TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Focused - Week 41 - Day 3

Transformer Bar Squat w/ Belt:
4x5x365
10x365

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps - Cluster Sets:
3 x 4+4 x 441 - 20 secs between 4s

Good Morning:
3x8x154

A1 | Reverse Nordic Curl w/ Band Assistance:
3x8xBW-Mini

A2 | Leg Extension:
20x110
20x140
20x170

B1 | Double KB Swing:
3x15x140

B2 | KB Farmer’s Walk:
3 x 150 ft x 140

This was my second attempt using the transformer bar and I used one of the easier settings, I think. Sleeve up near the bar and angled backwards a bit. I gotta say I just am not a huge fan. It seems to put me into a position where I have more forward lean and a more pronounced buttwink regardless of the cue and because of the balance of the weight. These sets weren’t hard today, because of how the bar situates the pressure very low on the back relative to a barbell. But with the top set being something like an RPE 7, the first 4 sets being an RPE 2 technically, it really shouldn’t feel that shitty lol.

Paused sumo felt pretty good. Never really ventured into cluster sets, but I am intrigued by them. So let’s see how they go.

Reverse Nordics and leg extension superset fuckin sucks btw.

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Focused - Week 41 - Day 4

Feet Up DB Bench:
10x105s
10x105s
18x105s - Near other PRs (23x100s, 16x110s, 15x120s)

Barbell Rolling Wall Press:
4x12x95 - These

HS Iso-Row - Unilateral/Seated:
4x12/12x115

A1 | JM Press:
3x12x135

A2 | Triceps Pushdown:
3x15x105

DB Lateral/Y Raise:
3x15x15s

Side Plank + Band Row:
3x15/15xMonster Mini

Solid day here compared to more recent day 4’s. Pecs were feeling wonky on the DB press, so the AMRAP was around RPE 7-8 instead of 9-10. The barbell rolling wall press is great for actually feeling the delts work. For me it was much harder muscularly than a standard OHP, though the standard OHP will have several other benefits over this variation as well.

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Focused - Week 42 - Day 1

Duffalo Bar Squat w/ Belt:
5x374 - These feel weak AF
3x8x374 - Pushed through for 3 hard sets and cut it there

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
2x5x418 - 2" deficit
2x5x418 - Normal

A1 | Reverse Sled Push - Tank M4 Sled:
4 x 120 ft x 3/3 Setting + 90 lbs

A2 | Sled Push - Tank M4 Sled:
4 x 120 ft x 3/3 Setting + 90 lbs

Box Pistol Squat (Deep Step Up):
2x15/15xBW

Standing Cable Single Leg Curl:
20/20x40 - Cue cramping

Standing Cable Hip Flexion:
20/20x40

This was a trash day for strength straight up. Probably my fault for not really moving much over the past couple of days. Gotta be more disciplined to do things outside of the gym to prepare for it.

Skipped the planned accessories to limit that type of loading for the day and just went out for the sled stuff. Moving on.

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Focused - Week 42

Day 2

Floor Press:
3x10x275
18x275 - PR, goal achieved for wave (4x10x275) and more

BW JM Press w/ Chains (+36):
3x12xBW+36

Lat Pulldown - Medium Neutral Grip:
12x160
2x12x180 - Post lat strain PR, no issues

BB Wrist Flexion:
2x30x45
2x20x55

Cable Curl:
15/15x40
15/15x50

Barbell Biceps Curl:
2x12x55

Been spooked about this workout for the whole wave since floor press has been an issue for my pecs historically. But the previous two weeks set me up for success and then I succeeded. 275x12 was my previously recorded PR for floor press.

Day 3

Squat w/ Oly Shoes:
5x3x374 - Paused w/ Belt
2x12x264 - RNT for hip shift and rotation. 1st set piston style, 2nd set 1+1/2 squats

1+1/2 Sumo Deadlift - Straps/Beltless:
2x6x374
2x6x418

Med Ball Carry:
500 ft x 100 lbs - Front carry, shoulder carry x 2, front carry each 125 ft
250 ft x 100 lbs - Shoulder carry x 2

Kneeling Cable Ab Pulldown:
15x150
2x15x175

Band Lying Leg Curl:
2x15x2 Minis

Trying out the Oly shoes for a few weeks to see if I can use my normal stance and sit back into them a bit, as opposed to the Platz squats I did last with them. They felt pretty shitty today and I was cutting depth because of my hips aching. Both sides, not just the left, so it’s just a recovery and weakness thing at the moment. So I started burying them and pausing them to force some depth and control of it. Then it started feeling better. Sometimes you have to just fucking get over it and try more. 374 shouldn’t be hard, but it has been the last couple of weeks. Oh well, do better.

