Week 1 / Day 2

12/22/08
Box Squat: Heavy set of 5
- 280 x 5
Glute Ham Raises: 30 reps as many sets as needed
- 30 reps, didn't count the sets
Front Squats: 3 sets of 10
- 200 x 10, 10, 10
45 degree back raises: 3 sets of 15
- +5 x 15, 15
- +10 x 15
Incline Situps: 3 sets of 12
- +10 x 12, 12, 12

Week 1/ Day 1

12/21/08

Dynamic Bench Press: 8 sets of 3 @ 60%
- 180 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
(alternate close, medium, and wide grip)
Floor Press: 3 sets of 3
- 250 x 3
- 265 x 3
- 270 x 3
DB Bench Press: 3 sets of 10
- 75 x 10
- 80 x 10
- 80 x 10
DB Bent Over Row: 3 sets of 10
- 80 x 10
- 80 x 10
- 80 x 10
Tricep Pushdowns: 4 sets of 12
- 72.5

12/3/08

Front Squat: (225x3, 235x2, 255x1) x 3 sets
Ring Dips: 85# x 3 sets of 1

Questions of Strength by Charles Poliquin

12/1/08
L-sit: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9.5 seconds (1 minute rest between sets)
Back Squat: 83% 5 sets of 3
- 305 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Ring Pull Ups - 1 set max reps
- 13
Box Deadlift (4" box) - Heavy Triple
- 325 + 40 pounds of chain x 3
Push Press - 80% 3 sets of 5
- 175 x 5, 5, 5

I tried to do way too much in this workout. It took about 2 hours to finish. I'm going to have to pear it down a little. It feels good to be back though.

11/25/08

Couldn't wait until Wed. to test maxes since I'll be away for Thanksgiving.

Deadlift: 410
Overhead Press: 185

Unofficial Totals:
Powerlifting: 1080
Crossfit: 965

I'm really upset with how weak my shoulder press was. I was hoping for at least 200. A 10 pound increase from something I can do 5 times is disgusting. I'll definitely be focusing on that a lot in the next training cycles.

Notes on Westside: My reservations about the Westside program are pretty much gone. It is a great training system. I very much like the fact that each movement is worked twice a week instead of once. I also like that two out of the 4 lifting days are speed days because it give me a break mentally from having to lift maximal weights every session. I have to note that I only did 6 weeks of it and not the full 12, but had I gone on longer I would have been fighting some elbow problems most of the way through. I will probably be switching back to the performance menu workouts for the next 4 weeks to get some O-lift work, but after that I'll be back on another 6 week Westside cycle

11/24/08
Tested Maxes

Max Squat: 370
Max Bench: 300

I'm gonna take tomorrow off and test deadlift and military press on wednesday. 1,000 is MINE!!!!

Haven't been posting lately, but I took these last few days off. This coming week I will test my maxes. I fully expect to break 1,000 in the power lifting total, but will probably come up shy on the Crossfit Total. The following week I will start back up with some slightly different goals. I am still pursuing the Crossfit Total, more than ever actually, but I'm going to drop back down to 180 pounds and work toward completing all Level 4 (elite level) Crossfit NorCal standards. Some I am capable of, others close to, and others still will take a long time. However, the pursuit of these goals will make me a formidable athlete.

Week 5 / Day 4

11/19/08
Ring Dips: heavy set of 5
- 70 x 5
Ring Pull-ups: 5 sets of 5
- 30 x 5, 5, 5 / Bdywt x 5, 5
1 Arm DB Should Press: 4 sets
- 75 x 6, 6, 5 / 65 x 8
DB Front Raises: 3 sets of 8
- 30 x 8, 8, 8

*I'm starting to lose it. Unmotivated, tendonitis in both elbows, questionable energy. I'm going to finish out this week, next week will be a back off week, and the week after that I will test maxes, and then the following week will be off. After that I will start a new 6 week cycle. I think 6 is the magic number for me. 6 weeks seems to always be about where I fall apart so I think a week off is called for.

Week 5 / Day 2

11/17/08
Platform Deadlift (4"): heavy set of 3
- 330 x 3

Was low on energy and food today and was just feeling unmotivated. The last few days have not been great for training. I am going to really recommit myself tomorrow.

