Quagmire911 Lifting Journal

[I-tallionStallion]

Ye I understand man. People seem to listen alot to what rippetoe say, the guy may know his stuff but I kinda lost all respect I had for him when I saw him put up 10 parallel reps with 3 plates. Just telling you what works for me.

You could always go to the Strength mill and ask him on the forum.

Quag...I like the whole looking down 7ft infront of me during squats. It really does help me focus and make me more comfortable.

Are you going to change up and start eating more quag and then diet down?

 

[Being_the_Don]

Monday

Reasonable enough day today considering I had quite a lot to drink at the weekend. Usually don't drink the night before lifting but I was at a comedy last night (Stephen Lynch) so yeh. First day using bench as the main move in about two months or thereabouts and it went well. Here it is:

85kgx6x5 PR (187lbs)-Well there you go. Concentrating on brining my shoulders up to par has benefited this. Form was a little off and one side (most likely the right) was doing more of the pressing. My feet were wanting to come of the ground which I am sure points to this as well, but I made sure to keep them planted. Will be interesting to see what happens when my body adapts to the move again. Pretty sure I could do 100kg for a rep now. Going to use the 5% solution here, it worked well for the shoulder work.

CG bench 70kgx9 -Just some extra work for the tri's.

Dorian rows 65kgx6x6x6-I tried to do rows but they just felt really weird. These felt strange but got better as the sets went on. Something in my upper back is weak. I could have done more weight, but as I say it didn't feel right.

One arm Oh press (braced) 25kgDBx10x8 PR-Few reps more than I got about a month ago and it was the third move and not the first. Good stuff. Shoulders are set. Just failed on the 9th with the left side. Right could have got 9 or 10 but I was matching it up with the amount the left got.

Pullups Bw (179ish)x7x5-I suck at pullups. I can do chins with 10kg added for this amount of reps. My sticking point is in the top part of the movement when my chin is nearing the bar. As with rows, I reckon this points to some kind of weakness. I just don't know what. I suppose I have to keep in mind that my bw is a good 25lbs or so more than it was a year ago. But it seems a little odd that the chins are as far ahead as they are. Could be normal for all I know.

Ghetto roman chair situps 15kgx10x10x10-Big improvement on last week. Abs are strange. They seem to adapt quickly.

GPP-Anyone that wants to try something a bit different, do what I am about to lay out. It will kill you:

Power clean/front squat/push press 40kgx10 3 circuits 60-90s inbetween-Basically powercleaning the weight of the floor, front squatting it, then push pressing it overhead. Then back to the ground and repeat. I saw some coach, don't remember who, say that these were murder. Something about going from the front squat to the press. Well he is right, it was murder. Good stuff.

And that was all. Going to look up row form, never really concentrated on it or at least not in a while. Could be doing something wrongly. All in all a good day across the board. Tommorow I will do some cardio, most likely my burpee/jumping jack circuit. Until then...

Quagmire

Quagmire,

Keep working at the pullups, the numbers will improve. I use a slightly different terminology than most of you guys do ie I consider palms facing me to be pull ups and palms away to be chin ups. No matter, the point is that I prefer pull ups because they are sometimes easier but when I really get my mind into it the numbers on the two exercises are the same. Put more work into the pull ups -as you refer to them - and you'll see the numbers come up. Good job with the workout.

 

[MrS]

Because they're parallel reps with 3 plates.

Oh, DIPS, I thought we meant squats!
Splendid.
Parallel dips are fine, Lifeforce, in most books.

 

[Lifeforce]

I've seen alot of vids of him and he knows his stuff. Lost respect might be the wrong wording, rather disappointed. I imagined him repping with 500 á la Platz not doing 10 reps on the same weight I atg squat.

Its true that gazing a little downwards is good sometimes. I remember I did it when I was doing 20 repers. However I find it VERY hard to keep my back arched if I go full ATG unless I gaze straight forward. Anyways, as long as you are comfortable and dont expose your lumbar vertabreas to unhealthy angles its all OK.

Powerlifters do bend their upper back when DLing and I imagine its possible when squatting too, its just that you were bending lower back as well. When I watch rippetoe he seem to keep the lower back arched and bend the upper back a little to get more strength.

 

[Quagmire911]

Wednesday

Heh heh heh. Heh. Pretty pleased with myself. DAMNED PLEASED. Here it is:

Box squats (wide stance, few inches below parallel) 90kgx2x2x2 95kgx2x2x2 -Doing this to bring up the hips. Wasn't going to fail, but it was hard beacuse I really had to push forward with the hips and they are weak.

Squats 120kgx1-Then worked up to a moderately heavy single. Here comes the good part.

Sumo deadlift 145kgx8 (319lbs)-Most I have done this for before was 6 reps, so a 2 rep PR. Man was I feeling strong today. So I HAD to put more weight on the bar, not passing up a good thing.

160kgx1-Failed with this a month ago. With adjusting technique and whatever else, this flew up.

182.5kgx1 (401.5lbs) PR- I had to try. I felt strong and I have wanted it for so long. Blew it of the floor and fought with it above knee level and just locked it out. Didn't lock out for long and my grip didn't want to hold it anymore, but I got it. F*** yes. Unfortunately my cameras batteries died so no video today, but I promise in the next few weeks I will put up 185kg for all to see. This was done no belt, no straps, no anything. F*** yes. Unexpected, but I am not complaining. To think I was considering doing good mornings instead today.

Side bends 7kgx6x6x6 PR-Hard as always, but getting better.

Hip adduction 90, 95, 100kgx10-Machine maxes at 100kg. Pretty strong here.

Hip abduction 50kgx10 55kgx8x8-Made decent progress here over the last few weeks.

And that was all. 2/3/4 has fallen ladies and gentlemen. Now 3/4/5 must fall. I had my friend with me today as I was showing him what to do. Haha, we both got psyched up and he deadlifted 140kg (308lbs) his first time deadlifting at a bodyweight of 135lbs or so. He is strong as f*** for his size, lots of potential. I did my first set and then just f******* went for the 400. Ahhh, it feels good. For reference, bw is around 179lbs soaking wet.

Some cardio and probably grip work tommorow. Until then...

Quagmire

Ps-Mark Rippetoe has deadlifted 633lbs, squatted 611lbs, and benched 396lbs. This was before all the advanced gear bs nowadays.

 

[Quiksilver]

wow congrats on the 182.5! How many reps are you going to be working towards at that weight Quag?


And start counting in KGs again so I can understand!:cuss:

cheers man! In a few weeks it'll be time to start thinking about how you're gonna get to 3/4/5.

Kerpal,

The squat was done in a squat suit. But the bench press and the deadlift (the best test of strength IMO) were done raw.

why do you say squats are better than deads/bench for strength?

 

[Quagmire911]

Thanks guys.

Kerpal I agree that the deadlift is the best test of strength, as it isn't really affected by all the gear bs. And yeh Quik, he meant the deadlift is the best test of strength. I know that he used a suit for the squat Kerpal, but it was nothing like the suits they use today.

And Quik 182.5 is in kg...the 401.5 is in lbs. What do you me count in kg's, I do . And I am already cotemplating 3/4/5, indeed I have been training the bench from 200 to 300 for some months and the squat for a few weeks. And I haven't really considered how many reps I will work towards with 182.5kg, not thought about it.

 

[Fuglydude]

Congrats on breaking 400 dude! Keep it up!

 

[shaunuk]

yeah, congrats man!! You've worked hard getting there and you've finally done it, kudos to you

btw, wonder how much you'd deadlift with a belt. Try a belt and put 10kg extra on, a belt seems to make a difference for me.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Great job...welcome to the 400 club my friend

And thanks for finding Mark's statistics, been driving me crazy trying to find it. I saw it somewhere but I couldn't find where.

For 3/4/5 to fall it's going to take a lot of patience. Won't it be nice when we get there? I'm hoping to have at least the squat and deadlift there by christmas.

Shaunuk- I believe I heard from IA not to hurry at our level and throw the belt on. Straps yes, belts no. Correct me if I'm wrong tho

 

[shaunuk]

Itallian: dunno mate, I've always just worn a belt because you can lift more with it, it keeps you tight, so potentially less risk of injury.

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2930

also EFFORT who has given me a lot of advice said I should wear a belt basically.

 

[Quagmire911]

Thanks guys.

I am doing fine thus far without a belt and have no need for one, so I continue without. Alex has deadlifted 600+ and I am confident he told me it was unbelted.

I am not particularly interested in chucking stuff onto my body and getting more weight out of it. I have read that using supportive gear can help your raw strength and I would use it in that context, but any max attempts I would like to be raw. But that is me, all down to what you prefer. (Not heard belts increase raw strength, more shirts, suits, or whatever.

And Stallion, you should get there pretty fast if you don't mind packing on the pounds. I am staying sub 200 so it will be harder.

And Kerpal, I think I am leaning more towards the overhead press as an upper body strength tester. More natural, and there is something I like more about it the the bench. As you said, the lying down part is unnatural.

 

[Quiksilver]

You stayin sub 200? Is that for appearance or function?

 

[Quagmire911]

I've just never seen the point in going over 200 and getting huge. I am 5ft 9" or thereabouts. Getting to 185ish or so and around 10-12% has always sounded good to me. Lean, with a decent amount of muscle.

I have always taken a more functional view of training, like a fighter. Speed and conditioning are still of the uptmost importance as is strength. A lot of people barely even consider speed.

This is why my weight hasn't changed all that much over the last 9 months.

 

[Quiksilver]

the problem with staying small is you lose strength quickly if you stop training for awhile or get injured. Being a little bigger than you need to be makes it easier to train in different ways and with different goals without sacraficing much strength.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Looks like I'm using a belt soon Shaunuk. Wow, can't believe I missed that. I remember asking some huge buffed trainer who powerlifts, he told me to wait til I was in the 500s for DLs. I may get straps soon for rep work. Still deciding.

You probably killed that kid making him dead that much Quag! That kid is strong. I remember struggling horribly at that weight when I was 40 pounds bigger than him.

Hey Quag...are you going for 200 lbs now? WBA comes back and all of a sudden everyone on the board is eating more. Go figure haha

 

[shaunuk]

Yeah that's cool, quag, you're doing well without a belt so no immediate need to use one if you don't want

IS: cool, what's your current deadlift? Let us know how much it goes up with a belt on

btw, a belted lift is still called 'raw'

 

[Quagmire911]

Stallion, read man! Staying SUB 200 .

And 5ft 9" at 185 lean is certainly not "small", whatever the size freaks want to say. At least it isn't too me.

And Quik, provide some kind of reasoning to what you say, it makes no sense. At 185 I would have at least 30lbs of muscle more than what I had when I started training. And what you say still doesn't make sense to me.

And Kerpal, 3x bw deadlift for the win!

Shaun, raw to me means NOTHING added.

 

[playa99]

5ft 9" at 185 is big lol, well in my opinion it is im around the same height as quag. Not a clue what you are build wise mate but im 155 at the same height and to my mates im considered as a bigger guy :S, i would say i have a big frame to fill out into though so quag must be BIG in my opinion lol, in a good way though mate lol

 

[JohnnyIrish]

I'm late to the party but wanted to say congrats with the 401.5lb-er!
Impressive.. very impressive. I have a lot of catching up to do.