Despade: Journey to Strong(ish?)

Training Logs
1143

11/29/18

Weight: 212.4

Back

T-Bar Row (plate weight)
5 x 10-15 x 115-90

Superset:
Banded Back Pull
3 x 20 x Green
WG Pull Up
3 x 3-5 x BW

Low Cable Row (w/ ropes and full stretch)
4 x 20 x 150

Superset:
NG Cable Pulldown
3 x 15 x 150
Lateral Raise
3 x 15 x 20

Superset:
DB Row
3 x 8 x 100
BPA
3 x 15 x Red

A pretty meh day, good volume, back felt good, little twinge in my right hip that’s been bugging me, doesn’t bother me when I lift, like at all, but literally just laying down fully relaxed in bed and it’ll give me a dull, steady ache all the way down my leg. Squats feel alright, haven’t tried deadlifts yet.

Weight is still coming back to normal, felt extra sloppy today, though.

3 Likes
1144

11/30/18

Weight: 211.2

Shoulders/Back

OHP
5 x 95
5 x 115
5 x 135
1 x 155
3 x 3 x 165 (80%)

Giant Set:
DB Shoulder Press
4 x 12 x 50
DB Lateral Raise
4 x 12 x 25
DB Rear Delt
4 x 10 x 20

Giant Set:
DB Front Raise
4 x 10 x 25
DB Lateral Raise
4 x 10 x 20
Cable Rear Delt
4 x 10 x 30

NG Lat Pulldown
4 x 15 x 195

NG Low Cable Row
4 x 12 x 195

Superset:
Smith Machine High Pull
3 x 10-12 x 95
Smith machine Shrug
3 x 12 x 95

Superset:
WG Pull Up
3 x 8 x BW
Ab Wheel Roll Out
4 x 6-8 x Orange Band

A solid day, 165 moved well, better than I expected, had a great pump, feel less sloppy. A win all around!

5 Likes
1145

12/1/18

Chest

Bench
5 x 135
5 x 185
3 x 3 x 205 (65%)

Lots of Accessory Volume

Focused on moving the bar with speed and intent, I hate to call it dynamic work because I feel like I’m posing as a ‘Westside’ guy, ha, I’ve always hated posers and dislike when I even get into the realm.

12/2

Back/Shoulders

Highlights:
Lots of Hammer Strength Work

DB Shoulder Press
3 x 20 x 50

Still have some vascularity in my shoulders (I worked out on my own so I wore a tank) was a bit surprised and excited by that, ha!

3 Likes
1146

A curiosity question: Are there any Conjugate Training Logs running around the site? Legit ones with someone running it for a period of time? I’ve seen a few log titles with Westside or Conjugate in them…but they seem to be one and done type logs.

1147

12/3/18

Weight: 214.0

Legs

Box Squats
5 x 135
3 x 185
6 x 2 x 225 (52.5%)

Hack Squat (Squat Stance)
3 x 12 x 200

Hack Squat (Close Stance)
3 x 12 x 140

Banded Good Morning
4 x 12 x Green

RFESS
2 x 5 x 40

Leg Extension
3 x 15 x 100

Decent day, I wanted a different squat variation, one that would compliment my actual squatting, so I watched a few videos from Wenning, Tate, and Nate Harvey for cues and went at 'er, ha! Definitely felt it more in my glutes and hamstrings with that extra wide stance, had a little more knee travel forward than I think I was supposed to have, but all in all, fairly happy with it.

My plan is to hit all compound lifts twice a week, with one time being in the 50-65% range with the focus on increasing my bar speed (as I’m terrible with that) and then to hit it again (first or second time in the week is yet to be decided) working in the 85%+ range for doubles and/or triples. Going to focus on benching and squatting for the moment, I’ve basically dropped deadlifts and regret nothing, ha! And the shoulder focus is to hit them twice a week as well, with the focus on volume, shoulder health, and hypertrophy. I’m probably attempting to do too many things, but I want to give 'er a run, see if I can really push my squat and bench up into respectable numbers while cutting a couple sloppy pounds.

1 Like
1148

I think @theonecamko has done some conjugate.
I did the Darkhorse which were kind of conjugate, but then again not.

1 Like
1149

You got that right, I ran Alsruhes free conjugate program that he has on his youtube channel. Loved it, made some good gains in both strength and conditioning(giant sets 4 lyfe). You need to have some serious work ethic too do it tho, was dead by the end of the program. I also ran westside conjugate a few years ago, read a few of simmons books. Lemme know if you have questions on it, I have a pretty good understanding of the whole conjugate method.