On a positive note a new atlas stone is in progress. On a negative note I'm not really sure how it will turn out...

Week 5 / Day 1

11/16/08
Dynamic Bench Press: 8 sets of 3 @ 60% (done with blue bands)
- 150 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Rack Lockouts: 3 sets of 3 (4-5 inch range of motion)
- 300 x 3
- 310 x 3
- 320 x 3
Incline DB bench press: 4 sets of 10
- 65 x 10
- 65 x 10
- 70 x 10
- 75 x 10
Horizontal Cable Row: 4 sets of 10
- 160 x 10
- 180 x 10
- 180 x 10
- 190 x 10
DB shrugs: 2 sets of 8 w/ 100lbs
Tricep Pushdowns: 4 sets of 12

Week 4 / Day 5

REST
___________________________

Spotlight on American Strongman Derek Poundstone who placed second to Mariusz Pudzianowski in WSM 2008

- Interview on Marunde Muscle

- Training Compilation

- Defeats Mariusz in the Medley

Week 4 / Day 4

11/12/08
Military Press: 5 rep max
- 175 x 5
Ring Chin Ups: 5 sets of 5
- +25 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
DB Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 10 (each arm)
- 25 x 10, 10, 10
Ring Dips: 3 sets of 10
- Bodywt x 10, 10, 10
Power Curls
- 135 x 5
- 155 x 6
- 160 x 5
_________________________________

"Stones of Steel"
For Time:
- 25 DB Swings (50#)
- 25 Sledge Hammer Swings
- 25 Box Jumps (22")
- 25 Ring Pullups
- 20 DB Swings (65#)
- 20 Sledge Hammer Swings
- 20 Box Jumps
- 20 Ring Pullups
- 15 DB Swings (75#)
- 15 Sledge hammer swings
- 15 Box Jumps
- 15 Ring Pullups
- 10 DB Swings (85#)
- 10 Sledge Hammer Swings
- 10 Box Jumps
- 10 Ring Pullups
TIME: 18:00

*sledge hammer weighed 10 pounds.

Some photos


Myself lifting the 240# atlas stone.


Mt and Basses inside The Faction.

Week 4 / Day 3

REST

Took a total rest day to prepare for tommorow's beating. I have a good one in store.

Week 4 / Day 2

11/10/08
Deadlift From 4" Platform: 3 rep max
- 315 x 3 (not a max, but sufficient)
Atlas Stone Lift: Lifted the 240# atlas stone to a 24"(?) platform. Pictures tommorow.
Front Squat: 3 sets of 10
- 200 x 10, 10, 10
--------------------------
Ab Work:
Psuedo Atlas Stone Extensions:
- 135 x 4, 4,
Ab Wheel Rollouts:
- 3 sets of 4
Standing DB rotations:
- 75 x 10, 10 (didn't really feel like these were doing anything.)

Week 4 / Day 1

11/09/08
Dynamic Bench Press: 8 sets of 3 @ 60% (alternate close, medium, and wide grip each set)
- 150 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Rack Lockouts: 3 sets of 3 (4 - 5 inch range of motion)
- 225 x 3
- 275 x 3
- 300 x 3
(grip was inbetween close grip and regular)
DB Incline Bench Press: 3 sets of 10
- 65 x 10
- 70 x 10
- 70 x 10
Horizontal Cable Row: 3 sets of 10
- 180 x 10, 10, 10
Farmers Walk: 3 sets of 30 steps w/ 105# DB in each hand
Tricep Pushdowns: 4 sets of 12

Week 3 / Day 7

11/08/08
REST

Mikhail Koklyaev:

At the Arnold Classic

Anyone who can make Mariusz look incompetent at an axle clean and press and make a deadlift look easier than Benedikt Magnusson is a BAMF.

Also:

Koklyaev deadlifting 859 x 3 with double overhand grip and no straps.

Insane.

