Winging It No More....HELP!

So I know there are all kinds of fancy pantsy powerlifting training programs and I get asked all the time what 'kind' of training we do. Well the simple answer is we consistently train for purpose with appropriate intensity within the parameters of our capabilities with the constant aim of achieving big lifts to the highest possible standard...but somehow that just doesn't have a marketable ring to it so we just call it 'winging it' training. And this is what we have been doing up until now and it has served us well.

The royal 'we' is me, Mr G & Rik and between us we have a quite competent little training group with great dynamics and wicked banter. At first it was pretty much just me and I was fortunate to get started in a knowledgeable environment but I am somewhat of a training whore and will go and find people who do what I want to do well and train with them. I did this with powerlifting. It was Emma James who first shouted TITSSSSS to me on the bench and let powerlifting steal my heart.

For my first comp I followed a very VERY basic and cobbled together (and probably wrong) Westside style training. Post first comp Mr G joined me to keep me company after he decided to hang up his spangly trunks. This worked great for me, always having someone to chase, pushing me, challenging me and keeping me safe. It soon became apparent that Mr G needed some young strong buck to lock horns with though as he thrives on challenge. It probably took us a good 12 months before we acquired Rik...seriously we put out powerlifting WLTM ads with zero success. Seems no fucker wanted to train with us until a former member came up trumps with a friend of his. So our trio became complete and we could started to really 'wing it' full power!

We have made continuous improvements which is great but me & Mr G, who is now a full on bodybuilding to powerlifting convert (praise be...it took 18 months), discussed that if we were to make the progress we wanted to make then we needed to bring someone in from the outside and have a bash at a more systematic approach. We narrowed it down to two choices and finally the most suitable option fell into our laps and being a believer in opportunities identified & acted upon approach we came to work with our very first full time, full control coach.

So the training logs that will now be posted on here are all new to me. I feel like I have two left feet for 80% of the time. I also for the first time EVER have a training diary and here I will share it with you...warts and all.

5/9/13
Coaching session with Nichola which was lots of technical work, corrections, goal setting, prodding, poking & headbutting.

6/9/13
OH Squats
Warm Ups
15kg x 5/5/5 to a low box 4/1/1/ free
*Left shoulder, bi & tri feel really tender and showing weakness

Deadlifts
Warm Ups
70kg x 5/5
110kg x 5
*Left arm from trap to middle finger have a toothache like pain so I put on some compression sleeves.
130kg x 3/3/3 - hurt like a bitch on left side but all I concentrated on was '3 broken ribs'. I knew it was nerve trapping rather than muscular so was sure I wasn't going to do any permanent damage.

Power Clean
40kg x 5/5/5/5

Squats - paused
40kg x 10/10/10/10
Lat Pull Downs 70lb x 10/10/10/10

Left arm and shoulder feel fucked yet all back to normal 2 hours post training. Indication that nerve is trapping C4/5 probably due to traps pinching on OH squats.

9/9/13
Bench
40/60/70/80kg x 5
90kg x 3/3/3

Spiders - 2 blues, 1 white
Bar x 6/6/6/5/4

Holds - 1 blue
+80kg x 6 seconds
+90kg x 6/6s

Tri Dips
6/6

10/09/13
OH Squats
15kg x 5/5/5/5 to box

Squats
65/80kg x 5
95kg x 3
100kg x 3

Box Squats - paused
75kg x 4/4/4/4

V Squat SS Glute Bridge x 3
50kgx 10 60kg x 10

12/09/13
Bench
60kg x 3/3/3/3/3/3/3/3
Wide Lat PD's
90 - 180lb x 10-8 - 4 sets
Wide Chest Supported Row
100kg x 8/8/8/8

13/9/13
OH Squats
19kg x 5/5/5 to box & 5 free
*changed grip

Deads
W/U
70kg x 5
110kg x 3
130kg x 3
150kg x 4/4/4

Powercleans
40kg x 8/5/5/5/5 - still not winging these.

40kg paused squats 10/10/10
Single let hypers 2 x 10

Well that's all folks. Expect more of the same.