Beyond 1400: Kyle's Road to RUM VIII

don't worry op, you were just a kiss away from 340

KevinAlvy wrote:

don't worry op, you were just a kiss away from 340

It felt soooo cloooose.

The plan right now is to run another macro with the template I've been using. I'll do two to three training sessions per week, with the majority of the work being narrower benching. I'll up the numbers from last cycle but continue working in the range of 6-10 reps. Basically, I'll repeat the block and increase the intensity slightly. This cycle went very well, so I might as well repeat it and see what happens. Hopefully I can build to a point where 340's a formality.

I've been thinking for a while about getting a red slingshot, and I might just invest in one. I want to continue doing overload training on Fridays, and it'd be nice to rotate through a whole new set of rep maxes, and in being able to vary the assistance. Plus, I'll look like a hero.

Squats
205x15x5

Notes: My conditioning sucks and my legs are dead. Bar-speed actually feels pretty good, considering my inactivity, but 15s still suck no matter how light it is. I'll take two sessions next week to try and recover a bit and hopefully milk 10-lb. progression up to 225. I'm thinking the goal is to try and run this phase up to 260-280, then try and get a sense for where I stand.

Also, five lower-body sessions this week and my back feels pretty good. Baby steps.

Paused Benchy w/ narrower grip:

215x12x5

Face Pulls, five sets

Some other stuff.

Notes: benchy felt pretty slow, and the last two sets were much harder than expected, but I logged all the reps. Strength at the bottom is good enough now that I occasionally miss my chest when I try to pause a weight in this range, which I suppose is good, but it's also a new problem for me. I will work on bar-speed when I don't feel like such a machump.

Is it just me, or are you performing the eccentric portion of your bench a little faster than you used to?

Andy Awad wrote:

Is it just me, or are you performing the eccentric portion of your bench a little faster than you used to?

Well, I'm stronger now, and so I can decelerate my eccentrics a bit faster now. I'll move slower on a max or a near-max, but with 215, I can get it to "stop on a dime," so to speak.

From yesterday:

Sumo Deadlifts
370x1 (wat)
340x4
340x3 (wat)
320x4x3

Paused Benchy w/ narrower grip
225x12x3

Notes: My body was not ready for the jump in deadlifting. We talked about really pushing the intensity, but we guessed wrong pretty badly. I am not only a bad deadlifter right now, but a really bad sumo deadlifter, and I'm essentially working with a 370 max with a really wide stance. Went home, cried to myself, then started to try and figure out how I can set myself up for success. We have a better protocol now, and I'm not going to make the same mistake again.

The good news is my back feels better every day. It's not 100% yet, but it no longer hurts to put socks on, and it doesn't really bother me when squatting.

Today:

Squats
215x15x5

Notes: Really haven't done the necessary assistance recently due to a combination of depression and lack of time (via poor life-planning). So, I've shit the bed on that one.

Did these with 5-minute timed rest intervals (because I had to be in class in 45 minutes); felt stiff as hell when I started, and was about ready to keel over when I finished, but my no-puking-in-the-gym streak is still in tact. Bar-speed wasn't terrible, considering the circumstances. The weirdest thing is that my legs are really tired, and I didn't even know you could squat with your legs.

Paused Benchy w/ narrower grip:

225x12x4
225x15 (PR w/ this grip)

Face Pulls, three sets

External Rotations, three sets

Rows, three sets

Six sets of thoracic extensions w/ chains

Notes: Benchy didn't feel super fast, but the final numbers were great. 61 reps in one session is srs business. Bar-speed on the first rep wasn't fantastic, but my endurance was good, at least. I added in the thoracic work that I normally do at home, as I was in Madison training at a different gym this weekend.

Squats

225x15x3
225x30

Notes: Got to train in between Chris's lifts at today's meet (which was great, because I didn't think I'd have the chance). Squatted in cargo shorts. The sets of 15 actually felt pretty good, and I doubled up the last two for 30. That's probably the last time I'll be doing that this training cycle--30 reps is just silly. Bar-speed's slower out of the hole than with my old style, but I will be prepped to hopefully pass 350 the next time I do a single's day (maybe in a couple weeks--June 16th is still the deadline for 405).

Quote :

Squatted in cargo shorts denim.

Edited for accuracy

Sumo Deadlifts
275x8
305x8
315x8
325x8
335x10
405x1

Notes: Great sumo session; probably the first "breakthrough" of this short cycle. I just pulled instead of doing the full reset and slow descent and it went much better. Also, as my back becomes less of an issue, my bar-speed is coming back. My legs are dying a slow rhabdo death after 225x30, but this was still easily my best sumo session of this cycle. Baby steps.

Kyle Keough wrote:

Nathan Poage wrote:

Quote :

Squatted in cargo shorts denim.

Edited for accuracy

Spoiler:

My angus was not peppered for that spoiler.

Does someone in here have a problem with lifting in cargo shorts?

Paused Bench Press w/ slingshot
265x3
295x3
315x5 (PR)
280x5
280x5
280x5

Pull-ups
BWx7x4

Face Pulls, five sets

Wall Angels
BWx20x3

Notes: Benchy felt blah on this day, but I guess 315x5 is a personal best. This was all done at the CRWC, which generally isn't as easy a place to bench in as the Oly room. This was my first time using the slingshot in the CRWC in a while, and I think I had a 330 or 335 max in here not too long ago, so I am definitely performing better now.

Sumo Deadlifts
315x6
330x6
345x6
365x8
315x8
315x8

Notes: Good sumo day; these have really clicked over the last week. What was a 1RM has all of a sudden become a 8RM (I actually couldn't break 375 off the floor on my first day--Monty and Janis can confirm), likely due to finally being able to apply strength gains by learning technique and having a healthy enough back. I have no idea how long I'll be pulling sumo, but if it ends up being a while (like, a month), it would be nice to see 365x8 turn into 405x8. Just told Paul that he's probably going to need to hold me back now that I've tasted some recent success, so hopefully the reigns get pulled.

inb4 1rm

Chris Anderson wrote:

inb4 1rm

Nah, I'm not going to do that.

I've ben fooled before. Don't you play with my emotions, Kyle.

lol. I'd worry more about me working towards rep maxes--or at least doing more higher-exertion sets--than doing a 1RM right now. That's the thing I've been leaning towards, and thankfully I've kept it in check, but that's probably only because I haven't guessed high enough yet.

do it

In other news, I found Keosawa from the fat days (2010ish?)

Spoiler:

Yissss

Team Edward Jacob Keough ♡♡