Week 3 / Day 6

11/07/08
Dynamic Box Squat: 8 sets of 2 @ 65%, 1 set of 1 @ 75%, 1 set of 1 @ 85%
- 220 x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
- 255 x 1
- 290 x 1
Dynamic Deadlift: 8 sets of 1 @ 65%, 1 set of 1 @ 75%, 1 set of 1 @ 85% (all sets done with 1 1/4" fat bar)*
- 245 x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
- 285 x 1
- 325 x 1
Supermans: 3 sets of 10
DB Side Bends: 3 sets of 10 (per side)
- 85 x 10, 10, 10
Hanging Leg Raises (feet to hands): 3 sets of 10
BB Curls: 3 sets of 8
- 105 x 8, 8, 8

*I decided to work with the fat bar today on the deadlifts to get a little grip work in simultaneously. I was planning to use it only with 245 and switch to the normal bar for the last two sets, but my grip was feeling pretty strong so I just used it the whole way through. Here's some pictures of 325 with the fat bar:





Also would have ran today, but I was too pissed off from doing some half assed sorry retarded excuse for a run in the morning. It wasn't by choice, but it sure was worthless...that's all I'll say.

And of course the new tire.

Week 3 / Day 5

REST!

My legs are pretty much toast from yesterday's metcon so I really need to pay attention to recovery because Friday is dynamic squat and deadlift day. My plan for recovery was to do as little as possible (especially on my legs), inhale a massive amount of amino acids, take extra glutamine on top of the aminos, take about 12 fish oil caps, drink any amount of water over 1 gallon (preferably 1.5 gallons), eat alot, try to coax my girlfriend into giving me a leg massage, and get a good night's sleep.

Week 3 / Day 3 & 4

11/04/08

REST
*was going to swim, but had more important things to handle.

11/05/08

Military Press: new 5 rep max
- 165x5
*this is lagging like crazy
Lateral and Front Raises: 3 sets of 10 reps per arm/ per movement
- 20 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10
Ring Chin-ups: 7 sets of 6
- Bodywt x 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Ring Flys (elevated feet): 3 sets of 4
- Bodywt x 4, 4, 4
Ring Pushups (focus on triceps): 5 sets of 10
- bodywt x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
BB Shrugs with 1 1/2 inch fat bar: 3 sets of 6
- 190 x 6, 6, 6

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

"Lucky Number 5"

5 rounds for time of:
- 5 tire flips
- 5 thrusters (135#)
- 50m sprint

TIME: 8:32

Week 3 / Day 2

11/03/08
Box Squat: Work up to new 5 rep max
- 280x5 (finally)
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 3 sets of 8 (didn't have a place to do glute hamm)
- 175x8
- 195x8
- 215x8
Front Squat
- 225x5
- 185x10
- 185x10
Roman Chair Back Raises: 4 sets of 10
- Bodywtx10
- +5x10
- +5x10
- +5x10
Weighted Incline Situps: 5 sets of 10 (weight held with extended arms over head)
- +10x10
- +25x10
- +25x10
- +25x10
- +25x10

Also managed to lift the 240# atlas stone off the ground today. So that was cool.

Had to miss Sunday because of drill, which is...quite upsetting, but what am I to do? On another note the Y is the worst place to workout ever. They are lacking in some much needed equipment and inspirational tunes.

Week 2 / Day 7

REST

"There is no training problem that drinking more milk can't fix" - me

Week 2 / Day 6

10/31/08
Box Squat: 10 sets of 2 at 60%
- 205 x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Deadlift: 10 sets of 1 @ 60%
- 230 x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
DB Shrugs: 3 sets
- 100(each hand) x 8, 8, 9
Roman Chair/ Incline Situps (last set): 3 sets of 10
- body wt x 10, +5 x 10, +25 x 10
Side Bends: 3 sets of 10
- 80 x 10, 10, 10
_______________________________

1/4 Mile Sprints:
1- 1:18
2- 1:20
3- 1:27
4- 1:29

*Running with a stomach full of milk = bad. Also did not take adequate time to recover between the two workouts.

Week 2 / Day 5

REST

Week 2 / Day 4

10/29/08
Military Press: try to beat old 5 rep max
- 160 x 5 (success!)
Ring Chinups: 6 sets of 6
Ring Flys: 3 sets of 3
Ab work with psuedo atlas stone
- extensions and twists with 125 & 135lbs
Ring Push Ups: 3 sets of 12
BB Curls: 3 sets of 8
- 100 x 8, 8, 8
_____________________________________

3 rounds for time of:
- 5 dumbbell clean thruster burpees* (35#)
- 8 ring pull ups
- 50 double unders

TIME: 7:49

* http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_DBBurpeePatNick.mov <--demonstrated here

