Training log because I can't remember what I did.

It's conditioning Friday! Not really that exciting, but it's work that needs doing. I did about the same work as usual. It was kinda cool out today, but once I got going it wasn't a problem.

Jump rope x 100
sled drag forward 80 ft/backward 80 ft
cement weight clean and press x 10

Three rounds for that and then I went down to the basement.

Band assisted pull-ups with different grips x 6
mini + monster mini band rows x 10

And three rounds for that. I am sore all over. This week has really caught up with me. And now I have 2 days 'til I squat some heavy triples. Yay?

Squat day. Today was suppose to be my heavy triples, but it was just not meant to be. At least that is one of the many excuses that I can come up with. The best ones are I'm just not strong enough and my squat sucks. I didn't feel good going into this, but I hoped it would turn out better.

Warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes

Squat
bar x 10
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 5
405 x 5
add belt
455 x 1
500 x 1
550 x 2.5 fail
550 x 1.5 fail
500 x 3 barely

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic2NwCV8WPQ

leg curl x 10
leg extension x 10

I was going to do more on the accessories, but I decided to stop whipping the dead horse that was me and called it a day. This was far from the 550 x 3 x 3 that I was supposed to do today. I know I need to get back on top of my abdominal training as well as just plainly get stronger all over. You can see in the video that I wasn't keeping my hips under the weight very well. Well I'm almost 4 months deep into my new program, so I suppose I had to have a failure eventually.

I ended up doing a little bit of speed deadlifts today. I did some hammer curls, band press downs, band rows and standing abs yesterday, but I forgot to post it. Anyway I decided to do singles and not many sets because I did some heavy lifting of appliances earlier in the day. So with the reduction of volume to compensate for all the washers and dryers moved, I also ran up the weight a little bit more since I was doing singles. I also started around 11 pm. One of the privileges of having some weights in your basement.

warm up
reverse hyper
bodyweight x 10 x 3

Deadlift
250 x 10
340 x 5
340 + 120 chain x 3
add 200 lbs band tension
340 + 120 chain x 1 x 2 sets
390 + 120 chain x 1 x 2
410 + 120 chain x 1 x 2

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp2vPuilIOU

band pull down abs
2 monster minis x 20

I'm pleased with how the weight moved. My speed seemed to keep up with the increases in bar weight. I haven't pulled any heavy straight weight in quite a while. Since my squat still sucks maybe I should find out how my deadlift is doing. The heavier speed pulls were over 700 lbs at the top and I didn't have any trouble holding it.

Bench day. I was in the shirt again. This time for full range singles. Kinda like my last squat day, going into this one I didn't really feel all that good. Most of my warm ups felt really heavy and I was shaking a lot with relatively light weights. That's not a good sign, but it definitely went better than the squat session did. This is how it all went down.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes

bar x 20? I lost count but it was a lot
135 x 10
225 x 10 this set is where it started to feel heavy
add pause
315 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 1
remove pause
add 54 super katana
500 x 1
510 x 1 x 2 sets

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn32thgu9j8

That's it. No assistance work because my elbows and biceps got really inflamed and are currently killing me. I have ice packs on me as I type this. The first rep was going to be a difficult touch, so I got impatient and sacrificed positioning to touch easier/faster. This cost me position on the press which is why I stalled and my spotter had to get me moving again. That's why I decided to add more weight. I knew another 10 lbs wouldn't break me on the press, but it would allow a faster touch in the right place. The second rep I got a little wild with my elbow on the right side, which is probably why I skipped off the catch at the top. Not that big of a deal, but that is why I moved the camera to that side for the third press. And so that one was the best of the bunch. I got it down in a good place and kept good position. I felt that from the get go. I could tell I was more into my traps than the other two and it shows. I obviously need to work a pause in there, but for not being in the shirt for 4 months or more, it's not too bad. I think after squat this weekend I will take a deload week.

I decided to make up the assistance work from yesterday. My upper back needs too much work to skip out on. Besides, I have a little bit of a gout flare in my right foot, so I didn't do my conditioning work today. I took some medicine for it, so hopefully I will be good to go by Sunday.

warm up
25 lb plate front raises x 10
mini band push downs x 10

Assistance work circuit

100 lb plate upright row x 10 x 3
monster mini push downs x 10 x 3
light band horizontal rows x 10 x 3
mini + monster mini 45 rows x 10 x 3

band ab pull downs x 20 x 2

That was it. I haven't done upright rows in a while so that was awesome. I need to put more variety back into my assistance work.

