Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[Jester]

Yep, #2 at 148 in the squat right now. The answer for whether or not I'd be #1 with a 502 squat is a complicated one. Right now, the answer is no; Tony Conyers squatted 530 last November in a PRPA meet. However, that lift will expire after a year (rankings are done so that only your best lifts in the past year count), and I think his next best squat at 148 this year is 502. Recently, he's competed at 165, and he tends to compete in both weight classes.

So, 502 won't give me #1, but I might enter into a tie for it after the fact. Getting a #1 ranking is my next goal, and I don't feel like I need to get lucky to get it; if I train hard and smart, next year I'll have a strong enough squat to hopefully compete with Conyers' best numbers at this weight.

i gotcha, i saw that you had the 7th best since 2007, and that all but Conyers squat was expired. I just didnt know if Conyers, Morrow, or Talmant had a squat slightly less then their best since 2007, which i guess it turns out Conyers did.

I get what you are saying about lucking into it, doesnt seem genuine if you have it just because Conyers hasnt posted his best in the past 12 months

It's a great way to break out of a training slump.

yeah i think so too, right now im just trying to get back into it without reinjuring anything that has to do with my foot or back. maybe something in the spring, that would be good timing i think

 

[Fighting Sprite]

Is there any chance of us seeing a fourth attempt from you? With the way you are progressing, I could see you hitting a squat in the 510's.

 

[Keosawa]

Is there any chance of us seeing a fourth attempt from you? With the way you are progressing, I could see you hitting a squat in the 510's.

I really don't think so--NASA only gives three minutes before a fourth attempt must be performed, and I'm always the last one in my flight. Also, because fourth attempts don't count towards my official total, I doubt I'd try another for my squat, since I don't want to be more fatigued for the rest of the meet.

It will come in time; I'm just going to be patient and try not to over-reach this meet.

 

[hatchoo]

I didn't know the rankings/records expire after 1 year. Makes sense though. Is there an all-time ranking?

 

[Jester]

I didn't know the rankings/records expire after 1 year. Makes sense though. Is there an all-time ranking?

just since 2007, then you can find the world records on the site too

http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/yearly-rankings/men-alltime

 

[Keosawa]

Neutral Grip Lat Pulldowns
100x10
120x8
140x8
160x8
180x8
200x8 (HUGE PR!!1!)
Wide-Grip Pulldowns
100x8
100x8

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

Cable Shoulder Exercise (no idea what to call these)
x15
x15
x15

VWs
x15
x15
x15

My Mondays have more or less become short extra workouts again. This is mostly maintenance work and little else.

 

[CRZA]

Lat pulldown PR? haha, nice. Good work as always

 

[drew2143]

Thanks for the info on the box squat. And good lifting as always.

 

[calvus]

Nice job on the Lat Pulldown PR

Couple of quick creatine questions for you, if you don't mind:

1) How much creatine do you take daily?

2) When do you take it?

3) Do you stop taking creatine when cutting weight for a meet? If so, how far out?

Thanks!!

 

[Keosawa]

Lat pulldown PR? haha, nice. Good work as always

lol, yeah. Not exactly one I really keep track of, but this technically IS a PR.

Thanks for the info on the box squat. And good lifting as always.

No problem!

Nice job on the Lat Pulldown PR

Couple of quick creatine questions for you, if you don't mind:

1) How much creatine do you take daily?

2) When do you take it?

3) Do you stop taking creatine when cutting weight for a meet? If so, how far out?

Thanks!!

I actually don't take creatine. In the past, I have, and I've maybe taken it for two months out of this year. I just worry that I'll be retaining too much water while on it (though I will return to it after this meet, because I'll have until April to train).

When I do take it, I usually take 9-10g per day; if I can, I'll take it once in the morning and once after training, but I usually just end up taking it all after training (which, I think, is sort of a waste).

In general, I'd stop taking it six weeks out from a meet, but I think that was overkill on my part. My weight used to return to normal after a couple of weeks.

 

[Keosawa]

Squat
Barx5
Barx5
135x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
415x2
445x2
475x1 (failed second rep)
Paused squats
135x5
225x5
225x5

I'm going to upload a video of this session onto youtube. I was letting my right side dip a LOT on this day, and it caught up with me on 475. The first rep was fine, but on the second, the bar on my right side actually hit the safety pin and bounced off of it at the hole. This screwed me up enough to cause me to miss the second rep.

My squat's very erratic right now, so I will likely be cautious and take 480 for a second attempt at my meet. That's a small meet PR (+7 lbs.) and a weight that I feel very confident about hitting. I want to ensure that I get a good total at this meet, so I'll be a little conservative if my squat doesn't start immediately feeling better.



Also, today is my max-test day on the paused bench. I'm either going to hit 300 lbs. or have another failed video to post.

 

[CRZA]

Ive hit the pin myself, and it completely throws you off, so Im not suprised you missed the rep. The rest of your squats looked good, so I wouldnt sorry to much about it

Good luck on the bench!

 

[KnuckleSangwich]

That's a wonderful feeling when the weight sits you down in front of 20 or so people and make you stare at the loaded bar on the pins and ponder your life choices.

 

[Keosawa]

Ive hit the pin myself, and it completely throws you off, so Im not suprised you missed the rep. The rest of your squats looked good, so I wouldnt sorry to much about it

Good luck on the bench!

Thanks a lot man. Besides some wonkiness, the squats didn't feel awful. I'm going to test some things out--and maybe try my old wraps again--over the course of the next week to get my squat worked out. Worst case scenario is I take 480 for a second attempt and get a small meet PR before going for a big third attempt. Even just totaling 1340 at this meet would be a success for me, because it'd mean progress.

That's a wonderful feeling when the weight sits you down in front of 20 or so people and make you stare at the loaded bar on the pins and ponder your life choices.

It's humbling. At least I can tell myself that those other twenty wouldn't have made it to rep #2.

 

[eastNYgoon138]

Your warm ups moved so fast I forgot that they were like all in the mid 400's! That's crazy. I'm always very impressed by your lower body lifts's speed. I know it's close to your meet but maybe you just need to de-load the squat a little or god forbid, take a day or two of rest.

 

[mdewey]

That barbell's moving fast. I'm stoked to see how your meet goes!

When did you get yourself knee wraps? I feel like it's to early for me to mess with them, but I don't want to mess up my knees out of ignorance. Is there a certain level at which it would be safer, or do wraps mainly just help you bounce out of the hole?

 

[miaou]

Is it me or was your upper body was rotated to the right relative to your foot stance?

It looks like your feet are looking more or less directly at the camera, while your torso & face are looking towards the center front of the rack.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx5
95x3
135x1
185x1
225x1
250x1
275x1
300x1 (PR)

Floor Press w/ reactive slingshot
Barx5
135x5
185x5
225x5
260x5
260x5
260x5
(no slingshot)
135x20
135x20

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

The 300-lb. paused bench was about as slow a bench as I've ever had to suffer through (from start to finish, the lift took about 14 seconds).



But hey, I got it. Barely. But getting back to matching my paused bench PR has taken me over two years to do. A 300-lb. paused bench press isn't spectacular by any stretch, but it's one of the lifts I'm proudest of, just because it has taken two and a half years of frustrating training to finally make it back.

 

[Keosawa]

Your warm ups moved so fast I forgot that they were like all in the mid 400's! That's crazy. I'm always very impressed by your lower body lifts's speed. I know it's close to your meet but maybe you just need to de-load the squat a little or god forbid, take a day or two of rest.

Thanks man. And yeah, the rest is coming. I just need to make it through the meet.

That barbell's moving fast. I'm stoked to see how your meet goes!

When did you get yourself knee wraps? I feel like it's to early for me to mess with them, but I don't want to mess up my knees out of ignorance. Is there a certain level at which it would be safer, or do wraps mainly just help you bounce out of the hole?

I don't think you need to be at a certain level for knee wraps to be safer--I actually feel safer with them than without them--but I started using mine after I had squatted 310 at 148 lbs. in my first meet. So, I was over twice bodyweight for a raw squat before I first used them. For my first year, I used a really mild pair (the Inzer red stripes, which are the stretchiest wraps you can buy, just about).

Is it me or was your upper body was rotated to the right relative to your foot stance?

It looks like your feet are looking more or less directly at the camera, while your torso & face are looking towards the center front of the rack.

Yes! I noticed this too. I think you're on to something here.

 

[Tosa]

I don't know if this is the case with you, but I find accumulated fatigue will exaggerate any small assymetry. I can prevent it to a large degree with some unilateral work, but with enough fatigue the imbalances will be apparent.

Congrats on the 300 bench.