Starting off this month I was very happy with the results I made in the previous 4 weeks. I know it’s only been a month, but I feel a lot stronger than I did before. Not only that, but I raised my weight to 175 which I thought was all but impossible. I was anxious to get started on the second phase of this experiment, and this is what it looked like:

Box Squats 3 sets of 3 (3-5 warm-up sets)

Good Mornings 3 sets of 3 (3-5 warm-up sets)

Dimmel Deadlifts 3 sets of 15-20

Pull-down Abs 7 sets of 8

Hanging Leg Raises 4 sets to failure

Reverse Hypers 4 sets of 8

-First 2 weeks: Board Press 3 sets of 3 (3-5 warm-up sets)

-Second 2 weeks: Close-grip Incline Press 3 sets of 3 (3-5 warm-up sets)

Barbell Tricep Extensions 60 total reps w/10 rep max per set

Seated Cable Row 3 sets of 8 (3-5 warm-up sets & use different grip each week)

Face Pulls 3 sets of 8

External Rotations 4 sets of 8

Box Squat 8-10 sets of 2 reps

Pull Thoughs 8 sets of 12

Pull -down Abs 7 sets of 8

Laying Leg Raises 4 sets of 8

Reverse Hypers 4 sets of 8

Bench Press 8-10 sets of 3 reps

Pin Press 2 sets of 3 (3-5 warm-up sets)

Bent-over Dumbbell Rows 3 sets of 8 (3-5 warm-up sets)

Face Pulls 3 sets of 8

External Rotations 4 sets of 8

Upright Rows 3 sets of 8

Right off the bat, the first week felt great. I was breaking records with ease and my legs were feeling especially strong. Even though I stopped squatting after I hit 215 lbs, I felt like I could have easily put another 20 lbs on the bar. I was even able to put up 225 lbs on the pin press, which was a big accomplishment for myself. I also put up 185 lbs on the board press which is decent since I barely got 180 lbs off my chest only 4 weeks ago.

Week two was much of the same thing. I was still breaking records with what I felt was some extra strength left in reserve. Of course, I get a good chuckle whenever I realize just how small the amount of weight I’m lifting is, but at least I’m trying. Sometimes it’s hard holding back and being content with slow but steady progress. I figure it’s better than my chest being crushed by a weight though. This week I actually broke the 180 lbs mark with my bodyweight, but I notice a flub forming around what was a pretty six-pack. I figured I’d cut down 1,000 calories or so because I was on a pretty high 5,500-6,000 calorie diet up to this point. Trust me: cream filling was leaking out my ears.

Week three is when I started running into problems. My workout on Monday left me confused. The previous week I had squatted 225 rather easily, but this week I was straining with all my might to get my final rep with 230 lbs. I chalked it up to a bad day, but I wouldn’t be that lucky. Tuesday I came down with 103 degree fever and was bed-ridden until I went to go see the doc on Thursday. On top of that, I couldn’t swallow any solid foods, so I was living off meal shakes and soup. Yum! I decided to keep my fool reputation where it should be and went to the gym for max effort bench day on Thursday. I was sweating profusely by my third set, but I managed to make it through the whole thing. I again went to the gym on Friday and struggled through my routine, but I was feeling a lot better than I had this week. By Sunday, I thought I was rocking again as I had a really good workout and felt good too.

On Monday of Week four, I would prove myself wrong as usual. After my first rep of 235 lbs box squatting, I wasn’t able to get off the box for the second time. Good thing I was in a power rack and had the pins set-up, or else I would have done a lot more damage when I had to toss the weight off my back. Oddly enough, I still broke my record with the dimmel deadlifts, but I felt fatigued and nauseous for the rest of the workout. I just figured my legs were still shot from being so sick, so I shrugged it off. Wednesday was great as I close-grip incline pressed 170, which I was pumped about since I could barely even bench 170 lbs once just 7 weeks ago. I also broke records on every lift on Wednesday, so I thought I was fully recovered from my sickness. To my surprise, I had trouble getting off the second rep of my dynamic box squats on Friday from about half the sets. Granted I was squatting 225, but I was doing an easy three reps of that two weeks ago. It seems like my squat progress is starting to reverse itself either due to the fact that my legs are still weak from being sick or maybe because I lifting too much weight, too often. That is definitely something I’ll have to figure out before this next month.

Looking back on this month, I still made progress in most areas, but it’s hard not getting hung up on the reverse of progress in my box squat. Luckily, I have Dave helping me out with this whole thing though, so I’m confident I’ll start blowing my squat records away again next month. I’m still about around 185 lbs bodyweight, and it’s amazing what a severe case of strep throat will do for that unwanted fat around the midsection. Something that I noticed this month is the fact that the pin press is an awesome exercise for strength and confidence building. Since I’ve been unracking and pressing weight that I could in no way bench, when I actually do bench for a new record, the weight doesn’t feel heavy because I’m use to handling much heavier weight in that position. Well, see ya next month.