Despade: Journey to Strong(ish?)

5/26/17

Weight: 211.4, 211.8

OH Press

75% 120 x 5
85% 135 x 3
95% 150 x 1+ (9 total)

Assistance:

Smith Machine High Pulls (No leg drive)
-5 x 15 @ 95

Swiss Bar Z Press
-5 x 5 @ 90 (Too Easy)
-5 x 8 @ 90 (Better)
Note: Up the weight

Rear Delt Raise
-4 x 20 @ 20

External Rotation
-3 x 15 @ 15

Seated Plate Raise
-4 x 15 @ 35

Lateral Raises
-3 x 15 @ 20

Close Grip Tri Extensions
-3 x 20 @ 60

Standing Abs (w/ Rope)
-6 x 12-15
Note: Supersetted w/ last two exercises

Good press day, wasn’t sure how 150 would feel as I’m fairly certain I’m over my original TM at this point, felt really good for 7, bit of a struggle on 8, and a grind on 9, but no leg drive, and solid lock out.

I feel like I’m making newbie gains, I haven’t missed a rep (hell, haven’t hit anything below 8 on my plus sets) since I started using the 5/3/1 progression, haven’t stalled, nothing. I’m feeling pretty charmed at the moment, but it amazes me how just off the rails I’ve been for years when it comes to progression and understanding how to get stronger! I’m thankful for figuring it out now, but wish I had stumbled upon it sooner, it is equal parts exciting and disheartening, “The sky is the limit!” mixed with, “Imagine where I could have been.”

End of the ramblings of a young, old man.

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Is the glass half full, or completely fucking empty?

This is a drunken quote of a friend of mine on the golf course last weekend, and I thought it was fitting.

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Haha an instant classic!

5/28/17

Squats and Back

70ish% 255 x 5
80ish% 265 x 5
90% 290 x 5+ (11 Total)
2 x 10 @ 155

Back

Lat Pulldowns
-5 x 10 @ 150lbs

Seated Low Row
-5 x 10 @ 100-150lbs

DB Row
-8, 8, 5, 5, 5 @ 120lbs

Put my overeating to decent use, kept it short and sweet, squats moved well, mentally owning the weight better, at least on the top sets.

5/29/17

Weight: 215.0 (Overate literally all weekend)

Bench

65% 165 x 5
75% 190 x 5
85% 215 x 5+ (14 total)
70ish% 5 x 5 @ 185

WG Pull Ups (Superset with 5x5 @ 185)
-5 x 5

Incline DB Bench
-1 x 15 @ 60
-1 x 8 @ 90
-1 x 8 @ 65
-1 x 10 @ 55

Tri Extensions
-2 x 15 @ ?

Straight Bar Curls
-2 x 10-12 @ 45lbs

Dips
-3 x 10

This was kind of all over, I really think I had 15 reps in me at 215 if I had a spotter, but the 14th was a bit of a grind and I didn’t want to rearrange my face, so I racked it, was really happy with 14 though, everything after that was a shitshow as far as lack of planning, good pump though. Felt pretty crappy all weekend due to over eating, guts weren’t feeling to hot due to overly rich foods I chose to partake in (along with way too much beer…) ah well, got some good lifts out of it!

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On a cool side note, I found out that I’m gonna have a little lifting buddy here in about 8 months… :flushed:

Color me terrified/anxious/excited. This is the sole toy that I have placed in our amazon cart to purchase hahaha

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Congratulations!!

Being a dad is awesome and isn’t near as terrifying as your mind can make it out to be. The newborn stage can be a bit tricky but with patience, understanding and sneaking a nap or two when you can it’s not as bad as people make it out to be.

One of the coolest things is my 4 year old son has been doing kettlebell swings after I finish my KB workouts at home with a 10 pound bell and it’s so funny to see how much he emulates me. Everything from wearing wrist bands (I wear KB guards sometimes), to his bottle of water and shaking the tension loose after a set of swings he has picked up from me over the years.

