Or you could buy a 2" adjustable db handle and load it up if you like to hold it closer.
That would probably be a better option than my idea. I really like being able to bear hug the DB haha.
Got in some good work yesterday. Started the session off with standin rollouts and broad jumps to get warmed up and I ended up jumping about the same distance as last time, 9’3". Moved on to front squat negatives after that and was able to demonstrate much better control with 425lbs this time around. Then finished up the day with some heavy sleds and weighted hypers. All quality work. I think next week I’m going to throw the wraps on and see how some real squatting feels. This will be my first time squatting in about 6 months, so it should be interesting to say the least.
I threw together a little video with some standard training footage from the past week or so. A 550lbs farmer’s walk with straps which I did for multiple sets this past week, 425lbs FS negative, some standing rollouts, and easy weighted hypers with 150lbs.
3/30/17
Standing rollout- 5,3,3
Broad jump-3,3,3,3,3
FS negative(425lbs)- 5 negatives
Sled push- (630lbsx20yds)(745x20)(835x20)(885x20)
Hypers(150lbs)(only had 5 mins and had to head home so I did one giant rest-pause style set here with 30 seconds rest between bouts)- 15+8+7+5 (35 total reps, not bad)
Done.
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I decided to do some deadlifts this past Sunday just to get an idea of where I currently stand. As of now, I’m about 7 weeks out from my next meet. I will be cutting back down to 148. I went sumo and worked up to a relatively comfortable, but very technically unsound, single with 500lbs. I would estimate I had about 20lbs left in the tank. Not bad considering I have not done a deadlift since October. Unfortunately, I forgot I don’t have access to the deadlift bar on Sundays so this was done on a stiff bar. I’m going to have to shift my lifting schedule around a smidgey smidge so that I can get in a couple more feeler sessions with the deadlift bar before the meet. That whip always throws me off, but hopefully I can get a few pounds out of it. I’m planning to give that a go this coming Monday. On Thursday, however, I need to see where I stand with my squat. That should be interesting…
Anyway, I threw together a little training motivation vid for my YouTube channel. Just some big lifts and a few jumps/sprints that I’ve done in recent history. Check it out and let me know what you think!
4/2/17
Broad jump- 3,3,3,3,3 (best was 9’4" - a one inch comeback PR!)
Standing rollout- 5,3,3
Sumo deadlift- 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 405x1, 500x1
Weighted Hyperextension(165lbs)- 10,10,10,8,7
Done.
Cool video. That squat grinder at the start was just insane!
Thanks man. That’s my current PR in sleeves haha.
How are you laying out your training and such man? Your deadlift and squat are really fucking impressive
Well, they used to be. We’ll see soon enough if they still are lol.
I’ve been doing 3 upper body days and 3 lower body days per week. Upper body work has been centered around benching, pullups, face pulls,and some DB shoulder work mostly. I had been focusing on building sets of 5 on the bench in the last few months. This past week I switched exclusively to singles work to try to net something from all the volume I’ve put in before my meet rolls around (May 20).
The lower body days have consisted of an explosive movement, a main lift, ab work, and posterior chain work.
So, session one the focus was pushing the heavy sled, getting better at rollouts, and weighted hypers.
For session 2, the focus was the farmer’s walk, with suitcase holds and front squats holds as accessory.
For session 3, the focus was front squat negatives, with lighter sled work and more weighted hypers.
This has been the past few months. Now, I’m about to overhaul everything so I can try to create a total. I’ll probably deadlift 2 more times before my meet and squat about 5-6 times. As I add these things in and the meet draws closer I will begin to cut out everything else.
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I decided to to go ahead and do my usual Tuesday workout even though I just deadlifted on Sunday. My body doesn’t really feel that beat up or anything, but my hands hurt, and my grip strength was WAY down yesterday for farmer’s walks. I could barely hold 225 for one set, where my current strapless PR from just a few week ago is 250. My overall strength was not really hampered, however, as I was able to do a strong set with 265lbs per hand when I strapped in.
