Gunrock's Iron Journey

[JohnGreavesIII]

Okay, so I finally decided to stop lurking and post my Iron Journey. I'm a Masters powerlifter and I've won a few state meets here and there. I've competed in Southern Powerlifting Federation, WUAP-USA and USAPL. I'm coming off of a rotator cuff sprain/pec minor strain and surgery to remove a tumor from my right leg.

My goal is to break the American Record in USAPL and SPF for my weight class no matter how long it takes or how old I am.


My last competition was Powerlifting For Pups in Atlanta, GA on August 9, 2014. I weighed in at 204llbs and competed in the 220 class. I'm probably going to compete in 198 in the future, I'm losing the weight slowly to try to hold on to as much muscle as possible.

I squatted 303lbs. I'd hoped for around 365 despite being 9 days post leg surgery at the time but it was not to be. I waved off my third attempt.
Bench 314lbs, I believe this broke the Masters USAPL GA Bench record for the 220lb class but I'm waiting for confirmation of that.
Deadlift 450lbs

current stack:

Animal Pak and Animal Flex. Rage or Shock Therapy when I train after working all night.

This Week's Training:

8/18/2014
Flat Bench
120x5
145x3
167.5x1
180x20 (This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)

Supplementary Movement
Flat Bench Lockout 315 x 1

Assistance Work
Closegrip Bench 3x15 @165 (I used the Ferruggia Even Esh Bar from Black Widow)
DB Incline Bench 2x10@50lbs

Pendlay Rows 5x10@135
DB Pullovers 3x10 @70lbs

Shoulder Raise Triset done twice
Rear Laterals 15 @30lbs
Laterals 15@25lbs
Front Raise 15@20lbs



8/20/2014
Back Squat
122.5 x 5
145x3
170x1
182.5x20 (AMRAP set)

Supplementary Movement

Pause Squats 5x10 @ 145

Assistance Work
Lunges 2x12 @25llb dumbbells

Leg Extensions 2x12 w/ 45lb plate

Leg Curls
Bodyweight only. Just working on regaining the ability to fully bend my right leg without assistance.

Single Leg Calf Raises 3x20 @40lbs
Donkey Calf Raises 3x20 @45lbs plate
Seated Calf Raises 1x20 @40lb dumbbell

Hanging Leg Raises

Finisher: Tire Sled Drags 2x40 yards


8/21/2014 Active Recovery and GPP.

50 pullups ( I do a set of 3-5 reps everytime I pass the power rack in my garage)
Tire Sled Drags Forward/Backward for five minutes straight.

[JohnGreavesIII]

Animal Pak and Animal Flex. Rage or Shock Therapy when I train after working all night, Animal PM to help me sleep during the day.

After doing my warm up and mobility stuff, I did a video for my gym YouTube channel on Pullups. Rested 1 minute then hit the iron. Here is the video if anyone wants to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLjQz-xx-A

Overhead Pressing
80x5
97.5x3
112.5x1
120x12 (This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)

I didn't get to do my supplementary stuff because I had to catch a ride to work from my wife on her way to watch our son's marching band play at the high school football game. I also didn't get as much sleep today because I had to train someone right after work and she had to leave to take some meds to her kid at the school then come back. Sometimes life happens.

I at least got my pullups and main movement in. Took my Animal Pak and Flex on the way to work.

Deadlifting tomorrow!!!

[JohnGreavesIII]

Sumo Deadlift
237.5x5
285x3
332.5x1
355x20 This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)

my hamstrings won't let me do any of the broad jumps I normally do on Deadlift day and leg curls and stiff leg deads are out until my right hamstring heals a little more. Doing some light band work to strengthen.

Double KB Swings 2x10@50lbs Finisher
Done until Monday

[Inarius]

Looks like you are working hard! Interested to see how the juggernaut method treats you.

[JohnGreavesIII]

Looks like you are working hard! Interested to see how the juggernaut method treats you.

Thanks bro! I'm on deload week now, forgot to post Monday's training, but I'll do that and Wednesday tonight.

Juggernaut is cool. I've tried 531 with decent results but I wanted something that would help me program my conditioning as well. I used it as a template to train some of the wrestlers who workout at my gym with good results. What I like most is that it's got everything, warm ups for every type of particular training (conditioning, speed, power, weights etc) and a higher emphasis on volume training than standard 531 which is what I need to improve my tendon health. I'm not dissing 531, it's a huge Juggernaut influence, I just like Juggernaut better.

