Decided to pull off 2" blocks since the week had gotten messed up and we squatted on Monday night. I wanted to plate up until 675, which is in the middle of what I want to open with and my second. All of those pulls felt OK, the 675 went fast enough with just a little shake of the legs. The last set was going to be 705 which is my planned second. I pulled and it only got to my knees and died... I hate missing lifts in the gym. Especially 4 weeks out from a meet. This is the week that I go for PRs and big numbers in the training cycle. So, I'm going to stick with the plan of opening around 640 and then I'll make the call on a second from there. I would really like to get a 7+ pull in a full meet, I pulled 700 but it was in a DL only meet.
I finished the night off with some accessory work and a few sets of decline sit ups while holding 100 lbs of dumbbells. No benching this week. I will get back at it Monday night. Trying a little trick to see if I can finally touch in the new shirt...
We went into the gym Sunday morning which is squat day and
found the monolift broken… I was just a
little bit upset about this considering whoever broke it hid the fact that it
was broken and also didn’t tell anyone…
I pulled the piece off and on e of the guys, Chris, had a buzz box at
home and he got it welded back together and we put everything back together
last night… So, instead of Monday night
benching we were squatting. I am four
weeks out from the meet I’m doing on February 28th and this is when I
go the heaviest and really test where I am.
It went like this:
Bar
x 10
155
x 5
265
x 3
355
x 2
Briefs
465
x 1
Added
Suit
555
x 1
665
x 1
715
x 1
775
x 1 Planned Opener
830
x 1 Planned Second Attempt and also a 10 lbs. Meet PR
After
the 830 I had planned on doing 1000 with reverse average bands. I have been using reverse light bands this
training cycle and have done a pretty good 920 with them. I really wanted to feel the grand on my back
and I think that would have indicated I would have been able to handle an
875-900 lbs. third attempt. But, I wasn’t
happy with the 830 at all. It was OK but
I think it was high and my setup was off.
My left foot was a little behind the bar and I was a little shaky. I decided to go for 955 reverse average bands
and was going to really focus on burying it and calling it. I unracked the weight and it didn’t feel bad
at first but then I started the toes to heels back and forth crap. Usually if I just tighten up and start back it’ll
stop, this time it didn’t and the shakiness was there. I only went down for a second and just stood
back up and racked it. There’s no excuse
I just wasn’t all the way on last night but I’m thinking maybe the time made a difference??? I usually squat in the mornings and it was
about 9 PM when I tried the 955… who knows.
Pulls... They used to be my favorite lift but after almost two years of struggles I really hate them. I have to force myself to be motivated to do them. Last night was the first kind of heavy training leading to the 2/28 meet.
Several warm-ups
630 2x2
I was supposed to then do 665 for a triple off 6" blocks.. I hit it for a single and my legs started shaking half way up, which isn't unusual. But what was is after I set the first rep down I let the bar go and I didn't stop shaking... Elvis impersonation. It lasted maybe ten seconds and I grabbed the bar hoping to finish. No go. Done... That was weird. I chilled for a bit and finished with GHRs and abs. I was beat.
This morning my alarm clock went off and I started to get up but I felt awful. I called my boss and said I need to rest something is off with me. I laid back down and slept about an hour. I got up and still felt awful. Mindy took my temperature and it was 100 even. I laid around and slept all day. Barely ate anything. Finally about 9 PM the fever broke and I was starving. Very weird. No nausea or anything just the fever. Who knows....
Was supposed to get close to my openers. I've been in the red overkill for several weeks and it's whipping my ass. So, I thought I would just throw my jack on and use it one more time... Rookie mistake. Felt worse than the overkill has. I've just got to be more confident and aggressive with it... It was pure crap so I just took it off and did some close grips in a slingshot. Incline DB presses and press downs. And ate cake, it was my birthday too.
Had a really good weekend. Friends of ours, Jim Baily and Kelley Denney came over and stayed with us Friday and Saturday night. They trained on Saturday and we helped a little with their technique. They are doing very good and we were happy to have them.
We got up Sunday and headed to the gym. I ate my McDonald's and drank my coffee then we started warming up. Things felt pretty good and I thought I might have a good day. The plan was to take my estimated opener then a second and third reverse band.I'm thinking 775 for an opener then 825 for a 5 lbs PR on my second and then who knows for a third. I have been trying to touch 900+ on my heavy days some kind of way. I did 900 with light reverse bands a few weeks ago and then 700 bar weight with 200 lbs of band last week. So, I wanted to push it a little and went 920 with light reverse bands. The 775 and 825 went smooth with decent depth and my dip was good. The 920 wasn't as good, I got just a little on my toes at the bottom and where I would normally dip I came up... But, I want to get acclimated to that kind of weight. I goal I set awhile back was to squat 1000 by the time I was 40. Well, today I turn 40... Its a pretty hefty goal to get to 1000 when your officially only at 820 but I'm gonna give it hell these next 365 days...
I finished the day with some high rep leg presses and reverse hypers. Did a couple quick sets of abs and then off to Texas Roadhouse for lunch.
Pulled triples up to my work set of 425(60%). Did one set competition stance and one set sumo. This was in gear with very loose straps. The eight felt nice and light like it should.
We just got a GHR and a Reverse Hyper in the gym so we are all using them. I was supposed to do stiff leg DLs but went for the ghr instead. I'm not good at these so 3x8 had my hams lit up... I'm definitely feeling them now, the day after.
Next up were DB rows 3x12. After those I did a couple sets of very light SLDL to stretch my hams out. I finished with some standing ab work with a band.
Don't forget to get your registrations in for 2015 Redemption!!!
Tonight was a deload bench. Nothing really interesting...
Floor Presses with 255 for 3x5
Dumbell Incline Presses 3x20
Band Press Down 3x50
Band Flys 3x15
Done and done...
We have got the info up on the Weight Pile website weightpilegym.com for our 2015 Redemption Powerlifting Meet under the upcoming events page. It will be held on May 30 here in Fort Myers. We have already had several entries come in so get yours in. It is going to be bigger and better than last year.
My back was feeling OK and I was ready to squat finally, it had been a couple of weeks. I started warming up and felt like crap... Everything was tight and hurting. Put on my briefs around 400ish and still felt like awful. Threw my suit on and took 585, felt heavy and out of groove. I was doing doubles and the plan was to go to 85%, I have felt over the last couple of meet prep that my squat has peaked around two weeks early. So, I have been holding off on going at it 100% until week 4. This was my last week to stay "light". My next set was 655 and the double felt perfect - light on my back and very fast and effortless. That was a change. I went to 705 (85%) and it was the same. Very smooth and fast. I had been thinking that if things went well I would throw a heavy band on for a single just for fun. I put the blue EliteFTS band on which is supposed to be around 200lbs at 60" and left the bar at 700 lbs. The unrack wasn't bad considering if the math is correct this is the most I've had on my back, I've done a 900 lbs reverse band squat but not like this. It felt pretty good and I got pretty close to depth and turned it around OK. It stalled for a second and then came on up to lockout, I was happy with the squat.
I did some light leg presses next for 3x20. We also just got a glute/ham raise and reverse hyper in the gym, thanks Corey. I tried to do some ghr but my hams were cramping way to bad... I suck at them. I did some reverse hypers for 3x10 and finished with some weighted decline abs. Very good and productive day.
