The Flywheel Effect.

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 325 pounds x 8 reps
[B]Cable Crunch:[/B] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

[B]Overhead Pin Press:[/B] 100 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps
[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 10lb DB's x 12/12/15 reps
[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 37.5lb DB's x 12/10/10 reps

Deads were strong - will increase another 10 pounds next time
Was not expecting to get 3 sets of 8 on pin press after barely getting it with less weight last week.
I was very conservative on the Lateral raises, not wanting them to impact the Overhead work too much. That's probably part of the reason I felt stronger than last week on this lift.

Video shows the Deadlift set and the second set of Pin Presses.
[youtube]shWok7Gf3cE[/youtube]

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 45 pounds x 15 reps / 50 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps
[B]Gliding Hamstring Curl:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 15 reps

[B]DB Pullover:[/B] 40 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
[B]Lu Raise:[/B] 10's - 3 sets x 15 reps
[B]Concentration Curl:[/B] 10 pounds x 15 reps / 20 pounds - 2 sets x 15 reps

This workout is meant to be less stressful after the hard deadlifts yesterday. Felt good. I have very little experience with doing Lu Raises, but I like them a lot so far.
Even with all of the time away from lifting over the last 2 months I've not really noticed any difference at all in my elbow tenderness. I'll need to really closely watch my bicep and tricep work and be quick to scale it back if needed.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 245 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 15 reps

[B]DB Overhead Press:[/B] 25lb DB's - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Biceps Incline Curl:[/B] 20lb DB's - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Triceps Cable Pushdown:[/B] 20 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Deads felt like cardio. Strength was there for another 10 reps, but I was getting gassed around rep 8 or 9. Crunches also left me pretty short of breath. The rest of the work was pretty easy.

[youtube]Wbp1wVwceJQ[/youtube]

[B]SSB Squat:[/B] 185 pounds x 8 reps
[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 265 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

[B]Bench Press:[/B] 140 pounds 7/8/7 reps
[B]Pullup:[/B] 2 sets x 6 reps

This is the hardest I've had to push on a squat set in quite a while. I'll be surprised if I'm not feeling it tomorrow. I actually did the 2 sets of Calf Raises before the squats and I was surprised how much it took out of me. Won't do that again anytime soon.

On my first bench set a little boy thought it was the perfect time climb up onto the bench, lol. Had to rack the bar, and that was why I only did 7 reps on the first set. On the second set I did 8 relatively easily.

The squats and the second bench set are shown in the video.

[youtube]Y_J6K8f6anE[/youtube]

[B]Walking Lunge:[/B] 15's - 3 sets x 15 reps
[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] 40 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps

[B]DB Fly Press:[/B] 30's - 3 sets x 15 reps
[B]DB Row:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
[B]French Press:[/B] 35 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps

Had my 'light' day today and it kicked my backside. One of the main objectives of this day is to build work capacity and it absolutely pushed me beyond my comfort zone. I didn't time the workout but I'm pretty sure it was more than an hour. I'll be trying to reduce that significantly in the coming weeks. I may even forego weight increases on some stuff in favor of doing that.

[B]Front Squat:[/B] 105 pounds x 12/10/8 reps
[B]Donkey Calf Raise:[/B] 100 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

[B]Cambered Bar Bench Press:[/B] 115 pounds x 12/10/8 reps
[B]Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip Behind the Neck:[/B] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

I made the squat and bench sets progressively more difficult, narrowing stance/grip and adding pauses.

[youtube]dQxiiILv1DI[/youtube]

[B]Barbell Hack Squat:[/B] 315 pounds x 1 rep [PR]

[B]Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press:[/B] 135 pounds x 1 rep [PR]

[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 30 pounds x 20/20 reps - 40 pounds x 10 reps
[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 20 pounds x 10/10 - 10 pounds x 20 reps
[B]Ab Work:[/B] Combination of Cable Crunches and situps at different weights and reps

Was tired of doing rep work and unmotivated, so I called an audible today.
Pretty sure the Hack Squat is a PR, but I didn't have any tracking info on it.
Pin OHP definitely is a PR because I know I've never done any type of Overhead press with more than 120. Honestly thought I'd press 135, so this is a huge benchmark for me and was a nice surprise out of nowhere. :)

The curls and laterals are typed out as even numbers, but some of these were partial reps. Only really goal was to push close to failure on each set.

The video shows the 2 PR's.

