Posts : 3023 Join date : 2011-11-02 Age : 31 Location : The City of Iowa
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:12 pm
KKeough wrote:
With his shitty little arms, he doesn't need to grip it too wide to get the bar up on his hips at lockout. I think he's just fine.
EDIT: Also, too much time between reps; didn't count.
clusters, brah
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:14 pm
August 16, 2013
Squat: warm-ups, 6x 350 (80% belted and knee sleeves)
Wide Stance Good Mornings: 8x 135, 155, 175
BB Lunges: 3x8 Bar
Olympic Squats: 50x 135 (no re-rack)
Fairly pleased with this workout today. I spent a decent amount of time with squat warm ups doing minimal weight. This really saves quite a bit of energy and definitely loosens me up. The squat set (6x350) might be a rep PR but I am not entirely certain. If it is not then it is pretty close. The set only required 6 reps but I definitely think I had 7 and possibly 8. The set of 50 oly squats was much much better this time. I cruised through it in about half the time compared to last time.
With the second wave of the cube finished, I am pretty stoked about this final wave. I definitely feel stronger even though I have not actually proved it with weight. I am much more stable with heavier weight and my weakest points such as my triceps and mid back are noticeably stronger. At the mock meet, my go for gold lifts would be 450-300-500. I will be satisfied if I can beat my "current" PRs of 435-280-480
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:57 pm
August 18, 2013
Military Press: 8x 85, 105, 125, 135
Bicep Curl EZ Bar: 3x12 75
Calf Raises: 15x 180, 180, 225
Prone Leg Curls: 2x75 BW
Lat Pull Down: 20x 70, 90, 90
Skull Crushers : 3x10 75
Today was "Body Building" day for the cube and there really is not much to say about it. I normally do not do this day but I wanted to go in, get some work in, and say some goodbyes because I will not see a few people before I leave on Wednesday. Tomorrow, Monday, will be my last session at 22nd St and I am leaving it the same way I came in: deadlift day.
Overall, I was pleased with this place and everything it has to offer. Not only does it offer the physical things such as chains, loads of plates, power/squat/deadlift bars, and boards but it also offers a great atmosphere that wreaks of heavy sh** being lifted by knowledgeable lifters. If anyone is within the Des Moines area and needs a place to lift, I highly recommend this place. I am hoping to find a job in Des Moines after I graduate in December so that I may continue to lift here and continue to become stronger. Anyways, I will see the U of IOWA P'Ling team in the gym Wednesday evening. See you all soon.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:27 pm
August 19, 2013
Foam Rolling + Band work
1" Deficit Deadlift: warm up, 2x410, 1x410
4" Block Pull: 2x3 385
Olympic Squat: 3x8 225
Band Leg Curls: 3x10, x4 (cramped in hams => emergency stop button)
Before watching the video, I have a couple of things that should be known. First, I noticed the bar was fatter than normal and it was not until my last warm up that the bar was actually a bench bar and would not bend at all thus taking away some whip. In addition to this, the bar was about 4" shorter than the deadlift bar so I could not spread my feet to open my hips.
Second, standing on the bumper plate causes me to be slightly off balance because of the ridges in the plate and my heels are just slightly higher than the ball of my foot. It is not noticeable during lighter sets but when heavier weight is pulled, it begins to make a little difference. As a sumo puller (sorry anderson), I need all of the balance I can get.
Between deficit pulls and block pulls, I deloaded the bench bar and found the deadlift bar. HOLY S*** this made a world of difference.
Chris Anderson Anabolic Furnace
Posts : 3023 Join date : 2011-11-02 Age : 31 Location : The City of Iowa
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:58 pm
You don't need balance as a sumo puller. You can fall on your face a couple of times and then you will quit pulling sumo and be better off.
It's science.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:02 pm
Chris Anderson wrote:
You don't need balance as a sumo puller. You can fall on your face a couple of times and then you will quit pulling sumo and be better off.
It's science.
I have fallen on my butt once or twice and have had many close calls. Have dat drive true dem heels
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Thu Aug 22, 2013 12:30 pm
August 21, 2013
Floor Press: 1x 250, 260, 265
Flat Bench: 2x15 165
Lat Pull Down: 12x 70, 90, 110
Tricep Pressdown: 4x25 22.5
DB Shrug: 3x15 65
Military Press: 12x 65, 85, 95
I was pleased with this last heavy bench session. The 265-Floor Press was 95% of my flat bench and I blasted through it with minimal grinding. The 15-rep flat bench sets are improving quite drastically. The first wave I could barely finish this set. I weighed in for the first time in a 6 weeks and I was at a weight of 184 with an empty stomach.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:50 am
What is up everybody... happy HUMP DAAAYY!!
To be short, the internet at our place is malfunctioning at the moment. So I will post my last couple of workout videos. Training has been pretty decent. If anyone is wondering what my sets are, I am currently on the 8th week of the cube just a heads up.
Squat: 5x2 Olympic Squat ATG: 5x5 Leg Press: 4x15 Accessory Work
Accessory Day: Military Press, EZ Bar Curls, SLDL, Bench
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:33 am
August 29, 2013
Incline Bench: 2x1 235
Incline DB Press: 20x 30, 40
Narrow Grip Bench: 12x 135, 155, 175
Incline DB Fly: 3x12 35
Cable Pressdown: 1x100 12.5
Military Press: 12x 95, 95, 105, 105
I walked into this workout feeling pretty slow and sluggish and it sort of showed. To make matters worse, I accidentally took the percentage of my flat bench and used it for incline bench. Lesson learned: take the percentage for that particular movement.
