8/18/2014 Workout
5/3/1 Squat Day (65%,75%,85%)
Back Squat: 225x5, 250x5, 285x5 (last rep paused), 250x5 (last rep paused), 225x5 (all reps paused)
Rack Pull (Mid Shin): 5x5 365
Decline Sit Ups: 3x10 w/ 10lb plate behind head
Back Extensions: 3x10 w/ 25lb plate on chest
Decided to sneak a few paused squats in today. Did rack pulls with 1 minute rest between sets. Definitely see the benefits in doing these as assistance on squat days. Pretty straightforward day!
8/19/14
Kettlebell Swing Workout
1 Arm KB Swings: 55lbs x 70(each arm) in 7:00
Conditioning Circuit x 2 (full rounds), partial 3rd round…
Burpees x 10
80lb KB Swings x 10
Spiderman Push-ups x 10
80lb KB Swings x 10
V-Ups x 10
80lb KB Swings x 10
Jumping Lunges x 10
80lb KB Swings x 10
Decided to go with 1 arm swings for a change of pace. I concentrated on being explosive with these reps since I was using the 55. The conditioning circuit really brought out the soreness in my lower back and legs. I got 3 exercises in the 3rd round and I started to feel the soreness turn into pain so I called it quits. I’m pretty sure my kettlebell form towards the end was the cause of the pain. I was heaving the weight up instead of doing a proper swing. Still good cardio… or excuse me… conditioning!!! (Don’t want Mr. Jim Wendler or Pavel to hear me use the word cardio!!!)
8/21/2014 Workout
5/3/1 Bench Day (65%,75%,85%)
Bench Press: 160x5, 180x5, 205x5, 180x5, 160x5
Overhead Press: 5x5 140
DB Row: 5x10 80,90,100,90,80
DB Hammer Curl: 3x10 30
Pretty easy straightforward day. A friend of mine bought some 2.5 inch Fat Gripz from Rogue and I played around with sets of shrugs with him for a while. We did shrugs with 225lbs and those Fat Gripz made it a completely different exercise. I did about 3x10 with him in between my overhead pressing sets. Forearms were really smoked after the DB Rows. Decided to do some curls for the gurls at the end. Haven’t done a single bicep curl in probably six months. I’ve been considering getting back to lifting 4 days a week and taking on the Boring But Big 3 Month Challenge and doing some kettlebell work on an off day along with sprints at the track. I have a few weeks of this current cycle left so I will get this done and go from there.
8/22/14 Workout
Random Hang Clean / Power Clean Workout
Full Clean Progression (Deadlift / Hang Clean / Front Squat)
Bar x 10
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
185 x 1
205 x 1
205 x 1
205 x 1
205 x 1
205 x 1
Power Clean (mid shin) & Push Press: 5x5 165
Leg Raise: 5 x 10
8/23/14 Workout
Track Day
5 x 50 yd Sprints
5 x Single Stair Hops
5 x Hill Sprints
5 x Single Stair Sprints
I was not in the mood for my Kettlebell Snatch workout on Friday. I haven’t done a barbell clean workout in a while so figured this would be the day to do it. 205 for 5x1 felt smooth through the whole progression. I am not comfortable attempting a full clean yet so this was some good technique work. Shoulders were a little stiff the day before from benching and overhead pressing but it was a light enough push press that it didn’t affect me at all. Went for a 30 min walk with my wife and son Saturday pretty early. Once my son went down for a nap I had enough time to get to the track and get some work done. It was VERY hot but the workout only lasts about 30 mins so it wasn’t too bad.
8/25/14 Workout
5/3/1 Overhead Press Day (65%,75%,85%)
Overhead Press: 115x5, 135x5, 150x5, 135x5, 115x5
Bench Press: 5x5 195
Chin Ups: 50 total
Chin ups were feeling a little tough today. I got to 7 sets of 5 reps and kind of pieced the puzzle together with reps of 2,3, or 4 after that. Hands were giving out on me. Decided to do my overhead press day today because my older brother wanted to workout with me and I didn’t think deadlifts and front squats would be his cup of tea his first time back in probably 10-15 years. He works odd hours and Monday is the only day we can workout together. Was fun to have him there!
