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

[K.Diesel]

Ok, here are the "highlights" of last week's training. Thanks in advance for watching!



Mon. 10/18

Thanks to overtime at work, I got to the gym late again. Thanks to the time it takes to get that suit/wraps/etc on, I didn't do much other than the core lift.

1. Squat
bar/8; 135/5; 225/3; 275/2; 325/1; 375/1; 400/1 - this may be a beltless PR
add belt: 425/3 - may be a raw PR triple. Not sure here either. I do know it's 5 lbs more than the heaviest triples I did during Smolov Jr. this spring.

add suit, straps down: 455/1
add knee wraps: 485/1
straps up: 510/1 - see comments below

2. Glute-hip thrust - with suit
275/12. If I'd gone to the locker room to take the suit off, the gym would have been closed when I returned.

Squat commentary
Time was working against me yet again. My plan going in was to single 485, which I did, then pull the straps up for singles or doubles at 505 and 520. After the 485, I loaded 505, and as I was wrapping my knees, reality set in that I only had time for one more squat set. I decided to repeat the 510 I did last week. Difference: last week I had the straps down, so I figured I'd be good for a double or even a triple with the straps up. Once I got the straps up, my ability to breath seemed to decline sharply. Once my belt went on, it was ridiculous. Mind you I used this same suit last year, and while it's always been tight, I never had this problem. I weigh about the same as I did this time last year too.

Anyway, I could barely get a deep breath before unracking it. It felt like I could barely move my right leg to get myself in my stance. Finally I just kind of gave up, got as much air as I could, and with barely any intra-abdominal pressure, smoked that 510. I was going to go for another rep, but couldn't get enough oxygen, and that's when I started to feel like I was leaning too far forward. Plus I couldn't see straight. Scared I was going to pass out, I managed to re-rack the bar, spit out my mouthguard, and asked my buddy Rob to help me get my straps down and wraps off. One of the scariest moments I've ever had in the gym.

Great deadlifts, K. Nice!

Thanks Helgi!

yo brother, any tips on making the switch to sumo?

Yes sir, I saw that in your log. To me, the lift is fundamentally the same whether you go sumo or conventional. The leverages are different, so one thing I'd say is to be prepared for changes in your strengths and weaknesses on the lift. As a result, you may need to change assistance exercises. Also, I can't emphasize one of the points in the second link enough: weights will probably feel much harder off the floor than you're used too. Pull through it anyway! I've found that breaking it off the floor is harder than conventional, but lockout seems to be easier.

Here are a few other items I've found helpful...

Article by my friend Alex for Elitefts.com on pulling sumo. He pulls sumo and is in PL USA top 100 for 148s.

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/go_sumo.htm

Here's a video by my PL mentors about a few topics, including the difference between DL styles. The video starts by addressing your question. Sioux-z mentions a file, and I have it too. I can e-mail it to you if you want. Not a lot of detail on it, but after watching this again, I figured I'd link it anyway because the rest of the video is good too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3BHc7830GQ

I hope this helps to get you started. Keep me posted on how it goes, and I'll help as much as I can.

[BigJavs]

Thank you, sir.

That article was very helpful and those Q and A's are gold!

[K.Diesel]

^^^^^^
Glad I could help Javs.

This turned out to be a joint session with my man Jamar, a.k.a. ygbodybuilder10. He showed up during my bench warm ups and said it was his chest day. Sounded like a good opportunity to make a new training video, so that's what we did.




1. Bench press - mostly phone book presses
raw: bar/6; 135/3, 3; 185/3; 225/3; 255/1

add shirt

2 books: 285/2
1 book: 305/1
to chest: 315/0, 0 - I can't believe this.
3 books: 325/1 + 1 assisted; 325/1; 305/3

I can't believe it. This is going almost exactly like last year. I probably should have bought a new shirt, but now I don't really have enough time. I really think this is mostly a technique issue rather than just strength. I used a belt to make the shirt tight on that 1st 315, and my shoulders slipped just before I got the bar to my chest. On the 2nd, I pushed it toward my feet too much to recover.

