The Flywheel Effect.

September 15, 2020

[B]Dynamic Bench - Bench Press:[/B] Mini Band + 85 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps
Actually did this with 95 pounds on the first set, but it moved slower than I wanted so I lowered it to 85. Felt great, with all reps moving quickly.

[B]Close Grip Bench Press - 2 Board:[/B] 90 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
This starts out feeling so light. I'm always surprised by how fatigued I am near the end of the last set. Not used to doing 15 rep sets I guess.

[B]Single Arm Low Row:[/B] Light Band - 3 sets x 15 reps
I can't really jump up to a stronger band on this, so I'm gradually moving my starting point a little further away each time to get more tension on the band.

[B]Incline Skull Crusher:[/B] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
The burn! These 15 rep sets get me every time still.

[B]Hammer Curl:[/B] 27.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps
Took a modest 2.5 pound increase from last week. Will continue to do the same until I max out.

[B]Barbell Shrug:[/B] 180 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
So I got this fancy rackable trap bar, and I've barely used the darn thing. Shrugs was one of the reasons I wanted it in the first place, so... They felt great. Definitely was nice not having the barbell in front of me - felt much more natural.

[B]Situp:[/B] 5 pounds - 3 sets x 25 reps


Video shows a couple sets of the Banded Bench Press from slightly different angles, and a set of the shrugs:
[youtube]okls4YUdU5c[/youtube]

Hey man congrats on the little one on the way. If you ever need anything on that front feel free to message me. I got two of them.

That banded bench looked great. Nice work today.

[QUOTE=Raigs;1616624101]Hey man congrats on the little one on the way. If you ever need anything on that front feel free to message me. I got two of them.

That banded bench looked great. Nice work today.[/QUOTE]
Appreciate that man. Started dating my partner when her son was 2 (he's 10 now), so I have a small amount of experience with youngsters. I don't really have much of a clue of what's coming my way for the next couple of years though, lol.

I realize I don't have it nearly as bad as a lot of other people, but it's been pretty bad timing for this experience. Thank goodness I was finally able to start going to check up appointments as of last week. English isn't my partners first language, and communicating what's been going on in the checkups isn't exactly her strong suit, lol. Happy to be back in the loop now, able to know what's going on, and ask questions. Also missed out on parenting classes, which isn't the end of the world, but would've been interesting.

But yeah, really appreciate the offer. I'll remember it. ;)

Benchpress looked solid and very fast. Mirin that trap bar. They are great for a lot of different lifts and conditioning work!

Congrats on the upcoming blessing. You can expect less sleep, less sexy time, and less free time.... And it is all worth it for the little while it lasts. Once mini-you starts sleeping through the night and gets on a good schedule, everything returns back to a semblance of normal lol

The first two years are pretty awesome
But rough! You’ll get through it. Just find time for yourself even if it feels like your being selfish you need it to be a better you.

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1616706461]Benchpress looked solid and very fast. Mirin that trap bar. They are great for a lot of different lifts and conditioning work!

Congrats on the upcoming blessing. You can expect less sleep, less sexy time, and less free time.... And it is all worth it for the little while it lasts. Once mini-you starts sleeping through the night and gets on a good schedule, everything returns back to a semblance of normal lol[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Raigs;1616712751]The first two years are pretty awesome
But rough! You’ll get through it. Just find time for yourself even if it feels like your being selfish you need it to be a better you.[/QUOTE]

Thanks guys. I'm sure it'll be a wild ride. :)

[U]September 16, 2020[/U]

[B]Dynamic Lower - Paused Squat:[/B] 135 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps
The percentage guidelines I was going by would've had me doing these with 145 pounds. To be honest, I probably should've done them at 130 or 125, because the reps weren't what I'd consider fast. Speed out of the hole has always been poor for me, even at really low weights. That's actually why I programmed the paused squats. I do feel my squat finally coming together. I've changed to more of a low bar position, and it's helped enormously with balance. I find myself much more stable, and therefore able to exert more power. It's still very inconsistent though. Some reps feel fantastic, and others feel all over the place. The paused squat helped with that today a little bit, as I was forced to 'settle' at the bottom. I think this lift will be really good for me. There's a video below which shows 2 of my worst sets, lol.

[B]Dynamic Lower - Deficit Conventional Deadlift:[/B] 165 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps
These are designed to be done for speed, just like the Squats, but I'm not about to do anything that has my back extending quickly right now. Weight was about 60 pounds lighter than it should typically be. The lift felt really good though. I figured out a good cue to help me get my weight back at the beginning of the lift, which is something I've always struggled with. So it was productive.

[B]Inclined Trap Bar Seal Row:[/B] 100 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps
Check the video below to see what I'm doing on this.

The video shows a couple of sets of paused squats, and a set of the Trap Bar Seal Rows.
[youtube]WaI9XqpgOBs[/youtube]

[U]September 18, 2020[/U]

[B]Max Bench - Incline Press w/Bamboo Bar:[/B] 86 pounds x 2 reps
Wow, this was an experience. I was supposed to be doing a different lift today, but I was staring at that bamboo bar and realizing that it's just been sitting in the corner since I got it. This is definitely not something I'll do as a Max Effort lift in the future. Lesson learned on that, lol. But I love the bar. I'm for sure going to be using it for repetition work moving forward though, and maybe even for some speed work. I obviously need the work on the stabilizer muscles. I did end up doing a 10 rep set at a lower weight with it, and then also tested it with a regular bench press (I was much more stable in that lift). The 2 reps set at 86 pounds is pretty damn funny though - arms shaking all over the place. You can check it out in the video at the end of the post.

[B]Pullup:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 9 reps
Shoulders were cracking like crazy today. First time that's happened in a while. No discomfort though, and got through all the reps.

[B]Seated Military Press: [/B]70 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
Seeing really good progress on this lift. Gonna keep pushing it for a few more weeks before swapping it out for something else.

[B]Face Pull:[/B] Mini Band - 3 sets x 15 reps

[B]Pushup - Close Grip: [/B]3 sets x 10 reps
Thumbs about 2-3 inches apart. Struggled through some of the reps, but still seeing good progress on this exercise too.

