Hypertrophy Phase - Week 4, Day 21

9/14/12

Speed Pulls
275x2
275x2
315x2
315x2
315x2
315x2

275 from front: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1jk90GiTzw
315 from front: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebDZzGbULw
315 from side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3SeSF_4F4w
315 from side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYZguvsu7Os


Notes
Felt beat up and I had zero desire to do "hypertrophy" work on my legs.  I thought my speed looked pretty good.  Form looks good to me too.  I wish my back was a little flatter at the bottom.  This is something I'll have to think about in the future.  Also, my right arm looks like its bent at 45 degree angle lol.  Must be dem biceps getting bigger.  Nah but really I guess its because the weight is light?  I don't know. It does look weird though.

Hypertrophy Phase - Week 4, Day 20

Light Upper Day

Chins
BWx10
BWx6

supersetted w/ Dips
BWx20
BWx12


Blast Strap Rows
8
4

supersetted w/ Pushups
20
12

DB Rear Lateral
15x15
15x15

Notes
Light day, kind of tired.  Used a little more pop on chins.  Not sure what my dip PR is, but 20 felt good.  My back is really sore from the sled drags and the sloshing pillar of pain yesterday.  Feel good though.  I'm sitting at 235 but really putting some mass on my upper body.  Sucks I can't be squatting alot because squats are the king mass builder in my opinion.  Also, I forgot to mention I dropped leg press because it hurts my knees.  That sucks because I actually really like leg press.

Hypertophy Phase - Week 4, Day 19

Light Recovery Day

KB Swings

70 x 20

70 x 20

70 x 20

Dual Harness Sled Drag - Continuous for ~16 minutes

No rest between rounds

4 minutes x 180

4 minutes x 225

4 minutes x 270

4 minutes x 315

Sloshing Pillar of Pain

5 minutes

Notes

So my gym got 2 new implements.  First one is a heavy duty sled strap that comfortably wraps around both shoulders.  The second one is the Sloshing Pillar of Pain, popularized of course by Mr. Dan John:  http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_sloshing_pillar_of_pain  I don't do hyperlinks because I'm too lazy and I hate blogger.

Anyways, it felt great just working my ass off with the sled.  If there was an olympic competition for sled dragging, I'd train for it.  Besides the obvious shit that was getting worked - quads, hams, calves - I actually felt a ton of strain in my back after a while.  Not only my lower back, but my upper and mid back.  I never do sled work long enough to feel that.  This confirms that once again, BACK IS KING.  It is integral to fucking everything.

The pillar of pain was hard. Much harder than it would look.  I did three variations: on my back, cradled in front of me with high elbows, and above my head.  Back was easiest, in front was challenging, and overhead was ridiclous.  There is a lot of "core stuff" going on with the pillar of pain.  I think I'll do it to change up some of the waiter walk stuff that I've been doing.

Hypertophy Phase - Week 4, Day 18

180 seconds rest, 3 sets, 8-10 reps

Bench

275x1

295x1

315x1

250x8

250x8

225x10

Bent Row (flared elbows for rear delt emphasis)

135x12

135x12

135x12

Seated DB Press

60x10

60x10

60x10

BB Curl

80x12

80x12

80x8

Notes

The bar felt light as hell warming up.  I instantly knew I was pretty strong today so I decided to work up to a decent single.  I've always said: if you feel strong, lift some fucking weight.  There is way too much shit that comes up in life to forego the opportunity for a great session.  Patience and consistency is key, but a program doesn't lift the weights for you.  Lately it seems anything I try in the gym is bound to be interrupted.  So tonight was refreshing.

315 felt as light as its ever felt.  Didn't even really feel like 90%.  The guy spotting me has done a couple meets and said the bar speed was really good.  It felt good.  There was a time when I would have been like 'SLAP ON THE FUCKING WEIGHT." But fuck it.  I honestly felt like I had a good 20-30 pounds left in me, but I haven't lifting anything over 300 for months and months.  Seemed kind of stupid to go any heavier.  I'm just going to keep pounding out the higher reps as planned.  Maybe I'll hit a PR in a couple of weeks.

Hypertrophy Phase - Week 4, Day 17

9/10/12

180 seconds rest, 3 sets, 8-10 reps

Squat
Bar x 5; Bar x 5; Bar x 5; Bar x 5; Bar x 5; Bar x 5

RDL
225x10
225x10
225x8

Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat
Bar x 5/5
95 x 5/5
95 x 5/5

Glute Ham Raise
BW x 10 (PR)

Leg Press Calves
270x16; 270x24; 270x24

Notes
Hip felt ok on squats.  Felt a very slight twinge.  I'm going to keep doing the bar for another couple of weeks.

Glute ham raise is a PR since  I started doing them "right."   So I guess high rep deadlifts are good for adding a couple reps to your glute ham raise.

Hypertrophy Phase - Week 4, Day 16

Bench
295x1
275x5
225x8
225x10

Cable Row
180x10
180x10
180x8

BB Curl supersetted w/ DB Rear Delt
Bar x 30; Bar x 30; Bar x 30

20x10; 20x10; 20x8

Notes
So much going on right now I almost feel guilty about working out.  Anyways, I'm just clocking some shit in right now. I'm not really getting after it in the way I wanted too on this program.

I started off with a 275x5 set because I thought I might be good for 8 reps.  I could have probly grinded 6-7, but I saw no point.  275x5 is my general baseline for bench.  I feel this is my 85% range.  It doesn't mean I'm really strong, but it means I'm sitting in a place where I could potentially start turning the heat up.

I'm going to see how everything turns out, but I can say that low rest/high rep deads 2x a week is probably an awful idea.  It might not be bad if you really paid attention to load.  But reverse pyramid style 10-15 rep deadlifts is just too much.  I feel broken down.  Tonight I wanted to do 100 pound curls, and something on my forearm felt like it was detaching.  I've never had that sensation before, but the only thing I could think about was that static hold for higher rep deadlifts fucking something up.

Hypertrophy Phase - Week 4, Day 15

120 seconds rest, 8-10 reps, 3 sets

Deadlift
405x8
405x3
315x8

Calves
360x8
360x10
360x23

Notes
Gym closed at 2 today and I couldn't get my ass moving and  make it in with enough time to train.  This routine has basically devolved into "Am I capable of high rep deadlifts today?" lol, fuck. Personally, I'm in an extremely tough spot right now.  I have a tendency to try to do everything and never give myself time to rest or relax.  I'm constantly stressed and constantly tired as fuck.  I'm tired because I just don't sleep enough.  Now I'm into this routine where I go to sleep exhausted, but wakeup in the middle of the night stressed out like a huge pussy.  This is no way to go through life, and it makes training pretty damn hard.

With that said, I know I am lucky and I have a great life.  I need to keep things in perspective.