Black_Spit's training Journal

[NaturalAthlete5]

In on this thread..

Keep up the hard work bro.

[martin_mathers]

i like your bench form very tight. did you use close grip?

[FrostHammer]

Keep with running hills man, not to be a wendler "jedi" but it really does put things in perspective when you are at the top of a hill and all you want is water and the ability to breathe properly.

I have two badass hills by me, not as close as yours, but i run them whenever i can, which is needless to say, not enough.

[Black_Spit]

In on this thread..

Keep up the hard work bro.

Thanks. Repped.

it really does put things in perspective when you are at the top of a hill and all you want is water and the ability to breathe properly.

Yeah, that's a great mentality... just hard for me to get into for cardio-related activities.

i like your bench form very tight. did you use close grip?

Yeah, my bench press is close grip. Every time I've gone to a standard grip, I've exasperated my shoulder issues.

[Black_Spit]

Still feeling strong on Squat. Since today's sets were 85% and felt really light, I was just focusing on form, and getting down a little further than normal, too. Broke out the new USAPL legal Neoperene knee sleeves today for the first time as well. Not sure what I excpected... but, I did think they would feel different, but, they didn't feel different at all once I got them on really.

Ran some hills. I guess the current plan is just to do more every time I go out there... maybe with a 15 minute time limit or something. Maybe get up to 20-30 in a month or two.

Squat-
45x2
135x2
225x2
315x2

375x2 85%
375x2 85%

Good Morning-
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3 <<<PR>>>

Ran Hills-
8x (I did 7 last time)

PR on GM, but, I'm still a n00b at those. Onl;y been doing them a couple of months now, so it's expected.

Taking the family to the beach. Leaving in 2-3 hours.

[B1GinNY82307]

hills after squats and GM's!!!


And off-topic, how long of a drive is the beach from you? Going towards, NC or AL?

[Black_Spit]

hills after squats and GM's!!!


And off-topic, how long of a drive is the beach from you? Going towards, NC or AL?

6-7 hours. Leaving in an hour and a half. Going to AL. Growing up, we would alternate Panama City and Gulf Shores...

Gulf Shores is a little quieter, thus, we are going there.

[B1GinNY82307]

6-7 hours. Leaving in an hour and a half. Going to AL. Growing up, we would alternate Panama City and Gulf Shores...

Gulf Shores is a little quieter, thus, we are going there.

dayummm!!! Since in NY, I'm accustomed to walking to the beach...lol.

Have a good time bud!

[Black_Spit]

Not a great workout today lol. I got back from the beach last night, and maybe I should have taken today off as well to relax/recover. I went to pull my 455x2 set, unfocused, and I felt a pain in my lower back. I recovered and focused on my form, and the 2nd one was fine, but, the damage was done. Skipped the second set. Cut my accessory work down, and it still hurt throughout my cardio... but I still got through it.

Deadlift-
135x2
225x2
315x2
405x2

455x2 (90%)

RDL-
1x10

BB Row-
1x10

BB Shrugs-
1x10

Lineman Cardio- (combo of agility/flexibility/cardio work)

Each agility exercise = approx. 15 yards x 2 (there and back)
-Walking lunges
-High Knee
-Karaoke
-Side Shuffle

-Box Jumps (on picnic table) x 3 (after 3rd jump, take off sprinting)
-Spring approx 15 yards

^^ Don't know how many of those. Enough.

[B1GinNY82307]

Stretch and keep it loose my friend! hopefully it doesn't linger and carryover to the next workout.

And I like that "lineman cardio". Reminds me of my baseball training...

[Black_Spit]

Stretch and keep it loose my friend! hopefully it doesn't linger and carryover to the next workout.

And I like that "lineman cardio". Reminds me of my baseball training...

Ice and Ibuprofin are key today I think. I'm not going back to work until Thu, so I can lounge for a couple more days...

And yeah, being out in the grass that early in the morning running brings back so many memories. The grass still smells like two-a-day football practice. That's how the name popped into my head.

[Juggernaut0]

Nice skwats and deads brah. 5/3/1 squat has been really good too me so far.

[B1GinNY82307]

Ice and Ibuprofin are key today I think. I'm not going back to work until Thu, so I can lounge for a couple more days...

