Amounirl's Training Log

[amounirl]

Hey guys, this is my first post! I've been keeping a private log for a while, and I recently started a log on a different site. It seems that more people on this website are interested in powerlifting and natural lifting than the other one though, so I'm going to start posting here!

Here are my current stats:
ASL: 17, Male, California
Height: 5'11
Weight: 185-187
Lifts: 235 Bench, 355 Squat, 405 Deadlift

I've been "lifting" for 2 years, although I only got serious around May 2011, so I've been truly lifting for about 7 months.

I'll post some of my workouts from last week to get things rolling:

[amounirl]

12-8-11: DE (Dynamic Effort) Lower

Warm up: Farmer's Walk:
95 in each hand for about 50 ft
100 in each hand for 50 ft

Speed box squats with 60-124 lbs of bands (30-62 per band):
1x6xbar
1x5x95
1x3x135
2x2x155
6x2x165
2x2x175

Speed Deadlifts with bands (Not sure how much band tension but it felt like at least 100-150 at the top):
1x3x135 Conventional
1x3x135 Sumo
1x5x185 Conventional
3x2x185 Conventional
4x2x185 Sumo

Cooldown: Farmer's Walk:
100 per hand for 50 feet

12-10-11: ME (Max Effort) Upper

Bench Press:
10xbar
5x95
5x145
5x185
1x225

T-Bar "Deadrows" (deadlift into row, good stretch and peak contraction in one movement for lats):
3x12x2 plates on the t-end of the bar

Right-Below-Sticking-Point Rack Lockouts (10 sec pause just above bottom at the end of the set):
5xbar
5x95
5x135
5x185
3x205

Face pulls:
3x12x110 (weird leverage machine)

Cable Tricep Extensions:
Drop set 12x130 -> 12x100

12-12-11: Monday: ME Lower

Deadlifts:
5x135 Sumo
5x135 Conventional
5x185 Sumo
5x185 Conventional
3x225 Sumo
1x225 Conventional
1x275 Sumo
1x315 Sumo
1x365 Sumo
Added Belt
1x365 Sumo
1x405 Sumo

Sumo Block Pulls off a 4 inch bumper plate:
2x405

1x5 Weighted Hyperextensions
1x15 Weighted Abs

12-13-11: Tuesday: DE Upper

Speed Bench:
10xbar
Added Bands so that it decelerates by itself at the top
5xbar
5x95
3x3x115 Close Grip
3x3x115 Wide Grip
3x3x115 Medium Grip

Dumbbell Bench:
2x20x50 lb DBs

Tate Press:
1x10x25
1x20x35 Supersetted with JM Press 5x25

Lat Pulldown:
1x10x100
2x10x120
2x12x120

12-15-11: DE Lower

Farmer's Walk Warmup
95s
100s

Speed Deadlifts
5x135 Sumo and Conventional
6x2x185 Sumo with bands standing on 10 lb plates
2x2x205 Sumo

Farmer's Walk Cooldown
100s

Weighted abs
1x16, time to up the weight

12-16-11: ME Upper

3-4" Yoga Mat "Board" Press:
2x10xbar
1x5x95
1x5x135
Added Yoga Mat
1x5x185
1x3x235
1x1x255 10 lb PR!!!
1x0x265

Sticking Point Low Rack Lockouts
5xbar
5x135
3x185
3x215 10 lb PR!!!
4x205 1 rep PR!!!

Chin Ups
2x10
1x4 (1 min rest since the last set)

Iso Lateral/Lever Rows
10x1 plate 1 side at a time
10x2 plates 1 side at a time
10x3 plates 1 side at a time
12x2 plates both sides at the same time, rested 20 sec then 7 more reps.

