Return of the King

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Bench (paused)
88kg - 6x4

BossArky wrote: »

**add slingshot**
110kg - 1x3

BossArky wrote: »

Barbell Row
60kg - 3x8

BossArky

Saturday November 5th: Squat Day 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
130kg - 3x3 ... fine
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x10 - abs on fire
---

Finished the Squat cycle successfully with 130kg 3x3. Cut the sets way back from 10 to 3. No point running myself into the ground. Point proven. In the past 4 weeks I've managed to get myself back training hard and built up to moderately heavy Squat numbers.

Squat worksets themselves were ok. Could have done 5 or so reps on the first couple of sets. Didn't feel like a max triple.

Finished up wth the ab roll-outs. A few weeks back when I first tried these 3x10 killed me. Now 3x10 is manageable after ramping down to 3x5 and adding a rep each session to move up through 3x6, 3x7 ...etc ... to 3x10.

Happy.

BossArky

Sunday November 6th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
94kg - 6x3

Shoulder stuff (band)
rev fly face down on bench - 6x16
L extensions (?) face down on bench - 6x16
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x3 ... some low volume
---
Overhead Press (DB)
6kg per arm - 3x12 ... light pump stuff
---

Bench felt slightly heavier than expected which I put down to:
1) heavy Squats yesterday
2) being half way through a course of antibiotics

BossArky

Monday November 7th: Squat Day 1

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 3x9
---
Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x8
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x5
---

Paid off one of my mortgages just before the above - so a nice stress free training session.

New Squat cycle. Using the base smolov template for reps but limiting the sets to 3 across the whole thing. Starting 5kg up on the cycle I just finished. So, should peak with 135kg 3x3 at the end of 3 weeks.. which happens to coincide nicely with a deload for work in Japan.

First time Deadlifting in about a month. Felt fine. Widened grip and stance slightly for 2nd set onwards and feels more powerful. With narrow (hands on narrowest part of knurling) I find I hunch my back more. Better with wider grip, even though that potentially lengths the ROM.

Low volume abs.

BossArky

Tuesday November 8th: Squat Day 2

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
**add belt & wrist wraps**
95kg - 3x7
---

In and out of the gym in 15 mins. That included getting into Squat shoes, knee sleeves, doing the warm up sets and the worksets :pac:

Stole a march on yesterdays DOMS. Got the above done before it hit me.

BossArky

Wednesday November 9th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
82kg - 6x6
**add slingshot**
100kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x3

Barbell Row
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 6x8
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x3

DB Shoulder Press
6kg per arm - 3x12 ... light pump stuff but really focusing on pulling arms back to bring rear/side delts into it
---
Barbell Curl (fat gripz)
30kg - 3x10
---
Military Press (behind the next)
30kg - 1x10
---

Bench/rows were fine. Actually did the rows first as part of the superset for a change. Think I had all 12 sets (6 rows, 6 bench) done in 30 mins flat.

Serious pump in upper back/shoulders/traps after finishing off with the last two shoulder exercises. Traps were up to my ears. Writing this the next day and the DOMS has already kicked in. Think I've found a new fav. shoulder exericse: the light dumbbells overhead press with arms pulled back as much as possible squeezing upperback.

That was the 5th day straight training. Doing about 5km walking each day since Monday too to burn off some fat.

Feeling good.

BossArky

Thursday November 10th: Squat Day 3

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
105kg - 3x5
---
Deadlift (conventional, off 1 block = red bumper plate, not letting weights hit floor between reps)
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 3x8
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x7
---

Some Squats and block Deads for the grip/lockout.

BossArky

Friday November 11th: Squat Day 4

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
115kg - 3x3
---

Whenever I Squat 115kg it reminds me that it was my 3rd Squat in my first ever Powerlifting competition in Feb 2010. Memories

Todays Squats were pretty light and low volume. Let's see what happens with this limit of 3 sets going forwards.

BossArky

Saturday November 12th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
88kg - 6x5

Face Pulls (band)
band - 6x15
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x6
---
Overhead Press (DB)
6kg per arm - 3x12 ... light pump stuff
---
Military Press (behind the next)
30kg - 1x10
---

Bench alright. 2 more sessions to go of the 12. Feeling slightly knackered on the bench from all the Squatting but should be able to finish the cycle ok.

Serious shoulder pump with the last two exercises again.

