Martin's odyssey to become not as weak.

[martin_mathers]

Bench
Only worked up to 345 for 2 singles. Was feeling very fatigued so I didn't go for 355. I was surprised that 345 still moved pretty easily.

Then i fooled around with some dead benches at chest level and floor presses. Also did some upper body assistance work with bands.
I've been doing high volume with over 90% 3x a week for 4 weeks now. So i guess its makes sense to feel the fatigue settling in. I'll wrap this week up as an easier week and start another 4-week phase.

Instead of going heavy every time, i'll do light triples on monday, heavy doubles on wednesday and heavy triples on saturday. On days where i do heavy doubles, i'll try to double the same weight that i did for singles for the past 4 weeks. Last phase i started with 335 for singles, so next week i'll start with 335 for doubles and add 5lbs each week. And for days where i do triples, i'll feel out what weight i should use on the fly.

[martin_mathers]

Deadlift
135x2x5
225x4
315x2
405x1
455x1
475x1
495x1
Heaviest i've gone since October i think. this actually felt pretty good. Just a little bit of discomfort in the glute, and it went up pretty fast. So i don't think i've lost much strength in the deadlift. I'm still dropping most of my deadlifts at the top though, because the eccentric part is where it would usually hurt the most in my glute even if i hold on to the weight and lower it really fast.

Stiff legged deads
135x10
225x5
225x5
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x5
these made my hammies feel good. gave my glute a good stretch too.

Chest supported rows
5x12

Very happy with the 495 today. Went up fast. Finally feel like I'm not a pathetic weak pussy even though i kinda still am.
The gf also pulled 225x1, 195x5 then 135x12. All PR's. Very proud that she pulled 225 after just 2 months of training. She's gonna pull 3 plates very soon! Watch out Izzy lol.

[izzygrant]

haha I saw it on ******** and just posted congrats in my log saying pretty much the same thing it took me a little longer so yeah, she should be on track for 3 in a year or so.

deconditioned 495 with a bum glute is not bad at all. I still think you should be more proactive in rehab but what do I know

[martin_mathers]

haha I saw it on ******** and just posted congrats in my log saying pretty much the same thing it took me a little longer so yeah, she should be on track for 3 in a year or so.

deconditioned 495 with a bum glute is not bad at all. I still think you should be more proactive in rehab but what do I know

yea she's still on dat noob gainz time. hope it doesn't slow down!

for my knees I'm icing them every day and i started taking cissus lol. Theres like none in any of the supplement stores, had to order from canadianprotein.com. and for my glute i really don't know what kinda rehab to do other than not squatting at all, stretching the hell out of it and doing stiff legged deads..maybe theres some kinda band work that you know?

[martin_mathers]

Saturday Bench Day

Bench
Worked up to
295x3
295x3
305x3
305x3
310x3
310x3
310x3
310x3
305x3
305x3

Close grip paused bench
225x8
225x8
225x8
225x8

Stand DB OHP
6x12

Facepulls
3x30

Curls
4x12

Meh. Felt shiitty.

[martin_mathers]

Did 6 triples with 305 for bench on Monday. Kept the rest between sets to a minimum. Also did upper back and ab work.

I have a four-day weekend coming up and im going to Montreal with the babe. So no training on Friday and Saturday. I'm going to deadlift today and bench tomorrow. And maybe sneak in another bench day on monday on our way back from Montreal. I'm thinking about going kinda heavy today too. Last Friday i worked up to 495, today im thinking 515. Still pussy weight but i gotta work my way back up.

[martin_mathers]

Deadlift
135x10
225x5
315x2
405x1
455x1
495x1
Stopped there. Went up easy again but felt a little bit of tightness in the glute. So i thought the smart thing would be to shut it down. I was still happy with this though cause i know when my glute is at 100%, it'll just take me 4-6 weeks to work back up to my PR.

Bench
worked up to
325x2
330x2 Tied PR
330x2
330x2
330x2
volume PR

Close grips
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
225x8
235x8
245x8

didnt do any assistance stuff. Gonna do some OHP and bodybuilding ****gy shiit today.

[izzygrant]

you'll wanna order cissus off the internet anyway, it's way too expensive in stores.

my glute rehab stuff is mostly to build a relatively weak glute med but includes side clam, side lying leg raises, banded lateral kickbacks, glute bridges, barbell hip thrusts, bird dogs. stretches include taking a lacrosse ball to it, yoga and piriformis/it band stretches.

nice benching. you gonna hit a real PR soon?

