Road to Nationals - Brendan Hepburn

Training Training Logs
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Hi everyone interested in reading. New to the forum here and new to making training logs. Wanted to share my journey a bit as well as keep track of my thoughts and day to day training to reflect back on.

About Myself
Been lifting for quite some years, all through high school, and off and in throughout my early 20s, no serious training, more so bro lifting.

Been taking powerlifting seriously for 2-3 years now, training and not just lifting. It’s been hard the past few years due to everything going on, lots of lockdowns, lots of interruptions in training. But I think we’re in the clear now.

Current Training
Finally was able to get registered for a meet, I’m competing November 21 at CPU Centrals. They’ve waived the regional qualifying total requirements and opened the meet up for any lifter wanting to participate.

Im competing at 120+ as its my first meet, and I don’t want to bother cutting weight. My biggest goal as of now is to qualify for Nationals, a 745KG total is “usually” required, they’ve dropped the requirement for my weight class to 637KG (likely to get more lifters on the platform), however I’m still shooting for that 745KG.

6 Weeks this Sunday until meet day. Currently finishing up week 10 of my program. After week 12 I go into a 3 week taper. Taking my approx. 2nd attempts 2 weeks out.

Diet
I currently only track my consistent breakfast and snack numbers, I eat these same meals/things day in and day out. These numbers are:

2660 Cals
107.5G Fat
327G Carbs
124.5G Protein

These don’t include my dinner and my lunch (previous nights dinner). Those are what my wife makes, usually a big plate of rice with meats and vegetables, in different forms. I usually add 750 Cals per meal.

For a rough total of around 4160 daily intake. This has been working, gaining around 1.5-2 Lbs a month. Starting to see more veins as well throughout my arms.

Water intake is probably about 1-1.5 Gal daily.

In closing, I’m excited to get this log going, and planning on posting everyday, if not every training day. I’ll probably follow up today with yesterdays session.

Thanks!

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October 12/21

This workout was W10D1. Supposed to be done on Monday however my gym was closed due to thanksgiving.

Comp Squats
545x1@8
555x1@9
495x3x2 Sets Backoff

Squats have gone very good over the course of the whole block. Moved good, no complaints here.

Comp Bench
345x1
365x1
385x1@8.5
No back off work

I’ve been having issues with my elbows for a long while. Been working on recovery while still training. Just a case of tendonitis. Wanted to get my comp bench out of the way before the rest of my volume throughout the week. Everything felt very good, really focusing on taking the weight into my lats on the descent and driving with the triceps on the accent. Also need to speed up the descent a bit.

October 14

W10D2. Supposed to be Wednesdays lift l but also pushed back. I did GPP the day prior, upper back, core, triceps.

Comp DL
545x1
575x1@9
455x3 Backoff
405x4 Backoff

I was absolutely gassed in between and after these. I need to start bringing snacks for in between lifts. I hate deadlifts, with a passion. These didn’t feel great.

2 Count Pause Bench
295x4
315x4
345x4@8.5

These felt amazing, elbows felt good too. 4th rep of 345 triceps were feeling fatigued. Could’ve pushed another one for sure, the next would be a struggle, first rep had the same speed as the last on video though. Excited for bench again, after having a few down weeks.

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Good session…in for the follow

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Weird question did you play for the beefeaters?

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@bigpappafrance Sure did, Coach!

October 15/21

Program has dropped from 4 training sessions to 3 as of week 9. Lifts are planned for M, W, F. I take Tues and Thurs for GPP and active recovery, weekends off. This means this session was on short rest, and I definitely felt it.

Slingshot Paused Bench
385x3@9
365x3 Back off

Usually squat first, but racks were taken. But L elbow started flaring up during squats so, I’m glad I got this out of the way first. Volume is on the decline.

Pin Squats
495x2
515x3@8
No Back Offs

Pin was set just above the hole, focuses on where my squat slows. I was supposed to work up to a single @8, followed by a triple @9, but I was feeling exhausted and I undershot the triple, so I just stuck with a triple @8. Got good work in regardless. Elbow was really irritated by the end. The squats themselves felt slow but also strong, positioning was good.

