8x8 just straight up sounds cool. Lol. Also, I read that hams respond best to lower rep work which was surprising to me. I think Lee Boyce wrote an article describing the best rep ranges for each muscle group to hypertrophy in, and quads was 20-30 reps and hams were 5-8. I was very surprised, and idk if that’s based on EMG tests or what. It’s a nice change of pace to do assistance at 8 reps instead of 20 like I usually do.
Told my coach about my back pain, so he watched me warmup.
A slight change in head positioning changed the game. I still kept it light today with 3x5 at 305, some barbell good mornings after with baby weight, and then some bulgarian split squat and belt squat.
Got the whole week to rest while I chill at the beach now.
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First day back after a week off.
Jumped right into a 3x5 Squat at 305, 310, 310. Spent a lot of time with my teammates in coaches to work on head positioning and bracing.
I was pretty spent, and I guess feelin lazy so I did 3x10 on Duffalo bench at 145 instead of 170-180… oops. I’ll just go slightly heavier tomorrow on OHP and later this week on Bench to make up for it.
Too lazy to grab a heavy enough dumbell so I did that standing 45 degree lat pulldown for 3x10 to wrap up.
Hit some blue band pull aparts for an AMRAP of unbroken 35
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My gym will be closed this weekend so I planned ahead and got a second gym membership.
My gym is also only open during team training hours, so having another gym would be good to get some work before work or during lunch. Thinking I’ll do my conditioning there either by hitting the heavy bag, sled pushes, or sledge hammer.
Today did some Pendlay rows for 215x6 then 205 for 2x6, followed up with some axle bar OHP for 115 3x8, but only got 7 on the last rep of sets 2 and 3. Wrapped up with some landmine rows and lat pulldown. I really wanted to get out of the gym after the OHP, so it might be nice to have a gym that I can just push the accessory off to the day after.
Also been looking at the 10,000 Kettlebell swing workout and that might be a good call to try out if I keep it light.
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Trained at the commercial gym and was reminded of why I hate benching at commercial gyms
Program had me doing 4x7 of 210-215, then 3x7 close grip bench press.
First set went easy, any my spotter, a random gym stranger, said that I had more than 7 in me (Was meant to be 3 Reps in Reserve), we laughed it off.
Second set I only made it to 6, and as I struggled with rep 7, my spotter barely assisted, making me do a forced rep and waste energy on a rep that didn’t even count - anyone else deal with this?
Only made it to 5 reps on the next set, and dealt with the same forced grind on rep 6.
Cut way back to close grip for 3x7. First guy left, so I had new guys helping me. Each time, the guy would try to awkwardly avoid me or try to ignore me, but I’d get them to spot me any way. Did 175, 175, 165.
In my later sets I see that I have issues locking out. Just that last bit to get my elbows to lock out. Might up the frequency of my tricep training (like some Alphadestiny stuff - 100 reps on bands)
Did some agility ladder to play with the conditioning tools this gym had. Then I hit a tire with a sledgehammer. Both took a lot of out me, so I’m hoping to do this on non-lifting days for brief conditioning sessions (like 30 mins prolly, an hour if I foam roll and stretch)
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First piece of advice I ever got on my log, day 1, was from @MarkKO. He said something to the effect of “Always tell your spotter exactly what you want. Saves any confusion.”
I had a guy do something annoying to elicit that advice from Mark. I was benching on 5/3/1, a 5+ day, and I really wanted to get 10 reps. My old PR at that weight was 9. As I got stuck in the middle of my 10th rep, which I very well could have pushed through within the next 2-3 seconds, dude yanks the bar up practically out of my hands. It was awful. To this day I still have not benched 245x10.
That bench session haunts me because I know my tenth rep would’ve been one of those long grinders that kind of looks like it’s not moving to an outside perspective, but as the athlete under the bar, you know it’s going up. Long story short, I learned my lesson. I always tell people who spot me now, “I’m going for x amount of reps, please don’t grab it unless it’s stuck on my chest.” And they usually don’t. Every once in a while you get one of those guys that hovers over the bar with their hands like they’re trying to catch a frog or a bird, kind of frantically stabbing at it sporadically when they shouldn’t.
I’m sorry you had to go through that. That’s one of the things I miss about having a training partner. I get my lift off if I request one, and then he steps back and lets me do my work. No distractions in my periphery, but I know I can go for that last rep and not have to worry about the bar landing on my throat if I mess up.
But in regards to what you went through personally today, I feel like a stranger making you do a forced rep is kind of a “fuck you.” In a weird way. Just my opinion… I’d be pissed. lol
Hell yeah man, making anyone do a forced rep is some bull.
But the other dudes were cool. I did have a guy grab at my bar frantically, but I grabbed him off a machine, so I’m not surprised.
Most of my training is at a powerlifting gym, so that got me really spoiled. I also didn’t think I would have failed on 7 reps like that. It’s crazy because not too long ago, 275 and 285 singles were going up. I really have issues deeper into sets.
