week 2
Squat
45 x 5
45 x 5
45 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
275 x 4
345 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 2
4 x 485 x 3 RPE 5.5 (80%)
Pause Bench - Comp Grip
155 x 8
155 x 8
185 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 2
225 x 2
250 x 2
285 x 2
315 x 5
2 x 340 x 5 RPE 6
BTN Pulldown 220 2x8
One Arm Pushdowns 80 2x10
Still playing around with accessory order. RDLs will be tomorrow. Seated OHP is going to be on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
This block is bringing alot of big technical changes on everything lol. Bench I went a little wider, flat feet instead of heels up. Squat I also went a little wider and toes out by another inch or two. Out of anything I’d say my technical changes on bench have been the best followed by my pull, smooth, sexy reps are my goal lol.
8 Likes
Week 2
Paused Close Grip Bench
135 x 8
135 x 8
185 x 4
185 x 4
225 x 3
275 x 3
2 x 315 x 5 RPE 6
Seated OHP
135 x 8
185 x 5
2 x 225 x 7 RPE 7
One Arm Lateral Raise Machine 200 2x10
Rear Delt Flye Machine 265x8, 280x8
One Arm Cable Row 200 2x8
Bicep Curl Machine 130 2x15
Single Arm Hammer Cable Curl 140 2x8
RDL 225 1x8
Lying Hamstring Curl 190 2x10
Okay, OHP on Wednesday maybe not a good idea lol. Good to know. RDLs continue to be my kryptonite apparently because 225 still feels hard.
On another note, this gym is already really pissing me off. At this point I’m only coming here out of necessity because of my work schedule and I refuse to talk to anyone here. Crowded as hell and had someone refuse when I asked to work in politely, and then on a different machine, I stepped away to get water for maybe 30 seconds and someone tossed my shit to the side. Fuck. I hate this place.
11 Likes
Yeah that’s some bad shit, I honestly don’t know how people can act with so little regard for others. Hope you get to a better gym soon
1 Like
week 2
Paused Sumo Deadlift
45 x 20
135 x 5
225 x 4
315 x 2
405 x 1
485 2x3 RPE 4
2CT Pause Bench
45 x 20
45 x 20
135 x 5
185 x 3
185 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
250 x 3
Start 2ct
285 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
350 x 1 (ok this might’ve been more like 1.5s not a big deal though) RPE 5
325 x 2
Rows
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5 RPE 4.5
Bent Over Low Row 95 2x8
One Arm Incline DB Bench 60s 2x20
One Arm Pushdowns 95 3x8
Really happy with this session. I dropped the squat entirely this day and it seems to have helped.
Sumo Pull continues to improve rapidly when it comes to setup and efficiency.
11 Likes
I don’t understand it either. Selfishness? Entitlement? Who knows.
There’s not a lot of good gyms around here unfortunately, it’s also hard to find like minded lifters in these types of gyms, I mean yeah you’ll have a one off, rare occurrence, a sense of brotherhood is pretty important to me, and you def don’t get that at most places anymore. I’m willing to help someone get some sleeves or knee wraps on if they asked or roll out a knot in a forearm or pec or something.. that’s just how I am and always will be. I do get anxious easily with big crowds which is why night time training fucks with me.
I look forward to sunday though because me and my training buddy will be training together, so thats cool
3 Likes
You are correct. I think cell phones and blue tooth speakers are the cause. Or people worried about getting selfies in front of weight machines they never use. But, at some places you can get free pizza.
1 Like
I cannot imagine how rage infused that must have made you. Common courtesy has disappeared.
1 Like
end week 2
Sumo Deadlift
135 x 5
135 x 4
225 x 4
225 x 4
315 x 2
405 x 1
485 x 1
535 x 1
575 x 1 RPE 4.5
515 x 3 RPE 7 lots of Misgrooves here lmao
Seated Hamstring Curl 190x8, 175 2x8
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 260 3x8
Mag Grip Cable Row 260 2x15
Bicep Curl Machine 134 2x15 , 160 x 10
One Arm Cable Hammer Curl 60 2x10
575 moved pretty smooth. A little shaky, didn’t have a lot of food coming in but that’s okay.
,https://youtube.com/shorts/ChvsmbANFJc?si=1rT5bfzlo5o7m8KG
8 Likes
Which is really unfortunate. I do think its a big part as well.
What’s funny though is that when most people think about “oldschool” gyms, its essentially just people being able to lift without distractions, lmao. Crazy how the the gym culture mindset has shifted that much.
I was a little upset. I just told the guy that he could’ve just asked to work in with me. We shared the machine even though I’m sure it was awkward for him. I was too tired to really get mad lol.
2 Likes
start week 3
Squat
135 x 8
135 x 6
275 x 3
345 x 3
405 x 2
455 x 2
495 4x3 RPE 5.5
45 min gap, something came up and had to drive back
Pause Bench
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 4
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 1
345 x 5 (So many Misgrooves) RPE 8
345 x 5 much better RPE 6.5
OHP moved to tomorrow, not enough time.
