Colbstar's Conjugate Log

Training Training Logs
41

Wednesday, May 18th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Bench Press
    45lbs - 3x5 SUPERSET w/ 3x8 BW Chins
    95lbs - 3 reps
    115lbs - 3 reps
    135lbs - 3 reps
    155lbs - 3 reps
    175lbs - 1 single
    185lbs - 1 single
    195lbs - 1 single
    205lbs - 1 single
    215lbs - 1 single: EASY (relatively speaking), no belt (no pause but always touching the chest)

This was all I had time for today because I had to go to work at the Snocone Factory at 4 o’ clock (school gets out at 3:00pm). I am very proud of this for a few reasons:

  • My bench has not gone up in a while despite working very hard on other programs
  • My best shirted bench in a contest was 215lbs (w/ pause).
  • My best raw bench in the gym was 235lbs (no pause). This lift was completed about 15 months ago! My bench has gone no where! It was time for a change.

Thank you to Westside Barbell’s proven methods. Nothing has increased my lifts more and made me feel more confident. This 215lbs bench came up very quickly. Also, I worked very hard to keep my upper back pinched (traps). These usually let go first and it puts me out of position. I also feel my bench more in the triceps THROUGHOUT the movement, not just at the top. This is good.

42

Thursday, May 19th, 2016

Bonus Work: Upper Body

  1. Lying DB Triceps Extensions SUPERSET WITH Seated DB Curl
    20lbs each - 5x8/20lbs each - 5x12

  2. Rear Delt, Lateral Delt, and Front Delt Raises Circuit
    20lbs each - 3x10 raises in this order (rear, then lateral, then front)
    10lbs each - 1x20 in this order

43

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 1 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. ~28 inch Box Jump
    BW - 1x3
    Holding a 20lbs dumbbell - 1x3
    Holding a 30lbs dumbbell - 1x3
    Holding two 20lbs dumbbells - 1x3
    This was very scary to be honest! I’ve never really jumped up onto something with weight in my hands, and it was very difficult to find a good groove. But to train the jump with added weight, I lowered the height of the jump.

  2. Parallel Wide Stance Box Squat
    170lbs + monster mini band on each side: 12 sets of 2 with 20-30 seconds rest in between
    Because I haven’t gotten a new max and don’t have a ton of different bars or anything, it’s hard for me to constantly change for the dynamic day. So I simply shortened the rest periods and added 5lbs.

  3. Deficit Deadlifts - 2 inch deficit (conventional)
    310lbs @ 70% of 1RM (445lbs during my last test) - 10 singles with 30 seconds rest in between

  4. Walking Good Mornings
    135lbs - 3 sets
    Basically, once I unracked the bar, I bent over into a good morning and then walked for a set distance. This absolutely TOASTED my lower back and even hit the glutes a little to my surprise. This was all I had time for due to a graduate’s mass at my church.

Later in the day, I went to a friend’s graduation party. We played some games outside that had me doing some sprints like interval training.

44

Monday, May 23rd, 2016

Bonus Work: Lower Body

  1. Nordic Ham Curl (aka Poor man’s Glute/Ham Raise) - flexed hip
    BW - 4x8

  2. GHD Sit-Ups - various foot heights
    BW - 4x20

This took about 20 minutes and was all I could get done before my shift at the Snocone Factory. I tried my best to hit what I missed yesterday (hamstrings and abs).

45

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

Week 1 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Bench: Speed-Strength (4 sets of close, 4 sets of wide)
    110lbs + Mini band on each side - 8x3 @ 50% + bands w/ 60 seconds rest
    I decided to actually do the 3 week wave with the percents like the squat.

  2. One Arm DB Overhead Press
    50lbs each - 4x5
    30lbs each - 3x12
    THE PUMP!

  3. Behind the Neck Pull-Up
    BW - 3x10
    The last 2 reps of my last set were basically failure.

  4. Barbell Reverse Curl
    65lbs - 3x8

My arms and shoulders overall were burning after this workout.

