BombDonald's Powerlifting Log

[mstatefan91]

Glad to see you back at it Bomb. Do we get any shirtless videos this time around? I miss those

[BombDonald]

Glad to see you back at it Bomb. Do we get any shirtless videos this time around? I miss those

I rarely even record my sets now, but maybe I'll record some here and there. Most of it is boring work in the 8-10 rep range unless I'm close to a meet. Watching Jesse Norris train has majorly changed the way I think about training.

All my videos on youtube are unlisted now. I'm a cafe manager at Lifetime Fitness and a bunch of the kids last summer found my videos and I'm trying to maintain more of a professional image. I just never got around to making the non-offensive videos public again.

[mstatefan91]

I rarely even record my sets now, but maybe I'll record some here and there. Most of it is boring work in the 8-10 rep range unless I'm close to a meet. Watching Jesse Norris train has majorly changed the way I think about training.

All my videos on youtube are unlisted now. I'm a cafe manager at Lifetime Fitness and a bunch of the kids last summer found my videos and I'm trying to maintain more of a professional image. I just never got around to making the non-offensive videos public again.

I'm doing a lot of higher rep range work now too. It has helped me tremendously over the past couple of months.

About youtube, just make vids of lifting (if you want to). Doesn't have to be edgy or anything.

[BombDonald]

3/1/16
Ring Dips/Chin-ups
+20x10x5

I realized today that I haven't done any squats for 10 reps in 6 weeks. My legs are not moving correctly today, otherwise I would have done some work with my log. Deads and log presses tomorrow. Gotta do some work with my stone sometime soon as well.

[MatTheCur]

Welcome back to the fold, BD. Been a minute!

Also, I agree with P. Maybe make a second channel for your less savory stuff?

[BombDonald]

3/2/16
Deadlift (8" blocks)
495x10x3
Log Clean & Jerk
160x10x5

Starting to get pressure again at work to go through the whole Lifetime Fitness Alpha competition series again. People keep asking me how training is going for the Alpha events and they give me blank stares when I tell them I might not even do them this year so I can focus on being bigger and stronger for powerlifting and strongman. I won both the local and regional events last year and took 5th at the national event.

The main things that hold me back from being a true force in these events are my snatch and clean & jerk. I'm strong enough at other things that when any kind of dumbbell lift, deadlift event, carrying event, etc comes up I can do them no problem, but snatches and cleans elude me.

I think heavy crossfit style training mixed in with some kind of cardio like jump roping, running or concept2 work along with regular strength work might actually make me better at strongman, so I guess it's something to consider.

My biggest fear is getting small again like I did last summer, but I think I could approach my training/diet much differently and possibly even get bigger doing it if I do it right. There is actual money and large prize packages involved with these competitions, and I was so close last year to getting top 3 and taking home some $$$.

Welcome back to the fold, BD. Been a minute!

Also, I agree with P. Maybe make a second channel for your less savory stuff?

I'm going to make a hybrid channel that's a combination of Vegain Gains, Alpha Destiny, and Jason Genova. It's gonna be piss.

[martin_mathers]

Fuk that mane just get big as **** and strong as ****

[BombDonald]

3/3/16
Jump Rope
20 minutes

Then I practiced some headstands and handstands for a little bit.

Fuk that mane just get big as **** and strong as ****

Anything I do is still going to have a hypertrophy component to it. I for sure need to add some more cardio into my training as I'm actually starting to notice the lack of it. My training will still be focused on training for strongman as I'm interested in doing NAS Nationals in June, I'm just going to add in a bit more conditioning and work on my snatch/CJ a little more. I won the local and regional Alpha events last year with almost no conditioning, so I should be golden as long as I'm hitting the jump rope a few times per week. It's not like I plan on going full crossfit a la Rich Froning. I have no intention of hitting random metcons 5x/day lol.

[Juggernaut0]

Glad to have you back man. Hope all is well and that you're here to stay.

