ME bench
1 board / 1 RM
95x5…2 sets
135x3 paused…2 sets
165x2
185x1…1 board
205x1
220x1
235x1…1 RM PR
should have went for more , but I wanted to save something for the narrow grip . stupid .
225x1
225x1…no lift off for this one .
narrow grip/3 board
205x1
215x1
225x1
225x1
235x1
barbell rows
115x10
125x8
135x8
145x8
155x8
lateral DB raises
skipped…shoulders feel great…hahaha
I was shootin’ it with the guy I used to lift with a ways back…tellin’ him of recent progress . seeing as how I’ve become a PR whore , I always tell him about shit when I get on a good roll . he then tells me that I should be hitting a 400 squat and a 225+ bench easy by October , and if I dont it’s because that shits “all in my head” .
I think he’s right
I remember a time when a 300 squat was my goal . all I thought about was that god damned number . I hit 295 a couple times ; missed 300 way too many times . five measly pounds…what the hell . I thought about that 300 so damn much , I think I became afraid to lift it for Christ’s sake . complete head fuck . and now the same damn thing with 405…I can feel it as I get closer .
that shits gotta stop now
Saw your post in the PR thread. I think there’s a lot to be said for taking your warm fuzzies from a PR and going home, knowing that you could have crushed more weight. Makes you more confident for the next time. Plus, I think you CAN go too far too fast causing a stall out sooner. If you amble up to a pretty girl it betters your chance at scoring than rushing at her, so to speak.
I like partials. They get me over a mental roadblock by totally ignoring it. I handle more weight through nearly the same range of motion and find that it both strengthens the chain and psychologically accustoms me to handling more weight in the main lift.
Sorry for butting in, but I hope some of that is helpful.
[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
Saw your post in the PR thread. I think there’s a lot to be said for taking your warm fuzzies from a PR and going home, knowing that you could have crushed more weight. Makes you more confident for the next time. Plus, I think you CAN go too far too fast causing a stall out sooner. If you amble up to a pretty girl it betters your chance at scoring than rushing at her, so to speak.
I like partials. They get me over a mental roadblock by totally ignoring it. I handle more weight through nearly the same range of motion and find that it both strengthens the chain and psychologically accustoms me to handling more weight in the main lift.
Sorry for butting in, but I hope some of that is helpful.[/quote]
yeah , you’re right.
in the big picture , a PR dont mean shit .
feel free to butt in all ya want .
DE squat
light band / low box
95x5
135x2
155x2
175x2…4 sets
that felt heavy as shit . might have been too much weight for DE work . or I could be a little fried . I think the doubles and singles caught up to me .
called it quits .
up-coming Deload
had one more DE bench session left before deload week ; I might blow it off though . I’ve humped it pretty good the last 2 cycles . so far this year I’ve seen progress on my pulls ( 25 lbs at least) and the bench , which is rare indeed ; squats not sure about yet .
so yeah…end cycle…welcome the deload . and it will be a major deload at that . let the elbow heal up ; collar bone feels o.k. ; maybe work on some mobility stuff ; couple bike rides next week ; maybe ONE light lower body session (pull thrus , ect.) just to keep the rust off . and some foam rolling too .
actually , I’m thinking thats what the deloads might look like all summer . try to stay un-tweaked going into this next meet .
took a stroll thru Walmart today…that’ll keep a guys head right during a deload .
thoughts on next cycle :
primary goal/ bench and squats…continue on with heavy doubles using competition lifts in the 90 to 95% range .
deadlift…get some heavyish reps in . probably on ME squat day .
supplementals…2 board narrow grip press to be used on ME bench day , after comp press ; gotta keep hammering these . good mornings used on DE lower day .
if I still feel like I can make more progress after this next cycle (July) , I might do one more ME/DE cycle (August) instead of an 8 week peaking cycle ; that would leave me September to drop back and cycle back up to openers .
I love sittin’ up late thinking thru this shit
lower body day
not ME…not DE . next ME cycle starts Monday to accommodate a hopeful lifting partner , so I had to go in and do something before then .
hi box squat
95x8
95x8
135x8
155x8
175x8
175x8
good mornings / #12 hole
95x12
115x10
135x8
BB shrugs
135x10
165x10
185x8
205x8
forgot to do pull-thrus .
gonna do the hi-box (actually a bench) as DE work this next cycle . 3 reasons…1) feels like I can generate better speed…2) feels like I hit more hams than groin…3) feels a bit more natural ; easier to sit back and explode straight up without rocking forward .
still a lot to learn about DE squat work .
raised the pins 1 hole for the good mornings ; gonna keep it here for a bit . I may have been going lower than necessary .
Nice work! I have to start working the pull throughs back in myself!
[quote]marlboroman wrote:
[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
Saw your post in the PR thread. I think there’s a lot to be said for taking your warm fuzzies from a PR and going home, knowing that you could have crushed more weight. Makes you more confident for the next time. Plus, I think you CAN go too far too fast causing a stall out sooner. If you amble up to a pretty girl it betters your chance at scoring than rushing at her, so to speak.
I like partials. They get me over a mental roadblock by totally ignoring it. I handle more weight through nearly the same range of motion and find that it both strengthens the chain and psychologically accustoms me to handling more weight in the main lift.
Sorry for butting in, but I hope some of that is helpful.[/quote]
yeah , you’re right.
in the big picture , a PR dont mean shit .
feel free to butt in all ya want .
[/quote]
Sorry so late to the party. Lotta PRs in there. Great progress!
