Starting a log on here to post my training. My girlfriend and I are both testers for Brandon Lilly and his Cube Method, and all of our training is planned out by him. We are both powerlifters, having started to compete early this year and now with a couple meets under our belts.
We are currently looking for strongman contests, along with more powerlifting meets after the Cube Method testing is done. My current goals are to get as strong as possible in everything, and look like I can actually lift something other than doughnuts. I am however, far away from both of those goals haha. I train raw all year round, with only a belt and wraps, in my garage.
My current stats:
Height: 5’9 (on a good day)
Weight: 188-192 (depending on my salt intake the day before, which is usually pretty high)
Anything else you would like to know regarding myself, my training, my diet or Brandon Lilly and his Cube Method, please feel free to ask. Thank you for reading
Do you have a link that explains how to use this method and a basic template?
I saw that it includes a Max effort day, dynamic day,
and a higher rep bodybuilding style day but that’s all I could find.
I currently have no powerlifting experience. I’ve been using 5/3/1 for 7 months now
and I’ve made great progress so far but I’m interested in learning more about
this method.
My current numbers are as follows:
Squat: 260 X 10
Bench: 215 X 8
Press: 160 X 5
Deadlift: 385 X 8 and 460 X 1
Hey guys, really sorry for delays. For some reason this site doesnt work well on my browser. dunno why. so i had to go to…blogspot…ughhh but anyway, the link is wcallahan91. blogspot. Please follow there and i will move over here once i get it figured out. because i really prefer TNation. but i needed to have a log so i did what i had to. i will be more than happy to answer all your questions on here when i am able to get on (about once a week or so).
now to answer your questions - its now been about a month. we did our own version for three weeks and, as obscene as it sounds, i got my previous 1rm for a double. 235x2. I honestly could have gotten 240 for 2, but it felt good and i hate taking weights that are iffy if i am not competing. i had just maxed out in august and got a rough 235. now that we have been doing Brandons for a couple weeks i feel very confident i could bench 250. Honestly every press i do feels pretty light. BUT we will see next time we max. I know this sounds insane and its only been a few weeks, which is why its even hard for me to believe. but im certainly not complaining.
questions 2 - blilly@blogspot.com. But the basic template is set up like this - day 1 - deadlift, day 2 bench, day 3 squat, day 4 bodybuilding day. so if your deadlift on day 1 is max, bench is for reps and squat is for speed, then next week your dead will be speed, bench is for max and squat is for reps. then next week your dead will be for reps, bench for speed and squat for max. hope this makes sense. its really nice only maxing once a week. we both get excited for max day and it feels way better. but please visit Brandons training log as he explains it WAY better than i do.
Sorry for this being a pain, and my terrible typing but i am on a computer with a small keyboard. as i have said, please read my log and i will be happy to answer any questions you have one here. and once i get it working at my house, i will post my training log on here as well. Thank you for following - will
I think I’m able to get it working off my own computer now. Let me try.
Rep Deadlift day. Tuesday 10/16/2012
Deadlift - 145, 195, 235, 255 x 5 (as warmup/workup sets) then 290x3
Deadlift off 4"block - 310x3
Olympic stance squat - 185 for 3/8
G.H.R - BW for 4/10
Back Raise - BW for 2/25
Pulldown abs - 2/25
Felt really good today. All deadlifting was done without a belt and really strict. I worked hard
to squeeze everything at the top and really tried to feel the reps. I could have gone heavier on the
oly stance squatting, but I have had knee issues in the past so I’m going to have to work back into
these, which won’t take too long.
SO I figured out what was wrong. Here is all my training for the past two weeks. I will now update it after every training day (Tue,Thur,Sat and Sun) Thanks for your patience.
Max Bench day.
Floor Press - 220x3, 230x2, 240x1 (5lb PR), then 145 for 2/15
Lat Pulldowns - 3/12 (really stretched at the top and squeezed hard at bottom)
Pressdowns - 100 total reps
Shrugs (done with farmer’s handles) - 85lbs each hand - 3/15
DB military press - 40lbs each hand - 3/12
Today was a really good day. Hit a really smooth 5lb pr with at least 5 more in the tank. The last
time I floor pressed, my 235 was really nasty looking. Took awhile to get my shoulder warmed up
but after it did, everything went great. I should note that my 220x3 and 230x2 are also PRs, which
felt awesome.
