2011-05-31 Farmer's Walk

110lbs each hand, 3x200ft trip* w/ 1 minute rest, followed by a 2x200ft w/ 1 minute rest about half an hour later

*Technically these were more like 2 100ft trips about 5 seconds apart. I'm going to try for the same setup next time, but actually turn instead of just putting the handles down and shaking my forearms out.

Vicious.

Sat around chatting with Saarni for half an hour afterwards and then did another 2. Main reason for the early stop was that I'd slammed them down after the 3rd one and given myself a mild migraine/tension headache (too mild to tell which, guessing tension).

2011-05-30 Deadlift and Bench

Warmup - usual

Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275, 315
375lbs - 5, 5, 4
Grip's the main limiter here. Need to bring my back strength up too, but grip was the problem with this one.
Not going to bother with 135 for my first warmup set now. Jacking my hips down and easing tension into the bar in the second stage of my setup pulls it a good inch or two off the ground before I've even started to drive my heels through the floor, so I'll take that as a sign that it's too damn light. Lulz.

Floor Press: 45, 95, 135
205lbs - 5, 5, 4
That's a pretty good sign that my bench has gone up.
I'm going to try to stretch this out to 225 before I switch back, though.

DB Row:
82.5lbs - 3x(5R, 5L)
The 1.25lb plates are very nice.

GHR:
3x10
Stretched calves between sets. Doing fairly well.

2011-05-29 Sled

4x200ft - 160lbs, 1 min rest between

2011-05-28 Squat and Press

Warmup - As usual

Squat: 45x4, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275
320lbs - 4, 4, 3
I might have been able to push this out somewhat more.

Press: 45, 95
140lbs - 5, 5, 4
w00t

Pull-Ups:
BW - 5, 4, 4
Yeahhhhhh

Gym closed so no ab work today. Starting that again on Wednesday.

More Vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A40s3Qg_9s
Dead 345

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3PJ86d5Apk
Squat 300

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuhJ5GzyYGQ
Dead 352.5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFlUJMoRqEE
Squat 315 (5-4-3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-CPuRR2Ppk
Dead 375 (5-4-3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNADWRgjYm0
Squat 315

2011-05-18 Squat and Press

Going on vacation and skipping 4 workouts, so I figured I probably shouldn't deload today.

Squat Day: 45x3, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275
315lbs - 3x5
Not too hard - definitely a lot easier than last time, on every rep.
My quads hurt like hell, though.

Press: 45, 95
140lbs - 5, 4, 4
Goddammit, one rep shy of moving up. Oh well.

Cut everything else short because I spent a lot of time talking to Saarni and his buddies. Video of 315 upcoming; I slashed the depth a tad on some reps, but they were pretty good squats for the most part.

2011-05-17 Farmer's Walk

110lbs each hand.
Did ~3 trips of ~50ft, then grew some balls and decided to try turning around at the end and walking all the way back. Managed two of those then decided I was done for the day, so +2 of ~100ft.

Need to roll the outsides of my hips.

2011-05-16 Dead and Bench

Warmup - Usual

Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275, 315
375lbs - 5, 5, 3 (4F), 1
If I get my hips low enough during setup, the reps are slow but otherwise relatively easy.
My hips started too high on the failed rep.
Got some video upcoming for these, including a recorded message to you guys RE: what to do from here (mostly in terms of accessory work).

Floor Press: 45x2, 95, 135
200lbs - 5, 5, 4
Locked out the 4th one much faster on the right than on the left, so I figured a 5th would probably be a poor choice.
Hoping to get this to upwards of 225 before I switch back to Bench.
First set had a terrible feeling along my right clavicle. Went away after I stretched my shoulder out.

DB Row:
75lbs - 5/5
80lbs - 5/5, 5/5
Switched down to smaller DBs in light of changing the day for the lift. I think I'll rely exclusively on the DB Handle in future and stop using the gym's heavier ones; the thicker handles kill my lat engagement and it's annoying to lug them from room to room.

