Dgcoats' Texasish Method

[dgcoats]

5/4 Recovery

Squat 320x5x2
Pause Press 155x5x3
Rows 255x5x3
Seated Rows 200x10
Back Extensions 90x8x2
Grip stuff

Decided to switch out face pulls with one or two sets of seated rows with moderate reps.

[dgcoats]

5/6 Whatever

Pause Squat 365x1x10
Pause Bench 255x1x10
Rows 205x3x10
Grip stuff

Exercise was done as a circuit, two minute rests in between. My gym was closed so I worked out in an older unused gym on campus (I work at a university). Bars felt more rigid than I was used to and the weights felt heavier. Plan on resuming my normal schedule on Monday.

[dgcoats]

5/9 Volume

Squat 405x3x5, 405x1x3
Pause Bench 265x2x9, 265x3x2
RDL 275x7x2
Pull Ups BWx7x3
DB Bench 110x8
Ab stuff

Felt gassed on squat and bench. May be a week or two until I can get to 5x5 with current weights. Plan on using pause reps (three second pause) on bench for a while.

[dgcoats]

5/11 Recovery

Squat 320x5x2
Pause Press 155x5x3
Rows 260x5x2, 260x4
Lat Pulldowns 160x15
Back Extensions 90x9x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

5/13 Intensity

Squat 445x1
Bench 295x2
Deadlift 525x1
Chin Ups 25x6

I've had quite a few mulligans recently, but this was the mulliganiest.

[dgcoats]

5/16 Volume
Squat (cluster singles, 45 second rest between each rep, 2-4 minute rest between each set) 405x4x6
Pause Bench (same cluster protocol as above) 275x4x6
RDL 275x8x2
Chin Ups BWx8x3
DB Bench 110x8
Ab stuff

[dgcoats]

5/18 Recovery

Squat 320x5x2
Press 160x5x3
Rows 260x5x3
Seated Rows 180x15
Back Extensions 90x10x2
Grip stuff

Going back to regular pressing for a while rather than pausing every rep.

[dgcoats]

5/20 Intensity

Squat 445x2
Bench 295x3
Deadlift 525x2
Pull Ups 25x6
Ab stuff

On the plus side this workout was an improvement from last week and 295x3 on bench is a pr, but that doesn't negate the fact that I am still struggling with weights I should be nailing. I'm going to give one more week to see how my body feels but if I have another poor showing I'm going to have to deload. Also plan on benching every volume/intensity day while leaving press on recovery day.

[dgcoats]

5/23 Volume

Squat 405x3x8
Pause Bench 265x3x8
Front Squat (from pins) 245x3x3
Chin Ups BWx8x3
DB Bench 110x8
Ab stuff

Replaced Romanian deadlift with front squat from pins to help my deadlift from the floor and squat out of the hole. Plan on working up to two sets of six-eight reps.

[dgcoats]

5/25 Recovery

Squat 315x5x2
Press 160x5x3
Rows 265x4x3
Pulldowns 180x13
Back Extensions 90x11x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

5/27 Intensity

Squat 445x3
Bench 295x3
Deadlift 5252x3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 25x8

Still not the numbers I want but it's enough of an improvement that I feel a reset isn't necessary.

[dgcoats]

5/30 Volume

Squat 405x4x6
Pause Bench 265x4x3, 265x3x3, 265x4
Anderson Front Squat 255x3x3
Chin Ups BWx9x3
DB Bench 110x9
Ab stuff

Learned that Front Squat from Pins is called Anderson Front Squat by literally everyone else. The inside of my right elbow has been bugging me for a while. It doesn't affect my ability to perform any lifts, but the set up can be painful, which is weird. Plan to see a doctor soon.

[dgcoats]

6/1 Recovery

Squat 315x5x2
Press 160x5x3
Rows 265x5x2, 265x4
Seated Rows 200x13
Back Extensions 90x12x2

[dgcoats]

6/3 Intensity

Squat 445x4
Bench 295x4
Deadlift 525x3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 25x8

[dgcoats]

6/6 Volume

Squat 405x4x5, 405x5
Pause Bench 265x4x3, 275x2x6
Anderson Front Squat 265x3x2, 275x3
Chin Ups BWx10, BWx9x2
DB Bench 110x9

[dgcoats]

6/8 Recovery

Squat 315x5x2 (two second pause first rep each set)
Press 165x5, 175x5x2
Rows 265x5x3
Seated Rows 200x14
Back Extensions 90x12x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

6/10 Intensity

Squat 445x4
Bench 295x3, 315x1
Deadlift 525x3
Neutral Grip Pull Ups 45x4

Bench was good and bad; bad because I couldn't match last week's four reps at 295 but good because 315 is the most I've ever done.

