2016 Log

115.3, a bit more sensible with carbs yesterday.

DlL; 1-220, 220, 230, 240, 250. 4x4@75%-190kg@low. Good enough for Baraki, good enough for me.

ATG squats OLY shoes; 3x5-120kg. These felt really good. I decided to go back to legitimate squatting instead of trying to catch a higher number at just below parallel. I need the quad stimulus and growth more than I need the ego of a number.

Close stand box squat knees forward; 3x8-110@8ish. Will add reps next week then load the next workout.

Break

Zercher CB GMs; 5-70, 2x5-110. These were awesome and hit the lower back just the way I hoped they would. Something to keep in.

DL; 1-220, 260. Felt like maxing out again.

One sided CB carries; 5xas far as possible each side, 60kg.

Reverse hyper, strict slow concentric with 1-2s hold; 2x10-40kg.
 
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114.8

BB rows; 5-70, 8x5-140. Not the most consistent session. Tried different grips and stances. I like that BB rows give me extra DL setup experimentation opportunities so sometimes I use them for that. More strict than not.

Bench w/dbl mini-bands; 5-75, [email protected]. Decided I will try to swap the straight bar and buffalo in and out for mini-waves. Fingers crossed I remember.

CG bench; 3x10–77.5@7-8.

Rows supersetted with benching.

Inverted rows; 3x10-12-bw.

Dips, pronated grip; 3x8-10-bw.


Possibly aggravated something in abdominal region on lower right of belly button. It felt off for a second during penultimate set of BB rowing. Hoping it’s minor and muscular and not any kind of hernia ofc.


Break

OHP; 3x5-65@8-9.
Starting Strength elbow tendinitis chin-ups protocol; 10x4-bw.
 
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114.8 GPP plan;

Leg extensions strict with concentric 1-2s hold; 3x15-42.5
CB shrugs; 3xamrap-170kg.
Step ups, OLY shoes strict, knees forward.; 3x15-20-bw.
OHP; 3x10-55kg.
CB hold, as long as possible; 120kg plus.
Neck extensions; 3xamrap-22.5kg.
Step ups, OLY shoes strict, knees forward.; 3x15-20-bw.
Triceps extension; 3xamrap, green band high reps.
CB hold, as long as possible; 120kg.

Reverse hyper, strict slow concentric with 1-2s hold; 2x10-42.5kg.

**I turned the CB holds into fat grip holds from the chin-up bar. Traction and shoulder release in vertical plane - felt really good after sleeping oddly on it.

Unsure if the reverse hypers are useful here or not. It’s a lot more hypertrophy/strength focused than GPP.
 
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114.8 I’m not sure how it’s quite that low given the Saturday feed, but I’ll take it.

DL, knees forward; 1, 1-220, 230, 240, 250, 260@9 something. 4x4@75%-195. Really good session. I’m trying to get more quads into my form and maximise leg drive.

Halting deadlifts; 3x8-175@7ish? Felt really good again and might be the best DL variation I’ve found to practice leg drive.

LBBS; 1-120, 140, 150@8-9ish. I think the fatigued max is ballpark 165-170 right now. Hypertrophy work to follow this afternoon.

Break

CB GM; 5-120, 2x8-160@7ish. Will leave these around 6-8 with a third set. Primarily for hamstrings. Looking to place the load slightly forward.

Reverse hyper, strict slow concentric with 1-2s hold; 2x10-42.5kg.

Step-ups, CB; 2x15 per side - 20kg. Looking to turn these into a hypertrophy movement for the quads and enjoy some hip work too.
 
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114.8

BB rows; 5-70, 120. 4x5-130. 4x5-140. I’ve decided to make these more 45 degrees and less parallel. It’s too draining after DLs to properly hold position and becomes a hamstring fatiguing exercise.

Bench; 10-70, 5-90, 2-100, 1-110, 120, 122.5@low 9 speed. 3x3-110@8-10. 125 was there, but it should be there next week too. I’m experimenting going a finger wider and seeing how the shoulders feel about it. This is driven by my arm length and the difficulty in pressing out of the pause for a more medium grip, where neither shoulder or elbow have flexed fully and therefore I’m lacking the potential tendon strength contribution. Supersetted.

OHP; 3x5-70@8ish. Still feeling ok with these.


Break

Starting strength elbow tendinitis chin-up protocol; 20x4.
Dips; 1x6, 8x8-bw. Supersetted.
 
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114.8 extra carbs yesterday helped.

DL; 1-220 hook, 230,240,250,260@9 speed. 4x4@75%-200. Top single starting to feel really good again. 265 was there I think. 270 unlikely today but not too far away.

Power rows; 170-5, too ambitious, 4x5-150.

