Meat and Barbells: The tales of a wannabee strength athlete

[monopoly]

Still logging workouts.

Not too much to report. A tweaked knee and forearm knocked me out of all 3 comps.

I recently turned 32 and allow myself to do something stupid every year on my birthday.
This year was 32 push jerks with 301lbs. Hit all the reps in under 40 minutes but it's also what jacked up my forearm. Have some video and will get it up. Got busy with work so between that and the kid I have been just hitting lighter bb style workouts 3 times a week.

 

[monopoly]

Still training!

The kid def put a damper on things and I was also ready for a break from training and eating.

Weight is back up to 260 and lifts are going back up as well. Was on a really nice roll until I got sick over the weekend so today is the first day I will "miss" in 6 weeks now.

 

[monopoly]

Have continued training and things are going well for the most part!

Bought the EliteFTS make a wish holiday books and am running a 6 week program from John Meadows. Doing my own thing for leg training/lower body as the last thing I want right now is my legs to get any bigger. Stronger yes. Bigger, no.

Have had some great sessions lately.

PR overhead squat 115kg no belt with more left.

Back squat 315x15 with belt/wraps - crazy thing here is I had previously done 365 for 4 doubles and they all felt like shit (no belt/wraps) Put on the belt/wraps and destroyed the 315. Total mental thing going on with the wraps, I feel so much more stable with them.

Easy 495 deadlift after the above squatting - most since my most recent tweak

Bench 275 5x5 all paused

Really just logging these down for a marker and future reference. Going to finish out the 6 weeks of this program and then will possibly start meet training for a USPL meet here in May. Bodyweight back up to 262. I dropped down to 250 when I was sick and have managed to drag it up again. Trying hard to now max out on anything right now.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

 

[monopoly]

I'm committing to a meet, May 10th. Had to test my maxes. 435 squat, 360 bench, 570 deadlift. Fuck. Fucking pathetic. I could do a writeup and explanation of why each of those lifts suck so bad, but I'm not going to waste my time or yours.

Start training and prep on Monday, have hired Josh Bryant again to do all of my workouts and diet. Goal is to total raw elite at 275. I have 19 weeks to train and I feel like if I stay healthy I can do it.

 

[monopoly]

I had my last fuckaround day on Saturday and felt pretty good.

Push Jerk: up to 330. I think more was there but this was a good lift and I was happy to hit it. I think this is a push jerk PR?

Axle clean: man, these were tough. went up to 120kg for some doubles.

Box jump: Some of the highschool kids were working with our oly coach, I figured I would jump in. Worked up to 50" which is a PR for sure, was super happy with this.

Starting with Josh this week, I have moved my bench day from Monday to Tuesday in order to train with someone else so I hope it works out. This is the first time in probably 10 years I do not have planned workouts on Monday night!!

 

[monopoly]

1/12 - 1/18

1/13 Bench:
Pathetic day. 300x4,2,2. All accessory work. Not sure what was off today but it was moving very slow

1/15 Accessory Lower body:
Brutal lower body day. Belt squats, 1 leg leg press, split squats, GHR and leg curls. Was sore for days

1/17 Accessory Upper body:
Much better day today. Second movement was 2 board bench, hit 310 for 15 reps touch and go

1/18 Squat/Dead:
Squat: 365x5x2, Deadlift 440x1x12 then accessory stuff

Overall a good first week. I'm back bitches :headbang:

 

[monopoly]

A good second week in the books. Got some treatment and will continue this on either a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I think it's almost necessary at this stage of my lifting.

1/20 Bench:
Better than last week. 310x5,4,2. All accessory work.

1/22 Accessory Lower body:
Belt squats, 1 leg leg press, split squats, GHR and leg curls. Very tough workout

1/24 Accessory Upper body:
Was weaker today than last week. Food intake was down on Thurs/Fri so I am guessing this was the reason.

1/18 Squat/Dead:
Squat: 375x5x2, Deadlift 455x1x12 then accessory stuff

 

[monopoly]

Dbol must be kicking in. Running it at 30mgs a day, first time using it. My low back BLEW UP on my accessory lower body day. So bad I couldn't finish the workout.

