Traplord's Training Log

Training Logs
1

This log isn’t going to be very exciting. I’m setting it up because I ran out of room in my current notebook and felt like making the switch to digital journaling.

Long story short: 26 yo M, 6’1 205 lb. I’d say like 15% bf, give or take.

Was an athlete growing up/through high school, spent most of college doing boxing and bjj, focused on lifting mostly after graduating college in 2014.

Had serious lower back surgery in November of 2016, got back into the gym around February of '17 (about a year ago). Did well to put weight back on after the surgery and get my strength back.

Things I’d like to improve:
-MOBILITY: my mobility, compounded by the LB issues, is piss poor. I realize that I’m still recovering from the procedure and not at 100%, so improving movement quality and range of motion is paramount. I’ll take any and all advice I can get with this.
-Aesthetics: Summer is around the corner. Who doesn’t want to look great. I look pretty good now, but could def improve body comp a bit.

-“Core”: def want to improve core strength and stability.

Split is as follows: Chest/Tri’s - Back/Traps/Bi’s- Legs/Shoulders-Arms

My leg work has to be “creative”, spinal loading is still a no-go, so I stick to DB squat variations, and lunges.

As for food, I’m not an adherent of any strict dietary principle. I try to keep protein up and cut out the garbage and sugar. Lowering inflammation is another goal of mine.

Lastly, I rate every workout out of ten. It’s a weird mental thing I’ve always done.

Ok, off we go.

2

Chest/Tri’s

coming off a stomach virus here, so kept it light and focused.

Facepulls
4 sets

DB Bench
(Focused on arching back and feeling the chest work, too often I let tri’s take over. Slow controlled tempo on these)
30’s x 10
60’s x 10
60’s x 10
60’s x 10
60’s x 10

Hammer Plate-Loaded Incline
Plate+ 25/per side, 3 x 12
Plate/per side, 1 x 12

Flyes
4 sets

Hanging Leg Raises
5 sets AMRAP

Tricep Cable Extensions (straight bar attachment)
3 x 20

cool down/stretching after.

Good to get back on the horse after the minor illness setback. Will def up poundages to normal working weights next time out. 7.5

3

Snowstorm here in the Northeastern US, so the gym was shut down yesterday.

Gotta good one in tonight.

Back/Bi’s

Pullups
30 total

Cable Rows
4x12 w/ neutral attachment

T-Bar rows, Plate+2 10’s
3x12 (focused on the contraction with these)

Barbell shrugs
4 sets w/135 to failure

Decline situps
4x10

Hammer curls (seated)
3 sets AMRAP w/ 30’s

E-Z Bar curls
3 sets

Lots of stretching for the hips. Felt good in there tonight, solid pump, good form, lots of energy. 8.5

macros came in at almost 33/33/33 across the board, just under 2000 kcal for the day.

Chest is still extremely sore after using better technique to target the upper chest earlier in the week. I know DOMS isn’t necessarily indicative of hypertrophy, but it definitely tells me the muscle was stimulated in a way it hadn’t been in a while. Also noticed new definition in the tie-in area between front delt and chest.

4

Friday Night-

Legs+ Shoulders

Front Squats (usually do Goblet squats w/ a DB, but mobility has been improving a bit lately, and I wanted to give these ago. I’ve never front squatted in my life, I don’t think.

bar x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8

Good depth and form on these, I’d been practicing the form for awhile with one of those light aerobics bars gyms have lying around, felt confident enough to give it a shot. Not a lot of weight, obviously, but legs (and more importantly my back) felt good.

Cable pull-throughs
5x12, concentrated. Good feeling in hams and glutes after.

Having to be so careful about leg work sucks. Luckily my legs fill out pretty well so I can ease into working them hard again, but I still yearn for the days of loading up heavy back squats. If any super young guys come across this, let it be a warning- watch out for your lower back!

Shoulders

Machine Shoulder Press
1 w/o then 5 working sets

DeFranco Shoulder Complex
did 3 of these, again good pump in the shoulders.

Landmine rotations, 4 sets of 10 with a bb. Hit the obliques hard.

Supps: 5g’s of creatine

Macros for the day 50% protein, then 25/25. just about 2000 kcal.

Next workout will be an “arm day”, which I haven’t done in ages (was on push/pull for most of 2017 and all of '18 thus far). Some may scoff at having an arm day, but for me they’re a weakness per se (even though they’re 16", they don’t look as impressive on my tall frame) and I’m shamelessly working towards aesthetics here as well.

5

Sunday 3/10

6

Sunday 3/10

Arms

supps: 5g of creatine

First arm day in ages as I said previously. Had trouble getting off the ground with this one, kinda felt shitty in there to be quite honest.

