Goals & Gains Clangin' and Bangin'

5/19/25 W8 D1

Belt squat
3 sets of 11

Machine row
2 sets of 11

Machine lat pulldown
2 sets of 12

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x3
335x2
375x1
405x1
415x1

Pressdown
3 sets of 13

Single arm cable ext
3 sets of 12

Almost didn't bother today because I'm still recovering from a rough Friday/Saturday with friends. Cut back on some stuff, but followed through with the plan on bench. With the way 415 moved I'm almost certain I could have hit a PR. Toughest part was finding someone to help me unrack the last two reps. One of the guys thought that I meant we would stand at opposite end of the bar and pick it up that way. Nice enough to help though so I can't complain.
 
5/23/25 W8 D3

Belt squat
3 sets of 11

Seated row
3 sets of 13

Lat pulldown
3 sets of 12

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x5x2

Cable overhead ext
4 sets of 13

DB shrug
4 sets of 13

Bailed on the last two sets of bench. Pec felt off after I tweaked it on Wednesday. Shit is starting to get on my nerves because I've never had pec problems. Taking Monday off for sure and it might turn into a week off.
 
5/27/25 W9 D2

Deadlift
295x3
345x3
385x3x2
405x3x2

Straight arm lat pulldown
4 sets of 11

Cable lateral raise
3 sets of 10

Bench
205x6
245x5
295x3
315x3
335x2x2
355x2
315x3
275x5
225x7

Pressdown
3 sets of 11

Machine shrug
3 sets of 12

Plan was to skip Monday and go back to my normal routine on Wednesday. Got restless and went in today to see if the Tuesday gym crowd is any different than the days I go. Pec still feels off, not even pain really, just odd. Maybe I am changing my form to deal with that because now my good shoulder is feeling queer.

Only mention these minor injury issues so if it persists I can look back and have an idea when it started. Getting real sick of the shit though.
 
5/23/25 W8 D3

Belt squat
3 sets of 11

Seated row
3 sets of 13

Lat pulldown
3 sets of 12

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x5x2

Cable overhead ext
4 sets of 13

DB shrug
4 sets of 13

Bailed on the last two sets of bench. Pec felt off after I tweaked it on Wednesday. Shit is starting to get on my nerves because I've never had pec problems. Taking Monday off for sure and it might turn into a week off.

Maybe some flys would help. Start light. Think if I was doing flys I wouldn't have got my pec problems. Saw on another forum that a bunch of 500+ benchers have flys locked in to keep their pecs healthy from all the benching. If I could go back I'd have kept doing flys. I always just thought it was for hypertrophy but they really help keep a full range of motion in them. Its really annoying. The heavier the bench got there was all these little things that kept coming up.
 
5/29/25 W9 D3

Leg press
4 sets of 12

Lat pulldown
3 sets of 13

Seated row
3 sets of 10

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x3
315x2x5

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Overhead cable ext
3 sets of 13

DB shrug
3 sets of 10

Still no pain, but now I can feel an actual knot in my pec. Thought about taking the rest of the week off, but decided to go today. Thought about doing press in place of bench, but it was a light day so I went forward with bench. Weight moved fine and there was no pain, but I don't like this knot.

One good decision I did make was to listen to @Stargazer Rex about flys. Gym has an Arsenal fly machine so I gave it a shot. On the first set with no weight added I felt that knotted area maybe breaking up. Liked the way the movement felt on the pec and I enjoyed the machine way more than using dumbbells. Gave a huge stretch and I will be working that in often going forward. Thanks Rex!
 
5/29/25 W9 D3

Leg press
4 sets of 12

Lat pulldown
3 sets of 13

Seated row
3 sets of 10

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x3
315x2x5

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Overhead cable ext
3 sets of 13

DB shrug
3 sets of 10

Still no pain, but now I can feel an actual knot in my pec. Thought about taking the rest of the week off, but decided to go today. Thought about doing press in place of bench, but it was a light day so I went forward with bench. Weight moved fine and there was no pain, but I don't like this knot.

One good decision I did make was to listen to @Stargazer Rex about flys. Gym has an Arsenal fly machine so I gave it a shot. On the first set with no weight added I felt that knotted area maybe breaking up. Liked the way the movement felt on the pec and I enjoyed the machine way more than using dumbbells. Gave a huge stretch and I will be working that in often going forward. Thanks Rex!

Hell yeah. My pecs feel great now that I added fly, but the damage was done unfortunately.

et-sick-et.gif
 
5/30/25

Hack squat
2 sets of 8

Leg ext
3 sets of 12

OHP
135x5
155x4
185x3
205x2
230x1 (PR)
185x3x3

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Rear delt machine
3 sets of 10

Belt squat
4 sets of 8

Went in to goof off and mainly stretch my pec on the incline fly machine. Don't think I've done an actual press session in two years. Didn't plan on going for a PR, but it was obvious I could get it. Could have added a few more pounds, but I was happy with a body weight press considering I haven't done the movement in forever.
 
5/30/25

Hack squat
2 sets of 8

Leg ext
3 sets of 12

OHP
135x5
155x4
185x3
205x2
230x1 (PR)
185x3x3

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Rear delt machine
3 sets of 10

Belt squat
4 sets of 8

Went in to goof off and mainly stretch my pec on the incline fly machine. Don't think I've done an actual press session in two years. Didn't plan on going for a PR, but it was obvious I could get it. Could have added a few more pounds, but I was happy with a body weight press considering I haven't done the movement in forever.
top-gun-high-five.gif
 
5/30/25

Hack squat
2 sets of 8

Leg ext
3 sets of 12

OHP
135x5
155x4
185x3
205x2
230x1 (PR)
185x3x3

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Rear delt machine
3 sets of 10

Belt squat
4 sets of 8

Went in to goof off and mainly stretch my pec on the incline fly machine. Don't think I've done an actual press session in two years. Didn't plan on going for a PR, but it was obvious I could get it. Could have added a few more pounds, but I was happy with a body weight press considering I haven't done the movement in forever.

yes-awesome-oldschool.gif
 
6/4/25 W10 D2

Deadlift
275x3
335x3x2
385x2x3

Straight arm lat pulldown
3 sets of 12

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x3
335x3x2
355x2x2
335x3
295x5
245x7
225x9

Machine fly
5 sets of 10

Single arm overhead tricep ext
3 sets of 12

Having a shit time getting a good set up for bench. I'm in between holes on the rack I've been using. Cups are just a smidge too high and I believe that is what caused my pec problem. Tried using a dedicated bench today and had to drape a yoga mat over it because it is so slick. Cups on that are slanted backwards so that makes unracking even harder.
 
6/9/25 W11 D1

Belt squat
4 sets of 11

Machine lat pulldown
3 sets of 11

Bench
205x5
245x4
295x3
335x3x5

Machine fly
3 sets of 11

Pressdown
3 sets of 12

Single arm overhead ext
3 sets of 10

Machine shrug
2 sets of 20

Ordered J-hooks that look to be a little longer and will hopefully solve my bench problem. Highly likely that they are the same as the ones at the gym and I wasted $100. Strongly considering going back to the doctor for another shoulder injection. Supposed to last 6 months and I'll be damned if the pain didn't come back right around that mark. Probably need to take a week off anyway because I am beat the fuck up.
 
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