Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 2 (Lifting Gear Series)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

In Part 1 of this mini-series, we discussed why the training log is your most important piece of equipment. Today, let’s cover how to set one up and correctly use it.

Be sure to check out the included videos as they also cover some additional material not included in this article.

This is the seventh article in our “Lifting Gear” series. Click below to read the previous articles in the series:

New Week? New Page
A few basic guidelines make keeping an effective log straightforward and simple, and my first recommendation is that every week gets its own page. Whether you train two, three, four, or even five days per week, you can fit all of your training data on one page if you’re committed to doing so. 

If you don’t finish that week’s training - suppose you’re supposed to train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but you missed Wednesday’s session - don’t use the unused space on that page to start a new week. If it’s a new week, then use a new page.

How to Setup the Page
At the start of the week, divide that week’s page into the appropriate number of sections. For example, if you train three days per week, you’ll draw two horizontal lines - one line a third of the way down the page and the other line two-thirds of the way down the page - to divide your page into three sections or “boxes.” This will force you to fit all of a given day’s training into a reasonable amount of space and will ensure you don’t run out of room at the end of the week.

Day and Date
In the upper left-hand corner of each section, write the day and the date of the workout - for example, “Mon, 08/19/24” if you’re training on Monday, August 19, 2024 will work just fine. The date is a must - you need the ability to look back and know exactly when a certain session took place.

Component #1: Prescription
Suppose today’s session consists of the squat, press, and deadlift. Set up three corresponding columns inside today’s box for those lifts. With the squat as the sample lift, you start by writing down the first component of the lift, which is the prescription for the day, i.e., the name of the lift and the planned sets and reps. For example:

Squat
3 x 5

This ensures that you’ve recorded the goal for the day, which is to squat 3 sets of 5 reps.

Component #2: Warm-up
Since you already know what you’re going to load on the barbell for your work weight (since you’re able to look back at your last session in your log), it’s time to write out the second component of each lift - the warm-up. If your work weight for the day is 235 lb, your warm-up might look like this:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1

Separate your prescription from your warm-up with a short line, and with this done, your training log now looks like this:

Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1

Component #3: Work Sets
Now, it’s time to record the data for the work sets, which will be 235 lb x 5 reps x 3 sets. As a result, you have the following in your log:

Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3

Remember the golden rule of lifting notation, which is that the number of reps is always the second number written down - watch the included video if this is confusing.

Component #4: What You’re Going to Do Next
You squatted 235 lb today, and you successfully completed all of your work sets, so your next session will move to 240 lb, and thus, your training log looks like this now:

Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3
Next: 240

This would also be the time to note any upcoming programming changes. For example, perhaps you’re planning to squat 240 lb for a top set of 5 reps and then move on to 2 back-off sets of 5 reps - this “Next” section is the place to note it. Don’t walk out of the gym without writing this part down. Ever.

If you’re only performing one set at a given weight, the “1” at the end of the notation is optional. If you’d like to be a bit more concise, you can write it all out as shown below:

Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2
215 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3
Next: 240

What Else?
You’ve got your prescription, your warm-ups, your work sets, and what you’re going to do next, so what else is there to write?

For starters, write down any cues that you want to use for your next session. “Midfoot,” “knees out,” “stay in your lean,” are all examples of cues that you might want to write down so that you remember what you’re working on the next time you lift.

You can also record how the training session went that day. Something like “235 felt pretty heavy today” is very satisfying to look back at 6 months from now when 235 lb is just an easy warm-up.

Lastly, it’s a good idea to keep a PR sheet. Set aside one page in your log on which to record your PRs - 1-rep PRs, 5-rep PRs, what you’ve done in training vs what you’ve done at a meet, etc. This is an excellent way to look back and measure your progress.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better. 

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Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 1 (Lifting Gear Series)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Today, we're going to talk about your most important piece of training equipment. It’s not your belt, shoes, or wrist wraps - it’s not even the barbell or the squat rack. Your belt, shoes, and wraps can be easily replaced, and people train on different squat racks and with different barbells all the time. The one item that cannot be replaced - the one thing that is specific to you - is your training log.

In Part 1 of this mini-series, we’re discussing why the training log is important and why you should keep one, and in Part 2, we’ll cover how to set one up and correctly use it.

Be sure to check out the included videos as they also cover some additional material not included in this article.

This is the sixth article in our “Lifting Gear” series. Click below to read the previous articles in the series:

Exercise vs Training
Your training log is important since it’s specific to you, but it’s important for a number of other reasons as well. For starters, the training log separates exercise from training.

There’s nothing wrong with exercising, and it is certainly much better than doing nothing at all. However, exercising is what you do when you want to get hot, you want to get sweaty, you want to get tired, and you want to feel like you’ve accomplished something. Training, on the other hand, is what you do when you actually want to accomplish something, and that’s what we’re focused on.

