Once More. From The Top.

[Gary Gibson]

[2014-11-18, Tuesday]
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 20
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 2
195 x 1, 2, 1, 5, 2, 5, ...1

First 195 was so easy. Then holy shit a fiver. Then again with a five after a double!! This waved rep shit is pretty effective. I mean, I got sets of 4 with 185 last time. Now sets of 5 with another 10 lbs. I believe the phenomenon is called post-synaptic potentiation.

I was honestly a bit nervous about getting even triples. But there was just so much energy for the five after priming the pump with the singles and double. I think I even had another rep in that set, but that would have compromised the additional volume.

I had a good feeling about bench. Seems like it's on a big upward wave for me. I will of course do my scheduled light day which should prime me for another big heavy day when I hope to make another big jump to 205 and hit triples and quadruples.

In not as good news, my right knee has been feeling a bit angry today. That last squat session was pretty intense. I've never squatted so much weight at such a low bodyweight* (161 in the morning, 164 in the evening). I'm just 30 lbs shy of repping double bodyweight, high bar, no belt or wraps. The last time my "naked" high bar approached this level I was 20 lbs heavier.

It may be time to reacquaint my knees with wraps. But I really wanted to get in a few more weeks of near-naked high bar and get those reps with double bodyweight.

With my aged, slight build and corresponding delicate joints, however, I really need to consider more resilient knee protection as I push toward multiples of bodyweight. Wraps help absorb trauma away from the knees.

As much as I want to say I got my double bodyweight for reps sans wraps, right now prudence pushes me to plan on wrapping come the next heavy Squat day.

Whay, after all, is the point of hitting my squat goal only to lose all my gains as I'm forced to take time off due to injury?

[Gary Gibson]

Double post.

[Gary Gibson]

Look at me actually sticking to a planned day off!

What's more, I will be inserting an extra day off from squats!

Who am I, you may be asking, and what have I done with Gary?

My knee is still tweaked with just a tiny bit of effusion. Remember the effusion is in direct proportion to the damage and use while damaged. My knee gets worn out at work on busy days like today.* So I'm giving it extra time to heal. I want to be as close to 100% as possible by Monday.

I am willing to skip tomorrow's light squat/ heavy Deadlift because I will be very busy helping a friend Friday night and still want to get in light bench / heavy row while giving my knee more downtime. So it works out to bump the light squat day with the light bench day.

I plan to work up to easy singles and doubles with 195 bench tomorrow. "Light" for me generally means the same heavy day working weight for fewer reps, like the Russian Yearbook 1974 routine ("Russian Squat Routine") does with its doubles days.

I don't know if I'll be doing chin ups because they do get my medial epicondyles screaming no matter how careful I am. I will most definitely row, but I may have to settle for higher reps; the Fitness 19 dumbbells stop at 100 lbs.

My real excitement is of course for next week's heavy Squat and heavy bench sessions. I am planning to squat 315 for singles and doubles, maybe even a triple. And I want to wave reps with a 205 bench and get at least a triple, though I really ought to be good for a quadruple.

Now then. These stark jumps in weight seem to be working well for my muscles. Not so much for my joints. If I'm going to bump it up to 315 so suddenly, maybe it's time for wraps.

I have been trying to train like someone with thicker, healthier joints. But while I could squat with zero knee protection up to around 255, at about 275 knee sleeves became mandatory. As I close in on double bodyweight wraps make more sense.

Sleeves are for warmth, which while important only indirectly prevents injury; warm connective tissue is more supple and less brittle. Wraps actually absorb the mechanical trauma at the bottom of the squat.

I have several wraps, but my two favorites are my black Harbingers which add very little to the poundage, and my Inzer True Blacks, which add about 20 lbs.

So I'm thinking that after this full week of squat rest I ought to reintroduce wraps to the toolkit, starting with the Harbingers.

The True Blacks are not nearly as thick and stiff as my Metal wraps, but they are still a lot thicker and heavier than the Harbingers which feel as substantial as panty hose in comparison.

There is a spectrum from prevention to performance. The True Blacks boost performance while the Harbingers help me squat in comfort and prevent injury with only a slight boost in performance. I'd say the Harbingers give me 5-10 extra pounds, depending on how tightly I wrap them and attack the bounce at the bottom of the squat.

So it's almost certain that I will use the light Harbinger wraps next Monday. I am trying various sleeves and wraps as I type this and the Harbingers are winning as the tool I currently need. Even with my right knee slightly cranky I can squat pain-free in the Harbinger. The True Blacks are actually a bit painful to use, and at this point my beloved Rehbands feel no more supportive than a pair of thick, warm socks.

Recap:
Tomorrow light bench with 195 x 1, 2, 1, 2 instead of any more squats this week.
Monday heavy squat with 315 x 1, 2, 1, 3(?) with light wraps
Tuesday heavy bench with 205 x 1, 2, 1, 3 (?)
Since Thursday begins Thanksgiving weekend, maybe go ahead and do the heavy deadlift with 335 singles and doubles on Wednesday then take the rest of the week off.

Oh, and I will not be adding a belt till the last three weeks!

[Dildo Bolt]

Are you still draining synovial fluid from your knees on a regular basis?

[Gary Gibson]

Are you still draining synovial fluid from your knees on a regular basis?

I haven't had to. I don't give the damage a chance to accumulate. Frequency no greater than twice a week with one day of low volume. First sign of a tweak means rest till the knee pulls itself together.

The excess fluid comes to buttress weakness due to damage. Let the damage heal and the fluid goes away rapidly on its own.

I caused so much trauma with repeated rounds of high volume and frequency that I needed months of no training to let the knees calm down. Now if I should get a little extra fluid, an extra couple days off does the trick.

Another trick is not going back on the first day I'm better (advice I didn't heed on Monday!). For example the knee feels 100% upon waking this morning, but no light squat day this week. Hope to be able to go hard Monday.

And it's nice to have another forum member who likes seeing usable leg power increase along with barbell weight increases.

[Dildo Bolt]

Good to hear man. You might like to talk to "cubbieblue" who posts here once in a while. Dude's been experimenting with self-prolotherapy for several years now. He's even crazier than you!

What do you think age does to SVJ? You're almost 40 now I understand.

[Gary Gibson]

What do you think age does to SVJ? You're almost 40 now I understand.

The same thing it does to everything else except experience.

I'm raging against the dying of the light here. Declining test means less muscle mass and less ability to contract it forcefully, no matter how hard I train.

Vertical leap is most strongly correlated to high bar back squat strength relative to bodyweight (arguments can be made for a slightly higher correlation with front squat). So I'm just going to keep shooting for a 3x bodyweight back squat and let the chips fall where they may.

What sucks is that I have the knowledge of how to drastically increase my absolute and relative squat strength more than a decade after my test production peaked.

[Dildo Bolt]

Can always get TRT. Why are you so concerned about the best squat variation for jumping? I don't think that's gonna matter much at all. There are lots of exercises that transfer to SVJ better than any full squat variation. If you want to jump high then "shooting for a 3x bodyweight squat and letting the chips fall where they may" is not a good strategy.

[Gary Gibson]

[2014-11-20, Thursday]
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 20
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 2
195 x 2
205 x 1, 1, 2, 1

DB Row, semi-supinated 100 x 3, 5, 2, 6, 3, 8, 4, 10

Bench double with 195 was smoothest bench set. This low volume bench day was just two sleep cycles after the high volume day, and I shouldn't be expecting crazy jumps again...but I still think it's gonna take me a while to master 205. I'd love to bust out a set of 5 with it on Monday, but right now 3 would be welcome.

I need a good two sets of 5 with 225 by the end of January to be ready for my target of 253 paused at the meet. So I would like to get 205 x 5 a couple times in a session by the end of November.

The waved sets worked their sweet voodoo again. My last set of DBR was freakin' ten! And this was a PB for total volume in a session. I either need to find another cheap gym with heavier dumbbells...or buy my own adjustable db handle that can accommodate over 100 lbs.

Knee was feeling great this morn. But a day of normal use has it feeling a little crunchy and a little tight in the upper gastrocnemius. I have four more sleep cycles before hard squat day. Hope the knee is truly ready by then.

Still visualizing my lifts for Monday and Tuesday....

Back Squat 315 x 1, 2, 1, 3...
Bench Press 205 x 1, 2, 1, 3...

With an end of January goal of...

Back Squat 355 x 5
Bench Press 225 x 5-6

[Gary Gibson]

[2014-11-22, Saturday]
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 20 x 2
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 2
195 x 2
205 x 2, 2, 2, 1

I'm so naughty. Circumstances brought me across the street from my gym with 30 minutes to kill. So I got in a quickie bench that I justified because I had plenty of recovery energy in the bank because I skipped squats to let my knee rest more.

Just wanted to see how many doubles of 205 I had in me. Not many. Really wanted four or five. But these were rushed sets. Not much rest. I think I could get a triple...maybe a quadruple max with this weight. I have a little over two months to get to 225 x 5 before I spend February working toward a paused meet single with 253.

Knee continues to pull itself together with rest from heavy loading. I'd say it's 90-95% right now. It will probably be 100% tomorrow. Then it will get one more sleep cycle before Monday's planned heavy squat session.

I'm thinking of flipping the squat and bench days. I figure that recovery for the smaller upper body muscle mass would be more complete within one day. Bench before squat may mean a slight boost in progress over squat before bench. Something to consider anyway.

There are ten weeks before February. That's ten heavy sessions of bench and squat each. Then there are three heavy sessions in February before the meet.

Of course I plan to use a belt and tight new knee sleeves at as a raw (let's be honest: it's "lightly equipped") USAPL competitor. I'm also considering going low bar. I have no issue with a wider stance low bar squat in competition, just like I enthusiastically endorse wide stance sumo deadlifts for max/competition deadlifts. My concern is when to start using low bar and not getting out of practice with high bar. I love the pure leg power and quad development high bar gives me.

Also, a heavy barbell feels VERY different in different places on the back! I've discovered that just because I get used to 315 in the high bar position it doesn't mean I'll be able to handle it in the low bar position if I haven't used low bar in a long time. Even if I immediately have the leg strength to low bar squat a few more pounds, I have to let my body get used to carrying the weight lower on my back. And the same goes for switching from low bar to high bar...

...Though, like Coan and Hatfield, I feel it makes more sense to train high bar and then practice low bar for competition. Low bar also brings up the sumo deadlift like nothing else. So there is a lot of mileage for competition results in training low bar. Bigger squat plus bigger deadlift. Who wouldn't want that in a meet?

Lastly low bar provides some balance to leg training with more emphasis on hip extension.

My concern now is how to blend low bar training in with high bar training...

I figure I can stick with high bar exclusively for another few weeks. Then maybe in January start working up to a couple low volume low bat sets mixed in after the hard work on high bar...just to get used to the bar position, not really to find the extra 10-20% boost to weight used.

In February it would be time to start really transferring the strength over and making low bar the hard part of the sessions. I could warm up to an easy single with high bar, then start over with low bar, strapping on the belt just before any work sets. Or relegate high bar to the light squat days.

My switch to sumo would parallel my switch to low bar, though I am not nearly as concerned about maintaining my conventional deadlift throughout the peaking process.

Now let's talk numbers...

I had a lofty goal of 385 high bar with no belt or sleeves and 405 with a belt and tight sleeves for the meet. Going low bar means I would expect at least 10% more and ideally 15%. So I'm aiming for ~465 in competition. That's 210 kilos.

That's pretty ambitious. Especially at 74 kilos body mass (kilos are units of mass, not weight!). Especially for a guy whose best competition squat under identical circumstances of style and equipment was 187.5 at 81.

I need to add 10 lbs to my high bar every two weeks in December and January. I actually feel like it's possible the way my progress had so quickly picked up with smarter frequency and waving of volume between sessions and between sets.

Even if I don't hit that ridiculous 210 @ 74, I do believe I should easily blow past my best comp result at 81. I don't have any record of my best high bar back when I competed as a 75 kilo lifter, but I'm very sure I wasn't nearly able to high bar 315 at all back then, much less get doubles and triples with it like I plan to these next couple of weeks.

My sumo deadlift was about 30 lbs better back then, however (440 with a belt versus recent 385 beltless). But I believe that's because I religiously practiced it along with low bar squats which trained sumo best.

I'm a little worried about that lagging deadlift. While I plan to cruise by my best squat at a higher bodyweight, I don't have similar hopes for the deadlift.

So the dream is:
210 / 115 / 250 @ 74

The consolation prize would be:
185 / 110 / 210 @ 74

I estimate my equivalent strength on competition singles with belt and paused bench right now to be:
165 / 95 / 185 @ 73