46

Wednesday, May 25th, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. Kneeling Jumps
    55lbs on back - 4x5

  2. Front Squat (not to box)
    45lbs - 5 reps
    95lbs - 5 reps
    135lbs - 5 reps
    160lbs - 5 reps
    185lbs - 5 reps (belted)
    205lbs - 5 reps (belted)
    225lbs - 5 reps (belted)
    I took a wider stance than usual on front squat to take advantage of all the hip muscles. It definitely paid off!

  3. Roman Chair Back Raise
    75lbs on back - 6x6
    This was toughest on my hamstrings right at the knee actually.

  4. High Incline Chest Supported Row
    80lbs each - 3x12

This day was also accompanied by a lot of sprinting, playing outside games with friends, etc.

47

Friday, May 27th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Medicine Ball Slams
    20lbs - 3x5

  2. Illegally Wide Bench Press to 6RM
    45lbs - 6 reps
    95lbs - 6 reps
    135lbs - 6 reps
    155lbs - 6 reps
    175lbs - 6 reps
    190lbs - 6 reps
    YES! This was 5lbs over my last 6 rep max I did a few months ago. On this last set, I was shaking in my legs and lower back to keep proper position.

  3. Illegally Wide Bench to failure
    95lbs - 1x35, 1x20
    WOW! This had me shaking.

  4. DB Tricep Kickbacks
    20lbs - 4x8 per arm

  5. Pull-Ups
    BW - 4x8

  6. Bent-Over Rows
    135lbs - 4x12

This workout was absolutely brutal but very productive for me. It was completed with a friend named Noah, which was nice. It was tough too because I pulled an all-nighter by going to project graduation after well… GRADUATION! :smiley:

48

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 2 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. ~40 inch Box Jump
    BW - 4x5

  2. Parallel Wide Stance Box Squat
    185lbs + monster mini band on each side: 11 sets of 2 with 45 seconds rest in between

  3. Deficit Deadlifts - 2 inch deficit (conventional)
    345lbs @ 77.5% of 1RM (445lbs during my last test) - 8 singles with 35 seconds rest in between

  4. Sled Pulling - Metal sled
    3 plates - 5x3 houses

  5. Lying Leg Raises - back on med ball, legs hanging off for extra stretch
    BW - 4x15

49

Monday, May 30th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

I warmed up with some pull-ups and dips.

  1. Bench
    120lbs + Mini band on each side - 1x3 @ 55% + bands: CLOSE GRIP
    95lbs + Mini band on each side - 4x3: CLOSE GRIP
    120lbs + Mini band on each side - 1x3 @ 55% + bands: WIDE GRIP
    95lbs + Mini band on each side - 4x3: WIDE GRIP
    I tried to do the squat percentages for the dynamic bench, but Louie is right. It’s too heavy for bench. But because I already got 1 set of 3 down, I figured I’d make it even and get another one with a wider grip.

  2. High Incline Dumbbell Press
    60lbs - 2x10
    50lbs - 2x12

  3. French Press
    45lbs - 5x8

  4. Band Lat Pulldown Iso-Hold/DB Row superset
    Light Band each arm - 3 x 60 seconds/120lbs - 3x8 per side
    Monster Mini band each arm - 2 x 60 seconds/80lbs - 2x8 per side

  5. Reverse High Incline DB Hammer Curls
    30lbs each - 3x10
    20lbs each - 1x10

This was a great workout overall. Very productive for me.

50

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016

Low Intensity Bike ride

51

Wednesday, June 1st, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. Running jump over a 3 feet obstacle
    BW - 4x3

  2. Rack Pull from 4 inch blocks
    135lbs - 3 reps
    185lbs - 3 reps
    225lbs - 3 reps
    275lbs - 1 rep
    315lbs - 1 rep
    365lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    405lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    445lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    470lbs - 1 rep (belted)

  3. Roman Chair Back Raise
    BW - 5x20

  4. Ab Wheel - various
    5 sets

It was raining very hard at the coop, so it was tough to get anything else in.

