Ashley Gleckler's Training Log

Okay, two people have suggested I start a training log now, so here goes...

I guess I will start out with some background and stats since pretty much everyone else did, too.

I have been lifting for about a year, but I would consider myself as only lifting correctly for about 9 months, ie: incorporating a bar and plates instead of exclusively using machines and dumbbells. Before that, for whatever reason, I got really into endurance running - I did 5 half marathons in the span of a year before I realized running that far kind of sucks and lifting is way more awesome.

That said, I have never competed, but I am aiming for the April 2013 meet.

Stats:
Height: 5'5
Weight: 153

I just started my first "real" cut this week... I plan on doing it for about 6 weeks. We'll see how it goes; I'm not even entirely sure I am doing it correctly. If anyone has done one and has tips, that would be cool. I am doing this because 1) I want to cut some fat and 2) maybe go down a weight class - I realized if Janis lifts significantly more than me when I have at least 35lbs on her, I can't imagine what kind of ridiculousness gets lifted in a 150s weight class.

Gym PRs - I have never maxed out, but this is the most I have done at the gym.
Squat: 170
Deadlift: 205
Bench: 70... lol.

Eat a slight deficit for a long, sustained period of time! Lose the weight very slowly and you'll stand a much better chance of training without any strength loss. My suggestion would be to lose, at the absolute most, five pounds over the next six week.

And don't worry about everybody else. We all have, at one point in time, been in exactly the same position as you are now. 'Strong' is a relative term, and I prefer not to use it; I think it's better to think of individuals as being at different stages in their development. Maximal strength sport athletes peak later in life than athletes in just about every other discipline, and the amount of time necessary to near one's potential (a decade, at a minimum) is incredibly long. Invariably, the ones that succeed are simply the ones that stick around the longest.

But we'll get you stronger, that's for sure. There's a 148-lb. weight class that would be a good April goal for you, and your numbers are going to skyrocket in that time. Trust me; you're going to be blown away by the progress you make during this period.

Yeah, time is really the key here, both for training and body composition questions. Over the last ten years, my weight has fluctuated, and it has all been due to long-term dietary choices I was making during certain periods of my life. One thing that will happen if you cut calories significantly is that it will be a serious shock to your system/metabolism. What you might want to focus on more than anything else is your macronutrient breakdown. A lot what people consider to be a "healthy" macronutrient ratio distribution in their diet is still pretty high on the carb side of things, and that's the first thing you're going to want to work with to change body composition. Re-evaluate what kinds of carbs and how many you're taking in. Replace some of them with fat or protein. Also, alcohol is basically a carb. I pretty much have stopped drinking (my birthday/a wedding being the possible exception to this--the former doesn't happen often and the latter almost never because I am a hermit and don't have many friends getting married/many friends, period) just to save carbs/calories. It's something to keep in mind.

Being a big bencher in powerlifting is massively about technique (and, okay, about leverages, and I don't think you've got bad ones for bench, like I do). If you haven't been instructed specifically in powerlifting bench style, who knows what you can really do on bench. How often are you benching right now? We'll get that number up in no time.

Anyway, I'm so happy you've made a log. Welcome.

What is a cut?

GFou wrote:

What is a cut?

Shhhhh, we must never speak of such things, young Gregory.

GFou wrote:

What is a cut?

Don't worry, cutting doesn't exist; it's just a ghost story the schoolyard boys like to tell to scare young powerlifters into becoming crossfitters.





Ashley, the most important thing for you to keep in mind is consistency. Not for a week, or a month, but years, and hopefully decades. Nobody reaches success overnight. I don't think it's best to say "oh, I'm going on a diet." Instead, think about the long term and make the lifestyle choices you need to. It will start slowly, but eventually things will "click" and you'll get it. In the meantime, just train hard and smart.

As an analogy, don't worry about every sign on the road; just get in the car and drive. You'll get there. Keep the car fueled and your foot on the gas, and you'll be at the destination soon enough.

As for the diet, have Chris tell you what a typical week is like for him, and then do the opposite of that.

Hey now, ranch is good for you. It contains tons of highly anabolic MSG.

Haha yeah, I know it is a long term thing... and I'm not severely cutting my calories, I am more or less playing with my macros. I am trying to find a balance between fat loss and keeping my strength. My plan for the next six weeks is keeping my protein levels at about 1-1.2g of protein per pound of body weight while I cut my calories back by about 200-300 per day. That puts my protein at around 40-45% of my daily intake. I'm attempting to keep fat and carbs in the neighborhood of 25/30 ratio after that.

As a newer lifter, you can probably heavily focus on fat loss to begin with. You haven't had the time to build up a whole lot of strength, so you probably won't lose much; at any rate, even if your strength does go down, you will almost assuredly have a better strength-weight ratio, which is what powerlifting is all about. I'm pretty confident that your strength levels won't drop off, especially if you take your time changing your diet.

Okay, so here is what I did today. I'm still learning how to put together workouts.

