, 315x3x5, 275x5. 225x10

The "main attraction" was squats.  Belted with my knees loosely wrapped.  Managed to work up to 315, which felt a little on the heavy side for my wrists, but was able to rep.  I then did some leg presses up to 8 plates, leg extensions, single leg hamstring curls, and calf raises.  Overall I felt good - I felt the hamstring curls a bit, so I kept them at a low weight and did reps of 12.

Update - first day squatting with weight (225x5x5)

Mon, 31 Jul 17

Squats: 45x2x10, 135x10, 225x5x5
Leg Press (plates): 2x10, 4x10, 6x3x10
Leg Curl (each leg): 30x3x15
Curls: 40x10, 50x10, 60x2x10
Pec Dec (each arm): 100x15, 130x10, 150x10
Dumbbell shoulder press: 30x3x10
Dumbbell curl: 30x3x7

So, I did some leg work today.  I used loose wraps on my knees to keep them warm.  My right knee complained a little, it's become unused to bending that far and was a little clicky.  By the end my body was getting used to the movement and my hips were getting nice and loose.  I followed up with a little more light leg work and then finished up with some chest and bicep work.

Cleared for recovery

Mon, 24 July 17

I had a doctor do my ultrasound on Friday and he says everything looks like its healing well, and I should be able to start working on recovery.  Since then I've been stretching, and today added a little superlight leg work.  Few kettlebell stretches, some leg curls with like 30 lbs, all very light stuff.  Did my regular upper body work as well, as the leg work took maybe 15 minutes.

I'll post if something interesting happens....

19-20 July 17

With me being limited to low weight, high rep upper body work there's not a lot of point in logging the sessions unless something interesting occurs.  Basically I'm just trying out different stuff to see what hits the muscles the hardest without causing me to engage the right hamstring.

I've been trying stuff like dumbbell presses, one armed pec-deck work (really seems to hit the pec better than both arms), behind the neck presses, straight bar upright rows, curls, using a cable row machine with one leg on the center pad and my bad leg out of the way so I don't put any weight on it.  Stuff like that.

I go for an ultrasound tomorrow to see what sort of damage there is in there.  It's still tender to the touch by the back of the knee, where the tendons/ligament damage supposedly is, and the hamstring itself still has a tender spot.  

Blah, blah, blah. Upper body.

Tues, 18 Jul 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 175x10, 155x10, 135x15

So, I did 20 chin ups to start.  Then I did bench press, curls, behind the neck presses, one arm seated dumbbell shoulder presses, and some cable work.

My arms were pretty fatigued by the time I was done lol.

I'm soooo borrrrred.

Mon, 17 July 17

Smith machine bench:  90x10, 110x2x10, 130x5
Smith machine press (wide, incline):  130x5, 110x10
Smith machine press (wide, medium, narrow, incline): 90x10, 70x10, 50x10
Chin ups: 16
BTN presses: 50x15, 60x2x15, 50x20
Preacher curls: 40x15, 50x3x10

What a boring, boring session.  The smith machine felt very heavy on bench.  I kept looking all around it to see what the actual weight of the unit is before plates, because it really felt like more than a normal bench.  I think I could have easily pressed 135x10 or more reps, but the smith makes 2 plates feel more like 175 or so. Anyhow.

Bench, half decent

Thurs, 13 July 17

Bench: 135x10, 155x7, 175x5, 195x3, 175x5, 155x5, 135x12

Floor presses (Smith) : 50x15, 70x12, 90x2x10

Preacher Curls: 40x10, 50x10, 60x10, 70x10, 80x5

I did paused benches today, pyramid style, with the last set just being a fast pumpy set.  I did floor presses after that using the smith machine. I then moved on to curls. I've switched to straight bar as I find it actually easier on my joints. Very slow and deliberate full range. Very tortuous.

Lastly, I did some pulley work and called it a day.

Guess what I did today, c'mon, guess!!

Weds, 12 July 17

Yeah, upper body.

I started off with a set of chin ups and rocked out 15, then later two sets of 10.  Then preacher curls - 40x15, 50x3x12. I did some smith machine seated incline presses - wide, medium, narrow as usual.  50x15, 70x10, 80x10, 80x5.  Next I did some one armed, cross body cable flyes, hitting the pecs - 27.5x15, 32.5x15, 37.5x15.  Next I grabbed some dumbbells and did 1 arm seated shoulder presses.  30x15, 35x15, 40x10, 45x10. Face pulls came next, can't remember the exact weight, 2 sets of 15.  Lastly ab machine, 110x15, 130x10, 150x2x5, 130x10

Bench

Tues, 11 Jul, 17

You know , I see guys who do upper body every day. How can they stand the monotony lol!

Bench: 135x10, 155x10, 175x10, 155x10, 135x10

Then, a variety of exciting curls, and other upper body work.

