I haven’t used them yet but my understanding is if you’re not squatting 800+ don’t bother and forget about a self wrap because you can’t really get them tight enough.
I have a pair I’m just waiting to use, thought about this cycle but i’m teaching someone how to wrap my knees for my January meet so figured i’d stay with the trusty kraits.
That’s what I heard too but Tasty Nate was using them since he was squatting in the low 600’s, he inspired me to try them. Wrapping them would definitely be a pain in the ass though, they certainly live up to their name. I think I can get them tight enough, but it might not end up being any better than the Kraits. I don’t mean to brag, but I think I’m pretty good at self wrapping, just maybe not good enough for the Super Heavies.
I should have got some 3m Kraits too, I don’t know what I was thinking. WPC allows 3m and that’s probably where I will do my next meet.
Nate cheats and trains with Ramey- lol.
Yeah I’m sure people could use them sub 800, Tee Cummins used to wrap with them starting at like 500 all the way up to his 800+ sets so ehh.
3m is the way to go for sure, 2.5 just isn’t long enough.
Friday, December 13 - I just realized it’s Friday the 13th, I’m not into superstitious bullshit but I’m always disappointed with my workouts on Friday the 13th so that explains it.
Deadlift
580x1 - I was going to pull a double but this was kind of hard, another rep would have been max effort if I even managed to pull so better I stop there. It felt worse than it looked on video, but I also notice that around knee level I got a little bit shaky. I used to have an issue with that (I heard somewhere it has to do with glutes not being able to fully engage so they sort of twitch instead) and doing RDLs or GMs seems to fix it. I stopped doing GMs for a few weeks because I was having an issue with something cramping in my mid back, then I stopped making progress on deadlifts and now my knees are shaking. So GMs are back on Monday I suppose.
This is technically a 5lb PR but I’m not happy because I should be capable of more. It’s not a max either, but not what I wanted.
Down sets: 520x2x2 - I was going to do one set of about 4-5 reps but on the 2nd rep my right foot slipped, I realized I was standing on a bunch of chalk dust so I swept it off and did another double. Then I tore a bunch of skin of my right thumb.
Barbell row
370x6x2
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw +35x8, 6
Barbell curls
95x22, 15, 12 - A big curl PR for a consolation prize
I was comparing this video to some other heavy DL videos and in retrospect I think I should have jut gone for a 2nd rep, but what I realize too is that failing reps kind of fucks with my head. Like last week I failed the 3rd rep with 560 and on Wednesday I failed a rep on bench, when I was getting ready to pull my top set today I couldn’t get the thought of failing out of my head. Either I need to get all those negative thoughts out of my head somehow, or (even better) just stop failing reps.
And another thing, next week on all lifts I’m going a bit lighter and doing more reps. I’m doing a sort of waved approach where you just add weight each week and once you stall out you start over with more weight (hopefully) than the last time. Seems to work so far. Then if I want to peak I will just focus on heavy singles for a few weeks. I don’t really have a use for hypertrophy-focused training since I already have a lot of muscle.
Saturday, December 14 - Bench assistance day
Slingshot bench
420x3 - I set up too high on the bench and hit the hooks as I brought down the 2nd rep and almost lost the bar. The 3rd rep didn’t feel after that so I stopped.
420x4 - much better
380x7
JM press
265x7, 6
Neutral DB pushups
bw+light band x10, 6
That’s all, I think keeping volume low and still benching twice a week is the way to go. More volume doesn’t seem to equal more progress, it just beats me up faster. And I’m supposed to keep doing this for years and years, not a couple months.
Monday, December 16 - Squat day
Squat in wraps
Last warmup: 485x1 - This looked like depth, but just barely, and only 6 revolutions
525x3 - Could do another rep, this is about RPE 9. Depth is borderline, 7 revolutions, more pop out of the hole but harder to get those last couple inches.
475x4 - 7 revolutions again, the first two reps just flew right up, I don’t think I could move an empty bar faster. But depth is still questionable. This moved well and I could have done a couple more reps but my feet went totally numb by the end so I figured it would be better to end it there. Singles in wraps are not so bad, reps are a pain in the ass.
SSB good morning
245x8x2
Lunges (SSB)
75x10x2 - These set my quads on fire, I was limping up the stairs after
So as far as squatting in wraps goes, the two things I need to work on is hitting depth and staying upright. Getting folded over makes you lose most of the boost from the wraps, but you quickly learn not to do that because it absolutely sucks. Today was decent in terms of staying upright but it could be a little better. As far as depth goes, what I figured out before was that slowing down the descent and deliberately sitting down into the hole (rather than dropping and bouncing) is the way to do it. Also when the weights are heavy you don’t want to be dive bombing into the hole or you will get thrown out of position. But so far it looks OK, I’m probably close to 600 already and if all goes well I should have a squat record in the spring.
