monday/tuesday training

monday

squat
worked up to 405x 2 sets of 5

I'm not sure if I just want to add another set or 2 next week, or try to go up to 425 for a few 5's. Nothing wrong with raising my volume up. I'm not really overthinking this too much, I'm just coming in and doing 5's. I'm still not feeling the best, so I'm going to the point where I challenge myself, then shutting her down.

I think probably the best plan is to just add 2 more sets of 5, They don't really feel that hard, I'm just still a little uncomfortable with my style right now. I find I have a slight twist to my left in the hole, I don't think it's that bad, but it's throwing me off, and I'm having a tough time keeping on my heels, I'm on them much better than usual though.

Tuesday bench

worked up to 315x4, didn't try for the fifth rep.

-both my shoulders are very tight, right arm is starting to bug me quite a bit. It's nice that my bench is coming back, I'd like to be able to do this for 7 soon. But, i'm going to switch to military for 3 bench sessions, see if my shoulders start to loosen up.

Friday/saturday

Friday - squat

back squat with chains
worked up to 405 for 5 singles

Got easier every single

Saturday
-shoulders feeling too beat up to bench

Military press
185x5

-did some random stuff after that, nothing serious

thursday bench

shoulders are feeling beat up, very tight. Hopefully the overhead pressing helps me to stretch them a bit.

bench with chains
245 7 sets of 5

military press
95 2x10
skipped assistance work tonite

wednesday deadlift

getting over being sick.

deadlift
worked up to 540x2
down to 455 for 6 sets of 3

skipped the circuit,

tues bench

warm up
bike
gh stretch
hip stretch on bench

Flat bench
225x7,255x7,275,x7,285x5,255x7

military press
95 for 3x10

lat pull downs
2x20


external rotations
2x10

monday squat

trained early because of family day, kinda liked it, didn't like how busy the gym was though, that gets annoying.

Squat
worked up to 385x5

stand ups with safety bar
4 plates 3 sets of 3

Things are feeling better, I'd like to build to 5x5 with 405 no chains, and use Fridays to do singles with chains. Feeling a bit better every week, I find it emberassing to squat less than 4 plates, but that mindset hasn't helped me in the past, so I'm just going to keep following Willies advice, although he gave it to me slightly differently. I felt like I could have done 405 pretty easily today, nothing was terribly challenging today, happy about that, but I still have a long long way to go. I'm hoping sneaking up on things will help. I've looked at Andrey Belyaev's programs, and he trains 6-10 times a week all in the 70% range, nothing too serious until competition time. Can't hurt.

saturday bench

wasn't feeling it, but training went well.

Bench with 45 chains
225x3,255x3, 275x3,285x3,295x3, 225x5, 135x10x3

lat pull downs
3x12

external rotations
2x8

My best with chains for 3 is 305, so 295 is just peachy right now, deadlift and bench are back on track, just need to get my squat going again.

friday squat

felt crappy headed in, fortunately things went fine.

warm up
front squat

back squat with chains
405 single
-then moved into walkouts with standups
405x3
495x3
545x3
-was hoping just feeling some heavier weights would get my cns more used to the weights I need to be using. I'll take this slow, but unless I get too heavy, they can't hurt.

gh sit ups
-focused on curling into the sit up.
-I hear some people think these can really mess up your back, I generally find them just fine. I really focsed on curling into these, and not using my hips.
2x10

Side bends
2x10

The 405 squat felt heavy, everyone told me it was really fast, I don't know why I mindfuck myself on weights all the time, but generally, I'll make weights look easy, that feel really really heavy. I think doing some heavy stand ups will probably give me more confidence, but it would be nice for my weights to start feeling on my back. I always gained on my raw squat after I was in gear, even when my squat sucked. When I hit 600 in single ply, I could only squat around 435 raw, I'd totally lost my form from the gear, then I had to restart my squat and relearn it. It took a while to get to 500, and it's even harder getting much past it. but I always noticed my raw went up after some heavy gear training, for me I always thought that was a mental thing. I'm considering getting back into knee wraps just to see if getting 550-600 on my back would help me. It'll take me a bit to re learn how to use them, last time I put them on I got like 10lbs out of them, I expected them to immediately give me 50 lbs, I used to get around 70 out of knee wraps when I was more used to them. I've changed so many things since then, I'd hope for 50 right now, lol.

thursday bench

Had a good day, felt good, had a pretty good bench day, I think one thing I did different was to do the gh stretch, skipped that for a while, and bench also hadn't felt good for a while, but had a pop tonite. Let myself get into it. we\ve only got one shot at this, and I think everyone should lift weights.

