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Chewy's Strength Log


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Wed 9th March 2011

Morningweight=83.3kg

 

Deadlift

4x5x160kg (no belt)

 

Close grip bench

1x10x60kg

 

DB bench

1x15x25kg DBs

 

Dips

1x10

 

Seated calf raises

10,10,16x60kg

 

I was completely and utterly gassed after deads. They weren't easy. Tried dips again, think they're a no go for the meantime, too much of a stretch for my shoulders at the moment. Been doing a lot more for stretching recently for flexibility, will post the details soon.

 

It's nearly been 2 years of training and today was a good example of how unfit I am. I was gasping, panting, guzzling water at every chance for not very many sets of exercise. And my flexibility is genuinely upsetting me.

 

@Mary, I'll work up to a hard ball, the tennis ball is quite enough just now haha

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Thanks mary =]

 

Fri 11th March 2011

Morningweight=83.4kg

 

Chinups

3x7

 

Barbell rows

5x5x55kg

 

Close grip lat pulldowns

3x10x55kg

 

Weighted situps

3x5x10kg (plate behind neck)

 

Pretty much a waste of time, didn't like grouping similar exercises together on one day. I'm liking full body (more or less) every workout - can use heavy weights every time. Was supposed to do deadlift lockouts but back/hams were so stiff from wednesday, back's still stiff today (sat night), should be good for monday though. BB rows sucked - narrowed the grip a bit and just a tired from deads from wed and chins right before it. It's amazing the difference a narrower grip makes. I thought I was using my bench grip on BB rows before not realising I was always using an olympic bar (knurls 91cm apart) instead of the power bar that we use for bench (81cm apart). So been using too wide a grip. Which is a shame, everything was real easy lol.

Planned on doing hanging leg raises but there's only 2 pullup bars in there and i can grab them without jumping, so they're no use. And weighted situps are gonna be too hard to load behind the neck. In the past I found loading my chest up done absolutely nothing for my abs. They kind of worked behind the neck but intensely uncomfortable and can't see it easy being able to add weight to them.

 

For abs I'm just going to go back to good old weighted planks. Will try cable crunches as well.

 

Been sticking at the mobility work the last couple of days, will need to do a writeup soon of what I've been doing.

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Pretty much a waste of time, didn't like grouping similar exercises together on one day. I'm liking full body (more or less) every workout - can use heavy weights every time.

Good for you Chewy! I second that thought! LOL

 

Been sticking at the mobility work the last couple of days, will need to do a writeup soon of what I've been doing.

Looking forward to reading about it, Chewy!

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Powerlifting Schedule - Week 2

 

Mon 14th March 2011

 

Squat

5x5x115kg (no belt)

 

Bench

8,8,8,12x62.5kg

 

DB bench

1x14x25kg DBs

 

Chins

3x7

 

Seated calf raises

10,10,15x60kg

 

DB Clean&Press

3x20x12.5kg (for speed)

 

Woke up with a sore shoulder out of nowhere on Monday, when turning it in certain positions. All I can think that caused it was demonstrating bar position to someone on Friday without warming up. It was there during workout straightaway with squats but didn't get worse throughout workout so rolled with it. I've been messing about trying to get an assistance schedule. I won't bother writing it up till I get it consistent for a couple of weeks, cause I keep swapping stuff about everywhere everyday.

 

Was a good day.

 

 

Pretty much my mobility warmup is this;

 

http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask_joe/archives/ask_joe_08-10-03.html#question04

 

Instead of the groiners I do

with a bar as I don't have the flexibility to touch my toes with straight legs. I do a couple of sets, start at deadlift height then I start standing on plates, get it closer to my feet. Working my way down basically.

 

On top of this I do the diesel crew shoulder warmup I posted earlier, an extra rotator cuff set on the floor, and some leg swings thrown in.

 

I've been doing this on off days as well, once I get better at these I'll add in extra stuff.

 

 

EDIT: The DB clean&press are just 1 arm, alternating each rep.

