# Deadlift Dave's training log



## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

Been quite awhile since I've tracked my training online, only on paper, but moving this online might add some additional motivation if others are following what I'm doing, particularly as I start to learn to train in lifting gear.  I actually came across this place while researching a local gym via Google search, looks like a few others here are squatting there, including a few people that I recognize from other gyms. 

Up until recently, I've lifted only raw, typically wrist wraps on heavy bench and a belt on heavy squats and deadlifts.  I'm looking to do a powerlifting meet soon, so time to learn to use gear.  Other than the steep learning curve just from the gear, I also typically train alone, which doesn't help, although I'm actively trying to find some partners.   

For training, I loosely follow the Westside methology, with 4 days per week split into ME upper, ME lower, DE upper, DE lower, with lots of upper end work which should translate well over to gear.  For those interested in Westside, Westside-barbell.com and elitefts.com have tons of good articles.

Here's where I'm currently at, weight somewhere in the 275-280 range at 6'4".
Raw: 600 sq/425 be/580 dl
Shirt: 475 touch, Metal Viking.
Suit: haven't maxed, getting 495 to box so far with straps down but really struggling with maintaining form when the suit catches just above parallel.  I've hit 650 in loose Ace briefs, but the tighter suit is a different animal, at least until it breaks in (hopefully).

I'll post my workouts from the past couple of weeks to get this going.  I really appreciate any input, questions, comments, or trash talk from the audience 

And no, I have no idea what Deadlift Dave means.  First name that popped into my head, and i like to train the deadlift since it scares the recreational gym go'er.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

Going back to early Dec for workout log:
 12/5 ME Bench

4-board press: 275 on bar + 50 suspended + blue bands 3x1
315 on bar + 50 suspended = blue bands 1x3

Blast strap push-ups: 4x10

Sled pull rows: 3 trips down and back, 70 lb in plates, concrete


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/8 DE Bench:

Flat bench: worked up to 335x1, 345x1
Speed bench: 235x3x6
Seated front shoulder press from pins: 225x6x3
DB Skull crushers: 50x8x3
Chest supported row: 180 in plates x6x4


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/10 ME Squat

Box squat (raw) worked up to 495x3
Rack dead: 545x1 (no straps), pins just below knees
Standing cable pulldown: 70x8x4
45 deg back extension: 8x3 w/45 lb plate

If I remember correctly, I had taken a week or so off from legs to help a balky hammy, thus combining squat and dead on ME day


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/12 ME Bench

2-board: worked up to 405x1, miss 455 when left bicep gave out
Rack lockouts: 455x5x3
Tri pushdown: 110x8x3
Bent row: 135x8x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/14 DE Lower

Speed box squat: 315x2x8
Speed deads: 315x1x6 (no bands)
45 degree back extension: 3x8 45lb plate
Pulldown abs: 70x3x8


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/15 DE Bench

Speed bench: warm up to 315x1, 245x3x6
Incline dumbbell press: 110x8x3
Dumbbell tri extension (to shoulder): 45x8x3
Chest supported row: 180 in plates x6x3
Side DB lat raise: 40x8x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/18 ME Lower

Good mornings: 405x2x1, 315x5x3
Leg Press: 810x10x2
EZ bar curl: 115x8x2
Hanging leg raises: 10x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/19: ME Bench

Flat bench(raw): worked up to 365x3x1
Incline barbell press: 275x3x2
Lockouts: work up to 415x5
Bent barbell row: 235x8x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/21: ME Squat

Deadlift from floor: 405x1, 495x1, miss 585 (no straps or chalk)

Bad day, was horribly distracted by outside things.  Went home after this miss.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/22 DE Bench

Speed bench: warmed up to 315x3, then 225x3x6
Incline dumbbell press: 110x8x3
DB Row: 110x8x3
DB Tri Extension (to shoulder): 50x8x3

Something I should mention to set the proper context.  The gym where I typically do my DE bench work has dumbbells only up to 110, whereas I should probably be using 130 for some of the chest work and rows.  I need to incorporate bands into this if I'm staying here


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/26 ME Bench

Flat bench: 365x1, 385x1
Close-grip bench: 275x8x3
DB side lat raise: 40x8x2
Chest supported row: 225 plates x5x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/27: ME Lower

Box squat: 495x1, 545x1
EZ bar curl: 115x8x2
Low pullthru: 130x8x3
Pulldown Abs: 70x8x3
45 degree back extension: 8x2, 25 plate


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

12/29 DE Bench

Speed bench: warm up to 365x1, 225x3x6
DB Row: 110x10x4
Seated front shoulder press from pins: 225x6x3

Should also mention that on speed bench, I vary my grip from close, medium, and standard from set to set.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

1/1 ME Lower

Rack deadlift, pins halfway between floor and knees: 595x1 (chalk only), 615x1 (chalk only) 635x1 (straps), miss 655

Pulldown Abs: work up to 100x10

Body fried after the deads, so dropped rest of leg work


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

1/2 ME Bench

Shirt work (Katana): warm up to 315 raw, didn't touch 405, didn't touch 455 (inch away)
4-board shirted: 405x2x5
Lockouts: 405x5x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

1/5 DE Bench

Speed Bench: 245x3x8

Seated front shoulder press from pins: 245x6x3

Chest supported row: 5 plates x5x3


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

1/8 ME Lower

Box squat: 495x2x5 (suited, in monolift)

First day in the Metal Ace, and first day in awhile in monolift, so this was a very new combination, lots of variables.  When the suit is catching in the last couple of inches above parallel, my knees are coming forward.  My squat form has never been great, and as Matt Wenning explained to me, the suit will magnify your errors greatly.  I need to fight the suit when it's pulling the knees forward and stay back.

Did band pullthrus and band abs later in the day


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## Stewart14 (Jan 10, 2008)

i like your workouts...short and to the point, of course I am sure a lot of it has to do with the weights you're using 

i used to train in the westside manner, however, I seemed to have a lot more volume in there than you have.  Maybe if I ever went back to it again, I should try something like you are doing.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

1/9 ME Bench

Shirt work: warmed up to 315 raw, then touched 405 and 455, miss 475 when left bicep gave out.  The 475 was lowered too high, which contributed to miss

Side DB lat raise: 30x10x4

The bicep thing while benching is getting worrisome as it's happened now during last 2 PR attempts.  Maybe a pattern here as I had bar too far over face both times.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> i like your workouts...short and to the point, of course I am sure a lot of it has to do with the weights you're using
> 
> i used to train in the westside manner, however, I seemed to have a lot more volume in there than you have.  Maybe if I ever went back to it again, I should try something like you are doing.



Well one reason for the shorter ME Bench workouts is that I'm driving pretty far in order to bench with a partner, so we hit it hard and fast so I'm not away all day.  Honestly, I should brush up on my Westside standard template to see how far away I've gotten.  Louie does advise to keep workouts to an hour due to declining testosterone rates after an hour, and I'm usually right around an hour give or take 10 minutes.  For bench days, I usually try to hit a chest exercise, then either an incline chest or direct shoulder, then some sort of row movement and finish with tricep work.  One of the Westside guys directed me to do band tricep pushdowns every day as a mini workout to bring lockout up, so I do occassionally skimp on the tricep work during full workouts if I'm short on time.

Also, I am only listing working sets, no warm-ups.  I warm up with multiple sets for everything, usually starting with an empty bar for bench, squat, and deads, and increasing 45-50 per set for bench, and might jump 90 pounds after a few for squats and deads.  I believe this has really helped prevent injuries as I get older, although it does lengthen workouts a bit and may actually tire me a bit for working sets.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 10, 2008)

i don't think you are too far off from the template, it's just that everyone does things a little differently I guess.  when I was doing it, I was working out by myself in my basement gym, so I understand why you are traveling to have a partner, cause man, any type of powerlifting workout by yourself just sucks.  I managed a respectable 375 raw bench, 450 deadlift and 385 squat, all raw, all by myself.  I know if I had a partner or partners and went to a hard core powerlifting gym, I could have easily had over a 405 bench and 500 deadlift without doing anything special, just having the extra motivation and expertise.

