OK - starting a log of my training.
Current stats:
6’ 2inch 196.6 lbs, ~12% bf
Current goal: drop to 10% bf (guessing will be around 190 lbs).
Long term goal: lean gain up to 210 lbs at 10%…
Current diet: 2835 kcals per day. 264g Protein, 223g Carbs, 98g fat
Current routine:
Day 1 - Lower Strength
Day 2 - Upper Strength
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Power/CNS/Oly circuits
Day 5 - Back/Shoulder Hypertrophy
Day 6 - Chest/Arms Hypertrophy
Day 7 - Rest and/or cardio
As you may recognize, this is a modification of the Norton PHAT routine. I added a Power/Oly day because I like it.
Day 4 - Power/CNS/Oly
Back squats - 6 sets of 3 reps at 175 (65%) - speedwork
Deadlifts - 275 x 5, 285 x 5, 295 x 5
Snatch-grip high pull - 115 x 5, 4 sets
Complex: Clean, Front Squat, Deadlifts @135 lbs
Reps: 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 w/60 seconds rest
Yes! You definitely got me following!
Thanks Rattle - for some reason I resisted publishing my log… not sure why entirely. In any event, your log among others inspired me.
Day 5 - Back and Shoulder Hypertrophy
Exercise lbs Sets Reps
Pendlay rows Speed (~65%) 100 6 3
Rack Chins 30 3 10,10,8
Long bar Row 85 3 10
One-arm Dumbbell Row 65 3 10
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 25 3 12
Barbell Upright Row 65 3 10,10,12 (up weight next time)
Dumbbell Lateral raise 15 3 10
Arnold Press 15 3 10
Day 6 - Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
Exercise lbs Sets Reps
Bench press Speed (~65%) 105 6 x 3
Barbell Incline Bench press 110 3 x 10
Barbell Bench press 135 10,8,8
Dumbbell Fly 35 15,12,12 new weight
Close grip bench press 95 10,10,9
Preacher Curl 60 15… then 62.5 for 15x2
EZ bar skull crushers 62.5 15,15,11 new weight
Dumbbell Hammer Curl 30 3 x 12
One hand overhead triceps 15 3 x 15
Dumbbell concentration curls 27.5 3 x 12
Chest is definitely a weak spot for me. Could be the whole long lever thing. But the real reason I think is that until I built my home gym I was working out at a gym without a power rack. Without that I would never go to failure with bench press (barbell). I just did not want to ask random people for a spot. Now that I have a rack I am hoping to make some progress.
Day 7 - Cardio /Fun day
1 /4 mile walk up 8% grade with barbell - 100 lbs. 3 times. Each time about 2.5 minutes. Shuffle-ran on the early part of he hill.
Also carried the weight to and from the hill. Total time under load 24:30.
Cardio-wise this feels half way between HIIT and a hard long distance run.
Best part of this is that my boys (10 and 8) do this with me. The older carries a 20lb curl bar and the younger a 15lb dumbbell.
Day 1 - Lower Strength Day
Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 8 225 lbs
Barbell Front Squat 3 x 5 185 lbs - fr squats are still a weak point
Lying ham curls 2 x 8 50 lbs
Bulgarian Splits 2 x 10 85/95 lbs
Leg extensions 2 x 8/10 70 lbs (up weight next time)
Good mornings 3 x 10 115 lbs
So my weight has reached a plateau for the past week at 196.6 - Therefore two days ago I dropped 200 calories from my diet. Currently at 2662. New macros are 263 protein, 181 carbs, 98 fat.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night ravenous. I had to eat a banana just to be able to go back to sleep. On the bright side I saw my first bicep vein ever in my life. Have to take the small victories when they come…
Day 2 - Upper body Strength
Bench Press 3 x 5 157.5 lbs
Weighted Pull-ups 3 x 5 35 lbs
Weighted Dips 2 x 8 25 lbs
Long-bar Row 2 x 8 110 lbs
OH Tri extension 2 x 8 65 lbs
Dumbbell Row 2 x 8 85 lbs
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - DL, Power, etc
Front Squat Speed (%65) 6 sets of 3 reps @95lbs
Deadlift 3 x 5; 295/305/310
Snatch-grip high pull 5 x 5; 115/120 final set
Standing Calf Raise 3 x 15 225,275,275
DL’s are finally starting to come back. I lost some strength as a combination of switching from a starting strength routine as well as cutting some weight.
SGHP is a newer exercise for me. I am finally starting to feel my hips do the main work and consequently the final sets were easier than the initial.
I did not have time to do complexes today. Work has been crazy recently and I am not sleeping enough either (about 6 hours).
