Getting Strong Again, Lochinvar's Journal

[lochinvar76]

what numbers for each lift, roughly? just curious. what are your current maxes?

i'm excited to watch you smash that total come november!

My last mock meet a few months ago, my lifts came out to 1190.

Squat - 410
Bench - 315
Deadlift - 465

I am hoping to hit at least 430 squat, 325 bench and 505 deadlift in November. I would feel confident pushing for more but I'm in a deep cut right now and I'll have to recover some strength as I build up the cube leading into the meet.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Im going to have to add a few of those agile 8 to my furious 5 creating the nefarious 9. Without T-spine roll/stretch im lost.

With you on the gun show, after achieving extremely dyel natty status later this year getting my arms to 16" without fatceps is going to be a priority.

Thisw front squats on the 16th were magnificent as were the heavy sldl

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 2
Tuesday - Bench Press

Warm Up
Agile 8
Bench Press - 45 x 100

Bench Press
95 x 5
140 x 4
190 x 3
230 x 2
275 x 1

Barbell Bench Press
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8

Behind-the-Neck Overhead Press
65 x 15
65 x 15
65 x 15
65 x 15

Face-Pulls
75 x 25
75 x 25
75 x 25
75 x 25

Front Plate Raise
25 x 20
25 x 20
25 x 20
25 x 20
25 x 20

Notes:
While I'm in this Base Building phase I am looking at it as a time to really focus on tightening form and dialing it in. I'm being very mindful of my bench set up and working had to get it so that I am doing the exact same thing every time I get under the bar. One of the things that will happen to me when I go above 3 reps is that I lose tightness and one shoulder will slip out further over the edge of the bench and I begin to press unevenly. I'm really working on grinding my pinched traps down onto the bench and getting a complete pause at the bottom, focusing on not letting that tightness slip away.

Accessory work as light and high rep shoulder cuff exercises. Still working very hard on getting my shoulders healthy to support moving up in weight. A lot of stamina work for now to get ready to really push things when I go back into the Cube first week of September.

Speaking of the Cube, I found this today: http://blackironbeast.com/cube/calculator and it is going to make planning out my next cycle so much easier. I had been spending hours going through and putting it all together in Excel with a calculator. Now I can just punch stuff in and get rolling. This makes me happy.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: I was purposefully single between the ages of 20 through 23. I wanted to have freedom to do what I wanted unbidden. When I met my wife I had already sown my wild oats and was ready to settle down without a regret.

Im going to have to add a few of those agile 8 to my furious 5 creating the nefarious 9. Without T-spine roll/stretch im lost.

With you on the gun show, after achieving extremely dyel natty status later this year getting my arms to 16" without fatceps is going to be a priority.

Thisw front squats on the 16th were magnificent as were the heavy sldl

Nefarious 9. Love it! I'm actually worried about arm size when I cut down quite a bit. Actually, I'm very worried I'll be undermuscled everywhere when I cut down closer to 210. I'll have to get there first to find out though

Thanks, front squats + sldl are such a great combination to work together. I've actually front squatted 315 not long ago, just to see if I could. Really wish I had video taped it. Maybe I'll do it again just for the fun of it.

[RT1957]

so....are you alternating sessions with cube and base building???...solid benching day....5 X 8 at 225.....yup nice....

[lochinvar76]

so....are you alternating sessions with cube and base building???...solid benching day....5 X 8 at 225.....yup nice....

Nope. Base Building straight until first week in September. Thanks, the benching felt pretty darn solid too me. I have to confess that benching confuses me in that I can lift off 225 and the bar feels as heavy as 275. It's not until I start pressing off the chest that I can feel the difference lol

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 2
Wednesday - Front Squat

Warm Up
Agile 8
Goblet Squats - 40 lbs x 3 sets x 12 reps

Front Squats
95 x 5
135 x 4
160 x 3
200 x 2
240 x 1
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

Stiff-Leg Deadlift
315 x 8
315 x 8
315 x 8

Bodyweight Lunges
6 minutes (194 lunges total)

Notes:
I am waffling back and for between bumping my squats up 5 lbs next week. I'm dropping my daily caloric intake from 2600 to 2450 though, so I'm worried that the little dip and upping weight may not work to well. I'll probably try working with 190 and then if the energy isn't there, go back to 185. We shall see. All in all, good workout though the SLDL's were really the grinder for me today. Was feeling a little twinge in my right glute due to a knot I can't seem to break up there. Tonight I shall sit on my lacrosse ball of doom and break that muther of a knot up.

Lunges sucked. A lot.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: I'm an outgoing introvert. I prefer to spend time alone but if you do manage to drag me out of the house, I'm dancing on tables till the sun comes up.

[geek23ka]

I'm the same loch. I love to wear a party hat, but if left to my own devices, I just stay at home and read/watch movies. And with kids? Forget it. I am always home.

