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A strength training journal

Week4 – Day11A

Weight: 185.0

Squats:  5x5x100

Incline DB Bench: 10x30 + 7x30 Bench:  5x10x70

Rows: 2x10x90 + 8x90 + 2x5x90

Dips: 6/3/3 Incline DB Bench (Left Arm): 630 + 430 + 5*30

Prowler: 4 + 2

Very long workout today. Left work around 12pm and got back around 2pm. Added an extra accessory for my left arm.

Squats got me breathing a bit heavier today. I exploded from the hole on each rep. It's difficult to maintain low bar position on my upper back and prevent it from sliding up so I had to readjust a bit after each rep. Squeezing the bar and bending it against my upper back helps with keeping it in place. All in all, still relatively light.

Bench was also still pretty light. Still feeling an imbalanced load between my left and right arms. Warmed up with some incline db presses for 2 sets. Did 10 reps on the main sets again. No fatigue in there yet. Lightweight!

Rows were pretty heavy. I think I may be jerking a bit too much on them and my torso is leaving parallel position (with the ground) to an almost 45 degree angle. I became aware of this when I peeked at my form using the mirrors. Proceeded to drop my chest and pulled with stricter form instead of using momentum.

Dips felt pretty easy. With the additional pressing, I'm surprised I was able to hit 6 reps on the first set. Followed the dips with some single incline db presses with my left arm. Really tried to focus on engaging the chest and triceps. Trying to find the sweet spot and mimic the feeling I have when I press with the right arm.

Prowler pushes were pretty brutal today. BUT, I managed to recover relatively quickly. Only did 2 sets of pushes. My quads were screaming in exhaustion. Legs were of the jello-like consistency for a few minutes. Hit the speed bag for a little while to get some strength back in the legs before I ended the workout.

Had a protein shake with 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup water, 1 scoop whey protein and a dash of coffee. Forgot to bring utensils for my other solid food meals. I may jump out of work early and bring the laptop home and work from home so I can eat my delicious food prepared by the lovely lady friend.

Week4 – Day10B

Weight: 182.3

Squats:  5x5x95

Press:  5x5x65

Deadlift:  1x5x135

Chin-Ups: 3/1.5/1 Prowler: 4/3/2/1.5

Preparing for winter storm Juno here in New York. Luckily was able to do some grocery shopping right after the gym (ShopRite is right next door!)

The session went well. The squats felt pretty easy. I had a pretty slow descent and accelerated up from a dead stop in the hole. Presses were difficult. My left rotator cuff feels like it's externally rotating too much sometimes especially when I'm grinding the bar up.

Deadlifts were still pretty easy. I'm excited to get the lift back up to 225lbs soon.

Chinups were pretty difficult today. I felt very heavy trying to get my chin up to the bar today.

Prowler pushes are getting easy! I decided to go for 4 sets instead of just 2. With adequate rest between the sets, I was able to do another 2 sets of 2 and 1.5 reps, respectively, down the lane.

Had a protein shake 30 minutes after and another 30 minutes later, a small bowl of leftover chicken tikka masala with rice and chinese spare ribs from last night's Chinese food. Certainly not the cleanest, but also not the dirtiest.

Week3 – Day9A

Weight: 182.0

Squats:  5x5x90

Bench:  5x10x65

Rows: 3x10x85 + 5x85 + 7x85

Dips: 6/3/2 Incline DB Bench (Left Arm): 15x25 + 8x25 + 7x25

Trying to address this load imbalance on bench pressing movements. Decided to do an additional 3 sets of incline dumbbell pressing on the left arm. Trying to figure out how to engage my lats and triceps on the press. The fatigue I felt was primarily on the anterior deltoids. I'm hoping this will help even things out a bit.

Squats felt more comfortable on the knees today. Added a slight bit more forward lean on some of the reps and tried to keep the back from arching too much. Dug the shoulders as low as I could. Adjusted a few times mid set to keep the bar down as it was sliding upwards towards high bar.

Felt very comfortable with the rows. I'm finally feeling the biceps get engaged on the lift. Grip is narrower than what I had used in the past. Made sure to keep my back parallel to the ground and squeeze the shoulder blades together. Grip was failing even when I was employing the hook grip.

Played around with the dips today. Realized my shoulder doesn't much mobility when looking at how low I was going. I get a big stretch already when hitting parallel. Nonetheless, I managed to crank out more reps than the last A session, so I'm happy.