WSFSB III: RE Lower Body

Much like last week, I did all the assistance stuff first, then the squats with the planned weight. Unlike last week, however, the weight was a lot heavier and it felt like a ton. Just as well, right?!?

Hammer Calf Press: 245x6x5

GHR: Failure at 11, 9, 7, 5, 3 reps.

45 degree Hyperextension: Failure at 13, 11, 10, 9, 8 reps.

Pallof Press Isometric Holds: 25 lbs for 30 seconds for three sets

Assisted Pistols (Average Band): 5 sets of 8

Box Squats (Slightly Below Parallel): 245x6x5

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 5 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: ME Upper Body

Missed Abs Class, so I walked for an hour with my body armor on before the workout.

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Flat Bench Press: 75x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 195x3, 185x3. My goal was 195x5 but I just didn't have it, 185 would have been a definite. I tried to prove that after the fact, but the moment had come and gone with the 195. A quick note: all my barbell bench pressing since this cycle began has been done with my feet up, to work my bottom end more.

Assisted Really Wide Pullups (Monster Mini Band): Failure at 3, 2, 1, 1, 0 reps.

Assisted Really Wide Pullups (Average Band): 4 sets of 8, 1 set of 7. Ever do a wide grip pulldown with your hands at the bends in the bar? Yes, that wide.

Hammer ISO Rows (Elbows In): 127.5x6x5

DB Shoulder Presses: 35x15x3

Preacher Curls: 40x20+5+5, 40x12+6+4+4+4. I'm using percentages of what I want to lift at the end of this cycle - - - 110 lbs. This gave me a silly pump, almost painful.

Sunday's Weigh In

Went to sleep so late last night . . . . . woke up so late this evening (4PM).

Stopped by the gym before dinner and weighed in at 206. Not 205 but I will take it.

WSFSB III: ME Lower Body

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Front Squats: 80x5, 100x5, 120x5, 140x3, 160x3, 180x2, 205x1, 215x1, 225x1. I took away the box and actually liked it better. Not only did I hit my target of 225 with nothing to spare (giggle), but I did all my reps almost ATG. I don't know if it was all the overhead shrugging I've been doing, but I had a much easier time holding the weight at the top than normal.

Reverse Lunges w/Front Foot Elevated: 50x15x3

Leg Curls: 105x12x3

Blast Strap Ab Fallouts (Knees on Mat): Failure at 4, 3, 2, 1. These suck but if they will help me hold my abs flatter and trim me down then I will do them.

Seated Calf Raises: 55x12x3

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: RE Upper Body

All Notation: Weights x Reps x Sets

Blast Strap Pushups w/Feet Elevated: Failure at 11, 9, 8, 8 reps.

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Monster Mini Bands): 4 sets of 5

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Average Bands): 4 sets of 10.

Hammer ISO Rows (Elbows Out): 85x12x3

Incline DB Laterals: 15x6x5

Barbell Curls: 95x4x7. I didn't even need to rest/pause it.

Smith Machine Overhead Shrug: 150x4x7

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: RE Lower Body

Started my morning with two PB&J sandwhiches, 3 small bottles of milk, a multivitamin, a B-Complex, 3 bottles of water, and a nice cup of coffee. By 11 AM, I felt great.

At lunch , I stopped by the gym, loaded 210 on the bar, and got my close grip bench PR cold that I should have had yesterday. Yeah, it was that important!!!

Took a nap after dinner, got up at 8 PM, then hit the gym. Gym was busy, and the Smith was being used. I was feeling pretty good and thought of doing a little more weight on the squats than planned. But I know here that leads, so I came up with the better idea of doing all the assistance stuff FIRST, then the squats with the planned weight.

Hammer Calf Press: 165x12x3

GHR: Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4, 3 reps. I felt like doing a full GHR (GHR/back extension in the same motion) was cheating my hamstrings, so back to doing them without the back extension part. Harder, without the momentum, but that 's the point.

45 degree Hyperextension: Failure at 13, 11, 9, 7, 8 reps.

