2016 Log

Lower volume

99.5 tried to feed-up somewhat yesterday, so I guess it’s nice to have a balanced scale and food satisfaction.

Hanging leg raises; 1 x10-bw.

FP DL, flat back, clustered; 10-70. 5-120, 170. Hook for first rep then versa’s, 8 x1, 11 x2-200. It’s been a VERY long time since my firm looked and felt as textbook as it did today. The only stuff that felt like it was working was upper back on the slack pull and the ham-glutes connection. Really happy with these, will aim for the same 30 rep volume but as all doubles or maybe even triples next week. The work sets took a half hour.

Note to future self - different bracing technique from Brendan Tietz, ‘punch in the gut’ instead of breathing-out was very effective. Tighter belt in combination was great.

SSB paused squat, 3-4x10; 5-82. 4 x8-102. I’ll add the reps back in next week. I prefer getting 4x exposures to 8+ than 3x 10, and still want to be in RIR3-4 for these. Form could be a bit tighter on the descent.

Hanging leg raises; 4 x20-bw. I had nothing left for the 4th set but the traction always feels good, even if the concentric reps are cut short a bit.
Fat bar hypers, #6, 50deg, 3-4x10-12; 4 x12-80. Some free grip work here when using a normal width and not SG.
Supersetted.

Belt squats, OLY shoes, 2-3x15-20; 1 x20-100. OLY shoes made a helluva setup difference when combined with straight feet and knee travel.

Bent over rows, versa’s, DL back angle; 1 x8-120. Notwithstanding the fatigue from the workout, I am beyond out of practice for these. It’s nearly to the point of being de-conditioned. Well, no more. There will probably be an acute and temporary impact to tomorrow’s pulling work but I don’t care. I need the upper back static strength back and these need to return to the 140-150 range for volume and quickly
Supersetted.

Awesome session all around.


Daily walks
3 x30min

Bent over rows, versa’s; 5 x10-110. 10mins
 
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Upper volume;

99.9. Ate plenty yesterday as the workout destroyed me. Accepting variations of 1-2kg in both directions without overreacting will be the next mental challenge for me.

Chin-ups; 5 x13-bw. Had to rest pause the final two reps overall but otherwise all good. Putting it down to minor fatigue impact from yesterday’s rows and a faster workout pace overall.

3ct bench, index on rings; 5 x10-80. Felt great. Rows already doing positive things for yoke and left shoulder comfort.

Banded abs; 5 x25-green band. Trying to remember toes pointed in to work the hips a bit differently.
Giant set.

WG inverted rows, versa’s; 4 x20-bw.
Overhead extensions; 4 x25-red band per hand.
Sit-ups, plate behind head, full controlled ROM; 4 x10-bw+15kg.
Giant set.

Fat bar curls; 1 x6-50kg.
Oblique holds; 1 x15s per side - 70kg.
Neck extensions; 1 x20-40kg.
Giant set.

Daily walks
1 x45min
 
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Rest day

99.5

Daily walks
1 x30min
1 x45min


Unplanned but necessary refeed day. Plenty of calories and salt. Expecting 1-2kg bump tomorrow.
 
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Lower heavy;

100.5. Salt dropped down, should be up to another 1/2 kilo to come off still. Gut continues to feel bloated and shit. Left knee tendinitis from non-lifting stuff last week is ongoing.

Hanging leg raises; 1 x10-bw. Did some sissy squats and hypers both with bw to loosen up too.

DL with belt to a max, flat back; 10-70. 5-120, 170. 3 x1-220. 1-240, 250. Took a token attempt at 260 but it didn’t budge. Lots of trouble finding my groove and getting glutes engaged earlier in the movement this morning. Decided not to fuck around on 260 as I was already walking the line for time.

Back offs, clustered; 7 x2-220. Experimented with stance widths and feet angles. Closer still feels stronger and oddly, I get more upright when my hips find their height. My suspicion is that it’s better purely because of hip distance to the bar, at any given hip height. Wider stance always feels like I have no pop or leverage off the floor.


