DB bench: (incline to flat)
(7)x60x8
(5)x60x6
(3)x60x7
(F)x60x7
DB Kelso shrugs:
40x1x10
40x2x9
GIANT SETS (dip - band - hang)
Dips:
5x10
Band pushdowns:
5x20
Hang board hangs:
4x20s
1x failure
Good workout this morning. Saw the light on the last rep of the bench press work sets. Concentric took about 4 seconds I’d guess, got to the sticking point and it stayed there for a while then it budged a little and a very slow lockout occurred. Sweet.
Still don’t have an adjustable bench so the (#) indicates where I set the bar on the rack. Took about 90s between sets, really like this approach. Could superset that with something and really juice it up.
Was pretty gassed after that and changed up the rest/pause stuff to something a little easier. I dig that giant set and it could be ramped up to something a bit more strenuous very easily, but it answered the call today with a great pump. Took about 60s rest after the hangs.
No hiking this weekend, weather is pretty weak over in the mountains and the trail conditions are brutal right now. Saw some photos of a handful of hikes and it’s literally a waterfall cascading over the rocks. Seems really cool and intense, and if it were a one-off I’d be up for it but I’ve already spent a lot of time soaking wet and the break is nice. Summer conditions can’t come soon enough, I’ve started salivating over a few traverses I have on my list that are going to be pretty epic.
Going for a jog with the pup in a few to get some cardio in, then it’ll be a home improvement kind of day.
Got this in much later than I was hoping, which I could be annoyed with for some reasons, but instead I’ll focus on the positive aspect of how absolutely easy this workout was. Again, submax weights and all so it shouldn’t be a soul crusher but this felt too easy. Took just over 40 minutes to get this all done, and I lose a decent amount of time with the setup and take down of the equipment between stations. I suppose that not going hiking this weekend left my legs a bit more fresh than they have been haha.
@ChongLordUno Chins would be the easiest and most obvious plug in there for sure. I’m undecided if I’m willing to gamble with 3x/week chinning right now since my elbows haven’t felt this healthy in a long while and presumably I’ll be climbing here and there now that it’s starting to warm up and dry out. I’ve got until Friday to make a call.
NG chins: (widest to narrowest grip)
BWx10 - narrow grips
+35x4x6
+35x1x5
Axle press:
50x10
80x5
105x3
115x3
125x5
115x5
Side plank:
x20s/side
GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)
Axle press:
90x4x10
90x8+1 - after circuit
Dips:
5x failure
Lateral raise:
15x4x11
15x1x10
Band pull aparts:
5x25
Poundstone curls:
x115
If I didn’t have music blaring it probably sounded like I was being stabbed during and after this workout today. Felt like I was fighting another man rather than lifting weights, but I think I won in the decision.
I don’t think a 6th rep on the top set was there, I thought about trying it, but it also felt like my ears started bleeding during the lockout of the 5th one and the eccentric was pretty wild so I was good calling it there.
Got mad at myself for totally screwing up the last set of my supplemental work. I definitely had 9 in me on that set, but I got all loose and unbalanced trying to remain conscious during rep 8 and the eccentric again crashed down on me. Tried getting air and launching it off my chest but it didn’t get past my nose. As penance I completed the circuit and walked back to the bar with an absurd pump to complete what felt like a 1RM rep to tack on another rep from last week.
Forearms were so pumped after the curls that I thought I was going to get sick. I made the mistake of resting them on the chinning bar after the set to drain them, so when I dropped them back down and blood came back into them they about locked up on me.
Gonna chase this with the majority of a pork tenderloin but I’d rather just mainline gravy and whey and climb into bed.
Went to work and wound up being 4 hours early (schedule changed) so had plenty of time to come home and get this done. Traveling tonight and tomorrow so figured I’d just do 3 days in a row rather than try and squeeze a workout in after I get home or make it up on the weekend. Pretty tired after yesterday but this was still solid.
@Koestrizer Yeah man it’s straight out of Pwn’s playbook so you know it’ll be a ball buster. Makes this back day seem like a breeze in comparison.
Schedule has gotten all junked up to end the week, but had 15 minutes to spare today and got a portion of the workout done. Will get my assistance work in tomorrow.
I continue to have my best workouts on the days the make the least amount of sense. Coming off a weekend of pure hedonism which I haven’t done in a while, followed by a last minute work trip that had my driving a lot last night and today, mediocre nutrition, and about 3 hours of sleep. Smoked every rep of this and my conditioning was never challenged beyond a couple big breaths after the last two rounds of supplemental work.
