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My Training Log
- Thread starter amounirl
- Start date
5-10-12: DL DL
Power Clean
some light weights that I don't even remember. I think I did 135 for 5.
DL
10x225
8x275
6x315
Chin Ups
BWx5,5,5,6,10
Box Squat with 60 sec rest
5x135
5x185
Added belt
5x235
I don't think I did anything else besides this. I'm very glad I'm deloading because I know I wouldn't have been able to use real weights today, I'm super sore all over. I've noticed that since I added all this hamstring and lower back volume (GMs, Sumo DLs, and Box Squats) up to the point of getting severe DOMS, and started doing yoke walks, my spinal erectors have gotten wayyy noticeably bigger in the mirror and my legs have grown a lot bigger, as measured by a device called "Orbitape". Now I just need to rest so I can stop being sore and tired all the time. I'm happy that now I'm deloading with weights I've stalled at, 315 on the deadlift. I need to start doing chin ups more often, I feel them strengthening my bicep tendons a lot which will have some carryover to bench pressing, as well as getting some nice upper body hypertrophy. A few minor tweaks to my routine:
Saturday: Strongman
Monday: 5/3/1 Squat, 3x8 Good Mornings (60 sec rest, add 10 lbs every week), 5x10 Sumo deadlifts (60 sec rest, 1 set of 20 if I'm running short on time, progression outlined above, but basically adding 10 lbs every week), weighted abs
Tuesday: 5/3/1 Bench (light face pulls in between sets), 5/3/1 Pendlay Row, 3-5x8 dips (60 sec rest, add 1 set every week till I reach 5 sets, then add 1 rep with 3 sets), rear delts. Pull ups at home on my tree with dip progression, starting with 3x5.
Thursday: 5/3/1 Power Clean and Jerk, 5/3/1 Deadlift (chin ups and shoulder work in between sets of DLs), 5x5 box squat (sumo DL progression).
I'll be following this for the next month, then I might do a Smolov Squat cycle and hard bulk once summer starts, and finally I'll start my cutting routine (which I'm working on) after that's over.
Power Clean
some light weights that I don't even remember. I think I did 135 for 5.
DL
10x225
8x275
6x315
Chin Ups
BWx5,5,5,6,10
Box Squat with 60 sec rest
5x135
5x185
Added belt
5x235
I don't think I did anything else besides this. I'm very glad I'm deloading because I know I wouldn't have been able to use real weights today, I'm super sore all over. I've noticed that since I added all this hamstring and lower back volume (GMs, Sumo DLs, and Box Squats) up to the point of getting severe DOMS, and started doing yoke walks, my spinal erectors have gotten wayyy noticeably bigger in the mirror and my legs have grown a lot bigger, as measured by a device called "Orbitape". Now I just need to rest so I can stop being sore and tired all the time. I'm happy that now I'm deloading with weights I've stalled at, 315 on the deadlift. I need to start doing chin ups more often, I feel them strengthening my bicep tendons a lot which will have some carryover to bench pressing, as well as getting some nice upper body hypertrophy. A few minor tweaks to my routine:
Saturday: Strongman
Monday: 5/3/1 Squat, 3x8 Good Mornings (60 sec rest, add 10 lbs every week), 5x10 Sumo deadlifts (60 sec rest, 1 set of 20 if I'm running short on time, progression outlined above, but basically adding 10 lbs every week), weighted abs
Tuesday: 5/3/1 Bench (light face pulls in between sets), 5/3/1 Pendlay Row, 3-5x8 dips (60 sec rest, add 1 set every week till I reach 5 sets, then add 1 rep with 3 sets), rear delts. Pull ups at home on my tree with dip progression, starting with 3x5.
Thursday: 5/3/1 Power Clean and Jerk, 5/3/1 Deadlift (chin ups and shoulder work in between sets of DLs), 5x5 box squat (sumo DL progression).
I'll be following this for the next month, then I might do a Smolov Squat cycle and hard bulk once summer starts, and finally I'll start my cutting routine (which I'm working on) after that's over.
5-12-12: Saturday Strongman
Axle C/P
Worked up to 180 with 1 clean and 3 presses. I've done 200 before but I wasn't feeling it today, I couldn't get it past my belly.
Chain Yoke for 80 feet
Worked up to a run with 385 and stopped there.
Axle Deadlift
Worked up to 440 for a decent single, then attempted 500 and got it off the ground, but my grip started slipping and I lost it just below my knees. Video coming soon.
Axle C/P
Worked up to 180 with 1 clean and 3 presses. I've done 200 before but I wasn't feeling it today, I couldn't get it past my belly.
Chain Yoke for 80 feet
Worked up to a run with 385 and stopped there.
Axle Deadlift
Worked up to 440 for a decent single, then attempted 500 and got it off the ground, but my grip started slipping and I lost it just below my knees. Video coming soon.