I am currently doing my own twist on a 5x5 workout, talk about volume...heh.  I do miss those heavy deadlift attempts though, and someday will probably go back to it, although, now I feel that if one is not going to compete, there really isn't a reason to do heavy max attempt stuff.  What good is it, just to say I can?


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## soxmuscle (Jan 10, 2008)

Solid numbers, mang.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 10, 2008)

by the way, 6'4", 280 that is pretty damn large man


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> i don't think you are too far off from the template, it's just that everyone does things a little differently I guess.  when I was doing it, I was working out by myself in my basement gym, so I understand why you are traveling to have a partner, cause man, any type of powerlifting workout by yourself just sucks.  I managed a respectable 375 raw bench, 450 deadlift and 385 squat, all raw, all by myself.  I know if I had a partner or partners and went to a hard core powerlifting gym, I could have easily had over a 405 bench and 500 deadlift without doing anything special, just having the extra motivation and expertise.
> 
> I am currently doing my own twist on a 5x5 workout, talk about volume...heh.  I do miss those heavy deadlift attempts though, and someday will probably go back to it, although, now I feel that if one is not going to compete, there really isn't a reason to do heavy max attempt stuff.  What good is it, just to say I can?



Those are good numbers to generate by yourself in a basement gym.  But you're right, a good environment really increases your potential gains, and partners are even more helpful

And I hear ya about 5x5 and volume.  Been there, done that.  It works well for gaining strength, but it has always caught up with me after a not very long period of time.  I'll probably jump back to it at some point to change things up, but I've found that it's not for me long term.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 10, 2008)

Where do you train?


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

I'm a bit all over the place right now.  I'm benching in a guy's garage gym right now, driving pretty far to get there so I don't make it every week, so it's not a long term solution.  World on Sawmill is 5 min from my house, and I try to hit there once a week for legs to use their reverse hyper and GHR, and my DE days at the new foo foo place down Sawmill (blame the wife), where I'm the circus freak moving real rubber-coated weight.  I just talked to Dan down at Lexen this week about getting into one of his public squat groups if nothing else works out.  That's actually how I came across this place, Google search for Lexen to see what kind of guys are going there.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 10, 2008)

We bench heavy at Worlds on Sundays at 8:00 AM.  Get your ass in there with us.  We squat Fridays at 3:30 at Lexen.  There's a crew of about 6 using two monolifts.  I'm sure Dan can let you in.  I think he has a Friday morning squat crew as well as a Saturday crew.

I normally pull every other Tuesday, either at Lexen or Worlds, depending on my work schedule, usually between 4:00-5:00 pm.  Some of the other guys I train with pull every week.  We do speed bench work and shoulders on Thursdays at Worlds between 4:00-5:00 pm, depending on work schedule.  

I live in Big Bear Farms, about 5 minutes from the Worlds.  Stay away from Lifetime, it's toxic there.  Get your ass in there with us.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 10, 2008)

We have 3 full meet lifters and a bencher in our group.  We're all over 40.  We have a 198 with best lift of 700-425-580, a 275 with best lifts of 775-435-575 and I'm at 675-525-595.  Our bencher is a 165 and he goes 365 raw.  We're always looking for young guys to train.  Except for the bencher, we're all certified gear whores so we can help you with your equipment.


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## DLDave (Jan 10, 2008)

Thanks for the offer.  Will you guys be there this Sun?  I'll probably take you up on it, at least the heavy bench day to start, if you don't mind me struggling to learn the shirt.  Do you guys get in the shirt every week, or just leading up to meets?  3:30 Friday may be a bit difficult with my work schedule, but I'll see if I can make that work as the suit help would be invaluable.  Dan has a Sat morning crew as well down at Lexen, no clue how many guys.

And toxic is pretty much spot on, although throwing in the earplugs and ignoring the surrounding idiocy as much as possible helps.  And I'm hardly young in years at 35, but only a few years continuous serious lifting under my belt.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 10, 2008)

We'll be there on Sun at 8:00 am.  We shirt up pretty regularly.


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## DLDave (Jan 11, 2008)

Cool, this Sunday it is then.

After reading through your log and now knowing what neighborhood you live in, I'm sure your neighbors love you for dragging your sled around Big Bear Farms.  I live south off Sawmill a few miles right behind Chapman Elementary, so I either sled pull on their playground or soccer field, depending on how much noise I want to make.


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## DLDave (Jan 11, 2008)

1/11 Squat

Squat, straps down: 405x5x2, 455x2x2, 495x2x2

GHR 8x3

Reverse Hyper: worked up to 185x6

Intended to not go too heavy today in order to focus on form in the suit, and I also squatted once semi-heavy this week.

Hips were very tight today during warm ups, never did get them completely loose.  Put the suit on at 405, kept the straps down except for one set, think it was at 455, but straps were tight and I didn't feel like dicking with it since I was alone.  Things felt much better in the suit today, I focused on keeping my knees back once the suit caught.  I did discover a trick though.  The suit seems to be much easier as the weight increased.  I don't know if this is really because the weight physically makes the suit easier, or if it's because I focused much more at higher weights to keep from getting crushed.  Unfortunately it took me so long to get loose that I finally stopped after a 2nd 495 set or I would've been in the gym all day.  The odd thing is, this is still a weight I can hit raw with ease.  So anyone that says that you can throw a suit on and add a few hundred pounds to your raw lift automatically, I beg to differ.  Oh, and I suck at reverse hypers if I don't do them week in and week out.


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## DLDave (Jan 12, 2008)

1/12 Extra day

Got some extra time in today to hit abs since I didn't have time yesterday and also a bit of low impact cardio for GPP/leg recovery.

Treadmill: 10 min, 2.8 mph
Stationary bike: 20 min, 70 rpm
Pulldown Abs: worked up to 100x10x2
Hanging leg raise: 3 sets of 10


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## DLDave (Jan 13, 2008)

1/13 ME Bench

Flat bench: 315x3, 365x1x2

Floor pin press: worked up to 555x3 for 1 set

Chest assisted row: worked up to 4 plates for 2 sets of 5

First day training with PetetheGreek, Seanp156 and crew.  Good crew with some strong benchers, I'll be back for more as the help will be invaluable.

Was hoping to get into the shirt today, but didn't happen.  Left bicep was really acting up today, started really feeling it at the 315 set and getting worse at the 365 sets, so I called it quits after the 2nd 365.  It appears that this is a bicep tendon issue, hopefully just a strain and not a more serious tear.  The frustrating thing is that I have no problem pressing the weight back up, just a very sharp pain during eccentic phase when the bar is about halfway to chest, which causes me to lower very slowly so that it doesn't completely give out.  Looks like I'll be taking it easy on upper body work until next weekend and spending plenty of time with the ice bag.  I also need to go back through my log and see what I started doing differently when this first came up.


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## Seanp156 (Jan 13, 2008)

DLDave said:


> just a very sharp pain during eccentic phase when the bar is about halfway to chest, which causes me to lower very slowly so that it doesn't completely give out.



That sucks, I was wondering why you lowered the bar so slowly when I saw. I think Pete had the same thing going on with his bicep for a while, hopefully it goes away soon.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 13, 2008)

This one is baffling.   I could still bench when I tore mine, but I couldn't do any curling or rowing movements.    The thing about bicep tendon tears is that it usually results from repetitive movements over time, then it blows off if you try something like a heavy deadlift.  The good news is that the recovery is pretty quick, even if it needs to be reattached.

Try to find some exercises that don't aggravate it.  Try shoulder pressing, inclines, declines, board presses, etc.  See if reverse band benching helps.  THis takes the load off the eccentric.  Ice it 3-4 times a day and do a lot of light band curls, a couple hundred a day.  Ultrasound treatments also helped my recovery.


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## DLDave (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks Pete, I hadn't thought of doing band curls to help but I'm sure that will help.  Ice has helped a whole lot today.  

