Countdown to (1200) Pound Town

Cmart

Aspiring Milo
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Let's call this thing "Countdown to (1200) Pound Town"

Time to get a log going. It's 19 weeks out and I've mapped out all my key sets and reps I need to hit before I compete on June 10. And as a gift to people who love old men squatting, I'll open with a video of myself:



...more to come.
 
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Apc34v2.gif
 
Was going to ask if you were going to start a log. Will follow with interest.
 
I've laid out the home stretch of my training with the major sets I need to hit all the way until I rest before the meet:

Week Out, Lift, Reps, Weight, Date

19 SQ 3x12 275 28-Jan
19 BE 3x12 220
19 DL 3x12 305
18 SQ 3x12 285 4-Feb
18 BE 3x12 225
18 DL 3x12 315
17 SQ 3x12 305 11-Feb
17 BE 3x12 230
17 DL 3x12 345
16 SQ 3x10 315 18-Feb
16 BE 3x10 225
16 DL 3x10 365
15 SQ 3x10 320 25-Feb
15 BE 3x10 230
15 DL 3x10 370
14 SQ 3x10 325 4-Mar
14 BE 3x10 235
14 DL 3x10 375
13 SQ 4x8 325 11-Mar
13 BE 4x8 230
13 DL 4x8 385
12 SQ 4x8 335 18-Mar
12 BE 4x8 235
12 DL 4x8 390
11 SQ 4x8 340 25-Mar
11 BE 4x8 240
11 DL 4x8 395
10 SQ 4x6 345 1-Apr
10 BE 4x6 245
10 DL 4x6 405
9 SQ 4x6 350 8-Apr
9 BE 4x6 250
9 DL 4x6 410
8 SQ 5x5 355 15-Apr
8 BE 5x5 255
8 DL 5x5 415
7 SQ 5x5 360 22-Apr
7 BE 5x5 260
7 DL 5x5 420
6 SQ 5x5 365 29-Apr
6 BE 5x5 265
6 DL 5x5 425
5 SQ 5x5 370 6-May
5 BE 5x5 270
5 DL 5x5 430
4 SQ 5 triples 385 13-May
4 BE 5 triples 285
4 DL 5 triples 445
3 SQ 6 doubles 395 20-May
3 BE 6 doubles 290
3 DL 6 doubles 455
2 SQ 9 singles 405 27-May
2 BE 9 singles 305
2 DL 9 singles 475
1 SQ, BE, DL 3 singles of each 3-Jun
 
Very logical set-up. Hoping for the best!
 
I hit the squat set on Wednesday the 25th.

Squat 275 for 3 sets of 12 reps.

That's a lot of volume for me, actually. I need more recovery than work nowadays. Anyway, I'm on schedule.

Just to note: I also do accessory work, band work, some conditioning, prehab/rehab like foam roller/lacrosse ball stuff, etc. and I'll get at least one chiropractic adjustment and deep tissue massage in the coming months. I'll try to post up as much of that as I can, but the major stuff for me is to hit these numbers.
 
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Very logical set-up. Hoping for the best!

It's very linear, which I hope works well enough in the short term (just over four months). I'm only "budgeting" for three workouts a week, so hopefully the extra recovery time offsets the lack of undulating periodization. So far, this scheme (followed loosely) has panned out for me.
 
Bench today plus some pullups

Bench
220 x 12 (I think that's a PR)
220 x 10
220 x 9

Pullups
BW x 12
BW x 12
BW x 10

Band lateral raises
x 50
x 50
x 30

Band triceps extensions
x 15 each arm
x 15 each arm
 
Deadlift day plus some ab work

Weighed in today at 184.6 pounds on the official last day before I get strict with my diet. I'll have the last ice cream bar tonight that I'll eat for four months. :(

I found a while ago that my deadlift really benefits from deficit work, so I made myself a deficit platform. It's three 24" x 40" pieces of OSB floorboard, painted, holes drilled 2" in from each corner that I can drop pins through so they don't move around. So, standing on one, two, or three boards I can lift from a .75", 1.5", and 2.25" deficit. So my three working sets today will be first set three boards, second set two, third set one board. Conventional today, though I lift kind of a narrow sumo when things get heavy.

Deadlift

305 x 10 that's two reps short! Crap!
305 x 6 ugh
305 x 8 ok that's better

SO as we all can tell my DL is lagging, and I need the volume.

Time for abs, which will be holding tension for 20-counts lying on my back with a 46lb kettlebell on my stomach.

3 of those

Time to have diarrhea for a while. It's fun to get old!
 
SQuats!

Squat

135 x 10
225 x 3
285 x 12
285 x 12
285 x 12

Aw yeah that's a lot of volume for me! I'll be feeling that for the whole weekend. Good thing my plan was already to lay on the couch and weep.
 