Wound up skipping my bench assistance altogether after the weekend. Planned to get it in Saturday but opted to help a friend down and clear a bunch of trees in his yard and then had to boogie over to the first concert I’ve been to since 2019. Awesome day in total. Sunday wound up being a wash with an epic of taxes and answering the call for help a couple states away. The hotel had the nicest gym setup I’ve seen in one to date, but it definitely needed some TLC. All the benches were busted up but it had a legit power rack which is pretty cool.
NG chins: (widest to narrowest grips)
BWx10 - overhand grip
+35x5x6
Axle press:
50x10
80x5
110x5
120x3
130x4
120x4
Side plank:
x20s/side
GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)
Axle press:
90x5x10
Dips:
5x failure
Lateral raise:
15x5x11
Band pull aparts:
5x25
Poundstone curls:
x116
Man, what a way to end this cycle of programming. I took my old 1RM for four reps today, last one being pretty grindy but rock solid. No chance of a fifth happening there but I’m totally okay with it. The SSL set was very much an I’ll take what I get affair after that.
Then I had to look back and confirm that the 5x10 at 90 was a volume PR. I didn’t have to look far, because the old baseline was 80x5x10, so I’ve been beating that this whole cycle haha. But still felt good to lock that in. That last rep was super ugly and my body did not want to do it but accepted that the mind was having its way tonight.
Poundstone curls were agonizing. After all the pressing wins, I had very little left to give and that set took an eternity, which in turn meant I had to hang onto that bar longer than usual and pay the price on the other side. I wound up having to sit and wait for like 3-4 minutes before I could carry my stuff upstairs.
Gonna give a huge shoutout to @T3hPwnisher for coming up with that specific brand of BBB programming. Set a bunch of weight and volume PRs while using it for 8 cycles. The last handful of weeks had me truly dreading the workouts, and I found myself muttering a phrase I’ve seen in @alpha’s gym, “nothing’s really that hard” as I was walking up to the bar for the last few sets of supplemental work.
Going to change things up for a while but I’d definitely re-visit this. No clue where I’m going to go programming wise, but I’ll either wind up sticking with a 5/3/1 adjacent thing again or trying CT’s Beast Building protocol for the main lift only. Either way, I’m going to spend more time with heavier reps on the main lift and go ham on the assistance.
Went out on a nice trail system a few minutes from my house with the pup. Being with her means that there’s random sniff breaks and an inconsistent tempo, but all that’s fine because it’s fun and I just need to be better about getting out and doing some cardio.
@kdjohn Thanks man! Feels good to see some progress on that lift.
@T3hPwnisher Haha it wasn’t anything explicitly stated to me or anything, just copying the PR/SSL/crazy giant set BBB press programming you had going on ~6-12 months ago. Managed to be the impetus for that survival mechanism to switch in the brain during the workouts. One might even say I left the kiddie-pool on those days.
Another rock solid workout here. Those 5 reps at 225 were all good, strict, challenging reps. The chins after that were money once again, just grooving the reps.
I hate the chest crushing feeling of those supported rows, but I can really get that rhomboid area working with them so there’s some give and take there.
Hitting the back every day + having a dedicated day for it must be working.
Back out on the trails this weekend. This hike as a solo option wouldn’t be one I recommend, but as part of a larger traverse it’d make sense to just check off the list. Nothing special about this one that’d make me want to come back other than the comically large cairn at the summit.
It was however my first day out with my S/O and our pup, so that made it all the better. I had to carry our dog over a couple of stream crossings because she dislikes getting wet so much. On the way back she was brave enough to jump over one herself. They grow up so fast.
Forecast claimed ~60* with showers and it wound up being about 75* and thickly humid instead. I think I definitely set myself up for a future of winter hiking this year, it’s way nicer haha. I actually do pretty well in the heat but I just sweat so much my eyes sting constantly.
Got a big one coming up soon that I’m very excited about.
Decent enough final workout of this training cycle. Deload next week then starting up something fresh.
Bench felt good though a bit more challenging than I was hoping for. No threat of missing any reps but just a bit slower than I anticipated.
Legs were the limiting factor in that DB incline set. Due to not having a legit incline bench I have to really brace with the legs and I guess they were more fatigued from yesterday than I figured they would be.
Really challenged the grip towards the end of those hangs, adding 10s to the sets is a big difference.
Nothing much to note here, just a deload workout. All sets were done without a belt, given that there was only 1 heavy rep in the entire workout I figured I’d just skip that step. Since I only had two RDL sets I just got the other sets of hanging shrugs in while putting stuff away.