Nice work, carry on good sir!

4/22/12

Bench Press
170x2
170x2
170x1 (unrack issue)
170x2
170x2
Technically I got a 3rd rep on the first set but I'm not counting it because I had to wiggle by butt around a bit to force it up. Not sure where to go from here. Any advice from anybody who's been following my log? Should I try to go as high as I can doing doubles before resetting or reset down 10% and work back up doing 5s and then 3s again. All I'm interested in right now fwiw is maintaining strength.

Deadlift
225x10
All double overhand, not too difficult. Probably ready to go back to 5s, hamstring hasn't been much of an issue at all. Not sure whether to start at 245 or 255 for 5.

My hamstring hurts this morning. I'm not happy about that.

Lascek suggests progressing triples, doubles and then singles in his TM ebook once progression with 5's stops working, before a deload and a reset take place when progression of singles fails.

The alternative would be to look into reverse pyramid training, since maintenance of strength and lean mass is the priority right now, but strength gains would be nice.

Thanks Aidan, I'll look that over but I won't be able to do anything until this damn hamstring eventually heals. I think it's been close to three months now since I had a very minor strain that I thought would take two days at most.

I eventually took like two weeks off from doing anything, and then have been working up from really light weight for the last 3 weeks or so. It's felt absolutely fine until the random relapse this morning which hurts worse than the original injury did. I'm at a loss for what's going on with it.

4/24/12

Press
110x1
117.5x1
117.5x1
117.5x1
120xf
Not even close on the 120. I think at one point when I was fat I was pressing 120 for reps but I guess losing almost 25 lbs and having injuries keep you out of the gym, you're naturally going to lose some strength. On the bright side, I do have lots of people complimenting me on looking so much skinnier.

Chin-ups
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

That was it, didn't attempt anything lower body. Just been icing the hamstring and will probably start heat/maybe some light rolling in the next few days depending how it feels. Hopefully back to light lower body stuff before not too long. /Shrug, I don't know even what to do about it at this point. I feel like I could take 6 months off from moving, come back and strain it within the first week.

4/26/12

Bench Press
150x5x2
Easy, but not too easy. I am starting to believe that pushing your body to the max every time in the gym is not only suboptimal, but probably pretty damaging long term.

Chin-ups *Should have been a Pendlay Row day but I don't want to do anything that might aggravate the hammy even more
10 sets of 3
Always do these with very strict form (~1-2 second pause at the bottom) and really focused on keeping my torso as straight as possible to really hit the ABS; that other thread definitely has me motivated to get my core strong; and apparently strict chin-ups are among the best for that.

Front Planks
3 x 30 sec.
Got motivated by all the talk in the other thread of direct ab work. Figure as long as I'm getting weak and cutting for aesthetic purposes, I might as well try to get some ABS in the process. It's probably a losing proposition though, as I was once 145 lbs at this height and didn't have abs


Still eating at a small deficit but really focusing on keeping protein fairly high recently. Current body weight is around 186 pounds first thing in the morning.

I've been extremely busy and training days have been more infrequent than normal as a result. Hamstring is still giving me minor issues so I haven't squatted or deadlifted anything close to heavy in ages. It's incredibly frustrating. Still doing what I can when I can in the gym though.

4/28/12
Squat
45x20
45x20

Press
100x5
100x5

Pendlay Rows
142.5x5
142.5x6


5/1/12
Bench Press
152.5x5
152.5x5

Squat
45x20
85x20
HAMSTRING SORE NEXT DAY.

Pendlay Rows
142.5x6
142.5x6

Planks
1x60s


5/3/12
Deadlift
165x15
HAMSTRING SORE NEXT DAY

Press
102.5x5
102.5x5

Planks
3x30s


5/7/12
Bench Press
155x5
155x5

Supersets of 3 chin-ups and 30s planks
8 sets


5/10/12
Squat
45x20
45x20

Press
105x5
105x5

Pendlay Rows
145x6
145x6


5/14/12
Squat
45x20
65x20

Bench Press
157.5x3x3
Maybe coulda done two sets of 5, but I lost focus on these because I started chatting with the guy on the other bench, who was huge and benching around 350 for reps, and he ended up being Gary Schianno, brother of former Rutgers coach and current Buccaneers coach Greg Schianno, as well as former NY Giant offensive lineman. Really cool and interesting guy made it worth losing focus on my workout.

Superset 3 chin-ups with 30s planks
8 sets


Bodyweight = ~182 lbs in the morning, which is down almost 30 pounds from 5 months ago. I'm worried too much of it is muscle due to the fact that I haven't been able to squat or deadlift anything other than really light weight since early February. Have only lost a little strength on my upper body lifts though.

5/16/12
Deadlift
195x10
Double overhand. I forgot to use chalk.

Press
107.5x4
107.5x3
107.5x3

My hamstring gets sore the day after deadlifts. This isn't fun.

5/18/20

Bench Press
160x3x3
Solid, pushed hard but no grinders.

Squat
65x20
85x15

Pendlay Rows
147.5x5x2


Icing my hamstring now so it hopefully doesn't get sore tomorrow. It really sucks not squatting and deadlifting heavy. I hope this hamstring heals before I die so I can experience that again. It's possible working a job 40+ hours a week where I'm on my feet all day is slowing the healing process, but it's all good because I start another job on Sunday where I'm also on my feet all day.

5/22/12

Press
110x3x3
Tough. Real tough.

Squat
85x15
105x15
I feel like I turned the corner the other day with my hamstring in terms of tenderness in that area. It's feeling about as good as it has in over 3 months. I really hope deadlifts next workout don't set it off.

Superset 3 chin-ups with 30s planks
x5

Chin-ups
5 sets of 3

5/24/12

Deadlift
225x5
A little tougher than I was expecting but I guess understandable considering the last time I even deadlifted >225 I was ~25 lbs heavier. Hamstring doesn't hurt this morning which is a great sign. Go for 245 probably next workout and work back UP.

Bench Press
162.5x3x3
Focused, form felt excellent, all the reps went up pretty easy.

Missed a few workouts. Very busy life right now so training is on the backburner, but keeping up the best I can.

5/30/12

Squats
105x15
125x10
Hammy still feeling okay. 145 next workout.

Press
110x3
110x2x2
110x1x2
Meh. Missed a few workouts and didn't eat very well over the holiday weekend so this wasn't too shocking. Good decision not to increase weight though.


Pendlay Rows
147.5x5x2
This actually felt really good.

6/1/12

Bench Press
165x3x3
Tough.

Squat
145x5x3

Superset 5 chin-ups with 30s planks
3 sets