Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[belph]

You shouldn't, trust me.

What are you doing for squatting anyways?

 

[Keosawa]

What are you doing for squatting anyways?

Something like this:

Tuesday, heavy squats, week one 4x6x82%, week two 5x4x87%, week three 6x2x92%.

Thursday, reverse-band low box squats, week one 1x10x92%, week two 2x8x86%, week three 3x6x80%.

Sunday, DE low box squats, week one 9x3x50%, week two 9x2x55%, week three 9x2x60%, with increasing resistance.

Plus the assistance work.

 

[Keosawa]

The idea is to have a higher-volume, heavy day with 20-25 repetitions at 80-85% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8, then 15-20 repetitions at 85-90% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8, then 10-12 repetitions at 90+% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8. That's the mesocycle.

Then, I have a lower-volume, heavy day 48 hours later, with reverse bands to tailor the lift to my strength curve and to imitate the effect of knee wraps. The wave periodizes during these first mesocycles in reverse, so as to keep me from having really low and really high intensity weeks. Week one's 10 singles at 92%+, week two's 8 doubles at 86%+, and week three's 6 triples at 80%+. The RPE, at least for this first mesocycle, is down at around 6, to allow for recovery and focus on technique off the low box.

The premise is that in a given week, I have 10-12 reps performed at 90+% and 15-25 reps performed at 80-90%, or I just have 25-35 reps performed at ~85%. Median percentage is usually around 85% anyway, but with an RPE that is almost always >10. At most, I allow myself two absolute max-out sets per week, and one per session.

Sunday is still run like traditional dynamic-effort work. The weights are mostly approximations, and they change from time to time. Resistance is waved, but the same resistance isn't used from cycle to cycle.

 

[Keosawa]

Low Box Squat w/ reverse bands
Barx8
135x3
135x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
415x3
415x0
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3

Note: I un-racked 415 for my second set and went out a little bit on my feet, so I immediately re-racked it. I was fine right after and completed the rest of my work sets without any difficulty. All attempts were fast and easy.

 

[Keosawa]

Deadlift off 1.5" blocks
135x3
135x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
465x1
500x1
540x1
570x0
485x1
485x1
485x1

Deadlifts w/ bands (325 lbs. at top)
135x3
225x2
225x2
275x2
275x1 (failed second)

Pull-ups
BWx5
+50x5
+50x5
+50x5

Back Extensions w/ barbell on back
BWx12
+75x12
+95x10
+115x6

My deadlifts are just a little slow right now, and it's likely from all the squatting volume I've implemented. Because of that, I'm consistently 10-20 lbs. from where my max could be, and I'm missing my third attempts. So, I'll scale back the intensity just a tad on deadlift day as I focus on building my squat. I have a few other tweaks planned, but I'll explain another time.

Also: I bought myself a new pair of knee wraps. I've had a pair of Inzer Iron Zs for the last year and a half, and they're pretty stretched out at this point. If you're not familiar with knee wraps, Iron Zs aren't really stiff knee wraps to begin with, though I bought them when my squat was in the mid 300s and I didn't need much more.

Now, though, I'm going to get a new, better pair for competition, so I bought myself a pair of APT Convicts. I figure if I'm going to compete in knee wraps--as opposed to being completely raw--then I might as well wear something good. We'll see how I like these when they come in. My plan is to test a PR in them and then save them until my meets while continuing to train in the Inzers.

I don't know what to expect; it'd be nice to throw on a new pair of wraps and instantly improve my squat, but I'm skeptical, in part because I already feel I get a lot out of my current knee wraps. Still, it's a good idea for me to have a competition pair of wraps, because at this point, every little bit counts.

 

[miaou]

Something like this:

Tuesday, heavy squats, week one 4x6x82%, week two 5x4x87%, week three 6x2x92%.

Thursday, reverse-band low box squats, week one 1x10x92%, week two 2x8x86%, week three 3x6x80%.

Sunday, DE low box squats, week one 9x3x50%, week two 9x2x55%, week three 9x2x60%, with increasing resistance.

Plus the assistance work.

Wait, so if 1x10x92% means 10 singles at 92%, then 6x2x92% means 2 sets of 6 at 92%?

How does that work?

 

[Keosawa]

Wait, so if 1x10x92% means 10 singles at 92%, then 6x2x92% means 2 sets of 6 at 92%?

How does that work?

Sorry, some errors there: I got the percentages wrong, and I mixed up sets and reps on that one: it's 10x1 at 95%, 8x2 at 91%, and 6x3 at 87%.

 

[hardheart]

Low Box Squat w/ reverse bands
Barx8
135x3
135x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
415x3
415x0
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3
415x3

Note: I un-racked 415 for my second set and went out a little bit on my feet, so I immediately re-racked it. I was fine right after and completed the rest of my work sets without any difficulty. All attempts were fast and easy.

Beastmode much?

 

[JauntyAngle]

The idea is to have a higher-volume, heavy day with 20-25 repetitions at 80-85% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8, then 15-20 repetitions at 85-90% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8, then 10-12 repetitions at 90+% spaced out so that the average RPE is around an 8. That's the mesocycle.

Then, I have a lower-volume, heavy day 48 hours later, with reverse bands to tailor the lift to my strength curve and to imitate the effect of knee wraps. The wave periodizes during these first mesocycles in reverse, so as to keep me from having really low and really high intensity weeks. Week one's 10 singles at 92%+, week two's 8 doubles at 86%+, and week three's 6 triples at 80%+. The RPE, at least for this first mesocycle, is down at around 6, to allow for recovery and focus on technique off the low box.

The premise is that in a given week, I have 10-12 reps performed at 90+% and 15-25 reps performed at 80-90%, or I just have 25-35 reps performed at ~85%. Median percentage is usually around 85% anyway, but with an RPE that is almost always >10. At most, I allow myself two absolute max-out sets per week, and one per session.

Sunday is still run like traditional dynamic-effort work. The weights are mostly approximations, and they change from time to time. Resistance is waved, but the same resistance isn't used from cycle to cycle.

Thanks for sharing this, Keo. It is always interesting to read about your programming (even if it is only for your "rudimentary" (that was the word you used, right?) national record squat).

 

[gbg]

How do you calculate how much resistance your getting with the bands? Did them the other day and had to guesstimate.

 

[Keosawa]

How do you calculate how much resistance your getting with the bands? Did them the other day and had to guesstimate.

Here's what I do:

First, figure out the distance of the band at its most-stretched. This means measuring from the top of the barbell to the bottom of whatever apparatus you're attaching the bands to. If you're deadlifting with bands and holding them in place under your feet, measure from the top of where the barbell rests at lockout to the floor.

Second, hang the bands upside down from a large, stable apparatus, like a power rack. Make sure they're set up from the top like they were from the bottom. So, if you were just holding them with your feet, hang them from something. if you tied them off from the bottom of the cage, tie them off in the same manner. If you were using a doubled-up setup, make sure it's the same at the top.

Third, hang shit from it. If you've got less than a hundred pounds (per band) in band tension, it's easy just to hang progressively heavier dumbbells from them. Find the dumbbell that stretches the band as much as you had it stretched while doing your exercise, and voila: you've got your tension for one band.

This is how I figure out my band tension; it takes a bit of time, but it's an easy approach and it gives pretty exact results.

 

[Keosawa]

From Saturday:

Bench Press
Barx8
Barx8
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
245x3
260x3
260x3
260x3
260x3
(normal grip, w/ slingshot)
225x3
250x3
275x3
275x3

Dumbbell Shoulder Press (paused)
50x8
70x6
70x6
70x6

Pull-Ups
BWx8
+50x5
+50x5
+50x5

Power Shrugs
135x8
225x5
315x5
335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5

 

[Keosawa]

From Sunday:

DE Low Box Squat (w/ short monster mini-bands)
Barx3
Barx3
135x2
185x2
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3

DE Conventional Deadlift (w/ short light and monster-mini bands)
135x2
135x2 (w/ monster minis)
135x2 (w/ both)
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2

GHRs
BWx10
+25x15
+25x15
+25x15
+25x15

Squat Belt Hip Walks
120x150 steps
120x150 steps

Speed felt good on this day. I wanted to try out the band tension on my new bands, so I bucked the program and just went by feel. The band tension on squats was pretty stiff (100+ lbs.), and it was even stiffer for deadlifts (150+ lbs.), but I think I'll benefit from training speed with a lot of band tension and a pretty big disparity between top and bottom.

 

[Keosawa]

Pendlay Rows
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
255x5
255x5
255x5
255x5

Strict Overhead Press, w/ narrow grip
Barx8
95x5
135x5
145x5
155x5
165x1
175x1
185x1
195x1 (PR)

Face Pulls
114x15
170x15
180x15
180x15
180x15

Rear Delt Flys
10x15
10x15
10x15

Hammer Curls
45x10, 10
45x10, 10

These rows felt really easy today; I was surprised by how smooth they went. After that, I tried out some strict overhead presses, since I haven't done much overhead work in a long time and want to get back to doing it on a semi-regular to regular basis. I did a few light work sets, then worked up to a new PR. I figured these would be difficult today, but I actually felt really strong with them, which means that my pressing is, indeed, improving.

 

[Babyeater]

we did some good work in there today despite the gym being the entirety of the "gym idiots" thread played out in one moderately-sized space.

 

[gbg]

Thanks for the explanation on band tension Keo. Eric tied them up to the bottom of the rack for deads so not as easy to figure out. Think he said it was 250 (approx) at the top, dam near face-planted it

 

[CRZA]

wow. Nice overhead Keo. Thats 45lbs+ your bodyweight right? Thats like your bw + 30% or so. You strong bastard, haha. Jealousy speaking

 

[Keosawa]

we did some good work in there today despite the gym being the entirety of the "gym idiots" thread played out in one moderately-sized space.

