The 1400 or Bust Log

Floor Press w/ slingshot
Barx10
Barx10
95x8
135x8
185x8
225x8
250x8
275x13

Tricep Pushdowns w/ mini-band, lots of sets

Lat Pulldowns
120x10
130x10
140x10

External rotations, three sets

Notes: Tendinitis still hurts pretty good. It's getting better, but it's certainly not 100% yet. I will have to bench with it for one more week, then rest up. If I keep the volume down, I'll be fine for the meet, but it's a matter of having good, productive training leading up to the meet. I don't have a set plan for next week's training, so I'll just go by feel and try to get in an appropriate amount of work without over-doing it.

On the positive side, the top set with 275 went much better than I had expected; I was looking for ~8-10 reps and ended up with more than that. Some of the reps were shaky, and admittedly I got too over-excited on a few of these, but the end result was good. About a year ago, I think I hit 275x6 with this same setup for a max, so clearly I'm a lot better, at least, with slingshotted floor-pressing. Eventually, that will translate over to my max--I'm definitely stronger than when I benched 310 last year, and I just haven't tested that in a while. Once I do, I think I'll hit a decent PR.

Just a little bit of recent training info, as I've been really busy and haven't updated this week. The week in a nutshell went like this:

Tuesday: up to 515x1 on reverse-band squat, plus a little extra volume.

Wednesday: up to 225x10 on bench with two-second pauses, plus some easy-ish volume.

Thursday: day off.

Friday: A 565-lb. deadlift single, plus 415x5x3 and a bunch of pulls off of blocks (including 415x20) to continue working on lockout.

Saturday: day off.

Today I go in and squat/bench up to openers, and I'll do one more squat session on Tuesday before shutting down training for the meet.

Overall, I've felt strong this week. A few assorted observations:

1.) My SI joint feels good now. My reverse-band squat felt so-so, but 515 was a PR, and I've regularly squatted at a high intensity with success during this training cycle.

2.) My tendonitis still hurts like hell, and my volume benching day was rough. I'm going really light on the reps today (just doing a few singles up to ~300, then shutting it down) and maybe even using the slingshot in the hope that it'll make the session easier on my tendons. I'll do some light floor pressing on Tuesday, I think, but the goal here is just to try and get healthy for the meet without detraining.

3.) ...The good news is that 225x10 was my best paused bench set when I first benched 300, and now I've done it with long pauses.

4.) 565 felt good for a deadlift single. The speed off the floor was a little slow, but the lockout is much faster now. I timed my 565 pull from yesterday (3.56 seconds) and measured it against other recent pulls:

570 (Nov. 2012): 5.48
573 (April 2013): 5.66 (done in a meet)
580 (June 2013): 4.63
578 (July 2013): 3.54 (done in a meet)
601 (July 2013): 5.49 (done in a meet)
580 (Sept. 2013): 4.08 (done with a deadlift bar at 319)
565 (Nov. 2013): 3.56

5.) I'm opening big at this meet. I'm either going to hit a good total or I'm going to bomb. I'm not going to be anywhere near as conservative with my openers as I have been the first two meets of the year; frankly, that strategy hasn't worked very well for me, because even though it guarantees I total something, I have to cover a lot of ground to get from a 446 squat, a 276 bench, or a 518 deadlift to something I'm capable of hitting.

My plan for this meet is to take hard openers, but to take openers I know I can hit. I'm now opening at a 479 squat, 298 bench, and 573 deadlift. Those are very high, and they all but guarantee that I won't be going nine-for-nine (the deadlift will make it really tough), but they also give me a lot more freedom to maneuver strategically through the meet. Basically, I'm shunning conventional wisdom and running my attempts how I want to run them. If I don't hit the total I want, then I don't want a total anyway. I prefer to train under pressure (and I usually perform better in training when I give myself something ambitious to shoot for), so I will use that at the meet. The theme of this meet is definitely "PR or bomb" for me.

Looks like your lifts are coming together in pretty good time. I'm pretty pumped to see how you do, looks like a PR total is coming your way.

Seth wrote:

Looks like your lifts are coming together in pretty good time.  I'm pretty pumped to see how you do, looks like a PR total is coming your way.

It will be really tough for me to post a total without PRing--I'd have to go 3 for 9 with a 584 miss on deadlift. I'll (much) more likely either bomb or PR my total.

I'm ready, brah. It has sucked not having any success in meets this past year. It's been over a year now since my last good showing, so I feel like I'm due.

Paused Bench Press (w/ reactive slingshot)
Barx10
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
245x1
265x1
285x1
305x1
335x1 (+15 lb. PR)

Squat w/ wraps
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
405x1
480x1

Notes: I decided at the last moment to use my slingshot for this heavy bench session, and it ended up being a good decision; I didn't have any pain through this session, and I stayed true to my plan by keeping the volume really, really low. I decided to go up from 325 to 335 for my top rep, and that still moved well; my guess is that I had 15-20 lbs. left in me on this session (which is great, since I get something like 30-40 from my slingshot).

Squatting didn't go quite as well, as 480 was a bit of a technical mess. It wasn't awful--it felt worse than it looked--and I would probably squat this a lot faster if I only would just speed up my eccentric. Regardless, I feel good about 479 for an opener. That's not exactly an easy weight, but it's not one I should miss, either. Opening at 479 sets me up for a good meet (last meet, I totaled 1355 with a 446 squat, so it puts me well ahead of that pace), which is exactly what I want from my squat opener.

In other news, my weight is great. I dropped my carbs to ~120g per day over the last two days and my weight has dropped very quickly. I was 156.5 after training and am heading to bed at around ten pounds over (158.5). We'll see what happens when I water load, but it's looking like my weight cut should be easy.

Floor Press
Barx10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x10
225x10
225x10

Squats w/ reverse bands
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x3
455x8 (PR)

Notes: my final training session before Saturday's meet went as well as I could have hoped for. Floor pressing felt very strong, and though I held back from accelerating into my presses like I normally do, 225x10x3 was easy. I could tell that I was stronger from this, possibly because I've been eating a surplus for the last few days (even though my macros have changed). The plan's to eat my way to the scale; after dinner, I'm ten pounds over (~158.5). I'll be cutting fluids off late tomorrow night (probably around 2am, or as late as I can reasonably stay off) and starting a 30ish hour fast. Once I'm on weight, I'll eat what I can to keep my weight up near 148. This is what I did last time, and I recovered from it pretty well (I'd like to cut fluids off a few hours later, but this process worked well for me last time, and I won't have to worry about cutting weight at the eleventh hour in Dubuque, or having to try and restart my super-hydration on Thursday morning).

As far as squats go, my plan was to get in ~15 bar-lifts at 455, but I ended up hitting an easy PR with 455x8 and decided that was enough. I didn't feel that strong warming up, but I handled that set surprisingly easily. That was probably my best squat set of the entire last cycle, which I suppose bodes well for the meet.

Keosawa wrote:

. I'll be cutting fluids off late tomorrow night (probably around 2am, or as late as I can reasonably stay off) and starting a 30ish hour fast.

im confus

Chris Anderson wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

. I'll be cutting fluids off late tomorrow night (probably around 2am, or as late as I can reasonably stay off) and starting a 30ish hour fast.

im confus

Basically going to do what I did last time and cut my fluids off before going to bed on Wednesday. It'll mean a longer dehydration period (probably 30ish hours total) but it'll be safer than cutting it off Thursday morning and trying to cut the last of it Friday before weigh-ins. The issue I've had with cutting it 24 hours out is that I can't keep my super-hydration up without staying up through the night; my weight shoots up in the morning (because I haven't been drinking at as fast a rate) until I start peeing regularly, and that takes at least a few hours. I don't want to be in a situation where I wake up at 155, balloon up to ~160 as I super-hydrate again, and then find myself ten pounds in the early afternoon.

We'll see how my weight fluctuates tomorrow. I cut sodium and go no-carb, so I might see another weight drop. If I'm going to bed at ~157 tomorrow, then I would probably drink a gallon on Thursday up until 1-2pm, then stop. That would get me close. It's just a matter of how much weight I have to cut, and how that fits with my timeline.

Woke up at approximately 154.5 this morning, so if I gain another couple of pounds due to my sodium dump, I'll probably run my water load into Thursday. I wasn't dropping much weight until after training yesterday--now, it's starting to come off.

Keosawa wrote:

Basically going to do what I did last time and cut my fluids off before going to bed on Wednesday. It'll mean a longer dehydration period (probably 30ish hours total) but it'll be safer than cutting it off Thursday morning and trying to cut the last of it Friday before weigh-ins. The issue I've had with cutting it 24 hours out is that I can't keep my super-hydration up without staying up through the night; my weight shoots up in the morning (because I haven't been drinking at as fast a rate) until I start peeing regularly, and that takes at least a few hours. I don't want to be in a situation where I wake up at 155, balloon up to ~160 as I super-hydrate again, and then find myself ten pounds in the early afternoon.

