Destroy:Erase:Improve -- PBs Training Journal

[BiggT]

LoL

My bench max is 480 (was 515 in HS but shoulder is acting up). I can't max on squat or DL though b/c I tore my lateral anterior meniscus tendons (doc said no more squatting or DL'ing). Do you have tips on how to keep the weights on the ends of the bar? They're always sliding off. Thx

I don't know, bro.....those bars can be slippery, I will have to ask around about that advanced training stuff. Here is my problem.....I'm not sure what lift builds the BEST chest BAR NONE....On Incline Dumbell I can use 200's for a set of 22 on incline dumbell (light, lol, I know, but I tore up my shoulder playing ball for Florida when I got tackled by U of Miami's front line in the Orange Bowl that one year)....on the Incline Barbell I haven't maxed since 8th grade, but back then I did 495.......seriously, bro, given my stats (6' 295lbs 9% bf), can you advise how I can focus on the inner chest getting big???? Also...what supps do you recommend?? I stopped using creatine last month and I noticed my arms tend to cave in around the elbow and I have fat between the bicep muscle and the joint : ( and I want that full look like Lee Priest...are hammer curls good for that? I can use 120lb dumbells for a set of 6, but I feel it isn't enough......oh, yeah, I'd post a pic, but I am too big to fit into the lense of a camera.

 

[Protobuilder]

Inner chest comes mainly from mind-muscle connection. Also, up your T dosage to about 6 g. / wk for 8.5 weeks, then add in nolvadex at 1.25 mg./every 2d hour for 37 hours.

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 14, Sat. (workout 2)

Squats

5x5x185 (down 12.5 lbs but still wasn't easy . . . and that's w/ about 2 weeks of reduced load . . . I may scrap the 6x6 cumulative fatigue stuff b/c it's wrecking my strength)

Bench

4x5x175 (+1 lb. PR)

Rows

3x8x167.5 (+2.5 PR)

Hanging Knee Lifts

12x10
10x10

My legs have gone to crap, but my upper body is going really well and hasn't stalled. That tells me that my whole system isn't fatigued . . . it's just my damn legs. And the only thing that's changed is adding in extra volume w/ the 6x6 squatting. I can adjust by just rotating between 5x5 and 1x5 on Saturdays . . . or I could just drop Tuesday's 6x6 and go back to doing 1x5 on Tuesday and 5x5 on Saturday. I'll probably drop the 6x6. BiggT is going to kill me: I haven't really been eating for growth so i can't say for sure whether the 6x6 'works' . . . I'm able to add weight to it each week but I'm not sure what my return on investment is. Guys w/ better recovery ability may do well on it but it's busting my ass. And my heavier sets are taking a real beating. It's a nice metabolic workout but may not be worth it.

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 15, Tues. (workout 1)

Squats

5x195 (building back up to new PRs)

Bench

5x188.5 (+2 reps)
6x165
10x145 (backoff)

Rows

5x187.5 (PR)
8x165
12x145 (backoff)

Shrugs

15x325 (+3 reps but it was ugly)
6x325

I'm hoping my legs get back on track. I hadn't squatted since Sat. but they still felt tired today. I'm also starting to wonder whether no cardio is such a great idea. My conditioning is absolutely horrible right now and my legs get tired doing basic tasks, which didn't use to happen when I jogged a few times/wk. Alos, dropping jogging hasn't really resulted in skyrocketing squat poundages. LoL

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 15, Sat/Sun. (workout 2)

Bench

2x5x176.5
2x5x175 (starting to bug my shoulders a bit)

Rows

3x6x170 (PR)
10x145

Squats

5x5x190 (ugh . . . felt heavy; 7.5 away from old PR . . .)

Shrugs

3x10-12x305 (not quite down to the low hang due to lower back ater squatting)

Skulls

9x95
9x95
6x95

Squats are REALLY frustrating me. I'm just not getting stronger at a decent pace. I'm making some adjustments so we'll see. I may start rotating rep ranges or maybe cycling volume or soemthing. Hell, anything is better than my current pace.

 

[BiggT]

How are the shoulders feeling?? If you get a chance, you can email me a vid of you benching....once comment you made a while back when you were close-gripping and it finally felt right makes me wonder if you tend to subconsciously flare the elbows on a regular grip bench.

You'll get that squat figured out.....much like myself, it seems like the squat will be your one lift that pisses you off, just maximize it and then take pride in your other lifts, lol, it is all I can do.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

close gripping saved my shoulders... i don't think i'll even try to go wide ever again... that phucked my shoulders big time and wasn't stable or tight through the lift with that positioning.

How's your intake bro? Could that be holding back your lower strength?

congratz on the Rowing PR's all over the place and the bench rep Pr and then lb PR

 

[Protobuilder]

BiggT: I wouldn't be so frustrated if it hadn't petered out at such a crap weight. I think I need to retool my top-end progress. I should be able to keep pushing that top set further w/ some tinkering. The first adjustment was dropping the 6x6 fatigue stuff. Now I'm ramping the 1x5 and 5x5 again and maybe I'll cycle the rep ranges and see what happens. I may push 5x5 & 1x5 during the week, then alternate w/ heavier triples or maybe even 5 singles and then take a week off and repeat. Dunno.

Sarge: thanks for the props. I haven't been having shoulder trouble until that session so it may just be the weight getting a bit heavy for 5 straight sets. I may force myself back into some close-grip work b/c it seems to feel pretty good. Rows are my ol' reliable. LoL

 

[BiggT]

You can try a 3 week block....1x5 one day and 5x5 at the end of the week....maybe don't use a traditional approach to weight selection.....what I do is decide what I want to hit on the last week, and I will knock, say 60lbs off, and make 20lbs jumps and hit my desired number on week 3 for 1x5....then 5x5, maybe I will take 25lbs off a PR, and make aggressive jumps...some type of deload on week 4 is necessary, but the 5x5 and 1x5 really do drive each other up.

 

[Protobuilder]

Yeah, I will wind up doing something along those lines. I think I will finally force myself to try 3 weeks pushing, one week off. I've never tried it. I may be one of those "less is more" scrawny white boys. It's a good thing god gave me a brain. LoL

Week 16, Tues. (workout 1)

Push Press

2x5x150 (down 2.5 lbs; haven't done these in 3 wks)
4x150
dropped to 5x135

Front Squat

5x155 (down 10 . . . haven't done these in a month)

Deads

5x275 (easy; building back up . . .)
drop to 5x235

Alright, things are back on track. Felt energetic tonight and am back on the eating bandwagon. I'm at 16% BF now so I'm wavering between cut/bulk/cut/bulk . . . meh. I think training is ironed out now. I'm alternating set/reps on a weekly basis for my squat & dead. I'll be doing sets of 5, sets of 3, and maybe a handful of singles followed by a week of nothing. I may also start pushing for a heavy triple on push press and alternate that w/ my standard 3x5. So, a couple of new things: waving rep ranges & gonna' force myself to take a week off even when I dont want to.

 

[BiggT]

Those are nice poundages relative to PRs for taking a 3 week and 1 month layoff from a lift. If you're gonna go 3 week cycles, you may also want to consider more agressive jumps and try to hit a week 3 PR.......and stop measuring bodyfat, you're not fat or anywhere close to it.....don't hold yourself back by being a diet discussion board weenie.

 

[BiggT]

On the front squats, did you plan to start at 10lbs under your PR, or did you get so huge over the last 3 weeks that the two 5lb plates you wanted to slap on got scared and hid?

 

[Protobuilder]

Good points, BiggT. I may try aggressive jumps, then a week off, and repeat. Tonight, I couldn't find my olympic bar b/c my massive lats scared it off. Suxxorx.

Week 16, Thurs. (workout 2)

Squats

5x200 (not too tough; 10 down from old PR)
dropset to 5x165
6-8x145 (b.o.)

Bench

2x8x165 (shoulders feeling beat up so took it light)
5x165

Pullups (lower back feeling really unstable so no rows)

8x5
8x5
misc x BW

Lower back was feeling really weak tonight, like all the supporting muscles were shot for some reason. Really focused on keeping a deep breath in my abdomen and styaing vertical in the squat. Kind of weird. I've been doing NS ab work on 2-4x/wk so maybe my core is just kind of tired.

