Fugly's lifting journal...

[Fuglydude]

Thanks espi... yes I also notice abdominal soreness when doing a heavier front squat. I usually won't go more than 225 for ATG front squats though. I still go ATG for back squat, but I agree that there is slightly more ROM w/ the front squat.

Update: Nov. 10th.

Designated Phuck around day. I was supposed to do a push-pull day today, but yesterday was deads/dips, and I'm pretty beat up from it. Today I figured I'd do some lighter push/pull work and incorporate in some other experimental movements.

Warm up:

Core work, rotator cuff work, stretches.

Incline dumbell press:

65 x 8 (yes weak I know!)
65 x 6 (did one dumbell at a time for the added challenge of stability)

Bent over dumbell row:

65 x 10
65 x 8

Reverse Grip bench:

135 x 6 (didn't feel right) ... I need serious help on my bench.
155 x 5

Zercher Box squats:

225 x 4
225 x 5
245 x 3
265 x 3
275 x 1

I'm confident I can nail 275 x 3 next time. It'll be nice to get to a 3-plate zercher squat.

Hammer strength shoulder press:

50/side x 8
25/side x 12
25/side x 12

Pull ups:

BW x 20 (parallel grip)
BW x 12 (wide grip)

Finished w/ lateral and anterior raises.

Working 5 12 hour shifts in a row, so not sure how much heavy lifting I'll do over the next little bit.

 

[Fuglydude]

Update Nov. 13th

Squats/Chins:

Had a hectic 12 hour shift today... was tired, but needed to get in the gym.

Warm up:

Stretches, light core work, hang clean

ATG back squat:

135 x 5
225 x 5 (this set was jump squats)
285 x 5
295 x 3
305 x 3 (last rep was rough!)
225 x 8
225 x 5 (no motivation to continue after rep 5)

Chins:

(BW + 90) x 8 (last rep sucked)
(BW + 90) x 7
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 8 (last 2 reps were very tough).
BW x 15 (no motivation to continue after rep 15)

Zercher squat:

225 x 4

Pistol:

30/side x 4 (tough! quite fatigued at this stage)

Finished w/ some bicep curls and leg ext.

 

[Fuglydude]

Nov. 14th: Push/Pull day today

Pretty beat up from last night, but I did get around 7 hours of sleep last night, so feel good.

Warm up w/ core work, rotator cuff warm up, stretches.

Incline dumbell press:

100 x 6
100 x 6
50 x 10

Bent over Dumbell row:

100 x 6
100 x 6
50 x 10

Reverse grip bench:

135 x 8 (stability work)
135 x 8
135 x 8
135 x 8

Wide grip pull ups:

BW x 18
BW x 12
BW x 8

Seated row (wide parallel grip):

100 x 10
100 x 10

Deadlifts/dips are next.

 

[Fuglydude]

Nov. 17th: Deads/Dips

I had a LOT of sleep over the past little bit, and basically had a "sleep hangover". It was tough to get motivated towards the start of my work out.

Warm up:

Stretches, and core.

Powerclean:

135 x 5 (hang)
185 x 3 (hang)
205 x 3

Deads:

225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 4 (could have done one more but quit... cuz I'm a big puzzy!)
405 x 3
365 x 6
365 x 6

Dips:

(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6

Zercher box squats:

225 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 4
265 x 3

Pistols:

30/side x 5 (felt strong)
25/side x 5

Finished w/ some abs, light cable work and tricep kick backs.

 

[Fuglydude]

Nov. 20th: Push/pull day.

Last WO w/ deads/dips really destroyed my back, especially my posterior chain. I've been resting for 72 hours, but still quite sore, as a result, didn't go 100% today. Diet's also been crappy for the past 2-3 days. My rt. shoulder didn't feel right... felt as though its still "out".

Warm up w/ core, rotator cuff work.

Incline dumbell press:

100 x 5
75 x 8 (done unilaterally for stability)
75 x 8 (unilateral again)
85 x 9 (normal)

One arm Dumbell row:

100 x 6
75 x 8
75 x 8

Mixed in some lateral/posterior raises w/ light weight.

Hammer strength shoulder press:

50/side x 7
35/side x 8
25/side x 8

super-setted these w/ light lateral raises.

Parallel grip pull up:

BW x 20
BW x 14

Reverse grip bench press:

155 x 6
135 x 6 (shoulder didn't like this very much)

Finished w/ some face pulls and fairly high volume core work.

