Grant Voshell's Log

My shoulder feels fine. I benched on tuesday and really focused on keeping my shoulders planted and not throwing them into the bench in order to lock it out. This also helped keep the bar even during the concentric portion. Since then, my shoulders do not hurt but they still "pop" whenever i rotate. I will find out a bit more tonight when i bench again and i will let you know.

Cool. Glad to know that you are benching pain free man.

Andy Awad wrote:

Cool.  Glad to know that you are benching pain free man.

Repped for caring

7 March 2014

Bench: 4x 200, 4x 215, 6x 230

Narrow Grip: 15x 185 (broken into 12, few short breaths, 3 more), 5x 205

Klokov Press: 5x 95, 115, 135

Banded Tricep Pressdown: few sets of 25

Benching was pretty wonderful today. Reps looked decent and things are improving which is all i want. Speed is still a little slower than normal however i would rather have clean and consistent reps over speed at the moment. Everything feels strong with bench right now and i believe my 6-rep PR is 235 and that was during the last peaking cycle so hitting 6x230 at an RPE 8.5 is reassuring. The only flaw i found in my bench tonight was me getting a little soft/loose at bottom which is something i will be more diligent about.

9 March 2014

Squat: 1x 345. 1x 365, 2x1x 385, 2x 385 ( RPE 8 )

Banded Abductor Pull Aparts: 3x 20ish w/ doubled long mini band

Leg Press: 15x 180, 3x15x 270

Banded Face Pulls: 2x20

Another fine squat day, this morning. I am really starting to find a groove and a set up which helps make my reps consistent and the bar level. The rest intervals were supposed to be 5 minutes but the mono was a little crowded so it ended up being around 5-7 minutes. I have noticed that my right leg tends to cave in just a bit as i initiate the concentric portion but it immediately returns as soon as i am out of the hole. I believe it could be an abductor issue or something simple like screwing my foot in a little tighter. Any suggestions are welcome.

10 March 2014

Bench: 5x6, 10x 205 (RPE 9)

DB Shoulder Press: 8x 35, 40, 45, 50

Banded Triceps Ext/Pressdown: 5x 20 w/ light pro band
Banded Face Pulls: 4x10

I was feeling a little fatigued and lethargic going into today's session and i am thinking the sudden heat wave giving me a minor case of heat stroke. I initially had to share a bench with a guy that should have the nickname "daddy long arms"  because the bench was so tall that i could not unrack the weight during warm ups all the way up through my first set. Nonetheless, i do not believe this affected my bench much or at all. However, i am still having trouble staying tight within 1" of my chest on the eccentric, the concentric portion, or occasionally both. Sometimes i come in too tight and cannot touch my chest or i am just loose enough that the bar wobbles just a tad on my chest. It is getting better but i still have to work on that. The reps today were not TnG but not paused either; kind of a hitch in fluidity. I normally bench with Perkins present simply because he has great lift offs which is nice, so i will ask him if he can give me honest press commands when i bench just so that i am holding myself accountable for good reps. I believe 10x 205 is a PR and i know i had another rep or two in the tank still.

11 March 2014

Deadlift: 3x 385, 7x 405 (New PR; RPE 9.5)

Lat Pull Downs: 10x 90, 110, 130

Banded Seated GM: 3x10 w/ pro band

Leg Raises: 3 sets until short of breath

Bat Hangs from Mono

I was pleased with today's session. Form was decent and the speed was meh but the weight felt good. The original plan was 3x2x405 but things were going my whey today and my 5-rep PR was 405 so i decided to go for a new PR, i was thinking 6 reps. I asked a couple of guys what they thought just to get motivated a bit and one guy jokingly replied "shoot, i would just do 7." I approached the bar and the first 5-reps moved pretty well and i did them in a short amount of time. The 6th rep slowed down a bit and when i put if down, i really had to dig deep for the 7th rep mostly because i was so out of breath at that point. Nonetheless, i got the 7th and i do not think i had much left in the tank. I took a few minutes to recover and proceeded on. My back slowly began tightening up and it just felt like an elephant was on my shoulders so i grabbed an average band and rigged it up to the mono and had uncle kevin give it a couple of cranks so that i could just hang out. Video will be posted tonight or tomorrow

In for vid of bat hangs.

