Month: March 2014

Pretty decent pull session. My low back is not feeling the greatest and my abs and quads are immensely sore from those front squats on Monday (I guess I know what I will be doing more of!), and it certainly showed during pulls today. Worked up to 600 but missed it at the knees – had my back been 100% I would have had it easy. Out of frustration I went back down to 505 and pulled sumo for the first time in 3 months or so. I am pleased with how sumos felt considering how long I had not done them, and having went to failure on conventionals beforehand. I did not push them too hard. Bench felt pretty solid – rep work today, with 270 for 7 paused reps being a PR. Nice long pauses today (5+ count each rep). Did some strict BTN presses for mobility work, and some chins/pullups for assistance.

Conventional Deadlift:
225x6x1
315x3x1
380x3x1
440x2x1
505x1x1
555x1x1
585x1x1
600x0x1

Sumo Deadlift:
505x1x1
555x1x1
600x1x1
645x2x1

Paused Bench Press:
195x5x1
235x4x1
270x4x1
270x5x1
270x5x1
270x7x1 (PR)

Pull-ups/Chins:
bw x8x1
bw x10x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x10x1

Strict BTN Press:
45x10x1
95x10x1
95x10x1
95x10x1
95x10x1

Seated Curl Machine:
50x8x1
75x8x1
100x8x1
75x8x1
50x8x1
50x6x1
75x6x1
100x6x1
75x6x1
50x6x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
purple x30x1
purple x30x1
purple x30x1

Duration: 120 minutes

Pretty nice session. For overheads I tried push jerks. They ended up being more of half-breed push press+push jerk combo, but the form will come with more practice. More importantly, I hit 300 again, which I have not done in a while, and I was real pleased with that. Back was limiting me a bit on the overheads. Moved on to squats and they were just slow and tired feeling. The 540 double just did not feel up to par so I moved on to front squats, which I have not done in a long time. They felt very difficult, so I think I will hit these regularly to bring those up to snuff. My best triple is with 365, so I think I will break that pretty quickly.

Push Jerk:
135x10x1
175x5x1
200x4x1
235x3x1
265x3x1
285x2x1
300x2x1 (PR)
270x3x1
250x3x1

Squat:
225x5x1
325x3x1
390x3x1
455x2x1
520x2x1
540x2x1

Front Squat:
225x3x1
275x3x1
315x3x1
275x3x1

Flat DB Flye:
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1

Flat Neutral DB Press:
70x8x1
80x8x1
90x8x1
100x8x1
80×10-60×10-50x12x1

45-degree Hypers:
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
purple x30x1
purple x30x1
purple x50x1

Band Face Pulls:
purple x30x1
purple x30x1
purple x30x1

Duration: 120 minutes

This was a great workout. A real nice morale booster. For speed squats I decided to mix things up and add tons of band tension instead of straight weight. I forgot how brutal bands can be. My core is fried. I worked with my heavy (+90 @ top per), heavy (+70 @ top per), and medium (+50 @ top per), and ended up using all 3 per side. Like I said, brutal. Great bar speed on every set, but these wiped me out. I moved on to paused bench, where I worked on using an arch more. Things went well. I tried a touch n go set with 310 after my 6 paused doubles and did a triple, but could have had more had I not setup too far back and kept running the bar into the supports each rep (doh). Ended with a paused rep PR with 260 for 10. Moved on to flat db bench where I worked with the 140s for the first time in years and years. Overall, a nice confidence boosting session.

DE ATG Squat:
135+180 band tension x6x1
135+180 band tension x3x1
135+320 band tension x3x1
135+320 band tension x3x1
135+420 band tension x3x1
185+420 band tension x3x1
235+420 band tension x3x1
235+420 band tension x3x1

Paused Bench Press:
195x5x1
235x4x1
270x3x1
270x3x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
310x3x1
260x10x1 (PR)

Flat DB Bench:
110x4x1
130x4x1
140x4x1
120x4x1
120x7x1

Flat DB Flyes:
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1

Pull-ups:
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1

Single-leg Leg Extension:
150x10x1
100x15x1
80x20x1

BB Curls (narrow and wide grips):
45x10x1
45x10x1
65x10x1
65x10x1
85x10x1
85x10x1
85x12x1
85x12x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
medium x30x1
medium x30x1
medium x30x1

Duration: 120 minutes

OK workout. Things started great with me dropping a 45lb plate on my left big toe. Did not affect my lifting but it sure stings now and has turned a nice purple, lol. Deads were OK. Elevated pulls (plates raised about 6″) are more awkward than the deficit pulls. Talk about a difficult starting position. I never really wear my belt tight (if I wear one at all) when pulling, but today I really cranked it on tight – what a difference that makes. Going to have to see how that carries over to actual heavy pulls from the floor. Bench was sluggish and slow – not feeling as good as I had hoped it would. I did my last two sets touch and go, for the first time since I started benching again. Felt OK. Not really explosive or fast, but pretty easy. Finished with some good accessory work.

Deficit Deadlift (bar @ top of feet):
135x10x1
225x6x1
315x3x1
385x3x1
410x2x1
410x2x1
410x2x1
410x2x1

Elevated Deadlifts (bar raised ~6″):
410x2x1
440x2x1
505x2x1
505x2x1
565x2x1
565x2x1

Paused Bench Press:
195x5x1
230x4x1
270x3x1
270x3x1
310x2x1
310x2x1

Bench Press:
290x5x1
275x7x1

Flat DB Flye (superset with neutral db presses):
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1

Flat Neutral-grip DB Bench:
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1

Single-leg Leg Extensions:
150x5x1
200x5x1
200x5x1
200x5x1
200x5x1
100x20x1

Wide-grip Pulldowns:
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1

Pull-Aparts:
red band x50x1
red band x50x1
red band x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Tough workout today. Lots of aches and pains here and there, everywhere, it seems. I opted to pass on push presses today and did seated db presses instead – first time doing those in a few years and they were surprisingly easy. Squats were just OK. Wanted to do another jump after the 555 double but my back just was not liking things today so I backed off. Assistance work was all smooth.

ATG Squat:
135x12x1
225x6x1
315x3x1
360x3x1
425x3x1
485x2x1
535x2x1
555x2x1
535x2x1

Seated DB Press:
60x6x1
70x6x1
80x6x1
90x6x1
100x6x1

Flat DB Flye:
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1

Wide-grip Deficit Push ups:
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1

Single Leg Leg Extensions:
145x5x1
165x5x1
200x5x1
220x5x1
230x8x1

45-degree Hyper:
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1

Cable Pushdown:
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1

Pull-Aparts:
red band x30x1
red band x30x1
red band x30x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Good workout. Everything (other than curls) felt pretty strong today.

DE ATG Squat:
135x10x1
225x5x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1
315x2x1

Paused Bench Press:
195x5x1
230x4x1
270x3x1
270x3x1
310x2x1
310x2x1
325x1x1
325x1x1
290x3x1
255x10x1 (PR)

Flat DB Flye:
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1
70x10x1

45-degree Hyper:
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1
bw x8x1

Dips:
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1
bw x5x1

Seated Tricep Extension Machine:
75x10x1
75x10x1
75x10x1
75x10x1
75x10x1

Preacher Curl:
45x8x1
65x8x1
85x8x1
105x6x1
105x6x1
85x8x1
65x10x1
45x15x1

Pull-Aparts:
red band x30x1
red band x30x1
red band x30x1

Duration: 90 minutes