Experimenting with programming

[CommanderFun]

12/20/2022

Deadlift 415x5 @ 9.5?
Squat 205x5x3 @7
Lat Pulldown 165x10x3

Not a good day. Rating that deadlift set was hard. It felt like I was totally sapped of energy afterward, and the squats were just sluggish as hell. Started to feel my mood drop out and depression creep in, so I capped the squats off at 3 sets. I did at least manage to complete the last pulldown set, but I still feel like absolute shit even 2 hours after the workout.

[CommanderFun]

12/22/2022

Bench 235x5x5 @9
Strict Press 127.5x5x5 @8
LTE 90x10,10,7

Bench felt hard, but still got it done. The VERY last rep felt a little iffy so I'll call it a 9. Pressing afterward was also made harder by the fatigue from the bench. Still managed to add a rep to the LTEs, but not 2 reps like I'd been managing previously. All in all, I'll probably manage to bench 240 next week for the same sets and reps, but it might be a limit workout or at least very close. Not sure how tomorrow is gonna go, my back is still pretty zapped.

[CommanderFun]

12/23/2022

Squat 255x5x5 @8
DE Deadlift 315x1x15
Pulldown (Supine) 200x10,10,5

Squats were hard but manageable. Though the last rep felt a little off in form, the fact is usually at that point 2 more reps can be ground out at increasing nastiness, so I'll call this an 8. Back was very fried afterward. Decided to see how DE Deadlifts went over. I'm curious if this'll leave me a little fresher to attempt a solid 425x5 next Tuesday. Pulldowns still not really performing, I don't know if that's just from always having some kinda heavy pull right before them or what. I'll probably just not do them at all next week and instead try 5 sets on rows next week to cap off the training year. Think I'll try DE work for the light workouts for squat and bench next week too. I'm curious what effect it will have, if any.

[CommanderFun]

12/26/2022

Weigh-In: 299

Press 150x5x5 @10
DE Bench 185x3x10
Barbell Curl 80x10x3

Got the press PR I was looking for, and managed to do well on the curls too. Good start to the last week before cutting. Tomorrow is hopefully gonna yield the deadlift PR.

[CommanderFun]

12/27/2022

Deadlift 425x5 @9.5?
DE Squat 225x2x5
Pulldown (prone) 170x10,10,6

Got that deadlift 5 rep PR I was after. I only did half as many DE squats as I'd wanted, I was running late thanks to waiting forever to get a rack. It'll be nice not having to deal with that in the coming months, though the dumbbell rack crowd is even worse. A lot of shitty people who don't understand first come first serve as a rule it seems.

[CommanderFun]

12/29/2022

Bench 240x5x5 @9.5
Strict Press 135x5x5

Got the bench PR, think I might've even been able to grind out one last rep. Also decided to slap on the belt for the strict press, and to do 135 just because. Hard to do after that bench workout but I did it. Didn't bother to rate it at all. No LTEs today, elbows are feeling kinda beat up. Now I just have one last ambitious PR for the year, 275x5x5 on the squat. No sleeves.

[CommanderFun]

12/30/2022

Squat 275x5x3
Barbell Row 210x5x3

I was hoping for 5 sets on the squat, but I guess 20 pounds from last week was way too ambitious. Technique was breaking down on the end of set 3, and I wasn't about to risk an injury again. Gym was also hot as hell today. Wasn't really ready for that. I'm done with this log for now, but I'll probably go back to it in the future. I was pretty satisfied with this programming, but I still feel like lower body programming needs more work somehow.

[CommanderFun]

6/5/2023

Weigh-In: 276.2

Bench 205x5x5 @7
Pause Press 115x5x5 @7
Pulldown (supine) 215x5x5 @6

Back to low rep work. This time it's gonna be low rep sets for just about everything, even accessories. Heavy/light for the main lifts, mainly using variants for the light work. "Pause press" is a strict press with a pause at both lockout and at the bottom. Pulldowns were a very light start, I'm sure I had plenty left in the tank. I called it a 6 but really I have no way to reliably rate sets lower than a 7. Even 7 and 8 are hard to say with certainty.

[CommanderFun]

6/6/2023

Weigh-In: 275.8

Barbell Row 205x5x5 @7
Leg Press 385x5x5 @6
Calf Press 335x20,13,10 (43 total)

Tried rowing with straps, as per a recommendation I saw Andy Baker make. I think I got the benefit he claimed I would. The very top of the movement felt more like it was relying on shit in the upper back rather than something in the forearms. The leg presses felt hard, but I knew I had a shitload of reps in the tank, so I just called them a 6. No way for me to guess how many more I actually could've done. The calf work I'm keeping as a rest-pause exercise, since it's worked strangely well this way, and it's a time-saver.

I'm trying organizing the lower body work entirely into light vs heavy days, instead of each lift heavy and each lift light on alternate days. I've seen some people report that they run into less fatigue issues doing their heavy squats and heavy deads on the same day, whereas doing each on different days they seem to suffer. I know the upper body programming I'm using worked really well for me before, so I'm keeping it that way for the most part. It's the lower body stuff I'm gonna be playing around with trying to get right.

[CommanderFun]

6/8/2023

Weigh-In: 275.4

Strict Press 125x5x5 @7
Pause Bench 185x5x3 @6
CG Bench 165x5x3 @6
Barbell Curl 85x5x5 @6

So instead of just one variant bench for 5x5, I'm doing two different ones for 3x5. I'm liking the difference, and I feel the close grip hits a lot of the overhead pressing muscles well. Definitely feel the upper chest/front delt from it. Also decided to try curling for 5x5, for the hell of it. I can already hear some hypertrophy enthusiast's head exploding. Wonder how far I can get with it.