jrams' training log

jrams · Mar 3, 2013

About me: I'm a 25 year old engineer with his head in the clouds. I can never seem to settle and agree with my situation, always wanting to try something new, make something harder, or learn something new. While my friends have accepted or embraced a sedentary life filled with booze, television, and a general malaise when it comes to their jobs, I can't just sit still.

Growing up, I lived an active life of sports and exercise but was always the weakest, never the fastest, but always the one who put in the most effort. It never really bothered me and I always kind of viewed weight rooms for meatheads. That changed in freshman year of college when I helped my friend train for a pankration fight. Ever since then I've been interested in the weight room, although with only a serious shoulder injury to show for it.

I've had a couple in injuries in the past couple years that I am finally feeling comfortable getting over. I dislocated my shoulder, tore my rotator cuff and labrum with a failed dumbell bench press attempt. I tore my gastroc playing basketball and followed it up by playing 3 more games before getting it checked out. I hurt my wrist moving a desk at work giving me some nasty pain by my ulnar.

Trying to follow routines now, while still making it interesting, and actually learning what I need to do to get stronger/bigger/faster/healthier. For the most part I have given up alcohol since last Christmas with the exception being 2 beers that I had at a friends birthday party. My diet still blows, but I love to cook, love to eat, and don't know how much I am willing to give up.

Goals:

Current

Complete Wendler's "Boring But Big" 3-Month Challenge
Increase flexibility in hip, groin, ass, and ankles
Increase mobility in ankles
Don't miss a training session
Read, read, and read some more
No excuses

Future

Complete Smolov Squat Routine
Start running to-from work
Complete a marathon without stopping once

Bucket List

Complete an ultramarathon
Bike the west coast
Hike the Appalachian
Get my PhD

Tomorrow I start a new mesocycle of 5/3/1s. Today just did some light biking
03-03-2013:

60mins of stationary biking, ~17miles
static quad and hamstring stretching
10 empty bar OHSquats to stretch, hold at bottom for 5s
10 widestance front squats to stretch, hold at bottom for 30s

jrams · Sep 17, 2015

07-17-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Lowbar Squat

5 x 135
3 x 185
2 x 225
5 x 240
5 x 240
5 x 240

Press

10 x 45
5 x 90
5 x 90
5 x 90

Clean

3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Nov 17, 2015

16-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Press

5 x 65
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 95
4 x 105
4 x 105
3 x 115
3 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 125

Romanian Deadlifts

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Dec 14, 2015

14-12-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Press

10 x 45
10 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 105
3 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125

Front Squat

5 x 135
5 x 145
5 x 155
5 x 175
5 x 185
5 x 185
5 x 185
5 x 185
5 x 185

Back Squat

5 x 185
5 x 195
5 x 205
5 x 215
5 x 225
5 x 225
5 x 225
5 x 225
5 x 225

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Mar 4, 2013

04-03-2013:

Dynamic Stretching

Hips
Ankles
Quads/Hamstrings

Lowbar Squats

Warmup

5 x 65
5 x 80
3 x 95

Working sets

5 x 100
5 x 115
5 x 135

Deadlift

10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105

Static Stretching

Lower back
Glutes
Hamstrings
Quads

Hanging Leg Raises

10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x

More stretching

2x Bulgarian Squats, hold at bottom for 30s
5x OHSquats w/ empty bar, hold at bottom for 5s

Notes:

Hips feeling a bit more open than they have been
Knees still go too far forward when squatting
Need to make a conscious effort to drive my hips on the squats
Deadlift form improving but still tend to let the bar drift away from my body on the initial pull
Feel like I might be starting at too light of a weight but will stick with it

jrams · Sep 19, 2015

07-19-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Lowbar Squat

5 x 135
3 x 185
2 x 225
5 x 245
5 x 245
5 x 245

Bench Press

10 x 45
5 x 95
3 x 135
5 x 165
5 x 165
5 x 165

Deadlift

10 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 225
5 x 275

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Nov 17, 2015

17-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Front Squat

5 x 45
5 x 65
5 x 85
5 x 105
3 x 135
3 x 155
3 x 175
1 x 185
1 x 185

Back Squat

5 x 225
5 x 225
3 x 245
3 x 245
3 x 265
3 x 265
1 x 275

Face Pulls

8 x 40
8 x 55
8 x 65
8 x 65
8 x 65
8 x 65
8 x 65
8 x 65

Notes:

Twinged my back a bit

fbmmofo · Mar 4, 2013

Welcome to logs.I dislocated a shoulder a few years back playing rugby,wasn't fun
Good luck

jrams · Nov 19, 2015

19-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Dumbell Rows

10 x 45
10 x 60
10 x 65
10 x 70
10 x 75
10 x 80
5 x 85
5 x 85

Pendlay Rows

5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 175
5 x 175

Notes:

Fuck these DOMS

jrams · Mar 5, 2013

05-03-2013:

Dynamic Stretching

Lower Back
Shoulders
Pectorals

Bench Press

Warmup

5 x 60
5 x 75
4 x 90

Working sets

5 x 100
5 x 115
5 x 130

Push Press

10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55

Dumbell Rows

10 x 70
10 x 70
10 x 75
10 x 80
10 x 80

Assisted Dips

10 x +70
10 x +52
10 x +52

Static Stretching

Lower back
Glutes
Shoulders
Pectorals

Notes:

Lowerback felt really stiff since yesterday, so I stretched it out a ton
Grip on left hand failed during my last dumbell row, but I just grabbed it again and kept going
Still feels too easy

jrams · Nov 23, 2015

23-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Press

5 x 65
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 95
4 x 105
4 x 105
3 x 115
3 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 125

Push Press

1 x 135
1 x 135
1 x 145
1 x 145
1 x 155

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Mar 7, 2013

07-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Lower Back

Deadlift

Warmup

5 x 80
5 x 100
3 x 120

Working sets

5 x 130
5 x 150
5 x 1165

Lowbar Squats

10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80

Weighted Situps

25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10

Russian Twists

20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10

Notes:

Some girl was doing squats on the olympic mat with a fixed weight bar then doing some circuit thing so I deadlifted by the power rack. Made an ass of myself when the bar fell off the rack when I was removing the weights someone previously just left there.
Felt strong on the deadlifts, wasn't rounding my back
Kept the bar close to my body and made more of a conscious effort to setup before each lift
My knees buckled in a bit coming up from the very bottom during my first 5 reps of my first set of squats. After I saw that was conscious of it and didn't let it happen.
Had to run out the gym to help my friend get his license, had to cut post-workout stretching.
My abs suck

jrams · Nov 24, 2015

24-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Deadlift

5 x 135
5 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 185
5 x 225
5 x 245
5 x 245
5 x 275
5 x 275

Notes:

Bad mood, not enough time to lift

jrams · Mar 8, 2013

08-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Shoulders
Pectorals

Push Press

Warmup

5 x 45
5 x 50
3 x 60

Working sets

5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 85

Bench Press

10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75

Assisted Chinups

10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88

Preacher Curls

10 x 15
10 x 20
10 x 20

Stretching

Empty bar OHSquat, 5 x, hold at bottom for 5s
Empty bar front squats, 5 x, hold at bottom for 30s
Lowerback stretch on foam roll, 5mins
Stretched glutes on foam roll for 2 mins, each side
Static stretch shoulders, 2 mins

Notes:

Finished first week of BBB, it is a lot easier than I was thinking it would be. Might need to re-evaluate my 1RMs
Snowed a ton today, like 1ft+, so I was really tired from shoveling all morning
Couple of clowns were using the power rack right after me. First guy was curling and then on his last rep would just drop the weight onto the safety rails. The second guy was using the rack to do some limited range of motion bench, which is fine and dandy, but he setup outside of the rack so that the safety rails wouldn't be in his way(?)
These two college girls were doing this weird wiggle thing in front of me while I was stretching. They would hold onto kettlebells in both hands, squat once, then wiggle their hips around for ~2min. I had no idea what was going on

jrams · Nov 26, 2015

26-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Power Snatch

3 x 45
3 x 45
3 x 45
3 x 45
3 x 45

Romanian Deadlift

8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155

Snatch Grip Deadlift

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135

Face Pull

8 x 40
8 x 47.5
8 x 55
8 x 65

Notes:

I need to fix my crappy posture
I have enough shoulder flexibility that my crappy bottom position of the snatch doesn't affect me too much. However, I would like to be able to sit more upright

jrams · Mar 10, 2013

10-03-2013:

45 min of biking

Stretching

Static quad stretch
Static hamstring stretch
Empty bar OHSquat, 5 x, hold at bottom for 10s
Empty bar front squats, 5 x, hold at bottom for 30s
Bulgarian squats, 5 x, hold at bottom for 10s

Notes:

Hips feeling a lot better since I started stretching them more routinely and deeply
Cut my biking short since I got there late and didn't want to miss the Celtics
I want to start running again but I like biking because I can read during it
OHSquats feeling much easier than when I started. Feel like I am keeping my back in line much better now.
Excited to get out there and the hit the weights again tomorrow

jrams · Nov 29, 2015

29-11-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Press

5 x 65
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 75
5 x 85
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 95
3 x 105
3 x 105
1 x 115
1 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125

Romanian Deadlift

8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155
8 x 155

Notes:

Nothing to add

Pro Killer · Mar 10, 2013

jrams said:
07-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Lower Back

Deadlift

Warmup

5 x 80

5 x 100

3 x 120

Working sets

5 x 130

5 x 150

5 x 1165

Lowbar Squats

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

Weighted Situps

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

Russian Twists

20 x 10

20 x 10

20 x 10

Notes:

Some girl was doing squats on the olympic mat with a fixed weight bar then doing some circuit thing so I deadlifted by the power rack. Made an ass of myself when the bar fell off the rack when I was removing the weights someone previously just left there.

Felt strong on the deadlifts, wasn't rounding my back

Kept the bar close to my body and made more of a conscious effort to setup before each lift

My knees buckled in a bit coming up from the very bottom during my first 5 reps of my first set of squats. After I saw that was conscious of it and didn't let it happen.

Had to run out the gym to help my friend get his license, had to cut post-workout stretching.

My abs suck

Should of tapped the girl. I'd hit that!

jrams · Dec 2, 2015

02-12-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Bench Press

10 x 45
5 x 95
5 x 115
5 x 135
3 x 145
3 x 155
2 x 165
1 x 175
1 x 175
1 x 175
5 x 135
5 x 135
5 x 135

Romanian Deadlift

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135

Snatch Grip Deadlift

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135

Push Press

1 x 135
1 x 135
1 x 135
1 x 135
1 x 135

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Mar 11, 2013

11-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Agile 8
Hips
Ankles
Quads/Hamstrings

Lowbar Squats

Warmup

5 x 65
5 x 80
3 x 95

Working sets

3 x 110
3 x 125
3 x 140

Deadlift

10 x 100
10 x 100
10 x 100
10 x 100
10 x 100

Static Stretching

Lower back
Glutes
Hamstrings
Quads

Hanging Leg Raises

10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x

Notes:

Happy 311 day
Officially got laid off today. Was told on Thursday that it would probably be my last day and to take Friday off. Lo and behold was true. Might apply for a job at my gym while I look for a real job
Squats were easy. Got that nice stretch at the bottom, kept my hips level throughout, and no goodmorninging.
Deadlifts getting easier too. Doing better forcing myself to setup better each rep
I plan on running tonight

edit:
25 mins of running, ~3 miles tonight. My back felt really tight during it but wasn't too challenging. There was an unleashed dog in the middle of route so I had to backtrack which was obnoxious.

