Intensity B 7/30/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 3x225, 1x315, 2x335
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 1x185, 2x205
- Deadlift 3x225 (double overhand), 4x320 (mixed grip)

I'm so much mentally stronger when I'm not going for volume... I know that that's the day that really sparks growth, but I'll be damned if it doesn't kill me.

Squats were alright, but not perfect. Very happy about the PR in bench, since I've finally broken 200. And I'm always happy to crank the deadlift numbers.

Running augh 7/29/10

Used the treadmill and went a mile in 10:27 or so. Ramped up to 6mph in the first 2 minutes, kicked it up to 6.5 after 5 minutes, and then increased to 7 after 10 minutes. Wasn't destroyed, but was winded. 'Strong fail,' but it's the first time I've 'run' in a long time.

Did 6, 6, 8 in chinups afterward. 20 reps over 3 sets feels good man.

Texas Recovery B 7/28/10

- Power Clean 3x45, 3x95, 3x105, 3x115, 3x115
- Press 5x45, 3x95, 2x130
- Dip 5xBW, 5xBW+40, 5xBW+40
- Row 5x140, 5x140

This day is a mess. This week is a mess, honestly, thanks to missing last Friday. Anyway, maxed on Press because I think it's gonna become a thing - I'm planning to set Bench PRs every week now, so I'll just go for Press PRs on Wednesday and pray... Row looks good. Might be fucking up form or something but who gives a damn. Power Cleans are getting sketchy, so I'm dropping them and bringing back squats on this day. 2x5 will suffice, and I will indeed do them at a lighter weight - 5x285 just doesn't feel like a 'recovery.'

Cardio zzz 7/27/10

Used a different stationary bike today. I'm pretty sure it's easier. Anyway, same deal. HIIT, 18 on 42 off, 13 minutes, with 1 minute padding at the front and at the back. 5-mile time was 13:48; Total distance was 5.35. Total calories, if you can believe it was 97. Heart rate was around 160+.

Afterward, was wiped out and used the incline press for the first time. Did 5x75, 3x95, 3x115, 3x125, and finally 1x135. Could've done more on that last one, too. I think I'll work the incline press into my regular Tuesday workouts. Afterward, did 2x8 bicep curls with 35s. Still a pain in the wrist, but 'whatever.'

As a final note, there was an incredibly distracting amount of woman in the gym today. Made it really hard to gaze at nothing between sets.

Intensity A 7/26/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 3x225, 4x325 (last 2 reps bad)
- Press 5x45, 3x95, 4x125
- Chinup 9xBW, 5xBW

On the on hand, those last squat reps were terrible. On the other, the first two reps were great! Yeah, not great consolation, oh well. Presses are always trembly and shit because of the nature of the lift, but they're goddamn presses so I think they shouldn't be too bad.

The two chinup sets were to failure, because I missed Friday due to circumstances beyond my control, and I didn't make it up over the weekend. Augh. Going for recovery Tuesday through Thursday and PR in squat/bench/deadlift this Friday as usual.

Texas Recovery A 7/22/10

- Full Clean 3x45, 3x85, 3x95, 3x105, 3x105, 3x110
- Dip 6xBW+30, 6xBW+30
- Row 5x135, 5x135

Rows felt good. Don't think I'll be doing full cleans anymore, since I'm pretty sure I'm screwing up form somehow. Will try power cleans again next week. Dips were really hard, and I thought I was using more weight than I was. Feels bad man.

Was a day late on this but am still going for the Friday intensity.

'Cardio' stuff 7/20/10

More stationary bike work today. Went 5.28 miles, hitting 5 miles at the 14:09 mark. This means I improved by 1 second for the 5-mile time and 0.03 miles for total distance traveled since Tuesday. Lost track of calorie count but yeah.

Did 3x6xBW chinups afterward. I always feel like I cheat myself a little on volume day for chinups, and I felt up to it. Feels good to do higher-rep sets IMO.

Texas Volume A 7/19/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 5x285, 5x285, 5x285, 5x290, 5x290
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x170, 5x165, 5x165, 5x165, 5x170
- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 4xBW

The last two sets of squats were getting pretty sketchy, again because my lower back got real sore. I'm not sore today, which means I guess that it's not a form error.

I have grip inconsistencies on the bench. I tend not to have my grip absolutely symmetrical, and I think that's impeding my progress. The first set at 170 surprised me with with its weight, so I dropped it - and then at my fourth work set, suddenly, with the correct grip, I pumped those out with ease. The last work set at 170 was also relatively easy, meaning I'd been fucking up prior to that. Gotta remember to center the barbell in front of my eyes next time so I get the right grip! (I think a similar problem might've occurred for my PR, which wasn't quite as great as I'd hoped it would be.)

Not sure my chinups were perfect, honestly. They felt pretty good, though, and I almost made 25.