Log Press (all very strict, no leg drive at all) - worked up to 155x3, 170x1, then 115x13
Flat dumbbell bench press - 60x10, 70x10, 80x10
Low cable rows - 5/12
Lying tricep extensions w/EZ bar - 65- 3/15 - did these slow to really feel them
Alternating dumbbell curls - 45x8, 40x10, 35x12 (strict, didn’t swing them like a jackass)
Finished off with a little grip. This will be the last time I workup to something heavy on my log
for awhile. I’m going to stay with reps from 5-10 for the next few months, while doing Brandon
Lilly’s cube testing. But I did want to see where I was at with my strict log press. The 170 was pretty easy so I feel confident about being able to get close to 200 with a push press. Did everything else with pretty short rest, just trying to push blood into my muscles to maybe get them to grow a little hah
Speed Pulls - 185 with double mini bands - 10 sets of 1
Snatch grip deadlift off 4" blocks - 185 - 1/20
Close stance squat - 200 - 3/8
Barbell shrugs - 155 - 3/10 (stretched at bottom and squeezed hard for a 2-3 count at top)
Back Raise - BW for 2/25
Lat pulldowns - 4/15
abs - 2/25
Felt really good today. I should mention that every exercise I do I really try to work hard. I’m not
trying to cheat myself and use showoff weights. After my main lift, everything else is done for the
muscle. I wish I could say that I do that from my own ideas, but I have learned this off many pros. I really can feel a difference when I actually work my muscle and not the movement. Obviously, for the big lifts, my main goal is to move more weight though. Thanks for reading
Incline bench press - (warmup sets) 45,95,135,155x3. (worksets) 180 - 3/3
Incline dumbbell bench press - 55lb dbs - 2/20
Close grip bench press - 190 - 3/5 (Planned on doing 200 or 205, but I was too wore out after inclines.)
Band flyes - 3/15
Band pushdowns - 2/50
Neck work - 2/50
Doesn’t look like much on paper, but we really busted our asses today. This whole thing took just over
and hour, as apposed to the usual 1 1/2 to 2. The incline DBs really took a lot out of me. Mostly due to
my crappy cardio haha. By the time I got to the close grips, my shoulders and triceps were beat.
Squat - 55,105,145,195,235x 3, then 255x2, 290x1, 300x1 - buried these well past depth
Goodmornings - 135 - 3/8 - real strict with a good stretch
Leg press - 3/20
Ghetto reverse hypers - 3/12
Back raises - 2/30
Abs - 4/10 and 1/15
and worked my grip some at the end.
Did really well today. It really wasn’t a “max effort day” but we still went heavy. The 300 felt
pretty smooth, and I’m sure if it called for it I could have hit a couple more reps. I have never really
liked squatting. Actually, I hate it. I would rather deadlift every day than squat. BUT it has to be done and I’m starting to almost enjoy it. Especially not going heavy every week. Trained late tonight, because we went to watch the XPC semi finals today in Columbus and didn’t get back until late. (Powerlifting meet for all you non-powerlift readers) Got to officially meet Brandon Lilly (guy who programs our training). He’s a really nice guy and strong as shit. Well, that about wraps it up. Had a great day and I’m really enjoying my training. Thanks for reading - Will
Log Press (strict) - did ten sets today, starting with one rep, ending with ten, so add a set add a rep.
Looked like this - 115 for 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8, 1/9 and 1/9. Then 135x10 (push pressed last few)
Dips - BW - 2/12, 1/20
Inverted rows - BW - 3/8, 1/12
Overhead dumbbell extensions - 3/10,15,20
DB curls - 3/15
Calves - 3/15-20
Did well today. Nothing heavy or anything, as it should be. Just tried to do a bunch of volume for my overhead pressing. Took it pretty easy on the rows because we have a pretty big deadlift day coming up. Actually, for me every deadlift day is big because there is nothing like deadlifting, but thats another story. Either way, my pressing is feeling really good and I feel confident I could hit a 200lb log by now. Well, thanks for reading. Im going to go prepare for hurricane/frankenstorm Sandy or whatever the hell it is. My preparation will be sleeping, drinking chocolate milk and looking for an EMT job.
