The Training of a Twenty-Something

I’m trying to make a new log thread since my old one seems to be turned off or some shit. This is what I started off my log at IM with as well:

You want hot, intermediate trainee action? You’ve come to the right place.

Here’s where I am now. 5’9" 190-195. I pinched myself with the Jackson/Pollock 3-site test last Sunday for a 10.23% bodyfat. My Max Squat is 440. My Max Bench is 300.

Here’s the basic outline of my training program. I alternate lifts every week but pretty much stick to Presses, Jerks, Muscle-Ups, Chins, and Squats.
Sunday: Press/Jerk + Shoulders and Abs
Monday: Muscle-Ups/Weighted Chest-To-Bar Chins + Back
Wednesday: Lockout Bench/Full-Range Bench + Chest and Triceps
Friday: Front Squat/Squat + Lower Body

For my diet I carb cycle. Lately I’ve frequently been ending my low days with cheat meals and it’s been working out fine, but I just changed Wednesday from Medium to High so we’ll see what happens.

Sunday: Medium
Monday: Medium
Tuesday: Low
Wednesday: High
Thursday: Low
Friday: Very High
Saturday: Low

Vid of Today’s Training:
(- YouTube)

Warmed up on the Dip Machine: 100X6, 150X6
Weighted Dips: BWX3, 45X3, 90X3, 135X5 Drop 90X5 Drop 45X5 Drop BWX5
Dumbbell Bench: 50X2, 70X2, 90X2, 110X5, 90X8X3
Wendlersteinbergs (Hey, it’s what Zach Even Esh calls 'em): 20Xsome, 40X8
Blast-Strap Push-ups: BWX12X4

I won’t post my diet every day but here was how it broke down today.

Meal 1: 50g Protein, 2 Cups Dry Oats
Meal 2: 2 Powerbars, ~2 Cups Rice Krispies in Skim Milk
Meal 3: 100g Protein, 100g Maltodextrin (From Pre and Post Workout Meals)
Meal 4: 8oz Chicken, 4 Cups White Rice, 4 Tbsp Gatorade Mix

Normally its split up way better than that, but today was a weird day. I just wanted to get Carbs around 600, get my Protein in, and keep Fat Low.

Today was a low carb day. On Thursdays I’m doing a biceps program Christian Thibaudeau wrote up a while back.

20 Minutes Elliptical

Preacher Curl: 115X3X8
Hammer Preacher Curl: 50X3X8
Reverse Preacher Curl: 85X3X8

Then I did a few sets with this forearm gizmo called “The Formulator.”
25X20, 20X20, 15X18

Later today I’ll mess around with a lacrosse ball on my calves since that’s what’s on tap at the MobilityWOD

There’s a Strongman Axle at my gym that’s 217. I want to clean it double-overhand in one motion without any continental action. So I’m working up to that. For the Axle Cleans and Front Squats I write down Kilos. Everything Else is in pounds.

Axle Clean: 45X3, 65X2, 75X2, 85X2, 95X0, 95X0

Front Squat: 70X2, 90X2, 110X1, 140X3, 140X3, 140X1

(All done as a Giant Set)
Leg Press: 500X20
Leg Extension: 200X9
Safety Bar Squat: 200X10

Back Extensions: BWX6, Monster Mini X 6, Sandbag Monster Mini X 6 Drop Monster Mini X 6 Drop BW X 6

Red Green Band Seated Leg Curls: 40 reps

I took a risk on the Axle Cleans. Got the bar to nipple level but it’s just so damn hard to hold onto. In a normal clean you can just tug real hard once but with the axle you gotta hold on for the entire pull or it won’t get up there. So that kinda psyched me out. Then moving onto front squats I was a bit disappointed again. It’s one of those times when you tell yourself before the set “Fuck yeah, I’m gonna do like a million reps” then you go down for the first time and the bar feels way heavier than you anticipated - so heavy that you know all those reps you thought you were gonna do aren’t in the cards. My best Front Squat is 350, which was a pretty recent PR, but I sunk these reps deeper and used a narrower stance.

The Leg Press machine is a little steeper than most and I took the reps to depth instead of using that close-stance half-rep form a lot of people use when they want to bang out the heavy weights. The Safety Squat Bar with lighter weight was the perfect thing to end that giant set with since it’s not to hard to keep it on your back.

