Sets of faahve

Mr. CooL ICE

Sumo deadlift: 1x1 @ 180kg, 1x5 @ 155kg and 2x5 @ 140kg. Top single was slow as hell and i tipped over at the top and dropped it. Locked it out but it would have been 3 reds. Like, I'm happy with form but there's more to do. 155 was ugh, and 140s ok.

Hack squat: 3x10 @ 45-50kg. As hard as i wanted it.

Chest supported rows/DB flat press: 3x8/8 @ 50-55kg/22.5-27.5kg. Rows felt weak and I really feel like I'm wasting my time with flyes, so did something else that felt like it was doing something right.

Hamstring curls/hammer curls: 3x8-10 @ something kinda hard. Grand.

Next two weeks are a bit all over the place but I may be switching back to lifting for 4 days a week, which is my preference.

Mr. CooL ICE

First week of being back to 4 days a week. Trialling a new split. Will be squatting and deadlifting in some close variation twice a week.

Squat: 1x5 @ 140kg and 2x5 @ 130kg. Was tempted to get a spot for the 140 but I didn't need it. Need to have faith in myself because I'm stronger than I think i am. Form held together for all reps and yes it was difficult, but it didn't kill me.

Beltless paused sumo: 2x3 @ 140kg. Fine.

FFE split squats: 3x8 @ 40kg. They seemed pretty easy until I got to the end.

Paused BB rows: 3x8 @ 40kg. I was trialling a variation where I keep the lower back tight but use upper back to lower the barbell further than usual. Have to stand on a bumper to allow the full ROM. Possibly too light but it was an experiment.

Mr. CooL ICE

Continuing off the bench weight progression from last week but changing exercises around for what I plan on doing for a 4 day week.

Bench: 1x1 @ 102.5kg, 1x5 @ 92.5kg and 2x5 @ 87.5kg. Top single moved slowly, but there was definitely another few kg there. It wasn't a max. 5kg off comp max and most I've benched as a dad. And the 92.5 had no more room but it equalled a PB. Fantastic stuff.

Weighted pullups: 4x8 @ 10kg. First set was easy but got incredibly hard by the end.

Incline DB press: 4x8 @ 22.5-25kg. Realised last week that I'm only strong at these immediately after benching. Any break between benching and these and they're way harder.

Lateral raises: 4x12 @ 7.5kg. Upper body felt a little beaten up and the 10kgs were taken, so these were welcome.

Mr. CooL ICE

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 115kg. This was fine. This variant has always shown how bad my bracing has been under load in the past, but this felt good.

Sumo deadlift: 1x3 @ 170kg and 2x3 @ 150kg. It should have been 165x5 but I kinda YOLOd it a little because I think this matched a 3RM? Form felt and looked good but I had little room for more reps.

Barbell row: 4x8 @ 70kg. Kept form as strict as possible. Reset at floor each time. Was kinda hard at this weight.

Leg extensions: 70kg with 13, 10, 9. First time doing these in over a month and they're stronger than where I left off.

Hamstring curls: 40kg with 11, 7, 6. Just weak.

Grand evening. Can't complain.

Mr. CooL ICE

Back in the gym around 9 hours after leaving it. Should have just brought a sleeping bag.

TnG bench: 4x8 @ 80, 82.5, 82.5, 82.5kg. Haven't done TnG since probably 2019 but honestly it's not much different. Just trying to keep each set close to a 9.

Weighted pullups: 5kg for 8, 8, 8, 7. Although I did these with 10kg a few days ago, I didn't like my form. I'm trying to get my chest to the bar instead of getting chin over the bar, which is all I was managing on Tuesday. What's the point in doing it if I'm not going to do it right?

Lateral raises: 4x8 @ 10kg. Hard to finish.

Tricep pushdown/cable rope curls: 3x8-10 @ something hard.

So, week trialling my new split done and happy with time spent in the gym per session as it looks doubtful I'll start missing sets due to running out of time. I need to do chinups on Tuesday instead of pullups. Still haven't decided what to do with main lifts progression as I definitely don't want to do these at a 9 every week.

Taking Monday/Tuesday off so will start fully from the week after.

Mr. CooL ICE

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 110kg. Dropped weight a tad because I was afraid of form breaking down.

Sumo deadlift: 3x1 @ 175kg. Just wanted to repeat the same weight for a few singles. Form was off and it took a while to figure out what was up. Think I'm bloated and needed to loosen the belt by a notch. I think it helped because I finally started using lats properly. But my hamstrings felt on fire for every single rep, including warmups.

