Cyclops' Lifting And Grip Journal

[cyclops]

Hopefully this time around I'll be better about keeping my log updated. I've been lifting since this April (4 months) and I'm 5'10'' 198 lbs. I've been doing grip a little longer than that, but never stuck with it consistently. I can close the #2, but haven't done any bending in a while because I hurt a tendon trying to see what I could do to a 60d after less than a month of bending (stupid, I know). My hand is almost ready to go though, so by the end of the summer semester I should be bending again.

My goals are in my sig: close the #3, bend a blue nail, pinch 2 45's by March 30, which will put me at 1 year of training. I don't have a RT yet but I did 135 on the Diesel Crew's RT today and decided I need one ASAP.

As far as normal gym stuff, these are my PR's (all for 8 sets of 3):

Squat 300

DL 315

Bench 195

Military Press 145

Power Clean 155

Right now I'm trying to put on some mass along with strength (I'm 5'10'' 198 lbs), so I've just started Chad Waterbury's "ABBH" from T-Nation. It goes like this:

Day 1

10x3 Bench

10x3 Cable Row

5x3 Preacher Curl

5x3 Skullcrushers

Day 2

5x10 Squat

5x10 Standing Calf Raise

5x10 Swiss Ball Crunches

Day 3

cardio/GPP

Day 4

5x10 Dips

5x10 Pulldowns

3x10 Incline Hammer Curl

3x10 Triceps Pushdown

Day 5

10x3 Deadlift

10x3 Seated Calf Raises

10x3 Decline Sit-ups

Sets of 3 are with 80% 1RM, sets of 10 are with 60% 1RM. In week 2, sets of 3 become sets of 4 with same weight, and sets of 10 increase weight by ~2.5%. In week 3, it becomes sets of 5 and increases by ~2.5% again, respectively.

For grippers right now I'm doing 4 negatives with the HG300 and 4 overcrushes with the HG200 for each hand, every third day or so. My short-term goal is the HG250, which I'm very close on, then the HG300, then on to the #3. I have a baseball pinch lift that I'm not sure how much I can lift with (I don't know if my gym will allow me to bring it, but I'll find out soon), and I'll be getting a RT soon. I'm open to any suggestions on my training because I know the people here know a lot more than me. My posts won't always be this long either.

Edited July 24, 2005 by cyclops

[pdoire]

Good job!! Keep at it!!

[Soilworker]

Squat and deadlift higher than bench press. That is a good sign already. Hope the routine trashes your muscles and forces you to buy a new wardrobe.

Where do you go to school?

[cyclops]

Squat and deadlift higher than bench press. That is a good sign already. Hope the routine trashes your muscles and forces you to buy a new wardrobe.

Where do you go to school?

←

Yeah bench isn't my favorite lift anyway. I'd say I like squats best, but deadlifts are right up there.

I'm at Berklee College of Music.

[Blarg]

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how fast your squats and deadlifts go.

[Soilworker]

Squat and deadlift higher than bench press. That is a good sign already. Hope the routine trashes your muscles and forces you to buy a new wardrobe.

Where do you go to school?

←

Yeah bench isn't my favorite lift anyway. I'd say I like squats best, but deadlifts are right up there.

I'm at Berklee College of Music.

←

Berklee? I wanted to go there back when I actually played. I take it there's no school gym? It would probably be totally deserted anyhow.

[cyclops]

Squat and deadlift higher than bench press. That is a good sign already. Hope the routine trashes your muscles and forces you to buy a new wardrobe.

Where do you go to school?

←

Yeah bench isn't my favorite lift anyway. I'd say I like squats best, but deadlifts are right up there.

I'm at Berklee College of Music.

←

Berklee? I wanted to go there back when I actually played. I take it there's no school gym? It would probably be totally deserted anyhow.

