RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 8, 2008 16:40:07 GMT -5
My name is Rick, I'm 25 and I've been lifting weights for about five years, although I've only been serious with it for around three or so. I'm 6' tall, hover around 255, and am basically pretty fat and fairly weak for a weightlifter. I'm okay with the fat part, as long as I keep getting stronger. I have never competed, and my current gym lifts are a 500 pound squat (in briefs), a 300 pound bench, and a 475 pound deadlift. I aim to probably do a competition this year, and would like to hit an elite total by the time I'm 30. Most of the time I train in my garage with a couple of my buddies, and we're looking to head down to train with Brett & Co. a few times a month to help get us strong and learn how to do things right.
I decided to start a log here so that I could get feedback from all you strong folks on here. Yesterday was the first time that Justin and I travelled down to Clayton to train with Brett and his crew, and we had an awesome session with a great bunch of guys. I'm really looking forward to training with them and learning as much as I can, and I hope that was just the first great workout of many more to come.
Anyway, it went a little something like this (which is all coming from my memory since I was a dumbass and forgot to bring my actual logbook). Heavy Squat Day: Squats- Buffalo Bar, Choked Average/Light Bands, Monolift, 15" box 5 or 6 x 145 lb. + bands 3 x 195 lb. + bands 2 x 235 lb. + bands 2 x 255 lb. + bands 1 x 285 lb. + bands Add Briefs 1 x 325 lb. + bands 1 x 375 lb. + bands 1 x 415 lb. + bands (assisted a bit at the bottom)
Good Girls/Bad Girls 20 x 110 lb. on each machine
Lying Hamstring Curls 10 x stack 10 x stack (slower) 8 x stack
Box Jumps 12 steps x 10 jumps 12 steps x 10 (?) jumps
Evil Band Abs 8 x mini band 10 (?) x mini band
The last three sets of squats were done in Metal Pro briefs. They're pretty tight as I've gained about 25 pounds since I bought them. I've used them maybe 5 or 6 times before. The guys were estimating that the bands were adding about 180 pounds at the top. That sh*t felt heavy as hell. On the whole, I feel pretty good about these though- it was my first time using a buffalo bar, and first time in a monolift, both of which were awesome but will probably take some getting used to.
I was pretty beat up by the end of this, but I felt good. All in all it was a great workout and I'm looking forward to getting my fat ass kicked some more down in Clayton in the near future.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 8, 2008 17:02:42 GMT -5
rick we were glad to have you guys there you and justin are two strong guys and will go far in this sport can`t wait untill you guys make it up again to train with the crew
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Post by pheen11 on Jan 9, 2008 1:29:42 GMT -5
Brett, Brian, and Adam will get you there Rick. Good luck to you.
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RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 9, 2008 23:35:18 GMT -5
Brett- Thanks again man- I'm relatively sure we'll be down on the 16th but I'll let you know for sure in a couple days.
Will (right?)- Thanks man. I'm feeling really optimistic about all of this- it was a very motivating environment and I think it's going to help me a ton.
1/9/07- ME Bench @ Rick's House of Ass Crushing (aka my garage) Bench, Doubled Monster Minis 5 x 95 lb. + bands 3 x 135 lb. + bands 3 x 185 lb. + bands 2 x 205 lb. + bands miss x 225 lb. + bands miss x 215 lb. + bands 1 x 205 lb. + bands 1 x 205 lb. + bands 1 x 205 lb. + bands
Fatboy Rows 12, 12, 12, 10 bodyweight reps (we used to add band tension to these but the setup was a f**ing pain)
Lying Band Extensions 15 x Average Band 12 x Strong Band
Dumbbell Rows 10 x 95 lb. 8x 95 lb.
Overall a pretty decent workout, should have done some more RC stuff though. We figured the bands were adding maybe 45 pounds at the bottom and 120 or so at the top for bench- based on the idea that doubled minis are generally regarded as being 30/80 pounds and the blacks are a mini and a half. I was experimenting with my bench a little tonight- I usually bench with my pinkies on the rings, but tonight I bumped my rings fingers out to the rings. I also tried to make the bar path a little more diagonal to keep my forearms perpindicular to the ground (typically I'll bench in a vertical line). Honestly tweaking stuff probably hurt me a little but it should help in the long run.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 10, 2008 1:24:59 GMT -5
nice benching ther rick been netter to do those off boards not to the chest matbe a 3-2bd I never go to the chest with bands to hard on shoulders man but all in all good work you know theres a meet down your way sat upa sc meet will be there try to make it you can so you can meet some of the guys and see them lift as well it`s in greenvillie sc brain and i are going to help some of the guys let me know we could meet half away so you could follow us
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Post by justinr on Jan 10, 2008 14:45:08 GMT -5
Your lockout strength is ridiculous. Your bench is going to skyrocket as soon as you're equipped.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 10, 2008 15:23:16 GMT -5
can`t wait untill you guys make it up for a bench night
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RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 10, 2008 23:48:07 GMT -5
Brett- How right you are. The bands felt great last night but my shoulders are a little tender today. So it goes. It's looking like I'm going to have to take a pass on the meet on Saturday, which sucks becuase I'd like to go but I just have too much other sh*t going on already. However, if everything goes according to plan, Justin and I should be down there on Wednesday to do some benching- and it's looking like we may have convinced Gabe to tell his work to eat a d*ck so he may be down there too.
Justin- Flattery will get you pretty much anything- I just hope you're right. My bench d**n well ought to skyrocket considering I have a d**n barrel chest and t-rex arms.
Anyway, tonight was... 1/10/08 - Deadlifts @ RHOAC Regular Ass Deadlifts (after the 135, these were basically singles, evenly split between sumo and conventional.) 10 x 135 lb. 3 x 225 lb. 3 x 275 lb. 2 x 315 lb. 2 x 355 lb. 2 x 405 lb.
Rack Pulls (Bottom of knees, against tripled mini bands) 3 x 225 lb. 3 x 315 lb. 1 x 365 lb. 1 x 405 lb. 1 x 425 lb.
Band Abs (aka "Brett might be evil" abs) 15 x mini band 11 x mini band
So this was alright. For the sumo 405 pull I made the mistake of cramming my fat ass into my briefs (with the thoughts of maybe working up to a PR), but they're just too tight now... I just couldn't get down there. The conventional 405 was probably the smoothest pull I've done at four plates in a long while. As my hamstrings have gotten bigger and stronger, they've also gotten a lot tighter, so I'm having a lot of trouble keeping enough arch in my lower back when I'm pulling. This leads to total mindf*ckery about my form so instead of dip, grip, and ripping I'm just sort of bending over and pondering. Things did go much better today than they have in awhile, though. Basically I need to keep practicing my form and get it good and automatic again, and then I need to man the f**k up and pull something worth being proud of.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 11, 2008 11:11:34 GMT -5
hey rick thats a good pull nothing wrong with that brother pulling with the bands is good to man those banded ab do suck don`t they
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RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 11, 2008 15:02:48 GMT -5
Well, I appreciate it, Brett. I tend to go in cycles where I'll get really pull crazy and do a lot of it and then not touch it at all for months. I did that for a little too long and now I can't pull for sh*t- honestly I'm probably 40 pounds below my previous max pull right now. I'm hoping that I can keep practicing my form with moderately heavy weights off the floor and work on stretching my hamstrings some more... and then work on getting stronger with heavy rack pulls. I think my issues right now about about 50% not being able to get into position and 50% mental. I figure between splitting things that way and attacking both sides of the problem I'll stop being scared of heavier weight and get my form right and then I'll rock that sh*t.
The banded abs suck so bad that I kind of can't believe I didn't come up with them. As I'm sure Justin can confirm, I come up with some pretty diabolical sh*t sometimes. I will say that the bench we used for them at RHOAC was not nearly as steep a decline, unfortunately. They still suck horribly though.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 11, 2008 16:12:37 GMT -5
those banded ab do suck but they work great man we don`t pull off the floor that much about 2 times a month if that your squat carries over well for your deads rick
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RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 14, 2008 10:17:08 GMT -5
Brett- That's what I'm thinking man... I figure my squat has been climbing up so my deadlift should be too. That's why I think it's a positioning/mindf*ck issue more than anything. We're definitely coming down Wednesday and we got Gabe to leave work early and come with us- unfortunately because he's coming we won't be able to leave RTP until 4:45 though, so we'll probably be there right at 5:30. He's having to bend over backwards with his job to be able to come down at all, so hopefully that's not too much of an issue with y'all. I'm going to keep working on things and try to get us there a little earlier if I can though.
1/13/08- DE Upper @ RHOAC Speed Bench (cycled narrow/medium/wide grips) 3 x 135 lb. + doubled minis + 60 lb. chains (nine sets)
Chins 7, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3
Pull-Aparts 20 x light band 16 x light band
Face Pulls 20 x average band 20 x average band
Pin Presses (3" above chest) 3 x 225 lb. + doubled minis 4 x 225 lb. + doubled minis 3 x 225 lb. + doubled minis
So this went pretty well. I think my bar speed on the bench was about the best it has ever been. Brett, I know you said full ROM bench against bands is a no-no, but using the minis for speed work has never really bothered me- it's only the higher tension heavy work that seems to tear me up. The chins were hard, up until this week I've managed to basically keep my reps the same for a few months while steadily gaining weight, but this week they went all to sh*t. We went through them pretty fast since it was just me and Justin, so that might have had an effect. We did the pin presses because boards make Justin sad- I would have liked having them a little higher, but that was as high as they could be while still having the pins in position to actually unrack it instead of starting from the pins. They were hard, but felt good.
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Post by justinr on Jan 14, 2008 11:45:05 GMT -5
I think it's safe to say...
your pressing>my pressing.
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RICK
Junior Member
Posts: 74
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Post by RICK on Jan 14, 2008 12:56:10 GMT -5
Nah dude, until the board in RHOAC says otherwise, you're the stronger presser. I'm pretty good at the lockout stuff, but you still own me at the RE bench stuff. Plus all that really means is that my bench is too close to my squat and dead.
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Post by Brett Rapp on Jan 14, 2008 15:36:02 GMT -5
will get your bench up for you rick man don`t worry
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