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

Decided to push bench a little bit today. Everything touch and go except for the first 265×6 set, which was paused. Tried a different setup today that seems like it’ll work. Felt like I was getting stronger as I got more used to it. 315 wasn’t too tough despite that being the heaviest I’ve benched in over 6 months. I focused on going really deep on neutral grip flat db presses, and these felt pretty solid. Did some light tricep pushdowns for the first time in a long-while since my tri/elbow seems like it is on the mend. It was hard to find a decent back movement to do since I cant really pull anything with my right hand, so I did some light pulldowns and then fingertip chins. Hit up the treadmill afterwards for some fun cardio time.

Bench Press:
135×12x1
155×12x1
175×12x1
195×12x1
225×3x1
265×1x1
295×1x1
315×1x1
265×6x2
265×10x1
225×15x2

Neutral Grip Flat DB Press w/ deep rom:
100×10x1
100×8x1
100×6x1

Wide-grip Pulldowns:
228×12x2

Finger-tip Chins:
bw x12×3

Rope Pushdowns (’hard tower’):
48×12x1
60×12x1
72×12x2
84×12x1

Flat DB Flyes:
50×12x3

Dreadmill:
20 min brisk walking @ 4-4.7mph
3 min cooldown @ 3mph

+ stretching

Duration: 90 minutes

Good quick workout today. I like to use the 5’s week as a lower volume week for my legs. This worked out well as I think I tweaked my left adductor a bit doing some speed work on the double bass on drums last night, lol. Hit my squat targets, did some extensions and abs, then decided to do a few sets of step ups. Afterwards I ran a bit on the treadmill, then did some brisk walking.

ATG Squat:
135×12x1
225×12x1
335×5x1
385×5x1
435×5x1

Leg Extensions:
305×12x4
305×25x1

Straight Leg Situps with BB Held @ Lockout:
95×12x1
115×12x1
125×12x1
135×5x1
145×5x1 (PR)

BB Step Ups to 16″ bench:
225×10x2

Dreadmill:
5 min jog @ 6.5mph
15 min brisk walk @ 4.0mph

+ stretching

Duration: 80 minutes

Decided to give seated shoulder presses a try today using my typical wide grip. I started the bar at nose-level to avoid the bottom portion of the lift that tends to aggravate the shoulder injury the most. Presses felt good, all very easy. I was very gentle with this movement, and the shoulder felt solid (but a tad achy afterwards). After the seated presses I decided to do some quick DB C&J’s. Not bad. The 130 felt solid, so I gave the 150 a whirl. Cleaning it was easy, but I just couldln’t get the last few inches of lockout. My technique is severely lacking with the heavy dbs as my jerk looks more like a push press. If I can get the dip involved I should have no problem with this weight. I went down to 70lbs and did some reps just to enforce proper form. By this point I was starting to get a pretty nasty tension headache - that’s what I get for doing those paused squats Wednesday. Moved on to shrugs and worked up to an easy 585×12, but my head was killing me and I didn’t want to push it. Switched to the seated pulldown stack and did some underhand grip pulldowns, which I haven’t done in a long, long time. These felt great. Curls were next - 21’s with the 40lb dbs, preachers, and reverse bb curls. Good stuff.

External Rotations:
20×12x4

Seated Shoulder Press:
95×12x1
135×12x1
155×5x1
175×5x1
200×5x1
155×12x1

DB Clean and Jerk:
100×2x1
130×4x1 (PR)
150×4 ‘almost’ reps x1
70×24

Shrugs:
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×12x1
405×12x1
495×12x1
585×12x1
495×12x2

Underhand Pulldowns:
204×12x1
228×12x1
252×12x1
276×12x1
228×12x1

DB Curl 21’s:
40×21x3

Super-Strict Preachers:
75×12x5

Reverse BB Curls:
45×12x1
65×12x1
85×12x1

Treadmill:
15 minutes walking at @ 4-4.5mph
2 min cooldown

+ stretching

Duration: 75 minutes

Ahh, pretty damn good workout today. My hamstrings are pretty sore from squatting Monday. My upper back is just a wreck from all the shrugging on Wednesday. Despite all this I somehow killed deadlifts today. Second time pulling this month, and second or third time in a year basically. I’ve never done anything for more than 5 reps with 600+ on the bar, and when I’ve done 5’s its almost always touch and go with maybe the first rep or two deloaded. This time I deloaded every rep for 3-5+ seconds between pulls and killed it. Maybe had 1-2 more reps in me. Touch and go I would have done way more. This has me feeling really confident about my pulling abilities right now. I’m not sure where I would ‘max’ at, though. Reps can be deceiving - at least for me. After pulls I did some ghetto GHRs and some obscure ab work. A few sets of turkish getups with the barbell, and then some straight leg situps holding a barbell at lockout. Nice movement.