Upper body still, lol.... high rep, low weight

Mon, 10 Jul 17

This will likely become a trend haha.  So, today I did biceps, triceps, and delts.  A little trap work incidentally.

Started with a whopping 15 chin ups!  But the next few sets were less lol - 8 and 5.  I just stuck them in between other sets here and there.  I was glad to see that I am making progress on the initial set.  If I had the time I could rest to the point where I could repeat, but I don't have time for that.

The bench presses were all tied up, so I then moved to ez-curl bars and did this supersetted:

Preacher curl: 50x2x15, 40x1x20
Upright row: 50x2x15, 40x1x20
Behind the neck press: 50x2x15, 40x1x20

I then did some dumbbell shoulder presses while I was waiting for the smith machine.  Each arm 30x3x15.  Those 14 and 15 reps were really tough.

I then moved to the smith machine, 45 incline bench, all supersetted.  I don't know how much the base weight is for the bar, so I'm just noting the plates.  I feel like it's probably close to 45 lbs.

Wide grip: 25x15, 25x2x10, 25x10
Medium grip: 25x15, 25x2x10, 25x10
Close grip: 25x15, 25x2x10, 25x10

Once again the last few reps were pretty hard, muscles were really starting to get fatigued.

I then moved on to the tricep push down machine, and did 110x15, 130x15, 110x15

I finished off with the ab machine, I don't remember the weight exactly but it was I think 90x20, and 110x2x10 or something like that.

Upper body - still picking out exercises.

Tues, 5 July 17

Yesterday and today I went to the gym for the main purpose of seeing what upper body work I could do that did not require any hamstring use.

Things I tried and had success with:

1. High rep, low weight bench press,
2. Seated incline press. wide, medium and narrow,
3, Chin ups,
4. Pull ups,
5. Seated dumbbell curls with medium weight - too heavy and I start to have to flex the hamstring to stabilize,
6. Preacher curls with the ez-curl bar, medium weight,
7. Cable flyes and rope push downs,
8. Tricep push down machine,
9. Ab crunch machine.

I'll play around a bit more and see what else I can do.  I expect the next step in my injury recovery will be walking for my cardio.  Following that, light stretching and mild resistance work.  (think bands or a very light cable kick)

Injured!

Fri, 30 Jul 17

Had an off day and went to the gym. Started off with deadlifts and did a set of 225x5, then moved on to 315x5. I was pulling the second two when I felt a snap in my left hamstring, then pain.  I limped around, doing what upper body work I could, then went back to the office. 

I iced and took a bunch of ibuprofen. But it was still pretty tender.  Anyhow. Four days later I'm still tender and suddenly developed a ridiculously huge bruise on my hamstring just above the knee. 

It appears to be a stage 2 hamstring strain, and will have me restricted for four to six weeks.  So all upper body for now.

Push day, good.

Weds, 28 Jun 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x5, 205x3, 225x2x5
CGBP: 135x2x10
Smith Machine OHP (each for close, med, wide): 50x15, 70x10, 90x3
Machine Incline Bench: 40x15, 50x15
Machine Delt Raise: 30x15, 50x15, 70x10

Pretty good session.  I could definitely see my triceps and delts popping while walking back to the office.

Heavy legs day - felt heavy, and no more BP meds!

Tues, 27 June 17

Squats:  135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x2x1, 315x2x5

I've been dealing with a bad outbreak of acne for the past few months on my back and chest.  I am on testosterone cream for replacement, but it shouldn't have been enough for this level of breakout.  In any case, I saw my doctor and he put me on 2 months of doxycycline, which is supposed to be a good treatment for acne.  I've read some people are on it for a year or more.

Anyhow, why do I mention acne?  Because it really hurts to low bar squat when you have cystic acne being crushed under hundreds of pounds.  Anyhow, my most recent zone is right along my squat areas of the upper back, and it's just miserable to squat.  So - I quickly worked up to my max, backed down for two more sets.

I then did leg extension working at sets of 10-15 up to the entire stack for a set of 3.  No leg discomfort today with this movement.  (last week my right knee was causing me grief).  The leg press machine was down, so I finished up with 2x20 reps of kettlebell swings with a 35 lb bell.

Dieting is going good, and with the cardio I've actually managed to get off of my high blood pressure medications.

Extra upper body day

Fri, 23 Jun 17

I decided to do an extra upper body day today, focusing on my arms and shoulders.  I started with narrow, medium and wide Smith machine seated presses. I did 25x3x10, 35x3x10 and 25x3x7.  The last set of three was using rest pause. So, down, hold for 3-5, then up, hold, and repeat.

Next I did seated cable row for 3x10 paused at the max pull.

Next I did high pulley pull downs supersetted with low pulley curls.  Slow tempo.

