2016 Log

Volume lower day;


109.1

10min wake-up walk


DL, volume doubles, hips width || stance; 1 x5-70, 120. 5 x1-170. 10 x2-220. Focus on barbend with my lats into a hip pump/drop. Feeling very much in the vein of late 2015 when I was hitting it 4x a week with minimal DOMS. Might be onto something here.


SSB GM, volume, beltless, DL stance, pin set to QM-mark; 3 x10-112.


SSB SQ, volume, oly shoes beltless; 3 x8-82. Starting out VERY conservatively to try and rebuild tolerance in both joints. Prioritising knees-forward than ATG.


SG axle hypers, 50 deg #7; 1 x10, 2 x15-90. Probably (definitely) need to push reps higher here.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 3 x20-double purple band. Pushing the ROM on these.
Supersetted.


BB rows; 2 x5-120. Will rep-bump these up to 10, but making sure to maintain integrity for that ‘off the floor position’ at first. Heaps of RIR for the back at this stage.
Belt squats; 2 x15-100. Tried a higher belt position for second set, maybe a tad too high for a heavier load though. Just need to figure out the sweet spot.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x30min

Afternoon
BB rows, DOH grip; 1 x5-70. 3 x5-120. Building that tolerance.
 
Last edited:
Volume upper day


109.1 massive vege load at dinner and generally high intake yesterday so this is encouraging.

10min wake-up walk


Chins, versa’s; 3 x9-bw+5kgs.
Dips; 3 x9-bw+5kgs.
GHD style sit-ups; 3 x20-bw. Groove/positioning felt off.
Giant set.


WG neutral pull-ups, versa’s; 3 x13-bw.
OHP, strict, pinkies on rings; 3 x10-50.
Supersetted.


5mins breather


Seal rows; 3 x12-70.
JM press; 3 x8-50.
Supersetted.


Pullover style chin-ups; 2 x13-bw.
Hanging leg raises, full ROM; 2 x15-bw. These feel so good and just open everything up. I have to be more disciplined at keeping them in, especially towards resolving the hip flexor issue.
Neck extensions; 2 x20-25kgs.
Giant set.


Really solid session. Definitely time to hit a 3rd of the final giant set.

The neck work is as much about safely hyperextending the lumbar under load. I’m going to start incrementing weight on these for that reason (and general neck goals).


Short arms session tomorrow.

Heavier hypers back in on Monday’s I think. Box squats on Thursday’s, putting both DLs and those to 6x3 or so.

Belt squats also over to Monday’s.


Daily walks
1 x30min
1 x15min


Evening
Neck extensions; 2 x20-30kgs.
 
Last edited:
Arm day


109.1

Skullcrushers; 3 x20-20.
DB curls; 3 x10-DB+20kg per hand
Supersetted.


Daily walks
3 x15min
 
Last edited:
ME lower day


110.2 gut is very bloated and fibre-heavy. Low residue diet for a week to come, feeling terrible there. Not so much physically fatigued but very under-slept from the past week.

10min wake-up walk


ME DL, || hip width; 1 x10-70. 1 x5-120. 1 x1-170, 200, 220 hook, 240, 250@8.5. Left it there as I didn’t want to waste time needed for the work to get done today.
FPDL back offs; 2 x2-220@8.5, @7. Found the groove on second set. Might be worth warming up with these just to lay the pattern in.


ME FSQ 1 x3-70. 1 x1-100. Boy oh boy am I out of practice. Time to get to to work.
Back offs; 2 x5-70.


RDLs, natural-V DL stance; 3 x4-200. Trying to stay in touch with my cheater-stance while I build up the more leg dominant movement pattern.


Belt squats, elevated, oly shoes, natural squat stance; 1 x10-125.


Power rows, heavy; 3 x5-150.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 3 x20-purple band per hand.
Supersetted.


Zerchers; 2 x10-70. Threw these in at the end but mightn’t be able to in the future if tight on time.


Slight warning sign in the previous left hamstring-flute-adductor connection but nothing concerning yet.

I feel like I was a bit wide in DL stance today, took too much hammies out of the lift. I think I will persist with the wider stance and just try to find the spacing that facilitates the hamstrings pulling hips down and back.


