Spytech’s Intense Workout Log

I awoke this morning SORE. Not just a little sore, but full body, hit by a train sore. Hips, lats (holy hell), shoulders, back, legs…sore. I have no idea what triggered this soreness, but I am wagering that my body just knows next week is a much needed deload and it has already started to go into rest-mode. Anywho, as I got moving around things eased up a bit and by the time I got to the gym I had forgotten (mostly) about any soreness I had. I mentioned earlier in the week that I wouldn’t be pulling today because of my torn up hand. Well, my hand has healed up incredibly fast since Wednesday and I don’t have pain gripping anything now, although the flesh is still baby’s ass tender. I decided to give pulls a try at the last second as I packed up my gym bag. Warmups were heavy, 515 felt like someone turned the floor magnets on, and 635 was ridiculously tough, although not heavy - more like doing pulls after squatting - fatigued heavy. I still managed to crank out a solid double, despite all the soreness and fatigue I was feeling everywhere and my hand didn’t rip apart. I am sure my constant thinking about my grip hampered things a bit.

Anyways, since I decided earlier in the week to not deadlift I was psyched up to do front squats for some reason - something I rarely have ever done (probably can count my front squat workouts on one hand in the last 5 years). I figured even though I just did deads, front squats would still be a good complement to the hamstring/glute heavy pulls. It took me a few sets to get “comfortable” using a clean grip. I’ve never used a clean grip before, but it wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. I have mobility issues in my right wrist due to a bad break when I was younger so I definitely have to focus on keeping that right elbow up more while squeezing my elbows in. It’ll take a while to find the ’sweet spot’ for this grip - sometimes I feel like I’m choking myself and other times my collarbone takes too much of the load. Regardless, all the weights I tried today were a cake-walk. I think when I get my grip sorted out I could go mid 400’s for a couple reps.

After squats I did some strong ab work, then hit the dreadmill. Followed that up with some stretching and an intense 15-minute yoga flow involving all of the ‘hard stuff’ that I can do (crow variations, forearm balances, various headstands, eight-angle pose, etc). This felt fantastic.

Deadlift:
245×12x1
335×12x1
425×1x1
515×1x1
635×2x1

ATG Front Squats:
135×12x3
225×12x3
315×5x1
225×12x1

Straight-leg Sit ups w/ BB held @ lockout:
+95×12x1
+135×5x1
+155×5x1 (PR)
+135×5x2

Dreadmill:
25 min @ 4mph
3 min cooldown @ 3-3.5mph

+ stretching + yoga (15min)

Duration: 120 minutes

Pretty sweet workout tonight. This is by far the hardest I’ve pushed my shoulder in the last 6+ months. I wanted to max out my seated shoulder press to set a baseline 1rm to work around. Everything felt strong and stable. I just missed 285 - 280 would have went, so I know where to ’set the bar’ now. Shoulder is feeling stronger every week and it feels good knowing I can attempt a max effort lift and still be OK. There is still some aches here and there…but getting better. After doing a bunch of seated overhead pressing I decided to do some db jerks (no cleans since my hand is still healing). I started out feeling exhausted with the 80 but as I went up in weight I felt stronger and more explosive. Ended up with a nice PR by manhandling the 140. I think I could have done the 150 with my right arm, but would have struggled with my left…I’ll save it for next time! After jerks I did a bunch of curls, then finished with some back work. Can’t do much in the way of good heavy pulldowns yet with the hand, but I still got some work done.

Seated Overhead Press (bar starting at mouth level):
95x12x1
135x5x1
155x5x1
185x5x1
205x3x1
225x1x1
245x1x1
265x1x1
285x0.5x1
245x3x2
245x5x1
225x5x1

DB Jerks:
80x6x1
100x6x1
120x6x1
130x2x1
140x2x1 (PR)

Standing BB Curl:
95x12x1
115x12x1
135x12x1
155x8x1
135x12x1
115x12x1
95x12x1

Reverse BB Curl:
45x12x1
65x12x1
85x15x1
105x15x1
125x12x1 (PR)

Wide-grip Pulldowns:
228x12x3

Hammer Chins:
bw x12x1
bw x25x1

+ stretching + yoga (60min)

Duration: 140 minutes

This workout completely wiped me out. There is something about heavy squat PRs that just wears you out like nothing else. I wasn’t planning on doing another PR attempt this cycle, but my 485 single felt so easy I just had to put something heavy on the bar. 545 is another 10lb pr over last cycle, and still doubled it. The doubles are getting harder and I don’t think I could have tripled 545. Still not sure where this puts my 1rm, though. After the squatting my left foot’s peroneus tendons were sore so I opted to pass on step ups and just did extensions. Finished the workout with some ab work, then went to yoga.

ATG Squat:
135x12x1
225x12x1
315x5x1
385x5x1
435x3x1
485x1x1
545x2x1 (PR)

Seated Leg Extensions:
305x12x4
305x50x1

Hanging Leg Raises:
bw x12x4

Standing Cable Crunches w/ Ab Strap:
144x12x1
156x12x3

+ stretching + yoga (45min)

Duration: 105 minutes