Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[calvus]

Great stuff in here Keo. Appreciate the video commentary as well.

 

[Keosawa]

I've been rounding my back while I do the standing abs. Does it matter?

Yes. You're de-emphasizing your abdominals when you do this. Try not to think of this as doing a standing "crunch," if that helps.

Why such an extreme reverse band tension for a pressing excercise? Why not just use a light band and lower the weight a bit?

Just curious...taking off >100lbs at the top just doesn't click for me. There has to be diminishing returns to this point. Let me know your thoughts on this.

You see guys who can barely squat 400 raw rolling with choked doubled reverse strong bands doing like 615 just to do it... (not you obv. But it's something you see that I truly don't get). I've always been taught lower reverse band tension and stay closer to the weight you can actually handle (never much more than ~125% 1RM). Stronger you get obv the stronger bands you can use. Sorry for the long winded post just wondering your thoughtson this point.

I don't think it matters much, personally; what matters is the differential between bottom and top. The short, simple answer as to why I use long blue reverse bands is because they're the only long bands available to me that will give me a differential of 20-30 lbs.

If I were to use my short light bands, then you're looking at a difference of well over 30 lbs. from bottom to top. In fact, for the sake of an example, if I were to hang these low enough so that the short light bands don't give anything at all, then I'd probably end up with 50+ lbs. at the bottom. Now you're talking about a top-bottom gap that is probably around 18% of my max floor press.

One solution would be to hang them higher, so that I was getting less of a top-bottom differential, but in order to hit a differential that would allow me to develop my lockout strength without feeling like I'm hitting a brick wall, I'd probably have to stretch them some, and then you've got a similar, though less exaggerated problem as the blue bands (since these will give 118 lbs. when stretched three feet).

The only pair of short bands I own that I could manipulate to give me 20-30 lbs. without are my mini-bands, and honestly, it's just plain easier to hang blue bands from the top then to rig up the safety pins to hold my short bands.

I think the reason to steer clear of really powerful reverse bands is because they provide a big gap between bottom and top. Sometimes, it's too big a gap. But my concern with reverse-band work is always to get something that will give me the top-bottom differential that I feel matches my strength curve. For floor pressing, these bands do that.

Ultimately, I think the main concern is to get the right top-bottom differential, not to worry so much about what the bands are adding. I know it looks like an ego lift to strap on huge bands, but the important thing is that the bands deload at a rate that is conducive with your ability to produce force, right? Beyond that, what does it matter?

Everyone likes to talk about proper band tension in terms of absolute strength (i.e. blue bands for 1000+ lb. squatters), but it's more a matter of band tension and the rate at which a band deloads being determined by a lifter's strength curve. It just happens that stronger lifters will be able to accelerate through greater top-bottom differentials on reverse bands.

Another example: I deadlift more than I squat, but my strength curves on each lift are completely different. On my deadlift, I slow to a halt past my knees; on my squat, I accelerate very quickly at lockout.

If I'm using a reverse-band, and my goal is to force me to "work" throughout the entirety of the lift at a roughly even rate, using anything but a pretty minor reverse-band in a deadlift is going to result in some pretty lousy numbers, since the deload of a heavy band will outpace my ability to accelerate through the lockout portion of the lift. But with my squat, I can use a band that will deload quickly and still accelerate at lockout. My deadlift might need a reverse band with a very small top-bottom differential--or no reverse-band deadlifting period, which is sort of what I've decided upon--while my low box squat will see me picking up speed at the top of my lifts even with a top-bottom differential of 75+ lbs.

Anyway, those are my thoughts--I'd be interested in hearing what you think.

I too like the new video format. Keep it up Keo!

Thanks!

Thirded or fourthed or whatevered. Some work on the sound editing is in order, however. Also, looks like you took the ads of your site. Went the other day to go clicky and nothing there

Yeah, the sound's recorded directly onto my laptop. It's not ideal, but it's the best I've got going right now.

Damn that kettleball bench looks wicked.

My shoulders feel fantastic afterwards. Yes, it's a little scary the first time you do it.

 

[Keosawa]

Great stuff in here Keo. Appreciate the video commentary as well.

Thanks man. I'm trying something new out and I'm glad people like it.

