Sunday – DE Bench
DE Bench
135 + doubled minis 10 sets of 3
Chest Supported Rows
160 x10
160 x10
160 x10
160 x10
Forearm Rolly Thingy
25lbs
Barbell Static Holds / Shrugs
225 x30 seconds
315 x25 seconds / 25 shrugs
315 x15 seconds / 25 shrugs
I was dragging ass so I didn’t do a whole lot. I’m sure my joints could use the rest anyways
Tuesday – Heavy Pull
Today marks the 28th year of my existence as a human life form.
Deadlifts against Doubled Mini Bands w/ 2 pads (approx 1.5")
135 x3
225 x3
315 x3
365 x1
405 x1
455 x1 +50lb PR
475 x1 +70lb PR
510 x1 +105lb PR IS THIS FOR REAL!!?? **
The last time I did these was on 7/22 of last year, where I missed 455 twice. This was the reason for the funky jumps. After 405, I knew I was good for more than 455 so I went ahead and took it. Usually I would not recommend making such a large jump into a PR attempt, but I knew I had several more sets in me. The 455 moved well but I let the weight get in front of me which made it harder. The next set 475 was better than 455, but I still let the weight get in front of me.
** My training partner and I had a wager – whoever lost had to buy dinner and drinks. He took 505 and made it, then took 525 and missed it (this was 4 plates, 2 quarters and a dime on each side). So being a wise ass I took 510 (4 plates, 2 quarters, and 2.5lb plate on each side) to beat him by 5lbs. I just had to get loud and obnoxious and pull like hell and hope everything came out alright, which it did.
He then took 515 and picked it up like an empty bar. Dammit.
Raw, Beltless, Sumo, Deficit Deadlifts – about 1" deficit
405 x5
405 x5
405 x7
405 x9 (once again this was an attempt to 1-up my training partner)
Pulldown Abs
120 x15
140 x15
150 x15
Great little session today!
7/19 – ME Bench
Floor Press w/ Doubled Boat Chains (+110lbs of chains at the top)
bar x10
135 x5
185 x5
225 x3
275 x1
Decided to stop here … my PR is 300 on this, and this last rep was slow and gross. For some reason I was starving, despite eating normal all day long. This definitely affected me because I just had no energy all day.
Close Grip w/ Doubled Boat Chains
185 x10
185 x10
JM Presses w/ Doubled Boat Chains
135 x12
155 x9
Close Grip 3 Board
315 x5
I did some other light accessory work here, and stuck around to help out the others guys who did some lockout work in their shirts.
I’m going to eat myself into full blown obesity tonight. Squats tomorrow!
July 20 – Squat Meet Prep
Business trip today, got in early so I could take off early.
Squat
raw, to a parallel box
bar x20
150 x8
150 x8
240 x5
330 x3
add Jack briefs
420 x3
510 x2
add Leviathon, straps down
600 x1 (mile high)
straps up
690 x1
knee wraps on
740 x0 (I threw up in my mouth on this one – lost all the air in my gut and the weight folded me in half)
740 x1 (better)
add reverse band
840 x1 +10lb PR
Now I’m off to Lake Cumberland for the weekend for some shannanigans!
Tuesday 7/24 – Deadlift Assistance
I pretty much drank myself silly all day Saturday. It was not conducive to speed training so I skipped it altogether. I could ill-afford to do this, it was completely irresponsible of me. My hangover lingered into today, where I still couldn’t drink enough water.
Low SSB Box Squats
bar x10
135 x10
225 x6
245 x6
245 x6
Good Mornings w/ Cambered SSB
135 x10
225 x10
275 x6
add belt
315 x8
Stiff Leg Deadlifts w/ 120lbs Chains
135 x10
225 x10
315 x6
add belt
405 x5
405 x7 ← This sucked
Decline Abs
bw x20
light sandbag x12
light sandbag x12
light sandbag x12
Oblique Crunch Thingies
24lb x10 (each side)
24lb x10 (each side)
Good session, but now it feels like there is a nail in my spine.
7/26 – Shirted Bench
The idea was to work up to your opener and then overload with boards. I am sore as shit from Tuesday still, and I skipped Sunday’s bench work so I didn’t really expect to be awesome this session.
Bench
135 x10
185 x5
225 x5
275 x3
315 x1
add SD{
405 x3 (3 board)
455 x1 (1 board)
475 x1 (planned opener – grindy as hell)
495 x1 (1 board)
525 x0 (3 board – misgroove)
525 x1 (3 board)
Raw work off 3 board
315 x5
335 x6
Chest Supported Row
190 x10
270 x10
270 x10
Lat Pulldowns
180 x10
180 x8
230 x5
Today went alright with all things considered. It seems like my bench has regressed over the last 3-4 weeks, I suppose that’s a result of the heavy squat training.
