Destroy:Erase:Improve -- PBs Training Journal

[Protobuilder]

Volume Week 3 Sun. (workout 4; misc)

BTN Push Press

6x95
5x115
3x135
4x135
4x145
5x145 (shoulders tired from benching or I would've done overhead supports)

Curls (yes, that's right, curls)

10x75
9x75
8x75 (I'm massive!)

Skulls

10x75
8x90 (+2)
5x90
5x90

Watched UFC 60 last night, Hughes v. Gracie. Damn good show. 8 fights including some pretty awesome finishes. Good stuff. Oh yeah, ate a fat burger, a fat brat w/ sauerkraut & hot English mustard, and some other junk, including some beer. Today, I ran as punishment and am doing yard work so, probably drop a pound. LoL

 

[BiggT]

Nice push pressing, they are really coming along I see.

 

[Protobuilder]

Volume Week 4 Tues. (workout 1)

Squats

5x5x175 (old PR) (very tough; losing form on last reps)
12x125 (b.o.) (+2 reps)

Bench

warmups
5x170 (10 away from old PR)
12x125 (b.o.)
7x105 (b.o.) (heh, heh)

Pullups

2x6x20
5x20
4x20 (doh!) (+ burnout w/ BW)

Front Squat

5x95
2x125 (just for kicks)

NS abs

2x12x10

This shit is frustrating. I'm lucky to get back to old PRs. I'll be REAL lucky to push past 'em much, then I'll be so damn beat up, I'll have to backoff and start all fucking over. It's one step forward, two steps back. And I start feeling fatigued before I can push very long. Sucks. I'm in week 4, barely getting my old PRs and starting to feel beat up already. My knees ached today during squats DESPITE doing very very little running. WTF? I think I'm gonna' just play this shit by ear, doing more of a single-factor approach. I'm not going to drop back anymore unless absofuckinglutely necessary b/c it's a waste of time apparently. I don't "spring back" stronger than before. Not at all. I reach exactly where I was the last fucking time, and then I get beat up trying to scratch and claw my way past my old PRs. This time, I'm gonna' hang out there as long as possible, and maybe lower the frequency for a week or two if I feel beat up, but then go back to the heavy weights. Live in heavy land as long as possible I s'pose.

 

[Protobuilder]

Volume Week 4 Thurs. (workout 2)

Front Squats

4x5x125 (old PR for weight, but one less set than old PR)

Dead

warmup
5x275 (+5 PR woot)
9x225 (backoff)

BTN strict press

10x85
8x85

I'm just really tired right now. New job = long hours, losing sleep, etc. So, rather than skip working out altogether, I just cut back quite a bit. I may have to do that on these "middle of the week" workouts. I dropped push pressing (shoulders are beat from the past week), dropped one set off front squats, and dropped chins. Good news . . . +5 PR on my dead 5RM.

 

[ChinkNasty]

whats your diet like man?

 

[Illuminati]

Notes: I'm considering officially hating bench. It's the only lift I sit down for. It fries my front delts mainly. I need to really make small jumps w/ it. I probably need to also drop the 5x5 w/ it and just run the 1x5 and then 1x3 pyramids. I don't know that the volume is doing much. Or maybe it is. Fuck. Bench sucks.

.

anyway you can post a video of you benching. I think you might have a form/set-up issue. can't really tell w/o seeing it

 

[BiggT]

Good you're listening to yourself, and training 'your way'.

If the bench is pissing you off, there is no reason to do it unless you plan to compete in a powerlifting meet or you've got an invite to the NFL combine......I'd say pound the overheads/push presses and do incline work or dips to train the tits.

How is the bodyweight doing?

 

[Protobuilder]

Wow, thanks for stopping by everyone.

re:diet -- it's solid. I'm consciously keeping the weight gain to a pound a week. I'm tracking it pretty carefully. I'm at 159.5 this AM, which is on track, and I'm averaging probably 2900 cals/day.

re: bench -- I really keep thinking I need to post some vids just for kicks but then I forget to film myself. I'll see what I can do. I hate to admit it, but I do care slightly about my bench numbers and chest size. I still don't like benching though. I actually prefer overhead work, but I'll keep some chest stuff in b/c it's a plane of movement that needs work plus the ladies like the big chest. LoL And, no, I'm not up for the NFL anytime soon.

 

[Illuminati]

Wow, thanks for stopping by everyone.

re:diet -- it's solid. I'm consciously keeping the weight gain to a pound a week. I'm tracking it pretty carefully. I'm at 159.5 this AM, which is on track, and I'm averaging probably 2900 cals/day.

re: bench -- I really keep thinking I need to post some vids just for kicks but then I forget to film myself. I'll see what I can do. I hate to admit it, but I do care slightly about my bench numbers and chest size. I still don't like benching though. I actually prefer overhead work, but I'll keep some chest stuff in b/c it's a plane of movement that needs work plus the ladies like the big chest. LoL And, no, I'm not up for the NFL anytime soon.

hey, even if you are a powerlifter, or an oly lifter, you still care, to some extent, about your chest size. everybody wants to look huge.

 

[Protobuilder]

Hey Look! When not causing trouble, Protobuilder also WORKS OUT!! Another exciting entry:

Volume Week 4 Sat. (workout 3)

Squats

warmups
2x195 (DAMMIT! Really wanted a +5 PR here . . . damn, it was ugly; ZERO "pop" and pretty much crumpled in the hole, lost my balance, stumbled, it was ugly)
. . . didn't really know what to do afterwards . . .
1x195
2x185
1x185
3 sets of doubles @ 175 (which is 85% of my 1RM)

Bench

warmups
3x175
4 sets of triples @ 165

Rows

3x175 (my old PR is 5x175 so I'm getting there)
15x125 (backoff; focused on trying to arch the middle back on these)

Skulls

8x75
2x10x80
6x80

Alright. I'm bummed about missing my squat PR. I thought I was doing OK feeling it out on my own, kinda' following Brooks Kubik's advice of just working hard in a progressive fashion . . . but damn. I hit these weights and just seem to stall. Should it be this freaking hard to get a +5 PR??? I'm not an elite lifter or pushing hyooge weights or anything. I'm literally lifting the same weights I was lifting 5 months ago. That's not right. I was dieting though so, OK, I can't complain too much, and now I'm starting to put on some weight again (shooting for 1lb/wk), so I hope that makes the difference. But goddamn. How fucking long am I going to be grinding out trying to get a 5 lb. PR on squat? Ugh. In my defense though, my glutes & lower back were still a bit tired from Thursday's DL PR. LoL I probably shouldn't be so hard on myself.

I didn't know what to do after missing the squat PR, so I just did some volume @ high intensity. I probably need more work doing heavy singles b/c when the weight gets heavy, I'm not really firing everything in unison & keeping tight, which probably just comes w/ experience. I'm not quite able to pull it all togethre for a big single.