Zack's Log

[ZackHowell]

Hello Internet Land,

I've decided to start posting my log here at the encouragement of one of my training partners . I currently live in Boone NC and train with Derek Wilcox,Justin Blatnik, and Matt Smith(198). I'm attending Appalachian State University for Exercise Science, and Health Psychology. My best total to date is 860 raw with wraps going 245/190/425 at 165, and diet wise I follow Carb Backloading as best as I can.

[ZackHowell]

Bench:
45x1x20
135x1x5
155x1x3
185x1x1
Add Reactive Slingshot
185x1x5

Pause Bench with exhale at bottom:
In Reactive Slingshot
185x3x3

Behind The Neck Jerk (In Kilos):
50x1x3
60x1x3
65x1x3
70x1x1
75x1x1 PR

Pullups:
BWx5x6

A. Rope Tricep Pushdowns
105x3x10

B. Rope Hammer Curls
65x3x10

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Used a onyx mini band for all sets
50 tricep pushdowns
50 band pullaparts
50 face pulls
50 band flys

P.M.(In Kilos)

Snatch
20xsomexafew
30x2x2
40x1x3

Deadlifts
Sumo
60x2x3
80x1x3
100x1x3
Add belt
120x1x2
140x1x1
Switch to conventional
100x2x2
Add belt
120x1x2
140x3x2

Front Squats
60x5x3

Lying Band Leg Curls
Doubled Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x8
155x5x5

Seated DB Shoulder Press
40x3x8

Chest Supported row
45x3x12

A. Fat Bar Curls
55x3x10

B. Fat Bar Overhead Tricep Extensions
55x3x10

[ZackHowell]

Snatch (kilos)
Barxsomexafew
30x2x2
40x1x1
50x2x0

Clean + Jerk (kilos)
40x1x3
50x1x1
60x1x1
70x1x.5 Missed the Jerk
70x1x0

Squat (kilos)
70x1x5
90x1x3
110x1x3
Add wraps
110x1x3

Wanted more reps on the set with wraps but the bar was rolling down my back so I just racked it.

A. Leg Press
225x3x15

B. Shrugs
155x3x15

[ZackHowell]

Jog
1 mile

Hillsprints
5 rounds

Need to start working on my conditioning a bit more. Thought this was going to kill me.

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx1x20
135x1x10
155x1x8 PR set of 8
185x1x5 PR set of 5
205x1x1 PR
225x1x0

Tried a new bench setup today, pretty clear results.

Random overhead lifts
up to
155x1x1 Push Press

Pullups
bwx6x5

50 tricep pushdowns
50 band pullaparts
50 face pulls
50 band flys
Used a onyx mini band for all sets

[ZackHowell]

Deadlifts off 4 inch blocks (kilos)
1 set sumo 1 set conventional
barxsomexafew
70x2x3
120x2x3
140x2x3
160x2x1 PR sumo
120x6x3

Shrugs
120x3x10

Box Jumps
up to
34 inchesx3x1

Leg Press
225x3x15

Band Leg Curls
Onyx mini bandx50

[ZackHowell]

Notes: Had a pretty bad wipe out skiing on Friday and really jacked up up my right knee. Xray shows no breaks but I'm thinking its a partial meniscus tear. I'll see the Orto sometime this week for an MRI and go from there. Currently limited to exercises where I don't need my legs to stabilize myself, so I'm going to be changing up my training a bit until I can rehab my knee.

Incline Bench
barx3x10
95x5x10
95x5x12

Seated Behind the Neck Press
65x3x10

A. Curls
45x3x10

B. Overhead Tricep extension
45x3x10

[ZackHowell]

Notes: Seeing the Ortho about my knee tomorrow, MRI Friday if he thinks I need one. My knee sorta works again now. I'm able to walk, even up and down stairs mostly pain-free once I work out the initial stiffness in my knee. Was able to do flat bench with no leg drive and somewhat of an arch today so pretty happy about that. Based on how much better my knee is doing I'm hopeful that its not a tear.

Bench
no leg drive

barx1x20
135x1x10
165x1x3
185x1x2
175x1x3
165x1x5
155x1x8

Klokov Press
75x3x10

Pullups
BWx5x5

[gopostal42]

skiing is awesome

[JustinBlatnik]

skiing is awesome

yes. yes it is. shredding the gnar man!

[gopostal42]

brooooooooooooooooooo

[ZackHowell]

Notes: Talked to the ortho today, diagnosed my knee with a moderate MCL sprain. Should be normal in ~3 weeks.

Arms Brah!

A. Cable Preacher Curls
50x3x10

B. Tricep Rope Pushdowns
50x3x10

A. Straight Bar Curls
55x3x10

B. Overhead Tricep Extensions
55x3x10

A. Alternating DB Hammer Curls
30x3x10

B. Incline DB Tricep Extensions
30x3x10

Got bored of doing arms so decided to try rack pulls...

5 Inch Rack Pulls
1 set sumo 1 set conventional
No Belt
135x2x10
225x2x5
275x2x5
Conventional was bugging the knee so switched to just sumo
315x1x6 PR
315x1x10 PR

[ZackHowell]

A.M.
30 minutes on stationary bike 10mph

P.M. 1
Incline Bench
barxsomexafew
95x1x10
135x5x5

Cable Fly
40x3x10

Strict Axle Press
65x3x10

Band Raise complex (Front Side Rear)
Onyx mini bandx3x10

P.M. 2

A. Band Leg Curls
Onyx mini bandx3x20

B. Band Leg Extension
Onyx mini bandx3x20

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Back Accessory
Pretty light today since I'll be pulling heavy tomorrow

Random Pullup Variations
bwx5x5

Chest Supported Row
45x3x10

Lat Pulldowns
Wide Neutral Grip
105x2x10

Close Neutral Grip
105x2x10

Stationary Bike
30 minutes at 10mph

P.M.

