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Mephistopholes's (bobby's) Training Log


Mephistopholes

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The great thing about it is that you stay in that 1-3 rep power building rep range throughout the entire workout even after fatigue hits. I have tried other stuff, but I get the best gains from this.

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The great thing about it is that you stay in that 1-3 rep power building rep range throughout the entire workout even after fatigue hits. I have tried other stuff, but I get the best gains from this.

Ah yeah that makes sense. I've found lately that 3 rep sets are gold for me. Haha. I did nothing but singles on nearly everything for a while and just burned out. With grip stuff in particular, I've found lately that static hold work really works for me. A few weeks ago I attempted the #2.5 and got it, and so I've been working with it since then, but I think I sort of jumped the gun with that one. It was really more of a 1RM than something I could work with. What I've been thinking about, and maybe this will work well with the drop set stuff, is doing strap "lifts," instead of holds, turning my gripper work into more of a lift. I'm thinking 3 rep sets, picking up the weight with the gripper, and working up progressively. With drop sets I could reduce weight or just go to the bare gripper. But I figure if I'm doing this with 3 rep sets at say 20 or 25 additional pounds, the next gripper up shouldn't be too tough at that point.

I just need l be able to make it a progressive thing. If I can do this, I can approach grippers like any other lift, and then I can make gains.

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Anyhow, I think next weekend I will be experiementing with both "strap lifts" and drop sets, so thanks for the input, guys. I gotta get my gripper game up. haha

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I think I will also start using a heavy sandbag to change things up with my keg... I've needed to get a new keg to fill with sand for awhile anyways, but I think I'll use the sandbag starting at a lighter weight and doing more volume work.

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Tuesday 11-13-12 at the YMCA

Axle Military press - 75 x 3, 105 x 3, 130 x 3, 155 x 3, 155 x 3, 150 x 2 1/2, 145 x 3, 140 x 3.

Deadlifts - 230 x 3, 320 x 3, 370 x 3, 405 x 3, 405 x 3, 405 x 3.

Axle Rows - 140 x 3, 170 x 3, 200 x 3, 200 x 3, 200 x 3.

Hub-

Left - 30 x 3, 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 47.5 x 3, 47.5 x 3, 47.5 x 3.

Right - 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3, 50 x 3, 50 x 3, 50 x 3.

Carry- 40 x 1 down and back across gym floor, each hand, with stops half way.

Great workout today. Chez, Instead of benching for assistance today, I tried drop sets with the military press. That was fun. Got 2 sets at 155, so I'm staying on track with my cycle.

Hub lifting went great today, I think these 3 rep sets work much better for me. Today was a rep PR on both hands. Funny thing, before I did my working sets, I accidentally overloaded the hub by 10lbs but didn't realize it, so when I started pulling, I couldn't figure out why i was only able to get it a few inches off the ground. It was because I'd loaded it to 60lbs, which in retrospect makes me happy, as I was able to at least get air on that weight.

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Just messing around, I tore through a couple decks of cards after my work out today (one deck at a time). I can do it in cue now, but not fast or clean enough. Haha. I think I will tear one stack after every workout, starting low with some number of cards that I can tear fast and clean, like 30 cards maybe, and work my way up, adding 2 cards at a time. This way I will train for speed. Shouldn't be long before I can do a full deck fast. And then I can start working toward tearing two decks at a time!

The problem I have is that it is easy for me to start the tear, but hard to finish it. The cards all kind of slip and some tear through before others at the end... Anybody know if this is normal? Haha

Edited by Mephistopholes
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Thursday 11-15-12 at the YMCA

Axle Clean and Push Press - 85 x 3, 115 x 3, 145 x 3, 175 x 5 singles.

Oly squats - 100 x 5, 100 x 5, 140 x 5, 140 x 5, 140 x 5.

Dumbell One arm clean and press - 55 x 3, 65 x 3, 75 x L/2 R/3, 70 x 3, 70 x 3.

Rolling Thunder

Left - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 155 x 3, 165 x 3, 165 x 3 165 x 3.

Right - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 160 x 3, 170 x 3, 170 x 3, 170 x 3.

Carry - 105 x 1 down and back, 120 x 1 down and back, 130 x 1 down and back with hand switchoff at each end.

Tore 30 card stack, quick.

