Journey to a State Title

Training Training Logs
161

Day 1

Kettlebell Swings:
45 X 10
45 X 10
45 X 10

Bench:
200 X 8
205 X 5
235 X 2
210 X 5 - My 8 rep set was difficult. The form on my 2 rep set was all-out and ugly.

Dumbbell Shrugs:
100’s X 8
100’s X 8
100’s X 8
100’s X 8 - When I chalk up, I feel the strain in my traps more than my grip and forearms, as it should be.

Dumbbell Jump and Press:
40’s X 5
40’s X 5
40’s X 5 - My last set was ugly.

Dips:
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 11 - This is a little progress.

Skullcrushers:
65 X 6
65 X 6
65 X 5 - I was very mad when I didn’t get the 6th rep.

JM Press:
125 X 6
125 X 6
125 X 6 - The last rep of the last set was a grind.

50 Sit-ups

I was down exactly 4 lbs from last week because I weighed in at 176.4 lbs. I’m feeling a tiny bit rundown, but I’ll get a break after this week. I’m very excited for the meet. I have just twelve days left!

162

Day 2

Deadlift:
324 X 3
384 X 3
414 X 2
424 X 1
429 X 1 - All my sets felt very light. I was supposed to stop at my fourth set, but I felt too strong.

Pullups:
BW X 10
BW X 6
BW X 5 - I’m thinking about switching to neutral grip or a widegrip variation.

1-Arm Row:
95’s X 5
95’s X 5
95’s X 5 - I felt strong doing these.

Barbell Curls:
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8 - The last set gave me a great squeeze.

Preacher Curls:
30’s X 8
30’s X 7
30’s X 8 - I want to move this weight up!

1 Arm Cable Curl:
50’s X 8
50’s X 8
50’s X 8
50’s X 8 - I supersetted these with my sit-ups. I accidently did an extra set.

Decline Bench Sit-ups:
65 X 10
65 X 10
65 X 10 - My left upper ab was sort of ‘popping’ through all the sets.

Hyperextensions:
44 X 15
44 X 15
44 X 15 - I was pouring sweat after these.

I’m pretty happy with this. I’m not going to be pulling again until my meet on the 27th. I’m anticipating something in the 450-475 range then.

163

Day 3

1-Arm Kettlebell Swings:
25’s X 10
25’s X 10
25’s X 10

Bench:
225 X 3 @ 86%
225 X 3 @ 86%
240 X 1 @ 90%
245 X 0 - I only attempted one rep with 240, and lost 245 halfway up.

Dumbbell Shrugs:
100’s X 8
100’s X 8
100’s X 8
100’s X 8

Functional Power Press:
100’s X 5
100’s X 5
100’s X 5

Dips:
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15 - This is a PR.

Skullcrushers:
65 X 6
65 X 6
65 X 5 - More progress.

JM Press:
125 X 6
125 X 6
125 X 6 - DNC

50 Sit-ups - DNC

There are a number of factors I can blame this on. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and I had my training time accelerated by 3 hours which completely threw my eating out of whack. Also, I suspect I’ve been training too heavy on bench earlier in the week. My old problem of tricep strength holding back my strength is rearing its head again. This is very frustrating, and not at all how I wanted my last heavvy bench session to go. However, I think I definitely have it in me to do 245 plus. My training tomorrow is a little up in the air as the weightroom will be closed. I’m going to be relying on some friends to help me out. I’ve been grounded for the past three weeks, so I think I’m going to pull a Flex Wheeler and just sleep and eat all day tomorrow.

164

Deload Week: Day 1

Squat:
135 X 6
225 X 3
315 X 3
365 X 1
405 X 1 - I put my belt on for my last set and followed commands. The weight was very fast.

Pull-ups:
BW X 10

Dumbbell Curls:
25’s X 8

Decline Bench Sit-ups:
BW X 15

Hyperextensions:
BW X 15

School was closed on Friday so I wasn’t able to squat. I don’t think the forced rest had a negative effect on me, but I would have liked to have been able to do my final day of heavy squats.

