Heisman's log

[Heisman2]

Did 40 minutes elliptical.

Hip flexor feels a bit better today; more ROM for the same amount of pain. No discoloration or swelling. Thus, this is thankfully not looking like a serious injury at all, and I don't think it should affect my upper body workout tomorrow. I'll squat again Sunday and I'll make sure to warm up well with all exercises I do; if I can warm up without pain I'll push myself as hard as I normally do. I will not be attempting GHRs though; I will do those again but not until I'm fully healed.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+47.5x10
BW+50x8
BW+52.5x6
BW+47.5x8

Got what I wanted for a nice 2.5 pound increase.

Paused incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with paused barbell rows:
75x4 - 155x8
70x4 - 155x8
60x5 - 135x10

Not getting much mind muscle connection with the rows. Gonna keep at it until I hopefully figure it out.

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
160x10 - 110x4
130x10 - 90x7

These felt good.

Standing dumbbell shoulder press supersetted with 1-armed pulley rows:
50x6- 110x5
45x8 - 90x8

EZ barbell curls:
60x4, 50x4, 40x7

Lying dumbbell tricep extensions:
35x4, 30x4, 25x7

Cable laterals: 2 dropsets

Bent over cable laterals: 2 dropsets

Facepulls: 2 dropsets

[Heisman2]

Legs today. Short session overall. Hip flexor is feeling a lot better thankfully.

Paused high bar back squats:
240x10
245x8
250x6
240x6

On the second set on the 5th rep I accidentally hit the safety bars and then felt a bit of tightness/pressure in my lower abdomen but finished the set. Felt fine the next 2 sets.

Leg press:
340x8
340x8

After the second set I again felt that tightness/pressure. Unsure why but I called it here due to that and my hip flexor still recovering. I got what I wanted with the squats so no point injuring myself with anything else when I care 100000x more about the squats than any of the other lower body movements.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+50x10
BW+52.5x8
BW+55x6
BW+50x8

Still making steady progress.

Paused incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with paused barbell rows:
75x4 - 135x9
70x4 - 135x7
60x8 (not paused) - 135x7

Going to stop doing the presses paused as they feel better not paused and I'm doing paused work with the dips so that is being a bit redundant. Settled on a form I like with the rows that I feel well in my upper back so gonna keep doing them the same way and progress from here.

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
170x7 - 110x7
140x8 - 110x4

These felt good.

Machine shoulder press supersetted with machine rows:
140x4- 180x5
90x12 - 140x11

Both of these movements feel a lot better than what I was doing previously so I will stick with these. With the machine shoulder press the handles are a bit in front of my body which allows my arms to stay in a nice plane for the purpose of working the delts. The machine rows allow me to use a full range of motion with no swaying of my body and I feel them better in my mid back than the one-armed pulley rows.

High pulley curls: 2 sets
Overhead cable tricep extensions: 2 sets
Facepulls: 2 sets
Leaning cable laterals: 2 sets
Bent over cable laterals: 2 sets

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
245x10
250x8
255x6
245x6

This all felt good; definitely getting hard to grind through all the reps and this was exhausting.

Leg press:
360x3x8

These were hard but felt good.

Dumbbell step ups:
75s x2x5

Gonna just go up on reps with this weight until I get to 2 sets of 10 reps.

Bulgarian split squats:
50x10

Gonna keep to 10 rep sets on these.

Leg extensions:
160x10

Called it here. Tried to do adductors and hamstring curls but felt both in my left hip flexor some so decided to quit while I was ahead. Quite happy with the squats and that is what matters most.

[Heisman2]

Good workout today:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+52.5x10
BW+55x8
BW+57.5x6
BW+52.5x6

Still progressing!.

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with paused barbell rows:
75x5 - 135x10
70x5 - 135x9
60x6 - 135x9

These were fine

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
170x8 - 110x8
140x9 - 110x5

Good progress here.

Machine shoulder press supersetted with machine rows:
140x8 - 180x8
90x11 - 140x11

Nice progress here as well.

