Road to 600KG and Gripper Training

Nov 4 2017

Standing OHP
warmup
bar x 5
65 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 12
105 x 12
95 x 15

Close Grip Bench Press (2 sec pause on chest)
135 x 8
145 x 8
165 x 8

Giant Set (trying to get a little pump)
Straight Bar Curls 65 x 8 x 4 sets
DB Skulls 20 lb x 20 x 4 sets
Plate Lateral 10 lb plate x 15 x 4 sets

Nov 6 2017

Squats
lazy lifter warmup
bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 10
240 x 10
225 x 12

RDL (no touch/no lockout)
235 x 8 x 3 sets

Leg Lifts
3 x 10

Nov 7 2017 (AM Workout)

Bench (touch and go)
bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
175 x 10
165 x 10
155 x 12

Push Press
100 x 8
135 x 8
140 x 8

Band Pushdowns
100 total reps (70/30)

Going to start making the transition to lifting in the morning before work. Got our first child on the way due next month so I think it will be best fit for the family if i get my workouts done while everyone else is sleeping. I can say that this morning i beat my volume on push press from last week even at a deficit of calories. I usually workout after dinner so i never have issues with energy level. Gonna have to start figuring out a way to get in some carbs and bcaas right before lifting (oatmeal and bcaa’s before and during lifting) and maybe a protein shake or eggs after lifting. Im hoping my body just adjusts over time.

Thursday shall be interesting trying to hit high reps again on deadlift…:dizzy_face:

Nov 9 2017 (am workout)

Front Squats
bar x 3
95 x 3
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2 x 4 sets (30 sec rest)

Deadlifts
205 x 3
225 x 3
320 x 8 x 3 sets

Some curls

Nov 10 2017 (PM workout)

Bench (tng)
warmup
bar x 5
135 x 5
165 x 12 x 3 sets

CGBP (30 sec rest)
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5 x 4 sets

These sets were pretty tough

Then i did a bunch of 10 pound plate laterals, light skullcrushers, curls and band pushdowns to get some good shoulder and arm pump.

Nov 13 2017 (am workout)

Bench (30 sec rest)
warmup
165 x 3 x 8 sets

Push Press
150 x 5 x 3 sets

Pump work for arms/shoulders
(laterals/skulls/curls) x 10 sets

Nov 14 2017 (am workout)

Squats
warmup - lazy lifter and a bunch of bodyweight squats to get my knees warm
bar x 5
150 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 8 x 3 sets
190 x 13 (bodyweight)

Deficit Deadlifts (30 sec rest)
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 3 x 5 sets

Some light ab stuff (leg lifts/a few rollers)

Today I can say is the first day ive felt halfway decent since beginning lifting in the morning. It is pretty tough hitting higher rep sets of squats then moving to speed deadlifts but i got it done and feel a little more optimistic.

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Nov 16 2017 (am workout)

Bench
warmup - band dislocates/band pushdowns
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 10 x 4 sets (felt pretty easy)

CGBP (30 sec rest)
165 x 2 x 8 sets

a ton of light db flies and band pushdowns (chasing pump)

I am really liking this new programming here recently. I am following Ben Pollacks Think Big - wont give out details since it was paid for but it involves 4 micro cycles over 4 months. It starts as hypertrophy style training with the intent to build work capacity while slowly moving into strength/powerlifting style workouts near the end/peaking. I am excited to see the outcome.

Nov 27 2017

Been off of here as my wife had the baby! 5 weeks early! Havent had much time to lift but did get to go home one day and i hit some squats and deadlifts

Pulled 455 x 1 (7 RPE)

Hit 10 singles on squats @ 315

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Been a whirlwind trying to get on a schedule with our baby being in the ICU. Hopefully hell be getting better soon. The plan is to get back to lifting next week - i guess i could have used the week and a half to recover. Haven’t taken a deload or rest week in a while.

