# Training Log



## youraveragehorticulturist (Sep 30, 2014)

Its been awhile since I've kept a log going, and it always seems to help. I've decided to keep it here, as I'm here every day.

I've been lifting weights for awhile, but progress has been slow lately. I injured my back in March, and my groin/hip in May. I guess I developed sort of a limp in my walk, and the same "limp" in my lifting. As a result my hips and abs are pretty weak. I've been doing Power Lifting style training, with lots of squating and deadlifting, just making the problem worse. As a result, I've been going backwards!

My new plan is to get back to some basic, "easy" lifts to isolate the hips and abs more, and to do more single leg work to balance myself out. I've been lifting increasingly heavier weights the last month, so this week I'm going to take it easy, and do some really light, almost rehab style workouts.

*9-29-14*
*Hip WarmUp*
Clam Shells
3 sets of 10
Glute Bridges
3x10
Seated Psoas Hold
3x 20 seconds

*Jumps*
Low Box Jumps 10 single jumps
1 leg side hope, 5 sets of 3 jumps
*
Isometric Holds*
Overhead Press, Top
3 x 5 sec
Deadlift, Top
3x5 sec
Clean, Bar at knees
3x5 sec

*Calesthenics*
Pushups
3x10
Inverted Rows
3x10
Reverse Lunge
3x10

*Abs*
Flutter Kicks
Bent Knee Leg Raises off Bench
Psoas Hold
3x15, super sets


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Sep 30, 2014)

*9-30-14*

*Hips*
clam shell x20
glute bridge x20
seated psoas hold x20 sec

*Abs*
Flutter Kicks x60
Leg Spreaders x15
3 supersets

*Jump
*1 arm dumbell snatch, 6 singles each arm

*Iso Holds
*all with 65 pounds
Overhead
3x5 sec
Deadlift, Top
3x5 sec
Clean, Bar at Knees
3x5 sec
*
Calesthenics
*Blast Straps Pushups, Handles Really High
3x10
Chin Ups
6x5
1 Leg Romanian DL
3x6, with 25 pound dumbell

finished with some jump rope


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## Doer (Oct 1, 2014)

Training log


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 1, 2014)

*EXCELLENT!*

Great inspiration! When I was younger, I used to watch all the old World's Strongest Man competition where they would lift and toss all kind of logs, barrels, rocks, and kegs. In the movie VisionQuest, Shoot, the "villian" walks the steps of the stadium with a log on his back. 

All that crazy, intense looking stuff is the reason I started working out in the first place. I'm looking for a change of pace from the boring gym lifts, and what could be more different than a log in the backyard? If its good enough for Arnold, its good enough for me.

Next week, I'll start dragging the sled, doing some farmer's walks and clean and presses...
This is going to be awesome. Thanks for the reply!


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## Doer (Oct 1, 2014)

Pull a plow through sand
Drag an anvil on a chain
Turn over tractor tires
Throw duffel bag of sand
Climb trees
Swing kettlebell 
Punch a heavy bag
Run backwards
Hike with barbell weights

I never go to the gym anymore


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## Doer (Oct 1, 2014)

Let's not forget
Shovel Dig hole 
Shovel Fill hole
Switch to posthole digger
Repeat


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## vostok (Oct 1, 2014)

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continue:


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 3, 2014)

*10-2-14*

Hip Warm Up

Flutter Kicks/Leg Spreaders/Hip Thrusts 
3 times

Power Iso Holds
3 holds, 3x5 sec

Half Kneeling, 1 Arm Overhead Press
5x6

Half Kneeling, 1 Arm 45 Degree Row
5x6

1 Dumbell Offset Romanian Deadlift
5x6

Some reverse hyper extensions, some jump rope. 

This stuff is pretty boring, but some of it is working. I could really feel my glutes and hip muscles straining to keep my pelvis level during the half kneeling moves. The hip warmup of Clamshells/Glute Bridges/Seated Psoas Holds seems to be working too. I didn't think to measure my height before I started, but I feel like I'm standing up taller.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 4, 2014)

*10-3*

walked up and down a big hill 4 times, wearing 5 pound ankle weights. Threw stick for dog a bunch.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 6, 2014)

*10-6-14*

warm ups, stretching

Iso Bar Holds
Overhead, DL Top, Snatch Pull
95, 3x6sec

Incline Bench
Warm Ups
135x8, 3 sets

T-Bar Row
Warm Ups
100x8, 3 sets

Peterson Step Ups
bwx8, 3 sets

Push Ups, Bird-Dogs, Blast Strap Inverted Rows
x10, 5 sets each, circuit style

4 Trips up the hill, no ankle weights today


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 9, 2014)

*10-8-14*

Too cloudy to see the Blood Moon.

Stretch, warm up.

Crunches w/ Band around Knees, superset w/ Back Raises
3 sets of 15

Iso Bar Holds
Snatch, "top"
Clean, "rack"
Snatch, right below knees

Bicep cramped during the rack position hold. Gotta work on that

Half Kneeling 1 Arm Press
3x10, 30pound kettlebell

1 Arm Shrugg
3x10, 60 pound kettlebell

Peterson Step Ups
3x10, bw

Pulldown, Upright Row, Rear Delt Raise
circuit, 3x15

Seated Calf Raise, Leg Extension, Leg Curl
circuit, 3x15

4 hill walks, no weights


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 10, 2014)

10-10-14

Stretch, warm up

Pulldown Abs, Superset w/ Cable Pull Thru
3x12

Bar Iso Holds
3 holds, 6 sec each. Added some weight

1 Kettlebell Bench Press
warm ups
55x10, 3 sets

1 Arm Half Kneeling Row
warm ups
90x10, 3 sets

Peterson Step Ups
bw+10 x10, 3 sets

Circuit, 5 times
10 Blast Strap Pushups
10 Goblet Squats w/ Kettlebell
10 Inverted Rows on Bar
1 Box Jump

Too wet to walk the hill today


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 13, 2014)

*10-13-14*

Stretch, Warm Up

Abs/Lower Back

Iso Bar Holds

Incline Bench
warm ups
135x10, 4 sets

Peterson Step Ups
+25x10, 3 sets

T Bar Row
100x10, 4 sets

Push Up/Inverted Row on Blast Straps/Romanian DL
10 reps each, 5 circuits

Farmer's Walk
75x 4 trips

Hill
5 trips


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 18, 2014)

10-15-2014

Warm up, stretch

Iso Bar Holds

Situps w/ Band around knees, superset with back raises
4x12

1 Arm Half Kneeling Press
30# Kettlebell x10, 4 sets

1 Arm Shrugg
60# Kettlebell x10, 4 sets

Peterson Step Up
3x10, Higher Step than last time

Close Grip Pulldown, Cable Upright row, Rear delt raise circuit
x12, 4 circuits

5 trips up the hill.

10-16-2014

Warm Up, Stretch

Pulldown Abs/Reverse Hyper Extensions

Iso Bar Holds

Cable Curls/Cable Tri Pushdowns
light weight, high reps

Dumbell Curls/Dumbell Tri Extensions
medium weight, medium reps

Barbell Curls/Barbell JM Press
heavy weight, low reps

10-17-2014

Warm Up, Stretch

Flutter Kicks/Back Raise/Leg Raise off Bench
x15, 4 circuits

1 Arm Bench Press
60# kettlebell x10, 4 sets

1 Arm Half Kneeling Row
90x10, 4 sets

Peterson Step Ups
3x10, Highest Step Yet, no weight

Farmer's Walk
2 long trips

5 trips up the hill.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 18, 2014)

Looking back, this is a mess.

My problem was an imbalance in my legs and hips, which led to bad lifting technique, which just increased the imbalances. I couldn't maintain good positions, and really overused my mid-back area while under-using my glutes, hamstrings and abs. So I've been trying to do things to reinforce good positioning and technique, using short ranges of motion or "easy" exercises so I can target the muscle groups I've been neglecting. Also, I've been doing some moves to challenge my hips and back to stay in position.

A workout goes like...

-Easy rehab type exercises for the glutes, hips and psoas

-Some slightly tougher ab and low back moves, usually preformed back to back in a superset.

-Isometric Bar Holds. These are just top, bottom, or middle positions of the olympic lifts, held for 8 or 10 seconds. The idea is that cleans and snatches are awesome exercises, but I'm not mobile enough to go through those long ranges of motion. So I've been doing the holds to "practice" different parts of the lifts, concentrating on really driving my hips in without extending my back. Also I haven't been doing many big, compound lifts so these let me at least get my hands on the barbell.

-Press/Pull Exercises that challenge the hips. Monday I do pushups and inverted rows. They work the chest and back, but you have to hold your trunk in position to stop hip extension/flexion. Wednesday 1 arm half kneeling press and 1 arm shrugg. These work the shoulders and traps, but you have to really use the obliques hips and glutes to keep your back straight. Friday I do 1 arm bench press and 1 arm half kneeling row. These work chest and back and are both anti-rotation exercises for the mid section.

-Legs. My legs are shit right now I've been doing the Peterson step up because its about the easiest 1 leg exercise there is. Right now I can barely squat an empty barbell or do a lunge. I've been making progress on the step ups though, so hopefully I'm close.

Everything else is just sort of fluff. These workouts are kind of boring, so sometimes I've got to do some curls and shruggs to stay SWOLE. I started with 3 full body workouts a week, with a handful of exercises, shooting for 3 sets of 10 on most lifts. 2nd week and bumped it to 4 sets and went to the gym an extra time to do arms. Next week I want to do 5 sets of 10 on my 3 full body rehab bullshit days and add as much extra work as I can. If I'm not working too intensely at least I can do lots of volume.

Hopefully all this will work and I'll be able to squat and power clean soon, without doing them for weeks, as if by magic. Fingers Crossed!


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## Doer (Oct 18, 2014)

I got into logging my rest days. Gotta rest.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 18, 2014)

Week 0
rest Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun

Week 1
rest Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun

Week 2
rest Tues, Sat, Sun

Plan for Week 3 (Next week)
rest Thurs, Sun

I'm planning on a 3 week wave; 3 workouts during the 1st week, 4 workouts the 2nd week, and 5 sessions the 3rd week. Then start over. 3 cycles, or 9 weeks. Progressively adding to the workload without adding much intensity. If you believe in periodization, this is the "Preparatory" or "General" or maybe "accumulation" period or block or meso-cycle.


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## Magic Mike (Oct 18, 2014)

youraveragehorticulturist said:


> Looking back, this is a mess.
> 
> My problem was an imbalance in my legs and hips, which led to bad lifting technique, which just increased the imbalances. I couldn't maintain good positions, and really overused my mid-back area while under-using my glutes, hamstrings and abs. So I've been trying to do things to reinforce good positioning and technique, using short ranges of motion or "easy" exercises so I can target the muscle groups I've been neglecting. Also, I've been doing some moves to challenge my hips and back to stay in position.
> 
> ...


You may want to look at your knee position in your squats if you are not engaging your glutes enough. A good way to check this is to stand in front of a box or anything vertical that is higher than your knees.. Touch your toes and knees to the box and do a squat (no weight) and see if your knees have a tendency to move forward.. your knees should not go in front of your feet but should stay fairly in line with your feet if that makes sense.
In other words when doing a proper squat it is similar to getting in and out of a chair. If your knees are dropping forward and go past your feet it puts a lot of strain on the quads which take over and it stresses the knee and under works the glutes .

A good way to practice good form in squats is to work the front squat as opposed to behind the neck barbell squat.
Front barbell squat nearly forces you to have good form there is little room for error.. If you roll your back the weight will fall on the floor. It also forces a thoracic ext to hold the weight and also a nice chin tuck throughout the entire movement which is also good form as well as keeping your shoulders back.. the weight should be supported by laying on your chest and hands are only to keep weight rested there.

Most people can only do 25% of the weight they can do with a behind the neck barbell squat which is fine if your are working on good form.

Yo Elliot on youtube explains very good posture if you check out his proper dead lift video, where he puts a stick on a person back to see posture throughout the entire exercise. the proper posture is the same for squats which is a modified dead lift.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 21, 2014)

Hey Mike, good point about the knees drifting over the toes. I have a tendency to squat directly over my right leg and just stick my left leg out to the side like an outrigger. My right knee slides way out over my toes, while the left knee stays in good position. As a result the right side goes lower and I kind of twist and dip. Its ugly as hell!

Right now I'm working on one leg at a time, hoping to balance them out. Easy stuff for symmetry. I agree with you about the front squat vs the back squat, and I plan to get back to front squats soon. I'll finish up this week with what I've been doing, and next week I plan to add front squats with 1 dumbbell held in the rack position. So it will be like a front squat with 2 feet on the floor, but with weight only on 1 side. I hope that after 3 weeks of that, I'll be all "evened out" and ready for barbell front squats again.

10-20-2014

Warm Up Stretch

1 Leg Curl/1 Leg Extension/1 Leg Seated Calf Raise/Single Leg Standing Raise
circuit style, 5 sets of 12 each

1 Arm Pulldown/1 Arm Rear Delt Raise/Scarecrow
circuit style, 5 sets each

Iso Barbell Holds
3 positions, 5 holds each position

Incline Bench
warm up 135x10, 5 sets

T Bar Row
warm up
100x10, 5 sets

Peterson Step Ups, with Barbell across shoulders
5 sets worked up to 105x10 each leg

Pushups/Inverted Rows/Romanian Deadlifts
circuit style, 10 reps each, 5 circuits

6 Trips up the hill

-Lots of work! None of the sets were very difficult, but there were so many of them. This took a long time.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 22, 2014)

10-21-2014

"Extra" Day. Not a real serious workout, just a chance to get more activity than last week. I did some stretching, and then did some work for my arms. Arm day? Not super productive, but sometimes I just wanna get a nice pump.

Cable Bicep Curls/Cable Tricep Pushdowns
3x15, slow 3 count negative. Warming up the elbows and getting some blood flowing

Incline Dumbell Curls/Dumbell Tricep Extensions
4x12, pause at top and bottom

Barbell Curls/Barbell JM Press
5x8, used my Fat Gripz. They are rubber handles that fit around the regular bar, to make it like a thick bar. They make it much tougher on the grip and wrists. They are pretty cool.

Plate Pinch Hold 
Six, 10 count holds. Squeezing the plates together, working on grip strength, especially the thumb.

GUNZ!


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 23, 2014)

10-22-2014

Warm Up, Stretch

1 Leg Curl/1 Leg extension/1 Leg Seated Calf Raise
12 reps each, 5 circuits

1 Arm Pulldown/1 Arm Chest Supported Row/1 Arm Seated Shrugg
12 reps each, 5 circuit

1 Arm Half Kneeling Press
30# kettlebell, 5x10

1 Arm Dynamic shrugg
60# kettlebell, 5x10

Peterson Stepups, Middle Height
35#, 3x10 reps

No Iso holds or abs! Kinda pussed out and just skipped over them. This workout wasn't too hard physically, but it felt like forever. I used some machines in the gym this week I haven't messed with much before. They have independent movement arms, a variety of handles and are really adjustable (height of seat, angle of handles, height of chest support, ect). They worked really well for the 1 arm upper body stuff.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 25, 2014)

10-24-2014

Stretch, warm up

Flutter Kick/Lead Spread/Bicycle Crunch/Single Leg Curl/Back Raise
circuit style, 5 circuits

Upper Back rows on Blast Straps, Dumbell Rear Delt Raise
super set 5x15 each

Peterson Step Ups, High Step
20x10, 4 sets

1 Arm Bench Press
50# Kettlebellx10, 5 sets

1 Arm Half Kneeling Row
100x10, 5 sets

10-25-2014

Stretch, Warm Up

Pulldown Abs/Reverse Hyper Extensions
superset, 5x10 each

1 Leg Extension/1 Leg Calf Raise/2 Leg Curl
circuit style x15, 5 circuits

1 Arm Pulldown/1 Arm Shrugg/Scarecrow
circuit, x15, 5 times

Cable Pushdowns/Cable Curls w Fat Gripz
2x12
Dumbell Curls/Dumbell Tricep Extension w Fat Gripz
2x10
Barbell Curls/Close Grip Bench Press w Fat Gripz
5x6

Farmer's Walk 
1 long trip, light
2 short trips, heavier


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 28, 2014)

10-27-2014

Did the same lifts/moves with the same weights while increasing the sets for 3 weeks. This week I'll start over, switch some lifts and lower the volume.

