Strongman Log!

[strongmanvinny]

Took some time off for the break, and refrained from posting here. But I am back.

12/23/12

Haven’t ran a 5/3/1 or any program since the summer, so I’ll be getting back into it for front squats and deads!

Front Squats 5s week, 228 BW this morning beltless clean-grip FS’s
135x4,5
225x3 awkward cause its so damn cold in my garage
275x3 light headed baby!
290x3 almost passed out on 2nd rep, took about 5 seconds to gather myself before i did the 3rd rep which was completely on the toes :l
MORE WEIGHT!
310x3 still light headed after 2nd rep, but not as bad. this is me typing before my top set that involves 85%x5+reps…after 3 with sub-top set weights im not sure how this is going to go but im gonna give it all i got in spite of it.
325x1 SHOULD HAVE had this for 6-8 reps but HUGE blood rush to the head had no choice but to rack it or collapse and danger myself more

I recently tripled 365 easily a week prior to this, not sure why this workout was so hard.

What do you guys think of 5/3/1 with clean-grip front squats?

Pause FS’s to 11 inch low box (~3 sec pause)
135x3
205x1+50 in chains
255x1+50 in chains, x1 felt something pop in the outer sweep of my quad

Upper back stuff
Tried some seated rear delt flies/rows but my RC acted up SHIT im broken as soon as i begin posting on this site!

DB rows
90x10
120+20 in chains x10 (covered the dumbbell with all the chains i had unorthodox but i dont give a fuck)
crushed my hand a bit while dropping the dumbbell, bleeding quite the bit :]
120+chainsx10,10
90x10,10

Pissed

12/27/12

Back Squats
135x8
225x3
315x3
345x1
365x1 very easy

Javorek Complex w/ 135

Felt like crap on the complex but meh it was expected.

12/29/12

Light Events

Axle Clean&Press;
First time doing axle event work in over a month, trying to get my continental form back.

125x5
175x5,x1 strict press for funsies
220x2 one motion meaning i clean it to stomach, and pop it up and press in one fluid motion w/o stopping. I like these. The press was shot out front but eh it’ll clean up as i do this event more.

220x2 as fast as i could. I didnt prepare myself for the set, i just walked up to it non chalantly and did the set as if to emulate a medley or fast comp. Went alright!

Did a brief foam rolling session after the axle work, scap was bugging me a bit.

Farmers
120x120ft
170x180 w/turn
170x180 w/turn
170x180 w/turn
170x180 w/turn

Note I usually grab the handles from slightly towards the back on all my farmers sets regardless of weight. Could someone give me input on what are the most advantageous hand positions? I noticed hand position put slightly forward enables and easier pick and more speed, but I’m not sure how it would translate with heavier weights and a turn.

???

Tire stuff
I just fooled around with my 680 tire, didnt really focus on conditioning, or technique too much, just sort of played and tossed it around. Did some flips where i sit the tire on my leg and pause, and be as explosive and fast as i could to get it off my knee and over. Did that a few times, was fun.

680x blah blah blah

Box Jumps (first time ever doing these)
28"x3
32"x1,2 easy
35"x2,2 not too bad, think i have 40" in me if i can stack it up enough on the tire without the plates sliding and falling apart ensuing in me wiping out.

Stone EMULATION!
Barbell Sleeve w/ weights
145x8
190x3,3,3 hard as hell wow

[strongmanvinny]

1/1/13

First time doing heavy deads in nearly a month…

THE RESURGENCE INTO 5/3/1!
Tons of hamstring mobility stretches pre-workout

135x5,5
225x3 ouchies on my shins already 8(
315x3 slow off the floor but once it hits the knees it feel weightless, tempted to hang clean it O.o
365x1
405x1
425x10?! good lord my previous best was 7 and it was a LONGGGGGGGGG grinder, and this set for 10 ended with a solid rep, could’ve shot for 11! Absolutely shocked. The reps were fast and subsequent dead stop reps until the 8th rep. YES!!

Note for today was eating a cup or something of oatmeal, some cottage cheese and peanut butter before bed. More oatmeal in the morning with a tablespoon of peanut butter, tons of coffee and water. No belt, mixed grip w/ chalk and shoeless. yay

Close Foot-Stance GM’s W/ Axle (high volume, my CNS had nothing left after deads)
35x10
85x10
105x10,10,10

Hip Thrusts w/ axle
125x10,10,10,12 slow and controlled

1 Arm DB rows
90x10
100x30 BRUTAL set, major gut check with my left arm

Lower Ab Leg Raises
x10,10,8 failure

DB side bends
25lb plate w/ 30lbs chains, stood on a box so i could get some work from the chains added in
x20,20

[strongmanvinny]

GETTING SO MAD AT TNATION WITH THE DOUBLE POSTS!

