EDITOR’S NOTE: Ever wonder how a world-class coach actually trains? Wonder what it’s like to train as a “mature athlete?” Welcome to the athlete journal of Charles Staley. A big believer in practicing what he preaches, Charles trains and competes just like his clients. Now, every Friday read what Charles has done this week in his workout sessions, and how he feels about it.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013, 10:00 AM
Bodyweight: 201 lbs
Today was a very strong day (other than calves, that is). I’m starting to really like high bar squats as well.
A note about belts: for a while I’ve been doing a lot of my squats and pulls beltless in an effort to toughen up, but upon reflection, I think a belt allows me to apply so much more force through my legs that I’m better off wearing one, at least most of the time. Today’s lifts were done with a lever belt and knee sleeves.
HIGH BAR SQUAT
Notes: Low bar squats have been chewing up my right shoulder for a while now, so I’m going to pretty much alternate between high bar squats (for lower reps) and cambered bar squats (for higher reps) for most of my squatting from here on out. If low bar becomes non-painful again, I’ll reassess, but based on today I’m not much weaker with high bar – in fact, my best low bar double is 365, and I did that weighing 211. I think I was capable of 340×2 with the high bar today, so there’s not much difference at all, especially considering I’ve only done a few high bar sessions after three or four years of not doing that lift.
Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 45 lbs × 5
Set 3: 95 lbs × 5
Set 4: 135 lbs × 3
Set 5: 185 lbs × 2
Set 6: 225 lbs × 2
Set 7: 275 lbs × 2
Set 8: 315 lbs × 2
Set 9: 330 lbs × 2 (Video Below)
DEADLIFT
Notes: I was feeling “springy” today, as I call it, so I decided to attempt a big double. For some reason I seem to do better with a big jump to my final weight, as you see here. I’ve pulled 450×2 before (January 16th) but at a bodyweight of 209.8, so this was a good effort today for sure.
Set 1: 225 lbs × 3
Set 2: 225 lbs × 3
Set 3: 315 lbs × 1
Set 4: 455 lbs × 2 (Video Below)
SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE
Notes: My calves are so small and weak that even a 25-pound dumbbell is a bit too much so I dropped back down to bodyweight only here. I’m not going to make a career out of calf training, but I am going to put some consistent work into them and see what happens.
Set 1: 224 lbs × 5
Set 2: 201 lbs × 5
Set 3: 201 lbs × 6
Friday, May 31, 2013, 10:00 AM
Bodyweight: 200 lbs
I came into this workout feeling fairly sore from the previous session. I managed to get into gear, however, and ended up doing some strong dumbbell bench presses and heavy (for me) bicep/tricep work.
One thing not stated below is that I had planned to do some military presses, but even with the empty bar I had a bit of right shoulder pain, so I stopped and moved on.
BENCH PRESS (DUMBBELL)
Set 1: 120 lbs × 10
Set 2: 120 lbs × 10
Set 3: 160 lbs × 10
Set 4: 209 lbs × 6
Set 5: 209 lbs × 7
TRICEP EXTENSION
Set 1: 60 lbs × 10
Set 2: 80 lbs × 6
Set 3: 80 lbs × 6
Set 4: 80 lbs × 6
EZ BAR CURL
Set 1: 85 lbs × 6
Set 2: 85 lbs × 6
Set 3: 85 lbs × 6
Set 4: 85 lbs × 6
Sunday, June 2, 2013, 10:00 AM
Bodyweight: 199.6 lbs
CAMBERED-BAR SQUAT
Set 1: 65 lbs × 10
Set 2: 115 lbs × 10
Set 3: 155 lbs × 10
Set 4: 205 lbs × 10
Set 5: 245 lbs × 5
KETTLEBELL STIFF-LEG DEADLIFT
Set 1: 202 lbs × 10
Set 2: 202 lbs × 10 (Video Below)
Monday, June 3, 2013, 10:00 AM
Bodyweight: 199.4 lbs
I had a strong session today – narrowly missed a 260 bench, followed up by 225×6, which is my best in quite a while. This was followed by a chin-up with an extra 100 pounds, which is an all-time PR for me.
BENCH PRESS
Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 45 lbs × 5
Set 3: 95 lbs × 5
Set 4: 135 lbs × 5
Set 5: 185 lbs × 3
Set 6: 205 lbs × 2
Set 7: 225 lbs × 1
Set 8: 250 lbs × 1
Set 9: 260 lbs × 0
Set 10: 225 lbs × 6
CHINS
Set 1: 199.4 lbs × 5
Set 2: 234.4 lbs × 1
Set 3: 269.4 lbs × 1
Set 4: 289.4 lbs × 1
Set 5: 299.4 lbs × 1 (Video Below)
Set 6: 224.4 lbs × 6
TRICEP EXTENSION
Set 1: 80 lbs × 8
