Halfway to 70s Big

[StLRPh]

A little background on myself. I had a daughter about 2 1/2 years ago and decided that I needed to start doing something physical. For my well-being and also to be around and active for a long time. At the time I decided to start MMA training and really enjoyed it but eventually realized two things:

1. The time it takes to be good at it (along with scheduling contraints) doesn't make it particularly family friendly.

2. I had been training for over a year and I weighed about 160lbs at almost 6'5". I even considered cutting to 155 for a tournament. That's just wrong. :eek:

I saw a picture of myself with my daughter at the beach when she was about 14 months old and I was disgusted with myself. :mad:

Fast forward to the present day.

I've been following this board for a while and have been strength training for about a year. My programs have been SS and 5/3/1 mostly and I've had some good results.

For some reason the 70s Big website that Justin has put together has really struck a chord with me. Johnny Pain and Rip have also been pretty instrumental in my mind set regarding getting stronger.

So that brings me here. About 17 months ago I weighed 160 and now I weigh about 210. My bodyfat is about the same. According the experts at 70s Big I should shoot for 265. So I'm about halfway there. :)

I'm following the Advanced Novice program and look forward to any feedback and insight.

thanks,

Matt

[BigJavs]

awesome man. I'm approaching a year myself. I started on SS and switched to Westside. I'm the opposite though...I'm trying to go from a fat fuck to Doug Young. Keep it going...you'll find a lot of support here just by posting your workouts.

[StLRPh]

My plan is to hit my previous best for 3 sets of 5 reps somewhere between my 6th and 10th workout (depending on the exercise). I'll be using 5lb increments for everything except deadlifts which will be 10lbs.

Does this sound about right?

[Mr.City]

The 5 lb jumps will run out faster on the bench, and OHP. I'm mircoloading both at 3lbs. a session and my numbers aren't that impressive.

[StLRPh]

I'm sure you're right. I have to decide where to get some plate mates in the next week or so.

[BigJavs]

I got adjustable ankle weights from Sports Authority. They come with little weight bars that each weigh a quarter pound. So you can microload a half pound at a time if you wanted.

[K.Diesel]

Ditto Javs' solution. I got adjustable ankle or wrist weights at Wal-mart. Works great. I'll be using them soon for military presses, because rounding has caused me to repeat numbers or make jumps that are too big for my program.

[StLRPh]

Great suggestions, thanks. That will save me some cash.

10/8/09
Squat
45 x 5 x 2 sets
70 x 5
110 x 3
145 x 2
185 x 5 x 3 sets

These were real grinders. Pretty worn out the last few days b/c my sleep has sucked but I was stilll disappointed at how heavy this felt. Previous best of 3 sets of 5 was 200 about 4 weeks ago.

Bench
45 x 5 x 2 sets
65 x 5
115 x4
135 x 2
150 x 5 x 3 sets
Once again these started a little shaky but the 2nd and 3rd set were good. 2nd set had good bar speed and no hitches while the 3rd was a little slower but still smooth.

Assisted Chins
3 sets of 10 reps with about 75lbs assist.

Post workout was a pint of strawberry milk.

[quadancer]

I'm sure you're right. I have to decide where to get some plate mates in the next week or so.

Old speaker magnets. Free.

[StLRPh]

10/9/09 - went to the doc's for a check up and my weight = 214.4

10/10/09 - played a full court basketball game as part of a fundraiser for my old college. Was planning on going to the gym that night once the kiddo went to sleep but my wife got called in to work so I'm having to push it until today.

[StLRPh]

Front Squats
warm-up
115 x 5 reps x 3 sets

Overhead Press
45 x 5 reps
85 x 5 reps x 3 sets

Deadlift
135 x 5
185 x 2
225 x 5 reps

Never done front squats in my life and it really shows. I was expecting these to be pretty easy but they were probably the hardest exercise of the day.

A little twinge in my right wrist still (tweaked it 2 weeks ago) but was still able to press with only a little discomfort.

[StLRPh]

Squat 190 x 5 reps x 3 sets
Bench Press 155 x 5 reps x 3 sets
Assisted neutral grip chins x 10 reps x 2 sets, and x 5 reps

Squat felt WAY better than last week even though I upped the weight.

