[Steve]

Steve on March 24, 2009 at 11:47 am #15500

About Me:
20 years old
-6′ 225 ~12BF (looking to drop down to 200-205 by race season)
-Attending a big ten university (great facilities, indoor track is similar to the NYC armory)
-Have not trained continuously since High School where my best times were 11.44fat 100m 22.9h 200m…the majority of the time I was plagued with injuries, usual underachieving stuff

My athletic feats in HS:
365×1 squat (high bar oly-style, hammies to calves, etc…)
230×9 bench, maybe 270×1
275×1 Clean

34″ standing vert.
10′ Broad Jump

Training Background:
For the past 3 years Ive been part of the powerlifting team/club up at school. All along my true intentions were to run track at the D1 level.

Summer of 2007, I got the sprinting bug and trained for 5 weeks after not sprinting at all for a year.

Ran in one meet in early July where I ran 11.28 in the prelims (had to skip the finals, due to a nagging knee injury that flared up). It was a PR by .16..after minimal training AND without a coach. How was this possible (it took me all of winter and spring track to run 11.44 near the end of senior year of HS). The answer…strength training!!!

-I had increased my squat from 365 to 440×1 max, deadlift to 450×1, and bench to 275×3…solid increases after my first year of lifting seriously…but I wasn’t satisfied.

Fast forward to today, almost 20 months since last sprinting. I believe I’ve built up the tools necessary to be at force at the collegiate level and I began Day 1 of my journey towards becoming a legitimate D1 sprinter today.

These are the lifts I’m working with today…
365×20 squat, (fyi I was at 315×20 when I maxed at 495 last winter)…haven’t peaked for a true max recently but id say 600×1 is completely possible if not more.
335×5 bench
495×5 585×1 deadlift (havent done this in 9 months)
315×1 full clean (havent done this in over a year)
38″ inch vert. when I squatted 315×20 495×1…gonna test this again soon but I will guarentee a 40+ incher when after some good plyo work.

Sooo recap time:
Squat: 365×1 in HS to 365×20 NOW
Bench: 270×1 in HS to 335×5 NOW
Deadlift: 450 (20mo. ago) to 585 NOW
Vertical: 34″ in HS to at least 38″ NOW
weight: 210 in HS to 225 NOW

I have no idea how fast I will go, so I am not setting any goals to limit myself. Comments welcome. Let’s do this.

[Steve]

Steve on March 24, 2009 at 12:00 pm #79818

DAY 1

345PM: WARMUP: 800m jog, walking lunges 3x15m, Walking A skip’s 3×15, A skip’s (same leg) 3x15m
A’ skips 3x15m

20 min jog across rolling grassy hills

Thoughts: first day running in a long time so I knew this would be interesting. Legs felt a little heavy, heart rate got elevated quickly warming up lol. Nursing an Achilles strain from last week so I’m going to be pretty conservative these first few weeks with the warmup especially. Felt good afterward.

600PM: Weights(LEGS)

Barbell Reverse Lunges
315 5×5 (on each leg) *PR for a 5×5 set

DB Lunges (back leg up on bench)
50’s 3×10

Leg Extensions
170 2×20

Thoughts: Legs were moderately sore going in to the workout. Put up some good weight. I touch my knee lightly to the ground on each lunge. Going to be very sore tomorrow morning.

[dan1990]

dan1990 on March 25, 2009 at 3:34 am #79847

your strong and impressive vert…what did you do to get so strong…what kind of rep scheme or program etc..good luck with your sprinting

[mortac8]

mortac8 on March 25, 2009 at 4:18 am #79851

not as psu are you? what year are you?

[Steve]

Steve on March 25, 2009 at 11:46 am #79874

your strong and impressive vert…what did you do to get so strong…what kind of rep scheme or program etc..good luck with your sprinting

I’ve always been pretty damn explosive in my lower body lifts, all my reps up to around 90% max are done very quickly, or so Ive been told.

In a nutshell, my training has consisted of many many sheiko cycles #37 is a good one if you are familiar with russian training techniques(one smolov cycle for bench heh) interspersed with some German Volume Training ,10×10, 8×8, 10×5, etc for recovery and hypertrophy purposes. Stick mostly to Full Squats, BB Reverse Lunges and GHR’s for hammies and conventional deads/rack pulls off pins for straight up power. As you can imagine, not too much time to train/run while doing these kind of programs since everyday is literally hell just walking around campus.

[Steve]

Steve on March 25, 2009 at 11:48 am #79876

not as psu are you? what year are you?

hell yea man. junior year. I’m staying for a 5th fall semester to double major, so I still have some time.

you up here too?

[Steve]

Steve on March 25, 2009 at 11:50 am #79877

DAY 2 OFF

Thoughts: hammies and glutes sore. Achilles is progressing slowly. Another light run tomorrow…

[mortac8]

mortac8 on March 25, 2009 at 1:08 pm #79879

Yea I live in State College…coach at Juniata College part-time. Good strength numbers you have there. They will serve you well in the 60 and also the 100 I’m sure. I’m pretty busy now but our season winds down after April so if you ever need any help with training/rehab let me know. I’m 29yrs old and still training to try and break 11 (11.03 PB) so maybe if you need a training partner over the summer…

[Steve]

Steve on March 25, 2009 at 2:16 pm #79881

Yea I live in State College…coach at Juniata College part-time. Good strength numbers you have there. They will serve you well in the 60 and also the 100 I’m sure. I’m pretty busy now but our season winds down after April so if you ever need any help with training/rehab let me know. I’m 29yrs old and still training to try and break 11 (11.03 PB) so maybe if you need a training partner over the summer…

wow awesome. I’ll definitely consider this. Still looking for a good internship this summer, but if I don’t get any good offers I’ll be up here for the summer taking classes and training.

PMed you my email if you want to discuss training, lifting, etc.

[Steve]

Steve on March 26, 2009 at 1:49 pm #79934

Day 3

3 Exams today so no time to get a run in. Just weights today, did an arms workout…
Pause DB-Bench Punch-style 3×10 100’s,100’s,110’s
Seated Alt. DB Curls w/ 5s negatives 10,8,8 50’s
HS Dip Machine 3×12(slow reps)315,335,355
DB Preacher Curls 3×10 40
Tricep Pushdowns 10,8,8 260

Thoughts: a bit dehydrated before the workout, not much sleep the past few days with exams and work picking up. Hopefully, I’ll get that back on track starting tonight. Not too bad with the strength, hadn’t done any of these lifts for some time. Going to do a light jog tomorrow to get rid of the waste in my legs.

[Steve]

Steve on March 27, 2009 at 2:19 pm #79990

DAY 4

Turning into a weightlifting journal early on…grass was soaked from the rain, no run today, tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny 60 degrees. thank god.

Doing more of a bodybuilding-type routine now if you haven’t already noticed…
SHOULDERS
HS Shoulder Press 10,10,8 365
Cable Side Laterals 12,12,10 60
DB Arnold Presses 3×10 75’s

Thoughts: quick workout, strength was decent. I’m coming off nearly 6 weeks of lower rep training so I’m not used to the fatigue from the higher reps sets yet.

