Poseidon's Beginner Log

What’s up?
Been lurking here for a while,but decided to keep my mouth shut and just read as much as i can until now.
I am starting this training log to keep me more disciplined,motivated and also to get some help!I appreciate all the experience this place has to offer and i am sure I can learn a lot from everyone here.

Some info about me:
17 years old,6’2,165 pounds
I was 245 pounds just 4 months ago.Been training and competing at boxing and wrestling since i was 8 years old.Decided to get in an MMA fight so i increased my training,plus i worked as a stone mason and having not so much food and time to eat,i lost those 80 pounds.

I have never lifted weights before.I started the last month but i was not actually lifting.I trained 3 times per week doing 10x10 squats and deadlifts with an empty bar to master form,push ups,pull ups,sit ups and hyperextentions.I can do about 15 dead hang pull ups,30 push ups,15 sit ups with 25lbs plate and 15 hyperextentions with 45lbs plate.

My goal is to become strong and i won’t say no to the mass that will come with it.I created my beginner program based on what i learned reading so far.The authors i read mostly are John Meadows,Jim Wendler,Glenn Pendlay,Christian Thibaudeau ,Mark Rippetoe,Dan John,Kelly Baggett and Chad Wesley Smith.

I will be lifting 3 times a week and training in boxing,wrestling,bjj and muay thai the rest of the days.

Any support and help will be much appreciated…and so my first training log begins.

Monday 08 July 2013
First weight training session!

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 3x5/135
2.Bench: 2x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 3x5/155
3.One-Arm Barbell Row: 1x8/25 , 1x8/45 , 3x8/65
4.Face Pull with Band: 3x30
5a.Standing Calf Raise: 1x10/25 , 1x10/45 , 3x20(10/10)/65 (hold stretch 2 seconds per rep and peak 1 second . Every 10 reps, hold and flex at top for 10 seconds)
5b.Dorsiflexion: 3x50

This was fucking awesome!
Everything felt good and explosive. Only the last rep of the last set at Squats and Bench was a little hard but still went up relatively easy. Also that fun sequence with calves that John Meadows has designed was brutal. Next time I will use the same weight and do 30 total reps per set.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 3x5/140
2.Military Press: 2x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 3x5/110
3.Deadlifts: 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 1x5/175 , 1x5/200
4.DB Pullovers: 1x12/25 , 1x12/45 , 3x12/55
5.Assisted Stretch Pull Ups: 1x8/-45, 4x8/-25

Squats and Deads were easy.
Military press was a bit hard on the last set but still not very hard.
Got an awesome lat pump from Pullovers and Stretch Pull Ups.
I am starting to fall in love with lifting weights!

Friday 10 July 2012

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 2x5/145 , 1x5/145-10’’ rest-1x5/135
2.Bench: 2x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 2x5/160 , 1x5/160-10’’ rest-1x5/155
3.One-Arm Barbell Row: 1x8/25 , 1x8/45 , 2x8/70 , 1x8/70-10’‘rest-1x2/65
4a.DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 1x10/25 each arm , 4x20/35 each arm
4b.Rope Hammer Curls: 1x10/55 , 4x10/75
5.Rope Face Pulls (1’’ peak hold): 1x10/55 , 4x10/75
6.Machine Preacher Curl : 1x10/55 , 4x10/75

Squats and Bench were a litlle harder than the last time,but the reps went up smooth.I felt like doing a bit more today, so the last set was something like a drop set.
Tried to do that also at the last set of One-Arm Barbell Rows,but i started cheating so i stopped at 2 reps.
I did hang and swing reps at rear delt raises when i couldn’t do full reps.
Rope Face pulls and Machine Preacher Curls were supposed to be supersetted but the gym was full so i did them seperately.
My whole back,rear delts and biceps were pumped like hell. It felt awesome!

