Jacob's Squat Log

The downside of doing both Track and Powerlifting, as that you have to do preseason conditioning, and then squat heavy. An hour and a half in the baking, humid heat, then right inside to squat. No way to do it lol. Did a stadium superset, essentially stair laps up every bleacher of out football stadium, both visitors and home. Did it very easily. Suprised all these squats have kept me in shape.

Went to the gym, helped some people, got an easy deep 565, followed by 3x2 at 500. Felt solid. Then an easy 355 bench, so easy I didn’t even slow at the sticking point. Followed by 3x4 at 315 touch and go. Going to slowly start upping the weight starting next week. Ok, question time. I do everything in my training beltless, sleeveless, and wrapless. I want to do a meet in December, and I really want to do well. I’m talking 615, 405, 625 or better. Do you guys think I should invest in a belt. Money is tight, but this will be my only meet for the next 3 years most likely.

I want to make it one for the books. I don’t want to leave anything on the table, you know? Anyway, I look forward to any responses. Sleep time soon. 8 AM’s are killing me!

Tried squatting with 5 lb plates under my heels. Hit 575. Still not sold on oly shoes. I’m a cheapskate, so sue me. Hit a 365 pause bench, followed by 315 for 5 touch and go. Not much to write about really. So…That’s the end of that.

Got bored around 7:30, so I decided to go to the gym. They close at 8 tonight. Worked up to a heavy single in deadlift in sweats and without chalk. Hit 585 surprisingly easy, and tore a small callus on my hand. No worries, these next two days were rest days anyway. Good way to kick off the weekend.

Finally got into the athletic weight room, and was only allowed 45 minutes due to the NCAA sanctions on my team. Took 15 minutes to warm up, and got a 565 squat about as easy as 545 usually is. Felt good. Got told by the college strength coach that he’ll be damned if an athlete does somebody elses program in his weight room. So I will do what he wants, and squat on my own after. Making due.

Another day, another day of decent singles. 585 on squat, 365 on bench. Bench was easier than usual, but I changed my back off. So instead of 3x4 at 315 touch and go, I’m doing 3x3 at 315 with a 2 second pause. Trying to make sure that when I get to the meet come December I’ll be able to last during that pause even if the judge is slow on the press command. Athletic weight room tomorrow. If I’m feeling good, 600 will be going on the bar.

Simple day of technique work and volume. Trying to emphasize staying upright in the whole, and depth. Hit 3 singles at 545, and a set of 3 with 495 and 505. Did 355 of bench with a 2 second pause, 30 second rest, 314 x 4 touch and go. Rested a minute or two, did 315 x 3 2+ second pauses. Finished up with dips and military press. Feeling fantastic, and for once it’s not because of my workout. I got my first email of interest in my 3 month long job search.

After sending out over 250 applications (literally) I finally got a bite… Part time Crossfit instructor at a local athletic club. Not a dream job, but I have to admit, reading that email made me happier than a 600 lb squat. Things will hopefully start getting better.

Went in for my interview today, and absolutely nailed it. And sold the GM of the gym on possibly making a powerlifting class, which I’d get to manage. Not officially hired yet, but I’m the #1 candidate. Also, fixed a cue problem I’ve had in the squat, and I am now squatting beneath usapl depth with good strength and form.

Right after singles with 545,545,565, I did to sets of 3, one at 500 and another at 515. All very easy. Finished off with a heavy single in deadlift. I used straps because I don’t have any chalk and my torn callus is still healing, and pulled a relatively good 605. Today was a good day.

Looking good man. Congrats.

Thanks very much

Only had an hour to work out today. Strength coach wanted me in the athlete weight room at 1, had practice at two. Worked up to 3 singles a 545, all buried depth. Then 3x2 at 495. Did that in a span of 25 minutes. Went to bench, worked to 355 with a 3 second pause, then did 315 for 2x4 touch and go. Did that in about 20 min. Did 3x10 pullups, and 3x5 weighted box jumps. The box goes a little past my bellybutton and the vest weighed 45 lbs, so it definitely was a challenge. For a quick workout, it went pretty well.