I use Dave Tate's Accessory Work advice to select my assistance and supplementary movements but that fits neatly into the Juggernaut Template. I've been able to adapt it to a lot of different things.

Since starting, my deadlift has gone from 450x4 to 505x2. My overhead press has never been impressive but it's gone from 175 x 2, 185x3 at the end of my last cycle of 3. I plan to hit bodyweight for a triple by the time I get back to triples in twelve weeks.

Thanks for hitting me up.

[JohnGreavesIII]

8/25
General Warm Up

Flat Bench
40% 95 x 5
50% 120x5
60% 3x5 @145lbs

Closegrip Bench 3x15@120lbs

Lateral Tri Set 2x10 per position, no rest between exercises, 40 seconds rest between supersets
Bent Over Laterals
Laterals
Front Raises

The goal here is to let my joints recover from the previous three weeks of work and build anticipation for next month when I go up in weight and start sets of 8. I also completed 25 pullups by day's end doing sets of 3-5 everytime I passed my power rack. Goal is to have 150 by the end of the week spread out over six days.

[JohnGreavesIII]

Hamstring work with the band
Shoulder mobility with a green band

Weekly Pullup Total is up to 35. I'm not getting as many repetitions done as I should. I'm tempted to increase the reps per set but I don't want to take away from how easy it is to recover from it while getting pulling done.

[JohnGreavesIII]

Back Squat done high bar, ATG. all reps paused for 3 seconds at the bottom
135x5
170x5
3x5@205

Light hamstring work with the green band (I CAN BEND MY LEG ALL THE WAY!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR CONTINUING TO HEAL ME!!!)
Lunges 2x10

Standing Crunches 3x10 (done later in the evening when I got to work)

My total pullups for the week are at 65 now. I'm 85 pullups away from my goal which means I need to get about 30 per day over the next three days. I'll make it happen.

[WamBam]

Back Squat done high bar, ATG. all reps paused for 3 seconds at the bottom
135x5
170x5
3x5@205

Light hamstring work with the green band (I CAN BEND MY LEG ALL THE WAY!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR CONTINUING TO HEAL ME!!!)
Lunges 2x10

Standing Crunches 3x10 (done later in the evening when I got to work)

My total pullups for the week are at 65 now. I'm 85 pullups away from my goal which means I need to get about 30 per day over the next three days. I'll make it happen.

good to see you busting it out man. Where are you at in georgia? I'm also recovering from a tumor and aiming to compete in the 220 although i have a bit to cut for that.

[JohnGreavesIII]

What's up WamBam! I'm in Dallas man, just south of Cartersville, north of Marietta by about 30 minutes. I had a follow up appointment today and the doctor told me that they found no signs of cancer anywhere in the tumor, that it appeared to be benign so now all I have to do is recover. She thinks it might be six months to a year before I'm back to 100% but that I can cut that short by training smart.

I really want to get an ABC set up before the year's out and we've got some options including Iron Beast Barbell in Gainesville and of course my humble garage gym. If not, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the National ABC (which is pretty awesome to attend I must say)

I also plan to lift in the SPF Body By George Meet in Loganville this year. I was going to do the USPA meet in Lithia Springs just because it's so close but one of my lifters is competing in that and I had a bad experience the last time I tried to compete AND platform coach in the same meet.

Have you competed before?

[JohnGreavesIII]

Foam Rolling

IT Band 20 passes
Quads, Adductors 15 passes each
Hip Flexors 20 passes

Core 3x no rest
Ins and Outs 10
Rollovers to V sits 10
Moving Side Planks 10

Neck Work
Yes 10/10
No 10/10
Roll 10/10

Shoulders
Arm Circles
Forward/Back 10/10
Arms Wide to Hug Yourself 10

Hips
Frog Stretches 10
Hip Circles 10/10
Dirty Dogs (Fire Hydrants) 10

Leopard Crawl 3x10 feet
Crab Walk 3x10 feet
normally I do a tire jump in between but my hamstring hurts too much to jump so right now it's not happening

Jog 100 yards (basically out the door, down the driveway, around the cul de sac and back)

This is my warm up on lifting days and it serves as active recovery on non lifting days

Got my pullup total to 100. Just 50 to go and I should get 50 during tomorrow's training session, meaning whatever I get on Saturday is gravy.

Did some miscellaneous lifting, had to do the first part of a Barbell Complex because the middle school girls I coach just couldn't get the concept. I used 135lbs.

