Right after I posted that I realized that that’s what I have always done and it doesn’t make any sense.
26 December 2017 - Bench
245x3+ (7), 265x1, 275x1, 225 3x5, 135x10
DB Bench 4x10 75s
Every tricep exercise I could think of for a couple sets of amrap
Notes
I felt good walking into the gym and very bad walking out of it. Every weight I touched felt about 10% heavier than they normally do which is rare, but it happens. I don’t think I’ll squat again until Thursday. I’m working tomorrow and the gym is closed on Wednesday for some reason, so I’ll have plenty of time to eat and sleep. So there’s that. 345x1+ for squats and 260x1+ for bench. 6-7 with 345 would be awesome, and I’d be okay with 6 reps with 260 for bench
This me when u does it:
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29 December 2017 - Squat
345x1+ (6), 4x8 275
Pause Squat 2x5 245, 1x5 225
Conventional Deads 4x1 382, 409x1
Sumo Deads 3x2 382, 409x1, 419x1
Leg Press 5x10 (5 plates) supersetted with 5x10 good mornings 95 lb
Notes
My last squat session of 2017 sad face
345x6 is right on par with where I should be, and according to some rep max calculator that puts my 1rm around 415 which is going to be my next cycle’s max (so like 370ish TM I think). I kinda wanted to push for 7 reps, and I might’ve been able to get it, but I don’t know. My mind said yes but my body said no, so I didn’t. Also threw in leg press + GM supersets for cardio. ~30 seconds of rest between each superset got me sweating and breathing hard. Weird because that also happens when I think about food #bulkszn
Also said fuck it and hit some deads for the first time in 2 months-ish and whew. after hella leg work I was still able to pull a conventional 4lb pr and almost pull my current sumo max. My back is going to be very sore tomorrow.
One more bench session tomorrow morning, then another few days off to begin my deload. I feel like a loser saying it but I really am excited for 2018. A year ago, I could bench 225x3-4, squat 275x6, and barely deadlift 405 and I’ve already come so far. Newbie gains? Possibly. Another year of training and hopefully the numbers that I did today will seem as childish as the ones I did a year ago. Yee Yeeeee
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30 December 2017 - Bench
260x1+ (5), 3x8 225
DB Bench 4x10 80s
Tricep Cable Pushdown 5xamrap
2 January 2018 - Squat Deload
225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 335x2, 355x1
30 minutes of basketball
3 January 2018 - Bench Deload
185x5, 225x3, 245x2, 265x1, 275x1
30 minutes of basketball
Notes
260x5 is bad. 275 felt heavy as hell today. My squats felt okay, I think I’ll work up to a heavy single after my next squat session and continue to turn up to bench volume. It will probably be 1-3 more cycles of OG 5/3/1 before I convert to BBB.
5 January 2018 - Squat Max
Here we are folks. Hit my goal of 405. That’s 80lbs added to my 1rm in 5 months. 325 looked identical (actually, it may have been worse) in August. I’m going to keep grinding and hopefully hit 455 before 2018 is over. I’m really looking forward to increasing the volume and getting pumps again 
Edit: Not sure if I hit depth with 405, but I did with 385 the rep before this one. When I’m doing a weight that I can handle, I always feel when I hit depth (every time). I completely zoned out during this lift which I think is why depth is questionable. Could be the angle, and I’d like to say that it is. I trust my muscle memory to take care of that.
Edit #2: Also played basketball for about 45 minutes after this. Will take Saturday and Sunday off and then start my next squat cycle on Monday.
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Bad angle, but if you missed depth it was by a bee’s dick.
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Good log. Keep up the work man.
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I’ll take it!!
Thanks man!! Hard work really does pay off lol
8 January 2018 - Squat
315x5+ (10), 335x1
Front Squats 2x8 185, 3x5 225
Good Mornings 3x10 135
Notes
On January 6 I attempted a 315lb bench press and got buried by it. In a way, I’m glad I failed because it’s just fuel for the fire. It’s just motivation to redouble my effort and focus.
As for today’s workout, I tried to get more volume in, but it was hard. My 5+ set emptied the tank for a while, but my last sets of front squats felt good and the good mornings were easy as hell. I’ll go up in weight with the good mornings and keep them at sets of 10, and probably stick to 185 on the front squats and do sets of 10 there as well for a while.
I plan on doing a very slow, gradual linear-type overload on my accessories. For example:
Cycle 1: 3x10 185
Cycle 2: 4x10 185
Cycle 3: 5x10 185
Cycle 4: 3x10 195/205
Cycle 5: 4x10 195/205
Cycle 6: 5x10 195/205
I’ve never set up or performed any assistance exercises like this, I’ve always just kind of added volume however I thought was good. But I sat down and thought about where my weak points are (everywhere is the conclusion I came to), but then I decided to focus more on back and hamstrings. I forgot to take a picture of the excel doc with my assistance exercises before going to the gym, so I forgot to do my Kroc rows. I have a BD day tomorrow with a rest day on Wednesday, possibly followed by a SB day on Thursday; I’ll play it by ear.
My + set with 315 felt very hard after 3 reps, but I’m not surprised considering I maxed out 3-4 days ago. Nothing a lil eating and sleeping can’t fix. 235x5+ tomorrow for bench, 300-something 5+ for deads!
