Lifting Log

[JohnRock]

So, I've been a C&P fan for a little while now, involved in generic "fitness" related **** for about five years, and lifting seriously with the intention of getting stronger for probably 2-3, although it's hard to say because it was more of a transition than just deciding one day that I was tired of being weak. Anyway, I'm 33, 6'4", around 220 lbs, and immobile as anyone you'll ever meet. I just recently competed in (and won) my first strongman competition and lift to be better at that, but occasionally get distracted by power lifting, even though I suck at it. I'm going to use this as a training log, so follow along if you want. Give me **** if you think I'm doing something stupid. Whatever. Oh, and I wrote a ****ing program because I can't even Chaos & Pain right. Here's what I'm doing:

Day 1: Front Squat/Axle C&P
Day 2: Deadlift Assistance
Day 3: Arms, calves, whatever.
Day 4: Deadlifts/Dumbbell Bench (10x10)
Day 5: Squat & Press Assistance
Day 6: Arms, calves, whatever, or tractor tire flips for 30-60 min if my back isn't trashed.

On the front squats, axle press, and deads, I'm basically following a four week wave of 10x1, 10x2, 10x3, and 10x10. On the 10x3 day, I'll do one of the sets for max reps and figure a new hypothetical 1RM, which I'll use about 90% the next 10x1 day and ideally continue to use for the 10x2 and 10x3 as well. These days are staggered, so I'm not hitting the same rep scheme for multiple lifts in a week.

And because I signed up for a local PL meet in November, I'm benching 4-5x/week in the evenings as well. Basically, I'll have a day of 10s, 5s, 3s, and paused singles with either cable rows or pull-ups between sets. I keep adding weight to the bar until I can't hit the reps for that day.

So that's what I'm doing. I'll try to type something up somewhat frequently, if not every day. We'll see how it goes.

 

[JohnRock]

Alright, here goes. I was supposed to do 10x10 deads and bench yesterday, but about eight sets in, my back was really cramping up, so I pulled a couple heavier singles to finish it out and considered that good enough.

2" Deficit Axle Deadlifts: 8x10@315, 435x1, 455x1 -belt on the 455, all pulled conventional, my weaker stance.
DB Bench: 10x10@80s

My plan today was to practice some light back squats as part of my squat assistance, but my back was trashed. I did 7 sets of DB shoulder press, working up to 70s for 8 reps and 7 sets of machine hack squats with 360x10, followed by 20 calf raises. It wasn't really the workout I wanted, but not surprising considering yesterday's DL marathon.

 

[JohnRock]

Oh, and to make it relevant, I've lifted with Cannibal Swole as my pre-workout the past few days. It's really good to use in the afternoon when I'm more awake, but I'm anxious for my Ferox to show up so I can get some caffeine in me for morning lifting.

 

[JohnRock]

My Ferox came in, so I went ahead and did my bench press singles, even though the back wasn't 100% and arching kind of hurt. I got up to 275 for a paused (barely) single, and hit 280, but my ass came off the bench, so I need to work on that. After that, I wrapped a super band tricep to tricep like a homemade slingshot and hit 5x3x275 paused close grip, four on the final set. Meh. It's starting to come back, but I'm obviously still not there yet. I'll probably do some pressing variation tomorrow for arm day.

 

[JohnRock]

Before logging today's stuff, I should give a little review of Ferox. Actually, this morning was the first time I used Ferox and PermaSwole together. I didn't buy them intending to stack, but I caved and had to try it. It would be easy to do one of those EXTREEEEEEEEEEEME reviews and say that I could smell colors and see sound, or that I blacked out and woke up in a pool of blood and plates as the lead singer of a thrash metal band. Honestly though, it was really good. Possibly one of, if not the best, pre-workout I remember taking. I'm extremely stim tolerant, so the 450mg of caffeine, etc. didn't do anything crazy to me. I did feel really focused and motivated and noticed that I was able to get the blood flowing and I was moving well a little faster than normal. I have no prior experience with nootropics, but it did seem like I was thinking very clearly and not easily distracted. It wasn't the hardest workout I've ever done, so I can't really say that my performance was incredible or anything like that. I'll try it again on a deadlift day and see how it goes. Anyway, I thought it was really good. If you're buying a pre-workout anyway, it's worth a shot. If you're only buying one, by the Ferox.

On to the lifting. Since my back was a no-go yesterday from deads the day before, I decided to practice low-bar squats today like I had originally intended to do yesterday and I did some arm work between sets. I was still sore in the legs and back, so I didn't want to make this about anything more than practice, but I was surprised at how quickly I was able to find a groove with the low-bar position, considering how much trouble it's given me in the past.