GRRRRRRRRRRR GONNA DO SOMETHIN BAD TO SOMEONE BUT I SURE DONT KNOW WHAT!

[strongmanvinny]

1/3/12

SOHP
135x5
155x3
185x3
205x7 all time PR is 8 :[. Suffice to say that the 7th rep wasn’t necessarily a rep to failure, although I doubt 8 would’ve made the lockout. Oh well, this is 5’s week with 5/3/1 for strict press. My actual max is like 250-255, but I used a lighter training max (240) for this cycle because my strict press has waned and I think it’s time to build a foundation back again and find my stride.

impromptu one arm DB clean and press
100x5
120x3
140x1
150x1
160xFAIL! I think fresh I can knockout ATLEAST the 160s, hopefully the 170s with some time.

First time ever one arm pressing a DB heavier than 120’s

one arm tricep pushdown ladder w/ rope
80x10
70x~8
60x~8
50x~6
40x~6
30x~4
20x lalala wenet to failure didnt count lalala
10x lalalal went to failure, DIDNT COUNT!

delt ladder
took these from none other than Zack McCarley

just grabbed some 10’s and rear delt flied like 10-15 reps per position on incline bench, went down to almost flat, consisted of like 4-5 sets for a total of 50+ or so reps.

Next week is 215 for reps on strict press, I won’t take any less than 5!

1/5/12

squats and legs

I found out today training at a packed typical run of the mill fitness gym is a terrible thing for me as I have trained alone in my garage with blasting music for 2 years. I couldn’t focus on myself no matter how hard I tried, I was distracted by every noise, whether it was people yapping about things that really shouldn’t be said out loud in a gym, or other peoples weights clanking. Needless to say back squats failed.

pitiful back squats
135x10
225x3
315x0??? fell forward on my toes and dropped the weight.

angry PAUSE front squats w/ choked purple bands
135x5
225x2
275x2 almost passed out reracking it, i believe im placing the bar too high on my chest
225x5x5 whatever

BSS (bulgarian split squats)
20x10,10
30x10,10

my right leg seems to wanna cave inwards, assuming i have tight hamstrings (inner hamstring) atleast on my right leg tugging my femur inward making me unbalanced to hell w/ that leg

double underhand thoracic extension holds
135x60s

pinched shoulders blades together and held that shit for as long as i could

frustrated

[strongmanvinny]

1/8/12

PM Event training, body was low on carbs, so i kept the weight heavy, and volume low

out of rack axle OHP
125x5
175x3
215x3
265x3
305x3! Tied for a PR, but felt WAYYYY easy this time around

farmers

was too dark to do this outside in the street, lack of lights, so i did these in the yard…

120x100ft w/ turn at half way for all sets
170x100ft
210x110ft, rough pick
260x110ft pretty horrid, painful pick but this is first heavy farmers in a long time
205xlike 150 feet from backyard to garage, downhill all weird terrain blah blah blah core was so shaky the set looked like me doing the charleston dance

finger curls w/ 25lb plate with handles

2 25lb plate pinch till failure

1/11/13

deads, 3s week

135x3 slight lower-left back pain off the floor
225x3
315x3 sluggish weak reps
375x1 meh
410x1 felt like a 1rm
455x7 previous best for 7 reps was 425, previous best with a weight close to this (450) was 5, so this is good news, although i told myself constantly 8 was gonna happen. I’ll take 7!

Instead of GMs I switched it up and did makeshift GHR’s to give my low back a rest, they dont allow full extension but pretty close, very tough
x8
w/ 10lb chain on back x 7
+20 in chainx4 (failure)
10 in chainsx3 (failure)
bwxfailure ~3

one arm DB rows
90x8
100x35

single leg RDL
25x10
40x8,6-7 physically cannot do any more reps

oblique crunches
x20

russian twists
25x20,20

[strongmanvinny]

1/14/13

In the midst of imminent hard drive failure of my laptop, I’m managing to post my pressing workout!

strict overhead
140x5
165x5
195x3
215x6 yay!

behind the head farmers walk presses (trying to mimic that of a kettle bell so i took my handles and pressed them behind the neck, tons of delt activation)
one handed
45x10
75x5,5,~4 blah blah

one handed axle deadlift out of boredom
125x1
175x1
185xFAIL

bent over rear delt flys
40x3x8

[strongmanvinny]

1/16/12

I SLEPT IN AND SAID FUCK IT NO TRAINING TODAY!

231 BW on the dot this morning.

But I woke up after sleeping 14 hours and did my front squats like a man!

