Manny Prieto's Lightweight Raw Powerlifting Log

Training Training Logs
61

Heatwave 11.1: 4/28/14
Body Weight: ??? (still in AZ, so no scale)
Stress Check: 41% (High)
RHR: 67

I did some lifting at the USAW Certification over the weekend, so that may have screwed up my heart rate numbers a bit though I didn’t feel any significant soreness.

I trained at Revolution at around 10 AM Pacific Time - wanted to make sure I got one more lift in before my 1:25 PM flight, especially considering I get back in NY pretty late. It was pretty quiet, so I used the Rogue Westside Bench (which feels weird setting my arch because of the beam at the end of the bench but has safeties in case I miss without a spotter).

A. Bench Press: 190x3, 200x2, 210x2x1 - The unrack on these felt awkward without a handoff partner but the weights themselves felt light. It’s a good thing 210 is starting to feel lighter (did these for two singles at about 8-8.5 RPE) as I’ll be working up for real on Saturday.
B. Sling Shot: 210x2, 225x2, 230x2 - These all felt easy. The program originally called for 205x2, 225x2 and an optional weight increase for the third set; going down in weight for a Sling Shot seemed silly and 225 felt easy enough to go up but I didn’t want to go too crazy here as I will be working up with the Sling Shot on Saturday as well.
C. Bench (paused, no Sling Shot): 190x2x3
D. Bench (3-second pause): 175x2x2
E1. Lateral Raise: 12.5x3x12
E2. DB Shrug: 70x3x15 - The DBs at Revolution have a sharper knurl, so grip felt great here - much easier than usual!

Overall I had a solid day - feels good to be back on track. I’ll be back in NY and back to squatting tomorrow!

And once again, I wanted to thank the folks at Revolution Training System in Tempe, AZ for letting me train at their AWESOME facility during my stay in AZ. Matt and Mike Peltz have a great thing going with top-notch equipment and even their own powerlifting team, with men and women putting up some great numbers. I highly recommend this facility to anyone in the area!

62

HeatWave 11.2: 4/29/14
Body Weight: 142.4 (I’m back home so I have my regular scale again!)
Stress Check: 56% (High)
RHR: 73

I arrived in New York at around 11 PM last night. I didn’t have any early clients so I had a good night’s sleep and haven’t felt any jet lag. I trained at 3 PM today at the usual place.

A. Squat: 280x2, 290x2, 300x1, 310x1 (RPE 9 - a hair slower than previous attempts but still good), 265x2x3 - I’m sure you’re sick of me doing 310 for a single and are wondering when I’m going to work up to something heavier. I don’t know the answer to that question myself, but I should mention that during my last training cycle I didn’t do anything heavier than 305x1 and did 325 at the meet. Patience, my friends.
B. Paused Squat: 255x2x2
C1. Back Extension: 1" Bandx4x20
C2. Decline Situp: 4x20 (decline set at “2” - about a 30 degree decline, not all the way up)

I’m only training 4 days this week, so tomorrow is a much-needed rest day. Not that I’m jet-lagged or sore, but those recovery indices are a sign I’ve been cramming a lot into these past few weeks.

63

HeatWave 11.3: 5/1/14
Body Weight: 142.0
Stress Check: 17% (Medium)
RHR: 73

During this past mini-cycle Thursdays were normally an off day, but with this being a reduced frequency week, Wednesday was an off day. On my spreadsheet this workout was still listed for Friday with benching and deadlifting on Saturday, but I figured, heck, why not train today?

I trained at 2 PM (had an early client) at the usual place, operating on normal rest.

A. Squat: 280x3, 290x2, 265x2x4 - 290 actually felt slightly easier (like a 7.75 RPE vs. an 8)
B. Paused Squat: 255x2x3
C. Anderson Squat (pins at 11 on the Hammer Strength rack with platform): 305x3, 325x3, 335x3 (RPEs 7, 7, 8 - felt pretty easy, especially at the higher pin height)
D. Face Pull: 50x4x15
E. Abs (Technogym machine): 35x4x20

Today’s workout felt solid overall - squats went much better than Tuesday. Looking forward to another rest day tomorrow, then working up on bench, Sling Shot, and deadlifts on Saturday!

64

HeatWave 11.4: 5/3/14
Body Weight: 142.2
Stress Check: 25% (Medium)
RHR: 61

Trained at Iron Arena at 1 PM. All Bench Presses were done on the Metal Militia Bench with 50 lb. Iron Wolfe Super Bench Bar.

A. Bench Press: 170x2 (instead of usual 170x3 as part of warm-ups), 185x1, 200x1, 215x1, 225x1 - Last meet’s PR was 205, I had done 210 in the gym a couple of times since then, and 220 was my touch-and-go 1RM (done years ago; I haven’t worked up with touch-and-go since I started competing in powerlifting), so this is a major milestone for me. 225 didn’t even feel like a 10 RPE, but we decided to stop there.
B. Sling Shot: 230x1, 240x1, 250x1 - The idea here was to work up to a max single with the Sling Shot. The first two singles flew up pretty easily so I stuck with 10 lb. jumps, but 250 was enough of a struggle that I knew I was done benching after that.

Deadlift Warm-ups: 135x8, 185x5, 225x5 - Cynthia already had two plates on the deadlift bar by the time I was ready to pull so I did my first two warm-ups with a regular TPB (someone else was using the same bar for her deadlift sets so I worked in with her).

C. Deadlift: 275x5, 315x4 (program originally called for 310 but others were working in so I wanted to keep weight changes to a minimum), 325x3, 340x1, 355x1, 370x1, 315x3x5 - Originally I was supposed to work up to 365x1 which would have tied my meet PR and set a new training PR, but Jason had me go for 370 (a 5 lb. PR) instead. RPE-wise I’d say this was around a 9.5 - it felt pretty hard coming off the ground but after watching the video I had enough speed that I could conceivably add a little more weight.
D. Reverse Hyper: 50x4x15

As someone who is already “advanced” and had struggled to set PRs in the gym for years, this was a big day for me. Overall, my progress since I started working with Jason in March has been excellent - the programming, coaching, environment, and top-notch equipment at Iron Arena have all helped tremendously.

Vids:
Bench Press: Manny Prieto Training (132 lb. Weight Class) 5/2/14: Bench PRs - 215, 225, Sling Shot 250 - YouTube
Deadlift: Manny Prieto Training (132 lb. Weight Class) 5/3/14: Sumo Deadlifts 355x1, 370x1 - YouTube

65

HeatWave 10.1: 5/5/14
Body Weight: 141.2
Stress Check: 20% (Medium)
RHR: 58

Trained at 3 PM at the usual place - no early clients or meetings or anything that would interfere with normal rest.

A. Bench Press: 185x2x3
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 180x2x2
C. Lateral Raise: 12.5x3x12
D. Seated Row: 70x4x12
E. DB Shrug: 70x3x15

There was nothing YouTube-worthy today, though after a string of PRs on Saturday I’m sure that’s all part of the plan as things will get harder soon. Squats tomorrow, followed by moar benching Wednesday.

66

HeatWave 10.2: 5/6/14
Body Weight: 140.4
Stress Check: 13% (Low)
RHR: 62

I’m a bit surprised to see the body weight down by this much, though perhaps last week was unusually high (remember, the week before I was in AZ so I wasn’t monitoring my weight as closely). Trained at 2 PM at the usual place on normal rest (early client today).

A. Squat: 280x2, 290x2, 310x1, 270x2x3
B. Paused Squat: 245x3x3
C. 45-Degree Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx4x20
D. Decline Sit-up: 4x20 - used steepest decline setting this time; last set was a struggle but the others were fine

67

HeatWave 10.3: 5/7/14
Body Weight: 139.6
Stress Check: 24% (Medium)
RHR: 68

I trained at 3 PM at the usual place.

I also forgot to mention that my programmed bench warm-up now includes 185x3 (so it’s Barx8, 95x8, 135x5, 155x3, 170x3, 185x3).

A. Bench Press: 200x2, 210x2 - It’s nice to take a weight that’s heavier than your previous meet PR and do it for a double @9 RPE, isn’t it? In fact I think this is the first time I’ve benched over 200 for more than 1 rep.
B. Sling Shot: 220x3x2
C. Bench Press (regular pause, no Sling Shot): 185x2x4
D. Bench Press (3-second pause): 175x2x2
E. Incline DB Press: 65x3x8
F. Pendlay Row: 145x4x8

Off tomorrow, squats Friday, bench and deadlift on Saturday.

68

HeatWave 10.4: 5/9/14
Body Weight: 140.8
Stress Check: 14% (Low)
RHR: 62

I had set my alarm for 7 AM so I could get up early for a meeting, only to get a text around 7:15 or so that the meeting was cancelled, and I would be working my regular (late) schedule. Back to sleep I went.

3 PM, usual place, etc.

A. Squat: 280x3, 290x2, 305x1, 315x1 (RPE 9) - Again, not a max, but I was told to work up to 315 if I was feeling good. On video the early sets didn’t look convincingly deep so I made more of an effort to bury each subsequent set, but maybe it was the angle (in my more recent videos I used a stool instead of a bench for a different angle, and on those I looked really deep; didn’t have the stool today so I had to use the bench instead).
B. Paused Squat: 270x2x2 - These weren’t so bad but the pauses might have been a little quick (I didn’t have anyone give commands for me so I was just giving a 1-count in my head).
C. Anderson Squat: 315x3, 345x3, 360x3 - Walking out 345+ felt brutal - in fact that may have been the toughest part for these. Yes, I walk out my Anderson Squats; if you’d like an explanation why, here’s an article Jason wrote on this exercise: http://iron-arena.com/articles/49-anderson-squats.html
D. Face Pull: 55x4x15
E. Abs on Technogym machine: 40x4x20

Bench and deadlifts tomorrow. Oh, and for the next two weeks I’ve been asked to help out at the other gym again. This will probably mess up my sleep schedule, but the extra money helps, and I get regular access to a GHR again! We’ll see how these next two weeks go.

69

Nice work lately Manny! Stay strong(er)

70

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Nice work lately Manny! Stay strong(er)[/quote]

Thanks!

HeatWave 10.5: 5/10/14
Body Weight: 139.2
Stress Check: 30% (Medium)
RHR: 70

I trained at Iron Arena at 1:30 PM.

A. Bench Press: 200x3, 185x2x5
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 175x2x3

All deadlifts were done on the Texas Deadlift Bar.
Deadlift Warm-ups: 135x8, 225x5 - Everyone who was deadlifting started at around the same time but to keep weight changes to a minimum I just went with this for a warm-up.

C. Deadlift: 275x5, 310x4, 335x3, 355x1, 375x1, 330x3x4 - 375 felt even easier than last week’s 370! The back-off sets felt much tougher, though.
D. Reverse Hyper: 50x3x15
E. GHR: 3x12 - I’ve played around with these when I’ve had the rare chance to actually use one but this is the first time I’ve had real GHRs as a regular part of my program. I just did these without any added resistance this time around and I did manage to get all my reps but they weren’t a complete joke.

The body weight drop was weird, but overall I had a solid week of training. We’ll see how the return of the long-ass days treats me, though.

71

Heatwave 9.1: 5/12/14
Body Weight: 140.6
Stress Check: 2% (Very Low)
RHR: 61

This is the first week I’ve had a “countdown” on the training spreadsheet Jason gives me every week, referring to this as the “8+1” week. I’m assuming last heavies will be two weeks out and then I’ll be cutting weight on meet week, which is pretty much how I’ve done things in the past. For the sake of simplicity, though, I’ll keep the heading format the same.

I trained at Credit Suisse at around 11 AM - the return of the long-ass days! I would’ve liked to train earlier but I forgot my Sling Shot and home and had to head back because I would need it today. I went to bed early but my sleep quality wasn’t the greatest because of allergy season.

A. Bench Press: 200x2, 210x1, 220x1 - The sheet originally said, “220x2, 210x1, 220x1” but it was a typo - 220 is just 5 lbs. off my max so good thing I caught that! lol
B. Sling Shot: 230x3x2
C. Bench Press (paused, no Sling Shot): 190x2x3
D. Bench Press (3-second pause): 180x2x3
E. Lateral Raise: 12.5x3x12
F. Seated Row: 70x4x12 - a little easier this time as the Cable Row machine at Credit Suisse is a single pulley as opposed to the dual pulley at Morgan Stanley

Today’s workout was tough but I got through all my reps. Hopefully the rest of this week won’t be worse.

72

HeatWave 9.2: 5/13/14
Body Weight: 140.8
Stress Check: 18% (Medium)
RHR: 62

The good news was, I got home a little early last night which allowed me a little more rest. Of course, I left my weightlifting shoes at Morgan Stanley and I had to squat today, so even though I had to work early at Credit Suisse, I ended up training at Morgan Stanley at around 10:30 AM. This meant that time was an issue, although I did get to squat facing away from the mirror in the rack I’ve been used to.

A. Squat: 280x3, 295x2, 310x1, 280x2x5 - 310 was an 8.5ish RPE, probably the best 310 I’ve done in the Hammer Strength rack. Per Jason’s advice I’ve been working on shortening up my walkout, which reminds me why obnoxiously huge J-hooks suck. 280 was not a rep PR but the depth on these sets was much better than the last time I went this heavy for this many reps (which was quite a while ago).
B. Paused Squat: 275x2x2

Had to do assistance work at around 8 PM due to time constraints.

C. 45-Degree Back Extension: 1" Bandx4x20
D. Decline Sit-up (highest decline): 4x20

I’m benching tomorrow, so PLEASE DON’T LET ME FORGET TO PACK MY WRIST WRAPS, lol. Fortunately I won’t be using the Sling Shot tomorrow so I don’t need to worry about that.

73

HeatWave 9.3: 5/14/14
Body Weight: 142.4 (Last night was one of those “I know guac is extra” nights at Chipotle, so I had a nice little bloat, lol.)
Stress Check: 2% (Very Low)
RHR: 60

I trained at around 10:30 AM at Credit Suisse (yes, I remembered my wrist wraps).

A. Bench Press: 200x3, 190x2x4 - My right shoulder was bothering me a bit in between sets (it felt fine during the sets themselves). Felt better towards the end though. But benching at Credit Suisse is still awkward as hell (cramped, bench uprights are non-adjustable and the high j-hooks are too high, low j-hooks too low).
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 180x3x3
C. Incline DB Press: 65x3x8
D. Bent Over BB Row: 155x4x8

Looking forward to a much-needed off-day tomorrow. Squats on Friday.

74

HeatWave 9.4: 5/16/14
Body Weight: 140.8 (See? I knew that 142 was just bloat!)
Stress Check: 5% (Low)
RHR: 56

I trained at around 10 AM at Credit Suisse (yes, this did mean a little less sleep, but I did want to make sure I got everything in). This workout was dedicated to one of their trainers, Natalie Rammacher, as it was her last day today (she moves back to Buffalo for school next week). Good luck, Natalie! NYC will miss you!

A. Squat: 280x2, 300x2, 310x2 - This was my first time going over 300 for more than 1 rep. Depth was close, but looked like it was just right where it needed to be.
B. Anderson Squat: 325x3, 345x3, 365x3 - Walkouts were a little better this time around, but still need to work on tightness.
C. Face Pull: 55x4x15
D. Ab Machine: 45x4x20
E. GHR: 3x12 - I’m supposed to do these tomorrow, but I was feeling good and I don’t have access to a GHR at Morgan Stanley (Jason’s doing a meet so I can’t train at Iron Arena, but I am still expected to train), so I went ahead with these. They seem a lot easier on a Sorinex GHR rather than the EliteFTS model they have over at Iron Arena.

