Saturday squat/military

Regular warm up

Front squat
barx10, 135x3, 225x1

back squat
225x1,315x1,365x1, 405x 10 singles

-I was totally exhausted, but the reps felt easy enough. Didn't wear my rehband shorts for the first 5 days, wanted to see how I felt without them, if they actually gave me anything. Wore them today, and it just kept my groin and adductors warm and loose... Going to keep wearing them.

Checked my depth just wearing rehbands, if it was an issue, I was going to redo the whole week, but I was going more than deep enough, very clear calf to hamstring contact. Feeling pretty good about that.

Military
-couldn't do it. Might have to do this in the mornings.

Week 1 thoughts
-so far so good, eased into things first couple days and I think that was good. Getting more comfortable with the highbar form all the time.

Not terribly sore, but extremely fatigued. I've been doing AM cardio with megan all week, I think it's been helping, but I can nap on command right now.

Friday squat

Regular warm up

Front squat
barx10,135x3,225x3

Back squat
225x3, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1,405 for 8 singles

Was feeling fairly awful heading into this, once I got going I was fine, right knee wasn't a problem at all.

Thursday - squat/military

Warm up
bike
dynamic hip work
stretching for pecs, lats, shoulders
band dislocations

Front squat
135x3,225x2
Back squat - no belt
315x1, 5x1 365, 375x1,385x1,395x1,405x1

- just taking this very slow, and considering I could have done this whole workout with front squats. I'm just going to ease into things. Starting to feel pretty tight, but my knees arent too bad so far.

Military
145 for 5 sets of 7

- I was pretty gassed after squats, so these were tough, but I got through them just fine

Tuesday military Wednesday sq/dl

I sorta fell into squatting every day again, not set timeline, but off the top of my head I'd like to give it 6 weeks. A few things i'm going to do differently is to warm up much much better, the no warm up had its place before, but this time I'm going to really loosen up my shoulders and hips before squatting, and probably start doing some glute activation stuff... my left glute isnt working that well I don't think. The other thing, if it gets to be really really painful, then I'm just going to tone it down. I'm also going to go beltless for a while, see how that goes, and high bar. So far, the bar placement is perfect, no strain on my arms or shoulders, and I really like that way my squat looks.

Tuesday
Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for shoulders, pecs, lats
band dislocations

Back squat
worked up to a 365 double. - these felt too heavy for comfort

Military
4x9 with 135

Face pulls - 50
side laterals- 2 sets


Wednesday
Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for pecs, shoulders, lats
band dislocations

Back squat
10 singles with 365
-the first one felt horrible, the last one felt weightless... so I think I'm onto something.

Deadlift - warmed up sumo
495 for 2 sets of 3 reps
-going to go for 3x3 next week, no need to rush it.

Saturday Military Monday squat

Thought I was over being sick, but Megan and I are both dying, quesy stomach and shaky legs and light headedness lke crazy. Not a huge deal, I got the big bottle of Cold fx, and a ton of Vitamin C.

Saturday Military
warm up:
hip, shoulder and lat stretches

Military
155 for 7 sets of 5
-felt heavier than I would have liked, but I think it's mostly from focusing on getting my head through every rep.

face pulls - 3 sets
side laterals - 3 sets


Monday Squat
-went in with good intentions, but it was a tough night.

Warm up
dynamic stuff
shoulder, lat and chest stretches

High bar back squat
135x3,225x3,315x2,365x1
-I couldn't believe how heavy these felt, literally felt like 500 on my back. I'm not going to panic quite yet, at the very worst, my squat will just be stronger for it when I switch back to a lower bar position.
-I wanted to do some heavy stand ups and gh sit ups, but not today.

Friday Squat

Was thinking about 445 all day, came up pretty short. Not feeling the heat though, I made a lot of progress and think I just burned out, and hit my peak on Monday.

