May 24, 2013 Lower Body

• BB Split Squats: 155*3 175*3 215*3
• Squats: 315*3 335*2 355*1
• Walking Lunges: 160*8 170*7
• Goodmornings: 155*5 175*5 195*4
• Straight-Leg Cable Kickbacks: 110*7 120*5
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

39 minutes

Good session, tweaked weights on splits squats, want to keep hammering on them.  Walking lunges I continue to put weight on.  Everything else went well, quick session, I really just blow through the sets.  I'm soaked after these workouts, and I don't even really sweat that much in general.   And now I'm off til early June!  Hope you all have a nice week!

May 23, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press (paused rep) Cluster: 235*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Pullups: 80*3 80*3 80*3
• Standing Press: 155*3 175*1 165*2
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 145*6 155*6
• DB Flat: 120*4
• Ring Pullups: 10, 6

44 minutes

Good session. Up to 85 lbs. added on for pullups next week.  Going to up the unilateral t-bar rows too, when I clamp down my midsection I absolutely smoke them at these weights. Finished with some ring pullups. Toasted

May 23, 2013 Incline Walking

• Incline Walking: 15 minutes / 10% / 1.5 miles

Quick walk fasted

May 22, 2013

• 300m: 1
• 200m: 1
• 100m: 2
• 60m: 5
• Total: 1000m
• Broad Jumps: 8' 8", 9' 1", 9'1"

Good session, wasn't really in the mood at first, but I'm taking next week off so I kind of needed to. First 300 of the year, always an adventure.  Finished with some 60s because I didn't feel like doing a bunch more 100s, and I'm trying to get faster at the start .Did some broad jumps at the end, still going consistently. This is at Harvard's Track as well, so the lengths are different. 

May 21, 2013 Lower Body

• Deadlift: 405*1 435*1 455*1 480*1 500*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*2 150*X-gassed 135*3
• Hanging Power Cleans: 155*2 165*3 180*2 190*1
• Lateral Battling Ropes: 37, 50
• P.U.P.P.: 1:00

42 minutes

Pulled 500 again. It was the ugliest rep in recorded history, but I got it. Was beat after that though rest of workout.  

May 20, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (Paused Rep) Cluster Set: 270*1, 260*1,1,1,1,1, 265*1,1,260*1,1
• BB Rows: 225*5 245*5 265*5 275*5
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 85*2 85*2 85*2
• Landmine laterals: 50*9 55*5
• DB Incline Bench: 110*4

42 minutes

Another odd cluster set, just could not get a consistent weight. Odd that I was doing 285 a few weeks ago, and in that time my max bench hasn't fallen.  No idea why cluster weight fell off, may be fatigue.  Right shoulder getting sore on incline & flat bench last two weeks. Next week is an off week though so it'll get rest. Rest of workout went fine, 85 on neutral grip pullups. My regular pullup numbers are starting to catch up with it.  More fun with landmine laterals, may do two sets of 50 next week, I want both sets over 8 reps. 

May 20, 2013 Incline Walking

• Incline Walking: 30 minutes / 10% / 1.50 miles

morning session, fasted. 

May 19, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: (12 minutes) 25, 30, 25, 31, 60, 32, 70, 19
• Broad Jumps: 8' 4", 8' 8", 8' 2.5", 8' 7", 8' 8", 8' 9.5", 8' 5", 8' 7", 8' 4", 8' 7.5"
• Sled Speed Pushes: 90*5 90*4
• Incline Walking: 30 minutes / 10% / 2.47 miles

31 minutes (for working, not walking)

Arms were oddly tired when jumping rope and legs felt dead from squatting Friday. Really locking in on jumping right now.  Average is going up each week.  Absolutely drained by the sled pushing. Finished with some incline walking. 

May 17, 2013 Lower Body

• Split Squats: 165*3 185*3 205*3 225*3
• Squats: 315*2 345*1 365*X How the f*ck did I not get that? 
• Walking Lunges: 150*8 160*7
• Good Mornings: 165*4 180*4 190*3
• Straight Leg Cable Kickbacks: 100*10 120*6
• Ab-Wheel: 12, 10

40 minutes!

Lower back spasmed a bit on 225 for split squats. Somehow I was hungry for this workout.  No clue how I missed 365 on squats.  Will lower weight on good-mornings a tad on the last two sets. 

May 16, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press (Paused Rep) Cluster Set: 225*1,1,1,1,1,235*1,1,1,1,1
• Pullups: 80*3 80*3 80*2
• Standing Press: 145*3 165*2 155*4
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 145*6 155*5
• DB Flat: 120*4
• Face-Pulls: 25*10 40*10

45 minutes

225 was too light on cluster, upped to 235 halfway through. 

