Stealth's Workout Journal

Good workout. Skipped squats today to give my hip some rest and just focused on bench. The elbows hampered pressing a bit, but still hit everything I wanted. Good rep work with the slingshot after paused bench.

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x3x1
340x2x1
340x2x1
340x2x1
340x2x1
320x3x1
320x3x1

Slingshot Bench Press:
320x10x1
340x10x1
360x10x1
380x10x1
405x8x1 (PR)

Neutral Grip Paused Flat DB Bench:
60x8x1
60x8x1
70x8x1
80x8x1
90x8x1

Pec Flye Machine:
120x10x1
120x10x1
120x10x1
120x10x1

Seated Curl Machine:
75x12x1
100x12x1
75x12x1

Concentration Curl:
55x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x10x1
25x12x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Good session. Pretty bloated from overeating yesterday, but the extra day of rest was nice. Hip was still bothering me on squats, but I did the 4 doubles @ 465 easily (done in 5 minutes). I was pressed for time so I did all my bench work, except the last triple @ 320, touch and go. I was pleased to easily hit that paused triple @ 320 on my 6th set with it. Seated GMs were easy, and I superset them with the sets of 6 @ 280 on bench. Leg curls and shoulder press assistance sets were done with 10-15s rest between sets. Did more wall squat stretches – hips are liking those.

ATG Squat:
275x3x1
325x3x1
385x3x1
435x3x1
465x2x1
465x2x1
465x2x1
465x2x1

Bench Press (touch and go):
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
280x6x1
280x6x1
280x6x1
280x6x1

Seated GMs:
225x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1

Lying Leg Curl:
100x6x1
100x6x1
100x6x1
100x6x1
100x6x1
100x6x1

Shoulder Press Machine:
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1
150x10x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Good workout. Bench was easy. Tried some rack pulls today to see how the forearm would handle them. Overhand grip is still out – hurts with just 225 on the bar. Underhand grip was ok though so I did that. No crazy weights but it felt good to do some form of pull. I did some wall squats for stretching afterwards (sumo stance against a wall, trying to squat deep as possible while keeping groin close to wall as possible) to help loosen my hips up.

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x6x1
240x5x1
280x4x1
280x4x1
300x3x1
300x3x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
300x3x1
300x3x1
280x5x1
240x12x1
200x15x1

Rack Deadlift (bar @ mid-knee):
135x10x1
225x10x1
315x10x1
405x10x1
315x10x1
225x10x1

Incline Bench Press:
225x10x1
225x10x1
225x10x1
245x10x1
245x10x1

Seated Leg Extension:
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1

Decline Ab Crunch:
+15x10x1
+15x10x1
+15x10x1

Wide-grip Pulldown:
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1

Standing Band Abduction:
red x50x1
red x50x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 75 minutes

I was a bit nervous going into this workout, being that it calls for the heaviest weights on bench for the entire training block. The day off from benching last Friday helped, as my elbow was not feeling too achy (still has a ways to go before it is feeling 100%), and pressing felt real strong. The 40lb jump to 360 from 320 seemed daunting so I took an intermediary double at 340, which was easy. Ended up hitting the 3 doubles at 360 without any troubles. Only 10lbs off my paused 1rm PR, and I am pretty confident I could have done 375-380 today, even with the bad elbow.

After bench I gave squats a go. Hip was hurting a lot on warmups so I put on my single-ply briefs. These are meant for wide-stance squats/deads and not narrow stance squats and really messed with my dynamics, trying to pitch me forward on each rep while offering no rebound/assistance, but they kept my hip tight and that allowed me to push things a bit. 550 for a double is by no means special, but I was happy with it considering everything. Finished with some light curls and flyes, then some heavy-ish olympic GMs.

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x3x1
340x2x1
360x2x1 (PR)
360x2x1 (PR)
360x2x1 (PR)
320x4x1

ATG Squat:
275x3x1
325x3x1
385x3x1
435x2x1
495x2x1
550x2x1
495x2x1

Flat DB Flye:
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1

Olympic GMs:
225x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1
275x5x1

Single-arm Cable Curl:
20x12x1
20x12x1
20x12x1
20x12x1
20x12x1

Seated Curl Machine:
75x20x1
75x20x1
75x20x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 120 minutes

Craptastic workout. Had to shut down squats early as my right hip was absolutely killing me. Squats on Monday were awesome, but Monday night my hip started hurting quite a bit. Has not really bothered me at all since, but squats today just plain hurt. No sense in pushing through. I skipped bench, and pressing in general, today to allow my elbows to get some extra rest. Next week is going to be brutal (ie: heavy). Positive note for today was a PR on seated good mornings.

ATG Squat:
135x10x1
275x5x1
325x5x1
380x3x1

Seated Hamstring Curl:
100x10x1
150x10x1
200x10x1
200x10x1
200x10x1

Seated GMs:
225x5x1
275x5x1
325x5x1
375x5x1
405x5x1 (PR)

Wide-grip BTN Pulldown:
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1
150x10x1

Rope Face Pulls:
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1
80x10x1

Seated Curl Machine:
75x20x1
75x20x1
75x20x1
75x20x1

DB Hammer Curl:
50x10x1
45x10x1
40x10x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 40 minutes

Pretty good workout today. The sore elbow thing is getting really old. Not getting worse, not getting better. Just sore and achy. Really only bothers me at lockout. Regardless, bench went well today. Did my last double @ 320 touch and go and got 5 reps instead. That is fine with me. I still cannot really pick anything up over 100lbs with my left arm so no deads yet. Tried doing some light back movements, but they all still make the left forearm/elbow hurt. Annoying. I may skip bench on Friday (supposed to do 7 triples @ 320) and let the elbows get some extra rest.

