8/2/18
Floor Press: 320x1@8.5-9, 310x3@9, 305x3@9, 300x3@9–Next time floor presses are called for, I may have to find something else to do. These seem to really inflame my golfer’s elbow for some reason. Maybe the place where the floor stops my elbows puts some uncomfortable tension on the tendon.
Press, no belt: 160x8@7.5, 165x8@8, 167.5x8@8, 162.5x8@8, 160x8@8
Pause Squat, 2 ct: 420x1@8, 405x3@9, 390x3@9, 380x3@8.5
8/3/18
Glad to be done with the 4-day frequency for now. Not my cup of tea yet, but I wanted to give it a try. It seems that I now start trying to realize the volume, which won’t be as much as it could’ve given that I started this strength program 6 weeks in, in terms of strength gained. At least that’s how I’m interpreting it.
2ct Deadlift: 485x1@8.5-9, 450x3@9, 430x3@9, 420x3@9–I think I do almost as well on these as I do my regular deadlifts because I haven’t squatted nearly as heavy in the day before. Just a thought.
SLDL: 290x8@6, 320x8@7, 330x2x8@8, 325x8@8
Touch-n-Go Bench: 355x1@9.5, 322.5x3@9, 310x3@9, 305x3@9
8/6
Deadlifts w/belt–475@8, 495x1@9.5, 445x2x3@8–I’m relatively stuck in my deadlifting. I’ll likely do the hypertrophy template starting in September, and I hope the break from pure strength work will create allow me to re-adapt to some strength work. That said, I’m not convinced that my growth is done for this cycle. I’m hoping to hit a 515x1 at the end of the month. It’s doable.
Press w/belt: 225x1@8, 240x1@10, 207.5x2x3@9–that 240 was a grinder, which makes sense. For a little fun, I was shooting more for my limit than an actual RPE 9, which would have likely been around 230 or so. Glad I did it.
Press, no belt: 145x10@7, 155x10@8-8.5, 160x10@9
8/8/18
Pin Bench: 335x1@8.5, 290x6@9.5
Pin Squat: 405x1@7.5, 425x1X8.5, 380x5@10–I was supposed to hit one more rep, which I should be able to do in theory. I don’t think these were a true 10. I lost the final rep over my shoulders not staying tight enough at the bottom, or waiting too long to come up. Either way, pin squats are one of my least favorite lifts, likely because they are their own skill set, which I really haven’t developed yet.
Barbell row: 185x10@?, 195x10@7, 205x10@8, 220x10@9
8/10/18
Squat: 475x1@8, 500x1@9.5, 440x2x3@8–I get why singles are a skill. I was back and forth on that 500, which should have been easier. Catching a groove immediately is tough and takes practice.
Bench: 335x1@8, 342.5x1@9, 310x2x3@8
2” deficit Deadlift: 455x1@8, 385x6@8.5
8/12/18
Deadlift no belt: 480x1@8, 500x1@9, 465x3@9, 445x3@8.5, 440x3@9–these felt a lot better today. Part of it is the belt. I’ve just taken it off, and I can better feel out my back extension.
Press w/belt: 230x1@8, 235x1@9, 220x3@9, 210x3@9, 205x3@9
Press no belt: 155x5@6, 162.5x5@7, 170x5@7.5, 175x2x5@8
8/14/18
Turns out that it was a bad idea for me to heavily deadlift without a belt. Tweaked my back and had to take it easy with squats today.
Pin Bench: 335x1@8.5, 325x2@9, 315x2@9, 310X2@9
Pin Squat: 365x1@re-tweaked
Squat: 225x3x8
Barbell Rows: 225x5@6, 235x5@7, 240x3x5@8
8/16/18
I did 135x3x10 yesterday on some squats just to get my back moving after tweaking it. Having to do more rehab-ish work today to keep it movin. I won’t be doing ANY squats or deads without a belt for a bit, just to ensure I’m braced hard enough, so I’ll have to temper my weights.
Bench: 335x1@8, 350x1@9, 327.5x3@9, 315x3@9, 307.5x3@9
Squat: 225x3x5
Deads: 225x3x5
8/19/2018
Deadlifts (belted!): 465x3@9, 455x3@9–I avoided the heavy singles, and will have to hit some again soon just to keep my skill up. However, these felt good despite my back hurting a bit still. With the belt on, they didn’t seem to adversely affect it, which is no surprise.
Press w/belt: 245x1@8.5, 255x1@10, 225x3@9.5, 215x3@9–Once again, I went off programming, but, man, that 245 went up so easily that I decided to go for it. I might have another 2.5-5lbs in me for the press, but I will have to wait to find out. I need to stay on it for a 275.
