Feb 9th 5x5 Dead Lift

Dead Lift: 5x5x365. Every rep accelerated to the top. Felt nice!

SLABS: 10x60, 10x80, 4x15x100. I usually do the main lift for sets of 10. I really wanted to burn them up so I did them for 15 and used 1 min rest. They were on fire.

Sled Drag: 7.5 mins with 75lbs. 7.5 mins with 125lbs.

Done.

I wanna see if the wife will let me back in the gym tonight so I can hammer out some more sled work and raise my GPP. So far so good. My strength is coming back despite me having to cinch up my belt 2 notches smaller! By summer I am going to be one sexy strong ass bitch!


Bench Master

Feb 8th ME Bench

2 Board Press: 5x365. Getting my strength back. I wonder how long it will take for me to get back to 475 for a 2 board double?

Rope Handle Pushdowns:
Cycle 1) 10x42.5, 10x50, 10x60, 8x70, 4x80
Cycle 2) 10x42.5, 10x50, 8x60, 4x70

One Arm Rows: 8x65, 8x75, 8x85, 8x95, 8x105, 8x115

3 Way Rotation Work: 3x10 each.

Treadmill Walk: 25 mins.

Done


Bench Master

Feb 5th 5x5 Squat

Squat: 5x5x295. Got my speed and power back. Felt like nothing. I took a wider stance to test out my new ass power with all the sled work. It was easy. I also forced to sit back more... easy money out of the hole. Speed is king and I got it back.

SLABS: 10x115, 3x10x130, 7x130.

Side Bends Off A Bench: 5x95, 3x5x110. I did these back to back. After one side was hit I would switch to the other side and then back again. It was tough not resting much.

Done.


Bench Master

Feb 4th Speed Bench

Bench: 3x3x185, 5x3x195. All sets were with green bands.

Pushdowns With A "V" Bar (In Cycles):
Cycle 1: 10x42.5, 10x50, 8x60, 8x70, 8x80, 7x90, 2x100.
Cycle 2: 10x42.5, 10x50, 8x60, 8x70, 7x80.

Reverse Grip Pulldowns: 10x100, 10x120, 8x140, 8x160, 4x6x180.

Rotator Work: 3x15x10 (internal), 3x12x5 (external), 3x10x5 (flatbar "shoulderhorn" like the way Jay Fry does them).

My shoulders felt great today. I don't know exactly what the hell happened on Monday when I benched. Oh well. Sometimes shit like this happens and fuck you up. I'm sure my rotator work I did on Monday helped and part of my warm ups today included rotator work so I'm sure the tightening properties of the rotation work really kept my shoulder girdle tight. I'm glad I did them.

Sled Drag Power Strides: 20 mins forward and 10 mins backwards. Weight used was 75 pounds.

My knees and hams were really beat up from Tuesday so I didn't drag yesterday. What I did instead was look at dragging articles and found Tate's article called Drag Your Butt Into Shape. He mentions the Empirical 60 rule which I completely forgot about. So today I used 60% of what I did on Tuesday (75 pounds) and used long power strides to put more emphasis on my glutes more than anywhere else. It worked. I feel no pain and am glad I am not sore because tomorrow is squat day.


Bench Master

Feb 2nd 5x5 Dead Lifts

Dead Lifts: 5x5x355

Shrugs: 2x12x135, 12x225, 4x12x315

SLABS: 15x80, 10x100, 4x8x120

Interval Sprints: 6 8sec sprints with 2 min rest after 8 mins of power walking for a warm up.

Done


Bench Master

Feb 1st ME Bench

2 Board Press: I had to stop at my last warm up with 275. I did it for a single and sharp shooting pain hit my right shoulder. I was done.

Skull Crushers: I did 1 rep with 60's and I was done. My right shoulder is fucked.

Rope Handle Pushdowns: 10x42.5, 10x50, 6x8x60.

Reverse Grip Pulldowns: 15x100, 12x120, 10x140, 8x160, 4x6x180.


Today sucked balls.


Bench Master

Jan 29th 5x5 Squat

Squat: 5x275, 4x5x285.

SLABS: 4x12x100

Eliptical: 20 mins.


Today was shitty. I should've gone earlier when I felt so much stronger! Oh well. Last set was the best and the lowest. Previous sets didn't go all the way. Last set was also the fastest. Man my strength level is down.


