5/6/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Seated DB press: 20x15x2
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 20x18x2
  • DB front raise: 20x13x2
• Pull-up: BWx12
• CG pull-up: BWx10
• DB curl: 20x15
• DB hammer curl: 50x12
• DB shrug: 50x20, 90x15x2

5/10/2020

• DL: 105x15, 185x10, 285x6
• Romanian deadlifts: 105x12, 285x4

I sprained my elbow after my last workout. It felt a little better today.

5/11/2020

• DB row: 20x10, 50x10, 90x10x2
• DB chest press: 20x20
• DB floor flyes: 20x20
• DB floor triceps extension: 20x10
• DB floor press: 20x30
• Rowing machine: 6 minutes

5/13/2020

• Zercher squats: 105x10, 145x10, 185x8, 225x4
• DB squat: 50x10x2
• Pistol box squats: BWx10x2
• Hanging leg raise: BWx20x2
• Short run: 2.2 miles

Same setup for the bar (old pull-up bar, dumbbells in bags hanging from it) as I described earlier.

5/15/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Seated DB press: 20x15x2
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 20x19x2
  • DB front raise: 20x14x2
• DB row: 90x10x2
• DB curl: 20x15
• DB shrug: 90x15

Elbow is still a little sore.

5/17/2020

• DL: 185x10, 285x4x2
• Romanian deadlifts: 285x4
• DB Romanian deadlifts: 90x8x2
• Pistol box squats: BWx12x2
• Hanging leg raise: BWx20x2
• Side bends: 20x15x2

Same setup for the bar (old pull-up bar, dumbbells in bags hanging from it) as I described earlier. It's very limiting. I'm looking forward to our gyms opening around 6/1.

5/18/2020

• DB floor press: 20x20, 50x20, 50x30
• Superset:
  • DB floor flyes: 20x30x2
  • DB floor triceps extension: 20x30x2
• Pendlay row: 185x8x2

Same setup for the bar (old pull-up bar, dumbbells in bags hanging from it) as I described earlier, except I used luggage straps to tighten it up so the bar is lower to the ground. It's slightly lower than an Olympic bar now.

5/20/2020

• Zercher squats: 105x10, 185x8
• DB squat: 50x10
• Pistol box squats: BWx12x2
• Hanging leg raise: BWx25x2

My old pull-up bar with dumbbells in bags hanging from it setup is starting to come apart. It doesn't have to hang together too much longer. Yay.

5/24/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Seated DB press: 20x15x2
• Superset:
  • DB laterals: 20x20x2
  • DB front raise: 20x15x2
• Pull-up: BWx10
• CG pull-up: BWx10
• DB curl: 20x15

5/25/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 405x1 @7, 455xf
• Glute ham raise: BWx10x3
• Reverse hyper: BWx15, 25x15, 50x15
• Hanging leg raise: BWx10x2

Ohio gyms reopened, so I went to a powerlifting gym with day passes and got to use actual equipment.

5/27/2020

• Short run

My left hamstring has been tight all week, but nothing really wrong. I deadlifted on it the day prior with no issues. But, when I ran I either strained it or got a bad cramp. I pulled up while running and walked home fairly sore.

5/28/2020

• Bench press: 45x15, 95x16, 135x10, 185x10, 205x5
• Close grip bench press: 135x10, 185x10, 205x4
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x3
• Cybex seated row: unloaded x 10, 90x10, 180x10, 230x5

My left hamstring felt okay going in. Benching was fine. My left elbow was still a little tight, so I didn't want to push it. But, it felt generally fine, and it was really nice to be benching in a gym again.

The Pendlay row was fine on the elbow, but my left hamstring let loose again. I don't think I pulled it, but it wasn't pleasant. I walked it off and wrapped up with the seated row.

6/1/2020

• Zercher squat: 45x8, 95x8, 135x8, 185x5x2
• Leg press machine: 3 sets
• Hanging leg raise: BWx12x2
• Stair master: 0:10:00 (128 kcal)
• 1.5 mile walk

My left hamstring was tight after my last workout, so I took two days off completely and today chose exercises that didn't involve much hamstring. I didn't go too heavy on the Zercher squats for that reason as well. It didn't give me trouble, but felt a little tight still.

