Strongman + Powerlifting + Weightlifting = Squaggleboggin

[P-funk]

dude, just let the skin come off!

 

[PreMier]

Max calc has me in the 440range. But I dont know.. I couldnt pull 455 all the way the other day.

 

[CowPimp]

CowPimp

Thanks, it definitely didn't feel light, that's for sure. Do you really believe it possible for me to deadlift 600 within 18 months? That would be awesome, but I think that's pushing it. Where are you at right now with your deadlift if you had to estimate?

I don't know, but it is certainly possible. Particularly if you were to lean out enough that you felt comfortable putting some mass back on in the form of muscle.

I've done 407 successfully. I failed at 417 a few weeks ago, but I was inches from lockout. I think I could hit it now; if I had to estimate then 417 would be it. I've been hitting up my upper back with some extra work, and my good mornings are back up into some heavy numbers, which always seems to signal a concomittant increase in my deadlift numbers and to a lesser degree my squat numbers.

I won't be attempting any 1RMs for probably a couple of months. I'm going to finished another several weeks of my current routine, deload for a week, and then do some Westside. I will be testing all 1RMs at the beginning of that program.

dude, just let the skin come off!

Haha, that's how I roll. People think I'm crazy that I don't wear gloves when they see my calluses. I need to get a picture of them up.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Today's Workout:

Clean and Presses 3x3 (115), 1x1 (155), 1x1 (175), 2x1 (185); Farmers' Walks 3x1 (170); Pull Ups 3x3

I'm wondering about those C & Ps. I've now seen the C & Js done where you don't put one leg forward and the other behind - you just drop down and straighten your arms. That's basically what I've been doing. I've also been squatting down and jumping into a wider stance instead of staying narrow and going down further. Is this alright to do? It seems just fine so far because I don't have that much room where I do it so I don't want to get off balance with the narrower stance. The farmers' walks weren't bad so I'll be moving up in weight again. The pull ups are definitely improving a lot. It seemed fairly easy to complete it today.

 

[P-funk]

yea, some guys split jerk (like I do) and some guys power jerk (going into a quarter squat. like pyross dimas does) and some guys like the 77kg lifter from china (can't remeber his name) squat jerk (all the way into a full squat). just make sure you don't press out if you want it to count and be a legit jerk.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

PreMier

How often do you usually accomplish a new max (assuming you add 5 lbs)? I can usually add a new one every few weeks. I was just wondering since you're already quite a bit ahead of me in the game of 500.

CowPimp

I have indeed been leaning out. I've lost about 25 pounds so far and I'm looking to lose at least 15 more. I don't really have a set weight I'd like to get to - the mirror will tell me everything I need to know. After that I'll most likely naturally bulk up some while still focusing on functional strength.

P-Funk

By not pressing out, do you mean not to lean back and try to do an incline bench with it (the same thing that took the C & P out of the olympics)? If that's what you mean, then it seems like I'm doing it right. And to think I've been thinking I've been doing C & Ps all this time...

Hmm...

 

[P-funk]

by pressing out I mean that you need to re-bend your knees quick enough to get under the bar without pressing it with your shoulders and instead jsut dumoping under it. that is what you do on a jerk...you shrug yourself under the bar. If at some point you don't drop down quick enough you will have to press the lock out and you will get called for a press out and you will get a no lift.

 

[PreMier]

I dont know

 

[Squaggleboggin]

by pressing out I mean that you need to re-bend your knees quick enough to get under the bar without pressing it with your shoulders and instead jsut dumoping under it. that is what you do on a jerk...you shrug yourself under the bar. If at some point you don't drop down quick enough you will have to press the lock out and you will get called for a press out and you will get a no lift.

Oh, I see. So in other words you must move instead of the bar during the second portion for it to be legitimate.

 

[The Monkey Man]

Wanna race to 500?

 

[Triple Threat]

See post #26

 

[Squaggleboggin]

For some reason I've been ching my workout schedule a lot lately. I usually stick with the same general schedule for at least a couple months before chaning it, but I've been having new ideas that I want to include. Today wasn't really a scheduled workout. I just felt like doing some cleans and I hit 205 pretty easily at 202 BW. I tried and tried again with 225 but it was a no go probably half a dozen times. Oh well, I'll get it soon.

I've decided to start replacing some of my circuit work with heavier auxiliary lifts for the compound movements. For example, I'll have a day where I do cleans followed by jerks for the C & J and I'm going to be using resistance on my light days instead of doing things circuit style. This includes heavier front jump squats to get more used to decelerating heavier weights along with my body. I guess I'll see how it goes from here...

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Today's Workout:

Cleans 3x3 (135), 3x2 (185); Jerks 3x5 (115); Farmers Walks 3x2 (120); Chin Ups 2x1

Cleans felt really good. I planned on doing the working sets with 205 but I lowered the weight after the first rep. The jerks were nice and it felt like I really nailed the form the first time I was trying them. Farmers walks seemed easier than usual. Chin ups seemed easier too and I'm moving up with more reps for those next time.

 

[Stewart14]

ahh to be 16 again!! lol

Great journal dude, I will be checking this out, as I just recently started a powerlifting routine myself, so I will be stopping by for ideas/suggestions and all that good stuff. Of course , I can only deadlift mid 300s right now, but that's coming from a 31 year old who just started deadlifting this year, so I guess it ain't so bad right?

And a 200 db press goal?!?! Damn that's just plain sick. I put up 125s the other day and I thought I was gonna have an anneurism (sp?), the only person who I have seen do it is Ronnie Coleman in a video, but hey, you're young, and you're big, I guess you have time on your side

Keep up the good work

 

[Squaggleboggin]

ahh to be 16 again!! lol

Great journal dude, I will be checking this out, as I just recently started a powerlifting routine myself, so I will be stopping by for ideas/suggestions and all that good stuff. Of course , I can only deadlift mid 300s right now, but that's coming from a 31 year old who just started deadlifting this year, so I guess it ain't so bad right?

And a 200 db press goal?!?! Damn that's just plain sick. I put up 125s the other day and I thought I was gonna have an anneurism (sp?), the only person who I have seen do it is Ronnie Coleman in a video, but hey, you're young, and you're big, I guess you have time on your side

Keep up the good work

Thanks a lot for the encouragement. Nice to have someone else onboard. I'll be sure to stop in on your journal as well. And all of my weights on there are totals, so I have a goal of 200 pounds total on the DBs or each DB being 100 pounds. Chest is definitely my weak area so it'll be a long time before I'm able to do 200s! I love having new people stop in. Encouragement is fantastic. Good luck with your lifting. Mid 300s isn't bad at all - my brother (and no one tell him because he'd probably cry) is 19 and I don't think he's able to deadlift 200 yet. He's at a BW of about 175. He wants to train but he never sticks with it. It kind of bugs me. Oh, well - his loss I suppose. I'd really suggest that you try the olympic lifts too. I'm absolutely in love with the C & J now that I know there are several different variations that are all correct. Just give it a try with just the bar and then try with maybe 95 once you're used to it just to see if you like it. It's by far my favorite exercise now. Again, good luck with your lifting. I'll be sure to stop in on your journal. Just give me a reminder once you start it (I'm very forgetful haha).

Today's Workout:
I started to do it and then I realized "Hey, this is pointless" and I stopped and scratched the whole idea. I was going to do some front jump squats with actual weight, but then I realized it was more of a pain in the ass than a help. I was also going to do SLDLs and DB presses with lower weights and that was also kind of pointless. Therefore, I'm not including today's workout anymore in my routine.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and to everyone else I hope you enjoy the day off.

Today I received a copy of "Dinosaur Training" by Kubik, "Explosive Lifting for Sports" by Harvey Newton and, most importantly, "The Weightlifting Encyclopedia" by Dreschler. I'm going to have a fun time reading these.

While this has nothing to do with training, I thought I'd share this for a little laugh. Another gift I received today was a safe. A steel safe. What can I say? I'm a weird kid. When I opened up the box, however, I found that one corner of it was actually dented. I don't mean like "Oops, I dropped it on the floor" dented, but like "Hey, let's see what'll happen if we use this axe on this safe 37 times" dented. I mean, it was really like an axe's imprint. I don't even know how this could happen. The bottom of it was also rounded outwards for some reason. It was a little confusing, a little funny, and a little annoying. The box was in perfect condition too. Well, that's about it. Just a random thing for today I thought someone might get a laugh out of. I'll see if I can post some pictures later...

 

[P-funk]

those are 3 of my favorite books.

 

[Pylon]

Nice story on the safe. Sounds like someone took it out for a test drive.

Good books to get. Enjoy the reading.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Yeah I don't really know what happened to it but I thought it was funny.

I'm going to be doing basically nothing these next few days except reading, lifting, eating, sleeping and working. For some reason, this makes me happy.

I'm also considering taking out some of the exercises in my routine after reading just the first 25 pages of the book. I think he's right: the C&J is basically the ultimate test of strength and power, so why bother with most other things? Therefore, I'm wondering whether I should omit my DB benches, yates rows and military presses. I already do cleans and jerks separately, so the military presses seem kind of unnecessary. As for the DB benches, they have no real carryover as far as I can see, but I don't want my chest to become a weak link. Maybe I'll just take out the military presses and keep the other two. Hmm...

 

[Squaggleboggin]

All right, has anyone else noticed that the Weightlifting Encyclopedia has about a million typos? I mean I keep seeing little things like inconsistent formatting, a left out letter, etc., but now I'm seeing that Chapter 5 is printed in there twice with the page numbers screwed up, etc.. Is it just my copy or is this book just like this?

 

[shiznit2169]

It's nice to see a young guy really have the motivation, dedication, and the willingness to learn about something that basically 99% of the population has no interest in. I admire your strength and knowledge about weightlifting and your maturity level when it comes to helping out others on this forum. I have to say the same thing about myself and i noticed a post from you in the other thread the weightlifting is really an amazing thing to do. It really makes us look around as compared to the average person in society and see how we far we can go beyond our limits and achieve goals that seem like it is impossible to do but we fight through it. If it wasn't for this forum, i probably would have been an on/off lifter like i was when i was your age (im 19 now).

As for the 3 books you got, i am really interested in buying them because i am really starting to get into it. lol .. my life is basically sleep, eat, lift, work, repeat. Call me crazy but i love it. Let me know about the books and if they are worth buying and give a thorough review on them as well so i will know specifically what it is about. Thanks.

Keep up the good work.

 

[CowPimp]

Good choices. I definitely need to check out The Weightlifting Encyclopedia. There are too many damned books I want to read. I guess I'm going to finish my textbook first and just read for pleasure on the side. Tell me what you think though.

 

[PWGriffin]

I got a couple books that I just can't make myself read....The anabolic primer (actually NOT about steroids) and Arnolds encyclopedia....I can sit and read on here for hours but something about cracking a book puts me to sleep...maybe it's just cuz I'm so tired from everything else I do, when I sit down, I shut down.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

It's nice to see a young guy really have the motivation, dedication, and the willingness to learn about something that basically 99% of the population has no interest in. I admire your strength and knowledge about weightlifting and your maturity level when it comes to helping out others on this forum. I have to say the same thing about myself and i noticed a post from you in the other thread the weightlifting is really an amazing thing to do. It really makes us look around as compared to the average person in society and see how we far we can go beyond our limits and achieve goals that seem like it is impossible to do but we fight through it. If it wasn't for this forum, i probably would have been an on/off lifter like i was when i was your age (im 19 now).

As for the 3 books you got, i am really interested in buying them because i am really starting to get into it. lol .. my life is basically sleep, eat, lift, work, repeat. Call me crazy but i love it. Let me know about the books and if they are worth buying and give a thorough review on them as well so i will know specifically what it is about. Thanks.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the encouragement. I always appreciate it and it's nice to know someone else appreciates that I contribute whatever I can even if it's not always the best advice or the most correct. Hey, we all make mistakes and I'm definitely no exception to that.

