Washington State Represent!

[IzzyT]

My buddy Drake and Sam will also be sharing this log with me. Sam's last meet saw him post 1200@242. Drake just posted 1300@220 as a 16y/o. Beast. I'll let them explain more when they arrive.





Age: 22
Height: 5'6"
Weight: ~195lbs
Body Fat: 20-25% (aka fat)
Training History: ~18 months

Last Meet:


BW: 196.0lbs(89.1)
Squat: 418/440x/440x or 190/200x/200x
Bench: 242/253x/253x or 110/115x/115x
Deadlift: 396/440/463(PR) 180/200/210
Total: 1124lbs or 510



Next Meet:
UPA Fed, June 8th @ Local's in Lynnwood (my everyday gym)

Goals:
1) Improve Total
2) Improve Wilks

Current Plans:
Undecided both in terms of what weight class I'll be competing in and what type of programming I'll use. Likely, I'll compete in 198 and use the conjugate method.

Other:
Even though they're utterly meaningless, my best gym lifts are 445x5@242 squat, 225x11 and 275x1 tng bench at 220, and 395x5 conventional deadlift at @198.



Feel free to ask any questions.

[BombDonald]

Subbed.

Not too bad at the meet, just gotta work on some technique issues. I think your squat stance and bench grip are a little wide, and your deadlift stance a tad too narrow. Might be worth playing around a bit.

[DDon1996]

Arrived at 10am, scheduled to lift at 3:30ish. I woke up @ 207 or so, so I ate and drank all day.

Squat warmups:

135 x 5
235 x 5
300 x 3
345 x 1 belted
375 x 1 belted

All felt easy as hell. I was worried about depth because my buddies were saying I was perfect... Which in my mind is too high.

Opened @ 425. Was pretty slow out of the hole, but I got it.
2nd @ 452. Was a VERY good squat, although way deep- like the first one. They kept saying my knees weren't locked so I couldn't get the damn start command.
3rd @ 474. Holy ****. This is nearly a 70 pound meet PR and a 30 pound PR ever. It was slower, but it wasn't a grinder by any means.

I was fired up by this time. I was ready to kill it! There were only 8 people in the flight before me so I didn't have a ton of time between lifts, but that wasn't gunna stop me!

Bench warmups:

95 x 5
155 x 5
200 x 3
225 x 1
245 x 1 wraps

Opened @ 286. I ****ed up bad. I, for some god damn reason, looked at the bar when I benched, so I hit my sweet spot on my chest and the bar just sliiiiid up to my neck before I got the press command. This sucked.
2nd @ 303. I benched properly this time, so I got it, but it was tough. I was mentally hurt a little bit by the first attempt.
3rd @ 325. I knew this was a stretch, but I wanted to beat the American Record so I went all or nothing. I got nothing.

Deadlift warmups:

135 x 5
275 x 5
345 x 2
395 x 1 Belt
445 x 1 Belt

Opened @ 496. It was pretty easy tbqh.
2nd @ 523. It was tough and I stuck at lockout... like always. Oh well
3rd @ 545. I just didn't have it in me. I was tired.

All in all I was pretty happy with the meet. I had wanted 1350 but I told myself I'd be happy with 1300. I don't feel like my misses were my fault, I just feel like they weren't there. Now it's time to cut!

Here's my buddy Tom who lifted earlier in the day:




And here's the log he just started in the PL log sections, feel free to check it out:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=152128293

[IzzyT]

Subbed.

Not too bad at the meet, just gotta work on some technique issues. I think your squat stance and bench grip are a little wide, and your deadlift stance a tad too narrow. Might be worth playing around a bit.

Thanks.

