Exercise Log 4.17.14 (Back Day, No Cardio)

Today was back day, and I decided to try something new. My workout plan was revised recently to focus less on constant new one rep max work (which was getting me gains consistently, but perhaps not the best ones and also necessitating injuries). So now I’m focused more on working harder for it and not worrying about max lifts as much. However I have been eager to revisit my deadlift max, and see if I could do better.

So I saw this video from Omar Isuf that highlights a good “working up to a max” plan for a workout. It’s not a good workout, but it’s a good way to really try for a new max. I did not succeed to reach my new max, so I won’t try this again anytime soon, but I felt it was cool to see the progression and it was a fun learning experience. Might try to establish new one rep maxes after my May vacation from working out.

Warming up to a new one rep max attempt is definitely something that requires some thought and preparation, and you should design the day’s workout around it.

So that said, I am considering after my May vacation to revisit my plan to make it more regimented as far as the major lifts are concerned… make a 6-8 week “mesocycle” of progression that leads to a week of new maxes and a deload week, planning less over-exertion on the lifts than what I’ve been used to, hopefully to find a better balance of gaining.

Anyways, rant aside, time for the log…

Warmup: Did a nice couple sets of 16 reps light bent over rows, 12 reps light Romanian deadlifts with 20 reps of jumping jacks to wake my body up. This was a nice way to warm my body up.

Deadlifts (max attempt & failure): After a standard warmup set… 1. 8 reps @ 155lbs. 2. 5 reps @ 175lbs. 3. 3 reps @ 205lbs. 4. 1 rep @ 245lbs. 5. 1 rep @ 275lbs. Here I failed to rep 305lbs about 4 times. I killed probably 10-15 minutes in the failed attempts, so I did a penalty round of 3 reps @ 275lbs to finish the workout and move on. This was a very poor workout really, but I felt very good about the pacing to attempt the max… I just wasn’t ready for it today. I will try to keep in mind that a max rep attempt kind of screws up a workout a bit and only try it when I feel I’m ready.

Pendlay Row: 4 sets of 6 reps @ 135lbs.

T-Bar Rows: Sets 1-3) 10 reps @ 70lbs. Sets 4-5) 10 reps @ 90lbs.

Pull-ups: 3 sets of 8 reps with a couple forced reps on the last few reps. My lats are still a lagging developing body part.

Lateral Pulldowns: 4 sets of 8 reps @ 130lbs.

Upright Dumbbell Rows: To hit traps and reverse delts I did this exercise. 4 sets of 10 reps @ 35lbs.

That’s it! Okay workout not the best from a gaining perspective but I learned a lot, had fun… that’s what matters to me most.