Stretch, warm up

Kettlebell Swing 
a couple warmups to get a feel
35x15, 3 sets

superset with standing knee to chest
x10, 3 sets. I can't pull my knee anywhere near my chest yet, but these are getting better. 

1 Arm Dumbbell Press
warmups
30x8, 3 sets

superset with chinups. 
bwx3, 6 sets, changed grips

Snatch Grip Shrugg
warmups
135x10, 3 sets

superset with Peterson Step Ups
low sets, barbell across shoulders x10, 3 sets
warm up
135x10, 3 sets

then got into deep squat position and held for a nice stretch

finished up with a few sets on the wrist roller. Forgot to do the Iso holds again!

This was a great little workout. 3 loaded exercises paired with 3 body weight/mobility exercises between sets. This really made the whole workout flow nicely. It felt more like I was "practicing moving around" instead of just grinding away on one "piece" of my body at a time.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 31, 2014)

*10-29-2014*

Stretch, warmups

*Reverse Hyper-Extension*
3x12

superset with

*Pulldown Abs with Band*
Light Band, 3 x12

*Incline Dumbbell Press*
3x12

superset with

*Upper Back stuff on Blast Straps*
3x15

*Bent Over Barbell Row*
3x10

superset with 
*
Terminal Knee Extensions*
3x12

*1 Arm Farmer's Walk*
2 trips each arm

Another great workout. 3 "Lifting" exercises paired with 3 "moving" exercises. More like fun, less like work.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 2, 2014)

10-31-2014

Warm up, stretch, threw in some body weight lunges. Right side is still unsteady, but getting better.

1 Arm Kettlebell Swing
4x12
superset with Single Leg Standing Knee Raise
4x12

Seated Dumbell Press
4x12

superset with Chin Ups, holding onto a thick rope
bw x3, 5 sets

Snatch Grip Shruggs
4x15

superset with Peterson Step Ups
4x12 each leg

Farmer's Walk with 2 Dumbells
3 trips, up to 105

Repeated the "A" workout. Felt good. All the weights were pretty light, except the Farmer's Walk. The 105 dumbbells were tough.

11-2-2014

Stretch, warmup. Some bw lunges and single leg hamstring curls.

Reverse Hypers/ PUlldown Abs
4x12 each, supersets

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press/Upper Back on Blast Straps
4x12 each, supersets

Barbell Bent Rows/ Terminal Knee Extensions
4x10 each, supersets.

Hammer Curls with Fat Gripz Handles
5x8. These were tough and awesome. I really like these Fat Gripz handles!

Wrist Roller
3 rolls each direction.

Repeated the "B" workout. Not too strenuous, but felt really good.


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## Dankfactory (Nov 2, 2014)

I'm a Paramedic and work a grip of hours so personally, for me, the Grail of staying fit has been P90X and Yoga. 
No juiced out flatbilled Bro in a Tapout tanktop screaming next to you at the gym with each set. No disgusting Staph ridden gym locker rooms. No wierd locker room lurkers trying to get a visual on your package when you're steppjng out of the shower. And you get straight up SHREDded. I throw that shit in the DVD player at the station or while at home without even leaving the living room. No excuses. I also surf my local spot here in Oxnard often which is world reknowned and known to offer up some beatings.. But I cant get out there as often as I'd like. 
P90X till the end, and nothing eliminates stress and resets you like a solid Yoga session.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 4, 2014)

Dank, it sounds like you've got the perfect routine for your situation. It's cool you can do the P90X workout, even during the odd down times at the station. 

I don't know a lot about Yoga, but I've been stretching out every day the past few weeks. Getting down on the floor, even just to do some easy stretching is pretty effective. In my younger days, I would have laughed at Yoga, calling it nonsense. Back then, I was a wrestler, so I stretched and then did calisthenic exercises on the floor for hours a day. Now, that I no longer wrestle I can see that Yoga develops many of the same qualities as wrestling, like flexibility, strength and fluid movements from "odd" angles or positions. The older I get, the less I'm rolling around on the ground in my daily life, so I probably should get more in during my training.

What can you tell me about P90X? It looks like body weight exercises with a lot of abs and jumping, bouncing or explosive movements. Again, in the past, when I was doing lots of jumping jacks and skipping and jumping in sports practices, I probably would have laughed at P90X. Now that I don't jump around much, I don;t feel as fast or as "springy" as I used too. From the commercials, it looks like that's the goal of the program.

The more I post in here, the more it looks like I'm wasting my time lifting weights!


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## Magic Mike (Nov 4, 2014)

It's good to do hybrid workouts and mix explosive plyometric type movements with low rep strength training. The muscle is comprised of different types of fibers and each gets addressed through different types of training. I wouldn't be in any type of hurry to weight load that squat with form as you described. Is there an injury or condition that cause that? Almost sounds like a lateral pelvic tilt from the way you describe.

The peterson step is excellent exercise for knee stabilization, 1 progression from that would be jumpsoles. Jumpsoles if you don't already have them or heard of them, I highly recommend to any athlete in any sport they are the shit for perfect applicable knee/calf stabilization and used by most pro athletic organizations in most sports, are very worthwhile piece of equipment to train with. Will give edge to any game. very applicable for strengthening calf in all ranges of motion, they build explosive calf movements which in real life can prevent injury, as well as improve and give edge to all your movements. Something you might want to look at if you are not already familiar.

On squats a very applicable exercise alternative to weight loading is high volume body weight squats.
I really like TRX squats for this any many others. The TRX allow you to row/back assist as needed for higher rep counts. These are usually best done in full deep squat range of motion. Preferably in from of mirror or w/ partner to keep eyes on perfect form, chinned tucked entire time, chest out, shoulders back, back straight, etc.

Here is 1 of my last weeks TRX high volume deep squat workouts,
2set TRX deep squat w/ jump soles (ball on intermediate) 50 reps
2set TRX bare foot deep squat 50 rep
2set TRX jump squats barefoot till fail (plyometric)

2 set standing ab&adduction leg raise w/resistance band 15 rep (hip)
2 set standing hip/femur rotation internal & external 15 rep (pelvic stabilization)

Jumpsoles;
slow motion crouch walk straight line (Shamrock walk)
left to right
frw/back
circular

there are some good stabilization exercises that may address imbalance and work on standing hip/calf/foot balance and stabilization.

thats a small segment of 1 part that I find useful for building up injury resistance in those particular moves that may or may not be useful for others depending on conditions or injuries, etc.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 4, 2014)

Thanks Mike, good info. I wish I had run into you sooner. You're right on in your diagnosis of my situation. My pelvis is all over the place.

The calves and ankles are really important, and I guess I neglected them for awhile. Lately I've been using a resistance band looped around my foot to kind of roll out my ankle and stretch out my calves and they Peterson Step ups are helping me "feel" them more. I've never used the jumpsoles, but they've been around forever, so they must be good. And stronger, more flexible calves and ankles with surely strengthen my whole "chain" and make my hips more stable.

The Blast Straps we have at my gym are just like an older design of the TRX straps. Now that I can actually get down into a squat, I'll try some of those variations you mentioned. I love the Blast Straps for upper back work. I do all kinds of inverted rows, face pulls, and scarecrows on them. You've been doing the same stuff with the TRX, right?


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 5, 2014)

Oh yeah, I feel like my problem was caused by a handful of injuries over the past few years. Limping around left me kinda "unsymmetrical." If I slack on my stretching, mobility and single leg work I'll get kinda lopsided, and prone to straining my lower back. Sometimes I hurry through the recovery and rehab period and then load up the weights too soon and just get hurt again. I injured my back and then my groin this spring, and it left my with a limp and some shitty posture. My left shoulder was higher than my right, and I kinda stepped with my left foot and dragged my right. My hips didn't swing as I walked. It almost feels like I forgot how to use my muscles. The more "big" lifts and exercises I tried to do, the worse my imbalances got. Even just walking around felt weird, and every step was different.

For the last couple months I've been trying all kinds of stretching and rehab/corrective/stability/isolation moves. I've been making progress and feeling a lot better, but it's taken some time to try all this stuff to find what works.

*11-4-2014*

warm up, stretching

Single leg curls/situps with band around knees/Bodyweight Lunges
x15, 3 circuits
*
Kettle Bell Swings*
a few sets 1 handed, then a few sets with 2 hands. Went up to the 55 pound kettlebell, and it was pulling me all over the place. Room for improvement!

*Standing 1 Leg Raise*
between sets of swings. Stand on 1 foot, then lift the opposite knee as high as possible. Really feeling these in the hip and glute of the ground leg. 

*Seated Dumbell Press*
up to 60x10

*Chinups*
x3, between sets of presses. 3 sets wide grip, 3 narrow, 3 neutral grip. Used Fat Gripz handles. 

*Shrug with Snatch Grip*
x15, many sets.
*
Peterson Step Ups w Barbell*
x15, between sets of shrugs

*Bodyweight Squats*
x15, between sets of shrugs, when I got tired of step ups.

some stuff for grip to finish.

Another great workout. I haven;t been adding tons of reps or weight, but I feel like I'm getting better, or more skilled at this stuff every time.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 7, 2014)

*11-6-2014*

Stretch, warm-up, also did a bunch of BW lunges

Reverse Hyper Extension superset with Pulldown Abs
x15, 5 sets each

Incline Dumbell Press superset with Upper Back on Blast Straps
a bunch of reps, 6 sets each

Barbell Bent Rows superset with Bodyweight Lunges
x10, 5 sets each

The lunges are going well. I can almost keep my shin vertical lunging on my right leg. My knee used to drift way out over my toes. They still don't feel exactly the same on both legs, but it's getting closer. 

*11-7-2014*

30 minutes walking up and down this big ass hill. I did this on Monday and Wednesday too.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 11, 2014)

*11-8-2014*

Kettlebells/1 Leg Lift

Scarecrows/1 Arm Pulldowns

Shruggs/Peterson Step Up

my shoulders kinda felt beat up, so I did some scarecrows and 1 arm pulldowns instead of dumbell presses and chin ups. Another good workout.

*11-9-2014*

Kinda tired, skipped the hill, and just walked the dogs down the street.

*11-10-2014*

Reverse Hyperextensions/Pulldown abs

Dumbell Incline Bench Press/ Upper Back on Blast Straps

Barbell Bent Rows/Terminal Knee Extensions

A bunch of BW lunges and some grip work. I tried some 1 legged calf raises, and really sucked at them. My feet weren't moving in the same way on each side. A lot of room for improvement. Otherwise, good session.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 15, 2014)

*11-12-2014*

Kettlebell Swing/Standing 1 Leg Raise

Seated Dumbbell Press/Chinups

Snatch Grip Shrugs/Peterson Step Ups

Tough workout! I just dreaded every set. I wasn't sore or tired, the weights weren't super heavy, I just wasn't really looking forward to the exertion.

*11-13-2014*

No hills today. I'll blame it on the cold weather.
*
11-14-2014*

Got dressed, packed up my gym bag, then just gave up as I was tying my shoes. Just thinking about doing a single Reverse hyper extension or bent over row was too much. I stayed home, and couldn't even bring myself to stretch out.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 15, 2014)




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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 16, 2014)

*11-15-2014*

watched some VisionQuest, and got all fired up.

Stretch, warmups

Hanging Knee Raise, 1 Leg at a time superset with 45 Degree Back Raise, 1 Leg at a time.
4x6, each leg

Leg Extension, 1 leg superset with Peterson Step Ups
4x12, each leg

Leg Curls, 1 leg, superset with Terminal Knee Extension
4x12

Box Squat with Resistance Band around Knees
bwx12, 10 sets

Iso Barbell Holds
Overhead
"Rack" Position
"Hang" Position

I read an article on a Bodybuilding site about lifting for symmetry. The author recommended using the weaker side of your body first, and then matching that workload with your stronger side. Then, once you have both sides "fired up" from the single leg work you switch to an exercise where both sides work together. So basically, left leg, left leg, left leg, right leg, right leg, right leg, then both legs. I had just been switching left, right, back and forth, I tried the weak side first approach yesterday and I really feel like it helped. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself.

I finally got back to the Isometric Holds also.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 19, 2014)

*11-17-2014*

Warm up, stretch out

*1 Arm Farmer's Walk
*left side, then right side
80, long trip
90, 2 short trips

*Chest Supported Rows*
1 plate x6
2 plate x6
3 plate x6
3 plate +25x6, 3 sets

*Shrugs*
135x10
225x10
315x10
335x10, 3 sets

*Seated Press in Smith Machine*
50x17
100x11
120x7

*Lat Pulldowns, Overhand Medium Grip*
140x16
160x12
180x6
*
Seated Cable Row*
120x12
140x10
160x10

one set of dips and one set of pulldowns with an underhand grip, slow tempo, good stretch.

I was just about finished for the day, when I started talking to the guy who owns the gym I go to. He was just getting started and invited me to work out with him. We started with the Seated Press in the Smith Machine. I've always hated this lift. We did it in a body-builder style, just pressing from eye-level at the bottom to just shy of lockout at the top. 3 sets, all till failure. 

The gym owner, who is a huge power lifter kept urging me to "get tight" and to squeeze into the bench and to breath deeper to form a stronger base. This is something I used to know, but somehow I "forgot." You really have to squeeze in there, get tight, and keep everything locked. The big guy was giving me constant feed back and coaching on every rep about which way to lean, or where to put my elbows, ect. I've been lifting for a while now, but never worked with anyone who is so experienced, who could give me that sort advice. It was cool. I've developed some bad habits with my posture and back positioning coming off of this back injury. What felt "right" was sometimes resulting in pretty shitty technique. This guy knew where everything was supposed to be, so he could see what I was doing wrong, and then tell me what to do to fix it. I could actually feel my back and abs and everything else working together for the first time in awhile. Great workout!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 20, 2014)

*11-18-2014*

Pull-Down Abs

Some bicep curls and grip stuff

Jump Rope
100 jumps, short rest, repeat 10 sets

Last time I jumped rope weeks ago it felt sloppy, like my feet didn't line up and just slapped around everywhere. I've been doing all this 1 legged stuff since then. These felt great. Bouncing felt much more natural. 

I got a new pair of shoes last week. Yesterday, I wore my old shoes around for awhile. I could feel you they were worn down all strange. Like I was walking around on the outside of my left foot and on my right heel. Wearing them for a couple hours made my knee sore! I'm accepting this as proof that I'm straightening my hips and lower back out.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 21, 2014)

*11-20-2014*

*1 Arm Farmer's Walk*
80x long trip
95x long trip
110xhalf way, rest, then back

3 in a row on the left, 3 in a row on the right


*1 Leg Extension, superset with Peterson Stepups*
4x12

left side first, then right

*1 Leg Curl, superset with Clam Shells*
4x12

left side first, then right

*Front Squat, with Belt, Heels elevated on Plates*
115x8, 2 sets
*
High Bar Back Squat, 5 count pause on bottom*
65x5, 2 sets

Standing hip exercises with bands, and a couple sets of hanging leg raises.

Squatting 115? With plates under my heels?! This was like going back to the first time I ever went to the gym.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 22, 2014)

Legs are sore!

