06-21-2016
C1W2D2
Sumo DL 3x5@135
HLR, Hypers, PA’s, FP’s
Very little pain on the sumos but I didn’t want to push it. I think I might do LP on the DL’s moving forward to make sure my form is right and I’m healing right. It felt great!
Great to hear! You could try doing more volume of sumo. It’s a LOT easier on the body than conventional. Play around.
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06-22-2016
C1W2D3
BP - 10@45, 5@95
3@135
3@140
13@155
DBBP 5x15@30ea
Krocs 5x10@30
Shrugs 5x20@55
Tri PD’s 5x15@35
Bicycle crunches 5x15
Vacuums - 5x3
Screwed up the weight on my first working set, should have been 120 but I didn’t realize it until I had finished what I thought was going to be a warm up at 135.
Tomorrow is squats and I reset my training max to 200# to let my back heal up so I’m thinking about doing another 3x5 of sumos, sort of like the BBB Opposite template. Will see how I feel.
Something funky going on with my weight - I’m at least 3,000 calories deficit per week and I gained weight. I ate sushi with soy sauce yesterday so I’m probably holding water.
Whatev.
06-23-2016
C1W2D4
Squats
10@45, 5@95
5@140
5@160
23@180
Leg Extensions 5x12@75
Leg Curls 5x12@70
FP’s 5x12@35
PA’s 5x20
Obviously, the back feels good. It felt good after my first two sets across so I figured out how many reps I needed to translate out to a 315 one rep max (Epley). That number was 23, so I repped out 23. First time I’ve done that many reps on any squat, felt pretty good afterwards. Now, I figure I need to change my training max since my back seems to be back to normal. Figure I will put it at 250 and finish the cycle, then bump it to 260 for cycle two.
After the 23 I figured doing dead lifts again would be a bad idea. I bumped the weight on my accessory lifts and dropped the reps to twelve. Will go up to thirteen next week, fourteen the week after, then fifteen, then bump the weight again and drop back down to twelve. Progressive overload, right?
Might start week three tomorrow after my last day of work. I’m off for the summer, woohoo. I’ve been lifting before work and am a bit tired so I could use a little sleep. Also, would be nice to lift after eating - been doing it fasted for most of the last two weeks.
Weight was down again this morning so it was definitely water - as if I didn’t already know.
Walked out of the gym at six this morning and the back tire on my bike was flat. Took me half an hour to change the tube and pump it up - first time on the back for me, only the third flat I’ve ever fixed, all in the last six weeks. Hope that’s it for a while.
06-24-2016
C1W3D1
OHP
10@45, 5@75
5@95
3@105
7@120
Chins 5x10
Dips 5x15
Pec Deck 5x15@40
Disappointed with the AMRAP set, but, to be expected considering how many days in a row I have worked out fasted.
In general, OHP is just plain terrible for AMRAP. Something about having the bar on your chest and pressing it a bunch just kills your soul and saps your energy. Pretty much any OHP AMRAP day you can walk away from is a good one. I know Jim has actually built a few templates now where, instead of AMRAP, you do something like 10-15 sets of 5 to just hammer it with volume.
I feel mo betta now. I track my calculated maxes based on my AMRAP sets and this week was more than last week, so I’m progressing.
I believe I’m going to take tomorrow off so I can go into Manhattan for the WNBF Pro Masters and Hercules SPQ and think it’s a day off that is overdue. Will come back and hit Deadz on Sunday refreshed and ready to rumble.
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Better than bench IMO. But I’m a pretty shocking bencher
Ah, I have MUCH better luck with amrap for bench. Doesnt kill my soul as much.
I’m the complete opposite. I have to be having a great day to grind bench but I can pretty much always nut up for presses even if I’m feeling like shit. These days it’s the the only lift I’m always excited for, not that I’m saying I don’t like the other three once I get to the bar and start working. It’s just that press I’ll look forward to all day.
Ah, I think my overdramatics didn’t get my point across. I wasn’t talking about the psychological impact, but more about how overhead press tends to tax your ability to breathe and recover from the reps. Like, for overhead press, I’ll brace, crank out as many reps as I can, and MAYBE I’ll manage 1 or 2 more after I release my initial breath, but after that I’ll be completely gassed. With bench, I can rest at the top enough to recover for a few more reps.
I’m pretty sure an AMRAP on everything sucks. If it doesn’t suck, you ain’t AMRAP-ing hard enough haha.
I can’t at all. If I rest at the top I’m pretty much guaranteed to fail the next rep. For press, I can rest on my chest and get another one or two.
06-26-2016
C1W3D2-3
DL
1x5@135
1x5@155
1x5@175
Hypers 5x15
HLR 5x15
BPAs 5x20
BP
1x10@45, 1x5@95
5@135
3@145
11@160
PecDeck 5x11@40
Krocs 5x11@35
Watched some big dude hit 435 for a single and then just keep pounding on his chest for the next hour - sets of 365, 315, 275, 225, dumb bell benches with 140, inclines on the machine for 225. Crazy shit!
