Shooting for the golden physique

[kitarpyar]

The new template has 2 differences -

1. I will add in power cleans and front squats.

2. After the 1.5 hr session today, I realized that I cant do all the compounds on the same day, especially on the days I go heavy. So, I will switch to full body 4x week, but only 2 out of the 4 major compounds (press, bench, deads, squats) each day.

This should shorten the workouts a bit each day, without cutting out too much from the weekly volume. It will look something like this -

Workout A
Pull ups
Military Press
Barbell rows
Squats

Workout B
Pull ups
Power cleans
Bench Press
Front squats (light weight, higher reps)
Deadlifts on alternate "B" workouts, i.e. once per week.

So it still follows the full body format of 1-2 pull movements, 1 push movement and 1 squat movement. But doing the main lifts twice a week (once for bench), I get a little more time to recover. Light front squats should help with recovery, while power cleans shouldnt stress too much since the eccentric part of the lift is non-existent. I also want to do the cleans for another reason - the military presses are done after cleaning the weight to the shoulders. I wouldnt want my presses to be restricted by my cleaning ability.

The idea is to hit approx 25 working reps per lift each session. So before I get into the 6 sets x 4 reps for each lift, there will be a 2-3 warm up sets of 4-5 reps to get to the working weights (Deads and cleans are an exception to this).

Progress!!
Few hrs after the workouts, I measured myself. There hasnt been much change in bodyweight. Whatever I lost on a cutting diet, I gained that back this week eating more for the heavier lifts.

The other changes are more interesting though -
Waist - down by 2.25"
Arms - up by 0.75"

And this, over 4 weeks.

Going back to the earlier entries, I realize that after 4 weeks of training, today I was able to do 5 sets x 5 reps with weights that were my 1RM or within 5 lbs of my 1RM 4 weeks back (except deads). Muscle memory or not, I think I will count this as progress.

[-Lucifer]

By the way, do you have a journal going nowadays in these forums ?

Nope. I just log my workouts in my hard copy journal.

[kitarpyar]

Pull ups - BW x 6,6
Military Press - 45 x 10; 100 x 6 x 4
Barbell Rows - 130 x 6 x 4
Squats - 45 x 10; 155 x 6 x 4
DB curls - 25 x 3 x 12
Standing calf raises - 90 x 12; 180 x 12; 270 x 3 x 12

[kitarpyar]

Pull ups - BW x 7,6
Cleans - 45 x 5; 85 x 5; 110 x 6 x 4
Bench Press - 45 x 10; 95 x 5; 120 x 6 x 4
Front Squats - 45 x 10; 100 x 3 x 8
French Press - 55 x 3 x 10
Pulley Pushdown - 5 plates x 3 x 12

[kitarpyar]

Pull ups - BW x 7,7
Military Press - 45 x 10; 95 x 5; 115 x 6 x 4
Barbell Rows - 150 x 6 x 4
Squats - 45 x 8; 135 x 5; 175 x 6 x 4

few lifts. sweet deal

[kitarpyar]

Pull ups - BW x 7,7
Power cleans - 45 x 8; 95 x 4; 120 x 6 x 4
Bench Press - 45 x 10; 95 x 5; 135 x 6 x 4
Front squats - 45 x 10; 95 x 8; 115 x 3 x 8
Deadlifts - 135 x 5; 205 x 3; 255 x 4 x 2