Facepulls: 3 sets
High pulley curls: 3 sets
Overhead tricep extensions: 3 sets
Cable laterals: 1 set
Bent over cable laterals: 1 set

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
250x10
255x8
260x6
250x6

That's the whole workout. Legs were still a bit sore/fatigued from the last session as I was warming up today and I was completely exhausted after this. Tried to do leg press and the warmups felt heavy. Tried to pick up a 75 pound dumbbell for step ups and just picking up one dumbbell felt heavy. Called it here. Quite happy I got the squats. I'm progressing at a staggering rate.

[Heisman2]

Good session today:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+55x10
BW+57.5x8
BW+60x6
BW+55x6

This was about my limit today. I have 3 days off before the next session so we'll see if I can eek out another 2.5 pound increase then.

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with paused barbell rows:
75x6 - 145x8
70x6 - 145x8
60x6 - 145x8

This was good.

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
170x7 - 110x6
140x7 - 90x6

Regressed here but that's fine as the top lifts are what I care about.

Machine shoulder press supersetted with machine rows:
140x9 - 180x9
140x5 - 90x12

Changed the seat height on the rows on the 2nd set such that the support is at the level of my chest; will keep it here for better consistency.

Then I did a variety of biceps, triceps, side/rear delts, and facepull movements.

[Heisman2]

Subpar workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
warmup
255x1 - felt heavier than it should have so didn't try to grind out a bunch of reps
275x1
285x1
295x1
305x1
315x1 - felt heavy

Called it there. I'm taking boards in 6 days and the stress is likely getting to me. Also got my flu shot 2 days ago and slept poorly that night; yesterday I was quite tired and had general malaise so that probably also contributed. I'll try to do upper body Saturday and then we'll see if I feel like another leg session on Sunday or may just call it until the following Thursday.

[AdamWW]

Subpar workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
warmup
255x1 - felt heavier than it should have so didn't try to grind out a bunch of reps
275x1
285x1
295x1
305x1
315x1 - felt heavy

Called it there. I'm taking boards in 6 days and the stress is likely getting to me. Also got my flu shot 2 days ago and slept poorly that night; yesterday I was quite tired and had general malaise so that probably also contributed. I'll try to do upper body Saturday and then we'll see if I feel like another leg session on Sunday or may just call it until the following Thursday.

Sorry to hear about the subpar workout... it's amazing how lack of proper sleep and stress can effect strength especially on big lifts.

Hopefully once boards are done, everything will fall into place.

[Heisman2]

Sorry to hear about the subpar workout... it's amazing how lack of proper sleep and stress can effect strength especially on big lifts.

Hopefully once boards are done, everything will fall into place.

Oh yeah, I'm not worried about it. I'm actually extremely excited for being done with boards and then taking my training up a notch, haha. Thanks for the support.

One thing I will do differently with squats is that on these 10 rep sets I end up taking a breath between reps the last few reps of the set. I want to stop doing that. So I'll start again at a lighter weight and make sure I progress without taking breaths between sets as that should make the progression more straightforward. The other benefit to cutting this workout short is that it'll help ensure my hip flexor is fully ready to go when I go hard again.

[AdamWW]

Oh yeah, I'm not worried about it. I'm actually extremely excited for being done with boards and then taking my training up a notch, haha. Thanks for the support.

One thing I will do differently with squats is that on these 10 rep sets I end up taking a breath between reps the last few reps of the set. I want to stop doing that. So I'll start again at a lighter weight and make sure I progress without taking breaths between sets as that should make the progression more straightforward. The other benefit to cutting this workout short is that it'll help ensure my hip flexor is fully ready to go when I go hard again.

How would you usually breathe for a ten rep set?

I’m doing 5x5, and I definitely breathe between each one.

[Heisman2]

How would you usually breathe for a ten rep set?

I’m doing 5x5, and I definitely breathe between each one.

