Toro Moving West(side)

[Torobestia]

12/23/12

DE UPPER

Some PVC rolling of the upper body, upper/lower back + 3 lat angles. No other prehab or warmup done

SPEED BENCH (+60lb bands)
175-9x3
Great reps, but trashed my triceps in the process. My middle grip reps were slow, though, actually.

FOOTBALL JM PRESS
95-10
115-10
120-9,9

NAUTILUS PULLOVER
140-10
175-10
210-10
230-9,8

YTW
10-6,6,6

DC BICEPS
50-10,5,3-18 rp
Big negatives

REVERSE CURLS
140-20

 

[Torobestia]

12/25/12

ME LOWER

SSB SQUATS
155-5
245-3
295-3
335-1
385-1
405-1
425-1 <-- PR +20lb
440-0

ELEVATED REVERSE LUNGES
Couldn't do any. Had zero balance even with bodyweight

GHR
BW-10
+25-8
+35-6,6,5

D-HANDLE PULL-THROUGHS
120-10
150-10,10,10

What a great day. Heh, you can tell I got way overambitious on the ssb squats and attempted a 35lb PR on them. As I descended I felt a little relaxation on the box, and when I tried to explode it was just zero, and I started folding in half. It broke the point of no return, so I dumped it. Still felt great. Really sucks about the reverse lunges, don't know what my inability to do a lunge is about, so I went ahead and murdered my glutes and hammies.

 

[rob112]

Is it both legs on the lunges? Since I started doing a lot of bilateral assistance work I've noticed major differences in balance on each side.

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[Torobestia]

Is it both legs on the lunges? Since I started doing a lot of bilateral assistance work I've noticed major differences in balance on each side.

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Yeah man. Any time I try to do lunges I just go all over the place, and I can never stop the descent in time to prevent my knee from crashing to the ground. Honestly if my knee continues to crash to the ground, I quite frankly will not be seen doing lunges ever. I don't want to have arthritis in my knee at 30 years old or earlier from doing some stupid exercise that nobody cares about and that could easily be replaced by something else to push up my squat. I have been doing lots of other unilateral work, like split squats and stepups. That's why I don't know why lunges give me such a hard time.

 

[Rodja]

Have you had many ankle injuries/sprains in the past?

 

[rob112]

Yeah man. Any time I try to do lunges I just go all over the place, and I can never stop the descent in time to prevent my knee from crashing to the ground. Honestly if my knee continues to crash to the ground, I quite frankly will not be seen doing lunges ever. I don't want to have arthritis in my knee at 30 years old or earlier from doing some stupid exercise that nobody cares about and that could easily be replaced by something else to push up my squat. I have been doing lots of other unilateral work, like split squats and stepups. That's why I don't know why lunges give me such a hard time.

Ah that sucks. I wouldn't do them if I was gonna risk hurting myself as you say. Squat big and then get hurt for a lunge(even though it's a good exercise).

Interesting what question by Rodja bc I myself have sprained my ankles a ton of times since two of my hobbies when I was younger were basketball and skateboarding. Guess these things can come back to bite.

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[Torobestia]

Have you had many ankle injuries/sprains in the past?

I've had some playing baseball back in high school and dicking around in college, but I don't think anything out of the ordinary (like a skater might have).

Ah that sucks. I wouldn't do them if I was gonna risk hurting myself as you say. Squat big and then get hurt for a lunge(even though it's a good exercise).

Yeah, I've always understood them to be a pretty good exercise and many's favorites for accessory leg work. It's also weird considering last year I was able to do jumping lunges totally fine. But even with no weight in my hands, if I try to do traveling lunges, or reverse lunges, as soon as my foot leaves the floor and travels it's like it has no idea where to go, and the next thing I know I just crash on the floor.

 

[Torobestia]

12/26/12

ME UPPER
REP DB PRESS (plus fatgripz)
100-11,10,10-31 <-- PR +2 reps

EZ SKULLCRUSHERS
87-6
97-6
107-6
112-6

FOOTBALL INVERTED ROWS
BW-6
40-6
60-6,6,6,6
70-4

LATERAL RAISES superset NEUTRAL GRIP PULLUPS
20-8 // 7
30-8 // 7
35-8 // 5
40-8 // 5
Stopped rep or 2 shy of failure on pullups.
Last set of lateral raises I used a lot of body english, lol

PINWHEEL CURLS
60-14

Phew, what a workout. Those db benches were brutal. Almost felt like I was going to tear a pec on the last set of them (flared elbows towards the end, lol), but I managed to lock it out. Last rep I did lift my ass off the bench when I blasted them off the chest, but I put my ass back on the pad. Also, almost had 12 on first set, so I went ahead and included my last "cheat" rep (#10) as a real rep in my total count.

