Joe's Log

[Joe Costello]

Stats: 6'00" 252lbs. as of 12/1/08
Best Lifts: 475, 320, 505 - belt only. Not a believer in gear.
Clean-250, Press-225

Will be following Texas Method. Plans include training on MWF, but is subject to change as I am a medical student currently on rotations.

First workout:
12/1/08

Squat-355x5x5
Bench-245x5x5
Rows-185x5x8 (stay here next week)
Dips-BWx2x8 (these hurt my right shoulder so I switched to Pressdowns)
Tri-Pressdowns-120x8

[Joe Costello]

Squat-285x2x5
Press-135x5x5
Chins-BWx6xfail

Access.
Db Side Lat-30x4x12
Bb Curls-115x3x8
Stand Calves-115x5x15

Good wo. Squats felt pretty hvy for a recovery day. May need to lighten them up just a bit.

[Joe Costello]

Bench-275x3, 285x1, 275x3
Squat-365x5, 405x5, 425x2
Deads-185x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x5, 435x2

Access.
Db Incline-65x2x12
Stand Calves-120x3x15
Db Shrugs-105x5x12

Weird wo. Benches were horrible. Squats felt good. Deads were embarassing, but what should I expect for not doing them for so long.

*Try backing down to 3x3 instead of 5x5 for light pressing day.

[Joe Costello]

Press-145x5,5,5,5,10, 175x3
Squat-360x5,5,5,5,8
Rows-185x5x8-10 (go to 195)

Access.
Tri-Pressdown-120x2x10
Calves-120x2x15

Very good wo. Everything feels like it's starting to come back.

[Joe Costello]

Bench-275x3,3,2
Squat-288x2x5
Chins-6 or 7 sets x 6-8 reps to fail

Access.
Db Side Lat-35x3x10

Very disappointed with bench. It has gone down significantly lately while everything else has progressed. I will start by dropping tricep accessory work and see if that fixes it. If not, I may need a change in programing. Sleep, stress levels and food and fine.

[Joe Costello]

Press-135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 165x5, 185x3, 135x11
Squat-315x5, 405x5, 425x3, 435x2
Deads-135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 405x5, 455x5

Access.
Db Shrugs-110x5x15
Stand Calves-125x5x15

*Very good wo. I narrowed the grip on my press b/c I'm stronger with the narrower grip. However, I do really like the wide grip (my bench grip) b/c it absolutely nails my shoulders.

*I skipped my warm-up at 365 on squats b/c I thought I could go right to 405 w/o a problem. Found out I probably need to still do 365 for just a rep or two b/c 405 was pretty ugly.

*Deads felt awesome.

[Joe Costello]

Squats-365x5x5
Bench-250x5,5,5,5,6, 260x3
Rows-195x5x8

Noticed if I took a longer rest after squats, that my benches were a lot stronger throughout all the sets.

Body felt like it was pretty brittle on squats today. Probably because of the heavy work on Friday.

[Joe Costello]

Bench-255x5x5
Squat-370x5x5

First wo in a week. At home visiting my parents over Christmas break so the workout was at my high school gym. Did not get to rows because the gym closed. Unable to make it to the gym last week other than Monday due to horrible clinic hours and an exam.

[Joe Costello]

Got behind in my posting. I switching my routine up just a bit from Texas Method to a 4 day/week routine with pyramided sets. Simply because I need a change of pace because my gains have stopped and I've been doing straight sets for the last year.

1/8/09 - Thurs.

Press ? 95x8, 135x10, 145x8, 155x6, 165x4, 175x3

Speed Bench ? 135x8x3 various grips

Db Bench ? 80x8,7,7

Chins ? BWx5x5-8

Bb Curls ? 95x3x10

Bb Lying Tri-X ? 95x3x8


1/9/09 - Fri.

Box Squat (to parallel box, no belt) - 225x8, 245x8, 265x8, 295x8, 315x8

Rack Pulls (pins at mid shin - had stand on 3 plates) - 225x10, 275x8, 315x8, 365x8, 405x6, 435x4

Power Shrugs - 315x4x15

Stand Calves - 90x3x12-15

Abs - 3 sets to fail

[Joe Costello]

Bench - 225x10, 235x8, 245x6, 255x4, 265x2

Bb Floor Press - 225x5, 235x4, 245x2

Bb Rows - 205x4x6

Way too tired today for accessory crap, too busy of a day.
Tried something different on bench, not used to doing a pyramid scheme, I've always done straight sets.

[Joe Costello]

Squat (no belt) - 185x5, 235x5, 285x2x5
Incline - 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 210x2x5
Dead - 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405(belt)x8
Chins - BWx5x5
Power Shrugs - ran out of time

Well, it never fails. Everytime I try to do an upper/lower split, training 4x's a week, I always switch back to full body workouts done 3x's/week. I just don't get the same feeling whenever I do an upper/lower split as I do when I train my entire body 3x's/week. I love the feeling of working the entire body every workout. So, I guess for now, it's back to the old routine. However, I'm going to get away from the 5x5 straight sets for a while and switch to a pyramided scheme of 5x5 for a change of pace.

*Last workout I did rack pulls for a change. Today I pulled deads from the floor and I did 405 for a fairly easy 8 reps. It felt so light. It makes me think maybe I should consider switching up my dead to include more variety.

[Joe Costello]

Squat - 200x5, 245x5, 295x5, 345x5, 405x3 (belt), 295x8

Bench - 135x5, 165x5, 205x5, 255x5, 260x5, 285x1, 275x2, 225x8

Rows - 135x5, 145x5, 205x2x5, 235x3, 170x12

Power Shrugs - 325x5x15

Dips - BWx8 - these really hurt my right shoulder so I switched to pressdowns

Pressdowns - 100x2x15

Bb Curls - 95x10, 115x3x8

*Frustrated with the Dips. I had shoulder pain when doing them about 9 months ago, stopped doing them for a while, tried going back to them periodically and each time, the right shoulder really hurts.

[Joe Costello]

Bench - 235x3x5
Squat - (no belt) - 315x3x5
Conv. Dead - 225x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x5(belt)
Power Shrug - 315x3x15

Been off for a while. Will do linear progression, 3 sets for each exercise as long as I can. Need to get my poundages back up again.