Heavy Hammer Gym

I have meet a great colleague in the sport of powerlifting by the name of Cory “Swede” Burns, founder of Keyhole Barbell and the 2016 Powerlifting Watch Coach of the Year.  He wrote two great books on his training methodology called “5th Set for Powerlifting: Methodology for Training and Competition” and “5th Set: Evolutions” (a supplemental guide/sequel to the first one).  I have decided to give his templates a shot after regaining some base strength doing 5-3-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENDED: September 2018

I have gone back to Wendler’s 5-3-1 for now.  I have lost about 40 lbs (Keto) and my strength has gone way down (about 15-20 lbs down from max).  I am going to use the 5-3-1 method to build that base back up before switching back to Renaissance Periodization.

ENDED: January 2018

Update:I am still using the Renaissance Periodization templates. Last meet prep went very well and got me some PRs on the platform. I have continued on with that program. I have taken about 10 weeks focusing on just bench press using Mark Bell’s 30 day bench cycle to up my bench a bit. It went from 352 lbs in November 2016 to 375 lbs in December 2016. Hopefully it will go a bit high in January 2017. I will then proceed to do 10 weeks of Hypertrophy, 10 weeks of strength, and 4 weeks of peaking to prepare me for a meet in July.

I am currently using the Powerlifting templates provided by Renaissance Periodization.  My last cycle of training worked well using some of the principles I learned from the book by Dr. Mike Israetel and Chad Wesley Smith.  My wife bought me the set of 3 templates from RP: Hypertrophy, Strength, and Peaking.  I am finishing up the 2nd week of my 2nd cycle of Hypertrophy.  I have noticed an increase in size (and actually a bit of strength as well.) I will keep you updated with how that is going.

ENDED: June 2016

I am currently using my own personalized training program based on the book Scientific Principles of Strength Training by Mike Israetel, James Hoffmann, and Chad Wesley Smith.  It involves 3 phases of training, Hypertrophy, Strength, and Peaking.  I will still focus on the main lifts, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, and squat, with some accessory movements included.  UPDATE: I have planned out my training cycles for the next23-24 weeks.  I am in a Hypertrophy Block now and will continue it for the next 10 weeks or so.  I will then switch to a Strength Block for around 8-10 weeks.  My last phase will be a Peaking Block for 4-5 weeks right before my next meet.

ENDED: July 21, 2015

I am currently doing the Jim Wendler 5-3-1 Prgram.  This is a template that involves the Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press, and Squat.  I will post app screen shots of my workouts in the Training Journal.

ENDED: Feb. 2015

I am currently doing the Cube Method for Strongmen 2.0. This is the training method originally written for powerlifting by Brandon Lilly and adapted for strongmen by Josh Thigpen. Check out my Training Journal for a better look at what the Cube Method is.