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Chin ups were feeling a little tough today. I got to 7 sets of 5 reps and kind of pieced the puzzle together with reps of 2,3, or 4 after that. Hands were giving out on me.[/quote]
Have we discussed this before? I feel like we’re at a pretty similar stage here with chins…I started out doing 100 total reps per workout (in sets of 3 at first - that took a longgggg time!) and have since switched to doing 10 sets (in a “1 set every 2 minutes” fashion), gradually upping the reps. I can get 10x6 now, hoping to reach 10x10 once I’ve dropped a few extra pounds.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Chin ups were feeling a little tough today. I got to 7 sets of 5 reps and kind of pieced the puzzle together with reps of 2,3, or 4 after that. Hands were giving out on me.[/quote]
Have we discussed this before? I feel like we’re at a pretty similar stage here with chins…I started out doing 100 total reps (in sets of 3 at first!) and have since switched to doing 10 total sets (in a “1 set every 2 minutes” fashion). I can get 10x6 now, hoping to eventually reach 10x10 once I’ve dropped a few extra pounds.[/quote]
Certainly seems like we have!! You may be ahead of me on the chin up race. I feel great until I get to about 25-35 and I start to slow up. I am not sure if it’s mental but I feel like I hit a wall at that 35 mark like I did today. When I weighed 190, chins were no problem but I also looked like a skinny nothing. Now at 220 and A LOT stronger, I am slowly catching up to where I was. Good job on the 10x6 btw!! Like with everything else, got to get to 10x6 before 10x10!!! Keep up the good work!!
8/26/14
RKC Deep Six Workout
All lifts were done with 1 hand without setting the kettlebell down. Switch hands after get up. That was 1 round
55lb Kettlebell.
Performed 3 Rounds.
5 swings
5 snatches
5 clean & press
5 front squats
1 get up
This was a cool workout I came upon while surfing the interwebz! Cruised through all of the exercises but performing the get up at the end of the round S-U-C-K-E-D!! You start the get up, standing, then get down, get back up, switch hands and repeat with the other arm. It was basically a 1.5 rep get up each time. Got through the first round all the way without sitting the bell down. After that I sat the bell down before the get up each round (wimp!!!). My shoulders were burning in a good way. I like it has all of the major kettlebell moves in 1 workout.
Saw your post on this and loved it. Will be performing tonight with one exception: I can’t do snatches because my apartment ceiling is a little too low. I think I’ll do the swings, suitcase-position lunges (in place of snatches, just need something to do here instead), clean-n-presses, front squats, and then the Turkish get-up to top it off.
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Saw your post on this and loved it. Will be performing tonight with one exception: I can’t do snatches because my apartment ceiling is a little too low. I think I’ll do the swings, suitcase-position lunges (in place of snatches, just need something to do here instead), clean-n-presses, front squats, and then the Turkish get-up to top it off.[/quote]
I had to do this workout outside at the office where I work so I could do the snatches as well. There’s no level ground where I work so finding good footing for the front squat and get up was tricky and was a tad uncomfortable but such is life! I can tell you waking up this morning my shoulders were pretty sore. Not used to waking up and having DOMS in my shoulders like this.
8/28/14 Workout
5/3/1 Deadlift Day (65%, 75%, 85%)
Deadlift: 260x5, 300x5, 335x5, 300x5, 260x5
Front Squat: 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 225x5, 225x4 (Legs gave out on me!)
Ab Wheel: 5x10
Decided to push my front squats a little harder today since deadlifts were relatively light. The first set of 225 felt really good. Was going to pyramid back down but figured let’s try one more set, nailed it! 5th set was going smoothly until the 4th rep. It was a grinder and my legs were burning at that point, but what the hell let’s go for 1 more! Came out of the hole but legs would not cooperate with the lockout so had to dump it. Good day overall. Kettlebell work tomorrow if I can get out bed!