Bench with chains
went - 225,245,265,275,255 x5 each set
-was very happy getting up to275

neutral grip pulldowns
3x20

external rotations
3x20

wednesday deadlift

Good day today, happy I went in, happy with what I did, nothing spectacular, but i'm happy.

Deadlift
worked up to:
510x2
dropped to
420 for 6x3
-these aren't easy

circuit
stiff legs
bentover row
underhand pull down
good morning
-ouch

Tuesday upper

On Sams advice switched it up a bit tonite. Still no heart in my training, but I'm doing what I'm capable of, and that counts in the long run.

Military press
- did as many 5's as I could, went up to 165 for a few sets, then all the way down to 135, haven't done these in a while, Think it will be good for my overall strength to get these back up.

close grip
flys
close grip pulldowns

feeling better everyday, but nothing spectacular.

monday squat

back squat
6 singles with 375 and chains
-6th single twisted like crazy, and I think I just ran out of energy before the weight got challenging, I could have done it for a while

Still no heart in my training, it's just killing me to go through the motions the way I am, but I just can't get things going. I'm still drained, and 5th gear is just a million miles away right now. I did triples on the way up, I felt good, got into position with a plate, couldn't get depth with just bar and chains, even then 135 couldn't push me down. My form was in the right places, stayed on my heels fairly well tonie, got my adistars, and I find the heel is lower than other shoes and that seems to work for me, I've always prefered flatter shoes, but switched on Willies advice and just stuck with it. Willie would approve of these shoes, and i find them a bit like a teeter totter, my toes almost come off the ground if I can do it right. They also have really good arch support compared to do wins that are just flat. My toes tend to point more straight ahead, and I find I use my glutes much more because of that, compared to do wins where I feel that i use way more quad and keep my knees out a bit more to stay upright, whereas in the adistars I feel I can just sit back onto my heels, and I go much deeper and my glutes help me to get out of the hole along with my quads.

I was pretty excited to train, but it just wasn't there. I think I'm just going to have to sneak up on it, and it's like anything over 80% I need some psyche, maybe even 75%, and the weights I've sort of screwed up my ability to do reps. I'm just going to have to work on it, and i made a few changes in form today, whereas before I was tightening up my hips way more. I used to squat like that and I think only flex my hips, I think I need to tighten that region up a lot to be able to handle max weights again. I just find the form needed for a triple or more, and anything more than a single just feels really un natural, I may just be lazy, and not want to do the work, which is also a likely candidate. Not being able to pull th trigger is just murdering me, it's my general release, and lately, just can't do it.

There was an altercation tonite at the gym, and guys were in each othersfaces, and that stuff used to get me going, now I just find it ... well upsetting more or less. Violence used to just be a part of my reality, when you played hockey, get a tap on the shoulder, you're expected to go out and punch some guy in the face, and get punched in the face, and it's cool. It's a part of a sport. I think I'd have a much easier time doing that now, but the thought of two guys going at each other out of hate,... just upsets me. As it should. It's not a part of our lives, we live in peace, and although not all the parts of the world do, I do, and if  do violence, I could have my freedom taken away... which is just fucking horrible, let me tell ya. So, I just have no taste for it anymore. I'm much more interested in being friends with people, and hearing their stories. This is not to say, I would never defend myself from a real threat, far from it, but for the most part, I've now turned into a walk away man. My Dad told me every 7 years your brain changes the way it thinks, and I tend to agree. I've been very surprised with a lot of the changes I've noticed in the last 6 months, my tastes have very much changed

Saturday bench

Bench with chains
205x3,225x3, 245x3, 265x3x4 sets

Still just dying. But I think it's getting better. Went in just to do triples and work up slow, eventually got to 265 that was sort of what I was hoping to get. I don't think I could have gone much higher without getting psyched up, and I can just tell that's the wrong thing to do right now... plus I find it pretty hard to get fired up right now.

