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pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 3:56 pm
Hey everyone, this will be my journey through the ranks of Powerlifting and life. A quick background on me, and then I will post up the past month or so of my training to catch you all up to what I'm lifting and my programming at the moment. I'm 25, currently live in New York (for another week) and am moving to North Carolina next week. I have one powerlifting meet under my belt, totaled 1535 with a Squat of 525 Bench 375 and Deadlift 635. I have been lifting for almost 10 years though seriously for only about 3 of those. Just recently engaged, moving to a new state, starting a new life, but I the one constant in my life has always been lifting, and now recently Powerlifting and I am intent on making a name in the sport. So there's that, lets get to the lifting. I'm going to start from the beginning of March and slowly catch up to where I'm at today/tomorrow whatever day it is that I get done. So here is Monday Feb 27

Height 5'7" Bodyweight 195. All lifts are Raw with only a belt and occasional knee sleeves.

Monday February 27 2017

Bench Press

135x8
185x5
225x3
275x4
315x2
335x2

185x10,10,10

Chin up
BW 4 x 6

Short but sweet one.

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:04 pm
Tuesday Feb 28 2017

Squat
145x8
195x5
235x5
285x3
355x5
395x3
455x5

235x10, 10, 10

DB Lateral Raise
20x15
20x15
20x15

Rear Delt Raise
20x12
20x12
20x15

Behind The Neck BB Press
95x10
95x10
95x15

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:06 pm
Weds March 1 2017

V-Bar Pushdown
40x15
50x15
60x12
70x10

Close Grip Bench
135x12
185x8
225x6
245x3
315x3
275x5

Skull Crusher
50x10
50x10
50x10

DB Hammer Curl
25x15
30x12
40x10
45x8

Barbell Curl
95x6
95x6
95x6

Friday March 3 2017

Standing Press
75x5
95x5
115x3
145x5
165x3
185x4
95x10, 10, 10, 10

Light Legs Didn't Log it all

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:14 pm
Saturday March 4 2017
Saturdays are the only days sometimes I will train with a friend, just to have a little fun deadlifting, so they might not always follow the same program/progression as the other lifts.

Sumo DL
245x5
315x5
375x3
460x5
525x3
585x3

Conv. DL
315x10
315x10
315x10

Incline DB Bench
100x6
100x6

Flat BB Bench
135x10
135x10
135x10

Cable Crossover
12
15
20


Monday March 6 2017

Bench
135x8
185x5
225x3
255x3
285x3
325x3
185x10,10,10

Close Grip Bench
185x8
185x8
185x8

Chin up
Bwx7,7,7,7

Barbell Row
225x5
225x5
225x5

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:17 pm
Squat
145x8
195x5
245x5
295x3
345x3
385x3
435x6
245x10,10,10

DB Lateral Raise
25x15,15,15

Rear Delt Raise
25x12
25x12
25x15

Behind The Neck BB Press
105x10
105x10
105x12

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:19 pm
V-Bar Pushdown
40x15
50x15
60x12
70x10

Close Grip Bench
135x12
185x8
225x6
245x3
285x4

Skull Crusher
50x10
50x10
50x10

DB Hammer Curl
25x15
30x12
40x10
45x10

Barbell Curl
95x8
95x8
95x8

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:26 pm
Standing Press
75x5
95x5
115x3
145x3
165x3
185x6
105x10,10,10

Front Squat
135x10
135x10
135x10

Leg Press
4 Plates x15,15

Hack Squat
135x20
135x20

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:28 pm
Sumo DL
245x5
315x5
375x3
445x3
475x3
545x4

Conv. DL
315x10
315x10
315x10

Incline BB Bench
135x15
155x10
155x10
185x5
185x6

Decline Press
135x15
135x15

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:29 pm
Bench
135x8
185x5
225x5
245x5
265x5
305x5
185x10
185x10
185x10

Close Grip
185x9
185x9
185x9

Chin Up
BWx8,8,8,8

Barbell Row
225x6
225x6
225x6

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:30 pm
Squat
145x8
195x5
245x5
295x3
325x5
375x4
415x9
245x10,10,10,10

DB Lateral Raise
25x15
25x15
25x15

Seated DB Press
50x10
50x10
50x10

Behind The Neck BB Press
105x12
105x12
105x15

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:32 pm
V-bar Pushdown
40x15
50x15
60x12
70x10

Close Grip Bench
135x12
185x8
225x6
245x4
285x6

Skull Crusher
50x12
50x12
50x12

DB Hammer Curl
30x15
35x12
45x10
50x6

BB Curl
105x5
105x5
105x5

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:34 pm
Standing Press
85x5
105x5
125x3
145x5
155x5
175x6
105x10,10,10,10

Front Squat
145x10
165x10
195x10

Leg Press
4 Plates x 20,20

Hack Squat
135x25
135x25

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:37 pm
Sumo Deadlift
245x5
315x5
475x5
535x3
585x1
635x1

Conv DL
315x10
315x10
315x10

Incline BB Bench
135x15
155x10
155x10
195x5
195x5

Decline Press
135x15
135x15

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:52 pm
Bench
145x8
185x5
225x5
275x5
305x3
335x3

185x10,10,10

Close Grip Bench
225x6
225x6
225x8

Chin Up
BWx8,8,8,8

Barbell Row

235x5
235x5
235x5

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 4:57 pm
Squat
145x8
195x5
245x5
295x3
365x5
415x3
465x4
245x15

Front Squat
315x3
315x4
245x8

DB Lateral Raise
25x15
25x15
25x15

Seated DB Press
55x10
55x10
55x15

Behind The Neck BB Press
105x12
105x12
105x12

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:08 pm
V-bar Pushdown
40x15
50x15
60x12
70x12

Close grip Bench
135x12
185x8
225x6
255x4
295x3

Skull Crusher
60x8
60x8
60x8

DB Hammer Curl
30x15
35x12
45x10
50x7

BB Curl
105x6
105x8
105x6

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:14 pm
Standing Press
85x5
105x5
125x3
155x5
175x3
195x3
105x10,10,10,10

Front Squat
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
315x3
225x8
225x8

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:37 pm
Drove up to Mount Vernon Barbell for DL Day this Saturday since I had to drop the Fiancé off in the area anyway. Had a little fun!

Sumo Dl

245x5
315x5
405x3
495x2
605x1
605x1
605x1
605x1

Block Pull 2"
605x2
605x2
635x2

Deficit Conv. 2"
405x6

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:38 pm
Bench
145x8
185x5
225x5
275x5
305x3
335x2
335x2
335x2

Incline DB Press
90x10
90x10
90x8

Close Grip Bench
245x5
245x5
245x5

Chin Up
Bwx10,8,8

Barbell Row
245x5
245x5
245x5

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:40 pm
Squat
145x8
195x5
245x5
295x3
365x3
415x3
475x2
475x2
475x2

Front Squat
325x3
325x3
225x12

DB Lateral Raise
25x15
25x15
25x15

Seated DB Press
65x10
65x10
65x10

Behind The neck BB Press
95x8
95x8
115x10

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:42 pm
V-Bar Pushdown
40x15
50x15
60x12
70x12

Close Grip Bench
135x12
185x8
225x6
255x4
305x3

Skull Crusher
60x8
60x8
60x8

DB Hammer Curl
30x15
35x12
45x10
55x6

Barbell Curl
105x6
105x6
105x6

pfabrizi1
03-31-17, 5:45 pm
Standing Press
85x5
105x5
125x3
155x5
175x3
195x2
195x2
195x4
115x10,10,10

Front Squat
185x5
225x5275x3
325x2
325x2
325x2
225x8

Hack Squat
135x15
135x20

That's it all caught up! Will be back tomorrow for Deadlift day! Gonna be moving furniture all morning but I fully plan on having a nice heavy DL day regardless!

pfabrizi1
04-01-17, 11:24 pm
So after spending my Friday night disassembling, wrapping and packing furniture until 4am and waking up at 8:30am this morning to load it in a truck to transport it, I got to the gym at about 2 to lift with a friend about 40 minutes away. And it turned out to be a great day of lifting as these types of days always seem to be. So on to the numbers.

Sumo dl (okie bar)
135x8
225x5
315x3
405x3
495x2
545x2
605x2
605x3

Conv. Defecits from 4"
405x6
315x8

Bench
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x2
335x2
355x2
365x1
Back down to
315x5

Incline smith machine press
225x8
225x8
225x8

Weighed myself out of curiosity during my workout today, dropped down to 193 and feeling great. I havent been trying to lose weight just eating real clean and lifting hard with shorter rest periods and i have been getting noticeably leaner while adding muscle and strength so i cant complain! Back on monday for one of my last few workouts before my big move.

pfabrizi1
04-05-17, 12:03 am
Early morning Bench workout after a late night but regardless of thr lack of sleep the past few days i've been feeling pretty good...

Bench

145x8
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x2
335x3
335x2
335x2
335x2

Close Grip
245x5
245x5
245x5

Incline DB Press
85x10
85x10

Chin up
Bwx8,8,8,8

Barbell Row
225x6
225x6
225x6

Been really trying to strengthen my grip so ive been focusing on doing all my rowing and pulling without straps. It does limit my weights on rows a bit but i think it will pay off in the long run.

pfabrizi1
04-05-17, 12:08 am
Squat day... late night workout today all the packing has been getting to me but nothings gonna stop the wave of progress ive been making. So here goes..

Squat
135x8
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
365x2
405x2
485x2
485x2
485x2
485x3

Front squat
315x3
Didnt like the gnurling on the bar for fronts so i switched to a closer stance pause squat

Pause squat
315x5
315x8

Behing the neck press
135x10
135x10
135x10
135x10
135x10

Simple workout today, squats felt really strong easier than 475 last week so thats a plus. The pause squats flew up as well. On to more packing and then hitting arms tomorrow.

pfabrizi1
04-06-17, 12:58 pm
So i skipped yesterday and did arms today instead. Its been a hectic few days but had a little break last night to get together with some family and friends before leaving. Rough morning workout but I hit my close grip numbes so thats all I really cared about today.

Single arm pushdowns
25x12,12,12

Close Grip Bench
145x8
185x5
245x5
275x3
315x2
315x2
315x2
275x4
275x4

After this i just hit some easy supersets for bis and tris to get a pump.
Todays the big moving truck loading day. Then tomorrow AM hitting my last session before driving down to NC. Hoping to get back in the gym ASAP as i feel im making too good of progress to slow it down now.

pfabrizi1
04-12-17, 5:19 pm
Ok so here is the last workout I did before leaving New York. Just getting to post it up now as I'm still in the process of unboxing all my stuff and getting settled in. Found a great gym here in NC but more on that next post.

Not the best day today as I was completely exhausted, but here it goes...

Standing Press
85x5
105x5
125x3
155x5
185x2
205x2
205x1
205x1
145x5
115x10
115x10

Front Squat
185x5
25x5
275x3
325x2,2,2
225x8

And that was it! Tough morning for sure but at least I made it in.

pfabrizi1
04-12-17, 5:29 pm
Ok so here we go... Been living in Wake Forest, NC as of Saturday... Getting unpacked is harder than I thought (my fiancee has a lot of stuff) but I couldn't be happier. Love my apartment and my town, and living with my fiancee is so much better than driving back and forth between our houses like we did in NY... Not to mention the great weather every day so far. I did lift yesterday at a small commercial gym and did not exactly love it so I won't even post it up. Now today I tried out a Strength and Conditioning gym about 10 mins away and it was amazing. Great bars, great equipment, calibrated kilo plates. Can't say enough good things about it. A little pricier than I'd like but I think I'm willing to dish out the money for it.

So here goes the workout... now the weights were in kilos but I converted it all so don't mind the funky numbers...

Squat
209x8
253x5
319x5
363x3
407x3
452x3
452x3
452x6

Pause Squat
319x5
319x5
319x5

Side Raises
20x15
25x15
35x10

Seated db press
70x10
70x12
70x10

Behind the neck BB press

88x10
88x10
88x10
88x10

Rear Delt Raises
25x12
35x12

And that's all... Going back tomorrow to hit some triceps and biceps... Will be good to see how the benches are before I decide to commit to $100 a month. Again I feel its worth it for all the equipment that I'd probably end up buying myself if I trained at a little commercial gym around here anyway but we'll see... Also maintained my weight surprisingly for all the moving and carrying of boxes I've been doing.

MRmichael.hooker
04-13-17, 8:18 am
Where's this gym at? Is it in Winston or somewhere else?

pfabrizi1
04-13-17, 9:49 am
Where's this gym at? Is it in Winston or somewhere else?

Its in Youngsville. About 10-15 mins up north from Wake Forest

MRmichael.hooker
04-13-17, 10:03 am
Its in Youngsville. About 10-15 mins up north from Wake Forest

Nice. I saw where you said it's pretty expensive compared to normal/commercial type gyms. But it might be your best bet. That's the struggle of where I live in Mooresville. Everything in town is mostly commercial type stuff (YMCA, Planet Fitness, etc). The gyms that use to support bodybuilding/pwlifting have all been bought/sold from the commercial competition. The closest gym that really supports powerlifting/strongman is 30 mins away

pfabrizi1
04-14-17, 8:22 pm
Nice. I saw where you said it's pretty expensive compared to normal/commercial type gyms. But it might be your best bet. That's the struggle of where I live in Mooresville. Everything in town is mostly commercial type stuff (YMCA, Planet Fitness, etc). The gyms that use to support bodybuilding/pwlifting have all been bought/sold from the commercial competition. The closest gym that really supports powerlifting/strongman is 30 mins away

Yea same here all YMCAs and little gyms like that. The only decent option I found was over 30 mins away deep in Raleigh and I'd rather not have to drive that far every time train if I have a better alternative. Gonna pull tomorrow AM and if all goes well I'm gonna just bite the bullet and sign up... With all the money I'm saving on groceries and rent living here I can afford a little bit of a gym membership lol it just hurts because in NY I never had to pay a membership I always knew someone. Oh well..

pfabrizi1
04-14-17, 8:27 pm
Arm workout from yesterday..

Close Grip
135x12
154x8
198x5
264x3
308x3
308x3
308x3
264x6
264x4
220x10

Dips
Bwx12
Bwx12
Bw+55lbsx8
Bw+55lbsx8

DB Tricep Extensions
75x8
75x8
75x8

DB Hammer Curl
35x12
55x8
55x8
55x6
60x5

Dumbbell Curl
25x7
25x12

And that was it. Felt very strong on close grips today... Looking forward to pulling tomorrow AM and then hitting the farmers market! Plus I'm basically all unpacked so I can start enjoying my new home until I find a decent job.

pfabrizi1
04-15-17, 9:06 pm
Early morning Deadlift session today. Got in to the gym at about 7:30 am so it took me a while to get going but I did pretty alright I think. Now that I've officially got myself settled in, back on track with my meals, and signed up at a great gym I'm ready to resume seriously training. I've set a few goals for myself for the next few months or so but I'll post all that once I get it all written out and organized. Basically looking to increase the weights significantly on all my secondary movements while slowly adding or even just maintaining strength on the main ones. I gotta add on a little bit of size to really step it up this cycle. But anyway here goes today's workout.

Sumo DL
154x5
264x5
352x3
418x3
462x3
573x1
(unnecessarily big jump between weights for some reason. gotta get used to working/translating in kg plates)

Block pull 4" block
573x3
617x3
661x3 (Extremely easy for some reason)

Deficit DL conventional
374x3
374x6

Incline BB bench
154x12
198x7
198x8

Incline DB Press
80x10
80x10

pfabrizi1
04-17-17, 10:50 am
Today is day one of my new program, so lets see how it goes. The main focus is adding a significant amount of weight to my secondary lifts while keeping the intensity on the main lifts at about 80% and gradually adding reps to them. The secondary lifts for the first 4 weeks are Incline DB Press, Pause Squats, Front Squats, Seated DB Press, and 4" Block pulls. After 4 weeks I'll change those for the most part and work on another set of secondary lifts. The goal is to add 10lbs per week on each lift (with the exception of seated DB press maybe 5lbs) while adding a rep or so to the main lifts every week (but keeping weight the same). Accessories are just bodybuilding stuff usually for higher reps to add to muscle growth. Here goes todays workout.

Bench

154x8
198x5
220x5
275x3
275x3
275x3

Incline DB Press
95x5
95x5
95x12

Close Grip Bench
198x10
198x10
198x8

Chin up (on thick bar)
BW+11x5
Bw+11x5
BW+11x6

Barbell Row
154x12
176x12
198x10

Fairly easy day, but definitely felt great. 275 flew up which was nice to work on a little technique. Incline was fairly easy so definitely throwing on another 10lbs per side next week. Got a great pump too which is always nice! Squat day tomorrow!

pfabrizi1
04-18-17, 12:03 pm
Today was leg day. Got in about 8:30am feeling a little tired even though I've been sleeping like a baby since moving here. Decided to do as much beltless work as possible on warm ups and also my main sets of pause squats. I'll probably do my main squats beltless next week just because its only at about 80% depending how I feel in the morning. Anyway, here goes.

Squat
198x6
264x5
319x5
363x3
418x3
418x3
418x3

Pause Squats
319x5
319x5
319x5
Felt nice and smooth, will be increasing by about 10lbs next week.

Side Raises
20x15
25x12
35x10

Seated DB Press
70x12
70x12

Seated Behind the neck press
110x6
110x6
110x6

pfabrizi1
04-19-17, 9:07 pm
Today was a big day outside of the gym... Purchased my fiance's first car, got our washer and dryer, had a phone interview that I aced and got immediately called in for an interview on friday morning. In the gym felt great it was arm day so nothing crazy but hit some heavy close grips and felt great.

Close Grip Bench
135x12
154x8
198x5
264x3
308x3
308x3
308x3

Dips
53x10
53x10
53x12

Seated DB tricep extension
60x15
70x12
80x10

DB Hammer Curl
35x10
55x10
60x8
60x8
60x8

Barbell curl
88x10
88x10
88x10

And thats all. Rest day tomorrow might take advantage of the community gym and hit some cardio and abs in the morning. Then another big day on Friday have an interview, a big lift, and my birthday!!

MRmichael.hooker
04-20-17, 10:28 am
Today was a big day outside of the gym... Purchased my fiance's first car, got our washer and dryer, had a phone interview that I aced and got immediately called in for an interview on friday morning. In the gym felt great it was arm day so nothing crazy but hit some heavy close grips and felt great.

And thats all. Rest day tomorrow might take advantage of the community gym and hit some cardio and abs in the morning. Then another big day on Friday have an interview, a big lift, and my birthday!!

Nice man, congrats on all the good stuff going on. And happy almost birthday! Mine is next Friday.
Who's the interview with?

pfabrizi1
04-21-17, 1:53 pm
Nice man, congrats on all the good stuff going on. And happy almost birthday! Mine is next Friday.
Who's the interview with?

Thanks man, moving to NC has definitely been a huge positive change of pace for my fiance and I! Happy almost birthday to you too! The interview was with First Citizens Bank in Youngsville, literally right down the block from the gym coincidentally. Went really well, so hopefully I get a call with the good news soon... Once I start working and get my fiance more comfortable driving on her own I'll definitely have to head out and hit a training session with ya...

pfabrizi1
04-21-17, 2:04 pm
Today I turn 26, had a job interview, a friend visiting from New York, and some plans for the night. But first.... I woke up around 6:30 to hit the gym before all that because it just wouldn't be my birthday if I didn't lift on it. So here goes legs and shoulders round 2 for the week.

Barbell Front Squat
154x5
225x5
264x3
330x3
330x3
330x3

Standing Press
85x5
105x5
125x3
154x3
165x3
165x3

Seated DB Press
90x5
90x5
90x5

High Bar Squat
308x6
308x6
308x8

Front Squats felt a little tough because it took me a while to find the right bar to use with the right amount knurling to sit on my shoulders and not slide but by the third set I felt good. Shoulder presses all felt good the seated db press was a PR for me as I never DB press much but I plan on going up to around 110 this training cycle. High bar squats were just slow and to feel the quads working.

So far a great morning, and they officially opened the pool a few hours ago so of course I took a quick dip and laid out for a little tan already. Loving the NC life so far! Pumped to hit some heavy DL tomorrow.

MRmichael.hooker
04-21-17, 2:35 pm
Thanks man, moving to NC has definitely been a huge positive change of pace for my fiance and I! Happy almost birthday to you too! The interview was with First Citizens Bank in Youngsville, literally right down the block from the gym coincidentally. Went really well, so hopefully I get a call with the good news soon... Once I start working and get my fiance more comfortable driving on her own I'll definitely have to head out and hit a training session with ya...

That's cool. I actually work for a bank too (not for too much longer though, lol. Putting in my 2 weeks next week).

pfabrizi1
04-22-17, 10:49 am
That's cool. I actually work for a bank too (not for too much longer though, lol. Putting in my 2 weeks next week).

Yea I told myself when I moved here that I wouldn't stay working for a bank, but it's probably going to be the easiest good paying job I can get out here right now based on the fact that it's the most recent work experience I have. Plus dress code here isn't wearing a full suit so that's a major plus for me!

pfabrizi1
04-22-17, 10:55 am
Sumo DL
154x5
264x5
352x3
418x3
462x3
513x3
513x3
513x3

These flew up obviously being only about 80% so was nice to get some solid technique work in.

Block pull 4"
665x3
665x3

Also came up very easily, would've hit a few more reps on the last set if my straps weren't giving out. Might just go strapless next week and tear up my hands lol.

Deficit DL 2" (Conventional)
375x5
375x5

Incline BB Bench
154x12
178x10
198x8

Flat DB Bench
80x12
80x10
80x10

Flat DB Fly
55x15
55x15

Really solid day today. Looking forward to the next week of training!

pfabrizi1
04-24-17, 10:03 am
Another week here we go! Been a rainy few days here that's left me feeling like napping on the couch all day lol but we're still making little changes here and there in the apartment to make it just right. Who would've known antique shopping was so much fun... This morning was some nice benching and some accessories and everything moved fast and smooth like it should.

Bench
154x8
198x5
220x5
275x4
275x4
275x4

Incline DB Press
115x5
115x5
115x8
Gonna be brave and go up to 125 and try to hit the same numbers next week.

Close Grip Bench
198x10
198x10
198x10
Easy reps... going up 10lbs next week even if for sets of 8

Chin up
Bw+22 x6
Bw+22 x5
Bw+22 x6
Trying to up the reps with this weight before increasing... hoping for sets of 7-8 next week.

Barbell Row
154x12
176x12
198x10
Just getting a pump with this for now.

And that's it. Making some nice progress in weights and reps, and overall just feeling good. Squats tomorrow!

MRmichael.hooker
04-24-17, 12:21 pm
Yea I told myself when I moved here that I wouldn't stay working for a bank, but it's probably going to be the easiest good paying job I can get out here right now based on the fact that it's the most recent work experience I have. Plus dress code here isn't wearing a full suit so that's a major plus for me!

You're telling me! I do enjoy not wearing a full suit now. I used to work with Enterprise Rent a Car and I wore a suit often. Suit + cleaning cars in the summer + only allowed to wear white dress shirts = buying a lot of dress shirts, ha.
That usually is a plus side of the banking background- finding jobs at other banks is usually not too challenging. But the negative is, you're in banking lol

pfabrizi1
04-25-17, 12:36 pm
You're telling me! I do enjoy not wearing a full suit now. I used to work with Enterprise Rent a Car and I wore a suit often. Suit + cleaning cars in the summer + only allowed to wear white dress shirts = buying a lot of dress shirts, ha.
That usually is a plus side of the banking background- finding jobs at other banks is usually not too challenging. But the negative is, you're in banking lol

Yea I feel ya, wearing a suit all day plus being someone who sweats alot is not a fun thing. Especially when your job likes to keep the temp at 80 all day!! Luckily this bank wont require me to wear a suit! I do want to get out of banking eventually if possible, but I really don't know what else I might like to do to be honest...

pfabrizi1
04-25-17, 12:41 pm
Here goes another squat workout. Now it's been raining non stop for the past three days and my lower back was tight as hell this morning to start my lift and went from tightness to an unbearable pump after squatting but belted up and pushed through it. Ended up being a great workout so here goes...

Squat
198x6
264x5
330x5
374x3
429x2
429x2
429x2
Going up a few pounds next week, really didn't take any energy outta me.

Pause Squat
330x5
330x5
330x7
These were a breeze besides the lower back pump, so I'll be going up about 20lbs next week...

Side Raises
20x15
35x10
35x12

Seated DB Press
75x12
75x12

Standing behind the neck press
110x6
110x6
110x6

Again, making pretty big jumps on everything next week... Early lift tomorrow then heading to Charleston, SC for a few days!

pfabrizi1
05-01-17, 1:09 pm
Ok I have a few days to catch up on being away and all... Had a great trip and saw Florida Georgia Line in concert, had the best seats I've ever had at a concert it was a great time... Charleston was pretty beautiful too! Now i'm back in NC, landed the banking job and I'll be starting next Monday, so everything is just going great life, training, job, etc... Also might be planning to compete this November and qualify for the Arnold next year but it's still early to decide. So here goes the workouts.

Close Grip Bench
135x12
154x8
198x5
264x3
319x3
319x3
319x3

Dips
BW+70x8
Bw+70x8
Bw+70x10

DB Tricep Extension
60x15
70x12
80x10

DB Hammer Curl
40x10
55x8
60x6
65x6

Barbell Curl
88x10
88x8

pfabrizi1
05-01-17, 1:17 pm
Drove back from Charleston, had lunch in Myrtle Beach, and got home kinda late so I just did some light circuits hitting shoulders, bis, and tris in my community gym using whatever I had. Got a pretty nice pump though!

Saturday I got up early a little tired, but its deadlift day! Started off a little rough but made a huge form adjustment on block pulls that will no doubt translate to pulling off the floor.

Sumo DL

154x5
264x5
352x3
418x3
462x3
524x2
524x2
524x2

Block Pull 4"
672x3
672x3

My first attempt at this I couldn't even move it, but I sat and rested and tried again. I realized I've been pulling back too much instead of trying to pull it straight up so I went and retried it and the weights flew up. Looking forward to pulling 700 for the first time in a few weeks.

