Skid (Marc's) log

[skid]

10/18

Went to the "Goodlife" gym across the street from the hotel. I haven't worked out in a commercial gym for many years. This place had everything, even a stair climber that was like walking up the down escalator!

There were lots of gym bro's there in muscle shirts, but most were not doing the 3 basic lifts but were curling or do pec deck etc. They looked strong but were actually quite weak when I actually saw them doing benches or squats (nobody deadlifted)

They had 3 cages so I started with squats. I had no belt, knee sleeves and wore my loafers but worked up to 365 for 3 sets of 3. Normally I would do five and do more weight, but still had some fatigue from travelling and competition. Had a big buff 20 year old or so step in at 225 and do some half squats. I went to 315 and he did one quarter squat and then left.

Did some close grip benches and worked to 275 for 3 sets of 5. I really missed my wrist straps and really needed chalk as the bar was slippery but no chalk was allowed. The young lad I was alternating with let me use his wrist straps which I was quite grateful to borrow.

Went to OH pressing and did 3 sets of 5 with 185. Again I missed my belt and straps and should have been doing 200..

Followed up with chins, rowing, and tried a few machines out for fun. Its nice to see all the people working out, but I'd still rather work out at home, or perhaps at a more dedicated iron gym. 95% of people doing squats were only doing half squats with light weights...

[skid]

10/21

Flew 3000+ miles coast to coast yesterday plus driving for a couple hours on either end. My company only pays for economy but was happy to get on a new 777 Dreamliner for most of the trip. Until I found the seats were the absolute smallest seats I have ever sat in on a plane. Sat with my shoulders hunched together for almost 6 hours, but did get to watch a couple of good movies (Independence day 2 and Central intelligence). All told about 14 hours + of travel.

Got only a few hours of sleep the past couple days, and a 4 hour time zone difference had me up at 4am this morning as I couldn't sleep despite being tired. Was planning on taking today off but went in to work as there were all kinds of issues that needed to be addressed. Thought I'd do a light easy workout today and start getting serious again starting next week.

Warm up row - 300Meters
Light squats - 315 - 3,3,3 - Actually felt lighter as I went on. Went up easy
Deadlift - 405 - 1 - Wow, felt heavy, could hardly lift it and I decided not to push it. Hard to believe I did 517 last Saturday which felt easy. For me deadlifts are either hit or miss weight wise. I don't know why I'm not more consistent especially when my squats felt light. Dropped 90 pounds and did 315 for 5. Stopped there...

Also, had to move my lever belt out one notch as it was too tight around my waist. Too much Atlantic Clam chowder! It was so tight I thought I was gonna heave when I first bent over...

[skid]

10/24

I achieved the short term goals I set when I first started this log (435 squat, 325 bench, 500+ deadlift, 225 press). I'd like to increase my lifts by maybe 10-20 on the bench, and 20-30 on the squat and deadlift by the next meet if possible. This means a 340 comp bench, a 450 squat, and a 540 deadlift. I've got 3 months. We'll see...

There is an IPF meet in January and one in February in the Vancouver area. I'll try to enter one or the other.

I'm switching gears program wise also. I've done Andy Baker's over 40 5/3/1 for 5 months and the gains have slowed down. My son has talked me into the Jon Candito 6 week strength program which is a dedicated powerlifting program. I roll through this program starting today and see how it works for me. I'll pass on the optional accessory work and concentrate on the main lifts...


No more jet lag or tiredness as I made sure I caught up on sleep on the weekend.

Squats - 345 - 6,6,6,6 - 80% of 1RM - First 3 sets went fairly easy but definitely fatigued at the end of the 4th. Went mostly non-stop (no resting between reps) except for the last set.
Deadlifts - 415 - 6,6 - 80% of 1RM - Deadlifts always feel heavy for me, even when they're well under my max. Each set I don't think I could have done another rep... I feel a little out of shape due to travel, de-loads, and missing workouts over the past couple of weeks

[skid]

10/25

Today's workout will be repeated 3 times this week, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Started light on some weights to set a baseline and will increase later this week if possible.

Bench - 165 - 10, 225 - 10, 250 - 8, 255 - 6, - Taken right off the spreadsheet based upon my 1 rep max.
Barbell Row - 115 - 10, 125 - 10, 135 - 8, 155 - 6, - Didn't know how much weight to use so started light. Rested my forehead on the 45 degree incline top of my bench and got good range of motion. Did non stop and strict...
OH press - 95 - 12, 115 - 12, 135 - 10, 155 - 8, - Again didn't know where to start weight wise so started light.
Pullups/Chinups - BW - 10, 8, 10, 8 - Did better with the OH grip. Certainly lost strength here as I haven't done these for a few weeks. My last log entry was weighted with 35 pounds for 3 sets of 8.

[Chris McCarthy]

Congrats on hitting your initial goals...gotta be feeling pretty good about that?

[skid]

Congrats on hitting your initial goals...gotta be feeling pretty good about that?

Thanks! Any time I can improve my lifts and meet a goal it's a good thing, and a good reason to go out for a nice steak or sushi dinner!

[skid]

10/27

Bench - 165-10, 225-10, 250-8, 255-6, Taken off spread sheet, same weight as 2 days ago
Barbell Row - 125 - 10, 135 - 10, 145-8, 165 - 6, added 10 pounds for each set as I started a bit light last workout, nonstop reps
Press - 105 - 12, 125 - 12, 145 - 10, 165 - 8, added 10 pounds for each set as above
Pullup/Chinup alternating, BW - 8,8,8,9, - Did worse than last time, probably some fatigue from rowing

Got a good arm pump from all the higher rep exercises....

[skid]

10/28

Squat 300 - 8,8,8,8 - as per Candito spread sheet. I'm not used to these high reps
Deadlift 365 - 8,8 - as per Candito spreadsheet supposed to be 360 but putting two 25's on is easier than four tens and 2 2.5's.

Didn't do the optional exercises cause I was tired. Lots of reps for a young man like me. Need to catch up on sleep this weekend as I am not getting enough during the week.

[skid]

10/29

Bench - 265 - 7,7, As per spreadsheet was supposed to do 265 for one set of maximum reps. Couldn't do more than seven so got angry and tried another set with similar results. Hope this program isn't making me weaker as I should be able to do more reps than that... Next week intensity increases so we'll see what happens.

The exercises below are accessory lifts. I did them to keep my press up and to provide some opposite movement to the two presses.
Barbell Row - 165 - 8,8
Press - 165 - 8,8
Chins - OH/UH - BW - 8,8,8,8,

[skid]

10/31

Squat - 345 - 10, As per spreadsheet That got the heart rate up!
Squat - 350 - 3,3,3,3,3 - As per spread sheet - 60 seconds rest between each set
Deficit Deadlift - 315 - 8, seemed light so added 20 pounds. 335 - 8,8 - The spreadsheet called for deadlift variant so I tried these. Didn't quite know what weight to start at so started light. Used a 1 1/2 inch deficit plus my squatting shoes with a 0.75 heel. Even 335 seemed light but after the workout I can feel my lumbar area back muscles knotted up a bit so glad I stopped there.