Life Wifey and I still on that fun time high…although she still needs a job and we still need a house but life is simpler living with the parents and we are going to enjoy it as long as we can. My work has picked up though so that is a large amount of stress off my back.
Training Clicking along. I tweaked a butt muscle so I took the opportunity to completely recover from my 3x/week frequency that ended 4 weeks ago. I still hadnt fully recovered in my delts. I feel good now though and Bench strength is coming back.
Dec 8th Regionals The more I think about it the less I want to compete. I should be ready but I just dont want to travel 3 hours and pay for hotels and all that crap to deal with another shittily ran comp. Also I am having a ton of fun BBing right now, even though that takes nothing away from PLing…probably actually helps it.
BBer AF Experiment I have adjusted my split to be half BBing half PLing. After this cut I will be trying a lean bulk and see what kind of size I can add specifically to my arms, delts and lower lats while keeping my waist as small as possible. I will be monitoring Arms, legs and waist because those are the easiest to objectively monitor. If I stick to it this will be an entire series.
I am backing way off Comp Benching and diverting a lot more energy to delt work (not fully indicated on split).
Raw Natty 83’s Russwole won again with a PR total of 801kg. He also PRed on squat (american record) matched his PR on Bench and came with in 2.5kg of his PR on Deads (which he had but he didnt need it) Something to note is that his last workouts were much closer to the comp and were all heavy singles rather than the 4x4 and 4x5 that he did last time ~10 days out. Who knows all the details surrounding both comps (injuries etc) but kind of cool to see they made the adjustments I thought they should have done. This also might possibly puts him with in striking range of Brett Gibbs (830kg last year)…if something funky happens.
OK, lazy Saturday in my PJs working from the couch…
“IntraWO Carbs” the Bad: I feel so gross drinking all that sugar. Normally I eat 2-3 meals then wait until I am a little bit hungry again to go train so I dont feel like that. So drinking 100g of carbs in about 90 minutes while training just makes me feel gross.
“IntraWO Carbs” the GOOD: I got a pec pump doing curls today LOL
Strength: Its still mostly there. Hit a 270kg dead and I think that I probably have ~280kg on both Squat and Dead so those are both better than I expected being in the “off” season. When I get back into a prep with some supps not only will I not be starting from scratch I will have a much better plan this time I think it is going to be Bonkers. Larry better watch out!!! LOL more like the 83kg IPF guys better watch out but good enough.
Squat: Finally healthy enough to get some light Squats yesterday and so hopefully my Squat training gets back on track starting tomorrow.
Bench: Hit 170kg that was a high RPE but because I misgrooved it and like with Squats and Deads I have not been handling that weight recently so just to hit that makes me feel pretty fkn good.
Conjugated AF: Going to try to build up my Sumo. My buddy refuses to pull Sumo in comp (completely because of the Facebook Federation) and I really think that is costing him 30+ kg on his total. My theory on this is that if we divide his Deadlifting between Conv and Sumo because the Sumo is generally easier to recover from not only will he have more CNS to spare in training for Squat and Bench (esp late in prep when it is Sumo only) but also at the end of a Comp Sumo will be easier to pull as it is more technique than CNS when compared to Conventional. HOWEVER building your conv is probably the best thing he could do for his Sumo and after this next comp I am dividing his Deads between the 2 and I have a feeling when it comes time to prep again he will rethink his stance. At least that is my diabolical plan mwahahahahaha
Physique got a bit soft this morning as I went to slightly higher food intake for Thurs and Friday but going to cut hard this next week and then go into maintenance mode.
BBer Cut: I am so ready for one. I have the plan from training, diet and meal strategy to supps. I think this next one is where I can bring it all together for really the first time.
Work and Wifey: WOrk is work Wifey is hilarious and cute.
OK Michigan game back on so lets FKN GOOOOO!!! …or not
Wynonna Earp Season 3: honestly a big fat Meh. I think the biggest issue is that I watched 1 episode a week rather than my normal Binge watch which didnt help the continuation issues I had especially earlier in the season. I will rewatch in binge fashion and see what happens.
Frankenstein Chronicles: Good, I think anything in this time period I love. Season 2 was bit difficult to follow (think Hannibal Season 3) but the marathon helped it. Honestly the bigger issue I had with this show was chronic pausing to wiki things from the time period (if only reading wiki paid money). Only 2 season and 12 episodes so that lasted about 2 days.
Legends of Tomorrow: Caught up as far as Netflix is concerned, not bad. All time favorite episode was Episode 12 (pirates). Love pirates. I actually think they were the good guys. They stole and pillaged from the evil Imperial England and their colonies and also freed slaves. They are Robin Hoods on the wrong side of (written) history. Sure they raped and pillaged but so did the settlers they raped and pillaged so that is a wash. Pirates didnt have slaves or conquer other people though. They are also incredibly progressive as far as marriage equality is concerned. Also Black Caesar (the Pirate not the Movie)…and Black Beard may have been part black!!!
Killjoys: Now we’re talking!! 4 seasons and all on Netflix so subtitles for Wifey. The other genre I love is Sci Fi future stuff. Basically any time period not my own which really makes me hate this planet LOL FML.
I just ordered some granite intraworkout. It has eaas and complex dextrose (sugar). It is supposed to arrive today. We will see I hope it’s good. Probably not…
Keep in mind, I’ll be referring to the Canadian Netflix but here is how our show watching has been going recently.
Blacklist: Just released a new season (5… I think). Solid show, I like the shows where the “bad” guy is kind of the good guy. Like a Jason Bourne type show. Good action, keeps you guessing throughout, predictable at times, but less-so than many of these crime shows.
How I Met Your Mother: Wife has seen this through its entirety, but I’ve only seen episodes here and there, so I’m currently making my way through the entire show. Easy watch, mindless comedy.
New Girl: Wife has been watching this (she may be caught up on Netflix now), but I ended up watching quite a few episodes as well as it is pretty hilarious. The character’s personalities are so exaggerated that it is ridiculous, but my kind of stupid humour. I would compare it to a Brooklyn 99 humour (another solid watch if you haven’t seen it).
Fortnite: I’ve been playing some Fortnite on PC recently as well. A few of my buddies started playing it and told me to get it. I shouldn’t have. I have a problem when it comes to gaming… It was free, so I just couldn’t say no to downloading it…
With sumo I think one often overlooked issue is what it can do to hips and/or knees. So yes, definitely easier to recover from IF your knees and hips can cope with it.
I agree. I definitely seem to feel less run down overall from Sumo than conventional, but that’s only until my hips start flaring up until I can’t even sumo at all and have to switch back to conventional (or at least a closer stance DL).
Blacklist!!! I am I think on Season 4…? I did like that show just stopped watching it (like so many shows).
How Mother: Seen it, good funny brain off show show.
New Girl: I stopped watching just as the main girl and the bearded guy started dating. I bet wifey would like it.
Fortnite: I just ordered a SNES retro speaking of which…
How to Husband Like a Pro: Sooo we are supposed to be saving money but I saw the SNES classic and had to buy it. I then invited Wifey to a date night. We used to play video games and watch shows and drink but havent in a very long time. This way when the SNES arrives she wont be mad that I didnt mention it
SUMO: Yea it definitely feels weird in the knees but not painful so I am just going slow. And my inner thighs felt rough when warming up for Squats today.
Intra Carbs: I quit it for a while because I am supposed to be cutting (and it def did not allow me to cut) but if I go back I will check out Plazma. I ended up using Gatorade powder with sugar added for the necessary carbs.
WORST WORKOUT IN A LONG TIME…maybe ever tbh No better time to log than a failure. My back has been bothering me quite a bit last couple days probably because it wasnt bothering me so I thought I could get away with T-Bar Rows…I cant. Like earlier stated my my hips felt a bit tight too almost certainly from the Sumo and then my Glute strain came back which I think is from cutting maybe? The glute is only an issue on depth so I could have deadlifted but my back even hurt to do Front Squats which if that happens I know it is in rough shape. I ended up doing Low Bar Squats 3x10@135. Also yesterday and today I have been suffering from super de-motivation probably because I realized I hit all my strength goals for this offseason and havent officially moved the goal posts yet. Or I could just want a damn beer and to watch some football. I will try both.
GOING FORWARD:
-No more non chest supported Rowing.
-I might go to 2 Front Squat workouts and 1 Low Bar instead of the reverse
-Gonna make everything worse and enjoy a couple drinks when ever this SNES gets here
-Find minimum requirements for Bench Specialist License (I honestly always thought my career end up there eventually, just hoped I had more time LOL)
GOAL POSTS:
-Get Leaner (only Offseason goal I havent accomplished yet)
-640 Squat (would be Lifetime PR)
-420 Bench tee hee
-5x5 Sumo and Conv at 495+ (this will easily take the longest of all of them but I am not going anywhere…ever apparently you stupid glute and back)
Watched him so many times to get fired up for Deads. In before mainstream media says steroids contributed to his death. (From what I have read he died while working as a body guard and was stabbed but nothing is yet official.)
In other news…
In other OTHER news Sumo is back out, I am taking my booty injury seriously (thats what he said) and I am still struggling with how I want to do my training up to and including a possible Mock Meet in December. I might just Yolo on Deads, I kind of have some inspiration to beat Pikis’s dead (see below).
CUT: After sabotaging it with Intra WO Carbs I was back on track to Sabotage it with an incredible amount of beer and wings yesterday LOL. Drank twice in 5 days, younger me still isnt impressed but older me cant wait to stop but I have a party next week and then a Carne Asada the week after…Carne Asada will not require booze. Or will it? Either way I am just going to keep cutting and sabotaging and hopefully I can maintain and get stronger a bit.
In OTHER OTHER other News there was a Deadlift comp in Merida put on by a couple dudes I know of and LOL. 72 hour weigh in which I assume they have to know this gives them a huge advantage over anybody who is traveling but I am not sure.
Pikis won Absolute by a km with a 325kg pull at 96.7kg but lost Wilks to a 65kg lifter who pulled 225kg…sorry not sorry Wilks is broken. Pikis was also pretty annoyed with how crappy it was ran. They had to change the bar 3 times because any pull over 300kg bent the bar. The bar was also a 30mm bar and the plates were 42cm so they were block pulling to keep it regulation height. Not sure how you screw up a DL only meet but that is how.
FUTURE: Nap…then hopefully I can think better and figure out what I want to do with myself. Offseasoning is so hard, no direction or consequences. For prep you know the target.
Hahaha I guess I do, sometimes you just need it spelled out.
And I did decide on the how as well. I am kind of impressed with this current plan and to jinx it here it is…this is assuming a mock meet on December somethingish…we 8 weeks out.
Bench I am kind of experimenting with a Low Volume High Intensity and all the prehab. At 3 weeks out everything will be singles. I think worst case this ends up with a 420 Comp Bench and best case much better.
Squats I am rebuilding my glute from the ground up. Honestly I think 95% of lifters would squat through this and I think 95% of them are wrong for doing so LOL. It doesnt even register on the pain scale while but I do feel it lifting then next workout it is about a 3-5. Volume seems to be helping and isnt blowing up my back yet either so but it is super light still and 3 working sets rather than 5. See next post for Yellow Orange Red color coded program. OH, I can front Squat again so I am going to see if I can get that 4 plate Front Squat finally.
While I am rebuilding Squats I will be Deadlifting twice a week and with some volume then I drop down to a 5*1 and AMRAPing the last set. AMRAPing the 5th set is something completely original that I in no way stole from anywhere else
1 Week of Triples, then a week of Doubles then a week of Singles. Ignore Deadlift Work I dont know what that will be with this. I take the 2 days rest in between Day #2 and Day #3 to be freshest for Comp Squats.
This is easily the coolest program I have ever made. Basically adding mechanical advantages to each Squat workout to increase weight. Keeps intensity high (in percentages) while keeping the overall weight Light / Medium / Heavy which should keep you healthier and fresher CNS. Plus, conjugating is fun (still not optimal for PLing LOL).
This is also a work around for me who needs to Squat at minimum 2x per week to keep mobility right.
On top of that I do have Front Squats in my warmups for each workout and Pause Squats are there for Comp Day.
OK so each photo is an 8 week program except Bench. Bench is the same 2 workouts for 8 weeks so I included the assistance etc.
But for Squat and Deadlift I train those on 3 days. Sunday, Wednesday and Friday shown on the top row.
Then the left column is which week. So each row is 1 week.
3*5@375 is 3 sets of 5 reps at 375 pounds.
A plus sign after the reps means AMRAP the last set.
An empty box means I do not do that lift on that day. You will see it goes from Deadlifting twice a week to once per week on Friday…it actually says Saturday and that is wrong (force of habit of years lifting Monday / Thurs / Saturday rather than Sun/Mon/Fri).
Ya need help GET HELP!!! Drives me nuts people. People take being wrong so personally to the point they refuse all science, facts and reason. LOL Politics and also…
Lifter X is probably pulling out of the Dec meet. They had a nervous breakdown over making zero progress over the last year but just 5 minutes through their IG account tells me about a billion things they are doing wrong. Several of us have offered to help but they rejected it because I guess we are not qualified as they are an IG coach and we are not (although most of us have a higher wilks).
Luis and Lifter B are crushing their prep and with out me picking Luis’s attempts I think he will get in the 540+ range for a huge PR. Toby will probably hit all life time PRs while being lighter than ever and vegan…I try not to tell him every day to eat meat buuuut LOL no I respect his life choices. I actually think it is really cool to see him prove me wrong about vegan life style and gainz.
They are also in the process of opening a PLing gym in PDC so maybe they will have a real place to prep for a couple weeks.
Any who REAL REASON I am here DEADLIFT FOCUS PROGRAM: (I actually made this for Lifter X)
Day One Heavy:
5x1+ Starting at ~75% adding 1-5% if you get 5+ reps on AMRAP
Day Two Volume:
5x5 “Natty Taper” Starting at 60% and adding 1-5% weekly
For Natty Taper if a workout gets to be RPE 8+ drop reps of each set by 1. If you fail to get scripted reps and sets drop reps and repeat weight
Adjust Percentages and Jumps based on time schedule. Bigger jumps for less time, smaller for perma offseason. Probably scripted Linear for a prep.
For offseason when 5*1+ Stalls out Test 1RM
For Meet your Last Dead Day is Day One but feel out your 1RM to know attempts and skip workout Day Two and no Deads during Meet Week.
Lower Squat volume and keep intensity up for PLing focus.
I got a sick arm pump eating has its advantages and this pump made it impossible to do Front Rack LOL (I tested pre and post workout). OK Mariokart is calling!!!
EDIT: WE EATING!!! Between @littlesleeper hitting my Dead max for a 5x2 and then I went on IG and I am not even the strongest in my city anymore we EATING!!! TIME TO GRRROOOOOWWWWW!!!
Training: Been good, Bench not great, probably for the cut. Front Squat coming along but I never remember it hurting this bad. Glute is probably better but not going to push it yet. Deads hit a lifetime PR 14@435. Rather than the volume I will wimp out and do AMRAPs this next week. Then Deads get their own day replacing “Quad Day” and Quad Day gets doubled and added to Squat Day.
Physique: Keeps progressing. I am close to being out of the “look worse while cutting because glycogen is depleted making you look small but your fat is still there making you look fat so you have no definition” phase. Now my delt striations are coming back, quad veins coming back. Yea thats it LOL
And then this is more along the lines of videos I want to be making for a while:
