Basement Barbell Training Log

Training Logs
1

I’ve been lurking on T-Nation for close to a decade now, and it’s time to start posting. I keep a paper training journal but want to keep one online too. I figure that this will give me a different perspective on what I’m doing and why (plus nothing says “personal accountability” like an anonymous user name on the web).

relevant stats
6’3" 245 ~15% 24 years old

been lifting about 9 years, got real fat and strong then got skinny and weak.

goals
I want to be as strong as I was when I was fat, and in as good of shape as when I was skinny. People look at me and think I’m strong because I’m a big guy but I know better. I’m training to become an EMT-B right now, and getting in shape for that is important to me as well.

by April 2010 my goals are to hit 400 in the back squat, 300 in the bench press, 455 in the deadlift, and a 185 pound military press

means
I have a pretty solid home gym. 365 pounds of weight, 45 pound olympic bar, flat bench, 2 adjustable sawhorses that act as a rack, pullup bar, sandbag, 40/20/10 pounds kettlebells.

I’m going to use the 5/3/1 system because I like it’s flexibility

Template

Deadlift
unilateral leg
metcon + abs

Military Press <=== this workout done at a commercial gym for the dumbbells
db bench/incline/dips
db rows
isolation triceps
upper back

Dead Stop Back Squats
good mornings heavy, however i feel like doing them that day
metcon + abs

Dead Stop Bench Press
barbell rows
Rack work for the bench

Initial Training maxes:
Deadlift 370
MP 150
Deadstop Back Squat 285
Deadstop Bench Press 240

Theoretical training maxes after each cycle (weight lifted x reps x .0333 + weight lifted)
Deadlift 1-536
MP 1-188
Deadstop Back Squat 1-366
Deadstop Bench Press 1-283

2

Only had a half hour to lift so I just deadlifted.

Week 1 Month 1
09/09/09
Deadlift 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 65% 245x5, 75% 275x5, 85% 315x20

3

[quote]voodoo chile wrote:
Only had a half hour to lift so I just deadlifted.

Week 1 Month 1
09/09/09
Deadlift 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 65% 245x5, 75% 275x5, 85% 315x20[/quote]

Pulling 85% of your deadlift max for 20 reps tells me that your fitness level is high, correct? Will you be moving on to lower reps on deadlifts in the future to reach your stated goal? You must have the long arms short torso thing going for you???

4

That wasn’t a true 85%. 6 weeks ago i pulled 365 for 3 reps, and if you assume that a triple is 90% of 1RM that puts 315 at about 78% of a theoretical 405 max. In the time between then and now I’ve been working snatch grip deads hard and doing lots of swings with the kettlebells, 3-4 times a week. I think those helped a lot. My fitness levels are decent, I have pretty long arms, and I’m going to keep adding weight while trying to keep reps up for as long as possible.

5

Week 1 Month 1
Standing Overhead Press 45x8, 95x5

explosive pushup 5x3

resumed OHP 75% 105x5, 80% 115x5, 85% 125x15

1-armed DB rows 80 4x8
alternating sets with
DB bench press 70’s 4x10

lying db triceps extensions 35’s 2x8, 25’s 2x8
no rest, seated db cleans 35’s 3x8

6

[quote]voodoo chile wrote:
That wasn’t a true 85%. 6 weeks ago i pulled 365 for 3 reps, and if you assume that a triple is 90% of 1RM that puts 315 at about 78% of a theoretical 405 max. In the time between then and now I’ve been working snatch grip deads hard and doing lots of swings with the kettlebells, 3-4 times a week. I think those helped a lot. My fitness levels are decent, I have pretty long arms, and I’m going to keep adding weight while trying to keep reps up for as long as possible.[/quote]

I think that once you start working with heavier weight and lower reps you’ll smash the deadlift, but I’m a fan of high reps too!

7

9/11/09
recovery day
5x10 kb swings each side
upper body stretching

8

9/12 Squat
I had been doing front squats, had to switch to paused dead stop back squats because my wrists can’t handle the olympic grip anymore and I’m not comfortable with the cross armed version.

2x10 1-armed kb swings each side, no rest
dimel deads 2x20 135

dead stop back squats 65% 175x5, 75% 195x5, 85% 215x15

good mornings 205x4, 225x4, 205x4, 225x4 <==I read a Jack Reape article where he mentioned the effectiveness of Russian series/Bulgarian segments. Definitely felt stronger the second time through, could’ve been because I simply thought I was supposed to be stronger. Regardless, bar speed was much faster during the second series.