Week 2 / Day 3

10/28/08
Swimming
- 50m warmup
- 500m freestyle
- Hypoxic swimming 2, 4, 6, 8 x 50m each*
- 10m underwater swim
- 25m underwater swim
- 25m underwater swim
- 50m cooldown
- Stretching

* Hypoxic swimming is swimming in an oxygen depleted state. This is done by restricting your breathing to one breath every so many strokes. In this case taking a breath every 2 strokes for the first 50 meters, 1 breath for every 4 strokes for the second 50 meters, etc

Week 2/ Day 2

10/27/08
Low Box Squat: Work up to a new 5 rep max
- 280 x 4 (FAIL!!)
BB Lunges: 3 sets of 10 each leg
- 160 x 10, 10, 10
Glute Ham Raise: 40 reps, in as many sets as needed
- 18, 13, 9
Psuedo Atlas Stone Lift:
- 160 x 2
- 180 x 1
Standing Ab Wheel Roll Outs

*Worste workout ever. Energy was low, I failed on squats, forgot to do a fourth set of BB lunges, glute ham raises felt stupid, and my atlas stone work is regressing. 180 felt heavy as hell and it shouldn't. I dunno...hopefully this was just a bad day. One good thing I took away from this though is that I need to get much stronger abs, so I'm going to be throwing in a lot of extra ab work.

Week 2/ Day 1

10/26/08
Dynamic Bench Press: 8 sets of 3 @ 60%, 1 set of 2 @ 70%
- 150 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
(alternate close, medium, wide grip each set)
- 175 x 2
Floor Press: 3 sets of 3
- 200 x 3
- 205 x 3
- 215 x 3
DB Bench Press: 4 sets of 10
- 70 x 10
- 75 x 10
- 80 x 10
- 80 x 10
DB Bent Over Row: 4 sets of 10 (each arm)
- 75 x 10
- 75 x 10
- 80 x 10
- 80 x 10
Farmers Walk: 3 sets of 30 steps with 100 lbs each hand
Tricep Pushdowns: 4 sets of 12

*I have more questions about this program. Why, for example, does it advocate 60-90 seconds of rest? This seems to be more in line with the rest periods a bodybuilder would take, when everything I've read about strength training suggests 2-5 minutes. I will have to read more of Louie's articles to try to find the answer.

*I'm also currious about the validity of speed days like today. I don't doubt that they would work, however it seems like it would be more useful if I had some way to quantify the lifts. On dynamic bench press, from what I gather, I'm suppose to be exploding and driving the weight up, generating high bar speed. Now weight is easily quantifiable. I used 150 last week. Had I been using 160 this week I know I would be making progress. Sets and reps are the same. If I had done more reps per set then I would be improving. However, weight, sets, and reps all stayed the same this week. That leaves only bar speed to determine my progress. How am I to know whether or not I'm moving the bar slower, faster, or the same this week as I was last week? There's no way to know. I'm warry of programs where it is difficult to guage progress and quantify results, but I'm still operating under the principle of "who am I to question the guys that wrote and follow this program?" And so I will continue with the experiment and see where it leads me.

Week 1/ Day 7

10/25/08
REST

*Thoughts on the program after week 1 -

This program is different for me. It feels a little counter intuative because I'm used to not doing much over 4 to 5 reps to gain strength, and even then it's usually 1-2 in any exercise. Here, the main lifts are generaly that way, but there are many assistance exercises that have me doing 10+ reps, which was difficult in the first week because I'm not used to that much lactic acid buildup. Also, I'm used to working at 85-100% of max constantly. Having said that, however, the lower percentages throughout the week for speed work are something I look forward to. Having to constantly work at such high percentages can make it hard to stay motivated all the time. It's nice to get some good work in and still not have to worry about straining so much under the bar. Whether this will work for me to raise my lifts, better than always working near 100% remains to be seen, but this program was written by some of the strongest men in the world so I think it deserves it's chance and I will be following through on the entire 12 weeks.
It needs to be noted, however, that I will make minor modifactions to the program because I am using it for general strength improvement. Not for making myself a better power lifter. I will be throwing in power cleans and various forms of them because it is a skill I don't want to lose. I will also continue to do some gymnastic-style static holds. Short metcons and sprints will be added on some days in the afternoon to keep my conditioning in check. I have to throw out reverse hyper-extensions, a lift the program often advocates, because I do not have access to a reverse-hyper machine and do not know of a replacement exercise that isn't already done on a different day.
So far so good. Looking forward to checking my progress at the end of the 12 weeks.

