Building The Beast

[BeastBuilder]

Hey guys !

Just joined up here the other week and thought why not keep a journal on here so can get some feedback and advice from lots of different people. And help other people get some ideas if they're stuck in a bit of a rut or just wanna see what others are doing. Bit of background info first to get the ball rolling

Started lifting when I was 16, and 60kg, could hardly bench just the bar when i first started so basically started with zero muscle, for about a 18 months did the typical gym rat thing, bench and curls, few sets of abs chucked in, did this like 4-5 times a week, thought I was the man for going to the gym ! I was living over in Greymouth at the time then shifted over to Christchurch for school and carried on my hopeless efforts that I thought was what going to the gym meant. Then a trainer from the gym i was going to over here took me under his wing and sorted me out, I learnt stuff and did exercises I never thought possible, "what's a squat ?" . Worked well, got me enjoying the gym even more, then at the end of last year a mate of mine over in Greymouth who had been into powerlifting that year hooked me up with the guys at Eastside and I started going there in late January/early February and took up the powerlifting style training and have never looked back ! Did Canterbury Champs in April and totalled 500kg (170 Squat, 120 Bench and 210 Dead), was a great experience Then started gearing up for South Islands in June, had a hard time in between these comps, tried to progress too much and overtrained a bit and got sick, wasn't fun as you can imagine.. But still went ahead with the comp, managed 510kg total, (180 squat, 120 bench and 210 dead) wasn't an amazing performance but I was happy that I at least progressed somewhere Since then have been doing 5/3/1, with a Powerbuilding twist, and numbers have gone skywards, it's been great fun !!
Follow a method of being a Powerlifter at the start of the workout with strength based stuff on 5/3/1 set up on the 4 big lifts and then bodybuilder style the rest of the workout with higher reps and less rest, get some hypertrophy going on !!

Training week goes: Mon = 5/3/1 Squats, Legs Hypertrophy
Tues = Lats and Bis Hypertrophy
Wed = 5/3/1 Bench, Chest and Tris Hypertrophy
Thurs = Rest
Fri = 5/3/1 Deads, Legs Hypertrophy
Sat = 5/3/1 Press, Shoulders and Arms Hypertrophy
Sun = Rest

Been working out well playing around with accessory stuff atm just doing what works for me and what I enjoy, bodyweight going up and lifts are all going up so can't complain
Just finished week 3 of my 4th cycle of 5/3/1, much needed deload coming up next week.
Should probably give you some stats so you actually know what I'm working with and whether you wanna listen to me or not

Age: 18
Height: 181cm (5'11'')
Weight: 99kg-100kg
B.F.: 17%-18%
Lifts: Only have rep maxes atm since I'm doing 5/3/1 and don't wanna ruin it by testing 1RMs.
Squats = 160kg x 8reps (Knee wraps and Belt)
Bench = 117.5kg x 6reps (Wrist Wraps)
Deads = 195kg x 11reps (Nothing else)
Press = 62.5kg x 12reps (Wrist Wraps and Belt)
Currently training for: Looking forward to the Eastside Club Lift in Early December, should be a good day out and seeing how the lifts go and how well 5/3/1 has treated me

Anyway back at the gym Monday for deload squats so will post up what we get up to during the session on Monday night.
Hope you guys get something out of reading all this, and remember.....

"Bigger is Better !!" (And stronger obviously )

[tinytraps]

Nice! Strong for a young fulla, will bewatching with interest :nod:

[Big john]

Nice! Strong for a young fulla, will bewatching with interest :nod:

Miron bro?

[tinytraps]

Nice! Strong for a young fulla, will bewatching with interest :nod:

Miron bro?

I be mirin' brah (no homo) :pfft:

[steak]

Welcome BeastBuilder..cool handle too :twisted:

Youre trainimg in a good place with good peeps. Im sure you'll be a mass monster in no time getting stronger and stronger all the time...go hard!

[BeastBuilder]

Hey,

@TinyTraps - Cheers bro, long term goals are international comps, but short term just see what happens with Raw lifting in NZ for now, hopefully give ya some big numbers to watch

@Steak - Yea man, it's a awesome place to train and Craig, Alf and the boys are great and help us younger ones out whenever they can, I trained a lot with Alf before Canterbury's and South Island's and he set me up on the right track. I still have to catch up to him on Bench somehow !! Oh well small steps

[BeastBuilder]

Also just remembered Craig took these couple of videos last week just for the lols

Bench:

Deadlifts:

The big fella after me in the deadlift vid is Surya, my training partner, he's 21 about the same weight as me about and inch taller but his shoulders and back are massive !! He was doing 207.5kg.

