Mesocycle 21 - Week 4

Beginning Thoughts:

So I have missed like 3 workouts from last week. I was neck deep in final exams till Tuesday and the last few days have been some intense partying because of graduation which is on Saturday.

I am not sure how my training is going to be for the next 7 days….I hope I manage to get atleast 1-2 workouts in but right now I cannot guarantee even one. Saturday is graduation and Sunday is the day to checkout of dorms so I can't workout on either day. As for tomorrow…well, that can happen. Friday is a no no because of lunches/dinners I have to attend.

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 5 reps
295 lbs x 5 reps
345 lbs x 3 reps
385 lbs x 2 reps

Deadlifts:
415 lbs x 2 reps
455 lbs x 2 reps
500 lbs x 1 rep
I wanted to hit 500 one more time before graduation. Done. I'm happy.

Pistol Squats:
Skipped

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 8 reps x 3 sets

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts:

Overall Impression:

Decent workout….Deadlift form has improved a HELL of a lot since the last time I attempted 500. I'm glad I got the lift.

Mesocycle 21 - Week 3

Beginning Thoughts:

Exams have been very painful….I really hope I do well. Things aren't looking so hot and there's not much I could've done about it. Good news is that I think most people are failing though that doesn't provide much solace.

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 5 reps
295 lbs x 5 reps
345 lbs x 5 reps
385 lbs x 2 reps

Deadlifts:
415 lbs x 2 reps
435 lbs x 2 reps
455 lbs x 3 reps
455 lbs x 2 reps
475 lbs x 1 rep
Decent stuff. I went by feel. I am glad I switched to Pistol Squats on Sunday…my hips felt good though I am not 100% in my groove. Something is missing and I don't know what. The 475 lbs set was a royal pain. The bar got stuck mid movement at my thigh. That is soooo frustrating!!! I should get back to wearing my track pants.

Pistol Squats:
Skipped

Front Planks:
BW x 60 seconds x 3 sets
I did my usual alternate one arm one leg thingy for 30 seconds each set…Good stuff though I hate this exercise. It is soo mind numbingly boring to just stay in one position for that long!

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts:

Overall Impression:

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope y'all are having a good week

Mesocycle 21 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

I have so little motivation to study for finals…arg!

Workout:

Banded Overhead Press:
145 lbs x 3 reps
155 lbs x 2 reps
155 lbs x 2 reps
155 lbs x 2 reps
155 lbs x 1 rep
135 lbs x 5 reps
Decent….Not too pleased about this.

Unilateral Overhead Press:
75 lbs x 4 reps
75 lbs x 5 reps
75 lbs x 6 reps
The last set was a royal pain. I got all 6 with my left hand but then I failed after 5 on the right. I had to take a couple of minutes to rest and then I hit one rep.

Side Lateral Raises:
15 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Lying Dragon Flags:
BW x 8 reps x 3 sets

Hammer Grip Pull-ups:
BW x 5 reps
BW x 15 reps
After all those 50 reps of pull-ups just yesterday I was toast..

Videos:

Banded OHP, Unilateral OHP and Hammer Grip Pull-ups:

Overall Impression:

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Mesocycle 21 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:
Last week I did the 4 Squat workout…my soreness made my Deadlift workout impossible. So, this week, I decided to revisit a past chapter and dedicate this workout to Pistol Squats, Pull-ups, Grip Training and core work.

Workout:

Pistol Squats:
3 + 3 + 7 + 4 + 8 = 25 reps
I am really happy with this. It's been so long since I've done these efficiently I had almost forgotten how to do them. I am going to try get 25 reps in one set this year.

Pull-ups:
8 + 10 + 8 + 10 + 9 + 5 = 50 reps
I did not do these aggressively. I just wanted to hit 50 reps in 5-6 sets with 8-10 reps per set. I am happy with this outcome as well.

Grip Training:
WMT = 5 reps x 2 sets
HG 150 = 2 reps x 2 sets
CoC #1 = 4 Singles
I am glad I've been doing these once every 2 weeks. Progression is a LOT better this week.

Russian Twists:
35 lbs x 8 reps x 3 sets

Dumbbell Windmills:
30 lbs x 10 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Pistol Squats, Pull-ups, Russian Twists and Dumbbell Windmills:

Overall Impression:

Final exams begin on Wednesday…time to put my nose to the grindstone!!!

I hope everyone's had a good weekend. I haven't seen any movies but I did got to 6th Street in Austin which was a real blast!

Mesocycle 21 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

Yesterday was the last day of classes. Feels soooo weird….

