WEDNESDAY JULY 18

left calf still tight. OK once I'm warmed up....

hang power snatch: warmups, 135x4x3, 145x4x3 ---jeez, it's been a while since I did these. man I'm weak. I want to get 185 by Christmas

press (cleaned): 145x5 165x3 185x2 205x5x5 --hard. Gotta keep pushing... Power snach made my upper back tired, I guess. Plus lower back is still reeling from Monday's abuse.

power shrug: 315x5 425x10,10,10 --not as much pop as a couple weeks ago. stay here.

pullup machine: 4x6 SS with bench leg/hip raise combo 4x8 (hard.... area of improvement)

I could write a book's worth of comments but I need to get ready for bed. I will note that the presses seemed hard at first, but got easier as I went along. Last two sets were actually pretty smooth.

MONDAY JULY 16

power jerks seem to have fucked my left calf/knee a bit. This is good, that whole area still needs loosening up despite the progress I've made this year. Still excited about nailing the technique! Stretch/foam roller bigtime before lifting.

Saw the chiro today and got hips, mid-back, and neck cracked. seemed to help my messed up mid-back from yesterday.

SQUAT: bar x bazillion, 135x5 185x5 225x3 275x3 315x1 365x1 405x8x3 --no doubt, but hard. It only gets harder. Phew!

GM to pins: rest on pins, but do not loosen. 225x5 275x5,5,5 --285x4 sets next week. Goal is 350x5's. That should net me some nice back power.

T-bar row: 4x5 with 2plates + 40 lbs.

GHR: 10,8,8 SS with decline situps 35x3x10 (easy today for some reason? no overhead work?)

ham's were fucked, as was lower back after those GM's. GHRs are a keeper and might help my knee to feel more :)

diet: low cals, but good.

New Direction

Got to thinking about stuff this past week and realized it's time to shake things up a little. Gonna keep sets across in the squat, but gonna drop to twice a week. Anyway, here's the breakdown:

Sunday: power clean, push jerk/power jerk, other stuff
Monday: squats (8x3) GM from pins: 3-5 sets of whatever, just push up volume, ghr, t-bar row, abs

Wednesday: power snatch, clean and press, power shrug

Thursday: 4-board press, with one set full range bench

Friday: speed squats, front squats, back raise on GHR, abs

4 weeks loading, 4 weeks intensity where I shoot for the 5-rep PR.

gonna try ten pound weekly jumps in the squat, at least for the loading portion

Not gonna flesh the details in here yet...

OK, SUNDAY JULY 15

hung over like shit from Cal's wedding last night. No more of that the rest of the summer (extreme drunkenness)

hang power clean: barxbazillion 135x3,3 185x2 205x1 235x1 255xmiss(bail) 255x6x2 --harrowing due to my condition. Will increase reps regardless

power/push jerk: 135x5 185x3 205x2 225x1 255x5x3 --wow, not bad. STrained the mid back, but tech was OK. Gonna stay with this.

DB press superset with pullup machine: 75'sx4x5, and 4x5

supposed to do abs and rear delts, but will hit rear delts later.

Mid back strain is killing me now, but I got chiro tomorrow so that should all clear up.

405 for 8 triples tomorrow. God help me....

WEDNESDAY JULY 11

cals too low today, but I functioned pretty well in spite of it. Probably eating all beef tomorrow to keep an even keel.

hang power clean: warmups to 225x1 240x6x3 --last set I reset every rep. I'm gonna throw in the towel on keeping my grip in the rack. Not going to happen, unless I am pressing. Rack is for shit. So now it's take 'em from the floor for all 3 reps. More work that way, at least. Good news: this was pretty easy. I may try and push for 255-260x6x3. Which would be hella cool!

front squat: 135x4, 185x1 225x1 250x3x5 --better groove this time, but not necessarily easy. I can tell that I'm going to have to spend at least one full cycle (8-9 weeks) doing heavy front squats after I get my 5 bills. Maybe good for inseason training?

DB press: 75'sx5x5 superset with hansen squats 35x6,6,6 each leg. Gonna coast on the DB's here. Better to push everyting else up and push the DB weights up on a cycle-to-cycle basis.

assisted machine pullups: 5x5 at no. 4, PR. last 3 sets SS with static decline situps 35x10,8,8 (hard. Static stuff is good, stick with it!)

notes:

fronts really hitting my abs, and mid-back. This is shit to address. Don't know how to hit the mid back harder. Bent rows, yeah, but some type of GM might be better? IDK...

need to push the pace, gonna focus on that all next week. not so much the Mondays for this cycle, but the WED and FRI workouts definitely

skipped ice bath cuz it was late and I'm lazy.