5-14-12: 3x3 Squat
Squat
warmups
5x225
3x275
3x315
1x335
1x355
Good Mornings
3x8x155
Front Squat
155x5,6,8
Light Hamstring Flexion and hanging leg raise
For some reason my squat has been terrible these last few weeks, even 2 weeks ago I was able to do 2x3x335, which at the time I felt sucked, but today each rep was a grinder, even with 315. I'm going to have to reduce my squat training max, which is 390 right now, to about 365 because I can't even hit 5/3/1 requisite reps anymore. I think it might be that since I added box squats to my program my form has started to come together and I've started to sit back more and use my quads less and my glutes/hams more, and stop buttwinking and bouncing off my spine (see any squat video on my youtube channel "Amounirl"), so I'm still getting used to the new motor pattern and I need to strengthen a new set of muscles. Either that or I'm fatigued from basically going to failure on my 500 deadlift attempt this weekend. Probably both.
Good mornings are still going up, 10 lbs heavier than last week, and I threw in some light front squats to get used to the movement again. I'm going to have to start doing front squats again because my sticking point on the squat has changed from right in the hole to about 6 inches out of the hole with the new adjustments on my form. I felt like the hip extension was the weak link, so front squats should improve that as well as my deadlift lockout, which is where my sticking point on the deadlift has become since I started strengthening my back, which translated to better power off the floor. I usually do a light set of lunges and hamstring curls to warm up for a low body session because it opens up my hips and gets the blood flowing through my legs, so I'll do some light hip thrusts/bridges in addition to those as well.
Squat
warmups
5x225
3x275
3x315
1x335
1x355
Good Mornings
3x8x155
Front Squat
155x5,6,8
Light Hamstring Flexion and hanging leg raise
For some reason my squat has been terrible these last few weeks, even 2 weeks ago I was able to do 2x3x335, which at the time I felt sucked, but today each rep was a grinder, even with 315. I'm going to have to reduce my squat training max, which is 390 right now, to about 365 because I can't even hit 5/3/1 requisite reps anymore. I think it might be that since I added box squats to my program my form has started to come together and I've started to sit back more and use my quads less and my glutes/hams more, and stop buttwinking and bouncing off my spine (see any squat video on my youtube channel "Amounirl"), so I'm still getting used to the new motor pattern and I need to strengthen a new set of muscles. Either that or I'm fatigued from basically going to failure on my 500 deadlift attempt this weekend. Probably both.
Good mornings are still going up, 10 lbs heavier than last week, and I threw in some light front squats to get used to the movement again. I'm going to have to start doing front squats again because my sticking point on the squat has changed from right in the hole to about 6 inches out of the hole with the new adjustments on my form. I felt like the hip extension was the weak link, so front squats should improve that as well as my deadlift lockout, which is where my sticking point on the deadlift has become since I started strengthening my back, which translated to better power off the floor. I usually do a light set of lunges and hamstring curls to warm up for a low body session because it opens up my hips and gets the blood flowing through my legs, so I'll do some light hip thrusts/bridges in addition to those as well.
miked8c
New member
How far do you take your DLs when you fail?
Compared to most, I usually bail within the first few inches of the lift, its at that point where I can tell if it will be a clean single or a dirty one. Very very rarely will I try to pull a weight that I am not 100% positive will go up. Any max DL I have will be a 3 second lift tops, no grinders. Even if I could add ten lbs. to a max DL, there really would be no point, it wouldn't make me stronger, and it would be pretty obvious to myself, and those watching, that "yeah, I lifted the weight, but I really had to compromise my form to do it".
I would much rather pull a clean max, make it look easy, and be able to tell people with confidence that I can do it any day of the week.
As opposed to beating my head off the wall for a full minute prior to the lift, only to have it be a ten second grinder with back bending form.
Not trying to give you pointers, especially since we are the same age (roughly
). Just sharing with you a concept that I keep in mind when maxing and has proven to be a very good principle to lift by for myself.
Obviously this is easier said then done, especially when the weight you need to max out at determines whether or not the months of work you put in prior to the max was a waste, or time well spent.
Food for thought....
Compared to most, I usually bail within the first few inches of the lift, its at that point where I can tell if it will be a clean single or a dirty one. Very very rarely will I try to pull a weight that I am not 100% positive will go up. Any max DL I have will be a 3 second lift tops, no grinders. Even if I could add ten lbs. to a max DL, there really would be no point, it wouldn't make me stronger, and it would be pretty obvious to myself, and those watching, that "yeah, I lifted the weight, but I really had to compromise my form to do it".
I would much rather pull a clean max, make it look easy, and be able to tell people with confidence that I can do it any day of the week.