Searching Google has led to quite a few links relating bicep tendon injuries to the bench press, sounds like it's not so uncommon since the bicep tendon is compressed during the eccentric.  In fact, some bench-related shoulder injuries are actually injuries to the upper bicep tendon as the bicep tendon attaches in the front of the shoulder as well as the front of the elbow, where I'm experiencing my issue.  I can't help but wonder if my form is breaking down under heavy load as the 2 times I've had the issue were 2 of the 3 times I've gone about 450 recently.  I'm pretty sure today's issue was just an extension of the aggravation from this past Wednesday.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 13, 2008)

Yeah but you don't have any shoulder pain?  Reading back thru your logs it looks like you're benching and squatting too heavy, too often.  You just benched heavy 3 days ago.  I would stop doing the heavy singles on DE bench day and just stick with the triples, something light in the 225 range.  We usually don't go over 185.  

Straight bar squatting will aggravate the shoulders, elbows and bicep tendon as well.  We squat with a straight bar maybe once a month.  The rest of the time we're using the hatfield bar or the cambered bar from hell.  If you're squatting with a straight bar on Saturday, you don't want to try to bench heavy the following day.  

To get through this injury, I would take a light weight, say 185 or 225 on DE day and do sets of 10-15.  On ME day, pick an exercise that doesn't aggravate it and go heavy.  On Labor Day I injured my collar bone/trap and couldn't do any flat benching for about two months, but I was able to do inclines and military, so I hammered those until the injury healed.  Youll be surprised how much of a carry over there is from military pressing to flat benching.  If you can still military press, I would hit those hard.  Seated, standing,etc.  I even did seated military pin presses in the rack to maintain my lockout.  I set the pins at about 3 inches below lock-out.  It sure looked stupid but it worked. Just find something that doesn't hurt.  Welcome to old age.


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## DLDave (Jan 13, 2008)

Nope, no pain in the shoulder at all.  You're right, I don't know why the hell I've been working up a heavy single on DE bench day for the past month.  Obviously it's catching up to me.  The extra squats have really only been recently while trying to get some time in the suit.  That didn't help since that did aggravate the bicep on Friday, but it hasn't been a regular habit as I had hardly squatted at all since mid-December.  I guess there's another reason to not go to that toxic place, no choice but straight bar for squats.  Thanks for the tips, we'll see how things work out with some rest and ice before DE Bench day comes up.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 13, 2008)

They allow you to squat at Lifetime?  We should all go there with our gangster gear, horse liniments and chalk and see how fast we can get kicked out


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## DLDave (Jan 13, 2008)

I got a special waiver to squat in their bicep curl racks.  Adding bands brings some very interesting looks.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 14, 2008)

Question for ya Dave.....how do you rotate your exercises on each of the days?  what is the determining factor of when you do what?  What I mean is, I know about rotating the ME exercises, but how do you rotate the accessory movements?  Is it just what you feel like doing on a particular day? I ask, because I like to keep some sort of progression in my lifts, and if I am doing different exercises every workout, it makes it difficult to gauge progress, know what I mean?


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## DLDave (Jan 14, 2008)

That's a good question Stewart, one that I've been giving some thought to lately.  I used to do pretty much the same accessory work for the same day each time around, changing up occassionally but no set schedule.  My log may reflect a change to that as I changed up for a period not long ago, where I was changing the accessory stuff pretty much each day.  What I think I may end up doing now is sticking with the same thing for three weeks, and then rotate.  Some reading I did recently suggested this method but also stated to not try to beat the log book each week on the accessory work, but to just increase the weight when it felt like it was time.  Remember, the accessory work is used to increase the core lifts in powerlifting.  Nobody is competing in heavy lat raises or skull crushers.  Of course, these are just my current thoughts, I'd like to hear from others if they're reading along.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 14, 2008)

i hear you on the "not beating the logbook on accessory work" thing, unfortunately, I think there will always be that drive to do better on them regardless.  I like your 3 week suggestion, I just wouldn't like it if I was using say, a close grip floor press as an accessory and the lift went up each of the 3 weeks, I wouldn't want to leave it.  What I used to do was pretty much use the same accessory exercises with the plan of ditching them if they started to stall out or if I felt overuse issues from them.  Of course, I wouldn't go to failure on them, and using this method, I never got to the point where I had to change them (I have done these types of workouts for blocks at a time, not continuous, so it might have been 5 or 6 weeks of steady improvements)

I've been thinking about going back to this type of training, and I like your template as you have been doing it.  I was just trying to follow how you set up your exercises and I couldn't, lol, so that's why I was asking.

So now, do you rotate your ME exercises weekly?  And do you only do either the squat/DL/GM ME exercise once a week, or do you squat and DL heavy in the same week (I know some people do that)


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## DLDave (Jan 14, 2008)

You probably couldn't follow my set up because it has been so random lately.

On the ME lower body stuff, I have one heavy day per week and rotate heavy box squat, heavy rack deadlifts, and heavy good mornings.  I don't do the heavy good mornings with each rotation.  On DE lower day, I'll usually do speed box squats and speed deadlifts in a single day but not always.  I also might do lighter good mornings rather than squats .  For ME Bench day, it's usually some sort of board press, or if I'm someplace with no boards I'll work up to heavy singles.  I very occassionally will go with heavy inclines rather than flat bench, but this is rare.  This is usually followed by some sort of lockout work and then heavy upper back, or I may go with light shoulder work and tricep work instead of the lockouts as those are a bit rough on my wrists.  DE bench day is usually speed bench, followed by either heavy incline or heavy shoulder presses, and then upper back and tris.  Something I was told by a Westsider is try to do twice as many total reps of upper back as bench reps on bench day, and this adds up on DE day as I'm at 24 bench reps, so this usually falls short.

When I'm doing things correctly, I have only 1 heavy ME upper and 1 heavy ME lower per week.  When I'm being dumb like recently and go heavy more often, I end up injured, like now, and this will stall progress eventually anyways even without an injury as your CNS will be shot.  Younger guys may be able to get away with it, or you could give it a shot with a very liberal use of deload weeks.

All that said, training in gear is going to change this up for me as I'm going to have to get in the gear more often initially to learn it.  This means my ME days will probably be less varied as I'll need to do heavy shirt bench and heavy suited squat pretty much once a week.  This probably also will result in putting a heavy deadlift day in the same week as heavy squat occasionally.  I'll look to PeteTheGreek to help with this part, he's been at this much longer than I.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 14, 2008)

ok, well then you learn from Pete and I'll learn from you cause I am pretty sure you have been doing this longer than I have.  I am 33, so I feel your pain on the getting old thing, of course, it always sucks that I got into lifting so late in my 20s wasting away those prime late teen early 20 years for lifting, but in my defense, I don't think it was as popular back then as it is now 

If I choose to do this, I am definitely going to be using that brief outline you just posted, simple and to the point, although, since I am not using any gear, I will probably change a few things around, as I don't think I need things like lockouts as much as you guys do, I could probably replace them with some DB presses and inclines.

But in any event, thanks for your help and good luck with that injury healing quick


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## DLDave (Jan 14, 2008)

You're right, lockouts would have limited value with no plans for a shirt.  You could also replace these with closegrip bench after your heavy bench, which would give you a more complete range of motion while working tris.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 15, 2008)

DLDave said:


> You're right, lockouts would have limited value with no plans for a shirt.  You could also replace these with closegrip bench after your heavy bench, which would give you a more complete range of motion while working tris.



I used to have a rather intricate plan for what exercises I did according to what the ME exercise was, but I think, for simplicities sake, I would go more basic for another run at it.  I would probably pick one exercise to use as an accessory for the ME day and the DE day and run it till I stall.  I really want to include inclines in there, but let me ask you a question.  Which do you think has the better carry over to RAW flat benching, inclines or OH presses?


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## DLDave (Jan 15, 2008)

Personally, I think they're equally important, thus I rotate these.  However, if I were forced to choose one, I would say incline bench is more directly applicable to raw flat benching.  OH press is definitely important as well as it will directly hit the delts rather than the incline which recruits chest into the movement.


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## DLDave (Jan 16, 2008)

1/16 DE Bench

Speed Bench: 185x3x8 (grip varied close, medium, standard)

Incline DB press: 110x8x2

Overhead rope tricep extensions: worked up to 80x8x2 (haven't done this in at least a year, so took awhile to find the right working weight)

Took is fairly easy today after 2 full days off to help the bicep thing.  I dragged the sled around yesterday to help offset skipping DE Lower day, forgot to log that.  Bicep felt a bit tight but no pain, which is good.  Hopefully I'm just being too cautious as things felt mostly normal, I'll turn it loose this weekend if it doesn't head south before then.  Did something different for triceps to hopefully keep some load off of the elbow area, skipped rows for the same reason.


