Training Log

[Power76]

My next meet will be in September at the APF Georgia State Meet. I will start posting my training with tonight's squat workout.

[Power76]

6/3/05
Squat: briefs on, 145/8, 235/5, 325/3, 415/1, added suit straps down, 505/3, 555/2, added knee wraps, 600/1

[Power76]

6/4/05
glute ham raise: 3x6 w/25lb. plate
reverse hyper: 3x8 270lbs.
pull thrus w/choked blue band: 2x10
dragging sled: 2 trips w/90lbs.
spread eagle sit ups: 3x10 w/55lb. dumbell

[lexi83]

glad to see your posting powerman! i like seeing the workout setups and exercises. you train westside??
Biglexi

[Power76]

glad to see your posting powerman! i like seeing the workout setups and exercises. you train westside??
Biglexi

Yes most of what I do is Westside with some of my own twists thrown in here and there. Today is my speed bench day but I am getting ready to go out of town so I will miss this one. I had planned on doing it yesterday after my accessory work but I was to tired. I will be back tomorrow for a max effort lower body session. Probably will do some sort of good morning.

[power65]

Nice numbers Bro. I too use a pulling sled. I can't keep a training partner though that is willing to keep pulling the sled. Everyone thinks they want to until they try it. Pretty punishing. On days I pull the sled I normally do 8 x 50 yds pulling 90 lbs. Pull sprint. I rest 20 sec. between pulls. That will kick your ass after a hard workout.

[Power76]

This one is not really worth posting.
Suspended good morning with safety squat bar: 150/5, 240/5, put belt on, 330/3, 380/1, 420/0 miss, what?? Tried again, 420/0 miss, came halfway up and I strained for a good 5 seconds and nearly passed out. I think all of the lower back work I did on Saturday came back to haunt me. Oh well, lesson learned. I didn't see any point of doing any assistance so I went home to pout. LOL

[Power76]

Nice numbers Bro. I too use a pulling sled. I can't keep a training partner though that is willing to keep pulling the sled. Everyone thinks they want to until they try it. Pretty punishing. On days I pull the sled I normally do 8 x 50 yds pulling 90 lbs. Pull sprint. I rest 20 sec. between pulls. That will kick your ass after a hard workout.

Thanks man. Yea the sled can be tough. I will be doing a lot of dragging this summer to help me shed some excess pounds and get in better shape. This is an area that I have been neglecting.

[power65]

Pulling the sled w/ most definitely get you in shape, and should help shed some pounds. Note: You might want to give your lower back a little more rest that what you have previously done. I know your fired up and really want to do your best, but sometime too much is not a good thing. Got to let those muscles rest. Remember.....alot of what you do carries over from other workouts.

[Power76]

You are correct. I have to keep recovery in mind more than I have had to in the past as I am no longer on any "supplements". My strength is way down from where it was at my last meet and I don't recover as fast. It's a little depressing. In fact, I have come to a point where I need to decide which path I want to take. If I stay clean maybe I should consider a USAPL meet so I won't have this pressure inside of me to out do myself. As of right now I can't get through a workout without having thoughts of jamming 3 cc's into my delt. Anyway thanks for the advice.

[RJstrong]

My next meet will be in September at the APF Georgia State Meet. I will start posting my training with tonight's squat workout.

Looking forward to your posts.... GOOD LUCK....... TRAIN HARD!

[Power76]

Looking forward to your posts.... GOOD LUCK....... TRAIN HARD!

Thanx bud.
max effort bench 6/8/05
2 board press: 135/a bunch, 185/5, 205/5, 225/3, 250/3, 275/1, 300/1, 315/1, 325/0 miss My best on this is 365 so I am way off from where I was.
lockouts from pin # 10 (around 6 inches): 315x3 x 3 sets
pulldowns: 160 lbs. 3x8
side dumbell raises: 25's for 2x8

[power65]

You are correct. I have to keep recovery in mind more than I have had to in the past as I am no longer on any "supplements". My strength is way down from where it was at my last meet and I don't recover as fast. It's a little depressing. In fact, I have come to a point where I need to decide which path I want to take. If I stay clean maybe I should consider a USAPL meet so I won't have this pressure inside of me to out do myself. As of right now I can't get through a workout without having thoughts of jamming 3 cc's into my delt. Anyway thanks for the advice.

