Preparing to apply to the 1,000lb club

[Dreamforger]

20/07/16 - Wednesday

Deadlifts.

Sumo Deadlift Block Pulls (2")
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
110kg(S) x 3x10

Really happy with those and thy were really easy too.

Deadlift

112.5kg(S) x 2x10

First time deadlifting properly in a very long time and they absolutely flew.

Hamstring Curl

35kg x 3x10

Wanted to do hyper extensions but there was no machine, then opted for good mornings but the racks were in use, didn't want to do rdls because my lower back was super fried so I ended up doing hamstring curls...


Good session, lots of fun. Time for some bench tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

21/07/6 - Thursday

Yay for bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 5
67.5kg x 3
72.5kg x 3x8

Felt good, lots of pump.

Spoto Bench Press

67.5kg x 2x6

More pump.

Horizontal Machine Row

45kg x 4x8

Tricep Pushdowns

25kg x 3x8

Face Pulls

12.5kg x 3x8

DB lateral Raises

6kg x 3x8

Did one set at 8kg but there was a bit of clunking and what not so kept it at 6kg.

Another fun session. I'm really enjoying the new style of training so far but it's only week 1. Squats tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

22/07/16 - Friday

Squats and front squats. Quick but harsh session.

High-bar squats

Bar x lots
40kg x 10
60kg x 8
70kg x 3x10

Hot and sweaty and enough weight for the knee. I could have pushed it a bit more though but I can push it next time.

Front Squats

60kg x 2x10

Not bad.

Good mornings

60kg x 10 - too heavy
40kg x 2x10 - tad light but got used to the movement very quickly.

Decent session. Slowly increasing go the volume from the previous check but using a much lower intnsity to allow the knee to get used to it. Light bench tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

22/97/16 - Saturday

Lots of light bench today and a good amount of pump.

Wide Grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
62.5kg x 2x12
62.5kg x 11

Gutted I was too fatigued not to get the last rep but oh well.

Close Grip Bench Press

50kg x 2x12

Fairly easy but I think the knurling is further in than normal bars because my grip felt abnormally close.

DB Bench Press

20kg x 4x8

Cable Rows

50kg x 4x8

And that's the light session done. Time to relax and get ready for medium bench and have squats in Monday.

 

[Dreamforger]

25/07/16 - Monday

"Heavy" Squats.

Low bar Squat

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
80kg x 4
87.5kg x 3x8

Heaviest squats in a good few weeks but felt pretty good. Last set was hard because of fatigue and the knee was a little clicky but hasn't seemed to have caused any issued though so that's all good.

High Bar Paused Squats

77.5kg 2x8

2 count paused and felt awesome.

Good Mornings

40kg x 3x10

Super easy, might push the weight next week.

Great session and my legs are dead already. Lots and rest is needed as I have a heavy deadlift session coming up on Wednesday. Bench tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

26/07/16 - Tuesday

Yay for bench.

Wide grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 5
67.5kg x 3x10

Lots of pump and it felt really good.

Medium Grip Bench

60kg x 10
60kg x 9 - meh, the 9th rep was harder than it should have been so I didn't attempt the 10th, at least I didn't fail though.
60kg x 10 - miles better

Rather happy with the bench but still a bit miffed about that set of 9.

Lat Pulldowns

45kg x 10 - felt easy so I upped the weight.
50kg x 3x10

Bit more challenging and it was quite a nice way to stretch the lat and the shoulder too.

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 3x10

Way easier than last week. Should be able to up the weight in the next cycle quite a bit hopefully.

Dips

BW x 4x6

Extra set from last week.

Decent session where everything feels pumped. Time to eat and rest and get ready for the heavy deadlift session tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

27/07/16 - Wednesday

Sumo deadlifts and deficit deadlifts today. Things felt good so I worked up to a new set of 6 on sumo and then pushed the deficits on he upper limit of the planned intensity and volume for the day.

Sumo deadlift

60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
135kg(B) x 6 - possible pb
140kg(B) x 6

Nice little pb and adds about 10kg on my sumo deadlift projection too.

Deficit conventional deadlift (1")

117.5kg x 2x8

Really quite tiring after the sumo but doing this kind of volume is good fun.

Back Extensions

BW x 3x12

Easy.

Great session but a tad long as I wasn't feeling too well when I woke up this morning and he strange cold toe symptoms persisted throughout he session. Legs and glutes are exhausted. Time to rest and get ready for bench tomorrow and squats on Friday.

 

[Dreamforger]

28/07/16 - Thursday

Bench with a side of bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
52.5kg x 6
62.5kg x 4
72.5kg x 3x8

Bench felt pretty good, nothing special but maybe a tad easier than last week.

Spoto Bench Press

67.5kg x 3x8

Nice volume PB from last week. Gains are gains.

