NorthStrong's Training Log

[NorthStrong]

MEET WRITE UP

Some background: as you all probably know by now this has been a tough few months for me. I've been trying to balance work and school, work around/through a hip flexor "injury", and lost my uncle 3 weeks ago, and my grandmother the night before the meet. I felt kinda guilty going to compete still but there was nothing that I could do for her anyway, besides the fact I had no way to travel to that city.

However, I had a great group of guys / friends that I went with, and entered as a team with in hopes of winning a barbell (the team prize) which didn't happen. Not even close! Three of us traveled from our university city down to my house in my hometown which is a bit closer to the meet venue, so we wouldn't have to drive super far and get up super early the morning of. It was nice to have them over.

Day of the meet: Woke up at 6, showered, got ready, weighed in on my scale here at 206. We were on the road by 7, after stopping for some chocolate bars and beef jerky, etc. Got there with plenty of time to weigh in, and I weighed in at 209 - that sodium beef jerky bloat of peace. Was fine with this, didn't wanna cut or anything.

Chose my openers at 172.5 / 110 / 175

Warmups for squatting was hard, hip was not feeling good at all. I wish it felt better than it did but I just did my best with it. Was honestly not sure if I'd get my opener, but it was solid and so was the second. Shoulda had my third. The 2nd was a 6lb meet PR anyway.

Benching warmups were a bit of a crapshoot too, the warmup room was not running smoothly for any of the lifts but it could've been worse. Opener was strong, second went alright, and I really wanted 275 but I decided I'd go to 270 so I could finally get past my 265 barrier that I had been at since March.

Deadlifting went well, better than I thought. My friend and myself tied at exactly 500kg, I beat him on the squat and he benched more and pulled more than I did. He had more in the tank and I had a hard day. I decided I needed to get my head in the game for the last pull, so that's what I did. I couldn't do it at all the rest of the day so I decided to dedicate it to my grandmother and uncle who had just passed.

All in all it was a rough lead up to the meet, but the meet went as well as I could have asked given the circumstances. I learned a lot from it, and otherwise it was a good time with friends lifting stuff.

my uncle



my grandma



my lifts



(thanks psycho and kentisc)

[psychodiver9]

Mirin haircut

[martin_mathers]

Great job brah brah sorry for your loss again but way to make your uncle and grandmother proud!

Also i think theres this chick Chelsea or something who also competed yesterday. Shes fuucking hhnnnnnnnnnggggg

[DS0713]

Awesome. Absolutely awesome.
Great job, North. I'm sure they're real proud. I'm going through some **** now too and what you're going through makes my issues pale in comparison.

Rest and come back better than ever, buddy.

[CROMAGS1985]

Your Uncle looks pure East Coast...I love it.

Nice job at the meet.

[NorthStrong]

Mirin haircut

lol, ty bro.

Great job brah brah sorry for your loss again but way to make your uncle and grandmother proud!

Also i think theres this chick Chelsea or something who also competed yesterday. Shes fuucking hhnnnnnnnnnggggg

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Yeah Chelsea was competing there, she's a really nice gal. She messaged me this on FB, LOL.

Awesome. Absolutely awesome.
Great job, North. I'm sure they're real proud. I'm going through some **** now too and what you're going through makes my issues pale in comparison.

Rest and come back better than ever, buddy.

Thanks dude, all issues are issues and it's definitely important to deal with them emotionally as they come. Something I learned the hard way.

Your Uncle looks pure East Coast...I love it.

Nice job at the meet.

He was from Ontario originally, the Soo, but wound up here for the last year or so. Thanks a lot buddy.

[Jmadden44]

don't want to lol and look like a dick if it's true, is that a blind man spotting your pulls or just a damn good impersonator?

[NorthStrong]

don't want to lol and look like a dick if it's true, is that a blind man spotting your pulls or just a damn good impersonator?

LOL - no I don't think so. Talked to him earlier in the day and I believe there might be something slightly different with him mentally, but he's a really nice guy.