←

There's a "fitness room" in one of the dorm basements, but it only has a circuit machine and a barbell with 2 10's and 4 5's, and 2 treadmills. I think a Berklee gym is in the plans for the near future, but it will still be after I graduate. I'd like to have some input on the planning so it's at least a decent place to workout (and much more cost-efficient than a bunch of machines), but I don't know how the new president feels about random student input on those things.

[Soilworker]

Squat and deadlift higher than bench press. That is a good sign already. Hope the routine trashes your muscles and forces you to buy a new wardrobe.

Where do you go to school?

←

Yeah bench isn't my favorite lift anyway. I'd say I like squats best, but deadlifts are right up there.

I'm at Berklee College of Music.

←

Berklee? I wanted to go there back when I actually played. I take it there's no school gym? It would probably be totally deserted anyhow.

←

There's a "fitness room" in one of the dorm basements, but it only has a circuit machine and a barbell with 2 10's and 4 5's, and 2 treadmills. I think a Berklee gym is in the plans for the near future, but it will still be after I graduate. I'd like to have some input on the planning so it's at least a decent place to workout (and much more cost-efficient than a bunch of machines), but I don't know how the new president feels about random student input on those things.

←

Berklee has dorms? Dammit, my school doesn't even have stupid dorms and you guys are in the middle of Back Bay with buildings and townhouses and the friggin' Pru right there, yet UMass can't build dorms? At least they have a power rack. Does anyone even use your gym though?

[cyclops]

Berklee has dorms? Dammit, my school doesn't even have stupid dorms and you guys are in the middle of Back Bay with buildings and townhouses and the friggin' Pru right there, yet UMass can't build dorms?   At least they have a power rack. Does anyone even use your gym though?

←

When I lived in that building there were a few guys that used it, and some girls that would use the treadmill. Some guys liked to go in there and use the barbell (a 5' one) and the entire 40 lbs of plates and yell while doing bench presses.

Berklee has more money than you could imagine. They just never did anything with it until recently when we got a new prez. For instance, we do a 5 week summer program mainly for highschoolers to come play. They pay over $5000 each for the 5 weeks, including dorms and food. There are about 1000 of them this summer. You do the math. That's just a nice little extra, nevermind all the actual students paying tuition, plus the connections Berklee has with Fender, MOTU, Native Instruments, etc that gets the school tons of free gear. Our old prez liked to sit on the money apparently. I could rant about it forever (I used to work in the scholarship office) but I'd have to make a thread in Goerner Reborn.

[cyclops]

I hope this won't sound like me being a pansy, but I dropped the direct arm work and shoulder work for today's workout, and probably next week too. I was totally fried after benches and rows and I knew I wouldn't be able to do any of the other stuff for 5x4 with the weight I used last week. That stuff isn't part of the original program as it was written anyway.

Bench

6x135

5x165

10x4x185

Rows

6x110

5x140

10x4x160

Was going to do a big grip workout but I had a ton of homework so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Edited July 26, 2005 by cyclops

[cyclops]

Today:

Squat (supersetted with calf raises)

10x135

10x185

5x10x235

Standing Calf Raises

5x10x200

Swiss Ball Crunches (DB extended straight overhead)

5x10x50

Grip workout tonight was 4 negatives with HG300 and 4 overcrushes with HG200, followed by pony clamp stuff and some pinch with a cinder block.

[cyclops]

Today

Dips (supersetted with pulldowns)

10xBW

5x10xBW+37.5

Pulldowns

5x10x120

I'm supposed to be doing pull-ups but I'm not strong enough to do 5 sets of 10, and especially not with weight. I'm going to have to take about a month off from the gym during the semester break since I'll be home and will probably not have access to a gym, but I'll be doing "grease the groove" with pull-ups during that time, along with whatever heavy stuff I can find in my parents' garage to lift. I can also go into the woods and find big stones to throw around. We'll see how it goes I guess.

