4/26/20
Heavy day today:
Squats - 305 x 3 x 5 - solid
Swiss Bar Bench (wide handles) - 145 x 3 x 5 - felt great
Barbell Rows - 80 kg x 3 x 5 - needed a week off from deadlifts
This was a fun session in the basement with Cali. I’m happy my squats are still moving. Taking two days off after my heavy days has definitely been helping.
4/24/20
Medium day:
Squats - 270 x 3 x 5 - very solid
Swiss Bar Bench (medium handles) - 135 x 3 x 5 - embarrassing weight, but it didn’t kill my shoulder so I’m going to stick with it
Power Cleans - 77 kg x 15 x 1 every 1:15 - Rep six or seven felt like shit but they got better after that
Overall a good session. I’m going to stick with the Swiss bar for benching for a while. It’s not like I was moving any kind of good weight anyway. I might as well not destroy my shoulder and have it affect all my other lifts.
4/22/20
Light training day today.
Squats - 240 x 3 x 5 - super easy
Press - 125 x 3 x 5 - starting to get heavy but still solid
Lat Pulldowns - 90 x 12, 13, 13, 12 - I need to do these more because they always feel good.
Great session. I took a couple hours off work right in the middle of the day. Good decision.
4/19/20
Heavy day today. After squats, things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Squats - 300 x 3 x 5 - rock solid
Bench - Did not happen. My right and pec and shoulder felt like cucka poopoo.
Deadlift - 395 x 1 x 4 - Tried for a fifth rep but barely budged it. Time for a week off from doing heavy pulls.
Mace work with the Shoulderok. Just some 360s back in the sunshine. These actually felt much easier than anticipated after not doing them for six weeks or so.
Definitely wore out a muscle in my right lower back but nothing to be worried about. I’m sure a week away from deadlifts will heal it up.
4/17/20
Medium day today:
Squats - 265 x 3 x 5 - easy
Close-Grip Bench - 200 x 3 x 5 - may have messed up my right pec here
Power Cleans - 75 kg x 15 x 1 every 1:15 - these felt really good
I may need to take some time off from benching for this pec. It hurts like hell right now. Perhaps I will drop the close-grip bench and add in some mace work. My shoulders have been feeling like crap lately and I know the mace was good for their mobility. More to come.
4/15/20
Light day today. I took an extra day off after feeling fried by last Sunday’s session. I’ve been doing plenty of walking and stretching in the interim.
Squats - 235 x 3 x 5
Press - 122.5 x 3 x 5
Chins - 20 lbs x 5 x 4 (various grips), BW x 1 x 5 (supine)
This was a fun session and everything felt as it should and moved well.
4/12/20
Back to a heavy training day.
Squats - 295 x 3 x 5 - Got dizzy on the first rep of each set but finished everything just fine.
Bench - 210 x 3 x 5 - Felt solid.
Deadlift - 395 x 1 x 4 - I’m certain I couldn’t done five but my form was deteriorating and I was out of gas. I’ll get it next time.
This was a fun Easter morning session. Overall, I’m very happy with how things went.
4/10/20
Medium training day.
Squats - 260 x 3 x 5
Close-Grip Bench - 195 x 3 x 5
Power Cleans - 73 kg x 15 x 1 - When I was doing 5 x 3, my third rep was feeling like crap on every sit so I switched it to 15 singles. Did these on the minute, which worked out really well.
Awesome session in the basement. I’m very excited for heavy day on Sunday.
4/8/20
Light day today. I could still feel Monday’s workout a little bit but everything went smoothly.
Squats - 230 x 3 x 5
Press - 120 x 3 x 5 - felt easy
Chins - BW x 2 x (2,3,5), 3 x (2,3,3) - Did one set on the minute and changed the grip each time. This was tougher than it should have been.
Awesome session. Blasted some country music and enjoyed the nice weather.
4/4/20
Medium training day today.
Squats - 250 x 3 x 5
Close-Grip Bench - 190 x 3 x 5
Power Cleans - 71 kg x 5 x 3 - The third rep in most of these sets was not great and/or different than the first two reps.
This was a fun session. I can’t believe how solid my squats feel using the low bar position Starting Strength method. It’s night and day from what I had done previously.
3/31/20
Back to a Heavy day today. It felt heavy, but videos indicated that everything was still moving just fine.
Squats - 280 x 3 x 5
Bench - 200 x 3 x 5 - Shoulder didn’t feel awesome.
Deadlift - 375 x 1 x 5 - Felt like I got into my lower back a bit on the last rep but it didn’t look too bad on video.
3/25/20
Back to a Heavy training day today. Everything continues to feel very solid.
Squats - 270 x 3 x 5 - Not bad at all. Got the last set on video and it moved fast.
Bench - 195 x 3 x 5 - The wider grip is starting to feel much more natural.
Deadlift - 365 x 1 x 5 - This felt easier than I thought it would.
I did this workout at lunch today and it was a blast. Cali and Zeus both came down to workout and offer support. I’m so lucky to have my gym and these two sillies.
3/23/20
Today was a medium day and everything felt really smooth and solid. I’m still stuck working at home and it poured rain all day so I didn’t even get out to walk Zeus. I was ready to move by the time this afternoon rolled around.
Squats - 235 x 3 x 5
Close-Grip Bench Press - 180 x 3 x 5
Power Cleans - 67 kg x 5 x 3 - These felt like a mess last week but I really seemed to hit my stride today
Awesome session all around. So happy to have a home gym.
3/21/20
Walked one awesome mile with Zeus, ate some oatmeal, and got after it. Today was a light day.
Squats - 210 x 3 x 5
Press - 112.5 x 3 x 5
Chins - BW x 5 x (2,3,5) - 50 total reps of various grips
This was a great session. I felt awesome before, during, and after. I never knew squats could feel so good until I started using the Starting Strength method. I’m pumped to see where this goes. The rest of the day will be lots of walking around the neighborhood.
3/19/20
Working at home has me going a bit stir-crazy. I’m so grateful for my home gym. Today was back around to a heavy day.
Squats - 260 x 3 x 5
Bench - 190 x 3 x 5
Deadlift - 355 x 1 x 5
Great session. About three weeks ago, before the Starting Strength seminar, I squatted 260 for a set of five. It felt like shit and was tough. Today’s sets were a joke. I could’ve easily done 10 reps on the last set. That seminar changed my life. I’m excited to see where my squat can go.
3/17/20
Work was nuts today with all this COVID-19 crap going on so I was really ready to smash some weights by this afternoon. Today was a medium day.
Squats - 225 x 3 x 5
Close Grip Bench - 175 x 3 x 5
Cleans - 65 kg x 5 x 3
Squats and CGBP felt ridiculously good. The cleans are definitely going to take some work over some time. Excited for another heavy day on Friday.