Prince of Pull

[_cato_]

You'll probably want to start using your belt in training, at least a bit, to get used to it. Same with your wraps. You may want to try to do your lifts without looking in a mirror if you normally do that.

Don't drop/rack lifts unless they give you the signal. You usually need to lower the deadlift to the floor "under control" or something similar. Obviously don't hitch.

Seems like people like to open with a weight they can triple, 2nd attempt do a weight maybe +/-5 lbs of your PR, 3rd go for a big PR.

Check your fed's rules.

EM and moya can probably tell you more. Good luck.

Plan on doing a tapering scheme as the contest nears?

 

[miked8c]

I am going to continue the Tate Bench cycle I am on right now. It will actually workout perfect for getting me ready to bench a big PR.


As for everything else, I am just going to do what I am doing. I'll get two more DL sessions in before the meet, I think. and three more squat and front squat sessions.

If I could I would compete ASAP, I am happy with my numbers now and I don't like the way my squat is regressing, its kind of horseshit.


I have no idea what to do in the weak prior to the meet, instead of trying some crazy deload scheme I think I might just do my normal workout during the week and stop my deadlift a week before the comp, my squat 4 days before the meet and my bench 3 days before the meet.

 

[_cato_]

That seems like it should work.

By tapering I meant more of reducing volume, not intensity. I definitely wouldn't deload unless you had prior experience doing that successfully. Many people lose some strength for a few weeks if they deload. Sort of like rising to the occasion, except in that case it would be sinking to the occasion.

 

[miked8c]

Speed Bench: 185x8x3

Board Press:

285x3
300x5

Real grinder on the last rep, but this is a huge PR for me. I cant wait to see what I board Press when I start my workout with it instead of ending with it.

OHP

155x5
145x5
135x5

My shoulders were obv cashed on these, still felt amazing.

Love the way my bench is feeling right now, if only my squat would rally the fuck up and follow suit.

Wish I could see my BW. Hope it didn't go up.

 

[Tblock1]

damn dude your bench, board press, and floor press are getting quite strong! Bet with that dave tate routine you will have a solid bench for the powerlifting meet

 

[miked8c]

If my squat goes up I will be in beast mode for the meet.

hoping for a 330 bench.

 

[miked8c]

Front Squats (Clean Grip)

335x3
325x3
315x2
275x3

Wow, bent these over and raped them nonconsentually. First time front squatting in over 3 months, never front squatted 335 before, never mind for 3 reps.

I will have approx. two more front squat sessions before the meet which is perfect, because the first three weeks of a new exercise are when you make the strongest gains.

This workout also confirms what I expected, my squat strength has not gone down, instead I have just been having bad days when I have been back squatting.

Bent Over BB Rows

175x8,7,6

Kroc Rows
85x20

Felt awesome, will be a sore puss tomorrow.

 

[miked8c]

Floor Press

225x5
245x3
265x3
285x3
300x1
315x1
320x1
325x0

Wow 325 was SOOOOOOO close, literally 7 second rep where the bar didn't move an inch at the mid point. I could have had it if I flexed my abs or did something like focus on my pecs squeezing. SOOO close goddammit, if I didn't have the two heavy sets before it I could have had it.


Funny thing I noticed on top of this, I have a huge mental obstacle with 315lbs. on the bench. Like once the third plate goes on it feels like a ton in my hands. My spotter said my rep of 320 was noticably faster than 315. It weird and I don't like it.


The next two weeks are pretty important. I have two more bench sessions before the meet, they are board press days, which works out perfect as I will be able to really get to using big weights.

My wrist wraps along with my singlet are in the mail, I bought a pair of 20" Inzer Iron Z Wrist Wraps. I will be benching with them next week and the week after to break them in and really hammer the heavy weight.

 

[miked8c]

Speed Bench

185x8x3
225x5
245x4
265x3
285x5 Close grip

Last rep of 285 was a real grinder but this puts my max around 332. That is with 8 sets of 185 before it also.

