My Training Log

[amounirl]

7-22-12: 3x3 Bench and Front Squat

Bench
warmups
3x215
3x230
3x240
14x185

Front Squat
warmups
3x205
3x225
4x240

Incline fat gripz DB Press
5x10x45s 60 sec rest between sets

Yates Row
10x10x95 60 sec rest between sets

Had a good workout yesterday, maintaining strength on bench even though I weighed in at only 200 lbs even right after bench. Bench technique was off on the 240, right shoulder wasn't fully locked in so it was rotating weird, so I didn't push for more reps. Did a set of 185 after, forgot to use close grip, so I pushed it to 14 reps, might have had 15 in me. Front squat I might have had 5 on the 240. Inclines I set my max too high and went to failure on set 5, so I cut it off. I used the perfect amount of weight on the rows, and my arms/lats were fried afterwards. Great pump too. Looking much leaner in the mirror, and my forearms are starting to show the individual muscles (looks like striations but not) and veins. I just wish I didn't naturally have not very many veins on my small forearms, I know people who don't even lift whose forearms look more ripped then mine. Deads on Tuesday.

 

[amounirl]

Push Press and Deads

1Clean and Rep Push Press
5x135
6x145

Deficit Deads
5x365

Dips with 60 sec rest between sets
BWx7,7,7,7,7,5,6,5,5,5

Strict Straight Bar Curls (for the elbows)
8x45
2x8x65
8x45 reverse grip

Rear Delt Work
Swingers and flys

Pretty bad day today to be honest. My left trapezius is completely messed up, I have this sharp stinging pain in it at the top whenever it's stretched or contracted. When I got home I stuck a lacrosse ball under and and did a lot of rolling right in the problem area, but it's still hurting this morning. Gonna work on rehabbing it. Anyways I couldn't really go heavy on anything that involved the trapezius, so push presses were mediocre, and I did deficit deads so that I wouldn't be able to use as much weight, left hand underhand helped lessen the pain, and also i forgot my long socks so the shin pain helped distract a bit. Didn't want to go heavy on anything though. Still did the high volume dips, then did rear delt work to balance it out. Finally found out why my left shoulder is so f*cked up, it's because when I use my computer it's elevated, so I set up my computer so it can be more neuteral now, back/down even. Got a video of the deads but it's so light it's not even worth putting up, back was nice and straight though.

 

[amounirl]

7-27-12: 3x3 Squat and OHP

OHP
3x115
3x135
3x145
1x155
3x135
8x115

Squat
3x185
3x225
3x275
1x315 belt

T Bar Row
3x10x2.5 plates
1x25x1 plate

DB Shoulder Press
10x30s
2x10x35s

Sumo DL
10x135
10x225
10x315

Deadhang for the spine
With about 5 hanging leg raises, slow

Ok workout today, OHP technique was perfect, and didn't bother my shoulders at all, barely bothered my trap, lat support the whole way. However, the fact I was resting it on my clavicles and flaring my lats, like a front squat, on the bottom lowered my bottom end strength a bit, probably because I'm not used to it. Still I felt it a lot more with less weight. Either way my numbers were not impressive, likely because weight loss causes a loss in upper body strength, and the fact I was using a new, safer technique.

Squat was pretty weak, I think the fact I haven't gone over 315 in months has made me lose a lot of strength on my squat, but on the positive side my technique is a million times better than before, back held a great arch the whole way. Neither of my training partners could come today so I didn't bring my camera, but I had a guy on the squat rack next to me who half knew what he was doing watch my technique, he said I had a very pronounced arch that I held the whole way, and was concerned that I might be arching too much. As far as I know the more arch the better, on the squat, but please correct me if I'm wrong!

