Just Your Average Training Log

Training Training Logs
21

Wed 3/2/11 Night of Miss Reps - Squat & DL Day

Had trouble falling asleep last night - tossing and turning til about 2 - but felt pretty good coming in

Warmups - Stick, Lax Ball on TFL, Piriformis, TKEs, hip flexor stretch, stretch where I lay on my back with my knees up and try to touch them together. Whatever this stretches was really tight

SSB Squat
bar, 165, 255, 345, 395
belt on
435
475x2 - missed the third falling forward. Second was a real grinder, but I went for third because I felt it was all technique, that I hadn’t pushed back enough. Honestly wasnt that pissed. Dunno why, maybe because I felt it was technique or whatever. Still not promising taht I missed my first week of 3s

DL
135, 225, 315 - each of these I did a single w a double overheand, then a single w a hook grip
385x5 - missed the dbl over, hook grip went fine (first time my hook has ever been better than my double overhand, pleased with this), left hand under right over, then 3 w left over right under
410x5 - all over under
belt on
435x2 - belt shifted on me and I missed third rep

Was supposed to do more exercises, but after this I just felt like it would be useless. I guess I was already having a bad night and supplemental work was lose/lose: if I do well, who cares, it’s just supplemental, if I do poorly that’s even worse. Coulda been the sleep or whatever. This is either the worst “good” training cycle I’ve had, or the best “poor” training cycle ever. Everything is up and down, a step forward, a step back. Every training session has something bad, but also something redemptive, or if not every session then every week there’s something good followed by something bad.

22

Just lost everything I typed up so this will be short
Sat 3/5/11 Events Day

Log - 11"-11.5" or so (probably. the SC CT log. 220 empty)
warmups
270
290
300x0
300x1
300x0

Yoke - 250 empty. More unsteady than a Bigg Dogg Yoke, but not as bad as Linden’s. All for 40-50ish feet
plate jumps up to 790
840
Not fast but smooth and steady. Focused on really pushing hard against belt. When I couldnt hold air anymore I would took short breaths and pushed out hard w each step. Wore my PL belt WITHOUT the rehband. I believe this allows me to get it tighter

Stones - 52-54"?
230x7 or 8
just a little tack on finger tips

Plyo Box Jumps
36.25"
38.25"
40.25"
42.25"x0
42.25" w one step

these were mats stacked on each other, so not exact measurements, but pretty close

23

Sun 3/6/11 Arms

Trained at home

full warmup - stick, Lax ball on both shoulder and hips, etc

EZ Bar Rev Grip Curls
bar had 15kg plates each side, so I think it was 83 lbs total?
6x10@83

Standing 1 arm DB overhead ext
6x10@35 - last two sets w L arm needed assist from R

Overhead Band Curl
6x10@ monster mini

1 Arm Band Pushdown
6x10@ monster mini

Sled Drag
5x160ish’ w 135lbs in basket
last run done in ~50.5 sec (previous few were probably slower)

24

Mon 3/7/11 Lower Body Accessory

Warmup - Stick, TKEs, forgot my lax ball

Back Ext
bwx10
25x10
barx10
65x10
hammie was tight the whole time

GHR
hands at chest x 8
hands behind head x 8
hands in superman style x 8
may’ve arched a little too hard on this, but got it done

Rev Plank off GHR
3x32 sec w hands at chest
last set had to move my hands down to my waist at the end. had someone watching time for me. Went w 32 sec cuz it’s a little more than 5% increase from last week. I am really starting to like these things, i think they WORK. Had a huge back pump from GHRs when I started and after 3 sets no back pump at all.

25

Tue 3/8/11 Overhead Night

Warmup - stuck to same plan as last week: 45 rolls each on pec, delt-bi, mid delt, rear delt, trap, rotator. 3x1 min stretches tractioning my shoulder and stretching my neck away

Mil Press
barx10
65x8
95x6
115x4
135x2
165x3
175x3
belt, wraps
185x7
Lots of visualization before this one as well. Felt like I had several more in the tank, altho the last few werent quite as fast as the first few. No grinders tho. I get so into it when I’m doing these I sort of lose it, and end up feeling like I may’ve used my legs just slightly on the last one or two. No way to tell tho.

