Mike's Log - The Road to Recovery

Back/Triceps - Week 3

Hook Grip Deadlifts (oly shoes, beltless)
Warmup
295 x 8

Leg Curls
115 x 8,12

Cable Rows
155 x 5,5,12

Lying Triceps Extensions to Bench
60 x 8,8,15

Pulldowns (underhand grip)
127.5 x 10,10,15

Triceps Cable Pushdowns
60 x 12,12 (a little too heavy)

Notes:

The deadlift was almost a surprise, still maintained 8 reps despite another jump up 10 lbs. Given my overall fatigue I decided to move the deadlift to one hard set, instead of a 5 and 5+. Probably a wise move.
 
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Shoulders/Upper Back - Week 4

Chins
Warmup
Me + 90 x 5,5,5

Seated Press
Warmup
115 x 5,5,8

Inverted Rows
Me + 7.5 x 10,10,~12

45 Degree Lateral Raises
12 x 10,10,11 per side

Side-Lying Rear Delt Raises
10 x 8,8,8 per side

Notes:

Chins definitely took a jump up in difficulty this week as I lost a couple of reps on the third set, perhaps I should have bumped it only 2.5 lbs this week. Everything else was pretty much fine.

I am definitely feeling the cumulative fatigue of this style of training at this point, probably because my heavy work is starting to get into the the territory of my strength limits.
 
Lower Body - Week 4

High Bar Squat (oly shoes, beltless)
Warmup
220 x 5,5,5

Leg Press (no lockouts)
Warmup
3 plates + 20 lbs per side x 10,10,12

Calf Raise Stack
215 x 8,8,10

Hip Abduction Machine
135 x 10,10,13

Notes:

I had to wait literally ~30 mins for a rack to free up. I am also feeling quite exhausted, pondering a deload week next week as this is the 4th week of bro training on top of a 4 week HST cycle preceding it, i.e. 8 weeks of hard work.
 
Chest/Biceps - Week 4

Bench
Warmup
195 x 5,5,5

Incline Bench
130 x 10,10,12

EZ Bar Curls
85 x 8,8,10

Seated DB Curls
30's (60) x 12,13

Side-Lying External Rotations
8 x 10,10,13 per side

Notes:

I wore my oly shoes on the bench and decided to try one more 5 lb bump in the bench press. This was fairly manageable, albeit heavy at the moment. I also just did all my reps touch and go - I actually think touch and go reps are friendlier on my shoulder, and pausing the first rep kind of introduces an awkwardness into the exercise.
 
Back/Triceps - Week 4

Hook Grip Deadlift (oly shoes, no belt)
Warmup
305 x 7

Cable Rows
Warmup
160 x 5,5,9

Lying Triceps Extensions (bar behind head)
65 x 8,8,12

Pulldowns
140 x 10,10,12

Cable Triceps Pushdowns
57.5 x 12,15

Notes:

Deadlifts continued to be pretty strong with another 10 lb bump. Given my overly skinny tendencies (i.e. narrow midsection), I'm the type of guy that gets a lot out of a belt (probably at least 20-30 lbs in something like the deadlift at the same number of reps), so this is pretty solid for me.

But yah, I am completely wiped out. I will most likely deload next week and then ponder what to do from there.
 
Deloaded last week, new cycle time.

I will probably try the modified HST cycle at some point we've been discussing, but I've honestly been enjoying bro training. I think a lot of the principles I've been using have worked pretty well:

* Inclusion of 5's to drive top end strength
* Some higher rep work for gainz
* Pushing a top set

However, my strength is still undertrained relative to what it was as of last year. At this point, I have a group of movements I can perform pain-free, so I'm going to at least temporarily revert to more of a Greyskull LP type setup to re-linearly progress my lifts back up to baseline. If/when this starts to fail, I will probably fall back to a more classic bro routine (either upper/lower or split up further, depending). Perhaps somebody can convince me to try an HST cycle again at some point.