1/27 Bench:
320x7,4,3. (all of the benches are being paused) All accessory work.

1/29 Accessory Lower body:
Belt squats, 1 leg leg press, split squats

1/31 Accessory Upper body:
Better day. 345x9 3 board bench touch and go. Lot's more here, this was a bad set.

1/18 Squat/Dead:
Squat: 390x5x2, Deadlift 480x1x12. Accessory work. Best the squat has felt. I was feeling beat up. Put belt on for dead lift. First 5 lifts sucked, 8 and 9 were my best reps. All around it was a good day and a good week. Time for a deload now.

 

[monopoly]

Had a deload week that was needed more than I realized. Came back the next week feeling fresh and strong.

2/10 Bench:
330x4,3,2. (all of the benches are being paused) All accessory work.

2/13 Accessory Lower body:
Leg press, 1 leg leg press, split squats

2/14 Accessory Upper body:
360x6 3 board bench paused. Very strong today, overhead felt good and a good arm workout as well

2/15 Squat/Dead:
Squat: 405x5x2, Deadlift off blocks at knees: 500/530x1. Deadlift: 495x1x6. Accessory work. Just walked through the squat, felt very good. 3 of the 6 pulls were very solid as well.

2/17 - Bench - Feeling pretty darn good overall. Bodyweight is up to 278! Eating is going pretty well. Running 750 sust and 30mgs day/dbol. Happy with how things are going so far, if it continues in this fashion I will be in position to have a good meet and hit my goal.

 

[monopoly]

One more week down! All in all, a brutal week. Feeling really beat up but was strong for all workouts.

2/17 Bench: Top set 340 for 5, paused. Lots of heavy accessory work today.

2/19 Accessory lower: Took it a bit easier today. Right knee has been acting up a bit so I changed a few things to try and work around it.

2/21 Accessory upper: VERY strong today. Seated db overhead - 90x15 with more reps in the tank. 3 board bench 375 for 7. Weighted dips 5x5 @80lbs. Then arms. Just crushed it today but was soon to pay the price....

2/22 Squat/dead: Oh boy, this is not good. Could not get warmed up, loose, feeling good. Spent 30 minutes on warmup and the bar just felt horrible squatting. Top sets were 415x5x2. Second set was better than the first. Form held up, but man it was painful. I almost quit during the deadlift warmups. Put on a belt and had to really get up for the lifts, but they moved pretty good actually. Up to 545 for 1 on a block pull then 6 singles from the ground at 500. Cut out almost all the accessory work because I was shot and so happy to get through today without injury.

Today is Monday and I'm still feeling like I got runover. Bench should be interesting tonight. Here is a back shot from last week at 279.

 

[monopoly]

2/24 Bench: Top set 350 for 5, paused. Elbows were feeling very beat up. There is more bench work after this and heavy JM presses.

2/26 Accessory lower: Basically used today as a rehab/prehab. Everything felt terrible. Lots of wall squats, foam rolling, band work, GHR, stretching, etc.

2/28 Accessory upper: Could tell it was time for a deload. Seated DB press, 95 for 10 today and it felt VERY heavy compared to the 90 for 15 last week. 3 board bench 395 for 7. Also today there are weighted dips which did not feel good.

3/1 Squat/dead: 435x5x2 on squat. Block pulls 1" below knee, 530x1, 565x1. Deadlift 505x1x6. Mixed bag. Tried new wraps on the squat. First pair I hated, second pair was better and the second set was much better as a result. Deadlifts moving very slow off the ground then they rocket up.

Some notes on the week. Tweaked right pec on Monday, on a deload now so I hope it heels up. Knees are very sore, I assume this is from new knee wraps and wearing them much tighter than I normally do. Back to training on my own for the most part. I have a few guys helping with handoffs on heavy bench and coaching a bit on the squat/dead day but that is it. I did really try to get some new guys on the team from our gym but nobody has come back or showed up when they said they would. Really do miss the environment we had with 5 or 6 guys all pulling the same direction.

