2016 Log

Max effort upper


103.3


Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 1 x6-bw+30kg. 1 x4-40kg. 3 x6-bw+30kg.
Hanging leg raises, toe to bar; 4 x10-bw. Stopped at 4.

CG bench; 1 x10-70. 1 x1-110, 120. 125kg-fail. Had the bar path all wrong.
Back offs; 2 x5-102.5. Fixed the bar path here, felt really good.
Giant set.


Weighted WG neutral pull-ups with concentric hold; 3 x6-bw+15kg.
Weighted dips; 3 x8-bw+15kg.
Supersetted.


Seated deadlifts, box+6mats; 2 x8-180. Hook grip all sets
Band pressdowns, high tension; 2 x15-green band.
Supersetted.


Reverse curls; 2 x10-40.
Lu raises; 1 x15-5kg plate per hand. Cut short.
Band pressdowns, volume; 2 x30-red band per hand.
Giant set.


Daily walks
2 x30min
 
Last edited:
Lower volume

103.3 colonoscopy prep tomorrow and then the procedure on Friday, so I had to forward shift this workout by a day.

Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw.
SSB squats; 1 x5-82.
Sit-ups; 1 x10-bw.


DL technique; 1 x5-70, 120, 170. 4 x3-220. Tried different stance widths. Heels almost touching and toes way out continues to feel strongest and least likely to leak efficiency or fail. Triples to get it done faster.


SSB squats, volume; 4 x5-112. A starting point. Time to bring back accountability and get these wheels growing again. Plenty of RIR.


Hypers, #5, 50deg; 4 x8-100.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 4 x10-bw+20kg.
Supersetted.


Belt squats, oly shoes; 2 x15-125. Focussing on leaning forward and heavily biasing the quads.

SG bent over rows; 1 x15-100. Pump work for the upper back and isometric work for the posterior chain. I feel like going back to a genuine heavy row on Monday’s as well. Saves on setup and seal rows just don’t feel that relevant right now.
Supersetted.


Paced myself given the absence of the usual rest day. Will do some weighted-cardio/mini-workouts at some point just to stay on point from a conditioning point of view.


Daily walks
1 x30min
1 x45min


Midday
Nordic eccentrics; 2 x10-bw
 
Last edited:
Rest day

103.8

Colonoscopy prep day


Daily walks
One sided carries; 10 x20m per side - 40kg handle.
 
Last edited:
Rest day

102.4

Colonoscopy done and dusted, all is well thankfully.

Will pick up volume-upper tomorrow morning.


Daily walks
1 x20min
 
Last edited:
Volume upper;

103.0

Weighted CG neutral pull-ups; 1 x10-bw. 5 x16-bw+10kg.
3ct pause bench, index on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x5-105. 4 x5-102.5.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 1 x10-bw. 4 x10-bw+20kg.
Giant set.


Seated deadlifts, box+6 mats, versa’s; 4 x8-180.


WG pull-ups, 15rep cluster sets (3x5); 3 x15 clustered - bw. Big focus on squeezing the forearms, the irradiation effect seems to positively impact the elbow inflammation.

Push-ups, 15rep cluster sets (3x5); 3 x15 clustered - bw.
Supersetted.

Cut short here.


Axle reverse curls;
JM press;
Neck extensions;
Giant set.


Daily walks
2 x15min
1 x45min


Afternoon
GPP chin-ups; 5 x10-bw 15min still fatigued
 
Last edited:
Max effort lower


102.8

5min walk
Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw
CB squat; 1 x5-70.
Sit-ups; 1 x10-bw.


DL to max; 1 x5-70, 120. 1 x1-170, 200, 220, 250. 250 moved ok-ish. Broke the slack at 270 twice, an improvement on last week. Started with a hip width-toes straight stance but pivoted to the V. Feels stronger and safer TBH.

Back offs clustered singles; 3 x1-230. 2 x1-250. After writing the above, I decided to back to doing a lot of heavy singles on this day and ditching the back offs. It got me to 285 the first time around and hopefully I know enough extra to keep me there this time.


CB squat to max triple; 3-70, 120, 150. Easier than last rotation. Will go to 160 next time. Wanted to capitalise on available time today so moved on.


BB hypers, #5, 45deg, 4 mat differential; 1 x5-100. 3
X4-130.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 4 x6-bw+25kg.
Supersetted.


Step-ups, box+mats; 3 x15-bw+20.
BB rows, DL stance and grip widths, heavy; 3 x6-140.
Supersetted.


Daily walks

1 x15min
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Max effort upper


102.8

Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 1 x5-bw+30kg. 4 x4-40kg. The final set was very rest-pause esque and mostly half-reps to the parallel sticking point. Right elbow is holding up better than last week.

Bench, index on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x1-110, 130. 140 fail. 130 was heavy in the hands but sprung up like I had a shirt. 140 was a bridge too far and I didn’t groove it correctly to boot.

Back offs; 2 x5-110.

Sit-ups, plate behind head; 1 x10-bw. 3 x10-bw+20kg. Dropped the last two to pick up the pace, time was dragging a bit.
Giant set.


Weighted WG neutral pull-ups; 2 x6-bw+20kg.
Weighted dips; 2 x6-bw+20kg.
Supersetted.


Seated deadlifts, box+6mats; 4 x6-200. Versa’s on account of cracked thumb skin around the nail.

Band pressdowns; 4 x15-green band.
Supersetted.


GPP WG pull-ups; 4 x10-bw
Band pressdowns; 2 x40, 2 x30-red band per hand.


A late audible on the last bit of work. I’ve decided to drop the chin-ups off Saturday and keep that for arms and delts. Will pump the volume a bit for back generally on the four main days.


Daily walks
2 x15min
1 x30min


End of day
GPP CG neutral chin-ups; 5 x10-bw 10min
Lu raises; 3 x15-5kg per hand
 
Last edited:
Lower volume

104.2 salt and carbs from weekly pizza night, not stressed about the number.

5min walk
Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw.
SSB squat; 1 x5-72.
Sit-ups; 1 x10-bw.


DL to max; 1 x5-70, 120. 1 x1-170, 200, 220, 250, 250.. Not an amazing pull the first time but solid enough. The 2nd was better. Definitely fatigued compared to a Monday. Couldn’t quite find my slack pull, but that’s to be allowed for re: mid-week max attempt. Thinking through it, I think the bar was too close to my shins to start with and I couldn’t extend the back fully/wasn’t as strong with high hips at the start.

Back offs, 4x4@75%; 4 x4-190.


SSB squats, narrow, short rest; 4 x6-112. 7 reps next week moving up to 10 then load bump and repeat.


SG BB hypers, #6, 50deg, 6mat differential, 4-5x10; 5 x10-100. Looking down, no hold and no hyperextension seems to be the trick to avoid QL aggravation. Felt great, definitely a mainstay.

Sit-ups, plate behind head; 5 x6-bw+25kg.
Supersetted.


SSB lunges, volume; 2 x10-32kg. 2nd set with only shoes was night and day in terms of stability, so will do that moving forward.
BB rows, volume; 2 x10-120. Strict torso position, driving lats back.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x15min
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Upper volume + belt squats


104.6 salt a big factor yesterday and probably all this week, just need to be mindful of the calories

Belt squats, oly shoes, quad bias; 3 x20-120. Something I’m trying to get extra volume to the quads especially but leave enough recovery time for Monday’s max effort. Saturday morning work too often left me feeling too fatigued. Will see how it goes.


Weighted CG neutral pull-ups; 1 x10-bw. 4 x10, 1 x6+4-bw+15kg. Making sure to go full ROM to the top. Threw the versa’s on due to sweat impacting grip. Right elbow impacted last set but otherwise ok.

Hanging leg raises; 4 x10-bw. Not feeling these today, stopped at 4 sets. Sit-ups feel better.

Bench, index on rings, volume; 1 x10-60. 5 x10-90. Going back to the higher per-set volume that worked before.
Giant set.


Seated deadlifts, volume; 4 x15-170.
Band pressdowns, volume; 4 x30-red band per hand.
Supersetted.


WG OHP, bar depth to chin; 2 x10-40kg. Starting point with many RIR.
WG neutral pull-ups; 2 x10-bw.
Supersetted.


GPP Chin-ups; 4 x7-bw.
GPP CG paused push-ups; 4 x7-bw.
Supersetted. Didn’t have a lot left by this point

Cut short on direct neck work but a fantastic session. 5-10mins to be saved with conditioning improvements.


Neck extensions;



Daily walks
2 x15min


End of day
GPP clustered regular & V-pull-ups; 13 x5-bw. 10-20s-ish spacing. Was thinking of getting 20 cluster-sets but cramping/exhaustion set in and I don’t want them to drag into 30-60s spacing and thus defeat the purpose. Room to get better. Being mindful of the technique made sure to smash the forearms too.
 
Last edited:
Rest day

105.0 food and gut volume, salt etc. but still too high, too fast. The build ends now and the cut returns.


Daily walks
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Max effort upper

105.0 left knee is a bit inflamed, fighting off a throat bug

5min walk
Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw.
SSB squat; 1 x10-32kg.
Sit-ups; 1 x10-bw.
Hypers; 1 x10-bw.


DL to max; 1 x5-70. 1 x1-120, 170, 200, 220, 250, 260. Toes back to parallel but still close feet. Had a bit more in the tank but not worth pushing the 270 today. It will be there on-call soon enough.
Back offs 4x4@75% of ME3 x4-190.


SSB squat to max triple; 1 x3-82, 132, 142. Had another 5-10 in the tank for a genuine max triple. Correlates roughly to previous 1RM, despite lack of training squats lately, so I’ll take it.
Back offs 4x4@75% of ME; 3 x4-112. Slightly higher than 75% but a faster switch over.


SG BB hypers, #6, 50deg, 6 mat differential; 4 x10-100. Thumbs on the rings seems to be the optimal positioning for ROM and keeping focus on the posterior chain rather than upper back.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 4 x6-bw+25kg.
Supersetted.

Interrupted/cut short here, so I did a quick little GPP of the below;

Step-ups; 2 x15-bw.
Nordic negatives; 1 x10-bw.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Max effort upper

104.3 still fighting off this cold but maybe have gotten slightly in front of it overnight.

Elbow DOMS from the novel pull-up grip used for Friday GPP still lingering a bit. Generally feeling a bit shit, physically, will see how it goes.


Weighted chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 5 x3-bw+40kg. These generally weren’t amazing reps or quite full ROM, but I’m happy enough under the conditions.

Sit-ups, plate behind head; 1 x10-bw. 3 x10-bw+20kg. Called it at three work sets to conserve fatigue reserves.

Bench, pinkies on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x1-120, 125. 130 wasn’t going to be there today given health status. 120 was shit, found the groove on 125 and called it there.
Back offs; 3 x6-105.
Giant set.


Seated deadlifts, box+six mats, heavy; 4 x6-200
CG bench, feet up; 1 x10-75 too light. 2 x10, 1 x9-80. Short-changed the final rep for some reason, just felt the fatigue coming in the triceps.
Supersetted.


Weighted WG neutral pull-ups; 3 x10-bw+10kg.
JM press; 3 x15-40. These made my elbows feel awesome.
Supersetted.


GPP pull-up clusters; 6 x5-bw. 20-30s spacing. Would have gone for more if had the time available.


Solid session under the conditions and needing to pace myself. Plenty of learnings to take away too.


Daily walks
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Volume lower

104.2 feeling a bit better today

5min walk
Standing jumps; 1 x10-bw.
SSB squats; 1 x10-32.
Hypers; 1 x10-bw.
Sit-ups; 1 x10-bw.


DL to max; 1 x5-70, 120. 1 x1-170, 200, 220, 250. Had a fantastic slack pull on 270, twice, but didn’t quite have the recovery to break it off and confidently get it into the air. Could be there on Monday. New stance is working well, I just need to allow for a tiny bit more quad/knee travel.
Back offs, 4x4@75% max; 4 x4-190.


SSB squats, clustered triples; 1 x5-82. 1 x7-112. 4 x3-122. The left knee has a lot of inflammation following achy virus-joints. I also don’t know if I give enough of a shit to maintain high-squats for hypertrophy. Maybe one all out 20 rep set, but not for 8-10s. Will go back to 6-8 clusters of 2-3, and keep the volume work to accessories.


SSB GM, beltless; 3 x10-122.
Sit-ups, plate behind head; 3 x6-bw+25kg.


SSB Hatfield split squats, oly shoes; 3 x15-32kg.
BB rows; 3 x10-120. Going back to SG for these.
Supersetted.


Super-SG BB hypers, #6, 50deg, volume; 2 x20-80. The longer ROM felt good, just need to be mindful of keeping forearms/grip tight and not over-protract the scapula too much.

Awesome session and closing in on getting back to 270+ on the regular. 5-10mins of setup and fitness to save here and there.

Daily walks
1 x15min
 
Last edited:
Upper volume

104.5 overslept, so need to pick up the pace today. Lots of exterior stresses mentally, and still dealing with the tail end of being sick this week.


Weighted CG chin-ups; 1 x10-bw. 5 x8-bw+15kg. Change grip to give the elbows a different angle. Definitely a reduced discomfort. Focus on form and ROM, aiming to make 8 reps into 10.

Bench press, index on rings; 1 x10-60. 5 x8-100.

Sit-ups, plate behind head; 1 x10-bw. 3 x6-bw+25kg. 2 x15-bw+15kg. Mental note to do volume work for abs on upper days. Back to back heavy sit-ups leave the second day with short reps and sloppy form.
Giant set.


Seated deadlift, box+six mats, volume; 3 x15-170.
CG bench, feet up, volume; 3 x20-60.
Supersetted.


WG pull-ups, lean back form with peak concentric contraction; 3 x10-bw.

JM press; 2 x15-45. Technique needs some tightening here. Skullcrushers may be preferable.

Neck extensions; 2 x25-25kg
Giant set.


Daily walks
3 x15min

End of day
GPP pull-ups; 10 x5-bw.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top