The Diary of Moochie Jenkins

[MoochieJenkins]

I've been working out like a powerlifter for the past 9 months now. Although I've been working out for about 15ish years, I didn't start squatting and deadlifting until about 9 months ago.

I've spent the past year bulking up from 215 to 260 at first mostly to start putting muscle back on but after a few months it was for powerlifting and to move more weight.
I'll be cutting slowly now and I'm looking to compete @220 in the USAPL.

Short term goal: Hitting 1600 @any_weight before 2014
Longterm: 1750+ @220

Current Maxes as of 6/17/2013:
Squat: 550lbs
Bench: 350lbs
Deadlift: 550lbs
Total: 1450lbs

I'm going to try very hard to record all my workouts.
I'm always looking for tips and pointers!

[MoochieJenkins]

I've mostly been running different Sheiko routines. I love the volume but I used a 600lb 12" TnG box squat as my max squat and it made my training cycle from last month really hard.
I've since dropped the weight on my max squat to 550lbs and I'm running #32

I didn't record Day 1 of week 1 but I did record day 3, the mock meet. I missed recording the bench on this day(This won't happen often) also skipped some of warm up squats and deadlifts.

6/12/13 Workout Sheiko #32 Week 1 Day 3



Work was as follows:

Squat: 275lbs 3x1
Squat: 330lbs 3x2
Squat: 385lbs 2x2
Squat: 440lbs 2x1
Squat: 495lbs 1x1
Squat: 550lbs 1x1
Squat: 570lbs FAIL

Bench: 165lbs 3x1
Bench: 198lbs 3x1
Bench: 230lbs 2x2
Bench: 265lbs 2x1
Bench: 315lbs 1x1
Bench: 330lbs 1x1
Bench: 350lbs 1x1

Deadlift: 275lbs 3x1
Deadlift: 315lbs 2x1
Deadlift: 405lbs 2x2
Deadlift: 445lbs 1x1
Deadlift: 495lbs 1x1
Deadlift: 545lbs 1x1
Deadlift: 565lbs FAIL

[MoochieJenkins]

Missed some of the lifts due a full memory card, I've picked up another one.

6/14/13 Work Sheiko #32 Week 1 day 5



Squat: 275lbs 3x1
Squat: 330lbs 3x2
Squat: 385lbs 3x2
Squat: 415lbs 2x4

Bench: 185lbs 3x1
Bench: 225lbs 4x2
Bench: 245lbs 3x6 (last set recorded)

Dumbbell Fly: 25lbs 10x5
Good Mornings: 185lbs 5x5
Abs: 10 x 5

[copiusGains]

My parents say moochie instead of coochie

[MoochieJenkins]

A few recording issues again. The new card I bought wasn't a class 10 like I though so I had problems capturing HD video, so this one is in 480p. I've since picked up two 16gb class 10 cards. The battery also died on my camera during the bench, I'm now thinking of buying and adapter. Because of the camera issues and setting everything up I didn't get to do my second round of squats because I was already 1am when I was wrapping up benching. Hopefully I'll have the camera workflow down soon.


I was feeling fat and slow that day and I'm beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with me being fat and slow.

6/17/13 Work Sheiko #32 Week 2, day 1



Squats:
275lbs 3x1
335lbs 3x3
385lbs 3x2
440lbs 2x4 (missed my 2nd unbelted set due to forgetting to press record)

Bench:
165lbs 3x1
198lbs 3x1
230lbs 3x2
275lbs 3x5 (missed the last 3 sets due to a dead battery)

Squat:
Didn't do the second round due to time constraints

[KillerB84]

Nice log, subscribed!

[MoochieJenkins]

Deadlifts and Benches today. The first round of deadlifts were "up to knees". Pulling that short of a distance feels awkward to me. To my understanding, pulling up to your knees is to help with explosiveness/breaking the ground. So with that in mind I've substituted pulling up to my knees with pulling off of two plates with bands, my regular deadlifts in the second session were done off of one plate.

No video issues today, so I was finally able to capture a full workout.

The bands that I use are from EliteFTS, Pro short bands, mini (red), monster mini (black) and light (Orange).

Sheiko #32 Week 2, Day 3:



2 Plate Deficit Deadlifts:

275lbs 3x1 Red, Black, Orange
335lbs 2x2 Black, Orange
365lbs 4x1 Red, Black, Orange, Black (I either edited wrong or did an extra rep.)
385lbs 3x1 Red, Black, Orange (No lift on the orange)

Bench:

165lbs 3x1
195lbs 3x1
235lbs 3x2
265lbs 3x2
280lbs 2x3

1 Plate Deficit Deadlifts:

275lbs 3x1
335lbs 3x1
385lbs 3x2
445lbs 3x4

I was gassed on my last two sets of deadlifts as you can tell.