52

Thursday, June 2nd, 2016

This morning I passed out for the first time in my life by holding my breath too hard for too long! I fell backwards hitting my back on the counter. My head followed by scraping most of the other kitchen cabinets along the way. I was demonstrating a dream I had to my mom in the kitchen. For the sake of this log, I’ll describe the dream:

For some reason, I went on a trip to train at Westside Barbell in Ohio. I was able to dynamic squat in a big garage like gym filled with yelling, plenty of racks, and the coveted reverse hyper. After I finished my squat workout, I look over and see the Louie Simmons himself rack pulling. But it was odd because he had ZERO added weight. Just the bar and TONS of bands on each side. Right as I look, he pulls the bar as hard as he can, takes about 10 seconds to lock it out as he shakes and turns purple, and then drops the bar. Curious as to why he decided to do this for my own training’s sake, I asked him what he was doing. He said “how about you try?”.

So I went for it. We took off a little bit of bands because he is much stronger than me. I begin to pull and pull. I barely get it up and am shaking myself. For some reason, I twist as I lift the weight up. Probably because I wasn’t braced properly. When I finally lock it out, I put down the bar and look at Louie. I’m a little nervous because I barely got this band pull up because I shook and twisted so hard while lifting.

He looks at me, pauses, and says “the core has to be the strongest muscle.”

That was it! That was my dream. I woke up in awe. He’s right. You must have tremendous ab and low back strength (and butt of course if you count that as what helps keep one stable). Louie appeared in my dream just to tell me to keep working on my core. And to this day (because I had this dream about a month ago), I’ve been making sure to focus on it.

So you might be wondering how I actually passed out demonstrating this dream. Well I took a big belly breath first thing in the morning and began to shake and shake to show my mom exactly how hard it was to pull this weight with just bands on. And I guess I lost focus because of my lack of breath and I passed out. It was… embarrassing and funny all at the same time. :joy:

53

Saturday, June 4th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Decline Bench
    45lbs - 5 reps
    95lbs - 5 reps
    135lbs - 3 reps
    155lbs - 3 reps
    175lbs - 1 reps
    195lbs - 1 rep
    215lbs - 1 rep
    225lbs - 1 rep
    235lbs - 1 rep

  2. Close-Grip Decline Bench to failure
    135lbs - 1x25, 1x13

  3. Decline DB Tricep Extensions
    20lbs each - 4x7

  4. One Arm Barbell Row
    50lbs + bar - 1x8 per side
    75lbs + bar - 4x8 per side

  5. One Arm Short Barbell Lateral Raise
    25lbs short bar - 4x7 per side

  6. DB Hammer Curl w/ FatGripz
    30lbs each - 4x8

Pretty much every single movement I picked today felt great! This was an awesome, productive, successful max effort workout.

54

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 3 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Broad Jump from Box
    BW - 3x5
    I was making about 8-9 feet per jump.

  2. Parallel Wide Stance Box Squat
    200lbs + monster mini band on each side: 10 sets of 2 with ~35 seconds rest in between

Keep in mind that the transition from dynamic squatting to dynamic deadlifting always takes 3-5 minutes.

  1. Deadlifts - conventional
    380lbs - 6 singles with 35 seconds rest in between

  2. Seated Good Morning
    135lbs - 4 or 5 sets of 10 (I lost track during my sets)

  3. Dimel Deadlifts
    135lbs - 4x20
    These are deadlifts where you start from the top, drop down quickly to about knee level, and accelerate up as fast as possible.

  4. Band Crunches for Abs
    5 sets of various

  5. “Reverse Hyper” hanging off of roman chair
    BW - 3x30
    Doing lots of reps on these actually started to burn pretty badly!

Solid session!