Achilles is gradually feeling better. If anyone knows any preventative exercises to strengthen them I’m all ears…

[Steve]

Steve on March 28, 2009 at 12:10 pm #80040

DAY 5

Finally got some running in. After a brief warmup…

10x100m 30sec. breaks on grass, cool down, stretch, done.

Got a Back workout in an hour later
Weighted Chinups 3×10 +45
BB Shrugs 3×10 405, 425, 425
HS Iso-High Rows 3×10 405, 425, 455

Thoughts: Achilles felt good, ran the 100s at ~75%, my recovery between runs is not so great. Pretty damn good for 2nd time running in a long time. Crushed the weights, had to take some caffeine pre-wo for a boost.

[Steve]

Steve on March 31, 2009 at 10:40 am #80160

DAY 6

OFF

DAY 7

no running, grass was soaked.

Weights…Chest
BB Incline Bench 12,12,8 225,225,245
Flat DB Flies 3×12 60’s
HS Chest Press 3×12 225 ss w/ fly machine 3×20 80
Decline DB Flies 3×20 35’s

Thoughts: good strength, did some exercises I haven’t done in a while so I expect the incline to go way up in the coming weeks. Achilles feels great.

[Steve]

Steve on March 31, 2009 at 10:54 am #80161

WEEK 2 DAY 1

Got a good run in today, a bit windy outside though.

Warmup (1200m jog, 2x20m walking lunges, 2x20m side lunges, 4x20m A skips, 2x20m striders)

6x120m on grass with walkback recovery, ran these at a decent clip albeit with the wind. Heart rate seems to be recovering quicker than last week. Achilles seems to be recovered to the point where I can implement hills into my training next week.

Weights…Legs

Olympic Squats 135×5,225×5,315×5,365×3,405×3,455×3,455×3,495×1
BB Reverse Lunges 335×3…one set and I was dead.
DB Lunges (back leg up on bench) 3×10 60’s
Static Stretches

Thoughts: awesome strength today considering I was sore going into the workout, hadn’t put more than 405 on my back in 6 months due to a lower back injury, and did each rep in about 2 seconds lol. My back strength/stability is not even close to where it was pre-injury so I’m still building that back up. I feel like I can pump out 495×5 if I use a belt to stabilize the back…

Weight: 224, (post-weights), lost some bf over the past week, Ive been taking lean xtreme (cortisol control product) and insulean k (nutrient repartitioning supp). So far so good.

[Steve]

Steve on April 3, 2009 at 1:41 pm #80344

Week 2 DAY 2
exams.

6x120m not timed on grass, recovery is improving, not too much else to note besides I have the conditioning of a 60-yr old. chain smoker at the moment.

DAY 3
downpour all day, so no running.

Hit the weights…arms
Flat DB Press (Hammer-grip) 2×10 120s, 1×15 100s
Tricep Pushdown(back supported) 3×10 130
HS Dip Machine 3×15 315
Overhead Tricep Extensions 3×10 130,110,100
DB Alt. Curls 55’s 10,8,8
DB Incline Curls 3×10 40’s
Cable Curls 3×10
HS Machine Curls 3×12 60

DAY 4

Finally some nice weather. Got some work in on the track.

Warm-up
400m jog
2x20m walking lunges into 20m striders
2x20m side lunges into 20m striders
5 min. hurdle mobility drills
2x20m A-skips into 20m striders

4x200m (in trainers, not timed)…worked hard on accelerating quickly through the 1st 50m and then maintaining that speed through the final 150. Acceleration felt powerful seemed like I was covering more ground with each step than I’m used to, must be the new strength. Once I broke form at around 100m, form got sloppy but still managed to keep a decent pace through the finish.

Weights: Shoulders
HS Shoulder Press 385×8,315×12,315×10
DB Arnold Press 75’s 2×10, 1×8 50’s 1×15
Cable Side Raises 50 3×15

[Steve]

Steve on April 5, 2009 at 5:11 am #80441

Week 2 DAY 5

rain allday, no running, just weights

BACK
Hang Clean 135×3, 225 2×3, 255 1×1, 275 1×1, 295 1×1, 315 1×0(missed)
HS Iso-High Rows- 315 3×15

Thoughts: Damn good untrained hang clean. Haven’t done a clean from the hang position since I was 16. Hopefully I can get this up to low to mid 300’s soon as I build my lower back up to the freakish level is was at before. My Upper back and traps are sore as hell today.

DAY 6

went out last night, didn’t sleep much. No lifting or running.

[Steve]

Steve on April 7, 2009 at 10:06 am #80647

Week 2 DAY 7

worst lift ever…chest
worked up to 315×4, I can usually do 8-10.
rest of workout sucked so I’m not even going to bother.

Thoughts: Drank pretty heavily and probably got a combined 4 hours of sleep over the weekend. Learned my lesson, it will not happen again.

Week 3 DAY 1

15m recovery jog

Legs

Olympic Squats 135×3,225×3,315×3,365×1,405×1,455×3, 420 5×3
Bulgarian Split Squats: 65 DB’s 3×10
Static Stretching 5 min.

Thoughts: still feeling the effects of the weekend. Almost killed myself with the 455 set. Today was the start of a 10wk. squat cycle, nothing big, just a more structured approach to squatting as recently I’ve just been doing whatever the hell I feel like. put my max in as 525 so the goal in 10wk. will be around 550-560 squat. By that time I should be around 210 body weight so that would be pretty nasty. I’ll make sure to videotape the max out day. Getting some tempo in tomorrow, since my legs are going to be shot.
Good pop out of the hole in the squats.

[Steve]

Steve on April 10, 2009 at 1:06 pm #81025

finally found time to get some training in, busy week.

Week 3 DAY 4

400m jog
2 laps 50m in and outs
2x20m walking lunges into 20m striders
2x40m striders (fast)

3x30m from a standing fall (faster)

Weights: 1min rest between all sets

Shoulders
HS Shoulder press 6×8 315, 2×7 315
Cable Side Raises 1×15 50

Arms
DB Alt. Curls 8×8 50’s
DB incline Curls 3×8 40’s
HS Dip Machine 4×8 365, 4×8 405
Tricep Pushdown 3×15 200

Thoughts: Running felt good, lower legs are still beaten down from the heavy squat volume on Monday. I think I might need to hold back on going ass to calves for a little while, or at least use less of a bounce at the bottom. Olympic lifts tomorrow and some grass 100m intervals for recovery!

[Steve]

Steve on April 11, 2009 at 4:06 am #81082

Week 3 DAY 5

rain. no running, my legs are sore as hell anyway

Weights: Olympic Lifts (Back)

Cleans(from floor) 135×3, 185×3,225x3x1, 275×1, 315×1
Power Shrugs 315×5, 340×5, 340×5
RDL’s (slow negative) 315×5, 335×5, 355×5, 375×5
HS-Iso Rows 5 45’s a side 2×10
Face Pulls 3×12 stack

Thoughts: Awesome cleans today, 315 the 2nd time doing olympic lifts in a longgg time. Basically untrained in the lift. Hopefully I can get this up to 365ish with continued training. RDL’s felt good, lower back is still a weakpoint, can’t imagine I can deadlift more than mid 400’s now, olympic lifts should be pretty nasty when I get my deadlift back up to around 600lbs.

Weight: 220(looking leaner by the day)

[Steve]

Steve on April 15, 2009 at 12:02 am #81487

Workouts from the weekend

Week 3 Day 7

Bike Intervals…held back a couple waves of puke.

Chest
Incline BB 225 4×8, 225 2×6
HS Super Incline 225×10,245×10,265×10,285×10,225×18
DB Flies 50’s 3×15

Week 4 Day 1
Squats
135×5,225×3,315×3,405×1,420 2×4 (stopped workout)
Hamstring Iso Machine 3×10 80,90,100

Had an interview that I’d been preparing for almost a week today. Now that I got that out of the way I’m much less stressed, focus on the track and weights now. Leg workout sucked, my shins and lower leg muscles are dull and achy from the training so far so I just terminated the squat workout after the 2nd set. Lower back was starting to cave at the bottom and I kept coming up on my toes. Most likely going to sub out squats for reverse lunges for awhile, posterior chain feels lacking now.

[Steve]

Steve on April 16, 2009 at 1:22 pm #81636

DAY 2

OFF

DAY 3

lower legs are still not feeling right from the shitty squat form on Monday

ARMS
Floor Press 135×5,225×5,245×3,265×3,285×3,300×3,315 2×2, 275×6
Standing EZ Bar Curls 115 3×6 (slow)
Tricep Pushdown 240 4×8
Incline DB Curls 40’s 4×8
Overhead Tricep Ext’s 120 3×12
HS Curl Machine 3×12 60

Thoughts: Still sticking with a bodybuilding type split for now. I’m hoping my legs will freshen up within the next few days so I can start doing some hills. 50/50 chance I’ll be able to run tomorrow. Definitely not running on the track again til I build up my base on the grass…

[Steve]

Steve on April 17, 2009 at 1:28 pm #81698

Week 4 Day 4

Alright, the real training begins now.

Hills
30 min warmup
10x10m, 8x20m, 5x30m hills w/ walkback recovery, 3 min rest between sets
Cooldown and Stretch

Weights
Clean & Jerk 135×5,185×3,225 1×3, 245 1×1, 265 1×1,
Cleans 295 1×1, 325 1×1
HS Iso-Rows 5plates 3×12
Lat Pulldowns 210×3,225×3,240×3,255×3,270×3,285×3,300(stack)x3
Back Hyperextension Complex 45 3×12

Thoughts: all around great day today. I spent 3.5 hours total training. A little long but I was so pumped after the big clean that I didn’t want to leave the gym. Only the 3rd time cleaning in a long ass time and I’m already at 325…I still maintain that I’m going to hit a 365 clean at 200lbs this summer. Lower back is getting stronger by the day.

Hill workout went well, I was a bit fatigued during several of the last 30m sets. Good start to my official gpp.

[aivala]

aivala on April 17, 2009 at 1:43 pm #81702

What are your immediate goals? Dip under 11s? You seem to have excelent strength levels. It’s also nice to see you running on grass, I found it the best surface to train on. Btw. I don’t see much running in your training, it’s mostly lifting.

[Nick Newman]

Nick Newman on April 17, 2009 at 1:45 pm #81703

Superb clean…whats your body weight right now?

[Steve]

Steve on April 18, 2009 at 1:04 am #81732

” date=”1239956033″]What are your immediate goals? Dip under 11s? You seem to have excelent strength levels. It’s also nice to see you running on grass, I found it the best surface to train on. Btw. I don’t see much running in your training, it’s mostly lifting.

Sub 11s is what I’m looking at it in the short-term, towards the end of July I expect to be in the 10.7-10.8FAT range.

With regards to the lack of running, I haven’t ran let along jogged in 2 years (summer of my freshman year) so I’m taking it slow, can’t expect to jump right into to a normal gpp just yet. Which you saw through my first 3 weeks of mostly lifting, while slowing implementing running back in. Yesterday was the official start to my structured GPP so here is where the fun begins. Tempo on grass today.

[Steve]

Steve on April 18, 2009 at 1:15 am #81733

Superb clean…whats your body weight right now?

thanks.

218, a little above 10% BF judging by the mirror. I would like to get down to between 200-205 this summer, hopefully throw down a 365 clean at that weight to bring my clean/bw ratio up to 1.8ish…

[Steve]

Steve on April 20, 2009 at 11:58 am #81883

Week 4 Day 5

Tempo
100-100-100-100-200-100-100-100-100-200-200-100-200-100-100-100-100-100

Did not time the session. Slow jog between reps

Day 6 OFF

Weights: Chest/Shoulders

Flat Bench 135×5,225×5,275×2,315×4,295×5
Pause Bench 225 2×10
DB Arnold Presses 75’s 3×6
DB Flies 60’s 3×8
Cable Side Raises 50 3×10
Fly Machine 120 3×15

Thoughts: Weights were pretty damn weak, I didn’t sleep at all the night before so it was obvious why I sucked in the gym.

Day 7

Warm-up
10x10m (Lying prone to start)
8x20m (Walking into start)
5x30m (Jog into start)
*all done on grass, with walk back recovery, 3 min. between sets
Cool down & static stretching

Thoughts: Body feels good, seem to be running faster everyday. My stride seems more natural now that I’ve got a little running under my belt. Felt especially quick during the 30m’s, can’t wait to put a time on these when I slowly migrate to the track in 4-5 weeks.

[Steve]

Steve on April 21, 2009 at 10:46 am #81926

Week 5 Day 1

Rained all day, grass was soaked and track was too slick, so I’ll be today’s tempo tomorrow and eliminating the off day following it.

Weights: ARMS
Rack Press (6-7″ off chest) 135×5,225×5,315×5,335×5,355×5,375×4,395×4,405×3
Seated DB Curls 60’s 3×6
Dips BW 30,25,20 (1 min rest between sets)
Incline DB Curls 45’s 3×8
Tricep Pushdowns 260 3×8
HS Curl Machine 70 2×10
ABS

Thoughts: Sick workout. Great strength on the lockouts, pretty sure the 405×3 is a new PR.
Tomorrow is tempo then weights(legs).

Weight is holding steady at 218.

[Steve]

Steve on April 22, 2009 at 12:13 pm #81985

Week 5 Day 2

Tempo
100-100-100-100-200-100-100-100-100-200-200-100-200-100-100-100-100-100

All I can say is **** tempo! Walked 50m in between reps. Rain and wind made it awesome.

Weights: Legs
Front Squat 135×5, 225×5,275×3,315×3,335×3,355×2,375×1,385×1
BB Reverse Lunges 135×5, 225×5, 275×5, 325 3×3
Stretch

Thoughts:
Just gotta laugh at the numbers put up today. 20lb PR on front squats, haven’t done them since last December(16 months ago). Next time I will wear a belt for these as my back caved a little at the bottom, still managed to ass to grass em. Lunges were strong. Great lift. Back is a bit tight now hopefully I can loosen it up before hills tomorrow.

Weight is hovering between 216-218

[Steve]

Steve on April 30, 2009 at 12:39 pm #82635

big update coming tomorrow, ive been keeping track of my workouts just haven’t had the time to sit down at the computer to log them.

[Steve]

Steve on May 1, 2009 at 1:33 pm #82701

Week 5 Day 3…after the tempo my calves were literally so sore I couldn’t sprint for 4 days. Ran the 100s in 14-15 and 200s in 28-29, with 100m walk between each rep.

Weights: Chest/Shoulders
BB Bench 275 1×10,1×8
HS Shoulder Press 315×8, 225 1×15,1×12,1×10
DB Flies 55’s 3×10
Cable Side Raises 40 3×15
Fly Machine 100 1×20,1×15,1×12

Day 4

OFF

Day 5

Weights: Lower-back/Olympic Lifts
Clean and Jerk 225×1,275×1
Power Clean 315×1, 225 1×5(from hang)
Deadlift 225×5, 315×5,405×5, 455×2
RDL’s 405 1×5
Hyper Extension Complex 90 3×10

Notes: Clean was a little sloppy, lower legs were sore as hell so I didn’t get much of a shrug/clean pull during my olympic lifts. Pleased with the deadlift, first time doing it since early September so I took it easy. The weight did feel rather light so I expect the strength to come back rapidly.

Day 6

once again calves still to sore

Weights: Arms
Floor Press 225×5, 275×5, 315 2×4 225 1×12(2 sec. deload)
Ez-Bar Curls 120 3×6
Tricep Pushdowns 260 4×8
Incline DB Curls 45’s 4×8
Overhead Tri Extensions 130 12,10,8
BB Reverse Curls 95 2×8

Notes: Massive PR on the floor press. 4th rep was completely deloaded, others were with a slight pause on the ground. Still keeping up with a heavy load of lifting, as the weeks progress I will be switching to a 3-4 day a week routine to correspond with specific days on the track.

[Steve]

Steve on May 1, 2009 at 1:47 pm #82705

Day 7

Speed Day
Warmup
2(5x40m) on the track from a walk-in start

Notes: Was pretty damn sore and tight from the deadlift session two days prior but still managed to move pretty well. As expected I had trouble maintaining a neutral spine position during the accelerations. 800m guys and jumpers were doing a workout on the track at the same time…800m guys are very quick two guys at 1:48-1:49 and another two at 1:50ish, pretty impressive. Were doing 200m intervals at what looked like 25-26ish pace with 2 min recovery for a ton of reps, looked pretty brutal.

Week 6 Day 1

Instead of doing tempo I opted for some bike intervals to let my legs recover a bit.

Weights: Back
BB Rows 225×5, 245×5, 265 3×5
Dead-Hang Pullups 12,10
1 min Hang.
Face Pulls 190(stack) 3×12
Ab Circuit(Decline Bench)

Day 2

Off from running

Weights: Legs
Olympic Squats 225×5, 315×5, 365×3, 405×3
Concentric 1/4 Squats 405×5,455×5,495×5,545×5,585 2×3
Bulgarian Split Squats 70’s 2×8
Leg Extensions 150 3×20

Notes: squat strength was shit, thats what you get for not doing it frequently I guess. Back was still sore from deadlifting. The 1/4 squats off pins felt great, really got a nice workout out of them. Blasted them off the pins, sick explosion. Good addition to my routine, they’ll acclimate me to heavy weight on my back quickly because I just hate when 4 plate squats feel heavy. Makes me feel like less of a man.

Weight: 216.5, leaning out nicely.

[Steve]

Steve on May 2, 2009 at 1:20 pm #82738

Week 6 Day 3

damn rain, can’t run hills on wet grass…

Weights: Chest/Shoulders
BB Bench 225×5,275×5,315×3,325×2
Arnold Press 70’s 10,8,8,8
HS Super Incline 225 5×8
Fly Machine 130 3×8
Rear Delt Flys 80 3×12

Notes: I had a revelation today. From now on I will be doing 4 days of lifting a week on set days instead of a 12-day floating routine that I’ve been following for awhile. Similar to a Westside routine with some customization to fit my needs. Speed Workouts will be done on lower body days.

New Training Split:
Monday- Speed/Hills & Dynamic Lower Body
Tuesday- Tempo & Max Effort Upper
Wednesday- OFF
Thursday- Speed/Hills & Max Effort Lower
Friday- Tempo & Dynamic/”Bodybuilding” Upper
Saturday- OFF
Sunday- Bike Intervals/Conditioning

[Steve]

Steve on May 6, 2009 at 4:09 am #82918

Start this new split off fresh

Week 7.1

Speed/Hills & Dynamic Lower Body

Warmup(800m jog, drills, hurdle mobility, ground mobility, 2 laps striders)
2x4x40m

Notes: Running in a downpour so had to bring the workout to the track. Used a jog into the sprints to prevent slippage. Feeling fresh, felt very quick, form felt great, endurance and recovery was there. All around great workout.

Weights:
Power Cleans 135×5,225×3,245×3,265×3
Full Cleans 275×1,295×1, 330×1
BB Reverse Lunges (2sec Pause) 225×5,245×5,265×4
Hyper Extension Complex 90 2×10

Notes: 5lb PR on cleans today! Funny cause I didn’t feel particularly energized throughout the workout. Decided to go for a new max for the hell of it lol. Good pull off the floor caught it with elbows parallel to the ground but didn’t recover as quick as I wanted to, I basically came to a dead stop at the bottom and straight front squatted it up with ease…Good lift regardless. 365 is getting closer by the week.

Weight: 215 post workout, down from 235 2.5 months ago, weighed in at 225 at the start of the log.

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on May 6, 2009 at 12:14 pm #82943

Your lift #s are awesome. As another heavier runner (restarted training at 228# 18 months ago, and down to 197 or so) – I’m curious as to what you’re doing to lose all the weight. I figure I’ve got another 8# I should shed.

Diet, Supplements, etc?

[Steve]

Steve on May 7, 2009 at 12:33 am #82978

Your lift #s are awesome. As another heavier runner (restarted training at 228# 18 months ago, and down to 197 or so) – I’m curious as to what you’re doing to lose all the weight. I figure I’ve got another 8# I should shed.

Diet, Supplements, etc?

As far as diet goes I just do carb cycling. On workout days, High Carbs (for me around 500) on speed/leg days, Medium Carbs (300ish) on tempo/upperbody days, and low carb on (100-125) on off days. Just clean carbs from whole grains, oatmeal, sometimes a weightgainer when I get lazy. Along with high protein and high healthy fats on most days.

Supplementation wise I’ve been taking Lean Xtreme, a cortisol-control product, MassFX, a natural test booster, and insulean k, a nutrient repartioner. Pretty solid stack for recomposition/cutting.

I feel like I’ve dropped weight almost too fast which is why my upper body lifts have suffered in the short term, but they’re making a comeback.

[Steve]

Steve on May 7, 2009 at 12:50 am #82979

Week 7.2

Tempo & Max Effort Upper Body

Actually did weights before sprinting today…

BB Floor Press 3RM
135×5,225×5,275×3,320×3,335×3
Flat DB Bench 2xMax reps
85’s 30, 22
HS Iso-Row ss/w/ Rear Delt Flies
495 3×10 ss/w/ 90 3×10
Shrugs
405 3×12
DB Hammer Curls
50’s 3×15

Warmup
Grass Tempo
100-100-100-100-200
100-100-100-100-200

Notes: Even harder rain than yesterday, just my luck. Rests were 45 sec. between 100’s and 1:30 after 4th hundred (the one prior to the 200). Rest between sets was 3 min.
100’s rain in 16-16.5, 200’s in 32.5-33…on wet grass so its pretty tough to run quicker without slipping and without cleats. Recovery is improving, I feel like I can breathe easier with an elevated heart rate.