[dgcoats]

6/13 Volume

Squat 405x5x5
Pause Bench 265x3x8, Regular Bench 225x11
Anderson Front Squat 275x3x2
Chin Ups BWx8x3 (used on bar to increase grip difficulty)

405 for five sets of five has been a goal of mine for a while. Bar speed and overall tightness was solid but I need to focus on pushing my knees out out of the hole. They buckle just a little bit as soon as I start moving up. Dropped DB Bench in favor of a burnout set at the end of my pause bench reps.

[dgcoats]

6/16 Recovery

Squat 295x5x2
Press 175x5x3
Rows 275x3x3
Lat Pulldown 180x18

Wasn't feeling so hot so I lowered squat weight and cut out back extensions and grip work. Also missed my subsequent intensity day.

[dgcoats]

6/20 Volume

Squat 415x3x8
Bench 275x3x7, 275x4 225x11
Deficit Deadlift 315x6
Towel Grip Pull Ups BWx6, BWx6x2

Although I'd prefer to do five sets of five reps, I'm going to try to progress sets of three for a while. Squat was rough. Will be doing one-two sets of deficit deadlift for a few weeks to help with intensity day deadlift. I've felt weak off the floor since coming back from my break and my grip hasn't been up to par, which is part of the reason I'm messing with towel grip pull ups (throwing two towels on a pull up bar and holding onto one with each hand). To compensate for slightly lower pulling volume I'll be doing a few reps of pull ups spread throughout the week.

[dgcoats]

6/22 Recovery

Squat 315x5x2
Press 175x5x3
Rows 275x3x3
Seated Rows 200x17
Back Extensions 95x8x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

6/24 Intensity

Squat 460x2
Bench 305x2
Deadlift 535x1
Pull Ups 45x4

Looking at the last few weeks of training objectively I need a reset. However, because I'm stubborn as **** I'm going to keep grinding through terrible intensity days for another two weeks then reset my weights by 5-10% of my last five rep intensity day.

[dgcoats]

6/27 Volume

Squat 420x3, 420x2x2, 425x1, 430x1, 435x1, 440x1, 445x1
Bench 280x3x8
Deficit Deadlift 315x7
Towel Grip Pull Ups BWx6x2, BWx5

Mostly dicking around on squat. On Friday I'll just do some singles or maybe pr depending on how I feel. Looking at my journal I've wasted two months grinding out terrible volume days, and my reset will take about another month until I'm squatting pr numbers again. This is the first time I can remember when my bench is progressing better than my squat.

As an aside, for intensity day deadlift I use mixed grip with chalk. These past two deficit deadlift sets have both been overhand grip with no chalk. I'd love to be able to build up the strength to utilize overhand for all my deadlift sets without relying on chalk but it's not a priority right now.

Also on last volume day pull ups should have read BWx6, BWx5x2.

[dgcoats]

7/4 Volume

Squat 365x5x5
Bench (two second pause all reps) 250x5x5
Deficit Deadlift 295x8
Pull Ups BWx7x2 Chin Ups BWx7x2
Ab stuff

Last two workouts were just all over the place so I decided to not include them. First set of squat the bar was moving pretty slow but sped up as I progressed, telling me I need to warm up better. Was on the fence as to whether I should reset bench as well or keep progressing 3s but decided to just reset. This time around I'll (try to) utilize pause reps on volume day and touch and go on intensity day. My five rep intensity bench days have been **** since forever so we'll see how far I can take this. Feeling optimistic about this reset. Hope to progress sets of five for a while and when the time comes to go to triples I'll have a smoother transition. Last few transition have been because I've failed to hit five reps rather than me planning on doing triples.

[dgcoats]

7/6 Recovery

Squat 290x5x2
Press 160x5x3
Rows 250x5x3
Back Extensions 45x12x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

7/8 Intensity

Squat 410x5
Bench 285x3x2
Deadlift 495x5
Chin Ups 25x6

Squat form on my last two reps was pretty bad. Definitely could have got four reps on bench but knew the fifth would be iffy so I decided to just to two sets of three with a short (1-2 minute) break in between sets. Deadlift was best lift of the day. Grip felt strong and weight went up smooth.

[dgcoats]

7/11 Volume

Squat 375x5x5
Bench (two second pause each rep) 250x5x5, touch and go 250x5
Deficit Deadlift 300x8
Pull Ups BWx8 Chin Ups BWx7x2
Ab stuff

[dgcoats]

7/13 Recovery

Squat 300x5x2
Press 160x5x3
Rows 250x5x3
Back Extensions 50x13x2
Grip stuff

[dgcoats]

7/15/16 Intensity

Squat 420x5
Bench 285x3, 290x3
Deadlift 505x5
Chin Ups 35x5
Ab stuff

Hips shot up a bit and my chest wasn't as upright as it should have been on last rep of squat but overall my form was alright. Deadlift bar speed was kind of slow but consistent each rep. For now I've given up on benching five reps on intensity day haha, I'll stick with two sets of three. Looking at my journal for a long time I would only do one set for a triple on intensity day; I'll see if adding one more set makes any difference. Regardless, two triples is how I should have been programming my triples anyways.

[JustBulk]

Nice chins. Enjoy your weekend.