Diet on 1/26: 3176 calories with 325c/115f/221p
Diet on 1/27: 3193 calories with 285c/145f/201p
Diet on 1/28: 3812 calories with 377c/142f/280p

Cardio on any of those days: took a couple walks.

1/27: Dynamic Effort Lower Body

Warmup: kettlebell swings, foam roller, ghrs, leg swings, band stretches

Squat:
45x5
95x5
135x5
165x3
185x2x10

Deadlift: all sets done with short mini bands
135x4
225x2
275x1x10

Snatch grip deadlift:
225x10
275x3
305x1 PR

GHR: done with mini band
8, 10

Walking dumbbell lunges:
50x12x2

Reverse Hypers: done with heavy band
10x2

Step ups: weight in kilos
36x10x2 per leg on 18 inch box


1/29: Dynamic Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, dislocations, some scapula/rotator cuff activation work, overhead shrugs, seated cable rows

Bench: all sets done with short mini bands
45x5x2
95x3
105x3x8

Close grip bench: no pause
135x10x2

Overhead press:
45x8
95x3
115x2
135x1
145x1

T-bar rows:
45x25
80x15
105x10
115x10
125x6

Lying triceps extensions: with dumbbells instead of ez bar
35x10x2

Chin ups: bwx5x5

Wide grip seated cable row:
110x15
130x12
150x6

Straight arm lat pull down: 50x10x3

Overhead triceps extension: done on cables with rope attachment
70x15
80x10x2

Barbell curls:
65x12
85x10
105x6

Diet on 1/29: 3786 calories with 430c/124f/249p
Cardio on 1/29: 75 minutes of tennis

Diet was looking pretty good yesterday until about 30 mins before going to bed. Frozen yogurt+dried fruit+gatorade added over 185g of carbs last night and I kinda regret it. I should probably just stick with icecream and enjoy dem fats since I end up eating other **** with my frozen yogurt anyways.

1/30: Max Effort Lower Body

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, dislocations, overhead shrugs, ghrs, some shoulder and pec stretching.

Deadlift: sumo stance
135x5
225x3
315x1
385x1
405x1
420x1 PR

Rack pulls: conventional stance, bar level with knee cap
315x10
405x10
475x5
500x1 PR

Box squats: Done on 10 inch box and 1-1.5 inches in mats
135x5
205x5
225x5x3

Walking lunges: bwx30 to loosen up hip and hamstrings

Reverse hypers:
Light band x15
Heavy bandx10x2

Band goodmornings:
Heavy bandx10x2

Step ups: weight in kilos, done on 18in box
40x8x2 per leg

Everything felt great today and my pulls felt especially easy. I could have gone heavier on both sumos and rack pulls but was satisfied with my PRs and didn't want to see my form breakdown. My upper back and arms are definitely getting stronger as I had absolutely no problem locking out any of my reps today. Grip felt strong on the sumo deadlifts, but 315x10 tore my hands up a little so I finished the rackpulls with straps. I've been thinking about adding more repeated effort work but I'm not sure where to put it. Once I stall with what I'm doing, I'm going to switch to Brandon Lilly's Cube Method and actually follow a program for once.

Diet on 1/30: 3970 calories with 399c/142f/265p
Diet on 1/31: 3027 calories with 218c/103f/219p
Diet on 2/1: 5117 calories with 521c/189f/346p
Diet on 2/2: 3637 calories with 481c/114f/188p

2/2: Max Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, some scapula activation exercises, overhead shrugs, seated cable rows

Bench:
45x5x2
95x5
135x3
165x2
185x1
200x1
210x1
220x1
225xf-185x3-155x6 angry dropset

Reverse grip bench: done with a relatively close grip
145x8
160x7
185x3 hamstring cramp, was going for 6-8
135x15
Incline dumbbell bench:
50x15
55x10
Meadows Rows: done on cybex t-bar machine
25x15
35x12
I’m not sure what the machine bar weighs, but these felt relatively heavy

Seated cable row: with wider neutral grip handle
120x10x3
Lying triceps extensions/tate press:
60x10/30x6
60/12/30x6

Dips: Bwx7x2
My shoulders don’t really like dips but the gym got a shiny new machine that had a more narrow grip so I busted a few out.

