It's Not Over Until I Win - Matty's Battle Log

[Guzzi]

Whoa! Way to go, that's commitment

Workouts are looking good, that's some very nice numbers, kudos on the PR

Ps. Knee high socks? Never not cool!

[matty_mcfly]

3/31 Monday Evening

 

So I had to skip the morning work out.  Not cause I couldn't get up, but because real life gets in the way.  BUT I made it to the gym later that day.  Awful gym night though.  Don't know if it was just because I was out of routine or what, but it just didn't feel great.  So I made yesterday my first regularly scheduled "cardio" day as I slowly (and reluctantly) start to ramp up on cardio for the triathlon and ramp down on the weights.

 

Extended warm up
Battle rope Tabata
Sledgehammer Tabata

Stationary Bike 10 Minutes
10 KB clean and press each arm
Farmer's Carry 50# DB
TGUs 3 each side 40# KB

 

4/1 - Tuesday Morning

 

Squat - Hit 200# for my squat!  Took considerably longer than I had wanted, but better late than never.  Next goal is 2 plates and 225#.  So I wore a weightlifting belt for the first time ever and it was...AMAZING.  Did 2 sets beltless then remembered I wanted to see the difference and boy was there a difference.  The weight felt as easy as 135#, it was great.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x1 @ 185#

5x5 @ 200#

 

No time for OHP :-(

[matty_mcfly]

4/2 - Wednesday Morning

 

Woke up pretty late this morning, 6:15.  Usually I would just stay in bed with the mindset that it was too late to get in and get a good work out in.  However, new mindset made me shoot up and get dressed and ready.

 

Bench - felt good. Some tough reps, but moved the weight.

1x6 @ 45#

1x4 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x1 @ 155#

5x5 @ 172.5#

 

Supported T-Bar Row - thinking about dropping the weight on these to make sure I'm actually pulling the weight up.

1x5 @ 25#

1x5 @ 45#

5x5 @ 75#

[matty_mcfly]

4/3 Thursday Morning

 

Squat

1x5 @ 45#

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x1 @ 185#

2x5 @ 205#

3x5 @ 205# (belted)

 

Deadlift - felt pretty heavy.  My lower back was not feeling it during the warm ups, but I figured I'd keep going until I couldn't.  Grip in my right hand started to give a little.  I wanna stay with DOH as long as I can.  But we'll see how long I can last.

1x5 @ 95#

1x5 @ 115#

1x3 @ 205#

1x5 @ 255#

1x1 @ 255# (belted & mix grip)

[matty_mcfly]

It's great being able to post on here because my non lifting friends have no clue the hard work and effort that goes from deadlifting 95# to 255#. And why I got so excited for this...

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Guzzi]

Who wouldn't be excited!!! They're just weirdos! That's awesome man.

I finally got my mum to start going to the gym, it's so funny that now she's phoning me to say "I just deadlifted XXXX" instead of the other way around.

[matty_mcfly]

Haha that's awesome. A bad ass, deadlifting mum.

[matty_mcfly]

4/4 Friday Evening

 

Bench - felt great to move this weight. PR for reps.  Deciding to move up 2.5lbs a session now instead of 5lbs.  Makes sense to avoid the missed reps.
1x5 @ 45
1x3 @ 95
1x3 @ 135
1x2 @ 155
5x5 @ 175

 

OHP - I might be switching to 3x5 here, but we'll see.
1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 65
1x3 @ 85
3x5 @ 95

 

Supported Lying Row - dropped the weight here, just to make sure I was still getting full ROM.
1x5 @ 25
1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 65
4x5 @ 60

[matty_mcfly]

4/7 - Monday

 

Okay so bad scheduling got in the way of a Monday work out, which sucks cause I was enjoying my string of consecutive workouts.  But oh well.  To top off the lack of hitting the gym, I also ate McDonalds...20 nuggets and a McDouble and a beer and a half.  Lol no qualms with the beer.

 

4/8 - Tuesday Morning

 

Woke up early, which was great.  But felt like shit, which wasn't great.  Still made it to the gym, pretty confident that I wasn't gonna be too impressive with the fasted work out and the shit dinner the night before.

 

Squat - so shitty.  Warm ups were okay, hips were tight, but nothing too serious.  Work sets were weird.  The weight wasn't heavy, but my mind was all over the place. 1st set my form and breathing were horrible.  2nd set I was staring at the ground.  4th and 5th sets were considerably better.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 155# (maybe)

1x1 @ 185#

2x5 @ 210#

3x5 @ 210# (belted)

 

Press - due to time and being shitty at these lately, I was going to stick with 3x5, but I hit 3x5 and still felt great and time wasn't as big of an issue.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 65#

1x3 @ 85#

5x5 @ 97.5#

[matty_mcfly]

4/9 - Wednesday Morning

 

Bench - missed the last rep of my 5th set.  My set up was really off and I felt weird the moment I unracked it, but decided to push through.  Obviously the wrong choice.  Good choice making the 2.5lb jump instead of the regular 5lbs.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x1 @ 155#

5/5/5/4/5 @ 177.5#

 

Supported Lying Row

1x5 @ 25#

5x5 @ 65#

 

On a side note, I think I'm trading in one of my squat days for a bullshit day.  Either a "cardio" heavy day or a strongman day.  Flipping tires, yoke walk, farmers walk all seem really fun to me right now.