[youtube]it5j5BVCQvY[/youtube]

[b]Single Leg Extension:[/b] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
[b]Gliding Leg Curl:[/b] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 15 reps

[b]DB Pullover:[/b] 45 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
[b]Concentration Curl:[/b] 22.5's - 3 sets x 15 reps
[b]Lu Raise:[/b] 10's - 3 sets x 15 reps

I think 15 reps per set is too high on some of these exercises. I'll probably just keep increasing weight each time until my max reps are in a lower range.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 265 pounds 2 sets x 10 reps
[B]Seated DB Overhead Press:[/B] 30's - 3 sets x 10 reps

[B]Incline DB Curl:[/B] 22.5's - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Cable Triceps Pushdown:[/B] 30 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

For some reason the SLDL seems to be working my abs just as much as my backside. Feeling good and strong on this lift though - still some breathing room before I plateau.
Overall I'm getting into a good groove. I'm very happy with the structure/setup of the program. I'm getting easier days when I feel like I need them, and am fresh on the more demanding days. I think I should be able to keep this setup going for quite a while with some small tweaks here and there.

Here's video of one of the SLDL sets. Almost knocked my 3 year old over, lol.

[youtube]-BXPl_zo2f4[/youtube]

[B]SSB Squat:[/B] 195 pounds x 7 reps

[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 285 pounds x 20/15/15 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] Bodyweight x 20/20/18 reps

[B]Bench Press:[/B] 145 pounds x 8/7/5 reps
[B]Pullup:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 7 reps

My left elbow is feeling the best it has in over a year and I was able to do pullups with very little pain. Hopefully it will keep on improving.
Was a challenge getting through this workout and it showed on the Bench Press. Still happy to have hit 8 reps on the first set.
Tomorrow will probably be a rest day because I have some other commitments after work.

[B]Walking Lunge:[/B] 20's - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] 40 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]DB Fly Press:[/B] 30's - 1 sets x 12 reps
[B]DB Row:[/B] 75 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]French Press:[/B] 40 pounds - 1 sets x 12 reps

Took it pretty easy today because I was very tired today, and also still had some tenderness in my shoulder from the bench work a couple of days ago.
I may need to drop the French Press at some point because even though I don't have any pain I'm getting a clicking in my left elbow on every rep.

Some great work you been doing in here

[QUOTE=CoachMori;1694184313]Some great work you been doing in here[/QUOTE]
Thanks. I appreciate that. ;)

[B]Front Squat:[/B] 110 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Donkey Calf Raise:[/B] 110 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

[B]Cambered Bar Bench Press:[/B] 120 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip:[/B] 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Shortened up the range of motion on front squats to reduce the stress on my knees. Shown in the video below.

[youtube]wAT-iAfMelg[/youtube]

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 335 pounds x 8 reps

[B]Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press:[/B] 105 pounds x8/7/6 reps
[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 40 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 12.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Crunch:[/B] 60 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Good hard work all through. 335 pounds is my 3 rep best on Deads. 90 pounds was my previous 8 rep max on Pin Press. Virtually everything I'm doing in every session is PR territory for the rep range I'm doing it in. Strength is increasing steadily in these ranges.

Here's the Deadlift:
[youtube]-ryI_2VGzZo[/youtube]

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Single Leg Curl:[/B] 20 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Lu Raise:[/B] 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Skiers:[/B] 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps

[B]DB Pullover:[/B] 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Concentration Curl:[/B] 25 - 2 sets x 12 reps

Tried out a cable leg curl today using wrist/ankle straps and putting a barbell at knee height for support. Worked pretty well. I took video of it which I'll post below, but the set shown was the roughest one - the others were much smoother after I figured out correct positioning and slowed down the rep speed a little bit.

Added in skiers for rear delt work because I think the shoulder discomfort I've been having recently is due to a rear delt weakness. I'm feeling much stronger on the Lu Raises than I was when I started them a few weeks ago, and I think these and the lateral raises are the main reason for my increased overhead pressing strength recently.

I'm still not doing DB Pullovers quite right. I keep taking video and adjusting and it's getting better, but still not quite there. Going to try to get a bigger stretch next time, and not pull as far through because I'm totally losing tension on the lats on the follow through. Still liking this lift though and I think it will prove to be a good lat movement for me since it hits them so much differently than everything else.

On curls I still tend to turn it into a more dynamic movement rather than focusing on contracting the bicep. Some reps are better than others and I can clearly feel the difference. Just need to stay focused when doing these. In general I've become so conditioned to moving weights with speed that I tend to default back to that even on exercise that I want to be more muscle focused. Always a work in progress...

[youtube]GndiYirG-_g[/youtube]

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 275 pounds 2 sets x 10 reps
[B]Seated DB Overhead Press:[/B] 35's - 3 sets x 10 reps

[B]Incline DB Curl:[/B] 25's - 3 sets x 10/9/10 reps
[B]Cable Triceps Pushdown:[/B] 35 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

The weight wasn't a problem on the deads, but I did get pretty light headed.