The squat/bench were pretty disappointing. I squatted 405x5 in training at a lighter weight and also benched 250x3 paused. I've experimented endlessly with grips/stances. For my next training cycle, I'll definitely be narrowing the squat for training purposes. As far as the bench, IDK. I think the wide grip works better when I don't have to have my feet flat. I can arch more and use more leg drive. With the USAPL rule set and the exaggerated pauses, it just doesn't work as well. We'll see though. I've been training with Justin Randal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLX9K8mgfbU) and he wants to change a bunch of things with my technique/programming. So we'll see.

[BothellBarbell]

This is my meet video from last May.



Here are my best gym maxes. This was a year ago



Background:
I had been training seriously for about 6-8 months before those maxes and my meet. My training consisted of some serious GOMAD and SS style progression. I played around with different routine variations of SS, Madcows, Bill Starr's, 531 etc. In those 8 months my bodyweight went from 190-240.

I decided that I was too hefty after my meet and felt pretty unhealthy. I shifted my training focus towards cutting/conditioning and bodybuilding. I have lost roughly 40 lbs since then and I've been sitting around 200lbs for the past 2 months. I have really just been focusing on steadily increasing my conditioning levels by time and intensity. The heavy bag is my favorite form of exercise by far, and I love incorporating it into my workouts. I usually spend about 45 minutes to an hour doing boxing style workouts every time I'm in the gym.

My best gym lifts all time are:
Squat: 355x12
Bench: 245x10
Deadlift: 325x14 (ties my PR at 477)
Press: 145x11

My most recent lifts are:
Squat: 315x11
Bench: 205x12
Deadlift: 315x11 (a month ago)
Press: 135x8
Clean: 225x4

My ability to operate around 70% of my max is still decent however I cannot do much at 85-95% as I haven't trained in that range for months. I am stuck in some indecision about my training direction going forward. Wanting to get down to 15% bf, have awesome conditioning and potentially start training at a boxing gym, while still wanting the strength and power I once had, makes for some weak goal setting haha.

After watching Izzy and Drake yesterday at the meet I was inspired as fuuu and will definitely be training for the meet in June at Local's gym. That's where my first meet was so it should be a great way to compete again. I am doing some self evaluation right now and looking for a logical plan to drop another 10-15 lbs over the next couple months, to then start focusing on powerlifting again and increase strength without getting fat like I was last year.

I want to operate at 15% long term because I hate feeling overweight and sacrificing my appearance and health just to get stronger. I love boxing, powerlifting, and just being in the gym in general. I love pushing myself mentally every single workout. I don't have any plans to be the next Floyd Mayweather or the next Stan Efferding, but I do plan on doing what I love for the rest of my life which is all of these things.

If anyone has any advice on training direction or potential routines/plans feel free to give it.

EDIT - Here's my most recent squat video

[BothellBarbell]

2/25/2013
Chest

Morning Weight: 199.6

Top Sets
Bench: 205x10x3 felt strong today. Last rep on last set was a 3-4 second grinder haha. Next week is 215x8x3
DB Decline: 80's x 10, 90s x 8 These were fun haha never tried them before. Kinda bored with incline DB
Paused CGBP: 135x10, 155x8
DB Pullovers: 65x10, 75x10

Boxing
15 minute warmup
30 minutes Heavy Bag: Non stop...Best day I've ever had on the bag by far. Some occasional 30 second lulls in my intensity but I went ham the entire time.

[DDon1996]

Since I like to log life stuff as well- I just got my ACT results back and hit a 35. Pretty happy with dat dere tbqh.

[BothellBarbell]

Since I like to log life stuff as well- I just got my ACT results back and hit a 35. Pretty happy with dat dere tbqh.

Hell yeah man. Are you going to or have you taken the SAT?