Day 5 - Back & Shoulder Hypertrophy
Had a minor issue with upper bicep that caused pain with pull-ups… so did shoulders first and skipped pull-up speed work
Barbell Press 75x10, 75x10, 75x9
BB Upright Row 70x10, 70x10, 75x10
DB Reverse Fly 15lbs 3x12
Lateral DB Raise 15lbs 3x10
Rack Chins 30x10, 30x9, 30x9
Long bar Row 85lbs 3x12
DB Row 65lbs 3x10
Arnold Press 15x10, 15x10, 15x12
Day 6 - Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
Bench Press Speed Work 105lb 6 x 3
Incline Bench Press 110x10,10,11 - up weight next time
Bench Press 135x10, 135x7, 115x11 - bench continues to be weak!
Dumbbell Fly 25x15,25x15,25x15 - lowered weight from 35 - realized that I was using arms more than chest. Really felt this better.
Close Grip BP 95x10, 95x10, 100x10 - barely completed the last set
Preacher Curl 62.5x15, 62.5x15, 62.5x15
Bar Dips bw@ 10, 8, 6 - felt great on the first set then died
Hammer Curls 30x12, 30x12, 30x12
Skull Crushers 62.5x15, 62.5x15, 62.5x10 - these just kill!
Concentration Curls 27.5x12, 27.5x12, 27.5x12
Day 7 - Took a rest day.
The calorie adjustments really kicked in over the past few days. I dropped about 1 lb per day for three days. Scale indicated 193.6 this morning. Very nice to see progress after two or more weeks of stagnation.
Really tired this weekend as well. Very busy/stressful at work and the cumulative calorie deficit seems to be taking a toll. I plan to eat more tomorrow as a carb up day.
Day 1 - Lower Strength
Morning:
Stiff-leg Dead Lifts 225x8, 225x8, 230x8
Barbell Squats 225x10,240x8, 250x6, 260x4, 270x2, 275x1*
Hamstring Curls 50x10, 50x10, 50x10
ran out of time… continued in evening:
Bulgarian Split squats 95x10, 100x10
Good Mornings 115x10, 115x10, 115x10
Leg Extensions 90x10, 90x10
standing Calf Raises 225x10, 295x10, 295x10
For Squats - I had my son watch my form and I finally am admitting to myself that my max squat to proper depth is 265-270. I thought that I hit 295 (for 5) at one point but I think that I have been fooling myself. stinkin’ lousy.
Day 2 - Upper Strength (5-Nov 2013)
Bench Press 160x5, 160x5, 160x5
Pendlay Rows 155x5, 165x5, 175x5
Weighted Dips 25x8, 25x8
DB Standing Tri ext 65x8, 65x8
Rack Chins 30x10, 30x9, 30x9
Long Bar Row 110x8, 115x8
Day 3 (6-Nov 13)
Cardio
Complex: Deadlift + Clean + Front Squat + Press (strict until I had to use push)
6 Sets of 8 reps. 1 Minute rest between first 3 sets and last 3 sets.
5 Minute break between 3rd and 4th
Day 4 - Power Day
Squat Speed work 175x3 for 6 sets, 1 minute rest
Deadlift 310x5, 310x5, 315x5
Snatch Grip High Pull 115x8, 120x6, 125x5, 130x5
I have finally started to feel how to do the SGHP properly. As I am learning to explode with the hips the weight is suddenly easy. I felt that I could have ramped higher but I wanted to be careful as 115 had been my max for some time.
Day 5 (8-Nov 2013)
Was supposed to be Back/Shoulder Hypertrophy. I had to skip. I have two major projects at work that my team is working through and both time and sleep are in exceedingly short supply these days.
I really look forward to when I can focus on training with full sleep/recovery over the Holidays.
Day 6 - Chest / Arms Hypertrophy
Bench Press Speed work (65% 5RM) 105x3 for 6 sets
Incline Bench Press 115x10, 115x10, 115x10 (new weight)
Bench Press 125x10, 125x10, 125x7 - finally admitted how weak I am in bench and put the correct weight on the bar
Dumbbell Fly 25x15, 25x15, 25x16 (up weight next week)
Close grip bench press 100x10, 100x10, 100x9 (new weight)
Preacher Curls 62.5x10, 62.5x10, 62.5x10
Bar Dips (BW) 10, 7, 5 (paid for the new weight in previous exercises)
Hammer Curl 30x12, 30x12, 30x12 (struggle for last few reps)
Skullcrushers 62.5x15, 62.5x15, 62.5x14 (reps coming up!)
Concentration Curls 27.5x12, 27.5x12, 27.5x12 (barely made it!)