Feeling strong on DB Presses - plenty of room for steady weight increases I think.

This is going to sound wild, but using straps on the incline curls was a game changer. Was able to do them with a thumbless grip and had no elbow discomfort and was able to better focus on the biceps. Had a long break between the 2nd and 3rd sets because I'd been on a phone call, and that's why I was able to do 10 reps again on the 3rd set.

Have visitors at the house the next couple of days, so they may very well both turn into recovery days.

[B]SSB Squat:[/B] 275 Pounds x 1 Rep [[B]PR[/B]]

[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 175 Pounds x 1 Rep / 195 Pounds x Fail

Was not feeling at all good going into this workout. I've been short of sleep and was exhausted and queasy. I'm trying to do heavy singles every 2 weeks or so and today seemed like a good day to do that since I wasn't up to doing much volume. Expectations were very low, but I ended up being much stronger than expected.

SSB squats felt strong right from the beginning. The single at 245 felt like a warmup so I took a 30 pound jump. It was my poorest rep, getting my weight a little too far forward, but still got it up relatively easily for a 20 pound PR.

Bench was feeling strong as well. 175 moved very well so I took a 20 pound jump to try to match my PR. You know how you can tell as you're lowering the bar whether or not you're going to be able to lift it back up...I felt sure I had that 195, but it got stuck and would not budge.

I wasn't expecting to do anywhere near this well on max(ish) attempts today and it was really encouraging. It tells me at the very least that my programming approach is working well, and gives me confidence to stick with it.

Video shows all 3 of the attempts listed at the top:
[youtube]0GkwC6hPlp4[/youtube]

[B]Walking Lunge:[/B] 20's x 12/10/10 reps
[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] 45 pounds x 12/12/10 reps
[B]DB Fly Press:[/B] 30's - 3 sets x 12 reps

Posting a day late. Legs are sore. Lunges and Leg Curls seem to hit my leg muscles harder than anything else.

[B]Front Squat:[/B] 125 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Donkey Calf Raise:[/B] 115 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

[B]Cambered Bar Bench Press:[/B] 125 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Did Pin Squats on the first set of Front Squats - shown in the video below.
All of todays work was very good. Good quality reps. Was difficult, but didn't destroy me. I'll increase weights on everything next time.

[youtube]wDzAE6tF608[/youtube]

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 345 pounds x 8 reps

[B]Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press:[/B] 110 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps
[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 42.5 pounds x 11/10/10 reps

[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 15 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Crunch:[/B] 65 pounds x 20 reps

Was surprised how easy the deads were. From a strength standpoint I believe I could've done another 4-6 reps. Conditioning would not have allowed that today I don't think, but it's getting better.
First set on OHP was actually the hardest. Even though I thought I did enough of a warmup, I must have needed 1 set to get everything activated. First set is show in the video below, along with the deadlift.
For some reason the crunches wrecked me. I had planned to do 3 sets, but my abs were cramping up after 1 so I just called it there.

[youtube]VekFDzWFwYA[/youtube]

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Single Leg Curl:[/B] 25 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Lu Raise:[/B] 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Skiers:[/B] 12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps

[B]DB Pullover:[/B] 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Concentration Curl:[/B] 25 - 2 sets x 12 reps

Got interrupted after the first 2 sets of Leg Extensions and Curls and didn't get back to it until 90 minutes later and my energy level had dipped significantly.
I'm still struggling to do the pullovers correctly - bending elbows too much, even though it doesn't feel like it when I'm doing them. I won't increase the weight until I get the movement figured out.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 285 pounds x 10 reps
[B]Seated DB Overhead Press:[/B] 40's - 3 sets x 10 reps

[B]Incline DB Curl:[/B] 30's - 3 sets x 8 reps
[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 20 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Lower back fatigue has been accumulating. Did only 1 set of deads today because of that.
My energy level has been low recently, so I've just trying to make sure I get some work in, but not pushing the intensity too high.

[B]Bench Press - 1 Board:[/B] 185 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Front Squat:[/B] 185 pounds x 1 rep

Both singles were somewhere around 8 RPE. I tried 205 on Front Squat but bailed as soon as I realized it was going to be a grind.

Been an interesting last week... I tested positive for Covid on Monday. Our furnace went out on Wednesday and now won't be fixed until after Christmas. We were supposed to be hosting Christmas, but that plan went all to hell, lmao. The rest of the family is staying with my sister in law while I'm home alone (my mother in law is in a very high risk group, so I'm staying away). Going to be a very boring Christmas for me, but at least I'll get to spend some time with my son tomorrow - very much looking forward to that.