I dunno how heavy that sandbag is. Now that I sit down here I can’t remember if I put it away or not when I was done. Oops. It’s gotta be around 70-80 pounds. The Monster Mini Band was doubled around the bottom tube on the back extension.

Doesn’t look like a lot but it took me quite a while to do.

Another low day following Thib’s Biceps Program. My pace was a lot faster and I did a lot of one-leg calf raises while resting between sets, probably 300-400 total reps in addition to a few heavy sets on seated calves.

Preacher Curl: 115X3X8
Hammer Preacher Curl: 50X3X8
Reverse Preacher Curl: 85X3X8

Weight will stay the same but sets and reps will change on Tuesday. It was a lot easier today. I will only do forearms once a week since I don’t want to develop any wrist problems, but the muscles felt like they could have been worked again.

Then I did 20 minutes on the elliptical.

Gotta get this shit down while I still remember it. Forgot my logbook at home today. Had to use pounds on the Axle instead of Kilo Bumpers today, so I didn’t get to end the set with a satisfying slam.

Axle Jerk: 35X2, 115X2, 135X2, 170X2, 200X8

Once I finished this set I felt a little warm and feverish. I felt a tiny bit under the weather yesterday and today. Wouldn’t say that I feel sick, though. Still, only 8 reps isn’t what I wanted. But this was my first time going over 2 reps in Axle Jerks, and I only started doing again in December. Then again, I pressed 185X6 not long ago. All I know is that next time I gotta do better. Since I wasn’t feeling great and the gym was very crowded I didn’t do any Log Clean Press. If you want to know the definition of exhaustion, Clean & Press a Heavy Log for 10 Reps. I tried some Dumbbell Presses too but those still don’t feel great on my shoulder. Whatever has been bothering my shoulder it’s been getting better, but very slowly.

Ab Circuit (Done Once):
Ab Wheel: 30 Reps
Leg Raise: 12 Reps
Green Band Standing Abs: 50 Reps
Leg Raise: 12 Reps

Delt/Rhomboid/Trap Circuit (Done Twice):
Shoulder Horn: 20X12
Blast Strap Reverse Fly: 8 Reps
6-Way Lateral Raise: 5X6

Now I gotta have my final chug of my 50% Gemma Pea Protein 50% Maltodextrin Shake. This mixture tastes pretty damn gross. I’m switching back to Whey and Waxy Maize as soon as I get the cash.

This shoulda gone up the 18th.

Well, feeling a little sick turned into feeling terrible. I’m still not back to 100% but today was the first day I got back in the gym. For almost 2 weeks now while I was sick I was off my diet since I couldn’t muster up the appetite to even eat all the food scheduled for a low-carb day. I had laryngitis from a viral infection so eating hurt like hell. At one point my throat was so swollen saliva wouldn’t drain down like it’s supposed to so I had to spit about every 5 seconds. And for most of this period I couldn’t talk above a whisper.

Still I haven’t lost too much weight. I took a high carb today and did a Full Body workout just to wake everything back up and to try and pump some glycogen and fluid back into everything.

Hang Split Snatch: 20X6, 50X2X2, 60X2, 70X1, 70X1, 60X2, 60X2

Leg Press: 425X4, 605X4, 605X10
superset w/
Leg Curl: 100X4, 150X4, 200X8

Strength wise I was totally fine here but I started sort of a cold sweat, started coughing a bit, and was way more out of breathe than I should have been so I decided not to do any more legs.

Wide-Grip Pull-ups: 6X3
superset w/
Dips: 8X3

Hammer Curls: 30X12

I’m glad I got in the gym today. I know that in getting back into things I’l have at least one shit workout. Hopefully I’ve been able to get that shit workout outta the way by doing this one, so when I get back on schedule Sunday I’ll be able to go full speed.

Had a hard time focusing today but that ability will come back quickly as well.

Well my “planned” shit workout seemed to work well. Today was a solid day of training for my first real day back into my schedule.

Jerks: 45X6, 95X3, 135X2, 175X2, 205X8
I think it’s pretty good that I took almost 2 weeks totally off training for being sick but came back and made a 5 pound PR. I wanted 10 reps but I will gladly take this.

Incline Log Press: 110X5, 150X5, 170X5, 170X7
Didn’t take these too seriously since I want to leave a lot in the tank for Benching on Thursday

I tried to do standing ab wheel rollouts but I still can’t do them. I can do like 50 reps from my knees but not one rep standing. I’ll check the Beast Skills website and read up on how to progress with them. I was able to teach myself pistol squats pretty fast so this should be an easy goal to get.

Deltoid Circuit (Done 3 Times)
Dumbbell Laterals: 20X10
Blast-Strap Reverse Fly: 10
6-Way Laterals: 10X4

I really felt my Delts on this circut but the 6-Way Laterals where maybe too heavy. John Meadows only uses 5 pounds so I’m going back to 5 pounds. I might even drop set to finishing it off with my empty hands.

Ab Circuit (Done Twice with no rest between rounds)
Standing Abs: 50X15
Roman Chair: 10
Hanging Leg Raise: 8

Ugh. Just pinched in with the Jackson/Pollock 3 site test and have fattened up to 13.31% @ 195lbs. Ate pretty bad during my off time while I was sick but my strength hasn’t gone down and my bodyweight is about the same so I’m chalking it up mostly to water moving from muscle to fat or something like that. I’m sure that I’ll see some changes after a week of eating clean again.

Great to see your log back!

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Great to see your log back! [/quote]

Thanks BlackLabel!

Lat-Pulldown: 100X6, 150X6

Weighted Chin-up: BWX2, 30X2, 60X5 DROP 30X5 DROP BWX5,
60X3 DROP 30X3 DROP BWX3

Hang Split Snatch: 20X4, 50X1X2, 60X1X2, 70X0, 70X0, 50X1, 60X1, 70X0
I know my form on these is terrible but I have no idea what to do.

Power Clean: 60X2, 70X1, 80X1, 90X5
These where very easy. The last rep was the best one.

Power Shrug: 225X5, 315X5, 405X5, 455X5
The “pop” I was getting with these wasn’t quite where I want it to be but I pulled hard enough to get a good, full shrug

Lat Circuit: Done Thrice
Blast-Strap Rows: 15
DD Pulldown: 120X10
Straight-Arm Pulldown: 90X12

I should have started off the Circuit with some vertical pulling. If I do Blast-Strap Rows first I don’t feel them as well. Maybe I should toss in some Barbell Pullovers at the beginning. Wish we had a Nautilus Pullover.

Ahhh damnit. Just realized I should have done some band stretches.

I’m still coming off being sick. Not feeling nearly as bad but I’ve regressed some. This morning I was more stuffed up than ever before. DayQuil worked pretty well. I blame the shitty Ohio environment. The cold, the snow, the proximity to lake erie, the boring landscape, it’s just hot healthy to live here.

Bench Press: 45X5, 95X5, 135X2, 185X2, 225X1, 250X1, 275X3
Before I got sick I did 280X3X2. Maybe it was even 285. And Before I got sick I was planning on making a run at 275X5. So that’s my mini-goal for Bench Right now. Instead of doing more on Bench I moved onto
Inclines, hoping to save my energy for something good

Incline Press: 135X3, 185X1, 225X1
That was no good. Incline Barbell Press just feels awkward for me. This was disappointing. A while back I concentrated on Inclines and got up to 225X5 and 250X1, but my Bench and Military Press where much lower.
I just need to get my groove back on these. I did hit 225X4 right before I got sick, and that was after benching.

Vertical EZ-Bar Preacher Curl: 75X4, 115X4X7
Alternated These with
Axle Floor Press: 55kgX3, 90kgX3X7

Vertical Hammer Preacher Curl: 50X4, 50X3, 50X4, 50X3, 50X2
Alternated These with
Blast Strap Push-ups: 8/8/8/12

Got overzealous and tried to progress with the Thibaudeau arm program as if I hadn’t been sick. It was working for the first exercise so I thought I was gonna make it.
Once I got only 2 reps on that set I just quit and didn’t bother with reverse curls.

