The meet with NASA was more than I expected. There were a lot of meets and I didn’t eat as much as I should have due to the wait. I went in with a goal of 1300 minimum but I wanted to break a couple of PR’s.
I ended up 7/9 with the following lifts:
Bench press–
145kg
170kg
185kg Failed 185kg Fail 3rd attemp Bench Press.MOV - YouTube
Squat: very pleased with squat and depth. Judges were very strict on depth
145kg
167.5kg
187.5kg 187.5Kg Squat 3rd attempt.MOV - YouTube
Deadlift: Switched to conventional and I actually felt good but I have to work on my lock out. The weight was not heavy until lockout position.
215kg
232.5
260 Fail. Got 2 red lights because judges said I used thighs to push. Oh well.
I am happy with my total and I have learned some new training techniques from the beasts at the meet. I have to step my game up and I will.
1/25: Squat. using 50% method with 50% band tension and 50% bar weight. I understand what hard work is really about with the weights and I will only do this for 3 weeks cause this workout was taxing as hell.
LOW BOX SQUATS
Bar + 80Lb of tension 2 sets of 2
Bar + 200Lb of tension 1 set of 2
200Lb of tension + 135lbs 1 set of 2
200Lb of tension + 185lbs 1 set of 2
200Lb of tension + 200lbs 5 sets of 2
Straight leg DL
135x10, 185x10, 225x8
Situps
BW+25Lb plate 25 reps
BW only 15 reps
1/27: Bench Day
Rotator cuff exercises with 25 and 30Lb dumbells
2BD Bench Press:
135x10
225x10
275x5
320x5
340x2x6
Plancks: 30 seconds each 3 sets
Standing Military Press:
135x10
160x5x2
E-Z Bar Curl
100x10
100x8x2
Dips
Bodyweight x 10reps
Bodyweight +25Lb x 10 reps
Dumbbell alternating Curl
1 set of 55Lb x 5 reps
1/29: Deadlift Day
Rack pulls (height below knees):
135x5
225x5
315x3
405x3
500x1x5
Sumo DL (Not Switching to sumo DL’s, just working on my Squat strength w/out squatting)
405x1
450x1x3
Rows:
225x10
275x8
315x8
315x6
Upright Rows:
135x5
150x5
Cable close grip high Trap pulls
140x8x2
Medium Grip Pullups
BWx2
BWx1
Dumbbell Row
130x8
1/31: Bench day Second time in 1 week. Will try to alternate between squatting twice per week and benching twice per week.
2bd Bench Press Pause n Press:
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x5
340x3x2
355x2x2
Reverse Blue Band Pause n Press (Double wrap 75Lbs off bottom)
315x5
365x3x3
2/1: Squat day
Low Box Squats:
80Lb of tension + Bar–3 sets of 2
200Lb of tension + Bar-- 2 sets of 2
200Lb of tension + 135Lb–1 set of 1
200Lb of tension + 215Lb–8 sets of 1
Good Mornings:
135x8
185x3x3
1 Leg Extension:
50x10
55x10
60x8
Hanging Leg Raises:
3 sets of 10 These hurt like hell. never did them. Gotta do more.
Deadlift Day:
Rack pulls beneath knees with (80Lb of tension)
135x3
225x3
335x3
425x3x3
Wide Grip Lat pull down:
115x10
175x10
205x8x2
205x7
205x6
Shrugs:
245x10
335x10
425x8x3
Dumbbell Row:
130x5x2
Close Grip Pullups:
1 set of 2 Reps
3 sets of 3 Reps
1 set of 4 reps
Grip Training:
Hold 100Lb weight 4 sets of 10seconds
2/4: Squat day
With my Low box squats I use 4 Purples of the aerobic pillars which allows me to hit competition depth:
Low box squat
50Lb of tension + Bar: 2 sets of 3
50Lb of tension + 135Lb: 2 sets of 2
50Lb of tension + 225Lb: 1 set of 1
Free Squat
335x1x3
Reverse Band Low Box Squat (135Lb off bottom, 0 off top)
335x1
425x3
450x3
Reverse Band Low Box Squat (135Lb off bottom, 0 off top) 3 purples which was 2" lower than competition depth
450x1x3
425x1
2/6: Tried the Surge PWO today and some BCAA’s. What an effect. I hope I didn’t over do it today and feel like crap tomorrow.
