Banjoman V2.0

[banjoman23]

Week 5

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,7,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x3x7
Leg curl: 160x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 160x12,12,11
Calves: 330x3x17
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,6,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x9
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 2:
10 mi relay race, 6:50 splits

No surprise, but my first exercise of the day is the best. Upper2 3x9 pullups was a PR, started with them that day, but incline bench suffered. Upper1 did incline first and those had a good day, pullups not so much. I think on each of the two upper days I'll alternate, start one with push and one with pull (and alternate push/pull intra-workout of course).

Next week is 80% deload week, followed by a week at 90%. Still vaguely following Lyle's GBR protocol in this regard.

[banjoman23]

Week 6. 80% deload week

Upper 1: Skipped

Lower 1: Skipped

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 105x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x7
Seated DB Press: 70x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 140x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 2
Smith fronts: 105x3x7
Leg curl: 130x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 130x12,12,11
Calves: 270x3x17
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Tweaked a back muscle picking up one of my kids Monday morning. Relatively minor thing, but decided to play smart and took off the first half the week off because of it. Glad it was deload week anyways.

[banjoman23]

Week 7: 90% Deload week

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 120x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x8
Seated DB Press: 85x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 160x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 120x3x7
Leg curl: 145x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 150x12,12,11
Calves: 300x3x17
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Upper 2:
Same everything as Upper 1

Lower 2
Same everything as Lower 1

[banjoman23]

Week 8

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x8,7,7
Leg curl: 160x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 160x3x12
Calves: 330x18,17,17
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,7,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 2:
Skipped

Dammit, somehow tweaked my back neck pretty good on Upper 2 doing incline presses. Pushed through the workout (probably shouldn't have) and it felt worse in the morning. Done this before, on OHP, like a year ago or so, knocked me out a week or two.

[banjoman23]

Took a week off due to neck strain. This tuning-things-up hypertrophy period heading into summer hasn't been quite as consistent as I'd have liked. Ah well. It's not major, probably just the one week off, just trying to be smart and not turn it into something longer term.

[banjoman23]

Week 9

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 120x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x8
Seated DB Press: 85x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 160x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x11 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 120x8,7,7
Leg curl: 145x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 150x3x12
Calves: 300x18,17,17

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,6,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x8
Seated DB Press: 85x3x7
Iso Lat Row: 160x3x8
Ab Wheel: 3x10 FA

Lower 2:
Same everything as Lower 1

Did a 90% week. Figured it'll be another week or two to work back up to my prior maxes.

[banjoman23]

Week 10

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,7,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 90x8,7,7
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x7
Ab Wheel: 3x11 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x8,7,7
Leg curl: 160x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 160x12,Ended set. Minor left knee tweak, just playing smart.
Calves: 330x18,17,17

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,7,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x11 FA

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 130x8,7,7
Leg curl: 160x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 160x3x12
Calves: 330x18,17,17

[banjoman23]

Week 11

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x6,6,5 FC
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x8
Seated DB Press: 90x3x6
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x7
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x8,8,7
Leg curl: 160x11,11,10
1-Leg LP: 160x3x12
Calves: 330x18,18,17
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Short work week, no other workouts.

FC = Form Check. Still dealing with a lingering back-of-the-neck issue. I think I made a nice form discovery on keeping my shoulders back on incline bench. Hopefully it helps.

[banjoman23]

Week 12

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x6,6,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9.7
Seated DB Press: 90x7,7,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,7,7
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x8,8,7
Leg curl: 160x3x11
1-Leg LP: 170x11,10,10
Calves: 330x3x18
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x6,6,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9.8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,7,7

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 130x3x8
Leg curl: 160x3x11
1-Leg LP: 170x11,10,10
Calves: 330x3x18
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Any week I can get in all four planned workouts is a nice week volume-wise, at least for me. Everything feels ok with the body. A good week.

[banjoman23]

Week 13

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9.7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 130x3x8
Leg curl: 160x12,11,11
1-Leg LP: 170x11,11,10
Calves: 330x19,18,18

Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x3x6
Leg curl: 160x12,11,11
1-Leg LP: 170x11,11,10
Calves: 330x19,18,18
Ab Wheel: 3x12 FA

[JustBulk]

Nice week 13, have a better week 14!

[banjoman23]

Took a week off. Vacation.

Nice week 13, have a better week 14!

Thanks for stopping by!

[banjoman23]

Week 14

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 3x8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7
Ab Wheel: 3x5

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x3x6
Leg curl: 160x12,11,11
1-Leg LP: 170x11,11,10
Calves: 330x19,18,18

Ab Wheel: 3x5

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x8,8,7

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x3x6
Leg curl: 160x12,11,11
1-Leg LP: 170x3x11
Calves: 330x19,19,18
Ab Wheel: 3x6

Finally progressed to full standing, feet-together ab wheel rollouts, a longtime goal of mine.