Strong work chris keep it going
Wednesday, December 18 - Main bench day
Bench press
340x6 - I would have been OK with 5 but it felt like another rep was there so I went for it. Got wobbly as I strained through the sticking point and my ass might have come off the bench, but it went up. And I should probably wear a longer shirt, arching in a short t-shirt makes for a rather unflattering view. If you want to give my belly a form check then see where I first lay down on the bench, not nearly as bad.
I think my ass came off the bench on the last rep (hard to tell with shirt + shorts) but that’s because I keep sliding up the bench on each rep, if you see where my head is I moved about 2-3 inches during this set. I should probably do something about that, but the only good solution is a new bench and its not so cheap.
Down set: 310x8 - I realized later after looking at my training log that 9 reps would have been a PR, if I had known that earlier I would have gone for it.
Floor pause DB flys
65’s x15, 15 - Looks like I need to put some more weight on these, seems ridiculous to be doing such heavy flys but it is what it is.
Front raise
55x15, 12
superset with:
Side raise
20’s x15, 13
W external rotation
mini band x 3 sets
This was a good training session, progress on everything. I was expecting the worst since last week sucked after cutting benching down to once a week for a bit but I bounced back fast. I read a few of Christian Thibaudeau’s articles where he’s talking about how extra mass, whether fat, muscle, glycogen, or even just fluid retention from being pumped up can increase performance due to increase joint stability, and I think that might have something to do with it. Normally when I train my muscles get pumped up for the next few hours and by the next day I look basically normal again, but after not benching for about 5 days or so my upper body looks sort of deflated, like less pumped than on a normal non-training day. I’m not sure if this is related to glycogen stores, but there is definitely less fluid held in the muscles, and despite being well recovered my performance isn’t where it should be. Now after throwing back in a 2nd bench session last Saturday I was back to looking normal and I set a new PR (a sloppy one, but still). I think there is something to it. Also I have never been able to exceed training PRs on bench in a meet and I’m always looking a bit deflated on meet day because volume is so low at the end of the peaking cycle, but I don’t have that issue with squat and deadlift.
Friday, December 20 - Deadlift day - easy session
I was sick since Wednesday night so I wasn’t even sure I would train today
Deadlift
485x5 singles - straps because my right thumb isn’t totally healed and I don’t want to tear it again - These all felt slow, I didn’t record anything but it was way harder than it should have been.
The original plan was to do some chin ups and curls after, but I really had no energy or motivation so better skip the less important stuff. On Wednesday night my stomach started feeling all weird, I thought maybe it was something I ate but later I felt freezing cold and my whole body hurt, I went to bed with a hoodie and jogging pants on. I barely slept either, the whole night I felt like I was on the verge of puking (which fortunately didn’t happen) and yesterday I pretty much just laid in bed all day. I feel mostly better today but I’m still tired. One of my kids had something like this last week, I guess I caught it from him but it’s weird it took so long to hit me.
Yesterday I was supposed to go to a Christmas concert at my kids’ school, vote for union reps at my work, and go to the Christmas party at work in the evening. None of that happened, but at least I still managed to deadlift today. What a life. At least I have my priorities straight.
I might make tomorrow and easy bench session if I’m not feeling good, we will see.
Saturday, December 21 - Bench assistance day
Slingshot bench
425x3 - Pretty sure I could have done another rep but it would have been a grinder so I decided against it. Could have been a little better I suppose, but not bad still. I feel fine today too.
385x7 - This was good
JM press
270x7, 6
Neutral DB pushups
+light band x11, 8
Monday, December 23 - Squat day
Squat in wraps
Last warmup: 495x1 - depth looks good except I was slow in reversing it, almost a pause squat. 7 revolutions, and this was the only warmup in wraps, I went up to 445x1 in sleeves.
535x2 - I wanted a triple but things didn’t go as planned, at least depth on the first rep looked OK. I fucked up wrapping my knees and tied off on the right knee too close to my kneecap, when I stood up I could feel it pushing my kneecap to the right plus I couldn’t fully straighten my knee. I pulled the wraps off, but then immediately realized that I could have just untied the right one and re-tied it. Instead I had to re-roll and wrap again, which wasted time and energy. On this set the first rep was good but the bar shifted out of place a bit, maybe because my arms were tired from wrapping twice. The 2nd rep was a bit shaky on the descent and depth looked right about parallel, not way off but not where it should be. It came up alright but the bar shifted more and it felt like I was about to lose it so I racked it. I should have been good for another rep but things just got a bit fucked up, next week I want 545x3.