Z Press - hole #14, right about upper forehead level
95x3
135x3
185x3
205x2, miss the third
2x3@195
Really feel it hitting the mid-back on this one, it’s good. Bar was set to probably slightly above my sticking point on a mil press, but I seemed to encounter another sticking point about half way up, maybe inch or so after it cleared my head

DB Overhead
100x1
115x1
125x1
135xmiss,miss, 1
The misses and make on the 135 were consecutive. After the two misses, took a step back, got psyched and said this was the last one, make it or miss it. Really wish I could be more consistent with this.

Lat Pulls
40x20
60x16
90x12
110x8
130x4
160x6
170x6
2x7@180
Set up to mirror the overhead weight and reps in a 2:1 ratio

Forgot to do the lax ball and traction work again as a cool down. Need to remember this.

Very happy with the work tonight. Happy to only lose one rep off last week’s (solid) effort even w the addition of 10 lbs.

26

Wed 3/9/11 Squat and Deadlift Day

Warmup - just stick. felt loose/antsy to start, so no lax ball. Guess I forgot it, more or less

SSB Squat
barx3
155x3
255x2
345x1
395
add belt
435
455
480x2, miss the third (just a LITTLE bit of a spot, but i still missed it)

All the warmups felt heavy, which I usually take to mean I’m a little CNS fatigued. Now, the bad news is I missed my reps. The good news is, I was much closer than I was last week, even with 5 lbs more. Teh second rep was MUCH easier. Maybe i cut it higher or whatever, blah blah, but I feel decent about it. More convinced than ever that I have the strength, it’s just technique/allowing the SSB to throw me forward coming up outta the hole. Really feel like it’s more about staying tight than anything else: tight in my core, tight pushing my knees out. I think doubling 490-495ish should be very doable. Maybe even easy. Probably wont get a chance to try it tho. Coupla reasons, maybe not good to run at such a high intensity for quite this long, plus when I talked to Rhodes he seemed to think the program was stalling and it was time to change it up. This may be for the best, as I was trying to figure how I’d incorporate the end of a squat cycle into what I’ve got planned coming up. It’s still tempting,a nd I’ve still got to figure how to transition the gains I’ve made on the SSB into teh straight bar, so we’ll see.

Also to note, my left knee was in pain on pretty much every decent. Not sure if I’m keeping my knees back, and nobody there I really trust enough to ask to watch. Also, pulled my right adductor, up high and sorta to the front.

DL - 90% of 510
410x3
435x3
460x5
Probably shoulda left more in the tank. Could’ve gotten 6, but might’ve had to have hitched. I hook gripped the first rep on all of these, which I’m really very happy with. Felt a pull in my left shoulder on each of these, even tho my left hand was the over hand.

Pause Squats
3x5@115 w 5 sec pause where I usually lose it (so these were half squats, not full)

Got this idea from Dave Tate’s The Eight Keys on how to fix a squat falling forward outta the hole 3-5x5@20% of max, 5 sec hold where you miss. I REALLY liked this. Felt my back pump up BIG time. I think I can really work these and get something out of them.

Took an ice bath when I got home. 10 min on hams glutes and quads, 5 min on low back. Felt ok w it, and my adductor is barely bothering me today.

Very happy w tonight’s work.

27

Fri 3/11/11 Taking a weight on Bench Night

Just wanted to have a weight to plug into for my next training cycle. warmup - lax ball on the 6 muscles in the shoulder girdle I’ve been hitting

Bench
barx10
95x8
135x6
185x4
225x2
these all felt slower than they should
275
295
315 - had a hand off for this one and all after
335 - flew off my chest
355 - got maybe an inch of daylight

Bent Over Rows
Weights and reps same as bench. Next time I’ll work for a 2:1 ratio Didn’t do 355. Was pretty strict til I got to 315, then got a little momentum going.

