K.Diesel's powerlifting and other training - 2009 and beyond

[K.Diesel]

Here's the video from the last week or so. Thanks for watching!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfqetsoXoeg

[K.Diesel]

1. Bench press
bar/10+; 135/5; 165/4; 195/4; (75%) 225/4 x 6 sets

After 2 sets, I realized I feel like I have no real power with my pinkies on the rings. So I moved my hands in about 2 fingers' width and this felt stronger. Also, as much as I like the equipment for assistance work at the new YMCA, I won't be benching there at least until I'm back to lifting in the evenings. The benches there only have 2 fixed rack heights. One is too high for me, and the other is too low. I was lucky to get some one to hand off to me, but I can't count on that every morning I'm there.

2. Barbell row
bar/10; 135/8; 185/6
VersaGripps: 225/6
belt: 245/8; 265/6; 225/9
belt & VG's off, fat grips on: 135/20 - 1st 2 reps overhand, felt weird, switched to underhand

3. St. OHP
bar/10; 95/8; 115/5; 135/6; 155/5; 155/6 (push press); 135/8 (last 4 were push presses)

4a. Seated 1-arm cable row
112.5(stack)/8 each; 103.5/11 each; 94.5/13 each

4b. Seated dip machine
165(stack+)/16, 13; 150(stack)12

[K.Diesel]

Gary's thread on "Switching Loyalties" in the training section of the forum got me thinking about using some gear to help deal with the pain I've been having in my groin, specifically, in/around my left adductor. So I dusted off my old Inzer Z-suit and headed to the gym. I also took my Inzer knee sleeves, because my cheap neoprene sleeves from Dick's barely stay up anymore. I planned to work at 80% of my raw max, but figured with the gear, I'd up the % by as much as 5%. Here's how it went...

1. Squat
bar/8; 135/6; 225/5; 315/3; 365/2
belt: (80%) 390/3; (82.5%) 405/3 x 5 sets; 405/4

Notes: All sets were done in the sleeves, and the suit with the straps down. I didn't hit depth until the 315 set. Felt more help than I remembered from this suit, but that's probably because I'm 10-12 lbs. heavier than I was last time I had it on, and it was much tighter than before. Felt no pain, strain, or tweaks in my groin, which is exactly what I wanted. Felt good enough that I went for an extra rep on the last set, and probably could have done a 5th if under threat of death or prison. Based on today's session, I think I'll stick with suit bottoms until 2 weeks from the meet. I want to do my last 2 squat sessions like I'll do them at the meet. Meanwhile, I'll get some more neoprene sleeves.

Took off the suit and did a few cleans with an empty bar, and had no heart for it. Then did 12 walking lunges with 40 lb. dumbbells. That was enough to know going heavier would be a disaster.

2a. Prone leg curl
110/11; 165(stack+)/8; 150(stack)/9, 9; 130/11

2b. Standing calf raise
190/12; 235/12; 270/9; 230/12; 110/5 each leg x 2 sets

2c. Shrugs on calf machine
235/15; 270/15; 290/20

3a. Seated calf press
115/18, 16

3b. Weighted planks
45 lbs/45 sec; 90 lbs/31 sec

[K.Diesel]

Training prelude:

Today was an all-around great day. This morning, we went to my 4-year-old daughter's closing ceremony at school, where she had a singing solo. She also has a ballet and tap recital tomorrow, so this weekend promises to be busy. Anyway, after today's program, we took her to see the Karate Kid remake to celebrate. This flick was surprisingly good. As a fan of the original, and a movie buff who thinks at least 40 years should pass before a classic is remade, if ever, this movie delivered way more than either my wife or I thought it would.

What does this have to do with powerlifting and Frappuccinos? My only calories and nutrients for the day came from a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee this morning, and popcorn and iced tea at the movies. I wasn't feeling very energized, and on the way to the gym, I stopped at Starbucks. I remembered that my mom gave me a Starbucks card for my birthday that I hadn't used yet, so I treated myself to an extra coffee mocha Frappuccino. I figured that a worst-case scenario would be that I would feel sluggish after a tasty treat. How would a better case scenario look? Perhaps like this...

1. Bench press
bar/12; 135/5; 175/4; 215/3; (80%) 240/3 x 7 sets, 240/6

What the hell happened here? The plan was to do 7 triples, but I felt like I was getting stronger each set. So much so, that i did an extra set, and repped out with double what I was doing on the other work sets. Just about all reps were paused. Very encouraging.

2. Deadlift - wearing an old Titan DL suit, gifted to me by Jason Beck, straps down
135/5; 225/5; 315/3; 365/2
belt: 405/1; (85%) 465/3; (88%) 485/1; (92%) 505/1 x 4 sets

Had no real plan for these, so I just made this up as I went along. No real groin issues.

3. Dips
BW/10; +45/7; +90/6; BW/17

I now believe in the power of the Frappuccino as a pre-workout beverage.

Also, I think I'm going to look for some compression shorts or something to help with this groin injury. I don't think the suit bottoms helped too much on my pulls, but they're still a pain to get on and off. Plus, if I'm going to get bruised from gear, I'd rather it happen while I'm training for a meet where I'll be wearing it

[K.Diesel]

Got to the gym, and did lots (like 80-100) reps of adductors (yes the girlie machine) on the lowest setting to get some blood going in there. Followed that up with wide bodyweight pause squats, and the groin felt pretty good. Then I put on the Inzer Z-suit, straps down the whole time. I thought I'd give my cheap neoprene knee sleeves another shot since I'd just washed them, just to see how they went.