Down set:
485x4 - This was good, looks like all reps were to depth and this was 7 revolutions as well. My only mistake was telling myself that I had to get 4 reps as if it was some big goal, this looked like I could get at least 2 more. Technique looked real good too. I guess this sort of makes up for the shitty top set, but this is still some little baby weights so it doesn’t count for much.
SSB good morning
250x8x2 - This felt easier than expected, maybe I should do more reps next time
Lunges - SSB
80x9, 8 - And this felt worse than expected. Went for 10 on the first set and got stuck on the floor. Good thing this isn’t with a barbell or I would have ended dumping it on my foot.
I’m kind of pissed off about that top set, but at least now I know how not to wrap my knees in the future. If your kneecap gets pushed to the side (can also be a result of not contracting your quads while wrapping) it can damage the ligaments and tendons it attaches to, much worse than only doing a double when you wanted a triple. But I’m still mad, what can I say.
Ramey? Who?
Nick Ramey
I thought it was someone in Ontario. Doesn’t matter then. Thanks.
Wednesday, December 25 - Main bench day
Bench press
345x4 - failed 5th, should have had it but I misgrooved it a bit, pushed it back too much rather than up and it ended up in a spot where I couldn’t do anything, no struggle, just dumped the bar. But to be honest my warmups didn’t feel as strong as they should, not terrible but sometimes the bar is just blasting up effortlessly, not today though. Maybe I’m still affected by getting sick last week, but it always seems like training doesn’t go so good at this time of year.
315x7 - could have done another rep but didn’t want to take the chance of getting stuck and failing again, so fuck it.
Floor pause DB flys
70’s x12, 10
Front raise
60x10, 8
superset with:
Side raise
25’s x9, 7
W external rotation
mini band x3 sets - I should start using the super mini, feels easy and I did over 30 rep on the first set
Friday, December 27 - Deadlift day
Deadlift
530x3 - Didn’t feel good, and it seems that my perception of effort is off too. It felt like the next rep was going to be a real grind, but on video this looked like an easy triple. I don’t really know what my problem is, since I got sick last week nothing really went well so I just need to do what I can for now. I actually feel pretty lazy lately, I wouldn’t have minded just skipping this workout but that would end up being even worse.
Down set: 480x3 - straps - felt like shit, looked easy. Just not my day.
Barbell row
375x6x2
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+40x7, 6
Barbell curl
100x15, 12, 10
Saturday, December 28 - Bench assistance day
Slingshot bench
405x4, 5 - I had the slingshot set too high on my chest on the first set, not giving much of a boost, I should have just racked it. 2nd set was better, could do 6 reps if it wasn’t for the technical difficulties.
JM press
275x6, 5
Neutral DB pushups
bw +light band x12, 8
I still feel tired and lazy, plus I went to bed kind of late and had to get up just after 7am so that I can train because I’m working today. I would have been happy to stay in bed for a couple more hours, but I know I would end up regretting it. Today was alright though, benching when you aren’t really feeling it is much better than squatting or deadlifting. Now I just need to get my head straight for some heavy squats on Monday.
That’s for sure
Monday, December 30 - Squat day
Squat with wraps
545x2 - I wanted a triple but it wasn’t going to happen today. Hard to tell exactly with poor lighting and clothes, but it looks like these were to depth or at least parallel. I could tell by how the first rep went that I wasn’t going to get a triple and for some reason I had a momentary stall on the 2nd rep, but otherwise it moved alright, not sure what really happened there. I let my hips go back a little too much, I need to force my head up more when I come out of the hole. If it wasn’t for that then maybe I could have done a triple. Not sure if I got stronger in the last few weeks, but at least I don’t think I’m weaker after getting sick.
https://youtu.be/nIutCeSBBCU
I actually didn’t have very high expectation going into this workout. Despite sleeping for about 10 hours the last 2 nights, warmups felt like shit and 385 felt like 600. I considered just going up to 445 in sleeves and calling it there but somehow that felt a bit better so I stuck with the original plan. But after the top set I felt like I had nothing left, I watched the video a few times and sat down for a couple minutes then figured I should get going with the next set. As I was rolling up my wraps I looked at the clock and realized it had been about 20 minutes (maybe more) since the last set and I really wasn’t feeling it at that point. Any time I feel like that and still push myself I end up feeling worse after so I decided to just cut it there. I know I don’t need a deload since I’m just getting back to training 4 days a week and I felt fine until getting sick, all I can say is that energy is low since that so better not wear myself out right now. That’s not really what I want to do, but it seems like the best choice at the moment.