workout plan

some notes on working out and my current plan

2026-03-22

I have been working out on and off for about a year now, and have been half-assing my attempts to get back in the gym. I’ll probably post progress logs or something here in the future, and update with what works and what doesn’t.

I have decided to be more active in my programming than following the Starting Strength program that I have used in the past. That program is fantastic, and should be followed by anyone wanting to get into lifting, but I finally have a membership to a gym with more equipment than a barbell, and I wanted to adjust what I am doing to target different muscle groups on different days to get more volume in.

I am also experiencing a lot of wrist pain, when I am typing, playing hockey, and just going about my day. This program aims to strengthen my forearms and wrists through heavy compounds, but also from a forearm circuit that I have used before, but never stuck to. I really like KneesOverToesGuy and Low Back Ability, and want to try and apply that strength training mindset to the wrist pain I have been having. I have found some good guides by channels like Roger C to strengthen my forearms, and hope to find something valuable I can document here.

As a whole, my goals are to gain weight, get stronger, and do things that I think are fun. The immediate goals I am working towards are:

• competence with jump rope
• 10 BW Pullups and Dips
• 10 solid Ab Wheel reps

All workouts are finished with jump rope or some time on the rowing machine, and I’ll finish by hanging out in the sauna. I tweaked the workout list a little bit to be simpler:

## Upper Push

• Dips: 3x6-failure
• Pullups: 3x6-failure
• Incline Bench: 3x6-failure
• Hang Cleans: 3x3-5
• Lateral Raise: 3x12-failure
• Skullcrushers: 2-3x10-failure
• Ab Wheel: 3 sets to failure
• Shrugs 3x8-failure
• Farmer Carries

## Upper Pull

• Pullups: 3x6-failure
• Dips: 3x6-failure
• Pendlay/T-Bar Row: 4x6-failure
• Lat Pulldown: 3x8-failure
• Rear Delt Kickbacks: 3x12-failure
• Back Extensions 2-3x10-15
• Bicep Curls: 3x10-failure
• Ab Wheel: 3 sets to failure
• Forearm Circuit
  • Curls
  • Twists
  • Radial/Ulnar Kickbacks
• Farmer Carries

## Lower

• Back/Front Squat: 4x5-8, last set AMRAP
• Deadlift: 3x3-6
• Power Cleans: 3x3-5
• Bulgarian Split Squats: 2x8-failure
• Pullups: 3x6-failure
• Dips: 3x6-failure
• Bicep Curls: 2-3x10-failure
• Ab Wheel: 3x8-Failure
• Shrugs: 3x8-12
• Forearm Circuit
  • Curls
  • Twists
  • Radial/Ulnar Kickbacks

I don’t think this is super optimal, I just want to get more consistent and I’ll adjust as I go. There is a lot of overlap between days, but I am less concerned about the other exercises for now, those are more for maintenance. I really want to shift over to a more minimalist training style, and I think what will get me there is getting really cracked at squats, weighted dips, and weighted pullups.

I have spent a lot of time on squatting in 2025 after having a lot of pain due to improper form, and have finally gotten up to a 225lb squat. I want to get my dips and pullups to a similar strength standard, hence the spam in my routine.

As of 3-22, I am locking this in and will be following it for the next year. I may swap or drop an exercise on a given day, but this is the blueprint I will be following.