Pause Squat - Beltless, SSB
155 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 2
315 x 5 @ 5
315 x 5
Pause Comp Bench
135 x 5
195 x 5
265 x 2
285 x 2
320 x 1 @ 8
275 x 3
275 x 3
Incline Spoto Bench
185 x 2
240 x 5 @ 5
240 x 5
Stiff Leg Beltless Deadlift
335 x 5 @ 4
335 x 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Conventional Stance
365 x 8
365 x 8
Plate Loaded One Arm Lat Pulldown 3.25pps 3x8
Tricep Pushdown One Arm 95 2x15
Its been exactly a year and 3 days since I tore my psoas. I didn’t even realize that much time has passed until it hit me today. I still deal with chronic issues and asymmetry, I lost the mind muscle connection for alot of things, but I’m slowly getting it all back.
I’m blessed to have made it this far, and in many aspects, have surpassed my old numbers pre-tear, I’m much bigger and more developed, I’m much more confident in what I do. There’s a lot of folks who don’t come back. I’ve spent alot of time wondering if I got lucky with the way things lined up.
Really big shoutout to my training partner. Having his guidance and first hand experience has really been making me look at the bigger picture. Guy still puts up monster totals in comp after 17 years in the game. I still don’t fully understand everything, but I’m grateful for the way things turned out.
3-1 Tempo 14" Box Squat - Beltless
135 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
320 x 1
380 x 1
405 x 4 @ 5
320 x 4
Incline Spoto Bench
135 x 4
195 x 3
220 x 1
240 x 5 @ 3
240 x 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Conventional Stance
390 x 8
390 x 8
One Arm Plate Loaded Lat Pulldown 4pps 2x8
One Arm DB Skullcrusher 60s 2x8
Lying Leg Curl 145 2x10
Squats felt really freakin smooth for not doing straight bar for a bit. I’m shoring up a lot of technical issues and aiming for consistent depth, don’t really plan to push this that hard, keeping it at a tempo. It’ll do me some good.
Paused 2" Deficit Deadlift - Conventional, Stiff Bar, Beltless
135 x 5
225 x 4
315 x 2
405 x 1
455 x 1
500 x 3 (Cluster Singles) @ 4,6,6
440 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
405 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
Paused Close Grip Bench
135 x 5
135 x 5
195 x 4
255 x 2
290 x 1
315 x 3 @ 3
275 x 3
275 x 3
Snatch Grip Pendlay Row
330 x 5 @ 5
330 x 5
Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown 260 2x8
Ez Bar Reverse Curl 195 2x8
Seated DB Curl 45s 3x8
Paused Deads off a deficit moved good. This variation is hard as hell I’m not gonna lie. Got a little bit of a hamstring cramp that knotted up, doesn’t seem too bad.
Also, tempo box squats didn’t kill me on Friday. I’m keeping that in and capping the weight where its at
Decided to post this seperate. This is the 3rd (or 4th) time me and my training partner got told off for deadlifting. Apparently the place is under new management & they crashed out and made us unload lol. I think someone complained cus we saw them up front pointing us out.
We’ve been noticing a lot of powerlifters who used to come here have slowly been disappearing one by one. I wonder if its related (probably). I don’t blame them.
I don’t think it’ll be too much of an issue for me to deadlift using the bumpers, they do feel legitimately lighter, so I could always add a 5 or 10 to each side. Maybe some issues with loading if its small change plates but I’ll deal with it when that time comes.
Pause Squat - SSB, Beltless
70 x 5
160 x 5
250 x 2
320 x 1
360 x 5 @ 6.5
360 x 5
Pause Competition Bench
45 x 20
135 x 5
195 x 4
260 x 2
295 x 1
325 x 1
350 x 1 @ 6
330 x 3
305 x 4
290 x 5
Incline Spoto Bench
185 x 3
235 x 1
260 x 5 @ 6
225 x 5
Snatch Grip Pendlay Row
355 x 5 @ 6
355 x 5
One Arm Lat Pulldown Plate Loaded 4pps 2x10
Standing Single Leg Curl 100 3x8
One Arm DB Skullcrusher 60s 3x8
Everything moved great. SSB work felt a lot easier this week, moved fast and quick, seems like its starting to come together.
I checked out another gym today, wasn’t as good as the strongman gym, really loud and crowded with teenagers laughing hysterically and posing in front of me 90% of the time. Saw some dude giving unsolicited advice to these two guys and basically hijacked their workout routine in real time.