Barbell Deadlift:
95 lb x 10 reps
135 lb x 5 reps
155 lb x 3 reps
185 lb x 2 reps
205 lb x 2 reps
215 lb x 1 reps (New PR)
215 lb x 1 reps
215 lb x 1 reps
185 lb x 2 reps
135 lb x 5 reps
95 lb x 5 reps

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown:
100 lb x 5 reps
100 lb x 5 reps
100 lb x 5 reps
90 lb x 5 reps
90 lb x 5 reps

Triceps Pushdown:
40 lb x 10 reps
40 lb x 10 reps
40 lb x 10 reps

Machine Chest Press:
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
25 lb x 8 reps
25 lb x 8 reps
25 lb x 8 reps

Nice! Good to see! Man, lots of volume in here...once the intensity of your work sets increases, you may want to cut back on a little bit of the assistance work. I guess it's a go-by-feel sort of thing, but if you're feeling good after tons of volume in this many exercises, , you're great, but if you're finding yourself feeling like you're not recovered fully from workouts (and i know this might not be the case whatsoever), you might want to reconfigure what you're doing with various assistance lifts.

Janis, will you be at the CRWC today? I seriously need to work on my benching but I never have a spotter (because law school students are lame and don't even lift) and am scared of killing myself.

agleckler wrote:

Janis, will you be at the CRWC today? I seriously need to work on my benching but I never have a spotter (because law school students are lame and don't even lift) and am scared of killing myself.

I will, but I'm REALLY pressed for time today...I have to get in, do my workout, and get out because I have a critique in the early evening. Wednesdays are kind of difficult days for me. But! I will be there at 330 or 4, and maybe if you're there around the same time we could work something out! I just need to be kind of strict with msyelf on this day with this particular workout because I have to do a lot and I actually have a time limit (bleh). I hope I see you there! We can also show you how to set up a cage so you can bench and fail and have safeties there to "catch" it. This is what I would do (and have done) if I haven't had someone around to spot me. We should definitely get you set up with that system for the future.

agleckler wrote:

Janis, will you be at the CRWC today? I seriously need to work on my benching but I never have a spotter (because law school students are lame and don't even lift) and am scared of killing myself.

I'll be there, and I'm benching, too. 4-6pm. So, if you need somebody and Janis is busy, I'll be around.

babyeater wrote:

I will, but I'm REALLY pressed for time today...I have to get in, do my workout, and get out because I have a critique in the early evening. Wednesdays are kind of difficult days for me. But! I will be there at 330 or 4, and maybe if you're there around the same time we could work something out! I just need to be kind of strict with msyelf on this day with this particular workout because I have to do a lot and I actually have a time limit (bleh). I hope I see you there! We can also show you how to set up a cage so you can bench and fail and have safeties there to "catch" it. This is what I would do (and have done) if I haven't had someone around to spot me. We should definitely get you set up with that system for the future.

I didn't realize I would be allowed to pull a bench into the cages... for whatever reason, I thought they had to stay outside where people normally bench. Also, I figured maybe people would be mad if I was taking up perfectly good squatting space in a cage for benching purposes. But if you do it, then I will totally do it too.

KKeough wrote:

I'll be there, and I'm benching, too. 4-6pm. So, if you need somebody and Janis is busy, I'll be around.

Awesome! Thanks!

KKeough wrote:

agleckler wrote:

Janis, will you be at the CRWC today? I seriously need to work on my benching but I never have a spotter (because law school students are lame and don't even lift) and am scared of killing myself.

I'll be there, and I'm benching, too. 4-6pm. So, if you need somebody and Janis is busy, I'll be around.

yaaaay Kyle!

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps
95 lb x 5 reps
115 lb x 5 reps
135 lb x 3 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
135 lb x 1 reps
115 lb x 3 reps

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 10 reps
45 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
55 lb x 5 reps
55 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 3 reps
70 lb x 3 reps

Machine Lateral Raise:
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps

Cleans:
65 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps

You said that the most you've done on the bench press is 70lb, and you did two triples with that weight, after doing a ton of other work. You're already progressing, and it will start to come faster as things click for you.

das a lot of volume

agleckler wrote:

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps
95 lb x 5 reps
115 lb x 5 reps
135 lb x 3 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
155 lb x 1 reps
135 lb x 1 reps
115 lb x 3 reps

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 10 reps
45 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
55 lb x 5 reps
55 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
60 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 3 reps
70 lb x 3 reps

Machine Lateral Raise:
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps

Cleans:
65 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 10 reps

Do you accomplish all of this in one session? It is indeed a lot of volume.

KKeough wrote:

Do you accomplish all of this in one session? It is indeed a lot of volume.

Yes. This is not EVERY time though, just when I know upcoming days will involve being at school until after the CRWC closes, so I try to get in as much as I can.

Short workout today:

Barbell Deadlift:
95 lb x 10 reps
135 lb x 5 reps
155 lb x 3 reps
185 lb x 2 reps
210 lb x 1 reps
225 lb x 1 reps New PR
225 lb x 1 reps
225 lb x 1 reps


Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 10 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
75 lb x 5 reps
80 lb x 3 reps
85 lb x 2 reps New PR
65 lb x 5 reps
45 lb x 10 reps


Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat:
20 lb x 10 reps
20 lb x 10 reps


I have a video of my deadlift! Just need to figure out how to post it.

Assuming you have the video uploaded to youtube, just click the little icon that looks like a couple of film slides when you are posting (right above the text box, second row, left side). Copy-paste the URL of the video and enter it in the box.