Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks Oldman.

Weight: 250

I did a GXP and once again had a hard time getting my heart rate up into the 85% range. This is odd because it feels just as hard as ever on the quads. I'm really becoming more and more convinced that the strength increase is the culprit here.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 249

5 minutes warmup on the bike. (Week 4, max single attempt)

Bench Press: 45-5, 135,5, 185-3, 225-1, 275-0. This was frustrating since I had gotten this earlier in the year. There are several possibilities.

* I'm gassed from the DL and squat PR's. I'm not exactly hurting from the last 2 weeks but I do feel a little chronic tiredness. The solution? 6-7 more recovery and ramp up weeks.

* I am not resting long enough between sets. Easy fix there.

* I would be better off picking one to push or alternate week to week on with the two presses. If I'm going to compete the answer is obvious, the bench press.

So the solution suggests itself. My programming gives me the longer term recovery, I need to rest longer between sets during weeks 3 and 4, and I need to focus on the bench press and not go above 95% in the overhead press.

Power Snatch: 50-3, 70-3, 100-2, 120-1 PR!, 125-1 PR! As I expected, these went very well. No doubt driven by the better deadlift and form improvements.

Stretched. The total session was 36 minutes long with an average heart rate of 104 for 65% of MHR. But the 22 minute lifting portion tells part of the story for my bench press problems because of rushed sets. This had me at an average heart rate of 115 for 72% of MHR.

[Oldster]

Nice job on the PS, Mark! Woohoo!

The bench is directly affected by tiredness from the dead'n'squat, for sure. I am expecting poor results myself since I'm pretty tired from my own squats'n'deads yesterday. How long did you rest between your sets? As long as the 225 wasn't at all challenging, you shouldn't have needed much more than 3 minutes or so.

You are thinking of competing? Cool! Keep in mind, the press is good assistance for the bench!

[Meshuggah]

Nice Work.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you gentlemen.

I rested 3-4 minutes after the 225, but I have to confess the 225 was kind of a strain. I soldiered on to try 275 because I had gotten it earlier this year. But yeah, the overhead press will be playing second fiddle henceforth. I may also refrain from another PR attempt in the barbell row just to stay fresh for the main events.

Yet more learning experiences along the way after having slain Grendel. By the way my favorite Christmas gift was from our Daughter. It's a t-shirt with the first word of Beowulf "Hwæt" on it. Perfect.

[Oldster]

By the way my favorite Christmas gift was from our Daughter. It's a t-shirt with the first word of Beowulf "Hwæt" on it. Perfect.

Beautiful! Next to that, my 'Big Papa Bear Pump' Tshirt doesn't hold a candle!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 250

I kind of spaced out on an entry yesterday for my GXP. So, done and done.

5 minutes warmup on the bike. (Week 5 @ 85% for 4 sets of 2 reps)

Deadlifts: 365, 4 sets of 2. This is way more volume than I am used to and it was not easy. I need to keep a weather eye on my recovery from this and possibly consider less sets. Tired from it but not hurting, so that's a good thing.

Rolling Dumbbells: 35, 5 sets of 12.

Hammer Curls: 35, 5 sets of 12. 40's seem doable on the next session.

[Oldster]

Rolling Dumbbells: 35, 5 sets of 12.

Hammer Curls: 35, 5 sets of 12. 40's seem doable on the next session.

De gunz gunna be pomped, mon.

[Browndog]

Hurls

Question on DL recovery:

Do you (have you) repped out DLs, at say 70% of 1rm?
How long did it take to recover and how badly did it set you back...if it did at all.

I get to feeling my oats every once in a while and will pull @ 70% for 12 or 15 reps. Only to find a week or two later my numbers just fall off the face of the earth. I'm trying to determine if this is a response that's specific to me or would anyone get crushed doing high rep DLs?

[Mark E. Hurling]

I have never done high rep deadlifts. I did a 20 rep squat program over 20 years ago and it was hard! I'd have to think DL's at that number of reps would flatten me.

What I am doing now is something I've never tried before. Prior to this I was doing a series of warmup sets to a single top set of 3 and then stopping with no back off sets or reps. I would alternate this scheme with squats and DL's once each week to make sure my lower back would recover from it.

The reason I changed is so I had a clearly thought out path to 500 lbs. by the end of 2013. Also to get ready for a meet. Assuming I can find one close here in SoCal where everyone shows up to lift without benefit of squat suits or bench shirts.

I'd recommend dropping those high reps.