Krazy's Attempt At Being Swole While Being Natty!

[Artemis00]

You have to chase the pump with that...it is curls after all. Although I made the mistake of chasing the pump with my triceps...elbow hasn't forgiven me yet for that.

Glad to see you posting again. Don't blame you for taking a break though...it does take up time.

[IronKrazy]

Hi-Ya Art!!

Yeah thanks and nice to see you checkin back in. I agree nothing like feeling my biceps barely sliding through the sleeve of my med white shirt the next day but I think I'll stay away from that lift for now. I "curl" enough weight at work as it is and I think I just over did within that week or so.

Ok so I did this tonight...

S - 175lbs 3x10

Yeah to say the least I was not feeling up to it but I got something in at least. I may just end up doing one lift a night this week. Those two days of lifting wrecked me mentally. Actually severely.

I think it will be nice to try and focus on one lift a night and I actually read quite a few threads and even posts on T-Nation about it after I decided to just call it with squats tonight. Actually the first week calls for 7x5 of everything so I was only 5 reps off tonight. Maybe I'll go for it tomorrow with bench. While it was just 3x10 it was a good workout to me so I know I'm there with the % or weight for doing 7x5.

What ever, as long as work is being done to either keep my current strength or progress without injury is all I care about. Journey... not a race.

Out.

[IronKrazy]

B - 140lbs 3x10

And not a single rep missed. Although the last two and especially one on the last set had me a fightin.

Off Wed. Deadlift Thurs. OHP Fri and then I start the following week with a bench focused routine. The intensity with squat and deadlift is getting to a point where I need to squat and deadlift less or keep my squat and deadlift strength where it's at and focus my energy on my bench. I really did not feel good today. Actually the most I have felt burnt out since I started lifting but I supposed I asked for it by doing so much last week. Anyway I'm sick of knowing my bench 1RM sits near 200lbs +/- a pound or so. I feel I need rep work with my bench muscles and I need more frequency and energy. So I think I'm going to follow Ed Coan's bench routine as much as I can which really is going to be flat bench neutral grip, close grip and OHP's. Along with his recommended rep scheme. My plan is to just squat 3x5 of 225lbs on Mondays and deadlift 315lbs 1-2x5 on Fridays just to keep my strength on those lifts for the time being. I don't have dumbbells to do iso movements nor can I afford the gym or have time to travel to one. So his advice on reps and weight progression each week and doing CGB to really put focus on my tri's with shoulder work being OHP's is going to have to do. I hope.

I sort of "tested" it tonight by doing 3x10 of 140lbs but actually only needed to do 2x10. It's going to be 2x10 of neutral grip and then 2x10 of close grip in the same session. That's for two weeks with the same weight and then the reps and weight changes to 2x8 for two weeks, 2x5 for 3 weeks etc etc. I'll post the "progression" when I get a chance but I need to get some shut eye for 6 1/2 hrs.

Out till Thursday!

[IronKrazy]

Didn't make it Thursday night. There was no way I was going to deadlift. My CNS is still near the fried edge and any extreme exertion I feel would put me right back at 6' under. I'm taking the rest of the week off till this Monday. With how work was the past couple weeks and doing those two extremely intense days like that was not a good idea. I felt like I was going to pass out and die most of the day Tuesday. About 3:00pm is when I got my "wind" back and started to feel normal lol.

Also I'm not sold on following that bench routine above. I guess it's just me thinking out loud and seeing how it looks on paper in a way. I dunno.

I think what it boils down to is I'm looking to get to my goals ASAP because I can feel my life clock ticking away. Dedicating a month to a routine or scheme seems like a decade to me. Just sucks man. It also doesn't help that because of the "volume" I move at work, along with cardio and stress, it doesn't allow me to recover which in turn limits me to the number of times I can lift a week. Which then means making gains is dragged out even more. I wish I could just take 3 months off of work, train like a feckin mad man, eat, sleep, chit, rinse and repeat and see where I end up. Anyway just venting a little here.

The 300lb squat x 1 and deadlifting 335lbs for reps (all the weight I have) are great goals but I know I have more there. I'm just going to keep reading up and decide on something. There are just so many cool scheme's to choose from like doing 5x5 one week then 5x4, 5x3, 5x2. Or reverse that and do 5x5, 4x5, 3x5, 2x5 and then doing a reset or like 10x3 or 8x3. Or even the 10 8 6 15-20 which has you pump and flush your muscles with a high rep set after your work sets.

I guess I'll try some things and come back with a decision.

[grouchyjarhead]

You just need to pick something and roll with it. There is no magic program, it's just consistency and effort. If you start getting caught up on all the cool things you can do, you can easily get distracted. Pick something, roll with it for 8-12 weeks, take a week off, then go with something else.

