[Michaela Aycock]

Christmas Eve 7 AM quads…

Unusually busy in the gym this morning so my first movement is a smith I never use because literally everything else was taken for a while lol
All good though it was a good day

Smith machine back squats
Heels elevated
Slow and controlled reps just trying to make them as hard as I can
Set 1: 315 x 6
Set 2: longer pauses in hole 225 x 11 failed on 12th

Hack squat
Aiming to fire them out under control without stopping/locking out until quads fail
One set: 9 plates x 13 failed on 14th

Single leg plate loaded hammer strength upright leg press
Piston style reps under control & hard contractions
One set: 3pps x 14

Leg ext
Pause at stretch and contraction, controlled eccentrics, hard flexing
Set 1: 11 reps
Set 2: maintain weight initially and drop twice

Barbell front loaded walking lunge
One set until you drop weight and then do body weight pulse style until you fall over

DB front squat
Heels elevated
One set: 100 x 11

[Michaela Aycock]

Delts 12/22

Standing barbell overhead press
Controlled reps, Pause at bottom

Set 1: 135 x 5
I did a second set with 135 to see what I could regroup and get because I got a bit off balance on the first, but only got 3 reps lol

Set 2: 115 x 7 almost 8

Single arm seated DB press
Set 1: 60 x 8

Hammer strength press
Dead stop reps
Set 1: 2pps x 6
Set 2: 1p + 25ps x 9 I believe

DB lateral raise
Set 1: 30’s x ~ 10ish
Set 2: 25’s x drop, drop

Preloaded ez bar upright row
Really strict reps
Set 1: 100x 11
Set 2: 100x drop to 90, drop to 80

Bent over cable rear delt fly
Into
Rope face pull from lat pull down
2 rounds 15-10 reps each

Single arm DB hammer front raise
Strict reps
Set 1: 30’s x 8 per arm I believe
Set 2: 30’s x drop to 20’s

[Michaela Aycock]

Hams 12/21

Today was a good day!

Execution: everything slow and controlled, pauses at stretch and contractions. Keep muscle engaged throughout
Warmed up with adductor & abduction machine. No true working sets

High wide leg press
Set 1 : 7 pps x 15 last rep was spot forced
Set 2 : 7 pps x 8 last rep was spot forced

Barbell RDL
Set 1 : 315 x 5 failed on way up of 6th, still controlled eccentric
Set 2 : dead stop on floor still keeping hams contracted throughout, this set I also pushed my hips through more to contract glutes hard at top 225 x 9

Cluster set
1. Adductor machine
2. Lying leg curl
Both pause at stretch and contraction, controlled eccentrics, explosive concentrics
2 rounds 15-12 ish prep range

DB sumo squat/pull
I really don’t know what to call these lol
1 set w/ 130lb dumbbell it’s the heaviest we have, not sure on rep count
Hard contractions in glutes and hard stretch on adductors at bottom

[Michaela Aycock]

Back 12/19

Still trouble with my left side, lat/delt/pec, all related to my low back/hip, annoying, but it’s stuff I know enough by now how to make it work and have a good session.
Also a therapy day for me today post training as well to continue working on it.

Cable pullover using ez bar
Lower body weight shifted on toes
Hard contractions, controlled eccentrics, stay locked into connection throughout
Set of 12 increasing weight until I couldn’t get a full 12

Dual handle cable pull down
Hard contractions, controlled eccentric, good stretch without losing tension
Let opposite arm stretch while other is working
2 sets 12-10 reps

Single arm DB row
Hips square, good stretch at bottom, engage back, drive hard, strong contraction and keep that throughout controlled eccentric
Reps stop when intended muscle fails
Set 1: 130 x 9
Set 2: 110 x 11

Ez bar reverse grip rows
Elbows tucked, Drive weight to belly button height, strong contraction, keep that throughout controlled eccentric, don’t release tension
Set 1: 4 25’s per side x 9
Set 2: dead stop set, keep upper parallel to floor
45 & 25 per side x 10.5

Chest supported T bar row
Upper back emphasis with Elbows out, but still tucked enough to get lats involved and not all traps
Set 1: 2 plates “rest pause” set x 11,4,2
Set 2: 3 plates, drop 1, drop 1

Thought I could try for something else, but was worthless beating a dead horse at this point even to do extra calves lol so called it a day

[Michaela Aycock]

Chest 12/18

Concept for everything:
Tension on chest throughout entire rom
Pause at chest/stretch
Aim to be as explosive as possible on concentric
Controlled eccentrics
Hard contractions

Flat barbell bench
205 x 4
185 x 6
135 x 11
–
Thought I would have had more than that in me, but that’s where they landed today.

