Well I did it again. Completely botched my training cycle for a meet I was hoping to do January. So why not just start over and try for a meet I am hoping will be in April.
I decided to keep a log online for this entire training macrocycle ending in a meet. Mostly, just to use it to build a good habit and build a little more consistency into my training.
Primary goal is to squat 600lbs for the first time.
Secondary goal is to lose some weight.
Tertiary goal is to maintain a consistent training schedule as work allows.
My programming will be 5thSet based. Conditioning/general fitness will be Muay Thai on off lifting days. Main focus is powerlifting and my work at MT reflects that. I don’t push super hard. Just trying to stay moving and stay technical.
After dealing with sleep apnea for the last 8 or so years, I am finally sleeping the best I have in a very long time. So well in fact, that I now have the energy to train in the evenings which is my preferred time to train. I also adjusted my schedule to include training on weekends which my primary gym before limited heavily due to its hours (Crossfit gym). Great place, but I think having the right schedule is better than having all the toys that place had. In any case the other gym I go to is moving to a new, much better location, which will have more of literally everything, and easily will be the best gym in the city. To top it off I have found a company that makes offsets for squat racks that allows a lifter to squat with a wide grip in a squat rack. No more worrying about having to wait for someone to finish using the combo rack! I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for this many things.
Tonights kickoff to training:
Bench: 4x2, 1x4 @ 270
Black SS Pad: 1x15, 1x11 @ 165, I literally never hit required reps the first week even on the lowest range for hypertrophy. At this point I am just giving myself a mulligan.
Lateral Raise: 2x10 @ 30
Rear Lateral: 2x12 @ 30
As I write this I am amazed how good I feel. I finally am on a schedule I enjoy and I don’t feel existentially exhausted all the time.
Missed logging some training:
Squat: 4x2, 1x4 @ 405, taking it easy since its the first time squatting in a while.
Low Bar Box Squat (Buffalo Bar) 3x12 @ 245, first time trying these. They were fun, easy to grind out reps.
Reverse Hyper: 5x10 @ 150
DB Row (overhand grip) 4x10 @ 80
BB Shrug: 3x20 @ 95
Hamstring Curl: 2x15 @ 35
Previously I had been breaking this work up over two days, but since I am lifting in the evenings now, I can just power through and not worry about being home at a certain time and having to cook supper after training.
Secondary Pressing day:
Wide Grip Bench: 1x25, 1x17 @ 155, I can never get full reps on the first week
Rolling Tricep Extensions (EZ curl): 2x10 @ 55
1 Arm Tricep Extension (cables): 2x25 @ 30 per arm both under and overhand (4 sets total per arm)
Band Pull-aparts: 3x30 with a gray band
Just getting some hypertrophy in.
Went to kickboxing 2 or 3 days in there was well, just kept on moving to keep the heart rate up. Really focusing on head movement and not throwing every shot with power.
1 Like
Deadlift day from last night:
Sumo Deadlift: 5x3 @ 335
Sumo Block Pull (2-inch): 3x3 @ 335
Reverse Hyper: 3x15 @ 135
Lat Pulldown: 2x15 @ 115
Chinups: 9 total reps across 5 sets
Kroc Rows (straps): 1x30 per arm @ 75
Hammer Curls: 2x12 @ 40
I decided to reduce the amount of work I do on Deadlift days. Cut out conventional block pulls for high reps and leg press. As it is, there is still lots to get done there. I am going to do sumo for the first time in a meet. I can actually wear a belt deadlifting now, and the setup is a lot comfortable. Switch back to conventional if/when I lose some weight.
Tonight was some more Muay Thai, just worked on the basics. Combos, push kicks, roundhouses. Felt good, but did seem to run out of steam later in the workout. I do seem to be getting my lungs back slowly.
1 Like
Well that was a monstrous mis-start.
November was busier than I thought it would be, finishing up a class and finishing up big projects at work.
Tonights lifting:
Bench: 4x2 @ 265, 1 @ 275, Will take me a week to get back in the groove.
Red SS Pad: 2x15 @ 155, got all required reps for once
Lateral Raises: 2x10 @ 30
Rear Laterals: 2x12 @ 30
Still targeting a spring meet, and more than enough time to train for it. My fed still hasn’t posted a 2023 schedule yet which is mildly concerning, but oh well.
2023 got off to a pretty miserable start. I basically lost all interest in training through January and most of February, hard to stay motivated in the midst of a nasty winter on the Canadian Prairies. Also the schedule hadn’t been posted until probably March, and I was getting bored not having a set goal to aim for. Was considering writing off another year, but luckily I have a meet in July I have signed up for.
Start training in March, but between my gym being in a transition moving to a new location and catching Covid a couple weeks ago, my training stalled out again. Luckily as I came back to it this week, I am able to adjust my training so that I have exactly enough time to run 5thset on a 7 day Microcycle. This likely won’t be optimal, but I am only doing one microcycle before moving into an extended peak, so I think it should actually work out nicely. Just not really any room for errors, which I think will be good. 6 hard weeks of training and holding myself to account is something I need right now.
So here starts yet another 5thSet Macro. Tonight’s lifting:
Bench: 1x2 @ 275, 3x2 and 1x5 @ 260, This moved exceptionally well. I adjusted my grip out slightly and it seems to have made a substantial improvement in how hard I can grip the bar. Even more excited for this training cycle. Started off a bit heavier, but kept the old 5/3/1 principles stuck in my head (start light) so I backed off. I also wanted to make sure I don’t stall since there is not really any room for any mistakes .
Red SS Pad: 2x12 @ 165
Lateral Raises: 1x10 @ 30, 1x10 @ 35
Rear Laterals: 1x12 @ 30,1x10 @ 35
1 Like
Lower Body work from this evening:
Squat 4x3, 1x4 @ 405, gonna take a week to get back in the groove
SSB: 3x3 @ 315
Sumo Deadlift: 5x3 @ 335, these felt pretty solid. First meet doing a sumo style pull.
DB RDL: 2x15 @ 50
Capped it here, direct back work tomorrow.
2 Likes
Cool, what province are you from?
I’m in Alberta and the winter has been, well, as long as it always is, haha.
Always lingers. I think we’re finished our 4th winter now. I’m getting my snow tires off so hopefully no jinxing it!!
Will follow along your log. Glad you’re getting back into it.
I am in Sask. I thought we were out of the woods here, but just got another dump of snow over the last couple days. It will melt quick though, and its not very cold at least. This spring has been unseasonably cold.
You might have jinxed it! Haha. I drive a truck, so switching seasonal tires is not something I have to worry about thankfully.
Haven’t posted anything from the cycle so here is an update.
This was my last week from a 6-7 week buildup, training looked largely the same throughout:
Bench: 4x2, 1x5 @ 280. Felt like all cycle I had more to give but never really had spotters so stayed conservative.
Red SS Pad: 2x12 @ 205, these felt great, not sure why I have so much trouble with the Black SS Pad
Lateral Raise 1x10 @ 30 1x10 @ 40
Rear Lateral: 1x10 @ 30 1x10 @ 40
Squat: 425 4x3 1x4 @ 425, still have issues some time with bar position on my back, but its improving as a callous forms.
SSB: 3x3 @ 350, these are great, probably going to do a cycle of these after my meet with the gyms new bar.
Reverse Hyper: 3x15 @ 110, finally found a setup that makes these feel correct on the cheap RH at my gym.
BB Row: 2x12 @ 150, experimented with taking the bar out of a rack instead of off the floor. I find it works much better for a setup. Will continue to do this.
BB Shrug: 3x20 @ 120
DB Curl: 2x12 @ 35, going to start doing curls a couple days a week.
Secondary Pressing Day:
Incline Bench (Red SS Pad): 1x30, 1x21 @ 120, really hit the grove with these in the last micro.
Rolling Tri Extension (EZ curl): 2x18 @ 60
1 Arm Tricep Extension (cables): 2x25 @ 35 per arm both under and overhand (4 sets total per arm)
Band Pull aparts: 3x30 with gray band, 45 seconds rest
Sumo DL: 5x3 @ 365, first cycle with these ever, starting to find the groove
(was done the same day as squats, no supplemental deadlift work)
1 Like
This is the beginning of my peaking cycle for a Meet on July 8-9, crossing my fingers I am in a session on a Saturday:
Bench: 1 @ 315, 2x5 @ 265, could have gone heavier but felt out of the groove and there was no one else at the gym to spot. No accomodating resistance on the supplemental work, my gym is moving and all the bands were gone.
Lateral Raise 1x10 @ 30 1x10 @ 40
Rear Lateral: 1x10 @ 30 1x10 @ 40
Squat: 1 @ 495, 1 @ 525, then 2x5 @ 325+70 lbs of bands, Squats felt amazing finally seems locked in at the the right time. Should have had more band tension but used blacks instead of purple, can increase next week.
Secondary Pressing Day:
Incline Bench (Red SS Pad): 1x30, 1x26 @ 125
Rolling Tri Extension (EZ curl): 2x20 @ 60, add weight and reps go back to 2x10
1 Arm Tricep Extension (cables): 2x25 @ 37.5 per arm both under and overhand (4 sets total per arm), investing in magnetic micro weights has been great for these. Allows me to keep making progress with smaller jumps.
Band Pull Aparts: 3x30 with gray band, 45 seconds rest
Deadlift day:
Sumo DL: 1 x 425 5x1 @ 335, prepping for new TM attempt next cycle
Reverse Hyper: 3x15 @ 140
Hammer Curl: 2x15 @ 35
This concludes the prep portion of the peaking cycle to get accustomed to heavier weights.
1 Like
This is where the peaking cycle gets full underway. This micro will involve setting new Training Maxes for all lifts. This is also where I will determine my meet attempts.
My gym has started the final stage of its move, and it has coincided with the most important part of my peaking cycle unfortunately. Might be tough to find spotters, gonna have to make due.
Deadlift day was a couple of days ago:
Sumo DL: 1 @ 525, 5x1 @ 315+80lbs of chains, a bit better than I was hoping for. New TM of 525.
No time to do any other work. The gym I was training at was closing, Crossfit gyms are lame.
These reps were sloooowww. The biggest change I have noticed moving over to Sumo is the requirement of patience, both in the setup and initiating the pull. Going to have to remind myself at the meet to really stay with the lift as long as possible.
Excited to see what I am capable of with these in the future, with more practice.
Going to be maxing out on bench this afternoon, crossing my fingers I can wrangle a couple spotters.
1 Like
2.5 months later this log is done. Haha.
I don’t know why, but I just felt like I had to do one final post of this terrible log to finish it off.
My meet was back on July 9th. Some good, some bad, some ugly.
Squatted 600 for the first time, and it went extremely well. Had a lot more to give.
After that it was a not so good. I had to do a CCES Drug In Sport online course that morning to get my certificate, so I didn’t have the time to do attempt planning. I overshot on my bench press, which means after missing my last bench, there was no way to set a PR on my total.
I also slightly tweaked my chest on bench, so decided to throw in the towel on deadlift. No point in risking further in jury after overreaching on my squat to hit 600.
It felt really good to cross the 600 threshold so I can stop thinking about it. Now I will be starting a new log focusing on rebuilding general fitness and athletiticism, to return to powerlifting on better terms.
1 Like