Daily walks
1 x30min
1 x15min
 
Last edited:
ME upper day


109.4

10min wake-up walk


ME medium bench, pinkies on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x1-120, 125@9.5. Butt came off a bit but it was a solid rep beyond that. Each always goes to shit when I start cutting, and the movement is down to 1x per week, so I’m moderating expectations for a while.
Back offs; 2 x3-110@8, 9

Weighted chin-ups, clustered singles sets; 1 x5-bw. 1 x5-bw+30@8.5. 1 x3-bw+40@10. 2 x6-30@9, 10.
Supersetted.


CG bench, thumbs to smooth, density work; 6 x4, 2 x3-100.
WG pull-ups; 8 x5-bw. Maintains focus on upper back and shoulder girdle rather than lats or arms. ‘Elbows down’ cue, rather than back or in.
Supersetted.


JM press; 2 x8-50.
SG rows, anti-sumo stance; 2 x6-110. Slightly uncomfortable on the right flexor, second set I found a better position.


BB curls; 2 x10-50. Probably prefer DBs in hindsight.
Overhead band extensions; 2 x20-purple band per hand.
Neck extensions; 1 x5-40kg assisted. 1 x20-30kg. The 40kg exposure fatigued me too much, should’ve just stayed at 30kg.
Hanging leg raises, full ROM; 2 x15-bw.
Giant set.


General thoughts;

I think I will cut rows on Monday and make them seated DLs. Arm day seems to be much more relevant to upper back gains than the heavy rows.

Rows then come in on Tuesdays, as the load should be low enough for recovery by Thursday’s lower session. They just don’t accomplish quite enough on the Monday compared to more leg work.

I might do Thursday DL’s as anti-sumo&toes straight, to maintain some variation and also because it’s just fun.

Will slip in some very strict feet touching leg raises tk see if they assist the flexor at all.


Good workout, chin-ups into PR territory and bench work coming along still.


Daily walks
Nil due to weather
 
Last edited:
Lower volume;


109.0

10min wake-up walk


DL, || stance, triples; 1 x10-70, 120. 1 x5-170. 5 x3-220.


Box squat 24 mats, buffalo bar, DE protocol; 5 x5-72.


SSB GMs, || stance, beltless; 3 x5-132.


SSB SQ, oly shoes, beltless; 1 x8, 5- 82. These felt terrible. Not sure if oly shoes or the SSB but it’s the wrong movement for now. Will pivot them out for reverse Hatfield lunges next week.


FPDL, || stance, toes slightly out, beltless; 2 x8-170. Allowing myself the slightest abduction of the feet and hips seems to make a massive difference. The cue I keep forgetting lately is to ‘bend the bar’ in tk slack pull. Hopefully these help. The first set was a little better than the second, most likely due to accumulated fatigue.


SG axle hypers, #6 50 deg, toes out; 2 x15-90. Glute burn is significantly higher in this position. Different feeling on both knees. Not sure if good or bad yet, but definitely different.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 2 x20-double purple band. ROM and consequently the difficulty are increasing on these.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Upper volume day


109.0

10min wake-up walk


Chin-ups, versa’s; 1 x5-bw. 3 x8-bw+10kgs.
Dips; 1 x5-bw. 3 x8-bw+10kgs.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 4 x20-double purple band.
Giant set.
Aim for 9 reps across next week at same load.


WG neutral pull-ups, versa’s; 3 x13-bw.
OHP, pinkies on rings; 3 x10-50.
Supersetted.
The last few reps on each needed a bit of body language. Room to grow still.


3ct pause bench, index on rings; 1 x10-70.
Turtleshell rows, 4” deficit, || stance; 1 x10-70. Trying to do them without a floor-reset and challenge my static positioning.
Supersetted.


Seated DL, || stance, box+12mats; 3 x8-170. Using ‘mind muscle’ to keep it on lower back and not traps. The full ROM setup helps, can’t get it on 8 mats. Felt fantastic. Something on the troublesome right flexor also clicked/snapped back into place, generating tremendous relief.


Hanging leg raises; 2 x15-bw.
Neck extensions; 2 x20-30kgs.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x30min
 
Last edited:
Arm day


109.0 heavy fatigue


Overhead band extensions; 2 x20-purple band.
DB curls; 2 x10-20kg.