Warm up
bike for 5 mins
bodyweight squats
-got into position pretty easy

Front squat - used thick plates caused a lot more bar whip than usual today as well
365x1- went up well, but I was having problems walking the weights back in
405x1- went up but not smooth, if I had this to do over I'd have taken 385
425x1- upper back found this heavy, rounded a bit
445xf- just went straight down, you always feel like a tool when you get all fired up to look like you unracked the bar and dropped it. I just set up for shit, and it went straight down.
430xf - went for a small PR, but I was just tired
All in all, tonite sucked, I'm still very happy about monday though. I think if I spent some time doing singles I could squeeze out a PR, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to do right now, I'd really like to get my back squat going again. Something to think about.

Thursday military

Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for lats, pecs, shoulder
stick dislocations

Military press
135 for 5 sets of 7 - really focusing on pressing back a bit, head through, getting the weight on my traps, and holding it at the top for a second. I usually get lazy and don't fully lock it out.

I wanna see what happens to my posture from no horizontal pressing, could be kinda cool. I'm interested in seeing how my deadlift form reacts once I bring in back in.

Wednesday squat

Warm up
-didn't really do one, I just sorta grabbed a bar and got a rack. Knee felt bad, but that's usual. Thought it might warm up, but just stayed very tight and was clicking, my knees were clicking on each rep. Pretty sure that just means I'm uber tight, which is exactly what I want right now for a max.

only went:
 Front Squat
275 for 6 sets of 2

-Probably should have warmed up more, but I'd rather stay tight.

Tuesday bench

Pec bruised almost all the way across now on the left side. It doesn't hurt, the knot is gone, but I've decided not to bench until the bruising is gone. Lets me try some fun stuff on miltary press, and if I put a lot into military maybe I'll get something on my bench.  That meant finding my max today.

No real warm up

Military from the racks
135x10,185x5, 205x2, 225x1, 245xf - couldn't press it past the top of my head.

No big deal, I really just wanted a number to start with, and I'm really going to work on getting my head through each rep. I need to loosen up, I need to warm up my hips and shoulders warmed up with an actual warm up. Fun workout.

Fri-Sat-Mon

Friday
Warmed up
foam roll IT bands
dynamic stuff
bodyweight squats
10 mins on the bike
-Knee was still killing me.

Front squat
275 for 6x2

then sat aound and did a whole lotta nothing waiting for Megan. I'd spent all Thursday night puking my brains out and all in all it was a pretty rough training week.

Saturday - Bench

-Took the day off, my left pec is bruised up now and still a little tender. Looks like a minor tear. I'm really surprised how easily this happened, I guess they really do just happen on the lighter sets.

I think I'm jus going to have to focus on military for a few weeks, and dumbell flys. sucks, but I might just have to move my hands in for a bit, but I can also do more to protect myself I think, I've gotten lazy.

Monday squat
 Finally over being sick, weight back to normal, just a 240 gorilla in training. Knew I was going to have a good day when I could squat down with no knee pain... it was still there as I got going tho, but more just uncomfortable instead of scarey.

Front squat
315x1,365x1,385x1-this went up real easy, 405x3 - was supposed to do 2 doubles, but I really wanted the triple, then shut her down. I want to max well on Friday.

I'm really proud of this squat, it's probably the coolest thing I've done so far. Best part was it didn't really feel all that heavy. On Friday I'm going to attempt 405-425-445-455-? 445 being great, 455 being huge. I'm going to get 445, today just confirmed it for me, so 455 is a reality.

Thursday Bench

Bench 225 for 7 sets of 5

Was feeling pretty rough before training, wound up throwing up a couple times before I even left. I got the stupid idea to train anyways, but go light... then threw up around 6-7 times in the bathroom. The dehydration messed up my left pec, it'sfeeling pretty tight and knotted, so we'll see what comes from that.

Looking back... it was good intentions to suck it up and train anyways, I picked this up from Paul who just plows through whatever comes up... I've gotta remember I'm not Paul, and I think if I had this to do over, I would have just deloaded the entire week, and redo the whole thing.

Wednesday heavy squat

Still haven't managed to get back to 240, and still not feeling the greatest. But I had a better workout then I was expecting. Right knee pain was the worst it's been, I was hoping the day off would get it looser, but I just recovered enough for it to really get tight and hurt. My right groin started hurting on all the reps as well, that's got me a little worried, but I'll warm up a little more next time.

Front squat
380 for 1 set of 3 reps
- was supposed to be 3x3, but I was pretty happy getting 1 set

Light squat on Friday, then next week is the grand finale... should be pretty cool.

Monday sick tuesday bench

Monday squat

Woke up early, then just started throwing up all day, managed to lose 10lbs. As I generally do whenever I get hurt, I started doing as much as I could, as soon as I could. I got a few gatorades down, soup, sandwich, couple waters 2 rows of cookies, oatmeal.

Kept it all down, and got to bed at a decent time.

Tuesday bench
rained so I had the day off anyways. Couldn't get my weight past 235, so I knew I was still hurting. Went in planning a very easy workout, that changed into an ok workout.

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch

Bench
this was a planned 295 for 5 sets of 7, what I did is:
225x2x7,255x7,275x7,295x5 - almost lost the 5th rep forward and just threw off the whole set, but I think I would have gotten 7... 5 sets not even close.

Didn't do any assistance, was feeling pretty rough and achey. Hoping this workout will speed up my recoverey from this flu. Planning to take a light squat day tomorrow, and save the 380 for Friday.

Saturday heavy bench

Man, I'm tired, things are going well very happy to be feeling this overtrained and performing like this, but I'm feeling the burn, very lucky to have good training partners that push me on, I've just got to get to the gym and they get me going.

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch
face pulls
hammer curls

Bench
325 for 10 sets of 3
- missed a rep on my 2nd last set, then got them on my last one.

I wasn't planning on doing this well, but so it would be a shame to deload now, I'm going to put the weights up another 10lbs and see how it goes. The longer I can hold on, the closer I'm going to be to 405, and I'm getting pretty close, I can feel it.

Heavy front squat 360 for 4x4

Been keeping my weight up fairly well, went into this workout around 245, going to try to keep this on and maybe even get up to 250... the eventual goal being 265, that's probably as heavy as I'll get in my life, and hopefully I'll be the size I need to be for some big numbers.

Headed in a little nervous as I am before all of these workouts. I really want a payoff from this program, I've been hurting like crazy, and I want it to be worth it. Taking Wednesday very light helped my knee quite a bit, I'm probably going to keep the light days very light until this is over, I've only got 3 heavy workouts left.

Anyhew

warm up
bike
foam roll IT bands
dynamic stretches

Front squat
360 for 4x4

-this wasn't that bad, and I'm happy to come back from only getting 3 of 5 sets with 340. My training partners have been great, they come over and cheer me on for each set I do, it really helps.

Thursday Bench

Had the day off, and got a bit too much sun, I was worried it was going to affect... or effect... my workout, weights felt heavy early on, but then I got going and I was ok. Ate well, so that probably helped a fait bit.

Warm up
gh stretch

Flat Bench
225x5,275x5, 305x5,5,5,4,4,3,3

face pulls 75

I was pretty happy with how this workout went. I get worried I have the bar too high on my chest, my videos don't look too bad, but I'm worried I'm pec benching. I don't want to tinker with things because they're working so well, but I also constantly worry about injury. I typically do 135x20,185x10 for my first few warm ups, and make sure I get nice and loosened up and feeling good. I'm happy that next week I'll be handling weights that are suppsed to give a 363 max, and I plan to do multiple high rep sets. I'm going to hope to handle some big weights, and plan to handle 385. I've been watching the progression in my head for a while, 315,335,355,375,385. I just need to keep my volume high right up until it's time to cut it.

Tuesday bench wednesday squat

Went in feeling very off my game, and in no mood to train at all. Got it turned around, but I was still very drained, making me even happier with my numbers.

Bench
285x7,7,6,5,4

face pulls 75
hammer curls
side laterals

- 285x7 is a 350 max, I think this is the highest I've ever been with this cycle, so I'm really sniffing for a PR on bench soon, I'm only 40lbs away now from 405, and I'm nothing but happy with that, If I could get to 375 I'd be happy, 385 would be awesome. I'm going to let the week ride out and see how I do, 305 for 5's is going to be a tough workout, and 325 for triples will be interesting as well. But I want to get to the numbers the for the next week, so I'll push hard. I'm not far from where I need to be, the 285 felt really light and fast. Hitting 295 for a couple 7's next week will be huge for me. I don't know how I keep progressing, I've been hammering the volume 3 times a week and just trying to overtrain like crazy, and the numbers keep going up. I'm at the point now, where next week i'm supposed to be doing sets that would add up to my 1rm... so going past that, for mutliple sets, multiple times a week would be just deadly... I've got a lot of momentum in bench right now, interested in seeing where it goes. Once i'm over 405 on the bench, I'm promptly going to stop caring about it I think... I don't think I'll ever bench 500 without getting super fat and unhealthy... but 455 might happen. Either way, learning to bench twice a week instead of once was awesome, 3 times a week was even better.


Wednesday squat

Unfortnately just shit kicked. Left glute med is making me limp when I walk, and my right knee is toast, very sharp stabbing pains. I decided to not even try to do the 6x2 @80%, I went very light, did a nice long warm up... didn't help much.

front squat
6x2 with 225

Megan gave me some good advice to stretch my hamstring, it helped a bit, I remember I hurt my knee benching and it was just some tightness in my hamstring I'd loosen up then be fine.

Monday squat

Have been feeling a little fluish lately, and wasn't feeling the greatest headed into this workout. Right knee is having some very sharp pains, I wonder how far to let this go, I don't see it getting better anytime soon. Maybe some extra biking or maybe leg extensions or bodyweight squats on off days. Every workout is really difficult from here on out, and I've got to be fairly fired up and well fed and hydrated for each one.

Front squat
340 for 3 sets of 5

- got really light headed and pale, I was seeing stars big time. tried for a fourth set, but I died. This is still better than the time I ran this before. I've got a light day coming up, and I'm really going to warm up until Im feeling ok, then start my sets. At least my calves are handling this ok. I've got 360  for 4x4 on Friday, and I consider that a heavy front squat workout, and I've gotta PR my reps, without much rest.

should be interesting.

Saturday bench

warm up
hip and gh stretch

Bench
295x3, 315 7 sets of 3, 315 for 2 sets of 2

fat grip curls - lots
side laterals

-Pretty happy about this workout. I'm not sure if I'm going to deload and max, or go for another week or two and see how far I can take it.

Thursday bench Friday Squat

Was feeling pretty horrible all day, feeling a lot of nausea and flu like symptoms. Went not horrible, but I did better on this workout last time.

Warm up
back foot elevated hip stretch
gh stretch
cable hammer curls

Bench
255x5,275x5,295x5,5,5,4,3
-skipped 2 sets
-i was dying, weight felt very heavy, I was muscleing it up, I got more 5's last time, but I also strained my pec very badly, so overall this workout has improvement. I'm happy-ish with how I did. Not sure how to approach next weeks bench after this, we'll see how Saturday goes.

I'm going to have to tone it down sooner or later I think. but maybe I just haven't done many bench specialization programs. Marks had around 32 lifts at 80% while I'm around 90 on average 80%. Marks programs also used assistance work as big part of the program through heavy partials.

I have got to start doing more chinups.

Friday
-Went in with the best of intentions, ready to do some work even though it was a light day. My right knee was just done, knees had a very sharp pain. Went until I thought it would be a better idea to just stop. All the reps were slow and ugly as crap, I should have lightened the weight.

315 for 4 sets of 2

I'm just going to use it for extra recoverey for the next workout, it's going to be another doozy.