Last fall, my shirt training sucked just like it does now, then I did my best equipped benching at the mock meet in December. If that's how this ends up, I'll be ok with that. Still, I'm strongly considering taking a first attempt raw at the AO just to make sure I don't bomb. Even doing that, there's a chance for a bench PR.

2. Incline dumbbell press
100s/7; 80s/10, 9

3. Chinups - all underhand
BW/8; +25/7; +50/5; +75/4

4. Dips
+100/7; BW/12

[K.Diesel]

Today's lifting was at a new gym for me, Dumbarton Barbell Club. This is where Platus trains. I wanted to try it out, and wanted to offer Platus some help practicing the PL commands. I really like the place. Lots of PL and OL friendly bars, racks, chains, platforms, and other equipment. The only problem is that it closes at 9pm, and on days when I work overtime (almost everyday), I would have serious time constraints. Still, at $84/year ($7/month), it will probably be worth it to join and go when I can. I'll keep my YMCA membership to give me weeknight access until 10, plus weekends until 7pm.

1. OHP
bar/13; 95/5; 125/4; 150/3; 170/6, 3, 4.5, 5

Set 1, rep 6 at 170 was unplanned. David yelled that I had 1 more after the 5th, so I went for it and learned he was right. Happy that I'm still making decent progress on this lift.

2. Deadlift - wearing Inzer HardCore, backwards
135/8; 225/3; 315/2; 365/1; 415/1
add belt: 465/1
add suit, straps down: 465/1; 495/1
straps up: 520/1, 1

Some of the best DL's I've done lately, especially the ones in the suit. I think I figured out how to breathe in the full suit. To explain it without confusing anyone (I hope), I have to set my feet, grab the bar and keep my hips high while my torso is bent over parallel to the floor. In that position I can take normal, deep breaths. So I'll get like that, breathe, hold, then drop my hips and pull. Will practice this with 530 next week. I'm hoping that will go well enough for me to leave the gym confident that I can open DLs w/530 at the American Open.

[K.Diesel]

Looks like I'm down another 1/2 pound to 195.0 as of this morning. Nothing to get upset about, but it did inspire me to make this what I'm now calling Recovery Day.

Recovery Day Stats

1. Starting last night around 7:30 pm, I hit IHOP for their all-you-can-eat pancakes. Got 4 eggs w/cheese and had 8-10 pancakes.

2. Went to sleep around midnight, which is early for me on many nights. Was awakened by my daughter who wanted breakfast around 8:30 am. (Counting it as 8 hours)

3. Fed her, and when my wife and son joined us downstairs, I snuck back in bed and stayed there until 1. (Counting it as 4 more hours)

4. Watched the Ravens squeeze out an OT win over the Bills, and literally ate the whole game. Oatmeal w/fruit/flax oil/milk, mini-wheats, fried chicken, french fries, and a steak egg roll.

5. Left my house after the game and within 90 minutes I was at Golden Corral buffet for dinner. 4 full plates of steak, more steak, chicken pot pie, sweet & sour chicken, onion rings, etc etc. Ice cream and cake too.

I'm on pace now for 6.5-7 hours of sleep before work tomorrow, which is an improvement. It's supposed to be squat day, but I'm waiting on my new squat suit to get here. I know Inzer received the one I sent back. I'll call tomorrow to see if they've sent the larger one. I'll probably rearrange my lifting schedule for the week if it doesn't arrive tomorrow, because I don't want to burn another squat session in a suit I don't plan to compete in.

[K.Diesel]

I talked to Inzer today, and was informed that my larger TRX should arrive tomorrow. So I decided to postpone squat day until then. If all goes well, I'll squat in it tomorrow, then rest 2 days before deadlifts on Friday.

1. Bench press
bar/10; 115/5; 160/3; 200/2; 230/1; 250/1; 270/3.5 - this may be a a new 3 rep PR!. Got real close to a 4th

add shirt

290/1; 310/1; 315/1 -finally!
2 books: 315/1

I've been taking a wider grip on shirted bench presses than I use for raw benches. Tonight, I used the same grip for all of them - my usual raw grip which puts my pinky an inch or 2 inside the rings on the bar. These were the best shirted benches I've done while training for the AO. I'm going to stick with it next session and see what happens.

