Grant Voshell's Log

Get some moar practice in those wraps. You look like you have the power to be well north of 400

KevinAlvy wrote:

Get some moar practice in those wraps. You look like you have the power to be well north of 400

I definitely feel really powerful during squat. If I just remember to drive my hips and follow with the legs then I usually lift some heavy shhtuff. I cannot figure out why my knees are so wobbly during the lift. Is it just because I need to sink into the wraps a little better or is that natural?

The 335x5 was without the wraps, right? My guess is that yes, you could probably break your current PR without your wraps. So, once you learn them better, you'll get more out of them, but it does take some time (and practice).

It could be a million things to be honest, and it is probably pointless to over analyze something like that

You are going to need practice with those wraps no matter what though

Yep--get all you can out of your wraps if you're going to wear them. Using wraps and getting nothing out of them is the worst of both worlds; purists think you're a slapdick for cheating, and you don't even get the extra pounds that the wraps are supposed to provide.

KKeough wrote:

The 335x5 was without the wraps, right? My guess is that yes, you could probably break your current PR without your wraps. So, once you learn them better, you'll get more out of them, but it does take some time (and practice).

Yes, the 335x5 was without wraps and I definitely had another 1 in me. I just put that through some various max calculators and all of them put me at 390+

Congrats on the PRs.

Seth wrote:

Congrats on the PRs.

Thanks man. You must have put a little something into those wraps

March 28, 2013

Bench:
5x 150, 175, 200, 225 (New 225 PR)
1x 250
2x 250 (Failed 3)
1x 265 (Failed)

Speed Bench:
7x3 110 (44%)

I am really upset with today's performance. It was just not meant for me to hit 250 for a triple, which was my goal. The weights were all scattered around and that always gets anxious/worked up and causes problems with my lifts. Tons of people were in my area and most of them were curling in the squat racks with some outrageous moves associated with Team Awful. My partner/spotter kept getting distracted and would delay my lift when I was all set up and ready to go with wraps, belt, set up, etc. This is why I only did 250 for a single, because when I saw he was not coming over I just bailed. I also was a little fatigued but not any more than most days. My feet and shoulders were constantly slipping out of place. Overall, just about everything that could be distracting, happened.

The ray of sunshine on this day was hitting 5x225 which is a new 225 PR and I did more reps when working up to 250. So I guess I will take that. 265 was a serious grinder and I probably had it stuck for 5+ seconds. I just could not lock it out. I literally just had to lock the elbows and I would have had it. Video to come soon.

Critiques and comments are most welcome:

Just be patient. You're making good progress, and going from a 250-lb. single PR, to 250 for a double, to 250 for a triple in just a couple of months is a really tall task. Your bench is moving in the right direction.

Honestly you might be sitting a little *too* far back, especially with wraps. On the 315 squat that becomes pretty obvious. The more you flex your knees into the wraps, the more output you'll get out of them which kind of makes wrapped squatting a different skill than unwrapped in my opinion.

KKeough wrote:

Just be patient. You're making good progress, and going from a 250-lb. single PR, to 250 for a double, to 250 for a triple in just a couple of months is a really tall task. Your bench is moving in the right direction.

Yep, that's actually phenomenal progress. Right now your bench might be better than mine (whose isn't, amiright?) after just a couple months of strength training.

The key is not to get worked up on every set because it's going to tax you mentally and physically. Off-days happen, but you just have to work around them while you're in the gym and then forget them as soon as you're out the door.

I was really hoping for that 250-triple. Soon enough I suppose. Maybe after the April meet. I guess I was only at 250x1 about 2-3 weeks ago. I never realized that.

That is a good point Poage. I definitely kind of laughed on that 315 squat when I fell backwards. Not sinking back so far would definitely work pretty well.

Maybe some R&R at home this weekend will help. I was invited by my, Caroline Weeks, to train at 22nd St BB in Des Moines this Saturday. I am taking Friday off, Saturday is my deadlift day, and I will probably take Sunday off. I am thinking I might train there this summer since I am back home.

