Andy Awad's Training Log

One more thing, I met Cody at Magni today. Nice guy. He told me about a UPA meet up in Dubuque this coming November. This is about exactly the time I would want to do a competition, and it sounds like it will be right around my birthday. Can't think of a better birthday present to myself than my first sanctioned competition. I haven't completely made up my mind about it yet, but I'm about 85% sure that I want to do it as of now. If I do, here are my potential goals considering training is going my way.

Body weight: 198 lb (current body weight is about 215, want to be below 210)

Squat: 450 (25 lb PR)
Bench: 375 (30 lb paused PR)
Deadlift: 575 (25 lb PR)

Total: 1400 (80 lb PR)

Time will tell if these numbers are realistic, but for now I feel like they are. Bench is feeling really good, and deadlift is starting to feel good again. Even my squat is feeling ok now so things are looking good for me.

6/4/14

Deadlift - conventional
315 x 3
356 x 2
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 3 (tied PR)
315 x 5 (w/ straps)
315 x 5 (w/ straps)

single leg deadlift
bar x 8
89 lbs x 8

Just trying these out

vid of 495 x 3



Great deadlift day for me. 455 moved really fast and really clean. 495 moved really well too. The third rep wasn't really a grind, but I probably should have just stopped it at 2. I haven't wanted to grind anything out recently because my back has been kind of touchy with all the lab work I had to do last week. It was feeling a little off going in so the plan was just to feel it out and see if it loosened up and started feeling good. It held up really well for all the sets and wasn't bothering me at all, but then on the last set of one leg deadlifts, with my left leg, I felt my low back strain on my right side. Not bad, but enough to make me stop and it's a little tight and achy today. I iced it last night and took some ibuprofen. I need to be smarter about this. I don't want to have chronic back pain and continuously try to train around it.

4 sets of something between a cable row and a standing facepull. Felt really good for my upper back.

I was going through my phone's photos at work today and I realized something; 2 days ago was the unofficial one year anniversary of when I started powerlifting.  I found a photo from June 3rd, 2013 of me locking out 455.  Whether I knew it or not at the time, that was the beginning of my journey into powerlifting.  I had started exercising again with a good friend back in January 2013 following a breakup.  Our routines were largely based on circuits and involved lots of push ups, dips, pullups, and doing the 300 workout on Saturday mornings.  It wasn't really goal focused, but I quickly got to a lean low 190's (after being a kinda sloppy 208) and it really helped to boost my spirits.  My friend moved to Seattle and very shortly after I decided to pick up the barbell again and give deadlifting a go.  To my great surprise I pulled a single at 455, which tied my previous 2 rep PR from roughly 2 years prior (I didn't have a one rep PR, but I remember that double being quite a grind).  It was tough, but I managed to lock it out once more so that I could get a photo of it.  It was also around that time that I started benching again and quickly worked back up to a 300 lb tng bench (Previous PR from about 2 years before was 320).  I still didn't touch anything over 225 on squats for quite some time.  It wasn't until I saw the numbers people on the team were putting up that I understood the importance of squatting (thus the reason my squat is so far behind my bench and deadlift).



I uploaded the video of the first time I pulled 500, which was October 11, 2013.



I did this mainly so I could watch footage of me pulling 495 x 3 side by side with that video and observe the changes that have occured in my techinque.

major observations:

hand position is narrower now
stance is narrower
hips start higher
faster off the floor

When I pulled 455 last June, I decided that I would train until I could pull 500.  That happened quicker than expected, and then I discovered that Iowa had a powerlifting team.  The rest is history.

6/06/14

Saftey Bar Squats

225 x 5
255 x 6
275 x 6
275 x 8
275 x 8

I decided to use the safety bar because my lower back was still feeling touchy. These are mighty challenging. This was a good session for me because 275 was heavier than I thought I could handle for reps with the safety bar, and I really pushed myself to get more reps than I planned. I didn't plan on going over 5 reps per any set, but I kept pushing through. Squats never feel good for me. There are days when 225 feels like a lot of work. I have to remind myself to push them hard if I want to see progress with them. Unlike deadlift and bench, I don't feel like my body's feedback on how sets feel is a very good indication of how hard I should push them.