 

[Keosawa]

Squat
Barx5
Barx5
135x3
185x2
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x2
405x2
445x2
460x2 (PR)
470x2 (PR)

Weighted Crunches
100x20
100x20

GHR Blue Band Crunches
x20
x20
x20

Squat Belt Hip Walks
+185x4 trips
+185x4 trips

I might not be as regular a poster as I have been because I accidentally f'd my computer up and am now resigned to my office for the internetz. That means no videos until I get it fixed.

However, I still am taking video (I have video of this session), so I'll just post a bunch of stuff when I return.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx5
Barx5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
245x5
245x5
245x5
245x6
w/ reactive sling shot
245x9
245x10

Cable Tricep Pushdowns
130x15
155x15
155x15
155x15
155x15

Kettlebell Tricep Extensions
26x15, 15
26x15, 15
26x15, 15
26x15, 15
26x15, 15

Hammer Curls/Bicep Curls
40x12, 12
40x12, 12
30x12, 12

The pressing I'm doing is starting to get more difficult, but I was still able to AMRAP the last set and press these without too much difficulty. Based on the ridiculous programming I'm running, the rest of my training should look something like this:

Week one:
Saturday: 240x5, 250x5x2, 250x5+

Week two:
Tuesday: 245x4, 255x4x2, 255x4+
Saturday: 250x4, 260x4x2, 260x4+

Week three:
Tuesday: 255x3, 265x3x2, 265x3+
Saturday: 260x3, 270x3x2, 270x3+

Week four:
Tuesday: 265x2, 275x2x2, 275x2+
Saturday: 270x2, 280x2x2, 280x2+

I'll try to continue hitting AMRAPs for as long as I can, which might not be for too much longer. But if I can ride this out, I'll be hitting paused doubles at 280, which should put me in range for 300+ in October. I am definitely feeling stronger with my press thanks to all this paused work, and I'm excited to see what I'll be able to do with a week's rest.

 

[hatchoo]

You're peaking at the right moment (i'm guessig your next meet is some time in october). 500 squat and 300 bench will be attainable in your meet.

Your work capacity is crazy, it seems like you're lifting ME or DE everyday. How much sleep do you get? Do you take any supplements (ie. whey protein)? How much conditioning do you do? Sorry for the questions, just answer them when you get a chance.

 

[dawgpnd81]

Looking forward to your vids once you get around to it.

 

[Keosawa]

You're peaking at the right moment (i'm guessig your next meet is some time in october). 500 squat and 300 bench will be attainable in your meet.

Your work capacity is crazy, it seems like you're lifting ME or DE everyday. How much sleep do you get? Do you take any supplements (ie. whey protein)? How much conditioning do you do? Sorry for the questions, just answer them when you get a chance.

Yeah, I'm peaking at a good time. And yes, I'm doing ME or DE work every day, though I wouldn't call the heavy training I do "ME" anymore, since I'm not always working at 90%+.

Outside of training, I do everything as well as I can. I sleep 8 hours per night, eat a sound diet, and take the following dietary supplements: a daily vitamin, cod liver oil, 9g beta alanine, and 40g of whey. But really, that's it.

The key is to do a lot of GPP over time and slowly build a base. Little by little, your work capacity will improve. I will admit that there are days in which I auto-regulate and cut volume and intensity.

I don't do any conditioning besides walking a few miles each day.

Outside of that, all I can say is that developing one's work capacity is a long process, and it has to be programmed like anything else!

Looking forward to your vids once you get around to it.

Thanks man! I've got a ton of stuff saved.

Reverse-Band Box Squats (low box!)
Barx5
Barx3
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x3
425x3
425x3
425x3
425x3
440x3

Good squatting today.

 

[mdewey]

So why the beta alanine? I was always under the impression that it was mostly for endurance or longer sets. I had a bottle that I started, but never finished. It's from Allmax and says 'May contain traces of lead' on the side. I read it boost creatine's effectiveness though.

 

[Keosawa]

So why the beta alanine? I was always under the impression that it was mostly for endurance or longer sets. I had a bottle that I started, but never finished. It's from Allmax and says 'May contain traces of lead' on the side. I read it boost creatine's effectiveness though.