55

Monday, June 6th, 2016

Bonus Work: Lower Body

  1. Tire Sled - hooked onto back of belt
    45lbs + tire - 5 or 6 sets of 3 houses

  2. Seated Band Leg curls
    Monster Mini on each leg - 3x10

  3. Reverse Hyper/Hanging Leg Raise superset
    BW - 2x25/BW - 2x10
    I laid my belly on a dip bar with a pad. I still haven’t figured out a great way to do these.

I set a timer for 30 minutes and stopped when it went off. This is what I got in.

56

Tuesday, June 7th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

  1. No Momentum Med Ball Throws
    20lbs ball - ~10 Throws

  2. Military Press
    70lbs @ ~50% - 8x3 w/ short rest

  3. High Incline Dumbbell Press
    50lbs each - 2x20

  4. Econo Tricep Pushdown w/ DB grip
    45lbs - 3x8

  5. Bodyweight Skullcrushers
    BW - 3x8

  6. Econo Lat Pulley - One Arm
    90lbs - 3x8 per side

  7. Bent Rear Delt DB Flies
    20lbs - 3x15

  8. Barbell Curl
    75lbs - 1x7, 1x6, 1x5
    45lbs - 1x10

57

Wednesday, June 8th, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. " Box Jump
    45lbs barbell + BW - ~10 Jumps

  2. " Box Squat
    135lbs - 1 rep
    155lbs - 1 rep
    185lbs - 1 rep
    205lbs - 1 rep
    225lbs - 1 rep
    255lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    275lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    300lbs - 1 rep (belted)

  3. Wide Stance Good Morning
    135lbs - 5x10

  4. Belt Squats (weight hanging down through a deficit so it can’t touch the ground)
    3 plates hanging - 2 sets of 2 minutes of work

  5. Roman Chair Sit-Ups
    BW - 2x12

58

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

Bonus Work: Lower Body

  1. Metal Sled - hooked onto back of belt
    90lbs + sled - 3 sets of ~ 6 houses

  2. Tire Sled - hooked onto back of belt
    45lbs + sled - 2 sets of ~ 6 houses

  3. Dumbbell Deadlifts (holding weight down middle standing on two boxes)
    80lbs - 3 sets of 2 minutes of work (amounted to 35, 37, and then 39 reps)

59

Saturday, June 11th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Band Pushing
    Light Band on each arm - 3x10 quick

  2. Military Press
    45lb - 5 rep
    65lb - 3 rep
    85lb - 3 rep
    95lbs - 1 rep
    100lbs - 1 rep
    110lbs - 1 rep
    120lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    130lbs - 1 rep (belted)
    140lbs - 2 failures (belted)
    135lbs - fail (belted)
    This was very frustrating. One of the most frustrating workouts in a long time. My old record was 135lbs (I completed it while doing Westside actually back in September/October). I know what I need to work on.

  3. Bar Skullcrushers
    45lbs - 1x12
    50lbs - 1x10
    55lbs - 1x8
    60lbs - 1x6
    35lbs - 1x20

  4. Neutral Grip Ring Pull-Up
    BW - 3x10

  5. DB Overhead Press - 2 arms at a time
    30lbs - 1x18, 2x14

  6. Reverse Barbell Curl
    45lbs - 3x15

  7. Neck Work

60

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 1 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. 36" Box Jump from Box
    BW ~10 reps

  2. Kettlebell Jump from Box
    45lbs kettlebell from parallel box - ~5 reps

  3. Parallel Wide Stance Box Squat
    185lbs + monster mini band on each side: 12 sets of 2

  4. Deadlifts - sumo
    275lbs - 10 singles, plus bands wrapped around my neck and feet.
    This band setup is not optimal at all and doesn’t provide much tension.

  5. Romanian Deadlift
    225lbs - 4x12

  6. Tire Sled - forward push on balls of feet NOT heels
    45lbs + tire - 3 sets of 3 houses

  7. Lying Leg Raises hanging off bench
    10lbs ankle weights - 3x12

This was one of the hardest workouts in a while. The lactic acid buildup…