Friday deadlift

Deadlift

went up to 480x2
 dropped to 390 for 8x3 speed reps

circuit 3 rounds of 8
stiff legs
bentover row
underhand pull down
good morning

This was work, but I really want to get my pull where it should be. I used to love deadliftig, and now I hate it, I've heard that what you hate doing you can likely improve on. I've got crappy deadlift numbers, and I hate pulling, I know even mangled with no interest in training, I can still do the first 4-6 weeks of the Coan deadlift program using a 560 max, that I did as an opener, and a 600 hopeful max. Willie suggested it, so I should be able to get something good out of this, I've always wanted to run it, but couldn't figure out how to program it, Willie gave me a good layout, and I'm going to follow that for another 3-4 weeks, it fits what Jordan recommended and I should be able to handle it physically. When Kade did this he went from 600 to a 660 gym max,, I always felt that Kade really turned a corner after running it so I'm lookig forward to seeing how far I can get with it.

I was semi excited to train tonite, and I've really missed looking forward to training, takes the fun out of my days, so I'm really looking forward to getting things back on track. I'm really hoping Monday I've got some energy so I can get a 375 squat with chains for a few sets of 5, that would be really good for me right now. I'm not going to force it, but I think I can get it if I'm not feeling horrible.

Tuesday bench

Strength and energy still way down, not a big deal, it's down like 20% whereas last year I couldn't even train, so it's an improvement, just miss the release of heavy enjoyable training. I'm having a big problem eating all I should be right now, I've dropped under 230, which is not part of my plan, so I'm going to have to ride this out until the thought of eating doesn't make me want to puke.

Bench
225x7,245x7,255x7,265x7,275x5
- I did 295x7 like a month ago

 chins
(24)

external rotations
2x10

monday squat

still feeling rough, just waiting that one out, it'll pass, but right now it's a butt kicker. Took Willies advice for another lifter, and started doing it in my own training. I'm going to do an even lighter squat on wednesday, and a squat/pull day on Friday, with bench days in between. I was sick enough that I skipped assistance, and think it's a good move. Just went in, squatted a few sets, left, going to bed.

Squat with 45lbs chains 5x5
275x5, 315x5, 345x3 sets of 5
- I thought I was going to puke, on tape they all look as easy as they should.

Plan is to just move the weights up over the next 3 weeks next week I'll do some sets with 375x5 with chains see how many sets of 5 I can do. I'd like to get up to 405 x5 with chains, that would be very good for me, I think I can do it. Had to switch shoes, and I'm going to buy a new pair of shoes after I finish my next job, the new all red addidas shoes look pretty cool to me. I've always done well in Addidas shoes, Do Wins don't have the same arch support as the addistars I wore, I squat better when I keep my feet more on their sides and arches, tightens up my hips more and I seem to pop out better. The addistars have very firm support whereas both sets of my do wins have none and are just flat.

Saturday bench

Went in out of habit, but happy I did, still feeling very under the weather, but went in, and took Jordans advice, to just work up to something half decent, and leave feeling better than when you walked in. Right now everything in the training room is hard, light is hard, heavy is hard, confidence not as high as I'd like it to be. I let it happen, missed something along the way, lots of people are just fine right now, I'm pretty sure I can pull out of it, today was one on the plus side. Everything felt like work, but got it done.

Bench
225 +chains 3x8
135 with chains 5x10
-i'm trying not to be embarassed that I'm using a plate, big deal.

Chins
30

-haven't lost much on my pull ups, I've gained some weight, and I could have gotten to 15 in a row, that's good enough to confirm all the pull downs haven't made my back weaker or anything. I still feel these too much in my arms for my liking, I think I'll benefit more from pull downs for a while.

Willie basically got me to do Ed coans deadlift routine, so that will be 4 back days a week, and I think he wants back on the heavy squat day too. I woke up feeling pretty rocked after just going through the motions last night. Haven't done bentover rows in a while, so I'm looking forward to putting a bit more on those, that circuit is rough though.

