400!

Bench Day - C14W3. 02-27-2014

Bench
5x170
3x196
1x215

Pretty good day all things considered. My leg drive felt pretty good today but my form still felt sloppy overall. Despite the success here I'm still leaning towards resetting my bench and working on a more paused style.


Was running on ~5 hours sleep and squeezed this in before work, so I cut out assistance today.

Squat Day - C14W2. 02-14-2014

Squat
5x296
3x335
2x375
----------------
5x10x196 (50%)

Hell yeah!



Barbell curls
4x12x55


Ab Wheel Rollouts
5x10 (3 sec pause)


Squats felt solid as hell. Rumble roller came in the mail and its certified awesome. Off to upstate NY for the weekend for some snowboarding.

Elite squatting. Where are you going upstate?

Gore Mt. Conditions were pretty wack yesterday and I had some brutal falls but it was alot of fun

Deload Week - C14. 03-03-2014 - 03-07-2014

End of Cycle 14.

Took a few really hard falls when snowboarding last weekend, and I was pretty sore during deload week. My back really hurt during chinups/pullups, but felt good during my compounds.

I made a video of my snowboarding experience using my new camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DP6w2T3j4I


C15W1 is going to be weird. I'm doing 2 nights in Austin followed by 2 nights in Dallas from 3/13-3/17. Instead of my usual MTThF schedule, I'm going to do just MW but double down on my lifts. So Monday is Press/Deadlift and Wednesday is Bench/Squat.

Cycle 15 Training Maxes:
Press: 155 (+5)
Deadlift: 430 (+10)
Bench: 200 (-25) - deload here to work on paused form.
Squat: 395 (+5)

Press Day - C15W1. 03-10-2014

Press
5x105
5x120
5x135
----------------
5x10x88 (57%)

I almost lost the bar forward on 135, definitely wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. I was happy to get the BBB sets in, I thought I might be too drained after mixing in deads as well.

Dips
3x6


Deadlift Day - C15W1. 03-10-2014
5x280
5x325
5x370

Felt okay. No BBB today due to lingering back soreness from snowboarding and training press.



My gym installed 2 olympic platforms today which is cool. The floor was so ****ty before that I could only use 1 of the 3 racks.

Bench Day - C15W1. 03-12-2014

Bench
5x130
5x150
9x170
----------------
5x10x100 (50%)


Paused bench felt stronger than I expected. My form feels more solid for sure. I feel much more in control on the descent.


I skipped assistance today. I will be squatting later today and my back is still sore from snowboarding.

Squat Day - C15W1. 03-12-2014

Squat
5x260
5x300
6x340
--------------------
Front Squat - 5x10x100

Squats felt solid today, the new oly lifting platform is a little slippery, hopefully it'll wear off.

Switched things up and went front squat today for BBB. We'll how this affects my numbers.

Barbell Curl
4x12x55

Went with some buddies to TX from thurs-mon and did a bunch of boozing, got some ****ty sleep, and food intake was less than ideal. Despite this, I felt pretty strong today.

Press Day - C15W2. 03-18-2014

Press
3x110
3x125
4x140
----------------
5x10x88 (57%)

Felt good

Chinups (+50 lbs)
25 reps over 10 sets

Dips
10, 7, 5, 7, 5

Deadlift Day - C15W2. 03-19-2014

Deadlift
3x306
3x345
3x390
---------------------
5x10x210 (49%)


Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

Pushups (+25 lbs)
Wide - 25
Normal - 17
Close - 11
Diamond - 6

DB Flies
4x12x20


Absolutely crushing workout today. I think this will probably be my last cycle doing 5x10 on deadlift.

Bench Day - C15W2. 03-21-2014

Bench
3x140
3x160
6x181
-----------------
5x10x120 (60%)

Paused style feels so much better. I'm focusing on a slow descent while trying to rip the bar apart. Feeling it alot more in my lats/triceps.

Pullups (+20kg)
27 reps across 10 sets

Dips
5x6

Added dips to bench day because they rule.

Kroc Rows
24x80 per hand

Note to self: tip far dumbbell head downwards for more lat involvement



My elbow is pretty sore right now, around the area where it meets the triceps. I'm not sure if its from dips or bench, but something to be careful about.

I'm dealing with a GOAT-worthy hangover this morning, and I had a terrible workout. I did not have the energy to do 5x10 or any assistance.

Squat Day - C15W2. 03-22-2014

Squat
3x280
3x320
3x360

I tried doing some barbell curls but my left wrist flared up and was in a ton of pain, specifically towards the top part of the curl. I'm mildly concerned.

Disappointing workout today. I'm sick with a mild cold but thats no excuse imo.

Press Day - C15W3. 03-24-2014

Press
5x120
3x135
fx150 (PR attempt)
----------------
5x10x88 (57%)

****kkkk. This is the same weight I failed at roughly 1 year ago before I started my cut, and I'm failing again now. Granted, I am roughly 30 pounds lighter than I was last time I attempted 150. My sticking point is right at my eyes. I think I should have done a better job keeping my bar path straight (it may have went forward a bit)

I'm really bummed about this, I think it's becoming clear that my programming is not really optimal for OHP and bench. The 5x10 for both is easy as hell but I'm not making much strength progress. For deads and squats the 5x10 is very grueling but I'm making good progress there.

