Big improvement on my floor pressing; these all felt fast and really easy, and eight weeks ago I would have really struggled with 245x3. I think I left a rep or two in the tank on every set. So, it's exciting to feel like my pressing is stronger than in the past--we'll see if it results in a paused bench press PR.
KPKeough Guest
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:26 am
Squat Barx5 Barx5 135x3 225x2 275x2 315x2 365x2 410x3 440x3 465x1 (racked after first rep)
Box Squat 135x3 225x1 315x1 405x1 (ugh; quit after this)
Standing Goodmorning 135x5 185x5 225x5 275x3
Awful squat session. 440x3 went pretty well, but my single rep on 465 was miserable, and I racked it after the first attempt to avoid missing any reps. My squat is so damn inconsistent, and some days I feel like I don't even know what I'm doing.
After this bad session, I went to run a screening for my students, and after that, I went back to the gym to inexplicably test a bench max:
Very dumb on my part. 285 flew up, but I just missed 300 for whatever reason. I'm confident that I will be at 300+ soon if I stay the course, but I can't get in my own way by testing a bench max a day before my bench session.
Anyway, I'm having a rough 24 hours with regards to my training. I'm going to try to suck it up and just get myself back on track today.
KPKeough Guest
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:07 pm
I'm missing a rough bench press session here, but I'll proceed on with Thursday's squat session:
Reverse-Band Squat (w/ blue bands; almost nothing at top, ~120 lbs. at bottom) Barx5 135x3 225x3 275x3 315x3 365x3 405x3 425x3 440x3 455x3 470x3 485x3 (PR)
KPKeough Guest
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:09 pm
DE Low Box Squats (box+25-lb. plate) w/ short monster-mini bands (~100 lbs. at top) Barx3 Barx3 135x3 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2 175x2
This was a much better pressing day for me after having a couple of days to recuperate; I hit all of my max sets (260x4, all reps paused) and really didn't struggle badly on any of the final reps, though they were slow. Every set was close to an RPE 10, but I didn't feel like I was compromising technique to get anything. My shoulders are sore from all this pressing, so I only did a couple of light sets of floor presses before doing some light accessory work and calling it a day.
So, yes, today was a good bench-pressing day. I'm glad to be back on track with my programming; next week, I work up to 270x3 work sets, which would represent a pretty big PR for me. Also, I'm noticing that I'm MUCH stronger and more confident with lowering heavy bench press weights, which is great.
KevinAlvy Elite
Posts : 2446 Join date : 2011-10-30
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:49 pm
KPKeough wrote:
Awful squat session. 440x3 went pretty well, but my single rep on 465 was miserable, and I racked it after the first attempt to avoid missing any reps. My squat is so damn inconsistent, and some days I feel like I don't even know what I'm doing.
I know you probably won't like to hear this, but this probably comes from box squats and squatting with contrast. At an elite level, comp squatting 1x a week isn't going to be enough maintain a crisp motor pattern. Squatting with contrast or to a box might imitate the competition squat, but the reality is that they are still different
Nathan Poage Master
Posts : 1912 Join date : 2011-10-31 Age : 32
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:24 pm
KevinAlvy wrote:
KPKeough wrote:
Awful squat session. 440x3 went pretty well, but my single rep on 465 was miserable, and I racked it after the first attempt to avoid missing any reps. My squat is so damn inconsistent, and some days I feel like I don't even know what I'm doing.
I know you probably won't like to hear this, but this probably comes from box squats and squatting with contrast. At an elite level, comp squatting 1x a week isn't going to be enough maintain a crisp motor pattern. Squatting with contrast or to a box might imitate the competition squat, but the reality is that they are still different
My sentiments exactly.
Ditch Westside, come with us if you want to be swole.
Chris Anderson Anabolic Furnace
Posts : 3023 Join date : 2011-11-02 Age : 31 Location : The City of Iowa
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:17 pm
Uh oh guys. You might have angered the Keough with that...I wouldn't show up to the meeting if I were you.
KPKeough Guest
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:24 pm
That's very possible, and it's something I've been mulling over. I also think it's due to my percentages being out of whack--465x3 didn't make much sense, since 465 is around 94% of my current 1RM. I need to be a little bit more sensible with my squatting.
But yeah, the next time I prep for a meet, I might switch over to back squatting twice per week.
