Hello, before we get started heres my current stats:
Weight - 245 pounds as of today
height - just a pinch short of 6’1
Age - turned 18 in january
no clue on my body fat %, i look good in a t shirt, but i think ill be avoiding the beaches this year ;). if i had to guess id say around 15-17%
i started off my bulk around 8 months ago, with a weight of about 200 pounds.
Main lifts have increased as follows:
BB bench - 205 x 3 → 255 x 6
ATG squats - 165 x 4 → 275 x 5
Deadlifts - 275 x 1 → 425 x 1 (unfortunately heavy deads no longer agree with my spine… more on this on back day.)
Ill go into more detail about certain body parts on the days i train them.
Split is as follows:
Monday - Chest
Tuesday - Legs + calves
Wednesday - off
Thursday - triceps + shoulders
Friday - Back
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Biceps, calves, and additional trap work
Ill see if my friends can hook me up with videos from time to time, now lets get started. First off, todays chest day…
chest day - typically i like to stick with BB bench pressing, but lately ive hit a pretty hard wall. Switching it up to DB’s until i feel like progress is stopping, then ill flip back to BB
A1 - DB Bench
3 warm up sets
90 x 11 reps (+2 reps from last week)
100 x 5 reps (+1)
100 x 3 reps (with 10 second hold at midpoint on last rep)
B1 - Incline DB neutral grip bench
2 warm ups
70 x 10 reps (+1)
75 x 7 reps (first time using this weight)
75 x 5 reps
C1 - Dips
BW x 7
Bw x 5
Thoughts : im starting to really warm up to DB flat pressing instead of BB. i can really concentrate on my pecs working, and mondays the BB Benching Benches are usually all taken.
Im also thinking about adding in some more triceps isolation work at the end of this day, but im not too sure if my elbows can handle it, they’ve been getting increasingly more… inflamed, i suppose. i guess ill give it a shot next week
warm ups
225 x 10
255 x 2 (acclimation set)
275 x 5
200 x 20 (widowmaker) (pr +5 lbs)
B1 Cybex machine leg curls
warm ups
4 45’s x 6 reps
3 45’s x 15,5,4 (Rest pause)
C1 bulgarian split squat
40 lb DB’s x 10 each leg
D1 Cybex seated calf machine
115 lbs x 9 reps (slow concentric, 3 second pause at bottom of each rep)
Today was my first workout using my new Do Win olympic weight lifting shoes for the squats. Before, id put my heels on a 25 lb plate and go ATG, but i found this was barely hitting my hamstrings/glutes at all. Squatting with the Do wins was a bit different, but i definitely felt it more in my whole legs and glutes. It will take some getting use to, but so far i like it a lot.
Thursday is usually triceps and shoulders day, however my mom had a health scare so i was with her all day in the hospital (shes fine). Kinda pissy about that as thursday is my favorite workout day, but what can ya do.
Today - Back Day
A1 T Bar Rows
warm ups
4 45’s x 15 reps (pr 10 lbs + 2 reps)
5 45’s x 4 reps (pr +30 lbs)
B1 Wide grip lat pulldowns
warm ups
200 x 12 (pr +1 rep)
220 x 6
C1 Cybex Machine close grip lat pulldowns
warm ups
4 plates per side x 12 (pr +2 reps)
D1 Deadlifts (bounce at the bottom)
warm ups
295 x 17 (20 pounds heavier and 4 more reps than last week)
295 x 8 (1 minute break between sets - i was pooped)
Thoughts: really liking the T-Bar rows. I was feeling anxious today after not working out yesterday, so i decided to really test myself and go heavier than i have before on it. Form was a little bit sloppy, but i was happy to get it up a few times. Lat pulldown reps have been pretty stagnant lately, i think it might be time to go for some rack chins.
I messed up my back pretty badly about 4 months ago, preventing me from really deadlifting heavy. Now i like throwing them in at the end of my workouts and bouncing a little bit at the bottom of the rep and really concentrating on using my upper back muscles. Next week im hoping for 315 x 15 at least. Ill be going up 20 pounds per week until i cant perform 20 reps on my two sets combined