[martin_mathers]

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Yeah Chelsea was competing there, she's a really nice gal. She messaged me this on FB, LOL.

LOLOLOLOLOL shiit busted! i stumbled across her vids on IG when i was watching the amherst PL club stuff.
Also, did Rescindx sponsor the meet?

[NorthStrong]

LOLOLOLOLOL shiit busted! i stumbled across her vids on IG when i was watching the amherst PL club stuff.
Also, did Rescindx sponsor the meet?

Haha - and yeah, i think they did.

No IG crew

[martin_mathers]

Haha - and yeah, i think they did.

No IG crew

hmmm really. I thought the CPF has broken all ties with rescindx

[NorthStrong]

hmmm really. I thought the CPF has broken all ties with rescindx

Oh nah I think you might be right I just looked at the sponsors for the event and didn't see them, IDK what that company even is really lol.

Just assumed they sponsored it because there were a bunch of sponsors.

[FenderElectrics]

Sorry to hear about your Grandma and I can certainly empathize with you there as my Grandma died last week as well :/

Not fun times, props on putting together a solid meet still I know that probably wasn't easy

[Doollas]

Solid meet man. Sorry for your losses, not easy to deal with that stuff and put on a 8/9 pr performance like that.

Looked like you just went down a little slow and gave yourself no chance to take advantage of rebound on that third squat. Awesome benches, your leg drive was really good, but you seemed pretty flat. I bet you had/have 275 in ya. Those pulls were perfect.

[musclehead09]

Awesome meet dude. I'm so sorry for your losses. Keep your head up for sure and continue kicking ass in the gym. You're doing fantastic.

[JohnnyRingo350]

Way to show up despite everything man. Congrats on the total.

[NorthStrong]

Sorry to hear about your Grandma and I can certainly empathize with you there as my Grandma died last week as well :/

Not fun times, props on putting together a solid meet still I know that probably wasn't easy

Sorry to hear that Fender. Thanks dude.

Solid meet man. Sorry for your losses, not easy to deal with that stuff and put on a 8/9 pr performance like that.

Looked like you just went down a little slow and gave yourself no chance to take advantage of rebound on that third squat. Awesome benches, your leg drive was really good, but you seemed pretty flat. I bet you had/have 275 in ya. Those pulls were perfect.

Yeah the squat negaties lately have had to be slow to avoid killing my hip flexor any further. It's so weird though, I got way past the spot where I'd normally miss, I think I let my elbows come up and my chest collapse a bit.

Benches felt alright, definitely didnt get as much of an arch on this bench as the thinner training ones I used for whatever reason, something to work on. And yeah I think I had 275 as well I just wanted to get past the 265 barrier finally and build some confidence. Better to hit a 5lb PR and keep moving forward than miss a 10lb one.

Thanks coachbrah

Awesome meet dude. I'm so sorry for your losses. Keep your head up for sure and continue kicking ass in the gym. You're doing fantastic.

Thanks man, appreciate it.

Way to show up despite everything man. Congrats on the total.

Thanks bruh.

[NorthStrong]

Back in the Gym

Bench

225x7 PR

Feet Up Bench

135x10x5

these are impossible

Pushdowns

3x20

Flyes

3x20

3way Shoulder Raises

3x10

Curls

5x10

Pulldowns

5x10

Cable Row

3x15

Dips

10 @ bw
7 @ 1 plate pr
10 @ bw

Commentary

I'm a bodybuilda. Although this was just a fuk around and have fun day I got in a lot of work. My new programming will not be a whole lot different than this will be - tons of volume, going heavy (5RM) once every 3 weeks. Gonna get joocy and stronk. Road to 1200 begins next week. Might go lift on Friday for another session similar to this one.

[StayxCold]

How are you gonna layout your next training cycle, Norf?

[NorthStrong]

How are you gonna layout your next training cycle, Norf?

If there is interest - perhaps.

