Strength, Speed, and Size

GOOD lift today…

Bench: week 5, workout B:

–close grip bench w/ pause at bottom: 135x3, 225x2, 275x1,
305x1
305x1
305x1 ---- same weight as last week, but they were all smoother this time around

1a: speed bench: 205x3 for 9 sets (cg,normal,extra wide, cg, etc.)
1b: 10 minutes of abs/core (plank, side plank, leg raises, back plank, dead bugs, bicycles, supermans, etc.)
— went back and forth between speed bench and 1 minute of abs, no rest between sets

2a: jm press: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10
2b: bb rollouts: 10, 10, 10

Beach Circuit: as little rest as possible

1a: DB Side Raises: 20’s x 20, 20’s x 20, 20’s x 20
1b: db curls: 30’s x 20, 30’s x 20, 30’s x 20
1b: tricep pushdowns: 20, 20, 20
—paaaainful, any of these things by themself wouldn’t be too bad, but the cumulative pump made everything hard

peace

phase 2: bench workout a

upper body warmup: lat strech, pull aparts, band dislocations, face pulls

bench: 135x3, 225x2
295x3, 295x3, 295x3 – first set not so good, next two were better

1a: 250x8, 250x8, 250x8, 250x8, 250x8 ---- lots of volume, kept pretty good form throughout though
1b: band pull aparts: 25, 25, 25, 25, 25

2a: cg bench: 205x8, 205x8, 205x8
2b: pull ups: 10, 10, 10

3a: laying down db tricep extensions: 85x10, 85x10, 85x10
3b: rope pushdowns: 15, 15, 15
— stopped here. i was starting to feel a little nauseous and worn down from the reps, and i wasn’t able to focus enough to get a good contraction

peace

great legs lift today

defranco’s lower body warmup, hip stretches, hip flexor stretches

squats: 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 335x3 — these were tough, but they felt great… i brought my stance in really close and took these a2g… i’m definitely going to keep doing them this way because they feel a lot more natural and help me feel a lot more loose and explosive

both feet elevated bulgarian split squats: bw x 10 each leg, bw x 10 each leg, bw x 10 each leg — just focused on getting as much rom as possible

1a: snatch grip high pulls: 135x5, 135x5, 135x5
1b: jump soles vertical jumps: 5, 5, 5,

2a: ghr’s: 10, 10, 10
2b: jump soles calf jumps: 25, 25, 25

– shot hoops for a half hour or so… also threw down a size 3 soccer ball a few times… actually surprised myself with how hoppy i was feeling today… with a few months of explosiveness training i should be dunking a regulation size balll

-i really liked today’s workout… focus on strength in the main movement, then mobility and flexibility in the accessories… i was doing this sorta thing a while back and that was when i was feeling most explosive.

peace

good arms lift today

cross body hammer curls: 40x10, 40x10, 40x10, 40x10, 40x10

seated db curls w/ 3 second descent: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10, 30x10, 30x10

preacher curls (30 sec between sets): 55x13, 55x7, 55x8

db incline curls: 25x15, 25x15, 25x15

rope pushdowns: 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

tricep pushdown machine: 20, 20, 20

tricep l-extensions: 20x10 each arm, 20x10 each arm, 20x10 each arm

1a: alternating db curls: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10
1b: tricep pushdowns: 10, 10, 10
– no rest b/w

–lots of volume and got some good pumps today… energy level was high throughout… usually if i start getting tired, i tend to lose focus and it makes it harder to really feel the muscle working, but today i felt good contractions throughout the workout… at the end i was little bit hungry though

peace

quick workout tonight

tried to go the gym but was pretty pissed to find out it was closed due to the snow

here’s what i did tonight:

–pushups(30 sec rest between sets): 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 20

–pullups(30 sec rest between sets): 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 5

i was strict about keeping the rest periods to 30 seconds, which it made it pretty difficult, especially the last few sets. pretty much did sets of 25 on pushups and 10 on pullups until i couldn’t get the required amount. ended up being 145 pushups and 65 pullups in around 13 minutes

peace

Hey bro,

Im a football player too. How serious is the league you play in? What position do you play? Looks like you spend heaps of time in the gym. i love the heavy weights as well, but sometimes I find carrying that extra muscle can have negative effects on my game.

You can follow my training as well in the “cage”. Currently Im in my off-season and Im doing German Volume training for athletes.

I think we should join forces and heap each other.

Peace.

tweet

Hey man. Good to hear there is another soccer player on here – I don’t think there are that many. The league I play in is competitive, but not at the collegiate or professional level, so my training isn’t necessarily geared towards becoming better at soccer.

