Spytech’s Intense Workout Log

We got hammered with 20″ of snow on Saturday so Sunday was spent snowblowing and shoveling, etc. I skipped yoga last night to let me shoulders/back/elbows rest up a bit, but I was still feeling it moving through bench today. Regardless, I hit a PR with 320 for 7 reps. Had one more rep I think, but I smacked the support posts at the bottom on the last rep and I got thrown out of my groove a bit. Feeling real confident on bench. Moved on to squats and man my legs weren’t in the mood for those. Neither was my back. I don’t know why 5’s are so much more exhausting than triples (which are cake). I decided to throw on the belt for my top set as my back was feeling way fatigued and hit my 5-rep target at 520 for a PR. Afterwards I did a bunch of accessory work on the Monstrosity (freemotion apparatus), and some…cardio.

Bench Press:
135x12x1
195x6x1
225x5x1
250x5x1
285x5x1
320x7x1 (PR)
225x20x1

Squat:
135x12x1
225x6x1
315x5x1
395x5x1
455x5x1
520x5x1 (PR)

Flat DB Flye:
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x10x1
60x15x1

Freemotion Cable Flye:
40x12x1
40x12x1
40x12x1
40x12x1
40x12x1

Freemotion Y-Lat Pulldown:
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1

Freemotion Hammer Lat Pulldown:
80x12x1
80x12x1
80x12x1

+ stretching + cardio (20min @ 150-160bpm on elliptical/glider)

Duration: 90 minutes

Nothing much to report. I tried some light wide-stance squats today. Easy, but I could feel discomfort in my hip, so those are a no-go for now. Did some paused ATG squats and some other random things and tried one of the new treadmills for a while. They go up to a 30 degree incline, which is actually pretty fun to do.

Wide-stance Squats:
135×12x1
225×6x1
315×3x1
405×2x1

Paused ATG Squats:
405×2x1
405×2x1

Leg Extensions:
305×12x1
305×12x1
305×12x1
305×12x1
305×20x1

Rear Delt Flye Machine:
100×12x1
120×8x1
140×8x1
160×8x1
170×8x1 (PR)

Freemotion OH Extensions:
60×12x1
60×12x1
60×12x1

Freemotion Single-arm Curls:
30×12x1
30×12x1
30×12x1
30×12x1

Dreadmill:
33 minutes, incline varying up to 30 degrees, 3-4mph+ stetching

Duration: 60 minutes

Today was one of those rare days that I just did not want to do any squatting. Fortunately, once I got in the gym I killed them. Lower volume workout to let the legs recover a bit so I just did extensions and abs for accessory, then hit the elliptical for a bit.

ATG Squat:
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×5x1
355×5x1
410×5x1
465×8x1 (PR)

Leg Extensions:
312×12x1
312×12x1
312×12x1
312×12x1
312×50x1

Standing Cable Crunches w/ Ab Strap (’hard tower’):
144×6x1
156×6x1
168×6x1
168×6x1
168×6x1

Elliptical:
Intervals, 16 minutes

+ stretching

Duration: 60 minutes

This workout was NICE. Friday morning workouts are always hard to get started, but once I get going they typically rock. Bench felt nice and strong from the get-go. Target weight for today was some singles with 320. I ended up doing a set of 4 for my first set (probably had one rep left), and then opted to go up 10lbs and try 330. Heaviest I’ve gone since I stopped benching last April, which happened to be the last time I did 330 as well. I got it for a single then, today I doubled it and probably had more left. Went down to 320 again and got it for a triple. Sure feels good to finally get some PRs on bench again. Finished with some paused rep benching (strong) and moved on. I decided to do singles on decline and worked up to a decent 355. Not bad considering what I did before hand. I wanted to stay light on incline, and I did. This was the hardest I’ve pushed my shoulder since the injury and I didn’t want to do something stupid on the movement that poses the greatest threat to my shoulder health atm. After inclines I did some weighted chins for the first time in a long time. Felt good. Threw in some dips and curls and then hit the elliptical for 25 minutes.

Bench Press:
135×12x1
155×12x1
185×5x1
225×5x1
280×1x1
300×1x1
320×4x1 (PR)
330×2x1 (PR)
320×3x1
275×6x1 (reps paused)
265×10x1 (reps paused)

Decline Bench Press:
225×1x1
225×1x1
275×1x1
315×1x1
335×1x1
355×1x1

Incline Bench Press:
135×12x1
155×12x1
175×12x1

Hammer Chins:
bw x12×1
+40×6x1
+60×6x3
+40×6x1

Dips:
+40×12x2

Wide-grip Standing Cable Curls:
120×8x1
144×8x1
156×8x1
168×8x1
180×8x1

Standing DB Curls:
30×12x2

Standing OH Cable Curls:
60×12x4

Elliptical:
25 minutes - intervals

+ stretching

Duration: 120 minutes

Holy hell was it humid at the gym today. Ridiculous. Everything felt heavy as hell on my back; 225 felt the same as 455. Regardless, I ground out the reps needed. Kept volume light on front squats this week, but they felt good despite my back being ‘done’ and using straps. Straps makes fronts quite a bit harder for me as I don’t keep the bar in as tight so my back has to work harder to stay vertical. PR with strap grip. Did some roll-outs and hit the stationary bike for a bit. Good workout overall.

ATG Squat:
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×5x1
345×5x1
400×5x1
455×6x1

Front Squat (with straps):
225×5x1
275×5x1
295×5x1 (PR)

Ab Rollouts:
bw x6×4
bw x10×1

DB Curls:
55×10x1
60×10x1

Cable Curls:
204×6x2

Stationary Bike:
17 minutes of intervals

+ stretching

Duration: 90 minutes

Solid workout tonight. As per the norm, on my ‘every other deadlift session’ weeks I do a rack pull variant. Tonight I decided to do 18″ deadlifts. I hate these things as it puts the bar at the worst possible starting point for me. No leverage, feels extremely uncomfortable, etc. Anyways they ended up feeling pretty good, and I did better than I thought I would. After deads I did a bunch of GMs - started out strict and ended with a few ‘regular’ sets. Core work was really challenging - I used the lat pulldown for the standing crunches, and without any back support it made things quite a bit tougher.

18″ Deadlifts (reps deloaded):
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×12x1
405×5x1
495×3x1
585×1x1
635×3x1
675×1x1 (PR)
585×5x1
495×5x1
405×5x1

Strict GMs:
135×12x1
185×4x1
225×4x1
255×4x1 (PR)

GMs:
275×5x2

Standing Cable Crunches w/ Ab Strap:
48×12x1
84×4x1
120×4x1
144×4x3 (PR)
132×4x4
120×10x1

Stationary Bike:
3 miles in 12min

+ stretching + yoga (75min)

Duration: 155 minutes

This workout was hard to ‘get into’. Regardless I smoked my top set for squats with plenty left in the tank, got some good light volume in on fronts, and finished with some core work.

ATG Squat:
135×12x1
225×12x1
315×3x1
340×5x1
390×5x1
445×8x1 (PR)

ATG Front Squats:
225×5x4
225×10x1

Straight-leg Situps w/ BB Held @ Lockout:
+135×5x5

Dreadmill:
21 minutes @ 4-5mph

+ stretching

Duration: 110 minutes

Tiring workout. I decided to start doing 3-5-1 for seated overhead presses now that I have a good 1rm to base it off of. Starts out real easy, which is fine. Cruised through today’s presses with ease. I haven’t done bb rows in around 6 months due to the shoulder stuff so I decided to give them a whirl today. Not too bad - no pains or discomfort anywhere. I am glad to be able to get these back in the routine again. Did a bunch of chins, some rear delt work, and curls. Finished off the workout with some time on the dreadmill.