Time to squat again. I was really unsure of how tonight was going to go, given I wasn't feeling quite up to par and last week's terrible session. The squats went much better than last week, but that wasn't very difficult to do. I had to do more stretching in between the early sets because my hips were refusing to loosen up. My set with just the bar were probably 4 inches high because I was so tight.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes
leg curl x 10 x 3
leg extension x 10 x 3

Squats
bar x 10
hip stretches
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 5
405 x 5
add belt
455 x 1
500 x 1
550 x 1
570 x 1
590 x 1

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5d6iZTEoZQ

leg curl x 10 x 2
leg extension x 10 x 2

I've weighed a lot of the plates in the past and almost all of them are heavy except for a couple. The 590 is extremely conservative estimate, since in all likelihood it is actually a little over 600. For the sake a consistency in my recording here I will call it 590 since I called 6 plates plus 5's 600 when I was doing my suit work. I started trying to get an accurate account of what I was lifting because when I used to travel an hour to a powerlifting oriented gym with calibrated plates, I needed to have a better idea of what I was lifting between the two. I used to have them marked, but the marker wore off and I don't have access to the calibrated scale anymore. Anyway, I'm reasonably happy that my raw squat is back in the 600 range. I was about to just start my deload week early with how this session started, but around the time I put the belt on, it started to turn around. Next week I'm going to give myself a little bit of a break.

awesome squatting man.

I'm a powerlifter as well and was wondering how you do your programming.

Deload bench. I decided to do some inclines for something different. I didn't do anything heavy or really even difficult whatsoever.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 min
shoulder circles

incline bench
bar x 10
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10 x 3

barbell shrugs
245 x 10 x 3

Dumbell side laterals
20 lb x 10 x 3

Pull ups x 3 x 3

Like I said, I didn't really do much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ronnie

awesome squatting man.

I'm a powerlifter as well and was wondering how you do your programming.

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Thank you.

For the last few months I have been doing a westside/5-3-1 hybrid. Basically it runs two days a week of 3 week 5-3-1 mesocycles with 2 days per week of speed or modified speed work. I will add and drop speed benching depending on how my joints feel. I change the main movement between mesocycles for variety and to address other weak areas. I have an idea of the weights that I am going to use based on experience with the particular lift, but that can be altered on the particular day depending on how the lifts are going from previous weeks and how I feel that day. I try to shoot for a weight that will be challenging for three sets of whatever rep range I'm working that day.

At the end of the day I've come up with an idea that is working and I'm using experience to fly by the seat of my pants.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigChrisF

Thank you.

For the last few months I have been doing a westside/5-3-1 hybrid. Basically it runs two days a week of 3 week 5-3-1 mesocycles with 2 days per week of speed or modified speed work. I will add and drop speed benching depending on how my joints feel. I change the main movement between mesocycles for variety and to address other weak areas. I have an idea of the weights that I am going to use based on experience with the particular lift, but that can be altered on the particular day depending on how the lifts are going from previous weeks and how I feel that day. I try to shoot for a weight that will be challenging for three sets of whatever rep range I'm working that day.

At the end of the day I've come up with an idea that is working and I'm using experience to fly by the seat of my pants.

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Definately not something a beginner could do. Its great that you have enough knowledge and experience to be able to run with this and adjust as you need to. Very interesting routine you have here and its obviously working.

You used the word "mesocycle", THATS IMPRESSIVE! haha!

But seriously, fuckin awesome man. Not many would even have the slightest clue about how to manage this.

Keep workin hard.

More deload work. I basically did what I have often done as my warm up routine for squatting. Easy stuff that I did in a circuit to help increase my work capacity.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes

leg curl x 10 x 3
leg extension x 10 x 3
GHR bodyweight x 10 x 3

Box Squats
95 x 10
145 x 10
235 x 10

Glute-bridges x 10

Seated Calf-raise
2 plates x 10 x 3

Barbell Shrugs
245 x 10 x 3

It all didn't take very long, but I hung around anyway and did some talking and some spotting. Then I went and got pizza.

Ok, so in honor of my deload week, I thought I should run up my deadlift a bit. It did not go well and was an eye opening experience. I haven't pulled anything over 450 in I'm not sure how long (Sept. maybe?) After today's performance, I have clearly gone too long.

Warm up
Reverse hyper bodyweight x 10 x 3

deadlift
double over-hand grip
135 x 10 conventional
250 x 5 sumo
320 x 5 conventional
410 x 3 sumo
500 x 3 conventional -sucked
add belt
switch to over-under grip
520 x 1 better
610 x 1 slow

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaY_MDUTmCw

reverse hyper bodyweight x 10 x 3

I was fully intending on pulling about 650, but I called it after how much effort the 610 took. I clearly need to start pulling heavy more often. I just need to figure out where I am going to work them in.

