Mon 29th July
Squats
working to
140kg x1
145kg x1
150kg x1 - super strong and fast, really good singles.
130kg x3
Bench
working to
92.5kg x1
97.5kg x1
100kg x1 - alright, could be better. Fell out of the groove a touch but strength is all there
Good Mornings
60kg 3x5
Rows
5x8
Really good session.
Wed 31st July
Deadlifts - trying to extend my knees a bit before my hips to improve my pattern and reduce shin bleeds - it worked well today.
140kg some x some
150kg 3x1
160kg 2x1
165kg x1
172.5kg x1
175kg x1 - strong, fast, best I’ve ever pulled this weight. Much less thoracic rounding than before as I’m also driving my head up and back which really helps my thoracic tightness.
155kg 2x3
Good Mornings
60kg, 3x5
Cable rows
5 plates x15
7 plates 2x8
6 plates x10
Strong again.
Sat 3rd Aug
Squat
working to
140kg x1
145kg x1 - both pretty decent despite being hungover
150kg x1 - came forwards, fell apart but actually was strong despite that
Good Mornings
60kg 3x5
Rows
some x some
2 weeks out now.
Mon 5th Aug
Last heavy squat/bench session before competition.
Squat
120kg x2
130kg x2
140kg x1
145kg x1 - decent
150kg x1 - fell forwards, not great. Wasn’t thinking and rushed it into the hole, and I bounced which threw me forward. This has been the main issue I have been focusing on eliminating this cycle.
152.5kg x1 - amazing. Everything was perfect
155kg x1 - very good.
Bench
working to
97.5kg x1
100kg x1
102.5kg x1 - alright, not spectacular. Not really expecting a mind blowing performance on bench but we’ll see how it goes.
Pleased with the squatting. I’m feeling more confident under max weights so I can slow down more and think about the lift which is really helping.
Thu 8th August
Deadlifts
100kg x some
120kg x some
140kg x some
150kg 3x1
160kg x1
170kg x1
180kg x1
187.5kg x1 - solid 2.5kg PR. Really happy with this. BW this morning was 79kg, so this is 2.37x BW. Should be good for 192.5kg+ at comp.
Mon 12th Aug
Squat, last session pre-comp
100kg 2x2
120kg 4x1 - felt alright
Super late competition write-up - been YOLO’ing for the last few weeks so never got round to writing this up.
Weighed in at 78.15kg - very light, was hoping for 80kg or so but w/e
Warmups went great on squats, everything moving stupid fast.
Opened at 145kg, 3 whites but went a touch too deep so it was slower than it could have been.
Took 155kg second, hit depth just perfect and it rocketed up. 3 whites, +2.5kg comp PR, matched all time PR.
Took 162.5kg for a third, went about an inch too deep and stalled halfway up. Missed. Could have hit it if I had perfect depth, or I could have hit 160kg at that depth. Oh well
Bench warmups were great as well, though I had some phantom shoulder pain the day before and on the day that I was kind of worried about. Luckily I didn’t feel it while benching at all.
Opened at 95kg, easy but a ridiculous pause, about 2 seconds.
Took 100kg for a second just in case they wanted to fuck me again with a horrible pause but this time it was only half a second. lol. Smoked
Took 107.5kg for a third, gambling on a short pause and it paid off, completely destroyed it. +2.5kg PR.
Deadlift warmups were average, I was kinda tired from the squat miss.
Opened at 175kg, pull was ok, not great. 3 whites.
Jumped to 190kg for the PR - pulled it really fucking hard, stalled at the knees, missed. Almost fainted, passed on the third.
Total = 437.5kg, just short of 1000lbs. Sucks.
Funnily enough my bench went the best, despite not really focusing on it. Most of my training energy went into squat and deadlift but recurring technique issues on those lifts is what prevented me from hitting my targets on the day.
My main squat issue is that my knees come too far forwards in the hole and I try and bounce too much. This is generally caused by my narrow stance and so to fix this I will work on widening my stance, now I have improved my hip strength and flexibility.
Deadlift issue is thoracic strength - I tend to buckle from the middle at maximal weights and get stuck at the knees. I will work on positioning and really hammer my mid-back erector strength to improve this. My next cycle will also include a much greater focus on ab strength and beltless work, as I found only late in my last cycle that this helped a lot.
I know what I need to focus on to improve, so just a matter of doing it now!
