Bench on Thursday, Squats on Tuesday

Had a rough week.  My bench sucked last Thursday.  I think I was just pooped.

Thursday - 3/21/13
Flat Bench - 4 sets
95x10
135x6
195x2
185x4
165x8
165x8

Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 sets
55x8
60x5
55x5

Yeah, my chest was dead to me that day.

Weighted Dips - 3 sets
45x6
45x5
25x6

Went home, rested up and finally made it to the gym late Tuesday night to squat.

Tuesday - 3/26/13
Squats - 5 sets
135x10
185x5
265x5
255x5
255x5
245x5
245x5

Weighted Chins - 3 sets
25x6
25x6
25x6

Tuesday I was a wreck.  Got terrible sleep Monday night and then didn't even walk into the gym until around 8:30 at night.  I don't think I'm making excuses if I chalk up this shitty workout to those reasons.

Deadlifts!

Had an excellent session of deadlifts yesterday. Went quickly, and hit a new PR in reps at 315.

Tuesday - 3/19/13
Deadlifts - 4 sets
135x8
225x6
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x3 (Tried 5 again, but failed on last 2)

Bent Over Barbell Rows (from DL position) - 3 sets
95x10
135x7 (bad form)
115x8
115x8

Overall, I'm really happy with the deadlifts.  I think I'm ready to begin adding more weight.

Next is chest, then squats, and then finally some cleans again.  I'm hoping my wrist is healed by that point.



Also, I should note that over the weekend I did a few sets of neck raises and biceps.  Stuff I did in my bedroom, but nevertheless did it.

Some Squats and Chins

Tuesday - 3/12/13
Squats - 5 sets
135x8
185x6
265x5
265x5
265x5
255x5
255x4

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets
25x6
25x6
25x6
25x6
25x6

My left knee hurt while warming up for squats.  Once I finished warming up, the pain went away completely.

Chinups felt really nice, I actually think I could have done more reps earlier on.  The last set I struggled.

Bench takes steps forward and backward... simultaneously

Benched on Monday, I guess it's obvious from the title.  I made a go at 205, and it wasn't pretty.  I got it up once pretty easily, but on my 2nd rep I needed a little help.  Not to mention I thought my eyes were gonna pop out of my head from pushing so damn hard.  After 2 stinkin reps, I was shot.  I continued to do 5 sets of bench, but they were terrible.

The positive is that I jumped to 205!  The negative is that I only managed 1.5 reps, and used up every ounce of energy I had in getting those 1.5 reps.  Rest of the workout I was dragging my feet.

For better or worse, here are the sets.

Monday - 3/11/13
Bench Press - 5 sets
95x10
135x8
205x2
195x3
185x4
175x6
175x5

Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 sets
60x7
60x4
55x5

Weighted Dips - 3 sets
45x6
45x5
0x5

I left the gym feeling like a sack of shit.  Ate big, went to bed.  My goal is to bench 225.  In my mind it is a certainty that it will eventually happen.

Deadlifts!

It's been a while!  I ended up taking a few days off from the gym to rest my right wrist.  It was the right move.  Saturday I went back in and did some deadlifts, and felt much better.  Here are the sets.

Saturday - 3/9/13

Deadlifts - 4 sets

135x8

225x6

305x5

305x5

305x5

305x5

Bent Over Barbell Rows (from DL position) - 3 sets

95x10

135x7

135x8

135x7

The deadlifts felt great, but kicked my ass.  I was thoroughly exhausted afterwards.  The rows went well too.  

In other news, I went to a chili cookoff at a friend's house after the gym on Saturday.  My wife and I brought our 4 month old son, and we had a blast.  Ate tons of chili, everyone loved the cute baby, and really just had a lot of fun with our friends.  

Squats and some misc stuff

I'll start with the easy stuff first.  Friday I squatted.  Knee didn't feel good, but I went ahead anyway.  The way it's been working is that it hurts at first, but once I warm up I don't feel any pain whatsoever.

It followed that trend, and I managed 4 sets of squats, and then a few weak sets of chinups.

Friday - 3/1/13
Back Squats - 4 sets
135x10
185x5
255x5
255x5
255x5
245x5

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets
25x5
25x5
25x5
25x5
25x5

We usually do chinups on the smith machine bar, as it's a little thicker and works the grip nicely.  Unfortunately, it was taken so we were doing them on a smaller universal type machine that had some hand grips to chinup or pullup from.  I didn't like it.

Sunday, I was supposed to do the trifecta.  Clean, Press, Front Squat.  It didn't happen.  I went to the gym, tried 2 warmup sets of cleans, and instantly my right wrist was in pain.  Starting from the thumb side of my hand, going halfway down my wrist.  Even now, if I make a fist, I still feel that pain. Instantly knew I wasn't doing any cleaning, or anything with my wrists for that matter.

Instead, I found my friend John in a back room of the gym with his ipod plugged into the stereo system.  He was doing a semi cardio/sprint workout and I joined in with him.

We did 4 rounds of:

Hitting a punching bag
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Jacks
Jumprope

Only 30 seconds on each item.  Afterwards, I felt great.  My legs were still sore from Friday's squatting, so they were nicely on fire from the mountain climbers.  Plus, hitting a bag was the shit.

So there you have it.

Deadlifts and Rows

Deadlifted on Monday, and it was probably a bad idea.  My wrists were still sore for all the cleaning and front squatting, not to mention push pressing I've been doing.  With the wrists still sore, my grip was non-existent..  I tried going heavy, but I could barely hold 275lbs.  I cranked out 4 sets then moved on to rows, which also sucked.

Tuesday I did some flat bench, incline dumbbell press, and then some dips.  Did pretty well, but my chest was ridiculously sore the next couple of days.

Today I'm gonna go back squat, we'll see how it goes.  Knee is still a little iffy.  Here are my sets from the past few days.

Monday - 2/25/13

Deadlifts - 4 sets

135x10

225x6

275x5

275x5

275x5

275x5

Bentover Rows (kind of from the deadlift position) - 3 sets

115x8

125x7

125x7

Tuesday - 2/26/13

Flat Bench - 5 sets

95x10

135x8

195x4

195x3

185x5

185x4

175x5

Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 sets

50x8

60x4

55x5

Weighted Dips - 3 sets

25x10

45x8

0x15