Beyond 1400: Kyle's Road to RUM VIII

From a couple days ago:

Paused Bench Press
w/ narrower grip
260x6x4
235x8x2

Pull-Aparts, five sets

Pull-Ups, three sets

Notes: Paused bench felt pretty heavy on this day, and my technique just didn't seem to click. I'm not sure how to feel about this, as 260x6x4 would be a tough day for me a few months ago--and doing it with a narrower grip would have been impossible--but this was still a bit of a down session in relation to how I've been performing recently. I suppose I've come a long way, but I still have much further to go.

You jusy had a big session with 287x6 less than a week ago. I felt sluggish as hell after doing my sets with 270 last week. Just a bit of a training hangover.

Chris Anderson wrote:

You jusy had a big session with 287x6 less than a week ago. I felt sluggish as hell after doing my sets with 270 last week. Just a bit of a training hangover.

Yeah, that's what I told Janis. Plus, I know I'm going to be up and down right now while losing weight. As long as most of my training sessions are solid, I'll be very happy with the results.

I was on the struggle bus last Saturday with 225x8 sets. You will be just fine.

Squat
365x1x2
405x1
285x8x4

Abductors, three sets

Adductors, two sets (extremely light)

Standing Abs, four or five sets

Notes: Well, I can squat 405 again. Squatting now feels weird as fuck, and my slowdown point is pretty high on the concentric (squatting without rounding over is pretty damn tough), but this was my first return goal and now it's out of the way, more than a month ahead of schedule. 425 by Sept. 16th is the next goal--when I get there, I'll start really feeling good about RUM. I'm trying to suffocate feelings of what a horrible squatter I am, especially considering the years of training I've accumulated, by telling myself that at least I have a lot of improving left in me.

Chris Anderson wrote:

I was on the struggle bus last Saturday with 225x8 sets. You will be just fine.

Tomorrow will be a joocy bench day.

Before I head out for squats today:

Paused Bench Press w/ slingshot
320x5 (PR)
331x5 (PR)
265x11x2
265x12

Tricep Rollbacks, three sets

Rear Delt Flys, three sets

Notes: Pretty happy with this bench session despite not feeling particularly strong. The numbers suggest good improvement--in mid-March I set PRs of 308x5 and 330x3--even if it didn't feel fantastic. I've lost a fair amount of weight over the last few weeks (I actually saw the very top of the 150s on the scale this morning after being up as high as 166. so I should just take any good training as a sign of progress. Today I have more squat work--375x1x4 with mini bands, followed by 295x8x4--and I'm finally getting back up to training weights again. It seems like the bench is really moving along right now, and so maybe 350 isn't too far away. I definitely have the most room to grow on my squat, since 405 at 160 is pretty pitiful for someone who's been training as long as I have, so I'm going to remind myself of that every time I go train. Even just having a "good" unwrapped squat at that bodyweight (my December goal of 440) would help me build a very strong total if I can beat this year's push-pull number (319/562) by 50 lbs.

Kyle Keough wrote:

It seems like the bench is really moving along right now, and so maybe 350 isn't too far away.

jacknicholsonnodding.gif

Chris Anderson wrote:

Kyle Keough wrote:

It seems like the bench is really moving along right now, and so maybe 350 isn't too far away.

jacknicholsonnodding.gif

I just have a hard time thinking that it won't take me at least a year to get there, given my usual rate of progress. But then, it has been going inexplicably well lately. A part of me is disappointed that I'm making big strides right now, because it ruins my theory that I'm an "advanced" lifter who is only going to see diminished returns on his training effort.

Squats
w/ reverse mini-bands
375x1x2
375x3
no bands
295x8x4

Thoracic Extensions w/ kettlebell, three sets

Back Extensions, two sets

Hip Abductors, three sets

Probably my best squat session for this cycle, including the 405 day--I'm acclimating much better to the singles now. That bodes pretty well for the future, too. I'm going to run this cycle until I hit either 315 or 325; after I've exhausted this phase, I'll switch to a more traditional strength cycle. I'm not sure what that will look like yet, and I'm still tossing around ideas. I've thought about just running a three-week wave (maybe 4/3/2 for reps) and just increasing five pounds per cycle for the span of 3-4 months. I guess it could look something like this:

Week one, cycle one:
335x4, 315x4xSomething
Week two, cycle one:
350x3, 330x3xSomething
Week three, cycle one:
365x2, 345x2xSomething

Week one, cycle two:
340x4, 320x4xSomething
Week two, cycle two:
355x3, 335x3xSomething
Week three, cycle two:
370x2, 350x2xSomething

Week one, cycle three:
345x4, 325x4xSomething
Week two, cycle three:
360x3, 340x3xSomething
Week three, cycle three:
375x2, 355x2xSomething

Week one, cycle four:
350x4, 330x4xSomething
Week two, cycle four:
365x3, 345x3xSomething
Week three, cycle four:
380x2, 360x2xSomething

That would put me at mid-August. I'd train twice a week and just repeat sessions, or I could do a second movement, like reverse bands, on the second day. Really, moving forward, I'm just looking for programming that's moderate in frequency, limits the amount of balls-to-the-wall work sets I'm asked to perform, and keeps me primarily in the range of 1-5 reps. I haven't really done much training at all in the range of a 2RM-5RM (88-95%) for my squat in well over a year, and I just think that coming off of this accumulation block, it's time for me to really get in some concentrated months of lower-rep training.