[cyclops]

Today was:

Deadlift (superset w/ seated calf raises)

5x185

5x225

5x275

10x4x295

Seated Calf Raise

5x180

5x180

5x180

10x4x225

Decline Bench Sit-ups

10x4x60

Very tough workout. Next Friday will hurt, I can already tell (10x5, same weights).

Tomorrow I plan on having a high-volume grip workout of some sort. Some grippers, baseball pinch, cinder block pinch, bending. Should be fun.

[cyclops]

I wasn't able to do any grip work this weekend because I did homework pretty much every minute I was awake (including an all-nighter unfortunately).

Unfortunately there's no way I'll be able to finish the program this week. For one, I seriously doubt I'll be able to make it to the gym all 4 days, and 3 days might even be pushing it. For another, I failed on the 5th rep of the 5th set today, when I was supposed to do 10x5. Wasn't going to happen. I'm not surprised after the lack of rest I had this weekend.

So after 5 sets of benches and seated rows, I decided I'd do a full body routine 2 or 3 days this week, and find my 1RM for different lifts. I'll do a different 1RM each day I work out for the next week or so, since I've never maxed on anything and am curious. Today was squats.

Bench

7x135

6x165

5x5x185

Seated Rows

7x120

6x140

5x5x160

Squats

5x185

5x225

5x275

3x305

3x315

3x335

2x365

1x385

I kept surprising myself each set I did. I really wasn't expecting to do that much. I had a spotter on the last 2 sets but he didn't even need to touch me. I used a belt on the last 3 sets.

[cyclops]

Today:

Front Squats

7x115

5x135

5x185

Deadlift

5x185

5x225

3x275

3x315

1x365

1x385 1RM

Pull-ups

5x3x12.5

Dips

5x3x65

I did some light front squats, but couldn't do more weight because it hurt my wrists and shoulders. I figured I'd throw in a few sets of front squats once or twice a week until I can handle more weight.

I tried 395 on DL but could barely budge it.

I did some plate pinching at the gym, but hopefully I'll have time before bed to get a real grip session in.

[Blarg]

Good luck on your GTG program and the stone throwing plan. That sounds like a really interesting way to get a work- out.

I doubt you'll lose much by dropping the arm isolation exercises.

[cyclops]

Good luck on your GTG program and the stone throwing plan.  That sounds like a really interesting way to get a work- out.

I doubt you'll lose much by dropping the arm isolation exercises.

←

Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of heavy awkward stuff I can find. There's woods all around in my town so it should be fun.

Yeah I kinda felt like a pansy doing all those triceps pushdowns anyway.

I finally have spare time this afternoon, so I'm going to actually do some grip work today. I've got my grippers and some steel ready, along with my baseball pinch thing and a cinder block. I'm going to pick up some plates today so I can start adding weight ASAP.

Side note: I want to start doing more olympic lifting once I'm back in the gym. Are there any resources you guys would recommend to learn this kind of stuff?

[Soilworker]

Side note: I want to start doing more olympic lifting once I'm back in the gym. Are there any resources you guys would recommend to learn this kind of stuff?

←

Go to a gym where they train that kind of thing. You don't have to live there, just go there a few times and learn some basics. Of course, training there would be optimal, but I know it is not feasable all the time. But learning "hands on" is going to do you the most good.

You're in Boston, Poloquin Performance Center is in Wilmington. The train ( commuter rail, I should say) goes out of North Station and one of the Wilmington stops is right near it. It's on Andover Street, to the best of my recolection. Man I suck at spelling.

Also, I think TPS might do that stuff too, but I don't know to what extent.

[cyclops]

Thanks Soilworker, I'll check those places out. I'm going to go to TPS at some point in the near future anyway.

I didn't max on anything today, I figured I'd max on bench press and military press next week. I did Dan John's "Rapid Acceleration" routine (8-6-4 on PC, MP, FS) for oly lifting today. I liked it a lot. I also added in one-armed DB snatches.