I am really happy you and John are working towards meets! I love seeing how you guys are doing it. Same with kaleida and 80's. I love reading their journals.

Almost 200 lunges in 6 minutes? You earned your dinner!

[lochinvar76]

I'm the same loch. I love to wear a party hat, but if left to my own devices, I just stay at home and read/watch movies. And with kids? Forget it. I am always home.

I am really happy you and John are working towards meets! I love seeing how you guys are doing it. Same with kaleida and 80's. I love reading their journals.

Almost 200 lunges in 6 minutes? You earned your dinner!

I bet you'd go wild a comic con

I actually read Kaleida's and 80's journals. I'm a huge lurker when it comes to the journal sections. I like to find journals filled with good stuff I can learn from and those two journals are great for it. I don't post because, to be honest, I have nothing to offer as they are far more technically advanced at this than I am lol

I've actually set my long term goals beyond just this next meet. Goal 1: Compete in the 220 weight class. Goal 2: Pull an elite total in 2017. I just need to add about 300 lbs to my total over the next three years... doable if I don't get injured and I stick to the training protocols, I think.

[geek23ka]

totally do'able and i am aiming for pretty much the same thing. i might remain in the 198+, but likely i will get down to the 198 class and i want an elite total within three years. WOOT! we can be powerlifting buddies!

[lochinvar76]

totally do'able and i am aiming for pretty much the same thing. i might remain in the 198+, but likely i will get down to the 198 class and i want an elite total within three years. WOOT! we can be powerlifting buddies!

[Scrabbz]

That's a pretty large amount of work, sir. Huge numbers, very impressive and inspiring. Could you explain the base building to me a bit? I'm sure it's already been discussed but I am a bit confused about the whole thing actually. Here or a PM will work.

[geek23ka]

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 2
Thursday - Shoulders

Warm-Up
Agile 8
Arm Circles - 30 seconds each arm, both directions

Overhead Press
65 x 5
105 x 4
125 x 3
140 x 2
165 x 1
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 13

Dumbbell Floor Press
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10

Close-Grip Bench Press
185 x 8
185 x 8
185 x 8

Notes: All of my OHP reps felt clean and crisp leading up to the last set. Shoulders were feeling good so I did an AMRAP. Got 13. I have spent the past few weeks doing the high rep warm ups for bench as well as shoulder cuff work combined with trigger point release via lacrosse ball and it's making a huge difference. For accessory work I did dumbbell floor presses. These felt good and easy. Close grip bench press was done with a pause at the bottom and a focus on acceleration to the top.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: My first kiss was when I was 11 at a YMCA run summer camp.

[doughnutgut]

125 X 13. Wowzwers Loch.

Oh and the guy on the smithy in my vid had me thinking of you for some reason today.

[Flounderbout]

I like to find journals filled with good stuff I can learn from and those two journals are great for it. I don't post because, to be honest, I have nothing to offer as they are far more technically advanced at this than I am lol

Snap. Back to lurking for obvious reasons...

[mirroroferised]

Base Building: Week 2
Thursday - Shoulders

Warm-Up
Agile 8
Arm Circles - 30 seconds each arm, both directions

Overhead Press
65 x 5
105 x 4
125 x 3
140 x 2
165 x 1
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 13

Dumbbell Floor Press
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10
80 x 10

Close-Grip Bench Press
185 x 8
185 x 8
185 x 8

Notes: All of my OHP reps felt clean and crisp leading up to the last set. Shoulders were feeling good so I did an AMRAP. Got 13. I have spent the past few weeks doing the high rep warm ups for bench as well as shoulder cuff work combined with trigger point release via lacrosse ball and it's making a huge difference. For accessory work I did dumbbell floor presses. These felt good and easy. Close grip bench press was done with a pause at the bottom and a focus on acceleration to the top.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: My first kiss was when I was 11 at a YMCA run summer camp.

Holy f at that 13 reps. Strong pressing man.

[lochinvar76]

125 X 13. Wowzwers Loch.

Oh and the guy on the smithy in my vid had me thinking of you for some reason today.

I've been guilty of shrugging on the Smith Machine...

Snap. Back to lurking for obvious reasons...

It's funny, but no matter where I go into the Journal sections... you are there, somewhere. I bow to you, the Lurker King!

Holy f at that 13 reps. Strong pressing man.

Thanks. Felt good. Now to get that with 135.... soooooon.

