MarkKO's Training Log

Training Training Logs
141

[quote]dagill2 wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]dagill2 wrote:
Question for you: I’m finding on my 5/2 diet days I can easily control the hunger, but I get cravings for anything with some flavour but with zero calories. HAve you come across anything that helps with this?[/quote]

I know what you mean. I drink a bunch of coffee (percolator) and tea but with milk, so not zero calories. I’ve considered my BCAAs too but haven’t tried them for my fasting days yet. I’d probably do that if I were you, or something like Powerade Zero.

EDIT: I’ve also recently noticed that as I put on muscle, it gets harder to last the full 12 hours. Around four or so months ago, I had to cut it down to around 10 hours and over the last week or so I’ve had to drop it to around 8 hours. I won’t cut the window any more though, but I might add in BCAAs on my fast days. [/quote]

I drink a load of tea (I’m British, it’s the law), but I’m not used to the caffeine so it makes me feel crap. I guess decaf would be an easy option. Plus my workplace is really overheated so it just feels wrong.[/quote]

I’d try BCAAs throughout the day then. You could even get a couple of different flavours to keep it interesting.

Out of interest, are you going fully zero calorie between breakfast and dinner? That’s something I’d find VERY hard to maintain. I usually have 300-400 mL of milk around the halfway mark, not counting what goes in my coffee and tea. Like I mentioned before, I’ve even had to cut the fasting window down progressively as I get more muscular.

142

As per usual the deviation from The Program this week is bugging me a bit, but I’m getting more and more comfortable with doing what I have to do to stay in condition to train in the longer term.

I’m definitely feeling better - I knew something was off early this week when I actually felt a bit intimidated thinking about my scheduled heavy deadlifts. That was a first for me and I didn’t like it. I think it was to do with still kind of adjusting to the new technique and that odd crack/pop I got in my back pulling sumo a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m just irked I missed the heavy pull day and all I’m thinking about is when I next have heavy deadlifts.

I know I could just go the hell with it and reset and do the two days I missed, but I’m about six weeks out from the meet and I’d rather cut my ‘losses’ and finish this mesocycle and move into the final four weeks’ worth of training. The only reason I’d go backwards to get the days done as written is to hit the heavy pulls, which is just dumb because it’d be for my ego and nothing else. It isn’t like I’m suddenly going to go from a max pull of 560 lbs to not being able to pull 550+ lbs without getting injured or stopping training my deadlift.

The bottom line is, when I take into account that in the last month I’ve been adjusting to new techniques and gotten ill with a cold or flu that hung around for two weeks things are still looking pretty damn positive. My bench is feeling better than it ever has and I’ve finally got positive self talk when benching heavy; I can pull a double at 90% with the new DL technique with some left in the tank; and my squat is feeling faster and tighter than ever really don’t think I’ve got anything to worry, and much less complain, about.

143

Feeling a bunch better and more enthusiastic about training going in. So, essentially back to normal, but it wasn’t all plain sailing.

Tried double cinching the bands for bench but the added tension is just too much so I went back to the single cinch despite slack at the bottom. That felt much better

Today’s training

Bench press vs bands 8x2 @ 170 lbs on the bar

Sumo deadlift
1x2, 1x1 @ 385 lbs - something really off today. Couldn’t spread the floor, kept putting pressure so much on the outsides of my foot I almost rolled my ankle. Also my lower back got so tight during the warm up I couldn’t believe it.

I briefly gave up, and then decided to work up to a heavy single conventional pull.

Conventional DL
1x405, 440, 485, 528 lbs - last single was the only one where I had to grind at all (from just below to just above the knees). Not a bad result for feeling a bit off.

Feeling much better now back is happier too. I really, REALLY love conventional deadlifts.

3x8 135 lbs barbell incline press

3 sets ‘Kroc’ rows at 110 lbs/arm for 11/11, 8/9, 6/5 - my grip is shot

Tried out the gym’s very crappy GHR for two sets: 15 and 7. I think I might start doing these more regularly

Tricep pushdowns, 3 sets at 65 lbs for 8, 8, 8.