Well, not all of the training I do involves low-repetition work. The simple answer is that I use beta alanine because a.) it's a non-essential BCAA with some science behind it and b.) it's on most short lists, along with creatine monohydrate, of performance-related supplements that actually work.

Which is to say that I don't have a good answer, besides "because fuck it."

 

[Keosawa]

On an unrelated note, I took my first elected day off in I-don't-know-how-long yesterday. Felt tired and a bit run-down, so I opted to sleep instead of doing my DE work. Overall, I think the decision to rest will be a good one over the long haul. Since my July 14th meet concluded, I have taken a grand total of four days off (three to heal tendinitis in my right bicep and shoulder, and now one because I was tired), so I was probably due for a rest. I jumped right into my training after the last meet and have done ten consecutive weeks of meet prep immediately after my last meet. I feel fine, but I want to make sure I'm peaking at the right time, so my decision to skip this session was a strategic one.

 

[eastNYgoon138]

slacker

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx5
Barx5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
240x5
250x5
250x5
250x6
w/ two board
225x3
280x3
280x3

Banded Face Pulls w/ monster-mini
x25
x25
x25
x25
x25

Banded Tricep Pushdowns w/ monster-mini
x25
x25
x25
x25
x25

My paused bench sets are really starting to get strong. I'm going to check my log for when I last did these to see what I was doing.

 

[Keosawa]

Bench Press: all reps paused
Barx5 (wide)
Barx5 (close)
95x3 (wide)
95x3 (close)
135x5 (wide)
135x5 (close)
135x3 (wide)
135x3 (close)
185x1 (wide)
185x1 (close)
205x3 (close)
225x3 (wide)
220x3 (close)
240x3 (wide)
235x5 (close)
255x4 (wide; missed fifth)

I did some lighter accessory work in addition to this, but I can't remember it. All reps were paused today; this was a three-rep work-set day (I'm following a reverse pyramid down in intensity from last week until next week), with two AMRAP sets at the end. I was inspired by Knuckle's training to pause all my reps, and these went well. I was thrilled with 235x5 close and 255x4 wide for paused sets.


Bench Press (all paused)
Barx5 (wide)
Barx5 (close)
95x3 (wide)
95x3 (close)
135x3 (wide)
135x3 (close)
190x5 (close)
210x5 (wide)
205x5 (close)
225x5 (wide)
225x5 (close)
240x5 (wide)

My last two sessions before my April meet (I benched 292 in this one). Paused sets are definitely nowhere near what I'm doing now, though I was doing close-grip training at that point. It's interesting to see that I had paused rep maxes of 240x5 and 255x4, whereas those are work sets I'd smoke now. Maybe that's a good thing.

 

[Keosawa]

Deadlift
135x3
135x3
225x2
315x1
405x1
455x1
500x3
520x3 (PR)
540x2 (PR)

Block Pulls (just below knees)
495x5
495x5

GHRs
BWx10
BWx10
BWx10

Hamstring Sled Drags, four trips

Reverse Hypers
BWx12
+30x12
+30x9

 

[WitchCraft]

Nice pulling Kyle!

 

[Gingervitis]

Congrats on the deadlift pr's keo!

 

[Keosawa]

Thanks guys!

I wish I could show the video on these deadlifts. I'm now pulling with my hips several inches lower than before (my form almost looks decent, besides the rounding), and I don't know why, but if I can start to get on my heels a bit more and get my shoulders back, I might start locking out weights easier. But 520 is 91.5% x 3, and 540 is 95.1% x 2, and those are good numbers regardless for me.

But yeah, my pulls feel pretty good right now. In the future, I'm going to take some cycles just to pull reps off the floor. Doing some of it will help my pull out; I have to strike a balance between true ME work and some reps off the floor.

 

[Keosawa]

Floor Press (all paused)
Barx5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

Pendlay Rows
135x5
135x5
235x6
235x6
235x6
235x6

Monster-Mini Band Face Pulls
x20
x20
x20

I also got to witness this:

 

[Babyeater]

I also got to witness this:
...

Well, you're quite a bit of the reason this happened in the first place, so many, many thanks. And it was fun. A lot of fun. Gotta work on that neck-cranking though.