Ezra workout tracking

[ezra76]

Back and bi's with some sets of calf work in between as well.

Did pullups and bent rows as usual. Decided to try something new, Romanian dl. This got my lower back pumped and a little sore pretty fast. I went up to 238x5 on them, good weight for reps. Really liked these in place of a full deadlift, worked the back very well.

Also did the lat pullups on the bar in the rack. These were a great lat pump. Feel like these are also a solid addition.

Did some biceps. Used the band again. Got a good pump but they were really beat from the back workout. I'll try to hit them again, maybe bi's and calves instead of rest one day this week.

Tomorrow is supposed to be shoulders. They are feeling a bit sore and not in a good way. I'm debating on what to do. Might go light db's and then hit more of an high incline bench for some sets rather than military press.

[ezra76]

Legs today.

Focused on mostly squats 165x5x2, 205x3x2, 185x3, 165x5 pause reps. Form felt a lot better today. Pause reps on last set felt great. This is probably the routine I'll continue with for a while.

Added in some alternating lunges with 15lb. dbs. then leg extension and ham curl. Used 60lb. db for alternating seated calf raise. Really need a calf machine.

Morning weight was 190.5 this morning. Long weekend of eating and lifting, hopefully some is muscle. Oddly I felt like I looked leaner before stepping on the scale?

[ezra76]

Was going to be an off day but got home early and didn't know what to do with myself. So chest day.

Warmed up then 165x5 pause 185x2,185x3, 185x3, 165x5 pause reps. Decided to do sets of closer grip pause with 135 for 4 sets.

Experimented with db fly's and some fly's with band. Seemed ok but not sure if a keeper.

Skullcrushers and then some tricep pulls with the band. Tri's feeling a little overworked since I tried doing them with shoulders last workout.

Happy with bench progress. 185x5 will come soon.

189 this morning. Have been doing walking but need to get back into the morning bike routine. I've decided it's pretty much going to be maingain for the next 3-4 months. I'll naturally cut in the spring when I'm more active outside. No point going crazy with it now, better to get my muscle/strength base back over the winter.

[ezra76]

Back and Bi's yesterday. Good workout, decided to do a few set of deadlifts. 345 felt fairly heavy but got it. Doing the Romanian's again, liking them. Traps are really sore today.

Today is shoulders I guess. Going to just do sets of seated shoulders and then incline as well. Kind of a shoulder/upper chest workout. Want to hit abs pretty hard as well so will probably back off a bit on the shoulder volume.

[ezra76]

Leg workout after work. Did a bunch of calf work first.

Felt so weak on squats. I went up to 185 and only got 3 reps. Did sets at 165. Need to get more serious about sticking to 5x5 or even 6x5.

Just feeling kind of frustrated as my squats are just not going up. Going backwards actually.

[ezra76]

Chest today. Strength gains definitely hitting the wall a bit. Wanted to get 185 for reps but only managed 2 sets of 2. Went back to 165x5x3. DB incline with 60's for 6x2 then right shoulder was just beat so moved to tri's.

Did various sets of skullcrushers, banded pulldown and lying alternating db extensions. I liked the db extension, really felt it and was able to alternate arms for a great pump.

I think it's just workouts too close together. Need more rest or possibly a deload week. Debating on switching up some exercises and going into a higher reps range for a couple weeks.

[ezra76]

Did some legs today. Supposed to be a take it easy workout but I stupidly went up to 147 front squat and tweaked something in my hip cleaning it. Got a solid calf workout and did sets of back squats with 135 just working on form, walkout ect..

So I'm thinking I'm going to write up a new workout plan based on sets in the 8-10 rep range rather than 5. I'm down to 187 and think it's a good time to switch to more hypertrophy for a little bit, maybe 4-6 weeks.



1. Legs


Front squats 3x8 pause
Squats 3x8 pause
Leg extension 3xfail
Ham Curl 3xfail
Standing calf raise 3xfail
Seated calf 3xfail

2.Chest/Tris

Flat bench 3x8
Incline DB 3x8
Flat CGBP 3x8
Skullcrushers 3x8 (with curl bar and go straight into a close grip bench to fail reps b4 putting down)
Band Fly Standing 3xfail alternating right/left


3. Back/Bi's

Pullups 4x fail
Bent Rows 3x8
Romanian DL 3x8

BB curl - 3x8-10
DB curl 3x8-10
DB concentration curl - alternate to failure, finishing pump

4. Shoulders/AB's

Military Standing or Seated 3x8
Arnold Press 3x8-10
Side lateral 3xfail
Rear lat raise 3xfail

Decline situp 3xfail weighted drop weight continue
Leg Raise 3xfail
Oblique pull with band 3x fail


This workout should be easier to recover from allowing 4 days straight or 2 on 1 off.

