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Armin's Natural Strength Log

strength
#161

Sunday April 15th - lower day
Squat 3x 125kg 130kg 120kg 120kg 120kg 120kg - for some reason low bar just doesn’t work for me any more. It feels awkward. First two sets were LB, and I think they’d actually be much easier had I done them HB
Dorian deadlift 120kg 3x5
Chinups 10x5
bularian squat 3x15
SL glute bridge 20kg 3x15

  • Oh and I also did a shitload of dumbbell curls last night and also two nights ago, while watching some youtube and having my protein shake, lol
#162

Monday April 16th - Upper day
OHP 65kg 6x3
dumbbell ohp 17,5kg 3x12
Dumbell bench - tension sets 25kg 4x15
Rows 60kg 3x8
Weighted pulls 10kg 10x3
lateral raise 10kg 3x12

#163

Tuesday April 17th - Arm Day
CG bench 80kg 2x8, 85kg 2x8
superset:
Dumbbell curls 15kg 4x10
Barbell skullcrusher 40kg 3x10
superset:
Dumbbell hammer curl 15kg 3x10
barbell tension skullcrusher 40kg 1x10, 35kg 2x10
superset:
barbell curls 40kg x8, 35kg 2x8 + drop set: 30kg x5, 20kg x6

  • Back to my normal working schedule and already much easier to get in some quality training sessions. I’m gonna push the tricep work from upper body day to this seperate arm day and work it in supersets with the biceps, that way I won’t rush it and hopefully will focus better on it.
#164

Wednesday 18th April - lower day
Squat 8x 105kg 115kg 110kg 107,5kg
Deficit Deadlift 3x110kg 120kg 125kg 130kg 135kg - with straps
Tempo squats 80kg 3x5
goodmornings 60kg 3x8
Pullups 10x5
farmer walk 40kg 3x30 second carry
Bulgarian squats BW x12, 5kg each hand 2x12
glute bridge 40kg 3x20

#165

Saturday April 22nd - Upper day
Paused OHP 60kg 3x3
OHP 8x 50kg 55kg 55kg 50kg
Dumbbell bench 30kg 3x12, 1x10
dumbbel row 30kg 3x10
Pullups BW+10kg 7x4
chins BW+15kg 1x4, BW x2x8
dumbbell side laterals 10kg 3x10

  • Later in the evening while watching some youtube and waiting for the rice and chicken breasts to boil:
    dumbbell curls 10kg 10+ sets completely destroyed the biceps
#166

I’ve been pushing myself nicely lately, I’ve had doms after most sessions, especially i the chest. Dumbbells are working wonders for me. The weights used are puny compared to regular benching, but the chest is really feeling it.
Yesterday’s workout:
Sunday 22nd april - lower day
Squat
5x 115 125 130 122.5 120kg - so 130kg felt fine. Not bad. I’m hoping to start pushing closer to 140kg for sets of 5 soon.
RDL
6x100 110 110kg
SHRUGS
8x 110 110 110kg - traps sore today, so this is working I guess
PULLUPS
5X5 - back was sore from Saturday’s weighted pulls and rows, so didnt wanna do too much.
SPEED SQUATS
60kg 6x3 - first time ever doing this. I’m gonna try to do it closer to 50% RM next time. I know powerlifters usually have a completely seperate day for speed work, but I can’t afford that, plus I’m not a powerlifter, it feels great pushing the weight as fast as possible, an it certeanly beats gobley squats for me, which are kind of anoying to set up
BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
10kg plate each hand 3x10
SL GLUTE BRIDGE
20KG 3X20 + 20kg 1x50regular +1x50BW

#167

I had less then 5 hours of sleep today. Still I decided to go forth with the training and I’m not sorry.
Wednesday April 25th - upper day
OHP 60kg 5x5
Dumbbell ohp 20kg 3x10
Dumbbell bench - tension 25kg 4x15
-supersetted:
Barbell Rows 8x 60kg 65kg 6x 70kg 70kg
Weighted pullups 10kg 8x3
Chins 10kg 2x5, BW 2x8
CG bench 80kg 4x8
lateral raises 10kg 4x10
dumbbell curls 10kg 12x10 - lol! I’m turning into quite a bro. I read CT once said thet 80% of people started trainig cause they wanted big arms and the other 20% are liars! That’s well said, I think there isn’t many people around how are into weight training that don’t want their biceps to be huge. I think I’m already seeing some improvement in my arms with this training. I’m doing it seperately at night, while watching youtube or some other stuff.