As a side note, I was the most shredded I’ve ever been at this competition - most people didn’t believe I was so light and a few thought I was in the 93kg class, despite my weight class being 83kg lol. Next few weeks I’m tempted to diet down to 74-75kg to be ridiculously lean for fun, before pushing the calories and training intensity back up. This will also give me the opportunity to work on stuff like cardio, mobility and soft tissue quality. All in all, lots to focus on and I’m excited to get it started.
I have videos of all my attempts, I’ll see if I can get hold of them.
Sweet.
Fri 13th Sept
Wide stance box squats, flat heels
60kg, tons x 3, playing with technique.
Pullups
6xF
Ah yes. The Friday 13th double post.
Thursday 19th Sept
Back day
Good Mornings
60kg x10
70kg 4x6
Barbell rows
90kg, 5x5
Pullups
5xF
Shrugs
180kg x15
200kg x10
220kg x7 - PR
Mon 23rd Sept
Chest/Shoulders
DB Incline press
27.5kg 3xF
22.5kg xF
BB press - strict form to shoulders, no half rep shit like I used to do. Going to improve shoulder mobility
40kg x5
45kg 3x5
42.5kg 2x5
BW dips
6-7xF
Deep stretch pushups
4xF
Thursday 26th Sept
Legs
Squat
80kg loads x3 - still rebuilding technique
Leg press
4pps x10
5pps x12
6pps x10
Bike sprints
20secs sprint/40secs rest for 10 mins. Wanted to die
Sun 29th Sept
Back day
Good Mornings
70kg 4x7 - 1 rep PR
BB rows
80kg x5
90kg, 5x5
Strict wide grip pullups
5xF
Shrugs
140kg x10
180kg x10
200kg x10
210kg x10
140kg x14
Chest supported rows, strict with squeeze
80kg xF
60kg xF
40kg xF
Lat pull downs, strict with squeeze
130 xF
110 xF
90 xF
Awesome session today.
Sunday 6th October
Good Mornings - goal of 4x15
70kg, 4x10 - huge 3 rep PR, not sure how i managed this
DB incline press - goal of 30kg 3x15
25kg x15, x6, x9
BB row - goal of 100kg 5x5
90kg x5
92.5kg 4x5 - feeling stronger and more explosive, looking forward to seeing how my back develops from these
Press, pause on chest - goal of 60kg x5 after DB pressing
45kg 3x5, 2x4 + push press. Triceps were giving out first here, weird.
Chest supported row, focus on MMC and squeeze
80kg xF
70kg xF
60kg xF - good pump on these
Solid session. Wrote down a few goals for main lifts so I have something to aim for these next few months.
Tuesday 8th Oct
Squats - still working on new technique
80kg 2x3
100kg 3x3 - starting to feel stronger and faster but obviously still plenty of work to be done. Need more hip work
Push press
60kg x3
65kg x2
70kg x1
75kg 2x1
Strict wide grip pull ups
5xF
Strict BW dips
4xF - unreal pump
Strict lat pulldowns w/ squeeze
4xF
Nice lat and chest pump again. Good session
Thursday 10th Oct
Extra stuff session
Rear delts
5kg 3x30
Shrugs
140kg x10
160kg x10
180kg x10
200kg x10
210kg x10
dropset from here
200kg x10
18kg x10
140kg x10
100kg x10
60kg x30
Incline seated DB curls
10kg 4xF
MD style tricep pushdowns
some weight, 4x6 (F)
EZ bar preachers
20kg 4xF
EZ bar tri ext
20kg 4xF
Rear delts
7.5kg 3x20
Calves
some heavy weight, 4xF
Legit session again today.
Sun 13th Oct
Deadlifts
100kg 3x3
120kg x2
140kg x5, 2x3 - shitty slow and weak. Then again I haven’t pulled in about 2 months so got to get back into the groove.
BB rows
80kg x5
90kg 2x5 - shite
Quit here, too tired and beaten down.
Tuesday 15th Oct
Squats/box squats
80kg tons x 3 - again technique
Strict bw wide grip pulluos
5xF
BW Dips
x15, x10, x6, x3, x1, x7 - v short rest periods
Energy and strength is falling now I’m into the gritty part of dieting
Wed 23rd Oct
Back extensions
4x some
Front squats
40kg x8
50kg x8
60kg x8
70kg x8
80kg x8
85kg x8
90kg x6 - damn. These were fun and my wrist/arm positioning is solid. Will do these for a while, I think 100kg for 8 is a solid target.
Snatch-grip DLs
80kg 5x5 - fuck me, these are hard and fun. Again wil do these for a while, no idea on a target yet.
Leg press
3pps x10
4pps x20
Good day