OHP

165x4
155x5
145x5

 

[miked8c]

Front Squats (Clean Grip)

345x3
335x2
315x2
275x4

Ass to Grass on 275, holy crap I think my ass was literally an inch above the ground. Literally the lowest my ass has ever been without actually touching the ground, cause I literally cant go that low with my body weight.

 

[obsessedwliftin]

Your going to kill it at the meet mike. Can't wait for you to post the results.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL

 

[miked8c]

Thanks man, I got my singlet in the mail last night, looks fresh. I'll be sure to take vids of all my lifts.

Right now I am as strong as ever, I just have one concern. Making weight.

When I wake up I weigh 198 on the nose, I'm debating if I should take laxatives on the morning of the meet to make weight if I think I am close.

Will that negatively effect my lifts? Provided I drink ample water to account for dehydration.

 

[lweaver]

I'm thinking you should switch to a 10x5 routine at 50% of your 1 RM to increase volume dude.

Nice front squats btw, I would shit my pants.

 

[miked8c]

Thanks weaver, too bad your still killen me on the back squats. Where it actually counts haha.

 

[lweaver]

Not killin anything right now, just been lazy the past few days sittin on my ass.

Hitting in hard tomorrow I suppose with my weak ass low volume routine...

By the way where do you go to find meets? I might look into one soon if they have a novice/ameteur category or something. I'd suck ass but at least I'd get used to how it goes.

 

[miked8c]

Powerlifting Watch | Covering the World of Powerlifting

On the left column you can do meets by whichever state your from.

 

[_cato_]

So for dead lifts I read heavy singles, doubles and triples are the way to go.


Cato you have already learned me a few things about DL loading, however I am going to start dead lifting again and I need a program that won't hinder my other lifts.

The Coan Phillippi was a little too much for me, although I think Speed sets on the DL are a brilliant idea.

How many sets of single, double, triples should I look for? I always thought for dead lift you could do a heavy triple and call it a day, just from the sheer weight you used you would elicit gains.

What exactly are you trying to do right now? You just want to maintain? Or you want to try to increase but mainly focused on your other lifts? Or what?

 

[miked8c]

Haha I have not been dead lifting for over a month now and have been continuing the make gains.

I love dead lifting. Love it.

I just do not no how to incorporate them into a program because they are so damn weird. I feel like they are too exhausting and I end up going strong for the first three weeks. Then I will start accumulating stress on my back so that I will start waking up with a sore lower back in the mornings, then my dead lift days start regressing till I felt stronger a month ago than I did four dead lift workouts later.

My goal is to make gains on deadlifts without impacting my recovery, I was thinking doing a single heavy triple set followed by speed dead lifts each week. I just want to be able to do them without fatiguing myself too the point that it starts impacting my overall recovery.

I will deadlift for the first time in a month tomorrow. I want to hit 465x3. Just leave it all on the platform haha.

 

[lweaver]

465x3 is gonna be rough good luck...

I've been pulling every other week and making steady gains, just lots of focus on assistance work

 

[_cato_]

What if you did a combination of block/rack pulls with the bar just below the knee and speed deads? With that you'll be pulling heavy and getting used to heavy weights while working on technique and speed from the floor with the speed deads, while at the same time your lower back should remain fresher since your back will be more upright with the block/rack pulls than with normal deads and obviously speed deads won't bother you.

Something like:

W1: Work to a heavy triple on block pulls in 5-8 sets total, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@50% of your max
W2: Beat W1's triple in 5-8 sets, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@55% of your max
W3: Beat W2's triple in 5-8 sets, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@60% of your max
W4: You can either deload the block pulls here and then pick back up in W5 or you can continue and try to beat W3's triple, reset the speed deads back to 3x3@50% here

And continue this on until you plateau or whatever, in minicycles.

Maybe you can start off with like 405 as your first triple target if you don't know where to begin.

 

[miked8c]

3 Board Press
315x4

Think I finally broke through the 315 mental block, it felt really light for me.

Incline CG Press
185x7
175x7
165x5

Weak, as usual, haha.