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## DLDave (Jan 18, 2008)

1/18 ME Lower

Hatfield bar squat (w/ suit): worked up to 495x2 for 2 sets (1 set straps down, 1 set straps up)

Glute Ham Raise: 3 sets of 8 bodyweight

Pullthru: 80x8x3

Hammer Curl: 30x12x3

Today's theme was either "I remember that I hate the Hatfield bar", or "Let's see how many things I can forget to do".  Squat form really sucked, forgot just about everything at one point or another, from holding air, to pushing knees out, to keeping back tight.  I think the Hatfield bar had a lot to do with it, just didn't feel stable with it, so I stopped before I really made a mess.  Wanted to push the weight higher as the suit seems to be getting broken in, but didn't want to aggravate the bicep with a straight bar.  Threw in some low weight, high rep hammer curls to help the bicep tendon.  No pain, iced immediately after and no soreness.  Hopefully this thing is almost behind me as it's been pain free for 5 days.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 18, 2008)

The hatfield bar is a pain in the ass.  It's very hard to sit back with it.  It forces you to squat straight down instead of sitting back.  I wouldn't try to learn using a suit with this bar because you need to learn how to sit back with the suit.  We usually go raw or wear loose briefs with this bar.

Also, take a few weeks off from heavy benching and ease the bicep thing back into it.  No sense blowing a tendon off if you're not training for a meet.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jan 18, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 1Today's theme was either "I remember that I hate the Hatfield bar", or "Let's see how many things I can forget to do".



The only thing you need to remember is "I'm taking a shit".  squatting is just like sitting down on the toilet


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## DLDave (Jan 20, 2008)

1/20 ME Bench

Flat bench (raw, full ROM): 315x3

Flat bench (3 boards): 365x1x2

Tricep cable pushdown w/ rope: 80x12x3

Chest supported row (wide grip): 3 plates x8x3

Didn't go extremely heavy as I didn't want to push the bicep thing.  No pain, felt a bit tight but not bad.  Forgot my elbow sleeves, which I want to try to see if it helps.  Pete said my left elbow was flaring on the 365 sets, which makes me wonder if that might be the cause or contributing to the issue, if it's not just me compensating for it.  Did some extra stretching before and after, and will be icing off and on for the next few hours as that seems to have really helped.


----------



## DLDave (Jan 20, 2008)

^^ I forgot the 405x1 3-board set as well, don't recall if this was in addition to or instead of that 2nd 365.


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## DLDave (Jan 22, 2008)

1/22 Back

Rack Deadlift, pins 3" below knees: 585x1, 635x1, 675x1 (new PR)

Wide-grip pulldown: 170x8x3

Pulldown Abs: 100x10x1

45 degree back extension: 45 lb plate x8 x3

Going to change up my split a bit for a few weeks and see how it works out.  Barely got the 675 rack pull locked-out, but it went up fairly smooth and not terribly slow, although my neck felt like it was going to explode at lock-out.  Bicep felt a bit tight during warm-up sets, right around the 315 set, but no pain at all and didn't notice it at all during the heavy work sets.


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## Stewart14 (Jan 22, 2008)

now that is some nice pulling dave.  I can't imagine getting that much weight, I will be happy with 500, lol.


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## DLDave (Jan 23, 2008)

Thanks Stewart.  It wasn't too terribly long ago when I was just getting past 5 plates on these, just keep at it and you'll get there too.


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## DLDave (Jan 23, 2008)

1/23 Bench Accessory

Bench reps: 225x15x2

Lockouts on bench: 495x5x2

Side lat raise: 40x8x3

Probably going to have to insert a rest day in between heavy back day and this one with this split as I just couldn't get my shoulders loose.  Skipped doing a 4th exercise because of this.  Lockouts were probably a bit too low, more like half ROM bench, but I didn't feel like stripping the bar to raise it up.


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## DLDave (Jan 25, 2008)

1/25 Lower

High box squats, medium stance, raw: 405 for 3 sets of 5

SLDL: 315 for 3 sets of 5

Hammer Curls: 40 for 3 sets of 12


Legs still feeling the heavy deadlifts from earlier in the week, so took it a bit easy on the squats.  My squat form has gone to hell anyways.  Felt no bicep issues with the high rep curls, hopefully this BS is behind me.


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## DLDave (Jan 26, 2008)

1/26 Extra Lower Accessory day

Stationary bike: 30 min, ~70 RPM

Standing Ab Pulldown: 
70 for 1 set of 10
85 for 1 set of 10
100 for 3 sets of 10

Hip Adductor: worked up to 165 for 3 sets of 8

Hip Abductor: worked up to 165 for 3 sets of 8

Added some direct hip work as recommended to me a few weeks ago by one of the Westside guys to help with a wider stance squat, I've just been slacking in picking it up, mainly because these machines are always in use.  Spot reduction of women's hips, interesting concept ;-).  Should have done it yesterday on squat day as I have a feeling I'm going to be paying for it tomorrow.  Wasn't sure if I should go heavy or light with these, so of course I went with the entire stack.  Wonder if there are any band exercises to replace these. to


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## DLDave (Jan 27, 2008)

1/27 ME Bench

Flat Bench:
365 for 3 
405 for 1 
405 for 1 2-board

Rack lockout, on bench: 
315 for 5
405 for 5 
455 for 3, 2 sets

Heavy abs 
3 sets of 10

Wore APT elbow sleeves to help with the bicep, which felt mostly fine, a bit tight but no pain even on the heavy bench work.  Lockouts were a few inches more range than a normal lockout, but were still effective for triceps as no chest was involved.  Surpringly, not feeling any of the hip work from yesterday.


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## carsto (Jan 27, 2008)

mate you are one hard mofo.  how long did it take you to get such good results??


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## fUnc17 (Jan 28, 2008)

Solid benching dave... what do you weigh?


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## DLDave (Jan 29, 2008)

carsto, I've been lifting heavy on a dedicated consistent schedule for around 3 years, focusing on core lifts for low reps with heavy weights to increase 1RM.  Prior to that, I didn't do much for previous 2 years as I got lazy when the first kid arrived, when sleep became rare and excuses were easy.  Before that, it was a handful of years after college doing random bodybuilding-type workouts in a semi-consistent schedule with no real plan.

fUnc17, I'm currently right around 280, I've put on about 10-15 pounds over the winter with increased calories while trying to hit the weights extra hard.  I don't plan on going much above where I'm at currently as I'm getting older and general health will become an issue, and I imagine I'll drop a bit over the summer when outdoor activities in Ohio are again possible.


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## DLDave (Jan 29, 2008)

1/29 Deadlift

Deadlift with mini-bands choked twice around the bar. The bands add about 50 lb of tension at the start and 90-100 lbs at lock-out:
315 X 2
365 X 2
405 X 1
455 X 1 (w/straps)
495 X 1 (w/straps)
may have done a 515x1 that didn't completely lock out, was seeing stars by this point
365 for 2 sets of 2 (no straps)

Cambered bar chain suspended good mornings with avg band choked around bottom of rack. The avg band adds about 40-50 lbs tension at lock-out:
225 X 5
275 X 5
315 X 3

Barbell curls: worked up to 105 for 3 sets of 8

Copied most of what PetetheGreek posted as I lifted with those guys today at Lexen Extreme, a place slightly more hardcore than Lifetime ;-)

Wasn't a great day in the deadlift for me, losing grip on left side at about 100 pounds less than I usually do.   And the bands caused me problems at lockout, which was the whole reason why I wanted to hit the bands today.  I rarely have problems at lockout, the bands are a whole different dimension.  And I'm not sure I fully locked out any of those heavy sets, seemed like it took forever to get the last couple of inches against bands.  Need to continue focusing on form and bar path, having the eyes of experienced training partners certainly helps.  And those good mornings from hell kicked my ass.