[B]Tricep Dumbbell Overhead Extension:[/B] 17.5 pounds (per hand) - 3 sets x 10 reps


Video includes the Incline Press with Bamboo Bar, and a set of the Military Press.
[youtube]HlSsgUVn7xA[/youtube]

[U]September 20, 2020[/U]
[B]Max Effort Lower - Box Squat:[/B] 215 pounds x 1 rep
I learned 2 things here. First, I thought my box squat was looking pretty good until I tried it with more than 200 pounds. Clearly I still have a lot of work to do on it, because my top two sets were ugly.
Second, there's nothing like a side angle on a squat to let you know when it's time to go on a diet, lmao. Granted, I'm filling my belly up with air as much as possible, but still... I'm down to about 166-167 pounds, from 178 in May. My weight has actually been really stable for the last couple of months. I think it's probably time to drop a few more pounds now though.

[youtube]jdJHVezwKdE[/youtube]

[B]Barbell Hack Squat:[/B] 145 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Barbell Split Squat:[/B] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Kroc Row:[/B] 55 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] 45 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps

Workout wasn't bad. I'm making steady progress on everything. Ugly as it was, the Box Squat is a PR, and I'll take it. I have a couple of more weeks with these same accessories. Typically I will probably change accessory lifts every 2-3 weeks, but 6 weeks should be fine for the first couple of cycles because I'm starting with relatively low weights, and should be able to progress for at least that long. I'll let my rate of progress determine how often exercises get changed.

[U]September 22, 2020[/U]
After a long work day, I spent a couple of hours cutting up and burning a bunch of branches. Wore me out. I ended up dropping a couple of exercises today because I was starting to get the shakes. Got in the most important lifts, and I feel perfectly okay after getting some water in me.

[U]Dynamic Bench - Bench Press[/U]
[B]Mini Band + 90 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps[/B]

[U]Close Grip Bench Press - 2 Board [/U]
[B]95 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]

[U]Single Arm Low Row[/U]
[B]Light Band - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]

[U]Incline Skull Crusher[/U]
[B]60 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]

[U]Hammer Curl[/U]
[B]30 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

Everything felt good today. The weight moved quickly on the speed work. Video of that along with a set of close grip bench and the single arm rows can be seen below.

[youtube]JhqugofaHW8[/youtube]

I love that you have the bamboo bar. It’s such a fun thing(never used it but it looks like it) probably felt that.

Nice manual labor as your warmup for the benching. Probably felt easy after all the labor

[QUOTE=Raigs;1617328181]I love that you have the bamboo bar. It’s such a fun thing(never used it but it looks like it) probably felt that.

Nice manual labor as your warmup for the benching. Probably felt easy after all the labor[/QUOTE]

Yeah man, can't wait to fit the Bamboo Bar into my programming. I have my next 6 weeks already planned out without it, but for sure will add it in the following cycle. May even end up fitting it into this next one...we'll see.
I really wiped myself out. Woke up yesterday feeling like crap. Had a headache that lasted all day. I think I just got too dehydrated, and it took me a full day to recover. I should know better. Anyway, I felt great today. Got in my workout that I was supposed to do yesterday.


[U]September 24, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Lower - Paused Squat[/U]
[B]145 pounds - 10 sets x 2 reps[/B]
I really struggle with these, which means they're probably really good for me. This in no way can be considered 'Speed Work', the weight move super slow on some of the reps. I'm really bad at the bottom of the squat. My primary focus was on keeping my weight back. Also working on keeping my weight evenly balanced side to side (tendency is to slide my hips to the left). Had some good reps and some poor ones. It's a work in progress.

[U]Dynamic Lower - Deficit Conventional Deadlift[/U]
[B]185 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps[/B]
Feeling much more comfortable and confident with the deadlifts. My back feels great. I'm also super pumped because I've forever been fighting the same issue I mentioned on squats of getting my weight too far forward. Well, I picked up on something when I did my max effort Sumo Deadlift last time, and tested it out today on this lift, and it made a world of difference. It's the first time I can remember watching video of myself on a deadlift and seeing my shoulders directly above the bar for the full rep. It felt fantastic. I think I've finally got that particular issues fixed for this lift. I did notice that I struggled to keep good form when doing a touch and go. A quick reset between reps worked excellently. I also need to figure out a new setup routine, because the old one was part of the problem. I'll try some different approaches and see what works over time.

[U]Good Morning[/U]
[B]95 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]
I had Good Mornings planned once per week for this entire block (this is the final week of the block). Today was the first time I felt my back was up to the task of doing them. This is a lift I don't have much experience with. All things considered, it definitely made sense to start off light and focus on the movement, so that's what I did. I got what I wanted out of it. It's a shame that I wasn't able to do this consistently throughout this block, but I'll definitely add it in again in the future.

Kept it to just these 3 lifts today, as I got started super late this evening, and my energy was a bit low by the end again. Rest day tomorrow, and then I'll be back at it on Saturday.

[U]September 26, 2020[/U]

[U]Max Bench - 2 Board Bench Press[/U]
[B]170 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Failed attempt at 175 can also be seen in the video at the end. Going in, I thought 175 might be doable. Just couldn't get it moving fast enough at the beginning. Really happy with the 170 though. The hole spacing gets to be a problem for me once the weight gets up to about 160. You can see in both attempts on the video that I struggled a bit to unrack. It throws off my setup big time, forcing me more to the back of my shoulders than on my traps. It's for sure making it harder for me to hit the reps. The next lowest hole is 4 inches lower, which isn't going to work either. Not the end of the world, but annoying for sure.

[U]Pullup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]
Changed to this instead of the 3x10 I've been doing. Went as fast as possible on the way up, and did a 3-5 second descent. Did holds at the top for a few reps too. The mind muscle connection (or whatever it it's supposed to be called) was much better with this approach. Reps were definitely higher quality even though I only did 25 compared to 30 the other way.

[U]Seated Military Press[/U]
[B]72.5 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Killed it. I believe this has to be the longer streak of progression without stalling I've ever had on this lift. This felt easier than the 70 pounds I did last week. Gonna keep on with the slow increases.

[U]Pendlay Row[/U]
[B]95 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
First time doing any barbell rows in about a month and a half. Started out light. Lower back held up great, and the reps felt great.

[U]Tricep Dumbbell Overhead Extension[/U]
[B]20 pounds (per hand) - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Decline Crunch[/U]
[B]50 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]

Video shows 2 Max Bench attempts, and the second set of shoulder presses.
[youtube]qYn_8lZgKuQ[/youtube]

[U]September 27, 2020[/U]

[U]Max Effort Lower - Rack Pull[/U]
[B]305 pounds x 3 reps[/B]
Went with a 3 rep max today. I'm still uneasy really letting it rip. I can see it in the video too - I look tentative. Just need to build some confidence over time that my body will hold up. Even at a 3 rep max I left a lot in the tank. Pretty sure I could've done another 40-50 pounds for a triple, but I'll take this for now.

