On My Way to 2000lbs

Training Training Logs
181

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]frankjl wrote:
You guys think it was locked out? Next time I’ll leave no doubt.[/quote]
Looks like you started with your hips locked in a bit. A few tweaks and it’ll fly up.[/quote]

Here it is … 705 … I could watch this video all day. Skip to 21s in for the good part.

The goal of today is to figure out where my conventional deadlift is at. I’m doing the August 25th AAPF meet in Detroit, MI. This is a qualifier for the XPC semi finals in October. I am looking to get at least an 1890 total in August (to qualify for the XPC semi finals), and over a 2000 total in October. At this point, I have no clue where my conventional pull is at. I figured I’d do a heavy conventional pull and decide which stance to use.

Deadlift
135 x10
225 x5
315 x5
405 x1 (add suit, belt, light straps)
495 x1
585 x1
675 x0 (slipped out of my hand)
705 x1 smoke show, humongous PR and I have no idea where this came from.

Take suit off, belt off
Sumo Deadlift
405 x5
405 x5
405 x5

I did some light abs here, but after that pull I didn’t feel like doing anything. I was dead.

182

[quote]frankjl wrote:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]frankjl wrote:
You guys think it was locked out? Next time I’ll leave no doubt.[/quote]
Looks like you started with your hips locked in a bit. A few tweaks and it’ll fly up.[/quote]

Here it is … 705 … I could watch this video all day. Skip to 21s in for the good part.

The goal of today is to figure out where my conventional deadlift is at. I’m doing the August 25th AAPF meet in Detroit, MI. This is a qualifier for the XPC semi finals in October. I am looking to get at least an 1890 total in August (to qualify for the XPC semi finals), and over a 2000 total in October. At this point, I have no clue where my conventional pull is at. I figured I’d do a heavy conventional pull and decide which stance to use.

Deadlift
135 x10
225 x5
315 x5
405 x1 (add suit, belt, light straps)
495 x1
585 x1
675 x0 (slipped out of my hand)
705 x1 smoke show, humongous PR and I have no idea where this came from.

I did some light abs here, but after that pull I didn’t feel like doing anything. I was dead.[/quote]
Sweet pull. You earned that.

183

That was one hell of a smokeshow

184

Thanks guys. Felt like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t believe the video when I saw it. Now I gotta figure out how I did that and do it in a meet.

185

Here is the 675 I missed before the 705. I just lost my concentration on my grip, and didn’t take the set as seriously as I should have. No excuses.

I commented earlier about some changes in my deadlift stance.

This was where it was about 2 months ago:

and you can refer to the above 705 video for the new stance. Obviously it’s working well.

I moved my feet out a little bit, and also flared my toes out. This lets me sit back into it more, which in turn gives me a lot more pop off the ground. It also allows me to keep the bar closer to my body which helps my lockout. End result: 50lb PR with more in the tank.

186

Thursday June 28 – ME Bench

The goal for today was to figure out our opener benches. As good as Tuesday was, today was awful. Non-scientific folk may refer to this as “CNS Burnout”. We refer to it at the gym as “losing your joo joo”. I had no joo joo today and felt early on that today was going to suck. I just didn’t realize how bad.

Flat Bench
[raw]
135 x10
185 x5
225 x5
275 x3
315 x3 (this felt awful)
SDP on
405x3 (no touch)
405x1 (about 2 inches from touching)
455x0 touch and then threw it back on the rack
480x0 (wrists bent backwards, couldn’t lock it out aka flimsy wrist syndrome)
Add 1 board
495x0 stapled

So out of 5 sets with the shirt, I didn’t touch and press a single one. This is depressing.

Close Grip Raw
275 x9
295 x6

Illegal Wide Grip
275 x10

I did some other shoulder work and band tricep pushdowns and bounced. Not every day can be a winner. I feel strongly that this was because of the heavy heavy pulls on Tuesday. Conventional deadlifts always take a lot out of me, even more so now that I’m up in the 700 range. Even when I could only pull in the mid 4’s the next day sucked.

I’m kind of upset about it, but I’m wise enough to realize that 1 bad day doesn’t negate the 6-7 months of ass kicking I’ve been doing on the bench. Also, I was able to tie/break PR’s on my supplemental movements so I know the strength is there, I was just missing my joo joo.

187

Friday June 29 – ME Lower

With how yesterday went I didn’t have high hopes for today. To be honest, I was going to take the day off but talked myself into it. We did some chain stability squats. These are a pain in the ass, you have to stay really tight.

