Powerlifting - Heavy Squat
Friday 6/29/07

Squat - warm up with bar, did a set of bottoms up kettlebell squats to loosen up the hips a little, 145x10, 145x8, 235x5, 235x3... put on my briefs... now today it was a bitch putting them on.. it was a combination of the heat, and the amount of sodium water i took in from this morning and at lunch with water throughout the day. 315x5, 405x2, put on my suit, didn't crank the straps, light knee wrap and 535x2

Squat with Chains (each set of chains @33lbs [SC]) - 345+1 SCx2, +2 SCx2, +3 SCx2, +4 SCx2, +5 SCx2... i had on my hips and just the bottom of my squat suit... didn't put the straps up... normally i would take the suit of and just be in my briefs, but with the heat, and the fact that the suit was tight as hell, i was not about to try taking it off right then, so i kept it on.

Rack pulls below the knee - conventional rack pulls - 225x3, 315x3, 405x3, 495 failed... my conventional dead sucks... i need to work on it more when done training for this meet. i can definately hold the weight in my hands, but i get stuck at the knees conventionally. definate work to be done here. i'm a sumo deadlifter

Seated Calf Raise - 90x10x10... couldn't handle 15 reps here rapid firing the sets... so i cut the reps... some sets i was able to get 11-13 reps, but only for a few.

That was it, I felt very productive with my squat today, not so much with the rack pulls. next friday i may do a double with 555. rack pulls will be above the knee and we'll take it from there...

Powerlifting - Heavy Bench
Thursday 6/28/07

I've been wondering how my shoulder was going to hold out with a heavy day of benching... turned out to be just fine.

Bench - warm up barx15, 95x12, 135x10, 135x6, 185x8, 235x4, 275x2... Put on my bench shirt, 385x2, 415x1. no pain and it felt great, very tight, very controlled movement and pretty smooth on the way up.

3 Board press with the shirt - 385x3, 415x2... my third rep with 415 was scary since i lost it.. good thing i have great spotters. i came out of my groove and back toward my head.. don't know really...

Flat DB press - 80x4x2sets, 85x4

Close Grip bench - 205x3, 225x3, 245x3 i was afraid of trying too much weight too soon with the shoulder, but it didn't hurt, and it felt great.

Kettlebell Clean and Press - 55lb bell x5 each arm for 2 sets. then i dropped the sets to 3 reps as i was feeling a little burnt

Tricep pressdown with V-bar - 80x10x3, 90x10x2

Pretty much done here... added a little abs in there, had my shake and went home. I'm ordering some of the Supercissus Rx for one of the guys that trains with us that has been having some trouble with his shoulder. I would like to see how he responds to it. Heavy Squat tonight in about 25 minutes, so I'll have that workout posted later on this evening... Have a great weekend!

Something to be said for SuperCissus Rx by USPLabs. If you guys have been reading my blog since I started it again earlier this month, you know I ran into a shoulder problem. It hurt to bench, hurt to do shoulders, hurt to move my shoulder, hurt just letting my arm hang. I asked my chiropractor, massage therapist and sister, who is a PT (physical therapist), but no one knew for certain. I just iced and iced. It felt better, but not good enough to really train like I need to be. I added SuperCissus Rx to my daily supplements and although it took about 3 weeks (avg. time to see some sort of result reading the forum on this product), I'm not feeling any pain in my shoulder at all. Last thursday, it still hurt benching and I only did 50lbs for the dumbell incline... I should be in the 80's - 90's by now. On monday, my shoulder felt great, no pain. I was able to add kettlebell clean and presses back into my routine, which I had stopped doing because it hurt so much. I'm going to continue to take the SuperCissus Rx as a preventative measure in my training routines. Tomorrow's heavy bench day, so I'm eating up and resting today. If you want to know more about SuperCissus, click the "Buy" button over on the right and it'll take you to a page that'll give you some more information on it, or you can visit USPLabsDirect.com Click Here.
You will definately save more ($12/bottle) if you click on the "Buy" button over in the right hand column. If you have any sort of joint pain, or want to take something as a preventative measure for you joints, I recommend the SuperCissus Rx.

Johnny D

Powerlifting - Speed Squat/Dead
Tuesday 6/26/07

It was hot as hell in the gym today. Either it was never put on in the morning or the girls thought it was on. When we checked the thermostat it read 87 degrees!! Not good seeing it was 92 with high humidity today. Sweating like crazy the first part of the workout.


Squat - warm up for a couple of sets with the bar, 135x10, 135x6, 225x5, 225x3, 315x4

Box Squats - 225x2x 8 sets @30sec rest between sets... focusing on releasing the hips on the box and driving back up off of it.

