zen and the art of strength training

[kopp]

10/30 Tuesday

Deadlift 2x5x295
Bench 2x5x185
Pullups BW x 9 6 5

Spent about 4 days back in MD, very busy, so this was my first lift in about a week

11/1 Thursday

Incline Bench 5x5x175
Carries 95pounds - 4 small laps in IM building
OHP 95x10

Solid day today, the incline bench felt good. I am weighing in at an even 200 pounds. The carries were an improvement. Hoping to deadlift 5x5x295 over the weekend.

11/2 Friday
Kettlebell swing 5x20x20kg work:rest::1:1

These were exhausting, the air was cold, and my chest hurt after. On the other hand, it was good to do some form of conditioning

[kopp]

11/4 Sunday

Bench 5x5x185
Pullups BW x 10 6 3
Carries 95x 4 short laps around IM building

Hamstrings were killing me today. Probably doing deadlifts on wednesday

[kopp]

11/7 Wednesday

Deadlift 5x5x295
Pullups BW x 8 5 5
Assisted x 10

Deadlifts felt strong, my legs and forearms are feeling pretty raw. Higher volume deadlifting is strong medicine.

11/9 Friday

Incline Bench 180 x 5 5 5 3 3 2
Pullups 10 6 5 5
Overhead Press 95x12

Arms and upper back are exhausted. The plan is to do kettlebell work sometime over the weekend and flat bench monday. Should deadlift middle or end of next week.

[kopp]

11/11 Sunday
Kettlebell Tabata 20kg x 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11

11/12 Monday
Bench 5x5x190
pullups BW x 10
Carries 95 x5 laps in IM bldg, short hallway

I have been getting killed by school. I can't wait for this semester to be over. And my inflatable mattress popped... suffice it to say I haven't been sleeping great lately.

11/14 Wednesday
Deadlift 5x5x300
Incline Bench 5x5x180
OHP 105x 12

[kopp]

11/18 sunday

Bench 5x5x195
Pullups BW x 10 10 7 6
Carries 100 pnds x 2 laps at LA fitness in Germantown, MD

Back in Maryland for the week. I drove here from Michigan on thursday - long drive. I have a free one week pass at the LA fitness. It is a basic gym - plenty of benches and pullups bars. Unfortunately no kettlebell. The plan is to deadlift and incline on tuesday, then bench/pullup/carries on friday. I drive back next sunday.

11/20 tuesday
Deadlift 5x5x305
Pullups 6x6xBW --- some of these were kipping.

The incline benches at LA fitness are a sort of shitty - decided not to do them

[kopp]

11/25 Sunday
Deadlift 20x1x315 on the minute

11/27 Tuesday
Bench 5x5x200
Carries 100 pnds x 4 short loops in IM building

22/29 Thursday
Deadlift 20x1x315 on the minute
Incline Bench 185x 5 3 --- really heavy, shoulders started hurting
Pullups 3x6

Decent week, lots of sitting at school. I am switching to single deadlifts on the minute because they are less psychologically daunting, I can focus on doing one rep at a time, and I think it is easier to keep my form correct.

[kopp]

12/2 sunday
Bench 5x5x205
Pullups BW x 10, 6, 6
Overhead press 115x 9, 5

Studying for finals is in full swing... I was feeling good about my benching and pullups, but looking back at my log discovered that this is no improvement over where I was 14 months ago. One obvious reason is that I stopped benching for about a year. And I may be able to progress past where I plateaued before. Nonetheless, it is a little frustrating.

Tuesday 12/4
Deadlifts - back is tweeked from sitting for the past two days, so deadlifts got halted during warmups
Pullups BW x 7 sets x 6 reps
Carries - 80 pounds x 2 long walks in IM bldg.

Thursday 12/6
Incline bench 185 x 5 5 5 3 3 3
Weighted Pullups 25 x 5 3 3 3 3
BW x 7
Overhead Press 115 x 8

[kopp]

The last 5 months have been a struggle. I didn’t lift at all over winter break. When I went back to school in January, I had persistent neck and knee irritation. I managed to work through it, focusing on deadlifts, bench, pullups, and frequent racquetball. The general set up was to do a max rep set of deadlifts between 275 and 315, then bench 2x5, 1xmax rep. My best lifts were Deadlift 10x315 in 61 seconds, and bench 185x5 5 10. I haven’t worked out since last Tuesday, so about 9 days.

This summer I am going to focus exclusively on pullups and kettlebells. Not for any philosophical purpose; just to change things up and give the barbells a rest until the fall. I hope to lean out and improve my cardiovascular fitness and hopefully get forearms of steel. Between now and memorial day I am going to practice the swing and snatch; hopefully I will build up a base with the movements. After memorial day I am going to focus on pyramids with the snatch and swing, slightly increasing volume each month. I will also do pullups 2-3 times per week, increasing total volume each week. My goals for the end of the summer are:

100 kettlbell snatches in under 4 minutes
150 kettlebell swings in under 5 minutes
20 deadhand pullups
5 deadhang pullups with 45 pounds attached.

[kopp]

Pre-Memorial day kettlebell work

5/8 - 6 sets x 10 reps x 20kg kettlebell swing, 30-45 seconds between sets
5/9 - 4 sets x 10 kb swings/ 5 right handed snatches/ 5 left handed snatches, 30-45 seconds between sets (really sore from yesterday)
5/10 - 3 sets x 10 kb swings/ 10 right handed snatches / 10 left handed snatches 45 seconds rest between sets
5/13 - On the minute 20 kg kettlebell swing --- 5/10/15/20/25::: 3 minute rest ::: 25/20/15/10/5 ---my left shoulder hurt all weekend. I may not join a gym (need to save money); I could use the summer to focus on kettlebell work and pullups. Will think more about this over the coming days.

5/16 - 10 x 10 kettlebell snatches - each set was on the minute
5/17 - on the minute swing -- 5/10/15/20/ 8 - on the final set my grip gave out
5/21 - 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1 - each rep consisted of a swing, right and left handed snatch. So 5 meant 5 swings followed by 5 righthanded snatches followed by 5 left handed snatches. Total reps = 90, time of exactly 5:00

5/25 on the minute kb swing --- 5/10/15/20/25 --- I have been camping the last few days, so bad food and sleep. This was meant to simply get my body moving again.

[kopp]

week 1

This week I hope to get a few baseline numbers: swing tabata, 100 snatches for time, max swings in 2 minutes, and max pullups.

5/26 - 20kg kettlebell swing tabata - 11, 10, 11, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11 ---- these were all full "American" style swings

5/29 - Deadhang Pullups, BW x 13, 8, 5, 5, ---I started my summer job this week. It is exhausting. These pullups were done after work. I tried to do some conditioning but the heat immediately sapped all strength/energy from my body, leaving me exhausted. Thus, this was all I did.

5/30 - 2 minutes max kettlebell swing: 59 ---- I was pretty much right on 5 reps per 10 seconds the entire time. I was pretty spent by the end - my forearms were yelling pretty loud. I need to build up both cardio and forearm strength to be able to keep this going for 5 full minutes. Each rep was a full "American" style swing.

5/31 - Pullups BW x 14, 8, 1 ---- My forearms and biceps were really sore, so after the final difficult single I decided to stop. 14 deadhangs is a great place to start, however. I think that I will be up to 20 by the end of the summer.