On My Way to 2000lbs

Training Training Logs
101

Today was the first day back to “real” training. The goal was not to go too heavy but that didn’t pan out. I’m down about 10 pounds from the meet just by eating a little bit cleaner too. I wouldn’t mind dropping down some weight before I start really killing it getting ready for my next meet. I’m looking at doing one in July or so.

Pin 3 Rack Pulls
225 x5
315 x3
405 x3
495 x1
585 x1
675 x1 (+20lb PR)

Reverse Hyper Extensions
70lbs 3x 6-12

Hyper Extensions
3 x12

Standing Abs
110 x15
110 x15
110 x15

Always nice setting PRs.

102

Thursday Dec. 15

ME Bench

Goal of today was to work up to a raw, full-range single in the neighborhood of 95% or so then start adding boards to overload.

Flat Bench (raw)
135 x10
185 x3
225 x3
275 x5
325 x1
335 x1 (hard)
add 2 board
345 x0
add 3 board
365 x0 (bad …)
add 4 board and switch to close grip
315 x6
315 x4

Flat DB (deep stretch at the bottom)
65 x15
65 x15

Some other stuff to loosen up my back. Today was tough, I definitely felt weak.

Friday Dec. 16

ME Lower

We only had 1 working monolift in the gym tonight, so our usual group of 4 turned into 7 lifters. Being 2 weeks out of a meet, I wanted to work up to something decently heavy in just briefs for a few reps. A couple of the other guys are getting ready for the LexenXtreme meet in March, so they worked up a bit heavier and took a few sets w/ reverse bands to overload.

My sets broke down like yay:

Box Squat
150 x10
240 x6
330 x3
420 x2 (wow hard)
add briefs
470 x2
remove box
520 x2

Deadlift Against EliteFTS Average Band (grey’s)

Switched to a wide sumo stance here to build up the hips, and kept the briefs on for protection
140 x3
230 x3
320 x3
410 x3
460 x3

By this time it was 8 o’clock and I didn’t feel much like doing any accessories so I bounced.

Saturday Dec. 17

Headed to the commercial gym to finish up last night’s workout …

10 minutes of foam rolling, hip stretches, back stretches

Glute Ham Raise
bw x10
bw x10
bw x10

Standing Abs
100 x15
120 x15
120 x15

Ass Blaster (the 1-legged kick back like a dog pissing in a fire hydrant thing)
40 x15 (each leg)
70 x15
80 x15

Dumbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
100 x10
100 x10

Hyper Extensions
bw x12
bw x12
bw + mini band x12
bw + light band x10

Did all of this in around an hour.

103

Glad to see all of you guys missed me in my absence. Training has continued, but I’ll pickup from today since I don’t care to remember my past workouts.

Tuesday 12-27, Lower Assistance

I took Friday off to spend with my family, so my hips and hamstrings were extra tight. I spent about 30 minutes just loosening them up. The group was doing Chain Suspended Good Mornings today. I love good mornings. The chains were set at about a deadlift height for the shorter guys, but since I am taller and have long arms these were pretty deep. I could almost reach out and touch the floor from the start position.

Chain Suspended GM w/ Cambered SSB
bar x10
135 x5
225 x5
add belt
315 x5
405 x3
455 x1
495 x3

225 x15 (ouch) – super strict, straight legged

On the heaviest set I was only going to do 1, but the first rep went up nice and I knew I had more. I went for 2, and on the way down my partner yelled at me “1 more!” – so I went ahead and tripled this. My previous PR was 455x3, so this is a nice 40 lb PR.

Close Stance Belt Squat
2 plates per side x12
2 plates + 25 per side x10
3 plates per side x5 (these all sucked)
2 plates per side x15

This is definitely a weakness for me. This was definitely eye-opening to say the least. The way my feet were positioned, this mimic’d the starting position on a deadlift. I was very weak here, which tells me I am getting little or no hip drive into my pulls. Strengthening this should transfer very well to my deadlift, so I’ll be doing a lot of close stance / quad dominant assistance work this next training cycle.