[U]Barbell Hack Squat[/U]
[B]150 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Barbell Split Squat[/U]
[B]65 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Kroc Row[/U]
[B]60 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]


Video shows the Rack Pulls, and the second set of Hack Squats.
[youtube]AwPxvSS4KhY[/youtube]


I remembered that I had some extra 3/4 inch wood from when I put together my platform. I should be able to use it to raise up the bench when doing bench press. I gave it a trial run and it definitely made it easier to clear the hooks on the unrack. Looking forward to testing it out with more weight on the bar. :)

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/gSFgqZT/IMG-3029.jpg[/IMG]

Nice sessions! Looks like you are seeing some nice gains!!!

[QUOTE=Raigs;1617740561]Nice sessions! Looks like you are seeing some nice gains!!![/QUOTE]

Sure seems that way. :)
Hard to be completely sure because I'm going a minimum of 6 weeks before repeating a lift. Next week I'll be doing a standard bench press for the first time in 6 weeks, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Totally unrelated - I just realized I've been using the wrong setting when benching with a block. I thought I was using a 2 board, but it turns out it was actually a 1 board. Why they start out at 1/2 instead of 1, I have no idea. That's what threw me off.

I’ve never benched with boards. I have no idea what you should be doing. But it’s cool to see someone using them so I have some knowledge if I decide to go there

I have also never done a boarded bench lol. I am not sure if I asked this already but are you using a powerlifting based program? Only reason I ask is it is usually geared(as in shirted not drugs) powerlifters that I usually see using board presses because that tends to be where their bench shirts start doing less. Other than that I have seen a few guys use them to test a certain range of motion in their bench

Rack pulls looked very solid. And I am actually jealous of how easy you made the hack squats look. All I have ever managed to do with those is scrape skin off the back of my lower shins... and I wasn't even using 150 pounds to do it

My program isn't really based on anything. I'm just making this stuff up as I go. ;)
I've been following strict programming ever since I started lifting. I figured it's probably about time I figure out what works for me, so I'm just trying all kinds of things to see how they work for me. I'm personally using a board press to hopefully improve strength at my stalling point (which is about 2-3 inches off my chest). I'm learning as I go though, and now realize that the way I've been using it so far is not really good. I did it primarily with close grip and high reps. This has me using weights that are probably far too light to actually help my sticking point. But like I said, learning as I go.

Barbell Hack Squats are an interesting animal. Hard to tame, for sure. I first tried them about 2 years ago, and just about fell over. It took me several weeks of doing them to even be able to keep both feet planted in place throughout the lift. I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of them, so didn't touch them again until recently (didn't have a lot of options when I was lifting at home without a rack). I've not gotten relatively comfortable with them. They still get a bit better each time. But yeah, they feel very weird. No doubt about that. I'm a fan of them. They work my quads more than anything else I'm doing right now.


[U]September 29, 2020[/U]
Down to the final 2 workouts of my first 6 week block (today and tomorrow). Really happy with the progress so far, and I'm learning a lot about what works and what doesn't. I already had my next 6 weeks programmed, and I'll be mostly sticking with what I planned initially. That'll give me 3 months of experience, and put me in a really good position to plan better blocks as I go along. I also have a lot of equipment I didn't have when I wrote this programming, so it'll fun to mix in some more variety (bamboo bar, chains, belt squat, etc.)

[U]Dynamic Bench - Bench Press[/U]
[B]Mini Band + 95 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps[/B]
Felt great today. The reps moved faster than they did last week, which is good since I added 5 pounds this week. Elevating the bench 3/4 inch helped. I'm going to need to make adjustments according to my grip. With wider grip I may need to remove the boards underneath the bench and lower the hooks 4 inches. Grip width makes a huge difference. Everything worked great today.

[U]Close Grip Bench Press - 2 Board[/U]
[B]100 pounds - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]
As I mentioned above, this is definitely not a great way to implement a board press. I really like the idea of it, but need to be more careful about how I incorporate it. In the future I'll do it with more of a conventional grip width and heavier weights (either max effort stuff or 6-8 rep sets at most).

[U]Face Pull[/U]
[B]Mini Band - 3 sets x 20 reps[/B]

[U]Incline Skull Crusher[/U]
[B]65 pounds - 1 set x 15 reps / 62.5 - 2 x 15[/B]
Did 60 pounds last week, and planned to do 65 this week. I just barely eeked out the reps on the first set though, and decided to reduce the weight slightly. I paid for the fractional plates...why not make use of them, right?

[U]Hammer Curl[/U]
[B]35 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
I didn't even think about this until I was on the final set, but this lift made me realize that I'm actually making really good progress. I know...they're curls. But the thing is, last time I incorporated DB curls into my programming, I struggled to do a couple sets of 6 at this weight. Today I did sets of 12.

[U]Situp[/U]
[B]10 pounds - 3 sets x 25 reps[/B]
These felt great. I remember a couple months after the lockdown began, I started doing some bodyweight stuff at home - situps, pushups, squats. I remember about a week in I did 20 situps and thought I was gonna die, lol. The 3 sets of 25 with bodyweight plus 10 pounds barely affected me at all.

I don't think I ever mentioned it, but I ended up buying another set of 45's and 25's, and got them delivered last week. I should be good on weights for quite a while now - I have close to 500 pounds of weights now I think, and can't lift anything close to that right now. Today I receive part of another recent purchase. I got some adjustable metal plyo boxes from Titan. They adjust from 12 to 24 inches. I mainly got them so that I can do box squats at various heights, and to use them for belt squats. I ordered 2 and got the first one today. It seems to be pretty good quality. It had just a really slight wobble to it when I tested it out initially, but I may not have had the legs slotted fully into place. Looking forward to putting these things to use.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/gy0csJy/IMG-3033.jpg[/img]

Nice ^^^ You may also be able to use those for block pulls, which are easier on your equipment than rack pulls lol.

Great job on the benchpress progress. Also admiring fractional plates. I have never seen a set IRL. They would definitely seem like they would be useful for some of the isolation movement like skulls and curls. A 5 pound jump can have 20 pound effects on those lifts :D

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1618040071]Nice ^^^ You may also be able to use those for block pulls, which are easier on your equipment than rack pulls lol.