I haven’t pulled beltless sumo for working sets in a long time and I’m definitely feeling it in the low back the next day. Need to get stronger there for sure.

Day 4

Feet Up DB Bench:
12x105s
12x105s
20x105s - PR over last week

Barbell Rolling Wall Press:
15x95
2x12x95

A1 | HS Iso-Row - Bilateral/Low Handles/Pronated:
12x230
2x12x270

A2 | Floor JM Press:
3x15x135 - These feel much better on the floor

B1 | Triceps Pushdown:
12x105
12x120
17x120

B2 | DB Lateral/Y Raise:
15x15s
2x15x20s

Plank + Band Row:
2x12/12xMonster Mini - These are much harder than the side plank variation, sagittal and transverse anti-movement instead of just frontal plane, plus the row compounds the anti-extension feeling

High-rep pressing currently going well obviously. Still have the 3x15+ with the 105s goal for next week. Would be happy to repeat the 20 rep set with the added initial volume.

I think I’ll probably do JM press solely on the floor from now on. Usually I end up allowing more shoulder extension than I’m supposed to, but this way blocks it and I can focus on the triceps.

Focused - Week 43

Day 1

Wide Stance Squat w/ Belt:
2x3x374
3x418 - Not bad, but had some left vastus medialis pain after, so went back down to be safe
2x3x374

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
4x1x484
5x484

Reverse Nordics:
3x10xBW-Mini

GHR Hyper:
3x12xBW+45

Day 2

Paused Bench:
1x315
1x345
1x365

3 Ct Eccentric / 3 Ct Pause Bench
3x3x315

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row:
3x10x95

Band Triceps Pushdown:
3x20xMonster

Band High Adduction Row:
2x15/15xMonster

Hammer Zottman Curls:
2x?x20s - This was just 2 sets to failure without counting

Day 3

Wide Stance SSB Squat w/ Belt:
3x6x352

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x484
1x551 - Pec cramping issue again, wanted 3 but don’t want to groove this issue

A1 | Leg Extension:
25x100
54x100 - This was bilateral concentric / unilateral eccentric followed by normal reps to failure

A2 | Seated Leg Curl:
24x100
34x100 - Same as above

Standing Cable Wood Chopper:
2x12/12x70

Day 4

Feet Up DB Bench:
2x15x105s
25x105s - +5 rep PR and total volume PR

Floor JM Press:
3x15x135

Lat Pulldown:
2x12x150

Single Arm Lat Pulldown:
10/10x40
10/10x50
10/10x60

A1 | Triceps Pushdown:
Some amount all the way to the whole stack and a drop set. Got to failure

A2 | DB Hammer Curl:
2x12x45s

A3 | DB Spider Curl:
2x15/15x20

Most important things from this week: Likely shifting my primary squat towards this wider stance and attempting to maintain a more upright torso. Sounds weird, but it’s basically me attempting to actually use my hip strength. I’m still deciding and playing with the amount of forward knee travel, but it feels decent so far. Trying to go slow with it to not overdo it too fast.

Also the DB bench went off on Day 4. I helped move a bunch of furniture the day before and I was pretty sore, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was hoping for another 20 reps on the AMRAP, but it was easy.

Focused - Week 44 - Deload

Wide Stance Squat w/ Belt/Straps:
1x418 - This stance is slow out of the bottom, but solid positioning-wise
5x418 - All hard and practically the same speed
2x8x330 - Second set paused

1+1/2 Conventional Deadlift w/ Straps - Beltless:
5 x 5 + 2 x 374 - 5 one-half reps followed by 2 full reps

Band Seated Hip Adduction:
2x12/12xDbl Mini

GHR:
2x15xBW

So the SSB wide stance squat looked more upright than a normal barbell. So that will be an interesting thing to keep an eye on, trying to mimic the position, and adjust the programming. Whatever works.