Bench Press also felt real smooth. The twinge/ache in my right wrist seems to have gone away finally.

On a side note I've been taking Fish oil and Vitamin D in the morning with Zinc and Magnesium at night and after about 2 weeks I can say that my sleep is the best its been in months. Might be a contributor to finally feeling strong again in the gym.

[BigJavs]

are you taking zinc and magnesium separately or is it a ZMA supplement?

[StLRPh]

Separately. I went down to Target and bought a bottle of each. Way cheaper and from what I've read (and noticed) just as effective.

[StLRPh]

On vacation visiting my family in Alabama and I'm making time to do some training.

Went the Birmingham Barbell. If you are in the area this place is great. They have professional level powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, and strongman equipment.

Far and away the best equipped gym I have ever been to.

Squats
195 x 5 reps x 3 sets

These felt very good. Only had a little hitch towards the end of the 3rd set but was still able to maintain good bar speed.

Was supposed to do Overhead press but had a slight change in plans when I realized that the ceiling is about 9 feet and since I'm about 6'5" that wasn't going to work to well. I'm sure I could have taken a bar and some weights outside but since I was a guest decided not to worry about.

While deciding if I should just do them seated I saw this:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=559

Needless to say I decided it was bench day after all :D

Bench Press
160 x 5 reps x 3 sets

These went incredibly well. I'm lucky enough to have a competition style bench at my normal gym but its not adjustable for my long ass arms so getting to use one where I didn't have to do a 1/3 rep just to start was very nice. Felt real strong and had great bar speed for all three sets.

I was also planning on assisted chins but once I again I saw something that I had to try. An Eleiko olympic competition bar and bumper plates. Once again the plan changed a little. ;)

Power Cleans
110 x 3 reps x 5 sets

Less weight than I wanted to do but since everything was in kilos I was having some challenges figuring out what to do.

All in all a great workout and I'm hoping to go once more before vacation is done.

[StLRPh]

Didn't get back to the gym as quickly as I had hoped due to the vacation :(

Overhead Press
90 x 5 reps x 3 sets
Going to have to micro-load soon on these. May be able to get 95 next time but I'd rather to 92.5 if I can.

Power Cleans
95 x 3 reps x 3 sets
Just did these for a warm-up before deadlifts

Deadlifts
230 x 5 reps
Good bar speed and pretty smooth reps. No issues with anything.

Squats
135 x 5 reps x 3 sets
Kind of a recovery set. Last workout was a while ago but wanted to stick to my planned workout so I did 3 sets of 5 with a pretty light weight.

Also, finished the vacation with a lot of BBQ and good food. Ended the trip at 220lbs. :D

[StLRPh]

Squat 200 x 5 reps x 3 sets

Good bar speed on these and everything was pretty smooth a little hitch at about 1/3 of the way up. 3 minute rests b/t sets
Bench 165 x 5 reps x 3 sets

These were really tough and I think that I'm going to start microloading with these ASAP. 4 minute rests b/t sets
Power Clean 115 x 3 reps x 5 sets

Not much to say. Pretty straight forward. Weights weren't a problem at all. 2 minute rests b/t sets

[StLRPh]

10/26/09

Went to the gym straight from my dentist. Probably not the smartest thing that I've ever done. Managed to get my squats in, barely.

Squats
warm-ups
205 x 5 reps x 3 sets (PR) :D

[StLRPh]

10/28/09

Finished up Monday's workout

Bench Press 170 x 5 reps x 3 sets
This is a pretty big PR for me since 170 was pretty close to my 1RM a few months ago. Felt like I may have had 1 more rep in me on my last set. I'll start the microloads as soon as I get them which should be next week

Deadlift 235 x 5
Not a PR but felt pretty good. Had to loosen the belt after the first 2 reps which is a first.

[StLRPh]

10/30/09
Squats 210 x 5 reps x 3 sets (PR) :D
OH Press 90 x 5 reps x 3 sets
Power Cleans 120 x 3 reps x 5 sets (PR):D

Time to start micrloading.

[StLRPh]

11/2/09
Squats 212 x 5 reps x 3 sets (PR):D
These were feeling really strong until the 3rd set and I was barely able to get the final rep. Did take shorter than usual rest periods (about 3min) because I was short on time.

