There is no spoon

[blue9steel]

Monday Feb 3 - Strength Pull Day
---------------------------------------
Chinups 3x5x24.5wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x200w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 3x10 :: 3x12DPx15 SETS: 11 11 11
Deadlifts 3x5x425w315M6

Finally ready to move up on Deadlifts!

[shaneinga]

Monday Feb 3 - Strength Pull Day
---------------------------------------
Chinups 3x5x24.5wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x200w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 3x10 :: 3x12DPx15 SETS: 11 11 11
Deadlifts 3x5x425w315M6

Finally ready to move up on Deadlifts!

Nice! Deadlifts moving on up.

[blue9steel]

Tuesday Feb 4 - Strength Push Day
-----------------------------------------
XLEG 3x50-60s
Bradford Press 3x5x100.5wbar
SSB Squats 3x5x202w135
CS::Roman Situps/Reverse Curls 3x15DPx20 SETS: 15 12/3 9/6 :: EZ+29-3x10
Bench 3x10DPx155 SETS: 10 10 10

[blue9steel]

Wednesday Feb 5 - Power Pull Day
----------------------------------------
Pullups {HOLDx3-30s} 3x3x44.75wbw
V Pulldowns (3s) 3x12DPx140w100 SETS: 9 6/3 6/3
Bent Rows [DORSx3-60s] 3x3x243.5w185
Deadlifts 3x3x456w315M6

I'm sneaking up on a 45lb plate for pullups, I think next time I'll manage it. Pretty good for a guy that started at -160lbs on the assisted pullup machine. Deadlifts are moving up 0.5lbs at a time and man that extra weight feels heavy somehow.

[blue9steel]

Thursday Feb 6 - Power Push Day
--------------------------------------
Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x160.25w95
Squats 3x3x297.5w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x204.5w135
Dips 3x8x39.5wbw

Grinding forward at snail speed, but making progress on all lifts nonetheless.

[blue9steel]

Friday Feb 7 - Deload Pull Day
-----------------------------------
OVHD 3x105-40s
DB Pullovers 3x12DPx82.5w40 SETS: 11 11 9
Face Pulls (3s) 5x15DPx50 SETS: 11 11 11 11 11
Rear Delt Raise 3x8x151.5w95
Hip Thrusts (3s) 3x8x335

[blue9steel]

Sunday Feb 9 - Circuit Training
------------------------------------
BIKE-6m@16
Power Clean / OHP / Front Squat 5x95
DB Curl 10Ex25
Tricep Pushdowns 20x20
Situps 5xBW

[blue9steel]

Monday Feb 10 - Deload Push Day
----------------------------------------
Incline Laterals(3s) 3x15DPx15 SETS: 14 14 9/5
Reverse Lunges 3x3Ex169.5w95
Incline DB Press 3x12DPx60 SETS: 8 8 8
Wrist Roller 3x3Ex85.25w50

[blue9steel]

Tuesday Feb 11 - Assist Day
---------------------------------
Band Bench (Purple-small) 3x5x115
Pushups 3xRP SETS: 13 13 13 13 13
DB Flys 3x12DPx20 SETS: 8 8 8
Band Squats (Purple-small) 3x5x115
Band Good Mornings (Purple-small) 3x5x115 *Jumped 5lbs extra to make loading easier, seemed to go ok.

Current plan for the band exercises is to work up to 135 then go back down to 95 and switch to the next larger band.

[blue9steel]

Wednesday Feb 12 - Mass Pull Day
-----------------------------------------
Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Neutral Pullups 3x8xbw SETS: 4/4 6/6 6/6 6/6 1
Cable Rows (3s) 3x12DPx170w110 SETS: 8 8 8
Overhead Shrugs 3x15DPx100 SETS: 10 10 10
CS::Power Cleans/GHR 3x5x170w135 :: 3x10DPxbw (green) SETS: 10 10 5/5

[blue9steel]

Thursday Feb 13 - Mass Push Day
---------------------------------------
WSST EZ+18x3-60s
Arnold Press 3x12DPx45w25 SETS: 12 10 10
CS::Front/Overhead Squats 3x5x135w135P5T5/45 :: 3x5x73w45
DB Bench 3x15DPx60 SETS: 10 10 10
Platform Calf Raises 3x20x155