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 2
Friday - Back

Warm-Up
Agile 8
Shoulder Rehab Work

Pendlay Rows
185 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 10

Lat Pulldowns
230 x 12
230 x 12
230 x 12

Bicep Curls
45 x 37
45 x 28
45 x 21
45 x 14

Tricep Pushdowns
75 x 100

Notes:
I'll be honest, I kind of sandbagged it today. Bad sleep and a major knot in my mid back kind of made me not even want to hit the gym. Bicep curls are getting a little easier but still sucking. It may take me a few years to get to a single set of 100 at this point... Rows were done standard Pendlay style. Dead stop and exploded up. I could have done more weight but, as I said, back knots were killing me. I was out of the gym in about 35 minutes from walking in.

Random Lochinvar Fact: I think Weird Al's latest album, Mandatory Fun, is his best album ever.

[Scrabbz]

You punched the clock though even when you weren't feeling it. You put in the work. That is more than most would do. Good work, sir.

[RT1957]

2 solid wo's....13 @ 125....after all that volume leading up to it ...wow....Then 185 for 4 sets of 10 and lat pulldowns for sets of 12 at 230....and you think you're doggin......great work....not everyday feels the same but I really like EK's signature right now...."What if everyday was beautiful and you just didn't notice"....sorry about the knot in the back....foam roll... ...but you know that

Lot's of press about Weird Als' new album....

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 3
Monday - Squats and Deads

Warm-Up
Agile 8
Squats to Stand - 50 reps

Barbell Squat
135 x 5
225 x 4
260 x 3
290 x 1
330 x 1
245 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5

Barbell Deadlift
360 x 3
360 x 3
360 x 3
360 x 3
360 x 3

Notes: Good workout today. Did a refeed meal last night so that definitely gave me juice coming into today's lifts. Squats were done quick with as little rest between sets as I could muster. Was getting good acceleration throughout the concentric and really feeling in the groove. I adjusted my stance a bit and let the bar rest down lower on my back, making sure to keep as tight as possible, and the tightness in my lower back wasn't any issue at all. I was letting the bar rest too high lately which was causing some extra forward lean I think. Going to really have to make sure I get the bar placement correct with each set.

Deadlifts were good. I held each rep a second or two at the top before lowering to the ground and resetting each rep. On the last rep of each set I held for five seconds. I'm trying to really work on building better grip strength. Last cube cycle I was able to pull 500 lbs from 4" blocks for a set of 3 and could have done more sets if not for a failure in my grip. I don't want it to fail when I start working even heavier on a regular basis.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: Instead of a fact I'm just going to put an image here of the two women who rule my life. My beautiful wife and daughter.

You punched the clock though even when you weren't feeling it. You put in the work. That is more than most would do. Good work, sir.

Thanks, Gary. Sometimes just getting in and getting the prescribed reps, even if you don't feel up to it, is a giant win. I counted it as one last Friday.

2 solid wo's....13 @ 125....after all that volume leading up to it ...wow....Then 185 for 4 sets of 10 and lat pulldowns for sets of 12 at 230....and you think you're doggin......great work....not everyday feels the same but I really like EK's signature right now...."What if everyday was beautiful and you just didn't notice"....sorry about the knot in the back....foam roll... ...but you know that

Lot's of press about Weird Als' new album....

I foam rolled like a maniac over the weekend. Did four contrast showers and then talked my daughter into walking on my back. She's only 10 but her feet certainly did the job! Feeling better now. I do like that quote in EK's sig line as well. It's something so easy to forget.

[mirroroferised]

Nice squats and deads and excellent work on those poundstone curls the other day. I was just thinking the other day I'm gonig to be going for 100 straight reps all year with that 35 lb bar.

Beautiful family man, congrats. Now about that weird al album..that's a pretty bold statement. He had some gems back in the day. We were watching a couple of his new vids on youtube the other day with our kids lol We then went and watched some classics as well memory lane Some of those older albums would be tough to beat but I haven't listened to the new one yet. Guess I'll have to now

[doughnutgut]

Warm smiles heat up the coldest of hearts Loch.



2 absolute diamonds there.

[lochinvar76]

Base Building: Week 3
[color=blue]Tuesday - Bench Press

Warm-Up
Agile 8
Barbell Bench Press - 45 x 100

Barbell Bench Press
135 x 5
185 x 4
220 x 3
245 x 2
275 x 1
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8
225 x 8

Behind the Neck Press
75 x 15
75 x 15
75 x 15
75 x 15

Rear-Delt Row
150 x 15
150 x 15
150 x 15

Front Plate Raise
25 x 25
25 x 25
25 x 25
25 x 25

Workout Notes:
Today was a very good bench day. I was able to get so tight that if you pushed my leg my entire body would move on the bench, which is just how things should be. With all of the form talk going on in DNG's journal it made me think about my own personal cues a lot more and I really focused on them. I'm also thinking I should do a video of my set-up so that interested parties can see.

All reps felt solid and were done with a pause on the chest. I focused on squeezing my shoulder blades together on the control descent and make sure to keep my entire body tensed while paused on the chest. The press felt effortless for the first few sets. Unfortunately keeping yourself so tense comes at a cost and I was nice and tired come the third set. Still focused on keeping tight and things went will but not nearly as pretty as the first few sets.