This week, I cut the sets down and lowered the intensity majorly. I’m going to be opening at my meet this Saturday with 405 on squat. I’ll go for a second attempt of 435 and then see where I can go from there. I’ve started my weight-cutting protocol which looks like this.

Sunday:
2 gallons of water
Higher sodium
Normal food

Monday:
2 gallons of water
Higher sodium
Normal food

Tuesday:
2 gallons of water
Higher sodium
Normal food
Dandelion Root

Wednesday:
1 gallon of distilled water
No sodium
Normal food
Dandelion Root

Thursday:
Water until noon
No sodium
Normal food
Dandelion Root

Friday (Day of Weigh-ins):
No water
Zero carb
No sodium
Spit in bottle and sweat if necessary

I’m sleeping around 178 and waking up at 176. Drinking 2 gallons a day has been a bitch, but it’s doable.

165

Deload Week: Day 2

Bench:
Bar X 6
135 X 3
185 X 1
225 X 1 - I paused all my reps and followed full commands for the last set. Everything was fast.

Dumbbell Shrugs:
50’s X 8

Dips:
BW X 15

Skullcrushers:
Bar X 8

Sit-ups:
BW X 20

I’ll open with 225 and then move to 240. I’ll see where I go from there. My cut is going well.

166

Meet Report

My cut from 178 to 165 went very well. On Wednesday night I went to sleep at 175.6 and woke up Thursday morning at 173.1. By the end of the day, I was down to 171.1. The morning of weighins I woke up at 168.7. I had a fried egg, two fish oil caps, a multivitamin and three dandelion root caps as my last meal at 8:30 AM. After that, I spit and pissed my way down to 165.8 for the car ride to Peru.

I weighed in at 163 on a scale that I suspect was light by at least a pound. It was pretty cool though because everyone thought I was jacked and were calling me King Kong and such. It was around 6:45 PM by this time. I was shaking pretty bad, and I wound up needing help opening my Pedialyte. I chugged that liter of Pedialyte and chased it with two apples. I then went to Pizza Hut and had a slice of pizza and 1.75 lbs of pasta. I went back to the motel and throughout the night I drank a half gallon of Gatorade and a gallon of water, and also ate 25 breadsticks. When I weighed myself the next morning, I was back up to 175.

Everything was going great and my teammates were all hitting PR’s when everything went wrong for me. I was warming up and my 135X6 set of squats felt great. I unracked 225 and on the first rep I felt something crack and pop in my lower back. I had major pain down the right side of my lower back and glute area. I racked it and was about to scratch when I just said “Fuck it” to myself. I grabbed my belt and finished my warmup sets and then went out for my attempts.

I got 405 and it flew up easily. That gave me my school 134-166 squat record by 10 lbs. My next attempt was 435 and it also flew up easily. That gave me the meet record by 20 lbs. My third attempt was 450 but the judges called it high. Another lifter got 450 on a fourth attempt he was given after he challenged his failed squat.

I was going to scratch after squats but I didn’t have any pain arching for bench. I got 225 and 240 smoothly, but missed 245 at my usual sticking point. I was supposed to scratch after deadlifts on advice of the trainer at the meet, but I was only 45 lbs behind first. I nutted up and downed six ibuprofen and rubbed on balm.

I warmed up for deadlifts and in the process scraped my right shin to hell. I also dropped my opener from 435 to 405 to stay on the safe side. I got 405 easily and the first place guy got 380. My 2nd attempt was 435 and that flew up. His 2nd attempt was 405 and he got that as well. He then listed 425 for his third attempt. In order to win the meet, I had to third attempt at least 475. However, there was a lifter from a rival school behind me who was scheduled for a 500 third attempt. This would have put him ahead of me by 5 lbs if I failed 475. When the first place lifter got 425, I decided to play it safe and drop to 455. I got it ridiculously easily and secured second, but lost the meet by 15 lbs. The lifter behind me ended up getting his 500 pull.

I think this was my meet to lose, and lose it I did. I’m really tired of lifting raw against equipped guys and losing by tiny margins. A meet director invited me out to his meet on April 17th, and I’ll likely me competing. I’ll have the state meet on March 20th, and after that I will be done with high school powerlifting. I will be lifting at 181.