I tried to take the “PR don’t mean shit” approach, but it didn’t work. Fortunately, they come in all shapes and sizes…1RM, rep, new training weight at multiple reps, etc… After great initial gains, I think 2 things helped me the most, once things slowed down (mind you, I am a amateur, at best). 1) Doing exactly what DCA said. Doing board presses, lockouts, partial squats and rack pulls got me accustomed to heavier weight. When it came time to do a 1RM atttempt, the weight didn’t feel as heavy. A great psychological boon. 2) When I stuck at a weight (developed a mental block, like I did on bench), just skip the damned weight and go for 5# more. Just my 2 cents…or 2 “tricks”.
Really looking good. Looking forward to seeing the upcoming meet results.
[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:
Nice work! I have to start working the pull throughs back in myself![/quote]
yeah…they’re a great way to stretch the hams out . I like to do them on DE day for that exact reason .
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
[quote]marlboroman wrote:
[quote]DaCharmingAlbino wrote:
Saw your post in the PR thread. I think there’s a lot to be said for taking your warm fuzzies from a PR and going home, knowing that you could have crushed more weight. Makes you more confident for the next time. Plus, I think you CAN go too far too fast causing a stall out sooner. If you amble up to a pretty girl it betters your chance at scoring than rushing at her, so to speak.
I like partials. They get me over a mental roadblock by totally ignoring it. I handle more weight through nearly the same range of motion and find that it both strengthens the chain and psychologically accustoms me to handling more weight in the main lift.
Sorry for butting in, but I hope some of that is helpful.[/quote]
yeah , you’re right.
in the big picture , a PR dont mean shit .
feel free to butt in all ya want .
[/quote]
Sorry so late to the party. Lotta PRs in there. Great progress!
I tried to take the “PR don’t mean shit” approach, but it didn’t work. Fortunately, they come in all shapes and sizes…1RM, rep, new training weight at multiple reps, etc… After great initial gains, I think 2 things helped me the most, once things slowed down (mind you, I am a amateur, at best). 1) Doing exactly what DCA said. Doing board presses, lockouts, partial squats and rack pulls got me accustomed to heavier weight. When it came time to do a 1RM atttempt, the weight didn’t feel as heavy. A great psychological boon. 2) When I stuck at a weight (developed a mental block, like I did on bench), just skip the damned weight and go for 5# more. Just my 2 cents…or 2 “tricks”.
Really looking good. Looking forward to seeing the upcoming meet results.[/quote]
well said . I track PRs on all ME work …1 , 2 , 3 and 5RM . couple of weight milestones for assistance work is always on the back burner ; like 75lb bells on flat press when I started and now 100 lb bells when I passed the 75’s ( when I first started my heaviest DB sets were 35 or 40 lbs…for sets of 5 . thats why gettin’ up to the 75s was kinda a big deal…haha) .
man , I love partials too . 1 and 2 board press for ME work and 2 and 3 board narrow grip for low reps as heavy tricep work seems to be doing the job right now on the bench .
rack pulls…dig 'em .
partial squats…only played with pin squats a couple times . not ready for prime time . need to keep workin on good mornings for a while yet before throwing in another squat variable . not sure if hi-box squats would count as a partial…but that ones in the bag now , but wont be rotating those back in until next winter . nothing but comp reps until October .
something Im keeping in until the meet is max+ walkouts after ME work( working up to 405ish) . follow that mess up with drop sets…not sure of rep range yet though . a couple sets of 8 may aid in conditioning , but a couple heavyish triples may carry strength benefits . I’ve never done much drop sets squatting , other than a few months on 531 last summer .
upper body day
flat DB press
25x25
35x20
45x15
55x12
65x8
65x8
65x5
lat pull-downs
#7 plate x 16
8x12
9x9
10x6
tricep push-down
60x15
70x12
80x12
90x10
these still suck . back to the “Avoid-at-all-cost” list .
DB mil press
20x25
25x25
30x15
35x12
35x10
rotated grip in a bit on both flat press and mil press…feels waaaay better than with the standard grip . I would even go out on a limb and say that maybe the way I’d been DB pressing and bar-bell mil pressing was the source of all the collar bone/pec issues .
ME cycle starts Monday
ME squat
reg. squat
145x5
195x5…belted
235x3…wrapped
275x2
315x3…3RM PR
355 x walkout
deads
135x3
185x3
225x3
265x3
295x1
pulled that PR outta my ass . had no fire squatting , then TOOL’s Right in two popped into my head . was planning on a couple of down-sets after the heaviest squat set…couldnt bring myself to do it .
the deads felt pretty heavy .
seriously doubting the wisdom of doing both deads and good mornings in the same week…pretty sure I’ve never done that before .
nice PR!
full ROM bench
95x8
95x8
135x8
135x5
185x5
205x5…5 RM PR (5th rep pretty sloppy)
narrow grip 2 board
205x2
205x2
205x2
DB rows
50x10
50x10
55x10
60x10
65x10
face pulls
3x8-10
looks like you got me on bench
nice PR!
thanks Soldog . the PR’s have certainly been coming fast. perhaps I’m finally getting the hang of the programming game . can say for sure that my left shoulder is finally caught up with my right ; that was definitely holding back bench progress .
this shit takes sooooo damn long…
DE squat
hi-box / light band
95x6
95x6
135x2…8 sets
good mornings
95x5
115x5
135x5…pussy weight ; if my back is recovered for deadlifting on next ME lower day then I’ll add weight to the GM’s . need to get some pulls in .
pulls thrus
3x8-10
foam rolled between pull-thru sets . I really dig pull thrus…they loosen me up big time . I should figure out a way to do these at home with bands .
something else about the PR’s I think Ive noticed …kinda seems they became more frequent ever since I started lifting 4 times a week . who woulda thought…