January 3, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press: 195*10 205*10 210*8
• Pullups: 10, 8, 6 -whole upper back still sore from DLs
• Standing Press: 105*10 115*9 115*7
• DB Rows: 120*10 120*10
• DB Flat: 100*8 95*4-gassed.  40 minutes to this point
• 16 lbs. medicine ball wall  throws: 10

42 mins

Well that's good.  Last week I got 195 & 200 both for 9, here I got 205 for 10.  Seem to be adapting to the higher rep stuff.  Still bizarre to be mid-set and thinking "This is usually my total number of reps for a whole exercise".   I have to say the most surprising part of this wasn't feeling like I was ambushed last week from the lactic acid. It's how sore my upper back/rhomboids are after deadlifting.  It's amazing what doing 30 pulls from the ground with good form and a tight back can do for the muscles there.  I noticed it when I got up this morning, and then today while doing pullups.  

Standing press progressed well.  A note here; I always do them behind my head. It's not usually advised, but for me it actually feels more natural, and has never hurt.  I'm thinking to switch things up I'm going to start going to the front, and all the way down to the top of my chest, usually I stop just below my ear lobes when going behind my head.  We'll see what that does for my shoulders.

Rest of the workout went well, was gassed by the time I got to the flat bench.  I sped through this workout though; only 40 minutes to that point, took a couple to do some wall ball throws and called it a day. 

December 6, 2012 Upper Body

• Incline Bench: 230*5 240*4 250*3
• Pullups: 80*2 80*2 80*2
• Rope Pullups: 7, 7
• Standing Press: 135*5 140*4 145*3
• DB Rows: 120*7 120*7
• DB Flat: 95*7 105*4
• Medicine Ball Wall Throws: 16*10 16*10

44 minutes

Good session.  Going to start with 105 on DB Flat this coming week.  Strength has gone up significantly each week on the added in exercises I'm doing this bulk.  On Standing Press I may try pushing my 1RM for a few weeks, I usually respond well to that on other movements, hopefully will there too.  

November 27, 2012 Lower Body

• Deadlift: 315*3 365*3 410*3
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 140*3 145*3
• Hanging Power Cleans: 155*3 175*3 195*X 185*1
• BB Front Loaded Reverse Lunges: 45*5 95*5
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10
• Medicine-Ball Wall Throws: 16*10 16*10

45 Minutes

Good session, getting stronger on deadlifting.  Last week I was exhausted after this session, this time I got it done easily.  Grip wasn't as exhausted, traps felt good. Felt more powerful throughout the whole thing.  Probably should've done 185 for 3rd set on cleans. Next week. Tried front loaded reverse lunges...interesting. Mocha Bear is big on them, may have to try them the next couple weeks. Remembered that the ab-wheel exists so that went well, then finished with some wall throws.  Weighed in at 194 after the session was over. 

November 16, 2012

• Squats: 225*5 275*5 305*2 315*1
• Squats From Pins: 245*3 265*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 140*3 145*1
• Front Squats: 185*3 205*3 
• Paloffs: 60*10 70*10
• 16 lbs. medicine ball wall throw: 10, 10

44 minutes

Too much stuff!  I think all of that is too much for my lower back, it's going to get overloaded.  The squats went well, banged out a couple extra at 275 & upped 3rd set to 305 from 300.  I need to add in some hypers here I think, or maybe on deadlifting day.  Love squatting from the pins; going to drop the weight some and really bang out some reps.  Front squats I was slumped forward badly, my lower back was exhausted.  Tried to pin my core but it was tired. Rest of the session went well. 

So here's the thing...my leg days are sort of muddled; one is hamstring based with quad work in it, and the other vice-versa.  Fridays I'm hitting quads with squatting, glutes/hams with the power snatches, and glutes/hams/back with the reverse-hypers I do here occasionally.  Tuesdays I'm hitting my posterior chain with deadlifts, and the glute bridges I'm going to be adding back in...but then bulgarian split squats are very quad centered for me.  So here's what I'm going to do:

Tuesdays:

Deadlift x 3

Hanging Power Snatches x 3

Hanging Power Cleans x 3

Reverse Hypers (or glute bridges) x 3

Core x 2

Conditioning perhaps

Fridays:

Squats (or Front Squats) x 5

Squats from Pins x 3

Bulgarian Split Squats x 2

Core x 2

Conditioning 

This way I'm hitting my posterior chain really hard on Tuesdays, and my quads more on Fridays.  I high bar squat anyway, so it always hits my quads more. PLUS this gives me a way to put both of my main o-lifts on the same day, since I had tinkered with giving them their own day in the past.  This should allow my CNS to recover more, since I'm not doing anything explosive on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays now.  I'm really excited for this! 

October 2, 2012 Lower Body

• Deadlifts: 315*3 405*1 425*1 445*1 
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 160*3 185*2 170*3
• DB Bulgarian Split Squats: 15*10 15*10
• Wall-Ball Throws: 16*10 16*10

Wheeee getting deadlifting strength back.  I think that's 5 straight weeks now of deadlifting so I'll probably go easy on it this coming week, we'll see how I feel.  Tried to keep my form on hanging power cleans better; last week I discovered my arms were coming too far in front of me on snatches.  They were on cleans as well, but not as bad.  Hopefully staying tight near my body lets me pack the weight back on the bar here. 

I highly recommend the split squats for people with hip mobility/imbalances.  My hips are usually a bit stiff and I have to get them warmed up before deadlifting/squatting.  I notice the help from the Bulgarian Split Squats as well;  I also notice that the imbalance can lead to instability of my knee i.e. it caves in sometimes when squatting.  The split squats help with that, especially concentrating on keeping everything in line.  I'm taking it slow on these, I could use the 100s probably at this point for a couple reps, but my form would be terrible. I'm going to keep everything light here for now and really pattern in the proper form on the movement. 

Finished up the session here by throwing a large ball up a wall as high as I could. 

September 11, 2012 Lower Body

• Deadlift: 315*3 365*1 385*1 405*1
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 165*3 185*3
• Bulgarian Split Squats: BW*15 BW*15
• Medicine ball Wall Throws: 18*15

Thought about going for 415 but decided against it. Since restarting deadlifting I noticed it's my hamstrings and glutes that are feeling the brunt of the lift.  This isn't a bad thing; just different, used to be more my back & some glute.  Did some split squats here as I want to start adding them in, but in a more high rep capacity to try and balance out any imbalances.  Did some wall throws with a large medicine ball, I enjoyed it.