8/29/14 Workout
Power Cleans (Mid Shin): 5x3: 185
RKC Deep Six Workout: 5 Rounds, 40lb Kettlebell
8/30/14
3 mile walk with my son
9/1/14 Workout
5/3/1 Bench Press Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Bench Press: 180x5, 205x3, 230x1, 255x1, 265x1
Overhead Press: 5x5 140lbs
DB Rows: 85x10, 95x10, 105x10, 95x10, 95x10
DB Hammer Curls: 3x10 30lbs
Tricep Pushdowns: 3x10 75lbs
Friday’s workout about killed my shoulders. The Deep Six workout is great but had my shoulders screaming at me all weekend. Decided to walk with my son Saturday since my wife had some things she had to get done and I didn’t have time to make it to the track. Had some extra time yesterday because of Labor Day so I hit some biceps and triceps work. Bench Press has come a long way the past few months but still have a ways to go. Slowly making my way to the 300 mark. Long way to go though.
Great work! You like the Getdown?
Try this do 15 minutes of Getdown and then Getup with the 55 or a lighter weight.
Not putting the bell down to switch hands just increases the torture
[quote]BCFlynn wrote:
Great work! You like the Getdown?
Try this do 15 minutes of Getdown and then Getup with the 55 or a lighter weight.
Not putting the bell down to switch hands just increases the torture[/quote]
The Get Down is pretty brutal at the end. I’m sure it’s mental but I am so much more comfortable getting up first and then getting down when it comes to The Get Up. All of the other moves are simple enough in the Deep Six. I’m glad you mentioned the 15 minutes of get downs and get ups. I need to get back to actually training the Get Up and get stronger at it. When I was doing Simple & Sinister for several months I got pretty good at them, but started to neglect them when I started doing snatches for time. Get Ups are just torture to begin with! Thanks for checking out my log!
9/2/14 Workout
5/3/1 Squat Day (75%, 85%, 95%)
Squat: 250x5, 285x3, 320x1, 355xMiss
Rack Pull (Mid Shin): 5x5 365
Circuit for 5 rounds of: 5xLunges (per leg), 10x80lb Kettlebell Swings, 10xDecline Sit-Ups
My hips were feeling very tight on my warm up sets but eventually loosened up. 320 flew up pretty fast. 355 felt good on my back and was feeling good about it dropping in the hole but gravity won the battle today and couldn’t stand up with it. The circuit at the end wasn’t anything killer but was good enough to get the heart rate up. I normally like to do my Kettlebell work on Tuesdays but it’s really hot here in South Carolina today and wanted to workout inside. Moved Thursdays workout to today and in retrospect, probably wasn’t the best idea. Oh well, keep grinding along from here!
9/4/14 Workout
5/3/1 Squat Day (75%, 85%, 95%)… AGAIN!
Squats: 250x5, 285x3, 320x3, 255x5
Zercher Squats: Did a ton of sets with a friend of mine getting a feel for the exercise but top set was 165x8.
Instead of heat here in the south today we have rain so I went to the gym to have a better squat day than Tuesday. I had no intention of trying 355 again but wanted to triple 320 and nailed it. My hips felt a lot better and was in a better frame of mind for squatting. A friend of mine at the gym said he wanted to try some Zercher Squats and told him I would be glad to try them with him. We did not get fancy with weight but just worked on getting a feel for the move. I like it helps me practice squatting wide instead of my shoulder width stance. I don’t have very thick arms so having the bar rest on my arms like that was uncomfortable at first but got better as I did more sets. Could also feel my abs contracting pretty hard as well. May be a good move for assistance somewhere. After next week I am considering switching to the Full Body Routine in 5/3/1 and still hitting kettlebell work on off days or at the end of my workouts.
9/5/14 Workout
Hang Clean: Worked up to 205 for technique practice.