 

[Torobestia]

12/28/12

DE LOWER

SAFETY BAR SQUATS (+120 bands)
210-12x2
Real fast

SPEED DEADLIFTS (+108 chains)
365-8x1
Mostly fast, a couple slow

STEPUPS
50-10
60-4x10

DC LEG CURLS
180-10,4,3-17 rp
big negatives

 

[Torobestia]

12/31/12

ME LOWER

BOX JUMPS
-Box on small side - x7
-Box on base - x7
-Box on tall side - x7

5 PIN RACK PULLS (+quad blue bands, ~200lb tension)
135-5
185-2
225-2
275-2
315-1
335-1
355-1
365-1
390-1 PR

DB LUNGES
30-6
40-6
50-6
70+20lb vest-4
80+20lb vest-4
90+20lb vest-2

Shut it down when form started to get messy. I guess I have to somewhat stretch out the big toe to allow it to achieve greater ROM. Lunges went very nicely for once. No crashing at all, did it at most twice, once on each knee on diff sets. Pretty happy with it. Will go in tomorrow for a small workout hitting my hammies. Glutes feel totally trashed though, haha. That rack pull was between 590 to 600lb at the top.

 

[Torobestia]

01/02/13

ME UPPER

Foam rolled everything

BENCH
135-5,3
185-3
225-3
265-1
285-1
305-1
315-1
325-+1,+1 <-- more on this later, not really a strict rep

INCLINE DB BENCH
70-6
85-6
95-6,5

ROLLING DB EXTENSIONS
40-6
45-6,6
50-6
55-6

**giant set**

REVERSE PEC DEC // PULLUP // CHINUP
135-10 // 2 // 3
x3 sets

Well, I went into this workout totally bullheaded. I was working on a new stance with my feet. All my (short) lifting life I've benched with my feet behind me. A few people told me that I would probably benefit from benching with my feet out in front of me, so I decided I should play with this. I did it for the first time this Sunday during my DE - it sucked. I come in today, and working up in weight I decide I want to try for a new 1RM. So stupid. The 315 was actually fine, which was cool. Not as good as last time (it was super light last time), but it went up fine. The 325 on both attemps I had zero leg drive, so it was a struggle getting it up. My spotter gave me a bump in the middle both times, and I locked it out on my own, however it was not all me, therefore I can't call it a 1RM. I never call something a true rep unless it's good form and I complete it (exceptions on good form made for my accessory work). I may think about retesting this in a few weeks, going for the same weight. We'll see.

 

[Torobestia]

01/04/13

DE LOWER

SSB SQUATS (+120lb bands)
230-12x2

DEADLIFTS (+108lb chains)
395-7x1

DB STEPUPS
50-10
60-4x10 <-- really challenging, was doing it on a taller box

LEG CURLS
180-10,8,8
180x6 dropset 120x8 dropset 80x6

NEUTRAL PULLUPS
8,8,8,6
None to failure

Several ab work

 

[Torobestia]

01/06/13

RE UPPER

REVERSE PEC DEL FLYS
105-10,10

DB BENCH
60-5
75-5
90-5
100-5
105-5
110-5,5,5,4

DIPS
BW-10
25-10,10,7
Christ, lol

VBAR PUSHDOWNS
90-10
100-10,15
Last set to failure

BANDED PULLUPS (purple band but green colored)
8,7,7,6

Great session. Only problem is I had no food in me, and I felt like throwing up somewhere after my first set of VBAR PUSHDOWNS. Also, I am starting to hate step-ups real bad. It's my conditioning, but I feel like I might as well do squats with sets of 20 it's so hard. My upper back, forearms, and hands burning and really tired after my sets, and I am huffing air like it's going out of style.

 

[Torobestia]

01/07/13

ME LOWER

Lots of pvc rolling, 2 sets x20 of KB swings for warmup

SSB GM
155-5
205-3
245-3
295-3
315-3 +10lb PR <-- form was real funny, hit all the right muscles but didn't want a 3rd attempt

SUMO SLDL
135-6
225-5
275-5
315-5
365-5
405-5 <-- +20lb PR

SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE + DOUBLE LEG CALF
15/20, 15/20

ROPE AB CURL
120-15
140-12,12

Another serious session tonight. Almost missed the 5th rep on the SLDL. Hip cramped up real bad after 4th rep of that set. Set the bar down, brief stretch, and bent over and hit my 5th rep alright. God, the feeling of the ham insertion into the glute - on both legs it was murdered.

 

[Torobestia]

01/09/13

ME BENCH

BENCH (wanted to do slingshot, somebody took it!!!)
135-5
185-5
225-3
255-3
275-3
295-2 <-- went up way too aggressively, ****. No failure but was a total grinder

TATE PRESS
35-6
40-6
45-6
50-6,6
55-6,6

TRICEP PUSHDOWNS
230-8,8
230x8 dropset 195x8 dropset 150x8 dropset 100x10

BB ROWS
225-6
275-6
295-6
325-6,6,6

SEATED CABLE ROW
240-8,8,8

Some single rear delt work + hammer curls + abs

Aw man, I almost feel sort of bad for my bench this session. I had such an incredibly awesome session if only I had unracked that 295 well and had actually loaded less on the bar. ****! Everything else went great. Those BO BB rows were CAKE!

 

[Sean1332]

dude those bb rows are impressive

 

[Torobestia]

dude those bb rows are impressive

Thanks man. I was really surprised by how easy I completed those. Maybe good things coming up when I test my deadlift.

On the other hand, perhaps it was the large pizza and cheese sticks from last night =o

 

[Torobestia]

01/11/12

DE LOWER

SSB SQUATS (+120 lb bands)
245-4x2
255-4x2
Started high, backed it down when technique started tanking/slowing so early

SPEED DEFICIT PULLS (+108 lb chains)
315-10x1
Real nice, but real hard to get into position

DB STEP-UPS
60-4x10 (weight per hand)
Absolutely trashed my lungs and traps and quads, couldn't go another set.

DC LEG CURLS
185-10,3,4-17 rp
nice negatives, huge PR for me.

No ab work. I did do some RKC planks this morning.

I don't normally litter my logs with personal info, and I won't stray too far with that on this occasion. I guess this is a way to allow myself to vent a little. I received some very bad news from someone I care about. They've been struggling with an aggressive form of skin cancer, and just recently they were diagnosed with melanoma that's metastatic. We'll see what that really means for her and what her prognosis is + what we can do about it. I might have to go black market for her if it comes to it, but I'll do everything I can. It's a real shock for such news to come. It's still too soon for her to go, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Torobestia]

01/13/13

DE UPPER

SPEED BENCH (doubled red bands, tension unknown)
135-3x3
165-5x3

FOOTBALL JM PRESS
105-10
115-10
125-10
135-10,8

NAUTILUS PULLOVER (extended range of motion)
175-10,10
200-10
220-9

SINGLE ARM PULLDOWNS
80-10 <-- way too heavy, had to back it down
70-10

ROPE AB CRUNCH
120-15,15,15

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT FLYS
40-50 reps

Gassed.

 

[Torobestia]

01/14/13

**DELOAD ME UPPER **

FREE BELT SQUATS
90-10
135-10
165-3x10

REVERSE HYPERS
135-3x10

GHR
3x15

Abs + calves

Simple, fast, sweating buckets. Also overused some of my lumbar erectors I think, that or this is more work than they're used to. At least my back feels more than fine now after my workout.

 

[Torobestia]

01/19/13

RE UPPER

SLINGSHOT BENCH
225-10
275-8
295-6
Technique work
225-6,6
265-6
245-6

EZ BAR SKULLCRUSHERS
87-10
97-10
107-7

LAT PULLDOWNS
150-10
180-9,9,8

DB ROWS (strict pulling against body)
70-10
80-10,10

OJ BAND PULLAPARTS
30,30,30

This was a fun session, being my first one back from deloading. Obviously I cut my deload short a day, but it was to have an off day before squatting. Benching with a slingshot was cool as ****. So much fun. The bad thing though is that I did not wear wrist wraps for the technique work - BAD IDEA. I'm paying for it today - my wrists hurt tremendously, mostly my right one (left one is actually not bad).

 

[Torobestia]

Oh my goodness, I had a total embarrassment of a lifting session today. I contemplated just saying that I didn't even go lift today it was so bad.

