On a completely different note, I hate it when I have a great programming idea or epiphany just when I started a new program. Goddamnit.
On the same note, I’ll do what I’m doing for six weeks - then I might switch to my new idea, depending how I feel and my progression is going. If necessary, I’ll run it for another six weeks after that to give it a fair assessment.
Into microcycle three today: heavy. I further fine tuned the individual days and dropped the main lift sets to three for squat and bench and six for deadlift just to accommodate the loads. I also added a bunch of dumbbell incline presses because I think they may very well be a huge help to my bench.
Today was squat, and felt good. I got some really nice pop out of my Slingshot wraps for the first time. The key with them seems to be cranking them super tight, but it is definitely worth the effort.
Today’s training:
Wrapped squat
418 lbs x 3
Squat 190 kg x 3, Slingshot wraps: Squat 190 kg x 3, Slingshot wraps - YouTube
440 lbs x 2
Squat 200 kg x 2, Slingshot wraps: Squat 200 kg x 2, Slingshot wraps - YouTube
462 lb x 1, walking out my meet PR set in a mono
Squat 210 kg x 1, Slingshot wraps: Squat 210 kg x 1, Slingshot wraps - YouTube
Dumbbell incline press
3 sets 8 reps with 50 lb per arm
Kroc rows
3 sets at 100 lb, reps not great as my grip was shot from wrapping my knees
Bicep curls
3 sets at 40 lbs per arm for 5, 3 and 3 per arm.
Bench and deadlift today. Still feeling yesterday’s squats but generally ok. I’d say around 90% of my optimum capacity.
Bench started out really well, hitting 231 lbs for a triple. I really had to fight for the third coming to lockout but pushing my shoulderblades into the bench really helped.
That triple cooked me though, and I only managed a single for 242 lbs instead of a double and missed a 253 lb single in the second half. That one felt heavy and I was in control but my triceps just ran out of gas.
I’m not too upset though. A triple at 231 lbs is a 3RM for me that I couldn’t have gotten a couple of weeks ago. I do need to figure out what to do for my bench though. I think the incline dumbbell presses might be the answer but it’ll take a while to find out.
Deadlift was ok, topping out at two conventional singles for 502 lbs. They were heavy but there wasn’t any doubt at any point. Sumo has really helped my conventional pull. On the 502 lb pulls I noticed I was able to lock my knees out very aggressively which made life much easier.
Today’s training:
Bench press
231 lbs x 3
242 lbs x 1, failed second
253 lbs failed about halfway
Conventional deadlift
449 lbs x 1
449 lbs x 1
475 lbs x 1
475 lbs x 1
502 lbs x 1
502 lbs x 1
Pull ups
3 sets of 5, two wide grip and one chin up
Dumbbell incline press
3 sets of 8 at 50 lbs/arm
Tricep pushdowns
3 sets of 6 at 57.5 lbs
Enjoying my rest days, even though I’m at work.
Looking back on the first mesocycle of this program, I think it’ll work well for me for a while at least and then I’ve got my new idea all set out for when I need it. I used the first mesocycle to add in a couple of tweaks in terms of exercise selection and volume. I haven’t changed up much, beyond dropping the number of heavy sets for the third microcycle and adding in a ton of incline presses with relatively light weight for medium reps.
That latter is mostly because I know I need volume to grow my bench press, but plain ol’ benching a bunch doesn’t quite seem to do it for more than about three weeks. I did get good results with benching three times a week between meets, but my shoulders were pretty sick of it by the end of the third week even though I made sure to do plenty of rowing and mobility. So, I figure if I hit three sets of dumbbell incline press for around eight reps per set at a load that feels like work by the end of the set every time I train and keep progressively overloading it, I’ll be ticking the volume box, hopefully build some size across my chest and shoulders and the flat benching I do (every second training day) will hopefully be enough to between them drive my bench to a semi-respectable point.
Here’s hoping…
Into mesocycle two today, so back on speed work with an increase in loading and some tweaks (added pressing, slightly reduced competition lift volume so allow for bringing up weak points).
