Countdown to (1200) Pound Town

[Cmart]

Squat check

Time to take a measurement of where I'm at in what's been my "good lift" so far in training. Previous gym best is 405 lbs at 196 lbs bodyweight. Former competition best is 386.6 lbs (130 kg) at 181 bodyweight. Current bodyweight is just under 185.

Squat

135 x 12
225 x 5
315 x 1
365 x 1
415 x 1 oh yeah baby that's a 10-pound lifetime PR!!!
325 x 6
325 x 5 wow that single took a lot out of me, good thing I'm trying to improve my conditioning.

I deserve a hamburger. I'm going to go get a hamburger.

 

[Aleks Sytsevich]

I approve of the consumption of hamburgers after the lifting of the things have concluded.

GG, C.

 

[TehWeak1]

Nice going @Cmart

 

[Cmart]

Uploaded the video of the squat PR from last Wed. just to keep me honest and to see about getting some feedback. If my form's going to suck, it's going to suck here because this felt very heavy.

I'm also very close (in my opinion) to not hitting depth so I need to get down an inch or so on my work sets and get more comfortable at a good indisputable 3-white-light depth.

How does it look? And sorry, please forgive the silly stretchy sweatpants, I know they make it hard to see. I think it was about 30 degrees in the unheated room. Anyways, this is me at just under 185 pounds, wearing Rehband sleeves, squatting 415 for a new PR:

 

[Cmart]

Mondays are bench press days!

Bench

135 x 12
235 x 10 that's a rep PR, and consistent with the 305 1RM in that 235 x .03 x 10 + 235 = 305.5 so I'm getting good estimates out of the bench estimated max formula.
235 x 8
235 x 8
235 x 6 bonus set because I felt good

DB rows

100 x 10 strict
100 x 20 Janae style
100 x 10 strict (hard)

Band laterals -- a bunch, to pump up the delts

 

[Cmart]

Squats

135 x 12
225 x 5
325 x 10 that's a rep PR
325 x 5

Cutting short, have stuff to do. Next workout will be a hard DL one so I'll conserve a bit.

 

[Cmart]

DL

I visited the massive Lifetime Fitness with its incredible array of equipment and accoutrements. Very nice. But the workout was kind of just goofing around.

Squats

135 x 12
225 x 10

DL

135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 2 -- this was easy
455 x 0 -- worth a try but it wasn't happening today

Close grip bench light weight high reps
Low row machine light weight high reps

And then to the eucalyptus steam room. Wow it's nice at this gym.

 

[TehWeak1]

rub some of that there eucalyptus on the deadlift bar the next time!

 

[Cmart]

Bench Monday!

bar x 20
135 x 12
230 x 7 paused. -- This was hard because I'm not keeping tight at the bottom and it's time to fix this. Must concentrate.
230 x 8 paused. -- much better. Full pauses but I stayed tight and that meant I got all 8 reps.
230 x 7 paused.
230 x 6 paused.

Pullups

BW x 13
BW x 11
BW x 10

Band laterals -- a bunch

 

[Cmart]

Squats

bar x 12
135 x 12
225 x 5
325 x 8
325 x 8
325 x 6
325 x 5

Might need to start having a snack before I leave work -- by the time I'm hitting third set I'm shaky.

 

[Cmart]

I should mention this:

The local meet I want to compete in is on the 10th of June. This is the 9th time it's being held, and I've competed in it in '11, '12, '13, and '14 and since have missed two years. It's very well run, and takes place at the college I went to. I'm very excited to compete and the website has announced since January that registration would open "February or March" and that it may be limited to 50 lifters. Last year was 80 lifters on two platforms.

Well, the meet director decided to announce in February that due to demand there would be 90 spots available, and registration would be online, 7PM on March 1st, and once all spots were filled that would be it, no excuses or exceptions. So at 6:58 on March 1st I was at my computer, refreshing and refreshing.

It took me three tries to register. It kept telling me "Registration Failed" and I started to panic, but I wiped out all the info and re-entered it and then it took. I was in at 7:13 PM.

