Lol, not that strong.
I actually prefer chains but my current gym only has bands. I love bands but my knees and elbows sure don’t. But since I’ve used neither in 8 years I figured I’d band it up.
Have you always gear lifted?
Yup, I’m seriously debating a raw assisted meet on sept 9th in Hamilton because it’s only an hour away and there’s a great chance I can walk away with all 4 masters national records in my weight class.
Fuck yeah man! That would be awesome
The current Canadian Records in Raw assisted Masters 1, -275 are:
Squat 523.5 lbs
Bench 253.5 lbs
Deadlift 584 lbs
I can do that in just a belt and wraps on sept 9th. Especially the bench, that’s a warmup.
I’ve basically always trained westside since back in about 2004 when I started powerlifting. I started researching, found it, loved the concepts, tried it, loved the results and away we went. I’ve tried other methods but I always come back to WS.
Once my shoulder heals up I’ll bust out bands for bench training for a bit but for now I think that would be a stupid stupid idea.
I’m thinking of giving BPC 157 a run and see how that goes. It’s pretty cost effective so. . . maybe worth while?
WEll for what it’s worth as a tip to you, scrabble is shown to improve recovery and stabilize cortisol levels after intense training.
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I generally avoid playing people who rage quit whenever I bingo . . .
I realize I haven’t stated my goals for my training on here so I figure maybe it’s time.
Goals before I’m 45 in order of likely hood (all goals geared and in competition):
Bench 500 lbs
At my last comp I was 440lbs with 3 months of training. I think it’s safe to say this one will fall fairly soon.
Deadlift 750 lbs
A bit more challenging but I’m quite confident I can hit this. I’ve always been a good deadlifter and while I never made it quite this high I’m sure I can.
Total elite (2000lbs in 275).
Honestly if the first two happen this one will too.
Squat 1000lbs
Here’s the big one. It’s always been a dream and it’s still something I want so let’s give her a shot.
Right now I’m just training over all once I hit the 500 bench I’m going to move to a more deadlift centric training with a side of squats.
Thoughts?
August 14/17 MEB
4 Board fat bar press, pinkies on rings
bar x shit loads
105 x 8
145 x 8
165 x 5
195 x 5
215 x 5
235 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 5
305 x 5
325 x 1
285 x 5
Iso cable rows
110 x 10
195 x 8,8,8
Seated D-Bell Press
40 x 15,12,9
Cable Press Downs
170 x 12,10,10
SS with
Cable e-z curls
125 x 8,8,8
Got a shooting pain in the posterior aspect of my right shoulder during the board press but then it went away a set later. . . well kinda lingered. Shoulder wasn’t feeling great today but meh, workout went okay.
I definitely had more than 1 rep in my on the board press but between no spotter (I was on a handoff bench so no safety catches) and my shoulder I figured I’d call it there today.
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August 15/17 MES
Medium Stance, Low Box, Low bar squats
bar x lots
95 x 8
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 2
315 x 5
Unilateral Leg Curls
60 x 12,12,12
It’s super hard with squats like this to not just pop my hips and goodmorning them up. I spend a lot more time on the wide stance, ham/glute dominant squatting so when I move over to something like this my numbers suck. . . which means I should probably be doing more of it. Bah.
August 17, DEB
Wt: 253
It’s still not actually DEB since I don’t trust the shoulder to bench dynamically but rep bench will do.
Bench, medium grip (hands mid way between rings and smooth)
bar x lots
135 x 8,8
185 x 8,8
225 x 5
Add Inzer shirt
275 x 3,3
245 x 5,4,5
D-Bell Row
60 x 10
120 x 8,7,6
Plate Raise super setted with Band Pull Aparts
45 x 12,10,8
Then I went home. Running a bit late and my father and brother are flying into Toronto today for a few days to visit so I have to hit the airport and pick them up. I also have to take a bag I made to Kelley’s work since one of her co-workers wants to buy it.
Pics of said bag:
Aug 18/17, MES
MES
bar x lots
add bands
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
add belt
315 x 8(2)
Speed Deads
lots of bands
315 x 2,2,2
lose the bands
315 x 3
August 21, MEB
Wt: 253
Floor Press
Bar x lots
95 x 8
135 x 8
195 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x M
Seated Unilateral Cable Rows
110 x 10
195 x 10,10,10
D-Bell Shoulder Press
40 x 15,15,10
Cable Press Downs
170 x 12,12,9
Supersetted with
Cable EZ curl
125 x 10,10,8
Then in the afternoon I did squats with Kris, I don’t remember what but they were squats.
