Injury rehab & 1st meet preperation, all in one.

[KAG]

5' 10"
225lbs & dropping, down from 235lbs a few weeks ago. My weight goal is to fit easily into the 220 class. I'm hoping to be around 210.

I'm starting this log to give me additional motivation and keep myself honest coming up.

I just started to lift this week after several weeks of being laid up and recuperating from a herniated disc. Since I was going to try my first meet in July, before I got hurt, now that I can lift again, I'm extra motivated.

I've got 6 more weeks to get ready. My lifts are really low due to the time off and the fact that I'm taking it easy on my back.

This week I felt out my back and found out what I can and can't do, and how far behind I've fallen. My plan is to do my usual 5/3/1 workout for the next 3 weeks, take a de-load week, test my maxes the 5th week, then de-load the week of my meet.

I will be lifting Monday-Thursday, 1 main lift per day, and some light accessory work on occasion.

[KAG]

Monday :

Squats
45 -5x3
95 x5
135 x5
185 x3
225 x1
275 x1
315 x1 (I got this up, but I lost my balance slightly and stepped back a couple of inches. It would not have counted in competition, but it went up relatively quickly)

Good Mornings
135 - 5x3

Squats weren't bad on the back, but I decided to stop while I was ahead.



Tuesday:

Bench
45 -20x2
95 x5
135 x5
165 x3
185 x1
205 x1
230 x1(Long hard pause on the chest)
240 x1

Dumbbell Bench
55s -10reps

This was good, but the arch made my back sting a little, so I cut out the volume, and I probably will throughout my preparation.




Wednesday:

Deadlift(sumo)
135 x5
185 x3
225 x1
275 x1
325 x1
355 x1
365 x1
375 - failed 3 times

Deadlift(standard stance)
375 x1
385 x1

I decided to try sumo deads since I had heard they were easier on the lower back and I've been told several times that I'm built a lot more for sumo than standard. I hate sumo deads. I gave it another shot, but I don't think I can really advance using this stance. It wasn't any easier on my back or anything else. I got frustrated and went back to a standard stance. After I got 385, I didn't want to risk doing any more.



Thursday:

Press
45 -10x2
75 x5
93 x3
115 x1
135 x1
155 x1
165 x1
175 x1

Before my back hurt I got 185, today 175 was all I had in me. It took everything out of me and about 10 seconds to get up.

[KAG]

Meet Prep Week 1


Squat-
45 -5x3
95 x5
135 x3
185 x1
212.5 x5
245 x5
277.5 x5
245 x5
212.5 x5

This was incredibly hard. I did not think this through properly. Having taken several weeks off due to injury, I really should've de-loaded a little. Instead I was stubborn and impatient and added 10lbs to my last working max and kept going. I paid for that. Every rep of 277.5 was brutal and a grinder. I decided to do the first 2 sets again for volume and they weren't any easier. My working set wore me out.

But the good news is that my back felt good throughout. So this is a victory.

[KAG]

Bench
45 -20x2
95 x5
135 x3
152.5 x5
175 x5
197.5 x8
175 x5
152.5 x5

Dumbbell Bench
55s -12, 8, 8

These were harder than they've been in a while. I guess it's because I haven't done any reps in quite a while. My legs were sore from yesterday, I had no leg drive, and my midsection where I wore my belt yesterday was sore. I could barely hold 175 still throughout the set. I was able to pull it together for the heavy set and it went alright, but every rep was shaky. The back off sets were shaky too. And the dumbbells were torture.

[KAG]

Deadlift
135 x5
185 x3
225 x2
255 x5
297.5 x5
335 x6
365 x1
365 x1


Good Mornings
135 5x5

This did not go well. My back felt fine as far as it didn't hurt, but I am weak. 335 felt like 535 and each rep was slow moving. I had to reset between each rep and was so tired they were basically 6 singles.

After several minutes rest I decided to try 365 a couple of times to see how my form looked compared to USAPL rules and I saw some issues. I'm waiting to hear back from a USAPL official to see how bad of an issue I have.

[DRice311]

Good luck man! I just finished my first USAPL meet this past weekend, and had a blast. What is your issue on the deadlift? are you resting the weight on your thighs?

[KAG]

Good luck man! I just finished my first USAPL meet this past weekend, and had a blast. What is your issue on the deadlift? are you resting the weight on your thighs?

Yes, to a slight extent. It doesn't actually rest, or even slow down, I just tend to ramp it up just the slightest bit too much. I never knew it was an issue until I saw someone's video in my thread in the Training section. When he got red lights I realized I did the same thing most of the time.