TUESDAY JULY 10

kickball.

no beer, lots of diet coke

good low cal day, low again tomorrow....

Squat: barxmeh, 135x5 185x3 225x3 275x1,2 315x1, 355x1 395x8x3 --last two sets killer. Next week will be tough...

press (cleaned): 200x5x5 -tough here too. low back fatigued.

rack dead: 315x1 DO 405x1 485x3,3,3 ---DOH!!! forgot backoff set!

t-bar row: 5lbs more than last week 4x5. This was a load, holy shit. stay.

calves: 2 sets.

No abs, somebody using the bench

not gonna lie, was pretty wiped after this. sweat lke a hog too.

Ice bath afterwards, will report results tomorrow...

SUNDAY 7/8

cardio: 50 minute walk. One was enough. Heat was ridiculous. Sweating my nuts off....

didn't get out of work till 7. It never fucking ends......

FRIDAY JULY 6

push press: barxmeh 135x3,3 155x3 185x2 205x1 225x1 245x6x3 --felt kind of blah. But maybe with all this leg work I can't expect a good PP? managed a rebend on a few reps. If it gets hard to lock out, I will start rebending. short downstroke seems to help. Good leg drive. this worked my back, so I am going to do some extra low back work tomorrow.

squats: barx5 135x5 185x3 225x2 265x1 285x12x2 --first 4 or so *felt* ragged, but were pretty good. Then I moved my stance in so as not to tear my damn adductor off, and the squats TOOK OFF. All the rest of the sets were good. Down controlled, up fast. Remember: shoulder width, shoulder width, shoulder width!

close grip 4-board: full range warmups to 225x1 295x3x5 boards. 245x5 (hard) full range afterwards

power shrug: 365x10 (EZ) 385x10 405x10,10. 405 for all 5 sets nex week, then add 10-20 a week till I can't pop it anymore. This is straight up for all 7 weeks. I plan on training some assists hard during the "intermission" week. These felt great, btw.

pulldown SS with decine situps: narrower grip x 10,8,8 heavy and 35lbs for 3 sts of 10

eating all my fruit to carb up tonight. up early to hit the supp store tomorrow.

Not bad, for week 1. Gotta hold together. Squats will get damn tough.

cardio: 1 hour walk (may have been 50 minutes, inaccurate time reading).

Foam roller.

Diet was all liquid until supper. Staved off the urge to gorge. A half-lb of meat seems to be all I can eat comfortably anymore.

WEDNESDAY 7/4

cardio: 1-hour walk

diet: hi-cal day, back down tomorrow....

TUESDAY 7/3

NO AM cardio cuz it was raining.

Woke up with ketosis headache and generally felt like crap. Felt better as day went on

diet was excellent.

workout:

hang power clean: barxmeh 135x3,3 185x2 205x2? 235x6x3 --not getting a perfect rack because I am holding the hook grip between reps. I do a loose rack on the last rep of the set. add 5lbs per week here, stay conservative but KEEP SETS THE SAME, even add....

note: I had my sleeves but my knees felt so good I forgot to pull them up before starting the work sets. How bout that?

front squat: 135x4 185x3 225x1 245x5,5,5 --conservative. may need to focus on keeping hips pointed properly. perhaps move left leg forward a bit? Do some tests tomorrow!

DB press: 75'5x5x5 --nice
superset with hansen squat 35x3x6 each leg. These sucked!

pullup machine: at no. 5 for 8 reps, realized I should be number 4, and did 4x4 at that weight. will add reps. Ab work between sets (decline situps, 1 set of leg raises, but they are too easy, wtf?)

not bad, should work on picking up the pace in the cleans. WAs unsure at first due to trying the "keep hook" method...

Monday 7/2

Slept for SHIT sunday night. Why the FUCK did I drink that tea?

HOLY FUCK am I sore also. I guess I gotta actually work out during an off week!

Cardio: 40 minute walk
2-hand swing: 5,10,15,5,10 minimal rest

diet: awesome

Sunday part 2

Walked for almost an hour after downing like a third of a lb of cheese, and .75lbs lean ground beef. Had some broccoli and iced tea when I got back, prolly have a protein shake before bed.

tightening up a bit, but hope that I can loosen up throughout the day tomorrow. Calories are being slashed after the last meal tonight. Turkey.... blech. :(

SUNDAY 7/1

This workout moved back 1 day early. Trained at 1:30-3:00 PM

squat: forgot knee sleeves (doh!) so wasn't sure how this would go
barxmeh 135x5 185x3 225x2 275x2 325x1 375x8x3 --harder than I expected, but no doubt. Just shakin the cobwebs out after a week off. No fucking doubt. Quads and glutes hit hard...

clean and press: hard to get going on this. barxmeh 135x5 165x5 195x5x5 --hard to get down for cleans from the floor. I guess I'll just flat back it for now. Oly shoes heels too high? good for squtas, so I'm keeping them.... the "number 4" position is what I shoot for on cleans, and arch actively coming off the floor. Presses felt good.

rack RDL/dead: 315x1 no straps (tested grip...) 405x1 475x3x3, 365x8

t-bar row: 2 plates + 35 x 4x5 alt. with 2 sets of calves.

Skip abs
Skip close grip bench (may leave it out altogether, will try to do more upper body volume on FRiday, the squats really took it out of me)

diet:
some cheese, left over pizza crust, 1 handful m&ms 1scoop whey + 1 scoop casein prewrkout

2. post workout shake (the usual)

more to come.....

JUNE

June departs with a whimper.....

week off successful. I felt a big fuckin knot in my adductor at Tuesday's kickball game, but the pain seems to have abatd and squatting doesnt even aggravate it. Diet slowly deteriorated toward the end of the week. Not getting fatter, but feeling restless and wanting to get back to the gym.

JULY will start with a hateful ROAR!!!

here's the plan:

7 week loading cycle. 2 3 week meso's separated by a one week gasp for air where I cut volume back by 25-50% on the biggest stuff. going to 3 week because I seem to crash in week 4 if I push myself. After the 7 week gig it's fucking intensification time, for a month. Then back to volume. My goals for the loading cycle include 435x8x3. Yes.

The shit starts tomorrow 7/1 because the gym is closed on Wednesday the 4th, which is fine.

Other change: increasing reps on cleans, and adding power shrugs for trapularity


3Day, July 2007
start 7/1 (sunday, first 2 days moved up due to july 4 being on Wednesday). Run 3 weeks, one down week (cut back volume) then 3 more big weeks, then 1 week fully off.
goals: 415x8x3 squat, then 435x8x3
365x3x3 board press, close grip full range 300x5 (BIG PR)
press 225x5x5 or 8x3
cleans: 255x6x3 (tall order, homes)
rack dead: 500+ for 3x3, no fucking around
DB's: 85's
push press: 285x5x2
front squat 275


Monday:
squat: 8x3
press: (cleaned) 5x5 into 8x3
rack dead: 3x3, 1 set backoff
optional close grip bench 1 or 2x5 (just as assistance)bent rows or t-bar 5x5
calves/abs

Wednesday:
hang power clean: 6x3
front squat: 3x5
DB presses: 3x8
lats
calves/abs

Friday:
push press: 6x3
speed squat: 12x2
close grip 4-board: 3x3, 6x3 full range close grip
power shrug: 4x8-12
more rows?
calves/abs

FRIDAY JUNE 22

alright, wednesday was a clusterfuck. Push press up to 265x1,2,2 and that was it. Couldn't lock for shit, Upper body fried. The fucked up thing is that I had enough leg drive to kill it. ah, well. Bagged it there.

Thursday was at the bar. oof.

Friday June 22:

squat: warmups to 225x1 265x1 285x1 305x12x2 --first 3 sets were ugly, then I picked up steam

close grip 4-board: 335x2,3,3,3,3 --yikes

bent row: 305x5,5 with straps. didn't feel it in upper back at all! just lower. fuck it.

new cycle to commence after a week of cardio and band exercise pumping. Going to a 3 week mesocycle since that's all I can seem to handle, will have to jump for a smaller PR which sux. Ah, well. Improvise adapt, and overcome. Obviously, the workload for Pressing was too high. Too much benching, probably. DB pressing Def. didn't help. Although, since I couldn't last 4 weeks, maybe 3 weeks would be perfect with that load. We shall see....

