Thomas' Training

Squat 275 lbs. for 3, then 285x3 

Romanian Deadlift 3x3 235#, my back was feeling ish so I took it easy after working up to 275 last week.

Reverse Hypers 2x15 20#, 2x15 40#

Chest Supported Rows 90# 3x8

Final workout in Boston, I'm leaving for financial reasons, going back to SoCal and Metroflex LBC. Decided to go for it on deadlifts since I felt good.

Deadlift built up to a PR of 345# Triple

Pause Squats 3x3 215#, deep and fast

1 Arm Db Rows 3x65#, focused on feeling my entire lats

Some upper back and glute work

Bench Press 3x3

185#, 195#, 205# 

All went up quick, the bar was slippery and we couldn't use chalk, but that's okay, next week I go back to my gym where good bars are in abundance and chalk is encouraged. 205# is the training max I set for this cycle that focuses on increasing my squat, and I calculated it by multiplying a safe max of 225 by .1 and then subtracting that # from 225, giving me 205. Safe to say that I think that my max is 235 or more now. We'll see within 5 weeks where it is. 

Weighted Chinups 4x4-5 with 25# to collarbone or below

Chest supported Row 4x5 200#

Lat Pulldown with a neutral grip 4x8 140#

Month 2 Week 3 Day 1 

Back Squat 3x3 at 275 no belt.

I failed the last rep of the last set. I talked to my friend and we agreed that I should finally start using my belt now that I've reached 90% of my training max. I was trying to see how far I could go without a belt, but now I need to use it to prevent any further missed reps. 

Barbell Romanian Deadlift 2x3 at 275 superset Seated scapular wall slide 3x10

Supine Hip extension Leg Curl on TRX 3x10 superset 3x5 GHR narrow stance

3x12 Slideboard Bodysaw

I haven't been posting workouts mainly because I've started Eric Cressey's High Performance Handbook Program, specifically the Squat Specialization Routine. Since I paid for the program and he had just released it when I started it, I thought it would be better for me to not post it online. But now I'm going to since I'm halfway through. Getting my squat up is my priority, everything else is secondary. However, today I did an extra workout today (the program is 3 days a week now and I did a 4th) for my upper body. I was surprised by the press PR, I haven't done it for a while.

Built up to 155 pound Overhead Press for a 5# PR !!!

3x8 95# press and 5x3 weighted chins 45#

Side lateral raises lying on the bench 3x8 15#

triceps pushdowns alternating standing and overhead in a lunge 4x20

Floor Press dumbbells 3x12 50#

Bodyweight 1-Leg hip thrust 3x15 per side with pause at top

So my plan for a 345# deficit deadlift did not happen. I failed on first attempt and then on the second attempt I pulled it to halfway, legs shook a ton, and it went down. Hopefully rack pulls and a ton of core work will take care of this. I didn't use my belt really because it seemed to offer no contact when I was in deadlift position on the plates.

Deficit Deadlift standing on 2 plates

135x5

185x5

225x5

275x3

315x2

Fail twice at 345

315 for two singles

225 for a set of 10 to work on form, especially arched back and pushing with my glutes.

American Hip Thrusts 275# 3x15, 90s rest. This is a variation of hip thrust that I learned from Bret Contreras videos.Your forearms are on the bench and the bar is somewhat lower on your pelvis. I felt like I was doing it wrong because the bench kept grinding into my back unless I rested entirely on my forearms when in the down position. It definitely wrecked my glutes though, at a lower weight than I usually do hip thrusts even though you're actually able to do more with this variation because of the lever length change. 

Rhomboid Pull Downs 100# 3x10 I saw this on an elitefts video about helping with mid back thickness. Who the hell doesn't want a thicker back? 

GHR 4x10

Back Extensions 100 reps with a 25# plate.

Morning with NROTC-

We did box jumps, broad jumps, and a less-than-challenging circuit of thrusters and pullups. I hadn't done thrusters since I last did Crossfit 18 months ago. I was the only midshipman easily handling 135# for an unbroken 6-9-12 reps. My hammies are still sore from my deadlift workout two days ago. Anyways, tonight:

Evening: First I'll do parkour at 4 o'clock. Then I'll go straight to the gym

OAC progressions

Overhead press 5x3 at 125#

Weighted Pullups 4x6 at 25# 

Y-raises on bench 3x15 @15#

When I post funny or frustrating things I see in my student gym, I won't laugh at raw beginners who should't know any better because that seems very stuck up and discouraging to me. Now the moment someone messes around, has absurdly uneven muscle development (captain upper body), or acts like they're hot shit to others and ignore advice on their shitty form and attitudes, I take note of that. This Tuesday night at BC's student gym:

- I walked in and immediately counted 6 bros curling next to each other. Others were shrugging and two were doing incline dumbbell press. Everyone was in tank tops, backwards baseball caps, skinny arms, and iPods in.