New PR on front squat today, finally worked my way up to 135! Initially I couldn't even do them with the bar so that's pretty exciting:

[blue9steel]

Friday Feb 14 - Strength Pull Day
--------------------------------------
Chinups 3x5x24.75wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x201w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 3x10 :: 3x12DPx15 SETS: 12 12 12
Deadlifts 1x5x425w315M6
Romanian Deadlifts 4x225

Deadlift warmups felt fine, did my first set and while it was heavy I was prepared to smash two more sets. After I put the bar down and started to catch my breath I realized my abs were really sore, almost felt like it was going to cramp for a minute there. That kind of reaction is pretty unusual for me and while I could have easily pushed through the discomfort I didn't want to risk injuring myself. I decided to back off the weight and do some Romanian Deadlifts instead, which went fine, in fact I liked them a lot, I might even consider switching to those for a while at some point. Not sure exactly what happened, maybe I set up wrong or was distracted during the pull. Probably just a one off event, we'll see how things go on Wednesday.

[blue9steel]

Saturday Feb 15 - Circuit Training (5)
------------------------------------------------
BIKE-6m@16
Bench 15x95
Trap Bar Deadlifts 15x135
DB Curl 10Ex25
Tricep Pushdowns 20x20
Situps 6xBW

The weather has been nasty and I haven't felt like running in the rain. At the same time, just sitting on the recumbent bike pedaling away is boring. I've decided to do circuit training instead, so far I like it and it doesn't seem to be causing problems for my normal routine but I'll keep an eye on recovery.

I started cutting again on Monday and that's going well so far. I'm doing a slow cut this time, target is only 0.5lb / week, which means roughly 2000 calories a day for me and that hasn't been too difficult to hit. I considered going faster but hitting my protein/fat/fiber goals was going to be extremely tough and it just didn't seem worth the additional strictness required.

[blue9steel]

Monday Feb 17 - Strength Push Day
-----------------------------------------------
XLEG 3x50-60s
Bradford Press 3x5x101wbar
SSB Squats 3x5x203w135
CS::Roman Situps/Reverse Curls 3x15DPx20 SETS: 15 10/5 10/5 :: EZ+30-3x10
Bench 3x10DPx160 SETS: 6 6 6

[blue9steel]

Tuesday Feb 18 - Power Pull Day
-------------------------------------
Pullups {HOLDx3-30s} 3x3x45wbw
V Pulldowns (3s) 3x12DPx140w100 SETS: 9 7/2 5/4
Bent Rows [DORSx3-60s] 3x3x243.5w185
Deadlifts 3x3x456.5w315M6

Deadlifts went fine today, no ab problems so I'm going to assume Friday was a fluke. I did have my belt tighter than usual that day so it's possible that was related somehow. When I'm cutting sometimes it's not clear which notch to use.

Pullup quality today wasn't as good as I would like but I managed to complete my sets with a 45lb plate! Definitely makes me feel badass, though crazy enough I still wouldn't be able to do any pullups if I weighed the same as fat me (254lbs) since today's total was only 242.6lbs. I'm going to stick with 45lbs for a bit until I get the rep quality up to where I want it, shouldn't take too long.

[blue9steel]

Wednesday Feb 19 - Power Push Day
-------------------------------------------
Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x160.5w95
Squats 3x3x297.75w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x204.75w135
Dips 3x8x40wbw

OHP has been making quiet gains for quite a while now, not bad at all considering in the past my lower back injury often got in the way. Still quite a ways to go before I hit a bodyweight press, but that's the goal.

