Andy Awad's Training Log

I've been training again for a few months now. I got back in the gym and it feels pretty good. I'm keeping things pretty light and at least for now not using a belt or knee sleeves or anything. I'm also squatting much deeper than I used to. My immediate goal isn't on competing, but just being strong and healthy and functional. I'm stretching a lot more than I used to, which still isn't much, but it is really helping keep my low back (kind of) healthy. My plan right now is hitting the main lifts (squat, bench, dead, ohp) with 3 sets each each week. First two sets are 5 reps, 3rd set is 5+. For squat and deadlift I'm adding 10lbs per week and bench and ohp I'm adding 5 lbs per week. I'll deload every 4th or 5th week. When I can't get 5 reps, I'll either drop to 3 reps or reset a little heavier than I started this time. Deadlift will almost surely be a reset and not go heavier. last few months have been mostly sets of 8 to 12 as I was getting back into the gym. I focused on incline bench one day a week. I went from doing sets of 10 at 155 with difficulty to doing sets of 10 at 205 confidently by adding 5 lbs a week to the lift. My last week doing it I did 4 sets of 8 at 215. The rapid improvement was no doubt the result of noob gains + being out of the gym + recruiting benching muscles in a new movement pattern. It was really fun to experience gains on that level. I'm also making sure to do some form of rowing/vertical pulling every workout and hit my arms at least once a week.

8/26/2016

bench

285 x 5
285 x 5
285 x 10 (PR?)

deadlift no belt

405 x 2
455 x 2
455 x 2
405 x 2

Bench is feeling great right now. Also best deadlift has felt in a while. Brought my feet in a little and my grip out a little after watching a Pete Rubish vid and it made it easier to get into position at the bottom.

8/29/2016

raw raw squat

345 x 5
345 x 5
345 x 10 (PR?)

ohp

150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 7

squat feels really good. Ohp not so much.

8/31/2016

at home

3 times

15 push ups
5 pullups
15 leg raises

3 times

15 lunges
10 curls
10 tricep extentions

9/2/16

tng bench

290 x 5
290 x 5
290 x 10 (PR)

I was told the set of 10 was pretty ugly. It felt under control to me and I didn't have any shoulder pain, so I think it was ok. I'll try to clean things up a bit.

deadlift, beltless

405 x 5
455 x 5

Best 455 has felt in ages. Back felt good. Made some technical changes suggested by Brian Collins and deadlift is finally feeling good again. Feet are closer, grip is a little wider, and knees are more forwad -- Knees forward is actually what helped take the stress off my back the most. It also keeps my hips from shooting up at the start of the pull. Definitely had a rep or two in the tank after 5 at 455. The most reps I've pulled at 455 before is 7, and that was cheater. I think I've done 5 conventional before, but it was quite a while ago. Wen I pulled 585, I had no rep current PRs to reference. I just felt good and went for it and it moved pretty well. I've pulled 495 for 3 conventional, and 5 cheater. If I had to guess, I would put my dl at around 550 right now. I think it's feeling good enough to start some sort of progression with. I might just run 5/3/1 on my dl and calculate whatever max single 455 x 5 is and start from there.

9/6/16

Squat

355 x 5
355 x 5
355 x 10 (PR)



OHP

155 X 4
95 X 10
95 X 10
95 X 10
95 X 10


Hammer strength one arm at a time

70 x 10
4 sets

Got pretty light headed with 155 on ohp so stopped at 4. OHP is feeling crappy,  so I decided to drop the weight and focus on sets of 10 and increase it 5 lbs a week. It worked really well for incline, so I told myself if it was feeling bad at 155 I was going to drop to 95 and start sets of ten.

9/9/16

tng bench

295 x 5
295 x 5
295 x 8

Bench felt off. Just couldn't get a good bar path - kept touching too low or too high. Last set was ok. I'm not feeling fried, but I think a deload next week will be good.

Deadlift

405 x 2
455 x 2
495 x 4 (PR)



deadlift is feeling the best it ever has. I deleted all of my old deadlift vids on my phone, but I wish I could find them to show the changes I've made in my set up. It has made a tremendous difference.

Some face pulls, hammer curls, abs, and reverse hypers with no weight.

9/12/16

hi bar squat

225 x 5
275 x 5
275 x 5

ohp

100 x 10
4 sets

hammer strength
70 x 10 4 sets

some abs and shoulder stuff

deloading this week

9/15/16

deloading

feet up bench

185 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

deadlift

315 x 4
315 x 3
315 x 3

some back, abs and shoulder stuff

9/19/2016

sqats

365 x 5
365 x 5
365 x 9 (PR)



Notes: some bar tilt on the concentric phase to work on. Also want to be less fidgety between reps. Also, took my stance in a little bit. Everything felt good over all.

ohp

105 x 10
105 x 10
105 x 10

hammer strength low rows

72.5 pps

single arm
2 sets x 10

both arms with squeeze at top
2 sets x 10

dips

1 x 15

Notes: been doing one set of dips on ohp and squat day and one set of feet up close crip w/225 on bench and deadlift day. I haven't been logging those.

