June 27, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press: 225*3 240*1 255*1 225*3
• Pullups: 85*2 85*2 85*2
• Behind-The-Neck Presses: 135*5 150*3 140*4
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 160*5 170*3
• DB Flat Bench: 120*3 110*5
• Power Cleans: 135*8 145*5 145*5 185*X-starfished

45 minutes

Hadn't done regular incline benching in a while.  Upped weight slightly on pullups.  Rotated in BTN presses as well.  Did more power-cleans still finding them infuriating.  About ready to quit this crap. 

April 8, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (cluster of 10): 285*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Bench Press (paused rep): 285*1
• Pendlay Rows: 155*10 185*5 205*4
• Behind The Neck Presses: 135*7 145*4 155*3
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 70*3 70*3 70*3
• Landmine Lateral Raises: 45*10 55*5

46 minutes

• Jump Rope: 6 minutes

Got my cluster of 10 on 285.  Again taking a bellyful of air before a rep makes SO much of a difference.  The first few reps I grinded out because I wanted to see if it got any easier with air in the belly.  The next 7 were easier than those 3 by far.  If you're not sure what it means to take air into your belly; inhale deeply.  If you're chest puffs out you're doing it wrong. If your belly presses out, you're doing it right.  If you're having trouble, try laying on your back and focus on breathing in slowly, with a hand resting flat on your stomach. Visualize the air filling your stomach and making your hand rise up slowly.

So yeah, cluster went great, I think I may actually try 295 for a cluster this coming week.  Threw in Pendlay rows, getting better at them.  BTN Presses went a little better this week than last, getting back into the groove with them. Also added reps on the NG pullups, so that's good.  Dropped weight a tad on landmines since I won't to focus on getting reps in since I'm still new to them, I need to get my body used to the pattern with them.  Finished with more jumprope.  Hit 30 times!  Also got 20 a couple times, and 17 as well.  Will do it again Thursday.  I notice it hits my calves a bit when I do it.  Good times.  Also, weighed in at 203 lbs. post workout. 

April 1, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (Cluster Set): 275*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Bench Press (Paused Rep): 285*1
• BB Rows: 245*5 265*5 275*5 285*4
• Behind The Neck Press: 135*5 145*4 155*3
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 70*3 70*2 70*2
• Landmine Lateral Raises: 50*6 60*4

43 minutes

Another great session; got the 275 cluster fairly easily, took a tad longer than I wanted to, but still averaged about 45 seconds between reps.  Absolutely love these cluster reps.  Next week is the real test, going for 285 and a cluster of 10 again. I feel like the 275 this week was only marginally more difficult than the 265 last week, which I absolutely smoked, so we shall see.  BB Rows went odd, my back felt pretty fatigued for some reason.    I'm calling standing presses behind the head 'behind the neck presses' which I guess is the standard name for them.  Anyway it was odd doing them for the first time in a while, hopefully I put up better numbers next week.  Despite not liking standard standing presses very much, they're what I'm used to now.   Did some neutral grip pullups, had a bit of a pain in my left elbow while doing them, it felt almost bruised.  It's fine now, but I'll keep an eye on it.  The session was getting a bit long, so I did a couple sets of landmine lateral rasies and scooted.  Really love these things, I know I say it every week, but I really really love them.   Also, weight is at 204 right now.  That should start going down a bit more now that I'm sprinting again.