Honestly can’t remember if I posted this or not. Oh well.
LOG # 156
Bench
75x5
95x5
115x5
135x3
155x5
160x7
170x4
Assistance:
Normal width grip bench: 135 3x10
Chest supported rows: 135 3x10
DB chest press: 40s 3x12
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LOG # 157
Jump rope circuit: 30 mins
LOG # 158
Hypertrophy for legs
Warm-up: 15 min walk
Narrow stance squat: 200 4x15
Leg press: 405lbs 2x10, 315x20, 225 2x15
Hip abductions: AMRAP
Hip thrusts: 200lbs 100 reps, different set schemes
Calf raises: 90 lbs 2x20
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I didn’t particularly have a good time at the gym the last two days. There’s about 8-10 other powerlifters at the gym I go to, and most times we just huddle in a circle after training and talk. The majority of them are semi arrogant, and they disrupt whatever calm mechanism is inside of me, and I like giving people the benefit of doubt for a while, which I think is something I’m going to just have to stop doing.
One of the guys in particular constantly asks me questions, yet doesn’t take my advice. Which is one the quickest ways to make me not talk to you anymore. You wanna know how I got from A to Z? I’m telling you, so put your ego somewhere in the corner over there.
What pissed me off was the fact that they were slyly making fun of me for the program I currently run, and the programs I believe to be a good basis for young lifters like us (mind you, the oldest lifter in terms of years has only been lifting for ~3 years, followed by me). I mentioned 5/3/1 and Jim Wendler teachings, WS, other conjugate stuff, and WSFSB, Texas Method, Juggernaut, stuff by Paul Cater, Lillibridge stuff, and a few linear progression stuff in a relative sense like 5x5 for example. And they seemingly mocked me, and gave out a plethora of reasons why they think programs like that “suck” and are “boring”. For lack of a better word.
In my honest opinion I treat powerlifting like DoggCrapp training, when it comes to certain aspects. Meaning unless the majority of us has at least passed the 4-5 year mark, I honestly don’t think anyone in our Group needs to be doing more advanced or extreme stuff right now. Not to mention the oldest of us is 24? I think? I know some aspects of the programs I mentioned above can be “advanced” in a sense, but that’s why it’s a good idea to read and supplement as needed. We all should be focused on building massive amounts of strength, and keeping mobility and conditioning in check as well.
To my surprise everyone except myself, this one girl and her boyfriend, all run either Sheiko or Klokov. I’m not bashing either of these programs. They are good in their own unique sense, but none of us are that experienced to be using it as a sole means of progress, not to mention I think Klokov is more or less of an Oly program, and I don’t think anyone in that group even recognizes it as that. But I digressed. I’m not one to force my opinion on anyone. But not only did it suggest 6-7 different training programs, I also mentioned that now is a good time to read, read, read and read some more. There’s soooooooo much info at our disposal. But no one really wanted to hear me out except for that one dude and his girlfriend.
HOWEVER, what ultimately made me get up, pack my stuff, and leave, was that two or three guys started taking turns dishing out “advice” to the group circle. I’m all for hearing advice or suggestions, when folks know what they’re talking about, and there’s a tone of sincerity behind it.
Don’t talk to me about where I look when I squat. I keep a neutral spine and look towards the ground. Last time I checked, that’s okay to do. Don’t talk to me about ATG squatting with 90%+ of my max, when parallel is what is mandatory. And the Only reason I don’t jam the back of my neck up and look towards the ceiling when squatting is because it hurts my back. Don’t tell me to develope what looks like a painfully arched back for the sake of benching more. That’s why I practice bench pressing while not depending on a severe arch. To bench more. Dont bash low bar squatting when you haven’t even tried it. Don’t tell me sumo deadlifting is “cheating”. I feel every pound whether it’s conventional, sumo, or old English/squat style, and not all of us are graced with long arms. Don’t talk to me about injuries, when none of you guys are injured. We can discuss injury prevention, but that’s about it. I don’t wish injuries on anyone, but don’t spew out advice on how to rehab a tweaked lower back, without thinking about what the hell youre saying. I’ve spent months helping my back get better. I think I have a clue on what to do. Dont talk to me about protentionally using steroids yet still wanting to compete in a tested federation. Dont talk shit about programs you have no clue on. And lastly, If your squat and deadlift max is only 50 pounds heavier than mine, get out of my face with your ego.
