Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[Keosawa]

Bent-Over Rows
135x10
185x10
185x10
185x10
185x12
185x12

Weighted Pull-ups
BWx8
+50x5
+50x5

Weighted Chin-ups
+50x6
+50x5

Face-Pulls, four sets

 

[Keosawa]

Great squatting Kyle. Really got that 555 moving.

Thanks man! I have a lot of work to do on my squat, but this felt good. If I could ever walk it out, I feel like I could make a run at 600 by the end of the year. Life would be so much easier if I were asked to box squat in competition instead of back squat.

 

[Jester]

Thanks for the reply Keo, that's explains everything I need for bench, the sumo deadlift thing might just turn out to be personal preference, I like them and might just make it my main lift for like 6 months and see how I like it, if I end up not liking it much as least I'll get strong hips out of it

And since it's not terribly off my conventional with good form I'm not going to lose much

 

[cXs808]

Nice reverse band squat. Your box squat is strong as shit.

 

[Babyeater]

You are AMAZING.

 

[Babyeater]

So amazing.

 

[Keosawa]

You are AMAZING.

So amazing.

Thank you. You are also amazing. Here is my show of gratitude:

 

[Keosawa]

Deadlift w/ 100 lbs. of chains
135x5
135+100x5
225+100x1
315+100x1
405+100x1
455+100x1
500+100x1

Box Squats w/ 100 lbs. of chains
Bar+100x3
135+100x3
225+100x1
315+100x3
365+100x3
405+100x3

Glute-Ham Raises
BWx50
BWx50
BWx50

Back Extensions
BWx30
BWx30
BWx30

 

[Keosawa]

I was feeling a bit lethargic before today, but I had a big cheat meal for lunch and felt pretty good going into training today. The deadlifts went fine--I was hoping to get a little higher, but after 500 I knew I had just about hit my max--and I wanted to box squat heavy today, so I used my chains for those. 405x3 was far above what I had expected, and the chains were almost completely deloaded off the ground, so the weight at the top was ~500 lbs. So, all in all, this was an excellent and productive training session (though I didn't get in quite as much GPP as I should have).

 

[Keosawa]

Nice reverse band squat. Your box squat is strong as shit.

Jeez--I actually think I might box-squat 500 before the end of 2012 (it's become sort of a goal of mine). The reverse-band was stellar, and my best triple with chains probably ended up being around 440-450 at the bottom, 500 at the top. I think I might try for a box squat PR at the end of next cycle to gauge my progress on this lift; for some reason, my strength curve really works well with accommodating resistance, so I'm not going to get TOO excited just yet.

 

[cXs808]

for some reason, my strength curve really works well with accommodating resistance, so I'm not going to get TOO excited just yet.

I would LOVE to see you do a geared meet and see what kind of numbers you could put up in a legit suit.

 

[Keosawa]

I would LOVE to see you do a geared meet and see what kind of numbers you could put up in a legit suit.

I think it could happen within the next year. We'll see how July goes; if I'm happy with that meet, I might consider competing in single ply in October. If not, I'd strongly consider doing it in April.

 

[Keosawa]

Bench Press
Barx8 (wide)
Barx8 (close)
Barx8 (wide)
135x10 (wide)
185x1 (wide)
(all reps paused
225x1 (wide)
245x5 (wide)
225x5 (close)
(w/ two-board, paused
245x5 (wide)
225x5 (close)
245x5 (wide)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
55x12
70x9
70x8

Dumbbell Press
70x15
70x12
70x12

Lateral Dumbbell Raise
25x10
25x10
25x10

Decline Situps
+45x15
+45x15
+45x12

I had to switch to a two-board today because something that feels like tendonitis (something I haven't yet acknowledged on here) was flaring up again. I'm getting myself a new pair of elbow sleeves (I lost the old pair somehow) in order to help combat this; last time, these were quite effective. My pressing was fine today, but I definitely feel I need to dial down the pressing volume just a tad to allow myself some time to recover.

 

[dawgpnd81]

Question if you have time. I just purchased some bands from rogue the other day and wanted to use them for DE days on Squat/Bench. I bought the mirco mini, mini and monster mini bands. As far as numbers the best I could find was use 50-60% bar weight and the below for band tension. So for Squat I was going to try a monster mini on each side and a mini on each side for bench. For weight I would do a 3 week cycle using 50/55/60%. Reps would be 10x2 Squat, 8x3 Bench. Does this look about right for the band usage?


Max Squat 200-400 Tension on Top=115lbs (I'm guessing monster mini's for this?)

Bench Max 300-400 Tension on Top=60lbs (I'm guessing mini's for this?)

I'm about 6' tall, so the bands would be streched out to about 65 inches for Squat. From the chart I found it looks like that would be about 70lbs at the top for monster mini's, so 140lbs total. Not sure on the stretch for Bench I will have to measure that.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Bench Press
Barx8 (wide)
Barx8 (close)
Barx8 (wide)
135x10 (wide)
185x1 (wide)
(all reps paused
225x1 (wide)
245x5 (wide)
225x5 (close)
(w/ two-board, paused
245x5 (wide)
225x5 (close)
245x5 (wide)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press
55x12
70x9
70x8

Dumbbell Press
70x15
70x12
70x12

Lateral Dumbbell Raise
25x10
25x10
25x10

Decline Situps
+45x15
+45x15
+45x12

I had to switch to a two-board today because something that feels like tendonitis (something I haven't yet acknowledged on here) was flaring up again. I'm getting myself a new pair of elbow sleeves (I lost the old pair somehow) in order to help combat this; last time, these were quite effective. My pressing was fine today, but I definitely feel I need to dial down the pressing volume just a tad to allow myself some time to recover.

Although I'm so far below your level it's laughable, I can sympathize with your problem: I developed tendonitis last year from the AMAP work in Juggernaut. After consulting with a Physio and the instructors at my Gym, I switched to 5/3/1 for Powerlifting. The much lower volume, combined with ice, stretching etc, helped me recover from Golfer's Elbow.

What I've found is that I can lift "heavy" - by my puny standards - without any problem. It's the high rep work that kills my elbows.

Unfortunately, I was seduced by the Dark Side at Easter and started running Boring But Big as my assistance template. Mr Tendonitis has re-appeared so it's back to the Powerlifting version for me. No AMAP and regular "heavy" Singles.:redface:

Hope you get better soon, Keo.

 

[moyy]

Hey Keo, saw BabyEater's program and it looks really good, but also really unique (at least compared to the stuff I've read and "conventional wisdom"), like much of the stuff you do on your log, it seems to be a mixture of many training programs and ideals put together. I'm just wondering how you learnt all your stuff, do you have any background in personal training or any of those degrees/certs? Did you have anyone that you mostly learnt from and from which you take your approach, or are you mostly self-taught? If self-taught, then what resources did you use to acquire your level of knowledge? Also, how much do you "listen to your body" and train by feel? It seems to be quite a lot, and I'm wondering at what point you developed the confidence/self-awareness to do that, or if it was always like that with you?

Sorry for the rampage of questions, you don't have to answer them all or any at all. Thanks.

 

[Babyeater]

Hey Keo, saw BabyEater's program and it looks really good, but also really unique (at least compared to the stuff I've read and "conventional wisdom"), like much of the stuff you do on your log, it seems to be a mixture of many training programs and ideals put together. I'm just wondering how you learnt all your stuff, do you have any background in personal training or any of those degrees/certs? Did you have anyone that you mostly learnt from and from which you take your approach, or are you mostly self-taught? If self-taught, then what resources did you use to acquire your level of knowledge? Also, how much do you "listen to your body" and train by feel? It seems to be quite a lot, and I'm wondering at what point you developed the confidence/self-awareness to do that, or if it was always like that with you?

Sorry for the rampage of questions, you don't have to answer them all or any at all. Thanks.

Just want to step in here for a second and say that for some of what's going on in my program right now we've really sort of stayed with the way I had my workout split arranged (push, squat/leg stuff, pull, cardio) and implemented wave periodization and different approaches to assistance work than those I was using, to an extent. Whatever the "weirdness" of my program right now, some of it is because Keo's takeover of my training is being combined with my own formulation. As I get technique for the major lifts down and increase my strength, we will deviate further from the approach to training I had been taking over the past year and I will have less of a say in what I do (because I know nothing about higher levels of programming and Keo is some kind of demigod and I bow to him).

That said, I have been designing my own training programming for the past year. I learned from bodybuilders and a martial artist who lifted much like a bodybuilder as he trained for taekwondo. Keo has pointed out ways on various lifts in which I actually perform them like a bodybuilder and how I might think about doing those lifts differently to maximize their support of powerlifting conditioning; I have really enjoyed trying to learn how to make those shifts so far and look forward to more tweaking in the future.

 

[Keosawa]

Question if you have time. I just purchased some bands from rogue the other day and wanted to use them for DE days on Squat/Bench. I bought the mirco mini, mini and monster mini bands. As far as numbers the best I could find was use 50-60% bar weight and the below for band tension. So for Squat I was going to try a monster mini on each side and a mini on each side for bench. For weight I would do a 3 week cycle using 50/55/60%. Reps would be 10x2 Squat, 8x3 Bench. Does this look about right for the band usage?


Max Squat 200-400 Tension on Top=115lbs (I'm guessing monster mini's for this?)

Bench Max 300-400 Tension on Top=60lbs (I'm guessing mini's for this?)

I'm about 6' tall, so the bands would be streched out to about 65 inches for Squat. From the chart I found it looks like that would be about 70lbs at the top for monster mini's, so 140lbs total. Not sure on the stretch for Bench I will have to measure that.