Help from anyone on something: my right arm is weaker on lockout than my left. Much weaker. It's clear as day on videos. The reason I can't figure it out is because I'm right handed. I haven't done anything that I'm aware of to overcompensate for the natural imbalance. Why is my right side so far behind the my left when it comes to locking out presses (bench and overheads too)?

2. Rows - wearing Versa Gripps
1 arm DB: 60/15 each
Seated cable v-grip: 165/8; 205/7, 8
1 arm DB: 100/22 each

3. Dips
BW/22; 10 - stopped second set when security guard came in to put us all out for staying late

[hbriem]

Excellent! Congrats on the PRs.

I'm afraid I can't help you with the right arm weakness. It's weird. All I can suggest is concentrating on locking out the right.

[K.Diesel]

This session was supposed to happen yesterday, but you know how life gets sometimes. Just didn't happen. Fortunately, when I got home last night, my Inzer TRX (larger size 34) was waiting on my porch, as promised. As an aside, I've read several reports where people say Inzer's service sucks. I can't say it doesn't but that's never been my experience with them. All my orders and exchanges have been handled without mistakes and in a timely manner. Maybe I'm just lucky. Anyway, the workout....

1. Squat
bar/5; 140/5; 230/3; 280/2; 330/2; 380/1; 405/1 - beltless single PR!

add belt: 430/3 - raw 3 rep PR!!

TRX debut, straps down: 465/2
switch from Rehband sleeves to Inzer sleeves (size XL): 500/2 - 2 rep PR!!

About the 430 x 3

Hit safety pins on rep 1 and almost lost the rep and quit on the set. Fortunately, a rush of either testicular fortitude or insanity hit me. Whatever it was, I regrouped without re-racking the bar and gutted out 2 more reps. I hate the safety pins on this shoulder press rack that we have to use for squatting at my gym. Even at the lowest setting, they are a bit higher than I'd like, which is why I rarely use them. However, trustworthy spotters haven't been there lately when I'm squatting. Even if they were, the only one I'd trust to spot me for 450+ is my buddy Jamar (ygbodybuilder10), and he wasn't there.

About the 500 x 2

The 2nd rep was a real grinder and as close to a max effort as I'd want to get at this point. I can't say enough about how big a confidence booster this is for the AO. It was my first time doubling 500, and I was blessed to do it without the straps up or knee wraps, or even my smaller/tighter knee sleeves (size L). I'm pretty excited about what I might be able to hit at the A.O. fully geared and wrapped.

Deadlifts might be out for this week. The way my back feels (top to bottom), it may not be a good idea to come back on Friday for pulls. I'm thinking of doing OHP, glute-hip raises and maybe some other tricep work tomorrow, then shutting down until Monday.

Excellent! Congrats on the PRs.

I'm afraid I can't help you with the right arm weakness. It's weird. All I can suggest is concentrating on locking out the right.

Thank you sir. It's a mystery to me too. As long as I select attempts that my right arm can lockout, I should be ok.

[hbriem]

Wow. Congratulations again! You sure are on a roll.

[K.Diesel]

Wow. Congratulations again! You sure are on a roll.

Thanks Helgi! Feels like I'm on a roll, but don't worry - bench day is coming up soon to mess it all up. HAHAHAHA! Seriously, I've been blessed with a good run and hope it can continue through the meets.

1. OHP - no leg drive
bar/10, pulldown: 45 x 10; bar/10; 95/5; 135/3; 155/2;
add belt: 175/5, 4, 3.5, 3 - Solid 5 rep PR on set 1! Almost got a 4th rep on set 3.

2. Glute-hip thrust
135/10; 225/5; 275/5; 315/5; 355/5
add belt: 385/5; 405/10
Did a rep at the beginning of each set that I used to set my feet and get a feel for balancing the bar. Didn't count those here. Held each rep for a second at the top, and kept a good ROM through all of these. Best job I've done with these.

I'm done lifting until Monday or Tuesday of next week. 3-4 days off will count as a mini-deload. Right now, I'm feeling good about every lift except my equipped bench press. In other words, everything is going well.