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## DLDave (Jan 31, 2008)

1/31 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 for 8 sets of 3, varying grip width

Seated front shoulder press
225 for 3 sets of 8

Seated plate-loaded row
180 x 8
270 x 8
360 x 8
450 x 8

Lower back still very tight from pulling this week, so took a couple of sets on bench to get it loosened up.  Kept speed bench a little lighter than usual to focus on form as I'm planning to get in the shirt this weekend if things go well with the arm.  Ran out of time to do triceps, so will do a couple hundred band pushdowns tonight.


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## DLDave (Feb 1, 2008)

2/1 DE Lower

Low box squats, cambered bar (75 lb bar):
390 for 2 sets of 3
440 for 8 sets of 3

Pull-thru:
3 sets of 8

Decline sit-ups with 2 mini-bands:
3 sets of 8

Not a bad day with squats.  Using a monolift helps when you're struggling with form, don't have to worry about having to setup after walk-out.  Having training partners shouting audible reminders is also a huge help.


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## DLDave (Feb 1, 2008)

I apparently am math-challenged today.  The above squat sets should read as follows:

345 for 2 sets of 3
395 for 8 sets of 3


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## DLDave (Feb 2, 2008)

2/2 Cardio/Grip work

Stationary bike: 30 min, 70 RPM, ~5.5 miles

Hex dumbbell holds:
15 lb for 2 sets of 15 seconds
20 lb for 2 sets of 15 seconds
25 lb for 1 set of 15 seconds

Reverse barbell curls
Bar for 3 sets of 8

Barbell static holds
135 for 30 seconds
225 for 30 seconds
315 for 15 seconds, 2 sets

Added some direct grip and forearm work to help with grip on deadlifts.  Probably did a bit too much today as grip was shot by the time i got to the static holds, and the lack of chalk didn't help.  I'll probably limit this to 2 exercise per day, 2 or 3 days per week.  On the cardio, the main focus is not fat loss but rather GPP and also help with leg recovery.  I've found that doing low impact cardio the day after leg work helps my legs recover better, whether I do bike, sled pull, or elliptical.  Also picked up a 36"x6" foam roller from EliteFTS for self-myofascial release and used it for first time last night, seems to have really helped as legs and lower back felt fresh this morning.


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## DLDave (Feb 3, 2008)

2/3 ME Bench

Flat bench (raw):
315 for 3 reps
335 for 3 reps
225 for 20 reps

Floor lockouts:
315 for 5 reps
405 for 5 reps
455 for 5 reps
495 for 3 reps

Heavy Abs
3 sets of 10

Dumbbell Row:
85 for 8 reps
110 for 8 reps
120 for 8 reps
130 for 8 reps

Bicep area tightened up when weight got heavy on bench, so shut it down a bit early before it became painful.   Interestingly, no pain at all on the 20 rep set.  Added some upper back work as I couldn't remember when I did it this week.


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## DLDave (Feb 5, 2008)

2/5 DE Lower 

Speed Pulls:
365 for 6 sets of singles

Hip Adductor/Abductor:
90 for 4 sets of 15 on each

Hex Dumbbell Holds:
20 lb for 2 sets of 15 sec
25 lb for 2 sets of 15 sec

45 deg back extension:
45 lb plate, 3 sets of 8

Tried a double overhand hook grip on the pulls today for the first time to take some pressure off of my arm.  It really smashes the thumbs, but also seems to put me in a better position to pull.  This will be interesting to see if the thumbs hold up if I try this with a near max weight.


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## DLDave (Feb 8, 2008)

2/8 Squat

Box Squats with cambered bar:
380 for 2 sets of 3
420 for 3 sets of 3
470 for 3 sets of 3

45 degree back extension:
3 sets of 10 with kettlebell of unknown weight

Decline Abs:
3 sets of 10

Missed a meal this afternoon and was low on water intake today as I was busy at work, so I was low on energy after squats.  Note to self, don't miss meals on squat day.


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## DLDave (Feb 10, 2008)

2/10 ME Bench

Flat Bench:
315 x 3
365 x 3
Added Inzer black double denim
405 x 2 (2-board)
405 x 2 (1-board)
405 x 0 (no boards, dumped)
405 x 2 (no boards, touched)

Rack lockout, bench:
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 2

First day in a shirt in awhile, first day in a denim period.  Biggest adjustment for me is going to be touching low in the denim without dumping the bar (as happened on the first 405 set).   As PeteTheGreek described to me, will have to really tuck elbows with upper arm parallel to floor and lower arm perpendicular to floor with wrists in line with elbow.  This particular shirt is purposely loose so I can work on shirted form without having to use huge weights to touch.  This will get me through the next few weeks but I'll need to go tighter afterwards.  If only someone at Inzer would return an email so I can get the actual sizing on this shirt (I traded for it).


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## Witchblade (Feb 10, 2008)

You're one strong mofo.

I may have missed it, but is there a specific reason aside from fun that you're focusing solely on strength?


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## DLDave (Feb 11, 2008)

Nope, didn't miss it as I don't think I posted that.  It's been mostly for the fun of beating personal goals, but I'm hoping to compete in a PL meet this spring if I can learn the gear reasonably, which will give me a whole new level of personal goals to work towards.  When I got back into lifting a few years back, it was mostly to get myself back into shape after a few years off.  The more I kept at it, the more personal goals I kept beating, so I figured I should do something useful with the hard work and set some tangible goals besides having big gym lifts.


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## Witchblade (Feb 11, 2008)

Got it. 

If you're going to compete in powerlifting, gear is absolutely crucial.


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## DLDave (Feb 11, 2008)

Absolutely.  Fortunately I have all the gear needed, just a matter of getting enough time in it to learn it.  Fortunately I have some good training partners now that know their stuff.


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## DLDave (Feb 12, 2008)

2/12 Deadlift

Reverse Band Deadlift:
515 X 1
605 X 1
655 X 1
705 X 0 (miss just short of lockout)
705 x 0 (lost grip just off floor)
565 for 3 sets of 2

Hammer Curls:
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10
55 x 10

Barbell curls:
65 X 8
85 X 8
105 X 8

Standing ab pulldowns:
120 for 3 sets of 10

Used double overhand hook grip again, which worked surprisingly well at higher weights as grip wasn't an issue until some skin tore off.  Created and subsequently tore a blister on thumb on the first 705 attempt, which caused me to lose grip on the 2nd attempt.  Cut the leg work short as I've been advised that I'm doing heavy squats on Friday in full gear.


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## Stewart14 (Feb 12, 2008)

what does the reverse band do?  Does that make it easier off the floor and harder at lockout?

how's the thumbs feeling?  I remember creating and subsequently ripping a huge blister off my pinky one time when I was deadlifting and it just messed me up for weeks until it healed properly.


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## DLDave (Feb 12, 2008)

Yes, the reverse band reduces the weight off the floor, somewhere around 120 lightened at floor, and then you lose the band completely about halfway up.  You basically choke the bands around the safety pins in a power rack, and adjust height of those so that the bar comes out of the band about halfway off floor.  This allows you to work lockout with higher weight than a full range pull.  This was the first time I've done them, they seem to be effective as I'm probably not attempting a 705 lockout any other way.

Thumbs aren't too bad, the new hook grip hasn't caused a lot of pain but rather just a raw skin feeling since the skin isn't used to the increased pressure.  The blister isn't surprising, I've fought hand blisters with finger pressure changes going back to when I played baseball in high school and college, palms ripped open every spring training from the bat and fingers from ball seams.  I'm sure I'll get one on the other thumb soon, hopefully sooner rather than later, then they'll be good.  Fortunately I have a week off coming up soon as I have business travel, so this one should heal up before I pull heavy again.


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## Triple Threat (Feb 13, 2008)

I've got to start paying closer attention to new journals.  Not sure why it took so long to see this one.    I see some very serious training going on in here.    Well done!    It's not surprising to see Stew in here.


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## Stewart14 (Feb 13, 2008)

Triple Threat said:


> I've got to start paying closer attention to new journals.  Not sure why it took so long to see this one.    I see some very serious training going on in here.    Well done!    It's not surprising to see Stew in here.



