Legit Linear Progression

[francesco.decaro]

BW 93,5kg

Squat - 127,5kg
Bench - 98kg (x3) - YouTube
Deadlift - 170kg
Chins 3x6,6,6

I did a night shift, finished at 7am, slept till 12. Didn't get much food in me, plus still no creatine.

Squats were ok, 4 minutes rest

Bench was a bitch. 1st set was ok, I used a spotter. 2nd set I did 3 or 4 reps, can't remember.
3rd set I couldn't even unrack it for some reason, eventually I managed to do it and did 3 reps. So my guess is that the load is not the problem, my lack of rest and food is. I will try 99kg on Monday, hopefully with a spotter, and see how it goes. If I still fail, I'll go down to 3x3.

Deadlift was also a bitch because of the hook grip. I guess I forgot how to do it right. At the end of the day I figured it out and did 7 reps total.

I also threw some chin-ups in, just for fun.

[francesco.decaro]

BW 92,9kg

Squat - 154kg
Press - 69kg (4+1, 3+1+1, 4+1)
Clean - 80kg (FAIL)


Squats were good, but I'll ask for a form check to be sure.
Press was tough, there was a douchebag next to me that I got distracted by, but I did 15 reps after all.
Clean was shit. I did a few reps, failed some others. I was tired sure, but I think it's mostly psychological. Or it could be form creep.

[francesco.decaro]

BW 93,3kg

Squat - 130kg
Bench - 99kg - YouTube
Deadlift - 172,5kg (x3) - YouTube
Deadlift - 172,5kg (x2) - YouTube

Ok so stress is starting to accumulate, between cutting my calories and muay thai training. So my bench is now going to be 3x3 from now on, in order to continue progress, hopefully.
Deadlift was heavy, so I did 3+2.
I'm kinda fucking around this summer, I know, but as long as I put weight on the bar I'm happy
Still no creatine

[francesco.decaro]

06/30/2022

BW 93,5kg

Squat -156kg - YouTube
Press - 70kg (x3) - YouTube
Power Clean - 80kg (x2) - YouTube

I didn't have high hopes for this session. I've been pretty social in the last few days, which means drinking, smoking, not eating or sleeping enough, but nothing extreme. Still, between this and the hot weather I knew I would've been weaker.
BUT, I managed 3 sets of 5 on the squat and it looked good, rest was about 11 minutes.
But the squat probably took the most out of me, so I decided to lower the volume on the presd and clean.
I did 3x3 on the press, resting about 8 minutes.
And I did 4x2 on the clean. I feel like I still had some strength, but for some reason when I put 80kg on the bar I just fuck it up, so I just wanted to get confident lifting the weight and switched to 2s instead of 3s, and I was able to do it.

I'm not gonna be able to follow the program properly for the next month, I got a 5 day vacation and immediately after that 4 night shifts in a row.
So I will try to adjust my sessions in order to keep the progress going

[francesco.decaro]

BW 92,7kg

I had to workout today instead of tomorrow for reasons.

Squat 132kg
Bench 100kg
Deadlift 175kg


Squats were fine

Bench wouldn't even unrack. I tried multiple times in different ways, but the only result was elbow and arm pain. I tried 90kg for 3 sets of 5 but I was too emotional and tired so I did one and let it go.
Deadlift was heavy, so I did 5 singles with about 1 minute in between each rep.
This is obviously a lack of proper recovery. As I said, the whole month is gonna be like this, I'll be skipping a few workouts, the heat here is really hard to manage, I'll do 4 night shifts in a row. So my goal is pretty much to maintain my strength and not let my bodyweight get too low.

[francesco.decaro]

BW 91,5kg

Shitty workout session today.
I did some light squats with 132kg
Bench press was awful, my arms hurt, had a hard time unracking the bar, the bar was tilted. I don't know what the hell happened.
I was too tired by the time I had to deadlift so I only did a couple reps.
I weighted myself after my shower and I was 91kg. So I would say my "cut" is over.

I will stop doing muay thai, do a deload on all lifts, and go back to a regular M-W-F schedule starting next week, with light and heavy squats alternating, and adding chin-ups as soon as I need to.
I will take the next 3 days to rest and eat more, also take creatine again.
Unfortunately next week I have another 5 day vacation, but it should result in only one workout missed. After that I have 4 night shifts in a row but I will still do my Friday session.
Hopefully after that I'll be able to keep my progress going, although the gym will probably be close in mid-August.

[J. Killmond]

Bench wouldn't even unrack. I tried multiple times in different ways, but the only result was elbow and arm pain. I tried 90kg for 3 sets of 5 but I was too emotional and tired so I did one and let it go.

I've taken to benching in the middle of my squat warmups, before the heavier squat sets. If I finish my squats first, my arms are too tired to do a heavy bench. This probably is because my squat form is placing too much stress on my arms, but I still want to improve my bench while I'm trying to fix my squat form, so for now I'm finishing my bench before the squat.

[francesco.decaro]

BW ~92kg

Squat - 150kg
Press - 65kgx4,4,4,3
Clean - 75kgx5x3

Squats were ok, slowed down noticeably on the 5th rep though.
Press was really heavy, but I think my form has simply been worsening in the past few weeks. I throw the bar in front of me instead of immediately back and up. Even with a lighter weight (I was supposed to do 68kg), I couldn't do 5 reps. So I decided to go for 15 total.
Cleans were shit too. This is also a technique issue, because the weight has no problem coming up, it's the jumping and racking timing that's causing the problem. I also deloaded from my supposed workout load (78kg down to 75kg).

I am thinking of getting a private session with Steve in Bruxelles, but I can only go from September. Until then I am on my own.
Also, gotta eat more.
And remember to take creatine, although I am leaving for a 5 day vacation on friday.

[francesco.decaro]

BW 91,5kg surprisingly

Squat - 130kg
Bench - 88kg
Deadlift - 165kg

Squats were ok, always working on my knees first.
Bench was light because I wanted to figure out what is wrong with it. And by filming myself from the front, I found out that I kinda lean towards my left, so the bar is tilted in that direction. I've tried to fix it but it's really hard to make everything symmetrical.
Another big problem is the leather bench which doesn't allow me to press into it with my back because I slide. I try to fix this by putting some chalk on the bench, seems to work a little bit.
Deadlift felt heavy enough but I managed 5 reps, with a hook grip and a belt

[francesco.decaro]

BW 92,5kg

Squat - 152kg
Press - 66kg
Clean - 77kg

Squats were not ok this time. Felt heavy. Rest was more than 10 minutes. Didn't hit depth on some reps.

Press was heavy to, I did 3 sets of 4 and then 5 singles where technique definetely felt better.
Cleans were still shit, I'm gonna have to revisit technique for good.