 

[BiggT]

Frequent ab work (with me, anymore than twice a week) tends to fatigue my whole core and mess up workouts.

The other explanation could be that you're so freaking huge that your spinal erectors got scared and hid, thus could not support you. Suxxx big-time being huge cuz everyone thinks ur a dickhead.

 

[Protobuilder]

UR write abuot that!

 

[pitbullrocco]

sweet log PB. cool title. that sounds like a meshuggah album.....

 

[Protobuilder]

sweet log PB. cool title. that sounds like a meshuggah album.....

It is. Are you a fan?

Week 16, Sat. (workout 3)

Squats

3x3x205 (5 away from PR, not too bad)
5x175
drop 6x145

Bench

3x190 (old PR)
3x5x175

Rows

7x185 (+2 reps)
6x185
drop 4x165
drop 6x145

 

[pitbullrocco]

It is. Are you a fan?

hell yeah. thats old school meshuggah too. yes, one of my favorite bands. i kill myself trying to play along to the drums. great cardio workout. lol.....i love their poly-rhythms and off beats.....especially the 7's.

i'll be keeping up wichya.....better get that 210 PR on monday......

(jamming "soul burn" as i type)

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 17, Mon. (workout 1)

Push Press

2x155 (WTF?)
3x155
5x145
drop 3x125
drop 6x105

Deads

5x5x260

Skulls

8x75
10x85
9x85

 

[BiggT]

How's the leg drive on the PP's?? If your other pressing is still going strong, I don't think missing reps is a systematic fatigue thing, if it is JUST the PP. it was more than likely a leg drive/groove issue.....or just one of those days.

 

[Protobuilder]

Leg drive sucks, as always. My leg strength all around is just piss poor. I didn't spend enough time "greasing the groove" on warmups, as I was in a hurry and wanted to get all 25 reps in on deadlifts. I was hoping to run up to a top set of 3 on push press as opposed to 3x5, which I normally do. I can do 3x5 w/ 150 so was surprised that I missed the first triple at 155. I figured i had 160 in me no problem. My shoulders may be a bit tired from Saturday's benching. Maybe. But leg drive is crap.

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 17, Wed. (workout 2)

Squats

2x210
2 singles @ 215
drop 5x185
drop 5x165

Pullups

7 sets of 5x5 lbs.

Bench (not worth mentioning . . . crap day for presses)

Shrugs

15x315
drop 8x275

Weak day all 'round. Probably due to being tired for the past few days. I'm rotating rep ranges on squats and to a lesser extent on other things. I'll be moving through 3x8, 5x5, and then maybe 5 singles or something like that. We'll see if progress increases.

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 17, Sat. (workout 3)

Squats

5x5x195 (2.5 away from old PR; not too bad actually . . . I think rotating rep ranges and fluctuating volume is helping)

Military (shoulders still achy so skipped bench)

4x135
7x135 (a little push at the bottom, heh heh)
drop 2x115
drop 7x95

Row

5x5x180 (+2.5 PR)
drop 10x145 (b.o.)

A decent workout, fueled by Lamb of God and 37 Amped2.0 caps.

 

[H_T_]

i hate working out.

 

[Protobuilder]

Week 3, mon. (workout 1)

Push Press

3x5x145 (resetting these a bit)

Front Squat

2x8x145 (just for kicks . . . push presses giving me some knee tendinitis so fronts aren't really helping but I hadn't done 'em in a while)

Deads

3x3x275 (meh . . .tired as hell today, work, poor sleep, etc.)
10x275 (shrugs backoff)

Skulls

8x95
5x105
8x95

 

[BiggT]

Damn...you are a proportionately freaky push presser.....and don't sweat tendonitis in the knees, I have pretty much had it since '96, lol.

 

[Protobuilder]

Yes, my claim to fame: two lifts that don't suck too bad. LoL Rows & ohp

 

[BiggT]

Honestly, 105lb skullz are nothing to sneeze at....thats a 45 on the end of an EZ curl bar, right??? That would garner a bunch of stares and respectful nods from the Under Armour crew.