3 sets lat pull downs

3 sets thoracic extensions with chains


6/7/14

tng bench

265 x 1
295 x 1 (paused)
315 x 2
315 x 8 (w/red slingshot)
225 x 13
225 x 15

315 x 2 felt tougher than I wanted it too. So instead of doing another double I decided to try out the red slingshot. I probably should've stopped at rep 6 or 7 with this (I was misgrooving pretty good at that point) but I really felt like pushing things. Perhaps the reason my shoulder feels a little off right now. I underestimated the effect of overload training and the fatigue that results. I did like it's affect though and the way it incorporated my triceps. Will continue to use it from time to time. The sets of 225 were pretty terrible. The reps were kind of all over the place. It is time to bring back the training weights again and revisit form work a bit. I'm going to really focus on finding my bar path and incorporating more paused work back into my benching.

Log press
144 x 2 x 4
I was pretty fatigued from benching to really do much with this.

On another note, benching with Andy from outside of town was awesome. He puts up 405 faster than most people put up 135.

Your 495x3 deadlift from a few days ago looked great, Andy. I agree that the benches on Saturday were a bit shaky, and revisiting technique and the paused work should really help you out.

Thanks, Kyle. Oddly enough deadlifts have been the best feeling of my lifts recently. I'm going to drop the training weight back down on my bench to 175 (50%)and get in some good volume and work on the bar path and move up from there in 20 lb intervals (about 5 %). I think if I do this I'll have some big bench prs waiting for me. Sometime soon I'd also like to start incorporating some work with that red slingshot too, but I want my bar path to be more comfortable first.

Squat

285 x 3
325 x 8
325 x 8
325 x 5
325 x 7

Depth on squats was barely there yesterday. I'm trying to find the feel for hitting parallel convincingly while not going too deep. Still searching for that. The good thing is my squat is starting to feel strong now. Also, I felt like I did a decent job of jumping the mental hurdle of pushing myself on squats this day. Still a lot to work on here. My eccentric was quite slow on my first two sets, and I ended up spending over a minute under the bar, which was quite exhausting. Sam gave me some good pointers, which included speeding up the eccentric and "sitting back". Sitting back seemed to help with the issue of coming forward that I was having. On the third set I tried to speed up the eccentric, but I had a difficult time keeping tight and decided to cut it short at 5 reps. To be honest, I was pretty gassed at this point but wanted to get in another set. The fourth set felt the best in terms of tightness, speed, and depth, but unfortunately my phone died during filming so there's no footage of it. All in all I'm feeling progress with squats. I'm looking forward to hopefully hitting a 415 squat by the end of summer and I'd really like 450 by my 29th birthday.





My back was a little tight but held up pretty well during all of these sets. It did however bother me just a little when I was home and bent down in an awkward position. The frustration continues. It is getting better though. I have a few days of lab work ahead of me starting tomorrow. I'm really not looking forward to it and will make a conscious effort to take care of my body.

Too excited about today's workout to wait to log it.

Paused Bench Press
175 x 5 x 18

Although this was light weight, I still used my competition grip, which is middle fingers on the bar.  I also decided to pause each rep - something I've been getting away from in my bench training recently. The last time I reworked my bar path and overall technique, I brought my grip in.  This did help quite a bit, but in retrospect, I think it would have been a better idea to train my bar path with my comp grip and then bring it in for accessory training after it was comfortable.  When I decided to go heavy with the weights, I found myself reverting to some of my older more familiar tendencies.  I believe this likely was because I hadn't trained the bar path with a wider grip at lighter weights.  Today's session was really good, and I felt virtually no irritation.  the bar path didn't feel perfect, but it was much better than my last few sessions.  My plan for today was to work with sets at 50% of my max.  I wasn't sure about the reps, but I planned on picking a number based on the first set.  I just figured I'd go until the bar started to slow down.  I was thinking around 15, and I was a little surprised when I hit 18 and it still felt pretty good.  This was a lot of volume for me, but none of the sets seemed difficult because the weight was fairly light for me.  Moving forward, my plan is to increase the weight by 15 - 20 lbs (roughly 5% of my max) each session (roughly every 4th day) and take a similar approach with the reps and sets as I did today.  I'll take the first set as a rep gage and take it from there.  The last set will be when I feel like speed and form would potentially be compromised if I were to keep going.  I'm not looking for intensity here, but rather solidifying my technique so I can continue to make progress without injuring myself.  My hope is that in 6 to 8 weeks I'll be comfortably moving 315, paused and for a few reps with a confident sense of my bar path.