If training three times a week is rough, try the Fighter template from Tactical Barbell and train twice a week. A few work sets of bench and squat, then one work set of deadlifts and call it a day. You can have that done in under an hour easily.

If access is easy but it's limited on time (e.g. you live close to the gym but can only afford an hour total to it), you can try a modified Zulu approach. Bench a few work sets one day, then squat and one work set of deadlifts the other day. Do that twice a week, and you'll hit 4 good workouts in one week. Add some BW pull-ups after bench and you'll be fine.

[IronKrazy]

Hey Grouchy man thanks for stopping by. I'm sure if you could wrap your meat hooks around my neck and shake some of this whining out and put some sense in you would by now lol.

I've taken a long hard look at where I'm at right now and the goals I've achieved and what I'm really after. With my situation and where I am now I feel I've done 110% effort and I need to stop looking down on myself, current situation and my current stats and progress. There are huge positives here and I should be extremely proud to have come this far. And not just with lifting either. TBH I and others at my job and because of what we do can't believe I lift what I do AFTER my day. That's whether it's during the normal part of our year or hectic and dangerous because of the weather. Really I in fact HAVE come a long way. Unfortunately I didn't stay with a 5x5 program to get to 225 5x5/160 5x5/315 1x5 stats but I did and without any major injury. Not to mention the 300lbs x 1 squat and being able to use all the weight I bought a year ago for reps on the DL! Along with those stats I did keep my pants size of 36" AND I weighed myself a few days ago after a morning leak and was at 208lbs. So after about a year of lifting, 50/50 diet with as much protein as possible, working one of the most stressful and sometimes dangerous jobs I made those strength gains and only gained 18lbs which is about 1.5lbs per month! Which I think is awesome! So with that here is the plan...

I will follow TB's programming ideology but in a small difference with progression over 3 weeks, staying with two major lifts for 3 weeks and doing it twice a week. So I'll do deadlift and bench for 3 weeks and then squat and overhead press for 3 weeks and deload the 7th week. Jog, light work or nothing at all. 6 weeks is just far too long for me to stay away from certain lifts so I figure still slow and steady before I add weight but not 6 weeks. So here is how I have it laid out for each week and the starting weight I'm going to use. Seeing how I completely fried myself the past two weeks I'm starting this light. I will start with the weight below, calculate what it is after the % and then add 5lbs to my S/D and 2.5lbs to my B/P but I will not recalculate with the %'s after I add weight for the following block of 3 weeks. I will just keep it linear with the weight. So for example 180lbs - 95% is 171lbs. I'll round that off, start with 170lbs and then do 172.5lbs the next time I do 5x1 @ 95% for the bench. In the end I just can not handle the load of squatting 1-2x's, benching 2-3'x and deadlifting 1x per week. I feel this frequency, intensity and load per week should be manageable and I should be able to make strength and muscle gains over time with this. As I try to accept and say it, it's a journey not a race and I think I've gotten to a great strength level right now in just a matter of a year AND going through what I have during that time.

Let me know what you think about this Grouchy or anyone if you feel like it. I'll bump when I start it but I think this week will be a another week I just take some time from lifting so I can really start fresh with this.

S - 260lbs
B - 180lbs
D - 320lbs
P - 100lbs

Monday/Thursday
Bench/Deadlift
Week 1 - 5x5 @ 75%
Week 2 - 5x3 @ 85%
Week 3 - 5x1 @ 95%
--------------------------
Monday/Thursday
Squat/OHP
Week 1 - 5x5 @ 75%
Week 2 - 5x3 @ 85%
Week 3 - 5x1 @ 95%

[Artemis00]

That is awesome and you should definitely be proud of those accomplishments. I think too often people are too hard on themselves cause they aren't making the progress they think they should...but when they put everything into perspective...it is quite impressive what they did achieve.

Will be interesting to see how your new program works for you.

[grouchyjarhead]

If you want to do that bro, let's just make it real simple. You know of 531 right?

Workout A.
Bench 5/3/1
Squat 5/3/1
Pull-Ups - 3 sets

Workout B.
Press 5/3/1
Deadlift 5/3/1
Chin-Ups - 3 sets.

Start with your training max. Don't deload until week 10 and use a forced progression (so 5/3/1, add 5 to upper and 10 to lower, repeat 3x, deload week 10, test week 11, deload/off week 12).

Take your squat. 90% of 260 = we'll use 235. First three weeks calculate off of 235. Second three weeks, 245. Third three weeks, 255. Deload week 10. Test your maxes week 11. Deload or take off week 12. Then start it all over with your new maxes.

Too easy.

[IronKrazy]

Haha I knew you were going to mention 5/3/1!

