Return of the King

BossArky

Wednesday November 6th: Lower Body

Back Squat
60kg - 2x5 & 1x10

Front Squat
40kg - 2x5 & 1x10
---
RDL ... double overhand
40kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10
80kg - 1x10
100kg - 2x5 or 2x10 .. cannot remember exactly
---
Goblet Squat
5kg - 1x10
10kg - 1x10
20kg - 1x10
---
Walking Lunges
3 lengths of 10 forward/10 back ... quads on fire

Ab Wheel
3x10
---
45 Degree Back Raise
3x10
---

Some lowerbody. Light stuff. Taking it easy this week.

BossArky

Saturday November 9th: Deadlift

Deadlift
70kg 1x5
120kg +16kg chains - 2x8
120kg 1x8 ... chains snapped on left side on first attempt at third set so stopped around 4 reps, removed chains, and finished off with 8 reps straight weight.

Band Pull Apart (light grey)
3x20

Military Press
40kg - 1x10
45kg - 1x10
50kg - 1x9 ... PR
---
GHR
3x15 ... first and third sets bodyweight, second set with 5kg behind head
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10
---

Deadlifts and other stuff.

Hit a Military Press PR with 50kg x9. Was aiming to 10 but 9 was right on the limit.

BossArky

Tuesday November 12th: Squat

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 1x3
**add belt**
105kg - 1x2
125kg - 2x5 ... worksets
105kg - 1x10 ... dropset #1
100kg - 1x10 ... dropset #2

Ab Roll Out
4x15
---
45 Degree Back Raise
4x15
---

Getting back to Squats.

BossArky

Tuesday November 12th: Bench

VT (both positions)
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - ~8x10

DB Lateral Raise
3kg per arm - ~4x10

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3 ... ring finger on rings i.e. normal grip
90kg - 1x2
100kg - 1x1
105kg - 1x1
110kg - 1x1
115kg - 1x1 ... top set
100kg - 3x5 ... work sets
90kg - 1x6
80kg - 1x7
70kg - 1x8
60kg - 1x10
---
DB Hammer Curl
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10

DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
---
Seated Row Machine (narrow parallel grip)
3 ascending sets - 3x10
---
Seated Row (plate loaded, unilateral)
frame +10kg per side - 1x10
frame +20kg per side - 1x10
frame +30kg per side - 1x10
---
Rope Pushdown
10kg - 1x10
12,5kg - 1x10
15kg - 1x10

Rope Curl
10kg - 1x10
12.5kg - 1x10
15kg - 1x10
---
Spinning Bike
150 calories in just under 20 mins
---

Nice to hit a random 115kg Bench. Felt quite easy. Just kept working up. Potentially could have went heavier, but no point risking decapitation in commercial gym with no safetys or spotter on slippy bar.

The rest was bodybuilding.

Sat on exercise bike to burn off 150 calories in the end.

BossArky

Saturday November 16th: Squat

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
**add belt**
100kg - 1x2
130kg - 2x5 ... worksets
110kg - 1x5 ... dropset #1
100kg - 1x10 ... dropset #2

Ab Roll Out
4x15
---
45 Degree Back Raise
4x15
---

Some quick Squats.

BossArky

Sunday November 17th: Bench

VT (both positions)
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - ~6x10

DB Lateral Raise
3kg per arm - ~3x10

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3 ... ring finger on rings i.e. normal grip
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 1x1
105kg - 1x1
110kg - 1x1
115kg - 1x1 ... top set
100kg - 1x5 ... work sets
80kg - 1x8
60kg - 1x10
---
DB Hammer Curl
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10

DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
---
Seated Row Machine (wide grip)
3 ascending sets - 3x10
---
Seated Row (plate loaded, unilateral)
frame +0kg per side - 1x10
frame +20kg per side - 1x10
frame +25kg per side - 1x10
---
Pull Up
3x5

Dips
3x5
---

Some Bench.

Worked up to an easy enough single on 115kg.

Was thinking I had 120kg in me... so loaded 117.5kg as a final warm up before 120kg but then didn't trust anyone to ask for a spot so unracked and moved on to bodybuilding shoulders/arms.

BossArky

Tuesday November 19th: Squat

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
**add belt**
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x1
130kg - 1x1
140kg - 1x1
150kg - 1x1 ... top single
120kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x8
80kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x12
40kg - 1x14
20kg - 1x16

Ab Roll Out
3x5

Sit Ups
3x10 with ascending incline each time
---
45 Degree Back Raise
3x15
---
Spinning Bike
150 calories in just under 20 mins
---

Worked up to a top Squat single on 150kg before burning quads out with many descending dropsets.