144

Those pulls and GHRs yesterday were like a magic pill. My back feels better than it has since the sumo crackle incident and mentally I’m in a completely different place. Also a big help has been realising I can be more fluid in my session to session approach as long I’m consistent overall because I know exactly where I want to go and I have a fair idea of how to get there.

I was meant to hit some heavy singles and then a wrapped AMRAP for squats today but instead I decided to work up to the first heavy single and go from there. I shifted my grip in and to my surprise my elbows like it and I could pull them forward more. I also shoved my belt a bunch lower, and that worked really well. It surprised me that this way I needed so much less air to get tight. I thought my breathing may have been off but then I figured if I wasn’t breathing properly I wouldn’t have gotten tight enough for these loads to feel good.

I’ve also decided to start using the RPE scale as I understand it for any sets of the competition lifts (10=no more reps, 9=could probably do another rep, 8=could do two more reps, etc).

Squats
1x451 lbs, about 8.5-9 RPE -wrapless PR
1x462 lbs, about 9 RPE - wrapless PR
5x396 lbs, 9.5 RPE - I figured these might serve me better than going for a 473 single, and that’s a wrapless rep PR anyway.

Here’s my 462 lbs single. I think I’ve got 473-484 in there so I wonder how I’d go with well wrapped knees.

3x8 420 lbs hack squats

3x5 185 lbs bench press - these are now consistently feeling good. I wouldn’t go so far as to say easy, but in terms of RPE they’d be around 6.5 to 8.

Concentrated curls 3 sets 40 lbs/arm for 8/8, 7/7 and 6/6

GHR three sets for 15, 11, 12 - I’m going to doing a lot more of these. I figure because it is just bodyweight I can get away a fair bit of volume.

1 Like
145

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Those pulls and GHRs yesterday were like a magic pill. My back feels better than it has since the sumo crackle incident and mentally I’m in a completely different place. Also a big help has been realising I can be more fluid in my session to session approach as long I’m consistent overall because I know exactly where I want to go and I have a fair idea of how to get there.

I was meant to hit some heavy singles and then a wrapped AMRAP for squats today but instead I decided to work up to the first heavy single and go from there. I shifted my grip in and to my surprise my elbows like it and I could pull them forward more. I also shoved my belt a bunch lower, and that worked really well. It surprised me that this way I needed so much less air to get tight. I thought my breathing may have been off but then I figured if I wasn’t breathing properly I wouldn’t have gotten tight enough for these loads to feel good.

I’ve also decided to start using the RPE scale as I understand it for any sets of the competition lifts (10=no more reps, 9=could probably do another rep, 8=could do two more reps, etc).

Squats
1x451 lbs, about 8.5-9 RPE -wrapless PR
1x462 lbs, about 9 RPE - wrapless PR
5x396 lbs, 9.5 RPE - I figured these might serve me better than going for a 473 single, and that’s a wrapless rep PR anyway.

Here’s my 462 lbs single. I think I’ve got 473-484 in there so I wonder how I’d go with well wrapped knees.

3x8 420 lbs hack squats

3x5 185 lbs bench press - these are now consistently feeling good. I wouldn’t go so far as to say easy, but in terms of RPE they’d be around 6.5 to 8.

Concentrated curls 3 sets 40 lbs/arm for 8/8, 7/7 and 6/6

GHR three sets for 15, 11, 12 - I’m going to doing a lot more of these. I figure because it is just bodyweight I can get away a fair bit of volume.[/quote]
Damn, that looked easy. Also yeah, GHR’s are amazing for making your hamstrings monsterously big and strong. They are also very easy on your spine, so you can program them a lot more frequently than you could work SLDL’s and other posterior chain exercises.

146

Yeah, I was happy with how it felt. I think using the RPE scale and being a little less OCD is going to do me good.

Definitely a lot more GHRs on the horizon.

147

Got to the gym and they’d done some moving which resulted in every squat rack now having a mirror. This annoyed me so I decided to use the seven day pass my mate gave me to another gym in town that has a whole powerlifting section. The only reason I hadn’t been before was that it is at the other end of town.

