TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
801

Accumulation Phase - Week 2 - Day 1: RE Deadlift & Heavy DE Squat

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
4x6x495 - RPE 7-8.5. PR. Best conventional was 3x3x505 beltless and real ugly

Squat w/ Belt:
1x455 - Heavy single for the day

Pin Squat w/ Belt - Near or just above parallel
6x3x405 - PR. Never gone over 365 on these as far as I can find

Lat Pulldown - Behind the Neck / Facing Away:
2x20x120
2x20x100

Barbell Hypers:
3x12x135

Lying Leg Curl:
3x15x95

A1 | Deadbugs:
3x20

A2 | Hanging Leg Raise:
3x15

This workout was just ridiculously difficult. Writing it down and looking at it makes it feel like it wasnā€™t that bad, but a heavy 4x6 and 6x3 on two mechanically disadvantageous lifts hit me hard. Also, during my squat warm up to 455, I walked out 315 and braced and got a shocking exertion headache right through the base of my skull to the back of my eyes like I was being executed and thought I was going to pass out. Considered putting the bar back, but I just did the rep and then waited a while for it to settle. The residual feeling stuck with me and I still had another hour and a half in the gym after that, so that didnā€™t help.

That said, Iā€™m really happy with pushing through all of this and still enjoying being there. Iā€™m working on moving my sumo stance out a bit more to continue to reduce ROM. I just need to work on my flexibility and once I figure out my positioning, sumo is gonna take off. #650

Tyler Campbell | Health & Fitness Coach on Instagram: "Real tough workout tonight, including 4x6x495 paused sumo and 6x3x405 pin squats (swipe to see squats). Took a slightly wider sumo stance to reduce ROM eventually, just gotta work on adductor flexibility to get in a better back position and I'll be golden. #powerlifter #powerlifting #fitness #fitnessmotivation #lifting #rpowerlifting #sumo #deadlift #gym #strong #bodybuilding #squat #skwaats #gymlife"

802

Your log is exciting to read. All the best. Worst case scenario, remove all the useless exercises.

803

Which exercises are you deeming useless? lol

804

Take out hanging leg raises. You donā€™t need them. Just plank.

805

k, not gonna lie, I was just asking so I could correct you once you asked. Youā€™ll notice I did a superset of deadbugs and hanging leg raises. Iā€™m doing those together on purpose, as they both involve focusing on learning how to use the abs when the hip flexors are also activated. People tend to only use their hip flexors on these types of movements and canā€™t get their abs involved, so training them to avoid doing that is useful. Just think of a squat. When the femur comes up and youā€™re in hip flexion, you want to be able to activate your abs for bracing and not just your hip flexors.

For pure static stability, I do planks and pallof presses as another superset, like I did two workouts ago.

806

This is why I love T-Nation. I am satisfied with the answer.

Hip flexion is typically tiring when the abdominals arenā€™t strong enough (<10 reps).

But if you can bang them out, I must say I am most impressed (at your bdwt and competence in bdwt exercises).

Okay, following this log.

807

Accumulation Phase - Week 2 - Day 2: Light DE Bench & RE Bench

Paused Banded Bench - 60 sec rest
12x2x225+2 Minis - Ran the bands under the bench. No idea what they added. Alternated between ring fingers and middle fingers on the rings

DB Floor Press:
3x15x75s - Precarious. Notes below

Lying Incline Barbell Row - Straps:
2x12x225 - Overhand
2x12x225 - Underhand

BW Triceps Extension (Skullcrusher):
1x15
3x15 - Lowered one rung

Cable Rope Curls w/ FatGripz:
15x50
2x15x57.5

DB Seated Lateral/Front/Rear Delt Raises:
3x15/15/15x15s - Repeat from last week, still rough, but easier. Going up next time

Cardio - 5 rounds for time:
20 KB Swings
15 Push-Ups
10 Burpees
Finished in 19:47 with a 70 lb KB, then AMRAP of laying on the ground

Bench felt fine for the most part. I didnā€™t try to explode as hard as I possibly could just for safety. I didnā€™t feel anything in my delt, just some pec tightness. I have a Donnie Thompson Bowtie heading to me, so that could be a game changer for my pecs and shoulders.

