Keosawa's Powerlifting Log



Reverse-Band Squats
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5
405x5
455x5
480x5
495x4 (missed fifth)

Leg Curls
BWx200

Notes: After seven months almost entirely dedicated to higher-volume unwrapped squatting--and a second consecutive disappointing squat at my meet--I've come to a few conclusions regarding myself and my training:

1.) My squat confidence sucks. I feel very confident benching and deadlifting at meets, but not squatting. There is no excuse for me squatting only 446 at a meet in which I otherwise felt great. I'm going to fix this by...

2.) Widening my stance (slightly) and trying Oly shoes again so that I feel more stable. Also, I will be...

3.) Increasing the intensity. I have done very little high-intensity squatting, and it's starting to show. As much as I hate squatting in wraps, I need to do a little more of it. And I went from 450 to 501 very quickly last year when I started with reverse-band squats; I'm stronger than I was then, but I think I "threw the baby out with the bathwater" when I ran Smolov. It worked as a peaking program, but I got too hung up on unwrapped squatting as "the answer" and neglected my high-intensity stuff. Because my occasional wrapped set produced good numbers, I felt I was meet-ready. Perhaps I was, strength-wise, but doing more high-intensity squatting in training will help prepare me mentally for competition.

4.) I'm also going to start number-chasing again. I used to do well with constantly trying to break rep PRs on my squat, and I think I need to get back to this. I'll do a dedicated unwrapped volume day, but I want at least one "rep-max" day as well. Last cycle, I had very few RPE@9 or above sets, and of the ones I did, very few were at five reps or fewer (I can probably count them on one hand).

5.) I'm also going to start doing things that will motivate me to squat again. I'm frankly very sick of doing five sets of eight with something in the low to mid 300s. I don't have to throw this out entirely, but I also shouldn't be doing it three times per week if I'm so tired of it. I need to start doing squatting that will motivate me to break PRs again, which means giving myself top sets again.

Anyway, that's all for squat changes for now. My squat training will change, but it won't be dramatically different, and I will try to remember the good things from my unwrapped period as I plan ahead. Even if I do something absurdly stupid, like 430-460-480 at the next meet, I'm strong enough in the other two lifts to make 1400 happen. I just need to give myself a RIDICULOUSLY EASY second attempt to start building confidence again. If it means sandbagging it on the squat, then so be it.
 
Fighting Sprite said:
Good luck with the changes, mang.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I feel like there is very little pressure on me right now to train my squat "perfectly." I can afford to make technique changes and take a step backwards if I have to, because my showing at the last two meets (446) has been so poor that it's very unlikely I'll be regressing enough to be a sub-446 squatter anytime soon. I can probably do whatever the fuck I want and still squat over 446 in competition; when I was hitting bigger numbers, I was much more concerned about having to regress.

So, it's actually kind of nice, feeling like I don't have to run a particular approach to programming in order to continue to improve. For this cycle, I'm going to try to have more fun with my squat.
 
They all sound like solid ideas to me. I'm sure that knee issue didn't help your confidence either. The story of this log for a while has been volume training, and sometimes you just need a heavy ass bar on your back that feels like it will kill you.
 
Great pull. I think your squat approach sounds reasonable and solid too so I wish you the best of luck.
 
I found a clip of me lifting in a female powerlifting compilation video a few years back. They put in a deadlift max of mine at the time and my form was terrible. In all of the comments, people have linked to the clip of me pulling and said things like "snap city" or "omg terrible form." Kinda makes it less cool to be put into a compilation lol
 
Obscure Terror said:
They all sound like solid ideas to me. I'm sure that knee issue didn't help your confidence either. The story of this log for a while has been volume training, and sometimes you just need a heavy ass bar on your back that feels like it will kill you.
Click to expand...

The injury stuff didn't bother me much at all, but it did limit my training choices for the first two months of prep for this meet. And yeah, I've been very focused on higher-volume work this past year, so I think a change of pace is warranted.

Seiken01 said:
Great pull. I think your squat approach sounds reasonable and solid too so I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated. I'll get my training issues sorted out soon enough. I figure at this point in my training career it's normal to occasionally stall out and have to re-evaluate an approach.
 
That video's real cool--the owner of the channel had asked me permission to use my clip in the compilation, and I agreed.

WitchCraft said:
I found a clip of me lifting in a female powerlifting compilation video a few years back. They put in a deadlift max of mine at the time and my form was terrible. In all of the comments, people have linked to the clip of me pulling and said things like "snap city" or "omg terrible form." Kinda makes it less cool to be put into a compilation lol
Click to expand...

lulz. That's awesome!
 
On the upside all of the high volume wrapless squatting has provided a nice base for this intensity work. As well as given that weird calf thing time to heal completely. Hopefully.

With more consistency in the squat that meet total will pop right up. 9/9 1405, son. Looking forward to the process as it develops. Especially given the technical changes given your DLs response.
 


Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x5
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5
260x5
w/ regular grip
225x6
225x6
225x6
135x20
135x10

Face Pulls, five sets

Machine Rows, four sets

Notes: I'm just now working back into heavy paused benching, having done no full sessions for the last two and a half or so weeks. This felt OK--260x5 was probably an RPE@9, and I stopped it there. It will take me a few weeks to build it back up, but I'm starting a lot stronger than when I came off of my April meet. I also mixed in some heavier regular-grip benching, and I can tell that even moving my hands in an inch will bring my max down a good deal. My plan is to run two competition-grip days--and a regular-grip day in place of my floor pressing, which has now gotten "too good" to warrant further training--for this training cycle, and I hope that the narrower grip carries over.
 
LegioTitan said:
On the upside all of the high volume wrapless squatting has provided a nice base for this intensity work. As well as given that weird calf thing time to heal completely. Hopefully.

