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Post by biglifter on Jun 20, 2007 21:05:38 GMT -5
Thx Doug. We're only 5 weeks out, so just venting a little frustration. This has been a productive cycle and I want to keep the train rolling injury-free .
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Post by sasquatch on Jun 20, 2007 23:20:30 GMT -5
very good stuff, keep up the great work
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Post by chancey on Jun 23, 2007 9:37:09 GMT -5
I hear you on the rushing. I on occasion find myself doing the same thing. You’ve diagnosed the problem and our probably spot on. Your progress is still a thing of beauty and you'll be ready next heavy session. Very smart call on the rows. I think I am going to learn from you myself being so close to my meet date. I am dropping some of the fluff like biceps and am going to be careful on the amount of back work I put in. I'm probably done shrugging heavy as well.
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Post by biglifter on Jun 23, 2007 17:24:58 GMT -5
I dropped shrugs a few months ago and never looked back. There is absolutely nothing you can get out of a shrug that a rack pull, partial, deadlift, RDL, etc.. won't give 10x the results. Not sure if bi's are history yet. For the moment, yes.
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Post by biglifter on Jun 24, 2007 18:56:49 GMT -5
Couldn't wait.. DE bench 75%, 8x3, 2 sets each with different hand placement, starting w/pinky on ring and ending with index finger on ring.
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Post by chancey on Jun 24, 2007 19:06:29 GMT -5
Wow. 75%? I've never gone that high. How was the speed?
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Post by biglifter on Jun 24, 2007 19:16:29 GMT -5
I guess I'm not sure how to judge that. I just used a controlled descent and tried to drive it through the ceiling. Seemed to fly up nicely, but then again 75% for us bench-challenged types is only a hair over 200 lbs. What I'm really curious about is the upcoming soreness factor, or lack thereof. The best part is that I've doubled the number of reps, compared to a normal bench day, to work on form/technique.
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Post by rockman181 on Jun 25, 2007 20:17:05 GMT -5
Nice DE work, Biglifter, although a bit on the heavy side. But then, all of your lifts are pretty darn heavy!!
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Post by chancey on Jun 26, 2007 8:09:36 GMT -5
75% is what it is. Just keep in mind what your trying to accomplish here. If you are happy with the speed then stick with it. I also found the extra reps as a good opportunity to really focus on form and technique.
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Post by chancey on Jun 26, 2007 16:57:33 GMT -5
I tip my protein shake to saying goodbye to the rows and another toast to that awesome squat workout. You da man!
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Post by dopar66 on Jun 27, 2007 8:15:04 GMT -5
Echo Chancey! Congratulations on the PR, congratulations on an awe inspiring workout! Big, you are one amazing lifter! That is freakazoidal squatting!
I agree with you 100%. 4 weeks out is not too early to cut accessories. I'm hardheaded and wait 'til two weeks out except on the tris, but your logic is rock solid, like your lifting.
God Bless!
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Post by rockman181 on Jun 27, 2007 19:20:26 GMT -5
Nice lifting, Biglifter. Congrat's on the PR!! ;D
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Post by chancey on Jul 8, 2007 13:12:31 GMT -5
Glad to hear the speed work is helping - any improvement is good! 1 more heavy DL session is wise. Then rest up and go big meet day!
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Post by dopar66 on Jul 9, 2007 8:26:34 GMT -5
MIGHTY fine lifting BigLifter! man it looks like you planned your peak DEAD SPOT ON! Looks really good going into the last coupla sessions. And good call on the DE day, glad it's working out so well.
God Bless!
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Post by dopar66 on Jul 11, 2007 8:07:54 GMT -5
Don't sweat it! I have a bad habit of having a cruddy deadlift day one or two heavy sessions out from a meet. It's your body's way of throwing in an extra deload session so you can save up and SMASH A NEW PR!!!!
Perspective, Big. You're lifting with the bell curve of the 198 pound class...... you are a PHENOM, no two ways about it. You should be able to qualify elite pretty soon, so if your deads were off, don't sweat it. You only need one to stay in the meet.
God Bless!
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Post by chancey on Jul 11, 2007 18:17:02 GMT -5
It happens. You didn't all the sudden lose your DL so don't dwell on it. You are more than likely a little beat. Rest er up and come meet day we know you will be ready.
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Post by 3speed on Jul 11, 2007 18:19:58 GMT -5
80% of your progress comes from what you do outside the gym......REST!!
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Post by biglifter on Jul 12, 2007 20:05:38 GMT -5
Advice taken. Right now, I'm doing static holds on the recliner. 2 hours and still going strong ;D. Probably will go ~80% up until the day I work to openers 2 weeks out. A little beat up, but everything is healthy and looking forward to giving the american squat record for 165's a shot. Hey Chancey, break is over.... get that new log posted!
