11/30 – Deadlift 3’s

Nice low volume deadlift session today. Increased band tension on deads against the bands by spacing the db anchors further apart. Still managed to hit a PR though. Very tough pulls. Finished with some curls, hamstring, and ab work.

Deadlift:
245x10x1
335x6x1
445x3x1
515x3x1
575x3x1

Deadlift against Heavy Bands (~300+ added at lockout):
335x3x1
355x3x1
375x3x1
395x3x1
415x5x1 (PR)

DB Hammer Curls:
70x8x1
70x8x1
70x8x1
70x8x1
70x8x1

Hanging Leg Lifts:
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1

Seated Hamstring Curls:
285x30x1
285x20x1

+ stretching

Duration: 80 minutes

11/28 – Bench RE / Push Press 3’s

Good to be back in the gym after a week of eating and recovery. I am doing a bit of a hybrid 3-5-1 thing for the next 5 weeks to keep things interesting. Started out with some RE bench work. I don’t bench often and the rep strength I had today was real surprising. Never hit that many reps with 265 before, esp after the previous sets. Push presses were solid. Kept accessory work ‘boring but big’ with lots of chins and dips today. Finished with some roll-outs.

Bench Press:
135x25x1
185x12x1
225x15x1
245x15x1
265x15x1 (PR)

Push Press:
135x5x1
155x3x1
175x3x1
200x3x1
225x5x1

Chins:
bw x10x1
+30x10x1
+30x10x1
+30x10x1
+30x10x1
bw x10x1

Dips:
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x25x1

Ab Roll-outs (30s rests):
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1
bw x15x1

+ stretching + yoga (30min)

Duration: 100 minutes

11/21 – Full Body Deload

One last workout before the holiday fun. Deloading so I cruised through this with a bunch of high rep stuff. I did push the push-presses to failure pretty much with the 10+2 rest-pause set. Very intense, fast workout.

Push Presses:
135x12x1
155x6x1
185x3x1
225×10-2×1

ATG Squats:
225x20x1

Bench Press:
225x20x1
225x20x1

Hammer Chins:
bw x20x1

Pulldowns:
150x50x1

Single-arm Pulldowns:
40x25x1

Single-arm Pushdowns/Extensions:
20x25x1
20x25x1
20x25x1
20x25x1
20x25x1

Single-arm Cable Curls:
20x25x1
20x25x1
20x25x1
20x25x1

+ stretching

Duration: 30 minutes

11/18 – Squat ME

Great workout to end the week/training cycle on. ATG squats feeling pretty strong and got some good volume done with 9 reps at 90%+. After squats I worked up to a solid 700×7 on shrugs. Not a PR, but felt good nonetheless. Finished with some leg extensions, roll-outs, and curls. Very exhausting workout.

ATG Squats:
135x12x1
225x12x1
315x6x1
405x3x1
495x1x1
530x1x1
550x1x1
525x2x1
525x2x1
525x3x1

Shrugs:
225x12x1
315x12x1
405x12x1
495x12x1
585x12x1
675x6x1
700x7x1
675x12x1
585x12x1
495x12x1
405x12x1

Leg Extensions (30s rests):
305x12x1
305x12x1
305x20x1

Ab Roll-outs (30s rests):
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x20x1

Standing DB Curls (30-60s rests):
35x12x1
40x12x1
45x12x1
50x12x1
55x7x1
60x7x1
65x7x1
70x7x1
40x12x1
35x12x1
25x12x1
20x12x1

+ stretching

Duration: 90 minutes

11/16 – Incline Bench ME / Push Press ME

Another solid workout. Really trying to ramp the intensity up this week since next week is a deload. Inclines felt pretty well, couple singles at 305 and some more with 295. Not bad. Push presses felt strong despite sore legs/back from deads and fatigue from inclines. I feel like my push presses are ‘right there’ on the verge of a breakthrough. DB ‘spoon’ presses were a challenge. Nice unique pressing movement that really hits the tris and chest hard. Tried doing some pulldowns but the cable on the right hand stack snapped. Quality. Opted for single arm pulldowns then. No ab work today – they need a rest.

Incline Bench Press:
135x12x1
155x12x1
185x12x1
225x5x1
255x1x1
275x1x1
295x1x1
305x1x1
305x1x1
295x1x1
295x1x1
295x2x1
275x3x1
225x12x1

Push Press:
135x12x1
155x2x1
185x1x1
215x1x1
235x1x1
255x1x1
265x1x1
245x2x1
225x3x1
225x5x1
225x10x1 (PR)

DB Spoon Presses:
55x7x1
65x7x1
75x7x1
85x7x1
95x7x1 (PR)

Cable Flyes:
100x12x1
170x12x1
170x12x1

Freemotion Y-Lat Pulldowns:
160x12x1

Freemotion Single-arm Pulldowns (30s rests):
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1

+ stretching

Duration: 80 minutes

11/14 – Deadlift ME

Great deadlifting today. The last few DL sessions have sucked, and considering how hard I went on wide stance squats last week I figured that would set this workout up for some more lameness. I ended up feeling pretty good. Lots of good doubles/triples, then opted to continue the trend of using bands. I doubled the heavy (blue) bands over the bar so that I got a couple inches of rom before the tension hit. I figure the bands are adding around 250lbs at the top, if not more. I had each band weighed down with 280lbs and they weights were still shifting a bit. Worked up to a PR against the blue bands. Finished off with some cable rows, curls, and yoga.

