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My Training Log

Bench Deload

Facepulls and Shoulder Warmups

Bench
10x135
8x155
6x175

Jerk
10x95
8x115
6x135

30 Pull ups total from between sets

Dumbbell Bench
10x30s
10x50s
10x70s
12x80s PR!!!

Pendlay Row
3x5x135

DB JM Press
8x30s
8x40s

That's it. Nice little DB Bench PR on my bench deload, I worked out at school and people were going "holy shit!" when I was pressing the 80 lb dumbbells. So flattering. I'm pretty stoked on normal bench because 6x175 is about where I was a few months ago, and now I'm doing it for an easy deload! BW is around 200 lbs right now, feels manly. 20 rep squats tomorrow!
 
20 Rep Squats: An "Easy" Deload

Squat
5x135
5x185
5x225
3x275
19x250 Miscounted :'(

Front Squat
10x135
8x155
6x170

Dumbbell Lunges
3x10x25s

I miscounted, but I'll still make gains from this. Next time I'm doing it without a belt, it's impossible to breathe with that much interabdominal pressure. Hopefully next deload week I'll try to hit 275 for 25, that way if I fall short of 25 I'll at least have 20.

Squat 19x250 - YouTube
 
Overhead Press Deload

OHP
10x75
8x95
6x105

Bench (instead of pin press)
10x135
8x155
6x175

36 Chin Ups From In Between Sets

Dumbbell OHP
8x30s
10x50s

Dumbbell Upright Rows
8x30s
10x50s

Pendlay Rows
2x5x135
1x8x135

For some reason I've had really bad insomnia this past week. Especially last night, I got into bed around 9:30 and didn't fall asleep until 11:30, then I woke up at 3:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. I know it's not overtraining because I'm deloading this week, and I don't have any of the other symptoms. It's kind of shitty because it's wasting my gains and making me feel like crap. Either way, I haven't noticed any weight gain yet from the squats, though I am ridiculously sore, the reason I was expecting to have already gained is because last time I gained 2 lbs the first night right after, and then another 4 lbs within the next week. Then also I ate 5000 calories yesterday. It could just be that I'm slightly dehydrated right now, and because I haven't eaten a ton yet today, or because I hardly slept last night. BW is about 197.5.
 
DLDL: Deadlift Deload

DL
5x135
5x185
10x235
8x275
6x295

Hook Grip Kroc Rows
20x70 on each side.

Easy, light day, though my legs are incredibly sore from Wendesday. I'm up to 199 though and that's before eating, I should be around 201 or 202 in about 20 minutes. My buddy said my form was perfect on the kroc rows, no kipping whatsoever, and I felt so too, probably because I chose a lighter weight. I might go for 15x100 again strict next week. I felt it a lot more in my rear delts this time, which is good because as much as I'd like to feel it mostly in my lats, my rear delts are lacking a ton. Good stuff.
 
Squats

Squat
5x135
5x185
5x225
3x255
3x295
3x330
1x345
1x345

Front Squat
5x135
3x205
3x230
3x260
2x275

Unfortunately today I got to gym class at 6:00, but my teacher got stuck in traffic and got there at 6:20, so I didn't have time for all 3 singles, or my sumo stifflegs. Hopefully he won't get caught in traffic too often in the future... Either way I abridged the workout a bit, did 2 singles at 345 instead of 3, and I just did a double at 275 instead of 3 singles. My squat form was really off today compared to usual, I've got a video of my second single:

345 Squat - YouTube
 
3-11-12: Strongman Sunday

Tire Flips, 365 Lb Anchor Chain Drags, and Carrying Plates to my Friend's Truck
-Nice dynamic warmup

Farmers Walk
180 in each hand for about 80 feet
250 in each hand for about 80 feet
270 in each hand for about 100 feet (my training partner is going to send me a video of the uphill part, which was about 64 feet)

Wheelbarrow Carry
All the plates down the hill for our farmer's deadlifts. There were 7 45 lb plates, 4 35s, 4 10s and 8 5s.

Farmer's Deadlift
1x270 in each hand
0x380 in each hand
1x360 in each hand (video coming soon!)

300 lb Tire Flips
Did a set of 10, rested a bit, then did a few more

Putting Everything Away
-A workout in and of itself

I had a blast today, strongman is incredibly fun and I can tell I'm going to make massive gains from this. I was super stoked to farmer's deadlift 720 lbs, I thought there was no way I could do it, but I did, and got it on video too! Just waiting on my training partner to send it to me. We went to a buffet afterwards and I weighed in at home around 201.3. Going to enjoy stuffing my face this next week before I start my cut next week xD.

I'll post both videos as soon as I can.
 
3-13-12: Squat Day

Squat
5xbar
5x135
5x185
5x235
5x275
5x315

Front Squat
5x135
5x185
10x225

Sumo SLDL
8x135
8x225
ran out of time so I did:

Hamstring Curls
6 reps, added weight, 12 reps

Today I showed up late because thought I would have extra time to lift, since my school has a big test for sophomores where everybody else is supposed to show up and watch a movie for 3 hours, but most people ditch. I thought I'd have the full 3 hours, but unfortunately I only had 30 minutes extra, a total of about 1 hr 15 mins to lift. I was taking it easy at the beginning of my workout and didn't learn I didn't have 3 hours to lift until I only had 30 mins left, so I had to haul ass. At the end, I didn't have time for my final set of front squats, so I just hammered out 10 reps with 2 plates, then tried to do SLDLs, but was way too gassed to do it with such short rest. I just did some hamstring curls to near failure with my warm up set supersetted with my work set.

On the bright side, I went to a Denny's then an Aerospace museum during the 3 hour block. Got a nice 1000 calorie post workout meal!

My training partner is having trouble sending me the strongman videos because the files are too big, so I told him to send me a zip folder of them, still waiting on that. Today I got a video of 5x315 and 10x225, but I don't feel like retrieving my camera from the chalky depths of my gym bag right now, so I'll just post 1 giant post with all 4 videos hopefully sometime in the next 24 hours.
 
3-15-12: Bench

Bench
15xbar
5x135
5x185
6x3x230

Pull Ups (from in between sets of bench)
5xBW
5xBW+10
5x5xBW+15

Pendlay Rows
8x155
 
3-16-12: Overhead Underhead Day

Overhead... Press
warmups
5x125
3x140
4x155 7 lb PR!!!

Underhead... Speed Deficit Deads
A bunch of sets of 3 with 135 plus bands.

I felt really sore today, so I decided to modify my program a bit. I didn't feel like doing heavy deads today so I did speed deads instead, I spent way too long screwing around with the band setup and didn't get to do anything after DLs, but I did get an idea at the end that will make things easier and hopefully yield me better gains. More on that in 2 paragraphs.

I couldn't find a day to do overhead presses, I feel too tired right after bench on bench day, but the day after I just feel sore. Since my only other pressing day is axle and log jerks on Sundays, then I have a really long rest before bench pressing again on Thursday, I'm not worried about overtraining or not getting enough rest. I'm going to hit my presses hard and close together, then rest a long time in between clusters of pressing days. Even though I just benched the day before I got a nice little PR on OHP.

So the idea I got at the end of my deadlifts was to do deficit reverse band DLs instead of 3x5 deads so I can work on my speed off the ground while giving myself more rest and less stress between DL max effort weeks. I also get to incorporate decently heavy deficit deads without hurting myself and without overtraining. Not to mention reverse bands are fun.

This is more for my own personal reference, just putting it on my public training log so I can access it, so it's going to be long and unless you're interested then I don't recommend reading it, but if you are interested then you're definitely welcome to read it:

Program Modifications


OLD
Thurs: 6x3 bench, block periodization OHP, weighted pull ups and pendlay rows
Fri: 3/5/1 Deadlifts and kroc rows

NEW
Thurs: 6x3 bench, weighted pull ups and pendlay rows
Fri: 3/reversebands/1 Deadlifts, block periodization 2 weeks shifted OHP, face pulls b/n sets, kroc rows

Here's my really confusing explanation of this particular block periodization, 4 month cycle of 4 week waves:

Week 1 I do 5 sets, Week 2 I do 3 sets, Week 3 I do 5/3/1+ with 75%/85%/95%, Week 4 I do 10/8/6 with 45%/55%/65%

As pertaining to weeks 1 and 2 for my 5 sets and 3 sets respectively: Month 1 I do 10 reps around 65%-75%, Month 2 I do 8 reps around 75%-80%, Month 3 I do 5 reps around 85%, Month 4 I do 3 reps around 90%.

Best way to visualize it is to make a 5x5 table and look at it that way.

I'm shifting the block periodization 2 weeks so that on my high volume OHP day, I'm deloading my deadlift, on my heavy OHP day, I'm doing reverse band DLs. So the 5 sets OHP day is on deload10/8/6 deadlift and the 5/3/1+ OHP day is on reverse band day.

What I'm probably going to do is on the 3 sets OHP day and the deload 10/8/6 OHP day, is do it in between sets of deadlifts, so I can be time efficient with my long ass rest periods on DLs. On the other days I should be fine on time. So on light OHP days it will go in 3 mixed exercise "supersets":

Heavy deads->OHP->Light face pulls, repeat for next sets

On heavy or high volume OHP days I won't mix DLs and OHP:
-All my sets of hard OHP with face pulls
-All my sets of reverse band or deloaded deads

Hope that makes sense, I proofread a little bit but it makes sense in my head and that's what matters most to me.

I apologize that this was such a loooooong ass post...

TLDR: Everything is going swell!
 
Just found an email my training partner sent me about the block periodization:

Month 1: 5x10, 3x10, 5/3/1, 10/8/6
Month 2: 5x8, 3x8, 5/3/1, 10/8/6
Month 3: 5x5, 3x5, 5/3/1, 10/8/6
Month 4: 5x3, 3x3, 5/3/1, 10/8/6

and obviously that goes "Month [X]: [Week 1], [Week 2], [Week 3], [Week 4]"

That's so much simpler lol. But yeah the percents are up in my previous post. Going to go do strongman in 2 hours, sadly the guy with all the equipment is being kind of inconsistent and can't come... again, but my training partner who has an axle and a truck can still train, so we'll probably just do that, axle presses and truck push/pull.
 