-One new guy was with his friend in the rack next to me. He was squatting while his better developed friend was pressing. Both were on the shorter side, about 5'5"-ish, and had the bar set to rest on the rack at their eye level. I suggested to the new guy that they lower the height so it isn't as awkward to unrack, to which he replied that his friend is the one who knows what to do so he'll listen to him. This made me doubt how experienced the "experienced" guy is.

I was exhausted at the end of the day, very stressed and I could feel a twinge in my left hamstring near the top but it disappeared soon after I started warmup.

Deficit Deadlift on 2 plates, I think that is 3 inches, I'll measure tomorrow night.

1x8 on floor 135

1x5 on 1 plate 135

Standing on 2 plates from now on

1x5 135#

1x5 185#

1x5 225#

1x3 275#

1x3 315#

4x8 Hip thrusts 275#

GHR 4 sets 

3 rounds:

10 45# Dips

3 45# pullups

3 Weighted Incline situps 35# 3x8

So I had a hell of a weekend in terms of NROTC  training stress. Friday night we had to do PT and 5-paragraph orders under as high of a stressful environment as the cadre could make it. The next morning at 0600 we did a 6 mile hike with packs and full utilities with 2 miles of walk-jog as well. Our day ended at 2000. I slept for 10 hours and now I feel awesome. Today I'm doing an upper body calisthenics workout and glute work:

Foam rolling

Muscleups

OAC progressions

Barbell Hip thrusts 4x15 225# superset 4x10 Single leg hip thrust

5 sets alternating between 45# dips and 25# pull-ups 

Front Lever Tuck for time

This morning my NROTC Marine Platoon trained and us freshmen went to the weight room to work with the university coach. It was... interesting.  I missed posting two workouts I did the past week, both were very productive though. Anyways, the staff wanted us freshmen to get more experience lifting under supervision and I had no issues with getting in heavy work instead of the metabolic circuit everyone else had to endure. I've been dying to do deadlifts again, so consider this the start of my daedlift cycle.

Here's what I did:

Low Handles Trap Bar Deadlift, same height as a barbell

5x135

5x185

5x225

5x275

5x315

Had to rotate at this point.

Front Squat

3x5 at 185 pounds. 

Hang Power Clean but I didn't even notice what weight was on the bar, it wasn't heavy.

The other freshmen are improving. I helped correct drooping elbows on front squat and cleans and on deadlift I stopped someone from trying to pull from a full squat. No one except for a rugby player and a football guy have lifted weights for their lower body, and the football player hadn't actually lifted heavy for a while before september.

Later this evening I'll be doing this:

Hip Mobility and banded mobility work

Good Morning 3x8

Barbell Hip Thrust 3 sets at 275 for 8 reps, then thirty straight reps with 185 for volume.

GHR 4 sets 8-12 reps depending on my hamstrings fatigue at that point.

Back Extensions 3x20

Isometric hold at the top of a pullup for 3 sets.

Back Squat

2x10xbar

1x8x135

1x5x185

1x3x225

1x3x255

1x3x275 strong

1x3x295, almost didn't hit depth on the last rep.

1x1 295, failed on subsequent rep, fell forward in the hole

2x3x275, kept trying to not fall forward, I've never had this problem, and I was told my stance seemed unnatural

2x3 2 count Pause squat at 225

1x3 2 count pause squat at 245

Barbell Hip thrusts

4x15 225#

3 sets GHR 10 reps each

TRX Pushup-position knees to chest, feet in straps, 3x20. 

I HATE core work. I hate it and I neglect it so my lifts and calisthenics hate me as well. So I'm going to work these into my lower body days and something else into my upper body days, probably weighted situps or some cable ab crunches.

Funny Gym Story of the Day:

Hey, you. Yes, you, the guy teaching his friend how to squat in the rack next to the powerlifters. Try to learn how to squat first. My friend who has won meets in his 165 weight class at USAPL meets told us to stop watching you and your poor friend since we were getting so upset. No, your knees should not be the primary movers and yes, you do need to go further down than what you were demonstrating. Please, stop that. I can see knee pain in your future. Just because you've lifted at 24 hour fitness and watched other guys who've only lifted at 24 hour fitness doesn't mean you can begin to offer advice on squatting technique. 

OAC Progressions: With 2 fingers offering minimal assistance- Isometric holds at top and 90 degrees. Then 3 sets of negatives from the top.

Half Front lever swing ups and front lever tucks

Weighted pullups 3x6 25#

BW Iso-holds 5 sets at top of pullup. These are brutal for some reason. I feel that if I can get these down then the tricks I'll attempt can be done under great control. So they're worth it.

Short and Sweet College Gym Story of the Day!

I had some major sleep issues the last couple days so today was the first day that I let myself actually train. However I did do a Thursday morning NROTC workout with the group.

Thursday morning

Station 1: 10 minutes at a controlled tempo of: 5 30# dumbbell squat thrusts plus 1 box jump. Easy.

Station 2: 10 minutes at a controlled tempo of: Cleans. Building up in weight to whatever bar they had laid out to clean with. I hadn't done cleans in a long time but my technique was still better than nearly every midshipman there. 135# was easy. I'd like to build up to a max eventually.

Station 3: 2x5 front squat at 155#, easy. 

sets of 5 trap bar deadlift. I should have started with this. I went 145-235-285-305- ran out of time. I wanted to go to over 3 plates, I was having fun.

My friend Alex and I were the only freshmen and two of 3 midshipmen who used the 135# bar for cleans. One brave sophomore tried it and couldn't rack it. Same thing for the front squats. Deadlifts left me and Alex as the only ones who even loaded 225#, let alone 300+...

Saturday

4x3 Controlled Front Lever Tuck raises; 60s rests

3 rounds

Top of pullup hold

superset

10 inverted bar rows to chest with wide grip.

I've learned that, for some reason, no matter how many pullups or weighted pullups I can do, I'm pretty weak at holding the top of the pull-up. As in 20 seconds weak. I believe 60s at any position should be required.

Morning NROTC workout

Sprints and Agility Drills

We did 20 30-yd sprints with 20 seconds between each sprint.

Agility drills using cones to do lateral and backwards shuffles. 6 sets.

Cat and mouse drills, plus mirroring drills.

Not very hard, just sucks waking up at 4:45.

Afternoon Parkour Training

Evening Upper Body Training Session

1. Muscleups on straight bar for a few sets, nothing intense

2. Overhead Press build up to a 85% effort 5/3/1 

3. OAC progressions 5 sets of 1 Isometric hold at top, 1 at middle, one at bottom of chin-up.

4. Weighted Dips 5x5 superset weighted pullups 5x3

5. Front Lever tuck superset  4 x20 hip thrusts

A day late. Whatever. So I trained for the first time with the powerlifters on campus. 5 guys total, we did 4-board press, but one guy (most experienced) did triple while we did 5's. I hadn't benched since April so I wasn't planning on any balls to the wall moments. Ian, the guy doing triples, went to 275 for several sets. I built up to a shaky set of 245, then I kept the weight for another set and nailed it every rep. I hadn't held that weight before so I just needed to get used to it. Overall good. 

Interesting story at the gym of the day: One of the guys benching with us is new to powerlifting training and doesn't seem to have learned bench technique yet. He's double my size, but I was still outbenching him with better technique. He wasn't keeping a tight back, arching, or pinching shoulder blades together. Moral of the story: Fellow little guys, you do have a chance to out lift bigger guys if you stay on top of your technique.

Now that I'm settled in from college starting up and NROTC now being more regular than it was before, I have a good idea of my weekly schedule. I also have the pleasure of going to a above average school gym, complete with 5 squat racks, full dumbbell racks, indoor track, back extensions, and a GHR. There's a trap bar and one squat rack has both a regular bar and fat grip bar attached on top. I also get to watch the other gym-goers, which is the best and worst part. On one hand, what people do in the gym is downright hilarious. I come from a powerlifting/hardcore bodybuilding/strongman/calisthenics gym who's clientele ranges from beginning lifters to elite athletes. Everyone asks for help and focuses intently on performing maximally during their workout. Now in my new college gym, let's just say things are a little different. I get to experience the stories I've read about for years. 

Between sets for squats and presses, I have people to the left and right of me doing quarter and half squats, dangerous kipping pull-ups, situps for days, and enough people shrugging to make me wonder why I don't see more 6 foot 250 pound silverbacks all over the place. I've met the few powerlifters that reside in the gym, easily noticeable by Elitefts apparel, belts, and multiple full squats with over 275. 

With this plethora of uninformed lifters and exercisers around me, I have quite a few stories from only 3 weeks of school. My favorite so far is when I saw a guy struggle to half squat an empty bar, then walked to the mirror to flex his string-bean triceps, then loaded up 185. Having common sense, I knew this wouldn't go well. He barely unracks the bar and almost falls over, barely recovering to walk it back in. I walk over and offer a gem of knowledge: "Build up gradually, guys who squat 1000 still go from 45 to 95." to which he states that he jumps in weight all the time. Obviously. He then loads up to 245, repeating the struggle to walk the bar out, and bangs out some half squats that involved his knees touching and him, once more, tripping several times during the set. He failed to rack it and someone had to help him. 

But he skips warmup weights all the time so it's okay. Only small people like <insert names of all men and women who are iron beasts> bother with warmups.

Anyways, here's my ideal weekly schedule that is occasionally broken up by a random NROTC event:

Monday- Squat/Deadlift, I don't do the prescribed NROTC weight workout

Tuesday Morning- NROTC Speed work like sprints

Tuesday Evening- Parkour Club and Overhead press, weighted dips, weighted pushups, and upper back work.

Wednesday- Rest

Thursday Morning- NROTC workout with random objects like ammo cans and logs and a sled

Thursday Evening- Upper Body Calisthenics with Push focus (paralletes work, L-sits, handstands)

Friday- Run Intervals; Upper Body BW Pull focus with OAC progressions, front lever, inverted rows

Saturday- rest

Sunday- Bench (board presses) with powerlifters in the morning.