The Road to 1396 Raw @ 181

Training Logs
1

Hey guys,

I’m new to the forum, but not to T-Nation. First, just a little bit about myself…
I’m 18 years old, weigh about 176lbs, and have been lifting weights for approx. 3 years. I began weightlifting a month after I turned 15 in order to get stronger for wrestling in high school. I started with my dad and brother, and we went to the gym everyday at 5:30am. My first real training split came out of The Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Then, I weigh 140lbs at 5’7". The heaviest I’ve been is 198lbs with about 11-11.5% body-fat. Recently, withing the past 4 months, I have taken a strong liking to Powerlifting My first competition is in 3 days and i’ll compete in the 181lb/82.5kg weight class. I’m starting this post so that you guys, my peers, may critique, view, and advise me as I get stronger.

Now just a small insight in to how I plan on training after my competition.
I’ll be using primarily the Westisde Method. I’ll slightly modify it to meet my needs. (Don’t worry, I won’t upset anyone by completely making a new method and calling it Westside.)
My training will be split into four primary day. A DE Bench, a DE Squat/Deadlift, a ME Bench, and a ME Squat/Deadlift.

One modification I plan on making is to almost never do ME Deadlifts, because my weight progression begins to reverse, instead I will do high rep sets of deadlifts, resetting form on each rep, up to 20-25 reps.
The only other modification I am making is instead of a single rep max on ME Bench days, I will train for max triples.

After my primary movement of ME or DE is done, I will picking one compound movement and perform a 5x5 or 5x3 with moderately heavy weights. Then I will move onto one more assisting/semi-compound exercise for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, then a light,“isolation” movement for 3 sets of ~20 reps. The last “isolation” movement will, more than likely, be a core (ab/lower back) movement.

That my new friends is an outline of what the majority of my workouts will be structured around.
Oh yeah, My workout schedule with be…
Monday:DE Bench,
Tuesday:DE Squat/Deadlift,
Wednesday:OFF
Thursday:ME Bench,
Friday:ME Squat/Deadlift
Saturday & Sunday are days that I work.

I will begin posting my workouts beginning Monday, April 12th, 2010.
The first week of my training will lighter/medium weight, mostly technique correction, as i’m coming off of my Peaking/Competition Schedule.
As of now, I plan to go 455,295,495-505 at the meet.

and BTW, 1396 is the pounds required for an elite raw total at 181lbs.

Thanks for reading guys, and feel free to give any advice or criticism (constructive, lol) that you have in mind!

Alden G. Ryno
Dahlonega, GA

2

My 1 rep PR’s as of now are a 425 Squat (and 455 w/ reverse light bands to a 10in box), a 305 Close Grip Bench (and 365 w/ reverse light bands, normal grip), and a 485 Sumo Deadlift.
My multi-rep PR’s are;
Squat; 4103,3507,33010,31513

Bench; 22512,2803,185*21

Deadlift; 315*~30,37019,4555

All of these were done in the last 3 months, with a bodyweight of 183-186

3

Another Georgia boy… Good luck on the meet man. Also look forward to this log

4

damn son, you’re strong as an ox! Hopefully I can get to your numbers in about a year at your weight…

5

Thanks guys!
I hope I can make reading this log as enjoyable for y’all as I am living it.
Also, I don’t have great access to a camera, but I’ll do what I can to post videos intermittently.

And thanks to everyone who reads; even if you don’t post, I know that you’re interested, meaning something in the title is catchy. :smiley:

6

1396 @ 181 is a very respectable total, especially at 18. Good luck at the meet!

7

Of course, I don’t plan on hitting 1396 at this meet, but anytime in general. However, I am aiming for that total by the time I turn 20, so I can be a teen with an elite total. That will give me just under 2 years, since I turned 18 almost exactly one month ago. I know that I can’t rush progress. =)

8

I had my first competition today!
It went great! However, it took soooo long. The meet began just after 10:00am, and I did not leave the meet site until 11:15pm…
The cause for the traffic jam was that several more lifters arrived than anticipated.