DB Bent Over Row

20kg x 4x10

Face Pull

12.5kg x 10
17.5kg x 10
22.5kg x 10

Tricep Pushdowns

25kg x 2x10
27.5kg x 10

I did the last set for the giggles since it was the entire stack of weight and it was fun.

Bench was good and doing the DB rows and face pulls after was a nice way to stretch out the tissue and the scapula. Already seeing improvements from last week and hopefully I can push things a bit more next week before taking a Deload week. Light bench and light squats tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

29/07/16 - Friday

Light Squats and Light Bench, yet little volume pb's for this cycle.

High bar squat

Bar x lots
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3x12

Hot and sweaty but a good amount of pump in the quads and glutes.

Wide Grip Bench Press

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
52.5kg x 6
62.5kg x 3x12

Last rep was hard but I was taking very short breaks due to having a dinner reservation.

Close Grip Bench Press

50kg x 12
50kg x 2x10

Just couldn't push the reps with fatigue kicking in due to to short rest but happy all the same as this is my light day and pb's all round.

Cable Row

50kg x 2x10
40kg x 2x10

Dropped the weight because I was knackered.

Leg Press

50kg x 12 - Much easier than last week
70kg x 12 - Easy
100kg x 12 - Harder but a couple of reps left in the tank.

Hamstring Curls

35kg x 3x12

Got to do some form of curls...

DB Bench

20kg x 4x10

And that's that. May not look heavy but the entire volume across all movements was more than enough. Rest day tomorrow!

 

[Dreamforger]

31/07/16 - Sunday

Medium Squats and medium Bench.

High Bar Squat

Bar x lots
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 4
77.5kg x 3x10

Not bad at all. Nothing at fault but I'm rather tired after flying back from Spain last night and having very little food yesterday and today before training.

Front Squats

60kg x 3x10

Fatigue kicked in from the high bar squats so I went for the lower weight on the front squats but the higher reps instead as this took weight off the knee, provided better control, crazy pump in the quads and the sweat was insane.

Wide Grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 4
67.5kg x 3x10

Not bad at all.

Medium Grip Bench

60kg x 3x10
60kg x 8+2

The last setup was off so I fatigued a tad quicker than the other sets but after a quick resets the last two reps were super easy.

Good Mornings

40kg x 3x12

Felt iffy in my high heels.

Lat Pull Downs

54kg x 3x12
54kg x 7+5

More fatigue....

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 3x12

Pew pew.

Awesome session, rather long but lots of fun and definitely warrants lots of eating and rest. Heavy Bench and light deadlifts on Tuesday.

 

[Dreamforger]

02/06/16 - Wednesday

Heavy Bench and light deadlift.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 4
67.5kg x 3
72.5kg x 4x8

Noiceeeee, huge volume PB. Admittedly though the second work set may have been 67.5kg but it all moved well and is overall more volume than last week anyway so I'm not too fussed.

Spoto Bench Press

67.5kg x 3x8

Same as last week but after the 4 working sets this was more that enough.

Sumo Deadlift

60kg x lots
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
107.5kg(S) x 3x12

Ooooft my hammies.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

105kg(S) x 2x12

Ooooft my hammies. It might be a light session but that's plenty of volume.

DB Rows

20kg x 4x12

Much better than last week.

Back Extensions

BW x 3x15

Face Pulls

18.5kg x 12
16.25kg x 12
18.5kg x 12

Tricep Push Downs

26.25kg x 3x12

And that's that done. Lots of pump and sweat but feeling great and everything is moving well.

 

[Dreamforger]

07/08/16 - Sunday

Supposed to be squats and bench but squats killed me and I was fasted so I left it after the squats and will do the bench tomorrow.

Low bar squat

Bar x lots
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
80kg x 4
92.5kg x 3x8 (8, 4+4, 8)

The second set was broken up because I was so sweaty I just couldn't keep hold of the bar but I'm counting it as 1 set because the weight wasn't really an issue.

High bar paused squats

82.5kg x 3x8

Niceeeeeee.

Good Mornings

40kg x 3x12

I might have imagined the plates because it felt so light.

That doesn't look like much as an overall session now that I've written it down but being fasted and sweating all over the place, that was more than enough. This was also huge pb over my last heavy squat session of +5kg on low bar and +5kg on the high bar paused squats too.

Since it had been about a week since I had last squatted, the knee was a smidge iffy but it wasn't painful and seems ok for now so hopefully it is all good.

 

[Kris_90]

I might have imagined the plates because it felt so light.

You see strength gains through the numbers but it's awesome feeling the gains like this

 

[Dreamforger]

You see strength gains through the numbers but it's awesome feeling the gains like this

It is indeed a very nice feeling but I think the energy spent yesterday took a little away from today. Once again I had no food pre training and there was a fair bit of volume despite it being a light day.


