BWare's Intermediate Training Log

[Bruce Ware]

2/23 Session 9-1

Bench Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3

Working sets:

155 x 8 x 3; felt heavy and solid, like a set of 8's should feel

DB Incline Bench -- 95 x 10 x 3
DB Decline Bench -- 95 x 10 x 3
Standing DB Bicep Curls -- 60 x 12 x 3
LTEs -- 72 x 12 x 3

Some light core/ab work

Duration: 1h+00m

[Bruce Ware]

2/24 Session 9-2

Deadlift

warm-ups:

135 x 5
225 x 5

Working sets:

265 x 8 x 3; 5 mins rest between

Box squats: 165 x 12 x 3
Lying Hamstring Curls: 75 x 12 x 3
Seated BB Calf Raise: 165 x 20 x 3

Duration: 1h+05m

[Bruce Ware]

2/26 Session 9-3

Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5

Working sets:

105 x 8 x 3; 3 minutes inter-set rest

Incline Side DB Delt Raise: 25 x 6 x 4 each side
Arnold DB Shoulder Press (H): 75 x 6 x 3
Arnold DB Shoulder Press (L): 35 x 20 x 3
Incline Seated DB Bicep Curls: 60 x 10 x 3

I had programmed to do Tricep CG Bench Press, but elected to skip it for this session.

Duration: 1h+10m

[Bruce Ware]

2/28 Session 9-4

Squat

Warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3

Working sets:

300 x 8 x 3; 5:30 rest between sets.

Leg extensions -- 80 x 12 x 3
BB Rows -- 160 x 12 x 3
Chin-ups -- 6 x 3
Shrugs -- 200 x 20 x 3

Duration: 1h+15m

This completes my week of 8's; next week is 5's.

[Bruce Ware]

3/1 Measurement Sunday

Weight: (spot) 200.6 (-0.2); (week avg) 198.9 (-1.0); (long-term avg) 200.5 (+0.1)

Lean: (spot) 180.4 (+ 0.8); (long-term avg) 179.6 (+0.1)

Fat: (spot) 20.2 (-1.0); (long-term avg) 20.9 (no chg)

Yields an est. BF of 10.4%.

Eating 88g P, 200g C, 108g F for 2130 kcals. Two non-eating days, Wed and Thu, undergoing prep for and execution of colonoscopy - another decade of clean innards! But I wasn't allowed to eat anything for a day and a half, and that really impacted my consumption numbers.

Body-part measures continue within normal limits of variation. We do have 3 of the last 4 points on the Lean mass chart above the 1-sigma line; one more point above that line next week signals a Rule 3 process shift on that metric, so we'll have to see if the week's eating and training push that lean mass number to the trigger.
--

This week starts the 5-rep sets week.

Session 10-1, Bench

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
155 x 3

Working sets:

175 x 5 x 3; 4 minutes rest between sets.

Incline DB Bench Press: 100 x 10 x 3
Decline DB Bench Press: 100 x 10 x 3
Standing DB Bicep Curls: 75 x 12 x 3
LTEs: 74 x 12 x 3

Duration: 1h+05m

[Bruce Ware]

3/2 Session 10-2, Deadlift

warm-ups:

135 x 5
225 x 5

Working sets:

295 x 5 x 3; 4 minutes rest between sets

Box squat: 175 x 12 x 3
Hamstring Curls: 75 x 12 x 3 each side
Seated BB Calf Raise: 175 x 20 x 3

Duration: 1h+00m

[Bruce Ware]

3/4 Session 10-3, Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
75 x 5

working sets:

115 x 5 x 3; 3:30 between sets

DB Side Delt Raise: 25 x 6 x 4 each side
Seated DB Arnold Press (H): 80 x 6 x 3
Seated DB Arnold Press (L): 40 x 20 x 3

Duration: 0h+55m

[Bruce Ware]

3/5 Session 10-4, Squat

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3

Working sets:

325 x 5 x 3; 5.5 minutes between sets

Leg extensions: 80 x 12 x 3
Chin-ups: 6 x 3
Shrugs: 210 x 20 x 3

Duration: 1h+00m

End of my week of 5's; week of 2's coming. I've dropped some accessory exercises to begin making time for conditioning work -- rowing on the ergo for 1K sprints.

[Bruce Ware]

3/8 Measurement Sunday

Nothing special to report; no pending signals of process shifts in any major metric, although Lean Mass might be a few weeks away if current trends continue.

Total weight - (spot) 201.2 (+0.6); (week avg) 199.8 (+0.9); (long-term avg) 200.6 (+0.1)

Lean -- (spot) 181.6 (+1.2); (long-term avg) 179.8 (+0.2)
Fat --- (spot) 19.6 (-0.6); (long-term avg) 20.8 (-0.1)

Yields a BF est of 10.4% (no change from last).

Eating avgs for week -- 142 g P, 313 g C, 103 g F for 2750 kcals per day.

All part measurements are stable within normal limits of variation.

This week begins my 2-rep week. Bench will be first up this afternoon.

[Bruce Ware]

3/8 Session 11-1, Bench Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
175 x 3

working sets:

200 x 3/1/1; 5 minutes between sets; was aiming for 2+AMRAP on set 1, got 3 reps in good form, but second rep on set 2 only got to about 80% up and I could not get lock-out, and second rep on third set only got to 50% up. I gave both failed reps a very solid 5+ second grind, but both wound up on the safety stops anyway. Indicates I'm just about right on target for what I theoretically ought to be able to bench at this stage.

I dropped a bunch of accessory exercises to make time for working out on the rower, but I kept one exercise to support upper body strength --

BB Row: 170 x 12 x 3

Rower: 1K, one time, took about 4:30 to row it and developed an average of about 155 watts during the session. I need to increase the number of 1K intervals from one - I'd like to aim for 4 or 5 with 5 minute rest periods between. I need to reduce the amount of time it takes to row 1K to about 3:30. And I need to increase the power of my stroke to at least a number of watts equal to my body-weight (200). So, I'll be adding in rowing work on upper body days (day 1, day 3) and on rest days (day 2, day 5), and still give myself a full 2-day "weekend" to recover. That will last at least until the start of rowing season, when I get back on the water - late April, I guess. I have my work cut out for me.