Overhead Press

115 x 3
135 x 2
155 x 5 (2 rep PR)
185 x 1 (PR)
155 x 7 (4 rep PR)
135 x 8

The gods of overhead pressing blessed me with some big PRs today.  It was magical.  These were likely hit because of two reasons:  1, I've been pressing after I bench, and I didn't push the bench too hard today. 2, I modified my technique.  I worked on leaning back a little and letting the weight "sink in" as Dalton put it.  None the less, pressing felt better than ever.  I had failed 185 several times before, and the last time I attempted it I failed it twice.  I had told myself that I wouldn't try it for a while, but when hit 155 for 5 I felt like I could get it today.  It's a good feeling to have that out of the way.  Next is 200, and then the almighty 2 plates.  Here's footage of today's pressing.  No footage of the 155 x 7, because I honestly thought I wouldn't beat 5 from the previous set.  It's amazing what a long awaited PR can do for your adrenaline.





Banded triceps ss w/banded face pulls

4 or 5 sets

My last squat session left me with a bruised rib or something from mispositioning/over-tightening the belt I was using.  Whatever it is, It doesn't feel good, especially when I try deadlifting.  I'm just going to avoid anything that really bothers it for now.  Anyhow, a few days off has given my lower back the time it needed to stop bothering me.  I'm going to try squatting today without a belt and see if I can get in some decent volume at a fairly light weight.

6/11

Went in to try some deadlifting with my rib and could tell it wasn't going to happen after warming up with 135 and then trying 225.  Ended up doing some rows and tire flips and just kind of dicking around with Brad with some lunges and one armed barbell "suitcases".  I'm really hoping this rib thing resolves itself quickly and doesn't set me back too much....

6/14

Was pressed for time, and didn't have enough time to go home and get in gym clothes or shoes, so I was the guy working out barefoot in cargo shorts.

paused bench press

195 x 5 x 15

Felt like I was establishing a good bar path.  Instead of trying to be really fast and explosive, for now I'm just trying to find a good rhythm with my bench.  I'm pausing every rep again, albeit briefly, and I think I'll continue that for at least a little while.  This was my second high rep light weight session on bench, and I really think it's going to prove beneficial.  I was beginning to get a little achy and that was completely not an issue this session.  Although not too impressive of numbers, I was really happy with how both of these sessions have gone so far.  A few months ago, 5 paused sets of 15 at 195 would have been completely unthinkable for me.

paused overhead press

95 x 8
135 x 2
155 x 2 x 4
135 x 2 x 8

(missed my baby straps on these - that's for you Dalton now that you have a log on here)

Banded triceps ss w/banded rows

All in all a good workout.  For now, I think benching and then pressing, followed with some pulling and banded triceps is a good approach for me.  I may add some lateral raises with the triceps and band pulls (may be an issue at Magni though as they have a somewhat limited dumbbell selection).  I'm looking forward to seeing how this approach progresses my bench.

I think I'm going to apply a similar approach to training my squat as I am to my bench right now.  I think it could really benefit from some higher rep lighter weight work.  My squat is my least developed lift, and I think it could benefit the most from just acquiring some decent volume.  I've done some decent work with my form recently, but I think it's time to really nail it down and get some volume in.

Baby straps better than no straps I guess.

DDaddyKane wrote:

Baby straps better than no straps I guess.

They may be small, but they're effective.

6/16/14

Squat
185 x 2 x 6
225 x 6
225 x 10
225 x 3 x 15



I have realized that I need to acquire some lower intensity volume with my squat in order to speed up my eccentric as well as for squatting to start feeling like a more natural movement for me.  Also, today I decided to approach the bar in the way that felt most natural to me.  I set up my stance a hair wider and I set my grip up super wide (touching the end of the bar).  I warmed up like this without the oly shoes and warm ups felt great.  Tried a set with the oly shoes and decided not to use them this session.  The wider grip really helped keep my chest from dipping forward (eliminated the limiting factor of tightness), which was completely unexpected to me.  Also, the wider stance felt good with no heel.  I think I'll give squatting like this a try.  My plan right now is to keep increasing the weight by about 20 to 30 lbs until I'm doing moderate intensity sets at 5 to 6 reps.  Then, depending on how things feel, I may do some higher intensity work or drop the intensity back down and get in some more high quality volume.  Eric Spoto says "If your reps go up, your strength goes up".  I guess that makes sense, but it's hard for me to think like that sometimes.  All in all, although the high rep sets were kind of rough, this was probably the best squatting has ever felt for me.  Period.  Which is a very good thing.

