Westside/PLing Training Thread

Training Powerlifting
8971

12/22/2007 ME Lower

A)ME Squat
Bar x some
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
450 x MISS
405 x 2

B)H.S. V-Squat Backwards=234 x 5, 594 x 12

C1)Natural Glute/Ham Raises x 8, 8

C2)Blast-Strap Fallouts x 12, 12

NOTES: I’ve got to stay away from 1RMs on the squat for a while. Failing last week on 425 off the box and yesterday just missing 450 on a regular squat is quite enough. I need to get better at waiting until I feel stronger and faster to go for a PR. 405 for 2 was pretty hard after straining on the 450 attempt, but I wanted to get some more lifts in. Everything else I cut a little short because I had to make mashed potatoes and clean our entire house for company immediately upon returning home from my workout. Not the best scenario, but I did get to open one of my Christmas gifts early–Call of Duty 4.

8972

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
So what are the thoughts on doing Rack Pulls as a second exercise on ME days?

Andy Bolton does it. Jackass does it. Both these guys are pros and may or may not enjoy some d-bol with their morning coffee.

Is it a good idea for a mere mortal to try or will my lower back explode from squats and rack pulls all in the same day?[/quote]

Only one way to find out!

It probably depends how much work you get in with your main ME exercise as well. What you might consider is instead of doing true ME and going for like a 3RM, try using your 5RM and doing a couple sets of tripes.

-Matt

8973

[quote]Matt McGorry wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
So what are the thoughts on doing Rack Pulls as a second exercise on ME days?

Andy Bolton does it. Jackass does it. Both these guys are pros and may or may not enjoy some d-bol with their morning coffee.

Is it a good idea for a mere mortal to try or will my lower back explode from squats and rack pulls all in the same day?

Only one way to find out!

It probably depends how much work you get in with your main ME exercise as well. What you might consider is instead of doing true ME and going for like a 3RM, try using your 5RM and doing a couple sets of tripes.

-Matt[/quote]

I’ve seen Jim Wendler talk about doing 6-10 sets of ME core lifts on ME day so I’m going to give 2 ME Exercises a chance for 1 Month and see if I can adapt.

I’ll Olympic Squat, Front Squat, or Deadlift for the first ME lift.

Then I’ll Do a Rack Pull or Good-Morning for the second lift. If I squat then I’ll do the Rack Pull. If I Deadlift then I’ll do the Good-Morning.

8974

RE Bench

Pushups 20, 3x15

Weighted Chins 15x5 and I felt weak as a schoolgirl, so I figured I’d screw it and do some pulldowns.

Pulldowns pin 9x2x10, pin 10x8, pin 9x12

Lateral Raises 15’sx3x15

1 Hammer Curls 30’sx3x12
2 Decline Skullcrushers 45x2x10

15 lb. Hex Dumbbell Holds
Right 29, 28, 28
Left 14, 28, 27, 17

8975

[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
Modi wrote:
Pemdas wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Wednesday, 12/18/07
ME Lower

Felt really good to “take it easy” on the last ME day before my deload week. Still not sure what to do during the deload, though.

AD

I haven’t figured out what I like for deloads yet either. In the past, I have still gone to gym and did light full body stuff. Like 15 rep light. This time around, I am just going mess around with a band. I have been meaning to try some band exercises(just the band), but I never seem to get around to it. I’ll be at parents for few days, so this seems like a good time to give it a go.

Just remember…eat grow sleep. Don’t starve yourself…even a little.

For my deloads I’ve been picking 3 movements (instead of 4) and using 70% of my RE weight and 50% of the usual working volume.

So if I normally did 4 sets of 6 at 100lbs on my RE day, I’ll keep the warmup the same, and then do 2 sets of 6 at 70lbs. I also drop back to 3 days of training, one Lower day, one Upper day and one combined.

It’s enough to keep me from having that weak as a kitten first day back in the gym, but also allows me to recover from a heavy training cycle.

Hey Modi,

Thanks for this.

But what do you do on ME days?[/quote]

AD, sorry, just got back from the weekend, so I missed your post.

I just used my RE days as an example here, because all my exercises are in the 6-8 range on that day. I could also use any of my supplemental or assistance movments from my ME day. I never use my PL Stance Squat or a Conventional Deadlift during my deload, but I almost always include the Flat Bench. I just find that if I get away from benching for any time at all, I take a step backwards. However, if I take some time off from Squatting and DL’ing, I usually come back stronger.

My normal training week is:

Mon: ME Lower
Wed: ME Upper
Thu: RE Lower
Sat: RE Upper

When I deload, everything becomes RE:

Mon: RE Lower (70% Load, 50% Volume)
Wed: RE Upper (70% Load, 50% Volume)
Fri: RE Lower/Upper (70% Load, 50% Volume)

I also tend to pick less taxing movements, such as a Leg Press in place of a Squat. A Lat Pulldown in place of a Pull Up, etc.

So my deload might look like:

Monday:
Leg Press
SLDL
Leg Extensions

Wed:
Bench Press
Lat Pulldowns
DB Curls

Fri:
Narrow Stance Squat
Incline DB’s
Seated Row

Hope that helps a little.

