Back From The Dead Again; Journey to Strong

[musclehead09]

Sunday November 15, 2020

Heavy Lower (Ham Focus; AM BW - 175.4)

Warmup
Fast Walk 14 mins

1.5” Deficit Deadlift
*135x5
*185x4
*225x3
*275x2
*300x1 (add belt)
*325x1
350x5 (PR!!! @10 RPE)
(2:30 to 3 min rest)

1.5” Deficit SLDL
225x6
275x6 @8.5 RPE
(2 min rest)

Lying Leg Curl
30x8
40x6
30x8
20x12
(2 min rest)

SSB Hatfield Squat
*61x8
*151x6
201 2x8, 1x6 (all @8-8.5 RPE)
(2 min rest)

Leg Extension
40x10
60 2x10
(90 sec rest)

SSB Calf Raise
151 2x12, 2x10
(90 sec rest)

Decline Sit-up
BW 3x15 (PR since resuming training in May)

SSB Shrug
151 3x15
(1 min rest; new movement. Liked it)


Great workout. The fact I keep PRing on hard movements while cutting makes me feel very happy about how consistent I’ve been on this diet and supplementation. I haven’t had a day under 190g protein in 5 weeks and usually it’s 215-225g. Can’t wait to see how I perform in maintenance and bulk phases down the road!

[Anthony21]

F'n brutal training session man! You PR on a hard movement then follow it up with deficit SLDL then on top of that SSB Hatfield squats.

I'd be dead on the ground. Awesome training session and great PR.

[musclehead09]

F'n brutal training session man! You PR on a hard movement then follow it up with deficit SLDL then on top of that SSB Hatfield squats.

I'd be dead on the ground. Awesome training session and great PR.

Thanks man! The SSB Hatfield Squats were definitely incredibly difficult especially from a mental perspective after all the posterior work.

[musclehead09]

Wednesday November 18, 2020

AM Workout Chest/Tris; Bodyweight - 175.6

Band work 60 reps

Wide Grip Bench Press
*45x10
*95x8
*135x6
*160x4
185 3x6, 1x10
(Rest 2 mins first 3 sets, 3 mins last set)

Incline DB Press
60’s 3x8
(90 sec rest)

Flat DB Fly
30’s 3x10
(1 min rest)

Band Pushdown
2 Red Minis (6 hands up) x10
2 Red Minis (5 hands up) x10
2 Red Minis (4 hands up) x10
2 Red Minis (3 hands up) x15
2 Red Minis (2 hands up) x15
2 Red Minis (1 hands up) x20
(30 sec rest)


Side and Rear Delts in the evening. Good session, don’t typically go wide grip but threw it into my first 3 week cycle to gauge chest strength for reps. So far so good. Best with 185 was 15 reps competition/medium grip weighing 195-200.

[Anthony21]

Solid training session man. That wide grip bench hits differently for sure.

[xRequiem]

Digging the training in here. What routine are you doing? What's your weight goal?

[musclehead09]

Thanks guys.

I’m running a modified PHAT program so that I hit everything at least twice a week but the small weak points I have (bis/Delts/calves) and even lats get hit up to 3x a week. I have a pool of movements I use for the Power days in the 3-5 rep range and a pool of movements for the Hypertrophy days in the 6-10 rep range. Both types of days I fill the rest in with accessories (6-12 reps for power days and 8-20 for hypertrophy days on accessories). Chase PRs on every movement.

End goal weight for this cut is at least 166 and at most down to 158.

[musclehead09]

Also PM workout

Side Raise
*10’s x15
25’s x12,10,8 (90 sec rest)
20’s x12,10 (1 min rest)

Seated Face Pull
Red Mini 2x20 (1 min rest)

[musclehead09]

Saturday November 21, 2020

Heavy Upper (Delt/Tri Focus; AM BW 173!)