Great workout today. Loving these push presses. When I get over 200lbs I'll be happy... when I get to body weight (about 210lbs) I'll be really happy! I've been thinking about re-integrating bench pressing into my workouts, but I think I'll wait until I get the push press up there. Or at least until new years. I think what I will do is, instead of Military press every tuesday, Push press every Thursday, I will just rotate the bench in there, so every one will get hit once every 9 days, and I'll still reserve saturday for my odd-object lifting. So it would be like MP tuesday, PP thursday, BP Tuesday, MP Thursday.... etc.

Tried the Oly squats again today, started low and did some 5 rep sets. I narrowed my stance a bit and it went pretty well, I was able to keep my back up and didn't have any hip pain, so I'm going to continue working with these.

Dropped back a little on the Rolling Thunder, but it all went smoothly.

Tore a 30 card stack after the workout. I'm going to start low with these and work up so I can practice tearing for speed. I'll add 2 cards every time until I get to where I can tear a full deck fast.

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Think I will:

A) start doing 20 rep death sets with the squats, and

B) do 5 working sets on the deadlifts instead of 3.

Working on a bit more volume here.

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Saturday 11-17-12 at home

Indian Club Warm up

105lb rock press warm up- 5, 5

Keg 170 full

Clean and Press - 3 reps, 5 singles

Grippers -

Left - T x 5, #1 x 5, # 1.5 x 3, # 2 x 6 singles, almost 7. (Strap lifts) #1.5 (+5) x 2 reps.

Right - T x 5, #1 x 5, #2 x 3, #2.5 x 7 singles. (Strap lifts) #2 (+5) x 3 reps.

Marathon closes -

Left - #1.5 x 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1. (switch) #1 x 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Right - #2 x 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. (switch) #1.5 x 3, 2, 1.

3" Dumbbell clean and push press- 60 x 3, 70 x 3, 80 x 3, 90 x 1.

Blob carry - 28lb x 1 around yard, each hand. +5lbs x 1 around yard, each hand.

32 card stack - quick tear.

Work out went alright today. wanted to do a death set of push presses with the keg, but once I got it to the chest I realized that push-presses wouldn't really be an option. When I dipped in my knees, I almost fell over. So, I just went for normal presses. I warmed up with this big creek rock I found over the summer. Used to use it for curls and stuff.

Did Grippers before my thick dumbbell work today. Went really well. I decided I would just work toward squeezing the crap out of them today, and did more than I normally would. I feel like I could do low reps with the heavy working grippers (the #2 for the left and #2.5 for the right) so I don't know if next week I will try reps or strap holds. After that, I was going to do drop sets, and I sort of did, but this morning I saw a video Jedd Johnson had posted on the Diesel Crew website, so I thought I would try and implement on grippers what he was doing on pullups. But out of habit, I started with 3 reps... meant to start with 1. haha. I liked it though. I just did as much as I could. After all that I tried the #3 with my right hand and #2.5 with my left, just to feel it out. Got it a little past parallel on each.

Of course, this made the 3" dumbell cleans super hard. I could only get 90lbs to my shoulder once on each side, and I wasn't going to use two hands to hoist it up.

Went light with the blob. Working up on speed with the cards.

Got me a little spending money... What toys will I splurge on? haha

Edited by Mephistopholes
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I forgot to explain, for the gripper marathon, I would switch hands after every set. So, I would do 3 reps on the right, 3 on the left, 4 on the right, for on the left, etc. I did these back to back with as little pausing as possible.

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At a party and just go coaxed into ripping a deck of cards. First time I've done a bicycle deck! Was tough. Took me awhile, but damnit, I did it. Its amazing what you can do with some determination and a crowd watching :)

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Sunday 11-18-12

Was gonna do some squats and axle deadlifts today, but I'm hungover, and those things never go well together. Haha

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Tuesday 11-20-12 at the YMCA

Axle Military Press - 75 x 3, 105 x 3, 130 x 3, 155 x 3, 155 x 2, 150 x 3, 145 x 3, 140 x 3.

Deadlifts - 230 x 3, 320 x 3, 370 x 3, 410 x 3, 410 x 3. (out of gas)

Axle Rows - 145 x 5, 175 x 5, 205 x 5, 205 x 5, 205 x 5.

Dumbell curls - 45 x 5, 50 x 5, 50 x 5, 50 x 5.