First: I am squatting 415 for a single on Friday and while this is technically a +10lb PR attempt, my projected max is 430-435 because I did 2x405 about 2 months ago. I would like to hit this 415 for a double, if not a triple. If I do a double, then that puts me around 440-445 whereas a triple puts me around 452-460. This will be my first time squatting 400+ in about 2 months so this is making me a little nervous/anxious. If I can get a spotter or two I will definitely appreciate it.
Second: As this cube cycle is wrapping up, I am starting to write/program next cycles exercises. I will be swapping out a couple of exercises (mostly for bench) but overall, I am keeping everything the same. My triceps have definitely shown a significant increase in strength and size to the point that now my chest is now starting to lag behind a bit. I spoke with keosawa about variants such as DB press or invisible board presses to focus on explosion from the chest. So my question for you guys is do you know of other chest strengthening exercises besides the bench press?
Chris Anderson Anabolic Furnace
Posts : 3023 Join date : 2011-11-02 Age : 31 Location : The City of Iowa
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:58 pm
Pause everything. Bench more. Press more. Incline more.
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:10 pm
Ditto on pausing everything, and on benching more. I would add that you should examine where you're failing and use exercises that will address that weakness. Dumbbell presses are a good option because your elbow position at bottom will be "worse" (leverage-wise) than it will with a flat bench press. Consider also benching without an arch--and even with your feet up--as a variation. Again, pause everything. If you're struggling off your chest, pause everything and increase range of motion on all the secondary movements you perform. Keep doing some competition-style bench pressing, but expose your weakness in everything else you do.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:09 pm
Just kind of went in and bounced around today. Military pressing went surprisingly well. The set of 135 felt easier than normal. I was messing around with various bench grips and my wide grip was considerably harder and slower than my normal and narrow grip. With this in mind, I found the raw bench routine for the cube and it incorporates a lot more comp benching and variants on bench day. I would still like to do incline and floor press regularly so i will try to incorporate those after the main set.
Tomorrow is my last heavy deadlift day on the cube. My work sets are supposed to be 1x 430, 445, 455 but I think I will follow something similar to my Friday squat session in the sense that I will work up to 455 for an AMRAP. I want to make this small change simply so that I can get a rough idea of the weight I should max test. Reasonably, 2x455 should be tough and a PR perhaps so if I can get that then it will be satisfactory.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
450+ is probably an attainable number for you right now. 450+280+475=1205, so I think 1200+ as a baseline goal for November might not be a bad idea. Obviously, you could total higher than this if the meet goes well.
David Petersen Class II
Posts : 378 Join date : 2013-06-25 Age : 33 Location : Iowa City
Thanks guys, pretty pumped. 415x4 on the side spot is a huge PR for me.
I side-spotted a few 700-800 lb. squats at Westside Barbell before they realized how dumb that was and kicked me out to go scrape the chalk off the deadlift bar. I'm pretty sure that's my current side-spot PR.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
I went in to do an AMRAP of 455 (95%) and came out with my minimum goal. Warm ups went pretty well; the speed was fast and the reps were explosive. However, during the whole warm up process, it felt as if something was missing/not right. My best attempt to describe it is the aware/alert/powerful feeling when pulling. Nonetheless, 2x455 is a rep PR and should put me in a decent position to beat my current PR of 475.
After this workout, I went home to start writing my next cycle of the cube. Squat will be staying the same because what I have been doing is obviously working. I wrote up a completely different bench schedule that has me doing a lot more actual benching (every week I think) and a bit more chest work. I still kept tricep and shoulder work. I am currently working on my deadlift program but I am having some difficulty. I would like to do more actual sumo pulling; quite possibly from small deficits and small blocks. I would also like to keep snatch grip DLs in there as well. I am not sure what else to incorporate for DL days except perhaps front squats and good mornings. I am open to suggestions at this point.
Instead of front squats and goodmornings, I would suggest more deadlifting. Maybe some light(er) conventional deadlifts after you pull sumo.
I am certainly NOT opposed to that. What percentage would say? Like 60-70%? And what sort of rep range?
Somewhere in that range, with however many reps you need to make a set taxing, but not near failure. So, at 70%, for most people that would be a set of 5-6.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
Here is the video from my Deadlift AMRAP on Monday. After looking at the video a bit closer, I noticed that my shoulders were not retracted as much as they usually are causing me to be a bit rounded over. This might be why I was feeling like I could not sit back as much as far/being in front of the bar. If you look at the majority of my videos, I pull my shoulders together and it sits me back and helps me get into a better starting position. Just something I will have to keep in mind for the future when pulling
My headphones accidentally shut off before I started my PR squat. They also accidentally shut off before this pull but I turned them back on anyways. Lesson learned
My headphones accidentally shut off before I started my PR squat. They also accidentally shut off before this pull but I turned them back on anyways. Lesson learned
lol, I was just kidding. I don't think it would have helped much. You at least had terrific speed on these; you just need to keep form a little better. Once you do that, you will start crushing these rep maxes. You are probably a low-500s puller off the floor.
Quadfather Class I
Posts : 985 Join date : 2013-02-12 Age : 32 Location : Des Moines, IA
My headphones accidentally shut off before I started my PR squat. They also accidentally shut off before this pull but I turned them back on anyways. Lesson learned
lol, I was just kidding. I don't think it would have helped much. You at least had terrific speed on these; you just need to keep form a little better. Once you do that, you will start crushing these rep maxes. You are probably a low-500s puller off the floor.
I need to work on form a bit more. I have only been pulling "true" sumo for at most 3 months and I did not get a whole lot of guidance with it at 22nd St since most guys were conventional or semi-sumo. On a related note, if you are going to be at the CRWC tonight, I would like to work on a DL routine/plan if that is okay with you
Subject: Re: Grant Voshell's Log 
Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:12 pm
