BroB9's log

BroB9

BroB9

BroB9

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11 Sep 2012
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149
Following on from my thread asking about where to get started in the powerlifting world, I thought I should make a log to, well, log things :) Hopefully some of the more experienced lifters can give me some tips along the way!

My goals for 2013 are to compete in at least one powerlifting competition, put on some size and hopefully lean out a bit more.

I'm 17, 6"1, 84.7Kg and have been training for 9 months with my best lifts as follows

Bench 100Kg
Squat 140Kg
Deadlift 160Kg
OHP No idea on a 1rm, I'll sort this out shortly :)

I've been doing a lot of reading recently, I found a few programmes that suit my needs, namely PHAT and 5/3/1 with BBB. I decided that the extra sessions required for PHAT would mean compromising around exams and I'd rather do a programme that I can follow all year round.

As I said I'm 17, living at home with 2 parents who don't have a clue about any of this. I had to produce studies to even get them to allow me to buy some whey as they thought it would cause me harm -_- This means I don't have full control over my diet but we eat fairly well to start with, well at least I think we do :)

An average day

Big bowl (approx 200g) cereal with semi skimmed milk
Two large tesco wholemeal rolls with a thick slice of tesco sliced chicken. (not ideal, I know)
3 large fajita wraps packed with chicken + salad
2 scoops MP unflavoured whey with water on workout days

Pics from 2 months ago, I think my back is the most impressive in real life, that's not a great pic :rolleyes:
ydaFt.jpg

qjLI1.jpg

P7gYE.jpg

zPPvt.jpg

 
Okay, so first entry!

I tried some Craze for the first time today, didn't feel that much different, only had bad side effects tbh, I'll give it another chance though.

Squats

5x 80kg
5x 95kg
5+ 105kg managed 7 reps on this, but I had to stop after 5 as I went extremely light headed, took 10 seconds to recompose and did the last 2 reps.

5 x 10 70kg, blasted through

3x10 Hamstring curls @55kg

Not a great session to start my log with, need to be hitting more reps on the last working set.
 
icecold said:
First things first.

BBB is absolutely terrible. Do the "triumvirate" instead, or just do some sensible assistance.
Click to expand...

Oh, what's wrong with it? I didn't see anything negative reading up on it.

What would class as sensible assistance, 3x8 on 1 or 2 exercises? Fly's and DB press after bench for example?
 
It's just... terrible. All it does is add fatigue. Think of it this way: as a powerlifter, why are you doing 10 reps with a tiny weight for your primary movement? That's entirely rhetorical btw, but it illustrates an important point. Your training should have a purpose beyond simply "it must tire me out".

Squat assistance examples:
- deficit bulgarian split squats
- front squats
- lunges
- leg press
- RDL

Bench assistance:
- CGBP
- board press
- wide grip bench
- OHP
- incline bench
- DB bench
- tricep isolation

Deadlift assistance:
- RDL
- Good morning
- SLDL
- glute-ham raise
- hamstring curl
- heavy core work

Pick some based on what you need to work on.
 
Have you seen Wendler's tweaks to 531 for powerlifting?

Jim Wendler switched weeks 1 and 2 around, and added a few heavy singles.

  • Week 1: 3 x 3, plus a few singles
  • Week 2: 3 x 5 only perform requisite reps
  • Week 3: 3 x 5,3,1, plus a few singles
  • Week 4: Deload
Click to expand...
 
icecold said:
It's just... terrible. All it does is add fatigue. Think of it this way: as a powerlifter, why are you doing 10 reps with a tiny weight for your primary movement? That's entirely rhetorical btw, but it illustrates an important point. Your training should have a purpose beyond simply "it must tire me out".

Squat assistance examples:
- deficit bulgarian split squats
- front squats
- lunges
- leg press
- RDL

Bench assistance:
- CGBP
- board press
- wide grip bench
- OHP
- incline bench
- DB bench
- tricep isolation

Deadlift assistance:
- RDL
- Good morning
- SLDL
- glute-ham raise
- hamstring curl
- heavy core work

Pick some based on what you need to work on.
Click to expand...

I guess that makes sense, but I do want to put some mass on too. But if I eat well and do those assistance exercises then I should still put some on. Thanks for those, I can't do things like good mornings very well just yet due to hamstring flexibility but I'm getting there!

