Danno's Training Log

[danno]

Hey
I started lifting a little bit ago but focused on assistant work for football, so that I wouldn't be too worn out during season and be able to perform just right. But High School is over so I decided to lift a bit more and now I'm finally into powerlifting insread of just moving around a nice body like a bodybuilder. Like I said, I'm new to the sport and maxed out a couple of weeks ago with 180 on the bench and 330 for squat. The thing is that my squat workouts have been rather low rep while I performed more reps on the bench in order to build a ncie chest. But that needs to change. And for motivation I bet with a friend of kine that I could bench more than he does by the end of January. Seeing him in the gym my guess is that his max right now is around 225-230, so if I wanna beat him I need to do bether than that. Thats a little less than 4 months from today, and today was my first workout to achieve that new max.
I did a couple of weeks of 5x5 before today's workout

Bench:
warm up with 45lbs and 135lbs
working sets:
3 x 176
3 x 176
2 x 176 (failed to perform the 3rd rep)

negatives (first time i did them)
1 x 200
1 x 220

Lockouts
6 x 200

Close grip bench
10 x 100 (warm up)
3 x 135
3 x 145
3 x 145

single armed reverse grip tri's pulldown
7 x 33
7 x 44
7 x 55
7 x 66

DB Flys
6 x 33s
6 x 33s
6 x 33s

Triceps pulldown (w/ cord)
7 x 143
7 x 165

finished with some abs/core stuff

Please let me know what you think and give some advice. Like I said: I'm new to powerlifting, but I really like it

God bless you all
Dan

[lysimacus]

Welcome to the board

There are a number of great benchers on this forum as you may well be aware. Many like the Buckeye routine as described in "George Shreve's Strength journal" the first page.

[dopar66]

Howdy, Dan, and welcome!
You have an excellent foundation already, and the 3x3 is a tried and true routine. Your assistance work looks really good.
I didn't see the word "pause" in your routine. I venture to guess if you add pause benching to your routine you will see explosiveness on your touch-and-go like never before. That, in combination with your lockout work, ought to help you get to 225 in short order as long as you train smart and safe, get good rest, and have a good diet.

Looking forward to the progress!

God Bless,
Doug P.

[danno]

Lysimacus:
Thanks for the tip with the buckeye routine. I think I will give it a shot, after reading all that good stuff about that program.

Doug:
Of course I would like to add some explosiveness, but where can I incorporate pause bench presses best in the buckeye routine, or should I do a couple of additional sets of these?

The program in general looks like that:
Monday: Chest/Triceps
Tuesday: Quads/Back
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Hamstring/Back
Weekend: Off

For shoulders I do 5 working sets BB Shoulder presses, 3 sets of DB shoulder presses, lateral raises, front raises, rear delt raises and BB shrugs. I'll for sure post all of my monday workouts that include the bench, but I'm not sure if I post all the others for that is a lot of typing and I have pretty much limited access to a computer.
Thanks for your help guys,
Stay strong in Christ
Dan

[dopar66]

Hey, Dan.
I do limited pauses with the Buckeye, allow me to explain.
I am NOT a bencher. My return meet to powerlifting in '03 I benched a whopping 310. Since then, with proper training, rest, and diet, I've progressed all the way up to 305. HOWEVER, when I am training, I do recognize that the pauses will definitely increase the explosiveness in the weights I CAN press.
So here's what has worked for me on the Buckeye.
I did the 305 workout for 3 weeks. The first week, no pauses. Second week, pause the drop set (80% x 4). The third week I paused the heavy single and the drop set.
Then I jumped to the 310 routine, did the same setup.
This is my first week on the 315 routine, so no pausing this week.

I wouldn't recommend additional sets to the buckeye, but maybe some 60% x 5x3 pause/explode benching on shoulder day? You're already hammering the delts by your description of shoulder day, so I'd be hesitant to just flat-out recommend adding light benching to it.

God Bless!

