Oh dang lol your info says you’re 200…give em hell at the meet
March 1st - APA Lifting For A Miracle
-Weigh-Ins:
Weighed in at 219.2. No problems getting into the 220s. Lost 5.6 lbs on the simple three day water load and then cutting it off 24 hours early (plus magnesium citrate 36 hours before weigh-ins).
-Refeed:
I immediately drank a liter of Pedialyte and then had two PB&J sandwiches. A little while later was Chinese food (chicken/rice), an hour later was Gatorade, creatine, and whey. Then 2 hours later was Chipotle (double chicken bowl + tortilla). 3 hours later was Wendy’s (3 double stacks and large fry) plus more Gatorade and creatine (finished half gallon of Gatorade). After finishing that, a couple of pieces of pizza, then ZMA and some BCAAs.
-Meet Day:
Woke up around 6:30 and had oats, peanut butter, and whey. Headed out to the meet for the lifters meeting at 8, meet began around 9:30. I was in the 3rd flight for squats, 3rd for bench, and 2nd for deadlift.
-Squats:
Warm-ups felt alright. Better than last year that’s for sure. The weight wasn’t moving horribly fast, but it didn’t feel heavy either. Worked up to 425.
Opened at 455 and it was very easy. I wasn’t as focused as I should have been because I couldn’t really remember getting tight or setting my feet before unracking even.
2nd attempt I took 505 for a 5 lb. meet PR and I got it with some struggle. I wasn’t as tight as I could have been.
3rd attempt I went for broke with 525 and I missed it. It wasn’t close to happening, as I had no drive out of the hole. My form was just off on squats and my injury was showing through here. No pain really, just a large lack of available strength.
-Bench:
Warm-ups started out poorly, as I was cramping up in my right hip and all up and down my back. Immediately I was scared that I would have another cramping event like last year. But I was able to foam roll everything into submission and warm ups ending up just fine.
Opened at 335 and this was also very easy. Really nothing to note.
2nd attempt I took 375 for a 10 lb. meet PR and match paused PR. This was also easy and went up smoothly without slowing down. It didn’t feel light, but it moved very well. I’ve had 400 in my mind for months for this meet, so I called for that for my 3rd.
3rd attempt I took 400 for a 35 lb. meet PR, a 25 lb. paused PR, and a 5 lb. all-time bench PR. I killed this rep. There was some slow down well above my usual sticking point so I could tell it was just a matter of waiting it out for a second and I finished it easy. Fucking awesome.
-Deadlift:
Warm-ups didn’t go very well once I got to 365 and above. There was no chalk in the warm-up room and the bars were shitty, so it was slippery. I just worked up to 405 and went out since I was a few lifters from starting.
Opened at 455 and it was just as easy as my other openers.
2nd attempt I took 520 to make sure I got a 5 lb. PR on my total and I got it. It wasn’t the easiest rep I’ve ever pulled and my form was terrible, but I wasn’t close to missing it either. It’s important to note that I missed 495 ten days out from the meet when I wanted that to be my opener, so I was happy to get past that today.
3rd attempt I took 560 and I missed it by far. I just went for that for a 5 lb. meet PR and the injury wasn’t going to come close to allowing it. Just like with squat, there was no pain, but my glutes weren’t available for use apparently.
So, I went 7/9 and totaled 1,425 at 219. I’ve been wanting 1,500 since I’ve been training for this meet, but I’m happy with being able to work with what I had and being able to smash my bench PR. If it wasn’t for that bench, I probably would have considered this meet a failure. But that actually eclipsed my two misses and I don’t care that much. Too pumped about it.
My next goal is solely two get my injury completely healed. I’ll work on bench heavily while maintaining squat and deadlift hopefully. There’s meets near me in July and October, so I’ll almost definitely do one of those and if I’m healthy enough, I want something over 1,500 and shoot for 535/415/585.
Awesome meet dude, bummer you weren’t 100% healthy but you still smashed some PRs. Your diet the day before sounded delicious lol
Chobbs: Yeah man it was a ridiculous refeed, but I think it was necessary. Dem bloats. But yeah, I’ll get some better numbers at the next meet I’m sure. Just need to figure out the injury obviously.