Pallof Press Isometric Holds: worked up to 25 lbs for 30 seconds, then worked my way back down when a second attempt at 25 pounds lasted 15 seconds. I like this movement.

Assisted Pistols (Average Band): 5 sets of 7

Box Squats (Slightly Below Parallel): 165x12x3. Smith was still being used so I did them regular. Even with tired legs, they were solid reps.

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: ME Upper Body - Pyrrhic Victory?!?

I walked out of the gym this evening at 206 which means after some peeing during the night I may just wake up at the target I set for myself in April: 205. It would come 13 weeks early.

I will start by giving Christian Thibodeau credit. I read that article of his on T-nation and have so far tried two control days of extremely low carbs. So this past Thursday and today, I had a sensible breakfast of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, mozzarella, and mushrooms and a chicken breast. The rest of the meals (4 of them) were protein shakes with a couple of spoons of peanut butter for fat.

That said, no more while on this phase.

Considering 3 days of Abs Class, 4 days of weights, 4 days of intervals, and 2-3 days of easy cardio, I don't have the headroom to diet like this. Maybe one control day, but even that sucked. I woke up in the morning poorly recovered. Makes me think that I blinked and let my much better original goal of getting lean and strong be taken over by the one where I just wanted to hit 198 or less. I can eliminate some carbs from individual meals here and there and go low carbs on some days like I've been doing in the past, but not this.

Today I was cranky, irritable, scatterbrained, and running on sheer will.

Abs Class

Close Grip Bench Press: 70x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 150x2, 170x1, 190x1, 200x1, 210x0, 205x0. Last week, I hit a kinda hard 205. Today, 190 nearly burried me and 200 was like a static rep it was so slow. Even after 5 minutes rest, I couldn't hit any targets. A lesson learned, a bitter pill to swallow.

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinups (Monster Mini Band): Failure at 6, 5, 5, 4 reps

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinups (Average Band): 4 sets of 8 reps

Hammer ISO High Rows: 75x12x3

Seated Overhead Shrug: 140x6x5

Barbell Curls: 85x6x3, 85x5+1, 85x6.

Skipped the intervals. I just didn't have it. I just want to crawl into bed.

Bastardized, So You Won't Have To;)

A lot of people send questions to forums wondering whether they should try something or not, whether it will be effective or not, yada, yada, yada. Essentially, thinking or Internet-ing it to death. I have no problem with a more empirical approach: I read about it or plan it, tweak it, try it for a 6-12 weeks, assess it at the end, save it to Excel (On Tsampa.org, Kris has a very effective PR Spreadsheet you can download that is very effective for that purpose), put it in my toolbox or toss it out. Looking at my blog, one sees that I have almost 4 years of workouts, numbers, injuries, mistakes, PRs, and failures to sort through. I know what works and when because of it.

After success with EliteFTS Beginners Training Manual, the next logical progression for me was the Westside for Skinny Bastards III program. Both programs are very similar: my interest in the WSFSB III stems from my eagerness to get away from speed work for a while: I couldn't break my PRs in the bench or squat doing so, I only got so far. I figured that unless I had more muscle and basic strength first, more speed work was not the answer. For me, this template was a good jumping off point.

With WSFSB III, I kept the basic setup. I looked back at my past training and wants and used that to craft rep setups that would work for me for all the rep work. I wanted more rep proficiency than just sticking to 8-15 reps only.

To start, my goal is to get down to the low 190s while keeping or gaining as much muscle as possible. I weighed in at 207 this morning, down 31 pounds since April so I'm getting there. My back is bigger and wider, shoulders stronger and more pain free, traps thicker, overall everything is more solid.

My second goal is perfomance based. When I started out, I couldn't do a chinup or pull up. Now I could do 6. By the time I go home, I'm gunning for a 265 bench at 198 BWT (My best in training is 245 at 240) and at least 425 for a deficit deadlift. I'm gunning for a 365 squat: I won't be able to test it until I get home so since I've been using front squats as a max effort movement, my goal is 275-285 there (about 75% of my squat).

