Magick's Training Log v2

Yesterday-
10 sets of-
5 chin-up
10 push-up
15 squats
One minute rests.

Spent a lot of the day driving so I wanted to do something that would work up a sweat while not being strenuous.

Today-
Back squat- 135/175/205/235lbx5, 265lb, 7/5/6/4/2

I felt very off before going to the gym today. Ate lunch way too late and apparently what I ate made me feel bloated. Plus I felt so sleepy that I decided to take a short nap right before lifting, and I never nap in the afternoon. All of this added up to make me feel sluggish and not really “on”. Quads felt sore and tired on the 235lbx5 set alone, which just made me dread the work sets even more.

At least the 285lb sets did what they were intended to- 265lb felt light and I felt very comfortable with the weight. Felt “on” on the third set and it felt so much more explosive. Unfortunately that went away on the fourth and fifth set.

DB OHP- 35lb, 3x12, 8/6
Stiff legged deadlift- 135lb, 5x10
I haven’t done a true hamstring dedicated exercise in forever, so starting light to see how they react. Felt a good stretch in the hamstring and glutes. My hands got very tired from this.

DB OHP- 85lb, 3x10, 65lb, 2x10
Too tired to continue on with the 85lb for what I wanted to do, so I dropped the weight.

Yesterday-
Chin-up (+25lb)- 3x6, 1x5, 1x2

Given how I’ve been unintentionally gaining weight the last couple of weeks (up ~3-5lb), I think it’s pretty cool that I can still do weighted chin-ups. I can’t tell if I got any bigger but my chin-ups have definitely improved.

Today-
OHP- 85/105lbx5, 125lb, 3x7, 1x4
Push-pressed pretty much every last rep. I had a hard time balancing today.

RFESS- 1x8 no weight +20lb DBs 2x8, then a couple reps with +20lbs and finished the set with no weight, then 1x8 with no weight, then +15lb DBs for 1x8

Evidently 20lb DBs are too ambitious for my messed up and misaligned body.

DB bench- 70lb, 6x8, 1x2
A lot better today.

Machine late row- 3x12, 1x14

Power clean- 135lbx30

Took less than 4 minutes; I wasn’t really timing it. Felt better physically and decided to do a bit of conditioning.

Yesterday-
Chin-up (+25lb)- 7/7/5/6

Today-
Deadlift- 135lbx5, 225lbx6, 315lbx2, 335lb, 3x8
Tough third set. Lots of mini-rest between reps in the end. Felt virtually nothing in my back and all the strain went to my hamstrings and glutes.

DB OHP- 35lb, 3x12, 1x9, 1x5
The third set didn’t wreck me as bad today, so I think there is progress.

Front squat- 155lb, 4x10, 7/3 (I think? I wasn’t really paying attention due to how tired I got)
Core and quads feel a lot stronger than the last time. Upper body felt dead by the end.

BB row- 135lb, 3x8 (3 second pause at top), 2x8, 1x10 (not paused).

Yesterday- Chin-up(+35lb) 6/6/5/4/4 I think.

Today-
OHP- 95/115lbx5, 125lb, 2x7, 1x3, 105lb, 1x8
Tried a different foot stance.

Reverse lunge with 45lb DB- 12/13/12/13
Much easier than last time.

DB bench- 70lb, 2x10, 7/8/something something something. Point is that it didn’t go well today. I may have started with too heavy a weight given the other pressing I’m doing.

Machine lat row- 15/13/15/7

Yesterday- Chin-up (+35lb)- 6/5/5/4/5(?) I no longer remember what I did as the sets go on.

Today-
Back squat- 135/175/205/235lbx5, 265lb, 2x8, 1x5, 1x4
3 min rest on the third set in an attempt to get 9 reps, but failed. The first set felt solid. The second set felt tiring and I’m pretty sure I cut depth a bit short in the last couple of reps.

The last time I tried this, I wrote that legs didn’t feel fatigued but everything other part of my body did. Today felt like the opposite- my legs felt extremely tired and that was the main reason why I couldn’t continue on. Breathing and bracing feel much better now, so I think that is an improvement.

OHP- 35lb, 13/10/8/8/8/3
I think it’s a combination of being tired from the squats and 13 reps being harder than I thought it would be.

Stiff legged deadlift- 135lb 3x13, 1x11
Used straps but my grips still got very tired. Lower body also very tired, so I couldn’t really focus on the stretch.

DB row- 85lb, 3x12, 1x8, 1x6

I think I’m using the wrong weight for these 50 rep stuff. I’m using weights that I can do ~12-14 rep maxes when I should be using something much lighter.

Chin-up (+35lb)- 5/5/5/4/4/2

Haven’t recovered from yesterday.

OHP- 85lb, 13/12

Going back a couple of steps to see just how much I improved. This didn’t feel hard.

Reverse lunge- 3x8 (+55lb DB), 3x8 without weight.