[danno]

Thanks Doug, I'll probably do some paused benching after my first excercise for shoulders on thursday, see how it feels.
Today was my first day doing the buckeye, it felt really good.
Monday, 10/15

Bench Press
10 x 44 - warm up
8 x 88 - warm up
8 x 141
6 x 152
4 x 152
3 x 165
2 x 176
1 x 185 (ties Max)
4 x 152
It felt sort of easy and the PR felt really good and light, i could've done at least one more rep on that set, but decided to just stick to the plan.

DB Flies:
3 x 6 x 33s, I had some problems with my rotator cuff doing these
Close Grip
3 x 143
3 x 143
3 x 148.5
Single arm reverse tri's pulldown
7 x 33
7 x 44
10 x 55
7 x 66 last two sets until failure, I have some problems with my hands handling the weight with a reverse grip
Tri's pushdown w/ cord
10 x 143
6 x 176
then some abs

Thanks again lysimacus for the idea with the buckeye. And other than that, it felt really good!

[dopar66]

Whoo Double-D Doggy! Danno, to hit your max on the top rep of the Buckeye routine is AWESOME! I don't know what you do for conditioning/GPP, but dangit man, it WORKS!!!!!

Do you ever do shoulder pre-hab before lifting? A bunch of guys I've chatted with really swear by this, I've even made it an almost un-skippable part of my bench days. It does seem to help with the achy shoulder thing. But in the meantime, ice the shoulder and take you some aspirin or tylenol or something. If you have any, coat it good with Icy Hot or some similar sports cream. That should help take out any aches the rotator cuff might be throwing at you.

VERY nice reverse triceps work, and roger on the grip thing! Gutsy!

God Bless!

[lysimacus]

Dopar said right. Looking real good in the bench dept.

[danno]

Thanks guys. It feels really good. Today I did squat, still my fav. lift and that always gets me into the "animal" mode for the rest of the workout (basically quads and back). What do you do for shoulder pre-hab. Is it like lightweight lateral and front raises or something. I sure need to do some of these before chest and shoulder workouts.
God bless
Dan

[3speed]

For shoulder prehab, I do the following with a 5lb plate. 10 front raises, 10 lateral raises, and 10 rear raises all with my palms down followed by the same with palms up. I do this as one set without a break and always with a 5lb plate. This is not an exercise to use a lot of weight with. If this gets to be too light, try doing them seated or adding another set. I do this before every workout that I do. I blew out both of my shoulders several years ago and this has eliminated the shoulder pain I suffered for several years.

Hope this helps.

[dopar66]

Absolutely 115% echo 3Speed's description of shoulder pre-hab. The ONLY thing I do differently, and this probably isn't the best in the world for someone with a twingey shoulder, only healthy shoulders: I take the 5-pounder and do 10-15 super slow motion "baseball throws" with each hand. (Or if you are a swimmer: the American crawl) :')

I can't help but emphasize what 3Speed said about fixin' what ails ya with shoulder prehab. It's darn near eliminated ANY residual soreness/aching I had in the past after heavy benching or shoulder work.

God Bless!

[Eagleface]

3speed said:

For shoulder prehab, I do the following with a 5lb plate. 10 front raises, 10 lateral raises, and 10 rear raises all with my palms down followed by the same with palms up. I do this as one set without a break and always with a 5lb plate. This is not an exercise to use a lot of weight with. If this gets to be too light, try doing them seated or adding another set. I do this before every workout that I do. I blew out both of my shoulders several years ago and this has eliminated the shoulder pain I suffered for several years.

Hope this helps.

Great habit to get into before benching.

[lysimacus]

You can say that again.

[danno]

Hey thanks for all the info on shoulder pre-hab. I had my shoulder workout today and had no problems at all after performing 2 sets of all the raises before my workout.
There it is:

BB Shoulder Presses:
10 x 45
12 x 88
8 x 99
8 x 110
8 x 121 - there was a little help on the last rep
I'm still trying to figure things out on that one. I do it for 2 weeks now and feel there is some room for more. I'll probably go for a set of 135 next week.

Paused Bench Presses (and that was all Dougs idea..Thanks again big guy)
5 x 3 x 110 - no problems with the weight but I find it hard to shoot the bar up, i guess that is why it helps.