Hub -

Left - 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3, 50 x 2, 47.5 x 3, 47.5 x 3. 55 (attempt) x got air.

Right - 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3, 52.5 x 3, 52.5 x 2, 50 x 3. 60 (attempt) x got air.

Carry - 42.5 x 1 down and back, with switch off half way, each hand.

36 card stack tear - quick.

Today was a fight, and I fought hard. I couldn't breathe, had no sleep the night before, my right pinky was sore, and I think I strained my left tricep last weekend doing some stuff at a party. But I lifted anyways, and I think I did pretty good, given the circumstances. Didn't get as many working sets on the Military Press or deadlifts as I would have liked (I just ran out of gas there) but I still got up to my working weights.

Hub lifting went great today. My previous 1RM with my right hand is 55lbs, and 52.5 with the left, and I'm steadily approaching the point where I will be donig those weights for reps. That excites me. Was bored at the end so I tried a couple of max effort lifts, and go them to move. I think I could have made it if I was fresh, but I'd already worked my hands pretty thoroughly.

Card tearing is still progressing well. Slowlly working up, maintaing my speed. When I say "quick," I mean like 5 seconds or less. That's my goal, to do it clean and fast.

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Thursday 11-22-12 at the YMCA

Axle clean and push press- 95 x 3, 125 x 3, 150 x 3, 180 x nope. 180 x nope. 175 x nope. (By this time, I moved on to the next lift. It was an off day for this.)

Oly squats - 100 x 5, 120 x 5, 140 x 20.

Hise Shrugs 140 x 5, 190 x 5, 230 x 20.

Dumbell one arm push presses - 70 x 3, 80 x 3, 90 x 2, 95 x 1, 100 x almost!

Rolling Thunder

Left - 120x 3, 140 x 3, 155 x 3, 167.5 x 2, 167.5 x 2, 165 x 3.

Right - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 160 x 3, 172.5 x 3, 172.5 x 2, 170 x 3.

Eagle Loops Farmer's walks (weight used for each hand) - 75 x 1, 100 x 1, 1, 1. Down and back.

38 card stack tear - quick.

Today was fun, even though the axle push presses didn't go so well. I've been kind of off this week... After those missed lifts I figured it was best to move on. Made up for it later though with the dumbbell push presses. Damn near put up 100lbs each hand.

climbing back up squat mountain, doing oly squats, starting low and doing death sets.

Read about Hise shrugs last week, so I wanted to try them today. Again, started low and did a death set. I like these, so I'm going to work up on them.

The eagle loops came in the mail yesterday. Awesome toys. I was really excited about them, so I kind of broke with my normal schedule and did some light farmer's walk stuff with them today. Pretty fun.

Now, on to the feast!

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Just did just a quick (gripper only) workout this morning because I'm going to the Uofl game at noon. Went well. I'll post later.

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Saturday 11-24-12 at home

Grippers

Left- T x 5, #1 x 5, #1.5 x 3, #2 x 1.

(attempt) TSM x just short by 2mms.

#2 x 1. (good, but felt I couldn't repeat it)

(Strap holds) #1.5 (+5lbs) x 1. (7.5lbs) x 5 second hold. (+5lbs) 2 10 second holds, 3rd attempt but no air.

(reps) #1.5 x 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Right - T x 5, #1 x 5, #2 x 3, #2.5 x 1.

(attempt) TGM x close, maybe 1/4 inch short.

(10 sec overcrushes) #2.5 x 2 singles.

(strap holds) #2.5 (+2.5lbs) x 1, (+5lbs) x couldn't get it off the ground, (+2.5lbs) x 1 5 second hold.

(overcrush) #2.5 x 1 7 second hold.

(reps) TSM x 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1.

40 card stack tear - quick.

Didn't have alot of time today, so I just did grippers. I will make up for this tomorrow. But, grippers are getting stronger and stronger. Could actually do strap holds with the #2.5 today, so next week I will work on that, and overcrushes with the #2 on my left hand.

This week I received my order of a Tetting Super Master and Grand Master from Cannon Power works, rated at 117 and 148, respectively. And I damn near closed each of them with my left and right hand, repsectively (the TSM being the challenge for the left and the TGM being the challenge for the right) which makes me super happy. In a couple weeks or so, I'll attempt them again. If I can close the TGM, then I figure I'm not far off from the #3 (and I think I may have a hard #3) because it is close to the average #3 rating. Woo!