[quote]ReverseBandsSuck wrote:
Max Squat Day. Saturday. 10/27/2012
Squat - 55,105,145,195,235x 3, then 255x2, 290x1, 300x1 - buried these well past depth
Goodmornings - 135 - 3/8 - real strict with a good stretch
Leg press - 3/20
Ghetto reverse hypers - 3/12
Back raises - 2/30
Abs - 4/10 and 1/15
and worked my grip some at the end.
Did really well today. It really wasn’t a “max effort day” but we still went heavy. The 300 felt
pretty smooth, and I’m sure if it called for it I could have hit a couple more reps. I have never really
liked squatting. Actually, I hate it. I would rather deadlift every day than squat. BUT it has to be done and I’m starting to almost enjoy it. Especially not going heavy every week. Trained late tonight, because we went to watch the XPC semi finals today in Columbus and didn’t get back until late. (Powerlifting meet for all you non-powerlift readers) Got to officially meet Brandon Lilly (guy who programs our training). He’s a really nice guy and strong as shit. Well, that about wraps it up. Had a great day and I’m really enjoying my training. Thanks for reading - Will[/quote]
How’d you enjoy the meet? I was there competing, I think I was the only person to dump a squat into the safety chains.
[quote]ReverseBandsSuck wrote:
Oh yeah I remember you. My gf and I both had fun. Your knee okay? It looked pretty damn painful. But hey, thats what the chains are for.[/quote]
It’s a little dinged up, I ended up pulling 705 so it’s obviously not that bad. Ibuprofen helps.
Did you talk to Brandon much? Are you going to compete anytime soon?
[quote]ReverseBandsSuck wrote:
Oh yeah I remember you. My gf and I both had fun. Your knee okay? It looked pretty damn painful. But hey, thats what the chains are for.[/quote]
It’s a little dinged up, I ended up pulling 705 so it’s obviously not that bad. Ibuprofen helps.
Did you talk to Brandon much? Are you going to compete anytime soon?[/quote]
Hell of a deadlift. Glad the knee isn’t too bad.
Yeah we talked afterwords. As I’m sure you know, he’s really cool to talk too. Damn nice guy and strong as hell.
We’ll be in Brandon’s group for pretty much the rest of the year. Doing a strongman contest in May, so I’ll most likely
do a meet before then. But as of right now I don’t have one picked out. I really want to increase my total by quite a bit
before I compete again, but than again, doesn’t everyone? lol
Deadlift with weights on a 4" block - 145,195,235,285,325x3, then 375, 395, 405, and 415x1
Sumo stiff leg deadlift - 185 - 2/5 (really easy)
Dumbbell rows - 55,65,75x10
Dumbbell shrugs - 60 - 3/15 (really stretched at bottom and squeezed hard at the top)
Up and down planks - 50 reps
Grip - various stuff
First time maxing with the 4" block. For me, it seemed a lot harder than pulling from the floor. Most likely the position it puts me in to start or something. Thats my guess, but I’m not really sure. Rack pulls are usually much better for me, from a few inches higher than the blocks. Regardless, the 415 felt really good and I know without a doubt I could pull it from the floor. Which is saying something because only last month at the beginning of august 405 was a grinder.
I checked out your blog and for this last squat day it seems like that is ridiculously light. 175 for 5 sets of 3 when you just did 195 for speed day 3x3 a couple of workouts before? I’ve checked out a couple of different cube logs and it seems like the rep days for squats are abnormally light compared to the others. Do you know a reason for this?
Floor pressing felt really light and fast, as it should. I seemed to have a shitload of energy tonight, everything was really smooth and I was able to really work as hard as I can on all of it. Probably from all the halloween candy I ate yesterday that didn’t get passed out last night hahahaha