I started taking BPC 157 on Friday for my shoulder, 300mg twice daily but Sub Q around my right shoulder and I’ve gotta say this stuff is great. It’s made my shoulder feel significantly better and even my sprained wrist is feeling better on it. Nothing is 100% yet but it’s sure doing better than it was a week ago.
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August 24/17 DEB
Wt: 256
Bench
bar x lots
95 x 10,10
135 x 8,8
185 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 1,1
D-Bell Row
60 x 10
120 x 8,8,8
Plate Raise (superset with band Pull aparts)
45 x12,12,12
Today wasn’t really dynamic so much as it was a day to work on my technique and see how my shoulder is doing. The shoulder is doing really well which is good.
I realized at my meet that my technique, especially on bench, was super sloppy so today was all about all the right cues, staying tight, settling into the bench, belly to the bar, pull the bar apart etc and it felt really good.
Plus since 255 is the current national record in my masters category I’m definitely getting that record on Sept 9th.
Aug 25/17
Wt: 257
Squats Raw competition style (slightly narrower, low bar)
bar x lots
95 x 8
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 3
Add Belt
315 x 1
365 x 1
Add Wraps
405 x 1,1
455 x 1
That’s all I did, mostly I needed to get used to using my wraps again and three sets felt pretty solid. The first set I nearly fell over unracking the bar so I’m glad I got in them.
455 felt freaking heavy and is still 75 pounds short of the NR I want on Sept 9th. However I have to remember that I did basically the same squat workout on Monday so I’m not exactly fresh, this would normally be my deload week so I’m actually pretty tired and again, not at my best, and finally when the competition rolls around I seem to have an extra gear.
At the last comp I was having trouble hitting 500 on my squats and feeling okay with it, it was slow, heavy etc. Then on competition day I smoked 606. . . so I’m pretty confident I’m going 4/4 on the 9th for records.
August 28/17 MEB
Wt: 260
Narrow Grip Bench
bar x lots
95 x 10
135 x 8,8
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 1
315 x m
Unilateral Cable Rows
105 x 10
195 x 12,12,12
Seated D-Bell Press
40 x 15,15,15
Cable Press Downs
170 x 12,12,10
SS with
Cable EZ Curl
125 x 12,10,8
Well it looks like the Bench NR in masters will be easy. Let’s hope that my squats come up so I can go 4/4 on NR’s on the 9th.
August 29/17 MES
SSB GM’s
bar x lots,lots
105 x 10
145 x 8
195 x 5
235 x 3
285 x 3
325 x 3
375 x 1
Standing abs, 3 sets
I’m tired, I haven’t slept properly in a week. I hurt since I’m overdue for my deload and there’s a competition in a week and a half so I took it easy today. I can’t get any stronger at this point but doing something dumb and getting hurt will sure hurt my numbers.
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August 31/17 DEB
WT: 261
Bench Press with pinkies on the rings
bar x lots
95 x 10
135 x 8,5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1
D-Bell Row
60 x 10
120 x 10,8,8
Plate Raise supersetted with Band Pull Aparts
45 x 15, 12, 12
Today was another day of bench technique work. 275 went up super quick but the shoulder didn’t feel too stable afterward so I stopped. If I’m going to hurt it it’ll be at the comp, not a week out in training.
Sept 1/17
MES
Today I worked up to a single with 455, I used knee wraps and my belt.
It’s weird, 455 doesn’t feel that heavy (it shouldn’t) and when I squat even raw I blast out of the hole but I get almost stuck heading toward the midpoint and lockout. I think I just don’t have the motor pattern in place to keep driving through that raw? I don’t know it’s weird since I was blasting through 315 with bands the other week off a box. You’d think as a geared lifter the hole would be my nemesis rather than midpoint and moving to lockout.
Well let’s cross our fingers for next week.
I’ve also decided to keep my usual wide squat stance, I know it’s not ideal for raw but I just haven’t had time to readjust it and all my training has been for that so rather than mess with it I’ll use it next week at the meet and decide what I’m going to do for raw vs geared lifting moving forward.
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