[BeastBuilder]

Deload Week Day 1

Squats

Front Squats: 4 sets of 12, 60kg

GHR: BWx10, BWx10, +10kgx8/BWx2, +10kgx6/BWx4

Hack Squats (Max T.U.T.): 40kgx15, 40kgx15, 60kgx15, 60kgx15

Leg Extensions/Leg Curls: 54x15/48x15, 66x15/54x15, 72x15/54x15

** / indicates dropset or superset

Good deload workout today, just get a pump going and hit with a little volume but nothing over the top, give the body a well deserved rest ! Good fun though, chance to have a bit of a play around with exercises, got a pretty decent sweat up though

On to tomorrow for Back and Bis Hypertrophy, no deload needed there, still guna hit it pretty hard probably !!

[BeastBuilder]

Just remembered had this pic from a couple years back, just to give you an idea of how little I was, same height as now but 40kg lighter haha.

And yes I know my head was very out of proportion to my body, but now it's all in proportion, time to work on making it look to small for my body

[BeastBuilder]

Deload Week Day 2

Back

Wide Grip Pulldown: 150x15, 180x12, 190x12, 200x12, 210x10

Pendlay Row: 60x15, 70x15, 80x12, 80x12, 80x12

Seated Row: 78x15, 84x15, 90x12, 96x12

D/B Row: 35x20, 40x12, 45x10, 45x22

Straight Arm Pulldowns: 160x20, 170x15, 180x12, 180x12

Good Workout yesterday, hit the back pretty hard, plenty of rowing, got a good pump going. Decided to just hit back and cut out arm work for the week, give the tendons a bit of a break from any direct work and also was training a friend in between sets so was kinda spent by the time the last set of Lats came around

Off to do Deload Bench today, should be a decent workout, will let you all know how it goes

[BeastBuilder]

Deload Week Day 3

Bench

Incline Bench (Fat Bar): 60x20, 70x20, 80x20, 85x20

Floor Press: 80x15, 90x12, 100x10

Incline Hammer Strength Press: 80x20, 120x15, 120x15, 140x15

Decline Bench: 80x15, 90x12, 95x10

Dips: 4 sets of 15 with BW

Pretty decent workout, usual training partner wasn't there, he was busy with Uni work so just did whatever came into my head, plenty of the other boys were there to spin yarns to. Had a bit of fun with higher reps today, get a pump going, still cut out the arm work, plenty of pressing as it is. Rest day tomorrow, back in on Friday for Deads and a bit of Legs Hypertrophy !

[BeastBuilder]

Wasn't meaning to train today, but went in to do some work experience with Craig and he managed to convince into doing some light Tris, part of his rehab experience he calls it :pfft:

So chucked in 350 reps on Tris, plenty of pressdowns, wide, med, narrow, rope, and then a few cable extensions to finish it off with a good stretch.

Now to see what's in store tomorrow for Deload Deads !

[BeastBuilder]

Deload Week Day 4

Deadlift

Trap-Bar Deadlift: 4 sets of 12, 100kg

Good Mornings: 4 sets of 12, 60kg

GHR: 4 sets of 12, BW

Single Leg Leg Press: 80x15, 120x15, 120x15

Good quick workout today, just got in there to shift some weight and feel a good stretch in the hammys and glutes, dunno what happened 4 sets of 12 just seemed right :pfft: But yea good session, pretty much just an excuse to say it was a training day and eat more food :pfft:

Was meaning to go in tomorrow to do Deload Press, just light shoulders and shit like that, but instead am going to go in and do a couple hours on Olympic Lifting with our local expert, Lee Atrill. Should be good fun, am quite excited to see how it goes and to learn lots off of him, watch this space !!

[BeastBuilder]

Just home from doing a 2 hour long session with Lee, was great fun !! Getting the technical aspects of the Clean downpact, can't even remember how many reps we did, endless amounts, first with bamboo sticks, then empty bar then went and stuck with 40kg just to get the technique, move up to some weight next week sometime and see how it goes !

Shins took a beating, even more than a deadlift session

Will be incorporating the Olympic lifts more into my training as I become more proficient, time to get some huge numbers !!

[I Declare War]

Hey mate

Your shins shouldn't be taking a beating when doing deadlifts.

When deadlifting you should treat each rep as a single, set the bar down momentarily, reset/check stance, then begin the next rep. If executed properly, the bar should be travelling a few centimeters away from your shins and should make first contact with your body just after your knee caps, not before. The point is to pull it straight up, and keep it as close to your shins as possible, but not actually touch them, all the while not letting the bar go forwards away from your body - the further the bar is away from your body the more risk of injury you take.

Sometimes I too notice scrapes up my shins after a hard deadlifting session but it's only because I've been sloppy... take it as a sign that the next session you should concentrate more on your form.

Some powerlifters may say different... some wrap their shins and go for heavy singles with not the best form... in a comp to get the lift up and locked out it may sometimes be unavoidable scraping the shins, but in training you shouldn't be doing this.

