Old Newbie Lifting Log

[PowerBuilder08]

Thanks for checking out my log. I used to do H.S. Powerlifting meets and am looking to get back into it this year.

A little bit about me: I've been in the Army for the last 6 years. That said, all of the running and endurance I've been doing over the years has caused my strength to take a massive dive. Now that I am preparing to transition out and I'm not being bothered to run 20 f*cking miles a day, I can focus on rebuilding my strength. I plan on competing in the 93 kg weight class.

With the volume of work I had been doing with constantly working out, I found using the 5-3-1 program worked best for me. It wasn't extremely demanding but also kept some level of strength on.

Be kind...I'm weak as f*ck right now and doing my best to get some level of not-embarrassing numbers!

The Program: I am making use of the program created by Izzy at the Powerlifting to Win website. I'm doing the first novice program in an effort to gain strength as quickly as I can. This program makes use of microplates for improvement, as well as going to an RPE of 9 and not failure unless necessary. The layout is simple: Squat, Bench, and Deadlift Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, keeping your working sets at a 9 RPE between 3 and 6 reps. Saturday is a day of abs, rowing, biceps, and some conditioning. I've found with the amount of volume I was doing with Army workouts that my body is reacting very well to taking huge steps back in volume for the time being.

Areas of concern: Two hernia surgeries and a recurring abdominal tear make me wary. I'm also 33 and am getting older. Again, I'm really hoping that so much less volume than I was doing for Army training will result in huge improvements.

All weight is in pounds currently.

I will be doing raw competitions, so the only gear I'm using currently is a belt, knee sleeves, and wrist wraps.

I am always open to advice, but the program I'm doing is one that I'm going to stick with for the foreseeable future instead of program hopping like I used to.

First Meet: April 28, 2018 Michigan Spring Barbellum
Thanks again for reading!

[PowerBuilder08]

Monday, 1-8-18

Squat
Warm-up
80x5
135x5
185x3
210x2
240x1
Working Sets
265x6 @ RPE 8.5
265x6 @ RPE 9

Pause Bench
Warm-up
65x5
115x5
155x3
185x2
200x1
Working Sets
222.5x6 @ RPE 9.5
222.5x5 @ RPE 9
222.5x4 @ RPE 9

Deadlift
Warm-up
100x5
165x5
225x3
260x2
295x1
Working Sets
325x6 @ RPE 9

Thoughts: Not a terrible session. I was microloading my Bench because my first workout last week I was hungover as fuck and benched like shit. Next week, since I'm still making "newbie" gains, my Squat goes up 10 pounds for the working set, my Bench goes up 2.5 pounds for the working set, and my Deadlift goes up 10 pounds for the working set.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-10-18

Squat
Warm-up
80x5
140x5
195x3
225x2
250x1
Working Sets
275x6 @ RPE 9
275x6 @ RPE 9
+10 pounds next session

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
115x5
165x3
185x2
205x1
Working Sets
225x6 @ RPE 9.5
225x6 @ RPE 9
225x5 @ RPE 9
+5 pounds next session

Deadlift
Warm-up
100x5
170x5
235x3
275x2
300x1
Working Sets
335x5 @ RPE 9
+5 pounds next session

Thoughts: I felt good today, I'm starting to move up in weight. My squats are still coming along nicely, I'd like to get back to where I was when I played football in college and repping out 315 fairly easily. All in all, learning to auto-regulate and not red-line every single workout is making a big difference for me.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-12-18

Squat
Warm-up
85x5
145x5
200x3
230x2
-belt on-
255x1
Working Sets
285x5 @ RPE 9
285x5 @ RPE 9
+5 pounds next session

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
115x5
160x3
185x2
-wrist wraps on-
205x1
Working Sets
230x5 @ RPE 9.5
230x4 @ RPE 9
230x4 @ RPE 9
+2.5 pounds next session

Deadlift
Warm-up
100x5
170x5
240x3
270x2
-belt on-
305x1
Working Sets
340x6 @ RPE 9
+10 pounds next session

Thoughts: I felt kind of off today, not really focused as well as normal. I think I was just wore out. I was shocked with my deads. At rep 2 I thought I would struggle to get 4, then it kind of kicked in and I was able to power 6 out. That was nice. Bench is starting to slow down which to me is a good thing; it means I'm getting my strength back closer to where it should be. I'll take these newbie gains as long as they go! I tweaked my hammie a little bit so we'll see how it feels. Normally I would do the Prowler tomorrow, but I may scale back and do the elliptical or something less strenuous.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-13-18

GPP Day
For today, I do an exercise that I can do 8-12 reps, go until I have about two reps left in the tank, then stop for 20-45 seconds and go again. I try to get as many reps as possible in 7 minutes. Goal is 45-65 reps, if I get over 65 I move up.

