My Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
81

[quote]Modi wrote:
Sounds like you are very under recovered. I would take a few days off and then work up to a 90% Squat on Monday, with some light assistance stuff, 90% Bench on Wednesday with some light assistance stuff, and then maybe some RDL’s on Friday, but nothing too taxing. Get plenty of food and plenty of sleep over the next two weeks.

On the week of the meet, work up to a couple of singles at 80% on Squat on Monday, and a couple of singles at 75% on Bench on Wednesday, and then shut it down until meet time.

You aren’t going to get any stronger between now and then. You have two possible outcomes, keep training yourself into a hole and get weaker, or start the recovery process, and come into the meet as strong as possible.

If the 90% lifts go well for you next week, then use those as your openers at the meet. Just make sure you pick something that you know you can hit any day of the week. A Squat that you can bury, a Bench that you could pause for an eternity, and a DL that you can rip from the floor.

Trust in the effort that you’ve put into your training, and allow yourself the time to recover. 16 days should be plenty to of time to catch back up.[/quote]

Thanks a whole lot for the advice. A couple of quick questions.

The percentages are based on what I started the program at 8 weeks ago, correct? What might you recommend for light assistance stuff for squats, some light good mornings? How about for bench? Couple sets of light weighted dips? For the Romanian deadlifts I have done as much as 3x7x270, what might be good for Friday? Thanks for all the help!

82

[quote]Modi wrote:

You aren’t going to get any stronger between now and then. You have two possible outcomes, keep training yourself into a hole and get weaker, or start the recovery process, and come into the meet as strong as possible.

[/quote]

This is the key thing here.

Also know that being weak now isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Before my first meet I had worked myself into a pretty depleted state about two weeks out. I was probably capable at that time of 90 percent of my max capacity, at the most.

I pulled back, just went in and practiced the groove a couple times with light weights, and PRd my squat by like 40 pounds and just barely missed a 556 pull when the most I’d ever done before was 530. I did pull 520. I was pleased with the meet overall. Nevermind what I benched.

Point is you want to be overtrained at this point, you want to be achey in your joints, tired and somewhat depressed. If you pull back now you should get a slingshot effect and hit the meet in peak condition.

Don’t worry, you’ve trained hard and followed a plan. Just have faith that it will work, get recovered, don’t overthink things. You will lift fine.

83

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Thanks a whole lot for the advice. A couple of quick questions.

The percentages are based on what I started the program at 8 weeks ago, correct? What might you recommend for light assistance stuff for squats, some light good mornings? How about for bench? Couple sets of light weighted dips? For the Romanian deadlifts I have done as much as 3x7x270, what might be good for Friday? Thanks for all the help! [/quote]

Yes, I would base everything off your max 8 weeks ago. Squat assistance could be light GM’s, lunges, stepups, etc. Bench could be DB Shoulders, Incline Bench, DB Flat, Dips, etc. If you’ve done 270x7 for RDL’s, I would probably do 225x5 for two or three sets, depending on how it feels.

84

Thanks Modi and Ramo!

I’m not that freaked out about “overreaching?” I was freaked out about not having an idea in the world of how to respond to it! But Modi gave me a great plan and Ramo hearing your experience sure doesn’t hurt.

Now here is the next thing I want to figure out. So I am thinking I will open with a 340 squat, 210 bench, 440 deadlift, assuming next week goes as planned. I can hit all of these lifts on my worst day. So if these lifts fly up, do I go 5 pounds above my previous PR? So 380, 230, 480? I was thinking maybe my 2nd attempts if these fly up should be 370, 230, 470. If those go up really well I might try 390, 250, 500. I just have so little experience a lot of this shit is very difficult for me to ascertain.

85

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Thanks Modi and Ramo!

I’m not that freaked out about “overreaching?” I was freaked out about not having an idea in the world of how to respond to it! But Modi gave me a great plan and Ramo hearing your experience sure doesn’t hurt.

Now here is the next thing I want to figure out. So I am thinking I will open with a 340 squat, 210 bench, 440 deadlift, assuming next week goes as planned. I can hit all of these lifts on my worst day. So if these lifts fly up, do I go 5 pounds above my previous PR? So 380, 230, 480? I was thinking maybe my 2nd attempts if these fly up should be 370, 230, 470. If those go up really well I might try 390, 250, 500. I just have so little experience a lot of this shit is very difficult for me to ascertain.[/quote]

Is this your first meet?

There are a couple of schools of thought. First would be to have a successful first meet. That would mean hitting your first and second attempts, and then PR’ing on your thirds. This way you feel good about yourself, and maybe go 9 for 9 (whatever the hell that is).

