Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[Keosawa]

It certainly wouldn't have been the first emotional breakdown in Sherdog history.

True that.

You are probably the very last person I would ever say, that would just be "program-hopping with no motivation". Seriously, in terms of your programming it is by far the most meticulous and thought out that I've ever seen personally, in a strength athlete.

Whatever you do, you're going to good at it. With the type of motivation that you attack things with and Especially the support that you've got. Best of luck man, I will be following this change with much interest.

Thanks--I feel like I've adjusted my training quite a bit over the last few months, so I hope I'm not over-tinkering with it. But I feel good about this choice. We'll see how the next month goes--who knows, maybe my squat will skyrocket!

Good luck keo. I guess this is a good example of learning something new everyday about training, may it be about training methodology or about our body reacting to stimuli. I know that you'll succeed because you always give it your all.

I think this will be best for me. All good raw squatters know how to squat heavy without knee wraps, so I should too. I've avoided this for a long time because my wrapped squat has consistently improved, but I knew this day would come.

The one thing I have learned over the last year is that my body responds really well to higher volume and higher frequency training. In one year, I've gone from a Westside-influenced approach to a higher-volume approach, and I think this change is the biggest reason why my lifts improved faster in 2012 than they did in 2011.

Who knows what the future holds, but you might see me start to split my daily training session up into morning and afternoon sessions. It's the logical next step, and I have a pretty open schedule for the next year and a half as I finish my assistantship.

Interesting way to start 2013. Good luck with it Kyle. And don't get to wound up over this stuff. You know me, and a lot of other people take your opinions on training very seriously. Which means you know what you're doing. So don't go second guessing yourself and freaking out. You will see success with your plans and you will get stronger.

You're right--I'm trying not to second-guess myself too much here. I had a good 2012 and made a lot of good decisions. My training after my last meet has been pretty good (overall), too. So, I'm doing a lot of things right.

But man, did it feel good to squat without having to put on knee wraps. :icon_chee

I can remember it coming up at least once before in this forum, but I'm still unclear on what the difference between "getting stronger" and "improving the ability to perform in tests of strength" is supposed to be, let alone how one would measure it.

I don't see how you can go really wrong in identifying a specific weakness and working to improve it. Plus, the upcoming videos of you squatting without wraps will finally lay to rest the lingering rumors that you do not, in fact, have knees.

You're right; I don't know what the distinction is either, but I suppose I fear the possibility that I'm proficient only in the latter.

lol--yes, you'll get to see my beautiful knees. And I sort of doubt my squat will de-train after three weeks of squatting four times per week. It's a low-risk venture in that even if it doesn't help, my wrapped squat likely isn't dropping much.

 

[NurseKnuckles]

I can remember it coming up at least once before in this forum, but I'm still unclear on what the difference between "getting stronger" and "improving the ability to perform in tests of strength" is supposed to be, let alone how one would measure it.

I don't see how you can go really wrong in identifying a specific weakness and working to improve it. Plus, the upcoming videos of you squatting without wraps will finally lay to rest the lingering rumors that you do not, in fact, have knees.

I always felt being strong or getting stronger was more intrinsic and performing feats of strength was extrinsic...

Like I can physically lift more than a friend of mine who doesn't lift weigts, but I feel like he is way stronger than me...

 

[casperthegst]

yea i do notice my elbow dropping whats the cure?.......not saying it doesn't work for you but when i go with wide grip my shoulders take a beating after a while a closer grip puts more emphasis on the triceps and alleviates the shoulder stress

 

[Tosa]

Best of luck with smolov.

I don't think it counts as routine hopping if it's part of well thought out planned variation, to address different qualities.

I can remember it coming up at least once before in this forum, but I'm still unclear on what the difference between "getting stronger" and "improving the ability to perform in tests of strength" is supposed to be, let alone how one would measure it.

If you could differentiate the two, it would mean that someone who is weaker could, for example, have a higher powerlifting total than someone who is stronger. Which if the lifts are done to the same standards, would just be weird.

 

[miaou]

Good luck with your new programming, Keo. It'll be cool to see you squatting wrapless.

If you could differentiate the two, it would mean that someone who is weaker could, for example, have a higher powerlifting total than someone who is stronger. Which if the lifts are done to the same standards, would just be weird.

