29 Jan 2014
Weight: 185 lbs
Duration: 11:35am - 12:40pm ~ 1hr 5min
Had some not so wonderful food post workout. I believe the term coined in the bodybuilding community is "dirty bulk". I've been pretty aggressive on the face stuffing for the last week and a half or so. The "see food" diet. I'm a firm believer in simple calories in/calories out, BUT, I also like to believe in putting good quality calories in 90% of the time. My current weight is roughly where I was floating around at the peak of my strength some 1.5 to 2 years ago. My lift poundages, however...are no where near what I was lifting a littler over 2 years ago (Fall 2012).
Squats: 3x5xBar +5x115 + 3x135 + 2x155 + 1x175 + 3x5x200
Shoes off, was heavy, but made sure to avoid going too deep into the hole to avoid rounding the back. I felt a bit more forward lean, but I tried to keep my neck in line with my spine. Other than that, it wasn't too bad. Mentally, I think, knowing that I've cut out the 4th and 5th sets, I have a bit more confidence in avoiding injury so I can squat without any hesitation.
Bench: 3x10xBar + 5x65 + 5x85 + 3x105 + 5x5x125
The first 3 sets of the work weight felt pretty light. Last 2 sets, there were a few small grinders, mainly lockout of the bar.
Rows: 5x85 + 3x105 + 1x120 + 5x5x140
Damn heavy. Strict Pendalay was out the window, I was definitely jerking upwards. The one thing I tried to pay attention to is to control the bar on the negative.
Accessories:**
Preacher Curls: **12x50
Incline DB Bench: 10x45
Standing EZ Bar Curls: 10x45
Dips: 11/5/2.5
Seated DB Curls: 8x30
Pushups: 10/10/6
*Core:
*Elbow Planks: 55 seconds
28 Jan 2014
Weight: 183 lbs
Duration: 10:55am - 11:55am ~ 1hr
My neck twinge and low back issues have gone away since they've cropped over the last 2 sessions. I'm making sure to get a good warm-up in, jump-rope to start off, dynamic leg swings and Agile 8 as well as shoulder mobility work with the green band.
Squats: 3x5xBar + 5x115 + 3x135 + 2x155 + 1x175 + 3x5x195
These felt pretty heavy. Definitely felt a lot of resistance trying to keep the arch in my low back and avoiding it from rounding. Core strength plays a big part in preventing this. Decided to knock down the top set scheme to 3x5 from 5x5. I want to be able to continue progressing on the weight without killing myself. With this, I can recover better, avoid injuries and technique breakdown.
Seated Plate Raises: 3x10x25
Seated Lateral Raise: *3x10x12
*Seated DB Shrug + Clean + Half Press: 3x10x12
These felt a smidge easier than before. No neck strain this time around.
Deadlift: 5x135 + 4x155 + 3x175 + 2x195 + 1x215 + 1x235 + 5x255
Pronated grip on the left, supinated, palm up, grip on the right. Definitely felt pretty heavy today. Of all lifts, I've never felt uneasy with the deadlift.
Accessories:
**Preacher BB Curls: 10x50
Incline DB Press: 10x45**
Standing EZ Bar Curls: 10x40
Dips: 11/4/3
Seated DB Curls: 10x25 (need to go up on these, pretty light now)
Pushups: 12/8/4
Bumped up the incline dumbbell press to 45 lbs. Not bad, but did feel fairly heavy and struggled a bit on the last rep. Dips were really strong, managed to crank out 11 reps on the first set, but was spent on the next two.
*Core:
*Elbow Planks 45 sec.
24 Jan 2014
Weight: 183.4 lbs
Duration: 12:15 - 1:20 ~ 1hr 5min.
Driving into work this morning and I turned my head over my left shoulder to check my blind spot and bam. I felt a sudden twinge in my neck and immediately felt a lot of pressure at the base of my neck on the left side. Turning my head a bit here and there was very bothersome. The pressure has subsided over time, but as of writing this right now, some 6 hours later and the neck is still feeling not so great. Nonetheless, I still went to the gym and made sure to take it easy. Low back strain is doesn't feel as aggravated as on Wednesday. I made sure to invest some more time in the warm-ups to get me loose. Did additional parts of the Agile 8 hip mobility warm-up routine, specifically, mountain climbers and groiners. These usually get the heart rate up and allows me to break a slight sweat. I did these on top of the static hip flexor stretches aka lunges/warrior poses and the fire hydrants. I also started the warm-up with 3 sets of 30 sec. jump rope to get the blood flowing.
Squats: 3x5xBar + 5x95 + 3x115 + 3x135 + 3x3x155
Did 3 sets of empty bar good mornings before I even did the 3 sets of empty bar squats. The low back was working a lot during these, not sure why. I narrowed my stance a bit. I think too wide a stance is causing me to round the low back in the hole, especially on reps where I go below parallel. For now, I'm going to try and keep it to squatting to parallel. The narrow stance was a bit more comfortable for sure. I didn't work to my top set of 195 and instead did a 3x3 on the top set to give myself some rest.
Bench: 3x10xBar + 5x65 + 5x85 + 3x100 + 5x5x120
These felt better, but I felt my shoulders were working a bit more than usual. I shrugged and drove through my feet on the last set as I was pretty fatigued at this point. Again, I'm not pressing to full extension and instead focused on maintaining the squeeze in my shoulder blades.
Rows: 5x65 + 3x85 + 1x105 + 5x5x135
The top set felt pretty heavy. I was a bit worried here with my neck strain and all, but the lift didn't aggravate it anymore, so that was good. I was definitely jerking a bit on the last few reps.
Accessories:**
**Preacher Curls: 10x50
Incline BB Bench: 10xBar + 10x65 + 10x85
Standing EZ Bar Curls: 10x40
Tricep Extensions: 10x50
Seated DB Curls: 10x25
Dips: 7/4/2
The EZ bar curls were a lot easier today. Tricep extensions weren't bad- definitely felt more comfortable resistance compared to the really light 40lbs. The dips felt very strong, but I got fatigued very easily.