Workout:

Dumbbell Rows:
120 lbs x 7 reps
120 lbs x 12 reps
120 lbs x 11 reps
120 lbs x 5 reps
I had a novel idea (yes, sarcastic). I figured out that I am not compelled to NOT take a rest in between each side.

Cable Rows:
180 lbs x 10 reps
190 lbs x 10 reps
200 lbs x 10 reps

Facepulls:
90 lbs x 15 reps
90 lbs x 15 reps
100 lbs x 15 reps

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 6 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Pull-ups and Rows:

Overall Impression:

Decent workout. Very happy with the rows. They felt great.

The intended purpose of a medley is for when there is a advantage to using a variety of angles of movement variations from a maintanance and "health" standpoint. So that is why the row medley uses rows from different angles, etc..

It is not meant to "torch" a body part or muscle group and the first exercise should be the priority "bread and butter" movement. That is the heavy one of course! That could just as well be lower volume and reps with a higher percentage of max and then followed by lighter variations of moderate intensity.

Another example of a useful medley might be a group of single leg exercises. Perhaps starting with pistols and moving on to step ups and then lateral step ups. Maybe even a cross banded split squat at the end. Except for the pistols which are "heavy" by nature everything would be light.

I know that you may have heard other people using the term medley btw. Such as C.J. Murphy and his "strongman medley's" but that is a case of doing a circuit and wanting a fancy name for it. Coming up with some shit off the top of your head and coining a term is a pet peeve of mine, lol. When you think of medleys think of the swimming medleys. It's all swimming and they don't do each stroke for a quarter lap and then repeat. They complete one stroke and then another and then another and that's it.

Since I invented medleys, lol, I guess I get to decide what's a medley and what's not. What you did is not a medley since all the exercises are not in same general motor program. All overhead press would be a medley (which I wouldn't recommend) whereas you did two overhead press, one abduction, and facepulls which are essentially a row. That's not different than a lot of people would do for a "shoulder day" so pinning it medley is using fancy terminology for no reason…let's avoid jargon unless it is necessary and meaningful.

Mesocycle 21 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

I have a massive exam tomorrow…the first of the last exams I'll ever take at Trinity University…I need to get an A.

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 7 reps
295 lbs x 4 reps
345 lbs x 3 reps
385 lbs x 3 reps

Deadlifts:
425 lbs x 3 reps
435 lbs x 2 reps
445 lbs x 1 reps
455 lbs x 3 reps
465 lbs x 1 rep
475 lbs x 1 rep
Several things went wrong here..Firstly, I have a disgusting habit of biting my calluses and I tore 2 of them off today which lead to my grip sucking on each and every rep (you can actually see my hesitation at the start of quite a few reps and sets). Secondly, I am squatting too much. It's causing my body to be sore for more than 2 days and it is adversely affecting my performance. It won't be an issue once I graduate because then I will be on an 8 day rotation which will enable PLENTY of recovery time. But for now it's becoming hazardous. Lastly, I was way off my groove. Not good.

Pistol Squats:
Skipped

Weird Ab Exercise:
Skipped

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts:

Overall Impression:

I hope everyone's had a good week. Thanks for reading!

LAWL…

I'm 5'7 tall.

You know whats funny? the TALLEST person in my family was my grandfather @ 5'3. My dad is 5'1 and my mum is 5'0. The HEAVIEST person in my family weighs 145 lbs. Compare these standards to me: 5'7 @ 205 lbs. I am a GIANT!!!

For some reason my left arm just doesn't lockout the weight at the grip width I using

Look at the shoulder as well. Is it really the elbow or is it related to the shoulder girdle? If you can't upwardly rotate at the shoulder then you will not be able to fully lock out the elbow. See if there is a discrepancy between one side and another. Maybe try unilateral overhead shrugs with dumbbells.

Mesocycle 21 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

I was going to skip training today but decided at the very last minute to stop being a wanker. I have been working on this 15 page Econ report for 2 days now and I wanted to complete it before I hit the gym. I did manage to do that and only after I had proof read the whole report did I decide to leave. But, I had like an hour to lift. So, I modified my training and did a Shoulder Medley. Medley is a fancy way of saying Circuit so I'm gonna use that instead. So….I decided to do Banded OHP, Unilateral OHP and Side Lateral Raises back to back.