Sunday Strongman

Not sure how much the axle bar weighs but I'm gonna assume it weighs 20 lbs for simplicity's sake:


Axle Clean and Press
With a clean on each rep.
5x70
3x110
3x3x160

Chin Ups
2x8

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Press
2x60 on each side
0x90
0x80
2x70 on each side

Axle Deadlifts
3x110
2x200
2x270
2x340
1x390

Truck Push
About 100 ft

Axle Clean and press is the most awkward thing I've ever seen or tried. Reminds me of that funny crossfit video of all the crossfitians trying to continental clean an axle, except I was the one screwing around with it: Albany Crossfit Strongman The worst weightlifting video in the history of weightlifting videos - YouTube

At first I was kind of doing the clean like the guy at 1:02 in the video does. In the end I just did double overhand, but for the first 2 triples at 160 I cleaned it up to my shoulders with mixed grip, then turned my underhand hand at the top. The press was honestly by far the easiest part, I've jerked 200 lbs for reps before, and can push press this type of weight with ease. The hardest part was cleaning it and getting it set up for the press, I ended up pressing with a wider grip than usual.

I honestly hated circus dumbbell clean and press, but I managed to hit 2x70. Axle deadlifts felt incredibly heavy even with light weight, but I managed to pull 370 plus the bar, which I'm gonna assume is 390, with mixed grip. I probably could have gotten 2 or 3 reps if I wasn't switching my mixed grip, but that's why I was doing doubles, one with one hand supinated, one with the other hand supinated. I felt it in my upperback a lot more, probably because I had to use a wider grip with the axle. Kind of wish I got it on video, but I'll film it with 400 next time.

Then I got this crappy video of me pushing the truck: Truck Push - YouTube

I stalled out off screen, when I was trying to push it around a tight corner, which made the push a lot harder, not to mention I was pretty tired by then. I'll just put it up but it's honestly not very entertaining, I just wanted something to show for the day :P. Hopefully my training partner will post that 720 farmers dead soon, I'll post it asap.
 
3-22-12: Bench

Bench
3x3x235

Bradford Press
2x8x95

Reverse Flyes
2x12x25s

I'm an idiot. Not really, but I did something stupid yesterday, I ran into a guy who kicked my ass in arm wrestling 8 months ago, and I wanted to rechallenge him to test my strength. I didn't know when the next opportunity would come so I armwrestled him even knowing it could and most likely would hurt my bench the next day. I beat him just barely on both arms, but I had a good 15-30 seconds of max effort strain on each arm. Needless to say, my bicep tendons and shoulders were killing me today, the bench weight felt easy muscularly speaking, especially because I was getting really good leg drive today, but my shoulders and arms, especially my bicep tendon on my right arm, were killing me. I couldn't pull the bar apart at all, so I wasn't getting very good lat or tricep activation, all that was saving me was my leg drive.

Anyways I just cut it off at 3 sets. I couldn't do pull ups at all, I'm going to switch to wide grip pull ups starting next week and just focus on not kipping, and using as wide a grip as possible with my gym's set up, to get my lats nice and strong, since that is undoubtedly my most lagging muscle group for bench (though I've noticed some good gains on my lats in the last week). I might start doing hammer curls as well to boost my bicep tendon strength, but I think kroc rows should be fine for now. Speaking of which tomorrow is OHP deload, and max effort deadlifts. I don't think I'll get a chance to do kroc rows, but I plan on smashing 430 for 5 reps (high goal so I at least achieve 430x3) DL. I'm going to sleep really early tonight and wake up really early so I have adequate time to stretch and warm up, that way I can grind out my DLs without worrying at all about rounding my back.

At the risk of making this post too long, update on diet and bodyweight:

I peaked out around 202 lbs, and I got a picture, which I might post later on. I started my cut on Monday 3-19-12, and I'm already down to 196, just from not being bloated from bulking anymore, and dropping water weight from not eating carbs. I've bulked for so long this time that cutting is actually painful, although it is nice not having to eat so often. Either way, cut is going decently, will update on that in future posts. My cutting diet is a combination of the anabolic diet and carb backloading, as shown here:

Mon-Thurs: Less than 50g carbs per day, only trace carbs from dark chocolate, nuts, whey, and vegetables.

Friday: Low calories and carbs all day, but at night, after a quick conditioning workout, begin carbload with a 1000-3000 calorie carby ass meal (ice cream, french fries, biscuits, soda, all that good stuff).

Saturday: Low carbs before workout, high carbs after workout.

I've had success with the anabolic diet before, and carb backloading makes good scientific sense to me, so hopefully thsi will be a great diet for me to cut fat and possibly gain muscle/strength until I turn 18 in June. After that I'll switch to "cheatmode", a combination of paleo, intermittent fasting, and carb backloading, and I'll stay lean and try to make lean gains that way up until September or October. So in the 3 months I'm cutting, I plan on losing about 20 lbs, so I'll be in the 181 lb class, and I hope to set some PRs on my birthday and total 1200. I want to bench 300, squat 405, and deadlift 500. So far squat is the only one looking achievable, possibly bench if I can linearly load 6x3 all the way to 270, but if I get 430 for at least 4 reps tomorrow, then my DL will already be at 490. Once my predicted DL max is 520 I think I'll be able to get 500.

Yup, this post became way too long :P
 
3-23-12: Max Effort Deads

OHP Deload
10x75
8x95
6x110

Deadlifts
5x135
5x185
3x205
3x250
5x295
3x340
1x385 20 lb Beltless PR!
Added belt (I always use a belt for my last 2-3 work sets but I'll start mentioning it from now on)
4x430 25 lb PR!!!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfo6vTYAYZE&feature=youtu.be

Chin ups
1x8

Pretty great day today, got a pretty massive PR on deads, I'm pretty stoked. I would never yell like that in a real gym, but since it's my school gym I had some fun with it and douched out a little bit =P. Maybe I'll make my goal for next time to divert all that yelling energy into getting a 5th rep, but for now I'm pretty stoked with this lift. All my rest periods took forever but I managed to fit deadlifts in 1.5 hours, with just enough time to squeeze out some neutral grip chins to elongate my spine. Cut is going well, although surprisingly I only weigh about 193.8 right now, even though I ate carbs last night. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I should be back up around 198 carb loaded.
 
It took you 1.5 hours to finish your sets of dead lifts? Not trying to be a dick by any means but that is crazy.
 
When I said 1.5 hours, I meant the whole workout was under 1.5 hours because that's how long the class period is, I don't know why I said it just for DLs. I do take pretty long in between sets to rest though, especially with deadlifts, plus I was also doing OHP in between the first few sets of deads. The whole lifting part of the workout, everything that I logged, took about 1 hour 15 mins, excluding stretching and dynamic warmup movements. I probably spent about 10 minutes between heavier sets of DLs, 5 between lighter sets because of OHP. I know that's pretty long rest but how is that crazy?
 
It just an eye opener for me. I work up to 405+ in 15-20 min.

Going from 135 to 315 usually takes me about 10 min. then its 3-5 min between sets for 315-365-working weight.

Its not crazy, just interesting, like don't you kind of lose your focus when your waiting 10 min. between your sets? Especially if your talking with your buds?

My rest in like 1 min. of putting more plates on, and then 2-4 min. of just visualizing the lift and getting my mind right. Anymore then that and my body kind of gets psyched out and my mind wanders.

Again, just curious. If you were doing multiple working sets (singles, doubles and triples) I would understand, but if your just ramping up to a single working set I don't understand all the rest.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
Oh all right, like you said different strokes for different folks. I've heard some pros only use 5 min rest periods between sets of squats and deadlifts with ~700 lbs, and then others take 4 hours total per workout. I used to do shorter rest periods when I was messing around with the conjugate method because I would only work up to a top max effort set using singles for warmups, and I didn't need to recuperate much, but on 5/3/1, even though the first 2 work sets are lighter, I still need to rest up between them. Usually on bench I rest 3 mins between lighter work sets and 5-8 mins between heavy work sets, squats/DLs are 5 mins for light work sets and 8-10 for heavy work sets.

I've heard taking shorter rest periods optimizes hormone levels because it minimizes cortisol and maximizes GH if you rest between 60-90 sec between sets, or something like that. When I was first starting out I did Stronglifts 5x5 and I used to power through my warm ups then take 2-3 mins in between work sets, but now, if I took less than 3-5 mins rest, I know I would be missing weights I would otherwise be able to lift. When I do cardio though, I always do interval training with shorter rest periods, or tabata style training (shadow boxing, hitting punching bags) with 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off.

About the focus, I probably end up taking longer rest than I need between sets because I always end up talking with friends a lot, but when it comes time to lift I'm able to spend about 30-60 sec focusing and psyching myself up while I'm setting up, and then be able to put all my focus into the lift.

By the way I checked out your log, I saw you did something like 10x3 bench with 225 lbs and only 90 sec rest periods, at around the same weight as me, props on that man, good stuff, there's no way I could give up my long rest periods when lifting heavy weights haha.
 
Haha yeah, right now its at around 255 for the 10x3, here are some videos of my lifting before I cut down to 180, this was when I was 195:

Back Squat: 475x1 - YouTube

Bench Press: 315x1 - YouTube

Deadlift: 500x1 - YouTube

In terms of resting, I think the short rests for me are more of a mental thing. I also do less reps than you do on warm up weights, once it starts getting heavy I will usually switch over to singles and doubles to preserve my strength.

Like its good how you can chat it up and then switch right over 60seconds before a set and hit the weight. I, on the other hand, get visibly pissed off when someone interrupts me to try to talk to me while I am warming up.

Don't know what it is.
 
From what Ive been reading five minutes is optimal and ten at most. Been reading alot of stuff from Coach Poliquin and about Olympic lifters and that's why they do multiple training sessions a day. They train to near max on everything and use long rest periods but keep workouts between 60-90 minutes and no longer. So like one hour on clean and jerks, then later an hour on squats, then again later an hour on snatches. Depends on the individuals, the range, and total weight lifted.

from my Transformer Prime
 
Dang nice lifts mike, your bench form looks pretty much perfect, how old were you and how long had you been lifting in those videos?

And that's also what I've heard, that 60-90 mins is optimal. I guess ideally I would train like an olympic athlete and seperate my training into 2 90 minute sessions per day but that would just not be practical for me, I only have 90 mins per day to lift, so I end up rushing my assistance work or skipping lifts sometimes, it sucks. In the summer though I"ll just train for as long as I need since I'll be working out at a commercial gym, even though training for 2-4 hours a day isn't hormonally optimal, I still was able to make great gains that way. But one day I hope to own a home gym so I can work out whenever I want.
 
This was in October at the 15th RPS Power Challenge, North Attleboro Boston.

I was 19 at the time, and still am. Started getting serious about weight training at 16. Thanks for the compliments on the bench form, I don't arch that much in training BTW, or pause at the bottom, but that was regulation haha.


