Andy Awad's Training Log

5/28/15

deadlift

warmups

405 x 1
455 x 1
505 x 1
585 x 1 (5lb PR)
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 5



I saw Cody for my knee and felt way better afterwards.  Saw him again today and feel even better yet.  Thursday, I will get back into squatting.  I had no intentions of pulling heavy at all last Thursday, but it felt way too good not too.  505 isn't a weight I typically do, but it moved faster than any 495 pull I've done ever has.  I felt good enough to make the jump to 6 plates and I have to say it moved really well.  My hips shot up a little bit causing me to come slightly forward and the bar to start rotating.  All in all though, the best a deadlift PR has ever looked or moved for me.  Recently, I spent some time reworking my setup to get in a better start position and take the jerkiness out of the start of my pull.  600 may have been there this day, but I was happy to take the PR and leave the 600 attempt for another day.

Some very light leg extensions and hamstring curls.

Forgot to add:

5/31

Circuit at home

run a little then some single arm ohp and rows w/ 50's followed by some arms.

nicely done

Thanks mane.

6/4

Squats w/ Lorenzo's sbd's.

worked up to 405 x 2. felt good. I think I will get a pair of these


6/5

btn press

some sets at 115 I really liked doing these

light bench

some rowing stuff

6/8

wrapped squat

365 x 2
405 x 2
455 x 2
495 x 1

high bar very light wrap job

315 x 7
315 x 7

used the stretchy powerbelly wraps. wrapped up really lightly up to 405, and got tighter at 455. had them fairly tight for 495.



Some things to work on including using the belt better, and getting my hips under the bar more by activating my gluts. All in all though, I'm getting much more comfortable in the oly shoes and I think they are finally starting to feel better.

6/09/15

Bench

315 x 1

315 x 2

w/ xl read slingshot

365 x 3 (PR)

index finger on ring

225 x 10

some back and bis

Forearms were achy from going tubing the day before so I decided to cut the raw benching short and put on the slingshot. Wanted to try out some wide grip benching to activate a little more chest and delts. having not done it for some time now, it felt really weird and weak. I may keep some of this in the mix, just not frequently or too heavy to save my shoulders (which have been good for some time now).

squat

high(ish) bar

365 x 2
385 x 2
385 x 2
385 x 2

deadlift

495 x 1 (fast)
600 x 0.5 (fast up to my knees, then nothing.  gluts just weren't firing, probably because i squatted first)

6/16

squat

some low bar that went horribly.  worked up to 405 with the stretchy wraps

bench

315 x 1
335 x 2 (paused, moved very well)

slingshot

355 x 4

then

185 x 15
185 x 11
drop to
135 x 11 (such pump)

6/18/2015

low bar squat, no belt no wraps

worked with 275 a bit, form felt like shit

cheater dead lift

495 x 1 (easy)
545 x 0 (bad position)
545 x 0.6 (cheater sucks)

Thought I'd mess around with cheater after watching Duffin's video.  Probably not a good idea for me wen conventional is feeling really good.

6/19/2015

squat, no belt or wraps

315 x 3
365 x 3
365 x 2

Didn't plan to squat because had to work out at rec and was wearing running shoes...but they felt way better than yesterday, so that is very good.  Going to do some squatting like this for a while (minus running shoes).  I think I need it and it will benefit me right now.

seated btn, short rest intervals

95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 7

feet up bench

185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

some bis and tris


Edit: lol'd when I saw that 5umo is changed to cheater

6/21/15

Impromptu bench session with brother (not a father) and bother-in-law (father of 3) for fathers' day

275 x 1
225 x 17

I'm blaming being tired from Firdays btn for not being able to get a few more clean reps with 225

some strict rows with 55 lb dbb

right arm 2 sets of 12

left arm 3 sets of 12

I'm doing one extra set of unilateral work for my left arm on pretty much every exercise I do in an effort to even out my imbalances.

Andy Awad wrote:

Edit: lol'd when I saw that 5umo is changed to cheater

negged for avoiding the swear filter

Furnace wrote:

negged for avoiding the swear filter

Lol.  Well hopefully I'll never need to again.

6/22/15

5.85 mile walk.

6/23/15

low bar squat, no belt no wraps, flat shoes



365 x 2
405 x 1
405 x 1
405 x 1



Taking things back to the basics with my squat.  these felt alright, but I was honestly wiped out for this session.  The long walk the day before and lack of sleep this week (stressed about thesis defense tomorrow) took their toll on me.  I happy it went as well as it did.  haven't squatted (reasonably) heavy without any belt or knee wraps in quite some time.  My form wasn't completely dialed in, and I came forward a little on each rep.  My hips were actually a little beaten up from that stupid cheater pulling I did.  Never again.  Never.

Unfortunately this training session was done at the rec.  I was reminded of how nice the equipment at Magni is.

Notes:  need flat soled squat shoes; I'm giving up on oly shoes for low bar.  I squatted in the water shoes I got to deadlift and they were terrible.

