Spaniac's Training

Training
1

Somewhere in the depths of this forum, I had a log when I first began 5/3/1. I got insanely busy with school, taking a Physics class over the summer, working, getting a puppy, and then a crazy fall school schedule. Add in there a couple pretty big personal issues, and I just had to spend my time places other than the forums. I didn’t however, stop lifting!

Spaniac is a nickname I acquired at work, and I like it. I’ve never really had a nickname, and now when people don’t call me that, I don’t know they are talking to me. Ashley seems so stuck up, but Spaniac seems kind of cool. It is part of my Southern identity, and I am trying desperately to embrace it.

To recap, around May 2010 my maxes were:
Squat: 230
Bench: 140
Deadlift: 275
OHP: I leave out, because I was initially doing push presses, and now do OHP

I competed in my first PL meet on 10/31/10 - The Nightmare at East Carolina Barbell - APF/AAPF sanctioned. Meet went great, and I had SO much fun. Weighed in at 160, even, without any attempt to cut weight, and have really held that pretty steady since May - give or take minor fluctuations. Meet results were as follows:
Squat: 253
Bench: 142.5
Deadlift: 314.5
Total: 710
The squat, deadlift, and total were National Records for the AAPF RAW division, so that was pretty sweet. And after looking at this link: World Powerlifting Congress – Home of WPC/APF Powerlifting I have learned that my bench was a record too - though I really don’t believe that, since it sucks.

Fast forward to now, January 12, 2011, my maxes are as follows:
Squat: 280
Bench: 160
Deadlift: 314
OHP: 105
Those are all tested, so I don’t really care what estimates say.

Right now, I am just going to continue doing 5/3/1, but focus the next 2 cycles on conditioning, agility and endurance. I’ve neglected it for a good 5 months now, so I think it’s time to revisit. Plus, due to the nature of my degree program, I am required to participate in group fitness classes, as well as teach some, so I’ve got to have the stamina to stand up in front of people and do shit like that.

Also, I’d like to do another meet here in the next couple months, so I’ve got to keep my numbers up.

Essentially, I’m going to decrease my maxes to compensate, and add in minimal higher rep assistance work, plus conditioning and/or agility work at the end of each workout and on non-lifting days. Still figuring out the details, but hopefully I’ll have that all figured out by Monday, when I start my 5 week again!

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wow your numbers are wicked! how long have you been lifting weights?

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[quote]HaleyStorm wrote:
wow your numbers are wicked! how long have you been lifting weights?[/quote]

Thank you! I’ve been “lifting” weights for about 4 years - training for PL for about 9 months. It’s safe to say that the first year was full of a lot of mistakes, but hey, that’s what this place is for, right?

That being said, once I started to learn about things, I slowly got more structure into my workouts, and began focusing on form…then, at one point last winter, I had an epiphany that I was pretty dang good at this, and to top it off, I LOVED it!

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You’re awesome at this I’d say. Looking forward to reading your log.

5

Nice lifts. Weight class?

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[quote]polsen714 wrote:
Weighed in at 160, even, without any attempt to cut weight, and have really held that pretty steady since May - give or take minor fluctuations. Meet results were as follows:
Squat: 253
Bench: 142.5
Deadlift: 314.5
Total: 710 [/quote]

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Thanks ladies!

I’ve been deloading all week. I have found that I am able to go 2 cycles before I have to deload, without seeing any negative impact on my lifts, and still hitting some PRs.

So today was DL deload and I performed the following:
5x110, 110
5x135, 135
3x160, 160

Deficits: 5x95, 95, 95, 95
SLDLs with 2, 25 lbs DBs: 8, 8, 8
Back Extension: 15, 15

Conditioning:
At ECU we have an indoor track, so it’s really nice for the now very cold months. So, I did 10 rounds of the long part of the track, 5 sprinting, alternating with running backwards, karaokes, and high knee skips. I get bored, and I didn’t have much time - was working out in a break between classes.

In other news, and possibly the reason I have so much time right now, I have a dog issue. My 7 month old puppy/dog Hercules is in the doggy hospital right now. First, note that this dog is absurdly hyperactive, but so stinking awesome. Monday he eats his evening meal, starts running all over and throws everything up. By Wednesday at noon, he is constantly throwing up, diarrhea, won’t eat a thing (not even people food, and this dog eats everything), and won’t walk. I literally had to carry the poor guy outside to pee, and to the couch, to the car, and into the vet.

I was so upset about all of this - my heart was breaking for him.

Turns out he ate a kitchen towel, and some napkins, and they had lodged themselves in the opening between his stomach and small intestine. They had to cut his little belly open, go into his stomach, and remove the towel. Soooo, the poor guy has been with them since Wednesday, and I pick him up tomorrow - which I can’t wait for. I’m so lonely without him!

They’ve told me that he is supposed to chill out for 2 weeks while the stitches heal, but I just don’t see this dog sitting still.

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3240×4320 3.01 MB

Hercules, himself.
He has mastered the “I’m completely pathetic” look

Later on this trip, he will throw up a sock on that seat. Then later that day he will throw up the matching sock, a pair of underwear, an elastic headband, and pieces of a hardees breakfast bowl

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You’re very lucky that you can go two 5-3-1 cycles without a deload.