Been there man. It's tuff training clean when you know the feeling of being on the "Juice". When I decided to go clean about 9 years ago it almost killed my training. Actually, I did stop training for about 6-9 months after my last cycle. Just didn't have the drive, and watching my numbers fall on a weekly basis just made me depressed too. But good news....there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have been clean for 9 years now and hard to believe, but a hell of a lot stronger now for the last 7 of those 9 years than I was on the "Juice". Just a matter of changing up the way you train, really eating right, giving yourself plenty of rest, and just keeping your attitude up. The good news is.....once you've gone a long time clean and your lifts are up again and doing great........you'll never go back on the "Juice" because you remember what it was like when you came of the last time and you know how hard it was to get yourself back up and where you are today. I wouldn't take that stuff now if it were free and I was getting paid to do it. Just not worth it. You're lifting starts to mean more and you actually are more prideful of your accomplishments when you're clean. At least I know I am. Good Luck!!!! If you ever get the temptation to use again, but really want to stay clean and you need someone to talk to PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call for some support. I've been down that road before all alone and it was tough. So I do understand.

[Power76]

Been there man. It's tuff training clean when you know the feeling of being on the "Juice". When I decided to go clean about 9 years ago it almost killed my training. Actually, I did stop training for about 6-9 months after my last cycle. Just didn't have the drive, and watching my numbers fall on a weekly basis just made me depressed too. But good news....there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have been clean for 9 years now and hard to believe, but a hell of a lot stronger now for the last 7 of those 9 years than I was on the "Juice". Just a matter of changing up the way you train, really eating right, giving yourself plenty of rest, and just keeping your attitude up. The good news is.....once you've gone a long time clean and your lifts are up again and doing great........you'll never go back on the "Juice" because you remember what it was like when you came of the last time and you know how hard it was to get yourself back up and where you are today. I wouldn't take that stuff now if it were free and I was getting paid to do it. Just not worth it. You're lifting starts to mean more and you actually are more prideful of your accomplishments when you're clean. At least I know I am. Good Luck!!!! If you ever get the temptation to use again, but really want to stay clean and you need someone to talk to PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call for some support. I've been down that road before all alone and it was tough. So I do understand.

Hey bro, I just sent you a PM

[Power76]

Box squat with green bands: (belt only) 135/5, 185/5, 225/5, 275/3, 315/3, no bands, no box, 350/3, 365/2, 405/1

I just kind of screwed around today. I have been doing westside for so long now I am kind of bored. I think I will go back to the basics for a while and see what happens.

[power65]

Power76,

Sorry it has taken a few days to get back with you, i've been out of town. I just sent you a PM.

[Doc.Sust]

This one is not really worth posting.
Suspended good morning with safety squat bar: 150/5, 240/5, put belt on, 330/3, 380/1, 420/0 miss, what?? Tried again, 420/0 miss, came halfway up and I strained for a good 5 seconds and nearly passed out. I think all of the lower back work I did on Saturday came back to haunt me. Oh well, lesson learned. I didn't see any point of doing any assistance so I went home to pout. LOL

are you using a belt with good morning? can you do this with all good mornings or only chain suspended? i never tried it, i do mine raw, i thought the belt would hamper the movement an not allow you to get deep.

[Power76]

I put my belt on when I got to the set of 330. I do regular good mornings and chain suspended. The suspended ones are a little harder because you are starting from a dead stop at the bottom. Just like the deadlift. I normally don't do all out regular good mornings because they are tough for someone to spot you. If you can't get up with a suspended GM you can just drop it back in the chains. I usually do regular ones for reps with weight I can handle and I usually don't wear a belt on them but sometimes I do. Some guys never wear a belt when they do good mornings and they feel they work better if you do them without one. Just be careful if you don't wear a belt. Some of these guys have developed hernias from this. And yes, the belt gets in the way a little bit but not to bad.

