My quest to power

[WantzChas]

Hi guys. This is my second post in almost a year's time. I prefer to read when the smart people talk as I'm a novice in every sense of the word. Few quick facts, I'm 22 years old, 5'8" (176cm) and weigh 176lbs (80kg).

I've started doing mixed martial arts end of April and really like it. I'm considering to participate in some amateur tournaments in the latter half of next year. I am giving myself ample time to get strong, fit, explosive and to be an efficient fighter.

I am currently training weights 3 times a week, after which I'll do between 30 and 50 minutes of cardio (depends how much my legs are hurting) and then every other day I'll go into gym to do just cardio (30min jogging on treadmill or spinning). I currently only attend 1 mma class a week due to the time frame it falls in. I also do Bas Rutten's mma conditioning workout every now and again, say twice a week.

My current program is as basic as they come. I alternate A and B every second day 3 times a week.

Workout A:
3x5 squats with 220lbs
3x5 bench press with 150lbs
1x5 dead lifts with 220lbs

Workout B:
3x5 squats with 220lbs
3x5 bench press with 150lbs
10, 8, 8 pull ups

So to sum everything up I want to get stronger and fitter and would like to cut down to 170lbs. I don't keep a diet log, I know I should, but eat healthy in general and I drink a lot of water. I'm supplementing with creatine monohydrate, glutamine and whey protein.

This is sort of a log, sort of a suggestions page, I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

Keep well.

[ESSION]

Gonna be following this...

[LG1]

Reminds me of this routine: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...till_beginners

Is there a reason you are not doing over-head presses?

[WantzChas]

I don't really have a reason why I'm not doing them, I will add that in the place of bench press on Workout B. Thank you. What will good goals be to work towards?

[WantzChas]

So I went to gym tonight and tried out the overhead presses, did the first two sets with 90lbs and then the last set with 100lbs. It is not as easy as I thought. Very big difference between using dumbbells and the barbell.

I started with 3x5 squats at 220lbs. Did 10, 5, 4, 7 bodyweight pull-ups. Didn't feel that good while squatting tonight, my form felt awkward.

After wards I jumped on the spinning cycle for 40mins. Overall a good workout I think.

[WantzChas]

Had a good session today.

Squats 3x5x220
Bench press 3x5x150
Dead lifts 3x5x242
35min spinning
12 pull ups

The dead lifts still felt relatively easy so next time I'm going to add 22lbs (10kg). Bench presses is coming along nicely and my form on the squats is also improving. My cardio sucked today, my legs were probably just a bit worn out after the squats and dead lifts.

My weight is still not really dropping or picking up, I'm consistent on 176lbs. Probably 178lbs today after last night's all-you-can-eat buffet.

My current goals (for sets not 1rm) are:
Squat: 308lbs
Bench press: 180lbs
Deadlift: 308lbs
Shoulder press: 132lbs

Hopefully all by the end of the year, but I'm not in any hurry so a couple of months more won't hurt. When I've met ALL of the above goals I'll start to work more on conditioning and explosive power.

Regards.

[WantzChas]

Went in to do a 50min cardio session. I'm so tired today, going to sleep like a log tonight.

[WantzChas]

Today's session:

Squat 3x5x220lbs (next week I'm adding 10lbs to my squat)
Shoulder presses 2x5x100lbs and 1x5x90lbs
Pull ups 1x10xBW

Afterwards I did a quick 5 min run (between jogging and sprinting) and left. Felt tired the whole day. Will hopefully get a good nights rest tonight.

I've given up on my diet. On non training days I'm fine, but when I lift I'm constantly hungry and will keep on eating. I'm not gaining weight, so that's probably a good thing, but I'm not losing anything either. I'll worry more about my weight later when I'm going to enter competitions. I want to fight at welterweight, I'm currently at 176/178lbs so need to drop 8lbs for that.

Regards.

[WantzChas]

I had a nice session yesterday. Again added 12lbs to my dead lift, now it's challenging me a lot more. I'm a bit scared to add weight to my squat, I'm not confident in my squat ability yet. So what I've done is started doing to deep squats with the same weight until I'm comfortable with the weight, then I'll add 12lbs.

Deep squats 3x5x220 (below parallel, I've seen people referring to it as ass-to-grass)
Bench press 3x5x150
Dead lift 1x5x265
Pull ups 1x10xBW

Keep well

[WantzChas]

Felt terrible lifting today, first workout since last week Wednesday and I could feel it. Squats went awesome, but I could only finish 2 sets of overhead presses, one set of pull ups and 2 sets of dips. Hope to feel better on Wednesday, I'm going to do a light cardio session, either shadow boxing or spinning, tomorrow.

Summary:
Deep squat 3x5x220
Shoulder presses 2x5x100
Pull ups 1x8xBW
Dips 3x5xBW

Saw UFC 121 tonight, was a good card, exciting fights, but I think Shields disappointed, Kampman was unlucky. Made a decision to take on Shields on the ground that cost him the fight. I don't see Shields winning GSP to be honest, the cut is just to much.

Sanchez impressed me as obviously did Valesquez, but Carwin unraveled Brock's weakness and I think if Valesquez fought him before Carwin, Carwin would've won Brock and Brock would've won Valesquez. I can see him defending his title against Dos Santos, not really impressive in my opinion, but Carwin will beat him, if he stays clean.