Upper body heavy this morning:
Deadlift
195x5
225x5
255x5
295x5 (PR)
Chins
BWx6
BWx5
BWx5
BWx4
HS Incline Press
90x6
140x6
180x6
230x4
BB Curl
45x6
55x6
65x6
80x6
Lying Triceps Extension
40x6
60x6
80x6
Morning weight today was 190.
Heavy lower body this morning:
Front Squat
95x6
115x6
140x6
180x6
Good Morning
85x6
95x6
110x6
130x6
BB Lunge (long step)
95x6
105x6
115x6
130x6
Lying Ham Curl
90x6
110x6
130x6
145x4 (failed on 5th rep)
Seated Calf Raise
50x6
65x6
80x6
100x4
I think I may change the rep range on seated calf raises. I don’t feel hitting my calves with lower reps is going to work all that well. Other than that, I had a pretty good work out today. Lunges felt a little awkward, because my quads were still a bit sore and tight from last week’s workouts.
bummer you decided to bag the 5x5, i think it’s a decent program to build strength, but i understand needing to make a change.
i feel you about the form and weight issue, i feel like dialing in the form first will help get weight up. check out these squat rx videos, they helped me get my form more proper
find 'em here…
he goes over alot of exercises to strengthen muscles that help squat form. the wall walk stretch is awesome! people give you weird looks, it’s great.
also, i feel like going to parallel is good enough. if your goal is to go ATG then that’s cool but 90 degrees is low enough to get strong, IMO.
I really enjoyed the 5x5 program, and it’s something I’ll consider going back to in the future. In addition to the squatting issues, I got through 10 weeks of 5x5, and was just feeling less motivated. The change in program has really helped with that.
I’m hoping that hitting my hams/glutes on things like good mornings, RDLs, etc. will translate over to the back squat. I’m sure once I go back to it, there will be a few weeks of building back up to where I was. I really do need to focus more on flexibility/mobility work. I’ve seen some of the squat rx videos before - I’ll have to revisit them.
About ATG vs. parallel - I’ve always just felt more comfortable going past parallel. I know I’ve read some of the authors on here talk about less force on the knee joint when you go past parallel than if you just went to parallel. That’s how it’s always felt to me, too. It may have something to do with the stretch reflex and the bounce at the bottom.
Upper body light this morning:
DB Flat Bench:
50x10
60x10
70x10
80x10
BB Standing Military Press
65x10
85x10
95x10
HS Row
95x10
125x10
145x10
165x8
Dips
BWx8
25x8
45x7
Preacher curl (from pulley)
50x10
62.5x10
75x10
100x9 (failed on 10th rep then 2 rest-pause sets)
100x2
100x1
DB Side lateral raise
17.5x12
17.5x12
17.5x12
I get to move up on DB bench, military, and side laterals next week, so I consider that decent progress. After sticking with 5x5 for a while, I’m just not used to reps in this range. My muscles definitely feel more pumped and fatigued by the end.
Lower body light this morning:
RDL
135x12
155x12
175x12
195x12
Bulgarian Split Squat (weight per 1db)
BWx12
15x12
30x12
Leg Press
180x12
270x12
360x14
Standing Calf Raise
90x15
90x13
90x12
Upper body heavy this morning:
Deadlift
185x5
225x5
255x5
300x5 (PR)
Chins
BWx6
BWx6
BWx5
BWx4
HS Incline Press
90x6
140x6
180x6
230x4 (failed on 5th rep)
BB Curl
45x6
55x6
65x6
85x4 (failed on 5th rep)
Lying Triceps Extension (w/ EZ curl bar)
40x6
60x6
85x4 (failed on 5th rep)
It was a nice milestone hitting 300 today on deadlifts. My back is feeling really tired right now, and it was a struggle to get that last rep up.
Lower body heavy:
Front Squat
95x6
115x6
145x6
185x6
Good Morning
85x6
95x6
115x6
135x6
BB Lunge
85x6
95x6
115x6
135x6
Lying Ham Curl
90x6
110x6
130x6
145x6
Seated Calf Raise
50x15
50x13
50x12
Did some leg raises, too for abs.
I felt a lot stronger today than I did last week. I wasn’t able to get to the gym until about 1pm today, which may have something to do with that. My normal routine is to wake up and get right to the gym, but I had some other stuff going on this morning. By the time I got to the gym, I felt a lot more loose, especially with good mornings.