ME Movement
Squat
bar x20
bar w/ 1 chain x5
bar w/ 2 chains x5
bar w/ 3 chains x5
Add Briefs
150 w/ 3 chains x3
240 w/ 3 chains x1 Briefs blow out here

I had another pair of looser briefs in the car, run out and change into them

240 w/ 3 chains x1
290 w/ 3 chains x1

My PR here was 290 for 3 reps. It just wasn’t in the cards today.

Supplemental

Raw SSB to Low Box (no belt)
150 x10
240 x8

I had to bounce here because there was literally a tornado outside the gym.

This weekend I’m going to relax, foam roll, drink whiskey and get down on some digital warfare via MW3. Sunday and Tuesday I’m going to stay away from barbell movements and just do some high rep stuff and even pull the sled a little bit. I figure this week is a good time to deload a little bit.

188

Good stuff man and smart move I think. Do you have boss briefs and those blew out??

189

[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Good stuff man and smart move I think. Do you have boss briefs and those blew out??[/quote]

No, I was wearing a pair of hand me down Metal Ace briefs actually. It was the first time I ever wore them, they are really old so I wasn’t too upset they blew. The briefs I have been training in are just a pair of Metal Pro’s. I definitely want to upgrade before this next meet. EliteFTS is 30 minutes down the road, so I might just go with the Jack or Ace briefs just out of simplicity.

190

Saturday June 30

Post-Tornado Lower Body Accessory Work

… picked up where I stopped off last night …

Below Parallel SSB Box Squats
bar x10
bar x10
150 x10
150 x10
240 x5
240 x5
245 x5
290 x3
290 x3

Reverse Hyperextensions
140 x12
140 x12
140 x12

Decline Abs
bw x25
10lb plate on head x20
light sandbag x12
light sandbag x12

Weighted Ab Thingies
120 x25
120 x25
140 x15

Stretching, foam rolling, etc, etc, etc.

191

Sunday July 1

RE Bench

Crazy / Bamboo Bar Bench
62lbs x20
110lbs x20
150lbs x10
180lbs x10
200lbs x10
234lbs x10

This is a good movement to deload with, the wobbly nature of the bamboo bar forces you to stay super tight, and also builds up the stabilizer muscles in the shoulder joints. I am taking a guess at the weights here because I used a combination of kettlebells and quarters & dimes. The last set was pretty difficult.

Bamboo Bar Skullcrushers
58lbs x10
58lbs x10
58lbs x10
58lbs x10
58lbs x10

Lat Pulldowns
160 x12
160 x12
160 x12

DB Front Shoulder Raises
20 x15
20 x15
20 x15

Hammer curls
45 x15
45 x15
45 x15

Band Tricep Pushdowns
Averange Band x20
Averange Band x20
Averange Band x20

DB Shrugs
80 x25
80 x25

Nothing fancy today, just went in and did a lot of work.

192

So I went in today and for an early birthday gift I drove down to EliteFTS and bought me a pair of those snazzy bright orange Metal Jack Briefs. It took 6 dudes and a crain to get me into them, but once I got them on I felt invincible.

Tuesday 7/3 – Deadlift Assistance

High Chain Suspended GM’s
135 x10
135 x10
225 x8
225 x8
add belt
315 x6
315 x6
add EliteFTS Average band
225 x6
225 x6
275 x6
315 x5

Belt Squats
1.5 pps x15
2.5 pps x10
2.5 pps x10

Cable Abs
120 x20
120 x20
130 x16

Squats
Metal Jack Briefs on
150 x3
240 x3 (bar literally flying off my back)
330 x3
420 x2 (sitting back as hard as I can, almost to depth)

Good little session today. I’m looking forward to being the most colorful lifter on the platform in August, with Orange briefs, white squat suit, red bench shirt, and black deadlift suit.

193

Thursday 7/5 – ME Bench

If you were like me, you spent the majority of yesterday drinking whiskey by the pool and eating quesadillas. It was also probably the hottest day of the year and my car’s thermo read 105 degrees. I knew going in that today probably wasn’t going to be a stellar day, but I wanted to redeem myself for last week’s fiasco. So we decided to do a movement we’ve never done before. That way, even if you’re having an “off” day you don’t really even know it.

ME Chain Gang Bench
Work up to 275 straight weight, add chains
135 x10
185 x5
225 x5
275 x3
add 2 chains and a 2 board
275 w/ 2 chains x3
add 1 chain
275 w/ 3 chains x2
add 1 chain
275 w/ 4 chains x1
add 1 chain and 3 board
275 w/ 5 chains x1

We probably wouldn’t have used the boards, had all of our shoulders not been sore. The 2 board is low enough that you can still feel the accommodating resistance, especially if you have long monkey arms like me. The only thing I have to compare this to is a 295 w/ 3 chains bench I did a few weeks ago.