9/23/16

Bench tag

300 x 5
300 x 5
300 x 9 (tie pr)



Deadlift

315 x 5
375 x 5
425 x 7

9/26/2016

walked about 1 mile across campus at work

squat

375 x 5,5,8

ohp
110 x 10,10,10

low rows one arm at a time
75 pps, x 10,10,12,12

dips
16

curls

22.5 x 12
25 x 12

notes: very worn out yesterday from poor sleep. Could have had 1 or 2 more on last squat set, but wasn't up to it.

9/29/16

tng bench

305 x 5,5, 8 (9 with spot)

cg, feet up

225 x9

deadlift

375 x 5,7

decided to give the stiff bar a try. holy shit my grip is weak from the skinny deadlift bar. Could barely hold onto 7 reps at 375. Think I'll pull with this for a while.

pulldowns

110 x 3 sets of 12

curls some, slow eccentric

Notes: Bicep and forearms are acting up. Likely from low bar squatting and doing no direct bicep work for the past 2 months. Time to throw that consistently into the mix again. And probably not stop it this time when things start to feel good.

10/03/2016

squat

385 x 5,5,8

added wrist wraps to help with bicep pain. They helped I think.

ohp

115 x 10,10,10

I bring shame to my family. Last 2 reps of ohp on last set were push press. Someday my ohp may not suck so bad

hammer strength low rows, one arm at a time

80 pps x10
90 pps x10
100 x 10
100 x 10

90 was probably enough.

dips

1 x 17

probably gonna do 2 sets of 9 next time, adding a rep to each set.

hammer curls with very slow eccentric

3 sets w/ 20s

2 sets lat pull downs with ropes to work forearms some and shitty grip strength

10/7/2016

Bench

310 x 5,5,9 (PR)



Feet up, cg, dropsets

275 x 5
225 x 7
185 x 7
135 x 9

Bench is going extremely well right now. I thought at this point I maybe would hit this weight for 5 - 6, but 9 is a huge PR for me. If I had someone to hand off to me, I may have gone for a tenth rep. Anyhow, I'm extremely happy. 310 x 9 calculates to a 403 lb bench press. While I don't think I could hit that right now because I haven't really handled anything heavy in a while, I do think I could adjust to heavier weights over the course of the next few weeks to a month and have a really good go at 4 plates. My birthday is in about a month, so do I stay with my simple plan that is working so well right now, or do I veer off the course for a few weeks to hit a lifetime milestone? Decisions, decisions.

deadlift, stiff bar

385 x 5,5,10

grip and everything else was dying by the tenth rep and I dropped the bar at lockout. Not proud.

did pulldowns, and lateral raises after. Also did a ton of hammer curls with slow eccentrics before, during, and after benching to help with bicep and biceps biceps brachii pain. This is the single most effective method for keeping me pain free. From now on, I plan to do these after every workout, and as a warm up if things aren't feeling right. This week I will be deloading.

10/10/2016

high bar squat

225 x 3
275 x 3
275 x 3

ohp

85 x 5,5,5

hammer strength rows
90 x 8,8,8

hammer curls

some

Been pretty sick this week. I'm deloading, so fortunately it hasn't really affect training. Feeling better today now.

10/13/2016

bench

225 x 5,5,5

deadlift

315 x 3,3,3

used the dl bar because it was there and i was feeling too lazy to get the texas pb. Despite being sick, this was the lightest 315 has ever felt. I wonder if it has something to do with going from stiff bar to dl bar.

pulldowns with rope up to 90 lbs x 10

hammer curls
about 5 sets between benching

Note: This is the fastest a forearm/bicep flare up this bad has ever cleared out for me. not perfect yet, but at least 80% better, and lifting is not affected as long as I keep it up. No nsaids, just hammer curls with very slow eccentric. If anyone reads this and has those issues, I highly recommend trying that exercise out. Start with just about 20 lbs or even less.

10/17/2016

squats

395 x 5,5,3,5

Squats felt terrible. Being sick took a lot out of me, and I was still coughing quite a bit between sets.

OHP

120 x 10, 6

After squats, I was feeling completely depleted and weak for ohp. I did 5 pullups after and shut it down. Going to eat up and rest up and hopefully be able to have a better workout on thrusday.

10/21/16

bench

315 x 5,5

cg feet up w/ pause on most reps

225 x 10

definitely still felt weak and sick. Probably shouldn't have worked out

some bis, about 5 pullups

Called it quits after shitty bench and didn't even try to deadlift

10/25/2016

squat

405 x 5,5,5

First good workout since being sick. Squats didn't feel amazing, but I made it through them. a few months ago, I barely got 3 sets of 3 with 415 wearing knee sleeves and no belt. Yesterday, still very much affected by this stupid cough, I managed 3 sets of 5 at 405 with no knee sleeves and no belt, pretty much squatting ass to grass. I'm pretty pleased with how things are going. Not sure what I'm gonna do next week. I might take a deload and start a 3 week peaking cycle and do the Magni Mock meet. Might not do it though and just keep doing this stuff.

ohp

125 x 8,8,8

I hat ohp so much.

hammer low rows, one arm at a time

90 pps x 10,10,10,10

Did some bis in there

dips

bw x 10,10