So, what are the tweaks:

1.) ME work is now 5RM for week 1, 3RM for week 2, and 1 RM for week 3. Who says you can't have it all.

1.) Chinups, Pullups, and Rows: At the time, when I was getting close to doing one I couldn't get close without a lot of kipping (flailing might be more like it). I thought of Prilepin's table for maxes in the 90% range (1-6) and started out with six singles but needed a higher volume of total work. The Monster Mini Band allowed me to do this without kipping, and the Average band let me do more reps afterward. 4 sets of each was a nice sweet spot. This replaced the back/rear delt superset on ME and RE Upper Body days. One of my better experiments. Next year, I will probably keep this setup but drop the mini bands, use bodyweight chins and light bands for the rep sets. Instead of doing a bench variation for 2-3 sets of a rep-out, I'm doing repetition work with rows to back up my chins/pullups, instead.

2.) Squats: improving my squat was a bigger priority than the deadlift. The first thought was to turn speed day into a rep day with the box squats: I wasn't good at all rep ranges and I wanted to change that. So I looked back at Chad Waterbury's programs and the New Rules of Lifting and gathered all the rep schemes I could find - - - 18 of them. I arranged them so that every 4th week, one of the schemes would be heavy and so that all the other ones would build up to something more: 5x5, 3x15, 4x10, 6x3, 2x25, 3x12, 5x6, 6x4, 4x12, 5x8, 4x15, 10x3, 3x20, 2x30, 12x2, 1x50, 2x25, 15x1. Then I set a planned progression: I knew from past training waves that I could put on 15 pounds on a squat in three weeks, so every 4th week, the max I calculate from moves up 15 pounds. The last three workout will be 15 singles at 90% of 365 lbs. Since I didn't want to have to worry about balance and just wanted to push weight up, it's all done on the Smith. When I test at home, I'll tell you if it was worth it.

This setup also solves a problem I had in 2005. Back then, I had done a cycle of nothing but front squats, reaching a PR of 275 but the first test of my regular squat afterwards only yielded 300 lbs - - - a 15 pound loss. Fast forward to 2008 and the end of almost two months doing nothing but single leg work, I was able to do ATG squats and had more control and stopping power but my box squat was a struggle at 275. With this setup now (Front squats every other wave and single leg work each leg day), the RE Squat day will make sure I don't lose the groove of the lift that really matters.

3.) Deadlifts: while I'm not making it a priority, I'd be a fool to give it up. Especially, when it is always a great aid in leaning out. So I made quality a priority. In the past, my heaviest deadlifts were always a bitch to get off the floor. I can't do snatch grip deadlifts here in Djibouti, because all the bars are bench press bars with no knurling at the ends. So I began doing deadlifts off a two inch block, conventional grip. These are proving to be a godsend for two reasons. In testing, it sped up my regular deadlift off the floor and made it easier. And in combination with the RE Squat work, my sumo deadlift has now become the near equal of my conventional deadlift.

4.) Bench Pressing: the RE work so far has proven to be a great help. I have control of the weight at all points, and more confidence. Taking a cue from having used the close grip benches and incline benches for repetitions work to good effect, I am just using 3 movements for ME Bench (in order): Incline Bench Press, Close Grip Bench Press, and Flat Bench Press. The first 3 waves are 5/3/1RM setup, in preparation for a wave load setup of the same movements in the last 9 weeks. No boards, no chains, no bands, no top end work. The RE work is all Blast Straps. We'll see how well simple works for me. The last 4 waves of deficit deadlifts and front squats will follow a similar setup.

5.) The same rep changes being used for box squats is being used for: leg curls, Hammer Strength ISO High Rows and ISO Rows, Seated Calf Raises, and Hammer Calf Presses. There really ain't much in equipment at this gym, and I just wanted to move as much iron as possible for some of the support movements.

6.) If you see a lot of bicep work, it has always been a weakness for me. I'm catching up, though. Same for shoulder pressing and shrugs.