Incline DB press
70’s x 7.5
60’s x 9

Seated cable fly
Sets of 12 adding weight on each until I reached a set I failed at 8 then paused a sec and turned it into a flat press until I couldn’t, I think I got 5
Set 2: same weight x 6, did a double drop flys only

Incline hammer press
Single arm
Left pec was lacking activation compared to right and limiting me, so wanted to put this in today
1 set each arm x until contraction failed

Superset
Pin loaded shoulder press
Seated lateral raise
2 rounds 15-12 reps each

Dual cable bicep curl on the free motion step up machine. Back facing machine.
Elbows pinned behind back
Thumbs wrapped and under pointer and middle finger (secret to bicep peaks)
4 sets 17-9 reps

[Michaela Aycock]

Quads 12/17

Recorded enough today so this may end up being this weeks training video

For the most part I’ve been aiming to do one work set per movement unless I feel otherwise needed
Today I opted for a back down set on each
Can’t quite seem to improve my strength on my quad movements the past few weeks the way I would like, and today reps just come to a halt and would fail prior to where I thought they should in my mind
So I opted for a back down set to adapt to circumstance per se and get a bit more

Still a good session as a whole. I’m real critical of my training and can be mentally stronger than I am physically, to a fault sometimes lol

Working sets listed only, all to physical failure

Hack squat
Set 1: 11 total plates x 6 plus 2 spot assisted
Set 2: pause in hole, aim to explode up
9 total plates x 12 plus 1 spot assisted

Smith front squat
Set 1: “275” x 6 spot assisted final rep
Set 2: pause in hole
“225” x 7

Single leg hammer strength upright press
Banded
Set 1: 3pps x 17
Set 2: 4pps x 7
Guess set one was good enough lol

Leg ext
Set 1: 11 full reps + bottom partials until I couldn’t budge it
Set 2: same weight x 7 full reps + drop for as many more full reps as I could, drop again and do top partials at contraction then once those failed did bottom partials until it wouldn’t move

Front loaded walking lunge
Not sure on reps just pick a weight and go till you can’t, drop weight and do pulse style reps until you can’t
1 set

Stretch

[Michaela Aycock]

Arms 12/16

All strict reps, hard contractions, slow eccentric, controlled concentric

V bar cable press down
Sets of 12 increasing weight until I reached a weight I couldn’t get 8 full reps

Close grip press on hammer flat press
Sets of 8 adding a quarter per side until I couldn’t get 6 full reps + double drop set

Seated DB overhead ext – both arms
80×8
Single arm – 20’s x 2 x 12-10

Superset
1. Pin loaded dip x 11
2. Bent over cable overhead ext w/ ez bar x 14

Rope hammer drag curls thumbless grip
Sets of 15 increasing weight until I couldn’t get 12 full + partials

DB alt hammer curl
30’s x 11 per arm

Reverse thumbless grip ez bar curls
50x 9
50x 7 + double drop 40, 30

Free motion seated curl
Pump set alternating arms until contraction failed

[Michaela Aycock]

Delts 12/15

Standing barbell overhead press
-been a while since I’ve done this but wanted to give them a whirl since they’ve been trending :p
– I don’t think I’ve ever pressed 1 plate per side overhead standing before
Set 1: 135 x 4
Set 2: 115x 7
Set 3: 95x 9

Empty tank from here on. My fault lol

Hammer strength press
Dead stop
2pps x 6
Single drop set

Seated single arm DB press
60 x 7

DB standing lateral raises
20’s x 17 + partials
30’s x 9 drop to 20’s drop to 15’s

Tri set
Rear delt fly
Lying upright row
Front raise
2 rounds 20-12 rep range each

[Michaela Aycock]

Hams 12/14

Lots of warming up today, mostly hips
They felt funkier than usual, most likely due to having an adjustment yesterday
Almost like my body adapts to being out of alignment so when I get adjusted it feels off

Good session though!

Execution: Hard contractions, controlled eccentrics, pauses where applicable, tension kept where intended throughout

Adductor
Into
Seated leg curl

2 working rounds today
Round 1: heavy rest pause set on adductor, straight set on seated leg curl 15-10 rep range
Round 2: maintained weight on each but did a single drop set on both

Lying leg curl
1 working straight set

High wide leg press
Set 1: 13 total plates x 14 plus 1 spot pull off of me
Set 2: 14 total plates x 9
Heaviest I’ve ever done here

RDL on hammer strength plate loaded squat/lunge machine
I alternate weeks using this or DB’s
I really like it, locks me in position and I can just keep driving tension on hams/adductors/glutes the entire time until the muscle fails
3pps x 9

Stationary lunge on smith back leg elevated
Completely driving weight through heel, keeping tension on adductor, ham/glute tie in throughout until that fails
2 working sets 15-9 reps

DB lying leg curl
HARD contractions and really slow controlled reps
1 single drop set

[Michaela Aycock]

Today is off from training for me

But still did my usual am routine of cardio and abs

I also had Chiro/Body work done today

For today we did a full adjustment plus ART and Graston on my left pec/delt/lat, and also right ab wall

My main “issue” right now all stems from my hip/low back on the right side, when that goes out it causes other things to shut off like my left lat, left pec, and left delt
Cosmetically it makes my left lat look impinged in comparison to my right, my upper left pec appear flatter than the right, and left delt appear smaller

Physically it affects my connection with the areas in training, I can connect, I just have to focus in on them more than the right
It does cause my presses to be weaker on the left though
And also hinders the rotation of my delt opening up in posing which of course will also affect the way my lat opens up

Nothing detrimental here, it’s just a matter of staying on top of it to insure it’s getting adjusted regularly and not causing permanent imbalances

There are also long term improvements that I can be making if my hips are functioning optimally like glute and leg development that I need

Just thought I would share!