Regarding DB floor press, the ROM just isnā€™t super comfortable, physically and mentally, at the moment because itā€™s where I strained my delt. Need to hit it more often to strengthen it. Wish I could actually barbell floor press in this gym. But, after this meet, Iā€™ll be starting PT school in Augusta and joining an amazing gym. So hopefully it will be possible there.

That cardio complexā€¦man. It probably shouldnā€™t have taken almost 20 mins, but I have my time to beat for next time.

808

Accumulation Phase - Week 2 - Day 3: ME Squat & DE Deadlift

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
1x455 @ 8 - Very happy with this. Honestly easier than my non-paused 455 on Monday
5x5x405 @ 9 - All of these were very hard

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
20x1x455 - 60 sec rest. Well this was fun. Up to 405 with hook grip, skin torn from meet just isnā€™t ready yet, but there was no pain in the thumbs at all

Seated SSB Good Morning:
3x10x245

Hatfield Squat:
3x15x265 - Felt like death at this point

A1 | KB Single-Leg RDL:
3x10/10x70

A2 | RKC Plank:
3x0:30

A3 | Pallof Press:
3x10/10x35

This was rough. Last week was ME deadlift and DE squat and was hard, but not like this one. The accessories were the same other than replacing sumo SLDL with single-leg RDL, but that was to save time since this took 3 hours. I guess heavy squats wear me out more than heavy deadlifts.

I woke up this morning (Saturday) at 228.8, so hopefully my weight finally starts dropping consistently. Almost time for heavy benchin.

809

Accumulation Phase - Week 2 - Day 4 - 9 Weeks Out: ME Bench

3 Ct. Paused Bench:
3x4x295 - Pec minors were feel really shitty
3x295 - No injury, but just felt the PMs pulling too much and shut it down

Standing One-Arm DB Row w/ Straps:
4x12/12x140

DB Bench:
2x15x50s - Incline
2x15x50s - Slight decline

OHP:
3x8x135 - No delt pain whatsoever, so thatā€™s good

DB Lateral Raise:
3x10/10x50s/20s - So a heavy set followed by a light set

Cable Fly:
3x15x20s

This turned into a recovery workout more than anything. After spending 3 hours in the gym the night before and bench not feeling good, I apparently did not want to be there. If I had kept pushing, I probably would have injured myself, all for a 6x4x295. So yeah, I think it was a smart decision to shut it down.

I had a massage scheduled for after this, so I had him focus on the pecs and upper back. Pec minors were very sensitive and I thought he was going to tear them off, but hopefully it helped a bit. Focus is just going to be on squat and deadlift for now. Bench will come around when itā€™s ready.

810

Accumulation Phase - Week 3 - Day 1: RE Squat & Heavy DE Deadlift

Squat w/ Belt:
6x6x405 - RPE 6-7 - Donā€™t let the RPE fool you, this was exhausting

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
6x3x495 - Not bad, but much harder than the 4x6 on the RE slot last week, but I assume squats fatigued me a good bit

Lat Pulldown - Facing Away:
2x20x100 - Behind the neck
2x20x100 - In front of the neck, arched back over the pad

Pull-Through + Hips Banded:
3x12x80+Light

Lying Leg Curl:
15x95
2x15x110

A1 | Hollow-Body Hold:
3x0:30

A2 | KB Side Bend:
3x12/12x100

I wore my Bowtie on my way to the gym and I think it helped with my upper back shelf on squats. That felt pretty solid, though Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s helping my pecs. Otherwise, squats were feeling a little loose in the lower body, but I am still happy with this and figuring out my form.

I got a new low weigh in of 228.0 this morning. 3 of the last 4 days, I have been below 230. Maybe itā€™s actually moving! Only problem is that Iā€™m going to New Orleans Thursday-Sunday this week. Iā€™m lifting Monday-Thursday and eating somewhat under my macros to account for it, but Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll weigh in heavy on Sunday.

