Friday 03/08/12 - Test Day
BODYWEIGHT : 86,5kg (-2,5)
Squats
140x1
150x1
160x1 <= hard, 2,5kg PR
162,5x1 <= better
165x1 <= crazy grind, good lift and 7,5kg PR
Bench
100x1
110x1 <= 5kg PR with that grip, 5kg less than my medium grip
115x0
Objectively a good test day even though I have mixed feelings about where I’m at currently regarding the bench press.
Let’s start off with squats. Last week I got a very hard 150 which was my max for that day, today it went up strong. My technique was solid especially on my heavier sets (ironically?), I used a slightly wider stance than my usual raw squat stance and it worked out great. I thought about pushing my knees out, keeping my lower back arched, and most importantly keep my elbows under the bar and try to stay in a good position with my chest up. I feel like the upper back position is what matters the most and where I can screw up most easily in the squat currently.
Then 160 was tough and slow, 162,5 was better and steady, finally 165 was an absolute grind, I was stopped halfway up but I kept driving and eventually I made the lift. My right foot did slide a little, it doesn’t worry me too much for now but I’ll have to buy real shoes (currently using old badminton shoes, it does the trick for now), I may have the same problem when I try ultra wide sumo deadlifts.
Also, I looked up during the squat but as I got closer to the hole I watched depth in the mirror, then looked up again. Nothing too dramatic but I’ll have to learn how to squat without a mirror eventually and know depth by feel. I think I said it earlier in this log but I’ll be visiting a powerlifting gym in my area in september and hopefully it will be a good one with decent equipment, no mirrors, and a strong atmosphere. I highly doubt there will be chains, bands or specialty bars or “fancy stuff” but this alone would make me progress faster. Plus I can buy bands online when I feel ready to (I want my technique in all 3 lifts to be more solid before making the step).
Bench was much worse than I would have thought. I did get a 5kg PR on that grip, which is great, however my medium grip was stronger, plus even more important my technique was more solid, I felt tighter and more stable with a medium grip. With the pinky on rings grip I don’t even really feel my lats at all so I really don’t feel nearly as tight as I should. It goes further than just weak pecs (which I have, and I’ll do more dumbbell bench presses to fix that), it’s a tightness issue (I know I’m being repetitive). I think my “competition” grip will be medium grip from now on for a while and I’ll test my wide grip in a few months to see if it gets better.
So a good 7,5kg PR on Squat which really reassures me and definitely gave me confidence and trust back into Westside. I was starting to consider Smolov because I thought my squat wasn’t going anywhere, but my goal for this cycle was 162,5 - 165 and I achieved it. Beginner gains are over for me and I have to be more thoughtful and work harder now if I want to keep progressing quickly (I consider 7,5-10kg good progress for squats and DL, 2,5-5kg for bench). I realize I’ve been skipping or neglecting a lot of stuff (skipped GPP, abs and hammer curls most of the time during the intensification phase, neglected delts and rows). My cycles are short aswell (only 7 weeks) so I have small gains often, which I prefer to big gains over longer periods of time.
I’ll write all my 1RMs here :
wide grip bench = 110
medium grip bench = 115
close grip bench = 110
Floor Press = 95x3 (just realised I haven’t tested it for a 1RM in a long time, will do next cycle)
CG Incline Press = 97,5 (from previous cycle -n°2-, I’ll most likely be able to do 100+ when I test again)
raw squat = 165
Conventional DL = 180 (from previous cycle -n°2)
Box Squat = 155
Pause Squat = 145
Sumo DL = 185
Block Pulls = 180 (from previous cycle -n°2)
Ok so what’s next? I’ll stick to Westside of course, the good thing about the little one week “panic mode” is that I read a lot of stuff and learned a lot or got reminded of a few things. For instance, I haven’t been doing enough dumbbell presses and I’ve been skipping hammer curls almost all the time (I’ve read on the Westside articles several times than they “always” do hammer curls at the end of bench workouts). I also know I should do more direct triceps work and shoulder work.
As for Squats and DL, I’ll experiment with Front Squats and Zercher Squats, I’ll read more about that tomorrow and come up with a plan. My goal for next cycle would be a 170 squat, a 120 bench (with a medium grip probably) and a 190 DL.
Speaking of Deadlifts I didn’t test them today (and it honestly wouldn’t have been productive as I did 3 squat attempts above 97% and I was really tired). I got 185 sumo this cycle though, it was the first time I pulled sumo for a 1RM, most I had done was a fairly easy 150x5. I have no idea if my sumo is stronger than my conventional (I think they’re about even), it wouldn’t bother me if it was the case eventhough conventional looks more baddass! Technique wise sumo is very easy in my opinion, conventional I have to fix a few things and think of a few clues like pulling the bar back and driving my heels into the ground.
Ok so it was a long post, I’ve said a lot of stuff, it may be a little messy, as I said I’ll make another more precise and clearer post about my training plan for the next cycle which will start on Monday (I may take it easy for the first week).