Bench day!

Bench

Bar x 10
135 x 10
225 x 11 (that was supposed to be 12 but my right shoulder said no.)
225 x 10 (I choked the bar over a half inch to my left and that made it easier. **reminder.)
225 x 7 (back cramped up all to hell. WTF is going on here?)

Anyway, that wasn't entirely a train wreck, but dammit I dreamed about 225 for 12 all day long. Oh, for that nice even dozen. That would be a lifetime PR for me.

Pullups

BW x 14
BW x 12
BW x 12

Band laterals x 30, x 30, x 30
 
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What program is that?
This is homebrew. I'm tapering towards a PL meet in June. Volume now, and then pretty soon I'll start going heavier and adding pauses, etc.

I've been re-capturing ground I gained earlier (2014 and 2015) up until recently with low-volume, high-intensity workouts and lots of recovery time. It's what seems to work best for me. However, due to my need to mess with something that isn't broken, and also my desire to accelerate my progress, I decided to get on a more regular schedule and try to adhere to that rather than just "listening to my body" and lifting when I felt right.

So pretty soon we'll see if this is working, because I'm either going to make PR's soon or stall out. This is a linear program because it's short term with a lot to accomplish, and I think I can make it four months without deloads. But, it's experimental for sure. Time will tell.
 
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Deadlift

Two hours late getting to this workout because of an appointment after work, I'm very hungry. Also, weighed in this AM at 182.2 so I think I need to bring my calories up 100 or so.

135 x 12
225 x 5
315 x 10 (2.25" deficit) -- still harder than I think it's going to be. Can't tell whether it's because of the deficit or that I'm just not in good deadlifting shape. Both?
315 x 7 (1.5" deficit)
315 x 8 (.75" deficit)
 
Squats (last of the 12-rep sets)

135 x 12
225 x 3
305 x 12 (Maybe a PR? Close if it isn't.)
305 x 8 (Again this is a workout I'm doing two hours late before a late dinner and I think my blood sugar is low, I can feel the wall hitting very early.)
305 x 8

That was tough, I'm glad I start dropping the number of reps soon. Here's set one, notice I got on my toes on rep 7 and almost made this into a hilarious fail face-plant video:



edit -- crap they froze the shot for the YT video right at the ugliest part, after I got all wonky banging the bar off the sawhorses. Also, I may have lost power due to having shaved the beard.
 
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Bench

Bar x 12
135 x 12
230 x 10 (max formula has me at 299 again, this has to be some kind of mental voodoo, even my working sets are afraid of a number over 300)
230 x 9
230 x 8

Pullups

BW x 13
BW x 13
BW x 10

Band laterals

x 40
x 30
x 30
 
Deadlift

Got adjusted at the chiropractor yesterday, mid-back adjusted well but lower back/S.I. wouldn't budge, and he reefed on me pretty hard. I went to bed at 8PM last night, wiped out.

Deads

135 x 12
225 x 8
315 x 3
345 x 1 (2.25" deficit felt very very difficult, decided to pull from the floor
345 x 8

That's all I'm going to get out of today. Rest up and pull better soon.
 
Had to throw in a lightweight session just to loosen up my upper body.

Close grip bench

135 x 30
135 x 30

DB rows

40 x 30
40 x 30

Get a little blood flow in there. Another chiropractic adjustment today, then squats tomorrow.
 
Squats

135 x 12
225 x 5
315 x 10 -- nice and low, unbroken set, but as luck would have it, my stomach is acting up and I felt like throwing up after the set. And I had tuna for lunch.
315 x 6 -- that wasn't too bad but I'm going to bail on this workout and call it a day. Yuck.

Note -- I need to work on speed out of the hole or it's going to catch up to me when things get heavy. Time to throw in a few speed workouts here and there. Maybe with bands.
 
Bench day

Banner day!! Had my friend Big Kyle over to hit bench with me, and decided to take a baseline and see where I'm at.

Bench

135 x 12
225 x 2
305 x 1 -- this is a lifetime PR for me. I am 48 years old and 184.5 pounds and I hit a new max bench baby YEAH!!!!!!!
230 x 10
230 x 9
230 x 7

Oh wow that was awesome. I had formerly thought I'd maybe never get above 300 in my life, and the only other time I got 300 was three years ago when I ballooned up to bodyweight 196. This is so much better, and I still have over three months to train before the meet! Granted this was a touch-and-go gym lift and I need to add in the pause, but I'm still doing volume work so this is a huge confidence boost for me.

DB rows

100 x 15
100 x 12
100 x 12

Band Laterals

...a whole bunch while watching YouTube vids. I'm on top of the moon. Wed or Thurs I'm going to try a squat max single and see what's up.
 
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