Warmed up w/ Rope extensions and Cable curls

EZ Bar curls
5 sets of 10 w/ 65 lb. bar

Tricep Extensions w/ flat bar
4 sets of 15

Seated Hammer Curls (simultaneous)
3x10 w/ 30 lb DB’s (usually can go a lot heavier here ;/)

Tricep overhead rope extensions
4 sets AMRAP

Preacher curls
4 sets

lots of direct ab work as well. 6.0 though, just couldn’t get locked in. Decent pump, however.

7

Monday 3.12

Chest

supps: 5g creatine

Facepulls
3 sets

DB Bench (Tempo on these is always 2 secs eccentric, explode up on concentric)
30’s x 15 w/u
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
60’s x 10

Hammer Plate-loaded Incline
Plate+25/side, 3 sets of 10
plate/side 1 set AMRAP

D-Handle pushups
50 total

Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

1 AMRAP set of Dips

Didn’t feel the need for a flye movement today. No Tri iso bc Arms yesterday.

Felt strong in there today. No nonsense and got after it. Stark contrast to yesterday. I’d give it 8.5

Just about 2100 kcal today, 50F/30P/20C. I feel my best when I keep carbs low. Less inflammation, less sluggish.

Off day tomorrow, but will do 30 mins of yoga and then foam rolling and stretching.

Another nor’easter to hit the NE US tn, so probably some shoveling work as well.

8

tuesday

Did yoga for the hips and foam rolling.

I am horribly inflexible, and this helps. My sit and reach stretching ability is alarmingly poor.

However, after 20-25 mins of yoga/rolling I feel far, far better. My breathing is smoother and body moves better, which is a positive. Also it loosens me up for “non-excercise physical activity” which sometimes can be painful w my LB issues.

Kept cals low bc no workout. ~1500, mostly protein.

Feeling energized and loose for tonight’s back workout.

9

Wednesday

Back

supps: 5g creatine

Pullups (felt very strong on these, going to do 40 total next time out)
BW x 12
BWx12
BWx8

Okay next move was a type of plate-loaded bentover neutral row. I’ll call it a Bent-over row" for now

4 sets of 12 reps, loaded with a plate+10 on each side.

DB Rows

4x10 per side w/ 60’s, 3 sets
1x10 per side w/ 55’s

Seated neutral-grip cable rows
4x12

E-Z Bar Curls
5-6 sets, just ran the rack till I couldn’t go anymore. Great bicep pump, the “main vein” is much more apparent than it has been in awhile, shows me that I’m getting leaner.

Ab work: 3 sets of 15 of decline bench reverse sit-ups. These are very challenging, and they help train me to keep my pelvis down and avoid APT. Good day out there, felt strong and focused. 8.8

Came in at 1900 kcal, 40C/30F/30P. Higher carbs ok with me today because of the volume/demands of a back workout.

10

Friday

Arms.

supps: 5g creatine

Close-grip Bench
bar x 15
95x10
135x10
185x8
185x8
185x8
135 x AMRAP

BB curls
bar x 10
65x10
65x10
65x10
65x5
barxAMRAP

Seated Hammer Curls (simultaneous)
3 sets of 10 w 30’s, 1 sets AMRAP w 25’s

Tricep Extensions
2 sets w V bar
3 sets w Rope

Cable close-grip curls
4 sets

ran the rack on standing DB curls to finish.

Ab work: hanging knee raises, just did a bunch of sets, probably like 7 or 8.

Felt pretty good to get in there and get this done. I work a pretty stressful white collar job+ lots of general life stress at the moment, so staying on point with nutrition and lifting helps me stay on track and levelheaded. Was off yesterday, got a little loose w the diet at night (birthday in the family) other than that, pretty solid.

Today was a little north of 1700 kcal. 47C/28P/25F. Goal for the coming week is to up the protein numbers.

11

Sunday

Legs and Shoulders

supps: 5g creatine

Goblet Squats
5 sets of 10 with a 45 lb. DB

Pull-throughs
5 sets

Seated BB Press (2 secs down, explode up)
bar x 10
95x12
115 x 10
115x10
115x8
95 x AMRAP

Lateral Raises/lean-away lateral raises
5 sets

Farmer’s Walks
4 rounds of about 30 yards w 65 lb DB’s

Felt good in there, especially after some fun on St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday.

Was a little loose on food though, ~2200 kcal and too many carbs.

Aiming to stay around 2000 kcal this week, with higher P n F, lower C.

Going to start logging AM weight as well.

12

Monday

AM weight: 197.8

Chest

supps: creatine 5g
Facepulls

DB Bench
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
50’s x AMRAP

Hammer Incline
4 sets of 12 w/ plate per side, focus on contraction, 2 secs down tempo.

Seated Pec Deck Flyes
5 sets

Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

DB Hammer curls S/S with Rope Extensions
4 sets

A good one today. Have to make note to roll my upper back with a lacrosse or tennis ball more, getting out the knotted tissue in my upper back made a huge difference in overall performance and tightness. Today was a solid 8.

