Eric's Lifting Journal - Back At It

[Eric Adolph]

12/3/2011: SSA Long Island Championships

My first meet since the 2004 APF Senior Nationals. Didn't even think about lifting until the day before, and realized I didn't want to pass up the chance to lift with my boys Chris Taylor, Chris Rodgers, and Ben Jackson.

Weighed in the day of the meet at 147 = 148 lbs/MultiPly Division

Squats:

1) 505 for a small, 4 lbs, meet PR and hit it literally like an empty bar. Didn't feel as deep as I like to go, so adjusted for the next two.

2) 530, sunk to good depth and stood right up. Originally was planning on stopping there, but it was so easy decided to take one more.

3) 560, got a tad forward in the hole, but managed to adjust and keep my positioning pretty good and grinded it out nice and clean ... 59 lbs meet PR


Bench Press:

1) 295; felt decent
2) 315; not so easy (16 lbs under my meet PR)
3) Pass - wasn't worth wasting the energy trying to squeeze out 5-10 more lbs since it wouldn't have been a PR anyway.

Deadlift:
1) 485; easy
2) 525 for a 2 lbs meet PR and also a 1400 lbs Total. Solid but not as fast as usual.
3) Pass - didn't feel like taking another, Lol

Squats went about as expected; 560 was harder than I would have liked, but I used a shitty pair of knee wraps and barely tightened the straps on my suit. Also only did one week of my band training before the meet, and I was weak in the area where more band training will help.

For bench, besides two shirt workouts with the guys, I trained by myself every workout and raw. So was hoping to just hit 315, and that's what happened. Also used a new shirt that I never tried before that I touched 185 in while warming.

Was exhausted by dealdift time, and I had also pulled a max effort reverse band dealdift 3 days prior to the meet. Wanted to hit a small PR with some left in the tank, and that's what I did. Luckily that gave me 1400 for my first elite total and I didn't have to take another :)

Was great to share the platform with a bunch of my old friends, and some new ones! Here a video of all my lifts except my 315 bench:



And here's the 315 bench:



For those of you for the Tri-State area, we are planning to have an APF Push-Pull meet at the end of March. More details will be available soon, but start training for it now! :)

[Eric Adolph]

Two days after the meet actually felt pretty decent, so back to normal training right away:

12/5/11 (Monday: Speed Bench


Speed Bench Press-
[+ 2 Doubled MiniBands]
5@095x3, (close)
5@105x3 (med)
5@115x3 (comp)

Overhead Press Machine- (Palms Out)
135, 185, 235x5
275x8

Tri Pushdowns- (M-Bar; Wide Grip)
060, 080, 100, 120, 140x10
(UnderHand)
30, 50, 70x20
90x15

[Eric Adolph]

14.5” (5 Blocks) Box Squat- (Med Stance) + Belt Only
135, 185, 225, 255x5
285x8

Sumo Deadlifts- + Loose Belt Only
135x8; 225x1
20+ @ 315x1

Seated Cables Rows-
80, 110, 140x10
160, 180x8

Strict Lat Pulldowns- (O-hand)
70, 100, 130x10
150x8

Ab Machine-
70x20; 90x12; 110x8

I had done a lot of volume box squat work up until the last two months or so before the meet last weekend. Then I switched to mainly concentrating on my free squat with gear. This helped my squat tremendously, but my DL suffered. I had pulled 565 in training at one point pretty easily, and I might have been able to grind out 545 at the meet if I took my third attempt. Going to have to find a balance of doing both. Going to attempt to do this by box squatting with a close/med stance on Tuesdays (followed by a heavy DL or speed pulls) and doing the geared heavy squat work on Saturday. The backup option is to box squat after my geared squats on Saturday, but I am usually too shot by that point and would rather bang out a bunch of other assistance work instead.

[ehubbard]

Congrats on the meet! Hopefully I'll get out to train with you and CT soon.

[Eric Adolph]

Congrats on the meet! Hopefully I'll get out to train with you and CT soon.

Thanks man! Hope you can make it out soon!!

[Eric Adolph]

12/9/2011 (Friday): Max Effort Bench

Floor Press- (Comp Grip)
135, 185, 205x3
225, 245x3
260x1

Pause Bench Press- (Comp Grip / Flat Back)
135, 165, 185x5
205, 215x5
135x23 (Med Grip / Touch-and-Go)

Standing Strict Ovehead DB Press-
25s x 10
45s x 8
50s x 9

Tri Pushdowns- (Rope)
20, 40, 60, 80, 100x10
(Straight Bar, Med Grip)
30, 50, 70, 90x15

Felt like crap; 260 on the floor press was much harder than the 275 I did a few weeks ago. Oh well, at least I got some volume in after.