Arms Brah!

Dips
BWx3x10

Skullcrushers
45x3x10

Seated Overhead Tricep Ext.
45x3x10

A. Bench Dips
BWx3x10

B. Tricep Kickbacks
15x3x10

A. Straight Bar Tricep Pushdowns
50x3x10

B. Reverse Grip Pushdown
40x3x10

Hammer Curl
40x2x10

Seated Incline Curl (Drop set)
30x1x5
20x1x5
15x1x5

Fat Bar Preacher Curl
40x2x10

Did arms with a friend from the school gym, think I'll keep doing an arm day like this for a while and see how it goes. Keep the volume down on the biceps since I'm planning to deadlift heavy tomorrow.

[ZackHowell]

Pullfest in Hickory!

Deadlifts
135x2x6
225x2x4
275x2x2
315x1x1
365x1x1
405x1x1
430x2x0

Tried pulling in a multi-ply suit for the first time today, through this I learned that pulling conventional in a canvis suit does you more harm than good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGloZUYpbZM

Squats
135x3x8

A. Reverse Hyper
50x3x15

B. DB Shrugs
75x3x15

A. Leg Extension
100x3x10

B. Lying Leg Curl
70x3x10

[ZackHowell]

30 minutes stationary bike ~10mph


2-5-13

A.M.
Bike Sprints 1 min sprint 1 min easy spin 10 rounds average pace ~15mph

P.M.

Bench
barx1x20
135x1x10
165x6x4
Started pausing my first rep of each set, seems to really put me in a good groove for the following reps and should help my strength off the chest.

Behind the Neck Push Press
95x3x8

A. Dips
bwx3x10

B. Pullups
bwx3x5

[JustinBlatnik]

looked really good benching yesterday but. i think this format is going do work really well for you.

[ZackHowell]

A.M.
Was a nice day so took a 30 minute walk outside


P.M.

Squat (Kilos)
barxwhatever
60x2x3
80x6x4
Played with my stance a little on these and I'm fairly sure I'm gonna start squatting medium stance in olympic shoes from here on out for my raw work. I'm tired of going nowhere trying to make super wide stance super low bar work for me raw.

Sumo Deadlifts (Kilos)
100x3x8

[ZackHowell]

Front Squats (kilos)
barxwhatever
40x1x5
50x1x5
60x6x4

Power Cleans (kilos)
50x6x4

A. Wide Grip Pullups
bwx2x8

B. GHR sit-ups
bwx2x12

A. Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx2x6

B. Hanging Leg Raises
bwx2x12

A. Abductor machine
50x2x15

B. Adductor machine
30x2x15

30 minutes stationary bike 10mph

[ZackHowell]

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x5
65x1x5
95x6x4

Incline Press
115x3x8

Dips
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

P.M.

Deadlifts
135x2x4
225x2x4
275x1x4
315x6x4

Squats
145x3x8

Reverse Hyper
90x3x10

DB Shrugs
105x3x10

P.M. 2
Got bored so:

Onyx mini band
Band Leg Curl x50
TKE x50
Band Pull Apart x50
Band Abductor x50
Band Pull-through x50

[ZackHowell]

30 minutes on stationary bike random pace ~11mph

2-12-13

A.M.
30 minute walk

P.M.

Bench
barx2x10
135x1x10
155x1x3
170x7x3

Behind The Neck Push Press
barx1x5
95x1x5
125x7x3

A. Skull Crusher
50x3x10

B. Ez-Bar Curl
50x3x10

A. Dips
Bwx3x10

B. Hammer Curls
30x3x10

Pullups
Bwx4x6

[ZackHowell]

A.M.
25 minutes stationary bike 5 miles
20 minute incline walk on treadmill 1 mil

Squats
barxwhatever
135x2x3
185x3x3
205x5x3

Conventional Deadlifts no belt
155x1x3
265x3x8

Power Shrugs
405x5x5

Yates Row
95x3x10

A. Cable Row
130x3x10

B. 45 Degree back ext.
bwx3x10

A. GHR situps
bwx3x10

B. Calf Raises
200x3x10

[ZackHowell]

Front Squats (In kilos)
up to
65x7x3

Power Clean (kilos)
55x8x2
30 seconds rest between each set

GHR sit ups
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

Strict Overhead Press
100x7x3

Incline Bench
125x3x8

A. Fat Bar Skullcrusher
bar+20x3x10

B. Fat Bar Curl
bar+20x3x10

No rest between those 6 sets

A. French Press
55x3x10

B. EZ Bar Curl
45x3x10

A. Tricep Pushdown
50x2x20

B. Hammer Curl
25x2x20

[ZackHowell]

P.M. 1

Squats
barx1x5
155x1x3
205x1x2
add briefs
245x2x2
add suit straps down
295x1x1
add knee wraps straps up
335x1x1 PR

Sumo Deadlifts (kilos)
Briefs
120x1x2
140x1x2
160x1x1 PR

More experiments with wearing gear today. Was a fun experience but I think I'll stick to raw lifting for now. My hip strength and mobility have a good ways to go before super wide squats and deadlifts become a strongpoint. Need to work on upper back strength and tightness as well, started folding pretty hard as I got closer to depth.

