30/7/15
Did some deadlifts
Did some curls
Did a bunch of “fun” shit
I’ve decided I’m gonna go back to basics, taking a look at possibly doing Starting Strength at a relatively light weight and slowly building myself back up. Currently undecided on whether I’m gonna run Starting Strength or the Texas Method. As for my bodyweight/diet. I plan to do a mini cut from 75kgs to around 70-ish kgs. After that I’ll probably go full out on some Straight Linear Progression program such as the Texas Method and do GOMAD (gallon on milk a day) and bulk up to 85kgs.
Sounds like you’ve had a bit of a rough time, which sucks but is pretty much unavoidable.
Take a few steps back and reassess where you are before you decide to do anything.
In terms of the meet, think about why you wanted to compete in the first place. After all, you’ve made some good progress up to this point so on the one hand it’d be a shame not to at least have a go. It’s your first meet. Your total doesn’t matter. Of course there are going to be guys there who are a ton stronger than you are. If that makes you not want to get on the platform, powerlifting may not be for you - there are almost always going to be stronger lifters than you at a meet. What you need to remember is that no-one apart from you cares what you total. You’ll get cheered on anyway.
Why not stop worrying about meet prep as such and just train until a week out, rest, hit your openers a few days out and have fun on meet day?
Whether or not going back to SS or doing the Texas Method is a good idea is entirely up to you. IMO you’d be better off with the Texas Method.
Same deal with cut/bulk. Personally I think either would be a waste of your efforts to this point.
Its all up to you in the end.
Just remember, you can take a whole week off training, eat whatever the hell you want and you won’t put on much fat and won’t lose strength. That’s what I’d do in your position, and then pick training back up where I left off, hit the meet and have fun.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Sounds like you’ve had a bit of a rough time, which sucks but is pretty much unavoidable.
Take a few steps back and reassess where you are before you decide to do anything.
In terms of the meet, think about why you wanted to compete in the first place. After all, you’ve made some good progress up to this point so on the one hand it’d be a shame not to at least have a go. It’s your first meet. Your total doesn’t matter. Of course there are going to be guys there who are a ton stronger than you are. If that makes you not want to get on the platform, powerlifting may not be for you - there are almost always going to be stronger lifters than you at a meet. What you need to remember is that no-one apart from you cares what you total. You’ll get cheered on anyway.
Why not stop worrying about meet prep as such and just train until a week out, rest, hit your openers a few days out and have fun on meet day?
Whether or not going back to SS or doing the Texas Method is a good idea is entirely up to you. IMO you’d be better off with the Texas Method.
Same deal with cut/bulk. Personally I think either would be a waste of your efforts to this point.
Its all up to you in the end.
Just remember, you can take a whole week off training, eat whatever the hell you want and you won’t put on much fat and won’t lose strength. That’s what I’d do in your position, and then pick training back up where I left off, hit the meet and have fun.
[/quote]
Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback.
3/8/15
Squat 20kg x5
Squat 60kgs x5
Squat 90kgs x3x5
Paused Bench 20kgs x5
Paused Bench 40kgs x5
Paused Bench 65kgs x3x5
Deadlift 60kgs x5
Deadlift 90kgs x5
Deadlift 110kgs x5
Chin Ups 3x5
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Starting from scratch with relatively light weight yet somehow, everything still feels hella heavy.
It might be helpful to take a week or two completely off if you’re that burnt out.
5/8/2015
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 35kgs x5
Squat 55kgs x3
Squat 75kgs x2
Squat 95kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x3x5
Press 25kgs x3
Press 30kgs x3
Press 40kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x3x5
Power Clean 30kgs x3
Power Clean 35kgs x2
Power Clean 45kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 3x5
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Feeling much better and damn, the power cleans took a shit ton out of me lungs. That lack of cardiovascular health though.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
It might be helpful to take a week or two completely off if you’re that burnt out.[/quote]
Feeling much better now, its probably school taking a toll on me and me not being able to eat as much usual cause school is pretty darn busy. That and going to the gym during my lunch break probably ain’t a good idea.
7/8/15
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 40kgs x5
Squat 60kgs x3
Squat 80kgs x2
Squat 100kgs 3x5
Paused Bench 20kgs x2x5
Paused Bench 30kgs x5
Paused Bench 45kgs x3
Paused Bench 60kgs x2
Paused Bench 67.5kgs x3x5
Deadlift 60kgs x5
Deadlift 70kgs x5
Deadlift 95kgs x2
Deadlift 117.5kgs x5
Chin Ups x2x6
Chin Ups x3+1+2
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Everything felt pretty good but damn, grip gave out on the last set on chin ups, probably cause I was doing it at some playground nearby and the bar was bout as thick as a 1.5l bottle.
10/8/15
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 40kgs x5
Squat 60kgs x3
Squat 80kgs x2
Squat 105kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x3x5
Press 25kgs x3
Press 35kgs x3
Press 42.5kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x2x5
Power Clean 25kgs x5
Power Clean 35kgs x3
Power Clean 40kgs x2
Power Clean 45kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 3x6
Pretty much done with workout at this point, fucked around with a friend.
Tricep Pulldowns x3sets
Dumbbell Curls x3sets
Facepulls x3sets
Did a bit more power cleans to work on form and technique.
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Everything felt pretty decent, especially the power cleans. Initially thought my squats felt slow but after looking at the video of my last set of 5, its probably all in my head. Damn you weak ass brain.
12/8/15
Squat 20kgs x2x5
Squat 40kgs x5
Squat 65kgs x3
Squat 85kgs x2
Squat 110kgs x3x5
Paused Bench 20kgs x2x5
Paused Bench 35kgs x5
Paused Bench 50kgs x3
Paused Bench 65kgs x72.5
Paused Bench 72.5kgs x5
Paused Bench 72.5kgs x4 (got distracted during the last rep and paused for too long)
Paused Bench 72.5kgs x5
Deadlift 60kgs x5
Deadlift 75kgs x3
Deadlift 105kgs x2
Deadlift 125kgs x5
Chin Ups 3x6
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Probably would’ve gotten all 3 sets of 5 for bench but heh, shit happens. Deadlifts felt hella heavy and deadlifting with bumpers plates tend to throw me off, its like I can feel them vibrations whenever I finish the rep. I’m starting to think that I should stick to 1 gym in order to minimize variables which could come into play which could affect my lifting but oh well, what choice do I have. School’s a bitch and my exams are coming.
Good to see you’re back into it. Looks like it’s going pretty well too.
Just don’t be afraid to take time to rest if you need it. It’ll get you stronger in the long run.
14/8/15
Squats 20kgs x2x5
Squats 45kgs x5
Squats 65kgs x3
Squats 90kgs x2
Squats 115kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x3x5
Press 30kgs x3
Press 35kgs x2
Press 45kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x2x5
Power Clean 30kgs x5
Power Clean 35kgs x3
Power Clean 45kgs x2
Power Clean 55kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 2x7
Pull Ups x4+3
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
If I were to use the RPE system, I would say somewhere around 8-9, so there’s that.
16/8/15
Squat 20kgs x2x5
Squat 45kgs x5
Squat 70kgs x3
Squat 95kgs x2
Squat 120kgs x3x5
Paused Bench 20kgs x2x5
Paused Bench 35kgs x5
Paused Bench 50kgs x3
Paused Bench 65kgs x2
Paused Bench 72.5kgs x5
Paused Bench 72.5kgs x3 1 1 (Racked and did the 1 1 cause the weights felt hella heavy when paused)
Touch & Go Bench 72.5kgs x5
Deadlift 60kgs x5
Deadlift 75kgs x3
Deadlift 110kgs x2
Deadlift 132.5kgs x5
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
rewriting this cause T Nation messed up or maybe its just me. Maybe I should incorporate chest isolation work on the bench cause I feel like that’s what holding me back. Or maybe, I’m just weak overall. Either way, I would like bigger chesticals so thats that. Squats were pretty decent overall with the first set feeling down right awesome, the speed and consistency of the set of darn good.
Didn’t manage to get it on video however, recorded the 2nd set and it was less than satisfactory. On a side note, dumbass who helped record needs to learn how to how the phone properly. Deadlifts, all felt pretty slow but on video, they seemed alright speed to me. I don’t know whats holding me back on the deadlifts, maybe its a mental thing.
My form looks pretty darn textbook if you ask me, compared it to the drawings and pictures from the starting strength book and they look pretty identical.
Oh and to add on, I’ve been listening to my new mp3 while lifting and music does certainly help with concentration. Furthermore, I’m also getting some fractional plates (in kilos) and a lockjaw to prevent the plates from shaking so damn much. I was thinking maybe I can stick to session to session linear progression if I have the fractional plates.
Maybe .25kg - .75kg per side each session or something like that. Add up to quite a fair bit at the end of every month. Time for me to stop being greedy and get my shit together.
That’s all sounding pretty positive. Fractionals are cool, but don’t get too hung up on progressing from session to session. I’ve kind of stoped using one because it just got fiddly.
19/8/2015
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 45kgs x5
Squat 70kgs x3
Squat 100kgs x2
Squat 125kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x2x5
Press 25kgs x5
Press 30kgs x3
Press 40kgs x2
Press 47.5kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x2x5
Power Clean 30kgs x5
Power Clean 40kgs x3
Power Clean 50kgs x2
Power Clean 60kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 3x7
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Took some videos of my squats and some power clean and damn they(power cleans) look ugly. I’ll probably repost them up on the olympic lifting forum for some form check. Took a video of my last set of squats and they look pretty decent to me to be honest, considering it was my last set and I was pretty worn out by then. A friend of mine looked at it and said my form looks misgroved and out of place. Do tell me what’re your thoughts if you happen to be reading this. On a side note, I’m gaining quite a lot of weight recently, I guess that’s cool.
last set of squats
first set of power cleans
third set of power cleans in slow mo
last set of power cleans, tried starting from the floor for every rep
[quote]Benanything wrote:
19/8/2015
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 45kgs x5
Squat 70kgs x3
Squat 100kgs x2
Squat 125kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x2x5
Press 25kgs x5
Press 30kgs x3
Press 40kgs x2
Press 47.5kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x2x5
Power Clean 30kgs x5
Power Clean 40kgs x3
Power Clean 50kgs x2
Power Clean 60kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 3x7
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Took some videos of my squats and some power clean and damn they(power cleans) look ugly. I’ll probably repost them up on the olympic lifting forum for some form check. Took a video of my last set of squats and they look pretty decent to me to be honest, considering it was my last set and I was pretty worn out by then. A friend of mine looked at it and said my form looks misgroved and out of place. Do tell me what’re your thoughts if you happen to be reading this. On a side note, I’m gaining quite a lot of weight recently, I guess that’s cool.
last set of squats
first set of power cleans
third set of power cleans in slow mo
last set of power cleans, tried starting from the floor for every rep
[/quote]
Just keep an eye on how your hips shoot up a bit to fast in the squat. With added weight that’ll staple you. If you watch the video again, you’ll see that as you pass around parallel your hips come up and your chest goes down. Work on getting tight before descending and keeping that tightness throughout the movement. You might need to slow your descent a little to do that, which is no bad thing. Work on keeping your upper back really tight too, and keep your chest up. A fair degree of torso lean isn’t a problem in the squat, but you don’t want to have the angle change much during the movement so make sure to keep really, really rigid. Pull the bar down into your traps and try to get your elbows under the bar. That’ll help both with upper back tightness and keeping your chest up.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
[quote]Benanything wrote:
19/8/2015
Squat 20kg x2x5
Squat 45kgs x5
Squat 70kgs x3
Squat 100kgs x2
Squat 125kgs x3x5
Press 20kgs x2x5
Press 25kgs x5
Press 30kgs x3
Press 40kgs x2
Press 47.5kgs x3x5
Power Clean 20kgs x2x5
Power Clean 30kgs x5
Power Clean 40kgs x3
Power Clean 50kgs x2
Power Clean 60kgs x5x3
Pull Ups 3x7
My Thoughts, Reflections, Personal Feedback:
Took some videos of my squats and some power clean and damn they(power cleans) look ugly. I’ll probably repost them up on the olympic lifting forum for some form check. Took a video of my last set of squats and they look pretty decent to me to be honest, considering it was my last set and I was pretty worn out by then. A friend of mine looked at it and said my form looks misgroved and out of place. Do tell me what’re your thoughts if you happen to be reading this. On a side note, I’m gaining quite a lot of weight recently, I guess that’s cool.
last set of squats
first set of power cleans
third set of power cleans in slow mo
last set of power cleans, tried starting from the floor for every rep
[/quote]
Just keep an eye on how your hips shoot up a bit to fast in the squat. With added weight that’ll staple you. If you watch the video again, you’ll see that as you pass around parallel your hips come up and your chest goes down. Work on getting tight before descending and keeping that tightness throughout the movement. You might need to slow your descent a little to do that, which is no bad thing. Work on keeping your upper back really tight too, and keep your chest up. A fair degree of torso lean isn’t a problem in the squat, but you don’t want to have the angle change much during the movement so make sure to keep really, really rigid. Pull the bar down into your traps and try to get your elbows under the bar. That’ll help both with upper back tightness and keeping your chest up. [/quote]
This combined with breaking with the hips first.
Also, chill out, dude. I am the same age as you, and I know how it feels to be upset about training not going well or just life being stressful. Just let me say some things about it. Lifting is a hobby, and it can be a pretty serious hobby at times, but it is a hobby. You aren’t getting paid for it, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don’t do well at times. Sometimes you just aren’t doing well. Vincent Dizenzo, a guy that has benched 600 raw in three weight classes, said something a few years back in his just big radio show that went something along the lines of this: you can build strength, but not express it at times. He did shitty in a meet or something and his co-host asked him what he thought about it or whatever, and he said he didn’t worry because he knew he had been training smart and consistently for several months, and he had meets before in which he didn’t do well but the training affect carried over to the next meet. Powerlifting is also equally as much about competing against yourself as it is competing against each other currently. So bottom line, don’t stress out about it, and if you have the time in your schedule then try to go do the meet if you still can. About a week out just do light mock meets about once or twice at about 60% to drill the form and let your body recover, and do what you can at the meet. Open with a weight you know you can do for a triple or double even if you showed up sick on an empty stomach, and just have a good time, maybe meet some people you’d like to train with if you aren’t already in a crew. If you do bad, then maybe you know what you did wrong in training or meet prep.
Good luck, Ben, keep training. You are already ahead of the curve compared to a lot of your competitors by starting to train so early. Also please don’t do starting strength again, I spun my wheels for ffffaaaaarrrrr too long a few years ago when I was around your strength trying to get anything out of linear progression. 5/3/1 would probably suit your needs more (but you can still do SS/texas method if you really want to, it’s a hobby after all).
@Destrength
Well damn, this would be my second time typing this. I’m pretty sure I already replied to this but somehow it didn’t get through. Thanks man, it’s nice receiving encouragement from someone of the same age, I really appreciate it. I guess I’m just competitive, that’s all. For Christ sake, there’s this guy in the same age/weight class(u74) as me who squatted 200kgs for a double.
I’m not even close, granted I won’t be competing any time soon but damn, the thought of my progress being so far away from someone whose the same age/weight class who probably has to deal with the same crap as me (school, responsibilities and etc) just kinda pisses me off. I know I’m stronger than most of my peers.
That’s not enough, I want to be stronger than all my peers. Dang, that sounds hella egoistic haha. As for programming, I think I’ll stick to linear (session to session) progression for now cause it has been working pretty well for the past month and I already bought my micro plates so might as well make the most out of them. But anyways, thanks for advice and words of encouragement man, I appreciate it. Didn’t know you’re the same age as me, its nice to know that there are other like minded lifters of the same age on T Nation. Hell, we even joined at the same time, coincidence much?
EDIT: Turns out I couldn’t quote everything you(Destrength) said cause that would be too damn long hence my message didn’t get sent out.