Liftin' Solo in the Garage

Turk1976

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I've been lifting for a bit over 2 years and in that time I've managed to gain about 60lbs and my strength has increased tremendously (wasn't much to begin with).

I'm about halfway through my current training cycle and will be posting previous workouts so that everyone has an idea of where I was when I started this one.
 

Turk1976

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Went to my physician for blood work in Sept and found out I have a total testosterone in the low 300's but the doc didn't think it was that big a deal. He said to check back with him in 6 months and we'd talk about it again. :arg:

So I did some research and decided to try a PH for a cycle and see how I felt. Settled on Epistane pulse dosing over 8 weeks, with no dose going over 30mg and taking in on M/W/F. I take PCT Assist on the off days. My actual post-cycle will be to taper down the Epi, finish the PCT Assist and also use ETS from ALN.
 

Turk1976

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My training split is very straight forward. I lift M/W/F. I generally work up to a heavy single, double or triple and then do a back off set (or two). I finish up with some accessory work.

My time is pretty limited for the most part so I've focused on short and intense sessions.

My 1RMs at the beginning of this training cycle are: 305/215/315

Bodyweight at start is 208-210 in morning.
 

Turk1976

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Week 1 (Oct 11th thru 17th)

Monday
Squats
worked up to 250 x 1
220 x 5 x 2 sets

Paused Squats
190 x 5 x 2

Side Bends w/ Rolling Thunder Handle
red bandx x 20 x 2

Grippers
3 sets of 20

Wednesday
Bench
worked up to
175 x 1
155 x 5 x 2

Incline Bench
135 x 5 x 2

Pendlay Rows
115 x 8 x 3

Band Triceps
blue band x 30 x 2

Friday
Deadlift (no belt)
worked up to 250 x 1
225 x 3 x 2

Stiff Leg Deadlift from a 2in deficit
155 x 8 x 2

Grippers
1 set of 50 with ea hand

First week is pretty easy as it should be. Nothing to spectacular.
 

Turk1976

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Week 2 (Oct 18th thru 24th)
Monday
Squats
worked up to 265 x 1
230 x 5 x 2

Paused Squats
205 x 5 x 2

Treadmill Push
7 minutes

Grippers
3 sets of 10 w/ ea hand
1 set of 5 w/ ea hand with inverted gripper

Wednesday
Bench
worked up to 180 x 1
160 x 8 x 2

Incline Bench (started at the bottom)
140 x 5 x 2

Pendlay Rows
120 x 8 x 3

Friday
(out of town so I had to cut this one pretty short)
Deadlift
worked up to 270 x 1
225 x 5 x 2

Standing Leg Curls
whatever was on the stack x 8 x 3

Week 2 once again nothing remarkable. Definitely undershot on the weights and reps on almost everything.
 

Turk1976

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Week 3 (Oct 25th thru 31st)

Monday
Squats
worked up to 270 x 2
235 x 8 x 2

Paused Squats
210 x 5 x 2

Seated Crunches against red band
3 sets of 20

Conc Curls
1 pood KB x 8 x 3

Grippers
5 sets of 5 with ea hand

Wednesday
Bench
worked up to 185 x 2
165 x 8 x 2

Incline Bench (starting at the bottom)
145 x 5 x 2

Pendlay Rows
125 x 8 x 3

Friday
only had about 20 minutes to lift tonight
Deadlifts
worked up to 285 x 3 PR (+15lbs) :silly:
 

Turk1976

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Week 4 (Nov 1st thru 6th)
Monday
Bench
worked up to 195 x 4 PR +5lbs for 4 reps :)

Pendlay Rows
135 x 5 x 4

Grippers
bunches of reps and sets with random grippers

Conc Curls
1 pood KB done rest-pause
13 reps, and then 4 reps for each side

Wednesday
Squats
worked up to 280 x 5 (PR for 5RM, +20lbs) :)

Hise Shrugs
255 x 12 x 2

Grippers
random work again

Seated Band Crunches
2 sets of 50

Friday
Power Cleans
115 x a few reps x a few sets

Sumo Deadlifts
worked up to 335 x 2 PR, previous 1RM was 315 :)

Decided to test out my strength a little this week and see where I am. So far the weights have been pretty easy but these final sets were pretty tough. Everything is going very well. Will do a little more experimenting in the Garage next week and then get back to my regular programming.
 

Turk1976

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11/8/10
Squats
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
245 x 5
290 x 5 PR +10lb to 5RM :)

Bench
95 x 5
110 x 5
130 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5

Pendlay Rows
115 x 5
125 x 5
145 x 5 technically a PR

Grippers
semi-random stuff again
 

Turk1976

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11/10/10
Tendons in the left hand are acting up from the gripper work.

Squats
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
250 x 5 RPE-8

OH Press
45 x 5
70 x 5
80 x 5
115 x 5 RPE-8

Deadlifts
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3 RPE-9, PR for 3RM +20lbs, :)
Lost my grip on these b/c my hands were sweaty and I didn't use any chalk
 

Turk1976

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11/12/10

Squats
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 5
255 x 4
300 x 4 PR for 4RM RPE-9

Bench
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
195 x 5 ties 5RM PR RPE-8.5

Doing pretty well, but struggling to find the motivation and time to get into the Garage and lift. Which is pretty stupid considering how well things have been going. :sigh1:
 

Turk1976

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11/15/10
Only had 20 minutes at lunch today to get my lifting in.

