I know how you feel. I don’t add abs to the program just throw them on then end of a session when I feel
Like it. I often don’t feel like it !!
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Block 2 Week 7 Deload ish Squat
45.45.135.185.225X5
245X5
255X5 70% TM
185X10 3 sets
no belt 1st set then just on the first hole. It’s a mental thing for bracing.
10 reps for multiple sets sucks. They weren’t hard, but my legs were definitely confused.
Deadlift
135X10
185X10
225X5 3 sets
No belt felt good pump, solid form developing reps.
Giant Set
Standing Ham Curl/Leg Extension/HLR
3X10 30.20.15 Single Leg Hell
Squeeze at the top 2 second eccentric
3X10 40.30.20 Not Fun
Squeeze at the top 2 second eccentric
3X12 whatever, ab work
Apparently I have zero single leg strength. I have always hated isolation work, much prefer compound. Hope this carries over for my goals, because if not it’s a lot of pain for nothing.
Reverse Hyper/Declibe Sit-ups
3X10 50#
3X10
These hit me strange I feel my glutes fire at the top and fight it down. However, when my feet go under me there is a weird “sharp” stretch where my low back ties into my glutes. I don’t love it, but it doesn’t hurt or seem to leave any negative residual effects.
If this deload is my primer for a hypertrophy block, I am not excited. Bodybuilding the upper body is cool, the lower body not so much. Oh well, I already wrote it in my logbook so it must be important. If nothing else, I’ll learn something for 6 weeks and reevaluate.
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Block 2 Week 7 Deload Press
45.55.65.75X5
85X5
95X5
105X5
75X10 3 sets
Bench
45.95X5
135X10 3 sets
Did 11 sets of 4 pull-ups between press and bench warmup sets.
Horrible mental health day. My job is sending me home for possibly 2 months due to lack of work available. Also found out I missed out on a dream type job. Found all of it out in the 45 minutes it took to drive to the gym. Training seems very insignificant now. Unfortunately due to missing work over the “pandemic” and my company going down hill, I don’t have the nest egg I usually have fit this time of year. So Saturday I’ll drive home 24 hours and tell my family it’s going to be a lean few months until I figure something else out. While driving home from the gym, the darkness started creeping up on me again. Having dealt with addiction, depression and anxiety it worries me more than a little. I just want to go to sleep and wake up on the other side of this mess. Fortunately I have an awesome wife and family support system. I just hate feeling like I let them down.
Sorry for the extended nonsense, but I need to get it out before I talk to the family tonight.
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Block 2 Week 7 NOT deload Deadlift
Squat warmup
45.95.135.185.225.275.315X5
No idea what I was trying to do.
Deadlift
125.225.315X5
Fastest 315 ever
405X3
Too easy
F it let’s try a PR, while we’re at it let’s make a bigger jump than what I missed last week, 
450X1
Holy hell it moved smooth
Snatch Grip DL
135X10 3 sets
I really enjoyed these. May have been still feeling euphoric from the PR, lol.
Reverse Hyper
3X10 50#
Single Leg Extensions/Single Standing Leg Curls
3X12.12.10 40#
3X12.12.10 20#
Did some hanging leg raises with the single leg stuff as well.
Great mental health night. Had another bad day, but got a nap and went and trained anyway. So glad I did. May have not been what was scheduled but it was definitely what was needed. Tomorrow I head home for an indefinite period of time. My wife and I have decided to take the first 10 days just like my normal time off, while understanding that we may have to change some things up after that. So off to deer camp and an attempt to restock the venison fir cheap delicious meal prep.
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Training Max percentages for next block
Bench 221 87%
Squat 338 90%
Press 135 87%
Deadlift 374 83%
The numbers are weird because my app has me add 5 or 10 pounds to my max, then it takes 85% of that. So these are all just the normal 5-10 pound 5/3/1 jumps except my app makes them 8.5 and whatever 85% of 5 pounds is. I’m happy with them as despite the jumps, they’re staying 90% and below.
Training really going the right direction in a macro view.
Squat up 50# to 375#
Bench up 20 ish pounds to 255#
Press up 15# to 165#
Deadlift up 40# to 450#
All since June 1st. Looking forward to a nice lighter load hypertrophy block. Certainly believe my goal of squatting 405# and pulling 500# on my 40th birthday is attainable with 9 months to go.
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This is where your faith has to be your strength. Don’t rely on yourself. And definitely don’t rely on the world. Think, pray, plan, and find a way through.
Congrats on the 450 deadlift! It looks like your deload worked well. And I say nice job on going for it. All too often I plan my max attempts weeks in advance and it doesn’t always pan out. I’ve passed up days where I felt great and tried to set a PR on a “meh” type day. I say if you feel good and think it’s there then go for it.
Now go fill that freezer with some tasty back straps!
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Great work in here mate, training looks like it is going well.
Sorry to hear about you MH. It is great you are being open about it (at least on here) and it sounds like your family are supportive. Hang tough.
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The beginning of hypertrophy
Bench
45.85.105.135X5
155X5
175X5
200X5
FSL
155X10 3 sets
BBB Press
75X10 5 sets
All of this was so off normal because my oldest 2 kids were squatting and deadlifting and I was trying to coach/rest. It went well but was frantic as hell.