OH Press 95 x 5 reps x 3 sets (PR) :D
Had a big time fail on this last time I tried 95 x 5 x 3. These went up fast and with only about 2 min rest b/t sets.

Had to get home to the family.

[StLRPh]

Wisdom tooth out yesterday afternoon. Taking today and tomorrow off and then PRs on Deadlifts and Bench on Friday

[StLRPh]

Decided to start this back up. I've been consistently training just haven't logged here in a while. I was looking over it and noticed the last time I posted I had a wisdom tooth taken out and now 9 months later I had another extraction. Weird timing.

8/9/10
So it's been 11 days since my last training session. A little antsy for this session. The tooth pain is much better but still there is still pain and I didn't really know how it would react to the changes in blood pressure from the lifting. Then again if I never worked out when I was in some pain I'd probably never train.

Incline Press
worked up to 155 x 8 (RPE-9)
may have lost a little here but not that much. Very happy with this all things considered.

Seated Overhead Press
worked up to 115 x 2 (RPE-9)
This sucked. Way over-estimated what I could do here. Probably should have dropped it to 95 the second I felt it but was too stubborn to start over.

Close Grip Bench
worked up to 135 x 9 (RPE-9)
Adjusted this down a little from my original plan and hit exactly what I wanted to for reps.

Chins
slightly less than BW x 8 (RPE-9)
Had one foot resting on the bench to make sure I got my reps

Rack pulls (at the knees)
worked up to 325 x 8 (RPE - 7)
Had a lot more left on these but felt them in the empty socket where my tooth used to be.

Overall good workout, enjoyed the efficiency of it all. I'll be adding some more sets as I get back into the swing of things. Just don't want to do too much too quickly.

Some stretching and done.

[Paul Sousa]

Good to see you back here. How are your lifts looking these days?

[MazdaMatt]

Okay, this is the second time to day I've seen this notation (RPE-9)... what is it?

[Paul Sousa]

Okay, this is the second time to day I've seen this notation (RPE-9)... what is it?

Rate of Perceived Exertion. It's basically a way of noting how hard a set is. Alot of people find it to be helpful in tracking their sets and progress, and also using it to aim for a certain RPE.

[MazdaMatt]

Thnx.

[StLRPh]

Good to see you back here. How are your lifts looking these days?

Doing well. On my last cycle I got up to 3 sets of 5 on squats with 265, bench is getting really close to 2 plates and my deadlift is all over the place. The rep strength is there but I'm still having issues with grinding out heavy singles.

Switched to a hypertrophy style for the rest of the summer/fall to try and get my weight up closer to 242.

[StLRPh]

Okay, this is the second time to day I've seen this notation (RPE-9)... what is it?

Rate of Perceived Effort:
10 - Max effort no reps left
9- 1 rep left
8 - 2 to 4 reps left
7 - 4+ reps almost speed work
6 - speed work

This is the actual article:
http://www.reactivetrainingsystems.c...s/49-chapter-2

[StLRPh]

Another fun day in the Garage. It's about a 100 degrees in there with the heat index. The air con went out in the house too so I figured might as well go out there and sweat and get something done.

Barbell Curls
worked up to 85 x 8,2,2

Ghetto GHR
(very assisted) BW x 6 reps
holy shit these are hard. I hard no idea how difficult these would be. Just shows that I have a huge strength deficit in my hamstrings

Squats
worked up to 250 x 6 (RPE-9)
155 x 20 (RPE-9) (I think this is a 20lb PR for 20 rep squats)

Static Barbell holds
315 x fail double over hand
315 x fail double under hand
315 x fail mixed grip

This was probably one of the hardest sessions I've ever had. Between the heat, the extended lay-off and the new rep scheme I'm toasted.

Time to catch my breath, shower and EAT

[StLRPh]

Heat Index - 101 :drooling:

Decline Bench (rest-pause)
worked up to
175 x 8, 2, & 2 (all sets to RPE-9)

Push Press (rest-pause)
worked up to
115 x 8 & 2 (all sets to RPE-9)

Reverse Grip Bench (shoulder width grip)
115 x 10 (RPE-9)

Wide Grip Chin
assisted x 8

Supinated Rows (rest-pause)
worked up to
115 x 10 & 2 (RPE-9)

A lot of new lifts for me. Haven't done decline bench or reverse bench in at least a year and even then only for a few sets. Rough workout in the Garage. Really looking forward to the next 2 days off.

