The 1400 or Bust Log

Will wrote:

You get close to 100lbs out of wraps? Did I get that wrong?

I used to get more, but now the gap has narrowed. My guess is they add ~75 lbs. to my squat.

It's hard for me to tell though, because my squat is so fickle that the numbers never make sense. I'm definitely stronger with a belt, but my beltless 1RM (paused) is 405, and my belted, regular 1RM is 410. I have also squatted 520 in 2-meter knee wraps, but only 515 in 2.5-meter knee wraps.

The short of it is that I have a squat stance tailored to wraps (because of all the forward knee movement), so that's part of the reason for the disparity. I'm also weak out of the hole (and my back is a strength), so the wraps assist my squat more than they might someone else's.

Vid to come, but here's my deadlift session from yesterday:

4" Block deadlifts, w/ reverse mini-bands (30ish pounds taken off bottom)
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x3
495x3
525x3
555x3
585x3

Deadlifts off floor, 5-min. rest intervals
330x10
330x10
330x10

Notes: After these, I messed around with the new slingshot wraps. Today, I think I'll do one higher-exertion long set with 405 before doing my volume sets.

Overall, this session went well. I have an irrational fear of not deadlifting enough that I need to get over. This day was the first step towards recovery. 585x3 was smooth, and the lockout felt great. 4" blocks definitely make the pull a bit easier, but I struggle to get started from this height, unlike from the floor, so my deadlift traditionally doesn't go up all that much.

Squats w/ wraps
95x8
135x5
185x5
225x3
315x3
405x10 (PR)
(no wraps)
355x3
355x3

Hip Abductors
80x20
100x20
80x20

Bulgarian Split Squats w/ dumbbells
35x10, 10
45x10, 10

Notes: This was a shorter session, in part because I wanted to change my programming to try out these new wraps. I pushed it a little harder and was wiped from the squatting, so I didn't do as much total volume. Next session will have to be a pretty strict volume session to compensate (seeing as I just did two high-RPE sessions this week).

Overall, great session. I am the proud owner of these Lilliebridge WR wraps, and they feel quite good. They're more comfortable to wear than the Inzer wraps, and they stretch while still being very thick and cast-like. I can wrap them easily and they seem to suit my squat well. 405x10 was easy, and I had more in me, but I capped myself at ten. I knew that I wouldn't be able to rerack it after 10--my legs were jell-o--so I chose to end the set.

405x10 is also a new 10RM, and it's definitely my longest wrapped set in a long time. In the spring, I squatted 415x9 and got hurt during the set (I missed the tenth rep of that set), so I feel like this suggests I'm making progress. This was definitely the best squat week in a long time--I've hit a 405-lb. paused beltless squat, gotten 360x11 and 405 unwrapped, felt good about the volume work I've done, and now squatted 405x10 in wraps.

Paused Bench Press
Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x3
210x10
225x10
240x11 (+2 PR)

Floor Press
205x12
205x12

OHP
Up to 145x5, stopped there (tired)

Tricep Pushdowns w/ band, four or five sets

Band Pull-Aparts, three sets

Notes: My first day back comp benching went OK. Not great, certainly not bad. I didn't expect to see my comp bench shoot up from my new training and so I wasn't let down. 240x11 was a PR, but for context, I have done 245x10 before, so it's not like it's a big improvement (if it's an improvement at all). I need to do feet-up work mixed with more overhead training for at least a few months before it will start to carry over, simply because my bench moves so slowly.

Overall, bar-speed was good and my strength was there. I think once I re-acclimate to this style a bit, I'll post slightly better numbers. I'm feeling good right now and my tendinitis really isn't an issue, so I might make next week's paused bench session a high-intensity day (and keep my other session as a high-RPE, moderate-volume feet-up day).

Stop being really good at rep work so I can feel good about myself again.

Chris Anderson wrote:

Stop being really good at rep work so I can feel good about myself again.

Well, I'm not good at max singles, which is the whole point of powerlifting, so you've got that going for you.   

Quote :

Overall, bar-speed was good and my strength was there. I think once I re-acclimate to this style a bit, I'll post slightly better numbers.

This. I wouldn't read too much into anything for the first. You haven't had your feet down in a while so it might take a week or two to really get back into it.

David Petersen wrote:

Quote :

Overall, bar-speed was good and my strength was there. I think once I re-acclimate to this style a bit, I'll post slightly better numbers.

This. I wouldn't read too much into anything for the first. You haven't had your feet down in a while so it might take a week or two to really get back into it.

Yeah, I'm not going to sweat it. Plus, it's unrealistic to think my bench will skyrocket from six weeks' worth of weakness training. It'll take a long time for that to happen. But by the end of 2014, I'd be ecstatic if my bench were up near 320. That's sort of my one-year goal.

Back after a day of travel. I'll log my squat session first:

Squat
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x2
355x2
380x2
380x2
380x2
380x2
380x2

Box Squat
135x3
225x3
275x3
295x3
315x3

Notes: I figured I'd be burnt out for this session, and I was 100% right. Everything moved slow as molasses, so I kept the training down. I figured after three high-exertion sessions last week that I'd have to put in an easy volume session, and I was right.

From yesterday morning:

Feet-Up Paused Bench Press

Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x6
210x6
235x9 (PR)

Overhead Press
Barx5
95x5
145x5
145x5
145x5
145x8

Lat Pulldowns, three sets

Face Pulls, three sets

Front Raises, two sets

Notes: This was surprisingly good; I wanted both my first and my last session of this feet-up mesocycle to be book-ended by the same training session, and I went from 235x6 on Nov. 11 to 235x9 on Jan. 1.

A few thoughts on that: first, I think my feet-up bench has indeed gotten stronger. My overhead press is coming back and I think I'm addressing a weakness in shoulder strength. Note that I "think" this is the case; the data here could just be misleading. Perhaps all I did was get more accustomed to the movement.

I've clearly adapted my style to be more advantageous to getting more reps (faster eccentric, shorter pause, etc.), but +3 is a big jump for me even if these changes are taken into account. I did two videos, one being a training session video, and the other being a comparison of Nov. 11 to Jan. 1; it appears I shaved about a tenth of a second off bar-speed on the first rep (.72 to .6) and am sustaining that speed through the first five repetitions (very generally speaking, I usually sustain first-rep bar-speed on bench press for the first 50-60% of a set, so I can guesstimate a hypothetical rep-max by noting the first instance in a lower-exertion set when my bar-speed declines) instead of just the first three.

So, taking everything into consideration, there's improvement here. It might not make for a huge jump in my bench press, but my HOPE is that somewhere, 9-12 months from now, I get my weaknesses ironed out and go from a 310 bencher to a 320-330 one. I wouldn't put too much stock into my feet-up progression, but with my feet-up bench, floor press, AND overhead press all improving concurrently, it's very likely that I will be positioned to attempt a small bench PR at RUM.

Some updates:

Well, from Jan. 1-Jan. 6, I was back home in RI with my family. I got their on the 1st, had to retrieve my bag the following day, and got snowed in. I did a squat/deadlift session on Saturday; this went OK, as my lower back was pretty fried from shoveling the previous day. I worked up to something like 385x5 squatting (these didn't move too slow, but I was GM'ing everything, so I just called it there and finished with 235x4x5) and did 410x4x10 on deadlifts (my modified CAT week). Deadlifting got better as the sets progressed.

I then (stupidly) pushed my bench day back until Monday, which was the day I flew home, because I figured I'd bench better at home versus my gym in RI. Well, I got stranded in Detroit on Monday, then could only get to Madison, WI (I live three hours away) on Tuesday; I didn't get a chance to train then, either, and I also didn't have any of my stuff. I finally got to go in and bench today (though I still don't have any of my stuff--my bag's in Detroit), and I'll log that here:

Paused Bench Press
Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x1
250x1
275x1
295x1
315x1 (bar wavered and dipped on one side; Janis grabbed it near the top)
315x1 (smoother than the previous one, but still slow)
w/ feet up
230x6
230x6
230x10 (PR, pretty easy)

OHP
150x5
150x5
150x5
150x5

Tricep Pushdowns, fat triangle shit
110x15
120x15
130x15
140x15
120x10, 10

Lat Rows, four sets

Front Raises
20x12, 12
20x12, 12
20x12, 12

Hammer Curls
40x8, 8
40x8, 8

Notes: I have video of my session, but I have no cord with which I can save it to my computer, so it'll be stuck on my camera for the time being.

I had been wanting to do a heavy singles session for a while, and now was the right time for it. Warm-ups felt great and the singles up through 295 moved as fast as they ever have. I was going for a near-max single, but I felt after 295 like I had a lot more in me, so I went for a small (5-lb.) paused PR with 315. Honestly, it moved a lot slower than I thought, and both times I had misgrooving issues. As I continue to try and fix my weaknesses, this should become less of an issue; something clearly is holding my max bench back, and I think doing a lot more shoulder work will help fix the issue.

Overall, I'm happy with the PR, and with the session. My bench press needs a considerable amount of work, but I'm ready to really work on it this year and try to fix some of my perceived weaknesses.

So you are back in The City of Iowa?

Das nice

Chris Anderson wrote:

So you are back in The City of Iowa?

I am finally back, yes. Two days later than expected, but back nonetheless.

KevinAlvy wrote:

Das nice

Who knows; maybe I'll get it right and actually add some pounds to my bench. The last 12 months have netted 5 lbs., so maybe I can try for 10 by 2015.

k road trip to detroit to get kyle's bags back





but let's wait until my holster arrives k?

Chris Anderson wrote:

k road trip to detroit to get kyle's bags back





but let's wait until my holster arrives k?

Update: bag's in Cedar Rapids! I might have it for training today.

Kyle, have you ever been to Madtown Fitness? I feel some loyalty to Ford's but I never knew that place existed until I moved here. Saw a video of Pete Rubish training there and the place looks to be outfitted very well.

I might be going to Madtown Fitness next month. I got an invite from somebody who trains there on occasion.

Madtown is still pretty new, I think. We haven't been, because it's a little further out of the way (I think it's like an hour outside of Madison), but it seems like a very cool place with a lot of really strong lifters.

Squats w/ wraps
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
420x4
420x4
420x4
without wraps
315x4
315x4
315x4

Squat Belt Hip Walks
+135x4 trips, on platform (80-ish steps)

Hip Abductors
80x20
90x20
100x20
70x10, 10 (30-sec. rest)

Leg Extensions
110x8
110x8
110x8

GHRs, five-second isometric at bottom
x8
x8
x8

Leg Curls
BWx100

Notes: This was my first day back squatting since the previous Saturday, and I didn't do much heavy squatting over that session, so I felt like I was just getting back into it here. Here are just a few thoughts associated with today's training and where I stand in relation to my meet:

1.) This is the beginning of my "wrapped" mesocycle. My wrapped NBL will go up a lot, as will my wrapped frequency (oftentimes I'll be squatting in them twice per week). My overall volume and frequency will go up as well. I am at that time now where I can flip the switch and really hammer training in prep or the meet, and that's what I think I will end up doing.

2.) 420x4x3 is solid but unspectacular. The weight felt a little heavier than it should right now, but my guess is that a few weeks of training will fix that. I wanted 4x4 at a minimum, but I felt myself breaking down too much, so I supplemented with lighter-intensity unwrapped squatting on a rest-pause (5 mins. for those).

3.) I'm deadlifting today, so I really tried to keep the RPEs down. If I do top sets, it'll likely end up being on my second session. I'll probably be taking 420 for a top set (the goal would be 8 reps at a minimum) on my next squat session.

4.) Finally, I've been scared to death, for whatever reason, about my squat depth, so I filmed everything from the side. After seeing these squats, I think I should be fine, but I do have to be conscious of it moving forward. It won't be the end of the world if I were to bomb out due to depth anyway, because I'm feeling like I'm going to (finally) try and fix my squat stance in the long lay-off I have after RUM.

I'm struck that you're training in wraps for this meet but you didn't for the last meet.

Will wrote:

I'm struck that you're training in wraps for this meet but you didn't for the last meet.

I trained regularly in wraps for my last meet, but it was mostly just heavy singles to acclimate to the intensity. I haven't trained in them much this past year because--to put it simply--I got hurt in the spring of '13 and that forced me to change my training for a while. I haven't felt able to do a lot of rep work in wraps until recently.