Exercise Log 5.28.14 (Bench Press & Deadlift Day, No Cardio)

Alright today was Bench Press & Deadlift day just wanted to record a quick log. We are in cycle 3 of the training plan, an extra hypertrophy training cycle… repeat of last week with either greater volume, greater resistance or more demanding technique.

I’ll keep this pretty simple because it’s more or less a repeat of the last week. Still working through the impingement, staying off the bench for dumbbell pressing, which is better but perhaps might still be straining myself a little more than need be, we’ll see how I recover after this cycle.

Dumbbell Chest Press (Temporary replacement for Bench Press): 6 sets of 12 reps @ 45lbs.

Deadlift: Set 1) 12 reps @ 195lbs. Set 2) 10 reps @ 225lbs. Set 3) 8 reps @ 235lbs. Set 4) 6 reps @ 255lbs.

Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Incline Bench Machine: 5 sets of 6 reps @ 60lbs each side. Plus 1 drop set 12 reps @ 25lbs each. After getting some practice with it, I felt I found a groove where I was able to really protect my shoulders and isolate my chest. Will return to this, since my upper chest needs some serious work. I’m not a big aesthetics person, but I was just looking at them and thinking man, the upper pecs are just shitty so I’m gonna fix that. This is the first time I had that thought since beginning strength training about a body part, I’m interested to see how if I focus on it the aesthetics change over the next several months.

T-Bar Shoulder Press / T-Bar Row: I love this superset, it’s great for the day’s theme. 4 sets of 8 reps rows & presses @ 90lbs. This may be a semi-permanent staple of BP/DL day.

Body Rows / Shoulder Rehab: No day of pressing action should go without some negative action, work on the rear delts and the scapular adduction. So did some body rows in the good ol’ Smith machine – which is the only exercise the Smith machine is worth doing. After each set did some 30 second shoulder/pec stretches and some rotator cuff exercises with a 5lb plate. 3 sets 10 reps rows / 30s stretch each side / 16 reps rotator cuff exercises @ 5lbs.

That’s it! This more for the record books than anything.