Suffice to say, it is worth the trip. It’s about the same cost as my current gym but has all the bits I’ve been missing (reverse hyper, safety squat bar, etc). I’ll sign up when my pass runs out.

Today’s training

Bench press 4x3 215 lbs and 1x6 215 lbs all paused - my technique felt a bit off and I think my arch wasn’t brilliant but I’m still really pleased with this. RPE for the first four sets was around 7 to 8, last set 9 or a bit more.

Deadlift - worked up to a 484 lb triple. This felt pretty good, and sat around mauve 9 RPE. I think my hips still come up a bit too fast but I also think my let drive is improving. Here’s the video:

Alternated sets of lunges at 165 lbs and dips with around 25 lbs:

3 sets of 6/leg and dips went 8/7/6

There was a GHR but I had to try out the reverse hyper and went for three sets of 9 with a pissy 90 or so lbs, but it felt great. So many of these to come.

148

For this and the next three weeks my non-heavy days are more focused on higher reps (well, higher for me, which is 6-8 reps). Of course, I also get to play with new toys.

The other thing I’m really enjoying about the new gym is that somehow I take less time to get through my sessions. I think it’s because everyone tidies up after themselves and also everything is kept where it belongs so I don’t have to waste time finding stuff.

Today’s training

3x6 330-355 lbs cambered safety bar squats - the weight is an estimate because I’m not sure how much the bar weighs. It feels somewhere between 65-85 lbs.

This is my third set. I love these, I can feel my glutes, hams and quads working and also my lower back. I’m going to use these a lot.

Front squats
1x5, 1x2 264 lbs, 1x1 220 lbs - my lower back was so tired from the SB squats I just couldn’t hold position.

What I’m going to do next time is add two more sets on the SB because I think they’ll give me a lot more than front squats.

Bench press
3x5 198 lbs - all the sets were around 8 RPE. The second set felt really good, first and third I think my setup was a bit sloppy because I wasn’t super tight but this didn’t stop me from getting the reps in. I’m super pleased with how my bench is going at the moment. Today I used one of the Elite FTS benches. It’s nice, but I’m not a fan of how wide it is.

Barbell rows
3x6 242 lbs

149

Note to self that the bar is actually a rackable cambered spider bar and weights about 80 lbs (a shade over 35 kg) according to EliteFTS.

Good to know. That means my squats were pretty much dead on 341 lbs which was what I wanted.

150

I’m kind of excited because tomorrow I’m going to actually sign up at the new gym (Elite Physique, the name suggests bodybuilding but they cater to PL really well as well) instead of just using the pass I got given. Also going to be cancelling at Gold’s. I’m genuinely curious whether they’re going to try and charge me a fee to cancel. We’ll find out.

I also had some time to go into my training files and set out what I’m currently doing as a structure compared to a program - for me a program sets out specific exercises with their sets/reps/loads/increases etc; but a structure just sets out a much looser framework with only some key sets/reps specified (also subject to change but less so than accesory work).

I haven’t done that before, but it was kind of fun.

151

Interesting session today. Heavy squats using a squat bar went ok, but not as well as I’d have liked. Working sets were triples at 418 lbs which should have been ok but something just wasn’t right. My back didn’t seem to be happy and while I was fast out of the hole around half way I kept slowing down and it felt like a grind from there. I even tried some Harris wraps the gym has and they just amplified this: rocket out of the hole and then grind. I got a double wrapped, it felt pretty much identical to sleeves. I stopped after four sets. I figure I’ve moved the weight I set out and it felt shitty so I might as well leave it at that.

Moved on to other work and something that has been bugging me for a few weeks now kept coming up: the feeling that somehow my lower back has started lagging, when it used to be one of my real strengths. That got me thinking further that my squat and deadlift haven’t been really feeding off each other this cycle like they used to seem to. Both lifts are going ok, but not as well as before. I’m always having to figure of something is off.