Upper body light this morning:
DB Flat Bench
50x10
60x10
70x10
85x8 (failed on 9th rep)
BB Standing Military Press
65x10
85x10
100x9 (failed on 10th rep)
HS Row
90x10
125x10
145x10
165x10
Dips
BWx8
25x8
45x6 (failed on 7th rep)
Preachers (from pulley)
50x10
62.5x10
75x10
100x9 (failed on 10th rep, then 2 rest-pause sets)
100x2
100x1
DB Side lateral raises
17.5x12
17.5x12
20x9
I’ve been stalling out on dips for a while now. I don’t know if it’s because my bodyweight has been creeping up week by week or not, but I’d like to finally hit 45x8 soon.
Couldn’t get to the gym yesterday morning. Some school stuff came up. So, I did lower body light this morning, and tomorrow I’ll have to modify my upper a bit (won’t do deadlifts).
RDL
135x12
155x12
175x12
205x12 (PR)
Bulgarian Split Squats (weight per 1db)
BWx12
15x12
35x12
Leg Press
180x12
270x12
360x16
Standing Calf Raise
90x15
90x14
90x13
This workout doesn’t seem like much, but it leaves me very fatigued. I had trouble making it up the steps to my lab today. I’m sure it would have been a funny sight to see.
A few notes about my weight and where I’m going with this. I hit 195 the other day. I wanted to take this bulk up to 200, but I’m a little unhappy with the amount of bodyfat that I’ve acquired in the last month or two.
I’m going to be cutting calories slowly by lowering my carb intake over the next few weeks. I’m going to keep Surge post workout, but I’ll no longer have a huge starchy meal one hour after that. I’ll replace it with something like chili, beef stew, etc. and fruit. After a few weeks, I’d like to be at a caloric deficit.
At that point, I’m not sure how I feel about the structure of my diet. Quite honestly, in my history it hasn’t made much of a difference if I go low carb or not. The only thing I have noticed is more of a strength drop in the gym when I am low carbing it. Because of that, I’m thinking of just maintaining a sensible approach - still eating fruit, beans, etc. for my carb sources, and increase fat content slightly.
I don’t want this cut to last very long - maybe 6-8 weeks. I’m interested in losing enough body fat to determine how effective this bulk has been so far so that I can make modifications to my training and diet if necessary in the future.
Upper body heavy this morning:
Chins
BWX6
BWx6
BWx6
BWx5
HS Incline Press
90x6
140x6
180x6
230x5 (failed on 6th rep)
DB Seated Military Press
30x6
40x6
50x6
55x5 (failed on 6th rep)
BB Curl
45x6
65x6
85x6
Lying Triceps Extension (ez-curl bar)
40x6
60x6
85x5 (failed on 6th rep)
I didn’t deadlift today for two reasons: I did RDLs yesterday because my workout got pushed back a day. Plus, I haven’t had a week off from deadlifts in a long time, and I think the week off will do me some good.
I felt pretty good overall today and made a few bumps in my rep progression. I’ve started to cut back on carbs just a little today, and so far I feel fine. My goal right now is to hover around maintenance for a while and start dropping cals slowly.
Lower body heavy this morning:
Front Squat
95x6
115x6
145x6
190x6 (PR)
Good Morning
85x6
95x6
115x6
140x6
DB Lunge (weight per 1db)
30x6
50x6
65x6
Lying Ham Curl
90x6
110x6
130x6
150x4 (failed on 5th rep)
Seated Calf Raise
50x15
50x15
50x15
Also did some incline treadmill walking for about 15 minutes. Felt nice and strong on front squats today, and I’m pleased to see them going up week by week. My quad measurement has gone up another inch since last month.
Upper body light today:
DB Flat Bench
50x10
60x10
70x10
85x6 (failed on 7th rep)
BB standing military press
65x10
85x10
100x9 (failed on 10th rep)
HS Row
90x10
125x10
145x10
170x8
Dips
BWx8
25x8
45x8
Preachers (pulley)
50x10
62.5x10
75x10
100x10 (then 2 rest-pause sets)
100x2
100x1
Side laterals
17.5x12
17.5x12
20x10
Weak as shit today. Dropped 2 reps from last week’s flat bench. I don’t know what’s going on with that. My diet was absolute crap yesterday. After my workout, I had a nice big meal, but then had to travel and I wasn’t prepared food-wise.
I didn’t get to eat again for about 7 hours, and I felt awful for the rest of the day (fatigued, headache, etc.). By today I felt fine, but maybe my strength was a little zapped. I dunno.
I think I strained a hip flexor on Saturday doing lunges, so I modified my workout today. I still did RDL’s and calves, but cut out the other leg work and subbed in some back and bicep exercises. On Thursday, I’ll deadlift and
do pushing exercises.