AMRAP 7
Hammer Curls
25 pound dumbbells, 58 reps total
Same weight next workout

AMRAP 7
Ab Roller
Lost count of reps honestly lol. I was sore so mission accomplished

AMRAP 7
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
105 pounds, 60 total reps
Same weight next week

EMOM (Every minute on the minute) 7 minutes
20 meter Prowler
90 pounds. Final rep did 40 meter push.
Same weight next week. I'll move up when the last rep is under 20 seconds

Thoughts: Nice lower intensity, higher volume workout to give my body a bit of a break. I'm human and sometimes it's nice to just get a good pump on the beach muscles!

[PowerBuilder08]

1-15-18

Squat
Warm-up
85x5
145x5
205x3
230x2
-belt on-
260x1
Working Sets
290x5 @ RPE 9
290x5 @ RPE 8.5
+5 pounds next session

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
115x5
165x3
185x2
-wrist wraps on-
210x1
Working Sets
232.5x5 @ RPE 9.5
232.5x4 @ RPE 9
232.5x4 @ RPE 9
+2.5 pounds next session

Deadlift
Warm-up
105x5
175x5
245x3
280x2
-belt on-
315x1
Working Set
350x5 @ RPE 9
+5 pounds next session

Thoughts: Good session. Progress is to the point where it's moving along reasonably but not too fast to burn out (+5 pounds on lower body and +2.5 pounds on upper body). Hopefully I'll be able to continue to maintain this intensity for a few more weeks or so.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-17-18

Squat
Warm-up
85x5
150x5
205x3
235x2
-belt on-
265x1
Working Sets
295x5 @ RPE 9
295x5 @ RPE 9
+5 pounds next session

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
120x5
165x3
190x2
-wrist wraps on-
210x1
Working Sets
235x5 @ RPE 9
235x4 @ RPE 9
235x4 @ RPE 9
+2.5 pounds next session

Deadlift
Warm-up
105x5
180x5
250x3
285x2
-belt on-
320x1
Working Set
355x6 @ RPE 9
+10 pounds next session

Thoughts: Really happy with the deadlifts, everything else coming along on schedule. The local high school was off today and there were some annoying ass high schoolers nearby that sent me into a blind rage before that set of deads. So, thank you stupid kids! Now go eat some Tide pods like your buddies

[PowerBuilder08]

1-19-18

Squat
Warm-up
90x5
150x5
210x3
240x2
-belt on-
270x1
Working Sets
300x4 @ RPE 9.5
300x1 @ RPE 7.5
Hold same weight next session

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
120x5
165x3
190x2
-wrist wraps on-
215x1
Working Sets
237.5x4 @ RPE 8.5
237.5x4 @ RPE 9
237.5x4 @ RPE 9.5
+2.5 pounds next session

Deadlift
Warm-up
110x5
185x5
255x3
290x2
-belt on-
330x1
Working Set
365x4 @ RPE 9.5
+2.5 pounds next session

Thoughts: I had just gotten off a 24 hour shift and had 2 hours of sleep so I was sucking today. I'll see how Monday feels and whether or not everything is starting to slow down or if today was just an anomaly. Weights felt heavy, bar speed was slow, I was just exhausted. My hammie was tight and felt like it was about to go from a minor pull to something bad, so I stopped immediately on that first rep of the second working set for squats. Bench felt okay, deads felt heavy as f*ck. I'm just beat to sh*t today lol. I'm really hopeful I can get 1-3 more weeks out of this program before I start switching things up.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-20-18

GPP Day

AMRAP 7
Hammer Curls
25 pound dumbbells, 66 reps total
+5 pounds next week

AMRAP 7
V-Ups
Again lost count of reps but was sucking at the end

AMRAP 7
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
105 pounds, 68 total reps
+5 pounds next week

Every 2 minutes (14 minutes)
20-second ellpitical sprint, LVL 18

Thoughts: That elliptical was very much-needed to stretch my very sore and stiff right hamstring out. Good session today, nice to have the heart pumping and the blood flowing. Glad to have two days without any high intensity workouts.

[PowerBuilder08]

1-22-18
Transition Phase: Day 1

Squat
Did not do (Hamstring injury)
Deload Friday, drop 15% to start Phase II next Monday

Pause Bench
Warm-up
70x5
120x5
170x3
190x2
-wrist wraps on-
215x1
Working Sets
240x4 @ RPE 8.5
240x3 @ RPE 8.5
240x3 @ RPE 8.5
Deload Friday, drop 15% next Monday to start Phase II

Deadlift
Did not do (Hamstring injury)
Deload Friday, drop 15% to start Phase II next Monday

Pull-Ups
BWx10
BWx10
BWx10

Weighted Walking
20 pound weight vest, speed 3.5, variable incline

Thoughts: I'm moving on to Phase II of this on Monday. I'll be upping the volume but keeping it on two days per week instead of three, with the middle day being a lighter day. My body is telling me that I would benefit more from two hard days per week with more time in between over three days. I have to follow what works for me: Start too light, progress too slowly. My hammie hurts like hell and my chest is starting to give me that same pain it did before I ruptured my pectoral muscle 12 years ago, so time to listen and slow down. Damn I wish I was still 18. Wednesday will be a GPP and testing out my overhead press, and Friday will be a full deload on Squat, Bench, and Deadlift.