We'll see how my weight fluctuates tomorrow. I cut sodium and go no-carb, so I might see another weight drop. If I'm going to bed at ~157 tomorrow, then I would probably drink a gallon on Thursday up until 1-2pm, then stop. That would get me close. It's just a matter of how much weight I have to cut, and how that fits with my timeline.

Ah, okay. I thought you were competing Sunday, and I forgot what day it was, so it seemed to me like you were going, like, three full days without water. I was like dude you are going to die.


As for me, right now, I'm just drinking a bunch of water and eating pretty much normally. Tomorrow will be avoiding carbs and sodium at all costs, then I will likely just fast on Friday. I'm going to check my weight at the CRWC before heading off to Dubuque on Friday afternoon, and with a bit of luck, Bill Carpenter will let me check my weight Friday evening when I give him our team roster, during those 5-7pm weigh-ins. I'm about 185 pretty damn consistently now.

Saturday will then be a glorious day after I weigh in, starting with my gallon magical superhydration formula, plus a ton of high carb and sodium foods throughout the day--I'll be doing nothing but constant grazing.

For my first-ever cut to 148 in NASA, I cut everything off 48 hours from weigh-ins. By the end of it, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest every time I walked uphill. I wasn't exactly about to keel over, but it wasn't the best approach.

I might end up trying to drink through the night and cut off fluids at 24 hours out simply because I'm dropping weight very quickly now. I cut all my sodium, the last of my carbs, and added some coffee and a B6 and the weight's coming off very quickly now. I was just 154.5 after eating, which is really fantastic. I could end up being 152ish tomorrow morning, which would definitely mean that I would keep my hydration going for longer.

Keosawa wrote:

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest every time I walked uphill.

this is everyday for me

Chris Anderson wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest every time I walked uphill.

this is everyday for me

lulz, true.

Chris Anderson wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest every time I walked uphill.

this is everyday for me

Story of my 148 career.

I'm going to run my water load to noon tomorrow--weight's 155 right now, which is much lower than I had anticipated (I dropped four pounds today from going no-sodium). So, I'll get up at 8 and drink maybe 3/4 of a gallon until noon; after that, it'll be no water until weigh-ins. That should make re-hydration easier.

Nathan Poage wrote:

Chris Anderson wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

I could feel my heart beating out of my chest every time I walked uphill.

this is everyday for me

Story of my 148 career.

doesn't help when your 148 career is also 1 gram of caff and 200 mg of 1,3

Keosawa wrote:

I'm going to run my water load to noon tomorrow--weight's 155 right now, which is much lower than I had anticipated (I dropped four pounds today from going no-sodium). So, I'll get up at 8 and drink maybe 3/4 of a gallon until noon; after that, it'll be no water until weigh-ins. That should make re-hydration easier.

your body is ready

good luck

KevinAlvy wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

I'm going to run my water load to noon tomorrow--weight's 155 right now, which is much lower than I had anticipated (I dropped four pounds today from going no-sodium). So, I'll get up at 8 and drink maybe 3/4 of a gallon until noon; after that, it'll be no water until weigh-ins. That should make re-hydration easier.

your body is ready

good luck

I cut off fluids at 11--now sitting at about 151.8 (three pounds over 148.. I should be all set for tomorrow; if not, I'll figure out a way to drop the last of it over there.

There was not supposed to be an emoticon there.

148. 8 )

 

lettuce be cereal


is your film class lecture on youtube just another way to get your students to look at your training videos?







because im stealing that idea

Chris Anderson wrote:

lettuce be cereal


is your film class lecture on youtube just another way to get your students to look at your training videos?







because im stealing that idea

I thought about doing it on a made-up account, but I just wanted to get it posted and get over to Dubuque. I don't really worry about it one way or another, because it's not like it's that hard to google my name and find youtube if you're a student in my class.

So I got a new phone and lost a bunch of contacts and this is the only place I know you will see it. Congrats to you and Janis!

Seth wrote:

So I got a new phone and lost a bunch of contacts and this is the only place I know you will see it.  Congrats to you and Janis!

Thank you! My number's 401-651-3076

I'll add it in, thanks man. Are you guys going to be around during break?