For anyone curious about my summer workout regimen:

Monday - Full body (volume) + 20 min stairmaster

Tuesday - 3 mi run (outside or treadmill, depending on the weather)

Wednesday - Full body (recovery) + 20 min stairmaster

Thursday - 30 min elliptical

Friday - Full body (intensity) + 20 min stairmaster

Saturday - 3 mi run

Sunday - Rest or elliptical

Wednesday, Dec 26th

Squat:
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
165 x 1
175 x 1
185 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 1
215 x 1
215 x 1
215 x 1
215 x 1

Bench
45 x 5
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 1
105 x 1
115 x 1
125 x 1
135 x 1
135 x 1
135 x 1
135 x 1
135 x 1

RDL:
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

OHP (full ROM, touch the chest at the bottom) 
45 x 5
55 x 1
65 x 1
75 x 1
85 x 5

Hypers (+25):
10
10
10

Dips (BW)
10
10
10

+Stretching and foam rolling

Going in for a double Intensity workout, Upper & Lower that is. I expect it to be grueling O.o

Was going to go in yesterday for Upper Intensity, but with all the of the Christmas & Family festivities I was just pooped at the end of the day.

So I’m thinking the session will go:

Squat 5 x 1

Bench 5 x 1

RDL 3 x 10

OHP 1 x 5

Back Hyper 3 x 10

Dips 3 x ?

I expect to be pretty drained after RDLs, but as long as the big exercises are out of the way, I won’t mind so much if my numbers are a bit weaker for the latter stuff.

Sunday, Dec 23rd

Volume Lower

Squat:
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
165 x 1
175 x 1
185 x 1
190 x 5
190 x 5
190 x 5
190 x 5
190 x 5

Squats felt really great today, better than I expected after having a week off. This gym close to home is really becoming my favorite gym to train at, too bad I can’t lift here all year round.

RDL:
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

Hypers (+25):
10
10
10

+Stretching and foam rolling

• Barbell Squat +747 pts

  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 95 lb x 5 reps (+65 pts)
  • 135 lb x 3 reps (+69 pts)
  • 165 lb x 1 reps (+57 pts)
  • 185 lb x 1 reps (+65 pts)
  • 195 lb x 1 reps (+70 pts)
  • 205 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)
  • 205 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)
  • 205 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)
  • 205 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)
  • 205 lb x 1 reps (+75 pts)

• Romanian Deadlift +248 pts

  • 45 lb x 8 reps (+41 pts)
  • 115 lb x 10 reps (+69 pts)
  • 115 lb x 10 reps (+69 pts)
  • 115 lb x 10 reps (+69 pts)

• Stair Machine +127 pts

  • 0:20:00 (+127 pts)

Volume Day: Upper body

Lifting

Bench Press

45 x 5 
65 x 5 
85 x 3
95 x 1 
105 x 5 
105 x 5 
105 x 5 
105 x 5 
105 x 5

OHP

45 x 3 
55 x 10 
55 x 10
55 x 10 

Lat Pulldown

85 x 10 
85 x 10
85 x 10 

Workout Notes:

OHP was the big reveal today. It’s been around two weeks since I last OHP’d and I was prepared to get my ass handed to me and went back down to 55 as opposed to 60. Man, I definitely sold myself short. I could’ve done 65 I’m sure. These sets weren’t a breeze, but the 10th rep was about the speed of how my 5th and 6th reps used to be at this weight. I’m curious now how Intensity Day will go!

Tuesday’s workout

Lifting

Back squats

45 x 5 
95 x 5 
115 x 5 
135 x 5 
165 x 1 
175 x 1 
185 x 5 
185 x 5 
185 x 5 
185 x 5 
185 x 5

Back to working sets of 185! Aw yeah

But then… wait for it… wait for it…

Cycling class: 1:00

All I can say is that many brave leg muscle fibers fought the good fight, but in the end it was just too much :D

What’s funny tho is that I wasn’t really that sore yesterday. Maybe my legs are more resilient than I thought!