#168

Thursday April 26th - lower day
Squat 8x 105kg 115kg 115kg 110kg - squats felt nice today, even the 115kg didn’t feel too heavy.
Paused squats 100kg x3, 95kg x 3, 3
Dorian deadlift 100kg 1x5, 120kg 3x5
Goodmornings 60kg 3x8
Dumbbell around the house farmer walk 30kg 4x60 meter - I think that is about how much there is from my door to the back of the house, around the garden table and back. 1 minute pause between sets, absolutely wrecked the grip and traps with this.
Pulls 3x8
Bulgarian split squat 5kg plate each hand - 1x10, 2x12
Glute bridge 35kg 3x25

  • Awesome workout today. Had all the time in the world so didn’t rush it, about 1h20 minutes from start to finish.
#169

Had some private issues so missed the workout on Saturday. Have been sleep deprived for a few days, so really didnt feel like training yesterday as well, but decided to go at it nevertheless and do a full body session.
Monday 30th April
Squat
3x120 125 130kg
2x135kg - maybe had one more, but decided to play safe. On good days I should have this for 4 or even 5 reps
120kg x4 - making up for lost rep
OHP
8x 50 55 50 50kg, everything felt heavy on the ohp as well
BP 80kg 4x6 concentrated on pulling arms towards eachother on the top to feel the chest.
Superseted with:
Dumbbell concentration bench
20kg 4x10 - I have to say I never felt such a burn in the chest as much as during this superset. Hopefully it is an indicator of new gains to be made :slight_smile:
Pullups 6x5
Chins 4x5
Hammer curl 20kg 2x10
Dumbbell curl 15kg 2x10
Pushups 4x10

  • I’m glad I trained even though I felt like shit before.
  • I’m thinking of focusing more on volume for the rest of the summer. Probaly similair training templates but focusing more and maybe only on sets of 8-10reps, and also adding more sets to each muscle group.
#170

Thursday May 3rd - Upper day
OHP 8x 50kg 57,5kg 55kg 55kg 50kg - finally weights feel as they are supposed to feel. Finally sleep is good as well as nutrition.
dumbbell OHP 20kg 3x10, 1x9
dumbbell lateral raise 10kg 3x12 - supersetted with
Rear delt plate fly 5kg 3x15
Pullups 5x5
Chinups 5x7 - total of 60 reps on the pullup bar, all supersetted with OHP and dumbbel OHP
Low incline Bench 8x 70 75 75 75 70kg - my bench really sucks, I’m gonna stick to regular bench probably
Dumbbell bench 25kg 4x12 - easy
dumbbell row 25kg 5x10 - supersetted with the bench
Barbell row 60kg 4x8 - really felt this one, supersetted with the dumbbel bench
Wide Pushups 15 15 20
barbell curl / incline dumbbell curl 30kg 3x10 / 10kg 3x10 - man really felt this incline curl, especially after the muscle already being tired from regular curl. The lowering portion was much much harder then the lifting part, due to imense stretching of the biceps. I’m gonna do this one often from now on!

  • So as I wrote last time, I decided to really bump up the volume till the end of the summer, want to see how it affects me, hopefully some new gains to be made. Did 80 total reps on the OHP for the delts, plus the lateral flys, that’s the most I ever done, delts were really wrecked after these.
#171

Haha. I’d agree with that. It isn’t a problem as long as those legs keep getting worked.

I’m new to this log, but enjoying it so far.

#172

Welcome to the log!
Leg growth is not a problem for me, my legs(quads) are probably the most developed part of my body, so not worried, would be nice if the arms could come up and inch or two.

#173

Friday May 4th - lower day
Squat 8x 105kg 115kg 110kg 105 105kg
Tom Platz heels together concentration squat 10kg x 60 65 70 75kg - wow these are crazy! First time trying them so decided to be conservative with the weight. I’m probably gonna work with around 80kg on these from now on.
Romanian deadlift 100kg 5x8 - used straps, these were really hard, was sweating like a pig.
Barbell shrugs 100kg 3x8
Goodmornings 60kg 4x8
Bulgarian split squat 5kg plates each hand 3x10
Single leg glute bridges 20kg 3x15

  • One of the toughest lower body sessions I’ve done in a while. Kept the rest to 90 seconds between sets so that is probably one of the reasons why. Quads and glutes were very sore today, was so darn hard to walk today on the job.
#174

Sunday May 6th - Upper Day
OHP 8x 50 55 55 50 50kg
Dumbbell OHP 15kg 4x12 - 60 sec pause between sets. Light weight
Bench 8x 80 85 90 85 80kg - been a while since I’d done regular bench press
Dumbbell Bench 25kg 4x12 - 60 sec pause between sets
Pullups 5x5 - in between OHP sets
Chins 5x7 - in between bench sets
Rows 60kg 5x8
Wide pushups 5x12
Single arm dumbbell laterals 10kg 3x12

