Gunning for elite...

[Nmowery]

9/29 deadlifts

Did deficits and front squats both for the first time in forever. I think I could've pulled a little heavier, but whatever nagging injury I have going on in my core/abs was telling me to chill on it

Deficits
225x8
315x6
405x6
425x6
445x6

Sumo from floor...405x6. Wanted to get another set at 425, but felt a little tweak in my hamstring so I cut that off

Front squat
185x10
205x10
225x8

Superset the front squats with calves. Pretty happy with where my front squat game was - between taking a couple weeks off and spending some time on the Layne Norton program, I haven't done these in months and the weight moved pretty well, even after wearing my shit out on deads.

[Nmowery]

10/2 heavy chest/back

Kind of a shitty workout. Bench progress still completely stalled, and I just didn't really have a lot of focus going into this one

Bench
225x5
285x3
315x2
325x1
335xfail
295x4
275x6

Pullups
+25x8x2, BWx10x2

Dips
+75x6x2

Smith machine shoulder press
135x15
155x12

Bent barbell rows
275x5, 255x6, 235x8

Squats tonight after work...looking forward to this one

[Nmowery]

Squat
305x10
325x8
345x3x2
365x4

345 was gonna be one set of 6, but I had set the safety pins in the rack since I had no spotter, and with a wide grip on the bar my hands were touching the pins at the bottom...after 3 reps of focusing more on not smashing my hands than squatting, I racked it, got a spotter, then banged out the rest

Followed up with 2 sets of 12 reps of back raises with bands, and 2 sets leg extensions all superset with seated calves

Rest day tomorrow, then light chest/back and arms on Wednesday...

[Nmowery]

10/6 random upper body workout

Didn't get into the gym yesterday...went in to work early, got out 4 hours late, and by the time I ate and napped and had some energy, watching the giants dominate the mets took precedent over lifting...

Close grip bench, 185x10, 205x10, 225x9. Superset with t-bar rows...sets of 10, starting with one 35 lb plate, working up to 5 adding 1 per set

Dummbell bench, 100x9/8, superset with dummbell rows with same number of sets/reps

Hammer strength incline, 70 lbs on each side, 2 sets of 12. Superset with wide lat pulls, sets of 12 as well

Hammer strength shoulder press, 90 lbs per side for 3 sets of 5. Superset with 1 arm hammer strength preacher curls

3 sets of bis/tris with cables

2 sets of seated lateral raises, zottman curls, overhead tri extensions with rope handle

Deadlifts tomorrow AM...

[Nmowery]

10/7 deadlift

Reverse band setup
315x5
405x5
455x5
495x5
545x5
585x2

Took bands off...475x3. Weak set for sure. Wanted to get that for 8-10 reps but was tired as shit. Did a few sets of calves and got outta there.

10/9

Bench press, 295x4x3

Reverse band bench, 345x3

Pullups, +45x4, +25x8x3. Superset with dips, +75x8/6 and db shoulder press, 50x18, 55x15

Bent barbell row, 275x6x2, 245x10

[Nmowery]

10/11 squats

Safety bar with reverse bands...

330x10
350x8
370x6
390x4

2 sets each of leg extensions and back extensions with bands, all superset with calves. I've been dialing back the volume on these squat days, but am still sore as shit for a couple days after, and have been making consistent gains lately, so gonna stick with what works until it doesn't...now time to eat and watch my giants slaughter the Cubs...

[Nmowery]

10/12 upper body

Close grip bench, 225x12, 245x9. Superset with seated cable row, 200x12

Dummbell incline press, 80x8x2. Superset with hammer strength machine rows, 2 plates on each side x12x2

Smith machine military press, 185x5, 205x3, 205x4. Superset with wide lat pulls, 180x12x2

Barbell curls/tri extensions, 3x8x3.

Seated db curl, cable tris with rope for 2 sets

1 arm cable curl/tri extensions

[Nmowery]

10/14 deadlifts

525x3x3

Front squat, 205x10, 225x8

Leg curls, 115x12x2

Superset the leg curls and front squats with calves. Pretty pumped with deadlifts today, I've pulled 525x3 before but only for a single set, so upping the volume there was pretty satisfying.