08/08/16 - Monday - Light Bench

Wide Grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 10
50kg x 8
62.5kg x 2x12
62.5kg x 11
62.5kg x 10

The third set I hit 11th and felt that was enough and on the fourth set I intentionally stopped at the 10th rep. Still a minor volume pb from last week.

Close Grip bench Press

50kg x 3x12

Yay, little volume PB.

DB Bench Press

20kg x 8
20kg x 2x12
20kg x 8

Too much fatigue so I might move my accessory chest work to my heavy sessions as there's less volume to make the light day a genuine light day rather it just ebbing lighter in intensity.

Cable Rows

50kg x 4x12

Awesome.

And that's that. Nice session and the volume truly killed me, in many good ways, and now the rest of the week is a deload! Yay!

 

[Dreamforger]

09/08/16 - Tuesday - Deload Squat

So it's the start of the deload week which means the sessions are incredibly easy. This gives me the opportunity to make sure I'm executing the lifts properly and get in lots of mobility work after sessions in order to prepare for the next cycle.

High Bar Squats

Bar x lots
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
65kg x 3x5

And that's the squats done for the day. Felt nice and easy but the knee is still not too happy. At least I have the time this week to really focus on improving tissue quality.

Good Mornings

40kg x 2x10

Nice and light as this was the weight that I have been using.

Leg Press

100kg x 2x10

Also incredibly easy.

That's the first deload session done. Rest day tomorrow and then deload deadlifts on Thursday.

 

[Dreamforger]

11/08/16 - Thursday - Deload Deadlift

Very quick and easy session but the first set of each exercise did feel a little sluggish but I'm mainly putting it down to dehydration and just being tired and I was quite literally just wobbling at points.

Sumo Deadlift Block Pull 2"

60kg x some (floor)
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 3x5

Nice and easy, positioning is getting better and the speed is just silly but decreased rom + decreased rom = easy pull.

Deadlift

97.5kg x 2x5

Speed was pretty good and form was spot on. Don't think it was really worth me changing the plates for that tiny decrease but who cares.

Back Extension

BW x 2x10

First set felt tough and the second set was super easy.

It looks like I just needed an extra minute or two between exercises and then the next set was substantially easier. Nice little session but I am looking forward to lifting heavier weights than what I have been this week when I start the new cycle on Monday.

 

[Dreamforger]

12/08/16 - Friday - Deload Bench

Felt slower than I would have liked but I think that's me being slow rather than the weight being too heavy. Doesn't really matter anyway as the entire point of this week is just to recover.

Wide Grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 6
52.5kg x 4
62.5kg x 4x4

Not too bad.

Medium Grip Bench

55kg x 3x4

Also not too bad.

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 2x10

Easy, just a bit fatigued.

Lat Pulldown

45kg x 3x10

Nice and easy.

That's the benching done for the deload week. Hopefully I'll be back to full strength on Tuesday. Hopefully light squats tomorrow.

 

[Dreamforger]

15/08/16 - Monday - Light Squat

So today is the start of a new cycle and I must admit after that deload week I really was looking forward to training again, so it looks like the deload paid off.

High Bar Squat

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 4 - All warmups were incredibly easy
75kg x 3x12

And that right there is a little pb on the first day of the new cycle. +10kg from the last cycle.

Good Mornings

45kg x 3x10

+5kg from the last cycle.

Leg Press

155kg x 2x12

+55kg

Great session, nice and light and my fitness has improved which is a wonderful little side benefit. Time to rest and prepare to bench tomorrow

 

[Dreamforger]

16/08/16 - Tuesday - Medium Bench

The first bench session of the new cycle and it went pretty well. Overshot my secondary bench exercise but it's no biggy.

Wide Grip Bench

Bar x lots x lots (various grips)
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 4
70kg x 2x10

Albeit minor, I think that's a rep/set pb.

Medium Grip Bench

62.5kg x 10
62.5kg x 2x8

Triceps were dead but it's really not the end of the world. Just got to go with it and try and improve next week.

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 3x8

Another tiny pb on the last cycle, +5kg, so I'm happy with that. All reps were really smooth and felt incredibly comfortable.

Cable Row

55kg x 4x8

The first rep of each set was always a pain to get going but once the reps got going this was fine.

French Press

Ez + 10kg x 8 -Felt easy so I thought I'd put 10's on instead of 5's...
Ez + 20kg x 8 - It really was more of elbow extensions at this point rather than a tricep exercise.
Ez + 10kg x 8 - Much more comfortable and a lot of pump.

And that's that bench session sorted. Fatigue is horrific, but otherwise strength was pretty good and everything moved well with good form. Deadlifts tomorrow.

 

[GSVBagpuss]

Smooth progress