I’ve lurked around TNation for a long time, reading and learning a bit and decided I want to keep a training log here. I’ve been training using Brian Carroll’s 10/20/Life system for about 3.5 years now and with his recent book release I thought some readers here might be interested in seeing how I set my training up.
My training started for football and become 100% focused on powerlifting after playing ball was no longer possible for me. I’ve trained using a variety of systems and that got me to a 1575 raw total at 220 in the summer of 2010. After that meet I contacted BC and haven’t looked back. Recently I totalled 1900 pounds at a bodyweight of 232 (242 class) at the XPC raw finals in Columbus, OH. My day consisted of a 755 squat, 465 bench press and 680 deadlift.
Currently my focus is on the benchpress. I managed a couple 500 pound competitive presses last year at a slightly heavier body weight (closer to 250). I will be training for a bench only contest in July. Things are just now starting to pick up for that and I’m very excited to push my bench back over the 500 mark!
Day 1 of my week is the heavier bench day. My focus on this day is of course heavy benching, triceps and some elbow prehab to keep me healthy.
Bench Press- 3x3 at 8RPE
Worked up to 1 triple at 365 and two triples at 405 with long pauses. I like the long pauses to help build strength off the chest.
2 Board Press- 4 x 6
1 set at 315, two at 365 and the last one at 405. My sticking point seems to be just above this height. I’m trying to hammer the movement right below that point and get stronger to push through it.
Hammer Curls- 4x15
Reverse Curls- 4x15
Grip- Rolling thunder holds
These last three exercises are focused on keeping my elbows healthy. I’ve really struggled with tendinitis and have found that incorporating some direct bicep work as well as grip keeps that at by. Also with a second bench day coming later in the week, I’m not concerned with getting a ton of bench assistance in on this day.
For the past several months I have been training both my squat and deadlift on the same day. I do this to allow for more recovery time between big lower days. It took a little getting used to at first and the training sessions are long but having a week before squatting or pulling again is really nice.
Squat and Deadlift- 3 x 3 @ 8RPE
Squat- 505, 595 back down to 505 and then 595 again. I got this all messed up. I’ve been trying out some olympic shoes but have found I just don’t like them. I feel like I am on my toes and my knees shot forward. After a decade of squatting in flat soles, I’m not liking the heal, so I changed into my chucks, dropped the weight down and everything felt much better.
Deads- 405, 455, 495. Back was pretty smoked at this point, just wanted to get some good work in.
Deficit pulls- 3 x 5
315 for all 3 sets.
Lat Pull Downs- 4 x 15
Bird Dogs- 10x10 sec hold
Not a bad day for the second SQ/DL back after my March meet.
I picked up Brian’s book the day it came out and was really impressed. I’m a raw lifter too and was a little reticent about the book given that Brian’s been a multiply guy for so long, but like he says, the information in there applies to anybody who needs to get stronger. Raw just means more bottom end work and less of a headache dialing in gear.
You’re a strong fella, I really look forward to seeing how you put things together. As I am coming off a pretty disappointing meet performance, hopefully I can learn something here.
I think you will end really liking Brian’s system once you really give it a go Zak. I’m definitely not the only raw lifter that has had a lot of success with it. Feel free to ask questions as you read through it.
Also, thanks for following along! Hopefully my log will help you a bit. Over the next several weeks I will be transitioning into contest prep for a mid-July bench meet. My training will be setup for offseason SQ/DL work and contest prep for bench. So I am basically combining the offseason and pre-contest stuff you are seeing in the book.
Day 3 for me is a bench accessory day. I’m focusing on higher volume, incline pressing and floor pressing. I have found that when my incline and/or floor press is strong, my bench is very strong. However, I don’t want to end up beating the crap out of myself so I keep the weights lighter and volume high on this day.
How have your squat and dead responded to training them both on the same day once a week? It looks like your third day is just bench assistance, so am I correct that all your sq/dl work is on that one day?
I’ll say for sure that I’d be pretty nervous about only having one day/week to work on both of those lifts, but I’ve seen a number of really strong guys lately putting things together that way.
I was skeptical of it too at first, but I really like it. I like the combo day style because of the additional recovery time between heavy lower days. Now I get a week in between rather than 2-4 days. I also like how well conditioned I end up being. The XPC raw finals in March was the first meet that I trained with the combo day for and it was the first meet that I didn’t feel like death at the end of the day. My back is much more able to handle the stress of the day. At the XPC meet I squatted a 35# PR and pulled a 45# PR.
An important thing to note though about my training right now… The third day is a bench assistance day. I’m doing it this way since I am training for a bench only meet and bench is my priority right now. In full meet prep that third day would be lower assistance with some upper back work sprinkled in.
I bought the book and one thing I wondered about was the weight jumps with off season training. How big of weight jumps to you generally take for the 5x5 or 3x3 days? I generally have been doing more volume and say starting at 65-70% and taking 20lb jumps. However, it seems like he may be recommending to ramp up a little bit more to a top set with 50lb jumps or so.
Normally I am taking 40-50# jumps up to the last set to finish at the RPE for the day. RPE can be a bit difficult especially in those higher rep ranges. Most people can easily tell when they hit a single and have one more. But hitting 5 reps and knowing you had 3-4 more is hard.
