8/6/2020

• Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x3
• Zercher squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1 (tied PR)
• Lower back machine: 3 sets
• Reverse hyper: 2 sets
• Upright ab machine: BWx25x2

What sort of grip width do you use for your close grip vs regular? I can't seem to settle on a "close" grip.

I like to grip about shoulder width), keeping the elbows tight and in to ensure it's triceps-dominant (but not too tight...maybe 30 degrees to the body). It's something to experiment with, I guess, to find what works best for you.

8/10/2020

• Bench press: 45x10, 95x10, 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 235x5, 245x3, 255x1 (post-2008 PR)
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 235x4
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x5, 255x6 275x4, 295x2

8/11/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 405x3, 465xf
• Sumo DL: 225x5, 315x3
• Romanian DL: 135x8, 185x8, 235x5, 275x3
• Ab machine: 3 sets

Yesterday I had a bit of a stomach ache and felt strong. Today I felt just fine but everything felt 20 lbs heavier than it was. Go figure. I guess it happens.

8/13/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Seated shoulder press: 45x10, 95x10, 115x10
• Hammer strength shoulder press: 100x10, 150x10, 190x8, 210x5
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 35x16, 45x9
  • DB front raise: 35x9, 45x5
• Pull-up: BWx18, BWx16
• CG pull-up: BWx14, BWx11
• Stair master: 0:41:00 (497 kcal)

8/15/2020

• Zercher squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1, 335xf
• Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 315x5

Crappy day. I did my Zercher squats trying for a PR, but didn't get a good breath of air for the 335 attempt. Then, the gym employees walked around turning off the TVs. Oh yeah....they close early on weekends now because of COVID. Luckily I have a membership at another gym nearby, but by the time I got there and set up, I was suboptimal on regular back squats.

8/16/2020

• Bench press: 45x10, 135x10, 185x5, 235x5, 245x4 @9.5 (post-2008 reps PR), 255x1 @9.5 (tied post-2008 PR)
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 185x8x2, 185x13 @9 (AMRAP but one in the tank)
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x3, 255x7 @9, 275x5 @9, 295x3 @9
• Stair master: 0:20:00 (227 kcal)

I hit a post-'08 reps PR on bench, putting me back where I was when I was 15. LOL. I'll just keep plugging away at it. But, as it is less crappy now, I switched up my close grip to be an assistance exercise with higher reps, rather than two or three RPE @9+ sets. I did the last set AMRAP (with one in the tank), mainly to see where I was for setting up for next week. I wanted the 8-rep sets to be @6-@7, but they were @5 or lower apparently, so I'll bump that next week. I also removed two warm-up sets and will see how that goes. Seemed fine today.

I may change up the Pendlay row work for higher reps at some point, but it's going well now with no recovery issues, so I'll stick with what works there for now.

I tried zercher's for the first time ever, holy hell are they unforgiving

I saw the video linked on your log. Very good getting three plates the first day you tried it!

Yes, it is definitely unforgiving.

8/18/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5x5
• Sumo DL: 135x8, 225x8, 275x5x2
• Romanian DL: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5
• Hanging leg raise: BWx12x2

I wanted more volume on deadlift, so I did a 5x5 with 70% of my one rep max. I thought it would be pretty easy, and the first two sets were, but it turned out to be the right amount of work. I had some in the tank at the end. I wanted to end at about RPE @8ish and was right around there.

8/21/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Hammer strength shoulder press: 90x10, 180x10, 230x5, 250x4, 270x3, 180x7
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 40x16, 50x9
  • DB front raise: 40x9, 50x5
• Pull-up: BWx18, BWx14
• CG pull-up: BWx14, BWx11

8/22/2020

• Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x4
• Zercher squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x4 (reps PR), 335x1 (PR)
• Lower back machine: 5 sets
• Reverse hyper: 80x10x2, 120x12x2
• Upright ab machine: BWx25x2

8/24/2020

• Bench press: 48x8, 138x8, 228x3, 248x3, 228x5x3, 225x5x2
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 205x8x3
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x5, 255x8 @9, 275x6 @9, 295x3 @9
• Stair master: 0:20:00 (236 kcal)

I got stuck with a fat 48 lb bar for the first part of my workout. I was supposed to get 4 or 5 reps at 245 lb and then go for a 255 lb double, but this messed that up. I figured I'd recover it with a 225x5x5, which went well. I finally got the proper bar back for the rest of my workout, fortunately.

On the rows, I've stuck with a bro progression, figuring I could get where I was prior to the lockdown by blasting away, which I did. I'll now moderate that a bit.

8/25/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 335x5, 335x4x3
• Sumo DL: 135x5, 225x3, 295x5x2
• Romanian DL: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5
• Ab machine: 3 sets

I went in planning 335x4x4 deadlift work sets, but started off with a 335x5 to evaluate where I was. While I did it fine and could have ground out 335x5x5, I felt it would leave me without much room to get into a wave progression. So, I stuck with four reps and four sets. That went well.