Back in the Gym - Upper Deload
Foam Board Bench (Used half a foam roller = 2 board, compressed to 1 board):
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 225 (Add foam)
2x3 @ 275
3x3 @ 315 (Wraps)
Bench w/ Pause 1" Above Chest:
2x8 @ 225
Lat Pulldown w/ Neutral Fat Grip (Leaning Back):
10 @ “150”
8 @ “165”
3x8 @ “180”
Superset:
A1 | DB Hammer Curl:
3x10/10 @ 45s
A2 | Cable Facepull:
3x12 @ “130”
Band Rotation Abs:
3x10/10 @ Light
Simple bench workout to get back into the gym. Didn’t really go in with a plan, so I winged it and I felt okay. The weights moved well and I only had a little bit of pec tightness.
I’ll be working on my next Cube cycle this week and I’ll implement it next week.
I’ll get a video of the meet on here tomorrow hopefully.
Meet Video
Enjoy. You can see my miserable failures on squat and deadlift and the awesomeness that is my 400 lb. bench!
Congrats on that bench man, looked awesome! The first few squats and deads looked sharp too, nice and crisp and fast. That last deadlift hurt my back just looking at it! LOL!
So I guess since you’re still doing the cube you consider it an overall success story then? Considering your injuries it seems like you did well with it. I’m planning for a push/pull meet on May 24th, so I only have around 11 weeks to prepare. Its gonna be a little awkward since I didn’t start the cube 9 weeks out from the meet, so I’m almost going to have to like add a wave or extend the last wave or something, but I’ll try to make it work. I’m not nearly as strong as you, but so far I’m making good gains and have had to adjust my working poundage’s upwards a few times (probably not supposed to do that, but time is short!). I’m going to be shooting for a 340 bench and a 500 deadlift at 198lbs, both which would be all time PR’s for me.
Iron: Thanks, man. I definitely consider the Cube a success story. I mean, prior to my injury I was thoroughly confident that I could have gone 535/385/585. Apparently I was undershooting bench and those numbers still would have put me above 1500. Obviously we can’t work in hypotheticals, but I think the point stands. As for your awkward two weeks, I’d say just do a week of going for day max doubles on each of the lifts to get some weight in your hands and then the following week would be meet week, right? So just deload that week, I think.
Deload - Squats
Paused Squats:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 225
2x3 @ 275
5x3 @ 315
Front Squats:
5x5 @ 225
Superset:
A1 | Hypers:
3x12 @ BW+40
A2 | Lying Leg Curls:
2x15 @ “70”
15, 4, 4, 3 @ “120” (Myoreps)
DB Side Bend:
2x15/15 @ 75
My narrow stance on paused squats made sure my quads and back were very pumped and sore by the time I got done with front squats. God I’m terrible at front squats, but they are going to be a large part of the new version of the program. I’ll most likely do them every deadlift day either before or after deadlifts (unsure if I’ll actually be deadlifting until the injury is healed though).
This was a good workout overall for a deload.
Deload - Body
DB Incline Bench:
20 @ 25s
15 @ 45s
10 @ 70s
10 @ 85s
3x10 @ 100s
Superset:
A1 | Banded Snatch Grip Barbell Rows from Pins (Knee Height):
Bar
10 @ 135
8 @ 135+Bands (2 Doubled Minis)
5x8 @ 225+Bands (Wrist straps)
A2 | JM Press:
3x12 @ 135
2x12 @ 185
Superset:
B1 | DB Hammer Curls:
3x10/10 @ 50s
B2 | Band Pull-Apart:
2x25 @ Mini
My shoulders were really tight during the DB bench, so I cut it off at only 3 sets. Still got some decent work in on those though.
I really like the banded rows from pins. Made it harder to cheat and it was impossible not to be explosive. Depending on what I decide to do about deadlift, these type of movements may replace it for a little while. Good to know this one.
Yesterday - Deload - Lower
Front Squat (w/ Oly Shoes):
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 225
5x3 @ 275 (Belt)
Power Cleans:
2x3 @ 135
3x1 @ 225
Superset:
A1 | GHR:
5x10 @ BW
A2 | Straight Leg Sit-Ups:
2x10 @ BW+25
2x10 @ BW+45
20 @ BW+45
The gym was packed to the brim, so there was no room to do anything really. Wasn’t a big deal since I was still deloading, but hopefully it doesn’t start getting that way every Saturday.