[martin_mathers]

you'll wanna order cissus off the internet anyway, it's way too expensive in stores.

my glute rehab stuff is mostly to build a relatively weak glute med but includes side clam, side lying leg raises, banded lateral kickbacks, glute bridges, barbell hip thrusts, bird dogs. stretches include taking a lacrosse ball to it, yoga and piriformis/it band stretches.

nice benching. you gonna hit a real PR soon?

yea i've been taking 6 pills per day. Honestly i havent noticed much difference yet but i only started like a week ago.
and for my glute i do all the stretching and lacrosse ball stuff too. maybe i should try some direct glute work too. i do GHR's every now and then but i only feel it in my hammies never my glute lol

i was gonna do a peaking cycle and go for 375 at the end of the month but i cant find a reason to test my max yet. i think i'll just keep building volume and get a way stronger base. so when i test i'll hit a HUGE pr!

[martin_mathers]

Back from a 4-day vacation in Montreal. Did a ton of walking and swimming (floating in water). Still stopped by the gym on our way back home though.

Bench
worked up to
295x3
305x3
310x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
225x15

Chest supported rows
4x12

GHR's against black band
4x10

Ab wheel
3x12

Lat pulldown
3x15

Took it easy today. Bench was going fast and easy despite sitting in a car for 5+ hours. My lower body was stiff as fuuck though. Good thing im a bench only *******/occasional deadlifter right now.

[martin_mathers]

Squat
barx bunch
135x bunch
225x bunch
275x1
Just wanted to see how everything would feel under the bar. I was using a wide stance and sat back as much as i could, just like how i used to squat back in 2012. Knees didnt hurt at all but glute pain was still there. I also tried squatting with a close stance like how i normally would squat and it actually hurt my glute even more and my knees too cause theres more knee travel.

I'm starting to think that taking time off completely from squats is making the situation worse. Maybe I'll start squatting light and making my glute stronger cause its weak as fuuck right now. I'll probably take most of my squats to a box though. Brb switching to Westside.

Bench
barx20
135x2x10
225x5
275x3
295x2
315x2
325x2
335x2 PR Double
275x5x5
Finally hit an actual PR on a lift. It was ugly though. I hit the safety pin on the right on my 2nd rep and it threw me off. Slowed down on the lockout. But i did go kinda heavy on Monday so i'll take it. Next week i'm gonna go for the same weight again and try to get a smooth 335x2.

Standing OHP
5x5
so pathetically weak

Curls
3x12

Facepulls
3x25

[martin_mathers]

HAAAIII GUUUIIISSSE

Haven't been logging at all since i got back to school. But I've actually been training Westside the past month or so. Figured it'd be the best way for me right now to still train my squats heavy every week and not hurt my glute even more.

Bench training is going great right now. Been PR'ing almost every week. Some recent PR's: 345 close grip, 340 Dead bench at chest level, 345 floor press. ME wide grip bench tomorrow. Also loving the dynamic work. 12 triples every week with bands or chains.

I haven't done a free squat yet. Been only doing box squats. But now i'm able to do all my box squats to a below parallel box whereas 2 months ago i could only squat to a high box. Im guessing box squats are supposed to be harder than free squats because the heaviest i've done was only 415 with a regular bar and 410 with an SSB. They really strengthen my hamstrings and glutes though, especially now I'm squatting wide. For dynamic days I'm also only doing box squats, either with a regular bar or an SSB. I'll start to slowly incorporate free squats into my dynamic days. I think that would be the best way to start free squatting again, instead of starting with free squats on ME days.

I only deadlifted heavy once about a week ago. And surprisingly i worked up to a 545 pull easily with no glute pain. And it actually tied my PR with a non-deadlift bar. The last time i had pulled over 500 was in October 2013. I've only been doing deads on dynamic days. I think all the box squatting has been strengthening my deadlifting muscles again. And I'm very happy that my deadlift is pretty much back to where it was.

For now i'll only do an ME Deadlift day once a month, with a different variation of the deadlift each time. Going to stick with box squats and maybe pin squats for ME Squat days. If my free squats on dynamic days go well and pain free, i'll try doing free squats on my ME days.

[martin_mathers]

ME Wide Grip Bench (Middle finger on rings)
barx20
135x2x8
225x2x4
275x3
295x1
315x1
325x1
335x1
345x1
350x1 PR. Not a super grinder and i probably had 10 more pounds in me. This is only 5lbs off my comp grip PR. Very happy with this. Im a lot less explosive off my chest with this wide grip. Last time i did wide grips i only worked up to 315 and it felt awkward as fuuck.
Paused wide grips
275x5x5

DB Bench
4x10

Facepulls
4x20

Pushdowns
4x15

DB Curl
4x12

Good day. Bench is definitely getting stronger.

