Deadlifts:
405 x 0, 1

SSB walkout:
490 x 10 sec

SSB squats:
335 x 5, 1
• Back tweaked.

Neck machine:
100 x 10
↓
Neck crunches:
25 x 10
• New icon for super-sets.

SSB squats:
150 x 30, 20

It's clear that I need to get my back health in order before I can be good at the deadlift. Keep up the yoga, go on walks, etc.

Back from anniversary beach stay. Diet was very good, sleep was not.

Overhead press:
195 x 5
225 x 3
250 x 1

175 x 10, 10, 9, 8

Pull-ups:
10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Incline skullcrushers:
50s x 10

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 13

Rear-delt flyes:
20s x 25, 20, 15

Spider curls:
45s x 15, 10, 10

10 minutes of foam rolling and stretching both Saturday and Sunday night.

Squats:
320 x 3
365 x 3
410 x 6
> Interesting. It seems that my squats suffer worse from infrequency than my upper-body. Felt weak, but if I can hit that on a bad day then things are going well.


Deadlifts:
405 x 2, 1
> The weight started sliding off to one side so I had to stop and fetch clips. Was only able to hit 1 after resuming because my back felt bad. Reps were fast enough to just treat these as speed deadlifts.

Goblet squats:
50 x 55, 46. 45

Reverse crunches:
15

Bench press:
245 x 3
280 x 3
315 x 6
> Getting good leg drive by consciously squeezing my glutes everytime I press up. Feels kind of like a glute raise without the raise part.

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 13, 13, 12, 12

Incline bench press:
200 X 10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
30, 23, 15
> Progressively going from super wide to narrow.

Inverted rows:
30, 25

Pull-ups:
10
> Couldn't even hold onto the bar so had to use straps, embarrassingly. My forearms are fried.

Kettlebell preacher curls:
50 x 13
Both arms: 50 x 25, 20

Band pull-aparts
41, 31
> Some pain in right pec tendon. Blame it on the wide push-up set.

Hadn't lifted in almost a week, but strength was as good as ever. Sleep has been bad. I am done staying up all night to fix my sleeping schedule. The only way for me is to make myself wake up at a certain time. I hadn't been doing this because I wanted to get enough sleep but that didn't work out anyway AND I'm waking up in the late afternoon still.

Also, after a full day of not eating any real food (still did what I needed to do by munching on walnuts, blocks of cheddar cheese, and whey), it felt awesome to have a Thanksgiving feast with my girlfriend.

I also finally got the fridge fixed and my diet should be easier now. The thing had been leaking constantly before up and dying, which put me in crisis mode as I fought to prevent all our food from spoiling.

Didn't get around to recording 390x9 squat and 55, 45, 40 kettlebell squats.

Overhead press:
185 x 3
210 x 3
235 x 3

Pull-ups:
10 10 10 10 10 10

Overhead press:
175 x 10, 9
135 x 5, 4, 2
45 x 10

Chin-ups:
10 10

Decline push-ups:
24

Bench press:
225 x 5
265 x 5
295 x 9
> Touch-and-go, but oh well. Wasn't expecting to get such a PR.

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 12, 12, 12, 12

Incline bench press:
197 x 10, 10, 10
> Short rest times, so this was good.

Decline push-ups:
25, 21, 20
> Increasingly widened my arms to go from triceps to chest.

Inverted rows:
30, 22, 25

Band pull-aparts:
30, 30

Kettlebell preacher curls:
50 x 12
Bilateral: 50 x 20

Despite a stressful week my upper-body strength is surging. I'm constantly up for very long periods at a time but also getting 10 hours of sleep after crashing, so I can't complain. Creatine might also be helping. I heard of a recent study focusing on just how anti-catabolic creatine is at preserving muscle tissue in...I think what was either starved mice or human burn victims. Definitely want to dig that up because I don't really notice an acute performance boost from creatine otherwise in terms of getting more reps and whatnot.

