Your training year 2011

Barry.Oglesby

We're 11/12ths of the way through 2011, and I was wondering how everyone felt about their year training wise.

Did you hit any targets, did you bother with targets? Lose any weight? Gain any? Run your first race etc etc?

There'll be a lot of people trawling the internet in January looking for things to do, so it'd be nice to have a collection of the things you did well and the things you'd change in your training I think.

Post away there sure.

the drifter

....

squod

Bench went up to 140kg this year. Flat, without arching. Weight currently down to 97kg from 102kg. Figure next year I might do more overhead type stuff.

Nervous Wreck

I started 2011 at 65kg having only ever done a few weight machines and treadmills in a gym. A friend got me into powerlifting in February and with the help of him and a few others, I've gone up to 81kg and totals are now:

Bench: 102.5kg
Squat: 150kg
Deadlift: 190kg


All numbers I could never even have conceived of beforehand! I've learned a lot, built a good bit, made some new friends and had an awful lot of fun. Good training year for me, I hope 2012 can see more progress!

Brian?

Great idea for a thread Barry. 2011 was a right off for me training wise, due to a couple of pretty severe injuries and a new child. But it'll be nice to see what everyone else says.

VIS VIRES

I competed a fair bit this year, 4 powelifting comps and 1 strongman. I had a good few targets i wanted to hit at the start of the year and if i'm honest i havent hit many of them. Looking back i've probably ony hit two.

(1) Deadlifting over 300kg at U90kg

(2) Winning the GPC Worlds (not my performance though:pac: )


Not the best year really , but hey there's a fresh year full of new goals right around the corner

Satanta

Interesting looking back at the year all right.

First few months of the year: Aim was to put on some weight. Put on approx 5-6 kilo's

Middle section of the year: Aim was to keep bodyweight and decrease BF%. Started experimenting with Metcons. Was interesting to train differently

End of Summer: Started cycling. Wanted to drop a few kilos!! Dropped 2 kilos.

Last couple of months: Tried the BLABA program as something different. Kept up the cycling and aim was to improve cardio fitness. Job done and another kilo lost

Next year.... Aim in the first few months is to put on a few kilos LOL. Some craic this training madness.

dario28

Aims for this year -

Get weight consistently over 80kgs
Start Road bike Racing - complete some races
Do a 143km Road bike Race in a respectable time
Get more than 3 or 4 reps out of 100kgs on bench
Get a stronger at Squats Jan 2011 was @ 100kgs for few reps
Get better at swimming freestyle

Workout Programs Tried
Pyramids
Supersets
Built like a bad Ass
German Volume Training


Results
Weight is just about 81ish , was at 83 but got sick in June and lost fair few kgs
Did Swords road racing Leagues , very daunting at first managed a 3rd and learnt a new found respect for Tour de France riders, deffo toughest sport I have ever done
143km Race completed in 4:07 28th out of 1500 , about 150 were seriously racing it ( probably best achievement of the year)
Benching 8 reps comfortably at 100kgs and now 115kgs is where I get 3
Squats comfortable on 140kgs for a few reps

Incomplete Goal
Swimming still a swim-tard !

Best Program of the Year for interesting-ness and intensity
Built like a Bad Ass

Best Program for Gains
German Volume Training

The Davestator

Started the year aiming to lift big but a recurrence of a hernia in Feb put a stop to that. Focused on cardio and conditioning. Did a few running races and the maracycle (Dublin - Belfast)

Had my Op last week so nothing until January!

COH

At the end of 2010 I was full of optimism..

COH wrote: »

I dont have goals, 'goals' lack certainty.. I have a list of inevitabilities :cool:

Among other things...
170-180 raw bench will happen
280+ deadlift will happen
A huge raw squat will happen.. the number in my head is 260+
I'll front squat 200kg too
all @90-100kg BW, depending on cakes and other things

I then injured myself, then reinjured myself and grew a lady garden, my goals then changed to...

COH wrote: »

I hate this thread.
I'd now settle for...