And yeah, being out in the grass that early in the morning running brings back so many memories. The grass still smells like two-a-day football practice. That's how the name popped into my head.

great to hear! Will DEF come in handy to get that back in tip-top shape.

[Black_Spit]

great to hear! Will DEF come in handy to get that back in tip-top shape.

lol 4 Ibuprofin later, icy hot, rotating ice and heating pad...

And I can't bend over, I can't stand up.

Pretty sure @ the minimum I've ruined my squat day later this week

[Black_Spit]

I wanted to at least try to squat today, knowing that if it didn't feel right, I'd stop. And that's what happened. I just didn't want to make it worse. My lower back pain this week led me to try out my belt on Bench Press for the first time today. And it felt really good actually. I think I'll be using that for work sets from now on. I need to check and see if that's legal (assuming yes). Oh yeah... Wasn't really digging the 2x2 scheme very much, so I went back to 3 reps lol. On a good note, my shoulders felt great today. Not a single rep felt weird today. That's a step in the right direction.*
Squat-45x3
135x3

Bench Press-45x3
135x3
185x3
225x3 70%
275x3 80%
300x3 90% <<<Rep PR>>>


DE Bench @ 55% - Alternating grips (close/kinda close/normal)
95 lb bar weight + 2 Orange Bands
8x3

Press-3x10

High Rep Band Accessories-Face Pulls/Triceps/Pull Aparts/BTN Band Pulldowns

Bike- 15 min

And lastly, for your amusement- The guy @ my gym who wraps up his knees with Ace bandages and grunts really loud while doing hand supported half reps with 200 lb's in the leg press:

[Black_Spit]

Well, with my back, I knew I wasn't going to be able to deadlift heavy today, so I actually went in with the intention of just doing a Westside DE workout Squat 10-12x2, Speed pulls 6-10x1. But, when I started squatting, I could tell that even though it hurt a little bit, it wasn't affecting my squat. It was kind of akin to having a bruise. So, I started upping the weight, and set a squat PR today. So, that's good. I'm not going to be able to deadlift heavy for several weeks though. I'm very sure of it. So, being the 3rd week of 5/3/1, this might be a good time to switch to a more Westside/Conjugate oriented program since I've been thinking about doing that for months anyway when the time was right. This squat PR is a really good one for me, too, considering the previous was a (slightly high) 435x1. I can say this... the Olympic Shoes have made a world of difference in my squatting.

Squat-
45x3
135x2
225x2
315x2
365x1
405x1

425x3 <<<Rep PR>>>

Good Mornings (just the bar today... more*therapeutic*than anything)-
3x10

Pulldown Abs-
2x25

[martin_mathers]

damn strong bench and squat mannn
so you're gonna follow a westside template now? also i've heard a lot of great stuff about olympic shoes but dont they only work for a close stance squat?*

[Black_Spit]

damn strong bench and squat mannn
so you're gonna follow a westside template now? also i've heard a lot of great stuff about olympic shoes but dont they only work for a close stance squat?*

Thanks.

And on the shoes. Did you see my last squat video? The 405x3? Would you consider my stance narrow? I think it's pretty standard, and the shoes feel like they have helped me tremendously, especially with form/depth.

Thinking hard about it the WS thing. I won't be able to DL heavy for a while, and I've been thinking about it for quite
a while, so i may end up changing my mind, but I'm thinking yes.

Here's a vid of what I believe was my first or second session with the shoes. I've only been wearing them for like a month or two now.

[martin_mathers]

hmmm that actually looks pretty narrow to me. i've been wearing my jordans for 4 years now my mom got them for my 14th birthday. i basically wear them wherever i go so they're almost like chucks now lol.
since the heels of the olympic shoes are raised do they still allow you to sit far back?

[Black_Spit]

since the heels of the olympic shoes are raised do they still allow you to sit far back?

That's what I've worked so hard on the past 4 months or so. I basically re-learned how to squat basically using the 'So you think you can squat' series as a guide (lol but true). It feels the same as with the Chucks... Only easier. I went back and watched my high squat PR from a few months ago, and it's like night and day.

Bad squat in chucks:


Good squat in Do-Wins:


Obviously it's not just the shoes. I mt took a lot of work to fix the squat also, but I'm sure the difference is obvious.

