Kerpal's Training Log

[Kerpal]

Overhead press:

4 x 140
4 x 140
3 x 140, pushpress 1 x 140 (failed 4th rep)
3 x 140, pushpress 1 x 140 (failed 4th rep)
8 x 120 (last few were tough)
8 x 110

Amazing how much easier pushpresses are. Feels like I'm lifting a broomstick, the bar just flies up.

Front Squat:

2 x 245
2 x 245

Had to dump the bar twice, wrists were absolutely screaming. I know I can do more weight than this but it hurts my wrists so badly that I can't continue. I think the problem is that I'm so used to low bar back squatting with some forward lean and perpendicular ankles that I can't keep my torso upright and let my knees drift forward. I end up leaning forward too much, which causes the bar to drift forward and put the weight on my wrists instead of my shoulders.

Possible solutions: weightlifting shoes, using straps around the bar instead of a clean grip. Will try the straps first as I'm broke. Guess
I could try putting my heels on something to make it easier to keep torso upright, but I hate doing that, it's clumsy and dangerous.

In addition something in my left ankle keeps cramping up. I felt it while I was squatting on Tuesday but it didn't bother me that much.
Today it's cramping up like crazy, makes squatting difficult.


Neutral grip chinups:

7 x bodyweight
7 x bodyweight
6 x bodyweight

Slow negative on last rep.

I decided I'd rather do chin/pullups than rows.

 

[Kerpal]

6/25/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 375

Still have something cramping up in my ankle, pushed thru it. There were some powerlifters (IPF/USAPL) at the gym today and I asked them to check out my form, they said it looked good so I'm happy.

Chinup ladder:

1,2,3,4,5,6
1,2,3,4
1,2,3

Deadlift:

5 x 425

Block pull (4.5"):

3 x 475

Think I'll rotate these in in place of the sumo deadlifts for a few weeks just to try something new. Maybe just lower the blocks by a couple inches every couple weeks or something like that. I'm pulling off of stacks of 1/2" thick sheets of plywood so it's easy to change the height of the blocks. Today I used 4.5" total on each side, puts the bar about halfway up my ankles. I much prefer block pulls to rack pulls because the bar stays lined up properly between reps, and the bar doesn't get bent like it can with rack pulls. Plus it feels more like a regular deadlift since the bar flexes a little.

Feel really happy with my training lately, getting steadily stronger and I'm in the groove now where after a couple weeks of consistent heavy training I don't get sore anymore, even after squats and deadlifts. Should be making some good progress soon if I can keep it up.

 

[Kerpal]

06/27/11

Conditioning:

Kettlebell clean & press, kettlebell windmills, bodyweight pistols, tire flips, farmer's walks, prowler pushes & some other stuff I can't remember, done in a circuit format.

Wasn't planning on doing this but some guys at the gym were getting everything set up and asked if I wanted to do it, I figured what the hell.

I was totally wiped out after this, was lying on the floor gasping for air but recovered quickly and feel fine now a couple hours later. The prowler pushes were the last part and by far the most difficult, we did it on grass, I've pushed it on pavement before but grass is a hell of a lot harder.

Amazed at how well I kept up despite not doing any conditioning in quite a while. Finished the workout faster than a lot of guys who have been doing this for a while, but aren't as strong. The tire flips in particular were where my strength advantage really shined, a lot of guys were gassing out on them but it was easy for me, felt just like a sumo deadlift. Just goes to show that strength training improves ALL athletic qualities.

 

[Kerpal]

06/28/11

Squat:

4 x 380
3 x 380
3 x 380

My ankle started hurting again, decided not to push it. I can do everything else but squats are painful.

Pull up ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1, 2, 3, 4
1, 2, 3

To save time, I "supersetted" these with putting my squat weights away and getting my stuff set up for block pulls. Ie: take 2 plates off the bar, do pullups. 2 more plates, 2 pullups, 2 more plates, 3 pullups, etc.

Block pull (4.5"):

3 x 3 x 455

Lower back was fatigued from yesterday, skipped RDLs. Grip feels wiped out today from all the kettlebell stuff yesterday but still had no problem holding onto the weight during the pulls. The muscles in the undersides of my forearms are super sore.

 

[Kerpal]

06/29/11

Conditioning:

Heavy bag work and burpees.

Afterward did some power snatches with the barbell, singles up to 155. Tried 165 and got it up but kept losing it behind. I'm sure my form on this is absolutely atrocious, gonna look into finding a weightlifting coach around here, I really want to learn to clean and snatch properly.

 

[Kerpal]

06/30/11

Kettlebell press (left arm only):

3 x 8 x 24 kg

Was planning to OHP with the barbell, warmed up, went to press 140, and barely managed to squeeze out 3 reps! **** this is frustrating. The problem as usual is my left arm, I push the bar up really fast with my right, my left lags behind, and I end up doing this weird twisting movement to try to stay balanced while my left arm grinds out the lift.

My presses have been stalled for about 2 years now, so obviously the answer isn't to keep working on the barbell movements until my arms even out. So for the next couple months, I'm going to overhead press with the left arm only and see if that helps at all. Just need to figure out what kind of rep scheme I'm going to do, maybe 5/3/1 so I do some higher-rep stuff.

Front squat:

3 x 225 lbs
2 x 3 x 245 lbs

Put my heels on a .75" thick piece of wood for these and it made a HUGE difference. I could keep my back upright and the weight off my wrists. Definitely going to buy some weightlifting shoes when I have the funds. Ankle hurt a little but not as badly, although that may just be because I'm using much less weight for FS than BS.

Bench:

5 x 130 lbs
5 x 150 lbs
10 x 170 lbs

Didn't row today, not sure if I'm going to bother to keep doing that movement. I'm doing lots of chin/pullups these days so not sure if it's necessary. I might replace it on this day every week with some kind of bench accessory movement (board press, incline bench, dumbbell bench, etc).

 

[Kerpal]

7/5/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 380

Last one was tough.

Neutral grip chin up ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Was going to go back down and up the ladder but some bros were taking forever on the pullup bar with their leg lifts and I didn’t feel like waiting.

Deadlift:

5 x 430

Last one was a real grinder, 10/10 on difficulty scale.

 

[Kerpal]

7/6/11

Romanian deadlift:

3 x 8 x 260 lbs

I was so wiped out after my deadlifts last night that I forgot to do these so I did them this morning. Accidentally left my straps at home so just used a mixed grip.

It's weird, I don't really feel like my hamstrings are being worked when I do RDLs but the next day they're sore as hell.

Conditioning:

3 rounds, 50 lb kettlebell:

5 swings per arm
5 snatches per arm
10 burpees

Was going to do 5 rounds but my friend asked me to spot him on bench and by the time we were done I was too lazy to finish

 

[Kerpal]

7/11/11

Ugh, crappy workout today

Squat:

5 x 385
4 x 385
3 x 385

Bench:

8 x 180

Started warming up for deadlifts and 405 felt like it was moving in slow motion, I just stopped there and went home. Just not feeling it today. The only good news is my ankle feels 100% now, no pain at all.

 

[Kerpal]

7/20/11

I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to make it to the gym so missed a few workouts... hopefully back to normal now.

Squat:

3 x 385
2 x 5 x 365

This was weird, my form felt off, like I was squatting in a canoe or something. Just felt weird. Went to 365 and next 2 sets felt light and form felt great. Maybe I unracked the bar unevenly or something. I'll work back up to 385 over the next few workouts and go from there.

Bench:

5 x 175
5 x 180
5 x 185

First set felt weird, I was pushing the right side up way too fast. Next 2 felt great. Should have gone heavier but I didn't have a spotter and the racks were taken.

Deadlift:

5 x 325
5 x 365
8 x 385

Was supposed to do 295, 340, 385 but forgot to check the spreadsheet before I left. Still felt good, as usual with deadlifts. Feel like anything I do makes it improve.

Romanian deadlift:

2 x 8 x 275

Skipped last set since they were about to close and I had to put everything away.

 

[Kerpal]

Nice, it's the opposite for me. If I take more than about a week off, when I come back I feel super weak and my form feels "off" on most lifts, but it comes back within a few workouts.

 

[Kerpal]

Ugh, woke up today feeling like I've been hit by a truck. This always happens if I don't train often enough. But once I string together a couple weeks of consistent workouts, I get back in the groove where I can lift 4-5 times a week, make quick progress and never get sore. I just don't understand how some guys can only squat heavy once every 2 weeks and still make progress, if I did that I would constantly be limping everywhere.

 

[Kerpal]

7/25/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 375

Pullup ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5

Deadlift:

3 x 365
3 x 385
5 x 405

Kind of disappointed in this, my goal was 8, and the bar speed was high, but I felt really tired… like “out of breath” tired, not even “damn, this is heavy” tired. I rushed thru this though because they were about to close. Probably rested about a minute between sets. If I hadn't I think I could have gotten 8. I may switch to training in the morning since I get out of work so late.

Good news is I feel myself getting back into the groove now where I’ll be able to train heavy frequently without getting sore.

 

[Kerpal]

8/17/11

Keep trying to progress and work and **** gets in the way

Squat:

3 x 5 x 335

Bench:

5 x 5 x 180

Deadlift:

5 x 405

Went light on SQ/DL. Bench felt hard but good. I think that's a PR.

 

[Kerpal]

8/31/11

Bench:

3 x 5 x 190 lbs

This is a PR.

Close-grip bench:

7 x 175 lbs

It's weird that my close-grip bench is almost as high as my regular.

Squat:

3 x 5 x 315

This was light and super easy, but I'm going to ease back into squatting slowly so I don't get hit with extreme soreness. Will work back up to my previous numbers over the next few weeks. Really want to hit 405 for a few sets of 5 within the next few months.

 

[Kerpal]

9/12/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 315

Pullup ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1

Deadlift:

5 x 365

SSB good morning:

3 x 8 x 167 lbs

(Weird number because the SSB isn't compatible with standard clamps, had to use 5.5 kg clamps.)

 

[Kerpal]

9/16/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 335

Bench:

3 x 5 x 175

Deadlift:

5 x 375

Romanian deadlift:

3 x 8 x 280

Everything felt light and easy. Slowly but surely.

 

[Kerpal]

9/19/11

Squat:

3 x 5 x 345

Pullup ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1, 2, 3, 3

Deadlift:

5 x 385

SSB good morning:

3 x 8 x 175

I messed up last time, the clamps weigh 2.5 kg each, not 5.5 kg. Light and easy again today.

 

[Kerpal]

9/20/11

Conditioning:

Prowler push, tire flips. 5 rounds. Completely destroyed me.

 

[Quiksilver]

9/20/11

Conditioning:

Prowler push, tire flips. 5 rounds. Completely destroyed me.

Where did the prowler come from?