What’s good everyone, I’ve been following T-Nation for a solid 2 years now, reaping as much gains as possible from the incredible info the coaches here offer. I finally thought it was about time to start a Training Log, seeing as I havn’t had one in my lifting days yet.
I Just turned 19 3 days ago, I weigh 178ish pounds and am 5’8. I played football and wrestled throughout highschool, and am looking to continue my athletic career in rugby at USC next fall.
Noteworthy injuries (anything that hinders my progress): complete ACL tear as a senior in highschool. Minor Labrum tear from wrestling also.
My personal records as of 10/3/11:
Push Press: 235
Military Press: 185
Squat: 350
Deadlift: 370
Bench Press: 315 (I was using the westside technique when this happened) I havn’t been able to hit that again after I did it, right about now I’m around 290
I’m about to start a HFSW training cycle, I’ve only read about it, and have yet to try it. So any information/suggestions I would appreciate incredibly.
My main lifts i’ll be doing are:
Military press (push press when i feel shitty…)
Squatting
Bench Pressing
Deadlifting
as of now, I will be working on my rear delts and triceps, so ill end my strength lifts with those kinds of supplemental excercises.
Off to the gym now, I hope this wont take too long, 24 Hour fitness is a shit show at this time of day.
Monday 10/3/11
Overhead Press: 135x5 5 sets
Deadlift: 235x7 5 sets
Bench Press: 205x5 5 sets
Squat 235x5 5 sets
I did reverse fly’s as my active rest in between sets.
I basically “supersetted” OHP and DLing together, and the bench pressing and squats also were together with about 15 seconds of rest in between each set.
it looked like…OHP x5, DL x5 then reverse flys (for a total of 5 times)
BP x5 squat x55 then more reverse flys (total of 5 times)
the overhead pressing felt like it was a good weight to start at, they all felt good actually…I’ve been reading alot and I guess a big mistake people on HFSW tend to make is to start the training cycle too heavy, which leaves no room to increase the weight throughout the weeks. That’s why I started fairly light on all my lifts.
Ill either increase the number of reps on these exercises or the weight next week, depending on how the rest of this week turns out with them.
Tuesday 10/4/11
OHP 135…reps varied depending on how quick the weight was moving, 5 sets
Deadlift 235…same deal
Bench Press 205x5 5 sets…this felt lighter than yesterday
Squat 235x5 5 sets…felt better than yesterday, ill increase the sets or reps tomorrow for these 2
My AR was face pulls today, i went into the gym with some issue in my left shoulder, doing these seemed to take the pain away and it made it feel normal
My weight was also down 2 pounds from yesterday, i dont know if its from the massive amount of sweat i lost yesterday, or the change in intensity. My food intake was good today, if not more than yesterday
Wednesday 10/5/11
Today was a workout on a time constraint…i felt fine which is lame, so had to choose what to do wisely.
I military pressed 135 this time the weight felt incredibly light, which made me happy, overhead pressing has always been my worst.
i did 4 sets of auto regulated reps (i dont remember the number on each set)…the movement pattern must be getting more and more engraved into my nervous system
Deadlifting for 235, again, the same thing. I can’t wait to up the weight on all of these lifts.
HFSW is the perfect template for anyone trying to learn how to lift.
Im restarting this log, when i began I was more so getting into the groove of HFSW. Will be posting back soon, off to the gym right now.
One question for anyone here: When would be a good time to do abdominal work during HFSW cycles?
I discontinued my log during my first two “cycles” of HFSW
Summary:
At first i didnt think i would have gained this much strength. I believe HFSW is a fool-proof way for gaining strength in certain movements.
I started my first HFSW phase doing military press, bench press, back squat, and deadlifts for 4 weeks, followed by my own personal “specialization” week. (5 weeks) At the end of this i weighed 183 pounds.
-Military press 135 for strong explosive triple reps → 175 for a 2 strong rep training weight toward the end of the phase
-205x5 -->235x5 strong reps
-Deadlift 235x4 quality reps → 275 x 3 fasssst reps
-Squat 235 for a few fast reps → 275x3 strong reps
When i began the second “phase” of my training, I started HSFW…After the specialization week, i noticed drastic deacreases in explosive “pop” to my reps, but almost immediately the muscle gain looked like it came, almost every day i did HFSW i would look at myself and love the differences I was able to see.
I started again at my base weights from phase 1. And switched bench pressing to close grip benching, i wanted to work on my triceps’ strength.
MP 135 → 185
CGBP 185x3 → 225x3 (reps were faster on 225 at the end than the 185 in the beginning)
Back SquatL 235 → 315x2 quick reps, im usually only able to perform no more than 2 quality reps though.
Deadlift 245 → 335 x3 good reps
This is the last week of this phase, so i will be pushing the weight up for sure (especially after thanksgiving, i have a whole fridge of leftovers)
Alright, I have no clue why i cant get myself to consistently keep a log, this is a huge problem in my life, it goes for everything but the gym and my diet. Its like a severe form of procrastination.
This week made me so happy that I really felt like I had to share it with someone.
My last week of HFSW
Monday
-Military Press: 90x3 (felt slow compared to what he weight SHOULD feel like)
115x3 (felt the same as the 90’s)
135x3z5 (i lacked the speed I was looking for, I honestly should have lowered the weight* but my ego didn’t want to be affected I guess
Deadlift: : 225x3
275x3
315x2 315x1 315x3
At first the 225 felt light as a feather, same with the 275, as soon as i jumped to 315 it felt like a bag of bricks…(maybe too big of a jump, especially when i get closer to my max)this is why I lowered the reps to 1, to try to regain explosiveness, which I did…The next 3 felt the same as that last set.
Squat: 185x3…too light
225x3…for some reason
315x1…my back rounded just barely so I didnt do another rep
275x3 To regain explosiveness
CGBP: 135x3…felt like I could push the weight into the celing
185 x3 again, the reps popped
225x3x4 I liked how this weight felt for close grip
Tuesdays performance was downhill (im guessing because of all the previous explosiveness monday)
Wednesday I Military pressed 185 for a PR), deadlifted 335 for a fast 3
Thursday: Bi’s and lats, I didnt like it, there was no pump, hard to connect the weight with my bicep for some reason…any suggestions on why??
Friday: MP for another PR of 195…this is what made me so happy, My weight has been staying down all week too, today I weighed 179…2 weeks ago i was 184. It seems my body loves military pressing more than any other type of press.
Thursday
Its sunday, today im going in to try to neurally recharge myself, as I didnt workout yesterday and feel sluggish today.
My goal is to get ready for CT’s HP mass program starting monday. Results will come, and info will be brought.
I will be sticking to CT’s template he has on his article. Im very excited to see how much weight I can start pressing using this. Today will be my day to find my MTWs also. Ill post back
My MTW’s for bench pressing are 240
Squats 250…(we know what I need to work on…)
Today was a little odd…first day of HPM
Push press 135x3 155x3 185x3 205x3…all very fast
Military press: this was very weak compared to what I normally can do
135x3
145x3
155x3
165x1…maybe i went too heavy on push pressing and did something to my nervous system…
Next up, incline pressing…this was oddly strong today
165x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x3
225x3
235x3
Flat pressing
225x3
235x3
225x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
It was weird my incline was stronger than my flat…We’ll see what happens later