This felt horribly painful. I’ve been having very bad DOMS the last two days, but I had no idea that reverse lunges would fuck me up this bad. The inner thighs in particular felt horrible. The pain and stiffness afterwards messed with the rest of the workout.

Flat bench- 115lb, 15/15/13/8
Realized just now that I should have done 7 reps for the last set.
I had originally planned on doing 135lb, but I decided to go even lighter as a result of the leg pain. However, in hindsight, 115lb seems to be a good weight for what I wanted. This didn’t feel hard but I still failed to do 3x15. Whether that is because of the leg pain or because I’m not strong enough I don’t know.

Incline chest supported DB row- 1x12, 4x10

I really hope my leg recovers by Saturday, or else deadlift day is going to be a nightmare.

Did unweighted chin-ups on Friday instead of weighted because I still didn’t feel recovered. Did 1x12, 1x13

Was supposed to lift yesterday but went to watch a movie and spend time with the family instead. Did 1x13, 1x9, 1x3 chin-ups at night just to feel like I did something.

Today-
Deadlift- 135lbx5, 225lbx6, 315lbx2, 335lb, 2x10, 1x5
Lots of mini-rest again. Strength is fine (except for my left hamstring, which strains A LOT more) but the lungs aren’t there. Didn’t switch the mixed grip up today.

DB OHP- 20lb, 4x15
Front squat- 115lb, 3x15, 1x6
BB row- 155lb, 3x10

Decided that it is unnecessary to do 50 reps of back since the weighted chin-ups feel pretty hard.

Yesterday- Chin-up (+35lb)- 6/5/5/5/4

Today-
OHP- 95lb, 13/12

The second set felt considerably more difficult than the first one, especially near the end.

Lunges with 20lb DBs- 4x15
Alternated between forward and reverse lunges. This got my legs pumped.
Flat bench- 115lb, 3x15, 1x10
Incline chest supported row- 2x15, 2x10
Hanging knee raise- 2x15

Yesterday-
5x5 dip and chin-ups.

Today-
Back squat- 155/185/215lbx5, 245lb, 2x9, 1x7
This kicked my ass. I went to bed excessively late the last two days due to work and knew that doing 265lb would be a very bad idea. I thought 245lb would be fine. Unfortunately it was not- I had no “pop” and it felt like I muscled up every working reps.

DB OHP- 25lb, 1x14, 3x12
Stiff legged deadlift- 135lb, 3x15, 1x5
DB row- 70lb, 2x15

Chin-up(+35lb)- 3x6, 1x4, 1x3
Attempted a fifth rep on the fourth set and got half-way up.

I’ve been doing all sorts of stretches and mobility shit (albeit inconsistently) over the summer and things aren’t really getting any better. So I’m going to overhead squat a bar everyday from now on for 25 reps.

Did that today and saw just how just horrible my mobility has gotten. The really dumb part is that I swear I did this exact same thing last year ago when we first got the bar and I could overhead squat better. Contrary to what I expected, lifting in a commercial gym again didn’t really help with my overall mobility. I’m not sure what the missing link here is, since I’m doing roughly the same movements I did back in 2019 and I’m in fact walking more now.

OHP- 105lb, 13/12
First set felt pretty hard in the last rep or two. Had to push-press the last rep of the second set. I’ll stay with this weight next session and see if it feels easier. I doubt it unless I get good sleep though. Went to bed “early” today and got good sleep, so this felt powerful.

Overhead squat- 5x5
Slightly better form and movement.

DB bench- 60lb, 4x12, 1x2
This tired out my triceps more than my chest. I think DB bench is not good for my chest development since my triceps dominate the movement? The 115lb flat bench last session left my chest really sore in comparison.

Power snatch from hang- 65lbx30
Meant to do this as a finisher but it felt way too easy. So much so that I naturally began doing them from the hang instead of from the floor. I was concerned that my upper body would be tired and so went light but this didn’t affect them at all.

BB row- 175lb, 4x8
Hanging leg raise (to parallel)-5x8

1 Like

Chin-up(+45lb)- 3x5, 1x4, 2x3

I actually failed to reach the very top of the last rep of set three and four, but I am counting those because I strained a lot on those reps and they had a definite impact. Next time I will cut the set short if I feel like I cannot complete the next rep.

Overhead squat- 5x5

These are already feeling a lot better. I am not contorting my body into odd shapes and I feel much more comfortable sitting in the bottom position. Spent several seconds sitting on some of the reps and ended the entire thing sitting in the bottom for 10 seconds. My upper back strains a lot during this hold.

Deadlift- 135lbx5, 225lbx6, 315lbx2, 335lb, 1x12, 1x13
Lots of mini-rest on the second set. The last two-three reps felt genuinely tough.

