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Going for 200/300/400/500
About me
I had a log on here before. It is located here. I decided to try to stick to this program and see what sort of improvements I could make.
My numbers haven't really improved in the last year, which really sucks. I would follow the general programming of the book on and off, but dick around and change things at different times. I finally sorta stuck to it and got to the following lifts:
squat - 310: 3x5
deadlift - 345: 1x5
bench - 255: 3x5
press - 115: 3x5
The only one I failed on was bench for 260. I was still making decent progress on the rest (yes, the press is lagging, I left that out. I have a bad shoulder with flare-ups with overhead movements. I'll have to review it and slowly work it up).
This was back in the summer. The gym I was going to lost its lease though, so I went for a couple of months without a gym. I recently joined one by my house, and have started up workouts again. I am trying to work back to the numbers I was at before, and then keep going. I expect to get back to those numbers by early Nov, and then hopefully continue and add on to them.
Short term goals (end of year)
Squat - 345: 3x5
Deadlift - 385: 1x5
Bench - 275: 3x5
Press - 155: 3x5
I will generally be following the program as follows:
Workout A
squat
bench
bb row
Workout B
squat
press
deadlift
I normally try to finish quickly and then get back home, but I will sometimes have a bit more time. In those cases, I will sometimes throw in some random extra work. It will generally be something like throwing in some curls.
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Some other info:
Age: 34
Height: 5'9"
Weight: ~243 most of 2011, up a few lbs in the last few weeks.
I am going to try to get my weight down to about 240, and then try to keep it there (or drop if possible) while continuing to lift. I have already been up to almost 270 before, and I don't really want to weigh any more than I do now. My eventual goal is to get down to around 220.
Oh, when I thought of the title of my journal before, it was supposed to represent the following:
200 lbs: goal bodyweight
300 lbs: goal bench (for 3x5)
400 lbs: goal squat (for 3x5)
500 lbs: goal deadlift (for 1x5)
I'm not sure about the 200 for bodyweight, though. As mentioned, I will probably try to get down to 220 and then re-assess. So instead, the 200 can just be my press goal.
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Wed Oct 19, 2011
squat: 45x12, 45x10, 135x8, 185x6, 225x4, 255x2, 275 lbs: 3x5
press: 45x10, 75x6, 95x2, 105 lbs: 3x5
deadlift: 45x10, 135x8, 205x4, 255x2, 275x2, 295 lbs: 1x5
All of the lifts felt ok. I watched Rip's video on bar placement earlier today, and it was helpful. I originally had planned on doing 285 for DL, but I felt good after 275, so I decided to go for it. It felt good while I was doing it, but I had an odd feeling in my back for a couple of hours afterwards. I had done 30 lb jumps (yeah, I know, too much) and I probably should've just gone 20 this time. I might just drop to 10 lb jumps at this point, as I'm already getting close to the weights that I was working with before.
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Fri Oct 21, 2011
bike 9.2 miles to work
bike 9.2 miles home
It was a bit chilly in the morning, but otherwise a beautiful day in Chicago. I'm not sure how many more nice days we'll have, so I decided to make the ride. I wasn't really pushing it, so it took me about 45 minutes each way.
Sun Oct 23, 2011
1:30 PM: basketball game
5:00 PM: lift
squat: 45x12, 45x10, 135x8, 185x6, 225x4, 255x2, 275x1 (90s) 285 lbs: 2x5, rest 50s
bench: 45x12, 135x8, 185x4 (75s) 225 lbs: 3x5, rest 50s/50s
row: 45x12, 95x6, 135x4 (75s) 155 lbs: 3x5, rest 40s/40s
I was planning on lifting on Friday, but I biked and ended up having to help my sister with something that night, so I held off until Sat. I was hoping to get in on Saturday morning, but we ended up running a bit late, and had plans for the rest of the day, so I pushed my workout off another day. I had a basketball game today, but I only ended up playing about 10 minutes (got there just before halftime), so I was good for the gym.