Seated Overhead Press:
95×12x1
115×12x1
135×12x1
175×3x1
200×3x1
225×6x1

BB Rows:
225×12x1
275×12x1
315×6x1
365×6x1
315×6x3
225×15x1

Rear Lateral Machine:
30×12x1
50×12x1
70×12x1
90×12x1
110×12x1
130×12x1

CG BB Curls:
95×12x1
115×12x1
135×12x1 (PR)
135×10x1
115×12x1
95×12x1

Hammer Chins:
bw x12×4
bw x15×1

Seated DB Curls (palms supinated):
30×12x2
40×8x2
40×10x1

Dreadmill:
30 minutes @ 3.5-4.5mph

+ stretching

Duration: 120 minutes

I awoke this morning SORE. Not just a little sore, but full body, hit by a train sore. Hips, lats (holy hell), shoulders, back, legs…sore. I have no idea what triggered this soreness, but I am wagering that my body just knows next week is a much needed deload and it has already started to go into rest-mode. Anywho, as I got moving around things eased up a bit and by the time I got to the gym I had forgotten (mostly) about any soreness I had. I mentioned earlier in the week that I wouldn’t be pulling today because of my torn up hand. Well, my hand has healed up incredibly fast since Wednesday and I don’t have pain gripping anything now, although the flesh is still baby’s ass tender. I decided to give pulls a try at the last second as I packed up my gym bag. Warmups were heavy, 515 felt like someone turned the floor magnets on, and 635 was ridiculously tough, although not heavy - more like doing pulls after squatting - fatigued heavy. I still managed to crank out a solid double, despite all the soreness and fatigue I was feeling everywhere and my hand didn’t rip apart. I am sure my constant thinking about my grip hampered things a bit.

Anyways, since I decided earlier in the week to not deadlift I was psyched up to do front squats for some reason - something I rarely have ever done (probably can count my front squat workouts on one hand in the last 5 years). I figured even though I just did deads, front squats would still be a good complement to the hamstring/glute heavy pulls. It took me a few sets to get “comfortable” using a clean grip. I’ve never used a clean grip before, but it wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. I have mobility issues in my right wrist due to a bad break when I was younger so I definitely have to focus on keeping that right elbow up more while squeezing my elbows in. It’ll take a while to find the ’sweet spot’ for this grip - sometimes I feel like I’m choking myself and other times my collarbone takes too much of the load. Regardless, all the weights I tried today were a cake-walk. I think when I get my grip sorted out I could go mid 400’s for a couple reps.

After squats I did some strong ab work, then hit the dreadmill. Followed that up with some stretching and an intense 15-minute yoga flow involving all of the ‘hard stuff’ that I can do (crow variations, forearm balances, various headstands, eight-angle pose, etc). This felt fantastic.

Deadlift:
245×12x1
335×12x1
425×1x1
515×1x1
635×2x1

ATG Front Squats:
135×12x3
225×12x3
315×5x1
225×12x1

Straight-leg Sit ups w/ BB held @ lockout:
+95×12x1
+135×5x1
+155×5x1 (PR)
+135×5x2

Dreadmill:
25 min @ 4mph
3 min cooldown @ 3-3.5mph

+ stretching + yoga (15min)

Duration: 120 minutes

Decided to push bench a little bit today. Everything touch and go except for the first 265×6 set, which was paused. Tried a different setup today that seems like it’ll work. Felt like I was getting stronger as I got more used to it. 315 wasn’t too tough despite that being the heaviest I’ve benched in over 6 months. I focused on going really deep on neutral grip flat db presses, and these felt pretty solid. Did some light tricep pushdowns for the first time in a long-while since my tri/elbow seems like it is on the mend. It was hard to find a decent back movement to do since I cant really pull anything with my right hand, so I did some light pulldowns and then fingertip chins. Hit up the treadmill afterwards for some fun cardio time.

Bench Press:
135×12x1
155×12x1
175×12x1
195×12x1
225×3x1
265×1x1
295×1x1
315×1x1
265×6x2
265×10x1
225×15x2

Neutral Grip Flat DB Press w/ deep rom:
100×10x1
100×8x1
100×6x1

Wide-grip Pulldowns:
228×12x2

Finger-tip Chins:
bw x12×3

Rope Pushdowns (’hard tower’):
48×12x1
60×12x1
72×12x2
84×12x1

Flat DB Flyes:
50×12x3

Dreadmill:
20 min brisk walking @ 4-4.7mph
3 min cooldown @ 3mph

+ stretching

Duration: 90 minutes