Lastly I did a few one arm dumbbell curls, seated, and called it a day.

Pull day

Thurs, 22 Jun 17

Deadlift : 225x5, 315x5, 335x5x1

Chin Ups: bwx3x10

Barbell row : 135x2x12, 135x7

Preacher Curls: 50x2x20, 40x12, 40x8

Cable Crossover high: 22.5x20, 17.5x20

Cable Crossover middle: 22.5x20, 17.5x10

I did some light, high rep chest work at the end to push to exhaustion.  By the end of the curls I couldn't curl another rep, and I just pounded the chest with the crossovers.  I kept the tempo really slow on everything but the deadlifts as I really wanted to get a nice, hypertrophic workout.

In addition, I'm down 45 lbs from my start weight of 243 (198) and hoping to get down to the 180's as I'd really like to lean out while I'm on a roll.  Turns out the few weeks I was off with bronchitis actually gave me the will to get back on the diet and lose more.  I had gained from 203 back up to 211 during that period - granted a lot was glycogen, food in the gut, etc. but it was still disheartening.  I saw a few pictures of myself from a conference just before I went back on diet and I was really surprised at how bloated and fat I looked.

Legs, odd patellar pain

Mon, 19 Jun 16

Squats:135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x1, 315x2x5
Hyperextension: 25x2x20

Squats were heavy, but I managed the 365.  Then I tried the leg press - no go, my right kneecap hurt under pressure. (even at only 4 plates total)  I felt no discomfort during squats though.  So, I decided to move on to the leg extension, same thing - pain in the knee.  Decided not to mess with that anymore, and did a couple of sets of reverse hyperextensions for the lower back, glutes and hams.

Push Day, pretty decent

Thurs, 15 Jun 17

Bench:  135x11, 185x5, 225x3x5
BTN Presses: 40x15, 50x15, 60x2x10
OHP: 95x10, 115x5, 135x1
Lat Shoulder Raise: 30x15, 40x15, 50x15
Machine Shoulder Press: 90x15, 115x2x10

I couldn't get the smith machine today, so I tried standing OHP.  The numbers speak for themselves, pretty crap.  At the very end I thought I'd throw in some db OHP, but I couldn't even press a 20 by then lol.  I was OK with the bench - I need a bit of heavy work as my bench has been sliding.

Pull day

Wed, 14 Jun 17

Barbell row : 135x3x5
Deadlift : 225x5, 405x,F,  315x3x5, 345x 2, 365x1
Chin Ups: bwx3x10

Not to bad. Disappointed in the Deadlift, but that will come back.

Dieting a bit more, leg day

Mon, 12 Jun 17

Squats: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3
Leg Press (plates): 3x4p x15
Leg extension: 4x130x15
Kettlebell swings: 4x20x25

I'm trying to knock a few more pounds off now that I'm getting accustomed to my routine.  I am at 203 right now, down from 243 in January.  I'm closing in on getting rid of the love handles and little pouch of gum in the front.

It's demoralizing to lose strength though - I know it's only transitory, but it gets inside my head and freaks me out.  I found the 315s really hard - part of it is that my back has broken out with bad acne and it really hurts.  The skin where the barbell has sat on my shoulders over the years is quite tough and the acne gets cystic.  I have no family doctor at the moment, so I don't even know how I'm going to get it treated.

Pull day

Thurs, 8 June 17

Deadlift: 225x5, 315x2x5, 365x5x1, 405xF, 385x4x1, 365x2x2

Rows: 135x3x12

Upright EZ Curl Rows: 50x2x10

EZ Bar Curls: 50x4x15

Seated machine rows: 50x2x15

I didn't feel like doing chin ups today after what seemed like a super heavy deadlift session.  Took it easy on all the other work, concentrating on form and really getting the muscles engaged.  

Paused, high rep upper body push

7 June 17

Bench:  135x3x8 (one set each of wide, medium and narrow = 90 reps)
Behind the neck press: 50x15, 60x3x12
Seated smith press: 25x3x7, 35x3x7, 45x2x7
Lateral del raise: 30x15, 40x15, 50x2x10
Chest push tricep thing machine:  50x2x8

I wasn't feeling very strong today, and had trouble with my shoulder.  Rather than risk injury I did a bench of rest pause work.  So, on the bench I would stop about an inch or two above my chest after descent, hold it for 4-5 secs, then explode up.  These REALLY hit my chest hard.  I could feel the strain in the muscles.  Behind the neck presses were normal tempo, just hitting the triceps.  Seated smith was painfully slow, once again using rest pause just before the bottom of the movement, and exploding out.  Once again, while hard on the triceps, this really hits my chest and lats quite well.  I never see my lats flare as much as when I do this movement.  Lateral deltoid raise normal tempo.  I couldn't remember what the chest thing was at the end - might have been a seated bench, but it hit my deltoids and triceps considerably.