Squat and deadlift today. Was in the athletic weight room, so I only had an hour. Worked up to 585 on squat, and sunk it waaay below parallel and got it. Not on video, but I know that it was a clean rep. Worked up to 585 of deadlift too, also a clean rep. Did some high box jumps, pull ups and heavy shrugs for fun, and got out in 55 minutes.

Still working on getting comfortable with the new squat depth. So, staying relatively light at 545 for today. Just did a single, dropped it to 515 and did a triple. Called it there. I really feel fatigued today, stress from tests is getting to me. Taking saturday and sunday off. Hit 365 on bench with a 2 second pause. Did 315 for 2x3 with 2 second long pauses. Felt terrible, but I’m sure that’s just me whining. Was supposed to be studying last night, but got bored, so I went to the campus weight room at 11 at night. Somebody left 225 on the bench, so I sat down and decided to do AMRAP with no warmup and no spotter. Got 23 pretty solid, a 5 rep improvement of the last time I did it. So I’d say even though I’m going kinda slow getting used to competition level strictness, I’m still improving overall.

tied my deadlift pr today with a sumo stance. 605. Felt pretty good. Did AMRAP with 225 on bench after. Got 20 without wrist wraps pretty well. Totally gassed though. Having the college cafeteria as my only source of food is making cutting nearly impossible. They removed all the turkey, chicken, and beef this weekend and served only pasta and salad. Making protein almost impossible to get. I don’t think I’ll be able to start cutting until this summer when I have more control over my diet. I’ll still try, but if the meet I’m planning on doing in december starts to fill up, I might just sign up for the 120kg class. (USAPL meet)

Good workout today. Hit 585 with good depth on squat. It was a grinder, but I got it. Then hit a double with 355 on bench with a 2 second pause on each rep. Feeling like I’m slowly working up in weight with much better form. Weighed 250.4 before these lifts in full clothes, and ate a lb and a half of turkey, 3 cups of spinach, and 3 slices of pizza less than an hour before, so I think weight loss is going well too. about 80 days out right now.

Today was a great day, until it turned to shit. Car i was planning on buying got sold, got my job offer today, and have no way to get to the interview, girlfriend tried to bench and is insisting to me she pulled her shoulder… as she sits her texting and rotating her arm. Today went to shit really freaking quickly. So i went in the rec center gym and benched 225 for 21 reps. 2 workouts today i guess. Feeling like crap, hating all of this once again. Get a little ahead and life has gotta pull you two steps back.

Life is good once more. Got a car, got it insured, got it registered, and got a job. All in 3 days. Also, training is going well too. Hit 225x25 on bench, 2 rep pr without even warming up. Tried squatting with a belt, hated it. Tried squatting with oly shoes, loved it. So it looks like oly shoes and knee sleeves are all I’ll be trying to get for my meet in december, and I can borrow a pair of oly shoes from my college strength coach. Training is consistently good. 545 on squat goes up just as easy exhausted and sore as it does feeling good. If I rest even for 1 day I come back feeling like the freakin hulk. High volume has been treating me well. Going to fast tomorrow as part of my diet, and will also deadlift. So basically skipping breakfast and lunch. Going to try a coan pseudo-sumo deadlift position. I feel like it might turn out really well. My fasted workouts seem to improve my ability to feel and diagnose technique issues. Anyway, life is good.

Watched some of Chris Duffins road to CAPO training and felt like deadlifting today, even though it’s a “rest day”. Went to the gym and worked up to a 615 sumo deadlift. I really need to work my lockout, but I did complete the lift. 10 lb lifetime deadlift pr. Second sumo deadlift session ever. Finished up with some rows and pull ups. So much for rest days.

Duffin is awesome.