Incline BB Bench
154x12
178x10
198x8

Flat Db Bench
80x12
80x10
80x12

Flat Db fly
55x12
55x12

No defecits today as the heavy block pulls drained me pretty bad and my lower back was tight as hell from all the driving the day prior so I decided not to... my main focus is the block pulls anyway so no big deal.

pfabrizi1
05-04-17, 11:33 am
Flat Bench

154x8
198x5
220x5
275x5
275x5
275x5

Incline DB Bench
125x5
125x5
125x4

Close Grip Bench
209x8
209x7
209x6

Chin up
Bw+22x5
Bw+22x5
Bw+22x6

T-Bar Row

95x15
95x15
95x15

pfabrizi1
05-04-17, 11:35 am
Squat
198x6
264x5
330x5
374x3
440x2
440x2
440x2

Pause Squat
352x5
352x5
352x5

DB Side Raise
25x15
35x12
40x10

Seated DB Press
75x14
75x10

pfabrizi1
05-04-17, 11:37 am
Close Grip Bench
135x12
154x8
198x5
264x3
324x2
324x2
324x2

Dips
Bw+77 x 12
Bw+77 x 12
Bw+77 x 12

Lying Tricep Extension

44x14
88x8
88x8

DB Hammer Curl
40x10
55x8
60x6
65x6

Barbell Curl
88x6
88x6

pfabrizi1
05-04-17, 11:45 am
Now that I'm all caught up on my log here's where I'm at. After this week of training on the program I'm on now I'm going to be changing it up again. It's been 4 weeks of heavy heavy hitting on the accessories and I've upped the weights on all of them dramatically. My close grip is closing in on my comp bench strength, my pause squats have skyrocketed, and my block pulls are nearing 700 ( I definitely could get 700 for at least 2 or 3 right now). I'm feeling fatigued and the progress has slowed this week so I'm scaling it back and going to hit about 8 weeks of the next program. I've adapted the 5th set principle to use on my main lifts and threw in my own accessories because the focus will be on inching my numbers up on the main lifts now that I've built so much strength on the accessories, and putting on a decent amount of size. After those 8 weeks I'll see where I'm at and set a meet date. Here's a rough draft of the program I'll be following for the next 8 weeks...

Monday
Bench - 285 x 2,2,2,2, amrap
Close Grip - 205 x 8,8,8
Incline DB - 15,15
T-Bar Row - 25,25

Tuesday
Squat 430x2,2,2,2,amrap
Pause Squat 345x8,8
Side Raise x 20, 15, 10
Seated Press 145x8,8,8

Wednesday
Close Grip Bench 275x 2,2,2,2, amrap
Dips x 12, 12, 12
Wide Grip Bench x 15,15
Rolling Tri Ext x 15,15
Biceps

Friday
Front Squat 275x2,2,2,2 amrap
Standing Press 165 x 2,2,2,2 amrap
Side Raise x 20, 15, 10
DB Press x 65 x 15, 15

Saturday
Deadlift 535x 2,2,2,2 amrap
Block Pull 650 x 3, 3
Conventional DL 365x8,8
Flat DB Bench x 15, 15
Chin up

Goals - 1. Add 5-10lbs per main lift per week (depending on movement)
2. Add size

MRmichael.hooker
05-04-17, 12:06 pm
Now that I'm all caught up on my log here's where I'm at. After this week of training on the program I'm on now I'm going to be changing it up again. It's been 4 weeks of heavy heavy hitting on the accessories and I've upped the weights on all of them dramatically. My close grip is closing in on my comp bench strength, my pause squats have skyrocketed, and my block pulls are nearing 700 ( I definitely could get 700 for at least 2 or 3 right now). I'm feeling fatigued and the progress has slowed this week so I'm scaling it back and going to hit about 8 weeks of the next program. I've adapted the 5th set principle to use on my main lifts and threw in my own accessories because the focus will be on inching my numbers up on the main lifts now that I've built so much strength on the accessories, and putting on a decent amount of size. After those 8 weeks I'll see where I'm at and set a meet date. Here's a rough draft of the program I'll be following for the next 8 weeks.

I can dig it, a thinking man's approach

MRmichael.hooker
05-10-17, 12:22 pm
Last day working in a bank. Hell yea

pfabrizi1
05-23-17, 9:38 am
It's been a few weeks since I've posted. Got a little caught up with work and sprained my hamstring pretty bad a couple Saturdays ago when pulling but I'm pretty much all better now. I'll start back up with yesterdays lift.

Bench
154x8
198x5
282x2
282x2
282x2
282x2
282x8

Close Grip
220x6
220x6
220x6

DB Lateral Raise
35x10
40x10

Seated DB Press
65x12
65x12

pfabrizi1
05-23-17, 9:43 am
For some reason (besides messing up my hamstring) my squats have felt off for a few weeks just cant find the right groove so I'll be working on that for a while... Front squats feel very strong though!

Squat
198x6
264x5
308x5
381x2
381x2
381x2
381x2
381x6

Front Squat
264x6
264x6
264x6

Chin up (Alternating grips)
BWx6
BWx6
BWx6

Was a little hot today so I was completely wiped at the end of the workout. Drenched lol. Hopefully I get my squats back on track soon because I should be hitting way more reps on my AMRAP set with that kind of weight. Hopefully just gotta change up my foot positioning around...

pfabrizi1
05-23-17, 9:46 am
Last day working in a bank. Hell yea

Congrats man! I gotta say I still don't love it, but banking down here is a whole lot better than it was in NY! I'm making decent money for now and having weekends off is a beautiful thing but eventually I'd like to get into something I enjoy a little more... What are you getting into now if you don't mind me asking?

MRmichael.hooker
05-23-17, 10:09 am
For some reason (besides messing up my hamstring) my squats have felt off for a few weeks just cant find the right groove so I'll be working on that for a while.

I've been in the same situation for the past couple weeks now. They've always been my favorite lift and my best, and now they just always feel off. Sometimes it's just best to go back to the drawing board.


Congrats man! I gotta say I still don't love it, but banking down here is a whole lot better than it was in NY! I'm making decent money for now and having weekends off is a beautiful thing but eventually I'd like to get into something I enjoy a little more... What are you getting into now if you don't mind me asking?

I was working Saturdays for a while (we were open on Saturdays) but then I moved to a different financial center and it was closed on Sat, which was glorious.
Now I'm doing project managing and recruiting. The company I work for does international business development (companies trying to expand to Europe/Asia/Middle East OR companies from there trying to come here) and recruits their senior leadership to get going.

pfabrizi1
05-23-17, 4:26 pm
I've been in the same situation for the past couple weeks now. They've always been my favorite lift and my best, and now they just always feel off. Sometimes it's just best to go back to the drawing board.



I was working Saturdays for a while (we were open on Saturdays) but then I moved to a different financial center and it was closed on Sat, which was glorious.
Now I'm doing project managing and recruiting. The company I work for does international business development (companies trying to expand to Europe/Asia/Middle East OR companies from there trying to come here) and recruits their senior leadership to get going.

Yea I've always squatted fairly narrow but I think I need to switch to a wider stance which to me makes sense being that I pull sumo. I've also decided to add in a high rep hypertrophy day tomorrow that I could do at my apartment's gym with some dumbbells/machines
this way I could cut the fluff from some of my actual training days and get in a little more hypertrophy work.

Amen about the weekends off I've never in my life had two days off back to back until I moved out here. I don't know if I could ever turn back now!

pfabrizi1
05-25-17, 8:57 am
Had a hard time getting out of bed this morning but made it and got through the whole workout feeling amazing and having a pretty awesome pump of my whole upper body. I'm loving the progress my close grip bench has been making, I just feel like I can throw anything on the bar and press it these days... My form on bench in general has been on point!

Close Grip Bench
154x8
198x5
273x5
273x5
273x5

Standing Press
161x5
161x5
161x5

Wide Grip Bench
154x15
154x17

Lying DB extensions
25x15
25x15
Superset with
DB Hammer Curls
55x10
55x10

Quick, and effective. Couldn't ask for a more efficient and on point workout!!

MRmichael.hooker
05-25-17, 9:10 am
Yea I've always squatted fairly narrow but I think I need to switch to a wider stance which to me makes sense being that I pull sumo. I've also decided to add in a high rep hypertrophy day tomorrow that I could do at my apartment's gym with some dumbbells/machines
this way I could cut the fluff from some of my actual training days and get in a little more hypertrophy work.

Amen about the weekends off I've never in my life had two days off back to back until I moved out here. I don't know if I could ever turn back now!

Yeah when I switched centers was probably the 1st time I had 2 days in a row off in.... 6 years? Or longer. I don't even remember anymore lol

pfabrizi1
05-30-17, 11:54 am
Had some family visiting over the weekend from NY, got some pool and sunshine and some good grilling in! Here's my workout from Friday morning before the weekend. Hamstring seems all healed up which is great so back to DL as usual.

Sumo DL
154x8
264x5
374x3
485x5
485x5

Conventional DL
330x8
330x8

Barbell Shrug
264x15
264x15

T Bar Row
95x25
95x25

Behind the neck press
88x20
88x12

Awesome lift. Form was on point with everything!

pfabrizi1
05-30-17, 1:15 pm
After having guests all weekend and saying goodbye last night, I'm running a little low on sleep today but still had a good lift. Bench felt a little tough but still hit everything without a problem. Hit a little extra chest/tricep work at the end, which I didn't record but hit them pretty hard!

Bench
154x8
198x5
288x5
288x5
288x5

Close Grip Bench
209x8
209x8
209x8

Lateral DB Raise
40x10
40x10

Seated DB Press
65x14
65x12

MRmichael.hooker
05-30-17, 1:33 pm
Do you typically deadlift with a sumo stance? Asking because I just recently switched to pulling sumo as well and trying to see work on form and slowly adding weight to it.

pfabrizi1
05-30-17, 3:58 pm
Do you typically deadlift with a sumo stance? Asking because I just recently switched to pulling sumo as well and trying to see work on form and slowly adding weight to it.

Yea sumo is my competition stance. I do work both but pulling conventional I was always limited bc I have proportionally shorter arms and longer legs, so once I would go past the 500's conventional I found it hard to keep a straight back. It definitely took work to change over, but was a pretty natural transition and within a few months I blew past my conventional pulls. I might work on pulling conventional a little more now though as it probably is a better mass builder overall.

MRmichael.hooker
05-30-17, 4:03 pm
Yea sumo is my competition stance. I do work both but pulling conventional I was always limited bc I have proportionally shorter arms and longer legs, so once I would go past the 500's conventional I found it hard to keep a straight back. It definitely took work to change over, but was a pretty natural transition and within a few months I blew past my conventional pulls. I might work on pulling conventional a little more now though as it probably is a better mass builder overall.

And that's more so why I've always pulled conventional, for the mass building affects. But now I am working a little more on strength than bodybuilding, so I've start incorporating more sumo pulling. Nothing crazy yet, just doing it after my main deadlift work. Say i'll throw in sumo after, like 3-5sets of 3-10 (depending on what week of my main lifts I'm in). I've gone from 135 to like, 255 so far. Again, trying to hammer down form before really increasing it. Just takes a completely different set up that I'm trying to get use to

pfabrizi1
05-30-17, 4:36 pm
And that's more so why I've always pulled conventional, for the mass building affects. But now I am working a little more on strength than bodybuilding, so I've start incorporating more sumo pulling. Nothing crazy yet, just doing it after my main deadlift work. Say i'll throw in sumo after, like 3-5sets of 3-10 (depending on what week of my main lifts I'm in). I've gone from 135 to like, 255 so far. Again, trying to hammer down form before really increasing it. Just takes a completely different set up that I'm trying to get use to

Yea the setup definitely takes getting used to. I'm still adjusting it here and there trying to get a little more flexibility to get my feet a little wider. One thing I can say, though maybe not entirely bc of sumo pulling, is that my hamstring development is pretty ridiculous considering I rarely hit them directly...

pfabrizi1
05-31-17, 9:09 am
Got to sleep a little earlier last night but didn't sleep well anyway lol but got up and at it early today. Feeling nice and sore from yesterday for sure!
Today's goal was to get some quality reps in on squats using a bit of a wider stance. Felt much more stable than a narrower stance and hit my quads HARD. It will take some getting used to but I'm gonna give it a try for a few weeks see how the heavier weights feel with this setup.

Barbell Squat
198x6
264x5
308x5
388x5
388x5
388x5

High Bar Narrow stance squat
154x10
154x12

Chin up (alternating grips every set)
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

That's it... Intense quad pump today. Starting next week this workout will be on Monday and today will be heavy Front Squats and SLDL

MRmichael.hooker
05-31-17, 9:14 am
Today's goal was to get some quality reps in on squats using a bit of a wider stance. Felt much more stable than a narrower stance and hit my quads HARD. It will take some getting used to but I'm gonna give it a try for a few weeks see how the heavier weights feel with this setup.

Similar to our sumo convo yesterday; this helped me a ton. Probably 6 or 7 years ago I switched my stance to a wider stance and have never looked back.

pfabrizi1
05-31-17, 3:14 pm
Similar to our sumo convo yesterday; this helped me a ton. Probably 6 or 7 years ago I switched my stance to a wider stance and have never looked back.