 

Also was reading back at my log there, 112.5kg was the highest I went without a belt for many sets/reps (got 5,5,9 with it). On my plan for the next 3 weeks the weight only goes up 2.5kg at a time and sticks to sets of 5. So I'm thinking I might as well try and nail right upto 4 or 5 sets of 5 reps with 122.5kg before I get the belt back on. Won't be easy but totally acheivable.

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Wed 16th March 2011

Morningweight=83.8kg

 

Deadlift

4x5x165kg (no belt)

 

Floor press

10,10,7x50kg

 

Plank

3x30s +20kg plate on lower back

 

Woke up this morning with an overly tight groin (especially left side. prob cause i tried out bulgarian squats yesterday. thought i'd be fine, was just BW and didn't do that many). The good news is this forced me to find a way to actually roll it out with a tennis ball - foam roller can never hit up there. Right at the inside at the top of my leg and round towards the back of my leg. Just popped the ball on a bench, kneeled beside it, stuck one leg up on the ball and took it from there.

 

Deadlifts were really good till the last set. Done all my warmups on a deficit, got me into the habit of pushing with my legs to start the lift. Done a more thorough warmup as well. Took my time throughout to keep the lower back straight. End of the 3rd set was starting to get suspect, should've called it quits there. I'll see tomorrow how tight my back is. The last rep was a GRINDER.

 

Wasn't a fan of the floor press, the ROM was way too limited (this was with a narrower grip). Will try board press next week instead. I was going to do some close grip bench after this but I was completely wiped out from the deads so just done some planks and foam rolled/stretched.

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i was surprised to see floor presses in your log. I actually kinda like them but I know a lot of people don't.
You know I tried them again at home with a lighter weight today, but this time with my normal grip and liked them a lot better. I am using them to practice a particular part of the movement but I think the ROM is just a bit TOO limited. I think my sticking point in bench is lower down, so gonna try board press next time. But I won't be ruling out the floor press completely!

 

I've been looking about videos, especially SuperTraining and elitefts to see how some of the bigger guys train. A lot of speed (bands/chains) and lockout (board/floor press) work. I'm trying to make up a schedule of assistance work that's not too cluttered (I've always found simple plans work best), fits in with the days we all do squats/bench/deads, and will provide for adequate recovery.

 

Due to this you'll prob not see the most consistent assistance plan from me the next month.

 

I want to get bands for some speed work eventually. They're pretty expensive though so I need to see if someone will half in with me. For the meantime I think I'll do light squats/bench on a Friday and just work on a controlled negative and explode for one push to the top.

 

 

 

Anyways, just finished my mobility workout for the day, it was murder. My body's completely drained right now shouldn't have took the last set of deads last night. My hip/glute on the right side (just this side) is extremely tight. I'm having a problem with those rolls into v-sits. I can do the roll no problem but when I go for the v-sit feels like something is crunching around my groin on the right side accompanied by a sharp tightness. Happened a few times and just had to stop. I've tried just doing a v-sit and pushing my legs right out, foam rolled groin, done another dynamic groin stretch - basically i'm not cold going into it, but it still happens.

 

I dunno how to ease myself in to stop this from happening.

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Fri 18th March 2011

 

Squat

3x5x90kg

 

Bench

3x5x50kg

 

Then jumped on the cross trainer for 10 mins. Totally should've took a rest day like I planned. Felt stiff and had a pain in the back after squatting. Concentrated on speed with the low weights.

 

 

Powerlifting Schedule - Week 3

 

Mon 21st March 2011

 

Bench

6,6,6,11 x 65kg

 

Chins

8,8,5

 

Seated calf raises

10,10,14 x 62.5kg

 

Leg Press

10,10,10,25 x 90kg

 

Once I got to 100kg on the warmup for squats I done 1 rep and decided just to call it quits before things got worse. All throughout warmup I was getting tightness around adductors/abductors. So spent the time doing some foam rolling. Not going to squat all week and just get back at it next Monday. To be honest I'm not really pissed off, I seen it coming over the last couple of weeks - too much volume on squats/deads is just screwing my lower body, each session I could've been doing with 1 or 2 less sets just been trying to push it too hard. I am annoyed that I didn't just rest up on Friday though, it just made things worse.