CB squat to max; 5-70. 3-120. 1-150, 170. Not perfect but better depth and form than last time. I setup my equipment poorly so was having to duck my head to avoid my racked SSB, was overly conscious of that on walk outs&ins.

Back offs; 2 x2-150.

CB GM; 1 x6-140. —> SLDL; 2 x5-170. GMs felt really off. SLDL will save setup time as well, and probably has a technique tie in to practicing a leverages slack pull, which I think I still prefer to pure flat back.
Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
Supersetted.

Poor time management meant no time for second squat.

Daily activities
DL, strippcamm form and slack pull; 1 x10-200.

Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
 
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Upper heavy

100.0 back to normal

Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 6 x4-bw+30kg.

Bench, index on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x3-100. 1-120, 130. Short changed it by a centimetre but I was honestly surprised at how easy it felt and threw me off the groove a bit. 3ct volume work paying off.
Back offs; 3 x5-105.

Banded abs; 6 x25-green band. Played around with stances, angles, tempo etc. All good.
Giant set.

WG neutral pull-ups; 3 x8-bw+15.
Oblique holds;
Band pressdowns; 2 x20-red band per hand, high tension.
Sit-ups, plate behind head;
Giant set.


Cut short so squeezed out the extra pull-up sets quickly. 10-15mins can be found as I had a slightly later start.


Daily walks
1 x40min
1 x30min
 
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Volume lower

99.9

Hanging leg raises; 1 x10-bw.

DL, || stance, leveraged slack pull, 30-60s clustered singles; 10-70. 5-120, 170. 15 x1-220. I think I’ve settled into this slot being lots of technique practice at a relevant load for singles. These were really solid once the positioning behind the barbell tightened up. Possibly will add an AMRAP set to cap off as well.

SSB close-stance, knees forward squat; 4 x10-102. The very upright position worked my torso and core like crazy and I may stick with it for hypertrophy purposes.

SSB GMs; 4 x10-102.


Workout cut short/interrupted for family reasons. Pivoted into the squat change as it’s quicker and SAB GMs we’re setup using same equipment and load. Think I will keep it there for next week and move volume hypers to Mondays anyway.


Mid-morning;
Bent over rows: 3 x10-120.
Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
Supersetted.

Belt squats, oly shoes knees forward; 2 x10-115. Left knee a bit inflamed today.



Daily walks
High NEET, more child minding and couldn’t get out for these.

Hindu squats; 4 x30-bw. Not sure if these do anything beyond temporary blood flow and DOMS though.
 
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Upper volume

100.2

Chin-ups, versa’s; 5 x14-bw.
3ct bench, index on rings; 5 x10-82.5.
Banded abs; 5 x25-green band.
Giant set.

WG neutral pull-ups; 2 x15 +5x3 myoreps -bw.

Workout cut short so did the neutral grip stuff quickly. Aiming to get the rest done later on if I can.


Midday
Seated deadlift; 1 x10-120. 4 x10-170. Really found my groove on them. They’re definitely staying in.

Fat bar curls; 1 x6-50kg.
Overhead extensions; 1 x25-red band per hand.
Supersetted.

Inverted rows; 3 x25-bw.

Daily walks
1 x15min
 
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Rest day

100.9. Salt was up a bit again yesterday, cardio/walks down this week, this should correct back down to 0.5-1.0 over the week once routine is back in place. Glycogen and water basically.


Daily walks
3 x15min
High NEET

Carbed up for a high energy day and don’t want to be hungry in the workout tomorrow.
 
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Max effort lower

100.3 all levelled out

Banded abs; 1 x15-green band.

2” deficit DL; 10-70. 5-120, 170. 3 x1-200. 1 -220, 230. Standing of a deficit of mats makes it harder than a plate but it will ultimately
do good things. I spent way too much time in my head.
Back offs; 2 x3-200.