Bench (short rest)

315 x 1
315 x 1
315 x 1
315 x 1

Notes: Rec bars + rec benches = 10 - 15 lbs off your bench.

Did 3 x 500m on the row machine.  And 1 plank.  I was spent after all that.

6/25/15

Defended my thesis

6/26/15

Squat no belt

405 x 1
415 x 1 x 3

Bench

315 x 1 x 5

255 x 5 x 3

6/27/15

deadlift

495 x 1 x 3

lots of singles with 315

got some good pointers from Luke Merideth.  Looking forward to incorporating them.

seal rows

4 sets - awesome upper back exercise

lat pulls

some

abs

hollow rocks and hollow holds

reverse hypers

just a few.  these really kicked my butt

6/29/15

squat, raw raw

405
425
435 x 2 (PR)

bench

275 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 4 (almost 5)



wrote workout notes out, but accidently hit back and I don't feel like writing them again. Basically, things feel pretty good all around. Need to balance rest and nutrition right now to keep things going well.

6/30/15

Tried to come in and do an "accessory day" and I just don't think that's my thing.  I hated not doing a main movement.  I'd much rather just do accessories after doing my main stuff.

some seated btn press

95 x 7
115 x 3 x 7

some bent over rows
195 x 4 x ~12

some meadows rows

some light bench (up to 185) to get some blood flow going on.

Did some shopping today. Bought some wrist wraps and knees sleeves from elitefts and a pair of the Reebok power shoes. I'm excited.

7/1/15

raw raw squat (at rec center)

405 x 1
425 x 1
445 x 1 (bad) (bad PR)
445 x 1 (good) (good PR)
315 x 5

first single at 445 felt really shitty. Those damn rec bars are so hard to get into position under. I couldn't get tight under the bar and I came forward. I actually contemplated ditching the weight at one point but decided against it. I had it dropped to 315, but decided to go back to 445 for a second go and nail it. I knew the technical mistake I made, and this time just didn't rush the rep and let myself get settled under the bar. It wasn't easy, but it moved smoothly with no technical hitches. I was pleased.

Notes: I need to work on my eccentric speed.

Deadlift

worked up to several singles at 365 thinking about the things I worked on with Luke Meredith.

Abs

much burning

Notes:

Wasn't feeling up to squatting and deadlifting, but I wanted to get them in as I am leaving today and won't be able to lift again until Monday. Today I will be benching, thankfully at Magni.

7/02/15

Bench

335 x 4 (missed 5)

don't really remember what else I did

7/06/15

squat, no belt, no knee sleeves

405 x 6 (PR, but most of these reps were about an inch high on film)

Although at least half of the reps were a little high, I was really pleased with this set.  My previous rep PR at 405 was 4, and that was with a belt.

bench

300 x 7 (failed on 8, roll of shame)

Some upper back work


My workouts haven't been the best lately, but they certainly haven't been terrible (with the exception of squat which has somehow been very good).  I have not had a plan at all going into the gym, and I have paid for it by missing reps on my last few bench sessions (which have been spur of the moment amraps).  Today I had nothing to do at work, so I wrote myself out a simple and most importantly manageable training schedule for the next 4 weeks. I will train 4 days a week and it simply starts out at 60% and then goes up ten percent the first 4 weeks to 90% and 5 percent the fifth week to 95% - deadlift is just a little different.  Then I will rest for about 6 days and do a mock meet to see where things are at.  I will bench twice a week, low bar squat once a week, and deadlift once a week paired with lightweight, paused high bar squats.  If it works well, I will run a longer version leading up to the November UPA meet, which I really want to do in celebration of my 30th birthday just 2 days before.  I won't be squatting with wraps this cycle, but I'll be using my new elitefts knee sleeves starting the 3rd week.

7/09/2015

Bench

275 x 3
275 x 5
275 x 3
275 x 3
275 x 3

Bench felt really, really solid. Next week I'm starting with my new plan, and I'm excited.

flies

these feel like they're good for me. It help me think about how my shoulders should freely move. I lock my left shoulder in place a lot of the time, and these allow me to think about "opening up"

lateral raises

arms

seal rows with dumbbells - think I like doing these with the swiss bar more

some rear delt stuff Willingham showed me

7/13/2015

raw raw squat

300 x 6
300 x 8
300 x 8
300 x 8

I was pretty exhausted after these.  I didn't expect it to be so difficult to get so many squat reps in at a relatively light weight. I really made sure to sink all of these, and worked on speeding up my eccentric and getting some stretch reflex. I felt a lot of hamstring and glut work going on.

7/15

bench

225 x 6
225 x 6
225 x 8
225 x 10

some shoulders and lat pulldowns

7/17

deadlift

525 x 1
600 x 0.1

Deviated from the plan yesterday. Brad is leaving town, and we worked out at Magni and I thought I might have 600 in me. I think if I wasn't so conscious of things I'm trying to adjust in my setup, I think I might have had it. Regardless, next time I try 600 I will I know I am going to get it.

high bar squat w/sleeves

225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5

Knee sleeves are great for high bar. Kept everything very smooth and controlled.