[IzzyT]

Good work drizzy drake

[BothellBarbell]

2/26/2013
Deadlift

Morning Weight: 200

Top Sets
Deadlift:
285x10@8
285x8@9 Haven't deadlifted in over a month and wasn't feeling it today. Stopped after 8 on set 2. Fatigue set in and my setup was deteriorating so didn't want to push it. Probably not the best start to my new program but oh well.
Chins: 3x8 controlled descent, fast ascent.
DB Rows from floor: up to 100x12 speedy
Cable curls: 42.5x12x4

Walking intervals/hills: 45 minutes

I'm starting Ed Coan's peaking program this week to peak for the meet on June 8th. I haven't done much with the assistance he recommends. I added an additional week at 2x8 in order to fit the actual weeks until the meet. For those who are interested I've attached a spreadsheet with my progressions on each lift. I will proceed as it's written there and if some regulation down the line is necessary then I'll change it. Seems already that I may have overestimated my deadlift max at 425 but we'll see after another week or two since I haven't done deads in so long.

[IzzyT]

2/26/13

Thick Bar + Fat Grip Press:
135x3x2
155x0
135x3

Random crap for blood flow

Notes:
Shouldn't have gone to the gym today. Felt like a zombie. Was incapable of summoning energy and my joints all felt like ****. I missed that press about an inch from lockout. Not because it was hard, but because I just kind of gave up on it. I wasn't supposed to do anything hard today but I underestimated how far one can fall after a meet.

Wow I felt like ****. Don't really care though. I should be back to normal relatively soon.



Important Stuff:
Gonna get as lean as possible for the meet. Not gaining weight after all.

Doing Westside. Justin's gonna do it. He told me that I'll never know what I'm doing that day before I get there. lol. That's gonna drive me ****ing crazy but I trust him.

[DDon1996]

Hell yeah man. Are you going to or have you taken the SAT?

I'm going to.

Good work drizzy drake

tymen.

2/26/2013
Deadlift

Morning Weight: 200

Top Sets
Deadlift:
285x10@8
285x8@9 Haven't deadlifted in over a month and wasn't feeling it today. Stopped after 8 on set 2. Fatigue set in and my setup was deteriorating so didn't want to push it. Probably not the best start to my new program but oh well.
Chins: 3x8 controlled descent, fast ascent.
DB Rows from floor: up to 100x12 speedy
Cable curls: 42.5x12x4

Walking intervals/hills: 45 minutes

I'm starting Ed Coan's peaking program this week to peak for the meet on June 8th. I haven't done much with the assistance he recommends. I added an additional week at 2x8 in order to fit the actual weeks until the meet. For those who are interested I've attached a spreadsheet with my progressions on each lift. I will proceed as it's written there and if some regulation down the line is necessary then I'll change it. Seems already that I may have overestimated my deadlift max at 425 but we'll see after another week or two since I haven't done deads in so long.

It'll come back fast.

2/26/13

Thick Bar + Fat Grip Press:
135x3x2
155x0
135x3

Random crap for blood flow

Notes:
Shouldn't have gone to the gym today. Felt like a zombie. Was incapable of summoning energy and my joints all felt like ****. I missed that press about an inch from lockout. Not because it was hard, but because I just kind of gave up on it. I wasn't supposed to do anything hard today but I underestimated how far one can fall after a meet.

Wow I felt like ****. Don't really care though. I should be back to normal relatively soon.



Important Stuff:
Gonna get as lean as possible for the meet. Not gaining weight after all.

Doing Westside. Justin's gonna do it. He told me that I'll never know what I'm doing that day before I get there. lol. That's gonna drive me ****ing crazy but I trust him.

l0l I felt like a zombie too. Slept 9 hours and took a 2 hour nap and could barely function at work. Can't wait until I feel human again.


Some cool stuff:

Her 1.5 month progress:



I see huge improvements, she doesn't see anything. Oh well. Her lifts have gone from:

115/65/120 to 155/95/200.

My END of bulking pictures:



I see hyooge changes coming with this cut and training change. I am excite. Weighing like 210.

[BothellBarbell]

Looking good Drake. What are you planning to cut to? What will your training look like?

[DDon1996]

Looking good Drake. What are you planning to cut to? What will your training look like?

