TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
501

Cornerstone Training - Week 4 - Day 4 - Deload

Paused Bench - No Spot or Hand-Off:
3x4x325
6x325 @ RPE 8 - Pretty easy. PR for no hand-off I’m sure.

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x5x285 - Same deal, no spot, not bad though

Standing Overhead Press:
3x10x135

DB Lateral Raise:
3x12x35s

Cable Triceps Pushdown:
3x12x70

Alt DB Curl:
3x12x40s

I had some pretty significant tightness in my right shoulder during this workout, so between literally every set of the first three exercises I was doing some band traction on it and my pec to make sure I didn’t fuck up something. Being in a shitty position not having a hand off is dangerous. I made it through safely due to being patient and diligent with the tractioning.

Bench was pretty difficult for the first couple sets while I was getting adjusted and balanced. The last two sets were good, I likely would have hit 7 @ RPE 8 with a hand-off.

502

Cornerstone Training - Week 4 - Day 5 - Deload End

Deadlift w/ Belt - Straps due to torn callous:
3x405
3x455
3x3x495

DB Step-Ups - Straps:
3x5/5x100s - Too heavy to do stair lunges, so I just did step-ups to the 2nd stair.

Pendlay Row - No Straps:
3x6x275

Lat Pulldown:
3x10x200

Cable Facepull:
3x12x72.5

Cable Ab Pulldown:
3x12x110

Deadlift has been so confusing recently. I can hit a 5x5x445 beltless paused deadlift, but when I add a belt and take away the pause, 50 more pounds feels slow as all hell. Anyway, I did try to maintain more control today than usual, basically just trying to stay in a good position. That can contribute to the slowness.

I’m glad I’ve found some sort of movement to hit my quads without hurting my knees. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll be ready to squat again.

503

Cornerstone Training - Week 5 - Day 1

Beltless Paused Deadlift - Straps (Callous):
3x405
3x455
3x3x490 - PR! Only heavier PR was 5x2x495 but that was belted.

Beltless High Bar Squat - Oly shoes back probably permanently btw:
3x3x315 - Not bad, knees shaking on the way down though. 4-5/10 on pain scale

Good Morning - Beltless:
6x225
3x6x245

Weighted Pull-Ups - Straps:
6, 6, 6, 7 x BW+30 - 25 reps in as few sets as possible. Each set at RPE 8.

Goblet Squat - Occlusion / Blood Flow Restriction:
1x30x44, 2x15x44 - 30 seconds rest - Overshot weight or tightness, didn’t do 3rd set of 15.

Cable Pallof Press:
3x10/10x40 - 3 ct. hold

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this, since I’ve basically been struggling to pull in this range with my competition form with a belt. These felt better than that honestly and it’s kind of infuriating. Should I just go beltless and pause my meet pulls? lol

Anyway, video is of the 2nd set of the 3x3. The 3rd set was the worst because I got too excited for it and jerked the bar off the ground. Maybe that’s the sign of how to fix my competition form, be patient off the floor.

Squats were okay I guess. I can tell my knees are just biologically lacking in confidence from the shaking on the way down. I was actually sort of dive bombing the rest of the way and they felt fine from that. It’s just the attempting to control it that was an issue today.

Color me surprised on the weighted pull-ups. It’s nice to get better at these again.

504

Cornerstone Training - Week 5 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x5x295+40 - Not bad. One of the sets was an RPE 7-7.5.

Standing Overhead Press:
3x175
2x3x200
5x200 @ 9 - 5 lb. PR!

Close Grip Pin Press (Dead Bench) - 3-4" From Chest:
3x275
3x315
3x3x335 @ RPE 7 or so - Hard to tell because the first rep is the hardest part. I also did this wrong, apparently it was supposed to be to pins, not from pins. Will do that next week.

DB Seated Overhead Press:
2x6x80s
3x6x90s - Don’t think I’ve ever OHP these. Reaching my limit on getting these up to my shoulder via power curl. I suck at the knee bounce deal. Halp.

