The Training of a Twenty-Something

[PTarleton]

Deadlift: 255X3, 295X3, 325X8, 185X10X5

Hang Power Snatch: 180X1, 150X4, 150X3

Back Extension: BWX10X5

Spotted someone on Bench. After I finished my top set for Deads he laughed and told me the woman on the leg press was leering at me and looked really pissed off at me for dropping the weights. I put mats down on the floor when I do Deads and I bring the bar down controlled until about the last 3 or 4 inches. It barely made any noise at all. So that was a nice experience. Because it confirms that when I see what I think is people leering at me and being pissed of because I'm lifting weights in a goddamn, motherfucking gym of all things, I am in fact seeing what I think I see. It's good to have my reality validated so I know I'm not cruising around the universe with sunglasses tinted in paranoia.

Saw like half a dozen people today wearing those gay vibram toe shoes in the gym. All dudes. One was doing Smith Machine Bench. Another doing Pec Flys. Hey. Bro. You don't fucking need to have on your queer little dream slippers for Smith Bench or Pec Flys. You can do that stuff wearing bunny slippers and it wouldn't make a difference.

[PTarleton]

Hang Power Snatch: 180X1X2

Bench Press: 275X2

Close-Grip Bench: 140X10X5
super-set with...
Cybex T-Bar Row: 90X10X5

EZ Cable Curls super-set w/ EZ Cable Pushdowns: 3 sets of 10.

I have a small satchel of mediocre excuses for my Bench sucking monkey cock. Not worried. Will readjust the training max. Will hit 235 for reps next week and 260 the week after. I intend to go balls to the walls on 260, use the Wendler max estimating formula for an estimated max, take 90% of the figure I get from that, and then I'll have a starting point.

That's really the entire point of this month. Do Military Press 175 for max reps, Deadlift 345 for max-ish reps, Bench Press 260 for max reps, Squat for max reps, and use the formula and the 90% rule to get a new training max to work with.

[PTarleton]

High Bar Squat: 275X10


Hang Power Snatch: 180X1


High Bar Squat: 165X10X5


5 different Ab Exercises. 15 reps each.

[PTarleton]

Did some Hang Power Snatch

Military Press: 155X8

Did some more Hang Power Snatch

Military Press: 95X10X5

Pull-ups: BWX10X3, 9, 10

Superset Cable Curls, Pushdowns, Face Pulls: 3 sets

I've been told by a trusted source that my Pressing is hindering my Jerk. Next week I'm gonna switch to Push Press for keeps. Hope I can at least hit 235 since I hit that out of the blue about a month ago.

[PTarleton]

Deadlift: 315X15, 185X10X5

Abs: 5 sets of 10. Supersetted with the lighter Deadlifts. Would do Abs 1st then Deads 2nd.

Felt good to do 315X15 without much mental exertion. And just by the feel of how the set went it's more encouragement that my Deadlift currently sucks because I'm weak - not because I'm permanently disabled by my blown spinal disk.

When I am doing my 5 sets of 10 with 315 and super-setting that with Decline Sit-Ups done with a 45lb plate behind my head, I will feel pretty badass.

[PTarleton]

Yesterday:

Bench Press: 235X10

That was it

Today:

High Bar Squat: 280X10, 165X10X5

[PTarleton]

Push Press: Up to a Paltry 225

Pull-ups: 9, 9, 4

Maybe I already said this exact same thing before. I can't tell. I dunno. Here it is.

I was listening to the news, and by news I mean NPR. Because I get my news from NPR. Because I'm a "liberal." Because I'm not a millionaire, a racist, or a homophone. But I don't watch MSNBC. Because I'm not ruled by white guilt and because I have an appreciation for facts. And because I like listening to rants, but not on the news. The Federal Reserve isn't a conspiracy, asshats. What else would we do? Go back to a gold standard? I think the last time we used that, Aluminum was more valuable than gold. Did you know that some of the trim in the Library of Congress is Aluminum, and at the time it was used because Aluminum was like THE most valuable metal in the world and it was supposed to be really flashy? Just remember, when you time travel back to the 18th Century, bring some Reynolds Rap with you for bartering. Oh, and bring an Assault Rifle and a Backpack full of drum clips - so you can be God.

Where was I? Oh, right. So the good 'ol NPR says that the DOW had just tanked so bad that 2011 might as well not have happened at all.

That's what I feel like at this point. Hell, maybe the last 2 years of training might as well not have happened at all. I was Close Grip Benching 280 and Military Pressing 195X5 back in the winter of 2009. Last year I was Benching 315 and Pressing 210. Now, 225 Push Press. Started off the summer with a 235 Push Press. That's gone. Was Jerking 300 not long ago. That's gone. Probably can't even hit 275 right now. Couldn't do it the last time I tried.

I have 3 more sessions to do at this YMCA. After that, I'm never, ever going to do any serious training in a gym that I hate ever again. It just bums me out. If my only choices in the world where to work out at this YMCA's weight room for the rest of my life or to just get fat and die, I'd probably pick "just get fat and die."