[Power76]

6/13/05
bench with 3 chains per side: bar/10, 95/6, 135/5, 155/5, 185/5 x 3 sets
skull crushers with tricep bar: 90lbs x 2 sets. I was going to do 4 sets but they were killing my elbows
DB shoulder press: 3 sets of 8 with the 65's. To easy need to go up to 75's or 80's
chest supported rows: 3 sets of 10 with 3 plates
I actually felt pretty good tonight. Must of been the Rage Against the Machine that was blaring in the gym.

[RJstrong]

I took a 2 week vacation from powerlifting and really havn't been responding to peoples posts, but I have to admit I was still checking things out here. How is the training going, I hope well, I'm sure it is. Keep posting brother I know it's a pain sometimes but as you said before I think we can all learn from others training cycles. I know my last training cycle needed some tweaks. I felt like I came in to my last meet just way overtrained. I peaked about 2-3 weeks too early. So I would like to see how you pace yourself. For my next meet I'm considering training 8-10 weeks out as opposed to 12, but I am still unsure. I think I just did too many heavy singles too close to the meet? I don't feel as bad now... after I found out 50 people bombed out at SR. Nat. and 10 including myself bombed in the 242's... there were times when the meet seemed like total pandemonium so I can kinda understand the huge bomb out #'s. Anyway brother good luck, train hard!

[Power76]

Thanks man. Here's an update.
6/15/05
raw squat: 145/10 x 2 sets, 235/8, 325/5, 285/8
leg press: 490 3x10
leg curl: 110/10, 100/10, 90/10
calf stuff/abs

6/17/05

6/20/05
light bench: worked up to 240
close grip 2 board: 185 3x8
pushdowns: 3x10 80 lbs.
seated rows: 3x8 180lbs.
side DB raises: 3x10 with the 20's
curls for the girls 3x10

6/22/05
box squat with blue bands: bar/10 x 2 sets, added the bands, bar+bands/5, 145/4, 235/3, put on briefs, 325/3, 375/3, 415/3, 465/2
deadlifts off blocks: (weight on the blocks) 225/3, 315/2, 405/1, 495/1, 585/miss
abs

[Power76]

I took a 2 week vacation from powerlifting and really havn't been responding to peoples posts, but I have to admit I was still checking things out here. How is the training going, I hope well, I'm sure it is. Keep posting brother I know it's a pain sometimes but as you said before I think we can all learn from others training cycles. I know my last training cycle needed some tweaks. I felt like I came in to my last meet just way overtrained. I peaked about 2-3 weeks too early. So I would like to see how you pace yourself. For my next meet I'm considering training 8-10 weeks out as opposed to 12, but I am still unsure. I think I just did too many heavy singles too close to the meet? I don't feel as bad now... after I found out 50 people bombed out at SR. Nat. and 10 including myself bombed in the 242's... there were times when the meet seemed like total pandemonium so I can kinda understand the huge bomb out #'s. Anyway brother good luck, train hard!

Here are my thoughts... I too performed a heavy single every week in full gear right before my last meet and I did not perform as well as I should have. For the squat, I will suit up every other week and work up to 1-3 heavy reps but not a max. I will add a little weight every time I suit up. The other weeks I will only wear my briefs and go off a box with heavy band and/or chain tension at the top up to 1-3 reps. Again not an all out effort. For the bench I plan to do a lot of shirt work but NOT with my competition shirt. I will use a loose shirt and do full presses with band or chain tension at the top. I have found that I can bench anything off a 1 or 2 board but it goes to sh*t when I touch the weight. Something about that last inch or two just throws my groove off. So, I need to practice touching every rep and I will add bands or chains to help my speed and my lockout. I will do a lot of triples and not singles. The more reps, the more practice. I can do this easily with a loose shirt that does not take a ton of weight to touch. When I used to use my tight shirt all the time and tried to touch every week it killed my central nervous system and left me overtrained because of the amount of weight I had to use. For the deadlift I have no freakin idea yet. My pull sucks right now and I have not come up with any bright ideas yet. I will also incorporate 2 de-load weeks before the meet. All the Westside boys do this and it should help with recovery. A lifter should feel good mentally and physically on meet day. My last meet I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

[RJstrong]

Here are my thoughts... I too performed a heavy single every week in full gear right before my last meet and I did not perform as well as I should have. For the squat, I will suit up every other week and work up to 1-3 heavy reps but not a max. I will add a little weight every time I suit up. The other weeks I will only wear my briefs and go off a box with heavy band and/or chain tension at the top up to 1-3 reps. Again not an all out effort. For the bench I plan to do a lot of shirt work but NOT with my competition shirt. I will use a loose shirt and do full presses with band or chain tension at the top. I have found that I can bench anything off a 1 or 2 board but it goes to sh*t when I touch the weight. Something about that last inch or two just throws my groove off. So, I need to practice touching every rep and I will add bands or chains to help my speed and my lockout. I will do a lot of triples and not singles. The more reps, the more practice. I can do this easily with a loose shirt that does not take a ton of weight to touch. When I used to use my tight shirt all the time and tried to touch every week it killed my central nervous system and left me overtrained because of the amount of weight I had to use. For the deadlift I have no freakin idea yet. My pull sucks right now and I have not come up with any bright ideas yet. I will also incorporate 2 de-load weeks before the meet. All the Westside boys do this and it should help with recovery. A lifter should feel good mentally and physically on meet day. My last meet I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

[Power76]

6/24
4 board with doubled mini bands med. grip: 95/5, 135/5, 185/5, 225/5, 275/3, 225/5
incline bench: 135/8, 185/5, 225/3
Forearms and shoulders were hurting pretty bad so took it easy. I also took the weekend off from lifting.

6/27
light bench: bar/?, 95/10, 135/10, 185/8, 225/5, 250/3, 265/1, 205/10
DB press: 2x10 with 75's
band pushdowns: 3x20
CS rows: 3x8 with 125

[Power76]

- GAL -->

[RJstrong]

looks like you are on course to having a good meet! SOLID #'s! I like the idea of getting that bench on record... I say go for it, no better time then right now. Don't get down on your deadlift, I think you have enough time to get it back to 600. I wish you well my man, you know you have the numbers in you... go get 'em!

[power65]

Hey Bro......i've been out of the forum for the past almost 2weeks. I was on vacation. Nice to return and see that your numbers are doing good. Looks like your making some gains as far as training as the "New You". It's like I was telling you the other day....just hang in there and it will all come. The biggest thing is to be sure to keep your confidence up....and it appears that you are. This Iron Game of ours is pretty mental at times. Hell all the time. Mind over matter Bro. But glad to see you putting up some big numbers and it's also good to see you backing off some of the heavy stuff. Too many people think that you have to lift Heavy Heavy Heavy all the time to build strength.....and that just isn't so. We know that from watching people put up huge numbers by working in some light speed training. Too much of anything is not good. Keep it up, and please keep us posted as what you're doing and how things are going.

[Power76]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the encouragement. I hate to come back right after I was so gung ho about doing the meet and say I am still unsure about it but that may be the case. I went to the gym tonight and felt like crap. In fact, I feel like crap everyday. I need surgery for a medical problem and I have been putting it off for some time now. My health is only going to get worse if I don't get it done soon. I blew out my squat suit tonight and I think that is a sign from above. I have put my health second to my lifting for to long now. I will call the doc tommorow and get his opinion.

[power65]

Good luck w/ that stuff. Hope it's nothing too serious. Keep us posted.

[RJstrong]

I wish you well... health should always be the priority! There will always be another meet.