After lifting I decided to jog a mile for some reason. Dumb idea as my legs were totally gone, but it felt good when I was done.

Deadlifts (3-5s deloads between reps):
245x12x1
335x5x1
425x3x1
515x2x1
615x6x1 (PR)
515x5x1

Ghetto GHRs:
bw x5x2
+25x6x1
+10x6x1
bw x6x1

BB Turkish Getups:
65x2x1
85x2x1

Straight-leg Situps with BB Held at Lockout:
45x12x1
95x12x1
115x12x1 (PR)

Standing Cable Adduction:
120x12x3

Standing Cable Abduction:
50x12x3

+ stretching + mile run + quarter mile walk

Duration: 100 minutes

I felt weak as shit going through warmups today and really wondered if I would hit my 5 rep goal with 425. True to form, the days that I feel the worst seem to yield the best results, as I cranked out 425 for 10 for a rep PR. This kicked my ass. Since I like to take things “a bit easier” on 5’s week I just did leg extensions for accessory work, then abs and walked on the treadmill for a while.

ATG Squats:
135×12x1
225×12x1
325×5x1
375×5x1
425×10x1 (PR)

Leg Extensions:
305×12x4
305×30x1

Standing Cable Abs w/ Ab Strap (’hard tower’):
120×8x1
132×8x1
144×8x1
156×8x1
156×12x1

Walking on Treadmill:
23 minutes @ 3.5-4mph @ incline 2

+ stretching

Duration: 75 minutes

Got a new 48″ snow shovel last week so I got to put it to use today. Did some neighbors’ driveways as well. Great cardio.

Shoveled Driveways:
5 driveways (PR)

Duration: 45 minutes

Very quick, low volume squat workout. Hit the target reps and that was that. My entire body is very achy - probably something to do with doing real upper body workouts now, shoveling 8 feet of snow 2 days in a row, and the 3 full power yoga workouts on top of the other squat workout this week. 415 was easy…but not as easy as it “should be”.

ATG Squats:
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×5x1
365×5x1
415×6x1

Leg Extensions:
305 (stack) x15×5

Standing Cable Abs w/ Ab Strap (hard tower):
120×5x1
144×5x1
156×5x2
156×10x1

Elliptical:
23 min steady-state

+ stretching

Duration: 50 minutes

Today I gave seated overhead bb presses a go. First time doing any bb overhead pressing in around 3 months. I kept the weight really light, but was able to cruise without any pain in my shoulder. It still feels ‘off’ when doing these overhead presses with the barbell, so I probably wont do them again for a while. Of all movements I can do, the overhead bb press hits the injured spot the most. After the seated overhead pressses, I did some light standing db presses, which felt great, and other shoulder and back work (and curls). I cranked up the intensity a bit on cable rope facepulls and even did a set of chins. Lots of positive progress this week.

Seated Overhead BB Press:
45×20x2
65×12x1
85×12x1
105×12x3

Standing DB Press:
45×12x3

Cable Standing Shoulder Internal Rotation:
36×15x4

Front Plate Raise:
45×12x3

Seated Cable Row:
156×10x1
180×10x1
204×5x1
228×5x1
252×10x1

Cable Rope Face Pulls:
100×15x1
120×15x1
150×15x3

Standing BB Curls:
65×12x1
85×12x1
105×5x1
125×5x1
145×5x3

Reverse BB Curls:
45×15x2
65×15x1
85×15x1
105×15x1 (PR)

Standing DB Curls:
40×12x3

Single-arm Hammer Curls:
50×10x1
70×10x1
90×10x1
110×10x2

Finger-tip Pullups:
bw x12×1

Elliptical:
23 minutes

+ stretching

Duration: 60 minutes

Well it’s been a while since I did any KB work, so I felt like starting this deload week with some swings. 360 reps with the 53 in 12 minutes - very nice considering the layoff from kb work. That is also a best for total reps in 12 min with the 53. I recovered within a minute of my last set, so cardio still seems to be where I left it at a few weeks ago.

Swings - 12-minutes continuous - 53lb bell used - 360 total reps:
40reps, 30 seconds rest x9

+ stretching

Duration: 15 minutes