[Guzzi]

Ooooh.... Interesting. That does sound fun!

[matty_mcfly]

4/10 - Thursday Morning

 

Got to the gym kinda late cause I was dicking around while I was getting ready.  I looked at the logs for log clean and press and I was really excited, but I think the starting weight is 165lbs, I thought there was one for 125lbs, but I cant really tell.  I guess we'll see if I can budge it.  So today was the first day in a long time where the weight all felt heavy.

 

Squat - felt sooo heavy.  I got caught in the hole somewhere in my 2nd set, slowly grinded my way up.  First time squats made me winded.  Got through all 25 reps though.  I'm so close to two plates on squats!  Haha can't stall out now.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 155#

1x1 @ 185#

2x5 @ 215#

3x5 @ 215# (belted)

 

Deadlift - also felt HEAVY for the first time.  I think I kept good form despite the higher weight.  Definitely feel it in my back today. I tried one rep with mixed grip. Felt a little weird so I switched back to DOH

 

1x5 @ 95#

1x5 @ 165#

1x3 @ 215#

1x5 @ 265#

[matty_mcfly]

4/14 - Monday Morning

 

Absolutely piss poor morning.  I was going to skip putting any detail in here BUT I picked up a 125# log and it was awesome!

 

Bench - complete shit.  No clue what was going on.  My shoulders felt weird and "every" rep felt weak.  So missed 1 rep at this weight and today missed 19...make sense? No

 

4/2/0/0/0 @ 177.5#

 

Log Clean & Press - Was worried I wouldn't be able to clean or press what I'm assuming is the 125# log. Tried it and got it up.  My form is horrendous I'm sure, but it was a lot of fun. Definitely a full body workout.

 

3x3 @ 125#

[matty_mcfly]

4/15 - Tuesday Morning

 

I need to start waking up and getting dressed immediately.  Didn't make it to the gym until 6:30 which cuts out so much time to make all my lifts.  I think the log cleans and presses and the neutral grip with that lift definitely hit my lats in a completely new way. Feeling it today.  Had to skip OHP due to time, which I regret.

 

Tomorrow is my first BS day...I think I'm aiming for 2 exercising for my core, low back, upper back, posterior chain, arms and shoulders.  No clue if I'll have the time for ALL of these.

 

Squat - felt good. First 2 sets were a little rough. Last 3 were easy.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 185#

1x5 @ 220#

4x5 @ 220# (belted)

[Guzzi]

Yeah, it feels totally different going with the neutral grip huh?

Nice squat btw

[matty_mcfly]

Yeah, it feels totally different going with the neutral grip huh?

Nice squat btw

Yea. I mean the neutral grip really did something for my lats and push pressing the weight overhead let me get 125# up. But I haven't felt soreness in my lats in awhile.

And thanks on the squat. Friday I hit 2 plates!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[matty_mcfly]

4/16 - Wednesday Morning

 

Felt great and had extra time so I did my first Bullshit Day.  LOVED it.  But definitely got completely ahead of myself and tried to do way too many exercises in one session.  Think I'll split the exercises between a day A and day B to make sure I can actually finish.

 

Log Clean & Press - 3x3 @ 125#

 

Yoke Walk

3 walks @ 190#

3 walks @ 230#

2 walks @ 250#

 

Face Pulls - 2x8 @ 50#

GHRs - 2x8

Lat Pulldown - 1x8 @ 80#, 1x8 @ 90#

Reverse Hypers - need to look these up, don't think I was doing them right/efficiently

1x6 @ 100#

1X8 @ 50#

 

Bicep 21s - 1x21 @ 45#, 1x21 @ 50#

Skullcrushers - 1x8 @ 55#, 1x8 @ 45#

Incline Shoulder/Lat Raise - 2x8 @ 30#

Hammer Curls - 1x6 @ 30#, 1x8 @ 25#

DB Front Lat Raise - 1x8 @ 12#, 1x8 @ 15#

Tricep Pushdowns - 2x8 @ 50#

RDLs - 2x8 @ 95#

[matty_mcfly]

4/17 - Thursday Morning

 

Felt like shit.  Laid in bed for like 10-15 minutes.  Didn't wanna get up. Didn't wanna go to the gym.  Finally got up. Felt miserable from the Bullshit Day from the previous morning (haha definitely switching that day to Fridays so that I have the weekend to recover).  As I was walking to the gym I was already making up excuses not to push it on bench. "I'll try one set and if I'm not feeling it, I'll just drop down to 135/155 and do pause & go sets."