HS Iso-Row - Neutral:
8x360
8x380
8x410

Cable Low Row - Pronated:
8x200
3x8x220

EZ Bar Curl:
3x8x110

Cardio - Treadmill Prowler Push:
1 set of 5 rounds of 15 seconds on/off
2 sets of 3 rounds of 15 seconds on/off

I was surprised by the large drop in volume in the programming this week, but this workout still kicked my ass. Working above 80% isn’t something I’m used to anymore, especially on 3 separate exercises. The bench with chains felt very good, lots of control there. OHP went much better than expected. And pin presses were a wild card, I didn’t know what to expect. I think that if I were able to get about 365 moving on the first rep, that would be my working weight on these. Just have no idea what I could get moving from that position. Regardless, I’ll be going from unracking to the pins next time.

Accessories being full of 6s and 8s didn’t make the rest of the workout a breeze. Definitely moving some weight now on a few of them.

Treadmill prowler pushes are the devil.

By the way, I’m sitting around 229-230 somewhat steadily and I’d like to get to 232 (which is probably the upper range for what I’m willing to cut from to get to 220). So I’ve increased my calories. My 5 lifting days are now 3,800 calories / 100g fat / 475g carbs / 250g protein and my 2 off days are 3,200 calories / 120g fat / 300g carbs / 250g protein. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten this much other than obvious overeating days, certainly not consistently with a purpose. I don’t even know how to do this other than to poop a lot.

505

Cornerstone Training - Week 5 - Day 3

Beltless Deadlift w/ Chains (+40):
5x1x455+40

Beltless Squat:
5x1x345 - Most I’ve squatted in several weeks. Still pretty painful.
5x345

DB Stair Lunges:
4x7/7x75s - Straps

Incline DB Row w/ 1 Ct. Hold:
3x8x115s - Straps

Lying Leg Curl:
3x8x155

Stability Ball ABC’s (Plank on ball, trace ABCs):
3 sets

Cornerstone Training - Week 5 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
4x2x355
5x355 @ 9.5 - Benchmark PR. Closest = 365x4 @ 10 and 330x6 @ 9. Fastest I’ve moved this weight probably. Video below.

2 Ct. Paused SlingShot Bench:
3x3x365 - Moved the SS higher up on my arms and I was able to pause it better than ever before. These were very easy.

Standing Overhead Press:
3x7x165 - Slightly bent bar threw me off. Shoulder wasn’t liking this.

JM Press:
3x8x205

DB Alternating Curls:
3x10/10x45s

Cornerstone Training - Week 5 - Day 5

Deadlift w/ Belt:
4x1x540 - These were very slow. I tried to be more methodical and hit my paused deadlift groove that I’ve been hitting, but it just isn’t the same. Need to figure this out soon.

Bulgarian Split Squats:
3x10/10xBW+55

Pendlay Row - Straps:
4x315
4x4x335

Lat Pulldown:
3x8x220

Band Facepull:
3x25 @ Light band

Banded Decline Sit-Ups:
3x12 @ Mini band

Edit:
Cardio - Battling Ropes:
5 sets of 3 rounds of 0:10/0:10 on/off. 30 seconds between sets.

Another big log dump from the weekend unfortunately. I’m pretty much only happy with my bench currently (knock on wood for no pec issues), so Saturday was a good day. I can’t remember if I’ve even benched over 345 since the last meet, so it was nice that 355 was so easy. Next week is supposed to be the same rep scheme but with 365.

Here’s the 355x5 video:

1 Like
506

Cornerstone Training - Week 6 - Day 1

Beltless Paused Deadlift - No Straps:
3x405
3x455
3x3x500 - 10 lb PR over last week. Heaviest weight I’ve ever paused. As mentioned before, previous heaviest was 5x2x495, but that was belted and with straps. This is a huge milestone.

Beltless High Bar Squat:
3x315
3x345
3x3x365 - Another 20 lbs added on the road to squatting decently again. The weights below this felt significantly better than last week. Still some shakiness on the way down though.

Good Mornings - Beltless:
3x6x255

Weighted Pull-Ups - Straps:
8, 7, 6, 4 x BW+30 - 25 reps in as few sets as possible. Each set at RPE 8.

Goblet Squat - Occlusion / Blood Flow Restriction:
1x30x45, 3x15x45 - 30 seconds rest - Finished what I couldn’t last week. Very tough.