Slight DB Decline
3X10 55.65.70
Incline DB Bench
3X10 35.45.50
Both last sets were essentially to failure. I hit 10 but would never have hit 11.
Superset pull-ups with DB work 3 sets of 5 and 3 sets of 4.
Good upper body pump. Chest felt the DB work which was the goal. Didn’t notice my triceps but they were hurting on the drive home. My back didn’t feel great on the pull-ups, but I spent 30 hours in a vehicle over the weekend so that’s to be expected. Good meal of smoked chicken and rice when I get home then tv with the missus for some relaxation. Sleep in if possible tomorrow the. squats. Feeling much better having got home and hugged my family.
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Stupid Squat Plan
45.135.185.205X5
Not warmed up, inner quad on right side felt funny.
235X5
275X5
305X5
I don’t like fives, bring back threes.
FSL
235X10 3 sets
I’m an idiot. I did the first 2 sets paused and wanted to puke.
Front Squat
2X10.8 155#
First set felt really good, used the front rack position. Inner quad still funky, plus right side of abs acting weird. Second set I crossed my arms, on the 8th rep it rolled forward and I had to catch it and ended up racking it.
Lessons learned. No carbs this morning, due to poor planning. Squats are not made to be done fasted…ever. Was supposed to do reverse hypers but this gym didn’t have them. Instead of subbing something else, I called it a day and went to get food. Eat and rest tomorrow then make sure I eat breakfast before I train, especially legs, from now on.
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So apparently my body is rejecting the idea of weight gain. I’m down 11 pounds in 5 weeks and can’t seem to stop it. Eating consistently at a surplus has been difficult but I typically get 3500 cal/day. I swear maintenance must be close to 4000. Frustrated as I’ve wanted to weigh 220 for a while and to get there and lose it sucks. Ok, whining cry baby rant over.
Went to the chiropractor yesterday for the first time in 20+ years, not too bad. He confirmed what I had posted earlier. My right hip was 1 1/2” above my left one. Got it straightened up in 20 minutes or so then did some electromuscular stimulation treatment. Going to see him weekly while I’m home to try and make sure it sticks.
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Had to post this while watching it. Obvious newb in the gym with a “trainer” who played D1 baseball, so obviously he must know how to lift. Never mind the fact he weighs 150 pounds soaking wet. He’s got the guy squatting 205 when I walk up to the next rack. The guys go down and his knees travel sooooo far forward his heels come off the ground. Then he does 5 like that. My freaking knees hurt watching it. I swear these “trainers” know absolutely nothing about strength training. Now that newb is going to go home and be sore. He’ll think it must obviously be working because soreness equals a good workout. I know I’m ranting, but I had considered using this same trainer for my son because my son is a baseball player and thought it might be better coming from a fellow athlete rather than dad. What a joke. This guy better stick to training housewives and desk jockeys because he doesn’t know shit about real training.
Wow, reading that I seem angry, lol. I guess that’s the supervisor in me that can’t stand imposters selling skills they don’t actually have.
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Press Day
45X10
55.65.75X5
95X5
110X5
120X5
FSL
95X10 3 sets
Superset all 10 sets with 4 pull-ups until set 10 when I did a ME of 8. Swapped my grip neutral/pronated/supinated 44 total reps.
Press is feeling better than probably any lift right now. No real strain, just solid hard work. It’s probably because I’m not chasing any 1RM at the moment.
BBB Bench
45.95x10
135X10 2 sets
115X10 3 sets
Did all of this with varying grips from medium to wide. Tried to do a tempo of 2-2-0 to make it more difficult and it seemed to work.
DB Curls/Tate Press
3X10-8-10 30/35/27.5
3X12-10-12 20/30/27.5
There was a woman working directly in front of the DB rack causing the weights to be a bit erratic. The curls were hard for sure and I don’t think I like standing curls with DB. Probably try something different next time.
Tate press I did at an incline once then flat bench, then back to incline. I really liked the feel of the incline on my tricep. Seemed to hit it a little different
Incline DB Curls
1X10 20#
Did these just to see if I liked them better, I think so, I’ll try them again and see.
Kroc Row
1X15 35# warmup
1XME 60# 20 reps
Definitely some body english on the lat 4-5 of each arm, but glad to get 20.
Shoulder Finisher
Front/Lateral/Rear Raises
3X10/8/6
12.5/10/7.5
Lots of burn, lots and lots of burn. I could barely lift my arms after this.
All in all a solid work like session. I think I like this better than AMRAPs and super heavy work which means I was right to switch it up for a cycle or two. Feeling really strong and a lot less beat up the last week or so. Also, last night I cooked my chili mash concoction for about a week of solid high calorie food. It’s perfect to take hunting where I only eat 2-3 times a day.
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I was going to say to do 8s and then you’d like the 5s but then I saw this:
Let practice be specific to baseball. I went to a D1 school on a pitching scholarship. Athletes need to be strong, agile, and preferably fast. Get strong in the gym on the basics and it’ll transfer when he does skill work at practice. If he doesn’t do any agility or sprint work at practice then it might be good to find a coach who can teach running mechanics.
