Strong 15- Week 3: Bench Press

Both of the flat benches were taken when I arrived at the gym tonight, so I ended up starting with pullups. I was able to do 8 pullups in my first set, which is a personal record. When I was finished with pullups, the flat benches were empty.

Pullups

8,7,6

Bench Press

129/5, 150/4, 175/3, 193/2, 214/1, 227/1, 240/1, 206/10
* After I racked the weight, I felt like I could have done another rep at 206, so I am a little disappointed.

Incline Press

142/15,13
* Still can't seem to get past 13 reps on the second set. It's frustrating.

Abs

Planks: 60 seconds, 60 seconds, 60 seconds 

Strong 15- Week 2: Overhead Press

Press

89/5, 103/4, 120/3, 133/2, 142/1, 150/1, 159/1, 133/11

Chins

7,7,7,7,7,7,8,7 (inching closer to doing 10 reps each on the final three sets)

Pendlay Rows

138/9,9

Curls

Seated Incline DB: 30/12,10

Strong 15- Week 2: Squat & Deadlift

Squats

169/5, 196/4, 230/3, 254/2, 270/1, 297/1, 304/1

Deadlifts

182/5, 218/4, 254/3, 290/2, 309/1, 319/1, 327/1, 272/3

Barbell Hack Squats

133/10, 10
* First time doing the exercise, crossing my fingers that my form is good.

Video- Hack Squats: 133/10

Strong 15- Week 2: Bench Press

Bench Press

129/5, 150/4, 175/3, 193/2, 206/1, 219/1, 232/1, 193/11

Incline Press

142/15, 142/13
I thought I would do 142/15 for the second set, as the first set of 15 was easy.  However, I stalled on the 14th rep, sadly enough.

Pullups

7,6,6

Ab Wheel

12,12,12

Strong 15- Week 1: Overhead Press

Press

89/5, 103/4, 120/3, 133/2, 140/1, 147/1, 156/1, 124/12

Chinups

Bodyweight: 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,6
The goal is to do 5 sets of 7 and 3 sets of 10. The 5 for 7 were no problem, but I am going to have to work my way up to the 3 for 10. As you can see, I wasn't even close to getting 10 for the last 3 sets.

Pendlay Rows

138/8,8

Curls

Seated Incline DB: 30/10, 10

Strong 15- Week 1: Squat & Deadlift

Squat

169/5, 196/4, 230/3, 254/2, 264/1, 281/1, 297/1

Deadlift

145/5, 182/4, 218/3, 254/2, 290/1, 309/1, 319/1, 254/3

Leg Press

360/8, 360/10

Strong 15- Week 1: Bench Press

Tonight marks the beginning of the new training philosophy, based on Paul Carter's Strong 15, Man Maker Template which is set forth in his new book, Strength Life Legacy.

This template is run for 11 weeks, with the goal of setting new personal records on the bench press, deadlift, squat, and overhead press.

My numbers at the start of this program are:

Bench Press: 258
Deadlift: 363
Squat: 338
Overhead Press: 177

My goals for each at the conclusion of this program are:

Bench Press: 268
Deadlift: 383
Squat: 358
Overhead Press: 187

Each week consists of three workouts. I will bench press one night, squat & deadlift one night, and overhead press one night. Every workout also contains assistance work, which be logged throughout.

I kicked off the program with bench press tonight, and the workout proceeded as follows:

Bench Press

129/5, 150/4, 175/3, 193/2, 204/1, 214/1, 227/1, 180/12

Incline Press

142/15, 142/13 (The goal is to do 2 sets for 15 reps each, so I came up a little short on the second set.)

Pullups

6,6,6

Abs

3 sets of 10 reps each on the ab wheel

Squats & Overhead Press

Squats

Warm Up: 42/10, 133/5, 223/3, 253/3
Work Sets: 283/5,5,5,5,5

Video- Squats: 283/5

Overhead Press

Warm Up: 42/10, 92/6, 133/4
Work Sets: 158/5,5,5

Video- Press: 158/5

* Finished up the workout with 3 sets of reverse curls on the Max Rack machine.
* I only had about 5 hours of sleep last night and was exhausted from the beginning of the workout throughout. It was extremely difficult and I had to battle a great deal in order to complete it.

Maxing out on Bench Press & Deadlift

Bench Press

Tonight was the night to put Paul Carter's original Strong 15- bench press to the test.  Going into the program, my max was 252.  I was able to set a new PR tonight at 258 pounds! While it is only a 6 pound gain, benching has always been so difficult for me to make gains in, so I am very happy with the results.

132/5, 182/1, 222/1, 237/1, 247/1, 252/1 (old PR), 258/1 (new PR)
I tried 261 but stalled out at the halfway point. Despite that, I am pumped about 258 because that is what I had programmed in as my goal for a new max.

Starting weight for the next template commencing next week: 258.

Deadlift

133/5, 223/3, 313/1, 343/1, 363/1

I came in a little lower than what I had planned.
Reasons why:
     - two back tweaks in the last couple of months have caused me to deadlift less frequently
     - have not deadlifted heavy in a while and am not used to the weight

Starting weight for the next template commencing next week: 363.


    

Chins, Curls, Abs

Chinups

15/6
25/4
25/4
35/3

Curls

73/13,11,11
*Used 42 pound bar

Abs

Decline Crunches: 3 sets of 11 each   

Back Training & Outlook for next week

Pullups

7,5,6,6

Pendlay Rows

203/3,3,3,3


The game plan for the next week will be as follows:

Tomorrow: Chinups, Curls & Abs
Tuesday: Bench Press to a 1 rep max, Deadlift to a one rep max
Thursday: Squats 5x5, Press 3x5
Friday or Sunday: Pullups, Chinups, Pendlay Rows

I will also add curls and abs at the end of one of the workouts.

Following next week, I will begin the new program.

Light Bench Press

Next week, I am testing my one rep max in the bench press. That will be the final week (Week 11) of the original Paul Carter Strong 15 bench press program that I decided to try.

This week, therefore, is Week 10 and it simply calls for one set of 5 reps at a light weight. So, today, I did 137/5.

(I also practiced basketball for an hour.)

Week 26: Volume Day

As stated in a recent post, I am going to start a new program soon- in two weeks to be exact.  The program is based on the new e-book Strength Life Legacy by Paul Carter.  Part of this program is to know what your personal bests are in the squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press prior to commencement.  Since I haven't tested my one rep max in the squat in a long time, I decided to do that today.

Squats

47/10, 138/5, 188/3, 228/3, 258/3, 278/3, 298/1, 318/1, 328/1, 338/1

If my life depended on it, I would have tried 350. But, I am pretty sure that my form wouldn't have been good, so I didn't bother.  As such, I will begin the new program using 338 as my personal best.

Press

I have been testing my max on this pretty regularly, so I did not feel the need to do so tonight. I will start the new program using 177 as my personal best.

Tonight, I used traditional Texas Method training for the press:

Warm Up: 47/10, 97/6, 117/3, 137/3
Work Sets: 160/4, 155/5,5,5,5

I have switched to a more narrow, thumbless grip, which will take some time getting used to. I am pretty sure this is the reason why I wasn't able to get 160/5.

Week 25: Intensity Day

Squats

Warm Up: 47/10, 138/5, 188/3, 228/3, 258/3
Work Set: 288/5

Deadlift

Warm Up: 138/6, 228/5
Work Set: 318/5

Chinups
15/6, 25/4,3, 35/2
* I am really digging the belt......so much more practical to work with than holding DBs with my feet.

Curls

42/36 (I was spent after chins)

* Finished up with 3 sets of ab crunches on the decline bench.