Complex repetitions were 1 2 3 4 3 2 1.
Deadlift
Barbell Row
Hang Clean
Push Press
Squat
Good Morning
Rest as needed
I frankly screwed up their loads so they were gassed by the time we got to 3 so I called an audible and told them we'd live to fight another day. In the process of explaining that I rested too long so my met con was now screwed up. So to salvage the day, I did a 200ft loaded carry with a barbell loaded to 185lbs right before I got in the Jeep to head to work. Learning has occurred so I'll do better next time.

Here's the video of the loaded carry:

[JohnGreavesIII]

Here's the link to my YouTube channel to watch the video in case it keeps screwing up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aiuUpRDRU

[JohnGreavesIII]

Overhead Press Day

Did my normal warm up(still can't jump at all but crab walks are getting easier) then

Pullups 5x10 (this brought my weekly total up to 150 so I didn't do any other pullups today)
Overhead Press
65lbsx5
80lbsx5
3x5 @ 97.5lbs

Behind The Neck Press
65lbsx5
80lbsx5
3x5 @ 97.5lbs


Deadlifts tomorrow!
If anyone wants to see the video of my warm up let me know and I'll post it.

[WamBam]

What's up WamBam! I'm in Dallas man, just south of Cartersville, north of Marietta by about 30 minutes. I had a follow up appointment today and the doctor told me that they found no signs of cancer anywhere in the tumor, that it appeared to be benign so now all I have to do is recover. She thinks it might be six months to a year before I'm back to 100% but that I can cut that short by training smart.

I really want to get an ABC set up before the year's out and we've got some options including Iron Beast Barbell in Gainesville and of course my humble garage gym. If not, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the National ABC (which is pretty awesome to attend I must say)

I also plan to lift in the SPF Body By George Meet in Loganville this year. I was going to do the USPA meet in Lithia Springs just because it's so close but one of my lifters is competing in that and I had a bad experience the last time I tried to compete AND platform coach in the same meet.

Have you competed before?

hell yeah man! i would be more than happy to help get the ball rolling with something around here! lets do it!

I have not brother, haven't had the chance man. Just now getting to a point where i feel confident honestly. My shit was in my liver and it took a huge toll on me as i know you understand fully. I hit a pretty low point with myself mentally as well and just had the "ill never get anywhere" attitude but that shit can go die. Im looking to get my foot in the door man and it would be sick to meet up and move weight. The sooner we start the more people we can pull in

[JohnGreavesIII]

Deadlift Day
General Warm Up
Sumo Deadlift
190x5
237.5x5
3x5@285

Deficit Deadlifts (done deep with loading pin straddling two 24 inch boxes)
3x15@120

Ab Wheel 3x10 (I have a slant board set up and I'm working my way to being able to do these standing up. From standing all the way to stretched all the way out.)

[JohnGreavesIII]

General Warmup including 20 pullups
Med Ball Throws 5x3
Flat Bench 5x8@157.5 (last set done submax reps). Got 20 reps) I still feel a little tug in my right pec when I bench. I hope it's just scar tissue or stiffness).

Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench (done with a specialty bar, hands in neutral grip) 3x10@157.5

Assistance Work I need more upper back and deltoid mass.
DB Incline Bench 2x10@60lbs (this is ten pounds more than I've been able to do)
Pendlay Rows 5x10@135 (these absolutely SUCK!!!)

Lateral Tri Set
Bent over Laterals 15
Seated Laterals 15
Dumbbell Front Raises 15

California Presses 3x15

Tricep Kickbacks supersetted with 1 Arm DB Overhead Tricep Extensions

Tire Drag Curls 45lbs x 20 feet

My wife says that my back and shoulders are getting wider so this must all be working! (or she's just stroking my ego which is fine by me too)

[JohnGreavesIII]

Shoulder Mobility Work with a medium band

20 pullups which brought my weekly total up to 40. I do these five at a time whenever I enter my garage gym for any reason. Everything else I did below, I had to do to demonstrate to the kids I train. Pretty much showing them that the old man can still keep up!!!

Plate Circuit
Swings 5 4 3 2 1
Row 5 4 3 2 1
Reverse Lunge w/ a Twist 5 4 3 2 1
Twisting Pickup from Low To High 5 4 3 2 1
Overhead Presses 5 4 3 2 1

Run 100 yards

Ab Circuit
15 Toe Touch Crunches
15 Crossover Crunches
15 Bicycle Crunches
15 Planks with alternating knee taps

Squats Tomorrow!

