Tuesday, March 26 - Main squat day - deload
Squat with wraps
470x1
500x1
430x3
Depth looked OK except for the 500.
Dead squat
380x2 singles
Split stance RDL
150x6x2
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Thursday, March 28 - Bench assistance day - deload
Close grip bench
315x2
Cloe grip slingshot
360x2
Military press
215x2x2
Skull crushers
135x7x2
Face pulls
light band x15x3
Friday, March 29 - Light squat/main deadlift day - deload
Squat
345x2x6 - 45 sec. rest
Deadlift
505x1
460x3 singles - 90 sec. rest
Deficit deadlift
435x3
Barbell row
315x4x2 - not so cheaty any more. I think I will keep these for the peaking phase and just go lighter and stricter. Usually I drop them and do something easier on the lower back like chest supported rows but if I keep the weight moderate then it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m not going to be pushing assistance work in the peaking block anyway, just keep it kind of easy and hope it will prevent any muscle loss.
Monday, April 1 - Main bench day - The peaking phase begins
Bench press
380x3 singles - first one was fast, 3rd was slow, 2nd was in between. I suppose I could have rested longer.
Floor press
345x3, 2 - wasn’t sure about a 3rd rep on the last set so I stopped at 2, I don’t want to take chances with getting stuck under the bar.
Close grip incline
270x3
Floor pause DB flys
55’s x12x3
Band pushdowns
light band x12x3
Chin ups - wide overhand grip
bodyweight x6x4
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What numbers of range are you aiming to end up at the conclusion of this peak?
Bench 390 for a few singles, squat maybe 570 but depth needs to be good, and deadlift about 575-585. I should be good for a 400 bench and 600 deadlift at the meet, squat remains to be determined. My squat didn’t really work out too great this training cycle but bench and deadlift are looking good and it’s not over yet.
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So some vitamin S to finish off the peak?
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No, not quite.
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Lol k. On a more serious note just from that first bench day it looks like there’s still a decent amount of variation in there. Will this change through the peak or is this what you’ve found works well for yourself? What’s the reasoning behind this as opposed to more specific movements?
Well, for the 2nd bench day I’m doing comp bench (a couple triples) instead of close grip bench and slingshot bench with my comp grip too, there is still some variations in there and assistance exercises but the main focus is the comp lifts. Floor press is pretty similar to bench for me, just no arch or leg drive. I’m not pushing the assistance work at this point, I’m keeping it fairly easy but dropping it altogether and barely doing any volume for a month could lead to losing some muscle mass. The total volume is low enough that I shouldn’t have to worry about overreaching in less that 3 weeks.
Even Mike Israetel concedes that it might be worthwhile to keep doing assistance/isolation exercises during a peaking phase to prevent losing muscle, he was talking about that in a presentation he did for that online PL summit they do every year. I asked Josh Bryant about this at his seminar, he said to keep doing assistance work but just don’t push it as hard so that’s basically what I’m doing.
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Tuesday, April 2 - Main squat day
Squat with wraps
515x1 - looks like depth here, good
545x1 - not quite, right about parallel. I’m too anxious to reverse the movement when I get close to the bottom with heavy weights, that is my main issue here. Mobility has improved but still having problems hitting depth on top singles.
485x2x2 - Skin around my knees felt chewed up after this
Pause squat - knee sleeves
355x3x2 - I figured this might help with hitting depth, dead squats obviously don’t and I don’t seem to have a problem with my hips rising too fast anymore.
Split stance RDL
165x8x2 sets
So I would say I have the strength to squat at least 580 if I was peaked but the main limitation is what I can get to depth. If I could go back in time I would do things differently. But as you often hear people saying, it’s rare for all 3 lifts to do well at the same time and my bench and deadlift are doing good so at least I should be glad for that.
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Thursday, April 4 - 2nd Bench day
Bench press
340x3x2 sets - both sets felt like I could probably do 5 reps, looking good.
Slingshot bench
405x3x2 - This was harder, 2nd set was all out
Military press
245x3 - All triples today
Skull crushers
135x10x3
Face pulls
light band x20x3
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Thursday, April 5 - Light squat/main deadlift day
Squat
365x6 singles - 1 min. rest
Deadlift
565x1 - Fast off the floor but slowed down slightly at the knees. Could have pulled it for 2 but that is not the plan here.
