Training Logs

Been a little busy at work with the new job so I dont have much time to blog my workouts anymore so here is a backlog.

I've been conditioning a bit more and changed my lifting just recently after some time off to Jim Wendler's 5-3-1 training. I think it will give me a better chance to recover and let me continue to condition.


Wave 1 Military Press

Military Press Reps Weight 1RM
Assistance: 5 65
Dips x 50 5 85
Chinups x 50 3 100
5 110
5 125
(5+)9 140 180

Wave 1 Deadlift


Deadlift Reps Weight 1RM
Assistance: 5 140
RDL 5x10 5 175
Knee Raise 5x10 3 210
5 225
5 260
(5+)11 295 409


Mondays and Tuesday I've been doing a 4-5 km run in the scorching sun...

Thursday and Friday I'm doing sprints up a steep toboganning hill (worked up to 10 so far)

Here is a backlog of a few workouts done...

Friday May 7, 2010

5.89 km outdoor run testing out my new shoes - I'm not posting the time lol


Saturday Strength Training

BP

3x325
4x325
4x325
3x325

1x360
22x245

Cable Row

12x155
10x185
8x205
6x225
6x225
3x245

Reverse Grip Push Press

10x95
10x135
8x145
4x175
2x175

Superset (3 rounds)

8 assisted Chin Ups
Dips to fail
Narrow Position Push ups to fail



=====================================================================================

Sunday Lower Body ME

Deadlifts

315x3
315x4
315x4
315x3

385x1 (failed)
Tried again...
385x1 Got it! (Removed my straps)

Lunges

135x10
135x10

Calf Toe Press

3 sets of 15-20

Dumbell RDL's

3 sets of 8-10

================================================================================

Monday Treadmill Run

Run Intervals

10 minute warm up jog

30s x 5.0/5.3/5.6/5.0/5.3/5.6 then 3 min walk (3 rounds)

There must be a reason for this in the program because its far too easy.

Rep Cycle #2

The other rep cycle day I wanted to focus on was deadlifting and posterior chain.

Love it!

Deadlifts

Dynamic lifts with lightweight and Stretching.

Set 1 3x295
Set 2 3x295 (no shoes)
Set 3 3x295 (no shoes)
Set 4 3x295 (no shoes)
Set 5 3x365 (no shoes)
Set 6 1x425 (grip was fatigued, pulled to my knees but it failed)

Standing Ham Curls

3 sets of 10 @ 120 each leg

Shrugs

15x315
3 sets of 10 @ 405

Hammer Curls (60 seconds between sets)

3 sets 12 @ 50

Barbell Curls (3 second hold and flex at the top) (60 seconds between sets)
3 sets of 8 @ 90

Cable Curls Single Arm (60 seconds between sets)

e sets of 10 @ 35


Cardio

Run Intervals on the treadmill for 30 minutes (done 60 minutes after my lifting workout)

New Cycle

Started off my new lifting cycle today.

I'm dropping a large component of squatting for the next 10 weeks since I'm trying to develope my running fitness, I just dont feel like my legs can take it.

I'll be deadlifting instead to try and get that a little stronger.

I'll be squatting once a week and mostly for reps (1 set, 225x AMRAP)..

Saturday's Workout

Warm up of the day ....... Some roller work and dynamic stretching.


Bench Press

Set 1 - 325x3
Set 2 - 325x3
Set 3 - 325x3
Set 4 - 325x3
Set 5 - 365x1 (wrong number was supposed to be 355)
Set 6 - 245x25 (as many reps as possible)

1 POC Dumbell Rows

100x10
100x10
100x10
100x10

Lat Pull downs

2x12@ 165

Facepulls

4 sets of 20 at 42.5 with an underhand and overhand grip.

Dips

4 sets of 15

Run Circuit on the treadmill (last set of week 4)

Treadmill Run Intervals

Been a long time since I've made a post but that doesnt mean I havent been working out.

I've taken a week to deload this week and I'm basically just doing two workouts this week using body weight.

20 pushups
20 assisted pullups (im getting there)
20 horizontal pullups
20 underhanded facepulls
20 overhanded facepulls
20 squats with just the barbell
20 leg lifts
20 dips
30 second sprint on the treadmill with the power off (like a light prowler push)

2 minute break

Repeat x 3

Lastly, in an effort to improve my ability to run and to eventually be able to obtain a Level 6 on the 20m shuttle run I've started a 4 month treadmill training program.

Week 1 and 2 are the same.

30 second intervals at 4.7, 5.0, 5.3, 5.6, 5.9, 6.2 mph then walk 3 minutes.

