Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[Michael Wolf]

Bench Press
325x3, 350x2, 365x1, 255x9
DB CDLs
Sets of 5 @20, 30, 40, 50x3 sets
Notes: Added weight to the bench sets (and 1 rep to the backoff) and still moving fast and easy.

Press: 4" belt (loose)
210x5x4
Goblet Squat
25x8, 35x8, 45x8x3
Notes: Presses don't feel crisp, like my bar path groove is just slightly off, but they're moving just fine.

365x1 and 210x5 press on IG

Lat Pulldown (neutral grip)
210x8, 225x8x3
Paloff Holds
4 sets, made these slightly heavier
Notes: Added a rep to the pulldowns, finally getting a little challenging, though my rest periods have been short. Basically trying to prevent these from becoming too easy, too soon, just to keep me looking forward to a challenge, since this is already the whole stack.

Tricep Rope
3x12 @11 13, 13 - added one more to the stack here (15 is maxed out). Still pretty easy but just starting to get a bit challenging, a little less so than pulldowns.

[Soule]

It went from 95 to 45 overnight here in Austin, so today was a perfect day for an early wake-up and workout so I can catch a flight later.

Happened here last year on the same weekend in october. I recall walking back from acl on sunday night sweating my ass off and when i woke up monday in the 40s. This year, friday night was quite chilly at ACL, but Guns n’ Roses was fucking awesome!

[Michael Wolf]

Was under the weather Tuesday, not outright sick but enough to make me think training would've set me back. It was still lingering yesterday so held off till today. Felt OK today, not 100% energy but no problems. I did my upper workout as scheduled, and will make up as much of Tuesday's work, tomorrow, as I can.

Press: 4" belt
230x2, 235x2x2 @6.5-7
175x10 - beltless
Cocaine DL
45x3, 135x3x5
Notes: Presses were decent today. Still don't feel perfectly in the groove, but moving fine. Feels like 235 would be a very hard, but not 100% all out maximum, set of 5 right now, which puts me in a pretty good place. I believe my all time best for 5 is 260, and I did a very hard 250x5x5 last December, IIRC. So I'm not quite back there yet, but pretty close.

Bench Press
305x5, 325x5x3
Goblet Squat
25x8, 40x8, 50x8x3
Notes: Just added 5 to Monday's goblets. Bench added 10 lbs and went from 2 sets at 20 lbs lighter (i.e. 295x5, 315x5x2, 295x5) to only the one lighter set, and then 3 at the heavier working weight. Next week I'll move to sets across but just add 5 lbs, and do 330x5x4. I first did 335x5x5 in 2014, so this is somewhat old territory, but it's moving faster and easier now as it's a ramp-back-up weight, not a new max as it was then.

Lat Pulldown: Neutral Grip
165x10, 180x10x4
Paloff Holds
4 sets
Notes: Was going to do 8s on the pulldowns but realized I was already doing 8s on the "heavy" day with the full 225 stack, so didn't make sense not to do 10s here at 180. Got a little challenging by the end, but not too bad.

DB LTEs
30x10, 40x10, 45x10, 50x10
Cable Ext Rotation
2x10 @2
Notes: Was going to do LTEs but the sole EZ curl bar was being used. Womp womp. Just estimated the DBs. Should've used the 50s for the last 2 sets, not just the 1, but no biggie in the grand scheme.

[Michael Wolf]

WHEW today was a long one. Truth be told it was about what my usual Monday and Friday workouts were like for most of 2018, but it's been so long since I've trained anywhere near that long that it felt like a marathon and drained me, even though squats and pulls were light. I feel drained afterwards too, but in a good way, like I'm finally putting in some real work again.

I tried to make up for as much of Tuesday's missed workout as I thought was reasonable, considering I'm going to turn around and train again Monday/Tues next week so didn't want to make up everything rep for rep and pile all that on in one day. But I made up most of it, and think I'll be good to go for next week as well.

Front + High Bar Squat
135x5, 185x3, 225x3, (also did a 135x3 front squat back off just to work the rack position)
High Bar Only
275x3, 315x3, 335x3!!!
DB Standing Press
60x8, 70x8x2
Notes: Well, this was interesting; my back has been a little irked all week after last weekend's travel to and from California. Nothing terrible, but a little irritated. And that included today, doing ADLs like cleaning my apt, walking the dog, etc... But when it came to the gym, it felt good and I ran with it just a little. I was tempted to go to 365 but held it at 335 and it was fine and easy.

Something I've noticed is that sometimes the way my back feels in general is highly correlated to how it feels at the gym, and other times not at all, in both directions. So it's hard to predict, which means no matter how it feels the rest of the day, I need to pay a lot of attention to how it feels as I warm up.

As far as DB press, this was super easy but between doing all my upper body assistance in one day and realizing that I forgot to do these last week, I just added 5 lbs and didn't add any reps. 70x10x3 would've been fine, but not sure I would've been able to get everything in and recover for Monday if I did that. No biggie, I'll be popping out the 90s for 10s before long.

Cocaine Deadlift / Deadlift
135x3, 225x3
DL
315x3
Cocaine DL Backoffs
185x3, 135x3
DB Bench Press
95x10, 105x10x2
Notes: Back still felt great after squats so went to 315 and all good. Interestingly, the only thing that I was worried with my back was putting back the 105s, as it requires reaching in an awkward manner. Seems OK. I need to remember to do it one at a time, which mitigates the issue.

Cable Row
185x10, 200x10x3
Leg Press
185x8, 275x6, 365x6, 455x6, 495x6, 545x6
Notes: Technically a leg press PR, only cause I never did them till recently* and never ran them up heavy. 545x6 is still easy, and ya, no one cares about your leg press PR. I don't think I'd have an issue doing 675 or 725 right now.

* I did them waaaaay back in the day 2005-2006 before I started squatting below parallel - but I also didn't do my leg presses with proper ROM so don't count that at all.

DB Curls
40x10, 50x10x2, then one set 30x15 super strict.

Assault Bike
15/45 x8
25/65 x4

All this took a little shy of 2.5 hours. My Monday and Friday workouts were typically 2-3 hours for much of last year, with MUCH heavier deadlifts and upper body work, but no squatting or leg pressing. Interesting how draining this was after being away from those kind of challenging workouts for so long. Felt good to really do that kind of session again. Now tacos.

[Michael Wolf]

Interesting example of the topic I referred to last entry, needing to pay attention to how I feel very closely when I get to the gym and start warming up: today I felt totally normal doing my normal morning routine etc...but when it came time to train, felt very lethargic and everything felt heavy, ached a bit, etc.... It's odd, and everything also moved fine, but definitely felt very blah. Glad it was a routine ramp-back-up day and not a day to push new limits.

Bench
345x3, 365x2, 385x1 @6.5-7
265x10
DB CDL
A bunch of sets @ 20, 30, 40, 50
Notes: Bench felt heavy but moved well. The 365 double was probably the best set, but only caught the 385x1 on video, still pretty solid.

Press: 4" belt
215x5x4
Goblet Squat
BWx10, 20x10, 40x10, 50x10x3
Notes: Just added 2 reps to the goblets at the same weight, from 8s to 10s. Press was fine. Warmed up with 45x10, 95x8, 135x5, 185x2 and then went right to 215x5, whereas usually I'd have done 95, 135, 165, 195 - so the first set was a little weird, and my quads cramped like crazy for some reason. Was all fine after that.

385x1 bench and 215x5 press on IG

Lat Pulldown (Neutral Grip)
190x8, 225x8,8,8,6
Paloff Holds
4 sets
Notes: Did an additional set at 225, for 6 reps. Will do 8s across next week.

LTEs
90x10, 110x10, 115x10
Cable External Rotation
2x12

[Michael Wolf]

Cocaine DL/DL: 45x5/5, 135x5/3, 185x5/3, 225x3/3
Deadlift: 275x3, 315x3, 365x3 (3"belt)
Cocaine DL Backoffs: 135x3x3
+
DB Standing Press
60x10, 70x10x2
Notes: Shot up from 315 to 365 since my back was feeling good today, went fine. On DB Press, held weight steady but moved up from 8 to 10 reps this week. Plan for next week is to move to 75x10 for all three sets across.

365x3 DL on teh gramz

Leg Press
185x8, 295x8, 385x8, 475x8, 515x8, 545x8x2
Cable Row
180x10, 195x10, 210x10x2
Notes: Held weight steady on leg press as well for the top set, but did 2 sets of 8 instead of 1 set of 6 there. Still not that hard, but I have to focus somewhat now, can't phone it in.