I can think of one insanely naturally strong and muscular dude I've met, who never did any sort of weight training. It is possible that right now I could squat more than him, simply by way of him not being proficient with the technique required (activation sequence, core stabilization, etc.). I have zero doubt that dude could put up a decent PL total if he spent a few months doing proper powerlifting training.

If you are comparing two dudes who both have a fair grasp of the form involved, then comparing lifts can be a decent criterion to say who is stronger. But in the case of the dude I just described, someone could obviously put up a higher PL total than him but I wouldn't say that would be an objective criteria to judge who is "generally stronger".

 

[Tosa]

I can think of one insanely naturally strong and muscular dude I've met, who never did any sort of weight training. It is possible that right now I could squat more than him, simply by way of him not being proficient with the technique required (activation sequence, core stabilization, etc.). I have zero doubt that dude could put up a decent PL total if he spent a few months doing proper powerlifting training.

But in that case, how would you compare strength between individuals, assuming you're going to give it your best effort and not just say it's not something you can measure in a reasonable way, given that every lift worth doing is going to have some element of required proficiency?

I'd suggest responding in the pub, or one of our logs, as that might be a better place to have this discussion.

 

[CRZA]

Good luck with your new programming, keo!

 

[miaou]

edit.

Sorry, meant to post this in the Pub.

 

[Keosawa]

I'd suggest responding in the pub, or one of our logs, as that might be a better place to have this discussion.

Dude, my log has 2000+ posts already. It's on death row already. You can have whatever conversation you want in here!

 

[Keosawa]

yea i do notice my elbow dropping whats the cure?.......not saying it doesn't work for you but when i go with wide grip my shoulders take a beating after a while a closer grip puts more emphasis on the triceps and alleviates the shoulder stress

I think for almost everyone, a wide grip over time beats up their shoulders. But I'm starting to figure out how to make it work.

And I think the cure is probably found in your left shoulder blade. Try to pull it tighter as you descend into the hole. I actually think I'm suffering from a similar issue as you, except that my issue occurs on my right side (that's why I picked up on it).

 

[Keosawa]

Good luck with your new programming, Keo. It'll be cool to see you squatting wrapless.



I can think of one insanely naturally strong and muscular dude I've met, who never did any sort of weight training. It is possible that right now I could squat more than him, simply by way of him not being proficient with the technique required (activation sequence, core stabilization, etc.). I have zero doubt that dude could put up a decent PL total if he spent a few months doing proper powerlifting training.

If you are comparing two dudes who both have a fair grasp of the form involved, then comparing lifts can be a decent criterion to say who is stronger. But in the case of the dude I just described, someone could obviously put up a higher PL total than him but I wouldn't say that would be an objective criteria to judge who is "generally stronger".

Your friend reminds me the myth of Bo Jackson. I've met a few like him in my lifetime.

And I will say that I have seen some extremely inefficient lifters put up totals close to mine in powerlifting meets and felt weaker by comparison. Obviously, powerlifting isn't simply a measurement of strength, because that abstract quality (strength) is overdetermined by efficiency, leveraging, etc. It's a weird feeling to have.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
250x4
250x4
250x4
250x4
250x4
250x4
250x4
250x4

Band Pull-Aparts
x20
x20
x20
x20

Banded Face Pulls w/ monster-mini band
x30
x30
x30
x30

Lying Kettlebell External Rotations, two rounds

 

[LegioTitan]

Keo,

I was going to PM you this question(s) but I figure I'd ask it here as maybe some other people can benefit from the input/discussion.

So, I'm doing the cube thing. Really enjoying it thusfar. I'm doing my best to follow the initial 10 weeks as close to the templates Lilly recommends. Including movements, rep schemes, and percentages with small auto-regulated things here and there.

The one issue I'm having is with the "heavy" deadlift day. Which, as first suggested, I'm doing off of 4" blocks. I'm not a fan of elevated pull work, personally. And I know you've said before you feel similarly based on how it can change the mechanics a bit.

However I have noticed something in the video of me pulling from this position that's somewhat troubling. I'm losing what is, in my opinion, a lot of lower back tightness when I initiate. Something I've never felt or been aware of.