This is what happened…

front squats no belt
135x8
225x3
280x3
320x2
345x1
365x1 felt very heavy…
400x1! Huge PR, I had psyched myself out SO much before this set, it took me like 15 minutes just to prepare myself. I was feeling shaky, still drowsy but I did it anyway. Goes to show you do not know what you are worth until you try!

BSS (bulg split squats, reps each leg)
bwx8
20x8
40x6
60x6
drop set
40x10 legs are GONE at this point

Quarter front squats

I set the rack so the bar came up to my solar plexus, squatted out of the rack and did quarter squats w/o coming to a dead stop on the rack.

135x10
225x5, last rep held for about 10 seconds forcing thoracic extension
315x8, forced thoracic extension
365x3, forced thoracic extension held for about 15 seconds, started feeling shaky by the end of the static hold, so I racked it.

315x~8, held that bitch but my upper back and core started screaming.

Was enough for today!

[strongmanvinny]

1/19/13
events

out of rack axle OHP
125x5
175x3+1 strict press
215x3
265x1
305x1
335x1 EASY!!! This is the heaviest I have ever pressed over my head!
305x1 was going for reps, was fried at this point I guess. Called it on these.

Have no access to stones anymore so I’m going to be emulating them with the sleeve of an oly bar with bumper plates.

100x5
145x5
195x3, sore glutes and hams still, but these feel easy and strong

calling on these to save myself for my next sess

[strongmanvinny]

1/22/13

deadlifts

135x3
225x3
315x3
385x2
435x1 this weight ALWAYS feels like a 1RM
475x5 PR! I’m still not happy to have such a minuscule deadlift. The fact I can overhead press 70% of my deadlift max is somewhat discomforting. Oh well! I’m improving on my deads and that’s good news.

SLDL’s 3.5 in deficit HOOK GRIP FOR ALL SETS!
Keeping the movement somewhat slow and controlled w/o touching the weights to the floor.

225x8, i notice i get a ache pain the lower-left of my back. It makes me weak on the descent of deadlifts, i don’t really feel it on heavy con pulls, but jeez when i do SLDL’s slow throughout the entirety of the movement, that part of my back just aches.
275x8,8
300x6 my god

hyper ext.
bwx12,15,15, failure on those last sets

close grip ab rollouts w/ barbell
x5
x5
x5

these should be called torso rollouts. my chest, serratus and triceps are feeling these!

30 min after the workout i wanted to see how many times i could curl a 35lb axle!

35x150! I wanna see someone do more!

[strongmanvinny]

1/25/13

AM low intensity cardio

My streets are long, hilly, and quite scenic. There are no houses on the 1/2 mile stretch of hilly road that is somewhat secluded from the rest of the development. It’s a quite nice place to walk, and it adds a serene element to a rather mundane form of cardio.

I keep up a brisk paced walk elevating my heart rate a bit, but nothing too crazy. I walked for 25 minutes~; bit less than I wanted, but I believe the hills and shit made up for it.

No time to get in a PM workout so I have to do this session in the morning with very little in my stomach

229 BW

strict overhead press
45x8
135x5 reps were so fast it nearly knocked me off my feet
160x3
190x3
210x1
225x5! this is a HUGE improvement for strict press for me. Although my all time best is 245x2-3, this is the most ive strict pressed at this lighter bodyweight.

seated overhead rack presses from crown/foreheadish (no back support)
45x10
135x5
185x3
225x1,x FAIL, i’m in over my head…

205+20 in chains…lets see how this goes
taking 60 sec rest, no more and even a little less so that i overload my lockout more efficiently
205x2,2 -.- practically failure,1,1 very hard but slow neg, very strong feeling

lying incline front raises (both arms same time)
10x12
25x10
drop set
10x15 so much pain
5x20+ amazing shoulder pump, these are a new exercise i will be doing more often

incline rear delt pulls/rows chest on bench
25x10,10,10

incline STRETCHED one arm tricep ext.
I basically completely bend my elbow and then push my humerus further back to extend the ROM for my triceps, ALOT of work for the triceps. Very challenging.

40x5,5
drop set
25x5,5

brutal day, but a good one!

