Westside/PLing Training Thread

Training Powerlifting
8411

[quote]Tony Hsiao wrote:
Tuesday, 11/6/2007: ME Squat

A. Olympic Squat
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 1
280 x 1 (PR +5 lbs)
290 x 0
265 x 1
265 x 1
230 x 3 (PR +5 lbs)

B. Good Morning
185 x 5

C. Glute-Ham Raise
BW x 4 sets x 8 reps

After a couple of weeks not progressing on box squats, I decided to switch to olympic squats. I thought I had made more progress as my max on box squats was 285. Unfortunately, I only got a 5lb PR for olympic squats. I guess a PR is a PR and I should be happy, but I was expecting a lot more. I used to have a +10-15lb carryover from box squatting to regular squatting, but it just didn’t happen today.

While doing good mornings, my lower back felt really strained, so I decided to take it easy today. [/quote]

progress is progress bro, all we can do is try to be better than we where yesterday, good job on the PR’s I am sure you will add a few lbs next week.

8412

ME bench
Floor press with medium grip
45x8
65x8
95x5
115x5
135x5
145x2 (PR+5)
135x6 (PR+1 rep)

Weighted BB push ups +10 lbs x 21 (baseline PR), +10x14

1 DB Rows 65x12, 70x3x10 (PR+5)
2 rear laterals 3 sets

BB curls 45x3x12 (with some swing on the last couple of reps)

BB shrugs 85x3x8

pushdowns 'cause I felt like it

56 minutes

8413

[quote]Carnak wrote:
11/6/2007 ME upper
incline bench
bar x 20
135 x 8
160 x 5
185 x 3
210 x 2
235 x 1
260 x 1 PR (+10)
270 x 1 PR (+15)
250 x 1 super cake

DB bench
110 x 6 PR, 4, 3, 3

chinups
BW x 5, 5, 5, 5

face pulls
#3 x 15
#6 x 15

Felt strong today. I changed my warmup scheme a bit so that my jumps were almost exactly 10% working up to the PR attempt. This felt way more comfortable once I got to the heavy sets and I’m going to keep this up. I’ve been a bit too random in my warmup weights so I’m going to apply this to all max attempts. I could have had 275 I think but I didn’t want to get greedy and ruin a good thing. That 250 flew up like it was nothing.

I can’t believe how many chinups I can do compared to any time in my life. Very pumped about training in general right now.[/quote]

Good job on the bench man, I am jealous of your chinups! I think my arm will be better soon that I can start improving my chinups instead of stupid lat pulldowns.

8414

11/6/07 ME Lower

Deadlift

135xlots
225x3
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x2 PR+40lbs! awhile since I did a two repper in the deadlift though… I think I am going to go for more of the 2-5 rep PR’s
315x4

Front Squat ATG

135x3
185x3
225x3
245x0 (mental error)
245x1
285x1 PR+10lbs GRIND!

Lat Pulldowns
120lbs 2x8

Good day, I worse my Chucks for deadlifts and front squats, I didn’t think the chucks would work well on the front squats but I liked um. I think I widened my stance a tad though. For whatever reason I like pulling in the chucks compared to bare feet. the 405x2 was hard but easier than the 365 was. On the 365 set I sat there made sure everything was perfect, on the 405x2 I just griped and ripped, this works much better…

Front squat PR was nice…

My lifting is going to look like this for awhile 1-2 main exercises 1-2 assistance moves… No more if I am lifting 5 times a week with two ME days a fairly heavy RE Upper and a event day I will need to do it like this…

ART is for real, my bicep hasn’t felt this good since before I injured it.

8415

[quote]Carnak wrote:
incline bench
260 x 1 PR (+10)
270 x 1 PR (+15)
[/quote]
Good work there Carnak! So, is that 270 a 20lb PR, as opposed to 15? Either way, Getting a 10lb and 20lb in the same day is definitely great. You must have been really feeling it today. :smiley: Keep on trucking there buddy!

8416

[quote]Kalle wrote:
Deadlift
405x2 PR+40lbs!

Front Squat ATG
285x1 PR+10lbs GRIND!
[/quote]
Heck yeah! Good job Kalle! I’m glad you like those Chucks. I love mine and I do just about everything in them.

[quote]Kalle wrote:
ART is for real, my bicep hasn’t felt this good since before I injured it. [/quote]

I’m glad to hear your bicep is feeling better. I’ve been thinking about going to ART sometime but just haven’t gotten off of my butt to do it. I don’t have anything major yet to fix, so I’m just lazy and holding off on it. One day I’ll get around to it and see what you and Modi are talking about. :slight_smile:

8417

Sheiko #29 Week 3 Day 1

Squat
250x5x1
295x4x1
340x3x2
385x2x4

Bench Press
125x5x1
150x4x1
175x3x2
200x3x6

Dumbbell Bench Press
60x10x5

Squat
225x3x1
270x3x1
315x3x1
360x3x4

Despite the fact that my hamstring is strained (from my weekend adventure) and it hurts to walk, it does not hurt to squat with 3-400 pounds on my back. Go figure. I may end up dropping the deadlift from the next training day. I’ll see how it feels. I tried wearing my belt for a few squat sets. It almost felt like I was cheating. I dropped a few sets of accessory work (chins, pushups and abs) because I got to the gym a bit late and was pushing against closing time.

8418

[quote]Tony Hsiao wrote:
Carnak wrote:
incline bench
260 x 1 PR (+10)
270 x 1 PR (+15)

Good work there Carnak! So, is that 270 a 20lb PR, as opposed to 15? Either way, Getting a 10lb and 20lb in the same day is definitely great. You must have been really feeling it today. :smiley: Keep on trucking there buddy![/quote]

I guess I can’t add! It’s a little bit of a stretch to call it a 20 lb PR because the most I have done before was 2 with 250 so I knew I should be around 260. It’s probably a 10 lb PR. But Kalle inspired me to start doing some singles so now I really know where I’m at!

8419

[quote]Kalle wrote:
11/6/07 ME Lower

Deadlift

135xlots
225x3
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x2 PR+40lbs! awhile since I did a two repper in the deadlift though… I think I am going to go for more of the 2-5 rep PR’s
315x4

Front Squat ATG

135x3
185x3
225x3
245x0 (mental error)
245x1
285x1 PR+10lbs GRIND!

Lat Pulldowns
120lbs 2x8

Good day, I worse my Chucks for deadlifts and front squats, I didn’t think the chucks would work well on the front squats but I liked um. I think I widened my stance a tad though. For whatever reason I like pulling in the chucks compared to bare feet. the 405x2 was hard but easier than the 365 was. On the 365 set I sat there made sure everything was perfect, on the 405x2 I just griped and ripped, this works much better…

Front squat PR was nice…

My lifting is going to look like this for awhile 1-2 main exercises 1-2 assistance moves… No more if I am lifting 5 times a week with two ME days a fairly heavy RE Upper and a event day I will need to do it like this…

ART is for real, my bicep hasn’t felt this good since before I injured it. [/quote]

Nice pulls!

8420

ME/RE Bench (last friday)
For some change I’m going to be using Bill Gillispie’s wave program.

Warmup
135 x 15
225 x 7

% calculated with 1RM 355

3-Nov Week 1
% actual reps
5 X 76 270 5
4 X 79 280 4
3 X 81 288 3
8 X 70 249 8
FAIL 70 249 9.5 (just missed 10)

chins x a lot
Lateral raise x failure

Done

8421

11/7/2007 DE Lower/ME Upper

A)Box Jumps off vibration plate (40kHz, high amplitude)
20" x 5
30" x 5
40" x 5
44" x 5

B)Single-Leg Box Jumps, again with the vibration
20" x 3 each leg
30" x 3 each leg
34" x 3 each leg, sorta

C)ME Flat BB Bench Pressings
Bar x some
95 x 3
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
250 x 1
275 x 1
300 x 1
315 x 1 FINALLY tie old PR from March and boy howdy easy
320 x 1 +5 lb. PR

D)Weighted Pullups=BW +20 lb. X-Vest x 10, 10

NOTES: The bench PR was a long time in coming, but I feel I’m on to something with how I’ve been organizing my RE and ME work for upper body. My reps felt crisp and reliable, even up to 315. I pulled 320 a little too low and had to fight it back into the groove, but still got it locked out. I had great handoffs from a great spotter from 250 on up, and that of course makes a huge difference in how well the pressing goes. He let me fight on 320 when most would have pulled it off me.

