Mephistopholes's (bobby's) Training Log

[Electron]

Read Kafka while hubbing 80lbs for time.

There, grip goal.

[Mephistopholes]

Haha. I'll hold it for the length of time it takes me to read one of his parables.

[Mephistopholes]

Monday 4-22-13 at the YMCA

Axle Military Press - 80 x 5, 105 x 3, 130 x 3, 155 x 2, 155 x 2, 155 x 2, 155 x 1, 155 x 1.

Bottom Squats - 135 x 5, 175 x 3, 225 x 3, 265 x 3, 265 x 3, (stopped here, right knee bugging me)

Rolling Thunder -

Left - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 182.5 x 2 (5 sets)

Right - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 182.5 x 2 (4 sets), 182.5 x 1.

Axle cleans - 145 x 3, 150 x 3, 155 x 3, 160 x 3, 165 x 3.

Today went alright, up on the pressing, up on the RT (didn't get all the reps, but I will next time). Unfortunately, going into the squats, I was feeling a little slow anyhow, but my right knee was bugging me. I've had trouble with it in the past, so I just stopped early.

And now, on to papers.

[Mephistopholes]

Holy crap.

I just weighed myself...

206.

Which means I've lost 5ish pounds in like a week.

Which isn't good and probably explains why I've felt crappy and weak lately.

Must be stress related... Ugh.

[Six Barrel Shotgun]

Kafka.. Haha I thought the book The Metamorphosis (in swedish) was freakin awesome.. lol talking bout Kafka on a training log on gripboard

[Mephistopholes]

It's my training log and I'll talk about what I want to talk about! Haha

I LOVE Kafka. Haha. I've always been a fan of his work, but hadn't read him in a while, so to give myself a good excuse I decided to do one of my final papers on his story "In The Penal Colony," one of my favorites. It's 30ish pages, so you might check it out if you are looking for a good read.

I'm actualy contemplating getting a Kafka tattoo in the fall...

[Six Barrel Shotgun]

Yeah I think it's awesome to talk about Kafka here. I just were suprised that myself would mention Kafka on this site

Thanks for the tip! But I have a copy of the The Trial, haven't read it yet. I'll put it as my next book to read , have wanted to read it for a long time, but never gotten round to it..

Kafka tattoo, Good idea!

Edited April 24, 2013 by Six Barrel Shotgun

[Mephistopholes]

Oh the Trial is awesome. Haha

[Mephistopholes]

Wednesday 4-24-13 at the YMCA

Deadlifts - 135 x 5, 225 x 5, 315 x 3, 380 x 3, 420 x 2, 420 x 2 (done here, I'm whipped today.)

Bottom Axle Bench - 105 x 5, 14 x 3, 185 x 2 (5 sets)

Hub -

Left - 35 x 3, 45 x 3, 55 x 3, 62.5 x 1, 62.5 x 1, 62.5 x 1, 62.5 x nope, 60 x 1, 60 x 1.

Right -35 x 3, 45 x 3, 55 x 3, 65 x 1, 65 x 1, 65 x 1, 65 x nope, 62.5 x 1, 62.5 x 1.

One Arm deadlift Oly bar - 95 x 3, 135 x 3, 185 x 3, 225 x 1 (right hand)

Four finger deadlift - (index and middle) 95 x 3, 135 x 3, 185 x 3, 225 x 3.

It's finals week, and I'm exhausted, physcially and mentally. Having said that, today went okay. Deadlifting was a little rough, my CNS just feels fried right now. Benching was alright. Hub was alright too, but I was having trouble getting my hands on there right, they just felt kinda tired. I think what I need to do is drop by 5lbs... that seems to be how I make progress on this now, I increase 7.5, drop 5, increase 7.5, drop 5, etc...