515x4 singles - 2 min. rest
Deficit deadlift
485x2 - I was thinking 2-3 reps depending on how if felt and I thought this was kind of hard but on video it moved fast. 2 is fine though.
Barbell row
315x6x3
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hell of a session Chris
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Monday, April 8- Main bench day
Bench press
385x3 singles - This went well, 400 should be no problem
Floor press
350x3, 2 - Barely got the 3rd rep on the first set. This is actually better than my best comp. bench triple, I did 350x3 a while back but never more than that. Floor press was always 5-10% behind, let’s hope it still is.
Close grip incline
275x3 - could still do another rep - this is getting strong too
Floor pause DB flys
55s x12x3
Band pushdown
light band x12x3
Chin ups - wide overhand
bw x6x4
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Tuesday, April 9 - Main squat day
Squat with wraps
525x1
555x1
These were pretty good, I think depth is alright too. It’s not unquestionable and probably wouldn’t pass in the IPF, but it’s something. What I tried doing is slowing down the descent and trying to push my hips back just a little bit more, it seems to be exactly what I should be doing. I’m realizing that the way I was trying to squat before with a fast descent just isn’t working for me, in the past I descended slowly and never had issues with depth (with IPF judging as well) but it makes it hard to hit depth without losing tightness. I’m fairly strong out of the bottom anyway and I can just wrap a bit tighter and rebound seems to be the same as before.
Walkout/10 sec. hold
625 - This felt real heavy at first but towards the end it felt lighter, kind of weird. Also I could feel my abs working extra hard, makes me think I could brace harder in general.
More squatting in wraps:
495x2x2
Pause squat
370x3 - I only did one set to make up for the heavy walkout. This was easier than I expected again, I could do 2-3 more reps for sure.
Split stance RDL
165x8x2
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Right now I’m thinking about signing up for another meet at the end of July. The federation is EPC (IPL/USPA affiliate), the meet is in Kingston, Ontario, which is about an hour drive. That would give me time for a good training cycle (one week off, 3 blocks of 3 weeks +1 week deload/taper the last block) and isn’t too far from home. I’m looking at what I could do right now and how much more I could lift if I have a few months to sort out a couple things on my comp. lifts (mostly the squat) and it’s making me think that this meet might be a good idea. Otherwise it’s going to be offseason mode and not compete again until at least the fall, but I feel like I have some good momentum going at the moment.
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I think the wraps slow me down a smidge on the way down. I think I need to extra technique control and precision to hit that good bottom position. Either that or have a bad day lol
Yeah, some people can stay tight and descend fast but for me it just isn’t working. I wasn’t try to dive bomb it or anything like that but I was going faster than I should have been. It worked with lighter weights but it seems like everything else tightens up in response to the heavy weight and it’s like my body just stops itself before I hit depth if I go too fast. I used to really slow down towards the bottom and I changed that but maybe went too far in the opposite direction.
Thursday, April 11 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
350x3x2 sets - I can’t believe how easy this was, I probably could have done 2 more reps on the first set and definitely a 4th on the 2nd set. I was prepared to grind some reps but there was nothing to grind. I didn’t even sleep well last night but I feel good.
Slingshot bench
415x2x2 - Probably could have squeezed out a 3rd rep on the 1st set. I feel like I’m not getting a whole lot of overload from this slingshot, maybe because it’s old and a bit stretched out (my slingshot wraps are much springier) or maybe just because it doesn’t give a huge boost relative to the weights I’m lifting. Maybe for my next training cycle I will get the black one instead. This is still working for now though, I just think if I could do a few reps with 440-450 that would probably be even better.
Military press
250x2 - Not sure about a 3rd rep so that’s it.
Skull crushers
135x10x3
Face pulls
light band x20x3
I think that keeping some easy assistance work in a peaking block is a very good idea, other times when I cut back too much or dropped it altogether my muscles had a sort of “deflated” look and I didn’t see any improvement in my bench either. Right now my bench feels great, I just need to keep it like that until the meet.
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