Monday, March 31, 2014

Cycle 3 Week 2 OHP

Well rested again today. I'm starting to realize how important good sleep and resting on days off is. Feel so much better after a good nights sleep and a day off between workouts.

Week 2 of the third cycle today. Triples week.

OHP - 155X5, 165X3, 175X5. Did 5 reps on the first set, was supposed to be 3. Was easy enough, couldn't hurt I guess. I try and maintain strict form and not use leg drive to get the weight up. Got 5 solid reps on the last + set.

DB front raise - 30X8X3 superset with Incline BB bench - 155X12, 175X9, 175X8.
Seated DB press - 60X10X3 superset with DB bent laterals - 25X10X3.

Deadlifts tomorrow, looking forward to some big triples. Going to increase my protein intake this week especially after deads and squats, and going to clean up the diet a little. Last week DOMS was strong and lasted long, I want to see if upping protein intake alleviates this. I needed advil just to function after deads last week. My legs are still sore today from squatting Saturday.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Cycle 3 Week 1 Saturday Squats

Took yesterday off just wasn't feeling up to it. Glad I did, felt well rested and ready to go today for squats. I think I might start taking a rest day after benching all the time.

Squats - 135X15, 225X10. 315X5, 340X5, 365X5, 385X5.

Wasn't sure about going for 5 on the last set but it was going well so I went for it and glad I did. Just a little leary training solo.

Was feeling awesome so went ahead and did a bicep/lat workout and worked it in to the rest of the workout.

EZ bar curls - 95X12, X10, X10, X8.
Wide Lat Pulldown - 185X10, X10, X8.
Seated DB curl - 40X10, X10, X8.

Ended with some pause squats - 225X8X3.

Higher volume squats are gross lol I had to lay on the floor for a minute. But took advantage of feeling strong and dialed in. Just one of those good days I guess as opposed to one of those shitty days like earlier in the week.
Rest tomorrow and week 2 starts Monday.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Cycle 3 week 1 Bench Press

I know why my workout was shitty yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat today and overall feel like dog shit today. Because I just took a week off, I'm going to work through this as best as I can because I dont want to lost any progress. Actually had a good workout, it was jut tough to stay motivated and focused.

BB bench press - 265X5, 285X5, 300X3. All were paused for a "1001" count on the chest before pressing.
Close grip bench press - 225X5, X5, X4.
EZ bar skullcrushers - 95X10, X8, X9. Superset with;
Cable crossovers - 55X10, X10, X12.
BB bench press - 185X7, 135X9, 135X8. Superset with;
Cable pressdowns - 130X12, X10, X10.

The last set of bench press was with little rest between sets and again with a pause on the chest and explosive movement to the lockout.

Squats tomorrow, hopefully feeling better.





Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Cycle 3 week 1 Deadlifts

Went to gym at around 430. Honestly it was a shit workout. One of those days. Didn't even want to finish but hacked it out. Didn't do it half assed but it was just hard to get through for some reason. I'm going to chalk it up to a shitty diet and poor sleep.

Deadlifts - 375X5, 400X5, 405X3.
BB shrugs - 185X10X2 Superset with Upright cable rows - 140X10X2.

Possible rest day tomorrow but maybe a bodybuilding day depending on how I feel. Day 8 of a 8 day work stretch and chances are I will be tired.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Start of Cycle 3 of the 5/3/1. Week 1 - OHP day

Felt great to get back in the gym after a week off. I was supposed to deload and train with very light weights, but I tried and my elbow tendons were just too sore. Took a whole week off from everything and healed up. New training maxes for all three lifts from my mock meet. Numbers are getting bigger than I've ever lifted so pretty pumped. Had a really good shoulder/core workout;

DB OHP - 145X5, 155X5, 165X5.

Seated DB press - 60X12, X10, X12. Superset with hanging knee raises X20X3.
DB lateral raises - 30X8X3. Superset with ab wheel lockout X10X3.
Incline BB bench press 135X8X3.

Incline BB bench was with a 3 second pause at the bottom of the lift and explosive to the top. Bench incline was high, almost straight up. one notch down.

Deadlifts tomorrow with some crazy numbers that came up after I hit the 500 deadlift in the mock meet.

Just found out that there is a contest in June in Dauphin, so my training cycles will be geared toward that meet. I have my eyes on a couple of provincial records in the squat and bench, The deadlift provincial record is nuts at around 700 lbs so that's a ways away lol. Provincial raw squat record is 495 - I squatted 455 in my mock meet (not on video - convenient eh?) so 40 lbs to go on that one. Won't be easy. The provincial raw bench record is about 379 lbs. At least 20 lbs to go there. If I didn't have numbers to chase I wouldn't be doing this. I wont sacrifice good form just to hurry at those numbers but will work my ass of to get there.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Mock Powerlifting Meet/Max test day !! Video added...

The day I've been looking forward to for a while... Got in the gym at about 1pm and went from there. My training partner helped with commands and judging as well as spotting, and a friend that is running the 5 3 1 program as well joined us as well to test his maxes. He is about the same weight and height as me. I am 215 lbs.

Squats first - 1st attempt  - 385X1 - felt good and depth was okay I think.
                      2nd attempt - 405X1 - good lift.
                      3rd attempt - 435X1 - good lift. Felt fairly easy.

Did a fourth attempt that would not count in a meet but wanted to set a max gym PR so,
                      455X1. I think it would have been a good lift but judges may disagree. Got the weight up nonetheless.

That was it for the squats, on to the bench press.
                       1st attempt - 315X1. Easy.
                       2nd attempt - 335X1. Easy.
                       3rd attempt - 350X1. Actually fairly easy but that was the number I came up with for the attempt. I think I could have gone 355 or 360, but at least I didnt blow the attempt.

Deadlifts next. Quickly becoming my favorite lift.
                       1st attempt - 405X1. Easy.
                       2nd attempt - 445X1.
                       3rd attempt - 475X1. Good lift.
Felt I had more in the tank so diod a fourth to set a gym max PR.
                       500X1!
I wanted to get to 500 on the deadlift but didnt think I would be there yet, so that was pretty cool. It probably would not have passed in a meet because I hitched a bit but I got it up to set a gym PR.

So, in a meet situation that would be a 1260lb total (571.5kg)  with a wilks of 351. For those of you that don't know, Wilks formula is to get a number so that lifters in different weight classes can compete against each other. A 215 LB lifter such as myself can compete against a 165lb lifter using this formula.
I will attach the edited video of my lifts when I have it ready. Then you can see my in my singlet in all its glory!!!!
I am deloading this week, so I will not be posting any logs until I start up again, cause deload workouts are boring. I will take the rest of the week to rest and reset my training maxes to start a new cycle of 5 3 1 with on Monday.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thursday Squats week 3 cycle 2

Didn't think I would be able to train today so was going to have a rest day but........turned out that I could so I went and squatted. Got to try out my new knee sleeves (raw contest approved).
5/3/1 week

Squats - after warmup - 285X5, 325X3, 355X10! (PR), 225X10, 225X10.

That was it....did some foam roller on my lower back after.

355X10 is most definitely a rep PR for me. Had a spotter and motivator. Depth and form I think were good for the first 5-6 reps. The last few were probably a little ugly, but they were squats nonetheless.

So thats it for the second cycle of 5 3 1 for me. For those of you that are following this and care....I will be testing maxes on Monday or Tuesday so stay tuned, I will post right after recovering. Once (hopefully new) maxes are determined and a deload week I will start a new cycle with new numbers. Keeping in mind, it has only been 6 weeks on the program and seriously training for powerlifting.