Workout:

Banded Overhead Press:
Medley 1 = 135 lbs x 6 reps
Medley 2 = 135 lbs x 5 reps
Medley 3 = 135 lbs x 4 reps
Medley 4 = 155 lbs x 1 rep
The first 3 Medleys were really good. However, the 4th went to . My shoulders were fried after the first 3 Medleys…

Unilateral Overhead Press:
Medley 1 = 65 lbs x 3 reps
Medley 2 = 65 lbs x 3 reps
Medley 3 = 65 lbs x 3 reps
Medley 4 = 40 lbs x 10 reps

Side Lateral Raises:
Medley 1 = 12.5 lbs x 10 reps
Medley 2 = 12.5 lbs x 10 reps
Medley 3 = 12.5 lbs x 10 reps
Medley 4 = 7.5 lbs x 10 reps

Facepulls:
80 lbs x 15 reps
90 lbs x 15 reps
90 lbs x 15 reps
100 lbs x 15 reps

Cable Wood Chops:
37.5 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

All 4 Shoulder Medleys and Facepulls:

Overall Impression:

I weighed myself today. 205 lbs….WTF….eating less than 2000 calories is destroying me…2 weeks ago I weighed in at 195 lbs lol…WTF indeed. Time to start eating right. More food and good quality food.

Mesocycle 21 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got back from the gym…I'm pretty destroyed.

Workout:

Overhead Squats:
115 lbs x 5 reps
135 lbs x 4 reps
145 lbs x 3 reps
155 lbs x 1 rep
I need to work on technique more. For some reason my left arm just doesn't lockout the weight at the grip width I using. I think I'll wear elbow sleeves next time. Weird that my elbows are playing games with me.

Front Squats:
235 lbs x 5 reps
250 lbs x 4 reps
265 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 2 reps
Decent work..

Back Squats:
275 lbs x 5 reps
285 lbs x 4 reps
295 lbs x 2 reps
315 lbs x 2 reps
Some of the reps may not have been "A2G" which is fine with me. I hate back squats but I've found they're useful in improving my Front Squats and vice versa.

Anderson Half Back Squats:
315 lbs x 3 reps
325 lbs x 1 rep
Will increase volume next week..

Russian Twists:
25 lbs x 7 reps
35 lbs x 6 reps
35 lbs x 8 reps
These are kinda difficult and I felt them in my lower abs really hard - not that you can really "isolate" your lower abs.

Videos:

Four Squat Workout:

Overall Impression:

I'm writing a 15 page Intermediate Macroeconomic paper on the current crisis of the PIIGS: Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Very interesting…I feel so exhausted though!!!

Diet has been very bad. Graduation is close which means final exams are literally one week away so right now my diet isn't very high up on my priority list. However, I am keeping my protein intake pretty high. Hopefully I will be able to lose some weight over the next few weeks.

My goal in terms of physique is to drop down to the 185-190 range. I doubt it will happen anytime soon but I intend on getting it done by November.

I hope everyone's had a good weekend. I went and saw "The Losers" on Saturday night. Awesome movie. I love movies like that because everyone knows it's a ty plot: the makers, the audience, the actors, everyone! You just gotta revel in that fact hahaha!!!

Mesocycle 21 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

Bad idea to go do this within 24 hours of my Deadlift Training….

Workout:

BodyWeight Pull-ups:
BW x 14 reps
BW x 11 reps
BW x 7 reps
Total = 32 reps
Terrible..

Dumbbell Rows:
120 lbs x 5 reps
120 lbs x 6 reps

Cable Wood Chops:
27.5 lbs x 12 reps
32.5 lbs x 12 reps
37.5 lbs x 12 reps
42.5 lbs x 12 reps

Videos:

Pull-ups and Rows:

Overall Impression:

Time to rest…

Mesocycle 21 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got back from the gym….I've had a really decent week. Next week is gonna be hell though. LOTS of assignments plus I have a huge 15 page paper due on Tuesday which I have yet to begin.

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 5 reps
295 lbs x 5 reps
345 lbs x 3 reps
385 lbs x 3 reps

Deadlifts:
425 lbs x 3 reps
435 lbs x 2 reps
445 lbs x 2 reps
445 lbs x 1 rep
465 lbs x 2 reps
After last week's Singles Session, I had to do some Quality Volume Training. This basically means you do 1-3 reps per set, start with 85% of your max (in this particular case) and you make small increments in weight while maintaining as much quality as you can. That is why after the 2nd rep with 465 I decided to call it quits.

Pistol Squats:
3 + 3 + 2 = 8 reps
Practice makes perfect and right now I need a LOT of practice.

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 7 reps
BW x 6 reps
BW x 7 reps

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts, Pistol Squats and Weird Ab Exercise:

Overall Impression:

Looking forward to an enjoyable Friday!!!

I hope everyone's had a good week. Thanks for reading!!!

I am going to be trying for 5,4,3,2 scheme next time. This first workout was just a means to gauge where I am at :-)

Thanks once again!!!!

I understand what you're saying, sir. I will try to do that next time. This first time was just my way of gauging where I am at. Thanks!

On the Andersons: yeah they're supposed to be dead halt.

IME the 4 squat workout is best when you get in 5,4,3,2 scheme. Of course you can throw in a single or drop the set of 5 to a set of 4, but overall that is a great way to keep the weights moving up and up. I would throw those Anderson Half Squats onto your back, you already have front squats in there (you could make those Andersons if you wanted to).

Mesocycle 20 - Week 4

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got back from the gym. Terrible day in terms of diet. In terms of performance it was stellar.

Workout:

Overhead Squats:
135 lbs x 3 reps
155 lbs x 2 reps
It's been so long since I've done this exercise!! My shoulders are getting adjusted to the lift so I think in a couple of weeks I should be more smooth with the 155-175 range.

Front Squats:
235 lbs x 5 reps
255 lbs x 3 reps
285 lbs x 1 rep
315 lbs x 1 rep
I did remember to bring my video camera this time…I just wanted to see if I could hit 315. Next week onwards I'm gonna work within the 90-100% range for one single and then do doubles in the 80-90% range.

Back Squats:
315 lbs x 2 reps
315 lbs x 2 reps
325 lbs x 1 rep
This lift feels so alien to me….

Anderson Half Front Squats:
325 lbs x 1 rep
325 lbs x 1 rep
I thought this was gonna be easy as pie…Boy was I wrong!

Front Planks with Alternating Raised Arm and Leg:
BW x 60 seconds x 2 sets
Destroyed me. I hate anything timed because it becomes so mundane and 100% of the battle is in the mind and with my ADD I cannot concentrate on nothing for that long!!!!!

Videos:

Four Squat Workout:

Overall Impression:

Very tiring workout…but I am very pleased with the results!

I am gonna do this Four Squat Workout from now on out. I will gradually increase density over the next few weeks but I am going to be running a small cycle for Front Squats too. I won't be hitting 315 for quite a while…

All in all it's been a good weekend. I hope y'all have had fun too. Thanks for reading!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 4

Beginning Thoughts:

Yesterday's workout…

Workout:

BodyWeight Pull-ups:
BW x 15 reps
BW x 11 reps
BW x 11 reps
BW x 9 reps
Total = 46 reps
It's been 3 weeks since I last did these. I beat my previous numbers by 2 reps but I think my goal to reach 50 reps in 4 sets may not happen for a while..

Weighted Pull-ups:
BW + 20 lbs x 2 reps
BW + 30 lbs x 2 reps
BW + 50 lbs x 1 rep
BW + 20 lbs x 4 reps
Total = 9 reps
Tiring….

Cable Rows:
180 lbs x 10 reps x 3 sets

Russian Twists:
25 lbs x 6 reps x 4 sets

Facepulls:
90 lbs x 15 reps
110 lbs x 12 reps

Videos:

BodyWeight Pull-ups, Weighted Pull-ups, Russian Twists and Facepulls:

Overall Impression:

Tiring workout….Doing 2 variations of pull-ups pretty much torched my back.

In other news: I saw Death at a Funeral last night. I haven't seen the British Version but the new movie was pretty funny. I liked it.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

I never even thought of the "deadlift program" angle, Anuj. Good call.

Yeah this occurred to me the other day. I actually listed the number of programs which specifically address the Deadlift:
1.) 5/3/1 because it addresses everything
2.) Coan/Philipi Deadlift Program
3.) Brad Gillingham Deadlift Program which nobody has ever heard of

Thats about it. Now, compared this to the Westside, Smolov, Shieko, Gillingham, etc whole slew of Squat and Bench dedicated training…Most people just don't know how to train the Deadlift. Hell, if I didn't have you leading me how would I know? There isn't a lot of material covering the subject and these commercial popular programs keep repeating that if you squat big you'll pull big but they never say that if you pull big you will in turn squat big.

I never even thought of the "deadlift program" angle, Anuj. Good call.

Further on the deficit deads. Many people think that they make you faster by an indirect way. The notion is that by extending the range of motion you are somehow learning to power through the point in between where the bar would normally be when you lift it off the floor. It's magical thinking again. Kind of like when you want to break a board you don't think about hitting the board you think about hitting an imaginary board underneath it. Which has no relationship whatsoever to deadlifts. Or probably more accurate is that it is similar to the feeling of wearing ankle weights for a while and then taking them off. You "feel" as if your legs are lighter and the idea is that your nervous system has been tricked into increasing rate of force development. Problem is it's also been tricked into throwing off your coordination since it has simply temporarily increased the firing rate of muscles across certain joints and not others in a coordinated way.

It's similar with the deficits and I've never seen anything other than people saying there is a "feeling" of the bar moving faster or "floating" but never any actual observations indicating changes in speed off the floor with the same weight. The floating feeling is temporary and it is accompanied by an off-kilter feeling as well in my experience. I think it's more of a perceptual change than actual one.

Deficit deads do help. But not for the these reasons.

By the time you have lifted the bar in deficit deads you are at a different position than you would have been had you started with the bar on the floor. The bar is already moving rather than being at a dead stop. Etc. and so on. People are always taking about 'tricking the nervous system' but they seem to forget that the nervous system controls more than just motor unit activation and related muscle force components. More likely the perceptual changes are due to a change in proprioceptive awareness and other factors as well. It's too complicated to make guesses about.

I think what happens with these people so obsessed with Powerlifting is that they see these Russian guys who only work with sub max weights as in using Sheiko, etc and they see that when these guys compete even with max weights they literally just spring up. And by these Russian guys I am referring only to 1-2 in number. But in any case these guys see these big guys fly up with 700 lbs and that whole notion of needing to work on weak points only comes into being.

I think it is to do with a lot of misinformation. You know I used to think like them at one point when I kept cycling Deficit Deadlifts and Banded Deadlifts. I think what happens with these guys is that firstly there is not much information on Deadlifts because everyone seems to think that if you can squat you can deadlift. You mentioned this in one of your recent articles about how people think it's a one way beneficial street which is massively incorrect. Plus, you add to the fact that there are 3 "programs" out there for Deadlifts and you have these people thinking you need to keep doing Deficit Deadlifts and Rack Pulls to have a big deadlift without ever doing the lift itself. Fuck them….

One other big pattern of behavior you see at bb.com is these guys who hit 500 lbs or some big weight and then disappear for weeks and months and then when they come back they're a lot weaker. You ask them why they disappeared "I got injured and took time off". Why'd you get injured? "I was doing the exercise wrong" Has it occurred to you that everything might have been at fault from your form to your training progression to the lift as well? "Can't be".

I notice someone told you that you are "slow off the floor" and you should do deficit deads and rack pulls. I'd like to respond not to that person really but to the whole notion of the advice.

Deficit deads, first of all do nothing for rate of force development. So they may make you "stronger" off the floor sometimes but they won't necessarily improve your explosion off the floor. The only way to get better at moving a weight faster is either to move somewhat lighter things faster or to do max training…umhh.. which is what you were doing.

As advanced as you are the notion that you will be flying off the floor with 500+ pounds is naive anyway. You are not slow off the floor in the first place. It's a max weight. Max weights mean max force which means slower lifts, period, througout the range of motion. You cannot judge someones rfd be observing them lifiting maxish loads! You can say they are slower than another guy lifting the same weight but that doesn't even mean the other guy can necessarily lift more although as a general guideline "faster" means "stronger".

How rack pulls should have anything to do with it I can't see. Unless the notion is that rack pulls would help you through the sticking point which is a lifting myth.

Anyway, to lift a maximum load requires maximum force. It takes a finite amount of time to develop maximum force so people lifting maximum loads are never going to look incredibly speedy but some will have higher RFD's than others. You may be able to improve RFD more in general which could aid you but you'd have to time the overall lift to see any minute differences as you would not likely "see" the bar moving faster off the floor.

Notice that 415 moved faster than the others.

Well the fat jiggling is the slow twitch fibers firing their asses off. Your friends should know that that is just further evidence of your superiority

Every muscle fiber in your body is being called upon to apply force and stabilize you. If you didn't jiggle you wouldn't be working hard enough. They should be jiggling too!

:) Yessir! Thanks for the idea. Kanishk: you better be reading this!!!!! :-D

Finally got 500 lbs!!! My friends rib on me calling me a "Jiggly". When you watch the 500 clip you guys will see why they call me that…..there is not one molecule (literally) of fat on my body which does not uncontrollably jiggle when I Deadlift this heavy!!!

Well the fat jiggling is the slow twitch fibers firing their asses off. Your friends should know that that is just further evidence of your superiority

Every muscle fiber in your body is being called upon to apply force and stabilize you. If you didn't jiggle you wouldn't be working hard enough. They should be jiggling too!

