Heisman's log

[Heisman2]

Didn't sleep well last night and I think the overall volume may be a bit high. So I'm going to start doing:

Tuesday - upper body compound, lower body isolation
Thursday - lower body compound, upper body isolation
Saturday - upper body compound
Sunday - lower body compound

Today I did:

Paused high bar back squats: 250x3x3, 225x5
Paused bulgarian split squats: 70s x3

The squats felt very good and looked good on video. Really liking the new squat shoes. I'm extremely tempted to just focus solely on squatting but I want to keep the progress slow so we'll see if I can resist, lol.

[Heisman2]

Decided against my above idea and will just take out some of the compound movements on the upper body days.

Today's workout:

Paused flat barbell benchpress: 182.5x5, 172.5x6, 162.5x7
Paused leaning back underhand pulldowns: 175x7, 175x5, 165x6
Standing shoulder press: 115x4/95x4
Seated rows: 180x7/160x5
Paused functional trainer bench press: 120x5/100x2
Paused standing dumbbell rows: 75x8
Dumbbell curls: 40x4/30x4
Dumbbell lateral raises: 30x3/20x4
One-armed tricep overhead extensions/pushdowns: 20x(7R, 6L)/15x5
Bent over dumbbell laterals: 20x10/10x8
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x(10R, 7L)/40x7
EZ bar wrist extensions: 30x25
Supination: 15x5/10x8
Pronation: 20x5/15x8
Cable Y raises: 30x5/20x4/15x5
Radial deviation: 20x7
Ulnar deviation: 20x15

Good all around.

[Heisman2]

Good workout today:

Paused high-bar back squats: 250x5x3
Deficit Romanian deadlifts: 315x5
Leg extension: 180x6, 160x6, 135x6
Lying leg curls: 115x6, 90x6, 70x7
Abductors: 30x5
Adductors: 30x5
Dorsiflexion: 10x15
Hip flexion: 25x8
Paused one-legged calf raises: 50x8

Happy with all of this.

[Heisman2]

Another good workout, though my wrists felt a bit beat up for unknown reasons:

Paused flat barbell benchpress: 185x5, 175x5, 165x5
Paused leaning back underhand pulldowns: 180x5, 170x6, 160x5
Dips: BW+x45x4/BWx3 (4N/1P - did these with a 4 second negative and 1 second pause... much, much harder)
Seated rows: 160x4/115x4 (4N/1P (at both ends of ROM))
Incline dumbbell bench press/decline push-ups: 50x6 (4N/1P)/10
Hammer grip chins/inverted rows: BW+45x4/7
Dumbbell curls: 40x2/30x2/20x4
Cable cross-armed laterals: 20x0.5 (iso hold)/15x1 (long eccentric)/10x4(long eccentric)/5x4(long eccentric)
Tricep overhead extension/pushdowns: 20x4(4N)/15x3(4N), then 15x8 leaning forward a bit
Rear delt cable flyes: 10x5(4N)/5x3(4N
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x7
EZ bar wrist extensions: 30x28
Supination: 15x17
Pronation: 25x10
Cable Y raises: 30x6/20x3
Radial deviation: 20x9
Ulnar deviation: 20x18

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused high-bar back squats: 255x3x3, 225x2x5
Deficit Romanian deadlifts: 325x5
Leg extension: 180x7, 160x6, 135x7
Lying leg curls: 135x3, 115x6, 90x5
Abductors: 30x5
Adductors: 30x5
Dorsiflexion: 10x13
Hip flexion: 25x8
Paused one-legged calf raises: 50x8

Pleased with all of this. Last time I did the same thing for calves and they were quite sore so hopefully they will not be this time.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused flat barbell benchpress: 187.5x4, 177.5x5, 167.5x6
Paused leaning back underhand pulldowns: 180x6, 170x6, 160x6
Standing shoulder press: 115x4/95x3
Seated rows: 160x6/140x4
Functional trainer bench press: 120x6/100x3
Paused standing dumbbell rows: 80x4, then lat pulldowns: 140x4
Lateral raises: 30x5/20x5/10x5
Dumbbell curls: 50x2/40x3/30x4/20x5
Tricep pushdown/overhead extensions/pushdowns: 20x5/15x5/15x3
Bent over dumbbell laterals: 20x13/10x8
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x(11R,8L)/40x(9R,8L)
EZ bar wrist extensions: 30x29
Supination: 25x1 iso hold, 15x25
Pronation: 35x1 iso hold, 25x12
Paused face pulls: 30x10
Radial deviation: 20x11
Ulnar deviation: 25x12

This all felt good.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused high bar back squats: 260x5x3 (making continued progress, these reps all felt good, no pain after warming-up at all)
Deficit RDLs: 335x5
Leg extensions: 180x6, 160x6, 135x8 (all reps with a 3 second negative)
Leg curls: 135x4, 115x6, 90x8 (all reps with a 3 second negative
Abduction: 30x7
Adduction: 30x7
Dorsiflexion: 10x17
Paused one-legged calf raises: 60x8

Great workout all around. Very pleased the squats are going up so readily. Nice to be able to finally train them productively, hopefully I can avoid injury.