Yea man I just love lifting and playing sports a ton. Whenever I am not in season, I lift as often as I can. I play sports with friends (soccer, basketball, american football, etc.) as often as I can as well, but not often enough. When I am in season, I generally will be playing a game or practicing 3-5 days a week, so I cut the lifting down to 3 or 4 days a week to help me recover.

I play forward currently. I used to play mostly center mid and wing. Growing up I was pretty short and small, so I developed myself into a pretty skillful player. These days, I am usually the most athletic and fastest player on the field, so I have adapted my playing style to take advantage of this. The added muscle has mostly been in the right places, and I think that it has increased my confidence on the ball, helped me win balls in the air, and made me faster and able to jump higher. The only downside is that it is a little bit harder to stay in shape at 185-190 versus 160, which partly explains why I switched to forward haha. I definitely wouldn’t be the same type of athlete if I ever “bulked up.” I think that maintaining leanness is pretty key.

I’ll definitely take a look at your log man. Honestly never heard of the program you’re running, so it will be interesting to follow. Also had to lol at your typo “heap each other,” but yea I agree. If you ever have any questions about soccer or training or anything feel free to ask.

peace dude

Today’s lift: legs

Defrancos lower body warmup

Hang snatch: 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 155x3, 175x1

Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 295x1, 335x5 — real happy with this. Last week was 315x6… These are done pretty close stance atg

1a: shrugs with hold at top: 225x12 for 3 sets
1b: Bulgarian split squat: 8 each leg for 3 sets

2a: jumpsoles jumps with kettlebells: 3 sets of 8 (first 4 done with weight then next 4 just bodyweight)
2b: blast strap face pulls: 3 sets of 12
2c: band pull aparts: 3 sets of 25

3a: snatch grip high pulls: 135x5, 135x5
3c: back raises: 20,20

Couple games of 21 with the bro

Peace

Shoulders day today

Military press: 135x4, 155x3, 175x5, 175x4, 175x3, 175x2, 175x1

1a: db Arnold press on medicine ball: 50x10, 50x10, 50x8
1b: face pulls: 12, 12, 12

Kettlbell circuit: side raises, front raises, seated clean and 1/2 press
–10 kg x 8,8,8
– 10 kg x 6,6,6

Couple games of 21 with some dudes

Peace

Back and biceps today: I have been going the arms day route lately, but decided to pair these two today… Felt pretty good … These workouts are always pretty tough because back takes a lot of energy for me and then doing biceps afterwards takes a lot of focus…

Here’s how it went…

Pull-ups: 8 with bodyweight , then 5 sets of 10 with 45 lb plate hanging from waist

Seated cable rows: 4 sets of 12

Db rows: 3 sets of 10 each arm with the 110 lb dbs

Cross body hammer curls: 3 sets of 10 each arm alternating r,l with 45 lb dbs

Standing preacher curl: 65x6 for 6 sets— 45 sec rest between sets

Preacher curl machine: 3 sets of 10ish with partials at the end of each set for the pump

Got a good pump … It was tough to put my sweatshirt on at the end of the lift… Not sure if I like going that heavy with the db rows but felt like giving them a shot

Got some ok lighting today for some pics…

Peace


Front

lifted with a buddy today, so it was a little bit different than my usual bench day

here’s how it went

1a: bench: 135x6, 225x6, 275x6, 250x6
1b: laying down leg raises: 10, 10, 10, 10

2a: db incline bench: 80’s x 8, 90’s x 8, 90’s x 14
2b: alternating db front overhead raise: 30’s x 8, 30’s x 8, 30’s x 8

3a: db side raise w/ 1 sec hold at top: 20’s x 10, 20’s x 10, 20’s x 10
3b: close grip pushups: 20, 20, 20

4a: db arnold press on stability ball: 50x10, 50x10, 50x8
4b: db fly: 45x10, 45x10, 45x10

5 minutes of abs/lower back work

legs tomorrow

peace

Good legs and traps today

Defrancos lower body warmup

Hang snatch: 95–3, 115–3, 135–3, 155–2, 155–1

Squat: 135–5, 225–4, 295–1, 345–2, 315–3
-----my lower backs been in some pain lately, even yesterday during an upper body day, it was painful to bend over and to pick up the weights to get them ready for my lifts… I prolly could have busted another one or two on my top set if I had a spot, but I felt no reason to potentially hurt my lower back anymore

1a: jumpsoles vertical jumps: 8, 8, 8
1b: prisoner squats w/ 32 kg kettlebell: 10, 10, 10

2a: shrugs with hold at top: 275–12, 275–12, 275–12
2b: Bulgarian split squats: 8 a side with body weight, 2 sets of 8 a side with 10 kg per arm

3a: kettle bell shrugs: 32 kg–20 for 3 sets
3b: band pull aparts: 3 sets of 20

Boxing into heavy bag: 5 rounds of 30 seconds with minute rest in between… 2 sets of 60 seconds leg kicks