I’m going to squat tomorrow and after that I’ll have at least some idea of where I stand with it. And I’m going to pull on the deadlift bar on Monday to see how that feels. After that the main focus up to the meet is going to be on remembering how to squat, trying to find a respectable bench, and using the movements I’ve been using to retain fatigue until I cut them all out as meet day approaches.
4/4/17
Straight arm pulldown(150)- 20,17,13
Farmer’s walk- (115lbs per hand x 25yds),(165x25yds)(205x20yds)(225x20yds)
Add straps- (245x20yds)(265x20yds)
Zombie front squat hold-(345x20 secs)(395x20)(455x20)(505x17)(505x10)
Pallof press-(60x10)(70x10)(80x10)(70x10)
Done.
Oh and here’s the 500 pull from the other day. Probably about 20lbs in the tank. Not everything I hoped it would be, but not terrible all things considered. Tbh, mostly just bad positioning from lack of practice, I’d say. Given my current body weight and means of training, the strength level is not bad.
Return to squatting
Had my first squat session yesterday in preparation for my meet. I managed to work my way up to a decent 455lbs single (w/wraps). This was the first time squatting in over 6 months, unfortunately. The good news is, I wasn’t terribly weak. The bad news is, the lift was super wonky technically and my body doesn’t remember what a truly heavy squat is supposed to feel like. I need to re-teach myself how to grind. I was basically in panic mode during the descent even though the weight felt incredibly light on my back. My hips shot up out of the hole in spite of the fact that I was wearing wraps, and I got out of position heading into the sticking point which caused the bar to slow down and me to have to bully it back into position before easily finishing the lift. 20 more pounds on the bar and this type of inefficiency simply won’t fly. Anyway, 6 weeks out from the meet. I’m going to get in 4-5 more sessions before then and hopefully regain some ground.
4/6/17
Standing ab rollout- 5,4,3
Broad jump- 3,3,3,3
Squat- (135x5), (225x3), (275x2), (325x1), (375x1), (425x1), (455x1)
Front squat- (225x2), (275x2), (315x2), (355x2)
Hyperextension- (175 x 6,6,6,6,6)(145 x 10)
Done.
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I had originally planned to deadlift again this week, but instead of that, I’m going to save it for next week. Then I’ll repeat that same pattern: the following week will be off and the week after that I’ll do my final deadlift session about 19 days out. I’ve still got 5 squat sessions to go, every Friday from here on out. I shifted my training schedule up one day to allow the deadlift days that will follow to be on Monday instead of Sunday so that I’ll be able to use the DL bar for them. Anyway, today was nothing exciting. Just back to the sled and whatnot. I posted the full video of last week’s squat session on my YouTube channel for those who are interested.
4/10/17
Standing Rollout- 6,4,3
Broad jump- 3,3,3,3,3
Sled- (630lbsx20yds)(745x20)(835x20)(900x20)
Zombie Hold- (365lbsx20secs)(415x20)(465x20)(515x15)
Weighted Hypers(185lbss)- 5,5,5,5,5
Done.
2nd Squat Session: 465lbs @ 162
I did 465 this week for my second squat session of this pseudo-meet peak. My technique felt a little bit cleaner, although I’m still squatting kind of high. I can’t really feel where I am as I descend right now. I’m going to have to sort that out before the meet or I’ll bomb on depth lol.
This lift moved considerably slower than I would have liked. The 455 last week was really only slwoed down by poor positioning, but this lift wasn’t so much out of position as it was just grindy, unfortunately. I tried using the Texas squat bar this week because I hate those stupid paper thin bars at this gym, but I think I prefer the paper thin ones to the Texas bar. Anyway, I’ll be traveling home next week and that will give me the opportunity to get in a session on my own equipment which will be helpful for gauging where I am. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to move all that stuff down here with me. I just need a garage first!
The plan is to deadlift tomorrow using the deadlift bar. But my hamstrings are sore as hell today from too many hypers on Friday and too much sprinting yesterday. I should be good to go though.