I'm not sure if you mean just 5/3/1 or the actual progression of it? That said honestly Grouchy I considered going back to 5/3/1 but while it would be quick to complete I think the intensity of just 5/3/1 would be too much, especially doing it twice a week and with squats and deads. I also feel there's not enough volume. That's why it recommends doing 5x10 as well. Which I tried with all 4 lifts for a couple weeks and it destroyed me with that 5x10. I still feel I could benefit from some volume work and then end my "peaking" block with a quick set of 5x1 for some absolute strength work. I know that no matter what rep scheme you're at it will become extremely intense and needs to be to build muscle/strength but at least the volume and load is being modulated with my attempt at a routine lol. Yeah the 5x5 will be brutal especially with the squats at some point but at least without deadlifts and another main lift that week I think I can recover better. Not to mention only 2x a week not 3x.

Also I think I've come to realize that doing all these lifts and with the amount I'm able to lift now is not possible any more in one week. I feel really great right now since having a week and a half break from it. I was in really bad shape a couple weeks ago. I do like what the author of TB says. Although I think 6 weeks is a bit much to not lose much strength on lifts, carryover or not 3 weeks and a maybe a break if I feel I need it seems like it would be fine.

One thing I could try which would be blasphemy to 5/3/1 is two main lifts a week with the actual progression and do 2-3x10 of the two lifts for that current block. That wouldn't be too bad on total weight moved for that week from lifting and work.

Bottom line is with the volume I move at work each week and the volume of 4 main lifts at my current strength level, it's doing more harm than good. It's like my muscles are under a constant tension and they along with my tendons and joints get NO downtime to rest and build up. This week+ break has done A LOT of good for my body and especially mind bro. You have no idea.

I'm on mobile right now but I'll check back to see what you or others think. 

Also thanks Grouch and Art as well for sure for the support.

[IronKrazy]

Ok here it is. This is what I'm sticking to. After much reading and having felt the effects of doing 5x10 (and 10x10 at one point a while back and I'll explain why I like the idea of this) I am doing what Grouchy suggested... in a way. The only thing is I am doing it reverse pyramid style, which would be 1/3/5. After having done it twice now I LOVE starting with the heaviest weight first. So in general it's like 5/3/1 with 5x10 but I'm doing 1/3/5 instead.

A while back a friend at work suggested or I guess told me to try and test my self by doing 10x10 of bench. I did it, felt like I could just eek out another set but didn't. So it certainly wasn't easy and was very close to the proper weight to burn out on 10x10 with. I think it was 110lbs. A little bit later I felt thick, tight and solid on my upper body. That was when I hit my bench PR of 200lbs x 1. After having done 2 sessions of 5x10 in one week and another just today I am seriously feeling the effects of it! My tri's are feeling fuller, all the muscles hit during bench are feeling fuller and worked better etc.

I also have come to the conclusion that I can only focus on certain lifts at one time. In fact I could just do 1/3/5 on bench with 5x10 and reset until I burn out, switch to OHP until I burn out, deadlift until, squat until etc etc. BUT I won't do that as I'm not moving serious enough weight yet for that. Yes I'm getting up there to where I need to drop some stuff during the week but it's not THAT bad. That said here is what I did today and what I'm going to do for a while.

Basically I'm going to adjust the weight for each session. For a quick example, I got the reps on bench for 185lbs and 180lbs but not 175lbs. So I'm going to leave the 175lbs alone and add 5lbs to the other sets. I'm sure I'll micro load at some point as well which you'll see weights increased by just 2.5lbs. I'm going to focus on bench, deadlift and rows for a while until I stall, burn out on it or what have you. Then switch out the lifts for others like squat, OHP etc. The only difference is the weight being dropped on the deadlift sets. I feel a 15lb drop between sets will help keep the risk of injury down because of the weight being used. With the others I feel the weight isn't heavy enough for me to do such drastic drops between sets... for now. Also it will be two days a week until I feel I need to adjust it some how or take some time off to allow for more recovery. After that week and ahalf I have never felt so rested!!! Pain free and wide eyed! I'm ready to gun for that 225lb bench!!!

BENCH
Warm Up - 65lbs - 95lbs - 125lbs - 160lbs

185lbs x 1 = 3
180lbs x 3 = 4
175lbs x 5 = 4

100lbs 5x10

DEADLIFT
Warm Up - 125lbs - 185lbs - 225lbs

320 x 1 = 2 DBLOH
305 x 3 = 4 Last Rep Pause
290 x 5 = 6 Speed Repped

ROWS
175 x 1 = 2
170 x 3 = 4
165 x 5 = 6

[IronKrazy]

BENCH
Warm Up - 65lbs - 95lbs - 135lbs - 150lbs - 170lbs

190lbs x 1 = 1
185lbs x 3 = 2
175lbs x 5 = 2

105lbs 5x10

T ROWS
185 x 1 = 4
175 x 3 = 8
165 x 5 = 12
---------------------------------------------------------

So yeah this is a bit of a bummer but I'm also wore out right now. I knew before I even started doing my warm up that I was not going to perform at 100% like I did on Monday. Which is understandable seeing how it's nearing the end of my week of work and my body and mind are taxed right now.