[BombDonald]

3/4/16
Snatch
135x ~50ish
Clean Pull
275x3x5
Bench Press
315x10
315x8

Wanted to do front squats before clean pulls, but my hip was hating me. For whatever reason it doesn't hurt while snatching deep though. I'm going to be utilizing clean pulls frequently as I feel it has carryover to both my clean and strongman training in general.

PM
Ring Dips/Chins
BWTx 12x5

That's at least what I plan on doing later LOL.

Glad to have you back man. Hope all is well and that you're here to stay.

Thanks man. I plan on being here for a while now, gotta fill this log up and get it closed at some point!

[BombDonald]

3/5/16
A TON of random stuff
Viking Press
Stones
Shrugs
Log Press (missed 280)
Conditioning (sledgehammer, battle ropes, tire flips)
Triceps

Lifted with a buddy at Los Campeones in St Paul. That gym is incredible.


3/6/16
off


3/7/16
Front Squat
365x1 - my hip almost exploded
Bench Press
315x10
Snatch
a bunch with 135-155
Clean Pulls
315x3x5

Gonna try to start snatching at least a little bit everyday. 315 seems a bit aggressive on clean pulls right now, I should probably focus on actual cleans to get the movement back again.


3/8/16
Deadlift (8" blocks)
675x1
725x0
405x20
*stupid, I got talked into deadlifting instead of doing something productive with my workout
*got home, decided I wasn't done
Snatch
95x a bunch
Log Clean & Jerk
160x10x5
Cossack Squats
95x10x5



I need to stop deadlifting hard for the time being if I want to bring up my weightlifting. I'm still going to be doing a ton of back intensive exercises along with leg exercises, so I don't expect to lose much.

[BombDonald]

3/9/16
Jump Rope
20 minutes
Ring Dips/Chins
+20x10x5

Calves are dead. Was going to do stone loads and do ring dips and chins after work, but I'm not sure I want to workout twice today.

[LadyLore420]

Hello again! Been a year, lil more. Why does your hip hate you so bad?

[BombDonald]

Hello again! Been a year, lil more. Why does your hip hate you so bad?

Oh hello!

My hip was nagging me during prep for the last powerlifting meet, but I decided to be aggressive with my 5RM workout 5 days out from the meet and my abductor tore trying to hit 545x5. I managed 2 and my hip gave out on the 3rd rep. Really wanted to take a run at 611 if everything went perfectly in training and on meet day (606 is the Minnesota record for USAPL right now), but just bit off more than I could chew. Did as much rehab work before the meet as I could and still arrogantly opened with a painful 529, then instead of calling it a day I tried 562 and failed. I can't squat anything more than about 225 right now without pain lol.

I was good for 584 at a meet 5 weeks prior (but played it safe with 573 for competition purposes), so it's not like it was an absolutely unreasonable goal.

[BombDonald]

3/10/16
Snatch
135x30ish
Clean
135x20ish
225x10ish
185x15ish
Snatch
135x30ish

Snatch is hit or miss lately. I'm trying to do a better job making contact between my hips and the bar. 225 is an ego thing on cleans....I'm not there right now....I have to go lighter...

[BombDonald]

3/11/16

AM
Jump Rope
20 minutes

I think I'm gonna start trying to do this every morning, or at least on training days.

PM
Paused Front Squat
225x1x10-15ish
Log C&J
160x10x5
Stone Load
AMRAP in 5 minutes of 180 lb stone to 52", 31 reps, used a small amount of tacky on my wrists and hands

Felt like crap today so I didn't do as much as I was planning. Hip actually felt good on front squats, so that's a good sign.

[BombDonald]

3/12/16

Drove 2.5 hours each way to judge the Wisconsin State High School Powerlifting meet for about 11 hours. Did a bunch of hand gripper reps in the car and a bunch of tricep push-downs between the two sessions.

[BombDonald]

3/13/16

AM
Jump Rope
20 minutes

Literally the worst jump rope workout of my life. My legs felt like they were each 200 lbs. Once I'm proficient at jump roping I can go for 20 minutes maybe tripping 2-3 times, I bet I tripped 300 times.

