Wednesday, May 6 - Main bench day
Bench press
365x2 - maybe another rep in the tank
325x5, 5
Bench is looking better than squat and deadlift, relatively speaking, despite the fact that I changed my technique a bit.
Floor pause DB flys
75’s x12, 9
Front raise
65x13, 11
Side raise
30’s x15, 12
Friday, May 8 - Deadlift day
Sumo
515x3 - I should have done another rep, I didn’t like how the last one felt but on the video I see that my hips just rose a little faster than they should but it still moved well. This was about RPE 8 I guess, everything feels harder than it looks lately.
Conventional - straps/beltless
425x5 - again, looks easy but feels hard on my lower back. I would have done another rep or two but it’s like I couldn’t feel where neutral was after the 5th so I didn’t even try pulling another rep. Hopefully this will pay off.
Barbell row
325x10 - I didn’t really push anything yet today due to technical issues so I went a bit harder on this
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+30x10
Barbel curl
115x16, 12
I have two more days of corona quarantine/medical house arrest and I’m a free man
Saturday, May 9 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
365x1 - moved like an empty bar so I had to put another 30lb on it
395x1 - slow in the top 3rd and almost stalled a few inches short of lockout, but it went up and no technical errors either. At least bench isn’t looking too bad.
Slingshot bench
420x3
380x6
JM Press
250x9, 6
W shoulder rotation
super mini x3 sets
Monday, May 11 - Squat day
Squat with wraps (Kraits)
485x1 - easy but descent felt shaky
525x1 - came up easy but too slow on the descent, would have done a double or triple if it felt better
565x1 - I took @hardartery 's advice and threw some more weight on. It was a bit slow but not bad, hard to judge depth in shorts but it’s close at worst.
That’s 35lbs off my best squat, which was in Super Heavies which must add another 20lbs or so over these wraps, so while I’m not quite back at full strength I’m getting there. I don’t really want to be doing heavy singles right now, but I need to get better at squatting in wraps and I have issues doing reps sometimes so I’m just doing what I can for now.
CAT squat (sleeves)
375x3x3 - I was thinking to do an AMRAP set at first but I wasn’t really feeling it, hard to say which would be better for me. This felt light and it was easy but it’s still not moving as fast as it should, so maybe this is a good idea after all.
Band bad girl
super mini x30, 25
Here’s my 600 squat to compare to today’s work:
I like it. You sat back a little more with the 565 versus a bit of a shift to quads on the 600. That would indicate you are using the equipment better if nohing else. You might want to give heavy walk outs a go at some point too. They seem stupid, but taking something on your back and just holding it there for a bit makes the actual squat weight much more comfortable to work with. It’s way less taxing and shaky on setup when your body doesn’t feel it as “Maximal” anymore. It’s a bit of a mindgame, but it can help.
I have done heavy walkouts before during meet prep, maybe I will try them again at some point. My only issue with those it that they seem to be quite fatiguing.
I think if I just get used to squatting heavy (like when training for a meet) then it will sort itself out, the issue right now isn’t so much that the weight feels like too much on my back but the walkout itself feels awkward. It was worse a while back but around the time I squatted that 600 it seemed like I had it under control.
I think it’s easy to overdo the walkouts, they hit the CNS hard. I like them at the end of a squat session,kind of a finisher. It doesn’t hlpe that particular session, but it seems to help the next one.
Wednesday, May 13 - Main bench day
Bench press
370x2 - Moved well, I expected the 2nd rep to be a struggle but it went up smooth, could probably do another rep. My best triple was 375, but the 3rd rep was fucked up and my ass was way off the bench, so considering that it looks like my bench is more or less back to where it was minus the ass lifting problem.
330x5, 5 - more weight than last week and moving better
Floor pause DB flys
75’s x13, 10
Front raise
65x15, 12
Side raise
35’s x12, 9
Good to see you back on track (or at least very close to it).
I remember Chris was entertaining the thought of quitting powerlifting just a few months ago, yet here we are. Lol. Good job Chris!
Yeah but that wasn’t because I wanted to quit, it was because I found out I have a hernia and I was reading about life-threatening complications and such. As it turns out, it’s nothing to worry about right now but it took a while to find the appropriate information. Especially right now, you wouldn’t want to be in need of surgery for something like that because all “elective” surgeries (anything deemed non-emergency) have been cancelled due to COVID and there is a huge backlog. People are dying from cancer and organ failure and such because it wasn’t considered as high a priority as COVID, and meanwhile the hospitals here are nearly empty. The last thing I want to do is depend on this medical system to be able to live and function.
Friday, May 15 - Deadlift day
Sumo
525x3 - Working my way back up, moved easy enough but each rep my hips get higher. 30lbs away from my best triple, could have probably done 2 more reps but it would have been ugly.
