Unleashing the beast, one rep at a time ... and other mischief

[lilOwl]

Two years after first setting foot inside a gym I am finally stepping up my game and making this my corner of the web where I plan on tracking all my workouts, KGs lifted and tears shed as I try to unleash my inner beast and become an even stronger badass.

After struggling with my self image for far too long I made a decision that if I was ever going to truly accept my body, I should love it for all the awesome **** it can do and not for what it looks like. Ever since then, I've been on a quest to become as strong as possible while trying to keep my sanity. Putting performance goals first has helped me gain confidence in myself, a strong discipline and work ethic I honestly never thought I had in me.

For the past year I have been focusing on gaining strength and have been following a 5/3/1 inspired split where I focuse on the main four lifts and supplement them with accessory work. I am currently still on linear progression and will stick to it for as long as it keeps working for me. Although I hope to compete in PL one day I definitely do not train as a typical powerlifter. I do what works for me and I love it - from day one I have never experienced lack of motivation for the gym and getting ready to wage war on the iron still makes me ridiculously happy every single day.

Current 1 RMs:

OHP 37.5kg
BP 60kg
SQ 95kg
DL 110kg

My goal till the end of June 2013 is to get a 300kg total on DL, SQ and BP. Optimistic? Probably. But I'll be damned if I don't give it my best.

Today's training log: SQUAT DAY

Squat
bar x10
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 4
80kg x 2
90kg x 4,4
85kg x 5,5

Glute bridge
80kg x 10,10,10,10

Leg press
160kg x 10
180kg x 10
200kg x 10
230kg x 6,8,8

Box squat
85kg x 8,8,8

Leg extensions x Lying leg curls
56kg/30kg x 8/12, 8/12, 8/12

Finished off with 30 mins of LISS. LOTR was on so whatever, a bit of incline walking never killed anyone lol.

[lilOwl]

After getting my ass properly kicked by squats I decided to take the day off yesterday and went into the gym fully expecting to kill it today. Wrong. I can't even recall the last time my workout felt this weak. Just a couple of sests into my workout I knew I wasn't going to move any serious weight around, so I just decided to go for a bunch of supersets. It sucked but I decided to push through anyway - as much as I love to whine and b*tch, I'm definitely not a quitter. A halfassed workout but a workout nonetheless ...

OVERHEAD PRESS DAY

OHP
bar x 10
25kg x 6
30kg x 4
35kg x 2,1,2,1,2

OHP x Narrow grip underhand pulldown
30kg/80kg x 6/6, 5/5, 5/5

Seated shoulder DB press x Narrow grip underhand pulldown
16kg DBs/70 kg x 6/6, 6/6, 6/6

Rear delt flyes (pec dec) x Incline barbell BP x DB lat raises
50kg/35kg/8kg DBs x 8/8/8, 8/8/8, 8/8/8

Tricep rope pulldowns
40kg/ 8,6,6

Meh. I've had better. Hoping my next DL day will be that much more awesome.

[lilOwl]

If there's one bodypart I never experience DOMS in it's shoulders abut boy did those puppies hurt yesterday ... and today. Almost to the point of cramping. Ouch.


DEADLIFT DAY

DL
bar x 10
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
110kg x FAIL
105kg x 1
100kg x 1

Narrow grip neutral pulldown
55kg x 8,8,8,8

Front squat x DB rows
45kg/24kg DBs x 5/8, 5/8, 5/8

T bar rows
40kg (+bar) x 10,10,10

EZ curls
22kg x 10,8,8


Went into the gym prepared to go for the last PR of 2012 but unfortunately it seems like I won't be finishing this year with a bang. I felt sluggish, drained and tired with a side of headache which didn't go away even after a few sets into my workout, so I knew something was up. My rests were far longer than usually and I could barely get through the exercises. I was planning on doing more volume at 100kg but nope, no way, it felt like my back was on fire so I decided to not be stupid about it and leave it for my next session. Was fighting to get through the whole workout I had in mind but eventually decided to throw in the towel since I truly felt like a pile of poo.