Keep in mind I'm doing paused reps. For the first rep I take a big breath and then hold it as I descend, pause, and then I exhale on the way up. I then immediately go back down for the 2nd rep and inhale while I am descending, hold it at the bottom, and exhale on the way up. I want to start doing this with all 10 reps but when it gets heavy for me near the end I end up exhaling on the way up, then taking a full breath (inhale and exhale), and then descend while inhaling. On the last rep of the set I may take 2 full breaths at the top prior to descending.

I'm not saying it's wrong to do that but it makes the progression a bit harder to track looking at just sets*reps*weight. Also throws RPE out of the window as if I don't do the extra breaths at the end I won't get the reps but with the extra breaths I do (one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of RPE in practice though I like it in theory).

Anyways, ate breakfast yesterday and then did:

Paused weight dips: worked up to BW +115x1 for a heavy single. In my new gym the handles are further apart than my old gym so this is essentially a new movement for me.
Paused hammer grip chins: worked up to BW +135x1 and this felt good
Seated shoulder press: worked up to 210x1 (definitely not equivalent to 210x1 with free weights, haha)
Machine chest press: worked up to 210x1

Then I apparently got gastroenteritis or food poisoning as I started feeling sick not too long after that and have had many episodes of vomiting and diarrhea over the last 24 hours. Actually haven't thrown up in 15 hours now but still having diarrhea. Haven't eaten any food in 25 hours now. Yesterday was rough when attempting to stay hydrated but I survived. Taking boards in 3 days so this definitely isn't ideal for the last minute prep work but it is what it is.

[Heisman2]

Took boards yesterday and I feel like I did very well! I won't know for sure for 2 months but I feel good about it.

Back at the gym today:

Paused high bar back squats:
185x12
185x12
185x9

Second set felt better than the first; I need to warm up more thoroughly.

Deadlifts:
365x2

Felt good.

Leg press:
360x4

Dumbbell step ups:
80s x 5

Bulgarian split squats:
60s x 10

Glute ham raises:
BWx3 slow and controlled

The last exercise was huge as that is how I hurt my hip flexor a few weeks ago and I had no pain today.

Got a lot of ideas of what I want to do with my training moving forward... stay tuned.

[Nedo]

Took boards yesterday and I feel like I did very well! I won't know for sure for 2 months but I feel good about it.

In all my experiences, when it feels good, the result is always good. Good work and best of luck on the outcome!

[Heisman2]

In all my experiences, when it feels good, the result is always good. Good work and best of luck on the outcome!

Thank you!

Yesterday I did some abs and conditioning. Still playing around with this. Also ordered a harness that will allow me to do resisted sprints so when that arrives things will pick up for sure.

Today I did:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+60 x 7, 5, 5, 5

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with paused barbell rows:
70x6 - 155x6
70x5 - 155x6
70x5 - 155x7 (not paused - this actually felt better not pausing at the sternum so will continue doing them not paused)

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
200x2.5/150x4 - 130x2/90x4
150x8 - 110x6

Machine shoulder press supersetted with machine rows:
180x3/140x3/90x4 - 200x3/160x4
140x6 - 160x7

Then I did triceps/biceps/facepulls/lateral raises/bent over laterals.

Good workout overall considering the time off. My legs were quite sore yesterday and I expect my upper body to be sore tomorrow. We'll see where the weights go next time.

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
185x15, 13, 11, 10, 9

Now we're talking. I cannot wait to see how I feel after this tomorrow... I really felt this in my glutes as I was doing it.

Then I did 2 sets of a circuit with leg extensions, seated leg curls, abductors, adductors, and called it there.

Really happy with how the squats felt. I kind of want to stay at 185 until I can get a 20 rep set.

[Heisman2]

No soreness at all, meaning to me by body has adapted well.

Today I did 2 sets of ab crunch machine, 1 set of high-to-low oblique twists, 1 set of low-to-high oblique twists, 2 sets of hanging leg raises, and 2 sets of hanging oblique twists. Then I did 5 minutes on the elliptical at setting 15 keeping my RPM over 100. I want to keep working on this as increasing my 5 minute cardio time should carry over to a mile run and it would be cool to run a 5 minute mile at some point (I realize I need to actually work on running to make this happen... we'll maybe get to that point haha).