Bench Master

Jan 26th 5x5 Deadlift

Deadlift: 5x365 (too much). 4x5x335 (much better). I haven't deadlifted in a month so I cannot start off where I left off which was at 365.

Shrugs: 12x135, 12x225, 4x12x315

300 Style Leg Lifts: 16 (better but still nowhere near 25).

SLABS: 4x10x100

Sled Drag: 15 mins walking. 3 Interval Jog/Walks, 1 Sprint/Walk. 125 pound sled.

Done.

Jan 25th ME Bench

No bench today. Wanted to work on OAOHP's.

OAOHP: 3x5x90
One Arm Side & Rear Delt Flye's: 25x10, 30x10, 35x10, 40x10
Pushdowns With "W" Bar: 6x42.5, 6x50, 6x60, 6x70, 6x80, 6x90

Cardio: Treadmil Walk for 30 mins.


Done.

Jan 22nd 5x5 Squat

It has been a month since I squatted. I'm glad Im squatting again.

Squat: 4x5x275, 5x315, 7x275. Rest was 3 mins between sets.
SLABS: 10x115, 10x130, 2x8x130
300 Style Leg Raises: 10. Boy am I out of shape!
Sled Drag: 5 mins warm up with 80 pounds, 15 mins of forward power walking with 125. 10 mins of reverse walking with 125.

Done

315 was decent at best. I struggled with form and to be quite honest I didn't feel myself pushing on my belt. I did lose ab mass since I am down 15 pounds in bodyweight so it really was my fault for not cinching my belt tighter. I'm such a dumbass!

Bench Master

Jan 21st Speed Day

Speed Bench: 3x3x185, 3x3x195, 3x3x205, 15x185
Skull Crushers: 7x8x55
Pushdowns With Semi Flat Bar: 10x50, 8x60, 8x70, 6x80, 3x90
Hammer Rows: 2x10x115, 10x180, 6x205, 3x6x225
DB Powercleans: 2x10x20, 4x8x30

Cardio: Eliptical 22.5 mins, Treadmil Walk 22.5 mins.


I decided to just hammer my back and have not used 5 plates in a long while so I decided to just say fuck it and do it. Felt great! AZ is having a rain storm so I couldn't drag my sled. Had to go conventional and it pissed me off! Nothing beats sled dragging. I love my sled!


Bench Master

Jan 18th ME Bench

1 Board Press: 3x365
Skull Crushers: 2x10x40, 4x10x50
Hammer Rows: 4x10x180 per hand
DB Powercleans: 2x12x20, 15x25, 10x25

Sled Dragging: Interval power walks for 30 mins.

I knew my strength was down because I've been out of the loop PLUS because I trained with R.I.P. for a while and they do not have a speed day I forgot how to shove a bar. Also since they do not do skull crushers my triceps are failing. I will do what I did best back then. The only thing I will do differently is my form which I have changed to a Metal Militia set up.


Bench Master

Jan 14th Speed Bench

I kept it relatively light today. Here is how it went:

Speed Bench: 4x3x185, 2x3x205
Rope Handle Pushdowns: 10x50, 8x60, 2x6x70
One Arm Side Raises: 2x10x25, 8x30, 6x40, 12x30
Sled Drag: 15min Power Walk, 5min Interval Sprints, 10min Backward Walk. 30 total mins with 125 pound sled.

The sled kicked my ass. I loved it! It didn't even feel like 30 mins. It was midnight when I started. I was all alone outside and nobody gave my any shit for making so much noise.


Bench Master

Jan 11th ME Bench

I'm back and the time off I took really did me some good. I have not squatted in 3 sessions and took off last week entirely. Due to this I lost 15 pounds but I can get it back.

Today I decided to do shirt work and see if my new form allowed me to finally touch a light bar. It worked. This is what I did:

Full Bech: 2x315, 2x3x315.
Pushdowns With A Flat Bar: 10x50, 10x60, 10x70, 10x80, 3x90.
Low Pulley Rows: 12x120, 12x140, 12x160.

Done.


I was excited to touch 315! I kept tight the whole way, I pulled the bar down, I kept my elbows super tucked, and on each progressing set I kept jacking the shirt. The last and final set the shirt was SUPER JACKED and I thought it would not touch but I made it touch and this was such a proud day because I haven't been able to touch a light weight like this in over 4 years.