Eric, sorry about putting the 100%+. I was just trying to see how much my strength went up by. On other forums I've linked the Singles Scene article for people to read. I won't do it again. I was just trying to see by how much I was jumping.

Thanks once again, guys! :)

Please stop writing percentages of over 100% though on your singles workouts. It makes no sense and you are going to confuse the heck out of people if they try to duplicate the singles cycles ala "the singles scene" but see 101% and 105%. I've mentioned this before but you keep doing it.

Not to squash your high though. Great job!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 4

Beginning Thoughts:

Was running on 4 hours of sleep. I had a miserable week. Tuesday was a massive Accounting exam. Wednesday was a 5 page paper on comparing Mary Daly and Stanley Hauerwas on a religious basis. Thursday (today) was me writing a 15 page report for my Business Capstone Seminar class. It was supposed to be a group project but you know it goes with groups…To top it off, I have a 4 page report on a historical review of King Louis XIV through Monsesquieu's "Persian Letters"…

So..running on 4 hours of sleep this is what went down:

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 5 reps
295 lbs x 5 reps
345 lbs x 3 reps
385 lbs x 2 reps
415 lbs x 2 reps

Deadlift Singles @ > 90% of 1RM:
455 lbs @ 96%
480 lbs @ 101%
500 lbs @ 105%
Summary:
Week 1 = 7 Singles = Average Weight @ 445.7 lbs
Week 2 = 5 Singles = Average Weight @ 459.0 lbs
Week 3 = 10 Singles = Average Weight @ 451.5 lbs
Week 4 = 3 Singles = Average Weight @ 476.7 lbs
Finally got 500 lbs!!! My friends rib on me calling me a "Jiggly". When you watch the 500 clip you guys will see why they call me that…..there is not one molecule (literally) of fat on my body which does not uncontrollably jiggle when I Deadlift this heavy!!! ahhaa…all in all I'm please with this workout. The last time I ran a 4 week singles cycle ended on December 18th. I set a new relative max on Deadlifts at the time of 475 lbs. So in roughly 4 months or 16 weeks I've gained 25 lbs. That roughly 1.5625 lbs per week. As always, major props to Eric Troy from Ground Up Strength for his guidance and help. The next goal for Deadlifts is to chase 525 lbs.

Pistol Squats:
3 + 5 = 8 reps
I need to do these more often because I've really lost practice.

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 5 reps x 2 sets

Cable Wood-Chops:
32.5 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts, Pistol Squats and Core Training:

Overall Impression:

I hope everyone's had a good week.

Thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a great Friday!!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 3

Beginning Thoughts:

I am such a genius: I forgot to bring my camera on the one day I really should have. How awesome!

Workout:

Front Squats:
255 lbs x 2 reps
275 lbs x 1 rep
295 lbs x 1 rep
315 lbs x 1 rep
Wow…I am so psyched about a 315 Front Squat!!!! Next week I got to repeat something like this and I might hit 315 again so I will definitely record the lift.

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 7 reps x 3 sets

Grip Training:
Walmart Gripper = 5 reps x 2 sets
HG 150 = 2 reps x 2 sets
CoC #1 = 1 rep x 1 set
HG 150 = 2 reps x 2 sets
Hand Extensions = 2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets
My left hand was hurting a lot. I dunno why though…just some muscular pain. It'll go hopefully.

Videos:

Check back next week…

Overall Impression:

Hell week is about to begin. I hope everyone had a good weekend and thanks for reading!!!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 3

Beginning Thoughts:

This is yesterday's training.

Workout:

Banded Overhead Press:
155 lbs x 2 reps x 4 sets
165 lbs x 1 rep

Dumbbell Rows:
120 lbs x 7 reps
120 lbs x 9 reps
120 lbs x 11 reps

Unilateral Overhead Press:
70 lbs x 5 reps x 3 sets

Cable Rows:
180 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Jackknife Pikes on a Swiss Ball:
BW x 10 reps x 3 sets

Side Lateral Raises:
15 lbs x 10 reps x 3 sets

supset with

Inverted Rows:
BW x 10 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Banded Overhead Press, Dumbbell Rows, Unilateral Overhead Press, Side Lateral Raises and Inverted Rows:

Overall Impression:

Ate like a beast last night. We went to bowl and it was my third time bowling ever….I scored an average of 110. Hmmm…Not that awesome but not that bad for my third time ever, right?

Hope everyone's had a good weekend!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 3

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got back from the gym. Very tiring workout.

