C4/W2/D3
Squat:
3 x 170
3 x 195
8 x 220
14 x 170
Bench:
3 x 5 x 125
Cable Row:
2 x 12 x 100 (low, narrow; rope attachment MIA)
2 x 10 x 90 (high, wide)
2 x 8 x 20 Face Pull
Hanging Leg Raise:
2 x 10
C4/W3/D1
Press:
5 x 85
3 x 100
2 x 115
1 x 120
fail @ 125
Pull-up:
4 x 3 x bwt
3 x 185
3 x 205
1 x 220
1 x 225
Circuit x 3
3 x bwt pull-up
8 x 65 Klokov Press
8 x 185 hip thrust (3 sec hold)
It’s been a while since I’ve failed a rep, so that was disappointing. Otherwise, it was a pretty good workout. I could have ramped up more slowly on the pull-up joker sets; I guess I know that for next time.
C4/W3/D2
Bench:
5 x 125
3 x 140
4 x 155
1 x 160
1 x 165
1 x 170
Incl. Bench:
2 x 8 x 95
Squat:
3 x 5 x 185
Cable Row
2 x 10 x 100 (rope)
2 x 10 x 90 (high, wide)
2 x 8 x 20 Face Pull
Hanging Leg Raise:
2 x 10
2 x Plank
Nice bench sets
[quote]chobbs wrote:
Nice bench sets[/quote]
Thanks! I know that lift in particular has a lot of room for improvement, so I’m really trying to push myself every time I’m under the bar. So far, I’m liking the extra volume from the FSL AMRAP on the 5’s and 3’s weeks and the planned peaking aspect of doing joker singles on 1’s week. As long as I can keep my diet and sleep in order, I expect to continue seeing steady progress here.
C4/W3/D3
Squat:
5 x 185
3 x 210
6 x 235
1 x 255*
1 x 265
1 x 275*
Bench:
3 x 5 x 125 (1 sec pause)
Cable Row:
2 x 10 x 100 (rope)
2 x 10 x 90 (high, wide)
2 x 8 x 20 Face Pull
Hanging Leg Raise x 10
Plank x 1
Today was a mixed bag. I couldn’t get the squat rack I usually use, which has mirrors to the front and side, letting me gauge depth with my peripheral vision. The bottom of a squat is such a psychologically difficult place for me, so I had a lot of trouble getting deep enough without that visual stimulus. I repeated the 255 lift three times–second and third in the same set–until I was happy with it. 265 was solid. 275 felt too easy, and my training partner confirmed later that it would not have been a legal comp squat; he didn’t tell me at the time because he didn’t want me to attempt it again.
For today, I’m going to count it and try to move on with my life; I look forward to coming back in a month and taking the asterisk off of that PR number.
The gf and I are taking a vacation next Mon-Fri, and I don’t know what kind of equipment (or time) I’ll have available. So I plan to use that week as a deload, which means I’m doing the 5’s week of the next cycle now and returning to the 3’s week when we get home.
C5/W1/D1
Press:
5 x 80
5 x 95
5 x 105
10 x 80
Pull-up:
4 x 3 x bwt.
6 x 190
Circuit x 3:
4 x bwt. pull-up
8 x 65 Klokov press
8 x 185 hip thrust (3 sec. hold)
Waiter’s Walk:
2 x 40 lb. x ~110 ft. (each side)
When I started training this last time around (about four months ago), I decided to start with a low volume, focus on the main lifts, and add in accessory work when I was confident I could handle it. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment, so I’m trying to up my work capacity with some loaded carries.
C5/W1/D2
Bench:
5 x 110
5 x 125
9 x 140
12 x 110
Incl. Bench:
2 x 8 x 95
Squat:
3 x 5 x 185
Cable Row:
10 x 105 (rope)
10 x 100
2 x 10 x 90 (high, wide)
2 x 8 x 20 Face pull
Double Overhead Carry:
2 x 70 x 110 ft.
1 x 60 x 110 ft.
C5/W1/D3
Squat:
5 x 165
5 x 190
11 x 215
16 x 165
Bench:
3 x 5 x 125 (1 sec pause all reps)
Cable Row:
2 x 10 x 100 (rope)
2 x 10 x 90 (high, wide)
2 x 8 x 20 Face Pull
Farmer’s Walk:
2 x 185 x 110 ft
2 x 135 x 110 ft
My stability was a little lacking on the squat–lots of lateral movement–but my depth and overall strength felt good. On the farmer’s walks, I loved the stimulation in my shoulders and back, but the heavier sets really fatigued my grip. I think that’s the factor that’s been hurt the most from leaving deadlifts out of my program.
Ok, I’m back. Last Saturday I went in and just sort of played around. I ended up doing 5 or 6 sets of 3 hang cleans at 95, just trying to get the movement down. It was a bit disappointing. Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to sneak in a couple of workouts with the dumbbells at the hotel.
Tuesday
Bench:
10 x 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 100 (incline), 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50
Bent-Over Row:
10 x 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 100, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50
various back flyes, triceps extensions and curls
Wednesday
High Pull:
8 x 40
8 x 50
8 x 60
7 x 70
6 x 80
5 x 90
4 x 100
Front Squat:
8 x 40
8 x 50
8 x 60
7 x 70
6 x 80
5 x 90
4 x 100
various shoulder flyes
So, that brings me to today.
