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Average session tonight.
Light squats:
110 x 5/5
Light as the title suggests.
Bench press:
95 x 1
80 x 5
Was hoping for far more with 80 but it just didn't feel good tonight so didn't push it. The over-warm up was meant to help but it didn't.
Deadlifts:
185 x 5
First few not too hard but the last one was as I was out of breath, and back rounding a bit too on it. Mixed grip and in deadlift slippers.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4/2/1/2
Then home.
Light squats:
110 x 5/5
Light as the title suggests.
Bench press:
95 x 1
80 x 5
Was hoping for far more with 80 but it just didn't feel good tonight so didn't push it. The over-warm up was meant to help but it didn't.
Deadlifts:
185 x 5
First few not too hard but the last one was as I was out of breath, and back rounding a bit too on it. Mixed grip and in deadlift slippers.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4/2/1/2
Then home.
Good session tonight.
Squats:
150 x 5
Quite hard.
Press:
70 x 4
PR. Used my wrist wraps to see if they made a difference. They didn't. Got some advice on my form: my forearms were facing forward which was forcing me to press forward and up rather than directly up, and when taking the bar down I also lean back as well as let the bar come forward, which ****s me up for subsequent reps, and hence why I always feel it so much in my low back and lean back so much. Corrected that for the back-off sets which I done after push pressing.
Push press:
95 x 1
97 x f/1
On the fail I totally mistimed the dip and drive. Corrected it and got 97 next time without too much hassle. Couldn't do any back-off sets though as triceps were tired.
Press (back off sets)
60 x 3/3/5
Second and last sets much easier as I incorporated the advice.
Pull-ups:
bodyweight x 3/3/3/3/3
Short rest periods and arms already tired from pressing.
Then home.
Squats:
150 x 5
Quite hard.
Press:
70 x 4
PR. Used my wrist wraps to see if they made a difference. They didn't. Got some advice on my form: my forearms were facing forward which was forcing me to press forward and up rather than directly up, and when taking the bar down I also lean back as well as let the bar come forward, which ****s me up for subsequent reps, and hence why I always feel it so much in my low back and lean back so much. Corrected that for the back-off sets which I done after push pressing.
Push press:
95 x 1
97 x f/1
On the fail I totally mistimed the dip and drive. Corrected it and got 97 next time without too much hassle. Couldn't do any back-off sets though as triceps were tired.
Press (back off sets)
60 x 3/3/5
Second and last sets much easier as I incorporated the advice.
Pull-ups:
bodyweight x 3/3/3/3/3
Short rest periods and arms already tired from pressing.
Then home.
Not a brillaint session tonight.
Low bar squats:
165 x 1
Felt awkward as ****.
Press:
70 x 1
Bad.
Push press:
90 x 1
Hard.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4
Not a particularly long amount of rest between sets.
Then went home.
Low bar squats:
165 x 1
Felt awkward as ****.
Press:
70 x 1
Bad.
Push press:
90 x 1
Hard.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4
Not a particularly long amount of rest between sets.
Then went home.
Okay session tonight.
Low bar squats:
180 x 1
130 x 5/5/5
180 was very hard. The sets of 130 were not too bad. Again bar feeling awkward and sore as **** on rear deltoids.
Bench press:
80 x 5/4
Meh. Second set was absolutely no bounce at all, and I think this is where I have been going wrong for so long in that instead of actually getting stronger I've just been bouncing a little harder.
Dumbbell rows:
30s x 10/10/10 each side
Not done these for years. Trying to do them properly as they're probably better than barbell rows due to the increased ROM they offer.
Seated dumbbell press:
16s x 10
20s x 10
24s x 8
20s were easy enough but ran out of gas with the 24s.
Then some chins but not many, and then went home.
Low bar squats:
180 x 1
130 x 5/5/5
180 was very hard. The sets of 130 were not too bad. Again bar feeling awkward and sore as **** on rear deltoids.
Bench press:
80 x 5/4
Meh. Second set was absolutely no bounce at all, and I think this is where I have been going wrong for so long in that instead of actually getting stronger I've just been bouncing a little harder.
Dumbbell rows:
30s x 10/10/10 each side
Not done these for years. Trying to do them properly as they're probably better than barbell rows due to the increased ROM they offer.
Seated dumbbell press:
16s x 10
20s x 10
24s x 8
20s were easy enough but ran out of gas with the 24s.
Then some chins but not many, and then went home.
Nothing to complain about tonight.
Low bar squats:
132.5 x 5/5/5
Not too bad.
Press:
60 x 5/5/5
Easy enough but resetting due to form issues. Felt much better on my low back!
Dumbbell rows:
32s x 10/10/10 each arm.
Not too bad.
Chins:
bodyweight x 4/4/4/3
Not too good at these after the rows it seems...
Then went home.
Low bar squats:
132.5 x 5/5/5
Not too bad.
