Friday, April 28, 2017

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.


Thursday, April 27, 2017

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.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

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.

Monday, April 24, 2017

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.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

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.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

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.


Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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.


Monday, April 17, 2017

Bench: light (225x3)

Mon, 17 Apr 17

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

Working just shy of failure on each set.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

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.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Squats - heavy (405 max)

Tues, 11 Apr 17

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

Went well, managed to hit the 4 plate mark.

Friday, April 7, 2017

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%.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

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.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

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.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

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.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Squats: Light day (315x5x5)

Mon, 3 Apr 17

Squats: 135x10, 225x2x5, 315x5x5

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