Cable Pallof Press - 3 Ct. Hold:
2x10/10x50
1x10/10x45

This workout crushed me pretty good. The paused deadlifts went really well I think. Seems like the first couple reps on these are much better than the last rep, since I have to reset my grip after the second and get back into position. As a result, I’m sure my back got out of position a bit, but I’m happy with the control I had on the weight. Grip was holding up very nicely as well.

I’m happy to add some more weight to the squats. Need to keep up with the recovery stuff and hopefully it’ll get much better soon.

507

Cornerstone Training - Week 6 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x5x300+40 - Still feeling good with these. RPE 7.5 on the best set

Standing Overhead Press:
3x185
2x3x205
4x205 @ RPE 9-9.5 - +1 rep PR! So this was my previous 3RM for a 3x3+. Pretty cool

Pin Press - 1-2" From Chest:
3x315
3x340 @ RPE 7
2x3x350 @ RPE 8 - Benchmark PR

Seated DB Overhead Press:
3x6x90s

HS Iso-Row - Wide Neutral:
3x8x360

Cable Row - Narrow Neutral:
8x220
8x240
8x260 (Stack)

EZ Bar Curl:
3x8x110

Das bench is going very well recently. Hope I can keep this up and stay healthy. I was actually feeling pretty weak warming up to 300 straight weight, but then I added the chains and eccentric deloading or whatever really helped my explosiveness kick in. I was also able to use leg drive without my knees hurting today, so that’s awesome.

I’m not sure if the plan for OHP will still be another 5 lb increase next week. I’d be surprised if I can get 210 for a 3x3+, never mind the plus really, 3x3 by itself would be pretty big. Regardless I’m very happy with the 205 sets this week.

I may or may not have forgotten I was supposed to do close grip pin press instead of comp grip. But the DB bench I used was also higher than last week, so the bar ended up touching closer than then anyway. Once I get used to the groove of these, I think they could be very useful. I like them more than board press, that’s for sure.

508

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 6 - Day 3

Deadlift w/ Chains (+40) - Belt:
6x1x455+40 - 45 seconds rest. Used the belt to practice for the comp lift, first 3 were ugly, last 3 got a lot better.

Beltless Squat:
5x1x385
5x385 - Felt so heavy on my back. I’ll get used to it again though.

DB Stair Lunges - Straps:
4x7/7x75s

Incline DB Row w/ 1 Sec Hold - Straps:
3x8x115s

Lying Leg Curl:
3x8x155

Stability Ball ABCs:
3x1

There isn’t much to say about this workout. The squats were alright, I guess, it was just difficult from not squatting a lot. My knees are hurting today (Sunday), so hopefully that gets better as I do my deadlifts in a few minutes.

Saturday - Cornerstone Training - Week 6 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
4x2x365
4x365 - Failed 5th rep. Match PR. Surprised that I missed the 5th, because the first 4 looked really good. Will post the video later (edit: see below).

2 Ct. Paused SlingShot Bench:
3x370
3x3x385

JM Press:
3x8x215 - PR

Standing Overhead Press:
7x165 - Did this after JM press this week due to equipment availability. Made this much harder.
2x7x155

Alternating DB Curls:
3x10/10x50s

Cardio - Swimming:
5x4x10m

Other than missing that 5th rep, I’m very happy with how this went. I moved 365 really well for the preceding 12 reps. Slingshot bench went well too. The plan was 370, but that was too light IMO, so I added 20 over last week. 385 definitely felt heavy in my hands, but honestly it felt better in my hands than it did on my back for squats on Friday.

509

Cornerstone Training - Week 6 - Day 5

Deadlift w/ Belt:
1x455
1x495
1x525
3x1x555
3x555 @ 9 - Notes below

Pendlay Row - Straps:
4x275
4x315
4x4x335

Bulgarian Split Squat:
3x10/10xBW+75

Lat Pulldown - Medium Neutral:
3x8x220

Band Facepull:
3x25 @ Light band

Banded Decline Sit-Ups:
3x12 @ Mini band

Fucking finally. I haven’t hit my competition form deadlifts this well in several months. I have been using essentially a squat bar for all of my pulls and I switched to a thinner bar today (the ones that were giving me grip issues a while ago) and it made a huge difference. I’ll keep using the stiffer/thicker bar for training though. I was also letting myself rage pretty hard from 135 to the end and I was very explosive because of it.