P.M. 2

Had some downtime and felt pretty good so hit a second session.

Squats
barx2x5
95x2x3
135x2x3
185x6x3
185x1x10 Maybe PR? Can't remember doing this many reps recently on squats.

Power Shrugs
315x1x5
405x1x5
495x1x3
405x3x10

A. 1 Arm Cable Rows
60x3x10

B. GHR Situps
Bwx3x10

Calf Raises
bwxabunch

[ZackHowell]

Bench
135x1x10
155x1x3
175x7x2
175x1x4
Played around with my foot positioning a good bit today, found a way to actually get leg drive as apparently I was not getting any at all with my previous positioning.

Behind the Neck Push Press
105x3x8

Ran out of time so called it a day there.

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Hill Sprints 3 rounds
Bike Intervals 15min

A. Dips
bwx3x10

B. Facepulls
60x3x10

A. Fat Bar Skullcrusher
55x3x10

B. Rope Hammer Curls
60x3x10

P.M.

Squats
135x2x3
185x1x2
195x1x2
210x4x2
225x3x2
Add Wraps
225x1x5

Conventional Deadlifts no belt
135xsome
225xsome
275x3x8

GHR Situps
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

Was bored and had some extra time today so:

Hang Cleans
up to 60k

Behind the Neck Push Press (kilos)
40x2x8
50x1x8
60x1x3

Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx3x5

1 Arm t-bar rows
platex3x10

Bike sprints 2 on 3 off
15 minutes

[ZackHowell]

Swim ~20 laps

Power Cleans (kilos)
40x2x3
50x2x3
60x1x2
62.5x1x1 PR power clean
60x6x2
60x1x5 PR for reps
Got tired of doing sets so decided to push the last set and just be done.

Front Squats
Started warming up and my knee told me to shut it down.

DB Rows
80x1x10
100x1x10
110x1x10

[ZackHowell]

Incline Press
barx1x20
95x1x10
115x1x8
135x3x8

Klokov Press
75x3x10

Band Tricep Pushdown
Onyx mini bandx1x50

Axle Skullcrushers
45x5x10

Band Hammer Curls
Onyx mini bandx1x50

Axle Curls
35x5x10

A. Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdowns
90x3x12

B. Reverse Grip Axle Curls
35x3x12

A. Dumbbell Hammer Curls
20x3x15

B. Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks
10x3x15

While I feel silly doing this much arm work especially things like kickbacks, it seems to be helping my elbow pain, and tricep strength for my presses.

[ZackHowell]

Squats (kilos)
60x1xfail

Hip is acting up again even after narrowing my stance up a good bit here recently.

Deadlifts (kilos)
60x1x3
100x1x3
160x3x1

Squats(kilos)
60x5x5

Playing with stance some to try and get my hips to work.

Random cardio class at work for ~30 minutes

[ZackHowell]

20 minutes treadmill
15 minutes bike sprint intervals 1 on 2 off

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx2x10
135x2x5
155x1x3
185x4x1
205x0x1
185x4x1
185x1x3

185 felt easy, still having issues with leg drive. Elbow is starting to flare up again unfortunately.

Klokov Press
75x2x12
85x1x7 PR

A. French Press
45x3x10

B. Straight Bar Curl
45x3x10

A. Band Tricep Ext.
Onyx mini bandx1x50

B. Band Hammer Curl
Onyx mini bandx1x50

[ZackHowell]

Squat
barxstuff
95x1x3
135x2x3
185x1x2
205x1x1
225x1x1
235x1x1
185x1x3

RDL
135x3x5

Well squats are still sucking pretty hardcore so I took Derek's advice to do some RDLs. Upon completing my first set of 5 it became painfully aware to me that my hamstrings are pathetically weak. As they were ready to violently choke me to death , and started cramping almost immediately. So I'm going to take a couple steps back and run the "Derek Wilcox jacked and tan cycle of less suck".

[gopostal42]

you and me both sir

[ZackHowell]

Swim
~32 laps or 1 mile of various strokes and drills

Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx5x5

DB Rows
80x1x10
100x2x10

Chest Supported Row
45x3x10

[ZackHowell]

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
65x1x10
70x5x10

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Neutral Grip DB Press
40x1x10
50x1x10
60x1x11 6 rep PR

A. Axle Curl
60x3x8

B. Axle French Press
60x3x8

A. Rope Pushdown
90x3x10

B. Rope Hammer Curl
60x3x10

C. Face Pulls
60x3x10

[ZackHowell]

2" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt
135xstuff
185x5x10

"Ukranian" DB Deadlifts
40x4x25

GHR Situps
bwx3x10

Calf Raises
bwx3x20

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barxstuff
135x5x10

No touch presses
115x5x10

Neutral Grip Incline DB Press
40x3x12

Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx3x6

[ZackHowell]

Squats
barxstuff
135x1x3
145x5x10

RDL
115x5x10

GHR situps
bwx3x12

[ZackHowell]

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
75x5x10

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Neutral Grip DB Press
50x3x10

Rope Hammer Curl
60x3x15

Wanted to do more but my elbow advised me to do otherwise. Might do some pushdowns and face pulls later if it decides to cooperate.

[ZackHowell]

3" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt
135xstuff
185x5x10
Upped the deficit instead of the weight from last week, Ended up being 187.5 though due to kilo conversion for this week so I kinda sorta went up. Regardless much much easier than last week even given a higher deficit and more weight.