Day 1, Week 1

Barbell Bench
Warmup
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 10

High Bar Squat (oly shoes, no belt)
Warmup
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 15

Chins
Warmup
Me + 15 x 5
Me + 40 x 5
Me + 65 x 10

Lying Triceps Extensions with Triceps Bar
50 x 8
65 x 8 (probably too heavy)
55 x 12 (better starting weight)

1-Leg Calf Raises
Me x 12/side
Me + 20 x 15/side

Shoulder Prehab
Side-Lying External Rotations - 5 x 30/side

Notes:

I am experimenting with pyramiding up, as submaximal sets of 5 really shouldn't affect the top set. This is definitely easier to handle than the 5,5,5+ format of sets across, and should transition nicely to a ramping bro split, when the time comes.
 
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Yeah, if top-end strength is your main goal, I think pyramiding up to a top set is superior to sets across. Sets across is great for hypertrophy, but there's nothing like focusing on one top set for strength gainz.
 
Day 2 - Week 1

Landmine Press
Warmup
Bar + 30 x 5/side
Bar + 40 x 5/side
Bar + 45 x 12/side

Hook Grip Deadlifts (oly shoes, no belt)
Warmup
275 x 5 (thick bar)
275 x 10 (Texas bar, much better)

Pendlay + Inverted Row
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 7 (feels awkward, move to inverted row)
Me + 10 x 10 (inverted rows)

45 Degree Lateral Raises
8 x 12/side
10 x 15/side

GHR Situps
Me x 12
Me + 10 x 15

Shoulder Prehab
Side-Lying External Rotations - 5 x 30/side

Notes:

Today was slightly experimental in terms of exercise selection, as I lifted at home. I think I will pursue the landmine press, which still feels fine on my shoulder, but may do it for a couple sets in the 8-12 range, rather than a few sets of 5. There's an inherent element of balance/stability to this exercise which leads me to believe that 5's are probably too heavy a range.

Deadlifts went fine, except that I initially pulled with a slightly thicker bar I have. I did 5 reps with 275, felt my grip starting to give despite my back/legs feeling very strong, and realized the problem. Switched to the Texas bar I have and grip became a non-factor. I still managed 10 reps, despite doing a set of 5 beforehand, so that's good.

I haven't done Pendlay rows in forever, but I honestly prefer cable and inverted rows in terms of feeling things in the right place (midback). I may just lift at the gym on my middle day from now on, in which case I'll go for cable rows.

And for the last piece of awkwardness, I tried GHR situps. Which, again, while an okay movement, may not be what I pursue. Looking for something prehab-y here, if I start doing this session at the gym, it might be hip abduction.
 
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What happened to the bro split? I was hoping to see how it worked for you over a few months time.
 
Sci said:
What happened to the bro split? I was hoping to see how it worked for you over a few months time.
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To quote myself:

"However, my strength is still undertrained relative to what it was as of last year. At this point, I have a group of movements I can perform pain-free, so I'm going to at least temporarily revert to more of a Greyskull LP type setup to re-linearly progress my lifts back up to baseline. If/when this starts to fail, I will probably fall back to a more classic bro routine (either upper/lower or split up further, depending). Perhaps somebody can convince me to try an HST cycle again at some point."
 
Day 3 - Week 1

Bench Press
Warmup
140 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 9

High Bar Squat (oly shoes, no belt)
Warmup
160 x 5
180 x 5
200 x 10

Chins
Me + 20 x 5
Me + 45 x 5
Me + 70 x 9

Leg Curls
70 x 8
80 x 12

Seated DB Curls
30's (60) x 8
35's (70) x 12

Shoulder Prehab
Side-Lying External Rotations - 5 x 30/side

Notes:

Third full body session of this week and I'm re-realizing that full body **** is really tiring, imagine that. I decided to cap squats to 10 reps this session to avoid feeling like I'm going to have an aneurysm mid-set.

I may also rotate my shoulder prehab exercises, I may be overdoing the external rotations a bit.
 
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mikeynov said:
...

High Bar Squat (oly shoes, no belt)
Warmup
160 x 5
180 x 5
200 x 10

...

Notes:

Third full body session of this week and I'm re-realizing that full body **** is really tiring, imagine that. I decided to cap squats to 10 reps this session to avoid feeling like I'm going to have an aneurysm mid-set.
Click to expand...