As usual, squats against bands are hard as all hell.
Today’s training:
5x2 320 lb squats against bands adding around 88 lb at the top. Holy crap these take it out of me!
Third set
Squat against bands 145 kg x 2: Squat against bands 145 kg x 2 - YouTube
3x6 370 lb hack squats
3x8 dumbbell incline presses 55lb/arm
3 sets 100 lb Kroc rows for 18L/16R then 10 per arm. Not sure if I can call the last sets Kroc rows but they were definitely to failure
3 sets 65 lb triceps pushdowns
I can see how banded Squats would force some solid torso rigidity. I know you seem to be a wider stance squatter, sit back a lot, etc. What makes you use Oly shoes as opposed to flats, like a lot of people with that style use (Reed on this site comes to mind).
Short answer, crappy ankle mobility. In my Matflexes I can just hit parallel but no further without my knees screaming at me. In the future I may be able to manage it in flats, but for the moment I need the raised heel.
The bands are fun, but man oh man do they may the unracking bit hard.
Tried benching flat footed today. It actually felt really good all over on every level. A big help is Tis that it ends up with the bar in the rack over my throat instead of higher up so the unracking is easier.
Today’s training
5x2 170 lb bench against bands adding around 44 lb
3x2 138 lb close grip bench against same bands
2x3 330 lb sumo deadlift, first set double overhand grip
2x3 352 lbs sumo deadlift, first set double overhand
1x3 385 lb sumo deadlift
1x7 385 lb sumo deadlift with straps
3x8 55 lb per arm dumbbell incline press
3 sets of pull ups, 6, 6 and 5
Aaand my right lat is visibly larger than the left. Yay. More crap to figure out.
Doesn’t make sense since I do very little single arm work and the right is if anything the weaker side.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Aaand my right lat is visibly larger than the left. Yay. More crap to figure out.
Doesn’t make sense since I do very little single arm work and the right is if anything the weaker side. [/quote]
CT once wrote sometimes the ‘weaker’ side of a body part gets larger because it’s less efficient moving the weight, so it’s under more stress, making it grow a bit more.
Nice to hear you got flat footed benching to work for you alright. I know it doesn’t matter, but I think if you ever wanna compete in something like the IPF, it’s good to have in your corner, just in case
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Aaand my right lat is visibly larger than the left. Yay. More crap to figure out.
Doesn’t make sense since I do very little single arm work and the right is if anything the weaker side. [/quote]
CT once wrote sometimes the ‘weaker’ side of a body part gets larger because it’s less efficient moving the weight, so it’s under more stress, making it grow a bit more.
Nice to hear you got flat footed benching to work for you alright. I know it doesn’t matter, but I think if you ever wanna compete in something like the IPF, it’s good to have in your corner, just in case [/quote]
That did actually occur to me - I’ll just do some extra left side lat work each session until they even out. The difference isn’t huge, but enough to notice.
Yep, the flat foot feels like it could be a help. Admittedly it was just speed bench so the load at the bottom wasn’t high; but coming to my weak point in the second half it felt nice and steady so that’s a positive since the top would be approaching 220 lbs.
I think what I like the most is how it forces me into a position where the racked bar is way further down my body so is easier to unrack. This coming microcycle will be a good test: five set of three at 225 lbs will definitely tell me how much power I can get out of flat foot. Also, even though my arch is a little smaller it feels tighter.
I’ll try to film a couple of the sets and post them.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Aaand my right lat is visibly larger than the left. Yay. More crap to figure out.
Doesn’t make sense since I do very little single arm work and the right is if anything the weaker side. [/quote]
My right is bigger because it’s stronger, lol. So is my right erector. Been working on evening them out and concentrating on getting the left side tighter when lifting.
Both make sense in a funny way. I don’t know how relevant it is, but I’m mostly right handed.
Bit of a grinder today. My head wasn’t quite in it and I kept losing tightness in my upper back which made squats a trial. I was meant to hit five triples of squats and three triples of front squats but ended up going three then two for squats and replacing the last three sets with box squats. That felt better and I kept way tighter.