I've only been following your log for the past month, do you organize your days by muscle groups or by compound movements?

I find that if I dedicate four days a week to the power movements, one for each OHP,DL, Bench, and Squat I can finish each workout in less than an hour. If you only workout 3 days a week then its a different story and I can see how you may need to spend longer in the gym.

Usually the first 20 min. of my workout is dedicated to the compound lift and then the second 20-40 minutes is for accessories. So I don't understand how workouts could go over an hour.

The only time this happens for me is on Saturdays when I back, bis, tris and core in one workout.
 
Yeah I'm following Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 with a little twist to accomodate for strongman, my schedule goes:

Sunday: Strongman
Tuesday: 5/3/1 Squat
Thursday: 6x3 Bench
Friday: 5/3/1 Deadlift/OHP
 
Sunday Strongman

Axle Clean and Press (clean each rep)
3x115
3x135
3x165
2x165
3x165

Farmer's Walk
360x100 ft 16 sec (slight uphill)
460x100 ft 18 sec (slight downhill)
540x50 ft grip failed

Unfortunately it started raining which cut our workout short, but I did some axle work and practiced the continental clean. Axles make everything feel heavier, that 165 should have been nothing but I was having quite a bit of trouble, especially on the last set when it started raining and getting slippery. I screwed up the technique too many times on the 2nd set, which fatigued me and I only got 2 reps.

Farmer's walks were going decently, there was a very slight slope which maybe took 2 sec off our time downhill and added 2 sec to our time uphill. Unfortunately it was raining harder, I think the water might have added maybe 10 lbs to the farmer's walk timbers, but the main thing was that it was making the grip really slippery. My grip slipped on the 460, but I still managed to get it in 18 sec, but I just couldn't complete the course with 540. I should have tried using chalk. At that point it was raining way too hard and we decided to put everything away. No videos unfortunately, at least I finally got the 720 farmer's dead video in the last post :P
 
3-27-12: Squat Deload

Beltless Squats
10x175
8x210
6x250

I was lazy as crap today, I just went in and did some beltless squats and focused on form. Unfortunately I never take deload days seriously, thankfully my bench and deadlift/ohp day are going to be a little more serious, 6x3x240 on bench and 5x8x115 on OHP.

Also just a side note, I was thinking about adding a back/biceps day on Mondays where we didn't hit much lats and biceps in strongman the day before. It would have been perfect for this monday since our strongman training got cut off by the rain, next monday probably not because we're planning on doing arm over arm pulls. For the back/biceps day I was thinking about doing pendlay rows, chin ups, face pulls and hammer curls (get my arms stockier for a bigger bench.) Either way I definitely want to start incorporating hammer curls because they can greatly benefit a person's bench press.
 
3-29-12: Bench Day

Bench
warmups
3x240
3x240
2x240
Added 2 board (yoga mat)
5x245
3x245
2x245

Wide Grip Pull ups from in between sets
36 reps total

Some Hammer Curls and JM presses

Today didn't go so well... Yesterday in Kempo I got punched in my right axillary nerve really hard, so my right shoulder was killing me today. I knew I wouldn't get a 3rd rep on my 3rd set of 240, so I cut that set at 2 reps to avoid failure and started board pressing instead to save my shoulders. I managed to do 245 for 5 on my first set of board presses, but on my second set, my set up was really shitty, I was flat backing it by the 2nd rep, which ultimately led to me failing 245 on the 3rd rep of the 3rd set of board presses, the 6th set of pressing work total today.

I'm really pissed because this is the second week in a row where my bicep or shoulder has been screwing me over on bench due to "injuries" from outside, so next week I'm going to "underload", aka do a bench variant that forces me to use lighter weights, which in this case is using sissy pads as improvised fat gripz, and pausing at the bottom, and I plan on doing 6x3x200 with those 2 variables. That should give me a nice deload to give my stressed out shoulders a break, while still yielding me some gains, and hopefully making the weight feel easier next time since I won't have to pause or grip a fatter, more awkward bar. I'm going to make sure that anybody I work with in kempo knows I have an "injured" right bicep and shoulder so that nobody nails me there ever again (and I'll also stop arm wrestling :P).

I was planning on doing OHP tomorrow but I'll have to see how my shoulder feels.
 
3-30-12: Over Under Day (no, not the jump ropes!)

OHP
5x8x100

Beltless Deadlift
10x205
8x260
6x315

Quad Extension Machine more or less supersetted with Hamstring Curl Machine
Quad: 20x115
Hams: 12x125
Quad: 12x130
Hams: 12x130
Quad: 15x130
Hams: 10x130
Quad: 12x130
Hams: 10x130
Quad: 15x155
Hams: 11x130

Bradford Press
12x75
10x85
9x85

Done, a nice finisher for the week, hopefully I'll make some good gains from this. I forgot to do face pulls unfortunately, but either way my shoulders are fried, I'm sure bradford press got my rear delts and back decently. My chest is incredibly sore, the whole axillary area in fact, from kempo, benching yesterday, and OHP/bradfords today. I underestimated the quad and hamstring machines: I was limping out of there and I couldn't raise my foot more than 6 inches in the air because my hamstrings were too pumped and sore. I also barely got my workout shirt off because my shoulders were so pumped and sore. I think I got an extra good pump because not only was I working with high reps today, but I also started my carb load early yesterday after a pretty intense kempo session, I weighed about 192 before my carb load and now I"m hovering around 197. Carbs are delicious.

By the way this whole workout took about 1 hour and 10 mins, I was breathing hard for 20 minutes afterwards.
 
4-1-12: Strongman Sunday

Axle Clean and Press (1 clean, multiple presses)
warmups
3x180
0x200 tweaked my back

25 YD Farmer's Walk Sprints
2x180s
2x230s
1x250s

Truck Push
1 Lap (about 100-150 ft)

Arm Over Arm Pull
Not sure how far but here's the crappyish video: Truck Pull - YouTube

Unfortunately I tweaked my back on the 200 axle attempt. It's a freaking dangerous lift, bad for your back and easy to tear a bicep (happened to Brian Shaw) At least I managed to get it to my shoulders, but I missed it at the press, oddly enough.
 
Squat

Lunge Warm Ups with 40 lbs

Squat
3x5xbar
5x155
3x185
1x225
1x275
3x315
Added Belt
1x345
1x365 (20 lb PR, video coming soon)

Reverse Hypers

Today I wanted to take it easy on my hurt back, I wasn't even planning on squatting, I did lunges to warm up for leg press, but realized the 40 wasn't aggrivating my back, so I started putting on the weight for my squat. I felt like my form was rock solid, so I kept the reps low and worked up to 1x365, and got it on video (unfortunately my form wasn't as solid, though it wasn't bad). I left my camera at home so I have to wait for my friend to send it to me from his phone.

Did some reverse hypers (with my crappy ghetto setup) to rehab my back, but I couldn't get a good rig. Still did a few crappy ones anyways.
 
Thanks Moya!!!

4-4-12: Bench Day

Bench Paused at the Chest Each Rep
Warmups
185+40-50 lbs of bands at the top, 0 at the bottom
6x3x205+same bands, did a 4th rep on the last set with no pause

Back Work From in Between Sets
A few sets of wide grip pull ups, pendlay rows, face pulls

Had a decent workout today, my bench form felt rock solid, lockouts felt easy as pie, even though the bar weighed 245-255 at the top and I paused at the chest each rep. My bicep tendon was bothering me again, I think it's either still not fully healed or that I might have permanently damaged something. I couldn't do my weighted pull ups properly so after a few sets without weight I did some light pendlay rows and medium weight face pulls instead. What I've learned from this whole ordeal is, arm wrestling is really bad for you, and my upper body, particularly chest and shoulders, respond extremely well to volume. Even with this setback, I'm hoping I can smash 6x3x245 next week.

Workout got cut a bit short because the weight room was supposed to be closed today but coach agreed he could open it up for about 1 hour. I usually always need a long time to rest in between heavy sets, so even though I was planning on doing dumbbell incline presses and clean and jerk to build my strength for the axle, I ran out of time. I'll have 2 hours to work out on friday though, and I'll have as long as I need next week because I'll be on spring break. I'm going to follow a more strict program and get in all my assistance exercises during this window of opportunity, so I can get a bit ahead. I have 2 months to reach a 300 bench, 405 squat, and 500 DL.
 
4-6-12: Over Under Day

Overhead Press
warmups
3x8x115

Face Pulls
5x8x105
1x8x120

Deadlifts
5x135 From 2 inch deficit
5x185 From 2 inch deficit
3x225
3x275
3x315
2x375
Added Belt
2x425
1x445
1x450

450 Deadlift - YouTube

Incline Bench with Bands pulling arms together and Dumbbells
A couple sets with 30s and 50s

"Chest Pump Machine" and a few light Squats and Hanging Leg Raises

Today's workout was pretty great, I got 2 hours to lift because of finals schedule, and I got to train at 10:00 AM instead of 6:15 AM, which was nice because I was more awake and had more energy. I would have liked to have done more leg exercises, but I should be fine with strongman on Sunday.

Overhead press went nicely, next week I'll be doing 5/3/1 OHP to try to set a new PR. It was fun doing heavy face pulls again, I found a great set up that allows me to go pretty heavy on them while using the rope attachment, which I like for the ROM. I messed around with dumbbell incline bench with a band around my arms to work on pulling the bar apart on bench and develop my upper chest a bit more, and just overall increase stability on my bench. Felt it a lot in my lats and rear delts, which was good. I think I'll start doing those on 6x3 bench day and start doing Bradford presses consistently on "Over Under Day". I also kind of messed around with this one machine that gives a great chest pump just for fun, and at the end I did a few light weight squats and then hanging leg raises just to stretch everything back out.

I did all the upper body stuff in between sets of deadlifts to be more time efficient. For DLs I started off from a deficit just to set my speed off the ground to be nice and fast from the beginning, which worked out pretty well. I was supposed to do 3x425 and 445 for 3 singles, but I honestly don't like doing high volume DLs because of all the lower back strain, so I worked up to reasonably heavy without my belt, then slapped it on and hit 2x425, 445 for a single, then went for 450 because it's half of 900! I felt like my form was solid today, I started with a more straight upper back which helped me quite a bit at lockout to avoid hitching. Here's the 445, the form was good on both the 450 and 445, but the 445 was my cleanest deadlift ever:

445 DL - YouTube

My form has felt great all week, I think focusing on form on high rep sets during my deload week has been very beneficial.
 
