Return of the King

BossArky

Monday June 13th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
81kg – 1x3
101kg – 1x2
121kg – 3x6

RDL
20kg – 1x10
50kg – 3x8

Hack Squat
45kg – 3x8
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 17 secs on/13 secs off
---

Third work set of Squats felt best as low bar’d it a bit more than set 1 & 2.

RDLs = light work superset with Squats

Hack Squats = nice quad burn at light weight in heels

Overall good session. Focused on the heavy Squat worksets and the rest was light assistance for variety.

BossArky

Wednesday June 15th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
96kg – 6x4 … alright
**add slingshot & wrist wraps**
104kg – 1x3
112kg – 1x3
120kg – 1x3 … got it, bit dodgy on last rep but prevailed

T-Bar Row
Various light weights increasing each set (5kg-30kg ish) – 6x(2x10)
---
Barbell Curls
32kg – 3x10
---

Bench weights creeping up.

Slingshot triple on 120kg ties my heaviest ever.

Good session.

BossArky

Friday June 17th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
110kg - 1x3
125g - 3x6
---
Hack Squat
50kg - 1x8
70kg - 1x8
90kg - 1x8
---
Abs (Weighted Plank with 10kg on back)
3 rounds of (3 x 10 secs on / 10 secs off)
3 rounds of (3 x 15 secs on / 10 secs off)
3 rounds of (3 x 17 secs on / 10 secs off)
---

Deadlifts felt fine. Forgot to mention that approx a week ago I took the steak knife to my Toro lever belt to cut off the excess belt which has been sticking awkwardly into me for the past 6 years. Belt now feels so comfy when Deadlifting! No longer have the stabbing sensation of something ramming itself into my lower left ab/hip region.

Worked up in weight on the three Hack Squat sets. First set at 50kg was felt in the quads, but funnily enough the effect on quads seemed to lessen as the weight got heavier. Top set of 90kg x8 was handy enough. Could definetly go heavier on these. Need to be careful that I don't overdo it with this new assitance though as into the last 2 weeks of the cycle from next Monday and recovery is key.

Finished off with some abs.

BossArky

Saturday June 18th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
81kg – 1x3
91kg – 1x3
101kg – 6x3 ... alright. No wrist wraps

Barbell Row
50kg - 6x6
---
Incline Bench (20 degree incline, pinky on ring)
20kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
50kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10
---

Bench worksets finished off week 4 of 6 ok. Everything from here on in for the next two weeks (4 bench sessions) will be a PR as I go 1kg above my best ever for the various set/rep ranges.

Set up the incline bench to a 20 degree incline by propping ER bench up on a column of 4 red + 4 blue bumpers. Quite sturdy & stable which was good. Would have done 3x10 on the top set but saved myself for further recovery before the final 2 weeks of the cycle coming up.

BossArky

Monday June 20th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
*add belt & wrist wraps*
100kg – 1x2
120kg – 1x1
130kg – 3x6 ... handy

RDL
20kg – 1x10
50kg – 3x8

Hack Squat
45kg – 3x8
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 17 secs on/13 secs off
---

Best Squats I've ever done at 130kg 3x6. This cycle my eating and training has gone well. One more week to go where I'll aim for 136kg next week.

Everything else was light assistance.

BossArky

Wednesday June 22nd: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
91kg – 6x6 … 1kg PR

Barbell Row
20kg – 6x12 … light stuff
---
Barbell Curls
32kg – 3x11
---

Bench PR.

Cut the assistance to the bare minimum as was feeling battered after the heavy Squats from Monday. Developed a bit of a sore throat which may be CNS telling me "WOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH there!" .... (or maybe even "WWWOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!")

BossArky

Friday June 24th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x2
135g - 3x6
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

It was incredibley cold in the shed tonight. Fingers were so cold I was thinking it was pointless trying to deadlift. In the end I did a slightly longer warm up than normal and got through it fine.

First set was the worst as usual but 2nd and 3rd felt handy enough. Will finish the cycle next week with a 10kg jump to 145kg 3x6.

BossArky

Saturday June 26th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x2
90kg – 1x1
96kg – 6x5 ... 1kg PR. No wrist wraps

T-Bar Row
bar + 10kg - 6x10 ... light stuff
---
Incline Bench (20 degree incline, narrow grip)
20kg - 1x8
45kg - 2x8 ... light tricep pump
---

Bench PR by 1kg. Felt pretty good.

Kept the assistance nice and light.