May 15, 2013 Sprinting

• 200m: 1
• 100m: 2
• 200m: 1
• 100m: 4
• Total: 1000m

Good session, added in the 200s. On the very last 100 it started to rain, so looks like I got it in just in time.  Didn't get a chance to broad jump though. Timed my first 100, but again running into strong swirling wind that is plaguing the region lately, only did 14.3

May 14, 2013 Lower Body

• Snatch-Grip Deadlifts: 315*1 365*1 405*1 PR?
• Deadlift: 455*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*1 150*1 145*1
• Hanging Power Cleans: 145*3 165*3 180*2 190*1
• Good-Mornings: 150*4 170*4
• Side-Planks: 1:00

44 minutes

Tried snatch-grip deadlifting, got 405, I think that's a PR, I don't recall going over 400 on them before.  They don't seem like they should be that much harder but man they just tax every part of your posterior chain.  Did a rep on deadlifting after.  On snatches I was just beat from the deadlifting, On good mornings I need to make sure I'm keeping my abs tight to keep from getting folded over too much. 

May 13, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press: 275*1 290*1 300*1 310*1
• Bench Press (Paused Rep): 275*1
• Pendlay Rows: 175*6 195*6 215*4
• Push Press: 205*1 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*3
• Landmine Laterals: 45*10 50*6

46 minutes

Didn't feel like doing a cluster set here, just tooled around a bit with benching, got to 310.   I really like Pendlay rows, probably going to drop the weight a bit on the 3rd set, these are really an exercise where any degradation on form defeats the purpose really.  Push pressing went well, as did neutral grip pullups.  Pulled back on the landmine lateral weight a tad as well, since I'm going more for high reps on them. Good session

May 13, 2013 Incline Walking

• Incline Walk: 10% / 30 minutes / 1.45m

Did some walking on the treadmill in my apartment before breakfast this morning.  

May 12, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 2", 8' 6", 8' 5.5", 8' 9", 8' 2", 8' 10", 8' 6", 8' 6", 8' 4", 8' 8"
• Jump Rope: (8:00) 41, 55, 60, 52, 50, 65
• Battling Rope-Rope Slam Superset: 55-10 47-10
• Incline Walk: 10% / 30 minutes / 1.31 miles  
• P.U.P.P.: 1:00, 1:00

Getting really explosive on the broad jumps, even bad ones are over 8 feet now.  If I keep up at this rate I should be over 9' on my longest attempts in a few weeks. We shall see.  Was pretty tired for the jump rope, no 100 jumps this time, plus it was a different rope and I didn't like it much. As soon as I was done I found the one I like in a pile in the corner.   Adding in some incline walking over the next few weeks to speed up the cut, I'm pretty close to where I want to be, it's going great.  

May 10, 2013 Lower Body

• Split Squats: 135*3 165*3 185*3 205*3
• Squats: 315*2 340*1 350*1
• Walking Lunges: 140*8 150*7
• Good Mornings: 135*5 160*4 180*3
• Paloffs: 100*10 110*5

38 minutes!

Wanted to try doing split squats first.  Definitely preferred that.  It doesn't tire you out much for subsequent bilateral work since it's so light, in relative terms.  I actually felt better squatting after doing the split squats.  Walking lunges are always a blast as well.  Did some good mornings, progressing slowly on them as I build up more lower back strength, then did paloffs.  I'm not sure if it's because I did split squats first, or what it is, but I'm positive that my lower back felt much stronger this week.  Maybe it's psychological, but I'm going to keep doing the good  mornings, and the split squats first.  BLEW threw the session, only 38 minutes. Felt great!  There are many ways to make progress; lift more weight, lift a weight for more repetitions, lift it faster, increase time under tension, or decrease rest time.  Definitely did the latter here.  Felt great

May 09, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press: 235*1 245*1 255*1 265*1
• Pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*3
• Standing Press: 135*3 155*3 165*2 175*1
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 165*4 160*4
• DB Bench Press: 120*3

45 minutes

Meh...Kind of worn out on cluster sets right now, probably from doing them for 2 months straight, going to take a week or two off from them I think.  Going up to 80 next week on pullups.  May drop weight a bit on unilateral t-bars, I want to really focus on higher reps and deeper contractions on them.  Really had no energy for this session.  I haven't given my upper body an off-week in about 9 months at this point, may do so soon.  I think end of May I'll take a week off.  