[NorthStrong]

howmuchyabench?

ABOUT

TREE

FIDDEH

nice work mang

[martin_mathers]

howmuchyabench?

ABOUT

TREE

FIDDEH

nice work mang

Thanks bro bro. now that i have wide gripped 350, its safe to say that on any given day, i can bench
BOUT

TREE

FIDDEH


DE Squat/DL

SSB Box Squat
barx10
160x2x5
250x3
280x2
300x10x2
320x1
340x1
Today was the last and heaviest week of my 3-week wave for dynamic sq/dl. And i was faster than the previous two weeks which was why i worked up in weight a little.

Deficit pulls vs blue band
up to
335x10x2
also felt very fast

Reverse Hyper
4x10

Ab wheel
3x12

Lat pulldown
3x12

For my next 3-week DE wave I'm going to do free squats with chains and deads from floor with chains. I hope my glute holds up on the free squats.

The gf also squatted 145 for 4 sets of 5, then pulled 235x3 and 210x5. Getting strong(her)!

[martin_mathers]

DE Bench

Bench + 80lbs chains
up to
205x12x3

Tates
4x10

Side raises
4x12

Curls
3x12

back to bands next week.

[martin_mathers]

ME Squat/DL

Low Box Squat with Regular Bar
barx10
135x2x5
225x2x3
315x2
365x2
385x1
405x1 knees and IT band were killing me so i stopped here. I didn't really plan on working up to a max/PR anyways.
365x4x3 Wanted to do a bit of volume work. After not training the squat for a while, I don't really have a base to work off of right now. So I won't be working up to a max/grinder on my ME squat days for now. I'll just work up to a heavy-ish single and do some back off sets to build a base again.

T-bar rows
5x10

Reverse Hyper
4x10

GHR
3x10

Pulldown abs
4x20

coming back one step at a time..

[NorthStrong]

GJDM, nice to see that you're not so dead that you can't skwat anymore. Good idea on building up a volume base. I'm also going to be doing a lot of bodybuildingish volume chit after my meet to GFH

[martin_mathers]

GJDM, nice to see that you're not so dead that you can't skwat anymore. Good idea on building up a volume base. I'm also going to be doing a lot of bodybuildingish volume chit after my meet to GFH

thanks brah, at least i can train the squat 2x a week now without much pain.

ME Bench

Floor Press with chains
barx20
135x8
135+80chains x8
185+80chains x5
225+80chains x3
255+80chains x2
265+80chains x1
275+80chains x1
285+80chains x1 PR. Got the weight off the floor rather quickly but it was a major BITCH to lock out.
225+80chains x5x2sets
230+80chains x5x3sets

DB Bench
4x10

Tri Pushdowns
4x15

Facepulls
4x20

Too lazy to do biceps.

[izzygrant]

Don't you know curls are the key to a big bench

[martin_mathers]

Don't you know curls are the key to a big bench

lol but srsly so many people neglect bi's. People at school ask me all the time how to get a big bench and the first thing i tell them is always "get bigger arms".

DE Squat/DL

DE Free Squat
barx3x10
135x3x5
185x2x3
225x2x2
245x10x2
First time training the free squat in god knows how long. I was gonna put some chains or bands on but since I hadn't done a free squat in so long i thought i'd just keep everything super easy. I did feel some pain in my glute but the weight was too light so all my sets were super fast. I really don't know if i'll ever be able to squat without pain in my glute again lol. Maybe if I start training the free squat again it'll get better. Im keeping it very light though.

DE Deads with chains
135x5
225x3
225+80chains x2
315+80chains x2
325+80chains x10x2
345+80chains x1
365+80chains x1
385+80chains x1
405+80chains x1
Worked up a little bit since i didn't do much for squats. Very fast even for 405+chains. Deads been feeling very strong. All beltless too

Lat pulldown
4x15

Reverse Hyper
4x10

[bassinyoface]

started training bi's again about a month ago.

now able to bench 315 for reps and paused! whereas before it was only 295 for 3...changed nothing else! arms got bigger too!!

curls fo da gurls (and da bench!)