Squats: 135x5, 170x5, 205x5
DB Overhead Press / Chin Ups: 5x10 / 5x5: 50lb DB for 3x10, 40 2x10, Bodyweight on all chin ups.
Hammer Curls / Lat Pulldwons: 5x10 20lb DB / 100lb
AB Wheel: 5x10
9/6/14 Workout
Track Day
5 x 50 yard Sprints / 5x10 (each hand) 55lb KB Snatch
5 x Single Stair Spints / 5x10 55lb KB Swings
Friday was an assistance workout day. Wanting to get used to squatting more frequently since I will be switching to the 3 day Full Body Template of 5/3/1 so I figured I could throw that in. My grip was giving out on chin ups after my overhead presses so I switched to pulldowns after hammer curls. Saturday was a little tougher than I had planned but got through it okay. The snatches after the sprints were challenging. The swings after the stair sprints weren’t too bad. I think the worst part was lugging my KB back to the car. Hands were very sweaty and had to lug it about 200 yards back to the car. Turned into a suitcase carry for 100 yards per hand. May only get 2-3 workouts in this week. Have a nutty schedule but will try to get everything in I can.
9/8/14 Workout
5/3/1 Full Body (75%, 85%, 95%)
Squat: 135x5, 170x5, 205x5 (Deload Weights)
Overhead Press: 135x5, 150x3, 170x3
Deadlift: 305x5, 335x5, 375x6
Not supposed to start this full body routine this week but figured I would go ahead and hit the lifts I had left today and use the rest of this week as a deload. I think I will like starting off with squats every workout. Gets my hips and the rest of my body lose and ready to roll. Don’t need as many warm up sets on the other lifts. Hit PR’s on both my presses and deadlifts. Chose not to hit singles today. Definitely a different feeling deadlifting last. Had plenty of energy for it but can tell I’m used to deadlifting first on it’s given day. I think I am going to like the full body routine starting next week.
9/10/14
Did a lot of stretching and mobility work last night at home once my son went to bed. I have always had tight hips so a lot of my stretching and mobility work is to loosen those suckers up (work a desk job). The stretching routine I use is the sample one Jim Wendler laid out in the mobility part of the 2 Day a Week Template. Don’t have a foam roller so Agile 8 isn’t an option right now. Prying KB Goblet Squat stretches and moving around in the bottom seems to help a lot as well. Finished up with 5x10 of 80lb KB Swings.
Enjoying this deload week. I have been staying at it pretty hard all year with no “easy” weeks after looking over my spreadsheet. Strayed away from 5/3/1 a couple of times this year to try a bodybuilding routine (DUMB!!) and the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge (AWESOME!!) I forgot I did the SSS Template (Singles, Speed, Strength) paired with 5’ Pro for assistance. That was a really cool routine because of all of the box jumps and throws. May come back to that in the future. It’s nice letting some of my little aches and pains recover, mainly shoulders and hips.
[quote]jblues85 wrote:
Did a lot of stretching and mobility work last night at home once my son went to bed. I have always had tight hips so a lot of my stretching and mobility work is to loosen those suckers up (work a desk job). The stretching routine I use is the sample one Jim Wendler laid out in the mobility part of the 2 Day a Week Template. Don’t have a foam roller so Agile 8 isn’t an option right now.
[/quote]
A couple of disjointed thoughts for you here:
Get a foam roller. It’s cheap and well worth it.
I have also had tight hamstrings, hips, pretty much everything since I was young. Even now, with a regular hot-yoga practice (on-and-off for four years, but I’ve now been going 2-3 days a week for over a year), I still have tight everything. But you know what? I swear that the mobility work has improved my injury resistance, for lack of a better word. It’s definitely worth carving out some time for mobility work.
I have to go to yoga class to do it, though; I’m not disciplined enough to just stretch for a prolonged period on my own at home. The most I can ever manage is a few minutes with the foam roller before/after a workout.
I’ll be throwing up a couple of kettlebell workouts this weekend as I head to Michigan to visit my GF.