Took yesterday off to schlep into Manhattan to watch @robstein do his thing. But, walked everywhere, a total of fourteen miles, while going low carb and low cal, so I wasn’t sure what I would have in the tank for a fasted workout, but it turned out pretty good. I’m meeting up with my SS coach on Saturday to work on sumo, and going on vacation in a few weeks, so I’m trying to manipulate my training so vacation will be a deload for my second cycle.
Anyway, sumo felt good so I just added tens, felt good again, so I added tens again. I was tempted to add twenty again for 195 but the back was starting to feel sketchy, and I wanted to BP, so I called it good. I plan on doing LP on the DL until I get caught up to my TM for squats and then switch to 5/3/1 on it too.
In spite of all of the walking and low carb and cal, I was up to 187.2 this morning. Not sure wtf is going on unless my metabolism is slowing down. Will have to eat above maintenance tomorrow to see if I can get something going. Need to see those razor sharp abs, lol.
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Dude thank you SO MUCH for coming man! I’m sorry we couldn’t meet up, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming out to show support at the show!
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No problem. I enjoy coming into the city and it’s an easy trip for me. It was a nice day and the streets were poppin’. It was my first contest and I had a good time. Lots of respect for the process and the effort after the experience, Did you see the open novice? The kid in the green trunks? What was up with that?
Congrats on a very successful show. I’m curious as to what the brain trust has concluded with respect to what you need to work on. I thought you looked great - good symmetry and size. Moving forward, I think you can be bigger and more defined, which I expect comes with time in the gym, but I’m clueless, so I’m curious as to what the cognoscenti think.
Great job!
06-28-2016
C1W3D4
SQUATS
5@45, 5@95, 3@135
5@150, 3@170, 10@190
1@210
1@235
1@255
Leg Ext 5x13@75
Leg Curls 5x13@70
FP’s 5x13@35
BPA’s 5x20
Everything felt good. Didn’t want to do 20 reps to get to the 315 projected max, so I capped the AMRAP at ten and added Joker sets. The 255 felt good and I probably could have gotten 275 (PR) but I didn’t have a spotter and I didn’t want to be “that” guy, so I left the PR at 275 for next time.
Not sure why Wendler regrets writing about the Joker sets. It’s the first time I tried it and I enjoyed it. I’m not going to go nuts on them though.
Skipping the de-load and will start Cycle 2 tomorrow. Going to bump my squat training max by 20 and keep up the LP on the dead lifts.
Planned on lifting yesterday but had pretty severe DOMS from my 23 rep squat set a few days ago - figured that was a good enough reason to cap the AMRAP at ten.
Also going to chill on the accelerated cycles - the DL/BP day was a little too much. I have to remind myself that growth comes in recovery and that I need to take the recovery time.
Starting to realize how much time hypertrophy takes and that’s a good thing for impatient me. I’m starting to see some progress. I think much of the newbie gains in strength are strictly CNS recruitment but now that I have a solid fifteen weeks of steady lifting, there is some hypertrophy starting.
Feels good to be healthy again.
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06-29-2016
C2W1D1&2
OHP
10@45, 5@65
5@85
5@100
10@110
1@125
1@135
1@145 PR
DL
5@135
5@185
Dips 5x10, chins, 5x10, hypers 5x15, HLR’s 5x15, Tri PD’s 5x12@40, Curls, 5X12@50
Yeah, so much for not combining days again. I’m just doing LP on the Dead lifts so I’m thinking of adding them in every other workout, which is what I was doing on SS. I would do that until I stall and then switch them into 5/3/1.
I effed up on my AMRAP set of OHP. It was supposed to be at 115 but I got my numbers mixed up. I capped it at ten because I wanted to do Joker sets. I know that isn’t really DTP, but I wanted to, so I did. And I’m glad I did. My previous PR was 135 and that was before I got coached up so it was more a push press than a strict press. Loved it.
Did all of the accessory work in a circuit. Dips are giving my shoulder problems - I separated both AC joints several years ago in separate incidents - and it carrys over to benching as well so I might have to substitute something else for them.
Because I am only doing a single working set of DL’s I will probably Squat/Bench tomorrow. I have a lot more energy and time now that I am off for the Summer and I want to take advantage of it while I can. And, my training maxes are sort of low so it isn’t too demanding, but I need to pay attention to recovery. While I’m not bulking, and I was going to cut, I’m finding that I want to grow so I’m going to bump calories to maintenance and see if I can’t do a little recomp. I was 188 this morning at 13.5% BF. If I stay around that number and am gaining weight, I’m okay with that.
We’ll see.
Very good call. Your performance will be positively affected.
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06-30-2016
C2W1D3@4
SQ
5@45, 5@85, 3@135
5@160
5@185
5@210
BP
10@45, 5@85
5@115
5@135
15@150
1@165
Leg Ext 5x14@75, Leg Curls 5x14@70, DBBP5x15@40, Krocs, 5x12@35, FP’s 5x13@35, BPA’s 5x20, Pec Deck 5x15@40
I had to go back to back to take off tomorrow to be rested for Deadlifts with my SS coach on Saturday, and my workout suffered - 210 on squats felt very heavy! Did 5 and quit on the AMRAP set.
I was happy with the AMRAP on bench, I have a lot of shoulder pain until about 135 and then it feels better, pretty weird.
All in all, survival was a success.