That counts as one set, and the idea is to perform 3. This workout is done 4 times a week.

The first week was REALLY easy.

This week at the end of the 3rd set I walk 3 minutes and then I've added 60 second intervals in the following order.

60 seconds at 5.0
60 second at 5.6
60 seconds at 6.4
60 seconds at 6.8

As the weeks progress, the intervals get longer, the speeds get faster and the walking rest time diminishes.

Feb 16 - Legs/Back/Bi's - Monster Squat!

Squats

Warm up - 10x135, 10x225

Working sets (box squatting to a bench on a plate)

3x315 (wayyy too easy)
2x395
1x405 FAST! (Last time I tried this I couldnt get it up and it crashed to the floor)

Leg Press

4 sets 12x735

One arm DB Row

12x70 (1 point of stability)
12x90 (1 point of stability)
10x90 (no point of stability! CORE!)
8x90 (1 point of stability)

Barbell Rows

4 sets of 10 @ 100 lbs

Feb 15 - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Great workout today!



Bench Press

30x135,20x225

5x335
5x335
5x340
5x345

3 minutes between sets

Incline Press

3x250
2x275
1x315

2 minutes between sets

Push Press

10x140
10x140
10x140
10x140

90 seconds between sets

Tricep Pushdowns

4 sets of 12x97.5 (full stack)

DB Kickbacks

4 sets 10x30's

Conditioning

4 rounds of burpee 21's (pure hell)

Feb 14 - Cardio?

I've almost forgotten what cardio is, and unless I plan on never being able to run 5km anymore I better buck up and get too it I thought.

This was supposed to be a rest day, so I took it a bit easy here.

20 minute bike (Level 10, Random Leveling, Maintain avg HR of 120-125 BPM)

10 minute mile. Some may consider this slow, but I was totally gased. I kept a pace of 6.0 for 10 minutes. Not too shabby for a gigantic man of my stature.

I need to work this down to an 8 minute mile and eventually to 1.5 miles in 11 minutes.

Feb 13 - Squat Reps

Spur of the moment workout so my energy was not completly there.


Squats

Warm Up 15x135, 12x225 (Deep and narrow stance)

Working Squats (Wider Stance, knees flared out on the decent, slightly leaned forward to encourage a huge hip drive)

5x275
5x295
5x305
5x315
4x315

Deadlifts

Since my lower spine is basically a slinky I took it easy.

8x225
8x225
8x225
8x225

DB Rows

12x85's
12x95's
12x105's
8x105's

Hammer Curls

10x40's
10x45's
10x50's
8x55's

Incline Curls

8x35s
8x35s
8x35s

Overall I was lacking this day.

Feb 11 - Bench Freak, Day 4 Week 1

I had to work out at a different time of day for this one so I didnt feel like I was adequately fueled for it. It shows a bit too.

Bench Press

Warm Up
30x135
20x225

Working Sets

3x365
2x385
1x395 (needed a little momentum boost from the spotter)

*3 minute rest

Incline Press

5x235
5x245
5x250
5x255

*2 minute rest

DB Shoulder Press (Seated)

12x55
12x70
12x70
8x70

*2 minute rest

Close Grip Bench Press

10x225
10x225
10x225
8x225

*60 second rest

Skull Crushers

8x50
8x50
8x50

*60 second rest

Feb 9 - Day 2 Week 1 - Legs/Back/Bi

Warm Up (5 minutes bike, body squats, squats @ 135 and 3 225)


Squats

3@315 lbs
2@345 lbs
1@365 lbs

Squats were nice and deep, I used a bench on the last set just incase and I will definitly be increasing weight next week. Good hip drive!

3 minutes 30 seconds between sets

Leg Press

12@520 lbs
12@610 lbs
12@610 lbs
12@610 lbs

2 minutes between sets

Bent Over Rows

4 sets of 8 @ 155 lbs

2 minutes rest between sets

Straight Bar Curls

10@65 lbs
10@95 lbs
10@95 lbs
10@95 lbs

60 second rest between sets

Concentration Curls

10@30's
10@30's
10@30's
10@30's

60 seconds between sets

Fantastic workout. My quads were fried and I'm really happy with the squats after watching some coaching videos on youtube about form correction.

Feb 08 - Day 1 Week 1 - Bench

Bench Press

5x315, 5x325, 5x325, 4x330

Incline Barbell Press

3x225
2x250
1x295

Push Press

4 sets of 10 at 135

Tricep Pushdown

10x100,10x110,10x120,10x130

DB KickBacks

10x25's,10x20,10x20,10x30

Feb 3 - Dynamic Effort Legs

My overall feeling before I started this workout was "BLEH"

Warm Up

15x135,15x205

Dynamic Effort Squats

10 sets, 2 reps 255 lbs. Good Speed!