50-60% for bar weight is a good idea, but you could go as low as 40% if you wanted to. With accommodating resistance, DE weights will typically be anywhere from 50-85% at the top, though 50% is quite low (a better range would be 65-85%).

Your band plans look fine, but check your band tensions yourself. Hang a band from somewhere (say, the top of a power cage or squat rack) and hang dumbbells from it until you have an idea of what X distance (say, the distance from the bar to the floor in both a standing and seated position on a box squat) equals in terms of resistance. Charts are fine, but use this reverse-band method to measure your bands personally.

I like to wave both my bar weight and my resistance, so for one three-week wave I might increase the bar weight each week, and on another, I might go from micro minis, to minis, to monster minis. The jump on the latter might be too severe percentage-wise, but there are ways to slowly ratchet up the band tension by manipulating the bands. if you're tying them from the bottom (like, say, on a cage rail), try looping it one extra time for each subsequent week. For a mini-band, that might translate into ten extra pounds' worth of tension at the top.

The more traditional Westside format is to wave bar weight for every three-week wave, but to alternate between resistance between waves. So, microcycle waving (bar-weight waving) is combined with macrocycle waving (tension waving, done at an inter-microcycle level). I might go 50/55/60 on my weights for one microcycle with mini-bands, and the next cycle, I might do the same, but I might do it with monster minis. At some point, I'll cycle back to lighter resistance.

I hope that's clear. If you have more questions, be sure to ask them; it's not a question that can be given a simple answer.

 

[Keosawa]

Hey Keo, saw BabyEater's program and it looks really good, but also really unique (at least compared to the stuff I've read and "conventional wisdom"), like much of the stuff you do on your log, it seems to be a mixture of many training programs and ideals put together. I'm just wondering how you learnt all your stuff, do you have any background in personal training or any of those degrees/certs? Did you have anyone that you mostly learnt from and from which you take your approach, or are you mostly self-taught? If self-taught, then what resources did you use to acquire your level of knowledge? Also, how much do you "listen to your body" and train by feel? It seems to be quite a lot, and I'm wondering at what point you developed the confidence/self-awareness to do that, or if it was always like that with you?

Sorry for the rampage of questions, you don't have to answer them all or any at all. Thanks.

I don't have any background in personal training, and I'm definitely not certified, but I suppose I have a mind for long duree algorithmic systems, so programming makes sense to me on a conceptual level. Admittedly, I don't have the physiological know-how of a certified trainer, so I have to rely upon my experience as a participant and observer to talk about the biomechanics of a given lift.

So, yes, I'm mostly self-taught. Here's what I did: a couple of years ago, I started reading the popular training methodologies, and I eventually settled on Westside as the one I most favored. I read all of Louie's articles, followed by the Book of Methods, followed by his manuals. I watched every youtube video and seminar from him and his gym. I then read some of the old Soviet texts, which are part of the source material for the conjugate method. Later, I started reading old articles from EliteFTS and T-Nation. Finally, I would find the logs of lifters who I thought were intriguing, and I'd study their training.

Now, this occurred over a period of a couple of years, and it hasn't been as exhaustive as I'm presenting it; there are still many, many gaps in my knowledge.

I let training percentages guide the general trajectory of my training, but I train in a quasi-intuitive manner. I used to be more of a "listen to my body" trainee, but I have made better, more consistent progress by structuring my training more. I'm a believer in using training percentages in a baseline, but in not forgetting that an absolute max is different from a present-day max, and that training percentages should adhere to the later, not the former. So, if I'm feeling poorly, I'll train down; if I'm feeling great, I might push my percentages up. A few months ago, I started reading about Mike Tuchscherer's Reactive Training Systems, and one thing I took away from his approach was to keep a mental log of my rate of perceived exertion. It's something I'm always conscious of, even if it's not something I log, and it dictates how I handle all of my training.

Again, I have something of a mind for "long duree" algorithmic systems; I have a general sense of the rotation and periodization of my special exercises, even if it isn't pre-planned. I typically split the first half of my heavy training sessions between a main exercise (squat, bench press, and deadlift) and a main exercise variant (squat, bench press, and deadlift variant), and I train the former in a very systematic fashion, adhering to training percentages and deviating from them only when necessary, and I train the latter in a very intuitive fashion, doing what I feel best doing on that day. The balance, I find, works for me. My training sessions normally follow a SPP/GSPP/GPP (Specific/General-Specific/General) trajectory, which I got a year or so ago from Al Caslow's training log.

Anyway, this is another question that deserves a very long answer, so I'll just cut myself off here; if you want to know more, feel free to ask.

 

[LegioTitan]

I always enjoy reading your input regarding various questions. it's a pleasant reminder that power lifting and weight lifting are equally complicated just in different ways.