BossArky

Friday November 22nd: Bench

VT (both positions)
1.5kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - ~6x10

DB Lateral Raise
4kg per arm - ~3x10

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x1
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 1x1
110kg - 1x1
120kg - 1x1 ... top set
100kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x8
80kg - 1x10
---
DB Hammer Curl
12kg per arm - 3x10

DB Press (standing)
12kg per arm - 3x10
---

Worked up to a 120kg Bench single then pyramid back down.

BossArky

Saturday November 23rd: Deadlift

Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x3
**add belt**
140kg - 1x2
160kg - 1x1
180kg - 1x1 ... top set
120kg - 1x5
110kg - 1x8
100kg - 1x10
---
GHR
4x8 ... varying settings
---

Worked up to a 180kg Deadlifting single.

The past week gives me an unpeaked / untrained PL training total of 450kg (Squat 150kg, Bench 120kg, Deadlift 180kg).

BossArky

Tuesday November 26th: Squat

Goblet Squat (plate)
5kg - 1x10
10kg - 1x10
20kg - 1x10
---
Squat (belt-less)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 3x9 ... worksets
---
45 Degree Back Raise
3x15

Ab Roll Out
3x15
---
Spinning Bike
100 cals
---

Some squats beltless.

Jumped into the rack with a guy who happened to be doing 100kg for sets of 8. It just so happened that I was scheduled for 100k 3x9, so it looked like I wa just trying to one up him by a rep.

Whoops.

BossArky

Wednesday November 27th: Bench

VT (both positions)
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - ~6x10

DB Lateral Raise
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 6x6
60kg - 3x10 ... feet up, close grip
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 1x10
25kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
---
DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10

One Arm DB Row
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
---
Tricep Pushdown (cable)
3 ascending sets
---

Bench 80kg 6x6 followed by some close grip and bodybuilding.

BossArky

Friday November 29th: Squat

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x7 ... worksets
---
45 Degree Back Raise
3x7

Ab Roll Out
3x7
---
Walking Lunges (forward)
4x12
---
Spinning Bike
150 cals
---

Squats.

BossArky

Saturday November 30th: Bench

VT (both positions)
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
7kg per arm - 1x10
8kg per arm - 1x10
9kg per arm - 1x10 ... just rev.fly
10kg per arm - 1x10 ... just rev.fly

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x5
60kg - 3x10 ... feet up, close grip. Going out by a finger width each set

Pull Up
3x5
---
DB Curl
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10

DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
---
DB Incline Bench
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10

DB Flat Bench
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
---

Bench 90kg 6x5 plus assistance.

Added back DB Benching (flat and incline). Front delts fried at the end whilst doing these after all the work beforehand on Bench and overhead.

BossArky

Sunday December 1st:

Deadlift
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 3x8

45 Degree Back Raise
3x8
---
Barbell Row
60kg - 3x10
---

Good quick back workout. Soaked with sweat afterwards.

BossArky

Tuesday December 3rd: Squat

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x5 ... worksets
---
45 Degree Back Raise
3x10 ... no weight
1x10 with 2kg per arm
1x10 with 4kg per arm
1x10 with 6kg per arm

Sit Ups (decline bench)
3x10
---

Those Squats felt heavier than they should have.

Training fully on the back burner the past while as I concentrate energies elsewhere.

Don't worry I'll be back. Kinda just "keeping fit" at the moment :pac:

BossArky

Wednesday December 4th: Bench

VT (both positions)
2kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
8kg per arm - 1x10 ... just rev.fly
10kg per arm - 5x10 ... just rev.fly

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 6x4
---
DB Incline Bench (small incline)
20kg per arm - 1x10
22kg per arm - 1x10
24kg per arm - 1x10

One Arm DB Row
20kg per arm - 1x10
22kg per arm - 1x10
24kg per arm - 1x10
---
Pull Up (parallel grip)
3x5

Dips
3x5
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 1x10
25kg - 1x10
27.5kg - 1x10
---
DB Press (standing)
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
---

Some late night benching and assistance.