60 seconds between sets

Power Cleans

1x135, 1x155, 1x185, 1x185, 1x185 (60 second rest)

Core Circuit

60 seconds of each

DB Windmills Left
DB Windmills Right
Elbow Plank
Pushup Plank
Knee Raises

One Armed High Pull Snatch

1 rep on each side

55 lbs
75 lbs
85 lbs
100 lbs (fail to get over head)
95 lbs (fail to get over head)

I had elapsed 40 minutes at that point and had to go so I didnt do hamstrings.

Feb 1- Maxiumum Effort Bench Press

Had a partner at last!

Warm up Bench

30x135, 20x225, 4x315, 3x335

Working sets

1x385, 1x395, 1x405 (CLEAN! Woohoo!)

Dumbell Floor Presses

15x100's, 15x100's, 10x110's

Barbell Rows

15x135, 12x155, 8x205

SuperSets (Front Raises, Banded Pulldows, PushUp-Row-Crawl)

10 FR's
25 Pulldowns
5 yard crawl

2 sets 45 second break

Still sore on wednesday morning!!

January 29 - Dynamic Effort Lower body

Box Squaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats!

225, 235, 245, 255

10 sets of 2 (First 4 working up)

Power Cleans

1x135, 1x145, 1x155, 1x165 (I was SUPER explosive on these, loved it)

Core Circuit (with explanation)

This was cool! I basically did each excercise for 60 seconds with a 60 second break in between.

DB Windmills (left side)
DB Windmills (right now)
Side Planks (left side)
Side Planks (right side)
Rollouts
Hanging knee raises

Banded Ham-Glute Raises

4 sets to failure (6-8 reps)

1 Legged RDL with Dumbells

4 sets 8 reps each leg with 45's.

January 28 - Maximum Effort Upper Body

Bench Press

Warm Up

30x135, 20x225, 6x315

Working Sets

2x340, 1x365, 1x385, 1x405 (had a momentum issue)

Chin Ups (I'm trying!)

-85 of BWx4, -100 of BWx5, -85 of BWx4, -85 of BWx3

DB Skull Crushers

20x40, 12x50, 10x50, 10x50

Push Press - Barbell (Reps)

20x95, 15x115, 10x135 (Definitly need to up this weight next time.

Pushup-Row-Dumbell Crawl

Hard to explain this one but you get into a pushup position off two dumbells on the floor, perform one push up and then do a 1 armed row with the dumbell off the floor. When you return the dumbell to the floor you move it forward so the back end is parallel to the front end of the opposite arm and crawl forward. This is not only a great pushing and pulling excercise but its also tremendous for core strength.

I started with 55's because I thought I would have no problem rowing those, but I did have a problem because my core stability is nowhere near that level. I was able to get 6 reps on each side in before I failed out for the day.

Next time I try this excercise I'll be trying with 35's to get as many reps in as I can and possibly even crawl 10 yards or so.

Things I'm looking for.

If you have a "prowler" or access to one, let me know because I want to workout with one.



I also really want to work out from time to time with an Atlas Stone. Got one? Let me know. Or if you can recommend something I could use as a replacement.

Havent decided yet whether Im going to do ME Bench or DE Squats tonight, but its going to be a nice big workout followed by a few rounds of tabada if I can get my hands on a nice kettlebell.

January 26 - Dynamic Bench

Keep movnig that percentage up week by week....Feels Great!

Warm Up Bench

30x135, 15x225

Dynamic Bench Press (60% 1RM this week)

8 sets of 3 using 60% of my 1RM which felt like around 250 pounds this week.

60 second rest between sets.

Finished with a 6 rep press of 315 for kicks.

Delta Tricep Extension
4 sets of 20 using 35's.

Front Raises

20x25, 15x30, 10x35, 10x35

Banded tricep pulldowns

4 sets of 2 with double red bands

Bent Over Dumbell Rows

10x90, 10x90, 10x90, 10x85

Hammer Curls

10x50, 10x50, 8x50

No conditioning today...all together took 45 minutes!

Jan 25 - Heavy Leg Workout + Conditioning

I did not try to meet any 1RM max's so I just kept things around 5-6 reps because of a charlie horse in my ASS.