Front squats went decently well, I’m getting better at holding the weight and all that. Just need to keep at them. No pain in my knees with the Oly shoes, so that’s good. They hurt when I first tried them on back squats last year.
Still not sure what I’m going to do for squats and deadlifts over the next couple of weeks, but I’m leaning towards taking about 2 weeks and not squatting or pulling at all to see if I can get my injury sorted out. I’ll go ahead and start my next cycle for bench though.
Start of Cycle - Wave 1 - Week 1 - Rep Bench
Bench:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 225
8 @ 275
8 @ 295
7 @ 315 (Failed on 8th, let the bar float to the left and it screwed me up)
Close Grip Bench:
2x6 @ 295
5 @ 275 (Could have hit 6 easily, felt my pec pulling on the 4th and 5th though)
Superset:
A1 | Barbell Meadows Row:
8 @ Bar+25, 50, 75, 100
8 @ Bar+125
8 @ Bar+150
2x8 @ Bar+125
A2 | DB Lateral Raise:
3x15 @ 30s
Superset:
B1 | Band Triceps Pushdown:
3x20 @ 2 Minis
B2 | Barbell Curl:
2x25 @ Bar
Band Pec Fly:
2x25 @ Mini
I overshot just a little bit on my numbers today. I think I had the strength for the 8th rep at 315 (which would have matched my PR), but I let my shoulders get loose or something and right off the chest the bar floated to the left. Then close grip was too hard at 295 on the second set (RPE 10) so that’s why I went down to 275. As I said, felt some pec pain so I cut that short. Hopefully nothing to worry about. I think it usually happens when I get into too high of a rep range.
I haven’t been able to do any rowing from the floor in a while, but the Meadows rows felt pretty good.
My injury actually wasn’t that noticeable today, so maybe it’s working itself out finally. Probably still going to take a couple weeks from squatting and pulling though, just to be safe. Better now than 6 months from now after making no progress.
Anyway, start of the new cycle, time to ride some momentum and do work!
Motivation: High
Explosiveness: High
Nutrition: Good, almost all clean. Need to start logging protein at least.
Wave 1 - Week 1 - Lower (Replacing Heavy Squat)
Barbell Hip Thrust:
Bar
2x8 @ 155
2x8 @ 245
8 @ 335
3x8 @ 425
Lunges w/ Kettlebells:
4x10/10 @ 104 total
GHR:
3x12 @ BW+25
Superset:
A1 | Seated Band Hamstring Curl:
15, 20, 20 @ Avg.
A2 | Straight Leg Sit-Up:
3x20 @ BW+40
Isometric Parallel Wide Squat Hold w/ Band Around Knees:
3x30 seconds @ Doubled Mini
I actually got a pretty damn good workout in today despite not having any squats or deadlifts in there. I’ll keep the next 2 weeks of lower days like this and hopefully I’ll be able to get back to it.
Hip thrusts were somewhat difficult and there was a bit of pain at the bottom of the first rep of each heavy set. These, plus lunges and GHR and by the end of the workout, my glutes were done for, so I know I got some blood flow at least.
I’m not sure if the isometric squat holds did anything, but they were definitely hard.
Instead of writing down my motivation, nutrition, explosiveness, and discipline every day, I’m going to log 8 different things into an excel sheet and write how my week went on here. The categories are separated into “Morning” and “Workout”. Morning I’ll log Mood, Sleep Quality, Soreness, and Stress. Workout I’ll log Motivation, Power, Nutrition, and Stress. These will be on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (good) and will total from 8 to 40 for the day. Obviously 8 would be a horrible day and 40 would be perfect. (Off days will just be missing motivation, power, and stress in the workout category, I’m just multiplying the sum of the rest of the numbers by 1.6 since I’ll still be using 5/8 of the qualities and I’ll assume they’re weighted evenly.) I’ll then average the week and log it on here and hopefully I’ll find out some things about how all those affect my training.