Notsureifsrs, but if srs, tymen. I don't have numbers in mind for cutting, I just plan to cut. I honestly don't think I'll drop a ton of weight, but who knows. I'll be doing PHAT. It'll be the first time ever doing a "bodybuilding type" program, and because of that, I feel like the first few months won't see a huge weight loss- but much more of a recomp due to the noob muscle gains I plan on getting. We'll see.

[BothellBarbell]

Notsureifsrs, but if srs, tymen. I don't have numbers in mind for cutting, I just plan to cut. I honestly don't think I'll drop a ton of weight, but who knows. I'll be doing PHAT. It'll be the first time ever doing a "bodybuilding type" program, and because of that, I feel like the first few months won't see a huge weight loss- but much more of a recomp due to the noob muscle gains I plan on getting. We'll see.

As someone who was once pretty bulked, yeah u look solid and primed for cutting gainz. Going to wait a while until your next meet?

[DDon1996]

tymen. And yes.

Me:
T-Bar: 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90 for 3.
Rack Chin: BW for 12. BW, BW for 10
Seated Cable Rows: 105, 117.7, 137.5 for 12
Incline PB Row:40, 40 for 15
GG NG Pulldown: 97.5, 90 for 20
Preacher: 45, 55, 50 for 12
Concentration Curls: 20 for 8. 10 for 15.
Incline Spider Curls: 10, 10 for 20.

da. fookin. poomp.

Her:
T-Bar: 45, 45, 25, 25, 25, 25 for 3
Rack Chin: BW, BW, BW for 12
Seated Cable Row:57.5, 57.5, 57.5 for 12
Incline PB Row: 10, 15 for 15
GG NG Pulldown: 30, 30 for 12
Preacher: 25, 30, 30 for 12
Concentration Curls: 10 for 12. 10 for 10
Incline Spider Curls: 2.5 for 20. 5 for 20.

[BothellBarbell]

2/28/2013
Press

Morning Weight: 200

Top Sets
Press: 115x10x2@8 Both sets were cake. Had 3-4 left in the tank on both.
DB Press: up to 65s x 8
Raises: 15x15x3 15 lateral & 15 front raises each set
Face Pulls: 70x15x3
Pushdowns: 50x15x3

Boxing
Heavy Bag: 45 Minutes - Different drills and burnouts throughout. Only took 4, 1 minute rests.

Today was a solid workout and I got a ridiculous pump in my shoulders which doesn't happen very often. Endurance has been on point lately. Happy that press was so easy which sets me up well going forward. Tomorrow is squats 285x10x2 which should be easy also. Going for the fastest bar speed possible

[IzzyT]

2/28/13

Sumo:
135x5
225x3
315x2@7
365x7.5@10

Dimel Deadlifts (Conventional) vs Quadruped Minis:
95x15@7
95x15@7
95x15@8



Notes:
I didn't know that 365 was going to be my top set. That is also why I don't have video of the set. I went into it expecting to do a single then Justin just told me to keep going. I lost the 8th one an inch away from lockout because I lost my balance and fell forward. I guess I should be pleased considering that I felt like **** all day at work, my back was killing me, and this was really soon after pulling a PR.

Working with Duffin was awesome. He was super helpful and I was BLASTING weights off the ground. Like I said, I missed at the top. Using his set-up method is WORLD's better than what I was doing. I swear, you take hundreds of pounds of tension off before you even lift the bar. It is crazy. He told me he can't even pull correctly with less than 500 because the bar will just pop off the floor when he is winding it up. Awesome.

Apparently, hips are my weakness so that's a lot of what I'll be working on for the next bit. That is why I had to do Dimels.

I felt soo good after this workout. I wanted to do more, but this is only 4 days after the meet so I guess it was smart to call it here. Can't wait to get back in there ASAP!

Big things are coming. I promise.

[DDon1996]

Flat DB bench: 70 for 6 sets of 3

Incline BB bench: 165 x 12, 155 x 11, 155 x 12

The pump was legitimately so bad at this time I could hardly continue.