Aiming for some cleans and front squats on Wednesday to help out with the Press development and because I don't really feel like doing back squats 3x a week.

Texas Intensity B 7/16/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 5x315
- Bench 5x45, 3x135, 4x190
- Deadlift 1x225, 1x275, 5x305
- Chinup 8xBW

Pretty good day for me. Short and sweet. That last deadlift set was killer, though. Failed on one of them with left-overhand and right-underhand; had to redo that one at the end, a little bit after my set was technically over. Managed to get one rep with double-overhand, too, which is awesomely satisfying.

Cardio LOL 7/15/10

Did some stationary bike today. First minute was just getting going, and I did 15/45 second HIIT for thirteen segments. Got to 5 miles at the 14:10 mark and got 5.25 miles in total after 15 minutes. Burned ~103 calories according to the machine, clocking in a heart rate of around 150-160 throughout the session.

Chinups were too taxing today, so I did 2x8 bicep curls with 32.5 dumbbells. Hate the way it hurts my wrist at the top-ish. Probably using too much weight 'oh well.'

It's pretty late tonight, so I'm not sure I'm gonna kick ass tomorrow at intensity. I'll aim for 4x315 squat, 4x190 bench, and 4x305 deadlift. The squat and DL numbers would be PRs after only one rep each, and I need three to break a PR on the bench... I think I can do it.

Sleepin' for the hardcore.

Texas Recovery B 7/14/10

- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW
- Dip 5xBW, 5xBW+35, 5xBW+35
- Press 5x45, 5x105, 5x105
- Clean 3x65, 3x85, 3x85, 3x85

... I mean, I don't know if I was doing the cleans right, but I certainly tried for a few sets!

Decided not to go for 'redemption' on squats today, opting instead for complete rest, which I missed prior to the volume workout. After seriously pushing myself with chinups, dips were really tough, which means the press was in turn not the walk in the park I'd kinda hoped it would be. Still, 'feels good man.'

Preparing myself mentally for intensity day already. Looking for 3x315 or 4x315 for squat, 4x190 on bench (unlikely), and 4x305 or 5x305 on the deadlift. I'm already intimidated by the numbers - let's sleep on it!

Texas Volume B 7/13/10

- Squat 5x285, 5x285, 5x285, 5x285, 3x285
- Press 5x100, 5x100, 5x100, 4x100, 1x100
- Row 5x135, 5x135, 5x135, 5x135, 5x135

... Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I seriously need more time on my volume days to recover between sets. I think that's part of it, but there's no denying that during squats, my lower back was raping me. That carried over into the press, which I rushed after the first set was easy.

The rows are a nice silver lining to a day of multiple failures. I really don't know what the form is supposed to be on the rows anymore, so I'm just gonna assume I was alright there.

I think that I'm not entirely at fault for this, which makes me feel a little better. I had less time than usual to recover from the intensity workout on Sunday, and my workout was rushed. I think I'm going to stay at the office a little longer on Tuesdays from now on, and go to the gym earlier next Monday.

Tomorrow's going to be my 'recovery' day. I want to do 3x3 at 285 just to make sure I'm not a complete pussy, pop out that last set of presses, and then do my chinups for volume and two sets of dips.

So yeah, let's do this and stuff.

Texas Intensity A 7/11/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 1x275, 4x310
- Press 3x45, 1x95, 6x110, 5x115
- Deadlift 5x45, 2x225, 5x295
- Wide grip pullup 3xBW/Wide grip chinup 3xBW

Augh. Missed Saturday's workout. Playing catchup again.

Lots of good stuff happened today, though! Particularly pleased with the progress on the overhead, which looked like a lost cause two weeks ago. Next time I do intensity, I'm gonna look for 4x190 on the Bench, along with 4x315 and 4x305 on Squat and Deadlift, respectively. I'm very happy to be stepping into 3-plate territory on these guys.

Speaking of which, I'm looking at a modified week so I can catch up faster. I'm thinking of doing cardio on Monday, volume on Tuesday, recovery and cardio spread between Wednesday and Thursday, and intensity on Friday. It won't be a strictly 'by-the-book' week, but neither was this one, and Texas is all about personal freedoms, right?

Texas Recovery A 7/8/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 3x275, 3x275, 3x275
- Dip 3xBW, 5xBW+30, 6xBW+30
- Row 5x45, 6x125, 5x135
- Wide pullup 3xBW

I may never get stronger at the goddamn bent-over row. Pretty convinced my form sucked ass there. Otherwise, it was a pretty good workout. It's my recovery day, after all.

Which means that I'm gym-bound Saturday. Blah.

Cardio LOL 7/7/10

Started my workout today with 3 sets of 5 chinups to make up for yesterday. Hit them all, felt good. Tried wide-grip pullups after that, getting one and a half, and then two regular pullups right after that. Just when the chicks are walking in, too. 'Only the best.'