Great job on the benchpress progress. Also admiring fractional plates. I have never seen a set IRL. They would definitely seem like they would be useful for some of the isolation movement like skulls and curls. A 5 pound jump can have 20 pound effects on those lifts :D[/QUOTE]

Yeah, no kidding. The 2.5 pound difference on skull crushers honestly felt like 10. And good call on the block pulls. Definitely need to give that a try. They are designed to hold 300 pounds each, so should work well.

[U]September 30, 2020[/U]
Last day of September. Last day of my cycle. Got in some good work.

[U]Dynamic Lower - Paused Squat[/U]
[B]135 pounds - 8 sets x 2 reps[/B]
I was really unhappy with how my paused squats looked last week, so I lowered the weight and focused on getting the movement right. It was an improvement over last week for sure, but still not what I'd call good. My first rep of each set was actually pretty decent, but the second rep was significantly worse. Typically losing tightness and/or balance at the bottom of the lift, and having the weight shift forward noticeably. Not sure why, but I'll keep working on it.

[U]Dynamic Lower - Deficit Conventional Deadlift[/U]
[B]195 pounds - 12 sets x 2 reps[/B]
These felt great today. The weight felt light. I filmed most of the sets, and all but 1 or 2 reps looked really good (don't have time to upload video today though). I can feel myself getting out of position marginally (by just tiny amounts here and there). Guess it's good that I can feel it as soon as I'm out of position. Now just need to keep tightening up the movement pattern.

[U]Good Morning[/U]
[B]95 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps / 115 - 3 x 6[/B]
Started out with the same weight I used last week. It felt very light, so I increased for the final 3 sets.


I'll have a couple of well needed off days now. I'm going to be starting Kung Fu classes on Friday. Never done any kind of martial arts, and always had an interest in it. My step son wanted to take lessons, but didn't want to do it alone, so we'll be doing them together. Should be a ton of fun.

Having a baby shower on Saturday. We're hosting it, so I still have things to do to prepare, and will be quite busy over the next couple of days. Not sure if I'll be able to get my scheduled workout in on Saturday with the party, but not the end of the world if it ends up getting pushed back a day. All the workouts will get done one way or another. Next workout has me doing a standard bench press as my max effort lift. I haven't done it since 6 weeks ago, on the first week of the block I just finished. Will be interesting to see if I'm able to better the 160 I did then. It's really my first chance to get a direct apples to apples comparison to measure my progress. Looking forward to that.

Nice workout session. I respect that you lowered the weight to get the form down. That’s a hard thing to do when you know you can move heavier weight.

Enjoy the baby shower special occasions call for some good food and booze.

[QUOTE=Raigs;1618106691]Nice workout session. I respect that you lowered the weight to get the form down. That’s a hard thing to do when you know you can move heavier weight.

Enjoy the baby shower special occasions call for some good food and booze.[/QUOTE]

Thank you! Baby shower was good. Enjoyed the time with family and friends, especially since we've not seen them much this year.

[U]October 3, 2020[/U]
I was stuffed full of food, and tired from entertaining and then cleaning up afterward. Wasn't feeling 100%, that's for sure. Still managed a decent workout.

[U]Max Bench - Bench Press[/U]
[B]165 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Improved on my max from 6 weeks ago, which was 160. Gave 170 a pretty good run too, but it stalled out just under half way up. I never really felt comfortable today, so I'm super happy with the PR.

[U]Pushup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight + Mini Band - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]

[U]Pendlay Row[/U]
[B]105 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Kneeling Overhead Press[/U]
[B]65 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Never seen anyone do this before, but figured it's worth a try. It felt surprisingly similar to a normal standing OHP. This is a good option for me since my ceiling is too low to do a normal OHP.

[U]Tricep Kickbacks[/U]
[B]15 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

[U]Planks[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 3 sets x 1 minute[/B]


Video includes the 165 and 170 pounds sets of bench, and a set of kneeling OHP.
[youtube]Ts-i64QIQpo[/youtube]


I am wore out. Tomorrow is max effort squat day. I'll see if I can better the 205 I did 2 weeks ago.

October 4, 2020

[U]Max Effort Lower - Squat[/U]
[B]215 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Well this was an adventure... I did a crap load of squat reps today. Wamed up slowly, working on grooving the movement. Started out a little tight, so the extra reps helped, and the weight was flying up as I got to 185 and 205. Was feeling really confident so I jumped to 215 (my max last time I tested was 205). I failed miserably at 215. Didn't want to settle for tying my last max, so I took a short rest, reset to 135 pounds and worked my way back up. Hit the 205 again relatively easily. Hit 210, bar still moving quickly. Then made 215. As I watched the video though, I realized I was an inch or two short of my usual depth. Can't accept that as a PR, so I got back under the bar and did it again, this time with acceptable depth.
Best part of the day for me was that my form mostly held up, even at top weight. The reps at 210 and 215 can be seen in the video below. The 215 rep did get away from me a little bit. You can see that the bar drifts forward and I have to correct it. If I can eliminate the errors like that, I'm sure I can instantly add another 10 pounds. I'm feeling pretty confident I'll probably hit 225 in my next cycle.

[U]Seated Good Morning[/U]
[B]135 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]
The more I do these seated, the less I like them. I just feel very restricted in the movement. But anyway, it's definitely safer on my lower back, and will be a good way to continue building up strength in that area with less risk.

[U]Chinup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight x 10 reps / 10 reps / 9 reps[/B]

[U]Rack Pull[/U]
[B]225 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Felt much more comfortable doing these today. Lockout looked and felt really good, whereas last week I wasn't really locking out fully.

[U]Brazilian Split Squat[/U]
[B]20 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]


Video shows Squat reps of 210 & 215 pounds:
[youtube]p5TF58JMaYY[/youtube]

Hey it’s been a while it will be fun checking in on how you’re training has been doing pal.. Home gym looks awesome..

[QUOTE=daawhitty;1618440551]Hey it’s been a while it will be fun checking in on how you’re training has been doing pal.. Home gym looks awesome..[/QUOTE]
Hey man! Good to see you around. I just checked your log last week to see if you had posted anything recently, lol.

Nice squat session so many reps.

Nice work on lifting after you were stuffed full of food. Bet it was good fuel to get you going once you started

[QUOTE=Raigs;1618483551]Nice squat session so many reps.

