PhreEk's Progression of Strength

[PhreEkGarden]

History: First time I seriously started going to the gym was in August. I lifted some before that but it was just random exercises not really progressing that much, then I came down with mono and lost almost 35 lbs in 2 months, basically putting me back at below ground zero. I started a journal here at the beginning of september when I started Rippetoe's Starting Strength. That was the first time I ever deadlifted or squatted. I made great gains on that but with my dirty bulk to 220 came a gut. I was on a BP split for about 3 months cutting and got all the way back to 190. I wasn't really sure what to do next so I hired Iron Addict and began working with him as I leaned up a little more, I then began my clean bulk this time around. If anyone has read up on Iron Addict, he does alot influenced by Westside. I followed his routine he laid out for me and set more PR's on my maxes. I have decided to put IA on hold for awhile and come back to his guidance later when I stall, or just need something different to keep me going in the right direction. Ive been reading up on Westside and with the help of VikingMan's GREAT write-up, ive put together something I think will work great for myself.

Stats as of now:
Age: 23
Height: 6'0
Weight: 195

Best 1RM's as of last week:
Deadlift: 355(conventional)
Squat: 315(missed 335 attempt)
Flat BP: 235
Bent Row 5RM: 185

Goals:
To gain strength on all the big lifts(ill set specific goals later on). For awhile ive thought my goal was bodybuilding, but as I get more into this sport it seems I enjoy just focusing on strength and getting bigger in general, I doubt I will ever be concered with symmetry and all that...

I have gotten my form down good on squats, but conventional deadlift form is still very much a work in progress(its not good). Im going to be giving sumo a run and see how it takes with me.

Heres something Dominik posted awhile back as a calculation to determine whether you are mechanically more efficient for conventional or sumo: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...postcount=1011
Not that it means you should only do one or the other, but I was WAY on the side of sumo. Im hoping to get my form down on sumo more so I feel more comfortable pulling heavy on it. I will still be working on conventional but will be staying away from going real heavy unless I feel ive corrected my form.

I will basically be following the guide VikingMan outlined here, but tweaking exercises as I go: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=920894

Pictures: (Completely relaxed, 10 weeks of cutting progress)




(Just had surgery to get a fatty tumor removed, and skin broke out from the vicadin I took I think... so its kind of an ugly picture lol.)

So this time around I am going to bulk for as long as possible, the goal being not to gain way too fast this time.

[ThickAsABrick]

I'll be following.
Good luck Phreek.

[Satyrs]

x2

I remember reading that WO from Vikingman ... looks interesting (and it is freeee lol). GL man

[daYDreAmErX]

I'm in

[PhreEkGarden]

May 15, 2007. ME - Upper Body

Barbell Flat Bench Press
8x95
5x135
2x155
1x185
3x205
3x185
3x185

Pendlay Row
5x95
5x135
5x155
5x155
5x155

Dumbell Incline Bench Press
5x55
6x70
6x70
6x70
6x70

Machine Reverse Flys
3x10x90

Situps
3x10x70

Well today was the first day of the new routine and I think it went great. 205 BP went up easier than was expected, ill go for 210 next week. I did 1 set of 100% then 2 sets of 90%, I may tweak this as I think VikingMan was saying he likes the 1 set of 90%, then 100%, then 95%. Not sure I like the idea of doing a heavy set before my max set. Ill give it a try though.

Pendlay rows felt great... havent done them since I was doing Starting Strength, which is why that first set of 135 ended up being too light. Ill probably stick with these for awhile. Incline DB press felt heavy, not sure if I can get it with 75's so I may try for a few more reps next time and see how it feels. Reverse flys gave me a bit of a pump I havent felt in awhile. I used to go heavier on these but it doesnt seem as effective as doing them more controlled. Situps were pretty easy... I usually do steep decline situps but just wanted a change. I just throw the dumbell high up on my chest and hold it against me while I do them(making sure I dont lift the weight with my arms), I assume thats how everyone does them?

Good first workout and im excited to start sumo's on the ME lower day next.

[PhreEkGarden]

I'll be following.
Good luck Phreek.

Thanks man. I think I now have a set path I want to follow...

x2

I remember reading that WO from Vikingman ... looks interesting (and it is freeee lol). GL man

Yep, I think its right up my alley. I will save my time with IA for when I need it.

I'm in

Thanks day, I figured you would be all over anything westside.

[Rog447]

im in bro, routine looks solid also!! good luck .

[PhreEkGarden]

im in bro, routine looks solid also!! good luck .

Thanks man, routine for now is pretty similar to what VM laid out in his writeup. Im sure it will slowly change..

[PhreEkGarden]

May 17, 2007. ME - Lower Body

Sumo Deadlifts
6x135
4x185
3x225
1x275
1x275
3x275

Close-Stance ATG Squats
5xbar
4x135
8x185
8x185
8x185

Hyperextensions
5xBW
8x60
8x60
8x60

Lying Hamstring Curls
10x80
10x80


Well, I liked sumo deads alot. I did a couple singles just seeing where I like foot placement etc. I found out that I am not very flexible at all... I think doing some butterflys everday and trying to stretch that area will help me ALOT, I couldnt place my feet really wide because my flexibility just would not let me go down at all... I think if I get that down I will do really well. Next week I think im going to lower the weight back to like 245 though and just slowly go up... I want to keep form as tight as possible while bumping up the weight. Today was also the first time ive ever done close stance(a bit less than shoulder width, seems close to me..). Completely ATG also, I could not believe what a difference this made... ive never felt my quads get worked so hard, and I was struggling to finish that last set too. I didnt go that heavy on hyperextensions since I havent done them in awhile, and they left me hurtin so im glad I didnt. My GHR's were a joke so I just did lying hamstring curls. Ill figure out a way to do them later, didnt have alot of extra time today... Great workout... really happy with how sumo felt and I think itll be a lot better after I work on flexibility.

[daYDreAmErX]

Nice workout, glad to see it completely and not just "assistance exercises"

Have fun with the sumos !

[Rog447]

Nice sumos and atg squats bro..I did some sumo deads today also they feel so much better for us people with long legs . And yes ATG squats own!!

[PhreEkGarden]

Nice workout, glad to see it completely and not just "assistance exercises"

Have fun with the sumos !

Thanks daY, yeah I know other one was pretty empty.. but I did get some videos up to make up for it! lol... ill probably get some up here soon of my sumo form. I want to see it also..

Nice sumos and atg squats bro..I did some sumo deads today also they feel so much better for us people with long legs . And yes ATG squats own!!

Thanks Rog, they definitely feel better, first time ive really done them with any kind of weight and 275 felt about the same as 275 with conventional.. so I think once I improve my flexibility so I can actually open up my legs some ill do great with them. Ive always gone pretty low in my squats but I decided to try close stance and it makes it quite a bit harder I think, or im just not used to it... but it FRIED my quads. 2nd Lower ME day ill be doing a bit wider stance squats just breaking parallel probably, working to a 3RM... liking this routine alot so far.

Just gotta work on being able to do some damn butterfly stretches... so painful...

[Jorday]

Good luck bro. I'll be looking in.

[PhreEkGarden]

Good luck bro. I'll be looking in.

Thanks Jorday. Damn im sore today....

[mjw8204]

Looks good so far, PhreEk.

[PhreEkGarden]

Looks good so far, PhreEk.

Thanks mjw, been trying to read as much as I can on westside so I understand the principles more. Gotta keep my progress moving and will have to evolve the workouts as I go........

Probably wont change for awhile though since I see no need to unless I stall on something. Next lower day will be my semi wide squats im more used to, and going to parallel to hit 3RM's, with RDL's to compliment. Ive still never done GM's so that will definitely get in there in the future. I also like to do pullups twice a week so gonna have to squeeze a second day in there somewhere. Suppose it would be on the first upper day.

[littlechick]

lookin good hope this program goes well for you

[Jorday]

Thanks Jorday. Damn im sore today....

Yah, that'll happen

[PhreEkGarden]

lookin good hope this program goes well for you

Thanks LC. I think it will... for a long time!

Yah, that'll happen

Haha.. yeah, plenty of rest inbetween the max days though I think.

[jman1978]

Finally spotted your new log.
Can't really go wrong following the advice of Vikingman

[liGymRatt]

hey great blog PH!!! i'll def be checkin in!!! come take a look at mine!

[PhreEkGarden]

Finally spotted your new log.
Can't really go wrong following the advice of Vikingman

Yo jman, yeah... vikingman getting to be one strong mofo. Hes definitely doing something right...

hey great blog PH!!! i'll def be checkin in!!! come take a look at mine!

Thanks man, lookin real big in the avatar, ill check it out sometime.


Edit: Was heading to the gym before work tonight (on midnight shift) which isnt bad.. I like working out a few hours after I wake up. But I forgot my gold's closed at 5pm... SOB! So I head about 20 min down the road, which is actually only 5 min from work so not a big deal.. I show up at 8:05, and they closed at 8. I think im actually gonna go there tomorrow since that gym is 10x the size of the gold's I go to. Maybe itll have a trap bar? I did tues/thurs/sat this week and I need to get back to mon/wed/fri since I cant get in there this sat. So ill have to do my RE Upper tomorrow and ME Lower monday, shouldnt be a big deal though. Was looking forward to benching today though...