Glad to hear the family helped ease some of your stress.
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Deadlift Volume
45.135.185.225X5
275X5
315X5
365X5 pulled the first one overhand which is a PR
BBB Snatch Grip DL
5X10 185#
Only set of any that I wore a belt was the top set, and my back felt great. Really got my brace and form down to drive off the floor before the hips come through. Snatch grip felt great last week at 135 so I bumped it up to 185. I may be wrong, but this feels like the right weight for growth. Every set was increasingly difficult without form ever being an issue. Took 2-3 minutes between sets because my back just doesn’t tolerate short rest periods.
After this I was supposed to leg press, but it was occupied by the resident juice monster so had to call an audible.
OH Walking Lunges
45X16 steps 8 each leg
95X16
95X16
This knocked out single leg work and core at the same time. I was all kinds of shaky after this, haven’t done lunges in forever. Note to self, the still suck. This means they are probably going to stick around for a while as they hit my quads really hard.
Overall good session to end the week. Now to wrap up packing my truck and camper to head hunting this weekend. It’s just me and my wife, which has been all too rare recently. We will be bow hunting and I also brought along my black powder rifle to make sure we get some meat for the freezer.
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Week 2 Bench
45.85.105X5
145X5
165X5
185X5
Nothing fancy just do the work
FSL
3X10 145#
Paused most of the reps for increased difficulty. Wide grip feeling pretty good.
BBB Press
5X10 85#
Varied grip width, super pump from these today mostly in the rear of the shoulder and upper back.
Superset varied grip pull-ups with all sets. 4 during bench, 3 during press total of 48 reps so it’s progress.
Entire session completed in 40 minutes as I had an appointment to keep. Also got in at 3 am last night from hunting dehydrated and wore out. So I’m pleased with this session. May go back and hit accessories this evening or maybe just some push-ups throughout the day.
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Mental health post warning.
While hunting yesterday afternoon I made a couple tactical errors and then God chose to talk to me. I knew going into the woods that my plan had flaws, I knew it was not an optimal position with low probability for success. That’s what I do with my faith. I put myself in positions that are high risk thinking I’m good enough to overcome the shortcomings. I lean too much on my knowledge and experience and hope for the best. While sitting there I pondered how grace and mercy could possibly cover the multitude of trash so many of us carry around daily. I couldn’t fathom it. Towards the end of the evening I shot a doe and saw the telltale signs of a hit. Feeling elated, I hurried the process of recovering her and made a huge error. When I got to her, she was still alive and she ran off, bleeding and hurt, unable to be found. Again God spoke. Any success I have, I rush it and think I’ve already finished the job when in reality there was work still to do. The results lead to the pain and sufferings of others that may or may not heal. Status unknown. That’s kind of where I find myself right now, status unknown. However, I do feel pretty positive after talking to my wife, prayer, worship music, and my bible reading this morning. I’ll end this post with the 2 verses that helped me out this morning. Matthew 6:27 and 6:34 “Don’t worry about it, God’s got you”!!
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Man, that sounds like a roller coaster of a hunt.
I’m glad to see you thinking. It’s easy for our human brains to convince us we’re doing fine on our own. Keep working.
Week 2 Squat and randomness
45.45.135.185.205X5
Groin tight narrow my stance to ease pain
225X5
255X5
285X5
315X3
335X3
355X2 video showed questionable depth, it was close
355X1 depth still questionable
Front Squat/Press
5X10 95.105.115.125.135
5X5 95.105.115.125.115
Not sure why I did the press, just wanted to I guess. Workout off the rails now so here we go.
Bench
115X10
125X10
135X10
145X10
Felt so good, let’s go heavy, SMH
185X5
205X5
225X3
205X5
185X5
135XAMRAP 20 reps
I initially said I was just going to work on bench setup below 70%. Well, that’s not what happened.
Lateral Raises/DB Curls
3X10 12.5#
3X10 15.20.20#
Front Raises/BB Curls (in the squat rack, lol)
2X10 12.5
2X19 45#
Really needed the mental work today so I just kept going. Thinking about a 3 day full body split inside the same program I’m doing now. Possibly benching every session. Mentally having a hard time taking training seriously. Just feel like showing up and working then leaving, not fixating on a goal rather just getting stronger.
Thought I might list my supplements at this point because I’m changing up this week. I’ve been on testosterone for about 5 months now as I tested low back in May. I originally blasted 500 mg/week Test E for 8 weeks then I had my wreck. Then I went 11 weeks on my TRT dose of 125 mg/every 5 days. Now I’m going back on a blast of 375 mg/week. 500 mg made me feel like a rockstar, but I was a little too agitated on it. With my current stress level my doctor and I think this lower blast will work just as well, with hopefully a little less aggression. I wasn’t really “roid rage” just felt a bit of anxiety/annoyance by sone every day things. I try to be transparent on this log, so I thought I’d share this part to.
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Here’s a look at my top single of 355#
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You have bumper plates (they still call them that?) at your gym? Jealous. That’s a lot of work you did. Nice single squat.