RDL
135x12
175x12
215x12 (PR)
T-bar rows (counting the bar)
90x12
135x8
135x8
Seated low rows (pulley)
108x8
120x8
132x8
144x8
Front Pulldowns (wide grip)
96x10
108x10
108x8
BB Curl
45x6
65x6
Drop set of 90x4, 65x6, 45x12
Standing Calf Raise
90x15
90x15
90x15
Today is the first time I’ve done t-bar rows with the bar wedged into the corner of the wall. They felt okay, but with the 45’s on there I wasn’t getting the range of motion I wanted. Next time I’ll probably stack 25’s instead.
Standing Calf Raise
This morning:
Deadlift
185x5
225x5
255x5
305x4
HS Incline Press
90x6
140x6
180x6
230x6
Seated DB Military Press
30x6
40x6
55x6
Side laterals (machine)
50x10
60x10
70x12
I felt my back rounding a bit on the 4th rep of 305 today, so I didn’t attempt the 5th rep. Felt okay otherwise. I didn’t hit any arm stuff today because I want to do that heavy this weekend. My hip flexor still feels like crap, so this will give me to prioritize a bit upper-body wise.
Plan for this week is as follows:
Saturday - Chest and Tris
Sunday - Back and Bis
Tuesday: Shoulders
Thursday: extra arm day
On to today’s workout:
Incline DB Bench
50x10
60x10
75x8
HS Flat Press
90x10
140x6
90x14 (reached failure then 2 rest pause sets)
90x7
90x4
Dips
BWx8
25x8
25x8
Reverse Grip Bench Press (wide grip, elbows in to emphasize triceps) - on Smith machine
70x10
100x10
100x8
Lying Tricep Extensions
70x6
70x6
70x6
Reverse grip pushdowns
1 drop set of:
100x6
80x6
60x12
I’m not sure why the Hammer Strength flat bench is so much harder than the incline. I can pile a lot more weight on the incline. Dip weight was a bit lower today because my chest was worked over much more than it usually is when I hit dips.
The reason I’m adding an extra arm day on Thursday is just to emphasize those body parts - my arms severely lag behind the rest of me right now. With having to rest my hip flexor, I’ll give my arms some added work.
Back and Biceps today:
Chins
BWx6
BWx6
BWx5
BWx5
T-bar rows (apparatus as 0 lbs)
45x10
70x8
80x6
HS Row
125x8
145x8
165x8
BB Curl
45x8
65x8
75x9 (short pause, then 2 negative only reps)
Spider Curls (w/ EZ curl bar on other end of preacher curl bench)
25x10
35x10
45x10
Tried a few new things today. I’ve never done spider curls today, but they felt good. My gym just got a T-bar row - not sure how I feel about it. I don’t feel like I got a great workout from that today. I’ll have to mess around with the grip.
Shoulders this morning:
Standing Military Press
65x10
85x10
100x13
BB Shrugs
135x8
185x8
225x8
275x6
DB Side Laterals
17.5x12
20x12
20x12
Machine Laterals
50x12
70x12
80x6
Rear Delt Machine
90x12
100x12
110x12
Standing Calf Raise
90x15
90x15
100x10
First time I’ve hit shoulders alone in a long, long time. I think it’s a muscle group I tend to neglect. On Thursday, my plan is to deadlift and hit arms again. For this weekend, I’ll see how my hip flexor feels before incorporating leg work.
This morning’s workout: Deadlift and arms
Deadlift
185x5
225x5
255x5
305x4 (same as last week)
Reverse Grip Bench (Smith machine)
70x10
90x10
120x14
Lying Tricep Extensions
75x8
85x6
85x6
BB Curl
45x8
65x8
80x9
Preachers (pulley)
50x10
75x10
100x8 (then 2 rest pause sets)
100x2
100x2
Right hip flexor is still bothering me. It was affecting me a little on deads coming off the floor this morning, especially as I sunk my hips down low in the starting position. This is starting to piss me off. I thought a week or two of no legs would heal this thing, but who knows.
This morning: Chest and Back
DB Flat Press
50x10
60x10
70x10
85x7 (failed on 8th rep)
T-Bar chest supported row
45x10
70x10
90x6
HS Incline Press
90x6
140x6
180x6
Drop set of 230x3, 180x3
HS Row
125x10
145x10
170x8
Close grip (V-grip) pulldowns
96x10
108x10
132x8
Hip flexor still feels like crap…Did some incline walking today. It didn’t bother the hip during, but I’m a bit more sore now than I normally am. I’ve cut out all leg stuff, with the exception of deadlifts, so I’m not quite sure why it’s not healing faster.
In the mean time, I’ll continue to hit calves a few times a week. I’m doing a 4-day per week routine with Chest/Back as day 1, Arms day 2, Shoulders day 3, and Arms again day 4. Gotta get these twigs hanging out of my shirt to grow.