4-8-12: Strongman Sunday

2.5 Inch Axle Clean and Press
3xbar w/ tires (92 lbs)
3x112
3x142
3x152
5x132 (kept it light so I wouldn't further screw up my back)

Circus Dumbbell Press
3 Cleans and 5 Presses with 50
Same thing with 60
3x70
1x85

A Bunch of Tire Pulls of Different Weights and Distances
Here's the best one: ~400 lb Tire Arm Over Arm Pull/Pulling "Medley" - YouTube

Farmer's Picks
A couple warm up sets leading up to:
5x600: 5x600 Farmer's Pick - YouTube
 
Good lifting man. If you want a lil help bud not saying you don't know what your doing just throwing my 2 cents in. When your squatting - 2 (short) steps back and one out to get set, this will save a lot of energy instead of the 3 large and one out. Also when coming down come down slower before that spring at bottom and head up high, this will help keep your back straight. Keep up the hard work man looking good.
 
Thanks for the tips man, I'll try that out the next time I squat. I think the reason why I step out so far is because I'm really afraid of hitting the rack
 
4-10-12: Squats

Squat
5xbar
5x135
5x185
5x245
5x295
Added Belt
5x325

Front Squat
3x135
3x185
5x225
5x225
5x245

Sumo SLDL
5x135
5x185
5x225
3x5x275

Man I'm toast from this workout. I'm adjusting my diet so instead of trying to cut on low carbs, I'm going to start just eating clean, some carbs included for the anabolic effect, but no more fast food or nasty crap, no more simple sugars except once in a while, and just no more low quality food in general. I'm still gonna eat a lot of calories so I can hit 405-300-500 by the time I turn 18 on June 8th, whether or not that means bulking a bit.

I've recently been feeling like I look smaller and fatter every day and I think I figured out why. I've been neglecting my protein intake, ever since I became less anal about diet my protein intake has been declining. I was always skeptical about the whole 1g per lb of bodyweight per day thing, and while I still am, I think I went too low. I'm bumping up my protein to about 150g-200g per day so I'm hopefully getting enough. I've started taking creatine so hopefully I can get big and strong enough to smash those numbers on my birthday!
 
4-11-12: Bench/Upper Body

Bench
5xbar
5x135
5x185
1x225
2x245 (not even close to 3, completely stalled in the middle)
5x225 (at least I matched my old 5 rep PR)
3x225 (way too fatigued)
Liftoff only: 275x8 sec
Dynamic:
3x3x135+bands

Neutral Grip Pull ups
2x5xBW
2x5xBW+10

This workout in the gym sucked, very emasculating. I only had about 45 mins because I slept in and my buddies were leaving, since they had already been there for 1 hour before I got there (and I was there with them on a guest pass). I felt weak and tired and generally like crap. We went out to eat and when I got home about 2 hours after my gym workout I decided I'd do some bodyweight stuff, so I actually got a really good workout:

Neutral Grip Pull Ups
BWx8,8,6,5,4,4

Incline Push Ups (feet on a bench, hands on the ground)
A couple random sets, I think I did BWx8,8,15,15

Dips
BWx12,10
BWx5, rest 20 sec, BWx3, rest 20 sec, BWx3, rest 35 sec, BWx5

That was really refreshing, because I haven't done BW stuff in a long time, and since I was all by myself, I used short rest periods. I always feel like a fat slob sitting around and using 5-10 min rest periods in the gym, so even though I couldn't get as many reps, it was nice. It started raining in the middle of my pull ups, which kind of screwed me up on the grip and made them harder, which also forced me to dig deeper and do even shorter rest periods, but I got a rush of testosterone and pulled my shirt off, and the rain felt great, also very refreshing. My muscles were incredibly pumped afterwards, so I jumped on the scale and weighed in at 197.5 (maybe from the creatine). I feel like a man again, hopefully this will help me gain back the small amount of muscle I might have lost from my protein slip-up, and more.

One interesting thing is part of the guest pass/trial at the gym was that I got to take a free bodyfat test. They gave me this device I was supposed to hold at arms length that told me I was 21% bodyfat. I honestly think that's BS, some marketing gimmick that's supposed to make you want to buy a personal trainer. My buddy who was 18% with calipers did the same test and got 24%. I'm probably more around 15 or 16%, because I can still see my abs in good lighting, and still see them in okay lighting when I flex. Plus I can always see my quads' definition even in bad lighting.

Either way, I managed to salvage a crappy lifting day and turn it into a decently good one!
 
I'm moving my deadlift workout to tomorrow because I feel really sore and tired today, and since I can't train strongman this sunday anyways.
 
I kind of got bungled yesterday, my family went on a road trip so I was really busy all day, then I had no gym to train in. When I got home it was really late and I was way too tired to go get a guest pass to 24 hour fitness or something so I just went to the park and did this workout to keep my muscles from atrophying:

3 sets of 5 rep, rest 20 sec, 5 rep hammer pull ups (30 reps total)
2 ~100 yard/meter hill sprints
1 ~100 yard/meter flat ground sprint
3 handstand push ups
2x15 incline push ups (feet on a bench)

Thankfully school is starting next week so I'm just going to carry on normally, with an upper back day on Monday since I won't be training strongman today. Tuesday I'm going to attempt 4x365 squat and then do front squats 5x225, 5,5x245, then hook grip rack pulls up to around 5 plates to make sure my grip is solid for deadlifts on friday. On deadlift/OHP day I'm just going to do 3x8 OHP and carry on the cycle from there, with 5/3/1 OHP on my deadlift deload day. This unplanned "deload" could be a blessing in disguise, my back/spine has been screwed up from kempo and strongman for the last few weeks so this might be just what I needed.
 
4-16-12: Supplementary Back & Arms

Strict Pendlay Rows
5x135
3x5x175

Cheat Pendlay/Yates rows
2x5x225

Several High Pull Variants
5x3x185

BW Reverse Hyper/25 lb dumbbells hammer curl/25 lb dumbbells jm press circuit
2x15 (15 reps on each of the 3 exercises, 2 rounds)

Since my training has been kind of crappy these last 5 days, I decided to throw in a supplementary back/arms workout, might as well because I have to go to weight training anyways. It felt pretty great to be back in the gym.

Strict Pendlays were 100% strict, my torso didn't move at all and it looked exactly like a reverse gravity bench press. I threw in some cheat pendlays/yates rows just to try them out, but I felt it mostly in my grip, lower back, and maybe a little bit of lower lats. Probably won't be doing them again. I did a couple types of high pulls, which I actually really liked. I also power cleaned 185 just for fun at the end of these, and unfortunately my spine bent back right where it was injured 2 weeks ago. I stretched a bit to keep it from seizing up, and did some light high rep reverse hypers to get blood into the area. I really hope I can still squat tomorrow. At least I've got my belt to keep my lower back/core from having to work too hard. The whole circuit at the end, again, was just to get blood flowing to the muscles and get some light bicep/tricep work in, to keep from atrophying.

So anyways, hopefully I can get a PR on squats tomorrow. I"m going to start repping out the last set of the day more often, even on 5s week, if/when I ever feel strong, just so that I don't become so reliant on 5/3/1 week PRs. Even Jim Wendler himself stated that a good program should accommodate for crappy training days, so I'm going to go against the recommendation on 5/3/1 for PLs to not rep out 5s week.

On a side note, last night on my home scale, the one I always use for consistency even though it's probably not accurate, I weighed in at 203.5, after eating a big dinner. In the morning at school on the weight training scale I weighed in at 205. This is the heaviest I've ever been, and it feels good to be bulking again, even though it takes a lot of painful stuffing myself to get adequate calories from whole foods. I think the creatine also has something to do with it. When I got home today, I weighed 200.2, and I've never come home weighing over 200 lbs. Bodyweight PRs all around!
 
4-17-12: Squats

Light Warmup Lunges

Dynamic Power Clean
115x3x3

Squat
warmups
Added Belt
285x5
330x3
365x1,0
Removed Belt
275x5, rest 60 sec, 275x4, rest 60 sec, 275x3

Hook Gripped Grip Rack Pulls
worked up to 475 for 10 sec

1 set of Speed Deads
225x3

Today didn't go so well... I felt pretty crappy, weak, and sore, and my form was really off. I think it might just be that I missed my deadlift session last time, so my legs were really sluggish and whatnot. Or it's because I did a lot of running on saturday and sunday, which could have put a lot of wear and tear on my knees. Either way, I resolve to never miss a workout ever again because of soreness, I'll go do a deload if I have to just to keep my blood moving around. I decided to try to rep out 365 again after barely getting it for 1, since my form felt so off when I failed it, but I just ended up not being able to complete 1 rep. Within about 2 or 3 minutes, I went and did 275 for 5/4/3 with short rest periods, just so I could get some hypertrophy work and end the day on a more or less positive note. My form felt decent on these, a lot better than it did on the other heavy sets. Then I did some hook grip rack pulls and a set of speed pulls just to make sure my deadlift won't be too shitty on friday.

If there's one thing I've learned from the many shitty workouts I've had these last 2 months, it's that my body responds very well to volume, I'm never cutting out rep work again.
 
4-18-12: Bench

Bench
warmups
225x3
245xalmost3,2,1
225x0

Other random shit

Another shitty workout. Here's the story on the 245x2.5, I was on my 3rd rep and I got past the sticking point, at this point I knew I was going to lock it out, but my spotter saw it was moving really slow so he put his hands under it just to be ready to catch it. I got paranoid that he was going to rob me of this PR I've been chasing for months so I said "I GOT IT!" He thought I said grab it, so he grabbed it... I was really fucking pissed but I understood that it was an honest mistake, so I'm not mad at him, I'm just mad at the whole situation. I thought I might be able to get it on my next set, but I only got 2. On my 3rd set I only got 1 rep, and didn't want to try and fail another one so I racked it. I decided to do 3x5x225, but at this point my previously injured bicep tendon started bothering me again, so I couldn't even get it off my chest. In fact, my bicep was bothering me the whole time, especially after I strained on 245x2.5 (which should have been 3...) This caused me to have to be very slow at the bottom on both the eccentric and concentric, so I lost my momentum. I usually don't bounce it (as you can see in my videos), but I was almost pausing, which definitely also affected my strength. Either way, it ended up shitty. My bicep was too fucked to do much else in the way of pressing movements, and certainly not pulling movements, so I did some shrug variants just so I wouldn't feel like a total pussy. After my workout I realized I could have probably done floor press... Oh well, I fucked up...