What ends up happening, due to my short T-Rex arms that make me lockout my deadlift up on the pubic bone area, is that my knees haven't extended and locked out fully yet, because the weight is only about 40% of the way up when it passes the knees, so my knees are still slightly bent making me drag the weight up at a slight backward angle up the thighs.

I made a video and sent it to the meet director. He told me flat out, rep by rep, what was good, what was bad, and whether each rep would've counted or not. Oddly enough I tend to ramp worse on lighter reps than heavier ones. Maybe it's a lack of concentration because it's lighter weight, or maybe it's because I get in a hurry when doing rep sets, I don't know, but my 365 singles today looked a lot better than my 335s did. I'm going to work on it. Even if I have to lift a pathetically low number at the meet, I'd rather fail with proper form, than to get red lights on a completed lift.

And he suggested from my video that I ditch my Olympic shoes for flat shoes because it looked like it was affecting my stance and the bar path. So I am going to lift in socks until my deadlift slippers arrive and see what happens.

[KAG]

Press:
45 -10x2
65 x5
85 x3
105 x1
117.5 x5
135 x5
152.5 x3- Failure
152.5 x5
135 x5

My left shoulder was on fire today for the first time in quite a while and it was a real distraction. 135 went up easily, and the first 2 reps of 152.5 were decent, but I started falling apart on rep #3, and couldn't get #4 up after 2 tries. That made me just angry enough to try again a few minutes later and succeed. It was ugly and noisy as I growled and snarled, but I somehow got 5 reps up. 135 went up easily the 2nd time, but I was spent after that and called it a day. I skipped the last back-off set and the dumbbell presses I had planned.

I knew that moving the press from the beginning of the week to the end would have some negative affects, but it's frustrating not to be able to handle a weight that I should've gotten 8-9 reps with.

Now for 3 days of rest which I really need. I feel beat down.

[KAG]

Meet Prep Week 2

Squat
45 -5x3
96 x5
135 x3
185 x2
205 x1
230 x3
262.5 x3
295 x4
320 x1


Good Mornings
135 -5x3

Squatting was not fun. My diet has been interfering with recovery and energy, so I'm ditching it. I'll lift in the 242s if I have to, but I', tired of dieting and feeling terrible when training. 262.5 felt like a max. I managed 3 decent looking reps at 295, but the last rep was hideously ugly. After a few minutes 320 went up with decent speed. It was ugly, but it would count in competition. This was a good feeling.

Good mornings went alright. I'm still not very good at them, but they're giving my hamstrings a good working.

[KAG]

Bench
45 -20x2
95 x5
125 x3
145 x1
162.5 x3
185 x3
210 x3* hit the hook on the way up and lost balance, did 2nd set
210 x5

My left shoulder hurts bad. It feels like my bicep tendon and labrum again. It made me horrible unbalanced and unstable. After hitting the hook on the 1st set, I got my brother-in-law to give me a handoff. He did a good job. Was able to get 5 solid reps, but afterward my left shoulder and arm were on fire. We tried practicing the hand-off with 135lbs, but my arm was so shaky and weak I had to quit. I'm icing it now, not that it really helps much.

I'm going to be made if my shoulder keeps me out of my competition, after coming back from my back problem, just because worker's comp didn't want to spend the money to repair me.

[KAG]

Deadlift
135 x5
225 x3
255 x1
277.5 x3
317.5 x3
355 x4
385 x1
405 x1

This is the first time I've felt really good deadlifting in a while. I took some advice and lifted in socks and ditched the weightlifting shoes. Much better. 405 is a big victory for me after my disc injury. It felt great. Unfortunately I am still ramping the weight to a slight extent. I can't tell at all during the lift, but video review shows that I am. I just can't break this habit.

No accessory lifts today. Decided to go out with a victory and feeling good.

[KAG]

Press
45 -10x2
75 x5
95 x3
115 x1
127.5 x3
145 x3
162.5 x3

And that's all I did. I barely had 3 in me, 4 wouldn't have happened. My left shoulder and arm got pretty sore, which is bad because normally overhead pressing doesn't bother me at all. It didn't hurt as bad as benching, but it hurt enough that I skipped dumbbell work again.

[KAG]

Meet Prep Week 3


Squat
45- 5x3
135 x5
165 x5
195 x3
245 x5
277.5 x3
312.5 x2

These were decent, but my left shoulder hurt horribly during them. It's getting worse again.

No other accessory work.