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Post by 3speed on Jul 13, 2007 0:12:31 GMT -5
"Static holds on the recliner"...I like that.
I know it's hard to back off a little after pushing so hard all these weeks but you are doing the right thing. Your body and your numbers will thank you for it at the meet.
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Post by biglifter on Jul 13, 2007 10:02:32 GMT -5
It's almost like that 'cram for a test mentally'. Unfortunately, that concept doesn't translate to the platform . Ok, so I modified the training for the last few weeks. This happens each time where I go from my rigid percentages and then shoot it down and let some instincts take over (not saying that as a bad thing). In a nutshell..... Week of 7/8 - Extra few days rest and finish 7/13 with DE bench Week of 7/15 - Heavy squats/BP. Rows for back (No deadlift) Week of 7/22 - Deload with <50%. Finish week with openers (same day) Week of 7/29 - Rest, rest, eat, drink (water), be merry. Meet on Saturday Following week - Parades, calls from models, product endorsements, picture on Wheaties box, adoring fans, etc. The usual stuff
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Post by lysimacus on Jul 13, 2007 10:41:18 GMT -5
"The usual stuff" LOL With your numbers I have no doubt.
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Post by dopar66 on Jul 16, 2007 9:53:22 GMT -5
Excellent modified plan! Especially the wheaties box!
There comes a time when trusting your instincts really pays off. You have trained, now it's time for the last few weeks which are meet prep anyway. Excellent call, two thumbs up!
God Bless!
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Post by biglifter on Jul 17, 2007 7:23:44 GMT -5
| Squat | Bench | Deadlift | Int% | Acc work | Comments | | w/o 8Apr | 295x2x8 | 190x2x8 | 330x3x8 | 65 | leg x-tension, curls 6x8, bi's. Decline BP 5x5, Lying tri-xtension 5x8. One-arm rows. Weighted inc crunches 40x4x10 | Easy squats. Used the easy bench week to mess with my grip. Felt tighter moving grip in with index right on smooth ring (about 1/4 closer). Bench RM needs serious improvement. Going to make that a big priority. No good reason 300 shouldn't be flying up. Added another set of DL's@ 330. | w/o 15Apr | 315x2x8 | 205x2x8 | 220x2x8(SLDL) | 70 | leg x-tension, curls 6x8, bi's. 5x5 inc. press, 5x8 lying tri-x-tension. SLDL's. 5x8 rows, weighted situps 45x4x10 | Easy 315 for 8's. Easy 205 BP. Sticking with closer grip. SLDL's @220 to the laces. Done with 8's and onto the 6's next week | w/o 22Apr | 340x2x6 | 215x2x6 | 380x2x6 | 75 | Leg extension 3x6, curl 3x6, bi's, 5x5 decline, 5x6 lying tri's, weighted situp 4x45. DL off blocks 520x2x1 | Easy 340 for 12 total. Still real sore from last weeks' SLDL's. Can't believe the pounding those put on the hams, ouch! BP felt heavy and was just plain uncomfortable from start to finish. Got the reps no problem but was "off" by a mile. Plan this week is 520 off the blocks for 2 singles Started creatine loading 4/25 | w/o 29Apr | 365x2x5 | 230x2x5 | XXX Rest XXX | 80 | Leg extension 3x6, curl 3x6, bi's; DB Press 5x5, Tri-Extension 5x6; weighted dips 5x5; SLDL | Cut back to only 1 set on squats. Back was wrecked from partials and DL sets. Too much volume and paid the price. Weight on squats felt light, but sloppy form to compensate for the soreness. Easy 5's on BP. Considering a brief deload after today. Strained about all muscles involved in hip extension and need a quick break. Plan is still on track, though. Maybe, just maybe, slightly wiser this time around . Decided to take 4 days off to get everything rested. Back on squats next week | w/o 6May | 365x2x5 | 230x2x5 | 405x2x5 | 80 | leg extension 3x5; curl 3x5;bi's; Inc Press 5x5; Tri-extension 5x5; One arm rows 5x5; weighted abs 50x4 | Walkouts 520x2. Well recovered following rest. Squats went up easy. Easy bench. 405 deads felt heavier than they should have (if that makes any sense). Still, went up fairly easy. Had to really grind the sumos out. | w/o 13May | 385x2x4 | 245x2x4 | 270x2x4 | 85 | leg extension/curl; bi's; roman chairx4; SLDL | Great squat night for easy sets at 385. Something interesting happening with form. Using a wide stance when setting up now feels a lot stronger and more natural. My guess is that hip flexibility has become decent enough to take the stance out more. Whatever the reason, I see that 470 falling with no problem. Got all BP reps at 245 easy. Boards 2@290x2x2, 3@300x2x2 felt good. 290's all went and the first reps for each set @ 300 went with a little assist on the second