Deload week! As I mentioned last week, I started pushing the weights much quicker than I had originally planned, so I am deloading this week to give my joints a little break. I ended up taking Monday and Tuesday off and training on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. This journal entry will be pretty brief and this week of training wasn’t too eventful.

Training: Week of 11/11/19

Wednesday 11/13/19: Bench Press

Bench Press

235 X 5

255 X 5

275 X 5

Bench didn’t feel too great today, so taking a deload was probably a good move.

Military Press

95 X 8

115 X 8

135 X 8

Pendlay Row

185 X 8, 8, 8

Lat-Pulldown

150 X 8

162.5 X 8

175 X 8

Tricep Pressdown

40 X 12

50 X 12

60 X 12

Barbell Curl

45 X 12

55 X 12

65 X 12

I decreased the weights lifted a bit from last week but kept the overall volume (sets * reps) the same. I would say all sets were at a 7 RPE of lower.

Friday 11/15/19: Squat + Deadlift

Squat

315 X 5

335 X 5

355 X 5

Squats didn’t feel too great today either LOL. My knees actually felt fine, which is great, but my left hip was a little achy.

Deadlift

545 X 1, 1, 1

Deadlifts felt heavy! I was planning on performing a single with 545, 565, and then 585, but 545 felt way heavier than it should have.

Belt Squat (Sump Stance)

270 X 8, 8, 8

The belt squat at my gym is finally operational again, so I will be implementing this in place of hack squats.

Saturday 11/16/19: Full Body

Leg Press

3 sets of 12

Lying Leg Curl

3 sets of 12

Standing Military Press

95 X 8, 8, 8

Incline Barbell Bench

185 X 5

205 X 5

225 X 5

Pull-Ups

+40 X 8, 8, 8

Pull-ups actually felt GREAT today! No elbow pain at all.

Face-Pulls

3 sets of 12

1-Arm Cable Side Laterals

2 sets of 8

1-Arm Tricep Pressdown

2 sets of 12

Since I was only able to train three times this week, I added in a couple lower body exercises to this upper body workout. I really didn’t have any goals for this workout except to get a workout in.

Summary

I think this was a well-timed/implemented deload. Squats, bench, and deadlifts all felt subpar this week. Hopefully they will feel better next week!