 

 

First time trying leg press, didn't know what to think really. Just stuck with a low weight and just repped out the last set so my legs got at least some blood around them.

 

 

On a better note I passed my Gym Instructor practical exam on Sunday, I started the course in October and was supposed to be qualified just before xmas but couldn't make my exam due to weather. It didn't get rescheduled till just there.

 

 

Gonna do some rolling and stretching tonight see if i can loosen up a bit.

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Thanks ladies! I'm actually kinda enjoying the mobility work, getting closer to touching my toes with straight legs. And silly things like crossing my legs certain ways is much easier now and making me a bit happier. Finding imbalances that have undoubtedly been responsible for some injuries. I like that you can never do too much mobility work either.

 

Wed 23rd March 2011

Morningweight=83.4kg

 

Deadlift

1x4x170kg (no belt)

1x5x170kg (with belt)

 

Close grip bench

1x11x62.5kg

 

DB bench

1x13x27.5kg DBs

 

Barbell rows

5x5x60kg

 

Showed up in a fowl mood today. Again, done deficit deadlifts for warmup and went well. First set at 170kg I think my back stayed pretty solid but I really struggled with the weight, especially the 4th rep. I felt like if I went for a 5th my back would cave. So I shoved the belt on for the 2nd set. The problem with this set was I'd changed my "routine" between reps since last week. Inbetween reps I've been straightening my legs out, then resetting my back before the next rep. Great for getting my back into position but it's came with 2 problems - I've been rolling the bar in before starting each rep and my right shin is taking a beating, and the 2nd problem is breathing with the belt on. I just need to time the breathing better, but today I wasn't getting to fill my lungs before each rep which made the set infinitely harder.

Was aiming for 2x5 (no belt) with a solid back. Disapointing.

 

To be honest I need to look at my training right now and realise - the squat volume's tightening my lower body into a problem, and I'm trying to screw about with my deadlift technique at the wrong time. I need to make a decision and I don't know what it is yet.

 

-Take a week off and do absolutely no weight exercises, just mobility work. Recharge, start up again from the bottom?

-Drop the vast majority of the assistance work, just keep CG/DB bench and rows/pullups. Concentrate on the main lifts.

-Drop the weight down (saying this I'm only a few weeks in)

 

I weigh the same as I did about 12 days ago. It's worth mentionning. Last cycle I was really packing it on.

 

 

At least my bench is feeling pretty solid just now, had some good numbers this week. BB rows I need to build them up with the now narrower grip (bench grip now), so started down at 60kg. Felt pretty good.

 

Today I done this before static stretches at the end (this will be ongoing):

 

Not sure if I was quite hitting the lats/pecs as well as I could've, but I'll be getting plenty of practice. Burst my tennis ball with the arch of my foot lol. Oh well, I have a couple more.

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Deadlift

1x4x170kg (no belt)

1x5x170kg (with belt)

 

Man, this is serious weight! Congratulations !

This was a really bad night for me. I ripped up 170kg x 4 then 172.5kg x 5 all with no belt over 10 weeks ago, much much easier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_e1DRsXY7w. And much more weight with a belt leading up to my first comp.

 

Fri 25th March 2011

 

Squat

3x3x80kg (for speed, no belt)

 

Bench

3x5x55kg (for speed)

 

Bent over rows (underhand grip, standing)

8,8,9 x 50kg

 

Felt a twinge in my back all throughout the squat, got great speed on bench, and got a good pump doing rows a different way for a change (underhand rather than overhand, narrower grip, hanging rather than from floor, aiming for abs rather than chest).

 

I should've listened to one of my training parteners (who does my programs for me) and took a complete week off after the comp, I'm definitely feeling the consequences. Just over the last few weeks I've had wee niggling injuries around my back, adductors, abductors and elbow joints feel a bit weak. This is prob the hardest thing I'll have done in about 22 months of training, but I'm gonna take a full week off and do nothing but foam rolling and a bit of stretching.

 

As hard as it'll be I need to let my body recharge. I want to come out of a night of training without feeling run down and something going wrong with my body. Gonna concentrate on eating a bit cleaner a bit again, shitey food's been running me down a bit as well since the comp. When I start up again next week the volume will be pretty low, prob only gonna do 1 heavy set a night till I get back into the swing of things.

 

 

But sheesh it's gonna be hard, I have a bar/rack/bench/chin bar in my room. I don't even know if I'm capable of going a full week without doing a rep of anything

 

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This was a really bad night for me. I ripped up 170kg x 4 then 172.5kg x 5 all with no belt over 10 weeks ago, much much easier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_e1DRsXY7w. And much more weight with a belt leading up to my first comp.

 

WTH, man? This is awesome power ! !

 

What kind of steroids are you using?

 

Deiman, I recommend reading Brawn and Beyond Brawn. You'll discover, being an all-natural average hardgainer, one can expect to reach a 300 bench, 400 squat, and a 500 deadlift with good form. (@ 190lb BW)

 

Eat big, lift big, rest big, grow big! (with a solid plan and executing it)

 

Look back at the rest of Chewy's log and you'll see that he's been consistent and patient for a looong time. THAT'S what pays off! If you want what he's got, do what he's done. Maybe it'll take a bit longer but you can get there, too!

One more thing to realize, as Chewy has mentioned before, he has good levers for the deadlift, (long arms) which show in his bench. everyone's proportions are different.

 

Sorry for the long post here Chewy , but I thought it was worth mentioning...

On another note, hope the resting does the trick! Enjoy it and relax!...even though you sleep with your weights!

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Man- How do you "eat big" to fuel the growing muscles AND not gain a bunch around the waist???

 

I should've listened to one of my training parteners (who does my programs for me) and took a complete week off after the comp,

Do you find that is also helpful training throughout the year as well??

 

Great journal.

GL

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Look back at the rest of Chewy's log and you'll see that he's been consistent and patient for a looong time. THAT'S what pays off! If you want what he's got, do what he's done. Maybe it'll take a bit longer but you can get there, too!

One more thing to realize, as Chewy has mentioned before, he has good levers for the deadlift, (long arms) which show in his bench. everyone's proportions are different.

That pretty much sums it up!

 

Man- How do you "eat big" to fuel the growing muscles AND not gain a bunch around the waist???
I never, I just don't post any pictures when my bodyfat is higher. Like now, I don't have any visible veins or abs, there's not much definition at all. I don't store a lot of fat in my forearms or calves so it may appear in lifting videos that I always have low BF% but this isn't the case.

 

It doesn't bother me though because looking cut never got me my big lifts. Gaining weight and consistent hard work did.

 

I should've listened to one of my training parteners (who does my programs for me) and took a complete week off after the comp,

Do you find that is also helpful training throughout the year as well??

I workout with 4 really experienced guys (and a couple more younger guys), I'm lucky to get the support I do from them - to be honest it'd be a real blow if I had to start training by myself again. It wasn't just the comp, but the intense training cycle I had leading upto it as well. I should've took the rest to help my body recover, and after trying to just work through it the last few weeks I'm paying the consequences now.

 

Considering starting Madcow 5x5 intermediate next Monday!

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gsop_3, thank you for all the information, it sounds resonable that proper eat/train/rest is the base, but there is also the genetics, which has the last word. There are so many types of bodies, and I can't agree that everyone at 190lbs can achieve these deadlift, bench and so on, no matter what the training routine is. Some people are just not meant to be powerlifters

 

I have suffered from training with big weights before, my structure, tendons etc. are just not suitable for this.

 

Once again, I admire chewybaws for these achievements, expecially while being a vegan and drug free

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@Deiman, I totally agree with you about the genetics AND being able to accomplish what Chewy has while being vegan, amen! Totally not trying to take away from what he has done.

My point wasn't that everyone can accomplish that. The mention of such big numbers is really a bit of a dream of mine...not that everyone can or wants to achieve such heavy iron at 190 BW. (some of us are meant for endurance, etc.)

But, for me, it helps to believe that an "Average Joe" CAN get there through hard work and dedication...after putting in the yearz. (even if a bit misplaced - perhaps I'll never get there either)

Though, I would like to say that regardless of what hand of genetics we've been dealt, the striving to reach our (personal) potential offers the greatest rewards (not chasing a pipe dream out of a magazine).

