Gains on gains on gains: Sam's Training Log

Meet write up!

Overall it was an awesome experience. Definitely a little hectic with two platforms running at the same time, but once it got rolling I got used to the pacing.

Squats:

1st: 385, easy attempt I knew I could hit. Didn't take enough time setting up and set my feet too wide, which made this rep harder than it should've been. Fixed that my next attempts.
2nd: 405, can't say anything bad about this lift. It was tough, pushed through it and got it.
3rd: 415(X), I was out of breath from wrapping my own knees. I got down, came up a few inches and completely stopped once I hit my sticking point. Just called it there. Don't know if I could've kept grinding or not, but I know I would've been completely fried for my bench and deadlift.

Bench:

1st: 240, The bench was much lower than what I'm used to, but I kept my butt stapled to the bench and it was an easy lift.
2nd: 255, another good lift. Form-wise, my bench feels the most solid out of all of my lifts.
3rd: 265(X), missed it 3-4 inches off my chest. Didn't explode nearly enough. You'd have sworn I put 30 pounds on the bar instead of ten. I still have no idea what to do on my bench once I get to 97%+ of my max. The good news is that that window is getting smaller. It used to be that I shit the bed on anything 90%+

Deadlift:

1st: 405, Easy lift. I think warming on a crazy stiff bar in the warmup room actually ended up making the lifts a little easier.
2nd: 430, Tied my last meet PR, felt really good. Last meet I made the mistake of leaving weight on the platform on my last attempt. I bumped it to 450 for a third.
3rd: 450, Woo! Grinded it out, but I had no doubts as soon as I got it off the floor that I was gonna be able to finish it. My sticking point is always off the floor. I MAYBE could've done 455, but I'm really glad I got 450.

Total: 1,110. 90lbs total PR. 35lbs squat PR, 35lbs Bench PR, 20lbs Deadlift PR.

4/3/15

Squats:
warmups
2x2 @ 275
1x1 @ 315 <--- suit on straps down
1x1 @ 315 <--- suit on straps up
1x1 @ 375
0x1 @ 375
1x1 @ 375

Comments:
Decided to squeeze into my Inzer suit today for shits and gigs. It was my first time in one and it was definitely interesting. Looking back, I wish I would've used my oly shoes instead of my PF Flyers because any missed reps I have were entirely technique based when the weight shifted forward on me. I feel like if I had the heels I would be able to sit back into it more. It definitely takes some getting used to though. I didn't go crazy with the weights since it was a learning experience. I'm not really sour about any missed reps either, again, it was technique that just got out of the groove and the weights I was working with didn't really kill me while I was in the suit. Overall fun experience, but I definitely need to build more strength in the hole in order to prevent the weight from shifting forward on me.

4/4/15

Bench:
warmups
x1 @ 235
x1 @ 275 <--- slingshot
1x3 @ 305 <--- shirt on 3 board
1x3 @ 305 <--- 2 board
1x2 @ 305 <--- 1.5 board
1x1 @ 305 <--- 1 board
1x1 @ 305 <--- touch

Band Flys:
3x20 w/ orange bands

Comments:
Seriously can't emphasize how awesome it was benching with Tom Waldrep. Pretty much every sentence out of his mouth I was learning something new. My shirted session was night and day compared to my last one. Last time I managed to grind out 300 to a 2 board, and it took A LOT out of me. I got a full rep of 305 this time and it was completely manageable.

4/6/15

red band shoulder rehab, sets of 16

SSB:
warmups
1x10 @ 200
2x8 @ 200

Abductor work:
3x20 w/ 2 red bands

Reverse Hyper:
3x20 @ 90

Leg Curl:
3x15 @ 120


Comments:
Last week I just used to mess around with stuff I don't normally get to in meet prep. For the next few weeks I was going to concentrate on hitting a lot of volume but my back nagged me during SSB sets. It wasn't anything bad, but it was like a "Hey buddy, yeah, I'm not 100% yet, dick, so take it easy". Thinking about it, it may just be anything that puts a direct axial load on my spine, as I'm much more upright using the SSB than anything else. I'm still gonna focus on volume, but most likely gonna avoid the SSB, and I'm gonna see how I feel with some pause squats. I think those will definitely help build my raw strength coming out of the hole.