I'm also allowing my diet to go to hell when need be by drinking lots of milk when time is tight and I'm on the go. I am very okay with this. I'm in no rush for any deadline to lose weight and it's easier to re-lose a few gained pounds than it is to rebound after losing strength. Still, I would do well to come up with some homemade meal replacement recipe that I can go to in a pinch instead of sugary fixes like milk.

Falling off the dietary wagon for me used to mean not eating for long periods of time and getting weaker; now it's shoveling things down and getting protein in, body composition-be-damned. It's a good change.

Kettlebell goblet squats:
50 lbs x 50, 40, 40
> Fell asleep and took a short nap after the first set, then woke and finished the rest.

Overhead press:
170 x 5
195 x 5
225 x 4
225 x 5
> The push press plan worked. Would have gotten 5 on the first set but I tweaked my neck again - goddamn, this is getting ridiculous. Going to start being vigilant about isolating my neck from on. Very happy with this, especially about getting a successful 5 with neck pain.

175 x 10, 8, 8

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 12, 12, 12

Pull-ups:
10, 10

Kettlebell skullcrushers (unilateral):
50 x 12

Kettlebell preacher curls (unilateral):
50 x 12, 12

Deload

Bench press:
140 x 5
170 x 5
205 x 5

Dumbbell rows:
80s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Incline bench press:
155 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
20

Deload with kettlebell squats, of sorts.

40, 30, 20

I'm pleased with how 30+ has become easy and that I can now hit 50 no problem. I remember my second time doing these getting 35 as a max and thinking Jesus, did I really do 50 last time?

Deload

Overhead press:
105 x 5
130 x 5
160 x 5
135 x 10, 10, 10

Pull-ups:
10, 10, 10

Lat pulldowns:
220 x 15
Arnold press
65s x 10

Squats:
335 x 5
380 x 3
425 x 5
> High rep bodyweight and kettlebell squats are doing wonders for my numbers.

Deadlifts:
405 x 5
> Just a maintenance set. Hoping to make 405 the new 315. I think I'm going to spend next cycle just pulling for strong reps and then attempt a max after.

SSB squats:
317 x 10, 10, 5
> Felt a small tweak in my back so I stopped. Completely better now, but I think I should start doing yoga again.

Neck machine:
100 x 10

Bench press:
255 x 5
290 x 3
325 x 4
> Good leg drive. Warm-ups felt heavy and max set light.

Incline bench press:
195 x 10, 10, 10, 8

Kroc rows:
165 x 26

Inverted rows:
30, 20

Decline push-ups:
30

Band pull-aparts:
50

Kettlebell goblet squats:
50 lbs x 50, 35, 40

Was mostly trying to get a lot of reps in just a few sets and I don't care about hypertrophy so I took my sweet time with these. Basically I did sets in-between relaxing around the house. I do acknowledge a lot of value in short rest times but cramps set in for me with legs.

Lots to record.

Unsuccessful deadlift session last week, again. I've come to realize that I need to practice not failing at the deadlift. For a little bit I'm going to stick to 405 and shoot for rep PRs.

Decent squat day, 405x6. Back was fatigued, mostly.

Push pressed 255x3 again but failed 275. I actually got 275 up multiple times but couldn't lockout.

I'm loading on creatine as an aid for cutting weight. Second day today, gotta remember to take it every meal for loading.

And with that, I'm off for some Halloweening.

Bench press:
240 x 5
275 x 3
310 x 6

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 11, 10, 10, 10, 12

Incline bench press:
192 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
25

Spider curls:
45s x 12

Facepulls:
20

Push press:
225 x 5
255 x 3
275 x 0, 0
255 x 3

Pull-ups:
10, 10, 10

Overhead press:
172 x 10, 10, 10

Overhead skullcrushers:
87 x 14

One-arm lat pulldowns:
12, 12

Forgot to record my deadlift day. Failed 535 again but had a small victory from being able to hold on to 365x8 overhand. Wasn't hard but I've never really tried it over 315 before. I have a goal for doing that with 405x5.

I've been wrecking my back and enjoying the assistance work in the meantime so I'm not frustrated.

Squats:
290 x 5
335 x 5
380 x 6
> Had to stop because my back was so fatigued. I wore it out doing deadlifts and then barbell rows yesterday kept that going.

SSB squats:
240 x 15, 9, 6

Bench press:
225 x 5
255 x 5
290 x 8

Bent-over rows:
207 x 10

Incline bench press:
190 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 10, 10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
21

Spider curls:
40s x 12

Overhead press:
170 x 5
195 x 5
225 x 3, 4
> Couldn't get 5. I've gone over a year without failing a training day (not counting deadlifts). It's been a fantastic run. I will be training push presses for the next three weeks and retry next cycle.

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 12, 11, 11, 11
Two: 220 x 20

Arnold press:
75s x 10, 10, 10, 10

Rear-delt flyes:
25s x 20, 20

Swiss bar preacher curls:
95 x 10

I'm cutting weight. I like the way I feel better in the 205 lb area. Also importantly, I find that my strength capacity is the same there as it is 240+. Only difference up there is that I'm fatter. Sure, the journey on that weight gain yields great results, but I can be just as strong light as I can heavier at the end of the day; it just might not happen as rapidly.

I think my era of dramatic bulks is over, aside from competition aspirations (as it stands, though, the 198 lb weight class sounds dandy).

This will be done slowly. My only changes this week are to halve my milk intake, lessen my sugar intake post-workout, and to avoid ice cream for dessert.

Deload

Squats:
175 x 5
220 x 5
265 x 5

SSB squats:
205 x 10, 10, 10

Reverse crunches

Deload

Bench press:
135 x 5
170 x 5
205 x 5

Dumbbell rows:
80s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Incline bench press:
155 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Deload

Deadlifts:
Up to 365 x 5
275 x 10

SSB squats:
275 x 3 x 5

Deload

Overhead press:
105, 130, 155 x 5
125 x 5 x 10

Chins:
6 x 10

Overheard skullcrushers:
35s x 11

Entry #1250

I've been posting updates from my phones' Blogger app so exposition has been nil. What's been happening: my knee has been bugging me so I've been keeping it wrapped and going easy on it for about a week now.

Squats:
330 x 5
370 x 3
415 x 5
> Whew, wasn't sure if my knee would hold up. No pain. Great set considering I was a little gunshy with it.

SSB squats:
317 x 6
> My back just couldn't hold the weight up anymore, it was so fatigued.

Goblet squats:
50 x 30, 30

Bench press:
255 x 5
285 x 3
320 x 4

Kroc rows:
160 x 25

Incline bench press:
187 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Barbell rows:
205 x 10, 10, 10

Lying lat pulldowns:
230 x 200

Bilateral dumbbell rows
100 x 10

Good mornings:
200 x 10, 10, 10
150 x 15

Towel pull-ups:
3, 3, 3, 3, 2

Leg press:
Worked up to 5 plates x 20. Shallow reps but with no lockout to hammer my quads.

Overhead press:
195 x 5
220 x 3
245 x 1

170 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 12
Two-arm:
30

Incline skullcrushers:
50 * 10

Reacher curls
92 * 10, 10

Flys
25 * 30, 25

Entry #1246

Squats:
330 x 3
350 x 3
395 x 8

SSB squats:
317 x 1, 10, 11
> Knee hurt so I stopped after a rep, rested for a minute, and then tried again with a wider stance. Worked well.

Good mornings:
200 x 12

Goblet squats:
50 x 50, 35, 30
> Wow, these are awesome! Really worked my abs. Same effect as a SSB with the weight pitching me forward.

Entry #1245

Bench press:
235 x 3
270 x 3
305 x 6

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Incline bench press:
185 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
23, 17

Inverted rows:
25, 20

Curls and rear-delt stuff

Entry #1244

Failed the 535 deadlift again. Bailed early when I felt it start to hurt. Back hasn't been feeling great lately, need to use my standing desk more and doing walking and yoga again.

Deadlifted 405x2 after and just felt like lead, so did 315x15 instead.

I love 315; it's my comfort number. Heavy enough to still get work done but light enough to not be hard and allows me to adjust my form on the fly if a habit that day got me off on the max set.

Did a set of 105 bodyweight squats at home, then 50 a little later.

Entry #1243

I'm very disappointed to be coming down to CA next month instead of this week, meaning I'll miss the strongman event I was looking forward to all this time. I'll keep my eyes peeled for anything going on in Portland because after two missed occasions I'm very hungry for competition again (PDX Weightlifting has stopped holding meets so no more Oly events to wing, even).

Back to work after three days of "rest" (on Saturday night I did hill sprints). Done on 5 hours of sleep today. I took a 30 minute nap before training which helped a lot but at the cost of feeling hungry.

Overhead press:
180 x 3
205 x 3
230 x 3
> Felt incredibly dizzy all throughout the warm-ups and build-ups so I was worried about missing this since my press progress has been slowing down, but it came easily. Actually half-attempted a fourth but the bar stopped a few inches off my chest and I didn't bother to try and grind it out.

167 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Both arms:
220 x 25

Decline skullcrushers:
50s x 10

Swiss bar preacher curls:
92 x 10, 10
Drop-set: 85 x 8, 35 x 10

Rear-delt flyes:
25s x 25, 20

Entry #1242

Squats:
285 x 5
330 x 5
372 x 11
> Was aiming for 10 but felt good for another so I hit it. Not bad at all.

SSB squats:
317 x 10, 10
> I have no idea how I got 10 on the second set; I was aiming for 5, then kept saying "1 more". Came extremely close to failing.

Bodyweight squats:
60, 50

Girlfriend good mornings:
20
> Fun but almost no challenge. 

Entry #1241

Bench press:
220 x 5
250 x 5
287 x 9

Incline bench press:
185 x 10, 10, 10, 5

Kroc rows:
160 x 25

Row-ups:
10, 10, 10

Decline push-ups:
30, 17, 20

Inverted rows:
20, 20

Band pull-aparts:
40, 40

Entry #1240

Failed to deadlift 535. Couldn't even break it off the floor. This is a consistent pattern so I'm not worried in the slightest, although I still plan on doing ROM training eventually for more dependable performances in the future.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do anything else so on the drive home I set a challenge to myself of 100 bodyweight squats in my living room. Got it all in a straight set, amazingly, and it wasn't too hard, although I rest-paused for a few seconds on occasions.

Edit: Just did another 51.

Entry #1239

Overhead press:
170 x 5
195 x 5
220 x 4
220 x 5
> Only got 4 the first time and, feeling a little disappointed, went to do back work when I realized I didn't even get the 5-minumum for the 5 week. Rested a bit at the expense of sufficient time for assistance exercises and had a much stronger performance for 5 reps.

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 10, 10, 10

Overhead press:
167 x 10, 8
Drop-set:
135 x 5

Extreme decline push-ups:
20, 30, 23

Inverted rows:
25, 25, 20

Entry #1238

Deload

Squats:
170 x 5
215 x 5
255 x 5

SSB squats:
202 x 3 x 10

SSB good mornings:
180 x 10

Entry #1237

Deload

Bench press:
135, 165, 200 x 5

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
80s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Incline bench press:
155 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Lying pulldowns:
230 x 15

Decline push-ups:
15

Entry #1236

Three workouts to record, including a squat video. I use separate entries for each to organize for future reference (e.g. when viewing the mobile site on my phone at the gym to check what I did before).

Deload

Deadlifts:
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5

Snatch-grip:
225 x 5

SSB squats:
225 x 5, 5, 5

Entry #1235

Deload

Overhead press:
100 x 5
127 x 5
152 x 5

135 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Lat pulldowns:
200 x 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

Overhead skullcrushers:
35s x 11

Spider curls:
35s x 11

Everything felt heavy, especially the 135. Deload is just in time.