*11-22-2014*

Stretch, warmup

Half Kneeling 1 Arm Bottom Up Kettlebell Press
5x8 with the left arm, 5x8 with the right

*Seated Barbell Press, From Power Rack, Eyebrow Leve*l
95x6
115x6
135x6
155x4

*Incline Bench Press, Pause at bottom, with Press Command*
135x10
145x10
*
Tricep Pushdown *
60x failure
80x failure, 3 sets
Overhead Tricep Cable Extension
60x failure, 2 sets
*
Alternating Dumbell Curls*
30x10
40x10
55x10
65x8 loose, loose form
*
Dumbbell Shruggs*
55x12
65x12
75x12, 2 sets

*Rear Delts on Machine*
4x20

I worked out with the big power lifter again. After rear delts, we did some work on bench press set up and technique. Upper back arch, big air, foot position, grip width, where to lower the bar to, press towards the feet, squeeze, etc. By the end I got pinned under 135 and had to get some kid to pull the bar off my chest. Ha! I got tons of coaching/feedback on just about every rep during the entire workout. It was cool. Since the back injury I've been setting up way, way out of "good" position on many exercises for awhile. Now I'm finally relearning the right way.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 24, 2014)

*11-23-2014*

Off. Football

*11-24-2014*

*1 Arm Farmer's Walk*
90x long trip 
105x long trip
120x medium trip
3 trips left hand, 3 trips right hand

Hanging Knee Raise, 1 leg at a Time superset 45 Degree Back Raise, 1 Leg
4 sets of 6 on each leg each exercises

*Chest Supported Row*
warm ups
3 plates +25x 6, 3 sets
Really focused on letting the weight stretch me out at the bottom, then retracting my shoulder blades and pulling with my elbows. Pause and squeeze at the top, lower slowly and feel the stretch. Tried hard to keep my chest on the pad and not heave with my lower back. These were tough! I must have been cheating like hell last week.

*Upright Row*
45x8
65x8
95x8
115x8, 3 sets
Again, tried to squeeze everything tight to stay still and only and use my traps. Squeezing glutes, flexing abs, feeling stretch in traps at the bottom and holding for a brief pause at the top. 

*Pull Downs*
Several Warm Up Sets
180x8, 2 sets
Leaned back farther than I have been on this exercise. Then I tried to not rock or jerk, squeezing abs and lower back. I really let the weight stretch me out at the top, then pulled shoulder blades back an together and the pulled "through" the elbows. 

*Single Leg Standing Hamstring Curls*
4 sets left, 4 sets right

*Romanian Deadlift*
5 sets of 8
I tried to push the bar into my legs while squeezing my obliques, keeping my back flat and driving the hips back. Even though I was wearing shoes I made an effort to "grab" the floor with my toes and drives my heels into the floor. 

some grip stuff

Felt good, great workout! I really tried to "feel" and "isolate" my muscles. I don't know, maybe I just forgot how to lift weights. I know I'm supposed to get tight, control the weight, hold the contraction, etc, but I guess I just haven't been doing it. These things used to come natural, but today I really had to think about them. Based on how "different" everything felt today, I've been lifting with pretty shitty technique for awhile now. That sucks, but I'm optimistic about the future.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 28, 2014)

*11-26-2014*

Stretch, Warm Up
Pull Down abs, 5x10

*Seated Press, Smith Machine*
50x8
80x8
100x8
120x5
*
Close Grip Bench Press*
95x8
135x8
165x8
185x8

Did a set of three "1.5 chinups" after every set of presses. All the way up, drop till the top of my head was even with the bar, then back up for 1 rep.

*Seated Cable Row*
120x10
140x10
160x10

Rear delt raises with dumbells. 3 sets to faliure


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## CC Dobbs (Nov 28, 2014)

youraveragehorticulturist said:


> Its been awhile since I've kept a log going, and it always seems to help. I've decided to keep it here, as I'm here every day.
> 
> I've been lifting weights for awhile, but progress has been slow lately. I injured my back in March, and my groin/hip in May. I guess I developed sort of a limp in my walk, and the same "limp" in my lifting. As a result my hips and abs are pretty weak. I've been doing Power Lifting style training, with lots of squating and deadlifting, just making the problem worse. As a result, I've been going backwards!
> 
> ...



This is bullshit!!! I thought that you were training a log to do something useful. There is no log training here. Bullshit.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 29, 2014)

*11-28-2014*

I planned to squat, but my hips were too tight and sore from the Thanksgiving car rides. So I worked on the bench press with the Power Lifting owner of my gym again. I suck at bench pressing, and normally don't mess with it much. But lately it feels like all I've been doing. Maybe I'll get better at it.

*Bench Press*
185x12, 2 sets. Pause every rep at bottom, wait for press command. 

*Close Grip Bench Press*
155x12, 2 sets. Pause, wait for command

*Incline Bench Press*
135x12, 2 sets. Pause, wait for command

We're using the Ed Coan bench press routine, designed by the King of the Power Lifters, Ed Coan, if anyone cares.


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## Magic Mike (Nov 29, 2014)

youraveragehorticulturist said:


> Thanks Mike, good info. I wish I had run into you sooner. You're right on in your diagnosis of my situation. My pelvis is all over the place.
> 
> The calves and ankles are really important, and I guess I neglected them for awhile. Lately I've been using a resistance band looped around my foot to kind of roll out my ankle and stretch out my calves and they Peterson Step ups are helping me "feel" them more. I've never used the jumpsoles, but they've been around forever, so they must be good. And stronger, more flexible calves and ankles with surely strengthen my whole "chain" and make my hips more stable.
> 
> The Blast Straps we have at my gym are just like an older design of the TRX straps. Now that I can actually get down into a squat, I'll try some of those variations you mentioned. I love the Blast Straps for upper back work. I do all kinds of inverted rows, face pulls, and scarecrows on them. You've been doing the same stuff with the TRX, right?


A really good book for finding and treating muscle imbalances is Kendall's ''Muscles Testing and Function'', 5th edition, a super comprehensive text book that will give tons of info on corrective stretching, strengthening, postural imbalances, how to test, how to treat, what to look for, what to avoid, etc.

like the bible of physical therapy , highly worth checking out..

also Brent Brookbush on youtube has a lot of talent in rehab and published function testing & correction

I got tons of material in the field from doing my own rehab and studying and training accumulated .

I started to develop loss of cervical curve from years of weight training coupled with mountain biking. Once condition was recognized, I was able to develop corrective routines and I very successfully reversed condition through working neglected muscles, (deep cervicle flexors, strap, etc.) needed to be strengthened, and at the same time lengthened.

At the same time I needed to avoid working neck extensors, so I started doing routines that supported that and I reversed condition and that cured numerous disfunction.
Now I am back to being pain free with full range motion and restored cervicle curve.

It is super important to get posture faults identified and work toward correction . It really pays to work out with talented partner , or anybody who know a lot about physiology and posture and can recognize conditions easily just by watching and then further re access by testing , then develop corrective routines, that can actually cure the problem or imbalance.

At this time I am working predominantly on function exercises.. a lot of core training, a lot of TRX, and a lot of stretching, and a lot of bodylastics, plyometrics, traditional martial arts, etc. I have a super diverse routine.
Its all good I like working out it keeps me motivated and better attitude, good to see others doing it. It is all about wellness and well being.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 3, 2014)

Thanks for the book recommendation. I can't believe I'd never heard of it before. In print for more than 40 years? 

I'm glad to hear that you were able to correct your back/posture issues. It lets me know there's light at the end of the tunnel. 

Like you mentioned, its great to work with other and to have a diverse routine. I guess I just spent too much time with my head plugged into the headphones, doing the same exercises over and over. I feel like I've made a bunch of progress just from feedback in this thread.
*
11-29-2014*

Upright Rows on Cable
4x12

Bent Rows
5x8

Hang Cleans
6x5 felt like shit! 

Chinups On Rope
6x3 tough!
*
12-2-2014*

Leg Raises off Bench/45 Back Raise
4x15 each

Standing Leg Curl/Peterson Step Up
4x10, left leg first then right leg

Front Squat, Heels on Plates, Belt
95x10
115x10
125x10, 2 sets

Close Stance, High Bar Pause Squats, Heels up, Belt
75x8, 2 sets

Standing Lunge
4 sets right, 4 sets left

1 Leg Standing Calf Raise
4 sets each leg

Squat is still not great, but it felt a little more natural than last time.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 5, 2014)

*12-3-2014*

Light shoulders and triceps. Felt kinda sick. Left elbow hurt on tricep pushdowns. I survived.

*12-5-2014*

Single Leg Extension
Standing Single Leg Curl
Seated Calf Raise, 1 Leg
3 Way Hip w/ Band

4 circuits right leg, 4 circuits left leg

Medium Grip Pulldowns
6x10, light

did some abs between sets

Chest Supported Rows
150x6, 3 sets

Stiff Leg Deadlift
95x10
145x10
195x10, 2 sets

Leg Press, 1 Leg
0x12
50x12
70x12

Upright Row
65x8
95x8
115x8, 2 sets

did seated 1 leg calf raises between sets. 

Good workout. I wore my belt for stiff leg deadlifts. Having the belt to push my abs against really helped to keep my back flat, not over extended or over arched. These felt great. Leg presses with 1 leg were alright too, but the weight was rediculous.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 6, 2014)

*12-6-2014*

Bench
190x10, 2 sets

Close Grip Bench
160x10, 2 sets

Incline Bench
135x10

Side/Front/Rear Delt Raise Combo
15x12 reps each way, 2 sets

Hanging Leg Raises, Legs Straight
x10, 5 sets

some curls. some stuff for grip.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 6, 2014)

Oh yeah, I moved grip grip "out" a little bit on the bench press, and "in" a little on the close grip. The idea is to use less shoulders and more chest/triceps.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 9, 2014)

*12-8-2014*

45 degree Back Raise/Pulldown Abs w/ Bands
4x15 each

Front Squat
95x12
115x12
135x10, 2 sets

Pause Squats, High Bar, Close Stance
95x5, 2 sets

Lunge w/ Kettlebell
25x10
35x10
45x10 right leg first

Standing 1 Leg Calf Raise
4 sets

Karwoski Row 
135x10, 3 sets

back to back with

Farmer's Walk
90x down and back
95x down and back
105x down, drop, then back


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 12, 2014)

*12-10-2014*

abs/lower back to warm up

Standing 1 Arm Dumbell Press
3 warm ups
35x8, 3 sets

Close Grip (V Handle) Pulldowns
3 warm ups
200x8, 3 sets

Dips on Assisted Dip Machine
a bunch of sets of 8, with like 100 pounds of help. 

Pull Ups
4 sets of 6, different grip each set

Rear Delts on Machine superset with Skullcrushers
3 sets, high reps

Barbell Curls w/ Fat Gripz Handles
45x8
65x8
85x8
95x8

Left arm sucked on 1 arm presses. I tried to lean back a little bit instead of sitting straight up on the pulldowns. Big stretch at the top. Felt good. I've been lifting every other day and walking the dogs up and down the hill on the "off" days. I think I'm ready for some more intense cardio or whatever on the "off" days, but I don't want it to turn into another lifting session.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 12, 2014)

*12-12-2014*

1 Leg Curls, 1 Leg Extension, Some pulldown abs and pullthrus on the low cable to get going. 

I looped a resistance band over my lifting belt, then stuck my feet into the two "ends" of the band. My glutes and hips had to work hard to keep the band from folding me up. It got me lined up and my hips feeling better than anything else I've done so far. This was awesome.

Chest Supported Rows
70x8
115x8
135x8
160x8, 3 sets

Stiff Leg Deadlift
95x10
145x10
195x10, 3 sets

1 Leg Leg Press
0x25
50x25, 2 sets 

Standing Calf Raise, 1 Leg
3x15

Dumbbell shrugs, then heavier dumbbells for farmer's walk, 3 sets of each. 

Great workout today. The band looped around my lifting belt was so fast and easy and so effective I couldn't believe it. I feel like I was standing up so straight I was an inch taller. As a result, the stiff legged deadlifts felt really smooth. I learned this move in a Louie Simmons article. He said its great for fighters, and he has UFC fighter Mike "the immortal" Brown do this for time as a hip exercise. If anyone cares...

Shrugs and farmer's walk together are a great combo. Traps are worked! I've done these moves for years, but I've never done them together before. I got the idea from Josh Bryant, an awesome trainer from Texas.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 14, 2014)

*12-14-2014*

Bench Press
65x12
135x8, 8
200x8, 2 sets

Close Grip Bench
175x8, 2 sets

Incline Bench Press
155x8, 2 sets

Some T-Bar Rows, with the barbell and the V-Grip handle. Need more practice on these. "Heaved" too much and "rowed" to little.

Pulldowns, Underhand Grip
180x10
200x10
220x10

Pulldowns, Overhand Grip
180x12
200x10
220x7

I was planning to do some triceps and rear delts, but the pulldowns smoked me.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 16, 2014)

*12-16-2014*

Front Squat
95x12
115x10
135x8
155x8, 2 sets

Pause Squat
115x5, 2 sets

1 Kettlebell Lunge
30x10
40x10
50x10, each leg

Seated 1 Leg Calf Raise

No abs today. What a puss


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 20, 2014)

*12-18-2014*

1 Dumbbell Press
40x8, 3 sets

Upright Rows
95x10
115x10, 2 sets

Some dips, chins, situps. I need a more solid plan for "shoulder day."


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 21, 2014)

*12-20-2014*

Hanging Leg Raise/45 Degree back Raise
3x12 each

"Old School" Rows
75x10
125x10
150x10
175x10, 2 sets

Pulldown, Medium Overhand Grip
160x10
180x10
200x10
220x10, 8

Stiff leg Deadlift
135x10
185x10
225x10, 10

Kirowski Rows back to back with farmer's walk, 4 sets. 

Standing 1 leg calf raises/Spread Eagle situps/1 leg Curl, 3 sets each.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 21, 2014)

*12-21-2014*

Pulldown Abs/Reverse Hypers
12 reps each, 5 sets 

Bench Press
few warmups
210x8,8

Close Grip Bench
185x8, 8

Incline Bench
165x8,8

Barbell Curls with Fat Gripz/ JM Press
4 sets of 10 each

Rear Delt Machine/Dumbell Curls
3 sets of 15 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 21, 2014)

For the last month I've been pausing on the chest on all my bench/close grip/incline pressing. Today I could really feel that it has worked. Presses all felt strong at the bottom. But I kinda slowed down at the top. I've been training triceps in a half assed manner, now my lockout is weak. So, I need to do more for arms. These guns gonna be 15" cold!


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 26, 2014)

*12-24-2014*

Hanging leg Raises/45 Degree back Raise
4 sets of 12 each

Warm up and stretch hips/calves

Front Squats
95x12
135x8
155x8
175x8, 2 sets

Olympic Pause Squats
135x5, 2 sets

Lunge in Place w kettlebell
35x10
45x10
55x10, 2 sets each leg

Inverse Curls
+135 "assistance" x8, 3 sets.

1 Leg Extensions, 1 leg seated calf raises


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 26, 2014)

*12-26-2014*

"Light Bench Day"

Pulldown Abs w Band/ Leg Raises
4x12

Wide Grip Bench Press
175x10, 9

Dips
+80 Assistance x10, 2 sets

Smith Machine Seated Press
100x10, 8

Dumbbell Side Delt Raise
20x15, 15

Dumbbell Rear Delts
20x15, 18

Tricep Pushdowns, Straight Bar
80x10
100x10, 10
110x8

Barbell Curls w/ Fat Gripz
65x10
95x10, 10

I turned 35 today. How the Hell did that happen? I got a tiny puppy as a present from my girl. I feel just like a kid again.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 28, 2014)

*12-28-2014*
*
Hanging Leg Raise/45 Degree Back Raise*
4 sets of 12

*T-Bar Rows*
2 plates x12
3 plates x10
4 plates x10, 10
*
Medium Grip Pulldowns*
180x10
200x10
220x10, 8
*Underhand Grip Pulldowns*
180x12, 12

a few standing leg curls...

*Stiff Leg Deadlift*
115x12
155x10
205x8
240x8, 8

Upright Rows, Alternated with Dumbell Farmers Walk. 1 Leg Standing Calf Raises.

It doesn't look like much typed out, but this was a tough workout. I guess if it were easy, EVERYONE would be diesel.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 30, 2014)

*12-30-2014*

Bench Press
220x5, 5

Close Grip Bench
195x5, 5

Incline Bench
175x5, 5 

JM Press
Barbell Curls w/ Fat Gripz
Rear Delts on Machine

All presses were paused. Bench felt "slow" today. Last week it felt like the lockout was tough. Today it just felt like the bar was moving slow, so the whole top half of the press was tough. 

I need more speed! Maybe I'll drag out some chains, or try some plyometric pushups. Anyone have any suggestions?