Nice work on lifting after you were stuffed full of food. Bet it was good fuel to get you going once you started[/QUOTE]

Yeah, for sure. It was a rough start, but the extra calories definitely helped get me through the session. A day of recovery now...I definitely need it.

Damn you buried the hell out of the 215 lol. Strong back and forth progression on the hunt for annew PR. I very rarely have any luck going back and coming back to a missed lift.

You missed 215
Went back
Worked up to and hit 215
Didnt like the depth(I know these feels)
Hit 215 again to make sure you could count it and ended up smashing a new PR twice :D

The fact that you went on to goodmornings, chinups, rack pulls, and another squat variation is definitely going to make this a workout you can look back at later and go "yep that one definitely made me stronger" :D

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1618599461]Damn you buried the hell out of the 215 lol. Strong back and forth progression on the hunt for annew PR. I very rarely have any luck going back and coming back to a missed lift.
The fact that you went on to goodmornings, chinups, rack pulls, and another squat variation is definitely going to make this a workout you can look back at later and go "yep that one definitely made me stronger" :D[/QUOTE]

For sure that's a workout I'll remember. Don't think I've ever retried a missed PR before. The way the bar was moving, I knew 100% I had it in me though as long as I didn't totally F up the lift. Probably had another 10 pounds in me, but it can wait.


[U]October 6, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Bench - JM Press[/U]
[B]75 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps[/B]
Started out maybe a little light, wanting to work on the movement since I was doing it incorrectly previously. It felt great. Will increase to 85 next week.

[U]Dumbbell Bench Press[/U]
[B]40's - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
Loooong time since I've done these (probably over a year). The first set felt odd, but I was back in the groove on the next 2 sets. Will increase to 45's next week.

[U]Floor Press with Fat Grips[/U]
[B]95 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
Was literally my first time every doing this lift. I tried it once before I got my rack, but I couldn't make it work at all. REALLY like the way these feel. We'll see how I progress as this cycle goes on, and how much it helps my bench press, but I have a feeling this lift will be something I return to pretty regularly.

[U]Barbell Shrug[/U]
[B]205 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Tricep Extension[/U]
[B]Mini Band - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]
Of all the times for this to happen, my calves started cramping up during these, lmao.
Did them basically like this:
[img]https://www.jefit.com/images/exercises/800_600/4680.jpg[/img]

[U]Hanging Leg Raise[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 10 reps / 7 reps / 7 reps[/B]
These are a challenge since I cant straighten my legs. I have knees bent at the bottom, swing them in front of me and then extend my knees as I lift my toes toward the bar. Still an effective lift though, for sure.

This workout is going to absolutely be a tricep killer in the next 2 weeks as I increase weights.

Good work on the push workout.
Why did you choose JM press for dynamic work? Nothing wrong with that choice, but you are the first person I have seen that does them over the other alternatives.

Love to see the addition of floor presses in everyone's routine. They hit hard and dont require as much weight to do it

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1618691821]Good work on the push workout.
Why did you choose JM press for dynamic work? Nothing wrong with that choice, but you are the first person I have seen that does them over the other alternatives.

Love to see the addition of floor presses in everyone's routine. They hit hard and dont require as much weight to do it[/QUOTE]
Honestly...it's because I don't know what the hell I'm doing, lol. I realized that just as I was about to do them. Thought to myself...why do I have JM Press as the dynamic movement and floor press as assistance work? - it should probably be the other way around.

If I think back to when I wrote up the programming (almost 2 months ago now), I think I had just watched a video with JM where he talked about the fact that he didn't do speed work and didn't believe in it. So I was probably thinking I'd do the same thing and just do these at a normal tempo and leave out the speed work. That's basically what I ended up doing. Even though they're listed as the Dynamic work for the day, I didn't do them with any real speed. And I don't think they'd be good as speed work at all, it's just not what they're designed for, and even if they were done with speed I don't see that helping the speed of the standard bench press.

So like I said a while back, I'm basically taking these first two cycles and trying a bunch of random stuff, and then I'll take what I've learned (which is quite a lot already) and apply it to my future cycles.

[U]September 30, 2020[/U]
Today was one of those days where the list of things to do ran long and time ran short, and so my workout ran short as well. Did only the two main lifts of the day.

[U]Dynamic Lower - 12 inch Box Squat[/U]
[B]115 pounds (55% of 1RM) - 12 sets x 2 reps[/B]
Not used to squatting this to a box this low, but the reps were really solid after the first set.

[U]Dynamic Lower - Sumo Deadlift[/U]
[B]215 pounds (70% of 1RM) - 12 sets x 2 reps[/B]
Felt good. Moved good. Looked good.

No video again, because no time.
Rest day tomorrow. I'll be out of town this weekend. May be able to get a workout in Friday evening after Kung Fu class. May be able to get a workout in Sunday evening. We'll see.

I like the fact you admit you don’t know what your doing. I don’t think many of us do. But you know it and are going to learn so much that way! 🤜

Also Kung fu??? Tell us more

[QUOTE=Raigs;1618746091]I like the fact you admit you don’t know what your doing. I don’t think many of us do. But you know it and are going to learn so much that way! 🤜
Also Kung fu??? Tell us more[/QUOTE]
I spent 4 years running programs written by other people. I made barely any progress and learned enough to delude myself into thinking I understood programming. I'm not interested in doing that anymore. I'm really just trying to look at programming with fresh eyes, and learn through experience. Embracing the Zen concept of 'Beginners Mind'.

My 10 year old step son has mentioned wanting to do martial arts many times over the years. They have a Kung Fu class that's run through the school district, and he wanted to do it, but didn't want to do it alone. In the class description there was a comment that parents didn't need to sit and watch - they could participate too. So I signed up with him. We got his cousin (who's the same age as him) to join also, so the 3 of us are doing the class together. We had the second class tonight. We learned our first 'form', which is essentially just a series of movements performed in a specific pattern. It's been a lot of fun so far.


[U]October 9, 2020[/U]

[u]Max Bench - 60 Degree Incline Bench Press[/u]
[B]140 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Last cycle, I did a 45 degree incline press and maxed out at 135, so 140 was really good here with a steeper incline. I was sooooo close to hitting 145. I actually tried it twice because I was so close I swore I could do it. Got stuck at exactly the same spot on the second attempt. It seems like my sticking point has moved. It's always been about 2-3 inches off my chest. The two attempts at 145 got well beyond that, but I just couldn't lock them out. Interesting... Could be that the board presses I did last cycle helped make me stronger where my sticking point had been. Anyway, I'm making really good progress on the pressing exercises.