I was hoping to get your input on this as I'm not sure if it's mostly to blame on the pull height or if I've developed a weakness here because of the amount of leg drive/low set up I always use.




Harder to see in this video but if you watch what little you can see of my low back it's still visible.

Granted this only appears to be happening on near-maximal loads but given how disproportionate my pull is to my other two lifts(mostly due to my build) I think it's time I tried attacking specific weaknesses, wouldn't you say??

I appreciate the input brosiff.


Also, just saw your above bench post which reminded me:

As someone who has always trained touch and go and never an intentional pause I'd be curious to hear how you'd suggest incorporating and developing a paused bench?? A cycle with lower % all paused? Slow increase of sub maximal pausing in ever bench day?

 

[Keosawa]

Hi Legio,

As far as the lower-back rounding goes, I actually experimented with some low rack pulls with a neutral spine recently and found I couldn't keep good position beyond 405 lbs. In my experience, it's always been harder for me to maintain a neutral spine off a low block or rack position than from the floor (though I pull with a rounded back, I can at least pull 405 off the floor with a straight back).

It might be a weakness we both share, or it might just be the difference in the mechanics of the lift. I find when I'm pulling 2" below my knees that I can basically pull with my shins perpendicular to the ground (something I would have a really hard time doing off the floor), and this puts my hips further away from the bar. I feel like lower-back rounding might be one way of re-gaining leverage lost from the lack of one's knees tracking forward.

I would just pay close attention to it when you pull off the floor, Legio. Personally, I don't think this is an egregious breakdown, and if you're not doing it with your pulls off the floor, it's probably more a matter of different mechanics than the discovery of a weakness.

And if you were looking to get into paused-only training, I think a cycle based off of a lower percentage would be the way to go. I find that for most people, their paused bench rep maxes will not correspond to Prilepin's table, so you'll want to be conservative to start. I get the most out of these when I focus on recreating competition technique in every rep and keep the RPEs down slightly to accumulate volume.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x2, 245x1
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3

 

[casperthegst]

hey keo what kind of conditioning do you do if any to go with your lifting? I always feel better with conditioning. Usually I get enough "conditioning" at my job as i walk like 10 miles a day but currently Im going to be off work for a while but I have an exercise bike. Was thinking about doing maybe one day of an All out until speed reduces and then another maybe do intervals? Any recommendations?

 

[Keosawa]

hey keo what kind of conditioning do you do if any to go with your lifting? I always feel better with conditioning. Usually I get enough "conditioning" at my job as i walk like 10 miles a day but currently Im going to be off work for a while but I have an exercise bike. Was thinking about doing maybe one day of an All out until speed reduces and then another maybe do intervals? Any recommendations?

The only conditioning I do is walking. I don't own a car (though Babyeater does), so during the school year, I'm walking a lot around campus.

I'm really not the one to ask on this one, since that's the extent of my conditioning knowledge, lol.

 

[Gfreak]

I may have missed it, but are you using an accurate 1rm for Smolov? Or using a lower, conservitive max since you're not used to un-wrapped squatting as much.

 

[LitteringAnd]

265 for 10 triples is beast. Can't wait to see next week's session. Please video it.

 

[Keosawa]

I may have missed it, but are you using an accurate 1rm for Smolov? Or using a lower, conservitive max since you're not used to un-wrapped squatting as much.

Well, technically, my 1RM for an unwrapped squat is currently 315, so I took a wild guess and scaled it back slightly. I'm starting with a 430-lb. hypothetical 1RM, which is probably a fair amount less than my real 1RM, but it will allow me to work into the program (I think it will also make the big jump from week one to week two easier). I'm probably going to test my unwrapped max after this cycle, so then I'll have something more accurate to go on.

Also, just so everyone knows, three days will be unwrapped, but the Tuesday session will be wrapped. For that session, I used my true wrapped max. I figured it'd be best to get one session in per week with wraps.

265 for 10 triples is beast. Can't wait to see next week's session. Please video it.

It was hard, but so was week one. Every other session besides the Saturday sessions has been cake. I'm going to do my third session on Thursday instead of Friday this time so that I have an extra day's rest for 270x3x10. My goal is to finish this out without any missed reps.

And I'll take video, for sure--I've been doing a ton of video recently.