Bench Master

Damn it!

Due to the holiday's (not to mention my body was shutting down and my squat went to hell) I have not squatted in 2 weeks and will take this week off from benching and deadlifting. I also am taking this week off because when I fill my lungs full of air my lungs hurt like a bitch and have to see a doctor to make sure I don't have a bronchial infection or even pneumonia. What does this all mean when it comes to body weight? I am down 10 pounds because of this shit over the past 2 weeks! Damn it!

Dec 29th 5x5 Deadlifts

I decided not to do 5x5's today. I don't know why but I was compelled to pull for 1 set and see how many reps I can get. I was at a shitty ass gym where my wife belongs and couldn't pull off the floor because the plates they had were not round but had 12 sides to them. I put the bar in a rack at it's lowest setting which caused the plates to be 4 inches off the ground. I asked my brother-in-law to give me a number to shoot for and he said 6. So this what I did:

9x405.

Slabs: 5 sets of whatever (I was dead tired so I just used a weight that was hard enough were on the last set I could only do 8. Prior sets were all reps of 10.

I didn't even realize I did 9 reps until he corrected me when I said "7 reps isn't too bad". I barely remember pulling at all. We all talk about this "zone" we are in. I guess I was inside a rabbit hole drinking tea with the Mad Hatter if I completely missed 2 reps when counting. I guess I will have to chalk this up to lack of oxygen to the brain & brain damage. Go figure.


Bench Master

Dec 28th ME Bench

Floor Press: Worked up to 315 for a single and then went to 350. Missed.

Pushdowns With Rope Handle: 10x42.5, 10x50, 10x60, 2x10x70, 5x5x80. Not too shabby on a single pulley.

One Arm Side Raises: 10x25, 10x30, 8x35, 6x40, 5x45, 5x50. Doing these one arm at a time makes it easy to use heavy weight. I like these now.

I didn't do back work today because my back gets thrashed when I pull and pulling day is tomorrow.


Bench Master

Dec 27th Sled Day

I dragged the sled for 30 straight minutes. One trip about 200 feet walking forward and then reversed the trip walking backwards. Walking backwards is tough. I had my son sit on it. He weigs 66 pounds and the sled weighs 35.


Bench Master

Dec 25th 5x5 Squat

Gym was closed. I didn't train on this day. The next day on the 26th I didn't train either. My body locked up on me and I could barely move. I also had the chills and this exactly what happened to me 1 year ago on the 25th as well. Oh well. Shit happens. I really should say shit happens twice or more times and there's nothing you can do about it.


Bench Master

Dec 23rd 5x5 Deadllifts

5x5x365.

No ab work today.

I felt wonderful today and so the plan was to use 350 or 355. So I decided to say "fuck it" and load it to 365. No problem! Felt strong and bar speed accelerated as it got higher off the ground (like it should). It helped that this hot babe was training in front of me on the lat machine (I was able to look at her because I face away from the mirror). Vasily Alexyev was right... if you don't use a mirror you can put all your efforts and concentration on the lift. He failed to mention that you can look at hot bitches that will also help you get amped, get the babe wet, hot, and bothered because of your awesome sexyness, and get their digits so you can score! Touchdown!


Bench Master

Dec 21st ME Bench

DB Bench: 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, & 120's were done for 5's. My right shoulder is now giving me hell. I decided not to go to 130's for 5's this week. I think I will do that next week (maybe).

Close Grip Bench: 5x135, 5x185, 2x5x225

Rope Handle Pushdowns: 10x42.5, 10x50, 10x60, 3x5x70

Machine Bicep Curls: 5x10x70. I did these one arm at a time and as soon as one arm was finished I immediately went to the other arm for 5 sets total.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 19th 5x5 Squats

5x5x355. The bar felt like it weighed a ton of bricks. I could barely control the bar. I don't know if I should back off and go back to the 330's and go up 5 pounds each week or what. It seems like it's going to be difficult to make progress if the bar feels like it weighs so much more than what is actually loaded. Ugh!

Side Bends Off A Bench: 5x90, 5x110, 3x5x130.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 17th Light Bench Assist

DB Bench: 3x5x70's.

Close Grip Bench: 2x3x185.

Purple Band Pushdowns: 3x20 (took a high hold for tight tension and paused all reps). These burned like hell.

