MarkKO's Training Log

Training Training Logs
1742

I’m starting to think that the divide between people in PL (and I’m guessing strongman and BB as well) is pretty simple: on one side you’ve got people who treat it as a job; on the other side you’ve got people who treat it as something they enjoy doing.

Here’s the thing: the people who treat it as a job enjoy it too. Quite possibly they enjoy it more, in fact, and quite probably it’s a damn near integral part of who they are. The reason they treat is as a job is because their performance matters, just like in any job. That - to me at least - makes a huge difference in how training is approached at all levels. It means your mood doesn’t mean much: you’ll still train, and still do what is necessary. It means your headspace isn’t a factor beyond whether you do the work with a smile or a frown. It means you’re constantly assessing whether what you’re doing is optimal. It means other elements of your life won’t derail your work - they may have an impact, but not so much that you don’t get the work done. It means performance matters.

There’s nothing on earth wrong with simply treating it as something you enjoy, but it will have a significant impact on whether you’re likely to improve (or more likely not improve).

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1743

Bloat has pretty much dissipated, thankfully. Must have been something because I spent a good hour burping almost uncontrollably. Ankle is actually feeling better. Relief now comes from pressure on the swelling, so I think my body has the shits with whatever debris are there and wants them broken up.

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1744

Gave some thought to deload week and what to do. Definitely no DL of any kind, and bench twice. I think I’ll front squat too, maybe squat, maybe not. Not even sure I’ll train all four days. I’m leaning towards Monday, Tuesday and Friday along these lines:

Monday
Log press, 5/3/1 week sets, pull-ups between warmup sets
Bench press 25 total reps at 70%
Yates row work up to a heavy-ish 10
Strict BB row maybe to balance of 50 reps or maybe an AMRAP set, probably an AMRAP now I think about it
Supersetted EZ-bar curls/DB skull crushers 50 total reps each
Stationary bike sprints

Tuesday
Front squat OR beltless squat work up to five at 8 RPE
Leg press or hack squat? Whichever, probably 50 total reps
Back raises 50 total reps
Supersetted abs/RDFs 50 total reps each

Friday
Bench press 5/3/1 deload sets, pull aparts between warmup sets
Dips 25 total reps
Kroc rows AMRAP with 120 lbs
Supersetted biceps/triceps 50 total reps
Incline treadmill walk

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1745

Today’s training

Lazy lifter plus shoulders

Squat

15 TRX fatman pull-ups between first three warmup sets

5x363 lbs, under 6 RPE - didn’t move as fast as I’d have liked

Ankle started feeling funny. Not bad, but off. Maybe because I was thinking about it.

5x412 lbs, 6 RPE - definitely felt heavier than I liked and my back started feeling a tad strained exactly where it had during and after DL on Tuesday
3x462 lbs, 9 RPE - felt fine unracking and walking out but from the first rep it was heavy, and by the second I knew five was probably a no go. On the third my lower back had to strain too hard so I pulled the pin

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRuntGPFsrY/

For whatever reason, the strength wasn’t there today.

Front squat FSL 5x247 lbs, 6 RPE - had to wait a good 10 seconds after unracking for my vision to clear and be sure I wouldn’t black out.

Then my other half called and I had to go pick up munchkin (long story). This meant I had to cut the session short, which annoying as it was is probably the best thing to happen.

Now, initially I figured the short reps were simply my lower bodyweight finally kicking in. Then I thought of the front squats: something I KNOW I could hit for eight these days at under 6 RPE. Then I thought of DL on Tuesday and how hard I worked for it. Then I thought how shitty I felt this morning.

Got home with munchkin, did some housework and feel absolutely fucking drained. I think it might not be entirely the bodyweight.

I’ll drop my squat TM for the anchor though, probably to around 462 lbs. I can always work up in joker sets on good days.

1746

Woke at 192.7 lbs, puffiness seems gone. Good.

Had another watch of the 462 lbs set. Possibly things aren’t as terrible as I thought initially. First rep is actually quite fast(ish), although it didn’t feel that way.

So what happened? My best guess is DL on Tuesday took a real toll plus possibly being ever so slightly incipient-coldy wasn’t helping either.

I will drop my squat TM but only back to cycle two. That’ll do nicely: it’ll have me a 451 lbs top set in week three, so I can have a crack at 10 while being a TM I know I can hit for reps around this bodyweight. Come peaking I’ll have a decent idea of what I’m good for.

I think I’m being quite grown up about this.

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1747

Highlights from week three. Leader is now over apart from deload.

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1748

Hey, not to be a shit, and you know my credentials (or lack thereof), but I noticed a bit of a buttwink in your Safety Bar Squats. It might be the untucked shirt, but take a look at it.

Again, I’m one of those readers without a lot of experience, so govern yourself accordingly.

And, BTW, looking good man!

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1749

No, good call. I notice it too. Doesn’t seem to happen with straight bar. Could be the shirt, could be SSB messing with me. Certainly doesn’t feel buttwinky. I’m not too fussed. No more SSB for a while anyway, back to pause front squats.

