Keosawa's Powerlifting Log

[kotriz]

congrats on the PR Kyle!

 

[Keosawa]

congrats on the PR Kyle!

Thanks man. I told myself all day I was going to go for 460x4 if it were there. I still have a lot more work to do, but it feels good to be able to PR in the squat again.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press (Narrower grip--hands moved one-inch in on each side)
Barx20
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x3
240x5
240x5 (2-sec. pauses)
240x5 (2-sec. pauses)
240x5 (2-sec. pauses)
240x5 (2-sec. pauses)

Tricep Pushdowns, five sets

Band Pull-Aparts, four sets

Notes: My narrow(er) grip bench press is definitely improving; 240x5x5 felt good, even with the long pauses. The jury's still out on if it'll transfer over to my competition grip, but overall, my bench is feeling stronger with every training session.

That said, I need to keep myself in check here. For three consecutive sessions, I've made the programming a little tougher than I had written it: I pulled 435x12 instead of 435x8; I squatted 460x4 instead of 460x2x2; and now, I've benched 240x5x5 with long pauses instead of just pausing it. These are small changes, and it isn't a big deal YET, but I need to take the next few days to just run the program and put together some solid numbers. I have consistently gotten into trouble when I've trained like this for weeks on end, and the best thing I can do now is just to keep the RPEs down for the next few sessions. I do want to push my deadlifting a little again this week, but otherwise, I'm going to stick to the numbers for a little while.

 

[Keosawa]

Reverse-Band Squats (~20 lbs. at top, ~90 lbs. at bottom)
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x5
405x6
405x6
405x6
405x6

Hip Abductors w/ monster-mini band, three sets

Notes: I'm still experiencing some sacrum stiffness--it was pretty present during this training session, honestly--but the strength was there. This felt a lot easier than reverse-bands have for the previous few weeks, and so that's an encouraging sign. The stiffness was keeping me from really accelerating how I wanted to, but I'm cutting one squat session this week as I continue to manage my fatigue.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x8
135x5
185x5
225x3
255x4
255x4
255x4
255x4

Floor Press (w/ doubled mini-band)
135x5
185x12

Lat Row Machine
100x10
110x10
120x10
130x10
140x10

Face Pulls, in kg
52.5x10
57.5x10
62.5x10
67.5x10
22.5x50

Wall Angels
x20
x20
x20

IYTs, five positions, 30-sec. holds

Notes: My bench press is indeed coming around, and I felt better this week handling 250+ than I have in a while. These reps still aren't particularly crisp or well-executed, but I'm still performing better than when I benched 305 in training. I'm trying not to compare myself to when I hit great numbers last cycle, because I was probably much better than a 310 bencher at that point.

Overall, I will say that I was achier than I would have liked for this session, so I will probably replace volume benching with floor pressing tomorrow to see if that helps. I messed around with a set of it after benching, and I didn't feel the joint achiness that I was feeling while benching, so substituting some floor pressing might just be what I need.

 

[Oblivian]

Nice work in here. Keep the vids coming - always good for motivation prior to lifting!

 

[CRZA]

Nice benching keo!
And thanks for answering my PM on base training. I tried to PM you back but your inbox was or is full. And I just forgot about it for a while.

 

[Keosawa]

Nice work in here. Keep the vids coming - always good for motivation prior to lifting!

God, my training sucks balls right now--the fact that you can get motivated off of this probably says more about you than it does about me.

Nice benching keo!
And thanks for answering my PM on base training. I tried to PM you back but your inbox was or is full. And I just forgot about it for a while.

Yeah, I got really lazy and didn't clean out my PM box before you tried to reply! Anyway, you're welcome, and I hope that answer helped.

 

[Keosawa]

Deadlifts
135x5
225x3
275x2
325x1
375x1
425x1
450x12 (PR)
450x2 (stopped here due to unhappy sacrum)
275x10
275x10
275x10
275x10
275x10

Notes: I think I'm slowly turning into Babyeater here. Deadlifting went OK--bar-speed on warm-ups was fine but not exceptional, and I felt stiff from the very beginning despite a long warm-up--but I came away from this session feeling pretty beaten mentally. I'm getting pretty good at seeing only the negatives--and none of the positives--on my deadlift sessions. The first week of this wave felt terrible; last week felt better; and this week felt OK, but I didn't go through with 450x6x3 afterwards because of sacrum stiffness. 450x12 is, I guess, a PR for me; I don't think I've ever done this heavy of a 12-rep set, and I was able to do it with only taking long rests for the last couple of reps (the set lasted about two minutes, and my cluster set, from when I did 490x10, took three and a half minutes). 450 is about 75% of my current max, so a 12-rep set puts me in pretty good position. But I'm still not too happy with it, for whatever reason.

As far as the 275s go, I decided I'd throw away my plan and try to get in ~50 reps at 45-50%, sans sacrum pain. I was able to do that just by pulling slowly and really exaggerating weight distribution on my heels and hamstring recruitment. I might continue to work in these super-light sets (I kept the rest intervals at 3 minutes, but I can shorten those further to make these more challenging) as a way to kill my lockout without having to use a substantial training load.

