Seth's Training Log

12/20

squat
345x3x3

GHR
3x15

kroc rows
60 1x25

pullthroughs
3x8

ab pulldowns
3x12

Notes: Squats weren't pretty once again, but they felt a lot better than last time which is a plus. I'm folding over especially when I'm fatigued (pretty much anything after the first rep today). Nathan watched and made a point that I should focus on keeping my rhomboids tight, so I will focus on that and see if it helps any. I think I will be keeping the high bar squatting to the 6x2 day.

12/21

bench press
225x2x6

narrow grip bench
225x5x2

dips
bwx20x3

pull ups
20 total reps

face pulls
4x12

Notes: Bench was fast today.

12/24

bench press
280x2
280x1.5-2*

*So my brother was spotting me and put his hands on the bar for half a second on my second rep of the second set, and although he took them off right away and I finished the rep I'm not giving myself full credit. It was a grinder and when I said let me get it he thought I said get it. Whoops

narrow grip bench
230x3x2

behind the head DB extension
3x30

rear delt flies
3x15

Notes: Definitely a sub par day. I was rushing and didn't have much in my stomach so I just got my work done and got out. I have been traveling this past weekend and am now back home so that threw a wrench in my training schedule for the week.

12/25 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

press
155x2x2

side raise
25sx12x3

front plate raise (25)
x80, x20

Second set 155:


Notes: Today went awesome. Press felt extremely strong. This is good after not feeling so hot after yesterdays lift. I'm planning on deadlifting tomorrow, squatting friday, and then testing all of my lifts next week so I know where I am before I start my training cycles that will take me up to the April meet.

Time to ramp the intensity up on those overhead presses. With your bench, you should be near a 200-lb. max.

Yeah, you're using heavier weights than me for your bench cycle and upping your press performance should help a lot.

I'm planning on maxing all my lifts next week so it will help to have an accurate press max in the program. The press max I have plugged in now is from when I went to the gym and just saw what I could do after not ever pressing really.

12/26

deadlift
470x2x2

bb hip thrusts
275x5x3

shrugs
405x5
495x5
585x4
405x30

bb curls (empty bar)
x100...... yes first time ever

ab rollouts
3x8



Notes: Deadlift went awesome. The video is of my first double, as you can see they both went up without a ton of struggle. Felt good.

12/28

squat
365x2x2

GHR (bw)
x15 x15 x15

pullups
26 total reps

kroc rows
70x25

single leg extensions
3x20

ab pulldowns
3x12

Notes: Squat felt good today, which is good coming off about 3 crummy weeks.

Are you still in Des Moines? You should come up to Jefferson sometime for a gay sex training session.

deadlifts look really strong. might you benefit from a stronger setup with your hips a little lower, lats retracted, and all that? I guess there's no reason to change of the style you've got going if you're getting such good results, though.

Also I tend to OHP narrow and unrack the weight resting on my sternum so I don't get tired while walking it out and setting up, but I know other guys have a wider grip and they probably know a lot more about it than I do. Thoughts, anyone? I could use some advice on it myself.

Logan Joseph wrote:

deadlifts look really strong. might you benefit from a stronger setup with your hips a little lower, lats retracted, and all that? I guess there's no reason to change of the style you've got going if you're getting such good results, though.

I probably could benefit from all this, but I've never really put in the time to try to focus on it. In all honesty my approach to deadlift has been to walk up and pull the bar off the ground without destroying my back. I guess I have tried dropping my hips and flexing my tris while deadlifting but I haven't noticed much difference in how it feels so I just go with what feels natural to me. It's something I should probably pay more attention to though especially as the weights go up.

As far as pressing I'm pretty new to it but I have narrow grip as well. Anytime I try to go fairly wide I feel like my arms are going to tear off my shoulders. Everything I have read says to stay narrow and use a false grip. Something I picked up from Paul Carter's book that helped a lot is to flex your biceps as you lower the bar because it takes the pressure off your triceps and causes a rebound effect out of the bottom. I definitely noticed a big difference in bar speed out of the bottom.

