Just Another Log

So after talking to my in laws they are not allowing me to drop weights from overhead and I’ll be moving into a first floor apartment when I get married in a few months so that means I have to stick to Olympic lift weights I can put down. Which means probably for the next 1.5 years I will be doing a lot bar and technique work and light weights for the Olympic lifts.

I can still do cleans, because I’d rarely fail those, but I can really focus on my overall strength. Once I get a piece of plywood my flooring will be fine.

Got to pick up another set of 45s, 10s. I’ll be good for a while!

Luckily, I can use my barbell for a pull-up bar. My strength journey officially starts now. No more excuses!

Oh, I can guarantee I will feel the sprints. Every time I sprint I feel it.

Excellent little setup at your in-laws! I’ve never in my life dropped a weight from overhead, I’ve actually never even dropped it from deadlift height. My deadlift fail from the 405lb deadlift comp is the hardest I’ve ever dropped a weight (which is why my wife was concerned when she heard some plates loudly hitting the floor).

However, I also do not focus on the Olympic lifts at all, so that’s likely much of the reason…just saying I don’t think you’ll be missing out on much with that limitation.

1 Like

Yeah I figured, it might be blessing in a disguise for right now. Keeps me from doing too much weight too fast on the Oly lifts!

1 Like

##Official Start of Training from Home!

So with my new setup and circumstances, this is my official start of training. I’ll only be working out from home now on.

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE TO ME
-Squat Stand
-20kg Barbell
-180lbs worth of bumpers (2-45’s, 2-25’s, 4-10’s)
-Pull Up Bar
-Ab Wheel
-Jump Rope

RESTRICTIONS
-Can’t drop weights from overhead
-Can’t drop the weights super loudly in general.
-Can’t buy anymore equipment. MAXIMIZE what is available to me.

GOALS
225 Clean (8x3)
225 Back Squat (10x10)
175 Overhead Press (5x5)
20 Chin Ups (Straight)

NUTRITION
I’m going the Simple Diet route. I fast on Sunday’s. Eat lots of good clean food.

PROGRAM
Clean
Back Squat (SS: Ab Wheel)
Overhead Press (SS: Chin Ups)
Jump Rope
*Assistance 1-3 exercises

I will not be following the typical 3 day a week design. I will be working out every other day and will take an extra day break if I feel like my body needs to.

CONDITIONING DAYS
Either will run sprints, play basketball, or go on a hike depending on the weather and mood. If I’m really feeling beat up I’ll go walk for 60-90 min.

1 Like

Workout from Home Day 1 (Technically Day 5 in plan)

Clean 6x3
155x3
155x3
155x3
155x3
155x3
155x3

Back Squat 5RM + Back Off Sets
185x8
205x4
225x3
245x5 (PR!)
185x10
185x10
185x10

Overhead Press 3RM + Back Off Sets / Chin Ups 25+
115x5 / 7
125x2 / 5
135x3 (PR!) / 5
115x8 / 5
115x8 / 5
115x8 / 5
Chin Up Total: 32

Assistance
A1. BB Rows - 135x12, 135x12, 135x12, 135x12, 135x12
A2. Floor Press - 135x10, 135x10, 135x10
B1. BB Curls - 65x15, 65x15, 65x15
B2. Ab Wheel - 15, 15, 15

Conditioning
Jump Rope 15 Min

Notes: I’m back to full body. Everything felt way more in unison. Since I’m only lifting 3 days, 6-8 total exercises seems appropriate. But If I’m running short on time as long as I get in Clean, Squat, Press, Chin Ups I’ll be happy.

I think my big takeaway in the past few months is i FINALLY understand what assistance exercises are actually there for in a program. I use to try to go ape shit with assistance and realize that’s not ideal at all. Assistance is either to drive up the main lifts and to give your body some balance and hit some “weak points”.

Thank you to everyone who has been giving me advice. It may not always seem like it, but I actually do listen and try it out!

3 Likes

Day 1 of training @ home and hits 2 PRs. Chalk that up as a win.

2 Likes

I’m not sure if you posted somewhere earlier in your log, but what’s the general trend with your body weight? You’re hitting squat PR’s, which is always a good sign regardless of your BW, so I’m just curious if you’re gaining a lot, gaining a little, or maintaining weight.

1 Like

I’ve actually maintained BW. I’ve maintained between 168-172. My body looks a lot different than it did 3 months ago. Well more my midsection/shoulder/upper back/quads. I’m guessing that’s from the sheer volume of snatches cleans squats ohp chins rows and sprints. I’d be lying if I say I’ve been eating really well. There’s a lot of beer and happy hour food involved lol, but Im eating probably 75% clean and all the activity always helps. Whiskey helps, but not in weightroom lol.

And on a side note @ActivitiesGuy thank you for the advice in the beginning months ago when you told me to just start getting to the gym and put in work. I think that mentality has helped me in the training room tremendously. Because some days I don’t follow the program (listening to my body instead of being rigid) but I still go in and put in work. Days I feel strong I’ll push more and days I feel like crap I’ll go lighter weight but more volume. So thanks again man!

Had a friend come over to go over all my lifts (technique and how I’m doing them). He corrected everything I was doing wrong and will be lowering the weight just a bit to make sure I am consistent in a few things. A common theme was I have to stay tighter with all my lifts.