Weights were awesome, crushed a new PR on floor press. DB Bench was good, didn’t really feel much lactic acid buildup oddly enough. Great focus and drive throughout the lift, I was on a mission.

[Steve]

Steve on May 8, 2009 at 9:08 pm #83099

Week 7.4

Speed & Max Effort Lower

Warmup
2x4x40m Hills

Notes: Rest intervals were 3.5 min between reps, 8 min between sets. Pleased with how these went. Hip flexors, and glutes were tight by the end. Shins starting to feel a little tender. Overall it was a good session.

Weights:
Concentric 1/4 Squats 3RM
225×5,315×5,405×5,495×3,585×3,605×3,635×3,655×3
RDL’s
225×5,315×5,405×5,455×3
Rack Pulls (off bottom of squat rack)
315×3,405×3,455×4,495×3,545×3
Pause Same-leg Reverse Lunges
3×8 135

Notes: Awesome workout, 655 on the quarter squat from the pins was nice. Rack pull was insane considering I’m still recovering from a lower back injury that sidelined me for 6 months. Weight went up easy. Maybe I’ll be back to 600ish raw deadlift sooner than I thought. ***Off topic: I know a girl who happened to date the 1.48 800m kid from Aussie, and he said even though the team doesn’t accept walk-ons, he would personally submit my times I put up this summer to the head coach. So all I got to do now is put up some quick times…

Weight: 216

[dan1990]

dan1990 on May 8, 2009 at 9:30 pm #83100

you are a strong dude..on the romanian deadlifts you like to go pretty heavy on them..do you max effort on them or is that weight sub max..i like to heavy on the rdl think it is a great exercise..good journal keep it up

[Steve]

Steve on May 8, 2009 at 11:04 pm #83103

you are a strong dude..on the romanian deadlifts you like to go pretty heavy on them..do you max effort on them or is that weight sub max..i like to heavy on the rdl think it is a great exercise..good journal keep it up

Thanks man, appreciate the comments. Technically, it was a supposed to be sub-max but the weight felt good so I decided to turn it into a max effort lift. I do slow negatives allowing the bar to travel 3″ below the knee before firing back up. Good exercise, although I still prefer BB reverse lunges for overall glute/hamstring development.

The day was supposed to be a 3RM for the first lift than heavy sets of 5 for the others, but I just felt damn good so I went heavy on the big 3 lifts. I wasn’t even supposed to do rack pulls…

[Steve]

Steve on May 8, 2009 at 11:13 pm #83104

Week 7.5

Tempo & Repetition Upper

Grass Tempo
100-100-100-100-100-200
100-100-100-100-100-200

Notes: doing this tonight since I have an exam at 2:30 and drive home immediately after that. Get to see the new track put in at my high school. We used to run on a shitty track that had the consistency of concrete lol.

Weights:
DB Incline Bench 3xMax Reps
75’s 25,19,20
Lat Pulldowns ss/w/ Face Pulls
200 3×12 & 190 3×10
Cable Side Raises
50 3×10
Plate Shrugs
200 3×15
Tricep Pushdowns
200 3×20
AB Circuit

Notes: 7am lift, gym has different hours during finals week. Felt strong in my lifts even though I was only 12 hours removed from my last weight session. Got the lift done in under an hour for a change, recovery between sets has significantly improved since the beginning of this log.

Weight: 215

[Steve]

Steve on May 12, 2009 at 1:13 pm #83238

Week 8.1

Speed & Dynamic Lower

interesting day to say the least…

Warmup
3x20m from push-up position
3x20m from falling start
4x60m easy-fast-easy
2x60m from 200m start

Notes: I’m home for one week before heading back to school for my internship and classes so I went to my high school’s track practice to get a workout in. Wound up racing their 2nd fastest kid (top sprinter was mia for the day), who ran 6.77 for 55m and 11.23fat this year. Him in spikes and me in sneakers…dead tie. Didn’t feel particularly fast either. I’m impressed with my progress to say the least.

Weights:
Clean & Jerk 135×3, 225×3
Full Clean 225×3,275×1,295×1,315×1,335×1 345×0(too sore)
…left high school gym to finish the rest of the workout at LA Fitness (20 min. later…)
BB Reverse Lunges 135×3,225×3,275×10, 325×5
Pullthroughs 120 3×10

Notes: PR Machine on the cleans, hs sprinters(all 3 of them left in the weightroom were in awe lol). Went for 345 but felt a bit sore during the initial pull so I bailed on it.
Reverse Lunges were a PR for both 10 and 5 rep ranges. Pullthroughs worked well as a hip extension exercise, going to have to keep them in the routine going forward.

Weight: 213

[Steve]

Steve on May 14, 2009 at 2:08 pm #83349

Yesterday’s session

Week 8.2

Tempo & Max Effort Upper

Warmup
100-100-100-200
100-100-100-200

Notes: Sore as shit from the Monday’s workout. Cut the volume and reduced the intensity of the runs to compensate. Shins are starting to ache, going to have be more careful with the surfaces I workout on for the time being.

Weights:
Incline BB 5RM
135×5,185×5,225×5,235×5,245×5
(Pause)DB Floor Press 2xMax reps
100’s 16,16
HS Rear-Delt Rows ss/w/ Rear-Delt Flies
315 3×12 ss/w/ 130,140,150 3×10
BB Shrugs
425 3×12
Incline DB Curls
45’s 12,8,8
Weighted Abs

Notes: solid lift. Strength starting to rebound after being awful while cutting weight.

[Steve]

Steve on May 15, 2009 at 8:13 am #83396

Week 8.4

Speed & Max Effort Upper

too sore to do a speed workout. intensive tempo tomorrow.

Weights
Deadlifts
135×3,225×3,315×3,405×1,455×1,495×1,545×1
Deficit Deadlifts(off 3-4″ box)
315 3×5
(Pause)Front Leg Elevated BB Reverse Lunges
135×5,225×5,275×3

Notes: Good deadlift, 2nd time doing it from the floor since my injury in Sept. Pleased with how quickly the strength is coming back especially on a cut. Decided to work on my explosion off the floor so threw in the deficit work today. Worked well, will have to keep them in mind for future sessions.

Weight:215

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on May 15, 2009 at 2:46 pm #83417

Those are some monster lifts. When are you going to run in a couple meets? I am actually very curious to see how that kind of strength converts to speed.

[Steve]

Steve on May 16, 2009 at 2:49 am #83421

Those are some monster lifts. When are you going to run in a couple meets? I am actually very curious to see how that kind of strength converts to speed.

Tentative Meet Schedule:
June 13
June 20-21
July 10-11
July 26

[Steve]

Steve on May 16, 2009 at 1:07 pm #83429

Week 8.5

Tempo & Bodybuilding Upper

Decided to do a special endurance type workout to compensate for the missed speed session yesterday…kept the volume low since I’m still a bit sore.

