Sol's Strength Training Journey

[solitude914]

Hey guys! If you want to learn a bit about me before reading this first post in my journey, you might want to consider checking out my Introduction post over on the New Members category (can't post a link yet as I have less than 10 posts).

Been lifting seriously for ~6.5 months now, so still a noob, will type more about my initial stats sometime soon.

Right now, here's where I'm at:
Bodyweight: 170 lbs
Bodyfat: Unsure. Somewhere between 20-25% if I had to guess.

Here's my current split:
Monday: Chest, Delts, Tris
Tuesday: Traps, Lats, Biceps
Wednesday: Neck, Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Forearms
Thursday: Chest, Delts, Tris
Friday: Traps, Lats, Biceps
Saturday: Neck, Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Forearms
Sunday: Rest

So to start off the log, yesterday was a pretty good strength training session. The highlight of it, the weight felt pretty light on rack pulls so I decided to work up to 405, my first time ever with four plates. I did 5@135, 5@225 (warmups) and then the working sets were 6@325 (moved good), 4@335, 3@345 (moved good), 2@375, and then finally 1@405. Felt almost as good as when I hit 5@135 for the first time on bench about a month and a half ago.

 

[MohsenAirwave]

Let's go

 

[solitude914]

Neck, Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, and Forearms went good today.

Took yesterday off for family reasons and I may not be able to hit the gym until next monday, it pains me to even miss one session so I tried to make the most of today. No scheduling conflicts anticipated for next week.

Neck Curls: 4x25 @ 10lb plate
Neck Extensions: 4x25 with 25lb plate attached to neck harness (crazy pump on backside of neck)
Neck Side Twists: 2x25 for left and right side respectively with red westside mini band attached between pole of power rack and neck harness

Rack Pulls: 5@135 5@225 6@335 6@365 2@410

Front Squats: 3x12 @ empty bar, working on form before I add weight. Moves super easily but gotta work on keeping elbows up so bar doesn't slip

Reverse Hypers: 3x30 with red westside mini band jerryrigged backwards on hammer strength ghd

Glute Drive: 3x15 @ 225

DB Farmers walk: 4x80yd @ 50lb DBs
DB Wrist curls: Was running out of time before gym closed and the only DBs below 22.5 available were 8lb. 12@8 12@8 (both moved super easily) 50@8 (lmao)

Overall a great session and the rack pulls went great, my goal is to hit 5 plates and a 25 (545lb) on them by June of 2022

 

[Rot-Iron66]

Rack pulls are fun, best if done from below the knee-cap.
Don't ignore regular DL's from the floor either. (Practice good form)...

 

[solitude914]

Rack pulls are fun, best if done from below the knee-cap.
Don't ignore regular DL's from the floor either. (Practice good form)...

I agree, rack pulls are fun af, been working on form just as much as strength with them, resisting the urge to bang around a lot of weight for shitty reps. I heard from a guy at my gym (51 years old, lifting since he was 19 apparently) that when I asked about building traps, above the knee was better for that.

I've tried below the knee but I prefer regular deadlifts to it. Only reason I don't deadlift more is how straining it is on recovery and (apparently) less direct trap work, I usually hit DLs once, max twice a week

 

[The Phoenix]

Awesome background. Glad to follow your thread and journey!

 

[solitude914]

Last night's strength training session:

Bench 3x5 130,130,130
Incline DB 4x8 9@50 9@50 9@50 9@50
Hammer Strength Incline Press 3x10 50,50,50
OHP 3x5 70,70,70
DB Lats 3x12 15,15,15 (Moved decently easy compared to previous sessions at same weight and reps)
DB Front Raises 3x10 20,20,20
EZ Bar Skulls 3x10 55,55,55
V pushdown 3x8 115,115,115 (over halfway to maxing out the stack)

Had some extra time before closing, messed around with my front rack position, working on keeping the elbows up. Also slowed down and worked on my clean a bit, I love going to a private gym with the experience/knowledge level of most of the guys that always help out.