After that it was onto my shoulder cuff work. Rear Delt Rows done standing at the lat pull machine is by far my favorite rear delt exercise. I feel it the most as long as I really focus on keeping the contractions tight, the movement controlled and my elbows up. Otherwise I begin to use more trap in the movement, a shortcoming of this movement and facepulls. Beyond that it was high rep behind the neck presses and front raises to build stamina in the shoulders.

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: I have graduated from the foam roller. I know use a thick PVC pipe for all my rolling needs.

Nice squats and deads and excellent work on those poundstone curls the other day. I was just thinking the other day I'm gonig to be going for 100 straight reps all year with that 35 lb bar.

Beautiful family man, congrats. Now about that weird al album..that's a pretty bold statement. He had some gems back in the day. We were watching a couple of his new vids on youtube the other day with our kids lol We then went and watched some classics as well memory lane Some of those older albums would be tough to beat but I haven't listened to the new one yet. Guess I'll have to now

See, Weird Al has had a lot of albums with amazing songs. I just feel that this album has a much higher concentration of awesome songs. If I go back and put Running with Scissors on, I'll skip around and play four songs over and over. Mandatory Fun... I will listen to the entire thing straight through and just love it. This is why I am making such a bold claim and by gosh, I'm standing by it!

I'm with you. I'm going to be chasing that 100 rep set for a long, long time.

Warm smiles heat up the coldest of hearts Loch.



2 absolute diamonds there.

Thanks! They're the reason I started dieting and exercising in the first place. I wanted more years with them.

[raynerd]

Goodstuff in here man! Joining your journey if you will have me lol

[SlothBane]

Random Lochinvar Fact of the Day: I have graduated from the foam roller. I know use a thick PVC pipe for all my rolling needs.

I did the same thing with my Lacrosse ball massager, but traded it in for a spiked mace.




More solid work going on in here "Base Building" style. Keep at it!

[Jtbny]

Great pic above. I too am surrounded by girls (2 daughters) and I keep getting threatened with a girl dog

I get the same issues with bench when staying tight the entire time. It takes a toll on ya but if the goal is a meet just know you only need to do it for 3 singles

Love the workouts and how it cycles week to week. I've read up on the cube and played around with the numbers on blackironbeast beast. Interesting program.

[lochinvar76]

Goodstuff in here man! Joining your journey if you will have me lol

Welcome aboard! I have been lurking your journal as well, so you know!

I did the same thing with my Lacrosse ball massager, but traded it in for a spiked mace.




More solid work going on in here "Base Building" style. Keep at it!

I bet you can really get in there and work the trigger points with that sucker!

Great pic above. I too am surrounded by girls (2 daughters) and I keep getting threatened with a girl dog

I get the same issues with bench when staying tight the entire time. It takes a toll on ya but if the goal is a meet just know you only need to do it for 3 singles

Love the workouts and how it cycles week to week. I've read up on the cube and played around with the numbers on blackironbeast beast. Interesting program.

I have a friend who has 4 daughters. When they got a dog, it was a girl too. Every now and then you'll see a ******** post from him that simply says, "The estrogen is thick in the air. Can't breath..." or some such. We have all girl dogs but thankfully I've go my boy, who is just about to turn 7, to even things out. The little guy is a monkey.

[doughnutgut]

Workout Notes:
Today was a very good bench day. I was able to get so tight that if you pushed my leg my entire body would move on the bench, which is just how things should be. With all of the form talk going on in DNG's journal it made me think about my own personal cues a lot more and I really focused on them. I'm also thinking I should do a video of my set-up so that interested parties can see.

Yup. You need to do this.

All reps felt solid and were done with a pause on the chest. I focused on squeezing my shoulder blades together on the control descent and make sure to keep my entire body tensed while paused on the chest. The press felt effortless for the first few sets. Unfortunately keeping yourself so tense comes at a cost and I was nice and tired come the third set. Still focused on keeping tight and things went will but not nearly as pretty as the first few sets.

I have already started to notice this. Seems that so much energy is focused on the cues, that the actual lift suffers.

After that it was onto my shoulder cuff work. Rear Delt Rows done standing at the lat pull machine is by far my favorite rear delt exercise. I feel it the most as long as I really focus on keeping the contractions tight, the movement controlled and my elbows up. Otherwise I begin to use more trap in the movement, a shortcoming of this movement and facepulls. Beyond that it was high rep behind the neck presses and front raises to build stamina in the shoulders.

Strange how a few pointer led me to noticing the amount of pulling being done after bench. Glad it was pointed out otherwise I would of never thought about it.

[geek23ka]

<3 they are so beautiful.