Chasing Records

Training Training Logs
141

240lbs Hang Power Clean

Lots of power cleans tonight. Hit 240 pretty easily. Still gunning for 250.

95x5
135x3
155x3
165x3
175x3
185x3
185x3
195x3
205x3

Wave ladders-
1- 185/195/205/215
2- 195/205/215
3- 205/215/225
4- 210/220/230
5- 215/225/235/240

After this I pulled some heavy “deadlifts” off of 10 inch blocks. This was literally the lowest pain free range of motion I could do. I tried standing on more board (literally 1.5 inches more) and it was a no go.

Anyway…
135x5
225x5
315x5
405x5
495x3
545x3
565x3
585x3

Meh.

142

250lbs Hang Power Clean

Hang power clean- 95lbs x 5
135x5
155x3
175x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x3

Wave ladders
1- 195/205/215/225
2- 205/215/225/235
3- 215/225/235/240/245/250

Power shrug- 315x3, 405x3, 495x3, 515x3, 535x3, 495x8, 455x10

I’m feeling pretty good right now. It doesn’t hurt to run/jump anymore so I’m going to start doing more bounding and jumping drills again. I’m enjoying the power cleans so I’m going to keep doing those for a while and see if I can hit 275 or so. The 250 from the hang was a pretty big PR. The most I had powered from the hang from back in the day was 225, and I’ve only been doing these for a few weeks now so I’m hoping there’s more there.

Other than that, I did try front squatting with 135 last night after the cleans. It did hurt, though not nearly as much as when I was training for the competition. I stopped after 3 reps and don’t plan to start back up with squatting seriously for a little while yet, but I’m hoping that in a few more weeks it will actually be a possibility that I could do so if I wanted to without further aggravating or re-aggravating the existing injury. We shall see. I’m quite enjoying the training I’m doing and the mental reprieve is nice as well, but I’m damn eager to get back to it. There are PRs that need to be lifted.

143

Close grip bench!

CGBP(paused)- 230lbs x 4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3 (25 total reps)
Dips(bw + 115lbs)- 5,5,5,5,5 (25 total reps)
Chinups(bw + 90lbs)- 4,4,4,4,4 (20 total reps)

Solid work. Haven’t done chins in a while, so my lats are pretty durn sore today.

144

Do Your Damn Front Squats.

New video is up! It’s all about the benefits of front squats, one of my favorite lifts. Let me know what you think. Don’t forget to like the video! Thanks guys.

145

I can jump again and it feels fucking fantastic.

Well it was freezing yesterday, but I got outside and got back to doing those two-legged bounds that I love so much. And I was quite pleased with the result.

Hang PC- 95lbsx3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 205x3, 215x3, 195/205/215, 205/215/225

2 leg Bounding- for those who don’t know, this is just a series of broad jumps done consecutively, where as soon as I hit the ground I immediately go into the next jump. I’ll do anywhere from 3-6 jumps in a series, but usually I like to stick to 5. My PR distance over 5 jumps is 50 feet on the dot from this past summer, but yesterday, after not having jumped at all in about 5 months, I managed to hit a best distance of 49’5" which is not too shabby at all.

I like to do these by doing 3 sets at a time, where I increase the “intensity” with each set. So one “set” is really 3 series of 5 jumps done with about 3 seconds rest in between them. E.g. yesterday I did:

Set 1: 5@70%, 5@(80%, 5@90%
Set 2: 5@80%, 5@90%, 5@95%
Set 3: 5@85%, 5@95%, %@98@
Set 4: 5@85%, 5@95%, 5@100%
Set 5: 5@85%, 5@95%, 5@100%

75 total jumps. More than I had planned to do, but I was happy with how they were going so I kept going. I paid the price today though: I am sore as hell. Everywhere. Calves, hamstrings, glutes, abs, even my quads are sore as fuck from absorbing all that impact. But that’s pretty legit for not having jumped in so long, ad i honestly wouldn’t be surprised if I destroyed my old PR in the next few weeks.

After this I tried deadlifting. I went up to 405 which was incredibly easy, but I felt enough pain to decide that going higher would be ill advised. Just have to be patient…

146

405lbs Front Squat - haven’t squatted in 2 months

Well last night I tried front squatting again after I did my power cleans. I wore the wraps and I descended very slowly to ensure that I wouldn’t aggravate the injury. But as for the squatting itself, it didn’t hurt. So I kept adding weight to the bar. Though I can tell that the area still isn’t quite “right,” so all I did was like 5 sets working up to the single with 405. My plan now is to front squat once a week with a very low volume like this. I’ll continue to do shrugs the other 2 lower body days. I’m hoping that this will allow me not only to maintain my squatting strength, but also to re-strenthen the area as long as I’m smart enough not to overdo it.

Hang PC- 95lbsx5, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 205x3, 215x3, kinda meh today so I stopped here

Front squat- 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1

This 405 was actually really easy. I went completely kyphotic and it was ugly as sin, but it was really easy. For reference, my best unwrapped FS is 420. But I haven’t squatted in 2 months, I was descending into the hole approximately at the rate of molasses, and my form was terrible, so overall I am happy with this for right now. I just need to not be overzealous and make sure I take my time and easeeee back into the frequency. This is not my strong suit and i have a tendency to be my own worst enemy. But if I do things right I see no reason why a 450 front squat wouldn’t be in my somewhat near future.

147

405 Front Squat

Here’s the video of the front squat I hit last night. You can see my form is not there yet as my upper back folds over immediately. With some practice I should be able to add to this lift relatively quickly.

