Understood, thank you for the quick response, I did try ZMA for a little while and I did feel as though it improved my sleep quality a little bit. So hopefully this works as well or better. 
1 Like
Well one thing is for sureā¦itās cheaper and lasts longer! Hah. If necessary can always add a pill of benadryl.
1 Like
07/22/2016
Machine Bench Press
120 x 12
130 x 12
130 x 12
130 x 12
130 x 12
Pec Minor Dip/DB Bent Over Side Lateral Raise
BW + 20lb DB x 10 reps / 10lbs x 25reps
BW + 20lb DB x 10 reps / 10lbs x 20reps
BW + 20lb DB x 10 reps / 10lbs x 20reps
BW + 20lb DB x 10 reps / 10lbs x 20reps
DB Hex Press/Band Face Pulls (Hex press - flat bench, palms facing each other, DBs touching)
35lb DB and a 45lb DB x 10reps / Red Band x 12 reps
35lb DB and a 45lb DB x 10reps / Red Band x 12 reps
35lb DB and a 45lb DB x 10reps / Red Band x 12 reps
35lb DB and a 45lb DB x 10reps / Red Band x 12 reps
6 Way / Band Shoulder Dislocates
10lbs x 10reps / 20
5bs x 10reps / 20
5lbs x 10reps / 20
07/23/2016
Rope Pushdowns / 1.5 Cable Curls
70 x 12 / 70 x 10
60 x 12 / 60 x 10
60 x 12 / 50 x 10
60 x 14 / 40 x 10
Hammer Curl / Cable Extension
Left: 20lbs x 8 / 30 x 10 + 5 partials
Right: 35lbs x 8
Left: 35lbs x 8 / 30 x 10 + 5 partials
Right: 20lbs x 8
Left: 20lbs x 10 / 30 x 10 + 5 partials
Right: 35lbs x 10
Left: 35lbs x 10 / 30 x 10 + 5 partials
Right: 20lbs x 10
Incline BB Extension / Preacher Curl (1 arm)
75 x 12 / 20 x 10
75 x 12 / 20 x 10
75 x 12 / 20 x 10
75 x 12 / 20 x 10
07/25/2016
Leg Curl
30 x 12
30 x 10
30 x 10
30 x 10, 30 x 8, 20 x 10
SSB Squats
45 x 6
135 x 6
225 x 6
315 x 6
315 x 6
315 x 6
1.25 Hack Squat
225 x 6
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
BB Stiff-Legged Deadlift
225 x 15
225 x 15
Standing Calf Raise / Dorsiflexion
185 x 20 / 25
185 x 20 / 20
185 x 20 / 20
07/26/2016
Slight Decline Bench
45 x 8
135 x 10
185 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
Slight Incline Bench Press
205 x 6
205 x 6
205 x 6
Stretch Pushup (between benches)
50lb weighted vest x 10
50lb weighted vest x 10
BW x 15
BW x 15
DB Rear Side Lat Raise
10lbs x 20 reps
10lbs x 20 reps
10lbs x 20 reps
Face Pull with band (red mini)
12, 12, 12
Cage Press
155 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
175 x 4
155 x 5
1 Like
07/27/2016
āOFFā Day today.
I was bored and decided to get in a little circuit outside.
10 tractor tire flips
300ft Tire Sled Drag with 1x sandbag
Battle Ropes (20x alternating, 20x 2 hand slams)
Fire hydrant Carry (30ft)
Slosh Pipe Carry Up and Down Hill (~150ft - Pipe is 4" diameter ~ 8ft long - Not sure of weight)
I did the circuit twice through and lower back was feeling it, sweat was pouring and it started to rain so I put the equipment away. Not a bad little circuit of my off day. Iām considering structuring my workouts back towards strongman type training again. I started doing this a little bit several months ago, but drifted away from it. Who knows, considering doing a competition next year even!
Haha nice āOff dayā!
I highly encourage you to do so! Pretty sure you wonāt regret it. With your static strength you should even be able to have a good showing (obviously depending on the competition you pick), plus you seem to be pretty fit.
Thanks man. I sure donāt feel strong when I look at a lot of the competition weights that I would be faced with by entering a competition. But if that isnāt motivation to get stronger, I donāt know what is!
Iām a small guy 5ā8"-5ā9" which I guess helps with being nimble, but also works against me with some lifts. I still play on a few sports teams on the side which keeps me mobile but Iām excited to start gearing my lifting towards something. Iām too competitive to put this much work in to not have a way to evaluate that strength!
Iāve been following your log as well, and youāre making some awesome progress and Iām pretty jealous that youāre getting a yoke before too long. Get that hip flexor healed up!
Thanks for stopping in!
That is kind of the point. At least for me because I gained more strength and experience from getting ready to compete than I ever did in a comparable amount of time.