jrams · Dec 3, 2015

03-12-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Snatch Pull

3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135
3 x 135

Snatch Grip Deadlift

3 x 225
3 x 225
3 x 225
3 x 225
3 x 225

Press

5 x 65
5 x 85
3 x 95
2 x 105
1 x 115

Notes:

Nothing to add

jrams · Mar 12, 2013

12-03-2013:

Dynamic Stretching

Lower Back
Shoulders
Pectorals

Bench Press

Warmup

5 x 60
5 x 75
3 x 90

Working sets

3 x 105
3 x 120
3 x 135
3 x 135

Push Press

10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55
10 x 55

Dumbell Rows

10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80

Assisted Dips

10 x +52
10 x +52
10 x +46

Notes:

Not much to add, the dumbell rows kicked my ass today but I powered through them

jrams · Dec 5, 2015

05-12-2015:

Dynamic Stretching

Limber 11

Bench Press

10 x 45
5 x 105
5 x 125
5 x 135

Press

10 x 45
5 x 85
5 x 85
5 x 95
5 x 95
3 x 105
3 x 105
2 x 115
2 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125
1 x 125

Front Squat

5 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 205

Notes:

Some asshole was using all of the squat racks so that he could deadlift

toonie · Mar 12, 2013

jrams said:
07-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Lower Back

Deadlift

Warmup

5 x 80

5 x 100

3 x 120

Working sets

5 x 130

5 x 150
[*]5 x 1165

Lowbar Squats

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

10 x 80

Weighted Situps

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

25 x 10

Russian Twists

20 x 10

20 x 10

20 x 10

Notes:

Some girl was doing squats on the olympic mat with a fixed weight bar then doing some circuit thing so I deadlifted by the power rack. Made an ass of myself when the bar fell off the rack when I was removing the weights someone previously just left there.

Felt strong on the deadlifts, wasn't rounding my back

Kept the bar close to my body and made more of a conscious effort to setup before each lift

My knees buckled in a bit coming up from the very bottom during my first 5 reps of my first set of squats. After I saw that was conscious of it and didn't let it happen.

Had to run out the gym to help my friend get his license, had to cut post-workout stretching.

My abs suck

Holy shit that's a big deadlift!

Welcome to the logs.

You aren't doing AMRAP on your top work-sets?

jrams · Mar 12, 2013

toonie said:
Holy shit that's a big deadlift!

Guess I felt strong that day.

toonie said:
Welcome to the logs.

You aren't doing AMRAP on your top work-sets?

Nope, the program states "The first part of the Boring But Big Challenge is that you'll continue to perform the squat, bench, press, and deadlift with the 5/3/1 sets and rep scheme. (If you're unfamiliar with the 5/3/1 program, click here to get the rundown.) The one thing that you'll change is that you will not go for any extra reps on the last set. You'll only do the required reps and then move on to the 5 sets of 10 reps."

toonie · Mar 12, 2013

jrams said:
Guess I felt strong that day.

Nope, the program states "The first part of the Boring But Big Challenge is that you'll continue to perform the squat, bench, press, and deadlift with the 5/3/1 sets and rep scheme. (If you're unfamiliar with the 5/3/1 program, click here to get the rundown.) The one thing that you'll change is that you will not go for any extra reps on the last set. You'll only do the required reps and then move on to the 5 sets of 10 reps."

