Sounds like those pause deads fried your posterior chain =)
I think it was actually from benching the day prior - I was trying to adjust my foot placement and really try to keep my lower body tight with the reverse band presses. I was running around all weekend and felt fine, until leg day came around lol.
I think it was actually from benching the day prior - I was trying to adjust my foot placement and really try to keep my lower body tight with the reverse band presses. I was running around all weekend and felt fine, until leg day came around lol.
Fair enough! I remember my Quads around the knee would get sore after a heavy Bench session.
4/6, squats...first time using a regular barbell in forever! And not by choice...anyways, did banded squats with the bands to the floor, anchored to the front of the rack. NOTE TO SELF...green bands, looped over peg, 2nd peg 6 holes back.
Anyways...did the typical DE day thing of 185 on the bar for 8x3. Should have followed up with some high rep DL variation, but - hamstrings still feel kinda shitty, so skipped that. All my workouts this week got pushed back a day, so I’ll have less time before my next ME squat day, so I opted to do a couple high rep sets of walking lunges. Even unweighted, these still suck. SS them with 2 sets donkey calves, then did 2 sets seated calves while putting all my weights away.
4/8, bench...this shit is getting hella frustrating. Was gonna try to increase total volume with 315 over 2 weeks ago, but first set was still 315x3...so I figured I’d do a wave set workout - went up to 325x2, 335x1. Going back to 325, I only got a double, so decided to do a few singles of 335 after - got one, failed the second, said fuck the third. I’m honestly getting pretty shitty over the fact that I was hitting 315x5, 6 reps per set not too long ago, fell off to 2 after a break from heavy pressing, and have only gotten back to tripling that shit. Hopefully it’s partially a result of my last light day being Friday rather than Thursday, and being kinda tired from working all weekend and shit, but fuck those excuses. We all know the bar doesn’t give a shit what you have going on outside the gym, and neither does my mind...
Finished bench with 315x5 to a foam roller. Then dips, +75x8/7/6, SS with BW inverted rose, 3x15.
Then 2 sets to almost-but-not-quite failure of face pulls, tris, bis with a band
4/10, did something a little different and front squatted for ME day. I never do these really heavy, but I needed a break from the back squat variations, and wanted no part of good mornings for ME. Messed with 265/285/305/315 for my singles...first 3 plate front squat, so hooray.
Deadlift - 465x5x3
That was it...ran out of time before work. Again. Was gonna go back after for accessory stuff, but my legs have been trashed lately. Trying to avoid a de-load after not lifting while being sick, but might have to suck it up and back off a little...
4/11, DB shoulder press...55x15, 65x12, 75x8x2. SS with parallel grip lat pulls, pyramiding from 120-200 lb including warmups. Last set was 12 reps, previous were all 15.
Close grip bench to 4 board, 225x12/12/10/10. SS with hammer strength rows, 90 per side x12x4.
Arms...used cables with preacher bench for curls and 1 arm tris, 3 sets each
4/15, bench, 275x6/6/6/8. Felt like I kinda needed a break from pushing near maximal weight, so went this route with it instead. Then did t bar rows on the pit shark - started with 1 plate per side, added one per set up to 4 plates for 15 reps each. Superset these with dips, +75x8/7/6. Stopped with that, I just felt shitty and tired and burned out.
M
4/17, Deadlifts, singled 455/495/515/535/555. First time doing deadlifts first in like 6 months, and it was GREAT. Weights felt so light while warming up...hips don’t have the same snap after squats, but this is why I’ve been training that way. Belt squats, 4 sets - 2/3/4 plates per side x20, 5 plates x8. SS with calves.
I was actually gonna do more today - I felt much better than Monday, but my workout took forever because an squat rack was pulled out and replaced with a deadlift platform. Will be nice later, but sucked to work around today!
4/25, Swiss bar bench, 2 sets of 155, 2 sets of 175. Alternate between wide and middle grips. SS with seated cable rows, sets of 15 at 120/140/160/180.
Hammer strength shoulder press, 70 per side x12, 55x15x3. SS with 4 sets of lat pulls, 170x15 for each.
1 arm bis/tris with cables
4/26, front squat, 185x12x2, 205x12x2.
Deadlifts - 6 second isometrics, SS with 385x1 for 6 rounds
Squats, bands to floor - first time doing heavy squats in forever with a regular barbell. 275/315x3, 345/375/405/425x1
Deadlifts...fuck. Program called for 475x5x3. I had trouble pulling that shit for 1 rep, for whatever reason. Dropped weight, did a beltless set of 405x10
Ran out of time for my accessories - probably why my DL is falling off a cliff. There was almost no one around in the gym this morning, so just scrounging up a spotter for heavy singles was a pain in the ass. Was gonna go back to the gym to do them after work, but of course got off super late. Le sigh...
5/2, smith shoulder press - 135/155/175x12, 195x8/6
Close grip bench, with bands to a 4 board - 185x8, 155x3x12.
Pull-ups, +45x8x2, +25x10x2
Hammer strength low row, 2 plates x12x2
Arms on cables with rope handle, 2 sets each of bis/tris
Usually superset stuff on these days, but decided to mix it up today and get the pressing out of the way before moving on to back stuff...was actually kinda nice
5/3, safety bar box squat, 250x8x3. Tried to get 2 second pauses at the bottom of each rep, but I’m sure some were shorter than that. Also slowed down the descent on the last 4 sets since I wasn’t using bands or anything - probably should have done so across all sets, but didn’t even think of it till I was halfway in.
Deficit SLDL, 195x15(thought I had loaded another 25 per side), 245x12x3. Achieved deficit by using all 25s on the bar and going to the floor. SS these with calves.
Reverse hyper, 90x15x3. SS with lateral step paloff presses, set of 6/8/12, descending in weight each set. Press weight out, take a step to the right, back to the left, bring handle back to chest = 1 rep. These suck!!
5/6, Bench to foam roller(same thickness as a 4 board, but the weight sinks into it a bit), 315x3, 325x2, 335x1, 350x1, 365xfail. Kinda bummed I couldn’t match the PR from a little bit ago, but...I took a pretty long pause, and the 350 before it moved really smooth. Then did 315x3x2 afterwards.
Dips, +90x8/6. SS with narrow grip rows on the belt squat. Also did 2 more sets of rows after the dips.
Banded face pulls, 2 sets of a ton of reps, SS with some standing DB curls
...just scrolled up and saw I didn’t log my lifts last week(4/29), that was 335x2x2, 325x2, 315x3/2. The first 4 sets were with my “normal” grip of ring finger on the rings...reps kept stalling out halfway up, so I moved to pinkies on the rings for the last set, and shit felt WAY better. Used pinky width this week, and the triples of 315 after the heavy singles moved so much easier!
Finished that day with DB incline press, 90x8x3, SS with CS rows - 70 lb with holding each rep at the top, then tris/bis/pull aparts for 3 sets with bands.