Back To a Routine

I've still been really enjoying my workouts lately. I'm not following a program, but I have been tracking my gym workouts on my phone just to keep track of weights and reps so that I can try to improve or do more in some way each week. 

I'm happy with my strength on squats and deadlifts....even though my weight has come down a few pounds somehow! It's crazy that I can lose weight without even trying(I know y'all are all like, 'oh, poor you.') But for someone who has has spent their whole life trying to get bigger, it's not cool. I think it was just the New York trip that got me outta my eating routine. It'll balance out.

But anyway, over the course of a few months, I worked up to 235 for 2 on deadlifts, which is a PR for conventional for me, and 200 or 205(not sure what the bar weighed!) for 3 on squats. Here are a couple of clips from a leg workout I did a few weeks ago: 

190 for 4 reps on squats

235 for 2 on deadlifts

So before everything that happened with Matt's brain surgery, I had started the program that my powerlifting coach wrote out for me. I was only able to complete the first week, and then my workouts obviously took a back seat to everything else. Now that things have calmed down a bit, I think I'm ready to start following a program again. I modified a few things just a bit, so that I can still train at home on Mondays if I want to, but here is the plan:

BODYBUILDING DAY MONDAY(AT HOME)	SQUAT DAY WEDNESDAY
1)Single arm dumbbell chest press 3x15 2)Inverted row or chest supported row 3x12-15 3a)1 arm dumbbell row or lat pulldown 3x15 3b)Banded good mornings 3x20 4a)Pushups 4x12 4b)Banded hip thrusts or cable pullthroughs 4x15-20 5a)Band pullaparts 3x20 5b)Suitcase carries 3x Conditioning: Kettlebell Swings 30:30 x4-6 sets	1)Squat(see reps below) 2)Front squat (or leg press) 3x8-10 3)Lunge or split squat 3x10-12/leg 4a)Leg extensions 3x20 4b)Band abductions 3x15-20 5)Cable ½ kneeling Pallof press 3x10 6a)Single leg hip thrust or reverse hyper 3x15/leg  6b)Farmer's walks 3-5 sets
BENCH DAY FRIDAY	DEADLIFT DAY SATURDAY
1)Bench press (see reps below) 2)Dumbbell or barbell incline bench press 3x8 3)Cable row 3x10-12 4)Lat pulldown 3x12 5a)Cable tricep extension 3x10-12 5b)Cable bicep curl 3x10-12 6)1 arm bottoms up press 3x10	1)Deadlift (see reps below) 2)Sumo deadlift 2x5 3)Single leg RDL or dumbbell RDL 3x10 4a)Pullup 3xamap 4b)Glute ham raise 3x10-12 5)Stir the pot plank 3x30 seconds Conditioning: Sled drags- 6 x75-100 ft *heavy*
Squat/Bench/Deadlift reps: Week 1 60%x3x5/1xamp Week 2 75%3x5/1xamp Week 3 80% 2x5/1xamp

I'll go through the 3 weeks and then do the program over again with slightly higher weights on the main lifts, and swap out some of the accessory lifts.

I started over and completed the first week again, and I like it so far.  It has a good amount of work in there for hypertrophy, but the main lifts focus on strength. There is also some conditioning mixed in, which is exactly what I wanted. A good, well rounded program.

I've been considering adding in a 5th day of conditioning, rather than doing it as a finisher. Some days I don't feel like doing a finisher after my lifting, so I end up just doing it half-heartedly. I'm thinking I may do 15-20 minutes of sled drags and mobility on Sundays. Even though muscle gain is always my goal, I do want to be in shape and not get winded after a set of squats. Also, let me know if you all would be interested in me getting back to sharing my weekly workouts while on this routine!