I was feeling much better today and got in this short workout. Didn't want to do anything very fatiguing so I opted for heavyish singles. Felt good to get some exercise.

Been continuing to lift the last couple of days. I'm trying to build up weak points and did a bunch of stuff to help with shoulder strength in a variety of positions, and worked on flexibility and building strength in 'compromised' positions.

Did Zercher Squats up to 225x3 and Deadlifts up to 185x3
Hatfield Squats up to 245x5
Step ups to a 20" box with 20 pounds
A bunch of DB Presses, Flies, Raises in various positions and angles.
Ring Pushups
Some Biceps and Triceps work

Found some stuff that I really like, and I'll probably incorporate a lot of these things into my programming at some point. HUGE fan of the Hatfield Squats and the Zercher stuff in particular. Hatfields allowed me to get into a MUCH deeper position than I typically can and should be great for building up knee strength, and power out of the bottom. Zerchers I do with an intentionally slightly rounded back and done this way they're great for all around back 'bulletproofing, and for building quads along with general toughness.

Should be back on a regular program sometime soon.

[B]Hatfield Squat:[/B] 205 pounds x 8 reps

[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 285 pounds x 18/16 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] Bodyweight x 16/16 reps

[B]Bench Press:[/B] 145 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps
[B]Pullup:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 8 reps

Planned to do a set of standard SSB Squats, but once I completed the 3rd rep it was very clear I wouldn't make it to my goal of 8 so I did the remaining 5 reps as Hatfield Squats. I think I'll just stick with them in this slot moving forward.

I really struggles on the calf and ab work and did fewer sets and reps than I had done last time.
Bench and Pullups on the other hand were really good and I hit all reps without any need to grind after coming up a few reps short on each of them last time around.

I'm feeling about 95% recovered now, and should be able to stick to a consistent lifting schedule again.

Furnace should finally get fixed tomorrow after being out of commission for more than a week. This will be good for everything except the bank account...but I'll be glad when it's back up and running.

[B]Front Squat:[/B] 135 pounds x 6/7/8
[B]Donkey Calf Raise:[/B] 120 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

[B]Cambered Bar Bench Press:[/B] 130 pounds x 10/10/7
[B]Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip:[/B] 70 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

I struggled with the setup on Front Squats today. On each of the first 2 sets I bumped the safety bars and it threw me off. Lowered them for the final set and hit my rep goal.
On bench, I had some pain in my hand after the second set so I did a narrower grip on the final set, which made it quite a bit harder - that's the reason for the big rep drop-off.

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 355 pounds x 2/4 reps

[B]Pin (Chin Height) Overhead Press:[/B] 110 pounds x 8/6/6 reps
[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 42.5 pounds 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 15 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Crunch:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Struggled with Deads today. Oddly, it was a grip issue. Even though I was using straps my grip was slipping. I'd put on hand lotion a bit earlier, and even after washing my hands they were slippery. Both sets ended when I felt my hands were going to slip off the bar. I was frustrated enough after the second attempt that I didn't even want to try a third time. I'll give this same weight another go next week.

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 70 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Single Leg Cable Curl:[/B] 30 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Lu Raise:[/B] 12.5's x 12/12/10 reps
[B]Skiers:[/B] 12.5's - 3 sets x 12 reps

Short session today. Just wanted to get in some lower body isolations and some light shoulder work. Mission accomplished.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 295 pounds x 10 reps
[B]Seated DB Overhead Press:[/B] 42.5's - 2 sets x 10 reps
[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 25 pounds - 2 sets x 10 reps

Been really struggling to get workouts in for a variety of reasons. I almost skipped again today. Had less than 30 minutes to try to fit something in. Pretty happy with what I got done in that time.
Deads were pretty easy from a strength standpoint, but left me very winded. Video of it is below.

[youtube]VzluM83aWVQ[/youtube]

[B]Hatfield Squat:[/B] 305 pounds x 3 reps

[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 285 pounds x 20/16 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] Bodyweight x 20/20 reps

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 165 pounds x 3 reps

Third rep slowed a bit on squats, but it was probably only around a 7-8 RPE. The additional stability/support on Hatfield squats makes such a big difference. I never realized how much my depth was affected by balance/stability rather that just flexibility.

The Calf and Ab work HURT.

Floor Press was around an 8 RPE but I didn't want to push it any further because I had a little bit of discomfort in my left elbow come back today. I also skipped the pullup I had scheduled for this reason. Well...I did 4 or 5 pullups I think, but decided to call it off there.