This was supposed to be a 4x1 only, but I decided to do a plus set on the last one and I got a triple, which was a PR that I got on the day last year that I hit my all time high 1RM of 615. I have only beaten that since during peak week in February with a couple triples at 575. I don’t think I can compare those two though, since peaking is a different ball game.

Here’s the second and fourth sets, as you can see, the rage was going for the second and it worked very well. Practically a speed rep:

510

Cornerstone Training - Week 7 - Day 1

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x405
3x455
3x3x505 - Another PR for this, 5 lbs. over last week. This was a lot uglier though. Lots of back rounding. Could be due to the Sunday deadlift session though.

Beltless High Bar Squat:
3x365
3x3x385 - 'nother 20 lbs. up. Positioning isn’t great, but I think I’m getting better.

Good Morning - Beltless:
3x6x275

Weighted Pull-Ups - Straps:
7, 7, 6, 5 x BW+30 - 25 reps in as few sets as possible at RPE 8. Much harder than previous weeks for some reason.

Goblet Squat - Occlusion / Blood Flow Restriction:
1x30x45, 3x15x45 - 30 seconds rest - God this sucks. Quads almost cramped at the end and almost fell over.

Cable Pallof Press - 3 Ct. Hold:
3x10/10x45

Despite the difficulty, this was a pretty good workout mentally. Getting through the paused deadlift with another 5 lbs tacked onto “the most I’ve ever paused” is uplifting, even if there was back rounding. Lets me know I can grind through bad positions if necessary. It’s a good sign for my grip strength too, because I’m not anywhere close to losing it anymore.

I’ve pretty much got my mind set on 405 for my Friday squats, which is the 6x1+. I’ve been increasing the weight pretty consistently, so I should be okay to do that. Knees are still aching, but I’m getting better at managing it.

511

Cornerstone Training - Week 7 - Day 2

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x5x305+40 - Pretty easy today for some reason. RPE 7 at most on the first set.

Standing Overhead Press:
3x195
2x3x210
4x210 - Another set of PRs for this. 5 lbs. onto the 3RM, done for a 3x3+, and then turned into a 4RM too.

Close Grip Pin Press - 2" From Chest:
3x335 @ 7
3x350 @ 9 - Overshot
3x345 @ 8

Seated DB Overhead Press:
3x10x75s - Was slotted for a 3x6, but too beat up at that point, my back would have been too sore to power curl enough.

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row:
3x8x180 - Straps on last set

Cable Low Row:
3x8x220

Barbell Curl:
3x8x115

Very happy with everything I did today. I had to check my training a few times to make sure I wasn’t going too light on the chain bench. No idea why it was so easy, since I was on the crooked bench today (the uprights are way off at least). I’ll take it though!

I was surprised I was able to get a 3x3 in at 210 for OHP, let alone a 4th rep on the last one. Usually I can’t progress like this on OHP honestly. I went for a 5th rep after waiting too long at the top of the 4th, but I wasn’t close to getting it. Probably have it in me if I was fresh.

Pin presses are a different animal when it’s close grip. Much much harder than last week when I forgot to do it.

512

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 7 - Day 3

Deadlift w/ Chains (+40):
6x1x465+40 - 45 seconds between sets. Belted again to practice with it.

Squat:
6x1x365 - No pseudo-AMRAP today. Left VMO was super sore since the last squats I did, seemed like I had strained it or something. Feeling better as of writing this though (Sunday).

Walk-Outs - Beltless:
3x455x10sec

Incline DB Row - 1 Sec Hold - Straps:
3x8x100s

DB Stair Lunges:
4x7/7x80s

Lying Leg Curl:
3x8x170 - PR…lol

Stability Ball ABCs:
3 set

This was pretty uneventful other than trying to do some walkouts with 455. 385 is the most I’ve had on my back in weeks, so 455 felt pretty crushing. So demotivating since I had hit 455 for a 5x5+ (7 on the AMRAP) a few days before my knees started being fucky. Honestly that was likely the workout that sent the knees into a spiral. Just because I had the ability to do that volume doesn’t mean I should have. It was far and away the best squat workout of my life, but still wasn’t a great idea probably.

