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Climbing Mount Fuji – Powerlifting

MOUNT FUJI

Beginning At The Beginning - Powerlifting

Here is a training program a beginner (me) can start with. 5 reps x 5 sets is a good place to start. Do this for 3 months to build your base foundation before moving to an intermediate routine. It is very important to stretch the back and hamstrings as well as abdominal crunches as they help prevent injury. And be sure to wear a belt during the lifts.

Monday
Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight. Start with a moderate weight and add 5 pounds every week.
Leg extensions: 3 sets of 8-10. Add 5 pounds every week for all sets.
Calves: 3 to 4 sets to failure. Use slow reps. Add 5 pounds per week for all sets.
Ab Crunches: 4 sets of 25.
Pushups: 4 sets of 50 reps: Do after Squat
Hamstring Stretch: Do before Squat
Lower Back Stretch: Do before Squat

Wednesday
Bench Press: 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight. Start with a moderate weight and add 5 pounds every week.
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 8-10 reps. Try to increase the weight as often as possible. It is harder with dumbbells.
Close Grip Bench press: 3 sets of 5 reps. This is a core lift. Add 5 pounds every week.
Tricep Pushdowns: 2 sets of 10 reps. Add weight every week. When you can do the stack for every set do weighted dips.
Ab Crunches: 4 sets of 25.
Hamstring Stretch: Do before Bench Press
Lower Back Stretch: Do before Bench Press

Friday
Deadlifts: 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight. Start with a moderate weight and add 5 pounds every week.
Barbell Rows: 3 sets of 6-8 reps. Try to add weight every week though it wont always be possible. Strive to make personal records.
Barbell Curls: 5 sets of 5 reps. Start with a moderate weight and add 5 pounds every week.
Ab Crunches: 4 sets of 25 reps. Do after Deadlift
Pushups: 4 sets of 50 reps Do after Deadlift
Hamstring Stretch: Do before Deadlift
Lower Back Stretch: Do before Deadlift

Episodes Of Pain - Powerlifting

I was having a muscle spasm now and then for the last 2 years and the first week of Jan. I bent down to pick up a wash cloth and my back spasmed again but I kept moving around working that day and by nightfall I couldn’t move at all and was in major pain. I didn’t realize that my muscles contracted and did not release all the way. Then it got much worse throughout the week to where I could not get off the floor. A few days later somehow I made it to the doctor and got some prednisone and the next day got an MRI and found that 2 disks had ruptured and where touching the nerve root in several places. I could not believe the pictures, my disks where so far out on one side. The pain was so intense I cant describe it. Walking was impossible, most of the time I was crawling around the floor in tears. After 2 weeks I went to an acupuncturist I know and it worked! The doctors wanted to operate and cut out the disks but I said no. After 8 sessions of acupuncture the disks went back in place completely! So after being knocked down to the max here I am lifting again. Of course I am a little scared but I am going to try.

Lets all drag the sled today! - Powerlifting

If your not dragging a sled than you are living in the dark ages.

Dragging offers many benefits from recovery to pure strength development.

The best thing about dragging a sled is the crazy looks you get from your neighbors.

Sled dragging is basically dragging a sled around for a few minutes 2-3 times a week on top of workouts.

Sled dragging will increase your work load and allows you to lift a lot more.

Build a homemade sled by filling a tire with cement and place a hook that you can tie a rope to in the cement before it dries

Why Am I Punishing Myself ? – Powerlifting

Just kidding, actually I love this! But why am I getting back into it after 10 years? Because my 23 year old daughter that just finished Surf Camp decided she wants to be a Powerlifter too. She has been working out at Golds Gym with a personal trainer, and a few weeks ago they decided to try some deadlifts and squats. The lifts where easy and she loved the feel of it. So now she is planning on joining an association and entering a contest 6 months out from now. Geez; nothing like going from ground zero to a contender in 6 months.

Now my wife wants to get back into it too, so she tried a max on the bench and did 135; not bad for not going over 60 pounds on the bench press in years. I already noticed a difference in the feeling of my chest and arms. It feels great! So now the next step is to get some routines together. I will get back into the deadlift and squat very carefully as I don’t trust my lumbar disks yet.

Rebuilding The Foundation - Powerlifting

It took 4 days for the soreness to pass away before I could do another bench routine. Today I did sets with 185 after warming up with 135. Did 11 sets total. Just 1 or 2 reps with 185 per set. After the blood start flowing in the muscles it felt really good.

Pulled out my old Mike Bridges video on deadlifting. Wow what a fantastic video that is! Mike is 5’6 and pulled 700 on this tape. He really tells you everything you need to know and it includes a stretching routine. Stretching is important and helps you to lift more. I found it on Crains Muscleworld website today; check it out.

During the week I had some very minor lower back pain for a couple days after I had bent down about 4 times to pick up my Olympic bar off the bench to do sets of underhand and overhand curls, but as soon as I did my yoga stretching it disappeared. I never stretched all the years I was powerlifting, but now I do a stretching routine everyday. I cant wait to start deadlifting again!

Get Wider With Weider ! - Powerlifting

Pulled out my ‘Bodybuilding - The Weider Approach’ book from the shelf last night and opened it. It was published in 1981. This book is loaded with great pictures of the bodybuilding stars of the 1960’s and 70’s, names like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Andreas Cahling, Frank Zane, Ray and Mike Mentzer, Robby Robinson, Chris Dickerson, Frank Columbu, Larry Scott, Tom Platz, Bill Pearl, Sergio Oliva, Ken Waller, Boyer Coe, Bill Grant, and Ed Corney.

Here is a bodybuilding bulking up diet from the 1960’s. This diet looks like it could be used for Powerlifting too!

Breakfast
Ham and Cheese Omelette with five or six eggs
Half a pound of steak
Two or three glasses of raw milk

Morning Snack
Roast beef sandwich on whole-grain bread
Milk shake with protein powder and ice cream

Lunch
Half a roast chicken
One or two vegetable dishes
Piece or two of fruit
Milk

Afternoon Snack
Yogurt with fruit
Nuts and seeds
Milk

Dinner
A beef entrée
One or two vegetable dishes
One or two potatoes
Milk

Bedtime Snack
Hard cheese or cold cuts
Milk

WOW amazing that those bodybuilders could look so lean eating like that.

The Sleep Thing - Powerlifting

Getting 5.5 hours sleep is not working. I was aching all over, so just did a couple bench presses to see what happened and wow, the pecs and delts where really sore when I dropped the bar down toward the chest. Just 5 reps and that was that. Then removed the 45 pound plates and did 20 reps for 2 sets of bicep curls. After that did some yoga stretching for my lower back and hamstrings. Since starting the yoga about 2 months ago my lower back pain has disappeared and the back muscles have stopped their involuntary spasm.

I Love My Rust - Powerlifting

Without 8 hours sleep or loading up on any supplements during the day, I hit it for the first time in ages yesterday afternoon in the lanai at home. It took 45 minutes for me to do 10 sets of benches with 135 pounds of iron. I use a USA iron set I bought around 1984. The bench is built to hold 1000 pounds. I haven’t seen a bench yet that has the padding and thickness this one has. The Olympic style bar and plates have a solid coat of rust. No pansy rubber-coated plates for me. I got 10 reps with a standard 32 inch width grip for the first 5 sets then it dropped to 8 reps, 7 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps, and after a long rest, 9 reps. I actually got a pump in my delts and biceps on the fourth set! Woke up this morning with the faintest soreness in my front delts. I am all psyched and ready to take my Universe Animal Pak at lunch.