Janis Finkelman's log

if you do not pull 315 in November, i am cutting onion rings out of your diet until you do

Broceidon wrote:

if you do not pull 315 in November, i am cutting onion rings out of your diet until you do

This is INCENTIVE.

babyeater wrote:

got multiple crazy auras after this work. For those of you who don't know, "aura" is the term for the visual disturbances that often precede a migraine.

I use to get these at the CRWC ALL THE TIME...I was crazy afraid of them. Usually upstairs, I didn't really do any barbell work at that time (part of my curls for girls phase)..I'm convinced it is the lighting! I've never had this problem once I left.


I wish my near-max pulls looked as good as yours. You made the 295 work look like cake.

Idk if I ever asked you, but is there is a specific reason you tend to do an extra rep or two in the second set exclusively?

Allprocro wrote:

babyeater wrote:

got multiple crazy auras after this work. For those of you who don't know, "aura" is the term for the visual disturbances that often precede a migraine.

I use to get these at the CRWC ALL THE TIME...I was crazy afraid of them. Usually upstairs, I didn't really do any barbell work at that time (part of my curls for girls phase)..I'm convinced it is the lighting! I've never had this problem once I left.


I wish my near-max pulls looked as good as yours. You made the 295 work look like cake.

That SUCKS. As you can tell, I can totally relate. Many people's migraines ARE triggered by types of overhead lighting, so this must have been happening to you. My sympathies. What a PITA. I'd suggest not going to the Studio Arts building...the lighting there is some of the worst I've ever worked in, which is fantastic for an art building (/sarcasm).

My proportions definitely help me keep up form on the max pulls. Like I've said before, I'm kind of a one trick pony--the other two lifts have not come easily at all.

KevinAlvy wrote:

Idk if I ever asked you, but is there is a specific reason you tend to do an extra rep or two in the second set exclusively?

Good question--this is an approach to my sets that's tailored fairly specifically to the way I seem to get the most out of heavy sessions. Right now, on mostly the squat and almost always bench, the second sets are AMRAPs. Last Tuesday's squat session was not--the number of reps for that session show the "baseline" of programming that day: 2, 3, 2, 2. The "3" set is the top set, and the top set is usually my second set because I usually don't have my act together on the first work set on any lift (this is an annoying trend for me that I hope corrects itself over time as I advance in my lifting experience). Doing the AMRAP at the second set has me still pretty fresh for a high-exertion effort. Not sure how long the programming is going to stay this way leading up to November.

Ah I see - I don't mean to be critical, but do you think this might make it harder to transfer to the platform? Or do you take pretty small jumps with your attempts?

KevinAlvy wrote:

Ah I see - I don't mean to be critical, but do you think this might make it harder to transfer to the platform? Or do you take pretty small jumps with your attempts?

Well, hmm, I work with same weight for all of the work sets, so I'm just repeatedly working with a percentage of my max on that day. I'm not sure how that might be less optimum for a transference to the platform. Now, could working up to a top WEIGHT in a given set "transfer" well? Yeah, I think you could be right on that. I guess I do what I do just to get a certain of reps in at a particular percentage--the focus is on accumulating reps. Unfortunately, there are so many inconsistencies about the way I perform the lifts that I'm at a stage in my career where logging reps is probably going to be what's best for me in for the foreseeable future.

Okay I see what you are saying

Well, I was thinking it might be suboptimal to use an "amrap" on your second set (as opposed to your first) since you might not be getting comfortable without already taxing yourself a bit

By transfer I mean, if you are used to being fairly fatigued before pulling a near max set, does it throw you off at the meet? I am assuming you aren't pulling ~85%-90% for reps* in warmups

KevinAlvy wrote:

Okay I see what you are saying

Well, I was thinking it might be suboptimal to use an "amrap" on your second set since you might not be getting comfortable without already taxing yourself a bit

By transfer I mean, if you are used to being fairly fatigued before pulling a near max set, does it throw you off at the meet? I am assuming you aren't pulling ~85%-90% in warmups

Yeah, I agree that it's suboptimal, but she needs that work set to get comfortable, and usually the second set flat-out looks better than the first. Sometimes, I try to get her to do it on the first work set--ideally, that's where her AMRAP would go. But for her, mentally, she usually does her best work on the second set.

I think the training as she has it structured works best when her strength gains have outpaced the programming. Right now, she's so strong that the AMRAPs usually aren't really AMRAPs, and the first set doesn't really take anything out of her. When those sets end up as higher-RPE sets, her progress slows way down (at least from my observation).

I'm trying to keep her from making huge jumps in training right now, and we're just trying to keep everything in check before the meet. Her strength is way up and she's not really even training up to her ability right now. I think she would go 204-132-320 at a powerlifting meet right now, but I think she could end up as high as 220-138-347 in November. It's just hard to say because we haven't tested--and won't test until at the meet. She's in a weird spot where unless we want the meet to be absurdly easy, she'll probably go for meet PRs on second attempts. Her best squat in training is 190, but she did that recently for a double, beltless. Her best bench in training is 126, but she did 119x4 (paused) in training yesterday. And she has pulled 303 at a meet and 300 in the gym, but 295x2 was very easy for her, and she could have probably pulled 295x4 had we let her. So, she will likely end up hitting meet PRs on second attempts, or even opening at them. You'll have to ask her what her goals are, but she can probably go nine-for-nine and total 650+ without much difficulty, and 700 is a possibility if the training continues to go well.

I have a similar issue with my 2 and 3 RM compared to my 1RM. I can't get comfortable until after my first rep, which really sucks

It seems like something that perpetuates itself, I just wanted to know if you were thinking about it

In other words, yay for eating! Eating is my not-natty.

KKeough wrote:

I'm trying to keep her from making huge jumps in training right now, and we're just trying to keep everything in check before the meet. Her strength is way up and she's not really even training up to her ability right now. I think she would go 204-132-320 at a powerlifting meet right now, but I think she could end up as high as 220-138-347 in November. It's just hard to say because we haven't tested--and won't test until at the meet. She's in a weird spot where unless we want the meet to be absurdly easy, she'll probably go for meet PRs on second attempts. Her best squat in training is 190, but she did that recently for a double, beltless. Her best bench in training is 126, but she did 119x4 (paused) in training yesterday. And she has pulled 303 at a meet and 300 in the gym, but 295x2 was very easy for her, and she could have probably pulled 295x4 had we let her. So, she will likely end up hitting meet PRs on second attempts, or even opening at them. You'll have to ask her what her goals are, but she can probably go nine-for-nine and total 650+ without much difficulty, and 700 is a possibility if the training continues to go well.

Are you doing most of the programming for her, or is this a collaboration?

babyeater wrote:

In other words, yay for eating! Eating is my not-natty.

Believe me, I know

KevinAlvy wrote:

I have a similar issue with my 2 and 3 RM compared to my 1RM. I can't get comfortable until after my first rep, which really sucks

It seems like something that perpetuates itself, I just wanted to know if you were thinking about it

I'm dealing with this right now on the squat. It sucks, man. My second rep is always better than the first. I don't know how to address it, either.

KKeough wrote:

I'm dealing with this right now on the squat. It sucks, man. My second rep is always better than the first. I don't know how to address it, either.

When I start training squats again, I might only do singles... srs

KevinAlvy wrote:

Are you doing most of the programming for her, or is this a collaboration?

She does her programming and just asks me the occasional question for my input. I can look at the numbers objectively, so I'm trying to give her a baseline for projections in November. I might try to convince her to let me call her attempts. Otherwise, she will probably shortchange herself.

It just depends on what sort of meet she wants to have. If she wants a tune-up with a nice PR total, we can manage that easily. If she wants something challenging, she will probably have to aim higher.

KevinAlvy wrote:

KKeough wrote:

I'm dealing with this right now on the squat. It sucks, man. My second rep is always better than the first. I don't know how to address it, either.

When I start training squats again, I might only do singles... srs

Not a bad idea (also srs).

I'm getting back in my wraps every week from now on. I'm not going to abandon wrapless squatting, but I'm not going to keep prepping for meets by squatting remotely close to my opener only a small handful of times.

We all just need to stay safe

KevinAlvy wrote:

KKeough wrote:

I'm dealing with this right now on the squat. It sucks, man. My second rep is always better than the first. I don't know how to address it, either.

When I start training squats again, I might only do singles... srs

Squat singles are my not-natty. I don't know why you all have trouble with the first rep because anything after that just makes me tired.

KKeough wrote:

KevinAlvy wrote:

KKeough wrote:

I'm dealing with this right now on the squat. It sucks, man. My second rep is always better than the first. I don't know how to address it, either.

When I start training squats again, I might only do singles... srs

Not a bad idea (also srs).

I'm getting back in my wraps every week from now on. I'm not going to abandon wrapless squatting, but I'm not going to keep prepping for meets by squatting remotely close to my opener only a small handful of times.

I have been meaning to ask you about your deadlift scatter sets, specifically, if you have ever tried doing something similar for squats or bench? I'm too new to really have any idea if the scatter sets make sense for the other two lifts.

7/3/2013

volume squat

bar x 6
bar x 6
95 x 4
125 x 3
135 x 1
140 x 6
140 x 6
140 x 6
140 x 6
140 x 6

good mornings
bar x 7
85 x 5
115 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

cable pull-throughs
70 x 17
75 x 16
75 x 16

quad extensions
70 x 14
70 x 12
70 x 11

7/4/2013

heavy bench

bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
75 x 4
85 x 3
100 x 2
110 x 1
119 x 2
119 x 4
119 x 2
119 x 2

DB flat press
90 x 11
90 x 9
80 x 14

weighted neutral-grip pull-ups
25 x 6
25 x 5
25 x 5
25 x 5

cable tricep pushdowns
65 x bunch, 3 sets

unilateral iso rows
65 x 9 ea
65 x 9 ea
65 x 9 ea

7/6/2013

heavy squat

bar x 6
bar x 6
95 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 2
155 x 1
170 x 1
185 x 1
195 x 2 (Max PR and 2-rep PR)
195 x 2
195 x 2

paused squat
135 x 4
135 x 4
135 x 4

bodybuilding stuff
seated leg press
180 x 20
180 x 17
170 x 17

lying hamstring curl
70 x 15
70 x 12
65 x 15

quad extensions
60 x 15
60 x 15
60 x 13

So this squat day was basically a programmed PR. Knocking out some of the squat numbers I've done in the last few weeks has constantly indicated that my 1RM is above 190, so throwing out 195 on this squat day wasn't unrealistic. The plan was to do a set scheme of 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 but after doing a relatively easy double for the first set (sometimes I move my top sets to the first set, sometimes they stay at the second), I chose to just get all the reps in--6 total) by doing two more doubles. These were both relatively okay--although I was somewhat fatigued by the third set--and I find that encouraging. Kept the paused squat rep numbers conservative on this day, we'll see about next week.

8/15/2013

deadlift

135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2
245 x 1
265 x 1
285 x 1
300 x 3
300 x 2

barbell hip thrusts with hold at top
175 x 8
175 x 9
175 x 9
175 x 9
175 x 9

pull-ups
12, 8, 7, 6

GHRs on lowest possible setting (freaking not easy)
15, 14, 14, 12

quad extensions
70 x 14
60 x 14
55 x 13

abductor machine
140 x 19
140 x 17
140 x 17

8/17/2013

volume squat, beltless

bar x 5
bar x 7
95 x 4
120 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 9
130 x 9
130 x 9
130 x 9
130 x 9

good mornings
bar x 5
85 x 5
125 x 10
125 x 10
125 x 10

back extensions
25 x 17
25 x 17
25 x 15

quad extensions
60 x 16
60 x 15
60 x 13

abduction machine
140 x 17
140 x 17
140 x 15

8/18/2013

heavy paused bench

bar x 5
bar x 5
bar x 5
85 x 4
95 x 3
105 x 2
115 x 1
119 x 3
119 x 4
119 x 3
119 x 3

DB flat press
90 x 10
90 x 9
90 x 8

chin-ups
13, 9, 8, 7

overhead tri pulldowns
70 x 15
65 x 18
65 x 15

seated unilateral iso rows
65 x 9 ea
65 x 9 ea
65 x 9 ea

note here: the 119 x 4 was a rep PR and also a real grinder on the 4th rep. IT doesn't actually look quite as bad on video as it felt, but sheeeeeit was it not textbook.

babyeater wrote:

note here: the 119 x 4 was a rep PR and also a real grinder on the 4th rep. IT doesn't actually look quite as bad on video as it felt, but sheeeeeit was it not textbook.

I've found that this is how a lot of my lifts go. I will feel like something is slow as fuck and a real grinder, and then I look at the video and I'm like "fuck, that was easy." I really don't know how to strain through a lift whatsoever.