Falling Test Levels, A Run At Masters State Records, And A Country For Old Lifters

[Gary Gibson]

It's been almost a year since I started training again. I'd taken a lot of time off due to expatriation, juggling relationships that all ultimately failed, and just being injured and burned out. 18 months ago at the start of 2014 I was between 150 and 155 lbs of withered limbs and growing paunch. My first session back I squatted 185 for five and I benched 145 for five. I've since worked my way back up to squatting 315 for a hard triple with rest-pause and benching 215 for a hard double. I've also gained almost 25 lbs and am leaner than I was at 150.

I'm starting yet another log because I have skipped over two meets I'd planned to enter. But now I have a longer-term goal and some traction. I will be competing as a Master lifter next year when I turn 40. There I will finally be competitive and with another six months to train will certainly be able to make a mark on some of the records in the Florida USAPL Masters 83 kilo class. I skipped one meet in 2014 because I had to move several states away. I am skipping the 2015 meet right here in Orlando because not only has a nationally competitive lifter obliterated any chance I had at a record, but also because I had no hope of hitting even my own previous strength levels in time for the meet.

So now my much more realistic goal is to take the next 6-18 months to get stronger and compete sometime in 2016. And with this new focus comes a new thread log.

I'm employing noticeably low volume for the time being in all lifts and just doing the Big Three with the addition of one-arm rows. I'm still clinging to the idea that the four lifts I use are the optimal ones for muscular development and that any deviation from the exclusive use of these lifts is suboptimal. Maybe I will eventually be swayed to include some other stuff, like stiff-legged deadlifts, Russian leg curls, Romanian deadlifts, weighted dips, etc.

(One move I wish I could add is weighted chin ups, but my medial epicondylitis flares up immediately with any overhead pulling. My elbows have finally stopped hurting all the time since I dropped chins and pull ups and I'm too old to reintroduce movements that cause me pain just because everybody else thinks they're cool and/or indispensable. I've found a stretch that "un-kinks" the tissue in that area and alleviates the pain -- go into the flat-hand push up position and lean forward at the wrists -- but it hasn't made me better enough to do overhead pulls.)

I wish I could benefit from higher frequency because I am as addicted to training as anyone here. But I've found time and again that resting 4-6 days between barbell training is best. I can benefit from "overreaching" for very short-term gains, but it's something about which I have to be careful. Higher frequency works for a while. But it quickly stops working and then causes regression and chronic injury.

I say all this as I have it in mind to use higher frequency and volume at some key points in my progression, namely the Smolov base phase that has netted me 30-50 lbs numerous times in my lifting career. I know enough to attempt this sort of thing infrequently, as in once per year as recommended by the initial Dragondoor article. I am coasting toward a 365-lb Olympic squat right now with 3 x/ 2 weeks training. But once I hit 365 lbs I know I will be hungry to jump to 405+ with a bout of high volume and frequency.

[Friday, July 10, 2015, 173 lbs...]
BP, touch and go
45 x 20
95 x 10
135 x 5
175 x 3
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1 x 2

SQ, Olympic, higher heels, sleeves at 325
45 x 12
135 x 6
185 x 4
225 x 3
265 x 2
295 x 2
315 x 1
325 x 1
330 x 1
275 x 4 x 3

BP, touch and go 195 x 4 x 2
DBR, semi-supinated 100 x 10

I was a little short on time today so this was a little rushed. I finally got to bench 225 again. It was only for two singles and while the second one was tough and slow through the sticking point, both singles were controlled with no bouncing. This is the most weight I've benched in a couple years. I wish I could be happier. But I'd really wanted to be doing reps with this weight by now.

Getting reps with BP 225 will be my focus over the next couple of months. I hope my squat creeps up to 365 in the meantime without any special attention besides my gaining a solid five pounds and getting decent squat volume.

Today's 330 squat was very, very hard and I stopped at the sticking point, but ground through it. I was hoping I'd be able to get a few singles with 330, but it was not to be. I'm dying to get to 345 x 1 before I gain any more weight so I can claim a legit double bodyweight no-no-no Olympic squat. It looks like my double bodyweight squat will happen at the intersection of 182.5 lbs and 365 lbs just like it did years ago after a Smolov base phase (which I initiated when my no-no-no was around the 330 it is right now).

You know, it's really funny... Back when I started fooling around with high bar/ no belt squats I had just come off of hitting a legit 418 low bar squat with belt in a USAPL meet. I had managed 405 x 3 x 3 low bar with belt. But I could barely high bar squat over 315 without a belt. Right now with around the same high bar strength I haven't a hope of low bar squatting anywhere close to 400. I have direct experience that says that low bar + belt builds strength better than focusing on high bar without a belt! Fancy that.

Now before the comments start pouring in, let me mull this over a bit more. I have to pore through my records a bit to confirm what I vaguely recall. The feel of the high bar took a lot of getting used to after exclusively using the low bar position, that's for sure. After handling 405 rather easily in the low bar position, 315 in the high bar felt like it would crush me. Took a couple weeks to get used to. But now 315+ in the high bar position feels like nothing. But I know for a fact that I don't have anywhere near the strength to handle 405 in the low bar. I couldn't "just slap on a belt and lower the bar position" and add a 100 lbs to my squat results. It would take weeks of transitioning and plain getting stronger.

Am I ready to recant my poo poo of the low bar? Not quite yet. But this does deserve further examination. As per my initial position the low bar with belt did get me stronger at the sumo deadlift, the conventional deadlift, and the high bar squat. I thought the high bar would be an even better driver of my overall strength. That doesn't seem to be happening, however. Or maybe it is, but I just need a longer transition period to reveal the strength...? I also have to keep in mind that I was 6-10 lbs heavier when I was stronger with low bar and a belt.

I will say this: for the sake of optimal powerlifting performance one should use a lower bar position, wider stance, and a belt! The lower bar/wider stance also makes for the best carryover to sumo. The low bar/wider stance/belt squat was for me the single best training tool to improve my overall total. I think that the additional weight on my back also drove my bench gains! But again, I'm not absolutely sure about this because I got my bodyweight well over 180 when I was at my highest powerlifting total. I weighed 179 the morning of my best meet and was walking around over 180 when my 405 x 3 x 3 low bar + belt allowed me to get 315+ high bar without a belt. I am definitely more efficient at high bar at a lower bodyweight now than I was then because I am focusing on high bar.

I guess the takeaway here is 1) you get good at what you train, 2) there is carryover both ways between low bar with belt and high bar without belt, 3) low bar with belt is the best training tool for overall powerlifting. Nothing too surprising there. But where the conventional wisdom has been to train the lift that uses less weight (high bar, no belt) to drive the lift that uses more (low bar with belt), maybe it's smarter to use the heavier movement even if it's not as long a range of motion or as "pretty". There is no other way to say it: my heavy low bar squats look like straight up good mornings at the sticking point. No amount of pushing with my traps will fix this because I have a short back and long legs and I will be more horizontal at a low bar sticking point than people with long spines and short legs.

Oy, this first post is getting long. I think for now I will continue with my goal of squatting as much high bar and no belt at 180+ lbs as I did low bar with a belt back in 2010. I think I'm on track to doing that. If I can add ~7 lbs on the bar per pound of bodyweight up to 183, I will just about meet my goal. Today's 330 x 1 no-no-no was in a rather fatigued state. I like to think that I'm good for 340 right now and that the 65 lbs I need to get 405 x 1 will be mine with another 10 lbs of bodyweight.

Ok, here is the last takeaway: squat low bar with belt or high bar without or whatever in accordance with your preference and goals. I personally am sticking with beltless high bar now because it is important to me that I squat 405 that way and I don't like the way I look under heavy low bar squats. But I got decently strong legs with those "ugly" squat mornings! I think my leg (knee extension) strength will be a bit better with high bar and I think I look better doing high bar. I will use a belt and tight knee sleeves in competition, but I don't know if I'd use low bar even to get a bigger powerlifting total. I'm not looking to be competitive with anyone but myself (and a State record) and style counts for me even if it doesn't help my total.

[Gary Gibson]

[Tuesday, July 14, 2015, ~173 lbs]
BP, touch and go
45 x 20
95 x 10
135 x 5
175 x 3
205 x 2
215 x 2
225 x 1 x 4

DBR, semi-supinated115 x 5 x 3

Doubled my volume with 225 singles! And the last single wasn't failure like last session.

[Gary Gibson]

[Wednesday, July 15, 2015, 176 lbs]
SQ, Olympic, higher heels, sleeves at 315
45 x 12
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
295 x 2
315 x 2
325 x 2
335 x 1 x 2

DL no shoes, no belt, hook grip
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 2
415 x 2, 1

I honestly don't understand how I'm up to 176 lbs. I weighed well into my fast and still came in three pounds heavier than I've been. I really hope I get a lot of strength progress from this jump in weight before I get any heavier.

I can't complain too much. After all I am easily handling 225 bench for singles again after years of being unable to hit two wheels. And I just made an appreciable jump on my squat again. Though a lot of that could be attributed to squatting fresh for the first time in a few sessions. A double with 325! Then TWO singles with 335. The second 325 was hard and my spine started to round...but I still got it. This is double the volume of what I managed last time with the 90%+ range. Again it could just be because I didn't bench first.

Double then single with deadlift 415. After a double with 405. Again double the volume with similar weights to last deadlift session. But nothing to crow about.

Just a note. Some jumps a few days ago left my thighs and knees screaming. Some Naproxen last night and this morning has the pain under control.

[Gary Gibson]

[Thursday, July 16, 2015]
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 20
95 x 10
135 x 5
175 x 3
205 x 2
215 x 2
225 x 2, 1, 1, 1*, 1, 1

DB Row, semi-supinated 100 x 10 x 2

× Some eager soul put his fingers on the bar when this rep slowed. Still I haven't benched this much weight this many times in years.

[Gary Gibson]

[Friday, July 17, 2015, 178 lbs]
SQ, Olympic, higher heels, sleeves at 315
45 x 15 x 2
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
295 x 2
315 x 2
335 x 1
315 x 1

Feeling so pumped last couple of days that I went for a third day. Plus I'm gonna be too busy to train until maybe next Tuesday, so I figured I'd overreach to take advantage of the forced rest. Also I was curious to see how well I could squat just 36 hours after local/recent PR squat and deadlift session. Surprisingly I managed to grind out 335 again, but volume was way down.

What makes me happy today is how I kept form on every single rep. Even on the grinders I kept perfect back angle. I think it may be because my lower back and hip extensors were so fatigued still that I had no choice but to keep the load on my quads!

My appetite last night was something to behold. I couldn't get food into my mouth often enough or fast enough. I had two full size dinners and a few glasses of milk. I got up to 180 lbs by the time I was ready for bed and this morning after evacuation and still fasting I am 178. My quads look swole as fuk and my abs are showing mostly because they're still tense from all the squatting and deadlifting over the last couple of days. I am hoping that I am not putting on too much fat and the high visibility of my abs are a good sign no matter how you slice it.

[Gary Gibson]

[Sunday, July 19, 2015, 182 lbs]
BP, touch and go
45 x 20 x 2
95 x 10
135 x 5
165 x 4
185 x 3
205 x 2
215 x 2
225 x 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (8)

Not sure how it happened, but I am over 180 lbs now. Not really stronger yet though. I probably should have waited another day or two to bench, but I was curious to see if this new mass was useful. I felt tired and weak. Struggled with 225 x 2, but kept doing singles to accumulate volume with this weight.

Fifth single felt strong because of better timing on turnaround.

[Gary Gibson]

[Monday, July 20, 2015, 182 lbs]
SQ, Olympic, higher heels, sleeves at 325
45 x 12 x 2
135 x 6
185 x 5
195 x 5
235 x 4
275 x 4
305 x 2
325 x 2
335 x 2, 1, 1

All that glycogen and water paid off. Double with 335! Then singles! Second single was a grind, but I kept form. 335 x 2 means I'm good for 350+ for a single. My best squat EVER under the same conditions -- high bar, no belt, my trusty Rehband blue sleeves -- was 365 for a single. I weighed 182 then, too. I think I'm just a couple weeks away from topping my best absolute and relative squat.

I had to wait for the rack so I warmed up by power cleaning the bar into position. 185 was easy while 195 was harder but legit. I had energy to spare and a sleeveless 305 x 2 felt solid so I skipped 315 with sleeves and murdered 325 x 2 with sleeves. Had to take 335 next. I was under a lot if pressure for a double here because I've gained 10 lbs and wanted to see it help under the bar. I really wanted another double, but two singles will do for now.

I kind of wanted to pull 405 for a couple easy doubles, but stuck to the plan and left after squats. I'm planning to stick to resting tomorrow.

[Gary Gibson]

[Wednesday, July 22, 2015, 180 lbs]
BP, touch and go
45 x 20 x 2
95 x 10
135 x 5
165 x 4
185 x 3
205 x 2
225 x 1
230 x 1 x 4

SQ, Olympic, higher heels, sleeves at 315
135 x 7
185 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
325 x 1 (2*)
325 x 2
335 x 1

DL, conventional, no belt, no shoes
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 1
425 x 1
435 x 1
405 x 1

DBR, semi-supinated 100 x 10 x 2

Again, more local PRs. Most I've benched or pulled in years. The 225 and the first 230 were explosive. Last 230 was a death match. Still firmly over the 225 hump. I am really benefitting from singles and doubles that let me practice over 90% 1RM. Volume does not seem to be working for me at this time.

Nothing much to report on squats. Too soon since my last session plus I did them second which always means a 5% drop in performance. I rushed through my warm up because small plates were scarce tonight. Then the guy I worked in with tried to spot me on my first Ho with 325 and I mistimed my bounce. Rested and set up again and got 325 x 2 easily. 335 felt easy enough too, but no way I was getting any volume with it. I went up to 345, but put it down almost immediately after setting up.

Went with some standard deads. They were fast so I decided to avoid grinding reps and just pull singles till they slowed down. 425 was fast and smooth. 435 was slow so I topped out there. Went down to 405, but I was shot and didn't even try for reps.

I'm 180 lbs in the mornings and I get up to 185 lbs during the day. I was prolly 182 during the session. Still a few pounds shy of 2.5 x bodyweight. I think I can hit 440 when I'm fresher and 450 with a belt. I hope to get 455 sans belt before I go over 185.

[Gary Gibson]

[Saturday, July 25, 2015, 180 lbs]
BP, touch and go
45 x 20 x 2
95 x 10
135 x 5
175 x 3
195 x 2
215 x 2
230 x 2
240 x 1

One-Arm DB Row 120 x 6, 5

SQ, Olympic, higher heels (no sleeves, light session)
45 x 12
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
295 x 2
315 x 2 x 2

Alternating sets:
BP, touch and go 205 x 2 x 3
Pull-up x 4 x 3 @ 180

Today was really devoted to bench and rows, but I wanted to throw in some non-limit squats just to keep the feel for 315. Again, another new local high for bench with 230 x 2 and 240 x 1. I had to move on after those with the intention of wrapping up with bench later.

I was very happy with how 120 felt on the DB rows. But I could not repeat the reps with another set. Only got five the second go. So on to squats. I was really winded after those rows though and I didn't start feeling strong on squats till 295. I felt very strong with 315 x 2, especially considering I did these without sleeves. The second set was hard enough to have me call it quits because my goal was to keep these feeling manageable and keep 315 as a casual weight to my nervous system. Tomorrow or Monday is my real squat day. I hope to double 345. The pain in my right ITB is holding me back somewhat, but PVC rolling is helping.

My golfer's elbow is feeling better and I've been greasing the groove on pull ups. So I threw some in today on my bench volume finisher. Feeling amazingly good. I've missed vertical pulling. I now have enough training wisdom to know to take it very slowly with any volume increases here.

I'm weighing 180 and carrying 5 lbs of fat that I really don't need. I am experimenting with research supplements to see about recomping so I end up a lite heavier with a lot less fat. I'm on track to squatting 365 at 182, but I really want to squat 405 before I get to 185.

My experimentation will preclude my participation in the USAPL. But I'm a few months from 40 and care more about railing against falling test levels. There will be an untested IPA meet at my old gym Orlando Barbell in October. Don't know if I'll be raw or not there. IPA raw doesn't allow wraps or even sleeves. I prefer to go beltless on squats than sleeveless. So I may just get a new squat suit and wraps and try to dunk 500 IPF stylie in single-ply, belt, and wraps.

[Gary Gibson]

[Sunday, July 26, 2015, 178 lbs]
High Bar Back Squat, higher heels, sleeves
45 x 12 x 2
135 x 8
195 x 6
245 x 4
275 x 3
305 x 2
325 x 2
340 x 1

Standing Overhead Press 135 x 3 x 4
Front Squat, knee sleeves 225, 245, 265, 275, 285 all-time personal best

Ok, this is a very interesting example of carryover. You all know that I see very little point in doing much besides the high bar back squat and the flat bench press and the dumbbell row. I believe these three lifts best address every single muscle in the human body and will drive strength in all other lifts and power in all other activities.

So if this is true, I should be able to avoid training other presses, pulls, and squats entirely and still see progress (carryover) in them on the rare occasion I try them out. To wit, I should be able to overhead press more if my bench goes up and front squat more if my back squat goes up. And that's exactly what I proved in this instance today. I'm quite thrilled!

Every few sessions I will try an overhead press after squats as I'm stripping the weight off the barbell in the squat rack. I have regularly been able to do one rep with 135, but never two reps. In fact I've found it hard to do more than one single. But in the past two weeks I've gotten my bench moving up again. I went from not being able to bench 225 to getting a single with 240. So I wanted to see if this had any effect on my standing overhead press. I took 135 out the rack and easily pressed it. Did a couple more very easy reps for a triple. I then got another three sets of triples with plenty of room to spare.

Feeling unstoppable but not able to back squat anymore for the day, I decided to see how my front squat was doing. I want to emphasize...while I have been doing the occasional single with 135 OHP, I HAVE NOT FRONT SQUATTED IN ALMOST THREE YEARS. Last time I front squatted, I did it to the exclusion of back squats in an experiment to see if the front squat would drive up my back squat and my Olympic-style lifts. It didn't. But I got up to 275 x 1 @ 175 lbs bodyweight. I believe I was wearing knee sleeves and I might have been wearing one of those thin velcro weightlifting belts.

So today I put on 225 and got an easy paused single. Then I started adding weight and got up to a hard-but-not-failure 275. I'd matched my old best after years of ignoring the lift entirely. I decided I HAD to beat it. I put on 285. The first time I walked it out I panicked and put it back. Then I adulted up and went under it again. Sank it all the way down and got it. I felt like a brown Klokov.

Now these are not earth-shattering weights in either the press or the front squat. But these are personal bests from doing OTHER LIFTS and not training the lifts in question much or at all. I did better on these lifts today than I ever had when I trained them exclusively. I think that's a testament to the power of carryover from the high bar back squat and the flat bench press.

What's more, I got these personal bests while I was tired! I'm sure I could have front squatted more -- maybe up to 300 lbs -- if I were fresh and hadn't just back squatted a new local (i.e. in recent times) max. I am kinda tempted to practice both the OHP and the FS for a while to see if I can't get the former to bodyweight and the latter to 315 lbs...but I have a feeling I'm better off leaving them off again and pushing my flat bench and high bar squat up more...which is what has clearly been working..!

Notice I'm not crowing about my performance on the back squat itself today. Not too excited I was hoping to get a double with 345. All I could eke out was a single with 340. At least I'm down a couple pounds so it's 340 @ 178 instead of @ 180. I was worried that I was getting a little fat for a second there, but I've leaned out overnight again. Also I trained fasted with no problems at all.

And now my IT bands are both annoyed at me and I made my lower lat attachments on my ribs quite angry too, with the right one slightly angrier. The lower lats help in keeping the arch in the lower spine and the front squat is a bit tougher on them than the back squat. I'm going to take a break from squats for a few days and try to heal up. I get the feeling I'm really digging a hole for myself right now. But I will continue to pour my efforts into driving up my bench.