I had lofty plans to hit big numbers this week. It won't happen. Not like "not with that attitude it won't happen." Yes, my attitude and mental ferocity is severely lacking right now, but so is my physical preparedness. My strenght and fitness is shit. I'm embarrassed. Here's how I assume the rest of the week will go and how my Training maxes will shape up.

I had hoped to hit 245 or 250 today for Push Press. Pipe Dream stuff. 205 will be my training max now. I think 245 is a reasonable, low-ball but not too low-ball goal for an 8-week run of 5/3/1 for PL. That'll have me hit 225, 232.5, 237.5, then 245 on the 7th week.

Tomorrow I will Deadlift 345 for 10. That'll give me a Wendler estimated max of ~460. My max totally isn't 460 right now but 460 X 90% will give me ~415 Training max. 440/200kg will be my goal for the 8-week run. That's the ultimate, make or break test of if I can ever Deadlift again or if my disk injury is just gonna hold me back from doing what I'd otherwise be easily physically capable of. I mean, I've done 440 like over 5 years ago. I used to do that for probably over sets of 10, albeit touch and go, but I was 10-15 pounds lighter as well and my squats weren't nearly as strong.

Then I'll Bench 260. I want 260X10 but I don't have much good reason to think that's feasible right now. Whatever I get with 260 I will estimate a max, take 90% of that max, and use that number as my TM. I think that 300 or 305 will likely be my Goal Max for this 8 week run.

I'll finish the week off on Thursday with Squatting 315 for reps. If I get 10 reps I will stop. I may not get 10 reps. Deadlifts have gone decently but upper body has been shit. I don't know what will happen. I've made the recent switch to doing High-bar with no knee wraps. The difficulty of the high-bar leverage combined with the loss of the assistance the wraps gave me has left me weaker in these style of squats than I was doing Wrapped Front Squats. This is also a bit of an experiment.

I'm starting to think that the only reason anyone ever has, say, a 900 pound squat and a 400 or 350 pound Clean and Jerk is simply because their 900 pound squat never, ever resembles an Olympic Squat. This is theoretical so I'm not making any bold claims here I want to stand behind, but it seems to me that both Olympic Weightlifters and Powerlifters are oblivious to this point.

Powerlifters like to laugh at Olympic Weightlifters. They see Olympic Lifters putting tiny weights on their back. They think, oh - this guy is only squatting a paultry 500 pounds. The only way he's getting 385 over his head is with witchcraft. I could do that but I'm too busy doing the power lifts, the MAN lifts. But in reality, the powerlifter isn't doing nearly the same thing the weightlifter is. If he tried to squat the same 500 in the same style, he'd get his spine shot out his ass.

Weightlifters then turn around and use the wrong argument when they try to justify why they're not squatting 1000. What they should be arguing, exclusively, is that their squat is way, way different than a powerlifter's squat and way, way harder. But they make the mistake of conceding to the powerlifters, then using the back-up argument that squats aren't as important to them as their competition lifts.

I recently Squatted 365 + Light Bands while using a Low-bar position, going to parallel, and using 2.5 meter wraps and 445 wearing 3 meter wraps, going to parallel, and still going to low-bar. But before that I messed around with high bar, ATG squats with no wraps and only made 330lbs. I tried 345 but missed it badly. 330 may not be my max, but it's close. This was also at the time that I was hitting 300 in the BTN Jerk.

With a ratio of a 300 BTN Jerk to a 330 Back Squat, my Jerk-to-Squat ratio was in the company of the same Jerk-to-Squat ratios that World Class Weightlifters have. But if I plug in my 445 "Maybe counts as Raw depending on what state you're in" Squat for this ratio, I'm "inefficient."

Most people would cherry pick my highest, heaviest squat, and say that I'm obviously inefficient. That I don't have decades of practice in the OLY lifts and thats why a discrepancy necessarily exists between my squat and Jerk.

I think this might be wrong. That "efficiency" in the OLY lifts isn't that hard to attain. People say Paul Anderson was inefficient because he was squatting 1000 or 2000 raw and C&Jing only 450ish. It's clear to me that he was just lying. Once he was squatting those big numbers they where clearly sky high.

If you take someone who isn't totally uncoordinated and make them ATG OLY Squat 1000 pounds, once you teach them how to jerk they will be able to get 600 pounds over their head. That's my theory. When I read about some Romanian who front squatted 700 pounds for doubles but couldn't stand with a 484 pound clean, I don't think its because he's an inefficnet lifter - I think it's because those front squat numbers are a lie or because they where cut high.

[PTarleton]

Deadlift: Up to 345X10

That's all I could take. Have a throbbing headache. Feeling anti-social in the gym. Not anti-social like "eh I don't like socializing" but anti-social like "FUCK ALL THESE PEOPLE!"