Since I got to my box jumping goal last week, I decided I’m going to alternate between weighted jumps with the X-Vest and jumping off our vibration plate. Yes, we’ve got a vibration plate. It’s got a 1200 lb. capacity, a wide foot plate (wide enough for me to squat and deadlift on) and some schools that have incorporated vibration into their weight training have seen dramatic increases in strength gains in even senior students who’ve been training for 3 years. I noticed the increase in difficulty more on the single-leg work than the two-legged jumps. Next week I’ll do some jumping with the X-Vest, maybe 10 lbs. or so in it.

Friday I plan to do some box squats, moderate deads, and maybe a push/pull/abs giant set, again moderate weight. Back to full bore next week.

8422

11/7/07- Wed- ME BP

1)Bench Press (middle finger on ring- feet flat and in front)
Barx15
135x5
225x2
265x1
295xMISS
-----------Manpon (half foam roller) added------
285x1
295x1 (not too tough)
305xMISS

Technique work (forefinger on ring)
225x1 x1 245xMISS?

2A)Ultra Wide Grip Pullups
BWx10 x11 x8

2B)Close Neutral Grip DB Pushup
BWx30 x26 x22

3A)EZ Bar Curl
EZ+55x12 x6 EZ+50x8

3B)Fat Man Rows (supine grip- feet on bench)
BWx18 x14 x11

Notes: I should have known better. At 225 I could tell that the weight didn’t feel light today, but worked up anyway. My elbow tuck is garbage and I had no strength off the chest. The 295 with the Manpon felt good, but the 305 was shit. I had a dull pain in my elbows and shoulders like I needed a deload (even though I just came from one). My arms just gave out on the 245 in the technique set.

All I can say is this really rattled my confidence in hitting the bench numbers that I wanted in the meet.

I think it I’m going to experiment with hitting more lifts at 85% after coming back from a deload before working into 90%+ work the next 2 weeks after.

I just feel drained right now…emotionally and physically.

-Matt

8423

11/07/07 - Upper (ME) - Singles

A) 3 & 4 board Press
…
225x3
275x3

add 3 board…

315x1
365x1
385x1 (misloaded bar)

add 4 board…
405x1
415x1
425x1 (baseline PR)

B) Flat Bench with Light Bands Doubled (approx 90lbs each at top)
135x6 (tie PR easily)
165x5
185x4
185x4

C) Rear Delt Raise
35x8
40x8
40x8
40x8

D) Hammer Curls
50x6
60x6
65x6
70x6

I felt reasonably strong today. I misloaded the bar for my final 3 board attempt, it should have been 395 instead of 385, but I was having math problems. It felt too easy, but decided to save it for 4 board. I felt very strong on these and probably could have hit 435 if I had warmed up differently, but a good day regardless.

I decided to go with the light bands on flat bench to work on my lockout strength. These felt good today, I was a little worried about my shoulder but it felt fine throughout the whole lift.

8424

ME Upper

Bench
45x20
95x5
135x5
185x2
Added 2 Boards
225x3
250x1
270x1
290x1 5lb PR
295x1 10lb PR!! Sweet!

I was really happy with this. I worked up to 295 with 3 boards two weeks ago and now I hit it off of 2. I am very pleased with this progress.

Incline DB
85x3x8
85x1x7

This was interesting. I hit 3 sets of 8 and one set of 6 with 80s last week. Some how I manged 5lbs more and an extra rep. I am also pleased with this progress.

