John Phung

I ate this yesterday at Ye's Sushi All-You-Can-Eat restaurant:

Pretty much had a food coma for most of yesterday, and it's fueling today's workout.

Texas Method volume day.

Foam Rolling

• 20 minutes on the black Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.

Low Bar Squat

About 3.5 minutes in between sets for warm ups.

• 45 lb: 20
• 140 lb: 10
• 230 lb: 5
• 320 lb: 3
• 410 lb: 1
• 460 lb: 1
• 402.5 lb: 3,3,3,3,3
  • About 3.5 minutes in between sets.
  • +2.5 lb from last week.

High Bar Squat

• 352.5 lb: 5,5,5,5,5
  • +2.5 lb from last week (microloading with fractional plates).
  • About 3.5 minutes in between sets.

Low Bar Squat

Last week I did these after low bar squatting for 5 sets of 3 reps. Really fried my lower back. Experimenting with adding these after high bar squats.

Definitely felt better, but it might be hard to maintain solid form as the weight gets heavier in the future. We'll see.

• 352.5 lb: 5,5
  • +2.5 lb from last week.

Face Pulls

• 70 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused until work sets.

Paused first rep on work sets.

• 45 lb: 10
• 140 lb: 5
• 230 lb: 3
• 320 lb: 1
• 285 lb: 5,5,5,4,6
  • Same weight as last week, but did 5 sets instead of 3.
  • Just missed the last rep on the 4th set. Removed collars and plates and reverse bench pressed 225 lb from the pins.
  • I did 6 reps on the last set because I was pissed that I missed 1 rep earlier. Had to make up the difference.

Texas Method volume day.

Added more volume to the squat today, and it felt pretty brutal. To recap:

Low bar squat

• 5x3
• 2x5

High bar squat

• 5x5

My lower back muscles were pumped after the low bar squat at 350x2x5. I had a hard time trying to determine if I was contracting my muscles during the high bar squat.

It was pretty exhausting, but doable. I had to lay down on the bench with my legs in the air after the 2nd set of high bar squats.

I felt pretty messed up and a bit disoriented after all those squats. Didn't regain my composure until after a few sets of bench press.

I like it! Hopefully I don't end up breaking anything.

Foam Rolling

• 10 minutes on the Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.

Low Bar Squat

• 45 lb: 20
• 140 lb: 10
• 230 lb: 5
• 320 lb: 3
• 410 lb: 1
• 460 lb: 1
• 400 lb: 3,3,3,3,3
  • About 3.5 minutes in between sets.
  • Same weight as last week.
• 350 lb: 5,5

High Bar Squat

• 350 lb: 5,5,5,5,5
  • +2.5 lb from last week (microloading with fractional plates).
  • About 3.5 minutes in between sets.

Face Pulls

• 70 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused until work sets.

Paused first rep on work sets.

Also, I think I figured out why I can un-rack the bar so easily with reverse grip. It's because the bar is almost directly over my shoulders, rather than over any part of my face.

Need to get someone to take some pictures/videos to verify this is the case.

• 45 lb: 10
• 140 lb: 5
• 230 lb: 3
• 320 lb: 1
• 285 lb: 5,5,5
  • +2.5 lb from last week.
  • 3x5 instead of 5x5

My cold is almost gone. I'm at that stage where I'm periodically coughing up really sticky phlegm.

Texas method volume day.

Foam Rolling

• 10 minutes on the Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.

Low Bar Squat

• 45 lb: 20
• 140 lb: 10
• 230 lb: 5
• 320 lb: 3
• 410 lb: 1
• 460 lb: 1
  • Left nostril started bleeding. First time that has ever happened to me while lifting. Cool!
• 397.5 lb: 3,3,3,3,3
  • About 3.5 minutes in between sets
  • +2.5lbs from last week (microloading with fractional plates)

High Bar Squat

• 345 lb: 5,5,6
  • +2.5lbs from last week
  • Wanted more reps on the last set,but feeling exhausted. Probably because of my almost-gone cold.

Face Pulls

• 70 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused until work sets.

Paused first rep on work sets.

I missed the last rep during the last set last week, but I'm going to increase the weight this week anyways.

Also, I obtained an anti-slip shelf and drawer liner to help prevent my back from slipping on the bench. Works pretty well so far!

• 45 lb: 10
• 140 lb: 5
• 230 lb: 3
• 320 lb: 1
• 280 lb: 5,5,5,5,5
  • Benching felt strong today.