“Best total in competition is 1439 (unequipped) as of 2012, with a 502lb squat, 336lb bench and 601lb deadlift. Best gym lifts of a 545x5 squat, 350lb bench and 650 deadlift.”
Eh?
Can you elaborate?
1 Like
Lol, I was just thinking that having “no idea how to powerlift” seems to have worked very well for you.
I am good at being strong, but powerlifting is not my strong suit. I don’t know how to peak for a meet, nor am I very good with technique.
3 Likes
Fair enough!
1 Like
Settle in for a long one here
AM WORKOUT (0450 wake up via dog)
CIRCUITS (chin-neck): no rest between movements
Rest paused chins for 6 sets for a total of 160 reps using every grip imaginable
Neck harness 55lbs
5 sets
Standing ab wheel
1x20
Axle rows against light bands: 1 min rest between sets
3x14
2x13
Axle shrugs against light bands
1x65
Kroc rows 115
1x20
Band pull aparts
1x75
Bodyweight reverse hyper
1x40
AM WORKOUT PART II (1030)
Texas Deadlift Bar Deadlift (touch and go)
5x135
5x205
5x385
5x435
5x485
SUPERSETS (dead-dip) 2 min rest between sets
TDL deadlift (touch and go) 435
5x5
Weighted dips 55
5x10
Tabata KB swings 45 (switching between 2 arm and 1 arm each round)
PM WORKOUT 1500
5 minute plank
Notes: Starting 3 night shifts in a row today. Dog got me up early so I knocked out all the assistance work, because I didn’t want to wake up the house by deadlifting. Got an incredibly back pump with those chins and the rows were very on point today. Kroc rows are getting harder now that I’m focusing on pulling those shoulder blades together at the top.
Deads went awesome. The SSL week is definitely the most taxing on me as far as the lower body stuff goes, and it’s what drives me to keep up the nutrition, which is good. Real sense of victory when I’m done, and dread leading up to it. Kept the dip superset because it’s just a plain ol’ nasty superset.
Hit the plank for no particular reason. Woke up from a nap getting ready for my shift and it sounded like an idea.
This one is a 12, so I packed a LOT of food. On that note, wanna write up my nutrition after this.
9 Likes
That is a LOT of work. Damn.
2 Likes
Ya know, I’ve seen you politely rebuff a lot of people, myself included, when you’re confronted with suggestions to fix technique, reduce intensity, alter diet, change sleep patterns, etc. Sometimes it seems like pure stubbornness, but you do periodically remind us that you’re very aware of your limitations.
You don’t claim to be a good coach, you mention certain academic areas where you don’t think you’re any good, but when it comes to getting bigger and stronger (and/or leaner) and what your body can or can’t handle, you refuse to put limitations on yourself.
I know you’re not a professional athlete, but I think you do share the champion’s mindset in that regard. Much respect, as always.
8 Likes
@kdjohn Gotta love backday, haha. And, consequently, it seems every ounce of muscle I’ve gained this cycle has gone straight to my back, which I’m totally ok with. Big backs are awesome. I wanna look like Strong Guy
@flappinit Your opinion really means a lot to me, so I really appreciate those words. I try my hardest to maintain a balance of perception and hubris. I blew out my ACL when I went too far into the latter direction and thought I was literally indestructible, but I’d honestly rather have my wings melt than never have flown in the first place.
Stubbornness is DEFINITELY an element of it. My father and grandfather both taught me “Look at what 90% of the population is doing and go do the opposite” which often means, when someone tells me they have an idea, I pretty much go “Well if YOU came up with it it’s clearly not what I should do”, but every once in a while I can let down those shields and absorb something. It works much better when I see someone explaining what they do and I end up stealing it vs someone telling me it’s a good idea, haha.
Wanna ramble about my nutrition, because it’s what I think is interesting these days and I got a lot of thoughts in my head.
Here is what my ideal training day schedule looks like
0500: Wake up, eat 3 cage free organic eggs with grass fed butter, 1/4 an avocado, a slice of fat free cheese melted on top and 3oz grassfed beef
0645: Finish training, drink 6oz egg whites mixed w/1 scoop whey and 1 serving “amazing grass” greens supplement+ some fat free whipped cream
0715: 1 light n fit or Oikos triple zero fat free greek yogurt
0745: 1 serving of fat free skyr or greek yogurt mixed with a protein scoop of Naked PB powder and some fat free whipped cream
0830: Cooked egg whites and some sort of meat
1000: Quest bar
1130: Low fat meat and veggies
1330: Half serving of macadamia nuts
1700: Fattier meat and veggies w 1/4 avocado
1900: 4 stalks of celery slathered in Nuts n More peanut or almond spread, 2 slices of keto friendly bread, toasted, w/1 slathered in natural PB and the other in natural almond butter
Ok, daily diets are lame to write out and lame to read, but what I’m doing here is bookending my fat intake. I start the day with a big dose of it, then cut it off and eat high protein, no fat, limited carb meals post workout. Once lunch has happened, I flip the switch and go back to bringing fats into the picture, with a high fat meal ending the day. Operating under the premise that fat blunts insulin response, so I’m trying to not eat it post workout.
