Chris_ottawa's Training Log

Training Logs
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Here it is, by popular demand.

OK, so I’m training for a meet on the weekend of April 28th, it is a CPF meet (Canadian WPC affiliate) called Iron Annihilation. I don’t really like to set specific goals, I would be happy with a 600 squat, 400 bench, and 600 deadlift but I will take what I can get. I’m squatting in wraps this time, I don’t really have a wrapped squat PR but I have squatted an easy 500 (first time in wraps in a couple years) and yesterday did 465x3, probably could get 5. I’m not really used to wraps yet, I should be able to get more out of them once my technique is sorted out. My best raw (no wraps) squat is 480 in a meet, I have matched that in training a few times and could do 500+ if I was peaked. I benched 365 in a meet and 375 in training, I would estimate my max is around 385-390 right now but I also have to squat first in a meet. My deadlift hasn’t made much progress in the last few months due to trying to sort out my technique, I have pulled 530 in a meet and 540 in training.

This training cycle is largely based on a couple of the sample programs in his book “Built to the Hilt: Strength and Power Edition”. I’m not following everything word for word, I have changed certain exercises around, added volume, and I’m using 5 week blocks (4 weeks + 1 week deload). I just finished the first block of this cycle which was a volume block, there were a few heavy sets but I did a lot of high rep bench sets and the last week I did 65%x4x10 on squats and 65%x3x10 on deadlift with 1 minute rest, the deadlifts were easy but the squats almost killed me, it’s hard to breathe when you have a loaded bar on your back half the time.

Template is Monday-bench, Tuesday-squat, Thursday-bench assistance (close grip, OHP, etc.), Friday-light squat, deadlift

Monday Feb. 19 - main bench day

Bench press - paused
350x2 - wanted 3 but it wasn’t going to happen. I did 345x3x2 sets a few weeks ago, should be capable of more.

Touch & go - explosive
285x3x5, 75 sec. rest

Dead Bench - starting position just barely touching my chest
285x8 singles, 1 min. rest

Wide grip bench - just outside max legal width, wider hurts my wrists
265x9,8,8 - was planning to do 8’s but the first set felt a little too easy so I did one more

Dumbbell flys with super mini band (band around my back)
30’sx15,8,9 - my pecs died on the first set, I pushed the last one almost to failure. I did these in my last block but they were after close grip 2 board press, like this my pecs have no time to rest despite the total volume being lower.

Chin ups -wide neutral grip
bodyweight x10x3sets - trying to do these a strict as possible. Haven’t done them with this grip in several months so it was harder than expected.

Tuesday, Feb. 20 - main squat day

Squat with wraps
465x3 - I could definitely do 4 and probably 5. Depth is right around parallel, I should aim to go about two inches lower but I’m not used to wraps yet. I need to accelerate more into the hole. Rather than doing a whole bunch of wrapped squats the last few weeks out from the meet I’m working up to one top set each week for several months.

Squat volume - no wraps
360x3x6 sets - 90 sec. rest

Dead squat - starting position slightly above parallel - sticking point in wraps is above parallel
315x8 singles - 1 min. rest - I thought that 350 would be a good weight for this but I was having trouble moving it, instead I will start lighter and make bigger increases in weight each week. Haven’t done these in a while and I’m using a different bar (transformer bar).

RDL with band around waist
275+super mini band X 10 - too easy, I want hard sets of 8
Add mini band - 8,8 - this is an exercise I got from Kabuki Movement Systems, they called it a “standing hip thrust” or something like that. I did it light for a glute warmup before, this is the first time putting any somewhat significant weight on it. The bands are doubled and anchored to a bar behind me in the power rack. KMS is worth checking out for a month or two.

Band leg curl - sitting on a bench, bands anchored to the bottom of the rack
3 sets of 10 - I looped the bands around the rack twice and put a knot in them, but that’s only relevant to my setup here. I’m training in my basement, for those who don’t know.

McGill Curl Ups
8 seconds x 5x4sets

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@guineapig @gaelic @lord_humongous @magick @FlatsFarmer

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Way less boring than I expected! A little something from all the coaches. Nice benching. I’m hype for the other 2 days.

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You still pull sumo?

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I’m trying to figure out if that’s a compliment or an insult.

Of course, why would I switch?

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So you can stop eating butt and finally live a stable life.

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Training vids and duckface toilet selfies pls

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You know what, I have some camera issues at the moment but since you asked I will try to get something up. My camera died on me, it was old and the zoom lens was stuck from dropping it a few times, I bought a Polaroid digital camera but it sucks, you can’t fast forward or rewind and it uses AAA batteries -what the fuck kind of camera is that? I have been using my wife’s camera to record my sets (because it works properly) but I don’t have the USB cable for it, it’s somewhere in my house but no idea where and all these camera use different cables that aren’t compatible. Plus I don’t have a cell phone.

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This log looks promising.

If you are a powerlifter, don’t train the bench press in the style of T&G. This style can hurt you and seriously disrupt your preparation. Powerlifting is not about an explosive strength but about a maximum strength. Note that Russian lifters almost do not know the bench press style of T&G. They mostly train only the basic version.

I think you should clarify, you will use wraps on the competition or you will not use. In my opinion, it is enough to register personal records only with wraps.

I wonder if you record at least average relative intensity, lifts and even tonnage? I would like to compare my bench press in these three statistics, even if you have only a better personal record on the bench press.

And do you publish your diet?

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And I wonder how old you’re, if it’s not a secret?

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Chris is relatively small (in terms of body height), so the sumo deadlift is ideal for him.

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I think you are completely wrong. Many coaches have said that training only paused bench does not develop the stretch reflex, Josh Bryant gives a good explanation of this in his bench press book. Boris Sheiko has said (on his forum) to pause the first rep of each set and do the rest touch and go. The idea of speed/explosive strength being totally irrelevant seems completely wrong to me as well, the faster the weight is moving when you reach the sticking point the higher the chance of making the lift. My bench made no progress for several months until I started using Josh Bryant’s methods, it’s now moving up gradually.

Yes, I’m going to compete in wraps. I say I don’t have a PR in wraps because the heaviest I have squatted was 500 and that was the first time using wraps in a long time (I used a different pair a few times about 2-3 years ago) and I’m sure I could squat at least 500 without wraps.

No, I haven’t been calculating that. I will discuss this later, I have to go and lift now.

I could, but it’s nothing fancy. I only really track protein intake and most of it is estimation. I aim for around 1g per pound of body weight (I weigh about 240 right now). Mike Israetel wrote something on facebook a while ago that you don’t actually need to eat 1g/lb unless you are a bodybuilder, I asked him what about powerlifting and he replied that 0.85g would certainly be enough so I don’t obsess over small details but I’m trying to eat enough so I have energy and don’t feel hungry while not gaining any more weight.

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34 years old

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Oh man! Just a fun joke!

You used to rep Boris, Mike Tuscherer and Mike Isreatel super hard and talk smack about assistance work. I was worried your lifting might look more like Gaelic’s. But you’ve got all kinds of fun stuff in there. Even fancy bands.

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If it helps, train it. But I have read a few studies that claim otherwise. Mentor Zatsiorsky in his book Science and Practice of Strength Training clearly writes that for maximum strength you can not practice fast movements… If I remember well Simmons once quoted a Soviet study in his article, which concluded that the bar speed should be about 0.8 m / s (but that maybe doesn’t apply to raw strength).

If you have free time, try these three statistics to calculate. I think you might have interesting numbers.

Ok.

I thought you are around 20 years of age (me is 22 years). So I have plenty of time to overcome your performance on the bench press. :slight_smile:

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The only one of those guys who doesn’t like assistance work is Mike T. I still listen to and follow their advice, I take what looks useful and apply it to my own training. I still don’t think that having 50% or more of your training volume made up of non-specific exercises is a good idea, everything has to have a reason for it. Including some bodybuilding-type exercises can and will help, but you have to remember that you are not trying to be a bodybuilder.

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Mike T actually started using some of Josh Bryant’s methods. Notice he uses submaximal work after heavy singles for a lot of people? He was also programming flys and dips for a while, he himself did some bench isometrics and then benched 500 in training. I know that he got that from Josh because I saw the conversation on Facebook. I rarely post anything on facebook and I have no personal info on there, I just look at certain people’s pages because they have interesting/useful stuff sometimes.

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It was just a joke man. I’m not here to criticise your training. I just want to see what you’re in to.

Like you mentioned somewhere else, in reality, everyone good is doing pretty much the same things.

Speaking of Mike T, I think that guy is a mutant. Like a high powered lifting freak. It will be interesting to see what training ideas he likes/uses, and where his lifts go.

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I also follow this. I did a block of paused squats where I rarely did a regular squat and my regular squat really suffered for it even though I got a bunch stronger with a pause.

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The movements are not fast. The weight I’m using there is about 75% of my max, I’m just trying to move it as fast as possible. Look up Compensatory Acceleration Training, the idea is to apply maximum force into every rep. What I’m doing here is submaximal work but rather than just easing the weight up I’m trying to blast it up as fast as I can. The idea is that by doing this you will recruit larger muscle fibres, and combined with short rest periods you will fatigue those fibres (stimulating a training response). Pushing each set closer to failure would have a similar effect, but the downside is that it teaches you to conserve energy for the following reps and also causes more fatigue.

About the volume and intensity calculations, things like average intensity only seem to be relevant in a certain context. Sheiko has said that best results came with and average intensity of something like 67-70%, but that includes warmup sets. I don’t track warmup sets, and I don’t use the pyramid style that he does so those numbers are not really relevant to my training. Plus, a lot of what I am doing is exercise variations and the numbers are not based on maxes. Half of it is laziness, the other half is that I have no idea what to do with the information. In the past I did record all these things but I didn’t know what to do with the info.

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