Squats forge Iron Gods...

[OnlyHuman]

Week (8) day (2)

Activation exercises

-box jump

-power clean

Front Squats (3 reps)

92.5

72.5

72.5

82.5

82.5

92.5

92.5

72.5

Bench (3 reps)

85

80

80

82.5

82.5

85

85

80

Core Front plank

Good session. Speed was good on the front squats and the weights felt ok. Bench felt easy enough however I would like a bit more speed tho.

Payed quite a bit of attention to the technique side of things on the two main movements. seemed to be going ok today, if I would have to be super picky maybe a few reps on the bench could have been more consistent.

Noticed some improvement on the front planks. Glad that core strength is improved a bit.

Weight: 77.9 (without shoes)

Sleep: Good

Food: High protein, medium carb.

Stress: Still high.

[samuelNZ]

Sorry to be ignorant as I haven't read every post in your journal, but are you following High Performance Mass as a program? From T-Nation?

[OnlyHuman]

Sorry to be ignorant as I haven't read every post in your journal, but are you following High Performance Mass as a program? From T-Nation?

Yes :nod:

[samuelNZ]

Hah I thought so. I considered trying this method myself, how are you finding it? I opted for Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 Program instead. Have made some quite good gains off that, and only after one 4 week cycle. Might have to start my own journal

[OnlyHuman]

Hah I thought so. I considered trying this method myself, how are you finding it? I opted for Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 Program instead. Have made some quite good gains off that, and only after one 4 week cycle. Might have to start my own journal

It is a lot of work and is time consuming. A bit repetitive as well but I like it so far. Also, I am not following the program to the "letter".

I have never done wendler's 5/3/1 but the general feedback from people who tried it seems to be positive.

Start up a journal than :wink:

[OnlyHuman]

Week (8) day (3)

Military (3 reps)

45

40

40

42.5

42.5

45

45

40

Incline BP (3 reps)

70

65

65

67.5

67.5

70

70

65

BP (3 reps)

85

80

80

82.5

82.5

85

85

80

Good session. I had to cut it short due to having a meeting thus skipped the activation exercise, the front squat and the core exercise of the day.

Weights felt ok, speed was average.

Changed foot position in the bench, may give it a few more try before I decide for it or against it.

BW: 78.2

Sleep: Good but only 7 hours.

Food: High protein, high carb. (Pizza and ice cream :oops: )

Stress: Still high

[OnlyHuman]

Week (8) Day (4)

Activation exercise Speed squats

Front squats (3 reps)

92.5

72.5

72.5

82.5

82.5

92.5

92.5

72.5

Deadlift (3 reps)

125

105

105

115

115

125

125

105

Military (3 reps)

45

40

40

42.5

42.5

45

45

40

Core Leg raises

Good session. Speed and weights felt ok. Deadlifts felt much more consistent than last week. I made a point to pay close attention to set-up and execution.

Military felt good. Felt easy on the bottom part of the lift but a few reps slowed down at the very top. However, in overall they were fine.

Weight: 77.7

Sleep: Average (Woke up once and had a bit of problem falling asleep so I had a quick shower that helped me fall back to sleep nice and easy.)

Food: High protein, medium carb.

Stress: High

[OnlyHuman]

Week (8) day (5) Lats and biceps.

Chest supported BB row 3 sets of 8 @ 60 and 3 sets of 12 @ 50

Hammer machine pull-over 2 sets of 10 @ 80 and 2 sets of 10 @ 70

Straight arm lat pull down supersetted with Close grip lat pull down 3 sets of 10

BB biceps curls 4 sets of 8

Hammer curls 2 sets of 10

Reverse curls 2 sets of 10

Excellent session. Lots of energy and drive.

BW: 78.1

Sleep: Good

Food: High protein, medium carb.

Stress: Still higher than I would like it to be.