Warmup band work 60 reps

Pause Close Grip Floor Press
*45x10
*95x5
*135x5
*160x5
185x5
205x3
225x2
(2 min - 2:30 rest)

OHP
*45x8
*70x4
95 1x6, 1x8
(2 min rest)

Incline Skullcrusher
45x10
65 2x8
(1:30 - 2 min rest)

Chin-up
BW 4x5
(2 min rest)

Superset
Bent Over Lateral 20’s 3x15
Standing DB Curl 20’s 3x15
(1:30 rest)


This week I missed 2 workouts simply because I literally had multiple nights of less than 1 hour of sleep. Idk what’s going on but I’m going to need to get checked. Our daughter isn’t even keeping us up it’s just me. But I’m happy with the weight loss, another pound down this week. Main lift felt ehh but it’s only a rep off my best when I weighed around 200.

[musclehead09]

Sunday November 22, 2020

Heavy Lower Body (AM BW - 173.1)

Warmup
Slow Walk 15:22
Dynamic stretching

High Bar Pause Squat
*45 2x5
*95x5
*135x5
185x5
225x5 (add belt)
250x5 @9.75 RPE lol
(3 min rest)

Backoff sets
205x5
185x3 (beltless; cut short due to dull right knee pain)
(2 min rest)

RDL
*135x6
*225x6
275x6 @8.5 RPE
300x6 @9.5 RPE (15 lbs off old PR)
(2-3 min rest)

One Legged Leg Press
118 (sled only) 3x6
(1 min rest)

Calf Press
*208x10
298x15,10,8,8,6
(30 sec rest)

Barbell Shrug
135 3x10
(1 min rest)

Decline Sit-up
BW 3x10

[musclehead09]

Adding this as another messages since trying with my logged workout post itself appears to be too long for it to be accepted.

My right knee would feel like giving out with bad pain sporadically lasting only a second several times since last leg day. That’s also why I didn’t train legs a second time this past week. I think it was either due to my lying leg curl machine having my knees hanging off the bench or the same machine being a weird angle for extensions. It could also be doing heel elevated Hatfield squats really deep with Chuck Taylor’s on off of 10 lb plates. Either way I’m adjusting training to not use the lying leg curl machine for now. Setting up my seated machine over the next day or 2.

On the other hand the high bar pause squats were good. 250x5 isn’t much but being high bar and below parallel I’m happy with it. Not sure what my old PR was before but I remember a 300 lb high bar narrow stance single being difficult awhile ago so this is good. I pushed my butt back as far as possible to ensure no knee pain but felt some on my last Backoff set.

[musclehead09]

Tuesday November 24, 2020

Volume Upper Body AM Workout (Chest Focus; AM BW - 174.5)

Band work 100 reps

Pause Wide Grip Bench w/ chain
*45 + 42 chain 2x5
*95 + 42 chain x5
115 + 42 chain 10x5 (first set 6 reps; last set 4 reps. Miscounted first set)
(1 min rest - completed in 12:44)

Weighted Chest Dip
BWx8
BW + 10 x8
BW + 25 x8
(Rest 2 mins)

Incline DB Fly
25’s 3x15
(Rest 1 min)

Pushdown
2 Red Minis (5 hands up) x20,18,12
2 Red Minis (3 hands up) x15,12
(Rest 45 sec)

Side Raise
25’s 1x12, 2x10
(Rest 90 sec)

Good workout; decided to have my next 3 week block set up so I only am pushing RPE once a week on each bodypart. Mid week will be higher volume and low RPE work to save my joints as I continue cutting. I’ll cycle both.

