Lack of Focus Log...

Training Training Logs
41

Apparently, squatting the day after dropping a railroad tie on one’s self is NOT the smart thing to do. My leg was kinda screwed up, so I took Tuesday off, since it was a light DL day. I feel much better, but there is still some pain. I should be 90% by Sunday, so I’m ok with that.

Today was “bench heavier” day, so I was kinda excited. But not overly enthused, because I worked 16hours, slept 4, and didn’t eat before going to the gym. The first set was rough, but I got my groove going for sets 2 thru 5. Everything else was pretty mundane. Bent over rows, floor press, single arm overhead press, blah blah blah. It’s been a long work week.

Bench
…5x5 145kg/320lbs
Barbell Rows
…8x1 102kg/225lbs
…6x3 102kg/225lbs
SAO Press
…8x1 27kg/60lbs
…5x1 32kg/70lbs
…2.75x1 36kg/80lbs (2.75 reps because I couldn’t lock out my left arm on the last rep)
Floor Press
…6x4 111kg/245lbs
Machine Calf Raises
…15x3 61kg/135lbs
Chest Press
…6x2 91kg/200lbs
…5x1 91kg/200lbs

Bench- Xtended Peaking Wk5 Day3 Bench - YouTube

42

All morning, I was very nervous about today’s session. I’m not sure why, but I really didn’t want to squat today. Once I started stretching, the feeling was more of an after thought. Maybe it was the pain in my shoulder, the tightness of my hips, the instability of my knee, the swelling of my ankle? I don’t know, but I really half-assed today’s session.

After I finished squatting, I moved straight to bench and warmed up with a few reps with just the bar. Ok, my shoulder is about 75% or so. The bar felt heavy on my right side, like there was a 25lb plate just on that side. Once I got to my working weight, it felt ALMOST normal. I decided that it wasn’t worth pushing it and really getting injured, so I called it a day. I do need to start toning down the accessory work anyway, I will lower weights not reps and/or sets.

Squats- Xtended Peaking Wk6 Day1 Squat - YouTube

43

My arms were killing me today, but I hit the guy to pull some anyway. After my work sets, I packed it up to go home and eat. I really think the lack of rest is catching up with me, along with the increase in weight. I am going into protection mode, since I am about 30days from my next meet. Let’s see how well I can recover over the next couple of days.

My pains are really upsetting, because I just found out two of the guys I have done some meets with totaled elite in the SHW and 181 wieght classes. They wanted me to go to the meet with them, but work always interferes with long trips.

DL
1x2 215kg/475lbs

DL’s- XP WK6 Day2 DL's - YouTube

44

Yet another day where I just didn’t feel like squatting. That’s actually a good thing, because I really don’t feel like pushing myself too far this close to meet time. Plus, is gave me time too sleep a little later than usual (5hours of bliss). I felt really stable benching and my tri’s felt a lot better today. The only bad part was the kid I had giving me a hand-off decided to touch the bar on the 4th rep of the 3rd set. I was 4-6" from lockout and moving slow, so he wanted to help. I expressed my displeasure and he did much better on the fourth set.

I did experience some discomfort in my right elbow, when i was trying to grip weights. Due to that, I changed from bent over rows to lat pulldowns to my chest. And, I totally scratched isolating triceps.

I’m feeling really good about my progress over the past 2months. I’m excited to see the results on the platform.

Bench
…4x4 154kg/340lbs
SAO Press
…10x1 27kg/60lbs
…8x1 32kg/70lbs
…6x1 36kg/80lbs
Pulldowns
…12x1 54kg/120lbs
…6x4 64kg/140lbs
Machine Chest Press
…12x1 68kg/150lbs
…10x4 77kg/170lbs

Bench- XP Week6 Day3 Bench - YouTube

45

[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Yet another day where I just didn’t feel like squatting. That’s actually a good thing, because I really don’t feel like pushing myself too far this close to meet time. Plus, is gave me time too sleep a little later than usual (5hours of bliss). I felt really stable benching and my tri’s felt a lot better today. The only bad part was the kid I had giving me a hand-off decided to touch the bar on the 4th rep of the 3rd set. I was 4-6" from lockout and moving slow, so he wanted to help. I expressed my displeasure and he did much better on the fourth set.

