Just about managed all my reps and sets but am completely burnt out!
Definitely the hardest session of this program so far, it was made even harder by the poxy trains running 15 mins late and the fact I promised the missus I would get home earlier on Friday nights. What this meant was this session was completed in 25 minutes less time than last week, albeit I skipped the token calf raises at the end and I really was taking the piss with rest periods last week.
The increase in weight and reps with 25minutes less training time kicked my ass big time! I feel f*cked up now, shaking and sh*t, I really have to focus on recovery now (eating, sleeping (yeah right with my crazy kids), foam rolling and stretching).
Was meant to do some video to check form tonight but completely forgot as I was rushing to get things done in time.
Squats – no belt, no wraps and below parallel
20kg x 6
60kg x 3, 3, 3
80kg x 3, 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 1
167.5kg x 1
150kg x 5, 5
Paused squats – 3 count pause at bottom, no belt, no wraps and below parallel
132.5kg x 5, 5
RDL’s using 10kg plates for greater ROM
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
140kg x 6
Foam roll and stretch
x 20mins
Another quick session, some good and bad.
Firstly the bad, don’t know what it is but every time I go over 80kg on the standing press, I lose a couple of reps, last week I got 6 reps at 80kg, this week I only got 4 reps with 82.5kg, the worst I was expecting was 5 reps, go figure?
The good, knocked out a couple of good sets of 5 at 125kg on the close grip bench. These felt strong and fast.
Barbell reverse curls
20kg x 15
DB Hammer curls
12.5kg x 12, 12, 12
DB Curls
12.5kg x 12, 12, 12
Standing Military Press
20kg x 15
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
82.5kg x 4
60kg x 12
Close grip bench – 2 fingers of each hand on the smooth part of bar
20kg x 8
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
125kg x 5, 5
Lying DB extensions
20kg x 16
Very quick back session today, my right elbow has started to get sore again. I noticed a little discomfort after last week’s back training and I’m not sure whether it’s because I done that set of pull ups or maybe it’s because I am starting to increase the weights on the rows?
Kept it basic and just did 2 working sets of each type of exercise e.g. 1 movement for thickness (rows) and 1 movement for width (pulldowns).
Bent rows
60kg x 10
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
130kg x 7
110kg x 10
Wide grip pulldowns
50kg x 10
95kg x 10, 10
A big improvement on last week which wasn’t hard as I was still getting used to starting up my military and close grip benches.
Had to press in the power rack today as the gym was pretty empty as usual, apart from 2 guys doing 30kg deadlifts (not small either, both looked like they weighed over 100kg). Figured it was best to use the power rack as opposed to asking one of these two for a spot, not that I can bench anything remotely nearing heavy but, who uses 30kg on deadlifts, they didn’t look like they were rehab-bing injuries either.
Can’t believe Arsene Wenger bought on Arshavin for Oxlaide-Chamerlain, don’t agree with the crowd booing but it was blatantly a dumb arse decision.
Going to start ramping up this bench press with singles from next week, the plan will be like below:
W1 – 145kg x 1 +2 back off sets @ 127.5kg
W2 – 150kg x 1 +2 back off sets @ 130kg
W3 – 155kg x 1?
Then reset after that.
My ab session was brutal today, really finding it hard going on these. Last week it took me till Friday morning again before the ab soreness had gone, that is 4 days of DOM’s? Not sure how I can speed up my recovery on these?
Today’s session went like this:
Cable rows
45kg x 20, 15
Superset above with face pulls
Face pulls
45kg x 20, 15
Bench
20kg x 10
60 x 5, 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 2
135kg x 5, 6
Incline DB bench
30kg x 8
50kg x 9
Standing cable ab crunch
1/2 stack x 12, 12, 10
Ab wheel
x 15, 15, 12, 10
Foam roll and stretch
x 15mins
Another good belt less squat session. Got all my target reps, the hardest rep of the day was the last rep at 150kg. 165kg didn’t go up as fast as I thought it would but still a solid rep with more in the tank.
The pause squats didn’t feel too brutal either, so my body must be getting acclimatized. All in all, I think this week felt easier than last week which rocks!
The only downside was that I got an ear full from the missus when I got home, the reason being was that I was spending too long in gym. So next week, I will have to cut my rest periods a bit shorter to try and get home a bit earlier. Go figure though, back home by 8pm and not out on the beers like I could be on a Friday night?
Time will get tighter when the baby arrives late February, I am already thinking about a flexible 2 day a week training template, which can easily be adjusted to 1 day a week when required.
One other thing that is a bit worrying was one of the lads noticed on my 165kg squat that I am twisting or coming up faster on my left side. I know this is probably true as when I don’t put collars on the bar, the plates on the right hand side slide down a bit. Depending on who is in the gym next week, I will try to get someone to film my max squats, so I can see what I am doing wrong.
Squats – below parallel, no belt or wraps
20kg x 6
60kg x 3, 3, 3
80kg x 3, 3
100kg x 3, 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 1
165kg x 1
150kg x 3, 3
Pause squats – 3 count pause at bottom, below parallel, no belt or wraps
132.5kg x 5, 5
DB RDL’s
35kg x 8
RDL’s with 10kg plates for greater ROM
80kg x 6
100kg x 5
135kg x 8
Seated calf raise
50kg x 10, 10, 12, 10
Foam roll and stretch
20mins
Pretty good session, in and out fairly quickly. The only negative was I misjudged my reps on the close grip, after rep 6, I felt pretty good for another rep but failed about 15% from lockout. My triceps just shut down and I ended up fighting the weight for a second or two before my spotter came in. I don’t think it was terminal as I still managed a good 6 reps on my second set.
Reverse barbell curl
20kg x 15
DB Curls
12.5kg x 12, 12, 10
DB Hammer curls
12.5kg x 12, 12, 10
Above supersetted with Military Presses below
Standing Military Press
20kg x 15
40kg x 8
60kg x 5
80kg x 6
60kg x 12
Close grip bench – 2 fingers of each hand on the smooth
60kg x 6
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 6, 6
DB laterals
12.5kg x 15, 15