Barbell row: 4x8 @ 70kg. Same weight but narrowed grip. Was slightly easier this week.

Leg extensions: 75kg with 12, 9, 9. Hard.

Hamstring curls: 40kg with 10, 7, 6.

Mixed bag of an evening.

Mr. CooL ICE

TnG bench: 4x8 @ 80, 85, 85, 85kg. Thought I'd be weaker after not doing any upper body in a week but it's up from last week.

Weighted pullups: 5kg for 4x8. This was hard but I did manage to complete all reps this time.

Lateral raises: 4x8 @ 10kg. Again, hard. Need to keep trying to raise the elbow; not the dumbbell.

Tricep pushdown/cable rope curls: 3x10 @ something hard.

I'm finding the 9 hour gap between gym sessions hard. It's incredibly difficult to wake up for this session but once I get here, it's good.

Mr. CooL ICE

Squat: 1x8 @ 117.5kg and 2x8 @ 107.5kg. Weight easy but out of breath. Still, no form deviation so all good.

Beltless paused sumo: 2x3 @ 140kg. Felt harder than last time and felt it in my hamstrings big time. Also tipped forward and had to drop again so might need to cue some sort of mild overextension at the top and/or figure out if bar is moving away from me at some point.

FFE split squats: 3x8 @ 50kg. Weight was hard but I kept hitting plates off the rack which meant i was leaning to front foot side, which is technically unsound. I did get better as I went on though. Might do DB variation next week.

One arm cable rows: 4x6-8 @ something hard. Think I'll do these instead of the full ROM barbell variation i tried recently.

Grand morning. Gym is closing early today and I thought the morning would be flooded with evening people but that didn't happen.

Mr. CooL ICE

Bench: 1x3 @ 95kg and 2x3 @ 90kg. Was aiming for a 9 with the 95 but possibly undershot. Cool, I'll take it.

Weighted chinups: 4x8 @ 10kg. These were hard and there was hardly any room left in later sets.

Incline DB press: 4x8 @ 27.5, 30, 27.5, 27.5kg. as difficult as I was aiming for.

Lateral raises: 3x12 @ 7.5kgs and 1x8 @ 10kg. The 10s were busy. Still hard.

Mr. CooL ICE

Had a chance to go in the morning and I took it. Legs still in bits from Monday. Hard to know if it was squatting for 8 or the FFE split squats. Most likely the FFE because doms is in weird places.

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 120kg. Pushed this a little and yeah, it was hard but all perfect reps.

Sumo deadlift: 1x6 @ 147.5kg and 2x6 @ 132.5kg. Weight easy but more than 3 reps and I moan. Form felt good at least and no needing to drop at the top.

Barbell row: 4x8 @ 75kg. Increased weight slightly. I'd go higher but I'm wary of dipping my chest a bit as reps get harder.

Leg extensions/hamstring curls: 75kg/40kg with 12, 10 and 12, 9. Had to superset these due to time.

Mr. CooL ICE

TnG bench: 4x8 @ 85, 90, 90, 87.5. Can't remember what my TnG PB is but 90x8 could be a new one. Felt strong. Great.

Weighted pullups: 5kg for 7, 7.5, 8, 8. They felt weak but I realised I wasn't resetting properly and at the bottom, I was lowering myself to in front of the bar, which tired me out. Once I lowered myself under the bar, it became easier.

Lateral raises: 4x8 @ 10kg. These were ok.

Tricep pushdown/straight bar curls: 3x10 @ something hard. Rope in use so tried straight bar to see how wrist felt. Minor discomfort so I'll stick with rope in future.

Getting plenty of rest between Thu/Fri sessions must have made a difference.

Mr. CooL ICE

Easter Monday: fuelled by chocolate.

Squat: 1x3 @ 137.5kg and 2x3 @ 127.5kg. Top set not easy, but form solid for everything.

Beltless paused sumo: 2x3 @ 145kg. Better this week, form wise but did feel heavy and hamstrings on fire again.

One arm cable rows: 4x8 @ something hard. Ascended in weight and got one weight away from full stack. If I manage to rep a full stack for multiple sets, I'll have to move to something else; probably one arm DB rows.

FFE split squats: 3x8 @ 20kgs. Dumbbells today. Was a little shaky at the start so didn't go up. More confident in a big ROM that with a barbell in a rack, so will use this going forward and push weight more.

Mr. CooL ICE

Bench: 1x6 @ 85kg and 2x6 @ 80kg. Felt meh. Was aiming for RPE 8 and maybe it was, but something felt off and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Weighted chinups: 4x8 @ 10kg. Grand.