Bench moved a bit harder than I expected/than last week. On Incline DB, got 9 reps instead of 8, gonna go for 9 reps again the next time I hit them, then 10 reps per set the 2 times after that, then gonna back down to sets of 8 but with 55 DBs instead of 50. Hammer Strength's plate loaded Incline Press is one of my favorite machines, the movement pattern is great, good squeeze in pecs and easy on the joints (I have a bad left shoulder from a past injury). Yesterday night was my first time doing the OHP in a while, hoping to build up to 1@135 strict form on them by 2023.

I'll update tomorrow based on how tonight's session goes for traps, upper back and biceps.

 

[solitude914]

Last night:

Rack Pulls 6@325 4@335 3@315+60 chains 2@325+60 chains
Power Shrugs 3x5 185,185,185
HS High Row 3x15 70,70,80 (weight each side)
Assisted Pullups 45,45,45
Reverse grip Lat Pulldown 3x12 127.5,127.5,127.5
EZ Curls 4x25 30,30,30
Cable Rope Curls 4x10 70,70,70,70

Planned on finishing off with a dropset on the bicep machine but it was broken. I let gym staff know, they always fix broken shit by my next session

Rack Pulls were done over the knee, 7sec iso hold on last rep of each set. First time ever using chains, I added them onto the Rack Pulls to add progressively more tension near the top of each rep.

 

[solitude914]

Last night:

Plate Neck Curl 4x25 10,10,10,10
Sitting Harness Neck Extension 4x25 25,25,25,25 (moved easy, going for 4x30@25 next time and then 4x25@35 the time after that)
Neck Side twists w/ red westside band attached to harness 4x25
Front Squat 3x8 45,45,45 Still just the bar till I get super confident on my front rack
Rogue Belt Squat 3x12 147.5 (60lb on each side makes 120, plus the empty trolley is 27.5)
Nautilus Glute Drive 3x8 215,215,215 (100 each side, plus the empty machine is 15)
Reverse Hypers 3x30 with red westside band attached to HS GHD
Skipped farmers walks, was running out of time.
Hit a 51sec dead hang off of one of the chinup bars, first time ever trying it. Gonna go for 60sec by April
DB Wrist Curls 3x20 15,15,15 rest pause

So thankful for gyms in America to not shut down among all these new covid cases (unlike other countries, even Canada), and for being able to train in a welcoming private gym

 

[solitude914]

Updated profile picture to a physique pic I took this morning. Empty stomach after waking up, good lighting and no pump. Almost 7 months into seriously training, been bulking since. I still have no idea how to pose or even flex correctly but I'd like to hit the front archer as my new profile picture once I have more defined arms

 

[solitude914]

Last night:

Bench 3x5 130,130,130
Incline DB 4x8 9@50 9@50 9@50 9@50
Pec Deck 3x15 100,100,100
OHP 3x5 70,70,70
HS Shoulder Press 3x12 45,45,45 (each side)
Rear Delt Machine 3x15 70,70,70
EZ Bar Skulls 3x10 50,50,55

 

[solitude914]

Skipped today, went car shopping out of state.

Yesterday, though, went amazing.
Did the power shrugs with a snatch grip, let me tell you switching that one bit up was nice. I might keep it this way for three or so weeks then move onto another slightly different variation.
Rack pulls had every rep held for 5 seconds at the top before putting it down
Promaxima chest supported row felt wayyy too easy, gonna go for 2 plates for 3x10 next time.

Rack Pulls 4x6,4,3,2 330,340,375,410
Snatch grip Power Shrugs 3@185 6@185
Promaxima Chest-supported row 3x10 75,75,75
Assist Pullups 3x10 45,45,45
Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3x12 127.5,127.5,127.5
Barbell Curls 5x5 50,60,60,60
EZ Curls 3x15 40,40,40
Single-arm DB Preachers (Hammer grip) 8@20,6@20

 

[TODAY]

Edit: already answered. Carry on.

 

[solitude914]

Is there a particular reason why you've chosen to focus on rack pulls instead of actual deadlifts?