Deadlift.. anything
Squat ... anything
A smaller less vengeful vagina
170+ bench... sooner rather than later

Since then I learnt how to not train like a fool, got myself healthier and stronger, heavier and educated, qualified and am now working full time as a PT, soon to be qualified in S&C and living essentially the dream.. albeit without the vast wealth (yet!)

In a nutshell I started 2011 unable to walk, I'm finishing it with national and international medals in a sport I love, and making a living doing what this time last year was a hobby. Alls I need now is a 280 deadlift and a 180 bench

Glowing

I was a bit of a lost soul from Jan -> May - was doing some bodypump and spinning classes and pilates and the occassional run. I really wanted to push myself further though but wasn't really sure how ...

It has only been since June when I changed gym, and have been doing a more targeted strength/conditioning program with kettlebell training as well, averaging 4 days a week with the odd cycle thrown in. I've lost a couple of kilos, dropped bodyfat and can now do 'man' pushups and unassisted chin ups now (only a few mind!) which was a great milestone for me I'm completely sold on the benefits of compound stuff and just want to go further and futher with my training, it's sooooo addictive!!! I've learnt a lot recently about nutrition and anatomy and that type of thing as a result of my training (and browsing here of course) and it's fascinating stuff - it's been a great 2011 for me!!

dave80

kinda had 3 goals for for 2011:

1. bench 180: done (had to increase the body weight to 118kg to do so)

2. get down to under 110: done (related to no. 3 didnt change diet)

3. start back doing some sort of combat sport: done (training in sbg cc)

itsallaboutheL

I benched over 150 early in the year which i'd wanted to do for aaages.

Totaled over 600kg... eh, by 2.5kilos:pac: which had been the aim.

I didn't managed to Deadlift 250kg which was annoying, i did however double 240 so i suppose i should have been able to do it.

I somehow actually half learned how to weight lift having spent forever telling myself i'd never be able to do it.

I liked this year, start of it was good because goals were reached and getting a change in direction and some new motivation is always cool.

Hanley

I started the year REALLY strong and out of shape, started training in IP and got kinda fit and sorta weak.

Decided to do a charity boxing match, started training Muay Thai and BJJ in IP, and now Kyuzo. Stopped the Thai, kept the BJJ and f*cking love it.

Then I got injured, did a CF cert and turned super gay. Missed I dunno how many weeks training with a torn thingamajig in my ribs, did a month of crossfit programming, got in decent shape, regained some muscle and power cleaned 127.5kg outta nowhere...

Now I'm eagerly awaiting my chance to get back on the mats, but it's been severely curtailed by the fact I started coaching, personal training and attempting to run what I hope will turn into a really good fat loss and strength and conditioning blog.

I've never been busier, but all in all, it's been a pretty bloody good year!!!

xgtdec

Got my bench from 90 to 120 and in the process added 3 inchs to my chest(another lots of clothes now rendered useless!!)

did a total of 6 months build and 6 month(not just yet) cut.In much better shape than January 2011

Biggest acheivement this year.......really learning to eat clean for long periods and seeing the results it brings...its not easy...but its worth it!!!!!

ferike1

Been training bw all year.

Managed to do bar muscle ups

24kg kettlebell pistol squats for reps

Handstand pushups

25-30 pullups proper form

Despite not training convential squats and deadlifts for around 11 months my previous maxes haven't declined 140kg squat and 175 dl which I was happy enough with.

elsy

This year has been a big year for me I was over weight and the most unfit person in the world. In Jan I made the usual get fit and healthy resolution but to everyones surprise including my own here I am 11 months later 3 stone lighter a bad week for me is only traning 5 days!! if I fancy a run I can head out run about 8k non stop no bother I couldnt run across the road last year. Ive gone from been the girl at the back of my fitness class about to pass out to been one of the fittest there I'm doing full push ups bye bye modified!! and I'm just so happy I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

Orla K

I think my year has been an odd one, I'll have to explain abit I'm not sure people will understand what I'm on about if I don't. I'm going to have to start with time time last year, I had severe depression and was basicly hibernating, I slept for pretty much 18+ hours a day. Around Feb someone had gained weight and were complaining so I convinced them to at least try a spinning class I'd of course had to go with them(they didn't last, spinning was making/keeping her fat) Before I got depressed I used to go to the gym but that wasn't propper training, don't really know what to call it. So I decided to get back to it but this time I had boards. I was reading alot, learning alot and changed my diet, payed alot more attention to how I was feeling and just tried to be better. I've had some crazy days were life when horribly wrong but while I felt crap I also realised it was an alright kind of crap.