"Ukranian" DB Deadlifts
45x4x25

GHR Situps
bwx3x10

Calf Raises
bwx3x20

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx2x10
95x1x10
135x1x5
140x5x10

No Touch Press
120x5x10

Reverse Grip Incline Press
75x5x10

Neutral Grip Incline DB Press
40x5x10

A. Kneeling Tricep Pushdowns
50x3x10

B. DB Hammer Curls
30x3x10

DB Curls down the rack dropset
30x3x5
25x3x5
20x3x5
15x3x5
12x3x5

[ZackHowell]

Squats(kilos)
barx1x10
40x1x10
60x1x5
70x5x10

RDL (kilos)
60x5x10

GHR Situps
bw+10x3x8

Random row machine
90x3x12

[gopostal42]

why not do 110?

[ZackHowell]

why not do 110?

Because you did 110...

[ZackHowell]

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
65x1x10
80x5x10

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Neutral Grip DB Press
55x3x10

Was at a commercial type gym with machines today so super bro fest!

Chest Supported Row
130x3x10

Then non stop quadruple set brah!

A. Upright Cable Row
70x3x10

B. Preacher Curl
40x3x10

C. Pec Deck
70x3x10

D. Tricep Rope Pushdown
90x3x10

Everything ever had a sick pump after that.

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:
Hiked on the parkway for a couple of hours.

[ZackHowell]

3" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt (kilos)
60x1x3
80x1x3
90x3x10
100x2x10
First sets at 90k felt great so I decided to push the issue a bit, 100k was right where I wanted intensity to be on the first set but the second set was harder than expected, thinking my hips were just done by that point.

"Ukranian" DB Deadlifts
50x4x25

GHR Situps
bw+10x3x10

Calf Raises
bwx3x20

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:
30 minute walk around campus
20 minutes bike sprints 1 min on 2 min off

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx1x20
135x1x10
145x5x10

No Touch Press
125x4x10
135x1x10

Incline DB Press
50x5x10 PR

Incline DB Tricep Ext.
25x3x10

Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx3x10 PR

[ZackHowell]

Squat
barx10
95x10
135x1x5
165x5x10

RDL
155x5x10

Maybe more later running short on time.

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

3-15-13

Wide Grip Pullups
bwx3x5

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
65x1x10
85x4x8

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Neutral Grip DB Press
55x3x15 PR

A. Upright Row
45x3x10

B. High Pull
45x3x10

Medows Row
50x3x8

P.M.

Klokov Press
barx1x10
65x1x10
75x3x10

A.Overhead Tricep Ext.
50x3x10

B. Ez Bar Curl
50x3x10

A. Rope Face Pull
90x3x10

B. Rope Tricep Pushdown
90x3x10

C. Rope Hammer Curl
50x3x10

[ZackHowell]

3-24-13

P.M. 1

3" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt (kilos)
60x1x3
80x1x3
100x1x5
110x5x5
Did something to my left hamstring on these. Felt like the bottom of a RDL in terms of how tight my hamstring has been all day.

"Ukranian" DB Deadlifts
55x4x25
Holy lower back destruction batman.

P.M. 2

Neutral Grip Pullups
bwx3x5

A. "Good Girl" Machine
30x3x20

B. "Bad Girl" Machine
30x3x20

DB Rows
110x3x10

DB Shrugs
130x3x12

GHR Situps
bw+10x3x10

Calf Raises
bwx5x20

[ZackHowell]

3-26-13

Bench
barx1x10
135x1x5
155x1x3
175x3x3
135x3x10

Neutral Grip DB Bench
60x5x8

A. Overhead Tricep Ext.
55x3x10

B. Straight Bar Curl
55x3x10

Wide Neutral Grip T-bar Rows
90x3x10

[JustinBlatnik]

Great Benching today man. It's coming along real well.

[ZackHowell]

3-27-13

Squats
barx1xstuff
135x1x5
165x1x3
185x1x1
205x1x1
add knee wraps
225x3x3
light knee wraps
155x3x10

Added tight wraps back for the first time in a good bit. Getting a lot of carry over out of my new squat style. Looking forward to upping the weight next week.

Walking DB Lunges
20per handx3x20

Wide Neutral Grip T-bar Rows
90x3x10

A. Leg Raises
bwx3x10

B. Single Leg 45 Degree Hypers
bwx3x10 per leg

[ZackHowell]

3-29-13

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
65x1x8
90x4x8

Behind The Neck Jerk
115x1x3
135x3x3

"Modified" Raise
15x3x10
15x2x12

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Upright Row
65x3x10

DB Incline Press
55x1x15 PR
55x1x12
55x1x10

A. Tricep Pushdown
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

B. Hammer Curl
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

C. Band Pull-apart
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

[ZackHowell]

3-30-13

Cardio:
45 min walk around town

Band stuff
A. Tricep Pushdown
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

B. Hammer Curl
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

C. Band Pull-apart
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

Been slacking on the cardio and extra workouts, need to bring this back in line.

[ZackHowell]

3-31-13

3" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt (kilos)
60x1x5
100x1x5
125x1x5 PR
115x4x5

Misloaded the bar here and ended up going way heavier than planned on my first set of 5.