I did experience some discomfort in my right elbow, when i was trying to grip weights. Due to that, I changed from bent over rows to lat pulldowns to my chest. And, I totally scratched isolating triceps.

[/quote]

Nice work. The kid stepped back about 5 feet during the last set, lol. When is the meet?

46

[quote]novaeer wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
Yet another day where I just didn’t feel like squatting. That’s actually a good thing, because I really don’t feel like pushing myself too far this close to meet time. Plus, is gave me time too sleep a little later than usual (5hours of bliss). I felt really stable benching and my tri’s felt a lot better today. The only bad part was the kid I had giving me a hand-off decided to touch the bar on the 4th rep of the 3rd set. I was 4-6" from lockout and moving slow, so he wanted to help. I expressed my displeasure and he did much better on the fourth set.

I did experience some discomfort in my right elbow, when i was trying to grip weights. Due to that, I changed from bent over rows to lat pulldowns to my chest. And, I totally scratched isolating triceps.

Nice work. The kid stepped back about 5 feet during the last set, lol. When is the meet?[/quote]

LOL, yeah. I was really calm with him, cause he is a good kid and a hard worker. The meet is on the 21st.

47

[quote]undesired08 wrote:
LOL, yeah. I was really calm with him, cause he is a good kid and a hard worker. The meet is on the 21st.[/quote]

Any particular goals you’re shooting for at this meet?

48

[quote]novaeer wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
LOL, yeah. I was really calm with him, cause he is a good kid and a hard worker. The meet is on the 21st.

Any particular goals you’re shooting for at this meet?[/quote]

A 1500+ total and my first 400 bench. I can hit 1500 without hitting the 4 on bench as long as I hit 565 on squat and 550 dead. I usually plan each attempt and stick to it, but I think I’m going to stick with the second attempts and go by feel on the final attempts. My wife will be there with me, so I will have a really good assistant.

After the meet, I thought about doing another rotation of Smolov, but I think that wouldn’t be wise in the long run. I really need to improve my dead and I think RTS will help be a better rounded lifter.

49

Amazing work on all your lifts, and a 1500 total would be insane!

50

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Amazing work on all your lifts, and a 1500 total would be insane! [/quote]

Thanks blacklabel. 1500 would be a fitting end to an amazing year for me. But, I have to admit that I am considering switching to crossfit, so I can be a better powerlifter :open_mouth:

51

Only two more heavy squat sessions left before the meet. I have been contemplating putting the knee wraps back on for the past few weeks and after my prescribed 3x3 w/234kg(515lbs), I tossed them on to see what would happen. After my last set of 3x3, I was pretty worn, but my legs weren’t quite jelly-like. It took two attempts to get my knees wrapped, but it didn’t feel too bad. I don’t wrap super tight, or even tight by what I have seen of other lifters.It was kind of a pisser how easy that single was and how easily I recovered out of the hole. I am thinking of wrapping up for the meet, but I haven’t decided… The way 234kg felt, i could easily make 249kg(550) my second attempt and 265kg(585) a bold third.

My arms were hurting again today, so I didn’t do much tricep work at all.

Squat
…3x3 234kg/515lbs
Bench
…6x2 136kg/300lbs
BO Rows
…6x2 102kg/225lbs
…8x2 102kg/225lbs
DB Tricep Ext
…15x2 14kg/30lbs
Seated Calf Raises
…40x4 4Plates

Squat- Xtended Peaking Week7 Day1 - YouTube

52

Yeah, I feel like a friggin’ boner. During my pulls today, the weight settled into a hole on the left side. So, when I dropped back on my heels and rolled the weight back to my shins, the left side didn’t move. I got a jimmy leg and dropped the weight. The second attempt was good, but it was a real grind. I was going to do a third, but my erectors were SUPER tight and my pelvis felt off balanced. So, I did some shrugs and called it a day, since I have heavy bench and squats coming soon.

