Missed my lift

Monday, March 17, 2008

Deadlift 10x45, 2x5x95, 3x135, 3x185, 2x225, 1x305, 1x295
Deadlift Speed Set 245x3x3 (10 sec m-time between reps, 1 min between sets)

Power Shrugs 2x5x215
Romanian Deadlift 2x5x185
Dumbbell prone Row 2x5x70
Arched Back Good Mornings 2x5x185, 2x5x225
Neutral Grip Chins 2x5 bodyweight + 10

Ab machine 2x10x140
Pec Dec 2x10x90

Today was a heckuva workout ! My max deadlift matched my previous personal record set last November. I was scheduled for 295 lbs, and I figured I’d take a swat at a 300+ lift, so long as I was in the neighborhood. I went back to 295 afterwards, and will do 295 again on Friday. Still, it’s fun to beat 300 lbs!

I was able to increase the weight on every lift (except RDLs – I increased the weight on them last Friday; I'm gonna wait until my new VersaGrips arrive before adding any more weight there). My dumbbell prone row is at a new max, and I finally did some chinups at something more than my body weight!

Actually, every lift is a PR these days. I haven’t done most of these exercises before this cycle, so each time I increase the weight I set a new PR. Of course, that doesn’t mean a whole lot, since I started very light, but after six or eight weeks or so, things are starting to get heavy.

I thought that I would have a bit more time available, since I am only doing 2 sets of five for the assistance exercises instead of 3 sets of five. I guess I’m just moving a bit more slowly, or perhaps it takes bit longer to sling the heavier plates around, but my workout still took up a whole hour.
 
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Back Squats 10x45, 2x5x95, 3x135, 1x185, 1x205, 1x235, 10x165 ms

Triceps Pushdowns 2 sets of 10
Dumbbell Skulls 2 sets of 10
Biceps Curls 2 sets of 10
Brachialis Curl 2 sets of 10
Seated Single Calf Raise 3x10x70
Standing Calf Raise 3x10x160
Ab machine 2x10x130
Pec Dec 2x10x90

The 235 lb squat is my personal best – up 5 lbs from last November! I paid a lot of attention to Lol’s advice and tried to stay back on my heels as best I could. I did okay for the 205 lb lift, but still tipped forward on the 235, doing what amounts to a very heavy Good Morning. I’m beginning to realize that my leg strength is not so much the problem here, as is my form. The actual lifting part isn’t all that heavy; it’s trying to stay back on my heels and under the weight that’s giving me trouble.

Lots of isos again today. I didn’t do any shrugs or chins, nor did I increase the weight much on most of my lifts. I wanted to take it easy today and Friday, since I’m getting toward the end of the program, and it seems to suit Ed Coan to back off on the volume a bit during the last few weeks before trying for a new max single on the deadlift.
 
Big congrats on the PB TR. It's always going to be hard to keep good form on a PB attempt, to wit recall my last back squat effort!

I'm sure if you keep working on dropping the bar down as low as you are able on your scapulae you will eventually achieve better form on your heaviest lifts because your lower back will be in a relatively stronger position coming out of the hole. It is then imperative that as you raise your hips, you also raise the bar - if the bar doesn't rise but your hips do, the moment of force exerted on your lower back will increase dramatically, quickly making the situation more difficult to recover from unless your Good Morning strength is very good indeed (which yours seems to be
smile.gif
).
 
Nice PR on the squat. Aren't you looking forward to the deadlift PR attempt? I'm quite curious to see how you do myself.
 
Monday, March 24, 2008

Deadlift 10x45, 2x5x95, 3x135, 3x185, 2x225, 1x315, 0x315
Deadlift Speed Set 230x3x3 (10 sec m-time between reps, 1 min between sets)

Power Shrugs 2x5x230
Romanian Deadlift 2x5x205
Dumbbell prone Row 2x5x75
Arched Back Good Mornings 1x5x225, 1x5x275, 2x5x265
Neutral Grip Chins 2x5 bodyweight + 20

Ab machine 4x5x150
Pec Dec 4x5x100

Okay, first off: I achieved my primary program goal of a 315 lb deadlift! Hooooooo hah!! This is a week earlier than my initial goal date (and frankly, since I had to go back and do over a coupla weeks, I didn’t think I get this far before the 15th of April). My legs shook a bit, but the weight went right up. Unfortunately, on the second attempt, after about a five minute wait, I couldn’t even crack it off the floor…

I used my new Versagrips for the P-shrugs and RDLs – and I was glad to have them! Using them with an overhand grip, the bar did not try to roll out of my hands.