So here are some things to take from tonight...

1. I bought a "D Handle" from Amazon to do rows with or "T Bar Rows. That felt PHUCKING AWESOME to do tonight. Actually that's ALL I want to do from now on lol! (Semi srs.)

2. I can't bench or deadlift heavy 2x a week with the 5x10 the same night. There is just no way I can be at 100% near the end of the week to push or pull that kind of weight and I felt it tonight. I'm starting to feel that extreme exhaustion creeping on again so I'm going to back off. Obviously Monday is when I'm the most rested so that is when I will do my 1/3/5 or heavy work.

3. I will keep the "light work" for Thursday night. Sort of do a heavy/light week from now on. Maybe I'll feel like doing a heavy day on Thursday at some point but from here on I'm looking at it like a heavy/light week. I say light in quotes as over time here even the rep work will get heavy.

4. With the 5x10. When I start to fail the last set I will bring it down to 4x10, 3x10 and then reset back to the weight I failed at with 5x10 to see if I can get through it.

5. The weight for the t bar row was obviously light so I will add a little more to bring the reps down for the next session.

6. Also I think I might get a trap bar as well! From the reading I've done it seems like a must have tool!

Overall I'm pleased that I'm pressing this kind of weight again but I hope I can progress further over time here. I'll be honest I was hoping to feel strong enough to get 2 reps with 190lbs but that's ok. I think I warmed up too much and didn't get a pump before I lifted as well. Anyway I'll try 195lbs on Monday to see if I can get a rep in and if I fail to get it I'll back the weight down a little and build back up!

That said get a d handle, a t bar handle or get a t bar machine and row that chit!!

[Artemis00]

Great workout even though it wasn't at 100%. You are taking valuable information away from it and I'm sure it will still help you progress. You have to work with what your body can handle.

I've seen a bunch of people at the gym setup a barbell with a D Handle to do rows. I should give it a try one of these days.

[IronKrazy]

BENCH
Warm Up - BAR - 75lbs - 95lbs - 135lbs - 160lbs

195lbs x 1 = 1
175lbs x 3 = 3
155lbs x 5 = 9

T ROWS
195lbs x 1 = 4
175lbs x 3 = 6
155lbs x 5 = 8

So today, even though I wasn't in it 100% come time to lift, I did get my 195lbs x 1. I won't lie it was a grinder but it was a smooth one and not very hard to get through. No sticking or anything and it didn't really feel deathly heavy. That said I spent probably a few hours going through reading material again lol. TBH I was going to do everything in the 6-8 range and say phuk it but I didn't. For one reason, my inner shoulder was bothering me a little after going heavy last week and my upper left glute was nagging me as well from the deadlifts. I think my form/tech on the bench caused that and I think repping out that 290lbs wasn't a good idea lol! I figured maybe I should just do some medium work this week. But once I started to warm up, get into it and hit my final warm up weight I felt darn good so I just went straight to my 1/3/5 on bench. I will go for 200lbs but not until next Monday. Here's the breakdown...

I'm going to do either T-Rows or Deads on Monday and then the other on Thursday. Along with my 5x10 of bench and 5x10 of T-Rows. I'm just going to blast my muscles used for the compounds with the 5x10 and keep going until I hit 3x10 as I mentioned earlier. With the rows I am staying as close to 45 degrees as possible but I feel ok going heavy and cheating a little with the heavy stuff. When I do the 5x10 I'll really focus on my 45 degree form and contracting my muskles.

So yeah feels good to have got this in today. Until Thursday Monica's!

[IronKrazy]

Great workout even though it wasn't at 100%. You are taking valuable information away from it and I'm sure it will still help you progress. You have to work with what your body can handle.

I've seen a bunch of people at the gym setup a barbell with a D Handle to do rows. I should give it a try one of these days.

Thank you Artemis! All that matters is that I put in the effort and that's it's intense enough to build strength or muscle and doing it smartly.

And yes I friggin love this handle! I hope my enthusiasm for this lift doesn't get me hurt lol!

[IronKrazy]

MONDAY

S - 225lbs x 5 232.5lbs x 4 237.5lbs x 3 250lbs x 2 305lbs x 1 310lbs x 1
120lbs 3x10

O - 90lbs x 5 92.5lbs x 4 95lbs x 3 97.5lbs x 2 102.5lbs x 1 105lbs x 1
55lbs 3x10

3x10 HLR

** 2 SQUAT PR's Of 305lbs x 1 And 310lbs x 1**

Quick update.

Last time I posted I was doing retarded chit. (Not to be insensitive to that word) and was doing too much pulling for a back and set of glutes that were not used to it lol...

My left glute tightened DEEP within causing a pulling on my lower back, hip etc etc. So I took some time off, got deep massages from this girl I've been chilling with over time and I'm back to normal. So it seems. Actually if you look at my squat session tonight I guess I'm feeling better than ever. Before tonight and during the past few weeks or so, I got back into squatting with 2x5 of 185lbs, 1x10 of 135lbs, had insane doms, did a 5x5 of 185lbs and then I got this in tonight. When I felt that the 5x5 of 185lbs felt "light" last week I knew I had gained strength and it showed tonight. Muscle, CNS I dunno but it felt awesome!

The 310lbx1 was a "grinder" but not like the ones I've had. It just felt like a heavy ass rep but no sticking or anything significant. I probably could have got my first rep of 315lbs but I don't feel I'm ready. I'd like to try my current idea of a routine and see what happens. I also would like to get 2 or 4 more 45lb plates and do the 3 plate squat the right way and record it as well.

I know the 305lb and 310lb reps were not 1/4 squats but I'm not sure how close or below parallel I was with them so I feel I need to keep working on strength and form. They were low bar of course and a little bit wider than normal stance. Nothing extremely wide.

As for the other stuff. Feels really great knowing I'm getting some OHP work in now. Matter of fact it felt amazing! After doing the strength work, the 55lbs (BAR + 2 5lb plates) felt so damn light lol. I also did a 5x5 of this lift the other week to break into it as well. I also feel I have a great hand placement for this lift as there is no lingering pain during, after or during the week. And then I finished off the session with 3x10 of hanging leg raises. The fist time I did those a week ago, I had MAJOR doms in my core lol!

Sorry for the train wreck of words but I'm running out of time. That said here is what I plan to do. I have come to the conclusion that 2 compounds a day, 2 days a week are going to be all I can do with the weight I'm moving and because of the volume I move at work. The days will be either Mon/Thurs or Mon/Fri. Though with the holiday season coming up I may not be able to get in two days. I may have to do 1 or 2 very heavy sets of 5 for each lift to keep my CNS primed until I can get back to it properly.

Anyway my idea for a routine is and simply put...

54321/3x10 Every Other 2 Weeks
10-8-6-8-10 For 2 Weeks
3-2-1/3x5 Deadlifts
Possible Off Week

I am going to use the 54321 as a tool to keep my CNS primed to be able to rep out the 10-8-6 sets efficiently and hopefully as time goes on, the hypertrophy I've gained from doing 10-8-6-8-10 will help with the 54321 weeks and vice versa. There is just no way I can do 54321 every week and not burn out hard like I did when I tested my 5x5 strength. I felt like I was going to die 2 days later.

I feel really confident with how I feel after tonight's session. Hopefully I keep progressing nicely on the squat and OHP, not to mention maybe get a bench PR some time soon.

Later.

[IronKrazy]

FRIDAY

B - 160lbsx5 162.5lbsx4 165lbsx3 167.5lbsx2 175lbsx1
100lbs 3x10

TBAR - 135lbsx5 140lbsx4 145lbsx3 150lbsx2 155lbsx1

No way I was going to get the deadlifts in so I chose to get some rowing done. Felt really good... so far. I think I may just dedicate a week to deadlifting and then the following week pick back up on S/B/O/R. I will absolutely wreck myself again if I try to do 3/2/1 with 3x5 the same night. So maybe 3/2/1 on Monday and then 3x5 on Friday.

So next week, hopefully, I try the 10-8-6 pyramid. Actually looking forward to some higher rep work. Especially on the OHP. So I guess until then...

OUT!

[IronKrazy]

Quick bump. Why not right?

So yeah. Wow. I was on the train to nowhere toward the end here. I've actually taken a hiatus from work right now as I was breaking down mentally and physically. I'm actually able to enjoy life again.

Anyway. For the past few weeks I've just been getting back to the top of my lifts while trying different stuff but boy have I learned quite a bit. Stuff like specificity when it comes to lifts like the bench. I'm actually doing CGBP for the first time ever. I also plan to incorporate safety presses or pin presses to really work on lock out or getting out of the bottom and negatives with weight I haven't handled before. I've been doing lying BB tri ext's to hit my upper triceps and BB curls which have really beefed up and strengthened the area around my upper forearm/elbow area. Not just for the biceps. I've tried Goodmornings for the first time. Going to do Roman deads at some point and I also deadlifted 335lbs twice in one week and recovered incredibly quick! Fuk man, my job was hindering me so badly it's disgusting!

One small note is I hit 200lbs x1 on the bench for the second time just the other day and this time I wasn't drunk when I did it lol. I also did some negatives with 225lbs just to get a feel of that kind of weight and fuk me sideways that was intense.

Anyway. I hope to dedicate some time to lifting here for a while and hopefully hit 225lbs on the bench during my break. Or more if possible.

My main attraction toward a routine has been doing a "daily max" and then getting in quality reps with my CNS primed. So far I feel great and as long as I don't try anything stupid like negatives with 315lbs on bench or repping out 335lbs on the deadlift when I know my lower back is screaming I feel I am "in the safe zone" right now with the weight I'm able to max with. I do need some more 45's though lol.

[IronKrazy]

(BENCH)
Daily Max x1 - BAR x10 - 75lbs x8 - 105lbs x6 - 145lbs x1 - 165lbs x1 - 185lbs x1 - 205lbs x1 (MISS)

(Using Previous Daily Max Of 200lbs)

Neutral Grip/Competition Grip
150lbs 6x5

CGBP
110lbs 6x6

Row
155lbs 6x5

Curls 57.5lbs 3x10
-----------------------------------------------------
So just trying some volume for the first time in many many MANY months. Obviously a PR with 5's for bench and row but nothing to be too proud of. Although it felt quite light which is cool.

Anyway I think I have become extremely consumed with trying to figure out what is the best possible way to get stronger in a short amount of time and have again wasted a good bit of time. I am just going to L.I.F.T! Doing something is better than not having done it at all. Trying to beat my previous 3x3 that day is better than not trying at all even if I fail it. It's WORK being done. The more rep schemes done and recorded the more you can go back and try to PR with as long as you know your 1RM. Or at least daily 1RM. I have just created a folder with text documents that have what I've done with x1's x2's x3's etc all the way up to x6. I will also keep a record of previous 10x10 attempts for the hell of it lol! I did do 110lbs 10x10 on bench a while back.

So at times I may do volume like today or do 10x3, 8x2, 4x3, 4x6, 3x5, 3x3 for the main lift, maybe do an assistance lift like CGBP or the floor press at the end and call it. I will just post what I do and if it's a PR for me or not. Though in general nothing above 6 reps. There may be days where I feel like just doing straight volume for a week, mixing it up during the week or what ever. Also I guess I will be doing it like an upper/lower split as there is no way that I can efficiently do more than one heavy compound a day anymore. I mean I can but it doesn't mean I should. Bottom line is CONSISTENTCY AND FREQUENCY IS KING and it doesn't happen over night.

Out.

[IronKrazy]

(SQUAT)

Daily Max x1 - BAR x20 - 80lbs x8 - 105lbs x6 - 130lbs x4 / 155lbs x1 - 180lbs x1 - 210lbs x1 - 235lbs x1 - 260lbs x1 - 280lbs x1 - 300lbs x1 - (High Pin Anderson Squats - 315lbs x3 - 330lbs x4)

(Using Previous Daily Max Of 250lbs)
185lbs x 3x5

Roman Deadlift - 135lbs 3x5
---------------------------------

Feels good to hit 300lbs x1 again and just to say pin squats are FUKING AWESOME! REALLY helps with being able to feel what heavier weight feels like and helps to feel powering through the heavy weight at the top. Although I won't be doing them every session obviously. Maybe high pins this time and low next. I just felt so tight and rested from the last time I squatted and really wanted to put in work today. Just like I did when I hit 310lbs x1 a while back. Also got in a 3x5 for some added volume. As for the roman deads. Eh, I was fairly taxed from the singles, more so muscles than CNS and just did an easy 135lbs with it. I'm not really feeling the movement so far but I'll see. Maybe SLDL is more suited for me. All in all an awesome squat day!

OUT.

[IronKrazy]

PRESS/ROW

Daily Max x1

Push Press - BAR x20 - 65lbs x5 - 85lbs x3 - 105lbs x1 - 135lbs x1 - 145lbs x1

Press - 5x5 @ 75lbs

Bor - 135lbs x5 - 145lbs x5 - 155lbs x5 - 165lbs x5 - 175lbs x5

Snatch Grip Row - 95lbs x10 - 105lbs x10 - 115lbs x 10
--------------------------------------------------------------
Today was going to be another bench/row day but I wasn't feeling up to doing really heavy pressing tonight so I figured I'd get some OHP work done. First time in a long time that I attempted the push press but I just wanted to break into it tonight. Feels awesome to do though. As with the other lifts, I'm going to use the push press as my daily max to prime my CNS for quality work with the press. Which it did. The 75lbs felt like the bar for every set. So I'll probably bump it up to a $0.25 on each side next time.

As for the snatch grip row. I'm using a index finger on the rings grip width and I'm rowing it as close to the middle of my chest as possible to really hit the rear delts and my traps. I don't have dumbbells to do rear delt raises so to mimic it as best as I can I am trying to get as much stretch as possible up top with a wide grip and then using light weight and higher reps for the movement. I like it and it feels good.

[IronKrazy]

Squat/Press

Squat - 230lbs x5 - 6x5
Push Press - BAR x10 - 70lbs x5 - 90lbs x3 - 110lbs x1 - 130lbs x1 - 150lbs x1
Ohp - 95lbs x5 - 5x5
Oar - 65lbs x6 - 5x6

Squat PR

225lbs 5x5 (08/25/2016) - 230lbs 6x5 (02/15/2017)

[Artemis00]

Congrats on the squat PR.

I'm gonna have to give that snatch grip row a try. I've seen a few people do it at the gym, but probably with sh*t form...will have to find a good example online.

[IronKrazy]

Congrats on the squat PR.

I'm gonna have to give that snatch grip row a try. I've seen a few people do it at the gym, but probably with sh*t form...will have to find a good example online.

Hi lovely!

Thanks! Yeah I'm taking full advantage of the time off here and it's definitely helping. I also hit a bench PR a few days ago with 205lbs x1. I think technique played a roll in that more so than a strength gain but I'll take it.

As for the snatch grip row. I do it light and I do it so the bar touches as high as possible. I don't have dumbbells to do iso work with (plan to get oly handles) so to get some rear delt rowing in I do light rowing with a wide grip or snatch grip. Not sure how well it works as I need to do it more but something is better than nothing to offset the pressing.

Thanks for checking in again. Hope all is well with you!

[Artemis00]

Hi lovely!

Thanks! Yeah I'm taking full advantage of the time off here and it's definitely helping. I also hit a bench PR a few days ago with 205lbs x1. I think technique played a roll in that more so than a strength gain but I'll take it.

As for the snatch grip row. I do it light and I do it so the bar touches as high as possible. I don't have dumbbells to do iso work with (plan to get oly handles) so to get some rear delt rowing in I do light rowing with a wide grip or snatch grip. Not sure how well it works as I need to do it more but something is better than nothing to offset the pressing.

Thanks for checking in again. Hope all is well with you!

Hey,

Congrats on the bench PR. Hey, you can never underestimate the power of technique. Irritates me to see so many women that I know aren't as strong as me doing stuff that I can't do because I can't master the technique. Nailing the technique just opens so many more doors when it comes to getting those numbers up.

Definitely have to give it a try...couldn't imagine doing those heavy, would lose the benefit from them.

Things are all over the place, but in the world of lifting...I'm doing excellent. Just finally got my 135 lb bench back tonight after losing it for over a year. Felt great since I was absolutely exhausted for that set and it still went up well. Hoping that means I got past the mental block again.

[IronKrazy]

On spread Art but that's awesome! Same as you it was great to get back to a number I wasn't near for a while or wasn't able to hit since getting back into it. I hope things look up for you. We all gon make it woman!

Saturday- Bench/Deadlift

Daily Max - 100lbs x8 - 120lbs x6 - 150lbs x1 - 165lbs x1 - 185lbs x1 - 200lbs x1
Bench - 170lbs x5 - 5x5x4x2
Deadlift - 335lbs x3 - 3x3x1
Row - 140lbs x6 - 5x6
Curls - 50lbs x12 - 60lbs x10 - 70lbs x7

Tonight was 50/50. Just was not feeling it. I really want to say that my lack of keeping up with my creatine intake had a LOT to do with my lack of performance tonight. But life also is giving me hell right now so I'm sure my focus and aggression just wasn't there. I'm not sure if I sacked my CNS from that 230lb 6x5 squat or not but it just wasn't there for bench.

The deadlift, beltless, even though I only got 3x3x1 felt very good and I felt strong with it. Even my back doesn't feel "worked". I actually did 330lbs x3 before I attempted the 3x3 with 335lbs. Why I don't know, just felt like hitting it heavy but the plan was all over the place. I do however think I'm strong and confident enough to where I can work with 315lbs now for volume. Maybe I'm just burning out with 5x5 right now and should switch up to 3x5 or 3x3. Not sure. I'm also not sure of bench frequency. I think I need to be hitting it 3-4 times a week while keeping the proton synth up. Like H/L/M/Iso Work. The squat and deadlift seem to do well with just 1-2 sessions a week. All a learning process I guess.

With the curls, I did like adding weight each set to try and hit that 12/10/8 but I think 10lb jumps was too much. I talked with another lifter on here and was saying how I like the idea of ramping. I may try that with my lifts in the coming time. Maybe the whole endurance thing with the same weight at sets across doesn't work for me? I dunno.

[IronKrazy]

Bench - 120lbs x10 - 5x10
Deadlift - 200lbs x10 - 3x10
Curls - 35lbs x10 - 5x10

Just some quick follow up volume from Saturday. Kind of surprised I started to fade on the bench near the end. Probably because I hit bench about 24hrs before I did this. Just going to try this follow up thing where, for example, I hit squat and ohp heavy and then the following day hit it light. Take a day off and then do bench and deadlift.

[IronKrazy]

Wednesday- Bench/Deadlift

Bench - x3 - BAR x20 - 100lbs x5 - 120lbs x5 - 155lbs x3 - 165lbs x3 - 175lbs x3 = Done
Bench x6 - 135lbs = 2x6
Deadlift - 3x3 - 335lbs - BAR x10 - 135lbs x5 - 185lbs x3 - 225lbs x3 - 240lbs x3 - 270lbs x2 - 300lbs x1 - 335lbs 3x3 = Done
Deadlift - x6 - 225lbs - 3x6
Ext x10 - 55lbs = 3x10
Curls x10 - 65lbs = 3x10

Deadlift PR with 3x3
Ext's can go up 5lbs
Curls can go up 5lbs

Did a little volume after bench and dead. Instead of ramping to a daily max of 1 and with doing a ramping 3x3 with very controlled negatives and a 3s pause for each rep I was able to focus in on how my upper body felt and I think I should just do ramping with some back off doubles or triples and then save the x6's for a volume or assistance day. I think working heavy like that and then blasting my upper body is hindering me. I felt VERY solid after the warm up and ramp up to my top 3. Also the warm up to the 3x3 for deads seemed perfect as well. With the 3x6 for deads, I did slow negatives to really work my core and back. I'm not ramping to 335lbs as that's all the weight I have and can obviously lift it multiple times so I will just get stronger by adding sets of 3 to the 335lbs. I hope to get a couple more plates soon.

From what I'm seeing, I may be able to excel in the squat and dead but my lanky and thin arms are going to hinder my bench. Feels batman.jpg

[IronKrazy]

Thursday- Bench/Row

Bench - 195lbs x1
Bench x5 - 155lbs - 7x5 / 1x4
Row x3 - 135lbs x3 - 155lbs x3 - 175lbs x3 - 185lbs x3 - 195lbs x3
Row x6 - 140lbs 4x6
OAR x6 - 75lbs 4x6

So much for not doing x6's on the same day and yes I benched again tonight but it's not like it was heavy back to back. I'm just recovering really well right now from bench and everything TBH. Even the 3x3 of 335lbs hasn't affected me. So fukin stoked right now that I did that and feel great. With the bench, I probably could have eek'd out that last rep to get 8x5 but my form was breaking down a little too much. My goal was 10x5 tonight. I thought about just going and not "wasting any sets" but I could tell I was done. So not bad with 155lbs on bench for me. I just hope this volume translates into bumping my 1RM at some point. I'd really like another 5lb PR. Whatever. Got some quality work in tonight.

[IronKrazy]

Squat
135lbs x3 - 185lbs x3 - 225lbs x3 - 255lbs x3 - 280lbs x3

250lbs x2 - 3x2
------------------
Bench
110lbs x3 - 135lbs x3 - 155lbs x3 - 175lbs x3 - 190lbs x3

170lbs x2 - 3x2
------------------
Tri Ext - 60lbs - 3x10
Curls - 60lbs - 3x10

Got back to some skwots today. That feel when working up to 280lbs (Maybe even 300lbs if I really dug deep) felt like 185lbs or 225lbs. Worked up to this PR while completely at peace under this weight. I really believe the 6x5 work I have been doing is paying off. Maybe. Felt really solid as my body started to get pumped up. With the 250lbs, it was slow and controlled and I even paused for a second or two at the bottom. Felt good AF.

Bench is another PR. Yeah I fought for it but so fukin what. It's in the books. I also did some 3 second pause work with the 170lbs. Maybe a few more sessions of low rep work and then back to 5's I think.

I of course warmed up prior to getting after it.

Out.

[IronKrazy]

Bench - 185lbs 5x2
Deadlift -315lbs 1x5-1x4

Surprised I got the bench PR. Haven't kept up with any lifting and haven't had any creatine or anything. Deadlift, meh. Probably could have got the 2x5 but just wasn't into it. Something solid at least. I think I'm going to drop to low reps HIT for a while and cut a little bit. I've ballooned up too much in the waist. Used to be able to do 36" now I think I'm looking at 40" again. Especially now that I have a CC license.

I think I need to focus on low reps, HIT and volume spread out over the week. Like a hard 3x3 then the following day a little bit lighter 2x5 then something else to keep the frequency and volume up but with heavier weight. Actually for not having benched for 6 days and to have 185lbs feel a bit light to get 5x2 in was nice. I just think I need frequency and HIT with bench at this point because I'm quite sure I've exhausted my noob gains on it.

OUT.