 

[miked8c]

Front Squat

135x3
185x3
225x3
275x2
315x1
355x2
345x2
325x1
275x4

Tough Tough Tough. Felt great.

Barbell Row

205x4
195x4
185x5
175x5

Other back stuff


Couple of things
- BW 195.4 this morning
- Competing at 198 this Saturday
- I have one more leg day on Tuesday, I don't know whether I should be doing a heavy squat set for a triple, or if I should be doing a speed squat with 225 or something. I will be doing deadlift speed sets after my squat regardless.

I will have not back squatted for two weeks by this Tuesday so I think I will do a heavy triple 425x3 so I have a new idea of where I am at for my squat. I will have four days of recovery between Tuesday and Saturday so I think that should be ample time for one set of low rep squats.

 

[_cato_]

I'd definitely go with the heavy triple if I were you.

Btw, did you see my post about deadlifting on the last page? You haven't mentioned anything about it.

 

[miked8c]

What if you did a combination of block/rack pulls with the bar just below the knee and speed deads? With that you'll be pulling heavy and getting used to heavy weights while working on technique and speed from the floor with the speed deads, while at the same time your lower back should remain fresher since your back will be more upright with the block/rack pulls than with normal deads and obviously speed deads won't bother you.

Something like:

W1: Work to a heavy triple on block pulls in 5-8 sets total, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@50% of your max
W2: Beat W1's triple in 5-8 sets, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@55% of your max
W3: Beat W2's triple in 5-8 sets, 3x3 speed deads from the floor@60% of your max
W4: You can either deload the block pulls here and then pick back up in W5 or you can continue and try to beat W3's triple, reset the speed deads back to 3x3@50% here

And continue this on until you plateau or whatever, in minicycles.

Maybe you can start off with like 405 as your first triple target if you don't know where to begin.

My bad man I skipped right over it, always happens with the last post on a page.


That is a tremendous idea. I have nothing to lose and by not pulling heavy straight from the floor it should be much more forgiving on my back. The speed deads will allow me to keep the motion of pulling from the floor which will be great.

I will implement it and log it starting next Tuesday. Luckily the racks at my school give me the option to do rack pulls.

So you think I should hit the heavy triple on Tuesday? I think I agree.

 

[_cato_]

You mentioned you haven't really back squatted for a while and I know for myself if I haven't done a movement heavy for a while it'll sometimes take me 1-2 heavy workouts to get back to where I was, even if I've been doing other similar lifts in the mean time. Better to hit it hard at least once before your meet to get your mental game in check at the least. Not worth the risk that you can't lift at or near your best for your meet. Doing a heavy triple 4 days before the meet isn't going to have any negative affect on you. You probably won't even be sore the next day from ramping to one heavy triple.

 

[lweaver]

Agreed.

Good luck on Saturday

 

[miked8c]

Board Press

135x5
185x5
225x5
245x3
265x3
285x3
305x1
325x3
295x3
275x5

Definitely could have gotten 330, which I decided to go heavy but I was a little hesitant with 325, which I ended up raping.

Weighted Dips

3x10x90

Just tried to explode on these for some lockouts.


Last heavy bench day before the comp. I have speed bench on Thursday, any ideas on how I should be benching 2 days before the meet?

Speed day is probably the best idea huh?

 

[miked8c]

Speed Bench (2 days before competition)
185x8x3
225x3
255x3
275x2
305x1
315x2 (wrist wraps)
315x1

Got a little carried away, could have hit it for a triple methinks.

Paused DB extensions from the floor
50x8
45x8

DB Flyes
50x2x8


Went a little too hard today... Hopefully this doesn't effect me on the meet, I didn't do anything till failure, I think I will just be a little sore tommmorow.

 

[moya]

Honestly I am aiming much higher. I am thinking 440-330-480

Here are some things to consider before you say my expectations are too high.