2 Likes
1150

12/4/18

Bench
5 x 135
5 x 185
3 x 225
1 x 245
3 x 3 x 265 (~85%)

Low Incline DB Bench
4 x 10 x 80

Low Point Cable Fly
4 x 12 x 40

Superset:
Tricep Extension
4 x 20 x Black Band
DB Curl
4 x 10 x 35

Superset:
Single Arm Tri Extension
4 x 10 x 40
DB Hammer Curl
4 x 8 x 50

Ab Wheel Rollout
3 x 10

Shoulder Health
I-T-Y Pattern
2 x 12 x Orange Bands

Edit: 10 minute incline walk with +20lb vest.

A solid day, 265 moved well, filmed the 2nd set, the new, wider set up is treating me alright, still getting used to it, but I’m diggin’ it. 3rd set was the best of the 3, although 2nd set was pretty good, speed wise.

As far as critiques go, I’m guessing this isn’t a great angle, maybe from the top down? Or from the bottom (gratuitous crotch shot)? haha

2 Likes
1151

12/5/18

Weight: 213.2

Back/Shoulders

T-Bar Row
6 x 8-15 x 2-3 plates

WG Pull Up
3 x 3 x +25
2 x 5 x BW

High Point Cable Pull Down (w/ ropes)
4 x 20 x 150

Low Point Row w/ NG handle
3 x 15 x 150

DB Row
4 x 8 x 100

Superset:
Lateral Raise
3 x 12 x 25
Rear Delt
3 x 12 x 25

Superset:
Dead Stop Lateral
3 x 10 x 15
Seated Rear Delt “Y”
3 x 10 x 15

Superset:
DB OHP
3 x 15 x 45
DB Shrug
3 x 15 x 45

Pretty wiped out today, but still got a decent one in, liking the amount of volume that I’m hitting back and shoulders with without going ‘heavy’ (e.g. deads, heavy OHP) I feel like I’m getting more dense and thicker.

Feeling a lot less sloppy today even though weight is still up over 210 (I typically feel solid and ‘tight’ at less than 210ish).

Legs tomorrow, 3 x 3 x 365 (85%) for the top sets, hips feel good, lower half feels good, period.

1 Like
1152

12/6/18

Weight: 212.8

Legs

Squat
5 x 135
3 x 225
3 x 275
1 x 315
1 x 335
3 x 2 x 365 (85%)

SLDL w/ Green Band
4 x 12 x 95

Banded Good Morning
3 x 20 x Purple

Reverse/Forward Lunge
4 x 10 x +35lb

Superset:
Leg Extension
4 x 12-15 x 100-120
Leg Curl
4 x 10-12 x 80-100

Walking Lunges
2 x 12 x BW

Standing Calves
4 x 12 x 50-100lbs

Could really feel the end of the week/lack of sleep fatigue today, had planned on 3 x 3 x 85% but doubles were damn near max effort for today, ha. Need to move my ‘big effort’ day to early in the week and then do the sub-max work later on, I think that’ll help me out quite a bit. Next week will be 3-5 x 1 x 90%.

Possible Progression Model:
Week 1: 3 x 3 x 80% / 6-8 x 2 x 52.5%
Week 2: 3 x 2 x 85% / 6-8 x 2 x 52.5%
Week 3: 3-5 x 1 x 90% / 6-8 x 2 x 52.5%
Week 4: Sub-Max 60-70% / Sub-Sub-Max 40-50%
Week 5: 3 x 3 x 82.5% / 6-8 x 2 x 57.5%
Week 6: 3 x 2 x 87.5% / 6-8 x 2 x 57.5%
Week 7: 3-5 x 1 x 92.5% / 6-8 x 2 x 57.5%

Probably a relatively terrible design, because I have no idea what I’m doing, but if I simply spin my wheels, I’ll chalk it up as a learning experience and hit 5/3/1 in a few weeks, ha! So far it’s kinda fun, hitting heavy stuff one day for bench and squat and then working as fast as I can the other day while hitting some pumpy accessory stuff afterwards, I feel like I’m going to have to grow.

Weight is better than expected, was extremely hungry yesterday, plus knew I was hitting heavier stuff today, so I proceeded to eat a few extra servings of ravioli with my chicken, seems to have helped in lieu of actual sleep and recovery haha

5 Likes
1153

12/10/18

Weight: 212.6

Chest

Bench
5 x 135
5 x 185
3 x 225
2 x 245
1 x 265
3 x 2 x 285 (90%)

CGBP
3 x 15 x 135

Superset:
Low Incline DB Bench
3-4 x 12 x 65
Tricep Extension
6 x 20 x Black
Face Pull
3 x 20 x Black
Hammer Curls
3 x 5 x 65
1 x 8 x 65

Superset:
Banded Pushups
3 x 10 x Purple
WG Pull Ups
3 x 5 x BW

A really solid day, the first set was off, I was just too fast, didn’t let myself ‘settle’ once I unracked and was a little misgrooved, but the 2nd and 3rd sets were great. The set weights to hit, followed by auto-regulation on the accessory/pump work is pretty awesome so far, maybe I have a knack for this, maybe not, ha!