Also, my lower back was not fully recovered from yesterday's Pendlay rows. While it wasn't that bad, why go into deadlifts without a 100% fresh lower back? So, I'll switch days up so shoulders / pull-ups is the workout prior to deadlifting.

8/27/2020

• Incline press: 45x10, 95x8, 135x5, 185x3x2
• JM press: 45x10, 95x10, 115x10
• Seated cable row: 3 sets
• Stair master: 0:20:00 (239 kcal)

I benched two workouts ago but wanted to change the order of my lifts, so I did a light duty bench-like day for that purpose.

8/28/2020

• Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 385x1, 275x5x2
• Lower back machine: 3 sets
• Reverse hyper: 80x10x2, 120x12
• Upright ab machine: BWx25x2

8/30/2020

• Hammer strength shoulder press: 90x10, 180x8x4
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 40x17, 50x9
  • DB front raise: 40x10, 50x5
• Pull-up: BWx19, BWx15
• CG pull-up: BWx15, BWx10
• Stair master: 0:14:00 (171 kcal)

9/1/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x1, 335x3x8
  Zercher squat: 135x5, 225x8 @9, 225x6x3
  Romanian DL: 135x5
  Ab machine: 3 sets

Unless I mention otherwise, my Zercher squats start from the rack about chest height.

I started one of the Stronger by Science programs (Greg Nuckols' programs). It aligns well with what I already do, so it's basically just reorganizing my current lifts and applying the prescribed progressions. It spreads everything across the week, so I now have two squat days, two deadlift days and two bench days per week. Should be interesting.

Today's 335x3x8 deadlift was not close to failure even on the final set, but it was more volume than I'm used to. Then, after a single 8RM set of Zercher squats, which I did for 225 lbs, the remaining three sets of five to six reps for the same weight were not close to failure, but they also represented a lot of volume, especially after the deadlifts.

Did you read the pdf that came with it? It sounds like you are going to lift 6 days a week with one lift a day, but maybe I'm misunderstanding you. The pdf gives a lot of options on how to organise things (ex. 3 days a week with squat/bench one day, etc). If you've read it, then obviously ignore all this!

When I say the 2x/week intermediate bench/squat/deadlift program spreads everything, I mean one would be benching two days per week, squatting two days per week, and deadlifting two days per week by definition.

I read the PDF prior to setting up my plan. There's flexibility in setting the days. Someone could train as few as two days a week or as many as six. The 'program suggestions' section has a three-day per week plan for the 2x/week intermediate bench/squat/deadlift program but, as I trained four times per week prior to moving to this program, three per week seemed a step back. I set it up for five sessions per week, but can always group a couple together for days I can't make it to the gym.

My baseline plan:

1. Squat day 1
2. Bench day 1
3. Deadlift day 1
4. Off
5. Squat day 2, deadlift day 2
6. Bench day 2
7. Off

As you can see, squat day 1 and DL day 1 can be combined pretty easily should I be unable to train a day, so it's not set in stone at all.

I don't think I'm an intermediate lifter, but I chose the intermediate program because Nuckols likes volume and I don't want to burn out right away trying to crank out the advanced ones while acclimating to the general program. It's been a lot of work already, and I say that as someone accustomed to working hard in the gym.

After the first four-week cycle, I plan to move to 2x/week advanced bench/squat/deadlift programs, but I guess I could end up choosing a 3x/week for one of the three. We'll see.

9/2/2020

• Incline press: 45x8, 95x8, 135x8
• Bench press: 185x3, 205x5x4, 225x3x2
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 185x15, 195x10x3
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x8x4
• Stair master: 0:20:00 (243 kcal)

The incline press work was just to warm up while waiting for a bench to open up.

9/5/2020

• Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 335x3x4
• Sumo DL: 135x5, 225x3, 275x6x3
• Ab machine: 3 sets

Stronger by Science (Greg Nuckels): Squat day 1 week 2, Deadlift day 2 week 1 (SBS: S-d1w2 & D-d2w1)

After working through it more, I changed my baseline training days to align with Nuckols' 2x/week advanced bench/squat/deadlift program:

1. Squat day 1 / Deadlift day 1
2. Off
3. Bench day 1
4. Squat day 2
5. Deadlift day 2
6. Bench day 2
7. Off

9/6/2020

• Bench press: 45x8, 135x8, 205x5x2, 225x3x4
• Lying triceps extensions: 25x8, 75x8x4
• Hammer strength shoulder press: 90x10, 200x8x4
• Pull-up: BWx20, BWx15
• CG pull-up: BWx15

SBS: B-d1w2