Cut short.


Daily walks
1 x60min
1 x45min
 
Rest day


110.7 fibre intake way up yesterday, need a good day of less activity today.


Daily walks
1 x15min
 
Last edited:
ME lower day


109.7 diet not fantastic over the weekend. Fair bit of fatigue lingering from Thursday still and didn’t get to rest much over past two days.

10min wake-up walk


ME DL, || stance; 1 x10-70. 1 x5-120. 1 x1-170, 200, 220, 240 hook, 260@9-9.5 versa’s. Tightened up the belt one setting within the lever. Trying to rely less on volume of air and re-train my brace without the gut adipose. Also becoming a little grip’n’rip and less slow in initiating the pull from set up. Happy with the 260, moved well and first attempt.

Back offs; 4 x1-220. Working on the faster setup into the pull.


ME HBBS, belt two notches lower than DL; 1 x1-70, 100, 120. Taking a cue from Sev O’Reb and maintaining a slower/more controlled tempo on the way down that mimics the tempo on the way up.
Back offs, beltless; 1 x5-100. Low RPE/high RIR, just rebuilding everything through the hip issues.


SLDL, beltless; 2 x5-170. Bar out in front at the break and return. Haven’t done these for a while because I hate them, even though they’re very effective.


Belt squats; 2 x10-125. These seem best without the oly shoes but I think I need the elevation to make the setup work correctly.
Banded abs, bar behind legs, facing out; 2 x25-double purple band.
Supersetted.


Zercher GMs; 2 x10-100. Burned the glutes. Felt great.
Banded abs, bar behind legs, facing in; 2 x25-double purple band.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
1 x30min


Really good session, was cut short on the middle or would otherwise have three sets each of accessories.
 
Last edited:
ME upper day


109.4 feeling a bit bloated and heavy, weirdly. Fatigue way down at last.

10min wake-up walk


Bench to max, index on rings; 1 x10-70. 1 x3-100. 1 x1-120, 130@9.5. Not a stalled rep but definitely didn’t have a double. Solid enough.
Back offs; 1 x1-120@8.

Weighted chin-ups, clustered singles sets; 1 x5-bw. 1 x5-bw+30kg. 1 x2.5-bw+40kg. Regressed a bit. Shoulder joint stiffness translating into these feeling weak today. 2 x5-bw+30kg@9.5, @9.5. Fixed my body path to allow for the outer swing and the lats really came back in.
Supersetted.


CG bench, thumbs to smooth, density sets; 6 x3-102.5
WG pull-ups; 6 x4-bw+5kg.
Supersetted.
Back to 8 supersets next week. A bit less time to play with and failure to prioritise sleep has me under recovered. A big thing to fix.


DB curls, external supination; 2 x10-DB+15kgs per hand. More biceps, less swinging.
Overhead band extensions; 2 x20-purple band.
Hanging leg raises; 2 x15-bw.
Neck extensions; 2 x20-30kgs. Continuing to drive through erectors. I think for Friday’s I will reduce back to 25kgs and increase top-end ROM to fullest.
Giant set.


Daily walks
3 x15min
 
Last edited:
Lower volume day


109.4

10min wake-up walk. Not feeling the ‘pop’ this morning.


DL volume, || stance; 1 x10-70. 1 x5-120. 1 x3-170. 1 x1-200. 10 x1-220. Really wanted more today but just one of those off days.


SSB Box squat, beltless; 3 x5-82. Not great not bad. Probably just remove the box and get better depth for volume work.


SSB GMs, beltless; 3 x6-132.


Belt squats, natural squat stance; 3 x15-125.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 3 x20-double purple band.
Supersetted.


SG axle hypers, #7 50deg; 2 x15-90.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 1 x20-double purple band.
Supersetted.

Nothing today felt good. Just putting in the bank as an off day and poor session and moving on.


Daily walks
1 x30min

Nordics, 16mats height; 2 x15-green band assisted. These felt fantastic. Kept everything as straight as possible to maintain focus on flexion at knee not hip. Will bring them back in now.
 