Wave 1 - Week 1 - Body Day
Board Press (Ranged between 1 and 2.5):
Bar
5x5 @ 135 (Trying to get my pec to feel okay)
2 @ 225 (Nope. Apparently it’s strained a-fucking-gain)
Military Press:
Bar
10x5 @ 135
Superset:
A1 | Chain Reverse Curl w/ Grenade Attachments:
3x12 @ 60
A2 | Kettlebell One-Arm Row:
3x12/12 @ 80
Shrugs:
10 @ 225 (Add straps)
10 @ 315
10 @ 405
8 @ 495
5 @ 585
10 @ 495
10 @ 405
10 @ 315
GOD DAMN PEC EAT A DICK. This is so incredibly frustrating. It’s exactly the same thing that was happening last year that took me forever to get back from. I’m thinking of just stopping this cycle of the Cube and try to figure out all this shit and do mostly GPP and non-specific stuff like today.
585 was a shrug PR, brah.
Hey Tyler,
I can really sympathize with your injury. About two years I herniated my C4-C5 cervical disc and my lifting hasn’t been at all the same since. I feel like there are more exercises that I can’t do than can do.
The pain has somewhat went away but if I do something to aggravate it man does it let me know! I am sort of at a crossroads right now like you, since getting back into the powerlifts I am having trouble with back-squats making my fingers go numb and giving me terrible headaches for like a day or two afterwards. Benches and Deadlifts don’t seem to bother it, so I am considering just focusing on those lifts and doing some front squats too.
The cube is working well for me, but I sort of wonder if I should build a workout more around benches and deads (like max effort once, dynamic once, so both benches and deads are done twice a week) or something like that. Oh decisions decisions…
Iron: Wow, that’s a much larger injury than I’m dealing with. That really sucks about the headaches. I would say definitely focus on bench and deads since back squatting does that, you don’t want to mess up your spine more. If you want to compete, there’s always push/pull meets. Injuries are definitely infuriating though.
I’m glad to hear the Cube is going well for you. You could probably just replace the back squats with front squats on squat day and be fine. It’ll probably keep you healthier. Maybe squat day do front squats and lighter deadlift if you’re keen on pulling twice a week?
Lower Body Stuff
Barbell Hip Thrust:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 225
5 @ 315
3x5 @ 405
20 @ 315 (Fffuuuuu)
Lunges w/ Kettlebells:
3x10/10 @ 104 total
Superset:
A1 | Banded GHR:
4x10 @ BW+Doubled Mini
A2 | DB Shrugs:
3x15 @ 100s (Straps)
Hanging Leg Raise:
3x10
Very similar workout as the last lower body day. A little less volume on the hip thrusts excluding the last set, but I still got some good glute action going. Those and my traps were incredibly sore, so I’m glad I was able to do what I did.
Week Recap (Qualities out of 5):
Mornings - Mood was up and down but averaged out to a 3.8. Sleep quality was mostly good and came out to 4. I was pretty sore several days unsurprisingly due to performing exercises that I’m not used to, averaged out to 3. Stress was generally just fine and I ended up at a 4.1. Weekends will probably skew the stress and mood results.
Workouts - Motivation was 5’s all week despite the pec strain and not being able to squat/deadlift. Power averaged to 4.5, but it’s kind of hard to judge when I’m not doing the power lifts. Nutrition was generally good except for the past two days of junk, which put me at 3.7. Stress was no problem in the afternoons and hit a 4.8 for the week.
Overall - 31.4 out of 40. That’s a decent week. Need to keep focusing on nutrition and sleep for my injuries.
Sleep cures all
Good meet dood. I wanted to try and fly up for it but did not fit my schedule. As long as it doesn’t interfere with RUM next year I will try to go up to compete with you guys in TTown.
Keep killing it man.
Chobbs: Truth.
Achilles: Thanks, man. What are you doing nowadays anyway? You should definitely try to make it up for the next one. It’s been a blast each time and keeps getting bigger.
Heavy Upper
Bench w/ Chains:
Bar
2x5 @ 135
2x5 @ 135+50
3 @ 225+50
2x2 @ 225+90
2 @ 275+90 (Add wraps)
2 @ 295+90 (Felt some pulling in the pec. Didn’t want to risk it.)
