Let's Evolve, Let the Chips Fall Where They May

New school year, new training cycle, and some changes coming up personally. I’m excited.

Monday September 2

Squat
45x5,5
95x5
135x4
185x3
225x2
245x1
265x1
225x5,5

P. Squat
195x5,5

Bench
45x10
95x5
135x5
155x4
175x4x4

GHR abs
BW,2.5,5,10,2.5,BWx10

Notes: Good day. Squats felt pretty good. Near the end of this cycle (in 4 weeks to be exact), I have to complete 265x2x5 reps, and based on how the single felt today, I’m feeling very confident. Bench was actually quite hard due to being tired from the squats lol.

Tuesday September 3

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x1
315x1
275x3,3
295x3,3 (no deficit)

CGBP
45x15
95x5
135x4
165x3
185x2
210x1 (paused)
185x5,5 (normal width)

BB curls
barx40

Notes: Good day. DL’s felt great. Bench was allright, I guess. Honestly cannot wait until Paul’s Base Building book comes out.

Friday Sept 6

Front Squat
45x5
95x5
135x4
165x3
185x2
205x1
185x3

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x1
335x1

Machine preacher curls
35x10
50x17,8,5 RP

Hammer curls
3x8

Leg raises
BWx3x10

Notes: Great day. Front squat felt a bit unstable-I’ve done 225x1 almost a year ago. 205 was very fast, just felt awkward. Did DLs again today because I’m switching things around a bit. 3x a week benching makes my elbows hurt, so that’s out.

Monday September 9

Squat
45x5,5
95x5
135x4
185x3
225x2
255x1
275x1
245x5,5
205x5,5 (paused)

Leg xt
4 sets

BB curls
45lbx40
50lbx10
55x8
60x6
45x10

Ab pulldowns
60,70,80,90x15

Notes: Good day. For some reason, squats never feel ‘fast’ to me. I can squat 315, yet even now 225 still feels pretty slow. Odd.

Wednesday September 11

Bench
45x10
95x5
135x4
165x3
185x2
210x1
165x8,8,8 (90s rest)

CGBP
95x8
115x8,8
105x8

BB rows
95x8
135x5x10 (strapped)

Notes: Pretty good day. Nothing much to say.

Friday September 13

Pause squat
45x8
95x8
135x8
185x8
225x8

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x1
315x1
345x1
315x3
315x3 (no deficit)

Machine preacher curls
35x10
50x19,8,5 RP

Rope hammer curls
5x8-10

Notes: Awesome. I love Fridays.

Changing my training again. I’m going to be base building all the way up until Christmas, and I don’t plan on taking any deloads unitl then(if I do take on at all). For now, I’m going off my own stuff, but once the BBM comes out, I might switch it up. All reps are accelerated as much as possible. Here’s how it’ll look like:

Monday
Squat
265x3
225x3-4x5 reps
Other stuff

Wednesday
Bench
205x3
165x3x8
More stuff

Friday
Pause Squat
185x4,4,4
225x4,4

Deficit DL
315x3,3

DL
315x3
More stuff

I’ll keep these weights and sets until I’m really dominating them. This should probably keep me busy.

Base W1D1
Monday September 16

Squat
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
225x5,5
205x5,5,5

Seated leg curls
4x15

BB curls
barx40
50x11
55x8
60x7

Ab pulldowns
60,70,80,90x15

DB curls
5sx50

Notes: Good day. The 265 triple didn’t feel as fast as I would have liked, and the 205 sets I think were a bit too light. So for next week I’ll go:

225x3
255x3,3
225x3x5,3x3
I can’t wait.

For some reason I’m experiencing knee pain right now. That’s only happened once before, and it was after doing DE squats. So I guess I’ll just focus on coming out of the bottom really fast, and just slowing it down a bit at the top.

Base W1D2
Wednesday September 18

Bench (paused)
45x10
95x5
135x4
175x3,3
205x3
165x8,8 (tng)
155x8 (tng)

Incline
45x10
95x10,6,7 (90s rest)

Dips
BWx3x10

BB rows
95x10
135x3x10

CS row
45x10
70x10,10

Cable row
90x10
70x10,10

Notes: Good day. Right elbow was kind of hurting, but nothing too serious. 205 felt very easy, however it’s odd how hard the back off sets were. The incline was also quite embarassing. I think I’ll alternate: Bench heavy one week, Incline heavy the next.