BossArky

Sunday December 8th: Squat & Bench day 4 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
130kg - 3x3 ... work sets
---
Chin Ups (parallel grip)
3x5
---
Bench Press
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 6x3 ... work sets in 13 mins

Rev Fly
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
---
Ab Wheel
3x10

Neck Training
Flexion - x20, x15, x10
Rotation - x20, x15, x10
Extension - x20, x15, x10
---

Inspired by reading a book on Stuart McRobert ("Inside the mind of an iron icon") I'm focusing on abbreviated training (plus adding neck training into the mix). Want to assess if abbreviated training can assist recovery. Been feeling quite wrecked in the mornings recently due to being quite busy in other areas outside the gym. May be getting through too much volume in the gym sessions five days per week... so gonna try going down to two or three days for a while.

Abbreviated training sees me combining Squat and Bench days into one, plus adding a Pulling motion (chins) whilst finishing with Abs and Neck.

Have read a number of books on neck training and watched various training tips. Going to give it 6 weeks or so an assess. Never concentrated on this body part before. Supposed to be easy enough to grow if training it for the first time.

Finished Bench 100kg 6x3 in 13 mins flat combined with Rev Fly supersets. Some kind of speed record.

Some guy does crossfit in this gym with about 10 pieces of equipment blocked up at a time. Always blocking the rack with light weights such as 30kg front squats, curls or press. Today he was using the rack for 30kg presses. I politely requested the use of the rack and moved his bar as he was in the midst of the other 9 exercises which takes him about 10-15 mins per round. He got all sulky when he came back 10 mins later (and I was more or less done with my Squats) saying he wanted to rack pull and was in the rack first. I was polite and suggested it seemed he had finished. Carried on with my sets. Clown shouldn't expect everyone else to wait around whilst he monopolizes half the gym. I miss training alone at home.

A couple of weeks ago I was at IPF equipped worlds. Saw many of the famous faces there: Jen Thompson, Bryce Lewsis, Bryce Kra...., etc. Was a good event - but I don't "get" equipped and couldn't imagine doing it and the associated hassle compared with raw.

Ok, that's all my stories.

BossArky

Thursday December 12th: Squat & Bench day 5 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 3x9 ... work sets

Ab Wheel
3x10
---
Bench Press
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 6x6 ... work sets in 23 mins

One Arm DB Row
20kg per arm - 3x10

Rev Fly
2kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Extension - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 1x10
25kg - 1x10
27.5kg - 1x10
---

Bench was tough after Squats.

Energy low.... but got it done.

Some back and core, before finishing off with neck and curls.

BossArky

Friday December 13th: Deadlift day 2 of 6

Deadlift
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x8
---
Barbell Row
65kg - 3x10
---
Military Press
40kg - 3x5
---

Back and shoulders. Quick one.

BossArky

Monday December 16th: Bench day 6 of 12

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
95kg - 6x5 ... work sets in 25 mins

Rev Fly
1kg per arm - 1x10
2kg per arm - 1x10
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
7kg per arm - 1x10
8kg per arm - 1x10
9kg per arm - 1x10
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
---
Pull Ups
3x5
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Extension - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
---

Benching.

Planned to Squat in this session also but crossfit dude was in the rack DB benching (wtf?) so skipped it until next day. Couldn't be bothered having a confrontation to get him out of it.

BossArky

Tuesday December 17th: Squat day 6 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x7 ... work sets

Ab Wheel
3x10
---

Squat at 6:30am. Struggled through it.

BossArky

Thursday December 19th: Deadlift day 3 of 6

Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x3
140kg - 3x8
---
Barbell Row
70kg - 3x10
---
Military Press
45kg - 3x5
---

Got a Fitbit so have been tracking heart rate through various activities: sitting on sofa, swimming, walking, warming up, Deadlifting, etc.

Interestingly the warm up (cat stretch, fire hydrants, birddogs, etc) got my heart rate from ~70bpm resting to ~100bpm warming up. From there Deadlifts on 140kg 3x8 just pushed heart rate up slightly from 110bpm after first set to about 120bpm by third set.

Supersetting Barbell Row and Military Press afterwards went up to about 125bpm.

I was expecting heart rate to be way higher straight after sets. Comes down to baseline again quickly enough.

Swam twice that day and went for a couple of walks so was hit 10k steps easy enough. Was wondering why the fitbit was vibrating with fireworks on wrist until I copped on it was the 10k steps milestone celebration. It connects to phone to so whenever I get a calendar alert, etc it vibrates. Need to switch that off.

Otherwise - Deadlifts felt quite easy: 140kg 3x8.

Military Press and Barbell Rows were fine too. Just building some muscle.

Weighed myself yesterday morning and was 82.6kg if I recall. Extremely lean at the moment. It's been three months since last PL comp and I've trained well and ate lean - so all that puppy fat is gone.

