I think me training as hard as I do is contrary to the name �??Flow�??. I’m really going against the flow of my peers by tearing my hands up, training like a lunatic, and eating stuff that my friends invariably call “shit”. This is what I do, and what I do is what I am.
So, here is some training history:
Played football for 3 years
Hyperextended left knee
Put me out four months
Decided football wasn’t for me (I miss hitting people though :/)
2 years of Crosscountry and Track later, I found myself at 165 lbs. @ 6’1". I looked at my boney legs and said ‘fuck that’
‘bulked’ and ballooned up to 230 lbs.
Realized I was a fatass and cut down to 180 with ??hawt abz??
Hated the fact that I looked like an anorexic Brad Pitt
Decided to eat adequately and gain weight the right way
Now I’m 189-190 and gaining strength well after 6 weeks
This is my training log. Right now I’m focusing on getting stronger with the fortunate side affect of gaining size.
I welcome any and all criticism. If I post a video and my form is off, call me out. If I post a training session that looks iffy or contrary to my goal of gaining strength and, secondly, size- call me out.
I appreciate this community, and I realize that, personally, all I can reliably call upon is my own experience, which is limited in the world of strength sports (1-1.5 years). That in mind, please lend me the words of wisdom you’ve accumulated during your training career when they are relevant. Here I go.
C. Band Adductor/Abductor Work
Band attached at knee resisting hip extension in the direction of the responsible inactive muscles’ function (abd/add). Need to work glute activation on right side and adductor activation on right side as well.
I just copied and pasted those training sessions from my previous personal log. I’ll post more detailed ones from here on out, likely.
You’ll notice the trend of relatively low volume, especially for the lower body work. It seems to be working well, as the past two weeks have been a pleasant surprise as far as progress goes. I have this urge to just train myself into the ground, which has been a problem in the past. I think it has something to do with the ridiculous balls-to-wall 24/7 training I became acclimated to when I played football.
Anyway, I’m trying to get my right adductor (adductor magnus)and glute max and left glute med and TFL to fire well enough in hip extension so that I can do supported unilateral lower body exercises like Bulgarian Split Squats without reinforcing the imbalances I have going on at the hip.
It seems that unsupported movements like lunges and step ups do an excellent job of allowing me to focus on bearing weight properly on my foot, and, thus iron out my hip imbalances.
This is definitely information overload, but I’m using this log as a bank for my training-related thoughts. Anyway, hope anyone reading this has had solid training sessions so far this week.
B. Pushups
17,17 (easy as hell, so I decided to try benching today for the first time in 3 months)
B. . . Bench Press
115X8X3
These were easy and flew up really quick, but the bar speed was unequal on each side, and I still felt it more in my right pec than my left. I could tell because I recorded them. I don’t think my right triceps is strong enough to bench yet, and this blows.
C. Unilateral French Press
20X9X4
*right side only. I’m not doing unilateral work for my left triceps anymore. It’s only going to perpetuate the imbalance if I do.
D. Barbell Shrugs
205X15X4
E. Dumbbell Curls
30X12
30X10
30X6
*I used an offset grip this time and supinated hard at the top. Also, I controlled the eccentric far more than I usually do. Craaaazy pump for such few sets.
F. Lateral Raises
20X12X3
*I tried these with some more swing, but I brought them up higher and squeezed the top, which ended up being a good distance above parallel with the floor.
Solid day in the gym. For next week I’m going to rotate all the exercises but ‘A’ in each training session. Right now I’m using Pullups, Overhead presses, Back Squats, and Front Squats as my indicators. They’ve been increasing every week, so I guess I’m going something right.
I’ll post a video of my last set of pullups later. Off to study for my last final of summer semester. Going to be a junior after one year in college. Fuck?
Monday Lower
A. Back Squat
5X4
B. Power Cleans
8X2
C1. DB Lunges
3X6-8
C2. Glute Activation Band Work
2-3X15-20
D. MR�??s Core Stuff
4X12-15
Tuesday Upper
A. Shoulder Press
5X4
B. T-Bar Row
4X6-8
C. Unilateral DB Skull Crusher
4Xrep progression to 10, then increase weight
D. Dumbbell Shrugs
3X12-15
E. Band External Rotations
3X12-15
F. Dumbbell Preacher Curls
3X8-10
G. Offset Barbell Presses (core movement)
3X8
Friday Lower
A1. Front squat
5X4
A2. Plate Pinches
3X30s
B. Speed Deads
8X2 @ 50% 1RM
C1. DB Step Ups @ just below knees
3X6-8
C2. Band Glute Activation Work
2-3X12-15
E. MR�??s Core Stuff
4X12-15
Saturday Upper
A. Pullup
5X4
B. Band Resisted Pushups
4X8-10
C. Unilateral French Press
4Xrep progression to 10, then increase weight
D1. Band Lateral Raises
3X10
D2. Hammer Curls
3X10
E1. Barbell Shrugs
4X12-15
E2. Band Pull Aparts
3X1515
F. Side Planks
3X30s
End summer goals:
315 max Back Squat
380 max Deadlift
Bench Again
165 max Overhead Press
Weights
A. Back Squat
220X4X5
This was easy as hell, but, as you’ll notice in the video of my last set below, I get some posterior tilt at the pelvis when I hit the bottom. I’m thinking these reasons contribute:
Inflexibility from my new, wider, stance.
-I address this with the frog squats at the end of the session
Weak abs
-Work in progress
Weak hamstrings
-Might add 4X4 leg curls to my Front Squat session, possibly in place of the step-ups. input here would be cool. - YouTube
B. Power Cleans
135X2X8
Explosive, easy
C1. DB Lunges onto a 4-5’ platform
40X6X3
s/s
C2. Glute Activation Band Work
2-3X15-20
No weird feeling at my hip; everything seems to be in much better alignment than just 2 weeks ago ^.^
BTW, my bro uses the camera for stop motion stuff, and he ended up deleting the pullup video.
That, or it’s on another one of those tiny 5,0000000000000000 gigabyte memory cards we have around the house. I’m not going to look for it, but I’ll post the vid if the thing turns up
Weights
A. Overhead Press w/ Hip Drive (no knee-bend)
115X4X5
PR
B. Pendlay Row
135X6X4
PR
C. Unilateral DB Skull Crusher
35X2 (realized that was the wrong weight)
30X7X3
Decided to do these with both arms
D. Unilateral DB Preacher Curls
20X10
25X8X2
Great stretch at the bottom of these. I think I’ll make these two (C&D) a superset next week.
E. DB Shrugs
60X20X2
60X18
Failed. My traps are fryed after doing power cleans for the first time in a loooong time yesterday.
F. Offset BB Press
BarX8X2
Tried these just to mess around. They’re no joke, lol. I think I’m just going to stick with planks for now, but these are another tool for later.
Grreeeaaaat session today. Fortunately, everything you see here was a PR Every time I step in the gym this fantastic summer, I set a PR on 2 or more lifts. Such a badass thing to be able to do, but I guess they’re just the nooooob gains and a testament to the fact that I’m doing the right stuff outside the gym too. Funny thing is, I’ve spent less money on supplements this summer (0$) than I did ever before, but I’m making more progress than ever before too.
Today’s motivation was Beaker. He’s pretty much the ultimate pencil neck, and that’s exactly what I don’t want to be. I guess he’s motivating because, one, he makes cool noises and, two, he is exactly what I don’t want to be. A mindless muppet pencil neck that can’t lift a thing. I wore a beaker shirt to commemorate the motivation.
I have some crazy hamstring DOMS from DB swings yesterday. . .
Weights
A1. Front Squat
180X4X5
These were really easy.
Volume PR
A2. Plate Pinches
3x5lbs. plates X 30 seconds X 4 sets
B. DE Deadlifts
185X2X8
C. Step Ups
40X6
50X8X3
PR
D. Supine Leg Lowering w/ posterior pelvic tilt
BWX12-15X4
Great session today. I listened to some Linkin Park today. Made me feel like I was in 7th grade or something, but I guess that wasn’t too long ago in the grand scheme of things
Today’s motivation was Brolli. Needless to say, he could probably do 5 sets of 4 reps of weighted pullups with BW+9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999lbs. That’s motivating.
Weights:
A. Weighted Pullups
BW+15X4X5
PR
Really had to grind out the last rep
B1. Blue-Band Resisted Pushups
BW+Blue BandX12X3
B2. Band Pull Aparts
Blue BandX15X3
C. Unilateral French Press
20X10X2
20X9F
These are all done biceps to forearm with a pause and full extension. . . I failed on the last rep of the third set, so I skipped the fourth set.
Meal 5
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 scoop whey
1 cup pumpkin (canned)
I’m going to go buy more milled flaxseed today after I hit the gym. I bought this protein powder from a local nutrition store, and it basically tastes like shit compared to Biotest’s stuff. I’m going to stick to Biotest from here on out. Hell, they deserve my money after all the free articles, even if those articles lead me to over-analyzing stuff previously.
I’m glad I’m getting stronger and gaining weight now. It can’t happen fast enough, though. I’m learning a lot of patience because of weight lifting, and that fact is helping me in all aspects of my life. I have more patience with the people I care for now than ever before, and this has helped me resolve and avoid situations that I would have previously contributed negatively to.
If anyone is following this log, thanks to you. I do this by myself, and I’m the only one out of my close friends that spends a substantial amount of time in the gym. This is a loner’s endeavor for me, but I love it.
Today’s motivation came from the fact that I’m weak. So, let’s just say that I need to be stronger. That’s always motivation enough for me to bust my ass for as long as necessary in the gym.
6-31-08
Weights
A. Back Squat
225X4X5
Easy. I went just to parallel with the ground at hamstrings, which is, I think, legal depth for power lifting competitions. Reason being is I either don’t have the flexibility or the stability to go ATG (top of quads parallel and lower) with back squats. My legs are too long for this, and I can’t stay upright enough on heavy back squats to safely ATG squat.
B. Power Cleans
140X2X8
C. Pistol squats onto a box
BWX8X3
(5 rubber mats)
I focused on good knee and hip alignment on these, and I added a few rubber mats to the top of a soap box to adjust the depth I squat to. These were touch and go, much like a box squat. Balance wasn’t much of an issue to be honest, which is a pleasant surprise. Each week I’ll take a mat or two off until I have the balance to squat down to the low soap box, then I’ll do them unassisted as well as possible.
D. Supine Leg Lowering Ab Work
4-6X12-20
I didn’t really count these, I just did loads of ab work. This is a point of concern for me, because I think I have a comparably weak core. It’s improving, though. It’s easier to maintain posterior pelvic tilt on these now than ever before.
Solid day in the gym. I’ll post today’s upper lifting session later on.