Anyways, it's been about 5 months since I've done some serious free squats. Today, I decided to see where I was with those.

Throughout my sets, my squat groove was better than it has even been my entire life. Foot placing was great, the spreading of the knees was solid, chest was solid, everything not just looked but felt great. That was with 135. Toss on another plate each side, same story. I moved up to 315, easy-peasy. Then came 405.

All I can say is if I were an Elite FTS athlete, and had they captured my lift on camera, they would have proceeded to upload it to the website's exercise index, post it on the front page and facebook page, and labeled it "perfect, textbook form arch-back Good Morning." It was absolutely horrifying how bad that "squat" was. The worst is I tried to correct the form and engage the lats properly, and still I did the same thing except I was stapled. Sweetlou will have a laugh if he even reads this. Goes to show the raw lifter just simply cannot let his free-squat training slide.

Anyways, on to the log:

01/21/13

ME UPPER

FREE SQUATS
135-5,5
225-5
315-3
405-1,0

DB LUNGES
50-6
60-6
65-6
70-4

4" SNATCH GRIP DL
185-5x5

BACK RAISES
50x

ABS

EDIT: before I started conjugate training, I had worked up to 405 for 5 brisk sets of 5, and 425 for 3 brisk sets of 3, FYI

 

[Torobestia]

01/23/13

ME UPPER

BENCH
135-5,5
185-5
225-3
275-1
295-1
315-1
325-1 <-- +5lb PR
Matched PR, but better form than last time, so this is a real rep

SSB JM PRESS
155-6
185-6
205-6,6
225-5

TRICEP PUSHDOWNS
230-8,8,8,8

BO ROWS
295-6
335-6,6,4

FACEPULLS
100-15
120-15,15

Felt good this session. I'm starting to get a little bit better leg drive with the bench. I just have to set up so my legs are as flared out as they can be, mobility wise. This allows me to actually be able to flare my knees. This is opposite of how I set up with the squat, where the narrower my stance is the more I can flare my knees.

 

[Torobestia]

01/25/13

DEADLIFT DAY

Warmed up with PVC rolling and then 2 sets of KB swings x 20

DEADLIFT
135-5
225-5
315-5
405-1
455-1
495-1
535-1,1 <-- hitched on first set, was advised to redo it since it was both easy for me and to set the tone for my max attempt
565-1 <-- +10lb PR

GM
155-5
205-8,8,8,8

GHR HYPERS
BW-10
25-10
45-15,15,15

VGRIP LAT PULLDOWNS
200-12,10,9

What a fabulous session. I smashed that deadlift with perfect form. Felt psyched. Only issue is I need to seriously improve my leg drive and my speed. Although I NEVER have issues pulling the bar off the floor, once the bar clears the knees it is taking way too long to lock out. This lift took me about 6 solid seconds minimum to complete. Something to work on.

 

[rob112]

Congrats on back to back pr's man

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[herderdude]

That's one hell of a pull. Congrats on two PRs in one week. That's an awesome feeling. How do you do the SSB JMs? I can't picture it.

 

[Sean1332]

That's one hell of a pull. Congrats on two PRs in one week. That's an awesome feeling. How do you do the SSB JMs? I can't picture it.

lol I've even wondering the same thing about the SSB JMs

Nice lifts man, hopefully I can catch up to you here

 

[herderdude]

lol I've even wondering the same thing about the SSB JMs

Nice lifts man, hopefully I can catch up to you here

Hey, you know what they say about great minds...

 

[Sean1332]

Hey, you know what they say about great minds...

that other people have them???? haha I kid

 

[Torobestia]

Congrats on back to back pr's man

Sent from my iPhone using Am.com

That's one hell of a pull. Congrats on two PRs in one week. That's an awesome feeling. How do you do the SSB JMs? I can't picture it.

lol I've even wondering the same thing about the SSB JMs

Nice lifts man, hopefully I can catch up to you here

Thanks guys. Looking forward to keeping this progress going.

As for the SSB JMs, I begin by taking the handles off of the yoke bar so that it becomes what's sold as a SSB. When I'm on a bench, I lower the bar like a CGBP, tucking elbows, when eventually the handles land on my chest. Once that happens, I basically allow the bar to pivot on my chest towards my face. To reverse, I just extend my arms until the handles are completely vertical, then I press it back up.

