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Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

I was going to ask if you were going to add in extra pulling because of your third day of benching, but I guess you answered that with your session today. I get a complex whenever I press that I HAVE to do the exact same amount of pulling. Do you find this absolutely necessary?

Not to that extent, no, but I do try to find some balance between my pressing and my pulling. Ultimately, I press a lot more than I row, but I choose to focus instead on a lot of prehab exercises (face pulls, external rotations, rotator cuff exercises) to try to avoid any imbalances and keep healthy.
 
Hey Kyle! It's been awhile since I posted here but I wanted to say congrats on your meet and congrats on breaking 1350! Your squat looks stronger than ever. Way to represent the 148-ers!
 
Hey Kyle! It's been awhile since I posted here but I wanted to say congrats on your meet and congrats on breaking 1350! Your squat looks stronger than ever. Way to represent the 148-ers!

Thanks man! I haven't seen you around sherdog lately--how have you been?
 
I take the following:

40g of whey protein.
One cod liver oil pill.
One daily vitamin.
One caffeine pill or cup of coffee, pre-workout.

In the past, I've taken 9g of beta alanine per day, but am currently waiting until I'm not so broke to buy more.

For the last five days, I've been loading creatine monohydrate at about 10g per day. I will be taking creatine for the first time in almost a year during this uninterrupted training period. I'm not normally on it because I worry about water retention, particularly close to a meet, but now is my chance to try and benefit from it.

But yeah, that's it.

And at the very minimum, I think that one isn't ready for supplementation until you're taking your training seriously enough to be eating for performance. Most new lifters aren't at that stage yet.

Beyond that, I don't really have any strict guidelines to give. I think it's less a matter of experience than it is a matter of how seriously the person in question takes his or her training. Someone who eats like shit and doesn't sleep is throwing away money on buckets of Jack3d.


Gotcha, is the cod oil pill similar in effect to omega-3/6 oil pills? And the reason I was asking, was just cause I just started creatine loading 2 days ago, so I was wondering if you had had any success with it, or advice on supplements in general haha. Thanks for the input.
 
Congrats on the RUM invite, that's one meet I'd really like to compete in someday.
 
I just read about the RUM and the FitExpo LA invite you got. I'm planning on watching the FitExpo meet since i live in the LA area, it would've been cool to meet you. Congrats on the invite, that is really awesome.
 
Thanks man! I haven't seen you around sherdog lately--how have you been?

Not bad at all man! Major offseason for me so I've really just been putting my nose to the grindstone and testing out all kinds of different things to see what my training will be for the next few months or so. Been really digging the whole no-belt training lately.
 
Gotcha, is the cod oil pill similar in effect to omega-3/6 oil pills? And the reason I was asking, was just cause I just started creatine loading 2 days ago, so I was wondering if you had had any success with it, or advice on supplements in general haha. Thanks for the input.

I think they're pretty similar, yes, and I don't know why you'd choose one over the other. I don't really have any advice on creatine loading--I'm sort of discovering the process myself right now. Let me know how it goes for you, and I'll do the same.

Congrats on the RUM invite, that's one meet I'd really like to compete in someday.

I bet you could qualify for it right now if you wanted to. For a 181, the qualifying total is only 1383.

For 148, it's 1069, so I qualified by almost 300 lbs. The standards for us 148s are ridiculously low, likely because we're a much thinner division.

I just read about the RUM and the FitExpo LA invite you got. I'm planning on watching the FitExpo meet since i live in the LA area, it would've been cool to meet you. Congrats on the invite, that is really awesome.

Yeah, man, that would have been cool. I thought about it, but travel is too tough, and I just want to train. But I'll hopefully be in California for a meet someday. I know it's not LA, but if Mark Bell ever runs another big raw meet in Sacramento, I'd strongly consider going and doing it, particularly if it attracts a crowd like this one.

Not bad at all man! Major offseason for me so I've really just been putting my nose to the grindstone and testing out all kinds of different things to see what my training will be for the next few months or so. Been really digging the whole no-belt training lately.

Very nice. No-belt training intimidates the hell out of me--I give you credit for doing it.
 
I have a solution for you. Just go to the gym and pick up 800 pounds, then Stan and Creed will pay for you to go to big meets. It's so simple!
 
I think they're pretty similar, yes, and I don't know why you'd choose one over the other. I don't really have any advice on creatine loading--I'm sort of discovering the process myself right now. Let me know how it goes for you, and I'll do the same.

Will do man, I have a feeling that it might help more with powerlifting or bodybuilding style training as opposed to Oly lifts, just cause of the nature of the lifts (but I could be completely wrong here).

What brand are you using, how much, etc.. I'm doing Optimum Nutrition, 20g a day (5g 4 times a day) for 4 days, then going down to 5g a day.
 
No belt training is really an ego-check for me. I feel I easily get a good 30lbs out of my belt for the squat and up to 50lbs for my pull. Could be a confidence issue as well.
 
No belt training is really an ego-check for me. I feel I easily get a good 30lbs out of my belt for the squat and up to 50lbs for my pull. Could be a confidence issue as well.

You're alive!!?!
 
Maybe, belph, but I feel it's different, since a knee wraps directly add speed, while a belt just makes it easier for you to produce it. And I'd still gain a lot from squatting unwrapped and developing strength out of the bottom; I'm not sure what I'd gain at this moment from doing heavy beltless work.

Speaking of squats...

Squats:
Barx5
135x5
225x3
315x3
375x5
405x5
425x4 (hit safety pin, screwed myself up, had to rack it)

Low Box Squats
225x3
315x3
335x3
355x3
375x3

Seated Goodmornings
135x10
135x10
135x10



My strength is back, and the exertion headaches are virtually non-existent now. I think I could have set a rep PR (6+) with 85% had I not hit that safety pin. Oh well.
 
I haven't been in your log much for a while Keo. Seems like I have missed a few things- invitations to prestigious meets, a bit of sickness and of course the usual awesome lifting.

Very interesting that a belt would help you to maintain speed. It makes sense when I think about it. I realized a while back while deadlifting that any time things in the body move around internally during a lift, it's you moving and not the bar, and speed suffers. A belt would keep everything tight in the middle, and ensure that the force is moving right through.
 
I'm not sure what I'd gain at this moment from doing heavy beltless work.

Probably nothing. Stu McGill would probably say you'd be safer but, well, you're powerlifting, so that's kind of moot haha. Most people don't know but quite a few EMGs have shown higher erector and abdominal activation using a belt vs unbelted. Some haven't reproduced this but it's interesting anyways as some anti-belt individuals insist that it inhibits abdominal activation and will make them weaker.

By the way, long time lurker. Sick work on 425x4. Nice to see a lighter guy pushing some serious weight.
 
Probably nothing. Stu McGill would probably say you'd be safer but, well, you're powerlifting, so that's kind of moot haha. Most people don't know but quite a few EMGs have shown higher erector and abdominal activation using a belt vs unbelted. Some haven't reproduced this but it's interesting anyways as some anti-belt individuals insist that it inhibits abdominal activation and will make them weaker.

By the way, long time lurker. Sick work on 425x4. Nice to see a lighter guy pushing some serious weight.

Yeah, I've always felt the same way. We're on the same page here.

And thanks for the kind words! Stop back in anytime.
 
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