Glute Ham Raises
bw x10
bw x10
bw x6 (and my hamstrings are shredded)

GHR Abs w/ Blue Band
x15
x15
x15

Today felt good, although I’ll probably need a chiropractor in the morning. Lots of foam rolling tonight!

104

Thursday 12/29 ME Bench

Floor Press
bar x10
135 x5
185 x5
225 x5
275 x3
315 x1
335 x1
360 x0 (dumb – partner talked me into it)
340 x1
315 x3

Close Grip 4 Board
315 x6
345 x3

Farmer’s Walk Handle Rows (awkward)
85 x10
135 x6
135 x6
135 x5

Tricep Pushdowns w/ Fat Bar
90 x10
90 x10
90 x10
90 x10

Lat Pulldowns
90 x15
180 x10
180 x10

Hammer curls (for the girls)
45 x10
45 x10
45 x10

DB Flyes (6s stretch at bottom)
45 x10

Good day today. Wish I wouldn’t have gone straight to 360, that was a big jump on a movement I haven’t done in forever. I have been doing the flyes for the past couple of weeks and they make a big difference in how my shoulders feel so I’ll continue to do them.

105

Flat Bench against Doubled Monster Mini’s
bar x5
bar x5
95 x3
95 x3
95 x3
135 7x3
155 2x3
185 1x3

DB Military Press
50 x15
70 x10
70 x10
70 x10

Chest Supported Row
170 x10
170 x10
170 x10

DB Extensions
35 x15
35 x9
35 x8

Hammer Curls
55 x12
55 x10

Plate Raises
45lbs 3 x10

106

Lower Assistance Day Tuesday 1/3

Deficit Speed Pulls against Orange Band (standing on 2 mats)
365 5x3

Strict Good Mornings
225 x8 3 sets

GHR
3x6 (body weight)

Didn’t feel all that great today. The speed pulls felt like shit, and definitely weren’t speedy enough.

107

Thursday Jan 5 – ME Bench

Today we tried a new ME movement – benching against bands with the manpon. In the past I’ve done this and have had some nasty shoulder pain as a result … the idea behind the manpon was that it would decrease ROM and ease some of that shoulder pain.

Bench against Doubled Mini’s
bar x5
135 x5
185 x5
225 x3
add cushy manpon
275 x3
315 x1
325 x1
335 x0
275 x2 (failed on 3)
275 x2 (failed on 3)
275 x3 (what the hell?)

Incline DB Press
75 x20
75 x20
75 x20

Fat Bar Press Downs
110 x15
110 x15
110 x15

Today felt good. I think this is going to be an ME lift in our rotation from now on. The bands really teach you how to strain. We let the bar sink into the manpon, at the bottom it was probably at a 1-2 board height.

108

Friday Jan 4 – Heavy Lower Body

The rest of the crew is getting ready for the Lexen Pro/Elite coalition in March, so they wanted to suit up. I followed suit (WOW – PUNNY!) and threw mine on. It’s the first time I had it on since the meet a little over a month ago. The idea was to take an opener-ish squat then hit a heavy overload set using reverse grey bands. Our crew has had great luck with this method, and we’re going to do this again 4 weeks out from the meet.

Squat
raw up to 355 x3 (65 lb bar and 100 + 45 each side)
add briefs
465 x3
555 x1
add suit, straps down
620 x1
straps up
670 x1
add reverse grey band
760 x1

The 760 with a hanging overhead band is not a PR, but it was an absolute smoke show. It felt good to get under heavy weight again but I was definitely rusty in the gear.

Reverse Band Pulls
225 x3
315 x3
405 x1
495 x1
585 x1
675 x1
725 x0 :frowning:

The way the bands were setup, they took 0 off the top and around 150 at the bottom. My old PR on this was 700 and I should have taken 705 instead of 725. I let myself get into the plate & quarter syndrome instead of going after a PR.