12/2/2017

Found some down time to get in a lift session. The baby is still not home from the hospital yet so getting on a schedule has been damn hard. Hes supposed to be home tomorrow so hopefully we can start getting back to it and my plan is to hit it 3 times weekly:

day 1 - bench/squat
day 2 - deadlift/ohp
day 3 - light squat/bench

Saturday’s work:

Squat
lazy lifter warmup
135 x 3
185 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 2
250 x 5 x 4 sets

Bench (paused)
135 x 3
155 x 3
170 x 3
190 x 5 x 4

Reverse hyper on ball - 3 x 15
Ab rollers - 3 x 5

Found out how to really get the abs working on this movement finally. Im so sore now it hurts to breath deep or cough haha

Dont remember the date (tired 24/7)

Deadlifts
warmup
275 x 3
315 x 2
345 x 5 x 4 sets

Squats
3 x 5 @ 190

Bench
3 x 5 @ 145

December 11 2017 work

Squat
warmup
230 x 2
260 x 1
295 x 2 x 3 sets (was supposed to hit 6 but my left knee got kinda tweaked)

Bench
170 x 2
195 x 1
225 x 2 x 4 sets

Nobody cares about weights!

How is your boy? How is your wife?

Well, he was born @ 34 weeks 6 days so with that being said he spent 16 days in the NICU but never had any physical issues other than jaundice. We have had him home exactly one week today and are learning day by day. The good thing is the NICU got him on a good feeding schedule which is good but sometimes he sleeps and sometimes not so hes got hes days and nights mixed up now… running on fumes now haha my first day back was today. My wife is getting along very well. We have gotten out to take the little one on a few walks around the neighborhood. Shes already lost 18 pounds in 3 weeks and shes excited to get back to being active again. All in all things are very positive! Just trying to maintain my lifts currently until we can get on a good schedule. Thanks for asking

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Great News! I’m glad to hear your family is doing well. Good luck settling back in.

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That’s great news man. Medicine is rather amazing. They can nurse kids back to health born even younger than yours. Glad to hear the baby and momma are doing well. Get used to the lack of sleep man; once they start sleeping through the night, it isn’t long before they’re borrowing your car and staying out all night!

I will say the past three weeks have been a blur haha… 2-4 hours a sleep a day is hard to work with but we’re taking it day by day. I am looking forward to a full nights sleep though! haha

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December 18 2017

Ok, so since the baby has been born Ive had a few weeks to think about goals and other things with regards to training. I have been able to get in 1-2 days a week here to maintain lifts the best I can but i think we are honing in on getting him sleeping better at night which means here soon i can get back to lifting on a schedule. I want to start running a 3, possibly 4 day split focusing solely on deadlift programming for at least a year. I think when I hit a 600 pound deadlift i will be satisfied (below a bodyweight of 190). Here’s the split im thinking:

Day 1:
Squat Variation (heavy)
Deficit Speed Pulls
Hamstring exercise
Weighted Chins
Abs

Day 2:
Upper Body Hypertrophy
(mixture of overhead/incline/db for pump)

Day 3:
Heavy Deadlift Variation (from floor/block/rack pulls)
SGDL or RDL for reps (light weight)
Quad assistance exercise
Rows
Abs

The plan is to run this in three week blocks, with a peak week 2-3 times throughout the year for rest as needed. My brother in law just got a foldable rack for his garage and it getting into strength training so i have got to stay ahead of him haha

Current lift status:

Squat 1RM - 375 (using 345 as TM for lifts moving forward)
Bench 1RM - 265 (using 245 as TM, wont be training bench in the same manner - more geared toward hypertrophy ---- higher reps/volume)
Deadlift 1RM - 485 (estimated, i hit 365 for 12 a few weeks ago, calculator say 365 for 10 is 487 max)

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Still been sort of chaotic around the house. Our boy is one month old as of yesterday but we have somehow managed to get 6-7 hours of sleep the past three nights so that is positive. I ordered an 80 pound kettlebell that should be here today. I plan on wearing that thing out in the living room when i have my shift with the kid. Until i can get back to the barbell im going to be doing something along these lines:

Day 1
Goblet squats - 3 sets
Kettlebell RDL (while holding at chest) - 3 sets
Swings

Day 2
Bunch of pushups
KB Rows
Ab rollers

Day 3
Turkish Get ups?
Maybe some cleans if i can do that with 80 pounds
more goblet squats

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Congrats on becoming a father!

If deadlifting is your main goal, I would be checking out @ActivitiesGuy’s log. He has a big ol’ deadlift and has nice short, sessions you could emulate.

If/when my wife and I have kids I can see myself taking a very similar approach to his for awhile.

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