Lifting for Charity: ThisIsCreative's Log

Training Training Logs
1

That’s me and Richie. Richie’s had cancer starting last Valentine’s day, and with the hard work of perseverance of the doctors and nurses of the University of Minnesota’s Amplatz Pediatric hospital, he’s cancer free. However, I will be lifting for him in Relentless 2014, a fundraiser for HopeKids.

The competition will be in about 10 weeks. It’ll be my first meet since '09, but I’ve been hittin the gym pretty hard the 8 months. I’m on a program that a mentor of mine is making, so no information on that yet.

Some stats:

Age: 24
Height: 5’6"
Weight: 184
Squat Gym PR: 455
Bench Gym PR: 315
Deadlift Gym PR: 495

Goals for March 29th:

Squat: 465 (2.2% increase from Gym PR)
Bench: 325 (3.2% increase from Gym PR)
Deadlift: 520 (5.1% increase from Gym PR)
Total: 1310
Bodyweight: 181

The thing with these goals is that I’m going to be judged on a platform, versus just doing it in a gym. The Gym PR’s are inflated and the goal numbers are conservative. I’m going in there assuming I can squat 475 in the gym, along with similar numbers for the bench and deadlift. Especially for the deadlift, because it’s the last lift of the day.

General Lifting Program:

Sunday: Bench
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Squat
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Upper back / Arms
Friday: Deadlift
Saturday: Rest

Some notes on the program that I’ve gathered so far:

  • I will not be doing deadlift for reps. The majority of my deadlifts will be singles
  • This will be the first time I will be doing upper back the day before deadlifting. The day I pull, I usually use to destroy my upper back later. On this program, I’m doing it the day before. Not sure what I think of that yet

Diet highlights:

-No drinking (big change for me)
-1.5 grams of protein per lb of body weight per day, so that comes to 285 g per day
-Meats: Chicken, Ground Turkey, Salmon, Beef
-Carbs: Brown Rice, Yams, White Rice, Frozen Strawberries / Blueberries, Bananas, Oranges, Sugar (for protein shakes), oats (only in protein shakes), Burrito wraps sometimes
-Veggies/Legumes: Broccoli, Spinach (ground in protein shakes in the morning), Almonds, Avocados

Supplements:

-Creatine
-Multivitamin

Here’s a pic of me at the bottom depth of 455

452×524 210 KB

2

I compete raw btw

1/19

WARMUP:
-Foam Roller on back
-Shoulder mobility work

BENCH
Warmup:
45x3, 135x3, 185x3
Worksets
225x5x4 sets

Bench w/ Blocks
225 x 5 (2 blocks)
225 x 5 (3 blocks)
245 x 5 x 2 (3 blocks)

ACCESSORY WORK

  • Plate raises 2 x 15
  • Side bends 55x15x2
  • Side raises 25x15x2; 15x15
    -Pulldowns 120x16x2
    -DB Curls: 30x10x2

I’m coming off a bum shoulder after not warming up enough for DB presses when i was doing an example lift for someone. This same shoulder has given me shit for years cause i tore my labrum in 07 wrestling.

My triceps were also extremely sore cause i did skulls on thursday cause i couldn’t even bench, so my lockouts on all my benches were fucked up.

I also learned my setup for bench was somewhat fucked, so I have to work on being more locked out if I want to increase to heavier weights in the future

Overall kind of a shitty workout, but it was mostly focused on technique cause I have time.

3

1/20

WARMUP
-Foam Roller
-Mobility work

SQUAT
Bar (55lb squat bar) x 3
145x3
235x5
325x5
375x5

Good Mornings
135x7
135x5x 3 sets

Crunches (special kind I learned today where you lay your legs flat and have them pinned down)
3x8

Glute Ham Raise
3x8

Reverse Hypers
90x12x 3 sets

Again, easing into things. Workout was very easy. Nothing really stood out besides cramping up a bit on the good mornings.

4

Here’s what I did today (1/21)

Barbell Row
225 x 8 x 3 sets

Note: I use wrist wraps and a belt for these.

Dumbbell incline press
45 x 15 x 3 sets

Note: Bum shoulder was acting up at first and I couldn’t do floor presses, which is what I was going for. Eventually the reps helped warm up my shoulders and I was able to continue.

Overhead Press:
95 x 12
115 x 12 x 2 sets

Pulldowns
130 x 15
140 x 15 x 2 sets

Note: These were done with a bar that has my hands in a neutral position and wider than shoulder width.

Dumbbell Shrugs
80 (each hand) x 20
90 x 20

Elbow’s kind of sore after this. I think tomorrow I’m going to eat some blueberries or some other kind of anti-inflammatory to get rid of this soreness in my elbow and shoulder. Also, I hope my hams feel less sore, cause they’re still fucking sore from the good mornings I did the other day.

5

So despite my hamstrings being extremely sore from the GHR’s and good mornings from Tuesday, I was able to crank out some deadlifts today. Starting off slow with some mid 70% max effort sets of three reps, which is probably going to be the most I rep in terms of pulls. My coach wants me to reduce the volume from a deadlift perspective so as to refine my form of the first pull of each set.

Warmup:
-Foam Roll
-Mobility Work

Deadlift
Warmup: 135x3, 225x3, 315x3, 365x3
Worksets: 405x3 (5 sets)

Standing Preacher Ab Crunches

  • 2x20 reps with an orange Elite Fitness band that was tied about ten feet above me

Glute Ham Raise (couldn’t believe I had to do more…)
-3x8

Reverse Hypers

  • 95x3 (3 sets)
6

Just had a much better bench day than last week. Worked on my arch a bit more, and didn’t have the issue of the weird lockout like last week, which I’m now sure was because of my sore triceps.

BENCH
Warmup: 135x3, 185x3, 225x3
Worksets: 265x5 (3 sets), 275x3 (3 sets with 3 boards)

Dumbell Skullcrushers
30x15 (3 sets)
30x15 w/ bands (1 set)

Wide Bar Machine Rows
160x10 (5 sets)

Leg Raises
3x15

7

1/28

WARMUP
-Foam Roller
-Mobility work

SQUAT
Bar x 3
135x3
225x3
315x5
365x1
395 x 5 x 3 sets

Good Mornings
135x 10 x 3 sets

Crunches (special kind I learned today where you lay your legs flat and have them pinned down)
1x12

Glute Ham Raise
3x12

Reverse Hypers
90x12x 3 sets

8

1/29

Floor Presses
225 x 5 x 2 sets

Note: Shoulder still felt weird, but it went away after I started arching a bit more.

Barbell Row:
185 x 8 x 3 sets

Note: Wanted to work on having proper form and hitting my lats more effectively.

Overhead Press:
115 x 12 x 2 sets
115 x 9
115 x 3

Pulldowns
140 x 15 x 2 sets

Note: These were done with a bar that has my hands in a neutral position and wider than shoulder width. For reference, I’ll be mentioning supinated and pronated hand positions in the future. Take a look:

Workout got cut short since I had to do some work. I’ll be doing a few pullups later today to make up for the shrugs.