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Training Training Logs
201

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
12.1 - 4/11/11

Squat (3x5): 290, 330, 375 (8)
Lying Leg Curl (5x12): 80, 90, 80, 80, 80
Squat (5x10): 185, 185, 185, 185, 185

Holy fuck…hadn’t done the Boring But Big assistance in a while and this tore me apart…couldn’t walk Tuesday…started out light at 185 to build up the volume…

Forgot to do my PLP

4/12/11

PLP: 11

12.1 - 4/13/11

Bench (3x5): 200, 230, 260 (10)
DB Rows (5x10): 60, 60, 70, 80, 90
Bench (4x10): 175, 175, 175, 175

PLP: 12

Very frustrated with lifting…I looked back at my training log and the last time I was at 260 for AMRAP was in June 2010, and I got it for 11. I was disappointed then that I didn’t get 13 lol…now I’m stuck at 10, so I’ve effectively gotten weaker in the past year…fucking sucks…

PLPs or row or something is also starting to take its toll on my right elbow…I’m getting a lot of pain when doing these…my right shoulder is also a bit impinged…gonna go get some ART done on that arm here in the next few days maybe…[/quote]
http://www.mobilitywod.com/

Do some of the stuff in here for the shoulders… Especially the lacrosse ball behind the shoulder business (really helps with impingement). Site is loaded with good stuff though.

202

12.1 - Friday 4/15/11
Deadlift (3x5): 290, 330, 375 (10)
GHR (5x8): ouch, shit, fuck, lord, FML

PLP: 13 (skipped 13 on Thursday, so picked back up with it on Friday)

Deadlift was good and easy. Focused on bar speed throughout warmup and working sets and the AMRAP set felt good. Stopped at 10.

12.2 - Sunday 4/17/11
OHP (3x3): 135, 155, 175 (11) <–New PR!
Pullups (30): 7, 7, 6, 5, 5
Dips (30): 7, 7, 6, 5, 5

PLP: 14 (skipped 14 on Saturday, so picked back up with it on Sunday)

First PR I hit since January so I was pretty stoked about it. My arms were on fire at the end of this session and I still can’t lift them above my head.

Had a couple days of missed PLP’s that I had to catch back up on. Need to be sure I’m getting those in.

In other news, I’ve decided to stop being fucking around back and forth about my strength and BF goals–since my strength gains seemed to have dryed up for now, I decided to do a quick reset and get things back in order. I went out and hired Shelby Starnes to be my coach, so it looks like I’m in fat loss mode for the next 12 weeks.

I got the game plan today and it actually doesn’t look too unbearable. I have two high carb days a week that I’m going to put on Squat & DL days, my other two workout days will be medium carb days, and off days are low carb days. I’ll be getting 6 meals a day (7 on high carb days) that I will be alternating whole food meals with shake/oats meals, so I should stay full. Also have a cardio plan for my low and moderate days (none on high days).

I’m impressed with the quickness that Shelby responds–I swear that man sleeps with one eye open and the other monitoring his blackberry. His response time has been incredible and I’m really looking forward to working with him over the next 3 months.

Diet starts Monday.

203

12.2 - Monday 4/18/11

Squat (3x3): 310, 355, 395 (8)
Leg Curlz (3x12): don’t remember weight but it was heavy

Squat set went pretty decently. Form felt good and strong.

The leg curlz were brutal and my hammies were still sore from the GHR 3 days earlier, so I only did 3 sets of 12 and stopped the last one short.

Monday was also my first day on Shelby’s diet and it was a high carb day, so basically I ate carbs at every meal. Wasn’t hungry at all during the day.

Skipped PLP because I had a flight to catch. Had planned to do it at my hotel before bed, but there’s no pullup bar in the hotel gym (of all the simple things they could have gotten, pullup bars werent on the agenda).

Tuesday 4/19/11

This was an off training day and represented a low carb day. Still got about 150 grams of carbs from trace and veggies (lot of fiber) and close to 3400 calories. Not bad for a diet! Energy felt fine all day long and I wasn’t hungry at all. I’m digging the frequent meals.

Did 30 minutes of cardio on the stationary bike. was supposed to do it fasted in the morning but I woke up too late.
-5 minutes warmup
-15 minutes intervals (45s at 50%, 15s all out)
-10 minute cool down

My back is very sore and tight from this today (could also have been the squats).

12.2 - Wednesday 4/20/11

Bench (3x3): 215, 245, 275 (11)
DB Rows (3x10): 70, 85, 100
Floor Press: 135x1, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x0, 275x3x3

3rd best bench day for me ever. Was planning for just 9-10, but hit 11 and had 12 if I wanted to grind it, but didn’t. Today was a medium carb day on the diet–not sure what the macros and calories ended up being, but still didn’t feel hungry at all and had plenty of energy.

Hadn’t done floor presses in a while but I’m going to start working these back into my routine–they hit my triceps a ton…mother fuckers are screaming at me after the sets…I failed on the 315 set, but I think that was just poor execution…but regardless backed it down to 275 and did 3 sets of 3 and called it a day.

PLP: 15

Gonna go do 30 minutes of slow steady state cardio here in just a minute. Maybe that’ll help put me to sleep since I’ll be bored to death!

204

Do you plan on sort of logging your diet? I think it’d be really cool to see how it goes especially since Shelby is helping you with it.

205

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Bench (3x3): 215, 245, 275 (11)
3rd best bench day for me ever. [/quote]
Whatever, I can hit 275 for 12 (off a 5 board)…

I hope everything is going well. Got any meets on the horizon?

206

Aqua: I’m not sure what Shelyb’s policy is for divulging the info of his programs, but I don’t want to do anything not kosher. I will probably just be talking about stuff at a high level (med carb, morning cardio, etc.) and not in the details.

Jake: hey man, at least you’re using a real 5 board. I just use an invisible one…touching the chest while you bench will destroy your shoulders…what do you think I am, a fat powerlifter or something?

I know it makes it less funny if you have to hold the audience’s hand, but I really don’t want anyone thinking that I really do “bro bench”, so yes, the above sentence was sarcasm. I think it was invented by the Dutch…

207

12.3 - Thursday 4/21/11

Today was supposed to be a low carb day and an off day from the gym but I’m on travel now for work on the west coast and don’t fly back till Friday, so I figured I’d switch the days up and go ahead and get my workout in since I won’t have time to do it tomorrow. That also meant switching up the low carb day to a high carb day…fuckin ay

Conventional Beltless Deadlift (3x3): 315, 355, 395 (12)
1 Arm DB Concentration Curl (3x8): 40, 40, 40
AB Wheel: 6, 3
PLP: 16

Huge new PR for beltless deadlift. This was actually my 2nd highest total ever in DL, which was awesome. Weird cause it was with gay ass Hex plates–maybe those put me in a more consistent position while pulling since they don’t roll around on the ground as much?

Anyways, good session…did some type of curling motion…not sure if this is what its called…but I got a good biceptz pump

Tried to do some ab wheel/core work for the first time since the surgery and still am having none of it…lot of pressure on the incision so I’ll probably stay away from that for a couple more weeks…

I actually found a use for the squat bar pussy pad today…it makes an excellent cushion for your knees while doing ab wheel roll outs!

PLP was done over 3 sets…

Low carb day + flying tomorrow…should be interesting…got a lot of canned chicken breast, mustard, fish oil, and peanut butter ready for the plane…expecting funny looks…oh yeah and steam fresh bags of veggies…those things are delicious…

Funny things in the gym today at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, WA:
-20% ROM speed squats with 135# in the Smith…complete with tampon on bar
-After speed squatter was done, soem guy wheels a bench into the Smith and proceed to bench press with his legs perpendicular to the bench up in the air…
-Behind the back BB wrist curls in the Smith…been seeing this a lot lately…new Mens Health workout?)
-Some guy that thinks he knows what he’s doing but barely looks like he works out has his newbie friend on a routine…friend is all of a buck twenty soaking wet, so obviosuly what he needs is high incline DB bench press (with 20# DB’s) and cable curls in the cable crossover station…
-Two guys deadlifting (the good) but weren’t touching the bar to the floor for some reason (the bad)…when one of them suggests they go up from 135#, the other guy says “No, you can get the full pump with 135 as long as you don’t touch the ground” (the ugly)…

Great day…

208

Since I am dieting, I might as well post pictures. Don’t worry, this won’t be a regular occurrence (I actually want people to come to this log!) but might do it once or month to track progress. This is on Day 4 of the diet after a high carb day, so I am full as shit…

Sorry about the myspace camera phone pics, but my ful body fully lit starting pics are just way too unflattering to post as anything but a “before” picture with an accompanying “after” pic, so you get these instead.

Front:
[photo]32357[/photo]

Side:
[photo]32358[/photo]

Back:
[photo]32356[/photo]

Weight here is about 276 late at night after a high carb day, but have no idea if the scale is proper or not…starting weight was 281 or so I believe, so a bit of water/fat loss in the first 4 days.

209

Fair enough. Comparing the pics you posted on the first page of your log, you’ve made some good progress.

210

Been lazy about updating this log lately…

12.3 - 4/24/11

OHP (531): 145, 165, 185 (8)
Pullups (6x5): Body
Standing EZ Curls (5x8): 60, 90, 90, 70, 80

Too sore to do PLP after this…

Did do some steady state “cardio”…70% of max heart rate (~135 bpm) for 30 minutes, which ended up being only about 2.7 mph walking on inclined treadmill (4 degrees)…

Down to 275.0 waking weight after 1 week of the diet, so around 6 pounds…not bad…Shelby is keeping me the same nutrition/cardio prescription for the upcoming week

12.3 - 4/25/11
Squat (531): 330, 375, 420 (6)
Reverse Hyper (5x8): 90, 90, 90, 90, 90
Seated Leg Curl (4x12): 120, 150, 150, 135

Squats felt pretty heavy but I was happy with 6, which was my goal for the night…it seems that my squat took the biggest hit and is being the slowest to recover, but still coming back up so can’t complain…

Reverse hyper fucked my back up a little bit somehow…may have been swinging too much

Leg curl started out easy but was brutal by the end…I was fried…

12.3 - 4/27/11
Bench (531) - 230, 260, 290 (10)
DB Rows (3x10): 70, 80, 90
Kroc Row (1x15): 120x (only got 10 reps with each hand)
OHP (3x10): 115, 115, 115x(8)
PLP: 17

Awesome day in the gym…Bench is going up and feeling more comfortable under the bar…finally getting some leg drive and arch…also took my grip out a bit (middle finger on rings vice usual ring finger on rings)…this felt stronger…

Cardio: 30 minutes steady state…2.7 or so mph on 4 degree incline (heart rate: 135)

4/28/11

PLP: 18
Cardio: 15 minutes intervals on stationary bike (15s @ 100%, 45s @ 50%)

211

12.3 - 4/29/11

Deadlift (531): 330, 375, 420x1, 495x1, 545x1 <–New PR!!!

I have been chasing a 545 DL since May of last year. I wasn’t anywhere close then, but my DL was shooting up and I thought it was definitely achievable prior to the first of September…even joined the Race to 545 DL thread…then things went to shit…I got a back injury last June that stalled me for a couple months, and as soon as that healed up I broke my finger in August which kept me out until about December…things were going well and I was making progress in the reps I was doing, but tried 545 a couple times and failed them both–turns out there were other things holding me back…

Well, now that I’m healed up, I went into the gym tonight with one goal: Hit a 545 DL

Having a singularness of purpose obviously helped

Felt good to finally hit it after all the setbacks…here’s to hoping 585 comes much easier! haha

212

4/30/11
Cardio: HIIT - 15 min (15 on/45 off)
PLP: 18

12.4 - 5/1/11
OHP (3x5): 79, 95, 115, 115, 115
Pullups (7x5): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Dips (3x8): 8, 8, 6
EZ Curl (3x8): 70, 80, 80
PLP: 19

Cardio: 30 min walk @ 2.7 mph, 4.0 incline (135 HR = 70% MHR)

Deloooooooooooooooaaad

Accessory work felt good today

12.4 - 5/2/11
Squat (3x5): 185, 225, 265, 265, 265
Leg Press (3x8): 405, 405, 405
Leg Curl (3x8): 140, 140, 140
PLP: 20

Bullshit kinda day in the gym…got the deload squat in and just kinda went through the motions on the accessory work…pullups are getting much stronger and explosive…They are making a difference in my arm size too, which is pretty cool…can’t tell much from the lunges and pushups

5/3/11

Cardio: HIIT - 15 min (15 on/45 off)

213

Now thats how to hit a big pull. Well done big man, glad to see your doin better

214

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
Now thats how to hit a big pull. Well done big man, glad to see your doin better[/quote]
Thanks brudder! It feels good to get things going in the right direction again!

Saw your big pull the other day too in the 600/600 race thread…nice work!

215

5/4/11-5/7/11

This was the rest of my deload and was boring as hell…I think I skipped deadlift for the week because I needed some extra recovery time…the daily cardio is starting to take a toll on my lower body recovery…

13.1 - 5/8/11
OHP (3x5): 130, 150, 170 (8)
Pullups (6x5): Body
Dips (5x): 8, 7, 8, 6, 6
PLP: 21

Cardio: 30 minutes steady state (HR @ 70%)

Nothing to see here…not a great day, not a bad day…decidedly average…

5/9/11

Supposed to be squat night but I was feeling beat up and fatigued so I postponed it till Tuesday

No cardio

13.1 - 5/10/11
Squat (3x5): 295, 340, 385 (3)
PLP: 22
Cardio: 25 minutes steady state (HR @ 70%)

This was probably the worst non-injury day I’ve had in the gym in the past couple years…I don’t know why but the weight felt heavy as shit…I’ve never been anywhere close to not being able to get the prescribed reps injury-free, so i don’t know what’s going on here. Could be the diet taking a toll, cardio, the plane flight/car sitting all day long for my work travel, or just a shitty day in the gym…

I didn’t feel like doing much after this so just got my PLP in and got out…

Legs are still sore as shit 2 days later…not sure what to make of this…

13.1 - 5/11/11
Bench (3x5): 205, 235, 270 (12)
DB Rows (3x10): 90, 90, 90
Floor Press (x3): 135, 185, 225, 275, 275, 275, 295

Cardio: 30 minutes steady sate (HR % 70%)

Was pretty happy with how this day went considering my shitty day previously…bench doesn’t seem to be affected at all by the diet–it is actually improving…270x12 felt smooth and easy…

Floor press was a new PR as well…previous was 275x3…I had failed at 315x1 a couple weeks ago, so I was going to go for 295 for a single but the first one was easy enough that I ended up getting it for a triple after my 275 “working sets”…will probably bump this up a bit next week and go for the 315 for a single again…I think this is an excellent exercise to help my lockout, which is always where I struggle…

216

Diet Update

Diet is going pretty well. This is my 4th week in and I still haven’t been hungry at all in between meals–I’m actually having a hard time some days getting all 6 in (especially when travelling west to east cost since I’m losing 3 hours of my day)…

Not doing cardio in the morning fasted as prescribed, but stil getting it in for the most part. Skipped a few sessions. I just can’t drag my ass out of bed early enough to get the cardio in before work…doing it first thing AM on the weekends when I eventually wake up…

As of Sunday at the 3 week mark i was down 10 pounds and 2.5 inches in the waist…pics are starting to show the losses too…it seems I store most of my fat viscerally so its not always evident in the pics when I’m losing weight, but can tell a big difference in the waist measurements…

At the two week mark, he took away one of my high carb days and made it into a medium, which kinda sucked (also means more cardio…ugh)…

I’ve had a few cheats along the way but mostly adhering to it–probably about 90%

So far I’m happy with the results through nearly 4 weeks…I’ve got pretty high expectations for the next 8 weeks too, because it seems my body takes a while to get into fat burning mode but is pretty good at it once it gets going…i’ve never dieted for 12 weeks before really, so should see good results by the end…

I may post progress pics on Sunday…

217

5/12/11

Didn’t do my cardio…oops!

5/13/11

Cardio: 15 min HIIT on Elliptical (15 on/45 off)

13.1 - 5/14/11

Deadlift (3x5): 320, 370, 415 (12) <–New PR!
Blast Strap Fallouts (4x8): Handles at knees

Destroyed the deadlift for an all time PR…felt good! Struggled with the first couple of reps because I had my feet set up too wide and wasn’t comfortable…adjusted that and was able to pull an easy 12…

405 was my max when I started 5-3-1 back in September 2009, so I’ve added about 1 rep to my max per cycle since then…sweet!

Was finally able to get some ab work in for the first time since my surgery…it wasn’t too tough but I didn’t flatten out all the way or have the handles down to my shins, so it was a bit easier setup to ease back into it…

218

Are you gettin’ skinny yet?

I’m kind of going the other way…

Nice PRs!

219

I saw your last video man, you are lookin swole…

I fluctuate between 272-275 right now…so only about 6 pounds down for the entire diet…dunno why it was so low last week–maybe after a couple low carb days and I shed the water…

But I’m getting noticeably leaner…my hormones are still a wreck from the cancer, so that’s hurting me quite a bit I think…but overall its fine…strength seems to be up and I’m not hungry at all…its not really a bad way of eating haha

220

13.2 - 5/15/11

Cardio: 30 minutes steady state @ 70% MHR (about 3.4 mph @ 4 degree incline)

OHP (3x3): 140, 160, 180 (9)
PLP: 23
Dip (5x): 8, 8, 7, 7, 5
Seated EZ Curlz (4x8): 70, 75, 95, 95

Pretty good set today. Dips are still struggling…went to absolute failure on the last set of 5 lol…dunno why I’m not seeing any improvement in these really…last set of curlz was a bit sloppy and flared up my elbow…going to get some ART done on that when I get some free freaking time…

Cardio is steadily increasing in the speed that it requires me to maintain 70% of my MHR (about 135 BPM)…at first I started out at like 2.7 mph for the entire 30 min, now I’m up to 3.4 and am actually just below that number…i guess that means I’m getting in shape…

13.2 - 5/16/11

Squat (3x3): 320, 365, 410 (5)
GM (5x8): 45, 95, 135, 135, 135
Power Cleans: 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, 255x1, 275x1 (PR)

Squat is still struggling, though not quite as bad as last week…still far below my rep max at this weight though…probably could have pushed up 6, but definitely no more…hoping that once my body adjusts to the cardio that this will start climbing back up…my reset 10% for next cycle depending on how my 5-3-1 week goes next week…

275x1 Power Clean was a PR, though the guys at the gym pretty much nicely told me my form was terrible (what kinda backhanded compliment is “it was a bodybuilder style”?)…but fuck it, I got it up…going to start doing these a bit more when I’m at a gym that I won’t get kicked out for doing so…

No cardio since its a high day…

5/17/11

Cardio: 15 min HIIT (15 on/45 off) w/5 min warmup and cool down

Shelby also took my last remaining high carb day away from me today :frowning:

I’m down to 4 medium and 3 low now, with cardio every day…christ

I found an old bottle of HOT-ROX today that I had left over, and am going to start taking those too…