Squats: 3s paused triples from 135-245, 1-2s paused singles up to 315, all beltless. For the first several sets up to 185, I did a squat to BTN press because it's fun and I wanted a reminder to power out of the hole. At 205, it felt weird trying to catch the bar low and reset my position, so I just did regular squats.

Hammer Concentration Curls (unilateral): 10x10x70

finished with a shrug drop set of 505x5, 455x5, 405x10, 315x20, 225x20

and 100 reps of 85 lb. tricep push-downs. There were two rests in there at the 50 rep and 80 rep mark.

Anyway, good workout for a Saturday. I'll either rest tomorrow or hit the bench. Here's a video of one of the squats towards the end. I think 275 or 295, but I'm not sure. The sound you hear is my 8 month son, not me farting for extra hip drive. Though that's not a terrible idea.

http://instagram.com/p/sVAybhLFTp/?modal=true

 

[RegisterJr]

Congrats on winning your first strongman.

In for your progress.

 

[JohnRock]

Thanks! Today is on the schedule as a rest day, but I haven't needed to take many lately. I decided to use it for some light practice.

Back Squat: 225x1x5 w/10s pause, 275x1x5 w/5s pause.
Incline Bench (axle): 105x10, 155x10, 175x3, 195x1, 215x1x5, 195x3x2, 105x30 -paused every rep for 1-3s.
GHD Sit-ups: 10x10

Obviously nothing here was that impressive, but I'm really excited at how quickly I'm getting comfortable with the low-bar squat, which has been the bane of my existence in the past. Being able to hang out well below parallel feels really great.

 

[RegisterJr]

Obviously nothing here was that impressive, but I'm really excited at how quickly I'm getting comfortable with the low-bar squat, which has been the bane of my existence in the past. Being able to hang out well below parallel feels really great.

I dunno, that's pretty impressive In itself.

5s pause squat is a long hold, too.

 

[JohnRock]

Decent lifting today. Front squats and axle c&p. My elbow was in serious pain, so I had to modify the plan on the presses and just bang out some higher reps just to get done ASAP. I still got my 20 in, just not the way I planned.

Front Squats: 9x3x255 + 5 on the final set. (superset each of these with rear delt flies)
Back Squats: 135x30
Axle Clean & Press: 195x2x2, 195x6, 195x2x5 (20 reps)
GHD sit-ups: 25 weighted with a plate, drop set to 25 more without.

 

[JohnRock]

Just finished benching with the axle.

105x10, 125x10, 145x10, 165x10, 185x10, 195x10, 205x10, 215x9, 225x10 (homemade slingshot on final set)
All sets superset with 140x20 cable rows.

 

[RegisterJr]

Oh man, I meant to try the slingshot idea today and forgot ...

 

[JohnRock]

I'd like to try a real one. I have some cheap red superbands and I just double one over, then loop it from tricep to tricep. It has a tendency to rub the hair off my arms, but otherwise works just fine. I think the key to getting anything out of it is that you focus on getting a good pause every rep.

 

[JohnRock]

Decent lifting today. I practiced squats again, then went into deadlift assistance stuff. I worked on sitting back more in the squats and keeping my torso upright. I don't know if I'm actually stronger like this or if it's just because it limits me from dropping way below parallel. I was definitely feeling a little stronger, but I was only about an inch below.

Back Squats: 135x1, 1, 3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1, 335x1 (belted), 225x10
Snatch Grip RDL: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x2 (all beltless)
Shrugs: 315x30, 225x30, 135x40 drop set
Leg Press: 400x50, 490x30, 580x20 (legs super high for hamstring isolation)
Calf Raise: 400x50, 490x30, 580x20
Klokov Press: 45x50

 

[JohnRock]

Just finished benching.

105x5 up to 235x5, 245x5x3 with Slingshot band assistance. All superset with rows.

 

[JohnRock]

Feeling a little beat up today, but did some shoulders and arms anyway because I hate rest days. A couple drop sets of concentration curls with 70, 50, and 30 using fat grips. I cheated a bit on the 70s...obviously. Several sets of strict BTN press at 105x10. 200 bench dips. 100 rear delt flies. Blah blah blah.

 

[JohnRock]

I've been having some pain where my right tricep and delt meet, as well as my left elbow, so the benching plan is a little tentative right now. Last night, I benched 105x50, 25, 25 with matching rows between sets. This morning was supposed to be deadlifts and 10x10 dumbbell bench, but the pain was getting to me, so I cut it off after five sets of bench. I'm going to cool it with the pressing for a few days and see if it helps. I was also hoping to pull ten singles at 495, but the first one felt pretty ****ty, so I backed off to 475 instead and pulled beltless, double-overhand.