MONDAY JUNE 18

Week 4 commences....

squat: barxmeh 135x5 185x3 225x2 275x1 315x1 365x1 405x8x3 (all time PR). --WOO!!! back felt tired at the beginning, but I killed these squats. first 5 or so were very good, rest got hard FAST. Rest times were according to how much time I needed.

bench press: barx15 135x5 185x3 225x1 245x1 270x8x3 --OK. Skipped one-leg stuff to recover better for Wed.

rack RDL: 405x2 485x3,3,3,3 --felt better than last week

DB press: 70'sx10,10 --first 10 was actually easy. Sweet.

seated row: 100x12,12,10
superset with seated calves 3 sets

DONE

2 more to go....

FRIDAY JUNE 15

Company picnic today, so diet is shit. blech. Back on track next week, then doing a revamp, hopefully dropping calories a bit at least on non-lifting days.

used a 9mm heel lift today instead of the little one. Big difference, on squats at least. See below!

squat: barxm3h, m3h, 135x5 185x3 225x2 --feeling awesome here 255x1 295x12x2 --fucking KILLED this, unfucking believeable. Haven't felt this good on squats and a LONG time. felt very balanced, dropped down and popped right the fuck up again. Can't wait for Monday now!

close grip 4-board: warmups full range to 225x2, then 275x1 325x8x3
hansen squats (between bench sets) 35x4x6 each leg

DB press: 70's x 6,8,6,6

bent row: 295x5,5,5,5,5 --worried about grip, but my fingers held up to the challenge. 305 is gonna be a bitch. almost seems like grip was more tired than back. Maybe time to hang these up for a bit and hit grip much harder.....

gym was closing, so that's all

not totoally trashed after this. Am I getting in better shape? or did the extra carbs by way of 2 brat buns, a bar, and a donut give me an extra boost? LOL

THURSDAY JUNE 14

fucking christ, middle of june...

cardio: 50 minutes walk

WEDNESDAY JUNE 13

Tuesday was a good day, however kickball was crap for cardio. more beer afterwards. I essentially suck.



Wednesday's stuff:



push press: barxmeh 135x5,2 155x3 185x2 205x2 225x1 245x1 260x9x2 --shaky at first. Lockouts were hard the whole time. Leg drive was awesome.



hang power clean: warmups same as always, then 255x2,1,1,2,1,1,1,1. 10 total reps. maintaining doubles thru all 4 weeks is a pipe dream I guess.



press: 195x3x5 --not easy. oof.



front squat: 195x1 245x5,5,5 --bizarrely, this was the easiest exercise of the night



pullup machine: #5x5, #4x5



pulldowns with slightly narrower grip: 12,10,10

seated calves: 3 sets



rainbow: on decline bench10lbs 2x10 each way. I need to branch out on ab work, but this ain't the ticket.



Notes:



beat the fuck up today. Didn't feel it until I started lifting. whole back is very fatigued. This can obviously be pegged on the aggressive squat loading, and perhaps the fact that the DL loading is aggressive, in terms of sheer intensity. I have somehow strained an erector or some type of upper back muscle in my mid back, next to the spine on the left side. This is annoying as hell. I have decided to focus hard on recovery, especially via nturition (as I type this I am no longer full from the post-workout shake. usually I stay full for a little while, at least. More food.), and secondarily via stretching/foam roller.



Now, as I approach the last week of the cycle I have to begin planning what to do next:



1. retain squat loading pattern. Goal is 425 for 8 sets of 3 front squats are really working out on Wednesdays now, so keep that the way it is. Speed squats are essential.

2. deadlift loading goes to 3 sets of 5 across, with 10lbs increase per week. probably 405 to start? Maybe less?

3. Bench loading stays exactly the same. Goals are 275x8x3 BP, and 355x8x3 CG 4-board

4. push press loading pattern is the same, though not going to be as aggressive. 5lbs per month total. CONSIDERING not adding sets every week the next cycle. pushing too hard is a recipe for disaster.

5. military press, same. in light of NOT doing true "caster stylee", may do 4x5, but 3x5 tonite was hard.

6. A physique evaluation will have to be done to determine if I need to put bent rows aside for a few months to blast my lower back with GMs, and possibly back raise ISO's a la Duane Hansen. If I do this, lat work will be maintained by doing t-bars and cardio on saturday

7. Further thought is needed, but may drop any one-leg work on Monday, to stack it on Friday. This is to allow better recovery.

8. Cleans. next cycle's starting weight may be at 245, but I will only add 5lbs a week. The loading patter would be 3 sets of 2, then 3 sets of 3-5 with straps, -20lbs.

More later.

Diet was good. Diet tomrrow may not be so good. More calories needed......

MONDAY JUNE 11

squat: barx5,3 135x5 185x3 225x3 275x1 335x1 385x8x3 --yowee!

bench press: barx15 135x5 185x5 225x1 265x8x3
hansen squats: 25x4x6 each leg

rack RDL: 405x1 475x4x3

DB press: 70's x 10,8 --didn't push the 2nd set. low back was smoked

seated row: 12,12,10
seated calves: 3 sets

oof!

diet:
1. 1 can sardines, 2 serv ON casein
2. .7lb ground sirloin with 2-3 oz cheese
3. 2 serv ON casein
4. .7lb ground sirloin with more cheese
5. 4 serv ON whey, 1.5 cups blue/straberries, 4 spoons gatorade

SATURDAY JUNE 9

I felt sublime after the work I put in last night. Friday nights are my favorite night of the week. Nothing to do but train, put down a heavenly shake, watch some South Park, some web surfing, then turn on C2C and hit the sack with nothing to worry about. Now as I sit here, I have hard time thinking about anything but Monday and what I want to accomplish. Keep the momentum going!

Pretty sore this AM. Oof.

diet:

1. 1lb ground turkey breast, 4-5oz cheese
2. a bit more turkey breast, with 1oz cheese
3. Salad from festival, with chicken breast and assorted other goodies (no dressing, just oil)
4. .75lb ground beef with more cheese.
5. TBD, if needed. i'ts 9:00 Now, so maybe not.

cardio: 50 minute walk

FRIDAY JUNE 8

THURSDAY:
lots of cleaning, etc. Diet OK, but not stellar. Needed some calories.

cardio: 40 minute walk

Friday:

squats: barxmeh 135x5 185x3 225x3 255x1 285x12x2 --picked up the pace. Was winded. Good.

close grip 4 board: warmups to 225, 275, then 315 for 8 sets of 3
hansen squats between sets, 4 sets of 6 per leg holding 25 lbs.

DB press: 70's x 8,6,6,6 --tough! stay here.

bent row: 285x5,5,5,5,5 --fast pace on this, gym closing.

decline situps: 35x20 (rest pause)

no calves cuz out of time.

diet:

1. 1 serv ON casein (bad, should have more)
2. 2 serv ON casein
3. .75lb ground sirloin, a few ounces cheese
4. same minus the cheese
5. (post workout) 4 serv ON whey, 1/3 pint blueberries, cup or two strawberries, 4 spoons gatorade. Hit the spot!
6. post-post: 1 can sardines with 3 slices sharp cheddar.

WEDNESDAY 6/6

Feel fucking drained today. Fucking work! Next few weeks are gonna be ugly, what with all the family shit, graduation, the boy going away, stentor upgrade, epic upgrade, bannasch..... FUCK

push press: barxmeh, meh 135x3,3 155x3 185x2 205x1 225x1 255x8x2 --OK

hang power clean: barx5 135x3 155x1 185x1 225x1 245x6x2

press: 190x3x5 (each set cleaned) -- hard but easy...

front squat: 185x1 240x5,5,5 --gut busting. Good core work.

pullup machine: 5th x 5 reps, 4th x 5 reps (PR, possibly all-time PR)

pulldowns: 90x10,10,8
ss w/ seated calves 3 sets

decline situp: 35x20. Slight twiinge in lower abs. Watch it.

diet: good today. Good yesterday too, 'cept for a gay sandwich at Jimmy Seas. pfft... and beer.

1. .5lb ground sirloin
2. 2 serv ON casein
3. .5lb ground sirloin
4. .5lb ground sirloin
5. 4 serv ON whey, 1-2 cups strawberries, 4 tbsp gatorade powder

Diet for 6/4 and thoughts

diet:
1. 2 serv ON casein
2. 3 serv ON casein
3. .5lb ground sirloin
4. .3-ish lb ground sirloin and 2oz. cheese
5. 4 serv ON whey 1.5 cup strawberries 3 spoons gaytorade powder (mmm!)

notes:

cardio, cardio, cardio

Foam roller foam roller foam roller.

Rage, hatred, aggression, determination

Never, ever, ever, ever, stop. EVER

PRIDE!!!!

