Pulled 715x4 wed but missed the single at 765 after (was asking a lot to pull this after the reps). Got it most of the way but was more focused on holding it cause grip was slipping. Bench was shit, felt a pinch in my shoulder possibly from the pulling. Worked up to triples at 330,335,340 and 345. Low hype. Today I felt a bit better and worked up to a pr paused single at 400 finally. Better pause than my 395 last month. Squat is doing ok with a 551 double last week with the new stance. We’ll see how that plays out. Happy with the bench it moved well for just feeling good on the day. Puts my best comp quality gym lifts at 619/400/794.5. Not too bad.
Took 556x3 on squat today. Some knee pain after but I’m closing in on my best triple. Best was 566 but it was most likely rpe9. There was a 3 month window I wasn’t able to reach 500 and most times between 1-3 reds per side. To hit this feels like I might be on my way to possibly passing my all time squat at some point with this new stance.
Deadlifts didn’t feel too great warning up, 673 warm up felt pretty shitty. Top set moved better. 730.5 x4 this is about a 7 lb pr for 4. And followed it with a single at 778. Bench and deadlift are on point and squat is coming around. Bodyweight is 196. Need to push it a little higher to get squat and bench up
Was out cutting wood a couple days ago in the heat so strength took a small dip but squat is still going ok. Hit 571x2 today. That puts my latest gym lifts at 571/400/778—1749. Just 3 lbs under my comp total. That’s with the new squat stance and 2 reps and the deadlift being a fatigued single from the big set of 4 right before it. Only bench was under good conditions.
Ended up feeling decent warming up today since yesterday is usually my harder bench day. Loaded 405.5 and felt pretty confident unracking it, moved slow but hit it.
Knee has been killing my squat. Since my 571 double it’s just been downward. I withdrew from the American pro unfortunately. I am gonna try to maybe do a local comp next year to qualify to compete at the American pro as a light 220 next time around. Hopefully I’ll have the knee sorted out by then. I also feel dots wise I’ll be most competitive as a 220. Deadlift and bench were on point but without a good squat I didn’t stand a chance. And I be lucky to hit 550 at this rate.
Got some new squat shoes. Higher heel on the new ones and noticeably more stable than the old shoes and can feel the arch support. Knees felt better on the first day (yesterday) if this fixes my knee pain I’m gonna be mad. They’ve killed me for 2 years. The old squat shoes were like 9-10 years old but didn’t show a ton of wear.
Gonna be going up in weight a bit. Goal is 210 and hold my weight there. Knees feeling better and sciatic nerve pains been coming back. They must be linked. Pulls are going to be on a Texas deadlift bar for now on. I think bench is going to respond pretty fast to the weight gain. Sitting about 202-204 most of the time now. Was 208 last night but back to 202 by the evening cause I didn’t eat or drink much during the day.
Pulled today 695 low hype single and miss loaded my amrap set with 605 thinking I loaded 615. Hit 11 reps. Same as last week. I did load a bench pr double at 380 today. Moved well and not even peaked or primary bench day. If my shoulders stay as good as they’ve been I will press 441 at 210. Not immediately obviously but once i hold the body weight a bit it’ll happen. I set my goals for 661/441/838 at 210. We’ll see how close I get to there in time. I like high goals so even if I come close im way ahead of most.
Was light today it’s harder than I figured to gain weight with work and lifting it doesn’t leave me much time in the day. Was 201.5 today. Benched a 387 low hype warm up, moves well and almost hit 409.8. Got passed my sticking point and any closer it wouldn’t been locked. Just barely missed it.
Tried to hit 345x5 on bench today. Burnt up on 4 and missed the fifth halfway up. Did hit 375 for a double no hype after. Best ever double is 380 and might be loading 385-387 next week.
Larsen pressed 370x2 for a 10lb pr. Tomorrow if things go well will be regular bench 400 no hype and 460 slingshot high hype. I started using a cone shaped roller that I can really hit the side of my pec with when it’s tight and I think it’s the key to keeping my neck going up. Normally I get anywhere near where I am now and my pec starts bothering me and I regress. So far so good.
