This past week has been relatively crappy kind of OK as far as training goes.
Monday was alright. Did all my prescribed sets for squats. I added reverse banded bench press to my "over warm up" at 410 lb before moving onto the work sets. Didn't get 5x5 on the bench press though (only 3 sets of 5).
Tuesday I did a neck workout prior to hitting up Mongolian (AKA STRONGolian) Grill. I like to train before going out to eat, so whatever I am eating becomes my post workout meal:
Couldn't hit my usual over warm up front squat at 370 lb for whatever reason on Wednesday, and on Friday my entire body was achey and tired, and I didn't complete my typical warm up sets!
I was thinking about taking the weekend off just to rest, but figured that I might be able to hit a high bar squat PR on Saturday because I didn't do my full training session the day before. Turns out I was right!
High Bar Squat: 505 lb
I tried squatting this weight last week and missed, and I got pinned on the first attempt at 505 this Saturday.
I think I didn't get it the first time because I tried to cut the rep short and didn't plow down all the way to the bottom to bounce out of the hole, or I wasn't prepared to fight during the sticking point when coming up.
In any case, the second time I made sure to bury the squat and bounce out of the bottom, and mentally prepared myself for a potentially ugly-ass grinder.
Well, I got it!
This is a +5 lb PR.
I find that high bar squats are easier than low bar squat up to around 90-95% of 1RM. After that, it feels SIGNIFICANTLY harder than low bar squats because there's a certain sticking point that's difficult to overcome when ascending out of the hole.
Ab Wheel Rollouts x 6
I always feel like I'm one of the Transformers while doing these...transforming into some sort of crappy 1 wheeled, 2 legged vehicle or something.
I've been doing these along with dragon flags and L-sit chin ups at the beginning of my workout (during "warm up") just to get it out of the way. Lately, my core has been feeling a little harder. Very nice.
Some highlights of my training this past week, along with a new squat PR!
Dragon Flags
Started doing these at the suggestion of Greg Nuckols. He told me it would help me get a bigger deadlift, and I'm inclined to listen to people who have more experience and/or stronger than I am, so I started adding dragon flags to the beginning of my workout. I remember when I first started doing dragon flags a couple of weeks or so ago, my abs cramped up after 1 rep!
The form isn't as good as some of the people on Youtube who probably have a lower BMI than I do, but they're coming along.
Front Squat (to Zercher Squat?): 395 lb
Missed the front squat because it rolled off my shoulders, but I did stand up with it. Did a negative rep zercher squat after.
Sometimes I want to get one of those front squat harnesses, especially after the bar rolls off my shoulders.
Low Bar Squat: 530 lb (1RM)
I did this after doing a 550 lb reverse band squat. It was roughly 470 lb in the hole. The set felt easy, and the 525 lb squat that I done last week wasn't too bad, so I decided to try 530 lb.
It was a bit difficult, and it looked like the right side of the bar came up before the left side. But aside from that, it didn't turn into a grind or a squat-morning, so I'm happy.
Reverse Band, Reverse Grip Bench Press: 410 lb
The bands provided about 55 lb of assistance at the bottom, so the the weight ranges from ~360 lb at the bottom to 410 lb at the top.
I tried 395 lb right after, and just missed the rep. Dammit.
High Bar Paused Squat: 410 lb x 1, 460 lb x 1
Beltless at 410 lb, and belted at 460 lb.
These felt really explosive.
I like how the bar oscillates up and down on my traps after the 460 lb paused squat. Feels nice!
Had some interesting responses on Fitocracy's Facebook page and Reddit to this article, ranging from how other lifters deal with calluses, to the typical internet tough guy response to "man up", "embrace them", "don't be a pussy", viewing them as a "badge of honor", etc.
I suspect that the internet tough guys (who probably didn't even read the article before commenting!) don't lift as much as those who actually deal with their calluses, but I could be wrong.
Some before-and-after pictures are real (in other words, they're a result of training, dietary change done over some period of time), and some are not, like the one shown in the link above.