[EliKoehn]

Good to hear about the success on the squats. It's a nemesis lift for me so I can somewhat relate to the feeling of success.

Can't remember, are you working through a pre-existing injury or just speaking in general?

[Heisman2]

Good to hear about the success on the squats. It's a nemesis lift for me so I can somewhat relate to the feeling of success.

Can't remember, are you working through a pre-existing injury or just speaking in general?

Age 18-19 I maxed at 385 pounds while weighing ~165. Then I tore my right meniscus. Went to see an orthopedic surgeon who told me I could not squat again without surgery and I didn't want to get surgery at the time (I was in college and didn't want the expense + difficulty getting around campus) so I stopped squatting for years. Had I known then what I know now I would have approached it differently. Eventually I decided to try squatting again and I was able to do it, but I do feel it at times and as a result of this I've altered my form many times over the years and have had a lot of setbacks along the way. Current form seems to be working perfectly well at this point (knock on wood). We'll see what happens over the next several weeks/months.

[EliKoehn]

Wow, that's very impressive. Kudos and well done.

[Heisman2]

Wow, that's very impressive. Kudos and well done.

Thank you, hopefully I can keep making progress!

Today's workout:

Paused flat barbell benchpress: 187.5x4, 177.5x5, 167.5x6
Paused leaning back underhand pulldowns: 180x7, 180x5, 160x
Dips: BW+45x5/BWx3 (4N/1P)
Seated rows: 160x5/130x4 (4N/1P (at both ends of ROM))
Incline dumbbell bench press/decline push-ups: 50x10/7
Hammer grip chins/inverted rows: BW+45x5/6
Cable cross-armed laterals: 15x4/10x3
Dumbbell curls: 50x3/40x4
Tricep overhead extensions/pushdowns: 15x11/6
Rear delt cable flyes: 10x8/5x5
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x(113R,10L)/40x8
EZ bar wrist extensions: 30x30
Supination: 20x12/10x8
Pronation: 25x16/15x7
Paused cable Y raises: 30x7/20x4
Radial deviation: 20x14
Ulnar deviation: 25x16

No progress with the benching but my left elbow was bothering me a bit. The last warm-up felt really good though. Otherwise everything else went well.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused high bar back squats: 265x5x3
Leg extensions: 160x3/4/4/3/135x4/115x5/90x5
Leg curls: 115x3/4/3/2, 90x4, 70x4

That's it. Left elbow was not happy with the squats. On the bright side, this makes me think it is more likely that this did hold back my benching yesterday. I may switch to back squats one day and front squats the other day and barbell bench pressing only once weekly (or not at all... I've never cared about the movement, lol).

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:
Functional trainer bench press supersetted with decline push-ups:
100x9 -> 8
100x6 -> 4
100x5 -> 3

Underhand pull-downs supersetted with seated rows:
140x9 -> 140x4
140x6 -> 115x6
140x5/3 -> 115x5/3

Left elbow is still bothering me a decent amount so it's gonna be a bit before I do anything heavy.

Did a vlog type video for the first time, took awhile, lol. Gonna be much quicker when I get the hang of this more, right now I'm just trying to get experience:

[Heisman2]

Quick annoying update, I seem to have a cold of some sort. I'll get tested for COVID-19 tomorrow morning. This could in part explain the elbow inflammation yesterday and less likely with squats on Sunday, but historically I get arthralgias 1-2 days before I get other viral symptoms. I don't feel too bad and could probably lift tomorrow but I'll keep it light (which will be good anyway if I do front squats as I have not done them in awhile) with some tempo work.

[Heisman2]

My cold was horrible on Thursday/Friday, felt better Saturday and almost back to normal today. Worked out today:

Front squats: 155x5, 175x5, 195x5 (felt wonderful)
Deficit Romanian deadlifts: 345x5 (felt very good)
Weighted dips: BW+115x1/BW+70x3/BW+45x3/BWx3 with slow eccentrics
Weighted swivel grip chins: BW+115x1/BW+70x3/BW+45x3/BWx3 with slow eccentrics

Very happy with all of this. Felt the left elbow a bit on the last exercise but not in a negative way. Video of the workout below, particularly for people who want to see how deeply I go on dips.



As an aside, I'm getting close to the point where I can spend more time on YouTube and my website, probably another 2 weeks before I can start attacking those in a much bigger way.

