Journal headed into my 2nd lifting competition

[K.Diesel]

Thanks Locutus!

Looks like my next meet will be Feb. 21, waiting on confirmation of the date.

Got back in the gym today, as I realized I have a class to take Mon and Tue after work next week, so I didn't want to wait until next Wed to get back in. Decided to go in for a bench day.

Dumbbell raises - for warm up
10 lbs: front x 12, side x 14, rear x 14

Bench Press
bar/11; 100/8; 150/5 - warm up sets
195/5 x 4 sets - 70%1RM, pretty easy. All reps with pause.

Military Press
45 plate/6 - done unilaterally, holding plate like a kettlebell
135/5
155/5 x 3 sets - may have been ME on 2nd set, definitely 5RM on 3rd.

done as alternating sets w/

Underhand Chins
body/11
body+50/8, 8, 5 - ME on 2nd set, probably same for 3rd. did several partials after that 5th rep

Dips
body/10 - was going to be a warmup for weighted, but changed mind

Pressdowns
150/8 - ME, done at crossover station. didn't rest long enough after those dips

Seated cable row
200/1 - that's the whole stack, didn't have it today!
160/8 - ME

[K.Diesel]

Looks I won't be back in the gym until Thursday - forgot about an appt. on Wed after work.

Decided last week I would try switching my DL style to sumo. I pulled 515 sumo about a month before the meet, and thats only 3 pounds off my heaviest last Sat. One of those "what the hell, why not" type experiments.

Warmed up w/empty bar squats, GMs, Front squat, RDL, Stepups

Speed sumos
140/8, 140/3, 190/4, 230/2 - warm ups
260/2 x 8 sets - easy enough, pretty fast. Looked like 1 sec up for each. Took 30-60 seconds between sets. Thought my lower back was more sore than it should be after. Don't know if it's working crazy OT Fri and Sat or not enough sleep or what. Will probably cut down to six sets next time. Plus cut down some of the warm up reps. Just wanted to get more familiar with the sumo pull.

Good morning
bar/5, 95/5, 135/5, 185/5, 225/5 - found today's 5RM on lasat set

Walking dumbbell lunge
40s/10 steps each
60s/11 ea, 10 ea - probably 1 rep short of failure on each set

Standing cable crunch
100/12, 150/2(too much!)+130/11, 130/9 (ME)

alternated w/sets of

Glute Ham Raises
5, 10
note: I do these at a lat pulldown station with my feet under the knee pads. Previously I held a hollow bar for balance. Just started doing them w/o it, and push off the floor w/my hands just enough to get going.

Calf Press
270/15, 11 (ME) - done on plate loaded leg press. Don't know how much the sled weighs

Time: 1hr, 7 min including warm up and stretching at end

[Locutus]

Nice. I think the squat suit is supposed to give more for sumos, too?

[K.Diesel]

Don't know, but I can see why it should theoretically. The hip and leg position for a sumo dead is much closer to a squat than conventional deads, so I can see the suit giving you a little more help on liftoff, especially the lower you get your hips.

Funny, some guy at the meet was telling me about a single-ply DL suit, I think by Inzer, that is supposed to help conventional lifters much more than sumo. Oh well. I don't plan on buying anymore gear anytime soon, so lets hope you're right

[K.Diesel]

Bodyweight on my scale - 194.5 Fri morning. Even though it seems to be off from the meet scale, it's an increase of about 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks or so. That 3 qts - 1gal milk a day is working very nicely.

Bench press
bar/5, bar/15, 95/5, 135/5, 185/3 - warm ups, all paused except for bar/15 which were fast as possible

210/5, 210/7 - 1 short of ME on 2nd set

Close grip bench
135/7

Chins
body/5 (wide grip), body/5 (wide), body/5 (underhand) - warm up

body+50/7 (wide), body+50/7 (under) - ME on 2nd set

alternated sets of chins w/

Standing Overhead Dumbbell Press
30s/11 (warmup)
65s/7 x 2 sets (ME on 2nd set). 45 sec rest, then...

Lateral Raises
20s/8 - done simultaneously

Seated Cable Row
160/8, 160/9 (ME). 45 sec rest, then...

Bent Lateral Raises
30s/11

Dips
body+90/7 (ME) don't know why 7 seemed to be the cutoff point for everything

Rolling Tricep Press
30s/11, 50s/12 - don't really know what these are called. I saw some westsiders doing them on youtube and they seemed like I might want to try them. You can see them at this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-9KdEVtpg

Standing cable crunch
125/15, 135/11

Hammer curl
50s/5 sim. + 3 ea.

Total time 1:06. Like the post title, this was just to get back in and have some fun and try a few new things. Accomplished everything I wanted to.

[K.Diesel]

Feb. 21 is still the tentative date for my next meet. I'm going on the assumption that the date will stand and starting to prepare. If they reschedule, I guess I'll be in the gym on that day or Sun. 2/22 and testing my max in everything.

Family and especially work are causing me to switch to a 3-day a week training regiment. My new route is long with lots of stairs (3.5-4 hours of actual walking/hiking time, and with the overtime that I work, it's really draining me some days. The plan is to train on Sun (squat), Tue (bench), and Thu (deadlift), since I'm off 2 of those days. I think I will recover much better and be stronger from day to day. We start tomorrow -10 weeks to go.

I should be visiting my coaches this week and finally learning how to use my bench shirt! So this week I'll switch bench and dead days.

Lastly, anyone know if you can change the name of your thread? This journal is going beyond my 2nd competition now. Didn't have the foresight to realize that when I named it, but hey, this is my 1st time posting on a forum anywhere.

[K.Diesel]

5:00 warmup on treadmill @ 3.5

Squat
bar/5, 140/5, 230/4, 280/3, 315/2 - warm up
350/5 x 2 sets - used belt. grinder on 4th & 5th rep of 1st set. maybe had 6th rep on 2nd set

Good mornings
195/5, 235/5 x 2 sets - never sure if I'm doing these right because I feel a lot more strain on low back than hamstrings. Is that how it's supposed to work?

Front squats
235/3 x 3 - Hey Locutus, I tried to use the clean grip, but could barely unrack it! Had to go stay with the cross-arm style.

*next 2 exercises done as alternating sets*
Glute/Ham raises
9, 10(ME 2nd set)

Walking Lunge
65s/10, 11(ME 2nd)

*next 2 exercises done as alternating sets*
Side bends
65s/15, 16, 15

Calf Press - done on plate loaded leg press
360+sled/14, 13(ME), 11(ME)

Total time - 1:19

[Locutus]

Front squats
235/3 x 3 - Hey Locutus, I tried to use the clean grip, but could barely unrack it! Had to go stay with the cross-arm style.

What exactly was the problem? Most people try to support too much in their palm, but you only need 2-3 fingers touching the bar. Not sure if that's your problem.

[K.Diesel]

Don't know what it is. I got under the bar, felt it across the front of my shoulders, put my hands under it, and tried to stand up. Beyond awkward. Practiced with an empty bar last week, and it felt awkward but doable. Think the awkwardness will go away with more practice, but I didn't think it would be that bad with weight on the bar. If I can get my wife or a friend at the gym to video, I'll post some footage.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

My two cents:

Unless you do full squat cleans as part of your training regimen, and it is necessary to catch the bar in the front squat position, it is unnecessary to use a clean grip on a front squat if you are limited by wrist flexibility. I have always front squatted with a cross arm style and have done just fine. I haven't heard a convincing arguement yet as to why I should switch grips. Again, just my opinion and I'm not really an authority on anything.