Also, I got engaged this weekend :grin:

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Focused - Week 44 - Deload
Last week

Day 2

Paused Bench:
3x3x330
2x7x264

DB Rear Delt Row:
3x15x50s

Cable Low Row:
12x130, 160, 180, 180

Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:
3x10x100 - Slow eccentric

Cable Shrug:
3x12x150 - Slow eccentric

Day 3

1" Sumo Block Pull w/ Belt/Straps:
1x595 - Heaviest pull since lat strain
3x6x484

Beltless SSB Squat:
5x5x264

I didn’t log this workout as I did it, so I can’t remember anything else

Day 4

Low Incline DB Bench:
3x12x105s

HS Kneeling High Row - Angles90 Grips:
3x10/10x135

Plate-Loaded Machine Dips:
12x180
12x230
12x230 + 12x180 + 12x90 - Drop set

Machine Preacher Curl w/ Dbl Mini Band:
2 x 8x50+Band + 8x25+Band
8x50+Band + 8x25+Band + 8xBand
All drop sets

Paused Back Squat - Beltless/Sleeveless:
4x5x225
5x315

Focused - Week 45

Day 1

Wide Stance Squat w/ Belt:
4x3x405
8x405 - RPE 8, Video here

RDL w/ Chains (+60) - Belt/Straps:
6x315+60
6x405+60
12x405+60 - Woof, benchmark PR

Cable Seated Hip Adduction:
3x15/15x50

KB Hollow Hold + Bicycle Kick:
One set with 24 lbs and cue cramping

Gotta get better at ab work without cramping up lol Squats went well with regards to strength, but I am struggling to find depth with this stance. It’ll come, just like an inch or so above on a lot of these reps.

RDLs felt great. Much better than any other deadlift variation since the lat strain. I think my PRs are 405x15 and 495x10 (which was more like a light touch-and-go set) for RDL, so this was solid today.

Day 2

Paused Bench:
2x308
2x341
4x374 lbs / 170 kg - PR, Video here

3 Ct Paused Bench:
3x6x308

DB Rear Delt Row:
3x15x65s - Partials toward end

Cable Triceps Kickback:
20/20x20
15/15x40
15/15x60 - Partials toward end

DB Lateral Raise:
20x20s
15x30s
20x30s - Partials toward end

Seated DB Calf Raise:
12/12x60
2x12/12x100

Unplanned PR here, but it felt good intra-set so I took it. I told my fiancée I’d go for 1, 2, or 3 depending on how it felt, but I got into it and decided to keep going. I generally believe in taking PRs if they’re there and you’re not in a specific prep. I’m here to have fun so that’s what I did. I’ll adjust things down for next week to ensure recovery from this and then keep moving along.

Just make sure that if you have a sudden uptick in volume or intensity that you adjust for it. It’s not that hard.

Focused - Week 45

Day 3

Reverse Band Sumo (-70) - Belt/Straps:
2x2x617-70
4x617-70

Paused Sumo - Straps/Beltless:
2x6x374

Squat w/ Belt:
4x3x374

Belt Squat:
12x110
12x220
12x290

Band Seated Leg Curl:
2x20x2 Lights

Wanted to pass out from the deadlifts today. First time holding above 550 at the top in a few months since the lat strain. Otherwise not awful

Day 4

Low Incline Close Grip Spoto Press:
15x195
20x195

HS Vertical Row w/ Angles90 Grips:
12/12x70
20/20x70

Cable Standing Pullover:
15x75
15x100
15x125

Plate Curl:
2x25x45

Machine Preacher Curl:
12x50
2x10x75
15x50

Bodyweight Single-Leg Calf Raise:
4x8/8 - Alternating no rest

High reps on the pressing today, weight used just based on adding 45s to fiancée’s weight

Focused - Week 46

Day 1

Reverse Band Squat (-25) w/ Belt:
5x2x429 - Felt real slow. Bands only set up to get hit a few inches above the hole

RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
4x6x405 - Felt very heavy as well

Hatfield Skater Squats:
3x8/8

Single Leg Glute Bridge:
8, 12, 12 each

Real weak day for me today, which isn’t surprising based on last week. But I scaled it back a bit and did fine.

Hatfield skater squats are good. Just do a normal skater squat but with assistance from the arms like a Hatfield squat. I can’t personally do an efficacious skater squat, so using the arms helps me put the stress where I actually want it

Watching some of Your Instagram videos, i just noticed we must live very close to each other lol

Hell of a bench PR

@wanna_be Thanks man! Where do you lift?