Ordered some Chucks a few minutes ago for my deadlifts. May try squatting in them as well. We’ll see
Why chucks tho? Y no Metal Powerlifting Shoes? Go big or go home. Negative balance bank account lyf
IPF approved too @guineapig
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It is said you get to squat high, short pause bench and sketchy lockout deadlift and lift 10% more if you bring $1000+ IPF approved gear to an IPF affiliated meet.
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@khangles so you boys are tellin me I can quarter squat and touch n go in IPF if I wear these shoes? Fuck my college tuition, I’m buying some gear
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Full kit only I’m afraid:
$200 Metal Powerlifting Shoes
$250 SBD Belt
$100 SBD Soft Suit
$100 SBD Sleeves
$50 SBD Wrist Wraps
$20 SBD Shirt
$20 SBD Socks
$740 Total Approx
9 January 2018 - Bench
235x5+ (10)
Pause Bench 2x10 195, 1x6 185
Kroc Rows 4x15 45lb
20 Pullups
Power Clean 5x2 100kg (220lb)
Notes
Very, very pleased with my + set. My bench has been struggling a lot lately, but getting 10 reps on a 5+ is exactly what I needed to get my mind right. Had a One Mississippi count on each pause, and I just died on the last set, not sure why. Kroc rows felt very uncomfortable probably because it’s been 4-5 months since I’ve done any DB rows. Pullups were hard, I think I’ll use a band next time so I can focus more on contracting my back and less on actually pulling myself up; training a muscle vs training a movement I guess. Power cleans were just for fun to try out my new Oly shoes that I got a few weeks ago. Felt awesome. Rest day tomorrow (plenty of chicken, water, and stretching), squats (possibly deads too) on Thursday, and bench on Friday.
Thank God my bench wasn’t awful today.
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Squat shoes too
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11 January 2018 - Squat
335x3+ (8)
Front Squats 2x10 185
6 Second Front Squats 185x5, 205x5, 3x5 225
Good Mornings 2x10 135
Notes
My hammies were crazy sore after doing good mornings for the first time in months on Monday. 135 felt very light (because it is, don’t judge me) and even doing only 30 total reps just fried me. I was pounding water and my protein on Tuesday and Wednesday to put myself in the best position to be fully recovered for today. Hamstrings were still fairly sore, quads and glutes were fine, so I spent extra time stretching in any weird position that felt good in addition to rolling my hamstrings.
335x8 is a PR I believe. I think I could have gotten 9, but a PR is a PR and I’m not going to willingly do another squat rep that will end up looking more like a good morning than a squat. My PR with 320 is 9, and if I had 320 on the bar today I think I could’ve gotten 10-11 with it. Today just felt really good for some reason, despite my hamstrings being sore during my warmup (oddly enough, they aren’t sore at all right now.)
I’m driving to OSU tomorrow to spend the weekend with my buddy, so we’re hitting some bench tomorrow or Saturday and pounding burritos all weekend. I’m cautiously optimistic about putting 250 on the bar and seeing how well I do. Next time I’ll squat is Monday, so I have 3 whole days to rest up for it. 355x1+ is going to get murdered. The goal is 7 reps which is 100% possible if I hydrate enough and eat enough this weekend. God bless y’all, let’s get these mf GAINS this weekend
13 January 2018 - Bench & Squat
250x3+ (7), 225x10
Triceps pushdown 3xamrap
Back squat 315x5, 335x3, 365x2, 385x1
DB side raises 3x10 25lb
15 January 2018 - Bench & Deadlift
265x1+ (4.5), 2x10 225
Conventional Deads 310x5+ (15), 365x1
Pause Bench 3x10 185
Power Clean 3x2 100kg, 3x1 110kg, 3x1 115kg (failed 120kg)
Sumo Deadlift 365x1, 385x1
60lb DB Farmer Walks 3x40seconds
Notes
Kinda got out of control with the amount of random shit I did these last two sessions. 250x7 is almost a bench PR; my first 3 reps were very unstable and I thought I was going to die, but ended up banging out 4 more. I think (not sure) that means that my back is too small and weak since I wasn’t able to stabilize on the bench.
For squats, I went with a sort of deload session just for fun. Super low volume, but fun weight. Also, apparently my lateral delts are weak as fuck because 25lb has remained heavy, despite me getting strong and gaining almost 20lb in the last 6 months. Something to work on I guess.
As for today, the 15th, my bench was kinda bad. I wanted 265x5 or 6, but died on my 5th. Then I hit some pause bench, because that’s my main accessory focus for the next few cycles at least. I’ll post the video eventually, but I tried 315 about 2 weeks ago and it buried me, couldn’t move it more than 2-3 inches off my chest (though it didn’t feel that heavy in my hands).
I bolded my deads because I’m FINALLY DEADLIFTING AGAIN, and I’m doing conventional, at least for now. I still plan on training sumo because why not. 310x15 was actually a lot of fun, and I wasn’t out of breath when I was done. Everything I did this weekend was beltless, surprise surprise.
Farmer Walks killed my forearms and traps, and my power cleans just felt fantastic, but I just hit a wall when I tried 120kg. I just can’t seem to get over the 120kg barrier.
Tomorrow is a rest day, Wednesday is squats and maybe a bench deload. I might actually do a full SBD day with a squat 1+ at 355 and deadlift 3+ at 330. My goal for the end of 2018 is to deadlift 500, and I don’t know if that’s going to be sumo or conventional, but we’ll see. Feels good to be back in the deadlifting squad (my chucks are getting here sometime this week, v excited)
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