One Arm Bent Raises: 4x12x35.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 15th 5x5 Deadlifts

My hand is fine for as long as I don't use my fingers for "pinching". To get through the deadlifts I had to make sure my whole hand was over the bar. I did just fine.

Deadlifts: 5x5x345. Sets 1 and 2 were very fast. I don't know what happened to set 3 and 4 but I was just not in the lift so I regrouped and on set 5, rep 1, I actually stopped to check the bar because it moved and felt like a sub 300 pound bar. Noticing it was still the same weight I just did the last 4 and chalked it up to being totally jacked up and it was the easiest set and also the fastest.

Side Bends Off A Bench: 80, 90, 100, 110, & 120's were done for 5. I also did 2x5x130 afterwards.

Slabs: I did a bunch of these but didn't count. I just did them until I hated looking at the station which took a while so I did plenty.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 14th ME Bench

OAOHP: Worked up to 4 singles with 100's. I couldn't do the 5th one because my right hand started cramping up and couldn't hold onto the weight.

Side Raises: 2x12x20's

Pushdowns With Rope Handle: 12x42.5, 2x12x50, 12x60, 8x60... waited a min and did 4 more, then last set was for 6x60. I really concentrated on doing these correctly. Triceps are nice and pumped.

Hammer Rows: 1, 2, 3, & 4 plates on each side for 10. I never use straps and had to use them on the 3rd set. I grinded out the last set of 10 with 4 plates with relatively mild pain in my right hand. The straps helped but all I could think of was how this is going to affect my pulls in the morning. I guess I will find out. It's time to pull.


Bench Master

Dec 11th 5x5 Squat

I am no longer able to train with R.I.P. due to my son is now playing Pee Wee Football and the games are on Saturday mornings. The deal with this lifting crew is that if you aren't able to fully commit you shouldn't be there. So I had to bow out early. It was just the right thing to do.

Anyway this is how it went down...

Squat: 5x5x350. First 4 sets were shitty. Last set was fast and strong. I think I will re-do this next week since I am not convinced moving up is the right move.

Side Bends Off A Bench: 80, 90, 100, 110, & 120 were all done for 5 reps each.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 8th 5x5 Deadlifts

Deadlifts: 5x5x335. Set 4 was super fast! I didn't know what came over me but the first 3 sets were just "eh". I was just going through the motion... until set 4 and something just snapped. I ripped that shit and on set 5 I had to refrain from doing reps 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. I was just all jacked up!

300 Style Leg Lifts: 25 total reps.

Side Bends Off A Bench: 60 and 70 were done for 10reps (warm up). 80, 90, 100, 110, & 120's were done for 5 reps.

Eliptical: 15 mins.

Done.


Bench Master

Dec 7th R.I.P. Bench

I did the same thing I did on November 30th. Exactly.


Bench Master

Dec 7th The Morning After

Holy shit! Those Glute Ham Bench work really did a number on my hams! Dragging the sled didn't help but they were so effective I ordered a sled! I can't wait for it to come! Also my adductors and abductors are screaming! I have got to do these again!


Bench Master

Dec 6h The Morning After

I'm a little tight. That's all.


Bench Master

Dec 5th R.I.P. Squat

Because my form is so "shitty" I was not allowed to go any heavier than 4x185. I did several sets with 135 and moved up from there and got earfulls of "Dammit Ken!"

Glute Ham Bench: 10, 8, and 8 with body weight only.

Sled Dragging: 110 pounds for 6 trips of about 200 feet facing forward and 4 trips with the same weight pulling backwards.

Ab Work With Green & Purple Bands: 3x20.

(I took last week off because I just felt like it. No reason for it. I just did not squat)


Bench Master

Dec 1st 5x5 Deadlifts

Deadlifts: 5x5x325

SLABS: 2x10x100, 10x115, 10x130, 6x145, 2x10x130.

Half Foam Roller Arch Work: 3 mins.

Light Cardio: 20 mins.

Done.


The guys at R.I.P. normally pull after squats on Saturday's and I could not remember if I was supposed to pull today or not. Their thinking of pulling after squats is because in competition you pull on the same day you squat. Also they feel the extra recovery day works for their benefit if they just slam squat day with deadlifts too. I guess I am going to figure out if this is the right thing for me and in the event that it isn't and I tell them I won't do it I wonder if they will get pissed?


