South Of Heaven Powerlifting Log

Well, This was an amazing bench session and I think I have found a training partner to hit bench, squat and possibly deadlift with weekly. Andy Papak is a tank and I will definitly do better with his help.

6/28/2009 Week 2 Phase 1 ICG Heavy Bench

Warm Up
45x15
135x10
185x2

310 Touch and Go Chart
240x6
260x4
290x2
275x3
240x6
315x1 Giant PR!! (Haven’t hit this since 6/1/2008 and that day was luck!!)

Another Chart Destroyed

Raw Boards w/ Chains (About 30-35lbs @ Top)
3 Board 135x3
2 Board 185x3
2 Board 225x3
2 Board 275x3
2 Board 295x1

All Done in 1 Set w/ 185+ Chains (13 Reps Total)
4 Board x 3
3 Board x 3
2 Board x 3
1 Board x 1
2 Board x 1
3 Board x 1
4 Board x 1

Panora Pushdowns 3x12
Face Pulls 3x12
Serial Killers w/ Purple Band 3xFailure
Half Purple Band Pull Apart 1xFailure
Full Purple Band Pull Apart Overhead 1x Failure
Assisted Pull Up Machine Abs 3x15

When I started the ICG method about 12 weeks ago I benched 285 raw and now I hit 315. 30lbs in about 12 weeks is a great number for not being a great bencher. I am hitting the 320 chart next week and then on to my first week of the Pause Charts with probably 290-300

Andy Papak Training (This kid only weighs 181 Maybe!)
Last week of 5 on Ed Coan Cycle

Bench - YouTube
315x5
365x1
385x1
405x0

Incline
295x1x5
295x1x4

Weighted Dips
2x6 (90lb + Bodyweight)

Assisted Pull Up Machine Abs 3x15

Only a day after I hit 315 and destroyed the 310 Touch and Go Chart and I feel great!

6/29/2009 Shoulders
Using the Ed Coan Peaking cycle here. Only 2 sets every week. This should keep me from overtraining my shoulders.

Standing Military Press
125x2x10
Side Laterals 100 Reps
Horizontal Preacher Machine 2x12
Cable Scott Curls (Single Arm) 2x10

Shoulder Rehab (Diesel Crew !@#$) 3 Reps Each/All Start With Retraction/8lb Dumbbells
Dumbbell Retractions
ITWY
L w/ External Rotations
Scarecrows
Skiers
Rear Flys

I haven’t hit shoulders in a long ass time (probably 1.5 years) and I think my lockout will greatly improve with a little strength and rehab work over the next 10 weeks. Right now I am on a quest for anything in my training to make me reach new goals and become the best I can be.

Today only took about 12-15 minutes total outside of a phone call at the gym

Adam Nozum
This kid is strong as hell, but he has trouble eating all the time and his diabetes is screwing with him every day. I am trying to convince him to get better with his diet, but he never listens to me. He went after the 310 chart today and made all the reps, but missed the final max. He finished with the same accessory work that I hit yesterday.

[quote]SouthofHeaven wrote:
DF85 wrote:
Def. awesome lifting.

I am on the other side of PA, near Pottsville.

That’s cool. What kind of lifting do you do? Are you in a band too bro?
[/quote]

Sorry did not see that untill now!

I am using Wendlers 5/3/1 and loving it. Right now I am just trying to get lean but my strength is still slowly improving.

I was never in a band but I played bass all throu high school.

I will be following this log for motovation so thanks!

[quote]DF85 wrote:
SouthofHeaven wrote:
DF85 wrote:
Def. awesome lifting.

I am on the other side of PA, near Pottsville.

That’s cool. What kind of lifting do you do? Are you in a band too bro?

Sorry did not see that untill now!

I am using Wendlers 5/3/1 and loving it. Right now I am just trying to get lean but my strength is still slowly improving.

I was never in a band but I played bass all throu high school.

I will be following this log for motovation so thanks![/quote]

Thanks for following man. I appreciate it. I hope I can keep you motivated. With the meet coming up I am trying to step up the intensity now. Yesterday sucked though when you have allergies that kill.

