Baking A New Cake

Training Over 35 Lifter
41

I finally found some time to catch up on this little log of mine.

Cliff Notes recap: Male, 56, 179 pounds, 5’ 5"; prepping for first PL meet, in Ottawa, on July 18 in IPF (single ply) fed; following 12 week program from Dave Tate “Maximal Strength” - 3 weeks of prep, 6 weeks of ME and DE training, 3 weeks of deload and testing; been training since age 16 with focus on endurance, leg strength for cycle road racing, cross country skiing; can’t bench worth shit; will use Metal squat suit for squats and maybe for deads; will bench raw (wrist wraps); likes long walks on the beach, nights at the cinema, quiet conversation.

Friday July 3
Week 6, Day 2 of Maximal Strength, Phase 2

ME Bench Day
Warmup - Facepulls, pushups, scap pushups, 45 degree back raises, external shoulder rotations, foam rolling, dynamic stretching

BB Bench
10X45
5X75
5X105
5X135
3X165
3X175
3X185
3X195
0X205

CG Hammer Strength Incline
10X45 per side
10X70
8X80
8X90
8X90

Chest Supported Rows
10X45
10X90
8X115
8X135
8X135

Side Lat Raises
8X15 - 3 sets

Dips
12 - 3 sets

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Monday July 6
Week 6, Day 3/4 of Maximal Strength, Phase 2

12 days out from meet

Got a little behind on the last week of Phase 2, so decided to drop my last DE Squat day, since my squat isn’t totally sucky, and focus on DE bench.

This was the last day of Phase 2. Now it’s deload time, but it’ll be very abbreviated. I’m planning to work up to openers, and maybe beyond, for all three lifts on Thursday or Friday. My son will be there to give me the commands, so I can at least have an idea of how the meet will go. I plan to get some of that on tape.

DE Bench Day
Warmup - Facepulls, pushups, scap pushups, 45 degree back raises, external shoulder rotations, foam rolling, dynamic stretching. This warmup routine has, I think, really saved my shoulders. Of course, I’m not benching heavy at all, so maybe that’s the key, that my bench is still crap so there’s no possibility of hurting myself.

BB Bench
10X45 - 2 sets
5X75
5X105
3X135 - 8 sets
3X155
3X165
3X175
3X185

Tricep Fat Rope Pushdowns
20X80 - 4 sets, gripping ends of rope and flaring out at the bottom
8X100 - 3 sets
8X115
6X125

Rear Lat Raises w/DB
10X15 - 3 sets

Seated Rows w wide grip
10X40
10X70
10X100
10X120
10X130

Home to grilled salmon steaks (on the BBQ) with a coating of dijon mustard, and chopped dill from the garden; grilled red, yellow and orange peppers; sliced onions and potatoes with olive oil, baked in foil on the grill. I’m working on my mad cooking skillz, so I can feed my wife some real food when she gets home from Tajikistan at the end of July.

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Lookin’ good leading into your meet cakewalk! and dinner sounds great!

44

Thursday July 9

9 days to Ottawa PL meet

Well, today was the day to work up to my opening lifts. Did some warmup crap, foam rolling, dynamic moves for old guys, etc. Then on to the partay.

My son was there to give me the commands and a handoff on the bench. He’s going to go to the meet with me - it’ll be nice to spend a couple of days with him. That doesn’t happen much, once they hit their twenties.

Squats (raw gym max is 405)
45X12
80X8 - 20%
140X5 - 35%
200X3 - 50%
260X2 - 65% - belt
300X1 - 75% - belt
340X1 - 85% - suit and belt - it was difficult to get this to parallel. The suit was fighting back.
375X1 - 92% - suit, belt, Inzer knee sleeves - this felt easy and was deep (see video)
405X1 - 100% - suit, belt, Inzer wraps - felt pretty easy, just below parallel (video)

This is the 375 squat:

405 squat:

I’m thinking my squat opener will be 374 (170 kg), then 405 to 415, then 435 to 440. It would be kind of sweet to hit 200 kg.

Bench (my gym max is about 200 pounds - yeah, I know)
BarX15
60X8
100X5 - 50%
135X3 - 65% - APT Blue Mamba wrist wraps
150X2 - 75% - wrist wraps
170X1 - 85% - wrist wraps
185X1 - 92% - wrist wraps
195X0 - 97% - wrist wraps

This was pretty disappointing, but so it goes. My opener for bench will likely be 176 (80 kg).

Deadlift (raw gym max is 485, but haven’t hit that number again for the past six or seven months)
Did these with just a belt. I’m going to have one more shot at dl with the squat suit, on the weekend. I want to hit 500 at the meet, but to do that I’ll need some hip support in the bottom, and some reduced gravity.

175X3 - 35%
250X1
325X1 - belt on
400X1
455X1 (video)
475X0 - felt a twinge in my right hip, so let it go. (video)

Deadlift 455:

This was much better form than a few weeks ago. Kept back flat.

Missed Deadlift at 475:

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Dang CW! you made both that squat and dl look easy! rest hard for the next week. then you will rock on at the meet!

46

Looked easy. You’re ready. Rest up and get ready mentally.

47

[quote]soldog wrote:
Dang CW! you made both that squat and dl look easy! rest hard for the next week. then you will rock on at the meet![/quote]

Thanks Soldog. I have one more day, probably Saturday morning, where I’ll work up to a heavy DL in the squat suit. It should give me a bit of extra pop out of the bottom. The challenge is getting down to the bar while wearing the suit and the belt. I found I have to grab the bar and pull myself down into my start position. You get tuckered out before you start.

I’ll also do some heavy walkouts with suit and wraps, say up to 450, just to feel the weight on my back. Then, just some very light movements on Monday and Wednesday, to keep the blood flowing.

48

[quote]hel320 wrote:
Looked easy. You’re ready. Rest up and get ready mentally. [/quote]

Happily, the squat and dead felt pretty good. You’re right Hel, it’s the mental side that makes all the difference. I had a business coach who would say “Everything we do, we create twice, first in our mind, then in our life.”

49

Hi cakewalk. I’m a 46 year old powerlifter myself and I’ve been following your log with interest. Good luck in the upcoming meet. It looks as if you’ve prepared well.

50

[quote]cakewalk wrote:
soldog wrote:
Dang CW! you made both that squat and dl look easy! rest hard for the next week. then you will rock on at the meet!

Thanks Soldog. I have one more day, probably Saturday morning, where I’ll work up to a heavy DL in the squat suit. It should give me a bit of extra pop out of the bottom. The challenge is getting down to the bar while wearing the suit and the belt. I found I have to grab the bar and pull myself down into my start position. You get tuckered out before you start.

I’ll also do some heavy walkouts with suit and wraps, say up to 450, just to feel the weight on my back. Then, just some very light movements on Monday and Wednesday, to keep the blood flowing. [/quote]

In my (UN)professional opinion, I would caution against working up to a max DL a week out from the meet. I understand needing to work on getting to the bar with suit and belt, it’s a pain in the ass. I take my breath at the top and have had times where I can’t get down to the bar and have to stand back up, take another breath and try again.

Have you pulled in your suit at all to know what would be an opener? If not, I would work up to maybe that and then just spend time getting into position but not pulling. Remember you want to save it for next Saturday, not this Saturday. What you can lift in the gym doesn’t mean shit if you can’t do it on the day of :smiley:

51

[quote]Court wrote:
cakewalk wrote:
soldog wrote:
Dang CW! you made both that squat and dl look easy! rest hard for the next week. then you will rock on at the meet!

Thanks Soldog. I have one more day, probably Saturday morning, where I’ll work up to a heavy DL in the squat suit. It should give me a bit of extra pop out of the bottom. The challenge is getting down to the bar while wearing the suit and the belt. I found I have to grab the bar and pull myself down into my start position. You get tuckered out before you start.

I’ll also do some heavy walkouts with suit and wraps, say up to 450, just to feel the weight on my back. Then, just some very light movements on Monday and Wednesday, to keep the blood flowing.

In my (UN)professional opinion, I would caution against working up to a max DL a week out from the meet. I understand needing to work on getting to the bar with suit and belt, it’s a pain in the ass. I take my breath at the top and have had times where I can’t get down to the bar and have to stand back up, take another breath and try again.

Have you pulled in your suit at all to know what would be an opener? If not, I would work up to maybe that and then just spend time getting into position but not pulling. Remember you want to save it for next Saturday, not this Saturday. What you can lift in the gym doesn’t mean shit if you can’t do it on the day of :smiley:

[/quote]

Hey Court,

That sounds like good advice. I pulled 455 in the suit and belt a few weeks ago, but it was pretty ugly - too much back rounding, trying to overcome the suit’s resistance. I think the suit has loosened up very slightly since then, so that’s what I’ll do - just practice getting into position and getting comfortable with the feeling of suffocating.

Edit: As you pointed out, it’s next Saturday that counts!

52

[quote]hbriem wrote:
Hi cakewalk. I’m a 46 year old powerlifter myself and I’ve been following your log with interest. Good luck in the upcoming meet. It looks as if you’ve prepared well.[/quote]

Thanks for the good wishes hbriem. I plan to keep this log going after the meet. It’ll be time to transition into a new, longer-term program, with lots of focus on upper body strength.

53

Sunday July 12

6 days out from PL meet - weight 178, still age 56.

Today was all about mobility and light movements, most with just bodyweight or the bar weight.

Started out with dynamic mobility stuff, then foam rolling.
Next - facepulls, scap pushups, pushups, front planks, 45 degree back raises; band pull aparts behind the head.
Then - BB Bench - 4 setsx20 - bar only; 1 setX10@85
And then - Squat - 3 setsX10 - bar only
Followed by - using average jumpstretch flex band - tricep movement, 10 each arm, keeping constant tension on the arm; hamstring movement, 10 each leg.

Into squat suit and belt
Practiced getting down to the bar and initiating the pull for DL - just had one plate on each side, so I wouldn’t be tempted to pull heavy.

Put on wraps to do some squat walkouts
2 walkouts at 425 - stood for 10 seconds, then reracked
1 walkout at 450 - 10 seconds, then rerack

Finished with static stretching.

Home to wholewheat rotini with a sauce of zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bacon; and a homemade lean beef burger with sliced red onions and tomato. Oh yeah baby.

54

Monday July 13

5 days out from meet - weight 180

Short session

Some dynamic mobility crapola, then face pulls, planks, pushups.

My son, who just started 5/3/1 and was doing military press, asked me what I was going to do today. I replied “Nothing that requires effort.”

Put on the suit, with straps down, and my stylish black soccer socks, and went back out to a packed gym. Got some looks, but I think a lot of the regulars are becoming accustomed to my eccentricities. If not, fuck 'em. I’m there to lift, not fit anyone’s mould.

Set up for DL, put straps up and belt on, and then spent a lot of time working out how to get down to the bar while maintaining an optimum position. I found that I could get low enough if I moved back away from the bar about 2 or 3 inches. But, I normally pull with my shins almost touching the bar. I tried pulling the bar towards me once I was down, to initiate the pull. But, with those damn hexagonal plates the bar doesn’t want to roll smoothly.

I’ll wear the suit around the house a bit, and maybe do one more session of set up practice. No actual pulling. If I don’t feel reasonably confident with the suit on, then I’ll pull raw at the meet.

55

PL Meet Checklists and Warmup

Some handy checklists, to help keep yourself organized at your PL meet. They’re all available in pdf format. I know I’ll be using them.

http://www.rhfinancial.org/powerlifting/lifterschecklist/index.html

and a recommended warmup sequence at the meet:

http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/3083

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Thursday July 16

2 days to PL meet

Went for a one hour deep tissue massage today. This guy was brutal. He warned me before he started that he was going to be pretty relentless. I just brushed that off: “Yeah, no problem”. He had me squirming and clenching my teeth a few times, but I definitely feel different. I guess I needed more than self massage with the squash ball and foam roller.

He told me I had knots on my knots. The most painful was the bicep and forearm work. He said that my muscles should just plain work better after the treatment. I plan to go back for a followup in a week.

The younger son and I head up to Ottawa tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to this meet.

57

Your training has been solid cakewalk. I’ve never lifted equipped but I think your ready, and you’ll do great.
Just have fun, I’ve seen guys over think the lifting. Hit your depth, follow the commands, it’s a cakewalk. You’ll love the experience. Best of luck.

58

[quote]daddyzombie wrote:
Your training has been solid cakewalk. I’ve never lifted equipped but I think your ready, and you’ll do great.
Just have fun, I’ve seen guys over think the lifting. Hit your depth, follow the commands, it’s a cakewalk. You’ll love the experience. Best of luck.[/quote]

You wouldn’t be referring to ME, would you?

Har.

Looking good cakewalk. This meet’s named after your handle.

59

[quote]daddyzombie wrote:
Your training has been solid cakewalk. I’ve never lifted equipped but I think your ready, and you’ll do great.
Just have fun, I’ve seen guys over think the lifting. Hit your depth, follow the commands, it’s a cakewalk. You’ll love the experience. Best of luck.[/quote]

Thanks DZ. I’m really looking forward to this. I expect to see some pretty impressive lifts.

60

[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
daddyzombie wrote:
Your training has been solid cakewalk. I’ve never lifted equipped but I think your ready, and you’ll do great.
Just have fun, I’ve seen guys over think the lifting. Hit your depth, follow the commands, it’s a cakewalk. You’ll love the experience. Best of luck.

You wouldn’t be referring to ME, would you?

Har.

Looking good cakewalk. This meet’s named after your handle.[/quote]

Thanks DCA. We’ll be on the road as soon as my son gets back from the gym. I expect tomorrow to be a long but fun day.