Lifting4JC’s Powerlifting Blog

If I had to name my worst vice, I’d have to say it was caffeine. As a novelist-to-be, most of my writing has been done while in a highly-caffeinated state. It does get the brain juices going. And where best to get that good dose of caffeine then through an energy drink. Love those blue Monsters.

But lately they’ve been killing me two ways. The first and most obvious is in the wallet. I was shocked when I added up how much I was spending on them in a month ******* arrrrrrggggg *******.  The second place they were getting to me was in the stomach. I developed an ulcer after drinking so many of them. So I’d quit for a few days, go through the caffeine headache withdrawls, feel a hundred times better, and then…. drink another one. Smooth move, knucklehead.

The stomach pains were waking me up in the middle of the night. I had one Rock Star left in my fridge at work so I figured I’d finish it off. A quarter of a can later and it was killing me and I had to stop drinking it. No more for me.

After all I was spending on the stuff, I figure I could instead invest in some decent supplements that will actually do me some good. Hmmm, there’s an interesting thought.

Took my girls swimming tonight, so while they played with their friends I did laps for my cardio. I couldn’t do too many since I’m really just getting started with adding the cardio onto my lifting, but it was more laps than I did all of last year… which was zilch.

Blessings all…

Off night tonight, but I have heavy deadlifts tomorrow, something I always enjoy.

As the entry title states, I’m watching my diet much more than I did with my last meet. I’m working to make sure that I stay within the 242 lbs class. My last weigh-in at the gym was 248. Two things about that… 1) the gym scale weighs heavy (but I’m not counting on that), and 2) that was my weight at night, which is always heavier than first thing in the AM which is when I’ll be weighing in for the powerlifting meet.

This time I’m working to make sure I get my 6 to 7 daily meals in. I’m also cutting out as many carbs as I can after I get home from work, unless I’m lifting that night, then I’ll take in some good complex carbs, such as oats, to help feed my body through the workout.

The hard part is, getting enough calories to maintain my lifting gains, but getting the right calories to make sure the gains don’t come in the form of a spare tire. Sigh… I only wish I could count Peanut M&M’s as a protein source.

Blessings all…

Heavy (relative) bench/Light Squat today. Not a bad day. My bench sets went up, not always easily, but up. And I got a good day for a lot of other sets. Here’s the workout:

• Bench: bar x several, 10×115, 10×135, 5×155, 5×185, 5×200x5 (work sets)
• Supersetted with–
• Squat: bar x several, 10×135, 5×225, 2×315x5
• Barbell shrugs (behind back): 12×275,295,315,335
• Barbell shrugs: 10×355x3, 10×365
• Straight bar pressdown: 20×140,160
• 1/2 clean and press (bar at waist to start): 5×115, 135, 135, 4×135
• Seated Calf raises: 30×90, 160, 25×210,260,280,280
• Hip Abduction: 15×170x4
• Hip Adduction: 20×160,20×170x3
• vbar pressdown: 15×160x3
• Treadmill: 15 minutes at 4 mph 1.5 degree incline

After the workout, I downed a serving of True Mass. However, when I got home, I was starving so I had a large bowl of homemade beef and bean chili. My appetite has been increasing the last week. But I’ve also been lifting a whole lot more in my workout. One thing I’ve been trying to make sure I do, is to eat some good carbs prior to my workout (i.e. brown rice or oats). That has definitely increased my workout length, which in turn is increasing my subsequent appetite afterward.

Enough for now… Blessings all!

First scheduled workout of the ‘09 year.

Today was light deadlift day. Overall, I felt strong and pulled through lifts with ease and fairly short recovery times. I had good energy for most of the workout, mostly I think it’s due to what I eat prior. I know, I know, it’s an obvious reason. But sometimes you have to find out (sometimes multiple times) that nutrition can make or break a workout or help you make or break your ultimate goals. Today, I started with a teriyaki tuna steak and some rice and chicken about 3 hours out. And 40 minutes before the workout I had a cup of non-fat vanilla yogurt (homemade) mixed with a half a cup of raw oats.

