Category: Uncategorized

1/4 – Deadlift 3’s

Totally annihilated today’s workout. Target was 585×3, so I settled for a pretty easy 12-rep PR effort. Had 3-4 reps left in the tank, but called it good. The flu bug is on its way out and I don’t want to stress the CNS too much yet. Moved on to shrugs and set a new PR there as well. Proceeded to pinch my ring fingers between plates when racking the plates in the excitement afterwards and now have two heavily bruised and swollen finger tips. Finished with ab-rollouts superset with hanging leg raises. Killer workout. Feeling really good about my deadlift right about now.

Deadlift:
245x12x1
335x3x1
455x3x1
520x3x1
585x12x1 (PR)

Shrugs:
225x12x1
315x12x1
405x12x1
495x5x1
585x5x1
675x5x1
735x8x1 (PR)

Ab Roll-outs (superset with hanging leg raises):
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1

Hanging Leg Raises:
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1

+ stretching

Duration: 70 minutes

1/2 – Push Press 3’s

Start of a new 3-5-1 cycle, and start of a new year. Good stuff. My body is fending off a nasty flu virus, so I wasn’t sure how today’s workout would go, but it usually seems that I perform well when feeling like complete crap. Warmups and first 2 work sets were cake, despite the ‘sloshy head’ feeling. Absolutely destroyed 230 for 8 reps – PR there. Had a handful more left in me, but the light-headed-ness/nausea kicked in and I almost fell over when I locked out the 8th rep. Called it good and racked it. Dips and chins went well. Had some nice vertigo going from the repeated up-down motions, but made it through. Stuck with bodyweight chins/pull-ups, but used a different grip for each set to keep things interesting (various hammer, overhand and underhand grips @ diff widths). Finished with a high rep set of reverse lateral/iron crosses. A favorite movement of mine for the delts.

Push Press:
135x12x1
155x3x1
180x3x1
205x3x1
230x8x1 (PR)

Dips:
+35x15x1
+35x15x1
+35x15x1
+35x15x1
+35x15x1

Chins/Pull-ups:
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x15x1

Reverse Laterals / Iron Crosses:
20x70x1

+ stretching + yoga (30min)

Duration: 90 minutes

12/30 – Bench Deload

Quick incline deload. Nothing crazy here. Looking forward to hitting the heavy stuff again next week.

Incline Bench Press:
135x12x1
155x12x1
175x12x1

Flat DB Press:
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1
55x10x1

Wide-grip Pulldowns:
157x10x1
157x10x1
157x10x1
157x10x1
157x10x1

DB Curls (3sec negatives):
25x12x1
25x12x1
25x12x1

BB Curls (3sec negatives):
55x10x1
55x10x1

+ stretching

Duration: 25 minutes

12/28 – Squat & Deadlift Deload

Another nice deload workout. I’ve been ‘craving’ zercher squats for assistance work so I added in some full rom atg zercher squats today and will keep them around during this next cycle. Did the deadlifts ‘conventional’ today to mix things up as well.

Squats:
135x12x1
225x5x1
285x5x1
340x5x1

Deadlift:
255x5x1
320x5x1
385x5x1

ATG Zercher Squats:
225x12x1
315x12x1

+ stretching

Duration: 30 minutes

12/23 – Squat 5-3-1

Merry Squatmas! Nice squatting session before christmas, and to end the year (deload next week). 575×2 marks a new 2rm PR. Target single for 5-3-1 was 545, but that was cake and decided to go for the 2rm PR. Previous was @ 560. 545×4 would have been a rep pr as well and I know I could have smoked that. 600 is around the corner again. Also set a PR on single-leg leg extensions. Brutal stuff. Entire stack – one leg. Finished with light tricep and hamstring work, and some ab stuff.

Squats:
135x12x1
315x5x1
425x5x1
480x3x1
545x1x1
575x2x1 (PR)

Paused ATG Squats (3s pause at bottom of each rep):
405x6x1

Single-leg Leg Extensions:
150x8x1
190x8x1
230x8x1
270x8x1
305x8x1 (PR)

Leg Extensions (super set behind last set of single legs):
305x15x1

Lying Hamstring Curls:
125x12x1
125x12x1
125x12x1
125x12x1
125x12x1

Tricep Pushdowns (various single-arm variants, no rests):
30x12x1
30x12x1
30x12x1
30x12x1
30x12x1
30x12x1
30x12x1

Ab Roll-outs:
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1

Hanging Leg Lifts:
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1

Hammer Chins w/ Legs lifted/extended straight out:
bw x15x1

+ stretching

Duration: 70 minutes

12/21 – Incline Bench 5-3-1

Another good workout. Could have had an easy reps PR with 270 (the target ‘single’ for the day), but opted to keep adding weight and push things move. Came within 5lbs of my 1rm and could have had that, but probably not much more. Tied previous 300×2 pr afterwards. I’ve been having some nerve issues with my left trap/neck from driving so much, and that hindered pressing a bit today, but not a big deal. Moved on to flat db presses – kept volume low due to the nerve thing, but felt pretty strong. Rows were cake.

Incline Bench Press:
135x36x1
155x5x1
175x5x1
215x5x1
240x3x1
270x3x1
290x1x1
300x1x1
310x1x1
300x2x1 (PR)

Flat DB Bench:
100x8x1
120x5x1
130x7x1

BB Rows:
255x10x1
255x10x1
255x10x1
255x10x1
305x15x1

+ stretching

Duration: 60 minutes

12/19 – Deadlift 5-3-1

Dominated deadlifts tonight. Super strong and bested my previous 10 rep PR by 20lbs. Been wanting 600+x10 for a while now. Did some olympic-style GMs, ab rollouts, and curls to finish.

Deadlift:
245x12x1
335x5x1
425x5x1
480x5x1
545x3x1
605x10x1 (PR)

Olympic GMs:
225x12x1
225x12x1
225x12x1
225x12x1
225x12x1

Single-arm Hammer Curls:
75x8x1
110x8x1
130x8x1
150x12x1 (PR)
80x15x1

Ab Roll-outs:
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1
bw x12x1

+ stretching + yoga (40 min)

Duration: 120 minutes

12/17 – Push Press 5-3-1

Real strong pressing today. Felt like I could put 240 through the roof. Stopped at 5 reps but could have had more – wanted to go heavier. Only rested a minute or so before going after 260 as I was pressed for time and I just ran out of steam. With proper pacing I could get a few more. Dips and chins were great. No complaints from elbow/forearms today. In and out in 35min.

Push Press:
135x12x1
185x5x1
215x3x1
240x5x1 (PR)
260x3x1 (PR)

Hammer Chins (superset with dips):
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x8x1

Dips:
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x8x1
+50x12x1

Single-arm Pushdowns:
80x12x1

Rope Pushdowns:
50x20x1
50x20x1
50x20x1

OH Rope Extensions:
50x20x1
50x20x1
50x20x1

+ stretching

Duration: 35 minutes