I hope the first vid is viewable.

[Black_Spit]

DE Bench (and a couple of warmups & 50 Face Pulls)
45x2
135x2
185x3 straight weight
245x3 straight weight
6 sets 245x3 (155 weight+90 lb Orange Bands)

Press
3x10/10/5

DB Row (first time doing these in years)
90 lb's x10

Rippetoe Skulls-
2x10

Exercise Bike (lol)-
10 min

[B1GinNY82307]

wow...squat pr despite the bad back! nice! 13 weeks out!!!! HELL YEAH!!

[Black_Spit]

I woke up this morning with a strong improvement in my back. That's good news for me as I can continue my 5/3/1. Would have been a shame to switch after 11 cycles.

I'm still pretty sure I'm not gonna deadlift this week. I set a Squat PR earlier this week though and I'd like to set one for bench on Friday, so there's still that. Probably take it super easy on deload next week and not put a bar on my back. Only dynamic and band stuff. Maybe hit the sauna some.

Weight for bench is 315 this week. I've never done more than 1 rep with 315. So 2-3 would be a nice PR.

[B1GinNY82307]

You can't just get away from 5/3/1 huh??

[Black_Spit]

You can't just get away from 5/3/1 huh??

I do eventually see myself switching to ME/DE days, but maybe even then I could do 5/3/1 lol.

It just doesn't make any sense in my head to stop doing something that seems to be working so well. It was different when I thought I might have to take a month off of deadlifting.

??? Maybe ???

-ME Squat 5/3/1 then the next 4 weeks do deadlift. (maybe squat as as an accessory during s deadlift cycle and vice-versa)

-DE Bench 8-9x3
Speed Pulls 6-10x1

-ME Bench 5/3/1

This would solve my 2 hangups with WS.

1- 4 days would be too much considering I wake up @ 430 to lift. Tried 4 days before. It's too much.

2- Working up to a 1-3 RM doesnt appeal to my uber control freak-ness. 5/3/1 gives me an exact # to hit.

I'm sure no WS people would like that setup, but I might give it a go.

[B1GinNY82307]

so for the ME days, utilize the 5/3/1 rep scheme? Which do you intend to replicate? I presume Week 3 %'s?

[Black_Spit]

so for the ME days, utilize the 5/3/1 rep scheme? Which do you intend to replicate? I presume Week 3 %'s?

Just a screwball/brainstorming idea... but, keep it 5/3/1. Replicate the whole 5/3/1 (85/90/95%)format inside of that structure instead of true Maximal (100%) Effort.

[Black_Spit]

Bummed about my Bench Press top set today. 1 is fine i guess, but I wanted 3+. I'll just assume I'm having a bad day I guess. Funny thing is my form was feeling great all through my warmups... But then I got to 275 and it felt heavier than it should have.*I'm radically increasing my reps and overall accessory work as I've been too lazy with it for too long.

Bench Press-45x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3

315x1 •95%• (missed a second rep badly)


Press-5x10

BB Rows-4x10

Shrugs-225x25

For no good reason at all, I decided to see how many reps I could do with 225 on shrugs instead of doing my last set of rows. My grip gave out @ 25.

Exercise Bike-10 minutes

Band rehab/flexibility work-15 minutes

[Black_Spit]

Well I think I'm going to go through with this change to WS. Still with a deload every 4th week.

ME Squat 1-3RM*
Seated GM 5x10
Pulldown Abs 100 reps*

DE Bench Press 8x3
Press 5x10
Rows 100 reps

DE Squat 10x2
Banded Sumo 10x1
Shrugs 5x10

ME Bench 1-3RM
Face Pulls 100 reps
Triceps 100 reps

Something like that.

[Black_Spit]

Great day. Squat continuing to climb. Unfortunately somebody sat on the bench I was using as a tripod for my camera and I don't have video. But I'm still psyched. It felt good to set a big PR.

ME Squat-
45x2
135x2
225x2
315x2
365x2
405x1

455x1 <<<PR!>>>

Dimmel Deadlifts-
5x10

Pulldown Abs-
100 reps

Exercise bike-
5 min

Just flat ran out of time this morning for cardio/flexibility work.