With more consistency in the squat that meet total will pop right up. 9/9 1405, son. Looking forward to the process as it develops. Especially given the technical changes given your DLs response.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't talk about this much anymore, but when my goal was 1300, it took me four tries to get it--I went 1229, 1251, and 1267 before I finally got it. When I did, I totaled 1328.

I think the same thing will happen here; when I get it, I'll blow past it. We'll see how my other lifts develop--I'm going to work hard on my bench and try to hammer my deadlift training. I felt at the last meet like I was definitely good for 314, and if my deadlift continues to progress, then 610-620 in November is a definite possibility. Obviously, if I'm benching 315 and pulling 620, then a 465 squat is pretty easy regardless of the circumstances.

Anyway, I'll get there. I know I only tied my best total at the last meet, but had I made 496, I would have finished at 1405. So, I was one attempt away, and it was a pretty inexplicable miss. I will be even more cautious with my squatting in November, and I will give myself a can't-miss-in-a-million-years second attempt in the 460-480 range. I might only need 465+ in order to have a chance at 1400 by then.
 


Deadlifts off 2.5" Blocks
135x5
225x3
315x1
405x1
455x1 (CHALKLESS PR)
475x13
475x5
475x5
475x5
315x10
315x10

Notes: I set for myself the goal of 10-12 repetitions coming into this session, and I decided not to put a lot of pressure on myself to hit a big number. I figured I might be beat from the meet, so I wanted to be semi-conservative with my projection. 475x13 wasn't too difficult, and had I wanted to drag it out any longer, I could have hit more reps, but I have decided that ~4 minutes is my limit for these long cluster sets. After that, I pulled 475x5x3 without straps; the weights moved slow, but they felt really strong. 315x10x2 was done just to really emphasize and hammer my lockout--these longer sets will go up in weight soon enough.

I have no idea what is a reasonable expectation for my deadlift for November, but I see no reason why I couldn't pull 617+ at that meet. I have a ton of time to prepare, and my deadlift shot up a lot since I made my stance change in early June. But we'll see what happens--I'm used to my deadlift moving at a snail's pace.
 
Hey Keo!

Awesome training in here. You're damn strong dude!

I have a question. What is you're motivation to train as much and live as strict a lifestyle as you do? Have your motivation changed since you began training?

When did you realize you could do something of note in Powerlifting?
 
Dinamita95 said:
Hey Keo!

Awesome training in here. You're damn strong dude!

I have a question. What is you're motivation to train as much and live as strict a lifestyle as you do? Have your motivation changed since you began training?

When did you realize you could do something of note in Powerlifting?
Click to expand...

Thank you much, sir.

As far as motivation goes, I've always just really enjoyed training with weights. When I started, I was very weak, but I liked lifting weights; it was usually my favorite part of the day. So, I don't need much motivation to train a lot, because I really enjoy it.

As far as my lifestyle goes, that came over time. When I started training, there was no pressure on me to do well, so I was pretty relaxed with my habits. I ate a surplus, but I wasn't really being careful with my diet. I got a good night's sleep most nights, but that was just because I've never been much into the late-night scene. It took me two or three years before I decided to start cleaning things up in order to get stronger. I definitely didn't get started training because I thought I was going to be really good at this, and I wouldn't have quit had I ended up being just mediocre.

And as far as doing something of note goes, I don't think I ever really thought about it like that. When I started, I had modest goals, and they changed based on how I improved. At my first meet, I wanted to break some Rhode Island state deadlift record of 520 at 148 (I bombed out on bench and had only pulled 500 heading into the meet anyway); at the time, that to me was a big deal. Each time I've done a meet since then, I feel like I've made some improvements, but I don't know if I've ever had an "I've made it" moment. I have always just thought about trying to add the next little bit on my total, and my definition of "doing something of note" keeps changing as I keep getting stronger. If you were to ask me now, I'd say that doing something of note, for me, would be becoming one of the top 148s in the history of the sport, which I am obviously not at yet.
 
Okay, I haven't updated this log in a long while, so I'll put something quick together to get myself back on track. I've been posting videos from the last couple of weeks on my channel; if you're really interested, you can find some training up on there.

I'll just log yesterday, my first day training in Madison:

Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x5
135x5
185x2
225x2
260x2
285x2
285x2
285x2
w/ slingshot, touch-and-go, regular grip:
225x15
225x15
225x15

T-Bar Rows, five sets

Tricep Pushdowns, three sets

External Rotations, five sets

Notes: Benching today felt a lot better than last week, when I really struggled with 280x2x4. These reps weren't blazing fast, but they were very strict, and I kept in my groove much better. I was using a Forza bench, and I was wondering if that was making a difference--I've usually benched very well on these despite not being able to get much of an arch on it. These doubles were encouraging, and I'm just trying to train through a slight pec/shoulder strain right now.

Today I deadlift, and I didn't bring my camera, so I won't have any video. It will be at a new gym, and I'll make my plan based on how I feel (and based on what equipment I have--doing the 2.5" block pulls will probably be off the table). I might use this week to break a cheap rep max (I'm thinking of going for 560x2 for my first 90%+ pulls since the meet), then get in some easy volume in the 70-75% range. We'll see how it goes though. I feel pretty inspired by Richard Hawthorne's 1470-lb. total at 132 (weighing 128 lbs.), so maybe that will propel me to a good number today.
 
PUO3 said:
youre a beast. i love these videos when you yell at the bar. calm lifters suck.
Click to expand...

lol. I was pretty calm on this day, except for the last two deadlifts. I try not to over-use it, but I notice a difference in training when I really try to get "into" a set. I employ it strategically in competition.
 
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