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We will have to lift some time. When did they announce a meet, I was watching the OPA for a bit and nothing.

I am currently on 3 days a week and holy hell recovery eating is a challenge some times ahah. Great work overall, what is your current training maxes?

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They probably announced it about 14 weeks ago! I think I first saw it on the CPU Instagram. I haven’t seen anything from the OPA.

Definitely need to shovel food down, even when it doesn’t want to go lol.

Heaviest lifts have all come this week. 555/385/575
But previous maxes from last testing day which was right before gyms shut back down again in ‘20 were 585/405/600.

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October 18/21
Week 11 Day 1

Weighed 281.4 this morning, not overly tired. Body felt fatigued still, a bit slow moving. Luckily I’m on my feet at work and can loosen up. This week I’m covering the late shift. So I come into work at my standard time, but leave work at 1:30 for the gym, back by 3 to finish working until 5.

Comp. Squats
495x1 Last warm up
545x1@8
565x1@9
525x2
505x3
505x3

I’m at the point where I’m starting to warm up and make jumps like I would at a meet, 545 moved like a slightly heavy opener. If I were to compete today I’d say I’d open at 530. 565 is on point for a second. Was supposed to drop to 89% E1RM for 3x3. Loaded up 525, misgrooved the 2nd rep and ended up grinding it. Dropped down to 505 to finish back downs, difficult but comfortable. Happy with this session. It’s important I keep training in a fatigued state so I can reap the full benefits of a taper.

Given my time constraints I didn’t bench today. I’ll do that tomorrow with the rest of my GPP.

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October 19/21

280.8 today. 33 days until meet. A bit tired this morning. Nothing that lasts very long. Right elbow was achy all morning, did sets of wrist flexion curls with a 3lb mini sledge at work to get blood into my elbow. Ache was mostly gone by gym time.

Competition Bench
275x3
295x3
315x1
335x1 Last warm up
365x1

Warm ups felt great, reps felt strong and fast. By the time I got to 315 my right elbow was pretty bad again. 335 was about the same. 365 was excruciating, both elbows were inflamed, had to called it here. I’m confident I could’ve hit this for 5 given healthy elbows. I was doing wrist curls in between sets to keep blood flow in the area, in hind site probably did more harm than good because it caused the tendon to be even tighter.

I’m sure it was squats yesterday. Going forward I’m going to have to make modifications so ensure I’m healthy meet day. I have planned 2nd attempts 2 weeks out, so until then I’ll be shifting all my bench work to floor press, this will allow me to work my lockout, as well as keeping out of the range where I get the discomfort (bottom end of the lift), this will allow the tendon to heal. But I’ll also have to adjust my squat, I’d love to widen my grip but the power rack at my gym doesn’t allow me to. I’ll have to use sleeves for comp. squat and shift my volume to HB to keep the stress off.

Pretty disappointing day, but happy to see that weight being moved fairly easily despite having 0 strength off my chest.

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Gotta ice your elbows and try taking Tylenol before bed

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October 20/21

32 Days Out. Weight this morning was 281.6. Had a good sleep, didn’t wake up tired. Still having R elbow aches, been trying to stretch it out throughout the day.

Competition DL
545x1 Last Warm Up
565x1@8
585x1@9
455x4
455x4

The dreaded DL. I was contemplating skipping this week and hitting it next Wednesday. Decided to pull today though. I’ll try and match the same next week then have 11 days rest to pull 2nd attempt on the 7th, then I’ll be done DLing until the meet.

Overall, they felt decent. For my backdowns I pulled sumo for a couple reasons 1) To start getting technique sighted in, as I’m hoping to make the switch after this meet. 2) To conserve some fatigue. The back offs felt pretty quick despite being tired, these would’ve been gruelling to pull conventional.

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October 22/21

T-minus 30 days out. Weight yesterday was 281.4. Today was 282.2. Woke up extremely tired this morning. I’ve been dreading lifting all this week, especially the heavier stuff. I was feeling pretty unmotivated today, especially because my headphones were dead.