[Eric Adolph]

12/10/2011 (Saturday): Speed Squat

Speed Box Squats- + Titan Briefs
[+ GreenBand]
{~15" Box}
5@240x2
{~14.5" Box}
5@240x2
{~14" Box}
5@240x2
260x1
280x1
300x1

Seated Cable Rows- (Wide V-Handle)
70, 100, 130, 160x8

Glute-Ham Raises-
1x12
1x10 + MiniBand
1x08 + MiniBand + 5 lbs
1x08

Decline Situps- (+ weight behind head)
1x15 + 10 lbs
1x10 + 25 lbs
1x08 + 35 lbs

Kettlebelle Swings- (Squat Position)
{Alternating Arms on Each Rep}
1x10
1x36

Nice easy workout on what is normally geared-squat day. Hardly do speed squats anymore, but I should probably do this once every third Saturday or something. Don't have that normal "snap" that I used to.

[Coke]

Awesome job at your meet Eric, great lifting!!

[Eric Adolph]

Awesome job at your meet Eric, great lifting!!

Thanks man; much appreciated!!

[Eric Adolph]

12/12/2011 (Monday): Speed Bench

Speed Bench Press-
[+ 2 Doubled MiniBands]
5@095x3, (close)
5@105x3 (med)
4@115x3 (comp)
125, 135x3 (comp)

Standing Strict Overhead Press- (Close Grip)
45x10; 95x8
115, 135x1
150x5
135x7

Tri Pushdowns- (M-Bar; Wide Grip)
060, 080, 100, 120x10
140x8
(Close Grip)
30, 50, 70, 100x15

Felt much better than last week - but last week was two days after a meet, Lol. Was able to bang out all my speed sets real fast with good speed, and really didn't get too fatigued. Took a little extra time before the last set and did 135 with pretty good speed too.

[Eric Adolph]

12/13/2011 (Tuesda): Max Effort SQ/DL Day

Reverse Conventional PinkBand Deadlift- + Belt Only
135x8
225, 315x3
405, 455, 475, 500x1

Box Squat- (Close Stance) + Belt Only
[~12" Box]
135, 185, 225x5
255x1
285x5

Strict Lat Pulldowns- (Overhand)
Light Wamrups
150x12

Ab Machine-
Light Wamrups
100x13

DL continues to blow; did 500x3 straight weight not that long ago, so a grinding 500 with a ReverseBand is pretty sad. At least box squats feel a bit better than last week; still around 30 lbs under what I normally work up to, but if I can get a bit closer at least my Sumo pull should start getting back to where it was, and that's much more important.

[Chris Rodgers]

I was about to ask why you stopped at 500 until I read the bottom. Do you plan on keeping Saturdays as your speed day or will you work up every few weeks on that day?

Also, I like how you start your close grip sets a little lighter on speed day and then work up on the wider sets. I've been noticing a huge difference in my speed vs. bands with my close to wide grip. The amount of extra ROM on my close grip really adds a lot of band tension.

[Eric Adolph]

I am thinking Sat will be something close 2 weeks gear work, and 1 week speed work. The squats today are more like DL work, and I don't think it will effect heavy gear squats on Saturday.

I've always done speed work by adding weight as I move my grip out. Even without bands I def have more snap as I go wider, even if I can't handle much more max weight. So I try to use weights with each grip that keep the speed the same.

You gonna try anything different this cycle?

[Chris Rodgers]

You gonna try anything different this cycle?

Well I already added speed work in, which I hadn't done in a long time. I am also kinda getting the urge to put gear on...

[Eric Adolph]

Gear, I like that idea! Train for one gear meet before you go back to school every Saturday, and go back to raw for a cycle once you start!

[Eric Adolph]

12/15/2011: Max Effort Bench

Dumbbell Bench Press-
30s, 50s, 60s x 10
75s x 8
90s x 5
75s x 12

Floor Press- (Comp Grip)
135, 185, 205x5
225x6

Tri Pushdowns- (Straight Bar / Med Grip)
50, 70, 90, 110, 130x10
(Rope)
20x20
40x15
60x10
80x8

Not much to say about that, Lol

[Eric Adolph]

12/17/2011: Medium Squat Workout

Squats- + Briefs and Belt
150, 200, 240, 290x3
330, 380, 420x1
445x1


Hammer Rows-
135, 185x10
205, 225x8
245x10
255x8

Glute-Ham Raises-
2x15
1x10 + MiniBand
1x8 + MiniBand + 5 lbs
1x10 + MiniBand

Shoulder Horn-
15s, 25s, 35s, 40s x 8

Decline Situps- (+ weight behind head]
1x15 + 10 lbs
1x10 + 25 lbs
1x08 + 35 lbs

Kettlebelle Swings- (Squat Position)
{Alternating Arms on Each Rep}
1x10
1x40

Pretty good workout. Highest I went last cycle with just briefs was 430. The 445 today would have been pretty smooth if I didn't lean forward in the hole at the last minute. Next week will probably go full gear with bands.

[Coke]

Awesome seeing you with the 445 squats PR, spotter is a beast in the vid.

[Eric Adolph]

Awesome seeing you with the 445 squats PR, spotter is a beast in the vid.

Thanks man! ..... Spotter is big Chris Taylor - the only reason I went that heavy with one guy spotting, Lol.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

12/19/2011 (Monday): Speed Bench Workout

Speed Bench Press-
[+ 2 Doubled MiniBands]
5@095x3, (close)
5@105x3 (med)
4@115x3 (comp)
125, 135x3 (comp)
{No Bands; Med Grip}
150x20

Tri Pushdowns- (M-Bar, Wide Grip)
[+ MiniBand Behind Back]
30, 50, 70, 90, 100x10

1-Arm MiniBand Pushdowns-
5x20 per arm

My banged up lat was feel all funky during the speed work, and my left side was not moving nearly as fast as my right on the first 10 or so sets. Felt a decent amount better on the last bunch, at least. Then just pounded out some volume tris. Hopefully will get to do some shirt benching on Friday!

[Eric Adolph]

12/20/2011 (Tuesday): Max Effort SQ / Speed DL

~14" (5 Blocks) Box Squat- (Med Stance) + Belt Only
135, 185, 225, 255x5
285x1
300x6

Speed Sumo Deadlifts- + Loose Belt Only
17@340x1
365, 385x1
2@405x1

Seated Cables Rows-
80, 110, 140x10
160, 170x8

Ab Machine-
70x20; 90x15; 100x12

1-Arm Rear Delt Flies-
50, 90, 130x5
150x8

Box Depth:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Great workout; the 300x6 was pretty solid; could have ground out another rep. 315 for a solid 5 next time should put me not too far back from where I was when I was doing a lot of these. Did all of the speed deads in less than 15 minutes and they were flying. Was shot for assistance work, but got a enough in.

[Eric Adolph]

12/22/2011 (Thursday): Max Effort Bench

Paused Bench Press- (Comp Grip / Flat-Back)
135, 165, 185, 205x5
225x5
225x4

Floor Press- (Comp Grip)
135, 185, 205x5
225x1
235x4 (miss 5)

Tri Pushdowns- (M-Bar, Wide Grip)
60, 80, 100, 120, 140x10
{Reverse Grip}
30, 50, 70, 90, 110x15

Decent workout; good long pauses on all of the bench sets. Actually pretty close to my PR is 225x7, although that was probably done as a secondary movement. So bottom-end seems pretty good, but really need to work on my mid-range to get that back to where it used to be. Looking froward to doing some shirt work and board work on Monday!!

[Eric Adolph]

12/24/2011 (Saturday): Speed SQ / Max Effort Deadlift

Safety Squat Bar Speed Box Squats- + Titan Briefs & Belt
[+ EliteFTS BlackBand]
{~15" Box}
5@210x2
{~14.5" Box}
5@210x2
{~14" Box}
5@210x2
230x1
240x1

3"+ Deficient Conventional Deadlifts- + Belt Only
135x8
225, 315, 365, 405x1
430x1

Glute-Ham Raises-
1x12
1x10 + MiniBand
1x10 + MiniBand + 5 lbs
1x12 + MiniBand

Seated Cable Rows- (Wider V-Handle)
70, 100 ,130, 150, 170x8

Decline Situps- (+ weight behind head)
1x15 + 25 lbs

Pretty pathetic deadlift. I guess pulling only bands and reverse bands for months when pulling conventional will cause the bottom-end to suck. Oh well, I only need the lockout to transfer over to my sumo Wanted to do a bunch more assistance work, but realized they were closing the gym early as I was about to start abs!

[Eric Adolph]

12/26/2011 (Monday): Shirt Bench Press

3-Board Press- + Inzer Phenom
135, 185, 225x5 (raw)
225, 275x3 (add shirt)
315, 345, 365x1

4-Board Press- + Inzer Phenom
2@405x1 {with a little assistance}

Standing Strict Overhead Press- (Med Grip)
045x10
095x8
115, 135x1
150x5
135x7

Tri Pushdowns- (M-Bar, Wide Grip)
50, 70, 90x15
110 ,130, 150x10
{Close Grip}
30, 50, 70, 90, 110x15

Strict Lat Pulldowns-
80, 110, 140x8

Decline Situps- (+ weight behind head)
1x10 + 10 lbs
1x10 + 25 lbs
1x06 + 35 lbs

Good training session; one of the few shirt workouts I manage to get in. Went with higher boards just to try and get used to handling heavier weights again. 365 was a nice smooth press with a good pause and I think had 380-ish in me. 405 on the 4-boards was mainly just an overload, and just had some help stabilizing it so I wouldn't kill myself. Hoping to get another shirt workout in Friday night with lower boards; hopefully a solid 350 off two boards. Though some SQ/DL assistance in at the end since I'm not doing my normal Tuesday SQ/DL workout, but I was still shot from Saturday and couldn't must up much.

[Coke]

Impressive board presses Eric!!

[CHASE TRUSNOVEC]

awesome work dude...i dont see how your deadlift was pathetic...it was a 3inch deficit...sounds like that would be a good thing to do on a ME day...God Bless big homey!!!