My thighs chafed on the stationary bike today. Went 15 minutes; Did 10 minutes at a moderate pace, logging 3.11 miles, and then five 1-minute segments of 20 seconds fast, 40 seconds slow. Ended up at around 50-ish calories burned; heart rate averaged about 140-160; traveled about 4.6-4.7 miles in total. But yeah, I'm gonna need those dorky compression shorts next week if I'm to continue doing this thing.

Afterward, did 2x8 of 30lb curls, which once again hurt my wrists.

Texas Volume A 7/6/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 5x280, 5x280, 5x280, 5x280, 5x280
- Bench 5x45, 5x165, 5x165, 5x165, 5x165, 5x165
- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, Failure

Hm, squats were probably not ideal in form. My lower back ached a lot during and between squats. The pain went away after my first work set benching. Will do another 5x5 at 280 next week, with a possible increase in weight if the first few sets go well.

The bench surprisingly got better as I went. I think it was mainly because on my first set, I forgot to put the damn weights on the left side. So I was a little frazzled. I felt strong doing it, though, and almost added 5lb on the last set but was too lazy. Probably a good thing, too, as I struggled real hard on that last set. I asked a chick to spot me for the first time on the last two sets. (I haven't required a spotter to help me on any reps this summer yet, 'hurray.')

Chinup... a few things. First off, I was in a major rush, so I didn't rest a lot between sets. Like less than 2 minutes, which is absolutely not enough for me. Secondly, I actually went all the way down. Thirdly, my consciousness was slipping away while lifting today, possibly due to heat but also probably due to needing more sleep (evidently 6 hours is not enough for me.) And indeed, the heat wave hasn't treated me well, either. Had to recover for a few minutes in the car before I felt safe enough to drive.

I also missed a workout yesterday due to Independence Day weekend, so I'm playing catchup by one day. I'll go Saturday for my intensity workout, hopefully.

Texas Intensity B 7/2/10

- Squat 3x45, 3x225, 1x275, 5x300
- Bench 5x45, 3x135, 1x155, 5x180
- Deadlift 5x45, 3x225, 1x275, 5x285

Solid progress on 5-rep personal records. Next week, four-rep personal records for Squat/Deadlift; hoping for a 3-rep personal record on Press... which, at this point, would be 115. Man. I suck.

Cardio LOL 7/1/10

So I went on the exercise bike today, again. This time I didn't go Tabata on it but rather tried to play nice. I rode it calmly for 10 minutes and then did intervals of 20 seconds hard, 40 seconds slow. Did that 5x, then did two more hard 20-second intervals over the next 5 minutes. For those of you keeping track, that's 20 minutes in total. My shorts tend to ride all the way up to my crotch during it, which is a bit awkward (and uncomfortable as hell.) Hated having to adjust it, especially since some chick sat on a bike right next to me, despite having tons of open bikes. There was also someone right behind me, which I discovered only afterward. 'Whoops.'

Calorie count said I burned about 130. Heart rate went from ~130ish to ~150ish consistently. RPMs were a solid 100 for the first 10 minutes, 140-160 during the faster segments, and 80-90 during 'recovery' time. Was quite hungry when I got home.

I tried inverse rows afterward but quickly discovered I was weak as hell. Being in the power rack is unusual enough at this gym, but I'm alright most of the time because I'm doing something manly that most people don't have the guts to do. This time I was failing at a weird body weight exercise and looked like an idiot, so when someone stared and I gave up at the third rep, I hightailed it outta there. Not part of The Plan (TM), y'know?

Texas Recovery A' 6/30/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x135, 3x275, 3x275, 3x275
- Dip 3xBW, 5xBW+25, 5xBW+25
- Row 5x45, 3x120, 3x120, 3x120
- Curls 7x(barbell)+6x27.5(dumbell), 8x30(dumbell)

Wrists hurt like hell during rows and some of the curls.

Did some soul-searching, and I decided that I wanted to squat 3x a week, period. Also, only doing deadlifts once every two weeks didn't sit well with me. So I've decided to ditch maximum effort days on chinups and dips in favor of combining my workouts.

Week A
- Monday (Volume): Squat, Press, Row
- Wednesday (Recovery): Squat, Dip, Chinup
- Friday (Intensity): Squat, Bench, Deadlift

Week B
- Monday (Volume): Squat, Bench, Chinup
- Wednesday (Recovery): Squat, Dip, Row
- Friday (Intensity): Squat, Press, Deadlift

This should cover my bases. It would be nice to make weighted chins an intensity lift, but I'll do those after deadlifts from now on. Same deal with dips. Gonna go for the bench tomorrow, though, since I'm pretty discouraged still about presses from last week, and it's been awhile since I've gone for a bench PR. Shooting for 3x190.