I suppose I could've summed that up as I wanted to be better than I was and I am better than I was.

As for other goals, weight/fat loss. I was weighed a few weeks ago I lost something like 1kg:o I burst out laughing, the guy thought I had gone mad, it wasn't the reaction he was expecting. My bodyfat has gone down and I've had to buy new jeans which are all a size smaller.

As for me getting stronger, I did and was going great but I was finding sept/oct difficult and going to the gym suffered, diet I actually got a bit stricter, I didn't want to make myself feel worse.

Barry.Oglesby

ferike1 wrote: »

Been training bw all year.

Managed to do bar muscle ups

24kg kettlebell pistol squats for reps

Handstand pushups

25-30 pullups proper form

Despite not training convential squats and deadlifts for around 11 months my previous maxes haven't declined 140kg squat and 175 dl which I was happy enough with.

Really interesting one this. Can you describe your programme/method> What weight did you start out at on the pistols. I am doing 16kg for 3 right now but 24kg is a long way off!!!

cc87

Trained in the gym mainly till around mid may, had some fun with a few weeks of TRX training as well.
Squat 130, deadlift 155, overhead press 55 and weighed around 80kg with about 13% BF

Football season got going properly then around the start of april and my training changed to accommodate this

Footballs over about 3 months now and im back in the gym about 5 weeks and my squat is about 125, deadlift is 135ish and overhead press is non-existent :P

My weight went down to about 70kg over the summer and is now about 75kg
A re-occurrence of an old shoulder injury has set back a lot of my upper body training, huge imbalance between left and right which im trying to correct.

gymfreak

Very, very odd year for me. Things started changing last year when I joined IP in October 2010. Changed from a complete and utter cardio bunny...into a powerlifter in the space of 13 months:eek: I realised I liked all the strength and conditioning stuff as soon as I joined but never thought I'd actually compete..never mind in 2 competitions in the same of a year.

At the start of 2011

My goals for 2011..I have no idea about timeframes or how long it takes to acheive anything..but how and ever

* Over 2BW deadlift
* 100kg squat
* 10 pullups
*To find a sport I'm good at...could possibly be powerlifting

Was far, far far too optimistic:D:D

-Never got NEAR the squat:( BUT I still want it.
-Got 7 pullups..but not 10
-Got the 2BW Deadlift..and set a world record in it too:D Which I'm actually proud off
-And possible found a sport:)

Even though I didnt reach many of my goals at all...it was a damn good year if ya ask me!

flywheel

Orla K wrote: »

Around Feb someone had gained weight and were complaining so I convinced them to at least try a spinning class I'd of course had to go with them(they didn't last, spinning was making/keeping her fat)

hi Orla, that's a sad thing to hear and understandable how it made you go ... unfortunately it depends if the classes you went to had instructors qualified to instruct the actual Spinning® program: it's a specific way to teach indoor cycling (not generic) it provides a well structured training routine (using specific heart rate/intensity) to assist people with their goals... unfortunately most gyms / facilities / classes offer generic 'indoor cycling' workouts to their members or allocate instructors with no actual knowledge of cycling training methods or how to use the fixed gear / weighted flywheel bike to deliver results

Spinning® was a big part of my 2011 training year - as part of my build-up for a intensive cycling camp in the Alps and throughout the rest of the year for cross training and cardio work... wouldn't be in as good a shape without it...

i had to make sure i went to classes with instructors who know what they are doing and understand heart rate training...i both instruct and regularly attend classes at official Spinning® facilities who periodise their training timetables, use heart rate monitoring and definitely assist people with their goals from everything to changing body composition, cycling performance and cross training...

i've attended many generic 'indoor cycling' class over the years too, seeing pointless training taking place wasting the time of everyone there and even exposing the participants to potential injury now i always check the instructor out, if i'm going to give 45mins - 2 hrs of my time to someone to train me i'll make damn sure they know what they are doing to benefit my goals and not just deliver a random workout or risk my health doing crazy stuff...

colman1212

First half of the year was a disaster training wise. Was in asia for 4 months beering and eating crap.