So today’s session was supposed to be Pin Squat/Pin Bench. Instead, I did floor press yesterday with GPP. Didn’t push it too hard, still trying to recover the shoulders/elbow issue.

Pin Squat
Program called for top single @8, followed by a triple @9, then -5% for 2 more sets of 3 @9.

545x1@8
495x3@7
494x3@8

I didn’t follow it exactly, I was way too exhausted for all that extra volume. Got the top set in, then some volume. Hopefully will be able to get recovered for Mondays squats. On a good note, I spent a bit more time warming up my shoulders and used sleeves, didn’t have any issues with my elbows flaring up. I wish the IPF would allow the use of elbow sleeves for squats only.

I followed pin squats with some shoulder/elbow (p)rehab stuff. Once I got back to work I realized how fatigued I really am, currently standing at my toolbox eating food and downing my protein/creatine.

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October 25/21

Took this past weekend easy, had some quality family time, and caught up on sleep. Shoulder and elbow felt good. Back was a bit sore from my last DL session.

Week 12 Day 1
26 days until meet. Weight was 282.2 this morning. Super tired this morning and throughout the day. Right shoulder was achey all day, because of how I slept. Gave it a good warmup at the gym, including pull aparts, dislocates, rotator cuff rotations. It felt okay while squatting, same with my elbow. My right hip flexor was super tight all day too, I stretched it a few times throughout the day, it would stiffen up again shortly after. Didn’t effect my squats at all, I just feel it when I walk and it’s a bit of an annoyance. Didn’t have much motivation or energy for the gym today.

Competition Squat
495x1
525x1
545x1
575x1@9
525x2
525x2

Squats went good surprisingly, warm ups felt slow and heavy, especially once I got to 405 but I kept pushing on. Nothing felt fast today however positioning held and the work got done so I can’t complain I suppose. No pain in the shoulder or elbow.

I wanted to bench but I knew my shoulder wasn’t good today but I did 135 for a few sets of quite the bit of reps, wasn’t really counting. I didn’t want to put anymore pressure on it. I’m hoping I can bench heavy sometime this week.

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October 26

281.0 this AM. Woke up a lot last night. Shoulder was aching again all day at work, at around lunch time the throbbing was down into my elbow.

No gym today. Did some maintenance work before dinner, this consisted of:

Banded shoulder dislocations
Banded pull aparts
Banded rotator cuff rotations
Cable face pulls
Back, glute, hamstring, hip stretches for about 10 minutes
Ab rollouts

I didn’t follow a rep/set scheme, just did them until I felt it was enough. Going to follow up with heat/ice on my shoulder/elbow and heat on my low back to get ready for tomorrow’s DL session and hopefully bench tomorrow. But I won’t hold my breath.

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October 27/21
Weight - 282.0
Family came over, didn’t make it to the gym, went to an apple farm, it was a good time. Hip was really aggravated, shoulder and elbow were feeling okay all day.

October 28/21
Weight - 281.0
Had a good sleep. Hip felt fine in the morning. Elbow and shoulder are good. I was stoked for today’s session. It’s been 8 days since my last DL. I was actually excited to do them today. I think I last benched 8-9 days ago, but did some poor floor press 6 days ago, so it’s been a minute.

Competition DL
495x1
545x1
605x1@9 (5 lb PB)
545x2
545x2

These felt great, and they moved great. I feel like I had 20 Lbs in the tank as well. Feeling motivated and excited for DLs definitely was the biggest differentiating factor. I’ll do 2nd attempts-ish 10 days from now, and that’ll be my last deadlift session before the meet, that’ll give me 14 days between.

Competition Bench
275x5
315x3
345x1
315x3
315x3

Benched pain free today, but didn’t want to overdo it, little stepping stones, got some volume in, I’ll go a bit heavier this upcoming monday and slowly work up to my 2nd attempt SBD day and then taper down for the meet.

