Week 14 #1

Back Squat (Belt):
410 x 4

Bench Press:
320 x 4

Deadlift (Belt):
451 x 4

This was supposed to be 5s-day, but turned into 4s-day. Considering I just did two high-stress weeks, not bad.

Week 13 #3

Back Squat (Belt):
405 x 1
435 x 1

Bleh, wanted 435 x 2-3, but that was all I had today.

Standing Overhead PRess (Belt):
235 x 3

Power Clean (Belt):
215 x 3/3/1
205 x 3/3

Needed to belt a lot of this due to fatigue. Good thing I have a min-volume week next week.

Training plan

Latest iteration. Started with Texas Method and then tweaked as necessary. Main differences are that I'll go for Sets Down and I do my Squat/Press 5x5 on seperate days.

Sets Down:

The sets are done starting with a top weight, then either staying
at that weight or removing weight for the next set.

Example:
Set 1 = 400 x 5
Set 2 = 390 x 5
Set 3 = 385 x 5
Set 4-5 = 375 x 5

Sets Accross:

The same weight is used for all sets. This has become
increasingly hard to do with heavier weights.

PR/x/x:

This means that you should go for a PR for the first set. The
fatigue from this set is expected to severely reduce your
ability to complete as many reps on the subsequent sets. So
far, this applies only to Chin-ups and Pull-ups.

Week A

#1
Squat:
5x5, Sets Across or Down, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Bench:
1x2 or 1x3

Deadlift:
1x5, Belt

#2
Squat:
3x5, Sets Across, No gear

Standing Overhead Press:
3x5, Sets Across or Down

Chin-ups:
BW x PR/x/x

#3
Squat:
1x3, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Bench Press:
5x5, Sets Across or Down

Power Clean:
5x3, Sets Across, Belt

Week B

#1
Squat:
5x5, Sets Down or Accross, Belt + Knee Sleeves

Standing Overhead Press:
1x2 or 1x3

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ Quarter Plates:
1x8

#2
Squat:
3x5, Sets Across, No gear

Bench Press:
3x5, Sets Across or Down

Chin-ups:
BW x PR/x/x

#3
Squat:
1x2, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Standing Overhead Press:
5x5, Sets Across or Down

Barbell Row:
5x5, Sets Across, Belt Optional

Week C

Week C is just an A or B week with severely reduced volume. You
only hit one set for each lift. This maintains intensity while
allowing for recovery. Be aggressive during this week on PRs.

Example: Week A(C)

Squat:
1x5, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Bench:
1x2 or 1x3

Deadlift:
1x5, Belt

#2
Squat:
1x5

Standing Overhead Press:
1x5

Chin-ups:
BW x PR

#3
Squat:
1x3, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Bench Press:
1x5

Power Clean:
1x3

Week D

Week D is a special pre-contest deloading week with severely
reduced volume AND intensity. It should only be used when trying
to attempt a new 1RM for the lifts (ie contest).

#1:
Squat:
2x5, ~70% 1RM, Belt+Knee Sleeves

Bench Press:
2x5, ~70% 1RM

Chin-ups:
BW x PR

#2:
Squat:
2x5, ~60% 1RM

Bench Press:
2x5, ~60 1RM

CONTEST PREP EXAMPLE

7 week contest planning schedule, contest occurs on Saturday or Sunday
of week 7.

Week 1: A
Week 2: B
Week 3: A(C)
Week 4: B
Week 5: A
Week 6: B(C)
Week 7: D

Week 13 #2

Back Squat:
335 x 5/5/5

Bench Press:
310 x 5
305 x 4
295 x 5

Chin-ups:
BW x 8/5/5

Upper-back strength sucked today, probably because of the stiff-leg DLs on Monday.

Week 13 #1

Back Squat (Belt):
400 x 5
390 x 5
385 x 5
375 x 5

These all felt like death by the fifth rep. Hard work.

Standing Overhead Press:
210 x 5/4
205 x 5
195 x 5
185 x 5

Stiff-Leg Deadlift w/ Quarter Plates (Belt):
365 x 6

Once contest is over I need to set up my cycles so that I do my 5x5 work for pressing/benching on Friday. I just can't do quality 5x5 work after the heavy squats. I have the energy for one good set on press and thats about it.

Week 12 #3

Back Squat (Belt):
425 x 3

Bench Press:
345 x 2

BENCH SHIRT MARATHON^MAX:
Added Inzer Rage-X
435 x 1
450 x 1

Added Metal Viking IPF Bencher
485 x 3-board x FAIL

Well, this is pretty good for not touching a bench shirt in forever. SHowed up to bench with Jason Kelske. Good times, we hit similar full-range numbers but he has way better lock-out than I do.

On bench shirts:
- The Rage-X fits pretty well, can touch ~425 in it
- The Bench is tight as hell, 455 didn't even come close to touching.

Week 12 #2

Back Squat:
325 x 5/5/5

Standing Overhead Press:
215 x 5/5/5

Chin-ups:
BW x 9/7/5

Week 12 #1

Back Squat (Belt):
395 x 5/5/3

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
300 x 5/5/4
285 x 5/4

Conventional Deadlift (Belt):
451 x 1

Was more tired than I expected. By the time I hit deadlifts I just ran out of steam. BLEH

Week 11 #2

Back Squat:
325 x 5

Bench Press:
320 x 3

Chin-ups:
BW x 10

Still pretty shot, so this was perfect. Get in and get out.

Week 11 #1

Squat (Belt):
390 x 5/5/3 //ARGH

Standing Press:
210 x 4/4 //terrible

Stiff-Leg DL:
407 x 2

So this pretty much confirms that I'm over-trained. This also confirms my belief that I had it right in the beginning with my Min-Volume week every three weeks. I am seriously beat right now. WIll just do a min-volume day on Thursday and hopefully the next two weeks will be productive.

CrossFit news

Looks like CrossFit is in trouble. I'm not a CrossFit fan per se (too much running around for my taste), but training hard should always be respected. Reminds me of how every trainer now uses bands, chains and boards to train people who have never even heard of a bench shirt. MEH

Training Plan

Random thoughts and observations on training so far:

- Try to pull "for real" 3x a week is tough to recover from at my stage. Experimented with Haltings, Power Cleans and Rack Pulls all in the same week, and this was just too much for significant progress. Will instead dial it back to the Texas Method template of:
#1 Haltings
#2 Chin-ups/High-Rep Hypers and what not
#3 Rack Pulls/Power Cleans (alternate by week)

This still gives plenty of pulling practice while giving the back more rest.

- Pressing ala the TExas Method is great. Alternating Standing Press w/ Bench Press and further changing the loads as 5x5, 3x5 and 1x3 or 1x1 is critical to progressing at my stage. It's pretty damn easy to just spin your wheels all year on the bench and gain maybe 5 lbs.

- NEED to just train 2x a week every three weeks. After two weeks I'm pretty shot and need to recover for super-compensation to occur. Otherwise, I start stalling. Signs include irratibility, muscle weakness, trouble sleeping and lack of motivation. Funny how these are almost the same signs as depression...

- Absolutely must stuff my face on training days, then eat less on non-training days. Mainly has to do with carbs. This evens out to maintain my weight, which fortunately has not changed much over the last year.

- Wish I had someone of similar strength level to train with. Right now everyone is either weak, likes non-effective training programs or likes to stay at the gym for 3 hours at a time (haha Brent). GARY WHERE ART THOU?

Week 10 #3

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat(Belt):
405 x 1

Back felt WAY tired, shut it down here.

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
340 x 2

Chin-ups:
BW x 9/8/5