Workout:

Deadlift Warm-up:
Mobility Drills
135 lbs x 7 reps
245 lbs x 5 reps
295 lbs x 5 reps
345 lbs x 3 reps
385 lbs x 2 reps
415 lbs x 2 reps

Deadlift Singles @ > 90%:
455 lbs @ 96%
475 lbs @ 100%
475 lbs @ 100%
455 lbs @ 96%
455 lbs @ 96%
455 lbs @ 96%
455 lbs @ 96%
430 lbs @ 90%
430 lbs @ 90%
430 lbs @ 90%
Summary:
Week 1 = 7 Singles = Average Weight @ 445.7 lbs
Week 2 = 5 Singles = Average Weight @ 459.0 lbs
Week 3 = 10 Singles = Average Weight @ 451.5 lbs
Felt goooooood…..

Pistol Squats:
Skipped. Gym was already closed and I was thrown out by Campus Security lol…

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts:

Overall Impression:

Been a decent week. Next week is gonna be hell with 4 exams and papers and what not….Arg…not looking forward to that one bit.

On a good note: I have been watching Dexter and Prison Break. I know I'm late on the scene but I've finished Season 1 and 2 of Dexter (watching Season 3 right now) and I'm in the process of watching Season 2 of Prison Break. The good thing about PB is that it doesn't allow you to get bored. It's got things going on all the time. I love shows like that. Similar shows which have so many overlapping stories and facades created by characters, etc are The Shield and Sons of Anarchy.

I hope y'all have had a good week. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

This is Monday's training. I have been too lazy to update it lol…

Diet has been awesome though. Getting in all my protein which is step 1 in the right direction. 250-260 grams per day.

Workout:

Front Squats:
I warmed up for this but then realized that I shouldn't do heavy front squats 2 days prior to deads….so I called it quits and hopped over to do some metabolic conditioning.

Metabolic Conditioning for 2 rounds:
Unilateral Press and Lunge = 40 lbs x 6 reps
Renegade Rows = 40 lbs x 6 reps
Kettlebell Swings = 55 lbs x 12 reps
Dumbbell Windmills = 30 lbs x 10 reps
Destroyed me.

Facepulls:
90 lbs x 15 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Metabolic Conditioning:

Overall Impression:

This workout was kinda meh…I'm gonna be starting a new front squat percentage based cycle come next week. Not completely sure about it as yet but it's gonna involve moving more weight.

Mesocycle 20 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got done working out…

Workout:

Banded Overhead Press:
155 lbs x 2 reps @ 94%
155 lbs x 2 reps @ 94%
165 lbs x 1 rep @ 100%
155 lbs x 2 reps @ 94%
The goal was to hit 3 doubles above 90% of my max plus one single at 100%. Next week the goal is to hit 4 doubles. I'm gonna slowly increase the volume to 7 doubles hopefully.

Incline Crazy Bell Bench Press:
185 lbs x 4 reps x 3 sets
This was hard but I'm damn proud of myself for following through on this.

Side Lateral Raises:
12.5 lbs x 15 reps x 3 sets
I need to be careful with this exercise because of my shoulder injuries.

Superset

Inverted Rows:
BW x 15 reps x 3 sets
The pump I got from this super set is unbelievable.

Side Plank Rows:
BW x 30 seconds x 3 sets

Videos:

A little of everything:

Overall Impression:

I haven't eaten anything save 3 scoops of whey first thing in the morning and then my usual 2 scoops of Whey + 2 scoops of Dex during my workout…

My diet has been really good over the last 2 weeks. The last few days I've intentionally tried to keep myself eating clean but over the last 2 weeks I have managed to go from 205 lbs to 195 lbs. I know it's not water weight because when I weighed myself today at 195 lbs I was bloated like a pig and constipated as hell lol…

Mesocycle 20 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

This is yesterday's workout..

Workout:

Weighted Pull-ups:
BW + 30 lbs x 3 reps
BW + 40 lbs x 3 reps
BW + 50 lbs x 2 reps
BW + 40 lbs x 2 reps
Total = 10 reps
Decent.

Dumbbell Rows:
120 lbs x 5 reps
120 lbs x 7 reps
120 lbs x 9 reps
This was pretty difficult.