Anyway, next week's heavy double will tell me a lot about where my deadlift stands. I know it's in good shape right now, but I don't know how good. I will probably be looking for 575 for a double; if I hit that (26 lbs. off of what I did for a single in July), then I feel like I have a very good shot at PRing again in November.

 

[KidAlchemy]

It's funny (or weird, it's up to you) but I can now imagine your voice when I read your notes. Nice of you to think that 275 is super-light btw :icon_lol:.

But I agree with Oblivian that it's pretty motivating.

 

[Babyeater]

well, if there's any way my log might function positively for others right now, it would be as a "what not to do" poster child regarding mental approach to lifting. Or perhaps my log of several weeks ago would be a better example of this--I think I've been doing better lately with keeping my mental game from descending into the pits of self-loathing.

When you're deeply, deeply invested in your lifting, when you're so passionate about it that many things get sacrificed in the pursuit of its betterment, you can get myopic in evaluating it. It's very hard not to. Particularly if you're me and lifting starts to feel like an extension of yourself, a qualitative way of understanding and judging the self. I don't think Keo is like me in using his lifting as a self-gauging device in this way--I don't recommend it. Passion-sourced myopia can still manifest into only perceiving the negative even if one is a generally positive person, and if a large chunk of one's energy is sunk into lifting, it's hard not to have that negativity turn into a feedback loop.

My only way of combatting it of late is perspective gained through mentally distancing myself from lifting on several levels. Every instance in which I start to dwell on my shortcomings must be headed off, and if that means I force myself to just start thinking about some other hobby, that's what I have to do. I've been pretty mentally invested in nailing my ball python husbandry and knowledge for when I acquire one, which will be soon. I don't think it's a coincidence that I've drawn away from a 3/4 time engagement in lifting, mentally, to more of like 1/2 to 1/4 time right now. I was getting pretty hard on myself and decide I had to act to stop it, it was only going to hurt my progress. Kyle, you need to find a way to break the feedback loop. You can go into every session and be just as devoted and focused, but rooting out the bad feelings associated with lifting as it's happening right now through any means is what will help you from further negative feeling in relation to you situation.

It's what I'm trying to do, anyway, and a combination of obsessing over my new ball python and trying to think positively and more compassionately about myself--trying to reinforce thought patterns that are me being nice to me, because I'm not good at that--are helping. You've got a lot of small things going on right now that are making the immediate future a little worrisome, and I hope that we can just keep things rolling with good momentum.

 

[Keosawa]

Deadlifts
135x5
225x1
315x1
405x1
495x1
580x1 (missed second at lockout)

Notes: So, my 90/90 deload week is finally done, and I can get back to hard(er) training. I'm going to move back into things slowly, but I'm looking forward to doing some tougher training now. I had two issues that I wanted to recover during this process--my SI joint and my right arm--and both are feeling a lot better. If I hammer the volume til death, I'm going to end up back where I was though, so I have to be careful.

This might be long overdue, but I'm dropping my third squat and bench days from here until the meet. I might go back to a seven-day-a-week program for post-meet mesocycles, but otherwise, I think it would be good for me to train a little less. I need to give myself more time to recover, both physically and mentally. Training every day has just been starting to stress me out, and frankly, it's not making my numbers any better. I like the idea of every-day training as a way of dispersing workload as much as possible, but moving forward I plan on cutting a little volume anyway and instead increasing the RPEs and the average intensity of the work I'm doing. I'll probably only be hitting 6-8 heavy work sets on squat and bench per week, but those will be much higher-RPE work sets. I'll still be maintaining a base with lighter volume work, but it won't be as much of a priority as I get closer to the meet.

Otherwise, things are going well. As far as this day goes, I really wanted 580x2 for a 15-lb. double PR. I almost had it, but I just couldn't quite lock it out. Part of the issue was that the clamp on the right side didn't hold, and so the plates started sliding from the beginning of the first rep. That threw me off and made my first lockout harder than it had to be. It got worse on the second rep and I just couldn't finish it.

But that's how it goes--this likely wouldn't have happened with a stiff bar, but there's a reason why I wanted to pull with a deadlift bar in the first place. Not every situation can be the ideal one, and unfortunately for me, most everything has to go right for me to pull 580x2 right now.

With all that said, I pulled 550x2 three months ago and 565x2 a little over a month ago, so I've still made big strides with my deadlift. I hadn't touched anything over 450 in the last month (420, 435, and 450 were my training weights), so I have been working in a low intensity zone for a while now. With a good, tough training cycle, I should be able to increase my pull further. My completely objective guess is that I'll be a ~610-lb. deadlifter come the UPA meet.

 

[Keosawa]

Kyle, you need to find a way to break the feedback loop.

I think I've been able to do that. Thank you, dear.

