Fitness Log

[ramnares]

Hey at the moment if maxing your APFT is the priority then obviously you should train for that. Yeah your lifts (and ego) will take a bit of a blow but once you get your PFT scores where you want them you can focus on your lifts again.

I had one buddy at school who was pretty big and maxed his PFTs every time. His cardio workouts were a combination of HIIT on some days and swimming on the others while still lifting heavy and that seemed to work for him.

Right now I've started running a lot again and I've noticed a huge drop in strength so I'm going to switch back to a HIIT running program. I'll let you know the results in a few weeks time.

 

[miked8c]

Okay but no way am I going for the minimum I want to branch infantry officer and I'm at 291 right now so all I got to do is hit 2 more situps in 2 minutes and drop 24 seconds off my 2 mile and I'm in the 300 club. It is required to attend morning pt at 0600 3 days a week so that's a non-option. However I have been eating much more I'm definitely at a calorie surplus now. I used to eat 5000 cal a day now I'm probably at 4000 so not bad. A lot of the others guys at rotc lift some good iron and still max the pt so it shouldnt be too hard. Ramnares one of the guys on here said he was benching like 245x8 and squatting in the 300's for 10 and still was in the 90's for situps and pushups.

So how does this sound I'll put in:
Bench: 210x5
Squat: 240x5
Deadlift: 405x1
Military press: 155x1
Db row: 95x5

Damn I feel like such a weak sack of shit putting in those numbers. The ego is gonna have to take a big blow Gotta admit mike you got me on lifting by far now.

Sorry I'm a little confused, your going to stick with 210x5? Or your going to enter that into the calculator so you'll start at around 195?

Yeah its expected that I start beating you on the lifts, I know what its like to have to sacrifice strength for PT, it blows. Its near impossible to choose one, personally I would go with ghettos suggestion.

 

[Tblock1]

Sorry I'm a little confused, your going to stick with 210x5? Or your going to enter that into the calculator so you'll start at around 195?

Yeah its expected that I start beating you on the lifts, I know what its like to have to sacrifice strength for PT, it blows. Its near impossible to choose one, personally I would go with ghettos suggestion.

no I'm going to put 210 in the calculator. Those numbers I listed are the ones I'm putting in. A little too much heavy squatting is destroying your brain cells mike

Ramnares: Yeah your pt scores and lifting combo were pretty impressive man! I still don't understand why everyone is making such a huge deal about how opposing the goals are....if I was trying to run a 9:40 2 mile and bench 405 I'd say there is a problem but my goals arent that hard. I cant take ghettos suggestion because for rotc you are ranked on everything and maxing the pt will help you get what branch you want. However grades are something like 40% of it so I'll need to work more on that

 

[ramnares]

I certainly don't think that your goals are unachievable. At least you're not like the guy in the other tread who's trying to hit 220 without steroids etc.

I mean it's definitely going to require a LOT of hard work. Also, I remember eating like a madman at all meals because I was lifting/running that much, and even then it was hard to gain/maintain weight. Good luck with the 5X5, that's a solid program.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

You might consider changing your whole mindset in regards to lifting.

You have 3 days a week required morning pt. Plus you probably will do some more on your own.

Why not change the style of your weight lifting entirely and turn it into circuit style with like no rest. If you want something that will get you into uber shape I can personally attest to circuit style trainining with no rest between sets as being brutally effective.

Weight goes down alot, but this is probably the most effective training at boosting cardio, flushing lactic acid rapidly and increasing muscular endurance with a side bonus of being more result producing than circuit style calisthenics.

Imagine your calisthenics doing 10 sets of pushup, pullup, situps, leg raises, dips with no rest between sets as you go through the circuit. That will jack your heart rate up big time.

Now imagine doing a circuit of squat, bench, row, situps. Let's just guess 135lbsx10 on the squat and 115x10 on the bench, 50-60x12 on the db and situps x25. Now do 10 sets of all that with no rest between exercises and no rest between each circuit of exercises.

If you could do that you would be in insane condition and I actually wouldn't consider that weak because that is packing a shit ton of work into a very short period of time. I know the last time I did 5x10 on squats with 145lbs after the main heavy sets that it gassed the crap out of me.

Now imagine doing that weight workout I listed...

I would tailor your lifting to benefit your pt fitness. Trying to build max strength regardless of what you think is the complete opposite of your pt training. All the running and calisthenics can actually shift your fiber dominance and the way your cns fires impulses. It's the exact opposite of strength training. Not only that, but it makes getting a caloric surplus difficult and building strength without enough cals to induce growth increase drastically slows the rate of strength gain in most cases especially when you have an opposing training style conflicting with it.