The velcro on my Titan RPM wrist wraps are wearing out, and my Schiek wrist wraps are falling apart so I figured I should get some leather wrist wraps and try them out. They seem more durable than the conventional wrist wraps and might even last longer. They're not legal in competitions as far as I'm aware, so I'm just going to use these during training, and then switch back to the regular wraps for pre-competition and competition training.
Rogue Cannon Balls
"My future's not gonna be determined by seven little white lotto balls. It's gonna be determined by two big black balls" - Darryl Philbin
These Rogue Cannonball Grips looked kinda interesting so I picked them up as well. The main reason is to develop grip strength while doing chin ups/pull ups.
Rogue Monster Bands
I've wanted to try out some heavy partial training for a while (yes, partial squats and partial bench presses!), but I didn't like the idea of doing a partial rep and not knowing exactly how low to go. With the bench press, a lot of people do board presses, but this requires a training partner to hold some thick paddle board on your check while you bench. Also you need to buy a bunch of thick paddle boards.
For the squat, I've seen people do high box squats, but I don't want to get into box squatting (at least not at this point) because I don't want to buy a box for one exercise.
Also the problem with partial reps is that...well, it's a partial rep. I like to bury my squats and I don't think I've done partial bench presses since high school when I had no idea what I was doing even though I thought I did.
So the solution for heavy partials that made sense to me is using bands, and setting them up so they would help out at the bottom of the lift (ie. reverse bands). This way, I would still have to unrack a weight that's much higher than my 1RM, and for a fraction of the full range of motion the load would be higher than my 1RM as well. I would also be able to train with a full ROM, utilizing the bands to lower the weight at the bottom.
The green bands supposedly have a resistance of 65 lb each, and the black bands are supposed to be 100 lb.
Paired up, the green bands should be 130 lb and the black bands 200 lb.
There wasn't any instructions or description in the package indicating how to achieve this level of resistance, but that's OK. I can figure it out!
At this point, I'm going to use these for reverse band squats and possibly reverse band (reverse grip) bench presses. I only want a little bit of assistance on at the bottom of the lift, and get the full load at the top.
Attaching one end of the bands at the top of my rack and the other end to the sleeves of the barbell, I discovered that the pair of green bands can't even hold up an empty bar.
For the black bands, I need to put ~35 lb of plates to the bar (so that's around 80 lb total) for the bands to stretch enough so that it just touches the safety pins in my power rack.
So the way I'm going to calculate this is that the green bands will take away roughly 45 lb at the bottom of the movement, and the black bands will take away 80 lb. For example, if I'm squatting 550 lb, and the black band takes off 80 lb when stretched, at the very least I would be squatting 470 lb. In other words, I would be squatting 550 lb at the top, and the weight would gradually lower to 470 lb in the hole.
It's not 100% accurate, but I think it's good enough. Makes sense, right?
525 lb Squat (1RM)
Got this on Friday, and 525 lb is a +5 lb PR. Felt strong during my warm up, and a 500 lb squat seemed to pop up faster than normal so I decided to try for a PR.
But not after testing out those bands first. I did a 530 lb reverse band squat (with the green bands), followed by a 550 lb reverse band squat (with the black bands). This made unracking 525 lb feel easy.
Looking back at the video, I didn't even make a squat face, so I'm pretty sure I could have done a little bit more.
Thumb Damage From Hook Grip
Did some hook grip mat pulls on Saturday. The pressure of the 600 lb on my thumbs combined with pressing into my thumbnail with my index finger ended up cutting the skin just below my thumbnails.
Still completed the rep, and finished off with 500 lb x 5 (with straps).
Last week I got a 570 lb deadlift (I deadlifted 562.2 lb at the meet) and this week I squatted 520 lb (previously PR was 518 lb) and paused benched 375 lb (374.8 lb at the meet).
Low Bar Squat: 520 lb (1RM)
Wasn't too hard.
I'm happy that my form didn't break down at a 1RM attempt.
Paused Reverse Grip Bench Press: 375 lb (1RM)
Yeah this was pretty easy. I've started to pause bench 370 lb as my over warmup lately, so another 5 lb wasn't a big jump. It's only a fraction of a pound higher than what I benched press at the competition in June, so this was defininately doable.