The one bright side was that I'm 95% sure I could have gotten 245x3, so I will adjust my training max. Now about my current training program, I'm pretty sure 6x3 is a solid program, but I haven't been getting very good results from it (for reasons which are mostly my own fault). I should have stayed at 240 until I could no shit get it for 6 sets of 3, but I egotistically moved on to 245. One option is to jump back down to 235, but there's one major problem with this program for me, which is that I have to be at 100% performance every bench day. It doesn't accommodate for off days. I have way too many bad days for it to work, because my homework is very inconsistent, which affects my sleep, making it inconsistent as well. My outside physical activity is also inconsistent, one day I could have a great rehab workout in kempo and the next day I could have a ball busting workout/sparring/grappling match that fucks up my spine and bicep tendon (aka last thursday). So needless to say I have very frequent crappy days in the gym, which are 100% unpredictable. I'm gonna go back to 5/3/1 for bench, but I'm going to do it this way:

Week 1: 70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x3, 95%x1 paused, 2 board press 95%x3+

Week 2: 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x5+, 75%x3, 70%x5+

Week 3: 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x3+, 85%x3, 75%x5+

Week 4: Deload (insignificant)

I'll only rep out the + numbers on days when I feel good. I'll use the new PR to calculate my new training max for the next cycle. I'll definitely have to adjust my goals, unless I magically bulk 20 lbs of muscle in the next 2 months and hit 8 reps each cycle on my 95%x3+ (maybe if I hit a second puberty or started using dbol or something-not happening). Realistically I think I can bench 275 paused by the time I turn 18. Who knows, maybe this creatine or training program will give me amazing results and I'll somehow eat 5000 perfect calories a day and I"ll gain 10 lbs of muscle and 10 lbs of fat in the next 2 months, then bench 305, but I don't think so. I think the squat and deadlift are still achievable, but again, it's never reliable.

That being said, I'm probably going to take a 2 months break from kempo just so I can heal up all these injuries. I feel like a pussy for it, but thankfully I have a plan with a buddy of mine who's done martial arts for about 10 years and is a black belt at another dojo, who's also into lifting. He's doing stronglifts and works out mon-wed-fri, and I'm working out tues-wed-fri-sun, so we were thinking about doing some light (60%) sparring for cardio/skill, and also doing some conditioning work like hill sprints and pushing cars, on wednesdays and fridays. That should keep my cardio/fighting skill up, and possibly even help it. We're starting next week.

Since this post is already incredibly long I might as well write another paragraph about what I think caused my bicep to be fucked up today, and possibly even why my legs were shitty yesterday. First off, my bicep was compromised from all my kempo injuries (not really injuries but just built up wear and tear), but second, I went and played football with a couple family members on Sunday, not really any tackling, but mostly running and passing, and all of that throwing and sprinting must have put a lot of wear and tear on my joints, esp shoulder, elbow, and knees, especially because I weigh 200 lbs but my body is used to weighing 180. I usually could have recovered by wednesday, but I did the monday upper back workout, then did power cleans (even though they were light) on tuesday, giving it no time to heal. Either way, another shitty workout today, hopefully deadlifts will go well tomorow.

Sorry for the long post, as you can see going through my log, when I start talking about something I like to run my mouth (or in this case my fingers...) and describe it very thoroughly.

Edit: Surprised this website didn't put a link on the word dbol. Dianabol D-bol. No links
 
Spoke to my Sensei today, the man is a genius, he somehow convinced me to stay. From now on though I'm not going to go to the thursday fighting classes, well at least while lifting is my focus. After I hit 300 on the bench I can start doing the intense thursday class again, but for now I'm probably just going to come on Wednesdays and Saturdays, maybe Mondays. Also one thing I forgot to mention was that I'm going to start up with 5s week tomorrow, that way I'm doing light bench and deads on weeks when I'm doing heavy or high volume OHP, and heavy bench and deads on weeks when I'm doing light OHP.
 
4-20-12: DL and OHP

OHP
3x8x120

DL
Warmups
365x3x3 with 30 sec rest in between sets

Face pulls, lateral and rear delt flyes, and chin ups from in between sets and at the end

Had a decent workout, didn't attempt to go heavy and just focused on form, which actually felt pretty good today because of an article I recently read on the deadlift. Didn't want to go heavy because I felt pretty shitty and missed my DLs last week, but I made a new plan. Since this week was a piece of shit, I'm treating this week as if it was 3s week, so here's the plan for the rest of the time until my meet on my birthday:

DL is the same as Sq and bench, except instead of 3s, 5s, 5/3/1, 10/8/6, the cycle goes 3s, 3s with reverse band deficit DLs (hopefully 75%x3, 85%x3, 95%x3), 5/3/1, 10/8/6.


Week of: Sq and Bench; OHP
4-22: 5s; 5/3/1
4-29: 5/3/1; 10/8/6
5-6: 10/8/6; 5x5
5-13: 3s; 3x5
5-20: 5s; 5/3/1
5-27: 5/3/1; 10/8/6
6-3: Deload everything, meet on 6-8.

My attempts are going to be

Sq: 365, 385, 405
Bench: 245, 275, 300
DL: 450, 475, 500

Might throw in OHP: 165, 185, 200
or C and J: 200, 225
if I have time

If I can get the second attempts I'll be satisfied, I'll be stoked if I hit the 3rd numbers because that's my long term goal. Bodyweight will probably be around 210-220.
 
Afternoon training session:


Pushed my buddy's car 2x150 ft, then 1x100 ft (I was gassed), then did light sparring for about 15 mins on and off.
 
Strongman

Pretty uneventful, just did a bunch of random GPP including pushing a sled (wayyy harder than pushing a car, that was hell), wheelbarrow pendlay rows/viking presses, and tire flips. Hopefully next week I can get in a solid session.
 
4-23-12: Easy 5 min supplementary workout

Dumbbells Incline Bench and Chest Supported Rows Superset
1x8x30s
3x8x50s

Just threw this in because I feel like I haven't gotten much chest or back work, I don't know if I"m just crazy or if if I'm actually atrophying or just gaining fat, but I keep looking smaller and fatter in the mirror, without gaining weight. I think it might be dietary, I'm going to start eating 6 medium sized meals a day instead of 1 small, 1-2 medium, and 1 huge meal. That has worked for me in the past, only recently when I started following the "eating later in the day" type diet (based on carb backloading) have I started to suffer these problems.
 
4-24-12: Squat

Squat
warmups
5x255
5x295
6x330 55 lb/2 rep PR!

Not much else of note, walked out 4 plates and then did some light lunges but my workout got cut short today unfortunately.
 
Forgot to mention I've been doing some gripper stuff. On sunday I was only able to close the CoC Trainer for 5 reps on my right hand, 1 rep on my left. Today I got 27 with my right hand and 15 on my left (most likely made such fast gains because it's a new and awkward motor pattern for me). I'm going to borrow the CoC #1 next week from my training partner.
 
4-25-12: 5s Week Bench/Rows

5/3/1 Bench
Warmups
5x175
5x200
7x225 2 Rep PR and 15 lb PR!
11x185 Also a PR, though I'm not sure by how much

5/3/1 Pendlay Rows
5x135
8x155
12x135

JM Press
10x65
10x75
13x75

My first good bench day in almost 2 months, I'm incredibly happy! Even though I have a sore throat, stuffy nose, and a cough (which is killing my cardio, BTW), and even though my Body Weight isn't increasing even though I'm eating a lot (198), I feel good again. My form felt solid today. The 2 main things that seem to solidify my form on every lift are squeezing the bar hard and solid like a captains of crush gripper, and pulling my shoulder blades together tight. Either way I'm glad I'm finally getting stronger, even if my bodyweight is being stubborn. Could just be lower because I"m sick right now. I'm planning on doing an afternoon conditioning session after work today, 4x8 chin ups and 2 150 ft car pushes.
 
Yesterday we pushed the car 1x200 ft, then did some light sparring, then did some pull ups. I did 3x8 with a hammer grip. I also tried lowering my stance when I was pushing the car and felt it a lot more in my hamstrings and calves, though still a lot in my quads.

Then today I was about to eat a big fat carne asada fries plate and wanted to do some pull ups first so I wouldn't feel like a complete fat ass. I went up to this tree near my house and grabbed onto a fat branch and did a 4 sets, totaling 20 reps. Holding onto such a fat and awkward "bar" made the movement a lot harder, namely in the hands and forearms, even with a thumbless grip. Good stuff though, I'm ready to do my reverse band deficit deads tomorrow!
 
4-27-12: Explosive Day

Pulcinella Combos (2 high pulls, 1 clean, 3 jerks)
Worked up to 1 combo with 135, then 155, then 165

Reverse Band DLs from a 1-2 inch deficit, 135 deloaded at the bottom
worked up to 3x415, probably could/should have done more, but the combination of my lifting belt's pressure, and my stuffy nose/mucus filled lungs was making my head feel like it was going to explode

Bradford Press in between sets of DLs
10x65
10x85
12x95

That's it, felt a bit weak today, probably because I'm still sick, so I kept the deadlifts light. Also, because of the week I didn't DL, my hook grip has gotten pretty shitty, it's been hell pushing through deadlift. I"m going to try to get in those sumo DLs on squat day next week with a hook grip so I can do my 5/3/1 deads properly next friday, hopefully. I've also made a new resolution to build a monster grip, since I think I actually have half decent genetics for it. I'm going to keep playing around with the captains of crush, and I'm ordering some finger extensor bands from ironmind. I'll be doing more pull ups and chin ups on odd objects, like big tree branches, because of the grip component. This evening we're gonna push the car again and do some grip work/pull ups, I'll probably end up doing most of my grip work on days when we push the car, and of course on strongman day.
 
Friday afternoon conditioning session

Pushed my mom's SUV about 200 ft or so, got a video, so you can judge for yourself the distance. My buddy's gonna send it to me soon and I'll put it up when I get it.

Then I also did some super wide grip chin ups, 1 set of 8 or 9, felt it a TON in my lats, more than any other movement I've ever done. Then a set of 10 hammer grip chin ups.
 
Sunday Strongman

Axle Clean and Press
Worked up in triples with 3 presses on the last clean to 160 lbs, then dropped down to 140 for 1 set.

Ghetto Ass Chain Yoke
245x80 ft with turn
315x80 ft with turn
385x60 ft with turn

Fat Dumbbell Overhead
Did 2 reps on each hand working up to 75, then did 90 for 1 almost rep on my left hand, and 1 complete rep on my right hand.

Videos of the last 2 events coming soon. Overall a pretty fun day, we talked and BSed way too much and the session ended up taking 3 or 4 hours, but that's what happens when I train with my old training partner xD! Videos of the last 2 events coming soon.
 
