To Infinity.... and Beyond!

bench
10 x 95, 135

+redbands
5 x135, 165, 185
1 x 205, 225

no bands
1 x 250, 270, 290

slingshot
1 x 305, 320
16 x 225 (PR 😅)

Incline Bench
10 x 95, 135
8 x 155, 155
10 x 135

tri rope push downs/extensions
3 x 15

super set with lateral raises
3 x 12 x 30s


notes:
weight 193 this morning. really wanted to take banded work up to 240 but lunch time session with co-worker and he was tapped out at 165 ish with bands so to keep things moving fast we went to raw. 290 was a little slow so I did not attempt 295/300. Again, absolutely dripping sweat today.

I just realized the last time I benched raw over 275 was back on 7/31 so 290 is probably just fine. I'll try to keep my routine and see if I can do some linear work (fingers crossed) and maybe hit 295 next week and try for 300 the week after... maybe...
 
Leg ext
3 x 15

Leg curls
3 x 15

Power cleans
5 x 95
3 x 135, 165, 195

Deficit dead (2")
5 x 225, 275
3 x 325, 365, 405

No deficit
4 x 425 (reps PR)

Hammer strength crunches
3 sets ascending reps
(I'll regret this tomorrow)



Notes
Weight 193.6
Again waiting on a platform but finally got in to make up for Mondays deadlift free day.

At rep 3 on 425 I said no f'ing way am I hitting 425 x 3 AGAIN and not taking the PR.

Awesome session.

The ab work was just for fun cause I haven't done it in ages, don't really believe in it, but enjoyed the ab DOMs this week so figured why not.
 
Congrats on the PR!!!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Congrats on the PR!!!
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akboom87 said:
Nice PR man!!
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Thanks dudes! Making a real effort to get comfortable with heavy weights. 425 doesn't feel like a big scary max anymore, it feels like 365-385 used to. Also trying to make larger, but consistent and well thought out jumps in warm up sets so I don't waste energy doing 12 reps between 315 and 405. Been sticking to about 50-40lb jumps on deads, and 20lb-25lb on bench lately.

i think these very conscious efforts are giving me more confidence. I mean if I jump 40lbs to clear 325/365/405 for a set, then 20lbs to 425 is nothing in my head ;);)

on a side note I think I twisted my left nut on that set, it was mildly sore for about 20 minutes lol.
 
Uh oh, not the nut ache!
 
Congrats on the PR!!! For me really think the deficits are paying off in a big way. Wish I would have been more committed years ago doing them.
 
dapack said:
Congrats on the PR!!! For me really think the deficits are paying off in a big way. Wish I would have been more committed years ago doing them.
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I really think you're right, they aren't fun though lol, but they seem to be the work that's helping push things to the next level
 
Lat pull downs supinated
5 x 15

OHP
10 x bar, 95, 115
5 x 135, 155
1 x 175, 185
10 x 135, 115, 95

DB bench
12 x 50s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s

Superset with
Laterals
4 x 10 x 30s

DB tricep ext
3 x 15
(Really struggle to avoid elbow irritation on these )

Lat pull downs, normal grip
5 x 10

Superset with
Dips
5 x 10

Weight
193.4

I love carbs.

Wanted a hard shoulder/press day and figured I had room for lat work since my accessories were limited yesterday. (plus my lats are exploding lately and vanity gets me )

Went four on this week with Fri/sat being planned rest days opposed to my normal 2 on 1 off because I anticipated a weird Friday schedule. Felt great!
 
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Oh yeah I love the lat and dip superset! It is a perfect opposing muscle group superset.

How are you performing the DB Triceps Extensions?
 
oops left off my 80s on the db bench. felt like I could have gone to 100s today for 12s. everything felt so light it was just a great session.

MrKleen73 said:
Oh yeah I love the lat and dip superset! It is a perfect opposing muscle group superset.

How are you performing the DB Triceps Extensions?
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the lat dip combo is new to me I think! except maybe like pullups, but yeah the pump was intense.


Today I did lying extensions like this image. In the past I have done them with the ez bar as well. tri extension, skull crusher, I feel like it's two names for the same lift. My elbows ever since I was 15 or so in the high school gym have at times been irritated (left elbow), where it feels like a tendon rubs over the bone in some positions. I'm going back 25 years here so I can't remember if it was bench that I stopped doing for a couple years, or something else (I recall doing bench so that doesn't seem right) so I did a shitload of flies etc though to protect the elbow. It almost never bothers me and I never did anything about it because it's never been severe but there is something about those tricep extensions / skull crushers in any variation at all (laying, standing, db, bb, etc) that makes that one elbow kinda pop before I can get enough rom to make it feel super useful.

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Dustin07 said:
oops left off my 80s on the db bench. felt like I could have gone to 100s today for 12s. everything felt so light it was just a great session.



the lat dip combo is new to me I think! except maybe like pullups, but yeah the pump was intense.


Today I did lying extensions like this image. In the past I have done them with the ez bar as well. tri extension, skull crusher, I feel like it's two names for the same lift. My elbows ever since I was 15 or so in the high school gym have at times been irritated (left elbow), where it feels like a tendon rubs over the bone in some positions. I'm going back 25 years here so I can't remember if it was bench that I stopped doing for a couple years, or something else (I recall doing bench so that doesn't seem right) so I did a shitload of flies etc though to protect the elbow. It almost never bothers me and I never did anything about it because it's never been severe but there is something about those tricep extensions / skull crushers in any variation at all (laying, standing, db, bb, etc) that makes that one elbow kinda pop before I can get enough rom to make it feel super useful.

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Yeah, those can definitely cause some pain. A great replacement / swap that still hits the triceps really well and gets a great stretch is a 2 handed Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension, not using 2 DB's but using one heavier DB over head, keep your elbows in close to your head and let the DB really sink into the stretch. It will light up the long and medial head of the triceps. I do them when my elbows are unhappy they seem to be much easier on the elbows.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah, those can definitely cause some pain. A great replacement / swap that still hits the triceps really well and gets a great stretch is a 2 handed Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension, not using 2 DB's but using one heavier DB over head, keep your elbows in close to your head and let the DB really sink into the stretch. It will light up the long and medial head of the triceps. I do them when my elbows are unhappy they seem to be much easier on the elbows.
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Funnyt thing is I did one today when stretching but didn't even think to rep it out lol. I'll keep it in mind, thanks for the tip!
 
Fantastic back doms today. I'm a sucker for doms, makes me feel like I put the effort in. If I don't have some level of doms during the week I feel like I did something wrong. plus todays feel like a crazy back pump in the lats and rhomboids. I dig it.
 
Yeah, my chest got uncharacteristically sore from my lest chest session. The entire pec was just sore. I don't get that often but I enjoyed it. LOL
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah, my chest got uncharacteristically sore from my lest chest session. The entire pec was just sore. I don't get that often but I enjoyed it. LOL
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pecks makes me think of body dysmorphia. my whole life my pecks have been my genetically lucky trait but I still am always wishing for more. that and I always say my arms are my worst trait by far. last night we had an event with friends and I asked my wife how I should dress. she said one of your short sleeve button downs and shorts. OK.

like a woman in the closet I try on numerous shirts, they're not old. My biceps fit in none of them and one of them couldn't really wrap around my lats 😅😅😅 they'd button up and it wasn't my gut causing the buttons to want to pop off, it was sorta funny.
 
That is some good and obvious growth right there.
 
This is called the point of no return

I was seriously putting on my brave pants to cut into mystery pipes but the water meter stopped spinning!

Catch 22... Water pressure seems down a tiny bit and it's all brown at the moment as we flush out these pipes again lol...



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Dustin07 said:
This is called the point of no return

I was seriously putting on my brave pants to cut into mystery pipes but the water meter stopped spinning!

Catch 22... Water pressure seems down a tiny bit and it's all brown at the moment as we flush out these pipes again lol...



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Looks like a lot of shoveling! Nice work on the splice though!!
 
Bench
15 x bar, 95, 135
Paused
2 x 185, 225, 250
Slingshot
1 x 275, 300, 315, 320
5 x 275
Raw
8 x 225

CGBP
2 x 10 x 185

Note quick bench session with my boy but didn't have enough time to get the real hard stuff in. Just prioritizing heavy weight in my hands.
 
Dustin07 said:
Thanks man, so far so good... If it works, it's about $500 so far in parts, trenching tool, etc to cut my water bill by like $200-250/month.....
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Is that a compression fitting that goes on the old pipe? Can’t say I have seen one of those before of that style.

nice little bench session, when you trying for the raw pr? Looks like pushing some good weight with the slinger!
 
akboom87 said:
Is that a compression fitting that goes on the old pipe? Can’t say I have seen one of those before of that style.
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yeah so they make these in a 3/4" size which fits most of the piping around my house. Except a huge chunk was 1" for some reason and I could find NOBODY that had a compression to splice down to 3/4" I was running out of ideas aside from ripping all the plumbing out and redoing all of it. I preferred the splices to be in the yard vs under the house though cause I figure if it leaks, far less damage...

so I just kept digging, going back over all the pipe and found that it exits the house in 3/4". then they spliced it UP to 1" back in the day (like 80 years ago), then it goes out in the woods, mixes with at least 4 other lines I found, circles back to the other side of my house at 3/4". long story short I was able to go 3/4" to 3/4" compression on the old steel, then use the adapter to PEX for the rest. It's ALMOST perfect. there might be a tiny drip of a leak. so I'm going to let it sit for the week and possibly open it back up next weekend one more time to see if I can get a slightly better seal...

akboom87 said:
nice little bench session, when you trying for the raw pr? Looks like pushing some good weight with the slinger!
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not sure yet but if everything goes well I'm hoping for within the next 2 weeks or so....
 
GreenMachineX said:
Whoa, how much was your water bill???
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Hyde said:
I bet over $250
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ahaha yeah last one was closing in on $400. thats with me using the sprinkler and an auto system in the garden. we average just over $300 though and the neighbors average $50 so I'm guessing with the leak fixed we come in at under $100/month after this. probably have one more painful month since I believe they likely hit the water meter the same week I finally got the leak fixed. up until a few months ago the local Park paid the difference in excessive water due to leaks since we supplied their water but they don't use the water any more so we're on our own to fix what might be... their leak... lol
 
Warm up - power cleans

5 x 95, 135
3 x 165, 195, 215, 225

Deficit deads (1 purple plate /2")
5 x 225, 275, 315

Deficit + green band
3 x 3 x 315

No deficit, no band
3 x 365

RDLs
3 x 10 x 225
(Cardio)

Ez bar curls
5 x 12

Superset with
Double DB rows
5 x 10

Lat pulldowns
5 x 10

Notes
Warming up with power cleans is still an experiment to wake up and build ROM. So far no negative effects but I'm watching it to be sure it doesn't pre exhaust me as far as I can tell...

Insane forearm pump today. Super unusual for me.
 
akboom87 said:
Probably all the carryover shovel work and pipe splices got your forearms pumped!

another good session man!
Click to expand...

ha maybe, one thing I noticed yesterday that I've never had an issue with before was my arms getting in the way a bit with those cleans. maybe I am finally getting some size there.
 
Bench
2 x 10 x 95
5 x 145, 195
2 x 230, 260, 280 (technically a PR by reps)
1 x 295 ( so so way too damn easy)

Slingshot
2 x 315

Raw
9 x 235 (rep PR +1)

Wide grip
3 x 10 x 185

Inclines
3 x 10 x 135

Laterals
3 x 12 x 30s

SS with tricep push downs
3 x 15

Dips
3 x 10
(Helluva a way to finish that tricep work )


Notes
Didn't have my normal gym bro with me so limited my spot requests to two. 295 was so easy I almost went for 300 but left well enough alone since my goal was 300 next week and 295 this week.

Pretty sure at 280 I had 3+, but I also had a plan and didn't want to blow it.

Grip has been getting wider and wider all year with zero shoulder issues but it's making my pecs get all balloony and awesome lol

Weight 195
 
Today is Weds
Next Weds I have to travel.

I am thinking of doing light banded bench Friday afternoon. No additional hypertrophy or accessory work, nothing heavier than like 175+ green bands

Then eat/rest sat and Sunday

Attempt 300 on Monday..

It's gotta be either Monday or Tuesday next week. I'm a little worried if I don't do it by then I'll go backwards a week or two with this travel I have
 
Dustin07 said:
Today is Weds
Next Weds I have to travel.

I am thinking of doing light banded bench Friday afternoon. No additional hypertrophy or accessory work, nothing heavier than like 175+ green bands

Then eat/rest sat and Sunday

Attempt 300 on Monday..

It's gotta be either Monday or Tuesday next week. I'm a little worried if I don't do it by then I'll go backwards a week or two with this travel I have
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I would say if your goal is next week then for sure if you traveling Wednesday, then for sure smash the PR mon/Tuesday. I would say if you do light bench work Friday I would shoot for Monday.
 
akboom87 said:
I would say if your goal is next week then for sure if you traveling Wednesday, then for sure smash the PR mon/Tuesday. I would say if you do light bench work Friday I would shoot for Monday.
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yeah it just throws my normal routine a bit out of whack, I've been doing a sunday/monday rest tuesday routine (2 on, 1 off typically) so I'm thinking if I go sunday then try again tuesday that's too soon. Friday -then- Monday might be the ticket...
 
Yeah man if 295 was easy then 300 ain't gonna be an issue. Personally on your heavier warm up sets I would just go with a single. No reason for you to add any fatigue before you attempt to hit your PR press. Then if say you still want to try 305 after you crush 300 you might still have it in the tank.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Personally on your heavier warm up sets I would just go with a single. No reason for you to add any fatigue before you attempt to hit your PR press. Then if say you still want to try 305 after you crush 300 you might still have it in the tank.
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Amen, I have no problem failing a new PR attempt after locking one down, but I didn't want to risk it today just incase the 295 fatigued me just enough, I didn't need another failed 300 attempt on the books lol. Plus my normal lifting buddy wasn't there and we've been down this journey since Dec (well, he started lifting like 10 years ago with me but is just far less consistent). I sorta felt like he had to be there to enjoy it with me since we've been there for all of each others PRs this year.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah man if 295 was easy then 300 ain't gonna be an issue. Personally on your heavier warm up sets I would just go with a single. No reason for you to add any fatigue before you attempt to hit your PR press. Then if say you still want to try 305 after you crush 300 you might still have it in the tank.
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I'm not sure why I did doubles today. Gym was packed and I was solo so I opted to warm up raw instead of using bands and I guess doubles just felt like they gave me a little more shoulder and elbow lube. might also be because the guy benching next to me easily weighed 40lbs more. He put on 225, I put on 230. he put on 245, I put on 260. he put on 275, I put on 280. his singles were slow, my doubles were decent, I had to keep the momentum going lol
 
Dustin07 said:
I'm not sure why I did doubles today. Gym was packed and I was solo so I opted to warm up raw instead of using bands and I guess doubles just felt like they gave me a little more shoulder and elbow lube. might also be because the guy benching next to me easily weighed 40lbs more. He put on 225, I put on 230. he put on 245, I put on 260. he put on 275, I put on 280. his singles were slow, my doubles were decent, I had to keep the momentum going lol
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Well... At least you are not overly competitive! BWAHAHAHAHA!
 
There has been more and more times lately I wish I had a lifting partner. One guy at work lifts but he lifts late at night and strictly powerlifting. I went and worked out one weekend with him but he is in a whole other league then me 😂
 
akboom87 said:
There has been more and more times lately I wish I had a lifting partner. One guy at work lifts but he lifts late at night and strictly powerlifting. I went and worked out one weekend with him but he is in a whole other league then me 😂
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Honestly with what we are doing, you can make tons of progress without a partner. With RIR, we don't really need a spotter until we get to 0RIR week, and other than free weights we don't even need a spot for that which is nice.

However working out with a good partner is just such an amazing thing. When you have someone who has the same goals, and motivation it just creates a synergy. I miss having a partner, I actually miss having my wife as a training partner. She understood intense training, and hard work. We barely even spoke, just pointed, did hand signals and grunted a lot. We were a well oiled machine and even though our weights were not even close we still somehow found ways to be competitive with each other. LOL
 
I would do the lift Tuesday if possible; that basically keeps you on schedule as far as for the following week.

Like Kleen said, don’t blow your wad on a warmup, that’s what backdown sets are for. Last night I pulled 525 as a last overwarmup because I haven’t touched 500+ in so long. Then I did my work. If I had tried it after my 4x4 it would have been slow and ugly instead of clean & smooth.

Post-activation potentiation dictates that lighter weights become easier after handling a heavier weight first. So do the heaviest stuff when freshest and then the volume after it. You can do the same total work but it will go better with optimized structure/order.
 
Deads
10 x 135, 225
1 x 285, 335, 385, 435, 465 (miss)
10 x 315

Bent over bb rows
3 x 10 x 135

Hammer strength seated rows
3 x 12 x +180lbs
(Never done this machine before )

Superset with DB curls
10 x 35s, 40s, 45s

Bb curls
3 x 12

SS with
Hammer curls
3 x 10

Weight
195


Notes
Sorta a weird day.. forgot my knee sleeves which I don't really need for deads, but like them . 465 got stuck at the shins and after holding it for an eternity I decided live to fight another day...

Older powerlifter came over to compliment my pulls and show me a video of his world record pull in comp from last month in his class (461lbs over age 70)

So I'm not sure I minded him interrupting my so so session for a fifteen minute BS session lol. Plus it was sorta inspiring.

On the upside the crazy arm volume I think is showing results.
 
Picking up over 4 wheels over 70 is a rare feat; I’ve only seen one guy in person do it, at a handful of meets.
 
Hyde said:
Picking up over 4 wheels over 70 is a rare feat; I’ve only seen one guy in person do it, at a handful of meets.
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It was a solid pull too, form never broke, moved the bar fast. he probably had 485+ in him
he's like 6'2 ish and weighed in at 232 for the meet.
 
Notes for my log:
normal morning regiment of
Anabolic XT
Phosphatidic Acid XT
EpiChaos
Triton
Ursa Major

then about 30-60minutes PreWo another dose of
EpiChaos and Triton as an experiment.

Weight is up to 195/196 but weight belt still on hole 2.
looked pudgy and abs were fading this morning but maybe that second dose did something cause I looked pumped AF after workout and abs were popping again.

I feel like the ursa gives me that weird euphoria like ultra hard did but the triton and epi are incredibly subtle until I start lifting.
 
Good session and cool you met someone over 70 who could deadlift over 4 plates! Atr 6'2 it is even more impressive.
 
Dustin07 said:
Bench
2 x 10 x 95
5 x 145, 195
2 x 230, 260, 280 (technically a PR by reps)
1 x 295 ( so so way too damn easy)
Click to expand...

I'm very much thinking of going for it today vs tomorrow since these are my only 2 lifting days and if I bench tomorrow it means pulls today, which will be more exhausting. Plus I have my lifting buddy today...

I tried like hell to eat as many carbs as possible this weekend. weighed in at about 197 this morning. We went to the Rainiers game yesterday with friends which beat me up a little sitting in the sun, I constantly felt reminded that I'm packing about 20lbs more than usual for summer time lol. I'm so ready for a cut. Basically here in the next week or few, marks the beginning of a 1 year strength/reverse diet cycle.

Looking back about a year ago:

Bench was a "grueling" 3 rep at 230 and top single I see is about 255.
Today 230 is a 9 rep set and top single is 295.

Deads were 3 x 365 and singles at 375 (LOL)
Today, top set was 4 x 425 and single at 475.

So a year of hard work has definitely proven itself.
Weight back then was 180-184.
Today is 192-197, top weight recorded being 200.
 
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