Fitness for One and All Home Page
Full Workout Log
Starting 4/27/08
In-Season
Weeks 6 - 10 of 10
by Gary F. Zeolla
These workout logs are continued from: Full Workout Logs: Starting 3/21/08: In-Season; Weeks 1 - 5 of 10.
Next contest:
NASA Northeastern States Championships in Washington, PA on June 7, 2008.
If anyone is interested in this contest, the entry form is on NASA’s Web
site:
http://www.nasa-sports.com/Entries/Entry%20NE%20Reg.htm
Weight Class:
114s or 123s.
Divisions:
Unequipped.
Masters (40-49).
Pure (Lifetime Anabolic Steroid Free).
Powerlifting (squat, bench, deadlift = total).
Terminology in these logs:
Raw = no gear, not even a belt.
Unequipped = belt and wraps, but no suit or shirt.
Warm-ups are in brackets. All weights are in pounds.
Workout times includes set-up, warm-up, lifting, cardio, and
clean-up.
Week Six
Raw Squats
In-season/ Week 6 of 10
Sunday – 4/27/08
Raw Squats: [55/15, 125/10, 175/6, 220/3] 240/7, 252/6, 265/6
Standing DB Calves [25/10] 34/12, 34/12
Dip Bar Leg Raises (with ankle weights, 3# each): 16, 16
Step ups: 6:00
Workout time: 1:14
After my deload week last week, I wasn’t sure if I’d feel refreshed for this workout or if the weights would feel like a ton on my back. As it was, it was a very good workout, with no problem with the weights feeling heavy. So I think the deload week did me some good.
The final set of squats was only supposed to be five reps, but as with several times before, I cut a couple of the reps a tad too high, so I did an “extra” rep and made sure I sunk it to make up for it. And that final rep was very difficult, but that was the only really hard rep of the day.
It was the calves raises that felt really difficult. This was probably due to not doing any calves work for three weeks. So next time I do a deload week, I’ll probably add a couple of sets of bodyweight calves raises.
The ankles weights I came across recently while cleaning. I think I got them over two decades ago after my first bicycle accident, where I injured my right knee. I used them then for rehab. I thought I also had a pair of five pound ankle weights, but those I couldn’t find.
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Raw Benches
In-season/ Week 6 of 10
Monday – 4/28/08
Raw Benches: [45/15, 95/10, 115/6, 135/3] 152/7, 157/5, 162/5
DB Rows (underhand): [35s/8, 45s/4] 52s/7, 55s/6, 57s/5
Rotator Cuff (sitting, front): 11/12, 11/12
Heavy Bag: 6:00
Workout time: 1:11
My music cut out on me just as I started my second set of benches. I lost my concentration and my count. So I might have gotten my planned six reps; I’m just not sure. But otherwise, a good workout.
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Raw Deadlifts
In-season/ Week 6 of 10
Wednesday – 4/30/08
Raw Deadlifts: [45/15, 145/10, 215/6, 285/3] 312/7, 327/6, 342/5
Sitting BB Calves: [155/12] 175/12, 185/12
Sit-ups: 15/13, 17/8
Jump Rope: 5:00
Workout time: 1:15
I wasted some time taking pics and videos. The first pic is of the weights for my second DL set. I just looked so weird having three 45s and an itty bitty 1-1/4 on each side. I went up by 7.5 pounds for all three sets from my previous workout. That just seemed like the right amount, and it was. The last rep of all three sets was a difficult but not quite all-out effort. Just the intensity I wanted.
The next pic and two videos is for the Sitting BB Calves. Trying to do sitting calves without any kind of machine is difficult. I am using a “Sting Ray” (normally used for front squats) to keep the bar from digging into my things too much. It is kind of tricky getting into position, so if you try these, be careful not to hurt yourself!
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Bench Assistance
In-season/ Week 6 of 10
Thursday – 5/1/08
Incline Benches: [45/15, 75/10, 100/6, 117/3] 132/6, 137/5, 142/4
Lat. Pulldowns: [55/8, 90/4]; Pull-ups: bwt./8, 8, 8
DB Curls [22s/8] 27s/8, 29s/7, 30s/6
Rotator Cuff (lying, out): 13/12, 13/12
Workout time: 1:14
Week Seven
Squats (change in routine)
In-season/ Week 7 of 10
Sunday – 5/4/08
Squats:
Gear: Crain: power belt, squat shoes; APT: heavy knee sleeves.