Yea I've tried it before and it's always felt pretty right I just never stuck with it. Just gotta work out the details like how wide, toe angle all that fun stuff but it felt pretty good today.

pfabrizi1
06-01-17, 9:39 am
Alright, great morning lift today! I'd have to say that strangely enough as of today my close grip bench feels stronger than my regular comp bench setup, which to me means I need to bring my grip in a bit on my comp bench. Overall felt very strong this morning on every lift, so up 3kg next week on close grip and on overhead press.!

Close Grip Bench
154x8
198x5
273x6
273x6

Standing Press
161x6
161x6

Wide Grip Bench
154x15
154x20

Lying DB Extension
25x16
25x16
Superset With
DB Hammer Curl
55x11
55x11

MRmichael.hooker
06-01-17, 9:58 am
Yea I've tried it before and it's always felt pretty right I just never stuck with it. Just gotta work out the details like how wide, toe angle all that fun stuff but it felt pretty good today.

That's probably my biggest thing with sumo is figuring out the toe angle and how wide to be

pfabrizi1
06-01-17, 1:16 pm
That's probably my biggest thing with sumo is figuring out the toe angle and how wide to be

I mean I'm no expert but I've found for myself the wider I've gone, the better. As long as flexibility allows for it of course. As for toes I always go just a tad over 45 degrees outward and it feels pretty natural. Lately I've worked on gradually getting out a little wider and it's felt great as long as I focused on still pulling straight up and not back.

pfabrizi1
06-02-17, 9:45 am
Alright another great day of training. Simple, hard, and effective. After straining my hammie a few weeks back, It's definitely 100% now, and my form has never felt more smooth on deadlifts. Also, all this bare bones barbell/dumbbell training without machines has done wonders for my grip. not even an ounce of slipping on any sets of DL. Looking forward to working up to some really heavy 2" block pulls in the coming weeks.

Sumo DL
154x8
264x5
374x3
485x6
485x6

2" Block Pull
573x3
573x4 ( easily had another 3-4)

Behind the Neck BB Press
88x15
88x15
88x15

The presses are light, and I will work up a little heavier but it's my 3rd overhead pressing day of the week so I use these to just build some more volume from a different angle and get a nice pump.

pfabrizi1
06-05-17, 9:40 am
Morning! Woke up feeling great this morning, not tired at all. Had an awesome weekend of relaxing at the pool, and just hanging out and eating and all that fun stuff. Had a great lift this AM, squats finally feeling better crushed my 2 top sets with ease, so I'm gonna go for a 4kg jump next week, which shouldn't be all that hard.

Barbell Squat
198x6
264x5
308x3
388x6
388x6

High Bar Squat
198x10
198x10

Chin Up (alternating grips every set)
Bwx7
Bwx7
Bwx7
Bwx7
Bwx7

That's all! Had an awesome pump today, really just a quick solid workout. Gonna up the weights on squats next week, keep it on high bars but get 15 reps on the last set. Chins are going up 1 rep every week until I hit 5x10 then I'll add weight.

pfabrizi1
06-06-17, 9:36 am
Alright had another good one today! Had taco night last night so I guess I had some fuel for my lift today lol hit rep PRs on every lift today which is an awesome feeling. Had a crazy pump too, changed up my meals so that I'd have a little more food in the AM as uncomfortable as it is cramming 2 meals , intra workout shake, and a heavy shake between 5am and 8am, but that's the best window of time for me to fuel my body before, during and after my lift, and taper down as the day goes on.

Bench Press
154x8
198x5
288x6
288x6

Close Grip Bench
209x9
209x9
209x9

Standing Lateral Raise
40x11
40x11

Seated DB Press
65x14
65x14

Incline Flyes
55x12
55x12

Though I miss hitting heavy doubles and triples everyday (lol) hitting new rep prs almost every workout feels great and I know in the long run it is better for my goals of putting on size and then eventually peaking.

pfabrizi1
06-07-17, 8:55 am
So first off, idk why I typed the date yesterday as Friday... wishful thinking I guess LOL.
Little tired this morning, but no big deal. Didn't finish my post workout meal of chicken and pasta, so I'll double up on lunch or something I guess. Not the most appetizing thing to eat first thing in the morning anyway. Had a good lift today, pretty tough a lot of overall work so I'm a little beat right now. Everything today was beltless, I may keep it this way going forward on this day as I really felt it hit my core hard I'm definitely feeling it right now.

Front Squat
154x5
220x3
264x5
264x5
264x5

SLDL
198x5
265x5
326x5
326x5

Barbell Shrug
264x15
264x15

Seated Barbell Press
136x10
136x10

Chin Up
BWx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

pfabrizi1
06-08-17, 8:56 am
Feeling pretty sore today, not like painfully but a nice sore, which to me is a good sign that I'm actually working the muscles and not just the movements, which is my goal at the moment. Wasn't feeling so sure about hitting my close grip numbers today but was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. Overheads were a little tough, as my shoulders are a little fatigued from the past 2 days of overhead pressing, but still hit my numbers.

Close Grip Bench
154x8
198x5
280x5
280x5
280x5

Standing Press
167x5
167x5
167x5

Wide Grip Bench
154x15
154x15

Lying DB Tri Extenisons
35x12
35x12
Superset With
Alternating DB Curl
35x10
35x10

Switched Hammer Curls for alternating DB Curls as I've been hitting hammers hard for a while. First set in gave me a HUGE pump, as bicep work always does which is why I only do two sets of direct bicep work a week lol.

pfabrizi1
06-09-17, 8:54 am
Happy Friday all! So what started off as a pretty great day of pulling didn't end as well as I'd like. Re-Irritated my hamstring strain on my second set of block pulls which sucks bc all my pulls were feeling so on point, but I guess it just wasn't healed all the way and I went too heavy too soon. Luckily it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the first time.


Sumo DL
154x5
264x5
374x3
496x5
496x5

Block Pull 2"
584x3
584x0
A few inches up on my first rep here felt a nice pop in my right hamstring, dropped it right away and called it a day for pulling. Used my head this time lol. Slight pain right now but nothing terrible and I can still move it pretty well without much issue so I'm hoping back to regular next week but no block pulls for a while..

Standing Behind the neck press
92x15
92x15
92x15

Was supposed to go up on the presses a bit this week but the hamstring kinda discouraged me...

pfabrizi1
06-12-17, 1:05 pm
So no training today, as my alarm didn't go off... Luckily I'm so used to waking up early that I was up early enough for work though! Today was going to be my new deadlift day, so I really didn't miss much probably being that I'm not sure my hamstring would be up for anything significant. I spent the weekend resting by the pool, icing my hamstring occasionally. It bruised a little bit but I can move around without any issues so it's fine as far as I'm concerned. Gonna keep up with the icing tonight and tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll be in good shape for front squats and some light deadlifting on weds.

MRmichael.hooker
06-12-17, 3:10 pm
Man take care of that hammy. Take it from someone who tore one, make sure it's good to go

pfabrizi1
06-13-17, 8:51 am
Man take care of that hammy. Take it from someone who tore one, make sure it's good to go

I know man I hurt it a few weeks ago, it healed up well but I probably just pushed it too hard too fast and re injured it. It's bruised pretty nice but it feels fine. Been icing it and wrapping it while I'm at work. Some light DL and SLDL today at the end of my lift got some nice pump going there and it felt pretty fine. Tomorrow will be the real test.

pfabrizi1
06-13-17, 9:03 am
My alarm went off today! So I hit the gym for a heavier bench session than I've done in a while. Felt good but I'm gonna back it down a bit next week or possibly stay the same because I wasn't happy with my technique. Got a great pump from heavy laterals and decided to go up a bit on shoulder press. Overall felt good and my hamstring is healing nicely.

Bench
154x8
198x5
264x5
324x3
324x3
324x3

Close Grip Bench
209x10
209x10
209x10

Lateral Raise
40x12
40x12

Seated DB Press
70x10
70x10

After this I just hit some light DL and SLDL with a 70lb kettle bell and got some blood flowing and it felt pretty good.

pfabrizi1
06-14-17, 9:05 am
Off to a rough start this morning, hard to get out of bed as we were up last night contemplating two job offers that my fiancée got... Hamstring is feeling better, still bruised and a little sore but overall its healing up. Really happy with my front squats today they felt real smooth! Hit some light DL to get some movement, and then some seated barbell press which resulted in a real nice pump. Here goes...

Front Squat
154x5
220x3
271x5
271x5
271x5

Conventional DL
154x10
154x10
154x10

So there was a little bit of pain if I pulled forcefully off the floor, but not all that bad. I'm gonna just work up little by little every day until next Monday where I can hopefully pull close to what I had originally planned for next week.

Seated Press
136x12
136x12

Chin up
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

pfabrizi1
06-15-17, 9:15 am
Filled up on some chicken tacos last night so I was ready to go this morning! Had an itching to throw some weight on the bar so after warming up with close grips, decided to do some close grip board presses to overload a little bit. Felt pretty awesome. Wide grip benches were getting a little stale so I changed it to flat dumbbell presses for high reps. Overall had a great lift.

Close Grip Bench
154x8
198x5
284x6

Close Grip Board Press (2 Board)
284x6
308x6
352x2
352x2

Second set felt considerably easier than the first, so the strength is there once I get my body and nervous system used to handling heavier weights again.

Standing Press
171x6
171x6

Lying Tricep extension (DB)
35x12
35x12

Dumbbell Curl
25x12
25x12

Flat DB Press
55x20
55x20

Pretty sure I'll stick with the board presses for another 3 weeks or so, possibly going to lower the reps and up the weight on standing press next week, and just gradually up the weights/reps on the smaller stuff. I'm moving towards some heavier work for the next few weeks to change it up for a bit, then going to build some more volume after that until its time to start peaking.

pfabrizi1
06-16-17, 9:02 am
Happy Friday! Had a great squat workout this AM. Trying to decide between 2 meets in October, one of which is in South Carolina in the middle of October, the other at the end of October in Wilmington, NC. Leaning towards the second one but we'll see.
So I'm still messing around with my foot positioning on squats and I think I can get a little wider while still hitting a good depth. The way I squat now allows me to go too deep which is fun and all but from a powerlifting perspective, if I can get a rebound a little higher up but still legal depth, then why not. Felt real strong today though, little to no hamstring pain. Gonna add 5kg a week on squats for a few weeks and try to work up to a true 3rm (these were very easy), then contemplating weather to knee wrap for the first time ever.

Squat

198x6
264x5
308x5
425x3
425x3
425x3

Paused High Bar Squat
352x5
352x5
352x5

Chin Up (Alternating grips)
BWx7
bwx7
bwx7
bwx7
bwx7


That's all today... Would normally hit incline db presses after this but was running low on time since I spent a little while longer warming up for my hamstring.

pfabrizi1
06-19-17, 9:58 am
Good Morning All.
After spending a good portion of my weekend on my feet walking around, my hamstring feels almost all better. Still tight, still has a little bruising/pressure in it, but all good no pain. So I decided to pull today, conventional. I was fairly happy at the weight I worked up to, but my conventional pulling needs a lot of work, it just doesn't feel right.

Conventional DL
154x6
220x6
264x6
264x6
330x6
405x3
405x3
405x6
330x5
330x5

Behind The neck Press
99x15
99x15
99x15

I'm going to upload two vids to youtube of my lighter pulls at the end. Once I do, maybe someone has some tips or sees something I could fix.

pfabrizi1
06-19-17, 10:14 am
https://youtu.be/iieeEHFsh7uA
https://youtu.be/vmyAQmCfxg8

pfabrizi1
06-19-17, 10:21 am
First ones wrong...

https://youtu.be/iieEHFsh7uA

pfabrizi1
06-20-17, 8:34 pm
Woke up a bit tired but felt good by the time I got to the gym. It's been raining a lot so I'm kinda sleepy! Had a great bench workout today, upped the weight by 6lbs and also decided to change the order of my shoulder accessories, putting db press first then hitting laterals so I can gradually work up a little heavier on them.

Bench
154x8
198x5
264x5
330x3
330x3
330x3

Close Grip Bench
209x10
209x10
209x10

Seated DB Press
75x10
75x10

Lateral KB Raise
22x12
22x12

Video from my top set of bench

https://youtu.be/GFBgQ3CMqhA

pfabrizi1
06-21-17, 9:07 am
Good morning all. Damn rain wont stop, all I wanna do is lay in bed and sleep! Woke up feeling tired but strong, ready for some front squats. Killed every set with ease, so I'm going up 5kg next week instead of 3. Did some light good mornings to start easing back into some hamstring work, felt uncomfortable but I know it'll only help recover. Seated presses felt 10x easier than last week (its light, but still), so I'll be upping the weight 5kg next week also.. Here it goes

Front Squat
154x8
220x3
277x5
277x5
277x5

Good Morning
154x8
154x8
154x8

Seated Press
136x12
136x12
136x12

Was supposed to do some light back work, but decided to call it a day since I'm a little fatigued all around.
Heres the last set of fronts and gm

https://youtu.be/XpjkSNPe5OE
https://youtu.be/vj_1ezW4Kik

MRmichael.hooker
06-21-17, 1:22 pm
Hammy still feeling better?

pfabrizi1
06-21-17, 4:03 pm
Hammy still feeling better?