Second half I've trained pretty hard and hit some good prs
Bench 100kg
Squat 135kg
Deadlift 175kg

Really happy with that. I think the four months away from the gym probably did me a lot of good.

Oh and I benched 60kg for 18 reps on Friday!!! I remember thinking when I started in the gym that if I could bench 60kg for one rep I'd be so happy. Funny how goals change over time!!!

Frogdog

Started the year at 95.5kg, and out of shape.

I'm now 80kg, in better shape, competed in an olympic weightlififting competition, and about to compete in my second in a week!

zebrafumbler

VIS VIRES wrote: »

I competed a fair bit this year, 4 powelifting comps and 1 strongman. I had a good few targets i wanted to hit at the start of the year and if i'm honest i havent hit many of them. Looking back i've probably ony hit two.

(1) Deadlifting over 300kg at U90kg

(2) Winning the GPC Worlds (not my performance though:pac: )


Not the best year really , but hey there's a fresh year full of new goals right around the corner

Yeah right. The only way I'd believe that is if I saw it. The 300kg deadlift @ under 90kg that is.

gymfreak

zebrafumbler wrote: »

Yeah right. The only way I'd believe that is if I saw it. The 300kg deadlift @ under 90kg that is.

It was 301kg to be exact!!! Pretty savage alright.

VIS VIRES

zebrafumbler wrote: »

Yeah right. The only way I'd believe that is if I saw it. The 300kg deadlift @ under 90kg that is.

No problem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd9eP8l8Qq4

Nervous Wreck

Savage.

Barry.Oglesby

Call out fail

Kanoe

I'm not sure it qualifies as training, I'm not entering any competitions but 2010 was the year I decided to hit the gym and clean up my lifestyle. I had taken to drinking quite a bit, didn't eat right, I could go for days without eating/sleeping and then binge on crap. My family were worried. I still managed to hold down a job and do all the other mundane daily stuff but I was slowly killing myself. (I think that was the plan)

I got a 3 month gym membership and fell in love with the routine. the buzz I got from training was more than I bargained for and I felt focused for the first time in years. But I burned out quick and 2010 ended with me having to stop until I got the all clear from the doc. I didn't do anything for the first six months of 2011 and it was Oct before I got back into the swing of things and this time I was determined to do it right. I'd been reading the stickies and following threads and know that it my was diet that was messed up and I've been doing my best to educate myself (and there' so much to learn) and eat right. So much easer said than done but things are working much better. I'm still addicted, even more now and maybe next year I can take it up a notch and my bro will let me join him at his "real gym" :P

Cravez

I pretty much spent 9 months of the year injured, dropped over a stone in weight and been back training about 10 weeks so nothing much major to report

However in that time I have:

- Deadlifted 210kg again after only 3 deadlift sessions at 81kg bodyweight

- Done 11 muscle-ups in a row on the gym rings

If I don't fall over the same hurdle and injure myself I think 2012 can be a good year

Remmy

My sciatica(had a bad fall off a horse when I was young) had gotten bad enough to stop me lifting about 6 months ago. I haven't been to the gym since but to keep myself ticking over I have ;

gone from not being able to run 500 yards without gassing out to running 3 miles before I go to college 3 times a week

Not being able to do any overhand pullups to being able to do sets of 6

being able to do handstand pushups.

My bw has dropped from 210 pounds to 190 pounds from not eating to gain weight when I used to be lifting and I'm a good bit leaner now

I am stretching daily now and my sciatica hasn't reared it's head for about two months.