[OnlyHuman]

Week (9) Day (1)

Military (3 reps)

45

40

42.5

45

40

42.5

45

40

42.5

45

40

Incline BP (3 reps)

70

65

67.5

70

65

67.5

70

65

67.5

70

65

Bench (3 reps)

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

Front squats (3 reps)

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

Core Leg raises

In overall, it was a good session:

- Military and incline felt excellent.

- Bench felt a little on the heavy side today.

- I was draging my feet a little by the fron squats but the weight and speed felt ok.

Tried to work on technique as usual. I still catch my self doing stuff here and there that could be done better. Just noticing it, not worried much. Happy with the first high volume workout of the week. Going by the previous 3 rd weeks I expect this to run me into the ground slightly.

Highlight of last weeks training was watching an old as guy (60s) doing proper bottom up bench with 60 kg. I thought that was pretty cool.

BW: 77.5

Sleep: Good

Food: High protein, medium - high carbs.

Stress: Medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (9) Day (2)

Activation exercise Powersnatch

Front squats (3 reps)

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

Bench (3 reps)

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

Core

- Front plank

- Side plank

Good session. Speed and weights felt ok.

Worked on my bench technique quite a bit today. (I need it tho :pfft: )

I had some DOMS in the quads and shoulders and I am sure today's session will kick it up a notch or two.

Weight: 76.6 :shrug:

Sleep: Good

Food: Medium protein, high carb.

Stress: Medium-High

[singular]

Hey mate,

Interesting routine! And great dedication. What kind of rest are you getting between sets with that volume? 1 min, 2 min? Use a stopwatch?

[OnlyHuman]

Hey mate,

Interesting routine! And great dedication. What kind of rest are you getting between sets with that volume? 1 min, 2 min? Use a stopwatch?

Thank you.

I figure about 2 min between sets, or round about.

I just go by how I feel. The most important deciding factor for me as I want to make sure i can accelerate the weight as much as I can. :shrug:

[OnlyHuman]

Week (9) Day (3)

Activation: Powernatch

Military (3 reps)

45

40

42.5

45

40

42.5

45

40

42.5

45

40

Incline BP (3 reps)

70

65

67.5

70

65

67.5

70

65

67.5

70

65

Bench (3 reps)

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

82.5

85

80

Front squats (3 reps)

92.5

72.5

82.5

92.5

72.5

The session was a bit below average. One of the trainers was dead set on talking training, and I did not have the heart to tell her that she kind of keeping me from my workout.

Military and bench was below average. Incline was easy. Front squats got cut short due to the session getting way to long for my liking. Skipped core work today.

It is likely that I will be entirely to busy to train tomorrow and maybe even on Saturday. I may make up for some of it on Sunday if I can.

Weight: 77.2

Sleep: Only about seven hours but woke up on my own account. I am going to go with average.

Food: High protein, plenty carbs and 100gr of black forest chocolate. :oops:

Stress: High, but only a few more days to go than its sorted.

[OnlyHuman]

Week (10) Day (4)

Activation exercise powersnatch

Military (3 reps)

47.5

42.5

45

47.5

42.5

Incline (3 reps)

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

85

87.5

82.5

Front squat (3 reps)

95

75

85

95

75

Triple treat close grip bench - reverse grip - conventional bench : Worked up to 70

Good session. Weights felt ok and speed wasn't to bad. Always greedy for a bit more bar speed tho.

I noticed a bit of a sticking point on the front squats. Will ponder about if it is something that could be remedied by set up or execution. Or perhaps it is due to other factors such as the prolonged exposure to non training related stress or my chesty cough (that finally fully cleared up).

Weight: 76.2 ( Felt a bit dehydrated today )

Sleep: Good (lots and lots of quality sleep)

Food: Good (but one day over the weekend = Mc Donalds, Dunking donuts and risling :oops: )

Stress: low - medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (10) Day (5)

Front squats (3 reps)

95

75

85

95

75

Deadlifts (3 reps)

127.5

107.5

117.5

127.5

107.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

85

87.5

82.5

Bottom up Front squats (3 reps) worked up to 80

Core Uni-lateral carry

In overall, good session. Weights and speed was reasonably good on everything but the deadlift. I think not having done it for 2 weeks did not help. I may look into upping my deadlift frequency but not the volume.