Rotator Cuff exercises with 30Lb dumbbell 2 sets of 10
Pause n Press Bench Press with 120Lb of tension:
Bar 2 sets of 2
135x2
205x2x8
Took 80Lb tension bands, extended them to simulate a push up by exploding as fast as I could for 25 reps then did 25 pushups. Chest and tri’s were done.
3" Deficit Deadlifts Took it light
315x1x5
Front Squats Used by Olympic Shoes
225x3x3
Back Squats Used by Olympic Shoes
315x2
315x1x3
I normally use my Vibrams 5 fingers to Squat but after using my Oly shoes, I felt a bit stronger. I think I will switch to Oly shoes for squats. But I will stick to using my Vibrams for DL’s.
2/8: I felt the effects of my training from last week. Now that I know how my body responds I will not do anymore squats this week. Need to recover and not push it too hard since I am approx. 13 weeks out.
Low Box Squats:
80Lbs of tension + Bar–3 sets of 2
200Lbs of tension + Bar-- 1 set of 2
200Lbs of tension + 135Lbs-- 1 set of 1
200Lbs of tension + 185Lbs-- 1 set of 1
200Lbs of tension + 225Lbs-- 3 sets of 1
The tension over-powered me this week, so I will see how things work next week. Will only do 2 more sessions this week with DL’s and Bench. Have to focus on training smart and not push it too hard where I can’t get a good session in.
2/10: I believe I spoke to soon with reference to using Oly shoes for squatting. I have learned to listen to the my body and one thing I did notice is that when I used my Oly shoes, I did feel stronger but I also inflammed my petallar tendon (I have petallar tendonitis) more so than normal. I believe the slight incline in the heel transfered more weight than normal to the tendon. However, when I squat with my vibrams and take a squat stance a little wider than shoulder, I don’t have that problem. So I will be switching back and limit the use of my Oly shoes to front squats and deficit DL’s with knee wraps.
Bench Day:
Rotator cuff exercises with 20Lb and 30Lb dumbells
Pause n Press Bench Press:
120Lb of tension + Bar-- 1 set of 5
120Lb of tension +135Lb–2 sets of 2
120Lb of tension + 225Lb–6 sets of 2
Dead Position Bench Press at 2bd level
225x3
300x3x3
Weighted situps for 1 minute intervals (military PT test training)
25Lbs x 20 reps x 3 sets
Ez Bar Curl
80x10
100x1 Felt bicep pain and decided to stop. Want to play it safe. Lots of Ice for next couple of days
Upright rows:
135x9
135x8
2/12: Another lesson learned is I am to get a better work out to limiting the Big lifts to their seperate day and only train 3 days again. On the fourth day just work on the accessory exercises like Rows, pulldowns and standing press and so forth.
Deadlift day:
3" Deficit Deadlift (conventional style)
275x3
315x2
405x2
450x1
500x1x3
Reverse Band DL’s (120Lb off Bottom, 0 Off top)
495x1x5
Front Squats (close stance to target same muscles as Conventional DL for legs)
135x3
225x3
275x2
315x1x2 The hardest part about these was stabilizing the weight on the descent and not so much pushing the weight.
2/14: My Max band tension on squats will be limited to 150Lb at top and 80 at the bottom.