[musclehead09]

Wednesday November 25, 2020

Volume Lower Body (PM Workout. AM BW - 171.5 holy crap! 36” waist too)

Superset
Calf Press 298x18,15,12,10
V-up BW 4x12
(No rest between movements; 20-30 sec rest between sets)

High Bar Good Morning
*45x10
95x8
115 2x8
95x8
(2 min rest)

SSB Squat
*61x5
*111x5
161 6x5, 1x4, 1x6 (almost cut short for slight knee pain and side cramp. Moved stance out wider on 8th set to complete 40 total reps. Narrow stances just don’t agree with me unless I really focus on pushing my hips back)
(1 min rest first 6 sets rest
1:30 rest 7th set
2:30 rest final set
13:06 total time)

Sumo Leg Press
298x12,8 (3 sec negative)
(1 min rest)

[Anthony21]

I hope that knee feels better bro. Awesome training per usual.

Have a good Holiday with the fam and stay safe.

[musclehead09]

I hope that knee feels better bro. Awesome training per usual.

Have a good Holiday with the fam and stay safe.

Thanks bro. Have a great holiday too!

[xRequiem]

Impressive lifting in here. Looks like you’re rapidly dropping weight but still maintaining and even moving up on some variations. How are you cutting so darn fast? I’m losing about 1-1.5lb a week with 12-14 hour IR and eating less carbs. Pretty much the vertical diet with less vegetable restrictions.

[musclehead09]

Impressive lifting in here. Looks like you’re rapidly dropping weight but still maintaining and even moving up on some variations. How are you cutting so darn fast? I’m losing about 1-1.5lb a week with 12-14 hour IR and eating less carbs. Pretty much the vertical diet with less vegetable restrictions.

Thanks a lot! Honestly it’s pretty wild, I’m maintaining 2250ish calories on most lifting days and 2050-2150 on rest days (up to 2400 on leg days). My weight fluctuates a lot but I see these huge drops in a single day then gain it back the next day then by the following week it’s gone. I think the fluctuation must be from varying sodium intake. I get a gallon of water in and 5g creatine everyday. My carbs on workout days are over 200g (up to 250 on leg days) but on non workout days under 90g most of the time. Protein is always 200g or more (as high as 235g some days. Fat averages 50-60g.

[musclehead09]

Thursday November 26, 2020

Back/Delts/Biceps (PM workout, AM BW - 174.3. PS I was 172.4 before going to the bathroom and being 171.5 yesterday and didn’t have a meal until 9am; still 172.4 was a 1 lb loss in itself!)

Warmup
Walk ~0.9 miles 17ish mins
Band work 40 reps

Barbell Row
*45x10
*95x8
135x8,6,6 (dang felt weak)
(2 min rest)

Pull-up
BWx8,4,4,4
(2 min rest)

Plate Shrug (3 count hold)
45’s 4x15 (good burn)
(90 sec rest)

Side Raise
25’s x10,8
(90 sec rest)

Bent Over Lateral
25’s 2x15
(75 sec rest)

Barbell Curl
*45z8
65x10,8,8
(2 min rest)

Lying Incline DB Curl
25’s 2x12, 1x8
(75-90 sec rest)

Incline DB Curl
20’s 2x10
(45-60 sec rest)


I realized midway through my sodium intake was 0 today so my head and eyes hurt and I was tempted to quit after the pull-ups but I haven’t hit enough pull work recently and that’s a focus right now so I continued. By time I got to side raises I felt better. I added sodium to my post workout shake and I’m feeling much better. My daughter has inflammation in her hip so I didn’t eat till noon today and had no salt in my only meal so far. Even though last night I had a ton of bone broth it didn’t carryover 13 hours later.

[musclehead09]

Saturday November 28, 2020

Heavy Upper (Delt/Tri Focused; AM BW 173.8)

Warmup
Walk 20+ mins
Band work 100 reps

Pause Bench
*45x10
*95x5
*135x5
*160x3
*185x3
*205x1
225x3
(Rest 2-3 mins)

Overload sets
250 + Reverse Light Band x1
275 + Reverse Light Band x5 (PR)
(Rest 3 mins)

Pause Close Grip Bench
175 3x6
(Rest 2 mins)

JM Press
*45x10
*65x8
80 3x8 (heaviest I’ve gone on these; felt easier than ever)
(Rest 1:30 - 2 mins)

Seated OHP
65x12
80x8
(Rest 1-2 mins)

Side Raise
20’s 4x15
(Rest 75 seconds; what a burn!)