Walking Lunges

135 x 2 x 10

Some t - bar rows, band rows, and lateral rasies to finish it up.

Andy Awad wrote:

DDaddyKane wrote:

Baby straps better than no straps I guess.

They may be small, but they're effective.

I imagine this line has been used before..

DDaddy Kane wrote:

Andy Awad wrote:

DDaddyKane wrote:
Baby straps better than no straps I guess.


They may be small, but they're effective.


I imagine this line has been used before..

Only when I talk about my wraps.

6/17/14

Paused Bench Press
215 x 6 x 13

I had planned to do 5 sets, but the 5th set felt like it didn't groove so well. It wasn't a fatigue thing, but a mental focus thing. I felt good, so I decided I'd do another set of 10 to end on a good note. It felt really good so I just completed the set. I lost track of counting and it ended up being 14 reps instead of 13. I filmed the last set to see how my pauses looked. they are short, but they are there.



If I think about driving my elbows back on the eccentric, it helps keep the stress off my shoulders and engages my triceps. Also, Nate pointed out I was shrugging my left shoulder a little. Tried to focus on not doing that on the last few sets. If nothing else, I seem to have gotten a lot better at volume work recently. I'm really hoping it transfers to my maxes.

Overhead press
155 x 2
175 x 1
195 x 0
175 x 1
175 x 1
135 x 8

Got greedy and wanted to PR my ohp again. Wasn't even close.

Banded triceps

3 sets

6/20/14

Took a little time off to rest my rib and sore body. Went on an easy bike ride yesterday to loosen things up.

squats

255 x 4 x 12

These went alright. The first set I had some seious issues coming forward, and on the second set I had the same problem and almost lost it on (I think) the eighth rep. Also, I set up a little wide on the second set and it felt weird. On the third and fourth sets I was able to correct a lot of the coming forward by remembering to keep my chest up. this was the first time I filmed all my squat sets. It was a good idea and it helped me improve along the way. The third and fourth sets looked and felt so much better than the first two sets.

For anyone interested in watching it, the video is a little long (4 min) even though I tried to cut out everything that wasn't actual squatting footage. I just took a long time to do these sets. It felt like cardio.



Walking lunges

135 x 2 x 10 each leg

T-bar rows

2 sets of 20.

6/21/14

Bench press (kind of paused)

235 x 11
235 x 12
235 x 12
235 x 12
235 x 13

Bench is steadily feeling better, although form on these didn't feel quite as solid as it has recently. The best set was the second, which I was able to film before my phone died. The first set I didn't have a spotter, so I stopped it a rep early. Kyle arrived and spotted me for the rest of the sets, so I made up for the missed first set rep on the last set. fatigue caught up to me by the last set.

Second set is here:



Ohp

145 x 4
145 x 5
115 x 8

I was pretty fatigued from the benching, so ohp felt shitty. I also think it had something to do with squatting kinda late the night before and working out a few hours earlier than usual that day. I need to figure out exactly what I'm going to do about my ohp training. I think I'll continue to do it after benching for now, and I'll see how my work capacity builds. I'm thinking though that I won't do more than 3 working sets for the time being.

Banded triceps ss w/ banded rows

4 or 5 sets

Squat

285 x 4 x 10

It took me a while to get comfortable with these today, but they felt surprisingly good. I think I"m actually getting better at squatting. I'd say this session was easier than the session I did of 255 x 4 x 12 three days ago. Form got better as the sets went on. I need to get in the groove with these sooner, so that I'm not finally feeling good about my squat after I've done 30 reps that I felt went kinda shitty. Here's the 4th set.



walking lunges

135 x 12
155 x 12

t - bar rows

3 sets of 15 - 20

Also, I'm thinking of assigning days to my training. I've been hesitant about it though, because I inevitably miss days here and there, and I've always been inclined to listen to what my body is telling me and when I should take a rest day. I think I'm going to try it and just see how it works out. If it's not for me I'll just continue what I'm doing now, which is generally 2-3 days on and one day off. Also, I am out of town many weekends, which likely will mess with things. If this doesn't work out so well, I think I'll just stick with the 2 and 3 day cycles and do my best to keep the order.