Skipped DB shoulder presses due to the Paused BPs

Lateral raises 3 x 8 x 15s
Front raises 3 x 8 x 15s - will use more weight on both excercises next week

BB Shrugs
8 x 132
8 x 176
8 x 176
8 x 132 - now i know I really have to work on my grip, had trouble holding on to the bar on the heavy sets

Rear delt raises
3 x 8 x 13s - there will be more weight next week as well.

Today was just the second shoulder only workout I have done, the other one being last weeks Thursday workout so I still need to figure stuff out but I know I get better in the process.
Thanks again guys and God Bless you all.
Dan

[dopar66]

GREAT news about the shoulders!

Your shoulders ought to not ever give out on you, man you are BLASTING them! Mighty fine work! And I'm glad you liked the pause presses. Yessiree they can easily take the place of any extra front delt work!

I have one for your grip that I learned from Chancey. It has done WONDERS! When you deadlift, on your very last rep for the day, hold that sucker in an upright position for 30 seconds. It will hurt badly, probably take meat with it when you let go, but your grip will no longer be an issue.

Great workout Dan!

God Bless!

[danno]

Todays (10/22) Bench workout

Shoulder pre-hab

Bench Press
10 x 45
8 x 88
8 x 141
6 x 152
4 x 165
3 x 176
2 x 185 couldn't nail the second one
1 x 187 did a second rep with just a little help
4 x 165

Negatives 1 x 220, 1 x 242
Lockouts 8 x 209, 7 x 220

DB Flies 3 x 6 x 33s, no problems with the rotator cuff today

Single arm reverse triceps pulldown
10 x 44
10 x 55
4 x 66
Triceps pulldown w/ cord
8 x 143
4 x 187...My triceps were done right here
abs

Well I couldn't complete the buckeye, will use the same weights next week and then I plan to do a week of deloading on all of my lifts. The plan for after that is to do something about my sticking points, b/c that is where i fail to complete the rep. So any ideas how to incorporate certain excercises are very welcome, like board presses and all, and how to incorporate them into my routine.
And one more thing. My chest has never been that pumped and thick, and of course never been that strong ;D

God bless
Dan

[dopar66]

Hey, Dan.
That looks like a very healthy go at the Buckeye, in spite of the spotter touches. I tell you, sticking points are my killer as well, so if you get anything that works PLEASE send it my way!

Stuff I've tried for sticking points on the bench:
pauses
chains
high reps
tricep isolations
shoulder work
dumbell work
wide grip heavy and light
close grip heavy and light
chains with wide and narrow grip
3x8 @ 60%, pause/explode
3x8@60% + chains, pause/explode

Since 2003 my bench has jumped from 310 to a whopping 305.....

So, I reiterate, if you find something that works PLEASE let me know!

God Bless.

[danno]

well if I find something you will be one of the first to know. Another thing is that I will be using creatine again starting next monday so that might influence gains a little, but i might try some of those narrower and wider grips on the bench. I don't have access to chains but i'll go into a home depot or something and get some boards, I heard good things about these ( 2 boards for those of us that lift unassisted).

[dopar66]

Best I can tell, board presses down to as far as your sticking point for breaking the sticking point, and board presses above that to help lockout. If 2-boards is your sticking point, looks like we're at the same dot on the map.....

Home Depot doesn't have much in the way of the good heavy chains, but several lengths of the 3/8" add up pretty quick. If you live near an agricultural supply, logging supply, or heavy equipment supply place your odds will go up fast to get the really big stuff.

God Bless.