Focused - Week 46

Day 2

Paused Bench:
4x3x315
8x315

DB Rear Delt Row:
15x55s
15x65s
15x75s

Cable Triceps Kickback:
15/15x40
12/12x60
20/20x60

Lat Pulldown:
12x130
12x150
12x170

Cable Lateral Raise:
15/15x30
18/18x40

Seated DB Calf Raise:
2x15/15x100

Alternating easy and hard bench days, this is the easier day. Just one hard set

Day 3

Sumo Isometric Deadlift - Beltless/Straps:
3x3x264 - 5 ct isometric about 1" from the floor

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x3x420

Squat w/ Belt - Heels Raised:
4x3x374

Plus a couple other things for accessories. This was my first time ever doing isometrics and my god they’re hard. First time I’ve ever had my quads get sore from sumo. The normal sumo afterwards was slow off the floor but was very fast after that.

No day 4 due to travel.

Crunch, amped, or home.

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Focused - Week 47

Day 1

Wide Stance Squat w/ Oly Shoes - Belt:
5x5x365

RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
2x8x352

Short Stance Split Squat:
3x12/12x44

Leg Press - Sissy Squat Method:
15, 20, 20 x 200

Med Ball Hanging Knee Raise:
3x10x12

Trying out the Oly shoes with the new form. Didn’t feel strong at all, but neither did RDLs. This new stance and form may eventually be strong or it may just be something that is a good supplement for my previous squat. The primary issue is my hips’ capacity for strength/stability at depth. Just a matter of adapting and not pushing it too hard just because I think I should be stronger.

At least bench went well:

Day 2

Bench w/ Chains (+75):
1x315+75
1x335+75 - PR
1x345+75 - PR
Videos here

Bench:
2x4x345
8x315

Paused Lat Pulldown:
5x10x140

Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:
3x15x70

Bent Over Rear Delt Fly:
25, 20 x 24s

Suitcase Carry:
3 x 150 ft x 70 - Each side

Calf Raise:
25, 20 x BW

First time having over 405 in my hands since August 2016, if I’m not mistaken looking back on the log. That’s nuts, but it is what it is. I’ve since pressed 405x2, but still. Very frustrating to look back on. We’ll see where this momentum goes now, but I need to be smart about it.

Focused - Catch Up - Week 47

Day 3

SSB Box Squat w/ Belt:
4x8x295

2" Sumo Block Pull w/ Belt/Straps:
1x595
1x595
7x595 - +1 rep and +10 lb PR

Hatfield Skater Squat:
3x8/8xBW

Cable Standing Single Leg Curl:
20/20x40
20/20x55
20/20x70

Nice little deadlift PR here. The singles prior to it felt heavy, but I got into the last set and just kept going.

Traveled the day after this for the next 4 days. Couldn’t lift.

Focused - Week 48

Day 1

Beltless Squat w/ Chains:
3x264+75

Conventional Deadlift:
3x315
2x1x405

This was the worst I’ve felt in the gym in a long time. The travel didn’t help obviously, but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal and make 2 plate squats feel hard. Deadlift was also hard. Basically just shut it down to avoid injury and moved around a little bit otherwise.

Day 2

Paused Bench:
4x6x315

Cable Low Row:
12x140
12x170
2x12x200

Band Overhead Triceps Extension:
3x20x2 Lights - Partials by the end

Plate Lateral/Y Raise:
2x10x22s

Probably missing an exercise in here, but I can’t remember. This was just a simple lower RPE bench day.

Day 3

High Bar Squat w/ Belt - REAL High Bar:
6x3x365 - My traps ;(

Sumo Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
3x3x495 - Very solid and easy

Standing Single Leg Curl:
12/12x50
12/12x60

Paused Crunch:
2x12

High bar is so uncomfortable on my traps, I’ve always just done a slightly higher than my comp bar position for that variation. But because my goal is to find a better position for my squats, I decided to try the real version, a la John Haack, where it’s just on my traps. Unfortunately I’m going to have to just get used to that because the bottom position was pretty great and the weight moved well.

That one day of isometrics changed my sumo form a good bit. Just the awareness of my hip position allows for a much more upright pull. We’ll see as the weight gets heavier, but this was promising to have 495 basically float off the ground.

Day 4

Low Incline DB Bench:
2x10x120s
13x120s

Machine Low/Yates Row:
3x8x270

Single Arm Cable High Row:
10/10x60
10/10x80
10/10x90

Machine Reverse Fly:
12x100
2x12x140

Machine Preacher Curl - Selectorized:
10x80
+5x80 +5x80 + 5x80
+5x60 +5x60 +5x60
+5x40 +5x40 +5x40
(Myo-reps: 15 sec rest between everything)

Week started off poorly, but I got back into a decent groove. Just gonna keep on rolling.