Weight: Better than expected after a long weekend of coaching and dehydration. Feeling good about composition, saw some shady abs this morning, so I’m very happy with that, life is good
:ok_hand:

4 Likes
1154

Bench looks fine to me.

1 Like
1155

12/12/18

Weight: 209.8

Legs

Squat
3 x 135
3 x 225
3 x 315
1 x 365 (trash)
3 x 1 x 385 (90%) (trash, trash, also trash)
3 x 5 x 315 (72.5%)

Superset:
RDL w/ DBs
4 x 12 x 50
Standing Calves
4 x 25 x BW

Giant Set:
Ab Wheel
3 x 10 x BW
Leg Extensions
3 x 15 x 100
Leg Curls
3 x 12 x 100

Bleh, not a good day, at all. Kept folding forward, even in stocking feet, super frustrating, need to reach back with my hips first. The weight moved with decent speed, I guess, and there was no fear of actual failure (and there shouldn’t be at 90%) but God Bless America it was way worse than I expected (also 5+ days since last squat day may have something to do with it.) No pump, no feel goods.

Weight is good, blurry abs, another 2lbs off (probably dehydration still from the weekend). Tomorrow is back and shoulder pump work, then speed bench, box squats, and rest (another basketball tourney this weekend, so that may get jumbled, may have to do speed bench and squats on Friday to make sure and get them in.)

3 Likes
1156

12/13/18

Weight: 209.4

Back/Shoulders

T-Bar Row
6 x 8-15 x 1-3 plates
WG Pull Up
4 x 4-6 x Red Mini Band

Barbell Row
1 x 15 x 95
3 x 10 x 145

Plate Raise
4 x 12 x 25

Lat Pull Down (w/ ropes)
4 x 20 x 150

Low Point Cable Row (w/ ropes)
4 x 20 x 150

Superset:
DB Row
4 x 8 x 100
Rear Lateral (Machine)
4 x 12 x 150

Superset:
Lateral Raise
4 x 15 x 25
DB High Pull
4 x 12 x 45

Superset:
OHP (in Smith Machine)
3 x 15-20 x 95
1 x 15 x 75
Lateral Raise
4 x 12-15 x 20

Superset:
Tricep Pushdown
4 x 20 x black
DB Shrug
4 x 15 x 50

Edit: Cardio - 15 minutes x 2.7 mph x 10% incline x +25lbs

Pretty good day, not as good of a pump as I expected, but I didn’t have any carbs this morning, so that’d probably be why. Everything moved fine, felt good, shoulder is a little twingy from the heavy bench where I misgrooved it at 90%, but it’ll be fine for speed work tomorrow, contemplating adding bands, maybe, maybe not.

Weight is good, feeling better, more ‘athletic’ and tighter. Good stuff :ok_hand:

4 Likes
1157

12/14/18

Weight: 209.2

Squats/Bench

Squats:
8 x 2 x 225 (52.5%) (w/ red bands)

Bench
8 x 3 x 175 (55%)

Superset:
Incline DB
4 x 15 x 55
WG Pull Up
4 x 5 x BW

Low Cable Fly (w/ rope)
4 x 15 x 30-40

Tricep Extension
6 x 12-15 x 80-130

Superset:
DB Curl (Hammer/Strict)
3 x 10-12 x 45
Single Arm Extension
3 x 12 x Red

Push Ups
1 x 20
1 x 15

Decent day. The squats moved really slowly out of the hole and really had to concentrate on sitting back, just felt off, oh well, the stance felt pretty good. Bench moved really smoothly and quickly off my chest and it didn’t irritate my shoulder (but boy did dips fire it up, did two and decided that was a hard nope for today.) Decent little chest pump, nothing to write home about, out of town for basketball the rest of today and tomorrow which is why I mashed the two days together, may get one in on Sunday, may not, it’s a light/de-load week so not too worried, just gonna get the movements in.

Weight is good, dem shady abz! Also, have dress clothes for high school basketball for coaching, bought them all and sized them at 215, so they’re getting more comfortable :joy: I’m not big enough to need a tailored shirt…but boy is it tough finding one off the rack that fits nice, couldn’t write on the white board above eye level at our last home game because of the tightness across the chest, shoulders, and arms haha talk about an ego boost!