I did two sets of Arched Back Good Mornings with 225 and 275, but concluded that I didn’t have the pins set low enough -- I wasn’t really getting bent over as far as I wanted. So I reset the pins and did another two sets, using 265 lbs.

My chins went easily with bw+20 lbs. I intend to use bw+30 lbs next time.

I think I’ve about maxed out what I can do on the ab machine. I accidentally set the weight at 160 and only got two reps before I completely stalled. At 150 lbs I had to do four sets of 5 rather than two sets of ten, and I had to cluster the last five reps.
 
Awesome deadlifting. I knew you'd get that 315. I can't believe you went on to do all that stuff after a maximal deadlift. That crazy. Do you intend to try for more than that still?
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 24 2008,19:03)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Awesome deadlifting. I knew you'd get that 315. I can't believe you went on to do all that stuff after a maximal deadlift. That crazy. Do you intend to try for more than that still?</div>
Awesome deadlifting. I knew you'd get that 315

I felt pretty good going in (I was pumped full of raisins, &quot;choccy&quot; and assorted carbs), but I still had my doubts. I think some things tend to serve as a mental block:
Three 45 lb plates on each end of the bar (I remember being terrorized by two plates on each end!);
for you it may have been that 500 lb mark;
Whatever.

Anyhow, once we're past that, lifting is the easy part.

I can't believe you went on to do all that stuff after a maximal deadlift. That crazy.

Well, you gotta work the program. There's some things you can tweak, and there's other things you've just gotta put your head down and do. Ed Coan is a hard taskmaster!

Do you intend to try for more than that still?

Actually, I'm only just starting Week 8 of a ten week program that's supposed to be a preparation for a contest the following week...! So, yeah, I guess I'll just keep on keeping on. 325 lbs would be 2 1/2 times my body weight. That might be a worthwhile goal...
rock.gif
 
You Big Bad Daddy you! Congrats!
Don't fear more plates; MASTER them! You can deal with disappointments of a missed lift later. I pretend I'm picking up a Boeing 747...the weights are the wings...
You have a lot more energy than me; I'm jealous of that.
Aren't the Versagripps great? They get even better as they break in and you get faster at the grab. Try not to spend too much time setting up for the deads; time in the hole makes you weaker. Practice &quot;hooking&quot; the grips on a racked bar.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Mar. 25 2008,07:58)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">You Big Bad Daddy you! Congrats!
Don't fear more plates; MASTER them! You can deal with disappointments of a missed lift later. I pretend I'm picking up a Boeing 747...the weights are the wings...
You have a lot more energy than me; I'm jealous of that.
Aren't the Versagripps great? They get even better as they break in and you get faster at the grab. Try not to spend too much time setting up for the deads; time in the hole makes you weaker. Practice &quot;hooking&quot; the grips on a racked bar.</div>
You Big Bad Daddy you! Congrats!

Thanky kindly, sir. It's not often anyone refers to me with the adjective &quot;Big&quot;...
smile.gif


Don't fear more plates; MASTER them! You can deal with disappointments of a missed lift later. I pretend I'm picking up a Boeing 747...the weights are the wings...

Yeah, I actually did something like that. I stood over the bar for a moment, looking at it as though it were a dragon I was gonna slay!

You have a lot more energy than me; I'm jealous of that.

I learned from Lol: a little &quot;choccy&quot; helps.

Aren't the Versagripps great? They get even better as they break in and you get faster at the grab.

Yes, thank you for your advice on that. I'm glad I got a pair.

Try not to spend too much time setting up for the deads; time in the hole makes you weaker. Practice &quot;hooking&quot; the grips on a racked bar.

Oh, I haven't had to use the VersaGrips on my deads yet. I'm not yet able to deadlift more than I can grip comfortably in my bare hands. But they're great on P-shrugs and RDLs where I've got to hold the bar through a long set.
 
315 heavy a$$ pounds!
cool.gif


First back squats and now deads. It seems 'tis the season for PBs! Well done that man!

At 2.5 x body weight, 325lb will be a great achievement (a 340lb lift would see you entering the advanced performance group as laid out in Rippetoe and Kilgore's Practical Programming - so not far to go for that either).

Wow, just realised that means you are around 130lb bw! I am not far off from being 100lbs heavier!!