6/2/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Pullovers: 25x10, 45x10, 55x8, 75x8
• Seated DB press: 25x10, 35x10
• Shoulder press machine: empty X 10, 50x10, 90x10, 140x10, 180x5
• Lat pulldowns: 3 sets
• Stair master: 0:10:00 (116 kcal)

6/4/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 405x1
• Leg curls: 3 sets
• Hanging leg raise: BWx12x2

My left hamstring has been feeling better the past few days, but still tight. I went in planning to see how it felt and not go heavy if it seemed a problem, but it was generally okay. The 405 lb rep went up easy (like @6 or so), but I felt some tightness and stopped.

I feel like I'm getting better at pulling the slack out the bar and getting my upper body in a good position at the invitation of the lift. We'll see how it goes in a few weeks, I guess.

6/5/2020

• 5K walk

6/6/2020

• Bench press: 45x15, 95x16, 135x10, 185x10, 205x8, 225x2
• Close grip bench press: 135x10, 185x10, 205x5
• Pendlay row: 135x5, 225x5, 255x6, 275x3
• Stair master: 0:10:00 (106 kcal)

This was my first workout since gyms reopened here that I didn't have anything wrong. My elbow feels just fine now, and my left hamstring seems fine. At least it didn't bother me today (and I was careful on the Pendlay rows, but no issues).

6/7/2020

• Squat: 50x8, 140x8, 230x5, 280x5, 320x2
• Leg press: 180x10, 270x20, 360x20, 450x10, 540x5
• Hanging leg raise: BWx12x2
• Stair master: 0:13:02 (152 kcal)

6/8/2020

• Stair master: 0:30:00 (315 kcal)

6/9/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Pullovers: 25x10, 45x10, 75x10
• Seated DB press: 25x10, 40x10
• Smith machine shoulder press: 3 sets
• Shoulder press machine: 90x10, 140x10, 180x10, 230x6
• Pull-up: BWx10
• CG pull-up: BWx10

6/10/2020

• DL: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 405x3, 435x1
• Romanian DL: 135x8x3
• Hanging leg raise: BWx12x2

My left hamstring tightened up a little during the 435 lb deadlift rep, so I went light the rest of the workout. Here's video from today's deadlifting.

Upon reviewing the video, I think it looks a lot better than the one I posted a couple of months ago. Still plenty to improve upon, of course.

I was more worried about improving moving the bar from the floor to the lockout than I was about the lockout itself, and that shows in the video. I am capable of squeezing my glutes to finish the lift just fine. I didn't execute that at all in this video and will be more careful to do so from now on.

6/13/2020

• Bench press: 45x10, 95x10, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x1
• Pin bench press: 45x10, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x4
• Cybex row: 4 sets

I've kept my reps per work set high on the bench and close grip bench for a while, as my left pec never fully recovered from a complete rupture and repair back in '09. But, training volume seems to have helped it feel normal at least, to where I don't always feel like it's ready to tear again at any moment as it did for a few years after the repair, or as it did when I tried to rehab it prior to surgery. So, I dropped the reps per work set. We'll see how that goes.

I've done pin bench presses in the past, but watching Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean-X) doing them recently got me to thinking that it would be a good way to push more weight to try to increase my overall bench press. I wanted to put up three plates today but, hard as I looked, I couldn't find any fake plates at my gym. So, I had to settle for two.

On a more serious note, I have a minor strain in my right hamstring that showed itself after my last workout. It was just a little tight after my final deadlift set but became more apparent later on. So, I didn't want to do any type of unsupported row.

Speaking of Athlean-X, my pin bench presses were from a dead stop and not a touch-and-go.

6/15/2020

• Zercher squat: 45x8, 135x4
• Leg press machine: 1 sets

My right hamstring was bothering me, so I didn't really even get started.

6/16/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Pullovers: 25x10, 45x10, 75x10
• Seated shoulder press: 3 sets
• Shoulder press machine: 8 sets

6/17/2020

• Shoulder mobility work
• Pull-up: BWx12x2
• CG pull-up: BWx12
• Lat pulldowns: 6 sets
• Barbell curls: 40x10, 60x8
• Leg extensions: 5 sets

My right hamstring is still bothering me, so I figured I'd get in some more upper body volume yesterday and today.

6/20/2020

• Bench press: 45x10, 95x10, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3
• Close grip bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x1
• Pin bench press: 45x10, 135x5, 205x5, 235x4, 245x2

6/21/2020

• Zercher squat: 45x8, 95x8, 135x5x2, 155x4
• DB row: 50x10x2
• Cybex row: 90x10,140x10, 180x10, 230x2
• Face pulls: 4 sets
• Stair master: 0:12:01 (122 kcal)

My right hamstring is improving, but it still bothering me somewhat.