I'll have to start doing a little more bench work as it's slowly slipping away from me.  Not that I should care too much, but I'm still somewhat paranoid of losing muscle.

In addition to all this - I started my diet back up on Sat at 211 lbs.  I'd like to see if I can get into the 190's so I can not have any muffin top and dial in the abs a little better.

Heavy leg day

Mon, 5 June 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x5, 365x1
Leg extensions: 100x15, 130x15, 160x15, 190x15, 220x10, 265x10, 295x5
Leg press (plates): 8x15, 10x15, 12x15
Kettlebell Swings: 25x3x20

Not a superb day - with the conference, poor nutrition, poor sleep, giving blood, etc. everything EXCEPT leg extensions was a little bit off.  I don't know how I managed to do a leg extension of the whole stack, there was just something clicking in with my muscle activation in that regard.  When I moved onto the leg press I was pretty tired, swings buried me.

Leg day, not too bad

Mon, 29 May 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 315x4x5
Leg Press (plates): 6x15, 8x2x12
Leg Extension: 130x15, 160x12, 190x12
Kettlebell swings: 25x5x20

Everything felt good.  I did the squats raw, no wraps or belt, just shoes.  There definitely is either better mental comfort or actual bounce with the wraps/sleeves, but I thought I should get some raw work in as well, since the weight is so "light".  I ran through 3 working sets on the other leg work, then since I had a little time left upped the weight on the kettlebell by 5 pounds and cranked out 100 reps.  (10 both hand, 5 each left and right)

Pull day

Fri, 26 May 17

Deadlift: 225x10 (2 plate deficit, conventional), 225x10 (1, c), 225x2x8 (sumo), 315x5x5

Chins: bwx10, 8, 8

Rows: 0

Kettlebell swings: 20 lb bell, 10 both hands, 5 right, 5 left, by 5 sets total.

I really tired myself out before I got to the rows.  I tried to do a plate a side, but my back was so fatigued it just felt like crap.  I decided to punish myself with an exercise I could do, and is sort of a pull, the kettlebell swings.  Rather than do 30 swings by 3 sets, which really kills me and the last few reps have no glute pop at all, I decided to do 20x5.  It was still hard from the pump and cardio, but not as bad as the sets of 30.  I'll have to get my camera out at some point to show what these buggers do to my legs - and why it gets so hard to move by the end of a set.

Push day, better than last week!

Weds, 24 May 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x5, 205x5, 225x3x5
Behind the neck ez-bar tricep push: 50x2x15, 70x3x5, 30x20
Seated Incline Smith Press (weight on bar): 90x3x5, 50x3x15
Pec Deck: 100x15, 130x15, 160x10, 190x5

My shoulder was not super happy with the benching - I had trouble, as usual, hitting depth.  I think I will keep the bench on a strength trend for now, but do a bunch of smith pressing, etc. for the aesthetics.  My shoulder, much like my knees with squatting, need some regular heavy work to ensure I can hit depth.  Once I start dropping the weight on the bar I don't have as much resistance against my muscle resistance, and the depth ends up being not so hot.

Put a heavy ass weight on the bar and it will force you to hit depth.

Legs day

Tues, 23 May 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10. 315x10, 8, 4
Leg Press (plates): 6x3x15
Leg extension: 100x15, 130x15, 160x15, 190x15

Much better session than the upper body one on the weekend.  Pushing out 10 reps at 315 was REALLY hard.  I knew at the end of that set that it would be a challenge to hit 10 reps again.  That being said - I started out with 3x5 3 weeks and 1 day ago.  So, that's 15 reps vs 22. The cardio (walked with a little running 7k on the weekend) showed me that even though I *feel* mostly normal, there is some residual crap still going on in my lungs.  Breathing was difficult, and I ended up coughing after cardio.

Bench,.meh

Sun. 21 May 17

Wasn't into it today. Ended up doing a bunch of bench, sets of 15 reps, like a plate a side.  At one point I wasn't paying attention and walked right into the barbell. Fortunately I smashed it into the most perfect spot - just above the bridge of my nose. Hurt like crazy, and I expected blood, but it just swelled up. Life went on.

Heavy squats and leg press (405 max)

Thurs, 18 May 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 385x2, 405x1, 385x2, 365x3, 315x5
Leg press (plates): 4x10, 6x5, 8x5, 10x5, 12x3, 14x1

Felt strong today.  Squats were good and I even did some back off sets.  Then I did leg press and actually hit 14 plates (2 shy of the whole stack lol).