[danno]

Friday: shoulders

I decided to move both the shoulder and the deadlift back one day so I have more recovery on my big two lifts, the bench and the squat (i just started with deadlifts, so right now these work my back more than my hams)

Shoulder pre-hab

Smith machine Shoulder presses: (weights w/o the bar)
10 x bar
8 x 44
8 x 55
8 x 66
8 x 77
5 x 88

Paused Bench
5 sets of 3 x 110
1 set 3 x 121

Lateral raises: 3 x 8 x 18s
Front raises 2 x 8 x 18s, 8 x 15s

BB shrugs
8 x 132
8 x 176 (15 second Chancey-hold)
8 x 176 (20 second Chancey-hold)
...1 set of 8 with 66s DB shrugs
8 x 132

Rear delt raises
3 x 8 x 15s

Felt pretty good after all, went to a chinese place for some good food after the workout.
Good bless,
Dan

[danno]

Monday:

Shoulder Prehab

Bench Press...Buckeye
10 x 45
8 x 88
8 x 141
6 x 152
4 x 165
3 x 176
2 x 185 2nd one with some love
1 x 194 didn't get it past the sticking point
4 x 165
On the 185 I had the bar right at the sticking point for like 2 seconds but couldn't move it past that point. The good thing is that I now know that my sticking point is 4 inches off my chest (2 people told me) so I will need to get some boards...

Lockouts:
220 x 6
230 x 6
242 x 6

DB Flies: 3 sets of 6 x 33s

Close grip:
3 x 3 x 154
8 x 132

Single arm reverse pulldown:
7 x 44
7 x 55
5 x 66

Cord Pulldown:
8 x 176

It was alright besides the buckeye. Seems like I can nail the longer sets but when it comes down the power I lack the strength to get past the sticmking point. I will try boards starting in 2 weeks and will do more of a conditioning workout next monday. Also I feel my triceps keeps getting stronger and strongerI use weight on the close grip that i couldn't use on the bench not too long ago.
You all have a great week
God bless,
Dan

[dopar66]

I don't use boards, so whatever advice I give you about them is second to third hand info. A 2x4 is only an inch and a half thick. That'll put you at 3" off the chest. You go two boards, you'll actually work from just below the sticking point, which to me would be better than going "to" the sticking point. That might not be worth a full two cents.

I have been doing the buckeye so I do the same workout for 3 weeks. Buckeye Monday, accessory work Thursday. There has been improvement, be it ever so slight. I said all that to say this: if you don't get all the reps with no help, you're not alone. But if next week you get one more rep without any help, you have improved. Plain and simple.

Congrats on the close grip improvement! That ROCKS!

God Bless!

[danno]

Monday 11/05

Shoulder Pre hab

Bench TNG
8 x 5 x 163

Bench (paused)
0 x 176
1 x 154
1 x 163

DB Flies
3 x 8 x 29s

JM Presses
3 x 8 x bar

Tri pulldown w/ cord
8 x 143
8 x 154
6 x 165

Single arm pulldown
5 x 55

It felt good in general. the weight I was using for the 8 x 5 was the weight i couldn't handle about a month ago on the 5x5, so thats a good sign there was some progress.
I miscalculated on the paused presses and they were just messed up, need to think a little more next time.
I tried JM Presses and will probably alternate these with close grip every other week, that should give me some gains in triceps stregth.
Tomorrow I will try the buckeye for squats, see how that works out. The plan is to get some solid stregth and good form and then start the smolov in feb. ( I will be on vacation 2 weeks this winter so it wouldn't make sense to start these any earlier)
Also, I plan to do the following thing next Monday. Work up to a heavy triple regular bench (TNG) and then start boards.
Any input is greatly appreciated.

[dopar66]

Input:
Allow ample time for the Buckeye squatting. Not so much for recovery, more for bar loading and unloading. I normally do a full workout in 40 minutes, but the Buckeye took me roughly 55 minutes due to the bar loading/unloading thing. But YES YES YES it's a GREAT squat routine too. I count it as one of the best squat workouts I've had in a LONG time.

Can't speak to the boards, don't use 'em with my current gym environment. Long story. However, the "sounds" of that idea sound pretty good!

I strongly suspect the 8x5x163 is the direct cause for the 0x176. 40 reps at 93% of your single effort, probably took the gas out of your tank..... Killer effort on the rest of the workout big Danno!

God Bless!

[lysimacus]

I have yet to try boards but I can say that the JM Press has really made a difference in moving my bench up. The 8x5 @ 165 looks real good but Dopar is right about the gas running out. Reps above 90% will do that. it does attest to your conditioning that you can do that many reps above 90%. Good stuff!