 

[Keosawa]

Paused Bench Press
Barx20
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
240x3
260x6 (tied PR)
260x3
260x3

Floor Press (Paused)
Barx5
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x10

Tricep Pushdowns, in kg
52.5x15
57.5x15
62.5x15
67.5x15

Lat Row Machine
100x7
110x7
120x7
130x7
140x7

Neutral Grip Pulldown
130x6
140x6
150x6
160x6

Hammer Curls
35x8, 8
35x8, 8

Wall Angels
BWx50

Notes: My competition bench press was much improved from where it's been the last few weeks. The 90/90 deload has helped, but I know I'm going to re-aggravate these overuse issues if I continue benching all the time.

So, I'm cutting my training down to five days a week, and I'm only benching and squatting twice weekly. I'm also cutting the total volume down (25 bar lifts today; ~40 set for my second session; this puts me down about 25% from my regular volume) to minimize wear and tear. I'll be working in a similar intensity range as before, but I'm going to increase the RPEs on these sets to compensate. I figure doing 8 or 9 work sets weekly with an average RPE@8 will be easier on my body than doing 15 work sets weekly with an average RPE@7. That, at least, is my hope.

So, yeah, this was a surprisingly good session. 260x6 ties a PR, but to be fair, I've done it easier in the past. I didn't expect six reps though, so I'm happy.

 

[Keosawa]

Squats w/ wraps
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
405x1
440x1
470x1
480xNothing (stopped before unrack)

Notes: I'm running a three-week wave with some heavy singles to really practice working in the high-400s prior to the meet; my programming has really lacked high-intensity work in the weeks leading up to these last two meets, and so I want to be using my wrapped squat days to hit higher-intensity reps for these next few weeks.

The plan was to squat 470 and 480 for singles for my first week. I got sick prior to coming to training, and so I got there about an hour late. My warm-ups weren't bad, but 440 felt like a million pounds, and I came pretty close to failing the rep: I set my feet pretty far apart and slowed my eccentric basically to a crawl at the bottom, essentially making this rep as hard as possible. 470 actually felt a little easier, as I dropped into the hole faster and used a narrower stance. I felt pretty good about my ability to hit 480, but I've been dealing with a hamstring tweak (from the wraps) from 460x4 a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately I could start to feel it the moment I started wrapping for 405. It only started to concern me after 470, but I felt well enough to try for 480. Basically, I wrapped up, got under the bar, started to set my hips under it, and I felt my hamstring start to cry out. I realized that I was either going to a.) get hurt or b.) not get hurt while hitting a rep that, in the grand scheme of things, won't really matter, and so I didn't even unrack it. Sucks to feel like a quitter, but I've made the wrong choice here before, and I'm trying to be smarter.

 

[Obscure Terror]

That second 580lb'er was CLOSE. I literally think the clamp cost you, everything else is there.

I also think you're doing the right thing by doing less frequent, but more intensive work. Reps and workload are great, but sometimes you just have to put weight on the bar and up the intensity to push the strength ceiling.

Regarding being smarter when stuff hurts, I wish I'd done the same when my back start tweaking on my first rep of 127.5kg last Saturday. Should have racked it there - might not have lost a week of lifting and grappling.

 

[Kinglee]

Live to fight another day Keo

 

[hatchoo]

Hey keo. Sorry to bother you. Can you tell me what the total of the 15th guy in our weight class is? There's no other meet here in southern california this year except for the LA Fit Expo in January 2014 and it's only by invite (top 15 of each weight class to be considered). Thanks man.

 

[Keosawa]

Squats
95x8
135x5
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
355x9
355x10

Notes: I went back on my off-day and finished my squat session from the previous day. Long story short, I got pretty sick before my Sunday session and got there too late to finish, so I came back today to get in a couple hard unwrapped sets. I worked with 355 and hit a set of nine, then ten (for a 10-rep PR). I didn't feel particularly strong on these sets, but 355x10 isn't bad (at least for me) and overall I got in some decent work for this session. I am icing my hamstring like crazy in the hope that I can be ready for next Sunday's wrapped squat session.

 

[Keosawa]

That second 580lb'er was CLOSE. I literally think the clamp cost you, everything else is there.

I also think you're doing the right thing by doing less frequent, but more intensive work. Reps and workload are great, but sometimes you just have to put weight on the bar and up the intensity to push the strength ceiling.

Regarding being smarter when stuff hurts, I wish I'd done the same when my back start tweaking on my first rep of 127.5kg last Saturday. Should have racked it there - might not have lost a week of lifting and grappling.

Agreed on all counts, man. I think I'm capable of 580x2 if all goes well, and I'm pretty proud of myself for not being an idiot recently. I've gotten hurt more often this year than in any previous year (and it's not even close), so that tells me I need to start making better decisions. I think now's a very good time to move away from the higher-volume sets and start hitting some high-RPE work.

Live to fight another day Keo

For sure. That's how I'm looking at it.

Hey keo. Sorry to bother you. Can you tell me what the total of the 15th guy in our weight class is? There's no other meet here in southern california this year except for the LA Fit Expo in January 2014 and it's only by invite (top 15 of each weight class to be considered). Thanks man.

For unwrapped, #15 is 1195. For wrapped, it much less (around 1000, I think) because the field is much thinner now that they split up the rankings. I guess it would depend upon which rankings they follow.