I may or may not reset. Either way, I think I'm going to scrap BBB after this cycle and add some more valuable assistance exercises. With failure comes experimentation, which is what makes this journey fun.

Chinups (+40 kg)
26 reps over 10 sets

Dips
10, 10, 9, 8, 6

These felt real good. I'm falling in love with dips.

Is there much evidence that 5x10 has much benefit for strength, as opposed to hypertrophy or whatever? I think for guys like us where upper body progress is difficult relative to lower body progress, a better approach might just to be performing the lifts twice a week and getting in volume in the 75-85% ranges (just thinking of kidcolin and myself lately). Anecdotal, but maybe something worth considering when it comes time to change.

Agree with Aidan. 5x10@super light never made a ton of sense to me, especially if you're just banging them out as fast as possible. What's your eating like now that you're done cutting?

Yeah, the 5x10 just isn't working for my pressing movements. I think I'm going to start working in some incline press, military DB press, etc into my assistance.

Bulking has been going pretty good. Adding roughly 0.8lbs/week over the past 11 weeks. I'll probably post a chart soon.

Deadlift Day - C15W3. 03-25-2014

Deadlift
5x325
3x370
2x410

Nice! Felt pretty solid. I'm feeling stronger off the floor than I have in the past, not sure why. I doubt my one day of 5x10 front squatting had much to do with it. My back may have been a little rounded during rep 2. It's tough to tell. I skipped 5x10 today because I'm still feeling sick and thats too grueling.



Pushups (+25lb)
Wide - 27
Normal - 17
Close - 13
Diamond - 9

Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

Bench Day - C15W3. 03-27-2014

Bench
5x150
3x170
4x191
--------------------
5x10x120 (60%)

Felt good. I need to work on getting better leg drive, though. This is probably my last cycle doing 5x10 on bench.

Pullups (+20kg)
27 reps across 10 sets

Dips
10, 9, 8, 8, 6

Kroc Rows
27x80lb per hand

Squat Day - C15W3. 03-28-2014

Squat
5x301
3x340
2x380

Still progressing! These felt great. I probably should have tried a 3rd rep but the thought didn't cross my mind. I think I had a non-zero chance of completing a 3rd though. I farted twice on the way up on my final rep /w people around me. Pretty funny.



Front Squat
5x10x110

I went with the cross-armed grip today and that felt more comfortable. Not sure if my form sucks or not, I'm going to post the below video in form check thread.




Hammer Curls
4x12x25 per arm.

These felt way better on my wrist than barbell curls

Ab Wheel
5x10x3sec

Deload Week - C15. 03-31-2014 - 04-04-2014

End of Cycle 15.

Did some climbing over the weekend, I'm getting pretty good at handling the underhang (tons of core involvement), and was able to complete a handful of V2's. I'm slowly getting better.

Cycle 16 Training Maxes:
Press: 155 (+0)
Deadlift: 440 (+10)
Bench: 205 (+5)
Squat: 405 (+10)

Gonna ditch BBB for Press and Bench this week, maybe squats and deads too. My plan is to integrate some more 'heavy' assistance work instead. I'm thinking this will also be my final cycle before I go on my second cut.

Press Day - C16W1. 04-07-2014

Press
5x105
5x120
5x135
Last Cycle: 5 reps Difference: 0

Form on my last rep was really bad, I was shaking everywhere and losing my balance. Got it up though.

CGBP
12x132 (this was to estimate my 1RM)
10x86
10x103
10x120

I estimated my training max at 170. Prob should be heavier


Chinups (+20kg)
4, 3, 3, 3, 2

Dips
10, 9, 7, 7, 6

Went light on assistance today. Felt a little burnt out from the CGBP.

Deadlift Day - C17W1. 04-08-2014

Deadlift
5x291
5x330
6x375

Front Squat
7x176 (this was to estimate my 1RM)
10x100
10x120
10x140

I set my training max to 200.

Good Mornings
3x10x66

My form is terrible, low back will probably be sore tomorrow. Took some vids though so I'll get it fixed.

HLR
5x10

Bench Day - C16W1. 04-11-2014

Bench
5x135
5x155
9x176

These felt quite good.

Incline Bench
7x135 (estimating 1RM)
10x85
10x100
10x115

I set my training max to 165. This was my first time ever doing incline bench and it was humbling. Balancing the bar was much harder than I thought.

Pullups
10, 7, 5

All those weighted pullups I've been doing haven't seemed to help much. My body weight has increased and I was more tired from doing incline, so whatever. My goal is going to be 3x10 and then add 5lbs of weight.

Dips
10, 7, 6

Kroc Rows
30x80 per hand.

Moving up to 85 next week.

I hate morning workouts. Also downed a heavy protein/peanut butter shake before going to the gym so I felt pretty sluggish.

Squat Day - C16W1. 04-12-2014

Squat
5x265
5x306
5x345

Prob had a 6th in the tank but I was being a huge pussy today. Really had to pump myself up to get under the bar.

SLDL
13x132 (estimating 1RM)
10x98
10x117
10x137

I set my training max to 195. This is a fun exercise.

Hammer Curls
3x15x25

Planks
61s, 54s, 45s

First time doing planks. Should have held them longer. Again I was being a pussy.