Here’s my workout:

Deadlift: several X bar, 10×135, 5×225, 3×315, 5×355 for five. Last with a 15 second hold

Low cable row (v-handle): 15×140, 12×160, 10×180

Low cable row (shldr width grip); 10×180, 6×200, 7×200

Wide grip lat pulldown (behind head): 7×150x3

Wide grip lat pulldown: 10×165, 8×165

DB Snatches: 10×50, 5×50

I also decided to spend a little extra money on some different protein. Typically, I buy the Wal-Mart Body Fortress brand, mostly because of cost. I just don’t feel confident that I’m getting the full benefit out of it that I should be. So today I bought a five pound tub of BSN True Mass. One of the trainers at the gym (who is also a powerlifter) recommended it. I’ll give it a tub or two to see what the effects are. So far, after my first serving, I like the taste and consistency and whole lot better.

Benching heavy tomorrow. Until then… blessing all.

Seven workouts into my Hatfield 80 cycle preparing for the March 7, ‘09 NASA Colorado State PL Meet…

The problem that had me last night was that I was supposed to do my heavy deadlift workout Saturday. I had my days wrong and wound up doing it Sunday instead. That only gave me Monday off before my heavy squat/light bench workout. I was a little concerned with that, especially after my last warmup set of 315×3. It didn’t feel light at all. But my first work set of 345×4 went up easier than my 315 set did. Overall, by the end of the workout I was pleased with how things felt. Here’s my complete WO:

Squat: Bar x 10, 135×10, 225×5, 315×3 — Work sets: 345×4 for 5 sets

Bench (shoulder width grip): Bar x 15, 135×10, 155×5 — Work sets (light night) 185×2 for 5 sets, 3 second pause on each rep before press

Hack squats (face down): 90, 180, 270, 320×10

Low Cable Rope Curls: 110×15, 120×14, 130×12x2

I’m usually pretty done in by the time I finish my heavy squats. Added to those were the hack squats, so I didn’t get much more in terms of accessories done. Today I can feel that I did the workout. I’d put my DOMS at 3 out of 10. Just at the right amount.

It’s a night off tonight. My girls and I are going to a New Year’s Eve party at our church. Day off tomorrow and light deads on Friday.

Happy New Year everyone. May God richly bless it for each of you and may all of your fitness goals be reached and exceeded.

I was on schedule for a big powerlifting meet coming up November 15. I had a routine set to peak my strength at the right time, my lifts were going up, and then… life got in the way. I wound up having to travel for two weeks straight. I was only able to get into gym on the weekends with the thought of at least maintaining (which i believe I did). And three days back into my routine, I was warming up with some 135 lbs deads. Halfway through a set of 10 my lower back tightened up.

I stopped the set, rested, did some more stretching, drank lots of water (I think this was part of the problem), and stretched some more. I worked up to some singles in the lower 400 range and finished with two sets of triples in rack pulls at 500. So my strength wasn’t too diminished. That was on Thursday. Sunday I went back in, did some upper body work and legs presses where I wasn’t putting too much stress on my lower back.

FORGET IT!!!

I lived in extreme pain for the next three days. I could barely walk, I couldn’t get out of a chair, stairs were a major trial, and I suffered the most whenever I sneezed. Thursday I felt 20% better. By the end of Friday, I felt 60% better. And today I’m wondering why I was being such a wuss.

So here’s my dilema. My meet is three weeks out and my whole lifting schedule is down the drain. I essentially only get two weeks as I can’t lift heavy the week of the meet. So what do I do to get the most out of the next two weeks WITHOUT setting me back again. Calling all PLer’s. Help!!

The title of this blog might sound a little contradictory, but let me explain. I’ve been lifting at my new gym now for about three weeks. As my previous blog stated, there are other powerlifters at the gym, but they tend to work out in the morning. The gym opens at 5, I leave for work at 6 which means that my workouts happen at night. But this week, I had vacation. So my week off means that I could spend the week working out with other lifters. And it was awesome.

One of these lifters is Jack Robinson. Jack has been lifting since the fifties. This is a man who knows powerlifting. Jack once competed in a meet sponsored by the great Paul Anderson. He took third place and was awarded the metal by Paul himself. At 71 he’s still squatting 400+. So Monday, I gave him permission to be critical of my lifts, and holy cow, he took me to task for making depth on my squats — or in my case, not making it. He also worked with me some on the bar approach, breathing (he’s big on breathing right), and some foot placement.
Wednesday was for deadlifting, and quite honestly, with some pride, I say that there was not a lot of correction going on with my style. Don’t get me wrong by thinking that I believe my lifting to be perfect. I’m not that deluded. But it is my favorite lift.