BossArky

Monday June 27th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
85kg – 1x3
105kg – 1x2
122kg – 1x1
136kg – 3x6 … 3kg PR for 3x6

Hack Squat
45kg – 3x8
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Squat PR by 3kg with 136kg 3x6. Up from 133kg 3x6 last cycle 8 weeks ago. Have been binge watching the IPF raw world championships from Texas over the past few days, so that helped with inspiration to get through the Squats. It was heavy but I felt in control the whole time. Had a fairly low bar position which allowed me to drive strongly out of the bottom but turned into a good morning on the way up. Can feel it in lower back as I type this the next day. Erectors shall be in ribbons later.

Hack Squats at 45kg 3x8 caused more quad burn that the heavy worksets preceding them.

Finished off with some abs.

BossArky

Wednesday June 29th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
91kg – 1x1
101kg – 6x4 … 1kg PR - heavy. No wrist wraps

Face Pulls (band)
6x12-15
---
Barbell Curls
32kg – 3x11
---

Bench Press PR - 101kg 6 sets of 4.

Feeling absolutely battered after Squats on Monday. Two late nights and little sleep didn't help recovery. Came into this Bench session just aiming to survive. Managed that - but it was the hardest bench session I've had in 6+ months. Will rest up to recover and smash the final Bench session on the weekend.

First set was hard and the rest weren't much easier. Focused on getting more of an arch and bringing chest up to the bar by going back further on upper traps than I usually would. The slight angle change helped with the 4th, 5th & 6th sets.

PR nonetheless which is good. Didn't bother with wrist wraps as knew it was going to be hard anyway & want to save the wrist wrap crutch for the very final session of 106kg 6x3 on Saturday.

BossArky

Friday July 1st: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
**belt**
125kg - 1x2
145g - 3x6 ... PR for 3x6. Up 5kg on last cycle
---

Deadlift PR for 3x6 at 145kg.

Lower back took a bit of a beating to be honest. Felt I was rounding too much. Still fried in the erectors from Monday nights heavy Squats.

BossArky

Saturday July 2nd: Dexa scan #5

Happy enough. In the past 8 weeks I gained 1.708 kg of muscle along with 1.511kg of fat for an overall bulk of 3.219kg as bodyweight went from 78.8kg to 82.0kg. New bodyfat = 23.1% (up 1% from 22.1% 8 weeks ago)

---

Dexa Scan #5 (compared to Dexa Scan #4 8 weights ago)
- Bodyweight 82.6kg (up 3.5kg on last scan, includes 600g of water ... actual scanned bodyweight = 82.0kg)
- Skeleton: 3.129kg (down ~32g in total: down 51g in trunk, down 5g in legs ... whilst up 15g in arms)
- Bodyfat: 18.918kg @ 23.1% (up 1.511kg from 17.407kg @ 22.1%)
- Lean Mass (muscle & organs): 59.983kg (up 1.708kg from 58.275kg)

Trunk muscle: 25.638kg to 26.318kg for 0.68kg muscle gain
Trunk fat: 8.001kg to 9.167kg for 1.166kg fat gain

Leg muscle: 20.500kg to 20.853kg for 0.353kg muscle gain
Leg fat: 7.559kg to 7.754kg for 0.195kg fat gain

Arm muscle: 7.654kg to 8.056kg for 0.402kg muscle gain
Arm fat: 1.204kg to 1.320kg for 0.116kg fat gain

---

What does all this mean?

- I put on muscle everywhere (trunk, arms, legs)

- I put on bodyfat everywhere - in particular on my trunk when compared with the among of muscle I put on trunk. The bodyfat gains on arms and legs weren't much compared to the muscle which went on... but more fat seems to go on my trunk

- Concentrating purely on eating and lifting heavy weights for the past 8 weeks has produced exactly the results I wanted. I was expecting an almost equal amount of fat gain as muscle gain on this bulk and had resigned myself to a 1kg gain of each before knowing the exact results. Turns up I put on 1.708kg of muscle for the 1.511kg of fat gain - so ratio slightly better than planned.

- Looks like my calories in is sufficient for muscle growth. Will keep this up as I continue to build more muscle. Surprised that I managed to get so much muscle growth to be honest. Had read somewhere that 0.75kg per month was earmarked as almost the natural limits. This would have been 1.5kg for me in 8 weeks... instead I managed to surpass that my 200g to get a 1.708kg muscle gain.

- On the topic of calories in again - looks like i'm slightly overeating for such significant fat gain of 1.511kg. The main additions to my diet in the past 8 weeks are two additional snacks. The first is making sure I get in scrambled eggs and toast plus full fat milk each night after training just before bed. The second is having a jam jar of oats, protein & milk in mid afternoon at work.