[U]Pushup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight + Mini Band - 5 sets x 6 reps[/B]
Added 1 rep to each set from last week.

[U]Pendlay Row[/U]
[B]115 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Kneeling Overhead Press[/U]
[B]70 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
The last 5 reps were a grind, but got them all in.

[U]Tricep Kickbacks[/U]
[B]17.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

[U]Planks[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 3 sets x 1 minute 10 seconds[/B]
Planks always suck. These were extra sucky. About halfway through the second set I started feeling like my abs were going to cramp up. Somehow they never did, but it sure was uncomfortable.


Video shows the Incline sets of 140 and the second attempt at 145:
[youtube]zyPvmhFFtXM[/youtube]

damn that 145 was soooooo close. Still solid work and congrats on the 140! Watch how steep you make that incline though. The higher up you go the more focus it shifts to your shoulders.

lol it is funny that you are doing kneeling overhead presses. I just recommended them to someone. Great alternative if you have a bum knee or a short ceiling.

Yeah I hear you. Following someone’s program sucks if you don’t know why your doing it and why your pairing the movements. I think it takes years.

That’s pretty neat the Kung fu place is mixed. That definitely a different workout and will change it up.

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1619022811]damn that 145 was soooooo close. Still solid work and congrats on the 140! Watch how steep you make that incline though. The higher up you go the more focus it shifts to your shoulders.

lol it is funny that you are doing kneeling overhead presses. I just recommended them to someone. Great alternative if you have a bum knee or a short ceiling.[/QUOTE]
Will do. The 60 degree incline is probably something I won't do more than about once every 3 months or so. It's just mixed in as on of many pressing variations. And yeah, then kneeling OHP works surprisingly well. In some ways, at least initially, it's almost more difficult than standing. It's probably easier to cheat a bit when standing. Really liking it so far.

[QUOTE=Raigs;1619045131]Yeah I hear you. Following someone’s program sucks if you don’t know why your doing it and why your pairing the movements. I think it takes years.

That’s pretty neat the Kung fu place is mixed. That definitely a different workout and will change it up.[/QUOTE]
It's definitely been a long learning process already, and I still have much to learn. The Kung Fu is has been a blast so far. Part of me just wants to sit and watch the youngsters (just because it's so entertaining), but I'm having a great time participating. And the practice time at home is a good opportunity to spend time together doing something we both enjoy. :)

[U]October 11, 2020[/U]

[U]Max Effort Lower - Conventional Deadlift w/Snatch Grip[/U]
[B]305 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Snatch grip is weird. It's not really surprising since I've never done it before. Could definitely feel the difference in what muscles it's working though, and I can see the benefit of doing them. It's probably a lift I should keep in my rotation for a while to help build up the muscles in my upper back. This for sure wasn't a true max lift, but I was getting flashbacks to the injury I had a while back. I'll need to throw caution to the wind at some point and trust my body will hold up, but for the next month or so I'm happy to play it safe. My form held up pretty darn well. I was trying to keep it as tight as possible, and the weight ended up moving pretty slow as a result, but it felt really good.

[U]Seated Good Morning[/U]
[B]140 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]
Liking these less and less as I go on. I just can't get the range of motion that I want. Once I through with them this time around, I probably won't be adding them back in again any time soon.

[U]Chinup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Rack Pull[/U]
[B]235 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Pretty happy with how this is progressing. In the future, I'll most likely stick to lower rep ranges. I started to get fatigued near the end of the sets and lose tightness, which is not exactly a recipe for success on this particular lift.

[U]Brazilian Split Squat[/U]
[B]20 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
I listed the weight as 20 pounds last week, but I believe it was actually 15, so the 20 this week was a whopping 5 pound increase.

Video shows the 305 deadlift and the second set of rack pulls. The audio is out of sync with the video for some reason.
[youtube]ztGKdWOpp7I[/youtube]

[QUOTE=CW47;1618725911]Honestly...it's because I don't know what the hell I'm doing, lol. I realized that just as I was about to do them. Thought to myself...why do I have JM Press as the dynamic movement and floor press as assistance work? - it should probably be the other way around.

If I think back to when I wrote up the programming (almost 2 months ago now), I think I had just watched a video with JM where he talked about the fact that he didn't do speed work and didn't believe in it. So I was probably thinking I'd do the same thing and just do these at a normal tempo and leave out the speed work. That's basically what I ended up doing. Even though they're listed as the Dynamic work for the day, I didn't do them with any real speed. And I don't think they'd be good as speed work at all, it's just not what they're designed for, and even if they were done with speed I don't see that helping the speed of the standard bench press.

So like I said a while back, I'm basically taking these first two cycles and trying a bunch of random stuff, and then I'll take what I've learned (which is quite a lot already) and apply it to my future cycles.[/QUOTE]

I missed this post entirely earlier :confused:

Anyway, as JRock said it is a good thing when you realize you are not quite "in the know" about why some things are paired up or even in a program entirely. Blakely does seem to not like speed work.... and it works for him. If you think that is where it is at for you, then keep going with that in mind. There are definitely worse powerlifters out there to take advice from lol. Blakely is very intelligent in how he sets his program up.

I like speed work because I am able to get some of the heavy weight benefits without actually having to move the heavy weight through the entire range of motion. But speed work is most definitely not a final answer. It is just another tool to use as you see fit.

I do like the addition of Kung Fu to your repertoire of physical activities. There is nothing better for conditioning, flexibility, mobility, and endurance than the martial arts. And Kung Fu is definitely one of the martial arts that requires all of these abilities. IIRC, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but Kung Fu is a very throw oriented art form... requiring a lot of moves that use your opponents weight and momentum against him.

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1619118901]I missed this post entirely earlier :confused:

Anyway, as JRock said it is a good thing when you realize you are not quite "in the know" about why some things are paired up or even in a program entirely. Blakely does seem to not like speed work.... and it works for him. If you think that is where it is at for you, then keep going with that in mind. There are definitely worse powerlifters out there to take advice from lol. Blakely is very intelligent in how he sets his program up.

I like speed work because I am able to get some of the heavy weight benefits without actually having to move the heavy weight through the entire range of motion. But speed work is most definitely not a final answer. It is just another tool to use as you see fit.