7.) I've dropped using the body armor for aerobic work. When I lost my first bunch of pounds, it was a great help 2-3 times a week. But back then, only one of those days was really heavy and I was doing less work. On this program now, walking for an hour with the vest now leaves me a little TOO beat, sometimes even beat up.

8.) The same problem with the single leg movements. This wave, I was doing both Bulgarian Split Squats and Reverse Lunges plus the two squat days and it was just too much. So, I will use the assisted pistols on RE Lower Body Day after the box squats. On ME Lower Body days, I will use the Reverse Lunge with Front Squats and the Bulgarian Split Squat when doing Deficit Deadlifts.

9.) Calves. Why not? The benefits outweigh the negatives, and they don't take anything out of me. Simple.

10.) I'm working shrugs twice a week, sort of. If I'm deadlifting, I do behind the back shrugs on RE Upper Body day. If I'm front squatting, I use overhead shrugs for both upper body days for different rep schemes: I was going to use the trap bar shrugs for a movement but I've done those, and want to see how well the overhead shrugs work.

WSFSB III: ME Lower Body

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Abs Class

Front Squats: 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 205x3. Was just gonna try 195x3 but, beat as hell as I was, 175 was easier than planned so I went for the 205 triple. I think I will go for 225 next week for a single.

Reverse Lunges w/Front Foot Elevated: 50x15x3

Leg Curls: 60x25x2. Ouch!!!

Hanging Leg Raises: 5 sets of 10. I'm starting to feel as if these and the situps are pointless. I do ab class three days a week, so this feels like a rehash. And after showing someone how to do those Pallof Press Isometric Holds that Eric Cressey wrote about in T-nation, I'm thinking of taking up his suggestion to do that, and maybe Ab Fallouts with the Blast Straps, on my leg days instead of leg raises and situps.

Seated Calf Raises: 40x25x2. Ouch!!!

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: RE Upper Body

All Notation: Weights x Reps x Sets

Blast Strap Pushups: Failure at 10, 8, 7, 8 reps. Feet were elevated by an aerobic step.

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Monster Mini Bands): 4 sets of 5

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Average Bands): 4 sets of 10. I almost forgot to mention. Yesterday, on leg day, I tested out at 6 bodyweight chinups andf came close to a 6th on pullups (all with a little bit of kip), so I knew I was in for a breakthrough.

Hammer ISO Rows (Lats): 65x25x2

Incline DB Laterals: 15x6x5

Barbell Curls: 80x8, 80x6+2, 80x4+4, 80x4+2+1+1

Smith Machine Overhead Shrug: 125x8x4, 105x10x4. Made up a day I should have done.

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: RE Lower Body

Didn't work out yesterday or Tuesday because I was getting over what we call the Djibouti Crud, so I made up for it today. Probably shouldn't have done so on a very low carb day, cause it was a struggle at the finish.

Abs Class

1 Hr of walking with body armor on

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Smith Machine Box Squat: 125x25x2. Who needs aerobics when you got this . . . . after the long walk.

DB Bulgarian Split Squat: 60x10x4

Full GHR: failure at 12, 10, 7, 6 reps

Twisting Decline Situps: failure at 20, 16, 14, 12, 10 reps

Hammer Calf Presses: 125x25x2

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH. I had visions of going to McDonalds after that, but then remembered where I was:(

WSFSB III: ME Upper Body

Close Grip Bench Press: 55x3, 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 195x2, 205x1. The original goal was 195x3: I stalled halfway up on the third rep. I tried a single with 205 out of curiosity, to see if I had enough for it. So, now next week's goal will either be 210 or 215 depending on how I feel.

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinup (Monster Mini): 4 sets of 4

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinup (Average Band): 4 sets of 8

Hammer ISO High Row: 55x25x2

Seated Overhead Shrug: 95x12x2

Barbell Curls: 70x10x2, 70x8+2, 70x7+2+1

Intervals on a Treadmill (1.5 Degree incline): 4 intervals of 1 minute 9.0 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.0 MPH.

