Derek's Mass Gain Manifesto and Milestone Log

[sarena kopciel]

Originally Posted by Derek Simonds

now that my knee is almost back to normal.

Thats the best news yet today!!

[Gant Grimes]

Derek, I saw your beginning numbers (~185 last year). Where are you now, and where are you trying to go?

I'm going to have to mod my program. Recovering from heavy deads is a bitch.

[Derek Simonds]

I didn't weigh in like normal this morning. Last I checked I was 192 lb's and 9% BF, that was sometime on Saturday. My goals have changed pretty significantly in the last 3 months. I attended the January O/Lift coaching certification that Greg taught here in FL. At the time my goals had been to continue with as much O/Lift training as I could while getting ready for a BJJ tournament in April.

Unfortunately the week after the seminar was when I picked up my pre-patella bursitis that turned into a staph infection that ultimately I am still battling today. The infection is gone but not all of the swelling. I am on a no contact order with my knee from my ortho until Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to get back into the academy this week. I am dying to grapple, but realize that I am not going to be ready for the tournament.

Soooo all that being said the last six weeks I refocused on hypertrophy and mass gain. I have enjoyed the program I am on so much that I decided that I wanted to continue even after I was able to start O/Lifting again. Watching you, your program and what was said on the Danny thread I decided that I was going to incorporate O/Lifting, Strength and short Met-Cons. And that brings me to here.

My long term goals that I am working towards for the year are pretty achievable.

FS 250 working towards 300
BS 300 working towards 400 My BS and FS are only about 20 LB's apart right now at 215 and 235.
DL 400 working towards 500 I don't know how much over 300 I can pull. I haven't DL'ed in so long it is silly. I am doing a total at Leo's place on Saturday so I will have a good idea where I am on all these numbers.

Snatch 165 LB's (half way to BW Snatch from where I was in January) working towards BW
C&J 200 LB's working towards 250 LB's

All while maintaining a reasonable level of GPP. I really trained hard last year to get to a 3/4 BW snatch and a BW C&J. I made it with room to spare on the Snatch but just barely on C&J and it was kind of ugly. That was when I realized I am really lacking in the OH strength position.

I have been meaning to change the name of my log just haven't got around to it. I really haven't focused on mass gain lately up until the last 6 weeks. I can put on weight it just takes so much food that it wears me out. I leveled off pretty nicely at 190 ish with a fairly low BF% so I have just been going with that.

[Derek Simonds]

Tuesday March 25

First O/Loft session since the training with Greg in January!

SN 61 X 3, 71 X 3, 81 X 3, 91 X 3, 95 X 2, 105 X 1, 115 X 1, 125 X 1

C&J 95 X 3, 115 X 2, 125 X 2, 135 X 2, 145 X 1, 155 X 1

Lucy Sprints, I forgot I had dog duty this morning. I was going to row and tabata P/U's. Nope got to run with the dog. A brisk 46 degrees in Central FL. global warming, ha, it's the 25 of freaking March.

8 or 9 intervals in 20 minutes of work. I am going to need to change up this protocol as it isn't challenging any more at all. I think I will break it down to 200's, 400's, and 800's with a commiserate amount of rest on different days.

I was really pleased with my SN numbers even though the 125 was not the prettiest ever. My C&J went real well also. On the first 135 I did some kind of crazy jumping lunge when I put the weight overhead. It was pretty funny.

I could have done more work at the higher weights but I wanted to test out the knee and get a feel for where I am at right now. This was a great start.

[Leo Soubbotine]

Dude,

Didn't you know that global warming will lead to ice cap collapsing thus sending the whole northern hemisphere back to Ice Age (failure of Gulfstream would be one of the main reasons).

Soooo... the scientist are just confusing us and it should've been called Global F&cking Freezing!

[Derek Simonds]

Wednesday March 26

Happy Birthday Delaney, my daughter turns 6 today!

BS 135 X 5, 155 X 5, 165 X 5, 175 X 5, 180 X 2 (I lost count and stopped)
1 LRDL 36 KG KB in hand on same side as lifting leg 16 KG KB in other hand 5 X 4

Weighted P/U 5, +15 X 5, +15 X 5 (Tweaked neck on 4th rep), + 15 X 3
Weighted Dip + 15 X 5 X 3

After I tweaked my neck I called it a day. I foam rolled for about 10 minutes, iced for 10 minutes then walked the dog for 20 minutes. This is the third time in 2 years that I have done the same thing. It has happened the same way everytime. I am straining for one more rep and I thrust my chin over the bar. This morning I actually felt a pop and pain immediately in my levator scapula / middle trap area on the left hand side. It was so frustrating because I thought don't do that thing where you hurt your neck and then I did it. A classic example of how saying don't when you visualize something doesn't work.

A funny side note. Sprinting after O/Lifting will contribute to some sore calves the next day. I forgot how much the calves are involved in O/Lifts.

[Derek Simonds]

Friday March 28

D W/U
B W/U

OH Shrug 45 LB BB 3 X 12
DB Curl 25 LB DB

Shrug 45 LB DB 3 X 12
BB Curl W, N. R 45 LB BB

Push Ups Plus on Parralettes 12, 10, 10
S/U's 3 X 20

B/E's 15, 12
Squats 12, 12

Just wanted to get up and moving and see how everything felt playing together. Pretty good overall. I am getting a massage tonight and will continue to ice throughout the day. Looking forward to tomorrow.

[Derek Simonds]

Saturday March 29

Big 1 Year Anniversary for Crossfit Evolution! Leo had a total cued up for today.

BS up to 242 PR
Press up to 132 PR
DL up to 337 PR

I tried 350 but as Arden said so well I didn't even get dust under it.

Lots of fun. On one of the lighter warmup BS I strained my lower back. Something very minor but it just goes to show you have to concentrate all the time under the weight.

Had to leave and haul butt to Jr's meet where he took 2nd overall, video to follow.

Afternoon

Bench 45 X 10, 95 X 5, 135 X 5, 155 X 5 X 4
Chin / P/U alternating sets 5 X 7

I wanted to get at least a little push and pull in from my workout I missed on Wednesday.

[Allen Yeh]

Nice PR's!

[Garrett Smith]

Derek,
I don't see much joint mobility stuff (prehab) in your log anymore and within 4 days I see two strains (neck and back, like I needed to remind you). Make sure you're getting your nervous system up to snuff before the heavy weights!