Also:
Deficit Deadlifts (4" deficit; bar at top of laces on shoe) 135x3 225x1 275x1 315x1 365x1 405x1 455x1 510x1 (5-lb. PR) 520x1 (15-lb. PR)
Seated Goodmornings Barx8 135x8 205x5 255x4 255x4
Hammer Curls 35x10, 10 35x10, 10 35x10, 10
Rear Delt Flys 15x10 15x8 15x8
Cable External Rotations, three sets
520 off a 4-inch deficit is a 15-lb. PR from when I maxed out on the last cycle before my last meet. If I beat my previous PRs at my other deficits (2.5" next week, 1.5" the week after), I could be in line for a deadlift PR at this next meet.
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:36 pm
I'm skipping my Monday log and focusing just on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'm behind.
I'm going to upload a video of this session onto youtube. I was letting my right side dip a LOT on this day, and it caught up with me on 475. The first rep was fine, but on the second, the bar on my right side actually hit the safety pin and bounced off of it at the hole. This screwed me up enough to cause me to miss the second rep.
My squat's very erratic right now, so I will likely be cautious and take 480 for a second attempt at my meet. That's a small meet PR (+7 lbs.) and a weight that I feel very confident about hitting. I want to ensure that I get a good total at this meet, so I'll be a little conservative if my squat doesn't start immediately feeling better.
Today's a max test day on the bench press, so I'm either going to pause 300 lbs. or have another team fail video for you.
KevinAlvy Elite
Posts : 2446 Join date : 2011-10-30
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Wed Oct 17, 2012 1:18 pm
I am not 100% sure because of the video angle, but your left foot looks much more pronated than your right
I think if you moved your right toes out a bit more on your right foot it would help you open up that hip, and you wouldn't have to lean on your right leg for balance
edit: is your left leg longer than your right?
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:14 pm
KevinAlvy wrote:
I am not 100% sure because of the video angle, but your left foot looks much more pronated than your right
I think if you moved your right toes out a bit more on your right foot it would help you open up that hip, and you wouldn't have to lean on your right leg for balance
edit: is your left leg longer than your right?
Yep, I noticed this too! My foot angles don't match here; my left leg is naturally rotated out a bit, but I usually do a good job of fixing this when I squat (at least I thought I did until I saw this). It also looks like my torso might be rotated to the right relative to my hips.
All in all, a lot of weird shit. And I have no idea if my left leg is as long as my right or not.
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:16 pm
Tricep Pushdowns w/ monster-mini band x25 x25 x25 x25 x25
The 300-lb. paused bench was about as slow a bench as I've ever had to suffer through (from start to finish, the lift took about 14 seconds).
But hey, I got it. Barely. But getting back to matching my paused bench PR has taken me over two years to do. A 300-lb. paused bench press isn't spectacular by any stretch, but it's one of the lifts I'm proudest of, just because it has taken two and a half years of frustrating training to finally make it back.
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:42 pm
I kept things really light on this day; just worked up to a 92% single and called it a session. I tried my old wraps today and didn't feel spectacular in them, but I was at least more stable. I think I will try them again next Tuesday for my last squat session and then make a decision about which pair I'll go with. In all honesty, it won't even matter.
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:23 pm
Banded Face Pulls w/ monster-mini band x20 x20 x20
After deadlifting just last Sunday, I was still feeling pretty fatigued. 505 was slow, and I failed 550 at lockout. Still, it would have been a +10 lb. PR, and I came close. After that, I just called it and did some minor assistance work. Now it's time to rest up for the meet.
GFou Class II
Posts : 398 Join date : 2011-11-02
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:12 pm
Are you going to do your openers or just rest from now until the meet?
Keosawa American-Record Holder
Posts : 3174 Join date : 2011-10-30 Age : 37
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:23 pm
GFou wrote:
Are you going to do your openers or just rest from now until the meet?
So, up until an opener on bench and a second attempt on squat. Last time I took my squat up to a PR attempt on Tuesday and it turned out well, so I want to hit 480 and feel confident about it heading into the meet.
Nathan Poage Master
Posts : 1912 Join date : 2011-10-31 Age : 32
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:39 pm
Why would you tell him that? Do you even care about the "Two men enter, one man leaves" thread?
Subject: Re: The 1400 or Bust Log 
Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:16 am