I should have a legitimate shot at a 2,000lb total this meet, if I can hit some decent squat / bench numbers. At this point, I’m planning on the following attempts:
Squat
1st - 740
2nd - 775
3rd - 805
Bench
1st - 475
2nd - 500
3rd - 520
My deadlift attempts will be based on my subtotal. So:
Deadlift
1st – whatever it takes to get an 1890 total (XPC qualifying total)
2nd – whatever it takes to get a 2000 total (AAPF elite)
3rd – go for broke on something stupid
If I get all 3 squats and my opener bench, that’ll leave me with a 610 deadlift for an 1890 and a 720 deadlift for an elite total.
If I get my 2nd squat, and my 2nd bench, it’ll leave me with a 615 deadlift to qualify and a 725 deadlift for an elite total.
In the best case scenario I go 5 or 6/6 on my squat and bench attempts I should be in great shape (which is entirely possible too but I’m not going to plan on that)
I’m sure with an elite total on the line I’m good for a 725 pull.
If I only get my openers on the squat / bench I’ll likely just pull 675 to qualify and stop there.
My hamstrings, glutes, abs and lower back have been unbelievably sore the past couple of days. Usually I’m only sore or tight for a day or two, this has been the worst DOMS I can remember in recent memory. I wanted to get just a little bit of work in to try to loosen up. We are going to pull heavy next week in our suits and I want to get a good idea of where a 3rd attempt should be. Also the next 2 weeks are going to be brutal so I left some in the tank today.
Camber Bar Squat against Chains
150 x10 (ouch)
briefs on
240 x8
330 x5
add 3 chains / side – 120lbs total
330 x3
add 2 more chains / side – 200lbs total
330 x3
380 x3
420 x1
470 x1
The last set was heavy but not a max effort attempt
Pulldown Abs
110 x20
130 x15
150 x12
100 x20
Reverse Hyperextensions
140 x12
140 x12
140 x12
Tuesday 7/31
Today was supposed to be a speed pull day but we wanted to get one more heavy pull in before the meet. The next time we pull it will be an opener (about 10 days out) and then we’re done deadlifting.
Deadlift Pin 2 w/ 160lbs of chains
135 + chains x5
225 + chains x3
315 + chains x1
405 + chains x1
495 + chains x1
545 + chains x1
585 + chains x0
add magic Metal Deadlift suit
585 + chains x1
610 + chains x1 (770 @ the top which is 5lbs over the AAPF WR)
suit off, wrist straps on
365 + chains x15 (sucked)
Belt Squats
1.5 pps x10
2.5 pps x10
2.5 pps x10
3.5 pps x6
Decline Abs
bw x15
10lb plate on forehead x12
25lb plate on forehead x10
Reverse Hypers
140 x10
210 x10
I don’t know how much the deadlift with chains will transfer over to a competition deadlift but I am happy that I can hold on to that much weight. I figure if I’m within 40lbs of the WR on my 3rd I might as well take a stab at a 770 pull which would break the AAPF WR. I’m not sure how reasonable this is but I figure I got nothing to lose.
Thursday – ME Bench
Foam press on this day to save our shoulders. Personally I wanted to get some volume in.
Raw Bench Warmups
1350 x8
185 x6
225 x6
275 x6
Add Foam
315 x6
365 x3
405 x1
420 x0 (this sucked)
Supp. Work
Close Grip 3 Board
315 x8
Comp. Grip 4 Board
365 x5
Close Grip to Chest
315 x4
Lots of upper back work, pulldowns, rear delt work, etc, etc.
Friday Aug 3rd
Today is week 1 of our squat peaking cycle. The goal of today is to work up to your opener, then take 2 overload sets with Reverse Bands. Last time I squatted in the suit I had trouble getting depth so I did some extra work in the suit to feel it out.
Raw Box Squat Warmups
bar x15
150 x10
260 x5
350 x3
Add Orange Pumpkin Briefs
440 x3
530 x3
Add Suit Bottoms
620 x2
670 x2
670 x2
Straps up, knee wraps on
720 x1 <— EASY OPENER
Add Reverse EliteFTS Average Bands
800 x1
850 x1 +10lb PR ← EASY
Did some abs and reverse hypers and bounced
Sunday DE Work
DE Bench
185 + doubled minis x3
185 + doubled minis x3
185 + doubled minis x3
185 + doubled minis x3
185 + doubled minis + 40lbs chain (each side) x3
185 + doubled minis + 40lbs chain (each side) x3
185 + doubled minis + 40lbs chain (each side) x3
185 + doubled minis + 40lbs chain (each side) x3
185 + doubled minis + 40lbs chain (each side) x3
Chest Supported Row
135 x10
135 x10
160 x10
160 x10
Bamboo Bar Skullcrushers
52 x15
70 x15
70 x15
70 x15
70 x15
Hammercurls
35 x12
45 x10
45 x10
45 x10
Strong 850…looked super easy
Smoke show on that squat, dude. Good shit.
