Strong 15, Week 9: Bench Press

Tonight was supposed to be squat & deadlift night, but ended up turning into bench press night due to lower back pain that has been bothering me all week. Last weekend, I drove my very low to the ground sports car for the first time since November. (I don't drive it in the Winter.) When I finished the drive, I emerged from the car with pain in my lower back. This pain has persisted all week. I was hoping to be able to battle through the squat & deadlift session as scheduled, but that quickly dissipated when I couldn't even do a full squat rep with only the barbell.

In addition to the back pain, I haven't slept well for the past two nights: 4 hours on Tuesday and 6 hours yesterday. The result is that my body just feels beat up and worn down: back pain, lack of sleep, and general fatigue from all of the basketball & running I've been doing despite the aforementioned ailments. Tonight, I knew that I would have zero ability to battle through a tough rep. If it couldn't be done smoothly, it wouldn't be done.

Bench Press

133/5, 153/4, 180/3, 199/2, 233/1, 239/1, 246/1, 212/9

246/1 felt heavy. If this week was testing week, there would have been no way that I would have been able to get 272+.

Incline Press

For the past two weeks, I have done an incline DB press at 90/8. My plan was to do the same this week. However, I couldn't even manage 1 rep when I first picked up the 90s off the ground. I tried a second time and managed 3 brutally tough reps. How can I go from doing 90/8 to 90/barely 3 in one week? Realizing that 90/8 was not going to happen in my wildest dreams tonight, I decided to do a set of barbell incline presses at 162/8. This set was easy.

Flat DB Fly

40/20 (easiest set I've done at this weight- figure that one out!)

What I take from this workout is the following question: When will I be able to do the squat & deadlift session? I'm not going to bother to try tomorrow, as I know my body needs a day off. My back has been bothering me for 5 days now and it hasn't improved. I am concerned that this injury is going to screw up this program and my testing days. As is almost always the case, time will tell.

Strong 15, Week 8: Back & Biceps

Chins

Set 1: 13 chins,
Set 2: 6 regular pull ups, immediately followed by 3 chin ups.

DB Row

95/10,10

Barbell Shrugs

133/5, 223/5
313/10

Concentration Curls

30/20,20


I tested my time running 1.5 miles:  11:58; I would like to build on this.

Strong 15, Week 8: Bench Press

Workout performed last night.

Bench Press

133/5, 153/4, 180/3, 199/2, 212/1, 233/1, 239/1, 199/10

DB Incline

90/8

Flat DB Fly

40/20

Strong 15, Week 8: Squat & Deadlift

Squat

Regular: 158/5, 183/4, 214/3, 236/2, 252/1, 277/1, 284/1
Pause: 222/5

Squats felt "eh". Nothing spectacular, nothing atrocious. My best set was the pause squats at 222/5.

Deadlift

200/5, 240/4, 280/3, 320/2, 340/1, 352/1, 360/1, 300/3

Again, nothing great/nothing awful here. I did all of the programmed sets. The heavier weights were a little challenging, but nothing I really had to grind through.

Strong 15, Week 7: Back & Biceps

Chins

12, 11

DB Row

95/10,10

Barbell Shrugs

132/10, 222/5, 333/10

Concentration Curls

30/20,20

Strong 15, Week 7: Bench Press

Bench Press

133/5, 153/4, 180/3, 199/2, 207/1, 220/1, 233/1, 186/12 (blah)

DB Incline Press

90/8

Flat DB Fly

40/20

Strong 15, Week 7: Squat & Deadlift

Squat

Regular: 158/5, 183/4, 214/3, 236/2, 246/1, 261/1, 277/1
Pause: 205/5

Deadlift

160/5, 200/4, 240/3, 280/2, 320/1, 340/1, 352/1, 280/3

Everything was solid.

Strong 15, Week 6: Back & Biceps

Chins (various grips)

13,9,10,7

* Pretty sure that 13 is a rep PR.

Pendlay Rows

158/5,10,10

Barbell Shrugs

218/20,20

Barbell Curls

68/20,20

Strong 15, Week 6: Squat, Deadlift, AND Bench Press

Winter Storm Nemo is supposed to be coming our way commencing 6am tomorrow. It is scheduled to drop about 17 +/- inches of snow over the course of about 30 hours. There is no way of knowing how much of this is hype and how much will be reality. As they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Keeping that in mind, I decided to do two days of workouts in one long session. If the snow falls as scheduled, I probably wouldn't be able to go to the gym to lift weights until Tuesday, the earliest, which will put me behind almost a full week. Friday and Saturday would be lost days; Sunday would be iffy; and Monday is a basketball night. So, while it is not optimal to do two days worth of lifting in one day, I would rather have done this than fall behind. Now, I can weather the storm without constantly thinking about missing a day of lifting.

Squat

Regular: 147/5, 170/4, 199/3, 220/2, 258/1, 264/1, 272/1
Pause: 220/3

Deadlift

187/5, 223/4, 260/3, 298/2, 327/1, 335/1, 347/1, 298/3

Lying Hamstring Machine

95/20,20

* Squats & Deadlifts went great... speed was good, strength was there. No complaints at all.

Bench Press

123/5, 143/4, 168/3, 185/2, 217/1, 222/1, 229/1, 197/9 (almost 10, failed at lockout)

* Ran out of gas during the set of 197. I wanted to do 12, but the bar moved slower than I would have liked pretty much from the get go. Must keep perspective- I did this immediately following a full squat & deadlift session. At full strength, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have successfully completed a few more reps.

Incline Press

162/10,10,10

* All 3 sets went up faster than last week at this weight.

Flat DB Fly

40/20

Triceps Pushdown

110/20,20

 

Strong 15, Week 5: Back & Biceps

Chins (various grips)

12,9,9,9

Pendlay Rows

157/10,10

Barbell Shrugs

208/20,20

Olympic Barbell Curls

68/20,20

Strong 15, Week 5: Bench Press

Bench Press

123/5, 143/4, 168/3, 185/2, 197/1, 217/1, 222/1, 185/15

* Happy with 185 for 15. I wanted to hit that number going in.

Barbell Incline Press

162/10,10,10

DB Flat Fly

40/20

Triceps Pushdown (Double Pulley)

110/20,20