Strict Log
110x3,3,3
160x1
200x1 light headed
belt on
250x1 staggered and felt like a horizontal press for some reason
260x1 was not hard but not feeling as if I have a PR or something crazy today. Wasn’t planning on gonig for one anyway.
260x1 gripped the handles WAY forward and the log was almost flipping over on the whole press.
260x1 better
260x1
260x1 did it without a belt and basically blacked out good way to finish the working sets hahaha.
Floor Press (Paused)
135x3,3
225x3
275x2 pec is bothering me on the unracking
315x1
365x2 PR and pretty much blows away my old PR by doubling the rep. DEFINITELY Had a 3rd but my pec was really feeling the weight.
Beltless Pause Squats (1 sec pause)
135x6,3,3
225x3
275x2
365x1
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3 went peachy up until here. Felt off but got it done okay.
405x3 this was actually very easy. Almost did a 4th in a fit of exuberance. Set up much better than the previous set.
Nothing better than working sets that feel and get progressively better as they go on.
Sled Drags Of Death: Me and my training partner drag a 280lb tire for 60 feet for 12 minutes until the time is up. Only rest we get is when we’re waiting for eachother to finish our own drags. B R U T A L. But fun.
Thanks bro. I try to rotate parameters and varying intensities often throughout my training. Definitely took a good look at my training recently. Trying to squeeze out some bigger numbers, especially on front squats and deadlifts. Thanks for checking in.
Glad you didn’t die on the 16th… lots of death in there haha.
Hey I was hoping to run something by you. For the comp, it seems pretty sure that the event will be a log clean & press for a max single. You gave me some great advice in that other thread I started and I tried to incorporate that along with what you told @T3hPwnisher.
My plan, for the upcoming 2 cycles, would basically follow this example of a hypothetical week 1 (using 351)
70% x 3 (strict)
80% x 3 (strict)
90% x PR set (strict)
100% x 3 (strict)
110% x 3 (3 push press)
120% x 3 (1 push press, 2 split jerk)
130% x 2 (2 split jerk)
80% x max reps (mechanical drop-set of strict > push > jerk)
70% x max reps (mechanical drop-set of strict > push > jerk)
What do you think? Any tweaks you’d make?
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: also, I think I should switch from straight bar to swiss bar bench.
@TX_iron Yo yo, definitely gotta say, that looks pretty on point, but it would be far more effective if you had more than 2 months to prepare. I think you will be stuck with your current strength by the time to contest hits, so you will really have to make practicing the small details the biggest focus. While you should be fine to keep doing 351 for another 3-4 weeks, definitely consider dropping the strict press part of it and just dialing down the volume toward the end as you approach 2-3 weeks out.
If you feel a lack of confidence in that protocol you mentioned, I’d recommend something like this off the dome:
Week 1-6ish: 351 protocol like you mentioned it
Week 7-10: Come into each session with a number that ascends each week, starting at like 80% in week 1, then 85% in 2, etc. Literally work up to the weight for a single as if it is your contest. Once you finish the “max out”, rest up for 10 minutes or so and do a clean once and press once for max reps with a generous weight. Probably 55-70%.
I would honestly use a light weight for the clean and press after the heavy shit for the sake of really making sure you have time and the mentality to think about what you’re doing and how the lift needs to be executed. Remember that practice makes perfect and the more you spend your time doing that, the less the time will be wasted come contest, because we all tend to get too psyched up at a show ESPECIALLY being newer to the sport. When this happens we sometimes throw everything out the window because we didn’t ingrain the motions into our system enough so relentlessly that we can flunk.
Man thanks a lot for the advice; good stuff I hadn’t considered. I like that progression model a lot, I can use the pyramid system I listed next cycle and use Beyond 531 for the pre-competition cycle, which one option is basically working up in mostly singles to a heavy single and then backing way off for reps; all using percentages of your training max. Thanks! think that’s a winner. May even use a similar approach to the deadlift as even though the event is for reps the weight is beyond my current max. Keep on kickin’ ass man.
No worries man. I’m more than happy to help. I think you will find that template will indeed work well for most of anything in regard to peaking. Peaking is generally something you learn to do over time, since each persons body gets better with different things and nuances. Feel free to change anything after this contest. Either way, will be stoked to see how things play out.
4/20/16 - Okay so I don’t want to employ excuses, but my pec was feeling rather under the weather so I had to move my grip in about a half inch. Probably semi-close grip for most people. I dunno why, but my pec seems to be giving me issues when I unrack the weight initially. However when I start benching it feels fine.
Bench Press
45x8,8
135x3,3
185x3
225x3
275x18 PR, had some help on the lockout of last rep but I’ll count it cause I’m greedy.