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 2, 2015)

*1-1-15*

Decline Situps/Reverse Hypers
4x12

Some hip stuff

Front Squat
95x8
135x8
165x8
195x8, 8

Oly Pause Squat
155x5, 5

Kettlebell Lunge, Right Leg Then Left
40x10
50x10
60x12

Some work on the Deadlift. Stood on a 45, then pulled the bar up to knees, paused, then back to the floor. Ugly at first, went smooth after a few tries.

Decline Situps
+20x15
+40x15
+60x12

It's still a front squat, under 200, but squatting felt good yesterday. It was good to work on the DL a little bit. Even decline situps felt good. They aggravated my back a couple months ago.

Woke up this morning, no trouble getting out of bed, no pain bending over to put on my socks.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 3, 2015)

*1-3-15*

Seated Dumbell Press
2 warm ups
45x12, 12

Standing Barbell Press
2 warmups
85x12, 12

Dumbell Front Raise
2 warmups
30x15, 15

Chest Supported Row
2 warmups
3 plates x8, 8

Dumbell Side Raise
20x12, 12

Some shrugs that sucked. Some arm shit. Pussy-Shoulders!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 5, 2015)

*1-5-15*

Back Raise/ Pulldown Abs with Band

1 Arm Farmer's Walk/ Hips with Belt and Band

1 Leg Curl/ 1 Leg Seated Calf Raise

Deficit Deadlift, Pull to Knees and Pause
135x8, 8
185x8, 8
225x6, 8

Partial Deadlift Against Bands, From Just Below Knees
135x1,1,1
155x1,1,1
185x1,1,1

Close Grip Pulldowns w/ V Bar
180x10
200x10
220x8
240x6, 7

Upright Rows superset with Farmer's Walk

Some Hanging Leg Raises


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 9, 2015)

*1-5-15*

The routine called for bench press. My shoulder and elbow felt kinda shitty, so I did some dumbbell benching and some other weak shit. Truthfully, I just pussed out because I was afraid to bench press.

*1-7-15*

Some abs/lower back to get loose.
Some hip stuff.
*
Front Squat*
95x6
135x6
175x3
195x1,1
215x6, 6

*Kettlebell Lunge*
40x10
50x10
60x10, 12

Inverse Curls/Hanging Leg Raises

Leg Extensions/Standing Calf Raise 

I forgot to do pause-squats today. Just skipped right over them. Then I had to force myself to do the accessory work. I just wanted to get out of there. It's been like 6 or so weeks of increasing weights and I guess I'm ready for a little break, or "deload." Physically I feel pretty good, but my nerves are shot. Instead of enthusiasm, I'm starting to feel the doubt in the gym. I'll take it easy on the weights, and do more stretching this week. 

On a positive note, I front squated 215 for two sets of six today. Like 3 months ago like 245 for a single was all I could handle. I've also gained almost 10 pounds since then. ALL MUSCLE of course.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 14, 2015)

5 days off. 
*
1-13-15*

Shoulders. Just repeated last shoulder workout. BIG lift was Military Press 85x12, 12.

*1-14-15*

Clam Shell/Back Raise/Pulldown Ab 
3x15

Terminal Knee Extension/Leg Curl/Hip Lift
3x15

Glute Bridge/Romanian Deadlift
4x15

Close Grip Pulldown
180x15, 3 sets

Chest Supported Row
90x15, 3 sets

Light workout for deadlift/back, with a bunch of hip rehab moves. Glutes and back were pumped.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 16, 2015)

*1-16-15*

Bench Press Day! I had a shitty bench/chest workout about 11 days ago. I rested a little, and tried a few new things today.

*Plyometric Pushup*
3 sets of 3. 
-Start in pushup position with 45 pound bumper plate between hands. Lower chest to plate, push up fast and "jump" hands on top of plate. A lot of room for improvement here!
*
Wide Grip Bench Press with Pause*
135x20, 20, 17
-Ring fingers on rings. Focused on keeping the bar low on my chest and pushing straight up.
*
Dumbbell Incline Press with Neutral Grip*
50x10,10,10,10
-Super long range of motion lots of triceps plus chest when you squeeze the dumbbells together at the top. Forearms gotta stay vertical, I think this will help to teach me to press straight up when bench pressing.

*Decline Bench Press with Close Grip
*135x 12,12,12,12
-The angle of the decline eliminates the bottom inch or two of the close grip press, taking a little pressure off my elbows. Also, you have to push towards your feet. I'm hoping working at this new angle will help my regular bench press. I want to keep the bar low on my chest, and press straight up, not let the bar drift up towards my face.

*Dumbbell Flies superset with Inverted Rows*
4 sets of 12-15 or so each.
*
Front Delt Raise with Bar superset with Facepulls on Low Pulley*
4 sets of 12-15 each. *

Barbell Curl with FatGripz superset with Skullcrushers on Giant EZ Curl Bar*
4 sets of 12-15 each.

Tried to do the same exercises I usually do, just another angle or grip or handle. Every thing felt a little different, but in a good way. I got super pumped! I know it was super light, but I'm all enthused anyway.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 18, 2015)

*1-17-15*

Reverse Hypers/Pulldown Abs with Band
4x12

Clam Shell/1 Arm Farmer's Walk
2 goes on each side

Standing 1 Leg Curl/1 Leg Seated Calf Raise
3x12 each leg

I decided to take the plunge and squat today. I must have been nervous, look at all the silly stuff I did first to put it off. I moved my stance way, way out. So far my feet touched the bottom of the power rack. It was hard to get to depth at first with my feet so wide, but it felt really good. All the weight was on my glutes/hips and not my knees and lower back. I was able to maintain position and not rock side to side or anything. I'm pretty excited. I did a bunch of sets of 3, just working up to bodyweight. 

1 Leg Leg Press
4x15 each leg

Leg Extension/Standing 1 Leg Calf Raise


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 21, 2015)

*1-20-15*

Seated Dumbbell Press
50x12, 13

Military Press
95x15,15

chinups, alternating grips between sets of presses

Hang Clean 
95x4,4,4,4
115x4,4,4,4
135x4,4,4,4
155x4,4,4,4
finally started to feel a little pop near the end

Dumbbell Front Raise/Dumbbell Shrugg
3x15 each

Dumbbell Side Raise/Rear Delts on Machine
3x15 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 21, 2015)

*1-21-15*

Abs/Lower Back

A few squats to practice

Defecit Deadlift, Stop At Knees
135x6
185x6
205x6
225x6,6

Deads from Below Knee Against Bands
135x5 singles
155x5 singles
185x5 singles

T-Bar Row
1 Platex15
2 Platex15
3 Platex15,15

Paused for a 2 count at the bottom and top of the first 10 reps, then finished set regular style. Tough!

V-Bar Pulldowns
180x10
200x10
220x10

Leg Curls/Calf Raises

I moved my stance in on the deadlift stuff. Heels like 5 inches apart. It felt pretty good. It was really easy to drive with the glutes and lockout the partial deadlifts, even against the bands.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 23, 2015)

*1-23-15*

Plyo Pushups
4,3,3,2,1,1

Wide Grip Bench Press with Pause
135x20
160x15, 15, 13

Incline Dumbbell Press with Neutral Grip
40x10
60x10,10,10

Close Grip Decline Bench
145x10, 8,8

Dumbbell Fly/Inverted Row
3 sets of 15 each

Barbell Front Raise/Face Pulls 
3x15 each

Barbell Curl with Fat Gripz/Skullcrushers
3x12 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 25, 2015)

*1-24-15*

Abs/Lower Back/Hips/Hamstrings warm up stuff.

Jumps
8 single jumps
Squatted down to a low bench with a wide stance. Sat there for a second stretching my hips then jumped up onto a box. Room to improve on this one.

Squat
Bunch of light sets. Still not right, but it's feeling a little better.

Lunge in Smith Machine
50x12
60x12
70x12 3 sets right leg then 3 sets left

Inverse Curl
+115x10,10,10

1 Leg Extension/1 Leg Standing Calf Raise supersets
3x15


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 29, 2015)

*1-27-15*

Seated dumbbell Press
40x12
50x15, 15, 12

Military Press
75x12
95x15, 15, 12

Hang Clean 
115x4
135x4
155x4
175x4

Front Raise/Dumbbell Shrug
3x15 each

Side Raise/Rear Delt Machine
3x12 each

Dumbbell Curl/Tate Press
3x12 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jan 29, 2015)

*1-28-15*

Abs/lower back/Hips

T-Bar Row
90x12
135x12
160x12

Deficit Partial Deadlift
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5,5 

Partial Deadlift Against Bands
155x1,1,1
185x1,1,1
205x1,1,1


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 2, 2015)

Had to skip they gym for a couple days working out of town.

*2-1-15*

Abs/Lower Back

Plyo Pushups
3,3,3 a little higher 2, a little higher 1,1

Wide Pause Bench
95x15
135x15
155x15
175x12

Incline Dumbbell Neutral Grip Press
45x10
60x10,10, 9
50x10

Decline Bench
135x10,10,10, 8
115x10

Flies/Inverted Rows
3x12 each

Barbell Front Raise/Seated Facepull on Low Pulley
3x12-15 each

Barbell Curls with FatGripz/Tricep Pushdowns
3x12-15


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 6, 2015)

Leg Day
Leg Press
Inverse Curls
Same stuff I've been doing

Shoulders
Seated Dumbbell
Military Press
Hang Cleans
Same assistance ...


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 6, 2015)

Alright, this goes back about 4 months now. Looking back I started out with a lot of rehab/mobility stuff. One routine for 3 weeks, then a slightly different routine for 3 more weeks. Full body each workout, focusing on movements. Squat, hinge, press, pull, loaded carry. I pretty much just did what coach Dan John said to do. The goal was to move around a lot and just feel better. I focused on adding more reps and sets and taking fewer rest days to add intensity. After 6 weeks, I was ready for a change. 

Then I started a more gym rat style routine. It kinda evolved along the way, but finished up like...

Day 1
Bench Press(Chest)

Day 2
Squat(Legs)

Day 3
Press(Shoulders)

Day 4
Row/Deadlift(Back)

I've been doing 3-4 sets of pretty high reps(10-15) and doing bodybuilder stuff like pausing reps at the top and bottom, doing slow negatives, super sets, all that kinda stuff. About 5-6 weeks in a got really tired of it and took almost a week off. After a break I went back to it, but now, about 3 weeks later I'm bored again. 

It looks like every 3-4 weeks I get bored with the moves I've been doing and every 6 weeks I need a break in intensity. 

Now I think I'm going to switch to an upper/lower split instead of the 4 way routine I've been on. 4 sessions per week, 5 sets of moderate reps (5- with higher weights than I've been using. Fewer lifts done more frequently. All this practice, plus the higher weights should be good for strength. 

My squat is still shitty, so I'll do easy, light squats as a warmup on lower body days. Deadlift feels good so I'll use that as the base. Leg press and hack squats will have to be enough to prevent chicken legs.

I'll use the few days as light, easy days to try out a few things and see what fits together.


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## Magic Mike (Feb 6, 2015)

There are a lot of places to go with routines. It looks you have made good solid gains for 4 months.
I see a lot of room for plyometrics & HIIT, circuit training .

1 important often overlooked factor in routine development is rest periods. Mixing those up in a sound solid matter is huge. those should be recorded as well and followed with a timer, and also well written.

There is a huge difference in taking 2~3 min rest intervals between sets and allowing maximum recovery in order to lift heavy as possible during every set,

than say taking a 30s or no rest period in order to create muscle fatigue/endurance.

Also sometimes rests can be converted to a 40s jumprope then right into next set,
something like ;

3x bench press 10 rep; ( jump rope for 40s between each set. )

Doing this you will be using lighter weight maybe, but working out in an entirely different mode even working different types of muscle fiber.

utilizing all types of fibers in all types of training really take out the boredom factor for me, it raises my energy WAY higher plus gives me optimal and super usable and functional gains.

Elliot Hulse @ Strength Camp has some really good well rounded routines IME , & IMO. That is 1 of the few places that are super sound & solid in good training advice and pro routining , periodization, rest periods, phases, diet, etc

other than that dong traditional MA almost yoga type, forms, kick/punch drills , etc. about everyday, every morning, and good environment and my own gym, and good solid energy raising routines and training for function, flexibility, and wellness by eating good food , all a combination of overall well being.

works good for me, right now I am doing a double split 4x week routine from the hybrid training log @ strength camp.

I could post a few workouts if you are interested seeing a hybrid routine.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 7, 2015)

Hey Mike,
you're definitely right about being ready for some new stuff. Just lifting, especially on a body part split makes me feel slow and un-athletic. I added a few jumps and plyo-pushups near the end trying to get faster and more explosive. I've been doing a bunch of super-sets, so the next progression should be some circuits, lest rest, etc. I also spent some time walking up and down a big hill. I thought of it as interval training, but walking up a hill isn't super high intensity.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to do a routine that will try to address everything at once(hybrid or conjugate style) or do 3 different short programs back-to-back to build size/strength/power. 

Feel free to post anything you like. You seem to really know a lot about weight training and performance training.
Funny you mention the jump rope, I pulled it out earlier today.

*2-6-15*
100 jumps, 15 reps of an exercise, 100 umps, 15 reps...
Hanging Leg Raise, x2
Back Raise, x2
Leg Extension, x2
Leg Curl, x2
Hips Raise, x2
Calf Raise, x2


----------



## Magic Mike (Feb 8, 2015)

Here is a 1 week excerpt I did last week;

I usually start out my workouts fully stretched out until good posture and fluid motion in all joints . I probably stretch more than most with static & dynamic & corrective stretches/exercises so I can hit a workout in good posture with full range & central access of rotation in all joints.

1 week excerpt from my current power & hybrid training routine phase 1 week 2. This is a double split or

*2 day on, 1day rest, 2 day on, ~ 2 day rest = 4x per week; *This is 1 week from a 30 day Hybrid Training Log ;

*Day 1~ Power Building;*

Barbell Incline Press~ 6 sets 3 rep

(recover fully between sets on exe 1 only; 2~3m rest)

(rest of exercises in workout rest period is 30~60s between sets)

Seated Cable rowing~ 3 sets 6 rep

Underhand Pull Up~ 3 sets 6 rep (add weight or modify)

Standing Dumbbell Overhead Press ~ 3 sets 6 rep

these next 2 exercises run as a circuit;

a. Barbell Curl 3 sets 8 rep

b. Tricep Pushdown 3 sets 8 rep

Renegade Rows (each arm) 3 sets 6 rep

Hybrid~ Fat Loss Finisher; 

a. Kettlebell Swings x 20

b. Sprint 100 yard or jump rope 40s

repeat 8x

*
Day 2 Power Building;*

Barbell Front Squats~ 6 sets 3 rep

(recover fully between sets on exe 1 only)

(rest of sets are done with 30~60s rest between sets)

Stiff Leg Deadlifts ~6 sets 3 reps

Dumbbell Step Ups (each leg) ~ 3 sets 8 reps

Plate Crunches ~ 2 sets of 10 rep

Knees to Bows 30~60s

*Hybrid Fat Loss Finisher;*

30s sprint

30s walk

10 sets =10m total finisher~

*Day 3 Rest*

*Day 4 Hybrid Training Circuits;*

a. Barbell Clean and Press ~10 rep

b. Chin Ups or Jumping Chins ~10 rep

c. Reverse Cable Chops ~10 rep

d. 100 yard or 30s treadmill sprint or jump rope~ 1 rep

Rest 2 min then repeat above circuit 3~4 times

Fat Loss Finisher ; light jog or 20 min sport

*Day 5 Hybrid Training Circuits;*

a. Single Arm Cable Pulls~ 8 reps each arm

b. Box Jumps 1 min

c. Medicine Ball Russian Twist 1 min

d. Mountain Climbers 1 min

rest for 2 minutes then repeat above circuit 3~4 times

Fat Loss Finisher; light jog or 20 min sport

*Day 6 Rest
Day 7 Rest*

The following weeks and weeks prior to that week alter, it is a progressive and changing program, it has a lighter maintenance phase which is 3 days a week too .

Most of the workouts take me 30~60 min; not counting warm up , also there is a 5th day option to work out any lagging body part ;

It is a fairly athletic 1 week routine you may or may not want to try, full manuals are @ leanhybridmuscle.com

written by Elliot Hulse & Strength Camp,

the entire routines are about 30 day each and change parameters and reps and exercises throughout the routines. 