May 8, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: (8:20) 14, 40, 101 NEW PR!! 55, 50 - gassed on last 2 sets
• Broad Jump: 8' 6", 8' 5", 8' 6.5", 8' 4", 8' 5", 8' 5.5"
• Sled Push (For Speed): 90*5 90*4 90*3 90*3 90*4
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 70*10 50*10
• Side-Plank: 0:30

43 minutes

It was pouring outside on and off so I couldn't go to the track, which is ok, I went hard on this session.  Started with jump rope first, got 101 before I ran out of breath, and then did some broad jumps, my numbers didn't suffer for having done jump rope first.  It's funny, when you work out a lot or train hard at anything you always wonder how much fatigue exercise XYZ will have on what follows. But what you find is if you concentrate on the follow-up exercises usually the impact is so minimal. Just another way this stuff is so much about fortitude, dedication, and mental toughness.  Since this was  a conditioning session I did speed pushes with the sled, left my lungs feeling like molten magma.  Had to take over a minute off between each set.  Jumped to core stuff after that and called it a day.  

May 7, 2013 Lower Body

• Deadlift: 365*1 405*1 425*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 135*2 150*2 160*1/2
• Hanging Power Clean: 135*3 155*3 165*3 175*2 185*1
• Glute Bridges: 315*4 405*4 455*3 500*3 550*2 NEW PR? NEW PR!!
• Romanian Deadlifts: 225*3 275*3 315*3
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10
• P.U.P.P.: 1:00, 1:00

59 minutes

Well that was fun.  Felt like doing an extended workout here, so I did.  Deadlifts I really focused on keeping my shoulders pinned back and making sure I didn't slump at all at the shoulders.  Also didn't want to go too high on weight this week.   Snatches I aaaaalmost had 160.  Next on power cleans I'm starting back over again and focusing on form this time, and making sure I'm keeping the weight in close to my body.  I don't want them to turn into ballistic front raises or something.  After that glute bridges; since I found last week that they didn't really hurt my back/leg that much at all I wanted to push it.  Got to 550 and wasn't sure if that was a PR, turns out 545 was my old one.  I really think I could have had 575 or 600 here, maybe next week.  Was pumped so I did some RDLs, I'm trying to really hammer my lower back, but not via deadlifting & squats, I want to bring my lower back strength up so that it can support squatting better, so I'm throwing in a lot more good mornings, and RDLs.   Finished with some ab-wheel and PUPPs.  Was completely battered after!  

May 6, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (cluster): 280*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• BB Underhand Rows: 225*5 245*3 - couldn't get wraps right
• BB Rows: 275*4
• Push Press: 225*1 - forearms tired
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*2
• Landmine Lateral Raises: 50*8 60*4

47 minutes

Blech. Just NOT in a good mood from something, and no energy, depressed.  Trash session.  Got the 280 on the cluster so that's good. Rows were meh, forearms were tired so I had trouble stabilizing on push press. Neutral grip pullups went well, lost a rep on 3rd set though, hung too long at the bottom. Landmines went well I suppose, want to keep the weight lower though and the reps up on them, that's what I prefer.  Session dragged, on account of malaise/depressed mood. 

May 5, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 7' 9", 7' 11", 8' 5.5", 8' 3", 8' 5", 8' 3", 8' 1", 8' 2", 8' 3", 8' 5"
• Jump Rope (11 minutes): 13, 77, 80 NEW PR!!, 50-gassed, 81 NEW PR!!
• 31" Plyo Box Jumps: 10
• Sled Pushes: 115*4

Posterior chain is sore/fatigued all the way from my ankles to my traps after that Friday workout. Still managed to hit 8' 5.5" on broad jumps, really zeroing in on them lately.  Did some jump rope after, amazing how good of a cardiovascular hit that doing it takes on me.  Wish I could do it more, may start working it in on Mondays perhaps.  Wanted to do some box jumps, was pretty beat though so I just did 10. Finished with sled pushes and then fell face first on the turf for a couple minutes to recover. 