Z Press w/ band suspended weights (+25lbs suspended each side)
45+50lbs x8, x8
95+50lbs x8, x6, x6, x6
drop set
45+50lbs x 12
BTH Tricep Ext. (one arm)
40x12
40x12
40x12
40x12
Sling Shot Narrow Push ups
x15
x15
x15 right elbow is feeling strange
Front Raise
x15
x15
x15
Side Lateral
x12
x12
x12
Band Pull Apart
x15
x15
x20 underhand
x20 underhand
4/22/16 - Arguably the worst workout of my life. Have been tight on money so I had to wait an extra day before getting some food. I had a whopping 800 calories or so yesterday consisting of oats and bread rofl. First time I’ve been this unprepared for a workout, but I went in thinking I’d be fine. As soon as I hit 385 on warm ups, I knew I had used everything I had. I felt so exhausted.
FS
135x5,5
185x3
225x3
275x2
335x1
385x1 felt more like how 425 should have felt today.
425x0. As soon as I unracked it I knew it was going to hit the floor.
Stripped it and went to 315 with no rest.
315…fail? Didn’t expect this one. Tried to pause it and it felt like my legs just stopped working.
Called it here for anything with semblance of structure and logic to get stronger. Like I always say and do, if your body isn’t strong, just make yourself feel a huge amount of pain and despair with ridiculously high rep shit in one set.
Axle Power Cleans
135x101 did this in about 12 minutes. Was getting so hard to breathe by the end that I was finding rest during the sets themselves and not the labored breathing during rest. Mad at myself for resting at every 10 reps passed 50. I dunno why this bothers me.
Will rest up and try to prepare for deads as best I can.
4/24/16 - As if I could get away unscathed (lol imagine), my left hhamstring is sore and kinda bugging me from all those stupid cleans I did. 135lbs aint shit but when you do a deadlift with it 100 times it suddenly becomes shit. Deadlifts anyway.
Close Stance Sumo
135x5,5
225x3,3 trying to just go easy on the hamstring by pulling a bit slower
315x3 wasn’t explosive but it felt nice and easy, as it should
405x3
455x1
500x2 feels okay, feeling foreign in my set up but things feel somewhat strong
550x3
550x3 loose belt here…TOO loose. these were so slow but I didn’t feel i’d miss.
550x3 first was disgusting, but I fixed the last 2. Very hard.
May or may not be 100% in strength. Either way, I matched a wide stance 3x3 sumo pull with straps from 4 month ago, but with close stance adn hook grip. Also, can’t wait for the new bar. I’ll have it hopefully before June.
Hip Thrusts w/ Axle
125x10
175x10
245x8
320x10
320x10
320x10
drop set
245x8
215x10
175x12
125x12
Very humbling in seeing how hard hip thrusts are and that I haven’t gotten stronger on them since I started doing them infrequently 4-5 years ago. Pretty srs ass/hamstring pump tho.
4/26/16 - Hey today was fun. Just like deads and squats, things felt alien, but strong.
Strict Log
110x3,3,3
160x3
200x1
230x1
255x1 bit of ambivalence here, felt strong but i sort of blacked out so I couldn’t remember much of how it felt
285x1 PR, definitely the earliest i’ve ever blacked out on a log press whilst still continuing the press and succeeding. I remember telling myself “fuck, better finish this out before it finishes me”
4/28/16 - The anxiety on front squats has returned. I don’t know what to do about this other than man the fuck up. I feel fine up until my expected work sets and I immediately feel like I’m gonna faint before I even touch the bar. This does NOT happen EVER on deadlifts, back squats, or overhead/bench press. Doesn’t happen on any strongman event either. Strange. Either way, I made up for my shitty attempt at fronts last week.
Beltless Pause Front Squats
95x5,5
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x1
325x1
365x1 previous PR smoked
405x…afraid to unrack. Felt my legs go weak like a little girl before even trying to unrack it. Stepped back and got a hold of myself.
405x1 40lb PR on this movement. fuck yeah.
The antidote seemed to be getting out of my own head and not taking this too seriously. I never get anxious before lifts these days so I’m glad I got under and over it quick. That said, totally elated that I, in an impetuous fashion, ambulated to the bar like a savage and just did the lift. I felt like a kid crying before his first day of school. Sheesh. Onward…
Stone Shoulders
180x3,3,3 relap on each rep
250x3 relap on each rep
250x3 relap
250x8 reps total, 3 reps from lap to shoulder, and 5 more with relaps because I couldn’t manage to hold onto the stone while bringing it back down to lap, it just became too much of a task.
Step Ups
115x20
115x20 kind of tweaked my left knee NOT from the rep itself, but from unracking it with a split-stance. Gah. Right leg only (weak leg) from here on.
115x20
115x20