200m @ 85-90%…23.8
5 min rest
150m @ 85-90%…17.5
5 min rest
100m @ 85-90%…12

Notes: glutes and hammies were pretty sore going into today, sprints were self timed from a slight jog (in trainers). Shins didn’t act up as much as expected. Decent times for the level of perceived effort. My recovery is still shitty, although it is progressing.

Weights:
DB Incline Bench 3xMax reps
80’s 25,15,15
Chin-ups ss/w/ Face Pulls
BW 3×12 ss/w/ stack 3×12
Cable Side Raises
50×8, 40 2×12
Tricep Pushdowns
260 15,10 200×15

Notes: I’ve been progressively lowering my carb intake over the past 2 weeks. Apparently a banana and some strawberries pre-wo was enough to give me a sick pump today lol. Good workout, strength is improving workout-to-workout. Heading back to school tomorrow…

[Steve]

Steve on May 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm #83563

Week 9.1

Speed & Dynamic Lower

Warmup
4x20m pushup start
2x20m falling start
4x60m easy-fast-easy
3x30m hills

Notes: ran these on the grass field outside of the multisport facility today. Awesome surface, like running on a golf course rough (~1″ blades of grass). Besides starts which I will be doing for the first time Thursday, I’ll use the grass for most of my speed work even into SPP. Felt explosive as hell during the first half of the workout…then sensation of speed dropped a bit but still good nonetheless.

Weights
Clean & Jerk
135×3,225 3×1,275 2×1
Full Clean
275×1,315×1,340×0(miss, lost grip of bar)
Snatch
135 5×1,205×0 (avoided catastrophic back and shoulder injury), 205×1
BB Reverse Lunges
135×3,225×3,335×3
BB Pause Reverse Lunges
225×3,275×3,315×2,335×1
Jump Squats ss/w/ vertical jumps
135 3×5 ss/w/ bw 3×3
Pullthroughs
130×10,145×10,160×10

Notes: Great workout sans the olympic lifting, snatch is apparently decent, never done the lift before so today was the first time ever attempting it. Dumped the first one at 205 back over my head, lower back is a bit tight at the moment because of it. Had to use chalk and a hook grip to do the lifts, since I couldn’t find my lifting straps.

Fully deloaded the reverse lunges on the ground, sick strength and bar speed out of the hole, couldve went higher but I’ll save it for next week. Through in some jump squats to get some more explosive work in…vertical is nasty right now, so high I stumbled landed on my first unassisted vertical jump. I guess I didn’t expect to be in the air that long. Took a stim pill for the weights (dunno what it was just a random orange pill I had laying around…) Going to be sore as shit for tomorrow’s tempo…

[Steve]

Steve on May 20, 2009 at 10:49 pm #83646

Week 9.2

Tempo & Max Effort Upper

Bike Intervals 20x10s w/ min break

Notes: Too sore so got on the bike and did intervals. Most intervals were in the 1000-1200 watts range, hit 1500 for 10s on one of them. Maybe I have a future in track cycling…

Weights:

BB Incline 3RM (40 degree bench)
135×3,185×3,225×3,245×3
Skipped the 2nd lift because I forgot my workout card.
Neutral-Grip Pullups ss/w/ Rear Delt Flies
BW 15×12,12,12 ss/w/ 90 4×10
Plate Shrugs
200 3×15
DB Incline Curls
50’s 3×6
Hammer Curls
50 1×10
Grip Machine
45 3xfailure

Notes: Good session besides the lift I forgot to do, was wondering why I wasn’t as sore as usual post-wo. Expected the Incline to be lower since last week I did them on a 30 degree bench.

Weight: 211.5-212

[Steve]

Steve on May 22, 2009 at 1:43 pm #83732

Week 9.4

Speed & Max Effort Lower

Warmup
Block Starts 6x10m
Hills 6x30m-walkback-30m

Notes: Block starts were great, really worked on pushing hard and getting that lead hand out as far as possible on the first step. Jumpers and throwers were out doing drills on the track, some extra motivation to run fast. Hills I started to get fatigued around the 3rd set but got a good workout out of them nonetheless…not used to training in the heat, 82 and sunny. At least the grass surface I’m now training on is helping to alleviate my lower leg pain/soreness.

Weights:

Parallel Box Squat 5RM (9plates stacked)
135×3,225×3,215×5,365×5,405×5,455×5!!!
Snatch-Grip Deadlift
225×5,315×5
RDL’s
365 3×8
Pullthroughs
145×10,160×10,175×10,190×10

Notes: Sick workout. Crushed the box squats with a full deload(2sec) on the box/plates before re-enganging and powering it up with serious power. Text-book form. I was on a mission in the gym, intensity was nasty. Didn’t go any higher (no spotter), but I can assure you that I’m going to hit 550+ for a 1RM on this in 2 weeks. RDL’s were easy, feeling really explosive throughout my posterior chain. Looking forward to not being able to walk tomorrow…

Weight:210

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on May 23, 2009 at 12:07 am #83739

15 pounds lost in 7 weeks is pretty impressive, considering you continue to make those kind of strength gains. How much is water weight, vs. just shedding fat. If all fat loss, you should be down at 7-8% bf now?

[Steve]

Steve on May 23, 2009 at 1:16 am #83740

15 pounds lost in 7 weeks is pretty impressive, considering you continue to make those kind of strength gains. How much is water weight, vs. just shedding fat. If all fat loss, you should be down at 7-8% bf now?

a lot was bloat/water weight…around 9-10% bf atm. Strength gains will continue, I have much more time to perfect my diet and get proper recovery in between workouts (8+ hours a sleep a night) now that its summer. As well as having access to awesome workout facilities.

[Steve]

Steve on May 23, 2009 at 6:08 am #83752

Almost 3 weeks out from the first meet so I will be doing pretty easy tempo runs on Friday and Speed Endurance on Saturdays, Sundays completely off, and the rest of the routine the same.

[Steve]

Steve on May 25, 2009 at 12:05 am #83872

Week 9.5

Tempo & Bodybuilding Upper

-soreness got the best of me, along with the a busy schedule for the day, I missed the tempo session

Weights:

DB Bench 3xMax Reps
90’s 15,12,12
Chinups ss/w/ Face Pulls
BW 18,12,10 ss/w/ stack 3×10
Cable Side Raises
50 3×12
Plate Shrugs
200 2x1min holds
Tricep Pushdowns
stack 20,15,15

[Steve]

Steve on May 25, 2009 at 12:19 am #83874

Week 9.6

Speed Endurance

3x100m@95%
rest:8min,8min,10min

Notes: In sneakers. These were hand-timed, started timer waited til watch got to 3 sec. then began falling and exploded out at ~5sec…so based on this relavtively inaccurate timing method, crossed the line at 15.5, 15.3, 15.7…so 10.5,10.3,10.7 Would take those numbers with a huge grain of salt, but I did feel very explosive up to 60m, at that point my top speed mechanics can in to play. Felt a little stiff at that point, so I’m going to incorporate more flying and floating sprints.

Lower volume allowed me to keep the quality high. As a side, my lower legs are feeling better and better thanks to all the grass training. 20 days out from meet.