So my recommendation depends on how familiar you are with RPE. If you have trouble figuring out that last set and end up getting greedy (i.e. going too heavy) I would take smaller jumps.
When in doubt I would rather see a lifter take smaller jumps and lift more conservatively. I’d much see you smash weights and feel fresh then start missing reps or end up beat from going too heavy at the wrong time. In my opinion for longevity and overall progress it’s better to err on the side of going a touch light than the other way around.
When Dave Tate announced the first LTT I jumped on it and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to go to another one until this weekend and as expected it was awesome.
The compound is simply amazing. It serves as a testing ground, showroom and gym for Dave and his people. As a result its basically the best gym in the world. Our day started early at 7:30am. I was in the “nasty” group and we would be basically doing a mock meet and working up heavy. Being just a few weeks after my last meet I wanted to lift smart and maybe pull a deadlift PR.
Squat- 705 (miss at 760)
Chad Aiches kind of took me under his wing for the day and had a ton of good advice. Chad, Zane Geeting and Molly Edwards coached me through and made some quick improvements. I know I need to get some reps to get it right but the little things are going to make all the difference. Jen Petrosino was nice enough to wrap me up, that girl is maybe a little crazy but was super helpful and I am grateful that she was taking care of me. 4 take aways on the squat:
Experiment with a wider stance
Start with hips farther back to encourage sitting BACK not down
Tighter upper back
Finish getting air before starting the movement
Bench- 460
Played it a little conservative here and left some in the tank. 460 felt good and moved well with a long pause. I wanted more but knew that I need to be smart especially considering where I am at in my training cycle. 2 take aways:
Heels down before the lift even starts
Take bar out with elbows already set in position (don’t start flared and tuck as bar is handed out)
Deadlift- 700 (+20 PR)
I wanted a 700 pull bad. I knew that the strength has been there for a bit just haven’t had a chance to take a shot at it. I wanted to pull something big and worked up to 650. 650 felt ok but not great. Aiches kind of called me out and when I at first backed down he got under my skin, pissed me off and I knew I had to get the pull. Zane Geeting (very good DLer himself) had some good advice for me and it paid off. 1 main take away:
Be patient. Pull the shoulders back, set arch and upper back pulling the slack out of the bar. Don’t rush this.
Overall, an awesome experience. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know a few of team members over the past year or so and it was awesome to have them coach me through a day. Chad Aiches was awesome and answered all of my questions thoroughly. Things like the LTT are why I have tremendous respect for Dave, his staff and his team. The EliteFTS mission of Live, Learn, Pass On is not just some bullshit marketing thing. The team truly lives it and exemplifies it in their actions.
Turns out the stomach flu is a fantastic way to lose weight… Spent most of the week sick and took a forced deload as a result. Not the end of the world, espcially coming off of LTT8 and some big lifting there. My plan was to take it pretty easy anyways.
Did manage to get a little work in yesterday, against my better judgment. But my new deadlift bar had finally arrived! I couldn’t not go play with it. Stayed light and worked on pulling the slack out of the bar just like I was instructed to at the seminar.
Week 12- Day whatever
Form Pulls
315 x 5 doubles
McGill Crunches
Birddogs
In about a year I have went from a 630 pull to 700. The owner of the gym asked what has really made the difference and for me it has been two things I think. First, block pulling. I suck at block pulls, really bad. So much that I avoided them like an idiot. Finally in the past 6 months I focused on 4 and 6 inch block pulls as a main assistance movement. My block pull went up dramatically as did my full range deadlift.
The other big factor I think has been a change in approach to core training. The majority of my core training is done statically now via bird dogs, planks and other various holds as advised by Brian Carroll. This has made my trunk strong as hell and allowed me to hold good position under big squats and while pulling. Notice the terminology there- not abs. Trunk. Abs, low back, lats, obliques, etc. The entire midsection, and it is much stronger now than ever before as well as my back feeling healthier.
This was the first day of my official contest prep to get ready for the July 19th APF Can-Am Bench Wars. Still feeling a bit under the weather, made for a less than great session and ended up shutting it down early.
Bench- 3x3 @ 65%
330 x3x3. Felt horrible the whole time. The bubble guts were not doing me any favors.
2 Board Press- 4 x 5
315 x 1 set. I just couldn’t do it. Training was making me feel worse, not better so I shut it down before I hurt myself. My general rule with training while a little sick is that as long as it doesn’t make me feel worse I will get through the day. That wasn’t the case for today. Probably should have just stayed home.
I am experimenting with a wider stance. I tried something wider out at LTT and last week but it felt pretty awful. After considering that I am in a long off season right now I decided to keep searching and I think I found a medium stance that I like. Video below is of the last two sets at 505.
Deads- 5x5 @ 8RPE
315, 405 and singles at 500 and 585.
Coming off a stomach virus I felt very flat and weak. Not exactly my best work, really quite terrible actually. Should have been smarter and just stayed light.
Pause Squats- 3x3
315 for all 3
New stance felt even better here. It’s already feeling somewhat natural.
Typically I have a general idea of what I will be hitting that day. It’s a little harder with the higher rep/lower RPE, generally a little more difficult to know exactly how 5 reps at 6RPE might feel. So those days are a bit more up in the air.
But 1-3 @8+ RPE I pretty much know exactly what I will be doing.