reps. Overall, bench is moving up, albeit at a slow pace. Finished out week with easy SLDL's. | w/o 20May | 385x2x4 | 250x2x4 | 430x2x4 | 85 | rack pulls;Leg extension/curl;bi's. Decline BP 255x5x4, Weighted dips 5x65; One-arm rows 5x4x85 | Easy 4's @ 385 again. Feeling good heading into the 400's. Have started adding rack pulls on an additional day/week. Will do these on the SLDL weeks. Last week top two sets were @545. Adding 10-20 lbs. per week. Right on track for a 1255 2 weeks out and 1270+ at the meet. The 455 goal on squat will be pushed up. Solid bench night. Bumped the sets up 5 more lbs. than planned. Finshed w/decline 255x5x4. Made all singles on DL's. Really had to grind the sumo's on the last set, but got 'em all. I might throw in a day of speed deadlifts every other week (on SLDL weeks). Finding that with DL's once every two weeks now, I'm very rested but coordination/timing of the movement seems to be amiss. Guess for me it's not like riding a bike . | w/o 27May | 395x2x3 | 255x2x3 | 445x2x3 | 87 | Lying tri-extension 125lb. Very heavy!, 5x4 DB's; leg extension curl 2x4, bi's; One-arm row @5x4x90 | Real easy, comfortable reps @255. Finishing with 5x4 DB's. Greattttt squat day, added +10 to an even 405 for a double-triple (2 sets of 3 ;D). Real tight and strong today. Will adjust the upcoming squat weights (yea!), since the end goal can adjust up a little. Good deadlift night. Got 6 singles @445. First 3 went up fairly smooth and the remainder were just a side-splitting grind. Some deload upcoming and then the final push to 520 | w/o 3Jun | 420x2x3 | 260x2x3 | 285x2x3 | 90 | Inc press 205x5x3 (light!), Weighted dips 70x5x4, Weighted ab's x 4; Leg Extension/Curl 2x3, bi's; SLDL | Good bench day. All strong for 260x3x2. Last was a little grind, but nobody cares about rep#6 on the platform anyway . A little better every week with form/tightness on bench. Bumped upcoming squat from 410 to 420. Strong 420's on squat today. Shaping up nicely to exceed the 455 goal. Think 470 is reasonable for the August meet instead of October. That one is (obviously) a big factor in the 1300 goal. Felt awesome going into deload. Just some SLDL/Rack pulls then off for a few days. Very pleased I'm not overtrained at this point in the cycle. | w/o 10Jun | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx | Rest (well kinda). Ok, so technically I'm in a rest week. What happened is that an extra recovery day here and there cause everything to creep forward off the schedule. Here is ther lesson learned of the day; in the heavier part of the cycle it's about impossible to stay on the same 3x/week schedule with a day or two in between. This training is demanding more recovery to keep progress steaming ahead and injuries out of the question. For next cycle, there won't be any attached dates. Just a micro-cycle that covers the compound movements regardless of if I can fit it in a 7-day span. The deload will be a day or so shorter, but still going to take a break while I'm feeling good. The last training before the deload was rack pulls with a top set of 550x2x2 (slow count seconds). Bar directly at the knees. I dropped the bar a little for more distance and would consider it's in the grey area of rack pull/partial. Good chance to really focus on ripping the bar off the pins and staying tight. Good ol' eye-poppin', hand-tearin' fun . Good stuff and exhausted. Time for a break | w/o 17Jun | 435x2x3 | 265x2x3 | 460x2x3 | 90 | leg extension/curl x2, bi's, weighted crunch 65x4x6 | Not a bad father's day. First and foremost, all the props go to my family for putting up with me , and I'm truly lucky to have them. Finished out the day by applying the 5 lb. rule to squats. My 5lb rule is 'why not add 5 more than planned?' Those 5's on training days where you got your mojo workin' add up over time. Fortunately, this happened to be one of those days. Nailed 435x2x3. That's 5lb. short a 1RM PR. Absolute proof positive things are coming together for 470 and, dare I say it, 500 not far down the road. Worked through some pain today. Up'ed bench +5 and got all reps but had to cut back on all accessory work. Both bicep tendons are wrecked and just lifting the 45's to the bar was painful. I do bi's with squats just for the sake of muscle balance and must have gone too far/failed to warm-up right. Not enough Icy hot in the world to remedy the situation. If I show up in any of your respective gym's, feel free to administer a swift kick right in my posterior chain. I'm most angry about the fact that something like hammered bi's would cut training short. Back or legs - cool, bi's - uncool. Cut down to 3 sets decline light(er than planned) and weighted dips. Aspirin, ice, rest and lesson learned.... 