[Michaela Aycock]

Michael – if I am training after 2 meals that day, then yes meal 2 is my pre training meal
Which 97% of the time is when I train

If I need to train at another time of the day, the contents of my pre and post meal will still be around training, I just rearrange meal order

[Michaela Aycock]

3x 12 via 3 movements for triceps this morning along with fasted cardio
Mostly do cable or machines, isolated movements, and do all my free weight work on arm day

Back 12/12

Chest was really sore and tight today so warmed up both my chest and delts a good bit before going into back

Lat pull down
Upright position as much as possible, slight arch in mid back, NO HUNCHING TRAPS at contraction, drive weight down hard under control, good contraction, controlled eccentric, slight stretch up top without letting delts roll

Set 1: 140 x 11 full + few partials
Set 2: 140 x7 drop to 100 x unsure

Bent over barbell row
Maintained as parallel of an upper body position to floor as possible
Drove weight to rib cage for an upper back emphasis (rare for me but wanted to incorporate today)
Tried to actually disengage my lats from being the dominant of the lift and focus on upper back thickness driving with elbows out instead of tucked
Aimed to use as little momentum as possible and reps stopped when I could no longer move with muscle intended
Set 1: 225 x 7
Set 2: REALLY strict 185 x 8

T bar row
Driving hands to belly button
Engaging lats and mid back
Controlled eccentric, explosive concentric, hard contraction throughout
Set 1: 7 25lb plates x 6.5
Set 2: 6 25lb plates x 9

Single arm cable pull overs
No warm ups just went straight into pick a weight and go
Set 1: 13 reps per side

Bent over DB bilateral row
Again upper body maintaining a parallel position to the floor
Over stretching these
Hard elbow drive
Driving to waist
No momentum
Engaging total back, primarily lats/low lats & erectors
Set 1: 90’s x 7

Standing isolated single arm hammer row
Really slow and controlled reps
Not very heavy
Hard squeezes through lats and low lats
1 set unsure of total reps ~12ish per side

Stretch

[Michaela Aycock]

Being I’ve posted one full week of sessions, and my movements for the most part stay consistent, If you’d like to see more detail on execution, just scroll back to the session from previous week!

Chest 12/11

Slight incline smith press
Set 1: “225” x 5
Set 2: increased incline “185” x 6, rack, 2, rack, 1

DB floor press
Last week I did one set 85’s x 6
This week I wanted 85’s for more, I slipped on the first rep, got it back under control on the second, slipped again on third and dropped it
Regrouped and only got 80’s x 6
So I was a little annoyed at this point lol
Did a second set with 70’s x 8
Wasn’t happy with these today but all I had there

Incline DB fly
Set 1: 50’s x 8
Set 2: 40’s x 9

Pin loaded dip machine
1 double drop set I think total reps were 20-25

Standing cable fly high pulley
2 sets
18ish reps on first
Maintain weight set two reps reduced

Single arm preacher curl
Set 1: Worked up to hard set of 9
Set 2: Same weight set of 6 then reduced weight and went back and forth between arms until I couldn’t get a strict 6 reps

[Michaela Aycock]

Quads 12/10

Working sets listed only
No spot assisted reps this week

Hack squat
Set 1: 11 total plates x 6, failed midway through 7th
Set 2 : reduced by 2 plates, slower eccentric, pause in hole x 12

Smith front squat
Set 1: “245” x 8
Set 2: “135” extremely slowed reps both eccentric and concentric with pauses in hole x idk how many but it was miserable

Leg press
1 all out drop set started with 5pps to failure, pulled 2pps to failure, pulled 1pps to failure

Cluster
1. Leg ext
2. Front loaded walking lunge
One round didn’t count just made it suck

Stretch/lie down wipe the tears and find the courage to drive home

[Michaela Aycock]

Michael – no shrugs at all, ever for me
If you listen to my back training video, I mention I purposely avoid trap involvement in my movements best I can, as they are a dominant part on my physique
Always have been, but I’ve just gotten better over time on not letting them takeover in my training, along with building other areas around them.

For arms –
I’m currently trying something new the past two weeks as I have specific parts of my arms I want to improve vs just shooting for overall size.
This is something I’ll touch on more at a later time.

However, a typical arm day for me

Tricep cable press down
Sets of 15-12 adding weight on each until I cannot perform 12 strict reps

Close grip press
1 max weight set 8-6 reps
1 back down set 12-10 reps

Free weight overhead ext variation
1 set ~ 12 reps

Weighted dips
1 max weight set 12-10 reps
1 maintain weight set and either do rest pause or single drop set
Sometimes super set this with a cable ext variation

Rope hammer curl
Sets of 15-12 adding weight each until I cannot perform 12 strict reps

Either plate loaded preacher curl or EZ bar curl
1 max weight set 10-8 reps
1 reduced weight set 12-10 reps

DB hammer curl alt arms
1 max weight set 10-12 reps per arm
1 set maintain weight and run the rack down in weight

[Author]

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