Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[KnuckleSangwich]

I foam roll on occasion, but not regularly. I need to buy a foam roller, but I'm trying to wait until my next paycheck. There's a really soft one at school that I use on occasion to try and keep it up, but it's not the same at all.

6" PVC pipe. Unbelievable but go easy at first, it's pretty aggressive.

 

[Keosawa]

What strange place do you lift where everything is shiny and bright and someone setting up for a 520lb pull doesn't attract any attention?

It's the University of Iowa's new Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. It opened a year and a half ago (coincidentally on my birthday) and is comrpised of $70 million worth of (mostly) horse shit:



Sometimes I get attention there. Like any gym, if you're around for long enough, other members will introduce themselves to you or start to at least notice you. The kids that go there are usually very nice to me, but I definitely don't need or even want any gawking from an audience. Sometimes people will inquire about my training, and I usually just let me training partner talk to them, because I find it embarrassing.

 

[LegioTitan]

Pretty much the exact same as every large gym on every major military installation I ever visited. Open garbage can, insert money. Fuck you tax payer.

 

[Keosawa]

6" PVC pipe. Unbelievable but go easy at first, it's pretty aggressive.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I also was told by Louie Simmons that if I can't buy a bamboo bar, a small PVC pipe would work well. It seems PVC pips can be quite useful.

 

[Keosawa]

Pretty much the exact same as every large gym on every major military installation I ever visited. Open garbage can, insert money. Fuck you tax payer.

Our powerlifting team can't even get any storage space, so we keep our bands and chains packed in a single small locker.

The facility's filled with open space and unnecessary bullshit, and it drives me nuts. I emailed the equipment director to see if she'd field requests or suggestions for new equipment and she never responded to me.

Here's something that I always harp on: when the facility opened, every power rack was stocked with bands of all sizes. I assume they purchases a college package from Sorinex and got all the bands that came with it. Well, over time, people have either stolen or broken most of the bands, because they've all but disappeared (it's not like anyone uses them correctly anyway). Now, all the gym has left are eight pairs of blue bands. They won't replace the smaller bands, but they've got these blues at every station. If you don't know band tensions, blue bands will offer 400 lbs. of assistance if hung from the top of a cage and stretched to the bottom. Unless you've got a raw squat of, say, 600+, the tension is usually too much.

It's ridiculous because blue bands are the last thing this gym needs, since virtually no one could even use them properly, but it's the last option left.

 

[KnuckleSangwich]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I also was told by Louie Simmons that if I can't buy a bamboo bar, a small PVC pipe would work well. It seems PVC pips can be quite useful.

I would go straight to a PVC if I were you. As you become more experienced/stronger etc. the normal rollers won't be as effective. I'd hate for you to spend $30 on a reg foam roller that isn't gonna do shit for you when a $2 piece of pipe will work wonders.

 

[LegioTitan]

Wow.... ridiculous...

And I'm selling my old Cadillac to get used equipment to train with... These people just piss away thousands of dollars.

 

[Eric Brown]

If you guys are ever in Orlando, make sure you check out the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex. You want to see money to spare, there you go. The coaches locker room (we have a separate one) has upholstered chairs, not benches. Cleaned daily, etc. It is so comfortable that one night during a long event that I had to be back for early the next morning, I slept there. Saved me two hours in travel time.

 

[cXs808]

I would go straight to a PVC if I were you. As you become more experienced/stronger etc. the normal rollers won't be as effective. I'd hate for you to spend $30 on a reg foam roller that isn't gonna do shit for you when a $2 piece of pipe will work wonders.

I also use a 6" PVC pipe. If you lay it down on one of those foam stretching/yoga mats it eases the pressure a little bit. After going PVC, I can't see myself going back to foam.

 

[Keosawa]

I'm going to go the PVC route. Thanks for the advice, all.

Pendlay Rows
135x10
135x10
185x10
185x10
225x8
245x5
(strict barbell rows)
165x10
165x10

Face Pulls, five sets

Lat Pulldowns
100x12
130x10
150x7
130x10
120x8

Band Pull-Aparts, three sets

This was a quick 45-minute extra workout from yesterday.

 

[belph]

What's the difference between a Pendlay and a strict ?

 

[Keosawa]

What's the difference between a Pendlay and a strict ?

I didn't word it well enough because I was rushing to post it; "strict" is the word I'm using to define a bent-over underhanded row without resetting on the ground.

 

[Keosawa]

Squats
Barx8
135x5
135x5
225x3
315x3
350x3
370x3
390x6 (PR)

Standing Goodmornings
135x10
135x10
225x3
315x3
135x10
135x10

Standing Cable Ab Crunches, three sets

Pull Throughs, three sets

GHR Blue Band Crunches
x20
x20
x20



It looked like I maybe had one more rep left in the tank, but I'm trying to be a little conservative and just get good squat sets in for the next month.

 

[Jester]

Do you wear wraps on all your ME work or just your heavy 3,2, and 1 rep maxes?

 

[Keosawa]

Do you wear wraps on all your ME work or just your heavy 3,2, and 1 rep maxes?

All of my work sets, usually. I don't even have a non-wrapped 1RM to speak of anymore.

 

[Jester]

All of my work sets, usually. I don't even have a non-wrapped 1RM to speak of anymore.

Any reason? Is it just to get used to them, so you squat in the gym like you do in comps?

 

[Keosawa]

Any reason? Is it just to get used to them, so you squat in the gym like you do in comps?

Well, my squat 1RM for my non-wrapped squat will obviously be lower than my wrapped squat, so I'd either do all my work sets with wraps or without them; in other words, if I perform my first work set (350x3) without wraps, that work set ceases to be 80% of my 1RM.

My belief is that knee wraps don't magically add a lot of pounds onto your squat. They certainly add pounds as soon as your first try, but like any piece of gear, you have to develop your strength in relation to your equipment. So, if you want to maximize the benefits of using knee wraps, you have to use knee wraps, because knee wraps present a different variation in resistance. My bet is that one lifter could put on a pair of knee wraps and get X amount of weight added to his squat, and another lifter could put on that same pair and get twice that added on, just like some squatters get more out of single-ply gear than others.

The simple answer to why I do all my work sets wrapped is because my squat continues to improve at a regular rate and never stalls; there's no incentive from my end to try squatting without knee wraps. Because I compete in knee wraps, that's how I always train. If I were to compete in a meet (like RUM) without wraps, I'd be training exclusively without them. It's all about what's coming up for me.

 

[LegioTitan]

Shit... I need to squat a lot more. Awesome work Keo.

 

[Cratos]

Nice squatting.

 

[Jester]

Makes me wonder if I should switch my approach to it. I do all my worksets with no wraps, just sleeves and belt, the only time I ever wrap my knees is when I max out, I can usually count on 40 pounds being added on from the wraps

Wonder if after the cycle I'm on now I should change it up and start wrapping on all work sets since I plan on competing for a while in an org that allows wraps