I decided for this next mesocycle I will go back to raw paused benches. I think I am going to work in some heavier 3 board presses for accessory work. I had to bench in the basement tonight, so I altered the weights I intended on using slightly.

warm up
shoulder circles
band stretches

bench
bar x 15
135 x 10
185 x 10
add pause
250 x 5
340 x 5
390 x 5 x 3
remove pause
340 x 10.5

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoxE1CBJwYU

mini + monster mini band rows x 10 x 3
hammer curls x 10 x 3

Things went pretty well. I wanted to use 385, but I couldn't make that with what I have. It worked out well enough. I was hoping for 12 on the last set, but I was spent from the previous set. I'm still not sure what I am going to do for squat on Sunday. I'm leaning toward the Saftey Squat bar again.

Squat day. As I was planning I used the Safety Squat Bar. I hate that thing. I worked up to 3 sets of 5 reps. I moved a little fast through this workout, but it turned out I didn't need to hurry.

Warm up
Stationary bike - 5 min

leg curl x 10 x 3
leg extension x 10 x 3

Squat w/ SSB
bar x 10
160 x 10
250 x 10
300 x 5
340 x 3
390 x 3
430 x 5 x 3 sets

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDjz90I7axo

leg curl x 10 x 3
leg extension x 10 x 3

I forgot to turn on the camera for the first set. On the last set I was going pretty deep for no other reason than I felt like it at the time and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. As I've stated before, the SSB is the bane of my existence and if I didn't care about improving I would never use the thing. Too bad for me that it is a really good tool. I wasn't really feeling comfortable squatting today, but the weight moved well enough so it worked out. I should also not that the last time I used the safety squat bar, I used the same weight for my 5's today that I used for 3's in February.

Deadlifting time again. I decided the plan for today was to do some speed pulls and then work up a little bit and see if it goes better than last week. It did a little bit, but I still tweaked my back a bit on the 610, again. At the start of the pull I seem to be coming forward a bit, and I'm not sure why, other than a weakness. I guess I'll just keep working at it. I don't plan on deadlifting heavy every week, likely only after my 5's on squat.

warm up
reverse hypers bodyweight x 10 x 3

deadlift
bar x 10
135 x 10
250 x 5
340 x 5
add 200 lbs band tension
340 x 1 x 2 sets
390 x 1 x 2 add belt first set
410 x 1 x 2
remove bands
450 x 1
520 x 1
610 x 1

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZU-LN415s0

reverse hyper bodyweight x 10

That's all. Now it's time to recover from me abusing my body again. Stretching and ice!

Bench day with paused triples. I didn't really feel as good today as I did last week, but every week can't be a good week. My right shoulder was kinda angry with me throughout the pressing. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something was off. I think the bench was crooked or something.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes
shoulder circles

Bench
bar x 10
135 x 10
add pause
225 x 5
315 x 5
410 x 3 x 3
remove pause
add 3 board
add close grip
460 x 1
remove 3 board
315 x 10

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpXVQPgnozA

hammer curls x 10 x 3
DB side laterals x 10 x 3

Like last week I started to fail on the last rep of the last set. I suppose that is a good place to be. I was going to do more board presses, but my shoulder was pretty much done. Well better luck next week.

I did a little bit of conditioning work earlier today. Not much. The usual less the clean and press because I'm giving my back a break.

jump rope x 100 x 3
sled drag x 80 ft forward/backward x 3

This probably took all of 15 minutes and the gnats were really annoying and I inhaled a few while jumping rope.

A few hours later I did some band traction stretching on my hips and shoulders and ab wheel roll-outs.

Squat time brought to you by the Safety Squat Bar! The specialty bar co-designed by Marquis de Sade and Satan! Seriously though, I don't like that thing. Too bad it works so well for me. Anyway it was triples night and here's what happened.

warm up
stationary bike - 5 minutes

Leg curls x 10 x 3
Leg extension x 10 x 3

SSB Squat
bar x 10
160 x 10
250 x 5
300 x 5
add belt
340 x 3
390 x 1*
stretching
390 x 3
430 x 1
480 x 3 x 3

video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDGZp88zxRc

That was it. I managed to pinch something in my middle right back. I don't know what I did and it still hurts but after some stretching I managed to finish the squatting. I spent probably 15-20 minutes stretching so I didn't have any more time to do accessory work after. I'll probably end up doing a little bit of ab wheel work later. And ice and stretching some more.

strong stuff going on in here!! good work man..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T o m m Y

strong stuff going on in here!! good work man..

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I try my best. Except for today. Today I managed to hold myself off of deadlifting and likely exacerbating my back.

Reverse hypers - bodyweight x 10 x 8 sets

ab wheel rollouts x 5

Not anything difficult, but it was a nice stretch in my lower back. Even popped once on the flexion portion of the movement. I'm going to assume it was a good thing.