Today I was trying to get my buddy pumped up for his deadlifts, he was supposed to do 5x305 but couldn't get it off the floor the last time he tried, so without warming up I pulled 305 in my street clothes, and did it pretty easily, to show him it could be done. He ended up only getting 3 reps unfortunately, but I feel pretty awesome because my form is so much more solid now and my back is getting so much stronger from all the volume and lower back activation exercises I've been doing. Fun stuff. Hoping to get some squat PRs tomorrow, I have all the time I need to lift because of STAR testing, so hopefully I can make some big numbers.
 
5-1-12: First Day of May Squatting

A bunch of warm up stuff including light pull down abs, light hamstring curls and light quad extensions.

Squat
2x5xbar
3x5x135
1x5x185
1x3x225
1x5x225
1x5x295
1x3x315
2x3x335

Good Mornings
1x5x135
3x8x135

(<90 sec rest periods) Squat Stance Sumo Deadlift
4x8x225
1x10x275

Light Abs and Squats to Cool down and get blood flowing more

Today I didn't feel so strong. I think my training max might be a little bit too high, even though I think I could squat 390 on a really good day, I was supposed to do 370 today for 1+ and am 95% positive that I could not have gotten it for even 1 rep, so I didn't attempt it, though I probably should have at least tried. Instead I did a little more volume using about 85%. I think I should deload my raining max to 385 and stop trying to jump up really high every training cycle based on my prs. Unfortunately that means I"m probably gonna have to give up on my dream to hit 405-300-500 by the time I turn 18, but at least I know if I hadn't dicked around so much throughout my lifting career that I could have hit it easily, genetically speaking, and work ethically speaking. Those numbers will come soon, but probably not in the next month and a half.

There's a number of factors taht could contribute to why I was weak, such as my higher-volume-than-usual warmup, but I don't think that had anything to do with it, I think it's the fact that I deadlifted 305 yesterday and did strongman the day before, which gave my legs and low back no chance to recover properly. Either way I destroyed the shit out of my hamstrings today, I'm going to start doing good mornings more often, 4 sets of 8 with under 90 sec rest and adding 5 lbs each week, same with the sumo deads and short rest periods. I"ll keep the rest periods as long as I need on max effort work but on assistance lifts I think I'll keep them short for the hormonal benefits, work capacity increase benefit, and conditioning. I was breathing like crazy today. Benching tomorrow, hoping to hit 250 for 3 reps.
 
5-2-12: Max Effort 5/3/1 Bench

Lots of Warm Up Stuff and Mobility Work Including face pulls, stretching, and foam rolling, about 30-45 minute's worth

Bench
A bunch of warmup sets 70% and under
5x200
3x225
2x250 5 lb PR
3x225
9x200

JM Press and Pendlays (alternating)
JM: 10x25
PR: 5x135
JM: 8x75
PR: 5x145
JM: 8x95 20 lb PR
PR: 3x165
JM: 10x75
PR: 5x185 1 rep PR
JM: 10x75
PR: 3x165
JM: 10x75
PR: 10x145

^Something like that, probably could have written that a little less confusingly.

Flyes, Shoulder Raises and Face Pulls in between sets and at the end

Today was overall a pretty decent session, no super big PRs but I had fun. Since we have STAR testing and I"m a senior, I have this big chunk of 4 hours free time where I can do whatever I want, stay home and eat/sleep, or come lift and take my time having an awesome session. I took advantage of that and came around 9:30, and did a nice long warm up to get myself stretched out so my incredible hip/glutes/hamstrings DOMS from yesterday wouldn't completely ruin my leg drive on the bench. You'll see in the videos that it was all right, but could be a lot better. I started my workout around 10:15 and ended around 12:00

My form felt decent when I was warming up on the bench, but unfortunately my friend I usually work out with, the guy who was supposed to deadlift 5x305 the other day, had to come earlier than me, and my other buddy who was supposed to work out with me today fell asleep and ended up flaking on me, so I had to switch to the power rack and get this really awkward set up, which you'll see in my 2nd video, with a bunch of unnecessary cussing. That also messed up my leg drive a little, and kind of threw me out of my groove. On the other hand, no 2 bench racks are the same, so there's no excuse, at least I know if I could get 250x2 on this I could get it on any bench.

I also took a bunch of videos of most of my sets on JM press, just so I can put it up for a form check. When I have time I'll make a compilation video and post it up here or somewhere where I can get some feedback. Until then here are the videos from today:

250x2: Bench 250x2 - YouTube
200x9 and J Hook Close Up: Bench 200x9 and Close up of J Hooks - YouTube
Pendlay Row PR: Pendlay Row 185x5 - YouTube
 
Oh yeah man it's great, I was actually checking out the gym at the college I"m going to, and even though it's a big school with a lot of money, it's not nearly as good as my HS gym. I've been taking this gym for granted lol
 
Good mornings are an amazing exercise, I'm pretty well convinced that they are the reason why I"m so damn sore in my hamstrings, and why over the last few days my thigh size at the largest point has increased from 26.25 inches to 27 inches. Just foam rolled it and I'm icing everything right now, then I'm going to take a warm shower, hopefully that will flush out most of the soreness so I can deadlift tomorrow. Oddly enough my left thumb is still numb from hook gripping those sumo deadlifts on tuesday, I must have killed a nerve in there. It's still as dextrous and strong as ever though, so I'm not worried about it, it just feels weird.
 
Good mornings are an amazing exercise, I'm pretty well convinced that they are the reason why I"m so damn sore in my hamstrings, and why over the last few days my thigh size at the largest point has increased from 26.25 inches to 27 inches. Just foam rolled it and I'm icing everything right now, then I'm going to take a warm shower, hopefully that will flush out most of the soreness so I can deadlift tomorrow. Oddly enough my left thumb is still numb from hook gripping those sumo deadlifts on tuesday, I must have killed a nerve in there. It's still as dextrous and strong as ever though, so I'm not worried about it, it just feels weird.
 
5-4-12: C/J and Deadlifts

Light good mornings and hamstring curls to warm up

Power Clean and Jerk
5x95 with 3 jerks on the last clean
5x135
3x155
1x175 with 3 jerks: 175 Power Clean and 3 Jerks - YouTube

Deadlift
3x225
3x275
3x315
3x365
1x405
2x455: Deadlift 455x2 - YouTube

Short Rest Low Box Squat
1x5x135
long rest
4x5x185 60 sec rest between sets
60 sec rest
1x5x235

Cooldown Abs

Today I was still feeling pretty sore from good mornings so I wasn't feeling too strong, I just did requisite reps on my power clean and repped the jerk for 3, even if I might have been able to do more. The deadlift went up super slowly due to soreness and fatigue, or maybe just the fact I haven't pulled heavy in over a month, but I figured since it's the last heavy lift of the month I might as well try for another one, and I managed to barely get it. My hook grip has atrophied immensely so these felt freaking terrible. Then for the box squats I finished all my working sets in less than 5 minutes, and my lower back was absolutely demolished at that point. It was so fatigued that I could barely put my stuff away, and when I was walking to class afterwards I had to set it down and just sit for a bit to rest. I felt like a major fatass, haha. Speaking of which my BW has been in the mid 205s when I go to bed and around 200-202 when I wake up. I'm going to have to eat a ton this weekend to solidify these gains.
 
My bodyweight was 207.8 last night and was 206 in the middle of the night when I woke up, and 205 now in the morning. It's going up like crazy, even though I'm not eating a ton more than usual, and for the most part I'm eating whole foods. I'm partially attributing it to those good mornings, I've never hit my hamstrings like that, from a full stretch position before, so I made some crazy gains. I can also notice I look a little bit wider waisted in the mirror, which is probably partially fat gain and partially core muscle size gains.
 
For some reason the last 6 pages of my log disappeared yesterday, now they're back. Strange. I guess I'll keep posting as usual:

Strongman Sunday

Axle C/P
Worked up with a couple triples, then doubles, then singles with 3 presses, up to 200, the infamous number that raped me last time I went heavy. Went up like a dream, then I almost killed myself on the 2nd rep. Still a nice PR, I'm happy.

200 lb Axle C/J - YouTube

Chain Yoke
Worked up to 455 for 80 ft. Fun stuff.

455 lb Chain Yoke for 80 ft - YouTube

Nice training session, I felt really strong today, but I'm looking forward to deloading next week. My lower back is trashed from today. Going to start doing strongman on Saturdays so my training is going to be Mon: Squat, Tues: Bench, Thurs: DL, Sat: Strongman.

However, next week I'm going to be doing Tues: Squat deload, Wed: Bench deload, Thurs, Deadlift deload, Sat: Strongman. Just cause it's a deload week.
 
5-8-12: Squat Deload

Squat
10x185
8x215
6x255

Good Mornings
5x135
3x8x145

Sumo DL
5x135
8x185
added belt
20x225

That's it for today. Didn't bring my camera because nothing was worth filming. I was running out of time at the end because I was teaching my buddy how to squat so instead of doing 3x10 with 225 and 2x10 with 275 on the Sumo DL, I just belted up and did 1 set of 20 with 225. More cardio, grip, and abductors than anything, that was hell. I'm hoping to progress in the sumo DL and up my work capacity by continuing to use 60-90 sec rest periods on them and gradually shifting my sets. So the first week I did 4x10x225 raw and 1x10x275 with a belt, next time I have time for all 5 sets I'll do 2 of the sets with 275, the next time 3, until I'm doing all 5 with 275. Then I'll remove the belt and start upping the weight by 10 every week. When I don't have time I'll just do 1 set of 20 with 10-20 lbs more than the previous time. I'll do the same thing with box squats except with lighter weights and lower reps. Hopefully that will work decently. Otherwise nothing really too notable, I'm going to be upping the good mornings by 10 lbs every week until I can good morning as much as I can front squat, then I'll start increasing by 5s. My goal of this all is to bring up my low back, hips and hamstrings to my quads' level and increase my work capacity.
 
5-9-12: Bench Deload

Bench
10x135
8x155
6x175

10 Pull ups
10 Pull Ups at 209 - YouTube

15 Dips
15 Dips at 209 - YouTube

Pendlay Rows
3x5x120

Dumbbell Bench
10x50s
8x75s
6x100s: 100 lb Dumbbells for 6 - YouTube

Nice little deload today, short 50 min workout, wasn't chasing failure or anything as you can see from my videos, but I still managed to get a DB Bench PR. If I really went for it I might be able to hit 20 dips or 8 reps with 100 lb dumbbells, I just didn't want to push too hard because it's a deload. Pull ups were max reps unfortunately. I suck at those, I need to work on them more often.
 