Barbell curls:
65x15
85x10
95x5


2/3: Dynamic Effort Lower Body

Warmup: kettlebell swings, reverse hypers, rumble roller, bridges, ghr, band stretches

Squat:
45x5
95x5
135x3
175x2
190x2x10

Deadlift: first 5 singles done with ‘light’ band, rest done without band
135x3
225x1x5
315x1x5
The light band is probably a little too heavy for me at this point. I’ll stick with the mini band for a while.

Snatch grip deadlift:
225x15 PR

Trap bar deadlift:
170x5
260x5
350x3
420x5 PR
I wasn't planning on doing these but was feeling it and was able to hit a pretty easy PR.

Reverse hypers:
Heavy band x 10x3

Step ups: weight in kilos
40x10x2 each leg on 18 inch box

2/6: Dynamic Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, some scapula activation exercises, overhead shrugs, seated cable rows

Bench: with short mini band
45x5x2
95x3
105x3x5
95x3x3
165x8 without band

Meadows rows:
25x20
35x15
45x12

T-bar row:
80x12
115x10
105x15

Dumbbell bench:
50x21
50x20

2/7: Max Effort Lower Body

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, ghr, leg swings, some band stretches

Squat:
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x1
245x1
265x1
275x1

Box squat: 12 inch box with 1 inch mat under it
225x5x3

Trap bar deadlift:
170x5
260x3
350x1
400x1
440x1

GHR: bw x20x2

My gym got some sweet jungle gym type thing that I've been screwing around with for 15-20 minutes each day at the end of my workout. It has rings and trx so I'm pretty excited to add a few movements to my routine. I've been doing ring dips and they feel way better on my shoulder than any other dips I've done.

In other news, some ******* dun stole the mini band I use for pull aparts, stretching, ghrs, and pretty much everything. My gym only has one of them and makes us check it out, and I had it right behind my feet while doing pull ups 5-6 days ago. I turn around after a set, and the bands mo****ing gone never to be seen again

2/10: Max Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, some scapula activation exercises, dislocations, bridges, overhead shrugs, seated cable row

Floor press:
45x5
95x5
135x5
165x3
185x2
200x1
205x1
210x1
215x1

I probably had 220 and maybe even 225 in me but was trying to take it relatively easy today after stalling the past few weeks. 215 was absolutely no problem though which was great.

Flat dumbbell bench:
50x10
60x10
75x5
85x5
90x5

These felt a lot easier than the last time I did them a few months ago. my right thumb/wrist was bothering me starting with the 60x10 set so I didn't try for anything heavy.

Seated cable row: with medium width pronated grip
110x15
120x10
110x10

Meadows rows: 45x15

T-bar rows:
90x12
115x10

Lying triceps extensions:
60x12x3

Curls:
65x10
85x4 got bored and quit

10-15 minutes dipping/pulling/swinging around on rings and ****.

2/11: Repeated Effort Lower Body

Warmup: kettlebell swings, reverse hypers, rumble roller, band stretches, bridges, bw squats

Squats:
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
205x10

Deadlift: conventional stance
135x5
225x3
315x3
365x7

Snatch grip deadlift:
265x8

Was too tired to do any accessory work. I haven't squatted for a set of 10 in many moons and it took a lot out of me even though it was fairly light. I also haven't done any high rep conventional deadlift sets so I gave that a try.

I haven't done cardio in weeks and stopped tracking my diet about a week ago. My body fat is probably up to around 13-15 percent but my weights at 199. I want to get it back over 200 and then recomp from there. I'm going to start doing cardio again asap but probably won't track my diet unless I stop making progress.