Nathan Poage wrote:

In for vid of bat hangs.

oops, i meant vid of the 405 set but i can probably whip something up for those bat hangs on thursday after i squat

quick update: i was loading the video of my PR set and i accidentally hit the "delete" button instead of the "load" button (why are they placed next to each other?)

BRB, not going back now to do it again





















all aboard the neg train...

Brometheus wrote:

quick update: i was loading the video of my PR set and i accidentally hit the "delete" button instead of the "load" button (why are they placed next to each other?)

BRB, going back now to do it again





















all aboard the neg train...

You deadlift a bar loaded with LIES!

Brometheus wrote:

all aboard the neg train...

I won't neg you.

But I don't have to rep you, either.

You can't just have somebody tell you to neg them and then NOT neg them.

Nathan Poage wrote:

In for vid of bat hangs.

I have secured video.



Looking juicy, Grant.

*joocy

13 March 2014

Squat: 2x 345; 1x 365; 2x1, 5x 385 (New 5-Rep PR; RPE 9)

Pause Squat: 3x 225, 275, 295, 315, 335 w/ 5 second pauses

Bat Hangs

Squatting was excellent today. I really focused on pushing my knees out and the weight was really moving today. I normally think "rotate my foot outward" but today i thought "push towards the edge of my foot" and this worked very well. The warm ups felt significantly faster and the sets also felt faster. I was supposed to do 1x 345 but i thought it was a double for some reason, oops. Nonetheless, i stuck with my 5-minutes rest but i felt ready to go after about 2-3 minutes and had to hold myself back on most. I mentioned to Perkins that i wanted 4x385 and i would be pleased with that since i hit 4x390 a week before my meet. I got through 3 easily but on the 4th and 5th, i felt the weight slow down just a bit so i decided to rack it to keep my exertion level down despite having another for sure rep in the tank. Squatting is feeling magnificent and strong but my low back is always sore (probably from doing AMRAPs once a week). These past couple of weeks i have been working with weights that i knew i could set PRs with but these next couple of weeks i will eliminate the AMRAPs to keep my low back fresh and prevent injury. I am supposed to see my chiropractor on tuesday so i am hoping she gets me straightened out a bit before this next wave.

14 March 2014

Bench: 3x 205, 3x 220, 7x 235 (New PR; RPE 9.5)

Incline Bench: 5x 175, 195, 215

Banded Face Pulls
Banded Tricep Pressdown

I walked into the gym yesterday around 5pm yesterday and NO ONE was there. I proceeded to warm up and take my time in hopes that someone would show up but the odds were not in my favor. I did my work sets without a lift off and it did throw me out of position a bit. When i unracked the bar, i brought it out to my normal starting point and tried to pull my shoulders back but i was unsuccessful. I set a PR last week with 6x230 so i really wanted to get 6 reps and set another PR which got a fire in my a**. I unracked and dealt with the fact that i would be slightly off but i did my best to control the instability. The 4th rep was a TnG so i made up for it on the 7th by holding it just a tad longer. I was almost to lock out and the bar drastically slowed down and i knew no one would be there to save me so i did have to bench like my life depended on it in order to finish the rep, which i did. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, Perkins walked in to bench that day.

TL;DR - benching like your life depends on it actually works because i broke my 6-rep PR by 5 pounds with a 7th rep

16 March 2014

Limber 11

Squat: 4x 310; 4x 330; 2x4, 10x 350 (New PR; RPE 9) w/ 5 minutes rest

Leg Press: 10x 225, 270, 315, 340

Static Stretching

I beseeched the almighty russian squat Gods to provide me with a cold day so that i may have a fine squat day and they surely delivered. While en route to the gym, i knew it was going to be a great squat day. During warming ups, the reps were moving very quickly and Wes pointed out how much explosion i had coming out of the hole (that's what she said). Really pushing my feet out and trying roll my feet out has proven to be extremely beneficial to my squat not only with strength but with technique. I was aiming for 5-6x 350 but once i got to 6, i said one more. When i did 7, i said one more and this continued on. My old PR was 9x 340 so really burying that to get 10x350 after a couple of work sets is fantastic.

