Front Squats & Update on the shoulder issue

Morning Weight: 217

Planks
3:00 (switched to Yoga style for about 25 seconds at around the 2 minute mark, then switched back to regular)

Front Squats
138/10, 188/5, 208/1, 228/3, 228/3, 228/3, 228/3, 228/3

Poor sleep last night and I wasn't feeling very strong. I decided to bang out 5 sets of 3 at a heavy weight. That's probably the most volume I've ever done at 228.

1 Legged Hamstring Curl Machine
Right Side            Left Side
90/12                    90/12
90/12                    90/12
90/12                    90/12

Seated Plate Loaded Calf Raises
45/30 (30 second rest), 45/20 (30 second rest), 45/15 (30 second rest), 45/15 (30 second rest), 45/20 (30 second rest)
This weight sounds like baby weight, but after all of that volume, damn, did my calves burn!!


Yesterday, I went to my chiropractor and he suggested that I might want to get an MRI on my shoulder since it just isn't healing. Before doing that, though, he wants me to try one more type of rehab exercise. So, I am going to do that, and put off hundredpushups.com until afterward. As a result, there will be a complete hiatus from shoulders/chest/tris. SIGH , but if it works, then it will be worthwhile.

Hex Bar Dead PR, new thought re: Shoulders/Chest/Tris

Hex Bar Deads
135/10, 225/5, 315/5, 385/1, 440/1 (PR), 315/12
   440/1 was tough, but I did it and am pretty pumped about it! I was mentally drained afterward, so instead of doing a lot of volume, I just banged out a set of 315 until I didn't feel like doing it anymore. 

T Bar Rows (underhand grip)
135/7, 135/6, 135/6

Seated Close Grip Cable Row
140/15, 160/8, 160/9

Standing Cable Curls
4 sets, short rest, weight not important 

Chins
BW/8  (yes, only 8! My arms were shot at the end of the workout.)

So, instead of being stubborn with my left shoulder injury, I've decided that pushups will be my sole method of training shoulders, chest, and triceps for the foreseeable future. To keep me motivated, I will follow the program at hundredpushups.com and see how far it takes me. Shoulder willing, I'll start it at some point next week and post the results accordingly. Adapt or perish.

Shoulder injury that never goes away

Planks
3:00 (mostly regular, switched to Yoga a couple of times)

Hammer Strength Incline Press
98/15, 188/10, 188/9, 188/10, 208/7, 208/7
   *Left shoulder hurt, did the exercise anyway. Probably stupid. Just so frustrated for words. Really at a loss at what to do. Maybe just keep everything light and rep the hell out of it?? 

Chins
BW/13, +10/6, +10/7

Rope Pulldowns
5 sets of 10, 1 minute rest in between each set

Poundstone Curls
47/50

Front Squats & DB Presses

I was able to work out as a guest at the WWE gym tonight. (yes, that WWE) Since I don't know the weights of the bars, I am going with 45, but the one I used felt lighter. On the flip side, the DBs I used felt heavier than what they were labeled at, so who knows.

Planks
2:45 (held the regular pose the entire time)

Front Squats
135/10, 185/5, 205/3, 230/5 (5 rep PR), 245/2
   * I felt really strong with these, but was the bar lighter than I thought??? In arguing that it was not lighter, tonight's session was a natural progression from last week's. It's not like I threw up ridiculous weights and reps in comparison.

Neutral Grip DB Overhead Press
60s/10, 70s/3, 70s/5, 70s/5, 70s/5
   * Wow, did these DBs feel heavier than the ones at my regular gym! I felt it right away when I started repping the set of 60s. I wasn't in love with the benches here, either, so perhaps that had something to do with it???

Hamstrings - 5 sets of accessory work, light weight, short rest

Hex Bar Deads, Chins, Back

Hex Bar Deads
During the day, I decided that I would do more volume tonight and try once again to pull 435 off of the floor. I finally accomplished it, and believe it or not, it wasn't tremendously hard. I'm not sure why it wouldn't even budge off of the floor on previous attempts. I knew I was good for it the second I lifted it off the ground.

135/10, 225/5, 315/3, 385/1, 435/1 (PR), 385/3, 385/3, 385/5, 315/11

Exhausting, but I loved it. 

Chins
14, 11, 10
 
T Bar Rows (underhand grip)
135/5, 135/5, 135/5

DB Rows (off the rack)
Right Side         Left Side
120/5                 120/5
120/6                 120/6
120/5                 120/5

Shoulders & Chest

Planks
3:15 (mostly regular, switched to Yoga a couple of times)

Neutral Grip DB Overhead Press
60s/11, 70s/7, 75s/5, 80s/3, 85s/0 (I was stronger last time. 85s wouldn't budge.)

Hammer Strength Incline Press
148/12, 188/8, 188/8, 208/6, 208/6

Decline Bench Press
137/13 (Didn't feel the shoulder during the inclines, felt it here. The realization is that I am going to have to take some time off from these. Sigh.)