WSFSB III: ME Lower Body

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Front Squats: worked up to a 175x5, 195x2. Should have tried 185x5 but that's OK. I now have a 3RM target. I did these at lunch, so I could test on Reverse Lunges at night.

Reverse Lunges w/Front Foot Elevated: worked up to a 100 lbs 5 RM and a 110 lbs 1RM

Leg Curls: 135x3x6

Decline Twisting Situps: 5 sets to Failure

Seated Calf Raises: 90x3x6

WSFSB III: RE Upper Body

Took two days completely off, slept a lot, ate carefully, and felt great today.

All Notation: Weights x Reps x Sets

Blast Strap Pushups: Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4 reps.

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Monster Mini Bands): 4 sets of 4

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups (Average Bands): 4 sets of 8

Hammer ISO Rows (Lats): 140x3x6

Incline DB Laterals: 15x5x5

Barbell Curls: 65x12, 65x10+2, 65x9+3, 65x7+3+2

Smith Machine Overhead Shrug: 80x15x3

WSFSB III: RE Lower Body

My fifth day straight, and I got it done. Barely.

Last night, a new person came to our department from Kuwait that no one knew was coming. No one was here to receive him and pick him up with his 4+ bags, or to get him a bite to eat. And who should happen to just be around last night? Me. No problem, I was glad to do it . . . gotta take care of a shipmate. Afterwards, I went to work out. After that and a shower, I was in bed by 3 AM.

So, no surprise I was running on fumes. And after the walk in the vest, I felt like the beginnings of a flu - - - an overtraining symptom. So tomorrow, instead of sprinting, I'm kicking back. And I gutted this workout through.

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Smith Machine Box Squat: 270x3x6

DB Bulgarian Split Squat: 50x15x3

Full GHR: 5 sets to failure

Ab Roller: 5 sets to failure. Didn't take much, and to think I used to think those infomercials were funny!!!

Hammer Calf Presses: 270x3x6

WSFSB III: ME Upper Body

Close Grip Bench Press: 55x5, 75x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x5.

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinup (Monster Mini): 4 sets of 4

Assisted Wide Neutral Grip Chinup (Average Band): 4 sets of 8

Hammer ISO High Row: 120x3x6

Seated Overhead Shrug: 55x5, 75x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5

Barbell Curls: 60x12+3, 60x9+3+3, 60x6+3+3+3. I have a 105 lbs curl 1RM so 55 percent of that is 60 lbs. After all the back work, this just kicked my ass to do 3 sets of 15 but I was not gonna drop the weight to get the reps. So I went to failure, rested 10 seconds, cranked out more reps, and so on and so on.

WSFSB III: ME Lower Body

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Deficit Deadlift off a 2" Block: 135x3, 165x3, 195x3, 225x3, 255x3, 285x3, 315x3. Goal exceeded by 5 lbs, but not easily.

Assisted Pistols (Average Band): 5 sets of 5.

Leg Curls: 90x10x4

DB Side Bends: 50x10x4

Seated Calf Raises: 60x10x4

WSFSB III: RE Upper Body

Didn't really want to be in the gym last night. Because of having to make up workouts to stay on track, my next day off from the gym will be on Wednesday after 5 straight days in the gym. And after Ab Class and 1 hour of walking in the body armor, I was kinda pooped. So I changed a few things today, to give me an incentive to go but also to gauge where I was at. Not bad, not bad at all.

DB Shoulder Press: 25x3, 30x3, 35x3, 40x3, 45x3, 50x3, 55x3, 60x3, 65x2. I wanted to really test on this lift and since I have had more than enough rest then this was the time. So instead of the Hammer shoulder press. I went for a 3 RM on this lift. I will probably just stick with this movement for all my delt work until December, and just change the rep schemes.

Flat Bench Press w/Monster Mini Bands: Worked up to a 115 triple and a 135 pound single. More to see what I could do right now, and where I can set it up. I found a rack, ran one end under it, and attached both ends to the bar. A little on the strong side but good.

