Finding Out that the Iron Never Lies

[bustermonkey2]

Wow- this forum is much less active than it was years ago. I'm still training and using a dup program of alternating workouts of: (1) 1 working set squats followed by either 1 working set deadlifts or 2 sets upper body (usually press/lte); and (2) 2 sets bench followed by a set of chins). Every squat session is about 5-6 days after the last with the bench session roughly in the middle. Been making pretty good progress on it although I need to tinker with getting more deadlift volume. I competed in the NASA Iowa Regional Powerlifting Meet this October 21, 2023 in the mens masters 2 (50-59 years old ) and mens open unequipped division at 242 lbs. I weighed in at 236 lbs with really no water cut or food cut. I went 8 for 8 (skipped 3rd squat attempt) with top lifts of: squat at 245 kilos (540 lbs); bench at 160 kilos (353 lbs); and deadlift of 240 kilos (529 lbs). This was a lifetime unequipped squat PR. Not terrible for a 50 year old. All lifts were NASA Iowa state records except for the deadlift which was only a Masters 2 record, not an open record.

[Bill Anders]

Wow- this forum is much less active than it was years ago.

As this is your second post in a year.

You know how it goes. Literally waves and troughs of activity around here.

re: you meet results - "Not terrible for a 50 year old." For those of us that are 100-150lbs behind you on each of those lifts, I can say "no, not terrible at all."

Keep at it!

[Cole Gorton]

Yeah, pretty good numbers. Looking forward to seeing your training progress

[bustermonkey2]

Making some adjustments to programming. I'm still doing dup program but I'm adding a 3rd set of bench on bench days and some dips. I need a bit more bench volume if my shoulders can tolerate it. I'm still not sure if deadlifting 2-3 times per month is enough so we'll see how it goes. Clearly 5-6- times a month was too much deadlifting as I had significant regression every other deadlift session.

Basically it consists of alternating workouts of:
(1) 1 working set squats followed by either 1 working set deadlifts OR 2 sets upper body (usually press/lte);
(2) 3 sets bench followed by a set of chins OR 2 sets ez bar curls and 2 sets dips).

For example a 6's squat session and 6's bench session I just did:

Nov 30- Squats @ 465 lbs- 5 reps for a pr. (6's day but didn't feel like pushing too hard as I had a long drive later that day and 5 was still a pr); Press @ 185 lbs-3,3.

Dec 4- Bench @ 300 lbs- 6, 6, 6; 9 chins @ bodywt.



Every squat session is about 5-6 days after the last with the bench session roughly in the middle. In terms of the dup progression, I'm usually starting each microcycle with 8s (both squats/bench); then 3s (both squats/bench); then 6s (both squats/bench); then 2s (both squats/bench). I do deadlifts after my squats on 3s and 2s day and I'm trying to do 1 set higher reps on the squats 3s day (5-8 reps) and 1 set heavier on squats 2s day (2-4 reps). On the EZ curls/Press/LTE's I'm treating them as just accessory movements so just picking whatever feels right, but usually between 3-10 reps per set. The amount of squat volume is crazy low but I'm still making good progress on it- basically setting different rep squat pr's on most sessions. Deadlift progress is unclear since I only cut those sessions in half about 8 weeks ago with a small reset. I know more bench volume is needed as bench is largely stagnant but I don't want to overdo it as my right shoulder can't take the frequent benching without issue. I do adjust the program by a rep either up or down depending on how I feel or if it would be a pr.

[bustermonkey2]

NASA Natural Nationals Meet Report

I got back from Oklahoma City yesterday from the NASA Powerlifting Natural Nationals Powerlifting Meet/Awards Banquet. I was inducted into the NASA Hall of Fame on Saturday night, which was a great honor. On Sunday, I competed in the very obscure category of Mens Masters 2 Retro Powerlifting division at 275 lbs weight class (weighed in at 251 lbs). I didn't want to bother with wraps or cutting any weight to get to my normal 220 or 242 lbs weight classes as I knew this trip involved a long travel. I went 7 for 9 with top lifts of: squat at 205 kilos (451 lbs); bench at 162.5 kilos (358 lbs); and deadlift of 242.5 kilos (535 lbs). All lifts
(and total) are new NASA National records for this lifting category. Judging was very strict at this meet. All of these lifts are about 50 lbs off pr territory but judging was very strict, especially for squats, and the main goal was hitting new records.

[skid]

Strong work Buster! That's quite the honor!

[Meshuggah]

Outstanding! Congratulations!!

[bustermonkey2]

Haven't posted here in a while but thought I'd do an update of most recent meets.

Feb 18, 2024 NASA Natural Nationals.

I competed in the NASA Natural Nationals in Oklahoma City on 2/18/24 in the mens masters 2 (50-59 years old ) retro unequipped powerlifting (no wrist or knee wraps, belt only). I intentionally gained weight to get into 275 lb class as the records were more obtainable there than at 242. I weighed in at 255 lbs with really no water cut or food cut. I went 7 for 9 with top lifts of: squat at 210 kilos (462 lbs); bench at 162.5 kilos (358 lbs); and deadlift of 242.5 kilos (534 lbs). All lifts were new NASA National records for weight/class. I missed both my 1st and 2nd squats as judging was very harsh on depth and even after intentionally forcing myself low, still got 1 red on 3rd attempt.

April 6, 2024 NASA Iowa State Meet

I competed in the NASA Iowa State Powerlifting Meet this past April 6, 2024, in the mens masters pure (lifetime steroid free and over 40 years old ) unequipped division at 242 lbs. I weighed in at 239 lbs with a minor food cut and no fluids for about 8 hours, so about 15 lbs less than 6 weeks earlier. I went 9 for 9 with top lifts of: squat at 235 kilos (518 lbs); bench at 160 kilos (353 lbs); and deadlift of 252.5 kilos (557 lbs). All lifts were NASA Iowa state records. This was a good result considering the weight loss and I tweaked my back about a month earlier and didn't have a chance to lift heavy since my February meet, so I really wasn't sure how it would go.

[bustermonkey2]

NASA Hall of Fame.

I forgot to mention that I was inducted in the NASA hall of fame on February 17, 2024, at the National Meet. It felt like a big honor. My numbers aren't the highest around but I've made a lot of progress since I started competing about 13 years ago.