Hammer Strength Chest Press (weight per side) : 45 x 15, 55 x 15, 55 x 15

I got up and ran around in between sets to divert blood flow. Mother of god.

Pec Dec: 47.5 x 10, 32.5 x 20

Seated DB Press: 40 x 12, 40 x 12, 40 x 8

Felt like I was supporting the dumbbells with wet noodles.

Upright Row: 50 x 15, 50 x 15

Probably my favorite shoulder exercise ever.

Cable lateral raise: 17.5 x 12, 10 x 15

Waste of time. I was just flailing my arm it was so numb.

Cable Overhead Tri Extensions: 50 x 12, 70 x 12, 70 x 12

These were pretty cool. Never done them before.

Rope Pushdowns: 70 x 15, 57.5 x 15

Da burn.

Cable Kickbacks: 10 x 20, 10 x 20

Holy mother of long head pamp.

[BothellBarbell]

3/1/2013
Squat

Morning Weight: 197
w0t. Didn't eat as much as I should of last night and it showed during my workout. Felt drained and bar speed suffered but I'll take the bodyweight PR! Haven't been this light since 8/1/2011

Top Sets
Squat:
285x10@7
285x10@8 This video is from my first set and second set felt a little slower. Overall just wasn't in the groove today. Please offer some critique my dudes.



SL Leg Ext: 50, 60, 70 for 12 Gold's got a chit ton of new equipment today which included single leg extensions and curls. Awesome timing Gold's as I just added them to my routine.
SL Leg Curl: 60, 70, 80 for 12
Calf Raises: 90, 140, 180 for 12

Cardio
Heavy Bag: 20 Minutes eh. wanted to leave

[IzzyT]

Instead of getting super tight and uncomfortable, you're relaxing so you can hit a bigger bounce in the hole. Leads to excessive depth etc.

Overall, that's kind of how you've always squatted. I didn't really see anything wrong with it unless you wanna change your entire style.

[DDon1996]

Leg Days of peace ITT:

Paused deadlifts:

6 sets of 275 x 3. I started with a deficit but ****thatl0l.jpeg

Hack Squat:

130 x 12
110 x 12
110 x 12

Dat quad pamp.

Leg Press:

200 x 15
400 x 15

Leg Extensions:

78 x 13
66 x 20

Really like how these hit my internus.

RDL:

185 x 12
225 x 12
275 x 12

****ing awesome. Strapped up and these were sweet.

Standing Leg Curl:

30 x 15
40 x 15

Felt good after the RDLs.

Seated Leg Curls:

115 x 20
115 x 20

Could barely move.

Hoist Calf Raises:

138 x 15
172 x 15
206 x 15
240 x 15

Oh. My. Lawdy. Lawd. Ain't nobody got time fo' dis. Calf pamp was so intense.

Cable Crunches:

57.5 x 12
70 x 12
77.5 x 12

Ye. Good finish.


SOTD:

[BothellBarbell]

imwillingtochangemystyle.jpeg

My depth didn't seem too excessive today but I could definitely be tighter. Suggestions of peace? Bombdonalds squat form is kickass. Mine used to look somewhat similar if you look at my max day video last year but I can't seem to replicate it anymore.

[IzzyT]

For a powerlifting meet, anything more than 1" below parallel is excessively deep. You're consistently ~3" or so below parallel. My suggestion would be to slow your descent, force your knees out, and get uncomfortably tight. You may need to widen your stance a tiny bit, but that isn't a critical factor here. One thing I'm working on fixing myself is actually forcing the hips into external rotation when I squat. Can't rely on the hips locking up to stop you from going too deep because then you get knee cave, lots of forward knee travel, etc.

TL;DR, get as tight as humanly possible and don't drop through the bottom.



