Spytech’s Intense Workout Log

This workout just utterly decimated me. I’m not recovered from those heavy deads on Friday in the least, and my legs, chest, hips, glutes are pretty fatigued and sore from Monday. Good thing today was a brutal day for pulling. Also, a ton of benching in the form of the ‘epic pyramid’. I plowed my way through everything though; a real test of mental fortitude. Lots of grinder reps. Glad to get this one ‘in the books’. Time for a soak in the tub.

Deadlift:
245×5x1
355×4x1
425×4x1
425×4x1
490×3x1
490×3x1
560×3x1
560×3x1
595×2x1
595×2x1
595×2x1
595×3x1

Bench Press:
135×12x1
190×8x1
205×7x1
225×6x1
245×5x1
265×4x1
280×3x1
280×3x1
300×2x1
300×2x1
320×1x1
320×1x1
320×1x1
300×2x1
300×2x1
280×3x1
265×4x1
245×6x1
225×8x1
205×10x1
190×12x1

Elevated Deadlift (plates raised ~4.5″):
420×5x1
490×4x1
560×3x1
630×2x1
630×3x1
630×3x1
560×3x1

Flat DB Flyes:
40×10x1
40×10x1
40×10x1
40×10x1
40×12x1
40×15x1

Hanging Leg Raises:
bw x10×1
bw x10×1
bw x10×1
bw x10×1
bw x10×1

+ stretching

Duration: 150 minutes

First day of Sheiko plan #40, and it was brutal. Very exhausting session. Handled all the weights with ease, but it left me completely wiped. I focused on working with the ‘lower’ low-bar setup on squats today.I was able to bring my grip in quite a bit so I could carry it very low, while staying as tight as I needed to be. The last few sets of squats were ATG, just to keep those up to par. Benching felt decent. Some stiffness from last Wednesday’s work, but nothing was really difficult.

Bench Press:
135x12x1
190x5x1
225x4x1
225x4x1
265x3x1
265x3x1
300x3x1
300x3x1
320x2x1
320x2x1
320x3x1
300x3x1
300x3x1

Squat:
135x12x1
295x5x1
350x4x1
410x3x1
410x3x1
470x3x1
470x3x1
470x3x1
470x3x1
470x4x1

More Bench Press:
205x5x1
245x5x1
280x4x1
280x4x1
280x4x1
280x4x1
280x5x1

Standing Strict Good Mornings:
155x5x1
185x5x1
185x5x1
205x5x1
225x5x1

Wide-grip Lat Pulldowns:
216x10x1
216x10x1
216x10x1
216x10x1
216x10x1

+ stretching + yoga (60min)

Duration: 165 minutes

After Wednesday’s shitty workout I was looking forward to doing pulls today. In the past, on the rare occassion that I have had a crappy workout, like I did Wednesday, I have always bounced back strong. Fortunately, today was not an exception. My goal today was to pull 660 (300kg), as the heaviest I’ve gone all year was 655 a while ago, and I had not pulled anything over 630 during the Sheiko cycle. I tried out my deadlift slippers, which I haven’t worn in quite a while, and worked up to 605 for warmups. Very fast 605 single. I put 660 on the bar and came up pretty strong, but my feet started slipping in my slippers and I ground out an awkwardly balanced double. Afterwards I realized the floor I had the bar on was slanted downwards a bit, so my leverage was way forward. Not a good thing. I put my chucks on, moved the bar to a flat spot, and got the crazy notion in my head that ‘if I hit a triple, that would be a great PR’. Historically, I’ve never pulled a weight this heavy, then gone on to pull it again, for more reps. I ended up powering out a triple. I rested a bit and put on another 5 lbs and hit a solid double. This probably ranks as my 3rd best deadlift workout ever, behind my first 600 pull, and my first (and only ) 700 pull. Never pulled this many reps, this heavy, in one workout before. If I wouldn’t have got off balance with those slippers on that first 660 pull I would have gone for 685+, and probably would have nailed it. Very, very satisified with today’s workout. The next Sheiko cycle is much more intense on the deads, so I am looking forward to getting even stronger.

Deadlift:
245×5x1
335×3x1
425×1x1
515×1x1
605×1x1
660×2x1
660×3x1 (PR)
665×2x1

+ stretching

Duration: 45 minutes

Worst bench workout of all-time. Absolutely pathetic. I was confident I was going to obliterate my PR of 355. I was feeling strong, the last 7 weeks of training went great, and warmups felt awesome. I think I could have hit 300 for 12-15 reps tonight. I put 360 on the bar and got absolutely stapled. Tried again, stapled again. I don’t think the bar came more than an inch off my chest. I’ve never missed a bench off my chest before, so I was completely floored. Dropped down to 315 and barely got a triple. Had to grind out the last rep. Said f’it and switched back to my old setup that I was using up until a couple weeks ago and hit 315×5 for a stupid rep PR. Went on to hit 335×2 (2 rep PR) and 345×1 (longest grinder rep of all time) with the ‘old stance’. Went down to 315 again for another triple.

I’m not sure what to make of this BS. Was the jump from 300 to 360 too much? Was the lack of experience under the bar with my new setup (I hadn’t gone over 285 with it prior to today) what did me in? Too fatigued from squats Monday? Did my allergy asthma flaring up today hinder the big attempts? Did I suck because of Sheiko’s complete lack of exposure to anything over 320lbs the entire cycle? Immensely frustrating experience. I am going to stick with my previous setup, as that is what was the better performer tonight. It feels tighter under the heavier stuff, and that’s what matters. I am going to jack up my training max for the next cycle by 20-30lbs and really push this bastard lift hard. If I fail to beat my max again I will conclude that Sheiko just doesn’t work for my bench press.

Bench Press:
135×12
180×5
215×3
250×2
300×1
360×0
360×0
315×3
315×5 (PR)
335×2 (PR)
345×1
315×3

+ yoga (60min)

Ahh, finally, the squat max-out day. Today was the first time I’ve been seriously nervous/anxious for a workout in a long time. I really dislike planned maxes, but it is necessary to continue on with my next cycle of training. All I planned on doing today was my squat max as I will jump into Sheiko #40 next week right away, and I was able to stick to doing just that.

Throughout this entire cycle I squatted with a narrow grip (middle or index on the outer rings), bar set low on my traps/rear delts. When I squatted Saturday for deload I tried a wide grip at the collars and the bar sitting across my rear delts. Not sure if it is technically lower, but the leverages felt ’stronger’. More like a leg press. I continued with that grip/bar position through my warmups and to my first max single - a 560 - 5lb pr attempt. Having never carried that much weight before with that bar position, the walk out was brutally hard. Very wobbly, core not stable at all. Once I got into position I killed the squat, and barely got it walked back in. Either my core is too weak for that position (I have to lean a bit forward), or the wide grip doesn’t allow me to stay as tight. I think I will focus on using this grip/bar position throughout the next cycle, while mixing in my standard grip. I switched to my standard grip/bar position for my next attempt - 570, 15lb pr attempt. Walk out was much easier, squat was difficult, but I thought about doubling it so I knew I had a few more pounds left. Rested a while then said f’ it and put 6 plates on the bar (585) and went for it. Felt heavy as shit so I walked it out and held it for what felt like forever, then dunked it almost ATG and came back up with it. Stood there for about 10 seconds enjoying the moment and racked it. I think I had 590 there. I was spent after that, and very satisified with going 3 for 3 on my PR attempts. 30lb total PR over my previous 555 grinder single best. Feels really good to be able to claim a solid 585 belt/wraps only squat.

Squats:
135x12x1
225x5x1
315x2x1
405x1x1
495x1x1
560x1x1 (PR)
570x1x1 (PR)
585x1x1 (PR)

+ stretching + power yoga (75 min)

Duration: 105 minutes

Last workout of this 7-week Sheiko routine. Light squats, and light bench and done.

Squats:
135x12x1
275x3x1
335x2x1
335x2x1
390x1x1
390x1x1
390x1x1

Bench Press:
135x12x1
180x5x1
215x2x1
215x2x1
250x2x1
250x2x1
250x2x1

Incline Bench Press:
155x6x1
155x6x1
155x6x1

+ stretching + abs

Duration: 35 minutes

Quick easy deload workout.

Bench Press:
135×12x1
180×3x1
215×3x1
250×2x1
250×2x1
265×1x1
265×1x1
265×3x1

Deadlift:
355×3x1
425×2x1
425×2x1
495×1x1
495×1x1
495×1x1

+ stretching + power yoga (75min)

Duration: 95 minutes

Allergies continue to have a stranglehold on my well-being. The dripping nose and sneezing has been replaced with crushing sinus and temple pressure and some coughing. At least I was able to get some good sleep last night with the sneezing and what not gone. This workout was quick, less than an hour. Hit what I needed to, did some chins and dips, my typical marathon curl drop-set, then headed out. My shoulder is feeling pretty good. I’m avoiding anything that may aggravate it - like inclines, flyes, pec flye machine, etc. Next week is the ‘coasting week’ that barely has me doing anything. That will be nice!

Squats:
135×12x1
275×3x1
335×3x1
390×3x1
415×2x1
415×2x1
415×2x1
415×2x1

Bench Press:
135×12x1
180×3x1
215×3x1
250×3x1
265×2x1
265×2x1
265×2x1
265×5x1

Dips:
bw x12×1
bw x12×1
bw x20×1

Hammer Chins (from dead-hang):
+40×6x1
+40×6x1
+40×8x1

Standing DB Curls (mega-dropset, few breaths rest between drops):
70×4x1
65×4x1
60×4x1
55×4x1
50×4x1
45×4x1
40×5x1
35×6x1
30×8x1
20×12x1
15×30x1
25×12x1

Standing DB Hammer Curls (mega-dropset, few breaths rest between drops):
100×5x1
90×5x1
80×5x1
70×5x1
60×5x1
50×5x1
40×8x1
30×12x1
20×30x1

+ stretching

Duration: 60 minutes

I’ve had this lingering sore throat for a few days that really (hopefully) hit its apex last night/today. Slept a lot today and debated on going to the gym. Decided to get it done and I’m glad I did. For being under the weather, fatigued from yesterday’s workout, etc, I had a great session. Bench felt quite a bit better than yesterday. Deadlifts were light and easy. 3-board bench wasn’t too hard, either. Did more dragon flags for abs - man these things hurt. Trying to get to the point where I can crank them out easily without any soreness afterwards. Did yoga on my own for about a half hour afterwards, doing long inversions mostly.

Deadlift:
355×3x1
425×3x1
495×3x1
525×2x1
525×2x1
525×2x1
525×10x1

Bench Press:
135×12x1
180×5x1
215×3x1
250×3x1
285×2x1
285×2x1
285×2x1
285×10x1

3-board Bench Press:
295×2x1
335×2x1
355×2x1
385×2x1 (PR)

Dragon Flags:
bw x4×1
bw x4×1
bw x6×1 (PR)

+ stretching + yoga (30min)

Duration: 100 minutes

Gym was closed yesterday for Labor Day so I hit the gym today. This week’s volume is lowered a bit, still some good intensity going, though. Next week is the ‘deload’ week before maxing. Felt pretty fatigued during this workout, but hit everything I needed to.

Squats:
135x12x1
275x3x1
335x3x1
390x3x1
445x2x1
445x2x1
445x2x1
445x2x1

Bench Press:
135x12x1
180x5x1
215x3x1
250x3x1
285x3x1
285x3x1
285x3x1
285x3x1
285x6x1

Dips:
bw x10x1
bw x10x1
bw x12x1

OH DB Extensions:
110x6x1
150x6x1
150x10x1

CG Pulldowns:
216x5x1
228x5x1
240x5x1
252x5x1
264x8x1

+ stretching

Duration: 75 minutes