[55/15, 125/10, 175/6, add belt and knee sleeves: 215/3, 255/1] 285/4, 315/2, Raw: 245/8
Standing BB Calves: 145/12, 155/12
Dip Bar Leg Raises (with 3# ankle weights): 20, 20
Step ups: 6:00
Workout time: 1:18
For the first six weeks of this routine, I’ve been alternating doing the powerlifts raw for higher reps (5-7) one week and the powerlifts unequipped for low reps (1-4) the next week, both for three sets. And that has worked well. But with just four weeks left until my contest, I feel I need to do more low rep work. So I’m going to use a routine I’ve done before with good success.
I will do two sets unequipped for low reps, then reduce the weight and do a raw set for higher reps. So basically, I’m combing what I had been doing into one workout. My reps plan for the three sets will be will be 3-4, 1-2, 6-8. This way, I’ll do unequipped, lower rep sets each week, but still get in some raw, higher rep work, which I feel is still needed.
That said, this workout went very well. The only problem is it took a little longer than I would like. But I don’t think there’s much I can do about that, except I’ll probably eliminate the calves work the last week or two.
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Benches
In-season/ Week 7 of 10
Monday – 5/5/08
Benches:
Gear: APT: bench belt, 24” Black Mamba wrist wraps.
[45/15, 95/10, 115/6, 135/3, add belt and wraps: 155/1] 170/4, 182/2, Raw: 150/8
BB Rows (medium grip): [55/8, 80/4] 95/7, 100/6, 105/5
Heavy Bag: 6:00
Workout time: 1:12
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Deadlifts
In-season/ Week 7 of 10
Wednesday – 5/7/08
Deadlifts:
Gear: Crain: power belt; APT: knee sleeves; Nike wrestling shoes.
[55/15, 145/10, 205/6, add belt and knee sleeves: 265/3, 325/1] 360/4, 390/2, Raw: 310/8
Sitting DB Calves: [55/10] 70/12, 80/12
Twisting Sit-up (reps to each side): 12, 9
Jump Rope: 5:00
Workout time: 1:13
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Bench Assistance
In-season/ Week 7 of 10
Thursday – 5/8/08
DB Decline Bench: [20s/15, 35s/10, 45s/6, 55s/3] 62s/6, 65s/5, 67s/5
Lat. Pulldowns: [55/8, 90/4]; Chin-ups: 7.5/7, 12.5/6, 15/5
Reverse Curls: [DBs: 10s/8, BB: 45/4] 55/8, 57/7, 60/6
Rotator Cuff (lying, up): 12/12, 12/12
Workout time: 1:12
Week Eight
Mother’s Day Squats
In-season/ Week 8 of 10
Sunday – 5/11/08
Squats:
Gear: Crain: power belt, squat shoes; APT: heavy knee sleeves.
[55/15, 145/8, 185/6, add belt and knee sleeves: 225/3, 265/1] 295/4, 325/1, Raw: 255/8
Leg Raises: 25, 20
Step ups: 6:00
Workout time: 1:06
Right after a workout, I always write down my planned weights for the next time I do that workout. And I have a standing “rule” to never increase these weights, but only decrease them if necessary. Same goes for a contest. But I broke that rule on my second work set of squats.
It was supposed to be 320/2. But when I was getting ready to load the bar, it seemed silly to load on all the “change,” so I put three 45s one each side for 325 instead. But then thinking about the “extra” five pounds, I psyched myself out, lost my concentration and got buried on the second rep. But the rest of the workout went well. And even with having to reset the weights for my final squat set, I got done in a good time.
Part of the reason for the last point is I moved the standing calves to my DL day, since that workout was shorter last week. I’ll do those instead of the sitting calves, which take longer to set up. So that should shorten both of these workouts. I think standing calves are more productive than sitting ones, so I’ll only do them for the duration of this routine.
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Benches
In-season/ Week 8 of 10
Monday – 5/12/08
Benches:
Gear: APT: bench belt, 24” Black Mamba wrist wraps.
[45/15, 95/10, 115/6, 135/3, add belt and wraps: 155/1] 172/4, 185/1, Raw: 155/7
BB Rows (medium grip): [55/8, 85/4] 97/7, 102/6, 107/5
Rotator Cuff (lying, side): 11/12, 11/12
Heavy Bag: 6:00
Workout time: 1:14
Buried again! On the second rep of my second work set of benches, I got the bar about 2/3s of the way up, but just couldn’t lock it out. Just goes to show that even with lifting unequipped I still need to do top end work. The struggle on that rep is probably why I only got 7 rather than my planned 8 reps on the following raw set.
While, doing the rotator cuff work, my shoulders felt really sore, and not a good soreness, more of an overtrained soreness. I think doing rotator cuff work after heavy benches, along with doing rotator cuff work on my bench assistance day, is just too much. So to be sure I don’t get overtrained, I’m going to skip the rotator cuff work for the rest of this routine. And next time, I’ll only do it on bench assistance day. Skipping it on this day will shorten this workout as well, as it is a little too long as is.
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Deadlifts (video)
In-season/ Week 8 of 10
Wednesday – 5/14/08
Deadlifts:
Gear: Crain: power belt; APT: knee sleeves; Nike wrestling shoes.
[55/15, 145/10, 210/6, add belt and knee sleeves: 270/3, 330/1] 365/4, 395/2, Raw: 305/8
Standing BB Calves: [145/10] 165/12, 165/12
Twisting Sit-up (reps to each side): 12, 10
Jump Rope: 5:00
Workout time: 1:19
A very good but strange workout. I say strange as on my first work set of DLs, the first rep felt harder than the subsequent ones. I figured I was doing something with my form, so I decided to take a video for my second set. But I wasn’t prepared to do so. I had to get the camera, but then the batteries were dead, so I had to get out my other set of rechargeables and put the dead ones in the charger, reset the date, and that got me behind.
And after all of that, I ended up not needing the video to see what I was doing. All I had to do was look at my feet. On my first rep, I had the bar about an inch in front of my shins. But when I set it down, I did so with the bar right against my shins. I then pulled the second rep from that position.
For my final raw set, I started with the bar at my shins on the first rep, and I could tell the difference. However, I misloaded the bar on that set. It was supposed to be 315, but I didn’t notice the mistake until afterwards. I thought it seemed a little too easy. So I’ll see what happens next week.
In any case, I think that after doing conv. DLs for the last couple of years, I forgot that with sumos, you need to keep the bar closer at the start. Below is the video I took. I needed a video of sumo DLs anyway since all of the DL video I had on my site were with a conv. stance.
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Bench Assistance/ Stupidity strikes again!
In-season/ Week 8 of 10
Thursday – 5/15/08
Presses: [DBs: 10s/15; BB: 45/10, 60/6, 75/3] 85/6,90/5, 95/4
Lat. Pulldowns: [55/8, 90/4]; Pull-ups: 5/8, 7.5/6, 10/4
DB Curls [25s/8] 29s/8, 30s/7, 31s/6
Rotator Cuff (lying, out): skipped
Workout time: 1:05
During my bench workout on Monday and for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been very sore in the area at the front of my armpit. So during that workout, I figured that with doing benches of my bench day and then inclines or declines on my bench assistance day, I was overtraining that area. So for this workout, rather than inclines, I figured I do overhead presses.
However, that was before my shoulders really flared up when I did my rotator cuff exercise at the end of that workout. I was thinking that just skipping that exercise with this workout would be enough. But when I was warming up, my shoulders really felt sore. But stupidly, I continued the workout.
Meanwhile, at the end of my deadlift workout on Wednesday, on my last rep of twisting sit-ups, my upper back cramped up, in the small of the back. This has been a recurring problem. But usually, I just go to a chiropractor, he cracks my back, and I am fine. So I made an appointment with the chiropractor for this morning (Friday).
Now if I had been smart, I would have at least delayed this workout until after the appointment and lifted this afternoon. But I stupidly went ahead with this workout. And when I did the pull-ups, my back really cramped up. That is why I didn’t get my planned 8,7,6 reps.
This morning, my shoulders and upper back felt terrible. The chiropractor appointment helped some with the cramped back, but not much. So here I am three weeks before my contest June 7 with my shoulders overtrained and my upper back bothering me.
All of this could have been avoided if I had just been smart and delayed yesterday’s workout to at least today, if not until Sunday. Meanwhile, I just sent in the registration for the contest and ordered my NASA card yesterday, before this all happened. So I am committed to entering it.
As such, I will try to take it easy over the weekend. I will then push back my planned Sunday squat workout to Monday. That will push my next bench workout to Wednesday. Hopefully, my shoulders will be recovered by then. And if my back doesn’t loosen up over the weekend, I will have to try the chiropractor again next week.
I will still get in the two final planned weeks for my routine. So I will hope and pray things still work out despite my stupidity.
Week Nine
Forthcoming.
Week Ten
Forthcoming.
Full Workout Logs: Starting 4/27/08: In-Season; Weeks 6 -10 of 10. Copyright © 2008 by Gary F. Zeolla.
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