Long story short, I had a little epiphany. The issue with the squat is EXACTLY what I had around a year ago. Guess what? Back the I had a narrow stance too. Shortly after that I went wider. My squat immediately felt better. Sure, I wasn’t as explosive out of the hole, but I didn’t experience the marked slowing around halfway. Also, I was able to drive with my hips and glutes from halfway. That’s when it hit me: the narrower stance I’ve been using since the coaching at PTC has stopped me doing that when I squat. Around halfway ALL the stress is transferred to my lower back. With the narrower stance I simple can’t get that hip drive. All the narrower stance does it make me go a bit deeper and come up faster for a short range of motion, and then I slow down.

I immediately set up the chambered SSB and did some light below parallel box squats with a wide stance. They felt amazing.

Guess what? I’m going back to wide stance squats.

Today’s training

3, 1, 3 and 2 (last set wrapped) 418 lbs squats. All sets around 8-9 RPE

3x8 308 lbs hack squats - different machine, feels so close to a front squat so I had to drop the weight.

3x5 198 lbs bench press - felt good, tight. All around 7-8 RPE

3 cambered SSB wide stance box squats, bar, plus 45 lbs/side, plus 90 lbs/side for 5ish reps.

Alternating sets of reverse hyper and curls

12/5, 12/5, 13/5 with 142 lbs on the hyper and 40 lbs per arm for the curls.

152

I saw in the “Who Has a Meet Coming Up” thread you mentioned squats sometimes flare your elbows up.

It appears in your 429 squat video that your wrists are cocked under the bar and you’re pressing up on the bar with your arms.

If you could straighten your wrists and pull on the bar like a lat pull down it should alleviate any elbow pain caused from squatting. You may want to consider moving your grip out a bit to accommodate or dropping your pinky under the bar to give you this neutral wrist positioning.

Keep up the great work!

153

Stopped by after reading in the other thread that you’re switching back to a wider stance squat. IMO, two months isn’t enough time to develop the leg strength to fully transition to a narrower stance (depending on how much you moved it in), especially if you’ve specialized in wide stance with flat shoes beforehand. I’ve experienced the same thing after making the complete switch from wider than shoulder width stance with flat shoes to shoulder width stance with oly shoes. It’s been about 21 months and most of that was learning how to squat in general but I would say that it took close to a year to really develop the quad and glute strength - maybe only 6 months if I already knew how to squat. In general narrow stance requires more leg drive than hip drive, compared to a wider stance. It depends on your torso, hip and knee angles.

With that said, the more important thing is the ability to keep your torso rigid throughout the lift. If you can do that regardless of stance width then it really doesn’t matter what you choose because you’ll develop the hip strength and leg strength necessary to accommodate it.

154

[quote]corstijeir wrote:
I saw in the “Who Has a Meet Coming Up” thread you mentioned squats sometimes flare your elbows up.

It appears in your 429 squat video that your wrists are cocked under the bar and you’re pressing up on the bar with your arms.

If you could straighten your wrists and pull on the bar like a lat pull down it should alleviate any elbow pain caused from squatting. You may want to consider moving your grip out a bit to accommodate or dropping your pinky under the bar to give you this neutral wrist positioning.

Keep up the great work![/quote]

Thanks! Only yesterday I did actually go pinkie under the bar and it was way more comfortable without bringing my grip in. I didn’t video though, so I’m not sure how much my wrists were cocked. I’ll mess around with taking my grip out more to see how that goes though.

155

[quote]lift206 wrote:
Stopped by after reading in the other thread that you’re switching back to a wider stance squat. IMO, two months isn’t enough time to develop the leg strength to fully transition to a narrower stance (depending on how much you moved it in), especially if you’ve specialized in wide stance with flat shoes beforehand. I’ve experienced the same thing after making the complete switch from wider than shoulder width stance with flat shoes to shoulder width stance with oly shoes. It’s been about 21 months and most of that was learning how to squat in general but I would say that it took close to a year to really develop the quad and glute strength - maybe only 6 months if I already knew how to squat. In general narrow stance requires more leg drive than hip drive, compared to a wider stance. It depends on your torso, hip and knee angles.