 

[Fuglydude]

My personal best is 27 BW pull ups... but I was nice and fresh, and around 165 lbs at the time. Now I have issues even doing 20.

To answer your question, I don't really think it makes a difference. I think after the 8 rep mark, it becomes more a game of muscular endurance... I get good high rep BW pull ups when I train for them and am lighter/better conditioned, not really while training for strength.

 

[Fuglydude]

Had a couple of sessions:

Squats/chins and Push/pull...

Push pull was a hodge-podge of a variety of movements I don't do regularly, as I didn't feel 100%.

Squats sucked too... I got quite high the night before, and had a bad ass weed hangover stalking me into the gym the next day.

Warm up w/ core, stretches, powerclean.

Powerclean:

135 x 5 (hang)
185 x 3 (hang)
205 x 1

ATG Back squat:

135 x 5
225 x 8
285 x 3 (these were tough and felt totally off)
245 x 8

Weighted Pull up (close underhand grip):

(BW + 90) x 7
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 5
BW x 10

Pistols:

25/side x 5

Finished w/ leg ext. and leg curl.

 

[Fuglydude]

Update: Nov. 29th Squat/chins today.

I dropped close to 8 pounds last week in preparation for a stagette last night. Went from 175 to 166-167 ish. Had to drop a lot of water. Was really depleted yesterday following the stagette. I took me a good 12-16 hours to feel normal again. In addition, been working close to 60 hours w/ a mix of day-night shifts, so my circadian rhythms are all outta sync.

Regardless, was a good work out today.

Warm up:

Stretching, hang cleans, tread mill walk for 5 min.

Hang clean:

135 x 5
185 x 3

ATG Back squat:

185 x 6
225 x 8
295 x 3
315 x 2
335 ... failed :-(
275 x 6
225 x 12 (was tough!)

Weighted Chins

(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 7
(BW + 90) x 7
(BW + 90) x 6.5 (last rep sucked)

Pistols:

35/side x 4 (personal best!)

Zercher box squat:

225 x 3

 

[Fuglydude]

Haven't updated this thing in forever...

I haven't been lifting very heavy as of late. I've been working 50-60 hours a week on average, doing both days/nights w/ the occassional stagette thrown in, so I have been quite busy.

For the last month or so, I focussed on lower weights and really training for the "pump" just to change things up. I'll continue to train for the pump, but will reincorporate strength/power work in the coming months.

Todays work out: Basically a "phuck around" strength day...

warmed up w/ core, stretches, rotator cuff work.

Incline dumbell press:

50 x 8
100 x 7 (personal best)
100 x 6
50 x 12

Dumbell bent over row:

110 x 7 (personal best)
110 x 6
50 x 10

Hang clean:

135 x 5
185 x 3
195 x 1 (ties a personal best)

Powerclean:

205 x 3

Pistols:

20/side x 5
20/side x 5

Zercher box squat:

225 x 5
245 x 5
265 x 3
275 x 3 (tied personal best)

The zercher squats felt great today!

Dumbell snatch:

80/side x 3

Weighted chins:

(BW + 90) x 7
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6

Hammer strength shoulder press:

45/side x 12
55/side x 8
45/side x 8

Bodywt. wide grip chins:

BW x 10
BW x 8
BW x 7

Overall a great workout to get back into the swing of things! Short term goals are to hit 315 for zercher squats. Looking forward to a heavy deadlift session sometime this week!

 

[Fuglydude]

Jan. 5th.

Did Deads/dips/tri's w/ some pull ups thrown in.

Warm up w/ stretches, light core work, hang clean.

Hang clean:

135 x 5
185 x 3

Deads:

315 x 1
405 x 1
425 x 1
435 x 1
445 x 1 (ties personal best)
450 x 1 .... Fail :-(
315 x 8 (felt light)

I think i can do 450ish if I did less work leading upto it. The 445 ties a personal best. It was heavy, but actually didn't feel like it was too much of a struggle. My back didn't feel right when attempting the 450 as I had done several heavy max sets of deads alternated w/ heavy weighted dips.

Weighted Dips:

(BW + 115) x 6
(BW + 135) x 5 (I really wanna be able to get 6 or more reps w/ this)
(BW + 135) x 5
(BW + 90) x 8 (tough!)

Weighted Pull ups (palms facing me)

(BW + 100) x 6 (tough)
(BW + 100) x 6
(BW + 45) x 8 (surprisingly hard)

Pistols:

25/side x 5 (were quite hard as they were towards the end of my session)

Also did light tricep kickbacks, some tricep cable work, etc.