17 March 2014

Limber 11

Bench: 6x6x 210 (RPE 7 ish)

Very short bench session since i was a limited on time but still productive nonetheless. I kept the rest intervals somewhere between 3-5 minutes just to keep pushing and create some fatigue. Luckily, i had perkins lift off for me so i could stay tight and keep my shoulders pulled back which make quite a difference. I noticed that my first reps in the first 2-3 sets were much slower during the eccentric than the reps that followed. After noticing this, i sped up the first reps and this made things a little easier and more consistent. As i was wrapping up, fatigue started to set in but form breakdown was still pretty minimal. The bar was level all the way up, tight but not too tight on my chest, solid pauses, and good speed for most reps (around 90%). Some slight lat flare and pushing towards my head became apparent with fatigue but not too bad. Bench and squat are making excellent progress (deadlift will be determined tomorrow) and with a couple of low exertion weeks ahead, im expecting for good things to happen

Your reps looked pretty good today--groove was consistent. Keep on bringing your chest to the bar and keep those pauses legitimate.

Brometheus wrote:

(RPE 7 ish)

I've taught you well.

Brometheus wrote:

Some slight lat flare

And now you've foresaken me. Please read your bible before bed:

18 March 2014

Deadlift: 2x 385, 2x 405, 2x1x 430 (misload from 425). 3x3x 335

Power Shrugs: 3x8x 315

Underhand Lat Pull Down: 3x10

Not the best of days today. I felt just slow, sluggish, and sore all around. I am pretty confident this weak feeling stems from doing 3 AMRAPs in the past week (not including 1 bench AMRAP). Jake Hartman reassured me that the weight was heavy (roughly 90%) so it should be a little slow. I was supposed to do 2 singles at 425 but i just was not thinking and put 430 on the bar making this my heaviest deadlift since my meet. This concludes the first wave of my deadlift cycle which means i will hit 430 for 2 singles in 4 weeks so i hope to put myself in better position and smoke it next time.

20 March 2014

Squat: 4x 310, 4x 330, 3x4x 350

Banded Thoracic Ext: 3 sets until tired

Squatting was kind of choatic today. I had to share the mono with a couple of bigger guys, one of which was multi ply, who were warming up rather quickly and accelerating through warm ups so the warm ups were a little off. The rotation also was kind of sporatic and there was no specific order so sometimes i would only have 2 minutes rest and other times i had 5-6 minutes rest. This made me to feel kind of rushed which caused me to not stay focused on my set up and ultimately not have the best reps. Also, just felt a little beat up from the AMRAP squat on sunday and the heavy deadlift on tuesday but looking at my programming, things look easier and should allow me to heal up before the next prep cycle

21 March 2014

Bench: 5x 200, 215, 230

OHP w/ Football Bar (2nd widest handle): 5x 85, 105, 125, 125, 125

Cable Tricep Ext 4x10
Lat Pull Down w/ Rope 3x15

My body was feeling pretty decent after warming up a bit. A little sore still but better than it has been. Bench set up felt great from the start and felt great all day. The 200 and 215 set went pretty well and i did not really see any technical breakdown. The 230-set was not as great; when watching the film i noticed i was much softer on the chest than the previous sets which made the bar tilt and lean towards my left side. Nonetheless, still making good progress on bench and it feels strong

23 March 2014

Squat: 2x 330, 2x 350, 3x2x 370

Paused Squat: 2x 275, 295, 315 w/ 5 second pause

Just an okay day today. I walked out of the house this morning without grabbing something to eat which was a bad idea because i did not feel "fueled" so to speak. Everything was fine but the "pop" out of the hole was lagging a bit. Wes was down there so i asked him to take a peak at a couple of sets and he tried to reassure me that the bar was moving pretty fast because he heard the plates bouncing and rattling. When i got home, i looked at the video a few times and it looks like i was applying the brakes a little to soon and trying to slowly lower myself rather than dropping into the hole like i normally do. I will keep this in particular mind on thursday as i want to keep my squats fast.

Other notes: i guess this has been coming for a long time but after finishing up today, Wes asked me if i was still part of the Iowa Powerlifting Team or if i wanted to belong to the 22nd Street Team. I have been thinking about this since finishing my meet back in February and after the conversation today, it is time for me to leave the UI Team and join the 22nd Crew. It is not that i do not want to stay on this team but my time at Iowa is finished and it is time for me to move on. I will always give the credit of my intro to this sport to the Iowa team. With this in mind, i would still like to post my workouts, videos, trolling comments, serious comments, and anything else i am forgetting if that is okay with the majority populace..?