Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[KidAlchemy]

"KPK" = Kyle Patrick Keough?

 

[KnuckleSangwich]

WHAT?!

And I thought the Oly community was petty.... jaybus...

Well like I said it's just a rumor at this point but I have no problem believing it.

 

[LegioTitan]

Gotchya.

Any experience with the USPA personally?? The guy hosting the meet I'm doing in Dec. just switched to USPA(as state chairman) from IPA.

 

[KnuckleSangwich]

Gotchya.

Any experience with the USPA personally?? The guy hosting the meet I'm doing in Dec. just switched to USPA(as state chairman) from IPA.

USPA is great. Solid judging, uptempo meets, great ppl, and Steve gives a lot back to the sport. Probably where I'll be competing the majority of the time moving forward.

 

[Keosawa]

Just heard a rumor about Rich P banning a guy for helping a fellow lifter in a USPA meet.

You can't lift in a competing fed and now apparently you can't help out a lifter in a competing fed's meet...

I'm running out the door soon, so I can't respond to everyone just yet, but I read this as well, and I know the guy. He's been one of NASA's biggest supporters and has brought them a lot of lifters over the years. He's been to a meet up here, and he helped me out too. Yeah, he's a self-promoter, but he's a good guy who helps a lot of people out. NASA is going to run out of friends very quickly like this.

 

[Keosawa]

"KPK" = Kyle Patrick Keough?

Indeed. Why do you ask?

Well like I said it's just a rumor at this point but I have no problem believing it.

I'll find out if it's true or not soon enough. I put out something on FB, and eventually the truth will make it back to me.

Gotchya.

Any experience with the USPA personally?? The guy hosting the meet I'm doing in Dec. just switched to USPA(as state chairman) from IPA.

I don't have any experience with USPA, but I like Steve Denison from the little I know about him.

 

[Keosawa]

Good choice, Keo... you're young and still making considerable progress so why not enjoy it. Make your mark at 148! You will have a lot of time to make weight jumps and kill other weight classes. I mean, we would have supported you either way, but this way makes sense...

Thanks man--it's really helpful to have people's support on this one. I feel at peace with my decision.

Also, Keo you took a whole week off?? Man... the first two days of that would be hard on me mentally.

Yep, a full seven days. And honestly, I was fine with it. It's been a long year of training, and I just needed a break. My body was beat up enough to warrant it, and I was just in a bad place with my training in general. I'm still really displeased with the bulk of my training since this July meet, but I've reworked my next mesocycle to be a little less ambitious, so I think I can salvage it.

 

[Keosawa]

From yesterday and the day before:

Reverse-Band Squats
135x5
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
420x4
420x4
420x4
420x4
420x4

Deadlifts
135x5
225x3
315x2
365x1
420x9
420x11
420x9
420x9

Back Extensions
BWx20
BWx20
BWx20

Face Pulls, three sets

One-Armed Chest-Supported Rows, three sets

Kettlebells Swings, two sets (just experimenting with these)

Notes: Squats felt OK earlier in the week, but my deadlift felt slow on Sunday. The plan was to go for a bigger number--maybe 420x15--with consecutive reps, but I started slowing down by rep nine, so I called it. I tried again and hit eleven, but again, I was fatiguing, and I don't want to do anything stupid just after I took a week up to let my back rest.

So, my pulling didn't feel fantastic, but it wasn't BAD, either, and I've hit some good numbers recently with it, so I'm not too worried. The total volume this session was good, and I got in some decent accessory work. My lat strength is horrible, and so I need to get back to doing more heavy rowing again. Bent-over rows were wrecking my already-wrecked back, so I might just hammer chest-supported rows for a cycle and see how that goes. Regardless, just about anything will bring up my lat strength at this point.

 

[KidAlchemy]

Indeed. Why do you ask?

I was just curious if my lucky guess hit the spot.

 

[Keosawa]

I was just curious if my lucky guess hit the spot.

lol, yes--you got it right. Good guess.

