Gamedog's Training Log

[gamedog]

Id use the heaviest dumbbells in the gym, use distance to measure progress rather then weight. Your not going to have any trouble deadlifting 120 per hand to start.

AH! Distance rather than weight! Gotchya. Cool!

[Rezart Erindi]

First of all welcome back! How are you feeling today? Sore? To be honest I expected the fail on the squat, but didn't want to say anything (it would have looked like bringing bad luck to my friend). Well, this is the definite evidence that you are human after all!!!
I had the same setback as you after my vacation (I took 2 weeks if you remember), and when I came back, I had to deload, b/c those weights felt like a ton man. From my training I understood that linear progression is a bitch, you become strong fast, but also 1 week WILL set you back. But don't worry, you are strong, it's just the body that needs its time to re adapt.

[gamedog]

First of all welcome back! How are you feeling today? Sore? To be honest I expected the fail on the squat, but didn't want to say anything (it would have looked like bringing bad luck to my friend). Well, this is the definite evidence that you are human after all!!!
I had the same setback as you after my vacation (I took 2 weeks if you remember), and when I came back, I had to deload, b/c those weights felt like a ton man. From my training I understood that linear progression is a bitch, you become strong fast, but also 1 week WILL set you back. But don't worry, you are strong, it's just the body that needs its time to re adapt.

Hey there Leonidas!

Yeah man I expected it -the setback upon my return, too. I think that was another reason why I turned that Friday into a max effort day. I wanted to go out on a high note, you know? But yeah, I expected the same thing to happen, only I envisioned that I'd have a lot harder a time with it than I did, and truth be told, I wasn't sore today at all. I woke up 15 minutes earlier than normal, and I used that time for early-morning conditioning training. Nothing too taking, just enough to burn a little bit of fat. I hopped up on my wife's eliptical and rode it for 10 minutes, not too fast but not too slow, and then hopped off and did two simple circuits: one set of 5 push ups followed by the downward dog Yoga asana for 15 seconds, followed by the cat and cow Yoga asanas with deep breathing (this helps fortify the abdominal and lower back muscles) and then a set of reverse crunches. Did two of those back to back, and then resumed my morning as normal. It wasn't too taxing, just an easy introduction to it. When I first did metcons I over-did it with burpees and jumping jacks and box jumps and got way too ahead of myself. This was more like light, easy GPP on an empty stomach, and upon leaving for work this morning I felt absolutely great. Ready to start the day. I'll do this again, adding one rep to each of the movements in teh circuit and two minutes to the cardio, on Thursday, and then again on Saturday, and work it like that. Should be good.

I'll be deloading and ramping up on the squats as well, for the sake of preserving and then maximizing my linear progression. I am indeed human LOL and I'm also 31 years old, not a young buck anymore LMAO I can afford a set-back like that, it's no big deal. Not even a set-back really, just an opportunity to ramp back up and get back that huge wave of momentum I was riding ;-)

Oh, and the Farmer's Walks with the heavier weight will be programmed in at the end of every workout Mon, Wed and Fri as well and that should be good. I'm not trying to get small of course, just trying to get the Power Tummy down to a healthier level.

[gamedog]

Well, it looks as though I've figured out what I need to do.

Light Squats:
135 lbs. x 5 x 1
225 lbs. x 5 x 1
275 lbs. x 5 x 2

Overhead Press:
45 lbs. x 5 x 1
95 lbs. x 5 x 1
135 lbs. x 5 x 3

Power Clean:
95 lbs. x 3 x 5

Conditioning:
Farmer's Walk: 90 lbs. x 20 yd. x 4
Farmer's Walk: 200 lbs. x 15 yd. x 2

Just Fucking Around For A Few Minutes:
Dumbell Hammer Curls: 40 lbs. x 7, 45 lbs. x 5, 50 lbs. x 3

Playlist:


Notes:

God damn it my quads hurt like a sonofabitch, but my left knee held its peace while I was squatting today at least. The pain didn't come until after. The work weight squats felt great while I was doing them but I was gassed afterward, too. Which afforded me the opportunity to recline on the decline bench (or is it the incline, the one where your head is higher than your knees?) and think about just what the hell it is exactly that I'm doing and going to do from here on in.

One voice told me I should de-load and go full-on into the Texas Method. Another, 5/3/1 and yet another told me I should stick to SS for just a little while longer.

So I sat there and looked at things objectively. Looks as though my kickass PR day not too long ago, combined with breaking training for 9 days pretty-much set me back, kind of an "Overreach and then ... nothing" type of setback. I've pretty-much had to de-load everything, and that is frustrating in it's own way.

BUT! The last time I de-loaded I was able to work myself up to a 405 lb. triple in, what was it, two months? I can't remember exactly but the point is, if I take the de-load now, on all my lifts (I don't really have any other choice, the 135 lb. Overhead Press was a fucking grinder today and I couldn't even get 115 lbs. off the ground during Power Clean time), suck it up, and ramp-up, I could probably smash those PR's around the time I'm running low on juice again.

So that's what I'm going to do. And here's the plan:

1. Attempt 315 lbs. on the squats again on Friday, and then 325 on Monday and so on by 10 lbs. until I reach 370 again.

2. 350 lbs. on the dead lifts on Friday. Then 360 the next time and so on.

3. 190 lbs. on the bench press, moving up 5 lbs. from there.

4. 140 lbs. on the over-head press, moving up 5 lbs. from there.

5. Try as hard as I can to transform my power cleans from weaksauce to awesome.

I want to ride this as far as I can get while I wind down my novice linear progression. I'd like to accomplish these goals:

1. Break my 220 lbs. x 5 x 5 bench press PR.

2. Break my 370 lbs. x 5 x 5 squat PR, preferrably into the low 400's

3. Get my dead lift for reps into the mid 400's

4. Smoke my 405 lbs. x 3 squat PR like a motherfucking pack of Kools

And, to wrap it all up:

5. PR at least 440 lbs. x 1 on the squats.

6. PR at least 475 lbs. x 1 on the dead lift.

7. PR at least 250 lbs. x 1 on the bench press.

Which leaves me with a 1165 power-lifting total near the end of my novice phase. I want these numbers, bad. And I want to fucking get there or get as close as I can, to them.

So that's what I'm going to do, and once I have accomplished those goals (provided of course that The Program continues to work for me up until then) I will then de-load and switch to intermediate-level programming.

If, however, my body decides that it can no longer recover from novice linear progression before such time as I have reached those goals, I'll de-load, switch to intermediate-level programming, attempt the PR's on an intensity day sometime after that and then make new goals from there.

So nothing left to do now but finish my shake, go home, eat dinner, walk my dog and get some rest. Big things on the horizon.

[gamedog]

I wanted to post some pics of the old vacation as well... The first are of me horsin around at Alligator Adventure, and then there I am dwarfing my father in-law... Put one in there of me and the wife, and another of me displaying my full panda bear stature in all it's glory LOL ... I need more farmer's walks LMAO

In my own defense though, that fucker is shrinking, used to be almost twice that big. Plus I'd had 8 or 9 beers in me when it was taken, so I was hiddeously bloated :-P

[MazdaMatt]

I got scared when you started talking about programming. Taking a week off gets you out of the groove and you need to accept that. I'm glad that you decided to stick with it and blast past 400lb3x5. Keep at it, man. This week will be a grind, but as the weight goes up the bar will feel lighter as you get your groove back.

[gamedog]

That's one of the things I needed to ponder and accept, getting back in the groove. And I'm glad I came to the decision to stick with it too. Even though I decided to then, then went on vacation, decided to stick with it again after that, then re-evaluated it and then decided, once and for all, to stick it out until the end again (and hopefully pull in some amazing numbers). I guess that's what everybody is referring to when they talk about Training ADD.

You know how those people out there who feign an "intense" persona like to spout rhetoric like "You'll never know how far you can go until you go too far?" and shit like that? I've never liked those people. Don't misunderstand, I'm not referring to the dedicated, good-natured go-getters I see around here; I'm directing that particular derision at those wannabe elitists you hear of elsewhere. Anyway, going too far... Sometimes I think about Colonel Kurtz, from Apocalypse Now (Hearts of Darkness). Now there's a man who knew how to Do The Program. They sent him out there, in the jungle, to build a Montegarnde Army to smash the VC, beat them at their own game y'know. And that's precisely what he did. He went all the way. He Did The Program. And then he went batshit crazy, but that's beside the point.

The point is, once again I got just the perspective shift I needed to regain my focus, recover from a great training streak, and hopefully I'll be able to build up enough momentum to finish this thing and go out like Kurtz, Martin Sheen will sail on down the river, track me down and relieve me of my post. And then I'll take another break for a week, de-load, and switch to something else.

[Rezart Erindi]

I'm 100% with you on this, deload and continue linear progression. I know that it seems hard at the moment, but you'll get your groove again. Those are some good objectives, so again, find your groove again and you'll be rollin in no time.

PS: I'm very proud of pressing and cleaning similar weights to you

[Rezart Erindi]

I wanted to post some pics of the old vacation as well... The first are of me horsin around at Alligator Adventure, and then there I am dwarfing my father in-law... Put one in there of me and the wife, and another of me displaying my full panda bear stature in all it's glory LOL ... I need more farmer's walks LMAO

In my own defense though, that fucker is shrinking, used to be almost twice that big. Plus I'd had 8 or 9 beers in me when it was taken, so I was hiddeously bloated :-P

Damn, you've had some fun there buddy! Nice, drinking beer, swimming, having some quality time with gf, killing alligators - what do you want more from life LOL?

[gamedog]

I'm very proud of pressing and cleaning similar weights to you

Soon you'll be pressing and cleaning even more :-D