Pressing

Hurricane Sandy hit over the weekend, but I managed to sneak a workout in today in spite of that.  I am still waiting for my back to heal, meaning that I will not be squatting or deadlifting this week. While my lower back now seems healed, the right side of my upper back now aches.  I wish I knew what the cause was. Perhaps it's how I sit on my couch, perhaps it's how I sleep, perhaps it's how I sit in a car, I just don't know. What I do know, though, is that this is very frustrating. In an effort to fully heal, I will not lift again until Sunday.

Bench Press

137/5, 157/4, 187/3, 212/5,5,5,5,5

Incline DB Press

70/18 (was going for 20, peaked at 18)

Behind the Head Standing Overhead Press

97/12,10,10,8 (first time doing this exercise; had planned on doing 6 sets, but had to stop after 4 due to the aforementioned back pain)

Hanging Knee Raises

20,20,20

Some Deadlifting, et al

I've been working with a slight tweak in my lower back for the better part of two weeks. It hasn't been enough to stop me from training, but it has been enough to bother me. After today, I am reluctantly leaning towards taking a full week off from deadlifting and squatting in the hopes that it will fully heal.

Deadlift

133/5, 223/4, 273/3, 313/2, 363/1

* Really felt the back tweak during the sets of 273, 313, and 363. I had originally planned on finishing up with a set of 5 at 323, but after the single at 363, I knew that was not a smart idea.

Poundstone Curls

42/65 (PR!)

Hanging Knee Raises

20, 20, 20

Pressing

Workout from last night:

Bench Press

132/5, 182/4, 222/2, 242/1, 252/1, 210/5, 210/5, 210/5, 202/5, 182/8

Incline DB Press

80/8, 80/6

Overhead Press (Standing)

133/7, 133/7, 133/6

Fatigue really started to kick in on the second set of inclines and continued through all of the OHP sets. 

Hodge Podge

Pause Squats

138/5, 168/4, 198/3, 218/2, 228/1, 238/1, 258/1, 188/5, 188/5

Hack Squats

188/8, 198/8

Pendlay Rows

188/5, 188/5, 188/5

Chin Ups

Bodyweight/8
12.5 lb. DB/5
15 lb. DB/5
15 lb. DB/5
20 lb. DB/5 total reps- dumbbell kept falling off, so I had to stop and re-position it

Curls

Seated DB curls: 30/15, 30/13

Abs

Planks: 60 seconds, 60 seconds, 80 seconds

Squats & Bench Press

Pause Squats

42/10, 133/5, 183/5, 223/3, 253/5

Bench Press

42/10, 132/5, 162/4, 192/3, 222/1, 242/1

negatives with 282/1,1,1

back to regular bench pressing: 260/0 (attempted PR, fail)

Reverse Grip Bench Press

182/10

Incline DB Press

80/11

Deadlift & Overhead Press

Deadlift

135/8, 225/5, 275/3, 315/5, 345/3, 345/3

Hamstring Curl Machine

120/12, 120/12

Overhead Press

42/20, 92/8, 143/8, 153/5, 153/5, 153/5, 133/11

Upper Body

Pendlay Rows

138/10, 158/7, 168/8, 173/6, 188/5, 188/5, 188/5

Chin Ups

Bodyweight/7

10 + belt/5,5,5,5,5

Barbell Curls

68/20, 68/14

Hanging Knee Raises

22, 17

Hanging Knee Raises Left & Right

11, 11

Squat & Reverse Grip Bench Press

Pause Squat

47/10, 138/5, 188/3, 228/2
248/5,5,5,5,5

Reverse Grip Bench Press

* First time doing the exercise

47/10, 137/10, 157/10, 177/7, 187/5, 197/6

* Finished up with a set of 10 chin ups @ bodyweight.

Bench Press

Yankees playoff games have been preventing me from running a regular template. I have something in mind that I will start up once the season ends. But, for now, I am lifting and doing cardio when I am able to.

Today, I decided to do some volume with triples on the bench press, my weakest exercise.

47/10, 137/5, 187/3, 207/1

227/3, 227/3, 227/2, 217/3, 217/3, 217/3, 217/3, 212/3, 212/3, 207/3

Lower Body

Pause Squat

42/10, 133/5, 183/4, 223/3, 253/2, 278/1, 248/5

Deadlift

183/5, 233/4, 273/3, 323/2, 373/1

Hamstring Curl Machine

115/12, 115/12

Overhead Press

42/15, 92/8, 133/12, 153/5

Hanging Knee Raises

30,22,18

Squats & Upper Body

Pause Squats

47/10, 138/5, 188/3, 238/5x5 (getting used to pausing)

Bench Press

138/5, 178/3, 202/5x5

DB Incline Press

75/12, 75/11

Chin Ups

25+belt/3,3,3,3
Bodyweight/10

Pendlay Rows

163/8, 168/8 (good form; getting stronger on these)

Poundstone Curls

42/45 (no PR tonight; ran out of gas) 

Lower Body

I have been told by Craig Hirota that it appears I do not use enough hip drive during squats.  According to Paul Carter, doing pause squats should alleviate this problem.  Therefore, I will be doing pause squats for the foreseeable future.

Pause Squats

138/7, 188/4, 228/3, 258/2, 278/1, 278/1, 228/3, 228/5

* Felt a tweak in my lower back on the first set of 278 while paused. This greatly affected the rest of my workout, especially deadlifts.  It's only a minor tweak, so I should be healed relatively quickly.  I will chalk it up to not really knowing the exercise yet, and will anticipate that it will stop occurring as I get used to the motion.

Deadlifts

183/5, 223/4, 273/3, 323/2

* Really felt my lower back on the sets of 273 and 323, so I stopped.

Leg Curls- Hamstring Machine

110/12, 110/12

Overhead Press

133/11, 133/11

Hanging Knee Raises

25, 20, 15

Upper Body

Only lifting twice this week, due to an upcoming weekend trip to New Orleans. (Go Chargers!!)

As a result, I am doing one day of upper body and one day of lower body.

Bench Press

135/5, 155/4, 185/3, 205/2, 225/1, 245/1, 185/12, 225/2

DB Incline Press

75/14, 70/12

Chin Ups

I did weighted chin ups for the first time in a while.  I loaded a weight belt, so in actuality, the weights were a little higher than what is listed below, as I did not take into account the weight of the belt, which is unknown.

Bodyweight/5, 5/4, 10/3, 15/2, 25/1, 35/1, 45/1, BW/10

Pendlay Rows

158/8, 163/8 (good form)

Poundstone Curls

42/61 (PR)