Conventional - straps/beltless
435x6 - Pushing until it’s hard to keep my back from rounding, looks like I could have done 10 more reps but my back says otherwise. This is 10lbs and 1 rep over last week, which still sucks but at least it’s moving in the right direction
Barbell row
335x10
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+35x9
Barbell curl
125x12, 8
So nothing too exciting and no PRs, but this felt like a productive session and things are moving in the right direction so I will just keep doing what I’m doing. Normally I have easy sessions thrown in here and there, but I don’t have a meet coming up any time soon and I’m not working right now (not sure when I’m going back) so stress is low and I can just decide on the spot if I need an easy session.
Embrace the stiff leg sumo deadlift lol. I’m glad that training is picking back up for you.
My brother-in-law got all treatments possible, just no visitors other than my sister. So, not entirely accurate. Same province, he was mostly at Juravinsky.
Yeah they didn’t cancel absolutely everything, but anything that wasn’t considered urgent enough or “elective” was cancelled. There was a bunch of stuff about this in the news. The thing is that what isn’t urgent right now can become urgent if left untreated for a few months.
Saturday, May 16 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
375x1 - nice and easy, I would have thrown on some more weight but this is supposed to eb a warmup for slingshot bench and I don’t want to be doing hard singles every week
Slingshot bench
425x3 - Easier than expected, maybe I should have gone for a 4th rep
385x6
W shoulder rotation
super mini x3 sets
Monday, May 18 - Squat day
Squat with wraps - Kraits
545x1 - Same story more or less, I wanted to do some reps but I did a single and racked it. It actually moved very well, went up fast and depth looked good too but lately when I reach the top with something fairly heavy I feel like I’m not tight enough and barely hanging onto the bar. Half of it is probably in my head, but maybe I’m not staying tight enough in the right places. So I put another 30lbs on the bar.
575x1 - This was decent, looked something like 565 last week but maybe a bit faster and didn’t drift forward as much. Maybe it’s just me, but it always seems easier to put more weight on the bar than to do another rep, especially when it comes to squatting in wraps.
Squat - sleees
385x3x3 - Nice and easy, moved well. Seems like I’m getting faster out of the hole, which is what I want.
Band bad girl
light band x15,12
My squat is looking better each week, slowly but surely.
Wednesday, May 20 - Main bench day
Bench press
375x2 - a bit harder than expected, 2nd rep almost stalled a few inches from lockout. Still went up though and no technical issues, but should have moved faster.
335x5, 4 - Cut the 2nd set at 4 because the last rep slowed and the next would ahve been a max effort. Enough grinding for one day. All work sets were 5lbs over last week but that shouldn’t make much difference. I don’t feel fatigued at all, but maybe my pressing muscles aren’t fully recovered. I think I will make Saturday an easy session.
Floor pause DB flys
75’s x14, 11
Front raise
70x10, 9 - 5lbs makes a big difference on this
Side raise
35’s x14, 10
Friday, May 22 - Deadlift day
Sumo
535x3 - Not bad, I think I should have pulled a 4th rep because this was kind of easy. Technique looks better than the last few weeks, hips are in the right place. Still 20lbs away from my best triple, but if I can keep this going I should be setting PRs in a few weeks.
Conventional - straps/beltless
445x5x2 sets - I was going to do one set of 6 but I felt like I was having trouble getting my back in the right position so I cut it at 5. However, it felt easy aside from that and in the video it looked effortless so I figured I would do another set, it felt better than the first one too. What I started to realize is that when I put the bar down, on sumo too, I kind of let it drop the last few inches but I let my back round at the same time. Getting my back in position for sumo is no problem but conventional is a bit awkward and it looks like I let my back round slightly more, so having to reset my back for each rep combined with the muscles fatiguing is a bit of an issue. Either I need to just get over it or start putting the bar down slower and control it all the way down.
Barbell row
345x10
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+40x9
Barbell curl
125x13, 9
I felt totally recovered today, I was thinking about an easy bench session tomorrow but I will see how warmups go and decide from there. No sense in wasting a workout if you an get some good work in.
Saturday, May 23 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
375x1 - moved well, I compared it to the first rep of 375x2 from Wednesday and it was noticeably faster. I guess Wednesday I was just a bit off for some unknown reason.
Slingshot bench
430x2x2 - I was supposed to do a triple and a down set but I messed up on the first set. I brought the bar down too fast on the 2nd rep and the left side hit the safety pin, I paused it but I guess it was already off balance and it came up kind of wobbly and I had to strain to finish the lift. I wanted to make up for it so rather than a down set I figured I should at least do another double, it went better than the first set too.
JM press
260x8, 6
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x3 sets