[blue9steel]

Thursday Feb 20 - Deload Pull Day
----------------------------------------
OVHD 3x105-40s
DB Pullovers 3x12DPx82.5w40 SETS: 11 11 10
Face Pulls (3s) 5x15DPx50 SETS: 12 12 12 12 12
Rear Delt Raise 3x8x151.75w95
Hip Thrusts (3s) 3x8x335

[blue9steel]

Friday Feb 21 - Deload Push Day
--------------------------------------
Incline Laterals(3s) 3x15DPx15 SETS: 14 14 10/4
Reverse Lunges 3x3Ex169.5w95
Incline DB Press 3x12DPx60 SETS: 9 9 9
Wrist Roller 3x3Ex85.25w50

[blue9steel]

Monday Feb 24 - Assist Day
--------------------------------
Band Bench (Purple-small) 3x5x120
Stand Pushups 5xRP SETS: 10 10 10 10 10
DB Flys 3x12DPx20 SETS: 9 9 9
Band Squats (Purple-small) 3x5x120
Band Good Mornings (Purple-small) 3x5x120

Broke out my old pushup stands, they're so ancient I can't even remember when I bought them, 20+ years ago for sure. Anyways, they aren't high quality but they do the job. I felt like I got a better stretch and higher difficulty using the stands so I'll keep that change. I didn't try and push it too hard on that today but it should increase from here.

Band work is going well, I like the constant tension and strength curve changes.

[blue9steel]

Tuesday Feb 25 - Mass Pull Day
------------------------------------
Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Neutral Pullups 3x8xbw SETS: 4/4 6/6 6/8G 8G/8G
Cable Rows (3s) 3x12DPx170w110 SETS: 9 9 9
Overhead Shrugs 3x15DPx100 SETS: 11 11 11
CS::Power Cleans/GHR 3x5x170w135 :: 3x10DPxbw (green) SETS: 10 10 8/2

Rep progression hasn't been working on neutral pullups in terms of extending my set length, though I'm getting better at adding more reps, heh. I decided to switch things up about half way through this morning and started doing them band assisted. I used the green band which is probably too much assistance so I'm going to try the large purple for all sets next time.

I'm pretty sure I'm doing overhead shrugs wrong, it's turned into more of a partial press which is a decent exercise but not what I'm trying to do here. I'll have to a bit of research and find a replacement.

[blue9steel]

Wednesday Feb 26 - Mass Push Day
-----------------------------------------
WSST EZ+18x3-60s
Arnold Press 3x12DPx45w25 SETS: 7/5 6/4 6/4
CS::Front/Overhead Squats 1x5x135w135P5T5/45 :: 1x5x73w45
DB Bench 3x15DPx60 SETS: 11 11 11
Platform Calf Raises 3x20x155
Scott Curls EZ+20-3x8

My right knee started complaining this morning during my squat warmup. Initially I thought a bit of rest would get it to calm down but it kept acting up again during my first sets of squats. Thanks to the Marine Corps I know the difference between "ouch that hurts, keep pushing" and "hey I think I'm breaking something, better stop" so I skipped the other two sets of squats. Since I had some extra time I decided to experiment and threw in some Scott Curls at the end, showing that yes the GHR does indeed make a decent curl bench.

[shaneinga]

Solid work in here. A good shrug variant that goes overhead is a front plate raise for high reps. Grab a 45 pound plate and do front raises with it. The plate should end up over your head and stop a chest height. Repeat until your traps expload.

Good to listen to your body. Better to move on past a set of squats than force it.

[blue9steel]

A good shrug variant that goes overhead is a front plate raise for high reps. Grab a 45 pound plate and do front raises with it. The plate should end up over your head and stop a chest height. Repeat until your traps expload.

Good suggestion, that actually sounds pretty appropriate for what I want to do, I think I'll try it.

[ElrondHubbard]

Wednesday Feb 26 - Mass Push Day
-----------------------------------------
WSST EZ+18x3-60s
Arnold Press 3x12DPx45w25 SETS: 7/5 6/4 6/4
CS::Front/Overhead Squats 1x5x135w135P5T5/45 :: 1x5x73w45
DB Bench 3x15DPx60 SETS: 11 11 11
Platform Calf Raises 3x20x155
Scott Curls EZ+20-3x8

My right knee started complaining this morning during my squat warmup. Initially I thought a bit of rest would get it to calm down but it kept acting up again during my first sets of squats. Thanks to the Marine Corps I know the difference between "ouch that hurts, keep pushing" and "hey I think I'm breaking something, better stop" so I skipped the other two sets of squats. Since I had some extra time I decided to experiment and threw in some Scott Curls at the end, showing that yes the GHR does indeed make a decent curl bench.

