Log Dump

     You get a special treat today - 3 days worth of training notes all in one post. It's like a one-stop shopping experience for your reading pleasure. Our schedules got a bit messed up because of Memorial day, but we still got 3 good days of training. 

••••••••••

Tuesday 5/26

Bench:

95lb x12

115lb x8

135lb x4

135lb x5

135lb x4

Larsen Press:

(115lb x6) 2x

95lb x10

INCLINE BENCH:

75lb x10

85lb x6

95lb x3

DECLINE PRESS:

(135lb x3) 3x

TRI. PULL DOWNS:

EZ Curl Attachment, O.H. / U.H.

40lb x10 / x10

45lb x10 / x5, x3

50lb x10 / x3, x3

TRI. PUSH DOWN:

(35lb x10) 3x

SEATED CABLE FLY:

90lb x10

100lb x5

100lb x6

Wednesday 5/27

DEADLIFTS:

Halting:

133lb x10

177lb x10

221lb x5

Standard:

251lb x1

256lb FAIL

221lb x1

*I was absolutely toasted after that 251lb. I was done

PINNED GOOD MORNINGS:

95ln x10

115lb x10

145lb x5

SEATED CABLE ROWS:

Triangle Bar Attachment:

(85lb x10) 2x

90lb x8

95lb x6

HIGH ROW / U.H. LAT PULLDOWN:

Pro Series Lat Bar:

55lb x10 / x10

70lb x10 / x10

80lb x10 / x10

Friday 5/29

SQUATS:

Sumo:

Bar x10

95lb x10

Standard:

135lb x10

175lb x3

175lb x2, x2

*I came out from under the bar to re-set myself. My setup and movement was feeling "off"

175lb x3

135lb x12

Sumo:

95lb x20

STANDING CALF RAISE / 45° LEG PRESS:

(+45lb x10 / 280lb x8) 3x

*Leg press was done sumo

LAYING HAMSTRING CURLS:

70lb x10

80lb x10

90lb x10

INNER / OUTER THIGH:

Outer:

(70lb x12) 3x

Inner:

40lb x12

40lb x8

40lb x7

*My inner thighs were pretty tired from the sumo squats & leg presses. I actually came down in weight from the last time I did this machine. 

LEG EXTENSIONS:

(90lb x12) 3x

••••••••••

     OK, here's all of my thoughts on these three days. My bench is still inconsistent and it's annoying me. Previously, I managed 3 sets of 5 but this week, I was off by 2. I'm not sure if I just need to push myself harder or what. Frank thinks I'm doing too many sets with the lighter weight but I think I just need to get stronger overall. We'll see what happens next week. 

     As for deadlifts, well, I had no intention of going for a one rep max, but I did and I can't say that I'm upset about it. 251lbs is the most I have ever deadlifted. I think I may have gotten a little more than that on trap bar deads, but those don't really count lol. I will say, however, that I was junk after that. Absolute junk. I had no more energy or drive or anything. And that night, my neck decided it would stage a painful protest so I was also junk the next day. I'm still pleased though.

     Now squats. You all know squats are my favorite. I think it's safe to say that from here on out, PR's are going to be common. I'm in weights that I've not done before and that, my friends, is a very good feeling. Another very good feeling is that my knees are relatively pain free! I thought for sure these heavier weights would be taking a mighty big toll, but knock on wood, they have not. I'm thankful that there's been nothing but expected soreness for a little bit after and then I'm good; no major pain or injuries. Like the deads though, I'm 100% gassed after doing them. Oh, and I'll be taking an ibuprofen before bed to head off any pain that may try to creep in while I'm sleeping. 

     Overall, I guess I'm satisfied with my performance. We skipped overhead press day, but I don't really care lol. Performance-wise I've been good, but I'm not losing any weight. I went down a total of 14, then gained back 4. I've been maintaining a 10lb weight loss and that does not please me! I hate my body with a passion that burns hotter than the cheese on an oven-fresh pizza. Nothing seems to be changing. Nothing. I'm really very frustrated but that's kind of my normal state of being. Oh well, ugly body or not, I still got some PR's this week!

NEW PR!

     Great day in the power rack. Let's get right into it!

