Deadlift
180kg: 1
200kg: 1
230kg: F
180kg: 4 Mixed Grip, Belted, Texas Power Bar.
Bench Press
100kg: 5
110kg: 3
100kg: 5
90kg: 12
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 3x5
Prowler Sprints
35kg: 5x?
Bodyweight: 100.1kg
I went to @ChongLordUno’s gym today which was brilliant - it was great to meet you mate! It had a Texas Power Bar, which I’ve never used before, so I got carried away and tried to go for a 230kg (507lb) deadlift PR but I failed just above my knees. The difference in knurling was huge for my grip, and the other sets went well. Today I’ll definitely go over 2500kcal, but with good quality stuff.
I always fail my DL at the floor so I imagine losing it above the knee would be even more frustrating! That’s cool you got to meet up with a fello T’Nationer!
It’s weird but I usually fail above the knees, apparently because I lift with quite a rounded back. I never have any bother breaking the floor with 220kg or even any time I’ve tried 230kg - it’s the lockout that kills me! I slow right down at the last moment. Any tips for improving lockout would be much appreciated!
It’s clearly illustrated in this video of me hitting 220kg (485lbs) for the first time back in March last year:
Yes it was very cool to meet @ChongLordUno - really nice guy! I met @RATTLEHEAD a bunch of times when I lived in the same town as him in 2014/15 and should catch up again with him soon. It’s going to take me a while to meet everyone at this rate haha. Although two of my closest friends are from Ontario - I’ll let you know next time I’m over!
Glutes, glutes and glutes. Also improve starting position so your bar speed accelerates rather than decelerates - that’ll mean dropping your hips and also keeping shins dead vertical from the start while pulling the bar up them. That’s my take on it, at any rate. Also work on your abs and bracing, because I think a lot of that rounding you could eliminate by getting really nice and tightly set up.
Got it! I need to find a way to get them stronger without getting them bigger though haha, they are definitely my most hypertrophied muscle group.
I feel this is probably the crux of the matter. Can you talk me through your cues for setting up and for the lift itself? So far I just really use 4 cues - bar touches shins; squeeze the bar; brace, brace, brace and “push the World away”. I know I’m missing a lot of intricacies.
Yes I imagine bracing and abs are something you can never have too much of. I actually credit bracing with my ability to lift with a rounded back. I learnt a lot from @T3hPwnisher about the importance of properly bracing over perfect spine position. I would always hurt myself when I lifted with a neutral spine and a weak brace, and I’ve never been hurt with a rounded back a stronger brace. But a stronger brace and a straighter back would definitely only help.
Power to the People - Pavel
I know I said I didn’t have plans of starting a prescribed training routine, but I came across my Power to the People book last night and it got me thinking about giving the routine a shot. It’s basically high frequency/low volume/low intensity deadlifts and presses 4-5x per week and I’ve always done very well with these types of routines in the past. @ActivitiesGuy is the perfect ambassador for this style of training, and I had great success when I did the Daily Dose deadlift routine coming back from my fractured tibia. I got a lot stronger, my technique got a lot better and I never felt beat-up. As above - I need to put more work into my deadlift technique and this could be a great way to do it. I’d start very light - probably just 130kg for deadlifts - and progress linearly week by week. After the deadlifts and presses (both for two sets of five) I’d pick one other movement to train and change that every session. It’s just an idea, but I think I’d have some success with it.
I was going to rest today, but decided to give a “Power to the People” session a shot. I have to say that I think this will be quite a boring routine to follow, and an even more boring routine to read about, but I also think it will be very effective. I focused hard on technique and 130kg was surprisingly difficult (especially for my weak ego). Pavel suggests a mixed grip and no belt for all sets, but I’ll use double overhand while I can, and a belt when I need to.
I’m definitely not sold on the “Power to the People” idea. I think I’ll stick with it for the rest of this week and then decide whether I want to commit to it or do something else and view this week as a deload. Whatever I end up doing, reasonably frequent submaximal deadlifts should be involved.
@MarkKO I’ve never tried hook grip, I’ll give it a go.
Well that “Power to the People” idea didn’t last long haha. I really focused on sitting back and getting my shoulders behind the bar as per @MarkKO and it definitely helped me get tighter and use more leg drive, although my legs are so weak I’m not sure the reps were any stronger lol. I had planned to try hook grip for my warm-up sets, but completely forgot. Knees felt a little off, but that’s to be expected following yesterday’s run.
Thanks for the suggestion man. I’m sure that both the basic Power to the People routine and the Bear variation are effective, but I can tell I won’t enjoy training that way regularly so I’m not going to stick with it. I wanted to try it out and see what it is like, but I find it hard to be motivated by such light weights and I really enjoy the freedom to choose my training style on any given day.
Not much to say about this one, the weights moved well but I didn’t do much in the way of volume. My right elbow felt a bit off, but no big deal.
@ChongLordUno - I haven’t heard of that program, I’ll look into it. You’ve got me really intrigued about Tactical Barbell so ordered the book a couple of days ago, I’m looking forward to getting hold of it.
Bodyweight: 99.7kg - down 0.8kg (1.8lbs) from last week
Training: Good. Two full body sessions, one upper, one lower and one run.
Nutrition: Good. I’m very happy that I’ve been able to stick to the plan with so little effort so far.
This has been another solid week. It has been over 2 weeks since I last had chocolate or an energy drink which is pretty huge for me, and it’s been surprisingly easy to stick to. I’ve dropped 2.6kg (5.7lbs) from my highest to my lowest bodyweight so far.
nSuns is a high volume powerlifting program. A bastardisation of 531 more or less. It’s full on however it’s also gain central.
Please tell me you didn’t buy the hard copy of TB? It’s about 30 quid? You can get it on the kindle for a fiver.
You have to get Tactical Barbell 2 : Conditioning as well. I would argue that’s a better book. Ultimately you need both. Total game changers in my opinion. Do a Base Building block and you’ll see why😉
I got the hard copy for £16, which I thought was ok, I always prefer to have a hardcopy! I didn’t realise I’d need the other one too - I’ll maybe get that one for Kindle.
