Archive for the ‘Training Journal’ Category

Training Journal – 11/22/15

Posted: November 22, 2015 in Announcements, Training Journal
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Sunday – Quads/Upper Back/Calves

Front Squats – 135x2x10 (felt really good today)

Straight Arm Pulldowns – 50x2x10 (really starting to see size added to my lats)

Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x2x20

Standing Calf Raises – 315x2x10

Daily “Selfie” – This shirt used to have sleeves…just like most of my shirts.  This was our Summer Beer League Volleyball T-shirt.  It says Kicking Mass (church mass not bulking mass) & Taking Names.  The team was put together by my wife for the Catholic church where we are parishioners. Playing volleyball counted as my cardio (once a week, lol).

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Training Journal – 11/20/15

Posted: November 22, 2015 in Announcements, Training Journal
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Friday – Chest/Arms

Dumbbell Bench Press – 30x2x10

Spot0 Press – 135x2x10

Preacher Curl Machine – 70x2x10

Standing Skull Crusher – 50x2x10

Wrist Curl/Extension – 12x2x10 (used FatGripz to make it harder)

Daily “Selfie” – This is my Quad City Strongman T-shirt.  I bought this at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo this summer.  I hope to compete in strongman/powerlifting/MAS at this competition in the future.

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Training Journal – 11/19/15

Posted: November 20, 2015 in Announcements, Training Journal
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Thursday – Hamstrings, Back, Calves

Sumo Deadlift – 225x2x10 (Really, this my first time trying sumo dl) – This actually felt really good.  I might switch my competition DL style to sumo and use conventional in 1 training block.

Stiff Leg Deadlift – 135x2x10

Seated Row – 50x2x10  – My version is close to regular except, at home, I only have the Spud Econo Pulley system so I can’t get quite the right angle.

Barbell Shrug – (Kaz Shrugs today) – 135x2x10 – Kaz Shrugs are using a narrow grip for 10 reps, switching to a normal grip for 10 reps, and then switching to a wide grip for 10 reps.  I did this and counted all 3 grips as 1 set.  So, technically, I did 2 sets of 30 reps.

Standing Calf Raises – 275x2x10

Daily “Selfie” – This is my Gorilla Bench T-shirt.  I won it in a Facebook Give-Away.  One of my favorite shirts.  Fits nicely and feels lightweight. On the back it says, “Training – Its like wrestling a Gorilla.  You don’t quit when you’re tired, you quit when the Gorilla is tired.” You can purchase them here: http://www.gorillabench.com/index.html

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Training Journal – 11/18/15

Posted: November 19, 2015 in Announcements, Training Journal
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Wednesday – Shoulders/Arms

Overhead Press – 135x2x10

Seated Dumbbell Press – 30x2x10

Hammer Curls – 20x2x10

Dips – Bodyweight (234)x2x10 – First time doing dips in, probably, a year or more.  My shoulders have always hurt.  This time they were a little tender, but I was able to do them with “relative” ease.  I will keep including them in my training.

 

My daily “selfie.”  Yes! That is “almost” Hulk Hogan on my shirt!  This picture also features my SBD Elbow Sleeves and Stiff Wrist Wraps.  I will be doing a product review on them soon(ish).

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Training Journal – 11/17/15

Posted: November 18, 2015 in Announcements, Training Journal
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Tuesday – Quads, Back, Calves

Front Squat – (first time really trying these) 45×10, 65×5, 95×5, 135×5 – My mobility in wrists, elbows, and shoulders is fairly poor.  I had trouble using the OLY style grip.  I ended up using the crossed arms style.  It worked for now, but as it gets heavier I don’t know if that will work.  I will keep working my mobility so I can use the proper grip.

Bent Over Rows – 135x2x10

Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x2x10 (heaviest dumbbell I have right now)

Standing Calf Raises – 225x2x10

 

Here is my daily training “selfie”.  Here I am wearing my Shaw Strength T-shirt that I got from Brian Shaw himself at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo this year.  I got to talk to him privately for almost half and hour.  It was great picking his brain on training, competing, and recovering from injury.wpid-20151117_061847.jpg

Training Journal – 11/16/15

Posted: November 17, 2015 in Training Journal
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Monday – Chest/Arms

Dumbbell Bench Press – 25x1x10, 30x1x10

Incline Bench Press – 95x1x10, 115x1x10

EZ Bar Curl – 45x1x10, 65x1x10

Close Grip Bench Press – 135x1x10, 155x1x10

Shoulder Complex (front raise x10, lateral raise x10, rear deltoid raise x10) – 5lbs x2 sets

I kept everything light for this workout.  Since I am just getting into doing Hypertrophy training I didn’t want to choose to heavy of weights and burn myself out or injure myself.  I am planning on adding 1 set of 10 each week and increasing the weight by 5 lbs each week if I can.