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5/30/17

Squats
75% 240 x 5
85% 275 x 3
95% 305 x 1+ (8 Total)

Front Squat
3 x 3 @ 225

Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5
3 x 3 @ 275

Standing Calves
5 x 12 @ 90

Lily Shrugs
4 x 15 @ 45lb DBs

Leg Press
4 x 15 @ 290

Another great squat day, 305 felt heavy and I was aiming for 5 but hit 8 and was pretty excited about it. Wanted to see where front squats are at so I figured I’d give it a shot at 225, felt good, but my rack sucks. Not looking forward to my bike ride home… at all.

Ha! That’s awesome, yeah I’m an over analyzer for sure. Appreciate the words and reassurance haha

Congratulations! You’ll be fine, kids are awesome.

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Hey thanks there, bodybuilder guy!

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5/31/17

Weight: 216.2 (Expected, but disappointing nonetheless)

OH Press

65% 110 x 5
75% 125 x 5
85% 140 x 5+ (10 Total)
55ish% 3 x 10 @ 95

SNG High Pull (Smith Machine)
-5 x 15 @ 95

Lateral Raises
-4 x 12 @ 25

Rear Delt Raise/Fly/Row (Chest Supported)
-5 x 20 @ 15

Plate Raise (10 and 15lb bumper plates held)
-3 x 20/15 @ 25/15

BTN Press
-3 x 15 @ 45

Tricep Triple Threat
-4 x 10/10/10 @ 50

Shoulders were tired, but had a good press day, not much for a pump or anything, which is weird for my shoulders, but I didn’t eat much last night, and I’m dehydrated, so I think that is the culprit.

Buggered my hamstring again last night (5/30) really upset with myself as I knew I was at only about 80%, asked that they only use me if absolutely necessary, turns out we were short (we go from a full 16 showing up to flippin’ 7) so I told them I’d take it easy and give them a glove and an arm, but being young and dumb I reacted to a fly ball and while running it down my hamstring locked up (made the catch though!) so…set myself back another 3-5 weeks for deadlift, hoping I’m able to continue squatting on it.

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Weights:

6/1 - 216, 216.2
6/2 - 213.2, 213.2

Weight is starting to normalize a bit, I think.

Tried to do a little lift yesterday (6/1) and throw a bit of weight around but my body wasn’t having it so I threw in the towel after about 30 minutes gonna take everything off and relax until Monday, let my body recuperate, hopefully the hamstring heals up enough to hit squats hard come Monday.

6/5/17

Weight: 214.8 (Graduation parties, lack of self control)

Bench

70% 185 x 3
80% 205 x 3
90% 230 x 3+ (9 Total)
195 x 7 (paused, moved up from 185)

Assistance:

Swiss Bar
175 x 5
185 x 5
195 x 5+ (7 Total, Stay)

Low Point Cable Fly
30lbs x 20
40lbs x 12
50lbs x 12
50 x 12
40 x 12
30 x 20

Seated OH Tri Ext
40lbs x 30
2 x 20 @ 50

Skull Crushers
4 x 15 @ 55

Dips
2 x 12 @ BW

Band Pull Aparts (Blue Band)
2 x 100 (Holy shoulder pump, Batman.)

Probably could have gotten 10-11 with the confidence of a spotter, but as it stood that was a no go, still happy with the solid 9.

Pretty good day after a ton of driving over the weekend, was going to hit squats, but everything is tight from sitting in the car so much, so I bumped legs to tomorrow and moved bench up. Hamstring is still in the crapper, but I did a bunch of body weight squats and it doesn’t seem to be bother it, so we will see how it feels under a load come tomorrow.

Hamstring not healing up nearly as fast as I thought it would, hoping it is nothing major, just a pull, but I guess as long as it doesn’t hinder more than one of my big lifts I will try and remain grateful for that.

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Congrats man! That’s super exciting.

Right?! I mean he or she will only be able to use it for a little while (I naturally assume little Despade is gonna be a beast…) but it seems like high quality craftsmanship :wink: hahaha

In all seriousness, thank you!