As opposed to beating my head off the wall for a full minute prior to the lift, only to have it be a ten second grinder with back bending form.
Not trying to give you pointers, especially since we are the same age (roughly
). Just sharing with you a concept that I keep in mind when maxing and has proven to be a very good principle to lift by for myself.Obviously this is easier said then done, especially when the weight you need to max out at determines whether or not the months of work you put in prior to the max was a waste, or time well spent.
Food for thought....
Good points for sure, I never compromise form but I always grind out as much as I can within good form. My lower back stays straight and I don't hitch in PL, only in Strongman, either way I never do anything that's going to hurt myself but I always give a lift 100% even if I'm not 100% sure I"m going to make it. When I get the video up you'll see
5-15-12: Bench 3x3
Bench
4 warmup sets paused no arch
3x190 paused no arch
3x215
added wraps
5x245 3 rep/20 lb PR!!!!!: Bench 245x5 - YouTube
1x255 paused
Close Grip Bench
2x3x225 paused
Pendlay Rows
5x135
3x160
5x185
10x155
Incline Dumbbell Bench
65s(130)x10,10,8
Fat Bar Dumbbell Rows
2x10x50s
Light Rear Delt Flyes, Chest Flyes, and Face Pulls between sets
Today I had an absolutely phenomenal workout, one of the best workouts I've ever had. I blasted through a bench plateau I've been struggling with for 2-3 months, and I attribute it to 3 things, the fact I lifted in the evening instead of in the morning 1 hr after waking up, the fact I took a deload week for the first time in months on my bench (since I was doing a linear 6x3 routine for a while before switching back to 5/3/1 for PL), and the fact that I did dips and DB bench last week (hypertrophy). My form felt absolutely solid today. Bodyweight was about 207 last night and right now it's about 205. I also might add that it only took me 30 mins to warm up and do my set with 245, and the whole workout was only 1 hr 30 mins. I think the short rest periods on GMs, Front Squats, and Box Squats have brought up my work capacity a lot.
I threw in some close grips with a pause for a little more volume, because my bench responds well to volume, and I liked them, I think they'll probably help give me more power at my sticking point (about 6 inches off my chest, almost half way up), as well as allowing me to use heavier weight, compared to JM presses and other tricep exercises, to overload my weak triceps. Pendlays were all right, no new PRs or anything. I threw in some incline dumbbell bench for 2 reasons, one of them is simply cosmetic (dat upper chest), but the other is that I feel using dumbbells gives me a lot of stability on my bench, which is something I could definitely use more of (look at my 250x2 video from 2 weeks ago).
The last real exercise (the flyes and face pulls were really light) I did was incredibly painful. I wrapped 3 socks around a 50 lb dumbbell to make a fat bar that was about 2-2.5 inches in diameter, then did 1 arm DB rows with it. I did really short rest periods, as in, I started with my left arm, went straight to my right after the set, then went straight back to my left. It was almost like a quadruple super set. Because the weight was relatively light, I kept the form pretty strict, yet I still felt it a lot on my forearms, rear delts, and lats. Good stuff, I'll definitely keep it in my routine. I like the dips as well, so I'm going to do those along with my chin ups on deadlift day in between sets.
Bench
4 warmup sets paused no arch
3x190 paused no arch
3x215
added wraps
5x245 3 rep/20 lb PR!!!!!: Bench 245x5 - YouTube
1x255 paused
Close Grip Bench
2x3x225 paused
Pendlay Rows
5x135
3x160
5x185
10x155
Incline Dumbbell Bench
65s(130)x10,10,8
Fat Bar Dumbbell Rows
2x10x50s
Light Rear Delt Flyes, Chest Flyes, and Face Pulls between sets
Today I had an absolutely phenomenal workout, one of the best workouts I've ever had. I blasted through a bench plateau I've been struggling with for 2-3 months, and I attribute it to 3 things, the fact I lifted in the evening instead of in the morning 1 hr after waking up, the fact I took a deload week for the first time in months on my bench (since I was doing a linear 6x3 routine for a while before switching back to 5/3/1 for PL), and the fact that I did dips and DB bench last week (hypertrophy). My form felt absolutely solid today. Bodyweight was about 207 last night and right now it's about 205. I also might add that it only took me 30 mins to warm up and do my set with 245, and the whole workout was only 1 hr 30 mins. I think the short rest periods on GMs, Front Squats, and Box Squats have brought up my work capacity a lot.
I threw in some close grips with a pause for a little more volume, because my bench responds well to volume, and I liked them, I think they'll probably help give me more power at my sticking point (about 6 inches off my chest, almost half way up), as well as allowing me to use heavier weight, compared to JM presses and other tricep exercises, to overload my weak triceps. Pendlays were all right, no new PRs or anything. I threw in some incline dumbbell bench for 2 reasons, one of them is simply cosmetic (dat upper chest), but the other is that I feel using dumbbells gives me a lot of stability on my bench, which is something I could definitely use more of (look at my 250x2 video from 2 weeks ago).
The last real exercise (the flyes and face pulls were really light) I did was incredibly painful. I wrapped 3 socks around a 50 lb dumbbell to make a fat bar that was about 2-2.5 inches in diameter, then did 1 arm DB rows with it. I did really short rest periods, as in, I started with my left arm, went straight to my right after the set, then went straight back to my left. It was almost like a quadruple super set. Because the weight was relatively light, I kept the form pretty strict, yet I still felt it a lot on my forearms, rear delts, and lats. Good stuff, I'll definitely keep it in my routine. I like the dips as well, so I'm going to do those along with my chin ups on deadlift day in between sets.
5-17-12: 3x3 Deads/posterior chain+upper body assistance
Muscle Clean/Jerk
3x135
3x155
3x175 2 rep PR
2x185 1 rep/10 lb PR
Deadlifts
warmups
3x335
3x395
3x435 5 lb PR
2x465 10 lb PR!
Did a bunch of random stuff in between sets of deads, most notably:
Dips
2x8xBW (206-210)
2x8xBW+10 (216-220)
1x12xBW
More or Less "Sternum" Chin Ups
3x5xBW
1x5xBW+10
1x8xBW
BoxSquat (Posterior Chain Hell Style)
5x195 for 4 sets with 60 sec rest
rest 90 sec, added belt
6x245
Had a good day today, I was training alone so I managed to get a lot done in just under 2 hours, and with minimal psyching up so that I can pull that "ace card" in competition. Deadlift lockout is definitely my weak point now, I don't even feel it in my lower back or quads anymore, it's mostly in the glutes/hips, and a little in the hamstrings and lats, so I'm going to start doing weighted hip thrusts and front squats more seriously now to work on that lagging muscle group at lockout. I did this little thing at the top of 465 which wasn't quite hitching, but it was borderline so it's not ideal to train that way for competition. I also was doing this SPF type thing on 435 where my hips were pretty much locked out at the top, but not as locked out as possible. Hopefully hip thrusts will be my magic ticket to solve those problems, box squats and GMs have helped me immensely off the floor, which was a previous sticking point for me. 175, 185, 435, 465, and 245 are all up on youtube:
Muscle Clean/Jerk 175x3 - YouTube
185x2 Muscle Clean/Jerk - YouTube
Deadlift 435x3 - YouTube
Deadlift 465x2 - YouTube
End of Posterior Chain Hell: Box Squat 6x245 - YouTube
I tried doing sternum chin ups and didn't really have the flexibility to get the bar all the way to the sternum, but my chin was well above the bar, and I felt it a lot more than normal chin ups, everywhere in my upper body, with less reps.
Muscle Clean/Jerk
3x135
3x155
3x175 2 rep PR
2x185 1 rep/10 lb PR
Deadlifts
warmups
3x335
3x395
3x435 5 lb PR
2x465 10 lb PR!
Did a bunch of random stuff in between sets of deads, most notably:
Dips
2x8xBW (206-210)
2x8xBW+10 (216-220)
1x12xBW
More or Less "Sternum" Chin Ups
3x5xBW
1x5xBW+10
1x8xBW
BoxSquat (Posterior Chain Hell Style)
5x195 for 4 sets with 60 sec rest
rest 90 sec, added belt
6x245
Had a good day today, I was training alone so I managed to get a lot done in just under 2 hours, and with minimal psyching up so that I can pull that "ace card" in competition. Deadlift lockout is definitely my weak point now, I don't even feel it in my lower back or quads anymore, it's mostly in the glutes/hips, and a little in the hamstrings and lats, so I'm going to start doing weighted hip thrusts and front squats more seriously now to work on that lagging muscle group at lockout. I did this little thing at the top of 465 which wasn't quite hitching, but it was borderline so it's not ideal to train that way for competition. I also was doing this SPF type thing on 435 where my hips were pretty much locked out at the top, but not as locked out as possible. Hopefully hip thrusts will be my magic ticket to solve those problems, box squats and GMs have helped me immensely off the floor, which was a previous sticking point for me. 175, 185, 435, 465, and 245 are all up on youtube:
Muscle Clean/Jerk 175x3 - YouTube
185x2 Muscle Clean/Jerk - YouTube
Deadlift 435x3 - YouTube
Deadlift 465x2 - YouTube
End of Posterior Chain Hell: Box Squat 6x245 - YouTube
I tried doing sternum chin ups and didn't really have the flexibility to get the bar all the way to the sternum, but my chin was well above the bar, and I felt it a lot more than normal chin ups, everywhere in my upper body, with less reps.
