Dan's log

[elVarouza]

06/24/13 Tuesday.

First day back in the gym since I left for conferences. It was impossible to get to the gym last week.

I don't have any of my gym equipment with me so all of my lifting has to be done with no lifting shoes, belt, or knee sleeves. Luckily the gym where I'm at has chalk and surprisingly good equipment. However, I still don't have a lot of time to go.

Bench:

45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x2 (hit uprights on both reps)
315x1

The bench was really short and narrow causing me to be unstable for some of the reps and hit the uprights on the 275x2. The collars on the bar barely spun too. The 275 felt really easy so I went for 315 after for the first time since my pec got injured and hit it pretty easily. I'm pretty happy with that.

Deadlift (in sneakers, no belt)

60kgx3 (power clean)
100kgx4
310lbsx2
400lbsx1 (hook grip)
450x1
490x1
490x1

Two fairly easy beltless singles at 490 in my sneakers made me happy. That was all I had time for yesterday.

The gym here has a safety squat bar and I'll be trying it out if I have time again to lift.

[elVarouza]

...

Edit again: what the heck it wasn't a double post!? Guess it's gone now.

[elVarouza]

Tried to edit my post but it's not working (looks like it somehow made a double post) so here's what I wanted to add:

At this point, 4 weeks out from the meet, I'm hoping to 430/320/535. I should be able to hit the 430 squat now, given the 415x2 and 375x5 I've done. My bench feels like it's back to 100% or very close so I'm hoping to hit 320. I'll likely be doing 308 for a second attempt. Deadlift has been feeling great so I'm hoping I can hit 242.5kg/535lbs.

I'm not sure of attempts yet. Maybe something like:

Squat:
180kg/396lbs
190kg/418lbs
195kg/430lbs

Bench:
130kg/286lbs
140kg/308lbs
145kg/319lbs

Deadlift:
220kg/485lbs
235kg/519lbs
242.5kg/535lbs

Bench may change cause I haven't practiced pausing yet. We'll see how it goes in the next 3 weeks.

[elVarouza]

Back in town yesterday after traveling and staying up all night but figured I'd do a brief, lighter workout.

06/28/13 Friday.

Press:

45x5/5/5
95x5
135x3
160x1
175x1 (belt)
175x1
185x1
185x1

DB preacher curl:

40x10/10/10 each arm

Back to normal routine on Sunday.

[elVarouza]

06/30/13 Sunday.

Bench:

45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
265x1
285x5/5/5

Because my pec has been feeling a lot better I decided to do some volume on bench but not push too hard. I went 3x5 and 285 rather than 5x5 for that reason. Felt good and it didn't seem like my pec was giving me too much trouble. The third set was tough but I'm chalking that up to not having benched heavy in awhile.

Squat:

45x5
135x5
225x3
275x2
325x2 (belt)
365x5/5/5 (PR)

First set of 365 was really easy but the third set was tougher. Again, I'm blaming this on my erratic schedule the last two weeks. Either way I knew I had the 3x5 without a lot of trouble. I used a normal bar instead of the squat bar. I changed my grip somewhat, got the bar lower on my back, and added wrist wraps. My left elbow felt a little weird after the 3rd set but nothing terrible. Hopefully I can figure this shit out. I was inspired to put the bar lower by watching a bunch of Belyaev videos after Rip said he wasn't a powerlifter (lol).

DB preacher curl:

40x10/10 each arm

[elVarouza]

07/02/13 Tuesday.

Press:

45x5
45x5
95x5
135x5
135x5
155x1
170x1 (belt)
185x3 (PR)

Seated cable row:

168x10
192x10/10/10

EZ-bar reverse preacher curl:

Barx10
Bar+20x10/10/10

Figured hitting the wrist extensors and the other part of my arm might help my elbow. Who knows. How much do these EZ bars usually weigh?

[elVarouza]

07/05/13 Friday.

Squat:

45x5
135x5
225x3
285x2
325x1 (belt)
365x1
395x5 (PR)

395x5 wasn't as hard as I expected. Will get 405x5 in the next two weeks.

Bench:

45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
All paused from here on:
265x1
285x1
300x1

Pausing is harder than I was hoping but there's still time to get it in gear.

Deadlift (all in kgs):

70x3 (power clean)
110x4
150x2
190x1 (hook)
215x5 (PR)

Tough set but I'm pretty happy with 474lbsx5. It'd be great to get 220kg/485lbsx5 before the meet but that might be tough to fit in.

[Billy Mixon]

Congrats on the pr's, Dan! 405x5 should put you past 450 for a 1RM. Are you competing in the USAPL again?

[elVarouza]

Thanks! 405x5 and then 205kg/451lbs 3rd attempt is the plan. I might bump my attempts up to (in kgs) 185/200/205. Yes, this upcoming meet is USAPL. They hold 3 meets/year in CO, which is the most of any fed here. I think the only other one is USPA and they have 1 meet/year. March/July/December seems like a good competition schedule.

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

07/06/13 Saturday.

Exercise bike:

5 mins light warmup
5 sets of 1min sprint + 1min rest (total 10 mins)
5 mins cooldown

Limited by lactic acid buildup on these, not by lungs. We'll get there.

DB preacher curl:

40x10 each arm
45x10/10 each arm

For some reason these curls really fucked both of my elbows. Usually they help but my left arm was practically numb after finishing 3 sets.

[elVarouza]

07/07/13 Sunday.

Paused bench (all reps paused):

45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
265x1
285x1

Stopped here. My left elbow was killing me and my left arm was again practically numb. I could barely lift my arm.

Ab wheel:

BWx10/10/10

I fucked around with some reverse curls on the preacher bench but they weren't helping. I stopped here because wtf am I gonna do with a numb arm? My left pec was acting up again, I might not bench again until next week. It's really weird that the curls on Saturday fucked my arms up so much. After squats on Friday my left elbow wasn't feeling too bad and I was able to get some benching in.