Here's video of the squats:
[youtube]Wr7SstPf7t8[/youtube]

[B]Front Squat:[/B] 135 pounds x 8/7
[B]Donkey Calf Raise:[/B] 130 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

[B]Cambered Bar Bench Press:[/B] 135 pounds x 10/8
[B]Lat Pulldown - Wide Grip:[/B] 75 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

Had a sick boy at home this weekend and spent multiple hours on Saturday just carrying him around because if I tried to sit down or put him down he'd start screaming 'help me'... Biceps are still sore now. Back got pretty fatigued as well. So that was my workout for the weekend, lol.

Really wasn't feeling up to lifting today, but did it anyway and it was fine once I got going (like it always).

Think I'm going to need to swap out Front Squats for something else because I just can't get the bar to be stable enough and I'm afraid I'm going to hurt a wrist or an elbow. I've used every known grip and am still struggling. I may just change to High Bar Squat, but maybe I'll change my mind and give them another try.

Kind of plateaued on bench, probably due my lack of consistency lately. Again - not sure if I'll swap it out for something else, or give it one more week.

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 355 pounds x 8 reps
[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 45 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Lateral Raise:[/B] 15 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Crunch:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 20 reps

Really happy to hit a set of 8 on deads today. I doubt I could've completed another rep.
Was supposed to have done overhead pressing but I cut it out because my shoulder did not feel right even on the warmup sets.

[B]Hatfield Squat:[/B] 245 pounds x 8 reps
[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 285 pounds x 20 reps

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 135 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
[B]Barbell Row:[/B] 135 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps

[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 20 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Incline Bicep Curl:[/B] 25 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps

I ended up not doing a full workout tonight because it's getting late and I need sleep, but still got some decent work in.
Squats were harder than I thought they'd be and I would've needed 10 minutes to fully recover, so I just did the 1 set and moved on.

Floor Press and Rows were quite easy. It was probably too light, but I'm not mad about it.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 295 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 75 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Ring Push Up:[/B] 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Wide Grip Lat Pulldown:[/B] 75 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Side Plank w/Leg Raise:[/B] 2 sets x 10 reps
[B]Side Lateral:[/B] 10 pounds - 2 sets x 10 reps

Good session today. the last 2 exercises were pretty awkward. I won't do the plank/leg raise again because I don't seem strong enough in that position to do them properly. Tried two different lateral raise variations - lying side laterals and cable laterals. I like both better than the standard lateral raises I've been doing. Probably like the cable best, but the resistance is too much (something got bent or misaligned when I moved and there's a fair amount of resistance - I'd guess around 15 pounds - even without any weight added). The lying laterals felt weird, but I think I just need to figure out how to position by body comfortably. I'll probably stick with those.

[B]Walking Lunge:[/B] 20 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Incline Fly Press:[/B] 20 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Skiers[/B] 10 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps

Since I've been struggling to get in workouts more than 2 or 3 times per week in recent months I've made some changes to my programming. Nothing major, just adjusting volumes for the most part. I'm increasing volume per workout by 20-30% under the assumption that I'll lift every other day. I then have what I guess I'll call "Accessory Days". When I'm able to workout 2 days in a row the second day will be an Accessory Day.

These Accessory days are relatively low volume and use low fatigue exercises. Their only purpose is to slightly increase weekly volume. If I don't do any Accessory days in a given week I should still have enough volume programmed to at least maintain strength levels. And I don't [I]think[/I] these days should have any real noticeable impact on fatigue.

The workout was fast and pretty easy, only taking about 15 minutes to complete. Over time I may make it more difficult by adding weight or pushing closer to failure, but didn't want start out by pushing too far given how infrequently I've been lifting. I'm hoping I'll be able to lift tomorrow so I can see if lifting 3 days in a row (or maybe more) might be viable.

[B]Overhead Press:[/B] 125 pounds x 1 rep
[B]DB Row:[/B] 60 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Happy with the OHP. Matched my PR and I've not been doing much overhead pressing.

[B]High Bar Squat:[/B] 185 pounds x 5, 6 reps
[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] 50 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Probably could've done another rep or two on the squat sets, but was starting to feel some form breakdown.

[B]Behind the Neck Press:[/B] 45 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Concentration Curl:[/B] 25 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Started very light on the Behind the Neck presses and I'll increase this one slowly.

[B]Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 415 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 225 pounds x 10 reps

[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 115 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Cable Row:[/B] 90 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Started this workout on Wednesday and finally finished it today, lmao! I only had time to do the Conventional single and then my son decided he was ready to go back upstairs. That's just how it goes sometimes...

That Conv Dead matched my PR and moved VERY well. No doubt I had at least another 10 pounds, maybe more.
On the RDLs I extended the weight out away from my legs to make it harder. It felt great that way - felt like it put more demand on my hamstrings.

