Countdown to (1200) Pound Town

[Cmart]

DL workout last night, hit the local gym with big Kyle, did some singles up to 425, deadlift still needs work. Good to get in a little work with a lifting buddy instead of just alone, get some feedback and work a little harder.

Will put in some more DL work in the last seven weeks.

 

[Cmart]

Bench Press Monday

135 x 12
225 x 1
275 x 4 -- rep PR for me, and again consistent with a 308 1RM according to the formula, which makes me hopeful about a 308 meet attempt.
275 x 3 -- 1st rep paused
275 x 1 -- long pause
275 x 1 -- paused
275 x 1 -- paused -- that was easier than the one before because I was worried I wouldn't get it so I got really tight before the rep. Felt easy.
225 x 8 -- narrow
225 x 7 -- narrow

Weighted Pullups

BW+30 x 6
BW+30 x 6
BW+30 x 6

Double band laterals x 30, x 25

edit -- I'm watching the Men M1 & M2, 83kg - 2017 IPF Classic Bench Press World Championship and it's making me hopeful for next year. Right now I can pretty conservatively say I can bench 137.5kg which would be enough to go to this competition and not look completely like a fool. 137.5 would put me in 5th place in M1 and in 7th place in M2 as it sits now. I don't plan right now to do any "big" competitions but who knows?

 

[Cmart]

Squats

I've lowered my box to 11" now to make sure I'm training to depth. Unfortunately, I ran with the dogs yesterday (not a euphemism, actually took my dogs for a run) and my hamstrings are tight as banjo strings. So I'm having some fun. Also, I've been curious about trying my Chucks for squatting instead of the Do-Wins. Just to see if it feels better or worse.

135 x 10
225 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1 -- pitched forward on the 2nd rep and ditched it. Good time to try the other shoes.

*change shoes*

225 x 1
315 x 1
365 x 3 -- ugh I wanted five. It wasn't smart to run yesterday. However, I felt good in the Chucks so I think I'll do what I usually do and change something late in the game before a meet. Dummy.

Cutting this workout short, will hit another lower body workout ASAP. Max heart rate today was 172.

 

[Cmart]

DL -- All off .75" deficit, no pain or problems, just didn't feel very strong.

135 x 10
225 x 3
315 x 1
415 x 1
415 x 1
415 x 1
365 x 3

so, a quick workout going into the weekend. Definitely need as many of these as I can get in before the meet. Max HR for this workout was 155.

 

[Cmart]

Bench

135 x 10
225 x 1
275 x 4
300 x 1 -- had to do it just to see
275 x 2 -- paused
275 x 3 -- two boards, lockout work.

Keeping volume low so I can hit another workout soon.

Weighted Pullups

BW+30 x 7
BW+30 x 7
BW+30 x 5

Band Laterals -- double bands x 30, bent single x 30, x 30

 

[Cmart]

Squats -- all down to the 11" box to make sure depth is good. These are done in Chucks, I think I'll be using them for the comp now, might as well keep my momentum up.

135 x 10
225 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 5 -- rep PR, max formula says that's equal to 419.75, making 418 for a third attempt much more likely! Very difficult 4th and 5th reps so hopefully I'm building strength.
315 x 5

Excellent. I'll leave a little in the tank so I can do this again soon. Yesterday I limped all day because I hyper-extended my knee doing (supposedly) back hyperextensions. Today, a squat rep PR. I'm very pleased. Max heart rate was 182. On the fifth rep with 365, a little voice told me "It's too heavy! Just set it down on the sawhorses! That's what they're there for!" ...and my legs said, "No, we got this." and up it went. Something to remember -- don't listen to the little whimpy voice.

 

[Cmart]

Light bench day

135 x 12
225 x 12 -- video of twelve reps (and a failed 13th) rep below
225 x 6 -- five count pauses each rep
225 x 7 narrow

DB rows (strict)
40 x 20, x 16, x 16

 

[Cmart]

regular bench day -- late in the evening -- hungry

135 x 12
225 x 1
285 x 2 -- would have liked 3, but will have to try again in a few days.
255 x 4 paused
255 x 4 paused
255 x 4 paused
225 x 7 narrow

DB rows

40's x 16
100's x 10
100's x 10

 

[MatterOverMind]

225 x 12 -- video of twelve reps (and a failed 13th) rep below

If you wouldn't mind some unsolicited advice...

You're not tight enough. Everything needs to hold tightly against everything around it. You're loosey-goosey, especially in the later reps. It becomes especially apparent in rep 9 when your hips start gyrating.

 

[Cmart]

If you wouldn't mind some unsolicited advice...

You're not tight enough. Everything needs to hold tightly against everything around it. You're loosey-goosey, especially in the later reps. It becomes especially apparent in rep 9 when your hips start gyrating.