Walking DB Lunges
30 per handx3x20

DB Rows
90x3x15

Wide Stance Leg Press
sled+200x5x10

Power Shrugs (kilos)
170x4x8
then as a dropset
170x1x10
120x1x10
70x20

A. Leg Extension
110x3x10

B. GHR Situp
bw+12x3x10

Calf Raise
bwx5x20

[ZackHowell]

4-1-13

Cardio:
45 min walk around town

Band stuff
A. Tricep Pushdown
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

B. Hammer Curl
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

C. Band Pull-apart
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

[ZackHowell]

4-2-13

Bench
barx2x10
135x1x8
165x1x3
185x3x3
145x3x10

Neutral Grip DB Bench
65x2x8 PR
65x1x6
60x2x8

Overhead Tricep Ext.
55x3x10

Slingshot Dips
bwx3x15

Axle Curl
50x3x10

Axle Reverse Curl
40x3x10

Band stuff
A. Tricep Pushdown
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

B. Hammer Curl
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

C. Band Pull-apart
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

[ZackHowell]

4-3-12

A.M.

Cardio:
30 min walk with ~10lb weight vest

Band stuff
A. Tricep Pushdown
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

B. Hammer Curl
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

C. Band Pull-apart
Onyx Mini Bandx1x50

P.M.

Squats
barx3x10
135x1x5
185x1x3
205x1x1
add wraps
240x3x3 PR

Hit an all time PR triple today without even realizing it until I had finished all three sets. Looks like my new squat stance and all this high volume hip and hamstring work is really paying off.

Wide Stance Squats
150x3x10

Front Squats
135x3x5

Wide Neutral Grip T-bar Row
90x5x10

Single Leg 45 degree hyper
bwx3x10 per leg

Leg Raises
bwx3x10

Single Leg Calf Raise
bwx5x20

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:
30 minutes incline walk 3mph at 6% incline
20 minutes bike sprints

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Strict Overhead Press
barx1x10
65x1x8
95x4x8 PR

PR city this week, 95 for 8 is a pretty solid PR here.

"Modified" Raise
15x5x12

DB Rear Delt Raise
15x5x10

Medows Row
50x2x10
75x1x10

Upright Row
65x3x10

P.M.

Cardio:
1200 yards of various swim strokes and drills

[ZackHowell]

3" Deficit Sumo Deadlifts no belt (kilos)
60x1x5
100x1x5
120x2x5
dropped weight here since form started to fall apart, couldn't pull this weight and properly utilize my hips. Reps looked like wide stance conventional.
95x3x5
Felt much better in terms of my hips, hamstrings, and glutes doing the work.

Walking DB Lunges
35 per handx3x20

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:

Hill Sprints
5 rounds of sprint up walk down, pretty extreme hill.

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx3x10
135x1x5
165x1x3
190x2x3 PR
190x1x2.5 Missed the third rep here due not doing a lot of things I need too to bench properly.
190x1x1 Paused this one to finish my 9 reps at 190
150x3x10

DB overhead tricep ext.
30 per handx3x10

DB upright row
30x1x10
35x2x10

[gopostal42]

you did very well today young padawan. aside from losing your wallet......

[ZackHowell]

you did very well today young padawan. aside from losing your wallet......

Yea that was bad.

[ZackHowell]

Squats
barx3x10
135x1x5
185x1x1
225x1x1
add wraps
245x3x3 PR

Yet another PR triple on Squats.

Wide Stance Squats
160x3x10

Conventional deadlift (kilos)
60x1x3
110x3x1
140x3x1

Just some singles at slightly less than my planned last warm up for the school meet on Tuesday. Everything feels good, slight deload before the school meet, and starting to taper accessory going into my actual meet.

[ZackHowell]

App State Push-Pull write up:

Decided to cut weight to the under 160 class where I would be the most competitive. For my cut I just cut carbs to less than 30g a day from Thursday to weigh-ins. Felt great up to and after weigh ins. Woke up this morning at 154 compared to 166 on Thursday, and weighed in at 155 which was a good bit lower than I intended but I felt fresh and was excited to lift.

Bench Warm-ups
barx1x20
135x1x5
155x1x3
175x1x1

Bench Attempts
190x1x1 Easy. Good lift.
205x1x0 Quite possibly the worst attempt at a bench press I've ever had. Went down no problems, setup felt great. Then I could do anything even remotely resembling a press. No lift, not even close.
205x1x0 Little better than the previous attempt but not my much. Still felt like a ton on my chest, no bar movement. No lift.

Deadlift warmups
135x1x3
225x1x3
275x1x1
315x1x1

Deadlift Attempts
385x1x1 Felt easy, got my total. Good lift.
410x1x0 Got it off the ground maybe an inch. Missing this on a deadlift bar is just bad. No lift.
410x1x0 Maybe got 2 inches off the ground this time. No lift.

575 Push-Pull Total

Thoughts:
Felt really good going into the meet despite the weight cut. Pretty poor performance though. Guess you gotta learn some things the hard way. Don't cut, especially not 12lb for a meet with 2 hour weigh-ins in an attempt to win. When my goal should have been to set some PRs with friends and have fun.

Back to normally scheduled meet prep for the May meet tomorrow, got a lot of ground to cover.

[ZackHowell]

Rack Pulls
155x1x5
245x1x3
315x1x3
335x1x3
385x3x3

Pause Squats
135x5x5

After pulling heavy yesterday and then doing it again today my back is trashed. Really wasn't up for today's training mentally or physically but I got my programmed weights in. Now to recover and focus for really heavy squats on Sunday.

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x10

Exaggerated Pause Bench
145x8x1

DB Military Press
40x4x10 PR maybe?

A. Cable Fly
35x3x15

B. Rear Delt raise
12x3x15

Neutral Grip Pullup
bwxsome
was going to do more here but shoulder felt odd so shut it down.

[ZackHowell]

Arms Brah!

Seated DB Curls
20x5x10

DB Hammer Curls
30x3x10

A. Overhead DB Tricep Ext.
30x3x10

B. DB Tricep Kickback
15x3x10

Ez-Bar Preacher Curls
55x3x10

Reverse Curls
40x3x15

Wanted to do more tricep and forearm work but ran out of time.

[ZackHowell]

Squats
barx1x5
95x1x3
135x2x3
185x2x1
225x1x1
add wraps
255x2x2 PR
270x1x1 PR
255 was a PR for a double with no briefs then 270 is a pr to depth without briefs could have easily doubled this too.

Good Morning
135x3x8

A. Seated Band Leg Curls
Onyx Monster Mini bandx3x20

B. GHR Situps
bw+10x3x12

A. Good Girl Machine
3x20
B. Bad Girl Machine
3x20

Wasn't able to get my entry in for the May meet in time so I'm looking at a meet in June now, gonna move my prep around a little bit to factor in the extra prep time.

[JustinBlatnik]

great squatting today man. always good hitting PRs. but you killed the 270 set. good speed.

[ZackHowell]

Deloadish Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x10
Paused Bench
165x1x3
185x2x2
190x1x1

Neutral Grip DB Bench
60x3x8

Dead Hang Pullups
bwx5x5

[ZackHowell]

Rack Pulls
Hook Grip
135x1x5
225x1x3
315x1x3
365x1x3
Add straps
385x5x3

Pause Squats No belt
135x3x5

Fat Gripz Straight Bar Curls
45x5x10

Fat Gripz Reverse Curls
45x5x10

Fat Gripz DB Hammer Curls
30x5x10

[ZackHowell]

P.M. 1

Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x10

Exaggerated Pause Bench
150x8x1

DB Military Press
40x4x10

A. Cable Fly
35x3x15

B. Rear Delt raise
12x3x15

P.M. 2

ARMS BRAH!

A. Tate Press
25x3x15

B. Axle Curl
45x3x15

A. Rope Tricep Pushdown
80x3x15

B. Rope Hammer Curl
40x3x15

A. Axle Skull Crusher
45x3x15

B. DB Hammer Curl
25x3x15

A. Reverse Grip Pushdown
60x3x15

B. Axle Reverse Curl
35x3x15

[ZackHowell]

Squats
barxstuff
145x2x5
195x1x3
add belt
235x1x1
add light wraps
255x1x1
add tight wraps
285x1x1 PR
315x1x0

285 was a really solid PR, decided to jump for 315 but it just wasn't there today I'm confident it will be there soon just need to keep working on keeping more upright.

Good Mornings
135x3x8
Stricter than last week

Reverse Hyper
90x3x12

[ZackHowell]

Random Accessory

Wide Stance Squats
barx2x10
135x1x5
165x2x5

Good Mornings
135x3x8

Curls
65x3x8 PR

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx2x10
135x1x5
165x1x1

Pause Bench
185x1x2
195x1x1 PR

Neutral Grip DB Bench
60x3x8

Reverse Grip Incline Press
75x3x10

Pullups
bwx5x6

[ZackHowell]

Below Knee Rack Pulls
Hook Grip
135x1x5
225x1x5
275x1x3
315x1x1
365x1x1
385x1x1 Hook Grip PR
Add straps
405x5x3 PR for this rack height

Pause Squats
135x3x5

Leg Press
145 per sidex3x10

Fat Gripz Straight Bar Curl
55x5x10

Fat Gripz Reverse Curl
45x5x10

Fat Gripz DB Hammer Curl
25x3x10

[JustinBlatnik]

13 sets of curls?!?!?!

[ZackHowell]

I wanted 15 sets but my biceps said no.

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx2x10
95x1x12
135x1x10

Exaggerated Pause Bench
155x8x1

Seated DB Military Press
40x4x10

Maybe more later ran outta time for accessory.

[ZackHowell]

Arms Brah!

Close Grip Bench
barx2x10
135x1x10
155x3x6

Fat Bar Curl
50x3x10

A. Seated Overhead Tricep Ext.
55x3x20

B. Ez-Bar Curl
45x3x10

A. Rope Tricep Pushdown
100x3x10

B. Rope Hammer Curl
30x3x20

A. Reverse Fat Bar Curl
30x3x15

B. Bench Dips
bwx3x15

[ZackHowell]

Squats
barx2x10
135x2x3
185x1x1
225x1x1
245x1x1
add wraps
270x1x1
add tight wraps
300x1x0
upper back caved and just wasn't gonna happen
300x1x1
Got my head right came back and crushed this, could have easily doubled it.

Good Mornings
145x3x10

Weighted Planks
bw+15k x 30 seconds
bw+25k x2x30seconds

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx3x10
95x1x10
135x1x10
165x1x3

Pause Bench
185x1x1
200x1x1 PR

Slingshot Bench
225x1x1
225x1x2 PR

Neutral Grip DB Bench
65x1x8 PR
70x1x8 PR
70x1x10 PR

Pullups
bw+25x5x5 PR

Fucking solid day right there. Killed 2 exams and a PR on every moment.

P.M. 2

Got bored

A. Incline Tate Press
20x3x10

B. Incline Db Curl
20x3x10

A. Seated French Press
55x3x15

B. Fat Bar Curl
45x3x15

A. Fat Bar Upright Row
45x3x10

B. Rear Delt Raise
15x3x10

Fat Bar Reverse Curl
45x3x10

[ZackHowell]

Today was supposed to be speed pulls so I opted for cleans instead...