Pretty pedestrian compared to some on here but I feel alot healthier now and I cant wait to get back to strength training. Smart this time.:D

G86

Started training in IP in Oct 2010, made a fair bit of progress and learned more about my training in a few months than I had in the past 3 years. I’ve followed the programming since it closed, although I’m floating a bit in terms of a strength/cond balance and my consistency is a tad lacking at times:o

In terms of progress this year:


Deadlift
115kg to 130kg.
This is also where I went for 135, hitched the fcuk out of it, and messed up my quad in the process - by dragging it up my thigh...... Clever.

Bench
42.5kg to 50kg

Back Squat
70kg to 80kg to 60kg...... to disaster! My back squat gone seriously backwards since the DL incident... my 'tekkers'(idbishi) has gone to sh1te.

Front Squat
60kg to 40kg to 60kg
- decided I hated front squatting cause it 'hurt my wrists', so it promptly went down to 40kg. Then wised the fcuk up over the past few weeks and got it back to it's best Few set PRs out of it too. Which is a bit of a cushion to the blow of my ghey back squat...

Chin ups
0 to 7

Played around a bit with Oly Lifting too..for the third time.. but I really just don't have the patience to give it a proper go. I get bored easily!

Bodyfat/Weight wise, I went from 154mm to 123mm from Oct-April and over 74kg to 69kg at my lowest. Since then I've mainly hovered around the 72kg, until I went to Korea and carbed my way up to 75kg which was my heaviest ever. Had a bit of a panic attack seeing that on the scales when I got back to Ireland, and went mental on the cond work for 2 weeks, which got me back to 72kg which is easily enough maintained once I keep the carbs in check. No idea what my skinfolds are at the mo though.


My goal for the next year is to get my back squat sorted out, hit a 140kg DL, lean out a bit, and basically just get a bit more consistency nailed down.

chris139ryan

this year iv gotten alot stronger, built up and lost bodyfat.
i started at 85kg at about 18% bf now im down to 80kg and 12% bf.
I got my squat upto 200kg but that was when i was training 5-6 times a week now id probably do 170-180kg as im lucky to get down to the gym once a week due to exams :mad:
managed to strengthen my left pectoral muscle alot from last year when i damaged it badly.
My abs are showing alot more now since iv dropped bf and weight.

goals for 2012 will prob be strengthen my back, work on getting my squat up to maybe 220-240kg and build myself back upto 85kg while maintaining my bodyfat level now or even lower and probably start deadlifting:D cant wait for these exams to be over to start back my training

eilo1

Well Iv had an interesting old year.

I finally joined a weight lifting gym in May to sort out some weakness that was leaving me exposed to injuries. It was going great all summer and I noticed a good improvement. I can do 15 push ups by 3 now!! I couldnt do one unassisted push up before!

I also started playing tag rugby and enjoyed it so much I started playing the real game with my university. I didnt even know what a full back was until coach told me that was my position lol.

I also had my first boxing match.
From a health perspective Im doing really well, my cholesterol is down as is my overall blood sugar control and my insulin sensitivity is up!

Iv also had a great year for injurys with no hamstring, piriformis or calf issues. In fact my only injuries have been concussion, shin splints, chronic thumb dislocation and whiplash.
All in all im delighted!:pac:

Jimmy Bottlehead

Seriously up and down year.

I felt like I never got going consistantly, with 2 weeks here, followed by a week off... only got going the past month really.

However, I went from being in fairly ****e shape (with regards cardio especially) to being decent enough - I now run regularly, do metcons on top of my strength training.

Have increased by deadlift to 160kg, from my previous PR of 140kg. Squats are still hovering around 105kg, bench around the 92kg mark at a current bodyweight of 89kg. Getting chins too which is nice, and weighted dips were with 25kg extra until someone stole my dip belt

Looking to give MMA training a shot shortly, as I've not been able to for over a year despite wanting to - work and finances prevented it. So if that goes well, something new to work towards. If not, I'll just keep trying to get in better shape overall.

Kevin Duffy

Ah, sure why not....