SSB squat; 5-82. 1 -132, 142, 152 PR. Smashed it with at least one in the tank. The bar felt like nothing.
Back offs; 2 x3-132.

SLDL; 3 x8-170. Want to get to 10 per set next week.
Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
Supersetted.

Front squats, beltless; 2 x8-70. Legs have more to give but upper back and forearms-wrist are out of practice.
Hanging leg raises; 2 x15-bw.
Supersetted.

Seated deadlifts; 3 x10-170.

I started early but wasted a lot of time being in my head for the deficits. Probably need to go back to a 10 rep warm up for 120s too. Overall a good session nonetheless.


Daily walks
1 x15min
7km shopping centre day
Hindu squats; 2 x30-bw.
 
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Max effort upper

100.6

Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 6 x5-bw+30kg.

Larsen bench, index on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x3-100. 1 -110, 115. Solid rep, a fraction off the chest though and something to make sure I get right next time.

Back offs; 3 x5-100kg. Somewhere between RIR 0 & 1, so it was likely the correct load bump.

Banded abs; 7 x25-green band. Did some standing and some seated, just for variation. Seated holding my legs up moves the focus to abs due to static hip flexor engagement, which felt pretty good.
Giant set.

WG neutral pull-ups; 3 x9-bw+10kg.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 3 x10-bw+15kg.
Oblique holds, versa’s; 3 x15s per side - 70kg.
Giant set.

Reverse curls; 3 x15-30kg. I’ve been neglecting these but they need to return and stay. Bigger forearms and solve some elbow discomfort on rest days.

Overhead extensions; 3 x20 - red band per side. Stretched the bands a bit more in the starting position today, extra tension etc. I use a ‘let loose’ eccentric on these. Seems to work.
Supersetted.

Daily walks
2 x30min
 
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Rest day

100.3 bumping the carbs for today to power the next two days but also to figure out where my food:activity:bodyweight ratios are.

Daily walks
2 x20min
1 x40min
 
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Volume lower

101.2 overdid it on carbs and salt yesterday but I probably do need to dial back the increase in calories just a bit. I’m looking at a kg gain per month or second month, not within weeks, even if the first 2-3 will be mostly glycogen. Slower progression is fine.

Extremely interrupted sleep last night, feel like I’ve been body slammed.


Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw.
SSB; 1 x5-82.
Banded abs; 1 x15-green band.

DL, || stance, technique clustered singles; 10-70, 120, 170. 15 x1-220. 1 x3-220 fatigued AMRAP@RIR1. Smashed at the end of this. Really solid technique work in a fatigued state though.

SSB close stance, 3-4x10; 5-82. 4 x9-102. Added a rep to each set from last week, and will go for 10s next week. 12mins of punishment but I’m seeing the benefits in my maxes.

SSB GM, 3-4x10; 3 x10-107.
Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
Supersetted.

Axle bar SG hypers, 2-3x10-12; 2 x10-80. Not doing a full ROM contraction at the top, keeping the r focus strictly on hamstrings and opening up the hips. Feels really good and feeling silly for dropping them out over the past month.
Banded abs; 2 x25-green band.
Supersetted.

Bent over rows, 2-3x10; 2 x10-120.
Belt squats, OLY shoes, 2-3x15-20; 2 x15-115kg. I’ll man up and do 20 rep sets next week. And probably the third one too.
Supersetted.


Post workout thoughts - I went slightly overboard on the eating yesterday but put it to good use. This was probably the session with the ‘most good work’ in it that I’ve ever done. Feeling utterly fucked but with a sense of accomplishment as well. Two hours of soul treatment.


