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Zcol's log

It's good you're keeping up with all the accessory work that you can. Setting yourself up for success so when the time comes to get back under the bar you're not a sad sack of sh*t - you'll be able to get right back to the task of rebuilding your big lifts, and not your entire physique and base.

Haha yea i dont wanna.become a sad sack of ****... so im gettin in and doing everything that doesnt hurt
 
Bench day
10 Pull ups
Bench 135 *10
135 *10
10 pull ups
185 *6
205 *6
8 Pull ups
205 *6
10 Pull ups
185 *8
8 Pull ups
185 *8
8 Pull ups

Bench was rough, no arch no leg drive, i didnt realize what a big difference that would make... ive done pull ups every day this week, im not noticing any fatigue day to day so im going to continue doing it, i dont know what it will really help but i figure it cant hurt
 
Bench with no leg drive sucks. Still decent numbers though. Might be good to get the leg-less work in
 
Yeah im hoping about a month building up the chest/ shoulders with no leg drive on any of my lifts will have some carry over
 
Yeah im hoping about a month building up the chest/ shoulders with no leg drive on any of my lifts will have some carry over

Certainly. Maybe some extra core work, too.
 
If you can tolerate the more pullups you can manage the better. Frequency is king on building them, and prob won't hurt upper back musculature either ;)
 
ohp day
seated side laterals
15's *20
30's *10
30's *10
30's *10
seated db press
50's *12
10 pullups
50's *12
10 pull ups
50's *12
10 pull ups
seated side laterals
20's *12
10 pull ups
20's *12
10 pull ups
bw dips
5 sets of 12 reps
then i messed around on t bar rows 5 sets of 12 reps with one plate using a different grip every set
backs getting better slowly but surely ill get back to my regular movements next week with lightish weights
 
Legs
leg press
1 pps *15
2 pps *15
3 pps *12
4 pps *12
5 pps *10

Lying leg curl
12 reps
12 reps
8 reps
8 reps

Seated calf raises
1 pps *15
1 pps *15
1 pps *15
1 pps *20

seated leg extensions
12 reps
12 reps
12 reps
8 reps

Thats all... gonna take an actual rest day tomorro, houston is getting hot! and its killin me at work im completely beat every day when i get off so im gonna get a couple extra hours of sleep tomorrow
 
It's starting to get hot here in FL, too. Enjoy your rest Z.
 
Nice leg work! Not bothering the back? Used to live in Sugarland 15 years ago.
 
Nice leg work! Not bothering the back? Used to live in Sugarland 15 years ago.

Not at all, the only thing that seems to bother my back is putting a bar on my back and putting weights overhead, everything else is feeling alright
 
Rest day
i woke up without the alarm going off this morning so i went ahead and went to the gym.

liss
20 min incline treadmill

Rear pull ups
Bw *8
bw *6
bw *6
bw *6
bw *7

Db curls
started with the 30's for 12 reps then just went by feel for the next 10 or so minutes using drop sets doing hammer curls, just screwed around really, got a good pump before i left though, bench press tomorrow
 
Dude it was 93 in the hangar today and humid like STL always is in the summer, and when I got to the gym everything just felt heavy (until I actually got to the heavy stuff!). The heat really does take something out of you. Makes sleep extra important.
 
Dude it was 93 in the hangar today and humid like STL always is in the summer, and when I got to the gym everything just felt heavy (until I actually got to the heavy stuff!). The heat really does take something out of you. Makes sleep extra important.

This is why I nap at lunch. :)
 
Dude it was 93 in the hangar today and humid like STL always is in the summer, and when I got to the gym everything just felt heavy (until I actually got to the heavy stuff!). The heat really does take something out of you. Makes sleep extra important.