And I believe being vegan is more of an advantage than a disadvantage.

 

@Chewy, I'm looking forward to following along if you choose to do the Bill Starr 5x5...maybe I'll even do it myself! It's looking more and more like the best option!

Do you have the spreadsheet for it?

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thanks guys. Not much to report, I took that week off and sporadically done some stretches and foam rolling. No muscle work at all except a few bodyweight squats for stretching. It was hellish not doing anything. My back didn't start healing till Tuesday or something so I needed it.

 

Madcow 5x5 - Week 1

 

Mon 4th April 2011

Morning weight = 82.4kg

Workout weight = 83.7kg

 

Squat

1x5x69kg

1x5x80kg

1x5x92kg

1x5x103kg

1x5x115kg (this set with belt)

 

Bench

1x5x42kg

1x5x49kg

1x5x56kg

1x5x63kg

1x5x70kg

 

Barbell row

1x5x36kg

1x5x42kg

1x5x48kg

1x5x54kg

1x5x60kg

 

Hypers

2x8x5kg (behind head)

 

Weighted situps

8,8,7 x 10kg (behind head)

 

A comfortable workout to start back with. Squats were easy (used a narrower stance because of groin problems before week off), slowed down a bit in the last set but to be expected. Bench/rows/hypers ridiculously easy but they only get heavier. 10kg situps were too heavy to start with, was actually going for 4x8 - will either drop the weight for wednesday or do sets of 5 instead. They started off really easy but got tough real quick towards the end of the sets.

 

Great to be in a club that has fractional plates

 

Done a full warmup today, and full post workout routine with foam roller/tennis ball and plenty of stretching. Will speed up after get the hang of the routine.

 

Will be weird squatting on wednesday. Light weight!

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Wed 6th April 2011

Morning weight = 82.7kg

Workout weight = 83.7kg

 

Squat

1x5x69kg

1x5x80kg

2x5x92kg

 

OHP

1x5x25kg

1x5x28kg

1x5x32kg

1x5x35kg

 

Deadlift

1x5x110kg

1x5x126kg

1x5x142kg

1x5x158kg (belt for this set only)

 

Chins

1x12

 

Situps

3x8 (no-one holding feet down)

 

Morning weight up 0.3kg from monday but workout weight the same - started earlier today so not as much food in the stomach. Keep eating big make sure it's up for Friday. Squats were easy (as they should be, light day). First OHP session in a while, was trying to concentrate on keeping back straight and not hyperextend (why the weight is low, will be staying like that. I want slow progression while I fix my form). Plan for deads is the same as squat on mon/fri - belt for last set only till things start to get challenging. Switched back to my old technique on deads - no huge reset, quick adjustment, breathe in on position and lift. Breathing was fine with belt.

 

Was surprised that I could do 12 chins, was testing the waters. Situps towards the end of set 2 and 3 were surprisingly hard was taking 5s breaks between the last few reps. Makes a difference when no-one's holding you down. Feet came up a few times but didn't get too excessive. Warmup/cooldown routine was much quicker today, less than 10 mins warming up and about 15-20mins foam rolling/stretching (it's quite a thorough routine as well). Main workout took a bit longer because 2 new guys (my mates) were along so was giving them a bit of attention.

 

Right between my groin/hamstring right up the top of my leg was tight since Monday but after warmup didn't even notice it. Rolled it out with a tennis ball on a bench yesterday along with foam rolling ITB and stretching hamstrings. Also this morning done 10 BW squats to warmup for hamstring/shoulder stretch (lie down prop 1 leg up against a post, hold for 30 secs then move in closer and start again. At the same time straight arm pullover style stretch with a plate. Also some lateral squats and foam rolled ITB/groin.

 

Been managing to touch my toes this week with locked out knees. Kind of have to dip down and can only hold it for 1-2s at a time. But before I started stretching my hams out regularly about a month ago I couldn't get within about 3 inches. So this is a big deal for me, extra flexibility work is paying off.

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