Low box Squat:
150Lb of tension + Bar: 6 sets of 1
150Lb of tension + 135Lb: 2 sets of 1
150Lb of tension + 185Lb: 2 Sets of 1
150Lb of tension + 225Lb: 5 sets of 1
Reverse band Low Box Squat: (135 off bottom, 0 off top)
At this point, legs felt like rubber
405x1x2
430x1
455x1
480x1 Had a few more in the tank but decided to call it. Will build from here. This was a good starting point on all levels.
2/15: Accessory Day
Good Mornings:
135x10
225x3
245x3x2
Standing Behind the neck military press:
135x8
155x5x2
Barbell Rows:
225x10
320x8x2
Incline Bench
135x10
225x10
245x8x2
Close Grip BW Pulllups:
BWx3x5
Dips:
BWx10x2
Patellar Tracking Correction Exercises. Wanting to try to strengthen the inner quad muscle. Want to see if my petallar tendonitis is due to muscle inbalances. Doctors have said a have micro tears on petallar tendon but I also hear a lot of popping when moving the knee. Had this condition for past 10 years but first time someone has suggested I may have a petallar tracking problem contributing to the inflammation.
Sorry if you have mentioned this, but have you tried foam rolling? I get knee pain and popping (more like crunching) often and foam rolling helps a ton.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Sorry if you have mentioned this, but have you tried foam rolling? I get knee pain and popping (more like crunching) often and foam rolling helps a ton.[/quote]
I just started to foam roll the knees and side of knees to see if this helps. I really want to get rid of this damn popping. I want to walk when I’m 50.
Good looking out for a fellow lifter! Appreciate the advise.
Do you foam roll the knee or side of the knee or both?
2/17: DL Day
3" Defecit conventional DL’s
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x3
475x0 Failed while using the hook grip. Grip gave out
475x1 with regular grip
520x1x2
Reverse Band DL (135 off bottom, 0 off top)
520x1x3
Front Squat:
225x2
315x0 No more gas in tank. couldn’t get out of hole.
2/20: Squats
While doing my band squats, I only wear my neoprene sleves to a low box squat that is 3" below my competition depth. Really working on my explosion from the hole.
Low Box Squat:
150Lb of tension + Bar: 4 sets of 1
" " " " + 135Lbs: 1 set of 1
“” '" “” + 185Lbs: 1 set of 1
“”" “” “” " + 245Lbs: 2 sets of 1. Left a few in the tank for reverse band box squats
Here is a video of 1 of sets of box squats:
Reverse Band Box Squat with 4 purples which is a tad bit below comp. depth. (135 off bottom, 0 top)
425x2
450x1x2
480x1
500x1 Below is the video of the last set:
Walkouts:
515Lbs 30 second hold while walking back and forth and getting into squat position
565Lbs 30 second hold while walking back and forth and getting into squat position
2/21: Bench Press
4-Bd Press:
135x10
135x6
315x10
365x1
385x1
385x3x3
405x3x2 Video of 4-Bd Press:
Barbell Rows:
225x10
315x7
365x5 Video of Rows:
That’s all I had gas for today. Wanted to do some reverse band work but I think I getter sessions when I focus on type of exercise at a time. The same with squats and DL’s. Will switch my thinking and try not to do everything every workout.
2/23 DL’s
Only had time for DL’s. This session it was 3" Deficits and next session it will be lockouts.
Using hook grip and straps to give my left bicep time to heal due to a little inflammation.
3" Deficit:
315x3x2
405x3
455x1
495x1
Next video of failure with 545Lb with straps. Will probably reduce by 20-25Lbs next time. Too big of a jump from last time.
Some of the things I picked up is to focus on one major lift and if my body says that I can squat twice in one week, I will or whatever main exercise I choose. Not trying to be too specific but to get the big 3 once per week minimum. If my body says rest, I rest. Not trying to push it too hard and want to get quality training sessions in. I really want to hit a 1525Lb in May which I feel is not too big of a goal.
All of these were performed using the hook grip. Next set was with straps and I failed twice at 545Lb. Failed at lockout.
