My Training Log

[amounirl]

12-19-12: Strongman

Overhead Keg
A bunch of triples with 80 lb keg
3x105
4x130
0x155

Yoke Walk
Worked up to 455x50 ft

Loading onto ~55-60inch platform
150 lb sandbag followed by 200 lb sandbag, followed by failed attempt at 250 lb sandbag (couldn't even clear it off the ground)
150 lb sandbag for 3 reps
130 lb keg followed by 155 lb keg, 180 lb keg, 205 lb keg

Really fun day today. Lifting the keg overhead was really fun, although the 155 keg sucks because the handles are terrible, but otherwise it's good. Yoke walk was good, no chain yoke this time so it was a lot better, but it's still a somewhat ghetto set up so it wasn't perfect, not to mention everything felt numb because it was incredibly cold. Then loading stuff was really fun, although sandbags will always suck, especially with cold fingers and medium length nails. Then loading kegs was awesome, although I need to strengthen my hammer curl muscles to support my bones, my wrists and forearm bones were hurting after all the keg related stuff, especially the heavy ones we used for loading. Definitely good to be back training strongman. Next time I'll bring a jacket!

 

[Buildingup24]

^^^that looks fun^^^

Nice yoke walk. That's a badass grip

 

[amounirl]

It definitely was fun! Yoke is actually the one where you have it on your back so there's no grip involved, though we should be getting farmer's walk handles soon!

 

[amounirl]

12-21-12: Big 4 Apocalypse

Squat
Warm ups
315x3
345 for 3 singles

OHP
5x115
4x135 (should have been 3x130 but I wasn't thinking)
7x145 rest 30 sec 2x145
something like 3-4x5 pull/chin ups from between sets, again, wasn't thinking.

Deadlift
worked up to 405x7 (paused and resetted PR), VIDEO: Deadlift 405x7 - YouTube

Bench
worked up to 5x225 (3 paused 2 not paused)
135x26 not paused (3 rep PR)

Grip Holds
Worked up to 405x10 sec (no chalk, suuucked) mixed, and 315x10 sec double overhand

Shrugs
4x12x225
19x225 followed by 10x135

GREAT day today! Funny story, I was originally going to meet up at the 24 hour fitness I trained at this summer, but the guy at the front desk recognized me and so I couldn't do the 3 day trial, they were going to make me pay 10 bucks. It ended up being a positive though because I ended up training in my old gym (another 24 hour fitness, where thankfully they didn't recognize me), where I was mentored in powerlifting 1 year ago, with my training partner that I mentored over the summer. Squats felt a little strange but my technique was good, everything felt heavier than it should have so I assumed I was going to have a bad day. Then OHP felt very strong, matched my PR, might have had 8 but didn't want to hit failure, so I did some rest pause.

Deadlifts were also very strong. I think there are a lot of factors playing into this, namely the fact that the bar is smaller in diameter which allows me to accelerate it faster and keep it closer to my body. That makes a surprisingly big difference, even against the 4 negative factors, 1 I was wearing chucks so larger ROM than wrestling shoes, 2 I had no chalk, 3 I was wearing sweatpants (more friction less shin protection), and 4 I squat before hand (this may be a positive though because my hips were well warmed up-I'll start warming up my hips better before deads from now on). About the first negative factor though maybe I pull better in chucks because I get more leg drive. I'll have to experiment and figure it out. I'll probably do that this summer. But my technique problems started to happen when I switched to wrestling shoes. Then again around the same time the stress of school was starting to get to me and distract me from my workouts. Again I'll have to experiment with it and figure it out... this summer. Another factor that may have made today really good is that I feel a lot mentally sharper because there's so little going on right now so I can focus better on what I"m doing, compared to when I'm at school in the dorms. But anyways, it doesn't matter why, but I had a great deadlift session today.

Since I was training in my old gym which has the best benches I've ever used, and I've been using terrible benches the last 6 months, I decided to do some benching. I was obviously fatigued at this point but I still managed an OK set with 225, then got a PR with 135. Amazing what difference a good bench can make. Then I wanted to help my training partner out with his grip so we did some grip holds. My hands were killing me at this point so the numbers are by no means impressive. Then we had a shrugging contest to see whose traps were most mountainous and most beefy. Great day overall, definitely the funnest I've had training in a long, long time.