I Am A Canadian Powerlifting Record Holder...in something.
Well, it's officially...official.
I am the CPF All Canadian Amateur Raw Full Power 90 Kg record holder for the squat (235 kg), and total (660 Kg)! (The spreadsheet can be found here, under "Men's Raw Amateur Records").
192.5 Kg bench press and 272.5 Kg deadlift...
YOU ARE NEXT!
To be realistic, the 272.5 Kg (600.76 lb) deadlift is probably next because I'm about 30 lb away from that mark. A 192.5 Kg (424.39 lb) bench press is still a LLLOOOONNNGGGG way to go...currently my best is only 390 lb, and that's not even paused! My paused bench press is a mere 375 lb (see above), which is almost 50 lb off from the CPF amateur records. Maybe in a few years.
Even though my numbers are a record, it's still quite low compared to the CPF "Men's Raw Pro Records", and I'm sure it's lower than a lot of 90 Kg records for other federations in Canada and around the world.
Ah well, it's still nice to accomplish something, and to be able making a cheesy picture combining Bolo Yeung along with the spreadsheet.
Modded Rogue Flat Bench With Grip Tape
For the handful of you people who have read my blog and training logs every once in a while, you've probably noticed that I occasionally complain about slipping on the bench during the bench press.
I have tried using an anti-slip shelf liner, which worked OK but not 100% slip proof. Lately I've been having some success with a microfiber towel placed on top of my bench, along with wearing a tight tank top. Not sure why it works.
But a couple of weeks ago I ordered some grip tape from eBay and I got it a few days ago. It's normally used for skateboards/longboards to prevent people from slipping, and it's basically sandpaper with a sticker on the back side.
I applied this grip tape on my Rogue bench, and this is what it looks like:
I have a feeling the grip tape will prevent sliding for sure. It's very abrasive, and my finger tips are scratched up from handling it.
I'm going to wear some crappy shirts when I bench just in case this tears up my clothing. We'll see how it works on Monday and Friday (where I might go for some sort of bench press PR to really put myself in a situation to generate a lot of leg drive in an attempt to slip on the bench...and to see how well the grip tape will work).
I think this is a PR for the most PRs set in a week!
6 PRs:
Front Squat: 350 lb x 3 (3RM)
I tried this last week, but only got 2 reps before missing on the third. Got all 3 reps this week.
Low Bar Squat: 490 lb x 2 (2RM)
I've been trying to squat 500 lb x 2 for a while, but have always missed on the 2nd rep (I did get it wearing knee wraps however). My 3RM is 480 lb, so I figure 490 lb for a double should be doable.
Instead of trying to tackle 500 lb x 2 over and over again and risk missing a rep, I'm going to go conservative at 490 lb x 2 and work my way up.
Reverse Grip Bench Press: 330 lb x 5 (5RM)
Pretty happy that I got this, since I missed on the 5th rep on previous occasions.
I noticed that when I start to fatigue during the reverse grip bench press, my elbows start to flare out slighting making my palms rotate to a more neutral position.
I'm going to start adding a back off set after the end of my last set on my main lifts. They're going to be in the 8-10 rep range (maybe more).
The purpose is to build up some stamina, and get more jacked.
I usually rarely do more than 5 reps, and anything over gets me exhausted, especially in the squat.
For a typical Monday workout, I'm going to do a high bar squat with 300 something as a back off set.
For the bench press, I'm thinking of adding a light set of regular grip bench press after my sets of reverse grip. Hopefully this will hypertrophize my chest and get them closer to Bolo Yeung level pecs:
Bolo Yeung's magnificent pecs.
For my front squat, I'm going to add a set of high bar squats immediately after my last set and rep it out.
We'll see how this works out.
I'm also going to start doing dragon flags and incorporating breathing paused squats. Chatted with Greg Nuckols the other day (who, by the way, squats 700+, benches 400+ and deadlifts 700+ @242 lb at an age much younger than me and looking much older than I do) and he told me this is what helped him get a massive deadlift . I'd like to reach those numbers one day (at 200 lb however). If it works for him, it should work for me (more or less).