Deadlift:
135x12x1
225x12x1
315x12x1
405x5x1
495x3x1
585x3x1
655x2x1
685x2x1
635x3x1

Deadlift against Heavy Bands (doubled, ~250lbs @ top):
135x5x1
135x5x1
225x3x1
315x3x1
365x3x1
385x5x1
405x5x1 (PR)

Seated Freemotion Cable Row:
100x7x1
120x7x1
140x7x1
160x7x1
160x7x1
160x10x1 (PR)

Standing Single-arm Cable Curls (30s rests):
30x7x1
30x7x1
33x7x1
33x7x1
37x7x1
40x7x1
47x7x1
50x7x1

Ab Roll-outs (15s rests):
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1

+ stretching + yoga (30min)

Duration: 120 minutes

11/12 – Incline Bench DE

Great workout today. I switched things up a bit and did some dynamic effort work instead of rep effort. I forgot how exhausting DE work is – 15s rest between triples. Very tiring. No PRs, but this was a great workout. Standing ab roll-outs just about destroyed my soul.

Incline Bench Press:
135x12x1
155x12x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1
185x3x1

Push Press:
135x5x1
185x3x1
225x5x1
225x5x1

Tricep Band Pushdowns (60s rests:
lights+mediums x15x1
lights+mediums x15x1
lights+mediums x15x1
lights+mediums x15x1
lights+mediums x15x1
lights+mediums x15x1

Dips:
bw x12x1

Flat DB Flyes (60s rests):
60x12x1
60x12x1
60x12x1

Narrow Hammer Chins (60s rests):
bw x12x1
+20x12x1
bw x12x1

Ab Roll-outs:
standing x5x1
bw (knees) x10x1
bw (knees) x15x1

+ stretching

Duration: 70 minutes

11/9 – Squat ME

Great workout. Hit some wide-stance squats today to mix things up. Very fired up today and was real pumped to get under the bar. Worked up to a solid double @ 605 (only 15lbs off best wide-stance double), and then worked my way back up squatting against the heavy blue bands, which add about 225-250 at the top. Ended up with a new PR, beating my previous 500 for a single against the blues. Was completely wiped after squatting so I finished with some curls and ab roll-outs.

Wide-stance Squats:
135x12x1
225x10x1
315x8x1
405x3x1
495x2x1
545x1x1
585x1x1
605x2x1

Wide-stance Squats against Heavy Bands (~+225-250 at the top):
225x5x1
315x5x1
405x5x1
505x3x1 (PR)
315x10x1

Standing DB Curls (60s rests):
25x12x1
45x12x1
35x15x1
30x15x1
25x15x1

Ab Roll-outs (30s rests):
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x20x1

+ stretching

Duration: 80 minutes

11/7 – Incline Bench ME

This workout was solid, and was a complete 180 from the previous workouts. Elbow/tricep tweak is still feeling off, but I hit some decent weights on inclines and push presses. Set a PR on db flyes and ab roll-outs. Obviously not big milestones, but they are steps in the right direction. I was amazed at how difficult ab roll-outs get just adding 25lbs. Did some yoga for 30 min after my workout to help get loosened up, mentally and physically, again.

Incline Bench Press:
135x12x1
155x12x1
185x12x1
225x10x1
255x1x1
275x1x1
295x1x1
305x1x1
295x1x1
295x1x1
295x1x1

Push Press:
135x12x1
155x3x1
185x1x1
215x1x1
225x3x1
245x3x1
225x5x1

Military Press:
155x20x1
135x20x1

Flat DB Flye (60s rests):
55x10x1
70x10x1
80x10x1
100x4x1 (PR)
90x6x1

Band Pushdowns (30s rests):
light band x15x1
light band x15x1
light band x15x1
light band x15x1
light band x15x1
light band x15x1

Y-Lateral Pulldowns (30s rests):
160x12x1
160x12x1
160x12x1
160x15x1
160x15x1
160x15x1

Ab Roll-outs:
bw x12x1
+25x10x1 (PR)
bw x15x1

+ stretching + yoga (30min)

Duration: 110 minutes

11/5 – Deadlift ME

Lackluster performances continue…

Deadlift:
245x12x1
335x10x1
425x3x1
515x1x1
515x3x1
515x3x1
515x3x1

Lying Hamstring Curl (60s rests):
150x12x1
150x12x1
150x12x1

Extra-wide Wide-grip Pulldowns:
225x7x1
225x7x1
225x10x1

Standing Cable Adduction (30s rests):
40x12x1
40x12x1
40x12x1

Standing Cable Abduction (30s rests):
40x12x1
40x12x1
40x12x1

Standing EZ Curls (30s rests):
75x12x1
95x12x1
115x12x1
135x12x1
115x12x1
95x12x1
75x12x1

Ab Roll-outs (30s rests):
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x30x1 (PR)

+ stretching

Duration: 60 minutes