Friday was benching. Where do I start with that other than saying my bench has about as much style and grace as Gilligan did. I’m not a small guy (5′ 10", 240lbs), so I should be doing better than 250 for the last 18 months. Yep, that’s how long I’ve been stuck there. These guys are totally revamping my bench style. It must be working because I threw up 245 for my max that day with relative ease with a little adjustment on a few things. With some additional work I should be able to get some more poundage on my bench.

I have to say that I really appreciate being able to work out with like minded lifters.  I feel a big meet coming on for me this coming November.

A lot has happened since my last entry. Primarily, I’ve left one gym (after three years) and joined another. And I’m happy I did. I’ve stayed at the last gym far too long, mostly because it’s a 24/7/365 gym so I could get in whenever I wanted. My wife also felt comfortable going to the gym. We heard, however, that the gym was closing so we decided it was time to move… and I couldn’t be any happier that we did. Here’s my reasons…

1) They promote and encourage powerlifting.

2) Chalk is welcome.

3) Four times more equipment.

4) No rubber covered plates. I love hearing the metal plates clanking together.

5) Grunting is normal and not discouraged as to upset the more delicate guests.

6) There are other powerlifters there. I was the only one at my other gym.

I’ve been there two weeks now and I haven’t walked out yet not feeling like I had an outstanding workout. It’d been a long time at my other gym that I felt that way. I’m sure I was in a rut there and bored with it’s limited equipment. This new gym isn’t open 24 hours and will be closed on all major holidays (I usually workout Thanksgiving evening - just before stuffing myself a second time). But the decreased hours is a price I’m willing to pay for getting stronger.

Most of the powerlifters lift at a different time then I am able to. But I have this week off from work and they’ve already called me and asked me to come and lift with them Monday AM at 9. I meet some of these guys at the last meet and learned a lot from them. It’ll be great to be able to have a good workout with them as well in a non-competitive environment that is training focused. They’re doing a heavy squat day. Which is kinda bad since I heavy squatted Friday night. But I’ll have had two good days off to recover before doing it again. I’m totally and completely psyched about this workout coming up. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Blessings all…

Alright it’s been a month since I’ve last posted. Sometimes I just get out of the habit. That doesn’t mean I’m not lifting, just not blogging. Here’s where I’m at. November 15 is my next PL meet. I started the Hatfield 80-day peak cycle on Aug 25. It worked for me last time so I thought I’d give it another go around.

So what "first" did I just accomplish with last night’s workout? Was is new PR in the squat? A crushing bench press? (don’t make me laugh at my pathetic bench). Or how about a bar-bending deadlift? Nope… It was the first time a leg workout caused me to puke. I’ve come close before, but last night was the first time I couldn’t hold back. It was a heavy squat night, eight sets including warm up. After the rest of my workout, my son and I went to an empty parking lot and he got to steer (he’s 15) the car while I pushed/sprinted it for three 100 yard lengths. After that I was done for, but I’m excited to see what the results will be as I continue the routine.

I’ve got my son lifting now. He’s 15. It’s kind of funny to watch at times. You have to understand. I’m 5′10" and 240 lbs. Tim is 6′2" and 160 pounds. It’s funny to watch his long, lanky body trying to control the weights. Don’t worry, he’s not on a powerlifting routine. He’s currently working a general routine to get his muscles built up and used to lifting. We’ve been going together for a couple of weeks now and he’s really impressed me with his desire to continue. When he gets to the gym he’s enthusiastic, supportive, and always willing to let me push him for that little extra that’s inside of him that he may not know is there. As as kids always seem to surprise us with what they hear but we don’t realize they hear… I’ve come into the kitchen to find Tim with his head in the ‘fridge saying "Dad, I need some protein, I need more protein." Yes, I’m proud (wiping tear from my eye).

It’s an off day today, but I’m still going in for some accesory lifting that I couldn’t get in during my regular sessions. Light deads on Tuesday. Heavy bench/light squat on Thursday.

Until then, blessings all…