Tried some extra stuff today. wanted to try One arm DLs because that was really the first grip lift I ever did. It was fun, but I probably won't do them seriously. Four finger deadliftng was new to me, so I was just feeling it out today. I like the feel of it, and next time I'll do it with my first two fingers, and with the last two fingers.

[Mephistopholes]

Next Monday I may use an Olympic barbell and try and max on the military press. I havent done that in awhile, so i'm curious to see what it might be. The week after next I will start working on this cattle farm again, and I'll be lifting in the evenings, and at first my numbers will probably drop because I'll be tired, but I'll get used to it... Anyway, I was thinking I might max next week before I start working again just to see where I am, to kind of start the summer off. Haha

[Mephistopholes]

Friday 4-26-13 at Home

(Dumbbell press warmup)

Log Press - 120 x 3, 130 x 3, 140 x 3, 150 x 3, 160 x 2, 170 x 1, 180 x nope, 175 x 1, 170 x 1.

Rolling thunder

Left - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 182.5 x 2, (4 sets) 182.5 x 1.

Right - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 182.5 x 2, (3 sets) 182.5 x 1, 182.5 x 1.

Dumbbell one arm press - 52 x 3, 57 x 3, 62 x 3, 67 x 3 (switch to push press) 72 x 3, 77 x 3, 82 x 2.

Dumbbell curl and press - 32 x 5, 42 x 5, 52 x 1, 47 x 3, 47 x 3, 47 x 3, 47 x 2.

Today was a good one, kicked my own ass. Got to use the Log today, which was super fun. I was just feeling it out to see what I could get. next time I think I'll start doing working sets with 155, which is low, but it will let me get used to the lift more.

RT went alright. The last few sets where I wrote singles, I technically got 2 reps, but that second one was pretty questionable, so I only wrote 1. My hands felt kinda tired today.

Presses went well. Did the curl and press after that and my arms were just spent.

[Mephistopholes]

Saturday 4-27-13 at Home

Grippers -

Left - T x 5, #1 x 5, #1.5 x 3, (attempt) SM x like crap. #2 x nope.... #1.5 x 8... hands spent.

Right - T x 5, #1 x 5, #2 x 3, (attempt) GHP6 x like crap. #2.5 x nope.... #2 x 8... hands spent. Bummer.

Twist Your wrist device - 10 x 3, 15 x 3, 20 x 3, 25 x 3.

Well, today was disappointing. My hands just felt weak and tired. Couldn't do crap, as shown above. couldn't even clsoe the ones I normally close. ugh. So I just did some wrist roller work and called it a day.

I'm so sick of grippers. haha. I know a lot of guys love them and think they're really fun and are obsessed with them, but for me, they're not really that exciting. I just do them because I want the certs, but closed hand stuff really isn't my strong suit. I'm much more about the lifts. Its even kind of uncomftorable for me to use a regular barbell, as my fingers often get mashed up, an axle fits my hand way better.

I think I may place less focus on the grippers for awhile and more focus on the grip machine... my real "work" for crushing will be done with the machine, and the grippers will be used as a kind of marker for progress. That will also free me up to more of the stuff I like.

[Mephistopholes]

What I may do is start the workout with the grip machine, then after that do some finger closes and holds with the grippers. That may be more valuable to me. Then test where I am on grippers for real every 5 weeks.

Or I could just use the grip machine in combination with the anvil horn and block weights... I dunno. Haha. Any suggestions?

[Electron]

I'm thinking the anvil horn will have good carryover to vbar, you should keep that in your program.

[Mephistopholes]

I think the anvil horn has carryover to a lot of stuff. Haha. Thickbar, v-bar, pinch (the thumb really has to work to squeeze it).

[Mephistopholes]

Unfortunately, there really aren't a lot of other guys doing that, so i dont have much to back up that assertion. Haha. Its kind of a bummer, I don't have much to compare to and periodically lose interest in it because of that.

[Electron]

Wish I had a loadable horn! If what you say is true, seems like an indispensable tool.

