Wanna be Elite...

Training Training Logs
1143

5A - 7/3/21

Squat (3x5): 325
Bench (3x5): 245
Deadlift (1x5): 335

Tweaked my back squatting and finished the rest of the workout a couple days later on 7/5. Spent a lot of time on hip rehab/prehab work to get me loosened back up to meet my #1 rule of not getting fucking injured during this cycle lol. I am convinced that, at least for me, I do not have back issues–just hip issues that manifest in sore backs. Keep the hips loose and happy and the back will follow.

5B - 7/7/21
Squat (3x5): 335
OHP (3x5): 170
Power Clean (5x3): 135

Squats were HEAVY but PAIN FREE so it appears my focus on the hip work paid off. I was really nervous that after having such a good routine going that another back injury would throw me off. Fortunately I was committed enough to put in the work and received the benefits.

1144

6A - 7/9/21

Squat (3x5): 340
Bench (3x5): 250
Deadlift (1x5): 345

Squats were again heavy, but still no pain. I decided to decrease my jumps to 5 pounds per session instead of the 10 going forward. Deadlifts were also heavy. Bench was good

6B - 7/12/21
Squat (3x5): 345
OHP (3x5): 175
Power Clean (5x3): 145

Started using my squat shoes which make a big difference in stability, which I thought was important given my focus on protecting my back from injury. I also made a note that i started “clasping” my belt for this workout–I don’t remember if I was just not clasping it before but wearing it, or just not wearing it. At any rate, going forward, all squats were performed with squat shoes and tight belt for stability.

1145

7A - 7/15/21

Squat (3x5): 350
Bench (3x5): 255
Deadlift (1x5): 355

Squats were good. Bench and DL were easy.

7B - 7/17/21
Squat (3x5): 355
OHP (3x5): 180
Power Clean (5x3): 155

Ever have one of those days were you just do NOT want to work out? Like dragging your ass to the gym just sounds like the worst thing ever? Those are the days I have almost always not regretted getting in and working out anyway as I tend to end up having great sessions.

This was one of those days. Warmups felt heavy and awful. But I pushed through and had an awesome training session. Squats were excellent. PCs were easy and flew up.

1146

8A - 7/19/21

Squat (3x5): 360
Bench (3x5): 260
Deadlift (1x5): 365

8B - 7/22/21
Squat (3x5): 365
OHP (3x5): 185
Power Clean (5x3): 165

OHP sucked. I was on travel at a training event in Charlottesville for work, and the rack was an idiotic design. The J-Hooks could only be attached inside the rack and not outside of it. Unfortunately at 6’5, I am unable to OHP inside a rack due to hitting the crossbars at the top when I press. Typically not a problem as I just put the J-Hooks on the outside, but since this was not an option, I ended up cleaning the weight up instead. This is NOT a good idea, especially since my OHP is a very narrow grip and cleans necessitate a wider grip. Should have just skipped the lift for the day but risked injury to get it up and get it done (would not do again).

On a positive note, cleaning the 185 OHPs up was great warmup for my 165 PCs lol

1147

9A - 7/25/21

Squat (3x5): 370
Bench (3x5): 265
Deadlift (1x5): 375

Squats were super easy and bench was very tough. Funny how that works out sometimes.

9B - 7/27/21
Squat (3x5): 375
OHP (3x5): 190
Power Clean (5x3): 175

OHPs were much easier with a rack that was not designed by morons…

1148

10A - 7/29/21

Squat (3x5): 380
Bench (3x5): 270
Deadlift (1x5): 385

Bench was easy this week but Deads were heavy. So it goes

10B - 8/3/21
Squat (3x5): 385
OHP (3x5): 195
Power Clean (5x3): 185

Squats were super easy. Other two lifts were good.

1149

11A - 8/5/21

Squat (3x5): 390
Bench (3x5): 275
Deadlift (1x5): 395

11B - 8/8/21
Squat (3x5): 395
OHP (3x5): 200
Power Clean (5x3): 195

1150

STARTING STRENGTH RECAP

Successfully completed my SS regimen with the two primary areas of focus achieved 1) DO NOT GET INJURED and 2) Run for 8 weeks.

During that 8 week period, I did tweak my back but was able to bounce back quickly. I ended up missing two total sessions (would have been a 12A and 12B). One of which was due to the injury and the other was due to some work travel that I wasn’t able to get a workout in. But overall very pleased with my commitment and progress achieved during this 8 week run.

I managed to get my strength back to respectable levels and set myself up for the next phase of training which was to be conditioning/weight loss focused.

Celebrated the culmination of this cycle by testing out my 3RMs to establish my training maxes for 531 and ended up far exceeding my minimums and goals for each lift (except for PC, but meh):

  • Squat: 455x3
  • Bench: 350x3
  • Deadlift: 495x3
  • OHP: 250x3
  • PC: 250x3 (ugly as hell, 225x3 was probably more appropriate)

And as the kids say, video or it didn’t happen, so here ya go:

2 Likes
1151

That squat looked like your 10RM man. Super smooth and easy (looking)!

Noticed your bench and OHP grip is super narrow as well, just personal preference I guess?

1 Like
1152

Thanks man. Yeah for all of my 3RMs, I feel like I left the most in the tank for Squats. All my tests were spread out over about a week period and I did Squat first, so didn’t really feel the desire to push it hard.

Narrow grip for bench was modeled after Konstantin Konstantinovs, who is tall at 6’5 like me with very long arms. It sounds counterintuitive that taking a narrower grip would help someone with long arms, but gave it a try one time and felt super comfortable and strong and never looked back.

Although, comparing to some of my old videos from 8-10 years ago, it does appear I may have moved it in even further. That might be something I play around with in my warmups and first couple working sets in my upcoming cycles.

2 Likes
1153

And damn just realized KK died a couple years ago at 40. I turn 40 tomorrow. That is a bummer!

1154

That grip is narrow man! The only lift that really looked challenging was the OHP, but 250 for 3 is strong af.

1155

I obviously do a shit job of keeping this log updated.

2023 Resolution: Stop doing such a shit job of keeping this log updated

So after my 3RM test, I embarked yet again with my one true love: Wendler’s 531 Program.

I had planned to have a conditioning focus to start, so knocked my training maxes down to about 80% (base is 90%) of my calculated 1RM. This resulted in the following training maxes to begin:

Squat: 390
Bench: 300
Deadlift: 425
OHP: 215

Here we goooo…

1156

Cycle 1 (this was really cycle 20 something but I reset after not having done 531 in several years - 5’s Week

8/16/21
Squat: 255, 295, 330 (8)
Split Squat (3x8): Bodyweight
RDL (3x8): 165

8/17/21
Bench: 195, 225, 255 (8)
DB Incline (3x8): 55
DB Row (3x8): 55

8/18/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 8 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

8/19/21
Deadlift: 275, 320, 360 (8)
Hip Thrust (3x8): 95
AB Wheel (3x8): Body

8/20/21
OHP: 140, 160, 185 (8)
Bench Dips (3x8): Body
Lat Pulldown (3x8): Orange + Black Bands
EZ Curl (3x8): +20
Cardio: 20 min bike steady state

8/22/21
V-Burn (slow run through)
5 Rounds in 21:56

Notes:
-I decided to not push my 5’s week money sets and to always stop at 8
-Lat Pulldowns were with bands as I did not yet have a lat pulldown machine in my home gym
-Curls indicate the amount added to the EZ Bar as I have no idea how much it weighs (well my idea is around 22 pounds, but that is a weird number)

1157

Cycle 1 - 3’s Week

8/23/21
Squat: 275, 310, 350 (5)
Split Squat (3x10): Bodyweight
RDL (3x10): 165

8/24/21
Bench: 210, 240, 270 (12)
Incline DB (3x10): 55
DB Row (3x10): 55
Tricep Pushdown (3x12) Orange Band
Cardio: 25 min stationary bike

8/25/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 10 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

8/26/21
Deadlift: 300, 340, 385 (6)
Hip Thrust (3x10): 95
Ab Wheel (3x10): Bodyweight

8/27/21
OHP: 150, 170, 195 (7)
Bench Dips (3x10): Bodyweight
Lat Pulldown (3x10): Same
EZ Curl (3x10): Bar + 30
Cardio: 25 min stationary bike

1158

Cycle 1 - 531 Week

8/30/21
Squat: 295, 330, 370 (5)

Skipped rest of the workout due to an injury to my pinky toe (LOL WTF?)

