COLOSSUS' Iron Journal

[Colossus]

Haven't updated this in a while, some good progress made:

Competed in my first strongman event Dec 13th...did well overall. There were 50+ competitors in 4 weight classes, very stacked show. Here's a few links--

http://www.telegram.com/article/20091224/FLASH/912240342

http://feigenson.zenfolio.com/paxtonstrongman2009

I'm in pictures 43, 53, 90, 91, and 93 if you click the second link. Picture # 95 is the owner of my gym and Derek Poundstone.

The farmer's handles are 250 lbs each, and the static DB hold was using 30 lbs, I think.



My latest workouts:

Deadlift

dynamic warm up (stretches, back raises, and the eliptical)

135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 5
405 x 3
455 x 3
500 x 1
550 x 1 (PR)

45 degree back raises with 2 bands around neck, 4 sets

Standard chins and "finger" chins, 4 sets max reps


-----------------------

yesterday, arms and abs

Dynamic warm up

Close-grip (12") bench

135 x 10
225 x 10
275 x 10
315 x 6
335 x 3
335 x 2
315 x 4

one arm standing DB extensions
65 x 12-15, 3 sets

Rope extension drop sets

Hanging leg raise, BW x 12, 3 sets

BB curls, 135 x 10-12, 4 sets with 30 sec rest

DB curls, 80 lbs for 6-8, 85 lbs for 4.




Currently holding 227-230 lbs. I desperately want to get up into the 240's, but I have a feeling that isnt going to happen without some anabolic aid. I could get up to that weight just by stuffing my face for a few weeks, but it would be soft. Right now it's a factor of putting the money together and a source.

 

[kbear0101]

Colossus,

Congratulations on your first competition/ DL new PR…hopefully there are going to be more in the future. Those farmer's handles look like a royal pain

Take care

 

[Fuglydude]

Congrats on the first competition dude!

A lot of those lifts you had to do in competition look crazy tough! Nice PR on the deads. Anytime a dude who's over 200 lbs is doing close to 2.5x bodyweight for deads, its quite an achievement. How did the 550 feel? I'm only a 100 lbs behind on the deads... so better watch out!!

Keep it up man.

 

[Colossus]

Congrats on the first competition dude!

A lot of those lifts you had to do in competition look crazy tough! Nice PR on the deads. Anytime a dude who's over 200 lbs is doing close to 2.5x bodyweight for deads, its quite an achievement. How did the 550 feel? I'm only a 100 lbs behind on the deads... so better watch out!!

Keep it up man.

Haha thanks, it was a true 1RM...bone shaking effort. 450 is pretty good for a 175er!

600 is my next big goal. Early summer I think.

 

[Colossus]

Ok, it's high time I updated this.

I dont have any spectacular PR's to report, but progress has been made. Some highlights:

BW: 237 lbs
BF: ~12%

Bench: Last PR was 385 back in Dec. I was doing triples with 365 + chains for awhile, now back on 5/3/1. Hit 315 for a paltry 8 reps

Squat: Hit 505 x 3 on the safety squat bar. Huge PR there. Now back on 5/3/1 with the buffalo bar. Also hit some 20-rep sets with 275.

Dead: Last max pull was a 550 back in Jan I believe. Took some time off deadlifting, now back on the 5/3/1.

Overhead Press: Great PRs here. Hit a single with 265 from the pins (dead weight, no push-pressing), and hit an easy 9 reps with 220 yesterday. Also hit a couple doubles with 255 form the pins.

Gay stuff: I can curl 80's for reps of 12-15. 135 BB curl for reps of 12-15. Triceps I only do cable work. Recently doing BB rows with 315.

Shooting for a 1500lb RAW total at the end of this month. Haven't truly tested any maxes recently so we'll see. Physique is looking great---my as$ just keeps growing!!

 

[Jitterbug]

Phenomenal military press there mate!

 

[CarlitosWay]

Nice skimmed through your journal and a real interesting set up, looks very efficient for strongman training. . Meh 80 db curls for 12-15 isn't gay ****

Looking strong though keep up the good work.

 

[Colossus]

Pulled 585 for a PR last night!!

Felt real strong up until lockout where I stalled for a moment, but other than that I'm happy with this pull. Will go for the 600 at my March 27th meet.

 

[Quagmire911]

Great PR. Try and get the 600 on video.

 

[Fuglydude]

Great PR on the pulls! Your deadlift: bodyweight coefficient is approaching mine... You're almost at 2.5... I'm at around 2.55 (460 @ 180). It is quite an achievement for guys in the 240-250 range to have this kind of a coefficient. Good luck on the 600, although I'm sure you won't need it.

From what I understand safety bar squats are closer to a high bar squat... this means you get more quad recruitment than a low bar. I'm sure your quad strength is really jacking up your deads!

Keep it up man... This is an awesome journal. Good luck at the meet.

 

[Colossus]

^^Yeah it depends on the style of safety squat bar. If the "arms" hang low, it pitches you forward more and is much more like a good morning. If the arms are high, the weight is more centered around the neck which would recruit quads more.

Lol, most gyms dont have these options so it's kind of a niche...but the SSB is a Westside favorite.

Thanks for the props and true about the DL coefficient. DLs are the one lift where increasing weight doesn't necessarily help you!! I mean it does to an extent---the best pullers in the world are in the 275 and 308 lb class, but there are also crazy mofo's like you who weigh 180 and pull insane weights. The size advantage comes down to more muscle mass and not really leverage, like squats.

 

[Fuglydude]

I've never done a safety bar squat, and the powerlifting facility that I have access to doesn't have a safety bar. I was looking at some buffalo bar stuff. Not sure how this would be different from regular high bar/safety squats. You're lucky to have access to all that specialized gear. How wide of a stance are you using?

I don't think a 2.5-2.6 coefficient is anything special for guys < 200 lbs... 2.75-3x is good for guys my size. I wish I could do a trap bar deadlift, as I think it would really help both my deads and squats.

 

[Colossus]

Ok, once again resurrecting my journal.

Training for the July 23th IPA in Hartford, CT. Goal is to put up a 1500+ meet total. I lift raw. Already have the gym numbers, but meet day is the real test!


BW- 238-242 lbs
BF%- Dont really care, but it's around 12%.


Friday- Press.

Stretching and rotator exercises

Standing OHP
bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 5
225 x 5
Lockouts from pins
255 x 3 x 3

Machine press
3 x 12

Machine lateral
2 x 15

Face Pulls
4 x 15-20

Calves
4 x 10-15

DB curls with Fatgripz
55 x 3 x 10

-----------------

Today- Squat

Eliptical for 10 mins
Dynamic warm up (stretches, bw squats)

Bar (55 lb long bar) x 10
145 x 10
+100 lb chains
145 x 5 w/chains
235 x 5 w/chains
325 x 5 w/chains
325 x 3 w/chains
375 x 3 w/chains
235 x 10 w/chains
Bar x 10 w/chains

One-legged RDLs (hard!)
3 x bw

Leg curls
4 x 5-10

adductor machine
3 x 12

Roman chairs w/ plate behind head
BW
25 lb
45 lb
BW

Hanging leg raise
3 x failure

Chins w/ fatgripz
3 x 10

------

Really love the Fatgripz from EFS. I use them for most pulling exercises and curls. Awesome grip work.

Pretty happy with my training structure right now. I do a 4 day split--bench, pull, press, squat. For bench and squat I do 2-3 week cycles of heavy triples with chains, then do singles (bench) and triples (squat) with straight weight for a week or two. Deads I do rack pulls below the knees with chains for 2 weeks, then a conventional pull day of singles, then deload with no pulling just light GMs. I also do a lot of rows--all kinds--and heavy abs.

With overhead press I just go by feel. It's not a powerlift so I can be loose with it. Usually I do 3 week cycles of strict press, push press, and dumbell presses.

Motivation has been low-moderate and I find myself needing a lot more rest from the gym lately, since being "off". Some weeks I just combine my squat and press into one day so I can have 4 days off from the gym. On off days I just go in and do 20 min on the eliptical, or jog a mile.

 

[Fuglydude]

Being off sucks hey? Exercise tolerance decreases as does recovery ability. I guess our goals are different, as you're competing and I'm just trying to get to a 2.75x DL, 2.25x squat while staying relatively lean for the summer. Since coming off, I've started doing something physical (not necessarily lifting) pretty much every day. I'm trying out Berardi's G-flux concept (high levels of varied exercise w/ lotsa good quality feeding/supplementation). Cals are at around 3000 w/ 200 g protein/day... currently in the 172-175 range w/ 12% bf. Probably need to go up on these.

I've noticed that although my maxes have dropped 2-3%, some of my other sets like 20 rep squats, and higher rep work has gotten easier as my conditioning has improved. I'm not sure if doing cardio, stretching stuff, even plyometrics work on off days would benefit your maxes, but I have heard of powerlifters in the lower weight classes (165-180 range) do that. Just thought I'd get your thoughts on this.

Anyways, good luck in your upcoming meet! I'm sure you'll tear it up.

 

[Colossus]

Yeah powerlifters call it 'GPP', or general physical preparedness. I'm seeing a lot more value in it since I've started running occasionally and hitting the eliptical.

Guys who really take their training seriously do it, but most of the quintessential fat powerlifters dont do anything resembling cardio.

I think I am going to follow suit with you and make it a point to do some cardio or plyos on my off days, especially while off. I notice I'm gaining fat easier now so daily cardio should help abate that.

 

[Colossus]

Today- deads + back

Eliptical- 15 mins.

Rack pulls from the knee
135x10
135x5 + 75 lbs chains
225x5 + 75 lbs chains
315x3 + 75 lbs chains
405x3 + 75 lbs chains
500x3 + 75 lbs chains
550x3 + 75 lbs chains
570x2 + 75 lbs chains

Hammer strength rows
5 sets

Chins w/ fatgripz
8 sets

Conc. curls with fatgripz
40x3x6-12

Machine curls
2 sets


Good pulls today. I felt strong with no hitching. I link the chains so they come completely off the floor at lockout. I believe that gave me about 635 at the top for my last set. Will do 1 more rack session, deload, then a conventional max.

 

[Colossus]

Tuesday- Bench assistance

Incline
135x12
225x12
275x5
275x4

DB flat bench
110x12x2

Hammer strength Incline + standard press superset
2 sets each

OHP from the pins
185x5x4

Machine military
4 sets

Laterals
3 sets

Lying triceps extensions w/ chains
65lbs each hand x 4 sets

Came off of a 4 day gym layoff today. I was only eating 3x a day over the weekend and actually lost 5 lbs. Felt quite weak in the gym, hence the girl-scout weights. Its amazing what a toll skipping meals takes on your strength.

--------------------------

Wednesday-- squat

eliptical 10 min, stretching

Long bar x 10
+ 110 lbs chains
Bar + chains 2 sets 5
145 x 5
235 x 5
285 x 3
325 x 3
375 x 3
400 x 1

Standard bar, 225 x 10 x 2

Pulldown abs, 4 sets

Rope curls with fatgripz, 3 sets


Abbreviated workout today. I usually have trouble with squat motivation, and I havent been feeling like conan lately so I just went in and did my squats and called it a day for legs. It was late. The 400 with chains came out to be around 500-510 lbs, so I singled it fine but my form was less than beautiful. I really hate heavy squats. Waaah.


BW 239 lbs.

 

[Colossus]

Bench, tues

Bench
barx20
135x15
225x10
275x5
295x5
315x8

Hammer strength incline
Pec dec

Fatgrip chins, bw, 4 sets

Incline DB extensions

Bench felt so-so. I'd like to get past the girl scout weight soon so I'm sticking with the 531 on bench for a bit.

------------------

Squat, wed

Bottom-position squats (set the pins so that under the bar I was a couple inches under parallel)
145x10
235x5
325x5
375x3
395x1
375x3

Olympic style squats
225x20

Leg curls

One-leg RDLS

Hanging leg raises

Bottom-position squats were HARD. I've used them in the past with great results, but it's been a good year and man did I feel it. It's amazing how fast you drain the neuromuscular tank with these. This is a triples or singles-only exercise.

----------------

Press, sat

Standing overhead
barx20
95x15
135x10
185x5
225x5
235x5
250x3

Hammer strength front press

Side laterals superset with face pulls
4 each

Donkey calf machine

hanging leg raise

----------------------

Deadlift, sun

135x10
225x5
315x5
405x5
455x3
500x5
550x2

Hammer strength rows

Weighted fatgrip chins, 2 chains (35 lbs)

DB curls, 75's

Concentration curls, 30's

Deads felt pretty good. The rep scheme looks odd because I started with my 531 then decided to go a bit heavier and hit a double at the end. My lockout felt strong, rack pulls have paid off. I think if I did singles today I could have hit 600 but we'll save that for another day.

 

[Fuglydude]

Great volume on those deads. 500 x 5 is a great set! Nice numbers as always on the bench/squats. How is the bodyweight nowadays?

I find my ability to grind is quite compromised since coming off cycle. I guess I don't have that brute strength anymore. I may have to try rack pulls. I failed at 460 the other day even though I got it a few inches off the ground w/ relative ease.

Have you started to incorporate more cardio/interval training yet? Has your diet changed a lot since coming off?

Keep it up! Your numbers give me something to strive for one day.

 

[Colossus]

Great volume on those deads. 500 x 5 is a great set! Nice numbers as always on the bench/squats. How is the bodyweight nowadays?

I find my ability to grind is quite compromised since coming off cycle. I guess I don't have that brute strength anymore. I may have to try rack pulls. I failed at 460 the other day even though I got it a few inches off the ground w/ relative ease.

Have you started to incorporate more cardio/interval training yet? Has your diet changed a lot since coming off?

Keep it up! Your numbers give me something to strive for one day.

Thanks man.

PA school is the equivalent of academic boot camp so I haven't had much time to do stuff outside of lifting. On off days I will either go swimming for 20 minutes, do a tabata-type interval with BW movements, or go for a 1 mile jog. However I HATE jogging, and I cant do it more than once a week or I get bad interosseous inflammation in my shins.

I've cleaned up my diet a bit (less carbs), and actually dropped total cals a bit as well. I'm seeing a wee bit more leanness in my midsection so that is good.

All in all doing less volume and allowing more time for rest.

Cant wait to be back on!! Only another week or so...