Yep feeling pretty good! I was able to pull conventional on Monday worked up to 405 with no pain, just tightness. Did some light good mornings today which were a little on the uncomfortable side, but I think it'll help loosen it up. Gotta gradually just work back into it.

pfabrizi1
06-22-17, 8:57 am
Got to sleep nice and early last night, around 9:30 so I finally got a little caught up on sleep. Feeling pretty well rested today, and I've been making a point to increase my food intake to compensate for the increased training intensity and volume. I just feel hungrier too, which is probably a result of the hard training. Had a great lift today, everything felt smooth, hit board presses today for an easy 5kg/11lb increase from last week, and overheads felt surprisingly easy...

Close Grip Bench
154x8
220x5
264x5
... add two boards
308x3
352x3
352x3
363x2

Standing Press
176x6
176x6

Incline DB Press
55x15
60x20

Lying Triceps Extension single arm (DB)
35x12
35x15
..superset with
Dumbbell Curl
35x12
35x12

Going to keep going with the board presses for a few more weeks before going back to off the chest close grips, we'll see how it carries over. looking to make a little jump on standing presses and going up to 40lbs on the triceps extensions next week. Ready to hit some heavy squats tomorrow!

Board Press 363lb
https://youtu.be/6xO5T29Sziw

pfabrizi1
06-23-17, 5:24 pm
Happy Friday everyone! I'm completely exhausted, had a rough night of fighting and arguing at home, so getting up at 5 to hit the gym left me with about 3 hours of sleep. Gotta do what you gotta do. On days like this I like to think of this story I remember the article by dave tate about chuck vogelpohl https://www.elitefts.com/coaching-logs/sometimes-you-have-to-do-what-you-have-to-do/

Strong squatting today was real happy with how easy it felt, the last set being easiest of all. Strong paused squats and finished off with a set of 12 to add in a bit of volume. Didn't do any chest or back work like I was supposed to, I was drained.

Here goes

Squat
198x6
264x5
308x5
436x3
436x3
436x3

Pause Squat
374x4
374x4
264x12

Last Set of Squat
https://youtu.be/sgulX_-Fr78

pfabrizi1
06-26-17, 9:30 am
Good morning all, happy Monday. Re-worked a couple things over the weekend, as I'm seriously considering the meet at the end of October, so I'm gonna really hit it hard these next few weeks to see where I'm at. Also going to buy knee wraps and give that a go I've decided.

Pause Squats (Beltless)
154x6
264x5
330x3
374x2
396x3

Conventional DL
374x3
418x3
440x3

Standing Good Morning
154x10
154x10

Behind The Neck Press
99x15
99x15
99x15

Chest Supported DB Row
55x15
55x15
55x15

The deadlifts felt much better than last week. I'm convinced that pulling conventional will never feel natural to me, but I'm working on it. Going to stick with 440 next week try and hit some more reps with it. Pause Squats were great gonna up the weight next week, same with Good Mornings.

Deadlift
https://youtu.be/vmBw3wl3uWY
Pause Squat
https://youtu.be/SMidWt0yJaE

pfabrizi1
06-27-17, 9:19 am
Good Morning! Didn't get to bed till later than I'd have liked last night, feeling a bit sore from yesterdays workout especially my hamstrings but not in a bad way. Was going to do board presses today but I decided to switch that to Thursday and do comp bench today while I'm a little fresher. Good idea, it worked out well. Did my usual rep work 5/3/1 style, then decided to work up to heavy singles. Went up in kilos, without calculating to pounds to see how much I'd hit. Went up to 170kg for a fairly easy single, which turns out to be 375lbs. Extremely happy. Tough workout though altogether.

Flat Bench
242x2
275x3
301x6
330x1
352x1
375x1

Close Grip Bench
264x6
264x6
286x4

Seated DB Press
75x10
75x12

Incline DB Press
60x15
60x15

Lying DB Tricep ext
35x8

Lateral Raise
25x12

Cut the tris and raises short, was exhausted! Will finish them up another day, don't have much more than front squats planned for Friday so probably then. Next week will either try to hit 375 for a double, or go up... haven't decided yet I'll play it by ear.

pfabrizi1
06-28-17, 8:56 am
Good morning! Was going to do Comp. Squats today but I'm expecting my knee wraps to come tomorrow, so I switched it with front squat day. Probably a better idea anyway as I'm a little beat up from pulling and benching Monday and Tuesday. Went really well worked up to a nice heavy double, would've had more but my chest was cramping up. Did some nice, slow, stiff legs with a long ROM and it felt great. Finished with some seated press and pull ups, with some hangs using the fat grips to build some grip/forearms. Felt awesome.

Front Squat
154x5
198x5
264x3
308x3
330x3
352x2

Stiff Leg DL
154x10
154x10
198x6
264x6
Used a hook grip for this. Who in their right mind would ever do this with heavy weights I do not know.

Seated Press
147x12
147x12

Chin Up
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

10s Holds using fat grips x 3 (in between sets of pullups)

Front Squat
https://youtu.be/OA60Viat_rA

pfabrizi1
06-29-17, 9:22 am
Good Morning! Enjoyed a nice cookout at the gym last night, was a nice time hanging out and meeting people for the first time since moving here, it's a nice little group at the gym I train at. Had a bunch of errands to do last night so I'm a bit tired today, and my body is a bit fatigued but I'm real happy with how trainings been going. I should be receiving my knee wraps today so I'll practice wrapping a bit tonight so I'm good to squat in the morning. Should also be getting new shoes to deadlift in, ordered a pair of Asics Matflex 5s, I think I'll like those over Chucks but we'll see they were cheap enough.

Flat Bench
154x8
264x5
308x2
308x2
308x2
308x2
Nice, easy, and technique was spot on. Working on developing more leg drive and nailing my form here.

Close Grip Bench
264x6
264x6

Standing Press
154x3
154x3
176x6
Felt Awesome, making good progress here!

DB Curl
35x8
35x8
25x12

Flat DB Fly
55x12
55x12

Feeling tired, but good. Weights moving nicely, getting acclimated to using heavier weights on everything. Really happy so far

pfabrizi1
06-30-17, 8:59 am
Happy Friday! Alarm didn't go off again (or I shut it off without realizing bc Im tired lol) but I still got up in time to squat. I got my knee wraps in the mail yesterday and spend a good portion of my night figuring out how to wrap. Definitely not as easy as I thought. Therefore I made it my business to get in and at least squat today. Really felt strong, and didn't try the wraps until after I finished all my work sets as I know I'm not going to get any work out of it just yet. 440 was the top set of the day, and boy was it easy. No sticking point at all through the reps which is great, just smooth sailing.

Squat
308x3
352x3
396x3
440x5

Wraps on
Dropped to
374x5
374x5

First set felt so strange, felt as if I was gonna tip over walking it out lol I guess I was nervous/didn't know what to expect. Second set felt awesome, could've kept going rep wise. Looking forward to trying it again next week now that I felt confident with it in my second set I know what to do and expect.

pfabrizi1
07-05-17, 9:28 am
Good morning all, hope everyone had a nice and safe 4th of July. Celebrated a bit yesterday in the big city of Raleigh, it was actually really nice. Very hot though, being out walking in the heat for 4 hours definitely left me drained and hungry lol had a nice big dinner last night. So I didn't train Monday or Tuesday, as the gym was closed both days. Really threw me off but I was thrilled to get back at it today. Had a great lift today too, minus bench but only because I was wiped from Pause Squats and Deadlifting, which normally I wouldn't do it all in one day but I had a few days to make up for. No Fluff work just the main lifts.

Pause Squat (Beltless)
154x6
330x3
374x3
403x3
Easy PR could've had at least 5 reps or more.

Sumo Deadlift
379x5
440x5
501x5
First Day back doing sumo pulls. Felt great except for being winded from squatting before it. Got new shoes to pull in (Asics Matflex 5) and they are awesome! Great grip, but sleek enough that I feel barefoot but tons of ankle support. Didn't go for more reps on my top set, though I had probably another 5 in me lol.

Pause Bench
154x10
264x5
308x5
Mis-loaded the bar about 6lbs too heavy on my last set, but still hit my 5.

Fat Grips Pull Ups
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

And done. Got my main work caught up on for the week, so back to normal tomorrow. Front Squats are progressing like a mofo, especially for beltless. By the end of this week or the next I'm going to commit to doing the meet in October.

Sumo Pull 501x5
https://youtu.be/M3OZWXXS9Ec

pfabrizi1
07-06-17, 8:52 am
Morning all. Feeling real good today, even after yesterdays beating of a workout lol. Benching today was real nice, form was on point and speed was there. That's the goal of todays benching session, almost a DE day but not quite. Close Grip was really strong and standing press was same as usual, I'll never be happy with it but its moving along. Did some fatgrips work at the end, I really want to work my grip and forearms more, and I'm gonna start hitting some abs this week.

Flat Bench
154x8
264x5
313x2
313x2
313x2

Close Grip Bench
264x6
273x6

Standing Press
154x5
154x5
165x8

DB Curl
35x10
35x8
35x8

Flat DB Fly
55x15
55x15
55x12

Hammer Curls with Fat Grips
35x10
35x10
35x10

MRmichael.hooker
07-06-17, 9:04 am
Good morning all, hope everyone had a nice and safe 4th of July. Celebrated a bit yesterday in the big city of Raleigh, it was actually really nice. Very hot though, being out walking in the heat for 4 hours definitely left me drained and hungry lol had a nice big dinner last night

Welcome to the south lol. Raleigh is cool though, lots to do. Usually there's always construction going on somewhere, ALWAYS, but still cool. Greensboro, which is closer for you, has some good stuff to offer too


Benching today was real nice, form was on point and speed was there.
It's always a good feeling with you just 'feel it'. When you KNOW speed is on point, form is on point, everything just goes solid. Makes it a much better workout lol

pfabrizi1
07-07-17, 9:21 am
Welcome to the south lol. Raleigh is cool though, lots to do. Usually there's always construction going on somewhere, ALWAYS, but still cool. Greensboro, which is closer for you, has some good stuff to offer too


It's always a good feeling with you just 'feel it'. When you KNOW speed is on point, form is on point, everything just goes solid. Makes it a much better workout lol

Yeah I'm liking Raleigh so far, I've heard it gets much more congested outside of summertime, but seems to be a fun spot. I like the laid back feel of wake forest and Youngsville though, more my speed!

Man, fingers crossed all my lifts have felt on fire lately, I've been making constant progress and everything I hit feels so smooth and easy. Especially for lifting so early in the morning, I've been blessed by the iron lately.

pfabrizi1
07-07-17, 9:27 am
Happy Friday!!! Was excited to squat today and work with the wraps a little more. It was fun but really hard I was dead and drenched in sweat at the end. Went extremely well, I'm building towards a nice 1rm PR fairly easily in the coming week or two.

Squat
154x8
264x5
319x5
363x5
414x7 EASY! First rep was admittedly a bit high, but boy these reps flew like it was a warmup set.
Wraps on
414x1
462x1
507x1 Pretty easy, just again need to get used to the feel and adjust to the way the weight is going to move on the way up.

High Bar Squat
264x10
264x8 Just ran out of gas. Literally stood there with the weight on my back contemplating if I wanted to do more or not for a good minute lol.

Superset with
Chest supported DB Rows (W/ Fat Grips)
35x15
35x15
35x15
Light, but I was exhausted and couldn't catch my breath so I stuck to 35s though it felt a bit too easy.

MRmichael.hooker
07-07-17, 10:39 am
Yeah I'm liking Raleigh so far, I've heard it gets much more congested outside of summertime, but seems to be a fun spot. I like the laid back feel of wake forest and Youngsville though, more my speed!

Man, fingers crossed all my lifts have felt on fire lately, I've been making constant progress and everything I hit feels so smooth and easy. Especially for lifting so early in the morning, I've been blessed by the iron lately.

Yeah Wake is cool. It's a college town, so just a different atmosphere all together. And sometimes you just gotta pray to the iron Gods and say 'thank you' lol


Just ran out of gas. Literally stood there with the weight on my back contemplating if I wanted to do more or not for a good minute lol.

That's exactly how my squats felt yesterday at the end. Last set I just sat there before I got under the bar thinking "I mean, I've already put in good work... do I really NEED to do one last set?....." But I'd hate to miss a new max because I didn't want to work. I'd be pissed at myself haha. Plus for me running smolov, I want to make sure to hit every rep, every weight, every week, to see how much I improve on it.

pfabrizi1
07-10-17, 8:50 am
Yeah Wake is cool. It's a college town, so just a different atmosphere all together. And sometimes you just gotta pray to the iron Gods and say 'thank you' lol



That's exactly how my squats felt yesterday at the end. Last set I just sat there before I got under the bar thinking "I mean, I've already put in good work... do I really NEED to do one last set?....." But I'd hate to miss a new max because I didn't want to work. I'd be pissed at myself haha. Plus for me running smolov, I want to make sure to hit every rep, every weight, every week, to see how much I improve on it.