I've noticed this as well, when I go for heavier reps. They're a lot easier if I brace, grip the bar hard, and really stay tight. Good point.

What you're seeing here is just me casually repping an easy weight, so it's sloppy. I just put the video up for fun. In about five weeks I'll have a meet video up, and will certainly welcome additional input and critique. Those will be my best efforts. Thanks for commenting.

 

[Cmart]

Squats

135 x 10
225 x 3
315 x 1
385 x 1

Pitched a bit on the second rep and had to set it down. It felt heavy. I'll hold off on completing this workout for a couple of days.

Max HR was 185, I think I just needed another day of rest. Oops.

 

[Cmart]

Squats, dammit!

135 x 10
225 x 3
225 x 3 -- switched shoes back to the Do-Wins. Having trouble making up my mind which feels best.
315 x 1
385 x 2 -- got 2, but the second was a serious grind. Still need more work.
335 x 2 -- box dropped to 10.5"
335 x 3 -- same height box

I want to do more frequent work like this, so that's it for today. Not terrible, but still didn't get my triple with 385, which is what I want for my opener.

The meet is five weeks and two days from now.

 

[Cmart]

Bench

135 x 10
225 x 1
285 x 3 -- oh yeah
285 x 1 paused
285 x 3 -- 2 board press
235 x 6 narrow

Weighted pullups

BW+30 x 8
BW+30 x 6
BW+30 x 5

 

[Cmart]

I bought a Slingshot, it arrived today. It has the potential to be fun, I'm hoping to try some overload training with it soon. Tried it out with moderate weight today and it sure does give a boost, plus enforce an elbows-tucked position.

I may fall in love with bench all over again.

 

[Cmart]

It's not squat day, but...

I received my new SBD knee sleeves in the mail today, and of course I had to try them out.

135 x 10
225 x 3
315 x 1
385 x 1 -- easiest rep I've done with that weight.

I'm not feeling great today, so that's all I'm doing. I'll try out the knee sleeves once again when I'm ready for a harder workout, and then I can estimate if I'm getting anything out of these sleeves versus my old easy-slip-on Rehbands. These SBD's are definitely thick, solid, and tight.

 

[Cmart]

Bench

135 x 12
225 x 1
285 x 1 -- paused
290 x 1 -- paused
295 x 1 -- paused
300 x 0 -- paused fail. I guess it's going to come right down to the wire whether I can get 303 in competition. Makes it interesting. 4 weeks 4 days out.
245 x 4 -- 5-count pause
245 x 3 -- 5-count pause
245 x 3 -- 5-count pause
225 x 7 -- wide grip

Weighted pullups

BW+30 x 8, x 6, x 6

Band Laterals

Double bands x 30

 

[Cmart]

Deadlift

Yesterday worked out at the local gym with big Kyle. Sets up to 445, which I dropped at lockout due to my right hand grip. I tried a few reps with lower weight using hook grip, and I still want to try to get that right, but it felt sub-optimal at the time. I need to get about 6 more deadlift sessions in the four weeks remaining (three weeks plus a rest week) before the meet.

A meet PR looks questionable at this point. My own fault, I just haven't worked hard enough on the deadlift.

 

[Cmart]

Sunday AM Bench

135 x 10
240 x 5 -- paused
240 x 5 -- paused
240 x 5 -- paused
240 x 5 -- paused
240 x 4 -- paused -- whoops, tried to engage my lats more and threw myself out of the groove.

Strict DB rows

40 x 16
40 x 14
40 x 12

My right wrist has been feeling like it's "jammed" recently, and it's hard to make a fist. So I'm dropping the weight a bit and doing strict paused reps, moving the bar with as much speed as I can. The tighter I stay, the easier the reps feel. Making sure my feet stay planted, my butt stays on the bench, my head stays on the bench, and I pause at lockout before and after every rep.

 

[Cmart]

Squats

135 x 12
225 x 6
315 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5

All sets done to the 10.5" box. Moved my grip in a bit, to about shoulder width, which hurts my wrist less. I don't know how many sets of five I could do with 315, but it's way more than I used to be able to do. It all felt easy and smooth and moved well. Workout took about 50 minutes, max HR was 172 BPM.

Doing 5x5 with about 75% of what I want at the meet. All depth is below parallel -- I trained with a 12" box before and in five meets I've never missed a squat due to depth, so I'm just reinforcing confidence at this point.

 

[Cmart]

I missed a workout -- on last Thursday the 25th, I hit three paused doubles with 275 and then a set of 5 with the slingshot on for bench.

Bench

135 x 10
225 x 1
280 x 2 -- paused
280 x 2 -- paused
275 x 2 -- paused
275 x 2 -- paused
275 x 2 -- paused

Slingshot 275 x 6

no back work today because I'm going to go for heavy DL tomorrow