811

Accumulation Phase - Week 3 - Day 2: Recovery Bench

Incline Bench:
5x6x135 - Some pec pain in the usual strain spot, as opposed to the pec minor

Larsen Press:
10x10x135 - No pain anywhere

HS Iso-Row:
4x12x270

BW JM Press (Skullcrusher):
15xBW
15xBW+Micro Mini
2x15xBW+Mini

KB Curl:
3x15x35s

KB Seated Lateral/Front/Rear Delt Raises:
2x15/15/15x20s
15/15/15x15s

Cardio - Treadmill Walking:
15 min at 3.0-3.5 incline at 3.2 mph avg - 125 cal
Cool down 5 min at 0 incline at 2.5 mph - 27 cal

Iā€™m just going to play this like I did strain my pecs, because itā€™s obvious thereā€™s something that needs to be fixed and it wonā€™t happen if I try to bench even moderately heavy. So for the next couple of weeks Iā€™ll just try to fix it with everything I know of, while keeping the ROM grooving, and see what I can do with 6-7 weeks til the meet.

812

Last Wednesday-Thursday - Accumulation Phase - Week 3 - Day 3-4

Wednesday - ME Deadlift & DE Squat

1" Block Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
5x4x545

SSB Squat w/ Belt:
12x2x355 - 60 sec rest

Seated SSB Good Morning:
3x12x205

Leg Press:
2x15x270 - Tried a set of Hatfield squats, but my knees were too beat up. Leg press didnā€™t feel much better

Dimel Deadlift:
2x12x225 - Conventional
2x12x225 - Sumo

A1 | RKC Plank:
3x0:30

A2 | Pallof Press:
3x10/10x40

Thursday - RE Bench

Larsen Press:
5x10x135

Incline DB Bench:
3x15x70s

DB Shoulder Press:
3x5/5/10x45s - First 5 reps top half, second 5 reps bottom half, last 10 reps full ROM

A1 | Paused T-Bar Row:
4x10x90

A2 | Band Triceps Pushdown:
4x20xLight

A3 | Leaning Lateral Raise:
4x10/10x25 - Leaning my non-working shoulder against the rack, as opposed to holding on and leaning away from it

Band Fly:
3x15/10x2 Minis - 15 reps flys, 10 reps press

Cardio - Stationary Bike:
I canā€™t remember the numbers. I did like 12 mins at 15/25 resistance at 75-85 RPM, with the last two mins being 95-105 RPM. Then 3 mins of cool down. Got something like 3-3.5 miles and 115 cals total

And then we went to New Orleans from Thursday-Sunday. I walked well over 10 miles Iā€™m sure and my back/knees were getting very angry with me by the end. Had a lot of fun though.

813

Accumulation Phase - Week 4 - Day 1: RE Deadlift & Heavy DE Squat

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
5x5x505 - Another PR!

Squat w/ Belt:
1x455

Pin Squat - Notes on these below:
3x365 - Belt
3x405 - Belt
4x3x315 - Beltless + Multipurpose wraps

Lat Pulldown - Facing Away:
2x15x120 - Behind the neck
2x15x120 - In front of the neck, arched back over the pad

Barbell Hyper:
10x135
3x10x185

Bulgarian Split Squat - 5 ct Eccentrics:
5x6/6xBW

A1 | Deadbugs:
3x20

A2 | Hanging Leg Raise:
3x15

Very happy with the sumo work obviously. Like I said two weeks ago, my paused conventional PR was 3x3x505 beltless and it looked like garbage, so to hit a 5x5 is huge. Obviously belted and all of that, but these were not slow coming off the pause.

So, for the pin squats. My knees have been aching for several days. I tried to do a bunch of prehab stuff the night before and preworkout, but it didnā€™t do much. I hit my single at 455 and it didnā€™t feel great because I wasnā€™t hitting my new form, because I was avoiding my knees. I moved on to pin squats and they felt like shit honestly. Two weeks ago, I did 6x3x405 and it was hard, but I had a good amount of control before hitting the pins. This time because of the knee pain, 405 crashed down to them and I was folding to the pins instead of squatting to them. So, I decided to wrap the multipurpose wraps under my patellas so that I would have something to push forward against to allow me to use my actual groove instead of folding over. This worked just fine with 315.

Unfortunately, my knees are feeling a lot like they did before I got the quad tendinosis for 6 months. My plan is daily flossing, descending stairs for eccentric loading, and tool assisted ā€œGrastonā€ work. The tool assisted work is what finally fixed me last time, so hopefully doing that immediately will fix it before it becomes a real issue.

814

Accumulation Phase - Week 4 - Day 2: RE Bench

Paused Bench:
2x5x185
3x4x225 - Felt some pec pain on the first set

SlingShot Dips:
3x20

Seal Row:
4x6x225
2x15x135

Deficit Push-Ups - Wearing Bowtie:
3x15

Lateral Raise / Rear Delt Raise:
3x12/12x40s

HS Bench:
3x15x90

Cardio - Rowing:
10 sec sprint / 20 sec slow for 4 mins. 50 cal / 882 m

Hip flexors werenā€™t liking the rowing sprints, so I stopped and did some stretching to finish this off. My knees are still hurting like expected, but Iā€™m working on them twice daily to see if I can get ahead of it. Also focusing on stretching my hip flexors and adductors. The plan is to try to squat on Friday with chains to unload the bottom of the movement.

Bench wasnā€™t difficult at all, I just canā€™t necessarily try to be explosive or the pec will hurt. I think the delt is fine at this point (knock on wood). Regardless, I have a week to fix it, because Iā€™m starting a 6 week linear progression into the meet starting this upcoming Wednesday. Iā€™ll be doing 2 weeks each of 6x3, 6x2, and 6x1 with chains (+40 lbs) on Wednesdays as my lighter day and 2 weeks each of 5x5, 5x3, and 5x1 competition form on Saturdays as my heavier day. If I canā€™t get through the 5s without re-injuring myself, then I think the rest of the weeks will have low enough reps to avoid any form breakdown. The plan has me hitting a single at 405 as the last set of the progression.

815

Accumulation Phase - Week 4 - Day 3: ME Squat & DE Deadlift

Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt:
2x365+75
3x2x405+75
3x2x365+75

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
15x1x495 - 60 sec rest

Single Leg Press w/ Bands:
3x12x100+2 Lights

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row:
3x8x135

Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x15/15x60

Body Saw Plank:
3x10

KB High-Knees March:
3x12/12x55 - Not sure what to call this. Literally front rack a KB on one shoulder and then slowly march forward with high knees. Itā€™s a core/hip/upper back stability exercise. The 12/12 reps are steps taken

Well I squatted reasonably well despite the quad tendon issue. The 405 sets werenā€™t that hard, but they were hard enough for me to not keep pushing my luck. I was having some right glute tightness during all of this too.

I like these deadlift singles with a minute of rest. Not having to do reps is fun.

So after squats, my knees seemed relatively alright, but the leg press made them ache again. I think Iā€™m going to keep squat reps to either singles or doubles for the remainder of the prep. If I can keep volume down, but push intensity, the knees may be able to survive. I think this pain started with the 6x6x405 I did recently and then NOLA walking. Last time, it started after a 5x5x455. So, I may just be a lower volume squatter than I thought.

Accumulation Phase - Week 4 - Day 4: RE Bench

Paused Bench:
10x3x225 - Pain on very first rep and then fine for the remaining 29 reps

Underhand Yates Row + Bands:
5x10x135+2 Dbl Minis

A1 | BW JM Press + Band:
4x12xBW+Dbl Mini

A2 | Front Plate Raise:
4x12x45

B1 | Machine Dips:
8x150
3x8x190

B2 | KB Curl:
4x12x30s

C1 | Lying Incline Curl:
3x12x90

C2 | DB Iron Cross + Lateral Raise:
3x0:10+15x25s

Band Rows in Bench Arch:
4x15x2 Dbl Minis - Video below

Cardio - Bike:
12 mins alternating 2 mins at level 10 and 2 mins at level 15. Both at 85-90 RPM.
3 min cool down at level 2
140 cal - 2.99 miles

Lots of accessories today since Iā€™m not benching at a high volume. This was my last bench session before I try and get back to it on Wednesday. Who knows what Iā€™ll feel. The plan is described in the last entry. If, on the Saturday sessions, I donā€™t feel like I can safely do 5x5s, I will probably just switch that to an 8x3 to nearly equate volume.

