TRAINING LOG: S. Gray

Made a makeshift implement out of two 25lbs plates, some chain, and a Dee Ring to practice throwing...works really well

Only have a 16lbs and 8 lbs sledgehammer to practice hammer swings and throws

I have several large river rocks to practice putting

S. Gray, congrats on the BIG lifts!!
Where do you live at and what games are you planning on attending?
Stay with the training and keep posting your workouts.
B. Gray

Squat really, REALLY sucked today.  After some warm-ups sets I was struggling with 400.  My back kept getting knotted up and torqued my hips into a strange position that was just hard to get out of. 

Bench press went a little better than last week, ascended to 365.  Left shoulder started to lag and without a side spotter, I dropped to 315 and did two sets repping out.

Deadlift was again interesting.  Last week I hit a PR of 465 and thought that I would just do some nominal sets since my back was sore from the squat.  Oddly enough, I just kept getting more and more flexible and was feeling good, so I went for another PR and hit 470. Dropped to 315 afterward from 1" deficit and brought my legs real close and worked on getting that tightness out of my back.

Hot Room, Sauna, and Hot Tub for about 15 min each afterward.

Flexibility and mobility this evening before bed.

Monday, I did hip snatch as well as clean and jerks.
I also did some dips and assisted pull-ups..50 reps each.

I am trying to figure out a good routine for snatch and cleans but instead of trying to find the right one I am just going to have to figure it out myself.


Feeling like crap with this head cold but still going to bust some arse.

TONIGHT:  Front Squat, Leg Curls, Calves, Power Curls and Cardio

Left Ankle is more tender than usual.  I thought that by now most of the post-op/therapy and nearly three months of work and lifting would have taken care of it by now but it still throbs and stings from time to time.

Right Knee is sore I think from rotational training on cable machine when I was to stiff in the beginning and wasn't articulating my joints through the movement.

Tomorrow, back to using CAT on Squat and Bench for triples.  The bands and chains just add a level of soreness that just cannot be replicated anyway else.

I am also in limbo trying to figure out if what I do on Saturdays should stay the same or be altered a bit.  Though I train with a powerlifter who goes to both Nationals and Worlds and I usually follow his template so to speak, I am thinking about switching over to a 3rep PR rather than a 1rep.  I will have to think about this more because I am doing great and my strength is constantly improving...I AM A SLOW LIFTER!! 

Getting into Highland Games which is the direction I am heading in, all I have read and listened to deals with being as FAST as possible in a given movement.  I know that with dropping bar weight and adding either a band or chain my speed is much better. 

We have been doing REverse bands for a while and I am just now getting into the groove with the DL variation.  My REverse band squat is 730 parallel and the Bench is about 500 touch and Go..no pause.  With reverse band the concept of CAT is utilized except that the Bar weight is what's being manipulated via bands retaining the weight of bar with a stretched load which assists the explosive concentric phase which must be carried through especially if you don't want to dump the weight. 

9/20/11

Power Snatches, Pwr Cleans Press, and Standing Jerks

PwrSnatch: worked on using broom stick and bar for about 15 mins...still getting use to the movement.  Worked on triples once I started adding weight.  Worked up to 125 from bar with 5 lbs increments.

ClnPress:  worked with broom stick and bar for about 5 min again still getting use to the movement.  Worked on triples up to 155 from the bar with 10 lbs increments.

Standing behind neck Jerks:  Experimenting to see if I like the movement.  Used the PusPad to keep from slamming on my neck.
Worked on triples up to 225 lbs from 100 with 10 lbs increments.

This was quite a bit of volume but with low reps and very small jumps, I found that I maintained very good form.  This week really helped establish a base for these three lifts for me to work off of in the future with tweeks here and there esp. as I learn and watch more.

Incline hammer press: From 50-270 with sets of 3 and 5

Rope Cable Curl from 30-150-30 with sets of 7-10

October 1st:

Squat went really bad today got up to about 400 and couldn't even go down...my low back was extremely tight.

Bench Press was like it has been for a while...stagnant in the low 3's

Deadlift went well though as I did sets of 5 singles making sure they were dead deadlifts with no bounce with the top set at 365.




My training partner and I are going to Monster Garage Gym in Illinois to train this weekend.  Preparing for Worlds he want to get some solid feed back along with at least one more time in an intense environment before November's WPC in Latvia.

My Plan is to Squat 650, Bench 415, and Deadlift 475