Weight:210

[Steve]

Steve on May 26, 2009 at 6:45 am #83930

Week 10.1

Speed & Dynamic Lower

Warmup
Top Speed 3x40m w/ 20m buildup
Hills 3x30m
-8 min break-
Top Speed 3x40m w/ 20m buildup
Hills 3x30m

Rest Intervals: 4 min in between all reps

Notes: Felt awesome on the track today…effortless acceleration, my turnover seems to be improving as well. Destroyed the hills, not that I time them but I could sense I was going faster than ever. Possible time trial this Saturday…

Weights:

Snatches:
Barx5,135 2×3, 155×3, 175×2, 185×1, 207.5×1
Pause BB Reverse Lunges:
135×5,225×5,275×3,325×2
Jump Squats ss/w/ Vertical Jumps
135×3, 155 2×3 BW 3×3

Notes: Snatch was a small PR, they had 1.25lb clips at the gym so I said what the hell and threw them on. Better form than last week but I still need to work on staying tight after the catch. Reverse Lunges felt great, as usual.

Now comes the interesting part: had a buddy from the powerlifting team lift with me today, so we decided to test our verticals at the end of the workout, why not right…we measured the ceiling in the gym at 9’8″…pretty low, so I had him stand up on a bench and see how close my head came to touching the ceiling…came 2″ away from touching it!!!

9’6″ (114in.) – 6’0″ (72in.) – 1″ (for wearing shoes and my hair)= 41in. standing vertical!!! I wonder what I could’ve done if I tested this before doing an entire workout lol. Motivational to say the least…

[dan1990]

dan1990 on May 26, 2009 at 7:04 am #83932

that is a sick vertical….how has the lifting helped your vertical…what vert did your powerlifting buddy get..your a beast..

[Steve]

Steve on May 26, 2009 at 8:06 am #83936

that is a sick vertical….how has the lifting helped your vertical…what vert did your powerlifting buddy get..your a beast..

Thanks man. Just a little history, I had a 30″ vertical in 8th grade so I’ve always been naturally gifted I guess. I would credit the lifting with all the gains from that point on, don’t really do many plyos outside of sprinting. Just try to focus on increasing my olympic squat & reverse lunge to bodyweight ratio and usually that does the trick.

my boy got 26″ lol, hes 255 though.

[Steve]

Steve on May 27, 2009 at 1:15 pm #84021

Week 10.2

Tempo & Max Effort Upper

Giving the legs a break, so did continuous tempo on the bike for 35 min.

Weights:

BB Incline (45 degree bench) 1RM
135×5,185×3,225×3,245×1,265×1
DB Floor Press 2xMax reps
100s 16,15
Chinups ss/w/ Rear Delt Flies
BW 19,19,10 ss/w/ 90 3×10
Plate Shrugs
200 4x30sec. holds
BB Curls (4s negative)
95 2×8
Grip Machine
225 2xFail
Ab circuit

Notes: good workout, training is going great.

[Steve]

Steve on May 28, 2009 at 12:06 pm #84059

off day today, trying to get somebody to time my block starts tomorrow…

[Steve]

Steve on May 29, 2009 at 7:17 am #84070

ran a 100m timed out of blocks today…11.4

couple things to note:
1.headwind
2.had to slow down and jump over a cone in my lane that someone moved as I was setting up in the blocks about 30m in. it gets better…
3. Got tight and couldn’t open up my hips 60m in.
4. confused by the markings on the track, I slowed down at 90m thinking that was the finish line.

so taking all that into account, it was a damn good time lol. Decided to call the session after that.

I still have no idea where I’m at in the 100…

[Ian Cooley]

Ian Cooley on May 29, 2009 at 7:34 am #84073

Hand timed or video?

[Steve]

Steve on May 29, 2009 at 7:44 am #84075

hand timed off movement

[Ian Cooley]

Ian Cooley on May 29, 2009 at 8:06 am #84078

I see- hard to judge what you’re ready to do but I am very interested see how all your apparent strength/power translates onto the track.

[Steve]

Steve on May 29, 2009 at 9:34 am #84083

I see- hard to judge what you’re ready to do but I am very interested see how all your apparent strength/power translates onto the track.

Exactly, at this point I just want to get a time down to work off of…

My competition season will last from June 13 – Aug 5, training through the June 13 meet then doing a small taper for the next meet in late June. Still got a long way to go until I run my best.

[Steve]

Steve on May 30, 2009 at 12:40 am #84105

Week 10.4

Warmup + Hurdle Mobility + Drills
Block starts 3x30m
1x100m @95% out of blocks

Weights:
Box Squat 3RM
135×5,225×3,315×3,405×1,455×1,495×1
Rack Pulls(Mid-shin)
135×3,225×3,315×3,405×3,455×1,495×1,545×1,585×1
Front-Foot Elevated Pause Reverse Lunge
135×3,225×3,275×2,295×2,315×2
Pullthroughs
stack 3×10

Notes: Used today as a test-out day of sorts. Intended to do a 3RM at 495 on box squats but I had a shitty set-up and missed the first rep, sat back down, deloaded the weight, reset my footing, and hit the rep. Stopped after that set. Probably good for 2 legit. Rack Pulls went well, locking out heavy weight felt good.

Not as sore today so I’ll be able to get on the track for some tempo work and drills.

[Steve]

Steve on May 30, 2009 at 11:51 pm #84179

Week 10.5

Tempo & Bodybuilding Upper

Warmup + Drills
3x4x120m tempo on grass, walk width between reps, walk length between sets

Ran each one in 19-19.5. Feelin good.

Weights:

DB Incline Bench (15 degree)
95’sx15,95’sx12,95’sx12 40’sx10 ss/w/ Flies x10
Chinups(dead hang) ss/w/ Face Pulls
BW 15,10,8 ss/w/ stack 3×10
BB Shrugs
445×8, 315 2×6(5 sec. holds each rep)
Cable Side Raises(slow negative)
50 3×8
Tricep Pushdowns
200×15(slow), 130 2×15(reverse)

Good workout, got a nice pump for the first time in awhile, must have been from eating more than 30carbs pre-wo.

[Steve]

Steve on May 31, 2009 at 11:02 am #84241

Week 10.6

Special Endurance

Warmup & Drills
1×200@95%

Felt like absolute shit today, could not get loose at all, probably stick with bike tempo on Fridays to take some stress off my lower legs. I had the flexibility of a 80yr man and shins hurt like a mofo. Ran the 200 in 23.9 from a standing start with trainers. The plan was to do 2x200m with 20min rest but legs couldn’t hold up. Recovered within 8-10min after the run, so endurance is improving.

This was actually very good run given the circumstances, fully refreshed and loose I feel comfortable with where I’m at now.

[Steve]

Steve on June 1, 2009 at 11:12 pm #84307

Week 10.7

Got some continuous tempo in on the bike, avg=176 watts for 38min.
Lower legs still feel sore and weak.

[Steve]

Steve on June 2, 2009 at 12:55 pm #84345

Week 11.1

Speed & Dynamic Lower

Warmup & Drills
4x30m block starts
2x30m flying sprints
1x60m @95% from blocks

-all in sneakers

Felt great today, much more loose and flexible than Saturday. I was movin. Great confidence boost getting close to the first meet. Block starts were explosive as hell, some of the womens track team was out there so I had an audience.