Training Journal – 11/9/15-11/15/15

Posted: November 16, 2015 in Training Journal
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Monday – Bench Press – 255x3sx4r

Close Grip Bench Press – 135x2sx4r

Bent Over Rows – 135x3sx10r

Tricep Extensions – 50x2sx10r

Tuesday – High Bar Squat – 365x3sx6r

Wednesday – Overhead Press – 145x3sx5r

Upright Rows – 65x2s10r, 95x1sx10r

Shrugs – 135x3sx10r

Thursday- Deadlift – 315x3sx6r

Rack Pull Deadlift – 225x3sx6r

Friday – Bench Press – 290x3sx4r (last set only got 2 reps)

Slingshot Bench Press – 330x1sx3r

Close Grip Bench Press – 225x2sx4r

Bent Over Rows – 135x3sx10r

Sunday – Instead of Squats I helped move a very, very heavy piano.

This is my last Strength Block workout until Mid-January.  I feel like I have hit a plateau in my training and I am going to switch it up.  I have roughly planned out the next 24 weeks of training with an APF meet in Omaha at the finish.  Starting on Monday 11/16/15 I will start Hypertrophy Block training.  This will last for about 10 weeks.  I will then go back to a Strength Block for roughly 8 weeks.  Lastly, I will finish up this cycle with a 4-5 week Peaking Block.  This will be the first time I have tried all of the Phases of training in a Macrocycle.  After my poor performance at the NASA meet I want to come back better than ever,  I was going to do a meet in Chamberlain, SD in February, but I am going to skip it to focus on getting stronger.  I will try to update the blog more often.  I am going to set up a schedule for posting dietary and training journal material as well as some product reviews that I haven’t had the chance to do yet.  Stay tuned for a lot of material to be coming your way.

Training Journal – 10/12/15 – 10/18/15

Posted: October 21, 2015 in Training Journal
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Here is my training for the week:

10/12/15 – Bench Press – 275x3x4

– Close Grip BP – 205x2x4

– Bent Over Rows – 185x3x10

10/13/15 – High Bar Squat – 345x3x5

– Pause Below Parallel Squat – 225x3x5

10/14/15 – Overhead Press – 155x3x5

– Shrugs – 95x3x20

– Shoulder Complex – 10x3x10

10/15/15 – Deadlift – 425x1x3 – Needed to do 3 sets, but back wouldn’t let me.

10/16/15 – BP – 275x2x5, 315x1x3

– Bent Over Rows – 135x3x10

– Tricep Extensions (cable machine) – 50x2x10

10/18/15 – Low Bar Squat – 300x3x6

– Pause Above SQ – 315×5, 405×3, 475×1, 495×1

(Training inspired by Principles of Strength Training by Israetel, Hoffmann, and Smith)

Training Journal – 10/5/15-10/11/15 – Week 2

Posted: October 11, 2015 in Training Journal
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Here is my training for the week:

10/5/15 – Bench Press – 275x3x5

– Wide Grip BP – 180x2x5

– Bent Over Rows – 135x3x10

– Tricep Extensions (cable machine) – 50x2x10

10/6/15 – Missed Training

10/7/15 – Overhead Press – 185x3x4

– Shrugs – 135x3x10

– Shoulder Complex – 12,15,15×10

10/8/15 – Deadlift – 315x3x6

– Pause Deadlift – 275x3x6

10/9/15 – Close Grip BP – 175x3x6

– Bent Over Rows – 135x3x10

– Tricep Extensions (cable machine) – 50x3x10

10/11/15 – High Bar Squat – 300x3x6

– Pause Above SQ – 300x3x6

(Training inspired by Principles of Strength Training by Israetel, Hoffmann, and Smith)

Book Review: The Scientific Principles of Strength Training

Posted: October 11, 2015 in Product Reviews, Training Journal
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Here is my brief (lame) attempt at a book review:

This book was written by Dr. Mike Israetel (author of The Renaissance Diet), Dr. James Hoffmann (Exercise Science Professor at Temple University) and Chad Wesley Smith (Top 10 Raw Powerlifter of All-Time). This book is a comprehensive look into the elements that go into strength training.

Here is a look at what is covered in the book:

  • Specificity
  • Overload
  • Fatigue Management
  • SRA
  • Variation
  • Phase Potentiation
  • Individual Differences
  • Various powerlifting periodization schemes and their strengths/weaknesses
  • Myths, Fallacies and Fads in Powerlifting

This book will help you understand how to plan for different phases of training (hypertrophy, strength, or peaking) through which specific exercises to use.  It tells you how to program overload training sessions as well as deload sessions that help with fatigue and SRA.  The book goes into detail with how variation can help you, especially with individual personal differences.

I wholly recommend this book for anyone interested in strength training.  I am personally using it to devise my own training.

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