The second school of thought (my school) is to open safe, hit a small PR on the second attempt, which if you miss it, you get another chance on your third to repeat, or if you hit it, then go for something really big on your last.

I’ve done the 9 for 9 thing, it was great. I left the meet happy as could be, but on the 30 minute ride home I kept wondering how much weight I left on the platform. Could I have Squatted another 20lbs? Benched another 10? DL’ed another 25???

I really don’t put much thought into my third lifts until the day of the meet. You’ll get a much better feel after your second attempts of what you’re capable of.

I can’t really tell you what to do here, other than open safe and get into the meet. If you think you might have some big PR’s in you, then I would go with the second approach. If you really aren’t sure how you’re going to do, then I’d probably play it safe and go with the first approach.

86

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
Thanks Modi and Ramo!

I’m not that freaked out about “overreaching?” I was freaked out about not having an idea in the world of how to respond to it! But Modi gave me a great plan and Ramo hearing your experience sure doesn’t hurt.

Now here is the next thing I want to figure out. So I am thinking I will open with a 340 squat, 210 bench, 440 deadlift, assuming next week goes as planned. I can hit all of these lifts on my worst day. So if these lifts fly up, do I go 5 pounds above my previous PR? So 380, 230, 480? I was thinking maybe my 2nd attempts if these fly up should be 370, 230, 470. If those go up really well I might try 390, 250, 500. I just have so little experience a lot of this shit is very difficult for me to ascertain.

Is this your first meet?

There are a couple of schools of thought. First would be to have a successful first meet. That would mean hitting your first and second attempts, and then PR’ing on your thirds. This way you feel good about yourself, and maybe go 9 for 9 (whatever the hell that is).

The second school of thought (my school) is to open safe, hit a small PR on the second attempt, which if you miss it, you get another chance on your third to repeat, or if you hit it, then go for something really big on your last.

I’ve done the 9 for 9 thing, it was great. I left the meet happy as could be, but on the 30 minute ride home I kept wondering how much weight I left on the platform. Could I have Squatted another 20lbs? Benched another 10? DL’ed another 25???

I really don’t put much thought into my third lifts until the day of the meet. You’ll get a much better feel after your second attempts of what you’re capable of.

I can’t really tell you what to do here, other than open safe and get into the meet. If you think you might have some big PR’s in you, then I would go with the second approach. If you really aren’t sure how you’re going to do, then I’d probably play it safe and go with the first approach.
[/quote]

It is indeed my first meet. I like the two schools of thought approach depending on how I feel that day. I am more interested in testing myself under the gun than going 9 for 9. I agree, I would have the same thoughts, could I have squatted 20 more, etc.

87

Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 1 of 5

Squat
work up to opener
1x340

Light Accessory Work

Wide Stance Goodmornings
1x5x185
2x5x225

Swings
1x15x40
2x15x70

I felt like I had about 15 more pounds in me today on squat. It wasn’t particularly easy but I made sure to take it very deep. This is my “hardest” session before the meet in 12 days so now I just have a lot of light stuff (except working up to a 90% bench on Wednesday) and will let this fatigue dissipate so I can show my fitness on the 28th.

Everything felt really good except the 340 squat. I think I was out of the groove a bit. Not too worried about it though.

88

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 1 of 5
[/quote]

Shouldn’t that have a trademark logo or something?

Don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of time to recover before the meet.

What’s your weight at, and what do you plan on competing at? If you’ve got some room to spare, this would be a great time to eat everything that isn’t nailed down. If you can put on a couple of pounds these last two weeks, it will ensure that you’re taking in enough to recover, and the extra weight will help with your leverages in Squat and a little extra weight never hurt the bench either.

89

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 1 of 5

Shouldn’t that have a trademark logo or something?

Don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of time to recover before the meet.

What’s your weight at, and what do you plan on competing at? If you’ve got some room to spare, this would be a great time to eat everything that isn’t nailed down. If you can put on a couple of pounds these last two weeks, it will ensure that you’re taking in enough to recover, and the extra weight will help with your leverages in Squat and a little extra weight never hurt the bench either.[/quote]

Yeah, forgot the trademark, here I am trying to make enemies again . . .

I was at 174 this morning. I think you may have missed the post where I said this is a pretty casual meet. It is not sanctioned and is run by the powerlifting gym I belong to. It is more/less designed for people who have never competed before and there is just one division and they’ll be calculating Wilk’s averages or something to figure out places. There will probably be in the neighborhood of 20 people competing. People that compete in the USAPL will be judging and so those are the rules that are applicable. One might ask why in the hell am I taking something so little so damn seriously . . . I would rather make fewer mistakes and have a nice experience in my first meet than the alternative. I figure if this meet can serve as a confidence boost for the next all the better, let’s get positive momentum right away if possible.