Building my traps and neck is my current goal until June 2022, and as such the rack pulls above the knee are what has worked best for me on the traps and neck (in addition to the farmers walks and power shrugs). I realize that it could be substituted by deadlifts for more volume in my programming as a compound back movement, but that'd be redundant IMO given I clean+j 2-3 times a week

 

[solitude914]

Edit: already answered. Carry on.

No worries lmao

 

[solitude914]

Yesterday:

Bench 3x7 130,130,130
Pin Press 1x10 130
Incline DB 4x8 10@50 10@50 10@50 10@50
HS Incline 3x10 45,45,45
OHP 3x5 70,70,70
DB Lats 3x12 15,15,15 (quality reps)
DB Vertical Front Raises 3x8 20,20,20
EZ Skulls 5x5 60,60,65,65,65
V Pushdown 115,115,120

Pin Press was very taxing, would have been better off cycling that in as the primary press for a couple weeks instead of adding it after three working sets of bench. Anyhow GPP could be higher so I'm considering adding some prowler work into the program

 

[solitude914]

Tuesday:
Rack Pulls at the knee 6@345 4@365 3@390 2@410 5sec hold at top of each rep + slow on the way down
Snatch Grip Power Shrugs 3x5 190,190,190 5 sec hold on last rep of each set
HS High Row 3x15 75,75,75 (45+25+5 each side)
Rev Grip Lat Pulldown 127.5,127.5,127.5
BB Curls 5x5 50,60,60,60,60
EZ Curls 3x15 40,40,40
Single Arm DB Preachers 17.5,17.5 slow reps, 2 sets each arm

Wednesday:
Plate Neck Curl 4x25 10,10,10,10
Sitting Harness Neck Extension 4x25 25,35,35,35
Neck Side twists w/ red westside band attached to harness 4x25
Front Squat 3x8 65,75,85 Finally started adding weight, confident about my front rack now
Rogue Belt Squat 3x12 147.5,167.5,167.5
Nautilus Glute Drive 3x8 225,225,225 (105 each side, plus the empty machine is 15)
Reverse Hypers 2x30 with red westside band attached to HS GHD
DB Farmers Walks w/ straps 2x80yd 60,60
did some singles on C and C+J with 95 and 135

 

[solitude914]

Yesterday evening:

Paused Bench 3x5 130,130,135
Incline DB 4x10 50,50,50,50
Pec Deck 3x15 100,100,100
OHP 3x5 75,75,75
DB Lats 3x12 15,15,15
Machine Rear Delts 3x15 70,70,75
EZ Skulls 55,55,55
Cable Rope Pushdown 3x20 50,52.5,55

 

[solitude914]

Apparently I forgot to include. EZ Skulls thursday evening were 3x10

 

[solitude914]

Friday:
Rack Pulls 6@345 4@360 3@370 2@390 5sec hold top of last rep each set
Snatch Grip Power Shrugs 3x3 225,225,225
Promaxima Chest Supported Row 3x10 80,80,80 (not including base weight, 45+35 on bar)
Assist Pullups 3x10 45,45,45
Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3x12 127.5,127.5,127.5
BB Curls 5x5 60,60,60,60,60
EZ Curls 3x15 40,40,40 (was running out of time so these sets were essentially rest pause but weight moved decent)
Single Arm DB Preachers, hammer grip on DB 2x10 each side 17.5,17.5

Saturday:
Plate Neck Curl 4x25 10,10,10,10
Sitting Harness Neck Extension 4x25 35,35,35,35
Neck Side twists w/ red westside band attached to harness 4x25
Front Squat 3x8 95,95,95 Front rack feeling great so I'm still adding weight
Rogue Belt Squat 3x12 167.5,167.5,167.5
Nautilus Glute Drive 3x8 245,245,245 (115 each side, plus the empty machine is 15)
Reverse Hypers 1x100 bodyweight
DB Farmers Walks w/ straps 2x80yd 60,60,60,60
DB Wrist Curls 3x12 15(moved super easy),20,20