Thanks. It’s coming along. Last push, really. I think around 187 lbs is the lowest I’ll be able to get without having to go to extra lengths and significant strength loss. How long it’ll take I’m not sure, but I think I’m tracking for a June end date.

1750

Little moment of clarity here. Took some work, but I got there.

All signs point to me competing at 181 lbs in July. Even if I lose no more scale weight between now and the end of June that means I’ll be sitting on 192.5 lbs - and I’m fairly confident I’ll be dropping another five pounds or so. Anyhow, that’s a 12 lbs cut at most. Nothing drastic. I can probably do that on water alone, maybe a little carb depletion if I have to.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at my target total I set a few months back: 1490 lbs via 572/319/600. At 181 lbs, that’s a very decent total, about 50 lbs shy of elite by GPC Australia standards. Which, let’s face it, is a little ambitious considering I’ll have been in a caloric deficit for over a year. I think I have to accept that I will need to set my sights a little lower. Something like, let’s say, 550/302/600 because oddly enough I’m pretty confident that I’ll be good for 600 lbs off the floor at 181 lbs.

I’m not being pessimistic or running myself down, just being realistic. Breaking it down, all of those attempts give me all-time PRs, beating what I hit at a good 40 lbs heavier. Even with this last week’s disappointments I’m confident that if I get my peak right a 550 lbs wrapped squat is on the cards. Ditto a 302 lbs bench. Anyway, that’s what I’ll shoot for.

I think I’ll also tweak peaking a little because I’m going to drop my TM for DL back like I did for squat and bench. All I’ll do is add joker sets beyond TM and also drop down the reps because six weeks out I think that makes sense.

3 Likes
1751

Agreed, with the exception of when it gets heavy, and then it looks like what I think they call knee slide - your knees moving a little forward at the bottom.

It’s really picky, so I wouldn’t sweat it.

We’ll meet at 187, I’ll squat 225 and you’ll squat . . . ?

Lol.

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1752

Somewhere between 500 and 520 I think.

1753

Had a little brainwave. The TMs for anchor I’m happy with but when I move to peaking, the loads are too low for what I want to hit in meet - and what I’m confident I’m capable of. Then it occurred to me that all I need to do is set my TMs as my third attempts for peaking, and tweak the sets and reps slightly. I’m not looking at slowly getting stronger in that six weeks, I’m looking to bring my strength to bear for a short period.

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1754

That worked, I think. I used my putative B third as TM for the first three weeks and the A third for the last three weeks. Day order hasn’t changed since I set it out. Bench changed very little, except in week one where I dropped down to triples and singles mostly. Squat is mostly singles, with a few light triples except in week one where there’s a five. DL is all singles except for two one-plus top sets.

I think all I needed to do was - just for the six week peak - shift away from the 5/3/1 slow, steady, train-not-test mentality that makes it so successful in the long term.

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1755

Plus, the beauty of using my A and B third attempts is that my peaking relates directly to my thirds - if I change them, the peaking loads change automatically.

Currently I’m looking at

Squat
484
517 (B 506)
550 (B 539)

Bench
280
302 (B 297)
308 (B 302, C 297)

DL
517
550 (B 544)
600 (B 583)

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1756

Woke at 192.7 lbs again, although yesterday and today I could swear everything looks tighter? Maybe coming off a puffy day makes it look that way, maybe it actually is that way. Whichever, still feeling moderately snuffly and yesterday felt run down AF by bedtime both of which usually mean I hold weight but I’m holding steady which is great.

Ankle is less swollen, bruising almost gone. It feels tight where it’s swollen but moves fine and pressure on the swelling seems to relieve the irritation. Had to stand for most of yesterday at work and then went to a firework display after with family so more standing and it held up well.

1757

I’m more awake now. A few observations.

  • I’m run down. I’ll sleep in tomorrow, as it’s a day off, and I’m going to figure out what I’ll do in training. I feel like something different that fits in the deload, so I’m leaning towards a BB style upper day. In fact, I’m leaning towards doing all three days for deload BB style.
  • I’m actually a bit puffy around my lower abs, which is where I’m holding my run down whatever (I swear that’s a thing for me, honest) BUT my upper abs seem more visible relaxed. That kind of makes sense given I’d expect this not to be the case being all run down puffy but I’m holding close to my regular scale weight when I usually see around two pounds come out of nowhere.
  • I compared my first rep at 462 lbs on Friday with my last meet opener in wraps at 473 lbs and I’ll be damned if I can see much difference in bar speed so I may not have lost too much strength and really was just off on Friday (I should shut up about this already)
2 Likes
1758

Extra pair of eyes please @littlesleeper @BOTSLAYER @The_Myth

I don’t see too much difference in speed between the two

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRy6HaCFh9O/

1759

Barely noticeable, just a little slower through the sticking point in the second squat.

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1760

That’s what I see too. Good. That means if I stretch the logic a bit, in wraps I should be as strong or stronger than I was back then.

See, this kind of proves my point to myself that 5/3/1 gets me everyday stronger, but to transform that into limit stronger I need to get accustomed to heavier singles for a bit.

1 Like
1761

This. At least, I think this.

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