[ezra76]

Starting out Crazy 8's with a great chest/tri workout.

Flat bench 165 got 887
Incline DB 60's 878
CGBP 135 65 then dropped to 125 6 No big deal not hitting these. Went very slow concentric

Skullcrushers 25's on the curl bar hit all reps
Banded chest felt pretty good for pump
Lying DB's seemed good last time but kind of sucked this time. Just felt too light with same weight and awkward.

Did a set of pushups closer grip using db's at the end. Might just sub these for the last exercise. Wish I had a tri pulldown, that would be ideal.

If the rest of the workouts go like this one I've found my groove. Had energy all the way through. Number of reps were perfect. Missing the last rep on flat tells me it was hard enough.

[ezra76]

Legs today on new program.

Worked on squat stance after watching a few videos. Felt a lot more confident going low with a wider stance.

Front squats used 135x8 all sets
Squats 135x8 then up to 165x8. Last set 165x6 and then some partial reps to finish.

Seated calf with 2x25 plates and the 60db.. Bit hard to get everything on and balanced but effective.

Raining out so improvised standing with 1 leg donkey using bench as support. Impressed by effectiveness. Tried a sandbag on my back with belt 2 legs but the 1 leggers were better.

Leg extensions and ham curls to fail as usual and felt good burn at the end.


This workout is pretty brutal with a total of 48 squats front/back but legs need the most work so sticking with it. Sadly my bench is still stronger than my squats even with the more comfortable stance.

[ezra76]

Shoulders and Abs today.

Shoulder press at 80* used 115 and it felt pretty light. Ended up doing basically an extra set as I had to adjust bench after 6reps on 1st set, kept hitting the rack. Started over with 3 full sets and did 10reps one of the sets. Might be able to go to 125 on these.

Arnold press I tried 40's but they were too much so dropped to 30's. Felt light at first but a lot heavier on 8th rep. No db's between so may have to work these to 12reps then try 40's again.

Side/Rear laterals. Did DB's and used band for some rears. Felt good with both.

Abs- good workout on decline, couldn't get much more effort than that. Experimented with the band using a sledgehammer motion, focused on using only obliques. Felt good. Tried that twisting seated bs with bar on neck, total trash.

Shoulder/Ab's get's the checkmark for "crazy 8's"

Tomorrow is probably going to be the off day then back/bi's. Crap weather coming so need to get the pullup bar indoors figured out. Interested to see if 3x8 RDL is going to be feasible or not. Considering doing the bb curl earlier in the workout before bi's are too cooked then db's at the end.

[ezra76]

Back and bi's today.

Got my warm up by shoveling snow for an hour this morning.

I used the bar on high setting of rack for some improvised pullups just to warm up.

Then went into the RDL 235x8 easy then 255x8x2. Still feel like I could add at least another 20lbs. to it.

Then the problem... I got the lower back pump and had a very hard time doing the row sets. Ended up getting some done with barbell, db and weighted pullup lying under the bar. I guess going to have to do the RDL last next time.

Onto biceps. 3 sets with curl bar. 3 drop sets with db's from 40-30 and the last from 40-30-15.

Did some concentration curl and messed around with some forearm exercises.

Also did the 1 leg donkey calves, 4 sets between the bicep exercises.

[ezra76]

Was going to make today an off day but decided to do chest/tri's. I'll take off tomorrow and do legs Sunday.

Flat 165x8, 175x5, 175x6, 165x5 pause to make up the reps. I'll warm up a little more next time and try for 175x3x8

Incline 60'sx3x8 no problem. I think I got more first set but lost count.

CGBP used 135 for all 3 but did not get all 8. I think it was 565

Skullcrushers with curl bar and 25's. Got 8x3.

Debated on band flies but glad I did them. Getting a good pump on these. Still not as good as a cable but serves the purpose.

Added alternating db kickbacks and went up a bit higher as I saw on a Jeff Nippard vid. Good burnout for the end and I feel them closer to elbow than the other exercises.

[ezra76]

Legs today and getting frustrated.

Front Squats 135x8 145x5 145x6 but I tweaked my left hip again somehow.

Squats setup for 185 but the hip started to hurt right away. Did 5 reps with poor rom. Switched after a rest to some bench squats with 135 for high reps to salvage the workout.

Leg extensions, ham curls and calves as usual.

Not sure whether to try to continue this leg workout or modify it. 2nd time I've tweaked that hip on front squats. Might switch to back squats only then try adding lunges 2nd.

I really need to get on this bike and do the hill routines. 10 minutes a day at least would be good.

Just so frustrated when everything else is going well but legs are lagging size, strength and every time I try to hit them harder I get hurt.

[ezra76]

Had a few days off and reset with chest/tris. I have this Candito program I've been considering but going to stick with mine for now and modify a bit based on things I saw in there.

Got my motivation back, best chest day yet.

Flat Bench 165x5 185x5 175x6 175x6
DB incline 60's x12 x11 x10 couldn't believe the power I had on these
CGBP 135x5 135x6 115xfail
Skullcrushers curl bar w/25's 3x8
DB kickback high shoulder alternating to finish

I may just go up to 4x8 in flat next as incline db's are getting easy. 175x4x8 would be a good goal. If I can get that then time to work on 185 for sets.

Tomorrow I want to do a leg workout but hip is a little sore. I'm trying to figure out where to put deadlifts as I want to start doing them again. Debating on a light squat day then do deads after.

Also was at 188.5 this morning. Had a few days of drinking that probably contributed a lot. As far as diet I don't want to go full on bulk but going to start eating 2700 plus per day. I went less thinking I wanted to cut but really no point in that. Jan, Feb., March should be months for mass/strength. When I'm back outside I can naturally start cutting with more activity. So I'd like to try to stay under 190 but not trying to go to 185 like I had been planning.

[ezra76]

Was supposed to be legs but I did deadlifts after squats.

Hip still hurting so worked on form. Went up to 165 on squats but took a lot of warming up. Hopefully hip comes around soon.

Deadlifts felt great. Hip was a little sore but progressively went up to 345, which went up pretty easy. Once the hip is feeling better I think I've got 365 in the bag no problem.

The big question is whether to continue with the Romanians on back day. I think they are very good but maybe try to put them closer to the end even if it means going with a little less weight.

It's possible I may just add a 5th workout day that will be squat/deads and only do a 3x5 squat and a pyramid deadlift up to a max then ending with weight before max. Like 305x2, 345x1, 305x2. Or try the lower for a triple.

Then on actual "leg day" stick with hypertrophy. Possibly add the front squat with no back squat in the 8rep range and do the split squat lunges. More or less doing the "Candito" lower body workout and sticking with my own upper.

[ezra76]

Haven't been keeping up with the journal but working hard.

Messing around with routines a bit, adding power workouts mixed with hypertrophy in others.

Bench 185x5, 205x2, 165x5x3 pause very happy to get 205 but need to go back to either 175 or 185 for rep sets.

DB incline only got one set, stopped on 2nd set as I felt I was out of gas, no point. No big deal, I need to focus on flat bench reps.

CGBP 135x6-7x3 glad I didn't go down in weight on these, helping bench a lot

Skullcrushers with 25's on curl bar 8-10x3

[ezra76]

Leg day.

I got up early and walked almost 3miles this morning so I think that hurt my stamina a little bit for the workout.

I did the goblet squats and free standing squats using the rack as balance. For some reason the free standing squats really start get hard and can feel a big pump after about 10 reps.

I only did a couple sets of squats as the hip is not fully healed and don't want to make it bad again. From doing the goblet squats I've found my stance needs to be even wider. I got down low with 115 and 165 pretty comfortably this time.

Did sets of lunges/split squats whatever they are called. Felt good in the 10rep range but ran out of gas bigtime. Did leg extensions and ham curls and called it a day.

Once the hip heals I'm going to make a heavy lower day with squats/deads and then a separate leg day with lighter back squats or front squats and more accessory work.

[ezra76]

Shoulders and abs

80 degree incline 125x6x6x8x6
90 degree incline db's with 40's and drop set to 30's
2x rear, side, front laterals with 15-10 drops on rear and sides

Abs 3 sets situps
3 sets oblique pull with band same as old db way. great stretch, felt up into ribcage pulling nice.

Happy with this workout. Push strength going up. Was a bit skeptical about going up to 125 right away but it was pretty easily 4x6.

New scale 2lbs. heavier than old so will have to add 2lbs. to old bodyweights to record I guess. I knew that old one was lighter than I should be for years.

[ezra76]

Did deadlifts and rows today.

Rows 135x8x2 185x5

Deadlifts 295x4x5x4

Did some biceps after but just wanted to get some heavier rows and deads in.

Also got the calf machine so going to be using it every 3 days pretty much

Hip is pissing me off. Had minor pain in front now moved to worse pain in back of hip.

[ezra76]

Chest/Tris

Hip feels better at least.

Workout was not great but pushed through. So weak compared to last workout. Pretty sure its the CNS from deadlifts as well as upper back tired.

Wanted to do 185x4x6 but after only getting it 2x3 I switched back to 165x3x6 then dropped to 135 and did as many reps as I could, 1 min. rest and back to as many as I could.

Did skullcrushers after this and called it. Just obviously not recovered fully. Might put chest again in place of next shoulder workout and reset.

[ezra76]

No workout yesterday, just walking and pullups at the park.

Need to come up with a plan here for a leg day. Debating on doing it today or tomorrow. #1 goal is to not reinjure the hip.

SLDL 2x10-12
Bench Squat 2x20
Split Squat - 5x5-7 alternating legs

Supersets
Ham Curl 3x8-10
Leg Extension 4x12-15
Calf Seated 4x12-15
Calf Standing singles 4x12-15 each

The split squats are going to be the main exercise. The sldl and bench squats are almost a pump range and not going to use heavy weight. Probably like 185/145

[ezra76]

Decided to go for the legs today.

Hip felt good.

3x10 sldl 165
4x5 split squat
4x5 goblet squat
4x leg extension
3x ham curl
4xcalf raise
4xseated calf raise

Messed around with a few front squats, hip felt good. Next workout might add front squats with the goblets to warm up. They put me in a great position but even with 75db I could do a ton of them.

[ezra76]

Not feeling great after a late night drinking but decided to do some incline bar and db's

135 on BB
60's on 1st incline
40's on higher incline

Got a decent pump but just not feeling good for strength at all. Need to reset and go for full workouts next week.

[ezra76]

Decided to do some deadlifts and then biceps after.

Too much drinking over this weekend. Weight is back up over 190 and not feeling great.

Did manage to get 365 up so that at least is a positive. Also the hip is feeling a lot better, should be able to add squats back soon and want to try them lowbar.

[ezra76]

Back on track with full chest/tri

Moving to 4x6 on flat then 3x8 still with everything else

185x6x6x5 then ended it with 2x pause reps. Decided to save strength for cgbp since it feels like the tris gave up on that 3rd set.

Strong workout all around. 60's on incline 3x8. Could have gotten more reps but went really slow instead, good stretch.

Started with 145 on cgbp then moved back to 135

Same with skullcrushers. Started with 25's plus 5's.

Next is legs and then would like to get outside for standing military press this week hopefully.

[ezra76]

Did legs today.

After a good warmup with goblet squats and split squats I tried to get some lowbar squats.

Need to keep working on form but they felt good.

Going to follow the same type of routine as I'm doing for bench. 4x6 then 3x8. I'll use split squats as essentially what I use incline db's for chest for. I don't feel it's necessary to continue with full sets of SLDL as I'll be getting a lot of ham work with lowbar. Plus I'm going to be doing deads or Romanians on back day again.

So starting weights and program will be as follows

LB squat - 165 4x6
Split squat 40lb. db 3x8
Leg extension 3x25 (10reps then 5x3 with 10sec. rest)
Ham Curl 3x25 same as above
Seated Calf raise 3x25 same as above

I will do some standing calf raises 1 leg bent over.

I'll have a standing outdoor calf workout on a separate day with the sandbag. I had a little foot tendonitis starting when trying to go overboard with both same workout.

Very happy with how the hip felt on the squats. Excited to move forward with the lowbar type squats. Also pumped about the seated calf raise machine. Calves are really starting to cut up and won't be long before they have a nice split.

[ezra76]

I had a rough weekend of too much drinking. Just did my chest workout and was pretty weak, had to kind of cut it short from the full thing.

I'm not giving up but with a lot of work piling up I feel like I'm not paying attention to it enough. I kind of need to adjust some workouts for when I'm working a lot or I'm going to just burn myself out and stop all together.

Instead of setting anything in stone with a workout plan I'm just going to play it by time and how I feel. I may be cutting a lot of workouts down to 30-40minutes and then doing the larger versions of each as I have more time and energy.

[ezra76]

Really had to drag myself to the basement after work for legs but glad I did.

I got warmed up and went up to 205x1 squat. I dropped back to 165 for reps.

Did the split squats with narrow lunge, felt good.

Finished with leg extension, ham curls and seated calf raise.

A bit shorter workout but effective. This may end up being the way I go for a bit, less volume workouts for time and recovery.

[ezra76]

Finally a decent workout to get some motivation back.

Did back today with deadlifts. Too cold for pullups outside. Did rows with 155 and 175.

Got pumped up to do deadlifts and wanted to get 345 for 2. I did one better than that and got it for 3.

[ezra76]

Good chest workout today.

165x5 pause, 185x5, 195x2, 185x5, 185x3

Tried 75's on lower incline, got them up well and then 4reps.

Moved to upper incline with 65's

Did cgbp with 115lbs. but short rest and continue. Felt good.

Similar with skullcrushers, short rest between, like 20seconds.