Chris Anderson's Training Log

4/24- 5/3/1 squat, week one

Squat-
275x5
320x5
360x5

Arched back good mornings 5x10
Suitcase deadlifts 4x10 seconds each side
45* back raises 2x10, 1x30


Notes: Still feeling like shit, went ahead and used wraps for the last squat set. High volume good mornings are something I am not used to. I like suitcase deadlifts as a core/grip exercise, the hardest part is trying to find the exact middle of the bar so the shit isn't dipping forward or backward. I was bored of doing sets of ten on back raises so I just finished up with one big set at the end.

4/27- 5/3/1 bench, week one

160x5
180x5
205x5

CG bench 5x10
Face pulls 5x10

Notes: Felt pretty good, except the fucking bench was slippery as hell, I could not maintain my arch at all. I was going to do some EZ bar extensions, but I still need to be taking it easy and I had to get back so I could eat before the dining hall closes.

5/1- 5/3/1 press, week 2

Press
135x3
150x3
170x6

Incline bench 5x10
Chins- like 20 total, can't remember, just did about 5 sets
DB shrugs 5x10

Notes: Left a rep or two in the tank for the set at 170. I'm gonna be rotating my assistance lifts every week, I like doing this compared to the same shit every week.

5/2- 5/3/1 squat, week 2

Squat
300x3
340x3
385x4

Seated good mornings 5x10
DB side bends 3x10
45* back raises 3x10

Notes: Fuck this shit.

5/4- 5/3/1 bench, week 2

Bench-
170x3
190x3
215x10

Close grip bench
5x10@135

Dips
3x10

Band face pulls 5x10

Notes: This was a pretty good day. Had to do face pulls with a band because all the cable stations were taken, but oh well. I'm getting back in to the groove of high volume assistance work.

5/5- 5/3/1 deadlift, week 2

Deadlift-
315x3 (was supposed to do 325, oh well)
370x3
425x6,1,1

Sumo deadlift-
5x10@205

Barbell rows
5x10@115


Notes: I really wanted to get 10 for the set at 425, but I was a pussy. So I did a couple singles afterwards. Light sumo and rows afterwards.

5/6- 5/3/1 press, week 3

Press-
140x5
160x3
180x5

Incline bench-
5x10@125

Hammer curls 3x10
Shrugs 5x10

Notes: Left a rep in the tank for the last set, which is something I've been doing for all the rep-out sets. I end up feeling a lot better by not pushing that hard. Everything felt good today.
__________________

Fuck I keep on forgetting to update this.


5/7- 5/3/1 squat, week 3

Squat-
320x5
360x3
405x3,1

Seated good mornings 5x10
Suitcase deadlifts 5x10 seconds, each side
Back raises 3x10+25lbs

Notes: My previous PR was 405x5. I hit a PR squat in competition, though, so I know that when I get back in to the groove of hitting rep PR's. The single I did afterwards was probably my best rep of the day.





5/8- 5/3/1 bench, week 3

Bench-
180x5
205x3
230x9

DB bench 5x10
EZ bar tricep extension 3x10
Face pulls 5x10

Notes: Felt shitty during my warmups because I forgot my monster mini band that I usually do a ton of band traction and shoulder mobility shit, but everything went better than expected.

Haven't updated this for a long time.

5/10: 5/3/1 deadlift, week 3

Deadlift:
350x5
395x3
440x2

Notes: I pooped a little. So I stopped.




Anyway:

5/22- Upper DE, accumulation block, week 1

Speed bench-
15x3@135

BB rows 3x10
DB bench 5x10
Face pulls 2x10, 3x15

Notes: I won't be using bands for speed work during this block. Focus is on high volume and GPP. Heavy days will be for 3rm and 5rm, with the occasional heavy (but not maximal) single or two, or a rep PR.

I'm 8 or 9 (depending on if you count the meet week or not) weeks out of the meet right now. The plan is as follows:

1. Accumulation
2. Accumulation
3. Deload (I will be visiting my brother in Illinois and going to Chicago during this week)
4. Intensification
5. Intensification
6. Intensification
7. Intensification
8. Transformation
9. Meet week

I might also add in another accumulation week after the deload, and push back the intensification block so the transformation and meet week are kind of combined into a modified deload week.

Or, I could extend the intensification block to week 8 and do the modified deload as mentioned above. What I've written out is what I'll most likely do, though.

5/23- Lower DE, accumulation block, week 1

Parallel box squats- 385x3, 275x10
RDL's- 365x1x5
Band-assisted GHR- 3x10
DB side bends- 5x10

Notes: Used a monster mini band for the GHR. I'm pretty terrible at them so the band helps me get some extra volume in. Hope to be able to do 5x10 with no band by the time I'm done with this training cycle.

Tomorrow will be an off day for lifting, so I'll do some sled dragging and some PT stuff, maybe some accessory lifts with my bands or some of the weights I have lying (laying?) around.

Lying

Nathan Poage wrote:

Lying

No I'm telling the truth.

Fuck I keep on forgetting to update this.

5/25- Upper ME, accumulation block, week one

Wide grip bench- 235x5, 250x1
Dead bench- 205x1x5
EZ bar tricep extensions- 1x50
Smith machine shrugs- 5x10
Face pulls- 5x15


5/27- Lower DE, accumulation block, week one

Speed squats (low box, medium stance)-
15x2@235

Speed deads-
15x1@260

Back raises 3x10
Decline situps 3x10

Seriously, I gotta fucking update this more often.

5/29- Upper DE, accumulation block, week two

Speed bench- 15x3@135
DB rows 5x10
Dips 3x10
Face pulls 5x15




5/30- Lower ME, accumulation block, week 2

Sumo deadlift-
405x5
430x1

GHR- 1x10
KB swings- 3x10
Decline situps- 3x10

Notes: One of my shittier days. I fucking hate deadlifting with hex plates and I suck at sumo so I felt like a bitch. Not being able to have my entire hand on the knurling fucks with my grip. Tried some glute ham raises, but my hamstrings felt like fucking shit. Did some KB swings for a bit of explosive work, which felt slow as shit. I fucking suck at situps, so they felt like shit. Near the end, my hip started flaring up and it felt like shit.

The only positive is that I think that after a few more times of sumo pulling and not using shitty hex plates, I could bring that up by quite a bit and really strengthen my hips, which should help my conventional pull and my squat. The 430 felt fairly good, as far as bar speed goes. Technique will take a while, but it's just a matter of figuring out my leverages. I've just recently felt like my conventional technique is getting dialed in, so I won't be surprised if this takes a little while. I doubt it will ever replace conventional as my competition lift, but who knows.

I see that I haven't updated this in a while. Fuck it.

6/11- Upper DE, intensification block, week one

Speed bench w/doubled mini bands (about 65lb at the top)-
3x3@75
3x3@100
2x2@145

EZ bar tricep extensions- 3x8
Face pulls 2x15, 3x8
Unilateral DB press- 5x5
Decline sit-ups 2x10

Notes: Finally remembered to bring a tape measure with me so now I know exactly how much band tension I'm getting with my lifts. Went a bit heavier on my assistance lifts than I usually do, but still kept it fairly light. I've decided that I should do some sort of sit-up every day because I kinda suck at them, and seeing as they're part of the APFT, I should probably work on them.


I'm a little bit behind this week because work is getting in the way and I usually like to lift around 4pm, but now I'll be working during that time so I gotta get up earlier to lift in the morning. I get to choose my hours and when I work, though, which is nice.

6/13- Lower ME, intensification block, week one

Reverse band, medium stance, parallel box squats (doubled minis, about -120 at the bottom, -80 at the top):
warmups
405x1
455x1
475x1
500x1
525x1
545x1
555x1

RDL's:
135x5
225x3
295x3
325x12

Band assisted GHR: 3x10
Decline situps: 2x10

Notes: First time doing reverse band box squats. Felt good. My walkout was a lot better than it has been, but I still need to sit back more to the box. Other than that, they went great. I wanted to get 15 for RDL's but my grip started slipping. I still suck at GHR's.

6/14- Upper ME, intensification block, week one

Close grip bench-
warmups
225x1
245x1
260x1
280x1 PR*

DB bench-
90'sx11

BB rows 3x5
Decline sit-ups 2x10

Notes: The PR CG bench gets an asterisk because my spotter (some random guy I asked to spot me, he was pretty big, didn't look like a complete idiot) just barely touched the bar on the way up. I was past my sticking point and I definitely had the lift, though, so I counted it. He gave me a couple good lift offs, though.

First day back after my surgery.


6/18- Upper DE, intensification block, week two

Speed bench- plus doubled mini bands
3x3@75
3x3@100
2x2@145

high incline DB bench- 3x8
DB rows- 3x5
smith machine shrugs- 2x10, 1x20

Notes: Speed was okay on the bench, but not great. I went with a fairly wide grip on all sets. Really focused on the squeeze at the top for the shrugs, then just got da pump.

Wow this place has been dead for a while.


Anyway, to update on my training:

I've decided that my list of weaknesses (to be listed later) has grown to include my lack of practice on the competition lifts. So, I'm jumping off the Westside train for a while and I will be running a linear periodization plan for my next meet. Specifically, I'll be doing this 14-week peaking cycle that is based off of an Ed Coan bench program.
Link: http://joeskopec.com/coancalc.html

This will be a 3-day-a-week program with a dedicated squat, bench, and deadlift day. I will be going through the entire peaking calculator with each individual lift. However, because I haven't been doing a ton of competition practice lately, I'm going to take 5-10% off of each lift (with the possible exception of my deadlift). This is also because I plan on using my wraps very little, and I will be doing a full competition pause on every rep for the bench press, something which I have not done nearly enough.

I will incorporate dynamic work in the form of various plyometric/reactive strength drills, such as reactive depth jumps, box squat box jumps, ballistic pushups, etc. These will be done every day before the main lift. Assistance work will consist of one "heavy" lift after the main lift of the day, such as a press variation, RDL, good morning, etc. Accessory work will be fairly high volume. All assistance and accessory lift will be rotated often.

As of right now, the split looks like this:

Monday-
Box squat box jumps
Squat
Deadlift variation (RDL, sumo, deficit, and the like)
Lunges (these are going to be mainly for glute development, may use barbell hip thrusts as well)
GHR

Wednesday-
Ballistic pushups
Bench press
Press variation (behind the neck, DB, seated, etc)
Dips (weighted and non-weighted)
Lat pulldown/chin-up variation

Friday-
Reactive depth jumps
Deadlift
Row variation (mostly barbell)
Power shrugs/high pulls (may do hang clean occasionally if I can get decent technique)
Direct ab work

Other things I may include on occasion are rear delt/upper trap work, bicep work, and the occasional special exercise a la Westside (as an assistance lift). I might even include a fourth day just for light assistance work, and shorten up the main 3 days to focus on heavier work. My off days will be a lot more GPP work than normal, as I really need to work on getting down to 181, as well as improving my PT score.

Any thoughts/comments/suggestions are more than appreciated. I know there are guys that have a lot more experience with this sort of program than I do, so I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Oh, and the aforementioned list of weaknesses I need to work on, that I didn't type out (listed in a very rough "weakest to strongest" order:

practice with competition lifts
staying tight in squat and bench press
bottom and middle of bench press
middle of squat
lat strength
mobility
GPP
bottom of deadlift

And of course, technique, maximal strength, and speed-strength are always in need of improvement.

7/23

Box squat jumps- 5xbroad jumps, 5xbox jumps
Squat- 2x10@285
Sumo deadlift- 3x5@300
Lunges- 3x10
GHR- 3x10

Doing some rear delt work (face pulls), even if only on occasion, would be a good idea. Outside of that, this looks simple and pretty good, though the total tonnage on your big three seems low (but I guess that's what the program calls for). If you do add a fourth day, I'd consider clearing some space for a squat variation on your Friday session (paused or low box squats might help you).

MFW another person turns away from Westside to focus on the comp lifts

KKeough wrote:

Doing some rear delt work (face pulls), even if only on occasion, would be a good idea. Outside of that, this looks simple and pretty good, though the total tonnage on your big three seems low (but I guess that's what the program calls for). If you do add a fourth day, I'd consider clearing some space for a squat variation on your Friday session (paused or low box squats might help you).

I plan on doing various accessory work on my off days, which will include some sort of rear delt work, either face pulls or band pull-aparts. I won't be going to the gym on these days; I'll just be using whatever I have around. As for a squat variation, that may be something I work in as an assistance lift every so often on a squat or deadlift day.

I could also just do face pulls on whatever day I feel like doing them; these days go by a hell of a lot quicker now that I'm not constantly working up to 1rm's and setting rep PR's and stuff.


The weight will ramp up later on in the program. I believe it's designed to end up with the lifter doing a single at 10% higher than the training max by the end of the program. Incidentally, I lowered all my training maxes a little bit for this cycle, because:
1. I haven't practiced the competition lifts like this in a long time
2. I won't be using a lot of wraps or anything
3. I'd rather start off light and finish the program well than stall in the middle of it.

My training maxes for this cycle are 250, 425, 500.


Anyway:

7/25

Depth plyo pushups- x10
Bench press- 2x10@170
High incline press- 3x5@135
Dips +25lb- 12, 8, 4
Band-assisted pullups- 10, 5, 5

Notes: Had a slight amount of elbow pain during dips so I left a few reps in the tank. They've never bothered me too much, so I'm not worried. I suck ass at any sort of vertical pull (my lats suck ass in general) so I'm using a light band to help me with the pullups until I suck less.

Quick extra workout today (well, yesterday, as it is after midnight). Just did a bit of bicep work, band-pull aparts, bodyweight squats (I'm trying to do a sort of "grease the groove" sort of thing, doing some sort of movement every day for the whole neurological blah blah blah), and a few sprints. Will probably attempt a 2 mile run this weekend at some point.