Bench Master

Bench Master

Dec 1st The Morning After

Today's Morning After Pill called for an immediate session of 5x5 for deadlifts. Fuck it! Here we go!


Bench Master

Nov 30th R.I.P. Bench

Bench: 5x6x205

Tricep Pushdowns with Purple Band: 3x20

One Arm Rows: 6x60, 6x70, 6x80, 6x90, 3x10x100

Done.


Today was about form yet again. I am not allowed to go heavy until I get it right. I didn't realize how much lower the gym benches were compared to competition benches. I had to really tuck my feet way under in order to "arch" correctly and it really sucked because it called for me to be super flexible to tuck my feet further back than I was used to. I did just fine. I'm getting better.


Bench Master

Nov 25th 5x5 DL's

Deadlift: 5x5x315. 1x365

SLABS: 5x110, 5x125, 5x140, 5x155, 4x10x115

Foam Rollers (Arch Work) : 3 mins


The 315's were a joke so afterwards I pulled 365 just to see how fast I could pull it. No problem! Nice and fast. I still think 315 is a good place to start so I wll stay there for 5-10 pound increases per week.


Bench Master

Nov 24th The Morning After

My hips and low back are so sore and I didn't squat yesterday! My form has to get better with all this madness! Ugh!


Bench Master

Nov 23rd R.I.P. Reconstructive Surgery

Today I was not allowed to use any more than 225 for benches. I had to work on form and technique so I warmed up and when I got to 225 this is what I did:

Full Bench: 4x3x225

4 Board Presses: 4x3x275

One Arm Rows: 12 reps with 60, 70, 80 and then 4x12x90

That's it! My low back and hips hurt so bad! I had a hard time getting off the bench after each set and it sucked! I was also gaspin for air after each set of 275 because I am so tight and all I could concentrate on was how I hurt so bad during the presses! I better get used to this quick because this sucks balls!

I also met my new training partner. I cannot remember her name (I will get it later today and will post it) but I will tell you she trained under the guidance of Ernie Frantz! She is 56 years old, a really sweet grandma type, but she has immaculate form, technique, a super stable set up, a large arch, and she recently smoked 380 at Worlds. Yes you read correctly... she benched 380!

She had the sweetest set up, tuck, and stroke I have ever seen. I am jealous!


Bench Master

Nov 20th Light Bench Assistance

You read correctly. I did not speed bench! According to R.I.P. they do old school stuff. They do heavy bench day and then the other bench day is light assistance. It prevents overtraining and reminded me of the old school Grimwood System I used a while back with great results. So here is what I did:

DB Bench: 4x12x60's

Rope Pushdowns: 4x15x70

Palms Facing Pulldowns: 4x12x115

DB Side Raises/Front Raises Superset: 4x10x20's

Barbell Curls: 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 pound bars for 15 reps each.


The main focus on the DB Presses was to get used to my new technique. The guys at R.I.P. has a bench coach named Sebastian Burns. You may have heard of him LOL! They are Militia Benchers and I am super tight in the hips and have no arch and my homework was to get limber in my quads, hips, and my lowerback so I can use the Militia technique. The other reason for this was to help correct my squat stance so I can arch better and arch higher. I did a lot of quad and hip streching plus I did low back arch streching so I can decrease the stroke. Also since they throw the weights back and it is apparently easier to do when you are arched and not flat (less shoulder rotation) I can understand the need to learn how to arch correctly.

I bench with them again on Monday and will start squatting with them on Saturday December 5th. I can't wait! I am restructuring everything. Here we go!


Bench Master

Nov 18th 5x5 Squat

*** Due to last week with 330 being all screwed up I decided to re-do 330 so here I go... ***

I loaded the bar to 330, looked at myself in the mirror and actually said out loud, "Pussy"! So I let go of the bar, loaded it to 340 and just destroyed all 5x5's. On set 4 rep 3 I accidentally buried the shit out of it... no problem! All sets were with 7 min rest periods and I swear I should video tape it and send it to you I.D. and B.M.

I did 5x5 SLABS next with the complete stack of 155 pounds on a single pulley. 2 min rest were taken and then I went home.

I'm stoked.


