Good luck at the deadlift meet. That WR is yours. I’d like to see that bench go up. 
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Those paused sets looked brutal, but effective I’m sure! [/quote]
Incredibly brutal but they make real pulls feel so much better, the idea is that you pause at your own sticking point and teach your body how to accelerate through a pull even if you’ve lost some momentum… not to mention doing them beltless will reconstruct your lumbars and erectors with slabs of muscular steel haha
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Good luck at the deadlift meet. That WR is yours. I’d like to see that bench go up. :)[/quote]
Thanks brother, and same here about the bench, right now the idea is lowering the weight a bit and benching more like a bodybuilder (slower and controlled) to get some hypertrophy going. after talking to my training partner Nate, we decided that the best way to improve my bench capacity was to get a little bit more size in my upper body. I figure if I can gain 2-3 solid lbs of muscle in my chest shoulders and triceps, and then make the most out of efficient form by trying to perfect my technique that it should go up substantially. I may try to add even more weight along the way I will just have to practice cutting water so I can know for sure that I’ll make weight for my next contest even with some more muscle on my frame.
[quote]BigBen198 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Good luck at the deadlift meet. That WR is yours. I’d like to see that bench go up. :)[/quote]
Thanks brother, and same here about the bench, right now the idea is lowering the weight a bit and benching more like a bodybuilder (slower and controlled) to get some hypertrophy going. after talking to my training partner Nate, we decided that the best way to improve my bench capacity was to get a little bit more size in my upper body. I figure if I can gain 2-3 solid lbs of muscle in my chest shoulders and triceps, and then make the most out of efficient form by trying to perfect my technique that it should go up substantially. I may try to add even more weight along the way I will just have to practice cutting water so I can know for sure that I’ll make weight for my next contest even with some more muscle on my frame.[/quote]
sounds like a plan
Had a solid session yesterday!!!
Bench no feet
185x5
225x4
265x3x2
285x3x2
275x3x3
Front squats
185x5
225x4
265x3x2
300x3x2
320x2x2
320x7 (PR)
close grip bench round 2
225x5
235x4
275x3x3
Double paused reps
225x6x4
Pin squats
225x5x2
315x5
405x5 (no belt PR)
cable flyes
10x3
Back ext. SS w/ GHRs
10x3 both
Pretty happy with this session, Front squats are going well even though they are no fun. I think my back squat will benefit from the break I know my skin will. Going to continue with the no feet pressing for 6 weeks after worlds to work my weak bench into something useful in my total. Deads on Wednesday, I’ll be hitting some rep work in the suit, still just trying to adjust to the feel. Worlds in a little less than 2 weeks, if everything goes right it should be a good meet for me
Today was just some shoulder and random weakness work
Strict OHP
45x5
95x5
115x5
140x5x5
Seated laterals
10x4
Plate front raises
10x4
Rear delt machine
10x4
Curl to press
10x4
Chins
10x5
calves
Nice and easy today just getting the blood flowing. The military presses were very easy and that’s the point I plan on adding 5 lbs a week while running this workout and the goal is that they will always feel too easy. I have never been able to consistently run a pressing program because of injury or because I get impatient and try to go to fast. this time I’m all about the slow and steady approach. Feeling good and feeling strong. deads tomorrow booyah
Crazy front squats man! How do you find front squats in general? I’ve been having to do them more and more lately as I start do slowly go down a more Oly lifting path but my backsquat seems to be suffering quite a bit as a result. Anything you can recommend to remedy? (Other than obviously just back squatting more I guess!)
I see a bigger bench in your future.
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Crazy front squats man! How do you find front squats in general? I’ve been having to do them more and more lately as I start do slowly go down a more Oly lifting path but my backsquat seems to be suffering quite a bit as a result. Anything you can recommend to remedy? (Other than obviously just back squatting more I guess!)[/quote]
I hate them haha I think that they are a great exercise for building my core and upper back, but I won’t miss them when I am back to back squatting every week. I would imagine that the way to keep your back squat from suffering would be to make sure that you get at least some weight on your back every week and remind your body of the motion of the lift. I’ve found the same issue when I have taken breaks from benching and done a cycle of incline presses. I got stronger but my bench itself suffered because I had lost technique work. Another thing to remember is that generally you won’t be handling the same weights on a FS that your back squat can manage. so you’re body can forget how to move heavier weights… I guess it really always comes back to the mantra, if you want to be good at something you have to practice it. If you want your front squat to go up then front squat same with back squat, if you want them to both go up… time to buckle down and train both motions. Just my opinion like I said I’m still fairly new to the front squatting game. Good luck
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
I see a bigger bench in your future.[/quote]
I sure hope so I’m sick of being so imbalanced total-wise I think a 400 lb bench would be respectable enough for a raw 198 to make me happy haha
Workout went pretty well considering how out of it I felt and forgive the song choice I’ve had it stuck in my head for 3 days now… but you have to admit it’s catchy as heck!
Deads
265x1
355x1
445x1
535x1x2
645x1
add belt and suit
665x4x2
665x2
Bench
(no feet)
185x6
225x5
250x4
270x3x2
285x2x2
305x1
315xmiss
285x2x2
270x3x2
225x9x3 (double pauses)
Double paused deads
315x2
405x2
495x2
565x2x3
Single leg leg press
4 platesx6x4
Thanks for the sound advice! At the moment I am 5/3/1-ing my front squat and doing 5x10 high-bar oly squats as one of my assistance exercise after. Have only done this for a cycle or two so I will have to wait and see what kind of results I get. The only problem I have found with this approach is that it all feels a bit quad-dominant, so to counter it I’ve just increased the volume/frequency of my p-chain and hamstring work. Hopefully this will counter act that!
[quote]BigBen198 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
I see a bigger bench in your future.[/quote]
I sure hope so I’m sick of being so imbalanced total-wise I think a 400 lb bench would be respectable enough for a raw 198 to make me happy haha[/quote]
Very respectable … I see you added in some shoulder and upper back work. That’ll definitely help.
Cant wait to try the double paused deads…did the paused deads and loved em, and those double paused deads are at both my sticking points. Awesome work man, youre gonna smash that WR
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Thanks for the sound advice! At the moment I am 5/3/1-ing my front squat and doing 5x10 high-bar oly squats as one of my assistance exercise after. Have only done this for a cycle or two so I will have to wait and see what kind of results I get. The only problem I have found with this approach is that it all feels a bit quad-dominant, so to counter it I’ve just increased the volume/frequency of my p-chain and hamstring work. Hopefully this will counter act that! [/quote]
sounds like a plan!
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]BigBen198 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
I see a bigger bench in your future.[/quote]
I sure hope so I’m sick of being so imbalanced total-wise I think a 400 lb bench would be respectable enough for a raw 198 to make me happy haha[/quote]
Very respectable … I see you added in some shoulder and upper back work. That’ll definitely help.[/quote]
that’s the plan! hoping to get to the 385 range in a few months
hahaha ben song choice 1 so good. the video clip for it is one of the funniest. BTW hell pulls. Great name for exercise
[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Cant wait to try the double paused deads…did the paused deads and loved em, and those double paused deads are at both my sticking points. Awesome work man, youre gonna smash that WR[/quote]
They are brutal and amazing! deffinitely have it in my sights and I know I’m right there, everything just needs to come together
[quote]jacob-1310 wrote:
hahaha ben song choice 1 so good. the video clip for it is one of the funniest. BTW hell pulls. Great name for exercise [/quote]
Haha glad you liked it, have been getting some mixed reviews but I like the song so I think it turned out well, today’s is a return to the epicness music wise. and I just named them for how they feel haha
AMAZING squat session today!!! blew my old PRs out of the water!
Front squats
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x1( 30 lb PR passed out while racking it)
385x1 (50 lb PR)
405x1 (twice my bodyweight and a huge 70 LB PR)
Bench
(no feet)
185x5
225x4
255x3x2
285x3x4
285x4
double pauses
225x5x5
Cleans+ front squats
135x1
185x1
225x1
245x1
Trained some core work and box jumps to finish out the session. It was a very good day. Thinking back my all time best front squat before today was a 335 and that was about 2 weeks ago. So my front squat definitely exploded on sheiko and my heaviest training weight was 320… the more I follow these principles the more I believe in them. after worlds I’ll be switching back to back squats but I’ll be keeping some front squats around to keep them from getting too out of sync. Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading to Locals Gym in Kent to get my last heavy deadlift session before worlds on an actual deadlifting bar. I am mega excited and can’t wait.
Crazy front squats, the set at 405 didn’t even look like a max attempt!
Nice cleans too, I’ve really been trying to bring my cleans up recently. I’ve hit just under 200lbs for a single but my front squat is definitely holding me back with them.