Sense, it makes. 5x10 *shudders*

jrams · Mar 13, 2013

13-03-2013:

75min of biking

Stretching

Lower back
Glutes
Hips
3 x 5 empty bar OHSquats, hold at bottom for 10s

Notes:

Got lost in my book so I forgot to check how far I biked. I feel really slow lately though
Legs felt awful for the first 10 minutes then they finally warmed up
Probably going to run tonight
Been in a really bad mood today and really wanted to tell one of the trainers there to go fuck himself for always leaving his shit scattered around, never re-racking weights, and using the prowler/sled/sprint area to foam roll in everyone's way. But I didn't and let him continue to do some kettelbell workout lying down on the Olympic mat
I feel like a bum not having a job. I guess I will put more effort into the hunt

edit:
30mins of running, ~3miles. It got cold out and my achilles never warmed up, had to fight for every minute.

jrams · Mar 14, 2013

14-03-2013:

5min of biking

Deadlift

Warmup

5 x 80
5 x 100
3 x 120

Working sets

3 x 140
3 x 155
3 x 175

Lowbar Squats

10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80
10 x 80

Weighted Situps

25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10

Russian Twists

20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10

Notes:

Nothing really to add, just have felt like shit the entire day

edit:
40mins of running, ~4 miles. Was only supposed to do 20mins but it was cold as balls out and I was finally starting to feel good so I kept going. My achilles feel like they are on fire though, really hope I can loosen them up if I am going to keep with running.

MilkManUK · Mar 14, 2013

I'm liking the format of this log. What kind of engineering do (did) you do? Good luck with the job hunt, and your training.

jrams · Mar 14, 2013

MilkManUK said:
I'm liking the format of this log. What kind of engineering do (did) you do? Good luck with the job hunt, and your training.

I got my MS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2010. However my job was software QA engineer at a software startup that does VoIP. Trying to get into either a robotics field or medical devices while I save up for a 3D Printer to cut my teeth on.

Once I get a better understanding of what matters, I'll start adding more information to my training logs. Right now I am just following a program so it's basically a bunch of check marks.

jrams · Mar 15, 2013

15-03-2013:

5min of biking

Dynamic Stretching

Shoulders
Pectorals

Push Press

Warmup

5 x 45
5 x 50
3 x 60

Working sets

3 x 70
3 x 80
3 x 90

Bench Press

10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75
10 x 75

Assisted Chinups

10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88
10 x +88

Preacher Curls

10 x 20
10 x 20
10 x 20

Stretching

Lower back

Notes:

Got some rejection letters today so I went to the gym angry and beasted through it
Still don't feel like I am doing good enough looking for a job
I feel good about the week, although looking back I remember feeling drained for most of it
6 weeks strong finishing what I said I would and 3 weeks strong without missing a workout. 10 more weeks to go until my next program

jrams · Mar 16, 2013

16-03-2013:

25 mins of running, ~3miles

Notes:

Running has been getting easier, although my achilles still feel like they are on fire when I finish
It feels strange running in beer shirts while on a vow of sobriety
Might need to start running during the day if I want to go longer. No sidewalks and narrow roads aren't very runner friendly at night

jrams · Mar 18, 2013

18-03-2013:

Agile 8

Dynamic Stretching

Hips

Lowbar Squats

Warmup

5 x 65
5 x 80
3 x 95

Working sets

5 x 115
3 x 135
1 x 150
1 x 165
1 x 185
1 x 195
4 x 205
1 x 215

Deadlift

10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105
10 x 105

Hanging Leg Raises

10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x
10 x

Static Stretching

Lower back
Glutes
Hamstrings
Quads

Notes:

This whole cycle felt way too easy so I decided to push it to see how much higher I should set my 1RM for the next cycle
Good morning'd only one of my squats and only one had my knee come in. Feeling a lot more comfortable with them
Going to run tonight, planning on another 20min minimum
The weight starts feeling really heavy on my shoulders around 170, but during the actual squat feels like nothing on my legs. I'm still probably selling myself short

edit:
25 min run, ~2.5 miles. It was snowing pretty heavy and I couldn't get very good footing. Again, I feel like my body could have handled more/faster. No pain, no stiffness this time around. Achilles still feel like they are on fire when I finish.

jrams' training log

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