Blast from the past...my mock meet in prep for my first competition at 148, circa March of '11:

Narrower Grip Paused Bench
w/ slingshot
275x10
290x8

Pull-Ups, three sets

Dumbbell Rows, five sets

Face Pulls, three sets

Curls, two sets

External Rotations, three sets

Notes: Benching was a bust today, so I just called it quickly and did a lot of the accessory work that I've been neglecting recently. Two things from today's session:

1.) Everything felt heavy in my hands, and I figure I was just a bit run-down from Friday's benching. I'll probably have more of these days as I drop weight. Considering 315x5 was a real struggle with my wide grip at the CRWC not too long ago, 275x10 and 290x8 aren't bad numbers at all, but I just didn't feel good during the sets and was making lots of small technical mistakes. With my tie-in still healing, I figured I'd just give it a rest. I'll bench heavy on Friday (assuming we do a team training session)

2.) I need to start training my assistance work harder. Seriously. I've been lazy with it the last month. Part of the reason is because I've been so focused on rebuilding the main lifts, but I just need to try harder on all this stuff. Today was a step in the right direction, but it has to be the beginning of a trend.

back and bis brah

Keosawa wrote:

Blast from the past...my mock meet in prep for my first competition at 148, circa March of '11:

1. Big Dawg looking big

2. Bands for days

3. You've come a long way

KevinAlvy wrote:

back and bis brah

I think my curl is weaker than when I had a sub-1000 total.

Nathan Poage wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

Blast from the past...my mock meet in prep for my first competition at 148, circa March of '11:

1. Big Dawg looking big

2. Bands for days

3. You've come a long way

Your hair has come a long way*

Nathan Poage wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

Blast from the past...my mock meet in prep for my first competition at 148, circa March of '11:

1. Big Dawg looking big

2. Bands for days

3. You've come a long way

1. Big Dawg looked joocy before he started that powerlifting shit.

2. Green bands!!!

3. It's weird to think that this was only about three years ago; it feels like a lifetime ago.

SSchwartsenator wrote:

Nathan Poage wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

Blast from the past...my mock meet in prep for my first competition at 148, circa March of '11:

1. Big Dawg looking big

2. Bands for days

3. You've come a long way

Your hair has come a long way*

Well, I was single at this point in my life, hence being clean-shaven and appropriately groomed.

Keosawa wrote:

3. It's weird to think that this was only about three years ago; it feels like a lifetime ago.

I feel this way when looking back at my training as well. And then in another few years it will be even more different.

Chris Anderson wrote:

Keosawa wrote:

3. It's weird to think that this was only about three years ago; it feels like a lifetime ago.

I feel this way when looking back at my training as well. And then in another few years it will be even more different.

It is a very strange feel when Tony Conyers has been competing for 30ish years.

Squats
w/ reverse-mini bands (30 lbs. at bottom)
365x1
385x1
405x1
425x2
no bands
305x8x3

Standing Abs, four sets

Leg Extensions, three sets

Notes: We trained at Magni today, and I officially put in the money for a membership, so (huzzah!) I'm a member. Today was my first day in forever working with an actual power bar for the squat, and on the docket were four singles, plus four higher-volume working sets. I'm on the last week of this phase, but I'm admittedly privileging the singles work more than I originally intended.

The band tension was a bit different from the CRWC, and the resulting assistance at the bottom was higher, by about ten pounds (30 at bottom). 365 and 385 felt very easy, so I went up to 405, then 425. 425 was a solid single turned into a horrific "double" because I felt like doing it. As usual, the moral of the story here is to be careful with the exertion.

But 425x2 is a great result, and my squat seems to be improving quickly. My hope is that after such a long period of accumulation phase training, I'll respond very well to higher-intensity work. So far, that seems to be the case. I'm excited to get into this strength phase and regularly do higher-intensity squatting for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. Let's call the last year and a half of sets of eight all preparation for this training phase. Simple throwing volume at my squat doesn't seem a reasonable training decision at this point and time, and now that I have a style that utilizes a neutral spine (barring real high-exertion sets), I feel like I can acquire more higher-intensity reps in my training.

I only did three sets of 305 because I could tell I was pretty fatigued from the last double--the total volume of my weekly training is going to be scaled back further soon. After that, I did some assistance and got out of Dodge. Thanks to the people that came to this session and made it a good first one at Magni.

Submitted to http://www.reddit.com/r/nonononoyes

Holy hell, I didn't know about this place until now.