 

Bench - despite my trepidation...I killed it.  Haha, every rep except for the last 2 of the last 2 sets felt amazing.  The weight moved up with ease.  It was awesome.  Lol I was kinda disappointed cause I didn't want to challenge myself today, but I couldn't make up a reason to stop after I hit the first 10 reps easy.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 155#

5x5 @ 177.5# 

[Guzzi]

Ha! Way to go! *highfive*

[matty_mcfly]

4/18 - Friday Morning

 

Looking forward to the weekend and REST!!!

 

Squat - form felt ugly.  I got the weight up and grinded through.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 185#

2x5 @ 225#

3x5 @ 225# (belted)

 

Deadlift - gah!  Don't know if it was my body just being tired and spent from a exhausting week or what but after the first pull I could not get it up again.  I knew missed reps were coming soon.  Also probably should have more warm up reps...

 

1x5 @ 135#

1x5 @ 185#

1x1 @ 275#

[matty_mcfly]

4/22 - Tuesday Morning

 

Squat - Another heavy day.  I tried not going so far below parallel, but it felt weird.  I may just stick with my usual depth and have a little less to think about

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 185#

1x5 @ 230#

4x5 @ 230# (belted)

 

OHP - Was short on time so I dropped it to 3x5.  I really wanted to get these in cause I didn't Press at all last week.  The weight didn't feel too heavy and I'm pretty confident I could have banged out 2 more sets.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 65#

3x5 @ 100#

[matty_mcfly]

4/23 - Wednesday Morning

 

Bench - happy I didn't fall back into that pass/stall pattern again

 

1x7 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 155#

5x5 @ 180#

 

T-Bar Row

1x5 @ 25#

1x5 @ 45#

5x5 @ 70#

[matty_mcfly]

04/25 - Friday Morning

 

So the secret to my success apparently is to go into the workout with NO confidence.  Last night and this morning I was so all over the place.  I was "supposed" to have my bullshit day of tire flips and farmers walk and iso stuff, but I missed 2 days this week so it was also "supposed" to be a squat day OR bench. I posted in another thread last night about kinda losing motivation in squat after hitting 2 plates the other workout and after being called a pussy and to get under the bar I got to the gym ready to half heartedly do as instructed.  But the squat rack I always use was missing the necessary equipment so I said "eh, guess I'm benching today"

 

Much like last week, I went in with built in excuses.  If 185lbs is too heavy maybe I'll drop down to 182.5 or maybe I'll just do 3x3 or 3x5 today and hit it again next week...

 

Bench - Banged out the first 2 sets and said shit, I might as well go for 5x5...

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x3 @ 135#

1x3 @ 155#

5x5 @ 185#

 

Deadlift - 275# wouldn't budge last week.  I got it up once and then it was just stapled to the floor.  Wanted to hit this again and pull the weight 5 times and I did :-)

 

1x5 @ 95#

1x5 @ 165#

1x5 @ 275#

1x5 @ 165# (with a hold at the top)

1x5 @ 95# (with a hold at the top)

1x5 @ 95# - RDLs

[Guzzi]

Haha! Very nice! Woot woot!

[matty_mcfly]

4/28 - Monday Morning

 

Today felt great.  The weekend was pretty good and I was happy to get back in the gym and get under the bar.  I was thinking about switching over from my version of SL5x5 and start Wendlers 5/3/1 program, but then realized I was thinking way too much and that I probably still have another 20-25lbs to add to my bench, 30-50lbs to squat and deadlift.  BUT I have decided that after this week I'm going to test my one rep maxes on the 4 main lifts. This week will mark the 7th consecutive week of getting in the gym at least 3 days a week. Only 2 of those weeks were 3 sessions.  I had planned to test my 1RMs after 30 sessions, so I'm pretty excited for next week to see where I am.

 

Squat - These felt surprisingly good.  On my last set, a boxing coach at the gym commented on my form and noted that I was leaned over forward a lot and that my back was almost parallel to the floor.  I think he was comparing my form to high bar squat cause he was suggesting that I should try to be completely upright and he also suggested looking up at the ceiling (so I kinda tuned him out at that point), but I thanked him for the advice.  With that said, I am pretty sure that I may be having a slight issue with my hips rising before my shoulders making me lean forward a bit, SOOO...if anyone has advice on that issue please chime in.

 

1x5 @ 45#

1x5 @ 95#

1x5 @ 135#

1x3 @ 185#

1x1 @ 225#

1x5 @ 235#

4x5 @ 235# (belted)

 

OHP - As always, ran out of time on this.

 

Single @ 135# (PR)

1x5 @ 105#