2/14: Dynamic Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, scapula activation exercises, overhead shrugs, seated cable rows, bridges

Bench:
45x10
95x5
135x3
145x3x8

Flat dumbbell bench:
55x20x2

T-bar row:
90x15
115x12

Dumbbell row:
70x15

Lying triceps extension:
60x12x3

Dumbbell curls:
35x5, 40x5, 45x5, 30x15

Ring pullups:
bwx5x4

2/15: Max Effort Lower Body

Warmup: Kettlebell swings, reverse hypers, rumble roller, bridges, ghr, walking lunges

Deadlift: sumo
135x5
225x3
315x1
365x1
405x1
425x1

Real easy all the way through. My left pec/lat area is bothering me so I didn't want to push it too hard so I stopped here.

Snatch grip deadlift: 315x1 wasn't comfortable

Pause squats: 3 second pause at bottom
135x3
185x3
225x3

GHR:
bwx15
monster mini band x 8
monster mini band x5, bwx8

Walking lunges:
35x20

2/17: Max Effort Bench

Warmup: kettlebell swings, reverse hypers, rumble roller, scapula activation exercises, overhead shrugs, seated cable rows, bridges, dislocations, band stretches

Bench:
45x5
95x5
135x3
165x3
185x2
205x1
215x1
225x1
230xf

Flat dumbbell bench:
60x20x2

Floor press:
135x5
155x5
185x2
135x5

Isolateral row: pronated grip
90x15x2
90x12

Seated cable row: neutral grip
120x15x3

Tate press:
30x15x3

Push downs:
100x20x2

Dumbbell curls:
40x5
45x5
35x6

Ring pullups: 5, 5, 3

TRX pushup: 8

I felt good and strong going into today and fully expected to bench 230. Everything up to 205 felt great, and my setup was nice and consistent. On the 225 my left hamstring tightened up but I still completed the rep with relatively good speed. I lost tightness unracking the 230, but managed to reset my feet pretty decently before starting the rep. My left hamstring cramped real hard right when the bar was about 2 inches off my chest and there wasn't much I could do about it. I actually had almost locked out my right side so I racked that normally and racked the left side on the bottom safety pin.

2/20: Repetition Effort Bench:

Warmup: kettlebell swings, rumble roller, scapula activation exercises, seated cable rows, overhead shrugs, dislocations

Bench:
45x5
95x5
135x5
165x3
185x3
195x3
200x3x3

Dumbbell bench:
55x20x2

T-bar row:
90x15x3

Seated cable row:
120x15x3

Ring pullups: 5, 5, 5, 4

TRX pushup: 8, 8, 8

TRX facepulls: 15, 15

Conditioning work with battle ropes

2/22: Max Effort Lower Body

Warmup: band goodmornings, rumble roller, reverse hypers, band stretches, bridges

Squats:
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x2
225x1
250x1
275x1
My right leg just didn't feel strong today. I also think I might have a mental block going on here because I definitely should be squatting more than 275 right now. I'm going to give it one more session and if I don't set a PR I'll do some reevaluating on my squat training.

Box Squats:
225x8

Suspended goodmornings:
135x5
185x5
225x5
This was my first time trying these and I didn't really know what to expect. They were comfortable and the weight light but I need to film myself and see what I'm doing because I have no idea what I look like.

GHR: bwx10x2
I moved the footplate in a few notches and it felt pretty nice. I definitely had it out too far before, but its a probably a good thing since I would have been discouraged if I started out with it this close months ago.

I also had a repetition effort squat workout sometime earlier in the week but it went to ****ty that I didn't even bother to log it. I've been spending a lot of time on the rings and trx, and more recently on conditioning work again. My weight is sticking around 200 and my body composition is beginning to improve again.

I didn't write down my workouts from last week, but they were just more of the same. I've been doing more rep work lately and also more dumbbell work for bench. Both my lower body and bench dynamic effort days were successful and I feel like I'm finally learning how to be explosive.