 

[herderdude]

Hmm . . . Sounds like you can really overload the movement doing it that way. Very interesting.

 

[Torobestia]

****, I've let this log slide. I've still been working out, have no fear. My laptop has had issues so I'm having it serviced. I might be able to make a post tonight, we'll see.

 

[Torobestia]

Well, I had been sick for a while and out of the gym. This is my first week back besides 1 workout last Thursday.

I had been doing box squats in place of free squats since July or August, whenever this log began. This was actually in large part a way to keep squatting/working out while addressing the severe pain I had developed while free squatting over the late Spring/Summer of 2012 in my hip. It's gone now. But anyways, before I tested my free squat max, I did some Safety Bar Squats with 325 for 3 brisk sets of 10 during a deload, which made me think I could handle a good amount of weight on the free squat. I was wrong - I only hit 405 for a really bad single. But the point of this is to say that I'm back to doing more free squatting.

In terms of upper body updates, I've really started to develop a decent groove with pronated pullups. Still needs work, but my back feels great after them, and my shoulders don't hurt at all. I hit a bench of 325 last month, which made me happy. This was without having my ass come up.

Last 2 workouts below:

02/14/13

ME LOWER

SQUATS
145-6
235-5
285-3
325-1
375-1
395-3x3 <-- last rep on first two sets were cut short, but still counting for now

CAMBERED BAR GM
205-8
245-4x8

STANDING SL HAM CURL
75-8
90-8,8,8,8

superset with NEUTRAL GRIP PULLUPS
8,7,7,7,6

ROPE AB CRUNCHES
150-10,10 <-- got headache, so I stopped these

I am glad I hit 395 for sets of 3. I cut the last rep of the first two sets short (high), but it was mostly due to poor form on the descent. My hips didn't go back like they should have, and instead I just dropped down. The first two reps were beautiful, and deep. My last squat set I nailed well.

 

[Torobestia]

I decided I should really do more repetitious work (not to be confused with volume) for my bench. I could use more work on my technique and explosiveness, which suck ass. I'll just be flipping around between RE and DE days, with DE devoted to either speed or ballistic bench.

02/17/13

DE UPPER

BALLISTIC BENCH (index on rings)
135-3
165-7x3

JM PRESS
135-6
146-4x6

TRI PUSHDOWNS
230-8,10,10

BANDED PULLUPS
4x8

SEATED CABLE ROWS (2x D-handles)
220-12,11+1,9+3 <-- cheating on last rep of 2nd set, last 3 reps of 3rd set

BAND PULLAPARTS and stuff

I had a most interesting session today. I was talking with a few of my buddies at the gym, and they started talking to me about ballistic benching. I remember reading some about it, but I never did have a great idea of perform or incorporate it. We all agreed it would be great for me to throw it in. Man, it was a bitch. I love it, though. I wish I had done this earlier. I'm glad I am doing something like this, because I really need more explosiveness off the bench. Anyways, the idea is to lower the bar as fast as possible and reverse it without touching your chest. It's pretty hard to do, actually. Everything else went well. Chest was fried after the bench, and triceps felt like tearing/exploding from the JM presses.

 

[Torobestia]

02/18/13

DE LOWER

Super Squat Pre-workout, then rumble-rolled ITB, adductors, and hip flexors. Peanut for the meaty hamstring/adductor junction

BOX JUMPS (heights unknown atm)
short side-7x
medium side-7x
tall side-7x
tall side + 25lb bumber + 1" mats-7x

TALL BOX STEPUPS (hips well below knee)
BW-8
30lb-4x8 <--taxing, mostly on right leg
40lb-8 <-- highly taxing, both legs but mostly on right

CALF RAISES superset HANGING AB RIPPER
35,30,25//12,11,12

GHR
15,15,10

What an interesting session. In line with my upper body session, I did some box jumps to change things up a bit with my routine (which what a great time considering the many days off) and work on my neurological conditioning, especially for squats. Worked on bending legs, flaring knees out, and fully extending my body by lift-off. Really got the hang of it towards the end. However, the height of the box really pushed/taxed me. Everything in the upper thighs were lit up. The really deep step-ups were very humbling for a guy who has done upwards of 70-80lbs per hand for stepups off a similar-sized box for sets of 6. Did GHR to nail in the volume/work for my hamstrings. I didn't fail at 10, but I could feel I was going to be pushing too hard so I called it quits. Happy with this workout.