Oh, the joys of high-rep squats! Nice work, Mike. How's the hip holding up?
 
Lol said:
Oh, the joys of high-rep squats! Nice work, Mike. How's the hip holding up?
Click to expand...

I took ~2 months off of squatting and deadlifting completely this summer, and ever since, I've felt zero hip discomfort/pain. Knock on wood.
 
mikeynov said:
Day 3 - Week 1 Bench Press Warmup 140 x 5 160 x 5 180 x 9 High Bar Squat (oly shoes, no belt) Warmup 160 x 5 180 x 5 200 x 10 Chins Me + 20 x 5 Me + 45 x 5 Me + 70 x 9 Leg Curls 70 x 8 80 x 12 Seated DB Curls 30's (60) x 8 35's (70) x 12 Notes: Third full body session of this week and I'm re-realizing that full body **** is really tiring, imagine that. I decided to cap squats to 10 reps this session to avoid feeling like I'm going to have an aneurysm mid-set.
Click to expand...
I feel exactly the same the past few weeks. For the first time in my life , I feel like I am not able train my whole body sufficiently in one session. In a way it's gratifying, it's a sign that I have finally graduated from "intermediate" stage, and I am now looking at "advanced" in the near future. However, I think I can no longer make progress without splitting up my training. I am going to start with a simple two-way split, as this should be plenty enough of a split to maintain frequency and volume around my busy schedule. I admired your upper/lower split you had going. And i think you are at the "advanced" enough stage at this point that I really believe you'd make the Optimum gains following the HST 2.0 that you laid out recently. Two-way split, 12s, 8s, 4s, higher volume... Genius. Just genius. I myself will be following your "HST 2.0" program for my next bulk.
 
Sci said:
I feel exactly the same the past few weeks. For the first time in my life , I feel like I am not able train my whole body sufficiently in one session. In a way it's gratifying, it's a sign that I have finally graduated from "intermediate" stage, and I am now looking at "advanced" in the near future. However, I think I can no longer make progress without splitting up my training. I am going to start with a simple two-way split, as this should be plenty enough of a split to maintain frequency and volume around my busy schedule. I admired your upper/lower split you had going. And i think you are at the "advanced" enough stage at this point that I really believe you'd make the Optimum gains following the HST 2.0 that you laid out recently. Two-way split, 12s, 8s, 4s, higher volume... Genius. Just genius. I myself will be following your "HST 2.0" program for my next bulk.
Click to expand...

You may have a point, honestly. My plan post linear progression was to revert to an upper lower split, but that may come sooner than later, given that I seem to be able to decimate my recovery training full body at this point. I agree that the HST scheme should work extremely well, and will probably jump on board at some point. I may revert to an upper/lower split in the meanwhile still with my bro principles, but will have to think about it. Either way the plan is to have enough flexibility such that I continue to train pain-free and get my lifts back up to baseline, though I suppose squats and deadlifts are probably close enough already (given that I've gone beltless, as I haven't had a stretch of compete beltlessness in many years).
 
I thought you were a total squatting-monster! Just checking. Ive read your log and was trying to work out which it was. Its been on my mind for a few days. :)
 
Sci said:
Wheredja go? Still logging anywhere? WHats the program look like these days?
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Howdy sir.

I'm around, I just got sick of logging everything, I figured it was making me a little OCD. As you know, my first priority has been to not hurt myself, so I've tinkered with my programming a bit, trying, for example, to figure out a way to do very light overhead pressing to regain that capacity, since I figure that's kind of useful in real life.

At the moment I actually am doing more or less an HST setup, but with 10's and 5's and 20 total reps throughout. I took a little extra time off recently to kind of reboot stuff to this approach, but am still tinkering slightly with exercise selection. E.g. I tried floor presses out, but may just stick to bench, as they don't really feel "easier" on my shoulder. I also managed to slightly tweak my right (non-hurt) shoulder doing wall/floor slides, of all things, which made about zero sense to me, so I'm trying to be extra careful, and am still a bit unsure how to proceed.
 
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