CS
Nice squat mayne. 850 feels real nice on your back.
Real smooth, Frank. Good stuff!
[quote]ChadDresden wrote:
Strong 850…looked super easy[/quote]
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Smoke show on that squat, dude. Good shit.
CS[/quote]
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Nice squat mayne. 850 feels real nice on your back.[/quote]
[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Real smooth, Frank. Good stuff![/quote]
Thanks for stopping in guys. My squats have been feeling great, I feel like I have my form dialed in and I’m not struggling at all with depth. I’ve never been this confident before, it seems like everything is coming together perfectly. Now all I have to do is put it together at the meet.
Tuesday 8/7 – Speed Pulls
Today we wanted to work up to an opener on the deadlift, but I also wanted to do speed pulls. So I did both. Not sure how beneficial that was but whatever:
Deadlift
135 x5
225 x3
315 x1
405 x1
405 x1
405 x1
add suit
495 x1
585 x1
635 x1 (opener-ish?)
suit off
405 x1
405 x1
405 x1
Good Mornings w/ SSB
135 x12
185 x12
225 x10
225 x6
Weighted Ab Crunches
120 x20
140 x20
150 x20
Hyperextensions
green band x20
Cashed out here. Weights didn’t move too fast today but I’m not worried about it. By the time the meet comes around I’ll be so hopped up on adrenaline, energy drinks and ammonia it won’t be an issue.
Thursday we’ll hit our openers in shirts, overload with boards. Friday is the heaviest squat day of the training cycle, looking @ 750 straight weight and 870-ish or more with the over head band. This should set me up well for a 770 2nd attempt and a 3rd @ 805.
Ridiculous stuff! I am eagerly anticipating some frankjl domination come the meet!
[quote]Molikeye wrote:
Ridiculous stuff! I am eagerly anticipating some frankjl domination come the meet![/quote]
Thanks guy, me too. Anything can happen on the day of the meet, hopefully I can put it all together.
August 9 – Heavy Shirted Bench
Goal of today is to hit the bench opener and overload with boards. Training is starting to kick my ass, and we are all feeling beat up. So if we can handle our openers easily it’s a very good sign for the meet. This was the last heavy bench before the meet.
Flat bench
Raw warmups
bar x15
135 x10
185 x5
225 x5
275 x3
315 x3
add shirt
3 board – 405 x3
2 board – 455 x2
475 x1 (touch – smashed this but no video)
1 board – 500 x1 (got gay wrist and struggled, fixed gay wrist at lockout and finished it)
1.5 board – 520 x0 (got gay wrist and couldn’t lock it out)
raw closegrip
315 x5
raw 3 board
315 x6
I did some lat pulldowns, hammer curls and rolling DB tricep extensions here, but nothing worth writing down.
I am very pleased with today as I handled my opener well and my 2nd attempt went well. To be honest I’d be satisfied with a 500lb bench at this meet, and I am very optimistic I can get that with 2 attempts at it.
Tomorrow is the heaviest day of the whole training cycle, and the last heavy squat before the meet.
August 10 – The Squat Day To Rule Them All
Squat
raw warmups
bar x10
150 x10
260 x5
350 x3
add briefs
460 x3
550 x2
add suit bottoms
640 x2
690 x1 ← more like a good morning, so I’m counting this is a 300lb PR on straight bar good morning
straps up, wraps on
750 x1 ← felt slow and painful, but the video doesn’t look bad
I was all over the place today, I think it was a combination of being too amped up and just being dead from a lot of heavy training in a short period. Decide to take 1 overload set with bands instead of 2 and play it conservative.
add reverse bands
850 x1 ← same weight as last week but SLLLOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW
The one other guy in the group who is doing the meet with me had an awful day too, missing 2 reps in warmups. It’s probably been over a year since he’s missed a rep in training. If he would have had a good day, I might have been a little more upset. I’m positive that today was a result of just being burned out, and I’ll be smoking weights at the meet.
Now all of the hard work is done, next week is a deload and the week after is just minimal training to keep blood flowing. Now it’s time for an epic backload
I figured I’ll go through all of the things I did wrong today and list them while they are still fresh in my mind:
My upper back was pretty much trashed after the good mornings on Tuesday. I also handed out to everybody on Thursday night’s benches and my upper back was cramping up badly then too. This is probably why I was unable to keep my upper back tight enough.