Heavy pull day (425 max)

Weds, 17 May 17

Deadlifts:  225x2x5, 315x5, 365x3, 405x2, 425x1, 405x2, 365x5
Chins: 2x10
Pull up: 1x5

Decided to throw a heavy deadlift day in just for fun.  I'm going to do a leg day tomorrow and some stuff over the long weekend.  I'm off Fri, and Mon is a holiday, so I'm going to get some sessions at home and maybe even go for a walk around the lake.

425 was pretty well max effort - I failed on the first attempt due to grip, so I took a couple of minutes, chalked and went at it again.  Then did some descending sets to finish up.

Overall my breathing capacity "feels" normal.  I saw a few stars on the top sets, but didn't feel faint.

Push Day - Improving

Tues, 16 May 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x10, 205x10, 205x3x8
Seated Incline Press: 50x15, 70x15, 70x10, 70x2x8, 50x10, 40x10, 20x10
Deltoid Raise: 30x20, 50x15, 65x3x12

Much better session today. I really worked to fatigue, and was very impressed by my work capacity on the seated Smith machine.  I really liked the lat engagement on it. Blows me away to see my lats engage and flare out.  Pounded my triceps and delts until they couldn't move.

Leg day - recovering still

Mon, 15 May 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x3x5
SLDL: 135x12, 225x3x8
Kettlebell swings: 25x3x30 (10 both, 10 left, 10 right)
Leg extension: 95x15, 110x15, 130x15, 160x10, 190x10

Squats weren't too bad, but I had a big cyst somewhere and had to use the pad as it was really hurting. (didn't break though).  I did better on the SLDL - endurance was a little better, swings, and managed much more weight on the leg extensions.  No coughing fits today, but I still feel a little short of breath.

Push day

Wed, 10 May 17

Bench: 135x2x5, 185x2x5, 205x5x5
CGBP: 95x12, 115x2x12
Military Shoulder Press: 95x10, 115x8, 95x5, 65x12, 85x8
Delt machine press: 10x15, 20x15, 30x15

Bench press was a little hard at first - right shoulder was having trouble at the bottom of the movement, over the course of the sets it loosened up enough to be able to do the work sets.  Close grip work was lighter then I had hoped - I had to drop the weight considerably to get the high reps.  Military shoulder press was quite hard - I had to mess around with the weight a lot.  Finished up with some deltoid machine press work - once again, it's humbling how light this needs to be to actually get your elbows up to shoulder height without engaging a bunch of other muscles.  I'm sure I could move more if I engaged my traps and threw the weight up - but the goal is to get boulder shoulders.  My traps are "fairly" developed already due to all the powerlifting stuff.

Went back to the doctor last night and was given a different puffer - he said I have bronchitis and ventolin puffer I was taking really wasn't doing me any good.  He put me on Symbicort, which definitely provided an improvement.  I was still coughing a bit while working out, and was definitely weaker and short of breath, but overall I see an improvement in the rest of my day.

Pull day

Tues, 9 May 17

Rows: 135x2x12, 185x3x12
Chins: bwx3x10

Deadlift: 225x2x5 (s), 225x2x5 (c), 315x3x5

I ended up not getting a spot to deadlift in right away as I was sharing a rack with someone doing landmine rows.  So I started out with alternating upright rows and chins.  I then moved to deadlifts.  I was coughing my brains out and sweat was pouring off me, so I ended up stopping after 3 sets of deadlifts.  I really concentrated on exploding off the floor - maximum effort.

Light day, still getting over whatever I had

Mon, 8 May 17

I went to the duty doctor's on Friday after work and he put me on antibiotics and a ventolin puffer.  I feel *mostly* normal, but still have a bit of a cough.  I decided to just do a machine workout today.

Leg press: 4 plates x15 narrow, 4 plates x15 wide, 6 plates x 10, 8 plates x 10, 10 plates x 2 x 5
Leg extension: 100x15, 130x15, 160x15, 190x2x10
Ez-Curl bar - Tricep extensions seated, curl seated, upright row standing : 40x15, 50x15, 60x2x15

I decided to use my puffer before working out, which actually triggered a long bout of coughing.  I fatigued fairly quickly in the gym, but managed to get some work in.

I haven't given up lifting, just been sick.

Fri, 5 May 17

I did manage to work out on Monday, but the rest of the week has been a write off.  I woke up with a sore throat, and it ended up in my chest shortly thereafter.  Stayed home Tues and Wed (rare for me).

It's Friday and I still feel like deep fried dog crap.

PPL: Leg Day: setting up

Mon, 1 May 17

I'm tapering off the diet and starting to ramp up the PPL program.  I took a look at the program, then gave it a shot with perceived numbers.  Way off lol.

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x3x5 - plan was 5x5 with rest/pause on the last set.  It was way beyond my current level of endurance, keeping the rests short.

SLDL: 135x8, 225x3x5 - plan was 225x3x12 but wow, that's a lot of work.