C5/W2/D1
Press:
3 x 85
3 x 100
3 x 110
10 x 85
Pull-ups:
5 x 3 x bwt.
3 x 200
3 x 4 x btw.
Klokov Press:
3 x 4 x 85
Farmer’s Walk:
3 x 175 x 120 ft.
155 x 120 ft.
135 x 120 ft.
90 x 240 ft.
C5/W2/D2
Bench:
3 x 115
3 x 135
5 x 150
12 x 115
Incl. Bench:
3 x 8 x 95
Squat:
3 x 5 x 185
Pendlay Row:
8 x 95
8 x 115
2 x 8 x 145
Double Overhead Carry:
2 x 80 x 120 ft.
70 x 120 ft.
I’ve seen some advice floating around the forum about building the row to add stability to the bench. I tried the Pendlay today to see if I could move more weight than I’ve been doing and to keep my hands on the bar for longer in my workout. It felt pretty good–I like the feeling of sort of throwing the weight around in a barbell row–. I’ll have to keep at it to get the form down, as I was using too much hip extension to finish the heavier sets. Crunches were performed between the carries.
C5/W2/D3
Squat:
3 x 175
3 x 205
6 x 230
12 x 175
Bench (1 sec pause):
3 x 5 x 125
Bent-over Row:
4 x 8 x 135
My hamstrings and glutes were sore today, which made depth on the squats an issue again. I’m going to count the reps I did today while continuing to focus on getting all the way down; the last set was better than the 230 set. On the rows, I tried Pendlay style again on the first two sets, but I was unhappy with it–too much hip involvement. For the last two, I rowed from a hang with strict form until the last 2 or 3 reps, when I used a little hip action to finish the set.
C5/W3/D1
Press:
5 x 95
3 x 105
2 x 115
8 x 95
Pull-up:
4 x 3 x bwt.
3 x 188
3 x 200
1 x 208
1 x 218
3 x 4 x bwt.
Klokov Press:
3 x 2 x 95
Biceps Curl:
2 x 2 x 85
Farmer’s Walk:
3 x 175 x 120 ft.
135 x 120 ft.
I realized while writing this up that my 1+ set on the pull-ups was supposed to be 210–not 200–which would account for why it felt a bit easy. At least I did some singles after; no PR there, but I still hit my weight for the day. The 2 x 115 press ties a PR. Crunches were performed between the carries.
C5/W3/D2
Bench:
5 x 125
3 x 145
4 x 160
10 x 125
DB Bench:
5 x 8 x 90
Bent-over Row:
5 x 8 x 135
Squat:
3 x 5 x 185
Two or three reps at 160 would have been a rep record by default, but four edges out a 4 x 155 I’d done earlier to stand as a legit PR. I’ve been doing barbell incline for a few cycles, but I want to switch to a flat db bench for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve seen some size increase in my upper pecs, but the rest of my chest and upper arms haven’t grown much lately. I’m hoping the change will stimulate some hypertrophy there. Second, My weekday training partner has some shoulder issues, and I’m hoping the ROM and loading of the dumbbells will be more forgiving for him.
C5/W3/D3
Squat:
5 x 190
3 x 215
3 x 240
1 x 255
1 x 265
10 x 190
Bench:
3 x 5 x 125
Row:
5 x 8 x 135
I had the chance to talk with someone bigger and stronger than I am today. He noted that my squats were a little shallow and recommended that depth be my focus over anything else. This works out fine; I’m resetting my weights for my next cycle, so I can really tune in to this issue while I hit the lighter weights.
Also, since I started at this gym, I’ve found it has a nice collection of bumper plates and two or three pairs of round metal plates that I’d overlooked earlier. Dropping the deadlift has been a fun experiment, and it’s let me focus on my other lifts, but I think it is time to go back to heavy pulling. With that in mind, I’m re-writing my next cycle to be a four day plan, with the option of condensing to three if I need to.
C6/W1/D1
Press:
5 x 70
5 x 80
11 x 90
13 x 70
Klokov Press:
3 x 5 x 70
Pull-up:
5 x 3 x bwt.
3 x 5 x bwt.
Overhead Triceps Ext.:
2 x 15 x 30
C6/W1/D2
Deadlift:
5 x 185
5 x 215
12 x 245
Leg Press:
3 x 10 x 315
To be honest, I was apprehensive about returning to the deadlift. I shouldn’t have been; I forgot how satisfying it is. Watching the vid, I realize my hips were higher than I thought and my back was a little round. It felt good, though, so I don’t know if this will be a problem at higher weights or not. In keeping with Jim’s principles, I made a conservative estimate of my max, then took the 90% for my TM, so I’m definitely starting light.
C6/W1/D3
Squat:
5 x 145
5 x 170
12 x 190
Bench:
4 x 5 x 115 (1 sec pause)
Row:
4 x 8 x 135
As expected, reps fell off a little with the deeper squat. This was still technically a PR, since I had so weight for 12 reps, but it was a far cry from 11 x 215 I’d posted before. I expect to see those rebound in a cycle or two as I get used to proper depth.
C6/W1/D4
Bench:
5 x 100
5 x 115
12 x 130
14 x 100
DB Bench:
3 x 8 x 90
2 x 8 x 80
Row:
5 x 8 x 135
Squat:
3 x 5 x 175 (1 sec pause)
C6/W2/D1
Deadlift:
3 x 205
3 x 230
10 x 255
Leg Press:
3 x 10 x 315
Calf Raises