By popular demand (2 people) I am going to detail my training each week.

Maybe you can learn something from it.

I've followed many programs over the years and I've also programmed my own training for years.

Writing my own programs is exciting for me. I enjoy the process and challenge.

Over the years I've followed many training logs of strong guys to learn from.

My tip would be to try things out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There are many factors that determine what program will be effective for you: your training history, age, goals, recovery ability, time/equipment available..

4 day upper/lower split

• Monday- Press 155lbsx1, 115x8,8 / Chinups 7,6,5

notes- starting a new week of higher reps for the big lifts. Pressing 8 reps felt good after weeks of 3-6 rep sets. Chins are still not where I want them to be since gaining 30 lbs. but will get there.

• Tuesday- Squat 275x1,265x6, 235x8/ Romanian Deadlift 135 3x8

notes- squats felt like garbage. Last week felt a slight pull in my hammy/groin that affect the descent. Sets of 8 feel awful even at a light weight. I was squatting sets of 5 at 315 two weeks ago.

Was fairly cautious with this workout. RDL's were light but felt good. Haven't done them in awhile. Was doing another medium/heavy deadlift on this day after squatting and felt I needed to take it out for a month or so.

Going to stick to 3-6 reps on squats. 8 feel like too much for my lower back.

• Weds - prowler sled push/pull- started with 2 plates, finished with 5 plates. Smooth and steady pace on these. Not sprints and not super heavy. Short rest periods between each round. These help with recovery from the tuesday squats normally and get in some conditioning work usually once a week.
• Thurs- Bench 205x2, 185x8, 165x8/ Press 125x5, 115x5

notes -Bench felt decent. 8 reps will work here for a few weeks as I increase the weight 5 lbs each week. I am working on improving my press more than the bench so I have 2 press sessions per week and only 1 bench.

I've moved my grip closer from where it was the past few months. I had my pinkies at the rings and now I am about halfway between smooth on the bar and the rings. Feels better on my shoulders. More of the stress goes to the tricep/elbow over the shoulder/pec which is fine by me.

• Friday- Squat- 245 2x5/ Sumo Deadlift 305x3

notes- light squats felt slow as I forgot my knee sleeves. I use them for all squat sessions now and they help a lot. Recommended for anyone with knee issues or who has squatted for many years or even just older folks as the sleeves add warmth, compression and keep the knee stable.

Sumo Deadlift should have been easier at this weight. That hammy/groin issue was keeping me from getting into the best position. Need to remember to focus more on lats. The cue that helps me the most with sumo pulls is to think of squeezing oranges in my armpits. It tightens up my lats something fierce and all I have to do is push into the floor and the rep is complete.

• Saturday- Bike 20 min./ sauna / stretching

this day is just to get some blood flow and sit in the sauna because I like how it feels. It's not about the workout but more I like my morning habit of going to the gym and taking my shower there.

Overall a good week. I went into this week thinking of doing each of the big lifts (squat, press, deadlift, bench) for a top set of 8 reps and maybe one backoff set if I felt good.

I learned this week that I am going to go with 8 reps on upper body lifts but stick to lower reps on the lower body lifts.

The weights listed are work sets. I don't write out my warmup sets but I always start with the empty bar on all lifts except the deadlift which I start with 135 lbs.

The weights I am lifting are submaximal right now. I had a deload week 2 weeks ago after feeling rundown and kinda sick for a few days.

I had been pushing hard for 13 weeks without a deload so it was time to pull back somewhat.

Normally I don't plan deload weeks but I am considering using them maybe once every 8-10 weeks.

Next week I will increase the weights by 5 lbs. for press and bench for the top set of 8 reps.

For the squat I am going to go back to sets of 5. I am thinking I'll working up to one top set of 5 then do 2 backoff sets of 5 at a slightly reduced weight. For deadlifts I'm thinking of adding 5 lbs. and hitting sets of 3 reps again.

Usually I have a general plan for the week and I try to stick to it, but I am able to adapt on the fly as I see fit. Maybe I do sets of 4 reps instead of 5 or I do an extra set. Depends on how I feel and if it makes sense.

I hope you got something out of this training log. If you have any questions about your own training, let me know. email- strengthessentials716@gmail.com

Looking forward to another week getting stronger! I hope you are too.