Jeremy was in tonite, he's really loving the strongman, I'd like to support him more, but not until summer am I really interested in getting back into strongman, I've got more than enough on my plate right now, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to have to bring the prowler back in pretty soon, just 5 trips on upper body days would go a fairly long way I think for me right now. I feel like a trip right now would make me die, so it's probably what I need the most when I stop and think about it. I don't want to do reps right now, so I probably need to do them. I was reading something interesting in a Mike Tucshcherer article that he trains his explosive speed and grinding strength, and you need both of them. I think my grinding strength is a little down Paul has tremendous grinding strength, and is now getting his explosive strength higher, I'm interested to see how that will affect things. It's too bad it's getting to the point where strongman for him will be starting up, I would have liked to see him get his squat up to 650, which I think if he ever took 2-3 months and squatted 3x a week, he'd do it.

If I had to descibe it, I'd say Pauls programs make your whole body strong, and Willies programs make the powerlifts strong... which will also make your whole body strong.

light squat / pull

Whew, i'm still nowhere near 100%, I don't even feel 50%. I've been getting sick lately, not feeling too good at all. Tonite my legs were literally shaking, and although the weights were very light, my work capacity and immune system are pretty low right now. I keep training as best I'm capable of, as if I stop now, I'll just hit rock bottom and be sick as hell, this is the time of year I can get sick. Last year right now, I was horribly sick daily, and stressed out of my mind... and history repeats itself. I'm going to have to watch it, or I'll get really bad.

I'd actually forgotten how sick I was last year at this time, but it was bad, I must get a low immune system in this environment, and time of year. Last year I just wasn't even really training at this point, I took quite a few weeks off I was so busy and sick. I think just forcing myself to train will stop me from sleeping all day, I can't believe how run down I am. Last year I spent a month in Montreal for work, and the trip just rocked me. I think just keeping my feet moving and unerneath me will help a ton. I think I'm jus going to have to ride this one out until things get better, and they probably will. Just gotta stick with it. Have a few work things that are going very badly currently that really aren't helping, but getting those polished off will take a ton off my mind.

Front squat with chains
bar,95,135,185,225
back squat
275 for a few doubles, and a set of 3

Conventional deadlift
worked up to 475x2
speed pull 380 5x3 - was supposed to do 8 sets

superset
stiff legs
bentover row
underhand pulldown
good morning
for 2x8 reps

I was sweating but freezing cold, that's when I know i'm overtrained, also when I should just stop training. I think that's something else to notice, is that I get cold after an hour. I've been having shorter workouts without thinking about it. I'll have to remember to wear my hoodie from now on. I prefer to stay very warm when I'm training, and I wear rehbands, and sweats and generally a toque. Plus our gym is kinda cold. As long as I'm warm I can train, but lately I'm cold all the time, not a great sign. But I'm happy I noticed, I can start doing things about it, rather than just assuming I overtrained, but that I'm also getting sick. I dislike listing off all the things that are wrong, but it helps me to solve the problem.

Solution, stay calm, do what I'm capable of, and try not to freak out. Keep the Bcaa's high, drink Neo Citran,eat as much healthy food as I can. Get more vitamin C.

thursday bench - dark times

Warm up - agile 8 with hip stretch

Bench with 45 lbs chains
225 7 sets of 5
close grip
135 3x8 - these weren't easy
-this was done in about 20 minutes with one of my boys Kenny Dusseault.

Lat Pull downs
5x15
-light, but doing the work

external rotations
2x15 with 3 down from the top. 1 down used to be hard.

