This is my second attempt at a log here on T-Nation. The first one ended shortly after I started, mainly because I had stopped training. I’d love to blame some sort of catastrophic event that forced me from the gym, but fact of the matter was I became severely lazy.
Its amazing how missing one day’s lifting can snowball into missing the majority of 6 months. Oh well . . .shit happens.
I’m back at it again and will do my best to keep at it. This time around I have incentive. I want to do my first meet at the end of October. However I won’t even attempt it until my RAW numbers get to a certain point. They are as follows.
Squat -405
Bench - 315
Deadlift- 450
My current numbers are:
Squat: 315
Bench -230
Deadlift - 370
As you can see I have a long way to go, and I’m not sure if I’ll get there by October but it sure doesn’t hurt trying.
I’ve also done my best in changing my training environment. I have gone from a Fitness type gym to a strength gym. I now lift in Colliseum Gym in Middle Village New York. It has every single apperatus I could think of (except a sled/prowler. Really wish they did!).
So I’ll be posting here going forward. If anyone wants to tag along it would be appreciated.
1/17/09
Max Effort Bench Training
Bench press with 2 chains per side
205x1 (PR)
Flat Bench DB Press - 45x23 reps (PR)
Pulldowns
One Arm Dumbell Rows
Face Pulls
Hammer Curls
I had gone to Defranco’s training center the previous week to work on my bench form there. The above was basically the exact thing we did there except I added the chains. I gave 210 a whirl but stalled about 3-4 inches off my chest. Looks like I may have a sticking poing there because my Bench max attempts typically stall there too. So next week I’m working rack work.
I’m also going to make a concerted effort to prioritize speed work. I belive that if I can get more speed I can push that sticking poing up a few more inches. The DB presses were a little light because 23 reps is a bit high. I’ll push those up too.
lucky you, training at Defranco gym…seems one of the best gym…
I’ve only trained there once. Went there to get my form right on my bench.
1/19/09
Max Effort Squat
Safety Bar Box Squat parallel box 225x1
Glute Ham Raises
Decline Situps
Band Situps using Glute Ham Raise
This is the first time I’ve used the Saftey Squat Bar and it kicked my ass. Now I will admit I haven’t squatted in several weeks and my legs are a bit weak but I figured I would get more than 225. I’m definitely keeping these in the rotation. If these go up I can guaranty my free squat will go up as well.
So I made one of the biggest mistakes I could have possibly made today. And no it didn’t occur in the weightroom. It happened at my office.
So as I outlined above my goals have been to join a meet and get my powerlifting numbers up. I am also a bit overweight in the midsection. I have done research on, and have read the book, Anabolic Solution by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. So today I began the diet. This diet, for those who do not know, is a high fat/high protein/low carb diet monday-friday. On the weekend its high carbs, low protein/low fat.
Today my meals involved a london broil for breakfast, a half london for lunch, and a half london for my mid-afternoon snack. My coworkers noticed this and asked what I was doing. I stupidly explained to them the whole Anabolic diet and my powerlifting goals.
As you can imagine I heard it every which way on how what I was doing was dangerous. How my lifting would ultimately hurt me.
What I guess I’m getting at is that there are a lot of detractors out there. And as soon as they hear that you are trying to better yourself they try to bring you down. I’ll never make the mistake of telling anyone my goals again. Anyone else, other than everyone here at T-Nation. You guys will keep me honest.
1/20/09
Speed Bench w/chains @110lbs
DB Bench Press 50lbsx20
Rolling Tricep Extensions
Fat Bar Pushdowns
Pulldowns
One Arm Dumbell Rows
Hammer Curls
Not an exciting day. Didn’t feel to fast on the speed bench. Benching alone is a pain in the ass. Not having a lift off its hard for me to maintain my tightness when pressing out of the rack. I’m also trying to figure out what bench style to use. I’m not flexible enough to do the Metal Militia style, and I don’t feel like I get much of a leg drive with the Westside method. I’m trying to blend the two but I’m not happy with it.
[quote]luigisacs wrote:
So I made one of the biggest mistakes I could have possibly made today. And no it didn’t occur in the weightroom. It happened at my office.
So as I outlined above my goals have been to join a meet and get my powerlifting numbers up. I am also a bit overweight in the midsection. I have done research on, and have read the book, Anabolic Solution by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. So today I began the diet. This diet, for those who do not know, is a high fat/high protein/low carb diet monday-friday. On the weekend its high carbs, low protein/low fat.
Today my meals involved a london broil for breakfast, a half london for lunch, and a half london for my mid-afternoon snack. My coworkers noticed this and asked what I was doing. I stupidly explained to them the whole Anabolic diet and my powerlifting goals.
As you can imagine I heard it every which way on how what I was doing was dangerous. How my lifting would ultimately hurt me.
What I guess I’m getting at is that there are a lot of detractors out there. And as soon as they hear that you are trying to better yourself they try to bring you down. I’ll never make the mistake of telling anyone my goals again. Anyone else, other than everyone here at T-Nation. You guys will keep me honest.
[/quote]
Don’t sweat it. They still believe in the food pyramid which, if followed exactly, will kill you with diabetes quicker than anything.
Hold your ground and pile on the dietary fat - you need it for the energy.
Food pyramid?HA! If they believed in the food pyramid they wouldn’t look like they do. I love getting dietary advice from my boss who is easily 50lbs overweight. Oh, and she says shes been doing Weight Watchers since 1988. Remind me never to go on that plan.
And you are right about the dietary fat. It’s been one day and I feel better already.
Yea man there will always be people around to try and bring you down when your trying to better yourself, just to make themselves feel better because they lack the decipline. Stay positive and keep track of the prize ahead and you will get there!!
No training today but work sucked. Still had all the naysayers throwing insults at me. When I told them yesterday that I was contemplating doing a meet they all laughed at me. This isn’t going to be fun. I cant wait until they forget about it.
Also I’m having a difficult time training alone. I need to find some training partners if I’m going to do this. I lift in a great gym with a lot of really strong guys but, since I’m pretty shy, I haven’t been able to get in with any of them. I guess I’ll have to keep banging away alone.
Oh and I’m on day two of the anabolic solution and all I want is to down a box of oreos! Gotta stay focused. Only two more days then its carb up on the weekend!!!
1/24/09
Max Effort Bench
Reverse Band Bench Press (Purple band) - 300x1
DB Bench Press - x17 reps
Pulldowns
DB Rows
Face Pulls
Ive never done the reverse band presses before and I like them a lot. I made a concentrated effort to explode out of the bottom on all my reps. The 300 went well off the chest, then slowed significantly 3-4 inches above the chest. Once I past this point, basically where my arms begin to flare out, the bar speed picked up again. So my sticking point is definitely that 4-5 inch area in the middle of the stroke. I’m not going to start extensive work on that sticking point just yet. I think I need to just get stronger all over first. Going to wait a few months then work any bad points.
I also think I may have found a bench setup that I like. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts the westside method didn’t give me enough leg drive, and I just can’t arch likeh the metal militia guys do (nor stretch my legs out to the side that much either). So I played around with the set up until I reached a middle ground between the two. I managed to get a halfway decent arch and was able to utilize leg drive in my presses. So overall I am very pleased. Good session.
1/25/09
ME Squat/Deadlift
Deadlift 385x1 (PR 15lbs)
Full range squats
Glute Ham Raise
Roman Chair Situps
Nautilus Ab Machine
Grappler ab rainbows.
1/26/09
Dynamic Bench
Speed Bench 115x3, 125x3, 135x2
Pause bench press 175x3
DB Tricep Extensions
Pulldowns
Decided to keep the volume down today. Since I went heavy with the reverse band just the other day my joints and shoulders were still a bit fried. The dynamic work was fast today and I attribute that to finally finding a bench position I like.
I hate training on Mondays. The gym was packed with every jobber in queens. I had the fortune to be benching right accross from the Guido crew today. Tight shirts, tatoos on the arms, and chains on the outside of the shirt. Now I’m from Italian lineage but I want to slap one of the assholes until they turn pale. Those boys worked heavy today. No warmup. Straight to 135. Then 185. Then 225. Then 275. Of course none of the reps ever made it all the way down to their chest and the spooter almost got a hernia but thats another thing all together.
Fucking dumb!
1/28/09
PAY DAY (hey I know this is a training site, but were in a recession and I’m happy I’m still getting paid!)
ME Squat
Speed Box Squats - 185x3, 205x3, 225x3
Box Squat - 275x1, 315x1
Glute Ham Raises
Weighted 45 degree hypers
Medley of Band ab work
Felt real good today. All my speed lifts were hard and fast. I’m not following any set percentage as indicated in a lot of the writing. I think people get too caught up in this. I basically go by feel and if the bar is moving real fast I’ll add some weight. I’ll keep doing this until I don’t feel fast anymore. Then I’ll lower the weight.
I’m starting to feel stronger. I’m attributing this to the following 3 factors.
a. New Gym environment
b. Body finally adapting after the layoff
c. I’m getting fatter.
Allow me to explain.
The gym im now at has a lot of very strong people. And it has some very good powerlifters there. Just look up that Vlad dude who set the Squat WR, he trains at my gym. Even those who aren’t powerlifters there go there to train. Lots of bodybuilders, and lots of guys just wanting to get strong. In fact I have hooked up with a few guys who are accomplished powerlifters that I will be training on the weekend with. Just being around all these strong people have made me better and have made me strive to get strong(er).
Secondly my body has finally started to get used to training again. Remember I was a fat lazy shit for a good period of time. And I’m no spring chicken anymore. It takes me a while to get used to anything.
And thirdly I’m getting pretty hefty. So much so that my father flat out called me fat. I know this is not a “good” thing, but me gaining weight means that I’m giving myself the calories I need to grow bigger and stronger. I’m just going to have to deal wth it a bit. I’m actually thinking of doing 45 mins of walking everytime I hit the gym. I’ll have to think it over more though.
No training today but I did weigh myself. I’m currently at 238, which is precisely where I want to be. Since my ultimate goal is to compete in thw 242’s, I figured why not fill out the weight class. Now I will admit that this is mostly fat right now, but I have a plan . …
I will monitor my weight on a weekly basis. I will begin slow rate cardio beginning tomorrow, with the hopes of reducing my bodyfat percentage (mostly my gut). If my weight drops below 238, I will cut the cardio. If my weight drive beyond 238 I will continue to perform cardio (the PL community calls this GPP).
I guess the point here is I am going to try to gain muscle, and lose fat, while keeping my bodyweight at 238. I know a lot of people will fight me on this, but I think it can be done. And if it can’t well I guess we’ll see soon won’t we?
1/31/09
ME Bench
Bench Press
Barx10
95x5
135x3
165x3
185x3
205x3
215x2
225x1
235x1(PR)
245x0
Military Press
115x5x5
135x3
Pulldowns
Chest Supported Rows
Face Pulls
Hammer Curls
Very happy with my session today. Finally got that 235 that I’ve been chasing for a month. Missed on it two other times before this. Again I’m attributing this to the set up. Although I can’t get as big an arch this set up keeps me very solid. It also helps that I had someone who knew what they were doing giving me a lift off on my attempts.
So I was going to begin training with a very strong lifter in my gym. He has done several meets and has a best (and I’m estimating) 700+ squat, 450 bench, and at 650+ dead. I WAS going to be training with him until I found out the gym owner cancelled his membership. Its seems last week he accidently flipped the monolift into the mirror. The gym cancelled his membership because he refused to pay for the replacement. Now I’m not going to debate whether he should pay or not, that is his perogative. . .but I do believe that most gyms would give someone a pass if this was really an accident. I mean I put a hole in the wall and the owner told me not to worry about it. I could understand if he was habitually ruining things, but this was his first time. . . I don’t know . . . just my opinion I guess.
What would you do?
Im pretty sure that the guy with the all-time highest squat in the IPA trains at your gym. Guy named Vlad Alazhov.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Im pretty sure that the guy with the all-time highest squat in the IPA trains at your gym. Guy named Vlad Alazhov.[/quote]
Yes he does. There is record chart and his WR number is right at the top. I’ve never seen him though. I’d love to lift with him, but we’d need to monolifts since I have to stop at 315 and he’s barely warmed up with those numbers.
2/1/09
ME Squat
Buffalo Bar Box Squat w/Monolift
55x3
145x3
195x3
235x2
285x1
325x1
335x1 (PR)
Glute Ham Raise
BWx3
BWx3
BWx3
(I may be weak but I’m consistent! HA)
Nautilus Ab Machine
Giant Pyramid Set
Never did the Buffalo Bar before so the PR is a cheap PR. However using the bar has the same feel as a straight bar so I guess the PR is pretty good. Considering the last time I tried a RAW Squat PR all I got was 315. If I’m hitting higher numbers with this bar then I’m guessing my Squat will be higher. It was also nice using the monolift.
There is a lifter at my gym whom I’ve partnered up with in a way. We both seem to be there at the same time and we’re both doing a westside template. So we spot each other and help run the mono lift. It was weird at first though using the mono. I wasn’t used to unracking the weight and just sitting back into the squat. I got used to it eventually. Overall . . .good session.