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6/6/17

Weight: 213.6

Squats

65% 215 x 5
75% 250 x 5
85% 280 x 5+ (8 Total)
3 x 10 @ 155

Asisstance:

RDL (Super light)
3 x 6-8 @ 45lbs

Front Squat
3 x 8 @ 115

Single Leg RDL
15 @ 20lbs
10 @ 25lbs
3 x 10 @ 35 lbs

Calves
Have been doing bodyweight calves everyday for the last week, so I do a 100+ spread throughout the day per leg, and then 100+ double.

So…yeah…that hamstring thing… felt like I cut my squats a bit high (am fairly certain it was at parallel, parallel feels high to me, and I asked my wife to make sure my hip crease was at least level with my knee) but when I dropped low and got that reflex out of the bottom I could feel a little tingle in my hamstring. It was having none of the hamstring work, even light stuff. Tried to foam roll it and I damn near shit myself…it’s not tender to the touch really, but holy god in heaven did that one pass with the foam roller hurt.

Take aways - Parallel squatting even with (moderately) heavy loads doesn’t seem to bother it, same with Front Squat (at least at light weight), need to stay away from real depth with any kind of weight as the reflex out of the hole seems to seize it up. Deadlifts are out without a doubt. Will be taking a volume based approach to make up for it on my back day along with some light-moderate weights on single leg RDL type work.

Yay.

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6/7/17

Weight: 213.0, 213.0

OH Press

70% 115 x 3
80% 130 x 3
90% 150 x 3+ (9 Total)

Assistance:

BO Rear Delt Fly
15lbs x 20
20lbs x 20
25lbs x 15
30lbs x 15
25lbs x 15
20lbs x 20
15lbs x 20

Superset:
OH Press w/ Trap Bar
3 x 12 @ 50lbs
DB High Pull
3 x 10 @ 45

Superset:
BTN Press (Smith Machine)
3 x 12-15 @ 65lbs
Plate Raise
3 x 15 @ 25lbs

Lateral Raises
3 x 15 @ 20lbs

Diamond Push-Ups
10, 10, 20

A really good day, thought I was going to get 10 on my plus set because 8 moved really well, but hit the wall at 9. Lots of volume today, but due to leg days and back days being cut short and not as taxing due to no deadlifts I seem to be reaping the benefits in my press days.

Weight is actually starting to normalize, simply watching my salt intake a bit more and not eating non-stop, ha “dieting” is hard.

Mentally a lot better today as far as outlook (have been very bummed about the hamstring although it feels the best it has felt since it happened so, cautiously optimistic.)

Cheers to keepin’ on!

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:joy:
:poop:

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6/8/18

Weight: 213.0, 213.0, 211.6

Bodybuilder Back

Single Arm DB Row
5 x 12 @ 100

Note: Push for sets of 15

Weighted WG Pull-Up
5, 5, 5, 3 @ +25
5, 5, 3 @ BW

Cable Low Row w/ D-Handle
1 x 15 @ 120
3 x 20 @ 150

Lat Pulldown
5 x 12 @ 150

Giant Set:
High Point Face Pull
1 x 10, 12, 15 @ 80
Low Point Face Pull
1 x 10, 12, 15 @ 80
DB Curls
1 x 10, 12, 15 @ 25

Short and sweet, grip is improving as 12 reps with the hundo didn’t feel like it was going to flat fall out of my hand (although I usually deadlift and then row) Took about 40 minutes for this workout felt a pretty decent back pump, missing deadlifts as I didn’t really have a main lift today due to legs being sore from my actual squat day, bugger it all. Bent over BB rows are still tough on the hamstring and were a no go.

This hamstring has me confused, it doesn’t bother me at all for hours at a time, and then I’ll try to do something and seemingly randomly it’ll send a sharp pain, feels like being stuck with a dull knife or a sharp spoon right above the back of the knee, leaves me feeling a bit woozy for a second, and then goes away and it’s like it never happened…stupid Despade, thinking he could be athletic and stuff, done learnt my lesson, ha!

Growth can happen as long as something is being pushed (this is what I keep telling myself in regards to my back) and I’m trying to spin it to myself in a better light, “You can still squat, and your deadlift has always been your strongest of the three, and you really want to improve your squat, exactly how bad did you want to? Prove it.”

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