The lifting log is one of the most important things you can do in the gym. Keeping track of what you do can be motivational, can be a guide, and an inspiration to others. Some people log everything, some log some things, some log personal records, and others log nothing.
Where do I lie in this spectrum? I keep track of probably about 90 percent of what I consider my workouts. If I do 1 set of pullups, pushups, or ab work, or even a couple of sets it is probably not going in my lifting log. However if I am following a plan it is almost always going in my log. I take my personal records seriously but not to the point that some people do. Some lifters now their maxes for all kinds of rep schemes. I know my all time prs on most lifts curl, rack pulls, clean, clean and press, log press, squat, box squat, hex bar deadlift, hex bar carry, hex bar off stepper, bench press with and without the bench daddy, pullups, turkish getups, weighted dips,dumbbell extensions, box jump height, Murph time, most pullups in a day, weighted pullup, kettlebell swings, hip thrust, 1 arm row, kettlebell 10 minute snatch test, 2 mile time.
Think about your records what are they? What records are you most proud of in the gym, on a track, riding a bike, or swimming? Do you keep track? If so why? If not why not?
I kept a very detailed excell spread sheet for 4 years from 2008-2012. My current lifting log is about a year and a half old. I have kept others at times but these are definitely my main ones. I can look back and see that I squatted x amount for x amount of reps and x amount of sets. This can guide me to progressing beyond that or getting back to it if I have concentrated on other parts of training and let some other lift go down for some reason. Yes sometimes personal records go down you cannot always hit the weights like you have in the past. My reasons for not hitting weights I could in the past are injuries and maybe reaching my maximum potential on certain lifts.
Take the bench press for example. In 2008 I benched 300 pounds but now if I bench over 205 pounds my right shoulder hurts. This is why I used the bench daddy when I bench. It takes away shoulder pain and allows me to train with a weight that I can get a training effect with for what I am after building strength. With the bench daddy recently probably 4 weeks ago ( I do not have my lifting log in front of me right now) I hit 255 pounds for 6 reps about 3 months ago I did 290 with the bench daddy. The bench daddy is a band that goes around your triceps and as you go down the band goes out a bit, when you come up the tension from the band helps you lift the weight off your chest, takes stress off of your shoulders, and can relieve shoulder pain.
At Jackhammer Strength Training a small group training, personal training, and 24 hour facility we have a PR board for those interested in PR’s. On our pr board is bench, clean and press, deadlift, squat, pullups, and rack pulls. As a trainer who was nicknamed human calculator in college I can look at the pr board and know what weight someone should use to hit a certain number of reps. If Kris can bench 200 pounds 1 time then he should be able to hit 150 pounds for 10 reps, if I want him to have 6 challenging reps probably 165 pounds. Even for those without numbers on the board I still have a very good idea of what types of weights for people to use for various rep schemes as well as for timed durations since usually we are in a metabolic format.
If you would like to benefit from my 20 plus years in the gym, and over 30,000 hours of fitness training sessions come on in to Jackhammer Strength Training 3002 McKinley AVe, Columbus, Oh 43204
Nathan Jordan
Bachelor`s Sport Management Wellness & Fitness Track
614 499-4633
No comments:
Post a Comment