Happy belated birthday, Simo! It sounds like the workshop was right on time; the pointers you learned may translate to more pounds, er, kilograms, in your meet 
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Man I’ve missed a bit, happy birthday btw.
Are you competing?
And that work shop sounds awesome
Workshop sounded fun! It’s always nice to get opinion that you know is right. There’s so much bullshit out there.
Also, glad you’re feeling good and in the zone training wise. Milk the gains, they come quick when you’re having fun, feeling good & dialed in.
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Yes, signed up for a novice comp in October.
I think this is something everyone can benefit from. When you break it down the process of getting stronger is not that complicated but its really good to hear it from someone who knows what they are talking about. There are so many articles written on new shiny ways to improve this or to add to this or make this quicker etc. that you get blinded by it all and can forget to trust yourself and trust the basics. When you hear it loud and clear from someone who knows their stuff and doesn’t beat around the bush it gives you confidence that you are on the right path.
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19th August week 3
Squat
Bar x 10
65 x 5
85 x 3
Belt on
105 x 3
120 x 5 RPE 9 (264 lbs)
120 x 5 RPE 8 better then the first set
120 x 5 RPE 9 solid, this need to get tighter back and brace
120 x 5 RPE 9 real solid
120 x 5 RPE 9 yeah baby
Trying to use new cues and foot position. Was a little odd. Was a little shaky and no where near right enough but I still got all the reps so I am very happy. Lots more work to do.
Bench
Bar x 10
65 x 7
85 x 3
90 x 7 x 5 sets ( 198 lbs) RPE 8, 9, 10, 10, 10
Slight pause, trying to stay tighter. These hard quickly, 6.5 reps on last set then bar came down !!
Bulgarians
25 x 8 x 5 sets
Legs and lower back fucked.
Db bench
35 x 8 x 5 sets (only 5 reps on last set)
Db Row
35 x 8 x 3 sets
Now that was a tough session. Legs and hips were still sore from the workshop on Saturday, so I was a little worried about squats tonight. The first set felt heavy but the second felt better and I just got on with it and did the work.
Bench was hard, nearly ended up with a bar on the face on the last rep but that’s why I use the safety’s.
Bulgarians are just the work of the devil. My legs were burning and throbbing after these. Db bench gave me a great chest pump. Really bloody happy with this season . Not bad for an old man.
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great session Simo 5 x 5 @ 120 kg that’s awesome.
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Thanks Mort, I was really happy with it. The best part was that all the reps were proper depth too. Way better than my previous attempts at this weight a few months back.
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when you posted this you got me thinking so I went back over my logs to see what I was doing a year or more ago compared to now. You were right the diffrence is really obvious. In July last year I squatted 110 for 5 sets of 4 and all sets were an RPE of 9 or 10, I can remember filming some of these and although they were OK they were not pretty.
Last night I squatted 120 5 x 5 (fatigued after 4 days of squats last week) and they looked much better and the RPE was lower.
When you are just following the program and not maxing out often it is hard to see the progress, but when you take time to look then it is clear to see. Thanks for making me see this.
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Oh man I wasn’t in here for a few days and missed your birthday! Happy belated birthday anyways mate, it sounds like you have spent it well 
Thanks mate and no need to apologise. It was a good day 
@simo74, it sounds like the workshop was awesome. It seems like you got personal feedback instead of being told to move like someone else. That’s great information.
And you’re correct - getting and staying tight like the big boys is tough. I can’t do it.
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I think that the tightness is a learnt skill or practiced technique. If you got someone to coach you and spent time practicing i’m sure you could get it. The question is whether you would do it unless you were chasing a total.
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It would definitely take up a chunk of training time.
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That’s time that could be spent learning pistol squats.
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or bosu ball squats
To be fair, everytime I see that picture I’m genuinely impressed. It’s an impressive feat, if entirely pointless.
Thursday 22nd August week 3
Bench
Bar x 10
65 x 5
85 x 5
97.5 x 4 x 5 sets (215 lbs) RPE 8, 9, 8 (tighter), 9, 9
Had to use a shitty bar that is a little thinner and has very spiny collars. It makes it hard to keep right as it moves in the hands a bit. Butt was also very sore so staying tight wasn’t easy. Still happy with the reps.
Squat
Bar x 10
65 x 5
85 x 5
Belt on
105 x 8 x 3 sets (231 lbs) RPE 6, 6, 7
Good solid reps, sucking in breath at the end !!
Row
80 x 8 x 4 sets
Kept the rests at 90 secs, blowing hard on these.
Pull ups
7 x 3 sets
Hanging knee raise
15 x 3 sets
Going on tonight my butt was so sore I was worried how the squats would go. They were fine, this training is really starting to show me that pain and tightness doesn’t mean that you can’t move the weight or push through. The legs and butt may have been hurting but the bar moved fine and the RPE was low.
Quality session, riding the strength gain wave.
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My last bench session I used my new bar that happens to be a ball bearing bar that spins for evvvvererrr.
It was the first time I’ve used it for bench, I have been using it for dead’s and squats. I was either having an off day (very possible) or the bar was messing with me but it just felt so different than normal.
Yer they are shit for bench and I don’t like them !!!