Registration filled (all 90 slots) in 49 minutes. One guy posted on the FB site "I was putting my kids to bed and came back to register at 8PM, and WTF it's full?" The answer was too bad. So I'm relieved I got registered.

There will be six old dudes in the Masters 1 category for me to go against. I think three of us are in the same weight class. I'm going to try very hard not to get third place.

Anyway, the TL/DR is that I'm registered to lift on 6/10.

Now I just need to get stronger and leaner while staying healthy and avoiding injury. <cheer>

 

[TehWeak1]

How much is registration?

 

[DrBdan]

I'm a bit late to the party but congrats on those PRs.

I'm surprised your DL isn't higher. Your squat is about 60 lb above where mine was when I pulled 455 (many years ago when my lifting was consistent!)

 

[Cmart]

How much is registration?

$50 + $15 if you want a T-shirt

edit -- backing up a bit. It's also $50 for the annual USAPL membership, then whatever the cost of the meets for the year. I may decide to hit another meet in the fall.

 

[Cmart]

I'm a bit late to the party but congrats on those PRs.

I'm surprised your DL isn't higher. Your squat is about 60 lb above where mine was when I pulled 455 (many years ago when my lifting was consistent!)

Thanks!

I started working on getting my legs into shape with rehab type work last summer, and my squat has benefited. My lower back has lagged behind, but I'm hoping it will catch up.

 

[Cmart]

Bench

135 x 15
235 x 8 paused
235 x 8
235 x 7
235 x 6

Pullups

BW x 12
BW x 12
BW x 10
BW x 10

Band laterals

3 sets of 30

 

[Cmart]

Not feeling great today, but the DL needs works. Really needs work.

Deadlift -- all today from just the .75" defecit

135 x 12
225 x 8
315 x 2
375 x 3
375 x 2

I'm just struggling today, felt funny all day. I think I'm going to need to step up frequency in the DL to make up ground. I won't be ecstatic if I hit PR's in the squat and bench and then suck ass and ruin my total with a weak ass deadlift. I'll cut short today with a plan of hitting short DL workouts more often for a while, as I have time left. Hopefully my squat doesn't suffer.

edit -- next morning I weighed in at 181 hydrated, so I'm two pounds under (the 183 limit) when my intention is to be about 2 or 3 pounds over when hydrated. So I don't know if I lost a few pounds from not feeling well or vise versa, but the good news is that I get to eat a little more!

 

[Cmart]

Bench deload/speed day

Bar x 25
145 x 20 narrow
165 x 16 narrow
165 x 20 narrow

DB rows

40 x 20 strict
40 x 20 strict

DB Curls for teh gurlz

30 x 12
30 x 12

Band laterals, a bunch

 

[Cmart]

Squat in the morning day! Squatting at 9AM (like meet start time) instead of late in the afternoon.

Ooops! I learned something today! I'd better get working on my "morning strength" or it's going to be a long day come meet time. I just didn't feel strong.

Squat

135 x 12 -- I'm trying out my new box so all these are down to a 12" box, just below parallel for me.
225 x 5
225 x 3
335 x 7 -- was supposed to be 8, and I missed on the eighth one. First time I had to set the bar onto the sawhorses. They held up fine.

I'm going to give myself a few days and try this same workout again. Disappointing and humbling but a learning experience.

Note: I did quit taking creatine about a week ago when my kidneys were bothering me, and I've subsequently lost about 4.5 pounds. It's possible that this water weight loss has had an effect on my muscle volume, leverages, and overall strength. Will resume creatine in about another week and see what's up. The meet is 12 weeks out from today so it's not quite crunch time yet, no worries.

 

[Cmart]

Sunday is bench day? Yup, I'm trying to up my frequency, so if I feel good enough, I will no longer wait to hit the next workout.

I'm trying a bench workout at noon because about noon is when bench will be taking place in the meet. Again, I don't feel fantastically powerful early in the day, so it's good I put some work into it.

Bench

135 x 12
240 x 8
240 x 8
240 x 6
240 x 5

DB rows

40 x 15
100 x 12
100 x 12

Band laterals

double bands x 26
x 18