Midday mini workout;

Hindu squats; 3 x30

Axle bar SG hypers; 2 x12-80.
Banded abs; 2 x20-green band.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
2 x30min
 
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Volume upper

100.4

Chin-ups, versa’s; 5 x15-bw. Rest-paused the final three reps.
3ct bench, index on rings; 5 x10-85. Rest-paused the final two reps.
Banded abs, seated; 5 x25-green band. Moved to doing these seated today to keep my exercise variation higher, as standing version pairs well with lower body sessions.
Giant set.

Dips; 2 x10-bw. Giving these a shot with a triceps focus. If the shoulders don’t like them, I’ll drop them immediately.
WG neutral pull-ups; 1 x13, 12, 10-bw. Surprisingly harder than I thought that they would be, which is probably saying good things about the effectiveness of the chin-ups beforehand.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 3 x10-bw+15kg.
Giant set.

WG inverted rows; 2 x20-bw.
Banded pressdowns; 2 x20-red band per hand.
Neck extensions; 2 x20-40.
BB curl; 2 x20-30.
Giant set.

I can shave 15-20mins here with improved conditioning.

Daily walks
1 x30min
2 x20min
 
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Max lower

101.0 salt factor from yesterday a bit, however I also need to maintain some tightness on calories and daily cardio to keep the increases to being as lean as possible.

Standing jumps; 1 x10
Buffalo squats; 1 x5-72.
Banded abs; 1 x15-green band.

DL max; 10-70, 120. 5-170, 200. 1-220, 240, 260. Moved to a closer-V stance with the rounded back for singles. Two attempts at 260, working on my mental game more.

Back off; 2 x4-220. 2 x2, clustered. I think the clustered doubles is probably a more efficient use of time, from a volume point of view. Good slack pulling practice.

Buffalo squat max; 5-72. 1-122, 152. Had another 5-10 but didn’t want to grind out an @11 attempt. Depth was legitimate and closer to ATG than parallel, managed the stretch reflex ok.

Back off; 1 x2-132.

Seated deadlifts; 3 x5-200.
Hanging leg raises; 3 x20-bw.
Supersetted.

Step-ups with vest; 2 x20-bw+20kg. I’m hoping that reintroducing these will assist in managing the impact to hips from deadlifting with a closer and more severe V stance. It has seemed to be effective in the past.

Hanging leg raises, alternating legs; 2 x15-bw. Very hip flexor/rectis femoris focused. Felt good and a nice variation to add to the mix. Mainly static on the abs, obviously the same traction position are: spine. I feel like I could load them via the ankles.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
3 x30min
 
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Max upper

100.1 seated deadlifts are probably better suited as higher reps and I need to be careful with the flexion I permit. Feeling it this morning and last night as well. SLDL is probably better suited to stay in on ME lower days too.

Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 6 x5-bw+30kg.
CG bench, index on knurl; 1 x10-70. 3-100. 1-110, 115. Cut it about a cm short, riding the stretch reflex rather than a pause. Need to build confidence in the CG bottom position. Felt fine on shoulders though.

Back offs; 3 x4-100@RIR0-1. Aim for the 5th rep in three weeks.

Banded abs, seated; 6 x20-bw.
Giant set.

Weighted neutral pull-ups, fat gripz; 3 x8-bw+10kg. I had to reset my grip mid-set after the first, but it felt fantastic on forearms and the upper back, even a really strong lat engagement. Feels like a winner.

Sit-ups, plate behind head; 3 x11-bw+15kg. Took these pretty full ROM at the bottom. Good solid work.

Overhead extensions with over-speed eccentric; 3 x20-red band per side.
Giant set.

Reverse curls; 2 x15-30. Big fan of these.
Front plate raises; 1 x15-15kg. 1 x10-20kg. Hand width feels too narrow for either sized plate. I’ll try them pronated with the barbell next week. Otherwise felt ‘ok’.
Supersetted.


Stuffed around with some DL singles at 120, just trying to find the right stance width and hip height at new proportions. Did a few hanging pike holds too. Also felt good. Will try to remember these.


Daily walks
1 x60min

End of day pull-ups; 4 x10-bw, EMOM
 
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