3 Likes
1158

12/17/18

Weight: 212.8

Shoulders/Back
OHP
5 x 115
5 x 135
3 x 155
3 x 2 x 185 (90%)

Superset:
High Pull (rope and KB)
4 x 20 x 35
Lateral Raise
4 x 12 x 25

Superset:
Rear Delt Raise
3 x 15 x 20
Lateral Raise
3 x 12 x 20

Superset:
SA OHP (upside down KB)
4 x 12 x 35
BB Row
4 x 12 x 95

SNGHP
4 x 12 x 95

DB Row
4 x 8 x 100

WG Pull Up
3 x 8 x BW

Paul Carter Pull Up (in Smith Machine)
3 x 8 x BW

So-So today, 185 moved fine, doesn’t bug my shoulder to press light or heavy, just certain ranges of motion, apparently. Lame.

Weight was more than I expected, but I did eat like a child all Sunday, ha! And I literally just received an entire tin of home made cookies from a wonderful little old lady here at work…we’ll see how well I can flex my willpower today :joy:

2 Likes
1159

12/18/18

Weight: 211.6

Duh-Duh-Deload: Squats
5 x 135
5 x 225
3 x 5 x 275

Hack Squat: Squat Stance
3 x 15 x 150

Seated Calves
4 x 15

Hack Squat: Close Stance
3 x 15 x 100

SSB Good Mornings
4 x 10 x 115

Step Ups
1 x 10 x BW
1 x 8 x +50

Incline Walk:
35lbs x 10% Incline x 2.7mph x 5 minutes

Mentally unprepared, 275 felt heavy as shit, ha, but it moved fine, my stance felt a lot better today than it has, and I’m not sure why, squatted in some flat soled shoes, which isn’t normal, that may have something to do with it, ah well. Next little ‘block’ of training is gonna be rough, I think.

1 Like
1160

12/19/18

Weight: 210.4

Bench De-Load
Bench
5 x 135
5 x 185
3 x 5 x 205 (65%)

Superset:
Incline KB (Inverted) Bench
4 x 25 x 25
WG Pull ups
5 x 6

High Point Cable Fly
3 x 12-15 x 30-40

Tricep Extension (NG ‘rolling’)
4 x 20-25 x 40

Superset:
Hammer Curls (KB)
5 x 12 x 25
Single Arm Tricep Extension
4 x 12-15 x Red Band

Good little pump, 205 felt heavy on the unrack, not cool, man. Other than that…not bad, definitely ready for next week (I’m lying, I’m not) ah well, feel pretty good, more fatigued than normal.

5 Likes
1161

12/20/18

Weight: 209.6

Back/Shoulders
NG T-Bar Row
6 x 8-15 x 1-4 plates

Barbell Row
1 x 12 x 135
3 x 8 x 185
1 x 12 x 135

Weighted Pull Up
1 x 3 x +50
2 x 3 x +35
1 x 5 x BW

High Point NG Row
4 x 15 x 195

Low Point NG Row (with full stretch)
3 x 15 x 150

KB OHP
5 x 15 x 25 (inverted KB)

Giant Set:
Tricep Extension
4 x 20 x Black Band
Lateral Raise
4 x 12 x 25
3D Face Pull
4 x 15 x Black Band

Barbell OHP
3 x 10 x 115

Pretty good pump, pretty good weight, felt fairly tight. Shoulder is being a serious pain in the ass, doesn’t hurt to press/bench but when I make the motion of like I’m taking something out of a coat pocket, it hurts like a sonofabitch. So no dips, and I have to be very aware of my bar path on bench, pretty annoying, honestly, but I have another week to heal up before anything heavy is sitting in my hands again.

Weight is good, feeling good about it, surprised it was under 210 this morning, but I’ll definitely take it, ha!

2 Likes
1162

12/21/18

Weight: 211.2

De-Load Squats

Box Squats
5 x 135
10 x 3 x 185

Banded Good Mornings
4 x 15 x Black x2

Goblet Squats (Heels Elevated)
3 x 10 x 50

DB RDL
4 x 12 x 35s

Nice, easy day, it is deload after all… box squats finally ‘clicked’ I think, I moved my stance wider and was able to really sit back, engage my hamstrings, and keep my shins much more vertical than previously, I’m very happy with the technical ‘PR’, ha. Going to mess with my regular squat stance a little bit, possibly, and see if going a tad wider gives me better results. Honestly, pretty excited about the box squats today, didn’t want to stop at my original 8 sets, so went to 10 instead.

Weight: Meh, bloated as all hell from chili yesterday, but it’s all good. Actually going to have some time tomorrow with a reliable spotter to get some benching in, so, got that slated for tomorrow morning.

3 Likes