[CROMAGS1985]

If there is interest - perhaps.

Trying to decipher what this means...

If you're interested you'll do it yourself? Or if there's interest from someone else you'll consider them?

[psychodiver9]

Trying to decipher what this means...

If you're interested you'll do it yourself? Or if there's interest from someone else you'll consider them?

Glad I'm not only one must be canadianese

[NorthStrong]

LOL strong misread on my part.

Here is the jist of it.

Back to percentages a bit, a lot of submaximal training a lot of volume, and a lot of bodybuilding work.

Mon - Squat
Tue - Bench
Thu - Deadlift
Sat - Press

Doing it kinda cubed. aka one lift heavy a week one lighter and one a bit lighter than that.

For the off season, 4 cycles of 3 weeks, my main focus is on improving my 5RM aka BASE STRENGTH (Rippetoe et. al, 2005). So the main lifts are programmed like this.

10x5 @ 65%
5x5 @ 75%
5RM, amap at a given weight (315 sq dl, 185 bench)

So really light with a lot of volume.

week 1 - squat 10x5 bench 5x5 deadlift 5rm press 10x5
week 2 - squat 5x5 bench 5rm deadlift 10x5 press 5x5
week 3 - squat 5rm bench 10x5 deadlift 5x5 press 5rm

repeat

as meet gets closer I'll do a cycle with 3s and 2s which are similar but like this

10x3 @ 70%
3x5 @ 80%
3RM, amap at given weight (365, 225, 365)

then

10x2 @ 75%
2x5 @ 85%
2RM

That's the basic plan.

I have my goals for the next meet already which are

9 for 9
1200 total minimum
450 sq
300 bp
450 dl

So I figured out what rep PRs would give me those lifts, and they came out to be 385x5, 410x3, 425x3 for the lower lifts (DL might be a bit lighter since I suck at DL reps and can only pull decently at meets apparently..) and about 255x5, 270x3, 285x2. And I figure if i can achieve the 5RM pr, then I can probably easily achieve the 3 and 2RM prs, which will mean that my total is going to be up about 100lbs simply by training light and going hard on the rep PRs at the right time. That's the train of thought anyway.

So I will have four cycles of 5s, one cycle of 3s, and one cycle of 2s leading into the meet.

All the percentages are based off of 90% training maxes, (385, 245, 385) which will go up 10, 5lbs per cycle (shoutout jim wendler)

Also the amap sets at 315 and 185 will be another opportunity to set a PR to indicate strength increases.

I'll be doing some kind of secondary barbell lift every day, SLDL on squat day, feet up bench on bench and overhead press days, and front squats on deadlift days. These will be programmed so that i can get jacked, aka, in the boring but big type deal of 5x10 @ about 50-60%. Increasing the training maxes (275, 245, 265) again 10, 5lbs per 3wk cycle.

So that's roughly it. I miss training submaximally for a lot more volume and I find I do well when I really push the volume, workout density, assistance work type stuff. There will be a couple other changes pre meet such as reducing the assistance work, doing the comp lifts more, and then lowering the frequency for additional recovery.

Das it gents. Very excited to start it. Need a name for it though, otherwise it doesn't count.

[JohnnyRingo350]

LOL strong misread on my part.

Here is the jist of it.

Back to percentages a bit, a lot of submaximal training a lot of volume, and a lot of bodybuilding work.

Mon - Squat
Tue - Bench
Thu - Deadlift
Sat - Press

Doing it kinda cubed. aka one lift heavy a week one lighter and one a bit lighter than that.

For the off season, 4 cycles of 3 weeks, my main focus is on improving my 5RM aka BASE STRENGTH (Rippetoe et. al, 2005). So the main lifts are programmed like this.