Benching, deadlifting, and cheering on my coworker Marie Allegro in the IFBB NY Pro tomorrow.

75

HeatWave 9.5: 5/17/14
Body Weight: ??? (I forgot to record my weight for some reason - I guess I was in a rush to get out?)
Stress Check: 25% (Medium)
RHR: 61

I trained at 2:30 PM at Morgan Stanley (Jason was competing at a meet so I couldn’t go to Iron Arena, plus I was stuck in Manhattan anyway because I would be going to the NY Pro later that night).

A. Bench: 200x2, 210x2, 190x2x5
B. Bench (3-second pause): 185x3x3
C. Deadlift (warmups: 135x8, 225x5): 275x5, 310x4, 335x2, 365x1, 380x1, 345x3x3 - I was supposed to do 385, but that wasn’t budging off the floor and 380 is still a PR. After pulling on a deadlift bar these past few weeks, you really notice the difference when you try to pull with something else. I had the choice of pulling on a stiff bar with crappy knurling, or pulling on a bar that has some whip but even crappier knurling. I thought I would be OK with option B if I had a ridiculous amount of chalk on my hands, and it did work until I got to my top set. Also, the platform is really slippery (doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of having wood in the center of a platform? lol). I can work around the platform part by pulling off the gym floor instead, but the bar is obviously a more serious problem.
D. Reverse Hyper: 1" Bandx3x15 - I didn’t have a reverse hyper machine, so I attached a band to a back extension and faced backwards. This actually works pretty well.

Marie got a 4th callout in a STACKED figure division (they only announced the top 5 so I don’t know her official placing). As for the meet, Cynthia St Clair @ 114 lbs. went 8/9 with a Squat 200 (13 lb. PR) Bench 110 (10 lb. PR) Deadlift 280 total 590 (15 lb. PR?) Tifany Ness Mulcahy dropped down a weight class and @ 132 went 8/9 with a 210 Squat, 135 lb. Bench, and 255 Lb. Deadlift for 600 lb. total (10 lb. meet PR and dropped down a weight class. Jason went 8/9 with a 505 Squat (4 lb. PR), 405 Bench (3 lb. full meet PR) and 560 Deadlift (Ties PR) for a 1470 total (21 lb. PR) drug-tested. Also, Ashlyn DiNinni is not an Iron Arena lifter but I wanted to give her a shout-out for some HUGE numbers (310-165-385 - she had competed her first two meets as a 132 but I think she went as a small 148 this time?).

76

HeatWave 8.1: 5/19/14
Body Weight: 142.4
Stress Check: 1% (Very Low)
RHR: 69

I trained at around 9:30 at Morgan Stanley (I left my wrist wraps and Sling Shot there).

A. Bench: 200x2, 210x2, 220x1, 225x1 (RPE 9) - I wasn’t supposed to work up to a real max, just do 225 if I was feeling good. The gym was so empty I couldn’t find a spotter until I got up to 225.
B. Sling Shot: 235x3x3
C. Bench (paused, no Sling Shot): 195x2x3
D. Bench (3-second pause): 185x2x2
E. Lateral Raise: 15x3x12
F. Seated Row: 75x4x12

Finally working up on Squats tomorrow!

77

HeatWave 8.2: 5/20/14
Body Weight: 140.4
Stress Check: 5% (Low)
RHR: 55

I trained at Credit Suisse at around 10:30 AM, which was later than I would’ve liked (I just missed the train I was hoping to take). Rest was short (<5 hours of sleep) as I had agreed to start earlier at Credit Suisse thinking that I would be getting out of work at Morgan Stanley earlier . . . but NOPE! So Monday was a long-ass day. Squat warm-ups were slightly different this time around as I was working up.

A. Squat: 45x8, 95x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 250x1, 280x1, 310x1, 330x1 (RPE 8.5), 340x1 (15 lb. PR, RPE 9.5ish?) - 330 didn’t feel too bad at all, and I felt like I MIGHT have had another 5 lbs. on me, but form broke down a little more than I would’ve liked (knees caving in).
B. Paused Squat: 270x2, 280x2, 285x2 - I was instructed to start at 270 and add weight as I saw fit for two sets. I might have had another 5-10 lbs. in me on this one as well.