Post WO weight: 176 (80 kg)

Have a stagette saturday, so gonna try and drop some more water over the next couple of days... which will affect strength negatively.

 

[Quagmire911]

Nice work man. You should definitely hit 450-455 if you cut out the 435/445.

Those chins and dips are sick, keep up the good work.

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanx Quag... Its just a bit frustrating now as I have been working 50-60 hrs a week w/ both days/nights shifts and that can really mess w/ my sleep patterns.

I've been averaging 3-4 hours a night for the past few nights and I know this is affecting my recovery. Furthermore, I've had some fairly high acuity patients at work, which means I'm scared to go train on my breaks as I don't wanna leave the unit if the poor SOB should code... I also have a stagette coming up, so I have been trying to prep for that all week ... hopefully drop 6-7 lbs this week already down around 4-5 lbs from 179 to 175.

Anyways: Update - Push pull day Jan 8th.

Slept like shiiite as I got off night shifts... maybe got 3 hours. My joints hurt and I generally didn't feel 100%. I have accrueing a bit of a sleep debt over the past week or so.

Warm up w/ core work, rotator cuff work.

Incline dumbell press:

40 x 8
105 x 6 (personal best!) ... however, I really had to strain my chest to do this. In the end I decided to only do one set as I didn't wanna tear a pec.

50 x 12 (really focussing on the contraction)
50 x 12

One arm dumbell row:

110 x 6
110 x 6
110 x 6

hehe... love doing these... its basically like throwing a small asian girl around w/ one arm!

I elected not to do anymore chest work as my pecs really didn't feel right at this point.

Pistol:

25/side x 5

Zercher box squat:

225 x 5
275 x 5 (personal best)
295 x 3 (actually didn't feel too hard!)

Will attempt 315 next work out.

Hammer strength shoulder press:

55/side x 8 (ties personal best... need to increase weight).
45/side x 8

Finished w/ some cardio.

Post WO weight of ~175.

 

[Drum&Bass]

Whats up dude ! you have an UN-real work ethic and dedication...be careful about burning out or overtraining. thanks for the encouragement on the other threads as well.

I'll be waiting for your 315 bench 405 squat and 550 deadlift soon.

 

[MetalFortress]

Gotta agree w/ DnB on this one... I do olympic lifts because they really fire up my nervous system w/o dipping into my energy reserves. Great for doing at the beginning of a work out. You can generate some mad wattage doing a heavy clean... the kind of power production (mad/t) is among the highest that can be produced by the human body.

Update: Oct. 6th:

Squat/Chins. Only had around 50 minutes or so.

Warm up:

Stretches, core work, powerclean.

Powerclean:

135 x 5 (hang)
185 x 3 (hang)
205 x 1

ATG Back squat:

225 x 8
275 x 6 (personal best!)
275 x 5 (no spotter for this one... and I squat outside the cage so didn't go all out)
275 x 6 (really light headed after this set).

Weighted chins:

(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6

Pistols:

25/side x 6

Overhead one arm dumbell squat:

80/side x 5

Finished w/ a couple sets of seated bicep curls.

Did 30 min. light cardio during a break on my shift. There's a full gym at work.

I should add power cleans back in, that's a good point on wattage. Btw, your dips and chins are freakin impressive!

 

[Fuglydude]

Whats up dude ! you have an UN-real work ethic and dedication...be careful about burning out or overtraining. thanks for the encouragement on the other threads as well.

I'll be waiting for your 315 bench 405 squat and 550 deadlift soon.

Thanks man... appreciate it. Its just frustrating as I feel like I'm taking two steps forward and three steps back a lot of the times. I hate to admit it, but w/ my lifestyle, career and schedule I have difficulty staying lean, and making strength gains w/o the use of anabolics. I know I don't need them, but they make life a lot easier, as they allow me to stay lean and look good for shows despite having a lot of stress on my body due to lack of sleep, inadequate caloric intake, messing natural circadian rhythms, etc. In addition prepping for stagettes means reducing calories and complex carb intake over the short term. Obviously this is gonna affect progress! I guess I'm too much of a slave to income and making progress w/ strength gains takes a back seat.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for your accomplishments, as I know you're natural... I still bothers me that you don't compete though. If I had your abilities, I would totally be competing.

Metal fortress, thanx for the compliment... heavy dips/chins aren't hard when you only weigh 175-180!

 

[Colossus]

Good progress Fugs...especially on those chins! I tried chins with a 45-lb plate the other day and was totally humbled.