Did my first ever yoga class about a week ago. Initially the female instructor was slightly treating me with kid gloves and chiding me (as a weight lifter) for not doing yoga before to improve flexibility.

By the end of the class she had changed her tune as I held up well and managed to get through it fine.

I even got a clap(!) from one of the other old dears in the class when I was the only one to manage the crow pose (not much flexibility required - just gotta balance on your wrists in a curled up kinda ball).

My hams, etc are super tight so a lot of the stuff was out of reach. Did sweat buckets and felt alright after. It didn't inspire me to keep it up as a regular thing tho - just ticking the box off to experience it once.

BossArky

Friday December 21st: Bench day 7 of 12

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 6x4 ... work sets

Rev Fly
1.5kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
8kg per arm - 1x10
10kg per arm - 3x10
---
Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +5kg - 3x5
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Extension - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
... plus some band work
---

Some relaxed Benching:100kg 6x4.

BossArky

Monday December 23rd: Squat day 7 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
130kg - 3x5 ... work sets

GHR
3x10

Ab Wheel
3x10
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Extension - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
---

Squats after breakfast: 130kg 3x5.

Wore my SBD knee sleeves and elbow sleeves for first time since comp about 3 months ago. Felt good :pac:

BossArky

Wednesday December 25th: Squat day 8 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x2
140kg - 3x3 ... work sets

GHR
3x8

Ab Wheel
3x8
---

Squat 140kg 3x3 then stuffed face remorsefully with xmas fare.

Held the bar further down back by widening grip (little finger on rings) and got more posterior chain into it.

BossArky

Thursday December 26th: Bench day 8 of 12

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 1x1
105kg - 6x3 ... work sets

Rev Fly
1.5kg per arm - 3x10 ... each set on "T" then "V" for these ones
4kg per arm - 3x10 ... just "T" i.e. Rev Fly
---
Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +6kg - 3x5
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
Extension - 3x15
---

Benched 105kg 6x3 with various low volume back.

Finished off with some neck. Getting a bit more used to these now. Increased extension volume to be a bit higher than flexion.

BossArky

Saturday December 28th: Deadlift day 4 of 6

Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x3
160kg - 3x6

Military Press
50kg - 3x5
---
Barbell Row
75kg - 3x10
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral - 3x10
Extension - 3x15
---

Deadlift 160kg 3x6 superset with Military Press 50kg 3x5.

Finished off with Barbell Row and Neck Training.

Have been burning a lot of calories. Eating lean and not enough, plus training hard in the gym 5 days per week, swimming once or twice per day... plus getting usually 10k+ steps in.

Not intentionally trying to loose weight but confirms what I know - if I don't work hard at maintaining weight I waste away.

On the plus side - looking much leaner than usual and no more chub.

Weighed myself the morning after the above as was about 81 point something kg.

BossArky

Tuesday December 31st: Squat day 9 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 3x9 ... work sets

GHR
3x10

Ab Wheel
3x10
---

Last training day of the year. Squat 120kg 3x9 handy enough. Enjoyed it. Legs sore as I type this the next day.

BossArky

Wednesday January 1st: Bench day 9 of 12

Bench Press (paused)
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x6 ... work sets. Easy

Rev Fly
1.5kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
6kg per arm - 1x10
8kg per arm - 3x10

Chin Ups (parallel grip)
bodyweight +7kg - 3x5
---
Neck Training
Flexion - 3x10
Rotation - 3x10
Lateral Face Up - 3x10
Extension - 3x20
Lateral Face Down - 1x20
---

Wished myself a Happy New Year by Benching 90kg 6x6 with ease.

Assistance was Rev Fly and Weighted Chins. Adding 1kg to the latter as I go along session to session to sneak the weight up gradually.

Bodyweight 80.9kg this morning. Ok - loosing way too much weight and need to arrest the wastage. Got back on the weight gain train by bringing 2 litres of full fat milk into the gym today. Aiming to get back up to a lean 86kg at least by year end.

New Year fitness aims - as always - get stronger. Last year was successful with hitting the 170kg Squat, 122.5kg Bench and 207.5kg Deadlift. I'll be pushing all of those up further this year. Got some big goals in the coming years and gotta keep pushing onwards.

Happy New Year, friend.

BossArky

Friday January 3rd: Squat day 10 of 12

Squat
20kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x3
130kg - 3x7 ... work sets

GHR
3x8

Ab Wheel
3x8
---

Good session. Was debating internally whether or not I'd call it quits after second set but pushed on and finished the third set. Legs nice and numb.