Deadlift Conventional - 135x3x5 sets, 225x3x5, 315x3

Hyperextensions - 3 sets 10 reps of bodyweight.

BACK
Pulldowns with the close handles (D Handle) - 160x8, 170x8, 180x8

Chest supported row - 70x6, 80x6, 90x6, 100x6

Seated Calf Raise - 60x15x9 sets 60x20 @30sec rest between. This still kills my calves, but I'm actually seeing some results from doing it.

Bicep curls on the Nautilus NitroPlus Preacher - 95x6, 115x6, 125x6

Workout didn't feel too bad except for the heat. I'm just really concerned with the box squats this workout. I think I should start working the back just a bit more though to carry over into the bench.

One of the college kids that goes to my gym chats with me once in a while. Today he asked what weight I compete. I just find it funny because he says "you weigh what, 180?" Weighed 163 this morning. Guess I worked off some of that bloat from this past weekend I mentioned earlier. Time to rest up...

Powerlifting
Monday 6/25/07, Speed Bench

Bench - warm up bar, 95x15, 135x10, 135x6, 185x8, 225x8, 155x3x8 sets with about 20 sec between sets

Incline Bench #1 setting - 70x6, 75x6, 80x6

Kettlebell clean and press - 55lbx5x5 sets

Dumbell shrugs - 85x10, 95x10, 110x6

Wide rear delt - 215x10, 230x10, 245x10, 260x10

Wide Tricep pushdowns - 80x10x4, 90x10

Dragon Flags - 2 sets 5 reps

One arm dumbell overhead side bends 35lbx5x2 sets each side

Training felt great today. Shoulder pain was pretty non-existent. the clean and presses felt great and smooth. I've been missing them lately. I'm cutting back on the higher weighted bench sets on speed days. I think that'll make a difference in not being burnt out on mondays. Supplementation hasn't changed, and I'm still trying to consume a high protein, high fat diet cycling carbs in every few days. So far, so good....

I bloated up this weekend. After training friday, I had my good friend's stag party to go to, so plenty of food and beer there. Saturday, my company was a sponsor at a local Lobsterfest. I had 5 tails and i have no idea how many claws. Oh and there was also free microbrews, so i had a lot that day. Yesterday I visited my aunt and uncle's, and had a great pasta dinner with sauce, meatballs and sausage after munching all day and drinking "Beautiful Blacks" (Johnny Walker Black on the rocks). I know much of my bloat is due to the alcohol, however, since I cycle my carb intake, it was a good carb-loaded weekend. I'll see how the training goes tonight. Shoulder is feeling really good right now. Speed bench tonight, so we'll see how it pans out...

Powerlifting - Heavy Squat/Dead
Friday 6/22/07

This was the end of week 3, which is one of our peak weeks before we breakdown and ramp up again in another 3 weeks. All we did today was Squat and Dead. We went full gear as well.

Squat - Warm up bar, KB bottoms up front squat 55x8, 145x10, 145x6, 235x5, 235x2, put on brief 325x3, 415x2, suit on (didn't crank it) belts and wraps, 505x1, easy, 575x1!

The 575 felt light picking it up. i felt very controlled and tight going down and i popped up pretty fast. what i'm really psyched about is that this is the end of our 3rd week. i still have 5 more weeks of training and then the meet. My last meet at Nationals, I squatted 589 and missed 622. That 589 was a PR. I shouldn't have a problem getting over my goal of 600 this time around.

Dead - 225x3, 315x2, 405x1, 495x1, 550x1... i don't give myself full credit for the 550... my hips were forward and just as they got there, my right hand couldn't hold out any longer. my best dead in a meet is 556, so again, 3 weeks in and i'm creeping on my PR's. can't wait for August to get here!

Done....

Powerlifting - Heavy Bench

Bench - warm up bar, 95x10, 135x10, 135x5, 185x8, 235x5, 265x2, shirt 365x1 easy, 385x1 easy.... striped back down to 225 and added chains. 225+1chain x3, 225+2chains x1, 225+3chains x1, left it at that.

Dumbell incline #1 setting - palms facing each other, 50x10x3 sets just trying to keep it easy on the shoulder... didn't feel much in the way of pain doing it this way

Wide Rear Delt pull-ins (or shrugs) on Freedom Trainer - 200x10, 215x10, 230x10, 245x10

V-bar Tricep Push downs - 80x10x4, 90x10

Dragon flags - 3 sets 5 reps

Kettlebell side bends - 55lbx5x2

Powerlifting - Squat Light/Speed

Squat - warm up with bar, 135x10, 135x6, 225x10, 275x10, 325x10 (belt)... already winded.. the last reps were tough on the last set, but i squeezed them out.