And in case you missed it, video!: Deadlift 405x7 - YouTube

 

[Buildingup24]

Sick session man. And yeah, quality training equipment is almost a necessity. I dislike hex plates and I wish I had a gym with a prowler, bumper plates, and a proper oly bar.

 

[amounirl]

That would be awesome to train at a gym with all that. This is my ideal gym:

Iron Sport Gym's Planet Fitness response - YouTube

 

[amounirl]

12-24-12: Upper Body Stuff

Bench (no reps paused except the last)
warmups
185x10
205x12
225x10: Bench 225x10 - YouTube only set with a belt, just wanted to wear it for the psychological advantage, though it wasn't really tight enough to make much of a difference

Pendlay Rows
135x10/10/10/10/15

Incline Bench
135x12/10/15

Pretty good session today. Got 2 pretty big bench PRs, although I'm a bit skeptical about them. Who knows though. I'm skeptical because the plates are from the 80s and really rusted, so they may be lighter than they actually are. I mean they feel just about right when you carry them but I"m always able to lift a lot more in the garage with this equipment than I can in normal gyms, so it may have something to do with it. Or maybe it's the fact that every time I've trained here I've been completely rested. Or it's the fact that the bench pins are literally the best I've ever used, I just pull it straight out of the rack and lose no tightness whatsoever. Plus last time I used this bench I only got 185x12, and though those reps were paused, I did 20 lbs more today, with the last rep paused, which means even relative to this bench I probably gained strength. I mean there's a million factors, but either way I'm happy with these PRs. I won't be dissappointed though if I go back to UCSB and the thick bars, low benches, and terrible hooks there (liftoff is incredibly hard) make it so I can't even hit half this many reps with these weights. Pendlays were pretty good. Again the weight felt pretty light, maybe because the plates are lighter, or maybe because I'm rested, or maybe because the bar is thinner, who knows? Then incline bench I was slightly stronger as well, but I was using a slightly lower incline than usual. Overall a great session. We ate a ton of turkey and rice afterwards. Did I mention I got my PR on video!?: Bench 225x10 - YouTube

Oddly enough I felt fairly sore in the lower body after bench today, maybe the belt made a difference. I also might mention that I was planning on squatting today but my lower body is incredibly tight from sitting all day so I really wasn't feeling it. Gonna do a 1 mile run tomorrow.

 

[amounirl]

12-26-12: Home Session

No strongman today, so I made a really annoyingly rickety set up using chairs and my portable pull up bar, along with 5 lb DBs, in my room for a workout. I cycled like this: Pull ups->dips->side raises (little 5 lb DBs slow style)->1 legged squats with the 5 lb DBs. I did about 4 or 5 rounds, might have skipped a few by accident but basically just working all my muscles. I did 2-3 extra sets of pull ups. So I basically did 5-7 sets of 6 pull ups (1 set of chins the rest were hammer grip), 4 or 5 sets of 10 dips, 3 to 5 sets of side raises (10-15 reps), 3 to 5 sets of 10 1 leg squats plus 1 unweighted set I believe. Again, not really too exact just looking for a good pump and getting the muscles a little sore. Then after all of the above I did a set of 12 slow incline push ups, then 15 rear delt raises, 15 side raises, then 6 rear delt raises but then my traps were dead and I couldn't get a 7th. With 5 lb DBs. Overall just making sure I don't atrophy my muscles. Legit gym training coming up on Friday. Been sitting around a lot so I look like shit, until I lift, then the blood gets flowing and I look the same as normal. Excited to start my cut in January. Feeling all right after typing this, gonna go do a set of about 6 wide grip pull ups.

 

[NoFatChicks91]

Your squats are disgusting. In a good way lol. Dude you are gettin strong as fuck. Your back looks monsterous in your avi. No homo of course. And dude weighing in at 200 is very commendable if you ask me. Im between six foot 3 and six foot 4 and I was fighting for 200. Im 183 now haha

Sent from my SPH-L710 using EliteFitness

 

[amounirl]

I first read that my squats were disgusting and was like what??? Haha thanks man, much appreciated. Being 200 is fun but I'm definitely cutting next month, tired of not looking as good as I can if I was leaner, plus if I was at 8% my testosterone would be a lot higher, which would make everything in life better, including strength/muscle gains. At 6'3/4 you have potential to look monsterous, 240 lbs lean natty if you put the time in.