I donāt know a lot about amateur competitions in your area but you are stronger than me and less fat and I managed to compete without making a complete fool out of myself, so you should not have to worry about not being strong enough.
Thanks man, I really appreciate that. Yeah the hip situation is definitely bugging me but I will seek help next week and hope for the best.
1 Like
07/28/2016
Meadows Row
45 x 8
70 x 8
95 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8
Row Machine with added red mini band
100 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8
130 x 8
Stretch Pulldown
160 x 8
180 x 8
180 x 8
180 x 8
DB Shrug
60lb x 12
40lb x 12
60lb x 10
40lb x 10
60lb x 8
40lb x 8
60lb x 10
40lb x 10
Deadlift
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
365 x 3
365 x 3
Treadmill Finisher
7mph - 30sec on treadmill, 30seconds on rails (not running). 5mins.
07/29/2016
Machine Bench Press
100 x 8
130 x 12
130 x 12
130 x 12
130 x 12
Pec minor dip / Rear delt raises
BW + 20lbs x 10reps / 10lbs x 25reps
BW + 20lbs x 10reps / 10lbs x 20reps
BW + 20lbs x 10reps / 10lbs x 20reps
BW + 20lbs x 10reps / 10lbs x 20reps
DB Hex Press / Band Face Pulls
35lbs in one hand, 45lbs in the other / Red Band x 12 reps
35lbs in one hand, 45lbs in the other / Red Band x 12 reps
35lbs in one hand, 45lbs in the other / Red Band x 12 reps
35lbs in one hand, 45lbs in the other / Red Band x 12 reps
6way Shoulder Raises / Band Shoulder Dislocates
10lbs x 10 / 20
5lbs x 10 / 20
5lbs x 10 / 20
Treadmill
30secs @ 7mph then 30secs standing on rails - - 5mins
50mins total workout time.
07/30/2016
Outdoor Circuits
10yards walking lunges with 50lb sandbag
10yards bear crawl
10yards broad jump
Agility Ladder (varied footwork each round)
30yard tire sled drag with sandbag
5 rounds of the above with just enough rest in between rounds to catch our breath. Legs were rubber after these circuits!
For a quick finisher we did:
10 clapping pushups
20yard sprint
20yard overhead sandbag carry
20 yard sprint
30sec plank
I did this workout with a friend of mine that I introduced to the weights a few months back. He has a perfect little at home setup (squat rack, barbell, weights, bench) and has been flying through the newbie gains stage using 5x5, which I am super jealous of. He is just starting now to plateau on the workout to workout progression, but he is ADDICTED! So it is nice to have a buddy with this in common with!
He likes the Ross Training style workouts, so we will definitely be doing these types of circuits once a week or every other which should help my conditioning for the eventual strongman pursuit.
Cardio is definitely a major weakness of mine, so time for that to change!
Today was the end of my 4 weeks doing the Reactive Pump Training Program by John Meadows. It was definitely a nice break on the CNS, but boy to I miss hitting those heavy compound movements. Time to resume my 5/3/1 next week but Iām going to be messing with it a bit (sorry Jim), to gear to towards my current goals.
1 Like
08/01/2016
Today I decided I would start my strongman oriented training. Going to focus on really bulletproofing my lower back/hamstrings and getting a stronger overhead press. I also want to start hitting some strongman events training on weekends (with what I have available).
Here is what I have made for a template. I will adjust as I go through it and change things depending on length of workout, muscle recovery, difficulty of each workout, etc. Hopefully I will be able to build this program to my own strengths and weaknesses.
If anyone sees and glaring weaknesses in this template, or sees something that I blatantly left out, let me know! Constructive criticism encouraged!
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
08/01/2016
Squat [TM 405}
295 x 3
325 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 5 <āRep PR
I tucked my hands in closer to my shoulders during my last few sets. It really helped my upper back tightness, but it did irritate my shoulders AND elbows. I think for max lifts I could utilize this, but I donāt have the mobility to keep this in my regular trainingā¦back to wide hands.
Incline Bench Press [TM 265]
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5 ā This is just too easy at 75%, I had to bump it upā¦
205 x 5
205 x 5 ā Honestly this was still much too easy, I think Iāll be upping the % for this exercise in the coming weeks.
Good Mornings - SSB
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have had good mornings in my program, so Iām expecting this to have some great benefits for my lower back strength and getting my deadlift numbers going.
Hanging Leg Raises
Knees to Chest x 12
Toes to Horizontal x 12
Knees to Chest x 12
Toes to Horizontal x 12
Fat Gripz Timed Barbell Holds
135 x 1m10s
185 x 30s
185 x 30s
185 x 25s
1 Like
08/03/2016
Yesterday I woke up with some pretty bad shoulder pain, I must have slept on it awkwardly. Today it is still bothering me pretty good, and this is Log Clean and Press dayā¦should be interesting!
