I have been contemplating creating a log for awhile now so I guess now is as good as ever. I am about 9 weeks away from my first powerlifting meet.
Here are some stats:
Age:24
Height:5ft7
Weight:190ish
Squat: 405 a few months ago, 385 is highest I’ve gone lately
Bench:365 touch and go a few months ago, did 335x2 last week
Deadlift: 475, still waiting for the elusive 5 plates per side
I plan on competing raw at 198. My goals for the meet is to go 9 for 9 on my lifts, hit 405 on squat, 350 on bench, and 500 deadlift. As far as totals go I think 1200 would be ok, 1250 would be solid, and 1300 I would be very happy with.
A1) Flat BB Bench - 1x5@135
1x5@185
1x5@225
1x5@245
Just some light work, all the lifts were fast. Felt good.
B1) DB Row - 1x13@90
1x13@100
1x10@110
1x10@120
C1) Pin Presses - 1x5@135
1x5@225
1x5@275
1x3@295
1x4@315
I’m new to these, so still figuring it out. Set the pins about 1-2" above my chest when I’m all set up and arched under the bar. But I like it, nice change.
Light weights, but were shockingly slow. Kinda disappointing.
B1) Leg Press (Narrow Stance)
1x10@4pps
1x10@5pps
1x10@6pps
1x10@5pps
C1) Seated Leg Curls
1x20@90
1x13@100
1x12@100
1x8@100 ----- Felt a weird pop in my left hammy so stopped here
D1) Seated GMs
4x10@100
E1) Banded GMs
2x20 with average band
Another boring deload day. But hopefully I feel refreshed and ready to push it hard next week.
Random story from the gym. I should preface it by saying a few days ago a guy who cleans up the gym who knows I’m one of the few people who uses chalk came over and talked to me. Said that the lady who owns the gym is getting complaints about chalk on the weights and getting on peoples’ clothing. But he told me not to worry about it cause he knows I don’t really make a mess. cool, great, no big deal
Today I walk into the gym to find the same guy on his hands and knees scrubbing chalk off the mat near the power rack. It literally looked like someone took a new block of chalk and jumped on it. So now I’m thinking, great, some douche who’s a slob is gonna ruin it for everyone else. As this thought is crossing my mind, the gym owner walks up to him, gets all huffy puffy and says “thats it! the next person who uses chalk is getting kicked out!”
Greaaaaaaat. The gym isn’t perfect, but it’s not by any means bad. There’s only a few pieces of equipment I wish it had and at least they let me deadlift and use chalk and bands and i’ve never had any problems.
If they give me shit about chalk, might be time to finally find a real gym.
E1)DB Tricep Extensions with mini band
A lot of reps
Good workout. I’m pretty new to reverse band bench presses but I think I have it set up nicely. The bar by itself suspends freely in the bands right at lockout. The bands help where I’m usually my weakest (off my chest up to 1-2inches off of it) but once past that point, the bands start to deload and it gets hard FAST. My triceps are still on fire.
A1)Squat
1x10-Bar
1x5@135
1x4@225
1x2@275
1x1@315
1x1@345
1x1@365 - FAST!
1x1@385 - FAST!
1x1@405 - little awkward at the bottom, but still went up relatively fast
I am very happy with this. I haven’t seen improvement in my squat in forever. I think the very easy deload last week is starting to show its benefits this week. A few weeks ago when I last tried 385 it was a grinder. But this week 385 went up fast and smooth, and 405 felt great. No knee wraps, just belt and wrist wraps. I was honestly only shooting for 395 today, but 385 felt too easy not to go for 405.
B1) Leg Press
1x10@4pps
1x10@5pps
1x10@6pps
C1) Back Extensions
3x15 with 35lbs plate
D1) Ab wheel roll outs 3x12
D2) Band GMs 3x15 against a light band
Awesome workout. Hit 405 well below parallel for the 1st time in a long time, and it went up real smooth. No lower back pain. All in all probably the best squat session I’ve had in awhile.
D1) Mini Band Pressing and Tricep Work
Lots of reps, I wrapped a mini band under a bench and did a bunch of pressing movements, along with tricep extensions, flys, etc.
