Westside/PLing Training Thread

Training Powerlifting
6011

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
ME bench
I’m baaaack!! Today’s bench training was half assed at best. I was dehydrated from all the “sodas” I drank on my trip. I also had very little sleep for the entire trip. With that said… Here’s my “training” from today

bench
0x10
135x8
315x2
485x2x2x2
Incline
315x3
365x1
405x1
225x35
I was toast after this so we did a bunch of drop sets

Hammer incline
8plates drop setted down to 2 plates
cable crossovers
80 drop setted down to 30
Hammer dip
8 plates drop setted down to 2 plates

ballistic pushups
3 sets of 10

that’s it. lots of volume to make up for the lack of strength on the important stuff.

meat

Someday, I hope to have a best day that looks like one of your shitty days :)[/quote]

Second that.

6012

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
So… I thought I would share some info. with you guys. I’ve been really hitting the calves lately. I read somewhere that your upper arms and calves should be about the same size. so I of course broke out the tape measure. the initial reading were upper arms -20 1/4 and calves were 18 (round abouts).

I set out to bring the calves up. I know, I know calves won’t make me a better bencher, squatter or deadlifter but to that I say… fuck it… I want huge calves.

I started doing the seated calf and the standing calf raises. I did that for a couple of months and I put about a half inch on the ol’ calfers.

Then one night I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do them. I decided to come up with something to do at home.

I now don’t do any calf work at the gym. Instead EVERY night i stand in a door way, put my hands against the door jam for balance. I used to lean against a counter or on a chair, but I found that I would lean on them and take some of the weight off my calves. I do three sets of single calf raises alternating between feet.

I go up on my toes but then don’t allow my heel to touch the floor. I started at around 30 reps per foot but have worked up to 100 reps per foot. The key is not allowing your heel to touch the floor and making sure not to take any of the weight off your calves. I don’t hurry through the reps.

I keep the same tempo and go all the way up on my big toe. Whatever number i set i make sure to get it. It may be a partial rep but i get them all. I keep the rep numbers the same until I can get them all with a full range of motion. After I have completed all three sets I then do a set with both feet. I started with 100 reps and now can do 300 reps. If the burn is too intense I rest in the top position. I don’t allow my heels to touch the floor at all.

so while only doing three sets per foot and then one set with both feet, I now have 19 1/2 inch calves. I’ve been putting on a quarter of an inch every three weeks or so.

it doesn’t sound very hard but if done properly without rushing through or cheating and putting your heels down, it hurts like hell.

who would have thought that after endless years of doing tons of weight on machines that all I needed was my own bodyweight.

meat[/quote]

Have you tried doing them on the stairs? Bigger range of motion. That’d blow up the lower part of the calf and keep the achilles tendon stretched out.

And the tutu is arriving fed-ex. I hope you like teal…

6013

[quote]Phill wrote:
… nice to see it didnt stop you and you mentioned missing work not training LOL

Phill
[/quote]

A few months back I had a very sleepless night and knew my training the following day was going to suck. So, I called into work as sick and got plenty of sleep. I had a good training session too.

6014

That’s it…pick on the guy who is dieting!!! I hope you feel better. :stuck_out_tongue:

On the same note

7/25/07- Wednesday- GPP

30 minutes incline treadmill walking- 1.75 miles

[quote]Modi wrote:
Nice progress Matt, great job on the PR’s.

I had assumed that you had either fallen of the face of the Earth, or had just been spending too much time over in the Men’s Health forum. Good to have you back. ;)[/quote]

6015

Hell still nice work bro and hope you had a blast

Phill

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
ME bench
I’m baaaack!! Today’s bench training was half assed at best. I was dehydrated from all the “sodas” I drank on my trip. I also had very little sleep for the entire trip. With that said… Here’s my “training” from today

bench
0x10
135x8
315x2
485x2x2x2
Incline
315x3
365x1
405x1
225x35
I was toast after this so we did a bunch of drop sets

Hammer incline
8plates drop setted down to 2 plates
cable crossovers
80 drop setted down to 30
Hammer dip
8 plates drop setted down to 2 plates

ballistic pushups
3 sets of 10

that’s it. lots of volume to make up for the lack of strength on the important stuff.

meat

[/quote]

6016

Damnm fine work bro you should call Arnold and fill him in :slight_smile: amazing the simple shit it takes we overlook.