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Was thinking about doing some push presses tomorrow to make up for not doing any pressing today, but I'm also thinking taking a day off from it might be a good idea. This was a tough week for pressing... Not sure yet.

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Sunday 11- 25-12 at the YMCA

Oly Squats - 100 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 20.

DO Axle Deadlifts- 185 x 3, 235 x 3, 275 x 3, 275 x 3, 275 x 3.

Hise Shrugs - 140 x 5, 200 x 5, 240 x 20.

Eagle Loop pullups - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Eagle Loop Farmer's walk - (each hand) 95 x 1, 130 x 1.

42 card stack tear - quick.

Today went well. I will resume pressing tuesday, I think I just needed a rest from that. going up with everything, still trying to find a challenging weight on the axle deads and Hise shrugs. Working up with the squats from way down there...

Tried the Pullups with the eagle loops today. I love these things. Fun (painful) exercise. did them the way I've seen Jedd Johnson doing them, with very minimal rest between sets. Definitely tough this way.

The Farmer's walk kind of went like crap. With the eagle loops, the weight kept shifting and rotating on me and made it reallly hard to walk... May just do these "normal" style without the loops.

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11-27-12 at the YMCA

Axle Military Press - 75 x 3, 105 x 3, 130 x 3, 155 x 3, 155 x 2, 155 x 3 singles.

Deadlifts - 230 x 3, 320 x 3, 370 x 3, 410 x 3, 410 x 3, 410 x 3. (oh, that last one took all I had).

Axle rows - 145 x 5, 175 x 5, 210 x 5, 210 x 5, 210 x 5.

Dumbell curls- 45 x 5, 50 x 5, 55 x 5, 50 x 5, 50 x 5.

Hub -

Left - 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3, 50 x 1, 47.5 x 2, 47.5 x 2.

Right - 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3, 52.5 x 3, 52.5 x 2, 50 x 3.

46 card stack tear- slow, sloppy...

Today was alright. Working on getting 3 x 3 with 155 in the military press. I must be tired. Finals are coming up and I'm pretty stressed out and there are cold germs going around, so when I got to deadlifting, it was a fight. That last set was really tough, tougher than it should have been, and the last rep took everything I had. Consequently, i had a terrible headache afterward and I think I pretty much fried myself out. The Hub lifting didn't go nearly as well as I would have hoped, but it wasn't terrible.

I need to figure out what I'm doing on these rows. They weren't strict at all today. I've alway had trouble doing them strict, which make me think it might be more productive for me to do cleans instead.... Thoughts? Anybody?

Card tearing went like crap. Again, I think I was just fried after that last deadlift set.

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Thursday 11-29-12 at the YMCA

Axle Clean and Push Press - 95 x 3, 125 x 3, 150 x 1, 175 x 5 singles.

Oly Squats - 100 x 5, 130 x 5, 150 x 20.

Hise Shrugs- 140 x 5, 205 x 5, 245 x 20.

One arm Dumbbell Presses - 55 x 3, 65 x 3, 75 x 1, 70 x 3, 70 x 3.

Rolling Thunder -

Left - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 155 x 3, 167.5 x 3, 167.5 x 3, 167.5 x 3.

Right - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 160 x 3, 172.5 x 3, 172.5 x 3, 172.5 x 3.

Carry - 105 x 1, 130 x 1, 150 x 1 (only one way each hand for the last one.)

Card tear 44 stack - slow, sloppy... AGAIN.

Workout went good today, but I think I will drop back my weigh on the push-presses and work for doulbes instead of singles. Reason being, the lifts were just inconsistent. One would be bad, the next great, the next bad, etc...

Rolling Thunder went good. the last rep of each working set was a fight, but I got it.

Card tearing went like crap again... not sure why. Maybe my hands were tired. or slippery. or both. Ticking me off though.

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Saturday 12-1-12 YMCA/Home

Bench press- 135 x 3, 155 x 3, 185 x 3, 210 x 2, (switch to bottom position start) 185 x 3, 185 x 3, 185 x 3.

Dumbbell Curls - 45 x 5, 50 x 5, 55 x 5, 55 x 5, 50 x 5.

Grippers

Left - T x 5, #1 x 5, #1.5 x 3, #2 x 1.

(attempt) TSM x 1/4" short.