Didn’t feel great when I got to the gym so I decided to do doubles instead of singles like I had planned. Apparently I was wrong lol. Two PR’s on doubles. My previous PR for a double was 335, so this is great. I might have to adjust my bench goal for this meet.
B1)Chins
1x10@BW
1x11@BW
1x9@BW
1x9@BW
C1)Pin Presses-Pins Set 1-2" above chest
1x7@225
1x6@275
1x5@275
1x6@225
Another great workout. Things are shaping up for me to put up nice numbers for this meet. I just have to figure out how to put it all together and peak right on meet day. The last thing I want is to have great numbers in the gym but lift like shit at the meet.
My singlet has been ordered and should be here by Friday.
Trying to get used to using knee wraps and it’s not going well. By the time I have my 2nd knee wrapped the 1st one has gone numb and I feel weak as hell under the bar. I have to get this sorted out or I’m gonna lift without them. I was all excited to use wraps and see it instantly add 25-50 pounds to my squat but instead I feel weaker.
B1) Back Ext
4x15 w/ 35lb plate
C1) Lying Leg Curls
1x10@95
4x10@110
D1) Leg Press (Narrow Stance)
1x10@3pps
1x10@4pps
1x10@5pps
1x10@6pps
1x10@7pps
Eh, not a spectacular workout but solid. I definitely expected to squat a lot more using the reverse bands. Awww well.
Solid workout. Might be taking it easy this week. Might try to go heavy on deadlifts instead of squatting this week, but beyond that probably going to be taking it easy so I can hit it hard again next week. Some weeks you just don’t have it. This is one of those weeks.
A1)Deadlifts
1x10@Bar
1x4@135
1x3@225
1x1@315
1x1@365
1x1@405
1x1@435
1x1@455
1x1@475 - Not bad
1x4@405
B1)Stiff Leg Deadlifts off small box
1x10@135
1x9@225
1x8@225
1x8@225
C1)Standing Cable Ab Crunches (Using Leg Raises Straps)
1x15@85
1x13@85
1x15@70
I stopped here because my lower abs freaked out after my last set of crunches to the point where I was nervous I gave myself a hernia. When I sat down after my set my lower right ab twitched and spasmed and cramped all at once and it really scared the shit out of me. But I don’t think it was anything serious. Thank god.
E1)Heavy Cable Ab Crunches (Spud Straps)
2x15@70
2x15@85
F1)Banded GMs (Light Band)
2x15
Good workout, nothing fancy, but no complaints. 5 weeks until judgement day, so I think I’ll have about 3 more tough weeks of lifting ahead, then hit my openers 2 weeks out. I won’t completely take off the last two weeks but the volume will be pretty low.
I normally just do touch and go during my bench workouts, so with the meet coming up fast, I wanted to get used to controlling the descent, pausing for a second, and then exploding back up. It felt better than I expected. 360 was solid with some still left in the tank. It wasn’t a grinder at all. 370-380 should be do-able at this meet in a few weeks. Sweeeeeeeeet
B1)Incline DB Bench
1x13@60
1x10@75
1x8@90
1x8@100
1x8@110
A1)Dead Squats (Pins set maybe a hair above parallel)
1x10@135
1x3@225
1x2@275
1x1@315
1x1@335
1x1@355
1x1@375 - Brutal
I have never done this exercise before, and 375 was a bitch. Took quite a bit of struggling before the bar finally left the pins and started to go up. After that rep, I took my belt and head phones off, and this guy who was working out with his teenage son was nodding at me and saying “Big money, bigggggg money”. I think that was a compliment, but you never can be entirely sure…
B1)Deficit Deads (off of a 5" box)
1x5@135
1x3@225
1x3@315
1x3@365
1x5@315
C1)Standing Cable Ab Crunches
1x20@70
1x10@85
1x10@85
1x20@70
D1)Banded GMs (Light Band)
1x18
1x17
1x15
I kinda liked the Dead Squats off the low pins because it’s a different kind of struggle compared to a normal squat where I bounce out of the hole. It completely removes that momentum and acceleration.