[BeastBuilder]

Hey mate

Your shins shouldn't be taking a beating when doing deadlifts.

When deadlifting you should treat each rep as a single, set the bar down momentarily, reset/check stance, then begin the next rep. If executed properly, the bar should be travelling a few centimeters away from your shins and should make first contact with your body just after your knee caps, not before. The point is to pull it straight up, and keep it as close to your shins as possible, but not actually touch them, all the while not letting the bar go forwards away from your body - the further the bar is away from your body the more risk of injury you take.

Sometimes I too notice scrapes up my shins after a hard deadlifting session but it's only because I've been sloppy... take it as a sign that the next session you should concentrate more on your form.

Some powerlifters may say different... some wrap their shins and go for heavy singles with not the best form... in a comp to get the lift up and locked out it may sometimes be unavoidable scraping the shins, but in training you shouldn't be doing this.

Cheers for the input man

If you check out the video of my deadlifts I posted up I do exactly what you just said, no bouncing in between reps, there's a reason it's called a "dead"lift I'm currently doing 5/3/1 so on like my last couple of reps my shins sometimes take a beating as you can imagine the form isn't always perfect, but I'm usually pretty good. It was meant more of as a joke to the general powerlifting population as for trying to get the most weight up you lean back as well as pull up so your body acts as a counterweight to help bring the weight up, hence why many powerlifters scrap their shins. Form on Deadlifts is to just pick the weight up, the weight forces you into good form if it's heavy enough, cos otherwise there's no way in hell it's coming up !!

[Mike Zero]

Hey mate

Your shins shouldn't be taking a beating when doing deadlifts.

When deadlifting you should treat each rep as a single, set the bar down momentarily, reset/check stance, then begin the next rep. If executed properly, the bar should be travelling a few centimeters away from your shins and should make first contact with your body just after your knee caps, not before. The point is to pull it straight up, and keep it as close to your shins as possible, but not actually touch them, all the while not letting the bar go forwards away from your body - the further the bar is away from your body the more risk of injury you take.

Sometimes I too notice scrapes up my shins after a hard deadlifting session but it's only because I've been sloppy... take it as a sign that the next session you should concentrate more on your form.

Some powerlifters may say different... some wrap their shins and go for heavy singles with not the best form... in a comp to get the lift up and locked out it may sometimes be unavoidable scraping the shins, but in training you shouldn't be doing this.

[I Declare War]

BB - good stuff, sounds like you're onto it.

Mike Zero - what the hell is that? lol

[BeastBuilder]

Wtf :pfft: I can see I'm guna spend awhile trying to figure this one out

Btw, your in Christchurch, where you train bro ?

[Mike Zero]

Eastside and Uni Rec, you know me :wink:

[BeastBuilder]

Ahah !! I so I do

Where have you been ? You guna do the Eastside Club Lift in December ?

[Mike Zero]

I might do it if I'm allowed, I reckon I'm classed as a Novice again. Alf may think differently though.

[BeastBuilder]

If your a novice, I quit now

Should be a bit of fun, you'd probly end up lifting in my class so I'd be screwed !!

[BeastBuilder]

Week 1 Day 1

Start of the 5th cycle of 5/3/1 this week, still going great !

Squat

Squats: 112.5x5, 130x5, 147.5x15

GHR: BWx10, +10kgx10, +15kgx6/BWx4, +15kgx5/BWx5

Low Box Squat: 60x10, 80x10, 100x10, 100x10

Reverse Hypers: 4 sets of 20, 60kg

Great workout to start off another cycle, destroyed the squats some how, more reps and weight than this time last cycle so must be doing something right :pfft: PR on GHRs too, loving that movement atm, doing it twice a week and ripping it up ! Box Squats we just decided to chuck in on the day, sorta made it up as we went, the box was so dam low, good few inches below parallel, was not easy to stand up after my hammys were fried already !!

In for a Lats and Bis session today will check in later with how it went, lets get massive !!

[BeastBuilder]

Week 1 Day 2

Lats and Bis

Wide Grip Pulldowns: 180x15, 200x12, 210x12, 210x12, 220x10

Pendlay Rows: 60x15, 70x15, 80x12, 80x12, 90x10

Close Grip Pulldowns: 150x15, 170x12, 180x12, 190x10

DB Row: 35x15, 40x12, 45x10, 50x18

Incline Curls: 15x15, 17.5x11, 17.5x10, 17.5x8

Hammer Curls: 20x10, 20x10, 20x10, 22.5x10

Decent session, felt good and had a decent pump going, feeling it today :pfft: Pendlay Rows have been a nice addition, doing them with a bench grip so it's been working well so far. The max out set, basically Kroc Rows, on DB Rows has been fun too, interesting to see where I can get it to, hoping to see some decent improvements on these though !!

5/3/1 Bench and Chest and Tris Hypertrophy today in about half an hour, guna be fun !!