I’m not proclaiming to be the best. Never have, never will. But I take solace in people coming together to help one another. Not tear eachother down. I don’t care if you bench 50lbs or 500lbs, if you come at me with respect I give nothing less in return. I also don’t think anyone realizes that there are people out there weighing half of our weights smashing totals that would put all 8-10 of us, to complete shame. I take slight pride in the element of being humble for whatever reason, and the group just doesn’t seem to understand that. I’m soft spoken, I rarely interject, and I’m respectable, and I’ve noticed a trend at least in my state and more so in my area, and in my age group. It seems like it’s okay to be arrogant, rude, and egotistical these days. And I have no idea why. I understand it’s okay and to even be proud of your hard work, but there’s a difference between that, and the behavior of the group of people at my gym. Lastly I’ve noticed one major theme in the entire group. Everyone seems to be powerlifting for the sole purpose of winning. Every last one of them.
And that right there is why I feel like they’re setting themselves up for disappointment. When I first started powerlifting I had to fight with myself on this particular subject, and now I find powerlifting to be freeing. It’s never really about winning, at least for average folks like me, it’s about winning against yourself, against your fear, your anger, your anxiety, etc. I entered into this sport just wanting to throw the highest numbers out there, and to a sense I got injured because of thinking like that. Am I proud of my strength and my progress so far? You bet I am. But I also realize this isn’t what makes or breaks me as a whole human being. And I feel sympathy for the group. But it isn’t my place to tell them that. But I hope they find themselves in all of this. However I will not being talking to them anymore. Whatsoever. And this is precisely why I pretty much have no friends except for my husband. Oh well.
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LOG # 159
Jump rope 25 mins. Was going to be 30, but I got tangled up in a gigantic spider web and lost every last ounce of my courage and composure to finish
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Are these guys?
Do they compete at 165lb?
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Yupp. And the lightest one in the group weighs somewhere around 180 I think? At least that’s what I heard amongst the group talk. Heaviest one sits around 200-220.
They’re 180lb+ guys who squat somewhere around 405-425lb and they’re bragging about their squats?
Dear God. Avoid them.
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I’ve decided to. What makes me snicker to myself is that I’m more than certain I can easily hit 405 as a new max probably right now, but I’m patiently waiting until another month or maybe even around September to test it. So during that whole discussion I just couldn’t understand why they were all gloating so hard.
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If I had my way I’d rather spend time around people who brag about their suped up cars, if It really came down to it. At least with cars it’s simple. You either have a badass car or you don’t lol.
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Social media. I see it with one of my friends I train with occasionally. He’s got a coterie of fb and ig cheerleaders who applaud every post he puts up, except in the gym he is arguably the least popular and - more importantly - the least respected person there because of his posturing and arrogance when he delivers very, very little (to the point that people who don’t train at Elite have heard of and make fun of him). He isn’t a bad guy, but he has turned himself into a laughing stock because he behaves as if his name is at the top of a PowerliftingWatch all time list when he regularly underperforms at meets and spends more time and effort on his social media presence than his training.
Get him alone and he is a decent, stand up guy. I’m one of the few people who still have time for him. He helped handle me at my last meet without me even having to ask him and he is supportive when he remembers to be. But he gets dragged into the social media circus and forgets that the people applauding him are nothing in PL themselves.
It isn’t, and has never been, OK to be arrogant, rude and egotistical and when you read accounts of powerlifting in it’s early days and onwards those traits were never tolerated at the top. Every account I’ve heard of Westside, for example, point to the guys there being anything but. Insane, yes. Competitive, sure. But not arrogant or egotistical.
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You know…that’s probably, actually, most likely is the case in this situation too. It’s like a weird mating ritual or something at my gym. You’ve got the girly girls who do kickbacks and whatnot with high wastes tights and stuff, then the guys who all have that signature shaved hair style on the sides with their hair slicked back or in man buns. Not dupping anyone’s style, I just notice things, and it’s literally a contest to see who can lock eye contact with the opposite sex long enough.
There’s one dude in the group who has been wanting to settle down for a while now, and for the life of me I can’t tolerate the flirting. Sure get her number afterwards, but when there’s up to five of us rotating sets like clockwork AND spotting…focus dude.