I like your approach. It's systematic yet experimental, and you manage to adapt to a lot of different conditions. Highly impressive work you put in!

[blue9steel]

I like your approach. It's systematic yet experimental, and you manage to adapt to a lot of different conditions. Highly impressive work you put in!

You know that guy that everyone said should just use one of the pre-made programs instead writing their own routine but didn't listen? Yeah, I'm that guy. I think it's my engineering background but I have a need to know why I'm doing something and I like to tinker. I keep trying new things, if it works it stays, if it doesn't it goes, over time that seems to be leading me in the right direction. My routine is sort of a grab bag mixture of Westside, 5/3/1, Arnold Style bodybuilding and some sprinkles of Olympic Weightlifting & Strongman thrown in for kicks.

[ElrondHubbard]

You know that guy that everyone said should just use one of the pre-made programs instead writing their own routine but didn't listen? Yeah, I'm that guy. I think it's my engineering background but I have a need to know why I'm doing something and I like to tinker. I keep trying new things, if it works it stays, if it doesn't it goes, over time that seems to be leading me in the right direction. My routine is sort of a grab bag mixture of Westside, 5/3/1, Arnold Style bodybuilding and some sprinkles of Olympic Weightlifting & Strongman thrown in for kicks.

If they have to ask what to do, then they need the pre-programmed routine. You've put in the time and effort and research to figure out what works for you. You've earned it.

[blue9steel]

Thursday Feb 27 - Strength Pull Day
------------------------------------------
Chinups 3x5x25wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x201w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 3x10 SETS: 5 5 5 :: 3x12DPx15 SETS: 13 13 13
Romanian Deadlifts 5x5x315w225

Nice milestone on Chinups today, finally worked my way up to a 25lb plate, pretty cool!

For a while now I've been disappointed with TRX Rev Flies and I've considered dropping them from my program. I figured the straps were a gimmick that I mostly just bought to make my wife happy. That might still be true but when it comes to rev flies it turns out that it was user error. Apparently I can't read instructions and was doing them completely wrong, and not just a little bit, let's just say I wasn't even facing the right direction and it went downhill from there. In between t-bar row sets this morning I watched some videos and realized my error. I corrected my form and all of a sudden A) They're much harder and B) They actually feel like they're doing something useful.

Amusingly I got so absorbed with my TRX mistake I didn't read my gym log properly and added reps instead of weight on bent laterals, but I figure hey it's still progress.

I enjoyed the Romanian deadlifts I did last time and decided to try that instead of conventional for the strength cycle for a while and see how it goes. I definitely felt the difference today and progress should be good for a while. I'm considering trying 4x8 next time instead of 5x5 since I'm focusing on keeping constant tension. Not sure yet what it's going to do to my 3x3 sets, but I wasn't making huge amounts of progress there anyways so it's worth a try. Tried these without straps but my grip isn't up to it double overhand style. I made it through the first set, barely, but used straps after that which worked much better.

[blue9steel]

Friday Feb 28 - Strength Push Day
----------------------------------------
XLEG 3x50-60s
Bradford Press 3x5x101.5wbar
SSB Squats 3x5x204w135
CS::Roman Situps/Reverse Curls 3x15DPx20 SETS: 15 11 11 :: EZ+30-3x10
Bench 3x10DPx160 SETS: 7 7 7

[blue9steel]

Monday Mar 2 - Power Pull Day
------------------------------------
Pullups {HOLDx3-30s} 3x3x45wbw
V Pulldowns (3s) 3x12DPx140w100 SETS: 9 9 6/3
Bent Rows [DORSx3-60s] 3x3x243.5w185
Deadlifts 3x3x456.5w315M6

[blue9steel]

Tuesday Mar 3 - Power Push Day
-------------------------------------
Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x160.75w95
Squats 3x3x297.75w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x205w135
Dips 3x8x40wbw

Good session today, ready to move up on all exercises.