 

[Keosawa]

From yesterday:

Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x5
135x5
185x5
215x8
215x8
215x8
215x8
215x8

Seated Row Machine
100x10
110x8
120x8
130x8

Lat Pulldown, Wide Grip
120x10
130x8
140x8

Wall Angels, three sets

External Rotations, three sets

From today:

Squats w/ wraps:
95x8
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
360x3
400x3
440x3
440x3

Notes: My bench just plain sucks at the moment, and the only time in which my training hasn't been pitiful was when I was on different equipment at Madison. So, instead of continually performing poorly and getting pissed about it, I decided to start training down to my current training level. I've made great strides in the past when I've simply dropped the weights and built back into it, and I could do the same here if I'm smart. My first cycle is very manageable--the sets should be downright easy--so I'm hoping my strength will come back over the next few weeks. The good news is that my shoulder and pec was feeling much better after the week off, and now I'm being much more proactive about taking care of these spots outside of training.

My poor performance recently has made me seriously recommit to outside-of-training work. Before this, my nutrition was fine, but my supplementation was lazy and undisciplined; I NEED to take a multi, a cod-liver oil pill, and some BCAAs every day if I want to see any benefit. I can't just skip a week; that's pitifully lazy on my part.

And before this, my prehab/SMR schedule was almost non-existent. I've made strides to change that; I've been foam rolling much more often, I've been working on my nagging issues, and I've been doing my prehab no matter what. I was much better about this stuff when I was running Smolov, and since then, I seem to have bought into the idea that it's OK to skip these steps because I'm not killing myself in training. Well, it isn't, and I am realizing that now. I have about ten weeks before my next meet, and I am more than likely going to kill myself if foam rolling is what prevents me from totaling 1400+. That's so insanely absurd that I don't want to even begin thinking about it. I do so many things right that I shouldn't be shooting myself in the foot like this. I NEED to start training "24/7."

As far as the squatting goes, these were better. 440x3x2 isn't super challenging, but it's enough work to make me feel good about where my wrapped squat currently is. I didn't wrap these super tight, so I could probably put together a five-rep set at 440 right now, and that's what I was doing when I squatted 510 last December. I will start slow, but I will build up to some bigger numbers before this training cycle is done.

Though I am extremely butthurt about how my training has gone this past month, I am also in a good spot. I'm weak as a kitten, but I know my strength will return very quickly, and I'm close enough to a meet so that I shouldn't run into the same problem I usually have, which is peaking 5-6 weeks out. I haven't detrained much; I just need to log the reps for a few weeks. I am not going to half-ass things any longer--I have a goal in mind, and it's about time I go get it.

 

[LegioTitan]

"weak as a kitten" lol

Man just spending an extra 2-4 minutes in my warm up really working a lacrosse ball in my glutes and then doing a bunch of fire hydrants has really helped my hips get ready for squatting/benching here lately.

Also, finally realized that I had a bunch of junk in my pecs, laid down, and had one of our coaches who loves the mobility stuff just dig all around with a lacrosse ball and such. No pain in the pecs benching the next day.

Somedays though.... you think "will I ever be doing enough? Geeze...".
I have the same mentality towards skipping little things though. As silly as it sounds the thought of "what if I miss a 440 squat because I didn't release my IT band this week??" lolol.

 

[miaou]

My poor performance recently has made me seriously recommit to outside-of-training work. Before this, my nutrition was fine, but my supplementation was lazy and undisciplined; I NEED to take a multi, a cod-liver oil pill, and some BCAAs every day if I want to see any benefit. I can't just skip a week; that's pitifully lazy on my part.

And before this, my prehab/SMR schedule was almost non-existent. I've made strides to change that; I've been foam rolling much more often, I've been working on my nagging issues, and I've been doing my prehab no matter what. I was much better about this stuff when I was running Smolov, and since then, I seem to have bought into the idea that it's OK to skip these steps because I'm not killing myself in training. Well, it isn't, and I am realizing that now. I have about ten weeks before my next meet, and I am more than likely going to kill myself if foam rolling is what prevents me from totaling 1400+. That's so insanely absurd that I don't want to even begin thinking about it. I do so many things right that I shouldn't be shooting myself in the foot like this. I NEED to start training "24/7."

I doubt taking a multi and a cod-liver oil pill a day will make any difference (unless your diet is really deficient on micros), and I also doubt more or less frequent foam rolling will make that much of a difference either.

/2

 

[Keosawa]

Also, finally realized that I had a bunch of junk in my pecs, laid down, and had one of our coaches who loves the mobility stuff just dig all around with a lacrosse ball and such. No pain in the pecs benching the next day.