Went to rec and did some rowing

4 500m's w/ 1 min rest. Got progressively faster each time

1000m easy

7/18/2015

Ran some sprints for the first time in years at the rec. It felt good. Afterwards, did some light dumbbell rows, and pushups for a little bit of muscle recovery. Followed it with ten min on the exercise bike.

7/20/2015

squat, no belt

325 x 6 x 5 (rep x set)

No time for anything else.  Squats felt ok.  First set was the best, then I started to think about it and the subsequent sets didn't feel quite as good.  I didn't record the first set.



Two issues I want to address with my squat:

1.) Set up under the bar quicker. This shouldn't be an issue for me still, but it is. I made some progress with it today. It may just be a matter of thinking about what I want to do more before actually getting under the bar and then going through all of the ques. On heavy squats, it's taken me nearly a minute from the time I unracked the weight until I started squatting.

2.) I move around and wiggle my hips between reps way too much. This may stem from coming down and/or up unevenly. I notice that my left knee is hitting the bottom before my right knee. I will start with this first.

Now, to keep things positive, two things I am liking about my squat:

1.) My torso position and bar path have improved a lot. I've gotten much better about staying upright and not pitching forward at the bottom. I think the high bar work I did helped a lot with this. Not so much that it made my quads much stronger (I don't think I did it long enough for that), but it made me relearn a more efficient and healthier bar path by focusing on staying as upright as possible - if I pitch forward with high bar it puts a lot of stress on my neck, so I make sure to not let it happen.

2.) My eccentric speed is getting much better. I don't think I'll ever be a dive bomb squatter, but I can see now that the motion is smoothing out and I am getting some stretch reflex out of the hole. I like it. I am excited to see where things go with my squat.

7/21/15

Bench

245 x 5 x 6

Bench felt off

7/22/15

Bench

About 2 sets of 5 at:
95, 135, 155, 175, 195, 215, 225, 235, 185, 135

After yesterday's off benching, I decided to come in today and do some light weight stuff really focusing on bar path and how I want the weight to move. Everything felt great. Glad I came in to do it.

Lat pulls

About 5 sets of 15-20

7/23/15

deadlift

did sets at 295.  Am going to be working at about this weight (275 - 315ish) on deadlift for a while.

Some notes:  With my lifting in general (especially the deadlift and bench press) I've made it a major focus to do everything as fast and explosively as possible for a good while now.  It feels great when my bar path is on, but when it's off, I really lose my feel for the lift and my body stops moving as fluidly.  Focusing on doing things with more control right now is helping me to find a more optimal bar path and improve my body's motor function.

7/24/2015

bench

worked up slowly to about 4 or 5 sets of 5 at 215

lots and lots of lat pulls

7/27/2015

squats, raw raw

350 x 5
350 x 5
350 x 5
350 x 5
350 x 3

My objective was 3 - 5 sets, depending on what I was feeling up to.  Monday was a really stressful day for me and I was worn down (spent the weekend cleaning and moving my girlfriend too, which didn't help at all), so I was really happy when I got 4 solid sets. I was completely spent, but then the adrenaline from completing a good workout kicked in and I decided to do one more set.  Bad idea.  I came forward on the 3rd rep and tweaked my left spinal erector.  I saw Cody for it yesterday and it is feeling better.  My low back has just been feeling beat up in general.  Need to take care of it.

7/29/2015

bench

bar x 5
bar x  5
95 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 5
215 x 5
235 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 5

bench felt great from set up to quality of reps.  Didn't rush anything and kept the rest between sets minimal.

at rec center

rowing machine

500m w/1 min rest x 5

incline dumbbell ss w/dbb rows x 3 sets

7/30/2015

deadlifts up to 225, felt off

deadlift with trap bar or hex bar whatever it is

315 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5

high bar squats up to 225 x 5

rowed some 500s

7/30/2015

bench, feet up, flat back

135 x 2 x 8
155 x 2 x 8
175 x 2 x 8
195 x 2 x 8
215 x 2 x 8 (feet down last two reps of last set lol)

I rested very little between these sets. dispite having my feet up and back flat, benching felt fantastic and, strangely, there was no irritation to my shoulders. Felt really good

jm press

experimented just up to 115.

dbb ohp 4 sets

light, really focused on keeping stress on delts and traps

lat pulls

many ss w/ ohp

arms

did some rowing after at the rec. 5 500s w/1 min rest. increasing speed with each one. last one was done in 1:38.

abs

8/02/2015

running

did 9 times one lap hard walk one lap at rec center (total of 2 miles) It was great.

lots of abs

some light arms after

8/03/2015

high bar pause squat (about 3 sec) in sleeves

3 sets of 5 at 135, 185, 215

front squat

135 x 10

took a squat deload day. I was tired.