[Mephistopholes]

It's a fun one haha. I had mine cut for me by a machinist from just one fat hunk of steel... It wasn't too expensive. Like 60 or 70 bucks I think. I found the dimensions somewhere, but now i dont remember where. But it's 7" inches long, 3.4" base diameter (I think) and comes to a soft point.

[Mephistopholes]

My schedule is a bit messed up today, so I'll be getting to the gym late, but I think I'm going to try maxing today on the military press with a normal bar and see where I am...

[Electron]

Do it! Then work to hit a bigger number with your log.

[Mephistopholes]

Monday 4-29-13 at the YMCA

Military Press - (oly bar) 75 x 5, 100 x 3, 125 x 3, 150 x 1, 170 x 1 (NEW PR) 180 x nope, 155 x 1, 145 x 2.

Bottom Squat - 135 x 5, 175 x 3, 225 x 3, 265 x 3, 265 x 3, 265 x 3, 265 x 3, 265 x 1.

Rolling Thunder -

Left - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 187.5 x 2 (5 sets, last one barely got second rep).

Right - 122.5 x 3, 142.5 x 3, 162.5 x 3, 187.5 x 2 (4 sets) 187.5 x 1.

Axle cleans - 145 x 3, 155 x 3, 165 x 3, 165 x 3, 165 x 3.

Well, today was a good one. Maxed on the Military press and set a new PR. Hoped for more, but I'll take it.

Rolling thunder went great... Funny thing: I miscalculated the weight when I loaded it up. I thought I had 182.5... but had 187.5. Which felt awesome. WOOOO. So that was exciting.

Couple things: I was looking over my journal and realized I've really kinda been at a stand-still for a while on my big lifts. Grip has gone up steady, but the big lifts have kind of stalled. So I'm going to Slow down my pace a bit. As a bodyweight military press has been my long time goal, I'm going to do it twice a week, but I'm going to slowly build it up, adding one set at a time, then adding weight, dropping back, and working up in sets again. I used to do that and It worked well. Benching really isn't in my goals, so once again, I'm cutting it. Jedd sent out an Email this morning about attacking your goals, and that's just what I'm going to do. Going to use the same method for deadlifts and squats... The other thing Is that next week, I'll be back to working full time on the farm, so My weights will likely drop a bit for the first couple weeks, but I'll be back up soon. When you do physical labor all day and sweat your ass off, you tend to be kinda tired at the end of the day when it comes time to lift. haha. That's just part of reality I'm gonna have to deal with. But doing this "slow roll" kind of approach to progression should work will with that, takes less toll on my body.

Yori, I'm moving ever closer to that 200 for reps goal. You better get it in gear. haha

[Mephistopholes]

Wednesday 5-1-13 at The YMCA

Axle MIlitary Press - 75 x 5, 100 x 3, 125 x 3, 150 x 2 (5 sets)

Deadlifts - 135 x 5, 225 x 5, 315 x 3, 365 x 3, 405 x 3, 415 x 2, 425 x 1, 430 x 1 (done)

Hub -

Left - 35 x 3, 45 x 3, 50 x 3, 57.5 x 2, 57.5 x 2, 57.5 x 2, 60 x 2 (oops!) 57.5 x 2.

Right - 35 x 3, 45 x 3, 52.5 x 3, 50 x 2 (5 sets)

Axle DO Deadlifts - 165 x 3, 215 x 3, 255 x 3, 305 x 1 1/2, 285 x 2 (4 sets)

Today was good. Was definitely feeling it in my arms and shoulders from maxing Monday, so I dropped back a little on the press and it was just right. Next time I'll do 1 set of 155 and work up to 5 sets, then drop back to 1 set at 160, etc...

Changed it up a little with the deadlifts today and used the 3/2/1/1/1 scheme. Didn't get the last one, but that's alright. Next week I'll probably have to drop back on that like 15lbs.