Sumo Deads: 495x1, 475x1x10
DB Bench: 80x10x5
Reverse Hypers: 45x10x5

 

[pyrobatt]

Subbed brother!

 

[JohnRock]

Thanks man!

This isn't really related to my training per se, but seems like a good enough place to add it. I've started a blog about training and put up the first entry yesterday. I'd be honored if anyone wanted to bookmark or share it. The link is in my signature and the first post is absolute click-bait, but hopefully an enjoyable read titled "Wendler's 5/3/1 Sucks."

Oh, and since I mentioned it above, here are the video highlights for the strongman I won a few weeks back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxdA9uEzNc&list=UUXs9xnbfPZwv5zahRJ9CeUQ

It looks like I might be doing another one on the 27th of this month. I cut below 205 for the last one, but I'll probably enter the 231 class this time around.

 

[RegisterJr]

Nice vid man.

I'll check out your blog next time I'm on a platform that shows sigs.

#TeamBeard

 

[JohnRock]

Pretty decent skwaat session today. I did a bunch of paused singles at the beginning, trying to find a wider stance that works for me. I've been keeping the squats pretty light the past few weeks while trying to relearn them and increase my mobility. I think it's starting to pay off, because this is the first time I remember having a wider than shoulder width stance and being able to hit parallel. Granted, I wasn't rock bottom like my shoulder width stance, but I was definitely legal, so I'm considering it a win.

Squats: 135x1x3, 185x1x3, 225x1x5, 275x1x5, 295x3x5, 225x10x2 (belt on rep sets only)
One-Arm DB Press: 50x10x5 -Still dealing with some arm pain, so I cut these short.
Leg Press: 580x20, 630x10, (calf raises after each) -finished with two super light sets of 100 to mimic the wider squat stance/stretch.
Machine Hack Squat: 360x20, 410x10

 

[JohnRock]

I couldn't leave well enough alone and benched again tonight, with a little bit of pain. Triples up to 265, then 285 with the Slingshot band thing. Axle for all sets.

 

[Graeman]

Thanks man!

This isn't really related to my training per se, but seems like a good enough place to add it. I've started a blog about training and put up the first entry yesterday. I'd be honored if anyone wanted to bookmark or share it. The link is in my signature and the first post is absolute click-bait, but hopefully an enjoyable read titled "Wendler's 5/3/1 Sucks."

Oh, and since I mentioned it above, here are the video highlights for the strongman I won a few weeks back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxdA9uEzNc&list=UUXs9xnbfPZwv5zahRJ9CeUQ

It looks like I might be doing another one on the 27th of this month. I cut below 205 for the last one, but I'll probably enter the 231 class this time around.

Nice blog post. I totally agree with what you are saying about enjoying your workout. I have come to the conclusion that I am still a beginner lifter after many years of not really getting into anything. I've done a few rounds of Wendler over the past year, gotten stronger for sure, but slowly felt myself losing interest again. Now I am doing what most would probably call "overtraining" and loving it. Can't wait to get in the gym and smash it again and again.

And nice work on the comp, looks like you did a lot of it relatively easy.

 

[JohnRock]

Saturday was kind of a bust. I went to the garage to lift with my wife before the kids' soccer games, but couldn't get my hips and back to work right in the amount of time we had, so I couldn't really squat. Sunday, the plan was to bench up to a heavy single, then hit it for a handful of triples with band assistance, but my tendonitis continues to get worse. I got up to 275 and had my elbow give out above 6" above my chest. I was able to press it after quickly trying to wiggle into a less painful position, but couldn't justify trying anything heavier, so I put on the slingshot band thing and hit 225x19, then took it off for a few sets of 185x15, pausing on the last several reps. Today was my volume squat day, so I did 10x10 at 185-225 with some light OHP between sets to get some kind of pressing in without stressing out the tendonitis again.

Oh, and I wrote a new blog post explaining the basic lifts for a couple training clients who just started last week.
http://stronksauce.tumblr.com/post/96975681970/barbell-101

 

[RegisterJr]

Man, that sucks the tendons are acting up. Still working the presses though.

 

[JohnRock]

Just finished some PM pin pressing to work around the tendonitis. Triples up to 255 with one arm cable rows between sets.

 

[JohnRock]

I decided to start logging this at my blog, but would still appreciate and comments or suggestions you guys have.

http://stronksauce.tumblr.com/post/97062753070/training-log-9-9-14-the-quest-for-ultimate-toneness

 

[JohnRock]

I hit some bench press and cable rows again last night. Benched from 125 up to 225 doing sets of ten, then a set of 125x40 because sadomasochism.

 

[JohnRock]

Arms yesterday, deadlifts today. http://stronksauce.tumblr.com/post/97228467805/training-log-9-11-14-the-lift-of-death