As for me…
I weighed in Friday night at 6pm, at 78.4kg->172.5lbs, well under my weight class of 82.kg/181lbs.

Squats;
185kg, flew up, but I lost balance and my foot slipped after the completion of the lift.

192.5kg, went up fairly easy as well, great dept, no issues, 3 whites. (I should have made a higher jump.)

205kg, weight went well, very minute sticking point, nearing Ass-to-Grass. Stood erect, thinking I made it, but i didn’t wait for the squat command… =/

Bench;
120kg, went up easily, no issues.

130kg, went down, came up after press command and got stuck at about 2-3board level. No lift.

130kg, went down, came up after press command and got stuck in the same place… I need more power straight off of my chest!

Deadlift;
195kg, I stood up easily, had a grip issue for some odd reason. I’m not sure why, good lift though.

212.5kg, Still fairly light weight, but there was left over baby powder from all lifter on the platform and my right foot slipped out of position as soon as i began pulling, i over-compensated that, completed the lift with medium difficulty.

217.5kg, I came up to the bar, got into position and noticed my foot was slippery again, so i stepped back and asked the platform crew if they could sweep it out and the bottom of my shoe, they did a great job at it, but my mind was still telling my body it was there. I got into position again, set up completely, pulled. I had some difficulty out of the bottom, but after that, I flew toward lockout, stopping about an inch shy, and began to shake/stall, and i was told to put the bar down. so i did. it turns out that i reversed directions (from pulling to falling, back to pulling) nullifying the lift. which i had no idea even happened, ha.

All in all, it was a great experience and i will definitely be doing more meets in the near future.

525kg total = ~1157.5lbs
I’m 238.5lbs away from my goal, but that just makes me want to work harder.

I also got first place in my weight/age category! There was only one lifter. :stuck_out_tongue: But I had the third highest total of the 13 teenagers at the meet. One teen, 19, Squatted 700, benched, 420, and deadlifted 540 ( I think that his 600lb deadlift should have been passed.)

9

So, slight change in the return to the Westside Template.
Instead of going straight back into Westside, my partner and I are going to do a base mesocycle of four weeks on the Smolov Squat Routine. It looks hard as hell, but that’s the fun in it! “They” promise that it is easy to get at least 30lbs on your squat from this routine, up to 66lbs (30kg)! Anything in that range would be more than amazing.

After this week, I will start the Smolov Routine, then maybe take another week after the Smolov and then I will start back using the Westside template I stated in the beginning of this log.

10

Today’s workout consisted on reinforcing technique for squats and bench press.

Squats; 455,455,1358,1858,2258,2255
That’s all for squats today, I focused on keeping air into my stomach, keeping my back straight, keeping my head back into the bar, and pushing my hips back and knees out.

Bench Press; 455,455,1355,1355,1853,1853,235*3
I focused on keeping my entire body tight, pushing into the bench, keeping my legs tight on the bench, keeping my arch steady, keeping my breath, and using my triceps more.

Nothing impressive today, just light things, trying to ‘perfect’ my technique.

11

Food Update for 4/12/10

Goal of 4,150 Calories, eating an average of every 105 minutes or 1.75 hours.

Totals at end of day;
4,040 Calories

119g Fat = 26.5%

464g Carbohydrates=45.9%
(105.5g Sugars, mainly fructose/dextrose)
(59g Fiber)

266.5g Protein= 26.4%

Pretty consistent to what I have planned for my diet. I was eating 2,800 Calories per day pre-competition.
I’m impressed that I have kept my percentages straight while adding 1,200 calories.

From now on I will base my diet upon this day, as a reference.
And I will update training and food in the same post in order to conserve log space.

