gzt is mostly wasting time

[gzt]

I'm mostly wasting time.

I have a meet (first powerlifting meet) on Saturday, it's not a huge deal. I hope to go 170-100-180, I'll definitely hit 165-90-175. I've been training irregularly and mostly going light for the past month for a variety of reasons.

Today's training:
Weight: 250 with all my gear.
Squat (low bar)
315x3x5 felt easy. Right knee didn't complain, still feels odd while walking.

Bench
175x3x5 also light. Left elbow feels good, left shoulder feels great.

Deadlift
355x5. Felt great. I could definitely have done 365x5, but that would have been too much on a Monday before a meet.

On Wednesday I'll work up to my openers in the squat and bench or something. I'll see how it feels. My projections may end up low on the squat, I'm not sure how strong I am on it right now. I think I'll open 160-85-170. Maybe 155 on the squat. I did 325x3x5 last week and could totally have hit that today, but I'm kind of trying to keep it a little lighter this week, but before last week I was doing mostly high bar squats and don't really know how well things transfer. I'm pretty sure about the DL, that 170 can be hit for a triple, but that 175 is too much for an opener.

Anyway, the next few weeks I should have uninterrupted training, so that means SS and linear gains unless something objects.

[gzt]

Update: A local @Fit affiliate, they're one of the good ones, is having a non-sanctioned Oly meet at the end of June. All USAW rules except the singlet requirement. I'm signing up unless I have something else going on. I have 11 weeks to prep for an Oly meet after this weekend's PL meet. Awesome. I'll think about hitting at least 80-100, probably higher depending on how productive and injury-free things are. That's probably low, I was powercleaning 90 for sets across a couple weeks ago, but the limitation is how the arms will adapt to supporting the weight.

Back feels good today. It's saying, "Sir, thank you for deadlifting!" When I don't deadlift often enough, it complains.

[gzt]

Worked up to openers today.

Hit 355 easy on the squat (160kg planned opener). Wasn't sure how it would be. I may do 165 instead, but I'll see how I feel that day. Easier than expected.

Did 185 (85kg planned opener) on the bench. Easy. Taking it slightly easy because of the elbow/shoulder and because I'm not used to competition paused bench. Did a couple with 175 after to practice the pause.

I was planning on doing 170kg on the DL, did 175 instead. Smoked it. I'm not going higher than that to open.

So planned openers are 160-85-175. I may bump to 162.5 or 165. I will do 10kg jumps on the squat and deadlift, maybe a 12.5 if things seem easy or 7.5 if they don't and 5kg on the bench. I may just hit 180 or 182.5 on the squat and 190 on the DL, which is more than I was expecting. I'll keep you guys posted. Taking it easy until the meet. Though I am helping a girl move on Friday...

[gzt]

I did 182.5 - 92.5 - 200 for a total of 475kg and a default 1st place in the 125 weight class. I weighed in at 112 and felt bad about it, like I should've cut and entered at 110, but shuck that jive. I went 8 for 9. I was overambitious on the bench. Squat and Dead felt about right, I might've had 5kg more on the squat, but why risk it?

I did 162.5 - 172.5 - 182.5 on the squat. All white lights. Last one was a little slow.
I did 85 - 92.5 - 100X on the bench. The 92.5 felt so light I felt like I had to try 100. No dice. I should've played it safe. Only went up two inches and failed.
I did 175 - 185 - 200 on the deadlift. Original plan was 195, but I figured I should go for it.

There was this freaky Indian kid there, small and weak looking, 75kg, didn't do well on the squat or bench, but pulled 227.5. There was another guy whose total was 590, but 290 (!!) of that was the deadlift. Some freaky pullers out there.

Conclusion: my bench is weaksauce. My other lifts are weak, too, but not as weak as my bench. There's no reason for somebody of my size not to be benching 100. Or 125 for that matter. Still, I totaled about 25 higher than I had hoped for.

[PVC]

Conclusion: my bench is weaksauce. My other lifts are weak, too, but not as weak as my bench. There's no reason for somebody of my size not to be benching 100. Or 125 for that matter. Still, I totaled about 25 higher than I had hoped for.

Nice job in the meet, especially on hitting 4 plates in the squat.

I share your pain with the bench press. After over 3 months on SS I'm only benching 160 lbs at a bodyweight of 192 lbs. Total "weaksauce" (never heard this term before, but I like it).

[gzt]

Today I planned a light day, being a couple days after a meet. So, I did the following.

light snatches to 50kg to warm up. Feet were sluggish.

light squats, 315x3x3.

presses 115x3x5

power clean and jerk, a bunch of singles to 170#. Kept it light. Feet moving a little faster on the jerk. There were 1 or 2 pressouts on the right side, though, which is my forward foot side, too, btw.

A few light curls and triceps pushdowns just to keep things moving around the elbow.

Plenty of dislocates before and after with the broomstick.

Getting back to serious lifting on Wednesday.

[gzt]

Light snatch to 95# (they had the 25# bumpers out) to warm up while waiting for a rack. Somebody was doing rack pulls in one and somebody was squatting in another.

Squat (high bar) 315x3x5. I noticed I was relaxing a little at the bottom. So I stopped doing that. Okay. Back to real squatting on Friday. I swear. I don't know how this is supposed to translate to low bar squatting. It's a party trick.

Bench 180x3x5 This was tough.

Clean 185x5x3. I hadn't cleaned for a couple weeks because of the PL meet, so I backed down a little. I jerked my warmups up to 175#. Felt good.

Missed the bus home.

[gzt]

Other notes: the guy using the squat rack before me, he wasn't squatting with very much, maybe 115#. I had seen him before, maybe the previous week or something, and he was squatting less. Seemed to have decent form. Good for him. He's getting stronger. I might talk to him if I see him again.

Other: I bailed out of my first 95# snatch today. I felt stupid. Same thing happened the other day on my first one.

[gzt]

Squat: 320x3x5. Lower than high bar, not as low as my typical low placement. I think I like it here, though. It still counts as a low bar.

Press: 117.5x5,4, 105 for a couple. My right arm was doing something funky, I had trouble even getting my first rep on sets 2 and 3. My right arm has done this before, so I'm going to tape my form and investigate/repair. This is unacceptable. It also behaves slightly funky on the bench in sort of the same way, but it hasn't gotten in the way yet (on the bench).

Deadlift: 365x5. Slightly round-backed.

[kittenSmash]

Good job at the meet man. Was it your first?
And yeah, don't worry about doing high bar squats to help your Oly lifts, you are better off just getting stronger with the low bar.