Neutral Grip Pull-up. The handles are about shoulder width apart.
BW+10x4x8

Standing Face-Pulls
125x5x8

Cable Side bends
80x??
100x4x6

DONE!!

8425

Crappy day. I think I had a fever (I know I’m at least a little sick), but I decided to go to the gym to try to feel better.

It worked and it didn’t work.

ME Lower

Sumo Deads.

bar x20
60.8kg x10
100.8kg x5
140.8kg x2
160.8kg x2
170.8kg x1
190.8kg x0
188.8kg x0
165.8kg x5 (PR +1 rep)

I knew I’d be having a bad workout day when the 160.8kg pull felt heavy. But seeing as the 170.8kg pull went REALLY well, I figured I’d shoot for a PR.

Couldn’t even budge it from the ground.

Tried a lower weight (still a PR). I think it broke the ground by like a centimeter but that’s it.

Felt so crappy about it…but what do I expect when sick?

Maybe it was the sickness
Maybe it was that after 3 weeks I should change my selections (this is week four of pulling Sumo).
Maybe it was both (probably).

Either way, I hung it up for today and went to get more rest.

AD

8426

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
Crappy day. I think I had a fever (I know I’m at least a little sick), but I decided to go to the gym to try to feel better.

It worked and it didn’t work.

ME Lower

Sumo Deads.

bar x20
60.8kg x10
100.8kg x5
140.8kg x2
160.8kg x2
170.8kg x1
190.8kg x0
188.8kg x0
165.8kg x5 (PR +1 rep)

I knew I’d be having a bad workout day when the 160.8kg pull felt heavy. But seeing as the 170.8kg pull went REALLY well, I figured I’d shoot for a PR.

Couldn’t even budge it from the ground.

Tried a lower weight (still a PR). I think it broke the ground by like a centimeter but that’s it.

Felt so crappy about it…but what do I expect when sick?

Maybe it was the sickness
Maybe it was that after 3 weeks I should change my selections (this is week four of pulling Sumo).
Maybe it was both (probably).

Either way, I hung it up for today and went to get more rest.

AD[/quote]

Personally, I think maxing out on deads 4 weeks strait is WAY too much. 2 maybe, but 4 is just too taxing. I am sure the sickness didn’t help either. No worries. Live and Learn.

8427

[quote]Pemdas wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Crappy day. I think I had a fever (I know I’m at least a little sick), but I decided to go to the gym to try to feel better.

It worked and it didn’t work.

ME Lower

Sumo Deads.

bar x20
60.8kg x10
100.8kg x5
140.8kg x2
160.8kg x2
170.8kg x1
190.8kg x0
188.8kg x0
165.8kg x5 (PR +1 rep)

I knew I’d be having a bad workout day when the 160.8kg pull felt heavy. But seeing as the 170.8kg pull went REALLY well, I figured I’d shoot for a PR.

Couldn’t even budge it from the ground.

Tried a lower weight (still a PR). I think it broke the ground by like a centimeter but that’s it.

Felt so crappy about it…but what do I expect when sick?

Maybe it was the sickness
Maybe it was that after 3 weeks I should change my selections (this is week four of pulling Sumo).
Maybe it was both (probably).

Either way, I hung it up for today and went to get more rest.

AD

Personally, I think maxing out on deads 4 weeks strait is WAY too much. 2 maybe, but 4 is just too taxing. I am sure the sickness didn’t help either. No worries. Live and Learn.[/quote]

For real, dude.

So you’re suggesting trying maxing out on deads for 2 weeks then maxing on squats for 2 weeks, then back to deads for two weeks (etc)?

I’ve been maxing my DL (Conventional and Sumo) for about 2 months straight now. Was considering going to Defecit Deadlifts for the next few weeks.

Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

AD

8428

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
For real, dude.

So you’re suggesting trying maxing out on deads for 2 weeks then maxing on squats for 2 weeks, then back to deads for two weeks (etc)?

I’ve been maxing my DL (Conventional and Sumo) for about 2 months straight now. Was considering going to Defecit Deadlifts for the next few weeks.

Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

AD[/quote]

That’s what I’ve been doing. I think I stole that from Phill or maraudermeat. Even if you chose to keep deadlifting, might be good to change up from sumo to conventional or rack pulls or something after three. I’d say maybe only go more than three weeks if you’re really flying through PRs and feel more in the tank. If you grind out a somewhat hard one, it’s probably a good time to switch up.

8429

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
Pemdas wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Crappy day. I think I had a fever (I know I’m at least a little sick), but I decided to go to the gym to try to feel better.

It worked and it didn’t work.

ME Lower

Sumo Deads.

bar x20
60.8kg x10
100.8kg x5
140.8kg x2
160.8kg x2
170.8kg x1
190.8kg x0
188.8kg x0
165.8kg x5 (PR +1 rep)

I knew I’d be having a bad workout day when the 160.8kg pull felt heavy. But seeing as the 170.8kg pull went REALLY well, I figured I’d shoot for a PR.

Couldn’t even budge it from the ground.

Tried a lower weight (still a PR). I think it broke the ground by like a centimeter but that’s it.

Felt so crappy about it…but what do I expect when sick?

Maybe it was the sickness
Maybe it was that after 3 weeks I should change my selections (this is week four of pulling Sumo).
Maybe it was both (probably).

Either way, I hung it up for today and went to get more rest.

AD

Personally, I think maxing out on deads 4 weeks strait is WAY too much. 2 maybe, but 4 is just too taxing. I am sure the sickness didn’t help either. No worries. Live and Learn.

For real, dude.

So you’re suggesting trying maxing out on deads for 2 weeks then maxing on squats for 2 weeks, then back to deads for two weeks (etc)?

I’ve been maxing my DL (Conventional and Sumo) for about 2 months straight now. Was considering going to Defecit Deadlifts for the next few weeks.

Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

AD[/quote]

I think the most beneficial thing to do would be to pick two squats and two deadlift variations and rotate every 2 weeks.

Squat 1 Two Weeks

Dead 1 Two Weeks

Squat 2 Two Weeks

Dead 2 Two Weeks

You might be able to get away with 3 week, but the only way to know is to do it yourself. Remember that this is congregate
training so you really do want to have a least 3-4 movements in your rotations.

8430

This is the first “workout” I can remember in a long time where I didn’t Squat, Press or Deadlift something. I figured I’d give my shoulder a rest so I didn’t want a bar on my back, and I’m going to switch DL to my ME movement on Monday, so I opted out of any DLing. Still worked hard though.

11/08/07 - Lower (RE)

A) Leg Press
180x10
360x6
540x6
720x6
900x6 (tie PR)
950x6 (PR +50lbs)
1000x6 (PR +100lbs) ← thought my head was going to explode
540x30 (PR for stupidity)

B) Light Band Pullthroughs
x8
x8
x8
x8

C) Murphy Rows
95x8
135x8
135x8
135x8

D) Rope Crunch
150x11 (PR+1 rep)
150x10
150x10

Went heavy on Leg Press today, and I really felt like I was going to pop at the heavier weights. Finished with 1000lbs and decided I needed another set. Stripped a few plates and went to exhaustion. I walked around with wobbly legs for a good 5 minutes after the 30 rep set.

My quads were fried, and even my low back was pumped from that set, so the pullthroughs really hit my back hard.

I tried some of the Rows that Murph showed us over at TPS and really focused on hitting the lats with these. He taught us to pull the shoulders back hard, not shrug the shoulders at all, and let the bar slide up your thighs. When you do it right, you can feel it like no other row. I probably got 5 or 6 good reps on each set where I didn’t engage the traps, and really felt the lats firing. I think there is a probably a good balance between doing these with lighter weights and then including some heavy BOR’s as well.

I’m really looking forward to some heavy pulling in the upcoming weeks. I haven’t gone over 500 in the DL for a while now, but all my indicators are there, so I think I’ve got a big pull in me. I’m going to wing it on Monday. If I feel very strong, I’ll go for a single. If not, then I’ll take a double or triple. It will be a gameday decision.