Yup loving it here so far, its hot but not unbearable dirty air like NY so its a huge difference. Lol that inner struggle of what our bodies are telling us and what we know we can and should do. It's scary what your capable of when you can shut out the pain and tiredness and just do what you know you need to do.

pfabrizi1
07-10-17, 8:53 am
Happy Monday! After a great weekend of my mom visiting, hanging out with her, eating some nice home cooked meals from momma again, I felt ready to go this morning! Finally back to some heavier sumo pulls and its feeling great! Didn't push the Pause Squats for a PR this week, bc it was heavy week for deads so I needed to leave some in the tank. Gym opened later than usual so I didn't have time to really do much accessory work but I got in presses and rows so good enough.

Pause Squat
154x6
330x3
374x3
374x3

Sumo DL
440x5
496x3
562x3

Behind the Neck Press
110x12
110x12
110x12

Chest Supported DB Row
55x12
55x12
55x15

Short but sweet. Really happy with my pulls as it's been a while with my hamstring injuries and all. Felt so easy and smooth can't wait to push it some more.

pfabrizi1
07-11-17, 9:01 am
Morning! Didn't sleep well last night, but was excited to hit some heavy bench. Went really well I was thrilled with my form and strength this morning.


Comp. Bench
154x5
220x5
268x5
302x3
342x4
Felt awesome. Hit a PR for this training cycle, and puts me on a great track to hit a mid 400lb bench by Oct. for sure. Flies off the chest, slows down mid-way, then flies up from there. So my chest and tri strength is there, I know I need to blast my shoulders from here on out..

Close Grip Bench
209x10
209x10
209x10

Seated Db Press
70x10
70x12

Standing Lateral Raise
35x12
35x10

DB Curls
35x8
35x8
35x8

Hanging Leg Raise
x10
x10
x10

Rolling DB Tri Extensions
35x12
35x12
35x12

So the plan next few weeks is to scrap the close grip on this day, and add in some heavier DB Presses for a few more sets. Something like 5-8 sets of 3-5 reps working up to some heavy weights hopefully. I know that's my weak point and it has been for a long time. Not any longer! Tris were a weak point for a while, and I blasted heavy heavy close grips for a long time to the point where it's almost as strong as my flat bench. The same needs to happen with shoulders now.

pfabrizi1
07-12-17, 8:55 am
Rough morning! Feeling exhausted today I haven't been sleeping very well lately but I rolled my ass outta bed and got to the gym. I remind myself on Wednesdays that once I'm up, I have only 2 more days of getting up early left before the weekend! Usually works to convince myself to roll out of bed lol. Had a real productive workout though, slightly lowered the intensity on front squats bc I'm planning on building some more volume with it as the weeks go by, and I added in some deficits today to keep some form of conventional pulls in as I transition back to sumo now that my hamstring is healed. Felt great, hit some heavier seated press and some more pull ups with the fat grips.

Front Squat
154x5
198x5
264x3
330x3
330x3
Plan here is to add another set next week, and do sets of 4 instead of 3 with the same weight.

2" Deficit DL (Conventional)
154x5
264x5
330x5
374x5
Going to add weight as the weeks go by, keeping the sets/reps the same.

Seated Press
154x10
154x10

Fat Grips Pull-Up
BWx5
Bwx5
Bwx6

pfabrizi1
07-13-17, 8:55 am
It's Thursday, almost done with the week! Another rough start this morning getting outta bed, I gotta try to get to sleep a little earlier I guess. Real productive lift though, beat my numbers on close grip and standing press which is the main focus of the day. Awesome morning.

Flat Bench
154x8
264x5
319x2
319x2
319x2
Nice and smooth, really trying to nail my technique and practice getting a little more leg drive.

Close Grip Bench
273x6
273x8

Standing Press
154x3
165x3
185x6
185x3

Hanging Leg Raise on Fat Grip
Bwx8
Bwx8
Bwx8

Flat DB Fly
55x12
55x12

Hammer Curls
55x10
55x8

pfabrizi1
07-14-17, 9:14 am
Its Friday again! Had the night to myself last night, so I ate like a champ and slept like a baby, what else would I do home alone lol. While most guys would probably be partying and/or hanging out there I was just relaxing, cooking, eating and sleeping. Living the Powerlifting Life! Woke up feeling pretty refreshed, so needless to say I was prepared for a hard heavy leg day. Couldn't have performed better, I was so beat at the end I couldn't really still leg as much as I'd like to have, my lower back was on FIRE!
No wrapped squats today, I wanted to focus on just hitting my numbers for my "heavy" week

Squat
363x5
415x3
462x5

High Bar Squat
264x10
264x10
264x10

Stiff Leg DL (Off the floor, dead stop every rep)
154x10
264x6
330x5

Legs, hammies, lower back, and abs are fried from this week, but in a good way. Had a lot of productive work this week and really in a great groove. My squats put my 1rm around 536 but I know my 1rm and 5rm strength is way different so I can safely say it's probably a bit higher than that. 16 weeks out, I'll take it. I know by 16 weeks I can get it at least up to 600 without wraps, which is the plan. 600/450/700 at 198 has been the goal for a while now, and I am really confident that I'll be there.

pfabrizi1
07-17-17, 9:07 am
Happy Monday all! Yea nobody likes Monday, but for me it means I get back to the gym after the weekend off, so it's happy. Great lift today, felt real strong, hit a big PR on Pause Squats (misloaded 10kg extra lol), Deadlifts were on point, stronger than they were before I hurt my hamstring so that's a huge plus (especially since they are after pause squats a little fatigued). Here goes


Pause Squats (Beltless)

154x6
330x3
374x3
432x3

Sumo Deadlift
425x3
485x3
546x5

Behind The Neck Press
110x12
110x12
110x12

Chest Supported DB Row
60x12
60x12
60x12

pfabrizi1
07-18-17, 9:14 am
Good Morning! Had trouble sleeping last night so I was a bit tired this morning, but got in and got it done regardless. Hit my numbers on bench, close grip, and then changed it up and did some heavy seated press supersetted with fat grips pullups. Pretty satisfied overall, definitely gotta get to sleep earlier tonight though.

Pause Bench
154x5
220x5
253x3
293x3
330x5

Close Grip Bench
220x12
220x12

Seated Press
154x10
198x5
198x3
198x4

Fat Grips Pullups
Bwx6
Bwx6
Bwx6

Again, not bad overall I hit what I wanted to hit on bench fairly easily. Just felt like I bullshitted around a little bit too much probably because I'm tired. Changed my diet up a bit to have some more carbs in the mornings, we'll see what effect that has since I'm trying to put on another 10lbs or so before I really enter my meet prep.

pfabrizi1
07-19-17, 8:56 am
Good morning! Rough start today, have been mentally drained all week due to things going on at home and its starting to get to me. Regardless, got up, fed myself, and got it done. Front squats were a little harder than I expected but deficit deads went really well. finished up with some shoulders and abs, so overall not bad. Gonna try to hopefully get to sleep earlier again tonight.

Front Squat
154x5
198x5
264x5
330x4
308x5

So my main problem here is I need to find the right bar to use so that the knurling actually sits on my shoulders and not the smooth part of the bar. I can handle the weight but keeping the bar from rolling takes its toll. No matter how upright I stay, if the smooth of the bar is on my shoulders it's going to move one way or another eventually. Would've liked 330x5 for a few sets but I'll take it, 4 was still a pr.


2" Deficit DL (conventional)
154x5
264x5
330x5
396x5

Real strong here. up 22lbs from last week.

Seated DB Press
60x12
60x12
60x12

Hanging Leg Raises (Fat Grip)
10
10
10

pfabrizi1
07-20-17, 9:17 am
Good morning! Though I didn't get to sleep early as I'd hoped, I felt more refreshed today. Probably ate a bit more than usual for dinner lol that's probably why. Had a pretty solid lift this morning. Looking forward to hitting some heavy squats tomorrow!

Comp Bench
154x8
264x5
326x2
326x2
326x2

Felt good, still working the form here and trying to get as tight as possible and really utilize leg drive, something I've never really focused on much in the past.

Close Grip
277x6
277x8

Standing Press
154x3
160x3
176x8
Though I was initially disappointed bc I wanted to get 9, looking back now this is not only a huge improvement, but also quite a PR for me, and considering it was after benching and hitting close grips pretty hard, I'm actually pretty damn happy with that!

Barbell Curl
88x10
88x10
88x10
88x10
Ouch. The pump was no joke here. I like having big arms but I've grown to hate the ridiculous pump I always seem to get from doing biceps of any kind. It takes way more out of me than it should. First set in and I was pumped already. Oh the struggles lol.

Flat DB Fly
55x12
55x12

Rolling Tri Extensions (DB)
35x12
35x12

And done.

pfabrizi1
07-21-17, 9:23 am
It's Friday again! Which means its squat day! Went pretty well, except for the fact that I couldn't do stiff legs due to having an extreme lower back pump that just wouldn't go away. So going forward I may want to do stiff legs on another day or before high bar squats... I'll figure it out. Hit a new PR on Comp Squats and it wasn't really all that hard. Legs were pumped as shit after that and high bar squats, felt nice for a change to get a solid pump.

Comp. Squat
154x8
220x5
308x3
352x3
Belt on, Knee Sleeves on
407x3
451x6

High Bar Squat
264x10
264x15

Stiff Leg DL
154x10
264x6
Stopped here. Literally could not bear the lower back pump. Took me a good 20 mins to be able to unload the weights and get in the car. I'll chalk it up to doing high rep squats on high bar, and my body not being used to it.

pfabrizi1
07-24-17, 9:34 am
Happy Monday. Woke up feeling ready to roll. Ate a nice amount this weekend really filled up yesterday so feeling pretty good. Didn't do much but lounge around for the most part too.

Pause Squat
154x6
264x6
330x4
374x4
432x5

Sumo DL
392x5
451x5
513x8

I thought this set would suck with the high reps, and the lower back pumps going on. Wasn't all that bad. I was kinda surprised my grip held up so well also not even the slightest issue.

Chest Supported DB Row
70x15
70x15

And that's all. would normally do some behind the neck presses but was pressed for time. Needed some extra rest between pause squats and DL to let my back loosen up. Really kicking the training into high gear lately.

pfabrizi1
07-25-17, 8:49 am
Good Morning. Surprisingly well rested after yesterday's tough ass workout. Just a little sorness in the legs, which is nice for a change. All these extra carbs have me getting pumped as hell during my lifts. My forearms are pumped just typing right now lol. Good lift this morning, wanted to hit 8 on my last set of bench, but got 7. I had another in me but didn't want to grind and mess up my form on that light of a weight. First week back into dips and they felt great, chest shoulders and tris had a huge pump going. Here it goes.

Comp Bench
154x5
220x5
238x5
275x5
308x7

Parallel Bar Dips
Bw+52lbx12
Bw+70lbs x 10
Bw+70lbs x 10

Seated Press
154x8
154x8
154x8

After this I just did some light tricep extensions, and hanging leg raises with the fat grips. Hard as hell after all this work but it was productive.

pfabrizi1
07-26-17, 9:08 am
Good Morning! It's Wednesday, almost through with the week. Got some time lounging by the pool a bit last night, going to Myrtle Beach this weekend, so all is good. Training is going full steam ahead, and I'm really looking forward to hitting some heavier lifts next week. Today went well, hit my numbers on front squat and defecit pulls then just took it easy from there I was pretty beat and sore from the past few days.

Front Squat
154x5
198x5
264x5
308x5
330x5

Defecit DL 2"
154x5
264x5
330x5
396x5

Pull up w/ Fat Grips
x6
x6
x6

pfabrizi1
07-27-17, 8:55 am
Thursday morning, always a tough morning to wake up. I've been waking up before my alarm, which is great and all if I actually got out of bed but I go back to sleep for an extra 15 mins or so and it kinda messes me up. Can't help it though lol. Really productive morning though, despite being pretty damn sore.

Comp. Bench
154x8
264x5
330x2
330x2
330x2
330x2

Real easy, again just working my form. Could've done 20 more sets and felt easy. I normally do 3 sets but I wasn't so happy with my 3rd set so I hit another, and it was perfect.

Close Grip Bench
282x6
282x6

Standing Press
132x5
149x5
171x9
Wanted 10 here, but my shoulders are really fatigued. Still a pretty nice PR

Barbell Curl
88x8
88x8
88x8
88x8

Lying DB Tricep Extension
35x10
35x10

Incline DB Fly
55x10
55x10

At the end of this workout I had the most serious pump I've had in a long time. I can honestly say I looked damn big lol, I was pretty thrilled to say the least.

MRmichael.hooker
07-27-17, 11:39 am
Going to Myrtle Beach this weekend, so all is good.

First time going there?


Thursday morning, always a tough morning to wake up. I've been waking up before my alarm, which is great and all if I actually got out of bed but I go back to sleep for an extra 15 mins or so and it kinda messes me up. Can't help it though lol.

I've ran into this a couple times recently. Where I'll get up at 5:30am, and then look and it's like 5:50 and I'm like SHIT! Just happens lol


I can honestly say I looked damn big lol, I was pretty thrilled to say the least.

One of the best feelings

pfabrizi1
07-27-17, 3:47 pm
First time going there?



I've ran into this a couple times recently. Where I'll get up at 5:30am, and then look and it's like 5:50 and I'm like SHIT! Just happens lol



One of the best feelings

First time staying in Myrtle, but we stopped for lunch a few months back on our way back home from Charleston. Really looking forward to it! Only staying for one night but we have an oceanfront balcony in our room which is gonna be pretty awesome.

