Workout log may 9, heavy lifts and no cardio

Clem Duranseaud
May 9
4 min read

With a busy personal training schedule and my mom in town, I had to drop cardio this week. Strength training and weightlifting were consistent though.

Monday - Heavy bench, paused deadlifts and single arm rows

Bench press: 4 sets of 4

A person bench presses in a gym, wearing red sneakers and striped socks. The gym equipment and dark background suggest a focused workout. — Those 1.25kg plates look so small compared to the other ones, but that's what progressive overload looks like

Like last week, these felt incredibly challenging. I added 2.5 pounds on each side for my first set and managed four reps.

The remaining sets were done as cluster sets: 3 reps, 30 seconds pause, then finish the set.

The last set was broken up into 2-1-1 reps.

Paused deadlifts: 3 sets of 4

Same weight as last week and felt easier! I was able to pause for a bit longer and more controlled. This felt great, especially after the challenging bench.

Man in a gym lifting a barbell with colored weight plates. Mirrors reflect his image, and red shoes add a pop of color to the neutral setting. — Pausing for longer and more controlled

Single arm rows: 3 sets of 12

Same weight as last week but with 2 extra reps each set. I'm using the 8-10-12 rule here, so next week I'll grab heavier weights and do 8 reps.

Man in gym doing dumbbell rows on a bench, wearing red sneakers. Brightly lit room with mirrors and weights. Focused expression. — I focus on pulling the dumbbell towards my hip to feel my lats contract. If I wanted to feel more upper back/rear delts I could row the dumbbell towards my shoulder a bit more

Tuesday: weightlifting

Technique drills of the day:

Hang snatches, 2 sets of 5, felt like a drunken giraffe on the first round. Second round felt more like an outgoing, happy giraffe.
Hang cleans, 2 sets of 5, felt in control, and feeling I'm catching the bar lower
Overhead squats, 2 sets of 5, had to play around with my foot placement to find a good stance to go deep in the squat

Full cleans: 3 sets of 3

Same weight as last week and felt off. I fell backwards on my first rep, so graceful...

I need to go down in weight, or take a few more warm-up sets.

Full snatches: 3 sets of 5

I feel my technique is improving. Still a very long way to go but these are starting to click.

Man lifting barbell overhead in a gym, wearing red sneakers and blue shorts. Bright lighting, mirrors, and gym equipment visible. — Need to get my weightlifting shoes again

Wednesday: Bench and back

Bench press: 3 sets of 2

Progress! Last week I only managed one double at 130kg, this week I did three.

My goal is to get 140 kg next month, this was encouraging.

Weighted chin ups: 5 sets of 5

Went heavy on my first set, and only got three reps.

This is fine, as I'll try to work my way up to five reps with this weight. Once I can do it, I'll make it heavier again.

The second set was a bit lighter, and the last three sets were lighter still.

When I do 5 sets of 5 reps, I never use the same weight throughout the 5 sets. Either the weight has to go down, or the reps. I could take longer breaks but I don't want my workouts to go on forever, so I keep them at 2 minutes.

I prefer starting with heavy weights and reducing the load as the workout progresses.

Pendlay rows: 3 sets

The seated rows were taken and I love pendlays.

First set: 6 reps, nice and heavy
Set 2 and 3: lighter, 8 reps, focused on form

I didn't want to do too much volume here because I have deadlift tomorrow.

Seated rows: two heavy sets

The machine was available after my pendlays so I decided to do one very intense set to failure and one back off set focused on muscular contraction.

The intense set was very straightforward: max out the machine and see how many reps I could get.

The back off set was lighter and focused on feeling my whole back burn throughout the reps.

Thursday: back day

Deadlifts: 4 sets of 4

Stubbornly went too heavy on my first set with the deluded hope of achieving a PR. Did not happen.

Last week I used 165kg, 160kg and then two back off sets at 155kg.

I wanted to progress something on this lift this week. Instead of dropping the weight down to 155kg for my two back offs, I kept 160kg and did cluster sets.

These clusters were one rep every 30 seconds.

This allowed me to work with a heavier weight for more reps. The huge drawback is the length it takes to do this kind of sets.

Lat pull down: 1 top set + 2 back off

Matched last week's reps. Did a more intense drop set on my last set.

Incline bench row: 3 sets of 10

Same dumbbells as last week but 2 extra reps each set. It's small progress and that's exactly what progressive overload is about.

Friday: weightlifting and bench accessories

The weightlifting is the same as Tuesday.

I'm adding third chest workout to try and get the three plates on the bench before my wedding.

Person squatting with a barbell in a gym, wearing red shoes and blue shorts. Weight plates are visible. Others exercise in the background. — I finish my weightlifting sessions with three sets of heavy back squats.

Reverse band incline bench press

Ok, I've seen this on YouTube and Instagram a few times and just wanted to try it. The rationale is the same as with banded hack squats: you make the bottom position of the lift easier to create a more equal resistance profile throughout the lift.

The bench press is tougher at the bottom, so using the bands makes that position easier. This allows me to push with a similar force output throughout the whole movement.

Only time will tell how well this works. If anything, it was pretty fun.

Machine chest press machine

The goal with this one is just to push as hard as I can in a very controlled manner. I don't need a spotter, the machine guides my form and the chest pump is unreal.

I did one heavy AF set with 5 reps, shaking like a leaf in the wind, and did a drop set to finish off the muscles.

I did feel my chest work pretty well on this one. I'm excited to see if these will help my bench go up.

Gameplan for next week

I am taking a recovery week. I'll be doing the same workouts with 70% less load. This allows me to focus solely on form, rest my muscles, and mentally recover.

Nutrition and weight gain: I'm trying to bulk up at the moment and my weight hasn't moved. Bigger portion sizes next week.

Have a good weekend everyone,

Clem