Heisman's Journal

[Heisman]

I'll post workouts from the past few days to give an idea of what I'm doing. My main goal is to just have fun while getting stronger. More specifically my biggest short term goal is to deadlift 500 pounds, and then I'll focus more on olympic weightlifting and training my vertical jump (they don't go hand in hand with heavy deadlifting, haha).

I don't compete in anything; I just lift because I love it. I'm 5'7" and weigh just under 170.

6-26:

Deadlifts:
135x2
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
425x2

By FAR the fastest I've ever pulled 425. I've done 425x5 and I could have at least tied that here but my grip strength sucks now, haha. 500, my number one lifting goal, will fall soon.

Olympic backsquats:
135x3
185x3
225x3
255x1 (5 second pause)
275x1 (5 second pause)

These are actually PR's because I've never done high bar squats before, but for comparison with lower bar placement (still ATG) I've done 350 paused and 385 for a single.

Static holds:
135x15
185x15
225x15
275x15

These were done double overhead. This is the first time I've ever really done static holds... I'll just keep moving up in weight and seeing if they help. 275 wasn't that hard.

Incline dumbell bench press:
30x3
55x3
70x3 (5 second pause with each rep)

First time I've benched in awhile. I've done 75x10 (no pauses, though).

Russian twists:
15x5
25x4
35x4

First time I've done these in awhile as well.

Steep incline situps:
30x5
45x5

I should be moving up in weight rather quickly with these.

This was the best workout I've had in months, solely due to the fact that the 425x2 was so easy.

Tonight I just messed around with my Ivanko Supergripper. I held it on the eighth setting (one spring on one, one on eight) for 20 seconds with each hand and then the seventh setting for 30 seconds with each hand. I'm just starting to get serious with this thing.


Basically for the rest of the summer I'm going to start training with full time again, and I am very much looking forward to it.

[Heisman]

6-28:

Deadlifts:
135x3
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1
355x1
385x1
415x1
445x2

That was the first time I've ever done reps with more than 425. My grip was rather weak, but if it was stronger I would have done a third rep (I definitely had the strength for it). The only bad part was that throughout every warm up set my left lat would cramp up a little bit. Maybe it's a bit pulled, but it didn't keep me from hitting a PR, haha.

Olympic squats:
135x3
185x2
225x1
255x3
275x3

Still just getting used to them, although the 275x3 was hard. Much harder with the bar higher up.

That's it; I was really worn out after this. The deadlift PR alone made this a great workout. I'm getting very close to 500.

[Heisman]

7-02:

Deadlifts:
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1 (felt heavy)
435x1
465x1

So, even though the weights felt heavier than they have in the past, I still got 465 up, which is only 15 pounds less than my max. I can be happy with that. Grip was a big problem, though.

Olympic squats:
135x3
185x2
225x1
255x1
285x1
305x1

The last rep was pretty damn hard, but it felt good, and is a 30 pound olympic squat PR.

Static holds (weight x seconds):
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5 (max)
315x15 (max)

These were done double overhand. I will try to progress with these and when that stops working I'll do them with my regular deadlifting grip.

One armed assisted pullups:
#15x6
#13x6
#11x4

Gonna focus on these for a bit and see were it takes me. The smaller the number the heavier the lift (less weight to assist me).

Weighted dips:
0x2
25x1
45x1
60x1
70x1

Hard but very solid.

That's it. I'm gonna start doing 5x5 with deadlifts. Should be fun.

[Heisman]

7-04:

Deadlifts:
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x5
315x5

OMG, this was DRAINING! The reps weren't hard... in fact every rep pretty much flew up after I got it past my sticking point. By the end my lower back was incredibly sore and my entire body was extremely fatigued. I even ripped off a callous. Next time I'll try to do 5x5 with 335 and see if I can make it. I rested like 2-3 minutes between sets.

Dips/Chinups superset with no rest between any of the sets:
25x5/5
25x5/5
25x5/5
0x5/5

So, I did 5 dips with 25 pounds, then immediately 5 chinups with 25 pounds, then immediately 5 more dips, etc. This was also very tiring, but felt good.

Steep decline situps:
0x12
20x12

My form got a little sloppy on the last set. I started pushing up with the weight, which I normally hold near my head, to help me get up. I'll concentrate more to keep this in check next time.