[strongmanvinny]

1/27/13

AM cardio

Light high bar back squat/front squat back to back complex
The front squats were done with arms out in front, frankenstein squat or w/e you wanna call it
135x3/3
165x3/3
185x3/3
225x2/2
255x1/1
305x1/1

Oly snatches (or an attempt at in raised heel shoes)
135x5
115xblah blah just tossed it around getting a feel for it
135xstuff and stuff and more stuff

all sets were light but im so inflexible that i get tired using small weight, blow to my ego!

stuff and more stuff

easy short day

[strongmanvinny]

1/29/13
~230 BW
events

tire
680x50 flips in 31 minutes
680x51 in 40 minutes with 10 minute rest between both sets

really tough, was ready to quit on the 50th rep

axle clean and press
125x8
175x4,4 cleans are jokes but my core is GONE so the presses are sloppy

180x20 CLEANS ANDS 20 PRESSES! All double overhand power cleans, felt flawless

Blasted Michael Jackson throughout the sess., garage wide open, I’m sure the neighbors were thumping

Ready to vomit, but an amazing day for conditioning and PR’s out the ass

[strongmanvinny]

1/31/13

229 bw

stupid light/deload deads

will be taking it easy with the weights for the next few sessions before i jump back into heavy shit again

SLDLS
115x20
115x lalalala dont care

DONE!

AM cardio, picked up the pace this time around.

I have not been on any supps besides fish oil and and a multi vit. So i will be cycling back on a protein and creatine. Hopefully this gets things going a bit faster this time.

Stupid rotator cuff workout

2/2/13
First time benching in a year.

45x10 no pain
95x5 no pain
135x5 no pain!
185x3 eh!
205x3 little bit of pain, nothing major
225x3 fine
245x2 fine
260x2 fine
275x1 and now the pain begins!

135x4x10
95x3x10

TONS of RC maintenance. I wish RC problems didn’t exist. Perhaps I just wish I wasn’t stupid enough to neglect benching/RC shit for so long.

IM OVER IT ALREADY GAH

2/4/13

front squats no belt
95x10
135x5
225x3
280x3
320x1 meh
365x6x1, woah! My previous best was 4 sets of singles with 340, so this is a big PR. Took more mental strength than physical honestly just because of how crappy my warm ups felt.

front squat drop set! YUM!
300x7
225x8
135x10

Probably the most gruesome form of drops sets possible. So painful, all those sets were one rep before failure. (roughly)

Thoracic extensions (inverted hyper ext.)
25x12,12,12
drop set
10x12-15
bwx12-15

[strongmanvinny]

2/5/13
more benching. I drank nyquil last night to help me sleep as I would be up late from being so sore unable to sleep. I still feel drowsy but I’m motivated to bench today still.
some rc warm up stuff

45x10
95x8
135x5 RC fine
155x5
185x5
205x1
225x1 smooth and effortless as this weight should be
so far my RC is holding up surprisingly well and weights are feeling very light.
250x1
275x1 no pain this week with this weight. very pleased so far

upping the weight we shall see how this fairs!

300x1 easy, first 300 bench press in over a year
315x1 joke weight :]

Very pleased that my RC held up just fine today. Feel’s good to know I can hit 3 plates on bench fairly easy without even training it in roughly a year. I gave up on powerlifting an my 400lb bench goal when I was in high school because I realized my calling was strongman, but who says you can’t be a beast at all realms of strength sports? I sure don’t say it!

light volume bench stuff
185x5,5
135x3x12

more RC maintenance

done.

[strongmanvinny]

2/6/13
light farmers

low back and erectors were tight as hell today, in a little pain but eh

120x50ft, turn at 25ft for all sets
120x50ft
170x50ft
170x50ft bleh
210x50ft, felt like absolute shit, i had to actually stop and stand still and turn my body 180 degrees to do the turn. I should dominate this weight no problem but it was a horrid run.
170x50ft

pissed off about today

axle double overhand clean
125x101, because i can, fuck you

[strongmanvinny]

2/11/13
deadlifts and stuff

225x5
315x3
365x2
405x1 felt like crap
435x10, This is the number I wanted, and is a big PR, yet my speed off the floor yet again is indefinitely SHIT! I hate it

I’m trying SO hard to get stronger off the floor.

Speed pulls on 2.25" deficit
225x8x1 (60 sec rest periods)

GHR’s (the makeshift kind!)
x8 very good feeling
20x8, woo lovin’ the post GHR cramps…
x8

One arm barbell rows
25x10
50+20 in chains x10,10
drop set
50 no chains x 8-10
25x8-10

LATS ARE ON FIRE.

GM’s w/ 2" axle
135x5,5,5

Weird donkey kicks where I stand on a bench and put about 20lbs of 7 foot chain on my ankle and kick back with a bit of a curl for the hamstring. They look and feel ridiculous considering I can barely stop the chains from falling off the foot, but a great hip flexor/glute/ham exercise nonetheless.

x10,10,10

Ab rollouts
x8,8,8

Core circuit, done without rest and all four exercises done twice as a group

leg raises
x10

crunches on medicine ball
x10

Seated DB side bends
40x12ish

Russian twists
25x20ish

spent, high volume, and I plan on cutting it down as my deadlifts get heavier in the cycle.