Bench Master

Nov 17th The Morning After

Well after benching with the guys on Monday I knew I was going to be sore. All I kept hearing was "SQUEEZE" and "PINCH" and "SETTLE" and how can I forget "BELLY"! Well my hands are sore, my forearms are screaming, the middle and low back are tight as shit, and my abs are hurting so bad right under the rib cage! Now that I know what I am supposed to be doing, I think I will finally make some progress if they continue to accept me.

It feels good to be sore in places I haven't been sore in over 6 years.


Bench Master

Nov 16th ME Bench

I now have trained with my new crew. I know I will finally make the progress I have been seeking.

Shirted 1 Board: 4x405 (This is a PR. I wanted to hit 5. I will hit it next week)

1 Arm Rows: 15x60, 12x70, 10x80, 4x10x90.

Side Raise/Front Raise Superset: 4x10x20


It has been a long time since I've trained with a bunch of people that actually knew what they were doing. It was a breath of fresh air to hear audible commands during the entire movement from start to finish. It was also nice to hear someone talk shit about your form because you are doing it wrong and this will lead to premature failure and possible injury.

"Settle! Pinch your shoulders! Elbows... lead with your elbows! Squeeze that fucking bar! Pull! Down down down down !! Belly up belly up! PRESS! Back back back back! HOLD! RACK!"

It was also nice to not have to balance your boards on your own chest. It was especially nice to have someone shirt jack the front and sit the seam behind your triceps correctly... I will no longer have an issue with touching the bar with 405 because I got to that 1 board pretty quickly. I learned that I collaps at the bottom and causes me to "get out of the shirt". I learned all this in 90 mins.


Bench Master

Nov 13th Speed Bench

Speed Bench: 3x185, 2x3x205, 3x3x210, 3x3x215

DB Skull Crushers: 5x10x70's. These were painful.

Rope Handle Pushdowns: 5x10x70

Lat Pulldowns with a Wide "V" Bar: 10x115, 10x130, 10x145, 8x160, 6x175, 6x190, 4x205 the stripped weight down to 160 for 8 more reps. The handle is something I have never seen before. It is exactly like the "V" Bar but the space between each handle is like 10 inches. It was a wicked handle.

Face Pulls: 4x15x80


Not a bad day at all. The skull crushers were painful on the elbow itself. I just couldn't stand anymore than 5 sets of 10 with the 70's. I was pretty brutal. Overall I have no complaints. It was fast and I was happy with my current double progression on lifts.


Bench Master

Nov 11th 5x5 Squat

Squat: 5x5x330

Bent Back GM's: 2x10x225

SLABS: Did several sets of 6 reps with 145 (stack). After I couldn't do them anymore I would still keep the rep range of 6 but with 130. I think I did 10 sets or so.

Leg lifts: 1xFail

I didn't even feel the weight on my back to be honest. I was jacked up and ready to rock. I did almost dump the bar on rep 4 on sets 3 and 4. I pitched way the fuck over and nearly went crashing to the rack like Scott Weech. I will say that I had NO problems at all but because my form is in question I don't know if I truly should go to 340. Honestly I want to repeat 330 or maybe go 335.

The GM's were done because I had this kid with me who asked me to help him increase his squat. He had horrific form and I showed him how to squat. He still squats down and complains of knee pain and did finally started to sit back and lean to get the pressure in his hips. He wants to show up with me again next week but next time I will have a box ready for him to sit back on.

Abs were done with higher weight due to ID's advice. Thanks. It felt great to slam my abs with a heavy hammer.

Yesterday was also a fucking kick ass day because I finally belong to a PL club here in AZ. They lift under the guidance of JR Bolger who is a 308 Elite with a 2188 total. There is also a 198/220 Elite there named T. Pigeon who at 198 totalled 1855. Only 1 lifter benches under 500 and he is in the 181's! There are 12 members and 1 is a female. They all lift for the APF and is about time I found this crew. Membership "donations" are a mere $10 a month and their gym is out of a garage in town by a guy named Bob Clark. Their set up is Old School! 1 Elite Rack, 1 Monolift, 1 custom power bench, Glute Ham Bench, and 2 floating benches. Lots of plates, barely any DB's, no cables, no crutches. They have boxes, chains, bands, and a sled. If you want to train your body you pretty much have to go back to basics with rack training and use nothing but the bar. I'm finally home!