I’ll be going back to the other gym for my main deadlift work, it still remains the quietest, most well kept, and most secluded which I like. I’ll still keep my vasa membership, they do have a really nice belt squat machine that I like to use and more machines overall for accessory work. I’ll just bounce between the two when I need too.
Pause Close Grip Bench
135 x 5
195 x 4
260 x 2
295 x 1
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3 @ 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Conventional Stance
405 x 8 @ 6
405 x 8
Seated One Arm DB Press 60s 2x10
Neutral Grip Plate Loaded Row 4pps 3x8
Ez Bar Reverse Curl 200 3x8
Plate Loaded Preacher Curl 2.25 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 220 3x10
Great session today. Dealt with a little shoulder flare up, wonder if its from all the rows or lateral raises, I modified both, we’ll see if that helps.
2-1-0 Tempo 14" Box Squat - Beltess, Low Bar
155 x 5
275 x 4
345 x 2
420 x 4 @ 5
380 x 4
Incline Spoto Bench - Close Grip
135 x 1
195 x 1
225 x 5 @ 5
225 x 5
Stiff Leg Deadlift - Beltless
385 x 5 @ 5
365 x 5
Lying One Arm DB Skullcrusher 80s 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 220 3x10
Not the greatest session lol. Felt pretty horrible. I realized I have never recorded my SLDL technique and it’s only just gotten heavy enough for me to be mindful of it.
I’m starting to get the lockout pop I’ve always been missing at the top, slowly but surely. It’s been a bit boring to start off a bit light but I know it’ll pay off.
Hm. The shoulder really wasn’t happy with whatever I did on Wednesday.
It feels a lot better this morning, the light incline and rear delt work seemed to really help and it’s about 90% gone, going in to do some mobility work to nudge it along. I’m going to modify my sunday bench weight because of it regardless. Week 3 is going to get heavy real fast and I want my shoulders fresh for that.
I have a hunch it might be coming from the snatch grip rows, the overhead lat pulldown work and the preacher curls. Maybe one, maybe all three. I’m going to replace those for a session and see what happens.
ChatGPT always ends up being a life saver in these situations. I know I’m pretty prone to tweaks and injuries, my dumbass still wanted to try to take a heavy triple tomorrow but it helps slow me down and let me think logically lol
Paused 2" Deficit Deadlift - Conventional, Stiff Bar, Beltless
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2
405 x 1
465 x 3 (Cluster Singles) @ 4,4,4
465 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
440 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
Paused Close Grip Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
255 x 2
290 x 1
320 x 3 @ 5
300 x 3
275 x 3
I haven’t recorded my deadlift in the last 4 weeks since doing these deficits (probably should have lol). I can already tell the stiff leg, SSB and belt squat work is really cleaning up my technique a lot. Usually I get my pop off the floor but I’m noticing I start to get a second wind at the knees which I’ve been missing for a very long time. It’ll take time for this to carryover but this is very good.
The shoulder didn’t give me any issues until the very end of my bench work, I felt a little tug while I was unracking with 275. I wonder if the self unrack is what’s getting me, I didn’t have any issues with the actual reps though.
Haha thanks. I really love the pause deficit variation. It’s extremely humbling. Pretty much removes every single thing you could use to help you. The belt and deadlift bar alone give me a huge advantage.
On paper I’m working at 68% or so but it genuinely feels more like 80%. I’ve noticed it can catch up fast if I get overconfident
SSB is continuing to progress quickly and mostly pain free, I still have some hip flexor and psoas flare ups, I’ve come to accept this will be something I have to manage daily. Doing a lot of corrective work on my days off and new cues to get my right to work. It’s gotten better but it won’t undo a year long compensation overnight.
Had minor shoulder tightness throughout but there wasn’t any pain during my reps. Originally I wanted to do 375 for my top single on comp bench but I decided against that and just took a double instead. I dropped the lat work for today to see if that’ll help any bit.
Pause Squat - SSB, Beltless
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
390 x 2 @ 4
390 x 2
390 x 2
390 x 2
Incline Spoto Bench
135 x 5
185 x 4
230 x 1
260 x 5 @ 6
240 x 5
Stiff Leg Deadlift - Beltless
225 x 2
315 x 2
405 x 6 @ 5
405 x 4
Neutral Grip Cable Row 200 3x10
Lying One Arm DB Skullcrusher 95s 3x8
Rear Delt Flye Machine 125 3x10
I was at the strongman gym, incline setup here might as well be called shoulder destroyer. Not sure how it’ll work out If I’m alone but holy crap this felt horrible.