GHR:
BW - 3x10
See video comments when they come out.
Need to stretch my calves before and during these.
Last few reps were huge grinders, so I'm redoing bodyweight next time.

Face Pull:
3x12 - 10lbs
Seems like something I was doing before but am not doing now was important for getting symmetrical back recruitment on the bench. Assuming it was Face Pulls, at least for now.
Need to up this to at least 15lbs.

2011-05-13 Squat and Press

Warmup - As usual

Squat: 45x2, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275
315lbs - 5, 4, 3
Videos upcoming, along with the videos I took before and didn't post.
I'm going to rape this next time; I think the main issue here was exam stress and undereating for the last week. I didn't feel mentally "here" for this one.
My quads felt really terrible at the end, lol.

Press: 45, 95
140lbs - 4, 3, 3

Pull-Ups:
3x5 - Bodyweight
Helped some random kid with his squat before the 3rd set. He completely disregarded all my advice, but w/e.
---
Switching rows to Dead Day, doing them with FatGripz, and switching RDLs to 45-Degree hypers or GMs.

2011-05-11 Dead and Bench

Warmup - As usual

Deadlift - 135, 185, 225, 275, 315
367.5lbs - 5, 5, 4
No video. I expect my back's rounding out somewhat more now, though - we'll see how it looks on 375 (Monday).

Floor Press: 45, 95, 135
195lbs - 3x5
First two liftoffs sucked, third one was perfect. Random Asian skinny possible powerlifter guy is now my friend and can give a good FP liftoff. Weird how that changed in the space of 20 minutes.

Pull-Ups:
BW - 5
BW+2.5lbs - 2x5
I think I may have lost my lat engagement on these. Graaagh.

RDLs:
200lbs - 3x10

2011-05-08 Squat and Press

I'm losing weight. My initial solution to this will be to cut down on the ribs (expensive and hard to eat in bulk) and add another chicken meal each day.

Warmup: As usual

Squat: 45x2, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275
310lbs - 5, 5, 4
I can promise absolutely nothing with regards to depth here, because I was alone and wasn't getting any kind of stretch in my groin on the way down. I credit this to stretching my groin out every 15 minutes or so on Thursday...or possibly every single rep being high. Pretty sure most of the work reps were there, but I can't say for sure.
My quads were the only part that seemed to be close to giving out today; this may be because of sled dragging yesterday (they were certainly a lot more lactic acid-filled than anything else besides my calves), because the reps were high, because I'm not sitting back properly, or because they're actually a limiting factor. If it's the sled work, nothing changes; the middle two I can test as soon as I have a camera again.

Press: 45, 95
137.5lbs - 5, 5, 4
Form wasn't as good as usual, but still tolerable.

DB Rows:
95lbs - 5/5, 5/5, 4/4
Pretty sure my ROM was less than I'd like, but I got great lat engagement so I'm not particularly concerned.

Weighted Plank:
55lbs - 3x30sec, 1 minute between
Took the number of sets down today. I dunno if I'll do a 3, 5, 3, 5-> arrangement or just stick with the 3.

2011-05-07 Sled

147.5lbs - 5 trips, 200ft, alternated with Greg (probably ~40sec rest)

2011-05-06 Dead and Bench

Warmup - As usual, but sans all the squat-related stretching I usually do on DL day

Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275, 315
360lbs - 5, 5, 4
Would have liked video on this. Grip appears to be less of a factor; now my back's the main limiter. I'll probably switch RDLs to 45-degree hypers once the Farmer's Walk handles arrive.

Floor Press: 45, 95, 135
190lbs - 3x5
Had a tremendously bad liftoff on all three of these.

Pull-Up:
BW - 3x5

RDL:
195lbs - 3x10
Still having to take time off after the 7th rep to give my grip a second or two to recover.

2011-05-04 Sled Work

147.5lbs - 4 or possibly 5 trips, 200ft, 1 min rest

Can't remember if this was 4 or 5 (obviously). My quads gave out kinda fast, lol.

