THURS SEPT 23 (deload)
SQUAT
barxsome
135x5
250x5
275x5
300x5
last workout before the meet.
Good luck, break PRs!
All the best at the meet! Crush weights.
Thanks guys I’ll follow that advice
I’m not sure exactely what to make of the meet, it was disapointing to say the least. I didn’t feel like I had “it” on the day, and I can’t figure out why.
Anyways lifts went thusly:
SQUAT
open 475 → good lift, felt harder than it should have
miss 520 → jumped to 520 anyways because I thought I had it even if I was a little off
miss 520 → made more of a fight on this one but couldn’t push it thorugh the sticking point
BENCH
open 275 → good lift, again felt heavy
295 → good lift, made a more conservative jump than I had planned, tough but there
miss 310 → gave it a shot for the hell of it I figured my total wasn’t going to be impressive at this point anyways
DEADLIFT
open 515 → good lift, felt heavy
550 → good lift, felt better than my openner actually
miss 600 → the only good thing about the meet was how tantalizingly close I came on this one, again I knew my total would be shit so I had a go at it anyways, if I can improve my lockout this and more is there
so 5 for 9 and a 1320 total, not at all what I wanted or am capable of. Again I’m really not sure why I didn’t feel up to it but I felt flat and unmotivated the whole time. Anyways I qualified for Nationals at 242 (weighed in at 224) so I can now go either as a 220 or 242. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, I will go as I need a good meet to put this disaster behind me. I’ve been doing alot of thinking about this and while I don’t have all the answers I think I learned a few things about what my training needs.
[quote]Astar wrote:
miss 600 → the only good thing about the meet was how tantalizingly close I came on this one, again I knew my total would be shit so I had a go at it anyways, if I can improve my lockout this and more is there
[/quote]
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude! Looked perfect off the floor; that’s like a brick wall for a sticking point. You’ll get it someday, just stick with it.
That thing rocketed off the floor! How do you plan on addressing the lockout?
Yea I was really surprised at how easy it came up but then it’s like it hits a brick wall and I can’t budge it. I’ve been bouncing around a whole bunch of ideas for what I’m gonna do leading up to nationals. I think focusing on some variations will help. I’d really like to pull against chains but there’s no way to do that at the school gym so probably pulls against bands, romainians and deficit pulls, maybe deficit romainians.
That and extra upper back work, more rows and actaully doing pullups on a regular basis. I’ve tried swings before with kettlebells and liked them so maybe heavy db swings as well. I’ll probably also be squatting more frequently and that helps my pull some.
WEDS SEPT 29
warmup, stretching
SQUAT
barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
260x5
315x4
365x3
365x3
*add belt
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
BOARD PRESS
warmup (to chest): barxsome, 135x5, 225x1(felt like 300)
*add 4 board
275x3
315x3
335x3
345x1(miss grooved)
345x3
SQUAT
285x5
340x4
*add belt
390x3
390x3
390x3 (was suppose to be 5 sets of 3 but I was done, form was going to hell and biceps were starting to hurt)
LAT PULLDOWNS
4x10
long workout today (3 hours and change)
FRI OCT 01
DEADLIFT (against light bands, used straps)
135x5
225x5
*belt
315x5
315x5
315x5
BB ROWS
135x8
185x8x3sets
DB SWINGS
85x10x3sets
The gym has somehow gone from a half dozen pairs of mini bands to only one. Not one pair, just one band. So I had to used light bands instead. Doubled would be too much tension and once not enough so I set them up so they were looped one and a half times around the pegs. I think the left side was a better band because my elbow and shoulder felt like they went through a meat grinder. rows and swings were weak, I didn’t sleep enough last night and haven’t eaten today. I need to fix my recovery stuff, there’s no excuse to be slacking on that.
Hopefully I can get some more work done next week.
[quote]Astar wrote:
Yea I was really surprised at how easy it came up but then it’s like it hits a brick wall and I can’t budge it. I’ve been bouncing around a whole bunch of ideas for what I’m gonna do leading up to nationals. I think focusing on some variations will help. I’d really like to pull against chains but there’s no way to do that at the school gym so probably pulls against bands, romainians and deficit pulls, maybe deficit romainians.
That and extra upper back work, more rows and actaully doing pullups on a regular basis. I’ve tried swings before with kettlebells and liked them so maybe heavy db swings as well. I’ll probably also be squatting more frequently and that helps my pull some.[/quote]
You might want to check out some of the Bret Contreras articles on this site (on glutes). Some weighted glute bridges and hip thrusts could help quite a bit.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
You might want to check out some of the Bret Contreras articles on this site (on glutes). Some weighted glute bridges and hip thrusts could help quite a bit.[/quote]
Thanks, I’ve been considering adding in some of the exercises but honestly I don’t feel the weakness is in my glutes. For one thing my ass is huge, like grossly out of proportion to the rest of body huge. And also when I’m at the sticking point I am able to drive my hips forward, but the bar stays in place (I don’t do this because I know I’d get called for hitching), I think it’s because my upper back is rounded over and doesn’t have the strength to pull itself upright. I’ve been looking at it and if I can pull my shoulder blades back the bar would be at lockout.