MAJOR victory for Big Z at the Arnold. Has to cement him as the best of all time? What a comeback, if you can call it that.

 

[monopoly]

Week of 3/3 - Deload, much needed. Had ART, acupuncture, electro stim and Matrix all done on the pec and knee. Pec responding pretty well, knees, not so much. Today is the 17th and I have pretty much ruled out squatting at the meet.

3/10 Bench: Top set 360 for 4, paused. Could feel the pec tweak today but was happy to get through the workout no worse for wear

3/12 Accessory lower: Finally able to squat to depth again (airsquat). Fair amount of pain but I got down. Just did some light leg press, leg ext/leg curl, light deads, mobility work

3/14 Accessory upper: 3 board bench, 420x1x2. I went back to look through my logs, did not make it all the way through but this is the most I have ever handled straight weight. Have done more with reverse bands but that's it. I did make it to the middle of 2010 and found a 385 reverse band off the foam roller. Guess I have made some progress, although it has been slow.

3/15 Squat/dead: Very long warmup. Box squat to 225 with knees wrapped, feeling not good. Stopped and moved to deads.
Deadlift 510x3, speed pulls 435x3x3. Decent day pulling

3/17 bench: 370x4, rep/weight PR? This time last year that was my 1 rep max so it's good progress.

 

[monopoly]

3/17 Bench: Top set 370 for 4, paused.

3/19 Accessory lower: Long warmup, leg curls, GHR, mobility stuff. Fluff day.

3/21 Accessory upper: Seated db overhead: 100x7x3. 3 board bench, 425x2. PR and moved better than last week. I missed a third rep but that was due to a spotter grab, not sure if I would have been able to grind it out or not

3/22 Squat/dead: Suspended squat morning, up to 295 for 3. Way more there, just stopped to move on to deads. Only doing this movement right now to keep a bar on my back. Deadlift: 535x3 very easy and fast today. Also form was locked in. Big improvement over last week.

Knees still slowly getting better. Have had 2 people confirm that the quad tendon is likely the cause of all of this, as it encapsulates the kneecap. Gabe Moen was in the gym for several days last week and he seemed like a pretty cool dude. Just massive, if you are a taller lifter check him out. Overall a pretty good week and happy to keep moving forward.

 

[monopoly]

I can tell I have been pushing hard for 12 weeks now. Starting to feel a bit run down. Biggest thing I'm having problems with right now is food, my appetite has dropped WAY down and I'm not getting enough calories in.


3/24 Bench: Top set 380 for 3, paused. Felt terrible today, was happy to hit this and move on.

3/26 Accessory lower: Leg press with minimal knee pain, standard rehab/prehab stuff

3/27 Accessory upper: Seated db overhead: 100x6x3. My god it felt heavy. 3 board bench, 405x2, missed the third. Was supposed to go 430 but after this I shut it down and just did my accessory work.

3/28 Squat/dead: Suspended squat morning, up to 255 for 3. Deads 545x3, not near as fast as last week but overall it was better than I was hoping for. I felt so unmotivated today and very beat up.

4/1 - Deload week thank god. Starting to get close now and getting anxious to test maxes.

 

[monopoly]

Felt pretty good going into today. The week off was nice and I was excited to lift some weight again. I made sure I had a good day of nutrition and it went pretty well.

4/7 - BENCHHHHHH: Warmups, 365x1 - super easy. I'm thinking somewhere around here may be a good place to open. 390x1x4. 4 really strong singles at 390. All time PR is 395 with no pause. These were are really good reps and I am happy with this. Speed bench 330x3x3. Max out on pin press, up to 375. Was smoked after this.

Went to the doc today and got talking about an upcoming strongman comp. Am I really brain damaged enough to try this again?

 

[monopoly]

4/9 - Very light accessory lower body

4/12 - Long warmup. Deadlift, up to 585 for a pretty good single. Video below.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUtvLdwlkcw"]585 - YouTube[/ame]

Speed pulls and upper back work to finish off. One more heavy pull this weekend then it's time off until the meet

4/14 - Bench. 405 for 3 singles!! VERY long term goal and just smashed it today. Previous PR was 395 with no pause. When you have been training for as long as I have, days like this don't come very often. As much as this number sucks, I am proud of it because it's mine and I have worked like a dog for it. Heavy speed bench and pin presses followed up. Went out to a big dinner with mexican food and beer to celebrate. What can I hit at the meet?

 

[monopoly]

Overall another very good week of training. Will update fully when I can but for now the big stuff.

Deadlift - up to 605, faster, cleaner pull than the 585 a week ago

Bench - up to 420! A 15LB PR and a 25LB PR from the start of this training cycle!

All the big lifts are done now, just time to ease up a bit and rest/eat before the meet. Have video of both lifts, will do my best to get them up.

 

[monopoly]

Meet report:

Eh. I had fun. Not as enjoyable to me as strongman or highlands games but I will do another one. Still want a raw elite total at 275.

Squat - Left knee felt terrible warming up. I stuck with my original plan from when I first hurt them. Hit a 330lb token opener and scratched the next 2.

Bench: Last warmup of 365 was smoking fast. Opener of 385 good. Second at 410, miss, got out of the groove. Third at 435, miss, just to heavy. I had the guys helping me call my third. They asked how the 410 felt and I told them "light". I personally would have called for 425 but I can't be mad at them, I would have flipped out if I hit it. It was not far off, but it was too much.

Deads: Felt horrible in warm ups. My ass was cramping at 135 and I was getting dizzy. This is now 9:00 at night. Got better as it got heavier. Opener of 585 good, super fast. 610 second, good, looked better than the first. 633 third attempt good, just about a max for this day.

In the end I did not accomplish my goals. I wanted 420 or higher on bench and higher than 650 on the dead. The bench was there, the dead was not. I met some great people and had fun. I am not injured. These are all good things.

I am now looking at a strongman comp 4 weeks from now. Will try out some of the events this week, if they are within range I'll train for it, if not then I am going to run the cube for 10 weeks and look at another PL meet later in August.

5/11 - upper body

push jerk; up to 285 for 6, just missed 7

db bench; 60x20,75x10,100x10, 130x7

standing strict bb press; 185x6x3

 

[monopoly]

5/14

short warmup

axle cleans; up to 255, miss 265

cont axle cleans; went back down and worked back up. 265 easy, 280 miss. back down again for some sets at 245 and 265

leg curls; 3 setes of 12

ghr; 3 sets of 6

5/16 - events

axle deadlift; felt terrible. was the third time pulling in 7 days and for me, that is way too much. up to and ugly 425

farmer walk/keg carry medley; pretty light weights, 6 or 7 total runs.

That was it. I was shot. Fat kid is out of shape.

5/19 - back to benchin

First day of the CUBE. I want to keep working with Josh but until I get these knees fixed I am wasting my money. Will try the cube for something different and see how it goes. I am going to run as planned but the squat day will be replaced by rehab/prehab and lower body accessory work. I will deload after every 3 weeks.

Rep bench

comp bench with pause; 295x8x2, 275x8
close grip bench; 295x6x2
bench with pause 1" off chest; 260x6x2

That was BRUTAL. All the pausing really took it out of me and fried my triceps.

Lat pulldown; 4 sets of 15
Dumbbell laterals; 3 sets 10
Chin ups; 3 sets of 7

I was very tired at the end of the session but did not feel beat up. Overall pretty happy and a good first day.

 

[monopoly]

Have continued to train. Eating has been terrible. Week 8 of 10 week cube cycle.

Hit a 380 bench at 95% of max. Deads are in the toilet. Knees feeling better, squat back up to a pretty easy 405 with no wraps and no major residual pain. Switching gears a bit for a highland games show soon.

Training from Saturday;

Log - 250x5 - 1 clean, 5 presses. Log 250x3, clean and press each rep. Cleans are terrible, press is strong. Cardio is HORRIBLE. Rep work after this.

Stone over bar - 250 x 5 no tacky, 350x5 easy, some singles and doubles after this. Strongest the stone has ever felt for me, and technical for some reason.

Prowler - 4 runs of 120ft sprints