With Winning in Mind

[elVarouza]

Side note: An older guy at the gym constantly stares at me, mutters, and shakes his head in disapproval. He appears to complain about me to other members in other areas of the gym, talking quietly and repeatedly looking over at me.

I've never had any interaction with guy. Odd that he gets so pissed off at what I'm doing. I hope I'm not distracting him during his twenty sets of wrist curls and two sets of quarter-squats.

Lol, that's strange. Aren't you training at the OSU gym? They have a huge PL team there. Think it wouldn't be his first time seeing something like that.

[Vince Cifani]

Lol, that's strange. Aren't you training at the OSU gym? They have a huge PL team there. Think it wouldn't be his first time seeing something like that.

I live a couple of hours north of OSU. My gym is more bodybuilding-focused but they tolerate powerlifters. Some of the older members have been going there since the '80s and seem confused/annoyed by people doing anything besides benching or "doing arms."

[Vince Cifani]

A bit behind on updating the log. Honestly, I don't feel like going back and typing it all out.

Short update: I tweaked my lower back squatting 475, not a heavy weight for me. I hit the hole, got slightly off balance forward, and felt an pinch in my back. The pain was relatively mild, but my lower back suddenly seemed so swollen that I couldn't bend over to save my life. I had to walk around the gym a bit until it loosened up enough that I could sit in my car. A few days later, I could move around a lot better but I still have a lingering soreness.

Also, I got the flu and most of my strength deserted me. That's life, right?


Also also, I've been thinking about going back to conventional deadlift and hook grip again. Am I nuts or what?

[elVarouza]

Why conventional again? Do you feel that sumo isn't coming along? Hook grip is nice once you get it working. No more asymmetries. If you can really lock it in there'll be no more grip issues. Over the last year I've trained almost entirely with straps on deadlift, only saving hook for heavy singles. No grip problems at all. Pulling reps hook is awful and I avoid it as much as possible to save my thumbs.

I'd bet your back will end up being fine. I had a similar thing happen in the spring last year. Felt pretty bad for a couple days. Was impossible bend over at the waist. But I started really focusing on good form and tightness and it got better very fast.

[Vince Cifani]

Why conventional again? Do you feel that sumo isn't coming along? Hook grip is nice once you get it working. No more asymmetries. If you can really lock it in there'll be no more grip issues. Over the last year I've trained almost entirely with straps on deadlift, only saving hook for heavy singles. No grip problems at all. Pulling reps hook is awful and I avoid it as much as possible to save my thumbs.

I'd bet your back will end up being fine. I had a similar thing happen in the spring last year. Felt pretty bad for a couple days. Was impossible bend over at the waist. But I started really focusing on good form and tightness and it got better very fast.

I just hate sumo. lol. It puts my back at a better angle than conventional but I'm at the point where I don't really care anymore. I know it's not logical, but conventional just feels more satisfying. I haven't decided anything yet but I'm toying with the idea of switching back.

Saving hook grip for heavy singles is a great idea. When I was training with hook, I was using it for all my sets and ripping up my thumbs, even with tape. I ripped my thumb open twice at meets. The second time, I shook hands with several judges before I noticed my thumb was bleeding!

Today is the first day I didn't wake up with a really sore back. We'll see what I can do this week. I may ask the meet director if I can switch to Bench-Only in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the input, Dan.

[Vince Cifani]

Injury update:

I withdrew from the competition. Even though I took a break on squat and deadlift training, the pain got worse. I was going to just bench at the meet but it hurt so badly to sit that I couldn't tolerate the hour-long car ride.

I couldn't get comfortable in any position although I did feel better the more I moved around throughout the day. For a couple of weeks, the pain would wake me up very early in the morning. I took a couple of weeks off of all training and finally got back into it this week. My bench is still in pretty good shape but I am going very light on squat and deadlift.


12/12/2017

1. Squat w/belt:

75 x 5 x 3


2. Competition bench:

265 x 1 @6
280 x 1 @7
295 x 1 @8.5
280 x 1 x 12

E1RM: 314


3. Press w/belt:

155 x 1 @8
125 x 5 x 6

E1RM: 168.5


From now on, all squatting and pulling will be done with a belt. I'm not taking any chances.

[Vince Cifani]

12/15/2017

I hadn't been away from the gym for that long in many years. It's tough getting back into the routine.


1. Squat w/belt:

75 x 5 x 3


2. 2-ct. pause bench:

245 x 1 @6
260 x 1 @7
275 x 1 @8.5
245 x 5 @9
225 x 5 @6.5
225 x 5 @7.5

E1RM: 292.5


3. Deadlift w/belt:

135 x 5 x 3

Some pain in my lower back when I get into extension before the pull.

[Vince Cifani]

12/19/2017


1. Squat w/belt:

150 x 5 x 3


2. Competition bench:

265 x 1 @6
280 x 1 @7
295 x 1 @8.5
275 x 2 x 8

E1RM: 314


3. Close-grip bench:

205 x 5 x 6

E1RM: 253

[Vince Cifani]

12/20/2017

1. Sumo deadlift w/belt:

150 x 5 x 3

A little less pain this time.


2. Pin bench (mid-range):

265 x 1 @6
280 x 1 @7
295 x 1 @8
285 x 3 @9
255 x 3 x 2

E1RM: 320.5


3. Squat w/belt:

150 x 5 x 3

[Vince Cifani]

12/21/2017


1. Squat w/belt:

150 x 5 x 3

I got pretty sore from just squatting 150. lol


2. TnG bench:

260 x 1 @6
275 x 1 @7
290 x 1 @8
205 x 13 @9
175 x 13 x 2

E1RM: 315


3. Press w/belt:

145 x 1 @7
155 x 1 @8
165 x 1 @9
135 x 5 x 5

E1RM: 171.5 (+3)