109

Saturday 1/7 Lower Assistance

The day after heavy squats I like to get into the commercial gym and get some light work in to loosen up. My back was in a knot. I also wanted to do some shrugs. I feel like my upper back and traps could be stronger and that this would help my deadlift

Reverse Hypers
50 x15
50 x15
100 x12
100 x12

Shrugs
225 x20
315 x10
405 x6
495 x6
545 x6
585 x3 (not really shrugs)
405 x6

Leg Press (single leg)
2 plates per side x15

Various stretchings a long the way.

Yesterday the shrugs seemed like a great idea. Today my traps are on fire. Heading to the gym in a minute for some speedy benching.

110

Sunday 1/8 DE Bench

Reverse Gray Band Bench
275 10x3

All of these felt better than the last time I did this – maybe 4 weeks ago.

Reverse Band JM Press (same setup as earlier sets)
275 x14
275 x12

These light my triceps up.

Row Machine
90lbs / side x12
135lbs / side x12
160lbs / side x8
160lbs / side x7

DB Raises
25x15
25x15
25x15

DB Curls
45 x10
45 x10
45 x10

Dip Machine
180 x25
180 x25

Curl Machine
2 sets at light weight, slow negative reps

My back is still pretty lit up from the shrugs. Today I am exhausted and it feels like I’m coming down with something.

111

Tuesday – Lower Assistance

Chain Suspended GM’s with Regular SSB
135 x10
225 x6
225 x6
275 x6
275 x6
315 x6

Belt Squat
1 plate x12
2 plates x12
2 plates x12
3 plates x5
2 plates x15

Reverse Hyper Extensions
100 x10
100 x10

112

Thursday ME Bench

Last night I slept from about 9:30 to around 8 in the morning so I was very well rested for today’s bench session. The guys wanted to throw on their shirts today because they are doing the meet. I figured it would be a good week to throw on my shirt and feel some heavy ass weight.

Raw Warmups

bar x10
95 x6
135 x6
185 x6
225 x6
275 x3
315 x2
345 x1 (not an all time PR but a recent one – felt awesome)
add shirt, 1 board
405 x1
2 board
455 x1
3 board
475 x1
495 x1

Close Grip Bench (raw)
225 x6
245 x6
275 x6
275 x4

Decline Skullcrushers
4 sets of 8 @ 85 lbs I think? Was running out of time by this point so I did these almost rest/pause style.

Hammer Curls
35 x10
35 x10
35 x10

Pretty good session today, my bench felt great for the first time in a long time. The extra bicep/shoulder work is paying off as I am feeling stronger and my shoulders don’t hurt anymore.

I’m taking tommorrow off to go drink beers and shoot guns (probably not in that order), be back at it Sunday.

113

Sunday Assistance Bench

The weekend went well but earlier today I ate some shitty Mexican food and my stomach was upset for the rest of the day. My goal was to just get in, get some light assistance work done and get out.

Close Grip Incline
4 sets of 5 @ 225
1 set of 9 @ 225

Decline Skullcrushers Against Light Band
4 sets of 8 @ 60 pounds

Chest Supported Row
200lbs x10
200lbs x10
200lbs x10
200lbs x10

DBLateral Raise
25 x12
25 x12
25 x12

Hammer Curls
45 x10
50 x10
50 x10

Static Grip Holds
315 x20 seconds
315 x15 seconds

This is about all I felt like doing. I’ll probably head in tomorrow (Monday) to get some light work in to prepare for the first week of the pre-meet squat cycle

114

Tuesday – DE Lower

Our shoulders are going to take a beating the next couple of weeks so we used the cambered bar along with some bands. The next couple of weeks we’ll be doing speed work while the other guys get ready for the meet.

Cambered Bar w/ Average Bands
135 x10
225 x5
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
225 + bands x2
275 + bands x2

Speed Pulls (varying sumo and conventional stance)
315 x2 x7 sets

Hyperextensions w/ Sandbag
3 x10
3 x10
3 x10

Grip Pinch Thingy
4 sets, various weights, squeezing hard, etc

Pulldown Abs
3 x15 @ 120lbs

I was dragging ass this workout. My deadlift is feeling good and I am actually excited about a bench workout for the first time in months

115

Thursday – ME Bench

Today was supposed to be a raw day but one of the guys just got his shirt altered so he was itching to try it out. I decided to man up and put my shirt on again. I didn’t feel great all day, and felt dehydrated and slow going into the gym.

Raw Warmups
bar x15
135 x6
185 x6
225 x6
275 x3
315 x1
355 x1 (tie RAW pr)

add shirt

405 x1 (no touch)
445 x1 (touch, +10lb pr)

add 1 board
465 x1

add 2 board
495 x0 (flung it over my face)
495 x1 (kept it in the groove, locked it out) +50lb PR I think?

Close Grip Raw
225 x10
add 2 board because my shoulders hurt
275 x8
275 x8
315 x2

JM Press
225 x6

Hammercurls
45 x10
45 x10
45 x10

Today was an awesome day. I hit 3 PR’s today. My bench is finally moving again which is exciting. Tomorrow I’m going to squat until my eye balls explode.

116

Friday 1/20 Heavy Squat / Heavy Pull

Today was a day to re-acquaint ourselves with the gear. For me, I just wanted to take a heavy heavy squat just because training has been going great. Broke down like yay:

Warmups (raw – to a parallel box)
bar x10
155 x6
245 x6
330 x3
420 x1 (I think a box squat PR which is funny)
add briefs
510 x3
560 x2
add suit bottoms
600 x1
650 x1
straps up, wraps on
700 x1

The last set was a grinder. This one was buried though, and my form kind of broke down. This is only 15 lbs off my meet best so I can’t really complain too much. I’ll start working on my raw numbers a little bit because I think it will translate into higher equipped numbers too.

Next we went to pull. Only me and one other guy were left at this point, he wanted to work up to an opener and I just wanted to pull something heavy.

I do all of my pulling raw, he had on a Titan suit.

I worked up to 590 or so, he worked up to 640.

117

Couldn’t make it into the gym yesterday due to schedule. My upper body joints were kind of achy so I didn’t do speed work today. Instead I broke out the bamboo bar and did some work with it. It’s usually good to get some work in without going heavy enough to bother any nagging injuries.

Bamboo Bar Bench
50 x20
100 x20
165 x15
205 x8

Chest Supported Rows
90 x20
135 x15
160 x10
160 x8
135 x12

Decline Skullcrushers
65 x15
85 x15
85 x15
85 x15
85 x15

This is all I felt like doing. I’m usually not so lazy.

118

Tuesday 1/24

A server blew up at work today so I had to get in, get some work in and bounce.

DE Lower

Speed Squats w/ SSB & Choked EliteFTS Average Band
225 x2 (8 sets)
275 x2 (1 set)

Speed Pulls against doubled Monster Minis
275x2 6 sets

This took about 40 minutes. Spent the rest of the night working.

119

Thursday 1/26 – ME Bench

Today I was pretty much training by myself. The other guys in the crew wanted to work in their shirts, but the thought of putting my shirt on three weeks in a row made me cringe. Some of them are still stretching out their new shirts, some of them just like benching in shirts.

Floor Press w/ Doubled Boat Chains
135 x3
185 x3
225 x1
265 x1
275 x1
295 x1 (+10lb PR)

Close Grip Floor Press w/ Doubled Boat Chains
225 x5
225 x5

I stopped here and helped the other guys with their shirted benching. Because I’m tall and have a decent deadlift I am the favored handout guy of the crew. I’ll be handing out at the meet so this serves as practice as well.

120

Sunday January 29

Didn’t make it to the gym on Friday because I wasn’t feeling well.

DE Bench
185 x3 x8 sets

Close Grip Bench
225 x6
250 x13

Dumbell Incline
90x10
90x10
90x10

Kroc Rows
120 x6

I tweaked something in my back a few days ago, these were aggravating it so I stopped here.

DB Hammer Curls (for the girls)