I have to really think about how I am going to handle these last few training sessions. No injuries!

Deadlift
…Failedx1 225kg/495lbs
…1x1 225kg/495lbs
Shrugs
…10x2 143kg/315lbs
…6x2 184kg/405lbs

Dead’s- Xtended Peaking Wk7 Day2 Deadlift - YouTube

53

It’s official, my lower back is fried and my arms are dying a slow painful death. I went in tonight with the goal of 3x3 with 161kg/355lbs. I left with 2reps in the first set, basically a negative in the second set, 2reps in the third, and 1 in the fourth. When I looked at the video, I noticed the people handing the weight off needed extra help from me, and I think I lost my tightness as a result. Not a terrible session today, but I have so many little aches and pains that I closed shop REALLY early. I am feeling better overall, but I want to be as fresh as possible on the 21st. As an extra bonus, I wanted to see what a negative with 405 felt like. I maintained good control till I got about halfway down, and it sped up like a freight train. What I noticed the most was that I was having trouble staying in my groove, so I will do this next week as well.

Bench
…2x1 161kg/355lbs
…0x1 161kg/355lbs
…2x1 161kg/355lbs
…1x1 161kg/355lbs

54

Squats tonight were not my friend. The warmups went well, but I knew hitting depth with 245kg/540lbs was going to be hard on my back. My goal was to hit the reps, even if I cut the reps a little high. I ended up cutting the reps REALLY high. My options were to rest this week and be healthy for the last week that I am working. Or, do this week and recover for a week before my deload week. I chose to suck it up and hit the session today and next week I will work on my openers and do some accessory work.

Squat
…2x2 245kg/540lbs
Bench
…6x2 136kg/300lbs
Lat Pulldown
…10x3 54kg/120lbs
Close grip Floor Press
…10x3 102kg/225lbs

Squats- Xtended Peaking Wk8 Day1 - YouTube

55

I skipped wednesday’s session so that my lower back could heal up. It felt ok, but I was stiff and had issues standing erect immediately after getting out of a chair. Thursday, it was about 75% and today it was closer to 90%. So, I know I made the right choice.

There is something off with my bench technique right now. I was able to squeeze out 1 rep of 4 with 170kg/375lbs. So, I dropped down to 161kg/355lbs and popped out some singles. I was getting decent drive, but it feels a lot heavier than it should. The same thing happened at the tail end of when I was doing stronglift’s 5x5. It may be a sign that I can’t flat bench 2 times a week. I will figure it out, though. When I look back at my 5x5 cycle, I was having difficult with my bench then too. I ended up hitting an easy 7kg/15lbs over my best training session in the meet. If the same rings true for this meet, that will put me in the 177kg/390lb neighborhood (which is what my goal is for this meet). Next week, I am going to work on my openers for squat and bench. I will do some deep front squats instead of pulling and maybe some zerchers. I am on the verge of putting up an ok total and I am only improving, even at my advanced age. Lol.

SAO Press
…10x1 27kg/60lbs
…8x1 32kg/70lbs
…6x1 36kg/80lbs
Pulldowns
…12x3 54kg/120lbs
Machine Chest Press
…12x3 68kg/150lbs

56

My lower back is much better, so I wasn’t too worried about squats. That is, until my wife started doing some deep tissue work on my glutes and hips. I have two areas of interest that we have to work out over the next two weeks. I performed all of my warm-ups with my knee sleeves and switched to my wraps at 233.6kg/515lbs. I didn’t have any issues getting deep in the hole, but I was moving WAY too slow. I planning on doing 3-5 singles at this weight (my opening weight on the 21st), but I was having some severe pain in my right shoulder. The one single was the only squat work I did today and will probably be the last back squat session I put in for the next two weeks, but I won’t decide that until Thursday.