Entry #1234

Squats:
320 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 5


SSB squats:
315 x 10, 10, 8

Hamstring curls:
200 x 15 

Entry #1233

Bench press:
250 x 5
285 x 3
315 x 5



Incline bench press:
185 x 3 x 10

Kroc rows:
160 x 24

Decline push-ups:
26, 23, 19

Inverted rows:
25, 20, 20, 20

Kettlebell skullcrushers:
50 x 12

Kettlebell unilateral preacher curls:
50 x 12
Bilateral:
50 x 15, 15

Band pull-aparts:
41, 40

Entry #1232

Deadlifts:
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 3
530 x 1 (PR)

405 x 2
>  Noticed the sit-up benches were close to the bar and I instinctively pitched forward to avoid hitting them (even though I wouldn't have), which tweaked my back. Dumb, lazy mistake.

SSB squats:
330 x 5
335 x 5
> Used a belt because of my back. It felt okay. Should be better in a few days.

Entry #1231

Forgot to record that I swam on Friday. 4 laps of sloppy power swimming where my body didn't stay very horizontal, then a lap after some rest, then 2 laps where my form clicked in and it suddenly felt easy.

Overhead press:
190 x 5
215 x 3
240 x 2
> Jesus, did not expect to get 2 so easily.

165 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 9

One-arm lat pulldowns:
200 x 9, 9, 9, 9, 9
Two:
250 x 15

Inverted rows:
20

Unilateral kettlebell skullcrushers:
50 x 12, 12

Kettlebell preacher curls, unilateral:
50 x 12, 10, 10
Bilateral:
50 x 20

Band pull-aparts:
50, 40

Entry #1230

Squats:
300 x 3
342 x 3
385 x 8

SSB squats:
315 x 11
240 x 10
150 x 10
60 x 10

Hamstring curls:
200 x 15

Entry #1229

Bench press:
235 x 3
265 x 3
300 x 7
> Warm-ups felt really heavy all the way from 185, yet I still got a PR.

Incline bench press:
180 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Bilateral dumbbell rows:
100s x 12, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11

At home:

Incline kettlebell skullcrushers, unilateral:
50 x 11

Decline push-ups:
23, 20

Kettlebell preacher curls, unilateral:
50 x 3 x 10
Bilateral:
50 x 20, 15

Band pull-aparts:
40

Entry #1228

It's been a full year of doing 5/3/1 straight so I thought I'd evaluate my progress.

This will be screwy since I'm comparing different rep ranges, as well as different bars lifts, but it should still illustrate change well enough.

August 2012
Press (Swiss bar): 160x10
Deadlift: 465x5
Bench press (Swiss bar): 265x6
Squat (SSB): 380x5

August 2013
Press: 225x4, 162x5x10 assistant work after
Deadlift: 525
Bench press: 310x4
Squat: 395x5

I've found that in general my straight bar pressing is 5 lbs higher than Swiss bar, so that can be taken into account.

My pressing has shot up while I've had to fight sharp regresses on the deadlift and contending with a 9-month quad injury that prevented me from free squatting. The deadlift was my own fault. I took the notion of infrequent pulling off the floor being a good idea and ran with it even though I'd been making progress week-to-week. Eventually I stopped box squatting, too, feeling demotivated on lower body lifts entirely. Just a few months ago I started at it again and learned how to have fun even if I'm not necessarily at my strongest in the gym - the consistency of which ended up making me my strongest ever, if only by a few pounds over last year.

Entry #1227

Deadlifts:
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 3
455 x 3
525 x 1

405 x 8

> Sore legs but I still crushed this PR. I'd planned on doing partials off of plastic stools but they made me lower too slowly out of fear of breaking them. I'm using straps more because my right pinky finger has been hurting from gripping raw, otherwise I'd chalk up for everything but the max set like I do with my belt.
On that note, recently I very humbly shared my experience with straps helping me with my deadlift woes on the Iron Radio Facebook page and even linked to Emevas' article on the matter and I got total shit for it. Dayum. Just going to keep doing what works for me, then. People can be so rude.

SSB squats:
330 x 5, 5, 5