DB OHP- 25lb, 3x15, 1x10
Back squat- 135lb, 1x25, 2x10, 1x5
I initially thought I wanted to do only 25 reps and make up the rest with the overhead squat, thus the 25 rep set. Legs felt really wobbly and weak in the rest of the sets. Defeated mentally, basically.

DB row- 60lb, 1x20, 1x10
Overhead squat- 5x5
No pause, just reps.

OHP- 75lbx5, 105lb, 13/12
Push-pressed the last two reps of the second set.

Lunges with 20lb DBs- 3x15
Alternated between forward and reverse lunges.

Incline bench- 105lb, 1x15, 2x12, 1x8, 1x3
Flat bench chest supported row- 2x15
Power snatch- 95lbx3, 115lb, 3x3

Pretty sure this is a rep PR with power snatches with this weight. This felt good.

Overhead squat- 2x8, 1x9

First two sets felt fin but third set felt weaker.

Chin-up(+45lb)-1x4, (+25lb), 2x6, 1x5, 1x4

The 45lb chin-ups felt really grindy. I should have done a warm-up set before.

Overhead squat- 3x6, 1x7

Reset on the chin-up program and started doing the volume month day. The program definitely worked on a strength pov- reps of 10 don’t feel hard anymore.

Back squat- 145/175/205/235lbx5, 265lbx8, 205lb, 1x12, 1x6

265lb felt ok but the 205lb set really sucked. I made the right decision to treat the 265lb as a top set and do back-off sets. Pretty sure I’d be limping again if I tried doing straight sets with 265lb. I’m losing my ability to power through squats and frankly squatting anything above 200lb feels like it really strains my quads.

DB OHP- 25lb, 4x15
A bit of a struggle on the last set.

Stiff legged deadlift- 155lb, 3x12, 1x14
DB row- 70lb, 2x15, 2x10
Overhead squat- 3x6, 1x7
Upper back felt dead on this but legs felt ok.

Chin-ups and overhead squats feel like they’re going well.

I’m going to take a long, overdue personal vacation in December, so I’m going to be losing some weight in preparation for that by fasting on non-lifting days.

I don’t expect to see any issues with lifting (besides squatting, because squatting with any actual challenging load seems to be wrecking my lower body right now) but will reduce volume to compensate if I feel the need to.

I think this is actually going to be fun. Last year I lost like 25lb over the course of 3-4 months while fasting one day and eating whatever I wanted on the other day. This time I’m going to do it properly- fast one day and eat “clean” the other day, and actually lift with challenging weights. Excited to see how much I can change within a month.

Today-
OHP- 95lbx5, 115lb, 3x7, 1x3
Felt powerful today.

Forward lunge with 25lb DBs- 1x10
Walking lunges with 25lb DBs- 4x10

Incline bench- 115lb, 3x10, 1x7, 1x6, 1x5, 1x2
Couldn’t find 5lb plates so I went heavier. I thought I could do 5x10 with this weight, guess not.

Incline bench chest supported rows- 3x15, 1x5

Overhead squatted 65lb for 5x5 today in the morning. Legs felt fine and the upper back had a hard time staying stable.

Deadlift- 135lbx5, 225lbx6, 315lbx2, 355lb, 3x6, 1x5 ( 30 second later) 1x2 (sorta)

Felt like I began to get close to muscle failure on the fifth rep, so took a short rest for the last rep. I began taking the clips off and then realized that I want 25 reps, not 24, so went and did that last rep.

This felt hard. My grip feels like they’re tearing off and I can literally see my calluses begin to tear off after the third set. I’m honestly pretty pleased that I did this without chalk but I very much doubt that I can continue onto higher weights or more reps without them. Time will tell.

DB OHP- 30lb, 4x12
Back squat- 175lb, 4x12
Took two minute rest for the last set. Initially loaded 155lb but then decided that I shouldn’t be a coward.

BB row- 155lb, 2x12, 1x6, 1x8
Started to feel shaky and tired, so I didn’t bother trying to do 50 reps.

Only did one set of chin-ups today.
I’m starting to do 65lb on the overhead squats. It feels ok.
I learned about the Sotts Press and started doing them daily for 25 reps total. These feel really hard.

OHP- 95lbx5, 115lb, 2x8, 1x7, 1x2
I can finally grind these out.

Lunges with 25lb DBs- 4x12
Alternated between forward and reverse lunges. These felt really easy.

Incline bench- 105lb, 4x10, 1x8, 1x2 (15 second rest)
I found that incline benches begin to tire my triceps out much faster than my chest, so I’m now convinced that this is a poor exercise to do after OHP. The problem is that there’s always people using the flat bench and I really don’t want to wait.

Power clean- 95/135lbx1, 155lb, 2x1
Lower back and hips haven’t recovered enough to do this.

Hanging leg raise- 5x10
Abs started to feel really sore so I went to knee raises for the last three reps.

Push-up- 1x20, 2x12, 1x6
Doing these after leg raises really suck.