[MoochieJenkins]

Nice log, subscribed!

Thanks a lot, I plan on heading back up there to do a few meets with friends sometime this Winter, when I do I'll get in touch.

[MoochieJenkins]

Solid workout on Friday. Heading into week 3 I'm typically thinking about a deload already, this time around not so much. I think I made a good decision to bump down my training maxes.
I have a Doctor's appointment on Friday and I wont be able to sweat or workout for 48-72 hours after, because of this my typical Mon, Wed, Fri workout will be Sun, Tues, Thurs.

My Dumbbell Flies and Good Mornings were super sets.

Sheiko Week 2, Day 5:


Bench:
165lbs 3x1
205lbs 3x1
235lbs 3x2
265lbs 3x5

Squat:
275lbs 3x1
335lbs 3x2
385lbs 3x2
445lbs 3x6 (Last 3 sets of 445 were belted)

Bench:
165lbs 4x1
205lbs 4x1
235lbs 4x4

Dumbbell Fly:
30lbs 10x5

Good Mornings:
225lbs 5x5

[MoochieJenkins]

I had some things pop-up over the weekend so my plan to lift Sun, Tues, Thurs, has now become Mon(workout posted here), Wed, Thurs. I'll be able to lift again on Monday.

I felt ok today, I went off the reservation a bit. With the squats I wanted to hit a beltless double at 500lbs for my last set instead of 445lbs. After the first rep, I racked it and put on the belt... so it turned into two singles. I was still pleased seeing how this was at the end of a squat workout. Without the belt 500lbs was pretty tough, with it... pretty easy. I also did 3 sets of Oly squats @135lbs, 185lbs and 225lbs then into my planned warm up sets.

I did the same with the bench, I was upset that I didn't get my 350lbs paused bench on video so I did a TnG, bro spotted 355lbs at the end of my bench session. 315lbs, 335 and 355 weren't planned lifts. The rest was part of my programming.
My programming also had me doing 280lbs for 3 sets of singles, I did a triple for 1 set instead.



Squats:
Non-programmed:
135lbs 4x1
168lbs 3x1
225lbs 3x1
Programmed:
275lbs 3x1
330lbs 3x1
385lbs 3x2
445lbs 2x4(5)
Non-programmed:
500lbs 1x2 (Unbelted/Belted)


Bench:
Programmed:
165lbs 3x1
205lbs 3x1
235lbs 3x2
265lbs 2x3
280lbs 3x1 (1x3, programmed)
Non-programmed:
315lbs 1x1
335lbs 1x1
355lbs 1x1(TnG, Bro-spotted)

[MoochieJenkins]

Yesterday was a so-so day, I didn't feel as explosive as I would have liked to on deadlifts, I also switched out my last set of 415lbs for 505lbs, that last set felt ok. It is the first time I've attempted to pull 500+ for more than 1 rep, I've known I could do it just never have. I think I could have hit 5 or 6 if I wanted.

My bench had my top set at 265lbs I went 275lbs instead. Next training cycle I'm going to run my bench at 365 and keep the squat and deadlift maxes.

6/26/2013


Sheiko #32, Week 3, Day 3:


I'll enter the programming later, you can watch for now.

[MoochieJenkins]

Sheiko #32 Week 4, Day 1:

[MoochieJenkins]

Sheiko #32 Week 4, Day 2: (End Cycle)

[MoochieJenkins]

This is my PR/Testing day after a 1.5 week deload after running Sheiko #32

Squats:
500lbs
550lbs
590lbs (PR)
605lbs (miss/dump)

Bench:
315lbs
350lbs
365lbs (tng,PR)

Deadlift:
500lbs
570lbs (beltless/PR)
605lbs (failed/belt/beltless)

PR day:

[MoochieJenkins]

So this is the 1 year mark of me starting to train for powerlifting. I started roughly a week before my birthday and told myself I wanted to squat 600lbs within 1 year, I've come up 10 pounds short but I did miss a month due to injury.

I think I've come a long way from squatting for the first few times in a smith, then last July my gym picked up a squat rack. I started out with 18" box squats going to the gym 7 days a week and squatting each day, I had no idea what programming was, still kind of don't.
I worked up to 700lbs 18" box squats for triples, I though wow, my goal has been met until someone told me I wasn't anywhere deep enough to consider those squats. The past 8-9 months or so I've been focused on depth and the past 4-6 months I've really been sticking to various programs, mostly Sheiko and making the most of my rest days. I re-evaluate form all the time and try to find way to get extra pounds onto the bar without having to get stronger.

It looks like there are two USAPL meets left this year in Florida, October and December. I will be at both but I'm really looking at December as the meet I'm prepping for.