Dead Sumo- 135x2x5sets, 225x2x5sets, 315x16 (no gear) form was good.. may have had a very slight lean forward on a couple since i felt a weight shift to the toes.

Hack Squat - 50x6, 100x6, 150x6

Back extensions (machine)- 3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swings - 55lbsx10x3sets

Lat pulldown - 170x8, 180x8x2

T-bar Row - 45x10, 70x10, 80x10, 90x10

Barbell curls - 65x8, 85x8x2, 45x20

Seated Calf raise - 60x15x9, 60x17x1... tried to get 20 reps on that last set, but it wasn't happening

Kettlebell passthroughs - 55lbx20 passes x2sets

Kettlebell sidebends - 55lbx5x2... really concentrated on the obliques doing the work contracting hard.

overall the workout was good.. shoulder not used much today, but it feels better than yesterday. had a pump going with biceps and the calves... forgot my SuperCissus RX at home today, but managed to find 2 i had in my computer bag, that i took prior to the workout. didn't feel overly tired after the training which is a good sign. Next up is Heavy Bench on Thursday. Stay tuned...

forgot to mention that during today's workout i had a serious pump going on. not that i'm always looking for a pump when training, but i really didn't do anything out of the norm. it may be due to this SuperCissus Rx by USP Labs that i started taking 2 weeks ago to help aid in the recovery of my shoulder. i know it's supposed to have anabolic effects associated with it on 4-5 caps a day. i've been taking 3/day since starting it and a few days ago started to add a 4th per day. we'll see how tomorrow goes and see if i have another pump during the workout.

Powerlifting
Monday 6/18/2007 - Bench

Bench - warm up with bar, 95x12, 135x10, 135x6, 225x8, 265x5, back down to 185x10, 205x10, 225x10. the shoulder was feeling ok today. still not 100%, but i can feel it improving.

Incline Bench - 135x6x2 sets

Incline Dumbell press palms facing each other - 70x6, 75x6

Kettlebell 2 handed front raise (55lbs x10) supersetted with kettlebell cleans 55lbs x5... 3 sets of each

Dumbell shrugs - 80x10, 90x10, 100x10

wide grip rear delt shrugs (done on Nautilus Freedom Trainer) - 170x10, 185x10, 200x10, 215x10, 230x10

Wide Pushdowns Flat bar - 70x10, 80x10x3, 90x10x4

one arm side bends 35lb dumbell overhead for 2 sets of 5

Powerlifting
6/15/07 Heavy Squat/Dead work

Squat - warm up with bar for a few sets, 145x10, 145x4, 235x5, put on my briefs 325x3, 415x2, put on my suit and a light wrap 525x1. felt and moved very easy. broke the weight back down to 345, took off the suit but kept on my briefs.

we then did chain work. each chain set added 33lbs to the bar. 345+1chain set x2, 345+2chain sets x2, 345+3chain sets x2, 345+4chain sets x2, 345+5chain sets x2. the great thing with chains is that you don't pay attention to the weight. i'm thinking 345 plus chains. the last set at the top was @510 (33x5= 165lbs in chains +345lbs). and i did 525 prior to that fully suited with a light knee wrap.

Rack Pulls - 225x3, 315x3, 405x3, 455x1 with a failed 2nd attempt, 495 failed.

Good Morning, feet a little narrower than squat stance - 135x3, 145x3, 155x3

Seated calf raises - 60x15x10 sets just alternating with training partner. very painful, but you have to push your calves if you expect them to do anything. this is just something i decided to add to my routine. usually i don't do them.

Train Hard.

Powerlifting
6/14/07 Heavy Bench

Bench - warm up bar, 95x10, 135x10, 155x6, 185x5, 235x3, 265x5, put on bench shirt 355x2, 355x2.

added chains to 225. 225+1chain x3, 225+2chains x1, 225+3chains x1 225+4chains x1.

last week i couldn't get 225+2chains off of my chest because of my shoulder. shoulder was ok, again controlled and paying attention to form to keep the pain away. going to my chiro tomorrow to have it checked out.

Incline bench - 135x5, 185x5, done with that

DB Shrugs - 70x10, 80x10, 90x10

Wide rear delt... just moving the shoulder blades back. very small movement. 3 sets

V-bar Tricep push downs - 70x10, 80x10x5 sets

I'm watching the shoulder closing on bench days. i really don't have issues with it on my other training days.

