Not after a new pair for myself just curious.
I’ve not done many blocks that really push wrapped squats but I think my Lilliebridges will do the job. I throw em on every now and then these days for some variations but I’d probably get more out of them if I trained with em consistently.
Have heard recommendations to get used to having wraps on by having em on longer in general. Bit longer before squatting and after. Is this legit?
If you have a meet coming up that would make sense, but otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The thing is that in a meet you don’t want to be rushing right at the last minute to wrap your knees and other shit can happen too, like the weight misloaded or rack height wrong so you get stuck waiting for another minute or two. It can get real uncomfortable to stand around in wraps and if you can’t take it then it could mess you up in a situation like that so it’s something you should get used to, to some degree. At the same time, sets of 5 in tight wraps probably feels worse so there are other ways you can deal with it.
Wednesday, August 12 - Main bench day
Bench press
340x4 - failed 5th, the way the first 4 went up I would have thought I had another 2. I wasn’t happy with last week and I blamed hitting the hooks, but this is not better. Only thing I did wrong here is move my feet after the 4th rep but I don’t think that made explains it. I probably should have started off with a bit less weight for the top set, I will fix that next week.
310x7
Close grip 2 board
295x8, 7
Floor pause DB tricep extension
35’s x15, 12, 10
Strong work, during the 5th attempt did you feel anything get loose?
No, I just ran out of energy I guess.
Friday, August 14 - Deadlift day
Conventional DL
535x4 singles - hook grip on the first, straps on the rest. Again, it moved faster and smoother with hook grip but I also feel like I had some sort of breakthrough. I often slow a bit at the knees and I figured out exactly what I need to do to get through that with minimum effort. Instead of pushing and pulling in every direction, I push my hips forward, head back, and pull the bar in with my lats and before I realize it I’m locked out. This makes it feel way easier.
RDL
465x8 - This is the hardest thing I did all day
Barbell row
390x7
Chin ups - 45 degree supinated
bw+20x12, 8
Saturday, August 15 - Bench assistance day
Floor press
320x6, 5
Military press
185x12, 8 - Probably could have done a few more reps on the 2nd set if I had rested a bit longer
Side raise
25’s x12, 9
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x3 sets
Monday, August 17 - Squat day
Squat - wraps -SBD
505x5 - Not bad, shifted to the right at the bottom of the last rep and made it harder for myself but still not a problem. I was actually feeling kind of lazy and lethargic for some reason today but the weight was moving well so I just went with it. Not quite as explosive as last week but still got the job done.
After that set of 5 I felt like I needed a nap, no energy left. I must have rested 15 minutes before going for the next set.
Squat - sleeves
445x3 - I’m sure I could have forced myself to do 2 more reps but the laziness got to me, I really wasn’t feeling it anymore so I cut it there. In my experience, pushing through fatigue does nothing but cause more fatigue and there is nothing to be gained from that here, plus I already did the most important work for the day. I was going to do some leg curls and extensions but I figured it would be better to just take it easy, so that’s it for my lazy squat day.
Friday is going to be an easy deadlift session and I was thinking either next Monday or the one after would be an easy squat session but since I cut this short I might have to re-evaluate my plan. There’s a fine line between prioritizing performance and recovery vs. just being straight up lazy.
Bar path looks good. Little shifting back and forward. Efficient
I think it has to do with the wraps, with the other wraps I was using I had to sit back a bit more than I would than I wold otherwise because they limited knee flexion more, these seem to suit my squatting style better. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s something.
Maybe when u squat 700 it’ll make ur knees bend in the more restrictive wraps
Yeah probably, I can just save them until then. But those sort of wraps don’t really offer any more than the SBDs in terms of actual carryover, maybe the super heavies are slightly stronger but it’s hard to say. There are lots of different wraps out there so it’s just about finding something that seems to work for you and suits your squatting style.
I’m finding just with the one pair of my Lilliebridge wraps that maybe 6/7 revs is better than the 9 revs I could crank out. At least for now.
You would probably get way more out of the wraps with them wrapped tighter/more revs but if you can’t reach depth it’s not much use. Dennis Cornelius used those same wraps at the US Open a couple years back and he was having trouble hitting depth in training with 800+, even with more weight on the bar it can be a problem to reach those last couple inches of knee flexion.
I would rather use a stronger wrap but not wrap so tight rather than a soft stretchy pair cranked on as tight as possible if the result is the same. It will be easier to wrap looser and should be less uncomfortable too.
Wednesday, August 19 - Main bench day
Bench press
325x7, 6 - Nothing incredible but better than anything I managed in the last few weeks. Looks like I’m back on track.
Close grip 2 board
300x8, 7
Floor pause DB tricep extension
40’s x11, 9, 8
Benching feels kind of boring thee days, squatting and deadlifting is much more exciting. I’m sure if I was repping 405+ it would be more interesting, it just takes so long to get anywhere though.
Friday, August 21 - Deadlift day - easy session
Conventional DL
525x2 singles - Easy but it moved better last week, I’m hesitating to push my hips through.
Chin ups - 45 degree supinated grip
bw x10x2 sets
Saturday, August 22 - Bench assistance day
Floor press
325x5, 5 - Barely finished the first set, 2nd set I didn’t even expect to get 5 but it went up easier. I had to get up earlier than usual so I can train before work and it seems like I wasn’t fully awake until after the 1st set. Floor pres warmups are the most relaxing thing other than laying in bed.
Military press
185x13, 10 - At the end of the set I can feel my biceps working, like I’m fighting against them. I know they act as a stabilizer for pressing, but it feels weird.
Side raise
25’s x15,10
W shoulder rotation
super mini x3 sets
Monday, August 24 - Squat day - unplanned deload-ish session
Squat - wraps - SBD
515x2 - Just not feeling it today, I could have done a couple more reps but after the 2nd one I was sure I wasn’t going to manage 5 which was the plan, and on a decent day that should be no problem. First rep felt a bit off, 2nd one I was a bit too bent over, neither moved as fast as it should have. This was originally supposed to be and easy workout but since last week I got lazy after the top set I figure that would even things out, apparently it didn’t.
Rather than just cut it there I did some easy assistance work since all I did last week was the top set and a light triple.
Band leg curl/extension superset
light band x15x2 sets each exercise - Nothing too exciting here, just pumping some blood into my legs.
I think I’m going to start using deloads again, for the last while I just threw in some easy sessions here and there to avoid building up much fatigue but after that last deload I felt like I had way more energy and motivation and my squat and deadlift were going very well (bench didn’t start cooperating until last week). I had three good squat sessions in a row, although my energy was drained after the top set last week, but it seems I can only keep pushing it hard for so long before things start moving backwards. Right now I’m not even tired, it just seems like I can’t move the weight fast no matter what and I probably couldn’t grind out a heavy lift right now. I lack the drive to attack the weights like usual.
In retrospect, I would have been better off doing my leg curls and extensions last week like I was supposed to and just have an easy session today because I feel like this way kind of messes with my head. Either that or I could have taken it easy on Saturday instead of grinding out sets of 5 on floor press when I felt like sleeping. One way or another I didn’t do what I should have, but today wouldn’t have looked much different otherwise.
On the plus side, I found overtraining to the point of my lifts starting to go down meant a wicked bounce up after a week off or a couple of light weeks. Like the recovery leapfrogs you when it actually happens.