Chebass88 gets stronger day by day.

[Tim K]

Alternatively: no.

Heretic!

[Chebass88]

Monday, May 1, 2017

Moving weights up & down. Repeat.

Military Press: 95x5, 135x3, 155x2, 175x2, (195x3)x8

Curls: 100x8, 115x8, 130x6

DB Press: 45s x 12, 12, 12, 8

Time: 56 minutes
BW: 268.5lb (watch it, chubbs!)

This was a decent session. I didn't time my rest between sets at all as I forgot my stopwatch at home. BW is higher as a result of my wife's birthday this past Friday and eating like an asshole all weekend. I'm enjoying doing the DB presses. They need to be much more precise in form than the barbell press does. I wonder how doing them heavy (instead of sets of 10-12 with ~1 minute rest between sets) would impact the press. There are so many awesome lifts and so little time to get them done.

Stay strong, people of the internet.

[Chebass88]

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Today is an excellent day to be alive.

Squats: 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 365x1, 405x3, 455x5, 425x3; PR - 5RM (for HBBS-hybrid squat, ties LBBS PR)

Rows: 135x5, 225x8, 245x8, 280x8

Leg Press: 3PPS x 20, 20

Decline situps: BW x 10, +15lb x 5

Time: 59 minutes
BW: 267.5lb

Heavy squats are fun. I've finally caught up with my LBBS maxes, which means upcoming PRs won't require any asterisks - they will simply be PRs. Something was off in the set of five - the walkout / setup felt a little weird, which made all of the reps much more difficult than they needed to be. Whatevs - I got all five reps done. I've also been using a shitty valsalva, and allowing it to release on the way up in the squat. This isn't good, and must be fixed.

I've been using the 5/3/1 progression for squats, and it seems to be okay thus far (6 weeks in). One change I've made the past two weeks is to switch the second and third sets. I'd rather get an extra rep or two at the heaviest weight if I'm able.

Keep lifting heavy!

[Chebass88]

Thursday, May 4, 2017

The press is a damn fine lift.

Military Press: 135x5, 155x2, 185x2, (200x2)x8

X-wide pullups (34" between index fingers): 6,5,4,4,4 (alternated with dips)

Dips: (BW x 8) x 5

Time: 54 minutes
BW: 268.0lb (with jeans on)

Today is a great day to be alive. As I mentioned a few weeks back, some changes are expected in our little gym at work. A group of people (who do NOT look like they lift) were wandering around the gym, putting little colored tabs on various pieces of equipment. Allegedly, it was in the name of "facility efficiency improvements". Amazing. Two of the guys from the gym's management were with them, and told us it was nothing to worry about.

The style I've been using is to add a rep every session, for a total of two per week. I've been doing it by adding reps to each set, to turn doubles into triples. Would progress be equivalent if I added set(s) and focused on perfect doubles? I'm going to test it out with presses this month, and make sure to keep my rest periods crisp. The total work load and intensity per time would be the same, just done via a slightly different set & rep scheme.

Stay strong, people of the internet.

[Chebass88]

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Another fun day in the garage.

Deadlift: 245x5, 335x3, 425x1, 475x1, (520x2)x12

Time: 56 minutes
BW: NM

I thought it would be easier to do twelve doubles instead of eight triples. It wasn't. Twelve sets feel like they go on forever. But, like anything else, one set at a time, and then next thing you know - the work is done. And next week is max testing week. YEAH BUDDY!!!

On a separate note, when I did a meet back in May 2013, I pulled 520 as my third attempt deadlift, for a new PR. And now it is a relatively easy training weight. WINNING!!

And yes, now it is time to make some homemade pizza. I'm also making onion & poppyseed sourdough bread. This fat kid knows how to eat.

[George Christiansen]

Stupid of me not to have asked this a few moths ago when I started stalking you, but does something like (185x3)x8 mean eight sets of 3 with 185lbs?

[Chebass88]

Stupid of me not to have asked this a few moths ago when I started stalking you, but does something like (185x3)x8 mean eight sets of 3 with 185lbs?

Yes indeedy. I thought it would be the most direct method of notating reps & sets. There is a convention, but it is still difficult to interpret in some logs.

[Chebass88]

Weight x reps x sets. Always. If BW, reps x sets. AMRAPS go at the end.

That some people insist that it MUST be written a certain way is more justification to use my own method and be consistent.

[Chebass88]

Consistency is critical.

[Chebass88]

Monday, May 8, 2017

In the world of the bro.

Military Press: 135x5, 155x2, 185x2, (200x2)x8, 200x1

Curls (strict): 105x5, 140x6, 120x5

DB Presses: 45s x 3, 55s x 3, 65s x 3, 75s x 3, 85s x 1 (one arm at a time), 45s x 14

Time: 65 minutes
BW: 266.0lb

I'm continuing the experiment of adding another set instead of adding reps - it worked out okay, but it helps to be very strict with rest times (I wasn't). I also learned I need to keep the 95x5 for the first set of presses. At this point, 135 is a little too heavy to be done as a first set. I messed around with the DB presses, due to not feeling like doing sets of 12.