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x5x1
280x4x1
280x4x1
300x3x1
300x3x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x5x1 (touch andgo)
300x3x1
300x3x1
280x5x1
280x5x1
240x7x1
200x10x1

Seated Chest Press Machine:
150x10x1
150x10x1

Pec Flye Machine:
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1

Seated Leg Extension:
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1
305x5x1

Kneeling Cable Crunch:
80x10x1
100x10x1
106x10x1
106x10x1

Single-arm Lat Pulldowns:
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1

Lat Row Machine:
50x10x1
100x10x1
150x10x1
200x10x1
200x10x1

Straight-arm Lat Pushdowns:
50x10x1
75x10x1
50x10x1
50x10x1
50x10x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Absolutely blasted through this workout. As hard as squats were on Friday, they were that easy today. Super fast bar speed today. Bench was a bit of a challenge since my elbows are still aching, and I could not wear sleeves due to having poison oak/ivy(?) on my left elbow, but still managed the 6 doubles at 320 with hardly any arching, with ease. Grateful that bench intensity is lower this week so things can recover a bit. Pushed the knees-locked GMs a bit.

ATG Squat:
135x10x1
275x5x1
325x4x1
380x3x1
380x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1

High-bar ATG Squat:
405x3x1
405x3x1
405x6x1

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x2x1

Incline Bench Press:
225x5x1
255x5x1
225x5x1
225x5x1
225x5x1

Paused Neutral-grip Flat DB Bench:
75x8x1
75x8x1
75x8x1
75x8x1
75x8x1

Standing Knees-locked GMs:
135x5x1
155x5x1
155x5x1
155x5x1
155x5x1

Duration: 90 minutes

This was a ridiculously tough workout. Squats were just slow and achy. Elbows and chest really sore – could barely pause and press 240 on bench. Switched to touch and go just to get through everything, but ended up doing 320 for 3 sets of 4 pretty handily. Really happy with that. Pushed seated GMs a bit: no problem.

ATG Squat:
135x10x1
275x5x1
325x4x1
380x3x1
380x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
465x2x1
465x2x1
465x2x1
465x2x1
405x3x1
405x3x1
405x3x1

Bench Press (touch and go):
200x5x1
240x4x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x4x1
320x4x1
320x4x1

Slingshot CG Bench:
275x6x1
275x6x1
275x6x1
275x6x1
275x6x1

Single-arm Reverse Pushdowns:
23x10x1
23x10x1
23x10x1
23x10x1
23x10x1

Single-arm Cable Curls:
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1
30x10x1

Seated GMs:
225x5x1
225x5x1
225x5x1
275x5x1
325x5x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

Mother of god this was a brutal workout. Tons of upper body soreness from Monday’s big bench workout so I knew today would be tough from the start. Everything felt heavy and those singles at 340 were tough. Absolutely no power off the chest so these pauses were ridiculously tough today. I managed to hit everything called for, and I was completely wiped out afterwards. Accessory work went well.

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x8x1
225x7x1
240x6x1
260x5x1
280x4x1
300x3x1
300x3x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
340x1x1
340x1x1
340x1x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
300x3x1
280x4x1
260x6x1
240x8x1
225x12x1
200x15x1

Seated Shoulder Press Machine:
100x10x1
125x10x1
125x10x1
125x10x1
150x10x1

Lying Hamstring Curl:
125x5x1
150x5x1
150x5x1
150x5x1
150x5x1
125x5x1

Standing Rope Cable Crunch:
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1
100x10x1

Standing Band Abduction:
red x20x1
red x20x1
red x20x1
red x20x1
red x20x1
red x20x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 90 minutes

First session of #40. A few notes for this cycle: my left forearm/elbow got tweaked during my last set (last rep actually) of deads during week 4 of #39. It does not bother me until I pick something up of decent weight and does not affect pressing. It also hurts holding the bar during high bar squats (that forward elbow rotation). As a result I am switching back to low-bar full squats for this cycle, and will not be doing any pulls until the elbow lets me.

That being said, today went well. Squats were easy. It felt nice going back to low-bar. Cruised through squats with ease, pausing each rep of my last set. Moved on to bench where I was feeling so solid that I benched without an arch until my 340 doubles, which ended up being pretty hard since the extra work needed on the archless bench reps is not something I am used to. Got everything done, though. Inclines were kept light, but they were still a workout. For the first time doing knees-locked GMs I considered adding weight…next time maybe.

ATG Squat:
135x10x1
275x5x1
325x4x1
380x3x1
380x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1
435x3x1

Paused Bench Press:
135x10x1
200x5x1
240x4x1
240x4x1
280x3x1
280x3x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
340x2x1
340x2x1
340x2x1
320x3x1
320x3x1
300x4x1
300x4x1
300x4x1

Incline Bench Press:
225x10x1
225x10x1
225x10x1
225x10x1
225x10x1

Strict GMs:
135x5x1
135x5x1
135x5x1
135x5x1
135x5x1

Seated Leg Extension:
305x6x1
305x6x1
305x6x1
305x6x1
305x12x1

Band Pull-Aparts:
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1
red x50x1

Duration: 120 minutes