3/1: Max Effort Lower Body

Warmup: Band goodmornings, kettlebell swings, reverse hypers, rumble roller, bridges, ghr, walking lunges, band stretches

Deadlift: all sumo
135x5
225x3
315x1
385x1
405x1
425x1
435x1 PR

These deadlifts felt awesome. I regret putting 435 on as I easily had 440-445 in me but I didn't want to make another attempt.

Snatch grip deadlifts:
225x12
275x5

Reverse hypers: done with heavy band
10, 10

TRX inverted rows
TRX face pulls

Yeah there is such a huge discrepancy between your dl/squat, you have to be doing something very wrong.

Well have you seen his squats? They are literally ATG. If he switched over to LBBS he would add 75 pounds in a month.

Just looked now. hbbs is a weird combination with sumo DLs imo

Yeah, if I ever want to compete I'll definitely need to learn how to lbbs. I've seen some pretty strong guys (Bryce Lewis and Brandon Lilly) squatting high bar but they both pull conventional. I've also heard of guys training sumo and then pulling conventional in a meet but none of that stuff really applies to me at this point.

I only started pulling sumo late last December, and it was just to see how it felt. It ended up feeling great and I surpassed my conventional PR the next week so I've been sticking with it. I also used some broscience to justify pulling sumo by thinking that it'll build up my hips so that if I ever want to do a wide stance lbbs I'll be strong and ready.

Eric Lillebridge also squats high bar, fwiw.

I've decided to switch to Brandon Lilly's Cube Method after reading his ebook and watching a lot of his videos. Its fairly similar to what I've been doing, but I'll only be benching once a week and I'll be doing a lot more overhead pressing work.

3/11: Cube W1 Deadlift Reps

Warmup: reverse hyper, rumble roller, bridges, band stretches, barbell rows

Deadlift: conventional stance
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x12 PR

The program called for 305x8 on a 1in deficit, but I can't make a deficit that small so I just pulled from the floor. These felt really solid though.

Block pulls: by blocks I mean two plates, maybe 3in thick
225x1
315x1
365x3x2


This was my first time doing these and I felt pretty strong from this position. The hexagonal plates are even more of a bitch than usual with these though

SSB squat: narrow stance
60x8
150x8x3

I'm assuming this bar weighs 60 but I honestly have no idea. It feels lighter than that to me but I have no way of weighing it and most safety bars are 60-65 pounds.

GHR: BWx10x4

Back raises: 50 done in 3 sets

Ring pullups: 6, 5, 5

TRX facepulls: 10, 8

3/13: Cube W1 Heavy Bench

Warmup: ring pullups, band stretches, dislocations, rumble roller, reverse hypers, overhead shrugs

Floor Press:
45x8
95x5
135x5
165x3
185x2x4
185x5

Bench:
45x10
135x15x2

Lat pulldown:
115x15x2
105x15
105x12

Overhead press:
45x15
55x15
65x15

Tricep pushdowns:
80x25x4

KB shrugs: in kilos
24x20x2
20x20x2

This session was pretty interesting. The actual benching part of it was easy and didn't feel heavy at all, but I'm not used to doing so much work in such high rep ranges. I'm also not used to overhead pressing towards the end of a workout so this was surprisingly difficult. My warmup was a little disrupted today because I forgot my monster mini band and the gyms sole mini band was checked out. After using the bands on the jungle gym thing, I did some pullups and monkey baring which left my shoulders and back feeling pretty good before pressing.

3/15: Cube W1 Explosive Squat

Warmup: reverse hypers, kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, band stretches, leg swings, bw squats, 5 overhead squats

Squats:
45x10
95x5
135x5
170x3x8
225x2x2

SSB squats: narrow stance
60x5
150x5
190x5x5

Cable rows: standing at at various heights
120x20x4

KB swings: weight in kilos
28x15x3

Isolateral rows:
75x15x3

Leg Press: weight per side
90x15x4

Reverse Hypers: with average band
15, 15

3/17: Cube W1 Body Day

Warmup: band stretches, monkey bars, reverse hypers, kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, overhead shrugs

Close grip bench press:
45x10
95x10
135x10x3

Seated calf raises:
50x25
90x12x2

Seated cable rows: with added monster mini band
70x12x3

Overhead press:
45x10
65x10x2
55x10

Lat pull down:
110x12x3

Barbell curls:
65x15
55x15x2

Decline situps:
35x8
25x10

Plank kettlebell swap: 10, 10
done like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4vCekNric8

3/18: Cube W2 Explosive Deadlift

Warmup: dislocations, band stretches, monkey bars, reverse hyper, kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, ghr

Deadlift: conventional stance
135x5
225x5
265x3x8

Snatch grip deadlift:
225x12x3

SSB squat: narrow stance
60x8
150x8x2

Seated cable row:
70x10 with monster mini
120x12x2

Ring pullups: 3, not feeling it.

3/20: Cube W2 Bench Reps

Warmup: band stretches, pull aparts, reverse hypers, rumble roller, overhead shrugs

Bench:
45x8
95x5
135x5
155x5
170x8

Incline dumbbell bench:
50x20x2

Close grip bench:
135x7
135x9
135x6

T bar rows:
70x20
70x10x2 with monster mini

Seated dumbbell press:
40x10x3

I didn't feel great this morning but managed to get through the session. My shoulders were bothering me a little bit, but my setup on the bench felt really solid.

3/22: Cube W2 Heavy Squat

Warmup: band pull aparts, band stretches, reverse hypers, kettlebell swings, rumble roller, bridges, bw lunges, bw squats, overhead squats

Squat:
45x8
95x8
135x5
185x5
225x2x4
225x5

Heavy band good mornings: 20x3

Leg Press: Weight per side
45x10
90x20x3

Lat pull down:
100x15
110x15
120x12

Reverse hypers: bwx20

Lunges: 30x5 before I quit and did a few bw lunges to loosen up

Back raises: 20

Those high rep sets on the leg press really take it out of my legs, even with such light weight. My squats felt nice and easy which is nice for a change. I tried doing goodmornings with the ssb bar but it felt way too awkward. I need to either film my next attempt at them or go with a friend because I really had no idea wtf I was doing.

Today was supposed to be off day but my weightlifting shoes (rogue) came in last night and I really wanted to see how they felt before next Friday. I did my usual warmup with a little extra emphasis on my hamstrings/glutes because they were tight from yesterday.

Squat:
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x1
245x1
265x1

Everything about these felt better than ever today. I was just trying to get a feel for the shoes and wasn't planning on squatting anything heavy but after how fast 225 went up I couldn't help myself. 265 also flew up but it just wasn't the time for a new PR.

Front squats: 135x8

Barbell row: 135x12x3

Reverse hypers: bwx15x2

Ring pullups: 6, 5

TRX facepulls with external rotation: 15

How do you like them? I've had these shoes since late January and love them. Everything feels so much more stable in them and I can't lift without them now.

So far they're great. Squatting was definitely more comfortable than usual, and that's even with me squatting yesterday. I was worried about the sizing with my 4e wide feet but they fit perfectly. They're going to take some getting used to though, I've been squatting in new balance minimus shoes for a while now.

3/24: Cube W2 Body Day

Warmup: band pull aparts, discloations, reverse hypers, rumble roller, a few scapula activation exercises, seated cable rows, overhead shrugs

Close grip bench: 3 second pause 2 inches off chest
45x8
95x5
135x5x3

Incline dumbbell bench: lower incline than usual
50x25

Reverse grip bench:
95x15
115x20
165x6

Seated cable rows:
130x15
150x12
80x10 with monster mini

Seated overhead press: neutral grip, elbows kept in front
40x10
50x8
40x10

Seated calf raises:
50x25
50x20

Barbell curls:
55x15
60x15