BTN Pulldowns 240 3x8
One Arm Pushdown 87.5 3x8
Ran out of time, I knew the gym would close before I could finish my OHP work lol.
Also I forgot to hit record for my final bench set, oh well lol. There was someone who was watching me though and he said it looked about RPE 6.5 which checks out because it felt smooth with reps left.
7 Likes
Week 3
Pause Close Grip Bench
45 x 20
45 x 10
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 2
225 x 2
250 x 1
280 x 1
310 x 2 RPE 4
2 x 295 x 2
2 x 275 x 2
One Arm DB Shoulder Press 80s 3x8
One Arm Lateral Raise Machine 220 2x10
Bicep Curl Machine 170 3x10
Sitting Hamstring Curl 205 3x8
Single Arm Hammer Cable Curl 72.5 2x8
One Arm Reverse Delt Machine 260 2x20
One Arm Cable Row 250 3x5
Swapped OHP out with Dumbbells. Seeing if this makes a difference on Friday. If not, I’ll swap back.
6 Likes
Paused Sumo Deadlift
135 x 4
135 x 4
225 x 1
225 x 1
315 x 1
405 x 1
485 x 1
510 2x3 RPE 4
2ct Pause Bench
135 x 4
135 x 4
135 x 4
185 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 2
Start 2ct
300 x 1
320 x 1
340 x 1
360 x 1 RPE 5.5
Decided Against Backdowns
Barbell Rows
385 x 2
425 x 5 RPE 6
Cross body lat pull 80 2x10
One Arm Incline DB Bench 70s 2x20
One Arm Pushdowns 115 2x8 , 87.5 x 12
Came down with some nasty cold last night, felt gross coming in and gross coming out, but hit what I wanted.
About the fastest this weight has moved for me. Lockout is powerful, quick and snappy. The extra deadlift day is really honing in my technique.
Still have an issue with my ass coming off an inch on the bench. I’m not sure if it’s because of how low they are, but it’s frustrating.
Regardless bench is promising, this was pretty low hype, no music and the first time I asked my training partner to do a press command. I was gonna need to learn how to do this eventually lol.
9 Likes
Have you never competed before?
1 Like
Nah. A big part of it is anxiety and another big part is pure laziness (yeah I know)when it comes to signing up, getting the days off work and the meets I’ve seen are always pretty far away. Not to mention getting all the approved equipment.
On the anxiety thing, it’s extremely hard for me to even post my training clips but I try to make a conscious effort in order to improve that aspect of me, but I still can’t imagine being in a big crowded meet yet. I think it’s a confidence thing for sure, not afraid to admit that.
I think another thing that’s been holding me back is this mentality that I’m not strong enough “yet”.
I’ve been telling myself that for years.
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ever think about signing up with someone else? also FWIW you’re probably ‘strong enough’ haha
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your deadlift is really shooting up!
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Yeah I have, but its only ever been a thought.
I love the sport as a whole, I love learning about the ins and outs, the commands, the rules, and I’ve definitely surrounded myself with competitive powerlifters in person whenever I’ve gotten the chance. I guess you could call me a fake powerlifter but at the end of the day, this style of training, lifting heavy and the brotherhood surrounding it is what is appealing to me. The thought of competing has always been a “it sounds nice but ehh” type of thinking and something I could always push for later.
Shit, I made it my goal to total 2K when I first walked into the gym and it’s still a goal I’ve been focused on. Sure it might be
a waste to not compete when I’m at that level but for some reason or another I’ve made that my goal because I think it will make me happy and nothing more lol.
Sorry for the rant , I get passionate about it haha
3 Likes
I hope so. It’s hard to tell sometimes with submax work but I’m trusting the extra volume and frequency will help, the bar speed doesn’t lie though, so there is that. Week 5 will be crazy.
I should’ve just been pulling Sumo the entire time instead of conventional because it seems like I recover fast session to session with little to no fatigue. Dropping the squat day has also really helped, that ended up being the issue all along when it came to recovery.
Kinda makes me wanna experiment with 3x/wk deadlifting next block.
1 Like
sounds like you’ve got it figured out then, the best part of competing in my (limited + very intermediate strength-level) experience is being able to take advantage of the pressure to perform/general hype in service of breaking PRs. but if you can get that kind of energy in training, power to ya
1 Like
Sumo Deadlift
135 x 5
135 x 4
235 x 4
315 x 2
405 x 1
485 x 1
535 x 1
575 x 1
575, 595 or 605 x 1??? RPE 4/5 Plates fucking fell off AND my phone fell so I didn’t get it on video, have no idea what weight I was pulling here
595 x 1 RPE 8 Felt significantly harder than whatever mystery weight I was pulling for my top single
Seated Hamstring Curl 200 2x8
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 265 2x10
Mag Grip Cable Row 280 2x8
Bicep Curl Machine 180 2x10
One Arm Cable Hammer Curl 70 2x8
575 compared to last week moved SO fast.
Super slow 595. My hamstring and calve cramped midway through as well. 605 was the original top single but that all went to shit.
I may have tweaked something too. I won’t know how bad it is until tomorrow.
Another reason on my list to hate 24 hour fitness.
9 Likes