Base W1D3
Friday September 20

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x3
315x3,3

DL
315x3,3
225x6,6,6 (Sumo strapped)

Decline abs
BW,2.5x10
5lbx3x15

Machine preachers
35x10
60x12,50x9,5 RP
15x15,15
20x15,15

Seated hammers
15lbx3x8

Notes: Great day. End of 1st week of base building. Gonna keep these sets and weights for at least the next two weeks, and then see if I can add sets from there.

Just had an idea. I kind of have a mental block on bench when it comes to 185+, so to combat that, I’ll alternate my bench days.

Day 1
Ramp to 205x3 (paused)
Back off to 175x3x5,3x3

Day 2
135x4
165x3
185x3-4x5 reps (w/ 90s rest)

For my day 1, I’ll add in another 205x3 set when it feels right, and for day 2, I’ll probably try to get 185x4x5 w/ 90s resdt, then work on cutting rest periods down.

Squat and DL days will stay the same week to week.

And another idea- I don’t like only lifting 3x/week. So I’ll move the incline to a day of it’s own. The rest will become clearer throughout next week.

Base W2D1
Monday September 23

Pause squat
45x5
95x5
135x4
185x3
225x3

Squat
255x3,3
225x5,5,5,3,3 (1 min rest)

Rows

Pulldown abs
60,70,80,90x15

Notes: Good day. the squats were actually quite hard due to the low rest. I moved my stance out a bit, so now it’s more shoulder width as opposed to olympic stance. It feels…different. I’ll keep this stance at least until Christmas. From now on, all “squats” are this stance, and “Oly squats” will be my old stance.

Base W2D2
Tuesday September 24

Bench
45x20,10
95x5
135x4
165x3
185x1
205x1
225x1
185x5,5,5,3 (90s rest)

CGBP
135x5x5 (1 min rest)

BPA’s and curls

Notes: Okay day. Bench is weird for me-it never feels consistent from week to week. 225 felt pretty slow today. So here’s my plan: continue doing the over warmup to 225, but after do 185x5x3 reps with 1 min rest. Then do 3x8 reps with whatever weight is challenging w/ 1 min rest.

On second thought, I’m not gonna do that. Every time I go heavy on bench for my ego, I get nowhere. So I’ll stick to my original plan of ramping to 205x3 paused then back off to either 185 or 175.

Base W2D3
Thursday September 26

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x3
315x3x3
315x3 (no deficit)

CSR
45x8
70x8
90x8
70x8,8
45x8

RDL( using 25s)
95x8
145x8,8
195x8
145x8

Decline abs
BW,2.5,5,5,BWx15

Notes: Good day. Everything felt strong and solid.

Base W2D4
Friday September 27

Bench
45x20
95x5
135x5
175x5
185x5
195x3,3
165x6

Db bench,Curls

Notes: Bad day :frowning: Shoulder is feeling a bit weird right now. Looking back, the best results for bench I had was when I was doing Sheiko. Since I’m not gonna be benching 3x a week, my bench day will look like 185x5x3 reps. I should be able to smoke that.

Base W3D1
Monday September 30

Front squat
45x5
95x5
135x5x5

Back squat
185x3
225x5x5

NG rows
100x5x8 reps

BB row
95lbx3x10

Pulldown abs
60,70,80,90,100x15

Notes: Great day. I’m gonna keep doing this exact same workout until Christmas, hopefully the weights will be stupid easy by then. That’s a solid 12 weeks of training.

Base W3D2
Tuesday October 1

Incline
45x10
95x5
115x5
125x5
135x5
145x5
115x8,8,11

Dips
BWx8
25x8
45x8,8
25x8
BWx8

BPA
4x20

BB curls
Barx50
50x10
55x8
60x6

Incline curls
17.5x10
22.5x8
17.5x10,10

Notes: Good day. Feeling a bit sick though.

Base W3D3
Thursday October 3

Deficit DL
135x3,3
225x3,3
275x3
315x4x3 reps

CSR
45x8
70x4x8

RDL
95x8
145x8
195x8
145x8,8

Decline abs
4x15

Notes: Solid. Will also be doing this workout till Christmas.