Weights felt good. The squats actually felt pretty ok, but on the fifth rep of the second set, I felt a sharp twinge on the outside of my left leg, just behind (posterior, not interior) my quad. Instead of forcing it and potentially hurting myself, I decided to skip the last set of squats. I'll just do 285 again next time, and if it feels fine, make the jump to 295.
For bench, I made the jump to 225 because I was able to do a set of 15 at 215 (the gym was closing, so I figured I'd just put my 3x5 all into a single set). I was able to complete it, but bench is starting to get hard. I'm trying to decide if I should continue w/ 10 lb jumps since I'm working my way back to weights I had done just a couple of months ago, or if I should just drop to 5 lb jumps soon. We'll see.
The rows felt fine. I can probably do another 10 lb jump for the next workout.
I had planned on doing a few sets for arms, but it was getting late and I had to get back home, so I skipped those. Those are just for fun anyways, so I didn't really have a problem with dropping them.
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Catch up from Google cache:
Posted 12-27-2011, 04:46 PM
Had to take some time off b/c of pain in my leg, and then almost immediately after that, got sick.
Anyways, was able to walk 1.25 mile to gym at lunchtime today and squeeze in a quick workout
press: 45x12, 45x12, 75x8, 95x4, 115x2, 125 lbs: 3x5
deadlift: 45x10, 135x8, 205x6, 255x4, 285x2, 305x2, 320x1, 330 lbs: 1x5
walk 1.25 mile back to office
Sets were heavy, but no real fear of failure.
Posted 12-31-2011, 12:52 AM
bench: 45x8, 135x4, 185x2, 225 lbs: 3x5
squat: 45x8, 45x8, 135x6, 185x4, 225x2, 275x2, 295 lbs: 3x5
bb row: 45x8, 95x4, 135x2, 145 lbs: 3x8
close-grip bench: 135x8, 185 lbs: 2x8
alternating db curl: 25x6, 40x12
The only rack in the gym was being used when I got there, so I switched things around and did bench first. Went to squats, and tried reducing # of warmup sets and reps. Not sure if it really felt any better; I didn't get enough sleep last night, so its hard to separate out all of the different factors. I generally do more warmup for my knees though, and they felt fine, so I might be able to keep going w/ the reduced warmups. Squats felt heavy. I'm getting close to what I was working at when I had to stop last time (jeez, over half a year ago) so I will probably switch over to 5 lb jumps. I threw in the extra exercises b/c I didn't want to go back to the office.
Posted 01-08-2012, 09:57 PM
Went to the gym on Fri Jan 6. Ran 1.25 miles there, took 15 1/2 min.
Did bench and deadlift. Didn't have enough time to squat also (it's generally either squat, or do other stuff).
Bench, worked up to 230, did 3x5, not too bad.
Deadlift, did 335, got 4 and just didn't have it.
I realized that I go a bit slower on my reps now than I used to. Not sure if I'm doing this to try to be able to handle adding in a pause. Eh.
Also, no more running to the gym before doing anything leg-related. My knees were starting to ache a bit before I got to the gym, and I was a bit gassed. I might just need to go back to doing workouts in the evenings a couple times a week, instead of trying to squeeze them in at lunchtime.
Posted 01-11-2012, 01:08 AM
Squat: 45x12, 45x10, 135x8, 185x4, 225x4, 265x2, 295x1, 300 lbs: 3x5
Press: 45x6, 75x4, 95x2, 115x2, 130 lbs: 3x5
I got into the gym this evening, instead of at lunchtime. These are starting to get hard. I will need to rest longer for squats, which means that these will end up staying split workouts. I'll probably just do squat/press and bench/deadlift. I figured I'd drop my jumps to 5 lbs instead of 10 for squats. Pretty excited to be close to 310 and hopefully pass it soon.