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October 29/21

Week 12 Day 3. 23 Days Out.

Weight 282.2

Definitely felt the fatigue from DL the day prior. I had pin squats/pin bench planned for today. Decided to skip out on squats, they would’ve pushed fatigue over the edge for sure. And I decided since, I benched pain free yesterday, I would give it another go today to get some volume in.

Competition Bench
315x3
345x1
365x1@8
315x6
315x6

Top set felt a bit heavy. But everything was pain free, so that’s a win. Before yesterday I hadn’t really benched in 9 or so days, so as expected. I didn’t push it because I didn’t want to hurt anything else. Back off sets were competition paused too, and honesty I thought I took too much weight off. These were easy, could’ve squeezed a couple more reps out of them. Hopefully next session on Monday, I can push weight a little bit more. Thinking on Monday I’ll work up to an opener for squat and bench. Wednesday I’ll work to an opener on bench for sure, and if I feel good squat too. Then I’ll take SBD 2nd attempts on Saturday, then begin my taper until the meet.

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November 1/21

Week 13. Day 1.
Morning weight was 284.0
20 days out.

A bit tired in the morning, had a bit of a head flu, so I wasn’t feeling all there. But it was manageable. Hip, shoulder and elbow all felt okay.

Competition Squat
545x1
585x1@9 (Ties PB)
535x2
535x2

These felt really good. Used my elbow sleeves again to keep my elbows nice and warm. This will be my last squat session with any kind of volume. Top set ties my best, all while being a lot easier. I think that may be a PB double too.

Competition Bench
345x1
365x1
385x1@8
335x6

Pain free, strength is coming back from that little bit of time off. Back offs were supposed to be 3 sets of 2 but managed to do it in 1 set. I’ll bench again on Wednesday, will either do 385 again or go to 390. And the same back off work. And that will be the last volume work for bench.

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November 04/21
Week 13 Day 2. 17 days out. 282.4 morning weight
Sleep was interrupted here and there, woke up tired. But feeling a lot better from being sick, had noticeably more energy at work, still had the common cold symptoms.

Competition Bench
345x1
365x1
385x1@9
335x3
335x3

Bench was okay, felt a bit weak and slow. Could definitely tell In the backdown sets. But that’s it for volume now. I moved my 2nd attempts back to Sunday, and then I’ll ride out the the last 2 weeks, taking my squat opener at 10 days out, and bench opener 7 days out and one very light SB day 4 days out.

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How are the elbows going

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November 7
282.2 this morning. 14 days out.

Had a late night last night, but still got decent sleep, woke up a couple times throughout the night especially with clocks going back. But felt well rested, slept in a bit though but caused me to feel a bit sluggish. I didn’t do anything before the gym today, so I think that negatively effected me.

Competition Squat
Opener - 535
2nd - 585

My last warm up at 495 felt like it usually does, pretty fast. Opener felt and moved like it was about 15 pounds heavier than it was, it was at this point I knew I was feeling down. 585 definitely felt like a third attempt, my descent was way too slow, watching the video it looked like I was doing a tempo squat, I think the weight got into my head a bit and I was timid.

Completion Bench
Opener - 360
2nd - 390

Warm ups were good, technique felt great. No pain in shoulders or elbows. 360 moved good. 390 moved decently, had a few pounds in the tank. Wife gave me some very long commands, which is not a bad thing.

Competition DL
Opener - 550
2nd - 595

I was exhausted, 550 didn’t feel so bad but 595 definitely felt like a 3rd attempt.

Overall, very exhausting session. I could not get into the zone for the life of me, I was not excited to lift, i didn’t have motivation to lift, was overall a very flat session. That’s the last “heavy” session for everything. I’ll do openers for S/B still.

My takeaways from this training, 1) I need to ensure I have plenty of food prepped and packed for competition day. I’m not used to lifting early in the day and I didn’t get enough calories in prior to lifting. (Copied my comp start time today). 2) I also think I need to be a little bit more active in the morning, maybe a nice morning walk between meals. 3) Obviously steady and enough sleep.

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