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I can’t say I’m surprised, since you did regular bench before it. Doing regular bench beforehand always sabotages my close grip abilities. And historically, I’ve had the same issues with my close grip bench, although mine occurs around 11 reps. So a set of 8-10, I’m usually fine, but if I’m programmed for a set of 12-15, it’s just not going to happen. I go 100 to 0 very quickly. Pumping out reps like it’s nothing, and out of nowhere it just gets pinned to my chest. I’ve found that close grip works better for me, at least when I’m trying to isolate triceps, when I treat it more like I’m a bodybuilder just going for time under tension. It limits the weight you can do, obviously, but I’ve never gotten a better tricep pump than doing 8-12 reps with a 3030 tempo.
Fo sho, I figure thats why I have it programmed like that.
I used to do almost exclusively close grip, and I might do that after my meet for a few months, then widen it back out to comp grip.
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Have you found there to be a significant carryover from close grip to comp grip? I’ve never done close grip for an extended period of time
I prefer close grip because I feel the narrower grip is safer on the shoulders and you get that extra tricep work. I spent a few months widening my grip to prepare for meet prep.
I usually did close grip year round, so I think I’m having issues with lockout because I haven’t been doing close grip for the last few months. So while I think it’s hard to gauge carry over, I don’t think I’d be having this problem if I got close grip in for high reps.
My close grip bench PR last Dec was 275, and my PR on comp grip was 285, so I’d say not so much difference. Neither were paused, so I’m pretty worried about how my comp bench with pause will be.
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Make sure to practice your pause a lot. I would suggest random pauses as well, try not to get yourself in a groove and anticipating the command. This was something I neglected to do before my first meet, and paid for it by only hitting my opener.
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Yeah hopefully gonna start pausing my bench this week
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Deadlifts felt good today and pain free. 3x5 for 310, 315, and 325
Didnt wanna dig up the camber bar so I grabbed a Transformer bar on the 1A setting (for cambered bar), and did some good mornings with that 3x8 and 95, but I decided to have some fun with chains. They dangled a lil high, but offloaded nicely. Had 40lbs chains total, so 135 at the top
Then did some single leg bulgarian and belt squat. Both which I hate, but the single leg bulgarian is getting more fun with heavier weight.
Also forgot to mention my OHP workshop right before the session! A local coach started using our facility for his clients and decided to share stuff. He’s a Starting Strength coach and strong as hell. He had a lot to share about OHP, and is hosting a Strength Lifting Meet soon (Squat/OHP/Deadlift)
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Been walking at 190-195, so I decided to add in some cardio to make the cut to 181 as small as possible.
Very light minor stuff. Hit a tire with a sledgehammer 2x20, did some agility ladder drills, then some waiters carries for 3x20m each side. Followed off with single leg bodyweight deadlifts to get my hamstrings juicy, and AMRAP light tricep pulldowns to get a tricep pump.
Hitting Squat and Duffalo Bench tomorrow.
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Session went well today. My coach upped the intensity and gave me less sets.
Hit 2x5 for Squat at 315 and 325, felt great. Little cues help and I don’t have any back pain
2x10 for Duffalo Bench at 170, which felt harder because of my off week and then misloading it last time.
THen I did some seated cable row with 50lbs and a blue rogue band. My gym has a Texas Strength belt squat/lat pulldown/seated cable row combo machine, and I didn’t want to take plates so far to load it, so using the band still made it harder, but it was easier to load.
Get to skip a day and then I do Deadlift and Bench on the weekend.
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Didn’t realize that this week was a programmed deload, which was pretty cool considering that I get to go higher in weight, and do less sets.
Did 1x5 of Deadlifts at 345, which I believe is a rep PR at this weight.
2x8 Transformer Bar Good mornings with 135 (no chains this time)
2x6 Single leg bulgarian split squats with 55lbs
and 2x10 belt squat with 65+ 20lbs band tension to warm up (bands just for fun and I’m too lazy to load the machine with plates)
Got bench tomorrow and then I start meet prep on Wednesday.
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Awesome!!
I’m interested to see what you do for meet prep. Congrats on the PR bro
Thanks man, I’ve done heavier for 3-4 reps, but never gone this deep into this rep range with 345.
I think meet prep will add pause commands. One of my teammates is a week ahead of me and that’s what he did.
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Hit some bench at 3x6 for 215 and close grip at 2x8 for 175, then some dumbbell bench and tricep extension.
My triceps didn’t give out this time around, either because of the fewer sets, or doing extra tricep work at the end of every session is helping.
Did some neck curls and neck extensions ebcause I’ve had time, and it would be nice to add back in some direct neck work.
Also hit an AMRAP Band pull apart PR with 45 straight reps on the rogue blue band. Once I hit 100, I’m going to go for that green band!!!
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