Bench
Bar x 2 x some
40kg x 2 x 6
60kg x 2 x 5
75kg x 3
87.5kg x 6
90kg x 5 x 6
Front squat
Bar x some
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 2 - sweet bicep recruiting grind of Odin. Belt on
150kg x 1 - “omg can’t breathe holy shit I’m gonna pass out in the hole and these aren’t bumpers so if I drop it everyone will think I’m an ass oh wait I’m in the rack anyway but then I’ll probably bend the only bar with decent knurling in the gym ah well it’ll be nice to have a Duffallo bar to use provided they don’t kick me out for damaging equipment hang on did I just do the lift? Barely any valgus either, not bad.”
Also, comeback PR (12.5kg off PB). Paused
120kg x 3 x 3
OHP
30kg x 6
40kg x 5
50kg x 4
60kg x 3 Belt on
70kg x 2 - shouldn’t have taken this this heavy.
Ss/ Chins
5 x 8
TRX scarecrows/facepulls
3 x 10
Ss/ Ab wheel from knees
3 x 5
Beach touch rugby
Just an hour.
Weighed myself in the evening on an old spinny set of scales and I was in the mid 90s so that’s good.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 2 x 5
60kg x 2 x 3
77.5kg x 3
92.5kg x 5
95kg x 5 x 5
100kg x 5 - twas on the bar so I lifted it.
Banded deficit double pause pulls
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
130kg x 6 x 2
2 plates deficit, very light band tension, pause just off floor and at tibial tuberosity. Everything I can do to keep the weight down on these and stop me doing my violent setup just until my hip is whole. It’s coming along. Might hit block pulls fairly controlled on Sunday.
Low bar Paused
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
140kg x 3 Belt on
160kg x 3
170kg x 3
Wanted to do more but people I was giving a lift to had finished about an hour before and there’s only so much stretching I can make them do while they wait. Think I can work towards a 200kg single here but that’ll be a back bench job.
Front squat Belt off, paused
100kg x 3
Home
Band pullaparts, spider walks, scap slides etc
Some x some
Treadmill walking - 45 minutes total 15° incline
7 minutes building up from 3mph to 4.4mph - add .2mph every minute.
10 minutes at 4.4mph
10 minutes at 4mph Flat
13 minutes at 4mph 15° incline
5 minutes at 3.2mph
Decline situps - did these really controlled and tried to feel anything dodgy in the hip flexor. Nothing.
BW x 5 x 10
Ss/ DB curls
14s x 5 x 10
Standing cable obliques (woodcutters???)
Escalating weight x 4 x 10
Rope cable preachers
Escalating weight x 15,15,12,12,12,12
3 singles on shins to bar. Good and controlled and pain free.
Beat myself up on the stretching mats and foam roller.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 2 x 5
60kg x 2 x 4
80kg x 4
90kg x 2
100kg x 8 x 4
Morning BW 94.1kg. Dropping very quickly so I’m gonna top calories back up to 2700 and see how I sit over the next week or so.
Not noticing my physique changing all that much but other people are commenting on the lack of belly and such. Or asking if I’ve got bigger, which is nice too.
Snapped a few pictures in the changing rooms today - might try and do this here each time I lose a kilo. The lighting is a bit more consistent here than in my bedroom, at mine it’s basically a mess of shadows and over exposure.
Minimum of 2600 a day, normally closer to 2700 - so just shifting both those numbers up by 100 or so.
Other stuff you didn’t ask but I should probably write down somewhere.
160g protein a day, carbs typically 200 to 300 and fat less than 100. Mondays I try to keep carbs under 50 and have a high fat day (read: cheese) and I might lower the carbs a bit on nontraining days (Wednesday and Friday) as well but nothing drastic. Nothing fancy really.
LISS on the treadmill 1-2 times a week so on those days there’s 200-300 calories not accounted for and touch rugby on Tuesdays serving for intervals for now.
Nearly done focusing on bench, and will be shifting focus to front squat soon (because I want to hit 160 at 90 short term). I’ll probably do a bit of hit on the days I squat so that I get a chance to let my legs and hips recover between squat sessions. Will still be benching frequently but also sticking some ohp in to bring up the delt strength a bit.
I’ve got finals (osces) coming up in 6-7 weeks and I think everything in my body/mind is just clicking right now - feeling really productive and like I can focus on work + diet + training really well. Getting results in at least one of those areas so will be praying to Brodin that it can hold out another 2 months.
