Reactive Training Systems

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

Andrew's Training Log

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

7/28 Squat/Bench/Chest

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Squat (beltless)
285x5
305x4
325x3
345x2
370x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvWlImfB5i4)

Squat (belt)
405x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOWchcnmWrg)

Bench (pause)
235x3
235x3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezEVgyOg8kA)
235x3
235x3

Incline DB Press
65x8x2 sets

Weighted Dips
45x6
50x6
60x6
65x5

Decline DB Flies
40x8x2 sets

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Assessment 10/10
Squat is the best it has felt all summer long. 370 beltless is huge for me. 405 squat is also really big. This all with weighing 155.2 saturday morning. The 235 pause bench triples felt great too. I backed it down as last week I felt I was reaching my tops for bench with my 260x2. I was just burning out fast. I will work back up hopefully to 265-270x3x3 in the next 3 weeks. Overall, my strength has steadily been increasing all summer while I have dropped near 10 lbs and went from 22-14% bodyfat. I've very pleased with the results so far.

-- Edited by Andrew Hollenbeck at 14:06, 2008-07-31

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

7/29 Deadlift/Abs

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Conventional DL off 100 lb plate (2 inch deficit)
355x5
370x4
385x3
405x2
425x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vIyIuXKnj0)

Janda Crunches
bw x8
5x6
10x6
5x6
bw x8

Evil Wheel
6x3 sets

Plate Side Bends
45x10x2 sets

Saxon Side Bends (Plate Overhead)
5x5x2 sets

Grip Work

Calf Raises

Assessment: 10/10
The workout went flawless. I hit everything I wanted to with the deadlift and my ab work went well. This deadlifting 3x/week is taxing on the hands but definitely going to be worth it I feel. I like switching the C.DL w/ S.DL every other workout. I definitely feel that is going to help a lot. I ran out of BCAA's today though so I will see how I manage without them. I still have some EAA's left to make up for it. If I still recover good, I won't bother buying anymore but if recovery starts to slow I'll pick up some more.

-- Edited by Andrew Hollenbeck at 14:07, 2008-07-31

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

7/30 Upper Bench/Biceps

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Low Pin Press w/ doubled light band
bar x5
95x5
135x4
165x3
175x4x2

CG 3 board (thumb in from smooth)
225x5
245x5
265x4
265x4
285x3
295x3

Rolling Tricep DB Floor Extension
40x8x3 sets
supersetted w/
DB Hammer Curls
25x10x3 sets

EZ Bar Curls
85x6x4 sets

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Assessment: 10/10
Last week I did low pin presses with 185x5x3 w/ doubled super mini bands, this week 175x4x2 w/ doubled lights. That is a huge improvement. Also 2 weeks ago I hit 305 for a hard single, and this week hit 295x3 which was easier than the 305. I'm very very pleased with these big improvements. Hopefully it will transfer to big improvements in my bench. Also, as stupid as it sounds, even curls felt strong. 85 is big weight for me and curls haha! Definitely a great workout, 10/10 for sure.

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

85? Dang. You're getting close to bodyweight probably. You gonna do any NASA competitions to showcase your curl ability?

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

55% bodyweight! Personally, I hate curls, but might as well make the most fun out of them as possible. I only do them because whenever I drop them, I seem to get elbow problems while benching. I never have any elbow issues when I curl once a week though. Wierd, don't know if its any correlation, but that's what I've found with my training so I stick to it.

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

I meant a curl 1RM, which is probably over 115.

I've heard of guys having that issue before. I wouldn't be surprised if your correlation is right.

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

7/31 Deadlift/Abs

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Sumo Deadlift off 100 lb plate (2 inch deficit)
360x5
375x4
390x3
410x2
430x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMueLVtRzx8)

Crunches
30x2 sets

Reverse Crunches
30x2 sets

Jackknife Crunches
20x2 sets

DB Side Bends
40x15x3 sets

Grip Work

Calf Work

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Assessment: 9/10
I was expecting the deadlift weight to feel easier than it did, so I can only give it 9/10. It still wasn't hard though, as you can see by the video. I also felt like a panzy doing high rep ab work instead of Pavel Tsatuline's Beyond Crunches ab methods. I just figured it would be good to throw in a light/high rep workout in there after all the heavy/low rep exercises I have been doing. My grip work felt a little better today, still not at my best due to the massive amount of pulling I'm doing right now. Also just did some calve raises for the hell of it. I don't want my calves to be too tiny.

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

Just a quick note for my future plans. I change my mind alot, so its bound to change, but I hope I don't. I am planning on keeping it all raw until Men's nationals next year. It would be a pain to try and lift in gear at school so I'm just going to get my raw strength up through the roof while keeping the geared strengths up with assistance work. Maybe even show up at collegiate nationals raw and see how I fair. We'll see.