For real man I try to get up at 5:00 or 5:15 M-F but by the time I get up and outta bed its always later than I want. Then I'm left rushing around the rest of the morning after I get home from lifting which I hate.

I forgot how good it felt lol I mean I'm used to the looks and comments almost every day at work and anytime I leave the house with my Fiancé to the point where we joke about it but I personally never feel like I'm really that big to warrant all the comments. Now I'm up to about 210ish from the low 190s that I was when I moved out here (and leaner... at 5'7") so I do feel a little bigger than usual I suppose. I'll never really feel satisfied though I guess, but that's the name of the game..

pfabrizi1
07-28-17, 8:53 am
Happpppy Friday! This was a really productive, but tough week of lifting. Feeling more sore than I have in a while, but I've surpassed every PR on every lift. My estimated 1RM on all everything right now is higher than it has ever been, with quite a bit of time to go. So after my top set of squats I moved straight to stiff legs, and left it at that because once again the lower back pump was unbearable. Gotta figure something out to work around that.

Squat
154x8
242x5
242x5
326x5
374x5
425x9
Stopped at 9, though I had another 2 in the tank I felt like any more would kinda be overkill.

Stiff leg DL (dead stop off the floor)
154x10
264x6
330x6

Done. Headed to Myrtle Beach tomorrow morning, hopefully get to rest up (even though the weather doesn't seem to be great for tomorrow) hit the beach and just have a little fun. Then on Monday is 5/3/1 week, which means heavy everything and hopefully breaking some more PRs!

pfabrizi1
08-01-17, 8:52 am
Happy first day of August everyone. So I had a great weekend at the beach, unfortunately came home and developed a fever sunday night into yesterday morning so no training yesterday. It's all good though, got back on track today for a heavy DL day. So originally I had planned on pulling 573 for a set of 5 for my top set, which would be a nice PR. I told myself that I'd give it all in my pulls and that would be all I'd do today, as I need a bit of a bread from the heavy secondary work. Now I got to my top set, and it flew up, first rep and second, but I'm assuming that due to being sick my grip just wasn't there so I called it at 2 reps. I was mad. So decided that if I wasn't getting a rep PR I'd throw some weight on the bar. Worked up to a heavy single, unfortunately with straps, which I'm not used to, so it made it much harder to set up but I still got it. I'm gonna hit the community gym later and get some upper body work in, nothing crazy.


Sumo DL
451x5
513x3
573x2
617x1
639x1

617 was without straps. Flew up like nothing. 639 would've probably felt the same if my grip was there. Heaviest I've pulled off the floor I think, and I know I have a lot more in me. 700 is going down for sure in October.

pfabrizi1
08-02-17, 9:20 am
Good Morning! So today was testing day for bench. Last time I did this (kinda accidentally) I worked up to 375x1 for a little bit of a grinder. Today I intentionally worked up, as next week I will be 12 weeks out and so I need to know where my strength is at. So I killed 375 this time around, so I went up 5kg (11lbs) and crushed 386. I stopped there, didn't want to hit a true max, but I know for a fact that had I gone up to 400 I'd have it. So with 12.5 weeks to go, and 425 as the goal, I'm feeling very confident with this. Just hit some pull ups after benching and called it a day. Nothing fancy this week except maybe Friday depending on how squats go TM.

Pause Bench
154x5
220x5
275x5
330x2
375x1
386x1
Down to
330x2
330x3
330x3
Felt a little strain in my right pec on this last set so I stopped. Nothing serious

Pull ups
bwx10
bwx8
bwx8

Squat tomorrow! Looking forward to see where I'm at. This is the only lift of the 3 that I haven't necessarily worked up as heavy as I'm estimating my 1rm to be so I might not go as heavy as I'm expecting but we'll see. Not looking to hit a true 1rm as my body isn't quite prepared for that right now anyway.

pfabrizi1
08-03-17, 8:52 am
Alright so today was the last day of "testing" if you want to call it that. Just looking to see where I'm at, checking my progress, and setting myself up to see if I can hit the numbers I'm hoping to hit in 12 weeks. Like I said yesterday, squatting is the one exercise I haven't worked up near my estimated max so I was a bit nervous about it going in. Well it went great. Worked up slowly, and left a ton of weight in the tank just because I was so thrilled with my last set and how it literally flew up I wanted to end it on a high note and feel 100% confident.

Squat
154x8
264x5
264x5
330x5
374x2
440x1
485x1
507x1
529x1
So that was my last set. Estimated 1rm is about 551, which is definitely accurate or even a little low judging by how this felt. Perfect set up, perfect form, no struggle whatsoever. Bar almost left my traps from the speed coming up.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna just bullshit around do some arms shoulders get a nice pump so I may not even log it. I deserve it, I crushed all my lifts this week hit everything exactly like I wanted to. Form on all 3 lifts was really solid as well. Come Monday, its game time.

pfabrizi1
08-07-17, 10:12 am
12 Weeks out, so I made a contest log! I'll be back to this one in about 12 weeks! http://forum.animalpak.com/showthread.php?44862-12-Weeks-To-RPS-Revenant-Rising&p=1453106#post1453106

pfabrizi1
10-30-17, 11:24 am
Ok, so if you've read my Competition log, you'll know that 2 days out, my meet was cancelled. Am I mad? Yea a little, but life goes on. I had a very productive training cycle, hit some seriously awesome PRs, and I'm ready to keep training. No reason to waste time and energy dwelling on what could have been. Looks like the XPC next year is out of the picture since I don't think I will be peaking again before the year is over, nor would I want to travel for another meet at this point in time.

Going forward here is the game plan for the next 6 weeks at least...
Back to 5/3/1 progression on the main lifts but swapping out Sumo DL for Conventional DL for a while... and beltless for the most part. Focusing on putting on some more size, getting up to around 215.

Going to focus on weekly progressive overload on Front Squats, Stiff Leg DL, and Close Grip Bench.

Thursdays will be back/bicep days as I feel that I need more upper back work and though my biceps are big in size, they cannot handle my bench press strength any more (strange, but I have a small strain in my right biceps from heavy benching)

3 nights a week I will do some light cardio (for health and staying lean) and ab work... It's time to take my ab work seriously.

Grip training. Need to do it.

That's all for now. A lot of new fun stuff, but same overall focus. Excited to see where this takes me! So heres this mornings session

10/31/2017

Front Squat
154x8
198x8
264x5
308x3
308x3
Good base to start with, going to go up 10-15lbs per week at least.

Conventional Deadlift
175x5
220x3
264x3
308x3
352x3
397x7
Felt great, making sure my form is on point with this and I think I've got it down finally.

Incline DB Rows
70x15
70x15
70x15

pfabrizi1
10-31-17, 10:55 am
10/31/2017 Happy Halloween!
So today is my fiancé's 29th birthday (yep shes older than me lol!) and we don't have a whole lot planned unfortunately but we've done and are doing so many awesome things this year, so it's like an all year celebration basically! I did get her a whole lot of gifts and I'm gonna pick up a nice sushi dinner and a cake for her tonight, so I'm excited for her surprises.

Here goes the training for this morning. I forgot how hard it can be waking up so early every day, but I do feel much better training in the AM and its nice having the whole afternoon after work free.

10/31/2017 Training

Bench Press
155x5
198x3
230x3
265x3
308x3
345x4
This was harder than I expected, but I'm just being cautious with my bicep and all even though there was no pain.

Seated DB Press
50x10
65x10
75x10

Weighted Dips
BW+53lbs x 12
BW+53lbs x 12
BW+53lbs x 12

DB Side Raise
25x15
25x15
25x15

Lying DB Tricep Extension
35x10
35x8
35x8

Fat Bar Hanging Leg Raise
x8
x8
x8

Had a huge pump at the end of this, couldn't even put my jacket back on. That felt great. Back and Biceps tomorrow! I'd do some cardio tonight, but due to birthday stuff and all I'll push it to tomorrow.

pfabrizi1
11-01-17, 9:40 am
Good morning! Got up out of bed a bit late today, didn't do much last night but I think she was happy with all her gifts and cake and everything I did for her birthday. I try my best to make it special for her since its just the two of us, and her family isn't the best at treating her for her birthday. They didn't send a card or anything and it upsets me probably more than her but I don't like her to be treated that way.

Anyway... here is today's back and biceps training. Nothing crazy just yet, I haven't hit my back or biceps with real isolation and volume in a long time so I gotta ease back into it

11/1/2017 Training

Barbell Row
154x12
198x8
220x6
264x6
264x8

Chin Up
Bw x 8
Bw x 8
Bw x 8

Barbell Curl
88x8
110x6
110x6
88x8

Standing DB Curl
25x12
25x12

DB Hammer Curl
55x12
55x12
55x12

Ab Wheel Rollout
x8
x8
x8

Felt good, again nothing crazy just going to slowly work up in weight over the weeks

pfabrizi1
11-02-17, 9:46 am
Thursday morning, here we go again. Incline Bench is the focus today, as well as 5/3/1 Standing Press. I'm going to work up my 5rm strength on inclines, as opposed to 3rm that I'll be working on for front squats and stiff legs. Just don't feel I'll be getting much out of 3 reps on an incline bench press.

11/2/2017 Training
Incline Bench
154x8
198x6
242x5
286x2
242x5
242 is a better starting point than I expected for this. Not terribly difficult, so I'll be going up 10lbs a week for now. 300x5 on incline would be huge for me.

Standing Press
154x3
163x3
181x6
Felt good. Going to keep this after incline for now unless I feel it's really impacting it.

Wide Grip Bench
154x15
154x15
154x15

Seated Rear Delt Raise
25x20
25x20
25x20

DB Front Raise
25x12
25x12

Will hit cardio and abs tonight. So my rough game plan is to ultimately compete at Boss of Bosses next year. Though I haven't had much experience competing, I know my strength is there with some of the top lifters in my class. Plus Dan has been so generous with his advice and help here whenever I needed it, it would be an honor to meet him and thank him in person, and compete on the same platform.
I just need to find a meet in between now and then to qualify. I probably won't do much of a peak for that, so I don't take much time from actual training since I'm confident I'll be good to qualify regardless. So just need to find one hopefully around feb/march

pfabrizi1
11-03-17, 8:53 am
TGIF, I'm exhausted today. Need to start getting to bed a bit earlier from now on. I did my cardio last night, 20mins fairly easy walking and it felt good.

This mornings workout was a bit tough, but not terrible. Stomach was bothering me a bit, which as we all know makes it a bit uncomfortable to squat. Oh well I got it done. I'm really happy with my Stiff Leg strength, can't wait to see where it takes me this training cycle.

11/3/2017 Training

Comp. Squat
205x5
264x3
310x3
360x3
410x3
Belt on
460x4

Stiff Leg DL (dead stop)
Beltless
154x5
264x3
352x3
375x3
375x3

High Bar Squat
308x10
308x10

Simple and effective. Sore as shit today, can't wait to rest up this weekend. I know its gonna take a few weeks to adjust to the change in training but I'm excited.

pfabrizi1
11-06-17, 9:48 am
Good Morning! It's Monday which means back to work unfortunately, but it also means back to lifting! Ate well over the weekend, did cardio and abs both Saturday and Sunday morning and got plenty of sleep so I'm feeling great today. Days like this make me so impatient with weights, front squats were real good, making me want to jump more than 6kg next week... but I think I've matured a bit as a lifter and my experience is telling me to stick to the plan. Slow and steady progress...

11/6/2017 Training

Front Squat (Beltless)
154x8
198x8
264x5
321x3
321x3

Conventional Deadlift (Beltless)
175x5
220x5
264x3
286x5
325x5
370x7

Chest Supported DB Rows
70x15
70x15
70x10

Everything felt real good. Going up to 75 for sets of 10 next week for rows. Everything else goes up as normal.

pfabrizi1
11-07-17, 10:48 am
Alright so I woke up not feeling too sore from yesterday which is a plus. Did some easy cardio last night for about 20 mins. I've been really hungry lately so I'm gonna stop at the store and pick up about a pound or 2 of ground turkey to make some burritos to have for snacks when I'm hungry. Growing boy I guess lol.

So this AM was bench, shoulders and triceps. Bench is a bit behind, again just being cautious a bit till I'm fully healed up but still, bench is not number 1 on my priority list ATM, I know when I hit it hard it's there. Just need to work on all the weak points and push it further, without injury. Hit a PR on Seated DB Press, and bumped the weights up a bit on everything else. Finished with a few sets of Abs, and no cardio tonight.

11/7/2017 Training
Pause Bench
155x5
198x5
231x3
253x5
286x5
325x5

So I still hit the required 5, easily, but didn't get the 7 that would've been a PR. Not at all upset.

