Well, I skipped my last bench for the cycle. Just too tired from school starting & work.
So, this cycle is over.
A few points about it:
I dropped weight from about 190 lbs to 183.5 lbs. This is great considering that fat won’t help me lift. I still have excess fat that I need to get rid of from gaining weight, so maybe I’ll drop to 175 or.
Although I missed a squat at 512 this cycle, 496 was easy. 512 was a technical issue as 496 was pretty easy. I think I did improve on my overall strength. 501 was cycle was a grinder and probably 99% of my true max. This time, 496 was easy, so clearly, something is going right.
Bench has been staling. I have some ideas for it, I just have to apply them. I think I’ll do pretty well this cycle coming up. Just more assistance work. Thats the bottom line.
Deadlift, mine sucks. I’m regressing. This is due to lack of ab work. I plan on doing ab work everyday, even twice a day on some days. I remember doing this when I hit 441 @ 154 lbs body weight. Getting to 500 is not impossible, I just need to put the time in for both ab work, a good deadlifting session and accessory work!
Goals for Next cycle:
Squat: 512 or 518
Bench: 303+
Deadlift: 441 or 451
Abs: work them every day.
Cardio: Figure out a cardio regiment I can do, lol.
Body Weight: Keep it low enough so that moving back to 181s is easy, but without a decrease in strength.
I plan on doing a meet in late March.
Goals for the meet:
Squat: 500+
Bench: over 300
Deadlift: 450 if I can get my training up for it.
Weigh in at 181.
I have this cycle, plus one more before the meet. So long as I keep up two good solid cycles, I should at least post a total.
Everything I write is what I do, other than ab work which I SHOULD be writing down anyways.
I don’t react too well to that amount of volume, especially for deadlift, at least for now. I seem to burn out easily. I found I had this problem with westside as doing an 8 week cycle was about my max and 12 or 16 week cycles always failed. Peaking every 4 weeks or so, then taking a week off or doing light work the 5th really seems to work and I don’t really burn out.
I always say this, but my main weakness is when i neglect ab work. My deadlift goes up when i do super heavy ab work. Thats what I’ve been doing the past 2 days. Hopefully, it’ll help my next cycle as long as I can continue it.
Hanely, do you have any insight into adding in accessory movements for sheiko? I know you’ve been doing this routine longer than I have and you know more about managing the work load.
I’ve just been following the main movements and not doing much accessory work.
Coming back into my routine, i exacerbated an old back injury I got about 9 years ago. I hurt it on warm ups with 120 kg. Odd since that is a very light weight for me to squat if you look at my normal work load.
I haven’t been able to lift until today. I just worked up to 140 kg (308 lbs) for a single and although my back is a little tight, its doing fine. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get back to doing my normal lifting in a week.
So, I haven’t lifted in 3 weeks. This was an attempt to get back into the swing of things, not restart the routine. I just figured that i would repeat my last workout as far as I was comfortable with.
Stopped here on squats. I was entirely burnt out. My work capacity sucks. This is monumental though. Two weeks ago, I wasn’t able to even squat the bar, so thats a HUGE improvement. I also stopped so I wouldn’t get too fatigued and re-injury myself.
Deadlift: Conventional, no belt
75x5 (165 lbs) Snatch grip
105x5 (231 lbs) Snatch grip
125x5 (275 lbs) Snatch grip
145x1 (319 lbs) Alternated grip, snatch grip failed
145x1 (319 lbs) sumo for the hell of it
Standing Military Press:
45x10
95x5x2
105x3
115x3
135x3
Thats it. My back is tight, but no added pain. I am incredibly sore from squats on Sunday. It’ll subside as I keep working out. I can’t wait to deadlift heavy again.
After getting the suit on, I am not impressed at all. I have used a champion suit before and have been using the inzer power pants for about 9 months.
This is the most painful suit I have ever used besides the Hardcore. The legs are too tight, the straps are too short and the suit basically feels like its meant to give you pain and not support. As tight as the suit is, I can break parallel w/ 165 lbs. Thats pitiful. No support. I get more out of the briefs (which are supposed to be a downgrade from a suit) than the z suit.