Did some T bar rows because my lats seem like they're shrinking, felt it a lot in the forearms, especially my right arm, but still got it in the lats. Oddly enough my shoulders look wider too, and my traps look smaller, almost like my clavicles have grown longer, stretching out the lats and traps and making them look less thick. I welcome the change though cause I've always had small shoulders, hopefully they'll grow more and I'll actually look big in a shirt. Shoulder press was a little weak but I'm still not used to dumbbells. Sumo DL I was gonna do multiple sets of 10 but 315 was crazy cardio, so I stopped there, felt it a lot in the legs, hips, glutes, which was the main purpose for me doing them, more leg volume and building the supporting muscles for the conventional deadlift. Very slow off the bottom though. Then I did a deadhang with some weight to extend my spine back out, and threw in some hanging leg raises. Felt it more in the forearms and hands than anything.

Bodyweight was 201 at home and 196 at the gym, looks like I'll have to hand in my man card soon, because I'm over 5'10 and almost or already under 200 lbs =/. On the bright side I look much leaner, cardio 3 nights a week, lifting 3 nights a week, and very low calories have treated me well. I also feel like my testosterone is naturally much higher, and I'm starting to really get into kempo, really enjoying the sparring and working on my techniques.

 

[amounirl]

7-29-12: 3x3 Bench and Front Squat

Bench
Warmups
5x185
3x210
2x2x240

Front Squat
3x185
3x225
5x245

Hamstring curl
15x100
15x150

DB Shoulder Press <60 sec rest between sets
10x10x25s

Shrugs 60 sec rest between sets
10x10x135

Had an ok workout today. My warmups felt really strong on bench but for some reason I was barely getting 2 reps on 240. Tried it again and technique felt good, yet I only got 2 reps again. Must be losing strength due to weight loss, as I weighed in right after at 199. Front squat went decently, matched my old PR of 245x5, but did it without a belt, so it would be a beltless PR. Might have had 6 with a belt on, but for some reason I didn't put it on. Hamstring curls were just for maintainance, but 15x150 was a pretty hard push for me. Just getting my strength up for when I have access to a real GHR. DB shoulder press I went way too light, so by the 7th set I was doing shorter than 60 sec rest, and between my 9th and 10th set I had a 20 sec rest. Shrugs were nice, did em slightly bent over, surprisingly felt it a lot in the rear delts, and had a good pump after. Gonna start doing those more often. Did some light rows between sets of bench, and before shrugs, but didn't do any serious enough to be worth logging.

 

[amounirl]

7-31-12: 3x3 Push Press and Deadlift

1 Clean and Push press for reps
3x135
3x145
6x155

Deadlift
3x365
3x395
3x435
1x475

Incline DB Press
3x10x55s

Chest Supp Row
2x20x37.5

Rear Delt Destroyer
30x25s big ROM

Seated behind the back side raises (rear and medial delts)
10sx15/10/12

Reverse Curls and Standing Reverse Grip tricep extensions
Several high rep sets with just the bar

Good workout today, push press form felt amazing, should have gotten a video, really starting to like it, feel it in the lats and traps immensely. Deadlift was OK, I think I was just having a bad day on those, then also my grip was kind of shitty because I haven't deadlifted truly heavy in a while. Going to do grip rack pulls after shrugs next time. Incline DB Press was nice and strong, 45 degree angle like Jim wendler, got a lot of triceps and upper chest, some lats and shoulders. Chest supp row felt good to balance out the inclines. Then a bunch of shoulder and arm work because I almost never isolate both areas, good pump, and I still look great an hour after. My shoulders feel huge. Definitely keeping the shoulder work, a solid day today, even if strength was a bit off.

Overall I feel like I"m getting wider, thicker and leaner at the same time, which is awesome, but unfortunately I'm getting weaker on the big lifts. Could just be stalling because I haven't deloaded in a while, though I'm gonna try to stick it out for the next 3 weeks till I'm done cutting. Didn't weigh myself today but probably just below 200. Might just look bigger because of decreased bodyfat, although my shoulders look bigger and broader even with a shirt on.