LBBS; 3x4-125. These felt like ass other than the last set when I made a cue and technique change.

Break

CB close stance squat to box; 3x8-110. Harder with the CB.

CB step-ups, oly shoes, bigger ROM; 3x10-20.

One-sided carries, CB, as far as possible; 5x10-15m -70kg.
 
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114.4

Giant set(ish);
Starting strength chin-up tendinitis protocol; 9x4.
3sec pause bench, med-grip; 5-70, 90, 4x5-95@RIR1-2.
Seated ab crunches against bands; 5x20-green band.

CGBG; 10,10,8-80. Making sure to pause. My press off the chest has gotten a bit weak.

Seal rows, narrow gorilla grip; 4x8-90@RIR1-2.


Break

More chin-ups; 8x5.
 
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114.4

GPP;

Leg extensions strict with concentric 1-2s hold; 3x15-45.
CB shrugs no straps; 3x amrap; 10. 10,10-140. Resetting between reps for grip, as required.
Step ups, OLY shoes strict, knees forward, longer ROM; 3x20-10kg..
OHP; 3x8,8,6 - 60kg. Too lazy to keep switching the change-plates around between exercises so went up an extra 2.5kg and down to 8reps. Fitness fail though.
Neck extensions; 3xamrap; 13,13,13-25kg.
Step ups, OLY shoes strict, knees forward, longer ROM; 3x20-10kg.
Triceps extension; 3xamrap, green band high reps.

Was aiming for 4 rounds and fewer exercises but my base fitness isn’t quite there for GPP rather than a primary workout. The quads focus works though. Upper traps can cop a beating too with the androgen receptor density (that’s my theory anyway).
 
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114.6

DL, V-stance; 1-220, 230, 240, 250, 260. 4x4@80%-210kg. 250 flew up, 260 took too many attempts but still got it.

Wide stance conventional; 3x5-1180. This felt like lifting a feather. I’m going to try this stance out a bit more. Almost setup like a StLDL, rounded but locked back. My normal stance has a much more vertical spine. This is almost shoulders below hips before I pull the slack out.

LBBS; 1-120, 160. Not the prettiest but it will do.

Break


Box squats (higher box); 3x5-120kg. Lower box to come for these on Thursday.

CB GMs, wide conventional stance; 5-120, 140, 160, 160.

Reverse hyper; 3x10-45. Trying these in a new position, completely flat on the pad, handles inverted to hold that position. It’s basically impossible for it to swing on the eccentric and equally can’t hold it at the peak concentric position.

Step-ups; 2x15-20kg held.
 
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114.1 must be a swoosh day. That reverse hyper change felt like shit soon after and still sort of does. Won’t be trying that again.

Bench; 5-70, 3-90, 1-100, 110, 115, 120, 125. 2x3-112.5@9.
Pendlays, wide conventional stance; 5-70, 7x5-110.
Neck extensions; 4x12@RIR2-3., 2x10@RIR.
Giant sets.

Seal rows, gorilla grip; 4x8-92.5.

Reverse hyper traditional position; 2x20-40.
Seated knee raises; 2x15. Aiming at hip flexors.

Break

OHP; 5x5-70.
Chin-up/pull-up; 10x5.
 
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113.9, tools some extra carbs yesterday to keep energy higher for today.

DL, wide stance high hips; 1-220, 230, 240, 250@9ish. It was fine once it broke. 260 wasn’t there due to general fatigue. 4x3@85%-210.

CV GM to parallel; 5-120, 6-140, 3x6-150@6-7. Working on finding the stance that best works the lower back, but it may be better to just go to RIR@1-2 load and work everything with a heavier weight.

Lessons from this morning;

-My anterior core and hip flexors are an absolute weak link. They aren’t strong enough to put the hips into the angle I need them to be, and so potentially force the lower back to flex undesirably to compensate. Time to get to work on those.
-I’m thinking about seated good mornings for more erector work on Fridays and then giving the posterior core a break on GPP days.

Squats/quad stuff to come later on.

Low box squats, speed protocol, 60s rest; 10x2-70kg. Really low box, starting easy.

Hanging leg raises; 4x10

Step-ups; 3x10 per side-10kg per hand.



Decided to revert to V-stance for deads, played around with a few more reps and it’s just so much better for me.
 
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113.9 holding steady.

BB rows; 5-70, 120, 120, 120, 120, 120. Needs a load bump.
2-3s paused bench, medium grip; 5-70, 90. 4-100, 100, 100, 100, 100. All at RIR@1-2. Felt good, an extra rep each set is next week’s goal.
Chin-ups, starting strength protocol; 6x5.
Neck extensions; 25-15,13,12,10, 8+2 assisted, 8+2 assisted. I need to improve form consistency on these but otherwise pretty happy. 15 on all sets is the goal before an extra 1.25kg bump.
Giant set

Chin-ups cont; 4x5
CG bench; 4x10-80.
Seated deadlift; 4x10-120. Figured out a way to set these up that’s much quicker and simpler, so they’re back in. Starting light and will use them to re-build my hook grip endurance as well.
Giant set

Hanging leg raises; 3x10.