[Omni]

My cold was horrible on Thursday/Friday, felt better Saturday and almost back to normal today. Worked out today:

Front squats: 155x5, 175x5, 195x5 (felt wonderful)
Deficit Romanian deadlifts: 345x5 (felt very good)
Weighted dips: BW+115x1/BW+70x3/BW+45x3/BWx3 with slow eccentrics
Weighted swivel grip chins: BW+115x1/BW+70x3/BW+45x3/BWx3 with slow eccentrics

Very happy with all of this. Felt the left elbow a bit on the last exercise but not in a negative way. Video of the workout below, particularly for people who want to see how deeply I go on dips.



As an aside, I'm getting close to the point where I can spend more time on YouTube and my website, probably another 2 weeks before I can start attacking those in a much bigger way.

Impressive depth and form on that front squat! Same with the dips, impressive numbers for your frame imo.

Good to hear your cold passed, looking forward to you creating more content in the coming weeks. Maybe we can get you a better camera and webcam lol

[Heisman2]

Impressive depth and form on that front squat! Same with the dips, impressive numbers for your frame imo.

Good to hear your cold passed, looking forward to you creating more content in the coming weeks. Maybe we can get you a better camera and webcam lol

Thank you, I'm not at my strongest now but I'll get back there. I am willing to spend however much I need on a good webcam/camera/etc, also probably want to get a much more powerful computer to use Premiere Pro and other editing software. Just need to pick what I want to buy, which is the hard part, lol.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

High bar back squats: 225x10 (no pain anywhere, felt good, change my grip so my thumb is over the par and widened my hands a bit and this did not bother my elbow at all)
Paused deadlifts: 365x5
Leg extensions: 180x6/135x4/90x4
Leg curls: 135x3/90x4/45x4
Abductors: 30x5
Adductors: 30x5
One-legged calf raises: 60x5/BWx5
Dorsiflexion: 10x13
60 degree decline sit-ups: 10



I am definitely ready to start pushing hard again.

Also gonna spend time Saturday figuring out what I want to buy regarding a camera/webcam/etc.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Functional trainer bench press: 150x4/120x3/90x3/60x4
Functional trainer chest-supported rows: 150x3/120x3/90x3/60x5
Incline dumbbell bench press: 60x6/50x4/40x5
Standing dumbbell rows: 80x6/60x4/40x4
Paused dips: BW+90x2/BW+45x4/BWx3 (last 3 with long eccentrics)
Paused swivel grip chin ups: BW+90x2/BW+45x4/BWx3 (last 3 with long eccentrics)
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x8
EZ bar wrist extensions: 40x7/30x7
Supination: 15x12
Pronation: 20x13
Radial deviation: 20x10
Ulnar deviation: 25x12
Dumbbell curls: 40x4/30x3
Tricep overhead extensions/pushdowns: 15x10/15x7
Cable Y raises: 30x5/15x4

All done in 1 hour. Very slight left elbow pain during it but not after and I'm not concerned about that. Pleased all around.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Front squats: 225x3x5
Deficit Romanian deadlifts: 355x5
Leg extensions: 180x5, 135x5, 95x8
Leg curls: 135x2, 95x6, 45x9
One-legged paused standing calf raises: BW+60x7/BWxx4

All of this felt very good. Extremely happy with the front squats. We'll see if I can keep progressing well.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Flat barbell bench press: 200x1/185x5/155x5/135x6 - I felt this ever so slightly in my left elbow but otherwise this all felt great and I had another 5-10 pounds in me on the top single, the 200 felt easier than the 195 I did a few weeks ago
Paused swivel-grip chin-ups: BW+135x1/BW+90x3/BW+45x4/BWx3 (felt great to use 3 plates again)
Paused dips: BW+90x3/BW+45x4/BWx3 (all felt good)
Paused seated rows: 180x4/140x4/90x6 (all felt good)

Quite happy with all of this. Left shoulder is still slightly sore from the Moderna booster I got 3 days ago so I did not do any isolation movements.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

High bar back squats: 245x7, 245x5, 245x5
Paused deadlifts: 375x5
Leg extensions: 180x5/135x4/90x4
Leg curls: 135x4/90x4/45x5



I went ahead and purchased a legit webcam; should arrive Sunday. After making this video I realized with my phone camera it is likely out of focus, making the quality look more poor than it actually is. I did purchase a ring light so the lighting should be better. Next time I'll try to adjust the focus well and if the quality still isn't great then I'll go ahead an purchase a legit camera.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Incline dumbbell bench press: 70x6, 60x6, 50x9
Bent over barbell rows: 165x9, 165x8, 165x7
Functional trainer bench press: 120x5/100x3/80x3
Leaning back underhand lat pulldowns: 160x6/140x4/110x6
Dumbbell curls: 50x3/40x3/30x4
Overhead tricep extension/pushdown/extension: 20x6/20x3/15x4
Cross-armed lateral raises: 15x5/10x5/5x5/5x5
Dumbbell wrist curls: 40x25
Rear delt cable flyes: 10x4/10x3/5x4
EZ bar wrist extension: 35x11/3
Supination: 15x20
Pronation: 20x25
Radial deviation: 20x12/15x9
Ulnar deviation: 20x25/15x20
Cable Y raises: 30x8/20x3

