Awesome to see your squat back over 500, Wolf!
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Awesome to see your squat back over 500, Wolf!
Took it easy today in preparation for Sunday. Not a true planned peak and taper as I did volume earlier in the week, but just one light workout ahead of the Squat/Press/DL test on Sunday. At this point, I'd be OK with 1375, happy with 1400, and ecstatic to hit 1425-1450. Don't think anything above that is realistic given both where my training is and without a real taper. But we'll see come Sunday. Plan is to open with 485, 245, 590 so hitting openers would give me 1320. Since it's not an actual meet though, and I don't have to submit openers or anything, I may change those based on how warm-ups feel.
Today:
Squat
45x8x2, 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3x2, 455 walkout, 495 walkout, 545 walkout, 585 walkout
Notes: I've never really tried walkouts as a strategy, but figured given the low workload today, might as well. 585 definitely felt heavy, had to take smaller steps than I'm used to. Good to feel the weight on my back though. I actually did one set of 365 on the way up, and the other after the 585 walkout. It felt like almost nothing on my back after holding 220 more pounds a few minutes prior.
Press
45x8, 95x8, 135x5, 165x3, 185x2, 205x2,3
Notes: Not as easy as I thought they'd be. My press has been giving me some trouble lately, hoping that I recover well for Sunday. Hitting the two doubles at 247.5 is something I *definitely* couldn't have done when I hit 260, so I should have more than 260 in me now, but I may be over-reached in my press and not able to express it. Guess we'll see.
Sled Push - 2 min clock
2x empty - h/h
2x 40lbs - 1 h/h, 1 h/l
3x 60lbs - 1 h/h, 2 h/l
Notes: Went lower volume and easier here today, but still wanted to do some conditioning.
Good luck and have fun tomorrow!
Thanks Dwayne. I did have fun today, and am very happy with how squat and press turned out. DL was a different story, but overall I'm feeling positive. First, the summary and the good and the bad. Then vid.
Summary
Squat: 490, 515, 530 - all good. Expectation was 515-520, so this was a nice surprise. Warm-ups and first two attempts felt good so I just took it. Squatting is the lift I am least good at grinding on, so even though I had gas in the tank, tops today probably would have been 540-545, even though it appears I had more in the tank than that. 530 is only 5 lbs off my lifetime PR, and I only started back squatting with 135 two months ago, so this was great start.
Press: 245, 257.5, 265 - all good. 245 was so easy. But I didn't have as much focus for the next two attempts. Knees unlocked a bit, and the 265 was pretty grindy; not my slowest press rep ever, but plenty slow and wavering back and forth as I regained mid foot balance. This is a 5 pound lifetime PR. With a proper taper and perfect execution, I'm confident I have 275. I couldn't have done it today, but it's there. My biggest press issue is perfect execution at max weights.
Deadlift: 590 - made it, then missed two attempts at 625. Very disappointed here, I was planning on a 3rd attempt in the 640-660 range, so this was a pretty bad underperformance. I first hit 580 at my 2nd meet in December, 2012 with a 5RM DL of around 485 or something; my all time 5RM is now 575 and have recently done 555x5 in this cycle. Granted that 580 was on a DL bar vs today's stiff bar, but still. I hit 585x3x2 - hard, but not absolute max - in my last heavy DL day 16 days ago. And given that I was coming off a very minor and short illness, 505x5x3 was not especially hard 9 days ago either. I would've been going for 595 for two or three doubles on Friday, 2 days ago, had I not decided to do this total testing. I would've reduced the 505x5x3 workout's volume, but that doesn't explain why I couldn't even make 625.
What does explain it somewhat is a poor set-up and letting the bar get uneven and get away from me on the supinated side. The left side of the bar came up first, and I shifted to my right, also letting that side get off my legs. Once that happened, it was over. General poor technique. Even with that, 625 is a weight I should be able to tough it out and make anyway, so I'm really disappointed about this. I also tweaked my back, lower left side, on the 2nd attempt. Probably happened because of the twist. I dropped the bar and gave up the rep because I felt it happening, but thought I bailed soon enough. I may have save myself from the worst of it, but did still tweak it slightly. I feel it a lot more now than I did at the time, so I did try a 3rd attempt, but it only got an inch off the floor before I knew it wasn't happening.
Total: 530 + 265 (PR) + 590 (balls) = 1385. Better than what I was "OK" with (though very different spread than I figured on), not quite good enough to be happy with.
The Good
Squat really came back fast, knees feel fine afterwards, 1385 total is alright and not a disaster, squat and press have room in the tank and a press PR.
The Bad
Deadlift suckitude and back tweak. It seems minor now, but I usually underestimate these things with my back. Given that I'm somewhat unreliable in estimating how bad these tweaks are, my guess right now is that I'll be fine and able to resume heavier pulling in 2-3 weeks. It feels a lot less than the worst of these I've had, but enough to need more than a few days or a week to get better.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=KnkD42lJL18
I really don't like to critique technique of a guy at your level, and I'm not good at it, so take this for what it's worth. The pulls looked like you were a little over your toes. Bad angle, and I could be wrong. The man bun is pretty sweet, though.
Strong stuff man, keep crushing it !!
Nice squat and press! :-) I was wondering, how long did you take between your lifts? If you rushed it a tad, I could see you being a little gassed for DL. At a meet, you get to sit around for a good chunk of time.
Any lifter can be off and use some technique sharpening, and I am certainly no exception. "A guy at your level" - my level isn't really all that high, but thanks for the compliment. You're right, too. I was forward to start my pulls, which I often am. Usually at heavy weights I just naturally settle back as I start the pull, but it would be better if I started more centered.
Thanks Shug.
Would you rather get pepper-sprayed in the face from a distance of 3 feet or deadlift near max off ballistic tiles placed on fake turf?
I've done both.
Pepper spray every time.
Fucking nice work, though, Wolf.
I warmed up by feel, and I took 5-7 minutes between attempts, which is a bit on the shorter side. I definitely take more rest between multiple heavy sets of 5. Might a little more rest between attempts have helped? Maybe, don't know for sure. It's something to consider.
The meets I've done have all been too long. Too much time between attempts (the last meet I did was 20-25 mins between attempts, which is absolutely ridiculous) and too much time between lifts. I don't like waiting 1.5-2 hours after finishing one lift before warming up the next.
Heh. That's a bit extreme, wouldn't you say John? I've never been pepper sprayed, but I have put in my contacts after forgetting I had some hot sauce remnants on my fingertips. Bad times at the dojo man, bad times.
And thanks.