Short term goals for the end of January

[Alon]

Urban's thread got me thinking about making one for some short term (4-6 week) goals, mainly cause a year long goal is so hard to visualise.

My first short term goal is to powerclean 130kg from blocks for a set of 3, I've done it for a single the other day and this would link into my longer term goals by increasing my general pulling power, which will prepare me for my next competition (probably 3 months from now).

What about the rest of you?

 

[Urban]

Clean and press 200+ (currently 20 lbs off)
pistols with a 10 lb bar in front squat position (I may be able to do this now acutally, so look for a revision in the near future).
Train with the COC 2 the way I do with my modified COC 1(30-90 closes in 20 minutes). This is going to be tough.

 

[Zeirhk]

Ughs... this is going to sound lame but I need to reach bench press of 120 lbs. for 3 sets of 10.

A bit long-term but pretty much short term is to also rep out 135 lbs. for 3x12 (which is my bodyweight) on the flat bench.

I haven't set any goals for squats or deads or any other lifts, but as long as their improving then I'm happy with that. I know this is short-term goals thread but one of my very-long term goal is to Overhead Squat my bodyweight for 12 reps (is this an unreleastic goal btw?).

 

[Bizarro]

Get up to 165 lbs. (about 5-6 more pounds to go)
front squat 225x5
push press 150
zercher deadlift 300

I am about 20 pounds away from achieving all of these lifts, and am making constant improvement on them so I am pretty sure they will go down by end of Jan.

 

[Urban]

Bizarro, your numbers seem a little... well all over the place. How can you zercher deadlift 300 and only front squat 225? I mean, I know they're different muscles, but that to me seems way out of balance. I can Z. Dead about what I squat.

 

[Bizarro]

I maxed out on zercher deads 275 last week and my front squats are at about 200 for 5 reps now. I don't know why but looking at other people's zercher lift, I am pretty good at the zercher lift. Maybe it's my body structure? I dont know.

 

[Alon]

Ughs... this is going to sound lame but I need to reach bench press of 120 lbs. for 3 sets of 10.

A bit long-term but pretty much short term is to also rep out 135 lbs. for 3x12 (which is my bodyweight) on the flat bench.

I haven't set any goals for squats or deads or any other lifts, but as long as their improving then I'm happy with that. I know this is short-term goals thread but one of my very-long term goal is to Overhead Squat my bodyweight for 12 reps (is this an unreleastic goal btw?).

Haha, you're bigger and stronger than I was when I started mate (and I was taller). I still get my bench shitted on by most of the guys here. If your goal is to get stronger perhaps you should lower the rep range, even just as an experiment for a few weeks.

Short term goals will probably do you a lot of good, I remember when people used to tell me I need to get my bodyweight upto 230lbs and I thought they were crazy, in the beginning it's much easier to see how that works with some of these intermediate goals.

Oh and the overhead squat isn't unrealistic, but if you're serious about it you should at least do very light overhead squats in your training over time (like once a week, even if it's light), it's not something you can build up in a month's time because of the technique, flexibility and core stability requirements of it.

 

[Alon]

Well i just keep adding weight every week so eh dont really concentrate on specific numbers since sometimes u can do more

"We are never strong enough, we should always be lifting 10lbs more than we currently are."

You're at an age and time in your training when you can play ping pong and get stronger, it won't last forever. I like the idea of a short term goal, even if it isn't quantative or in the same exercise that the long term goal is, it still allows you to focus on something and assist you in acheiving your long term goals.

 

[Urban]

I too like the idea of a short term goal. That's why I was so quick to respond: I already had mine planned out. You need goals for this year and for this month. Both are very important, but the latter may be more important than the former.

 

[tokian]

Deadlift: 350 X 1 lbs
Squat: 305 X 1 lbs
Bench: 200 X 1 lbs
bodyweight: stay at ~165 lbs
Clean: figure that shit out

 

[Zeirhk]

Thanks for the advice Alon, but I'll keep my reps around 8-12, except for deads I'm switching it to 8 sets of 3. I've changed my workouts several times due to recommendations from people....perhaps that's another reason why I can't fully conentrate or track my progress. This is also for the time being...I will be switching back to something like 5x5 on main lifts (except deads) in a few months.

One thing I'll remember and haunt me though. I tried benching 90 lbs. with my friend about a year back at the gym, the plates almost slid off lol (couldn't balance the bar).....NINETY POUNDS!!!

Another short-term goal to keep forever..... don't skip any meals.

 

[Bizarro]

Thanks for the advice Alon, but I'll keep my reps around 8-12, except for deads I'm switching it to 8 sets of 3. I've changed my workouts several times due to recommendations from people....perhaps that's another reason why I can't fully conentrate or track my progress. This is also for the time being...I will be switching back to something like 5x5 on main lifts (except deads) in a few months.

One thing I'll remember and haunt me though. I tried benching 90 lbs. with my friend about a year back at the gym, the plates almost slid off lol (couldn't balance the bar).....NINETY POUNDS!!!

Another short-term goal to keep forever..... don't skip any meals.

Yes, something like that happened to me too..The first time I tried the bench press I was a total newb and war really nervous about going into the free weights section. Anyways, I put a pair of 35's on there, then I got the bar off and lost control because I did not put the collars on and could not keep it balanced. The plates slid off and then this guy came over to help me. Quite embarrasing :redface:

 

[datadog]

4-6 Week goal

Bench - 275x5
DL - 305x5 [and continue +10 a week till I hit my real strength]
Weight: Drop 10 lbs [Goal is be at 250 by end of April]

 

[BAS_FAN]

by feburaruy 4th i need to bench 315. as far as the rest of the goals?
deadlift and squat 365, close grip 275 and floor press 315+.

 

[HULKAMANIA]

A Brief List of Short-Term GFH Goals

Deadlift: 405x1
Bench Press: 250x1

Plate Pinch: 2 35s x 5 sec. both hands
#2's: tap them at will both hands (my left can't do it)

Start Bending

Acquire a Sandbag
Acquire a Medicine Ball

 

[Mark Limbaga]

add 20 lbs to some of my lifts.

 

[rickdog]

Urban, the Zercher Dead and The Front Squat #'s Bizzaro listed are about the same disparity as between my numbers. Didn't seem unrealistic or way off to me.

I am going to try your workout on the COC's with the 0 minute time frame. Start with my 1, it is filed way down.

By end of January I hope to be back to benching and also front Squatting 275x5 and Bent Rows with 275x5 (strict reps, I might be able to do this now).

 

[Urban]

yeah, the biggest proplem with high volume singles on grippers is the amount of skin you'll end up leaving on the handles. Luckily, skin grows back.

 

[rickdog]

Nothing wrong with tuffening up the hands.

When you are working on the COC exercises, do you cut out your other grip exercises? Do you find that they hinder your crushing strength? If not can you make a quick list of grip exercises that might help and ones that might hinder it. Thanks Urb.

 

[Urban]

As far as hindering your gripper progress, do your gripper work first if that's a priority for you and you're going to train your grip with other shit. If you train thickbar work (which I'm beginning to incorporate again) it will really sap any crushing strength you have quickly, DON'T do that before grippers. Levering seems to be kinda neutral so long as you have some gas in the tank. I guess what it boils down to is stick to the shit that's effective all around (blockweights and such) but prioritize what you want to get better at the most (grippers).

as far as supplementing your grip work, doing any kind of heavy grip work before gripper training has really sapped my ability to close anything in the past, but using a block on your lower two or three fingers (middle, ring and pinky, or ring and pinky) is often reccomended as a way to help improve your crush grip since those fingers have the most leverage.