[martin_mathers]

started training bi's again about a month ago.

now able to bench 315 for reps and paused! whereas before it was only 295 for 3...changed nothing else! arms got bigger too!!

curls fo da gurls (and da bench!)

mah niigggggaaaaaaaaa
hows the firefighting life treatin ya

DE Bench

DE Bench against doubled red minis
worked up to
205x12x3

Tates
4x10

Side raises
4x10

Curls
4x12

[bassinyoface]

mah niigggggaaaaaaaaa
hows the firefighting life treatin ya

DE Bench

DE Bench against doubled red minis
worked up to
205x12x3

Tates
4x10

Side raises
4x10

Curls
4x12

firefighting is amazing. Living the dream everyday brother; its the best job in the world!

glad to see your training around your glute issues. How is the healing coming along? any projections for a full meet?

[martin_mathers]

firefighting is amazing. Living the dream everyday brother; its the best job in the world!

glad to see your training around your glute issues. How is the healing coming along? any projections for a full meet?

That's great man. I might do the CPF Open in Newmarket in October if Im healthy by then. If not i might even go push/pull or bench only.

[bassinyoface]

That's great man. I might do the CPF Open in Newmarket in October if Im healthy by then. If not i might even go push/pull or bench only.

Good stuff brother! I hope it all works out for you and that you can get back on the platform ASAP!

[martin_mathers]

Good stuff brother! I hope it all works out for you and that you can get back on the platform ASAP!

Are you gonna do a meet anytime soon?


ME Squat/DL

ME SSB Low Box Squat
barx2x5
160x2x5
250x2x3
300x2
320x2
340x2
360x2
370x2
375x2
340x3
350x3
This fuucking exercise is so goddamn hard especially done on a low box. It just basically destroyed my back. It rounded me so much that its like i got completely out of position even though i was trying so fuucking hard to stay upright.

T-bar rows
5x12

Reverse hypers
4x10

Lat pulldown
3x15

Ab wheel
3x12

Im slowly grasping the concept of box squatting. Before i would try to sit back but as the weight got heavier i would just go up and down and rely on my quads. Today i sat back and paused on the box properly and it definitely made it even harder.
I've been doing all my box squats to a low box which puts me right below parallel. I've read lots of Westside articles saying you should vary your box height. I see really no point in going anything higher than below parallel. Maybe if i feel stupid i'll go even lower. But definitely not higher. Squatting to a parallel box makes it so much easier.

[bassinyoface]

Are you gonna do a meet anytime soon?


ME Squat/DL

ME SSB Low Box Squat
barx2x5
160x2x5
250x2x3
300x2
320x2
340x2
360x2
370x2
375x2
340x3
350x3
This fuucking exercise is so goddamn hard especially done on a low box. It just basically destroyed my back. It rounded me so much that its like i got completely out of position even though i was trying so fuucking hard to stay upright.

T-bar rows
5x12

Reverse hypers
4x10

Lat pulldown
3x15

Ab wheel
3x12

Im slowly grasping the concept of box squatting. Before i would try to sit back but as the weight got heavier i would just go up and down and rely on my quads. Today i sat back and paused on the box properly and it definitely made it even harder.
I've been doing all my box squats to a low box which puts me right below parallel. I've read lots of Westside articles saying you should vary your box height. I see really no point in going anything higher than below parallel. Maybe if i feel stupid i'll go even lower. But definitely not higher. Squatting to a parallel box makes it so much easier.

I was going to do that meet in Newmarket but I am not going to compete until next year.I am on probation and if I get hurt they'll fire me. After a year I'm clear and I will be back on the platform. I am dying to compete at RUM so I'm working hard and slowly but surely chiselling away at a RUM worthy total

[martin_mathers]

I was going to do that meet in Newmarket but I am not going to compete until next year.I am on probation and if I get hurt they'll fire me. After a year I'm clear and I will be back on the platform. I am dying to compete at RUM so I'm working hard and slowly but surely chiselling away at a RUM worthy total

Big man with big goals. I ain't even thinking that far yet..just wanna get that motherfuucking 1500 total already.


ME Bench

Swiss Bar Bench (Rogue MG-1 Bar)
60x2x10
150x2x10
200x5
240x4
260x2
270x2
280x1
290x1
300x1
310x0 Fail. Bar was still going up but i thought i was gonna dump the weight on my face. This bar is super hard to control and its basically ALL triceps due to the neutral grip. I normally like to flare my elbows a little at the top but with this bar i couldn't really flare cause of the grip. My triceps are my weakness though so I'll probably use this bar again on an ME day in the future. You know what they say..Train the stuff you suck at!

Regular Bench
275x5x5
Yep, the swiss bar definitely killed my triceps.

Pushdowns
4x20

Side raises
4x12

Dips
2x20

[bassinyoface]

pshhh you'll get there before me brah!

beast benching as usual!