Posted 01-15-2012, 01:06 AM
Bench: 45x12, 135x8, 185x4, 225x2, 235 lbs: 2x5, 1x7
Deadlift: 45x8, 135x6, 205x4, 265x2, 305x2, 325x1, 335 lbs: 1x5
I fell asleep while putting my daughter down. It was only for about 10-15 min, but it made me feel a bit off. It wasn't enough to prevent me from going to the gym, but I still felt a bit out of it post-workout. Anyways, bench wasn't too bad. This is my 2nd attempt at 335 for DL, and it went better this time. I'll only be going up by 5 lb increments moving forward.
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More catch up.
Tue Jan 17
squat: 305 lbs: 3×5, rest 150/150 sec
press: 135 lbs: 3×5, rest 90/90 sec
Fri Jan 20
bench: 245 lbs: 3x5, rest 90/90 sec
deadlift: 345 lbs: 1x5
dips: 1x5, 1x6, rest 60 sec
chinups: 2, 1.5, rest 60 sec
I had a little bit of extra time for this workout, so I decided to add in a few accessories.
Mon Jan 30
squat: 310 lbs: 3x5, rest 4:00/3:30
bench: 250 lbs: 3x5 rest 2:45/2:30
deadlift: 355 lbs: 1x4
I had some time for this workout, so I decided to do the big 3 lifts. It was a long layoff since the last workout, and I didn't want it to be any longer for these three exercises. I ended up going to the gym at a pretty busy time though (which I hate). I ended up letting people work in on both the squat and bench, which made my rest periods a bit longer than I would've done otherwise (especially on bench). I haven't done squat and deadlift together in a workout in a while, though, so I was tired by the time I got to deadlifts. I think I'll be fine the next time I just go bench/deadlift.
Sun Feb 5
squat: 315 lbs: 3x5, rest 3:00/3:00
press: 140 lbs: 1x7
It felt great to get 3 plates for squat. It actually didn't feel too bad. I've been trying to get a little more sleep, which is probably a good thing. I didn't have enough time to finish presses, though, so I did one set and got out of there. I'll just have to repeat this weight for press next time.
Wed Feb 8
bench: 255 lbs: 3x5 rest 2:30/2:30
deadlift: 360 lbs: 1x5
Bench and deadlift both felt good. I chose to go up in weight on deadlift even if I didn't get 1x5 last time, and it felt pretty easy.
Wed Feb 15
bench: 280 lbs: 1x4, 260 lbs: 1x3, 1x4, rest 2:00/2:00 between sets
deadlift: 370 lbs: 1x5
My hip has been bothering me, and I believe that its from squat. I am actually going to hold off on doing squats for a few weeks. Because of that (and the length of time between workouts) I figured I'd just do bench and deads again. I'll hit press and power clean next time.
I saw f4 and some other guys talking about doing a heavy single before work sets, just to get acclimated to heavier weights. I thought that might be good to try once in a while, so I picked a weight 20 lbs above my work weights, figuring that would be a good amount. I got a spotter (which I rarely do) and went for 280. The first rep felt very easy, so I just kept going and ended up getting 4. Felt good to do that. I then dropped the weights and did a couple of sets of 260. On both of those, I ended up hitting uprights and choosing to stop the set. Even w/o those, I don't think I would've hit 5s. Anyways, felt pretty good. I'll go for 260s again next workout, and just stick with that weight.
For deadlift, I decided to go up 10 because the last set didn't feel too bad. I wasn't sure how it would be, b/c my last warmup set of 355x1 felt pretty hard. I made sure to rest 5 minutes before my work set though, and I was ready to go. It actually didn't feel too bad either.
One of the guys at the gym was talking to me after my deads, talking about how very few guys at my gym do that. It was funny; he asked me what I thought my best lift was out of the big 3, and said bench. I'm pretty much at ~300 for that, whereas I am at maybe ~400 for my deadlift. He seemed much more impressed with my deadlift, though. I guess that's what happens in a gym where I've seen only one other guy to deadlifts but the benches are always packed.
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