Hub went well, just cycling the weights. I think this is going to be how I make progress on this now, and before long it will probably be the same with the Rolling Thunder, and maybe the military press. Go up 7.5, drop back 5, etc.

Instead of the four finger deadlift, I did Axle deadlifts to finish it off. Those went alright, considering I haven't done them in months, and I'd already deadlifted and hub lifted. haha. I'll have to work back up on this lift, but next week I will probably use 285 again.

[Mephistopholes]

Friday 5-3-13 at Home

Log Press - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 160 x 2 (5 sets)

Rolling Thunder -

Left - 127.5 x 3, 147.5 x 3, 167.5 x 3, 187.5 x 2, 185 x 1, 180 x 2

Right - 127.5 x 3, 147.5 x 3, 167.5 x 3, 187.5 x 12, 185 x nope, 180 x 2 (hands are just fried from stuff I did yesterday...)

One arm Dumbbell Presses - 52 x 3, 57 x 3, 62 x 3, 67 x R3, L1.

"..." Push Presses - 72 x 3, 77 x 3 (stopped here, sense of losing stability in left arm)

Log cleans - 120 x 3, 140 x 3, 160 x 3 (5 sets)

Today was good for the most part. Yesterday I had to do some heavy yardwork... Had a bunch of rock brought in and I had to shovel it and wheelbarrow it to fill some swampy holes in the yard.... so that definitely afffected me today, particularly in terms of grip. my hands just felt fried.

Log pressing went well though, and the cleans with that really kicked my ass. haha.

I don't know if I'll do my grip workout tomorrow. My hands are feeling pretty fried right now, and tomorrow is derby and we're having a derby party... so we will see.

[Mephistopholes]

Sunday 5-5-13 at Home

Dumbbell curls - 32 x 5, 42 x 5, 52 x 3, 47 x 5, 47 x 5

Anvil Horn -

Left - 85 x 3, 100 x 3, 115 x 3, 130 x 2 (5 sets)

Right - Same as left

Pops Grip Machine (All bands on) - 90 x 5, 120 x 3, 150 x 3, 180 x 2 (5 sets)

Grippers -

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

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

Today was good. Shifting my focus in my grip training now, grippers are going to the back burner for awhile. They'll still be done, just won't get the primary treatment. did some curls to get going, then got back on the Anvil horn. This is going to be a primary lift for awhile, and I'm gonna dominate it.

Grip machine went well, just jumped up in my weight after messing with it a couple weeks ago...

finally ended with grippers. What I did here is I didn't try to go too heavy with it. Instead, what I'm planning on is doing something I've read about people doing with other lifts, which I've wanted to try on grippers for awhile but never really have.... Since they're not in my primary focus right now, I think this will work well. What I'll do is add one rep per set per session. So next week, I'll do 2 reps, then 4 singles. Then the next week, I'll do 2 sets of 2 reps, and 3 singles, etc, until I get to 5 sets of 3... then I'll make a heavy attempt at the next gripper up, and if I can't hit it, I'll keep going on this until I get to 5 sets of 5 reps. Obviously, this is going to slow things down a bit, but its not like I'm making a whole lot of progress on grippers right now anyway, so worst case, this really can't hurt me, I don't think. I think this will allow for me to make some slower, but perhaps more steady progression on grippers. and right now, the grip machine is really carrying the workload for my crushing grip training, so they should work together well. another reason I'm doing this is that, since I've been mostly focusing on heavy attempts, instead of closing the grippers I can close, I've started to feel sort of "out of touch" with the ones I can close, so this should, if nothing else, at least ensure that I'm consistent with them.

Starting working back on the farm tomorrow, so we'll see what lifts take a hit, and how much... My lifting days will shift to tuesday, thursday, Saturday, Sunday.

[Mephistopholes]

Of course, when I attempt to go up in grippers, I'll need small jumps to make...

And immediately, I have a couple of those, but eventually I'll need to fill in the gaps.