Lat Shrugs
10x25s
10x40s

Tate Press
20x40s


12-19-11: ME Lower

Squats:
1x5xbar
1x5x135
1x3x185
1x3x225
1x1x275
1x1x315
1x1x345
2x0x365

Conventional Deadlifts
5x225
Added Belt
10x275 (10 lb and 3 rep PR, previous record being 7x265 for high rep deadlifts)

Weighted Abs (Weight behind the head)
5x25
5x35

Hyperextensions (Weight hugged to chest)
5x35
15x45

Leg Extension Machine
Warm up set of 10 (forgot the weight)
Work set of 10 or 12

Leg Curl Machine (no GHR at 24 hour fitness)
Warm up set of 5
Work set of 10 or 12

Well that was a much longer post than I expected, I took out the commentary to shorten it a bit. I promise the rest of my posts won't be this long :P. But there we go, I'll start logging here after today's workout!

[GazzyG]

Welcome mate! Lots of supportive and informative blokes on here, so I'm sure you'll get on fine!

[amounirl]

Thanks Gazzy!

[amounirl]

11-20-11: DE Upper

Speed Bench
10xbar
1x3x95
1x3x115
3x3x125 Wide Grip
3x3x125 Close Grip
1x3x125 Medium Grip
3x3x135 Medium Grip
1x3x145 Medium Grip
1x5x95 Medium Grip

Dumbbell Bench Press
20x55s
12x65s PR!!!

Chest supported Rows
2x10x65s PR!
1x12x65s PR!!!

Tricep Cable Pulldown
12x150
10x150

24 Hour Fitness's Lat Pulldown-esque Machine
10x35 on each side
12x60 on each side

Rear Delt Flyes
2x10x30s PR!!!

Done! Today was a pretty good workout, nothing too hard but I still got a really good pump and got pretty sore. On speed bench I did an extra set to work on some problems I'm having, mainly foot placement, and the fact that my wrists always tilt back (bad habit due to the fact that the first year I benched I used the smith machine >=/. Also I didn't bring my bands to 24 so I had to use straight weight, I went a little heavier than usual because of that. The only thing I don't like about straight weight is that at the top, since the bar is moving so fast, it pulls up my shoulders and screws up my arch. Everything else went pretty well, the tricep cable pull down machine is kind of weird in that you can do way more weight on it than other machines of the same kind, I guess the leverages work differently or something. Also, the rope attachment is kind of crappy so I did rear delt flyes instead of face pulls. I'll go back to those once I start working out at school again (I'm on winter break but I usually work out in my weight training class).

[amounirl]

12-22-11: DE Lower

Speed Squats
8x2x205

Speed Deadlifts
10x2x225 alternating sumo and conventional

Leg Press
3x12x365

Weighted Abs
2x5x45

Hyperextensions
3x10x45

Hanging Leg Raise
3x10

[amounirl]

Friday 12-23-11: 5/3/1/ME Upper

Bench Press
5xbar
5x95
3x125
3x155
3x185
5x210
3x2x210 Paused at the chest competition style

Olympic Style Jerk (a la Clean and Jerk)
8xbar
5x95
3x115
3x135
5x155

JM Press (barbell)
5x8x75

Pendlay Rows
5x8x135

Facepulls
5x8x90

Today I worked out with a competitive powerlifter, who has advised me to run 5/3/1. Since today was my ME bench day and I'm going to be starting 5/3/1 next week, I did my first 5/3/1 bench workout in place of the ME upper day I had scheduled for today. We also did a few sets competition style just to practice the pause. He had me do a slightly different form than I usually do, with heels on the floor and holding my breath to preserve my arch, and holding my breath was definitely painful, I was seeing stars! We did olympic style jerks afterwards since both of us are interested in competing in strongman in the future, and the ability to press very big weights overhead would give us an edge over the competition. After that we did some assistance work.

Today was definitely the longest workout I've ever done, about 2.5 hours. Although he said if he didn't have to help me with form it would have been more like 1 hour 45 mins, which is still pretty long. I always thought that a workout shouldn't go over an hour, but apparently that's muscle magazine BS. Come to think of it, this summer all my workouts were 1.5 to 2 hours and I made the best gains of my life. Either way, good workout today, starting 5/3/1 next week!