10x5 @ 65%
5x5 @ 75%
5RM, amap at a given weight (315 sq dl, 185 bench)

So really light with a lot of volume.

week 1 - squat 10x5 bench 5x5 deadlift 5rm press 10x5
week 2 - squat 5x5 bench 5rm deadlift 10x5 press 5x5
week 3 - squat 5rm bench 10x5 deadlift 5x5 press 5rm

repeat

as meet gets closer I'll do a cycle with 3s and 2s which are similar but like this

10x3 @ 70%
3x5 @ 80%
3RM, amap at given weight (365, 225, 365)

then

10x2 @ 75%
2x5 @ 85%
2RM

That's the basic plan.

I have my goals for the next meet already which are

9 for 9
1200 total minimum
450 sq
300 bp
450 dl

So I figured out what rep PRs would give me those lifts, and they came out to be 385x5, 410x3, 425x3 for the lower lifts (DL might be a bit lighter since I suck at DL reps and can only pull decently at meets apparently..) and about 255x5, 270x3, 285x2. And I figure if i can achieve the 5RM pr, then I can probably easily achieve the 3 and 2RM prs, which will mean that my total is going to be up about 100lbs simply by training light and going hard on the rep PRs at the right time. That's the train of thought anyway.

So I will have four cycles of 5s, one cycle of 3s, and one cycle of 2s leading into the meet.

All the percentages are based off of 90% training maxes, (385, 245, 385) which will go up 10, 5lbs per cycle (shoutout jim wendler)

Also the amap sets at 315 and 185 will be another opportunity to set a PR to indicate strength increases.

I'll be doing some kind of secondary barbell lift every day, SLDL on squat day, feet up bench on bench and overhead press days, and front squats on deadlift days. These will be programmed so that i can get jacked, aka, in the boring but big type deal of 5x10 @ about 50-60%. Increasing the training maxes (275, 245, 265) again 10, 5lbs per 3wk cycle.

So that's roughly it. I miss training submaximally for a lot more volume and I find I do well when I really push the volume, workout density, assistance work type stuff. There will be a couple other changes pre meet such as reducing the assistance work, doing the comp lifts more, and then lowering the frequency for additional recovery.

Das it gents. Very excited to start it. Need a name for it though, otherwise it doesn't count.

Looks like a solid plan brew

[StayxCold]

looks good and well thought out. "Norfstronk Meffid" (NorthStrong Method for you slow folk)

[NorthStrong]

Might have to go with NorfStronk Meffid indeed...

Can't fkn wait for my 10x5 squats this Monday. Should be a good time. I really miss that kind of high volume sets across submaximal low rest type stuff.

[StayxCold]

Might have to go with NorfStronk Meffid indeed...

Can't fkn wait for my 10x5 squats this Monday. Should be a good time. I really miss that kind of high volume sets across submaximal low rest type stuff.

inb4 DOMS in the middle of training.
Happens everytime I deload for a contest/meet.

edit: I will settle for a 10% cut when you make your NorfStronk Meffid Ebook.

[NorthStrong]

inb4 DOMS in the middle of training.
Happens everytime I deload for a contest/meet.

edit: I will settle for a 10% cut when you make your NorfStronk Meffid Ebook.

sounds fair to me brah

10x5 <3

[NorthStrong]

Also one edit to the program on the Rep days.

Instead of 5x5 @ 75%, 3x5 @ 80, 2x5 @ 85, etc, it will now be

75% - 25 reps
80% - 20 reps
85% - 15 reps

An example of 75% rep day would be like this

8, 6, 5, 4, 2+ for last set

After you accomplish the 25th rep with the second rep in the last set you can still keep going until RPE 9-10.

Pretty much the goal with these days is to complete the work in as few sets as possible, or reduce the amount of reps needed in the last set to accomplish the goal.

So instead of 8, 6, 5, 4, 2+, it'd be "better" to go like 10, 7, 6, 2+.

Capeesh?

Drastic change I know...but allows for some more autoregulation and ability to set a PR in a weird way, and keeping things a bit more fun.

[psychodiver9]

Why would you think doing it that way is better? Ive literally never seen aprogram set up that way for main lifts