Press:
60 x 5/5/5
Easy enough but resetting due to form issues. Felt much better on my low back!
Dumbbell rows:
32s x 10/10/10 each arm.
Not too bad.
Chins:
bodyweight x 4/4/4/3
Not too good at these after the rows it seems...
Then went home.
Average session tonight.
Squats:
135 x 5/5/5
Not too difficult. Low bar again, and will be for the foreseeable future (hopefully).
Paused bench (2s):
92 x 1
80 x 3/3
Realised that I haven't actually gained any bench strength for a while; it's all been bounced, hence why my bench yo-yos so much. So I'm going to do a lot of paused work to help build actual strength.
Deadlifts:
200 x 1
205 x f
The 200 wasn't too hard but 205 simply wouldn't budge. I got the slack out of it but that's it. Frustrated.
Did some pull ups before squats during the wait for a bar but can't remember how much.
Then went home.
Squats:
135 x 5/5/5
Not too difficult. Low bar again, and will be for the foreseeable future (hopefully).
Paused bench (2s):
92 x 1
80 x 3/3
Realised that I haven't actually gained any bench strength for a while; it's all been bounced, hence why my bench yo-yos so much. So I'm going to do a lot of paused work to help build actual strength.
Deadlifts:
200 x 1
205 x f
The 200 wasn't too hard but 205 simply wouldn't budge. I got the slack out of it but that's it. Frustrated.
Did some pull ups before squats during the wait for a bar but can't remember how much.
Then went home.
Okay session tonight.
Squats:
137.5 x 5/5/5
Not too bad.
Press:
62.5 x 5/5/5
Same as above. New technique helping.
Dumbbell rows:
34 x 10/10/10 each side.
Then home.
Squats:
137.5 x 5/5/5
Not too bad.
Press:
62.5 x 5/5/5
Same as above. New technique helping.
Dumbbell rows:
34 x 10/10/10 each side.
Then home.
Okay session tonight.
Squats:
140 x 5/5/5
Back feeling a bit uncomfortable during these. Valsalva helps a lot though. Seems to be worst when the load is being applied, i.e. I'm unracking. Hopefully it won't get worse. I remember last time I got back into squatting after taking four months off I did feel quite a bit of initial pain after a painless return but managed to push through it and it went away.
Paused bench [2s]
80 x 5/5/4
Hard. Pausing is really humbling.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4
Chins:
bodyweight x 5/5/5
Then home.
Squats:
140 x 5/5/5
Back feeling a bit uncomfortable during these. Valsalva helps a lot though. Seems to be worst when the load is being applied, i.e. I'm unracking. Hopefully it won't get worse. I remember last time I got back into squatting after taking four months off I did feel quite a bit of initial pain after a painless return but managed to push through it and it went away.
Paused bench [2s]
80 x 5/5/4
Hard. Pausing is really humbling.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/4/4
Chins:
bodyweight x 5/5/5
Then home.
Poor session tonight. So much delays... not only did it take me ages to get to the gym, it took me even longer to actually get a rack and a bar...
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/5/3
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Squats:
142.5 x 5/5/5
Really uncomfortable for my back. Not sure whether to switch to high bar or persevere with it.
Press:
65 x 5/3/3
Meh.
Then went home.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/5/3
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Squats:
142.5 x 5/5/5
Really uncomfortable for my back. Not sure whether to switch to high bar or persevere with it.
Press:
65 x 5/3/3
Meh.
Then went home.
Original post by Smack
Poor session tonight. So much delays... not only did it take me ages to get to the gym, it took me even longer to actually get a rack and a bar...
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/5/3
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Squats:
142.5 x 5/5/5
Really uncomfortable for my back. Not sure whether to switch to high bar or persevere with it.
Press:
65 x 5/3/3
Meh.
Then went home.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 5/5/3
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Squats:
142.5 x 5/5/5
Really uncomfortable for my back. Not sure whether to switch to high bar or persevere with it.
Press:
65 x 5/3/3
Meh.
Then went home.
Switch to high bar. It's more awesome.
Original post by Smack
Poor session tonight. So much delays... not only did it take me ages to get to the gym, it took me even longer to actually get a rack and a bar...
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Did these first as I got a rack but had to wait for a bar. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets.
Literally every day this week, for most of my session, and definitely for my heavy work sets, I've trained almost completely alone in the gym. I don't know your feel.
Not a great session tonight, but not a disaster either. Not much food today or sleep last night.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 7/5/3
First set is a PR. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets hence the drop in reps.
High bar squats:
120 x 5
130 x 5
Back to high bar since my back disagreed with low bar. All sets fairly easy.
Paused bench [2s]:
82.5 x 3/3
This was poor. Was hoping for more but the bar just felt really heavy.
Chins:
bodyweight x 5/5/5
Not too bad. Not much rest between sets.