PM
Squat
365x10x3
Bench Press
275x10x5
Overhead Press
135x10x3

Everything felt really good. Surprisingly, the toughest part of the workout was the OHP. My shoulders suck and I need to fix that for my log press, which I typically use a lot of leg drive for. On max attempts it's always my shoulders that are the weak link.

[BombDonald]

3/15/16

Block Pull (4")
455x10x3
Shrugs
405x10x5
Ring Dips/Chin-ups
+20x10x5

Decided 8" was too high of blocks to train regularly, so I dropped to 4". Initially was going to still try and use 495 for 10x3, but I'm glad I didn't. I was gassed with 455. The greater ROM is much more taxing and likely will have better carryover to my competition pull. My hamstrings definitely got a lot more work with the lower blocks.

[MatTheCur]

The weight you pull is just ... yeah. Jeebus.

D'you do any aux ham work, or is it all through your main training?

[BombDonald]

3/16/16

Log Clean & Jerk
160x10x5

Farmer's Walk
190sx 20 yards x 10

Though I was going to lose some skin for sure on the last few trips. My hamstrings and traps are destroyed from yesterday, but I was able to move after getting warmed up. No lifting tomorrow. Jump rope and maybe some battle rope for conditioning.

The weight you pull is just ... yeah. Jeebus.

D'you do any aux ham work, or is it all through your main training?

I get bored to death by even the thought of exercises like leg curls, so everything I get is through main training. This is also why my hamstrings are relatively weak since I rarely do stuff like RDLs or stiff leg deads too. The block pulls seem like a great compromise for me as I can still go heavy, and they take my quads out for the most part. My entire posterior chain needs some serious work if I ever want to hit a 705+ competition deadlift or be nationally competitive in strongman.

[BombDonald]

3/17/16

Jump Rope
20 minutes

Actually was able to get huffing and puffing today without tripping every 5 seconds. Improvement! Also stretched a lot and rolled my back out for a while. My middle/upper back and hamstrings were absolutely demolished from the past few days.


3/18/16

AM

Clean
225x5x10

This sucked, I'm definitely not in shape to do this kind of crap right now.


PM

Bench Press
365x1
385x1
405x3 (slingshot)

Ring Dips/Chin-ups
+20x10x5

Saw a couple top "Alpha" guys come into Lifetime the other day and it fired me up. I'm gonna figure out how to balance everything and take a run at both Alpha Nationals and USS (not NAS like I was saying before for whatever reason) Nationals this year.

I need to maintain an extremely high calorie diet as to not lose mass or strength as well as attacking weaknesses on a regular basis. I also need to stay within cutting distance of 181 if I want to do USS Nationals though. Not sure if I can go up a class to 198 if I qualified as a 181. I almost died making it down to 181 for the last contest, so it could be very hard mentally to force myself down again.

[BombDonald]

3/19/16

Log Clean & Jerk
210x10

10 rounds for time:
Log Clean & Viper - 160x5
Stone Load (52") 180x3
*21:10

Double Overhand Axle Deadlift/holds
200x a bunch


Intitally was going to use 210x5 for the AMRAP and 5 reps on the stone, but got to 5 reps on the 1st set and realized how insane that was going to be, so I proceeded to 10 reps and dropped down to 160x5 and did viper presses instead. Paced myself too much early on, I could destroy that time if I did it again soon. It would be more brutal if I did something like 5 rounds of 10/10, maybe I'll try that instead

Also was going to do 200x50 for time on the axle deads, but my back is gone.

[BombDonald]

3/21/16

Front Squat
365x1
405x0 - fuk
315x1x10ish (long paused)

Close Grip Bench Press
315x5
275x10

DB Bench Press
75x10
110x13?

DB Clean & Jerk
110x10 (5 each hand)

Hang Snatch
95x5x10

Weird day.

[BombDonald]

3/22/16

Front Squat
365x1.5

Hang Clean
185x5x10

Battle Ropes
30 seconds w/30 second rest x 10

Not all the cleans were from a hang, my hands were starting to hurt really bad. I feel like I did something else when I got home, but I don't remember at this point!