I do like the addition of Kung Fu to your repertoire of physical activities. There is nothing better for conditioning, flexibility, mobility, and endurance than the martial arts. And Kung Fu is definitely one of the martial arts that requires all of these abilities. IIRC, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but Kung Fu is a very throw oriented art form... requiring a lot of moves that use your opponents weight and momentum against him.[/QUOTE]

I really like listening to JM talk. Clearly an intelligent individual, which I appreciate. But I'm not really ready to adopt his stance yet - I want to give speed work a good thorough test before I make my mind up about it. I was just trying to explain the thought process behind why I programmed the JM Press like I did. I'll probably use it exclusively as assistance work in the future, rather than having it be the main movement on Dynamic days.

The Kung Fu is honestly just for fun, but I can definitely see it being good for overall health, for the reasons you mentioned. Not sure about the throws. It certainly doesn't seem to be a throw oriented martial art so far, since we've only learned punches and kicks during the first 2 weeks, but it's still really early on, so we'll see...

[U]October 13, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Bench - JM Press[/U]
[B]85 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps[/B]

[U]Dumbbell Bench Press[/U]
[B]45's - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
A bit grindy on the last reps. I'll probably need to do the smallest possible increase next week.

[U]Floor Press with Fat Grips[/U]
[B]100 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
Not really liking the Fat Grips on this lift, but it may very well be because I'm just not used to them.

[U]Barbell Shrug[/U]
[B]215 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Tricep Extension[/U]
[B]Mini Band - 3 sets x 15 reps[/B]
Same sets and reps, but I had the band a little tighter than last week. I'll need to either change to an average band or increase reps/sets next week.

[U]Hanging Leg Raise[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]


My left shoulder and elbow were giving me some grief today. I think I've pinpointed the cause to two different things. First is Chinups. Though I didn't have any pain initially, my shoulders were cracking like crazy from the first rep on these last week, and it was the same when I did them a couple of days ago. Weirdly, the other thing that I think has contributed is the Hanging Leg Raises I started last week. I say it's weird because I have my hands in a Pullup position when doing them, as opposed to a Chinup position. The discomfort was more noticable as soon as I started them today. After the first two sets I changed to an underhand (Chinup) grip, and it instantly felt better. Can't explain why these opposing grips would cause issues in one lift and not in the other. It obviously has something to do with the movement pattern. But really it doesn't matter. I just need to stay away from Chinups and from overhanded hanging leg raises for a while (maybe permanently). Not sure what the elbow pain was about. Could be some mild tendonitis. Could also be a result of the Chins and Leg Raises. Could be something else. We'll see if eliminating those exercises resolves it.

And since most of you probably aren't aware, I had an injury to my left shoulder a few years ago that prevented me from lifting at all for several months. I was lucky that it only required rehab. It's not something I want to deal with again, so I'll absolutely err on the side of safety.

[U]October 14, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Lower - 12 inch Box Squat[/U]
[B]140 pounds (65% of 1RM) - 10 sets x 2 reps[/B]
Didn't move super fast, but I'm seeing some good improvement. It definitely moved better than the sets at 135 and 145 in past weeks. Form is holding up much better overall.

[U]Dynamic Lower - Sumo Deadlift[/U]
[B]230 pounds (75% of 1RM) - 10 sets x 2 reps[/B]
I'm slowly speeding up the reps when deadlifting. Really happy with how it's feeling. Next area of focus for me is going to be my head positioning, which has always been inconsistent. Or maybe I should say it's been consistently wrong...

[U]Romanian Deadlift[/U]
[B]185 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Literally just noticed that I was supposed to do 12 reps instead of 10, lol. Oh well... It's been a while since I've done these, so I had to make adjustments as I went along. Finally was feeling it work my hamstrings on the final set.

[U]Dumbbell Seal Row[/U]
[B]45 pound DB's - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]
Oh damn, I was supposed to do 10 reps on these and I did 12 instead, lmao. I guess that explains why the weight felt too heavy for the number of reps I was doing.

[U]Barbell Curl[/U]
[B]65 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Something about my anatomy makes any curl except a hammer curl irritate my elbows pretty severely. I tried to find a grip width that was reasonably comfortable, but it was still not that comfortable. Should be fine for a couple of weeks here and there though.


Video shows only one of the Sumo Deadlift sets (I think it was the 9th set):
[youtube]cego_PQK5TQ[/youtube]

Nice session. The sumo dead’s are getting stronger.

Barbell curls are always tough on the elbow. I don’t think anybody feels great doing them. Try to just DB

nice work and those deadlifts looked good.

Love the combination of squats and deads on the same day. While I have realized I will never love box squats, they are a great lift. Sumo deads are also a lift I never seem to get perfect. But the combo of those two will leave the legs smoked.

Then you went a threw another hamstring/glute/low back focused lift on with the RDLs :eek:

Do you do any quad dominant days?

[QUOTE=Raigs;1619421631]Nice session. The sumo dead’s are getting stronger.

Barbell curls are always tough on the elbow. I don’t think anybody feels great doing them. Try to just DB[/QUOTE]

Well, I guess it's good news that barbell curls hurt everyone's elbows, lol. I thought it would be good to try them since I've basically never had them as a consistent part of my program. But I will for sure do them with DB's the vast majority of the time. The movement is just so much more natural. I'll probably also try them with bands at some point.

[QUOTE=400Lb Gorilla;1619444241]nice work and those deadlifts looked good.

Love the combination of squats and deads on the same day. While I have realized I will never love box squats, they are a great lift. Sumo deads are also a lift I never seem to get perfect. But the combo of those two will leave the legs smoked.

Then you went a threw another hamstring/glute/low back focused lift on with the RDLs :eek:

Do you do any quad dominant days?[/QUOTE]
I'm not a fan of box squats either, but they seem to be helping my squat, so I'm going to keep doing them for now.

It's taken me a long time to get decent at sumo deads. I've been doing them that way almost exclusively for the last 2 years, and I have gotten to the point that they actually feel more natural than conventional deads.

Believe it or not, my quads are actually sorer than my hamstrings today. I tend to work them over pretty well when doing sumo deads. I do a few lifts here and there that primarily work the quads, but I've intentionally put the focus on hamstrings, glutes, and hip extensors, since those have always seemed to be weak points for me. That's the reason I switched from conventional to sumo - wanting to build up hip strength. It's also why I tend to do wider stance squats (especially when box squatting). I'm much stronger when I have my legs closer together on both squats and deads, because I can use my quads more, but I'm trying to focus on my weak points because I know that's what will make me stronger and healthier in the long run.

