Just saw Brian Alsruhe talk about BB rows.
strap up man, you’re not working grip here. You’re working back.
It makes really good sense to me. Grip would be the limiting factor here, and it shouldn’t be.
You are under-eating my sleepy friend.
Or you doing some other stuff like walking a lot, doing some labour work, sleeping less.
But then again it’s only a couple of pounds and it’ll come up again. Maybe you body is fighting you getting a fat ass.
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Ya, I like to push my grip until it becomes the limiting factor and then strap up. This way I don’t feel like I’m neglecting grip. Plus, last night I intended on using my cannonballs to do my pullups on, but my wife is away for the weekend and I’m not sure where she hid them on me! We are still living in a small apartment, and she is magic when it comes to cleaning up and putting things away…but I can’t find them anywhere. She is on a trip with the girls, so this barely feels important enough to bother her over.
Went to A&W for second breakfast yesterday and then had Subway for lunch to keep my cals up yesterday. 216.4lbs on the scale this morning.
Speaking of a fat ass, I just went and got fitted for a wedding outfit yesterday (sister’s wedding is in September) and they had to order me a size 38 waist pant to fit my legs/ass. She said I would require a second fitting when the pants came in, but that I would likely need ~3" off the waist to fit properly. If the bulk goes well, maybe they will only need to take in 1"! Shirt was a 17" neck.
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This is my favourite meal of the day, closely followed by third lunch.
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maybe you’re not under-eating then 
you’ve hit your scales max
Haha, not yet!
My weight does fluctuate a lot though compared to others that I talk to. A 5lb difference from one day to the next isn’t completely shocking for me. So I’ll just keep eating lots and training lots and hoping that the scale continues to move in the right direction!
W1D3
Squats
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 3 x 5sets
365 x 6
All good, clean, strong reps. Happy to get these kind of workouts in.
Paused Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 2
275 x 3 x 5
Well these felt amazing. Fairly low RPE. I’ve COMPLETELY reworked my form on the bench. Bar path has improved significantly, I can actually feel purpose with my leg drive, and my just exploding the bar off my chest.
Sleeper learned how to bench, uh oh.
Chest Flyes - Slight Incline
50lb DBs x 8, 8, 8, 8
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Hey mate what did you do the week leading up to your meet? I have been running 531 the past 6 weeks jokers without pr set and fsl. Meet is next sunday so the plan is to squat on the monday and bench on the wednesday working up in singles to training max. Is there anything you would do differently? Great numbers by the way especially squat and deads.
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Here is exactly what @BOTSLAYER prescribed me for my peak. The last week was just doing singles to 80-85% on the Tuesday and then nadda until the meet.
I love me some 531 so Bots had me run an aggressive version of it basically getting through 2 weeks worth of workouts in just 1 week (2 squat workouts, 2 bench workouts and 1 deadlift workout - zero OHP). So squatting on Monday and benching on Wednesday up to TM (90%) isn’t too different from what I did. I don’t think you’d be in a bad spot if you did that.
However, the way Bots has laid it out, you are squatting and benching in the same workout to acclimate yourself with having to bench after squatting (like your comp.). RPE should be kept relatively low (7-8 I would say), no grinding reps at all.
Thank you! I was able to hit some nice PRs on both squats and deads after my last prep/peak so those numbers really came up for me. Unfortunately, bench didn’t budge. I can guarantee a bench PR at my next meet though!
Thanks for popping by! Many of my visitors have much more experience than me who might also lend some of their recommendations for peaking.
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08/13
Off-Season - Working Title
Deadlift/Rows
DEADLIFT (superset with 5 pullups on cannonballs - 10sets (50 Total)
135 x 5 c
225 x 5 c
315 x 5 c
365 x 3 c
405 x 3 s
455 x 5 s
455 x 5 s
455 x 5 s
455 x 5 s
405 x 10 s
DB Rows
100lbs x 10, 10
Nice quick workout. Was pretty tired coming into this one, so happy it went as well as it did. Got the main strength work in, but not much beyond that.
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Thanks for that reply mate, question regarding your squat and deadlift progress what do you feel helped the most as in programming wise/frequency/volume etc? Thanks again
That’s a tough one for me to pinpoint. On one hand, I had never really “trained with a purpose” (other than just trying to get stronger in general). After having a competition lined up I really emphasized those lifts in frequency and tailored the rest of my training around the big 3 (assistance/supplemental, mobility, recovery, etc).
My entire prep and peak really primed my body to be able to perform true tests of my maximum strength, rather than just kinda feeling good in the gym one day and going for a PR.
If I had to guess which aspect made the biggest difference I would say that the proper peak brought out the most pounds to the platform for me.
Good luck at your competition this weekend, be sure to do a little write up and tag me in it (or feel free to post it here). I love reading comp write ups!
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BACK SQUATS and Jerks?
135 x 5
135 x 3 Jerks (I’ve been watching some Crossfit highlights and got an itch for doing some o-lifts)
225 x 5
225 x 1 Jerk
245 x 1 Jerk
275 x 1 Jerk… well ish. This was so ugly, but got it overhead. This ties my PR for any type of overhead press (push pressed 275 before). This should be a lot higher if I practiced some form. I have strict pressed 255lbs. But it was still fun to get this much weight overhead.
315 x 5 back to squats
365 x 3
405 x 3 x 5sets…oops this was the same as my last squat workout. Oh well, 5x2 at 435 later this week.
BENCH
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 2
275 x 2
295 x 2 x 5sets
Bench grooved well again today. Nothing else other than some banded pulls between sets.
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ATLAS STONES
Round 1:
145# x 3
Round 2:
145# x 1, 175# x 1
Round 3:
145# x 1, 175# x 1, 215# x 1
Round 4:
145# x 1, 175# x 1, 215# x 1
Round 5:
145# x 1, 175# x 1, 215# x 1
Round 6:
145# x 1, 175# x 1, 215# x 1
Round 7:
Lapped 250#
This was supposed to be a “Row” day, but I was over on my property with the stones and wanted to play with them. It’s still back work, so I’m not too far off.
I have my end of the year ball tourney on Saturday, so I’ll be skipping a couple training sessions. Rest day today, tomorrow ball starting early A.M. and then Sunday recovery following an end of the year ball team party. TGIF.
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Awesome sleepy that last stone was pure explosion
Thanks Mort, 215lbs is a weight that if I don’t explode throughout the movement, I’ll miss the lift. The others I can just power up if necessary.
Saturday I had my end of the year ball tournament. Had lots of fun, but lost in the “A” semi-finals. We met at 8am for Caesars in our coach’s garage. It was a long day of drinking and I spent Sunday in recovery mode (eating/napping).
This morning I woke up at 222.6lbs…whoa. Lifetime weight PR.
Back to the gym tonight.
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08/20/2018
Back Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 2
435 x 2 x 5sets ← These were tough, but no grinding.
405 x 3 ← A little burner set here, kept the RPE reasonable.
Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1 x 5sets ← These were heavy but moved alright. I wasn’t grooving as well as I was last week.
315 x 5reps ← Added the SlingShot for a burner set here at my working weight. Reps felt smooth.
Band Pullaparts
x15
x15
x15
x15
x15
Lat Raises
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10
35lbs x 10
Pistol Squats
5
5
5
5
(per leg)
Quads started cramping after about 20mins after doing these! Right leg was MUCH easier than my left.
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No. All I feel is joint pain on these stupid things - even before my hip problem.
They are a pretty awkward movement; not sure they will be something I’ll do frequently but I just wanted to get in a little single-leg work. Quads are actually feeling them a bit this morning.
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If done correctly they might be good for quads. I can’t do them the right way. So I just say it’s a circus trick and avoid them
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Haha, I feel this way about a lot of movements in the gym. Almost anything outside of the big 3 seems like it’s surpassing my level of skill in the weight room.
Did you happen to see my attempt at a jerk the other day? I should try to do a clean on video to give everyone a good laugh.
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