Anyway I been liking the program . I find it always changing and diverse and challenging . Overall I feel a lot stronger in all areas of fitness.

Next week the parameters and exercises change a little, keeps it interesting and diverse. I intertwine that with other sports / training it keeps it interesting and is adding noticeable strength and balance of power/endurance, mobility, & function for me.

Anyways have a good 1 hope this was helpful.


----------



## KLITE (Feb 9, 2015)

I also like trainning in intervals a lot and use a kettlebell for it mostly. 
Another siiiick exercise is running up the hill. Any slightly accentuated hill will do even if you can just run for 20 or 30m. Run AS FAST as possible up and walk down slowly to rest, do that 10 times and tell me about it!
Also much respect to the OP for being so assiduous and motivated with his trainning and thanks for sharing it here man, some of us appreciate it.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 9, 2015)

Mike,
Thanks for the info. I've seen lots Yo Elliot youtube videos, they're full of good, but very specific info. I've never seen a training week of his laid out like that before. It looks good, basic moves just arranged a little differently. Nothing over the top or standing on a wobble board or some nonsense. 

I've been thinking a lot about more super sets, circuits and complexes, and how to work them into the routine. 

I also like an extensive warmup. Stretching, dynamic stretching, rehab/prehab moves, activation/patterning, jumps or throws. Sometimes I get a little bogged down, and the warmup lasts longer than the workout. 

Klite,
I've been doing some lunges and swings with the kettlebells, but I haven't figured out how to catch those things for cleans and snatches yet. Any pointers?
Running hills or up stadium steps was a regular part of my training for years and years. * I've been too big a pussy to run much since I turned 30. Like 5 years ago.* That looks really, really bad written out like that. The hill is right behind my house, I walk my dogs up and down everyday. I need to watch some hype Rocky training scenes, then get out there.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, suggestions and inspiration guys. 
*
2-8-15*

Stretch, warm up

Jump rope, 100-120 jumps, then lift, repeat.
Leg Raises off Bench x2
Back Raise with Twist at Top x2
Barbell Upright Row x2
Pushup on Bar x2
Side Delt Raise/Rear Delt Raise with Dumbbell x2
Barbell Cheat Curl x2

After that I did some pulldowns to the front. Underhand grip for a couple sets, then overhand grip for 2 sets.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 9, 2015)

*2-9-15*

Stretch out

1.Clam Shell
2.Seated Upper Back Extension
3.Landmines
4.Leg Curl
5.Pulldown Abs

Circuit Style. 5 times. 12-15 reps on most stuff

1.Romanian Deadlift
2.Leg Press

Back to Back Style. 10 reps on DL, 20 on Leg Press

1.Hip Exercise with Belt and Band
2.Flutter Kick
3.Leg Extension
4.Seated Calf Raise
5.Farmer's Walk with Dumbbells

Circuit Style, 3 times.

I was sweating pretty heavily today/


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 12, 2015)

*2-11-15*

Push Up Plus / Cuban Press (upper back and rotator cuff warm up)
3x12 each

Pulldown Ab/Sidebend/ 1 Arm Half Kneeling Kettlebell Press
2x12 each

Overhead Press
10 sets of 3. Started with the bar, added 10 pounds at a time, worked up to 145x3 for 2 sets.

Close Grip Bench Press superset with Upright Row(Barbell)
4 sets of 10 each

Circuit
1. Lateral Delt Raise with Dumbbell
2. Rear Delt Raise with Dumbbell
3. Upright Row on cable
4. Dumbbell Front Riase
5. Rear Delt on machine
6. Cable tricep pushdown.
3 sets of 12-15 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 14, 2015)

*2-13-15*

Stretching

Circuit
1. Clam shell
2. Landmine
3. Seated Upper Back Extension
4. Peterson Step Up
three times through, 12 -15 reps each

Circuit
1. Dumbbell Step Up
2. Dumbbell Romaninan Deadlift
3. Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise
4 times through, 10 reps each

Superset
1. Hanging Leg Raise, Straight Legs
2. Kettlebell Swing, 1 Arm at a time
4 times through, 8 reps on leg raise, 10 swings each hand


----------



## JBONESG (Feb 15, 2015)

I dropped around 13 lbs in 30 days ...running at least 10 miles a week and adjusting my diet...
If ppl need to start slow then I suggest do the most comfortable weight that you can do 3 -5 sets of then moving up week by week. You have to want it to get it!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 15, 2015)

*2-14-15*

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Many sets of 3. Started with 20's and jumped 5 pounds at a time, worked up to 80's.

Dips superset with FacePulls
4 sets 0f 12, pause at top and bottom

Hammer Curls
5 sets of 6

A bunch of grip stuff.
Some jump rope.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 20, 2015)

*2-17-15*

Clam Shell
Land Mines
Seated Upper Back GM

Standing Press
145x1,2,1,2,1,2,1

Hang Clean super set with Neutral Grip Bench Press
4 sets each

*2-18-15*

Leg Curl
Sidebend
1 Arm Kettlebell swing

Leg Press super set with Bent Over Rows
5 sets, 25 reps leg press, 10 reps Row

Lunges in Smith machine super set with Romanian Deadlift 
3x12 each

Hanging Leg Raises
Reverse Hyper Extension
1 Leg Calf Raise


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 23, 2015)

*2-22-15*

Rack Pull
135x8
225x8
315x6
365x5
405x4
455x2
500x1

Medium Grip Pulldown 
200x15
260x9
220x15

Hammer Curls
35x8
45x8
60x6
70x6

Walked into the gym expecting to do some shit for shoulders. Got talked into some rack pulls instead. I've been doing these with some Light Flex bands over the bar, but I've only had like 200-225 pounds on the bar. Today with straight weight the bar felt light! I know a partial deadlift is not a real lift, but 500 is the most weight I've had in my hands for 3-4 years, so it's a little exciting. 

Anyway, partial deadlifts against bands, and T-Bar rows with a pause at the bottom and the top have made my back feel pretty strong. The grip stuff seems to be working too. 500 double overhand with no straps.


----------



## Joedank (Feb 24, 2015)

keep it up  ever thought of the climbing gym?? or outdoor rock climbing?? my fav mode of action


----------



## JBONESG (Feb 25, 2015)

3 miles 200 push ups 200 sit ups


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Feb 27, 2015)

Joedank, I'm interested in some of the grip training climbers do, but I'm too fat and old to climb cliffs.

JBones, is that a suggestion, or is that what you did? It sounds like an Army PT workout to do at 5am!

*2-25-15*

Some Arnold presses and other stuff for arms/shoulders. I'm still sore and kinda crushed from that big pull on Sunday. Hips and back are tight, traps are sore, forearms are sore. This workout kinda sucked.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 1, 2015)

*3-1-15*

Straight Arm Pulldown superset with Sidebends
3 sets of 10

1 Arm Upright Row superset with Hanging Leg Raise
3 sets of 10, only got 10,9,8 on leg raise

Incline Bench Press with 2 count pause on Chest
185x3

Bent Over Row
225x3

Partial Standing Press, Chin to top of Head
160x3

V-Grip Pulldown
280x3

Shrug
340x3

Close Grip Bench from pins, 2" Above Chest
225x3

Jump Rope, 120 jumps super set with band pull aparts with light bandx15. 5 times

I super-setted a press with a pull, and went back and forth doing sets today. Started with the bar for 10, and worked up to a heavy triple to have some numbers to work with on these exercises. I dug out an old Anthony Ditillo book the other day, and got all excited about lifting in the power rack. This was a fun workout. Tons of sets, low reps.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 2, 2015)

*3-2-15*

1 Leg Curl
Back Raise
Pulldown Abs with Band
-3 circuits, 10 reps each

Seated Upper Back Extension
Clam Shell
Landmine Abs
-3 circuits, 12 reps each

Dumbbell Step Ups superset with Dimmel Deadlifts
2 warm ups
60x10, 3 sets for step ups
135x15, each set on Dimmels

Reverse Lunge In Smith Machine superset with Sumo Deadlift
3 sets of 10 each

Standing 1 Leg Calf Raise with Kettlebell
4x10 each leg

Kettlebell Swing 
4 sets of 30 swings. 45 sec rest between sets


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 5, 2015)

*3-4-15*

Rear Delts on Machine, Tricpe Pushdowns
3x15 each

Seated Dumbbell Press
25x10
25x10
45x8, 8,8,8

Dips
-100x10
-80x10
-60x8,8,8,8

Dumbbell Tri Extensions, Front/Side Delt Raises

Plate Pinch, 2 Hands
up to 150x1

still a little sore from Sundays (3-1). Felt good to get the blood flowing.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 7, 2015)

Plumbing Problem at Home! Missed the gym for a day or 2.

*3-7-15*

V-Grip Pulldowns
140x10
200x7
240x5
280x2,2,2
240x3,3,3
220x5,5,5

Barbell Bent Rows
115x10
145x7
185x5
225x2,2,2
195x3,3,3
165x5,5,5

Shrug
185x10
225x7
275x5
315x2,2,2
275x3,3,3
245x5,5,5

Rack Pull, Mid Shin
135x10
225x7
315x5
405x2,2,2
365x3
315x5

4 sets of reverse hypers/2 sets sidebends/2 sets standing calf raise

Trying out a new (old) loading scheme from Anthony Ditillo, circa 1968. 
90%x2 for 3 sets
80%x3 for 3 sets
75%x5 for 3 sets

Heaviest work sets first, then lighter work sets next. You keep the weights the same workout to workout add try to add a rep here and there until you're up to 5 sets at each weight. We'll see how it goes.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 10, 2015)

*3-10-15*

warm up junk

Clam Shell
Landmines
1 Arm Half Kneeling Bottom Up Kettlebell Press
x12, 3 circuits each

Incline Bench w/ 2 count pause on chest
185x2,2,2
175x3,3,3
165x5,5,5

sets of 2 chinups between incline sets. alternate grips

Standing Press in Rack, chin to top of head
160x2,2,2
145x3,3,3
130x5,5,5

sets of fat man pullups between presses

Partial Close Grip Bench from pins 3" off Chest
225x2,2,2
205x3,3,3
195x5,5,5

sets of delt raises between sets of presses


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 13, 2015)

*3-11-15*

Hanging Leg Raise
45 Degree Back Raise
Single Leg Curl
4x10-12, circuit

Dumbbell Step Ups, Higher Step
40x10
50x10
60x8,8,8

hip raises between sets

Leg Extension
Lunge in Smith Machine
Romanian Deadlift
3x12 each, circuit

Sumo Deadlift
Pulldown Abs
1 Leg standing Calf Raise
3x12 each

-I can't believe how tough the step ups were! I was pouring sweat and grunting like a pig! I guess that means I should stick with them for a while.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 15, 2015)

*3-13-15*

All kinds of delt raises
Trciep Pushdowns
Hammer Curls Across the body (Pinwheel Curls?)
Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Barbell Curls with Fat Gripz

Vertical Bar Lift

Bumper Plate Flips
-I saw a video of Russian Olympic lifter D. Klokov "flipping" a 25kg bumper plate. He kinda pinched it between his thumb and fingers, then tossed it up, flicking his wrist so the plate spun over. Then he snatched it out of the air. Like pinch grip and wrist power in one lift. I had to try a whole bunch of these.

1 Arm Farmer's Walk


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 15, 2015)

*3-14-15*

stretching, Scarecrows, Peterson Step Ups, etc.

V-Bar Pulldowns
warm ups
280x2,2,2
240x3,3,3
220x5,5,5,5

did back raises with a twist at the top between sets of pulldowns. I must have done too many, or too soon after lunges or something. I got a hellacious cramp in my left glute/hip. 

Barbell Bent Over Rows
warm ups
225x2,2,6
205x3,3,3
195x5,5,5,5

sets of sidebends and pulldown abs in between

Shrugs with 2 count pause at top
warm ups
335x2,2,2 "clean grip"
295x3,3,3 slightly wider grip
275x5,5,5,5 even a little wider grip

I got some straps the other day. Shrugs are way, way cooler with straps. 

I was supposed to do some Rack Pulls today, but my ass was killing me. Plus this was a pretty tough workout already.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 18, 2015)

*3-17-15*

warm ups, rotator cuff stuff, tricep pushdowns

Incline Bench Press, 2 count pause on chest
185x2,2,2
165x3,3,3
155x5,5,5,5

sets of 3 chinpups between benching

Standing Partial Press in Rack, Chin to top of head
160x2,2,2
145x3,3,3
135x5,5,5,5

sets of upper back stuff on blast straps between sets of presses

Partial Close Grip Bench Press, from Rack, 4" off chest
225x2,2,2
205x3,3,3
195x5,5,5,5

sets of upright rows between presses

30 work sets alternated with 30 easy sets on the in-between! Very sweaty


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 19, 2015)

*3-18-15*

Hanging Leg Raises/Reverse Hyperextensions
4x12

1 Leg Extension/1 Leg Curl
4x12

Dumbbell Step Up/Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
35x10
45x10
60x8,8,8,8

Front Squat/Deficit Deadlift, Stop at Knees 
8 sets of 5. 95 pounds for front squats. 135 for deficit deads. Really light on these.

Dimmel Deadlift Against Bands/Landmine Abs
4x12

Great workout!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 23, 2015)

*3-20-15*

Arms and Shoulders

Delt Raises
Tricep Pushdowns on cable
Curls on Cable
Seated Dumbbell Presses
Hammer Curls
Dumbbell Tri Extensions

Pinch Grip Holds
Barbell Wrist Curls behind the back with Fat Gripz
*
3-21-15*

Sidebends

V-Grip Pulldowns
warm ups
280x2,2,2
240x3,3,3,3
220x5,5,5,5

Bent Over Rows with Barbell
225x2,2,2
205x3,3,3,3
195x5,5,5,5

Shrugs with 2 count pause at top
335x2,2,2
295x3,3,3,3
275x5,5,5,5

Rack Pulls Aganst Doubled Light Bands
135x5
185x5
205x 8 singles, 10 seconds rest between singles

Reverse Hyper Extensions


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 26, 2015)

*3-24-15*

Hanging Leg Raise
4x10

Incline Bench Press, 2 Count Pause on Chest
warmup
185x2,2,2,2
165x3,3,3,3
155x5,5,5,5

upper back stuff on blast straps between sets

Partial Overhead Press, Chin To Top of Head in Rack
160x2,2,2,2
145x3,3,3,3
135x5,5,5,5

sets of 3 chins between presses, alternated grips

Partial Close Grip Bench, From rack, Half way Up
225x2,2,2,2
205x3,3,3,3
195x5,5,5,5

thick bar curls at plate flips between sets. 5x6 with a 25 pound bumper plate for plate flips.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 26, 2015)

*3-25-15*

Clam Shell
Landmine Abs
Seated Upper Back GM
x12, 4 circuits

1 Leg Extensions alternated sets with 1 Leg Curls
4x10 each

Dumbbell Step Ups
warmups
60x8, 6 sets 

alternated sets with

Romanian Deadlifts
155x10, 6 sets

Front Squat alternated sets with partial deadlifts up to the knees standing on a plate.
5x5 each


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Mar 28, 2015)

*3-27-15*

shoulders, arms and grip.
Cable Tricep Pushdowns
Cable Curls
3x15 each

Cable Rear Delts
Cable Upright Rows
3x15 each

Rolling Dumbbell Tri Extensions
Incline Dumbbell Curls
3x15 each

Dumbbell Front Delt Raise
Dumbbell Upright Rows
3x10 each

Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Plate Pinch Grip Holds
Hub Lift
Wrist Curls with Fat Gripz*
3-28-15*

Warm up junk
Sidebend/1 Arm Farmers Walk
1 Arm Pulldowns

V-Bar Pulldowns
280x2,2,2,2
240x3,3,3,3
220x5,5,5,5,5

Bent Over Rows
225x2,2,2,2
205x3,3,3,3
190x5,5,5,5,5

Shrugs with Hold At Top
335x2,2,2,2
295x3,3,3,3
275x5,5,5,5,5

Partial Deadlifts in Rack, Against Doubled Light Bands
95x5
135x3
185x3
205x10 singles, 10 sec rest between lifts

Things are coming along nicely. Workouts are getting long


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 4, 2015)

Started the new routine, and 4 weeks in, to the DAY, I was ready for a little break. My body feels good, just mentally I didn't want to do step ups or bent rows this week.