After heading home I was already feeling feverish and it looks like I might be down with something worse than just the usual chronic laziness syndrome. Boo. On the bright side tho, I'm glad I am able to pull over 100kg even feeling like sh*t and with a fever. Things might be looking up?

[lilOwl]

The last few days have been spent bumming around feeling sorry for myself. I was able to get away with just some sneezing, an ongoing headache and muscle soreness which is definitely a win - usually I would end up in bed for at least a week (yes, a weakling right here!). I woke up feeling pretty damn pumped today so I decided to get my sweat on. Not doing any heavy lifting yet today but this one still managed to kick my ass back into gear.


Mountain climbers
10x10 with 20 sec rest in between
repeat x3

Followed by 40 minutes of climbing the stairs with 10kg worth of weights in my backpack. My calves were burning like hell throughout. Walking should be fun tomorrow.

[lilOwl]

Felt pumped to lift today yet at the same time felt blah about the post-holiday fluff I am currently carrying around. Damn mirrors lol. Did my best not to focus on that though and my bench felt strong today, solid and I could have gone up on the weight as well but decided not to because I don't want to overdo it just a few days after feeling rundown. Depending on how my next BP session goes, I think it might be time to go after a new PR soon.

The gym was also packed today which was a good reminder why I usually prefer to go in the earlier hours ... nothing like feeling rushed while you're trying to stay tight during your setup. It makes me far less focused with so many people around. I've been making it a point to always go through a mental checklist on my bench setup, since I still feel like I have ways to go on it. I feel like it's the most technically challenging lift for me as I always seem to forget something. Either I don't use any leg drive at all, forget to squeeze the bar tight enough or don't keep my shoulderblades tucked enough. When I *do* get it all right though, I usually kill it. On that thought, I really need to make sure my next BP is a morning session.


BENCH DAY

bench
bar x 8
30kg x 6
40kg x 4
50kg x 2
55kg x 3,4,4
50kg x 4,4,4
40kg x 6 with 2 sec pause at the bottom

Wide grip lat pulldown
65kg x 6,6,6

Incline DB press
20kg DBs x 6,6
18kg DBs x 6,6

Face pulls x Floor DB press
45kg/14kd DB x 10/8, 10/8, 10/8

Cable lat pullover x Close grip bench
55kg/35kg x 10/8, 10/6, 8/6

EZ curls x Skullcrushers
25kg x 8/10, 6/8, 6/8

Pec deck
55kg x 6,6,6
Dropset 5 x 45kg, 35kg, 25kg

[lilOwl]

So today was one of those WTF days at the gym when you can't help but wonder what goes through some people's heads ... I came into the squat rack, did my warm-up sets and just started my heavy sets as I see this 40-50something guy stopping between his smith-half-squats to stare at me while I squat. Whatever, I tried to ignore it, not the first guy ever to stare. However, just as I was taking a break this guy steps up to the next rack that already had a loaded bar with 110kg on it. He setup for a front squat, no safeties. After back squatting with two 20kg plates in the smith. Umm yeah ... So I was thinking this is something I have to see. The guy squats down, or maybe it wasn't really a squat, more like he gives in to the weight and literally sits down and cannot for the life of him get up even an inch. No one was paying attention to what this guy was doing so ok, I jumped behind this guy and helped him back up. He seemed totally flustered and I tell him that he might want to consider lowering his weight to like ... half his back squat and trying again if he really can't resist the urge to do it without safety pins. He was like "yeah, you're right, I haven't done this variation in a while, I'll just go down in weight". Ok, lesson learned, hopefully he gets it. So then I went across the gym to fill my water bottle and just as I was filling it up, I see him take off 10kg. Yes, a grand total of 10 kg. So he sets up with 100kg again, squats down and ofcourse, crashes under the bar like a freaking potato sack. So much WTF.

My squats on the other hand felt good today, was tempted to go up in weight on my heaviest sets but decided to pust it to next week's session. I am trying to steer clear of any failing on my main lifts since I don't want to end up screwing up my recovery. Plus I don't want to rush the weight up, I am really enjoying the fact that even my heavy sets have solid form and I want to keep it that way.

SQUAT DAY

Squat
bar x 8
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
70kg x 2
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
92,5kg x 1
90kg x 2, 1
85kg x 3, 2


Leg press
170kg x 10
190kg x 10
200kg x 8
220kg x 8, 6, 6

Box squat
85kg x 10, 10, 8, 8

Glute bridge
90kg x 10,10,10,10

One legged stiff DLs
24kg DB x 12
30kg DB x 8, 8

Leg extensions
63kg x 8, 8, 8

Glute kickbacks (on lying leg curl)
30kg x 12, 12, 15

Finished with 20 mins of incline walking while watching Karate kid. Managed to complete 20 minutes of cardio without even once thinking of cookies - definitely a PR

[TallDiuretic]

right on, repped!

[lilOwl]

^ Thanks for stopping by! Just doing my best ...

Yesterday was supposed to be an OFF day but the weather was nice so I figured I would just get some moderate cardio in. Well, the moderate cardio ended up being about 2 hours worth of very steep uphill hiking and another 2 hours back down again. So NOT what I had in mind after squats and my legs were so freaking sore the whole way up I just wanted to call it quits mid trail. The soreness went away almost completely as we were hiking back down again but it's been back full force today.

OVERHEAD PRESS DAY

OHP
bar x 10
22kg x 6
27kg x 4
32kg x 1
35kg x 2, 1
32kg x 3, 3, 2

Push press
32kg x 8, 7, 6

Narrow grip underhand pulldown
80kg x 5, 4, 4

Rear delt flyes (pec dec) x Incline barbell BP
50kg/37,5kg x 8/8, 8/8

Single handed DB upright row
12kg DB x 10, 8

repeat

Rear delt flyes (pec dec) x Incline barbell BP
50kg/37,5kg x 8/8, 8/8

Single handed DB upright row
12kg DB x 10, 8

Seated lateral raises (single handed)
3 sets of: 8kg DB x 8 + 6kg DB x 8

Tricep rope pulldowns
30kg/ 12, 10, 8

My neck felt really stiff and kind of sore today so some of the excercises didn't feel completely comfortable. I feel like it might be time for another deep tissue massage, haven't had one in forever because for some reason I just keep putting it off. I don't know why since they make me feel so much better and no more tightness sounds just about perfect right now ...

[lilOwl]

I was hoping to video my max on deadlifts today but the gym was just way too crowded for any of that and I could barely find enough space to even setup. I decided to throw in some deficit deadlifts today because I've noticed that my "sticking point" is basically on the floor. If I can get it up just an inch, I'm good, I always make the lift but if it's too heavy, it's not leaving the ground, period. I also feel like I'm not using nearly as much leg drive as I could (should?) since I'm short and I usually only feel it in my upper and lower back. I really need to learn how to activate my legs more and deficits seem to help me hit decent depth.

Oh and somehow I managed to pull my left glute. Not while lifting. While putting on my damn shoes actually. Kind of funny, in a ridiculous kind of way ... if it doesn't feel better by my next squat session, I sure as hell won't be laughing anymore tho.


DEADLIFT DAY

DL
bar x 8
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
70kg x 2
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
110kg x 1
105kg x 1, 1
100kg x 3, 3 (10 sec rest pause between reps)

Deficit deadlifts x Kroc rows
90kg/24kg DB x 5/8, 5/8

Plate loaded unilat. pulldown
50kg x 8, 8, 8

Front squat
50kg x 2 (lower back was cramping too bad, had to lower the weight)
40 kg x 5, 5, 5

Bent over BB rows (from deadstop on safeties, just below the knee)
40kg x 10, 10, 10

Good mornings on hack squat
35kg x 12, 12, 12

Seated cable row (one armed)
30kg x 6
25 kg x 8, 8

Neutral grip biceps curl
22kg x 8, 8, 6

[gobbles23]

Wow, awesome lifts in here!

[lilOwl]

^ Thanks gobbles, I still feel like a complete wuss sometimes lol!


My lower and upper back have been crazy sore from my last workout and on top of that I ended up killing my triceps yesteday because my mom got one of those big gym balls and I was feeling adventurous, so I decided that I was gonna fill it with one of those old school tire pumps. It took forever haha. And I totally forgot I had bench today ffs, so I already went into my workout with screaming tris. So much for planing lol. Anyway, this is how today went down ...

BENCH DAY

bench
bar x 10
30kg x 6
40kg x 4
50kg x 3
57,5kg x 3, 2, 3
55kg x 3, 3, 5
45kg x 5, 5 with 2 sec pause at the bottom

Wide grip lat pulldown
65kg x 6,6,6, 6

Pec dec x Hammer strength pullover
55kg/40 kg x 6/6, 6/6, 6/6

DB press:

Flat dropset 22kg DBs x 4, 20kg DBs x 4, 18kg DBs x 4
Incline dropset 20kg DBs x 4, 18kg DBs x 5, 16kg DBs x 6


Face pulls x Narrow grip bench
45kg/30kg x 10/10, 10/8, 10/8

Triceps kickbacks
10kg DB x 10, 10, 10

[lilOwl]

I didn't feel any pain in my glute today so I went ahead with my squats but my left hip flexor kept feeling really tight. It wasn't too bad but I wasn't able to loosen it up completely. Will have to do some more stretching, I actually hate how lazy I am when it comes to that. My workout was pretty much the same as last time other than the fact that I maxed out on squats again. I am thinking that if I can hit a few singles at my current max on my next sessions, I might be ready to go for 100kg soon. I seriously CANNOT wait for a two plate squat, that's been the goal for *so* long now.

Anyway, I've been doing box squats for a while now but the thing is that we don't really have a proper box to squat to, so I have to just use one of the adjustable benches. It's not too bad but the fact is I'm short, so it's not perfect because I basically only go down to exactly paralell on them. I really want to start doing low box squats though so I've been thinking maybe I could just improvise and stack up 3-4 big plates? Just one of the many genious ideas I get while sweating my face off on the leg press lol. Might have to try it out next time.

I was able to get my squats on video today, which I uploaded on my bodyspace as well, so if anyone has any CC, it's more than welcome.

SQUAT DAY

Squat
bar x 10
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
70kg x 2
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
95kg x 1
92,5kg x 1
90kg x 2, 1
85kg x 3, 3


Glute bridge x Leg press (2 sec down, 2 sec up)
90kg/160kg x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

Box squat
85kg x 8, 8, 8

Leg extensions (per leg) x One legged stiff DLs
28kg/30kg DB x 8/10, 8/8, 8/8

Glute kickbacks (on lying leg curl)
35kg x 10
40kg x 8
+ 45 sec slow negative lying leg curl @40kg

"Slut machine"
45kg x 10, 10, 10

[tina722]

Hi! Strong lifts - nice job! I'm in.


I looked at your video - I'm not the best for giving comments, you could put your video in the training section if you want. I thought your form was good. I would probably recommend against stepping back to rack it up though - seems like it would be too easy to miss and drop the bar.

and 100kg!! good luck!

[lilOwl]

^ Thanks, I appreciate the input! I agree that it's probably not the best to rack it backwards. The problem is the cage has this extra metal bar on the floor on the opposite side, so to unrack facing forward I wouldn't be able to actually position myself directly under the bar. I would have to go over my toes with my shoulders, so basically unracking it from a good morning, if that makes any sense? I can't imagine doing that with heavy weights, I'd probably crack in half lol. This should be a non-issue soon because I think I'm going to start doing squats facing the other way anyway since I rely on visual cues for depth too much, so bye-bye mirror. I need to learn to hit depth without it since I think I might enter a meet mid March. Or I might chicken out haha. Hopefully not

So I started today with an hour and a half of shoveling deep snow. I kept getting these baffled looks from drivers passing by the driveway, like they've never seen a woman shoveling snow before. Strong is the new dainty lol. By the looks of the weather forecast, this will be my choice of cardio throughout the whole week. Ugh.

[lilOwl]

OVERHEAD PRESS DAY

OHP
bar x 10
25kg x 8
30kg x 2
32,5kg x 1
35kg x 2, 1, 1
32,5kg x 2, 2, 2

Push press x chins
32,5kg/BW x 8/5, 8/5, 8/5

Narrow grip underhand pulldown
80kg x 3, 3, 3 (20 sec negatives on last reps)

Rear delt flyes (pec dec) x Incline barbell BP
50kg/37,5kg x 8/6, 8/6, 8/6

Seated DB shoulder press x EZ upright row
14kg DBs/30kg x 8/8, 8/8, 6/6, 6/6

Strict press from deadstop (safties, just below the chin)
20kg x 10, 10, 10


Single handed DB lat raises
per arm, 3 sets of: 10kg x 8 + 8kg x 6

Overhead tri extensions
10kg plate x 15, 15, 15


Took an extra day off yesterday as I just wasn't feeling it after all the snow shoveling and a day's worth of cleaning everything any anything around the house. Plus, I am feeling very meh on OHP lately, I don't feel any excitement for it since I keep stalling on it so much. I very rarely make any weight increases and the weight hardly feels any lighter week to week. Always heavy as hell. I will be throwing in more push presses in the future I think, see if it makes any difference. And probably some more volume after my heavy sets. Sigh.

[lilOwl]

Today was an otherwise OFF day for me but sometimes I still go to the gym and do some abs and calves on these days, as I pretty much never work them directly otherwise. Anyway, not the most exciting training days but I still enjoy them sometimes, they're like a deload day but still kinda productive lol. In other news, can't wait for deadlifts tomorrow!

Calves on leg press
75kg x 15
85kg x 12
95kg x 10
105kg x 8
115kg x 8, 8, 8
105kg x 8
95kg x 10
85kg x 12
75kg x 15

Hanging leg raises
8, 8, 8

Crunch machine
40kg x 12, 12, 12

Finished off with about 20 minutes of incline walking

[lilOwl]

DEADLIFT DAY

DL (all reps from deficit, no big plates, height of 10kg plates)
bar x 10
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
105kg x 1, 1
100kg x 3 (15 sec rest pause between reps)

90kg x 4, 3, 2, 1 (10 sec rest between reps)
SS with kroc rows
26kg DBs x 6, 6, 6, 6


Neutral narrow grip pulldown
60kg x 6, 6, 6
(static shoulder mobility stretches between sets)

Front squat x Pendlay rows
45kg/40kg x 5/10, 5/10, 5/10

Good mornings on hack squat
40kg x 10, 10, 10

EZ biceps curl
25kg x 8, 8, 8


No real observations today other than the fact that deficit deadlifts are still f*ing hard. And Pendlays felt slightly awkward since we don't have any freaking bumper plates, so the bar was still set a bit low even after I used plates to elevate it. I guess I just need to hurry the hell up and start doing 60kg .

[KellyP92]

Hello there !!

Your lifts are V strong ... amazing progress in 2012 !!
1RM's are SOLID

Will be following along

Just a question because I am nosy ...
What is your diet like? Calorie and macro wise? (if you track them at all ?)

[lilOwl]

Hey Kelly, thanks for dropping by! I'll be following your log as well since I just noticed you're doing 5/3/1 now, right?

In terms of diet I have never in the last 2 years done any proper bulking or cutting and any feeble attempt at doing either was just based on guesstimation about macro/calorie wise. I have been between 55-60kg this whole time so kind of a slow recomp. However, I've actually just decided to start nailing the nutrition part down as well and have been tracking everything for the last 4 days and I've basically been scraping my jaw off the floor. First thing that shocked me was that I have probably been under-eating on a regular basis (and by under-eating I mean grossly so). I've always felt like I was eating plenty but now that I've been tracking I've had to purposely add a bunch of stuff in just to be hitting 1700kcal. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that I was eating too *little*. The other thing that I was taken aback was how low my carbs have been (on the other hand, protein was really high) so now I'm consciously getting more in. I am basically going to shoot for 40/40/20 now, I think. I will determine calories after tracking and slowly increasing over time, since my laziness has been preventing me from actually calculating them At least I'm heading in the right direction lol.

Admittedly, I have put way too little effort into the nutrition aspect of my training, other than making sure I was always getting enough protein in. I still have A LOT of room to grow in that department so hopefully the only way is up from now on. My goal atm is to slowly lower BF % while gaining strength, which is optimistic, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

[KellyP92]

Hey Kelly, thanks for dropping by! I'll be following your log as well since I just noticed you're doing 5/3/1 now, right?

In terms of diet I have never in the last 2 years done any proper bulking or cutting and any feeble attempt at doing either was just based on guesstimation about macro/calorie wise. I have been between 55-60kg this whole time so kind of a slow recomp. However, I've actually just decided to start nailing the nutrition part down as well and have been tracking everything for the last 4 days and I've basically been scraping my jaw off the floor. First thing that shocked me was that I have probably been under-eating on a regular basis (and by under-eating I mean grossly so). I've always felt like I was eating plenty but now that I've been tracking I've had to purposely add a bunch of stuff in just to be hitting 1700kcal. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that I was eating too *little*. The other thing that I was taken aback was how low my carbs have been (on the other hand, protein was really high) so now I'm consciously getting more in. I am basically going to shoot for 40/40/20 now, I think. I will determine calories after tracking and slowly increasing over time, since my laziness has been preventing me from actually calculating them At least I'm heading in the right direction lol.

Admittedly, I have put way too little effort into the nutrition aspect of my training, other than making sure I was always getting enough protein in. I still have A LOT of room to grow in that department so hopefully the only way is up from now on. My goal atm is to slowly lower BF % while gaining strength, which is optimistic, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

When I first started lifting I never realized how much diet contributed so Sounds like you have a plan there!!
Yes I am doing 5/3/1 too, about to finish week 2!! It's definitely pushing me harder in the gym
We are in this together

[lilOwl]

I had a workout buddy at the gym tonight, which is a rare occasion for me since I almost always train alone. It definitely made the session much longer and kindo of less focused but at least I got to fully recover between sets, which can't be a bad thing when you're shooting for strength. That's my story anyways and I'm sticking to it


BENCH DAY

bench
bar x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 4
50kg x 2
55kg x 1
57,5kg x 2
55kg x 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2


Wide grip lat pulldown x bench (2 sec pause at the bottom)
65kg/40kg x 6/5, 6/4 , 6/4

Wide grip lat pulldown x Incline DB press
50kg/20kg DBs x 8/8, 8/6, 8/6


Face pulls x Pec dec
45kg/60kg x 10/5, 10/5, 10/5

Close grip bench x One arm lat pulldown (straight arm)
30kg/20kg x 8/10, 8/10, 8/10

DB floor press, per arm
14kg DB x 8, 8, 8

EZ curls
27kg x 6, 6, 6

Rope tricep pulldown
30kg x 10, 10, 10, 10

[lilOwl]

SQUAT DAY

Squat
bar x 8
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
70kg x 2
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
95kg x 1, 1
90kg x 2, 1, 1, 1
80kg x 5, 4

Sumo leg press
150kg x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10


Modified GHRs (using two benches)
BW x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5


Leg extensions
63kg x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5


Cable pull through
40kg x 10
50kg x 10
60kg x 10, 10, 10


Kept it simple today since it was a morning workout. I rarely do morning workouts anymore, I find that I usually run low on energy and they just end up being mediocre at best. I was fully expecting for the squats to feel crazy heavy but they went surprisingly well, didn't really struggle much. I can already smell that 100kg lol. I could have kept going with a few extra box squats or something if I wasn't already running late. No biggie, next time ...

[lilOwl]

OVERHEAD PRESS DAY

OHP
bar x 8
25kg x 6
30kg x 4
32,5kg x 3, 2, 2
30kg x 3, 3, 3

Chin-ups
BW x 6, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3

Push press
35kg x 5, 5, 5

Seated DB press
14kg x 10, 8, 8

Reverse pec dec
50kg x 8, 8, 8

Incline BB bench
40kg x 4, 4, 4

Overhead pin press
20kg x 5
25kg x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

One arm DB upright row
14kg DB x 8, 8, 8

Triceps rope extensions
35kg x 8, 8, 8

One arm lat raises
8kg x 8, 8, 8

+ 15 minutes of incline walking

I think I went overboard on abs the day before yesterday, so overhead pressing was even harder than usual as my abs were hurting pretty badly. I went into the workout pretty pumped but my head wasn't in it to be honest because just before I left for the gym my computer screen died right before my eyes, so naturally I was traumatized lol. After yesterday, I think I might actually switch OHP with push press as my main lift for a while, I just feel like I'm a bit burned out on it.

[lilOwl]

DEADLIFT DAY

DL
bar x 10
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
105kg x 1
100kg x 3, 3, 3, 1 (20 sec pause between reps)
90kg x 3, 3

Neutral narrow grip pulldown
60kg x 6, 6, 6, 6

Front squat
40kg x 5, 5, 5, 5

Kroc rows
28kg DB x 6, 6, 6, 6

BB rows from pins
50kg x 5
45kg x 5
40kg x 5

EZ curl
27kg x 8, 6, 6

[lilOwl]

BENCH DAY

bench
bar x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 4
50kg x 2
55kg x 1
57,5kg x 1
60kg x 1
62,5kg x 1 PR!
60kg x 1
57,5kg x 1
55kg x 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1


Wide grip lat pulldown
65kg x 6, 6, 6
55kg x 6, 6, 6

Incline DB press
20kg DBs x 8, 6, 6
16kg DBs x 10, 10, 10


Face pulls
45kg x 10, 10, 10

Pec dec
65kg x 5, 4, 4

Cable lat pullover
50kg x 10
55kg x 8, 8

Close grip bench
35kg x 8, 6, 6

EZ curl
27kg x 8, 6, 6

DB floor press, per arm
16kg DB x 6, 6, 6

Elevated "diamond" pushups
10, 10, 10

+ 20 minutes incline walking


So today was pretty awesome. I *finally* managed to go over my previous max on the bench. At first I wasn't going to go over 60kg but after it felt smooth and not crazy heavy my spotter convinced me to go for it. It was reeeeally slow on the first few centimeters after the bar touched my chest so he already started to reached for the bar which honestly made me so livid I managed to unleash my inner superpowers Afterwards he swore he didn't touch it so I refuse do doubt it lol. Yep, good day at the gym.

[KellyP92]

Woop woop brilliant stuff on that bench press!!

Well done

[lilOwl]

^ Thanks! About time too it's been going up so slowly omg, plateaus are the worst ... I've been in a deficit for just over two weeks now so I really hope the strength increases keep sticking around.

SQUAT DAY

Squat
bar x 8
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 2
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
95kg x 1
90kg x 1
85kg x 2
80kg x 3, 3, 3, 3

Glute bridges
90kg x 10
100kg x 8, 8, 8

Leg press
175kg x 10
185kg x 10
195kg x 8
205kg x 6, 6, 6


Leg extensions
70kg x 5, 5, 5

One legged stiff DL, per leg
30kg DB x 10, 10, 10


Cable pull through
50kg x 10
60kg x 10
70kg x 8, 8

Abductor machine
30kg x 10
35kg x 10
40kg x 10
45kg x 10

[lilOwl]

I started making some long due changes to my program today and the first thing was swapping OHP for push press. I just grew tired of it a bit so I'll just keep it this way for a while and come back to it sometime later on. I've decided to stick to some strict pressing anyway, just not as my main lift. So far so good, I really enjoyed today's session, much more than the past few OHP days, which is definitely a plus. The other part of the changes come from the fact that I feel like I am missing frequency with my main lifts because with my split I have basically been performing each one of them only every 8 days (or more if I take any extra time off). I feel like it might be slowing down my progress a bit and I'd like to up the frequency to doing each main lift twice every cycle. From now on I'll be combining DL/SQ and BP/OHP so that for example when it's my DL day, I'll do SQ as my secondary lift and do a bit of explosive volume at a lower weight and vice versa. It should help me grease the groove a bit more frequently without having to go too heavy every time.

OVERHEAD PRESS DAY

Push press
bar x 5
25kg x 5
30kg x 3
35kg x 3
37,5kg x 2
40kg x 2
42,5kg x 1
40kg x 2
35kg x 5, 5, 5

Chin-ups
BW + 5kg x 4, 4, 3, 3
BW + 2,5kg x 2, 2

Bench press
30kg x 3
40kg x 3
50kg x 3, 3
45kg x 3, 3



Reverse pec dec
50kg x 8, 8, 8, 8

One arm DB push press
10kg x 10
12kg x 8, 8, 8

Overhead pin press
20kg x 5
25kg x 3
27,5kg x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Lat raises
3 sets of:
10kg DBs x 6 + 8KG DBs x 6


Triceps rope extensions
40kg x 6, 6, 6


+ 15 minutes of incline walking

[lilOwl]

DEADLIFT DAY

DL
bar x 10
40kg x 6
60kg x 4
80kg x 2
90kg x 2
100kg x 1
105kg x 1, 1
100kg x 4, 3, 3 (15 sec pause between reps)
80kg x 6, 6, 6

Neutral narrow grip pulldown
60kg x 6, 6, 6, 6, 6


Kroc rows
28kg DB x 8, 7, 6, 6

ATG Squat (all reps done with 2 sec pause at bottom)
bar x 8
40kg x 5
60kg x 4
70kg x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Hack squat good mornings
30kg x 12
35kg x 12, 12, 12


BB rows from pins
45kg x 6, 6, 6

Neutral narrow grip seated cable row (half reps)
35kg x 15, 15, 15

EZ curl
27kg x 5, 5, 5


Deadlifts are not moving up as I'd like but at least I think I know what the problem is. I'm pretty good at dropping my hips low enough on my lighter sets but as the weight gets higher I start to pull with my hips higher as well. I just stop paying attention to it and focuse too much on the weight on the bar. My hips end up staying way too high and I basically pull from a stiff DL position, using mostly just my back. I'm going to have to really pay a lot more attention to this from now on and hopefully the extra deadlifting on squat day will help me get the motion down faster. It's silly how I end up not using much of my legs at all considering how they're probably my strongest bodypart. Whenever I make a conscious effort to dip lower with my ass the lift just feels a hundred times easier. Squats felt really good today, so at least there's that. I was able to work on my depth and go really low while the pause at the bottom still made every rep feel pretty heavy.

[lilOwl]

Today's bench day consisted of pretty much no benching or any other chest pressing for that matter. I pulled something, I think in my right shoulder (feels like somewhere right under the collarbone) earlier while playing fetch with the dog. I threw something and felt a slight pain but was sure it was nothing until I actually got to the gym. I usually start with some DB work for the rotator cuffs as warm up any my shoulder was already hurting as I started and it didn't get any better through my warm up sets. Trying to train through the pain is not an unknown phenomenon to me but I decided I wasn't gonna be stupid about it this time so I skipped all benching today. I didn't feel much pain during the push presses but my shoulders were cramping pretty badly. I did do a few lighter sets on the pec dec and it seemed fine as long as I didn't try to get a good stretch, so I kept it modest. So not feeling too olympic today but whatever, next time will be better.


BENCH DAY

bench
bar x 10
30kg x 8
40kg x 4
50kg x 2
55kg x 1
50kg x 2, 1

Push press
bar x 8
25kg x 6
30kg x 4
32kg x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Wide grip lat pulldown
70kg x 4, 4
65kg x 4, 4
60kg x 4, 4

Face pulls
45kg x 10, 10, 10, 10

Pec dec
50kg x 5
55kg x 6, 6, 6


EZ curl
22kg x 10, 8, 8, 8, 8

Rope triceps pulldown
30kg x 12, 10, 8, 8, 8


+ 15 minutes incline walking