Close Grip
225 w/ 3 chains x6 (thumbs length from the smooth part of the bar)
225 w/ 3 chains x7 (pinkies on the rings)

Chest Supported Row
2 plates x15
2 plates + 25 x10
3 plates x10
3 plates + 25 x10
3 plates + 35 x10

Skullcrushers (laying on floor, resting weight on ground at the bottom of the movement)
85 x AMAP 30s rest
85 x AMAP 30s rest
85 x AMAP 30s rest

Cable Curls
80lbs x20
I did several more sets here, but I am ashamed to admit it.

And tomorrow is the 7 week out marker, which means it’s time to suit up in full gear and get down with some stupid amount of weight. My goal is a 750 free squat and a 835 or so overload with the band from the top.

194

Friday 7/6 – ME Squat

Today is the start of the really heavy squat cycle. It was also 111 degrees today. So my goal was to hit some big numbers or at least get heat stroke so I didn’t look like a weakling.

Squat
bar x20
150 x10
240 x5
add briefs
330 x5
420 x2
510 x2
add suit, straps down
600 x1
680 x1 (about a mile high)
680 x1 (about 2 inches high)
straps up, knee wraps on
750 x1 (about 2 inches high)
At this point, it was decided to take the weight down because I was struggling with depth. I was just moving too slow. I wasn’t confident and I needed to be more aggressive sitting back into the suit. I say “it was decided” because my training partners pretty much made the call and I went with it. This is important, especially in multiple ply, because they always see things that you don’t.
700 x1 – to depth and easy
add reverse bands
830 x1 +10lb PR and easy (video)

The weights moved well today, even though every time I unracked the bar, it felt like I was dying. However, I hit all of the goals I set out to hit today and shut it down. This was a great day. Over the next few weeks we’ll get used to the equipment again and the heavier weights and we’ll steadily add weight to the bar. My goal is to hit an 860-870 reverse band squat. I think this will translate to an 800 squat on the meet day.

Sooner or later the video will rotate back to normal

195

July 8

Some RE bench as to not aggravate my shoulders and bicep tendons. Anytime after I squat with the straight bar I tend to have to deal with it for a few days. Speed work only makes it worse so I used the Swiss bar today.

Swiss Bar Floor Press
135 x10
185 x10
225 x5
225 x5
225 x5

Chest Supported Row
2 plates x20
3 plates x10
3 plates x10
3 plates + 25 x10
3 plates + 25 x10

Decline Skullcrushers
90 x15
90 x15
90 x15

Lat Pulldowns
160 x12
160 x12
160 x12

Band Pushdowns
x20
x20
x20

Hammer Curls
35 x15
45 x12

196

July 10 – Speed Pulls

Deeeeeeep SSB Box Squats
135 x10
150 x10
225 x5
225 x5
225 x5
225 x5

Speed Pulls against Light Bands (approx 100lbs at the top)
135 x5
225 x3
275 x2
275 x2
315 x1
315 x1
315 x1
315 x1
365 x1
365 x1
415 x1
415 x1

Dimmel Deadlifts against Light Band with 1 second pause beneath knees (no belt)
315 x8
315 x8
315 x8

I feel like these make me strong as shit, so I was happy to do more of them this week. I really focused on snapping my hips and locking the weight out on every rep. My hips and lower back were on fire after this.

Reverse Hyperextension
190 x12
190 x12

Pulldown Abs
120 x20
130 x20
130 x10

Glute Ham Raise against Light Band
x8
x8

Great session today.

I started off today by squatting to an extremely low box. I’ve squatted 450 raw (over a year ago), 430 raw off a parallel box, 650+ in briefs and I’m planning on going over 800 in full gear at my next meet. While I haven’t done a heavy free weight squat in a long long time, I’d imagine it’s at least 500. Today I used 225 to a low box – and it was hard. For my body type and leverages, this is an extremely difficult movement, but it absolutely crushes my hips, glutes and quads. For the other guys in the gym, this isn’t that hard. But yet once we start adding weight, everybody wants to start adding pads to the box. I’m 6’5". I trained with 2 guys that were 5’7" or so and I used a lower box height than them.

They all sound like this:

“That’s toooooooo low”
“You only squat to parallel in the meet, why squat deeper than that in training?”
“You should add pads, that light of weight won’t do anything”

I was guilty of that for a long time. As a matter of fact, I used to intentionally avoid the SSB. Now I see it differently. If I can put 100 pounds on my below parallel SSB box squat, what’s going to happen to my deadlift? How much more hip drive will I be able to get off the floor? How much faster do you think I’m going to be out of the hole for my squats?

