27 Jul 2012
Cycle #5
Bench: 3x5xBar + 5x115, 5x135, 10x150 Rep PR
Well snap. I was pretty surprised at myself for cranking out that many. The gains I've made on the bench seems too good to be true. Driving my feet into the ground really helped stabilize my core and in turn keep my upper back rigid. I think my form was pretty good- didn't feel like my right or left side was working more than the other. Having a solid arch really helped engage my upper back and lats as well.
Dips: 10/5/5/4 + Dumbbell Fly: 4x12x15lb + Tricep Pushdown: 5x20x25lb + *Push-ups: *10/11/10/6
Bodybuilder style accessories. The dips were pretty difficult- my triceps got gassed pretty quickly.
Conditioning:
1mile 3.0spd @ 10% incline
25 Jul 2012
Cycle #5
Deadlift: 5x100, 5x140, 3x160 + 5x190, 5x225, 11x250 Rep PR
Crushed the deadlifts today. Looks like I'm back into the swing of things. Yesterday's press day was definitely off- my head wasn't in the right place. Alternating grip on the last set.
BBB Deadlift: 5x10x145
Felt relatively light. I also used the belt on every set here. I touch and go'ed all the sets. The latter sets I would do a quick 5-rep, pause, then finish the set. The one thing I don't like about doing touch and go is that I end up performing more of a straight legged deadlift as opposed to a regular deadlift. I tried to quickly drop my butt after each rep so that I was engaging my hamstrings each time and not pulling with a straight leg.
Core:
10 x BW + 10 x 10lb Weighted Sit-ups
25 x 25lb Side Bends
10 x Lying Leg Raises
6 x Kneeling Ab-Wheel Roll Outs
My core was pretty shot from the deadlifting. I could barely keep my body rigid on the ab wheel roll outs- my back would just buckle in. Weighted sit-ups don't feel as terrible anymore compared to the first few times I did them.
Conditioning:
3min. 2.5 spd warm-up @ 10% incline
4 x 1min. 5.0 spd sprints with 1min. rests @ 10% incline
7.0 spd sprint to 1 mile mark @ no incline
Left knee was feeling scarily unstable. Felt better later.
23 Jul 2012
Cycle #5
Back from Florida after a week and I'm sufficiently burnt to a crisp. Upper back, shoulders, upper chest were all still pretty tender today from the sunburn so stretching them out and just moving hurt a bit.
Press: 5x40, 5x50, 3x60 + 5x75, 5x85, 5x100
I fudged the 4th set and got stuck and expended too much energy on the latter reps. I only got what I needed for the top set unfortunately.
BBB Press: 10/10/8/7/6 x 60
Actually did 10 sets accidentally- wasn't really thinking. I was wondering why I was so tired
Chin-ups: 6/4/3/3/3
These felt very strong. I was pulling myself up really fast on the first rep. I'm happy about this; this shows that I'm getting stronger.