- I will be using a belt, I have not trained with a belt for about 6 months
- I will be on a jack3d, something I also haven't used for about 3 months
- I will be using wrist wraps for bench
- I usually squat way below parallel (close to ATG) in training, going to parallel will be a significantly reduced ROM for me.
- I will be insanely motivated having a crowd of people watch me lift, this will be by far the biggest factor to consider. I am talking huge adrenaline rush.

My last bench sesh I floor pressed 295x3 which puts my training regular bench at about 315x2-3. Combing wrist wraps and jack3d I think I could 1RM 330.


Guys I am so pumped to be able to do this, seriously like I finally get to put my strength to use in something other than maxing out the bench in front of 5 of my friends.

I think I can win this meet for my division, I will be competing at the top of my weight and age class. I know very few teens who lift like I do at my body weight.

I weighed 198.8 this past Sunday morning, however I think my weight will continue to drop with the running I have been doing. This is why I am not to worried about losing my squat strength, I am getting lighter and its going to be tough, near impossible, to make weight gains on squats whilst losing BW.


What are the requirements for each lift in terms of form?

Do I only need to worry about breaking parallel on squats? Or do I also need to practice good form on the way up?

What about bench? How long will I need to pause?

Is there anything I need to watch out for on dead lift other than the lockout?

oh hell yes... havent been in your log for a minute i guess...
just make sure your opening attempts are somewhat conservative... even as much as 50lbs under your planned 3rd attempt...

you will most likely need a pair of long socks for the deadlift, pretty sure most all feds require that... if you havent used your belt much, i would reccomend using it during all your warmup sets that day so you have a good feel for it...

squats pretty much just to parallel... some feds are pickier than others though... once youre on the way up, make sure you dont dip back down at all or they will call that; also dont shift your feet after you walk it out and get the 'squat' command...

knee wraps may or may not be allowed...

the bench you will get a 'start' command after you have it out of the rack, a 'press' command will be given once the bar becomes motionless on your chest (maybe a half second) and then when you have the bar back up, wait for the 'rack' command...

youre going to love it!... adrenaline will count for some, though i would have liked to see you take off about a whole week from lifting prior... but im sure youll still do fine...

also, if making weight looks to be an issue (and i dont like that you are running so much, thats not going to help the squat)... see if maybe they have an early 24-hr weigh-in... i always weigh in the day before, on stage im probably a good 8-10lbs over hehe... just stay focused and you will have a blast...

 

[miked8c]

Way ahead of you Moya.

I scheduled my weigh in for 11:30AM a couple of hours from now. I will then have all day to eat like a pig. I will be competing at 198 weigh 205 haha.

Will they let me DL in socks? Or do I have to wear shoes?

I also don't think I need to walk the bar out as they have a monolift I think.

 

[obsessedwliftin]

Kill that shit Mike!!!!!!!!!! Good luck bro.

 

[moya]

pretty sure you will need shoes, or at least some 'deadlift slippers', again, will depend on the fed's rules... now some feds do still require a walk out from the monolift, though most dont... you still dont want to have your feet making any lateral movement once the 'squat' command is given...

make sure to get videos of this! good luc... ah fuck it... CHALK AND HATE!!!

 

[miked8c]

Weighed in at 11:50, 194.6.

At 12:00 I had a Large big Mac Meal with chicken Nugeets
At 1:00 I had a chicken burrito from chipotle with all the amenities.
At 1:15 I almost puked haha.


So the director of this meet is Eugene Ryclak, for those of you who don't know he is the man who benched 1010 lbs. and was a world record holder I think.

1010 lb World Record Bench Press - Gene Rychlak Jr Official Video - YouTube

Shook his hand today, guy was an effin silverback gorilla.

So I am allowed to lift in any footwear I want, socks for dead lift it is.

My openers are:
310
415
455

My goals are

340
450
500+

We'll see.

 

[Tblock1]

Hell yeah man fuck that shit up bro! Damn I cant wait to hear how it goes KILL IT!!!!!!!!!!

 

[miked8c]

Hahahaha its about time all you guys who stopped posting in their logs come out of the woodworks, how you been T?