Good God!
Thanks for the write-up man. Really appreciate it.
Your bodyweight has fluctuated very slightly over the years which you continually made progress in strength and i’m assuming bodycomp has as well. Do you cut when you reach a certain level of bodyfat and then gain more lean mass or do you just remain physically active from climbing and continually “recomp”? Or do you cut for competitions?
Just get on a 5/3/1 template like Triumvirate and follow it exactly for a couple of cycles before you start tweaking things. Get plenty of direct tricep work in for accesory work.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Good God!
Thanks for the write-up man. Really appreciate it.
Your bodyweight has fluctuated very slightly over the years which you continually made progress in strength and i’m assuming bodycomp has as well. Do you cut when you reach a certain level of bodyfat and then gain more lean mass or do you just remain physically active from climbing and continually “recomp”? Or do you cut for competitions?
[/quote]In may 2012, I bottomed out at 141, with about 5.5% bodyfat, while on a low carb paleo diet, but I didn’t feel as energetic as with a little more fat. I walked around in the 7-8% range for a while, but as of about two months ago, I started actually trying to bulk to 160 since I need to move to that class. Before that, at the comps, I would just do a water loading cut the week before to make the 148.8 weight class. Now, I will have the cushion to go all the way up to 163. In doing so, I have been having a glass of grassfed milk and whey protein first thing in the morning and right before bed to try to add calories. I am up to 157.6, and have probably gained 4 lbs muscle and 2 lbs fat tops. Skin calipers, which I used to compare to a Feb hydrostatic test show about 9%. I want to stay under 10, and don’t think that will be too hard.
I eat pretty clean, but quite a bit of food – lots of whole meats and veggies, sweet potato, some rice, no bread. A fair amount of organic ice cream as of late also, just trying to bulk some. I generally let appetite guide me, as long as I am getting my protein, and will do shakes if I need to just for extra. I don’t count calories or macros, but go by feel, knowing I need a carb source every day, and lots of protein. When I have counted, its more than 3500 per day, but about half from fat.
Its a tough decision to try and bulk, because climbing is all about strength to weight, and added weight ALWAYS hurts the climbing. In the same respect, I am not sure I can hit 4 plates without adding some mass.
Haha I remember that hydrostactic weighing thread.
Good luck on hitting 400lbs. And thanks again for sharing this info man. I hope others reading this thread will learn something useful from the experiences of successful lifters as well.
Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]Philosophies on bench training…
You guys have been a tremendous help. I matched my 165 3x5 record yesterday, which felt heavy but I stayed in control and had some smooth presses. I’m also making it a habit to recording my main lifts to review form every day. I’m going to stick with 3x5 twice weekly instead of having a hypertrophy day. If I happen to have a good day and feel charged, I’ll do some lighter sets afterwards instead of singles.
I’m going to stick to my routine through this month, but for the final three months of 2014 I want to squeeze out every bit of linear progression I can, so I’m looking at doing another SL/SS style program despite my boredom with it. I might try Greyskulls LP but bench twice weekly instead of A/B-ing it with overhead press. It will let me get accustomed to doing AMRAP on the final set before launching into 531 in January. I got the second edition 531, Beyond 531, and 531 for PL that I’m going to be reading through before then.
I felt like shit about my bench before this thread, now it feels like I’m in control. I’ll see how much the form corrections really help when I finally break through 165 later this week.
Just posting again to say thanks.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]Reed wrote:
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Reading some of the advice given makes me think that half the people on here that responded blew right past 165 and are now solidly pressing 205, maybe 225 on a really good day…with a generous spotter that said “that was all you”.[/quote]
Don’t make fun of me
[/quote]
You are a beast, and definitely not one of the ones I am making fun of. But, on a different note, I am considering using wrist wraps. Have you found they help much in your bench?[/quote]
I know you were asking Reed this question, but since it was missed, I’ll give my 2 cents.
I bought wrist wraps earlier this year… maybe 4 or 5 months ago? maybe longer, can’t remember. I love them. I never go heavy on bench anymore without them. In fact, I usually use them for anything over 225. I happen to have very small joints, so I think that’s part of why I see so much benefit from them. I’m not suggesting that they’ll actually directly add weight to your bench press just by putting them on, but they have absolutely helped me with general wrist health, and when I go heavy (singles, doubles, triples) I feel significantly more stable with the bar in my hand. At the very least, there’s no discernible downside to them. You can get a reasonably good pair for 10 bucks I think.
As a side note, they’re especially useful in overhead work, particularly Oly lifts. That’s why I initially bought the wraps. I had a ton of pain in my hands and wrists from heavy jerks. Haven’t had that issue since I started using the wraps consistently.