JP

Current stats (20th of October 2003)...

Goals for 2003...

Update Jan 2005...

Current stats (20th of October 2003):

Age 29
height 185cm
weight 97kg/213lbs (3 years ago I was about
68kg/150lbs)
The big 3 lifts:
Squat 3 reps with 132,5kg and one rep with 135kg
Deadlift 160kg
Bench 90kg - I don't bench but have to try it once in a while because everyone keeps asking "how much do you bench" ;) Well, the answer is "not much"!

I train with mainly heavy compound movements and in very abbreviated style. I subscribe to the belief that you can either train often or hard. I choose hard.

My training principles are progressive load, abbreviated training, compound exercises and no assistance equipment like gloves, straps, belts or bright yellow leotards.

I have trained in this style only for 3-6 months or so but progressed more than in the previous 2 and a half years of training. Before that I was one of the millions sucked into the training style presented in muscle comics like Flex. I used to waste my time with isolation exercises, long routines, training sometimes 5 times/week, doing up to 25 to even 30 working sets
per session and so on. Luckily with help of online lifting friends I saw the madness of this all!

I try keep my training sessions to about 45 minutes and train 2-3 times/week. I keep changing my routines but here's what I do at the time of writing:

Deadlifts - warm up sets 3-5 reps and then heavy singles. As an example with my current personal best lift 160kg I'd do: 5x60kg, 3x100kg, 3x130kg, 1x145kg, 1x145kg, 1x150kg, 1x150kg, 1x155kg - then up the weight next week.
Dips - 5x5
Pullups or bentover rows - 5x5

Squats - 5x5
Stiff legged deadlifts 3x5
Optional: bottom position squats
Standing barbell shoulder presses - 5x5
Heavy core work like abs, side bends etc.

I also train my grip once or twice a week mainly with heavy grippers, rolling thunder one hand thick deadlift bar, pinch grips, heavy lockouts etc.

5x5 means 5 sets of 5 reps of same weight, no failure, and up the weight every week with small increments.

Other lifts Ilike doing once in a while: good mornings, shrugs, farmers walk, single arm bentover rows...

Deadlift 200kg
Rolling thunder thick bar lift 70kg
Close Captains of Crush #2 gripper
Squat 160kg

I'm not a bodybuilder so Idon't really have to care too much about my diet. I do try to keep my protein intake high, eat frequent small meals instead of few big ones, keep my calorie intake high, keep eating good quality carbohydrates and fats and so on.

I use soya protein isolate to up my protein intake. Other than that my protein comes from grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and soya products and the last time I checked I get easily 200 - 250 grams of protein/day.

Age 30
height 185cm
weight 101kg/222lbs (5 years ago before I started training I was about 68kg/150lbs)

I train powerlifting style, not competetively since I don't think I am strong enough, but just for the fun of it. There's something about powerlifting, the peaking and breaking your personal bests, as well as having some standards and rules to adhere to in regards to squat depth and bench form etc.

My progress was halted for 8 months due to lower back problems and I was forced to do bodybuilding style training and even had to use some machines for a while. I was bored stiff, had my lower back not healed I might have just packed it in. My passion is to lift for strength and not just lift weights.

I am also interested in strongman style training and train with sandbags and other odd objects sometimes. I also used to train my grip, but have put that on the backburner for a while. My best achievements with grip training were few reps with Captains of Crush #2 gripper (I say few, because I have done several but not opening the sweep wide enough, perhaps two reps with full open/close sweep), lifting 15kg with #1 straphold, pinch gripping 4 5kg plates, lifting 67.5kg on Rolling Thunder thick bar handle etc. Nothing too dramatic.

Breakfast:
Porridge, muesli or cereal in soy milk, orange juice
sometimes a pea/soy protein shake

mid morning snack, one or two of the following:
Fruit
Soy chocolate drink
hemp bar, or some other nut/seed bar
peanut butter sandwiches

Lunch, usually one of the following:
yesterdays leftovers
rice, chickpeas or something similar
lentil soup with bread

Afternoon snack, one of the following:
fruit
nut/seed mix (i make my own, usually from cashew nuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds)

On training days I might have a post workout pea/soy protein shake with glucose.

Dinner, always tasty, always different, always loads of good carbs and protein.

I don't know the calorie intake but it seems to keep me going anyway. In future I might bulk up to 105kg/231lbs with just perhaps some extra nut/seed mix and bread thrown in to the mix.

I hope to increase my powerlifting totals to break the classic 300/400/500 benchmark. My bench press is pathetic, so that needs addressing immediately.

I also hope to attend to some novice strongman competition just for the fun of it, but not before my powerlifting totals are in a bit better shape and my overhead pressing gets better.