Last edited:
Upper volume day


109.9

10min wake-up walk


Chin-ups, versa’s; 1 x5-bw. 1 x10, 2 x9-bw+10kg.
Dips; 1 x5-bw. 1 x10, 2 x9-bw+10kg.
GHD-style sit-ups, legs@90deg, plate behind head; 4 x10-bw+15kg.
Giant set.
One rep improvement and definitely improved technique integrity over last week. I’ll take the small win for now.


WG neutral pull-ups, versa’s; 2 x14, 1 x12-bw.
OHP; 3 x8-60.
GHD-style sit-ups, legs@90deg, plate behind head; 3 x10-bw+15kg.
Giant set.
Big improvements on the pull-ups, OHP about RIR2, 2, 1.


Bench, sink-pause, pinkies on rings; 3 x5-100@RIR2, 0, 2. Going to add reps on these until hitting 10.
Seated deadlifts, box+12 mats; 3 x8-180. Didn’t quite hit the lower back how I wanted, will continue to work on it. Positioning a bit off too.
Supersetted.


Hanging leg raises; 2 x15-bw.
Neck extensions, full dynamic ROM; 1 x40, 25-25kg.
Supersetted.


Daily walks
4 x15min


Evening
WG chin-ups, density; 10 x3-bw.
 
Last edited:
ME lower day


110.4 cut has to take priority now. Feeling exhausted from poor sleep but work to be done all the same.


5min wake-up walk


ME DL, natural-V stance; 1 x5-70, 120. 1 x1-170, 200 hook, 220, 250. Got the break on 270 but just wasn’t quite there. Didn’t waste time trying to make it happen. 250 had plenty of pop. Next week on less fatigue will be a chance to go again.


ME Buffalo power SQ; 1 x5-72. 1 x1-102, 122, 152@8/RIR2. Poppy in and poppy out. Surprisingly comfortable rep.


Deficit DL, 12-mats, beltless, hook; 3 x3-170.


Buffalo SQ back offs; 2 x2-122.


Deficit RDLs, 12-mats, beltless, versa’s; 2 x7-150. Saving the grip endurance for tomorrow. probably have 10reps for these bit starting conservatively.

Banded abs, bar behind legs; 2 x20-double purple band. Made these as tight at the start as I could.
Supersetted.


Belt squats, natural squat stance, flats; 2 x15-125. Starting to feel the burn again.
Banded abs, bar behind legs; 2 x20-double purple band.
Supersetted.

Cut short.

Step-ups;

Very positive session. I think 270 was probably there if I’d concentrated a bit harder on the setup.

Am going to pursue a greater speed and hypertrophy focus on the other lower body day, and hammer volume. Zerchers to go there to leave the biceps a bit fresher for heavy chins on Tuesday’s.


Daily walks
1 x30min
1 x15min
 
Last edited:
ME upper day


109.9

10min wake-up walk


ME buffalo bench, thumbs to smooth; 1 x10-72. 1 x3-102. 1 x1-122. Not quite a 10 but still much better than a few weeks again with this bar. It’s a tricky one because there’s some small wobble of the sleeves on the plates.
Back offs; 2 x1-112.

Weighted chin-ups, clustered singles sets; 1 x5-bw. 1 x5-bw+30. 1 x2.75-bw+40kg. The third rep was nearly there but not quite. Again, better than last week. 1 x8, 6-bw+30kg@9.5, @10.
Supersetted.
Fantastic back off sets today. Happy with how this is coming along, noticing the physique changes too.


CG buffalo bench, density sets; 1 x2-112. Too heavy. 5 x3-102.
BB rows from floor, DL stance, hook; 1 x3-150. Too heavy. 5 x5-130. Using these to practice wedging after the slack pull but also maintain shoulders and torso in the right position. If the row becomes Yates-ish, then I did it wrong.
Supersetted.


Triceps buffalo press; 2 x10-52. The wrong bar for these. Way too much wobbling.
WG pull-ups, hook; 2 x8-bw. These felt fantastic on my right shoulder which I am trying to avoid compressing while I sleep.
Supersetted.


Hanging leg raises; 2 x15-bw.
Neck extensions; 1 x9-35kgs 1 x15-30kg a.
GHD-style sit-ups, plate behind head; 2 x10-bw+20kgs.
Giant set.


Daily walks
2 x15min
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top