Thinking about posting a pic , but i feel ashamed being so skinny so i dont know…maybe i will post a ‘‘before and after’’ one when i will put on some muscle…

Next weekend i will be fighting at a small mma tournament , at 165 pounds , so i can’t go wild on food untill then.When it will be over , i will start eating like crazy so i can put some mass on!

My weight training program is:
Workout A: 1.Squat 3x5 , 2.Bench 3x5
Workout B: 1.Squat 3x5 , 2.Military Press 3x5 , Deadlift 1x5
I rotate this 2 workouts with stable assistance work on the days that i train.
On Monday i do back,rear delts and calves as assistance work.
On Wednesday i do only back.
On Friday i do back,rear delts and biceps.
The second week, where i will do Workout B twice, i will be doing back work only on Wednesday, rear delt work on Monday and rear delt supersetted with bicep work on Friday.
I will be changing some of the the assistance exercises every two weeks.
Does anyone have any ideas about adding something,because i feel like i am not doing enough?
Any help will be really appreciated.

I would run a push, pull, legs split if i were you.

[quote]jtownlax wrote:
I would run a push, pull, legs split if i were you.[/quote]

Naaah man, ain’t gonna change it so fast! At least not until i stall for a couple of weeks or something. I am progressing steadily so far and i also like a lot the basic lifts so i want to be doing them frequently.
I am just looking for a smart way of adding more work without fucking up with recovery…

Monday 15 July 2013

1.Squats: 1x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/145 , 3x5/155
2.Military Press: 1x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x1/115 , 3x5/115
3.Deadlifts: 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 1x5/175 , 1x5/200 , 1x5/210
4.Face Pull with Band: 3x40 (same band as last week+10 reps)
5a.Standing Calf Raise: 1x10/25 , 1x10/45 , 3x30(10/10/10)/65 (hold stretch 2 seconds per rep and peak 1 second . Every 10 reps, hold and flex at top for 10 seconds)
5b.Dorsiflexion: 1x20 , 1x30 , 3x50

Squats and Deadlifts were not easy but not hard either. The last reps of Military Press on all sets were hard as fuck. Banded Face Pulls were easy and didn’t give me much of a pump this time but the superset for calves was torture.
I got severely burned from the sun on my upper back so the pad of the machine resting on my shoulders plus the pain from the exercise was really like torture! I hope my skin will heal by tomorow so it won’t hurt that much at wrestling and grappling lol.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/145 , 3x5/160
2.Bench: 1x10/bar , 1x10/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 3x5/170
3.One-Arm Barbell Row: 1x8/25 , 1x8/55 , 4x8/75
4.DB Pullovers: 1x12/35 , 1x12/55 , 3x12/70
5.Assisted Stretch Pull Ups: 1x8/-25, 4x8/bw

Squats were easy. Bench was harder than any other time but still did all the reps and sets. All the back work was really hard, but gave me once more an awesome pump.

Friday 19 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 2x5/65 , 2x5/95 , (Goblet Squats: 2x10/25 , 3x5/35) , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 3x5/165
2.Military Press: 1x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/110 , 3x5/120
3.Deadlifts: 1x5/135 , 1x5/175 , 1x5/220
4a.DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 1x10/25 each arm , 2x20/45 each arm
4b.Rope Hammer Curls: 1x10/65 , 2x10/90
5.Rope Face Pulls (1’’ peak hold): 1x10/65 , 2x10/90
6.Machine Preacher Curl : 1x10/65 , 2x10/90

This was the toughest Squat workout so far. I had to over-warm up because the squat rack was taken. The weights felt really heavy and my form wasn’t very good during my sets.
Military Press was hard as always but Dealifts were much easier than i expected. I did only 2 sets per exercise for rear delts and biceps because i had no time.
Immediately after training i had to help my dad build the base of our house fence , so i worked for about 3 hours of construction.
My traps, forearms and lower back are really fried. I hope it won’t interfere with my performance at the tournament the next two days.
I am really excited about the weekend. My weight class has 16 fighters so i have to beat 4 guys to win , 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
I can’t wait until it starts!