BossArky

Monday November 14th: Squat Day 5

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 3x9
---
Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 3x6
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x10
---

Squats felt particularly easy.

Miscounted the Deadlift reps. Stopped after 5 before recommencing for the 6th.

Ab roll-outs were pretty handy too. 3x10 on these now doesn't pose the same challenge it did about a month ago.

Did a 5-6km walk roundtrip to/from work earlier in the day.

BossArky

Tuesday November 15th: Squat Day 6

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
105kg - 3x7
---

Squats felt particularly easy today. Powerful coming out of the hole. Blasted through the 3 sets.

BossArky

Wednesday November 16th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
94kg - 6x4 ... handy enough

Barbell Row
60kg - 6x5
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x6

DB Shoulder Press
6kg per arm - 3x12
---
DB Curl (alternating)
6kg per arm - 1x30 per arm ... lol
---

Legs were feeling like jelly in the gym and thought I'd struggle energy wise. Got through Bench worksets of 94kg - 6x4 ok though.

BossArky

Thursday November 17th: Squat Day 7

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 3x5
---
Deadlift (conventional, off 1 block = red bumper plate, not letting weights hit floor between reps)
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 3x6
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x8
---

Did the above between 10:30pm-midnight. Then lay down on the gym floor and enjoyed the late spring/almost summer breeze wafting in. Put feet up on the rack and drained the blood out of them. Felt good after 15 mins or so of this.

Squats were particularly good.

BossArky

Friday November 18th: Squat Day 8

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
105kg - 1x2
125kg - 3x3 ... easy
---

Again Squats feeling strong. This new routine of Squatting 4 days a week has lowerbody feeling powerful. Training too often to get sore.

BossArky

Saturday November 19th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x2
100kg - 6x3 ... alrighty

Face Pulls (band)
band - 6x10
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x6
bodyweight +5kg - 3x6
bodyweight +10kg - 3x6

Overhead Press (DB)
8kg per arm - 3x12 ... light pump stuff
---
Military Press (behind the neck)
35kg - 1x10
---
Barbell Curl (fat gripz)
35kg - 3x8

Tricep Extension (DB)
8kg per arm - 3x8
---

6 decent weeks of training has brought my bench back up to 100kg 6x3. Happy enough. Now to push on and go higher than my previous best of 107kg - 6x3. Was a bit fatigued from Squatting 4 days per week, but nothing too bad.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Bench (paused)
100kg - 6x3 ... alrighty

[QUOTE=BossArky[/QUOTE]
Chin Up
bodyweight +10kg - 3x6
[/QUOTE]

BossArky

Monday November 21st: Squat Day 9

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
105kg - 3x9 ... alrighty
---
Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 3x6
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x10
---

Squats 105kg 3x9 for your multi-angle (3) endorsement.

After watching first set felt I cut them a bit high. Third set was a bit too deep and lost tightness.

Otherwise just the usual satisfying struggle with gravity & the associated raw primeval urge satisfied for another day.

BossArky

Tuesday November 22nd: Squat Day 10

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 3x7
---

Used the non eleiko for Squats and noticed it slipping down back due to less intensive knurling. Must swop the eleiko back in from tomorrow onwards.

Stole a march on DOMS and got the above Squats done less than 24 hours after yesterdays. They were ok. Slightly fatigued but powered through them nonetheless. Went a bit more highbar than usual for greater depth. Forgot to video though.

BossArky

Wednesday November 23rd: Bench Day 1 of 12

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 6x6

Face Pulls (band)
5 or 6x10
---
DB Bench Press
20kg - 3x10

Lat Pulldown (super wide grip)
63kg - 3x10
---
Barbell Curl (mini BB)
30kg - 3x8
---
One Arm DB Row
20kg - 3x8

DB Shoulder Press
12.5kg per arm - 3x10
---

New Bench cycle - day 1 of 12 on 80kg 6x6. Will jump 5kg per session and 5kg per mini cycle... so on day 12 I'll peak on 105kg 6x3 (i.e. 5kg up on last cycle).

Got a serious pump with the DB and Lat Pulldown stuff afterwards in complex mini gym. Don't usually visit there but it was good for variety today to mix things up.

BossArky

Thursday November 25th: Squat Day 11

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
125kg - 3x5
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x6
---

Skipped Deadlifts today to give SIJ a break and also 'cos tomorrow is the last day of this Squat cycle.