  • Nice and fast workout before the night shift.
#175

Tuesday 8th May - Lower and Arms day
squat 8x 105 115 110 105 105 kg - 90 sec pause between sets.
RDL 5x8 100kg - 90 sec pause between sets
shrugs 100kg 3x10
Bulgarian split squat 5kg plate each hand 3x12
Glute bridge 55kg dumbbell 3x15
CG bench 80kg 5x8 - 1 min rest between sets
chins 2x10
Curls : dumbbell 15kg 2x10
hammer 15kg 2x10
barbell 30kg 2x10
incline dumbbell 10kg 8, 10 - this last exercise is just incane, muscle being stretched and really feeling it working.

  • Again had court after the night shift, so only slept 3 hours on Monday, so decided to push arms day to the next day and mege it with legs.
  • My arms seem to be more vascular, some nice veins poping even though I’m still pretty fat when considering the stomach ( prob about 22-23% body fat). I think some of the muscle in the arms might be back while I burned some fat in them, bacause I started doing them similair way and frequencie as in late teens when I was known as that biceps guy on college. ( I had close to 39cm I think at 72-73kg body weight, which just means I only added 2cm 15kg heavier OMG, lol)
#176

**May 10th - lower day
OHP 8x 50 50 55 55 50kg
Dumbbell OHP 20kg 3x10, 1x9
Bench press 8x 80 85 90 85 80kg
Dumbbell bench 30kg 4x10
Pulls/Chins 60 total
Rows 60kg 4x10

#177

Friday May 11th - Arms Day
CG bench 8x 80 85 85 85 80kg
barbell skullcrushers 40kg 4x10
Bench dips 3x15
Dumbbell curls/hammer curls 3x10/ 3x10
Barbell curl 40kg 3x6
incline dumbbell curl 10kg 3x12

#178

Saturday May 12th- Lower day
Squat 8x 105kg 120kg 115kg 110kg 105kg - 120kg was pretty decent for a set of 8
Deficit deadlift 100kg 5x8 - first time doing this much volume off the floor since the injury
Giant set:
pullups 8,7,6
farmer walk 30kg each hand x 60 sec, 50 sec, 40 sec
glute bridge 30kg 3x30
Bulgarian split squat 3x12

  • Forgot how intense regular deadlifts can be, even though the weight was light, was still winded with these sets of 8.
#179

Monday 14th May - upper day
OHP 8 x 50 60 55 55 50kg - pleased with that 60kg ohp
Bench 8x 80 100 90 90 90kg
Pullups 10x5

  • that was all the time I had. Still an ok session
#180

Training plan from 15th May to 15th June - Ramadan

  • Not sure if I ever mentioned it but I fast the month of Ramadan every year ( my religious view is Islam), which is basically sustaining from food, water and other body pleasures from dawn till sunset, this year it will be an average of about 18 hours fast, starting from 3am to 8.05pm fast, and increasing by a few minutes every day and peaking at about 2.30am to 8.35pm fast.
  • Now back to the point, training goal is MAINTENANCE.
  • I probably won’t train for a day or two at the start beacuse I tend to have some headaches due to caffeine restriction.
  • I still have to decide when is the best time to exercise, I had experience with training late in the evening ( at 00.00am or so), which can be possible in about 10 days because I will be on vacation starting 25th of May, but I also exercised 45 minutes before the break of fast, usually cannot do too much weight or volume that way, but basically as soon as I finish the workout I get to eat which is great.
  • AS regards to training itself I will decrease the volume by about 30-40% total, which will be reducing 2 sets on most exercises, and training every other day, throwing out the Arm day completely and maybe doing a 2-3 sets for the arms at the end of lower body day.
  • I took some measurements this morning to see where I stand at the end of the month, I usually loose up to 10 pounds in a month, and I hope it will be mostly fat if I eat enought protein and train, measurements are:
    Belly at navel : 94cm
    Arms: almost 41cm
    Quads: 65cm
    Neck: 41cm at narrowest, 42cm at widest
  • Belly to Neck ratio puts me at 21% body fat according to navy seals body fat calculator.
  • As for nutrition I will try to eat as much protein as possible in the 6hour eating window, which should usually be some kind of meat meal for dinner at 8.30pm, a scoop of whey with milk at around midnight and 4 eggs with cheese and stuff( my favourite) for breakfast at 2.30am.
    -Stay tuned!