This has been working well as far as I can tell. My sleep is improving, the Mrs says I look better, and I’m hitting my training goals. When I originally started this, I thought for sure I’d be putting away carbs, but I just plain don’t feel a need to eat them. I’m not dragging in my training, I don’t feel flat, and I can’t see any real benefit to including them.
Still Deep Mountaining the nutrition as best I can. The “dirtiest” thing I’m eating these days are those Quest bars, which are Jon Andersen approved for “moments of weakness”, which shouldn’t be a daily occurrence, but f**k it. Part of it was just going through my COVID backstock, but they’re also just a brief moment of joy. The greek yogurts are also not quite on board with the program, as they’re not grassfed BUT, since they’re fat free, I’m not too worried about that.
On that note, I DID find a source for grass fed cottage cheese. Picked up a tub and it was awesome. Which is leading me to consider cutting some of the fat out of the late night meal to make room for the cottage cheese. Would in theory shift some of that fat intake to earlier meals.
Big thing is getting over my own psychological hang ups. In analyzing things, I’m fairly certain I know what I was doing wrong before: I was taking in a LOT of transfats. I eliminated saturated fats, because that is what the doc told me to focus on, and in doing so I cut out all those same transfats, simply because one came with the other. But I’ve spent a lot of my free time googling things I used to eat, and I was just taking in an absurd amount of trans fats, primarily because I was (and still am) a fast food junkie, and I was undertinking things.
I just went off the premise “carbs bad, fats good”, and convinced myself that if I ordered some Burger King, tossed the buns and ate the burgers, I was good. Started googling nutrition and found out how much trans fat was in the food I was getting, which isn’t bad when you eat it ON OCCASION, but BK became a default lunch. I’d just not pack anything to eat and plan on hitting them up. Terrible plan.
So now I’m trying to get the saturated fats back in the diet while keeping the sources clean AND still keeping carbs low. I’ve learned that keto’s “dirty trick” is to just swap carbs for saturated fats in a lot of recipes, which, again, before, I never batted an eye at, but NOW I’m far more aware. I still use keto as a guideline, but find myself making swaps on top of swaps to make it all work.
Part of this is implementing my “thou shalts”, which, once again, is to get over my own psychological hang ups. I have certain things that I tell myself I HAVE to eat before the day is over. Similar to my daily work in training, I have to get in my high fat meal before bed, and I have to eat 3 eggs and 3oz of beef, ideally with the butter as well. The avocado is a new one, and I’m keeping that at half an avocado a day for now, along with the half serving of macadamia nuts. I have to remind myself that these things are both for getting bigger AND getting healthier.
Oh yeah, as far as other dirty things consumed: energy drinks and diet sodas. But on that note, I cut those things out and just wasn’t “me” anymore, and that included having WORSE sleep. It seems I’m just so wired to caffeine that NOT having it will cause me to sleep poorly. There’s a fair chance I’ve got some sort of condition that I’ve been self-medicating with stimulants, as stimulation use is big in my family. My dad was a multi-pack a day smoker and ALWAYS had a coffee in his hand.
And that’s where I’m at for now. I’ve got more room for fats in the diet, and stupid simple avenues for carbs should that need ever arise, but honestly, I feel like that’s just not going to happen at this point. I don’t know how much harder I could train to get to a point where I need them.
3 Likes
I really really wanna try this. Looks very interesting. I’ve never done this move before though
Cleaning? I don’t do anything special: I just pick the bar up and get it somewhere that I can press. You’re trying to move so fast that technique pretty much goes out the window. It’s a stellar workout: can be done in one place with very limited equipment and will break your lungs.
1 Like
Is this more along the conditioning type workout? Or just a good all around builder that gets your heart pumpin
It’s a conditioning workout for me, but I slate it on my pressing days so that I can get in a little extra press volume. But it’s also going to depend on how much 135lbs is for your to press. Keep in mind that it’s getting it overhead, not a strict press, so your legs get to come into play. But, if 135lbs was your 1rm for example, this would be a brutal building session.
Yea makes sense. I guess it is “only” 30 reps lol
I’ll give it a go
1 Like
Hell yeah dude: get after it! Make sure to record your time too.
1 Like
Oh for sure. Of course I may not post it 
guess if I can get within 3 minutes of your time I’ll be proud
Edit: I know you’ve done it a bunch, do you find pacing yourself in the beginning helps or just go all out the whole time?
1 Like
I go all out the whole time. Same thing I do in strongman. In an ideal world, you’re going to be so strong and well conditioning that going full out IS pacing yourself, because you run out of time before you run out of reps.
1 Like
Grace is “easy” if you pace yourself; especially if you can press 135lb without much effort.
It’s a challenge because you’re trying to get 30 reps as quickly as you can.
What about replacing it with coffee?
1 Like
I don’t care for coffee. I drink it on rare occasions. Really have to be in the mood for it.