Hercules is a cutie, but ith that kind of appetite, how are you going to keep that poor baby safe?

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[quote]Nadia Comeandeat wrote:
You’re very lucky that you can go two 5-3-1 cycles without a deload.

Hercules is a cutie, but ith that kind of appetite, how are you going to keep that poor baby safe?[/quote]

Mainly, keep him away from my roommates, and their shit. I’m really good about keeping stuff off the floor from him, they’re pretty awful to live with in terms of cleanliness. But, for the next 4 months, I’ll just trap him in the back hall and my room. It’s plenty of room, and he won’t be able to get into much.

Plus, I’m going to get him pet insurance. It’s $23 a month, then a $100 deductible if he needs surgery again.

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Why is he eating all that stuff? did the vet give you pointers? if he’s hyperactive are you walking him enough?

end mom mode/

I have similar stats as your 2010 maxes. Love how you just pummeled through them at the meet.

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[quote]nlmain wrote:
Why is he eating all that stuff? did the vet give you pointers? if he’s hyperactive are you walking him enough?

end mom mode/

I have similar stats as your 2010 maxes. Love how you just pummeled through them at the meet.[/quote]

He’s part boxer, and he is still teething in the back. So instead of nibbling on things, he likes to get them all the way to the back. Hopefully in the next month or so, he will be out of that stage.
As for the hyperactivity, I had been going on short jogs with him (20-25 min), which he loved. But, with the weather getting near freezing, it’s hard. We do, however, have a fenced in back yard that he does laps around a lot. I guess I’ll just have to bundle up, and brave the cold!

I didn’t even think to post it earlier, but here is my 314 lb (142.5 kg) DL from the meet. My squat and bench, while I got decent numbers weren’t what I was hoping for. It was my first meet, and I chose my attempts poorly, because 2 weeks or so prior, when I was testing my maxes, I hit 270 and 155 for them.

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Picking numbers is all part of the game.

Nice pull.

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Awesome vids P. looks like you’ve got some good people helping with form and such.

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welcome. Your gym looks nice and your DL form is on!

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nice deadlifting!

i used to have border collies (hyperactive little beasties) that took a liking to chewing wooden table and chair legs. found the nylabone chew toys to be durable enough to last a few months and they got pretty good at channeling their frustrations that way. he is a very cute puppy.

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Agreed on the gym - it looks awesome. The place I train has a free weights area the size of a shoebox. (At least it has a proper squat rack and bench, and oly bars, though…)
The doggy is definitely cute. I hope you can wean him off eating weird shit, though, for both your sakes!

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He DID master the pathetic look! Wonder who teaches em that? Your kid (dog) is beautiful, and I hope this teething part is over quickly. Though, if you never need to get rid of evidence… :slight_smile:

Your numbers are close enough to mine that I’ve decided to compete with you. You’ve gotten better meet numbers and weigh a lil less, but ITS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG! in the best of e-competition spirit, of course.

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Thank you ladies! I LOVE that gym, East Carolina Barbell, but I don’t train there but once a month. They have an open squat session on Saturdays that me and a handful of other people stop in for. The 2 owners are brothers (in their late 20s), and they built all of the equipment there, which is so cool. They do a lot of strongman training there too, which I enjoy playing around in as well.

I usually work out at East Carolina University’s rec center (I’m on a budget). If you can tolerate the people that wander around, it’s actually a pretty cool place. They have about 5 full sets of dumbbells, 4 cages, and 1 squat rack; plus about 10 different variations of benches.

Anywho, I deloaded OHP yesterday:

5x35, 35, 45, 45, 55, 55
Did sets of 4 neutral grip chins inbetween, staggered off to 3 at the end, for a grand total of 21.
RDLs: 95, 3x10
Seated Cable Row: 70, 4x5

Conditioning: 6 rounds of
8 hand walk outs
50 jump rope
10 plyo push ups
20 jumping split squats
50 jumping jacks
rested about a minute inbetween, possibly more at the end.

All in all, it was a good workout. I hate deloading, and am glad it’s over. I’m about to go to the gym here in a bit, so that Nate can DL. Not sure what I’m gonna do - I’ll find something - and then I’ll stretch for 20 minutes.

CBear: Sounds good. I do well in competition, but have no one to compete with. I’ve only personally known 1 other girl that PLs and she is miniature. My goal is to get a Masters total at my next meet - but I think it’s going to be an SPF, rather than an AAPF, and their totals are much lower.

Dog news: This dog is the saddest thing in the world. I put the cone on his head, and he wouldn’t move, and just stared at the floor for 10 minutes. He won’t move with it on. So, I took it off of him this morning, and I heard him chewing on his bone, so I figured he was ok.

Well, apparently sometime while chewing on his bone he decided to chew out all of the stitches on his side, and eat his own flesh. So, he had an area of flesh exposed about 1.5 inches in diameter. I had to take him in to get stitched back up, and am trying to resist his pathetic looks and whines to take the cone off of his head.

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Aww. Sorry about the continued dog woes. He’ll adjust to the cone. Be strong! We know you are.