From the picture I thought you may have been playing in a band. Who is that in the pic? I actually play guitar and bass and have practice tonight. With preparing for meets it is taking my attention away from the music, but you have to sacrifice things to become better I guess.

Anyway, here was yesterdays training.

6/30/2009 Week 2 Ed Coan Competition Squat Cycle

Warm Up (No knee sleeves. I am trying to do away with them for a while)
45x10
135x2x5
245x2x3
335x2x1
(72.5%) 425x1x5
(Only used a 3 year old pair of Shiek knee wraps that might as well have been ace bandages. These things suck for support, but that is why I am going to use them.)

Speed Work w/ Strong Band (Actually Iron Woody #5)
335x4x1 (412 @ Bottom = 71%, 519 @ Top = 90%)

Leg Extensions 3x12

Hyper Extensions 2x10

Today was a great day, but a very rough one. My equilibrium is all messed up because my allergies are in full force today. My ears won’t pop, my eyes are watering so bad that it looks like I have been crying all morning, and my nose is running like crazy. I battled this with a giant hit of a new bottle of nose tork. It worked for the remainder of the training and that was it. I still made all the squats though. Due to this I figure that I will be able to hit some of these weights easily on any given day as long as I feel good. On the first and second rep of the 425 the plate hit the pin on the left side of the rack and !@#$ed me up. In the middle of the set I took 2 steps to the left to adjust for the last 3 reps. This killed my energy and almost caused me to loose it. Next time I am dropping the pins down. The speed work was light at the top, but the bands are killer. The briefs kept binding up and I have giant bruises from the belt. Oh well, if I feel better next Tuesday for squatting I will destroy it again. I finished this week as planned and will move on.

Next week is (75% 440x1x5)

Andrew(BW 215-220 at the moment)
Just started a 3 day (1 lift per day) cycle after finishing Rippetoe

Deadlift 395x2x3 (These turned into stiff legs)
Speed Work 225x3 (Just a few sets)

Andy Papak
Squat 405x5

Videos
My Squatting - YouTube
Deadlifting - YouTube
Papak Squatting - YouTube

7/2/2009 ME Triceps/Lats
Trained with Adam today. Great day for lifting, but wish I was prepared for an early day. Having different training partners with screwed up work schedules is weird. Things are never the same and easy, but if I waited until I was ready I would never have a training parnter.

Reverse Bands = -55 @ Top/-105 @ Chest
ICG Press
135x10
185x10
225x10
275x8
295x6

ICG Pull Over Press
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x8

Lying Floor Extensions w/ 20lb Curl Bar (Upper Back On 6" HD Foam Pad)
70x10 (Out)
70x10 (In)
120x10 (Out)
120x10 (In)

ICG Pulldowns 3x10

Shoulder Rehab/Prehab Circuit

7/3/2009 Week 2 Deadlift Competition Cycle

Warm Up
135x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
(80%) 425x2 (o Belt and these flew off the ground)

Reverse Strong Band Deadlifts (Lockout Training)
Bands reduced 100lbs @ floor
405x1
495x1
515x1
545x1
585x1 (Came off the ground real strong, but got caught on my shorts and I hitched the bitch)

Circuit
1.5 SLDL 3x8

Chest Supported Row 3x8

Concentric Good Morning 3x8 (Bar about 1.5-2" below nipple)

Abs3x15

I was thinking about how the 585 reverse band felt. It was not heavy until it hit the knee. That is a great thing because it was 485 on the ground. My best raw pull from the ground is only 470. If I could get that weight like I did I should be able to blow through 485 raw now and possibly 500. That is a huge goal of mine. I will obtain that within the next month. I PROMISE!!

Andy Papak
405x2x5 Second set looked much better than the first
Reverse Bands 515x1, but 545 did not budge off the ground. It’s cool though because as I said before I outweigh him by 60lbs.