- Straight barbell curls & fat grip rows caused my arms to blow up. Nice

- Got the best muscle gain ever on my legs based upon the 5 DEXA scans to date. This is probably largely to do with the amount of food I've been consuming, but also the heavy hard training. Still feel like I need some more intense leg training though as I need to bring them up to match my upper-body.

- Booked the next Dexa #6 in for 10 weeks time (instead of 8) and will finally see myself surpass 60kg of lean body-mass. Missed that marker today by 17g.

BossArky

Sunday July 3rd: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
95kg – 1x1
**add wrist wraps**
106kg – 6x3 ... 1kg PR. Good
60kg - 3x10 ... with close grip, feet up & flat back

Face Pulls (band)
6x12-15
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 2x10
---

Bench PR for 6x3 with 106kg. Felt ok compared to the preceding session. Took an extra days rest & did this on Sunday (vs. Saturday) as was pretty sore from the last 3 heavy sessions of this peak (Squats Monday, Bench Wed, Deads Fri).

Finished off with some high rep fire pumping into my pecs and triceps with flat back feet up closegrip.

Time to take a couple of mins to ponder a successful bulking cycle & peak before drawing breath & jumping back in to do it all again.

BossArky

Monday July 4th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
55kg – 3x20 … super high bar
---
Hack Squat
45kg – 3x10

RDL
45kg – 3x10
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Deload Squat session. Lots of high reps. Legs jelly like after the super high bar (grip in on edge of knurling) 3x20s combined with Hack Squat 3x10.

Thought it best to do some light work today rather than vegetating.

Alf Veedersane

I meant to ask before but have you seen much/any benefit from all the work using the fat grips?

BossArky

Arms seem to have grown based upon Dexa above which shows I put 0.4kg on them. Haven't dropped any Deadlifts recently either so I'd say yes they have worked.

Still too early to tell though. I used them pretty religiously on rows for the first 4 weeks of the last 8 week cycle, but then didn't use them much on the last 4 weeks.

One of my notes to self is to use them more for the next 8 weeks.

BossArky

Thursday July 7th: Bench

Foam Roller Bench (all paused)
35kg – 1x10
55kg – 1x10
75kg – 1x10

Bench w/Chains
35kg – 1x10
55kg – 1x10
75kg – 1x10 ... failed on last rep
---
Barbell Row
40kg – 7x10

Shoulder Press
32kg – 3x10 ... slightly wider grip than usual

Barbell Row
32kg – 3x12
---

Messed about with some different pressing. Deload.

BossArky

Sunday July 10th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120g - 30 reps EMOM double overhand
---
Hack Squat
70kg - 3x8
---
Abs (Weighted Plank with 10kg on back)
3 rounds of (3 x 10 secs on / 10 secs off)
---

Start of a new Deadlift cycle.

BossArky

Monday July 11th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
77kg – 4x6
77kg – 1x8 ... start day dreaming mid set and did 8 instead of 6
77kg – 1x12 ... repped it out for gainz (tm)
60kg - 3x10 ... with close grip, feet up & flat back

Barbell Row
50kg - 3x8 (fat gripz)
70kg - 3x6 (no fat gripz)
---

Some benching. New 8 week cycle.

BossArky

Wednesday July 13th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
100kg – 1x1
100kg + 16kg chains – 3x6
80kg – 1x20
70kg – 1x20
60kg – 1x20
---
SLDL
20kg – 1x6
60kg – 3x6
---

Started new Squat cycle. 3 worksets with chains for 3x6, followed by 3 sets of 20 decreasing weight for the sake of variety.

BossArky

Thursday July 14th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
82kg – 6x5
62kg - 3x10 ... with close grip, feet up & flat back

Face Pull
band - 6x15
---

Some easy bench worksets on 82kg followed by close grip bench.

BossArky

Saturday July 16th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
130g - 30 reps EMOM
- first 10 from floor
- second 10 from 1 block (blue bumper)
- third 10 from 2 blocks (2 blue bumpers)
---
Hack Squat
70kg - 3x8
---
Abs
- Lying Twist
- 3 rounds of 10 rep situps with weight over head (+5kg, +10kg, +15kg)
---

Got about half way through the Deadlift 30 EMOM doubleoverhand before loosing grip on one rep around knee high. Switched to mixed grip alternating each set from then on. Broke the 30 reps up into thirds: first off the floor, then off 1 block, then off 2 blocks.

Utilising some new Deadlift tools (i.e. varying height block pulls) to push it up as a lift. Kept the weight constant so I can get a feel of block pulls & the technique/form changes from typically pulling from the floor.

Pulled a chunk of skin off my left pinky at the base where it meets the palm.

Finished off with some ab variety.

BossArky

Sunday July 17th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
87kg – 6x4

Barbell Row
55kg - 3x6 (fat gripz)
75kg - 3x6 (no fat gripz)
---
Military Press
40kg - 3x10
---
Skull Crusher
25kg - 3x10

Barbell Curl
25kg - 3x10
---

Good session. Just building muscle with sub max weights. Tried out skull crushers for the first time in ages.

BossArky

Tuesday July 19th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
90kg – 1x3
110kg – 1x1
110kg + 16kg chains – 3x6
90kg – 1x20
75kg – 1x20
60kg – 1x20
---
RDL
80kg – 3x6
---
Hack Squat
80kg – 3x6
---
Abs (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---
Calf Raise (on incline plate)
bodyweight - 3x12
---

A lot of lowerbody volume. Toughest set was probably the first drop set with 20 reps @90kg. Took at long time getting through everything. Should have foam rolled legs prior to leaving gym.

BossArky

Wednesday July 20th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
92kg – 6x3
65kg - 3x10 ... with close grip, feet up & flat back

Face Pull
band - 6x15
---
Barbell Curl
20kg – 3x10
---

Some light benching when totally destroyed from yesterdays Squats.

BossArky

Friday July 22nd: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
120kg - 1x3
140g - 30 reps EMOM
- first 10 from floor
- second 10 from 1 block (blue bumper)
- third 10 from 2 blocks (2 blue bumpers)
---
Hack Squat
70kg - 3x8
---
Abs
5 mns of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Started off the 140kg 30 EMOM Deadlifts double overhand. Grip went early somewhere around rep 3 so switched to alternating. Finding the most difficult position for me is off 1 block. From the floor and 2 block is alrighty.

BossArky

Friday July 23rd: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
82kg – 6x6

Barbell Row
60kg - 3x4 (fat gripz)
80kg - 3x4 (no fat gripz)
---
Military Press
45kg - 3x8
---
Skull Crusher
25kg - 3x10

Barbell Curl
25kg - 3x10
---

Bench & row supersets were done in 18 minutes for the 12 sets. Speedy.

Combination of frozen hands and Deadlifts yesterday saw reps down slightly on barbell row variations. Too cold & tired to hang onto bar!

The rest was assistance fun.

BossArky

Monday July 25th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
100kg – 1x1
120kg + 16kg chains – 3x6
100kg – 1x12
80kg – 1x12
60kg – 1x20
---
Barbell Lunges
20kg – 1x6
30kg – 3x6
---
Abs (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---
Calf Raise (on incline plate)
bodyweight - 3x12
---

Squat top workset of 120kg +16kg chains is the heaviest I've gone with chains. Felt easier than expected. Getting stronger.

Kinda spent though for the 20 rep drop sets after though. Racked 100kg after 12 reps.

Enjoyed some barbell lunging for variety.

Calves & abs to finish.

DOMS - come at me.

BossArky

Wednesday July 27th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
87kg – 6x5 ... fine
67kg – 3x10 ... close grip

Face Pull
band - 6x15
---
Barbell Curl
25kg - 3x10
---

Bit tired after Mondays Squats.

Bench worksets were ok.

Closegrip afterwards gave me some nice DOMS for days afterwards - predominantly in the pecs and front delts. Typically I never get DOMS after usual comp style paused benching which is 95%+ of my volume, so it is good to feel some chest/front delt DOMS when using this new close grip variation. New varation = new muscle growth. Big Pecs = big pay cheques, etc.

BossArky

Friday July 29th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
120kg - 1x3
**add belt**
145kg - 30 reps EMOM
---
Hack Squat
70kg - 3x8
---
Abs (dead bugs)
1x12
1x16
1x20
---

Deadlifts today and last week were pretty uncomfy as I'm eating too close to workout. Got through the 145kg 30 EMOM. Will be sore later on. Can feel the DOMS creeping up as I write this 12 hours after that^^.

Still loving these Hack Squats. Leg building assistance. Starts in the post stretch reflex position and have to drive from dead stop on the ground.

Finished off with some abs. Dead bugs for variety to mix it up vs. usual planks.

Training 4 times a week with wifey these days which is good. Both our training is now more focused and intense as we have the 10% extra due to observer factor kicking in.