Don't dog yourself on the pull ups, your doing full ROM, total deadhang at the bottom and chin above the bar at the top.

Impressed for someone who weighs 209
 
5-10-12: DL DL

Power Clean
some light weights that I don't even remember. I think I did 135 for 5.

DL
10x225
8x275
6x315

Chin Ups
BWx5,5,5,6,10

Box Squat with 60 sec rest
5x135
5x185
Added belt
5x235

I don't think I did anything else besides this. I'm very glad I'm deloading because I know I wouldn't have been able to use real weights today, I'm super sore all over. I've noticed that since I added all this hamstring and lower back volume (GMs, Sumo DLs, and Box Squats) up to the point of getting severe DOMS, and started doing yoke walks, my spinal erectors have gotten wayyy noticeably bigger in the mirror and my legs have grown a lot bigger, as measured by a device called "Orbitape". Now I just need to rest so I can stop being sore and tired all the time. I'm happy that now I'm deloading with weights I've stalled at, 315 on the deadlift. I need to start doing chin ups more often, I feel them strengthening my bicep tendons a lot which will have some carryover to bench pressing, as well as getting some nice upper body hypertrophy. A few minor tweaks to my routine:

Saturday: Strongman
Monday: 5/3/1 Squat, 3x8 Good Mornings (60 sec rest, add 10 lbs every week), 5x10 Sumo deadlifts (60 sec rest, 1 set of 20 if I'm running short on time, progression outlined above, but basically adding 10 lbs every week), weighted abs
Tuesday: 5/3/1 Bench (light face pulls in between sets), 5/3/1 Pendlay Row, 3-5x8 dips (60 sec rest, add 1 set every week till I reach 5 sets, then add 1 rep with 3 sets), rear delts. Pull ups at home on my tree with dip progression, starting with 3x5.
Thursday: 5/3/1 Power Clean and Jerk, 5/3/1 Deadlift (chin ups and shoulder work in between sets of DLs), 5x5 box squat (sumo DL progression).

I'll be following this for the next month, then I might do a Smolov Squat cycle and hard bulk once summer starts, and finally I'll start my cutting routine (which I'm working on) after that's over.
 
5-12-12: Saturday Strongman


Axle C/P
Worked up to 180 with 1 clean and 3 presses. I've done 200 before but I wasn't feeling it today, I couldn't get it past my belly.

Chain Yoke for 80 feet
Worked up to a run with 385 and stopped there.

Axle Deadlift
Worked up to 440 for a decent single, then attempted 500 and got it off the ground, but my grip started slipping and I lost it just below my knees. Video coming soon.
 
5-14-12: 3x3 Squat

Squat
warmups
5x225
3x275
3x315
1x335
1x355

Good Mornings
3x8x155

Front Squat
155x5,6,8

Light Hamstring Flexion and hanging leg raise

For some reason my squat has been terrible these last few weeks, even 2 weeks ago I was able to do 2x3x335, which at the time I felt sucked, but today each rep was a grinder, even with 315. I'm going to have to reduce my squat training max, which is 390 right now, to about 365 because I can't even hit 5/3/1 requisite reps anymore. I think it might be that since I added box squats to my program my form has started to come together and I've started to sit back more and use my quads less and my glutes/hams more, and stop buttwinking and bouncing off my spine (see any squat video on my youtube channel "Amounirl"), so I'm still getting used to the new motor pattern and I need to strengthen a new set of muscles. Either that or I'm fatigued from basically going to failure on my 500 deadlift attempt this weekend. Probably both.

Good mornings are still going up, 10 lbs heavier than last week, and I threw in some light front squats to get used to the movement again. I'm going to have to start doing front squats again because my sticking point on the squat has changed from right in the hole to about 6 inches out of the hole with the new adjustments on my form. I felt like the hip extension was the weak link, so front squats should improve that as well as my deadlift lockout, which is where my sticking point on the deadlift has become since I started strengthening my back, which translated to better power off the floor. I usually do a light set of lunges and hamstring curls to warm up for a low body session because it opens up my hips and gets the blood flowing through my legs, so I'll do some light hip thrusts/bridges in addition to those as well.
 
How far do you take your DLs when you fail?

Compared to most, I usually bail within the first few inches of the lift, its at that point where I can tell if it will be a clean single or a dirty one. Very very rarely will I try to pull a weight that I am not 100% positive will go up. Any max DL I have will be a 3 second lift tops, no grinders. Even if I could add ten lbs. to a max DL, there really would be no point, it wouldn't make me stronger, and it would be pretty obvious to myself, and those watching, that "yeah, I lifted the weight, but I really had to compromise my form to do it".

I would much rather pull a clean max, make it look easy, and be able to tell people with confidence that I can do it any day of the week.

As opposed to beating my head off the wall for a full minute prior to the lift, only to have it be a ten second grinder with back bending form.

Not trying to give you pointers, especially since we are the same age (roughly:verygood:). Just sharing with you a concept that I keep in mind when maxing and has proven to be a very good principle to lift by for myself.

Obviously this is easier said then done, especially when the weight you need to max out at determines whether or not the months of work you put in prior to the max was a waste, or time well spent.

Food for thought....
 
Good points for sure, I never compromise form but I always grind out as much as I can within good form. My lower back stays straight and I don't hitch in PL, only in Strongman, either way I never do anything that's going to hurt myself but I always give a lift 100% even if I'm not 100% sure I"m going to make it. When I get the video up you'll see
 
5-15-12: Bench 3x3

Bench
4 warmup sets paused no arch
3x190 paused no arch
3x215
added wraps
5x245 3 rep/20 lb PR!!!!!: Bench 245x5 - YouTube
1x255 paused

Close Grip Bench
2x3x225 paused

Pendlay Rows
5x135
3x160
5x185
10x155

Incline Dumbbell Bench
65s(130)x10,10,8

Fat Bar Dumbbell Rows
2x10x50s

Light Rear Delt Flyes, Chest Flyes, and Face Pulls between sets

Today I had an absolutely phenomenal workout, one of the best workouts I've ever had. I blasted through a bench plateau I've been struggling with for 2-3 months, and I attribute it to 3 things, the fact I lifted in the evening instead of in the morning 1 hr after waking up, the fact I took a deload week for the first time in months on my bench (since I was doing a linear 6x3 routine for a while before switching back to 5/3/1 for PL), and the fact that I did dips and DB bench last week (hypertrophy). My form felt absolutely solid today. Bodyweight was about 207 last night and right now it's about 205. I also might add that it only took me 30 mins to warm up and do my set with 245, and the whole workout was only 1 hr 30 mins. I think the short rest periods on GMs, Front Squats, and Box Squats have brought up my work capacity a lot.

I threw in some close grips with a pause for a little more volume, because my bench responds well to volume, and I liked them, I think they'll probably help give me more power at my sticking point (about 6 inches off my chest, almost half way up), as well as allowing me to use heavier weight, compared to JM presses and other tricep exercises, to overload my weak triceps. Pendlays were all right, no new PRs or anything. I threw in some incline dumbbell bench for 2 reasons, one of them is simply cosmetic (dat upper chest), but the other is that I feel using dumbbells gives me a lot of stability on my bench, which is something I could definitely use more of (look at my 250x2 video from 2 weeks ago).

The last real exercise (the flyes and face pulls were really light) I did was incredibly painful. I wrapped 3 socks around a 50 lb dumbbell to make a fat bar that was about 2-2.5 inches in diameter, then did 1 arm DB rows with it. I did really short rest periods, as in, I started with my left arm, went straight to my right after the set, then went straight back to my left. It was almost like a quadruple super set. Because the weight was relatively light, I kept the form pretty strict, yet I still felt it a lot on my forearms, rear delts, and lats. Good stuff, I'll definitely keep it in my routine. I like the dips as well, so I'm going to do those along with my chin ups on deadlift day in between sets.
 
5-17-12: 3x3 Deads/posterior chain+upper body assistance

Muscle Clean/Jerk
3x135
3x155
3x175 2 rep PR
2x185 1 rep/10 lb PR

Deadlifts
warmups
3x335
3x395
3x435 5 lb PR
2x465 10 lb PR!

Did a bunch of random stuff in between sets of deads, most notably:

Dips
2x8xBW (206-210)
2x8xBW+10 (216-220)
1x12xBW

More or Less "Sternum" Chin Ups
3x5xBW
1x5xBW+10
1x8xBW

BoxSquat (Posterior Chain Hell Style)
5x195 for 4 sets with 60 sec rest
rest 90 sec, added belt
6x245

Had a good day today, I was training alone so I managed to get a lot done in just under 2 hours, and with minimal psyching up so that I can pull that "ace card" in competition. Deadlift lockout is definitely my weak point now, I don't even feel it in my lower back or quads anymore, it's mostly in the glutes/hips, and a little in the hamstrings and lats, so I'm going to start doing weighted hip thrusts and front squats more seriously now to work on that lagging muscle group at lockout. I did this little thing at the top of 465 which wasn't quite hitching, but it was borderline so it's not ideal to train that way for competition. I also was doing this SPF type thing on 435 where my hips were pretty much locked out at the top, but not as locked out as possible. Hopefully hip thrusts will be my magic ticket to solve those problems, box squats and GMs have helped me immensely off the floor, which was a previous sticking point for me. 175, 185, 435, 465, and 245 are all up on youtube:

Muscle Clean/Jerk 175x3 - YouTube
185x2 Muscle Clean/Jerk - YouTube
Deadlift 435x3 - YouTube
Deadlift 465x2 - YouTube
End of Posterior Chain Hell: Box Squat 6x245 - YouTube

I tried doing sternum chin ups and didn't really have the flexibility to get the bar all the way to the sternum, but my chin was well above the bar, and I felt it a lot more than normal chin ups, everywhere in my upper body, with less reps.
 
amounirl said:
I did this little thing at the top of 465 which wasn't quite hitching, but it was borderline so it's not ideal to train that way for competition. I also was doing this SPF type thing on 435 where my hips were pretty much locked out at the top, but not as locked out as possible.
Click to expand...
u reffering to the Southern Powerlifting Federation? that is fucking hilarious if you were...
 
BS Day

Today was the worst strongman training session we've ever had and the best BSing session we've ever had. I had fun, even if I didn't get much work done.

Axle
Worked up to a top set of 3 cleans and 5 presses with somewhere around 150-160, we'll call it 155.

Chain Yoke
Worked up to 385 for 80 feet on a slight sideways incline, threw me out of my already tenuous groove.

Axle Deadlift
Worked up to 1x355 before my grip started being a bitch.