[banjoman23]

Week 15

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x8
Ab Wheel: 3x6

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x7,6,6
Leg curl: 160x12,12,11
1-Leg LP: 170x3x11
Calves: 330x19,19,18

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x8
Ab Wheel: 3x6

Lower 2: Skipped

A slight left elbow pain, either golfer's elbow or tennis elbow, creeping up on me the last few weeks. Added an elbow sleeve this week, which has already helped a lot I can tell. Same thing's happened to me before, same resolution. The benefits of experience.....

[banjoman23]

Week off, vacation. Vacations and other RL events necessitating time away from the gym has made my weekly volume and overall progress somewhat inconsistent this summer. Ah well. I'm fine with it.

Whether it takes a month of a year, the next rep will come....

[banjoman23]

Week 16

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,6
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x8
Ab Wheel: 3x7

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x7,6,6
Leg curl: 160x12,12,11
1-Leg LP: 170x3x11
Calves: 330x19,19,18

Rollouts: 3x7

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,6,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,6,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x8

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x7,7,6
Leg curl: 160x12,12,11
1-Leg LP: 170x12,11,11
Calves: 330x19,19,18
Ab wheel: 3x7

The alternating good/bad day on the Incline bench / pullup is because whichever one I start with, I do better at.

[banjoman23]

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,7,6
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,5
Iso Lat Row: 180x3x8
Ab Wheel: 3x7

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x7,7,6
Leg curl: 160x3x12
1-Leg LP: 170x12,12,11
Calves: 330x3x19

Rollouts: 3x7

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,5
Seated Row: 120x3x8

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x3x7
Leg curl: 160x3x12
1-Leg LP: 170x3x12
Calves: 330x3x19
Ab wheel: 3x7

[banjoman23]

Week 18

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,7,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 120x3x9
Rollouts: 3x8

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x3x7
Leg curl: 175x3x8
1-Leg LP: 170x3x12
Calves: 330x20,19,19

Rollouts: 3x8

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,6,5
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 120x3x9
Rollouts: 3x8

Lower 2:
3 speed workouts this week:
- 4x1 mile repeats @6:15 pace
- 10xquarter repeats @5:46 pace
- 2 mi race 12:40
All shortish, but that was enough for the old legs.

[banjoman23]

Week 19

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,7,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 120x10,9,9
Rollouts: 3x8

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x8,7,7
Leg curl: 175x9,8,8
1-Leg LP: 180x3x8
Calves: 330x20,20,19

Rollouts: 3x8

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x7,7,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 120x10,9,9

Rollouts: 3x8

Lower 2: Skipped.
I could make an excuse about running or something, but mileage was modest (for me) this week and if I was being honest with myself I could've found time if I'd really tried. No excuse!

[banjoman23]

Week 20

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 10, 10, 9
Ab Wheel: 3x9

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x8,7,7
Leg curl: 175x9,9,8
1-Leg LP: 180x3x8
Calves: 330x3x20

Rollouts: 3x9

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 120x10,10,9

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x8,7,7
Leg curl: 175x9,9,8
1-Leg LP: 180x3x8
Calves: 330x3x20
Ab wheel: 3x9

[banjoman23]

Week 21
80% deload week

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 105x8,8,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 7,7,6
Seated DB Press: 755x3x7
Seated Row: 90x3x1010, 10, 9
Ab Wheel: 3x7

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 110x8,7,7
Leg curl: 145x9,9,8
1-Leg LP: 140x3x8
Calves: 270x3x20

Rollouts: 3x7

Upper 2:
Same everything as Upper 1

Lower 2:
Same everything as Lower 1

Timed my deload to coincide with my kids starting school, as I acclimate to a new sleep pattern.

[banjoman23]

Week 22
90% deload week

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 120x8,8,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 8,8,7
Seated DB Press: 90x7,7,6
Seated Row: 105x3x10
Ab Wheel: 3x8

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 125x8,7,7
Leg curl: 160x9,9,8
1-Leg LP: 160x3x8
Calves: 300x3x20

Rollouts: 3x8

Upper 2: Same everything as Upper 1 except 85x3x7 on DB press

Lower 2: Same everything as Lower 2

[banjoman23]

Week 23

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 120x3x10
Ab Wheel: 3x9

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x8,8,7
Leg curl: 175x9,9,8
1-Leg LP: 180x9,8,8
Calves: 330x3x20

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 120x3x10
Ab Wheel: 3x9

Lower 2:
4x1 mile repeats @9.5 mph. And a long run of 14 mi on another day.
Excuses, I know. Yeah, basically skipped another leg day.

[banjoman23]

Had to take a week off for RL stuff. No biggie, right back at it next week.

[banjoman23]

Week 24

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,8
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 120x3x11
Ab Wheel: 3x9

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x8,8,7
Leg curl: 175x11,10,9
1-Leg LP: 180x9,9,8
Calves: 340x3x17

Ab wheel: 3x9

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x7,5,5
Seated Row: 120x3x11

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x8,8,7
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x9,9,8
Calves: 340x3x17
Ab wheel: 3x9

Lost my usual one rep on the last set of the major upper body movements after one week off. Eh, I'll get it back.

[banjoman23]

Week 25

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7.5
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 135x3x11
Ab Wheel: 3x9

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x3x8
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x3x9
Calves: 340x3x18

Ab wheel: 3x9

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,5,4 WTF
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 135x3x11

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x3x8
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x3x9
Calves: 340x3x18

Ab wheel: 3x9

[banjoman23]

Week 26

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,7
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7.5
Seated DB Press: 95x7,7,6
Seated Row: 135x3x11
Ab Wheel: 3x10

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x3x8
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x3x9
Seated Calves: 80x3x15

Ab wheel: 3x10

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x8,8,6
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x3x7
Seated Row: 135x3x11

Lower 2:
Smith fronts: 140x3x8
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x3x9
Seated Calves: 90x3x15
Ab wheel: 3x10

6 months into this UL split, and I'm about getting ready for something else. Thinking about another Madcow-style fullbody 3x/wk strength routine for several months.

[banjoman23]

Week 27

Upper 1:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x8
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,8,7
Seated DB Press: 95x8,7,6
Seated Row: 135x3x11
Ab Wheel: 3x10

Lower 1:
Smith fronts: 140x9,8,8
Leg curl: 175x3x10
1-Leg LP: 180x10,9,9
Seated Calves: 100x3x15
Ab wheel: 3x10

Upper 2:
Incline DB Bench: 130x3x8
Neutral Grip BW Pull-Ups: 9,9,8
Seated DB Press: 95x8,7,7
Seated Row: 135x3x11
Ab rollouts: 3x10

Lower 2:
My race weeks typically consist of a taper incorporating lower total mileage volume but 2 speed workouts (4xmile repeats, 10x400m repeats) then the race itself, in this case a half marathon. A second leg strength workout would be a lot, especially trying to save some energy for the race. I know, excuses excuses, skipped leg day....

I'm feeling good, but it's time to move to a more strength-oriented program starting next week.

[banjoman23]

The really useful part of a log...Looking back at this 6-month Upper/Lower results:

Incline Bench: With the 65s, 7,7,6 -> 3x8
Neutral grip pullups: 9,8,8 -> 9,9,8 meh.
Seated DB Press: With the 47.5s, 3x6 -> 3x7
Row: Basically a set across plus change on iso-lat row before switching to seated row recently
Smith fronts: 120x3x8 -> 140x9,8,8
Leg curl: 145x3x10 -> 175x3x10
1-leg leg press: 160x3x11 -> 180x3x9
Calves: 320x3x17 -> 340x3x18 before switching to seated recently
Ab wheel: 3x8 standing feet apart -> 3x10 standing feet together

I'll call it a set across, eh maybe plus some change, on most upper body movements, and 2-3 sets across on most lower body movements. I know most would squawk at this for 6-month progress. But as a 36-yr-old natty who's 4 years of consistent training into this, maintains a social life (beer!), does excessive cardio, stays lean year-round, is not obsessive about everything, and is in this for the long haul, I will take pretty much all of this except the pull-ups. I think I'm going to experiment with a higher frequency on those.

[banjoman23]

Figuring-Out-5RMs-Week

Monday
Smith Front Squat: 90x5, 100x5, 120x5, 140x5, 160x5
DB Bench: 75x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x5, 150x6
Neutral Pullups: 9,8,8
Leg Curl: 175x3x10
Rollouts: 3x11

Wednesday
Smith Front Squat: 90x5, 100x5, 120x5, 140x5, 160x5
DB OHP: 65x5, 80x5, 90x5, 105x5
Deadlift: 135x5, 170x5, 195x5, 225x4
Neutral Pullups: 9,9,7.5
Rollouts: 3x11

Friday
Smith Front Squat: 90x5, 100x5, 120x5, 140x5, 160x5
DB bench: DB Bench: 75x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x5, 150x5
Netral Pullups: 9,8,9
Calves: 100x3x16
Rollouts: 3x11

I think that'll be the new routine. Now just to plug those values into the Madcows spreadsheet.