EZ Bar Curls
85/16

Rear Delt Machine
90/15, 100/10

Front Squats & Chins

Front Squats
133/10, 183/5, 203/3, 223/7 (7 rep PR), 243/1
  * Tried a bit of a different format tonight. I felt strong during the set of 203, so I decided to see if I could set a rep PR with 223. I gave it my all during that set, so I didn't have much left when I tried 243. I was thinking 3 reps at first, but knew I was done after 1.

1 Legged Hamstring Curl Machine
Right Side            Left Side
110/10                  110/10
120/8                    120/8
120/8                    120/8

Chins
13, 11, 9

Seated Plate Loaded Calf Raises
135/20, 30 second rest, 135/15

* I was strong tonight. Let's keep it continue, as Sammy Sosa would say.

Back

Planks
3:31 (mostly regular, switched to Yoga a couple of times) (time PR)

Hex Bar Deads
135/10, 225/5, 295/20 (felt like doing a 20 rep set, inching closer to 315/20)

Hex Bar Rows
195/5, 195/5, 195/6

DB Rows (off the rack)
Right Side         Left Side
115/6                 115/6
120/6                 120/6
120/6                 120/6

T Bar Rows (underhand grip)
135/5, 135/5, 135/5

Single Pulley Pushdowns
75/10, 75/10, 75/10

Solid session.

Chest, Abs, Arms

Planks
2:00 regular, 1:30 right, 2:00 regular, 1:30 left, 1:30 regular

Decline Bench Press
135/15, 155/5, 175/4, 205/3, 225/5, 225/4
   * I was at the gym where I don't know the weight of the bars, so I am assuming 45 pounds.
   * Felt the shoulder pain on the lift off portion.  

Hammer Strength Incline Press
98/20, 148/12
    * No shoulder pain at all. Perhaps this can be my go to for incline presses now. That would be great.

Chins
10, 10

Double Pulley Pushdows
130/15, 130.12

DB Concentration Curls
30/10 right, 10 left
30/8 right, 8 left

Legs, Shoulders

Front Squats
133/5, 173/4, 193/3, 213/2, 233/1, 213/8 (8 rep PR, +2 reps from last week)
 
1 Legged Hamstring Curl Machine
Right Side            Left Side
100/10                  100/10
110/10                  110/10
120/7                    120/7

Neutral Grip DB Overhead Press
50s/12, 60s/10, 70s/7, 75s/5, 80s/3

Front Squats
138/16

Seated Plate Loaded Calf Raises
135/20, 30 second rest, 135/10

* I was strong tonight. During the 54321 portion of the front squats, the 213/2 & 233/1 went up really well, so I was thinking rep PR before the work set of 213.  Hamstrings went up a lot compared to last week. Shoulders felt strong, as well. Even went up a rep in the high rep front squat set at the end of the workout. If only all workouts were like this one!

Yoga & Back

Tonight, I decided to take a yoga class and follow that up immediately with lifting. Normally, I do yoga and then play basketball, but I felt like trying something different today.

After a 75 minute yoga class where I sweated like a fool as always, I did the following:

Hex Bar Deads
135/10, 225/5, 315/5, 365/1, 415/1, 435/0,0
* I knew that high rep sets would be out of the question after yoga, so I tried some heavy singles. 415 went up really well, so I thought I was good for 435. Nope. Didn't budge off the ground on either attempt. Blah.

Hex Bar Rows
185/7, 185/7, 185/7

T Bar Rows (underhand grip)
115/8, 135/6, 135/6

DB Concentration Curls
30/10 right, 10 left
40/6 right, 6 left

I definitely did not have tremendous stamina during the lifting portion of the workout. To try and help with this, I drank a protein shake in between the yoga class and the lifting session. I really thought that I'd nail the 435 after 415 went up so smoothly. Very disappointed that I couldn't even get it off the ground. Not sure why that would be, as it's only 20 pounds more.

Chest, Chins, Abs

Decline Bench Press
137/15, 157/5, 177/4, 197/3, 217/2, 227/4, 187/10

Hammer Strength Incline Press
98/20 
  * Decided to do some high rep inclines since my shoulder wasn't screaming at me.

Chins
Bodyweight: 11, 10
15/6

I've been getting kind of bored with planks, so I decided to do various ab exercises through the workout.

Shoulder felt "OK" during the declines. I'm sure I will be paying for it over the next couple of days.

Legs

Front Squats
138/5, 178/4, 198/3, 218/2, 228/1, 238/1, 213/6

1 Legged Hamstring Curl Machine
Right Side            Left Side
100/8                    100/8
100/8                    100/8
100/10                  100/10

DB Lunges
Right Side            Left Side
45s/8                     45s/8
35s/12                   35s/12
40s/10                   40s/10

Front Squats
138/15

Seated Calf Raise Machine
170/16, 210/11

Lunges were killers. As was the set of front squats after them. Good workout.