Cable Rows:
180 lbs x 12 reps
200 lbs x 10 reps
220 lbs x 5 reps
180 lbs x 12 reps

Weird Ab Exercise:
BW x 5 reps x 3 sets

Pallof Press:
47.5 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Pull-ups, Rows and Core Training:

Overall Impression:

I wish I had more time because I would've liked to do some inverted rows. Oh well…next week

Mesocycle 20 - Week 2

Beginning Thoughts:

Tonight's training…

Workout:

Deadlift Singles @ > 90%:
455 lbs @ 96%
475 lbs @ 100%
455 lbs @ 96%
455 lbs @ 96%
455 lbs @ 96%
So, to recap:
Week 1 = 7 Singles = Average Weight @ 445.7 lbs
Week 2 = 5 Singles = Average Weight @ 459.0 lbs
Next week is gonna be tres difficult with 10 singles. Should be quite an experience…

Pistol Squats:
3 + 3 = 6 reps
Was running out of time. Didn't record these.

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Mobility Drills:

Deadlifts:

Overall Impression:

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Mesocycle 20 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

Worked out late tonight….I had barely eaten any food all day. Weird.

Workout:

Pull-ups:
BW x 14 reps
BW x 11 reps
BW x 10 reps
BW x 9 reps
Total = 44 reps
Tiring….

Front Squats:
270 lbs x 1 rep @ 95%
230 lbs x 5 reps x 3 sets @ 82.5%
This is Week 9 of Brad Gillingham's cycle. Last week is max-out session of sorts. I paused at the bottom of the 270 lbs. Felt really awesome.

Metabolic Conditioning for 2 rounds:
Lunge with Unilateral Press = 40 lbs x 5 reps
Renegade Rows = 40 lbs x 5 reps
Kettlebell Swings = 60 lbs x 10 reps
Dumbbell Windmills = 30 lbs x 8 reps
Felt gooooood…..I almost threw up after the second round.

Videos:

Pull-ups, Front Squats & Metabolic Conditioning:

Overall Impression:

Decent workout.

Mesocycle 20 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

I hadn't eaten enough so I decided to skip working out today. Decided to do some grip training instead.

Workout:

Walmart Gripper:
5 reps x 2 sets
Set 1 was done slow and Set 2 was done faster. 1.5 minutes rest between sets.

Heavy Gripper 150:
2 reps x 2 sets
No setting for the gripper for this. It felt kinda difficult. Rest Interval was 2 minutes.

Captain of Crush (CoC) #1:
4 Singles
2 Doubles
This was very difficult and took everything I had. Naturally, I used a setting for this because I'm still new at this. I managed a clean close on two of the singles. Everything else was really close. But this is an improvement from last time where I couldn't even close one.

Heavy Gripper 150:
6 reps
With setting and done quick. A good finisher.

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Nothing special.

Overall Impression:

Looking forward to tomorrow's workout….

Mesocycle 20 - Week 1

Beginning Thoughts:

Just got back from my workout….It's been a LONG day and an even longer week. I really thought that Senior year last semester would be a blast but it's been an awfully painful experience and trying to balance school, diet, gf, friends, working out, etc is very very difficult.

Workout:

Deadlift Singles @ > 90%:
430 lbs @ 90%
455 lbs @ 96%
445 lbs @ 94%
475 lbs @ 100%
430 lbs @ 90%
455 lbs @ 96%
430 lbs @ 90%
This was very tiring. Week 1 of this system has me doing 6-8 singles so I did 7 and called it quits. It's funny that the last set was actually the easiest.

Pistol Squats:
3 + 3 = 6 reps
I've been slacking off on this exercise for too long. I'm gonna get back to doing these regularly now.

Hand Extensions:
2 bands x 20 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Deadlifts and Pistol Squats:

Overall Impression:

I got accepted into a national Economics society called Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE) which is awesome.

I am gonna rest this weekend. I didn't sleep enough on Spring Break and I need to play catch up.

I hope everyone's having a good week. Thanks for reading!

Mesocycle 19 - Week 4

Beginning Thoughts:

This is yesterday's training. I had to finish a project and instead of my planned 2 hours it took me 6 and therefore I had to skip dinner. I was going to skip the workout and grab food but I decided to go to the gym and I managed to get a huge meal after I got out past midnight.

Workout:

Pull-ups:
BW x 13 reps
BW x 11 reps
BW x 10 reps
BW x 10 reps
Total = 44 reps
Goal achieved. New goal is to hit 50 reps in 4 sets.

Banded Overhead Press:
135 lbs x 3 reps
145 lbs x 3 reps
155 lbs x 2 reps
165 lbs x 1 rep
This was very difficult.

Dips:
6 + 6 + 6 = 18 reps in 3 minutes

Videos:

Pull-ups and Banded OHP:

Overall Impression:

I hope everyone's having a good week. Thanks for reading!