Assault Bike
25/65 x9

DB Strict Curls
30x15, 35x10x2
Plank
30, 35, 35s

[Michael Wolf]

Press
235x3, 245x2x2 - 4" belt
185x10 - beltless
Goblet Squat
55x10x3
Notes: Presses went OK, not great. Both the heavier sets and the backoff felt heavier and moved slower than I anticipated. They went OK, but just OK and not great. But that happens sometimes, so just moving on.

Bench
330x5x4
Cocaine DL
135 x 3-5 reps x a bunch of sets
Notes: Bench, on the other hand moved great. Took about 5 mins rest, so I am resting longer and more fully now than I have been with the previous lighter re-ramping weights, but that included a set of cocaine DLs in between.

Press and Bench on IG

Lat Pulldown (Neutral Grip)
180x10, 195x10x3 - moved up one notch heavier, same reps as last week.
Paloff Holds - 3 sets

DB LTEs
40x10, 50x10x2
Cable Ext Rotation
3x10 @2

[Michael Wolf]

High Bar Squat/Front Squat: 45x5/, 135x5/5, 185x5/3
High Bar Squat: 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 345x3, 365x3 (3" belt and rehbands)
Front Squat: 185x5
Notes:Jumped 30 lbs from last week, and felt easier if anything. My back didn't feel quite as great as last Friday, but it felt pretty good and squats (and deads later) didn't make it any worse. 365x3 makes me pretty happy right now.

Deadlift: 3" belt
405x3
DB Bench Press
105x10x3
Notes: Jumped from 365 to 405 for DL from Tuesday , felt fine. Did some cocaine DL warmups and back-offs. DB Bench same weight and reps as last week, but for one additional set.

Cable Row
225x8x3 - whole stack. Pretty easy.
Plank
35s x3

DB Alt Curls
45x8, 55x8x2

Assault Bike
15/45x10 (74 calories)

[Michael Wolf]

Had to move everything up this week due to travel and a family event this weekend that will preclude lifting on Friday. Since I otherwise never train on Sunday, I almost forgot and got to the gym just in time to finish everything before closing.

Bench Press
365x3, 385x2, 405x1
275x10
Goblet Squat
55x10, 60x10x2
Notes: Definitely felt the lack of the usual full weekend rest here, but bench moved well enough even if not quite as speedy. Without looking it up, I don't remember whether the last time I did 405 was summer or spring, but it's been a while, at least a few months. Felt good to be back in 4 plate land. No belt or wrist wraps yet, either, though now that I'm back at 405, I'll start to use them again soon.

EDIT: Just looked it up and I did two singles at 410 almost exactly 4 months ago, 6/28. Definitely feels good to be back in that range again, and surpassing it soon.

Press: 4" belt
215x5, 225x5x2, 215x5
DB CDL
25x5, 35x5, 45x5, 50x5x2
Notes: Wanted to move up to 225x5x4 but given the one day less rest, did 2 sets the same as last week and 2 more at the newer weight. Quads cramped for the 225 sets, but otherwise all good.

405 bench and 225 press on IG

Lat Pulldown (neutral grip)
225x8, 235x8x2, 225x8x2
Paloff Holds - 4 sets
Notes: Moved up in pulldowns - all sets with the full stack, and the middle sets with all of the additional weights possible to add, so I'm maxed out. I could be stricter, I suppose, or go with a tempo to increase difficulty without going to high reps, but I'm out of weight to add.

LTEs
90x10, 110x10, 120x10
Ext Rot
2x10 @2

[Michael Wolf]

High Bar Squat: 3" belt
135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 355x3, 385x3, 405x1
Notes: It's been so long since I squatted that I'm still trying to find the right place for my belt. That said, I'm super stoked that have done 405 again, even if high bar. Maybe especially if high bar, considering the greater difficulty in lifting the same weight.

385x3 and 405x1 on IG

Cocaine DL
135x5x2, 155x5x2, 175x5x2, 135x1 with a 10 second hold
DB Press
75x8x3
Notes: I had planned on 75x10x3 pressing but with the day less rest and the 225x5 barbell press sets from the day before, I was feeling it. So went up the 5 lbs, but did 8 reps.

As far as DL, I have been adding weight to a top triple in the DL twice a week. I'm moving that to once a week - so once a week I'll squat and cocaine DL only, the other day I'll do regular DLs and leg press.

Cable Row
195x11, 210x11x2
Plank
35, 40, 35s

DB Strict Curls
35x12x3

Assault Bike
25/70x9, 86 cals