[amounirl]

Monday 12-26-11: 5/3/1 Deadlift

Conventional Deadlift
3x135
3x185
3x225
3x280
3x340 Switched to mixed grip (from hook grip)
3(+2)=5x365 30 lb PR!!!

Squat Walkouts
1x135
1x225
1x315
1x385 20 lb PR!!!
2x405 40 lb PR!!!

Hip Thrusts
1x8x135
3x8x225

Close Parallel Grip Medium Cable Row
5x8x150

Great workout today! I was super stoked not only to have hit a huge deadlift PR, but to have hit it conventional. We did some stretches before hand that allowed me to get into proper position, since my trainer was saying conventional would suit my build better, and even though stretching does compromise strength it helped a lot with my form. So it looks like my inability to get into form for deadlifts is an issue more of flexibility than lower back strength. I'll be stretching about twice daily (that's the goal!) so that I won't have to stretch right before lifting in the future. But yeah, that's a massive PR for me, I only needed to do 365 for 3 based on my 405 max, but conventional worked so much better than sumo that I ended up hitting 5. Last time I did conventional deads was a few months ago and I got 335 for 5, with a horribly rounded back, so I have a good feeling about this.

Then we did assistance work, I was hoping to do glute ham raises or good mornings, but there's no GHR in the gym and... I'll probably do good mornings instead of hip thrusts next time. I could see hip thrusts being good for lockout on deadlifts but I don't really have problems on lockout, yet, and good mornings would probably benefit me more in the long run. Most people would probably switch out the squat walkouts for the good mornings instead, but I'll just have to play around with things, since I do like the psychological advantage one could get from walkouts.

On another note I got the stomach flu friday night and felt like crap all day Saturday, and though I was basically better on Sunday my stomach is still super sensitive right now. Needless to say I barely ate these last few days which has dropped me back down to about 184. I'm super deflated right now, my shoulders look tiny and none of my muscles buldge, which is kind of demoralizing. But I still got a PR on deadlifts which was surprising since I'd have expected to be really weak today, so that was good, maybe I'll be way stronger next week. Anyways, going to try to get back on track with the diet. I was 183 a few weeks ago and I'll probably gain a lot of my weight back, so it's not too bad of a backtrack.

[GazzyG]

Great work on the deadlift PR! The stance change obviously worked really well for you!

[amounirl]

Thanks GazzyG! Yeah I definitely like conventional a lot better than sumo, but the stretching is gonna be tough xD

[amounirl]

Tuesday 12-27-11: 5/3/1 Overhead Press

Overhead Press
5xbar
5x95
3x115
4x140

Floor Press
5x135
3x170
4x185

Incline Bench
3x5x135
2x5x145

Underhand Grip Medium Cable Row
5x8x130

Face Pulls With Rope
5x8x70

Nice short workout yesterday. I'm really struggling with eating properly, my stomach is still super sensitive from getting the stomach flu. I was 182 before the gym yesterday and 179 afterwards. I was 189 on Friday. I don't even want to know how much I weigh right now, I'm hungry yet still nauseous. Maybe I should go to the doctor. I'm thinking of just doing a "deload week" on the eating, since I've been forcing myself to eat for the last 7 months. It's probably not the best idea because I'm most likely going to lose muscle, but I feel I need this mentally.

[amounirl]