I'm not really pushing myself with these; it's conditioning work and my conditioning's getting better, so why worry?

2011-05-03 Squat and Press

Due to time constraints I wasn't able to eat all of the rice and mince I made - I think I got about one meal's worth down. Oh well.

Training went epicly and makes up for how weird I felt prior to leaving for the gym.

Squat Day:

Warmup: As usual

Squat: 45x4, 95, 135, 185, 225x2
305lbs - 5, 5, 4
Didn't have anyone to call my depth, but these felt like I hit it.
Wouldn't be surprised if I could get up to 335 for 5s given how well this went.

Press: 45, 95
137.5lbs - 4, 4, 4
I love how I can actually feel my abs engaging to keep my torso straight now.

DB Row:
92.5lbs - 3x5 both
Dunno if I was getting the full ROM on these.

Weighted Plank:
50lbs - 5x30sec, 1 minute rest

Pull-Aparts: Momentarily

2011-05-02 Light Sled

135lbs - 4 trips, 200ft, 60sec rest
Easy, yeah.

2011-05-01 Deload Dead and Floor

Warmup: Usual

Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275, 315
3x3 - 352.5lbs
Not very hard.

Floor Press: 45, 95, 135
3x3 - 185lbs
Meh.

Pull-Ups:
3x3 - BW
Meh

RDLs:
3x6 - 190lbs
Wheee

Diet Changes

Starting carb cycling on Monday. Won't be able to tomorrow for scheduling reasons (i.e. I intend to only be awake for around 12 hours).

I've decided to try the following and tweak once I see how it affects me mentally:
Training Days: High-Carb
Morning: Gallon of milk
Somewhat Later: Rice and 1/2lb ground beef (or rough caloric equivalent via chicken, lamb, pork, etc.)
Later Still: See previous, plus fruit (8oz strawberries + 2.25oz blackberries)
Post-Workout: ~1.5lbs chicken with skin (i.e. one package of Costco chicken thighs)

This totals to about 6,000kcal. If necessary I'll tweak it around, probably by adding more "pure" carb sources and reducing the milk. The pre-training portion is roughly 45/20/35 carbs:protein:fat, which is probably decent. Ideally I'd like something closer to 50/20/30, but whatever.
Cost - 3+2+2+1.5+1.5 = ~$10

Conditioning Days: Medium-Carb
Morning: ~1.5lbs chicken with skin
Pre-Conditioning: fruit (see above)
Post-Conditioning: ~0.75lbs of sweet potatoes
Rest of Day: Rack of Ribs (~2.5lbs)

Totals to roughly 4,500kcal. Meat choices subject to tweaking.
Cost: 1.5+1.5+10+X = probably around $15 (X = cost of the sweet potatoes; apparently they're ~$2/lb at Safeway)

Rest Day: Low-Carb
Same as the conditioning day, but sans the sweet potatoes and possibly the fruit. Total of around 4,300kcal. Literally a 70/30 split of Fat:Protein.
Cost: 1.5+10 = ~$12

Cost per week should be around $80. Hopefully, this'll allow me to hit 220 without girlfriend-repelling levels of fat gain. After that, I plan to stay around there until March Madness, compete in the 220s, cheat like a beast for the following week, then reduce my caloric intake in pursuit of visible abs.*

*for BF% goal reasons, not because I care about having visible abs. I figure visible abs is the leanest and thus (hopefully) the potentially-strongest I'm likely to get at 200. I consider them a very acceptable casualty in the very-likely event that I give in to my growing urge to compete in the 220s, which will inevitably grow into a similar urge to go up to the 242s. Doubt I'll find myself yearning for the 275s, though.
---
Conditioning will be sled work Hard/Easy/Hard until I get the Farmer's Walk handles and some more plates, after which it'll be Sled Work after Squat Day and Farmer's Walk after DL day.