26 Feb 2014
Weight: 187.4 lbs
Not sure what's going on, but my weight has dropped pretty quickly over the last 2 days since I started doing conditioning and curbing back a little on the caloric intake. I was extremely irritable and had a huge headache this past Monday when I first started lowering my food intake. I'll have to make sure to slowly drop the intake instead of cutting back significantly. This should give my body the means to progressively acclimate itself to the slightly restricted diet.
Squats: 3x5xBar + 5x135 + 3x155 + 2x175 + 1x205 + 1x225 + 5x245
Used the belt for the first time on the top set of squats. The 245s felt super light. The belt definitely helped with keeping my core extremely solid. I will continue using the belt from here on out. 315 here we come!
Bench: 3x10xBar + 5x75 + 5x95 + 2x115 + 1x135 + 5/5/4/3/1 x 150
Stalled pretty hard on the bench press today. I was benching right chest/arm dominant and so fatigue set in really quickly as my right arm/chest were working harder than my left. Also had a bit of DOMs on the chest from the last session.
Rows: 5x135 + 3x135 + 2x135 + 3x5x155
Rows felt strong. I was certainly lifting my torso a bit on the last reps of each set. The first and second reps were usually executed with pretty strict form, no jerking.
*Accessories:
*Dips: 5/5/3
Pull-ups: 2/2/1
Chest was already pretty toast from the benching. Surprisingly, the wide grip pull-ups felt easier than the chin-ups I was doing last session. My right shoulder also felt much better than when doing chin-ups.
*Conditioning:
*Treadmill: 10 minutes – alternating 30 sec. @ 2.8 spd / 30 sec. @ 5.5spd
Continued with some treadmill conditioning post workout. Legs were a bit jello-like afterwards. Left knee instability along with the jello legs made it pretty tough to remain standing, showering was a challenge!. I think I will get on the stationary bike to help alleviate some hard impact on my knees. Other than that, the intervals were pretty easy. I was breathing well- not out of breath.
24 Feb 2014
Weight: 191.4 lbs
Three gentlemen were using the squat rack doing quarter squats. So, I went ahead and started doing my shoulder movements. Finished, but they still weren't. What to do, what to do? I went ahead and did some incline dumbbell presses and high rep dumbbell rows.
Seated Plate Raises: 3x10x25
Seated Lateral Raise: 3x8x15
Seated DB Shrug + Clean + Half Press: 3x8x15
Incline DB Press: 3x8x45
DB Rows: 2x15x40
Squats: 3x5xBar + 5x135 + 3x155 + 2x175 + 1x200 + 1x225 + 5x240
These were absolutely brutal. I was spent after the 4th rep on the top set, but I really didn't want to stall again so I grinded out the last rep.
Deadlift: 5x135 + 3x165 + 2x185 + 1x205 + 1x25 + 5x250
These were pretty difficult today. My ramp percentages jumped a bit more than usual. I felt like I was expending too much energy doing the warm-ups.
*Accessories:
*Dips: 10/10/4
Chin-ups: 2/2/1
Sticking with dips and chin-ups for the accessories. I get the most bang for the buck regarding many body parts being worked with these. The only thing missing here is some more ab and lower body accessories. I think I can get away with forgoing lower body accessories with the heavy squatting and deadlifting. More ab work would definitely help though.
*Conditioning:
*Treadmill: 10 minutes - alternating 30 sec. @ 3.2 spd / 30 sec. @ 5.5spd
Decided to start doing a little conditioning post everything. I took this one from Jim Wendler's 52-question Q&A in his 5/3/1 program. Treadmill isn't really my cup of tea, but I have yet to find a decent hill around me (and near work). I adapted this one and extended the "sprint" intervals from 10 seconds to 30 seconds. The same goes for the rest periods- 10 to 30 seconds. It's a bit of a hassle to constantly raise and lower the treadmill speed every 8 second or so. Calves got sore pretty quickly.
21 Feb 2014
Weight: 190.1 lbs
Feeling very groggy and tired post workout session. One observation to keep note of is that I stayed up until 2:00 am last night. I did, however, manage to wake up feeling pretty fresh this morning, despite sleeping late. My legs had been suffering a little DOMs from the Wednesday workout and so I foam rolled them during the warm-up. On a recent post, I briefly mentioned my past personal experience with enduring through the phase of lifting significantly high percentages of my training max on a regular basis. I believe I'm encountering this stage again.
Squats: 3x5xBar + 5x125+ 4x145 + 3x165 + 2x185 + 1x200 + 1x225 + 3x240 (1st stall) + 5x135
Succeeded in legitimately stalling on the squat for the first time since I started lifting this past October.
Bench: 3x10xBar + 5x65 + 3x85 + 2x105 + 1x125 + 5x5x145
Used a powerlifter arch to ensure that I kept a strong stable upperback while benching. The first set was a little nerve wracking. The placement of the bar was not at the base of my palm and so my wrists were buckling against the weight of the bar. I narrowed my grip a little, placed my ring finger on the knurling and placed the bar at the base of my palms to avoid loading my wrists. A narrower grip helped alleviate stress on my shoulders.
Rows: 5x85 + 3x105 + 1x135 + 3x5x150
Last set felt the best, minimized the upward jerk. I will stick with 3 sets on the rows.
Accessories:
DB Incline: 10x50 + 8x50 + 6x50
Wide Lat Pulldown: 10x70 + 10x85 + 10x100
DB Bench: 3x10x40
*Core:
*Elbow planks: 45 sec.
The whole body was shaking a lot from the get go.