[StLRPh]

First time that I've been in the Garage this month when it wasn't ~100 degrees. Only got up in the low 90s today so it was a wonderful change of pace

Hammer Curls (Rest Pause)
worked up to
25lb plate w/ a purple band x 14, 8
( I don't have any DBs at the moment but I do have some plates that have cut-outs for grabbing them. So what I did was loop a purple band through the center hold, put the other end under my feet, and use the cut outs for handles so that my grip remains neutral.)

Good Mornings
worked up to
115 x 10 (RPE-easy 8)
shut these down a little low. My left hamstring was feeling really tight with these and since I'm not really used to the movement decided to be conservative. Reps were to almost parallel.

Zercher Squats
worked up to
135 x 10 (RPE-easy 8)
First time I've every done these so I stayed conservative with the weights.

Wrist Curls (Rest pause)
used 35lb kettlebells got 15 reps on each side pretty easily and then 8. Not too hard a little painful. May have to use wrist wraps next time.

[StLRPh]

Bench Press
worked up to 170 x 11 (RPE-10)
got the 12th rep up about 8 inches and stalled, very happy with this b/c it ties an all time rep PR for this weight, had a few issues unracking the weight and if I hadn't botched that I probably would have gotten that 12th rep

Upright Rows (rest-pause)
65 x 12, 6 (RPE-8 on both)
Impressive I know, haven't done these in about 15 years and I wanted to start light

Dips
bw x 10 (RPE-9)

Chins
bw x 3
1 foot assisted x 5

Deadlifts
failed at a weight I should have gotten for at least 8 reps :(

and done.

After my benching I had to make an emergency trip to the bathroom :eek: That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. Did my best to push through the rest of the session.

[Paul Sousa]

Nice benching! Out of curiosity, why did you do all the accessory work before your deadlift?

[StLRPh]

Nice benching! Out of curiosity, why did you do all the accessory work before your deadlift?

Thanks Paul, the order is set up in the template that I'm following. This is more of a hypertrohpy program so the deadlift (and variants) tend to be at the end.

In retrospect I should have dropped the weight and done what I could but I was having a hard time even wearing my belt b/c my stomach was feeling so bad.

[StLRPh]

Reverse Curls (RP)
worked up to
65 x 9, 2

Band Pull throughs
red band x 10
blue band x 20
blue band x 20
Never done these before. Very glad I was in the Garage for them. I looked over at my shadow and it looked like I was dry humping the air :confused:

Front Squats
worked up to
155 x 5 (RPE-8)
135 x 12 (RPE-easy 8)
Front squats are still a pretty new movement for me and I didn't get settled in until the second set

Plate Pinches
two 10lb plates smooth sides out
3 sets to failure, only rest was when I was using the other hand
1st set ~30sec for each hand
2nd set ~20sec for each hand
3rd set ~15sec for each hand

Felt better today overall. Finished up my first rotation of lifts. The variety keeps it very interesting but I have to be really careful with doing too much.

[StLRPh]

Going back to 5/3/1. I really need the flexibility right now and this way I can do anywhere from 2 to 4 days a week and still stay with the same program. My only change from the program as written is that I'll be doing it in the following order: 3/5/1 and only going for rep records on the 3's and 1's week.

OH Press
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 10 (RPE-9) est. max 140
Considered I have done exactly 1 working set of OH Press in the last 2 months I'm pretty happy with this Only 1 rep off from my all time best with this weight.

Chins
bw x 4 (RPE-8)
bw x 4 (RPE-8)
bw x 4 (RPE-9)

Dips
bw x 4 (RPE-8)
bw x 4 (RPE-8)
bw x 4 (RPE-8)

Band Pull Aparts
blue bands wrapped around hand once x 20
blue bands wrapped around hand once x 20

Band Face Pulls
red band x 30 (lost count and ended up doing 10 extra reps)
red band x 20

Band Triceps Pressdown
Red band x 26
Did these to (somewhat) near failure. Mainly just to get some blood in the triceps and elbows

Felt really good to get back out in the Garage and do something. Decided to get some Power Pants, should have them and my XTs sometime after my next squat workout