2 @ 275+90
Paused DB Floor Press:
8 @ 30s
8 @ 60s
8 @ 80s
5 @ 100s
3x5 @ 120s
Lat Pulldown (Fat Bar):
8 @ “165”
8 @ “180”
4x8 @ “195”
Straight Leg Sit-Ups:
3x20 @ BW+50
Superset:
A1 | Hyperextension:
3x25
A2 | Cable Facepull:
3x20 @ “120”
I consider this a successful workout just because I was able to actually bench, which was very surprising. I made sure not to be explosive at the bottom of the reps to save my pecs and the reps were all still really easy. I think 305+90 is my PR for a double, so getting this close without too much pain is good. I just wanted to play it safe when I felt anything.
DB floor press hit my pecs where the pain is, but I think without the stretch there’s no real danger and it gets them stronger. Again, I kept the volume low just to make sure.
I’m going to keep alternating ice and heat and hopefully it will continue to get better. Glute/nerve felt alright today just moving around.
My body day this week will probably be overhead press and maybe more DB floor press rather than board pressing. I want to keep the volume down til I know the pecs are good to go.
Lower Body
Superset:
A1 | Barbell Glute Bridge:
Bar
10 @ 135
10 @ 225
8 @ 315
3x8 @ 405
A2 | Farmers Walk:
50 yards @ 65 per hand
7x25 yards @ 155 per hand
Superset:
B1 | GHR:
2x10 @ BW+45
2x12 @ BW+25
B2 | Straight-Leg Sit-Ups:
2x20 @ BW+75
Despite the small number of exercises, this was a pretty difficult workout. I think the farmers wiped me out pretty quickly. Glute bridges felt fine. Just decided to go with those over hip thrusts for simplicity.
GHR with a 45 was really hard, but I’m happy I’m getting stronger on those. Straight-leg sit-ups are surprising me with the amount of weight I can use. The 75 lb medicine ball felt like it was crushing my chest after 20 reps though, so I think I stick with that until it gets easier.
Body Day
Military Press:
Bar
8 @ 95
2x5 @ 135
5x3 @ 185 (Wraps)
Superset:
A1 | Barbell Row:
2x10 @ 135
8 @ 225
4x8 @ 275 (Straps)
A2 | DB Floor Press:
2x15 @ 25s
10 @ 50s
10 @ 75s
10 @ 100s (Add wraps)
3x10 @ 125s
Superset:
B1 | McGill Pull-Ups:
4x5
B2 | Rolling Planks:
3x10/10
Military press went surprisingly well considering how little I’ve done it in the past year. 185 has always been heavy to me on that exercise, I think it was my 6RM at one point, so it was nice to move it with some speed.
DB floor press felt good on the pecs, no pain at all and I had to grind out the last few of each set at 125s. I didn’t pause this time just because I didn’t want to and I wanted more reps than last time.
Yesterday - Lower
Lunges w/ KBs:
3x10/10 @ 140 total
KB Box Goblet Squat w/ Band Around Knees:
5x10 @ 70 (w/ short monster mini)
GHR:
4x15 @ BW+25
Lat Pulldown (wide neutral):
10 @ “165”
10 @ “180”
10 @ “195”
10 @ “210”
I might be forgetting something. I didn’t really feel like doing glute bridges or hip thrusts for the 4th lower day in a row. I’m going to move back to front squats next time. My injury is still there, but it was starting to feel better around the point I had both front squats and hip thrusts in the mix, so maybe they’ll help. Plus I really miss squatting.
Week Recap (Qualities out of 5):
Mornings -
Mood: 4.3 - Woke up in a good mood every day other than Monday.
Sleep Quality: 4.4 - Pretty much the same as mood.
Soreness: 4.4 - I haven’t woken up sore much, mostly due to not having an actual major lower body movement.
Stress: 4.1 - Alright mostly other than Monday. Fuck Mondays apparently.
Rest of the day/Workouts:
Motivation: 4.0 - Lower body days were just okay because there wasn’t much to look forward to (squat/deadlift).
Power: 4.5 - Nothing to note
Nutrition 3.6 - Pretty terrible on a few days due to laziness pretty much. This is something I’m most in control of, so there’s really no excuse.
Stress: 4.5 - Good other than one day.