Thats about like our weather right now... yesterday i worked in a building full of fire fed dryers, that was ridiculous
 
Bench day
Bench press
Work up to 265 *1
225 *5
225 *8
185 *5
185 *5
135 *8 w/ extra wide grip
Set down then immediately switched to close grip *5 reps

All i did was bench press today played with form/ grip on all the warm ups and took alot of rest between sets... back is feeling good, still going back and forth on if ill do squats and deads next week really light or just avoid them for another week
 
Ohp 3's
Ohp
Bar x20
70 *5
85*5
100*5
120*3
135*3
150*4
incline db bench
50'S *15, 15, 12, 12, 12
bb row
115 *10
115 *10
t bar row
2 Plates *10
2 plates *10
2 plates *10

wont be pushin for prs this cycle taking it easy on my back til i feel fully confident in it, rows and db bench were supersetted bent over rows didnt feel to good so i switched to the chest supported t bar
 
Strong OHPs man.
 
thanks man... tomorrow will be pathetic.. i set my dl max at 275 so that a tm of like 250~… lower back recovery begins
 
At least your back won't hate you for it
 
Supposed to be deadlift day but i decided to give my back more time, it just doesnt feel solid yet.
Did a bunch of leg curls and extensions, i attempted front squats but felt a little discomfort in my back in the bottom of the squat so i opted out of that too.... the waiting continues
 
Supposed to be deadlift day but i decided to give my back more time, it just doesnt feel solid yet.
Did a bunch of leg curls and extensions, i attempted front squats but felt a little discomfort in my back in the bottom of the squat so i opted out of that too.... the waiting continues

Smart move. Since my back was hurt last winter I've been holding off on back lifts. I'm turning into a lollipop because of it though! Lol
 
Haha yea i feel like ill be all chest and arms soon enough
 
Haha yea i feel like ill be all chest and arms soon enough

It will make your upper body look bigger at least (seriously). Gotta make lemonade...

You're doing the right thing to be smart. If front squat bothers you try BSS holding dbells at your sides. You can use straps to help hold the weight. You can build/retain a lot of muscle, and promote even development, that way still.

And do all your rowing with support for now. Hammerstrength supported rows and bench supported rows, and the tbar machine you mentioned, are all excellent options to keep the load off the lumbar and really hammer the lats.

Obviously any core work you can do to strengthen while not loading is excellent. Lookup Brian Carroll demonstrating the McGill Big 3 - my favorite is Bird Dogs. All gains but takes nothing from you to perform, at home even.
 
It will make your upper body look bigger at least (seriously). Gotta make lemonade...

You're doing the right thing to be smart. If front squat bothers you try BSS holding dbells at your sides. You can use straps to help hold the weight. You can build/retain a lot of muscle, and promote even development, that way still.

And do all your rowing with support for now. Hammerstrength supported rows and bench supported rows, and the tbar machine you mentioned, are all excellent options to keep the load off the lumbar and really hammer the lats.

Obviously any core work you can do to strengthen while not loading is excellent. Lookup Brian Carroll demonstrating the McGill Big 3 - my favorite is Bird Dogs. All gains but takes nothing from you to perform, at home even.

I always forget about bss, ill hit that on squat day for sure, and thanks for the mcgill big 3 ill try that out tomorrow morning
 
I always forget about bss, ill hit that on squat day for sure, and thanks for the mcgill big 3 ill try that out tomorrow morning

Carroll flew to Canada to seek out McGill and learn that stuff about back recovery/health, and he won overall at the XPC Finals at the Arnold this year, at a lighter weight class, so it can't be all bad advice :)
 
Carroll flew to Canada to seek out McGill and learn that stuff about back recovery/health, and he won overall at the XPC Finals at the Arnold this year, at a lighter weight class, so it can't be all bad advice :)

Back to google for more mcgill/carroll material
 
Active rest
10 Min liss incline treadmill walking
Mcgill big 3
stretching/ mobility work
various grip pullups 5 sets of 8 reps supersetted with low back hypers 3 sets of 12
bench tomorrow
 
I had to read a LOT of articles and watch a lot of vid, but there's a ton of golden info (completely free) that will probably only help you. It's boring, but if it lets you train without pain it's worth it.
 
Bench 3's
benchpress-
bar *25
75*5
105*5
135*3
170*3
200*3
225*6+2 ( set bar down reset then hit 2 more )
3 sets of 5 at 185
machine row-
12 reps
12 reps
8 Reps
8 Reps
alright day today my chest and front delts were still pretty sore going in today i wanted 8+ at 225 because i hit 8 last week but its alright just keep movin forward
 
Missed yesterdays ohp session because i had turned off my alarm over the weekend, today was " deadlifts " but im still avoiding them worked front squats up to 175 * 3 pain free then hit a pull up / hyper extension super set... right now im thinking if i can go the rest of the week without doing anything stupid ill deadlift next week although itll be light
 
Slacker
 
Haha ill make up my ohp tomorrow before i hit my abs/lower back
 
Make up day
Ohp 5's
Ohp
Bar *12
70*5
85*5
100*3
120*5
125*5
145*5
115*5
115*5
115*5

core work- mcgill big 3, planks/ side planks... my core is smoked right now
Ohp went alright wasnt trying for any pr's im only pushing the pr sets on 3's and 1's week
 
Nice OHP'ing man.
 
Keep hitting the core work as you continue to progress - you can literally never have too strong a core when trying to lift big weight in the big movements, and the extra strength will both push PRs and help with injury prevention. Remember, they're the priority over deadlifts even, because without them there might be no deadlift. Glad you're getting something from them!
 
Keep hitting the core work as you continue to progress - you can literally never have too strong a core when trying to lift big weight in the big movements, and the extra strength will both push PRs and help with injury prevention. Remember, they're the priority over deadlifts even, because without them there might be no deadlift. Glad you're getting something from them!

Yea man thanks showing me those, my core is definitely a weak spot ive spent most of my training believing that the compound lifts were enough for core training... i was wrong, and thats probably where my back issues stem from
 
Yea man thanks showing me those, my core is definitely a weak spot ive spent most of my training believing that the compound lifts were enough for core training... i was wrong, and thats probably where my back issues stem from

I started hitting mine twice/wk the last 10 wks and I think it definitely paid off helping me to keep from collapsing forward under 500 last weekend.
 
What specific core work are you doing?
 
What specific core work are you doing?

Sorry if you'e asking Zcol, but if me I was doing a rotation of hanging leg raises, assisted hanging leg raises on the half-bosu stands, cable pulldown crunches and occasionally strict decline situps. Hanging was my heaviest work, usually 3 sets of 8-10. Cable crunches were next at 3-4 sets of 10-15, same for decline situps, and the leg raises w/ the bosu supported lower back would be 3x15. Pick 2, every lower body day at the end. Usually strict goodmornings for 3x 8-15 reps on lower days as well.
 
Ab wheel, weighted crunches, bodyweight planks/ side planks, db side bends, hyper extensions, and now the mcgill big 3, the only constants in there are the hypers and now the mcgill big 3, the rest are rotated depending on which one seems less boring at the time... ive always hated core work.... i just wanna move heavy weights! But now im realizing that if i want to keep getting stonger in the big lifts i need to strengthen my core as well
 
Ab wheel, weighted crunches, bodyweight planks/ side planks, db side bends, hyper extensions, and now the mcgill big 3, the only constants in there are the hypers and now the mcgill big 3, the rest are rotated depending on which one seems less boring at the time... ive always hated core work.... i just wanna move heavy weights! But now im realizing that if i want to keep getting stonger in the big lifts i need to strengthen my core as well

It really is boring but I realized that adding one movement 2-3x/wk can make a huge difference for maybe 8 minutes of work/session. So I'm bucking up.
 
Ive always found the cable crunches awkward,,, your doing these on your knees right?
 
It really is boring but I realized that adding one movement 2-3x/wk can make a huge difference for maybe 8 minutes of work/session. So I'm bucking up.

putting it that way.... 8 minutes isnt much... i just need to deal with it
 
Ive always found the cable crunches awkward,,, your doing these on your knees right?

Correct. Bands work better standing, cables better kneeling. The trick is to get your grip and arms tight and really focus on pulling only w/ the abs, and squeezing. Otherwise you'll just bang reps out for days with the upper body, but if you really isolate core the whole stack will be very challenging (I get about 8 reps on the stack at best if properly isolated).
 
I'll start doing some ab wheel at home and try to fit that other stuff in here and there. With all the mobility stuff I do I can't find time for anything.
 
Bench 5's
75 *8
115*5
135*5
180*5
195*5
220*8 + 8 pull ups
170*5 + 8 pull ups
170*5 + 8 Pull ups
170*5 + 8 Pull ups
170*5 + 8 pull ups

Incline db bench press
60S *10
60s *10
60s *10
less than 1 min. Rest

Seated db side laterals
50 Reps rest pause style with 15 lb dumbbells
 
Todays workout went smooth... now im waiting in anticipation of next week when i attempt deadlifts again... its been a while
 
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