Box Squats Thursday July 25

Box Squats

Warm-ups, then 6 x 335lbs, no wraps

Bulgarian Split Squats, 5 x 10 per leg with pause at the bottom. Havent done these in a while and omfg my glutes hurt.

Close Grip Bench July 24

Sets of 5 @ 45, 95, 115, 135, 155, 185, 205, 225, 245

Added slingshot. I felt like 255 or even 265 would've been in the bag easy without it if I'd had Brandon for liftoffs and spotting, but I didn't so my red stretchy friend stepped in instead.

Fives @ 265, 275, 295, 305 - 305 was pretty easy still but it was like 10:30 PM and I have to train again early in the morning. 305 was a good place to leave it, some in the tank for next time.

Shoulders Superset

Seated Face Pulls - 30, 50, 70, 80
Lateral Raises - 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s

Box Squats July 21

Triples @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275

Add  belt

Triples @ 295, 315, 335

Wrapped Knees

Triples @ 355, 365

3 x 2 @ 375

Hamstring Machine Curls

5 sets, hard squeeze at the bottom, not sure about weight

Bench July 19

Triples @ 45, 95, 115, 135, 155, 185, 205, 225, 245, 265

Full paused working sets

3 x 2 @ 275

Tri-Sets - Exactly what it sounds like - pick three exercises of the same muscle group and do them in circuit format. Good god these are rough when you do them right. Short rest intervals, hard squeezes at the bottom and top.

Shoulders
Seated BB Military Press (bottom half of the ROM) - 45, 95, 115, 135 x 10
Seated Cable Face Pulls - 40, 60, 70, 80 x 10
Lateral DB Raises - 10s, 20s, 25s, 30s

Triceps
Standing EZ Bar Overhead Extensions - 30, 50, 80, 100 x 10
Bench Dips - Bodyweight x 4 x 10
Tricep Pushdown Middle60's (I call these middle60s because the movement is the middle 60% of the ROM) - Not sure about the weight, I think I ended around 130

Biceps
Machine Curls - up to 70lbs
DB Hammer Curls to the Chin - 10, 20, 30, 40
EZ Bar Reverse Curl - 40, 50, 60, 70

Box Squats Friday July 11

Skipped a few days, really have to get back into the habit of doing this right after a workout. Trouble is I hate typing on my phone and I don't have the spare time at work I used to. Anyway I've got some awesome momentum going with box squats.

Triples @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275

Added belt

Triples @ 295, 315, 335

Wrapped knees

5 x 3 @ 355

Leg Press

Slow sets of 10 @ 90, 180, 270, 360, 450, 540, 630, 720

Box Squats July 1

Happy Canada Day! I was surprised with the day off from work so I got to sleep in an extra half hour and take my time having something to eat and timing my assault this morning. As far as the programming goes, today is a high-volume, muscle-building and knee stabilizing day which means no knee wraps. Normally I'm a bit nervous going into these days because when I keep the rest times down they can be killers and I never know how the knees are going to feel, but I've had great momentum with squats lately and I'm coming off a very strong doubles day from before I went camping.

Triples @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275

Added Belt

Triples @ 295, 315

6 x 3 @ 335

Beltless Back-Off

21 @ 225

This was painful but awesome. Having the bar on my back that long pinched some nerves and I strained some muscles in the back of my neck, but I beat my 225lb PR by one rep.

One-Legged Press with slow tempo

Empty Sled

5 x 10 per leg

Hammer Strength Ab Machine

3 x 15, 2 x 15 per side obliques, another 15 straight on

Box Squats and Bench June 27

I've missed blogging a few workouts but this was a big one. I was going camping for the weekend near Drayton Valley so I wouldn't be in town for my bench day, so I had to double up on primaries. It historically hasn't gone well for me but I felt good that morning.

Box Squats

Triples @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275

Added Belt

Triples @ 295, 315, 335

Wrapped Knees

Triple @ 355

3 x 2 @ 370

These felt good, much faster and cleaner than the last time I did the weight. 375 and 380 shouldn't feel much different in the coming cycle.

Bench

Triples @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 205, 225, 245, 265

3 x 2 @ 275

Again, Brandon wasn't there so these were touch and go instead of paused. They didn't really make me feel more or less confident about the prospect of doing them with a pause because I was already tired and kind of expecting them to feel crappy as it was. I was pleasantly surprised on that front but ultimately I won't have a measuring stick for 270+ with a full pause until I actually do it.