Meet videos should be up in a week or two. I’m having a friend edit them for me. There should also be some very impressive lifting from my friend on the video as well.

167

Bench:
185 X 5
185 X 5
205 X 3
205 X 3 - I lowered my percentages way down. I’m deloading and taking it easy on my back.

Floor Press:
225 X 3
225 X 3
225 X 2 - I went way too heavy on this movement. I’ll drop the weight way down in the future.

Face Pulls:
50 X 8
60 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8 - I really like how this works my upper back.

Dips:
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15

JM Press:
130 X 6
130 X 6
130 X 5 - I was surprised that I failed this.

Hanging Leg Raises:
BW X 8
BW X 8
BW X 8 - This irritated the hell out of my back.

I’m doing some tennis ball holds and icing to try to speed my back along. I’ll do very light deadlifts and squats tomorrow to get the blood moving.

168

Foam Press:
135 X 5
185 X 5
225 X 5
245 X 2 - I like this movement. I think I’ll save it for my higher volume days.

Pull-ups:
BW X 10
BW X 5
BW X 4

Hammer Curls:
40’s X 8
40’s X 8
40’s X 8

Rope Curls:
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8

Squat:
BW X 10
BW X 10
BW X 10
135 X 10

Deadlift:
BW X 10
BW X 10
BW X 10
135 X 10

This was a jumble today. I experimented a little bit at the beginning of the workout and pumped blood throughout my injured areas. I’ll get back to heavier lifting later in the week.

169

hey, this is parks from plattsmouth, when do you think you will have those videos up, and do you think you can send them to my email (PM me for e-mail address), thanks i need some video for a powerlifting video i’m working on and i know you got some video of us

170

the raw video file would probably be better for me so i can do my own editing

171

Bench:
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
215 X 3
215 X 3 - This was all pretty easy.

Foam Press:
225 X 3
225 X 3
225 X 3 - I think I’ll rotate this out for a board press.

Face Pulls:
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8

Lateral Raises:
15’s X 10
15’s X 10
15’s X 10
15’s X 10

Dips:
50 dips in 5 minutes 20 seconds - I’m hoping to hit time PR’s every session.

JM Press:
130 X 3
130 X 3
130 X 3

I took this session a little easy. I’m going to start going hard tomorrow when I get back to heavy sets. My back is about 75 percent right now.

172

[quote]220tank wrote:
hey, this is parks from plattsmouth, when do you think you will have those videos up, and do you think you can send them to my email (PM me for e-mail address), thanks i need some video for a powerlifting video i’m working on and i know you got some video of us[/quote]

Honestly, I have no idea. I’m no good with any of that and I’m having a friend edit everything for me. I only took video of your team meeting, not your lifts. Also, how did you find me?

Christian says “Don’t worry, only three more months of Skutt kicking your ass.” His words, not mine.

Please tell your coach thanks for all the help he gave me at Peru.

173

Squat:
135 X 6
225 X 3
315 X 3
405 X 3 (Belted squats from this point on)
405 X 3
415 X 2
415 X 2 - These were mostly grinders. They felt light but moved heavy.

Step-ups:
60’s X 5
60’s X 5
60’s X 5

Pull-ups:
BW X 8
BW X 6
BW X 5

1-Arm Dumbbell Row:
75’s X 8
75’s X 8
75’s X 8

Hammer Curls:
40’s X 8
40’s X 8
40’s X 8

Rope Curls:
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8

174

Bench:
45 X 6
135 X 3
205 X 3
205 X 3
205 X 3
215 X 2
215 X 2 - I’m extending my warmups for bench. My percentages are pretty low and all my reps are fast.

Floor Press:
185 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5 - These were good paused reps. I liked this a lot better than last week.

Face Pulls:
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8
70 X 8 - I hit myself in the mouth on the last rep.

Lateral Raises:
20’s X 8
20’s X 8
20’s X 8
20’s X 8 - My delts were pumped after this. I like what this is doing.

Dips:
50 dips in 5 minutes 35 seconds - This is a 15 second extension in time.