Hoist Assisted Dips (Weight is bodyweight minus assistance): 145x8x3

Assisted Chinups (Monster Mini Band): 4 sets of 4

Assisted Chinups (Average Band): 4 sets of 8

Hammer ISO Row (Lats): 90x10x4

Incline DB Curls: 30x5x5

Trap Bar Shrugs: 144x10x4

Current Photos

These pictures were taken on 08SEP05 in the evening, just before my leg workout.

WSFSB III: RE Lower Body

My calf was better and my toe is almost there, so into the gym I went for a late evening workout (12:00 AM). Felt good to be back. I had gone on Tuesday for x-rays and was told that there were no fractures or broken bones, just a lot of bruising. They gave me some Naprosyn for the pain and an antibiotic for the cuts, and I was on my way. Took a few days off not just to let the toe heal up but also the calf on the same leg: altering my walk and having taken a walk in the vest that day with said walk strained my calf.

Smith Machine Box Squats (Slightly Below Parallel): 175x10x4.

Assisted Pistols (Average Band): 5 sets of 5.

Full Range GHR: 5 sets to failure

Hanging Leg Raises: 5 sets to failure

Decline Twisting Situps: 5 sets to failure

Hammer Calf Presses: 175x10x4

WSFSB III: ME Upper Body

Funny, I was thinking of how to adjust my sprinting workout to be a lot shorter, and fate had an answer (Cue up the theme to "Jaws"). What is everyone's worst fear in the gym?

I was setting up for a 205 attempt on inclines so I went to grab some 35s. Ever thought it was stupid when people fill the pegs on a weight tree to the rim, like coffee? No sooner do I start grabbing a 35, it drops right on my big toe of my right foot. It was one of those pains that took the breath out of me and made me see stars.

I was too spent for that 205, though I could have blamed it on the injury to save face. Anyhow, as soon as the bench presses were done, I took off my sneaker and it was already red and bleeding. I could barely walk on it but I was a little better after 800mg of Motrin, and went to Ab Class at 6:30PM. I was supposed to jog, but walked in the vest instead for an hour. I may have to reconsider that though, my left hip started to get tired so I knew I was already starting to favor my left leg and that ain't a good thing. After I got out of the shower around 9:30PM I looked at my toe and the top half of it is black and blue but the nail was spared.

So, it's either broken or really badly bruised. But since I don't want to be put on light and limited duty (cause then I would have to stay away from the gym) or be possibly sent home, and there ain't much that could be done with it, I'm going to carefully gut this one out. Everything that requires me to push off the toe is out: calf raises, sprints, jogging, maybe even the walks. We'll see how the front squats go, the smith machine squats and deads are fine. I might do the elliptical but may just use the rowing machine for the time being. I'll adjust my diet if I need to.

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Incline Bench Press: 75x6, 105x6, 135x6, 165x6, 195x1, 175x6, 205x0, 135x10, 115x15. Tried to do the wave load thing. I think if I had just worked up to a 1 RM, I might have got the 205: I got it down smooth but did not have anything left to launch it with. In the end, the volume was all good.

Assisted Pullups (Monster Mini Band): 4 sets of 4

Assisted Pullups (Average Band): 4 sets of 8

Hammer ISO High Rows: 75x10x4

Hammer ISO Shoulder Press: 90x5x5. These should have been a little easier than they were. Then again, I DID do a lot of incline pressing.

DB Curls: 40x5x5. All done clustered, and it was a struggle. Especially with my right arm, usually the strong arm but today lagging a rep or two behind so I need one more cluster with the right arm each set just to get the five. I want to blame the pullups but I think it has something to do with Friday's deadlift workout. I haven't fully recovered from it (remember, I had done a lot of make-up stuff that week), but I have also switched which hands are staggered. For a long time, I always pondered how my left arm has a slightly peakier bicep but a slightly less meaty upper forearm. I always thought that it was because my left hand is the UNDER hand and my right hand is the OVER hand when I deadlift, as it has been since I've been deadlifting. So I switched hands. Ergo, my troubles today.