Everything aside from the conv dead was done with pretty light weight because I'm hoping to get in another session tomorrow so I didn't want to destroy myself today.

[B]Hatfield Squat:[/B] 245 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 135 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps
[B]Barbell Row:[/B] 135 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 22.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Incline Bicep Curl:[/B] 25 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps

Added either weight or volume to everything compared to the last time I did this workout. I'll increase weight on everything next time, except for the squat where I'll try to add a third set before increasing weight.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 305 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps
Felt strong on these today. It was 10 more pounds and 1 more set than last time.

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 80 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
Strong on these today as well. Feels like there's still some room for weight increases before I get close to plateauing.

[B]Ring Push Up:[/B] 2 sets x 10 reps
For now I'm progressing this by lowering the rings closer to the floor by an inch or two each time. I'd guess I'm about 8-10 inches from the floor right now. Eventually I'll start adding weight.

[B]Wide Grip Lat Pulldown:[/B] 80 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Getting close-ish to maxing out on this. It's only 80 pounds added, but I'm nearly to the point that I'm lifting myself off the bench when doing reps. I know how I can secure my legs in place but I get too lazy to set it up most of the time...

[B]Leaning Lateral Raise:[/B] 10 pounds - 2 sets x 10 reps
Really liking the angled/leaning lateral raises I started doing last time I did this workout. They give a better stretch at the bottom and I don't feel any discomfort as I get closer to the top of the range of motion. Plus they just feel more natural for some reason.


I kind of regret doing the 3rd set of deads because although they felt good and I still had plenty of energy to continue with the workout, I simply ran short on time and ended up cutting a set off of each of the remaining exercises, and eliminating the Ab work I had programmed. In retrospect I wish I'd have stopped at 2 sets and got in some more accessory work, but I didn't anticipate needing to cut the workout short. Still happy with the session.

[B]Incline Press - 30 Degree:[/B] 165 pounds x 1 rep
This was a near max today. 10 pounds short of my PR but I'm not mad about it.

[B]High Bar Squat:[/B] 185 pounds x 6/2/1 reps
Used a close stance for the first set and it wrecked me (just not used to this and my legs were like Jello). It took about 20 minutes before I was ready for another set. It was too long and I had cooled down - had some discomfort in my knee so I stopped after 2 reps. Stretched a bit and tried again and I didn't have any pain but I almost fell over. Figured that was a good place to end, lol. I know I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating that I've always struggled with doing anything other than low rep work on squats. I can do higher rep deads without any issues at all, but my body just seems to reject this kind of approach when it comes to squats. Some of my best progress has been with heavy singles and doubles, but for some reason I just keep trying to do higher rep stuff despite my complete lack of success with it. At some point maybe I'll take the hint and lower my rep range. We'll see...

[B]DB Row:[/B] 65 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] 55 pounds x 11/10 reps
Was still feeling the effect from the squats and I'm sure this affected the curls, but still not bad. Rows were pretty easy.

[B]Behind the Neck Press:[/B] 50 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Shrug Curl: [/B]30 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Not sure what to call the last exercise. I had Concentration Curls planned for today, but realized that they've never felt right, and they irritate my elbows. I have this issue with EVERY biceps exercise. Hammer Curls are the only one that I've been able to do relatively consistently without irritating my joints. I just started messing around with DB's today to see if I could come up with a movement that would work my biceps without irritating my elbows. I came up with something that's very much like a DB Shrug, except adding in a curling motion. I stood with the DB's at my side, palms facing inward toward my body. Then lifted the DB's upward as if they were on a rail. Elbows extended out away from my body sideways as the DB traveled upward. Felt real nice. I may try doing these for a few weeks.

[B]Single Leg Extension:[/B] 85 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Cable Single Leg Curl:[/B] 35 pounds - 2 sets x 12 reps

[B]Lu Raise: [/B]12.5's - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]Skiers:[/B] 15's - 2 sets x 12 reps
[B]DB Shrug Curl:[/B] 30's - 2 sets x 12 reps

Golng to my in-laws this evening to celebrate Vietnamese New Year. Tried to get in a workout that wouldn't zap my energy or make me sweat too much. Mission accomplished there. Not sure how much this type of workout helps in the long run, but if nothing else it keeps me in the habit of lifting even when the situation isn't ideal for it. As they say, consistency is king.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 315 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
[B]Seated DB Overhead Press:[/B] 45's - 2 sets x 10 reps

[B]Incline DB Curl:[/B] 30's - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 25 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps

I was so tired last night I laid down for a nap at about 6PM and didn't wake up until 7AM. So this was definitely the freshest I've felt going into a workout in quite a while.

All exercises were at a weight that felt hard, but was short of failure. I'm probably close to maxing out the rep ranges on all of these. At the very least I'm expecting I'll come up a rep or two short on the 2nd or 3rd sets next time around.

Here's the first set of deads:
[Youtube]yD8fLO88QaM[/Youtube]

All done as Rest/Pause - each 'set' done to technical failure with 30-45 seconds rest between

[B]Bench Press:[/B] 155 pounds x 12 reps - 7/3/2 (Goal = 10-15 reps)
[B]Cable Overhead Triceps Extension:[/B] 30 pounds x 18 reps - 10/5/3 (Goal = 15-30 reps)
[B]Bench Press:[/B] 155 pounds x 15 reps - 10/3/2 (Goal = 10-15 reps)

Just not been able to lift consistently so I'm making a major change in my programming. I know that I can almost always find short stretches of time to lift. In order to take advantage of that I'm changing to a high intensity approach. I'm largely copying Doggcrapp training, with some minor tweaks.

The majority of the work will be rest/pause. This allows me to pack a lot of work into a short amount of time. Today, for example, my entire workout was just under 15 minutes. This will not be the norm, but the triceps work and the pullups required basically no warmup at all, so they took only about 2 minutes each to complete. I'll only be doing 3 exercises per day - split up as an Upper/Lower.

Progression is simple - when I reach the top of the goal rep range the weight increases. So since I hit the top of my range for Pullups today, next time I'll add weight. The weight will stay the same on the other two exercises.
Likely will be at this same weight for the triceps work for a long time, lol. My plan is to lift 4 days per week initially and then adjust depending upon how I'm recovering.

[B]Hatfield Squat:[/B] 255 pounds - 2 sets x 5 reps
[B]SSB Calf Raise:[/B] 155 pounds x 10/8 reps (5 second eccentric, 15 second stretch at the bottom, explosive concentric)
[B]Leg Curl:[/B] 115 pounds x 16 reps - 8/5/3 (Goal = 15-30 reps)

Seems like it was a good idea to start out with a very minimalist approach - I'm still feeling it from my workout on Thursday.
On Hatfield's I could've pushed out at least 1 more rep on each set, but I'm putting a major focus on rep quality right now and I was on the verge of technical breakdown. Going to do my best to keep rep quality consistent and prioritize that over adding reps or weight.

Got a nice pump doing the calf raises. Not sure I like doing them this way, but we'll see how I progress. My forearms were getting as fatigued as my calves from trying to hold myself up with a big stretch on the calves for 15 seconds at the bottom of each rep. Feels like it was as much a forearm workout as it was a calf workout, lol.

All exercises done as 3 rest/pause sets done to technical failure

[B]Overhead Press:[/B] Goal = 10-20 reps
85 pounds x 19 reps (12/4/3)
Picked a weight I thought I'd get 20 reps with. Nearly got there, but the drop-off in reps after the 1st set surprised me. Will be interesting to see if this is common with OHP.

[B]Shrug Curl:[/B] Goal = 10-15 reps
50's x 16 reps (7/5/4)
I hit my goal here, but may either repeat this weight or even lower it because I really didn't feel I was working my biceps properly. May need to switch to something else if this happens again next time.

[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] Goal = 15-30 reps
40's x 22 (12/6/4)
Good effort. Kept form solid and pushed to failure. I expected to be close to 30 reps on this, but was more affected by the previous exercises than I had anticipated.

Feels like this is not enough work to progress, but I'm going to stick with it for now. I'd rather be able to get in workouts more regularly (which is the purpose of the shorter workouts) than program more work and not get workouts in often enough. Once I'm doing that more consistently I'll likely add some more volume in.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 320 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
Pushed pretty close to the limit here. I'll increase weight next time and won't be surprised if I come up short of 8 reps.
This was the first time I've used a belt on these in a long time and I think maybe it did more harm than good because it starts to restrict me as I get into the bottom position. Might try them without it again next time.

[B]Walking Lunge:[/B] 20's - 2 sets x 10 reps
Not 'hard', but was quite fatigued after the deads and that made these a challenge from a stamina standpoint more than a strength standpoint. I totally anticipated this would be the case though, and that's why I chose a fairly light weight. We'll see if I'm able to start acclimating to doing these after deads...

[B]Donkey Calf Raise (Cable):[/B] 80 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps
Slow negative - holding a stretch at the bottom for a few seconds. I felt the burn here - barely eeked out the last rep. Really like the feel of the cable vs weight plates because I was having trouble fitting all the plates between my legs and had to widen my feet much more than I wanted. Will stick with the cable for a while.