Focused - Week 49 - Deload

I gotta get back in the habit of writing here. Been busy trying to get my business(es) going and just lifting. Going to write a few notes here for this catch-up log.

Day 1

Reverse order workout going weighted hanging knee raise, split squat, squat press, squat, and RDL. Practiced high bar with 315 for 5s.

Day 2

Wide grip bench pressed 275 for some speed sets of 3, plus accessories. Pecs and shoulders felt rough this day.

Day 3

More high bar work but added Oly shoes. Worked up to 2x3x405. As far as I can find, I’ve never high barred more than 425. This was certainly the first time with 405 in an actual high bar position. My position at the bottom practically looks perfect. As long as I can keep that position coming out of the hole, it will be great.

Day 4

Normal 4th day stuff. Incline DB bench (felt bad, pecs fatigued still) followed by a bunch of back work.

Focused - Week 50 - Day 1

High Bar Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
1x405
1x435
1x455 - RPE 7ish. Technically a PR, I suppose
2x5x405 - Difficulty holding upper back position out of the hole
2x5x315 - Paused

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt:
2x1x484 - Hook grip to here
3x484 - Back is fatigued, this felt rough
2x6x374 - One set snatch grip, one set paused

GHR:
2x15xBW

Happy with how high bar is feeling so far. It’s very interesting that I’m back at 455 with pretty much no effort, when squat has been feeling shitty since I hit 463x4 at the end of April. No, I couldn’t have quadrupled this today, but the fact that I’m back at 80% with a new bar position and a shoe change is a good sign. No hip pain whatsoever either.

Can’t just blast off with high bar for a couple reasons: 1. My history of quad tendinopathy. I don’t want to mismanage the load here and end up with that bullshit again. 2. My old issue of upper back rounding is present because the bar sinks into my traps as I press out of the hole. I need to resolve this, with technique or exercises, because that won’t work with PR weights.

Singles look and feel better than reps with high bar. Based on the rounding above, I’m not staying tight enough to keep the bar from shifting positions.

Low back fatigue is real with high bar. Focusing on squats for a bit and let deadlift just go as it feels. Sumo should be better, but conventional variations will be form-focused.

Focused - But Not Good At Logging - Week 50

Pecs are feeling beat up still, so I’m not pushing bench at all for a few weeks. Just a normal auto-regulation to avoid injury there. On day 3 I sumo’d 3 singles at 585 and then did 3x3x495 paused. Felt bad, then did some easy low bar with 315.

Day 4 was a couple easy sets of incline bench with 185, followed by some easy accessories. Pecs felt bad even with incline, which is unusual. So that back-off time is needed for sure.

Probably been missing some of the actual focus here, so I’m going to get back on it this week.

Focused - Week 51

Day 1

High Bar Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
1x463 - Had to use bumpers today and it felt real hard
1x463 - Repeated with slightly lower bar
3x6x375 - Better each set

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
5x2x515 - Better each set

RDL w/ Hips Banded - Belt/Straps:
2x8x352+Light Band

Seated Leg Curl:
3x12x100

Half-Kneeling Vertical Pallof Press:
3x12/12xMini

That heavy single…It was hard to control from the moment I took it off the hooks. I may even make the use of bumper plates a squat variation to challenge myself lol.

But I got through the rep and, looking at the video, it didn’t move that slowly. I just felt like it was crushing me relative to how it should have felt (compared to last week’s 455). 6’s with 375 for solid reps is a good place for me to actually start with high bar. The 5’s with 405 last week were an overshoot, in hindsight.

Starting a Week A/B scheme here. Heavy squat + volume deadlift for this week and vice versa for next week. I need to write out an actual plan for myself to test too.

Day 2

Paused Football Bar Bench - Wide Grips:
20x135
20x185
15x185

Chest Supported Row - Football Bar:
15x135
3x8x200
12x200

Cable Triceps Pushdown + Bands:
2x12x100+2 Minis

Hammer Zottman Curls:
2x12x30s

Cable Facepull:
2x15x100 - Protip: Use a heavy band for these instead of a short rope, more space to pull apart as you pull back

Right pec seems to be acting as if it were actually strained at some point, so I backed off and began a rehab sort of protocol with high reps to tolerance. Got a very big pec pump from the first set of 20x185, so I didn’t push to it again. Just being conservative here. Hit a couple all-time variation and rep PRs recently, so gotta do a little load management instead of getting hurt.