Leg Extensions: 70x15, 90x15, 110x3x15 - I initially thought I'd be able to do these with a weight of 190 or so, but no way.  By the time I got to the work sets my quads were so pumped up and burning that I almost had to pound and massage them before the next set.

I will work my way up to the required sets over the next little bit.  The combination of shorter rest intervals and a faster tempo make for a taxing workout.  I will have to build my endurance up over the next few weeks to accomodate this.  I expect it will get easier as I return my calories to a more normal level.  I'm only running about 1500-1800 cals, so it's very tough to do an endurance type workout vs the heavy lifting burst of energy type.

The payout is in the look though, and I've been taking progress pics - we'll see where I'm at in a month.

Birthday Squats!

Fri, 28 Apr 17

Squats: 205x20, 10, 11, 10

Bodyweight this morning was 205.  I tried to only stand holding the bar when tired, but had to rack it. So, I stopped in between sets to catch my breath, then repped out sets of 10 after the first 20 reps.

Upper body, light and testing weights

Thurs, 27 Apr 17

Bench: 135x2x10, 185x4x5, 185x7
Military Press: 95x4x10. 4
21's: 30x1, 40x2
Lateral Machine Raises: 30x15, 50x10, 30x15, 20x15, 10x20

Bench was wide grip, but no belt, wraps, arch, etc.  Fairly flat.  I then moved on to a set of chins, did 10 at body weight.  I tried a couple of dips for fun, but couldn't hit depth and my shoulder REALLY hated them.  I then moved on to see what I could handle in the strict military press - 95 without cheating.  I then decided to try some lateral raises using a machine.  It's really quite humbling how little weight I could move when I was utilizing my delts ONLY.  Did some 21s for fun at the end, nice and slow,   Got a great pump on my biceps - the 21s are good for that, even though they hurt like crazy when your arms get all full.

Deadlifts: heavy (425 max)

Wed, 26 Apr 17

Deadlifts: 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x2, 425x1, 445xF

I kept it pretty simple - go as heavy as I could.  Dizziness kicked in around 365.  I will be seeing a doctor soon.  I'm pretty sure it's just that as I've shrunk and shrunk that the heavy weights are getting heavier.  Interestingly, I hit 425 in 2013, and have been fighting to advance, then simply maintain that weight for the past 4 years.  I assume that as I've aged (51 later this week), that my strength has peaked, and that I'm unlikely to get any stronger as I move forward in life.

That's not a horrible thing, since really - how many guys in their 50's really need to move 425+ lbs?  I suppose if something that weighed 400+ lbs fell on my wife or a kid I'd be able to pick it up with a burst of adrenalin, but really, beyond an emergency I'm pretty sure I could max out at 315 and not be a weakling.

I expect a return of some strength once the dieting is over, but again, my focus will be pointed more towards looking stronger.

Squats: heavy (405 max)

Mon, 24 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x5, 365x3, 405x1

Worked my way quickly to 405.  I then did kettle bell swings for my quads.  The pump was pretty brutal, but the swings really pump up the quads and VMO.  I have to say, my legs never really look as big as when I do swings.

Random

Thurs, 20 Apr 17

Bench: 135x10,185x5, 205x5 225x3x2

Did a quick bench set.  I was at the Y in Sydney, and didn't bring anything but shorts, shirt and sneakers.  Did some chins, various cable exercises for high reps (10-15), some light squats (no gear at all) up to 315, and finished up with some high rep kettlebell swings.  Took an hour.

Deadlifts... meh. (365x2)

Weds, 19 Apr 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5 (sumo), 225x2x5 (conv), 315x2x5 (sumo), 315x2x5 (conv), 365x2 (conv)
Chin ups: BWx3x7

Well, that was dumb.  I fatigued myself frigging around, and by the time I got to the top sets of deadlifts I was fried.  I also realized I haven't properly deadlifted in just shy of a month, and of course, I did legs to exhaustion yesterday.  I'm off to Sydney, NS tomorrow, so I will be working out at the Y.  Easier just to go over there and do machines for upper body work as opposed to bringing all sorts of lifting equipment with me.

Squats, heavy. (385x1)

Tues, 18 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x2, 385x1
Double leg extensions: 100x15, 130x15, 160x15, 190x10, 190x12, 160x15, 130x15, 100x15

Squats felt pretty heavy today.  I finished fairly quickly, so did some quad hypertrophy work with focus on the vastus medialis.  They definitely need the work - my vastus lateralis muscles look like someone inserted slabs of 2x6 into my legs - not surprising given the way I squat.

Bench: light (225x3)

Mon, 17 Apr 17

Bench: 135x8, 155x11, 175x8, 195x8, 215x4, 225x3

Working just shy of failure on each set.