Clean(kilos)
barxstuff
30x1xstuff
45x1x3
50x1x2
60x1x2
65x1x1
70x1x1
75x1x1 PR first clean over body-weight

Drop Snatch (kilos)
30x5x3

Hack Squat
2 platesx3x10

Calf Raise on Leg Press
400xstuffxstuff

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x10

Exaggerated Pause Bench
165x4x1

DB Military Press
45x1x10 PR
40x3x10

A. Cable Fly
40x3x15

B. Rear Delt raise
12x3x15

[ZackHowell]

Well exams ended last week so good times there. The school gym has been closed all this week, so no real training to speak of other than some really light upper body stuff at the gym in Matt's apartment complex, and my diet has been pretty lax. Saw Lamb of God in concert on Thursday, amazing show.

Helped handle a couple of the guys from the Tribe crew in Hickory, a friend from school, and a friend from Asheville at the North Carolina Iron Challenge today. Everyone put up really great numbers across the board.

Looking forward to the training block I have wrote out for this summer. Time to get back to training, back to work, back to books, and get my diet back in check.

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:

Hill Sprints 3 rounds
30 minute walk around town

Band work:
Shrugsx50
Upright Rowx50
Pullapartx50

[ZackHowell]

First day of my new training block. The Block Periodization program that Derek Wilcox wrote for me worked very well last training cycle, so if it ain't broke don't fix it.

P.M. 1

Olympic Squats against bands (~200lb band)
barxstuff
add bands
bar+200x1x5
95+200x1x5
135+200x3x5
add belt
135+200x7x5

Ended up using way more band tension here than I intended, not really sure how I want to progress on these given that. More weight less reps, same weight same reps less rest,or something else entirely? These really worked my sticking point hard though, thinking these will pay off.

Sumo Deadlifts against bands (~150 band)
155x5x10 no belt

Hamstrings, glutes, and lower back was trashed at this point. Me and Matt decided to call it there, grill some burgers, and hit accessory later.


P.M. 2
By the power of cheeseburgers.

45 minute swim
~1 mile of drills and varying strokes, planning on swimming a lot this summer.

Close Stance Leg Press
Sled+200x3x20

Neutral Grip Pullup
bwx5x5

Arch Shrugs
60x3x20

Hanging Leg Raises
bwx3x10

Liked this half and half split with a meal and a break in-between, given that I have the free time for it I will likely employ this for most of my summer training.

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:
30 minute walk
40 minute swim

[ZackHowell]

Incline Press
barx2x10
95x1x10
115x5x10

Klokov Press
barx1x10
75x5x10

A. Cable Fly
30x3x20

B. Rope Tricep Pushdown
70x3x20

C. Straight Bar Cable Curl
40x3x20

Fat Gripz Upright Row
45x3x10

Pullups
bwx10x5

[gopostal42]

looking good sir,

[ZackHowell]

looking good sir,

Jacked, tan, and less suck. Thats the plan.

[ZackHowell]

Suspended Good Mornings
barx2x10
95x1x10
135x5x10

Pendlay Rows
95x5x10

Shrugs
275x3x10

Pullups
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

Behind the Neck Push Press
95x10x5

Close Grip No Touch Press
barx2x10
95x1x10
115x1x10
135x5x10

French Press
55x3x10

Fat Gripz Straight Bar Curl
45x3x10

Rear Delt Raise
20x3x10

Cardio:
~1.5 hours of kickball, frisbee, and other assorted shenanigans in the park.

[ZackHowell]

P.M. 1

Olympic Squats against bands (~240lb band)
barxstuff
add bands
bar+240x1x5
95+240x1x5
135+240x10x5
Felt good so decided to get in a couple heavier sets.
155+240x1x3
165+240x1x3
Measured band tension wrong last week, was only off by about 40lbs...

P.M. 2

Sumo Deadlift bands pulling forward(~160lb in band)
155+160x5x10

Leg Press
Sled+200x3x20

Calf Raise on Leg Press
Sled+200x3x20

DB Row
110x3x10

DB Shrug
130x3x10

Leg Raises
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Impromptu hike at midnight for ~2 hours

P.M.

Incline Press
barx1x20
95x1x10
115x1x10
125x1x10
135x4x10

Klokov Press
75x5x10

A. Fat Gripz Seated DB Curl
25x3x10

B. DB Tricep Extension
25x3x10

A. Fat Gripz Upright row
45x3x10

B. Fat Gripz Reverse Curl
45x3x10

A. Cable Fly
35x3x15

B. Face Pull
70x3x15

P.M. 2

Swim:
1000 meters of various stuff in ~1 hour

P.M. 3

Got talked into doing yoga. My mobility and my flexibility are both pretty terrible so I may continue to do this.

Yoga:
1 hour of stuff

[gopostal42]

yoga would be great for you

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:

Cycle
~15 minutes in lab for class

Swim
700 meters no idea on time

Random extra stuff:

Pullups
50 reps

Facepulls
100 reps

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Pullups
30 reps

Face Pulls
100 reps

P.M.
Went off plan a bit today because why not.

Squats
barxstuff
135x1x5
225x1x5
add double ply briefs because thats a good idea
275x1x1
add ace briefs because thats also a good idea
315x1x1 PR no wraps

I've squatted 300 in just wraps, and barely missed 315 in just wraps. Yay gear? Gear was Matt's so it was pretty loose, can tell my hips are way stronger out wide than they used to be. Still got a ways to go though if I intend to compete in gear to any degree of success.

Then did what I was supposed to do to start with

Suspended Good Mornings
145x5x10

Pendlay Rows
115x5x10

Lower back was thrashed at this point, I'll finish the rest of accessory tomorrow.