Well I've only read about 35 pages of the encyclopedia, but this thing is packed full of information. It's over 500 pages so it'll be a while until I finish it. So far, I've read about the bar's trajectories, lifter's center of gravity with the bar, different styles, angles of the lifter's back arch, points of maximum acceleration and basic and specific techniques in the snatch, clean and jerk all within the first 35 pages. Needless to say, it's informative to say the least. This thing truly goes in depth. The guy took seven years to write it. Seven years. He's studied films of liters, analyzed photos, designed pictures, etc. to help you understand everything. He was also an international weightlifter himself, so you know he knows his stuff. I'll give an update when I'm further into the book.

I feel I should warn you, however: If you read this book's introduction, you may feel the urge to drop everything except the C&J (and snatch) from your routine. After I read it I thought to myself "What's the point of half of my exercises?" because he's really that convincing that weightlifters are the strongest people on earth. I must say, I definitely agree. It takes unbelievable power, strength, balance, speed and agility to throw several hundred pounds into the air, catch it, and hold it over your head. I don't do the snatch at all, but I'm very glad I started the C&J - the feeling you get from a clean lift you know you did correctly is amazing. You really own the weight - you just moved it from the floor to over your head in a completely controlled and natural way, without the aid of wraps, belts, suits, etc.. Well I'm getting carried away so I'll stop my ranting now, even though it's my journal. Normally I would deadlift today but I feel like doing some more cleans (I did some last night to show a couple of my relatives how to do them to improve their deadlifts with the explosiveness).

 

[Squaggleboggin]

So I decided to stray a little from my planned workout today and just pump out some cleans. I've woken up with a sore back the past couple days (slept in a strange position or got too much or not enough sleep I suppose) so I haven't been wanting to do very much (most everything I do involves a lot of back).

I did 3x3 (135), 1x1 (185), 1x1 (205), 1x1 (215), failed 225 numerous times again. I'm still confident I can get it soon. I can get the bar to come up high enough, but it seems like my body isn't willing to actually get underneath 225 pounds of descending steel. The PR of 215 was at a BW of 198 though. This means I'm still losing weight and still gaining strength. Yippee! This is a very good thing because I want to be as light as possible to have to move the least weight so fast to get under the bar. I may actually compete in the 184 class. Since I started off at 230, this is a huge difference and I didn't think before that would be possible. I thought I'd be in the 198 at the lightest, which is where I'm at now, but I still have a long way to go.

I should be back on track with my usual routine tomorrow. I may need to take a day off since it starts with cleans, but if I'm feeling good I'll just go right into it.

Oh, and does anyone think military presses are necessary if I'm going to be doing jerks separately? I'm thinking it would just be extraneous volume.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Today's Workout:

Cleans 3x3 (135), 3x2 (205); Jerks 3x5 (120); Farmers Walks 3x2 (130); Chin Ups 2x2

Today was great. I think this was the third time in a row I've done cleans in one exercise (hey, I like them). I was extremely sore and tired after this, needless to say, but it was one of the best workouts I've ever had. I felt I really nailed my form on the cleans for a lot of them and I'm comfortable enough to move up in weight (I just need to get fully under the bar instead of sometimes catching it partially in front of me). Jerks were great - made me sore and made me work hard. Farmers walks were good too. After the cleans my traps hurt and after these it was quite something. Chin ups are getting better and I'm going to be doing more reps again next week. Yahoo!

 

[CowPimp]

Hey good job on the lifts. I bet you'll be able to pound out oodles of chinups in no time, especially with your weight getting down like it has been.

 

[Pylon]

Have a great New Year's Eve, Squaggle. Be safe!

 

[Squaggleboggin]

CowPimp:

Thanks. I love the C&J oh so much. I think the chins will improve as well.

Pylon:

Thanks, man. Don't worry about me - I rarely do anything fun, nonetheless dangerous. Hahaha.

Happy New Year's Eve everyone. Just another day, but an excuse to celebrate and get off school (and/or work).

 

[camarosuper6]

im very impressed with your lifts... ESPECIALLY at 16.


A 600 lb deadlfits IS possible. I just hit the 475 x4 mark myself, so we should all have a race to 600!