8/31/21
Bench: 225, 255, 285 (11)
DB Incline (4x8): 55
DB Row (4x8): 55
Tricep Pushdown (4x12): Orange band
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

Money sets for bench were ridiculous around this time

9/1/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 12 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

9/2/21
Deadlift: 320, 360, 405 (7)
Hip Thrust (4x8): 95
Ab Wheel (4x8): Bodyweight

9/3/21
OHP: 160, 185, 205 (7)

Skipped rest of workout to play golf.

1159

Cycle 1 - Deload Week

9/7/21
Squat: 155, 195, 235
Bench: 135, 150, 180
RDL (3x8): 135
DB Incline (3x8): 45
DB Row (3x8): 45
Skull Crusher (3x10): EZ + 20
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

Not sure why I used such puss weights. I guess I was deloading.

Had an insane right elbow pain during skull crushers

9/8/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 10 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

9/9/21
Deadlift: 175, 215, 255
Hip Thrust (3x8): 95
AB Wheel (3x8): Bodyweight
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

9/10/21
Cardio: Mowing & yardwork

9/11/21
OHP: 85, 110, 135
Lat Pulldown (3x8): 160
Bench Dips (3x8): Bodyweight
EZ Curl (3x10): EZ + 35
Cardio: Sled Push (40 yards x 8 rounds) @ 90 lbs

Went out of town for work and then vacation to Jamaica after this week and got back around the 26th to start the new cycle.

Cycle Recap:
-No Personal Records but solid reps on each exercise
-Primary goal is not get injured (!!!). Secondary goal is not get injured (!!!). So far so good.
-Accessory weights were super light to give me some wiggle room and weight to grow into as I progress–marathon, not sprint

1160

Cycle 2

Training Maxes:
Squat - 400
Bench - 305
Deadlift - 435
OHP - 220

1161

Cycle 2 - 5’s Week

9/27/21
Squat: 260, 300, 340 (5)
Skipped rest of workout due to lack of time

9/28/21
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

9/29/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 10 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

9/30/21
Bench: 200, 230, 260 (8)
DB Incline (4x8): 65
DB Row (4x8): 65
Tricep Pushdown (4x10): 70

10/1/21
Deadlift: 285, 325, 370 (5)
Hip Thrust (4x8): 115
Ab Wheel (4x8): Bodyweight
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

Pushed my OHP day off to my 3’s week

1162

Cycle 2 - 3’s Week

10/4/21
Squat (3’s): 280, 320, 360 (7)
OHP (5’s): 145, 165, 185 (7)
RDL (4x8): 185
DB Split Squat (4x6): 10x2

10/5/21
Bench: 215, 245, 275 (10)
DB Row (4x10): 65
DB Incline (4x10): 65
Tricep Pressdown (4x12): 70
Cardio: 30 min stationary bike

10/6/21
Loaded carry circuit: 15 seconds on / 15 seconds off. 12 rounds
Farmer Carry: 80x2
Server Carry: 45

10/7/21
Deadlift: 305
Tweaked my back on the first set and decided to shut it down.

This injury hindered me for 2-3 weeks. In the meantime I just did what I could

10/18/21
Squat (3x5): 160, 200, 240
RDL (3x8): 185
DB Split Squat (4x6): 10x2

This was just a workout to ease back into loading my spine after the back injury. It went well

10/29/21
Incline DB (3x10): 80x2
DB Row (3x10): 80
Tricep Rope Pushdown (3x12): Yup
Cardio: 20 min elliptical

10/20/21
Cardio: Elliptical Intervals (15 on/45 off x15)

10/21/21
OHP (3’s): 155, 175, 200 (7)
Lat Pulldown (4x10):
Dip (4x10):
EZ Curl (4x10): EZ + 50

10/29/21
Deadlift (3’s): 305, 350, 390 (5)
Hip Thrust (3x10): 115
Ab Wheel (4x10):

Can’t remember why I took so much time between my OHP and Deadlift. Might have been up in DC for work that week and not had time. At any rate, Deadlifts went well and my back felt ok. A bit of a setback but ready to move forward.