Power Clean

8x135

6x155

4x165

Military Press

8x135

4x155

4x155

Front Squat

8x155

6x185

4x225

One-armed DB Snatch

3x65

3x75

3x3x85

I'll have to use a little less weight next time for the military presses.

Great workout, and I'll definitely be doing more oly-type stuff in the future.

[cyclops]

Maxed on bench today:

Squat

10x135

8x185

8x225

5x275

4x295

2x3x315

Bench

5x135

5x165

3x185

2x205

1x215

1x225

Bent Rows

3x8x155

Good workout, and 225 is what I was hoping to hit for my max. Bench is coming along slowly but surely (definitely my weakest lift IMO). Did some plate pinching afterwards, 5 sets each hand of max time for two 25's. I got almost 20 seconds with my right and 15 with my left. After Wednesday I'm pretty much done with finals, so I'll be back full steam with grip work. I plan on taking a bunch of my grip toys home during the break so I can work hard while I'm there. I'll also probably be lifting at the YMCA in my hometown.

[cyclops]

Today was:

Front Squats (as a warmup)

5x135

4x185

2x225

RDL

5x185

5x225

3x5x275

Dips

5x25

5x50

3x5x65

Pull-ups

3x5xBW

Not much to it, but with it being finals week I've averaged about 5 hours of sleep per night. Fortunately I'm now done with all my projects and tests and only have to attend two more classes.

I feel like I could do more on front squats but it just hurts my shoulders to hold the bar there. I'm sure that will get better over time though, same with back squats.

Friday might be my last workout for a few weeks. I'm going to my hometown for a month, part of which will be spent helping my fiancée move to Texas. Once I get back to my town, I'll be going to the YMCA there 2 or 3 times a week until I come back up here second week in September. I bought a Rolling Thunder from Clay Edgin yesterday, so I'll be using that a lot when I get back up here. I'm taking a lot of my grip stuff to FL/TX with me so I can still train that. Maybe I'll use my girl as a barbell and do some cleans and presses. Nah I'll probably work on some stone lifts in the woods near my parents' house and see how creative I can get with GPP.

[Soilworker]

Nah I'll probably work on some stone lifts in the woods near my parents' house and see how creative I can get with GPP.

←

Stonelifting is indeed the domain of hardcore mofo's. Some would say one of the truest tests of total body strength. I would tend to agree. It's good to see young people that are in an institution of higher learning in a major historical city are still interested in such "hick" training regime's such as stonelifting. Props.

[cyclops]

Nah I'll probably work on some stone lifts in the woods near my parents' house and see how creative I can get with GPP.

←

Stonelifting is indeed the domain of hardcore mofo's. Some would say one of the truest tests of total body strength. I would tend to agree. It's good to see young people that are in an institution of higher learning in a major historical city are still interested in such "hick" training regime's such as stonelifting. Props.

←

Well I grew up 45 minutes from Mobile, AL if that tells you anything about me. I'm really looking forward to picking up some big rocks!

[cyclops]

So today was my last workout with gym equipment for at least 2 weeks unless something unexpected happens. I maxed on military press and did a set of 20 rep squats and some pullups.

Military Press

4x135

2x155

1x165

1x175 (1RM)

Squats

6x185

5x225

20x255

3x275

Pull-ups

3x5xBW

The 20-repper was way too easy, so I rested a while, put 275 on the bar, and after 3 reps I knew there was no way in hell. When I get back into the gym regularly I'll be doing Super Squats along with some Oly stuff. I'll do 20-reppers M and F (w/ bench and row M, military and pull-ups F), and power cleans, RDLs and dips on Wednesday. Or something like that. It's still a while off so I have some time to decide. I'll be following this routine (whatever I finally decide on), along with eating plenty and drinking milk, until I hit 220-230 lbs. I'm now at 203, up from 179 four months and a week ago when I started lifting.

I may not be around the board for a while, but keep getting stronger guys (and girls)!! I'll see ya in a while.