4/14/17
Standing rollout- 5,5,5
Broad jump- 3,3,3,3
Squat- 145x4, 235x3, 285x2, 335x1, 385x1, 435x1, 465x1
Front squat- 275x2, 325x2, 365x2
Hypers(150)- 15,13,12,10+6+4 (drop set)
Done.
485lbs squat @ 160
I’m visiting home for the week and so I’ve had the opportunity to use my own equipment, which is always nice. In this past week’s squat session I managed to work up to a pretty solid single with 485lbs. As you’ll hear in the video, given my ability to grind out squats, with the way I blasted through the sticking point here I surprised even myself. I would say 500 was definitely there. Old Alec would have just done it, but new Alec is wise enough to know it was there without needing to actually do it. Or maybe I’m just chicken shit these days. Who knows. Anyway, I made the executive decision to cut my 3m EliteFTS Krait wraps down to 2.5m so that I will be able to use them in my upcoming USPA meet. This was my first session using the Krait wraps. The previous 2 sessions I used a pair of 2.5m Titan Titanium wraps. It would seem that the extra assistance provided by the Kraits (as compared to the Titaniums) drastically covered up the weakness in my legs from the lack of squatting. In turn, my torso/core, which I’ve been training like a madman lately, is able to blast through my old sticking point with ease now. It’s an interesting turn of events haha. I’m hoping to get in one more squat session here before I leave. I’m about 4 weeks out now.
4/21/17
Squat- 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 325x1, 375x1, 425x1, 455x1, 485x1
Front squat- 225x2, 275x2, 325x2, 375x2
Standing ab wheel- 3,3,3,3
That’s about it.
Sumo DL 510lbs @ 160
I got in my last deadlift session a couple days ago and ended up pulling a pretty easy 510 sumo. I would estimate that my max is about 525lbs or 530 tops if I could figure out how to deadlift again. I had planned to go to about 520 this session but unfortunately on my 505 attempt that I took before the 510 I let the bar whip throw me forward about an inch away from lockout and that messed with my technique. The lift was so easy and I had already considered it a foregone conclusion and was planning a jump to 525 when I just completely lost the bar forward lol. I don’t have very much experience with deadlift bars and they always seem to throw me off. I think I will be investing in the Rogue deadlift bar in the near future for my new home gym. Anyway, not wanting the final session before the meet to potentially end on a bad note, I took an ultra conservative jump to 510 and I still fell out of the groove at lockout here too lol. If I could maintain position, these lifts would appear seamless. The weight is not what’s slowing me down. Just the lack of tehcnical proficiency.
I have already planned out my next training cycle to take me through to the end of the year. It includes a deadlift day every other week starting with a very conservative weight. And a squat day once a week also starting off very conservatively. I think I have proven to myself that I can continue to get stronger without killing myself on the squat and DL week in and week out, I just need to maintain some modicum of tehcnical efficiency on them by not throwing them out the window entirely.
This upcoming meet will be nothing special. Likely something between 1200-1300 unless I bomb. But my year end goal is to total 1430 @ 148 and earn the coveted 500 raw wilks. I think I can do it. I think I have finally figured out how to work around this injury and in about 6 weeks I will have my own home gym again where I can really be myself and train uninhibited. So circumstances are ripe for progress again. And I plan on taking it.
5/1/17
Broad jump- 3,3,3,3,3
Standing rollout- 3,3,3
Sumo deadlift- (135x5)(225x3)(315)(375)(425)(475)(505x)(510)
Zombie hold- (405x20 secs)(455x20)(505x20)(525x15)
Weighted hypers- (195)- 4,4,4,4,4, (145)-16
Done.
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Final Squat - 455lbs @ 160 (One Week Out)
Did my last squat session this past Saturday, 7 days out from the meet. I worked up to a relatively easy 455, which was supposed to be in the vicinity of my opener, but I’m not sure if it will be. It moved a little slow to be an opener and things have been pretty inconsistent as I’ve been switching between equipment, so I’m going to have to play it by ear on meet day I think. Anyway, I just want this meet to be over with and go take care of business so I can start my real training cycle. That’s really what I’m excited for.
Side note: first time competing with wraps in the USPA. Anyone with experience there think this is a little shallow?
Squat- 135, 225, 275, 325, 375, 425, 455
Front Squat- 225, 275, 325, 375
Hyperextension(150)- 5,5,5,5,5
Done.
How did the meet go? Was the experiment a success?
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Hey dude! Sorry I missed this comment, I’ve been very busy the last few weeks. But to answer your question, it was my worst meet performance ever! I came in weaker than I’ve ever been on bench which is inexplicable but probably my own fault. Squat and deadlift weren’t all that strong but they weren’t in terrible places. On meet day, however, nothing came together. My best training lifts leading into the meet netted me 1,280lbs. So that’s basically a best case scenario. I ended up totaling 1,212lbs @ 148 by way of 463/242/507 while almost bombing on squat and bench OPENERS. Yes, 463 and 242 were my squat and bench openers. To put this into perspective, I totaled 1,235 @ 148 just 6 months off of hip surgery lol.
I had a lot going on and honestly found myself unmotivated and really just not wanting to be there. I also got very sick in the week leading up to the meet. So much so that I wasn’t sure that attempting to cut weight was a good idea. I powered through, made the cut, felt like shit, and somehow got a total. The training was obviously not ideal. It did not make my squat or my deadlift stronger. I practiced squatting I think 5 times and deadlifting 3 times in the month leading up to the meet with no work on either lift for the previous 6-7 months. In practice leading up to the meet I achieved 93% of my best ever wrapped squat and 89% of my best deadlift. Imo, that’s pretty good strength maintenance on two relatively technical lifts that I hadn’t performed in a long time. Will I compete in PL again coming in on such a low level of skill at the powerlifts themselves? Probably not. But it’s nice to know that I can get strong in other ways while also keeping myself strong in a well rounded fashion even at the exclusion of such staple lifts.
Just finished up week 2 of my new training cycle. I’ve gotten in some good work on the deadlift so far with some meh work on the squat and the bench. I’m almost done setting up my new gym, which is pretty sweet. I can’t describe how much better it is to have my own place to train. Unfortunately, during the last few weeks prior to this I hadn’t had much time to train and I apparently wasn’t eating enough either and my body weight dropped by about 5lbs. My squat and bench press strength seem to have taken a pretty big hit as a result. Hopefully they bounce back quickly. Deadlift feels good right now. Also, I built some legit farmer’s walk handles out of 4x4’s and plumbing pipe. I Just got to try them out for the first time yesterday and they have a solid feel to them, similar to real implements. I went up to 220 per handle (200lbs of weight plus the handles themselves weigh 20lbs) and was able to get a good grip on them. It should be fun to mess around with those over the next few months!
Yesterday’s session went:
7/13/17
Power clean from the floor! - (95x3)(125x3)(145x3)(165x3)(185x3)(205x3)
Sumo deadlift (w/hook) - 415lbs x 8 singles in under 20 min
Sumo burnout set (w/straps) - 415 x 12
Farmer’s walk - (110 x length of my driveway)(160 x length of my driveway)(190 x length of my driveway)(220 x length of my driveway)
Hyperextension(160) - 10,10,10
Here are a few videos from some recent pulling workouts:
I’m sorry to hear about the bad meet. That sucks. But the hip is better, so that’s good? And maintaining around 90% lifts pushing sleds is pretty cool “clinical” info.
Home gym is looking good.
Hip is feeling good yeah man. Unfortunately the hip, which is nice and straightforward, hasn’t been what’s ailed me in the last year or so haha. I gave up trying to find an answer because no one could give me one. But I’ve gotten a pretty good hold of the injury, whatever it is, and am managing it well while training hard again. It is, however, ever present and so is something I always have to be cognizant of as well.
And yeah, maintaining around 90% without doing the lifts isn’t too bad, imo It sucks that you can’t ever get stronger at them without specifically doing them, but at least you can make yourself not get weaker at them while getting stronger differently.
The gym is coming together nicely I think, thanks!
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