Power cleans, front squats, OHP

Thurs, 13 Apr 17

It's been a weird week.  Work has kept me out of the gym, so I decided to get a big calorie burn and up the heart rate a bit today.  I ran to the gym and jogged back (about 1km each way), didn't throw up or anything like that, so that was positive.  Then I did some kettlebell and medicine ball cleans to warm up.  I then loaded up with 135 and did sets of 5 for power clean, front squats and OHP.  I tried a few at 145, but found them pretty hard for the PC part - the OHP and front squats weren't a problem.

I did that for close to an hour and then went off to get lunch.  I had a weird hypoglycemic event (I believe) yesterday after supper.  I ate supper, and about half an hour later broke out in a cold sweat and my heart started pounding.  I grabbed some chocolate and a sugared drink and downed it, felt normal a couple of minutes after that.  It was certainly unusual though.  I'm *assuming* it was hypoglycemia because my nutrition was weird for the day, and the sugar bolus resolved it quickly.

Squats - heavy (405 max)

Tues, 11 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x2, 385x2x1, 405x1

Went well, managed to hit the 4 plate mark.

Squats: heavy (365x2x2)

Fri, 7 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x2, 405xF

I walked out the 405, got about a quarter into it, and said nope.  It just felt all wrong from unracking it to the start of the movement.  Once again, since I'm dieting I am not taking any chances because I'm not willing to risk injury when I'm not 100%.

Light bench (225x5x5)

Thurs, 6 Apr 17

Bench: 135x10, 135x2x5, 185x2x5, 205x2x5, 225x5x5

Upped the volume today.  A 10 extra reps at 135, and 10 extra reps at 205.  My shoulder felt good.

Trap bar deadlifts (452x2 max)

Weds, 5 Apr 17

Deadlifts: 242x10, 332x2x5, 382x2x5, 422x2x5, 442x2x2, 452x2

Went for speed work today, went well.  It certainly tires out the glutes, but hits the quads nicely as well.

Bench: heavy day (265 max)

4 Apr 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x5, 225x2x5, 245x2x5, 255x2, 265x1

Good solid day.  I cut carbs way too much yesterday and it was all I could do to not vomit from the fatigue.  Today I had a breakfast sandwich and a protein bar preworkout and felt much better.  I kept my lunch cals low, with a turkey wrap (real turkey, not processed meat) and a bunch of baby carrots.

I'm stalled at 208 lbs for a few days, (35 lbs total) and hopefully the scale will start to move again with the mild calorie reduction.

Squats: Light day (315x5x5)

Mon, 3 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x5x5

Just brutal.  Going into those squats on lower calories left me exhausted.

Bench: light day (225x5x5)

Thurs, 30 Mar 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x5, 225x5x5

Short, sweet and to the point.  My shoulder was still pretty tight today, but I managed to loosen it up enough to hit depth.  Finished up with some pumpy shoulder work to get some blood in there. (low pulley crossover, 17.5 x 20, 27.5 x 2 x 20.

Deadlifts - heavy (425 max)

Weds, 29 Mar 17

Deadlifts: 225x5 conventional, 225x5 sumo, 315x2x5, 365x2x5, 405x4x1, 425x1

My circulatory system was certainly having a hard time today.  I needed to sit down fairly quickly after the 405s, and had to take a knee at 425.  I ripped a callous off as well.

I've been giving some thought to what I'm going to do after this cut.  While I am strong-ish, and do look like I lift, I think I'd rather have prettier muscles, even if it means I won't be able to lift as much.  My cardio health needs to come up as well.  I've been looking at a Pull-Push-Legs style plan.  Three times a week lift, with two or three days cardio.  Likely walk/running.

The key difference, aside from reps, appears to be not trying to be so efficient at lifts.  ie - With a powerlifting bench it's whatever is needed to move the most weight over the least distance.  With a bb style bench it's whatever activates the pecs the best - make the lightest weight hard to move.  To transition the mechanism seems to be to take a standard PL type lift first - say on pull day start with deadlifts and move the weight at a high enough tempo to tax the nervous system without fatiguing the muscles.  So in my case of 425 I'd probably rep out sets at 335-340 until I was fried.  The other two movements would be barbell row and chins, all high rep stuff.  Push day looks like bench, military shoulder press or seated shoulder, and dips.  Last is legs, squats, leg extensions for quads, and seated calf raise.  Sets would likely be 5x5 with a rest-pause-repeat for the last set/rep until failure.  (Think Dogcrapp)

Anyhow, that's where things stand right now.  I really don't want to lose strength BEFORE starting a new program, so the cut will continue on exactly as I have been doing it.

Bench - er upper body day

Tues, 28 Mar 17

Bench: 0

I couldn't hit depth with just the bar, and putting a plate a side on didn't improve matters.  My right shoulder just was too tight to get the bar to my chest, and it still hurt, no matter how I positioned myself .  I decided to just do a bunch of upper body work with light ez-curl bars (close grip and palm down wide grip curls, tricep extensions, high rep up 40, 50 and 60 lbs.  I then did a bunch of upper body machine work.  A little disappointing, but it is what it is, and injuring myself won't help anything.  I'll try again Thurs.

Squats: light day (315x5x5)

Mon, 27 Mar 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 315x5x5

Uggghhhhh.  I walked into the gym yawning my face off.  The 315s were fast and snappy.  It was funny when one of the trainers came up and said, "Saw you hit 3 plates bro, good work".  My response, "yeah, it was light day."

Squats - heavy day (425 max)

Fri, 24 Mar 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 315x2x5, 365x2x3, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1

Everything felt good today.  I felt strong going into the session and decided to do a heavy day.  Managed to squat the 425 with a bit of uneven footing,  It wouldn't have passed with white lights at competition, but hey, I'm not competing.

Bench: Light day (225x5x5)

Thurs, 23 Mar 17

Bench: 135x10, 185x2x5, 205x2x5, 225x5x5, 185x10

Went well, I was happy to be able to do the 5x5, and the finish with 185x10 was just icing on the cake.

mmmm cake.

Anyhow, I tried to do another set after that, but I didn't wait long enough and it felt crappy on the unrack - so I called it a day and went back to the office.

Deadlifts: Heavy day (425 max)

Weds, 22 Mar 17

One Arm Deadlifts: 225x4x3
Deadlifts: 315x2x5, 365x5, 385x2, 405x1, 425x1

Mixed it up a bit today with some one arm deadlifts.  The tricky part of those is definitely the balance lol.  I started out pretty good, but by the third set there was definitely nothing level about the bar lol.  I started getting dizzy around 385, and didn't have anything more in me after the 425.  I'm not whining too hard about it, some loss of strength is to be expected while dieting, and hopefully I don't have too much longer to go as I'm really fighting to hold onto every bit of muscle I have.

Bench: heavy day (265 max)

Tues, 21 Mar 17

Bench:  135x10, 185x2x5, 205x2x5, 225x2x5, 245x2x3, 255x2, 265x1

Pretty decent.  Took about 30 mins, not a lot of messing around.

Squats, heavy day (405 max)

Mon. 20 Mar 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x3, 385x1, 405x1

The top single was heavy, but I did manage to squat the 405, albeit I had to change my leg position to finish the movement at the top.  So, hanging in there, but didn't feel like I should try to pound out more singles after the shaky rep.

Squats, light day (315x8)

Sat, 18 Mar 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x10, 315x8, 6, 6

Not too bad.

Deadlifts: heavy (425 max)

Fri, 17 Mar 17

Deadlifts: 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x3, 405x1, 425x1

I don't think I had a 445 in me, but that's ok.  Back to work next week which should be positive in regards to not playing video games all day and eating all that protein. I'll do some light squats tomorrow.

Bench: light day (225x3x5)

Thurs, 16 Mar 17

Bench: 135x2x10, 185x2x5, 205x5, 225x3x5

Static holds: 315x10 a few secs each.

Added a few static holds.  Unrack, extend arms fully and hold.  Pretty hard - 315 seems a million miles away.

Squats, heavy day (385x2x1)

Tues, 14 Mar 17

Squats: 135x2x5, 225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x3, 385x2x1

Couldn't get into the 405, didn't have it in me today.  I've been slacking off a bit, taking some vacation time from work. Still losing weight.

Squats: heavy day (405x4x1)

Thurs, 9 Mar 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x3, 385x2x1, 405x4x1

I felt like squatting today, but didn't have the energy for a big endurance session. So I kept the squats heavy, and didn't spend a lot of time on them.

Deadlifts, explosiveness work. (405x5x1)

Weds, 8 Mar 17

Deadlifts:  225x2x5, 315x2x5, 365x2x5, 405x5x1

Could have sworn I did more reps, but that's what I did.  It just FELT like more.  I used straps up until the heavy singles.  The goal was to pull from the floor as fast as I could.  For the singles I went strapless (and backless, in a lovely black evening gown with deadlift socks), and pulled as fast and hard as I could.  I definitely saw stars and was sweating up a storm.

Bench, heavy day (265 max)

Tues, 7 Mar 17

Bench:  135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x2x1, 265x1

Had to wait to get a bench, so I arsed around with dumbbells, curls, cable pulls, etc while waiting.  Got some good pump and stretch.  Once I got a bench I just hopped on and worked my way up to a few heavy singles.  I was actually surprised I hit the 265 because I really felt like crap during all the mess-around work and thought I'd be too fatigued to do anything heavy.