513

Saturday - Cornerstone Training - Week 7 - Day 4

Paused Bench:
4x2x370 - Volume PR at this weight probably.
3x370 @ 9.5 - Benchmark PR. Could have gotten 4 on the 4th set instead of this one.

2 Ct. Paused SlingShot Bench:
3x370
3x385
3x405 - Benchmark PR. Only 20 lbs. under my TnG PR.

Standing Overhead Press:
3x7x165 @ 8

JM Press:
3x8x225 - 10 lb. PR

Alt. DB Curl:
10/10x55s
10/10x60s
10/10x65s

I wasn’t feeling particularly strong or into the benching on this day. I was never in fear of missing a rep at 370, so that’s good, I was just not very stimulated either. I guess that’s a good sign though. I really wanted to get a 4th rep on the AMRAP, but I wasn’t going to get it. I thought that I was 5 lbs under my 3RM with that set, but it turns out my 2RM was 375 until December when I got 2x385. I haven’t hit a 3RM since then, so this was a benchmark PR. I’ll take it.

514

Cornerstone Training - Week 7 - Day 5 - 12 Weeks Out

Deadlift w/ Belt:
1x495
1x545
4x1x570 - So…so slow. Grip is holding up well for the several seconds each rep took, so that’s something.

Bulgarian Split Squat:
3x10/10xBW+80

Pendlay Row - Straps:
4x4x315

Lat Pulldown:
8x180
8x220
8x200

Band Facepull:
3x25 @ Light

Band Decline Sit-Ups:
3x12 @ Mini

I thought this might happen after pushing myself like I did last Sunday. My e1RM from the 555x3 @ 9 was 634 and my e1RM today was, oh I don’t know, 575. I’m not that worried about it though, I’m going into a deload week that I certainly need and I’ll recover. The reps today were just rounded over and very slow, but I am happy with my grinding ability and that I can now pull the bar back into me with my lats. Paused deadlift has definitely been helping in those regards.

This ends this intensity phase, I believe. So deload time and then another volume phase. The next meet happens on Oct. 17. Lets hope my knees heal up and get read for some squatting.

Side note: I got an EMS unit and I’m going to see if I can use it to help with my knee recovery. Also going to be trying it on other areas for general recovery too.

515

Cornerstone Training - Week 8 - Day 1 - Deload

Beltless Paused Deadlift:
3x405
3x455
3x505
2x3x485

Beltless High Bar Squat:
2x3x315

Good Morning - Beltless:
3x6x225

Weighted Pull-Ups - Straps:
4x7xBW+30 - Goal was 25 reps in as few sets as possible at RPE 8, but I decided to finish out the 4x7 instead of just doing 4 reps on the last set.

Cable Pallof Press - 3 Ct. Hold:
3x10/10x45

This workout was the first time since I started this training that my motivation plummeted to about zero. I’m glad I got another triple at 505 for the beltless paused DL, but that’s really about it for this one. The squats hurt my knees again, so I’m taking a couple more weeks not squatting and focusing a ton on recovery techniques. May need to do a push/pull for this meet if they aren’t better by 10 weeks out.

516

Cornerstone Training - Week 8 - Day 2 - Deload

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x3x315+40 - Moved like speed work.

Standing Overhead Press:
3x185
2x3x205
5x205 - 5 lb PR!

Close Grip Pin Press - 2" From Chest:
3x2x345

Standing T-Bar Row:
8x180
3x8x205 (4.5p)

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press:
3x12x80s

Cable Low Row - Pronated:
8x200
8x220
8x260 (Stack) - Straps

Cable Curl on Lat Pulldown:
3x8x100

This was leaps and bounds above yesterday’s workout, both in performance and motivation. I was feeling really good on the chain bench despite smashing the ever-living shit out of my funny bone right before I started my 3x3. I was standing by a rack, talking to my girlfriend and I wound my shoulder up and back to loosen up and slammed it right down on a part of the rack. Like, real hard, right on that fucking ulnar nerve. That lit my arm all the way up and it clenched my pinky and ring finger, which I couldn’t straighten for a minute. Skin was sensitive and everything. Thought it was about to take me out of the workout, but it ended up not affecting me at all really, other than it being sore.

