Week off

Weds, 29 May 19

It's been another weird week with travelling for work.  I decided to call it a deload week and will continue where I left off next week.  I did do some light full body work today. 

Paused Squats: 135x5, 225x3x5
SS Lying Down Face Pulls: 90x4x10
SS DB Curls: 20x4x10
Paused Bench Press: 135x4x10
SS Seated DB OHP Press: 25x4x15

Nothing too hard.  The lying down face pulls were a variation I saw in a video to ensure you aren't "cheating".  The curls were standing hammer style rotating horizontal at the top.  Slow, of course.  The same with the DB OHP press.  I held the bottom of the movement at the point where I could see the most upper pec activation.  Everything slow, with paused variants in the squat and bench to make up for the low weights.

N'Suns Week 1 Day 3 - OHP

Fri, 24 May 19

OHP: 70x5, 80x3, 90x12 (AAMRAP), 85x3, 80x3, 75x3, 70x5, 65x5, 60x12 (AAMRAP)
Spoto Press: 75x6, 95x5, 110x3, 110x5, 110x7, 110x4, 110x6, 110x11
Pull Up: BWx4x5
Face Pulls: 100x4x15
DB Hammer Curls: 30x10, 25x3x10

Very easy day.  I supersetted everything in a circuit.  I actually did 95 for the first 3 sets of OHP as someone was using the smaller weights and I couldn't be bothered to go lighter.  So, it was actually 95x5, 95x3, 95x12.  I'm still doing dead hang pull ups so I can really concentrate on the mind-muscle connection.  I'm very weak in this movement, and really need to be using my upper back as opposed to my triceps and delts.  The nice thing about pull-ups (and dips) is they really are what I call "trick" movements.  Once you practice them for a bit you gain that connection and can activate the right muscles to complete the move.  Clearly I'm able to lift my bodyweight off the ground using just my arms, but to focus on doing it using just my upper back is the challenge.

N'Suns Week 1 Day 2 - Squats

Thurs, 23 May 19

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 170x5, 190x3, 215x8, 205x3, 190x3, 180x3, 170x5, 160x5, 140x10
Glute Bridges: 95x3x15
Deficit Deadlifts: 135x5, 135x5, 160x3, 160x5, 160x7, 160x4, 160x6, 160x8

Wow, that's a lot of volume.  Close to 6000 lbs of squats.  While I have lifted heavier, this was 50 reps for squats, which is close to 2x my normal reps.  I tried to get the glute raises in, but simply didn't have enough time.  I'll have to find some butt exercise that doesn't take so long to set up - something with cables would be perfect.

N'Suns Week 1 Day 1 - Bench

Weds, 22 May 19

Another weird week.  After testing my maxes and seeing how I respond to volume the past few weeks I decided to stick with the N'Suns 531 plan.  Looking at other plans there was either too much time spent in the gym, not enough volume, or too much volume.  This fit in the middle, and the accessory work is configurable.

I set my training maxes very conservatively.  Given my age and the injuries I've had I've decided to take my time and build up slowly.  I don't want to hit the wall in three weeks:

Bench: 185 lbs
Squat: 225 lbs
Deadlift: 265 lbs
OHP: 95 lbs

P stands for primary, S for secondary, A for accessory

Day 1:

Bench (P): 120x8, 140x6, 155x3x4, 150x5, 140x6, 130x7, 120x14 (AMRAP)
Cable Face Pulls (A)(SS): 90x4x15
DB Hammer Curl (A)(SS): 35x4x10
OHP (S): 6x50, 5x55, 3x65, 5x65, 7x65, 4x65, 6x65, 8x65
Pull Up (A)(SS): BWx4x5
BB Row: (A)(SS): 135x3x10

Bench was a little on the light side, but I was able to focus on form.  No bounce.  Cable face pulls were perfectly weighted.  DB hammer curl was a little heavy.  OHP was pretty easy.  Pull ups were hard, I could only handle about 2 in a row, so I did dead hangs off the floor, tense, and pull.  Might as well get the whole range of motion instead of just the top half since I need a lot of work on these.  The barbell rows were hard, but not impossible.

Ugh. I need to start at the beginning.

I decided to do some strength testing on the squat today.  My upper body workouts have clearly been enough to keep me in shape and in decent strength.  I'm very close to my old 1RM's already.

The lower body on the other hand, is a total loss.   Squat max was a double at 295.  That's over 100 lbs less than my max in August last year (405x3x1).  Now, my squat has been declining over that time - the biggest squat I had after that was a 375 lb squat in October, and a 425 lb deadlift.  My deadlift right now is 355x1.

Sooooo.....

I'm pretty sure a linear program will accomplish what I need to do.  Something as simple as a 5x3, 6x2, 10x1 for the main lifts and some accessory work.  The focus needs to be on the main lifts though.  I still want to do cardio as well.

Still working out, just planning

Just a quick note - I'm still working out.  At the moment I'm just feeling out what sort of volume my body can handle, what the best exercises are in terms of time spent in the gym and effects on my body, and what my training maxes are.

Upper body

Thurs, 9 May 19

Bench: 135x10, 155x8, 175x5, 205x3, 215x2, 225x1
Lat pulldown: 100x3x10
Db curl: 25x3x10
Db Lat raise: 20x3x10

I've missed benching so much. My last max, back in November, was 245 or 225x10x3.

Cardio and upper body

Mon, 6 May 19

DB Incline Bench: 65x3x10
Rope Triceps Press: 80x2x15
Lat Pulldown: 80x1x10
DB Curl: 30x2x10
DB Row: 65x1x10
DB Side Raises: 15x3x10

Started off doing 60 mins of walking at 5:20 this morning.  I did 20 minutes of just rowing at the beginning of this workout.  The sets were reduced for the weight session as I was "pressed" for time haha.  

Back on the diet now that the break is over.  Full intensity is the plan.  I want this over as quickly as possible.  Starting weight today was 189 lbs.

Lower Body

Thurs, 2 May 19

Just a terrible session.  I was late, forgot the right equipment, then water, then after doing the glute work I was just feeling crap.  I said the hell with it.