Log Clean and Press [TM 205] - Assumed weight of Log 80lbs (scale battery just died)
140 x 3
160 x 3
180 x 3
200 x 3 ā Going to call this a Rep PR as I havnāt experimented much with the Log
Banded Bench Press (Blue Band)
185 + Band Tension x 6
185 + Band Tension x 6
185 + Band Tension x 6
185 + Band Tension x 6
DB Kickbacks
This was supposed to be weighted dips, but with my shoulder discomfort I didnāt want to extend this injury any longer than I needed to. Iām not a huge fan of kickbacks, but they hit the triceps, and are easy on the shoulders.
20lbs x 10reps
20lbs x 10reps
20lbs x 10reps
20lbs x 10reps
These were done in a superset with:
Facebpulls
Red Band
12
12
12
12
Ab Roller
10
10
10
10
Quicker workout, only took ~45mins. Shoulder not feeling the best, hopefully a few more days of being nice to it will get over it. Also considering getting a brief deep tissue massage to hopefully loosen it back up a bit.
1 Like
Thatās a great excuse for a deep tissue massage!! I hope the pain lets up soon.
1 Like
08/04/2016
Well I didnāt get for that massage today and the shoulder is still bothering me some so I worked around it a bit, it is slowly getting better.
Conventional Deadlift [TM 475]
335 x 3
385 x 3
425 x 3
475 x 3
BB 1.25 Hack Squats
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
Boy do I love this exercise for a quad burn. I like this weight but I think next workout Iāll be moving the reps up slightly.
Banded Facepulls
Supposed to do SGHP here, but I did a set with an unloaded bar to feel it out, and my shoulder wasnāt going to be happy once I started loading the weight up. Hopefully keeping the facepulls a regular part of my programming will help my shoulders stay healthy.
Red band for reps: 15, 12, 12, 15
Pullups/Chinups
10p
10c
8p
8c
Banded Machine Row
130+Red Band x 8
130+Red Band x 8
130+Red Band x 8
130+Red Band x 8
DB Hex Holds - Grip
35lb DB as long as possible:
L: 15s, R: 9s
L: 13s R: 23s
L: 18s, R: 20s
L: 16s, R: 18s
Well, I was kind of all over the map with my times for my holds. It was really dependent on how sweaty, or how much chalk or if I picked it up too quick, etc. You can see the anomaly in my first set for my right hand where something clearly went wrong!
Definitely going to keep my grip work high on the priority list as well. Grip strength is of high importance in strongman, and currently my grip strength is not quite up to par.
Good workout though, felt good hitting some moderately heavy deadlifts. Iām on the long road to achieving that 600lb pull.
1 Like
08/08/2016
Back Squats [TM 405]
275 x 5
315 x 5
345 x 5
405 x 6 Rep ā PR from last week
Band Pullaparts between sets
Incline Bench Press
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 5
205 x 6
No issues with this weight. Incline above 45degrees, and weight felt smooth through all reps.
SSB Good Mornings
135 x 10
135 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 10
I upped the weight from last week for my last two sets. Iām definitely feeling these the next day in the hams/glutes/lower back which is a sign that I need some improvement in that area!
Fat Grip BB Holds
185 x 50s
185 x 40s
185 x 30s
185 x 30s
In between sets I was doing:
Dragon Flags
8
6
6
6
Albeit these reps were not a pretty as Alphaās, but Iām counting them and I could really feel them working the core.
Workout took ~1hr 15mins
1 Like
08/10/2016
Unfortunately my right shoulder has been touch and go now for a bit. I woke up one morning with a very sore shoulder and it has been bugging me since. I really wish I wasnāt a stomach sleeper, I seem to cause my body more pain through sleeping than I do in the weight room!
Anyways, today was OHP day and since I have a Lob-ball tournament this weekend I figured Iād give my shoulders a chance to heal and I did fairly heavy BB rowsā¦also inspired by one of Alphaās videosā¦not sure if you are seeing a trend here yet or notā¦
For me pulling exercises, almost regardless of the exercise/weight/reps, are much easier on my shoulders than pressing exercises are.
BB Rows
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
265 x 3
285 x 3
185 x 10
This felt great on the upper back and shoulders. Lower back wasnāt overly happy, so it is becoming obvious to me that this needs to be a primary focus for me right now.
I did some blast strap fallouts between sets here.
Banded-Bench Press (Blue Mini Bands)
140+Bands x 6
190+Bands x 6
210+Bands x 6
230+Bands x 6
230+Bands x 6
No, Iām not doing my gym math incorrectly, this is my band setup so the bands stay safely on the outside collar:
I did some band pullaparts between sets of these.
Bench felt good, had good speed today and I didnāt get too heavy with it.
Called it a day, came in, did the necessary work, and left. ~40min workout total.
1 Like