Might it help to even stand with balls of feet on a board or step allowing and even greater ROM without the heel touching

Phill

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
So… I thought I would share some info. with you guys. I’ve been really hitting the calves lately. I read somewhere that your upper arms and calves should be about the same size. so I of course broke out the tape measure. the initial reading were upper arms -20 1/4 and calves were 18 (round abouts).

I set out to bring the calves up. I know, I know calves won’t make me a better bencher, squatter or deadlifter but to that I say… fuck it… I want huge calves.

I started doing the seated calf and the standing calf raises. I did that for a couple of months and I put about a half inch on the ol’ calfers.

Then one night I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do them. I decided to come up with something to do at home.

I now don’t do any calf work at the gym. Instead EVERY night i stand in a door way, put my hands against the door jam for balance. I used to lean against a counter or on a chair, but I found that I would lean on them and take some of the weight off my calves. I do three sets of single calf raises alternating between feet.

I go up on my toes but then don’t allow my heel to touch the floor. I started at around 30 reps per foot but have worked up to 100 reps per foot. The key is not allowing your heel to touch the floor and making sure not to take any of the weight off your calves. I don’t hurry through the reps.

I keep the same tempo and go all the way up on my big toe. Whatever number i set i make sure to get it. It may be a partial rep but i get them all. I keep the rep numbers the same until I can get them all with a full range of motion. After I have completed all three sets I then do a set with both feet. I started with 100 reps and now can do 300 reps. If the burn is too intense I rest in the top position. I don’t allow my heels to touch the floor at all.

so while only doing three sets per foot and then one set with both feet, I now have 19 1/2 inch calves. I’ve been putting on a quarter of an inch every three weeks or so.

it doesn’t sound very hard but if done properly without rushing through or cheating and putting your heels down, it hurts like hell.

who would have thought that after endless years of doing tons of weight on machines that all I needed was my own bodyweight.

meat[/quote]

6017

[quote]c. wrote:
Modi wrote:
c. wrote:
Hey Modi, just get yourself one of them big, black, ex-boxer/football players to yell “sit your ass down on that box until I tell you to GO!” works for me. When they let me use them…

c.

Yeah, but do they use the pretty pink and teal aerobic steps for box squats or do they use those fancy wooden boxes that don’t flex when you sit down on them?

oh, you wanna go? NOBODY messes with MY gym! The only “pretty pink” in MY gym is the blood gushing out of eyes and noses on the platforms and in the racks. And it AINT PRETTY.

and we have STEEL BOXES to hold our big fat glutes.
(ok, I have to use the stupid cracked plastic ones) but they are grey.

c.[/quote]

Hey now, that wasn’t a dig on your gym, that was in reference to me using the pretty pink and teal steps. I assumed that you guys had those beastly plywood boxes with 2x8 framing and splinters sticking out the sides. lol.

I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing blood gush out of someone’s eyes while lifting…nose, yes, but eyes…now that would be inspiring.

6018

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
ME bench
I’m baaaack!! Today’s bench training was half assed at best. I was dehydrated from all the “sodas” I drank on my trip. I also had very little sleep for the entire trip. With that said… Here’s my “training” from today

bench
0x10
135x8
315x2
485x2x2x2
Incline
315x3
365x1
405x1
225x35
I was toast after this so we did a bunch of drop sets

Hammer incline
8plates drop setted down to 2 plates
cable crossovers
80 drop setted down to 30
Hammer dip
8 plates drop setted down to 2 plates

ballistic pushups
3 sets of 10

that’s it. lots of volume to make up for the lack of strength on the important stuff.

meat

[/quote]
MEAT! Good to have you back. I never feel strong the first day back either, but you made up for it with volume.

I’ll be sitting by my computer all day today waiting for a few roadtrip stories. Please don’t disappoint.

6019

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
So… I thought I would share some info. with you guys. I’ve been really hitting the calves lately. I read somewhere that your upper arms and calves should be about the same size. so I of course broke out the tape measure. the initial reading were upper arms -20 1/4 and calves were 18 (round abouts).

I set out to bring the calves up. I know, I know calves won’t make me a better bencher, squatter or deadlifter but to that I say… fuck it… I want huge calves.

I started doing the seated calf and the standing calf raises. I did that for a couple of months and I put about a half inch on the ol’ calfers.

Then one night I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do them. I decided to come up with something to do at home.

I now don’t do any calf work at the gym. Instead EVERY night i stand in a door way, put my hands against the door jam for balance. I used to lean against a counter or on a chair, but I found that I would lean on them and take some of the weight off my calves. I do three sets of single calf raises alternating between feet.

I go up on my toes but then don’t allow my heel to touch the floor. I started at around 30 reps per foot but have worked up to 100 reps per foot. The key is not allowing your heel to touch the floor and making sure not to take any of the weight off your calves. I don’t hurry through the reps.

I keep the same tempo and go all the way up on my big toe. Whatever number i set i make sure to get it. It may be a partial rep but i get them all. I keep the rep numbers the same until I can get them all with a full range of motion. After I have completed all three sets I then do a set with both feet. I started with 100 reps and now can do 300 reps. If the burn is too intense I rest in the top position. I don’t allow my heels to touch the floor at all.

so while only doing three sets per foot and then one set with both feet, I now have 19 1/2 inch calves. I’ve been putting on a quarter of an inch every three weeks or so.

it doesn’t sound very hard but if done properly without rushing through or cheating and putting your heels down, it hurts like hell.

who would have thought that after endless years of doing tons of weight on machines that all I needed was my own bodyweight.

meat[/quote]

Wouldn’t it have been easier to just let your biceps shrink by a couple of inches? Just kidding.

Nice work on the calves, that’s great progress in a short amount of time. I haven’t measured mine, but I’m sure they are lagging a bit.

Maybe we can coin a new phrase…“Meat Calves”. Like “I’m gonna train my legs so hard that I get Meat Calves”. I dunno, sorry that’s all I got.

6020

[quote]skidmark wrote:

And the tutu is arriving fed-ex. I hope you like teal…
[/quote]

I already have one. I like to wear it when I’m sticking pins in the Modi doll. I also like it for ATG squats. It allows for a complete ROM. I consider myself a trend setter.

meat

6021

[quote]Modi wrote:
I’ll be sitting by my computer all day today waiting for a few roadtrip stories. Please don’t disappoint.[/quote]

The trip was a good one. It was me and a buddy. We headed up through upstate NY and crossed over into Canada via Niagra Falls. What can I say about Canada? I’m going to make a blanket statement here- Canadians are crazy fuckers on the road. We were on the QEW which is a highway.

The speed limit is 100 km/h which translates to 60 mph for us. The harleys don’t have that easy conversion on the speedo. I didn’t realize until we were out of Canada that my coversion from km/h to mph was a bit flawed. I was assuming that 2.2 km = 1 mph.

I wonder where i came up with that. anyway, it didn’t matter. we were doing 80 and everyone else was doing 100. the road was crappy with lots of pot holes and the signs are very far and few between. We kept running into backups. When we finally stopped to buy gas it was $1 a liter. I don’t know what that means. All I know is that I spent close to $40 to fill up both bikes.

We stopped at a Mcdonald’s for our healthy lunch. I had two # 3’s and my buddy had one as well. I spent almost $25 on that. I would be in the poor house if I lived in Canada. The people were nice though. More than a few times when we were just creeping along on the highway, people would ask- “Where you heading, ahh?” I was really looking forward to someone calling me a “hoser”.

We cut the time in Canada short and crossed back over at Kingston. We headed down to the Adorondaks. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express one night. So the next day I kept hoping that I would do something amazing like save someones life. They would ask if I was a doctor and I would say “No, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

We then road around the finger lakes. It was all pretty chill and uneventful. We got rained on a lot but that is to be expected. I had the same two meals everyday. I ate either pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and french toast or hamburgers and fries. I also discovered Labatts Blue. I drank my fair share of that.

I learned a valuable lesson when sleeping in the same room as my buddy. The first night I was out like shout. the second night Sin City was on tv so I stayed up and watched it. He fell asleep first. As I was about to fall asleep he started to snore.

my wife tells me that I snore and it drives her crazy. I can now empathize with her. I tried to deal with it for about a half an hour. I then started to yell at him. He didn’t wake up. I then started throwing pilows at him. still nothing… finally I got up and punch him in his junk. that worked. I told him to watch tv until i fell asleep. all was right in the world again.

All in all it was a great time full of beer and food.

meat

6022

[quote]Modi wrote:

Wouldn’t it have been easier to just let your biceps shrink by a couple of inches? Just kidding.

[/quote]

Don’t let the measurement fool you. It’s almost all Triceps. I need to do more Curls for the Girls.

meat

6023

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
So… I thought I would share some info. with you guys. I’ve been really hitting the calves lately. I read somewhere that your upper arms and calves should be about the same size. so I of course broke out the tape measure. the initial reading were upper arms -20 1/4 and calves were 18 (round abouts).

I set out to bring the calves up. I know, I know calves won’t make me a better bencher, squatter or deadlifter but to that I say… fuck it… I want huge calves.

I started doing the seated calf and the standing calf raises. I did that for a couple of months and I put about a half inch on the ol’ calfers.

Then one night I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to do them. I decided to come up with something to do at home.

I now don’t do any calf work at the gym. Instead EVERY night i stand in a door way, put my hands against the door jam for balance. I used to lean against a counter or on a chair, but I found that I would lean on them and take some of the weight off my calves. I do three sets of single calf raises alternating between feet.

I go up on my toes but then don’t allow my heel to touch the floor. I started at around 30 reps per foot but have worked up to 100 reps per foot. The key is not allowing your heel to touch the floor and making sure not to take any of the weight off your calves. I don’t hurry through the reps.

I keep the same tempo and go all the way up on my big toe. Whatever number i set i make sure to get it. It may be a partial rep but i get them all. I keep the rep numbers the same until I can get them all with a full range of motion. After I have completed all three sets I then do a set with both feet. I started with 100 reps and now can do 300 reps. If the burn is too intense I rest in the top position. I don’t allow my heels to touch the floor at all.

so while only doing three sets per foot and then one set with both feet, I now have 19 1/2 inch calves. I’ve been putting on a quarter of an inch every three weeks or so.

it doesn’t sound very hard but if done properly without rushing through or cheating and putting your heels down, it hurts like hell.

who would have thought that after endless years of doing tons of weight on machines that all I needed was my own bodyweight.

meat[/quote]

I’ve always thought for some reson calves respond best to very high reps and high volume. Just look at someone who has been hiking for along time. Alot of them seem to have monster calves while being relativly small.

I think I might have to start doing this probaly would help condtion my calves for truck pulls to.

6024

[quote]Kalle wrote:

I’ve always thought for some reson calves respond best to very high reps and high volume. Just look at someone who has been hiking for along time. Alot of them seem to have monster calves while being relativly small.

I think I might have to start doing this probaly would help condtion my calves for truck pulls to.
[/quote]

Or just being huge and heavy and walking around on them. My high school football coach, to this day, had the most enormous calves I’ve ever seen. He never did a calf raise in his whole life, just walking around them weighing 400 pounds did the trick.

6025

M/E Lower

1)Parrell Box Squat: Barx lots, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 295x5 (PR?)
2)Good Mornings: 95x10, 135x10, 155x10
3)Abs �?? 3 sets
4)Traps �?? 3 sets

This was the first box squatting workout in awhile and I was pretty happy with it. After looking at it on paper it didn’t seem like I had done anything, but I sure didn’t seem like that when I was lifting.

I had spent almost 2 hours last night trying to figure out how I was going to change my program and orginally decided on doing a full body routine, but I got to the weightroom today and decided that I really didn’t want to so I stayed with my old set-up. As long as I am still getting stronger I guess.

6026

DE Upper

A. 4kg med ball chest throws
5 x 6

B. Wide-grip pull-ups
5 x 4

C. Push Press
10 x 2 w/ 155#

Then did a bunch of machine rowing just for the hell of it

Comments:
Good workout. Med ball throws are super explosive and push presses are going well. 155 might be a taaaad heavy for dynamic work as it’s probably closer to 70% of my max than 60%, but whatever. Training is going well.

6027

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
my wife tells me that I snore and it drives her crazy. I can now empathize with her. I tried to deal with it for about a half an hour. I then started to yell at him. He didn’t wake up. I then started throwing pilows at him. still nothing… finally I got up and punch him in his junk. that worked. I told him to watch tv until i fell asleep. all was right in the world again.

All in all it was a great time full of beer and food.

meat[/quote]

Heheh…I’m reading the whole story thinking, “Hmmm, Meat’s stories are usually much funnier than this,” and then the punch line (pun intended).

Sounds like a great time. I don’t know why the whole world has to be complicated and use the metric system when we are perfectly content with miles per hour, gallons of gas, and ounces of beer. Although a good pint of beer has it’s merits versus the american 12 oz. Everything else is pretty much crap.

6028

07/25/07 - Upper (ME)

A) Flat Bench (warmup)
barx40
95x20
135x12
185x8
225x5
275x3
315x1

B) Rack Lockouts (pin #8 = 6-8" off chest)
315x3
365x1
385x1
405xmiss
405x1 (PR +10lbs)

I almost blacked out on the first 405, I could not believe that I didn’t lock it out. I was very happy to lock this out on my second try.

Pin #7
315x3
365xdidn’t try
(Pin too low to set up under…these suck)

C) Barbell Holds
455x20sec
495x20sec!! (baseline PR) (not easy)
495x19sec!! (Right collar touched safety bar)

Meat, thanks for these. I was shaking pretty hard almost the whole time at 495. These are pretty killer.

D) Close Grip Press with Light Bands (Doubled = +90lb each at top)
135x6
135x5
135x3 (hit rack on way up)
135x6!!

E1) Rolling Triceps Extensions
EZ+50x12
+70x12
+90x11 (PR +1rep)
+90x9

E2) Bench Dips
x12
x12
x12
x12

F) Lateral Delt Raise
35x15
40x15 (PR +3reps)
45x12 (PR +1rep)

This probably looks like a lot of work.

It was.

6029

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Kalle wrote:

I’ve always thought for some reson calves respond best to very high reps and high volume. Just look at someone who has been hiking for along time. Alot of them seem to have monster calves while being relativly small.

I think I might have to start doing this probaly would help condtion my calves for truck pulls to.

Or just being huge and heavy and walking around on them. My high school football coach, to this day, had the most enormous calves I’ve ever seen. He never did a calf raise in his whole life, just walking around them weighing 400 pounds did the trick.[/quote]

Exactly, high volume

At my strongman comp in Fresno this 400lb guy from Hawaii had HUGE calves so big I wasn’t the only person pointing at his calves and saying “holy shit!”

6030

[quote]Modi wrote:
07/25/07 - Upper (ME)

A) Flat Bench (warmup)
barx40
95x20
135x12
185x8
225x5
275x3
315x1

B) Rack Lockouts (pin #8 = 6-8" off chest)
315x3
365x1
385x1
405xmiss
405x1 (PR +10lbs)

I almost blacked out on the first 405, I could not believe that I didn’t lock it out. I was very happy to lock this out on my second try.

Pin #7
315x3
365xdidn’t try
(Pin too low to set up under…these suck)

C) Barbell Holds
455x20sec
495x20sec!! (baseline PR) (not easy)
495x19sec!! (Right collar touched safety bar)

Meat, thanks for these. I was shaking pretty hard almost the whole time at 495. These are pretty killer.

D) Close Grip Press with Light Bands (Doubled = +90lb each at top)
135x6
135x5
135x3 (hit rack on way up)
135x6!!

E1) Rolling Triceps Extensions
EZ+50x12
+70x12
+90x11 (PR +1rep)
+90x9

E2) Bench Dips
x12
x12
x12
x12

F) Lateral Delt Raise
35x15
40x15 (PR +3reps)
45x12 (PR +1rep)

This probably looks like a lot of work.

It was.[/quote]

Holy shit! Give me some oxygen. Just reading through all this had me winded. Good workout. Blacking out is scary yet cool at the same time (as long as the pins/training partners are there to catch the weight; if not it’s just scary). Throw in a nosebleed and you’re full on hardcore.