(strap holds +2.5lbs) #2 x 2 no closes.

Right - T x 5, #1 x 5, #2 x 3, #2.5 x 1.

(attempt) TGM x 1/4" short.

(strap holds +2.5lbs) #2.5 x 2 single closes, but no lifts.

(so, at this point, I did some experimenting... I jerry-rigged a silver bullet setup...)

Left- (+2.5lbs) #2 x 1.

(+5lbs) #2 x 1. TSM x 4 singles.

(just on "silver bullet") #2.5 x 1.

Right- (+2.5lbs) #2.5 x 1.

(+5lbs) #2.5 x 1. TGM x 3 singles. #3 x got air.

(just on "silver bullet") #3 x 1.

Blob Carry = 28lbs.

Blob- x 1 around yard, each hand.

+7.5lbs x 1/2 around yard, each hand.

Today was... interesting. I thought I would change things up a bit and I've wanted to get back to benching anyway, so to start, I went to the Y and bench pressed. However, they got some new benches, and because of my extra long arms, I can't use them (the top hook is too low!), so I did my benching in the rack... Unfortunately, this was super awkward. I could never get myself in the right position really, and get hitting the hooks with the bar... So I said "F*** it" and just did benching from the bottom position. Considering I haven't done this in probably a couple months, it went pretty well I think. I was never a great bencher, but now Its time to fix that.

Then, grippers. Weren't going so good today. Hands didn't feel quite up to the task... but I went for it anyhow. Strap holds didn't go so well. I've always had a problem with that set up, its just a piece of leather belt on a bucket. The problem is that, because it's soft, I can never quite tell when I'm "really" closed all the way on it, and because of this, I get messed up sometimes, and waste energy trying to get closed on it... But then I had an idea. I don't have a Silver Bullet, but what I did was tie a shoe string to a light gripper (a Guide, I think) and then tied that to my loading pin. Worked great. So I'll be putting a Silver Bullet on my christmas list! I could actually FEEL when I was closed on it, which was great, it took the guess work out of it. Of course, this is easier than strap holds, but that just means I'll work up with heavier weight. What I loved about it though was that I could use my heavier grippers for this, like my new Tetting Grand Master, and even my #3, although I couldn't hold it with any weight... But I got air. and I was able to hold the gripper I was using as a silver bullet with my #3 in the right hand and #2.5 with the left. Which was a huge boost of confidence, feeling like I actually get to use that beast, instead of just having it laugh at me. So, I'm going to do more of that next week, and work up in weight progressively. Take down the TGM first, and then the #3 isn't far away.

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Sunday 12-2-12 at the YMCA

Oly Squats - 100 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 20.

Hise Shrugs - 140 x 5, 210 x 5, 250 x 20.

DO Axle Deadlifts - 190 x 3, 240 x 3, 280 x 3, 280 x 3, 280 x 3.

Eagle Loop Pullups - 5, +5 x 5, +10 x 5, +10 x 5, +10 x 5.

Anvil carry - 85 x 1, 105 x 1. (Hands were cooked at this point).

Today went pretty well, especially considering last night was a late night of debauchery. Definitely feeling it today.

Still easing into the Axle deadlifts. Getting better at it though.

Normally I would be embarassed to post the kind of weight that I used on the pullups today. I can do way more than that. But, the reason I'm doing these is for finger strength, not back strength. I'm starting super low with weighted eagle loop pullups because I want my finger tendons to gradually get used to the stress. Don't want to pull anything...

Anvil carry wasn't too hot. My hands were pretty much done at this point.

I think I need to start doing some kind of ab work. I used to do weighted situps every weekend, but it got to be a real pain. I couldn't just hold the plates anymore on my chest because it was getting to be too much to hold, and if I tried to use a barbell for situps, it was pretty uncomftorable. I think I will break down and just use this sit up machine they have at the Y... It'll fix the awkwardness problem for sure. It's a plate loaded machine. Maybe I'll just throw in a few sets between doing pullups...

Edited by Mephistopholes
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Ha yeah, I always bring my bag full of "torture devices" as some people have called them.

But they let me keep my axle there. Cause there is no way I'm hauling that big SOB in and out of there every time I lift. haha.

Grippers and blob stay home, but my loading pin stuff comes with me.

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For a while there, several people at the Y literally thought I was in the circus.

I didnt correct them :)

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