Squats

Warm Up 20x135, 15x225, 10x275

6x315, 1x365, 6x315, 6x325

Good Mornings

6x225, 6x225, 8x185

Weighted Crunches

4 sets to failure

Javorek Complex

Upright Row
High Pull Snatch
Squat Thruster
BentOver Row
High Pull Snatch

6 reps of each makes 1 set. No rest between excercises, 60 seconds between sets. Goal is for 5 sets (I died at 4.5).

500 M Row for time - 1:43

I also wanted to add in here that my girlfriend Stephanie attempted the 500 m row for the first time and she did way better than I expected. She completed the row in 2:20 seconds. Good you for you Stephy. Also, my sister did the row and finished in 1:58.

Double Post - Jan 22 and 23.

Jan 23 - Max Bench

Tired on a Friday night, but figured I'd give it a whirl.

Bench Press

Warmed up with 30x225, 5x315, 3x315, 3x315 (Full Bench)

Switched to 2 board presses.

2x365, 1x385, 1x385, 1x395 (failed) (3 minute rest)

Incline Dumbell Presses

10x100's, 10x90's, 10x90's, 8x95's (90 second rest)

Band pulldowns and facepulls supersetted

4 supersets of 25 reps each with a 60 second pause

Dips

3 sets to failure with body weight (I was lucky to get 7 dips)

Jan 23 - Hos-Style Conditioning!

My first hostyle conditioning since before Christmas when I injured my back.

Plank-Hell

30 seconds Plank
30 seconds mystery excercise (Body Squats, Pushups, Pushup Planks, Knee Raises, Pelvic thrusts, my nemesis - Burpess, annnnnnd Jumping Jacks? I think thats it)

Alternating....for 29 minutes and 45 seconds.

Finished with a 1:40 500 M Row. (I think that was my time)

January 21 - Dynamic Squats

I lacked emotion prior to this workout but it slowly built up. I was more concentrated on when and how I was going to reach 300 kills with my TAR-21 Assault riffle in MW2 than I was on squatting. (BTW I got it last night when my lovely girlfriend granted me 20 minutes of gametime while she showered...) lol...

As the workout progressed my focus changed though.

Dynamic Squats

10 sets of 2 reps at 60% of my 1RM.

I went really nice and deep on this and had plenty of speed and power, had to hold the bar tight on my shoulders to keep it from bouncing up! 60 second rest between sets as per usual.

Power Clean/Squats

1x135, 1x155, 1x170, 1x170, 1x185, 1x185 60 seconds between each

I tried to work on form here since I had never really done this before. Basically I would powerclean the barbell into a from squat position and then dip down for a squat. Very dynamic movement, I love it! Aside from smashing my mp3 player that was in my pocket I was very satisfied with those lifts for my first go at it.

Abs

Leg lifts 3x15
Pulley weighted crunches on a swiss ball 3x15

Pullthroughs

4x20

January 20 - Conditioning "Hostyle"

This was a great conditioning workout.

I started with 5 minutes on the bike to warm up because my legs felt like they had concrete poured in them.

Javorek Complex

Upright Rows
Hang Cleans
Squat Thrusters
Good Mornings
Bent Over Rows

6 reps of each excercise concurently, for 5 total sets with a 60 seconds rest between sets. This got my sweat on nicely. Performed the lift with 35 pound dumbells which was a challenge on some and way to easy on others.

Burpees - 10 reps
Pushups - 20 reps
Body Squats - 30 Reps

I did as many of these cycles as I could in 11 minutes.

I ended up going through the cycle three full times and was 6 burpees into my 4th.

500 M Row - For time - in 2:07

January 19 - Dynamic Bench

First of all, I'd like to start off by saying this Im writting this the morning of January 20th and I feel like I've been hit by a mack truck after only 2 and a half weeks of doing this workout program. I'm giving it 2 more weeks with some serious rest time and then switching to the "Bench Freak" workout program.

So last night...

Warm Up

Dynamic Bench

Using 60% of my 1RM AND band resistance I did 8 sets of 3 reps for speed.

Lat Pulldowns

5 sets of 10 @ 190 lbs (75 second rest in between)

Incline Dumbell Press

10x100's, 7x100's, 12x85's (75 second rest in between)

J-Movement Skull Crushers with dumbells

10x45's, 10x45's, 10x45's, 10x45's, 8x45's (60 second rest in between)

Banded Tricep Pull downs

4 sets of 25 (60 second rest)

I was TOAST.

January 18 - Max Out Squat

Max Out Squat

10X135, 10x225, 5x315, 3x335, 2x355, 1x355, 3x315, 3x315

Back Extensions with a 45 pound plate.

4x10

Eccentric body weight ham and glute curls

3 sets of 6-8 reps

January 16th - Bench Press Seminar

I attended a bench press Seminar on the 16th of January with Curd Hos at fitness warehouse.

It was a great chance to have someone as knowledgable as Curd critique and correct my stance, form and posture while benching.

I was able to work up to a paused bench press of 405 pounds that touched my chest.

I also enjoyed working out with other people as enthusiatic about powerlifting and bench pressing as I am, since I usually work out alone.

I'm going to start the Bench Freak workout program in about 5 weeks once I've worked a bit more on my westside techniques and my speed.

January 15 - Dynamic Squat Day

Box Squats - Done for speed @ 55% of my 1RM

10 sets of 2 @ 210 lbs

Pin Pulls (pulling the weight off an elevated level, simulating the lock out stage of a deadlift and focus primarily on the lower back and glutes)

15x205, 12x305, 10x405, 8x495

Pull-throughs

3 sets of 15 @ 140 pounds on the pulley.

Weighted Crunches

3 sets of 15 crunches with a 45 pound plate extended above my chest

January 13 - Max Bench Press

I didn't get the proper pre workout meal, hadn't eaten for a good 3-4 hours so I wasn't feeling like I was all there on this day, my back started to bother me after lunch too. I'm not making excuses, I just feel that physically I could have left more on the floor.

Bench Press

Warm Up

10x225, 4x315, 3x335, 3x335

Working Sets

1x375, 1x385, 1x395, 1x400(fail)

Banded Pulldowns

3 sets of 20-25 using two red bands

Dumbell Rows

10x100's, 12x100's, 12x100's

Dumbell floor presses

18x100's, 16x100's, 14x100's

Facepulls with the double red band

3 sets of 25

January 12 - Max Out Squat Work

When training with WestSide Barbell you basically squat and bench twice a week, once for speed and once for strength.

This was my Max Out squat day. Squats are my weakest lift in comparaison and something I really want to improve on...so here goes!

Box Squats

Warm Up 10X135 10X225 6X315 1X 365 1X 375 1X385(Failed and the weight went crashing down behind me)

Barbell Lunges

4 sets of 12 reps off each leg @ 135

Good Mornings

10x225, 8x245, 6x255, 4x275

Given my recent back pain issues I thought this was pretty good and I felt great afterwards too.

Glute-Ham Raises

It was tough for me to find something to log my legs in but I did my best and work the eccentric part of the movement. It uses your body weight.

I did 4 sets of about 5 reps.

Elevated Crunches

4 sets of 12 using a 20 pound medicine ball extended by my arms over my chest.

January 10 - Dynamic Bench Press

Again dynamics are done for speed.

Bench Press

8 sets of 3 reps with 245 pounds and a red band on each side. 60 second break between sets.

Lock-Outs

Just the top few inches of the bench press motion and work on locking out the weight.

3 sets of 10 at 525 pounds on the smith machine..

Pull downs

With the red bands (one in each hand)

3 sets of 20

Incline dumbell Press

3 sets of 12 @ 100 lbs dumbells

Lat pulldowns

3 sets of 12 @ 187.5 pounds

January 8 - Dynamic Effort Squats

I'm changing up my training over the next few months and I've decided to start training with the "Westside Barbell" training method.

I've got myself setup with some bands and soon I'll have myself setup with some chains too.

Today was a Dynamic Effort Squat workout. So basically what that means is that I tried to focus on speed through my squat and then use supplementary excercises that would assist me in squatting.

Box Squats

I did 10 sets of 2 reps at 55% of my 1 rep MAX

Pull throughs

4 sets of 15 with a Red Band

Smith Machine One legged lunges

3 sets of 10

Back extension with a 45 pound plate

3 sets of 10

Crunches with a 20 pound medicine ball

3 sets fo 15

January 4

I havent blogged in a while but I have been working out.

I haven't done a crossfit as my back has been bugging me a little bit since I did a big deadlift a few weeks back.

Over new years I spent 30 minutes a day on the treadmill first thing in the morning running to stimulate my fat burning.

I got back into the gym today and had a pretty nice bench press workout...It goes as follows...

30 reps at 135
20 reps at 225
5 reps at 335
5 reps at 335
5 reps at 335
8 reps at 315

I took a grip of the middle finger along the marker.

Rested a full 2 minutes between sets with my GymBoss timer.

I had a pretty nice pump after that.

I moved over to the incline bench press and did 3 sets of 8 at 225 pounds.

After that I did 3 sets of dips to failure which ranged from 12-15 reps with 45 seconds of rest between sets and then did a slight cool down on the triceps with some pull downs.

Felt pretty good after that and had a nice pump too!