Assistance work was done at Morgan Stanley at around 4 PM due to time constraints.

C. Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx4x20
D. Decline Situp: 4x20 (highest decline)

I haven’t gone over 310 on squats since my meet in February so adding 15 lbs., knowing I could do a lot more in July, felt good.

78

HeatWave 8.3: 5/21/14
Body Weight: 139.0
Stress Check: 57% (High)
RHR: 75

I trained at Morgan Stanley on normal rest (I told the guys at Credit Suisse I couldn’t help out today because I thought I was supposed to do a presentation on Exercise and Bone Density, but it turned out that our manager, who is walking around in a boot because of a stress fracture, was doing the presentation instead).

A. Bench Press: 200x3, 210x2, 195x2x4
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 185x3x3
C. Incline DB Press: 65x3x8
D. Bent-over BB Row: 155x4x8

Off tomorrow, “mystery” squat workout on Friday (normally all of my workouts for the week are given on Monday, but this week I was asked to send my log today and my squat workout would be based on that).

BTW, here’s the video from yesterday’s squat workout: Manny Prieto Training (132 lb. Wt. Class) 5/20/14: Squats 330x1, 340x1 - YouTube

79

HeatWave 8.4: 5/22/14
Body Weight: 141.6
Stress Check: 39% (Medium)
RHR: 67

The “mystery” squat workout was done at 4 PM at Morgan Stanley (I was hoping to come in early to train at Credit Suisse before I worked there but I overslept and couldn’t catch the train I wanted to - I ended up waking around 8 AM so about 6 hours of sleep).

A. Squat: 255x4x5
B. Face Pull: 52.5x4x15 - I went a little lighter since I used a single cable column instead of a lat pulldown machine. This may actually be the “sweet spot.”
C. Abs (Technogym machine): 40x4x20

Yup, that’s it. Benching and deadlifting tomorrow - won’t be at Iron Arena due to family commitments, but gonna give 385 another shot nonetheless.

80

HeatWave 8.5: 5/24/14
Body Weight: 142.6
Stress Check: 17% (Medium)
RHR: 63

I had to attend a graduation party lunch at around noon, so I couldn’t train at Iron Arena (they usually train around 1 PM, plus Jason just came off a meet so I didn’t think he was back in training anyway). I ended up training at Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym (my go-to place for holiday training as I know it’s open and they don’t give me a hard time about using the gym for the day) at around 10 AM - yes, this meant waking up early, but the graduation party was at an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet and between the Champions League Final, Pacers vs. Heat, Blackhawks vs. Kings, and UFC 173, this was a great Saturday for sports. In other words, if this workout wasn’t getting done early, it wasn’t getting done.

A. Bench Press: 200x2, 210x2, 220x1, 230x1 - Unfortunately I couldn’t get video of this PR, but I did get it done.
B. Bench (3-second pause): 185x2x3
C. Deadlift: (Warm-ups: 135x8, 225x5) 275x5, 310x4, 335x2, 365x1, 385x1, 345x3x3 - Finally got that 385 this time! I couldn’t find a deadlift bar, and the bar I used didn’t have the most aggressive knurling, but at least it wasn’t constantly slipping out of my hands like the bar I used last week. Also, the platform wasn’t as slippery, which is weird because these are the exact same Hammer Strength platforms (attached to a power rack) that are at Morgan Stanley. Maybe we need to treat the wood with something?
D. Reverse Hyper: 50x3x15
E. GHR: 3x12 - The GHR at Bev Francis is a Hammer Strength model with an adjustable incline, so I went with the steepest incline setting (EliteFTS GHRs have an angled pad so they’re like doing other models on an incline).

Deadlift vid: Manny Prieto Training (132 lb. Wt Class) 5/24/14: Sumo Dead - YouTube