Day 1 of 365

Sunday 4/9/17 (5x5 Day)

CLEAN - Hella crisp and fast!
135x3
135x3
135x3
135x3
135x3

BACK SQUAT + AB WHEEL - Felt fast and powerful. Friend gave me a que to drop a little bit more vertical and my quads definitely felt it this time.
205X5 / 15
205X5 / 10
205X5 / 10
205X5 / 5
205X5 / 5

OVERHEAD PRESS + CHIN UPS - Felt really good. I think there is something primal about throwing a weight over your head.
115x5 / 5
115x5 / 5
115x5 / 5
115x5 / 5
115x5 / 5, 3, 2, 2
Total Chin Ups: 32

CURLS + JUMP ROPE - 5’s day beats me up a bit so I think I’ll limit my assistance this day to just arm work and conditioning. I’ll save the rows and other fun stuff for Wednesday and Friday.
65x20 / 5 min on
65x18 / 5 min on
65x16 / 5 min on

NOTES: Flew through this workout. Got done in a little over an hour. I felt like this was a truly complete workout. Everything felt fast and powerful. No more majoring in the minors, got to always keep my goals in mind. Even on top of my workout area I put a sign that says “225 Clean, 315 Back Squat, 175 Press, 20 Chin Ups” so I’m am consistently reminded of what the foundation of my program is based upon.

I think the mix of doing 5x5 Monday, 3x10 Wednesday, and going for a 3-5RM with back off sets on Friday/Saturday has really been a nice blend for me. I think I’ve found for my body what it responds to the best. I think the mix of low reps and high reps has got me out of the typical 5’s mentality. I still love having that basic ass 5x5 Monday though lol. Thanks @T3hPwnisher for telling me to get out of the 5’s mentality. I think doing more with 8-12’s and going 1-3’s has been a huge help to me. Having just 1 day where i do 5x5 and then the others a mix of other rep ranges has also made me excited about training because I’m also chasing those rep PRs!!

3 Likes

Agreed! I have developed quite a love for overhead pressing. It has been my main pressing movement for over a year now.

1 Like

I think there’s more pro’s than con’s to it. I think it fixes and exposes a lot of weaknesses. I really don’t like the idea of “laying down” to lift lol. So OHP over Bench for me all day everyday! Plus a huge press just looks impressive.

I really like the somewhat minimal aspect of your training and it’s definitely a log I’ll be following closely. Keep up the good work!

2 Likes

Thanks man, appreciate you following along!

I’ve come to see that training is not rocket science. Pick a few major lifts, balance it, hit them hard and frequently and all will be good lol.

1 Like

Day 2 of 365

Monday 4/10/17 (Conditioning)

10 Sprints
30 Min Yoga Session

Did this yoga video today. I don’t know why I like this series. Probably cause she’s super hot and it does make me feel loose haha. Highly recommended (especially to you bench pressers out there!) :

Taking the day off tomorrow to run a bunch of errands so will continue training on Wednesday. Wedding is exactly 12 weeks away! Bachelor party (Cabo) in 2.5 weeks. Shit man gotta make sure I stay on top of my nutrition and training! Lots of rice and chicken thighs and squats and presses lol.

1 Like

THOUGHTS
From now until the wedding, my assistance exercises will be more upper body biased because my fiance is on my ass about my arms looking better. She probably knows that as the night progresses my shirt will be off haha.

Cleans, Squats, Lunges, and RDL’s will be more than enough for my lower body for now.

Curls for the girls right? Lol.

1 Like

For arm diameter, you get more bang for your buck with tricep work, as it makes up more of your arm.

Throw 100-200 dips and a set of 100 poundstone curls into your workouts and you might see some good things.

2 Likes

Thanks for your input man! I’m assuming this is something I only do once a week? Twice? Or would it be every training day?

Day 3 of 365

Tuesday 4/11/17 (Recovery)

My body feels pretty beat up from Monday. I think focusing on staying tight has made everything a lot more sore lol.

90 Min Walk.
I forget sometimes it’s just good to go outside and walk for a few miles. Set a timer for 45 min and walked and then turned around to get my full 90 minutes in. I have no idea the distance, but body feels good.

30 Min Yoga
Decided to do this video today. Helps she’s cute too haha! Body feels really loose.

A question for anyone following.

How often should I be doing rows? I’m already doing cleans and chins 3x a week. Should I limit rows to just 1 day a week or should I just replace one days chin ups with rows? I figure if I do them only once a week I’d try to get a lot of reps in. I know this is all minor shit compared to my main lifts, but was just curious. I see program’s like 5/3/1 have rows only once a week, so I’m sure I’d be fine. @BOTSLAYER, @MarkKO, @littlesleeper What do you guys think?

Typically I try to keep my pulls balanced with my pushes.

I like chins on OHP day and rows on bench day. I’ve never really put too much thought in it beyond that to be honest.
I do a lot of facepulls and band pullaparts because they are easy and I’ve seen so many great articles about them.

I’m sure those other boys who are a little more detail oriented will have better answers.

3 Likes

Do them in the rack or they don’t count.

2 Likes