Do you keep weights in assistance work the same, and decrease the number of sets? Or do you also reduce volume somehow?
I’m doing less weight and/or reps than what I was doing before, and less sets in some cases. For the peaking block I’m doing the same sets/reps and same weight each week, but not reducing it further.
Friday, April 12 - Light squat/main deadlift day
Squat
365x6 singles - 1 min. rest
Deadlift
575x1 - I guess this is a 10lb PR over last week’s 5lb PR, looks like I have quite a bit more in the tank too. I’m actually very strong off the floor now, this slowed slightly at my knees but it wasn’t a struggle or anything. I think what I need to do is focus on engaging my glutes, with light weight the bar just flies up after I get it off the floor but when I’m closer to a 1rm it’s not the same story.
Will post a video later
525x4 singles - 3 min. rest
Focused on getting my glutes into it more and the lockout was fast, but this is quite a bit lighter too. I think I can make some big gains in the future just by minor technical improvements.
Deficit DL
490x2 - The thing with this is that it’s painfully slow off the floor but from my knees to lockout is way faster, the complete opposite of my comp. DL. I thought about it and my guess is that due to my hips being higher and more work for my hips, it makes my glutes work harder just to get the bar moving. It’s like my glutes are only partially working with my regular comp. technique. I need to o the same thing as this when I pull from the floor.
Barbell row
315x6x3
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good work with the PR on deads!!!
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There should be more coming soon, I pulled 555x3 not long ago and I’m not even good at doing reps. Assuming things go well, a 600 pull at the meet should be no problem.
Here it is:
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Monday, April 15 - Main bench day
Bench press
390x2 singles - These moved well. I think at the meet I will go 160kg-172.5-182.5
Floor press
355x2x2 - Maybe could have done a triple but failing would suck so I will settle for this
Close grip incline
285x3 - this was a 3rm
Floor pause DB flys
55’s x12x3
Band pushdowns
light band x12x3
Chin ups - wide overhand
bw x6x4 - I probably should have done these with some added weight but I wanted to keep them fairly easy since this is a peaking cycle. I was flying on these ones though.
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Tuesday, April 16 - Main squat day
Squat with wraps
535x1 - easy
570x1 - not bad at all, tipped forward just a little bit but definitely more in the tank. Looks like 600 is happening at the meet. Looks like depth too.
505x2x2
Pause squat
390x3x2
Split stance RDL
165x8x2
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Good recovery or do your heavy wrapped squats look like that?
When it’s heavy enough I usually slow about halfway where the bounce out of the hole wears off, but here I tipped forward slightly which made it a bit harder than it should have been. But it wasn’t an all-out max and I’m not fully peaked yet, so 600 is a safe bet.
Damn, this is the competition I was hoping to compete in this year until they released the date. I was hoping for it to be in June again like last year, but my wife’s due date is July 3rd. I think trying to compete 3 weeks later may not be a wise decision.
Very nice. Jealous of your bench, really hope I can get mine moving soon.
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Yeah, competing 3 weeks after the birth of your child is not a great idea. They should have another meet coming up a few months later. CPF Nationals is in Waterloo in June (check the exact details on their site), that might work better for you. There is no qualifying total and you just need to have done another meet in any fed in the last 2 years or something like that, sounds like they are trying to build up some clientele to compete with CPU.
Where do you live anyway?
My bench finally made some progress in the last while, I was making steady progress up to when I benched 360 a couple years ago but it took a long time to get anywhere beyond that. At the time I thought I would be benching 400 by the end of the year, now 2 1/2 years later I’m just about there.
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Thanks, I may have missed that one when I was looking. I’ll have to review their qualifications, accepted equipment, etc. Hopefully they’re similar to the CPL.
Just north of Kingston.
We share similar stories here. I was stuck at 345lbs for a year, then hit a 375lb TnG rep in January 2017. I haven’t hit a rep over 350lbs since…
I think I’ve finally isolated a few weak points that I’ve been attacking recently, so I’m optimistic that a PR is around the corner.
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CPF and WPC doesn’t have an approved list, at least not for raw/raw with wraps, as long as the gear meets whatever specifications then you are good to go.
I saw you posting about getting into single ply gear, are you planning to compete in gear or what?
That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear. This Waterloo meet might just be the option I end up going with! I’d really like to get a meet under my belt before a major shift of priorities takes place.
Yeah, I actually just bought a Metal Jack bench shirt. My coach loves geared benching, and was encouraging me to get my hands on one. While it isn’t necessarily aligned with my goals of improving my raw total, I figured it would spark some interest in bench in a general sense. No plans to compete in a geared meet at this point.
Next step may be testing out squatting with wraps.
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It looks like unless you want to compete in the IPF, raw with wraps is the way to go these days.
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Ah, already RSVP’d to a wedding for this date.
It looks like the CPF is lifting on the Sunday at the Toronto Pro Supershow on June 2 (CPU on the Saturday). A little higher profile meet than I would like to participate in, but if it gets me on the platform, it might be the direction I go.
Dumb question: Is there a membership/fee for the CPF? To compete in the EPC hosted meet I needed to have a CPL membership. I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of these federations and their affiliates.
Yep, I have a pair or two of wraps kicking around (no idea what brand, I’ll have to find them), and will likely start playing in them after this meet.
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No membership, nothing but meet entry fees.
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Thursday, April 18 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
360x3, 2
360x3 is a 10lb PR. Actually, I don’t think I have ever repped over 350 before. It’s also worth mentioning that I suck at reps, a couple weeks after the first time I benched 390 I deloaded and then did an AMRAP set with 315, only got 6 reps. Things are looking good.
Slingshot bench - brand new black slingshot
440x1, 1 - went for a double on the first set and totally misgrooved it, the weight flew back up over my face and my arms were uneven, there was no way I could lock it out. The first rep was easy, I was thinking I would do a triple but this slingshot is way stronger than my old one and feels different. I don’t know if the newer slingshots are a thicker material than the old ones but even the part that goes on your arms is thicker on this one and the chest part is double ply. If I was used to it I would be able to lift way more. With the old one, today I would have done 425 for a double at most. 2nd single was easy but I didn’t want to push my luck.
So I was already considering dropping military press for this week, mostly just to reduce fatigue and also the fact that it does put some strain on my back. I don’t feel fatigued at all so I would have still done it, but I figured some reps with the slingshot be of more use at this point.
405x3 - moved fast, could have done at least 2 more reps but this is enough for today. 400 and some change is going to feel light at the meet after throwing this around like it was nothing.
Skull crrushers
135x10x3
Face pulls
light band x20x3
I will see how warmups feel tomorrow and go from there, I will pull 585 if it feels like I can do it without much strain otherwise I will just go for about 555. I’m sure I can get 600 in the meet already.
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great work Chris keep it going strong
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