8976

[quote]Modi wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Modi wrote:
Pemdas wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Wednesday, 12/18/07
ME Lower

Felt really good to “take it easy” on the last ME day before my deload week. Still not sure what to do during the deload, though.

AD

I haven’t figured out what I like for deloads yet either. In the past, I have still gone to gym and did light full body stuff. Like 15 rep light. This time around, I am just going mess around with a band. I have been meaning to try some band exercises(just the band), but I never seem to get around to it. I’ll be at parents for few days, so this seems like a good time to give it a go.

Just remember…eat grow sleep. Don’t starve yourself…even a little.

For my deloads I’ve been picking 3 movements (instead of 4) and using 70% of my RE weight and 50% of the usual working volume.

So if I normally did 4 sets of 6 at 100lbs on my RE day, I’ll keep the warmup the same, and then do 2 sets of 6 at 70lbs. I also drop back to 3 days of training, one Lower day, one Upper day and one combined.

It’s enough to keep me from having that weak as a kitten first day back in the gym, but also allows me to recover from a heavy training cycle.

Hey Modi,

Thanks for this.

But what do you do on ME days?

AD, sorry, just got back from the weekend, so I missed your post.

I just used my RE days as an example here, because all my exercises are in the 6-8 range on that day. I could also use any of my supplemental or assistance movments from my ME day. I never use my PL Stance Squat or a Conventional Deadlift during my deload, but I almost always include the Flat Bench. I just find that if I get away from benching for any time at all, I take a step backwards. However, if I take some time off from Squatting and DL’ing, I usually come back stronger.

My normal training week is:

Mon: ME Lower
Wed: ME Upper
Thu: RE Lower
Sat: RE Upper

When I deload, everything becomes RE:

Mon: RE Lower (70% Load, 50% Volume)
Wed: RE Upper (70% Load, 50% Volume)
Fri: RE Lower/Upper (70% Load, 50% Volume)

I also tend to pick less taxing movements, such as a Leg Press in place of a Squat. A Lat Pulldown in place of a Pull Up, etc.

So my deload might look like:

Monday:
Leg Press
SLDL
Leg Extensions

Wed:
Bench Press
Lat Pulldowns
DB Curls

Fri:
Narrow Stance Squat
Incline DB’s
Seated Row

Hope that helps a little.[/quote]

Yeah, that gives me a better idea…at least a decent direction in which to proceed.

Thanks, Modi

AD

8977

DE Lower

Power Clean, worked up to 125x3 (PR+10)

Hang Power Snatch 85x3x3

Front Squat 125x6, 6, 8, 8 (PR of some sort)

Good Morning 115x3x10 (PR+2 Reps)

Decline Situps on the 5th pin 30x10, 8, 8, 7 (PR+5)

On my DE lower days, I think I am going to ditch the unilateral second movement in favor of a quadriceps-dominant bilateral compound movement. I’ll use front squats, olympic squats, leg presses, and maybe some zercher squats. I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while because my gluteals and hamstrings are growing just fine, but my quadriceps are just as skinny as the day I first touched a weight. Strong hips are good, but I don’t think it can be good to neglect my quads. I think my hips are taking over on all of the lunges and split squats, so I’m going to start using lifts where they can’t just take over, like rock bottom front squats. I’ll keep the unilateral exercise for ME days though.

8978

12/24/07 ME Days combined

Had to combine a few workouts since this will be my last time at the gym for a week or two. I needed to show my friend somethings and check his form so I didn’t do a real ME day, but almost.

Bench:
45x10x2
95x8
135x5
2 Board
185x3
205x2
225x1
245x1
250x0 spotter grabbed on me, but I probably didn’t have it.

Box Squat:
45x8
135x8
225x6
275x3
315x2
365x1
315x3

Face Pull:
120x8
140x8
160x8

Pulldown behind head:
90x8x2
90x6

Time to eat like crazy…

8979

12/24/07 - Lower (ME) - Doubles

A) 14" Box Squat
135x8
225x5
315x3
385x1
425x2 (PR +10lbs)
405x2
385x2

B) SLDL
225x6
335x6
405x3
430x6 (PR +5lbs)
405x6

C) Pendlay Rows
135x6
225x6
280x6 (PR +5lbs)
225x6

D1) Shrugs (hook grip)
225x8
315x6
315x6

D2) Kneeling Light Band Crunch
Single Bandx15
Double Bandsx10
Double Bandsx10

I didn’t really eat right today, I was busy with projects, so I had breakfast early, and then just a snack around 10am. I didn’t get to lift until 2pm, and hadn’t eaten anything else, so I knocked back a Surge and 3 X-Mas cookies, 2 Spike and went at it.

Box Squats felt solid today. My right hip flexor/groin felt a little off on my last two sets. It didn’t feel like it was going to pull, it just felt like a tendon wanted to snap over a bone or something. No pain/weakness now, and all is well, but it was in the back of my mind, especially on the last set.

I took a couple more small PR’s on SLDL’s and Pendlay Row, and then just worked on my hook grip on Shrugs. I paused these at the top, and really focused on the contraction.

I’m hoping to find some elbow straps to do hanging leg raises under the tree tomorrow morning. Until then, I did a Kneeling Light Band Crunch, just like a rope crunch, but using the light bands for resistance. One band was too easy, and choking up on it made the resistance awkward, so I added another band. Not quite as good as doing them with the rope and weight stack, but not terrible.

Good session overall, time to make up for my lack of calories today.

8980

Does anyone know of a place in Orange County, Ca. where I can train (w/ boards, bands, etc)?

8981

Sheiko #29- W2 D1- 12/24/07

2 Hours

1)Squats
190x5
225x4
265x3 x3 (belt on)
300x2 x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (all paused)
140x5
170x4
195x2 x2
225x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)DB Flies
15x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Pushups
BWx10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Front Squat (wide stance)
170x3 x3
205x3 x3
225x2 x2 x2 x2

6)Good Mornings
115x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Notes: I was itching to get back into the gym today. Felt fully recovered with no soreness anywhere before the workout. Dull pain again in my left elbow and lower arm. I think it’s just a result of the beating from my squatting hand position and the benching.

I’d say that the front squats were the most difficult thing about today. My front squat generally sucks and having it based off of my back squat as a percentage didn’t help, haha. I almost failed on the last rep, but made it through.

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Matt

8982

2007.12.24

Sheiko #31 Week 2 Day 1

Bench Press
130x5x1
155x4x1
185x3x2
210x2x2
235x1x3

Squat
230x5x1
275x4x1
325x3x2
370x2x5

Bench Press
145x5x1
170x5x1
195x5x4

Chin-up
BW+10x5x5

Press
95x5x5

Good Morning
140x5x5

Hanging Leg Raise
BWx11x3

Bench press was much easier than I had anticipated. The gym was fairly crowded since the gym was closing five hours early.

8983

Christmas deadlifts

135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
365x1
add Metal Pro Deadlifter
405x1
[b]465x1 PR+10lbs
495x1 PR+40lbs!!! YAAAAAAAAYYY BUDDY!

So one of my goals for 2007 was to deadlift 5 plates the 465 was really easy so I thought why not? ;D

I don’t care if I wore a suit. They are allowed in most comps.

Video is uploading…

2.55x BW ;D

8984

mute if you get offended by naughty language

8985

[quote]Kalle wrote:

Christmas deadlifts

135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
365x1
add Metal Pro Deadlifter
405x1
[b]465x1 PR+10lbs
495x1 PR+40lbs!!! YAAAAAAAAYYY BUDDY!

So one of my goals for 2007 was to deadlift 5 plates the 465 was really easy so I thought why not? ;D

I don’t care if I wore a suit They are allowed in most comps.

Video is uploading…

2.55x BW ;D[/quote]

Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…nice work buddy and great Christmas gift to yourself!

8986

12/25/07- Tuesday- Recovery

20 minute Epsom Salt Bath

8987

[quote]Kalle wrote:
I don’t care if I wore a suit. They are allowed in most comps.[/quote]

I dont know if your aware, but even tho deadlift suits fly in most powerlifting meets, hitching ramping and stumbling during the lift dont.

Im not trying to be a asshole, Im just saying because alot of people dont know.

8988

[quote]Uber N3wb wrote:
Kalle wrote:
I don’t care if I wore a suit. They are allowed in most comps.

I dont know if your aware, but even tho deadlift suits fly in most powerlifting meets, hitching ramping and stumbling during the lift dont.

Im not trying to be a asshole, Im just saying because alot of people dont know.[/quote]

I know, I compete in strongman though where it is allowed. I meant a suit is allowed in most strongman comps.

Thanks for the looking out though! I have been trying not to hitch and stuff but it was a 30lb jump in weight and 40lbs more than I have ever done. I wasn’t even expecting to budge it.

I have a video of a nice clean 465 that I did right before that would have been a good lift in a powerlifting comp.

8989

Catchup posts.

DELOAD WEEK:

ME Lower:

Incline Leg Press:

Warmup: platex20, 50kg x10, 120k x10, 150kg x10

2x10@170kg

Laying Leg Curls:

10@5th pin
10@6th pin

Leg Extensions:

11th pin: 10,10

8990

Wed ME Lower

DELOAD CONTINUED:

Notes: I had about 11 hours of sleep today (after a few days of only 4-5/day) spread out throughout the day. Woke up for work early, ate, worked, finished work, ate,slept, woke up, ate lunch, slept, woke up 2.5 hours later, ate, slept, woke up 3 hours later, worked out, ate, and now am posting.

Anyway:

Flat bench:
Warmup: barx20, 40kgx10, 50kgx8, 60kgx8, 70kgx8x2

Seated rows (palms up)
8th pin: x8
9th pin: x8x2

Stand lat pulldown tricep pressdowns:
5th pin, x8x2.

Even though I didn’t overexert myself today, I still feel out of energy. Perhaps it was too much rest, or simply that I decided to do a TOTAL deload (NO COFFEE or SPIKE or Caffiene!!). ugh.

Boy, I hope I’m deloading correctly.

Next: Friday (RE upper/lower deload)

AD