Week 1/ Day 6

10/24/08
Low Box Squat: 10 sets of 2 at 55%
- 185 x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Deadlift: 10 sets of 1 at 55%
- 210 x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Hang Power Cleans (to knees): 185 x 1, 1, 1, 1
DB Side Bends: 3 sets of 10
- 70 x 10, 10, 10
Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets of 10
- 10, 10, 10

Week 1/ Day 5

10/23/08
REST
Stretching

Louie Simmons on the Conjugate Method.

http://www.westside-barbell.com/Articles%20Top%20Ten/PDF.Files/04PDF/The%20Conjugate%20Method.pdf

Week1/ Day 4

10/22/08
Weighted L-Sit: 3 sets of 10 seconds
- +10lbs for 10 seconds
- +15lbs for 10 seconds
- +20 lbs for 10 seconds
(weight placed in lap)
Overhead Press: work up to a 5 rep max
- 155 x 5
- 160 x 4 (I guess 160 isn't my max press...)
Chin ups: 5 sets of 6
- all sets completed
3 Way Shoulder Raises: 3 sets of 20 (10 lbs)
*20 front raises, 20 side raises, and 20 rear raises constitutes 1 set
DB Overhead Tricep Extensions - 3 sets of 10
- 65 x 10
- 70 x 10
- 70 x 10 (stay with 70 next time)
BB Curls - 3 sets of 8
- 95 x 8
- 95 x 8
- 95 x 8
------------------------------------------------

No metcon today. Too much school work.

Week 1/ Day 3

Active Recovery
- tread water for 20 minutes
- underwater swimming
- stretching

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

And a little bit of motivation.


Sports Performance coach and a #1 ranked powerlifter (132lb class). Julia's best total is 1102 with competition lifts of 457 squat, 240 bench press and a 424 dead lift. Julia also won her weight class at the 2005 APF Senior Nations. Julia spends her days working with both men and women athletes of various sports, abilities and skill levels.
- elitefts.com

WOW

Week 1/ Day 2

10/20/08
Low Box Squat: Work up to 5 rep max
- 275 x 5
- 290 x 3
Glute Ham Raise: 30 reps, as many sets as needed
- 7, 6, 7, 7, 3
* peformed on an ab board, hands used to assist about halfway through eccentric and concentric
DB Lunges: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
- 150 x 10, 10, 10 (each legs)
45 degree back raises - 3 sets of 15
- Body wt x 15
- +5 x 15
- +5 x 15
Weighted decline situps - 3 sets of 10
- Body wt - 10
- +5 x 10
- +10 x 10
-------------------------------------------

3 Rounds for time of:
- 5 ring pull ups
- 10 burpees
- 15 DB swings (50#)
TIME: 3:54
*Felt pretty lousy. Gotta get back into the swing of these metcons.

Week 1/ Day 1

10/19/08
Dynamic Bench Press - 8 sets, 3 reps at 60%, alternate close, medium, and wide grip each set
- 150 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Floor Press - 3 sets of 3
- 150 x 3
- 170 x 3
- 200 x 3
Dumbell Bench Press - 3 sets of 10
- 70 x 10
- 75 x 10
- 80 x 10 (almost failed on last rep)
DB Bent Over Row - 3 sets of 10
- 60 x 10
- 75 x 10
- 80 x 10
Tricep Pressdowns - 4 sets of 12

Why is it here?

To track progress on the efforts to obtain a 1,000 pound crossfit total (max squat, overhead press, deadlift) and powerlifting total (squat, bench, deadlift) as well as becoming generally stronger and more useful.

Current program will be a 12 week west-side style beginners program.

Current Lifts:
Squat: 340
Military Press: 160?
Bench Press: 250?
Deadlift: 380
Weight: 180

12 Week Goals:
Squat: 360
Military Press: 180
Bench Press: 270
Deadlift: 400
Weight: 185

Program that will be followed, with minor modifications due to equipment limitations, obtained from:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=207&pid=1079