Very nice. I’m at 2700kcal at the moment, but progress has definitely stalled so I’m thinking of dropping to 2400-2500kcal.
That’s cool to see. I’m trying to keep my protein around 200g but I’ve felt for a long time that I’m probably ok with staying over 150g.
That’s very cool man! I didn’t realise you were at that stage - good luck with it. Before my finals I was just doing the absolute minimum to keep me sane lol, it’s great that you are on such a roll.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 2 x 5
60kg x 3 x 4
80kg x 3
95kg x 2
105kg x 10 x 3 - finished this cycle with no missed reps. Will bench once or twice this coming week and hit an easy single to gauge where I’m at next Sunday. Then it’ll be a lot less volume but similar frequency and higher intensity, with some accessory pressing too.
Front squat - paused
Bar x some
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 1 High bar - paused
140kg x 3 Low bar - paused
140kg x 5 High bar - paused
140kg x 3 Front squat - paused
140kg x 1 - two paused beltless reps is pretty nice.
Ss/ Pullups
5kg x 10 x 2
Rack RDLs from mid shin
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
140kg x 3
160kg x 3 - these were kinda hard cos I was tired but I got through them with no hip pain.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 2 x 5
60kg x 3
80kg x 2
92.5kg x 2
100kg x 2
107.5kg x 2 Slingshot on
110kg x 1
120kg x 1 - flew up
Front squat
Bar x some
40kg x 3
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
97.5kg x 6 x 6 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused. Hip tweaked once on one rep of the last set.
OHP - shoulders feel a bit tight so will really focus on getting some good active rom in these over the next few weeks.
Bar x 5
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 4 x 5 Belt on, pause all reps
50kg x 12 - so it looks like I low balled the 5x5 weight here. Surprised myself.
Ss/ Deadstop L-sit chins - nasty. Last set free swinging cos someone jumped on the Smith.
8 x 4
Ab wheel from knees
3 shit partials. Abs were dead.
Front squat
Bar x some
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
95kg x 2
105kg x 7 x 5 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused
Deads
70kg x 2 x 3
90kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 2
160kg x 2
172.5kg x 2 Belt on
185kg x 2 - slippery ass bar. Will need to add the straps when the weight and reps go up unless I’m training at the other gym. Straps on, belt off
160kg x 2 x 2 - pause at tibial tuberosity
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 5
60kg x 4
80kg x 3 x 3
Ss/ Pullups
6 x 5
Alternating DB curls
14s x 4 x 12 - Alternating 3 at a time
Pinwheel curls
16s x 3 x 10
Incline DB curls
12.5s x 3 x 12
OHP
55kg x 5 - paused
BW stalling a bit, will l give it a few days. Having a day off from logging tomorrow because multiple meals out planned including rugby end of season do. Sensible decisions and all that but also planning a heavy bench on Saturday so will get the carbs in. Will get back to tracking over the weekend but give myself a few days to let the weight stabilise before deciding whether to lower stuff back down or not.
Bench
Bar x 2 x some
50kg x 5
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
90kg x 2
100kg x 1
110kg x 1
120kg x 1 - harder than I would’ve liked but it went up and I’m the lightest I’ve ever been hitting this weight. Aiming to consolidate this over the next few weeks whilst continuing to drop BW slowly.
Front squat
Bar x some
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
112.5kg x 8 x 4 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused. These are moving well and the main issue is rack position fatigue.
Bench
60kg x 2
80kg x 2 x 2
90kg x 2 - this was meant to be 4, oops
100kg x 3
110kg x 2
90kg x 10 - redemption
Thanks man! I think I’m in the same boat, just 1kg ahead of you. Gonna still give it a couple of days and see if I stabilise a bit on 2600-2700.
Looking great in your recent pics! Leaner than me for sure and probably bigger up top - I’m certain 90% of my LBM is between my hips and knees.
Musing - with you up in Scotland, and me down in Cornwall, the word pasty is very applicable to both of our physiques haha!
Thank you very much man, I’m pretty happy with how they came out although I did use pretty favourable lighting lol. I think that although we’re similar bodyweight, we have pretty different frames. You’re definitely generally just a bigger stronger dude, your shoulders are much wider. And yeah your legs are huge!
…at least I’m pretty sure you’re referring to your legs here…
So my pec has been bothering me for the past few weeks, never whilst actually benching but the majority of the time otherwise. It feels a bit like a minor strain and my general overhead mobility is reduced and painful on the affected side. Sort of thing which I tend to keep mobile and train through. Pretty bad today though.