I miscounted my 405 set on stiff legs by one rep, RPE wise it still felt really easy with 5+ RIR but I know it didn’t feel like that for my body because my hamstrings are smoked and I can barely walk
This session was brutal for some reason. Dunno why. Slogged through everything but the reps all moved fast, RPE wasn’t all out, but didn’t seem to matter lol. I’d call that a genuinely good workout.
Paused 2" Deficit Deadlift - Beltless, Stiff Bar, Conventional
135 x 5
225 x 4
345 x 2
405 x 1
450 x 1
480 x 3 (Cluster Singles) @ 3,3,5
440 x 3 (Cluster Singles)
370 x 5 (Cluster Singles)
Pause Close Grip Bench
135 x 5
195 x 4
255 x 2
300 x 1
330 x 3 @ 5
305 x 3
305 x 3
295 x 5
Pendlay Row - Beltless, Off Pins
330 x 5 @ 5
330 x 5
Neutral Grip Cable Row 300 3x8
Ez Bar Reverse Curl 205 3x8
Standing Cable One Arm Curl 60 3x8
Hell of a session. Had trouble warming up and getting loose, the gym was really cold., I love that I basically am training in a warehouse alone. My workouts span like 3.5 hours and the entire time I was here, not a single soul. I love it.
Originally this was a 4 week block , but because of the unexpected shoulder flare that caused me to retake 315x3 last sunday, I’m extending it a week. 330x3 was the original week 2 weight and it moved as expected today. I’m still unsure if I want to deload the SSB & Deadlift next week, i’m still weighing out what the benefits of me going another week are when i’ve already pushed this for 5.5 weeks straight.
I’ve gotten a good idea on what my top end is for both these variations based off my weekly working weights. So… its a bit redundant for me to continue pushing since I found my baseline, which was the entire goal here. My gut is telling me to just chill the hell out while I focus on bench the next 2 weeks.
Pause Squat - Beltless, SSB
135 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 2
345 x 1
380 x 5 @ 5
380 x 5
Pause Comp Bench
135 x 5
195 x 4
260 x 2
290 x 2
330 x 3
345 x 3 @ 5.5
330 x 3
Incline Spoto Bench
185 x 2
225 x 1
250 x 1
270 x 1
305 x 5 @ 6 PR
265 x 5
Belt Squat w/ Lat Bar - Conventional Stance
315 x 7 @ 3
315 x 7
Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown 260 3x10
Tricep One Arm Pushdown 125 3x8
Rear Delt Cable Flye 50 3x10
PR on incline, had 4 RIR. Everything is lining up smoothly for my comp bench. Huge for me and shows everything is trending upward perfectly, the last 3 blocks have also been the most productive bench training I’ve had in a long time.
Summary
On another, more personal note, I’ve been noticing lately that I’ve been having a pretty low tolerance for crowds. I’ve been doing a bit of a social media detox the last few months, cut out anything lifting and powerlifting related, stopped obsessing over the rankings, and it’s been doing great things for my headspace. I’ve been getting my best work done when alone, in a silent gym, with no phones or tripods out and recording. I wouldn’t say its emotional detachment? It kinda feels like it. It’s helping my performance though, so whatever it is, it’s working. I know athletes talk a lot about flow. Maybe that’s what it is.
I think there is something to be said for having your attention fully where you need it to be. When you are alone with no cameras your attention is fully on what you are doing. There is no one catching your eye or staring at you. No camera angle to worry about. It’s just you and the weight you are moving. I think it’s pretty fantastic that you are finding a good mental place without the influence of social media. Sometimes there is just too much and you need simple. It’s not emotional detachment. It’s just finding a quiet place where you can truly connect with what you are doing.
You worded it very well. Your right. Personally, the feeling of eyes on me or the need to perform to a camera used to really leak into my training. I was really bad with that (I cringe at the first 80% of my log entries). I wish I could have approached things differently. I paid alot for it lol.
I’ve really let go of the identity of being “a powerlifter”, and that has been really liberating. It removes a lot of pressure on my training, I’m comfortable with not wanting to compete, there’s nothing to prove. I get all my validation from the work I put into my training and that makes me happy. I just happen to enjoy powerlifting style training haha.
Your training is causing tiny earthquakes. Strong work!