The start of this year my numbers were:
Squat: never attempted.
Bench: 280(tng)
Deadlift: never attempted.

Current Maxes:
Squat: 590lbs
Bench 350lbs paused 365lbs (tng)
Deadlift 570lbs without a belt

My biggest gains have come from form adjustments. I'm just now starting to think that programming is playing a role in my strength gains as of late. I'll also note that since I've been making the most of rest days I've seen large jumps in strength each month and outside of proper form I feel this has been the most important factor in me getting stronger.

My Goals for the December meet:
Squat: 625-650lbs
Bench: 400-410lbs paused
Deadlift: 625-650lbs

Wish me luck!

[MoochieJenkins]

I'm currently running the Smolov base mesocycle for squat and Smolov Jr. for bench, this means squatting and benching 4 days/week.

Current Max for squat and bench pre Smolov:
Squat: 590lbs
Bench: 350lbs paused, 365lbs tng

I have my training max for squats set to 530lbs 10% below my 1RM and I have Jr. set to my TnG max of 365lbs.

Week 1, Day 1 of Smolov:


Squats:
375lbs 9x4

Bench:
260lbs 6x6

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 1, Day 3 of Smolov:


Squat:
405lbs 7x5

Bench:
275lbs 5x7

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 1, Day 5 of Smolov


Squat:
425lbs 5x7

Bench:
295lbs 4x8

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 1, Day 6 of Smolov:


Squat:
455lbs 3x10

Bench:
315lbs 3x10

This was actually the easiest day for me. The 2nd day of the week was the hardest, the first two days of the first week were by far harder for me personally than the last 2.

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 2, Day 1 of Smolov:


Squat:
395lbs 9x4

Bench:
265lbs 6x6

[MoochieJenkins]

2nd week in, of 3 weeks. I knew this on the first week but the high rep days (for me they're high rep) of Monday and Wednesday are killer. Wednesday is the worst, just enough weight to be heavy and just enough reps to get super tired. At the end of the sets on these two days my belt is like a python constricting the air out of me, the deeper I breath the harder it is on the next rep to get air into my diaphragm and lungs. The last two reps I feel as if I'm gasping really hard but not getting any air into me, it's crazy. The Friday and Saturday I found pretty easy, we'll see if I still feel that way on Sunday.


Week 2, Day 3 of Smolov:


Squat:
420lbs 7x5

Bench:
280lbs 5x7

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 2, Day 5 of Smolov:


Squat:
445lbs 5x7

Bench:
300lbs 4x8

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 2, Day 6 of Smolov:


Squat:
475lbs 3x10

Bench:
320lbs 3x10

Mental fatigue started playing a big role this week. I had a miss on this day, not a dump... I came up with the weight but fell back a bit and had to take a step or two to regain balance and then rack the weight.

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 3, Day 1 of Smolov:


Squat:
405lbs 9x4

Bench:
265lbs 6x6

I stated before that the high rep days were getting to me and the low rep days were almost too easy, now it's the opposite. At this point I'm starting to feel confident that I'm going to make it though this 3 week cycle.

I think I a mental mistake today as well, if I'm not mistaken I forgot a rep on one of my sets so I went back and did it beltless, this happened again next session.

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 3, Day 3 of Smolov:


Squat:
430lbs 7x5

Bench:
285lbs 5x7

Once again, mental mistake. The first two sets of squats I did were 5's instead of 7's. At the time only noticed it on the 2nd set, I went back and did two singles beltless but I didn't do them for the first set of 5's I did. The reaming sets were 7's.
That aside, I got though the sets pretty quick that night and I felt pretty good.

I think I'll try to make up for it by tying to do a set of 500lbs on the last day, we'll see how I'm feeling.

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 3, Day 5 of Smolov:


Squat:
455lbs 5x7

Bench:
305lbs 4x8

This day felt pretty easy, I recovered fast between reps. I think my muscular endurance has increased a great deal. My whole life my muscles have had large volume but they tired out unusually fast. I can say this is the first time in my life where I've felt like I have respectable muscular endurance. This squat cycle, bench as well has done a great job at pushing me hard without completely breaking me.

[MoochieJenkins]

Week 3, Day 6 of Smolov: (End Cycle)


Squat:
485lbs 3x10

Bench:
325lbs 3x10(missed the last damn rep)


I survived! This was 12 really tough workouts, though the squats got easier with time. The benching always felt heavy to me regardless if it was a 6x6 day or 3x10. I did notice I recover between sets better on the bench than on squats but from workout to workout my legs had more spring than my chest.

I'll do a full write up with my start and finish body measurements, some stats with commentary and opinion on the training cycle. I think it's only appropriate to test my max first.