4/6 on Dl's tonight. 1'st reps of conv/sumo flew up, 2'nd reps were both a grind but smooth and steady. 3'rds both fell just short of lockout. I'll blame a little bit on rushing between single reps and letting fatigue set in too quickly, but mostly no excuses. Still feel good about 485x4 in two weeks. No rows following deads tonight. Bicep tendons still recovering. | w/o 24Jun | 445x2x2 | 275x2x2 | 300x2x2 | 95 | Weighted ab's 75x4x6, Weighted dips 5x5x80, SLDL, Rack pulls 560x2 | Bi's have recovered nicely. new squat PRx3!! 445. Plan was 4, but hit the 1st rep, 2nd set off balance and had to muscle it up. Instant risk/benefit check had me racking it and scrapping the 4th. No complaints though. Was fairly on the mark even with some lingering soreness from the last deadlift. PR's are good and if you can rep it for a couple, all the better. Just ab's for core work today. I think the pre-injury incident last week was a not-so-subtle sign that it's time to be smart and cut most of the accessory junk out. Only 4 weeks to go and I'm not seeing many rows left on the 'ol workout table . Made all reps for BP day. First 3 comfortable with some struggle on the 4th. Will go +5 to 280 next week. Still on track for the meet goal. On the fence about training tonight or waiting one more day to recover. Lifting won out over sitting on my donkey. Rack pulls with a top set of 560x2 (long hold, grip didn't give an inch); finished with SLDL @300x2. Weighted roman chair crunches x4. Good stuff | w/o 1July | 450x2x2 | 275x2x2 | 485x2x2 | 95 | Weighted crunch x 4 | Bumped squat to 450. Managed to get 1 rep out of 2 on each set. Didn't drop it on the pins, but racked after a sloooow grind on each. Still was a PR and not too disappointed. Purposely wear a loose belt all the time so once we're tight at the meet, I can (hopefully) always expect more. Did something kinda cool. I printed up about 10 of the best tips for each of the big 3 and posted it in my gym. Before the lift, I take a quick look as a reminder of the finer technical points. I think it adds to the visualization and really beats the information into my head. If anyone wants a copy, send a personal msg with e-mail and I'll be glad to forward them. | w/o 8July | 445x2x1 | 280x2x2 | 485x2x2 | 95+ | Weighted dips 5x5x85, Inc press 5x225 | Adding some additional recovery days so the training won't match the week anymore. 280 went up for a very easy 2x2. Training solo, pauses are kept to a minimum so these are all t&g. I really think in the short time I've been adding a DE day, it's made a difference. The explosive effort out of the bottom is much improved. There should be better BP results at this meet, and if it's 5 lbs. or 50, I'll be happy. Will probably only have 1 more heavy pulling day until the "pre-meet" day where I go through all three. Deadlift training was pure garbage today. worked up to 485 and that got caught at the shins. Felt like the bar was a foot out in front of me. Dropped to 465 to save face. Got one each for conv/sumo. 2nd attempts on each got stuck yet again. Not sure if it was too soon after squats or I just mentally punched out for the day. Days like this just plain suck. Should be throwing this kinda weight around by now.....
| w/o 15July | 455x2x1 | 285x2x1 | Rows 90x5x3 | 90+ | Ab's | Good squat night. Made 455x1! Plan was 2 singles but had to tend to my 3 yr. old after the first, and by the time we figured out there were no monsters in her room, the legs were stone cold . One thing that's improved from last cycle is that the form stays real solid on heavy weight, instead of the forward lean. Looks like 135, just a lot slower going up. Did some weighted roman chair (killer!) and left it at that. | w/o 22July | 230x3x6 | 150x3x6 | XX | <50 | | 7/27 pre-meet day (460/280/480) | w/o 29July | Off | Off | Off | xx | | Meet 8/4 |
7/22 Goal - SQ/BP/DL - 470/290/520 Total 1280 10/12 Goal - SQ/BP/DL - ??/300/530 Total ??
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Post by rockman181 on Jul 17, 2007 7:29:38 GMT -5
Nice squatting Biglifter! You must have scared the monster(s) away!!!
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Post by dopar66 on Jul 17, 2007 8:21:49 GMT -5
Echo Rocky! How many monsters want a piece of a 165 pounder who just squatted 455?
NONE!!!!!
Nice squatting Big! It's now official, you as a 165 squat as much as I do as a 181! Your next goal? Squat with Jim Aikey! WOO HOO!!!!!!
God Bless!
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