Workouts for Saturday 12 to Friday 18 December

This is the seventh week of workouts after my holiday. After this week, I only have 1 more week before the Christmas holidays are upon us!

My goals

For what it is worth, my current goals are:

a double bodyweight pull up;
a 2.5x bodyweight conventional deadlift; and
bench 100kg (220lbs).

Progress so far and notes

The second week on this new programme has gone well. It’s still hard to say whether this approach will work long-term but I’m fairly happy so far.

The greater stress on my tendons and joints that I noted last week (particularly on my elbows) seems to have leveled off a bit. I’m probably not ready to start doing any direct triceps work yet but even so it’s a positive sign.

The lactic is still pretty unpleasant and I’m still getting nauseous after workouts. Oddly, it’s the bench that makes me want to hurl most of all…

My deadlift is still going well. Still no sign of any loss in speed off the ground. This week, 145kg (320lbs) came up as quickly as 120kg (265lbs) did at the start. Having said that, this was the first weight that felt heavy and made me grunt a bit. I also felt a bit sore in the traps the following morning. Still, I feel good for 150kg (330lbs) this coming week, which is about 2x bodyweight.

I was planning to drop down to singles after Christmas to see whether I can push through to 190kg by mid-February, which is about 2.5x bodyweight. However, given how I’m feeling at the moment, I may try to push on to 160kg using the same 10 sets of 2 reps format before dropping down to single reps.

One funny thing happened to me this week, though. I strapped on 32kg for my close grip chins and I’d done about 4 or 5 sets of 4 reps and was still feeling OK. Then on the third rep of my sixth set, I pulled too hard and bashed my forehead into the lintel above the pull up bar, which has left a surprisingly large lump above my left eye…

Without further ado, here is the workout plan

Saturday – Upper focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Bench	78kg	10	3	1min30	-
Pull up	43.75kg	10	3	1min30	-
Pistol off 12” box	30kg	5	2	1min30	Each leg
Hanging leg raise	2.5kg	10	3	1min	-
Supine rows	-	2	10	1min30	-

Sunday – Lower focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Deadlift on 2” plates	150kg	10	2	1min	-
Glute bridges	56kg	10	4	1min	-
Close grip chins	33kg	10	4	1min30	-
Military press	46kg	10	3	1min30	-
Supine rows	-	2	10	1min30	-

+ sandbag loading and lifting of course!

Tuesday – Upper focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Dip	50kg	10	3	1min30	-
Assisted one arm chin	-15.0kg	10	1	1min30	Both arms
Pistol off 12” box	30kg	5	2	1min30	Each leg
Hanging leg raises	2.5kg	10	3	1min30	-
Supine rows	-	5	10	1min30	-

Thursday – Lower focus

Exercise	Weight	Sets	Reps	Rest	Detail
Lumberjack squats	92.5kg	10	3	1min30	-
Glute bridges	56kg	10	4	1min	-
Close grip chins	33kg	10	4	1min30	-
Military press	46kg	10	3	1min30	-
Supine rows	-	5	10	1min30	-

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