 

[amounirl]

7-3-12: OHP and Squat

OHP
warmups
5x105
5x120
2x4x135

Squat
warmups
5x205
5x235
5x265

DB Bench
2x15x35s

Sumo DL
worked up to 10x325

Pretty bad workout last night, I feel pretty overtrained, as overused as that word may be. Realized that I did 3s week of 3/5/1 2 weeks in a row, since the friday-sunday-tuesday schedule had me confused as to when the week starts. So I've been working with 90% for 2 weeks in a row, not to mention a huge caloric deficit and hardcore cardio 3x/week. Just kept the assistance work light to avoid further overtaxing myself.

I think my weakness yesterday was also due to the fact that not only have I lost a lot of weight (196.5 at the gym yesterday), but I was relatively dehydrated as well. Either way I'm losing strength noticeably fast, even if I'm not losing size, so not really anything positive I can say about yesterday.

Got my deadlift vids on youtube:

2 weeks ago: Deficit Deadlift 365x6 - YouTube

Last week: Deadlift 475x1 - YouTube

 

[amounirl]

8-5-12: 3x5 bench and front squat (Just realized the last post should have been 8-3-12)

Bench
5x165
5x205
4x225
stability stuff (explained later) 4x10x105

Front Squat
worked up to 8x215

Pendlay Row
0x185 (too much momentum, got 4 reps though)
3x5x155

Seated behind the back side raises
15sx15/10/10

Ok day today, definitely losing strength, as my BW is down to 196 today, but technique felt pretty good, which is always a plus. Was really bummed to not get 5 reps on 225 bench. Definitely lost more strength on pendlays since I haven't been doing them. Then just did some easy isolation stuff, short rest periods so sets 2 and 3 were weaker.

Now to explain the stability thing on bench: My training partner has a pretty bad muscle imbalance, his left arm locks out way before his right arm, so I decided to try something I heard from my buddy who benches 300 for reps at 200 BW 6'1 (nothing too remarkable but still respectable for a lengthy guy, better than me anyways), where you put different weights on each side and try to bench it like it's normal, for building stability, alternating per set, and presumably doing an even number of sets. My training partner did 10 on each side, plus 5 on the lopsided side, his 5rm being 135, and I did 25 on each side with a 10 on the lopsided side, my 5rm being a little under 225 at the moment. It was honestly very difficult, even with such light weight, even though I was going slow, that should have been a breeze. Still, I really liked the movement, I feel that it could be a great tool for really cementing ones groove on the bench. For my current template I'm going to do this on my push press day, and on my bulking template I'm going to do it right after bench on my lower volume day.

 

[amounirl]

8-7-12: 3x5 Push press and DL

Stability Squat (Uneven sides)
4x10x125

1 Clean and Push Press for Reps
5x120
5x135
7x150

Reverse Band Deficit DL
4x405
5x425

Dips
BWx10/10/10/12

Pull Ups
BWx8/8/5/5/6

Hamstring Curl
30x80 lbs

Had a decent day today, bodyweight was 197 at the gym before my last set of deadlifts. Stability squat wasn't as hard as stability bench, I'm guessing just because the weight is closer to one's center of gravity, but I felt it a lot in the middle back, in a good way, so that was good, even if the stability stuff sounds and looks a little moronic. I actually felt like it was forcing me to keep my core tighter and my back arch better because I had to stabilize the uneven sides, and my training partner also commented that my arch looked better. Push press is going up despite my strength on other lifts going down, just becaue I'm getting used to the movement, which is also good.

Deadlifts were a little off because as soon as I added my belt when I got to 405 I started throwing up in the middle of my sets, because I ate and drank a lot before coming to the gym. I was planning on pushing 405 to 8 but I had to stop at 4 because my dinner was starting to land all over my feet. I took a few minutes to rest and burp a little, and decided to up the weight just so I could only do 5 reps, and not throw up any more than I had to from doing high reps. The first rep was good but on the second rep that little gas bubble at the top of my stomach popped, so the last 3 reps vomit was coming up through my throat, thankfully this set I didn't spit anything up.