148

Lurker stopping in, Dude you are a beast! When I read your log and watch you vids I forget you’re 155 and think you are in the 190-200lb range then remember you are 155lb making what you do even more impressive!

149

[quote]FarmerOwen wrote:
Lurker stopping in, Dude you are a beast! When I read your log and watch you vids I forget you’re 155 and think you are in the 190-200lb range then remember you are 155lb making what you do even more impressive![/quote]

Thanks man! I appreciate that. I always wonder if anybody is actually reading this thing or not lol.

150

Close grip bench 5 rep PR

Close grip bench(paused) - 230lbs x 5 (PR), 4,4,3,3,3,3,3 (28 total rep)
Chins (bw+90lbs) - 3,3,3,3,3
Dips(bw+120lbs)- 5,5,5,5,5

Solid work tonight. Pressing strength is increasing slowly but steadily. I’m really hoping to turn this into a big bench PR.

151

How To Front Squat!

New video is up on my channel. It’s a follow up to my last video where I talked about all the benefits of front squats. This time I give an in depth tutorial on how to do a perfect front squat. A lot of the info is probably a bit elementary for you guys, but I’d appreciate it if you could give it a watch and let me know what you think. Don’t forget to like it on Youtube! I’m gonna go train now.

152

Becoming an explosive powerhouse

Looks like little Alec is starting to become an explosive machine. Had a pretty solid session on Saturday. I hit a smooth 405 front squat followed by a really high but really easy 425 front squat. This is the most I’ve ever front squatted (albeit I’m using wraps this time but eh well) and I’ve only done 2 squat sessions all year so far. I’m hoping to really add to this and see if I can use it to boost my back squat up to 550.

I also hit a PR triple in the power clean with 225. And I got my 5 jump bound back up to PR levels with 49’11" on only the 2nd session. I’m looking to blow this away soon as well. Hip isn’t doing too badly and things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I’ll be able to deadlift soon and then I can start looking at doing my next comp!

153

Bench volume day 225x8

I had been doing overhead presses on Tuesdays, but I grew bored of them. Then I switched to Spoto presses and gave the a try for 2 weeks but they weren’t able to keep me captivated either. SO I decided to just go ahead and do some touch and go benching for reps yesterday instead. I did 5 sets with 225.

I have also been looking for a way to be able to do heavier face pulls. I tried creating a pulley a yesterday by attaching some plates to a rope and throwing the rope over the top of a barbell that was racked in my squat rack, but that was no good. The friction made it uneven and awkward and the rope probably would have frayed away and torn after a few sessions anyway lol. SO it seems I am resigned to band face pulls :confused:

Bench(225)- 8,7,5,5,5 (30 reps)
Band Face pull- 15,15,15,15,15

154

RIP Barbell

Yesterday was just like any other day. Training was going pretty well. I hit some decent power cleans. I did a shitload of shrugs. But towards the end of my sets something…bad happened. The barbell was loaded to 505 for my 5th set of 3 on the power shrug. But on the 2nd rep my strap snapped completely in half and the bar went crashing straight to the pins completely unresisted. As you can imagine, after such a tragic event, Mr. Barbell is no longer with us. He is now relegated to the corner of the gym, replacing the old bent barbell, for use in emergencies only. He was young, but he lived a good life, taking my squat from a mere 450lbs all the way up to 535lbs. Goodbye, Barbell.

Hang power clean- 135x3
155x3
175x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
185/195/205
190/200/210
200/210/220
210/220/230
220/230/240

Power shrug- 315x3, 405x3, 455x3
505x3,3,3,3,3
405x5,5,5

155

Beltless 405lbs semi-stiff leg 5" deficit deadlift

This lift wasn’t part of tonight’s training. It was done on a whim in response to challenge issued to me by someone I know lol.

The real training session was solid though. It went:

Close grip bench- 225, 240, 250, 260 (close grip PR, easy, had more in me)
235 x 4,3,3
225 x 5,4,4,3

Face pulls x 100

Dippiess (bw + 125lbs)- 5,4,4,4,4
Pullups(bw + 80lbs)- 4,4,4,4,4

156

I wanted to stop by and offer my condulences on your barbell. May it rest in peace. :slight_smile:

157

[quote]FarmerOwen wrote:
I wanted to stop by and offer my condulences on your barbell. May it rest in peace. :)[/quote]

It was a sad day. But his predecessor is being shipped as we speak!

158

[quote]ape288 wrote:
I have also been looking for a way to be able to do heavier face pulls. I tried creating a pulley a yesterday by attaching some plates to a rope and throwing the rope over the top of a barbell that was racked in my squat rack, but that was no good. The friction made it uneven and awkward and the rope probably would have frayed away and torn after a few sessions anyway lol. SO it seems I am resigned to band face pulls :/[/quote]
About halfway down the page I have a couple photos of how I rigged up something on my own rack.

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/lorez_training?id=5283481&pageNo=33

Pulley is from Lowes, rated to 440lbs or so. Paracord held up surprisingly well for me, but obviously can be upgraded.

Loading pin design is here: DIY Loading Pins - Bigger Stronger Leaner - Forums - T Nation

Maybe something you can take away from that.

159

Very strong lifting. I’ve stopped in and lurked a few times, but never said hello. I’m going to share that “when does it ever get easy” video with my girlfriend; she still mostly in the “I’ll do it until it feels easy, then add weight” mindset.

160

What barbell did you order?