Greg: Ripping it up for summer

[Gregsimo]

Workout 6
heavy squat. 05/03/2010

Squats
220x6
231x5
231x5

Front squats
88x7x3

SLDL
132x10
132x9
132x9

Occluded leg extentions
40x23
40x17
40x13
40x12

Occluded standing calf raises
60x27
60x14
60x12
60x12

Great workout today, im not far off 100% on squats again and my knee is not causing any problems. Front squats still hurt my shoulders due to flexibility issues so using any decent weight or even more reps was out of the question, this is improving each workout. Occlusion work was harsh, very harsh and im going to be very sore tomorrow.

[Gregsimo]

Workout 7
Heavy military. 05/04/2010

Seated military press
121x3
110x5
110x4

Upright Rows w/ Side raises
70x10/15'sx10
70x10/15'sx9
70x10/15'sx9
Fascia stretch, 90 secs

Front raises
15'sx13
15'sx13
15'sx12

French presses w/ tricep pressdowns
30x13/100x13
30x12/100x11
30x11/90x12
Fascia stretch, 60 secs

Dissapointed with my shoulders still, my strength is very poor. The rest of the workout felt great, got a good pump going and the fascia stretch for triceps was painful.
Had trouble getting a decent stretch on my medial delts, just cant seem to feel it, every other muscle i can feel it well and it hurts. I tried the stretch by retracting my shoulders squuezing my traps and having my partner force my arms together behind my back, yet nothing. Any suggestions for an alternative fascia stretch for the medial delts are welcome.

[Gregsimo]

Workout 8
Deadlift. 05/06/2010

Deadlift
132x5
176x5
220x3
253x2
275x5

Pendlay row
143x9
143x7
132x8

DB pullovers
40x10
40x12
40x12

Preacher BB curls w/ cable 1 1/2 curls
50x11/25x6
50x8/20x9
40x10/20x9

Broom handle rev wrist curls
11x84
11x56
Fascia stretch

Broom handle wrist curls
11x80
11x52
Fascia stretch

Solid workout today, deadlifts felt amazing, as did pendlay rows. I've switched from machine pullovers to Db pullovers to get a better stretch. Today was a bicep and forearm blitz, the 1 1/2 curls were done with the half rep on the peak of the ROM as i'm looking to add height to my biceps. The broom handle forearm work was insane. i've never had such an intense pump off 2 sets, ever especially with only 11lbs on the handle so fascia stretching was a must.

[Gregsimo]

Workout 9
light bench. 05/08/2010

Bench press
154x9 (equal PR)
154x8
143x8

Incline Db press w/ Db flyes
45'sx8/20'sx10
40'sx8/20'sx8
40'sx7/15'sx11
Fascia stretch in bottom flye position for 90 secs

Dips
BWx10
BWx8
BWx6

Tricep Db kickbacks
20'sx13
20'sx11

I have no idea where that joint PR on bench came from. last workout i felt weak, this workout BOOM. Incline Db's also felt strong and i got a better pump going from the superset with flyes than last time. fascia stretch hurt like hell. by the time dips came along i was pretty drained so only managed 10, fresh i can hit about 14. Kickbacks were just to give my tri's a little boost.
Next tricep workout im doing old school extentions as after doing Db pullovers the other day i now realise how good an exercise it actually is for getting a stretch and pump going in the triceps. who knew a back exercise would hit the tri's so hard.
Weight update:
last week - 169.0lbs
This week - 167.4lbs (-1.6lbs)

I'm not dropping calories any further this week, refeed is today, going for an all you can eat chinese so plenty of white rice, chicken and spring rolls. yummy! already had 250g of carbs pre and post workout. 350 to go!

[arian11]

Nice work Greg. Have you tried doing military presses standing up before? I like doing them standing up. On the last couple reps when your strength is declining, you can use some leg drive to get it up and then you can go past failure with some slow heavy negatives.

Also, what do you use to occlude various muscles? I have knee wraps and they take some time to wrap and get the correct tightness. I usually just go home and do some occlusion training with dumbbells because I feel people start staring at me in confusion if I do it at the gym.

[Gregsimo]

I have done military presses standing up but have swapped them for seated, first to target my shoulders more as they are the weakness in my pressing strength and also i read somewhere that seated gives more specificity towards bench press strength.

For occlusion im just using knee wraps. I've been asked a couple of times what im doing and explained it and they have been positive, one or 2 guys laughed once at what i was doing. I shouted over 'how are your leg workouts going?' bearing in mind i've not seen them squat or DL even once and they are regulars, then soon kept quiet.
With regard wrap tightness just start off on the same spot on your leg when you begin wrapping and try to be as even as possible. if the endpoints are the same it should be pretty even, if not i unwrap and start again.

[arian11]

Yea occluding the calves are not hard. And I once tried to occlude my quads in the gym locker room and got some looks. Got to show a lot of skin to get them on, hehe. Occluding the arms to hit the biceps and triceps are the hardest one. Especially when I'm trying to use my non-dominant hand to wrap my dominant arm. This is when a training partner would come in handy.

[Gregsimo]

Originally Posted by arian11

Yea occluding the calves are not hard. And I once tried to occlude my quads in the gym locker room and got some looks. Got to show a lot of skin to get them on, hehe. Occluding the arms to hit the biceps and triceps are the hardest one. Especially when I'm trying to use my non-dominant hand to wrap my dominant arm. This is when a training partner would come in handy.

i just occlude my quads over my shorts, same difference.
I havent done any occlusion for arms as yet, i definately plan on doing so, i was just going to use boxing wraps but cut to length.

[Gregsimo]

Workout 10
light squats. 05/10/2010

Squats
187x10 (equal PR)
187x9
187x8

Front squats
44x12
44x8
88x10

Db stationary lunges
30'sx8 (reps per leg)
30'sx7
25'sx7

Leg curls
50x12/30x5
50x9/30x4
40x9/20x4
Fascia stretch for 45 secs

Occluded seated calf machine
2Px26
2Px17
2Px15
2Px12

My energy levels were low today, lack of carbs and a hangover from a 12 hour shift yesterday. I still squatted well and got back to 100% confidence and equalled my PR while on a cut so im happy. I also checked my form to spot any problems with my knees and my left knee tends to track inwards and too far forwards. I also have wrist and shoulder flexibility issues doing front squats. I'll work on these over the next few weeks.
I havent done lunges for ages but they felt ok, few balance issues but great burn in my glutes and quads. Ham curls were brutal, as was occlusion for calves. I'm working out later in the day tomorrow and after a nap so energy levels should be better.

[Gregsimo]

Workout 11
Light Military. 05/11/2010

Seated military press
110x12 (equal PR)
110x10
110x8
110x7

Upright rows w/ side raises
70x11/15'sx10
70x10/15'sx9
70x10/15'sx8
Fascia stretch

Rear delt machine
45x12
45x12
45x11

Skull crushers
40x13
40x13
40x12

For once my shoulders felt strong today, equalled my PR for reps @110lbs. i love the burn from upright rows with side raises but im changing that around next week to concentrate on front delts. I have limited my tricep work to 3 sets today as they have taken a beating volume wise recently.
Also for the last 2 weeks of my cut, at the end of may, i might change my hypertrophy week to do a chest/back day and bi's/tri's day, but with DL on the arm day instead of back day for optimal testosterone release prior to working arms. Idea being to do with 9-12 sets per bodypart in opposing body part superset fashion as a shock.
my ideas so far are:

Day 1
Bench press 4 sets with bent over rows 4 sets
Incline bench 3 sets with wide grip pullups 3 sets
Decline flyes 3 sets (no superset)
rear delt machine 3 sets

Day 2 normal leg hypertrophy routine
Day 3 Cardio
Day 4 normal shoulder hypertrophy routine
Day 5 off

Day 6
Deadlift 10, 8, 6
BB Bicep curls 4 sets with CGBP 4 sets
Db preacher curls 3 sets
Skull crushers or old school extentions 3 sets
hammer curls 3 sets with behind back wrist curls 3 sets

Any thoughts or suggestions on this idea are welcome.