Your Training Log - Part 3: The PR Sheet

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A few months ago, we covered the importance of keeping a training log in Your Training Log - Part 1: Just Do It, and we also covered how to keep one in the cleverly titled article, Your Training Log - Part 2: How to Keep One. Today, we’re going to add to this series and discuss adding a PR sheet to your log.

The concept is very straightforward - simply designate one sheet of paper in your training log for keeping track of PRs (Personal Records). I would recommend using the first page of your book, the last page of your book, or you can keep a separate piece of paper in your book that is only used for PRs (but don’t let it fall out).

On this sheet, record your 1-5 rep PRs for the Big Four Lifts - the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. If you snatch and clean-and-jerk, do the same for those lifts. Pull-ups? Absolutely. Curls? Sure. What about a 7-rep PR? Knock yourself out. If you compete, have two PR lists - one for training and one for competition (the competition list will only have 1-rep PRs). We’re not talking hard-and-fast rules here, but at the very least, having your 1-5 rep PRs written down for the Big Four is a good place to start.

Here’s a sample for the squat:

Weight Reps Date
310 1 03/25/20
285 2 05/18/19
275 3 02/20/20
4
265 5 10/18/19
250 3 x 5 10/06/19

It’s fine if your sheet has some blanks - as you can see, our imaginary lifter doesn’t have a 4-rep PR yet. You’ll also notice that this lifter recorded his “3 x 5” PR as well (i.e., the best he’s done for 3 sets of 5 reps), and that’s another solid idea.

When you start out, you’re setting PRs every single session, so this might not seem all that useful at first. However, the longer you train and the stronger you get, the harder it is and the longer it takes to get stronger and set new PRs, so having multiple opportunities to set new personal bests can be very helpful in the motivation department. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to discover that you just pulled your old 3-rep deadlift max for a set of five, and how will you ever know unless you track these things? Give it a shot.

Week 2021.01.11

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
”Prowler Base+1”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest 30 sec.
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2020.11.09.

Option 2
Bike/row:
12 min TT
Score = distance

Compare to 2020.10.19.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 min

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 min

Compare to 2020.09.21.

Option 4
1. 5 yoke carries @ 30 yd (15 yd downback) – work up to heaviest carry
2. 5 rounds of 5 reps on the axle “clean and press away” – work up to heavy set of 5

Compare to 2020.09.14.

Mondays are the Worst . . .

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Tony pulls 275 lb for a smooth set of five. NOT on a Monday.

Tony pulls 275 lb for a smooth set of five. NOT on a Monday.

The new year has come and gone, and although you meant to kick everything off with a bang and get after that training, you somehow haven’t gotten it started yet. What to do? No worries, you’ll start training on Monday, right? New week, new start.

Do not do this to yourself. Mondays are the worst. Start on any other day of the week but Monday. Mondays are the worst because people WAIT for Mondays to roll around. “Crap, I didn’t start up my training today like I meant to . . . well, that stinks . . . ok, I’ll start next week. When Monday morning rolls around, you better believe I’m gonna get this party started.” 

If this scenario happens, say, on a Wednesday, you have now made the decision to not train on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In other words, you made the decision to practice the very habit you’re trying to avoid - not training - for the next four days.

Don’t wait for a new week to get a new start. If it’s too late to start today, simply start tomorrow. Strangely enough, the bar weighs the same seven days a week. Don’t wait to get stronger. It doesn’t get any easier to build the habit of training the longer you wait, and it certainly gets easier to put training off the longer you do it. So why wait? Who cares if it’s a Friday or a Saturday? You don’t need to wait until the merry-go-round that we call a week brings Monday back around to you again.

Just get on the ride. Now.

Week 2021.01.04

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
“Prowler Base”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest until breathing and heart rate slow down. (45 sec – 2 min)
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2020.11.02.

Option 2
Bike/row:
8 x 30 sec on/2:00 off

Score = least distance covered in any 30 second interval

Compare to 2020.10.12.

Option 3
8 rounds:
Outdoors:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
4 tire flips
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2020.09.14.

Option 4
10 x 50 ft farmer carry
Each carry is 25 ft down and 25 ft back and is for time. Rest 1 minute between carries.

Women: 97# per handle (80# of plates)
Men: 137# per handle (120# of plates)
(Note: Each handle weighs 17#.)

Compare to 2020.09.07.

Determining the Order of Lifting at a Weightlifting Meet

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If you’re signed up for your first weightlifting meet (also known as Olympic weightlifting), it’s useful to know how the order of lifters is determined so that you’re not caught with your singlet down when it’s your turn to lift. Let’s look at the rules in order of application:

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  1. Lightest weights first: If Bob is lifting 50 kg for his next attempt and Joe is lifting 51 kg for his next attempt, then Bob will lift first. If they are attempting the same weight - say 50 kg for both of them - then we move on to Rule #2 . . .

  2. Lowest attempt number first: If the weight is the same for both lifters, then the lifter with the lowest attempt number will lift first. Put another way, if the weight is the same, then first attempts go before second attempts, and second attempts go before third attempts. If Bob is attempting 50 kg for his second attempt and Joe is lifting 50 kg for his first attempt, then Joe will lift first. Think of it this way - the freshest, most rested lifter (i.e., the lifter who has taken the fewest attempts) lifts first. If they are both attempting the same weight on the same attempt number - say 50 kg for their second attempts - then we move on to Rule #3 . . .

  3. Sequence of previous attempts - whoever lifted earlier is first: Now it starts to get a bit convoluted, but our sample lifters Bob and Joe will help clear things up. Suppose Bob and Joe are both attempting 50 kg for their second attempts, and Bob attempted 46 kg for his first attempt while Joe attempted 45 kg for his first attempt. Since Joe’s first attempt took place earlier than Bob’s first attempt (because it was lighter than Bob’s - see Rule #1), Joe will lift first. Again, the freshest, most rested lifter lifts first, and Joe has rested longer than Bob.

  4. Lowest start number first: There has to be a final tie breaker somewhere, and this is it. Everyone is randomly assigned a start number* before the meet begins, and if we’ve made it this far down the list, and Bob has start number 5 and Joe has start number 8, then Bob will lift first. 

You’ll get accustomed to Rule #1 very quickly, you’ll deal with Rule #2 any time you’re attempting the same weight as someone else, and you will rarely need to keep track of Rule #3. Rule #4 usually only comes into play on first attempts when two lifters are opening at the same weight.

Now that you’ve got this all figured out, go sign up for that meet!

*Each lifter is randomly assigned a lot number, and the lifter’s start number is based on this lot number.

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