••••••••••

SQUATS:

Sumo:

Bar x10

Standard:

95lb x10

135lb x10

(165lb x5) 3x

SEATED LEG PRESS / CALF RAISE:

100lb x20 / x15

Sumo:

100lb x20 / x15

120lb x20 / x13

LEG EXTENSIONS / SPLIT SQUATS:

(100lb x10 / Body Weight x10 ea. leg) 3x

ABDUCTOR / ADDUCTOR:

(70lb x10) 3x / (50lb x10) 3x

MULTI HIP MACHINE:

Kickbacks:

35lb x12 ea leg

41lb x10 ea. leg

47lb x8 ea. leg

SEATED HAMSTRING:

(110lb x15) 3x

••••••••••

     Yup, a 5rep PR. I've never done this before in my life, not even years ago when I first started training. I'm very happy. My knees were a little achy, but they held up and powered through. They're not very happy with me right now, as I type this up, but they'll get over it. Eventually. I'm totally exhausted and I'm friggin' ravenous. I feel like an empty pit right now and I'm not so sure that the pets are safe. We had an early dinner because I couldn't wait any longer but I'm still hungry lol. I'm gonna have to wrangle something up in a few minutes. 

     The gym is closed on Monday but I'm going to probably do some KB stuff here at home. I don't really want to lose a day of training. I may even attempt some stuff this weekend, but it will need to be something that doesn't involve my knees too much. We'll see. Right now, I'm just riding high on the achievements of this morning. 

Solid

     The overhead presses seem to be working - my shoulders are feeling much more solid. Here's what I did:

••••••••••

OVERHEAD PRESS:

Bradford Press:

Bar x10

Strict:

67lb x7

77lb x4

77lb x5

77lb x4

KB PUSH PRESS:

Single Arm:

35lb x5 ea.

35lb x10 ea.

(45lb x5 ea.) 2x

FRONT RAISE:

(Bar x5) 3x

ISOLATERAL PRESS:

+10lb ea. x12

+12.5lb ea. x5

+15lb ea. x5 (lowered the seat a little)

+10lb ea. x10

LEANING REAR DELT FLY:

(70lb x10) 2x

80lb x6

80lb x4

ROTARY TWIST:

70lb x10 ea. side

80lb x10 ea. side

90lb x10 ea. side

MACHINE CRUNCH:

(80lb x10) 3x

••••••••••

     Everything went well and aside from normal muscle soreness, I had no shoulder pains or weird noises. Any day without weird noises is a win. Not only do they feel better in that way, but they also feel better to my touch. I was scratching an itch the other day and noticed a considerable difference in how my shoulder felt. They're a smidge bigger and decidedly more solid - less squish. I can't be upset with that. Oh no! Is the dreaded "bulk" beginning to happen? Is this when I start looking like a man? I'm gonna have to head on over to some influencers on the 'gram to see what they say. I'll let you know if I'm past the point of no return. 

Commit

     I did some extra core stuff today. Happy that I did it; disappointed that I'm so weak. I just searched for a kettlebell core workout and I found this little ditty on YouTube. I modified a couple of things but kept the basic premise the same. I did 2 complete rounds.

••••••••••

PLANK PULL THROUGH:

20lb KB, 3 pull throughs per hand, x5 ea. side

NORTH SOUTH PLANK:

20lb KB x5 ea. side

1/4 GET UP:

20lb KB x5 ea. side

RUSSIAN TWIST:

20lb KB x10

DEAD BUG:

20lb KB x10

HIGH KNEE MARCH IN PLACE:

20lb KB Suitcase Carry x10 ea. knee, ea. hand

20lb Waiter's Carry x10 ea. knee, ea. hand

KNEELING WOOD CHOPPER:

20lb KB x10 ea. side

HOLLOW FLUTTER KICKS:

20lb KB held in a press, x10 ea. leg, 3x

TWIST KNEE PLANK:

x10 ea. knee

••••••••••

     I would like to formally apologize to all of my ancestors. I'm a weak potato and it's shameful. I've said it before and haven't followed through but I'm really going to commit to Wednesdays being a KB day at home. I can't go on being so out of shape. I guess that's all I can say about that. 👍✌

Shift The Focus

     It was a good night of deadlifts. Let's get right into it!

••••••••••

DEADS:

133lb x12

177lb x10

(221lb x5) 3x

KELSO SHRUG:

67lb x10

Kelso / Upright:

77lb x10 / x15

97lb x10 / x10

PENDLAY ROWS:

Overhand / Underhand:

67lb x10 / x10

77lb x8 / x8

87lb x6 / x6

ISOLATERAL ROWS:

Wide, Single/Single/Double:

30lb x12 / x12 / x10

35lb x10 / x10 / x8

40lb x8 / x8 / x6

ISOLATERAL Z TWIST:

5lb x10

(10lb x10) 2x

ASSISTED PULLUPS:

Wide Grip:

80lb x10

80lb x8

80lb x6

••••••••••

     I think tonight went well. I'll talk about the accessories first. I wanted to do something different tonight because I was getting bored, that's why I threw in the Kelso shrugs and Pendlay rows. I'm not sure that I did either one correctly, but they felt good lol. I also thought I'd try some Z twists on the isolateral machine and I really liked them there! Doing them on the other row machine with the straight bar is OK, but the attachment itself weighs so much that it makes them much harder for me to do correctly. On the isolateral machine, you just have the D handles. It allowed me to lighten the weight and really focus on doing them right. I'm getting better on pullups....slowly. Now let's move onto the deads. 