~2000 kcal, 45C/22F/33P

13

Tuesday

Back

wanted to rest today and do this tomorrow, but yet another nor-easter is headed our way in the northeast. Wild! LB is sore, but would rather do a lighter workout than skip it.

Supps: 5g creatine

Pullups
BWx10
BW+30 x 4
BW+30 x 4
BW+20 x7
BWx7

Cable Neutral Rows
4 sets of 15

Neutral-Grip Pulldowns
3x15

BB Curls
4x12

Preacher Curls
4 sets

Cross-body curls
35’s/30’s 4 sets

Felt really good in there, high energy levels and a good pump. LB sore though, so stayed away from heavier rowing.

~ 1800 kcal 31C/40F/29P

14

Wednesday 3.21.18

Huge snowstorm, so lots of shoveling.

Did abs and mobility work inside as well.

~2000 kcal, again higher P, high F, low C

15

Friday 3.23.18

Arms

supps: Mr. Hyde (half serving) I needed a pick me up pretty badly, so took half of one of those to-go bottles.

warmed up w cables

BB Curls
bar x 15
55x12
65x10
65x10
65x10
bar x amrap

Incline DB curls
honestly went light and controlled on these.
3 sets of 12 w 25’s

Overhead Tricep Rope Extensions
4 sets

Cross-Body Curls s/s w Tricep pushdowns
4 sets (30 lb db’s, 15-20 reps on pushdowns)

Cable close-grip curls
4 sets

single arm tricep cable extensions 3 sets/side

hanging leg raises/hanging knee raises

gonna give this one a 9.5. Incredible pump, felt energetic and also looked my best afterwords. I know pre-workout supps aren’t the greatest things for your body, but I certainly felt a difference with this in my system. I haven’t taken a pre in probably a year, I might pick one up to stick with it.

food was ~1900 kcal, mostly P, then F and low C.

1 Like
16

Sunday 3.25.17

Legs/Shoulders

Going to dial down the volume on shoulders here and just focus on getting my BB press up.

Seated BB Press
bar x 8
95 x 8
135 x 6
125 x 8
125 x 8
95 x amrap

Lateral raises
5 sets

Front Squats
4 x 8 w/ 95, still dialing in technique on these, but spine felt good and mobility in the legs felt good.

pull-throughs
4 sets

lots of ab work.

again, leg work is still “rehab phase”, and I’m going to get pressing numbers up.

Overall felt good in there. Back tomorrow.

1 Like
17

Monday, March 26, 2018

(I figure typing out the full date will stop me from fucking the year up)

Back

supps: 1 scoop of C4 (picked up a pre after the positive results last week)

Pullups: BW for a total of 30.

T-Bar Rows (BB in corner, gripping nuetral
Plate x 12
Plate + 25 x 12
Plate + 25 x 12
Plate x AMRAP

Wide-grip Cable Rows
4 x 15, really focused on stretch and contraction

Rear Delt DB Flyes on Incline Bench
4 sets

Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

Bicep work

Rope Hammers
4 x 20

DB Curls, sets w 35’s then 30’s

EZ Bar curls til failure, 3 sets.

Plank for as long as I could as a finisher

Arms and back both felt great after this, let’s give it a 9. Right shoulder is barking a little, so I gotta be smart w it tomorrow

~1800 kcal, mostly Protein.

18

did some T-Spine mobilization and foam rolled my lats, this made my shoulder feel a lot better. Foam rolling the lats was so painful, I think I’d have rather gotten hit by a car. Will still go lighter and focus on tension tm.

19

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Chest

supps: 1 scoop of C4

Incline DB Bench
55’s x 10
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
65’s x 10
50’s x AMRAP

Medicine Ball pushups
4 sets 20 (10 per side)

These are more shoulder-friendly than another weighted pressing movement, although my shoulder wasn’t bothering me as badly today (still played it safe)

Machine Flyes
4 sets, last one a drop.

Landmine BB Twists
5 x10

Tricep V Bar Extensions
4 sets

ran a mile on the treadmill afterwards.

Felt good but a little tired in there. 7.5

1800 kcal, a little more carby than I’d like, but needed the extra boost.

20

UPDATE

Did Arm work on Thursday, March 29.

Right shoulder has been bugging me and I’ve noticed my core was feeling weak, so I’m going to make some adjustments here for the month of April:

  1. Going to focus on the limbs. Legs 2x/week, Arms 2x a week. Before I started this log, I ran with programming that was heavy on chest and shoulders, bc those were areas I wanted to improve. I guess that’s taking it’s toll, so I’m going to deload the shoulder.

  2. Cardio is shit too, so I’m going to implement more LISS. I have a pretty high-pressure white collar job, which unfortunately consists of sitting in a chair for 10 hrs a day, not great.

So, for April: Bring up lagging Arms and Legs, focus on core work (planks, supermans, V-Ups, pelvic tilts, glute bridges, bird dogs). More cardio. Once the shoulder starts feeling better, I’ll ease into pressing with pushup variations.