[KAG]

Bench
45 -20x2
95 x5
1125 x5
140 x3
175 x5
197.5 x3
220 x3 -failed 4th rep
220 x1 -long competition pause

Dumbbell Bench
55s -10x5

Was able to keep left shoulder from hurting too badly. Fairly shaky throughout workout, but better than it had been recently. 220 pause felt good. Shoulder actually felt average before dumbbells. First time in a while I've felt good enough to even try assistance lifts. Stiffening up quite a bit now that I'm done, but better than it has been. Shoulder, tricep, bicep, and elbow are inflamed.

[KAG]

deadlift
157.5 x5
197.5 x5
237.5 x3
297.5 x5
335 x3
375 x3
415 -failure

These went fairly well. My back felt real good through 375, but on 415 I felt a slight pressure in my back. Then when I realized I was ramping it up the thigh I dropped it. It wasn't worth it. 375 will probably be my meet opener. But I've still got a little time to figure it out.

I am going to skip the overhead press tomorrow since I finally finished a bench workout without it feeling like it's going to explode.

I will de-load next week before my last week of meet prep.

[KAG]

Final Meet Prep Week

Squat
45 x5
135 x3
225 x3
275 x1
300 x1
325 x1

I completely took last week off. No de-load or anything. I did a lot of house work and miscellaneous things, but no weights. As usual I felt rusty coming back and was worried this wouldn't go well. But it did. My new warmup scheme went fine. 300, which will be my meet opener went well. I actually went a little too deep and didn't get much rebound out of the hole. In fact I almost came to a stop, but it went up smoothly. 325 was a whole lot rougher, but it counted.

The good news is both my back and shoulder felt good after squatting, which is a big victory. That week off helped a lot. Hopefully that will lead to a good bench workout tomorrow.

[KAG]

Bench

Stretches
135 x3
185 x3
205 x1 -paused
220 x1 -long pause
230 -Failed x3

This was very frustrating. I got 220 fairly easily. It went up, quick and smooth. I really thought 230 would go up too, but it failed halfway the first try, and then I never got close again. Even with plenty of rest between attempts it just wouldn't go.

This makes me think I should drop my opener to 215, make 225 my second attempt, and if I make it, go for broke on the third.

[KAG]

Deadlift

185 x3
255 x3
325 x1
375 x1
395 x2


This went pretty well. 375 flew off the ground easily. The 1st attempt at 395 was pretty quick but I rushed muy setup, got sloppy, and it looked like I ramped it slightly. It was very slight, but I don't want to take any chances getting redlights in competition so I did it again. The 2nd attempt was much smoother and looked good.

[DRice311]

This makes me think I should drop my opener to 215, make 225 my second attempt, and if I make it, go for broke on the third.

Glad to see the warm up scheme is working. I would agree with your above thought. Going in, I was advised (and it was good advice), to pick an opener that would normally be your 3 rep max. You want to be damn sure you hit it, and it will get the nerves out and build confidentce going into your second attempt. Depending on your goal for the meet, your second attempt should be around your current 1rm - something that is damn hard, but mentally you know you've at least hit it before, then your 3rd attempt go for broke. If 225 is your paused 1rm, make that your second attempt.

When I did my meet I opened easy, my 2nd attempt was something I hit everytime I tried in in training. When I got on the platform, the pauses were MUCH longer than I anticipated, and I missed, by about 2 inches. Not only did I miss, but I probably tried to grind that rep out for 45 seconds. I completely gassed myself out. You cant go down in weight, so I tried the same weight again, and of course I was smoked. Had I not hit my opener, I would of been in real trouble.

[KAG]

Glad to see the warm up scheme is working. I would agree with your above thought. Going in, I was advised (and it was good advice), to pick an opener that would normally be your 3 rep max. You want to be damn sure you hit it, and it will get the nerves out and build confidentce going into your second attempt. Depending on your goal for the meet, your second attempt should be around your current 1rm - something that is damn hard, but mentally you know you've at least hit it before, then your 3rd attempt go for broke. If 225 is your paused 1rm, make that your second attempt.

When I did my meet I opened easy, my 2nd attempt was something I hit everytime I tried in in training. When I got on the platform, the pauses were MUCH longer than I anticipated, and I missed, by about 2 inches. Not only did I miss, but I probably tried to grind that rep out for 45 seconds. I completely gassed myself out. You cant go down in weight, so I tried the same weight again, and of course I was smoked. Had I not hit my opener, I would of been in real trouble.

Thanks for the advice. I had hit 230 with a long pause before, and hit it twice touch-and-go. 225 is my 3 rep. 220 went up easily paused and I figured 230 would too. It did, but only halfway. My pauses are about 2 seconds. I'll try 215 on Saturday for my last workout, and if I can't pause it for 3 seconds or so, I'll drop to 210 to be safe.

I was planning on 220, 230, and either 240 or 245 as a last attempt. But now I'm thinking 210 or 215 depending on how I feel, then 220-225 as a second, and if I make those I might try 240 anyway.

I sent a video of my paused bench reps to the guy who has been helping me out. Hopefully here soon I will know whether I am pausing long enough.

[DRice311]

I'd say 2-3 seconds should be long enough. Just looked back at the video, it was 12 seconds, not 45, but I swear it felt like forever.

[KAG]

I'd say 2-3 seconds should be long enough. Just looked back at the video, it was 12 seconds, not 45, but I swear it felt like forever.

I understand this very well. There have been times when I estimated my own pauses that I swore it was 2-3 seconds, when the video showed 1/2-1 second and other times when I thought it was a 1 second pause and it was really a touch-and-go where the bar stopped for an instant and shot straight back up. Now I have someone count the time and give me the press command because when I'm under weight I can't estimate anything, I just want it up.

[KAG]

Mock Meet- Final workout before the meet.

Squat -2pm
45 x5
135 x5
225 x3
275 x1
300 x1
325 x1


Bench -4pm
135 x5
185 x3
210 x1
225 -FAIL


Deadlift -6pm
185 x5
255 x3
325 x1
375 x1
395 x1


This did not go as well as I had hoped. I wanted to do this on Friday or Saturday, but when I left for work Friday I didn't come home until Saturday morning. Gotta love a 24 hour work day. I had only eaten 3 times since waking up Friday, didn't eat before lifting today, and I felt it. I was wasted and weak. I wanted to keep the time between lifts down to around 1 hour, but family obligations pushed it to 2.

Squats were an ugly struggle. Warmups felt heavy and the actual meet reps were brutal.

Bench was where it really took it's toll. I ate between the squats and bench, but it didn't make a difference. Even lowering my opener to 210 was hard. 225 made it halfway up. I had my brother-in-law give me the commands with a long pause. It ended up being 3 seconds. If I get a judge that gives a faster up command I can probably get 225. But to be safe I'm going to drop my 2nd rep to 220. Sad because I made 240 with a short pause and 230 with a long pause recently, and they weren't hard.

Deadlift was the only one that went really well. The warmups felt like working sets because the fatigue and soreness set in while I sat around. But 375 and 395 went up nice and smoothly. No ramping, an good bar speed. These felt hard but looked fast on video.


Now to relax and just do some light stretching and de-load lifts during the week. 6 days and counting..............

[KAG]

Wednesday

45 x5
135 x5
185 x1
225 x1
275 -1x2


So I intended to have a light weight de-load today and take it easy, but my squat has looked terrible on video lately. I was hitting depth but it was ugly. So I worked on form a little with medium weight. I did some nice slow squats with good form and depth. Maybe it wasn't the best move to make 3 days before the meet, but I was feeling stiff and lethargic anyway.

[DRice311]

Good luck man- take it easy the next couple days, rest up and eat, and go in there and kill it.

[KAG]

Well, it's done It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot, especially from my mistakes. I met a couple of goals, but missed a couple. I met a few cool people and will be better prepared next time.



Squat:
135 x5
225 x3
275 x1
135 x5(had to warmup again)
300 x1
325 x1
340 x1

These went really well considering that due to some confusion on the flights, I warmed up over an hour early, sat around, and had to stretch and warmup a little a 2nd time. I'm going to start the push to get the squat to 400lbs now.


Bench:
45 x10
135 x5
185 x3
210 x1
220 x1
230 -no lift

These went really well too. Even the failure was a good push that I almost got.

Deadlift:
185 x5
255 x3
325 x1
375 x1 *went up, but no lift*
375 x1
410 x1 *went up, but no lift*

This was somewhat disappointing. I was happy with the lifts, but angry because stupid mistakes cost me 2 good lifts. The first lift flew off the ground easily, but I unlocked my knees slightly before the down command. Red lights. The 2nd attempt at 375 flew up too, and I made sure to lock my knees hard and keep them there until the bar hit the floor. I didn't up the weight for the 2nd attempt because I had to be sure I got a rep so I'd have an official total. The 3rd attempt went up quickly and with moderate ease, but as I set my hips forward I stumbled and my foot shuffled slightly. I knew it before they gave me the down command. I stood there a few seconds holding the bar, shaking my head in disbelief at my mistake.



I will be much more prepared next time and I hope to get a 1,000lbs total.