Awesome session. No need for afternoon work, it’s done already.
 
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113.9.

GPP;

Leg extension with peak concentric hold; 3x15-50.

Seated cable abs, purple band; 3xamrap (reverse of seated deadlift).

Step-ups; 3x15-10kg each hand.

Dips; 3x10.

Dead hang hold, pronated, 30s; 3x20kg.

Standing cable abs, purple band; 3xamrap (reverse of seated deadlift).

Step-ups; 3x15-10kg each hand.

Triceps extensions, purple band; 3xamrap.


Reverse hyper, traditional, strict; 4x15-50. All at the end.


I waste a bit of time trying to set up a failed cable-like weighted-abs stack. If not for that, and with slightly better conditioning, I think there’s 4 rounds there. It’s an intense circuit with the step-ups.

Used the cambered bar for step-ups on the last circuit and vastly prefer it to holding weights. Will stick with it moving forward. Shoulders, positioning, quad emphasis - all improved. Lowered the ROM back slightly as it was becoming too glute-ish and I want them ‘involved’ but not the point of emphasis, I.e not at an ATG-squat angle.
 
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114.0. I took a more rest-oriented recovery approach this weekend. Calories and activity (active recovery) down a bit. Sample size = 1, but I feel fresher with a bit more ‘pop’ right now on the Monday AM.

Reverse hyper; 2x15-50.
Hanging leg raises; 10-reps.


DL, KK style; 1-220 hook, 230, 240, 250, 260.

Deficits, 2-inch; 5-170, 180,80 @low RPE.

Buffalo squat; 1-120, 160. Felt like shit, might just be the bar a bit though.

RDLs, beltless; 3x5-160.

Lessons; do more and heavier RDLs with belt. Unsure on deficits.

Break

DL, KK style; 1-220, 240, 260. Good feel to this one.

HBBS ATG paused; 10-60, 80, 80. I want a different quad hypertrophy exercise each lower/GPP session. These are a quick setup too.

Hanging leg raises; 3x10.
Reverse hyper; 3x15-50.
Supersetted.

Looking forward to speed day on Thursday already.


12ish minutes of consecutive one sided carries, 40kg. Think it was 12 per hand for 25m ish.
 
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114.0

BB rows; 5-70, 120, 120, 130, 130, 140.
Bench; 5-70, 3-90, 1-100, 110, 120, 125.
Chin-ups, starting strength protocol; 6x6
Neck extensions; 25-17, 15, 12, 11, 10, 8+2 assisted.
Giant set.

Chin-ups cont; 4x6
Bench volume work; 8-90, 90, 90.
Supersetted.

Break

12ish minutes of consecutive one sided carries, 40kg. Think it was 12-15per hand for 25m ish.

Seated deadlifts, double overhand; 3x5-170.
JM press; 3x8-40.
Standing leaning abs, purple band; 2x 30.
 
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113.2

Reverse hyper; 20-50.
Hanging leg raises; 1x10.

DL, V stance, slack pull emphasis; 1-220, 230, 240, 259, 260. 4x4@75%-195.

SLDL; 3x8-170. Some reps a little bit too loose, but these feel like the right accessory to work on slack pull and breaking prior to using the quads.

break

12ish minutes of consecutive one sided carries, 40kg. Think it was 12-15per hand for 25m ish.

HBBS, paused; 2x2–120@7-8ish.

Belt squats; 2x10-75. Trying different stances for now.

Hanging leg raises; 3x10
Reverse hyper; 3x10-100
Supersetted.
 
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113.2

SG BB rows; 10-70, 5-120, 130, 140, 140, 140.
Bench, wide grip; 10-70, 5-90, 95, 100, 100, 100. These felt pretty good. Taking the eccentrics in a very controlled fashion and beginning the descent with elbow flexion into shoulder flexion.
Pull-ups, starting strength protocol; 6x6. Chin-ups preferred, I think.
Neck extensions; 25-19, 16, 15, 13, 9+1 assisted, 6+4 assisted.
Giant set.

Chin-ups cont; 4x6
Sit-ups; 1x15, 10 -> 2x standing cable abs. Basically, the sit-ups felt like shit on my hip and probably won’t take.
Supersetted.

Break

Seated deadlifts; 3x8-170. I’m going to take these to a high volume place for Friday’s and see what happens. Something like 8x8.

Reverse hyper, concentric hold; 2x10-50.
 
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