If after a couple months I still can’t lockout I’ll know my theory is flawed and may look to include some more glute movements at that time.
SUN OCT 03
BENCH
warmup: barxsome, 135x5
190x5
*belt
220x5
250x5 (max)
225x10 (backoff set)
SQUAT (no belt)
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
260x5
315x4
365x4
365x4
365x4
365x4
A little pressed for time today, benches are a little weak but they’ll bounce back. I was sore as hell for squats.
WEDS OCT 06
warmup
SQUAT
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
260x5
315x4
315x4
365x3
365x3
*add belt
415x2
415x2
*wraps (inzer)
470x1
470x1
470x1
BOARD PRESS
warmup (to chest): barxsome, 135x5, 225x1
*add belt
*3 board
275x3
315x3
335x2
SQUAT
260x5
315x4
365x3
365x3
*add belt
415x2
415x2 → hard as fuck, folded over on second rep, done
Today’s tomfoolery took about 3 hours. The first block of squats went well, 365 felt so easy but the 415 and 470 sets were hard. Board presses were good, had to liftoff to myself so I only got two on the last set. Second block of squats was ridiculous, technique felt sloppy and the reps were hard. Still got plenty of work in today.
FRI OCT 08
STIFF LEG/ROMANIAN DEADLIFT (no belt, touch and go)
225x4
225x4
295x4
365x8
365x8
365x8
BB ROW
185x4x6
Came home for thanksgiving this weekend so I did this in my garage at about 3am.
SUN OCT 10 / MON OCT 11
SQUAT (no belt)
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
255x5
315x5
315x5
365x5x5
BENCH
warmup: barxsome, 135x5
205x3
*belt
235x3
265x3
*walked to park down the street
PULLUPS (on monkey bars, wide grip)
BWx3x10
trained in the garage late at night again. The squats were a long, slow process but I ground through them without any major problems. 365 is a 5x5 PR for beltless squats. Couldn’t seem to find my groove on the benches but had lots of power, probably had another rep on the top set, two would have been seriously pushing it though. I decided not to do a backoff set because it was late and I wasn’t really warmed up and didn’t want to pull/tear anything with a high rep set. Pullups became more like fat-guy-nose-over-the-bars by the end
TUES OCT 12
SQUAT
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
260x5
315x4
365x3
365x3
*belt
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
BOARD PRESS
warmup (to chest): barxsome, 135x5, 225x1
*add 2 board
275x3
315x2
315x2
SQUAT (no belt)
260x6
315x6
340x6
340x6
340x6 → filmed this set it was ugly as hell, bar was lopsided
340x6 → felt better
PULLUPS (done in between sets, various grips)
BWx10x3
I think I could go to the gym as soon as it opens and be there 'till close. Damn was this long. The first block of squats was ok, 365 didn’t feel as strong as on the weekend, the 415 sets were tough but they felt decent technique wise. Last time I did 2 boards I only managed 315 for a single so this is improved. Second round of squats sucked, the bar was lopsided, my hips felt all over the place, I banged through them though but I hate it when my technique breaks down, I feel like I’m learning bad habits. Did pullups when I could my left bicep started hurting after the first few sets of squats.
FRI OCT 15
DEADLIFT (against light bands, similar set up to last time, no belt)
barxsome
135x3
225x3
*straps
315x3
365x3
385x3
405x3
DEADLIFT (straight weight, no belt)
315x1
405x1
455x2 → to make sure technique from the floor was still there
BB ROWS
205x4x6
GHR
BW+45x3x8
SUN OCT 17
thought for the day: “they can’t all be gems” - Dan John
SQUAT
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 225x3
260x5
315x4
365x3
365x3
*belt
415x3
415x3
445x1 → tried a second rep, not there today
445x1
445x1
415x3x3
BENCH
warmup: barxsome, 135x5, 185x1
*belt, wrist wraps
220x5
250x3
280x1
The squats were a little disapointing, I was suppose to squat 3 doubles at 445 but I just didn’t have enough for the second rep so I ended up hitting singles instead. If I had tossed on wraps they would have been there for sure. I was kinda pissed at this at first but thinking about it’s not the issue I thought it was, I based my percentages off a belt/wrap max, and this is close to my belt only PR so in that light it’s not bad. Also it’s the only time I’ve missed any reps so far this cycle. Next time I’ll add wraps and finish the last week strong. My elbows and shoulders were done after the squats so it was hard to control the bar during benching and the reps were uglier than I would have liked, but whatever they all went up.
some of the squatting:
