John's Training Log

[John Custer]

Hello,

This will be my first post on this site. I have been creeping for a while, mostly for specific information on injuries, etc., but I am curious to see if this could be a productive way to track my training. So, here goes...

Age: 37
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 240lbs
Barbell training since November '14

Current 1 and 5 rep PR's (lbs):
Squat - 375 x 1, 350x5
Bench - 315 x 1, 287.5x5
Deadlift - 500 x 1, 470x5
Press - 185 x 1, 167.5x5


Background:

I was an athlete in High School (football, baseball, basketball) and played baseball in college (pitcher). Throughout this time I mostly just exercised randomly. During college I took up rock climbing and that became my primary physical activity for about 10 years. I am about as far from optimally built for climbing as it gets but I was able to get relatively strong during this period of time, ticking a few V8 boulder problems at a bodyweight around 210 lbs. 5 years ago my wife and I had our first child and that about ended my time as a climber (for now at least). 3 years ago we had our second. I started "training" on my own around this time, but didn't really have any idea what I was doing and made little progress. In November '14 I started training at SF Iron with Starting Strength Coach Niki Sims.

I ran an LP for 3-4 months and then transitioned into Texas Method. We made a variety of tweaks to my programming due to my business travel schedule, injuries, surgeries, etc. I made some excellent gains in knowledge, technique and strength in the first 12 months and then I decided to fly solo for awhile. Things went ok, but I certainly needed additional help with a couple lifts so I started training again at SF Iron in April. I'm currently training 3 days/week (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday) on an RPE based program. I am recovering from a groin injury so my squat is in rehab mode at the moment but that should be fixed in the next weeks or so. Also starting to add a little HIIT into the mix so I don't get so fat.

A typical week would look like this:

Monday:
HIIT- 20 min

Tuesday:
Squat: 5@8-9, 94%X5X4
Bench: 5@8-9, 96%X5X4
Deadlift variation: something like 70% of 5RMx5x2

Friday:
Squat: 5@8-9, 94%X5X4
Bench: 5@8-9, 96%X5X4
Deadlift: 5@8-9, 90%X5X2

Saturday:
HIIT - 20 min

Sunday:
Squat: 5@8-9, 94%X5X4
Press: 5@8-9, 96%X5X4
Chins: BW+# for 20 reps, first set AMRAP

The following week would be 3's, then 1's, then back to 5's with periodic deloads mixed in.

I'll try to post videos when I can and welcome any feedback anyone has for me.

Thanks.

[John Custer]

9/8

Squat - 275x10x3, no belt. This is part of the groin rehab. Weighted carries after set 1 and 2. Tired today so just did laps in the yard with 24kg KB's.

[John Custer]

9/9

Squat - 285x10x3
Bench - 315x1@9, 296x2x3
Deadlift - 465x5@9, 418x5x2




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[John Custer]

9/12

Squat - 225x5x2

Tweaked back in Friday, hope to be back to normal by Wednesday.


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[John Custer]

9/13

320x1@8. Felt really good.
300x2x3

Routine got a little sideways with the back tweak. Skipping DL today. Bench only bro sesh.


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[John Custer]

9/14

Squat - 290x10x3

No food today. Felt tired during 2nd, 3rd sets.


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[Niki Sims]

9/14

Squat - 290x10x3

No food today. Felt tired during 2nd, 3rd sets.


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How's your back?


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[John Custer]

How's your back?


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Hey there! Much better over the last few days. I was pretty tired at the end of last Friday's session and probably should have dropped the last back off set on DL, but was stubborn and didn't. You'd think I'd know better by now.


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[John Custer]

9/16

Bench - 285x4@10. Failed on fifth. Got too hesitant. 268x5x3. Cut the last set, feeling like garbage.

DL - 455x3@7, 410x3x2

Squat - 295x6, 295x5

Today was supposed to be 3@8-9 for DL and 295x8x3 for squat but I felt really worn down from the week of travel and was pretty hesitant with my back. Basically, I pussed out, which is weird because I'd usually push through and end up not being able to recover for a week. Hopefully this was the right way to go.


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[John Custer]

Update on back - super sore today. Probably shouldn't have pulled last night. Back to where I was on Tuesday.


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