7/5/2009 Week 3 Phase 1 ICG Heavy Bench

Warm Up
45x20
135x10
225x1

320 Touch and Go Chart
250x6
265x4
300x2
285x3
250x6
320x1 PR!!!

Another Chart Layed To Waste

Raw Boards
Pinky on Ring
3 Board 275x3
2 Board 295x3
1 Board 315x2 PR!!!
2 Board 335x2 PR!!!
3 Board 365x1 PR!!!

All Done in 1 Set w/ 185lbs (18 Reps Total)
Thumb Length From Smooth
4 Board x 3
3 Board x 3
2 Board x 3
1 Board x 3
2 Board x 3
3 Board x 3
4 Board x 1
All reps were extremely explosive and shocked the hell out of me

Panora Pushdowns 3x12

Face Pulls 3x12

Serial Killers w/ Purple Band 2xFailure

Half Purple Band Pull Apart 1xFailure

Full Purple Band Pull Apart Overhead 1x Failure

Purple Band Standing Abs 2x15

Abs Wheel 2x10

Andy Papak Training
Last week of 5 on Ed Coan Cycle

Bench - YouTube
330x2x5
365x1
385x1

Speed Bench
275x3x3

Incline
315x3
250x2x10

Weighted Dips
2x6 (90lb + Bodyweight)

Cable Abs 3x15

7/6/2009 Shoulder Day

Standing Shoulder Press
125x2x10
Used a little leg drive, but I wanted all the reps explosive. I also started the first rep with an explosive clean to the shoulders.

Side Laterals 100 Reps

V Handle Upright Rows 3x15
With these I turn my hands out grabbing the inside of the handles. I really try to pull the handle apart at the top to squeeze the traps

Chuck V Rows w/ Rope 3x15

E-Z Bar Curl 2x10

Rope Hammer Curls 1x15

Didn’t see that you started a log also. Will check here from time to time. Good luck

7/7/2009 Week 3 Competition Squat Cycle

Warm Up
135x2x5
225x3
315x2
365x1 Very easy rep raw. I am trying to keep my raw strength up with all the gear training.
405x1 Added Titan Briefs
440x0 Added New Titan Centurion Straps Down
500x0
545x0
585x0 All sets were impossible to reach depth. With a training partner I may be able to do something here, but I was training alone again without a spotter and had no idea what was going on.
(75%) 440x5 Removed suit and just went with briefs

Leg Extensions 3x10

Band Out (Hips) 3x12

Abs in the PM

Today took about 2 hours to complete. My new Titan Centurion is tight as hell and was a bitch to get on. I think that if I work with it weekly though I will be able to break it in. I have to learn to drive the knees apart though. In this suit and brief combo it is really a difficult thing to do.

Even with 585 and straps down I was not able to hit parallel. I think with straps up I will be able to nail more than 600 easy. I am going to take next week out of the suit and then get back in with straps up. The damn thing is really itimadating, but I will stick it out.

Andy Papak
Squat 425x3

Andrew
Deadlift 365x3x3

7/8/2009 Extra GPP and Squat Practice

Foam Box Squat (Extra wide stance with monster mini doubled and X’ed around the knees)
2x25 Really sitting back hard and pushing out against the bands

Wall Squats
3x15 Practice sitting back without knees tracking forward or falling back

Standing Abs 3x15

GHR on Abdominal Bench 3x10

Side Bends 3x12

Lower Abs 3x12

7/9/2009 Max Effort Triceps/Lats

Reverse Green Bands
ICG Press
135x6
185x6
205x6
225x6
275x6
300x6 PR!!

ICG Rolling Press
155x6
185x6
210x6 PR!!

Rolling Dumbbell Extensions
35x10
40x8
45x6

ICG Pulldowns 3x10

Incline Curls 3x6-10

Roman Chair Abs 3x12

Leg Raises 2x12

Today was nice and easy. It went by really quick too. I am progressing in all of my tricep movements. Now I just have to wait and see when Titan is going to send me back a replacement for my torn F6

7/10/2009 Week 3 Competition Deadlift Cycle

Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the percentages are based off a 530 estimated max (I have pulled 525 in a meet). I should have used a projected max, but I wanted to do as many sets raw as I can before gearing up. All these sets I have been completing raw and my strength is gaining by leaps and bounds. I love it. I may try next week to pull raw, but 475x2 raw is a PR plus 1 rep. I know I am capable, but recovery will start to suck. I also need a bit of practice in my suit.