I think you may be pushing CNS burnout with your lack of recovery. You do fairly low reps and 3-4 hours of sleep a night just doesnt cut it....maybe scale back the poundage and volume until you can get more dedicated sleep.

 

[Fuglydude]

Good progress Fugs...especially on those chins! I tried chins with a 45-lb plate the other day and was totally humbled.

I think you may be pushing CNS burnout with your lack of recovery. You do fairly low reps and 3-4 hours of sleep a night just doesnt cut it....maybe scale back the poundage and volume until you can get more dedicated sleep.

Ya i hear ya on the CNS burn out... It actually isn't too bad as I have anabolic support and take pre-WO supplements to crank up my CNS function. Another unfortunate side effect of inadequate sleep/working a lot is increased susceptibility to illness. I'm just recovering from a mild bout of food poisoning, and am scared to step back in the gym as I know my strength will suck!

Over the next few years in my career stream, due to the demand for critical care-trained RNs, I'm not sure I'll really ever be able to get enough sleep. I'm not sure if anesthesia will be any different as you often have call 1-2 or more times a week. I'm happy if I can get 5-6 hours a night, but lately I haven't even been getting that.

 

[Fuglydude]

Update: Jan 11th

Squats/Chins

Just recovered from a food poisoning. However, I did sleep A TON yesterday, so I think I'm all caught up in that department. Pre-WO supplements:
- 1.5 to 2 servings of Endorush energy drink (1/3 - 1/2 bottle)
- 2 high potency GNC multi's (non-time release variety)

Warm up:

Stretches, core work

Powerclean:

185 x 5 (hang)
205 x 3

Front squat:

215 x 6 (powerclean to get the weight into position)

ATG Back squat:

225 x 5 (jump squats)
295 x 5 (Personal best!... it was funny because I thought it was 285!)
225 x 12 (rough!)
225 x 8 (rough!)

Zercher box squats:

295 x 3 (personal best for a trips)
315 x 1 (PB for a single)

Pull ups (narrow grip w/ palms facing me)

(BW + 45) x 12
(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 8
(BW + 90) x 7

Pistols:

20/side x 5
20/side x 5

Seated bicep curls:

30/side x 8
30/side x 8
30/side x 7

Overhead one arm dumbell squat:

Was quite fried by this point:

65/side x 5

Also did hip ext., standing calf raises and light barbell bicep curls.

Post WO weight of 172!

 

[Fuglydude]

Update: Jan 12th Push/pull day

Still not at 100%, but have been sleeping well, so that will help.

Warm up w/ core work, rotator cuff stretches.

Incline dumbell press:

55 x 8
105 x 3 ... immediately followed by 55 x 4
105 x 3 ... immediately followed by 55 x 4
50 x 10
50 x 10

Dumbell row:

105 x 8
105 x 6
50 x 12
50 x 12

Z-lifts (off the floor. The weight was so low I had to get on my knees)
- Used this to work my abs mostly.

135 x 3

Reverse grip bench press

135 x 5
135 x 5

Modified overhand grip pull up:

BW x 18
BW x 12

Hammer strength shoulder press:

25/side x 10
25/side x 10

Dumbell snatch:

60/side x 3 (was gassed at this point)

Post WO wt of 173.5

 

[Fuglydude]

Update: Jan 15th. Deads/Dips.

Was tired today... felt nauseous through out the WO, working 36+ hours in the last 3 of days w/ fairly unstable/sick patients. Because healthcare in Canada is publicly funded, and ICU beds are really expensive, we only admit the sickest of the sick, and our acuity is typically significantly higher than most ICU's in the US. Been sleeping ~4 hours/night for the last couple of nights and waking up several times a night. Just have been very restless.

I think my CNS might be kinda burning out. I did my pre-WO work-up consisting of hydration, multi's and endorush for energy.

Warm up w/ stretches, core work.

Powerclean:

135 x 5 (hang)
185 x 3 (felt tougher than normal)

Deads:

315 x 5
405 x 5 (ties personal best)
405 x 4
315 x 6 (last rep was a static hold)
315 x 1 (static hold)

Weighted Dips:

(BW + 135) x 4
(BW + 135) x 3
(BW + 135) x 3
(BW + 90) x 8

Was quite disappointed w/ my dips today.

Pistols:

30/side x 4

Dumbell Snatch

90/side x 1

Overall a disappointing work out. I know I'm burning out, but that's the kinda lifestyle I have w/ my job(s)...