28

Sun 3/13/11 Events Day

Warmup - stick, TKEs, lax ball on piriformis and TFL

Car Dead - Bigg Dogg Frame, measured the pick, I believe it was 11.5"
all for triples, all touch n go. started w the light tire, added 90# in plates, then small db (110), then large db (140), heavy keg (210), light keg (160)

Then we put a dime and a 2x4 on top of the scale and slid it underneath. 500lbs of force at bottom. Surprisingly difficult for that weight. Still happy tho, as I got some good work in and I’m always suspicious of the estimations of “weight in hand” with these things

450x3
500x1 - slooooooow. Felt it moving just enough to continue pulling.
450x7

Yoke - 50-60ish
450
540
630
720
810 - wasnt terribly happy w speed, but at least it was smooth
added belt around chest and knee wraps
900 x 3 picks, barely got a few feet

Log wasnt at the warehouse, so went to chipotle and ate, then went to gym where the log was

Log
90, 180, 230, 250
270x2
270x3

Had a little trouble w the 250 at first. The pick was ok, maybe even a little easy, but the clean was slow and my knees KILLED as soon as they shot forward. Dumped the first one and just had to decide to accept the pain and attack. Press wasn’t bad, maybe not easy, but I think the limiting factor will be conditioning.

29

Hello there.

In regards to your sleeping, I’d try Magnesium Chelate like myself.

I also tend to get to “excited” but 600mg of that 1 hr before bed has me sleeping like a baby.

Does tend to give a bit of “slowness” when you wake up, but twill pass.

Good lifting anyways.

-Steve

30

Thanks Steve

Tue 3/15/11 Overhead

Events were Sun, so I didnt train arms, and lower body accessory the next day woulda been a bit much. I want to take a weight in the squat this week, so I bagged it entirely

warmup - 45 lax ball rolls on the same 6 muscle groups I’ve been hitting for my L shoulder. Did a few on the R and the muscles are actually more tender, so whatever the problem w the L shoulder is, it may not be in the muscle. 3 stretches x 1 min

Mil Press
45,65,95,115,135; 10,8,6,4,2 reps
155x5
175x3 - actually felt heavy when I took it outta the rack
195x5

Not terribly happy w this, but ok

Mil Press w Chains - 5 chains a side
45x3
2x3@95
105x3
115x1

Hard, but that probably means it’s working and is good for me

Bagged the DB work this close to a contest

Lat Pulls
40x20
60x16
90x12
added fat gripz
110x8
130x4
150x10
170x10
190x10

The guy working in w me was using fat gripz so I used them too. Actually really liked it, so I’ll be using my tyler grips on this from now on.

Didn’t do anything special this training session, but I feel great this morning and I think I’m starting to notice some additional size in my upper body.

31

Thu 3/17/11 St Patty’s Squat & DL Day

Had a Monster on the way to the gym

Warmup - stick n lax ball on piriformis. Totally forgot to do TKEs

Squat - w straight bar, first time since Nov or Dec. Wore two sleeves on L knee
55
145
235
325
415
505
lowered one knee sleeve on L
545 - Stas said 2" deep
575 - right there. grinder, stopped there, didnt want to miss if I went up. Sticking point was a little lower this time than it was on the 545, probably about 3" above parallel or so. Bottom of glute was mid way to just above patella or so.

So my SSB max is roughly 90% of my straight bar max. Sticking point w straight bar is approximately the same w SSB, so it’s good to know that not having 500 on my back for months didnt weaken my stability, top end, etc.

DL
385x5
435x3
485x4 - hook gripped first. Each felt heavy but seemed to come up better than the last.

Pause squat - at sticking point. these really help teach tightness, head BACK into bar, etc
4x5@115 - 5 sec hold

Felt really good at the end of this, wanted to do more, but called it for sake of the contest in 9 days. Walking around afterward L knee felt more restricted in movement than usual, but no pain at all

32

Sat 3/19/11 Events

Warmup - I think just the stick. Maybe Lax ball on piriformis, but not TFL. Got to remember TKEs

Log -
The new Bigg Dogg log starts are 240, so we warmed up w a few reps on axle
240 for 3 (or 2?) singles. Felt really good.

Yoke - pick is set to about 56" forgot to check
450 pick
540x50ish
630x50ish
72xpick from 54"

Husafelt
several picks. Managed to get a staggered grip on it rather than just bear-hugging. Felt good.

Feeling great, can’t wait to compete.

33

Strong stuff man. Good luck with competition.