MONDAY JUNE 4

fuck.... much to do this week.

headphones fucked. Didn't get to listen to 300 soundtrack while squatting. Didn't need it I guess. Ha!

squats: barxmeh, meh 135x5 185x3 225x2 275x1 315x1 365x8x3 --felt damn good. Gets harder next week though. hooah!!!

bench press: 260x8x3 --7th set was murder for some reason, then I nailed the 8th. Damn benches are slick now for some reason. Fucked my setup a bit. Gonna have to chalk the bench next time. That should net me some more power. More "hansen" squats between sets of benching.

rack RDL 405x1 465x4x3 --felt better than last week. Resigned myself to hte fact that the first rep of a set may be ugly. Really felt it in my back trying to keep an arch. Excellent.

DB press: 70'sx9,9 --second set near failure

unloading the DL between sets of DB press counts as GPP, lol!

here's where I fucked up:

seated row: 2 sets of 15, with what was 90 on the stack, but I only attached one of the dual pulleys to the handle. With 2 pulleys it doubles the load. Duh. Stupid machine, why did I pick this exercise? HAHAHA. Changed it for 2 more sets. Did hit my upper upper back (between shoulder blades) nicely though. Wont' be doing this one again, however.

superset seated row with 4 sets calves.


about an hour and ten. Not bad, but I'd like to move faster through the benching and assists.

Sunday 6/3

Cardio: 40 minute walk after it finally stopped raining. Cooled off a little too. Sweet.

Week 2 begins tomorrow...

FRIDAY 6/1

Thursday was a debacle due to work. Still got cardio in though.

Friday:

squat: barxmeh 135x5 185x3 225x1 275x12x2 --felt REAL loose tonight. Good. Foam roller is doing the trick! Good speed on the squats too

close grip 4-board: 295x8x3. Between sets managed some full-depth hansen squats. The boards were kind of easy, did 4 reps on some sets. tri's still felt it at the end. May go up to 315 next week instead of 305. May have to do 2 cycles of this.

DB press: 70'sx8,5,5,5

bent row: 275x5x5

arch-ups: 275x8 (based on bryce lane's "partial GM", but bar in hands)

arch-ups: bar on floor, get set like for a Pendlay row, arch back and squeeze shoulder blades, lower back to floor.

Hansen squats: one legged squat variant. back foot on short block behind. Front (working) foot in front, but not as far as a Bulgarian split squat. squat down with knee going forward (quad emphasis). Try to get back knee as close to front foot's heel as possible. Very good for my quads.

Good workout.

diet: Good, except post workout where I ate M&Ms and had to use Gaytorade powder in my whey shake instead of strawberries (I was out)

WEDNESDAY MAY 30

push press: barxmeh 135x3,3 155x2 185x2 205x1 225x1 250x7x2 --heh, focused on bringing my shoulders into it from the start. These rocketed up.

hang power clean: barxmeh 135x4 185x1,1 205x1 235x6x2

clean + strict press: 185x5,5,5

front squat: 185x1 235x5,5,5 --eesh!!!

pullup machine: no. 5 x 8, no. 4 x 4r --stronger

pulldown superset with seated calves: 12,10,8 --hard. Esp. calves. didn't match Sunday's reps. Presumably because of kickball.

done, didn't need abs cuz fronts made them cramp! Great workout.

diet:

1. .3lbs ground sirloin w/ 3oz cheese
2. 2 serv ON casein
3. .6lbs ground sirloin
4. .3lbs ground sirloin w./ 4 oz cheese
5. 4 scoops whey + 1 cup strawberries (ran out, doh) and 3/4 cup sugar (post workout, necessary)
6. one clice cheese

TUESDAY MAY 29

cardio:

KB swings: numerous sets with a minute rest, 2 handed. Highest reps 25, lowest 10. Done while watching simpsons. Decent wind, I feel good after this.

KB sumo high pull: 3 sets of 12 or whatever --hard on hips. Maybe need box squats?

grip: 144x7 singles

Kickball.