Monday 22 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 3x5/170
2.Bench: 1x10/bar , 1x10/65 , 1x10/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 3x5/175
3.Dead-Stop Meadows Row: 1x8/25 , 1x4/45 , 1x4/65 , 3x8/75
4.DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 1x15/30 each arm , 4x15/55 each arm
5a.Standing Calf Raise: 1x8/30 , 1x8/40 , 1x8/50 , 1x8/60 , 1x8/70 , 1x8/80 , 1x8/90+10/90 partial reps out of the stretched position , 1x8/100+10/100 partial reps out of the stretched position (hold stretch and peak 2 seconds per rep. For partials, hold stretch for 2 seconds per rep)
5b.Dorsiflexion: 1x50 , 1x20 , 1x30 , 1x30 , 1x30 , 1x40 , 1x50 , 1x50

Squats were even harder than last time. My form sucked. Maybe its because my legs were beaten from the fights… Don’t know but i feel like i am going to stall soon on Squats. Bench was easy. All the reps and sets were explosive. I really liked Dead-Stop Meadows Rows.
Rear delt raises were smooth and gave me a good, but not great pump. I think my rear delts grew a lot since i started. The ramping sets at calf raises were easy compared to what i was doing before. I only got blood flowing in them at the last 2 sets with the bottom partials.

I won the mma tournament !!! It was an awesome experience but i expected somewhat harder fights. The only fight that was challenging was the final . My opponent had a low kick from hell! He really fucked up my legs. I have been training Muay Thai for only about 4 and a half months and my leg conditioning is not very good. At least i know now what i need to work for my next fights.

The first 3 fights were 2 rounds of 5 minutes. The finals were 3 rounds of 5 minutes. It was an amateur tournament so striking on the ground was not permitted.

First fight i won at the second round. I hit him with an overhand right-left hook-double leg takedown combo, mounted him and did an armbar.

Second fight i won by knockout at the first round. I counter-attacked his 1-2 with a side-step left hook, pivot and right straight and down he went.

Third fight i won also by knockout at the first round. I got the thai clinch on him , landed some dirty uppercuts to the head and knees to the body , broke the clinch with a double left hook and immediatelly followed with an overhand right, left hook to the body, right uppercut, left hook to the head combo which put him to sleep.

Fourth and final fight, i won at the second round with rear naked choke. He made a mistake and low kicked me at the outside of the left leg , so i grabbed his leg transitioned to a double leg takedown, slammed him and got the side mount. At first i went for an armbar but he rolled to his back and i got the rear naked choke! Although i won it was a really hard fight. He was a great striker , especially his kicks and he made me suffer for not being conditioned enough.

My coach told my i have to work a lot on conditioning my legs to take punishment. Also i have to work on my kicks because i didn’t throw even one the entire tournament. BJJ even though i am a beginner was good but need more work , wrestling and boxing were great being my base but also need more work.

I liked mma even more than boxing and wrestling and i think i am going to compete only at mma from now on!

Wednesday 24 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 1x5/175
2.Military Press: 1x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/110 , 3x3/125
3.Deadlifts: 1x5/135 , 1x5/175 , 1x5/230
4.Barbell Shrugs: 1x10/135 , 3x10/155 (On each rep, pause and flex at the top for 2 seconds)

The previous 3 workouts i got hip flexor pain at the bottom of the Squats, but i was like: don’t be a pussy it’s nothing! Today they hurt really much so i did only 1 set of Squats. Does anyone know why this happens and what should i do to fix it? I am thinking of doing only 1 set of Squats from now on.
Military press was very hard and i could not get 5 reps. Deadlifts were easy as always.
I wanted to do pullovers before shrugs but i didn’t felt like it. Now that i am thinking of it, i believe it was a mistake. Just because most of the workout was fucked , it didn’t mean i should not do what was in the plan…
Anyways, i am thinking of doing full body workouts for one more week and then switching to something like 5/3/1. Is it a good idea or its too soon for that?
Any help will be much appreciated!