It's true what Totz said: all that lifting after your new deadlift PB is pretty amazing; I'm only fit to curl up and sleep after a PB attempt.
smile.gif
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Mar. 26 2008,15:00)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">TR, you are going to be in a strength contest?</div>
Yeah, you know he'd clean out the competition if they place him in the appropriate category.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 26 2008,16:25)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(colby2152 @ Mar. 26 2008,15:00)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">TR, you are going to be in a strength contest?</div>
Yeah, you know he'd clean out the competition if they place him in the appropriate category.</div>
Thanky kindly, sirs, but my bench press is completely lacking. I blew out my shoulder sometime last October or November, during my Korte program (not Korte's fault -- I was lifting improperly). As a result, I haven't done a bench press in nearly six months. Instead, I've been playing with the little pink and powder blue plastic dumbbells in an effort to strengthen my rotator cuff.

I graduated from physical therapy today! They gave me a T-shirt as a graduation gift, and told me that I could begin to do bench presses once more. The only caveat was that I should start out slowly and watch my form. So it looks like I'm going to be back in the game.

I'm going to watch a Powerlifting meet this weekend. It's not too far from where I live, and I have some interest in the gym that is sponsoring it. Then there is going to be a meet in Columbus, Ohio in April. That's a little over two hours away; I thought I might enter it just for fun.

In June there will be a meet in my home town that will allow me to participate in the deadlift only. I figure I'll go visit my mother and then maybe stop by the meet to strut my stuff.

The problem, of course, is that all my lifts have been raw. At the powerlifting meets, I suspect my competition will all be suited up.
 
Those are the same problems I've foreseen, since I want to try and lift in a meet sometime too. My bench sucks, and the competition will probably be suited up.

You know what? Who cares. You might beat the people in the equipment.

Anyway, good luck with getting your bench press sorted out. If possible, you might try taking some pictures or even video and posting it so we can get a look at how you are doing it. I know that my problem was that I'd been benching wrong for years. Unless you've already got that figured out. Either way, as you probably already know, you'll want to start out light and take it easy on the bench for a while.
 
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Deadlift 10x45, 2x5x95, 3x135, 3x185, 3x225, 1x315, 0x315, 1x300
Deadlift Speed Set 230x3x3 (10 sec m-time between reps, 1 min between sets)
Back Squat 1x185, 1x225, 0x245…

Power Shrugs 2x5x230
Romanian Deadlift 2x5x205
Dumbbell prone Row 2x5x75
Arched Back Good Mornings 2x5x225
Neutral Grip Chins 10x bodyweight + 30 (max-stim)

I didn’t work out yesterday. I had gotten no sleep whatever on Tuesday night, and decided not to go to the gym in that condition. I’ve had a lot of difficulty with sleeping over the past year or so, usually getting five hours or less each night, but no sleep at all is the worst I’ve done! Besides, perhaps an extra day of rest would let me hit my 315 lb deadlift twice…

They were remodeling the gym today, taking out old equipment and replacing it with new. I had to keep moving around the workmen. My workout wound up taking an hour and a half, and I still didn’t get everything done.

After a brief warm up, I deadlifted my 315 lbs again -- this time smiling for the camera. Now, for you, my 315 lb deadlift is not from gossip. Now my reputation for you is fact, is… solid.
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">NISKA:
Do you know what a reputation is? It's people talking, gossip, it's not...to hold, touch it, you can't. Not from gossip. Now I also have reputation, not so pleasant, I think you know. Crow!

***Crow opens a door to another room. Reveals Corpse. Continues Mutilation. Closes door***

NISKA
(continuing)
Now, for you, my reputation is not from gossip. You see this man, he does not do the job. I show you what I do with him and now, my reputation for you is fact, is...solid. You do the train job for me, then you are solid. No more gossip. That is strong relationship.

(Firefly – The Train Job)</div>
Unfortunately, I must have set the bar down in a puddle of super glue, because I couldn’t even crack it off the floor after a five minute wait. Alas! So I downloaded the bar to 300 lbs and settled for a lesser lift.

I also thought I’d take a shot at a new PR on my squat – didn’t happen…

We got a new power rack as part of the gym's remodeling. It's a fine, big, beautiful rack -- it looks like something Mighty Joe Young would work out in. It's very solid and the pins and bars are oversized and strong looking. Unfortunately, the pin holes are set further apart than the ones on the old (discarded) power rack. As a result I was not able to get the same sort of height and relationship between the bar and the rack as I did before. Thus my Good Mornings had to be more closer to parallel to the floor -- Arched Back GMs were out of the question -- so I kept the weight at 225 lbs and didn't try to increase it.
 
Very nice pic TR! I don't know about that Michigan Hoodie though! Are you from Toledo? If so whereabouts? I grew up near the Oak Openings area.
 
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