I got two workouts in, mostly light warm up type stuff. Some stupid isolation moves to keep the joints moving. Abs and low back. Walked the dogs and worked in the yard. Good week!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 10, 2015)

*4-6-15*

Incline Bench With 2 Count Pause on Chest
185x2,2,2,2,2
165x3,3,3,3,3
155x5,5,5,5,5

upper back on Blast Straps between sets

Standing Partial Press in Rack, Chin to Top of Head
160x5,5,5,5,5
145x3,3,3,3,3
135x5,5,5,5,5

chinups x3 between sets. Alternated grips

Partial Close Grip Bench from Rack
225x2,2,2,2,2
205x3,3,3,3,3
195x5,5,5,5,5

Dumbbell upright rows or rear delt raises between sets

Barbell Curls with FatGripz
65x10
85x10
95x8
105x8, 6

Plate Flips
25x8,8,8,8,8 both hands. 

Hanging Leg Raises superset with Reverse Hypers
3x10 each

Over 100 sets! Mentally kinda tough, physically I was killing these weights!

*4-8-15*

Hips, glutes, abs warmups

Leg Extensions/Leg Curls
4x15 each

Dumbbell Step Ups, Higher Step This Week
60x8 each leg. 8 sets

paired with 

Romanian Deadlifts
155x6, 8 sets

Holy Shit! I actually feel like a guy who lifts weights now! Back in September I nearly gave up I was so frustrated! I've still got miles to go, but I feel so much better! After 2 years going nowhere, I started this log and I'm actually making progress again. Thanks bros! I've gotten a LOT out of posting, I hope somebody got something out of reading.


----------



## Magic Mike (Apr 10, 2015)

Cool bro that is a lot of sets !! 

Power-housing !!

I used to do a lot of sets, not so much these days, I try to keep it @ about an hour max with the weights, then drift over to something else like sports or plyometrics or something .

Do you do any stimulants? I been liking ginseng and this organic stuff from Energy First called Pre-fuel.

anyways, have a good one.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 10, 2015)

Mike,
All the sets were a way to handle heavier weights (90% for doubles, 80% for triples, 75% for 5's) without getting sloppy, technique and execution wise. I probably did too many sets, but I needed it mentally. A lot of work, and I didn't break anything! This time last year I was injuring myself what seemed like every month or so. Being messed up, and moving so poorly for so long really caused me to loose all my muscle. I'm missing "athletic" stuff like jumping and throwing but I WANT MASS! I'm so close to actually looking like I lift weights again.

I usually have some coffee throughout the morning, and kinda leading up to the gym. Sometimes some green tea with ginger if the woman and I are feeling "eastern." We also have some blue powder stuff, Cellucor Extreme C4. Straight chemicals from the vitamin shop. We break that stuff out if we're really draggin', like in case of emergency.
*
4-10-15*

Mobility/Activation Circuit
Clamshell with Band
Dumbbell Scarecrow off Bench
Landmine, side to side abs
Seated Upper Back GM with Safety Squat Bar
Pulldown Abs with Band
2x10 or 12 each

Incline Dumbbell Press
worked up to 85x3

paired with

Dumbbell Upright Row
worked up to 45x8

Clean Grip High Pull From Blocks
worked up to 195x3

paired with

Standing Partial Press from Rack, Eyes to Lockout
up to 145x3

Leg Press
1 plate x20
2x 15
3x15
3 +25x 12

Pinch Holds
45 pounds, 4 holds of "22 Mississippi" Count

Behind the Back Wrist Curls with Fat Gripz
95x15, 4 sets

Barbell Reverse Curls with Fat Gripz
45x12, 4 sets

I picked some new exercises and worked up to a heavy triple, 3 reps, or an unofficial 90%. I'm gonna do a bunch of sets at 90% and 75% for the next few weeks.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 12, 2015)

*4-12-15*

Warmup Activation/Mobility Circuit
Half Kneeling 1 Arm Cable Row
Half Kneeling 1 Arm Bottoms Up Kettlebell Press
Sidebend with Kettlebell
3 times through, 5 reps on each leg, each arm. switch legs, 5 reps for both arms.

1 Arm Dumbbell Row, Paired with Pec Dec
3 sets each, pause at top/bottom. Straight bodybuilder!

Rear Delts on Cable, Paired with Pallof Press
3 sets each, 12 reps rear delts, 5 reps each side for abs.

Rolling Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
2 warmups
8x8

Peterson Step Ups Paired with Reverse Hyper Extensions
3 sets of 12 each

Jump Rope
7 sets of 100 jumps

"Light Day." Some pump-style work for the little muscles the big lifts miss, some abs, and some rehab "core stability" stuff. I'm planning on 2 heavy, long, fun days with heavy weights and 2 light days with physical therapy stuff and beach muscle work to make it a little more fun. Whatever it takes to stay in the game!


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 14, 2015)

*4-14-15*

Warm Up/Activation Circuit
Abductor with band around knees "Bad Girls"
Pulldown abs with band, also with mini band around knees
Blast Strap "Face Pull" and External Rotation, mini band still around knees
Laying Hamstring Curl
Shoulder dislocates with band
3 circuits, 12 reps per exercise

Standing Dumbbell Clean and Press, with Fat Gripz
worked up to 55x3
45x5

Snatch Grip Shrug
worked up to 245x6

Seated Partial Press in Rack, From Top of Head 
worked up to 170x3

Dimmel Deadlifts, Just the Barbell and Light Bands
4x15 

Pull-down abs and the upper back stuff on the Blast Straps with the mini-band around my knees where great. It really got the glutes/external hip rotators going. I've been doing so much glute stuff laying on the ground or on my knees or whatever. Either way, my hips and lower back are feeling great lately.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 20, 2015)

*4-15-15*

Light Day

Messed around with some 1 arm pulldowns and 1 arm rows on a couple machines. 

Decline Dumbbells presses with neutral grip to hit chest.

Leg Curls, some other junk I can't remember.

Finshed up with

1 Box Jump
10 one arm kettlebell swings with each arm
10 standing knee raises each leg

6 "circuits." Worked up a good sweat. 
*
4-17-15*

Heavy Day

warmup/activation circuit from last week

Incline Dumbbell Bench paired with dumbbell upright rows
High Pulls from blocks paired with partial standing overhead press in power rack

Reverse Lunges in the Smith Machine.

-Reverse lunges killed me. I've been sore for like 3 days already. My adductors are not supposed to feel like this! Too much "inner leg" involvement on an outer leg/glute exercise. I guess I'm not totally fixed yet. 
*
4-19-15* 

Light Day

Rear delts with dumbells

Situps on the decline bench, holding dumbbell to chest. Worked up to an EASY 60x12. Pauses at top and bottom, very controlled, felt great. This time last year doing these unweighted irritated my back. 

1 Arm Dumbbell Rows. 2 count pause at the bottom and the top. Slow and controlled. More for symmetry, stretch and even back development. Went up to 60 pounds. My gym has dumbbells up to 200 pounds. It's so hard to restrain myself and use light weights on this! 

Pec Dec.

Leg Extensions, back raises, some other boring junk.

Grip work.
-Pinch gripped two 35's a couple times with both hands, separately. Tried 45's, but they are still too heavy. Did a few 10 count holds with the 25's. 

Some behind the back wrist curls with the Fat Gripz, and reverse curls.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Apr 27, 2015)

4-21-15

Some abs/low back
Incline Dumbbell Presses
Chinups
Step ups
Romanian Deadlifts

4-23-15

Sidebends

Standing dumbbell clean and press
V-Grip ChinUps
Terminal knee extensions with band
Partial deadlifts in rack, against bands

4-25-15

Dumbbell incline bench
Hang cleans
Step ups
Stiff leg deadlift
Close grip bench on decline


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 25, 2015)

Missed a few updates!

Last month was pretty much 

Dumbbell Incline Press
Back Stuff 
Leg Stuff

Standing Dumbbell Clean and Press
Back Stuff
Leg Stuff

The first week I worked up to 85x3 on the dumbbell incline press, and 55x3 on the standing dumbbell clean and press. I figured this was close to 90%. Then I dropped down like 10 pounds and did a couple back off sets. For the next few weeks I kept the weights the same, and just increased the total number of reps each week.

Week 1, 90%x3 reps
Week 2, 90%x 5 "singles" (1,1,1,1,1)
Week 3, 90%x1,2,1,2,1 
Week 4, 90%x3x3

Back and leg stuff was just whatever I felt up to that day. I also did a bunch of grip stuff. Similar set up to March's workouts, but like 1/3 of the volume.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 25, 2015)

My theoretical plan for the next month looks like...
*
Day 1 Heavy*
Standing Barbell Clean and Press with Fat Gripz
T-Bar Rows
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Dips
*
Day 2 Light*
Power Snatch from Hang
Close Grip Bench Press
Hanging Leg Raise
Glute/Ham Raise
*
Day 3 Medium*
Seated Dumbbell Press
Chin Ups
Some kind of Squat/Legs
1 other thing

I'll try out this schedule this week, and see how it comes together. I'll work up to a tough set of 3 or maybe 5 reps depending on the exercise. This will be like an un-official 85-90%. The perfect range for multiple low rep sets.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 27, 2015)

*5-24-15
*
*Warm Ups*
Hyper Extension
1 Arm Pull Downs
1/2 Kneeling 1 Arm Press
Side Bends
1 Foot Calf Raise
2 circuits. 10-12 reps

*Barbell Clean and Press w/ Fat Gripz*
145x1, 5 singles
125x3,3,3

paired with 

*T-Bar Rows*
160x6, 4 sets with pause at bottom and hold at top
135x8, 4 sets, pause and hold

*Stiff Leg Deadlift*
315x2,2,2
275x5,5

paired with 

*Dip Machine*
a bunch of sets to figure this thing out. I've never used this thing before, but you can do reps one arm at a time. So Triceps and shoulder stability in one shot. This is more like a 1 arm tricep pushdown than a real dip.

*Pump Style Swole Work*
Standing Calf Raises holding Dumbbells
Rear Delts on Pec Dec Machine
Reverse Hyper Extensions
3 circuits

Good Workout! I nearly dropped the bar on the first rep of clean and press with the Fat Gripz on the barbell. I had to really squeeze hard. It made the presses feel really stable and strong. The dip machine was a cool find. Not really like a dip, but a new way to hit the triceps.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 27, 2015)

*5-26-15*

*Warm Ups
*Seated Hip Adductors with Band around Knees
Single Leg Curl
1/2 Kneeling Pallof Press
Band Face Pull
Pec Stretch
2 circuits, 10-12 reps

*Power Snatch from Hang*
140x2,2,2
120x3,3,3

*Close Grip Bench Press*
225x2,2,2,2
205x4,4,4
*
Hanging Leg Raise*
4x8 *
Inverse Curl*
135 assistance x6,5,5,4
*Leg Extensions*
4x20
circuit style

Another great workout. Snatches felt fast.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 28, 2015)

*5-28-15*

*Warm Ups*
Hyper Extension
Upper Back GM's
Clam Shell with Band
Landmine Abs
Peterson Step Ups
2 runs thru the circuit, 10-12 reps each

*High Box Squat, Giant Cambered Bar*
95x10
115x10
135x10
155x10
175x10

*Seated Dumbbell Press*
65x2,2,2,2
60x4,4,4,4

paired with 

*Wide Grip Pullup*
+Medium Chain x4,4,4,4
BW only x5,5,5,5

It was like a squat with training wheels, but the high box, cambered bar squat felt really good today. The weight plates hang low at your sides, and the bar tries to pull your forward so it felt very natural to drive my shoulders back into the bar and to maintain an upright position. It's also easy to keep the upper back tight with my hands down by my sides. I wish I would have jumped on this thing sooner.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 31, 2015)

*5-30-15*

Some stretching.

Pull Down Abs
Reverse Hyper Extension
Scarecrows with Dumbbells
3 easy sets of each

Box Jumps
6-7 jumps to "base"
3 jumps to "base + 1 riser

Some curls and tricep extensions. Pinch Grip Holds.

Just an easy workout. Last workout of the week, to make sure I'm not too sore to start heavy lifting again.


----------



## Magic Mike (May 31, 2015)

I'm still at it . good to see you back.

I been hitting the weights hard . Mostly doing a lot of compound movements. Power clean, hang clean and press, thrusters, front squats, plyometrics, insane shit

I just got some of those fat grips after reading about em here.

I use eagle catchers and use bands to reverse the movement. Been doing that for about 6 or more months now and my fore arms and grip are insane. the fat grips look like a good alternate.

I'm gonna take it lighter for about 3-4 weeks to grow and recoup, then either go 5x5 heavy for a spell, or just go back on lean hybrid muscle's training logs. I made a lot of good gains going heavy on those for 4 months of their routines. A big mix up from what I've been doing.

At first I hated the timers and shit and paying close attention to rest intervals and all the plyometrics, but now I like it after seeing the gains and reaping the rewards, plus I am getting used to it and prefer it.

All last week I was doing workouts that were full body and mostly compound with little to no rest between sets and 40~60 s of jump rope between every set. The end result is about 20 sets in under an hour with 15/20 minutes of plyometrics in the workout all in one. Saves time and is challenging , and the plyometrics and intensity raises metabolism as well as growth and other hormone production that help a lot with hypertrophy.

I'm doing some prehab work today. calves, forearms, neck , structural integrity and stretches.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (May 31, 2015)

Full body workouts, with lots of lifts standing on your feet are my favorite by far. I love all manner of cleans, presses, snatches and pulls. From the floor, from the hang, from blocks. It is great to be able to do all these lifts again. It's cool to see you are doing them as well. 

Do you have any particular version of the 5x5 program in mind? I used the classic Bill Starr, H/L/M, Bench/Power Clean/Squat routine for many 6 weeks cycles in the past. Sometimes I would substitute Military Press/Power Clean/Front Squat, or add partial deadlifts from blocks and dumbbell presses and stuff. Classic, awesome, versatile program. 

I also hear a lot about "The Texas Method" and "Greyskull LP" setups, but I've never really messed with them before. 

I plan on working more jump rope, kettlebell swings, and jumps into the routine, I just don't want to bite off too much at once and crush myself. I need to get on some neck work. In high school, as I wrestler, I used to bridge on top of my head every day. Now my chicken-neck would probably snap off! Are you using the headstrap, 4-way neck machine, or some other cool shit I don't know about yet?
*
5-31-15*

*Warm Up Circuit*
HyperExtension
1 Arm Pulldowns
1/2 Kneeling 1 Arm, Bottom Up Kettlebell Press
Sidebends
Standing Calf Raise, Weight in 1 Hand
3 runs through, 12 reps each
*
Clean and Press with Fat Gripz*
145x2,3,2,3
125x4,4,4

paired with 
*
T-Bar Rows
*170x6,6,6 2 count pause at top and bottom
135x8,8,8 2 count pause

*Stiff Leg Deadlift*
315x3,3,2,2
265x4,4,4,3

paired with 

*Iso Dip Machine*
90x10,10,10

some front and side delt raises between light deadlift sets.
*
Pump Up Circuit*
Rear Delt Raises on Pec Deck
Reverse Hyperextension
Standing Claf Raises Holding Dumbbells
4 runs through, 12 reps each

Really felt like I was working out today. I dropped the last rep of the last set of stiff-leg deadlifts! It just ripped right out of my hands at the bottom! I'm a Certified Captain of Crush! That's not supposed to happen to me.


