Bill's conquest for strength & size.

[WilldBill88]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Congrats on the squat and deadlift PRs! Excellent work.

Thanks Steve, really appreciate it!

[WilldBill88]

Tuesday, Oct. 23rd. 2012
Workout B

Todays workout was awesome! Left the gym feeling like King Kong! Was just doing my normal routine and training hard and had a guy stop to talk to me a lil about my workout. Wanted to know how I did front squats, saw me deadlifting and said how he should start deadlifting... Noticed some ppl watching me lift at the corner of my eye sometimes. Kinda cool to have people "Check you out" in the gym.

Front Squat
1x5x45 (Warm-Up)
1x3x95 (Warm-Up)
------------------------------
135x5 (+5lbs)
155x5 (+5lbs)
175x5 (+5lbs)
175x5
175x5 (PR)

Barbell Rows
1x10x45 (Warm-Up)
1x5x75
1x5x95
115x5
115x5
115x5

Press
1x5x40
1x5x60
80x5
80x5
80x5
*Feeling easier.

Deadlift
180x5 (+5lbs)
210x5 (+5lbs)
240x5 (+5lbs) (PR)
*Deads felt great today! Felt more speed, power and explosion

Calves
2x10x70

[WilldBill88]

Thursday, Oct. 25th 2012
Workout A

Squat
1x5x45 (Warm-Up)
1x3x95 (Warm-Up)
---------------------------
160x5
180x5
200x5
200x4
200x4
*Not sure what the hell happened today but after the 4th rep of my second set. I wasnt sure if I could make the 5th rep so I figured I'd rack it. Somehow as I'm going to rack the weight, the bar slips off my traps down to my shoulder blades and my arms are trying support the weight.. I was thinking "Oh shit!" But I got out of that position and dropped the bar. Then, re-loaded and finished my last set.

Pull-Ups
5,5,3

Bench
1x10x45
1x5x80
1x5x100
120x4
120x3
120x3
*Still suckin at my bench, but workin at it!

Incline Press
3x5x85

Calves
2x10x70

Okay workout, nothin special. Though my squat incident startled me a bit cause that never happened to me before. All a part of the experience I guess.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by WilldBill'88

Tuesday, Oct. 23rd. 2012
Workout B

Todays workout was awesome! Left the gym feeling like King Kong! Was just doing my normal routine and training hard and had a guy stop to talk to me a lil about my workout. Wanted to know how I did front squats, saw me deadlifting and said how he should start deadlifting... Noticed some ppl watching me lift at the corner of my eye sometimes. Kinda cool to have people "Check you out" in the gym.

Nice job. You know you're working hard when people are trying to figure out if they could do what you're doing.

[WilldBill88]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Nice job. You know you're working hard when people are trying to figure out if they could do what you're doing.

Whenever I'm at my gym, I dont know if its the time of day or who's lifting that day. But, I hardly see anyone doing compound movements like the big three. Dont get me wrong though, everyone is training hard in their own way. But, I'd like to get around people who train similar to me. Or maybe people will notice what I'm doing and will start to influence them.

Anyways, gonna eat breakfest and hit the gym will post later on.

[WilldBill88]

Looks like today was my lucky day cause there was three guys in the gym today powerlifting. I started talking to them a little bit asked how long they were training and ect. One guy asked what program I was doing, I said I'm doing a 5x5 program to which he replied "5x5 routines suck." Didnt necesarily agree with that but kept my mouth shut. He said I should start using bands and chains and ect. I said well thats a thought but, I only been training for 5 and a half months so I'm just working on my form and progress to get my numbers up, which he agreed. Anyways he saw me deadlifting at the end of my workout and asked if he could give me a couple pointers/criticism. I said sure. He said my back is a little rounded and I'm almost stiff legged when deadlifting cause my ass is up high when I start. I was a little suprised he said that cause I thought I had my form down. Anyways he said I should put my ass down a little more and drive with my heels a little more and ect. Showed me some examples then, asked me to do it how he said I should. It felt a little different but, he said it looked almost perfect. Now, this wasnt a gym rat giving me advice. He was deadlifting over 500 pounds when I was there so, I think his advice was credible.

Saturday, October 27. 2012
Workout B

Front Squat
1x5x45
1x5x95
1x5x135
1x5x155
3x5x175

Barbell Rows
1x10x45
1x5x75
1x5x95
3x5x115

Press
1x5x40
1x5x60
1x5x80
2x4x80

Deadlift
180x5
210x5
*was gonna do 240 but, after talking to the guy on "correcting" my form I did some extra reps/sets with 210 to work on form.

[BendtheBar]

One guy asked what program I was doing, I said I'm doing a 5x5 program to which he replied "5x5 routines suck."

Comments like that can be toxic. Sorry you got that smacked upon you.

I was a little suprised he said that cause I thought I had my form down. Anyways he said I should put my ass down a little more and drive with my heels a little more and ect. Showed me some examples then, asked me to do it how he said I should. It felt a little different but, he said it looked almost perfect. Now, this wasnt a gym rat giving me advice. He was deadlifting over 500 pounds when I was there so, I think his advice was credible.

He may have been on target. The advice sounds reasonable.

Post a video if you can from the side and let me look.

[WilldBill88]

Steve, I sent you a PM to your response. (More detailed.) This video shows how the guy was trying to teach me how to deadlift...





My DL looks more like this... Just not as hardcore

[BendtheBar]

They are the same style of deadlifting. The guy above simply looks more uptight.

[WilldBill88]

Alright this has been bugging the shit outta me but, I finally get what the guy was pointing out to me. When I'd set up for my deadlift, I would only bend down far enough to grab the bar, with my rear up still fairly high. Then I would pull, I still drove my feet into the ground and ect. What I wasnt doing was the sit-back motion he was trying to teach me. Which I understand now. What I need to do is bend down a little bit so my shins touch the bar just before I pull and then drive with my feels. (Like the second Video ^^^) When I was trying execute what he showed me I was kind of over exaggerating the movement, which didnt feel right. After "Air" deadlifting I see what I need to focus on next time I DL. I dont believe my form was horribly off, just a small adjustment to make as I start my pull. Hope this kinda makes sense.