Dips were pretty good, finally got my breathing down on those so I"m able to focus on the strength aspect instead of the endurance aspect. Pull ups were disappointing because even though I'm lighter I can't do as many, just goes to show how important it is to practice all of the big compounds lifts consistently or they'll go down, along with the muscles they work. Thankfully my program for this winter is focused around compounds, upper body days are 3 compound lifts for low reps, then 1-2 isolation exercises for high reps, lower body days are 1-2 compound lifts for low reps, 1 compound for high reps, 1-2 isolation for high reps. Deadlift day is broken into a morning and evening session so I can still work around ort/mag, and my class schedule also accommodates so I have more free time that day. Deload weeks are where I put all the ADD bodybuilding stuff I tend to do on work weeks now.

Finished off with some hamstring curls just for the knee flexion, was dying and about to throw up after these, just because of the cardio and having to lie on my belly for the machine. Overall though, despite my upset stomach the whole day, I managed to get a decent workout.

 

[amounirl]

8-11-12: 5/3/1 OHP and Squat

OHP
5x120
3x135
1x150

Squat
5x235
3x265
3x295

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
35sx8/10/10/12

Pull Ups
BWx6/6/6/6/6

Weighted Decline Situps
12x10 lbs added

Pretty good day today, lifted with an old friend who I used to lift with about a year ago, so we were talking way more than lifting, overall I had a really fun time though =). OHP strength is going down, depressing but expected as I'm now 197 even with lots of food and water in me. Squat felt decent today, probably in part because I was teaching and demonstrating to my friend the technique so I was extra mindful of my own. Dumbbells were good, wanted to do short rest periods but ended up taking too long talking with this huge guy at my gym about powerlifting, so I pushed the last sets to more reps instead. Pull ups were good, wanted to pace myself this time and keep all my sets consistent, felt it a lot and had a good lat pump afterwards, held the last rep at the top for 10 sec as always. My friend really wanted to hit abs so I half assed 1 set with him, while he was going all out for 3 or 4. Not a crazy day but still decently productive in terms of work done, if you don't factor in the fact that this whole workout took 3 hours from all the talking.

 

[amounirl]

8-12-12: 5/3/1 Bench and Front Squat

Bench
5x175
5x200
2x225
3x225

Front Squat
5x165
3x185
5x215

Pendlay Row
3x5x160

Incline DB Bench
60sx8/8/8/11

Chest Supp Row
60sx8/8/8/11

Yesterday was the worst bench day of my cutting cycle. I'm starting to get worried that all the upper body strength I had was because of bodyweight, because even when I weighed 185 I was stronger, and I weighed in at 198 today, so now I feel like I"m losing more muscle than fat. Thankfully this is my last week of cutting, and hopefully that whole thing about the muscle fibers being stretched and the muscle memory being present will hold true, and I'll be able to gain a ton of muscle and strength back quickly once I start bulking again. Next time I bulk I'm bulking with cardio, cutting is the worst thing ever, even if it's easy eating wise for me, it makes me hate lifting, so I'm going to have to do something else I don't like so my cutting strength/size losses don't have to be as great. I'll never cut for over 5 weeks again. I'll probably even use stimulants or thermogenics next time just so I can get it over with faster.

Anyways, now that we've established that cutting sucks for lifting, and cutting for over 5 weeks is moronic for me, front squats felt really strong, moved my grip out slightly and felt a million times stronger, could have gotten more reps on 215 but it was my 1 set on 5/3/1 week so I wasn't even thinking of pushing past 3 reps. Pendlays were submaximal just like last week, but form was good and it was 5 lbs more than last time. Inclines and chest supp rows were a little too easy in hindsight on the first 3 sets, but the last set was a good push.