12

April 13th, 2010

Squat Technique; 458,458,1355,1355,2253,2253,3152,4050
My body is a lot more fatigued from the meet than i anticipated! As soon as I started pushing with 405, I could feel the strain left over in my hips, glutes, and hamstrings. I could have finished the rep, but I had my partner grab it about 3 inches shy of lockout. Wow. I am surprised…ha. Just another learning experience!

After the squats I did about 15 minutes of static/dynamic stretching. I could tell that I really needed it after that squat…

Daily Nutrition; 4020 Calories

126.5g Fat
28.3%

454.5g Carbohydrates (86g Sugars, 51g Fiber)
45.2%

303g Protein
30.2%

13

My heaviest squat from Saturday, 451lbs, 205kg. I didn’t get the lift, because i didn’t wait for the squat command. Rookie mistake.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=560831871902&oid=114754351883422

14

Workout from today;
I’m still taking it light, coming off from the competition.
“Technique work”

A lot of stretching…
Bench Press; 458,458,1355,1353,1353,1853,1853,2253,2253,2751,2751,13510,135*15
Some more stretching.

15

Today was another technique day for bench press.

I’m working on my arch so that i can push with my legs without having my booty come off of the bench.
I tested 3 different set ups today. One with full arch, legs completely tucked, another with semi-arch with legs tucked, the last with full arch, but legs untucked. The first meausured 8 inches from chest to bar, the second was 9.25 inches from chest to bar, the last was 9inches from chest to bar.
I’m going to improve upon the first one, working on maximizing my leg drive.

Stretches…
Bench Press; 458,455,1355,1355,1353,1353,1853,1853,1853,1355,135*3
Every other set I had a mini band stretched in my hands, helping to involve my triceps and engage my back more into the press.

Pull Ups; 3 sets of 10, with band stretched in hands.
Med-Wide Grip Pushdowns; 3 sets of 12 @ 100, 4-5 second negative, explosive concentric.
Pulldown Abs; 3 sets of 10-12 @ 90. Legs in a squat stance position.
Back Extensions; 3 sets of 10, knees out.
Nothing too strenuous.

I will post nutrition from today and yesterday later tonight.

16

Nutrition for April 14th, 2010

3935 Calories
110.5g Fat = 25.%
416.5g Carbohydrates = 42.3% (112g Sugars, 70g Fiber)
310.5g Protein = 31.6%

Need a few more overall calories, less sugar, a little less protein, more fats and carbs.

Nutrition for April 15th, 2010

3820 Calories
94.00g Fat= 22.5%
422.5g Carbohydrates = 44.2% (153.5g Sugars, 57g Fiber)
295.5g Protein =30.9%

Need a little less protein, way less sugar, more carbs/fat, and more fiber.

17

Training for today; Bench Accessory, still taking it easy. Monday is when the shit hits the fan! lol

Warm-up/stretching
DB Bench Press; 75’s for 3 sets of 10, w/ a 2 second pause at the bottom of each rep.
One-Arm Shoulder press sideways in smith machine (mouthful…)45lbs x11reps, 55x11 reps, 45x 11 reps.
Wide-Grip Low Row s/s DB Flye; ((100x12-15 s/s 55’s 10-12)) 3 sets
That’s all for today…

18

Today’s Nutrition;

3935 Calories

115.5g Fat =26.4%
437g Carbohydrates (72g Fiber, 149g Sugars) = 44.4%
300.5g Protein= 30.5%

19

No training today. I worked outside today doing landscaping. ~3.5-4 hours of work.

20

Nutrition for today;

3265 Calories
97g Fat=26.7%
359.5g Carb=44.0% (62.5g Fiber, 74.5g Sugars)
253g Protein=30.0%

Was not able to hit 4000 today, I was called into work unexpectedly, and I ate with my girlfriend and her family at their house. They weren’t terrible inconveniences because I was able to prep most of my food for the working day, and my girlfriend’s mother will usually make a healthy meal while I’m there.

Today it was veggie lasagna.
So with that, I’m happy about how my sugars have come down since the past 3 days, but fats still need to go up just a wee bit. All in all, a great Saturday.