Bench
115 x 10 x 5 sets
all were basically speed sets

Squats
215 x 20 new PR for 20RM +60lbs :bigeyes:

Had quite a bit more left in the tank for squats and bench but still feel like I got in some good work.
 

Turk1976

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11/17/10
So back to my regularly scheduled programming. Working up to a heavy single, double, or triple and then with a back off set and some assistance stuff.

Bench
bar x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
185 x 1
all of these felt super fast so I decided to go for a PR
225 x 2 RPE-10:dance:
Very excited about this. My 1RM for bench has been stuck at 215 since early April.

Pendlay Rows
135 x 8 rpe-8
135 x 6 rpe-8

Band Pull Aparts
red band x 20 x 2 sets

Triceps Pressdown
blue band x 20 x 2 sets

Great session, ready for deadlifting Friday night
 

Turk1976

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In the office today but decided to get something done at lunch in our "Fitness Center". I'll be going into the Garage once I get home for the real work

Elliptical
5min at highest incline to loosen the hips

Bad Girl Machine
100lb x 15 x 3 sets

Good Girl Machine
80 x 10
60 x 10 x 2

Huge imbalance on these This is something I've suspected for a while and probably need to work on. I know I always give everyone a hard time whenever I see others doing them but they seem to be something I should probably be doing

Conc Curl Machine
125 x 8 x 2 sets

Decline Sit Ups
2 sets of 15 reps

Had 30 minutes so that's what I did, got back up to my desk with 3 minutes to spare Really wish they had a leg press machine but no dice
 
JohnRock

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Are you referring to hip adbudctors and adductors? LOL!
 

Turk1976

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Are you referring to hip adbudctors and adductors? LOL!
Yep, I used to go to a LifeTime gym in Scottsdale AZ and always used to see women that looked like strippers using these constantly. About the only good thing about that gym actually :bigok:
 

Turk1976

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PM Session in the Garage:

Sumo Deadlifts
135 x 3
185 x 3
245 x 3
305 x 1
355 x 1 RPE-10 This is a huge PR for me, +40lb for 1RM over last time I tested
 

Turk1976

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Squats
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 5 (RPE-8)
back off sets:
225 x 10 (RPE-8)
225 x 10 (RPE-8)
225 x 10 (RPE-8.5)

Lots of reps here. Taking it somewhat easy on the weights to get ready for next weeks test. Got all of these done in about 20 minutes and I was huffing and puffing at the end :)

1 arm deadlift with Rolling Thunder
worked to
120 x 3 with right hand
120 x 1 with left hand

Grippers
Capt of Crush "Guide"
3 sets of 10 with each hand
My left hand is still a little sore from a few weeks ago but improving. Also, figured out that I was setting the gripper incorrectly in that hand and that's likely the reason behind the pain.

Seated Band Crunches
blue band x 40 x 2 sets

Good session, got a lot of things done and the squats felt great.
 

Turk1976

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Bench Press
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5 (RPE-8)

Close Grip Bench Press
115 x 10 (RPE-7)
115 x 10 (RPE-8)
115 x 10 (RPE-8)
115 x 10 (RPE-8)

Pendlay Rows (switched to underhand grip this time)
115 x 10 (RPE-8)
115 x 10 (RPE-8)
115 x 10 (RPE-9)

Band Pull Aparts
2 sets of 20 reps

Take it easy again to be more rested for my test day next week. Looks like it will be Wednesday.
 

Turk1976

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Nothing too crazy. Just working up to a half-way decent weight and then some accessory stuff.

Capt of Crush Grippers
"Guide" 3 sets of 5 with each hand
"Sport" 2 sets of 10 with each hand
"Trainer" Rt hand - 2 sets of 5 and then 1 set of 10
"Trainer" Lt hand - 3 sets of 5

Power Snatches
75 x six sets of 1 rep
85 x 4 sets of 1 rep

Sumo Deadlifts
135 x 5
215 x 3
255 x 3
285 x 3 (this is the only sets that felt good, should have warmed up more) RPE-8

Romanian Deadlifts
225 x 8 RPE-8
225 x 8 RPE-9

Shut it down a little early. Forearms were pumped and grip was shot.

On a more a pleasant note is was 48 degrees in the Garage, yeah winter!
 

Turk1976

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So definitely not the workout I was hoping for.

I typically squat to a bench that I thought was parallel for me. I decided to forego that and do my squats without the bench to gauge depth.

Warm ups didn't go particularly well but I've had worse and I thought no big deal.

Loaded up the bar to 345 which would have been a 40lb PR my estimated max on my last 2 heavy sessions was 350 and 360 so I thought I'd be OK.

345 x 0
Got pinned down and never had a chance :worried:

Decided to at least get something and put 315 on the bar.

315 x 1 for a 10lb PR or so I thought. I did video this set and when I watched it I was floored at how high I was, at least 2 or 3 inches.

Very disappointed for a few reasons:
1. Let my ego override common sense. I should have been watching video of my squats the whole time so that I could have found out that one of the reasons I'm putting up bigger weights is because I not going to depth.
2. Be more critical of depth. In retrospect I always thought the bench I use for depth might be a little high but did it anyway b/c I really want to get a 3 plates squat. :nervous:

Plan going forward is to still squat to something for depth but now I'm using a milk crate that I'm 100% is below parallel for me and I'll be dropping my working weights quite a bit as well.

Looks like the quest for 1,000 just took a few steps back I probably won't be maxing out the other lifts now. I did a max deadlift 2 weeks ago and got a heavy double for bench a few days before that.

So for anyone keeping score I'm at:
Bench 225 x 2
Deadlift 355 x 1
Squat 315 for a very high single (soon to fix that) :)

And about 2 Hours later
Annoyed enough at myself that I decided that I needed to get an idea of where I'm at with my squats so I changed my work calendar to "at a meeting" and went back out to the Garage.

Video'd all sets for my review. I'll post the final one later today. Decided to use the pins on my power rack to measure depth. That way I won't learn the habit of sitting back to something.

135 x 10 (still a little high)
reset the pins to the same depth I use for catching the bar on bench press
185 x 1 not too bad, damn that a long way to squat
215 x 1 see above
235 x 1 RPE-8.5
255 x 1 RPE-10

Video of the final set to come later. Not super excited about the weight but I am happy with the form and depth.

Decided to drop the box all together and set the pins really low on my power rack. I don't want to get into the habit of sitting back to a box which I think is one of my problems.
 
JohnRock

JohnRock

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Good for you sucking it up and recognizing that you could improve. The weight on the bar means next to nothing anyway. It's all about improvement. It sounds like we're around the same place. I thought I was benching and squatting more as well, but realized my form sucked several months ago and I've been working hard at improving that and not worrying about the numbers I'm putting up. I can *feel* the difference a lot more now than when I was doing 2/3 reps.
 

Turk1976

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Good for you sucking it up and recognizing that you could improve. The weight on the bar means next to nothing anyway. It's all about improvement. It sounds like we're around the same place. I thought I was benching and squatting more as well, but realized my form sucked several months ago and I've been working hard at improving that and not worrying about the numbers I'm putting up. I can *feel* the difference a lot more now than when I was doing 2/3 reps.
Thanks for checking in John and I agree as I get older I'm starting to enjoy the journey almost as much as the destination.
 

Turk1976

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Bench Press
bar x 10
115 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 3 RPE-8
195 x 3 RPE-hard 8
215 x 1 RPE-9
215 x 1 RPE-9
215 x 1 RPE-9

Pendlay Rows
115 x 10 RPE-7
115 x 10 RPE-8
115 x 10 RPE-8.5

Close Grip Bench Press
115 x 10 RPE-7
115 x 10 RPE-7
115 x 10 RPE-8
115 x 10 RPE-8
115 x 10 RPE-hard 8

Good workout. Took very short rests. Got all this done in just under 40 minutes. Ideally, I'd have a bit more time and would have done 2 more sets of Rows.
 

Turk1976

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Had twenty free minutes and decided if I busted my ass I could get something done.

Sumo Deadlifts
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 3
290 x 10 :strong: RPE-9 +30lb on prev 10RM

YouTube - deadlift dec 3

At my desk:

Grippers
Guide 2 sets of 10 with each hand
Sport 2 sets of 10 with each hand
Trainer 3 sets of 5 with each hand

Standing Abs against blue band
2 sets
 

Turk1976

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Squats
bar x some
115 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
200 x 20 RPE-9, I'm going to call this a PR since it was not done to a box and the reps were deeper (my best to a box is 215)

YouTube - 20 rep squat dec 6

Standing Abs
red and purple band x 12 reps x 3 sets

Grippers
Guide - 3 sets of 5 ea hand
Sport - 3 sets of 5 ea hand
Trainer - 3 sets of 5 ea hand

Felt really good. These squats aren't quite as deep as the ones last week but I still feel like they're pretty solid.
 

Turk1976

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It was a blistering 36 degrees in the Garage today :)

Bench
bar x 10
140 x 5
165 x 5
185 x 5 RPE-8
165 x 5 RPE-7
140 x 5 RPE-7

Pendlay Rows
135 x 10 RPE-hard 8
135 x 8 RPE-hard 8
135 x 7 RPE-hard 8

Did these a little different today. All sets were done until I had I had about 2 reps in the tank. Rests between sets were about 90 sec or so.

Close Grip Bench
135 x 15 RPE-8
135 x 10 RPE-hard 8
135 x 6 RPE-hard 8

Same basic idea as Pendlay Rows for reps per set. Rest periods were shorter though at about 60 sec.

Band Pull Aparts
choked red band x 20 x 2 sets

Band Triceps Pressdown
blue band x 20 x 2 sets

Good workout, really enjoyed everything (except that the bar was almost too cold to hold).
 

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