13 Oct 2014
Press:
5x55 / 5x65 / 5x75
Kept the elbows under the bar instead of too far forward. Helped dramatically with applying more force on the bar and getting the overhead much easier. Also less strain on the wrists, trying to keep the bar at the base of the palm
Bench: 5x8x80
Felt unbalanced load on the bench. Probably arching back too much.
Chinups: 2
Forgot to do the other 4 sets, doh!
Incline Press: 8x85 / 8x85 / 6x85
Pretty hard at 85lbs. Also felt unbalanced load doing these.
DB Rows: 10x45 / 2x10x50
Pretty easy. Decided to go up to 50lbs for the 2nd and 3rd sets. Focusing on eliminating the use of momentum.
Seated DB Press: 3x10x35
Not bad. Getting the dumbbells up on the last set was a little difficult.
BB Curls: 2x10x40 / 8x40
Supersetted these with the dumbbell press. Struggled getting through the sets, but finished to failure.
09 Oct 2014
*Bench:
*5x65 / 5x80 / 3x95
5x100 / 5x120 / 5x135
Felt very confident on the bench press today. Didn't feel any load imbalances. Slow negative to ensure I'm engaging everything equally and then explode upward on the positive. Used a thumbless grip as well.
Barbell Rows: 5x10x95
Not bad for doing 5 sets of 10. May switch to performing dumbbell rows instead. I find that the lower bar position due to smaller plates is causing me to involve my lower back and hamstrings more as if doing a deadlift.
Barbell Curls: 10x40 / 6x40 / 8x40
Supersetted the barbell curls with the barbell rows. Bad idea. Both exercises target the biceps and so I quickly suffered from the fatigue when doing the barbell curls on the 2nd and 3rd sets. Rested a bit longer before doing the last set.
Seated Tricep Extensions: 10x45 / 10x50 / 10x50
Love doing these. Ever since discovering them while on the Madcow5x5 routine, I've always incorporated them in any routine needed some tricep isolation work.
Bent Lateral Raises: 10x15 / 10x10 / 10x10
Not a fan of doing these. I'll stick with them for a bit more to see if my shoulder strength improves from it.
09 Oct 2014
Decided to test where I'm at currently with my lifts so I tested 1RMs (single rep max)
Squat: 225lbs
Press: 95lbs
Deadlift: 245lbs
Bench: 175lbs
I'll be using these numbers to program into a fresh cycle of 5/3/1 again.
I'll admit I've been suffering from exercise ADD, so I'm going to have a run at 5/3/1 again for at least 3 cycles.