Brik City's Training Log

[Briks42]

FWIW, Orlando has made a series of pretty poor trades over the last couple of seasons, but one of the ones that did work well was bringing in J Rich. We are sorry to see him go.

Thats good to hear that he was well liked there. I think Orlando got fleeced in the Howard deal. I know they weren't going to get full value since they had no leverage, but they really got no young impact players at all. Hopefully Harkless turns out to be good for them. I was kinda excited about him after the Sixers drafted him.

[Briks42]

I've had lots of trouble with the press as well. Mr_Rogers and I were just discussing it in my log actually. Your press a lot higher than mine, though lol. I just wanna get to a plate and then I won't mind the slower progress.

Yeah, the press is just tough, man. I had the most success ever with it earlier this year when I was pressing every Monday and Friday and Benching every Wednesday with a Texas Method type setup. But I don't want to do that again right now because my Bench didn't move much during that time and I am really trying to build up my close-grip right now.

And just so you know, once you get to a plate, you will still get frustrated with slow progress. No matter where you are, its hard to not want to do better. I don't know if that's healthy or not, but its the way it is for most people. I try to do my best to always take note of how far I've come every time I start to get frustrated about lack of progress.

[Briks42]

I train with a coach and two other lifters once a week and 3 days by myself. Coach also took over our programming, he's got us doing a lot of volume on heavy pulls and squats right now. Program is here (it was in competitive logs, but got moved to general logs).

He likes to call this cycle the strength one so we do do presses and bench press, etc but only on one day. I can't bench and press only once a week so I've moved press to the end of two of the 4 days and kept bench in the middle of the week. I actually tried a stricter press last night and really liked it. It's a little different so it'll take a bit to get used to but I felt I was able to hit the lockout position much easier ie I could feel everything activated at lockout.

@tzanghi - I'd love to get to plate as well.

Just checked out your program. I think that is a very good way to set up the pressing and benching if you are trying to get your press to move. As I said to Tzanghi above, my press saw its best results ever when I was pressing twice a week, every week.

As far as the strict vs. SS3-style press, I'd just go with what you feel most comfortable with. Neither way is right or wrong. Rip himself wasn't advocating the Olympic press until pretty recently. I'm sure both are extremely effective exercises, so at that point I'd make the choice based on personal preference. For me, that is the strict version. For you, it could be different. Its always worth experimenting with small changes like that and building a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw on in the future, whether for yourself or for someone else you are teaching/coaching.

[Mr_Rogers]

Thanks again for looking at the program and for all the advice. I'll stick to pressing twice a week and benching once. About the style, I've tried the olympic press for about half a year and couldn't really get the hip movement so I'm going to try strict from here on out. I did it last night like you described and really enjoyed it.

I try to do my best to always take note of how far I've come every time I start to get frustrated about lack of progress.

I really like this. That's a great perspective to have on things Briks.

[Briks42]

Wednesday Night- 8/22/12

Bodyweight- 202.4

Close Grip Bench- 240 x 3,3,7

Deadlifts- 365x7 (PR)



Low Cable Rows- 170x12
160x12

Barbell Curls- 45x20x2

I'm very happy all around tonight. Bodyweight is climbing again, Close-Grip keeps going up without losing reps, and Deadlift keeps going up without losing reps. Can't complain about any of that. 2 sets of higher rep rows and 2 sets of high rep curls and I can leave the gym happy.

The deadlift was a PR by 1 rep. About 6 weeks ago I did 365x6 at the same bodyweight. During that 6 weeks I took a week off of lifting completely, lost some weight, re-set all my lifts, and gained some weight back. The fact that I set a rep PR despite all that is very encouraging to me. I don't know if my end of year goal of a 500 pound deadlift is reasonable or not, but I'm sure I can do 475, since my bodyweight will be 215 by then. I'd be thrilled with that.

In fact, here are my up-to-date year end goals:
Bodyweight- 215 or higher
Squat- 315x5x3
Bench- 355x1
Deadlift- 475x1

I want to hit those numbers while staying lean, too, which shouldn't be a problem.

And by the way, I've been discussing with some friends that the next "in" monster will be Swamp Thing. We had vampires and werewolves lately, so we need a Swamp Thing reboot for the younger generation. Ryan Gosling as Swamp thing, wearing not much more than a single vine wrapped around him. Amy Adams as the "plain jane" botanist who is really sexy as hell when she lets her hair down. Swamp Thing is just trying to make his way in this crazy mixed up world but everyone is judging him (except for Amy). We are still working on the villain, but this has a lot of potential. If this movie comes out in the next few years, this log is gonna be my main evidence when I go for my royalty checks

[tzanghi]

And by the way, I've been discussing with some friends that the next "in" monster will be Swamp Thing. We had vampires and werewolves lately, so we need a Swamp Thing reboot for the younger generation. Ryan Gosling as Swamp thing, wearing not much more than a single vine wrapped around him. Amy Adams as the "plain jane" botanist who is really sexy as hell when she lets her hair down. Swamp Thing is just trying to make his way in this crazy mixed up world but everyone is judging him (except for Amy). We are still working on the villain, but this has a lot of potential.

This is fucking awesome hahaha.

If this movie comes out in the next few years, this log is gonna be my main evidence when I go for my royalty checks

I worked for an entertainment lawyer in Conshy this summer and dealt with getting royalties from large corporations. I'll represent you if someone steals the idea haha.

[Briks42]

This is fucking awesome hahaha.



I worked for an entertainment lawyer in Conshy this summer and dealt with getting royalties from large corporations. I'll represent you if someone steals the idea haha.

Perfect. That is just what I am going to need...... Thanks.

[Briks42]

Friday Morning- 8/24/12

Bodyweight- 200.6

Presses- 170 x 3,3,5
135x10

Squats- 220x5x3

Chinups- 14x
9x

Lying Tricep Extensions- 48x20x3
38x20

This was a great bounceback workout on the press. Going from 4 with 167.5 on the AMRAP set on Monday to 5x170 on Friday is a nice improvement. Squats also felt very solid Friday, so this was a good workout all around.

I was down the shore all weekend though and didn't eat great, so hopefully I don't struggle with tonight's CG bench/squat workout. But either way, I am very happy that my press seems to be coming around again a little bit. If I can get 5 reps again on Wednesday with 172.5, I actually think I am ahead of last cycle despite being a lighter bodyweight. Seems like LimieJosh was right and I may have just needed to get used to additional tricep volume. But I don't want to get ahead of myself yet. We will see what happens.

[DV]

Sometimes you have some subpar workouts, and then bounce back. That's what I liked the most about GSLP and 531's "autoreg" deal. There is some room for good and bad days, without going outside the boundaries of your prescribed workout.

Edit: 170x4 is a decent press. I need to step my game up, or it won't just be your bench I am jealous of.

[Briks42]

Sometimes you have some subpar workouts, and then bounce back. That's what I liked the most about GSLP and 531's "autoreg" deal. There is some room for good and bad days, without going outside the boundaries of your prescribed workout.

Edit: 170x4 is a decent press. I need to step my game up, or it won't just be your bench I am jealous of.

Yeah, I agree about the AMRAP type programs. Gives you room to have good days that follow up bad ones. I like that a lot.

My press is solid. Still chasing bodyweight though. I was close enough to it in February/March that I should have had it by now. Oh well, I'll get there.