blucado's training log

[blucado]

Hello everybody.  I'm fairly new to powerlifting but am planning to sign up for my first meet in August.  I'm turning 40 in August and I wanted to do something different. 


I've been training more endurance and Crossfit style over the past couple of years.  I've competed in some Crossfit comps, Spartan races, etc... but really want to concentrate on strength in powerlifting this year. I'm looking forward to training and competing this year.  I won't be setting any records, but I am excited about competing.

My current program looks like the following:

Monday: 
Squat 10x1 
Bench 10x1
Deadlifts (conventional) 10x1

Tuesday:
Squat Cleans 8x1
Squat Snatches 8x1

Wednesday:
Light Cardio (typically ~30 minute jog)

Thursday:
Front Squats 10x1
Bench Press 10x1
Sumo Deadlifts 10x1

Friday:
Power Cleans 8x1
Power Snatches 8x1
Overhead Squats 8x1

Saturday/Sunday:
Off or light Cardio (usually pick up soccer games with my son)

[blucado]

4/2/18
(Weight in lbs)
Squat 10x1
135,155,175,195,215,225,235,245,255,265


Bench press 10x1 paused
135,145,155,165,175,185,195,200,205,215

Deadlift 10x1 (conventional)
135,185,225,255,275,315,335,345,355,375


4/3/18
Squat cleans 8x1
135,145,155,165,175,185,190

Squat snatches 8x1 ( haven't done these in a while, form is off)
65,75,85,90,95,100,100,105

[Ryan]

Welcome to the board.

There are some people who post here so they have a place to keep their training log. There are others who post here specifically for advice (programming, form correction, etc) and there are others do some combination of both these things.

If you're looking for advice, I'm happy to give a couple of pointers, but if not that's ok too and I'll leave it at "Welcome". :-)

[blucado]

Apr 5, 2018 7:32:26 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Welcome to the board.

There are some people who post here so they have a place to keep their training log. There are others who post here specifically for advice (programming, form correction, etc) and there are others do some combination of both these things.

If you're looking for advice, I'm happy to give a couple of pointers, but if not that's ok too and I'll leave it at "Welcome". :-)

Advice is more than welcome.  Especially in regards to gear, nutrition, and peaking for a meet.  Being that I am approaching 40, any "Master's" level advice is also appreciated. 

[blucado]

4/5/2018

Bench Press 10x1 paused
135,145,155,165,175,185,195,205,210,220

Front Squats
135,145,155,165,175,185,195,205,215,225

Not really feeling it this morning, so I left my sumo deadlifts for tomorrow.

[Ryan]

Ok, well here goes:

1) Assuming you're getting into PLing to either see how strong you can become, etc. this is a sport that requires practice and specificity. Therefore, my suggestion while you learn how to properly execute the three main lifts is to eliminate all other weight-lifting movements. The reason is two-fold: You need time to let your body and brain sync up and form the neural pathways that make you accurate and efficient at performing the power lifts, and because you need to allow for recovery and adaptation in these specific movement patterns. Remember that while the olympic lifts are FANTASTIC at developing explosive power and athletic fluidity under tension, that's not what powerlifting is. Actually, the "powerlifting" name is a misnomer. Power production is force displayed quickly, which really is the definition of olympic lifting. Rather, what powerlifting is is really "strength" lifting. You're testing how much force your body can succesfully act against through a defined range of motion and because you're working toward maximal loads, there's no way speed can be a factor. Look at this in weight lifting terms: How many weight lifters have ever C&J'd 1000lbs? Or how many have ever snatched 800lbs? I am guessing the answer to those questions is "none" and "never" because maximal load is not the name of the game in olympic lifting. But ask those same questions of PLing and you'll find a laundry list of lifters across weight classes and federations who have moved over and above the 800, 900 and 1000lb plateaus. All of that to say I suggest that for at least your first few months of dabbling in PLing you essentially push aside the olympic movements and focus on the "Big Three" PLing movements only, and also maybe do some strict press work and some wieghted chins or pullups.

2) Cardio work: If you didnt like that last suggestion, you're gonna hate this one. lol. You are going to want to push aside any meaningful amount of cardio. By meaningful, I am talking about anything more intense than a brisk walk a couple to a few times a week. Why is that? Well, because your body needs to recover from everything you expose it to in order for adaptation to occur. It so happens that because of the way our bodys work (sparing you all the biological mumbo jumbo), when our bodies are put under combined stresses of cardio and anarobic sources, the body will always seek to adapt to the cardio stress first simply because it's easiest to adapt to. This tends to leave musculo-skeletal adaptation out in the cold. So in short, your 30 min jogs are going to prevent you from making strength gains, if not immediately, then in the near-term for sure. Also to go along with this, it's nearly impossible to make strength gains (and you need to get stronger along with honing technique to be successful in PLing) without being in a caloric surplus, so for better or worse, you need to manage your caloric intake carefully for sure, but always err on the side of more calories being better.

