With Winning in Mind

[Vince Cifani]

Nice. That is a slightly shorter trip for you than me to nationals. Yeah, I'll be going for 231. I was cruising your log and am jealous of your bench numbers, especially after my lousy workout today.

[Vince Cifani]

03/14/2014 - Volume Bench Day

1. Bench: 265 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 2

Everything was a mess today. I haven't been sleeping much this week and have really been feeling the effects. When I'm feeling tired and run-down, my upper body strength goes fast. I couldn't get tight and couldn't find the groove on bench. I attempted to warm up for the snatch and tried a single chin-up. My elbows and right shoulder were hurting pretty bad and I wasn't going to push my luck. I stuck around long enough to watch my buddy squat and went home.

Lesson learned: When I feel like garbage early in the morning, don't train later in the day. Just rest. Time to rest and start thinking about the next workout.

[Vince Cifani]

03/16/2014 - Intensity Squat Day

1. Squats: 475 x 1, 480 x 1 x 4

Feeling very strong and tight today. I felt extra ambitious and confident, so I jumped the weight up an extra five pounds. Before my first two meets, I made the mistake of going too heavy when I started my taper. I am trying to be more conservative doing my singles, this time around. On a side note, it's interesting how much faster my squats look on video than they feel when I'm actually doing them. On video, they looked almost easy. Almost. . .

2. Deadlifts: 495 x 1, 515 x 1 x 2

Like most people, heavy deadlifts beat me up pretty bad so I was also conservative with the weight on these today. For some reason, my right hand was a little weak(my pronated hand in the mixed grip). I tried to reverse my hands for the second set of 515 but it just felt too weird. I've never had a problem holding onto any weight I could deadlift, so this is unusual. Still, a minor gripe.


Much better workout today than Friday. It's amazing what a difference sleep can make.

[Vince Cifani]

03/17/2014 - Intensity Bench Day

1. Bench (paused): 255 x 1, 265 x 1, 275 x 1, 280 x 1, 285 x 1

I'm almost as strong benching with a long pause than I am touch-and-go, maybe because I'm more careful to stay tight. I've been putting a stronger emphasis on keeping my lats flexed when I bench and it has been making a huge difference. Feeling confident about breaking the 300-pound barrier pretty soon.

2. Press: 165 x 3 x 5

Pretty easy.

3. Barbell rows: 255 x 5 x 3

Easy.


I made an attempt at doing power cleans today but my elbows were bothering me and I just had no explosive power. It's probably best that I cut them out until the meet's over, anyway. Also, I was feeling sick earlier and was taking a bit of risk training today. Hope I'm not sorry tomorrow.

[Vince Cifani]

03/20/2014 - Volume Squat Day

1. Squat: 405 x 5 x 3

I dropped the volume from five sets of five down to three sets as part of my taper. Also, I dropped the weight about twenty pounds, as my volume squat weight was getting too close to my 5RM. This worked out pretty well. Earlier today I had gotten some bad news which blunted my motivation in the gym this evening, so the change was pretty timely. Not to mention, I have been feeling fatigued lately.

2. Romanian deadlifts: 350 x 8 x 1

Easy. Felt smooth.


Getting very excited about the meet in just over three weeks. A 500 squat and 300 bench are in reach!

[elVarouza]

Also, I dropped the weight about twenty pounds, as my volume squat weight was getting too close to my 5RM.

I've had this problem on the TM a lot especially with the upper body lifts. Have you managed it before by dropping the weight on volume day? Does that still allow you to hit PRs on intensity day? I'm always afraid to drop the weight down especially if I've been making progress each volume day. E.g. on bench I've hit 285x5x5 or so but my 5RM is 300, which is really close to the volume day.

And man with 480 for 4 singles on squat you've got 500+ for sure. That'll be an awesome goal to reach.

[Vince Cifani]

Yeah, I've had to drop the weight for volume day a couple of times. The thing I've noticed is that I really need to feel fresh and recovered on my Intensity Days to make any progress. When I overdo it on Volume Days, I feel run-down and start having bad workouts. There shouldn't be any problem with adding weight every Volume Day as long as the reps aren't too difficult. I was just getting to the point where my sets were really turning into grinders.

Thanks, I feel pretty confident about that 500 squat. I'm going to be just as happy to be benching over 300. Then I'll be almost ready to lift with the men.

[Vince Cifani]

03/21/2014 - Volume Bench Day

1. Bench: 245 x 5 x 3

Glad I dropped the weight on my bench volume, as well as my squat. I'm still feeling a little tired and beat up but I was able to complete all sets and reps without any problems.

2. Dips: +45 x 5 x 3

Pretty easy. Felt smooth and strong.

3. Chin-ups: 3 x 15

I have made some really good progress on these and am now able to handle a lot of sets without getting fatigued.

4. Power cleans: 135 x 3 x 3

Did a few light sets just for practice. I also tried to clean and press but I couldn't quite figure it out. I'm not sure how the lifters back in the old days were able to rack the clean in the correct position to press it. Guess I need to watch some old videos.


Way past my bed time and I am ready to sleep about fifty hours. . . or until my cat wakes me up.

[Vince Cifani]

03/23/2014 - Intensity Squat Day

1. Squats: 455 x 1, 475 x 1, 485 x 1 x 3

Feeling strong on squats. The weights went up a little slow but steady without any grinding. Getting there, getting there. . .

2. Deadlifts: 495 x 1, 545 x 0, 495 x 1

Alright-I was feeling very tired by deadlift time. 545, a weight I can normally hit anytime, barely came off the floor. I think the problem was that it took me almost two hours between the time I started warming up for squats and my last work set. Between my sets, I was helping other people lift and just waited too long. I should have hustled a little more and maybe even brought some food or a protein shake with me to keep my energy up. Oh well. Not too concerned about my deadlift.

[Vince Cifani]

03/25/2014 - Intensity Bench Press

1. Bench Press: 275 x 1, 285 x 1, 295 x 1 (all paused)

My warmups felt shaky but I forced myself to mentally pull it together and was able to hit three good paused singles. 295 was pretty slow but I am feeling confident about 300 in a couple of weeks. I did some experimenting getting a good, consistent set up. I think I'm finally satisfied with it.

2. Press 170 x 3 x 2, 135 x 5 x 1

Press was pretty difficult so I decided to drop the weight and do a light back-off set. I don't want to be grinding these out right now.

3. Barbell rows: 260 x 5 x 3

Fun, as usual. Everyone at the gym seems confused why I put the bar down between every rep.


I'm progressing slowly but surely on bench and am very excited to hit 300 at the meet. Then it will be time to start working on 400. I can't wait.