Your Training History
Your training log is also important because it contains your history. As a result, it of course contains your lifts, warm-ups, work sets, etc., but it holds more than that. It tells you how training went on a given day - you can write down notes about your training sessions, and I encourage you to do precisely this. Notes such as “Today was a great day,” “Today was terrible,” or “185 for work sets felt awfully heavy!” are all examples of what you might write in your log.

Remember - someday 185 lb will just be a warm-up weight, and on that day, it will be very satisfying to look back and remember when 185 lb was a challenging work weight.

Your Training Compass
Because you train, you have a program and a plan. You have goals, and because your training log contains your history - i.e., where you’ve been - it also functions as your compass and helps guide you in the direction you want to go.

The log works as a compass in two ways - first, before you leave the gym each day, plan your next session. You want to walk into the gym for your next workout knowing what you’re going to hit for your work sets, so write all of that down before leaving the gym.

Second, the log functions as a compass because you’re going to write down your goals: “I want to squat 315 lb,” “I’m going to get my first chin-up this year,” or “I want to bench 225 lb at my next meet” are all solid examples of goals to write in your training log. These help guide you, motivate you, and make the process much more gratifying when you achieve these milestones.

Your training log is important - it separates training from merely exercising, it contains your history, and it’s your compass as you go forward. Next, it’s time to learn how to keep a log, so in Part 2, we’ll cover precisely how to go about setting up and utilizing your training log. In the meantime, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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Do ONE Thing to Get Stronger and Improve All Your Lifts!

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Can ONE cue help all of your lifts? Your squat, deadlift, press, bench press, snatch, and clean-and-jerk? Absolutely. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains and demonstrates in just a few minutes.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 06/27/22)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

I Forgot My Belt! (Simple Lifting Trick)

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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/08/20)

Do you ever forget to put your belt on for your heavier sets? Perhaps you forget to wear your wrist wraps every once in a while?

Problem solved

These types of situations tend to occur more often when you’re a newer lifter, but even an experienced lifter can forget a belt or wrist wraps every now and then.

If you find yourself in one of the above situations from time to time, try this: hang your belt and wrist wraps on your barbell between sets.

By doing so, you’ll be forced to grab them before starting your next set, and the problem is solved. The next time you lift, give it a try. Hope this helps!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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3 Reasons to STOP Using Percentages (or apps) for Your Warm-ups!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Warm-up percentage charts and warm-up apps are the diapers of the lifting world. You're better than that. You're a big kid now - it's time to move on to pull-ups. Phil explains why life is better without percentages and apps and shows you how to construct your own warm-ups quickly and easily.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 06/04/22)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

The Hook Grip - Some Clarifications

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/18/19)

We discussed the rationale for using the hook grip quite a while ago, and in light of a few recent conversations, I thought a few clarifications might be in order.

When do I use the hook grip?
Use the hook grip when pulling a barbell from the floor. Specifically, use the hook grip for cleans, snatches, and heavy deadlifts. I suppose you could use the hook grip for rows as well, but I’d probably recommend that if your row requires a hook grip, simply use straps instead and save your thumbs for your other pulls from the floor.

Don’t hook your presses, i.e., don’t use the hook grip anytime you are pushing a barbell - this includes bench presses (regular, close grip, incline, etc.), presses, jerks, and push presses. This is just silly, and your friends will give you no end of grief for doing so. You only perform the hook grip when the wrist is in tension, and this means that you only hook pulling movements, movements where - if the weight is heavy enough - your grip might fail.

Does the hook grip always hurt?
Yes. And no.

Yes, because of course there is quite a bit of pressure on your thumb, and at first, you will find this to be quite . . . uncomfortable. If you feel like screaming like a 3-year-old at the end of your deadlift work set, congratulations, you’re among friends.

No, because eventually you won’t notice the discomfort nearly as much as you do at first, and more importantly, you will stop caring. You are a lifter, and you’ll have more important things to complain about, such as having to unload all the plates from your massively heavy deadlift that you just pulled . . . because you used the hook grip. Everyone who uses it adapts to it, and you are not a special snowflake. Yes, you.

Why does the hook grip work so well?
When taking a normal, double-overhand grip (i.e., without the hook) on the bar, you’ll notice that you have four fingers on one side of the bar and only one finger (your thumb) on the other side of the bar. It is the thumb that fails you when the load gets heavy - it leads a lonely existence on that side of the bar, and it doesn’t have any friends to help.

The hook grip remedies this situation by allowing the other fingers (primarily the middle finger) to help the thumb maintain its purchase on the bar. I suspect that the thumb also starts to fail in the non-hooked grip due to the angle of attack it has on the bar - note its somewhat “from-the-side” approach to gripping the bar compared to the other fingers’ perpendicular approach to the bar - but I haven’t given this enough thought just yet. Nonetheless, suspicions abound.

Now you know, and in time, I think you’ll be hooked on this grip.

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