After talking with Willie and Jordan Foley, I've realized I've just got to tone down the volume and work a bit. To be honest, I used to just work up to one hard set, do some assistance and call it a day, then I started training with Paul, but he somehow made that really hard, then I adjusted to it eventually, then I messed around with it, then I did something different for a bit, etc etc. Both of these guys have had to take a step back in their training and then come up with a new plan, then go at it again. I hit the wall, really hard, tried to do a level of work I thought I could handle, could not, get punched in the gut hard, now just getting my breath back, and going to figure out how to not let that happen again. It was fun though, right now, 405 is a mile off, but just right now, and I'm not competing right now. I don't have to compete until the time is right.
Within reason, I completed an easier version of the smolov squat routine for my bench, I just didn't do the sets of 9, but did the other 3 days, and moved the weight up appropriately, I did it around 3 weeks, and it was a ton of volume, and it burned me out, but I'm starting to see a big bench has a lot to do with the amount of work you do, rather than how strong you are. Squat and deadlift, could be said to be semi different. I've never really over trained my upper body, I was generally too banged up to be able to do it. I think if I can adjust to the level of work, then I'll accomplish my goals, I'm going to have to stretch it out more, and maybe go there 1 set at a time. If there's one thing about hitting the wall, is that if you can keep your head, it's a fresh start, so I'm going to think about how I'd like to do this. Mark may still write me up a program, but he's busy with work still. Right now I'm just going to try to go there 1 set at a time.
My weight is still above 230, and not too fat, but I've lost a few pounds, still adjusting to how much I have to eat, and it's difficult when I'm working during the days. But I bought some good oatmeal bars that are tasty, and a good amount of protein, and I'm going to try to have a few of those during the days, and that should help me keep my food intake high, I'll just try to do that for a few weeks until my appetite comes back. Immune system is feeling pretty low right now, so I've gotta get that back up to more appropriate levels.
Training with Paul taught me to just plow through that kind of stuff, and just stick to the plan as best you can, if you get off track, just get back on track as fast as you can, he's that regimented. In Pauls world, getting a footlong with double chicken breast is cheating on his diet, him at his worst is generally us at our best. The thing with Paul is that he generally enjoys it, so it's not as difficult for him, but it's still hard as hell. He's like a construction worker making $1000 an hour, it's gotta be perect, you have to work hard, there are other people gunning for your job, if you screw up or don't give it your all your just cheating yourself. The only person who can fire you, is you. This is nothing he's ever actually said, it's just what you see if you hang out with the dude in his real life.
 It's impossible to not get strong if you hang out with Paul. He's such a strong leader, but you either get on board or you don't, it's up to you. If you can get on board, congrats, in however long it takes, you'll be as strong as you want to be, and you'll learn a ton about work ethic. My first time crying in the gym was doing Pauls program, second time, Willies program, lol. Right now I don't have the energy to hurt myself that much, haha. Like in Willies case, he's always going 100 mph, and knows to calm himself down, but when he trains, I forgot how hard he goes. The intensity is freaky. It's something I forget about, then I watch him do 565 for triples in belt and knee wraps, and that's just nuts. Willie turns it off and turns it on, Paul is more on all the time. But that's just the difference between powerlifting and strongman. That's why i think Cameron would be good in strongman.
Still thinking about strongman come summer. That will be fun. I'm just starting to lean in the direction of doing more work, rather than just having to get fired up all the time. but basically until I recover. then back to raising work load with 80%.
Willie gave me some good ideas for that.

dark times upon us

Went  in feeling drained, and got more of the same once I was there. I've been physically over trained lots of times, but I could generally just force my way through it until I adjusted, this time I just want to lay down and take a nap as I unrack a squat, weights feel extremely heavy, and my desire is low.

I'm going to bounce back, and I see a positive here, that I was able to take things further than ever before, and once I recover, I'll just be that much stronger. Having to wait is frustrating, but the payoff will be there. When the weights I was handling tonite feel like 500, I have no idea how I'll get that on my back again, but I know I will. I'll get a lot more on there soon, maybe not for May, but maybe for then too. I'm still going to focus on my upper body in general, and my deadlift for a while, just to fill out, and get my body stronger in the way I can't with a squat. I've always planned all my training around the squat, and now I feel like it's time to focus on my deadlift, and more my bench.

I wonder if the 3x a week deadlift is the cuplrit, I never went over 80%, but it's still a lot of deadlifting. I don't think it is, but not something I'm turning a blind eye to either.

I have things in the real world that could for sure be the cause, but I've had lots of brutal stuff come up only to train great, so I'm not focusing on that too much. I think the only thing to do is just some work, keep the intensity and volume low, and give it time, it might even be another week. I know this will sort itself out soon, and if after a couple weeks I still feel like shit, I'll try another couple changes, but it will sort itself out, I'm positive.

Squat with chains
365 x1 x 5 singles
-these felt heavy, but I never had to try to lift the weight, just had to force myself to do it. 5 singles around 80% is some work, and I think within a few more training sessions, I'll have to force myself to not go higher.

50 face pulls
50 hyper extensions

going to keep up the light weight high reps on bench tomorrow, not looking forward to having to force myself to do the work, but when the dark times hit, you just sorta keep going, or you stop... and the only problem with stopping... is stopping.