Seated DB Press
60x15
70x10
80x8

Weighted Dips
52x12
70x12
70x9

Standing Side Raise
20x20
25x15
35x12
40x8

Lying Triceps Extension(DB)
35x12
35x12
35x10

Ab Wheel Rollout
x8
x8
x8

pfabrizi1
11-08-17, 1:24 pm
It's Wednesday, 7 months now of living in NC. I can safely say we've gotten used to life here, and we're starting to get ahead and save some money for the next step in life. We've been browsing homes in NC, as well as Myrtle Beach bc well... who doesn't want to live by the beach. And its surprisingly more affordable than where we live now.
I've grown fairly unhappy with my job though, 6 months in I should be due for a promotion/raise especially considering my experience in banking, and my performance. No mentions of it even though I've asked. I think its just about time to get out of banking, as it seems to be going downhill as a business. No more commissions for bankers or any other positions for the most part (thanks wells fargo), but consistently pushing sales goals and more responsibilities on us. If I'm going to be pressured to do sales, I'd expect to get compensated in some way for it. Yeah I make enough to get by and save a little now... but not nearly enough for the future.
Any suggestions? I've done it all, years of banking, years of automotive experience, years of gym sales/training. Idk what to do with myself anymore. I may post a separate thread anyway...
End of Rant

On to Training

Today's Training 11/8/2017
Barbell Rows
154x12
198x8
220x6
264x10
264x10

Chin Up (Fat Bar)
BWx6
BWx8

1 Arm Dumbbell Row
110x6
110x6

Barbell Curl
88x8
110x8
110x8

Hammer Curl
55x12
55x12
55x12

DB Curl
25x12
25x12

Hanging Leg Raise (Fat Bar)
BWx8
BWx8
BWx8

And done. Felt great. Going to hit some cardio, grip, and calves later.

MRmichael.hooker
11-08-17, 2:10 pm
I've grown fairly unhappy with my job though, 6 months in I should be due for a promotion/raise especially considering my experience in banking, and my performance. No mentions of it even though I've asked. I think its just about time to get out of banking, as it seems to be going downhill as a business. No more commissions for bankers or any other positions for the most part (thanks wells fargo), but consistently pushing sales goals and more responsibilities on us. If I'm going to be pressured to do sales, I'd expect to get compensated in some way for it. Yeah I make enough to get by and save a little now... but not nearly enough for the future.
Any suggestions? I've done it all, years of banking, years of automotive experience, years of gym sales/training. Idk what to do with myself anymore. I may post a separate thread anyway.

If you wanted to stay in banking, I did have a good experience with Bank of America and the bonus structure is definitely there. Hit goal, get paid. Lots of room for growth there as well. I didn't leave on bad terms, I just didn't enjoy being a 'banker' and came across a good opportunity to move on.

One thing I'd suggest is making sure your indeed resume and linked in profile are looking good and set them to public. You can set it to where your current company doesn't see you are looking.

Are you wanting to stay in sales? Do you have a degree?

704-658-5280 if there's anything I can do to help.

pfabrizi1
11-08-17, 2:24 pm
If you wanted to stay in banking, I did have a good experience with Bank of America and the bonus structure is definitely there. Hit goal, get paid. Lots of room for growth there as well. I didn't leave on bad terms, I just didn't enjoy being a 'banker' and came across a good opportunity to move on.

One thing I'd suggest is making sure your indeed resume and linked in profile are looking good and set them to public. You can set it to where your current company doesn't see you are looking.

Are you wanting to stay in sales? Do you have a degree?

704-658-5280 if there's anything I can do to help.

Thanks Brotha, I appreciate your help all the time man. I'm gonna get on indeed and update my resume and all that, and I've never been on linkein but I know that's a pretty big thing now so I'm gonna work on that also. BofA was a little tough for me as a teller at least, but I left on good terms also so I feel like I could give them a shot and likely go back in a better position as well.

I'm not at all opposed to sales, which is why I'm looking into potentially getting into insurance. My Fiancé works for state farm and she's doing fairly well (better than me ha!), similar schedule too, and I know getting licensed would be a breeze for me, I'm a pretty fast learner and good test taker. So I'm considering that as well.
No degree unfortunately, I just never liked the idea of going to college without knowing what field I'd like to work in.

Thanks again man, always appreciated.

pfabrizi1
11-09-17, 9:39 am
Damn alarm didn't go off this morning, but I got up at 6 and scrambled to get to the gym with enough time to Squat and hit Stiff legs. I'll hit quads again later just some light stuff to get some more volume.
Did Cardio and Grip work last night, a few sets with the captains of crush grippers.

Todays Training 11/9/2017

Squat Belt and knee sleeves
205x5
264x5
309x2
334x5
385x5
435x6

Stiff Leg DL (Dead stop)
154x5
264x3
352x3
390x3
390x3


That's all I had the time for... Will do some leg extensions and either lunges or split squats tonight at our apartment's gym.

pfabrizi1
11-15-17, 10:25 am
Alright it's been a few days so I've got some catching up to do. Had a busy weekend cleaning, organizing, shopping, and stuff like that. Working on figuring a lot of things out, career wise, and more. We're about halfway through our lease in our apartment and are considering if we would stay another year, or push for a house. We're still debating where we want to end up, and we're leaning towards Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, or Charleston. All three are more affordable than where we live now, close or on the beach, and so we got some traveling to do and meeting with real estate agents. It's actually really exciting.

Training wise, everything is going great. I pulled my right side groin last Thursday or Friday, which made front squats a bit painful, but no big deal I'll play it by ear squatting this Friday.

Here's Monday

Training Monday 11/15/2017
Front Squat Beltless
154x8
198x8
264x5
335x3
335x3

Conventional DL Beltless
175x5
220x5
264x3
325x5
374x3
415x4

Pull Up
BWx10
Bwx10
Bwx10

Not bad at all, PR on the front squat, conventional dl feeling pretty good so far.

pfabrizi1
11-15-17, 10:37 am
Training Tuesday 11/14/2017
Pause Bench
155x5
198x5
231x3
284x5
325x3
365x2

So bench is still a bit behind, but not worried at all..

Seated DB Press
60x15
70x10
80x8
85x6

PR here, and a very easy one. Shoulder strength is increasing quite a bit lately.

Db Side Raise
20x20
25x15
35x8
40x8

Weighted Dips
52x15
52x15
52x15

Rep PR Here, will keep the weight the same and work up to sets of 20

Ended it there, was really pumped and wouldn't have really benefitted from doing any more tricep work today.


Wednesday 11/15/2017 Training
So as of today, I've added a few sets of paused high bar squats, nothing too heavy just sets of 10 to add in some additional volume.

Paused High Bar Squat
154x10
198x10
264x10
308x10

Barbell Row
154x112
198x8
220x6
275x8
275x8 PR

Chin Up (Fat Bar)
Bwx8
Bwx8
Bwx8

Barbell Curl
88x8
121x5
121x5 PR (yea a pr on barbell curls, I'm cool)

Standing DB Curl
25x12
25x12

DB Hammer Curl
55x6

Left it there, forearms and biceps were fried from the BB Curls. I gotta do cardio, abs, and grip work tonight.

pfabrizi1
11-16-17, 10:49 am
Good Morning! It's Thursday, and the week is almost done. Feeling a bit tired and beat up today, but no worries. Got to do my cardio, 6 sets of grip work with the captains of crush grippers, and some abs.

My groin is feeling very sore today, but again, I'll see how it plays out tomorrow. Once I'm warmed up with squats I should be fine.
Today's workout left me feeling very good PRs everywhere again, definitely got a great chest and shoulder workout.
11/16/2017
Incline BB Bench
154x10
198x6
260x5
260x5
PR

Standing PRess
80x5
100x5
132x5
150x5
170x3
190x3
PR again, might have had another in the tank too.

Wide Grip Bench
176x15
176x15 PR here too on this exercise.
176x12

Rear delt Raise
35x15
35x15
35x15

Front Raise
35x10
35x10
35x10

Lying Db Extension
25x15
25x15
25x15

This has been a week full of PRS so far!

pfabrizi1
11-17-17, 9:25 am
Happy Friday!
I'm dead tired today, woke up not feeling great. Not sick, but I feel like my body is fighting something off so I suppose that's better than being sick. My groin was feeling very sore today, but once I warmed up on squats it felt ok. My top set obviously it threw me off, but I still got 2 reps (the goal was 3, but only required to get 1) and hit SLDL pretty heavy. Called it a day, pretty low volume today I want to let my body recover and fight this shit off instead of getting sick.

11/17/2017 Training
Comp Squat
205x5
264x5
310x3
385x5
435x3
485x2, wanted 3 but still a PR

Dead Stop SLDL
154x5
264x3
352x3
390x3
397x3 PR here, not all that hard.

vince318
11-18-17, 3:43 pm
Hey man. Read through your comp log and this one a bit and see you followed the think strong program a little while. How did you like it compared to what you normally do ?

pfabrizi1
11-20-17, 10:23 am
Hey man. Read through your comp log and this one a bit and see you followed the think strong program a little while. How did you like it compared to what you normally do ?

Hey man, appreciate you reading thru my stuff!
As for the Think Strong program, I liked it a lot. Peaking is not my strong suit, and following the meet prep portion of the program definitely helped me work up to those heavier weights that I don't normally hit in training. I truly felt ready to compete and I was definitely at my peak strength.
As far as following it long term, I personally like to use higher volume and frequency at slightly lower intensities, which is why I switched back to my normal programming style following my meet prep. I simply can't bring myself to train only 3x per week on a regular basis, I need more...

If you're on the fence about buying the book, I'd say go for it if your serious about lifting heavy. It's fairly inexpensive and there's some pretty good info in there. I'd run the off season program right now if it were a 5x per week program, but I've found a pretty solid groove in my own off season programming.

pfabrizi1
11-20-17, 10:37 am
Good Morning! So my leg/groin is still feeling really rough, so I may have to take the rest of the week off from any type of squatting. It's hard to do just about anything, though I can tell that it's not serious (a tear or anything bad like that). I hit front squats this morning, but stopped before my top sets as it was excruciating at the bottom of the squat. Deads hurt a tiny bit, but were not irritating it any more.

Another update, I've switched from 5/3/1 to 8/6/3. I really want to focus on getting bigger, and leaner. I haven't gone up to sets of 8 on the big lifts for a long, long time and I can definitely benefit from it. I'll still do sets of 3-5 on the accessory lifts I'm focusing on, as those are going to be the main strength builders for a while to bring up some weak points. Sets of 8 will be the death of me for a while, but I look forward to the gains I'll make from it.

Monday 11/20/2017 Training
Front Squat
154x8
220x6
310x5
Stopped there. Yes I could have gone up to my top sets and grinded thru it, but there's no reason to hurt myself any worse right now. Time to be a bit smarter. The pain was horrible, but I could make it thru it if I wanted to. Not worth it right now.

Conventional DL
175x5
220x5
264x3
315x8
335x8
360x8
It hurts to see numbers that low, but I really want to focus on building up my conventional DL, safely. I know it will only help my sumo pulls in the long run. Once my leg heals up I do need to start pulling heavy sumo again though from blocks or off the floor.

Finished with some pull ups from a fat bar. That's all today, the leg has me a little down today.

vince318
11-20-17, 3:19 pm
Thanks for the reply man. I'll definitely keep following along as your training is similar to mine. I've actually bought that book and the think big book. It looks solid but I like a little more frequency myself with lower intensities. What weight are you trying to get up to?

pfabrizi1
11-21-17, 8:54 am
Thanks for the reply man. I'll definitely keep following along as your training is similar to mine. I've actually bought that book and the think big book. It looks solid but I like a little more frequency myself with lower intensities. What weight are you trying to get up to?

I'm trying to get up to about 210, and get my body to the point where that's my maintenance weight. It took me a while to be comfortable and maintain my weight over 200 relatively lean at 5'7, so now 210 is the new goal. Enough size to move big weights but never too far off of cutting down for 198.
As far as lifts my goals within the next year or so are to squat 600 without wraps as I'm confident I can do it with wraps now, bench 450, and pull 700+ finally. Putting on size is goal #1 right now, but I'll gradually work up my training weights as I do so. I know my weak points and that's where the focus of my strength goals are right now, not necessarily the main lifts just yet.

pfabrizi1
11-21-17, 9:13 am
Good morning! Tired this morning, my leg is feeling a bit better but still painful and its really draining. Had a rough workout this morning didn't really hit any of my numbers but on the positive side I got a great pump so there is a positive. This week is going to be all kinds of messed up bc of thanksgiving and all so I'm not putting much into it at this point. I may just repeat this training week next week.

11/21/2017 Training

Bench
155x5
198x5
231x3
250x8
270x8
290x6 Shouldve got 8 here, higher reps and pressing have always been a weak point for me.

Seated DB Press
60x15
70x12
80x8
85x5 Again should've got 8, but extremely pumped by this point.

Weighted Dips
Bw+52x17
Bw+52x15
Bw+52x12

Side Raises
20x20
25x15
25x15

Lying DB Tricep Extension
20x12
25x12
25x12

Couldn't do any more. Had a hard time moving my arms. Idk why I was so pumped I didn't do anything all that special or different than usual besides higher reps on bench...

pfabrizi1
12-26-17, 10:58 am
I'm still Here! Haven't been on or logged much with the holidays and all. I've been following a simple, linear progression program similar to how Ed Coan said he set it up. Starting at 12 rep sets, and gradually upping weights and lowering reps for the week. I've been logging it the old fashioned pen and paper way as opposed to on my phone, so that's why I haven't really posted my lifts lately! I'll get back to it sometime this week.