[Nmowery]

10/16

Bench, 295x3, 305x3, 315x3, 275x6

Then did 185 for 5 reps each to the chest, then 2/3/4/5 boards all in one set

Then superset 2 sets pullups with dips, and 2 sets hammer strength shoulder press with Cs rows

Bench felt pretty weak, and took the volume down on other lifts because I was super stiff and sore and just toasted feeling...hope to feel a bit better for squats tomorrow

[Nmowery]

10/18 squats

315x10
335x8
355x6
375x4

This was a morning workout before work, which I hate to do for leg days. Since I was kind of pressed for time, and each set was a rep PR, I figured the squats alone made for a solid days work. Thinking back, I don't know that I've ever squatted over 365 for more than a single, so even for a morning lift it went well

10/20 upper body accessory

Incline bench, 85x10, 90x8. Superset with hammer strength rows, 90 per side x12/12, 115 per x10

Close grip bench, 225x10/8. Superset with wide lat pulls, 180x12x3

Smith machine shoulder press, 185x6, 205x4, 215x3. since i did 2 sets each of presses but 3 of pulling motions, these ended up being superset with Lat pulls as well.

Ez bar curls/skullcrushers, 35 per side x8x3

Zottman curls, 25x12x2, overhead cable extensions with rope handle, 120x12, 100x10

Machine preacher curl, 25x10x2, 1 hand cable extension, 50x10, 40x15

Kind of a shitty workout. Got up and went to work on my day off, then went to lift. Only had a protein shake and some cottage cheese between 8am-2pm. Had a headache the entire time I was at the gym...thought the caffeine in my preworkout would clear it up, but no dice. I think it doesn't help that it's one of those dreary, rainy, overcast days where it seems like no one else had any sort of energy or enthusiasm. That's cool tho...time to eat up and hang out for the rest of the day, with some deficit deads on tap tomorrow.

[Nmowery]

10/21

Deficit deads
225x6
315x5
405x4
455x4
475x4
495x4

Sumo deads
425x6

Front squat
245x5
225x6

Also 4 sets calf raises and 2 sets face pulls worked in between the sumo and front squat sets

Pretty good lifting today. Goal was to work up to a top set of 4 reps, hopefully with 5 plates, and hit the mark. I really wanted to pull a bit more volume on the sumos, and hit more reps than I did on the front squats, but between working 10 hours then going straight to the gym and pulling deficits I was pretty gassed. In the end, what matters is that things are progressing well towards my goals for my next meet on 12/3, so as long as that keeps up I'll be happy.

[Nmowery]

10/23 bench

Shitty day. Not even gonna put down what I did

10/25 squat

Safety bar with bands
340x10
360x8
380x6
400x4

Went to follow up with a couple sets of leg extensions, and on the last rep of the last set my right kneecap dislocated. This happened once before when I was 17 playing football, and sprained knee ligaments along with it. Thankfully I was able to pop it back in immediately, even if that isn't the most well advised course of action. Had the wife come pick me up, and am skipping the er and hoping that ice, compression, etc will help me get right asap. Gonna venture to guess I won't be deadlifting in a meet in December though...

[Nmowery]

10/30 bench

Pressing into bands with about 90 lb tension at the top...
135x12
185x8
225x6

3 board
275x6
295x5

Then did the "triceps from hell" burnout with 205 - 5 reps to chest, then to 2/3/4/5 boards. Did this 4 weeks ago with 185, so that's a nice little bit of gains in a month.

Dips, x15/15

Hammer strength shoulder press, 155x8, 135x10

Cable fly, 70x15/15 superset with cable tricep extensions, 160x12/12

First lift since fucking up my knee the other day. Not gonna be able to train legs for a while, so gonna focus on getting my bench squared away and getting swole up top! Also widened my bench grip back out from pinkies on the rings to ring finger, and I feel a lot stronger and more dialed in that way - hopefully my shoulders agree, since rotator cuff pain was the reason for moving my grip in to start with.