Nobody likes to look like the weak guy of the group. Everybody wants to be the strongest guy in the gym. I’ve changed in the past 6-8 months in that I’d rather be the stronger guy on the platform. That’s why we are powerlifters. I don’t give a shit what you (or I, for the matter) did in the gym. If what you do in the gym doesn’t make you stronger on the platform, quit cheating yourself and focus your attention elsewhere. Training is the time to look bad – so that you look better at the meet.

I’ve been using my belt less frequently during my supplementary deadlift movements (not ME movements). Why? Because if I condition myself to pull heavy weights without a belt, what will happen when I put my belt on?

For a powerlifter, training serves a single purpose: to better the result of a competition. So make your training harder than the competition. Pull sumo if you suck at it, pull off deficits, train your abs and lower back like crazy, do sets of tricep pushdowns until you’re dizzy. Do all of the stuff you suck it that makes you strong, even if that means not looking like the strongest guy in the gym.

I was a 600+ conventional puller about a year ago. One day, I decided to pull sumo. I struggled to get 415 for 3, and failed on 455. How embarrassing. Quickly, I disregarded the sumo pull as cheating and dropped it from my training. Once I added it back in, and started training it hard – like magic – both my squat and conventional deadlift went up. In a few months, I brought it up from the low 4’s to the mid 6’s. Well now I’m nailing PR squats with ease, and I recently pulled my first 700+ conventional, with more in the tank.

This is just my opinion – and in my opinion my lifts are far from impressive. But since changing my thinking I’ve had nothing but good results. Ultimately the real test will be August 25th, when I compete and I’ll figure out just how strong I really am. You can continue to try to be the strongest guy in the gym, I’d still rather be the stronger guy on the platform.

197

July 12 – Bench Openers

The idea today was to work up to a bench opener and them take some sets to boards / bands to overload. My last bench session in a shirt was a disaster so I needed today to be a good day for my own sanity.

Bench
135 x10
185 x5
225 x3
275 x3
315 x3
add SDP
405 x2 (3 board)
455 x1 (1 board)
475 x1 (chest – opener)
505 x1 (2 board)
add hanging Average bands
545 x1 (to chest)
565 x1 (to chest)
585 x0 (to chest, missed at the top)

I felt better today but was a little uncomfortable in the shirt. That will change over the next couple of weeks as we start using our shirts every other week. I also had “gay wrist syndrome”, with my wrists bending backwards. This needs to get fixed as it’s robbing pounds off my bench. Every single set after 455 did this, I was able to recover all but the very last one.

Raw Close Grip to 3 Board
315 x6
315 x6

Face pulls
120 x15
120 x15
120 x15

DB Front Raises
25 x12
25 x12
25 x12

Lat Pulldowns
160 x12
160 x12
160 x12

HI PAT!!!

198

July 13 – Squat Day

Squats against EliteFTS Strong band and Buffalo Bar
135 x20
225 x3
add briefs
315 x3
365 x3
405 x1
465 x1 (a touch high – rushed the setup and the bar was too high on my back causing me to fold over)
465 x1 +10lb PR

Band Resisted Back Raises
bw x10
medium band x12
medium band x12

Pulldown Abs
120 x20
140 x20

Did a bunch of grip work here like the wrist roll thingy as to cure my epic case of gay wrist.

199

Awesome job man. The writeup you did a couple sessions ago is something I am beginning to learn slowly but surely. Looks like training is going great for you and that is awesome!

200

[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Awesome job man. The writeup you did a couple sessions ago is something I am beginning to learn slowly but surely. Looks like training is going great for you and that is awesome![/quote]

Thanks for the feedback. It’s taken me years to learn it, and obviously some never learn it. When you start looking at training as simply a means to perform better in a competition, all of that ego-lift bullshit that you do seems to fade away. It also forces you to think critically about your training, and treat every rep like it’s the one that counts at the meet. There are no “do-overs” in a meet, so don’t get accustomed to them in training.

Whenever I take a heavy rep, I convince myself that it’s the 3rd attempt in a meet. My squat goal for this next meet is 805. Every rep after 3 plates I’ll setup and get tight like it’s that 805 squat. In my mind, no matter how much weight is on the bar, I am squatting 805. When I get to the meet, I’ll be that much more prepared for it and I’ll hit it just like I do every week in training. Or at least that’s the plan, hopefully I won’t get stapled.