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:
~15 minute walk
~15 minute cycle in class

Random Accessory:

Pullups
bwx10x10

Shrugs
315x3x10

Chest Supported Row
90x3x10

A. Leg Press
Sled+150x3x20

B. Calf Raise on Leg Press
Sled+150x3x20

Leg Raise
bwx3x10

GHR Sit-up
bwx3x10

[ZackHowell]

Behind The Neck Push Press
barx1x10
75x1x10
95x1x5
105x5x10

Close Grip No Touch Press
140x5x10

Pullups
bwx3x10

Band Stuff
Pushdownx50
Hammer Curlx50
Face Pullx50

Kickball and assorted Shenanigans in the park ~2 hours

[ZackHowell]

P.M. 1

Olympic Squats against bands (~240lb band)
barxstuff
add bands
bar+240x1x5
95+240x1x5
135+240x10x5
Much faster and easier than last week, glad to be done with this 3 week wave though.

Sumo Deadlift bands pulling forward(~160lb in band)
165+160x5x10

Standing Unilateral Hamstring Curl
20x3x20

P.M. 2

Leg Press
Sled+200x3x20

DB Row
110x3x10

Shrug
405x5x5
315x5x15

[ZackHowell]

A.M.

Random Stuff

Pullups
bwx3x10

Face Pulls
50x3x20

GHR Situps
bwx3x10

Leg Raises
bwx3x10

P.M.

Bench
barx1x20
95x1x10
135x1x10
185x1x1
225x1x1 PR
Big bench PR today, felt like going heavy so I did. Was a good decision.

Incline Bench
140x5x10

Klokov Press
75x2x10
75x2x8
Triceps just stopped working at this point

A. Straight Bar Curl
45x3x15

B. Cable Fly
35x3x15

[ZackHowell]

Cardio:

Swim:
~half mile or something

[ZackHowell]

Suspended Good Mornings
barx2x10
95x1x10
135x1x10
155x5x10

Yea that was it. Was up sick the night before, no energy going in, not enough food today either.

[ZackHowell]

Strict overhead Press
barx1x10
75x1x5
95x1x3
105x1x3
115x1x1
125x1x1 PR
135x1x1 PR

Behind the Neck Push Press
135x2x3
155x1x1
165x1x1 PR
175x1x1 PR

Seated DB Overhead Press
45x1x10
50x1x10 PR
55x1x10 PR

6 overhead PR's at a lighter bodyweight than the previous batch of PR's I'll take it. Pretty cool what a couple pounds of meat, potatoes, and a healthy dose of man up will do.

A. Fat Bar Upright Row
65x3x10

B. DB Rear Delt Raise
20x3x10

Training for this week is kinda off the map due to being sick Wednesday and some schedule conflicts.

[ZackHowell]

Back and Biceps!!

My Dad came up for the day to visit so I hoped into his bodybuilding routine.

Pullups
bwx3x10

Seated Cable Row
130x3x10

Wide Neutral Grip T-Bar Row
90x3x12

Seated DB Curl
20x3x10

DB Hammer Curl
30x2x10
40x1x10

Reverse Curl
40x3x10

Rope Hammer Curl
70x3x10

Some solid accessory work, great pump, and a lot of fun. Followed this up by eating copious amounts of steak.

[ZackHowell]

Front Squats
barx2x10
95x1x5
135x1x3
185x5x3 PR no wraps

All I felt like doing. Went down to Charlotte and helped out with the 2013 RPS Backyard Bash/XPC Qualifier the day before. So after getting 3 hours of sleep before that, and getting back late the day before I was pretty trashed.

[ZackHowell]

Sumo Deadlift
155x1x5
242x1x5
308x3x3
308x1x4
308x1x5 PR

308 for 5 is a massive sumo PR for not wearing briefs, like by 4 reps was quite easy too could have keep going.

Standing Unilateral Hamstring Curl
25x3x20

Hopefully I can start getting my volume back up to where it was previously.

[ZackHowell]

Random extra Stuff

Pullups
bwx10x10

Cardio
Stuff

[ZackHowell]

Power Clean + Shoulder Complex (Power Clean + Jerk + Behind the Neck Jerk + Behind the Neck Push Press) (kilos)
barxstuff
40x1x1
50x1x1
60x2x1
65x1x1
70x1x1
75x1x1 PR power Clean, PR Jerk from front, PR Clean and Jerk

Strict Press (kilos)
60x1x2 PR

Behind the Neck Push Jerk(kilos)
60x1x3
70x2x3 PR

Rear Delt Raises
20x3x10

Pretty solid day in terms of random overhead movement PRs, need to sit down and write out some actual programming again for next week. Get my training volume back up, and my accessory movements back on track.

[ZackHowell]

Pullups
bwx5x10

Curls
Stuff

Cardio:
Moved a bunch of furniture

[ZackHowell]

Front Squats
barx1x10
95x1x3
135x1x3
165x1x3
185x5x3

Back Squats No Belt
185x5x5

Unilateral Standing Hamstring Curl
25x3x20

Leg Press
Sled+200x3x20

Building my volume back up.

[ZackHowell]

Bench
barx3x20
95x1x10
135x1x10
185x1x1
225x1x1
185x4x5

Incline Db Bench
55x1x10
60x1x10
70x1x10 PR

A. Fat Gripz DB Preacher Curl
25x3x10

B. Overhead Tricep Ext.
55x3x10

A. Pullup
bwx3x10

B. Leg Raise
bwx3x10

Solid day