[Heisman2]

Good session today:

Weighted dips supersetted with weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+60 x 9, 7, 5, 4

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with barbell rows:
70x7 - 155x9
70x5 - 155x8
70x4 - 155x7

Machine chest press supersetted with 1 armed pulldown:
200x3/150x4 - 130x3/90x4
150x5 - 90x6

Machine shoulder press supersetted with machine rows:
180x3/140x4 - 150x10
140x4/90x5 - 150x9

Then I did triceps/biceps/facepulls/lateral raises/bent over laterals.

[Heisman2]

My chest and lats are quite sore today.

I did 8 sets of abs (same exercises as two days ago) and then did another 5 minutes on the elliptical at level 15 keeping the RPM > 105.

Legs tomorrow.

[Heisman2]

Today I did:

Paused high bar back squats:
185x18
185x14
185x12

GHRs:
4
3

That's it. The squats destroyed me. My heart rate was up to 165 at the end of the 3rd set. I will probably go for 185x20 next time and then increase the weight to 205 the following session. I will keep doing the higher rep sets until progress stagnates. I may start throwing in a low rep heavy session here and there as these sets are preventing me from doing any heavy work as they take so much out of me. They are a really good mental challenge for whatever that is worth.

[Heisman2]

Today I did:

Paused weighted dips supersetted with paused weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+60 x 9.5, 5.5, 4

Really wanted 10 but failed on the last rep which destroyed me for the subsequent sets... definitely need to get 10 reps next time or I'm going to be really irritated.

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with barbell rows:
70x7 - 165x8
70x5 - 165x7

Machine chest press:
220 x 3 isometrics for 5 seconds each, then 120x7

One-armed pulldowns:
130 x 1 and then two 5 second isometrics, then 70x6

Machine shoulder press:
- can't remember exactly what I did but it involved doing a drop set with as many reps as I could do followed by two 5 second isometrics with 180, then 140, then 90

Machine rows:
- can't remember exactly what I did here either but it was a drop set with 200, 160, 120, and 80

Then took a couple hour break and did the following:

Hammer curls: 3 sets
Lying dumbbell tricep extensions: 3 sets
Lateral raises: 1 dropset (35/30/25/20/15/10/5 pound dumbbells for 7 partials or full reps each)
Bent over lateral raises: 1 dropset (35/30/25/20/15/10/15 pound dumbbells for 5 partials or full reps each)
Leaning cable lateral raises: 1 dropset
Bent over cable lateral raises: 1 dropset
Facepulls: 3 sets

Happy with this overall!

[Heisman2]

Subpar workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
180x2
225x1
245x1
265x1
275x1

Stopped here. Felt heavy. Just didn't have good energy today. On that note, Thursday I did the 3 good sets of squats and then was too fatigued to really continue, Friday I didn't even make it to the gym to do abs, yesterday my energy was a bit down in the morning as well. I didn't sleep great last night but I also haven't been gaining weight so I think it's time to up the calories. I've been at ~2800 daily so I'm gonna bump it up to 3000-3200 or so and see where that takes me.

[Heisman2]

Decided that since I am now eating more and should not have recovery issues I will start doing full body workouts potentially daily, essentially going to the gym and doing whatever I feel like with a general underlying strategy but doing a lot of "intuitive training" and seeing where it takes me. Today's workout:

Paused weighted dips supersetted with paused weighted hammer chins:
BW+90x4
BW+70x5

These felt good.

Incline dumbbell bench press supersetted with barbell rows:
80x4 - 185x5
65x7 - 165x8

Paused high bar back squats:
275x3
245x7

These felt much better than last session thankfully.

Deadlifts:
365x5
365x5

First time doing deadifts in awhile and these felt great.

Ab machine:
80x5/70x5/60x5

High-to-low cable twists:
40x5/30x5/20x5

Happy with this workout overall. We'll see how I feel tomorrow and what I end up doing...

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Dumbbell shoulder press followed immediately by dumbbell flat bench press:
50x6/50x5
50x5/50x5

First time doing dumbbell flat bench press in years and it felt very weird, haha.

Dumbbell rows:
50x15
50x15

Dumbbell curls:
50x2/40x3

Lying tricep extensions:
30x5/25x5

Lateral raise full reps or partials:
30x4/25x4/20x4/15x4/10x4/5x5

Bent over laterals full reps or partials:
25x4/20x4/15x4/10x4/5x4

Leaning cable laterals:
15x4/10x5/5x5

Bent over cable laterals:
10x10/5x3

Leg extension:
150x6
100x10 (different machine, weights were not the same)

Leg curls:
100x6
100x10

Abductors:
160x8
160x20

Adductors:
160x6
160x10

Clearly didn't warm up well for the leg movements. Was sore with everything from yesterday so going well.

[Heisman2]

Today's workout:

Push press:
135x6
135x4

Dumbell push press:
50x10

Snatch grip high pulls:
135x3x3

Pull-ups:
15
8

Dips:
17
10

Zombie squats:
185x2x5

Dumbbell step ups:
85x5

Bulgarian split squats:
85x2

Hanging leg raises: 1 set
Hanging oblique twists: 1 set

Felt good overall. Enjoying this style of training thus far; too early to tell if it will pan out. I'll keep at it and we'll see.

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Paused high bar back squats:
275x4
255x7

Felt good. Still not pausing for any breaths between reps and doing well.

Machine chest press:
200x4
150x8

Machine rows:
200x7
150x10

Glute kick backs:
270x8
270x6

GHRs:
8
5

Facepulls: 2 sets
High pulley curls: 2 sets
Tricep pushdowns: 2 sets
Ab crunch machine: 1 set
Dumbbell side bends: 100x15
Hanging leg raises: 1 set
Hanging oblique twists: 1 set

[Heisman2]

Workout today:

Deadlifts:
405x2x3

Felt good. Nice to pull 4 plates again as it's been awhile. Happy with my form.

Leg press:
300x2x12

Also felt good.

Weighted dips:
BW+100x2 paused
BW+45x8

Felt heavy warming up as I haven't recovered from all the other pressing I've been doing. Definitely playing with supercompensation here... we'll see if I can back off appropriately to reap the benefits.

Weighted hammer grip chins:
BW+100x3 paused
BW+45x8

Machine shoulder press:
180x4/140x4
140x8/90x4

Dumbbell rows:
60x12
60x10

Dragonflags: 4
Low-to-high cable twists: 35x3
Hanging leg raises: 1 sets
Unsteady cable curls: 6x3 (on a machine setup thing where you essentially hold the middle of a cable so there is a lot of stability involved)

Happy with this overall.

[Heisman2]

Did a conditioning workout this morning with some farmers walks, resisted sprints, sled pushes/pulls, and kettlebell swings.

This afternoon I did:

Leaning cable laterals: 2 sets
Bent over cable laterals: 2 sets
High pulley curls: 2 sets
Tricep pushdowns: 2 sets
Facepulls: 1 set
Leg extensions: 2 sets
Leg curls: 2 sets
Adductors: 2 sets
Abductors: 2 sets

May give my body a break tomorrow unless I really feel like training and then we'll see what I do. Enjoying this style of training thus far; still too early to see how it will pan out.

[AdamWW]

Did a conditioning workout this morning with some farmers walks, resisted sprints, sled pushes/pulls, and kettlebell swings.

This afternoon I did:

Leaning cable laterals: 2 sets
Bent over cable laterals: 2 sets
High pulley curls: 2 sets
Tricep pushdowns: 2 sets
Facepulls: 1 set
Leg extensions: 2 sets
Leg curls: 2 sets
Adductors: 2 sets
Abductors: 2 sets

May give my body a break tomorrow unless I really feel like training and then we'll see what I do. Enjoying this style of training thus far; still too early to see how it will pan out.

How often do you usually take rest days on your program?