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 2, 2015)

*6-2-15*
*
Warm Ups*
Leg Abducturs with Band
1 Leg Curl
1/2 Kneeling Pallof Press
Band Pull Apart
Band Shoulder Dislocate
4 sets, 12 reps each

*Power Snatch From Hang*
150x1,2,3,1,2,3
135x3,3,3,3,2

*Close Grip Bench Press*
225x1,2,3,1,2,3,2,2
205x4,4,4,2,2

*1. Hanging Leg Raise*
9,8,8,8
*2. Inverse Curl*
-135x8,6,6,5
*3. Leg Extensions*
4 sets, a bunch of reps
circuit style

some reverse hypers


----------



## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 4, 2015)

*6-4-15*

*Warm Up Circuit*
HyperExtensions
Upper Back GM's
Clam Shell with Band
Landmine Abs, side to side
Peterson Step Ups
3 runs through, 10-12 reps each

*Giant Cambered Bar Box Squat*
135x10,10
155x10
175x10
185x10

*Seated Dumbbell Press*
70x3,4,5,4,8
60x6,6

paired with 

*Wide Grip Chins*
x4,4
+small chain x4,4
+medium chain x4,4
+big chain x4

*Swoleness*
Step Up
Standing Calf Raise
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
3 circuits, 12 reps each

Pulldown Abs
Reverse Hyper Extensions
3 supersets, 12 reps


----------



## Magic Mike (Jun 5, 2015)

I just got done reading Hulse’s Advanced 5x5 and it is basically like Starr’s 5x5. There are some tweaks and specialized programs for beginning, med, and advanced and in season and out of season athlete ones as well.

All are pretty centered around the same 5x5 philosophy using the 1x5 and 2x5 when ramping, and 5 rep max , then going in percentages, and stalling. It still consists mostly of the same compound exercises, squats, dead lifts, overheads , bench press, and rowing and weighted dips and pull ups.

Doing usually 3 days/ week and sometimes 4, then 2 days/week when de loading on the 5th week.

I am still making good gains on lean hybrid’s phases 1, 2 , and maintenance so I’m gonna hit that 5x5 when I start to stall on that 1. Plus I like the diversity of the program with all the plyometrics/HIIT , the circuits, 3x3, 5x5, 6x3, and 8-12 , it’s super well rounded .

I am getting in really good shape. I was picking up big ass rocks and seeing how far I could throw them lol.

I used to do a lot of neck bridges when actively doing ground fighting in jujitsu and krav maga. But these days I mainly work out the anterior neck muscles to facilitate good cervical curve and for posture /form reasons. I pay a lot of attention to form and posture and structural integrity ftw.

I do a lot of those band pull a parts and a grip of other pre hab stuff too . its super important to work out stabilizers and have good form especially when doing heavy weight.

I am reading a good book now , “Becoming a Supple Leopard” Dr Kelly Starrett . Super good book on forum and has some really good ques for setting up and getting “ torque” for heavy lifts , talks about “screwing your feet into the ground” and applying external rotational force to to hips to keep knees out when squatting. Really good stuff in there. Very easy to read and apply. There is a cool 50 page preview on suppleleopard.com

Anyways, have a good 1 , I’m about to drink some coffee and do a workout now.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 5, 2015)

Kelly Starrett is awesome. I haven't read his book, but I've checked out many of his Mobility WOD: Youtube Videos. He does a great job of explaining what correct positioning/posture/movement should look like. And I'm always looking to pick up new stretches, pre-hab or activation stuff. Plus good cues like "spreading the floor" or "screwing your feet into the ground." I second your recommendation to anyone who may see this. Even if you don't follow his stuff like the Gospel, he presents LOTS of great info. 

Man, I know what you mean about getting in good shape, feeling good, moving well, and feeling super strong. Jumping/Lifting/Throwing! Like it's all in the hips or something.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 6, 2015)

*6-6-15*

Some stretching
Scarecrows for upperback
Hip abduction with band
Some Curls
Tricep Pushdowns

Jumps
4 jumps to the base step
6 jumps to the base + one riser

Not much of a workout. Just trying to add a little bit of work, and be ready for the next weeks real sessions.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 8, 2015)

*6-7-15*

Took extra day off

*6-8-15*

*Warm Up Circuit*
hyperextension
1 arm pulldown
1/2 kneeling 1 arm press
sidebend
standing calf raise with 1 kettlebell
4 goes, 10-12 reps each

*Clean and Press with Fat Gripz*
145x3,4,5
125x5,5,5 I had to pull the Fat Gripz off the bar for the last set. My thumbs and wrists are feeling it.

paired with

*T-Bar Rows*
170x7,7,7 with 2 count pause at top and bottom
134x8,8,8 no pause
*
Stiff Leg Deadlift*
315x2,4,5,3
I had to break down and pull out the straps today. I felt strong, maybe I should have been using the straps all along.
Then I just forgot to do the back-off sets! I must be ready to move on from the stiff deads!

*Pump Circuit Finishing*
rear delts on machine
pull down abs
standing calf raise
reverse hyper extensions
4 goes, 10-12 reps each


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 10, 2015)

*6-10-15*

*Warm Up*
Band Bad Girls
1 Leg Curl
1/2 Kneeling Pallof Press
1 Arm Row
Band Dislocate
4 sets of 10-12 each
*
Power Snatch from Hang*
150x2,3,4,3,5
135x5,5,5

*Close Grip Bench*
225x2,3,4,3,4
195x5,6,7
*
1. Hanging Leg Raise*
4x10
*2. Inverse Curl*
-135x8,8,8,8
*3. Leg Extension*
4 sets till almost failure
three 3 were circuit style


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 15, 2015)

*6-12-15*

Some warm up stuff. I was feeling run down, so I didn't do much.

*Giant Cambered Bar Box Squat*
up to 225x5

These were pretty ugly. I caught myself "plopping" down on the ox, just kind of free falling the last inch on the way down. This is pretty much the worst thing you can do. I cut this session pretty short. 


It's been about 4 weeks on this schedule. Full body, 3 days per week. Hitting press/pull/legs with 1 or 2 exercises each session. 

For the next 4 weeks I'm going to go upper/lower, upper/lower. So two workouts for upper body and two for lower body each week. The total amount of work should be about the same, but the sessions will be more targeted with more recovery time between training days. 

*6-15-15*

Some warm up/activation stuff

A few sets of abs and lower back

Partial Deadlift from Rack, against doubled light bands
up to 285x3

Step Ups with Dumbbells
20x5, each leg, 2 sets

1. Leg Extension
2. Leg Curl
3. Cable Pull Thru
circuit style, 2 sets each, 12 reps

1.Band Leg Abduction
2. Seated Calf Raise
2x12 each

I pushed the deadlifts, but everything else was pretty easy, just to see how these exercises came together. It seemed like a really good session. Sometimes I write a workout up on paper and it looks good, but in reality it sucks. This felt like it could be productive, and nothing hurt.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 16, 2015)

*6-16-15*

Some warm up junk
*
Incline Bench Press w/ 2 Count Pause on Chest*
several sets working up to 
210x3

paired with sets of inverted rows or "fatman chinups."

Some barbell shrugs.

Some easy curls
Some tricep stuff

-In early March I worked up to 185x3 on the incline bench with a pause. About a month ago 200x3. Today I got 210x3. That's pretty cool. In mid April/May I only did incline with dumbbells. For the last month I've only done overhead and close grip bench pressing, no incline. Progress and carry-over! Hopefully my regular bench press, which haven't messed with in months, is still going up.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 22, 2015)

*6-18-15*

Some warm up junk

Giant Cambered Bar Box Squat
185x5, 5 sets

Leg Press
3x12

Leg Extension/Leg Curl/Pull Through
3x12

Calves

some jump rope
*
6-19-15*

warm ups

Close Grip Bench Press
165x5, 5 sets

Bamboo Bar Bench Press
3x12

Incline Dumbbell Bench
3x8

1 Arm Tricep Cable Pushdown
3x15

Standing Chest Supported Row
3x12

I made it through the week OK. I'm feeling my quads!


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 22, 2015)

*6-22-15 Heavy Lower*

easy jump rope
warm up junk 

Deadlift, off Bumper Plates, Against Light Bands
285x2,2,2

Upright Rows
4x12

Terminal Knee Extensions/1 Leg Curls/Cable Pull Thru's
3x12 each

Standing Calf Raises

Kettlebell Swing "Intervals"

-I wanted to do some Leg Presses, to really focus on building some quads. But the front of my right hip is really tight, so I decided not to push it. I'll Leg Press Thursday regardless, maybe it was silly to try do it twice a week anyway.
-All the power racks were taken, so I deadlifted from the floor, with bumper plates under the plates on the bar. I guess this cut 3 inches off the bottom of the lift. It felt good, I felt square, not like I was pulling over just my right leg or anything. That's cool. 
-It didn't take much to get my heart pumping on the kettlebell swings. I plan to do these to finish off lower body days.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 29, 2015)

*6-23-15 Heavy Upper*

Warm Up Junk

Incline Bench Press with pause on Chest
210x2,2,2

paired with sets of inverted rows

Standing Dumbbell Press
3x10

Tricep Pushdown/FacePull/Side Delt Raise
3x12

Dumbbell Curls
Bumper Plate Flip and catch for pinch grip
Wrist Roller

Jump Rope
*
6-25-15 Light Lower*

Get Loose

Box squat with Giant Cambered Bar
185x5, 5 sets

Upright Rows
3x10

Leg Press
3x12

Terminal Knee Extension/1 leg Curl/Pull Thru
3x12

Calves

Kettle Bell Swings
*
6-26-15 Light Upper*

Warm Ups

Close Grip Bench Press
175x5, 5 sets

Bamboo Bar Bench Press
3x12

Incline Dumbbell Press
3x12

1 Arm Tricep Pushdown
3x15

Standing Chest Supported Rows
3x12


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jun 29, 2015)

Also did some work on the Plate Loaded Gripper machine, and wrist curls behind the back with Fat Gripz.
*
6-29-15*

Warm Ups

Rack Pull, Light Bands
285x3,3,3

Leg Press
3x15

Upright Row
4x12

T.K.E./1 Leg Curl/Pull Thru
3x12

Kettlebell Swings.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jul 10, 2015)

6-30-15
Heavy Upper
Incline Bench with Pause
210x3, 3 sets

Repeated the rest of "heavy upper" day.

7-2

Light Lower Day

7-3

Light Upper Day

7-6-15
Deload week. No deadlifts, but I did the assistance work for "heavy lower" day. Also kettlebell swings.

7-7-15

Deload week. No barbell incline, did assistance work for "heavy upper" day. Also jump rope.

7-9

Deload week. Light Lower body. Cambered box squats, 135x6, 3 sets. Some leg raises off a bench. Kettlebell swings.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jul 12, 2015)

7-10-15

I did some band pull-aparts and and tricep pushdowns at the house. I also stretched out a little. 

This training block went pretty well. It reminded me a lot of the Westside, or "conjugate" style of training.

Day 1 Heavy Lower
Rack Pull (Max effort)
Leg Press/Upright Row
TKE/Leg Curl/Pull Thru circuit

Day 2 Heavy Upper
Incline Bench Press (Max Effort)
Standing Dumbell Clean and Press/Fat Man Chinup
Tricep Pushdown/Rear Delt/Side Delt circuit

Day 3 Light Lower
Box Squat (Light, almost like "practice" or "dynamic effort"
Leg Press
TKE/Leg Curl/Pull Thru circuit

Day 4
Close Grip Bench
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell Press
1 arm Tricep Cable Pushdown
Standing Chest Supported Row Machine

For "Max Effort" work I ramped up to a heavy 3 reps during week 1. This was around 90%. Week 2, 90% x2 for 3 sets. Week 3, 90%x3 for 3 sets. This was a pretty big jump in work from week 1 to week 3. 

For "Dynamic Effort" I used what I estimated to be around 70% of my box squat and close grip bench press. I did 5 sets of 5, focusing on good technique, pauses at the "bottom" and doing "quality" reps. I didn't add weight to these exercises, I just tried to shorten the rest periods week to week. 

The "repetition" work was 3x12-15 on a few assistance exercises. For the most part I tried not to add any weight and just added very few reps to the assistance work week to week. 

I pushed conditioning hard. On lower body days my girlfriend and I warmed up with some jump rope, short time, fast pace. Then we did kettlebell swings to finish. We did longer duration jump rope to finish off upper body days. 

After 3 weeks of this, I was pretty tired and starting to feel sore and achy. I had to take a light week. I think if I slow down the progression on heavy days, and tone down the conditioning a little bit I can last a little longer. My plan for the next 4 weeks is to front squat and row on heavy leg day. Then practice the deadlift with lighter weights on light lower day. I'll also lower the height of the box for box squatting. Upper body lifting went well this past few weeks. I'm just going to switch decline bench in and incline bench out for heavy day. Light bench day will stay the same, I'll just add a little weight to the close grip.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Jul 18, 2015)

*7-13-15 Heavy Lower*

Front Squat
worked up to 235x3

Barbell Bent Rows
worked up to 225x6

Leg Press
3x10

TKE/Leg Curl/Pull Thru
3x12 each

*7-14-15 Heavy Upper*

Decline Bench Press
worked up to 260x3

Seated Overhead Press lockout with Swiss Bar
up to 175x3

Chin ups between sets

Face Pull/Side Delt Raise/Rear Delt Raise
3x12 each
*
7-16-15 Light Lower*

Giant Cambered Bar Box Sqaut (Above Parallel)
I lower the height of the box I've been squatting to. During my first work set I got a hellacious cramp in my left hamstring/adductor/groin area. 

At first I thought I pulled my hamstring. It was really tight and really painful, so I stopped squatting, did some pulldown abs and went home.

*7-17-15 Light Upper*

Close Grip Bench Press
185x5, 5 sets 

Bamboo Bar Bench Press
35 pound kettlebells on bar x10, 3 sets

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, pauses at top and bottom
55x8
65x8
70x8

1 Arm Tricep Cable Pressdown
3x15

Standing Chest Supported Row
3x12 

Barbell Curl with Fat Gripz
65x10
85x10
105x10

Front squats on Monday, lower box squats on Thursday was just too much for me. My poor legs and crotch couldn't take it. I used to get the same pull kinda issue, only on my right side. The last 2 months I've had zero problems deadlifting once a week and squatting once a week. The first time I tried to change it, I developed an issue. I guess I should just learn from my mistakes and do Deadlift/Overhead/Squat/Bench Press, like everyone else does. It worked fine. I just hate "dividing" my body up like that. In real life you never use one "quadrant" of your body at a time. 

On the other hand, I'm really loving this Eric Spoto bench press routine. Normally, I don't even like to bench press. Now it has it's own day! 

In a month or 2 I'll do a short cycle of full body or Push/Pull/Legs type routine with more "overlap" between sessions.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Aug 15, 2015)

Missed a few sessions. 

*8-1-15 thru 8-8-15
I *took a light week. No barbells, ab stuff, stretching, light weights. Some jump rope. 3 easy workouts.

*8-10-15 Overhead Press/Shoulder Day*

Clean and Press
Chin Ups
Dumbbell Shruggs
T's /Y's / L's (upper back/rotator cuff moves) on Blast Straps
Dumbbell Curls
V-Grip Tricep Pushdowns

*8-11-15 Squat/Leg Day*

Box Squat with Safety Squat Bar
Hack Squat
Inverse Curl
Reverse Hyper

*8-13-15 Bench Press/Chest Day*

Bench Press
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
Dips
1 Arm Cable Tri-Pushdowns
Standing, Chest supported Rows
Thick Bar Curls

*8-14-15*

Deadlift
Rows
Inverse Curls
Reverse Hypers
Upright Rows

4 way split. Based on Eric Spoto's bench press routine. The bench routine has been working great for me. The weights on the bench press are lighter than I would normally use myself. And the assistance exercises, like the bamboo bar bench press and 1 arm tricep cable pushdowns are not lifts I would normally use. But they have been working great! It's like I'm targeting the muscles I want to hit, and taking it easy on my joints. So I'm getting better results and less damage. 

Instead of doing stiff leg deadlifts for hamstrings, and bent over rows for lats, I'll use the inverse curl and chest supported row. The plan is to work the muscles without crushing my back.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Sep 15, 2015)

I stuck to the plan for a month, and it worked great. No injuries or groin pulls or aching back or anything. I took a light, kinda easy "deload" week, the started the same routine over Monday. It was the day after the first NFL Sunday. I had a slight hang over.


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## #kush22 (Oct 19, 2015)

planches and levers for days with heavy squat deadlift sessions on off days


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 21, 2015)

Planches look tough. It's hard for me to get my head around those.