I managed to source an oly-lifter to check my front squats for me. Conclusion = Good technique, and there is no visible sticking point. I will still have a bit of a ponder about it tho.

Weight: 75.9 (I upped my calories still dropping weight. I will have to keep an eye on this. So far I don't think that it is effecting my strength so I figure it must be fat loss.)

Sleep: Good.

Food: High protein, medium - high carbs.

Stress: Low - medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (10) Day (6)

Back and biceps.

Chest supported BB rows 2s x 6r @ 60 and 2s x 10r @ 40

Close grip lat pull down 3 sets of 10

Hammer Pull-overs 3 sets of 10 @ 70

BB curls 3s of 5r @ 30 and 2s of 10 @ bar only

Hammer curls 3 sets of 10r

Reverse curls 3 sets of 10r

Good session. It was my 2nd back/biceps workout this week so I just took it easy-ish.

BW: 76.3

Sleep: Good

Food: Good

Stress: Low

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (1)

Activation Powersnatch

Military (3 reps)

47.5

42.5

42.5

45

45

47.5

47.5

42.5

Incline (3 reps)

72.5

67.5

67.5

70

70

72.5

72.5

67.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

82.5

85

85

87.5

87.5

82.5

Front squats (3 reps)

95

75

75

85

85

95

95

75

The session was way below average. I expected it due to the lack of quality sleep, and food. Weights felt heavy and reps were slow :boohoo:

I am glad I stuck to it and finished what I had to do for today (regardless how crap I felt). I will have a big feast or two tonight as well as a big sleep.

I make sure that I push myself extra hard in the gym tomorrow!

Weight: 76.2

Sleep: Not enough.

Food: Not enough.

Stress: Low

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (2)

Bottom up front squats Worked up to 85

Front squats (3 reps)

95

75

75

85

85

95

95

75

Deadlift (3 reps)

127.5

107.5

117.5

127.5

107.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

82.5

85

85

87.5

87.5

82.5

Core

- uni lateral carry

- leg raises

Heavenly iron God in the sky :pray: thank you for the great training session :nod:

Speed on all movements were nice and snappy. The weights also felt ok and despite the volume my energy levels remained relatively good over the training session. Also, there was no "breakdown" of technique despite the high-ish volume. I am very happy with how things went today.

Weight: 77

Sleep: Good

Food: Good

Stress: low-medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (3) Back & biceps.

Chest supported BB row

6 @ 50

10 @ 45

12 @ 40

Close grip lat pulldown 3 sets of 10 reps

Hammer pullovers 3 sets of 10 @ 70

BB curls

5 sets of 5 @ 30

2 sets of 10 @ 22.5

Incline dumbbell curls 4 sets of 8-10

Pinwheel curls 3 sets of lots of reps

Good session.

I figured I like to bring up the guns a little. Lately I have lost quite a few kilos and my arm size only decreased half a centimeter. However, I never used to train arms hard enough and now when I leaned up a bit it became more and more apparent that I need some size on the guns. (So I actually look like I workout :pfft: ) Thus I will do 2 back/bicep sessions for the next few weeks to try and bump up the size of them a little.

Just a plan, may adjust it accordingly if it backfires or hinders the overall plan.

Weight: 77.3

Sleep: Below average.

Food: Very good.

Sress: Low

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (4)

Activation execise Clap push-ups

Military (3 reps)

47.5

42.5

42.5

45

45

47.5

47.5

42.5

Incline (3 reps)

72.5

67.5

67.5

70

70

72.5

72.5

67.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

82.5

85

85

87.5

87.5

82.5

Front squats (3 reps)

95

75

75

85

85

95

95

75

Core straight leg raise

Good session. I started to fade on the bench but bounced back on the front squats.