I have gotten some pretty serious talking-tos before for expecting a lot of progress.Trust me, you're improving. You're in as good a position as ever to kick ass at this meet; at this point, I'd really just be looking to lift with as much concentration on form as possible to get those motor patterns freaking INGRAINED for the platform. I promise you're ready for good things at this meet. It's been fun to see the progress.

March 30, 2013

Deadlift:
5x 275, 315, 365
3x 405 (New Rep PR at that weight)
1x 455 (New PR +20lb)

Straight-Leg DL w/ 3-4" Deficit:
5x 225, 275, 275

I trained at 22nd St BB in Des Moines this weekend. I was looking for a PL friendly place to train this summer so I got in touch with people that knew people and went down there. I definitely want to train there this summer, if I am in Des Moines, since they have lots of equipment like chains, bands, etc and the people there are really friendly and were easy to talk to.
Anyways, I met the owner and got right into DL after he was finished. He told me it was a brand new DL bar and it had fantastic grip and I never had a problem holding onto the bar. They also had a bar-lifter which was extremely useful to load weight on evenly and snug plus saved me from using more energy to lift up the bar and put weight on.
I got started and the bar felt great, I felt pretty good, and everything was going pretty well. The weight was coming up very quickly and I was repping the weight with ease. The rest time in between was fairly short too, only about 2-5 minutes. I got to 405 and decided to at least do a double but landed a triple. I had not planned 455 but I figured I was on a roll so keep rolling. I was sore/tired before the lift and after a fast lift off followed by a bit of a grinder at lock out, I finally managed to seal it. Overall, great experience and met loads of cool people and I am looking forward to this summer and seeing how I come back in the fall.

So. Many. Gainz.

Nathan Poage wrote:

So. Many. Gainz.

I just pulled it out of my butt somehow and for what ever reason. I just felt like a machine and after my friend recommended bringing the bar just a little closer, I knew I could get it.

Noice. Glad you liked the 22nd St. gym!

PRs on PRs on PRs

April 1, 2013

Squat:
5x 225, 265, 300, 340 (PR & no wraps)
1x 365 (Wraps)
3x 365 (Wraps)

Front Box Squat:
3x 185, 225

Adductor Machine



Felt pretty excellent during this session. Decided not to max out but work with some high intensity for reps. Just to keep it in check and actually hit big PRs at the meet.

April 2, 2013

Bench:
3x 175, 200, 200, 225
2x 250, 250, 250

Face-Pulls



Bench was not too bad today. Made some progress by hitting 250 for three doubles. I had trouble staying in position: my feet kept sliding and my shoulders would slide. Overall though I cannot complain too much

April 3, 2013

Deadlift:
3x 270, 315, 360, 405
2x 435, 435

Rack Pulls (Conventional):
3x5 315

GHRs

This session was about average I would say. On the second set of 435, I was not really feeling it but I forced myself to do it anyway. On the second one, I had it but I started to fall backwards so I just let go. I also forgot to loosen up the belt a notch so it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of the sockets. Another thing, I noticed that my hams + glutes really start to fatigue if I sit down in my starting position for too long so I might straighten out my legs, get a grip and set up, then sink real quick and go

April 4, 2013

Bench:
8x3 115

Floor Press:
5x5 135

Reverse Grip Bench:
5x5 95

Dips:
3x10

Reverse Grip Tricep Press Down:
3x8 22.5 per arm

An extremely light bench day with some tricep work but not a set plan. All of the bench exercises were lowered quickly, yet controlled, during the eccentric portion and came up as fast as possible during the concentric portion. Just did some tricep work and tried to keep up the explosion/speed during the concentric portion.

April 5, 2013

Squat:
3x 225, 265, 300, 340, 340, 340
2x 355, 355

Cable Pull Through:
8x 62.5, 37.5, 72.5

Definitely was extremely tired today but knowing that the team would be there motivated me just enough to get up and go. Legs were not all there and I felt it all day today; probably from a heavy dead lift on Wednesday. Going to rest up this weekend on come back on Monday with some medium-heavy, wrapped squatting + my last heavy dead lift happening around Wednesday.