After 17 years of endurance sports and mountaineering, to the point of going full-time with Adventure Racing, moving abroad to pursue it and train for two 50 mile + foot races and being a climbing instructor, I started the year with 2 injuries that rule out climbing and long-distance running completely. Dammit. End of that career.

I then spent a few months wondering wtf to do with myself as my life was built around them and getting generally very unfit, before I decided I'd find out what I could do in the gym. I'm of an age where I grew up on the first showings of the World's Strongest Man with Capes, Sigmarrson et al and I'd previously spent a year working in a gym, during which I got pretty strong (for a long-distance runner anyway), so I'm trying Strongman as a new sport and loving it.

No idea what my 1RMs are and not hurrying to find out just yet as I don't need another injury, but after 2 months back in training;

Bench 100kg x 3 and 150kg for partials equivalent to maybe 2 repboards
Squat 160kg x 3
Deadlift 160kg x 3
Pushpress 80kg x 5

At 98kg, they certainly won't win any prizes, but if I achieve my primary target for 2012 of staying injury free, they'll improve steadily.

zebrafumbler

VIS VIRES wrote: »

No problem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd9eP8l8Qq4

Impressive. How much can you pull in the standard feet about shoulder width stance?

d'Oracle

Have a look at the youtube channel which that video is on.

dartstothesea

Not a fantastic year to-date here but sure I've definitely gotten out what I put in, no surprise there.
I don't think I had bench max tested any time before this year but it probably went up around 10-12kg; to 112.5kg.
Squat went up 30kg to 220kg. Did something to my knee in the process that I still haven't fixed now like 4 months on.
Deadlift also went up probably 30kg to 220kg. Don't know if I had a 2010 1RM to base that off though so maybe it was more than a 30kg increase.

Bodyweight stayed around the same. Well, it's probably lower now in the last number of weeks.

Made it to a handful of BJJ classes.

Stopped doing anything resembling cardio in the latter half of the year.

Things to improve on next year would be getting a higher training frequency going and eating more cleanly for better body comp. and a better strength-to-bodyweight ratio and all.
Learn me some new (any) p/rehab and assistance lift skills too, that'd be good. A more positive attitude would help, need remember to enjoy and look forward to stuff.

podge57

A mixed bag for me really. The year started off well, was setting PRs regularly, but then I seemed to hit a wall around March. I kept training hard, tried different things, but I was stuck in a rut. I knew things would pick up again though, so I just kept training away.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wouldn't play football, because it would interfere wih my lifting. But around May, I was missing it too much, and started training again. Still lifted, and went heavy when I could, and I managed to get into the team for the end of the league, and all of the championship. Ended up having the best game of my life in the championship Q/F, although we still lost. But I'm delighted that I came back and had a good season

Once the season was over, I was really fired up, and focused to lift again, and for the last 2 months I've been setting PR's weekly, and I should squat 240 and bench 140 by Christmas.

So it looks like the year will finish on a high, and I've learned that a break from serious lifting can be good, and that there is room in my life for powerlifting and football

Kev M

Small gains all round. 5kg on the strict press, 10kg on bench, 3 reps on 100kg for max reps bench, 7.5kg on the squat, haven't been deadlifting heavy so don't know about that but I wouldn't say it's gotten any weaker. Reoccurring illness that's been dormant for 14 years has come back to kick the sh!t outta me now at a pretty busy time, so ending the year on a downer training-wise, but looking forward to more PRs in '12. :cool:

The Guvnor

Was more consistent this year. Still not upto my goal of 5 days per week average.

Fitter, got a bit leaner so overall happy enough.

1 or two targets still to hit not pb's but sb's.

On the erg I can see where I can get to - tendons in elbow permitting!:)

Scuba Ste

Pretty happy with 2011.

Started off with a shoulder injury which interfered a lot with training. Gladly that's mostly behind me thanks to Barry's old gym.

Apart from keeping my shoulders healthy I had goals of 80/100 in the snatch and C&J at the start of the year and I got pretty close and may even have a go at them before xmas. Back squat is up too and again close to what I had wanted.

I also competed 3 times this year compared to once last year and made decent progress at each. Hopefully 2012 is more of the same tbh.