It could be. I didn’t say my thoughts were based on science—just paranoia
Gee, where have we all heard that before? I think “hard gainers” mistake their ability to eat a lot in one sitting with actually eating a lot all week. I’m probably in the ballpark of 3500-4000 calories a day right now. I fell into the habit of skipping breakfast during my CrossFit Experiment. I’d have a protein shake of 1.5 scoops (120 cals per scoop) and a banana around 10:00am and then hit the gym around 11:00am. I wouldn’t get back home til 12:45-1:00pm and then I’d eat a big lunch. But even a 1500 calorie lunch only put me at 1800-1850 calories for the day and it was already afternoon. I’d eat again by 3:00pm but it’d be 500-600 calories. I’d try to eat dinner but suddenly stomach wasn’t having it so I’d stall for the day and probably get 3000-3500 calories at best…and that was after a beast of a workout.
I’m back on track today though. It’s 12:15pm and I’ve had 1.25-1.50 cups of oatmeal, a protein shake (200 cal per scoop), a 500+ calorie PB & J sandwich, a 600 calorie cheeseburger, and some broccoli with Italian dressing. I’m hoping to hit up Chipotle in a couple hours for a burrito with cheese and sour cream.
You suck. I’ll still hold on to my paranoia about eating late. We’re different in terms of our nutrition. You do really well with higher fat and lower carb. I feel like I’m going to starve if I eat less than 200g of carbs in a day. I try to stay away from dairy because I have horrible allergies and milk products seem to thicken my mucous and give me problems. For that reason I don’t get to eat the cheese that I love and I’ve started avoiding cottage cheese and yogurt
I find it can be difficult to hit these numbers day after day with healthy foods. I find myself treating myself a bit more than I did at 220 lbs. But it also makes this more enjoyable.
Also, it looks like my next PL meet date has been released. They haven’t released the location, but as long as it isn’t in some location 5+hours from me I’ll likely make the trip. I’m hoping it is going to be held where it was last year which is about 1.5hours from where we live.
November 24/25. So a 12 week prep would be starting on September 1st.
I’ll likely follow a very similar prep/peak as I did last time since it worked so well for my squat and deadlift. I just have to try and figure out something to get my bench moving! (@BOTSLAYER)
Obviously no rush, and I know you’re not far from your comp, but figured I’d lay the tag down in case you had any tricks up your sleeve.
~3-4 Weeks Out take as much of your reps to commands as possible and you will have a lot better idea where you are. (Thats on me.) You definitely had more bench in you that day but weren’t used to commands.
And pause all bench reps throughout prep…but i think you did that.
And glad you tagged me, haven’t been feeling great about my prep but you reminded me I am ok at programming for other people, just not myself LOL.
EDIT AGAIN
Exact same prep with a couple minor notes and adjustments. If you dont mind please let me know the changes you make for my personal info!
I didnt include the trackers because it didnt look like you needed them (having the log and all).
Good tip man, I appreciate it. Nothing is on you for that, I have nothing but positive thoughts about the outcome of that meet!
I did, but not even close to as long as I should have been!
I’d say you did alright with mine! I wouldn’t have bothered asking for your help again if I didn’t think so lol
Thanks a TON man. Looks awesome. I’ll comb through it completely and let you know if I have any questions! I’ll definitely try and track some additional notes for you as well. Looking forward to it.
Haha, well my wife and I went to the track with the dog and I did the following:
Walked 400m.
Ran a 1:34 400m. ← Was aiming for a <2min pace so I could see what an 8min/mile pace would feel like.
Rest 3min.
Ran a 1:51 400m. ← purposefully paced myself a bit better on this one. I’d still consider this on the upper end of a “jogging” speed for myself.
Walked 400m.
There was no way I could have run a mile though, in any amount of time. My calves/shins BLEW UP. I could barely walk the last 400m lap they were so ballooned. I’m sure with a bit more running this won’t be as debilitating. But overall I was surprised that lungs/legs felt like they could probably have done it if I wanted it bad enough.
That’s a good approach on the 400s. Shoot for that 1:50 pace. I’d even speed up as I got better so the 8 minute mile feels like a casual jog.
Side note - my body is tuned for higher intensity and shorter durations. I can run repeat 60-65 second laps at the gym’s track (6:00-6:30 pace) with 2 min rest. I can do 2 lap intervals in 2:20 or less (7 min pace). But when I have to run all 6 laps in a row I don’t want to move faster than 9 minute pace
Yup! That’s where the over-distance run is helpful. Otherwise your body likes to hit a wall. I think it matters less for longer distance runners; they seem to have enough of a base that distance is less a factor than top-end speed.
I should probably feel bad I’ve started a whole discussion about jogging in a powerlifter’s log.
@BOTSLAYER - I’ve been looking over the spreadsheet. I like the looks of the “Working Title” program. I like having the prescribed 4x5@XXX, 5x3@XXX etc rather than trying to feel out the weight. I’m not responsible enough to run RPE effectively.
Looking at the 10 week prep, is that 10 weeks and then a peak, or are the 5x1’s in pink the peaking weeks? So this would be started 10 weeks out from the comp? Assuming comp is our YOLO days?