Warm Up
135x5
135x2 (Added 60lbs chains for all sets)
225x5 (285)
315x2 (375)
405x1 (465)
(85%) 450x2 (510) Huge PR pulling both reps raw with a reset between reps!!

The original plan was 1 rep with chains and 1 rep without for explosion, but in the moment I was just prepared for the pulls. The bar got stuck on my shorts again so I decided that all pulling from now on is either in my suit with baby powder on the legs or my singlet with baby powder. This will take getting stuck on the shorts out of the question.

Speed Pulls
315x6x1 Did these sumo

Circuit
Romanian 1.5’s
225x3x8

Chest Supported Rows 3x8

Good Mornings (Lowered the bar a hole from last week)
135x8
225x8
320x8 PR!!

Andy PapakDeadlift 425x2x3
Same accessory work as me

It’s nice to finally have somebody to scream at while they scream back at you.
*I am psyched to start the ICG 290 Pause chart on Sunday. I always get nervous when I know I have to pause reps so I keep looking at the charts over and over again mentally preparing myself.

Deadlift Video
85% w/ Chains
450x2
425x2x3

7/11/2009 Week 1 Phase 2 ICG Heavy Bench

Warm Up
45x15
135x6
185x1

290 Pause Chart
225x6 (Extra long pause at the end of all sets)
240x4
270x3
255x2
225x6 (Held air through last 4 reps and all press calls. This was hard as hell and thought my head was going to explode.)
290x1 (Waited additional 1 full second after press call.)

Board Work
(Rage X - Cut the back of the shirt to fit. My shoulder have outgrown it and I am ok with that since I won’t use it again in competition.)
3 Board
405x1
455x1
495x1
515x2 Another huge PR!!!
First week of pause charts in my first cycle I visited ICG to train with Jeff, Chane and the crew. There is the first time I nailed 500x1 off a 3 board. 1 cycle later I get a PR and an additional rep!!

4 Board
545x1 PR!!!
Andy had a very loose grip on the bar and swears he ABSOLUTELY DID NOT assist at all on any reps

Panora Pushdowns 2x15

Face Pulls 2x15

Serial Killers 2xFailure

Andy Papak
Bench
340x3 Touch and Go
340x3 All reps paused with press call

Andrew
Squat 335x3x5 All sets were great, but the last set everything came together and he nailed them all.

Today was a spur of the moment training session. My training partner has to work on Sunday and was not able to get it in. It was today or never. He called and showed up 30 minutes later and everything went amazingly well. We are thinking about moving our bench day to Saturday now due to his work schedule and the fact that we would have 2 days off until our next squat day.

My board work was explosive as hell. I can’t believe how fast I moved that damn bar. I will say that the shirt is tight, but I never got !@#$ out of it in the past. I am going to guess that means I am getting stronger. I am gonna go with that excuse.

Training Partners
Andrew Squatting 335x5
Andy Papak Benching 340x3 All reps paused

Me
290 pause rep chart 295 for a long pause
3 board 500x1
4 board 545x1

what music was that in this video? - YouTube
sounds so familar i just cant place it though

Thanks for watching bro. I believe that it is It Dies Today. Great bands and the main music in the Ryan Kennelly Road to the Arnold DVD. Great to lift to.

yeh thats who i kept thinking it was but couldnt place the exact song ha, one of my favorites to lift to is emmure and droid you should check them out if you dont them get the respect issue cd by emmure if you dont have any of their stuff, droid only has one cd but not many ppl know them, the first song will get you amped up no matter what

7/12/2009 Shoulders

Standing Military Press
135x2x8

Side Laterals 100 Reps

Upright Rows 3x10

Hammer Curls 3x10

Standing Abs 3x15