cold iron garage gym log...

[moya]

quit gold's gym last week... i was doing rack pulls last week and on my set with 550 the bar bent... i didnt slam it or anything, its just a cheap shit bar, and the monkeys that slam weights probably weakened it... long story short a trainer tried to tell me if i break another one (this was my second in about a year and a half) then i would have to pay for it; a cheap ass $150 crap bar?... funny because other shit breaks down all the time and they dont make the last person that used that stuff pay for it...
so fuck them, no contract, so im out... my bench at home is better than theirs anyways... the only thing they have that i would really like is a sauna... but i can live without that...

time to start a log again to keep myself liable...

stats:
150ish, 10%
5'5"
31y

currently on cruise:
210mg test p /wk
140mg npp /wk

latest gym maxes:
225 bench with pause
455 squat
550 rack pull from bellow knees; i will only pull from the floor every couple months or so to save my lower back...

right now i only have about 460 in freeweights, so i will have to pick up some more plates within a month or so...

all i plan on doing are basic compounds; bench, cgbp, squats, rows, rack pulls (will need to get some blocks) and variations... probably one or two lifts every other day... low reps, but heavy... probably a lot of triples...

took a good week and a half off...

Monday; 1/16/12
bench
warmup
work:
5x190
3x200
1x205 very smooth
cgbp:
5x135
5x135
5x155 too easy

should make some fast progress here, lifts felt like work, but i felt i have a lot more in me and is a good place to start after the deload...

Tuesday; 1/1/12
squats
warmup
work:
3x375
2x3x400 all work sets with belt and light wraps...

will be a bit conservative here too as i dont have a power cage... just a rack combo built into my bench... i do like the feel of being out of a cage though...

goals:
squat 500 by mid-year
bench 250 by mid-year

not overly concerned with my deads... as i feel they will always at least equal my squat no matter what... will mostly work on grip for that; static holds with my rack pulls...

 

[brownbrown]

quit gold's gym last week... i was doing rack pulls last week and on my set with 550 the bar bent... i didnt slam it or anything, its just a cheap shit bar, and the monkeys that slam weights probably weakened it... long story short a trainer tried to tell me if i break another one (this was my second in about a year and a half) then i would have to pay for it; a cheap ass $150 crap bar?... funny because other shit breaks down all the time and they dont make the last person that used that stuff pay for it...
so fuck them, no contract, so im out... my bench at home is better than theirs anyways... the only thing they have that i would really like is a sauna... but i can live without that...

time to start a log again to keep myself liable...

stats:
150ish, 10%
5'5"
31y

currently on cruise:
210mg test p /wk
140mg npp /wk

latest gym maxes:
225 bench with pause
455 squat
550 rack pull from bellow knees; i will only pull from the floor every couple months or so to save my lower back...

right now i only have about 460 in freeweights, so i will have to pick up some more plates within a month or so...

all i plan on doing are basic compounds; bench, cgbp, squats, rows, rack pulls (will need to get some blocks) and variations... probably one or two lifts every other day... low reps, but heavy... probably a lot of triples...

took a good week and a half off...

Monday; 1/16/12
bench
warmup
work:
5x190
3x200
1x205 very smooth
cgbp:
5x135
5x135
5x155 too easy

should make some fast progress here, lifts felt like work, but i felt i have a lot more in me and is a good place to start after the deload...

Tuesday; 1/1/12
squats
warmup
work:
3x375
2x3x400 all work sets with belt and light wraps...

will be a bit conservative here too as i dont have a power cage... just a rack combo built into my bench... i do like the feel of being out of a cage though...

goals:
squat 500 by mid-year
bench 250 by mid-year

not overly concerned with my deads... as i feel they will always at least equal my squat no matter what... will mostly work on grip for that; static holds with my rack pulls...

LOL, you broke your 2ND Bar?!?!?
Those douches were just jealous. I've never seen a bar break at 550 = CHEAP!
BTW whats NPP?

 

[moya]

a 550 rack pull, which i didnt even drop, should not break any half-respectable bar... when he told me it cost them $150 i told them thats the problem... they spend exponentially more money repairing bikes and treadmills... why not buy decent bars?... the golds logo is a roided out looking silhouette with a bowing bar in the deadlift finish position...
there is one decent bar in that gym and it was being used that day, i didnt feel like waiting for it... the weak ones deserve to die i guess...
the other time i bailed on a max squat attempt and it slammed onto the safety bars in the rack... i accept the blame for that, though a good bar still would not have bent...
yes they are haters... the trainers there are a bunch of quarter squatting, know-it-all, strawberry boy circle-jerkers...

either way, my training will only benefit from this... no more 'fluff' workouts... just gritty ass heavy compound lifts from here out...