If I ever get through my current 5/3/1 cycle of Hardgainers I might even adopt your offseason “Working Template” and run that until the prep starts to familiarize myself with that type of programming.
The program consists of 2 Squat workouts/week, 2 Bench workouts/week and 1 Deadlift workout per week. What are your thoughts on making this a 4day/week program.
This is what has taken me so long to fully switch.
Yes begin 10 weeks out and the Yolo is the Comp…but YOLO responsibly
Love it. I am actually making a new Programs sheet and that is one of the splits that will be in there. With any of these programs the split is pretty flexible. Just get it done when it works for you.
EDIT: Once again can mix and match offseason with Prep/Specificity blocks etc.
Also if anyone has tips for hitting any apparent weak points from my lifts in my last meet I’d like to make my assistance work a little less random for this prep.
Here are my current thoughts for the lifts, but I would like other’s opinions because I could be completely wrong.
SQUATS: If you skip to 1:16 of the video you will see my third attempt at squat. This is as close to failure as you’re going to see. I can’t see anything in particular that’s giving me the most breakdown. I’m thinking some unilateral work, and some core work will likely pay off but otherwise random could probably be OK in terms of squat specific assistance.
BENCH: At 1:45 you can see both of my failed lifts of bench press. It looks like my weak point was ~1/2 way up. I’m thinking about doing a little work with the SlingShot to overload the top half of my bench a bit. I’m going to try keeping my row work high throughout to balance. I don’t want to completely forget about pushing things overhead either, because I do think I see some carryover between the two. So I’ll likely hit triceps in some fashion twice a week.on bench days.
DEADLIFT: 2:20 for deads. They went well come comp day but seemed to really bother the hips. Even near the end of the prep my hipflexors were in rough shape. After the comp my hip took a couple weeks to be back to 100%. From the videos it almost looks like my right leg is slightly wider and/or toe pointed more outwards than my left. My right side was the side that was most bothered. I may try moving my legs in just an inch or so and pointing my toes slightly more forward. I’ll monitor how this affects my hip pain as I start training back into sumo (I have not pulled a sumo deadlift since my competition). For assistance I’m going to make sure not to neglect my upper back as I was surprised that for a couple of my RPE8-9 deadlifts that I felt like I might miss a lockout by not being able to roll the shoulders over at the top of the deadlift. Other than that I’ll just be trying to keep up with my mobility work to stay healthy over the prep!
Well that ramble got long. TL;DR - I need stronger triceps for bench, other lifts went OK.
I agree, for the main lifts a strong core is just too important to ignore. I’ll keep training my core directly throughout the prep, thanks!
Woke at 216.6lbs, feeling a little plump this morning. It has now been 4 days since my last workout, looking forward to my deadlifts tonight! Life has been good, but busy.
EDIT: Also, @BOTSLAYER I sent you a request for edit access to the LS2 spreadsheet you created so that I can play with it a bit
Transferred ownership and you when you are ready you can make it private!!!
EDIT: LOL IM an idiot and transferred ownership of the wrong sheet but transferred the right one now! You can keep the other as a preview of what to come
DEADLIFTS
135x5c
225x5c
315x5c
365x3c
405x1s ← kind of semi sumo/coan stance. Felt ok, not great.
455x1s ← wider than last set still more narrow than my comp stance.
495x1s
545x1c ← lost hook grip on first attempt. but got it on take two just barely. Should probably start mixing in some hook grip again. Need to stop biting my thumb nails!
495x1
405x1
315x1
225x1
135x1
Planned on doing some running afterwards but back was pretty blown up so I called it there. Just deadlifts for the day.
Thanks man, things were feeling pretty heavy, but I guess things were getting pretty heavy so, par for the course.
W3D3 Comp Paused Bench Press
45 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1 355 x 1 ← Paused bench PR
225 x 5 x 5sets
Well bench decided to randomly feel strong today.
SUPERSET Pushups
20, 20, 20, 20, 20
Hammer Curls
50lb DBs x 12, 10, 10, 10, 10
Great pump after this superset.
50 Burpees for Time: 4:48
This kicked my ass - obviously. I actually did better than I thought I would. I performed the first 20 in just over a minute and the next 5 by 1:30. So half the reps were completed and I was only at 1:30. That should tell you how the second half of the set went.
Tonight’s dinner: Baked Salmon with salt and lemon pepper, baked sweet potato glaze of coconut oil and salted, spinach salad with carrots and poppyseed dressing.
Thanks man! Bench actually felt alright for a change. I’ve been reading a Greg Nuckols book “How to Bench” and have adjusted a few things to make it feel a little more comfortable. I still have half the book to go, so I’m looking forward to uncovering some more gems.
My biggest things was actually bar path. I was not following an optimal bar path for bench. The cues of tucking your elbows and then trying to flare them at a particular point was lost with me. Now that I know the intended bar path, the elbows just sort of take care of themselves.
Haha, trying to bulk up while not completely becoming a fat lard. I remembered awhile ago I set out to do 100…and stopped at 50. This time I set out to do 50, and nearly called it at 25 lol