[strongmanvinny]

2/13/13
pressing/upper body

strict overhead press
45x10
135x3
155x3
185x2 super fast
205x1 honestly felt lighter than 185, what?!
225x1 still feels like 185…
250x1
260x1 PR, previous PR was 255. YES!

out of rack strict axle overhead press (doing these to get some volume work in, although strong with my upperbody, i feel i need to add more mass).

SOHP w/ axle
125x5
175x5
195x5,3
175x5
160x3
drop set right to 150 and finished the 2 reps

seated incline front raises
25x8, both arms simult
drop set
15x8-10
10x8-10
5x alot

rear delt work
5x10,10

controlled con and neg diamond push ups w/ 3 sec pause halfway down and at the bottom
x5
x5
x5

side laterals w/ farmers handles
25x10,10

feelin like doing biceps today for some reason…haven’t in so long!

axle curls
35x8
85x8
105x5

time for 45s now…YEAH BABY!!

125x5
drop set
85x8
35x25
drop drop set to reverse curls
35x10

I will be regretting doing biceps tomorrow when I’m unable to stretch out my arms.

[strongmanvinny]

2/15/13
Got absolutely no sleep last night. I NEED sleep. I am a girl! In spite of this I still feel it necessary to put myself through a hellish workout. Why I do this I do not know.

Fun squat day

quarter front squats, rack height at diaphragm
135x5
225x6
315x5
365x5
405x5
435x6, too easy

power/muscle snatches
haven’t done an actual snatch workout probably since the summer

135x3
160x1
185x2 meh
205x0 lol
205x0, cant snatch 205 feels good man

huge blow to my ego. i have power snatched 225 before, yet failing lighter weights always get to me even on a lift i rarely perform.

onto some pause front squats 3 second pause w/ only 1 min rest

185x3
225x3
275x1 very easy
315x3
315x3 lost balance on last rep and came forward on my right foot
315x3 easier than the other sets!

bulg split squats reps per leg
25x8
40x8 slight sharp pain in the upper right hamstring
40x8

done.

[strongmanvinny]

2/17/13 - im weighing 230 still, which is amazing i guess since im cycled back on creatine? I feel alot stronger and bigger yet maintaining my weight which is cool.

I am still dialing back on event training. I need to work on getting my strength up and event work can be very detracting to static strength gains.

light farmers/technique stuff

120xfigure eight, i make two figures hence 2x, so it probably stretches out to 150-200 feet including the tight turns
120x 2x
170x 2x
170x 2x

The fact that I am fatiguing is a good indicator that I need to lower the weight. This particular training sessions primary goal is to work on agility and technique. The breakdown of form will surely hinder my ability to maintain composure during the sets.

120x 2x feeling a bit nauseous. Probably dehydrated from nyquil. I need to get some melatonin!
120x 2x
120x 2x getting very fast and found a nice stride with form feeling like a breeze, as it should.

short day. I just wanna make sure i stay familiar with atleat one event that happens to be a major weakness of mine.

EDIT

I decided to do one more thing.

One arm DB clean and press
100x20, 13 w/ right, 7 w/ left

[strongmanvinny]

2/20/13
deadlifts

135x8 right-low back is bothering me today
225x3
315x3 struggled on the 1st rep, my body has no distinguishing between heavy and light weights.
375x1
410x1 this was legitimately hard. A grinder.
455x1
475x0, 5 rep max missed for a single. Didn’t make it to the knees. No pull from the floor at all, pretty pathetic for me.

I don’t know what the deal is. Everything has been going fine with my training. I’ve been breaking PR’s again and again, I took 2 weeks off in december, I deloaded recently. I don’t know why my weaknesses have become more visible. Missing a 475 deadlift is a heartbreaker for me especially destroying it for 5 not long ago.

I won’t stagnate though, I won’t let it happen. I pretty much promised myself I would step my training up and that’s what I’m going to do no matter what happens.

deadlifts on 2" deficit
405x6x1

Speed deads on 2" deficit w/ chains, 30-1 minute rest
225x8x1

I actually feel more comfortable, and stronger on a 2" deficit. Go figure.

snatch grip deadlifts on 2.5" deficit+chains
225x6
315x6
315x6
315x5

Half GM’s
135x10,10,10,10

one arm barbell rows
25x10
50+chainsx8
drop set
25+chainsx8

ab rollouts
x5
20x5
x5,5

lying leg raise SS w/ frog crunches
x15
x12

Done twice no rest

DB side bends
90x10,10,10