3/2/13

Benching Quickly:
120x3x8 against minis

~60 Degree Incline Bench:
30sx12
40sx12
45sx12
55sx12
60sx9

Banded Face Pulls:
20x5

Banded Tricep Pushdowns:
8-12x3 + burnout set



Notes:
I haven't weighed myself all week because I've forced myself to take a diet break. I'm getting fat. I've already moved back up a hole on my belt. When I weigh in on Monday, I fully expect 205+. For everyone that thought I only got up to 250 because I drank a lot of milk, no. I can eat with the fatties no problem. I have the soul of the fat man embedded deep within. For those keeping score at home, that is just about 10lbs of weight gain in one week. And I'm not even purposely trying to gain weight.

DE bench is kind of gay but if it works, it works. All that matters is how much you bench on meet day. It does not matter what you bench on a meaningless Saturday morning in March. Repeat this to yourself 100 times.

I had no idea how much I could actually do on any of the assistance stuff because I never do assistance. I was told to train like a bodybuilder. So, I took that to mean short rest periods, elongated time under tension, and high sets/reps. That's what I did.

Looking forward to next week. I can't wait to squat for once. I never knew that I would miss squats. Normally, I don't give a **** about squats because they are my best lift and anything that is easy I generally don't give a **** about. No challenge? No care. However, after getting only 418 at the meet, I'm pretty eager to show that I can squat 50lbs+ more than that.

Anyways, I'm rambling. Time to continue getting really fat for two more days before I get back on a diet.

No videos because who cares? Actually, I just forgot to take them. What's the difference? I sound way cooler pretending it was one purpose anyways.

[BothellBarbell]

You must elaborate on forcing the hips into external rotation. One does not have a clue how to begin. I will tighten up like crazy. I am changing my schedule this week to Monday squats so I get a chance to change pretty quickly haha. check out my sig.

[IzzyT]

Push knees out. Keep them there.

[DDon1996]

208.0 even this morning. Already getting compliments

[BothellBarbell]

208.0 even this morning. Already getting compliments

Haha 200.0 even this morning. No compliments

[DDon1996]

Haha 200.0 even this morning. No compliments

forever a sw0le.

Cooked up 4lbs of meat today. Rationed it all out into 7 meals complete with rice/couscous/beans/etc. I'm gon' be eatin' gooooood as fook.

Shoutout to Chrissy for helping.

[DDon1996]

Cutting? What is this *******ry?

I need dem abs.

In on this. Always love to see your food pics.

Also good progress on the GF imo.

Awww shieett! Food pics coming tonight brudduh mayne!

Ty I think she's doing good. Showed her how to log but she won't do it so oh well.


T-bar:

90 x 3
160 x 5
180 x 5
180 x 5

So soar.

Pullups:

BW x 10
BW x 10

I got fat. Pullups are hard as **** now.

Rack Chins:

BW x 10
BW x 10

These felt way better because I put a bench under my feet this time instead of from the floor.

DB Bench:

65 x 3
90 x 5
90 x 5
110 x 6

Holy ****. Haven't done this is so long, no idea how the 110's went up. Felt sick.

Dips:

45 x 10
45 x 8

Wow. This is a pride shot. I don't know if it's not having dips in so long or what... But my PR was 100 for 11.... Wow. Need to fix this. Now.

Seated DB Press:

45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 6

WAYYY better than Thursday. Way better. Felt sweet.

EZ bar Curls SS w/ Skull Crushers:

EZ: 70 x 10
SC: 70 x 10
EZ: 70 x 10
SC: 70 x 10
EZ: 70 x 10
SC: 70 x 10

Felt a little off in my elbow on the skullcrushers. Didn't feel great on the EZ curls as it limits supination heavily. Oh well.



Pretty happy with this workout. I definitely like the hypertrophy days way more though. LOWER POWER TOMORROW!

Oh, and I didn't post this in this log- but I got a 35 on my ACT a couple days ago... Pretty stoked with that.


SOTD:






FOOD PICS TONIGHT OR TOMORROW MORNING. PROMISE <3