     I dropped the weight back from last week and got 3 solid sets of 5. I had Frank take a video of me so I could see my form. I wanted to make sure that it was OK as I'm getting into the heavier (for me) weights. It actually looked pretty decent. Decent, aside from the fact that I look like a got-damn beached whale. I cannot believe how terrible I look. That's all I could see in the video was the size of myself, and I hate it. I was going to post the video, but I'm not at the point where I can do that because I'm embarrassed by the way I look. So here's where I deal with this "split brain" issue that I have. My Emotional Brain is so focused on appearance and being self-conscious of my extra weight, that it's not letting my Logical Brain be proud of the fact that I'm lifting more than I ever have with proper form.

     I see people who are bigger than me and they don't seem to care. And I'm not trying to be rude or anything here. I'm saying, I see people who are twice as big as me wearing shorts and tank tops and "lettin' it all hang out" and I'm over here in long pants and t-shirts, sweating my ass off and being mortified because you can see the outline of my thick gut. I'm disgusted with myself when I look in the mirror and see the curve of my spare tire because I chose to wear a large t-shirt instead of the bulky, baggy extra large shirt. I'm zero percent comfortable in my own skin and it sucks. I need to drop some pounds and at this point, it's a massive uphill battle that's wearing me down. 

     Maybe I'll end up sharing that video. Maybe it'll just get deleted. At least the the Chat GPT version of me has a smaller stomach. 

It's Been Over A Month

     As most Bros will tell you, Monday is bench day. I don't feel like a Bro, but I benched like one. Here's what I did:

••••••••••

BENCH:

95lb x10

115lb x8

(135lb x4) 3x

Narrow:

65lb x15

95lb x8

115lb x2

STANDING CABLE FLY:

Low/High:

(25lb x10) 3x

Mid:

(35lb x10) 3x

High/Low:

(40lb x10) 3x

TRI PUSH DOWN:

Overhand Push Down / Underhand Pull Down:

35lb x10 / x10

40lb x8 / x8

SINGLE ARM PULL DOWN:

10lb x8 ea.

10lb x10 ea.

(15lb x7) 2x

INCLINED PRESS:

(Bar x15) 3x

••••••••••

     For some reason, we screwed up and didn't do the incline presses after the bench like we normally do. By the time we realized it, my shoulders were done from the flys. The last set I did, I felt a little strain on my right shoulder - the same area that clicks/snaps when I do lateral raises. I tried doing weight on the inclines, but it wasn't happening. 

     I have FINALLY managed 3 full sets of 4 reps at 135lb. I looked back and it's been a month and a half since I've been trying to get that. I hope it's not another month before I can manage 5 reps. I'm trying for it next Monday, so stay tuned.

     So not a lot of volume on this session, but still got some good progress, and it sure does feel good to rep out those plates. 

Weighing Heavy

     I was feeling pretty good and I figured I'd strike while the iron was hot. I went back to some heavy sets for squats and I was not disappointed.

••••••••••

SQUATS:

95lb x10

115lb x6

135lb x5

(165lb x3) 3x

45° LEG PRESS:

[(240lb x10 pulse) 3x] 3x

STANDING CALF RAISE / SHRUG:

+45lb x10 / x12

+70lb x8 / x12

+95lb x6 / x12

SMITH MACHINE SQUATS:

Narrow, HIgh bar

Heel Elevated:

Bar x? - just did a few to get the feel for placement, form, etc.

65lb x10

95lb x5

Flat:

115lb x5

135lb x5

SEATED LEG EXTENSIONS:

Single/Single/Double:

(40lb x10 / x10 / 100lb x5) 2x

It was at this point that my knees just said "no". 

MULTI HIP MACHINE:

Knee Raises:

(18lb x10 ea.) 3x

Kickbacks:

18lb x10 ea.

23lb x10 ea.

29lb x10 ea.

••••••••••

     My knees held up well during the squats which kind of surprised me. The squats on the Smith Machine started to really aggravate them and y the time I did the leg extensions, they were toast. The 165lb felt better than last time though and I don't think I struggled as much to get the 3 reps. Next week I'll try for the full 5. I believe I can do it. I've been trying to give a much more concerted effort at targeting my quads (as I said before) and I like the way it's making my legs feel. It's tricky to get that balance between enough to stimulate my legs but not so much that it destroys my knees in the process. 

     Overall, a good squat session for me, so I won't complain. 

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