Incline (65 degrees): 185x5@6, 205x5@7.5, 210x2x5@8, 205x5@8–In order to avoid straining my back for beltless presses, I did inclines.
8/21
Pin Bench: 335x1@8.5, 320x3@9, 305x3@8.5
Pause Squat: 415x3, 405x3–I did paused instead of pin squats. Pin squats take more technique, and I suck at them (for now). Pause squats don’t hurt my back. I avoided the heavy singles this time for the sake of allowing my back to finish healing, and I kept a belt on and, thus, the weights artificially lower. I should hit my full weights again on Th, where I’ll likely retry 500, depending on how the other singles feel.
Barbell Row: 230x5@6, 240x5@7, 245x3x5@8
Sled Pulls: 6 pulls at 125lbs at 40 yards–It’s hard to say whether this is 6 or 3. I found that just doing the 40 yard pulls didn’t raise my heartrate enough, so I pulled, turned, and pulled it back with only a brief rest. Without the rest, these kicked my ass. I tried to limit my total rest to about 1 minute after pulling.
8/26
Did a friendly, online meet today. It’s been something to train for just to see how strong I can get in a short period of time. I’m fine with my progress 7 months in. Now I’m moving to jiujitsu training through an HLM template.
Squat: 485x1, 505x1, 520x1@9.5
Bench: 350x1, 360x1, 365xFail
Deadlifts: 485x1, 505x1, 515x1@10
That’s some good lifting! Nice work!
Thanks! Happy with the results. Pr’d on all lifts. Looks like I’ll hit a 600 in squats before deads.
8/28
I’m starting a new template. My athletic focus right now is on jiujitsu, and I’m low on time given family and work obligations otherwise. I’m modifying an HLM template with some BBM principles in mind, especially some autoregulation of weight, lack of fear in adding volume to deadlifts (or to anything at all), shorter rest periods, etc. My guess–and time will tell–is that I’ll add some weight to my lifts but not a tremendous amount. I’ll also use this program to try to cut a bit. The main thing is that for the next few months, I’ll have 1.5 hours 3 days a week or so to train, which really isn’t a ton.
Press: 177.5x4x6@6-8
Squat: 370x4x6@7-8
SLDL: 360x3x6@7-9–I overestimated these a bit.
8/30/18
Man, even the non-serious, online meet took it out of me! These weights felt pretty heavy, which is surprising. Part of it is being back to jiujitsu more fully. My body’s adapting to that stress again, so everything hurts, and I’m looking forward to a couple days off.
Bench: 252.5x4x6@7-8
Pause Squats: 315x2x6@8
Barbell Rows: 225x4x8@8
Sled pulls: 125lbs, 6x40 yards. Not much, but the body’s tired. I had planned on 12.
9/2/18
Incline: 190x4x6@8
DE Squat: 340x3x6@6-7
Deadlift: 360x2x6@6-7
9/3/18
Hard day to workout. I just worked out yesterday, and then I took a 4 mile hike with the fam in the morning, carrying my 42lb daughter uphill on my shoulders and downhill on my back for around 3 miles of it. It was a lot of fun with her singing songs of encouragement to me, and beckoning me not to stop (“you’re doing great, dad; you should just keep going”) but the mal-distributed weight of a 4-year-old is a pain. Well worth it. At any rate, my prescribed weights were all light enough that everything, despite the tiredness, was under RPE 8.
Press (no belt): 190x4x5@7-8
Squat (belt): 390x4x5@7
SLDL (no belt): 335x3x5@6
9/6/18
Bench: 270x4x5@6.5-7
Front squat: 185x2x5@7–first time front squatting. It’s enjoyable although My wrists are just inflexible enough that I need straps. I’m obviously uncomfortable with them and will likely increase my aeight 10lbs at a time as skill improves.
Barbell row: 235x4x6@7-8
I hit jiujitsu hard last night. I sparred 5, 6 minute rounds and sat out 1. My conditioning is coming back pretty efficiently, although my body gets pretty worn.
9/8/18
Incline: 202.5x4x5@7
Squat: 370x3x5@7
Deadlifts: 370x1x5@6, 385x3x5@7–This program only calls for one set of deads on a heavy day. I’m doing the same amount as my other heavy days.
9/9/18
Sled Pulls. 125lbs, ~60 yards (there-and-back, so a brief break in between each 30 yard stint) x 4. 45sec-1min break in between.
9/11/18
Press: 205x4x4@6.5-8 (3 minute breaks)
Squat: 420x4x4@7-8 (4 minute breaks)
SLDL: 360x3x4@6-7 (3 minute breaks)