Chris Anderson wrote:

Are you still in Des Moines? You should come up to Jefferson sometime for a gay sex training session.

You should have asked earlier today was my last training session before I head back to Iowa City!

son of a bitch

Logan Joseph wrote:

Also I tend to OHP narrow and unrack the weight resting on my sternum so I don't get tired while walking it out and setting up, but I know other guys have a wider grip and they probably know a lot more about it than I do. Thoughts, anyone? I could use some advice on it myself.

I use a super narrow grip and pretty much row myself under the bar to unrack it. When you flair your lats like that, you can really use them to initiate the initial press from the bottom position.

Logan Joseph wrote:

Also I tend to OHP narrow and unrack the weight resting on my sternum so I don't get tired while walking it out and setting up, but I know other guys have a wider grip and they probably know a lot more about it than I do. Thoughts, anyone? I could use some advice on it myself.

I think grip width is a matter of personal preference, though I've always felt a narrower grip felt more natural for me. And I'm not a fan of the hold-the-bar-at-your-chin style of OHPing; I think you waste a lot of energy doing that, and lifters that are accomplished with this technique will press VERY QUICKLY following the unrack for exactly that reason.

Anyway, you're quite honestly a pretty poor overhead presser (and, by contrast, a very good floor presser), so I think you'll just benefit from doing the movement regularly regardless of what technical decisions you make. But since you're a narrow-grip bencher, I'd keep with a narrow grip for the OHP, and I'd consider resting the bar on your sternum (assuming you've the flexibility for it).

Why would you not want to press quickly following the unrack regardless? Every second holding a bar is energy wasted.

Chris Anderson wrote:

Why would you not want to press quickly following the unrack regardless? Every second holding a bar is energy wasted.

Because sometimes you want to take that extra second just to look into the eyes of your enemies before you bury them.

I'm pretty sure Gregory peed a little when that happened.

12/31

bench press
255x1
275x1
295x1 (ties PR)
305x0

press
135x1
155x1
175x1
185x1 (PR)
195x0

Notes: Bench press felt pretty awful today. None of my sets felt fast and the last three were definitely out of the groove. 295 was my programmed single and it went up, but was ugly. Press felt okay and 185 was a 30 lb PR. Having a below average day when I was trying to test my max is upsetting but at the same time encouraging because of the fact that 295 still went up on a bad day. I would probably consider it an everyday max.

Chris Anderson wrote:

I'm pretty sure Gregory peed a little when that happened.

I give Gregory a lot of credit. Rather than crack under the pressure, he rose to the occasion.

1/2

squat
bx10
135x8
185x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
345x1
365x1
385x1 (+5 PR)
405x1 (+25 PR)
415x1 (+35 PR)

Notes: YEEYEE 35 lb PR! Squats felt good. Hitting a 35 lb PR was awesome, even better was my form not completely falling apart while doing it.

sweet jesus

Continue working on your walk out and setup, that will help you a lot. You took it out strong but danced around a bit and stood there for longer than what is optimus. Great job on that though. Squatting multiple times a work does wonders.

Will do, I need to work on getting all my mental prep in before I get to the bar.

I was planning on going in and trying to hit a deadlift PR but I got called into work early so I didn't make it in. I decided that I am just going to skip what I was supposed to do today and start my next training cycle on sunday since I really wouldn't have anything to gain besides finding out where my deadlift is at, which I already have a pretty good idea of.

Results of this training cycle:
Squat: 415....+35 PR
Bench: 295....ties old PR, but I would consider this an everyday max.
Deadlift: Unknown....I'm guessing around 515.
Press: 185....+30 PR. This max wasn't very strict though, so that needs work.

This training cycle was okay, but I probably would not run it again, at least not without tweaking it. 6x6 deadlifts debilitated me for a good 2 days.

I'm planning on running Paul Carter's strong 15 program starting sunday. It will be set up like this:
Sunday: Squat
Monday: Bench Press
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: Deadlift
Thursday: Press
Friday: Squat variation, back
Saturday: OFF