Very excited about my OHP progress. Hopefully it translates to my bench!

517

Friday - Cornerstone Training - Week 8 - Day 3 - Deload

Deadlift w/ Belt:
3x1x505 - Was supposed to be chain deadlift at 465+40, but didn’t want to drag them out for 3 singles.

Incline DB Row - 1 Sec Hold - Straps:
3x8x120s

Band VMO Extension:
3x20/20 @ Avg. Band

Leg Extension:
3x10/10x60 - Concentric = Both Legs ; Eccentric = Single Leg ; 10 per side

Lying Leg Curl:
3x8x155

Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x12/12x40

I went pretty far off the prescribed accessory path for this workout. I wanted to get some more therapeutic type of work around my knees. I won’t be squatting for another week, so I’m going to keep pushing the recovery stuff as hard as I can.

518

Cornerstone Training - Week 8 - Day 4 - Deload

Paused Bench:
2x345
2x2x370
4x370 - 5 lb. PR! Video below.

2 Ct. Paused SlingShot Bench:
2x3x385

Standing Overhead Press:
3x7x175 @ 8 - PR for ease

JM Press:
3x8x225

KB Concentration Curl:
3x10/10x45

Another good bench session in the books. 135-315 were practically floating off my chest for some reason. I had my grip moved out by about a half inch and it felt really good until I did 345, not that it was hard, just that it felt normal speed again. Could just be that I need more practice with that grip, but it would be great to be able to keep that floaty feeling going.

On my last rep of 370x4, it was a grinder because I was pressing straight up instead of back over my face. I wasn’t close to failing, it just took me a second to get out of the misgroove.

519

Cornerstone Training - Week 8 - Day 5 - Deload

Deadlift w/ Belt - Okie Bar:
1x495
1x545
2x1x570 - Sloooww

Pendlay Row - Straps:
3x4x315

Lat Pulldown - Med Neutral:
8x200
8x220
8x200

Band Facepull:
3x25 @ Light

Band Decline Sit-Ups:
3x12 @ Mini

Leg Extension:
3x10/10x60 - Concentric = Both Legs ; Eccentric = Single Leg ; 10 per side
2x20x60

Step-Ups:
5x5/5xBW - Height below parallel, as deep as my squats

Well the deload is over. Except it’s not. Coach decided to take another week and actually deload intensity as well. We’re pushing the knee recovery hard and also gearing up for the 10 weeks before the meet. I suppose we’ll be deciding between a full meet and a push/pull when I try to squat sometime in a week or so.

I’m going to keep up with these leg extensions and see if the eccentric loading helps with recovery. Knees have felt decent with them so far.

520

Cornerstone Training - Week 9 - Day 1 - Deload

Beltless Paused Deadlift - Straps:
3x3x430 - Pretty easy, focused on holding a good position.

Box Deadlift:
4x6x275 - Exercise explained below. Double overhand since I used straps on the paused DL.

Band Hip Extension:
3x10 @ Avg - Exercise shown below. Conventional DL stance.

Leg Extension:
3x10/10x60 - Concentric = Both Legs ; Eccentric = Single Leg ; 10 per side

Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x12/12x60

It feels very, very good to be really deloading. I needed this mentally more than anything. Not squatting has meant putting a lot of emphasis on deadlift and it’s pretty draining going in having to pause pull 500 each week. Anyway, this went well and I learned a couple of new exercises for the ol’ ass and hamstrings. The box deadlift is like a SLDL or RDL, but I actually used my hamstrings instead of just my lower back. I don’t think I’ve really ever felt my hamstrings during a deadlift other than this variation. Video below of Chad Wesley Smith explaining it.

The band hip extension was taken from Chris Duffin (video also below) and it’s a great alternative to pull-throughs and glute bridge type movements. This killed my upper hamstrings and glutes honestly. Good stuff, just looks weird in a commericial gymbutIDGAFFFF.