[PTarleton]

Bench: 265X3 - goin great then I tweaked my pec


High Incline Dumbbell Press: 50X4, 60X4, 70X4, 80X4


Weighted Dips: Up to 125X1


Pull-ups: 10, 8, 4, 3, 4


Could have crushed out a whole lotta more reps on Bench but I tweaked my pec. Tweaked it a bit last week too. I'm pretty pissed off at the Bench Press in general and I don't have the patience to play around with rehabbing it before I hit it hard again. My Pec doesn't really bother me doing Weighted Dips so screw it, Weighted Dips are now the new 5/3/1 Lift.


Thought about it even more and now I'm thinking I'm just gonna max out on no-wrap Front Squats tomorrow and possibly make that the other 5/3/1 lift. It seems that my back usually tolerates that lift better than High Bar or even Low Bar Squats. So, the focus of my lifting will soon be


Snatch
Clean & Jerk
Push Press
Deadlift (hopefully be able to continue this)
Weighted Dips
Front Squat or High Bar Back Squat (no wraps)
Pull-Ups
Rows of Some Sort
Gunz
Rear Deltz
Abz


Right now it looks like Gunz will be Cable Curls & Cable Pushdowns with an EZ Bar attachment since that's been good on my wrist, Dunno about rear delts but it doesn't really matter - just gotta do something, and Abz will probably center around, eh, I don't really know. I just gotta start training them again and not do stuff where I just hyperextend my back and move with my psoas.

[PTarleton]

Squats where straight up awful. Worst training session ever. EVER. Rock bottom. Thinking Hary Carry right now.

I want to write a play or a made-for-tv movie about the Passion, i.e. the story of Jesus Christ. But I want to write it in a way that portrays a lot of the israelites as the typical neurotic, guilt ridden, new-yorker type stereotypical jews embodied by the characters you see in Woody Allen, George from Seinfeld, Larry David, etc. Jesus will be this kind of hot shot, undeservingly popular magician. Like Criss Angel but more subtile. He'll make an unnecessarily big production out of how great he is and how great his sacrifice is: loading his followers with guilt in the process for both not being as capable with magic and not being as giving with their own lives. Judas will be the hero. The least annoying and the easiest to empathize with. I think It'd be funny. It's probably already been done.

[David Lees]

Sorry to hear about the poor squat session...just remember you can't be He-Man all the time. I'm sure you'll bounce back strong next leg session.

[PTarleton]

Sorry to hear about the poor squat session...just remember you can't be He-Man all the time. I'm sure you'll bounce back strong next leg session.

Thanks.

[PTarleton]

Snatch: A bunch w/ 50-55kg. All from the Hang. Some Squat, some Power. Working on retreating the hips and not just catching every snatch with straight legs.

Deadlift: 225X3, 275X3, 315X3

"Setting the Table" Rows: Tried 'em out.

Some Abs and Back Extensions.

Watch out for this coming Monday. That's when I go "Active."

The "Setting the Table" Rows are a neat exercise for the Upper Back. I'm not really sure how I feel about them yet. Not a Lat Exercise as much as it is for Shoulders, Rhomboids, and Traps. You stand facing the side of a Flat Bench so your kneecaps are up against the side, right on the padding. You bend at the waist so your torso is parallel to the ground. You Row a Kettlebell High to your Chest, using your free hand to support yourself on the bench. Having the Bench in front of you and in the way keeps you from rowing Low into your gut. Instead you have to pull high. Got the exercise from Glenn Buechlein's eBook "The Tao of B." He was a pretty damn good bencher, doing like 700+ at 242 or 220 with a Denim Shirt and I think getting in the mid 500s Raw at the same BW.

The book shows an interesting way to train. He only trains twice a week. One day is Max Effort Bench which is always a Max Effort Flat Bench Lift, a Heavy Press for Assistance (Log Press, 4-Board Press, Triceps Hell,) (Oh, He invented Triceps Hell BTW), then Hypertrophy for the Arms & Shoulders (Always Push-Ups, Kettlebell Presses, or Some Sort of Pushing) and Hypertrophy for the Back (Rows or Pull-Ups). He cut out Pulldowns and cut out all Extension work. Also cut out speed Benching.
The other day of his training was just "Everything Else." Strongman Style Conditioning, Box Squatting, etc. Pretty cool way to train if you're a Bench Specialist but don't want to be fat.

[PTarleton]

Power Cleans: A bunch. Still light. Workin Dat Techneeeque.

Dips: BWX3, 25X3, 50X5

Horizontal Cable Row: 135X10X3

Trying to be very controlled with the reps on Rows. Cause I've DONE the heavy rows thing. It's been done.

[PTarleton]

Snatch: A bunch. Don't really keep track of volume right now. Just technique work. 50-55kg.


Squat: 215X3, 250X3, 285X3 - High Bar, Close Stance, No Wraps


Standing Cable Abs: 90X15X3


Unilateral Leg Press: 2 Sets