Pushdowns: 40X10, 70X10X2

A lackluster workout but I’m not worried. It won’t be long till I’m making PRs again. Hell, I just got my Pepto-Pro and Waxy Maize in the mail so in about 2 weeks I should be that giant mass of muscle you’ll be hearing about on the news visible from space.

I’m still coming off being sick. Not feeling nearly as bad but I’ve regressed some. This morning I was more stuffed up than ever before. DayQuil worked pretty well. I blame the shitty Ohio environment. The cold, the snow, the proximity to lake erie, the boring landscape, it’s just hot healthy to live here.

Bench Press: 45X5, 95X5, 135X2, 185X2, 225X1, 250X1, 275X3
Before I got sick I did 280X3X2. Maybe it was even 285. And Before I got sick I was planning on making a run at 275X5. So that’s my mini-goal for Bench Right now. Instead of doing more on Bench I moved onto
Inclines, hoping to save my energy for something good

Incline Press: 135X3, 185X1, 225X1
That was no good. Incline Barbell Press just feels awkward for me. This was disappointing. A while back I concentrated on Inclines and got up to 225X5 and 250X1, but my Bench and Military Press where much lower.
I just need to get my groove back on these. I did hit 225X4 right before I got sick, and that was after benching.

Vertical EZ-Bar Preacher Curl: 75X4, 115X4X7
Alternated These with
Axle Floor Press: 55kgX3, 90kgX3X7

Vertical Hammer Preacher Curl: 50X4, 50X3, 50X4, 50X3, 50X2
Alternated These with
Blast Strap Push-ups: 8/8/8/12

Got overzealous and tried to progress with the Thibaudeau arm program as if I hadn’t been sick. It was working for the first exercise so I thought I was gonna make it.
Once I got only 2 reps on that set I just quit and didn’t bother with reverse curls.

Pushdowns: 40X10, 70X10X2

A lackluster workout but I’m not worried. It won’t be long till I’m making PRs again. Hell, I just got my Pepto-Pro and Waxy Maize in the mail so in about 2 weeks I should be that giant mass of muscle you’ll be hearing about on the news visible from space.

Throughout most of the day I couldn’t breathe through my nose. The adrenaline boost of training decongested me some but I’m still sick to the point that doing higher reps in compound exercises is a no go. I mean, I guess I could man up and go through it but I feel that would slow down how soon I’m gonna get over being sick.

Axle Clean: 45kgX2, 65X2, 80X2, 90X1, 95X1, 90X1
Nice PR here.

Yoke Bar Squat: 45X5, 135X3, 185X2, 225X1, 275X1
Doing Yoke Bar Free Squats didn’t agree with my herniated disk and sciatica. This was my first time doing Free Squats with the Yoke Bar. Doing Box Squats with the Yoke Bar in the past has proven to be bad for my sciatica as well.

Reverse Average Band Squat: 135X2, 225X2, 275X1, 315X1, 365X1, 405X1, 455X1, 495X1
I feel pretty good about this. I feel like the bands take about 100 pounds off the bottom but at the top it’s almost nothing. Since they take so much out of the hole they feel fine on my hip.

Leg Press: 425X5, 605X5
This is when I realized being sick wasn’t gonna let me do high reps…unless I want to stay sick.

Back Extension: BWX15X4

Turned out to be more of a tinkering day than anything else but I’m glad I got 95kg on a double-overhand, no-continental, axle clean since I missed that a bunch the last time I tried. And I’ve got a baseline PR for Reverse Band Squats I can start working with. The hardest thing to do will be getting all my carbs down since this is the only high carb day of the week. I’m shooting for ~750.

Got on antibiotics yesterday for a splitting ear ache. Isn’t quite gone. Despite this training rocked today. PRs all over the place.

Military Press: 45X6, 95X4, 135X2, 165X2, 195X2, 180X2
BW is below 195 right now so doubling weights over by BW in the Military Press is something I’ve never done before. Think I blew something out in my ear.

Overhead Lockouts: 185X2, 225X1, 245X1, 265X1, 225X5
I do these standing. Right before getting under the bar I’d say the bar is 2-3 inches directly over my head but as I start to press myself under the bar it’s a great deal over my head before the bar starts moving. I’ll video these. There’s a demo of them on the Starting Strength Website.

Deltoid Circuit (Done 3 Times)
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 20X12
Blast-Strap Reverse Fly: 12
6-Way Laterals: 5X6

Ab Circuit (Done Twice)
Hanging Leg Raise: 15
TRX Jackknife: 15
Ab Rollout: 15
Kneeling Cable Abs: Stack X 15
Avg. Band Standing Abs: 15

Military Press: 45X6, 95X4, 135X2, 165X2, 195X2, 180X2
BW is below 195 right now so doubling weights over by BW in the Military Press is something I’ve never done before. Think I blew something out in my ear.

Overhead Lockouts: 185X2, 225X1, 245X1, 265X1, 225X5
I do these standing. Right before getting under the bar I’d say the bar is 2-3 inches directly over my head but as I start to press myself under the bar it’s a great deal over my head before the bar starts moving. I’ll video these. There’s a demo of them on the Starting Strength Website.

Deltoid Circuit (Done 3 Times)
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 20X12
Blast-Strap Reverse Fly: 12
6-Way Laterals: 5X6

Ab Circuit (Done Twice)
Hanging Leg Raise: 15
TRX Jackknife: 15
Ab Rollout: 15
Kneeling Cable Abs: Stack X 15
Avg. Band Standing Abs: 15

Another day training sick.

DD Pulldown: 100X4, 150X4
Neutral Grip Pull-up: BWX4

Muscle-Up: BWX5, 10-pound Vest X 1, ~15 pound chain X Miss
When I missed with the chain I was very close. My right upper arm had gotten over the hump and made it to parallel but I didn’t quite catch it. I’m pretty sure I’ll get it next time, especially if I just try from the get-go. 5 consecutive reps was a PR.

Power Clean: 60X2, 80X2, 90X1, 100X1 Missed 2nd Rep, 100X0
During Power Clean malaise sorta kicked in from my virus/infection/whatever I have. I pretty much just lost it here. At this point I just wanted to leave but I knew I should do a little more.

Seated Machine Row: 120X8X4

DD Pulldown: 120X12X2

Well, at least I got PRs in Muscle-Ups, which is really the focus of my Mondays. Everything else was shit. I feel like I’ve been shot in the ear. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll even be healthy by the end of this week.

Feeling better but I can’t hear shit 'cause of the ear infection. I’m thinking I might have to go on another round of zythromax.

Vertical EZ Bar Preacher Curl: 75X4, 115X4X7
supersetted w/ Unweighted One Legged Calf Raises: 7 sets of 12

Vertical Hammer Preacher Curl: 30X4, 50X4X7
supersetted w/ calf stretching on that semi-circle plastic thing

Vertical Preacher Reverse Curl: 85X4X7
supersetted w/ various stretches for hips

The Hammer Curls where a struggle but I anticipate the next time I do this workout it will be a breeze.

Feeling better but I can’t hear shit 'cause of the ear infection. I’m thinking I might have to go on another round of zythromax.

Vertical EZ Bar Preacher Curl: 75X4, 115X4X7
supersetted w/ Unweighted One Legged Calf Raises: 7 sets of 12

Vertical Hammer Preacher Curl: 30X4, 50X4X7
supersetted w/ calf stretching on that semi-circle plastic thing

Vertical Preacher Reverse Curl: 85X4X7
supersetted w/ various stretches for hips

The Hammer Curls where a struggle but I anticipate the next time I do this workout it will be a breeze.

Sucks to hear that you can’t use the Yoke Bar, it’s probably my favorite toy.

Why’d you take the year exodus? Fed up with the forums?

[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
Sucks to hear that you can’t use the Yoke Bar, it’s probably my favorite toy.

Why’d you take the year exodus? Fed up with the forums?[/quote]

Yeah. Basically. Wanted to spend time just liftin and I wasn’t too excited about what I was seeing on T-Nation.

Not to upset about not being able to use the Yoke Bar. I’d do damn near anything to Deadlift though. But as of right now I can Box Squat, Front Squat, Back Squat, Snatch, Clean, Leg Press, Hack Squat, do GHRs, do back extensions, and push a Prowler. I can get by with all that.

Good to hear from ya.