Monday: squat
Tuesday: bench
Wedndesday: rest / light cardio
Thursday: squat
Friday: bench
Saturday: deadlift and back work

Monday and tuesday I'll try to get in a few sets of back/rowing movements as well. I opted to have deadlifts on Saturday as opposed to Wednesday because, given my recent back issues, I figured it would be best not to have deadlifting after sitting down all day at work.

6/24/14

Bench

255 x 4 x 10
255 x 11 (missed 12)

Things were feeling good, so I went for some extra reps on the last set, but in retrospect it may not have been the best idea. I tried to speed things up a little too much and ended up getting sloppy. Also, I failed the last rep. All in all though, aside from some form tweaks I need to make, bench is moving really well right now. a few months ago 5 sets of 10 at 225 would have been a feat for me.

Last set here:



Overhead press

135 x 5
155 x 4
175 x 3
195 x 0
195 x 1



Overhead press felt good, which made up for it feeling not so good last session. Still training this by feel. I was about to back things off, but Dalton suggested I go for something since it was feeling good - you gotta take those days when you get em, because you never know when you'll have them again. So I decided I'd go for 175 x 2, which would be a 10 lb 2 rep PR. I got a pretty decent 3 out of it (with a difficult first rep because I didn't set up very well), so I decided to go for the 195. I missed it the first time because I didn't let myself get settled before I started pressing. It was a fight, but I got it the second time. I almost never get something after I miss it once. I don't want to make a habit of this, but it was a good feeling knowing that I could refocus and approach the weight with confidence. My goal for summer is to hit 200. I only hope the progress doesn't come to a dramatic halt.

Notes: It's been hit and miss with how ohpressing feels each session, and I have an uneven lockout that I want to fix (left arm locks out late).

6/26/14

Squat

315 x 3 x 8
315 x 10



I was pretty pressed for time, so this was all I got done yesterday. Because I didn't have the time to do the other things I wanted, I pushed out an extra two reps on the last set. Speed on these didn't feel very good.

Notes: I am really struggling to stay tight throughout the movement and am having a difficult time finding a good bar position on my back. On the last set I tried getting it lower, and I had difficulty with the bar slipping. You can see me readjust it at some points. Also, I need to continue what I started a little while ago and revisit mobility work. I was making progress and then I ditched it. I have some butt winking that I think needs to be fixed.

I think flat soled squatting is the way to go for me as it is what feels strongest. But, it also requires a little more mobility and flexibility than squatting with the 3/4 heel of the oly shoes. I think I will keep the high volume squat work for now, but, probably starting next week, I am going to drop the weight down and do some high bar squatting with the oly shoes to take some of the stress off of my hips and low back. I hear high bar has a really good transfer to low bar so I'll see how that works for me.

I was hoping to feel ready to higher the intensity going into next week, but I still have some things to figure out. Learning how to squat is a journey.

Welcome to the 315 for 10 club!

Brometheus wrote:

Welcome to the 315 for 10 club!

Thank you sir!

6/26/14

Bench press

275 x 2 x 8
315 x 3



close grip (about 2 in from inside edge of knurling)
225 x 10
225 x 9 (for some reason I did this set really slow)

Bench felt kinda rough yesterday. Warmups with 225 felt heavy and I just didn't find a good groove with the bar. The plan was to do 4 sets of 8 at 275. My first set was sloppy mostly because I anticipated it being difficult and tried to get a little bouncy with things to make the reps easier. Also, my left elbow was in bad position for the set. I managed to maintain much better elbow position on the second set and control the movement a lot better, but it was a struggle to complete. After grinding out the eighth rep I decided to change the game plan. I was going to go for a double at 315 and then back things off, but it felt good so I went for the triple which tied my PR from about a month ago. It felt better this time.

ohp with pause at forehead (my sticking point)

1 set at 95
2 sets at 115

didn't count reps

tricep band pull downs

6/28/14

Deadlift

225 x 2 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3 x 30

No time for anything else, had to get to work.

This was my first time deadlifting since I hurt my rib - a little over three weeks since I last pulled. Things are feeling quite a bit better, but I still haven't worn a belt for squatting or deadlifting. This session felt sllooooowwww.

Andy Awad wrote:

405 x 3 x 30

wat