Happy with the technique aspects of today's training. Of course I'm always keen to polish and refine this component of my training.

Weights felt ok on all exercises but a few of the bench sets. I needed more speed at the top end of the military press and on the bench. Nothing atrocious but not as good as I like it to be.

Weight: 76.9

Sleep: Good

Food: Good (may have some ice cream, I have been craving it and I know I have some caramello flavoured one sitting in the freezer =P~ )

Stress: low-medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (5)

Front squats

95

75

75

85

85

95

95

75

Bottom up front squats Worked up to 75

Deadlift

127.5

107.5

117.5

127.5

107.5

Bench

87.5

82.5

82.5

85

85

87.5

87.5

82.5

Core

-AB wheel

-Front plank

Good session. I was especially happy with how the bench felt today.

Front squats went reasonably well. Decent speed and the weight felt reasonable on most of the sets.

While the deadlifts were ok. It is an exercise that I need to pay some more attention to in the future. I will have a ponder about it.

I also had some MAJOR DOMS in my shoulders during the night. Not sure what it was all about. I haven't done anything new or different. Felt ok during the bench, and I think the most of it is gone by now anyways.

I'm doing biceps tomorrow. I never used to like training arms but for some reason I'm looking forward to it this time around.

Weight: 76

Sleep: Good but woke up a few times to empty the old bladder :pfft:

Food: Good + a serving of ice cream.

Stress: Low

[OnlyHuman]

Week (11) Day (6) Back & Biceps

Chest supported BB row

3 sets of 5 reps @ 50

3 sets of 12 reps @ 40

A1 One arm BB preacher curl 3 sets

A2 BB preacher curl 3 sets

A3 Standing BB curl 3 sets

Dumbbell curls 3 sets of 10 reps

Hammer curls 3 sets of lots of reps

Good session, as much as a session that highlights the lack of my arm strength considered to be a good session :pfft:

Ridiculously small weights used. Eg 10kg for one arm BB curls and I could not even do the prescribed sets / reps. 22.5 kg for the BB preacher curls. You get the idea :?

I enjoyed training the guns tho, and that in itself is a victory for me.

On a side note, I bought a 10lb bag of Super Quad protein. It be interesting to see if the creatine in it will push my weight up a bit. Don't really mind either way at this stage as I am only looking to get a bit leaner and stronger and maybe try to iron out a few body parts that are lagging beyond the rest (over a few months or so).

Weight: 76.3

Food: Good, plus a serving of ice cream.

Sleep: Good

Stress: Little

[drizzt]

Bro, fronts are nice as always, good work :clap:

[OnlyHuman]

Bro, fronts are nice as always, good work :clap:

Oh, thanks :oops:

No where near I like it to be (or was once upon the time) but I hope that on week 13 I will get a bit closer to those numbers. :pray:

[OnlyHuman]

Week (12) Day (1)

Military (3 reps)

47.2

42.5

45

47.5

42.5

45

47.5

42.5

45

47.5

42.5

Incline (3 reps)

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

Bench (3 reps)

87.5

82.5

85

82.5

Front squats (3 reps)

95

75

85

95

75

Not a good session. I kind of predicted a sub-par session before I made it to the gym based on just how I felt prior to it. I have been quite busy today helping people out and carrying furniture around in the heat. So I figured it will impact on my gym session but I guess I underestimated just how much it will influence it.

During the first few sets of military I also pulled or popped a cartilage in my sternum / rib area. Nothing too bad but annoying enough that I cut the bench session and the front squats short. I may skip benching tomorrow, see how I feel.

As a result of the above mentioned factors weights felt heavy and speed was straight up atrocious today :pfft:

I am a little anoyed that this happening just before my test week but I'll just rest up, get a monster feed and a big sleep. Hope to bounce back tomorrow.

Weight: 76.2

Sleep: Good

Food: High protein, medium carb

Stress: Little - medium (more physical than psychological :pfft: )