The times I get hurt are the times where I stop rolling my pec tie-ins and shoulders before pressing. Somehow, I don't think that's coincidental.

As silly as it sounds the thought of "what if I miss a 440 squat because I didn't release my IT band this week??" lolol.

I have been feeling this way a lot lately. Maybe it's not "what if I miss this lift?" but rather, "what if my total is ten pounds lower than it could have been next year because I didn't do this stuff?" That part makes me feel like an idiot for taking things for granted.

 

[Keosawa]

Regular-Grip Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x8
135x8
185x5
235x5
235x5 (two-second pauses)
235x5
235x5
235x5

Wide-Grip Bamboo Bar Bench
133x15
133x15

Seated Row Machine
110x6
120x6
130x6
140x6

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
120x6
130x6
140x6
150x6

Tricep Pushdowns (in kg)
52.5x15
62.5x8
67.5x8
72.5x8
77.5x8
82.5x8

Band Pull-Aparts
x30

Notes: I'm happier with how my bench is feeling on these regular-grip days, and if I can say one nice thing about my recent bench training, it would be that this grip width is indeed getting stronger; I'm starting to close the gap between this grip and my wide grip. Obviously, I want this to carry over to my wide grip, so I don't really want it to improve WITHOUT carrying over, but I'll take any victory right now. I'm logging the reps and making steady progress; I'm in a much better place mentally than I was a week ago, and I'm just looking forward to building towards a good next meet.

 

[Keosawa]

I doubt taking a multi and a cod-liver oil pill a day will make any difference (unless your diet is really deficient on micros), and I also doubt more or less frequent foam rolling will make that much of a difference either.

/2

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx15
95x8
135x8
185x8
220x8
220x8
220x8
220x8
220x12

Floor Press (Paused)
Barx5
135x2
185x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2

Lat Row Machine
90x12
100x12
110x12
120x12

Lat Pulldown, Wide Grip
100x12
110x12
110x12

External Rotations, three sets

Wall Angels
x40

Notes: First off, I am going to really start trying to be more consistent with my logging. This is ridiculous.

Second, my benching is feeling stronger. It's not STRONG yet, but I am definitely making progress. 220x12 was pretty easy; I had a few reps left in the tank, and the pauses were stricter than my regular rep-max sets.

I am focusing really hard on pausing as lightly on my chest as possible, and I think this is working well in rebuilding my bench. I also did some floor pressing as a secondary movement, just to see how it felt, and my strength there is miserable. This is GREAT news, because it suggests that returning to floor pressing for a little while will only contribute to my bench press. So, look for me to floor press once or twice a week as a secondary movement--I think this will help rebuild top-end strength.

Overall, this was a very encouraging session. Though my numbers haven't been out-of-this-world recently, I'm recovering well and building towards something here. I'm going to stay the course and continue to prep for this meet.

 

[kotriz]

good job kyle!

lol it seems like BE's logging habits got to you as well

 

[Keosawa]

good job kyle!

lol it seems like BE's logging habits got to you as well

I know--I've just been so busy with stuff that my own logging is getting neglected. The powerlifting team takes up a lot of my time now, and I'm working with a couple of people on their programming, so doing my own videos and training logs is taking a bit of a backseat.

 

[Keosawa]

Squats w/ wraps
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x2
380x2
420x2
460x4 (PR)

Hip Abductors, three sets

Squat Belt Hip Walks
90x8 trips

Leg Curls
BWx210

Notes: I think 460x4 is a ten-pound PR with a 4RM. It's not really a big step over any of my other rep PRs, but it's nice to do something I haven't done before. The set itself felt pretty good, besides a shaky third rep. Overall, my squatting is coming along. 460 should be good as an opener for November.

I also cranked my knee wraps on HARD for these. Like, that was probably about as tight as I've ever wrapped them. My left foot was numb before I had even unracked the weight. These were nearly Malan-esque wraps.

And probably because they were so tight, the back of my right leg (at the knee) is a little tender right now. Nothing severe at all, but given my injury history, it'll be something to keep an eye on. Hopefully it feels great in the morning; if not, I might be cautious and not squat in wraps next week. The good news is that this isn't the leg where I tore my gastroc.