9

9/13 bench

seated external rotation 2x15 10

20 pushups
deadstop bench press 135x8, 165x5, 75% 175x5, 80% 195x5, 85% 205x11

barbell row 135x8, 150x8, 185 2x8

medium grip rack lockouts (~8" range of motion) sets of 5 185, 205, 225, 245, 265

10

9/16 deadlift wave 2

2x10 kb swings each side, no rest
ix10 single leg hip thrust
1x10 dbl leg hip thrust
2x:30 glute bridge
RDL 135x8, 185x5

deadlift 225x5, 70% 265x3, 80% 300x3, 90% 335x17

bulgarian squats 2x8 135

8 kb clean + squats (each side) followed by 20 mountain climbers 4 sets

11

9/17
OHP 45x10, 95x5
explosive pushups 5x3
OHP 80% 115x3, 85% 125x3, 90% 135x11

DB bench 75’s 3x10
alternate with
1 arm DB rows 85’s 3x8

lying DB triceps extension 30’s 3x10
no rest
seated DB cleans 40’s 3x10

12

9/18 sandbag training

just added 50 lbs of sand to my bag, got it up to 150.

3 sets of:

1 arm kb swings x 5 both sides
1 arm kb snatch x 5 both sides
3 power cleans with sandbag, then bear hug and walk for 100 steps

13

9/20 bench

seated external rotation 12.5 lbs 15,12
dead stop bench press 135x8, 185x3, 205x3, 215x10
barbell row 135x8, 165x6, 185x6, 205x6
rack lockouts (+1" ROM) 205x3, 235x3, 265x5

14

9/21 Squat

2x10 kb swing each side, no rest
2x15 double leg hip thrust

paused deadstop back squat using 285 as a training max 135x5 70% 190x3, 80% 225x3, 90% 255x10

good mornings 215x3 235x3 215x3 235x3

2x gpp: 10 swings each side, 8 clean and squats each side, 20 mountain climbers, 10 pushup + burpees

15

9/24 OHP Month 1 Wave 3

couldn’t get to the gym today, had to do seated OHP instead of standing.

seated OHP 45x12 95x5
kneeling pushups 5x3 <— explosively, trying to activate CNS
seated OHP 75% 115x5, 85% 130x3, 95% 145x9

barbell rows 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 215x6

pushups- feet on 3 aerobics steps x 20, 2 steps x 6, 1 step x 3, no steps x 2

reverse flyes 10’s with one second hold at top x 5, no rest 5’s with one second hold at top x5, no rest 2.5’s with :10/:09/:08 hold for reps 1/2/3. rested :90 and repeated

16

9/25 Deadlift

2x10 kb swings each side
glute bridges 2x:30
double leg hip thrust 2x15

RDL 135x8, 185x5
Deadlift 205x5, 245x3, 75% 275x5, 85% 315x3, 95% 350x16

bulgarian squat 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 165x5

metcon- 10 1-arm swings each side, 8 1-arm clean and squats each side, 20 mountain climbers, 10 burpees + pushups

17

9/27 Bench

seated external rotation 2x12 10
Deadstop bench press 45x15, 95x8
kneeling explosive pushup 5x3

Deadstop bench 135x5, 165x5, 75% 185x5, 85% 205x3, 95% 230x7

supinated barbell row 135x5, 165x5, 185 3x6

medium grip bench lockouts in rack (+2 ROM) 205x5, 225x3, 245x1, 265x1, 285x1

SER 2x12 10

18

9/28 Squat

1 arm kb swings each side 2x10
glute bridges 2x:30
double leg hip thrust 2x15

deadstop back squat 135x5, 185x5, 75% 205x5, 85% 245x3, 96% 275x10

good mornings 205x5, 220x4, 235x3, 215x5, 230x4, 245x3

2x metcon: 10 1-arm swings each side, 8 1-arm clean and squats each side, 20 mountain climbers, 10 burpees + pushups, :30 planks. 2:00 rest between sets, this is hard as hell on me. Only got :15 on planks second time through because I suck at these.

19

9/29 DELOAD week

seated OHP 45x15, 95 3x5

plate pullover 35 lb plate x 20, 15, 10 supersetted with (no rest)
supine plate press 35 lb plate x 50, 36, 25

barbell curl 45 lb bar x 20, 15, 10
barbell triceps extension 45 lb bar x 20, 15, 10

20

9/30
I did that goblet squat + 2 arm kb swing dan john wrote about a few week ago. 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 alternating exercises, no rest.