Incline DB press: 4x6-8 @ 27.5, 30, 27.5, 30kg. Felt less strong than last week.

Lateral raises: 4x8 @ 10kg. Grand.

Mr. CooL ICE

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 120kg. Grand. Will only goo up in weight once I classify this as easy. It's not quite there yet.

Sumo deadlift: 1x3 @ 162.5kg and 2x3 @ 145kg. Not happy with 162.5 because although it moved as fast as expected, i kinda messed up and wasn't tucking my lats. Corrected for 145s.

Barbell row: 4x6-8 @ 70-80kg. Changed how I did these because I had been doing them pendlay style, ie resting on the ground between sets. Just made sure they were as difficult as I could do them properly.

Leg extensions: 75kg x 14, 12, 9. Hard.

Hamstring curls: 40kg x 13, 7, 6. Ugh.

Mr. CooL ICE

TnG bench: 4x6-8 @ 85, 90, 90, 90. The 90s felt harder than last week so I resisted temptation to go up.

Weighted pullups: 0-5kg for 8, 8, 8, 8. Started feeling weak but threw on 5kg anyway and that also moved.

Lateral raises: 3x8 @ 10kg. Cut these short because of time.

Tricep pushdown/rope cable curls: 3x8 @ something hard.

Maybe a week of excessive chocolate finally caught up with me. Generally weak all round.

Alf Veedersane

Bench looks to be flying!

Mr. CooL ICE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121982868#Comment_121982868

Sounds like it's time for injury!

I'm still bitter about having such a strong weighted dip relative to bench.

Mr. CooL ICE

Squat: 1x5 @ 137.5kg and 2x5 @ 127.5kg. 137.5 was so hard that I almost fell trying to pick up my phone after. It felt worse than it looked though. Was aiming for a 9 but may have overshot.

Beltless paused sumo: 2x3 @ 145kg. Much easier. Have changed the cue around tucking my lats and it works better.

FFE split squats: 3x8 @ 25kgs. These were hard. Also, think I may adjust rest periods instead of doing right/left/rest, i might introduce shorter rests but rest between each leg switch too because the second leg is always worse.

One arm cable rows: 4x8 @ something hard. Ascended in weight to full stack.

One of those days that confirms that yes, I absolutely hate squats.

Mr. CooL ICE

Bench: 1x2 @ 97.5kg and 2x2 @ 92.5kg. Top set was to be a 9 and I reckon it was 8.5. I'll take it!

Weighted chinups: 3x8 @ 10kg and 1x6 @ 15kg. The 10s felt easy so I felt confident with a biggish jump. I'll also take it.

Incline DB press: 4x8 @ 27.5, 30, 30, 30. Yay.

Lateral raises: 3x8 @ 10kg. Ran out of time for a 4th.

Great evening. Nice to actually feel strong/not feel weak.

Mr. CooL ICE

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 120kg. They were slow but perfect otherwise. Not sure if I'd classify them as easy though.

Sumo deadlift: 1x3 @ 170kg and 2x3 @ 152.5kg. 170 was to be a 9 but possibly an undershoot? Tucking lats really makes it easier. Whoulda thought.

Barbell row: 4x6-8 @ 70-80kg.

One and one half Platz squats: 4x5 @ 40kg. These weren't on the menu but leg extension was busy. Not exactly a comparable quad exercise but was interesting nonetheless.

Hamstring curls: 40kg x 13, 8, 8. Ugh again.

Delighted with how deadlifts felt this evening. I may have discovered why I was toppling forward at the top and it could have been because I was starting with bar right against shins. I have moved bar away a few mm and it's not happening. I hypothesise that I had to move bar forward to get past my knees which threw me off balance.

Mr. CooL ICE

TnG bench: 4x6-8 @ 85, 90, 92.5, 92.5kg. Was hoping to chance my arm at 95x6 but I felt weak this morning.

Weighted pullups: 5kg x 8, 8, 8, 10. Time to throw some extra weight on.

Lateral raises: 10kg x 8, 8, 8, 12. Will attempt 12.5 again but I recall it being a disaster last time I tried.

Tricep pushdown/rope cable curls: 3x8-10 @ something hard.

Mixed bag of a day.

Mr. CooL ICE

Squat: 1x1 @ 155kg and 2x3 @ 125kg. This didn't go to plan as I was going to go for a 10 but I didn't feel confident asking around for a spot. 155 was a 9 and heaviest I've gone in 5 years so I'll take it.

Beltless paused sumo: 2x3 @ 145kg. I was thinking about going up in weight but these felt far heavier than last week. Considering I plan on going heavyish in 3 days, probably a good idea to hold back a little.