Do I think your goals are impossible? No. Do I think benching 300-315 and deadlifting 450 or 500 while maxing the pft is reasonable? Barely. Be honest with yourself and compare yourself to other genetically, much as I hate to say it.

There are guys that can do that. Alot of them typically are genetically above average as well. Most of the guys in boot camp that I remember were typically in the range of average. Very fit, but still in the average range. Maybe 1 in a couple hundred guys were what I would consider genetically superior. These were the guys with 6 packs that could do 100 pushups or hop onto the bench and do 225x15 and they didn't even specifically train to be capable of this.

I'll use me as an example. For building size and strength I am genetically above average. For endurance I'm in the middle of average, but with hard/consistent training I was able to get into the high average range of fitness(1.5 miles in 9 minutes or going for 10 mile jog).

When I was in bootcamp I could crank out 80+ pushups at will. I held the pushup position for nearly 20 minutes once. I had a pool of sweat about 3 feet in diameter underneath me. I wouldn't be surprised if I would have had trouble benching my bodyweight once either.

Anyhow, that's my thoughts on the subject. GL man.

 

[Tblock1]

You might consider changing your whole mindset in regards to lifting.

You have 3 days a week required morning pt. Plus you probably will do some more on your own.

Why not change the style of your weight lifting entirely and turn it into circuit style with like no rest. If you want something that will get you into uber shape I can personally attest to circuit style trainining with no rest between sets as being brutally effective.

Weight goes down alot, but this is probably the most effective training at boosting cardio, flushing lactic acid rapidly and increasing muscular endurance with a side bonus of being more result producing than circuit style calisthenics.

Imagine your calisthenics doing 10 sets of pushup, pullup, situps, leg raises, dips with no rest between sets as you go through the circuit. That will jack your heart rate up big time.

Now imagine doing a circuit of squat, bench, row, situps. Let's just guess 135lbsx10 on the squat and 115x10 on the bench, 50-60x12 on the db and situps x25. Now do 10 sets of all that with no rest between exercises and no rest between each circuit of exercises.

If you could do that you would be in insane condition and I actually wouldn't consider that weak because that is packing a shit ton of work into a very short period of time. I know the last time I did 5x10 on squats with 145lbs after the main heavy sets that it gassed the crap out of me.

Now imagine doing that weight workout I listed...

I would tailor your lifting to benefit your pt fitness. Trying to build max strength regardless of what you think is the complete opposite of your pt training. All the running and calisthenics can actually shift your fiber dominance and the way your cns fires impulses. It's the exact opposite of strength training. Not only that, but it makes getting a caloric surplus difficult and building strength without enough cals to induce growth increase drastically slows the rate of strength gain in most cases especially when you have an opposing training style conflicting with it.

Do I think your goals are impossible? No. Do I think benching 300-315 and deadlifting 450 or 500 while maxing the pft is reasonable? Barely. Be honest with yourself and compare yourself to other genetically, much as I hate to say it.

There are guys that can do that. Alot of them typically are genetically above average as well. Most of the guys in boot camp that I remember were typically in the range of average. Very fit, but still in the average range. Maybe 1 in a couple hundred guys were what I would consider genetically superior. These were the guys with 6 packs that could do 100 pushups or hop onto the bench and do 225x15 and they didn't even specifically train to be capable of this.

I'll use me as an example. For building size and strength I am genetically above average. For endurance I'm in the middle of average, but with hard/consistent training I was able to get into the high average range of fitness(1.5 miles in 9 minutes or going for 10 mile jog).

When I was in bootcamp I could crank out 80+ pushups at will. I held the pushup position for nearly 20 minutes once. I had a pool of sweat about 3 feet in diameter underneath me. I wouldn't be surprised if I would have had trouble benching my bodyweight once either.

Anyhow, that's my thoughts on the subject. GL man.

The thing is in regard to genetics I honestly think I have above average genetics for strength. I mean within 1 years of solid training I got to a 445x1 deadlift and later 405x5 and around a 275x1 deadlift, with 300x5 squat. That aint bad for 6-6'1 190 lbs. I would consider a 315 bench and 500 deadlift average at best for strength, and a 300 on the pft average at best for fitness. Here's how I think about it: I'm at a 291 out of 300 on the apft. I was at a 275 bench and 475 estimated 1rm deadlift. I just turned 18. Most of the lifters you see unless they have outstanding genetics are not that strong as teenagers but as soon as 18-25 hits they get jacked up. So basically I'm saying it shouldnt be hard to add 30 pounds to my bench and 25 pounds to my deadlift, while running 2 miles 24 seconds faster and busting out another 2 situps. However, I am back now so I'll probably have to add morel like 80 pounds to my bench and 90 pounds to my deadlift. That makes things harder.

However I love your idea of the circuit style lifting. I think I'm going to stick with the 5x5 for now, but soon I might start this:

MWF: morning pt and 5x5 in afternoon
Tu/Th: Tabata or fast circuit lifting
sa/su: run or pullups or rest

Thanks I really enjoy these discussions though and I appreciate all advice! Ghetto I think you should try the tabatas they can involve just about anything and are brutal fun!

Reminder to self: add wrist work in routine

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

You have made excellent progress in a year's training time. You are WAAAAY more advanced than I was at your age. It's not even close. I do keep forgetting you're only 18 so you still have filling out to do. You may be right that just as you naturally thicken up more that those numbers will come with it.

I wouldn't stress it too much.

I have heard about Tabata, but never seriously looked into it. I'll check it out. Right now my main stays are 5x5 variations and the current 5-3-1, but I am starting to broaden my training knowledge in regards to practical programs that work.

I'm actually tempted sometime in the future to run a Smolov squat cycle once just so I can say I did it. I hear it fuckin SUCKS, but will jack your squat up 1x like no other program.

P.S. Minor reality check for Tblock1. 300 bench and 500 deadlift are not average at best strength levels. For anyone with decent genetics that trains "soundly" aka 99% don't then those numbers are just decent. Keep in mind I have been lifting off and on for nearly 17 years. Almost as long as you have been alive and I would say the first 15 of those off and on years were training like a muscle mag retard with little to show for it. Walk into a typical Gold's Gym and just look around alot. RARELY will you see even decently built guys put up 300 or more on bench and even rarer to see someone deadlift 500 or more pounds.

300 bench and 500 dead in the competitive lifting world and elite athletes is average at best, but it's still significantly above your general gym rat and WAY WAAY above your average person that doesn't workout.

Anyhow, keep it going. Hopefully in a year or 2 you'll be posting logs benching 300+ and deadlifting 500+ weighing a solid 220 and can laugh at me when you announce your latest pft pr hah.

 

[Tblock1]

You have made excellent progress in a year's training time. You are WAAAAY more advanced than I was at your age. It's not even close. I do keep forgetting you're only 18 so you still have filling out to do. You may be right that just as you naturally thicken up more that those numbers will come with it.

I wouldn't stress it too much.

I have heard about Tabata, but never seriously looked into it. I'll check it out. Right now my main stays are 5x5 variations and the current 5-3-1, but I am starting to broaden my training knowledge in regards to practical programs that work.

I'm actually tempted sometime in the future to run a Smolov squat cycle once just so I can say I did it. I hear it fuckin SUCKS, but will jack your squat up 1x like no other program.

P.S. Minor reality check for Tblock1. 300 bench and 500 deadlift are not average at best strength levels. For anyone with decent genetics that trains "soundly" aka 99% don't then those numbers are just decent. Keep in mind I have been lifting off and on for nearly 17 years. Almost as long as you have been alive and I would say the first 15 of those off and on years were training like a muscle mag retard with little to show for it. Walk into a typical Gold's Gym and just look around alot. RARELY will you see even decently built guys put up 300 or more on bench and even rarer to see someone deadlift 500 or more pounds.

300 bench and 500 dead in the competitive lifting world and elite athletes is average at best, but it's still significantly above your general gym rat and WAY WAAY above your average person that doesn't workout.

Anyhow, keep it going. Hopefully in a year or 2 you'll be posting logs benching 300+ and deadlifting 500+ weighing a solid 220 and can laugh at me when you announce your latest pft pr hah.

But see that was my point. I'm not comparing myself to 300 pound powerlifters, but for someone of my weight and age who trains CORRECTLY a 315 bench and 500 deadlift are decent numbers but nothing special. Thanks a lot though ghetto I really appreciate you advice and encouragement. I love discussion like this I'm so glad I found ef I just don't have a ton of friends that are into good lifting

 

[miked8c]

On that note...

I have one friend who lifts like I do, who knows his ish and knows how to truly get big. Everyone else trains like a "muscle mag" retard, they do their curls for girls and try to pump up their arms that are attached to their skinny shoulders. This place is an oasis to me, filled with lifters who all share a common goal and are glad to help out. 95% of the kids I talk to don't know the most basic principles of lifting such as compounds or eat big get big, its ridonkulous. When my friends ask me my gym routine I dont even tell them what I honestly do cause they wont even get whyI do what I do.

 

[Tblock1]

Wednesday 9/15/10

Deadlift
5x135
5x205
5x250
5x290
1x345
1x385
1x405
0x425 (just wasnt feeling it today)
5x335

Military press
5x80
5x100
5x115
5x130

Pullups:
5 every 1:00 until failure:
got 8 sets

Comments: Good workout. I decided to try 405 just to make sure I could still hit it. The weights actually didn't feel too heavy. I would kill to be pulling 500 right now though