Tyler Campbell | Health & Fitness Coach on Instagram: "Dat there specificity. Band rows in a bench arch. #powerlifting #powerlifter #fitness #fitnessmotivation #bodybuilding #gym #gymlife #benchpress"

816

Accumulation Phase - Week 5 - Day 1 - Deload: Squat & Deadlift

Paused Squat w/ Belt - Slow Eccentric:
4x2x315 - Forgot my knee sleeves again. Felt shitty

Paused Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
6x2x405 - Oh okay everything feels heavy today

Lat Pulldown:
3x15x100 - Facing away, leaned back over the pad

RDL on HS Shrug Machine:
3x10x180

Couple of light pec things and mobility too

This was probably the worst workout Iā€™ve had this year. Forgetting my knee sleeves didnā€™t start me off well, but nothing felt good anyway. Iā€™m going to take this as a sign to take a hard deload on the lower body lifts. I may not even squat until next Monday to see if I can get my knees feeling right.

As frustrating as all of this is, it is about to become a very interesting 6 weeks. I have no idea if Iā€™ve gained any potential for PRs, but if I can come in moderately healthy, then pure rage will subsist me.

817

Accumulation Phase - Week 5 - Day 2: Back to Benching

(Soft) Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
2x3x245+40
2x3x265+40
2x3x275+40 - I survived! Video below of last set
100xBar

Cable Low Row - Wide Pronated:
3x10x180

Cable Triceps Pushdown:
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 @ 95, 87.5, 80, 72.5, 65, 57.5 - Ascending set
2x8x65

A1 | Cable Triceps Overhead Extension:
3x15x50

A2 | Facepull:
3x15x50

Cable Press:
15x20s
3x15x20s+2 mini bands

B1 | Paused DB Lateral Raise:
4x12x20s

B2 | DB Curl:
3x15x35s - Also wore my Bowtie backwards during this superset so Iā€™d have to fight it to pull my shoulders back

Ab Superset:
3x10 straight leg deadbugs, 10 bird-dogs, 10 sec side plank

I literally racked the last set of bench and said, ā€œThank Godā€. Provided I actually make it to the meet without re-straining anything, this is going to be 6 weeks straight fraught with nervousness on every.single.rep. But Iā€™m doing it.

I felt the pec on one rep with 245 and one rep with 265, but other wise it was fine. Itā€™s very hard to tell in this situation whether itā€™s a bad thing or if itā€™s just my pec, ya know, working. But all of the reps were very easy.

Iā€™ve already decided to update the plan for the second day and make it a 5x3 for the first two weeks instead of a 5x5. At this point, 5x5 volume is useless. Itā€™s literally been 12 weeks since I first strained my delt, so I have basically untrained my bench. So Iā€™m solely doing this in hopes that I can tap into my nervous system for a couple heavy singles come meet day. The neural pathways already know what to do from previous training, I just need to get it back.

Other updates: Knees are getting there. I had a couple of odd moments with my back over the past few days. Iā€™m working on that with McGill type stuff, but Iā€™m not going to squat or deadlift this week at all. I will just do accessories on my lower days and cardio. Hopefully Iā€™ll be good by next week. But Iā€™m also getting my wisdom teeth out on April 6. Bad timing, but Iā€™m about to lose my good insurance as I leave my job for PT school. Gotta do it. Will figure out the training logistics.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSPovMjAyIO/

818

Not Really In Phases Anymore - The Homestretch - Week 5 - Day 3: More Benching

Paused Bench:
2x3x285
2x3x305
3x315 - Pecs survived, but it felt like barely

BW JM Press:
4x15

Machine Row - Superset High/Low Angles:
15/15x75
10/10x105
10/10x135

A1 | TRX Inverted Row:
2x10

A2 | Inverted KB Press:
2x15/15x15

I had to do this just 2 days after my first bench session to get a spot from my friend. I will have to do this again this week because of my condensed week due to the wisdom teeth surgery. Obviously if I donā€™t feel safe, I just wonā€™t do it, but thatā€™s the plan.