Then went home.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 7/5/3
First set is a PR. Not much rest between 2nd and 3rd sets hence the drop in reps.
High bar squats:
120 x 5
130 x 5
Back to high bar since my back disagreed with low bar. All sets fairly easy.
Paused bench [2s]:
82.5 x 3/3
This was poor. Was hoping for more but the bar just felt really heavy.
Chins:
bodyweight x 5/5/5
Not too bad. Not much rest between sets.
Then went home.
Good session tonight, nothing to complain about.
Squats:
90 x 5
120 x 5
135 x 5
Routine.
Press:
65 x 5/5/5
Difficult but got them all.
Power cleans:
up to 100 x 1
Going to get back into these.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 6/5/5
Then home.
Squats:
90 x 5
120 x 5
135 x 5
Routine.
Press:
65 x 5/5/5
Difficult but got them all.
Power cleans:
up to 100 x 1
Going to get back into these.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 6/5/5
Then home.
Good session again.
Squats:
80 x 5
95 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 5
140 x 5
Thought that 140 was going to be quite difficult based on the warm-ups but it wasn't. Didn't rest much between the first 4 sets though. For squats at the moment I'm doing ramping sets since it's not my weakness and instead I can focus my energies on my pressing and deadlifting, whilst the ramping sets still allows me to get some volume and practice in and hit a heavy top set.
Paused bench:
82.5 x 5
Quite difficult.
Deadlifts:
190 x 5
Excruciating. Really need to get this up, I'm around the same strength as I was on this two ****ing years ago.
Low incline dumbbell bench press:
26s x 10
30s x 6/6/7
Then went home.
Squats:
80 x 5
95 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 5
140 x 5
Thought that 140 was going to be quite difficult based on the warm-ups but it wasn't. Didn't rest much between the first 4 sets though. For squats at the moment I'm doing ramping sets since it's not my weakness and instead I can focus my energies on my pressing and deadlifting, whilst the ramping sets still allows me to get some volume and practice in and hit a heavy top set.
Paused bench:
82.5 x 5
Quite difficult.
Deadlifts:
190 x 5
Excruciating. Really need to get this up, I'm around the same strength as I was on this two ****ing years ago.
Low incline dumbbell bench press:
26s x 10
30s x 6/6/7
Then went home.
Good session tonight.
Squats:
80 x 5
95 x 5
110 x 5
120 x 5
142.5 x 5
Only a small increase tonight, but it was still quite ****ing difficult.
Press:
67.5 x 5/3
Meh. On second set I used too narrow a grip.
Push press:
95 x 1
100 x f/1
Finally got two plates overhead. Landmark night.
Power cleans:
90 x 3/3/3/3/3
A bit of volume with these. Tiring.
Then went home.
Squats:
80 x 5
95 x 5
110 x 5
120 x 5
142.5 x 5
Only a small increase tonight, but it was still quite ****ing difficult.
Press:
67.5 x 5/3
Meh. On second set I used too narrow a grip.
Push press:
95 x 1
100 x f/1
Finally got two plates overhead. Landmark night.
Power cleans:
90 x 3/3/3/3/3
A bit of volume with these. Tiring.
Then went home.
Nice push press. Jelly.
Thanks. I rarely even practice push pressing. I would definitely say that the key is to have strong shoulders, which are best gained from strict pressing, and to get the timing right too, i.e. make sure you drive up with your arms as soon as finish the dip. A lot of people seem to wait until they've straightened their legs, finishing the leg drive portion of the lift, before driving with their arms.
Good session tonight.
Recovery squats:
110 x 5/5
Was feeling pretty beat up in my legs and back so just went light on these.
Paused bench:
85 x 3/3/3
Not too hard at all.
Low incline dumbbell bench press:
30s x 7/7/9
Happy with the last set. Decent improvement since last time.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 6/5/5/3
Then went home.
Recovery squats:
110 x 5/5
Was feeling pretty beat up in my legs and back so just went light on these.
Paused bench:
85 x 3/3/3
Not too hard at all.
Low incline dumbbell bench press:
30s x 7/7/9
Happy with the last set. Decent improvement since last time.
Pull ups:
bodyweight x 6/5/5/3
Then went home.
Average session tonight.
Squats:
85 x 5
100 x 5
115 x 5
130 x 5
145 x 5
Quite hard to be honest.
Press:
67.5 x 5/4/1
More than last time but form much worse. Leaning far too far back.
Chins:
bodyweight x 6/6/6
Then home.
Squats:
85 x 5
100 x 5
115 x 5
130 x 5
145 x 5
Quite hard to be honest.
Press:
67.5 x 5/4/1
More than last time but form much worse. Leaning far too far back.
Chins:
bodyweight x 6/6/6
Then home.
Did you not rest long enough for your last set? If you got 4 and 5 you should be able to hit 3 reps on the third set.
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