Shot hoops for 30 minutes or so

Biked on the stationary bike for 30 minutes

Peace

Great shoulder and traps day today

Cg incline bench: 135–5, 185–5, 225–8, 225–7, 225–7
—usually I would go for something like high incline db press or db shoulder press but with my lower back being messed up, I didn’t wanna risk getting heavy dbs into place

1a: db Arnold press on stability ball: 50–10, 45–10, 45–10
1b: shrugs w/ hold at top : 275–12, 275–12, 275–12: 225–5: 135–10

2a: alternating db front raise: 30 x 10 a side for 3 sets
2b: db shrugs: 80x20 for 3 sets

3a: hammer machine shoulder press: 2 plates for 20, 20, 15
3b: cable shrugs: 20,20,20

Db side raises w/ 2 sec hold at top: 20–10, 20–10, 20 --10 then 10 normal reps
— really like these for some reason… Don’t really get hard until the last few reps when u can really feel them working

Peace

Back and biceps today

Pull-ups: 12 sets of 15 then 2 sets of 10… Alternate between chin and pull-ups----- 200 total

Seated chest supported machine row: 5 sets of 10

Cross body hammer curls: 40’s for 3 sets of 10

Standing preacher curls: 65 for 6 sets of 6 – 30 sec rest between sets

Machine preachers: 3 sets – first 5 were 5 sec up, 5 sec down, then some pump reps

35 minute on machine bike… Pushed it pretty hard, was sweatin my balls off

Peace

Bench day today…

Shot some hoops and played some 1 on 1 with a friend , then…

1a: Bench: 135–6, 225–3, 275–3, 300–2, 315–2
1b: renegade rows: 3 sets of 8 w/ 30s per arm

2a:Wide grip bench w/ 3 sec pause at bottom (bar to neck): 225–6, 225–10, 245–6
2b: wood chops:3 sets of 10 each way w/ a 35 lb plate

3a: shrugs w/ hold at top: 245–12, 245–12, 245–12, 245–12
3b: band pull aparts: 4 sets of 25

Ez bar tricep extensions ---->> cg presses: 95x8—>>pump cg reps for the triceps <<<<----- 3 set of this

Some abs stuff

Peace

Bench day today:

Shot some hoops and played some 1 on 1 , then…

Bench:135x6, 225x6, 275x7, 250x6 (close grip)

Leg raises: 3 sets of 20

1a: db incline bench: 90x8, 95x8, 95x10
1b: alternating db front raise: 30’s for 3 sets of 8

2a:cg push-ups: 2 sets of 20
2b: db side raises w/ 3 sec hold at top: 3 sets of 10 w/ 15’s

3a: db Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 w/ 50’s
3b: chest flies: 3 sets of 10 w/ 50’s

Peace

legs day today: lower back is definitely getting better, but I didn’t want to risk aggravating it again, so I stayed away from squats. Will prolly try squatting again in two weeks or so

–defrancos lower body warmup

–reverse lunges: 135 x 6 a side, 185 x 6 a side, 185 x 8 a side

–leg press: 2 plates per side x 10, 4 plates per side x 10, 5 plates per side x 10

–45 degree lunges: 135 x 6 a side, 135 x 6 a side, 135 x 6 a side

1a: shrugs w/ 2 sec hold at top: 225x10, 225x10, 225x12
1b: band pull aparts: 25, 25, 25

2a: shrugs: 315x10, 315x10, 315x10
2b: band pull aparts: 25, 25, 25

3a: db shrugs 2/ hold at top: 80x20, 80x20, 80x25
3b: band face pulls: 20, 20, 20

30 minutes on the machine bike

peace

Back and biceps yesterday…

Real good shoulders day today

Military press: 135x5, 165x3, 195x3, 205x3. ---- ties pr

1a: db shoulder press: 75x10, 85x8, 85x7
1b: incline rear delt raises: 15x40, 15x40, 15x40

2a: alternating db front raises: 35x10 a side for 3 sets
2b: over and backs on smith machine: 135 for 6ish for 3 sets

3a: db side raises w/ hold at top: 20x10 for 3 sets
3b: shoulder machine side raise: 20ish for 3 sets

25 min on the bike

Peace

Chest day today:

Balled for about an hour, then…

Bench: 135x5, 225x19, 225x10, 225x10

Leg raises: 15, 15, 15

1a: incline db bench: 95x8, 95x8, 95x8
1b: plank: 3 1 minute planks

2a: flies: 50x10 for 3 sets
2b: alternating db curl: 35x10 for 3 sets

Ez bar tricep extensions ----> press burn outs: 95x12—>12. , 95x12—>12

Peace