1. Squat
bar/8; 135/6; 225/5; 315/3; 365/2; (82.5%) 405/1
add belt: (87.5%) 430/2 x 9 sets

I kept having to pull up the loose sleeves, so on set 5, I switched to the Inzer sleeves. Didn't tighten the velcro. Plus, I think I'm going to order some Rehbands.

I have mixed feelings about this workout. One the one hand, I'm happy with the volume with this amount of weight. On the other hand, this felt a lot harder than the squats last Wednesday. Perhaps I'm overestimating the amount of help I'm getting from the suit bottoms, and am overcompensating for it. I have until Friday to figure something out, but I think I need to recalculate a few things for my squats if I'm going to continue using the suit bottoms. I like that I'm squatting without any groin pain, strain, or discomfort, but I don't want to get shocked on that platform. I already plan to drop the suit at least 2 weeks before the meet, no matter what. I just don't want to mess myself up.

Bodyweight this morning is 207, with a 34" waist, and somewhere around 15% bodyfat. I'll start dropping weight somewhere between Friday and Monday. The plan for now is simple: go back to work. See how delivering mail in 90 degree weather causes me to drop at my current intake, and make adjustments from there. This has been unreal. No urban hiking for nearly 3 weeks, and I'm at my all time heaviest. I can't wait to get back to an office job. Downside: I'll have to think about, plan and do GPP.

[K.Diesel]

Here are the highlights from last week's sessions (June 7-13). Thanks for watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYkk_0Lhs04

[Platus]

Those benches @ 240# looked almost effortless. Any idea what you plan to open with at the NJ states?

[K.Diesel]

Those benches @ 240# looked almost effortless. Any idea what you plan to open with at the NJ states?

They felt easy. I'm feeling "good" about my bench right now, but there are 2 things I need to remember:
1. I weigh more than I ever have
2. I won't weight this much in NJ

So that leads me to be cautiously optimistic, but if things continue like this, I'm thinking a 275-281 opener.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, I planned to go to the gym and squat, then bench tomorrow. That way, I could go to work on Monday, get back in the mailman groove, and hit the gym on Tuesday. Well, I made the silly mistake of overloading on stimulants while having an empty stomach. I mean coffee plus a 1/2 serving of Nano Hardcore (pills). I didn't want to eat, because my sleep has been messed up and I was up eating at 1:30 a.m. watching Die Hard 2. This was just dumb on my part. I know better, and I paid the price. I was jittery by the time I got to the gym, and figured I would be ok once I got going. Well, I was sweating but cold, dragging, and just not feeling strong during warm ups. I was wearing Z-suit bottoms and Inzer sleeves, and after 325 felt like a ton of bricks, I knew it was time to abort the mission. Thank goodness there's a Five Guys 2 doors down from the Y in the same shopping center, and they were just opening too. I went in and got the freshest cheeseburger and fries I've probably ever eaten. It helped the jitters, but I wasn't right for a few more hours. I'll try squatting again tomorrow.

Anyway, here's Tuesday's session. This was done with 2 friends at a gym where 1 is a member. Nice spot. By comparison, this workout took just as long as Monday's session, where all I did was squat for 2 hours.

1. Bench press
bar/12; 135/5; 185/3; 225/2; (85%) 255/2 x 8 sets, 255/5 - feeling real strong on bench right now. But my bench still sucks.

Circuit time...

2a. Chins
very wide grip: BW/10; +35/8
wide grip: +35/7
L-sit/underhand: +35/9

2b. Seated calf press
90/16; 135/15; 180/7; 135/16

2c. 1-arm DB clean & press
30/6 each; 50/5 ea; 70/5 ea

2d. Ab wheel
15, 15, 15

3a. Dips
100/6; 80/8; BW/16, 15

3b. Chins - underhand
BW/8, 8

Abdominal DOMS has been significant since this workout. Plus from now on, Frappuccinos are the only pre-workout supplement allowed on an empty stomach.

[K.Diesel]

At present, it looks like I won't be doing the NJ States after all. I talked it over with my wife, and I've come to the conclusion that skipping this meet might be the best move for me right now. Main reasons:

1. My squat is overtrained - I realized this on Saturday as I attempted to squat again. I almost went Logan Lacy under 375, and instead of getting the 5 reps I planned on set 1, I managed 2 extremely hard reps. In suit bottoms and Inzer sleeves, no less. I didn't repeat the mistake from Friday either. Actually, I made sure to eat plenty that morning and afternoon. Plus my adductors were hurting even with the suit on. I need to take at least a week off of squatting, as that lift seems to be regressing. My bench and deadlift are progressing nicely though. If it was a push/pull meet, maybe, but I wouldn't log a full meet total and that's what I'm after.

2. I'm still hurt, and it's not getting better (see above). I'm just not motivated enough to me to push myself through an injury to compete in it. If it was MD States, I'd keep grinding.

So what next? I'm still planning on the American Open in December, and I'll grind for that one. Back to single-ply for that (yeah!). I still want to do another raw meet this year, and my next shot will be Sep. 11 at the VA States. Hopefully, there will be an announcement about MD States by that time. If not, VA might be it. Otherwise, I'll just see what the calendar looks like in early fall.

As for training, I'm going to revisit my old friend Mr. Wendler and his 5/3/1 plan. I used it to great success for last year's Raw Nats. I'll start tomorrow, and for the time being, I'll still plan to train 3 days per week. So one wave, including deload, will take me 5 weeks instead of 4.

Sequence will be:
1. Bench day
2. Deadlift day
3. Press day
4. Squat day


I'll probably still attend NJ, at least on Sunday. I want to see how NolanPower does, plus several buddies of mine will be there both days too.

[Sami]

Good luck, and heal up.