 

[ishaq]

hahaha sounds like a good log and make u pay for it, id be giving you a fukin medal lol id love to bend a bar with some heavy ass weights, moya your a power lifter right, im in the uk and im just assuming im quite strong but probs nowere near you, do you do any comps? any tips? right now im standing around 5ft 6 150ish, pulled a 180kg dead lift wich is errm roughly 400lb, a squat of around 308lb and a bench off 286lb using an internet converter from kgs to lbs lol and im 22

 

[moya]

well your bench is def better than mine... and we are pretty much the same size, though ive been as heavy as 170, but at that weight i wasnt nearly as lean...
sounds like you are doing great for your age... a lot of the top guys dont peak until their mid 30's or even 40's...
ive done quite a few comps now... in local comps ive won some 'overall best lifter' awards... and been invited to some pretty prestigious national level comps, though i dont always attend them for a few reasons... i did the Mr. Olympia deadlift invatational this last year, but came in absolutely last, overall and pound for pound; but nonetheless it was still an acomplishment to earn my spot...
my job is very physical and time consuming and plays a large role in my lifting...

if i would give one tip; which im just now starting to grasp, is that the further you advance, i feel that less is more...
i feel that to progress once you meet a certain level, it requires more focus on the main lifts and either a couple really good similar assistance excersises, or none at all...
i used to do a lot of work, 2hr. workouts and made good progress...
now it seems the less 'extra' work i do, the more my main lifts count...

see my workouts above... with the warmups through the work sets they only take me about 40 min. TOPS... though keep in mind i am very active at work too... so this is what i have come to learn about myself... really, lifting is a personal journey; what works for me may not work for you... its taken me some years now to find the best ways about going about this... and i wish i would have a perfect routine for myself, but its just not that easy...

i know a lot of guys a lot bigger than you that cant even budge a 400 dead, so whatever you are doing, as long as it keeps working, keep doing it...

 

[ishaq]

i think i came to realise as you did that less is definanetly more, im an engineer by trader so im constantly up and down the country and i own the business so long hours working away can put a massive strain on my training so i can defo relate to you on that topic, ive found since ive started concentrating more on just compound movements that i am enjoing working out more and because im lean anyway it still looks good! wow thats some cool competitions man respect bro, i dont think theres many around my area to find and attend lol but who knows, i think the main thing that lets me down is my grip ive started using my straps less to build it up and its going ok i guess, and ive always been benching since a young age and training with people alot older and bigger then me so you know how it goes put up or shutup

 

[stevesmi]

my gym was also golds. not allowed to grunt, cheer guys on, or drop weight. but we would do it anyway and they wouldn't say a damn thing to us when we were in a group. but alone they are gonna give you a hard time.

i'm surprised you are only at 225 on the bench max, but i guess you are only 150 so that is decent. atleast you are honest with that, lots of guys on here lie about their stats. i know you compete in weight class so you have to keep your body weight down but are you gonna let the dogs out or are you gonna strain and keep yourself light? I'm sure you can get into the 170's by the summer if you wanted to... I am 182 at 5' 6" with 12.5% body fat. and my max bench is 330. so an extra 30 pounds of body weight can translate to a lot of strength.

your squat numbers are incredible though. my max on squat is 470. i usually do 405 X 6.

 

[ishaq]

hey moya i was just looking up rack pulls on utube ive never really done them before. what position do you pull from? if you dont mind me pickin your brains,ive used the rack for heavy benching in the same position with a bench underneath

 

[moya]

i like to get the bar just under my knees and pull with a conventional stance, even though when i pull from the floor i use a sumo stance...
im learning that my squat gives carryover to my pull from the floor, and the rack pulls keep my grip and lockout strong and put less fatigue on my lower back... just remember i use my back a lot in lifting at work, so pulling from the floor might be better for others... just remember to keep your core tight and give the bar hell

 

[moya]

my gym was also golds. not allowed to grunt, cheer guys on, or drop weight. but we would do it anyway and they wouldn't say a damn thing to us when we were in a group. but alone they are gonna give you a hard time.

i'm surprised you are only at 225 on the bench max, but i guess you are only 150 so that is decent. atleast you are honest with that, lots of guys on here lie about their stats. i know you compete in weight class so you have to keep your body weight down but are you gonna let the dogs out or are you gonna strain and keep yourself light? I'm sure you can get into the 170's by the summer if you wanted to... I am 182 at 5' 6" with 12.5% body fat. and my max bench is 330. so an extra 30 pounds of body weight can translate to a lot of strength.

your squat numbers are incredible though. my max on squat is 470. i usually do 405 X 6.

no strain in keeping myself light bro... ive made some great progress this last year, its just work and family doesnt allow me to be as consistent with my lifting as would be optimal to provide constant strength gains...
ive been as heavy as 170 and i have no desire to get that big again... felt winded all the time, and i like to be able to play basketball and soccer and be really, really fast... i would much rather gain strength through conditioning my central nervous system...
and if i dont have the time to be consistent enough to progress, at least i can easily maintain a reasonably acceptable level of strength to myself... sure i would love to get up to a 500 squat this year (the raw world record at 148 is 555 by the way), but if it jeopardizes work and family life, its something i can live without...