LiE said:
Have you seen Wendler's tweaks to 531 for powerlifting?
Click to expand...

No I hadn't actually, just read this, are they basically as close as possible to 1rm?

I've seen you using "the" spreadsheet, is there an updated version somewhere for the new template? If not then I'll just have to remember :p
 
LiE said:
It doesn't mention how heavy to go with singles, you can probably gauge that yourself.

There's no updated version of the spreadsheet that I use for powerlifting. This guy has put together a simple one you can use.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=136996493&page=1
Click to expand...

That's much simpler, thanks. It does round up though, if you/others want it to round to the nearest 5 - ctrl+f, find and replace "CELING" with "MROUND".

icecold said:
Do not go anywhere near a 1rm for deadlifts every other week. This is fine for bench and squat.
Click to expand...

Right, what do you suggest, something like the same weight I'd use on the 1+ sets, ie 95% of 90% of my 1rm?
 
Deadlifts

2x5x70
3x100
3x115
3+ 130 Got 5 reps, felt lower back starting to round a bit, need more work on hamstring flexibility
1x140
1x140

3x8, set 1 with 10k, 2 with 5kg wide grip pullups (will do hamstring curls next week, got my assistance exercises a bit mixed up yesterday)

3x8 60kg RDL, first time doing these, just testing the water
 
OHP

3x5x30kg
3x40kg
3x45kg
3+ 50kg 7 reps
1x55kg
1x60kg
1x65kg 5kg PB

Straight arm side raises

3x10x8kg

Reverse fly's

3x10x56kg

Those on 5/3/1 - if I PB, do I change it on the spreadsheet immediately or for the next cycle? I presume the former but google couldn't assure me :)
 
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Bench - All bar warm up with 1/2 seconds pause

5x35
5x45
5x55
3x65
3x70
3+80 got 8 reps
1x85
1x95
1x100 - equal pb, went up really easily :D

Dips

+16kg x 10 x 2
bw x 10

Incline Bench

60 x 10 x 3

Tricep pushdowns

3x10x41.75

Very good session, very happy :)
 
Last edited:
Keep in mind that you need to pause your bench press on your chest for 1-3s in a comp.
 
LiE said:
Keep in mind that you need to pause your bench press on your chest for 1-3s in a comp.
Click to expand...

Forgot to say I did all of the working sets and 1 reps with a good 1/2 seconds pause.

In case you missed it, could you answer this?

Those on 5/3/1 - if I PB, do I change it on the spreadsheet immediately or for the next cycle? I presume the former but google couldn't assure me
Click to expand...
 
The recommended increase each cycle is 5kg for deadlift/squat and 2.5kg for bench press and OHP. You're working sets are then calculated based on 90% of this new max. It's not a good idea to take the predicted maxes and put them into the spreadsheet as actual maxes. If after a few cycles you find the maxes aren't correct you can test them.

1/2s pause isn't really a pause, but that's expected as 531 doesn't require it. I brought it up mainly because it's a different way of pressing and certainly something you should consider doing to prepare for a comp. Have a look at my last log entry video for an idea.
 
Thanks LiE :)

I meant 1 to 2 seconds not half a second if that wasn't clear, seemed to be about the same if not longer than the pauses on your latest video. I think I'll try and do paused reps on 2/3 sets every week until I get used to it.

I'm noticing the left side of the bar nearly always goes up faster than the right but I'm right handed so there's obviously an imbalance somewhere, any suggestions to improve that?
 
Don't worry about that, more bench pressing will help. I'm never perfectly even when pressing either. 1-2s is a good pause on a longer set. My pause time isn't great at the moment as I reach the max weight on 5's.
 
Keep forgetting I have this log, need to be more consistent!

What I've been up to



I've had PB's all week

OHP - 67.5Kg

And then tonight

Bench

10x20
5x40
5x60
5x70
3x75
1+ 85 Got 10 reps, but got help on last one, so i'll count it as 9. I only managed 11 reps with 75kg last week! :o
1x95 easy
1x100 equal pb, easy
1x102.5 pb, getting pretty hard now
1x105 5kg pb, got stuck about halfway but pushed through

The gym was packed so had to do some DB work

Flys

22x8
24x8
26x2x8

DB chest press

3x8x30

Incline DB chest press

3x8x30

Stretching

Weighed in at 87.9kg this morning :eek:
 
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