With that said, the more important thing is the ability to keep your torso rigid throughout the lift. If you can do that regardless of stance width then it really doesn’t matter what you choose because you’ll develop the hip strength and leg strength necessary to accommodate it.

[/quote]

That’s the thing: I find it a lot easier to keep my torso rigid with the wider stance, and that transfers to getting much more out of my hips and legs.

156

Had a ton of stuff to do today do I didn’t get to the gym till mid afternoon. On the plus side, this gave me impetus to get through the session fast.

Today’s training:

2x8, 1x6 176 lbs bench press

8x1 352 lbs deadlift paused for around two seconds just below the knees

3x6 70 lb/arm dumbbell incline presses

2x6 70 lb/arm dumbbell rows

Band pull aparts

157

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]lift206 wrote:
Stopped by after reading in the other thread that you’re switching back to a wider stance squat. IMO, two months isn’t enough time to develop the leg strength to fully transition to a narrower stance (depending on how much you moved it in), especially if you’ve specialized in wide stance with flat shoes beforehand. I’ve experienced the same thing after making the complete switch from wider than shoulder width stance with flat shoes to shoulder width stance with oly shoes. It’s been about 21 months and most of that was learning how to squat in general but I would say that it took close to a year to really develop the quad and glute strength - maybe only 6 months if I already knew how to squat. In general narrow stance requires more leg drive than hip drive, compared to a wider stance. It depends on your torso, hip and knee angles.

With that said, the more important thing is the ability to keep your torso rigid throughout the lift. If you can do that regardless of stance width then it really doesn’t matter what you choose because you’ll develop the hip strength and leg strength necessary to accommodate it.

[/quote]

That’s the thing: I find it a lot easier to keep my torso rigid with the wider stance, and that transfers to getting much more out of my hips and legs.
[/quote]

That makes a strong case for going back to a wider stance. Hopefully the narrow stance provided some other benefit besides helping you decide this. If not, it was only two months which isn’t much.

158

[quote]lift206 wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

[quote]lift206 wrote:
Stopped by after reading in the other thread that you’re switching back to a wider stance squat. IMO, two months isn’t enough time to develop the leg strength to fully transition to a narrower stance (depending on how much you moved it in), especially if you’ve specialized in wide stance with flat shoes beforehand. I’ve experienced the same thing after making the complete switch from wider than shoulder width stance with flat shoes to shoulder width stance with oly shoes. It’s been about 21 months and most of that was learning how to squat in general but I would say that it took close to a year to really develop the quad and glute strength - maybe only 6 months if I already knew how to squat. In general narrow stance requires more leg drive than hip drive, compared to a wider stance. It depends on your torso, hip and knee angles.

With that said, the more important thing is the ability to keep your torso rigid throughout the lift. If you can do that regardless of stance width then it really doesn’t matter what you choose because you’ll develop the hip strength and leg strength necessary to accommodate it.

[/quote]

That’s the thing: I find it a lot easier to keep my torso rigid with the wider stance, and that transfers to getting much more out of my hips and legs.
[/quote]

That makes a strong case for going back to a wider stance. Hopefully the narrow stance provided some other benefit besides helping you decide this. If not, it was only two months which isn’t much.[/quote]

That’s what I though. Hell, it helped bring my quads up which I needed anyway. I’ll probably keep it in the toolkit for off season work.

Did some wide stance work today: five sets of 3 to 4 reps at 363 lbs using the spider bar. No belt. Didn’t need it. From what I know, the spider bar tends to make your life harder anyway so if I’m happy beltless using it, wide is definitely looking good. Add to that my back was just happy - it had to work plenty bit did not feel strained - and I think I’m onto something.

159

Today’s training:
4, 3 then 3x4 363 lbs beltless spider bar squats - felt great. Natural.

3 sets on the GHR: 15, 10 and 11

3x5 198 lbs bench press

14L/16R 100 lbs dumbbell rows

20 light band pull aparts (I’ve been adding these the last few sessions).

It’s really cool having this new gym to train at. I get through my work faster, its a nice atmosphere and the equipment is fantastic.

160

Third set today

Not used to the plates being slow hence the bump on the first rep. These felt really good.