Yes, we did. I could have filled fifty pages of the gym idiots thread with what was going on yesterday.

Thanks for the explanation on band tension Keo. Eric tied them up to the bottom of the rack for deads so not as easy to figure out. Think he said it was 250 (approx) at the top, dam near face-planted it

You're welcome. 250 lbs. is a ton of band tension at the top!

wow. Nice overhead Keo. Thats 45lbs+ your bodyweight right? Thats like your bw + 30% or so. You strong bastard, haha. Jealousy speaking

Thank you sir. I'm a little fatty right now, so it's more like 35-40 lbs. over my bodyweight. But still, I haven't hit a one-rep pressing PR besides a floor press in a long, long time, so this was encouraging.

Well, encouraging and, in a perverse way, disappointing, because I half-figured my overhead press would suck and that it'd be something I could work on to improve my bench. I'll still spend this cycle developing it (because I REALLY want to add a bit more heavy shoulder work into my training), but it isn't the egregious weakness I thought it would be.

 

[Keosawa]

Nice, PL!

Squat
Barx8
Barx8
135x3
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
400x6
400x6
400x6
405x5

Standing Goodmorning
135x5
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5

Pull Throughs
136x20
170x20
170x20
170x20

Standing Cable Ab Crunches
59x21
48x21

A word on my final set on squats: this last set felt great, and the first four flew up, but I actually hit the safety pins on one side on the fifth rep and got seriously imbalanced. I had set them a little higher because I was going to go for an AMRAP set, but it turned out to be a poor decision. I managed to complete the rep (a dumb idea, since I was pushed pretty badly out of position), but I knew I had to rack it after that, so I did. My goal was 405x7, and had I not screwed that up, I would have gotten there. Oh well.

 

[Keosawa]

Next mesocycle's programming:

Seven-Day Split:
Monday: Extra workout; lat/shoulder work.
Tuesday: Heavy Back Squats
Wednesday: Heavy Bench Press
Thursday: Medium-Heavy Box Squats
Friday: Heavy Deadlifts
Saturday: Medium-Heavy Bench Press
Sunday: DE Box Squats and DE Deadlifts

Mesocycle Breakdown

Mesocycle one (three-week wave): July 23rd-August 12th
Mesocycle two (three-week wave): August 13th-September 2nd
Mesocycle three (three-week wave): September 3rd-September 23rd
Mesocycle four (four-week wave): September 24th-October 21st
Pre-meet week: October 22nd-October 26th
Meet: October 27th

Mesocycle two set/repetition scheme for squats, bench presses, and deadlifts:

Monday:
* Pendlay Rows, five sets
* Strict Overhead Press, three-to-five sets
* Face Pulls
* Rear Delt Flys

Tuesday, Heavy Back Squats:
Week One: 82%+15 lbs. (400)x6x4
Week Two: 87%+15 lbs. (425)x4x5
Week Three: 92%+15 lbs. (450)x2x6
* Standing Goodmornings, three-to-four sets
* Pull Throughs, three sets
* Standing Cable Ab Crunches, three sets

Wednesday, Heavy Bench Press:
Week One: 82%+5 lbs. (250)x6x4
Week Two: 87%+5 lbs. (265)x4x5
Week Three: 92%+5 lbs. (285)x2x6
* Floor Press, three-to-five sets
* Tricep Rollbacks, five sets
* Wide-Grip Pulldowns, five sets

Thursday, Medium-Heavy Box Squat:
Week One: 95%+5 lbs. (455)x1x10
Week Two: 91%+5 lbs. (435)x2x8
Week Three: 87%+5 lbs. (420)x3x6

Friday, Heavy Deadlift:
Week One: 1.5-inch deficit pull w/ bands, three singles at 90+%, then three triples at 80%
Week Two: 2.5-inch deficit pull w/ bands, three singles at 90+%, then three doubles at 85%
Week Three: 4-inch block pull w/ bands, three singles at 90+%, then three singles at 90%
* Heavy Banded Rack Pulls, three sets
* Back Extensions, three sets
* Weighted Crunches, three sets

Saturday, Medium-Heavy Bench Press w/ slingshot:
Week One: 95% (310)x1x10
Week Two: 91% (295)x2x8
Week Three: 87% (280)x3x6

Sunday, DE Box Squat/Deadlift:
Week One: 40% (170 box squat, 225 deadlift)+light mini-bands (light/monster-mini for deadlifts), 9x3 squats, 9x1 deadlifts
Week Two: 45% (190 box squat, 255 deadlift)+light mini-bands (light/monster-mini for deadlifts), 9x2 squats, 9x1 deadlifts
Week Three: 50% (210 box squat, 285 deadlift)+light mini-bands (light/monster-mini for deadlifts), 9x1 squats, 9x1 deadlifts
* Dimel Deadlifts, two sets
* Glute-Ham Raises, three sets
* Squat Belt Hip Walks, two sets
* GHR Band Crunches, three sets