EDITOR’S NOTE:
Welcome to the Athlete Journal of world champion powerlifter Chris Duffin. Follow Chris as he trains and competes in various events over the coming year. Chris’s journal will be posted every Tuesday. You can also read about Chris on his personal website KabukiWarrior.com.
New Beginnings
This week marked one of the changes I do in my training program. It also marked some changes in my life. I spent the previous week not working, before beginning my new career the next week. The week was incredibly busy for me and my head was all over the place, as I had some important life decisions to make about my future direction looming very close. It was all good, but very demanding mentally and emotionally. Unfortunately I can’t talk about the specifics in a public forum.
Luckily, I captured much of the week on film, as I honestly could not remember what I had done for training until I watched the videos. I had been too frazzled to even write down my training log that week. In watching the video it’s apparent I was taking out a lot of my emotion on the iron…as usual I suppose.
Also of note is that I began to ramp up my dieting phase for my next competition. You will likely see some leaning out already in some of the video.
MONDAY
I actually switched up my bench press training 1 week early, so this was week 2 of floor presses. A weakness…and an opportunity for growth for me.
Skipped mobility, as I was late to training.
Floor Press
135x10x10
225×5
315×5
365×5
405×4 – PR for me! Pretty sure I came back and hit it again right afterwards
405×2
Shoulder work – can’t remember since I didn’t film or log
Rolling Tricep Extensions
130×10
180×8
May be a PR…definitely a current PR for last couple years.
Sled Face Pulls
2 passes
WEDNESDAY
Switched up to squats using straight weights and the buffalo bar.
Squat
Warmup
605×1 – heavy and slow
Add knee wraps
650×3
Leg Press
2 sets
Ukrainian Stallion
3 sets
250lbs in hands plus band at hips – SEE VIDEO BELOW
FRIDAY
The week was getting to me by this point. Took Friday evening off.
SATURDAY AM
Fully Fasted training with USP Labs Fasted Training Protocol (FTP)
Switched up to deficit deads
Standing on 2” blocks w/weights on floor.
Warmup
Hook grip till about 550
Over under
635×1
Add chain
655-695×1, 3, 5
On the first single I almost passed out, and then fell over on the third when chains got under the weights, then finally hit it on the fifth.
Dumbbell rows – 1-arm, strict
150×25, 20 per side
Pullups
Bodyweightx10, 8, 8
Chinups
Bodyweightx8
One thing to note is I’ve been taking USP Labs stack with Compound 20 and Pink Magic and am just amazed at the way its helping me lean out further and get stronger at the same time. Absolutely love having my training powered by USP Labs, who is my sole performance supplement supplier.
Another shout out goes to my main recovery guru Philip Snell of MyRehabExcercises.com. He has helped me so much with a number of items in the last year and has allowed me to make significant progress. I’ve finally decided to take one area of his recommendations more seriously and I’ve been doing “dead bugs” on a regular basis. Maybe a little too regular, as is my way of doing things. I’ve been hitting them 1-2 times a day for the last couple weeks.
THE ENTIRE WEEK IN TRAINING:
