Fri 2/28 Accessory Night

Went light on the accessories tonight.. feeling a bit beat down.. want to heal up good..

Explosive Pull-ups x 18 singles
Lat pulldowns to the front 3 x 12 x 120
Bent over Rows 3 x 8  135, 185, 185
DOH Shrugs 3 x 15 315, 315, 315
One hand Kettlebell swings 3 x 15  25lbs

4 Wks Out- Bench Attempts to 480

Tonight was 3 full touch attempts.. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (PR) attempts with touch and commands.

1st attempt - 425
2nd attempt - 450
3rd attempt - 480 (pr)

A couple of self-critiques here-
a. I lacked speed off the chest all night. I feel I didn't keep the chest plate tight enough by retracting my shoulder blades hard enough. This combined with my 15lb lower body weight caused the shirt to be looser, and lose pop off the bottom.

b. I developed a bad habit of lifting my toes as I drive my heels into the ground when benching.

I still feel I can hit 480 on a third attempt if I stay tighter on the bench.

Accessory:
3 sets of Bench Dips of 25 reps each
50 Reps of Band Flyes

4 Wks Out - Squats 530, 570x1 & Deadlifts

Planned Opener: 530 x 1 - 2 Sets of singles

Planned 2nd Attempt: 570 x 1 - 2 Sets of singles
Light Reverse Band

Deadlift: 425 x 1 - 5 sets of Singles  (No vid)

Supersetted w/Leg Press: 400lbs 3 sets of 20

Friday 2/21 Accessory

Explosive pull downs x18
Bent over rows 3x8
135,185,205,225
Dumbbell Shrugs 3x15 w/120s
GHRs 3x15
Seated Rows 3x15
160,180,200
Stir the pot 3x20

2/20- 5 Weeks Retake attempts off boards from last week

Last week, my programming was to take my opener off a half board, 2nd attempt off 1bd, and 3rd attempt off 3 board.. I never ended up making it past 440x2 off 1 or 2 bds as I was really unhappy with my stability.

425x2 off 1 bd
455x2 off 2 bd
500x1 off 3 bd - Couldnt quite lock it

This week I decided to re-take those lifts with going back to my original, feet-out-front setup.

Much improved stability.. 455x2 off 2bd below:

500x1 off 3 board (Couldnt quite lock it..)

6 Weeks out.. Speed Squat Day

What was I originally thought would be a nice easy, quick day.. actually turned into an awesome workout, without going real heavy.. but at the end of the night my entire legs (both posterior and quads) feel like they got a killer workout!

Squat Straps Down - 60% 5x1  - 405lbs - Focused on getting each set/rep faster than the one before

Deadlift 5x1 - 60% 5x1 -405lbs .. I actually cheated here a bit.. technically 60% is 345lbs for me, but I was feeling really strong and solid tonight during deadlift warmups.. I decided to go with 405.

The 405 tonight felt very light, and my form felt spot-on. I was super tight when pulling, driving my feet thru the ground, and absolutely smoking the 405.

I was running low on time at this point, so I super-setted my last two exercises - Pause Squats and Leg Press.. talk about getting a burn on.. I actually supersetted the entire next 6 sets.. I didn't take any breaks between sets.

Pause Squat- 3x6 (Raw) - 225lbs.. holding it for a 3 count at top and bottom of every set. (No belt)

Leg Press- 3x10 - 475lbs

Doubled up my protein shake tonight and aminos to help with muscle breakdown while I sleep.

Great session.

2/14 Accessory Work.. Valentines Day

Today was a quick session, being Valentines Day I needed to get home early for my Valentine ;)

Light Speed Squats 225x3x3

I had to cut this short after one set.. fell on the ice earlier this week and my knee was a little tweaked.. I know when not to push things, and let it heal up. No sense aggravating an injury.

Barbell Row 3x8
185x8
205x8
225x8

Barbell Shrug DOH 3x15
315x15
365x15
405x15

One Arm Kettlebell Swings 3x15
30lb Kettlebell x 15

McGill Explosive Pull ups 18 Singles

Experimenting with Bench setup 440x2

Over the last week I have been working on getting a better arch, and getting up on my traps more. I started incorporating putting my feet up on my bench to really drive up onto my upper back.

I worked raw over the last 7 days up to 350lbs and it really felt good and more powerful.

Then I decided to take my next shirted bench day with the same new "Improved" setup.. And well...

I'll let you watch the video.. But bottom line I'm going back to my old setup with feet out front until after this meet.. This "improved" setup was way too unstable.

I'll continue to practice my setup in the next off-season, but being 6 weeks out now - we don't want to try anything new.

2/9/14 Speed Squats and Form pulls

Speed Squats 410x5x1..bottoms and knee sleeves only.

First set was a little slow but I got more aggressive on sets 2-5

Form pulls to 435x2x2.. Unfortunately camera battery died after last warmup of 405.

6" Block pull RPE 8x2 - 500lbs no vid

3x6 Pause squat at 50% Raw

Making progress on my bench setup

Although my numbers have been steadily improving over the years, I have never felt I was able to get tight enough when benching.. The pros who I have shared my vids with tend to agree.

Today I spent some time working strictly on setup and getting properly up on my traps when benching. I didn't go any heavier than 275, as I wanted to be able to work on setup for awhile without getting too fatigued.

I modified my setup by putting my feet up on the bench after I set my grip so I can push myself onto my traps, and then setting my legs in position...

I really like the progress! Feels much better.. Can't wait to try it in the shirt Wednesday. 

November 2013 - Current (Feb 8/2014)

Again, I can't say enough about Brian's training.. he really knows how to cycle it to build raw strength during "off-season" and peak for the meets fresh and injury free.

We took November and December 2013 to build raw strength and did a lot of 3-5 rep work, focusing on building that raw strength.

Out of respect for his livelihood and paid coaching, I am not going to post the exact routines/programming, but I am going to do my best to keep a training log on this blog going forward.

Starting in January 2014, I was about 10-11 weeks out of my next RPS meet March 29th, so we began getting back into the Gear for some squat and bench work. We got into it slowly with some strap down speed work squats, and some rep work off boards for benching.

A lot of Brian's routines are rep work in the gear, and I cannot say enough about it.. doing the reps in the gear is a key element to building confidence and success in the gear. I used to do way more 1 rep stuff, and I never was able to get the confidence I have now.

Here's some Squat and Bench videos from January's training..

January 14th 2014

January 15th 2014

February 2nd 2014

Right now my squat is coming along real well.. I need to put more focus back onto my shirted benching. I'm not real happy with my stability and tightness while benching. I need to get my body set more, and drive more onto my traps while staying up to the bar. I know what I have to work on.. and stay tuned for more updates!

RPS Power Challenge Meet 10/13 and Updates from the past year..

Well, its been nearly a year since I posted last.. I guess "real life" gets in the way sometimes hahaha..
Anyhow, I'll give you the cliff-notes version.. last time we spoke I had just finished up my March meet(s).. (2 in 2 weeks).. my PRs at those meets were:

475 Squat
440 Bench
520 Deadlift

In May of 2013 I decided to hire someone professional to write my programming (Training) and critique my form/etc.. I ended up hooking up with Brian Carroll, who is a world record squat holder in the 275lb class at over 1100lbs.. (I think 1175!)

Although it cost me some money, I paid for 20 weeks at a time, I can honestly say I have made the biggest gains of my lifting career of the last 9 months or so following his training. He provides me with 10 weeks of training routines at a time, and I email him about once a week or so, and send him Videos of the key lifts for him to critique.. fast forward to October 2013.. following his routines, I went into the October 2013 RPS Power Challenge meet feeling fresh, ready, and prepared..

Ended up setting PRs in all 3 lifts:

540 Squat
470 Bench
540 Deadlift

3rd Attempt Deadlift - 575lbs (Miss)