Now all that said, if you're just dabbling in PLing to see if you like it, you can take all of what I'm saying with a grain of salt -to an extent- but even if that, you still want to give yourself the best possible chance of being succesfull at it, so I still recommend you at least try out the above for a solid 30-60 days and then decide what direction to go in.

[blucado]

Thanks for the info. I had wanted to continue on with the Olympic lifts to avoid having to relearn them all again, but maybe that is not the best of ideas. I've followed the 5/3/1 and the StrongLifts 5x5 in past years, but typically just for one lift a day following by a 30-60 minute Crossfit workout. I saw some decent strength gains, but I am sure they were limited due to the cardio/etc... that I was including in my routine.

Any recommendations for program design for someone with lifting experience but never specific to powerlifting? I was tailoring my current program around the Bulgarian method, starting off fairly light and working up weekly, but that was really just to build myself up slowly to get used to max effort lifts as it has been a while since I have trained that close to max lifts.

[blucado]

4/6/18
Overhead squats 8x1
45,65,75,95, 105,115,125,145

Sumo deadlifts 8x1
145,185,225,275,295,315,325,325

Gonna take the weekend and research programs and change up next week. Probably going to cutback to 3 days per week with more volume each day.

I just started experimenting with sumo deadlifts about a month ago. I am very uncomfortable in the setup. I almost feel like my hip bone structure doesn't allow enough external rotation to setup properly.

[blucado]

Starting Sheiko #29 on Monday morning. Wish me luck!

[vegasjon]

Apr 7, 2018 15:22:25 GMT -5 blucado said:

Starting Sheiko #29 on Monday morning. Wish me luck!

first time running Sheiko? I had a lot of success with 29/30/31/32

[blucado]

Yup, first time. Looking forward to it. Should you retest your maxes between each numbered program to adjust your numbers?

[Ryan]

To each their own, but I don't recommend Sheiko for novice lifters. It's killing a fly with a sledge hammer.

Understand, I mean no disrespect when I say "novice". I'm using that term strictly in the context of the sport of PLing. So theoretically, you might have spent years dabbling in weight training and still be a novice today.

Here's what I mean. Definition of type of lifter (referring to PLing, because it's a skill-based sport):

Novice- able to make strength gains from one training session to the next
Intermediate - strength gains are more easily measured weekly to monthly
Advanced - strength gains are typically only evident over the course of a full training cycle (10-12 wks minimum) or multiple cycles to a year. <-- This is the group that Sheiko makes the most sense for.

[blucado]

No disrespect taken. Started up this morning.
(weight in lbs)
Bench Press
115x5
135x4x2
160x3x2
170x3x5

Squats
135x5x1
165x5x1
195x5x5

Bench Press
115x5x1
135x5x1
160x4x4

DB flyes 25x10x5
Good Mornings 65x5x5

Never tried Good Mornings before. Really felt the stretch in my lower back and hamstrings this morning.

I just paused the last rep of each set on bench.  Is that typical or do most of you pause all reps?

[blucado]

4/11/2018
(Weight in lbs)

Deadlift to knees
205x3
245x3x2
285x3x2
305x3x4

Incline Bench Press
135x6x4

Dips
5x5

Deadlifts from boxes
225x4
265x4
305x4x2
345x3x4

Walking lunges (45 lb plate overhead)
5x10

Crunches
3x25


First time doing either of these variations on the deadlift. They are tougher than I thought they would be.

[blucado]

4/13/18
(Weight in lbs)
Bench Press
115x5x1
135x5x1
160x4x1
170x3x2
180x2x2
170x3x2
160x4x1
135x6x1
115x8x1

DB Flys
25x10x5

Squats
135x5x1
165x4x2
195x3x2
205x3x5

Good Mornings (Seated)
75x5x5

[blucado]

4/16/2018
Weight in lbs


Squats
135x5x1
165x1x4
195x3x2
225x2x5

Bench Press
115x5x1
135x4x1
160x3x2
180x3x5

DB Flyes
30sx10x5

Pushups
10x5

Front Squats
135x3x2
155x3x2
165x2x4

Good Mornings (Standing)
75x5x5