Front squat
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 10 x 3 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused. Moved really well. When the weight goes up next week I’ll add the belt but keep the pauses as is. Then for the final week of the cycle it’ll be belt but no pause.
Deads - stiff short bar
60kg x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 2
140kg x 2
160kg x 4 Belt on
175kg x 3
190kg x 2 - good but low back was niggling me from about 140 up. Straps on, belt off
160kg x 4 - pause at knees
Blocks - straight back style, from tibial tuberosity Straps and belt for all
120kg x 2
160kg x 2
180kg x 2
200kg x 2
210kg x 2
Ohp - this was a bit weak feeling but I’m inclined to say the grindy bench yesterday had more to do with it than my pec issue.
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
52.5kg x 5
55kg x 2 x 5 Belt on
55kg x 8
Ss/ Shins to bar Straps
6 x 1 - hold at top, and then a 10 second relaxed hang
1 x 4
Dead hang Straps
2 minutes - shoulder felt quite nice after this
So this Saturday I’m playing a rugby game up at the main uni (I’m on the cornish campus 1.5 hours further towards bumfuck nowhere). Really excited cos I’ll be back in the uni gym with the atmosphere and the power bars and the like. Hopefully there Friday evening and Saturday morning then the rugby in the afternoon, with Sunday off to rest.
Cos of that I need to get every workout in a day earlier this week and the easiest way to do that was to skip Monday’s rest day. Upper back doms be damned.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 2 x 5
60kg x 3
80kg x 2
92.5kg x 2
100kg x 2
105kg x 2
112.5kg x 2 - it moved. No pec issues but a little slow on the second. Fair enough.
Front squat
Bar x some
40kg x 3
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3 Belt on
102.5kg x 6 x 6 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused. Belt lets me dominate these. Will be adding another 5kg next week instead of the prescribed 2.5 if they keep feeling like this.
Felt good enough to go up a bit. Tomorrow is a rest day…
120kg x 1
130kg x 1
142.5kg x 1 - pretty slick pause PR, just 2.5kg over the fatigued beltless singles I did a few weeks ago but plenty in the tank. Also 3rd day front squatting in a row soooooooooooo…
Laterals
Just broed out a bit. Worked up to a few sets of 15 and then a drop set with heavy partials and burnout.
Front squat
Bar x some
30kg x 5
50kg x 3
70kg x 3
85kg x 3
100kg x 2 Belt on
110kg x 7 x 5 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused. Kinda hard. Can’t imagine why.
Deads
70kg x 2 x 3
100kg x 2
120kg x 2
140kg x 2
160kg x 2
172.5kg x 2
185kg x 2 Belt on, straps on
195kg x 2 - really good speed
Deficit pause pulls - 1 plate deficit, pause halfway up shin Belt off
160kg x 2 x 2 - can push these accessory pulls a bit harder I think.
Ohp
Bar x 5
30kg x 5
40kg x 12
45kg x 3 x 12 - last set all paused
Ss/ Pullups
6 x 5
Alternating DB curls
16s x 4 x 10 - alternating 2 at a time
Pinwheel curls
16s x 2 x 12
18s x 2 x 10
Incline DB curls
12.5s x 3 x 20
Ss/ Incline JM Smith press (lol)
40kg x 10,12,20
Back in the uni gym. It’s sick. Nice bars and atmosphere and I had abs in the mirror after my workout so that’s all.
Front squat
Bar x some
60kg x 2 x 3
80kg x 3
100kg x 2 Belt on
117.5kg x 8 x 4 - first rep each set paused, all last set paused, including an external 3 count pause on the very last rep. Smashing these.
Bench
Bar x some
40kg x 3
60kg x 3
80kg x 2 x 2
92.5kg x 5
100kg x 4
110kg x 3 - clean but a bit of a grind Slingshot
115kg x 3 - harder than I wanted but volume meh Slingshot off
105kg x 5 - sweet hideous grind
Cgbp
100kg x 3 x 3 - sound
Ohp
Bar x some
30kg x 5
40kg x 4
50kg x 3
60kg x 2 Belt on
65kg x 3 x 2 - all paused. Volume PR for north of 60kg.
60kg x 7 - randomly paused or not. I was losing focus a little but got work done.
Dead hangs with straps for the shoulders.
Chest is still sore but not bothering bench and not more sore after this workout.