FFE split squats: 3x8 @ 30kgs. Went a bit too heavy with these and pretty sure my form suffered. But I had a 45s rest between each leg which helped a little.

One arm cable rows: 4x8 @ something hard; mostly full stack.

Mr. CooL ICE

Had to go morning instead of evening this Tuesday.

Bench: 1x1 @ 107.5kg and 2x3 @ 87.5kg. Matched my PB from 2019. Happy with that.

Weighted chinups: 4x8 @ 10-12.5kg. Still feeling strong.

Incline DB press: 4x8 @ 27.5, 30, 27.5, 30. Still struggling with this weight. The 27.5s are too light to be much of a challenge and although I can finish the reps with 30, they're slow and messy.

Lateral raises: 12.5 for 7, 6, 5. That 2.5kg increase killing me.

Mr. CooL ICE

Beltless paused squat: 2x3 @ 125kg. Warmups felt good so threw another 5kg on. No regrets. Happy with how it moved.

Sumo deadlift: 1x2 @ 180kg and 2x4 @ 145kg. Was aiming for a 9 and think I nailed it. Think it's a rep PR too because something tells me my triple PR is either 170 or 175 and that's the most I've ever repped. Form felt and looked solid, so I'm happy.

Barbell row: 4x8 @ 80kg.

Leg extension: 75kg x 15, 13, 11. Supersetted with below.

Hamstring curl: 40kg x 14, 10, 8.

Mr. CooL ICE

TnG bench: 3x6 @ 90kg. Was going to go for 95x6 this morning but bench felt incredibly weak. Could be minor fatigue from Tuesday; dunno. Decided to take it a little easy.

Weighted pullups: 4x8 @ 6.25kg. Had room in the tank for most sets so I could have added more weight.

Lateral raises: 4x10 @ 10kg. Up in reps. Was more ok than I thought it would be.

Tricep pushdown/rope cable curls: 3x10 @ something hard. Pump.

Will change things for the next 4 weeks. Will up volume of main lifts but cut the paused variation.

Mr. CooL ICE

Squat: 1x6 @ 125kg and 4x6 @ 120kg. I felt weak hell warming up and dreaded the whole thing, but it got easier as I went on. Maybe I just wasn't warm enough? Dunno.

Banded 45 hyper: 4x8. A tad easy so will have to at least increase reps.

One arm cable rows: 4x8 @ something hard. Only went full stack once but felt form degrading, so went back down.

Hamstring curls: 3 for 12, 9, 5. Hamstrings were just wrecked.

Mr. CooL ICE

Got to the gym late so made decision ahead of time to cut one set off everything.

Bench: 1x3 @ 95kg and 3x3 @ 90kg. Top set was to be a 9 and it was more like 9.5.

Weighted pullups: 3x8 @ 6.25kg. Short rests meant this was hard and form dodgy.

EZ skullcrusher: 3x8 @ 28-30.5kg. Was unsure of what weight to use as hadn't done these in a while. Could have gone heavier in the end.

Decline curl: 3x8 @ 3x8 @ 12.5-15kg. As above, finding a challenging weight and 15 was it.

Lateral raises: 12.5 for 1x5. Ran out of time.

Not a great session due to how rushed everything was. But for consistency's sake, it was better to show up than not at all.

Mr. CooL ICE

Sumo deadlift: 1x5 @ 160kg and 4x5 @ 145kg. Was aiming for a 7 with the 160 and it was. Delighted with how it moved. Fast, looked good and felt good.

Platz squat: 3x8 @ 80kg. Kinda hard, but I could have gone heavier. Out of breath more than anything. First week so thought I'd stay conservative for now but must go up next week.

Chest supported row: 4x8 @ 45kg.

Leg extension: Ran out of time. Poor time management on my part.

Really happy with the deadlift. I did 160x8 conventional back in 2019 with horrendous form. The fact that I can do that weight with perfect form with room to spare (i.e. 8 reps easily within reach) is promising.

Mr. CooL ICE

Incline bench: 4x8 @ 60, 65, 67.5, 70kg. Was more about finding a weight that was challenging and 70kg had possibly 1 more in it. My incline bench had always been weak compared to flat but this could have been a PR? I couldn't be arsed checking but something tells me 70x4 is the most I've ever gone.

Weighted chinups: 4x8 @ 10, 12.5, 12.5, 12.5kg. Felt strong.

Weighted dips: 3x8 @ 20, 22.5, 25kg. Same, checking weight. 25kg was about the max.

Lateral raises: 3x10 @ 10kg. Hard