Weights

Snatches
135×3,185 2×1
Hang Clean
225 6×2
BB Reverse Lunge (Paused)
135×3,185×3,225×3,275×5,315×1,345×1,365×1
Jump Squats
135 5×3 ss/w/ BW 5×2
Good Mornings (slow)
45 3×10

One of the best workouts in recent memory, 30lb PR on the pause reverse lunge! Explosion out of the hole is getting a bit ridiculous. Everyone in the gym was watching the jump squats, don’t think they’ve ever seen a 40″+ inch vertical in person before lol.
Just one of those days I guess. Going to do a weigh-in tomorrow morning, curious to see where the weight is at…

[Steve]

Steve on June 5, 2009 at 2:51 am #84468

Week 11.2

Tempo & Max Effort Upper

Did bike intervals instead of tempo running. 15x10s all out then rest for 50 sec. in between reps. Hit 1605 peak watts from a seated position on the bike.

Weights:
Pause BB Bench 5RM
135×5,225×5,245×5,265×5
Flat DB Bench(slow negative)
100s 10,8
DB Flies
40s 1×20
HS High-Rows(slow) ss/w/ Rear Delt Flies
315 3×12 ss/w/ 80 3×8
Plate Shrugs
200 2×15
BB Curls
95 10-4-4 Rest Pause Set
Reverse Grip Bench(smith machine)
135 20-10-10 Rest Pause Set

Good lift, trying to really focus on really nailing down my form on upper body movements. Controlling the negative and exploding concentrically. Seemed to work well.

Weight: 206

[Steve]

Steve on June 5, 2009 at 2:52 am #84469

Week 11.3

OFF

[Steve]

Steve on June 5, 2009 at 11:35 pm #84518

yesterday…Week 11.4

Warmup & Drills
4x90m Hills (10m Hill-50m Flat-30m Hill)
Rest Interval:10min

Wow these turned into a pretty good workout. Felt very relaxed and loose and could tell I was movin pretty quick. Did not time these rather focused on running at 95% and keeping good form throughout.

Weights
Box Squat (8plates)
315×5,335×5
Box Squat (9plates)
405×1,455×6
Pause BB Reverse Lunges (front foot elevated 3″)
135×3,225×6,285×3,335×1,225×7
Good Mornings
135×10,155×10,185×5
AB planks
1x2min, 2x1min(side planks)

Box squat felt good. 8 plates is pretty deep for a box squat so don’t think I’ll go any lower than that. Hamstrings and glutes seem to be able to contract harder and quicker than before. Must be why my lunge is taking off…

[Steve]

Steve on June 6, 2009 at 10:33 pm #84546

yesterday…11.5

Tempo & Bodybuilding Upper

Too sore to run or bike, Thursday workout got me good. Special Endurance on Saturday(this morning) should be interesting.

Weights

Pause BB Bench
225×12,10,10
DB Flies
40’s 15-5-5 RP
Chin-ups
BW 8-3-3 RP
Smith Front Presses
135 dont remember reps
Face Pulls
stack 15-10-10 RP
Incline DB Curls
40’s 8-5-4 RP
Dips
BW 10-5-5
Grip Machine
115 2xFail

Switched over to a rest-pause training block (upper body only) for at least the next few weeks. Each set done with 6s negatives and explosive concentric motion. Typing this Saturday morning, and my upper body is pretty damn sore.

[Steve]

Steve on June 7, 2009 at 10:21 am #84571

Week 11.6

Speed Endurance

Warmup & Drills
1×200 @95%

SORE. Ran relaxed but still hard to go fast when its painful to walk. Strong through 150m, need to work on the last 50m still seizing up as I get close to the line. Really wanted to get 2x200m in today but had to work.

[Steve]

Steve on June 8, 2009 at 6:24 am #84614

Week 11.7

Continuous Tempo on Bike

28min, 380 cals. burnt, average wattage=194

avg wattage increased from 174 to 194. Endurance is going from shitty to mediocre! nevertheless I’m happy with the improvement.

[Steve]

Steve on June 12, 2009 at 5:40 am #84748

need to update this when I get back tonight, looks like I’ll be training through the meet on Sat. no need to taper now, im just getting into shape.

[Steve]

Steve on June 16, 2009 at 10:57 am #84895

I’ve decided to discontinue this journal. Might update with meet results depending on how I feel…

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on June 18, 2009 at 11:46 am #84992

Steve,

Disappointing to hear. Your training and progress were extremely interesting to follow – and I think a lot of us were eager to see how the strength gains convert to the track. Not common to see someone as strong as you – and could teach us all a lot about the intersections of speed and strength.

[Steve]

Steve on June 18, 2009 at 11:25 pm #85014

I’ve been slacking lately.

Decided to continue this in one way or another, I managed to beat myself down so I’ve just been tapering off to heal up some nagging pains and get ready for the meet on Sunday.

Next week a more intensive routine begins, with less emphasis on weights.

[Steve]

Steve on June 24, 2009 at 12:42 am #85540

Back on track

Ran in my first meet on Sunday, ran a 12.03 w/ -2.5wind. Times were down .6ish across the board. Stumbled, fell out of the blocks(first race jitters I guess) put me 3m back of the field 10m in, ran even with the field after that. Ugh, frustrating. Around a 11.1-11.2fat with better conditions and no stumble.

However, made a revelation, instead of training my ass off and getting weaker just to run 11.00ish in one month, I’ve changed my outlook to turn this summer into a GPP period and compete for real indoors.

It took me almost 3 months to get decent running mechanics down, and had to shed 25lbs to lean enough to run without getting winded just doing warmups. Not enough time to get a solid base and I’m paying the price now. Also realized that a S-L routine is not the best fit as I still lack the fitness to finish runs as short as 60m.

So today marks the beginning of a new phase. Putting some lean mass on, keeping my bf% in check, and getting my weights up to new PR’s while doing L-S based GPP work to increase conditioning, with a much greater focus on plyometrics to translate the new strength to the track.

I want to keep this log going, if anyone wants to track my progress. I will have some vids of nice lifts and jumps uploaded at some point this summer.

[Steve]

Steve on June 25, 2009 at 11:09 am #85599

Week 1 Summer GPP

Warmup
6x100m tempo w/ walkback recovery

did not time and kept it easy to be somewhat fresh for my weights session

Weights
BB Olympic Squats 405×5 425×3 455×2
BB Pause Reverse Lunge (3″)225×3 245×3 265×3
Leg Extensions 90 Pump Set
Hamstring Curls 90×6 90×6 90×6
Good Mornings BW Pump Set

Pleased with the squat, feels good to be oly squatting again. This is the strongest I’ve been at this bodyweight (205). Now got to convert this to power on the track, which I noticed I lacked throughout my training this summer. My legs are sore as hell in a good way.

[Matt Norquist]

Matt Norquist on June 25, 2009 at 12:15 pm #85602

Glad to see you posting again. Keep at it.

[Steve]

Steve on June 25, 2009 at 12:42 pm #85605

Glad to see you posting again. Keep at it.

Thanks! I’m relentless man. Looking forward to building up a good base heading into winter to really turn some heads.

Today

OFF/Circuit Training

Waterloo circuit x 3

15-20min. workout

Core strength is lacking, these hit the spot.