3/23/16

Ring Dips/Chins
+20x10x5

Bodyweight Tricep Extensions (10)
+0x10x5

Needed an easy pump day. I'm feeling oddly worn out.


3/24/16

Totally off, as I knew the next two days would be rough.


3/25/16

Snatch
155x 20 total reps (missed a few)

Clean
245x 20 total reps (missed 1 rep for no reason)

Ring Dips/Chins
+20x10x5

I like this format for snatches and cleans, but I need to make sure I do lighter work as well. One lighter day and one heavier day seems to work for me. Definitely not consistent enough with 155 on snatches to go up in weight, but could easily bump to 255 next time for cleans if I want to push it a little more.


3/26/16

Log Clean & Viper Press
160x5x10

Stone
245x a bunch of stuff

Log work was super speedy, almost too easy. The stone was impossible as I was doing it outside during light rain. Managed one awesome rep over a 50" bar before the stone got wet and full of sand. Spent another 30ish minutes lapping the stone and setting it back down, was able to squat it up a few times depending on how I was able to grab the stone and how wet it was. My back is going to be sore as hell tomorrow.

[BombDonald]

3/27/16

Hang Snatch
95x5x10

High Block Clean
155x5x10


Seems like a lot, but when you factor in the 30-60 second rest periods and the easter egg hunt between the two lifts, it went really fast. Practicing catching the cleans between reps, but the cleans especially are beating my hands up too much. Pulling from high blocks keeps the lift quite explosive while allowing me to briefly reset my grip between reps. The first 4 sets were from a hang but my hands were hating me.

[BombDonald]

3/28/16

Bench Press
335x6
365x3

Clean
245x 20 total reps
*hit 5 reps of a push jerk on the last set

Front Squat
365x1
405x0


Working at a different Lifetime Fitness all week, so what's the first thing you do to show people what's up? You bench, obviously. Not sure where the strength to hit those sets came from considering I haven't been benching regularly again. Cleans went really well, didn't miss any or even come close to missing one. I tried to power clean some of them, but I really struggle with them once the weight gets above 200. Probably why my snatch sucks so much too, so power cleans are definitely something to improve on.

[BombDonald]

3/29/16

AM

Ring Dips/Chins
20x10x5

Bodyweight Tricep Extensions
20x10x3


Might start incorporating heavier ring dips and chins soon.


PM

Log Clean & Jerk
250x1 + 1 clean + fuk this

Log Clean & Viper
160x10x3


Wanted to take 250 for an AMRAP and be done, but I knew it wasn't going to end well so I declined to attempt the 2nd jerk.

[BombDonald]

3/30/16

Front Squat
a bunch of warm-ups
365x1

Kettlebell Clean & Jerk
80s x5x10

DB Clean & Jerk
110x10 (5 each arm, alternating)


Mehness. My shoulder is acting up a bit from the large amount of pressing and overhead work recently, but I'm gonna try to stretch things out tonight and see how it feels tomorrow. Definitely have to work on my racked position a bit more for front squatting and cleans, as my right side is super tight. I need around 185-225 before it's even heavy enough to force my hand down to my shoulder with a full grip.

[BombDonald]

3/31/16

Bench Press
335x6
365x2

Snatch
155x 20 total reps

Clean & Jerk
225x1 + 4 jerks
255x1
275x1
295x missed jerk


Had no spotter and I was slightly nervous about going for a 3rd rep on bench. Snatches went alright, I'm figuring out I need to keep the bar a little further away from my shins at the start to stay more upright. When I hit my cues, 155 feels almost like an empty bar. When I miss my cues, I fail miserably. Wasn't planning on going heavy on cleans or possibly even doing cleans for that matter, but warm-ups felt good and I had a bit of an audience so I went for it. 295 ties my PR clean (lol) but I got way out of position during the recovery and it sapped my energy for the jerk. My jerks are terrible push jerk looking things anyways so I already have that against me. I should probably learn how to squat jerk or split jerk at some point.