Front squats were a bust, I was cooled from the squats and did three sets of six hack squats instead. I got as far as unracking the bar and getting into the hole for the front squats and then just set the bar on the pins. I know when I’m done.
I’m considering replacing my squats on this day with box squats as a possible way to transition to flat shoe squatting and to get better recovery. My only concern is the ‘box’ is actually a bench so I don’t go to my normal depth. I’ll put up a video later.
Not the greatest session but I got some work done.
Today’s training:
3 x 412 lb squat
2 x 412 lb squat
3x3 412 lb box squat (to parallel)
3x6 360 lb hack squats
3x8 55 lb per arm dumbbell incline press
3x6, 4, 5 40 lb per arm bicep curls, first two sets on preacher
3x8 95 lb left arm machine rows, to even my lats out.
Started out as another grinder today but got better towards the end. I’m still a ways away from figuring out bench press in terms of how to train it. Squat and DL are just more instinctive for me.
I messed around with squatting in my flats and it felt good so I’m going to see how they go next week.
Today’s training
225 lb x 3, 2 bench press
176 lb x 6, 5, 5 bench press alternating with isometric rows at 100 lbs going 8 right and 16 left
5x3 363 lb snatch grip deadlift using straps.
3x6 per leg lunges at 154 lbs first two sets and 165 lb last set.
This is my first set from today. Butt lift on the first rep which is rare for me, and I caught the rack on the third so not a great set. It felt ok though, especially the flash feet.
Still a massive work in progress though.
Bench press, 102.5 kg x 3: Bench press, 102.5 kg x 3 - YouTube
Tried some squats with 198 lbs and my Matflexes. Wasn’t even properly warmed up and they felt amazing. Depth was fine too.
Spidey, I owe you one.
Looking forward to squatting heavy tomorrow. Going to try out a new wrapping technique (top down) and see how flats work for me. The plan is to stay in the flats unless it just feels awful.
Still tossing up whether or not to keep this current iteration of my program or move to the one I came with that is slower in progression but probably more sustainable. I’m leaning towards see how the next two days go: if I hit my targets, I’ll stay on my current program for another two weeks, if not I’ll seriously consider shifting to the new one.
My reasoning behind that is if I hit my heavy targets, the system is working to get me stronger (regardless of whether the last week was a bit less than stellar), but if I don’t the system may not be allowing me to recover enough.
I really need to pull my head out of my arse and just work, huh?
Good day today. First day of the heavy microcycle, squats, and time to see how comfortable flats really are for me. Also, time to test out my new belt: 13 mm lever model from Harris Stability Systems. Very nicely put together, the lever looks solid and doesn’t feel like it’ll take too long to break in. Finally, trying out a new wrappping technique: top down, spirals tying off at the top.
Very happy to say it all worked rather nicely. The flats are awesome for squatting and I don’t think depth is an issue. The lever belt makes a world of difference, so much easier wrapping knees without a belt getting in the way. I think I’m going to have to move the lever back a hole when the belt is broken in though, although it worked nicely today where it was. The wrapping is the best I’ve done yet. Somehow I don’t feel like I have to crank them down as tight to get the same rebound, and they feel more supportive too. Oddly, the Slingshots felt better than my Inzer Iron Zs, both in terms of support and rebound.
Today’s training:
430 lb x 3 wrapped squat
Wrapped squat, 195 kg x 3: Wrapped squat, 195 kg x 3 - YouTube
451 lb x 2 wrapped squat
Wrapped squat, 205 kg x 2: Wrapped squat, 205 kg x 2 - YouTube
473 lb x 1 wrapped squat
Wrapped squat, 215 kg x 1: Wrapped squat, 215 kg x 1 - YouTube
Dumbbell incline press
3x8 at 55 lb/arm
Kroc rows
3 sets, 100 lb per arm for (left/right) 14/13, 11/9, 12/11
Left arm dumbbell rows, 26 reps at 60 lb - trying to use post activation potentiation to help my left lat grow
Bicep curls
3 sets 40 lb/arm for (left/right) 5/6, 5/6, 6/6