Thursday 12-29-11: 5/3/1 Squat

Low Box Low Bar Back Squats
many x bar
5x135
3x185
3x205
3x215
3x225
3x225

Front Squats
5x135
3x185
3x215
2x245

Stiff Leg Sumo Deadlifts
5x135
5x185

Weighted Abs
10x25 steep decline from dead stop

Pull Ups
10xBW

Yesterday's workout was pretty tough. Apparently even though I've been squatting a little lower than all those guys in the IPF (based on videos I've taken of myself on max effort squats), it's still not low enough to qualify in USAPL. I thought I was going parallel because the bottom of my thigh was parallel with the ground, but the top of my hip joint was still about 2 inches above my knee. My trainer also wanted me to go 3 inches below that so that when the weights got heavy I would still be in the habit of going low enough. So we did a ton of stretching and then temporarily added a low box so that I would know when I was hitting 3 inches below parallel. Well needless to say I couldn't do nearly as much weight as I could on an IPF depth normal squat, so it was pretty degrading to struggle with 3x225. Either way, my hamstrings are really weak, so I need to keep doing this until I get my strength up. We're probably going to add squats on another day so that I'm squatting more than just once a week.

Since my quads are still strong I managed to do more weight on my front squats than back squats even though I was going just as low, if not lower. My trainer had me use a clean grip as opposed to the bodybuilding grip I'd been using before, which was really painful, but it felt a lot tighter.

So at this point we'd been there about 2.5 hours because we had to spend so long stretching and getting my form right, and I didn't have enough time to do the full assistance work 5x8, so I threw in some weighted abs to balance out my back real quick and winged it on the assistance. Getting my hamstrings up to speed is going to be a pain in the ass (literally, my glutes are sore, too), but I guess it's worth it.

[amounirl]

Friday 12-30-11: 5/3/1 Bench: 5/3/1

Bench Press
Warmups (stretching, repping light weights)
5x175
3x200
3x225 PR!!!
0x225 Paused (almost)
1x225
1x225

Olympic Jerks
Warmups (OHP, shoulder dislocations with band)
5x135
3x145
3x165 PR

Light Sling Shot Paused Bench Press
5x135
3x205
1x225

JM Press
5x8x85

Facepulls
5x8x100

Rotator Cuff Prehab Stuff
Sets of 15 and 20

Max effort bench press today, I got a huge PR (that's why it's red!) on bench press, I repped my previous max with ease, I probably could have hit more but my trainer says as a general rule, don't go over 3 on max effort 5/3/1 day (and don't go over 5 reps on 3x3 day, don't go over 8 reps on 3x5 day), just increase the base max for the cycle. We did a few paused singles and I was really close to 225, but I didn't get it because I didn't remember to pinch my shoulder blades in the set up. Then by going to failure on that set the rest of the workout kind of got screwed up, but I still got a PR on jerks. By the time we got to slingshot I was too mentally fatigued to push myself on heavy compound lifts so we jumped into assistance, did some shoulder rehab, and called it a day.

[amounirl]

Sunday 1-1-12!!!: 5/3/1 Deadlift: 5/3/1

Deadlift
5x135
5x165
5x205
3x245
5x315
3x355
0x395
0x395
Adjusted Stance so I could get it off the floor
1x395

Pull Ups With Fat Gripz
3x(grip failure), I hit 7 then 8 then 7

Medium Neutral Cable Rows
3x5x160,170,180

Today was an off day for both me and my trainer, probably because it's only been 6 days since our last deadlift day, and we squatted 3 days ago on top of that (only 3 days after last deadlifting). He still managed to get a 3 lb PR but I only managed 1 rep of what I was aiming for 3 with, and only on my 3rd attempt, after adjusting my stance to super narrow so I could get the damn thing off the floor. I've got weak hamstrings. So my next squat day will be a deload, just focusing on form, but I'm going to keep trying to get my hamstrings up to speed. Happy new year everybody!

[amounirl]

Monday 1-2-12: 5/3/1 Overhead Press: 5/3/1

Overhead Press:
10x45
5x45
5x65
3x85
5x95
3x115
(1+4=)5x125
Rest pause 10-20 sec between sets: 5x125

Floor Press
Warmups
5x165
3x185
(1+2=)3x205

Incline Bench
5x6x135

Supinated Grip Pendlay Rows
3x8x135
2x8x155

Rope Facepulls
3x8x80
2x8x90

Done. Today I felt pretty strong on OHP, I really found my groove and even though I deloaded, I managed to get a reps PR. My previous PR was 5x135 on push press, so this was pretty significant since it was completely strict, no leg drive. Floor press felt ok, I'm pretty sure that's a PR. Then I screwed up on incline bench, I got 8 on my first set but I barely got 6 on my last 4 sets, so I just put 5x6. Next week I'll either reduce the weight or do 5x7. Pendlay Rows felt like crap at first but I got aggressive on my third set and was able to increase the weight. Then I made a pretty big jump on face pulls, yet it felt easier than last week's 5x8x70, and I had better form, so I must have made some pretty good strength gains. Overall a good workout.

[amounirl]

Thursday 1-5-12: 5/3/1 Bench: 3x5

My trainer is peaking for a meet so he was doing 6x3, I decided to jump in in place of my 3x5 today.

Bench Press
Warmups
6x3x205
Didn't feel fatigued at all so I did:
1x1x235 Paused, competition style.

Olympic Jerks
1x8x115
1x5x135
1x3x155
3x1x175
1x5x155

Bench Lift Offs (and hold at top for 4 sec)
1x185
1x225
1x255
1x275

Pendlay Rows
5x135
5x185 too much kipping
2x5x165 put my wallet on my back to prevent me from kipping too much

Strict Chin Ups
5x8 (on my 4th set had to let go and take a 5 sec breather after 5 reps then finished the last 3. Managed 8 on my 5th set.)

[amounirl]

Saturday 1-7-12: Deadlifts and Squats

Reverse Band Deadlift, 135 taken off at the bottom, bands completely deload at the knees
Warmups
3x365
3x405
1x455

Squat
Warmups
8x210
5x240
3x1x275
5x240

Weighted Pull Ups
5xBW
3x5xBW+10

Somehow today's session took over 3 hours, probably because we were talking a ton. My trainer is doing a peaking cycle for his upcoming meet but he's gonna put me back on 5/3/1, now that he has time to write up the cycle. Even though all my training sessions have been long as hell these last few weeks I've been making great gains, not only in strength, but my back and rear delts are exploding with growth. And I haven't even been eating that strict. Yes my abs are going away, but oh well, I'd rather hit a 300 bench by June than have a 6 pack in winter xD. Needless to say, I'm stoked, so it seems that the 1 hour rule isn't set in stone. I'll definitely cut once I bench 300. That's been my goal for a while actually, I want to hit a 300 bench, 400 squat, and 500 deadlift by the time I turn 18 in June.

[GazzyG]

Looking at your numbers I'd say you've got a good chance of reaching those goals in 6 months!

Great work on repping 225 - that's my next goal too!

How different did the deadlift feel with the bands taking weight off the bottom?

[amounirl]

Thanks GazzyG!

It felt really weird because it was only about 320 on the bottom, then suddenly the weight just gets way heavier, but overall I like it, it's a good way to not stress out the muscles/nervous system too badly when doing a high volume high weight cycle.

[amounirl]

1-9-12: 5/3/1 Squat: 3x5

Squat
Warmups
5x195
5x225
(5+3=8)x255

Front Squat
5x170
5x195
5x225 (was supposed to be 220 but someone took the 2.5s)

Semi-Sumo (squat width stance) Stiff Leg Deadlifts
4x8x185

Weighted Chin Ups (palms facing me)
5xBW
3x5xBW+25

Today was a pretty good workout, now that I'm hitting below parallel on every squat (parallel being hip joint below knee joint). I've been working on grabbing the bar instead of just pressing it to my back with my wrists, which is challenging my flexibility, but if I don't then my squat will be red lighted in USAPL. Front squats with the wrist back again, painful but I realized I was pressing it ever so slightly with my wrists in that position, so by focusing on only pushing with my shoulders I've made it a lot better. It looks like I finally have the flexibility to do SLDLs (which I felt a ton in my glutes and hamstrings), and the chin ups were decent. I was pulling from a little below a 90 degree elbow angle, but I want to reduce the weight and pull from a dead hang. Maybe 15 lbs next week. At least I wasn't bouncing.

A little insignificant but I threw in some plate pinches just for fun and for a little challenge while I was waiting for my trainer to squat (since he takes really long rest periods), so I did a 10 in my right hand and a 5 in my left, pinching the round part that goes around the bar, then I also stuck my fingers through it to get the finger extension "pinch" as well, keep it balanced and keep my joints healthy. All sets for 10 sec. I tried the 10 lb plate with my left but could only get 5 sec.

[amounirl]

Tuesday 1-10-12: 5/3/1 Bench: 3x5

Bench Press
Warmups
5x160
6x185 (lost count and did 6 apparently xD)
(5+2)=7x210 2 Rep PR!!!

Olympic Jerks
Warmups
5x125
5x145
5x155 rested 15 sec then did a 6th rep

JM Press
1x8x65
3x8x95
1x8x75 (worked on tucking my elbows better)

Pendlay Rows
1x5x135
4x5x155

Face Pulls With Straight Bar
1x8x80
2x8x110
2x8x120

Good workout today! I was really happy to hit 7 reps with 210, even though I was going for 8, and if I hadn't exhaled too much and lost my arch I'm sure I could have hit 8. I'm pretty stoked because this is a 2 rep PR within 2-3 weeks, and it also bumps my predicted max up to around 255. I tried a slightly wider grip so that might have had something to do with it (moved middle finger to ring instead of ring finger).

On the jerks my shoulders got really fatigued, high rep jerks are basically cardio =/. I need to learn to rack it on my collar bones instead of holding it with my shoulders, while I catch my breath. My shoulders were super tired so the first time I went for a 6th rep I failed it, so I rested 15 sec and did that 6th rep, barely got it, so I knew not to try more.

JM Press was decent.

Pendlay Rows I did with virtually no kipping, did a 4th set because my trainer noticed my knees were super bent so even though I was rowing from the floor, it was still more of a traps than a lat row. I did the 4th set with pretty straight legs and a parallel back. I've noticed my flexibility is going way up, I can even keep my back straight with stiff legs now.

Finally Face pulls, I got a 20 lb PR, probably because I'm getting used to the awkward movement, so I'm better coordinated. Overall a great workout, deadlifts this Thursday.

On a side note I haven't been eating much in the mornings, that's why I generally prefer to train in the morning to get my metabolism going. I might start doing light cardio in the morning just to get blood flowing and appetite up. I weigh about 183-185 right now.

[GazzyG]

Good work on the bench PR! Always nice to get one of those!

[amounirl]

That's for sure haha, bench PRs are the best. Thanks man!

[amounirl]

Weirdest thing just happened to me... I went for about a 1 mile run and... I enjoyed it! Never enjoyed cardio before. What's more is I didn't get winded even though I went at a decent pace, even though I never train cardio besides interval training, never endurance. This is awesome! I think I'm gonna time myself next time, this feels great. Got a decent stretch after, and I have a feeling today's gonna be a good day, with my metabolism running at a good pace as well!

[amounirl]

1-12-12: 5/3/1 Deadlift: 3x5

Deadlift
Warmups
5x275
5x315
(5+1=)6x355

Squat
Warmups
10x135
10x155
10x165
10x175
10x185

Cable Rows
8x100
8x150
8x160
8x170
8x160
8x150

Good workout. Could have gotten more on the deadlifts but my form was degrading. I don't really like the idea of high rep deadlifts, I'm probably not going to go over 5 again. Squats were well below parallel, especially that last set. Good stuff! Calves are incredibly sore from that run yesterday, but it's all good, all it impaired was my flexibility today, so I had to stretch a bit extra. My bodyweight is increasing, finally, that running in the morning is just what I needed to get my appetite going. I'm about 186.6 right now, going to eat dinner in a few mins. I can tell I'm gonna get fat on this bulk, but cutting is so damn easy for me that just a few weeks in the summer is all I'll need.