Workout Notes:

Today felt GREAT. Pretty much the opposite of my last workout. Part of that was probably due to it being an upper body day, but I also think I came to the gym more energized and ready (thanks to 2 hearty cups o’ Joe) than before.
Going to add conditioning 2-3x a week at the end of w/os or on certain rest days. Today went great. Box jumps were tougher than I anticipated :P

Lifting

Bench Press
45 x 8 
65 x 5 
85 x 3 
95 x 5 
95 x 5 (paused reps)
95 x 5 (paused reps)
95 x 5 (paused reps)
95 x 5 (paused reps)

Overhead Press
45 x 5 
55 x 3 
60 x 10 
60 x 10 
60 x 10

Lat Pulldown
75 x 10 
75 x 10 
75 x 10

Read More

After last week being able to do back squats at 185 5x5 on Monday and 205 5x1 on Thursday I thought for sure my back was improving.

This morning I warmed up to my first set of 185x5, only to have sharp pain in my back after only one set. I lied down, tried to stretch a little and started my second set, but was only able to do 185x2 before I had stop. My back basically felt like an over stretched rubber band, and at any moment in the squat it was going to snap.

Now I’m sitting at my computer with a frozen back of stir-fry on my back wondering what went wrong. It just doesn’t make sense.

There’s really only one explanation I can think of, which has to do with the fact that this was my first attempt at a morning workout in a long time. Going from morning to evening workouts is much easier than evening to morning. When I workout in the evening, my back has had all day to “warm up” so to speak. Whereas in the morning, I really need to make sure I get a good warm-up in. Which didn’t happen.

This still sucks. Depending on how I feel I might try to go back this evening. Even if I just do some light sets (145 5x5) I could go to sleep tonight not feeling like a total failure.

Bad start to the week…

Weight: 154.6

http://ftcy.me/SyZEq4

• Barbell Squat:
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 95 lb x 5 reps (+65 pts)
  • 135 lb x 3 reps (+69 pts)
  • 165 lb x 5 reps (+105 pts)
  • 165 lb x 5 reps (+105 pts)
  • 165 lb x 5 reps (+105 pts)
  • 165 lb x 5 reps (+105 pts)
  • 165 lb x 5 reps (+105 pts)
• Weighted Hypers:
  • 10 lb x 10 reps (+10 pts)
  • 10 lb x 10 reps (+10 pts)
  • 10 lb x 10 reps (+10 pts)
• Lat Pulldown:
  • 60 lb x 10 reps (+22 pts)
  • 60 lb x 10 reps (+22 pts)
  • 60 lb x 10 reps (+22 pts)
• Hanging Knee Raise:
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)

• Barbell Bench Press:
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 65 lb x 5 reps (+53 pts)
  • 75 lb x 3 reps (+46 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+61 pts)
• Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+64 pts)
  • 55 lb x 10 reps (+81 pts)
  • 55 lb x 10 reps (+81 pts)
  • 55 lb x 10 reps (+81 pts)
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row:
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+49 pts)
• Stair Machine:
  • 0:07:30 (+47 pts)

I’m being forced to go conservative on lower body stuff since my back not close to being fully healed. It’s very tight 24/7 and painful when I do simple things like pick up a shopping bag, or stand for a long period of time.

That being said… today’s workout is below

• Barbell Squat:
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 95 lb x 5 reps (+65 pts)
  • 135 lb x 5 reps (+85 pts)
  • 135 lb x 5 reps (+85 pts)
  • 135 lb x 5 reps (+85 pts)
  • 135 lb x 5 reps (+85 pts)
  • 135 lb x 5 reps (+85 pts)
• Glute Hamstring Raise:
  • 0 lb x 10 reps (+122 pts)
  • 0 lb x 10 reps (+122 pts)
  • 0 lb x 10 reps (+122 pts)
• Chin-Up:
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 1 reps (+2 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)
  • 2 reps (+3 pts)