[JohnGreavesIII]

General Warm Up you can watch this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO1ybV2CcuM
This is two of my athletes because I was holding the camera. When I train, I'm normally the only one there or at least the only one who can work the camera phone. The elementary school kids usually get distracted too easily!

Anyway, I was finally able to do low tire jumps and crab walks without pain. On to the "real" work.

Back Squat
5x8@235lbs
I dropped the 5x10 pause squats and decided to just pause the first three reps of every set.

Supplementary Movement

Front Squats
Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could front squat for one rep about 225 yet. Answer was yes. Could probably have done more but I decided to quit while I was ahead and moved on to assistance work.

Assistance Work
Lunges 2x12 @25llb dumbbells. Probably need to go up in weight on these.

Leg Extensions 2x12 w/ 45lb plate

Leg Curls
Used the green band since I'm now able to fully bend my right leg. Strength going up steadily.

Ab Wheel Rollouts
Dropped the board down about two inches and did 3x10. Hope to be able to do these on the floor from standing to full extension by October.

[JohnGreavesIII]

I got home after a 12hour night shift intending to rack out for about six hours and train when I woke up...then I saw my 17 year old son deadlifting in the gym alone. http://instagram.com/p/sj9JrhC7e6/?modal=true
Can't let the youngblood outdo me, plus he's one of my favorite training partners! So...

General Warm Up
Pullups 5x10(this brought my weekly pullup total up to 120)

Primary Movement 1 minute rest between sets
Overhead Press
5X8@105lbs

Supplementary Movement 45 seconds between sets
Behind The Neck Press
85x9
2x5@105

Assistance Work 45 seconds between sets

Lateral Tri Set 3x15 @ 30lbs no rest between exercises, 45 seconds rest between Tri Sets
Bent Over Laterals
Seated Laterals
Seated Front Raises

Incline Bench 2x12@70 another ten pound increase but on the second set I only got six reps before I had to drop to 60s to finish. I'll camp out at 70lbs for awhile

Incline Flyes 2x12@30lbs I do these all the way down, halfway up, all the way back down, all the way up and that counts as one rep.

Neutral Grip DB Nosecrushers 2x12@30lbs

Tricep Kickbacks supersetted with One Arm Overhead DB Extensions 2x12@30lbs

Barbell 21s
Incline DB Curls 2x12@30lbs

Finisher: 200ft Overhead Carry@ 135lbs It was a little after 9am by this time and I was fried after not being asleep since 2pm the day before. Couldn't handle 185 like I did the week before (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aiuUpRDRU) so I dropped the weight but did it overhead rather than in front rack position.

Animal PM, Animal Flex, shake, shower and bed! I was so tired, I couldn't finish my Oh Yeah Cookies & Creme (don't worry I destroyed it as soon as I opened my eyes six hours later!)

[JohnGreavesIII]

Deadlift day is usually shorter for me. It's at the end of my work week meaning I've worked at least 3 12hour night shifts in a row. It's also at the end of my training week normally so my volume isn't as high as on the other days. Finally, I usually train as soon as I get home along with whoever is coming by to train that day. So I focus on hitting my numbers and taking a nap so later on I can get out to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Today was a little different, I had to visit a brother Marine in the hospital who's recovering from colon surgery. Then my entire gym went to visit one of our members who's been making some bad choices that are screwing up his life and his family's. So at 945am we were gathered in a group on this guy's lawn. Not being judgmental, just reminding him that he's a brother and that his actions ripple outward affecting everybody connected to him. We don't want to lose anyone. It was a good time. Then I took a nap, woke up and had to work a charity booth for my church at a local festival. Lots of temptation to skip training today so I loaded the barbell with my weights and left it in the middle of the floor so I'd have to do something about it when I got home. (I usually enter through the garage so I HAVE to pass by the gym).

General Warm Up focused on rolling a whole lot more. Not foam rolling, rolling around on the ground tumbling etc.
No Pullups today.

Primary Movement 1 minute rest between sets
Deadlift
5X8@325lbs last set done submax. I got 13 reps.

Supplementary Movement 45 seconds between sets
Deficit Sumo Deadlifts done with a T handle.
3x15@180lbs

Finisher: Trap Bar Farmer's Walk 200ft @225lbs

Animal Flex, protein shake, shower and bed!