May 3, 2013 Lower Body

• Front Squats: 185*3 205*3 225*3 245*3 265*1 285*Noooope
• Bulgarian Split Squats: 135*5 165*5 185*3
• Walking Lunges: 130*8 140*7
• Straight Leg Cable Kickbacks: 100*6 120*4
• Good Mornings: 135*6 155*3

44 minutes

Decided to give my lower back a bit of rest from the loading it's been subjected to. Did front squats. Made sure I was keeping my core locked and my elbows high.  285 I started to come forward and just couldn't stand up straight coming out of the hole.  Bulgarian split squats I'm trying to rest more of my foot on the bench for the back leg, usually I just rest my toes which adds to the difficulty.  I really want to start putting more weight on with these, may even lead off with them soon.  Walking lunges are by far my favorite part of the week now, just knowing I'm going to be drenched with sweat after them hypes me up.  Did some cable kickbacks, then finished with some good mornings, since I'm trying to build up my lower back strength (didn't want to do back squats since that seems to be stressing them out last couple weeks)

May 2, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (3 minutes): 135*57
• Pullups: 7583 75*3 75*2
• DB Seated Press: 75*5 80*5 85*2
• Ring Pullups: BW*10 BW*8
• Face pulls: 25*8 35*7

45 minutes

was feeling pretty flat, allergies bothering me so I took a claritan.  They don't make you drowsy, but they still make me feel pretty flat.  Decided to do one of the challenges they have at my gym; in this case most bench press reps in 3 minutes with 135.  I'm already in the top 10, and top in my weight class.  Didn't beat my PR on it, but I'm satisfied.  Did my pullups, then did some DB seated press.  Ring pullups since we have new rings....wow surprisingly hard on my forearms.  Finished with some face-pulls.    Took a progress picture after the workout, here it is (199.5 lbs).  Pretty happy with results of the cut so far.  Still got a couple pounds left I think though.  

May 1, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 10
• Total: 1000m

Last couple sprints were a bit slow/dragging/plodding but the first ones felt good. Had that swirling again out there that I don't like, but my shins didn't splint up or anything so that was nice.  There were Harvard track people using the sand pit so I couldn't do broad jumps, which was ok because I was pretty beat anyway. 

April 30, 2013 Lower Body

• Deadlift (Cluster Set): 425*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*1 150*1 155*1
• Power CLeans: 185*2 205*1 215*X
• Glute-Bridges: 315*3 405*3
• Ab-Wheel: 12

45 minutes

I always thought the idea of a cluster set on deadlifts was a bad idea.  It is.  It's just too much stress on my lower/mid back.  I'm still sore typing this up two days later.   Was shot for the o-lifting afterward.  Need to get better on cleans, I think I'm doing what I used to do with snatches, which is bringing the weight too far out in front of me, almost like a ballistic front raise or something, and then snapping the weight back onto my shoulders.   So since that piriformis/glute-medius pull/whatever as I noted before some exercises hurt, like leg-pressing, and glute-bridges. I haven't tried them in a few months, so decided to test it out.  It still hurts a little bit, like a shocking/stabbing pain in the lower back that shoots down my left leg still.  But it's about 80% reduced from last time I did them!  So that's good.  I could do them regularly again if I so chose to.  Yaaaay

April 29, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (Cluster): 275*1 295*X 275*1 285*1 290*1 295*1,1,1 285*1,1
• Bench Press (Narrower Grip): 225*9
• Pendlay Rows: 165*10 185*6 205*6
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*3
• Landmine Laterals: 55*6
• DB Incline: 110*3

Odd. Started the cluster with 275, was way too light, so went to 295 and got crushed, back to 275 which was too light, bumped to 285, worked back to 295, got it for a few, then rolled back to 285 for a couple more.  Will probably just do 285 next week. No idea what happened there. On the regular bench pressing, my pinky was just inside the knurling (or possibly my index, I'm not sure. I wrote it wrong in my log-book).   This for me is pretty far in.  I actually snatch and bench with the same width grip.  Rest of session went good, somehow I pulled the heck out of a muscle in my neck on the NG pullups, so I abbreviated the landmines & db incline work. 

April 28, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 1", 8' 4", 8' 5", 8' 4", 8' 6", 8' 1", 8' 0", 8' 1", 8' 2", 8' 5", 8' 4"
• Jump Rope: 7:30: 17, 29, 55, 68 NEW PR!!, 29, 36
• Sled Pushes: 115*4 115*2 115*2

 32 minutes

On the broad jumps I'm definitely getting better about making sure I have some good height, and also putting my feet forward at the end.  Too often they would drag behind me, and where I would set them down was behind my body.  Also as far as height/forward thrust goes you have to balance it out.  You don't want to waste too much of your energy propelling yourself upward, but you need enough height so that you have enough time to bring your feet forward as you descend.  Did some jump rope, got a new PR.  Again, just totally gassed after, shins start to splint up a tad on the last couple sets.  Did some sled pushes for speed.  My quads completely locked up and gave out on them, which is good.  I keep my ass low and push through my posterior chain, but my quads really take the brunt of it, at least during the session, afterward everything is evenly sore.