After the debacle on the bench last week, I wanted to put in some solid work on my setup today. I worked up to 143kg/315lbs, with a 3 Mississippi count on the eccentric portion and EXPLODING on the concentric. I felt like I was getting really tight, so I added another 9kg and fired right thru it. I added another 9 and 165.5kg/365lbs felt better than a regular speed touch and go with 170kg.

For some auxiliary work, I did some machine chest presses, reverse fly machine, standing cable crunches, and calf raises. I may do some pulling on Wednesday, but it will be super light if I do.

57

One step forward, two steps back. My plan for tonight was to do some benching, pulldowns, dumbbell benching, overhead pressing and calling it a night. On bench, I wanted to work on getting tighter on my opener. I was feeling really good and went up to 175kg/385lbs and ended up tweaking something in my arm.

It didn’t feel too bad, so I went back down 158kg/350lbs and hit a few singles. In between sets, I started icing my arm. I went up to my opener again and tried a single and lost it when I caught a crap in my lower back and tweaked my right hamstring. So, now I’m 1 week out and may have screwed myself out of even doing this meet. I will have to make a decision in the next two days.

This was the most brilliant move I have EVER made, friggin d.a.

58

Damn, fingers crossed

59

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Damn, fingers crossed[/quote]

Thanks man. I am going for a hike tomorrow to test the leg. My back? I will just have to suck it up. Maybe use some of that stuff tattoo artist use to numb sensitive people up.

60

The hike last Sunday went quite well. I had no irritation in my hamstring whatsoever. I didn’t touch a weight all week, so that my back could get better and it kind of paid off. Today was meet day and working on my warmups, I felt no pain. I hit my opener of 515 and my second attempt at 550, even though I was getting a little forward.

Unfortunately, I fought with 570 for the third attempt and the weight won. For the bench, I opened with 360 to test my back and shoulder. All went well. My second attempt was 385 and it flew up (at least to me, it was flying). At this point, I had to make a decision: one of my goals was to hit a 1500 total and I was not in a good position after missing the 570 squat.

I wanted my total, but I wanted my first 400 bench more and I went for it. I brought the weight down smoothly, not like the negative I performed a few weeks ago and blasted when I heard the press command. I kind of stalled halfway up and i drove hard with my legs. The weight went up another few inches and I stalled about 2-3inches from lockout. I was not thrilled, but I wasn’t disappointed either.

The bad part was I was digging a hole and needed a 565 deadlift to hit 1500. The worse part is that my current best is 520. I was lucky enough to get to warmup alone in a corner and I was getting my hips down better than ever. I worked up to 465 quickly without a belt and felt super-solid. After waiting for a while for the first flight to finish up, I decided to hit a few more warmups at 405.

The first pull was a little offline, I got a little forward. So, I went for a second rep and felt a pop in my lower back (the same spot I injured almost 4weeks ago). It was bad. I had a hard time standing straight. My wife used her magic elbows and I was able to hit my opener of 500, with a LOT of effort.

I called 530 on my second, because I knew 1500 was out the window, but maybe I could squeak by with 4PR’s. I broke the floor and got the bar to my knees, but I knew I was done. After the meet, one of the judges told me he almost red-lighted me when I was chalking up, cause he knew I was too injured to lift.

I am a little disappointed, but did I beat my old total with just a minimal deadlift, added 10lbs to my squat pr, and 15lbs to my bench pr. I know, if my back didn’t get tweaked, I could have pulled in the mid-5’s. I will just have to prove it to you guys later (it will be in the upper 5’s by my next meet).

I have read thru my RTS manual a few times and have already started putting my 1st program together. I will sleep well tonight and see how I feel tomorrow. Cause I want to get back in the gym asap. I will be doing different types of squat movements and no full deads until my back gets better again.