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Greg's Powerlifting Training Journal


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Some deadlift training seems an appropriate way to start out this log.

 

10 weeks out from my next meet:

 

Foam roll

GHR x body weight 10x2

Micro-mini Elite band single arm pull downs 20x2

Micro-mini Elite band pull aparts 15x2

Average band rows 15x2

Traction

 

Deadlift:

135x10 x2

225x5 x2

315x3

Added belt/briefs

405x2

460x2

470x2

 

Buffalo bar good mornings:

145x10 x2

235x8 x3

 

DB Rows 75x12x3

Elite average band standing crunches 30x4

Wide grip pull downs 135x12x3

GHR 55x6, 60x6, 65x6

DB hammer curls 30x12x3

 

More traction and static stretching.

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I've been getting a shooting pain in my elbow as of late. My training partners think that it's from using reverse bands for my speed bench so I've completely cut that out. I'm still feeling the residual effects though.

 

Warm up:

Mini-band pull aparts 15x2

Mini-band tri extension 15x2

Average band standing crunched 30x3

Average band rows 15x2

GHR x body weight 10x2

Traction

Stretching

 

Bar 20x2

95x15

135x12

185x8

225x5

275x2

Added bench shirt

315 1/2 rep to work the shirt up some and see how my elbow was feeling

3board 385x2

3board 425x2

3board 445x2

 

I wanted to get in some higher board work, but my elbow started flaring up pretty badly. Everything felt pretty easy though.

Incline db tri extension 45x8x3

Lat raises 35x8x3

Tri press down 90x8x3

Average band pull aparts 8x3

 

More traction, more static stretching. As much as I loathe stepping off of a training cycle, I'm looking forward to not seeing the gym next week and going to The Keys. I'm hoping that a little time off will ease the pain that's developed from benching with bands.

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I've been feeling beat up these past couple of days and today was no exception.

 

Standard warm up.

 

Mastodon bar 20x2

150x12

225x8

315x3

Low box(~1 1/2" below parallel) suit, straps down

420x3

510x3x3

 

Speed pulls

315 1x10

 

I'm not happy with today at all. Squats felt heavy all the way through and I even went lighter than I should have been. I'm really starting to believe this week off will be a good thing.

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  • 7 months later...

Going to start keeping up with this again.

 

I benched yesterday. I've been doing really well and making great improvements with my raw and geared benching lately. I've started really cleaning up my diet and sleeping more.

 

95 x 15

135 x 12

185 x 8

225 x 5

275 x 2

Added shirt

(2 board) 385 x 1

(1 board) 425 x 1

455 x 1

475 x 1

 

This was a 50 pound PR for me so I'm extremely excited. The meet I wanted to do in December is canceled, so I'll be doing one in February now. With the way everything has been going lately I don't think it's out of the question to go 700 on the squat, 500 on bench, and 550 on deadlift. I'd be pretty close to an Elite ranking at that point. We'll see if the progress keeps up!

 

Drop set 225 x 10

 

DB shoulder press 40 x 10 x 5

EZ Bar press downs 75 x 10 x 5

Single arm rows on cable machine 60 x 10 x 5

T Bar rows 135 x 10 x 5

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Deadlifting today. My numbers are down from those that I posted in the past, but this is all raw and conventional after hurting my back a while ago. I'll be back in the game soon enough.

 

Standard warm up

+wide grip pull downs 105 x 15 x 2

 

135 x 10

225 x 8

315 x 5

Added belt and Xibalba on the boombox

385 x 2

430 x 2

Drop set pseudo-speed-pulls

315 x 3 x 3 (60-90 second rest periods)

 

Power shrugs 315 x 5 x 3

All of the following have 60 second rest periods

Stiff legged deadlifts 225 x 5 x 3

Barbell rows 185 x 5 x 3

Underhand pull downs 195 x 5 x 3

Goodmornings 205 x 5 x 3

 

All sorts of exhausted now and not looking forward to writing a paper. Can anyone recommend a good vegan lifting belt? The belt that I have right now is suede, but someone gave it to me for free so I wasn't going to argue. I've been trying to find one that is heavy duty enough to support my chubby little self. If someone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it!

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Dynamic effort benching day. These workouts aren't always done in the standard Westside methods, but just to get some volume in and work on some explosiveness. I weighed myself today and am pleased with my progress of losing weight. I weighed in at 260.5 from 274 two months ago. I still don't have much of a neck and my XL shirts are still fitting well so I'm pleased with my progress.

 

Standard warm-up. I'm going to stop saying this because it's just implied at this point.

 

Bar x 20

95 x 12

135 x 8

185 x 2 x 2

Add wrist wraps and Hatebreed

185 + 40 lbs. chains x 2 x 3

185 + 80 lbs. chains x 2 x 3

185 + 120 lbs. chains x 2 x 3

Drop set 185 x 20

 

Fat bar decline, w/ close grip 115 x 10 x 5

Orange band single arm press down x 12 x 4

DB lateral raise 20 x 10 x 5

 

Everything was a little bit too easy today so I think it's time to increase the weights a bit. I am doing three week waves of doing a particular exercise; in this case benching with chains. On the fourth week I'll usually do repetition work. It's not very exciting, but I feel like I benefit a lot from it.

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Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone! It's great to find like minded vegans and vegetarians. I'm looking forward to keeping up with you all in your journals and walking away with some new exercises and training techniques.

 

Right now I'm preparing for a meet in February to compete in the AAPF. Provided my weight loss continues at a reasonably slow rate, I'm hoping to get down to 250 without losing too much strength and try to cut to make it to the 242 weight class. I'll be competing in a geared competition at that time with a Metal Pro Squater, Metal Ace bench shirt, and will be pulling in some loose (tight gear seems to put me in a bad position) Metal briefs and a singlet. An Elite total for this weight class is 1790, so that's my goal.

 

My mind was sort of frazzled before the gym today and I wasn't really focused so a lot of this was more trying than normal. I managed to get through to my goal weight for the day, but to say it was difficult is an understatement.

 

Squat night: low box + black foam pad (roughly 1/2" above parallel)

Mastadon bar x 12

160 x 10

240 x 5

Added belt

330 x 3

Added suit (straps down) and Metallica

420 x 2

510 x 2

560 x 2

 

Front squats 185 x 5 x 5

Cybex Ab Machine 120 x 12 x 5

Reverse Hypers 180 x 6 x 4

 

Back to studying for Tropical Ecology and Conservation. Sweet Friday night, right?

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Saturday evening benching:

 

Bar x 15

135 x 10

185 x 5

225 x 3

275 x 2

Add shirt + Know The Score

385 for a half-rep

3 Board

425 x 1

465 x 1

495 x 1

Pardon the belly. I promise I wasn't trying to be lewd.

 

525 x 1

This came up pretty easily so I decided I would try for a PR today. I was a little bit too confident and had what my training partners call a "soft lockout." Basically, they said that the chances of it being two white lights were pretty good, but I don't want to get in the habit of making it "look" like I did something rather than actually doing it and making it look easy.

 

No drop set today. No real reason other than being lazy and my forearms hurting really badly.

 

Overhead barbell press 125 x 6 x 4

Wide cable rows 150 x 8 x 4

DB front raises 30 x 8 x 4

DB rows 110 x 8 x 4

Internal/External forearm rotations with sledgehammer x 15 x 2

More mobility grip work

 

After I was releasing my grip on the barbell after benching, my forearms were in a huge amount of pain. It's been going on for a week now, so while at work I bought a brace that's used for tennis elbow. I was talking to my training partner Jo about it and he says that it's probably because of an irregular emphasis on a set of muscle groups without training the rest. He said that because so much of what we do focuses squeezing the bar as hard as we can, we neglect the muscles that allow our hands to open and it creates an imbalance. The man's got a 650 lb. bench record, so I think I'll heed his advice and see what happens.

 

Back to studying. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

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Back to pulling sumo now that I'm done with the Coan Routine. Truthfully, I think that I'm just a little too plump and have arms that are a little too close to a Tyrannosaurus to consider pulling conventional in a meet. It's probably smart to still do them as accessory work just to strengthen my lower back, but other than that I'll probably just stick with sumo. Stayed light and did reps to get back into the groove.

 

135 x 10

225 x 8

315 x 3

Added belt + Taylor Swift

315 + 40 lb. in chains x 3

315 + 80 lb. in chains x 3

315 x 120 lb. in chains x 3

Dropset 315 x 10

 

Speed squats low box (1 1/2" below parallel)

145 + green band (120-140 lbs. at top) + no belt x 2 x 8

 

T Bar row 180 x 10 x 4

Standing crunches with black monster band 30 x 4

Prowler pushes + 70 lbs. x 30 yards x 6 (30 second rest periods)

 

I'm sort off my training schedule this week because I had a huge exam earlier this week and didn't make it to the gym. Getting back on it though. Still at 260.5 in my weight so I think it's back to doing cardio and keeping a closer eye on my diet. I just have an abusive relationship with peanut butter.. sigh.

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Exhausted going into the gym today so I did what I needed to and then got out as quickly as possible. I hate rep work too so this made it even more difficult to get motivated to bench. I used the Fat Bar today to try to cheer myself up. It only weighs 15 lbs. but it's significantly more thick; to the point that I can't wrap my hands around it and touch my fingers.

 

Bar x 20

105 x 15

165 x 12

205 x 10 x 4

 

DB incline 50 x 25 x 2

DB overhead press 45 x 10 x 4

Forearm work

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Squats with the mastadon bar

 

Broom stick squat (this is more just to stretch than anything) x 20 x 2

Bar (60 lbs) x 10

150 x 8

240 x 5

Add belt 330 x 3

Add suit, straps down 420 x 3

510 x 3

Reverse light bands (take off about 80 lbs. at the bottom) + Suicide File

560 x 3

605 x 2

635 x 1 PR!!

 

Rack pulls at knee height, no belt

315 x 8

405 x 5 x 2

455 x 3 x 2

 

Black band standing crunches 30 x 4

Smith machine calf raises 225 x 12 x 4

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