I’m going back to METAL only. The cost is worth it. Less pain, more support, more comfort and less hassle. Other than the power pants and rage bench shirt, I don’t really see anything good coming from inzer recently. I have not tried the T-Rex or any of thier newer stuff, but due to this leg stitching S&M type of fit, I don’t think I’ll even try it. Honestly, I should get my money back since the suit gives no support and does not perform as stated. I could probably break parallel w/ the bar if I try.
Since I’ve already squatted in it, I can’t return it. I think it has about 20 total squats in the suit itself. I tried to stretch it out a little, although I don’t think it did. Another 42 bucks down the drain. I should have saved for the METAL.
I have no cash flow at the moment that I can put towards a high-end suit. Plus with my back injury flaring up, I think it might be better just to roll back into training w/ my briefs.
When I do get a new suit, I’ll either get a the:
Metal IPF Viking V-Type Squatter
or
Metal IPF King Squatter V-Type
There is an 18 USD difference in price over here, so the price won’t be an issue really. The question is, how much more supportive is the KING than the Viking material and is the cut any different.
I’d like to hear some feedback from people comparing the two suits. I’ve owned the Viking previously and it was just an amazing suit. I was able not only to squat in it, but set up properly in the deadlift as well. It was easy to get on, gave great support in the hips, and just fit like a glove.
I think thats why I am so pro-METAL. I’ve never had a problem and it fits and feels heads and tails above the rest. Thats probably the main reason I haven’t moved on to Titan or even bothered to try their Centurion.
Not bad considering I hadn’t done I full workout in a month.
CG Bench:
20x20 (44 lbs)
45x10 (99 lbs)
75x5 (165 lbs)
85x4 (187 lbs)
100x3x2 (220 lbs)
115x3x5 (253 lbs) hard, but got all of them
Good work. Did not do the last portion b/c my upper back is slightly pulled from squatting and I also ran out of time. My work capacity sucks right now. It’ll be better next week.
I’m glad you said you liked the power pants. I have a pair I bought months ago that I have not yet tried. I will give them a try when I start training for my next meet.
Just on the gear topic… The Titan stuff really is in another league these days. Since they’re more popular it’s easier to pick up second hand ones too if you wanna test it out before really commiting and buying a new one.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
Good to see you back training hard!!
Just on the gear topic… The Titan stuff really is in another league these days. Since they’re more popular it’s easier to pick up second hand ones too if you wanna test it out before really commiting and buying a new one.[/quote]
How does the centurion compare to any of the IPF metal suits? I squat with a wider stance like you do.
[quote]Synthetickiller wrote:
Hanley wrote:
Good to see you back training hard!!
Just on the gear topic… The Titan stuff really is in another league these days. Since they’re more popular it’s easier to pick up second hand ones too if you wanna test it out before really commiting and buying a new one.
How does the centurion compare to any of the IPF metal suits? I squat with a wider stance like you do.
[/quote]
My centurion’s a regular stance. I’ve wide stance briefs. There’s sweet FA difference between the 2 when it comes to the stance you can take tbh. The w/s briefs favour the wider stance obv, but thus far I’ve had absolutely no problems squatting where I do in the r/s suit.
I haven’t used my metal ipf v-type suit to squat in, but basing my opinion off the feel of the material in my hands, it wouldn’t even get close to the centurion. I honestly think I get 85-100+lb out of my centurion nxg super+. It’s probably a bit on the low side tbh, but I plan on taking in the straps and seeing what happens there!
I haven’t seen the viking or king material so I can’t comment there, but after using the Centurion there isn’t a single ply suit on the market that could get me away from it.
The Viking material is more canvas like and serves as a great stopper. I prefer this type vs the elastic bounce out of the bottom. I typically tend to bottom out w/ that type of material.
How are the straps? I seem to like my equipment to fit like ed coan, like briefs. I have a lot of trouble w/ straps. Metal was the only brand I’ve used that straps weren’t a big issue. They were kinda loose fitting on me, which was great (after wearing them in). How are the straps?
I’m guessing you’re comparing the Centurion NXG Super+ to the METAL IPF Squatter?
One other question, how do you get a centurion that’s wide stance?
Edit: I noticed they come in wide stance, silly me. One less question you need to ask, plus I can pull in it too.