more weight=more muscle BTB's routine let's crush it

[BendtheBar]

Good effort. keep charging hard.

I don't swing at all doing curls, but I feel like if I did, I could probably hit biceps better.

I swing a bit. Not excessively but super strict curls just don't feel good on my joints and connective tissue.

[vcjha]

Originally Posted by Soldier

A little swinging on curls is really no big deal. Honestly, form on isolation movements isn't as important as most make it out to be, but it's far MORE important on compound movements than most make it out to be.

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Good effort. keep charging hard.



I swing a bit. Not excessively but super strict curls just don't feel good on my joints and connective tissue.

Thanks to you for both replies. Needless to say, I haven't been updating because I recently got a job and the work gets tiring. No more excuses after today, w/o happens no matter what.

[vcjha]

I'll be posting thoughts on the last leg w/o and today's w/o tomorrow. So tired.

[vcjha]

Alright here's the progress. Tuesday was lower day.

Squats 245 3 sets 5 reps each

Stiff-legged deadlifts 185 3 sets 7 reps each

Calves- I can't remember but I think one plate on each. 10 reps 3 sets

Curls- 70 lb 3 sets 5 reps each.

I have now plateaued on squats for about three weeks now. Think it's time for a deload? Or more like backtracking the weight and gradually going back up within a month?

[vcjha]

Originally Posted by vcjha

Alright here's the progress. Tuesday was lower day.

Squats 245 3 sets 5 reps each

Stiff-legged deadlifts 185 3 sets 7 reps each

Calves- I can't remember but I think one plate on each. 10 reps 3 sets

Curls- 70 lb 3 sets 5 reps each.

I have now plateaued on squats for about three weeks now. Think it's time for a deload? Or more like backtracking the weight and gradually going back up within a month?

Today was upper body. On deadlifts, trying as hard as I can to push the weight up. Ended up adding 5 lb to make...270. Got 5 reps for each. But I had to reset each time. Last time set ended up only getting 4, even with a monster effort.
Bench press, still stuck on 85 lb for 5 for 3 sets. Rows, felt pretty strong as I did perfect form for 6 reps on each set.
Shoulder press felt pretty strong. Was able to get 7 reps on each set at a weight of 115. CG bench press, did the same thing that I did with deadlift: added 5 lb to make 180. Got 5 reps on each set.
Still weak weight, but damn I'm pushing. On an even worse note, it took me....2.5 HOURS TO FINISH THE WORKOUT. Only time I talked was with a buddy for 5 minutes. Should I worry?!

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by vcjha

I have now plateaued on squats for about three weeks now. Think it's time for a deload? Or more like backtracking the weight and gradually going back up within a month?

Sorry I missed this. I would probably back off in weight a bit and build back up. If you plateau again then I would say it would be a good time to make some minor tweaks to your programming and/or maybe take a deeper look at your eating plan to see if there is anything that could be improved upon.

[vcjha]

Yesterday was lower body day. I did the deload as advised by Steve.

Squats: 235 for 3 sets of 7. I was pretty surprised as I thought 7 reps would be easy with 7 requiring some effort. Turns out 7 reps was pretty close to failure, if not, was to failure. I have a very hard time deciphering between one and another because I am wired now to train until I cannot do another rep with perfect form, sometimes with not so perfect form lol. Keep in mind I've usually done 5 reps with 265, so I have to say I was pretty disappointed to say the least.

Stiff-legged deadlift: 265 for 7 reps for 3 sets. This has stayed constant, hasn't changed one bit. A bit disappointed.

Calves, have stayed constant at 1 plate on each side for any exercise. For this, I could probably add 2 1/2 lb on each side but forget to. That's my fault.

Barbell curls: 70 lb for 6 reps. Constant, again. Disappointed again.

I will say that I have not followed the routine very well. I finally figured out today that I've been doing deadlifts twice a week and have probably done the friday workout three times since I've posted here. That means I've been doing Tuesday's workout twice each week. I'm pretty mad at myself for not catching this sooner and I think Steve might be mad at me too.

[BendtheBar]

Hope the training is going good.

[vcjha]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Hope the training is going good.

Thank you so much for posting that. The training is going good, but after full assessing my needs and experiences, I found out I train best and and grow best on splits. I hope you don't take offense to that. I was plateauing hard, having low energy daily, and it seemed like I wasn't growing well. After changing back to a split, I finish my workouts faster, recover better, and growth is apparent again.