Diet:
1. .6lbs ground sirloin or so
2. 2 serv ON casein
3. .5lb ground sirloin 3oz cheese (approx, maybe 4oz)
4. 2 serv ON casein
5. beer before kickball
6. 1 can sardines

MONDAY MAY 28

memorial day. Everyone is out at barbecues and little parties and shit. Not me. I didn't do shit today. I crave the days off, but I then yearn for the grind. Guess the Grind is where I do best. Saddling up for tomorrow....

soreness report: quads, glutes, hips, traps, a little tri and shoulders. Good. (good in the sense that it means I hit the bodyparts I wanted to hit hardest... quads and upper back)

cardio: 40 minute walk at noon. Very fast pace, very hard due to waste product buildup (soreness) in legs.

grip: RT 144lbs 5 singles per hand (doing the Justa thing. 5lbs or so a week progression. 200lbs is the current goal)

more cardio: circuit of band stuff (GMs, pullaparts, presses) immediately after the grip work. just to finish off and try different stuff

Cardio II: another 40-minute walk at 4:50 PM

diet: good.


I will start meticulously recording my diet again starting tomorrow. Depending on Kickball shenanigans, I will vary the intensity of the cheat day Saturday (which will now be a post-cardio meal... heh.)

Now for a dilema:

last 6 weeks or so I've been doing bent rows after the squats and bench. While I like the bent rows, they may have run their course. They don't hit my lats so much, but my lower and mid back (thoracic spinal erectors) seem to take more of the pounding. I dunno....

On second thought I'll leave em in. If I think I need more erector stress I'll throw it back on the rack and do a set of GM's, trying not to bend my knees as much.

You know, it's damn hard to keep plugging away at shit for months on end that you KNOW will make you stronger. You want to change, but you shouldn't. I should change my view to black-and-white, that way no grass will be greener on any side of any fence!

SUNDAY MAY 27

NEW CYCLE BEGINS

Modified; sticking with 3 day to make sure my testicles are attached. More volume, more attention to workout pace this time

SQUAT: forgot knee sleeeves, went at it anyway. barxmeh 135x5 185x3 225x2 275x1 305x1 345x8x3 in about 10 minutes. Hard but easy. It felt light, but I couldn't move it fast.

bench press: barx10 135x6 185x3 225x1 255x8x3 --between sets I tried hansen squats* for the left leg. able to go deeper on each set. better than bulgarians off teh bench.

rack RDL: 455x3x3 --snag here, this felt heavy as fuck after 8 work sets of squats. Should be able to push through, however. Will drop to singles if necessary.

DB press: 70'sx8,8 upper back gave out on last 2 reps of set 2. will add sets/weight as I see fit, as long as total load goes up weekly.

seated row: pulling to chin or collarbone not gonna happen. I guess I picked too heavy a weight. BUT, the regular seated row to chest (as opposed to stomach) hit my trouble area in the upper back anyway. Sticking with it.

superset the above with seated calves, 3 sets of 30 (debilitating!)

decline situp: 35x12 --fucking wiped at this point.

--notes: I had to start a day early because gym is closed tomorrow.

FRIDAY MAY 25

This week truly turned into an off week. Wednesday I did some BTN push press and decided they suck. My shoulders and back have felt "off" since then. Diet has been good since Tuesday night when we had the impromptu kickball cookout.

New cycle starts tomorrow, one day early because of Memorial Day, and the gym being closed.


Sunday:
Press: (caster progression)
4board: 5x5
lats
cardio

Monday:
Squat: 8x3 one minute rest
rack RDL: 4 heavy triples
upper back work
abs

Wednesday:
speed push press –caster
hang power clean: 6x2 (or singles, adding 10lbs weekly)
DB press
lats... bent rows?


Friday:
speed squat
front squat
bench press
abs


Notes:
calves 3 days a week, between sets of unrelated stuff. Go hard. Need bigger calves.
All board pressing is thumbs length or less from smooth. Close grip.
Caster method for pressing:
military: 7-10x3, 185 start
push press: 7-10x2, 250lbs start
board press start weights:
4-board heavy: 315
4-board volume: 275
squat start weights:
heavy: 325 (8 trips one minute rest)

I like the look of this.
Tomorrow I may do extra work because of the extra rest I get before Wednesday.

my main goal is 405x8x3 in the squat.

SUNDAY MAY 20

8:30 AM

push press: 225x8x2 245, 265 285 --heavy ones were shaky at lockout. :(

close grip 4-board: 275x4 295x5 --295 will be a good starting weight for 8x3, I think. It really wasn't that hard.

DB press: 65'sx10,10 --focused on full lockout at the top, with 'bells over my ears. hard on the traps.

lat pulldown


later that day, I achieved a drinking PR, but at a high price. I puked for the first time in 4 years!