[Nmowery]

10/31 back

Pullups, BWx10x3

Seated cable row, 160x12/15, 180x12

Wide Lat pull, 180/170/160x12

Hammer strength row, 90 per side x12x3

Dummbell pullover, 80x15/12/12 superset with dummbell curls, 25x20, 30x15, 40x10

Followed up by starting PT on my knee on an exercise bike. Didn't do a lot, just rocked back and forth on the pedals, but was able to noticeably increase ROM in the few minutes of work I put in. Also have been doing lots of toe raises, knee bends, iso quad contractions, etc.

Maybe I should ignore it, but there's a little voice in my head that's telling me I can be healthy in time to compete on 12/3. My goal of setting the federations 242 deadlift record is probably shot, but at this point I'd feel satisfied to show up and pull a PR at a "world" meet. On the flipside, I feel like attempting heavy deads so soon after a serious injury would be stupid as shit - but right now I'm feeling like a fire that's been doused in water, but still has the embers burning down below the surface. It's only been 6 days and I'm already feeling better by the day, and am hoping to be done with crutches by the end of the week. Gonna be tough to tell how the healing goes, but holy shit am I already looking forward to chalking my hands and ripping a barbell off the floor...

[Nmowery]

11-3

Smith machine shoulder press
135x10
185x5
205x5x2
225x3/2

Close grip bench
225x10x2

Incline dumbbell press
70x12x2

Dumbbell fly, 40x12x2, superset with dumbbell skullcrushers, 40x8x2

[Nmowery]

11/5 back/biceps

Superset, parallel grip lat pulls/dummbell seal row for 3 sets apiece

Superset hammer strength pull downs and rows, also 3 sets each

Superset db lateral raises, reverse grip preacher curls with ez bar x2

Cable upright rows with rope handle, superset with seated db curls x2

Bent cable raises, hammer strength curls

11/6 bench

295x3x5

Reverse band bench, 345x5/3

Dips superset with hammer strength shoulder press x2

Cable tricep extensions x2

[Nmowery]

11/10

Smith machine shoulder press
225x3/2, 205x3x2

Incline db press
80x10/8

Close grip bench
225x10, 245x6

Jm press, superset with cable flys x2

Cable tricep extension x2

11/11

Pull-ups, 4x10

Chest supported row
70x10x2

Close grip lat pull, 200x8, 160x 12 - superset with seated row with rope handle, 140x10, 120x12

Db hammer curl, superset with face pulls x2

Machine curl superset with kettlebell upright row x2

Zottman curl superset with seated lateral db raise x2

Cable concentration curl x2

[Nmowery]

11/13

Reverse band bench
225x10
275x5
315x5
365x3
405x1
425xfail
365x5

3 board
315x3

2 board
275x6

Dips
+45x10x2

Db shoulder press
55x15
60x12

Tricep pushdown
180x10
Drop set starting with 180x5, then 170, 160, etc down to 120

[Nmowery]

11/16

Wide lat pulls superset with cable upright rows, 3 each

Bent db row superset with face pulls, 3 each

Narrow grip lat pull superset with hammer strength rows, also 3 sets each

Db pullovers superset with barbell curls, 3 sets again

Bent db raise superset with seated db curl, 2 sets

Db concentration curl x2 sets

First workout with fury, and was a good one. Stuck around after lifting to get some PT in on my knee. Was able to do some leg press and hack squats with no weight added after 10 min on a stationary bike, just to try to get range of motion back.

[Nmowery]

11/17

Close grip bench, pressing into bands
185x10
185x3x8

Incline db press
85x10/10/8

Smith machine shoulder press
185x5x3

1 arm cable fly, 60x15x2, 70x12. Superset with skullcrushers - ez bar with 35's for 3 sets of 10

Tossed a couple sets of zottman curls in at the end with 20 lb dumbells, just cause it looks silly getting that back arm pump going on without the biceps!!