Tuesday - 6/12/07

Squat - warm up with the bar for a few sets, also did a couple of sets of bottoms up kettlebell front squats. 135x10, 135x6, 225x6, 315x2, back down to 225 with green bands for 2 reps, 8 sets, switching off with my training partner after each set. so maybe 30sec rest in between sets.

Deadlift sumo - 135x2x5 sets, 225x2x5 sets, 315x2x2 sets

Kettlebell swings - 55lbx10x4sets

Lat pulldown - 160x8, 170x8, 180x8

Tbar Row - 90x6, 115x6x3 sets

Seated calf raise - 60x15x10 sets with only a 15 count between sets! this is killer and burns.

hammer curls - 25x15, 30x15x3sets (most biceps i've done in quite some time!) shoulder really wasn't an issue today. i only felt a stretch when holding the bar for squat. the swings didn't bother it at all, which i was thinking that it may.

Monday 6/11/07 - Speed bench today, and i was very cautious because of my left shoulder...

Bench - warm up bar, 95x10, 135x10, 135x5. at this point since i was doing rep controlled and in strict form, my shoulder felt better, so i continued on. 185x10, 225x7, 265x5... stripped the weight back down to 135 and added the blue bands for 8sets x3reps, with a 20 count between sets.

Dumbell Incline on bench setting #1 - 65x6, 70x6, 75x6. i did these with my palms facing each other since it took some of the strain off of my shoulder

Kettlebell cleans - 5 setsx 5reps with 55lb KB each arm

Wide round bar tricep pushdowns - 70x10x2 sets, 80x10x3

One arm overhead side bends with 30lb dumbell - 3sets 5reps each side

Pass thrus with the 55lb kettlebell between the legs, 3 sets 10 reps

The shoulder felt good while in strict form with good control. i will continue icing to keep the inflammation down.

Friday 6/8/07 - Heavy Squat

Squat - warm up, bar for a few sets. 145x8, 145x5, 145x3, 235x5, put on my brief, 325x3, 415x2 (belt), 505x2 suit added with light wrap

Rack Pulls from above knee - wearing brief 225x3, 405x3, 495x3, 585x1

Thursday 6/9/07 - Heavy Bench day

Bench - warm up bar, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 185x10, 235x5, 275x3 shoulder was not feeling great, put on my shirt and failed twice with 375. took off the shirt and went to chains. 225 with one set of chains, 3 reps for a set and i was done. shoulder was bothering me too much. so i didn't do anything else for the rest of the night. just went and iced it.

Tuesday 6/5/07 - Speed day for squat and deads

Squat - warm up with the bar for a few sets, 135x8, 135x5, 135x3, 225x5, 315x3 Went back down to 225 for box squats. 225x2x8 sets, rotating with training partner, so rest between sets was @30seconds.

Deads Conventional - 225x1x5sets, 315x1x5sets - again rotating with training partners

Kettlebell 2 handed swings - 55lbx10x5 sets

Lat pulldowns - 150x8, 160x8, 170x8

Low Row - 150x8, 160x8, 170x8, 180x8

Seated Calves - 100lbsx15-20 x10 sets with a 20 sec rest. Calves are burning and on fire from set #3 on!

Biceps - don't do too much for them, just did some 40lb Dumbell concetration curls

Monday 6/4/07 - Started training this week for the AWPC in Chicago August 3-5. 9 weeks out.

Bench - warming up with the bar, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 225x5, 265x3
Broke the weight back down to 135 and added the green bands. 135x3x8 sets

DB Incline - 65x6 for 2 sets

Kettlebell Clean and press - 55lb x5x5sets each arm

DB Shrug 70x6, 75x6, 80x6

Side Raises - 25x6, 30x6x2

Rear Delt (done on one side of cable cross sitting on floor) - 170x10, 190x10, 210x10, 210x10

Tri PushDowns (PD) with the longer round bar and a wide grip - 70x8x3, 80x8x2
I supersetted these with 55lb kettlebell between the leg passes while my training partner did his Tri PD's

Finished out with 25lb dumbell overhead (one arm) side bends -25x5x3

I was feeling pretty good that day. I little ache in the left shoulder area

After competing in the AAPF Nationals this past April down in Monroe, LA, I qualified and received an invitation to the Amateur World Powerlifting Championship (AWPC). This is being held the weekend of August 3-5 in Chicago, IL. I finished out at the AAPF Nationals with a 589 Squat, 429 Bench, and 556 Deadlift, totaling just over 1576 lbs in the 165 lb weight class. I think I weighed in that day at 163.

Here are pics of these three lifts: