Journal headed into my 2nd lifting competition

[K.Diesel]

Bodyweight 195.5 this morning.

Squat - done w/ suit on, straps down
bar/5; 135/5; 225/3; 315/2; 350/1
380/1 (added belt and wrist wraps here to end)
400/1
425/2 - felt really strong. Took cell phone video and 1st rep was just over 2 seconds. Didn't have lots of time so skipped 2nd set to start benching

Bench Press
bar/5; 135/5; 185/3; 215/2; 235/1 (warm-ups)
255/2 - sure I had a 3rd but...
255/2.75 - thought I would try the 3rd here, but I couldn't finish it. I had the bar higher than the rack, but just couldn't lock out.

Deadlift
230/3; 320/1; 370/1; 410/1; 440/1 (warm-ups)
470/1 x 4 - about 1-2 minutes between reps. felt slow doing them, but looked at video and they were just under 3 seconds each

[K.Diesel]

Once again, time was not my friend. Had to blaze through a workout. Really need to keep my ab work up, if not at gym then at home. Anyway...

Box Squat w/bands
bar+bands/3; 135+/2; 185+/1; 220+/1 (warm-ups)

250+/2 x 9 sets - all felt pretty good and fast (actually better than 225+ last week), except for sets 5 & 6. Think I lost concentration while someone was talking to me, plus I was rushing.

Hanging Deadlifts - Have never done these before today and never heard of them before 2 weeks ago.

Maybe Paused Deadlifts or Stop/Start Deads are a better name. But either way, I heard of these from a friend who has been competing (successfully) for more than 10 years. So I decided to try them for an ME assistance exercise. Basically you start a deadlift, hold it at your knees for 2-3 seconds, then lock out. Since I needed it explained to me, I figured I'd explain it here for those who were in the dark on it like I was. But if I was the last to find out about them, then I feel like an a$$.

135/5; 225/4; 275/2; 315/3; 365/3 - added wrist straps at 315. Counting these as warm-ups
405/3 x 2 sets - I really liked these. Its like stalling on purpose and teaching yourself to grind through it. Will go for doubles next week.

Romanian deads - done on a step
315/9 - done to failure

That was it. Told you time was not my friend. All done in 60 minutes. Need to rearrange my schedule for this week, so I will hit bench assist tomorrow, then hit competition day on Friday

Peace and sorry if I rambled. It is 2:50 a.m. Insomnia sucks

[K.Diesel]

I was in a minor auto accident yesterday that caused major damage to my car - either that or it exposed problems that were already present in my front axle and suspension. I wasn't hurt, just shaken up a little. Only ran up on a curb and into a sign (like a stop sign size). The point is, now I'm sharing a car w/my wife and getting to work on public transpo which will affect gym time. So workouts may get shorter or be rushed for a while. On to the lifting...

Bench press w/bands - done fast, alternating grip from wide, normal, close
bar+bands/5; 95/4; 135/3 (warm up)
165/3 x 8 sets

Bench Press off 1 phone book
185/3; 225/3; 255/2 (warm up)
275/2 x 3 sets - 1st set was harder than the 2nd set, but the 3rd was hardest of all

"T-Bar" row - done w/plates on 1 end of bar and v-grip handle from seated row machine
135/10
225/8
270/6 to failure, ROM was getting short

Chins
bwt/5 (warm up, wide grip)
+45/6 - wide pronated grip
+45/8 - supinated shoulder-width to failure
+45/8 - v-grip handle to failure

Pressdowns
50/6 - lat pulldown stack
90/7 - to failure at pulldown stack
150/10 - to failure at crossover stack

[K.Diesel]

Felt like today would be good. Got extra sleep thanks to DST ending last night. Went to a breakfast buffet this morning. Plus the Ravens won on the road, swept the Browns this year, and haven't fallen apart yet halfway into the season. On to the lifting...


Weighed in at 195.5 (before the buffet).

Squat
bar/5; 135/5; 225/3
315/2 (added wrist wraps)
370/2 (added suit, straps down)
405/1 (added belt)
430/1 (added knee wraps)
450/3 (all of the above) - *BIG PR triple!* The guy spotting me was nice and all, but this dude kept putting his hands on my elbows on the reps. I had a mouthpiece in and was holding my breath, so I couldn't yell for him to get off. But I'm claiming those reps, and know I would have got them anyway. Fought a little for the last one. I'm fired up though - 453 was my best squat from the last meet.

Bench
bar/5; 135/5; 175/3; 210/2
230/1 (added wrist wraps)
255/1
275/1 + 1 failed - the 1st rep matched my PR from the 1st meet, and felt like I had a 2nd. So I figured I'd go for it and only got it 1/2way up. Spotter helped me finish #2. Think I held the pause too long.
285/0 - waited 5 or 6 minutes and said what the heck, that 1st 275 felt like I had more, but should have known that forced rep spelled doom for me. Anyway, got it a few inches off my chest and that was it.

Deadlift - all done in squat suit w/straps down in interest of time
250/3 (normal grip)
340/2 (staggered grip)
410/1 (added chalk)
440/1 (added belt)
470/1
500/1 x 3 - *another BIG PR triple!* I pretty much do all deads as singles, but I count them as doubles, triples, etc. depending on the rest time between them. Watched the clock and rested 60 seconds for #2 and 90 for #3. This was pretty hard but satisfying. Only 12 pounds from my best at the last meet.

All in all, this was quite a good day, even though the bench remains a weaker link than I hoped. God willing, we'll try it again in a few days.

[Locutus]

Still liftin'? Haven't seen you post in a week. When's the comp again?

[K.Diesel]

Still liftin'? Haven't seen you post in a week. When's the comp again?

Yes sir, I've just been lazy about posting. Plus tired. If I didn't mention it in a previous post, my day job is carrying mail. For several months, I a circuit of 5 routes where I only had to walk 1 1/2 days a week, and the other 3 1/2 days I delivered from the truck. Last week, I started a route where I walk 5 days a week again, with lots of stairs. So I had to go low volume until the meet while I adjust to my new GPP load. I've gained strength/muscle/lean mass while walking routes 6 days a week before, I just need to adjust again. So, thanks for your patience - Locutus and everyone else who's been following this journal..

Oh, the meet is Sat. 11/22

Ab circuit alternating sets of each exercise with about 60 seconds between each

Hanging knee raise (at dip station) - body/15; body+30/13; body+15/14
the last 2 sets were to failure, with the added weight from a dumbbell between my feet

Side bends w/dumbbells - 25s/20 each side; 75s/20 ea.

Standing rope crunch - 80/20; 150/9; 120/19
last 2 sets to failure

Miscellaneous circuit - i just picked these at random, and did 3 sets of each, alternating

Dips - body/12; body/8; +85/8 + body/11 (drop set, I can't remember the last time I did one of those)

Chins - body/6; body/7; +50/4+4+4
the first 2 sets were warm ups, I felt something weird in my forearm on the first set. Maybe still stressed from the deadlifts on Sun. Felt fine on the second. The last set was groups of 4 at wide, underhand, and neutral grip(v-handle)

Glute-ham raises - 12, 15, 20

[K.Diesel]

The idea was to get some work in on legs and triceps, and do light reps on the big 3. Had one of my brothers giving me the competition commands on each of those.

BW = 193

Leg Press
230/10; 360/8; 540/6; 720/4; 855/3 (warm ups)
945/9 - may have had another rep, not sure. Wrapped knees for last set, just to get used to the feel of them again, and to practice wrapping. Someone else wrapped me at my last meet, but I may have to do it myself this time. But wrapping for leg presses is not normal for me.

Pressdowns at crossover station
105/8 - short bar warm up
105/6; 125/3 - rope warm up
150/6 - rope to faillure
150/11 - short bar to failure

Rope crunches - 120/20

Big 3 practice - did 4 singles each. Squat was 185, bench was 150, dead was 200. This was just to practice form and lifting against the commands. I've had others help with this over the last few months as well.

The game plan is to do a "2/3 dress rehearsal" on Thu. 11/13. Full gear on squat, and my plan is to warm up and do 3 singles for squat and bench like at the meet, but not quite as heavy. One of my attempts tomorrow will be 475 though. Bench will probably go up to 275/280. Don't know if I'll deadlift or not, thus the 2/3. Maybe the warmups, but don't want to tax my lower back too much 9 days out.

[K.Diesel]

Bodyweight this morning was 192.5

Squat
bar/5; 135/5; 225/3
315/2 (added wrist wraps)
365/1 (added belt)
405/1 (added suit, straps down) - this rep felt a little toughter than expected. probably cooled off a bit going to the locker room to put on the suit

435/1 (added knee wraps).
455/1 (straps up) - PR! best at 1st meet was 453
475/1 - PR!!
500/1 - Super PR!!! was going to stop at 495 but friends convinced me to go for it. Would post the video but it's on my phone and I don't know how to upload it. Honestly felt like I was good for 10 more lbs.

Bench
bar/5; 95/5; 135/3; 175/3
205/1 (added wrist wraps)
225/1 (added belt) - low back needed help after squats
240/1
255/1
270/1 - tougher than I expected
285/0 - Damn!!!!! I'm nervous and disappointed because if this is where I am, that means all my training hasn't netted me a 10lb increase in my bench since 8/30/08. I'm trying to blame it on any of the following factors:
* general fatigue from my new route
* fatigue in this session - I took 90 min. to squat (the last 3 attempts had about 8 min. rest in between) and then rushed through the bench in about 30-40 min. due to gym closing time
* mental block/focus
* drop in bodyweight
If any of this seems reasonable, or if there are any other factors that I've overlooked, please give some feedback. I'd hate to think I haven't made any progress on this lift in 3 months.

Even still, I'm happy with the squat. Even if my bench is stuck, I think I have a good shot of hitting my goal: 1300 total next Saturday. Will have 1-2 light sessions between now and then just to keep muscles awake.

[K.Diesel]

My 1 - 2 light sessions after the dress rehearsal ended up as sporadic pushups and bar squats at home.

Weighed in at 189.5 - so much for the accuracy of my home scale. I weighed 192.5 at home that morning.

Went 9 for 9!
Squat = 457, 479, 501. - suit and wraps
Bench = 259, 275, 281. - raw
Dead = 485, 507, 518. - squat suit
Total = 1300 (590kg). Every squat, my 3rd bench and 3rd deadlift are all PRs, plus I hit a new total PR with each deadlift (total from the 1st meet was 1240/562.5kg)! Finished 1st in my weight class. No complaints at all about anything.

Will likely compete again in February or March, and will keep my log going here. Thanks for the feedback and following my journey. Should return to the gym in a week - my back needs a break right now.

[Locutus]

Congrats!