[LSU1]

yoooooo.........finally found the new journal bro

[PhreEkGarden]

yoooooo.........finally found the new journal bro

Word. Stick around... ill be puttin up some big numbers in the future.

[PhreEkGarden]

May 20, 2007. RE - Upper Body

Flat Barbell Bench Press
8xBar
8x95
18x135

Chin-ups
CG Palms Facing In:
2x8xBW
Hammer Grip:
1x8xBW

DB Seated Military Press
5x35
3x8x55

Bench Dips
5xBW
3x10x55

Barbell Curls
3x10x65

Decline Situps
3x10x50


Not actually sure if im suppose to go to failure on the RE bench or not, but I might have had one rep more left in me so it was close, had no spotter. Was planning on doing 4 sets of chins but stopped at 3. Barely got that last rep on the hammer grips. Ive only been doing real wide-grip pullups for awhile, it seems ive lost some on these, it will come back fast though. Havent done DB military in awhile, they feel so much better than BB military though I think. Everything else went well, and the decline situps, it was a different setup which felt like I was using more ab strength to situp so theres not as much weight, but I liked the way they felt more.

I was at a new gym today(still a gold's) but it was down the road some, actually only about 10 extra minutes if im going to work. This place was like the size of Wal-mart, my normal golds is a hole in the wall. This place had EVERYTHING, it was AWESOME! They had safety squat bars... different boxes out for squats, all kinds of stuff. Every good hammer strength machine you can think of also... only thing is they said they dont have a trap bar anymore, but they did have a machine that mimics it. Their DB's went up to 150, and they were huge blocks, not lots of little weights on em. OH, they also had ROUND PLATES instead of OCTAGONS! WOOT! Deadlifting sucks with octagons. They have a huge movie theatre cardio room, they were playing james bond. Pretty badass... I think im going to start going to this place as often as I can, since they said I can use my membership pass I already have and its 30 bucks a month at the other place, so thats cool.

Anyway... great workout. ME squats tomorrow since this workout was suppose to be yesterday... should be fine though.

Edit: BTW, work sets are in bold. Im sure everyone realized that but thought id point it out..

Edit2: Oh, forgot to mention another thing my gym doesnt have, a donkey calf raise, this one allows up to like 960 lbs.

[PhreEkGarden]

May 21, 2007. ME - Lower Body - Squats[/size]

Wide Stance Parallel Squats
8xBW
6x95
5x135
3x185
2x225
1x245
1x265
3x295

Sumo Romanian Deadlifts
5xBar
5x135
8x185
8x185
8x185

Hyperextensions
5xBW
8x60
8x60
8x60

Ghetto GHR's
2x8xBW-Assisted

Donkey Calf Raises
10x200
10x300
10x400
10x400
10x400

Why does 225 always feel heavy to me on squats!?!? I did a few more singles which helped warm me up.. but 225 always feels heavy lol. Whatever... Got the PR I was planning on doing RDL's for my RE assistance... but decided since im doing sumo deads, why not do sumo RDL's? They felt good, but for some reason my grip was giving out.. wtf is that? I have no idea why, a month ago I was holding onto weight like that pretty easily. Hyperextensions with 60 were easier then the 50 last week. I copied VikingMan's GHR video and did them like his. Even though its pretty ghetto it still hits the hamstrings in a way ive never felt before, had to stretch for a minute afterwards. Oh and btw, the big gym DID have a GHR setupThe day I do an unassisted GHR is the day I know ive accomplished something.

Was at the big gym again, that place is great. They DID have something like a GHR... http://www.defrancostraining.com/pic...-ham-raise.jpg Not quite like that but same type of exercise... I was afraid to try though thinking I wouldnt be able to get back up. lol

Edit: Forgot I decided to throw in some calves.

[mjw8204]

Great looking workout, Phreek, I can see your logic of training RDLs sumo style if that's your deadlift stance. Good thinking there...I think, lol.

Regarding your RE Upper workout, what was your thinking with the bench press scheme?

[PhreEkGarden]

Great looking workout, Phreek, I can see your logic of training RDLs sumo style if that's your deadlift stance. Good thinking there...I think, lol.

Regarding your RE Upper workout, what was your thinking with the bench press scheme?

Thanks, we'll see if it helps my sumo...

I wanted to do a bench test, ive seen a few people do it so I figure ill do it the first week I start. Probably wont be doing it again for awhile though. I was thinking of starting with something more along the lines of 4x6x180 (80%) and see how that goes..

[daYDreAmErX]

Excellent workout !!

BTW I really like the new avatar

[LSU1]

good workouts man, squats are looking strong. we are probably around even on those right now