Russian twists:
10x5
25x5

I did these very strictly and definitely felt them.

Great workout, mainly because the deadlifts were awesome. I'm a bit upset that I tore a callous cause that's always very annoying but it was worth it so I can't really complain.

[Heisman]

Tonight I ran for 25 minutes and then walked for 20. I would have run for longer but my legs were so fatigued from yesterday, haha.

[Kyle]

Looks pretty good.. finally getting strong i see!

Kyle

[Heisman]

Looks pretty good.. finally getting strong i see!

Kyle

Yep!

Hand is still messed up from torn callouses so no deadlifts today:

Olympic squats:
135x3
185x2
235x1
225x1 (235 felt bad)
255x1
275x1
305x1
315x1
325x1 (20 pound PR)

Honestly wasn't too bad, but I was getting a bit tired. The last one was pretty hard, though. I have to get used to heavier weights.

ATG front squats:
135x1
155x1
175x1
195x1
215x1
235x1

These were much harder because I couldn't really grip the bar... so I made sure I did them really strictly and my from was a lot better.

Olympic squats:
185x5x5

Just wanted to finish squatting with this. Reps were easy, but my body was fatigued overall.

One armed assisted chinups:
#16x2
#13x1
#10x5
#9x5

Hard, but good.

Incline dumbell presses:
35x3
55x3
75x6

It wasn't too hard to get them up but I just haven't trained pressing stuff at all for a few weeks (except dips) so my strength is down.

Steep decline situps:
20x12

Much better than last time because I used really strict form.

[Kyle]

Man you've came along ways since I met you. Nice sqt dood.

Kyle

[Heisman]

Man you've came along ways since I met you. Nice sqt dood.

Kyle

Thanks bro, but that squat should go up to 350 real soon.


Had a very nice workout today:

Deadlifts:
135x3
185x1
235x1
275x1
315x1
335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5

This was a lot easier than the 315x5x5 that I did last time! It was weird because all of the warmups were slow, but when I did the actual work sets the reps were with a ton of speed. I'm very encouraged by this. I put bandaids over my torn callouses and they protected me well. My grip wasn't a problem at all.

One armed assisted chinups (the smaller the number the less the assistance):
#16x1
#13x1
#10x1
#8x3.5
#7x1
#6x0.5
#10x5

The machine says that #7 is about 40 pounds of assisstance, for whatever it's worth. These went really well.

Incline dumbell bench press:
35x3
55x2
75x10

Last time I did 75x6, and 75x10 ties my all time PR, so I'm thrilled that I got my strength back this quickly. I'll move up to the 80's next time.

Steep decline situps:
30x10

This was hard, but the reps were very strict.

Very nice session overall.

Now I just need to start posting more... should start tomorrow.

[Heisman]

I finally ordered weightlifting shoes... they should be arriving on Wednesday.

Today I did this:

Deadlifts:
135x3
185x2
225x1
275x1
315x1
355x5
355x5
355x5
355x5
355x5

This was hard. The reps were easy (the early ones were very fast), but this was extremely draining on my body. On each set, though, I could have gotten more reps, although maybe not on the last set. While warming up a good looking woman was watching me and that made me feel good, haha, but luckily she left before my work sets or I would have been tempted to just go really heavy to impress her (in reality I probably would have stuck with the plan, but you never know). She actually started talking to me so I'm not just fooling myself into thinking she was impressed, lol. Anyways, 375x5x5 should be extremely hard if this is a good indication, but again, the reps aren't bad at all, so I'm happy.

One armed assisted pullups:
#17x1
#14x1
#11x1
#8x5
#7x2

With my right arm the last rep of the last two sets wasn't quite all the way up. For whatever reason my left arm is stronger with these. This is an improvement, though, and I'll take it.

Incline dumbell bench press:
30x1
55x1
70x2

I used a much steeper bench and I just wasn't strong enough for the 70's. I think I might start doing more volume with the pressing stuff. I honestly don't care about it, though.

Steep decline situps:
20x1
40x12

I felt these an extreme amount in my abs, and I'm happy about it. Good form for the first 10 and the last 2 weren't that bad.

And I'm sorry about not posting... eventually I'll get to it, I'm just not in the mindset for it yet.