JM Press:
135 X 3
135 X 3
135 X 3 - I like training this lift heavy.

50 Sit-ups

This is my last week of heavy training. I’m hoping to do pretty well.

175

[quote]165StateChamp wrote:

[quote]220tank wrote:
hey, this is parks from plattsmouth, when do you think you will have those videos up, and do you think you can send them to my email (PM me for e-mail address), thanks i need some video for a powerlifting video i’m working on and i know you got some video of us[/quote]

Honestly, I have no idea. I’m no good with any of that and I’m having a friend edit everything for me. I only took video of your team meeting, not your lifts. Also, how did you find me?

Christian says “Don’t worry, only three more months of Skutt kicking your ass.” His words, not mine.

Please tell your coach thanks for all the help he gave me at Peru.[/quote]

i was looking for Peru state pictures and your blog popped up lol, and sounds like Christians lol. and ya I’ll tell him for you

and really any video will work for me

176

Deadlift:
133 X 3
221 X 3
309 X 3
359 X 3
379 X 3 - Everything after my first warmup set felt tough. I was really bloated and that impaired my
409 X 2 positioning. I was hoping to add two singles with 429 and 449, but I felt a pop in my left glute.

Pullups:
BW X 10
BW X 5
BW X 3 - These were dead-hang. They’re giving me a better stretch.

1-Arm Row:
95’s X 5
95’s X 5
95’s X 5 - These were good.

Hammer Curls:
45’s X 8
45’s X 8
45’s X 8 - I was swinging these a lot.

Rope Curls:
80 X 8
80 X 8
80 X 8 - I like this movement.

Decline Bench Sit-ups:
45 X 10
45 X 10
45 X 10 - I’m starting a lot lower.

Hyperextensions:
45 X 10
45 X 10
45 X 10 - I’m trying to stay even with my abs and low back.

I did not like this session. I’m going to have to monitor my food intake a little better so it doesn’t negatively impact my deadlift again.

177

Hey man, I just skimmed your log. Nice work. Good luck with the lifting. Just out of curiosity: Where did u get your program from? Do you have a coach giving you your workouts, do you make them up yourself? If you do, you might want to check out the 5/3/1 for football that Jim Wendler just released… Again, awsome work man!

178

Bench:
45 X 6
135 X 3
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
225 X 3
225 X 3 - These reps were all fast and easy.

3-Board Press:
245 X 2
245 X 1
245 X 1 - I went way too heavy on this movement. I’m going to go with 225 next week.

Face Pulls:
80 X 8
80 X 8
80 X 8
80 X 8

Lateral Raises:
20’s X 10
20’s X 10
20’s X 10
20’s X 10 - This gave me a great pump.

Dips:
50 dips in 6 minutes 25 seconds - This was very slow.

JM Press:
135 X 3
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5 - These felt great.

I think my weight gain is helping me with bench. I’m looking forward to squat tomorrow.

179

[quote]fedaykin wrote:
Hey man, I just skimmed your log. Nice work. Good luck with the lifting. Just out of curiosity: Where did u get your program from? Do you have a coach giving you your workouts, do you make them up yourself? If you do, you might want to check out the 5/3/1 for football that Jim Wendler just released… Again, awsome work man![/quote]

Thanks for the words man. I did have a strength coach giving me my workouts up until about 3 weeks ago. He follows a block periodization model and some of his methods depart from my goals now that I’m retired from football. I’ve been doing a little bit of my own programming as of late because my training has been so jumbled thanks to my meet schedule. I’m probably going to hop on the Sheiko train over the summer. Even if 5/3/1 had been around in my day, I still wouldn’t have been able to do it. You know how territorial strength coaches can be.

Thanks for the praise! Keep an eye out, I’m hoping to put some meet videos up pretty soon.

180

Deload Week: Day 1

Squat:
135 X 6
225 X 3
315 X 3
365 X 1
405 X 1 - Easy as expected. My lower back is a little tight though.

Pull-ups:
BW X 10

Dumbbell Curls:
25’s X 10

Decline Bench Sit-ups:
BW X 15

Hyperextensions:
BW X 15

Clock is ticking. Can’t wait.