And if I had a dollar for every time I got flashed instagram clips of them squatting I’d be hella rich. Nothing wrong with instagram, but I don’t want your phone shoved in my face to watch you do stuff I can also do. Hell, I constantly go back and forth on whether to post a video to show you guys…I haven’t even met you guys in person. Part of its anxiety and part of it is that drive to strive for very good progress.
The one chick and her boyfriend seem to be the only sensible ones in the group. The chick is super sweet, and she usually asks to work in if it’s crowded and I happen to be squatting or whatever else. Her boyfriend is like deadly silent. Haven’t heard him speak except for one time I asked his name, and forgot it anyways. Otherwise he just stands there and stares, or stares directly at you if you’re talking to him about something.
But I always get second hand embarrassment for other people who carry on like that. Of course I won’t interject unless they are directing such arrogance towards me.
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Couple of thoughts:
Almost done with 2nd cycle, and I really wanted to test out my squat and bench maxes for the last two weeks. I’m shooting for 405, but will settle for 375 on up. However I’m extremely nervous, almost scared at the fact that my hips and lower back know what’s going on most days. Don’t have any issues with benching surprisingly.
I keep laying down having visions of my hips snapping or breaking or some other overreaction I’ve conjured up in my brain. I can understand being cautious. It’s probably a good thing, but this isn’t caution, it’s borderline anxiety, and I’m not sure what to do.
Part of me wants to take a deload for a week, part of me wants to suck it up and conquer this milestone, and part of me just wants to continue running 5/3/1 well into next year. And part of me wants to delve into incorporating breifs during my training. The formula I’m using is what I used to break down my most recent PR, and I’ve completed everything the program calls for in terms of squatting. I recently had to bump my numbers down for deadlifting because it was too heavy, and I’m doing good on bench, which doesn’t seem to be a problem, it just moves slowly.
I’m thinking maybe If I continue 5/3/1 well into next year I can hit 405 without not so much anxiety. I have no idea where this fear is coming from. With deadlifting I either hit it or I don’t. And with benching I do get nervous, but never to this extent. I’ve been honing in on pre/rehab stuff and I’m partially to blame for not being more proactive in terms of keeping myself from aching so much.
Am I being unreasonable? Is this normal to feel this way sometimes? I’m honestly not completely sure at the moment, but I’m leaning towards to just giving myself a week long break and babying myself up to par so I can return a hell of a lot less anxious.
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Yes. Don’t worry about it. See below.
One option is to unrack 440 lbs and walk it out a few times, and just stand there all braced for a bit. That’ll make 405 lbs feel lighter when you have it on your back.
Another would be to just work up to 325 lbs for a single and go from there, jumping between 25 and 45 lbs each time. Jumps would end up closer to 25 lbs as you got heavier.
Also, you could switch the visualisations to you making the lift. I do that coming into meets.
I would not recommend it at this stage. It’s another variable that adds a level of complication. First, if you want some assistance, learn how to use wraps. That’ll get you used to the feeling of added pop out of the hole.
As to why you’re feeling like this, I couldn’t tell you. Obviously a 405 lbs squat is important to you, but it could be your way of telling yousrelf to back off a bit.
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Always show. And LOL those dudes. I feel you, I try to give advice but I give up. The truth is if they wanted to progress they would read the information themselves. That pretty much applies to everybody and everything. Most people just want a magic pill.
The other issue is most people are incapable of accurate self evaluation. Ask a dude his BF%, then add 10% to get the actual number. Same applies to workout programs. They all think they are advanced but the people making progress are keeping it simple.
Look, if you arent ready there is no need to push it. Run another 5-3-1 block or 7 until you feel confident. If you dont walk up to that bar knowing you are going to smoke that weight then the bar has already won. This is where a lack of self awareness can be a good thing.
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I’m most likely going to do this. I try not to deviate from programs so I don’t mess anything up. I think after this last month of 5/3/1 I’ll do incremental jumps. I can hit 315 for a good 5 reps, and after that I usually make around the same jumps you mentioned.
I don’t understand why I don’t do this initially.
Not mention how much of this info is FREE.
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I fell in love with simplicity. Not to mention once you’ve got a few aches and pains it’s all the more important to not further bang yourself up. And I do my absolute best to be reasonable with my bf% but even that I rely more on the mirror because it’s always truthful.
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