[musclehead09]

Couldn’t type anymore in my log post for the day so I’m typing my notes in this one.

On one hand I felt like I was going to crush 225 for reps today. I feel so good from all the sleep this week. On the other hand 225x3 is the best I’ve done weighing less than 185 (and I’m 173) so I should be happy with it. My best was 225x10 TnG and 225x7 paused but I weighed around 200 and not only that I haven’t gotten more than 225x3-5 since resuming training in May as Chron’s disease destroyed me from July through August. So this is good progress being much lighter.

[musclehead09]

Sunday November 29, 2020

The Day The Earth Stood Still (jk)

Heavy Lower + Back (AM BW - 175.5 wheww; gained some weight back but still ahead of schedule)

Warmup
Slow Walk 17:28 (around 0.9 miles)
Dynamic Stretching

Conventional Deadlift
*135 2x5
*185x4
*225x3
*275x2
*315x1 (add belt)
*340x1
365x1
380x3
(felt incredible. My best 3RM ever was back in January at 400x3 stiff legged but I weighed around 200 lbs back then and I could only do deadlifts due to my torn quad. Prior to Chron’s weighing 185 I hit 385x1 Beltless so this is right on par with that. Also last time I weighed 175 my max DL was around 380-383 in competition. So I’m satisfied with this)

RDL
225 2x10
(these felt great; had sore hams still going into this workout from Wednesday’s leg session. After 380x3 they weren’t sore)

Chin-up
BW 4x5 (strict dead hang, good stretch)

One Arm DB Row
60x15,10

Sumo Leg Press
298x15,12,8

Unilateral Calf Raise
BW + 21 lb chain x12,10,8,8,6
(Minimal rest; only between legs)

Lying Leg Raise
BW 4x15


Overall a good session. Time for a Deload after I finish the mid week sessions. For my current Bodyweight I am much stronger than the last time I was in the 170’s and I’m not too far off from when I was 200.

Honestly while my goal is physique right now, if I can maintain my strength weighing 165 at the end of my first cut, I would likely look into doing a powerlifting competition while maintaining for 8-12 weeks before doing another cut to 10% bodyfat. Loving training right now.

Finally I put a few lbs back on but my caloric intake hasn’t been out of control. I didn’t track macros on thanksgiving day and my sodium intake has been WAY up. Tomorrow it’ll be more moderate.

[musclehead09]

This week I took 2-3 walks and on Thursday I hit Beltless high bar squats 135 4x5, incline bench 95 4x5 and One Arm DB Row 60 4x6. Today I’m going to hit an arm and Delt session and tomorrow a quick leg workout with SLDL and Leg Press to finish my Deload. Training will resume Tuesday. Perfect week for a Deload. I have tons of homework to finish the semester this week and into next week.

[musclehead09]

Alright felt great in this Deload workout so I’ll post it. It was arm focused and I kept RPE to 8 or below!

Warmup circuit
Rack Chin BWx10,8
Band Pullaparts Red Mini 2x16
Plate Curls 10’s 2x16

Main work
JM Press
*45 2x10
*65x8
80x8
95x8 (huge PR; my elbows always hurt on these and they felt amazing today. When i tried 95 lbs before I got around 3 Reps lol. Rest 90 seconds to 2 minutes)

Band Pushdown
2 Red Minis (3 hands up) 4x12
(45-60 sec rest)

Barbell Curl
*45x8
*60x8
75x8
(2 min rest)

Spider Curl
*10x10
20x8
25x8
(1 min rest)

Reverse Wrist Curl
45 3x20
(1 min rest; big pump)

[Anthony21]

Speaking of dealods I'm definitely going to need one following my 2nd cycle of BBB.

Awesome deadlifting a couple days ago man, must of felt great.

[musclehead09]

Speaking of dealods I'm definitely going to need one following my 2nd cycle of BBB.

Awesome deadlifting a couple days ago man, must of felt great.

I bet dude you have been killing it with good volume.

And thanks! Definitely felt good being lighter and leaner still hitting something just 20 lbs off my best 3RM ever for sure.

[musclehead09]

Sunday December 6, 2020

Deload Lower

Felt great so decided to keep volume low and hit an @8.5 single on high bar squats to base my next cycle off of. Also got super tight knee sleeves which made my knees feel much better squatting high bar but I went a size or 2 too small lol. At least I got them on; it was just a struggle.

High Bar Squat
*45 2x5
*95x5
*135x3
*185x1
*225x1
275x1 @7
295x1 @7.5-8
315x1 @8.5 (for high bar and with a narrow stance I’m happy with this. Last time I went for a high bar single with a narrow stance I did around 295 and I could probably squat 405 with a wide stance and low bar back then to parallel. I have a naturally very wide stance to make my knees feel comfortable but I’m glad I can squat high bar with the SBD knee sleeves)

Leg Press (Narrow)
*298x8
388 2x8 @7-7.5 RPE

Calf Press
298 5x10

Good Morning
*45x5
95 3x5

Crunch
BW 2x15

[musclehead09]

So today’s workout was a single just so I can gauge where I should start a high bar squat cycle as I had no clue prior to today. I’m going to focus my next cycle based on some of Mike Israetel’s guidelines coupled with what I enjoy (Backoff sets versus standard straight sets and keeping RPE around 8 or higher on the biggest sets versus starting @6-7 RPE and going up each week).

My next training block:

Tuesday Push + Biceps
Close Grip Bench Variation 2-4x5-10
Weighted Dip 2-4x6-12
Triceps Extension Variant 2-4x8-15
Barbell Curl 2-5x5-10
Incline DB Curl 2-4x6-12
Spider Curl 0-4x8-15
Side Raise 2-5x8-30
Rear Raise 2-5x8-30

Wednesday Legs
High Bar Squat 3-5x5-10
Leg Press 0-5x8-30
Stiff Leg Deadlift 3-5x5-10
Leg Curl 0-5x8-30
Calf Raise 4-5x8-30
Calf Press 0-5x8-30
Core work 0-5x8-30

Thursday Pull
Barbell Row 2-5x5-10
Rack Chin 2-5x6-12
One Arm Row Variant 0-5x8-15
Shrug 0-5x8-30
Face Pull 0-5x8-30
Zottman Curl 2-5x8-15
Wrist Curl 0-5x8-30

Friday Push
Bench Variant 2-4x5-10
DB Bench Variant 0-4x6-12
Fly Variant 2-4x8-15
Triceps Extnesion Variant 2-4x8-15
JM Pushdown 2-4x8-30
Side Raise 2-4x8-30
Rear Raise 2-4x8-30

Saturday Legs
Squat Variant 4x5 (warmup to deadlifts)
Deadlift Variant 3-5x5-10
Leg Curl 0-5x8-30
Walking Lunge 0-5x8-30
Calf Raise 4-5x8-30
Calf Press 0-5x8-30
Core work 0-5x8-30

Sunday Pull + Optional Delts
OHP 2-5x5-10 (optional)
Pull-up 2-5x5-10
One Arm Row Variant 2-5x6-12
Rack Chin 0-5x8-15
Upright Row 0-5x8-15
Face Pull 0-5x8-30
Zottman Curl 0-5x8-15


The key here is main lift is in the 5-10 rep range. Secondary lift typically 6-12 (except for legs). Other movements depending on the movement 8-15 or 8-30. I want to test OHP out separately which is why it’s optional. If my shoulders end up not agreeing I’ll need to move it to one of the Push days and rearrange some but I’m hoping if I keep RPE in check I’ll be fine. One way to do that is pushing intensity on only 1-2 primary pressing movements per week and rotating which will be at higher RPE’s. Additionally, many movements have “0” for the set range they have. This is because I’ll be progressing volume over the mesocycle from 10 sets to 20 sets per muscle (more for weak points like back, biceps and side/rear Delts). You’ll also notice some lifts say variant, that’s my conjugate bias coming into play but rep ranges will not dip below 5 for now and I will likely stick to the same variant for weeks at a time.