I had the same pain before with the hip flexor pain and squatting. Foam roll and stretch your hip flexors and quads

[quote]Moltobasso wrote:
I had the same pain before with the hip flexor pain and squatting. Foam roll and stretch your hip flexors and quads[/quote]

I’m already foam rolling and stretching a lot…

Well what kind of stretches are you doing? And how much foam rolling and where? This may not be the solution, just usually is

[quote]Moltobasso wrote:
Well what kind of stretches are you doing? And how much foam rolling and where? This may not be the solution, just usually is[/quote]

I do Defranco’s Agile 8 as a warm up. After training i do a stretching routine from paul zaichik’s elastic steel splits DVD, but i don’t know the names of the stretches that i do.
I also stretch a lot at martial arts training.

Well the Agile 8 doesn’t do much hip flexor stretching, only a little. And I don’t know about the other things. You could try the couch stretch, and maybe take a lacrosse ball to the hip flexors for a few minutes each

Moltobasso , i will try that and see how it goes! Thanks for your help!

Friday 26 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 1x5/180
2.Bench: 1x10/bar , 1x10/65 , 1x10/95 , 1x10/115 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/155 , 3x5/180
3.Dead-Stop Meadows Row: 1x8/25 , 1x4/45 , 1x4/65 , 1x8/80 , 1x15/70
4a. Seated Behind The Neck Press: 4x5/25lb bar
4b.Pull ups (1 sets pronated grip, 1 set supinated , 2 sets close parallel grip) 4x5 back to back with 4a and no rest at all
5a.DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 1x15/35 each arm , 2x15/60 each arm
5b.Dumbell Curls (3’’ eccentic) : 1x10/ each arm , 2x8/20 each arm
6a.Rope Face Pulls (1’’ peak hold): 2x10/100
6b.Rope Hammer Curl : 2x8/100
7a.Rope Face Pulls (1’’ peak hold): 2x10/100
7b.Machine Preacher Curl: 2x8/100

Squats and Bench were easy compared to previous workouts. Rows were hard and i got wrist pain so instead of 3x8/80, i did some kind of deload.
Rear delts and Biceps were tough and i got an awesome pump.
Hip Flexors still hurt during squats and when i bring my knee towards my shoulder but I stretched them and calves between every warm up set of Squats, so at the final work set they almost didn’t hurt.

Tuesday 30 July 2013

1.Squats: 2x5/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/135 , 1x5/160 , 1x5/185
2.Military Press: 1x10/bar , 1x5/65 , 1x5/95 , 1x5/110 , 3x5/125
3.Deadlifts: 1x5/160 , 1x5/200 , 1x5/240
4a.DB Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise: 1x10/30 each arm , 3x20/60 each arm
4b.Barbell Rollout: 4x5
4c.Hanging Knee Raises: 4x5
5a.Standing Calf Raise: 1x8/40 , 1x8/50 , 1x8/60 , 1x8/70 , 1x8/80 , 1x8/90 , 1x8/100+10/100 partial reps out of the stretched position , 1x8/110+10/110 partial reps out of the stretched position (hold stretch and peak 2 seconds per rep. For partials, hold stretch for 2 seconds per rep)
5b.Dorsiflexion: 1x20 , 1x30 , 1x50 , 1x30 , 1x30 , 1x40 , 1x50 , 1x50

I took an extra day off and i will be lifting on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday because my martial arts schedule has changed for now.

Squats were hard. Military press was not easy but i felt strong and i got 5 reps this time.
Deadlifts were easy as always.
I added some easy ab work but rollouts made me realize how weak me abs are.I will be doing them every workout from now on.
Calves didn’t got much of a pump but tibialis was burning like hell.

I gained 5 pounds! I am 170 now and i notice some decent growth on my back and rear delts!