Below are the 3 videos of the worksets. 125kg 3x5 is 10kg under my best ever for that set & rep scheme. Should get this up soon in the coming months ahead of comp in early 2017.

BossArky

Saturday November 26th: Squat Day 12 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x2
135kg - 3x3 ... alrighty on the lower body, achey on elbows with low bar
---
One Leg Stiff Leg Deadlift
40kg per side - 1x5
50kg per side - 1x5
60kg per side - 1x5
---

Squat cycle ended pretty handily with 135kg 3x3. As per comment above it was fine Squatting the weight up, just elbows got a bit of a battering with the low bar position. Quite enjoying this high frequency 4 day a week Squat progression.

Will reset and peak 5kg heavier in 3 weeks.

BossArky

Sunday November 27th:

Bench (paused, closer grip than usual = pinky on rings)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 6x5

Face Pulls (band)
band - 6x10
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x6

Overhead Press (DB)
8kg per arm - 3x12 ... light pump stuff
---
Barbell Curl
30kg - 3x8
---

Day 2 of 12 bench. Brought grip in slightly (pinky on rings) for variety and to load triceps a bit more. Handy.

BossArky

Monday November 28th: Squat Day 1 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 3x9
---
Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x5
110kg - 3x6
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x7 ... with 10 reps on last set because YOLO
---

BossArky

Tuesday November 29th: Squat Day 2 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 3x7
---

Easy Squat day.

BossArky

Wednesday November 30th: Bench Day 3 of 12

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x4

Face Pulls (band)
6x10
---
Arnold Press (standing)
8kg per arm - 3x12
---
Rev Fly/Y Raise... or something
8kg per arm - 3x5 or 6
---

Was out playing a gig last night so slightly hungover. The mission today was survive.

BossArky

Friday December 2nd: Squat Day 3 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x5 ... easy & worked on rebound
---
One Leg Deadlift
40kg - 3x5
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x6
---

Squats were easy after taking a day off yesterday. Worked on trying to drop it quicker than usual and getting a rebound.

BossArky

Saturday December 3rd: DEXA #6

This morning I had my 6th DEXA scan in the past 13 months. Results were spectacular which I'll put down to:

-finishing a really stressful work project and thus sleeping better and having less stress hormones floating around
-starting to walk 5km most weekdays as a roundtrip to work
-squatting 4 days per week
-training 6 days per week
-adding in ab wheel roll-outs and chins ups (both twice a week)
-taking care of diet (less coffee, less bread, more meat & veg)
-supplementing with magnesium, iron and some valerian herb for sleep assistance
[/LIST]

In the past 12 weeks the progress was as follows:

Total Body
- Muscle Gain: 4.908 kg
- Fat Loss: 2.1kg

Read those figures again. Incredible! I've gained almost 5kg of lean muscle and lost over 2kg of fat in 12 weeks. Feeling pretty good about training based upon those stats. Weighed in at 83.8kg (over hydrated) before Dexa.

Trunk
- Muscle Gain: 3.369 kg
- Fat Loss: 1.581kg

Legs
- Muscle Gain: 1.132 kg
- Fat Loss: 0.319kg

Arms
- Muscle Gain: 0.512 kg
- Fat Loss: 0.089kg

Everything (total, legs, trunk, arms) are at their biggest ever in terms of lean muscle mass. Also surpassed my own personal target of 60kg of total lean muscle mass by getting up to 61.692 kg lean. Bodyfat is 22.8% once you factor in the 3.027kg skeleton.

Pretty happy.

BossArky

Sunday December 4th:

Bench (paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 6x3
**add slingshot**
100kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x3

Face Pulls (band)
band - 6x10
---
Chin Up
bodyweight - 3x7

Overhead Press (DB)
8kg per arm - 3x15 ... light pump stuff
---
Barbell Curl
30kg - 3x10
---

Bench was ok. Elbows a bit achey from the Squat volume.

Added reps to Chin Ups, Overhead Press & Curls.

BossArky

Monday December 5th: Squat Day 5 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 3x9
---
Deadlift (conventional)
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
120kg - 3x6
---
Abz (barbell roll-out)
3x8
---

Squats were ok. Deadlifts felt particularly easy.

BossArky

Tuesday December 6th: Squat Day 6 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x7
---

Some quick Squats before a 5km walk taking in a stop off at the office.