Front levers look like something I could work up to. I saw some 65 year old former A.B. member on TV, doing front lever pull ups off of the underside of his cot in San Quentin. It looked pretty cool. 

I did lots of slow, weighted chin ups and hanging leg raises with my arms in the slings for a couple months.
Last week I started with leg raises, shins to the bar, no arm slings, just hanging on. I think I'll also do some leg raises holding myself up on the dip (parallel) bars. Then next month chin ups with the legs held in an "L." Then finally some front levers.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 21, 2015)

Missed a few updates. Training has been;

Daily Mobility Junk
Hip Hikes
Clam Shells
Psoas Raise
Peterson Step Ups

Band Pull Aparts
Band Shoulder Dislocates
Push up plus from the knees

I ran through this boring stuff 2-4 times a day, every day at the house. This was great. It was like getting warmed up and loose, 20 times a week. I was able to drop a lot of stretching and prefab/ warmups before lifting real weights. I feel way better now than I did last year at this time.

General Warm Ups
Lots of step ups, sidebends, single leg curls and band pull-aparts.

Monday
Clean and Press 5x5 ( up to 125)
Chin Ups between sets 
Shrugs (3x10-12)
Arm stuff ( for a pump)

Tuesday
Safety Bar High Box Squat 5x5( up to 245)
Inverse Curls (3x 10-12)
Hack Squat
Reverse Hyper Extension
Chest Supported Row

Thursday
Paused Bench Press 5x5 ( up to 205)
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
Dips
Chest Supported Rows
Tricep Pushdown/Thick bar Curls

Friday
Deadlift from Rack, against bands
Inverse Curl
Hack Squat
Upright Row
Reverse Hyper Extension 

I kept the progression on the weights pretty slow. This left me with energy to mess around with different stuff for conditioning outside of the weight room. For awhile I threw a medicine ball around the back yard on off-days. When that got played-out I dropped those and worked jump rope back in. Then kettlebell swings. Then skipping and jumping around the back yard, track and field style. I'd do this stuff a few times a week, working up for 2 or 3 weeks. When it started to feel tough, I rotated to the next thing to keep it fresh.

This routine was great. I ran it for 3-4 months with no injuries or problems. The inverse curls really worked for my hamstrings. Stronger hamstrings let me squat closer to correctly, which worker my hips and legs much better. I've been able to lower the box I was squatting to, so that's awesome. I'm starting to grow some quads now. 

Bench press is still not great, but I was able to make steady progress for awhile. I worked lots of rows, and my mid back feels pretty strong. This worked well for the paused bench presses. I feel really strong at the bottom. But at the top, I can feel my upper back/lower traps lose tightness. Then my elbows flare out. So it feels like it's time to "move up" a little. I'm going to get on more shrugs, and rows leaning over at like 45 degrees. More exercises with a snatch grip. And more triceps. 

For the deadlift I'll start pulling from blocks, instead of from the rack. So a lower position, but still not lifting from the floor. The important thing is to keep working, and not blow up my hips or back.

I'm going to keep up the same stuff for overhead pressing. Many sets of low reps, non-maximally, working upwards.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 22, 2015)

10-12 through 10-16

Easy week. Just messed around with a few different lifts to.see how they felt.

10-19

Shins to Bar
3x10

Clean from Floor Once, Press
95x5, 10 sets

Clean from Floor and Push Press
135x1, 10 singles

Rolling Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Dumbbell Upright Rows
Dumbbell Curls
Circuit style, 12-15 reps each

10-20

1 Leg Calf Raise
Step Ups
Leg Curls
3 x12, circuits

Safety Bar Box Squat, slightly high
265x8, 2 sets

Yates Rows
185x12, 2 sets

Romanian Deadlift with Snatch Grip
Lunge in Place
Leg Extension
4x12 each, circuit style

Side to side landmine abs


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## #kush22 (Oct 22, 2015)

youraveragehorticulturist said:


> Planches look tough. It's hard for me to get my head around those.
> 
> Front levers look like something I could work up to. I saw some 65 year old former A.B. member on TV, doing front lever pull ups off of the underside of his cot in San Quentin. It looked pretty cool.
> 
> ...


they are hard to learn took me about a year for both I just added then to my training weighted chins dips are excellent exercises there just something addictive about planches like if your with ya mates and your like check this out its the ultimate display of strength and agility leg raises l sit pullips you will get their soon enough adleast you have a good foundation of strength already good luck wit it bro


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 23, 2015)

Thanks kush.

10-22-15

Warm up junk

Bench Press, with chains
195x3, 4 sets

Dumbbell Bench Press
50x20

Dumbbell Mechanical "Drop Set"
60x8
50x10

1 Arm Dumbbell Row superset with Seated 1 arm Dumbbell Front Raise
2x10
2x8

Tate Press superset with Alternating Pinwheel Curls
3x15

Straight Arm Pulldowns 
3x12

Great workout. 

For bench press with chains, 2 big chains are hanging off the bar. They mostly deload at the bottom, and add weight as you press. So the lift gradually gets heavier as you get closer to lock-out. Touch and go style. Also, I moved my grip out, from shoulder width to "1 thumb-length away from the smooth." It feels really different than the paused, narrow grip style I had been using. I have a tendency to start cheating, and bouncing the bar off my chest when I bench without a pause. Thats not really possible with the chains, they don't bounce off the floor. I feel like there is lots of room to improve on this.

For the dumbbell mechanical drop set, I set the adjustable bench to "the 3rd hole." This made a low incline for the first set. Next set, I lowered it 1 hole, to a slight incline. Third set, I went to the decline bench with a low decline. Last set, slightly less decline. I got 8 reps with the 60's on all 4 positions. Then I tried a second run with the 50's, aiming for 10 reps. I missed a few near the end.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 24, 2015)

10-23-15

Legs hamstrings and hips were really sore from squatting Tuesday. I was really slow getting started, and did like twice as much warm up stuff as normal. Its nice to feel sore in my muscles, and not just fucked up in my joints.

Snatch Grip Deadlift, off 2 inch blocks
225x5, 3 sets

Yates Rows 
185x12, 3 sets

Most of what I would have done for assistance was already hit 2 ways in warm ups, so that was it.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 26, 2015)

10-26-15

Shoulder warm up junk

Snatch grip shrugs, leaning forward in Smith machine(12)
Hanging leg raises, shins to Bar, outside hands(10 total)
Step ups with 25 pound dumbbell on opposite side (10 each side)
Half Kneeling Kettlebell press( 5 reps each arm, repeat on each leg)
4 circuits

1 Clean from Floor, 5 Presses
100x10 sets

Clean and Push Press
140x 10 singles

Upper Back Y-T-L's on Blast Straps
Rolling Dumbbell Tri Extensions
Hammer Curls
3 circuits

Great workout. Push presses felt pretty bad, but less bad than last week.

Bodyweight is around 225 these days. If I remember correctly, I was weighing in around 215 when I started this log, last fall. I gained some solid weight, maybe I was 228 last November. I got my girlfriend a Kitchen Aid mixer for an early Christmas present. The first thing she made was some Chess Bars. They were super chronic. I ate the whole pan in 2 nights, and fattened up to 237 within a week. Then I stayed a little fat all year. Finally in September I straightened out my diet. More protien, veggies and fat, and less bread and potatoes than before. I've had to tighten my lifting belt 2 notches, so it's working.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 26, 2015)

I just ate some ice cream.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 29, 2015)

10-27-15

Seated Band Hip Abductions
Side-to-side landmine abs
3x12 each

Single leg standing calf raise
Single leg curl
Step Ups
3x12 each

Safety Squat Bar, Box Squat. A little above parallel
265x6, 3 sets

Romanian Deadlift
Lunge in Place
Let extension
2 circuits to warm up
3 circuits, "work sets"

Same weights as last week, but 3 sets of 6 instead of 2 sets of 8 for squats. Definetly not as sore after squatting this week. I guess next week I'll try 2 sets of 10. Then add some weights.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 30, 2015)

10-29-15

Seated Dumbbell Cleans
Read delt raises leaning forward
Tricep Pushdown
A few circuits to warm up

Bench Press, +50 pounds of Chains
195x2, 3, 4, 2, 3. I was gonna do 2 reps on the last set, but it felt great, so I did a third. Tried a forth, but failed.

Dumbbell Press
55x20

Dumbbell Incline Mechanical Drop Set
60x10, 4 positions

Dumbbell Row/Seated Dumbbell Front Delt Raise
4x12 each
- Up to 80's for the rows, and 30's for the raises. Technique was getting a little "loose."

Pinwheel Curls/Tate Press
2x15 each
-35's for curls, 45's for Tate Presses

I kind of "pushed it" a little during this session. For most of the year, I've tried to keep things contained, and leave a rep or two in the tank. It felt good to get after it a little. That's how you really make progress. Nothing broke on me, so that's awesome.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Oct 31, 2015)

10-30-15

Seated Band Abductions
Side to side Landmine has
3x10 each

1Leg Calf Raise
1 Leg Curl
Stepup
3x10 each

Barbell Rows, not really bent over
135x12, 2 sets
185x10, 2 sets
225x10, 2 sets

Starr Shrugs From Rack
135x5, 2 sets
155x5, 2 sets
185x5, 2 sets

Snatch Grip Deadlift
225x5
245x5, 3 sets

More Hamstring Curls
Reverse Hyper extensions

I read an old article about training traps, and realised I haven't done those Star Shrugs in years. They were cool, but every set was different, I need more practice. According to Bill Starr, the author, I need to get up to 5x5 with 585.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 4, 2015)

10-2-15

Hanging Leg Raises
Upper Back Blast Strap Stuff
Rear Delt Raises, leaning forward with dumbbells
Tricep Pushdown
3 circuits to warm up

Seated Dumbbell Press
5 easy sets of 10

Seated Cable Row
5 easy sets of 10

Some curls, some triceps. 

This session, "shoulder day" or "2nd pressing day" has been constantly all over the place. I just can't seem to develop a really great plan or structure. But even just showing up is better than nothing.

10-3-15

Seated hip abductions with band
Side to side landmine abs
Reverse Hyper Extensions
1 Leg leg curl
1 Leg Calf Raise
Step up
Snatch grip shrug in Smith machine
3 circuits to warm up. This was almost a workout itself

Safety Squat Bar Box Squat
265x10, 2 sets

Star Shrugs, from Rack
135x6, 2 sets
165x6, 2 sets
185x6, 2 sets

Romanian Deadlifts with snatch grip
Lunge in Place with plate hugged to cheat
Leg Extension
4 circuits. I got up to 235 for 12, then 13 reps on the Romanians for the last 2sets.

This was definetly the hardest workout I've done this year. Today, the next day, my hips and back and knees feel 100% OK. I'm pretty pleased.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 9, 2015)

11-5-15

Light shoulder and arm stuff to get loose. 

Bench Press, +50 pounds chain
195x2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4

Seated Front Dumbbell Raise
Up to 30x12

Dumbbell Row
Up to 90x12

11-6-15

Some warm ups

Some deadlifts with conventional stance. 
They felt heavy, I didn't go too far.

I was using a ton of back, and not enough hips. But I've been doing lots of shrugs and rows, and lifts with a snatch grip. My traps and upper back feel strong, so of course they're trying to take over. I think some inverse curls for hamstrings, and some deficit deadlifts to focus on the bottom of the d.l. and I'll be stronger than ever.

Things were kind of all over the place this month, but I think I got a lot out of it.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 19, 2015)

Took an easy week. Lifted 3 times and jumped rope a fourth day.

11-17-15

Wrist Roller
Reverse Curls

Seated Dumbbell Press
Up to 60x10

Iso-Pulldowns, 1 side at a time, between sets.

Dumbbell Delt Combo Raise
10pounds x 20 reps, side/front/rear

Some iso-row

My elbows were starting to hurt, so I'll hit up the wrist roller and some reverse curls to strengthen the muscles on top of my forearm, while stretching out the tight muscles on the bottom. 

11-18-15

Standing 1 Leg Calf Raise
1 Leg Hamstring Curl
Step Ups
2 circuits to get going.

Box Squat with Saftey Squat Bar
Up to 295x6

Deficit Deadlift, pause right below Knee
Up to 225x8

Barbell Shrugs
Up to 205x20, 2 sets

Inverse Curls superset with more Step Ups
3 sets each.

Just the basics. No physical therapy inspired jerk-off exercises! No issues.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 19, 2015)

Today is 11-19. I didn't lift yesterday. My dates are off.

Bench Press
225x1,2, 1,2 for 12 total reps
155x10, 7

I did some half kneeling Palloff presses between sets

1 Arm Dumbbell Rows (up to 80x15)
Dumbbell Front Delt Raise 
4 sets each

Dumbbell Curls
Straight Arm Pulldowns on Lat Cable
4 sets each

1 set of single arm cable tricep Pushdown, 50 reps each arm


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 22, 2015)

11-20-15

Legs really tight and sore

Some lunges to try to get going.

Romanian Deadlifts against( light) bands
135x10, 3 sets

Superset with leg extensions

Shrugs
135x20
165x20
185x20, 2 sets

Superset with reverse hyper extensions

I love Deadlifting against the bands. They really make me focus on driving with my hips instead of over extending or over arching my back. Like the opposite of the snatch grip deadlifts from last month. Today these were crushing my glutes. I felt taller, like I was standing up super straight afterwards. It was great to not do them for awhile, "lower my tolerance" then come back to them and really "feel" it.


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Nov 22, 2015)

11-22-15

Hip Hikes
Band Abductions
Band Pull aparts
Band Shoulder Dislocates
-a few sets of each, rehab style stuff to get loose

Then 10 sets of 20 kettlebell swings.

-12 reps of 1 rehab style exercise between swings


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## youraveragehorticulturist (Dec 20, 2015)

For the last month;

Day 1. Shoulders. Monday
I dropped the barbell clean and press, and worked the seated dumbbell presses and delt raises for a break. I also worked the wrist roller and reverse curls pretty hard. Then some rows and light triceps. I usually took it kinda easy on this day. Worked up to 70x8 on dumbbell presses.

Day 2. Legs/Squat. Tuesday
During Oct/Nov, I worked up 3x8 with 295 on the high box squat with the safety squat bar. So I lowered the box to just slightly above parallel, and switched back to the giant cambered bar for squatting this month. Big change, very tough. Last workout was 3x8 with 245 on this setup. I'm liking this more and more as I get the box lower. I plan to stick with these until I get up to around 3x8 with 300.

Then deficit deadlifts with a pause at the knee. Worked up to 275x8. I like this move too. I'm going to shoot for 315x8, then rotate to something else. 

I also did a lot of light barbell shrugs. All sets 225 and under. Sometimes like 135x40 reps. When my shoulders were really crooked posture was really bad, I couldn't do these very well. They're way better now that I'm straighter.

Day 3 Bench. Thursday
I'd been doing 5x5 for a long time on bench, so I switched to higher reps for awhile. Last workout was 185x10 with a pause for 2 sets, and a 3rd set of 12, touch and go style. 

I also did 1 arm dumbbell rows on this day. I started at 70 or something, and worked up to 115x12 on each arm. These were cool, but I'm going to switch to some other kind of row.

I also used the wrist roller and reverse curls after benches. Then some delt raises and triceps.

Day 4. Legs again. Friday
This day was whatever my legs could handle. Step ups and Romanian Deadlifts. Or back squats and rack deadlifts. Then shrugs and hamstrings/quads. 

Bonus Day 5. Sunday
I kept up the kettlebell swings on Sundays, watching football. 10 sets of 20, then one final set. Got up to 50 swings the last week. I did band pull aparts and sidebends between sets of swings. 

I also tried some grip stuff on Sunday. The wrist roller on upper body days was really effective last month. After 2 weeks of rolling, I was able to bend some 60 penny nails and a 6inch long, 1/4" diameter bolt pretty easily.


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## Magic Mike (Dec 25, 2015)

Good to see you are still at it and making good progress since the beginning of the thread. A lot of people don't make it past the 1st year. 

I'm still at it doing mobility stuff every day , plus I started the 5x5 routine and am doing well with that.. Also just got a bunch of rogue gear and some hi-temp bumper plates so dropping weights from over head is on !! Got some horse stall mats .. pretty cool dropping weights


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