4/9/15

Squats:
warmups
1x4 @ 325 @ 8.5 RPE
2x4 @ 285 <---- Dropsets

Pullups:
3x16

Reverse Hyper:
3x20 @ 180

Leg Extension:
3x12 @ 220


4/10/2015

Bench:
warmups
1x1 @ 250
1x1 @ 285 <--- Slingshot
1x3 @ 315 <--- shirt on, 3 board
1x2 @ 315 <--- 2 board
1x1 @ 315 <--- 1 board
1x1 @ 315 <--- touch
2x3 @ 335 <--- 3 board
1x3 @ 355 <--- 3 board

Shoulder post-hab/rehab/all the habs

Comments:
Thursday was a good squat day, as I reset my programming. Last week I just messed around and kinda eased into things again after the meet. I'm going to continue my shirted work with Tom and Chris while I'm still in Iowa City (which unfortunately isn't for much longer), but I'll keep the rest of my programming the same as what Janis has prescribed. I'm going to maintain the same RPE principles and work up to Rep maxes in the 8.5-9 RPE scale every week.

Bench felt super smooth today. I like benching in a shirt more than I do raw, and it doesn't really have much to do with the weight, I just enjoy the form and technique of it much more. Some of the principles do carry over to raw, like my improved breathing and bar control, but I don't know if I'll make a SHIT ton of gains when I switch back over to raw. I'm gonna keep hammering pause bench on my light days because that's where my weakness is.

4/12/15

Deadlifts:
warmups
1x4 @ 365 <--- 8.5 RPE
3x2 @ 315


GHR:
3x11

Lat Pull:
2x8 @ 130
1x8 @ 170 <--- grip was weigh too beat up, had to stop

Neutral Grip Pull-up:
2x11

Comments:
First deadlift day back. Idk if it was my bitch hands or something the Lilliebridges did to the bar, but holy shit that bar ripped up the shit out of my hands. The 365 moved well, but I was just out of breath and lost some speed on the 4th rep. I hate volume on DL.

4/14/15

Squat:
warmups
4x6 @ 236

Feet up Paused Bench:
warmups
2x5 @ 175
4x5 @ 155

3 board bench:
3x5 @ 245

Leg Extension:
3x20 @ 140

Comments:
Had to combine my volume squat and volume bench days because I've been so busy and because of the meet in Dubuque this weekend. Not much to say besides I hate volume.

4/20/15 (blaze it fgt)

Bench:
warmups
6x7-9 154 <--- some paused sets here and there. Don't remember honestly

Ring Dips:
3x10

Band Flies:
3x16 w/ purple bands


4/21/15

Incline Bench:
3x10 @ 135
1x20 @ 95

Lat Pulldowns:
1x12 @ 170
2x12 @ 150

Leg Extension:
3x15 @ 200

YTMW's:
3x5 w/ 15's

Reverse Hyper:
3x20 @ 180

Dumbbell side delt raises:
3x15 w/ 15's


Comments:
Well my back is feeling shitty again, so I've decided I'm going to lay off squatting for awhile. Monday I tried to front squat the bar, and as soon as I began the motion I got a massive shooting pain in my spine. It sucks, but I'd rather not push it right now. I'm going to continue accessory work on the lower body to maintain strength, as well as deadlifting, since that doesn't hurt me at all. Other than that, I have to stop neglecting my shoulders. They're laughably weak. I want to get serious about my bench, so that means I actually have to do shoulder work, which I hate. I won't be doing OHP though, since that positioning also irritates my spine. A lot of dumbbell work will be in the future.

4/23/15

Chris Duffin Warmup:
Goblet squats 2x10
Hip Back and Forths 2x15
Split Squats 2x10
Hip Airplanes 2x10

Sumo+Hookgrip Deadlifts:
warmups
1x4 @ 275
4x3 @ 275

Leg Extension:
3x10 @ 220

GHR:
1x10
1x10 w/ 20lbs chains
2x10 w/ 40lbs chains

Reverse Hyper:
3x15 @ 230

Comments:
I'm not switching to the dark side just yet. I was messing around today seeing how it felt. It's definitely a larger strain on my hamstrings, almost an uncomfortable amount. I have to open up my hips more, but I don't know how, guess I just gotta work some more mobility. They moved a lot slower than the same weight at conventional.

My biggest concern right now is a huge imbalance in my deadlifting. I have been lifting for 2 years with a switch grip, with my left hand supine EVERY time. This has lead to a slightly larger bicep on my left side as well as larger trap. I tried switching and my body just said "wtf". I'm considering hookgrip, but honestly it just sucks so much dick. Like holy shit... We'll see. Basically, no matter what I do it's gonna suck, because my body hasn't built the neural connections to do these variations. So my next step is either build up hookgrip conventional, or sumo.

Also, I really really liked the Chris Duffin deadlift and squat warmup. I'm going to do this every squat and deadlift day. Helped fire up my hamstrings and glutes to get them ready for the movement and get the blood pumping.

4/28/15

Criss Cross Applesauce Paused Bench:
7x6 @ 155

Incline Dumbbell Bench:
3x13 w/ 50's

Swiss bar skullcrushers:
3x9 @ 85 (assuming the swiss bar is 35lbs)

Facepulls:
3x10 @ 100

Band Pulldowns:
3x13 w/ orange band

Curl Machine:
1x10 @ 100
2x10 @ 90

Incline Flys:
1x10 w/ 35's
2x9 w/ 35's

Comments:
One of my better days in awhile. I needed this pick-me-up. Bench work went really well, and I'm gonna keep hammering the pauses and chest work.

4/30/15

Sumo Bullshit:
doesn't matter

Random squats

Close Grip Lat Pulldowns:
3x10 @ 180

RH:
3x20 @ 180



5/1/15

Bench:
4x3 @ 225

Incline: 3x12 @ 105

Tricep pulldowns:
3x10 @ 80

Band Flys:
3x16 w/ orange bands


Comments:
Cutting out sumo shit. It's just not for me. I understand there's an "adapting" period, but no matter where I place my footing (I've tested narrower sumo, to Dan Green wide sumo) and it all wreaks havoc on my hips. No amount of stretching, warmups, etc. Is helping. All I've worked with has been ~275. I'm going to stick with conventional and switch up my switch grip hands so it's not as imbalanced.

Benching is going pretty horrid as well. Looking through my log I did a 4x3 at 225 in December. I should be past that at this point. The thing that jumped my max from 225-265 was benching 3 times a week, so more volume may be what's necessary. What I've been doing has helped me be better at rep work (my 4,3, and 2 rep max have gone up quite a bit), but my 1RM remains untouched, and as a powerlifter that's really the only fucking thing that matters.

I guess on a positive note to all this, I tried squatting thursday and felt zero pain. I worked up to 5 sets at 225 with no pain. This is definitely good news.

5/5/15

Criss cross apple sauce pause bench:
warmups
7x6 @ 165

Incline Bench:
3x15 @ 105

Facepulls:
3x13 @ 100

Incline DB bench:
2x15 w/ 50's
1x13 w/ 50's

Overhead tricep band pulls:
3x12 w/ orange and red band


Comments:
good light bench day. Bar speed remained consistent. I'm liking adding more chest accessory work. I'm adapting to it quickly. Hopefully I see some carryover soon.

5/7/15

Squats:
warmups
1x3 @ 195
1x3 @ 235
1x1 @ 285

Barbell Rows:
3x5 @ 225
1x8 @ 225

GHR:
3x8 w/ 20lbs chain

Zercher Squats:
2x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 185
1x10 @ 155


5/8/15

Bench:
1x3 @ 245
3x3 @ 215

Incline Bench:
3x16 @ 105

Lat Pulldowns:
3x10 @ 180

Band Tricep Pulldowns:
3x12 w/ white band
1x15 w/ orange band
1x15 w/ red mini band

Face pulls:
3x16 w/ red band

Band Pec Flys:
3x16 w/ orange bands


Comments:
I squatted with no pain on thursday which was great. I worked up to the 285 and felt some discomfort in my lower back and called it after that. No shooting pain though. It's pretty obvious that any sort of lower back flexion is what triggers it. My butt wink may be the source of unnecessary lower back flexion. I tried zercher squats for the first time and really liked those.

Bench day was alright as well. hit a 245 top set, nothing crazy impressive, but I guess it's something. Hit a lot of accessory work and called it a day.