Sunday - Week 6 - Day 1 - 6 Weeks Out: Deadlift & Squat

1" Block Sumo Deadlift - Belt/Straps:
1x495 - Hook up to this
8x1x565 - Some were easy, some were hard

Squat w/ Belt:
4x1x375
3x1x395
2x1x415 - Knees are definitely not okay yet

BW Reverse Lunge:
3x10/10

Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x10/10x50

Well unfortunately the knees arenā€™t feeling good. They hurt at 135 and everything above that. But I did the reps I scheduled other than one more single at 415.

Iā€™m heavily considering wraps after this meet. I squatted 515 on November 10, 2011. Five and a half fucking years for 30 lbs. I didnā€™t realize it was so long ago. As impressive as my ATG squatting is to people, I suck at squats. I canā€™t stop at parallel unless I shift my knees forward, which fucks up my knees, and I canā€™t stop at parallel when the knees are back, and my lower back rounds to get to the bottom. Both of these things have caused multiple injuries and cumulative years of lost gains.

Iā€™m going to keep pushing through this meet, but fuck this.

819

Week 6 - Day 2: DE Bench

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+40):
3x225+40
3x3x245+40
3x3x225+40

Incline Bench:
6x135
8x135
10x135 - Mostly just feeling out the pec

Triceps Pushdown:
10x75
10x85
10x95
20x75

A1 | DB Curl:
3x12x35s - Wearing Bowtie backwards

A2 | Side/Front/Lateral Raise:
3x10/10/10x20s - Wearing Bowtie backwards

DB Fly:
3x15x10s

BW JM Press:
2x15

Lat Pulldown:
3x15x100 - Paused 2 of these sets

High Row on Lat Pulldown:
3x15x70 - Paused 2 sets. This was just the thing where youā€™re standing with a foot on the pad

So I was supposed to do 265, 285, 295 plus the chains, but 245 didnā€™t really feel good on the pec, so I knew I shouldnā€™t move up. I realized after a few sets that I havenā€™t been using leg drive very much, because Iā€™m scared to be explosive off the chest. Well, that was making me use my pecs more than I needed to on the first few inches of the movement. Once I figured that out, my pec felt fine and the weight moved really fast. Iā€™m going to switch this day to a lighter DE day like I did here. The way I had it previously written, there was just too much stress on the pec over the week.

Iā€™m also not going to bench again until after my wisdom teeth surgery. So that will be something like Monday or Tuesday of next week hopefully.

820

Wednesday - Week 6 - Day 3: Squats & Wisdom Teeth

This was done the day before all of my wisdom teeth were extracted. Itā€™s Sunday now, so Iā€™m on day 3 of recovery from that. Itā€™s not feeling great, but Iā€™m hoping to be back in the gym by Tuesday.

Squat w/ Wraps and Belt:
5x1x405 - Fast. No knee pain with wraps on

5 Ct Eccentric Squat w/ Belt:
2x5x225
2x5x225 - Heels elevated

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
4x1x405
3x1x455
3x1x495

Sumo to the Knees:
3x8x225 - Literally pull sumo to the knees, pause, then lower to the ground

Standing Single Leg Curl:
3x10/10x60

Hollow Body Holds:
2x5x0:10/0:10x45

I canā€™t remember if I did any other accessories, but it doesnā€™t matter. The main point here is that I tried wrapped squats for the 3rd time in my life. I thought I had never gone above 315 with them, but I found my logs for them. The first time was in October 2010 and I did a single with 315 on a box. Then I did 405 for a triple and a couple of doubles in July 2014, when I strained my calf with them.

Now, the third time using them in 7 years, it worked a lot better. Plenty of control and pop out of the hole. I am still sticking to singles other than the eccentric work for knee health. The test will be when I have 495+ on my back.

All that saidā€¦I am officially going with wraps in this meet. I have about 5 weeks to figure them out and try to get some heavy sets in them. I would love to hit my raw PR in them, but I donā€™t know what to expect. I have my general wrap technique down and the only thing to try otherwise is flat/Oly shoes. Flats worked fine, but Iā€™m wondering if Oly shoes would allow more use out of the wraps.