[U]October 17, 2020[/U]

[U]Max Bench - Close Grip, 2 Board[/U]
[B]175 pounds x 1 rep[/B]
Today was the first time in a long time that I've felt comfortable getting into a good back arch. It felt great, and definitely helped add some poundage to the lift (about 6 weeks ago I did this lift with a normal width grip and maxed out at 170). I need to get used to it though. My legs were a bit wobbly, and need to get consistent tension going in the correct direction. It also messed with the touch point on my chest. You can see in the video at the end that I was a little out of position and had to adjust. It resulted in me failing the attempt at 180. I feel like I had 185 in me today without those issues. It's a really good step forward for me. Just need to get used to lifting from that position now.

[U]Pushup[/U]
[B]Bodyweight + Mini Band - 5 sets x 7 reps[/B]

[U]Pendlay Row[/U]
[B]120 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Kneeling Overhead Press[/U]
[B]72.5 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
Added only 2.5 pounds this week since I struggled with some of the reps last week. It was easier this week than last week. Good sign.

[U]Tricep Kickbacks[/U]
[B]17.5 pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

[U]Planks[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 3 sets x 1 minute 15 seconds[/B]
I've probably said it 30 times in this thread, but I freaking hate planks. Today, I found a good way of working up the energy to do them. Before doing them I just started yelling about how much they suck, how much I hate them, how much I don't want to do them. It got me really pumped up. I probably should've recorded it, lol.


The video shows the 175 pound bench rep.
[youtube]nZzLfCVD2oM[/youtube]

[U]October 18, 2020[/U]

[U]Max Effort Lower - Squat w/Mini Band[/U]
[B]Mini Band+175 pounds x 1 rep / Mini Band+185 pounds x Fail[/B]
First time doing a banded squat. I'm a big fan of them. The additional tension actually helped me keep the bar path straight. The one exception is my Max Lift at 175, lol. You can see in the video below that I lean forward at the bottom and have to reign it in on the way up. Really surprised I wasn't able to do 185. I thought I'd hit it easily after the 175 attempt. And the form was actually much better than on the 175 rep. Still happy with this result.

[U]Good Morning[/U]
[B]145 pounds - 5 sets x 5 reps[/B]
Tried doing this seated, like the last few weeks, but it just felt bad, so I stood up and did them. It's weird...the reps always seem to get better as I go along. Probably just a matter of gaining confidence that my back will hold up. The set shown in the video below was the first standing set. All of the following sets were better (fuller range).

[U]Band Pulldown[/U]
[B]Mini Band - 3 sets x 25 reps[/B]
I had Chinups planned, but I'm not going to do them anymore because of how they affect my shoulders. So I got creative and tried something new. Put safety bars at the top of the rack and wrapped a band around them, then did pulldowns. It worked pretty good actually.

[U]Rack Pull[/U]
[B]240 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]
These felt great. I did a better job of maintaining tightness throughout all of the sets. My lower back was fried by the time I was done.

[U]Bulgarian Split Squat[/U]
[B]30 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]


This video shows the 175 and 185 squat attempts:
[youtube]E6tVtb_Yri0[/youtube]


This video shows the first set of Good Mornings and Band Pulldowns:
[youtube]Xw1jT7rFtiA[/youtube]


Well boys, not sure how active I'll be from here on out. Baby is due in 2 weeks, so could arrive at any time now. And even if the little one doesn't come for another 2 weeks, I'm pretty damn busy getting prepared, and updating my log on here is going to be a low priority. I finished writing up my programming through the end of January today, so I should be able to focus on just getting in my workouts without worrying about any of the extra stuff for quite a long while now. I will certainly drop some updates if I have the time, but we'll just have to see how it goes.

[U]October 21, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Bench - JM Press[/U]
[B]90 pounds - 9 sets x 3 reps[/B]

[U]Dumbbell Bench Press[/U]
[B]47.5's - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

[u]Floor Press with Fat Grips[/u]
[B]105 Pounds - 3 sets x 12 reps[/B]

[U]Hanging Knee Raise[/U]
[B]Bodyweight - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]


I'm thinking the max effort attempts to failure have caught up to me a bit. I started getting the shakes during and after my previous workout. I thought it was just from the coffee I'd had. But that night I couldn't sleep. Kept waking up every 90 minutes, and at one point I was awake for a couple of hours, still feeling shaky through the night (the coffee would have worn off long before that). I've been feeling sluggish ever since. It hit me hard again part way through this workout. The DB Bench felt easier than last week, despite a weight increase. But then I just hit a wall during the second set of floor press. Started shaking again and barely finished out the set after doing the first set pretty easily. I needed a good 10 minute rest before I was able to do the third set. I cut out the Shrugs and Tricep Extensions I had planned to do. I've also gained about 4 pounds over the last 2 days, despite basically no change in diet or exercise. Weird. Though I don't feel particularly stressed, I suppose that could be a factor. Anyway, I'm going to be very careful about how far I push myself over the next week or so.

[U]October 22, 2020[/U]

[U]Dynamic Lower - 12 inch Box Squat[/U]
[B]160 pounds (75% of 1RM) - 8 sets x 2 reps[/B]

[U]Dynamic Lower - Sumo Deadlift[/U]
[B]245 pounds (80% of 1RM) - 8 sets x 2 reps[/B]

[U]Dumbbell Seal Row[/U]
[B]47.5 pound DB's - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]

[U]Barbell Curl[/U]
[B]70 pounds - 3 sets x 10 reps[/B]


Energy level was back to normal today. I felt great throughout the workout.
I will most likely lower the percentages for the speed squats and deads, especially the squats. Squats moved okay, but definitely not fast. Deads were pretty quick, but would be better at a slightly lower percentage.
Left out Romanian Deadlifts today. My lower back has been fatigued for the last week, and was still sore going into my workout today. I'd rather save it for other exercises.

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I had finished writing my programming through January. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards not following a pre-written program. I've also put together a template that only plans the main lifts on each day, and then gives some guidance on rep ranges and body parts for the remainder of each workout. I tend to stick pretty strictly to my programming, sometimes to my detriment. I think looser programming would/will probably be a good thing for me.