8/2 Deadlift/Abs

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Conventional DL off 100 lb plate (2 inch deficit)
365x5
380x4
395x3
415x2
435x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HysQTGPtThw)

BTN Press w/ EZ Bar
85x6x3 sets

Janda Crunches
bwx8
5x6
10x6
15x6
20x6
bwx8

Full Contact Twists
bar+25x5
bar+25x6
bar+25x5
bar+25x5

Straight Leg Situps
10x6
15x6
20x8

Dragon Flag
3 reps

Grip Work

Assessment:10/10
I'm giving this a 10/10 because of how mentally out of it I was before the workout this morning and how well I managed through the workout. I just did not want to do this workout this morning, and was fearing the weight of 435 for some reason. I got through it though, and hit the 435 just as planned. I am very happy with myself about this, and not finding any excuse to not to it. The ab workout went great, felt good doing the heavy ab work after that high rep crap Thursday. Grip is feeling really well. I cannot wait to test my grip strength after this deadlift program. I feel like my hands are rock solid now. BTN Presses were just for fun. I had the weight loaded up already on the EZ Bar so I figured I might as well get a few reps in. Didn't want to go all the way from Wednesday to Tuesday without a pressing movement. All in all, everything went exactly as planned and very smooth today.

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

Nice pull, man!

Do you compete sumo or conventional?

-- Edited by Mike Tuchscherer at 14:52, 2008-08-03

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

I compete sumo when in gear simply because of the serious amount of carry over that I get from the suit. But seeings I'm going to stay raw for a while, I will just go with whichever lift is feeling the best at the time.

I will use both during my training cycle, sumo on Wednesday and Conventional on Saturday. I may switch out conventionals for deficit Sumo's the last 3 weeks of the routine if my sumo is feeling a lot better than my conventional though. This would allow for more focus on sumo.

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

If your long-term goals have you competing sumo, I wouldn't give it up for long periods of time. Mixing conventionals is fine (and IMO a good idea), but I wouldn't drop sumo completely.

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

I don't have any plans of dropping sumo completely. I said I would drop conventionals for the last 3 weeks, not sumo.

Note that this past 2 weeks is the first I have pulled sumo all year because of a groin pull back in December. So as long as my groin stays healthy, I won't be taking any time off of sumo's again, especially now that I can utilize both lifts full time with the new training system.

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

8/4 Squat/Deadlift/Abs

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Squat (w/ my new SafeUSA Contenders)
225x5
295x3
475xpartial + hold (supramaximal hold style)
365x3
485xpartial (supramaximal hold - the hold style)
365x3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSDcelBt77k)

Sumo Deadlift off 45 lb plates (1 inch deficit)
400x4
410x3
425x2
445x1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlFUTHiaXT8)

Janda Crunches
10x8
15x6
20x6
25x6
15x6
5x8

Saxon Side Bends
10x6x2 sets

Plate Side Bends
45x10x2 sets

Hanging Leg Raises
bwx10x2 sets

Grip Work

Calf Work

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Assessment:10/10
The weights were absolutely flying today and felt amazing. Two weeks ago I hit 465 supramaximal holds followed by 345x3 squats. This week its 20 lbs heavier with 365! Then the deadlifts were really flying today. 445 really went up fast. The ab work felt great too. It was the first time I have done hanging leg raises since starting my new ab routine, and it was the easiest they have ever felt by far. This is proof to me that my new ab routine is working great. All in all, couldn't have been much better of a workout. Oh, the Contender's were well worth the $180!

-- Edited by Andrew Hollenbeck at 01:42, 2008-08-05

Andrew Hollenbeck · Senior Member

8/5 Bench/Chest Stuff

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Bench
135x5
225x3
255x3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTfr5RC_36w)
260x3
270x2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72CQif0L5Q)
275x2
260x3

Incline Bench
135x6
155x6
160x6
170x6
175x6

Weighted Dips
55x6
65x6
70x6
80x6 PR

Decline DB Flies
40x10x3 sets

10 Pullups/10 Pushups/10 Squats

Assessment:10/10
The weights were moving once again. After backing it down last week, this week felt absolutely amazing. 275x2 is huge for me considering I missed 275 2 weeks ago. I wanted to make this a high volume workout seeings next week I back it down again to 70%x3x3 before I max next Friday. I just hit a lot of sets and they all felt good. I love benching in the SafeUSA Contender's too because they really allow me to plant my feet and they stick really well. Also hit a PR on dips with 80 lbs attached to the belt for 6 reps. Everything just feels great. Very happy about this workout!

-- Edited by Andrew Hollenbeck at 00:32, 2008-08-07