Workout took much longer than it should, clocking in almost exactly at 1 hour for 6 sets. The deads really took it out of me and affected the rest of the workout. This is probably sacrilege, but at this moment of time it's almost seeming like a good idea to do the deads either 2nd or last so that I'm fresher for the other stuff. I wouldn't think lunges and calf work would impact deads too much, but what do I know. I'll probably come to my senses before my next session of these.

[B]Incline Dumbbell Press:[/B] Goal = 15-20 reps
50's x 19 (12/4/3)

[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] Goal = 15-30 reps
110 pounds x 19 (12/4/3)
The DB inclines took quite a bit out of me. I almost used 95 pounds as my weight here, and that probably would've been about the right weight, but I really just didn't want to do a real working set with less than 100 pounds, lol.

[B]Lat Pulldown - Close Grip:[/B] Goal = 10-15 reps
90 pounds x 25 reps (15/5/5)
Chose too light a weight here. I'll increase next time.

From what I'd read and listened to, typically people get about half the number of reps on the second set as they do on the first. I'm seeing quite a bit bigger drop-off. Not sure why that is. I'll probably take a couple of rest days now before my next lower workout.

[B]High Bar Squat:[/B]
185 pounds x 6/5
Added 3 reps on to my total from last time. Did these with much better form too, letting my knees travel forward and using more quads (which is why I have them programmed in). Still a lot of room for improvement becaseu my bar path is inconsistent and feet we're not planted firmly at all, among other things. But I'm happy with the progress and the main goal next time will just be to try to repeat today's performance and try to keep my feet more stable.

[B]Single Leg Curl:[/B] Goal = 13-17 pounds
Left Leg: 50 pounds x 19 reps (13/6)
Right Leg: 50 pounds x 22 reps (16/6)

[B]Donkey Calf Raise - Cable:[/B]
85 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps

Energy level was good today. Felt refreshed and relatively strong. After running this style of programming for a couple of weeks I'm making some adjustments to how exercises are split up daily (not changing any exercises really, just splitting them up differently. And then adjusting rep ranges on quite a bit of stuff. For example, the leg curls I did today had a goal rep range of 15-30 reps. That's much wider than it needs to be, and I know what range I want them to be in so I shrunk it significantly. I'm doing that for a lot of exercises. Also changing most or all of the rest pause work to just 2 sets instead of 3. At this point doing a 3rd set on each exercise seems to be adding a lot of fatigue for not much payoff. If I acclimate well enough to 2 sets I'll think about adding a 3rd back in at some point.

I really dig this type of training though. It reminds me somewhat of the Conjugate style training I did for a couple of years. My favorite thing about that was the max effort, where I was pushing myself to the limit. I get that in this approach as well but with lighter weights, which is probably good. I can see myself sticking with this for a LONG time if I can get the right balance of stimulus and fatigue. I feel like I'm not terribly far off already, which is good.

[B]Bench Press:[/B] Rest Pause Goal = 9-13 reps
135 pounds x 15 reps (11/4)

[B]Overhead Press - Cambered Bar:[/B] Rest Pause Goal = 13-17 reps
75 pounds x 12 (7/5)

[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] Rest Pause Goal = 17-21 reps
115 pounds x 16 reps (10/6)

As I mentioned last time, made some adjustments to the rest pause sets - tightening up rep range goals and reducing to just 2 sets instead of 3.

Had my first colonoscopy today. The procedure itself wasn't too bad. The prep process made me quite short of sleep though, which probably impacted my performance today.

Haven't shared any videos in quite a while, and especially upper body work. So here's todays first set of bench:

[youtube]IArnHVdjTH0[/youtube]

I've kind of resigned myself to sucking at pressing work. This is largely because of injury/pain issues. A few months after I started lifting I had a shoulder injury that was either caused or exacerbated by benching and that kept me away from any upper body lifting for about 4 months. Then about 2 years ago I went through a pretty decent growth phase. It was largely driven by increasing volume. This ended up in extremely annoying elbow pain that didn't let up for over a year, and still starts coming back when my workload increases. So I've resigned myself to being poor at pressing work because the only thing that's worked in the past is increasing volume and my body doesn't seem able to handle volume increases well at all.

But I would love to hear suggestions on what I can do better if anyone has any they're willing to share. For one, I'm sure there's room for improvement in technique. For example, my touch point, and moreso my bar path are inconsistent. The other thing I'm trying to do is build up overall shoulder strength by doing a wide variety of exercises that work the delts at different angles - especially stuff that doesn't require bending of the elbows. Would love to hear thoughts on either of these, along with any other ideas.