Finally if I miss a day it’s not the end of the world. I will simply merge days, increase main lift volume between merged days and remove some accessory work if that happens. Volume will still be the same that way.

[musclehead09]

Tuesday December 8, 2020
Start of new mesocycle

AM Workout Push + Biceps
(Arm + Delt Focus; AM BW 173)

Warmup
Band work 60 reps

Close Grip Bench Press
*45 2x10
*95x6
*135x4
170x8 @7.5 RPE
170x8 @8 RPE
(2 min rest)

Dip
BWx8 @8 RPE
BWx7 @8 RPE
(2 min rest)

Seated DB Overhead Ext
*30x15
50 2x10
(90 sec rest)

Barbell Curl
*45x8
60 2x8 @6.5ish RPE
(Rest 2 mins)

Incline DB Curl
25’s x7 @8 RPE
25’s x6 @8 RPE
(Rest 90 sec)

Spider Curl
*10x10
20x10 @8 RPE
(Rest 1 min)

Side Raise
20’s x15,10 (till it really burns, hard to gauge RPE on these)
(Rest 1 min)

Incline Rear Lateral
20’s 2x15
(Rest 1 min)


Total work sets
Triceps - 6 sets
Biceps - 5 sets
Side/Rear Delts - 4 sets

Will be adding a set count each week so I can track progression from an average of 10 sets per week per muscle to 20 sets per week (and more for biceps + side/rear Delts)

[musclehead09]

Wednesday December 9, 2020

Leg Day (Glute/Ham Focused; AM BW 172.2)

SSB Squat
*61x5
*111x5
*161x1
186 3x6 @7-7.5 RPE
(Rest 2:30)

Sumo Deadlift (in Olympic shoes so small deficit)
*135x5
225x10,8 @7 RPE
(Rest 3 mins)

SSB Good Morning
*61x5
111x7,6 @8 RPE
(Rest 2 mins)

Sumo Leg Press
298x10,8 @7.5 RPE (DEEP and slow eccentric)
(Rest 1:45)

Calf Press
208x21,12,10,10,8,8 (till it burns bad)
(Rest 45 sec)


Total Work sets
Quads - 5
Hams - 4
Glutes - 6
Calves -6


This was such a simple and light but BRUTAL workout surprisingly. I’m embracing bodybuilding this cycle using controlled reps with 2-3 second negatives on most things following Renaissance Periodization principles. I could use much more weight in sumo deadlifts to start but my work capacity is low and really bodybuilding this mesocycle I’m starting low and will progress in weight and volume week to week. My triceps are fried from yesterday too.

[musclehead09]

Thursday December 10, 2020

Pull Day (PM Workout; AM BW 172.6)

Warmup
Band work 75 reps

Pull-up
BW 2x5, 2x4 @7.5 RPE
(Rest 2 mins)

One Arm DB Row
60 2x10
(Rest 1:30)

Band Face Pull
Red Mini 3x20
(Rest 1 min)

Zottman Curl
20’s x10,8,7
(Rest 1 min)

Reverse Wrist Curl
45x20,16,12
(Rest 1 min)

Spread Eagle Sit-up
BW 3x8
(Rest 1:30)


Total work sets
Back - 6
Rear Delts - 3
Traps - 0 (will add some sets next week)
Biceps - 3
Forearms - 3
Abs - 3