Bench Master

Nov 10th ME Bench

Decline For Triples: 3x315. Failed on the 3rd rep with 325.

OAOHP's: 5x40, 5x50, 5x60, 5x70, 5x80, 5x90.

Rope Handle Pushdowns: 13x42.5, 10x50, 8x60, 6x70, 3x5x80. Last set was a big PR. I've never used 80's with a rope let alone for 3x5's. BTW... resp periods with the 80's were 30 sec. Last set of 5 was also a strip set to 50 for another 5 reps.

Palms Facing Pulldowns: 10x120, 10x140, 8x160, 6x180, 6x200. Last set was also a PR. Normal rep range for this is either 2 or 3 reps.

It was a good day.


Bench Master

Nov 7th The Morning After

Just call me Big Swole.

I woke up this morning all swollen. My muscles were still pumped up and for some strange reason my right shoulder was tight as hell. Dull ache but not a biggie. My forearms are super tight and most of all my triceps were super filled with blood. It was hard to bend my arms and it was like they were perma-flexed or something. Gotta love it!

It's 3:49p now as I type this and my right shoulder is still tight but my upper back, forearms, and triceps are just sore. No more perma-flex but man are they sore! I wonder what I did that made such a difference? It had to have been diet or something since I don't take anything but vitamins and protein.


Bench Master

Nov 6th Speed Bench

Straight from the Shaolin Temple...

Speed: 3x185, 9x3x205, 3x225. This is 2 more sets than usual PLUS a jump to 225 on set 11. I am going to move to 210 or 215 for speed.

DB Skull Crushers: 10x10x65's. That's right bitches. 10x10! Onto 70's!

Palms Facing Pulldowns: 10x115, 10x145, 8x175, 3x6x205 (the 3rd set was stripped to 160 for a superset of 8 reps), 8x160. This is also a PR since I usually tap out at 180. No problems with the 205.

Supermans: 4x10x27.5. I usually use 25's but since I'm all jacked up for some strange reason I said why not.

Face Pulls with a "W" Bar: 10x130, 10x170, 3x10xStack.


I don't know where I got all this ninja moves but I am fucking stoked. I was completely in a zone and didn't even notice all the hot bitches in the gym until I packed up my shit and left. BTW I did all this in 90 mins and no I did not cross over. I wonder how I'm going to feel in the morning? Time to ramp up the Glutamine!

Bench Master

Nov 4th 5x5 Squat

Squat 5x5x320

SLABS: 9x10x115


I decided to squat today and not on the 5th because when I got home I was all jacked up for some strange reason so I left the house and went. I got to the gym at 11p! The 320 at first felt a little heavy and got better with each passing set. I rested for 8 minutes between sets and the 5th set was by far the best. I went deeper than the others, I was faster than the others, my form was better than the others, and cannot explain how reps 21 to 25 were better than the previous 20. Weird.

I did not do the 300 style leg lifts today and decided to up the SLAB work at the advice of ID. He mentioned that I should do somewhere like 7 sets of 6 with the next weight up so I did but went 9 sets of 10 instead. I really wanted to do 15x10 but at this point it was already 1a and really should go home and sleep. So I left. I will do more next week... maybe I will do 7x6x130???


Bench Master

Nov 4th The Morning After

My arms are shaking again. Lots of soreness. This is what I get for skipping a day causing a whole week to go by before hitting the same muscle groups again.


Bench Master

Nov 3rd ME Bench

OAOHP: 10x30, 8x40, 5x50, 5x60, 5x70, 2x80, 1x90, 1x100, 1x110, and then 120 for a max single with the left arm. Zero for the right arm.

DB Skull Crushers: 5x10x65's

Pushdowns with "W" bar: 10x50, 10x60, 10x70, 10x80, 5x90, 2x90

Pulldowns with "V" bar: 8x120, 8x140, 8x160, 3x8x180

Concentration Curls: 5x8x30


Had no spotters so had to go with OHP's. The 120 is a PR for me. I was good for 2 reps on the left but was getting tired because I do this in a ladder style progression. It's a lot of work and have no ill effects from it other than muscular density which is a good thing.


Bench Master

Oct 30th Speed Bench

No Benching. Marcus had surgery the day before and I had to take care of him. I just didn't feel right going to the gym even though Erica was home and able to watch over him.


Bench Master