I will eat what I can, I’ve been maintaining weight lately, having trouble eating more than maintenance because my stomach has been a little screwy. Hopefully that is behind me though.

Alright, I’m feeling pretty good about everything.

90

[quote]mrodock wrote:
I think you may have missed the post where I said this is a pretty casual meet.
[/quote]

Yeah, I miss a lot of things. Luckily there was no quiz.

Since it’s using the Wilkes formula, or something similar, and since it’s your first meet, I wouldn’t worry too much about a couple extra pound of BW, if you can add it.

Personally I’m not a fan of formulas, coefficients, etc. I don’t want to know how much I could have lifted IF I weighed the same as someone else, I just want to know if I lifted more or less than my competition. But I’m not going to do that rant right now.

91

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
I think you may have missed the post where I said this is a pretty casual meet.

Yeah, I miss a lot of things. Luckily there was no quiz.

Since it’s using the Wilkes formula, or something similar, and since it’s your first meet, I wouldn’t worry too much about a couple extra pound of BW, if you can add it.

Personally I’m not a fan of formulas, coefficients, etc. I don’t want to know how much I could have lifted IF I weighed the same as someone else, I just want to know if I lifted more or less than my competition. But I’m not going to do that rant right now.[/quote]

I probably will put on a couple of lb’s so I look even sexier in my singlet.

I certainly don’t disagree with your assessment. From my angle it is just a chance to see if I can peak on a specific day with judging. I don’t really care where I end up in reference to everyone else.

92

Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 2 of 5

Bench
work up to opener
1x205

light accessory work

Dips
3x8xBW

Push-ups on Bosu ball
2x10

Kept the accessory work lighter than Monday. I felt pretty good on the bench today, paused the opener for at least 2 seconds and it felt pretty good. Feel a little better about things every day.

93

Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 3 of 5

Squat walkouts
2x225
1x315
1x365
1x405

Deadlifts
Work up to 70-75% of max and do 2 singles
3x1x345
5x1x225 (holding the top, not used to this)

I did an extra rep on 345 because I didn’t hold the first two at the top. I REALLY need to think about this a lot over the next few days. Definitely a stupid ass reason to miss a deadlift.

I can tell I am still a little run down. I think I will be peaking right on time.

94

[quote]mrodock wrote:
I can tell I am still a little run down. I think I will be peaking right on time.[/quote]

You’ll be ready for next weekend. Just don’t do anything crazy next week, and you should have a great day on Saturday.

95

[quote]Modi wrote:
mrodock wrote:
I can tell I am still a little run down. I think I will be peaking right on time.

You’ll be ready for next weekend. Just don’t do anything crazy next week, and you should have a great day on Saturday.
[/quote]

I’m getting everything in order this weekend so it will be a very easy week. And I’ll stick to the protocol in the gym exactly.

96

Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 4 of 5 (I guess the meet is coming up soon!)

Squat
work up to 80%, do 2 singles

2x1x300

Could have felt lighter but I’m not worried.

97

Modi’s Peaking Plan, Session 5 of 5

Bench
work up to 75%, do 2 singles

2x1x170

I feel the aggression rising a little everyday (probably a lot like the 40 year old virgin).

98

My first meet:

99

[quote]mrodock wrote:
My first meet:

Congrats on the meet! I know you wanted to total more, but just getting your lifts “official” is a fine accomplishment. Best of training for your next meet!

And, man, what a war you fought with that 400 squat. Who called for the spotters?

100

[quote]donpalmero wrote:
mrodock wrote:
My first meet:

Congrats on the meet! I know you wanted to total more, but just getting your lifts “official” is a fine accomplishment. Best of training for your next meet!

And, man, what a war you fought with that 400 squat. Who called for the spotters?[/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate the support!

The spotter on my right decided I was done. Honestly, when the bar started moving I thought I had broken the sticking point and I was going to finish it, and then I was trying to hold my position (establish control) but the spotters had helped me and they were walking me into the rack. I guess no blood was going to my brain!

So it was a very small meet reffed by USAPL veteran powerlifters at the gym I belond to. The head ref (to my knowledge) did not call for the spotters. So I guess when I tipped over a little more they figured I was in prime position to hurt myself. I was really upset that they had grabbed the bar at first, but when I saw just how out of position I was on video I thought they did the right thing. Okay, I am done rambling!