Good all around.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Front squats: 245x5, 245x3, 245x3, 245x3
Nordic leg curls: 10

Elbows are still bothering me a bit which is annoying. I may just move forward with front squats for the time being. Dips thus far have not seemed to bother my elbows as much as benching so I will probably prioritize them if they do not bother me. Elbows were not a factor with the front squats, which all felt good.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Cross-armed lateral raises: 15x6, 15x6, 10x8
Low pulley curls: 40x4, 35x4, 30x6
Bent over lateral raises: 20x12, 20x11, 20x10
Overhead tricep extension/pushdowns: R:25x4/15x4, L:25x1 then 20x2/15x5, 20x5/15x4, 15x9/10x5
Lateral raises: 20x8, 20x6, 20x7
Dumbbell curls/EZ bar curls (wide/narrow): 40x5, 30x7/50x5/2, 30x7/50x4/2
Rear delt cable flyes: 10x6, 5x9, 5x9
Lying tricep extensions: 50x8, 50x9, 50x7
Dumbbell wrist curls: 50x9/40x9/30x9
EZ bar reverse wrist curls: 50x3/50x10 second isometric/30x7/30x15 second isometric
Supination: 20x4/15x4/10x6
Pronation: 25x12/20x7/15x8
Radial deviation: 25x7/20x7/15x7
Ulnar deviation: 30x10/25x35/25x25
Dips/Decline push-ups alternating: 9 paused/4 paused/3/3
Swivel grip chin-ups/Inverse rows alternating: 6 paused/4 paused/2/3
Standing dumbbell row: 90x4/70x3

Good all around.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Front squats: 255x5, 225x2x5 (these all felt good)
Deficit RDLs: 365x5
Leg extensions: 180x5/135x4/90x5/45x6
Nordic leg curls: 12

Quite happy with this. The squats and the set of deadlifts were all hard. 255x5 is probably about the most I've ever done on front squats and certainly not while this light so I'm thrilled with this; hopefully I can keep pushing without injury.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Flat barbell bench press: 205x1/185x3/165x4/135x8 (1st 3 sets paused, last was touch & go)
Underhand leaning back lat pulldowns: 180x4/160x4/140x3/110x6
Dips: BW+90x3/BW+45x4/BWx4
Seated rows: 180x7/140x7/110x9
Incline dumbbell bench press: 70x6/60x4/40x4
Standing dumbbell rows: 90x7/90x4, then I did 3 swivel grip chin-ups

My elbow tolerated this without issue, which is great. Good workout all around. Also, got a new webcam that is much better and I may even be able to film videos in my gym with it. I'll play around with it on Saturday.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Front squats: 265x4, 225x4x5
Leg extensions: 180x7/180x3/135x4/90x5
Nordic leg curls: 7

Very happy with the front squats. I think this is the most I've ever done with 265 and I am weighing ~150 now. I did a slight pause with all of them too.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused weighted dips: BW+125x0, BW+90x4/Bw+70x3/BW+45x4/BW+25x4/BWx3 (not paused)
supersetted with:
Paused weighted swivel grip chin-ups: BW+90x4/Bw+70x3/BW+45x4/BW+25x4/BWx3 (not paused)

Incline dumbbell bench press: 70x7/60x5/50x5
supersetted with:
Seated dumbbell rows: 180x7/160x5/140x5

Cross-armed laterals -> dumbbell laterals -> one-armed leaning laterals: 15x4/20x4/(15x1/10x3)
One-armed preacher curls -> dumbbell curls -> spider curls -> zottman curls: 30x4/40x3/20x5/20x3
Rear delt cable flyes -> bent over dumbbell laterals -> one-armed rear delt cable flyes:
Tricep overhead extensions/pushdowns combo: lots of reps
Wrist curls: 50x8
Reverse wrist curls: 40x6/30x7
Supination: 20x5/15x6/10x11/5x14
Pronation: 30x6/25x5/20x5/10x12
Radial deviation: 20x13/15x10/10x10
Ulnar deviation: 30x10/25x12/20x20
Cable Y raises: dropset from 40

Good all around.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Paused front squats: 275x1, 225x6, 225x4 (felt left lateral knee strain)
Paused deadlifts: 365x1, 385x1 (felt left lateral knee strain), 405x1 (no issues)
Leg extensions: 180x8/135x5/90x6/45x9, 180x6/135x4/90x5/45x6
Nordic leg curls: 7, 5

My knee is fine, just a weird thing. Besides that I was happy with all of this.