Chris Anderson's Training Log

I need this too.. my pipes are lacking.

I am very close to 1000 posts.

And there we go.

8/15-

Squat- 4x10, 1x15@245

Notes: Fuck my life and fuck this fucking high rep shit, fuck. I am driving to the gym next squat day. Fuck. The set at 15 was by far the best one, though.

8/18-

Bench-
150x5
170x5
2x10, 1x15@180

Fat gripz press- a bunch x3@135
Weighted pullups- a bunch x3

Notes: I should probably start trying on the AMRAP sets. I've been stopping at 15 each time, as that's right around where the reps start slowing down. Next week, the AMRAP sets determine how much I will move up the training maxes.

8/19-

Squat- 6x2@315
Deficit deadlift- 6x2@335
GHR
Neck work

Notes: All beltless, short rest periods.

Tell us about the time you couldn't figure out how to high bar squat. Also, I've got your chalk.

Apparently my high bar is low bar, and my low bar is slightly lower bar. And I fucking knew I forgot something.

8/20-

Press-
100x5
110x5
2x10, 1x12@120

Fat gripz bench-
185x3
205x2
225x2
225x3

Curlz

Notes: Really meh day on my overhead work. Reps just felt horribly out of the groove so I stopped at 12. They weren't moving that fast anyway. I've noticed that fat gripz benching really helps with my bar path--the way it alters how the bar lines up with my elbow makes the bar path more like if it were a false grip, which can be very beneficial to some lifters' groove. This is somewhat true for my overhead work as well.

Jim Wendler and others commonly suggest using a false grip for overhead work, so I'm starting to see what they mean. It just feels like a more efficient bar path. If I can find a way to stay in that groove while not using the fat gripz, then I'll be in business.

It's still a lot harder than normal benching, but I think it helps my technique a lot. I still have a pretty good amount of my strength left in my bench, I just need to keep it in the groove better and it will fly back up.

False grip your comp bench, srs.

I might give it a whirl. I would probably start benching in a rack, though.

Chris Anderson wrote:

I might give it a whirl. I would probably start benching in a rack, though.

that is where i squat  

Relax, I'm not going to bench false grip. I'm just letting Poage think he had a good idea for once.

8/22-

Squat-
2x10, 1x15@275
Weighted pullups- some

Notes: I may have to move this day earlier in the week, because as of right now, I have my TJM squat and deadlift days almost back-to-back. I'll see how it goes, as my recovery is getting better, but as the weights get heavier, it will be harder to recover. I would likely switch my squat/deadlift variation day with this day, making a "normal" week look like this:

Sunday- TJM bench, press variation
Monday- off
Tuesday- TJM squat
Wednesday-TJM press, bench variation
Thursday- squat variation, deadlift variation
Friday- bench variation
Saturday- TJM deadlift

Days switched around would be bold. I currently have them reversed as they are shown. I think I will keep it how it is until I decide my recovery just isn't good enough. I may be able to keep it how it is, though. We will see. Rep work is much easier to fully (talking CNS here) recover from than max effort work. Of course, this entire cycle doesn't have any true max effort work at all, unless I decide to go for something heavy on one of the variation days.

I'm thinking about taking creatine.




what do

From yesterday:



Video is back, motherfuckers. A handful of these reps were a bit high, but nothing egregious. Next week is when I'm supposed to go to failure and leave nothing in the tank. I'm hoping for at least the same amount of reps at 305. That would put me in tremendous position to be able to squat 500 again by November.

8/23-

Wide grip bench-
4x3@205
3x2@225
245x1

Rows- some
Dips- a bunch
Neck work- some

Notes: Felt pretty good today. I was going to incline but I ended up helping The Cough Man with his technique, so I just did some wide grip work as I worked in with him. I rarely do wide grip work, so this will be beneficial. Every rep felt pretty solid and had good speed.

8/24-

Deadlift-
265x5
300x5
2x10, 1x15@325

Olympic shoe squats- 3x3@275

Notes: This wasn't too bad. Oly shoe squatting is different, but I like them a lot as a variation. Video of 325x15 to come.

8/25-

Bench-
160x5
180x3
195x15

Wide grip press-
5x3@135

Pullups- some x5

Notes: This puts me at an estimated 292lb max, which is great for the rest of the training cycle. I've decided that I'm going to increase the training maxes on my upper body lifts 2.5lb for each rep over ten, rounding up. So, my new training max for the 8's phase will be 275.

It doesn't seem like your bench took to much of a hit from the weight loss. You're bouncing back pretty quick.

I'm very pleasantly surprised with almost all of my lifts after these few weeks of training. I will see if I can keep up the progress.

8/27-

Squat-
185x5
245x5
285x2
305x15
335x1
350x1

Notes: I really messed up my warm ups. I was supposed to do 205x5, 245x3, 285x1. Oh well.

About the singles: My goal for the 305 was 15. I lost count during the set and I believed I only had 12 or 13. I up the weight for a couple heavier singles as a sort of punishment. After I put 335 on the bar, I go back and look at the video...I got 15. I went ahead and did the singles anyway.

Notes for stuff to work on, per my walkout and setup:
1. Experiment with getting more directly under the bar for the initial setup and unrack.
2. Shorten the walkout by about six inches.

305x15 calculates to an estimated 457 max. Given how quickly my squat has come back, how much progress I foresee in this training cycle, and the fact that I compete in knee wraps, I am guaranteeing a 500lb squat come November.

This moves my training max to 430.


Also, videos (finally!):





Video from today should be uploaded and edited tonight. I'm only taking one video per week from here on out, though.

hot damn...I think if I attempted 305x15 I would go into cardiac arrest

I almost died on my first set of 245x10 two weeks ago. You get used to it relatively quickly.