But it was so much fun BSing. Since I didn't get much done here I'm doing some push ups at home. 2x30 with a pause just 1 inch off the ground for the upper back involvement, then pushing myself as far away as possible from the ground at the top, to get the obliques or serratus or whatever it is on the side that gets involved. I need to start incorporating more push ups because they're a great movement for the chest/pressing muscles that lets you get your shoulderblades unpinched. I might just get in 60 strict form paused reps and 15 paused diamond reps every crappy pressing day, or 100 loose form and 30 unpaused diamond push ups every good pressing day (surprisingly easier). Good to vary it up.

Went to an asian buffet today and hit a new BW PR, 208 on my home scale, which is the equivalent of 212 on my gym scale, a 1 lb home pr and 2 lb gym scale PR. I haven't been eating much these last few days so hopefully all this sashimi and terriyaki chicken will yield me some gains I've been missing out on. No videos from today.
 
5-21-12: 3x5 Squat

Stair Box Jumps to warm up
3x5x2 stairs
3x5x3 stairs
1x5x4 stairs

Squat
Warmups
5x225
5x265
9x300 Squat 300x9 - YouTube

Front Squat
3x8x185

Good Mornings
20x135

Wrist curls in between sets of squats

Today was pretty decent, the gym opened late so I did some box jumps outside to warm up, they're actually really great for warming up the hips, explosiveness-wise and flexibility-wise. I reduced my training max on the squat to 355 because that's the most I could hit last week, yet today I did 300 for 9 reps with maybe 1 left in the tank, which calculates to about 385, which is my previous training max based on 345x4 and 330x6. So I know I could hti 385 on a really really good day. But I'm going to keep my training max low to accommodate for bad days, maybe throw in a few singles with 365 whenever I feel strong just to get used to heavy weight. I felt my form was decent today besides the buttwink.

Then after my squats I was watching my buddies squat because they're fairly new and need technique ques to keep their knees out and backs arched. Finally I got to my front squats and by the time I was done I barely had any time left before the weight room closed, so instead of doing 165 for 3x8, I just did 135 for 20 reps. My lower back was stiff and pumped as hell, and I could barely walk afterwards, or bend down to pick my stuff up.
 
5-22-12: Bench

Bench
warmups
5x185
added arch
5x205
added wrist wraps
8x230 30 lb PR for 8 reps, 5 lb PR for 7 reps

Pendlay Rows
5x135
5x155
7x170 5 lb PR

Strict Overhead Press
warmups
3x6x135 1 rep PR

Fat Dumbbell Rows
2x10x55 (5lb pr)

Flyes, external rotations, band pull aparts, and rear delt stuff in between sets of pressing

Pretty good day in the gym today, although I might have tweaked my right shoulder on OHP because it's been hurting since my 2nd work set. Nice PRs across the board. Didn't have time for inclines or close grips because the gym opened late again, so I did OHP instead. Added benefit of also getting my lagging shoulders up a bit. Felt nice to get some weight over my head without my legs again, even if it hurt my shoulder, and I managed to lift a PR weight for 3 sets, 1 without wrist wraps.

As far as bench goes I feel like my form is getting better and better, no videos from today unfortunately, forgot my camera.
 
Shoulder's feeling a lot better right now, but still a little bit of pain, I think the fact that I did front squats yesterday and didn't spend very long warming up today are probably the reasons why it was hurting. I forgot to mention that I also did some heavy lift offs after my benching today. I did 275, 300, then held 315 for 10 sec at the top. That may have also contributed to my shoulder hurting. I'm going to start doing more external rotations with a band on rest days.
 
Reverse Band Deads

Gym opened up really late today so I only had time for:

Box Jumps to warm up (while waiting for gym to open)

Reverse Band Deadlifts
warmups
405x3
455x3
500x2

Had about 5 minutes left so I dicked around with leg curl and leg extension, and some flyes. Didn't do dips today because my shoulder is still hurting a little, and I ripped a callus on my deadlifts and I couldn't muster up the machismo to man up and do my chin ups. I ripped open my thumb hook gripping the 500, I think I might have been able to barely get 3 reps, but when it slid down my hand it messed me up. The bands took about 100 lbs off the bottom and deloaded a little above knees (see video) -unfortunately I'm lending one of my usual purple bands out to a friend with shoulder problems so I had to use the monster mini short bands, which weren't as good for this. The purple bands are perfect because they take 135 off the bottom and deload right at the knees, these didn't take very much weight off the bottom and deloaded pretty far up. Either way they deloaded before my sticking point so at least I got some lockout work out of it, and I handled some supramaximal weights, which I always find helps me psychologically.

Video: Reverse Band Deadlift 500x2 - YouTube

I did something that almost looked like hitching on the first rep, second rep was completely clean, third rep I tried to hitch after my callus ripped, and that just made things worse. I'm going to throw in some hip thrusts with bands on saturday, maybe do some push ups today or on saturday.
 
Strongman Saturday

Max Effort Furniture Carrying
5 sets of 5 bookshelves/dressers

Dynamic Effort Food Carrying
About 4 sets of boxes of food

5/3/1 Method Bed Disassembling
1 bed 5x65%, 5x75%, 5x85%

Repetition Method Cleaning Supplies
About 3 boxes of cleaning supplies

Deload other stuff carrying
A bunch of boxes of other stuff

Max effort unloading everything from the Uhaul truck and carrying dressers upstairs
5 bookshelves/dressers, bed panels, boxes of food, cleaning supplies, etc.

If you haven't guessed already today I helped my friend I train strongman with move into his new home. Carrying all that stuff was taxing on the arms and back, and a little on the legs, and we decided it would be our strongman session for today. It was a long day with a lot of work, but overall it was fun! I was going to do some push ups as well but I'm so tired (read: lazy) right now, and I just took a shower, so I'm going to call it a day. Hopefully my shoulder will heal up 100% by tuesday so I can bench properly.
 
5-29-12: 5/3/1 Deadlifts

Overhead Press
worked up to 5x135 before my shoulder started hurting, didn't want to exacerbate it and turn the pain into an injury so I stopped.

Deadlift
warmups
5x365 matched old 5 rep PR for an easy warm up set
3x435
4x465 2 rep PR in 2 weeks!!!

BW (210) Dips in between deadlifts
4x10

Barbell Curls (not in the squat rack)
10x70 8 rep PR
3x110

Had a great day today, OHP was bothering my shoulder so I stopped at 5x135. Deadlifts were awesome, I sliiiightly hitched the 4th rep of 465, probably enough to get red lighted in USAPL (not to mention that I dropped it-USAPL red light), but I'm still counting it as 4 reps for traning purposes. Got in a few dips which somehow didn't bother my shoulder even though OHP did, and at the end I had about 2 minutes to mess around so I did some curls for what I believe is the first time in 2 years. Last time I did curls I remember struggling to get 1 rep on 70, then my buddy helped me get a second rep. Today I got it for a bunch of reps, I'll just say 10 but it might have been more, with ease. Everybody was laughing because I was doing curls, since I never do them, so one of my friends pointed to the heaviest "premade" barbell we have in the gym, 110, and told me I owe him a pancake if I can't curl it. I got it for 3 reps, so technically he owes me 2 pancakes, but I'll let him slide.

My schedule for this week got kind of messed up, since I didn't have a gym to train in yesterday, so my plan is 5/3/1 OHP/DL on tuesday, 5/3/1 squat/bench on friday. I'll probably do some pull ups or something tomorrow (wednesday).

Deadlift: Deadlift 465x4 - YouTube
 
6-1-12: Meathead Madness

6:30 AM: Squat and Bench

Squat
Worked up to 4x335, then rested 10 sec, then got 1 more rep with 335.

Bench
Worked up to 3x255
Jumped down to 7x225 then effed myself up minorly

Pendlay Rows
worked up to 10x155

Face pulls and shoulder dislocations in between sets of sq/bench

2:00 PM: Supplementary lifts

Good Mornings
2x10x135
1x12x135

Weighted Chin Ups
2x5xBW+10
2x5xBW+15

Weighted decline Sit Ups
3x5x25
1x8x25

Weighted Dips
3x5xBW+15
1x8xBW+20

Today was an all right day. On my squat I felt my set up wasn't so good (bar position and tightness could have been better), but I still got 4x335, so I rested 10 sec, readjusted, and did 1 properly set up rep after the 4. On my bench I might have had one more rep on 255, but I wasn't looking to go to failure. Then I did something really stupid.

I had a lot of time left over so I figured I might as well get some more volume on my bench. I decided I could get 9 reps with 225 because I got 8 reps with 230, and my friend (the pancake one) plugged his ipod into the speakers and started playing I by Meshuggah. I got really pumped up from the blasting music and lifted the 225 really dynamically. Unfortunately on the first rep this caused my back to come off the bench from the compensatory acceleration, and I lost my arch/tightness and I hit failure on the 8th rep. I racked it and tried setting up right again, then attempted another rep within 10 sec of going to failure, but since I'd already gone to failure I missed my second attempt with a good arch at that 8th rep. In my pump up-edness I made the stupid and egotistical decision to push past failure, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid on 255.

Anyways, one good thing that could come out of that overly dramatic story is that I did bench 6x225 with a flat back (7 if you count the arched first rep), which I guess you could say is a PR for me, my previous flat back PR being 5x195 from almost a year ago. Either way I was stupid, hopefully this won't negatively affect my meet next week. Bro science solution: just eat/sleep a lot and you'll be fine.

I came back to the gym later that day to get in some supplementary lifts, since I was going to have to stay after school (I usually get out at 1:30ish) anyways for an anatomy project, and I got some decent work in. I wanted to do some front squats but my project group needed me and I didn't have time. I was surprised at how much ab strength I've lost since I last did weighted sit ups, last time I was able to get 3 sets of 15 reps easily with a 25 lb plate behind my head, so after my meet I'm going to have to start doing weighted abs again.

Since this post is already really long I'm going to write down my adjusted meet goals: For my squat I don't think I can hit 405, but I"m opening with 345, aiming for at least 375, if that feels easy I'll go for 385, and if 375 feels like absolutely nothing I"ll go for 405. On my bench I'll open with 255, aim for at least 275, if that feels easy I'll attempt 300, if it feels hard or I fail it I'm going to 2 board press 300. Last comes the deadlift, I'm aiming for at least 475 but that should be a breeze, then 500, which I'm very confident I can get, and if I feel like I have more in me I'll go for 510, since that's my predicted max, and over half the world record.

That is one hell of a long post, if you've made it this far then I apologize for my rambling, I guess I've missed writing in my training log since I only trained 2 days this week.
 
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