I know where it's at 

Dave is an animal....would love to see you post a pic so we can get an idea of what someone as big as you are looks like


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## DLDave (Feb 13, 2008)

Heck, nothing too special going on here.  You guys should be following PeteTheGreek's journal too as I've been training with him for a month and still trying to catch him, and he's a few years older and 50 lb or so lighter.


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## PeteTheGreek (Feb 17, 2008)

Check this video.  Note the starting position of the bar.  Bar is over the belly and comes straight down instead of at an angle.  Forearm is perpendicular to the ground/elbows directly under the wrists/elbows tucked.

Training Footage From Gym 365 | Powerlifting Watch


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## PeteTheGreek (Feb 17, 2008)

Would be nice if the spotter let go of the bar though


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## DLDave (Feb 17, 2008)

Thanks Pete.  Other than the elbows not tucking enough, what are my arms,elbows doing wrong?  It's hard to visualize since I can't actually see what I'm doing.  Also, if my wrists are cocked back at the bottom, what do you think is causing what you guys say is a near dump?  Something doesn't feel right at the bottom, it doesn't feel like I'm dumping it but something does happen before I press, like there's hitch or something before I get it in the groove to press back up.


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## PeteTheGreek (Feb 17, 2008)

You just need to get used to benching with a different groove.  I benched high with elbows flared for almost twenty years.  Then I had to completely change my form, like learning to walk again.  You need to tuck your elbows in some more and bring the bar down a little lower.  With your long range of motion it looks like you're going to dump the bar when you're getting close to touching.  Just keep tucking harder as the bar gets closer to your belly and it shouldn't be a problem.  

Also, that shirt is too loose.   When i got my first Karins, it took 6 sessions to get any weight to touch.  Keep working with it until you get the groove down then get the chest plate tightened up.


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## DLDave (Feb 18, 2008)

Getting caught up

2/16 Squats

Parallel box 
495 for 5 sets of 2

45 degree back extension
45 lb plate, 3 sets of 10

EZ Bar Curls
95 for 3 sets of 15

Missed heavy squat day on Friday, which I'll have to pick up next week, so squeezed in some moderate work on Saturday.


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## DLDave (Feb 18, 2008)

2/17 Bench

Flat bench
225 X 3
275 X 3
315 X 3
Added loose Inzer Double Denim
365 X something (don't remember wtf I did with this set, was more to practice liftoff/handoff)
405 for 3 sets of 2

Floor press lock-outs:
405 X 5
455 X 3
495 X 5

Tricep Rope:
100 for 2 sets of 15
150 x 10

Ab crunch machine:
3 sets of 10

See comments above from me and PeteTheGreek for additional info on the shirted bench work.  Continuing to work on shirt groove with moderate weight.  Also, first bench day in about a month where there was absolutely no discomfort with the left bicep, so hopefully that shit is behind me.


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## DLDave (Feb 19, 2008)

2/19 Back work

Speed pulls:
365 for 8 sets of singles
365 for 1 set of 8

Dumbbell row:
110 for 3 sets of 10

Hammer curls:
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10

Pulldown Abs
3 sets of 10

Schedule is going to be a bit screwy over the next week or so as I am traveling out of the country next week, so trying to squeeze in the important stuff when I can on non-heavy days.  Switched between overhand hook grip and alternating grip on pulls as thumb hasn't fully healed from blister, which didn't make a difference as this weight isn't much of a challenge for singles (thus using it for speed).


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## soxmuscle (Feb 19, 2008)

singles, deuces (not taking a shit) or triples.

which do you prefer when speed deadlifting?


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## DLDave (Feb 19, 2008)

I almost always do singles on speed dead days.  This allows me to focus on a full deadlift movement as it would be in competition, including setup, and then just grip it and rip it from the floor, wait 1 minute, then repeat.  The setup wouldn't be the same if doing another rep or two on that set.  I normally pull heavy every other week, so I'm getting plenty of deadlift reps in my training.


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## soxmuscle (Feb 19, 2008)

I think I'm going to start doing more singles.  Thanks, mang.


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## DLDave (Feb 19, 2008)

Really focus on ripping the bar off the floor as fast as possible.  This has had good carryover to heavy deadlifts for me.


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## DLDave (Feb 20, 2008)

2/20 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 8 sets of 3 (varying grip)

Side lat raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 8 (nothing left)

Seated dumbbell shoulder press
55 x 10
65 x 10
75 x 10
80 x 10

Tricep extension w/ EZ bar
75 x 10
95 x 10
115 x 10

Speed bench wasn't so speedy as I was focusing on tucking elbows and touching low as best I could since I was solo.  Been awhile since I had done dumbbell shoulder presses and didn't have my log book to reference, so worked up to what felt like a good weight.  Probably had more in me but thought 4 sets was good.


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## stubborngrl (Feb 20, 2008)

thanks for coming by to my journal..
how do you vary grips on the speed bench?? one set cgb? one wide??? etc..

and, is the bicep injury a long term thing?


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## DLDave (Feb 20, 2008)

I usually do 6-8 sets on speed bench, and when I vary grips I'll do one set close, the next one medium, and next wide (index fingers on rings), then repeat.  Or I'll do 2 close, 2 medium, etc.

The bicep injury was about a month long thing, appeared to be a strained tendon, right at the bottom of the bicep.  It was only painful on bench press, and only one specific spot about halfway down when lowering the bar.  A smart person would've taken some time off, but I'm stubborn and was trying to make it until end of Feb when I have a week off anyways due to travel.  The past 2 weeks I've taken it easy on non-heavy days and switched my deadlift grip to a double over-hand as the bad bicep was the hand that is normally the underhand grip.  No idea what caused it as it's never been an issue before this.


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## soxmuscle (Feb 20, 2008)

Impressive DB shoulder presses.  I know you're a strong guy, but 80's for 10 with ease is nice.


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## DLDave (Feb 20, 2008)

Thanks sox.  Funny thing is, I was so tight after the lat raises that I barely got the 55 lb set, so wasn't sure i'd even finish the 65 set.  Things loosened up though.


----------



## soxmuscle (Feb 20, 2008)

Sometimes that happens.

I didn't even realize you're from Columbus, Ohio.  My roommates girlfriend is from Columbus.  Small world.


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## DLDave (Feb 21, 2008)

There are a few guys here from Columbus: PeteTheGreek, seanp156, Big G to name a few.


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## DLDave (Feb 22, 2008)

2/22 Squat

Box Squats with straight bar:
415 for 3 sets of 3
465 for 4 sets of 3 (maybe more another set or two, lost track)

Glute ham raise
4 sets of 10

Pulldown Abs
3 sets of 15 

Was dragging ass all day for some unknown reason, wasn't really feeling the squats but didn't struggle much.  First time in awhile for a straight bar out of a monolift, and bar rolled a bit on the first heavy rep and resulted in a sloppy touch on the box.  Hammy tightened up on GHR, which was unusual.  I need to get my ass suited up and go heavy next time.

Be sure to check PeteTheGreek's log tonight, he did some large amounts of weight for singles after our work sets.


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## PeteTheGreek (Feb 22, 2008)

Dave, it's time to put some weight on the bar.  Everything looks too easy for you so far.


----------



## DLDave (Feb 22, 2008)

Yep, fully agreed (except for the too easy part, maybe somewhat easy)


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## DLDave (Feb 23, 2008)

2/23 Extra stuff/GPP

Stationary bike
~21 min, 4 miles, 70RPM

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
5 plates for 10

Pulldown
70 x 10
80 x 10
100 x 10

EZ Bar Curl
75 x 8
95 x 8
105 x 8
115 x 8

Hex dumbbell static hold
15 for 20 seconds
20 for 20 seconds
25 for 20 seconds
25 for 20 seconds

Reverse grip wrist curls
40 x 10
70 x 10
90 x 10

No real plan for today, gave myself a half hour to fit in some extra back and bicep work, and still had time so did some grip stuff.  Back felt tight for pulldowns, so kept it light since tomorrow is heavy bench day.


----------



## DLDave (Feb 24, 2008)

2/24 Bench

Flat bench
315 x 3
335 x 3
Added loose Inzer Double Denim
405 x 2
405 x 2
455 x 1 (no touch)
455 x 1
495 x 1 (PR)

Floor press lockouts
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
415 x 5
465 x 5
505 x 5

The 495 was slow and sloppy but I eventually got it locked out.  The 2nd 455 set was about the best rep I've had in a shirt so far, felt good and bar came up fast, so went for a new PR afterwards.  Cut things short today as I have a flight in a few hours, was pretty beat anyways.  Overall, feedback from partners was that bar was going more straight up and down over belly than last week, which is progress.  Elbows felt like they were tucking better but still have some work to do.  Bar also felt more stable at the bottom than last week, no hitch or near dump reps.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Feb 24, 2008)

DLDave said:


> The 495 was slow and sloppy but I eventually got it locked out.
> 
> Yes, but it didn't win the prize for the ugliest lift of the week.


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## DLDave (Feb 24, 2008)

Well I didn't see mine, but it sure felt as ugly as your squat.


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## soxmuscle (Feb 24, 2008)

the double denim?  is that a benching shirt?


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## DLDave (Feb 24, 2008)

Yes, Inzer double-ply denim bench shirt.  This one is slightly loose on me, obtained via a trade, so it's not ideal for much more than learning to bench in a denim shirt, as this is my first denim.  I can touch in it with less than my raw max, which isn't ideal for a good shirt.  The 495 was 70 lbs over my previous raw best, but hard to tell how much of that increase is due solely to shirt and how much is due to having 4 good spotters on top of things to save my ass.  I'll go with something tighter in a few weeks.


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## DLDave (Feb 27, 2008)

2/27 Mini workout

Purple band pushdowns
40 reps for 5 sets

Purple band good mornings
40 reps for 5 sets

Mini band curls
40 reps for 5 sets

Purple band pull-aparts
20 reps for 5 sets

Brought some jump stretch bands with me to keep at least some blood flowing while in Germany.  Super-setted some of this, doesn't really matter.  Diet has been crap.  Except for the massive intake of eggs at hotel breakfast, nothing but pork-based stuff here, no opportunities for extra meals during the day except for protein bars I brought along, and way too much beer, so we'll see how workouts go when I return this weekend.


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## PeteTheGreek (Feb 27, 2008)

I wouldn't stress out over it.  Just go with the flow and get back into it when you get back.  A few years ago, I was in Greece for 3 weeks.  My daily routine consisted of eating, drinking, smoking and fucking.   2 days after I got back I hit a PR squat.


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## DLDave (Mar 1, 2008)

3/1 Deadlift

Pin Pulls (pins 3"-4" below knees)
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 1
545 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
685 x 1

Hammer Curls
40 x 10
50 x 10
60 x 10

EZ Bar Curls
75 x 10
85 x 10
115 x 10

Some of the slowest pulls ever today, bar was not moving fast which is unusual for me.  Didn't have a lot of energy as I woke up too early today, still on German time.  Legs also pretty stiff after 17 hours of travel yesterday.  Some hot girl asked me if I was really going to lift all that weight (think it was the 545 set), so got a motivational boost right when I needed it.  All in all, pretty decent first day back, considering the shit diet and the 15+ liters of beer this week.


----------



## soxmuscle (Mar 1, 2008)

I'm in the midst of a very bad week as well.  My mother says everything is going to be alright, that the sun will rise, I think that applies for you to.


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## DLDave (Mar 2, 2008)

2/2 ME Bench

Flat bench for reps:
225 x 8
275 x 16 (don't recall exact reps on this one)
315 x 9
225 x 17
225 x 10

Tricep cable pushdown
150 x 15
170 x 15
190 x 15
210 x 8
210 x 8

The 315 set burned what little gas I had today, sleep schedule still messed up a bit.  Diet should be back on track after the massive egg and potato post-workout breakfast.


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## DLDave (Mar 5, 2008)

3/5 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 for 8 sets of 3 (varying grip)

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
55 x 10
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10

Chest-assisted row
1 plate x 10
2 plates x 10
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 8
5 plates x 8

Seated plate loaded row
3 plates per side x 10
4 plates per side x 10
5 plates per side x 10

EZ Bar tricep extension
55 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 10

Schedule is crazy this week, so added some extra back work as I'll be missing DE lower day and didn't want to squeeze in any direct lower back work 2 days before a heavy squat.  Had some elbow tightness so took it a bit easy on the tri extensions and used that mainly to stretch it out.  Energy is still a bit off post travel, have been dragging ass in afternoons all week and can barely stay awake past 8:30.  Hoping it's still travel related and not CNS fatigue.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 8, 2008)

3/8 Squat

Parallel box squat (belt only)
405 x 3
455 x 2
495 x 2
545 x 1
585 x 1

Pin squats (upper 50% range, hold 5 sec at top)
585 x 1
625 x 1
675 x 1
715 x 1

Missed yesterday's squat workout thanks to snowstorm-related highway traffic.  Said snowstorm also resulted in a nice lower back workout this morning prior to squatting thanks to about 2 feet of snow in driveway that needed shoveled, so kept workout pretty basic as there is more shoveling in my immediate future.  Forgot briefs, so went raw with only loose belt.   First time I've done pin squats, mainly wanted to get some heavy weight on my back but do something more substantial than walkouts.  If nothing else, this finally bent the piece of shit bar at Lifetime, which I've been unable to do yet in deadlifts.


----------



## soxmuscle (Mar 8, 2008)

Lifetime, huh?

That's where you go?

Life Time Fitness - Feel good inside


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## DLDave (Mar 8, 2008)

I usually only do my light stuff there and go heavy at a couple of more serious gyms (World Gym for bench, Lexen Xtreme for squats as they have a monolift).  Today was an exception since it was the only place open in the blizzard.  The wife likes Lifetime and they have stuff for the kids, so I had to compromise and drop an insane amount of money for it.  At least the scenery is good.


----------



## soxmuscle (Mar 8, 2008)

Non-student pricing is insane, but the one near me is a pretty quality gym.

24 hour access is nice too.


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 8, 2008)

It took me 1 1/2 hours to get to Lexen yesterday.  I couldn't miss this one as it was the last heavy high box.  I missed 785 but I only had briefs on and had much better control of it.  Lynn got 860.  Next week is deload then we put all the gear on for two weeks of free squats, no box, then we're done. Hopefully Worlds will be open tomorrow.  Don't forget about the time change.

This snow sucks.  I tweaked my left bicep shoveling.  Too late to shut it down now.  The goal is to rip the tendon on my last deadlift attempt


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## DLDave (Mar 8, 2008)

Well I guess that would literally be leaving it all on the platform.

I started toward Lexen but turned around after 45 min on 270 and was barely past Roberts.  I was pissed as I need to get suited up and go heavy but figured you guys would be done by the time I got there.  Now I have some time to make up.  Sounds like you guys kicked some ass though, must've had Chuck breathing down your necks again.

Got in another lower back shovel workout this evening after lifting once the white shit stopped falling from the sky, so hopefully I can just get up and go in the morning.


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 8, 2008)

Should have stayed with it.  The highway opened up past I-70.  We didn't start until 4:00


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## DLDave (Mar 9, 2008)

3/9 ME Bench

Bench press with fat bar:
275 X 3
315 X 1
Added 6" Foam Roller:
345 X 3
375 X 3
395 X 3
415 X 3

Pin presses:
315 X 5
365 X 5
415 X 5
465 X 5
465 X 5

Machine ab crunches:
3 sets of 10
1 set of 8

Foam roller press is similar to board press in that it works top part of bench range, but is a bit different in that it sinks into foam and then gives a bit of rebound similar to bench shirt.  It seems to be slightly more difficult than board presses since it doesn't completely stop at bottom.  This is first time I've done these, seems to be something useful to rotate with boards.  Probably could've gone a bit higher that 415 but elbow was tight and didn't want to push it as we've got some heavy weeks coming.  Ran out of gas by end of pin presses after long day yesterday.  On a positive note, energy levels seem to finally be back up this weekend, couldn't have handled this weekend's workload earlier in the week.

Foam Press
Another


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## DLDave (Mar 11, 2008)

3/11 Deadlift

Deadlifts against mini-bands, choked twice over bar:
315 X 2
405 X 2
455 X 1
500 X 0 (miss)...Squeeze the fucking bar...
405 for 3 sets of 2

Straight leg deadlifts:
275 X 6
315 X 6
345 X 6

Barbell curls:
85 X 10
95 X 10
105 X 10

Standing ab pulldowns:
3 sets of 10

No comments today, pretty pissed about missing the 500 due to not paying attention to grip


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## DLDave (Mar 13, 2008)

3/13 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 6 sets of 3 (varying grip)

Seated dumbbell shoulder press
70 x 8
80 x 8
100 x 8

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 8
2 plates for 8
3 plates for 8
4 plates for 8
5 plates for 8

Rear delt fly
80 x 10
110 x 10
130 x 10
150 x 10
190 x 10

Went a little heavier on speed bench than I have been to see if speed was still good, which it was.  Wanted to go against mini bands but forgot my bands.  Last day for the db shoulder press for awhile, mainly wanted to see if I could get up to 100.  Probably had 110 or so in me, but not sure that maxing out on accessory work is actually beneficial.  First time doing rear delt flyes in quite awhile, will start to rotate these in more.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 13, 2008)

Dave, I've got a question for you.  Why do I see so many people doing shoulder presses for accessory work?  Now I know the front delts are really important to benching, but don't you think it's overkill to do shoulder presses in addition to all the heavy benching you guys do?  I mean, I have an imbalance in my front delts compared to the rest of my shoulders, and I don't even bench nearly as much as you and the others, and when I get serious about my benching, I usually leave out the shoulder press and focus on more rear delt work.

Lets look at all the benching we do....bench press, close grip bench, floor press, rack lockouts, speed bench, incline bench, decline bench, etc....that's a ton of front delt work right there, especially if you are inclined to be a front delt presser.

I just wonder if it is that important, or if it's just something you guys like to do.  I like overhead pressing as much as the next guy, but I feel all it does it further emphasize my front delts and further the imbalance between my delt heads.

good job on the 100s by the way!


----------



## DLDave (Mar 13, 2008)

Stewart, very good question and I tend to agree with you that it's easy to get caught up in front delts and neglect rears.  Realistically, I should be rotating rear delts in a lot more than I do, and I'll change this.  I used to do low stress shoulder work (raises, rear delts fly, etc.) on my ME Bench day, and then high stress shoulder work (presses) on DE Bench day.  This is common on a standard Westside-based program.  However, since getting with my current group on bench day, we don't do direct shoulder work on heavy bench day but rather hit some sort of pin press or lockout after heavy bench,  which works the front delts pretty hard anyways.  Meaning, I should not be hitting front delts exclusively on DE day as they're getting plenty of work with other movements.

Here's a pretty good article by Matt Wenning of Westside Barbell (formerly?) outlining important muscle groups for big bench press.  Matt has a big bench, think he told me he's up around 600 raw, but more importantly knows a shit ton about strength development, so the man knows his stuff.

And thanks on the 100's.  I've never really done heavy dumbbell shoulder work, usually focus more on the barbell presses, so wasn't sure how high I could go.  Those hundreds just don't feel right sitting up on shoulders to start a set.  But since I'm really not looking to compete in dumbbell shoulder press, I won't be going any higher. for now.


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## Stewart14 (Mar 13, 2008)

yeah I know what you mean about the dumbbells.  The most I've ever used on a work set was 95s for a set of about 5, and man, it was the most awkward set of anything I think I've ever done.  I mean, after you spend a "shit ton" (I liked that ) of energy just getting the damn dumbbells into position, you are already half spent, so the rest of the set is a double challenge.

I'll have to check out that article, thanks for the link.  I mean, when I don't do overhead work, I feel like I should be doing it, but then I look in the mirror and I see how huge my front delts are compared to the back and sides, sure it looks good from the front, but a little weird from the sides.  I was just getting my standing OH press pretty far up there too, I think I got 180 for a set or 2 of 5 the other day, but oh well, gonna give them up for a while and work on the bench press for now.

by the way, what do you guys think about the reverse grip bench? Tried them today and they were weird, but kind of cool too at the same time, I think I will continue to include them for a while.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 14, 2008)

3/14 ME Squat

Box squat
415 for 10 sets of 3
505 x 1
595 x 1
595 x 0 (miss, out of gas)

Pulldown Abs
4 sets of 10

Should've cut the work sets short prior to going heavy, but didn't do too bad.  First 6 or 7 of the 415 were slightly below parallel, remainder including heavy sets were at parallel.  There may have been a 555 set in there, don't recall if we jumped a full plate after 505 or not.  Still have a lot to work on, but that's why I'm lifting where I am.  I've usually been about 50 lb or so less on box than without, but we'll see if that's still true over the next few weeks.  If I can break 600 in my upcoming meet, I'll be happy.


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## DLDave (Mar 16, 2008)

3/16 Bench

Flat bench
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 1
Added loose Inzer DD
405 x 1
455 x 1
475 x 1

Floor lockouts
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
495 x 3
545 x 3

Apparently the 545 lockout makes me the new lockout bitch in the group.  Video was captured and sent to the old lockout bitch.  Unfortunately, I can't find a meet where they do lockouts as an event.  Shirted bench felt OK today, the 475 came down too high but adjusted at last inches and touched in right spot.  Wanted to get in 2 sets in the 455 range as this might be an opener if I can get a bit more comfortable with it, have no problems getting this back up but still need more consistent groove.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 16, 2008)

Stewart, I missed your question above.  To be honest, I've never done a rep of reverse grip bench, so I can't add much.  I do know that it was made illegal in most federations awhile back due to safety reasons.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 18, 2008)

3/18 Back work

Speed deads
365 for 8 sets of singles

Lat pulldowns
3 sets of 8

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 12
2 plates for 8
3 plates for 8
4 plates for 8 (x2)

Pulldown abs
3 sets of 12

Hip Abductor/Adductor
worked up to full stack for 15 (each machine)

Wasn't feeling the deads today, body is still a bit wrecked from a heavy weekend.  Hopefully this is just temporary, as I would've been lucky to pull 500 today.  On a positive note, should have some new gear waiting at home tonight to play with, always fun to frighten the kids with this scary stuff.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 18, 2008)

speaking of gear, what would you say if I asked you if it were worth it for me to get some?  is it pointless for someone who works out alone?  I would be most interested in a bench shirt, I have heard that it can have some benefits to save your shoulders and such from heavy weights.

can you train alone in gear or is it dumb?  I figure, maybe if I really get into it, even though I train alone, I might want to enter into a competition some day when my numbers get more respectable.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 18, 2008)

I would be hesitant to bench shirted alone, although if you search Youtube you'll see others doing it.  I'm assuming you're in a rack with safety pins already, which would be absolutely necessary if you decide to try it.   It's a very different movement than raw benching, and you'll see earlier in my log that I dumped a shirted bench with weight less than my raw max.  You may want to look into an Inzer Blast type of shirt, which is a much less aggressive shirt that may offer the shoulder protection that you're looking for.  This type of shirt isn't really used by competitive lifters, but it might be a place to start for your needs.  To effectively use a top end shirt, you really need a lift-off in order to maintain your tightness.

Squatting with gear is much less of an issue if you're in a rack with safety pins.  Squat briefs would be a logical place to start as these will provide hip protection.   In general, I'd say it would be difficult to effectively learn the gear unless you're around people who already have a good amount of experience in it.   It's nearly impossible to know what you need to change since you can't see yourself.  And I say this from experience.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 18, 2008)

That's what I figured.

Oh well.  Hopefully someday before I get too old to do this shit and the kids get older I can try to find a powerlifting gym around me and find some guys to learn from.

I would love to do a meet at some point in my life.  Maybe for now I can try to find a raw meet and do that one, of course these are probably harder to find.


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## DLDave (Mar 19, 2008)

3/19 DE Bench

Speed Bench
8 sets of 3 at 185 + mini-bands looped under bench

Rear delt flyes
170 x 10
210 x 10
230 x 10
250 x 8

Face Pulls
100 for 3 sets of 10

Lat side raises
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10

Tricep extensions w/ EZ-bar
95 for 2 sets of 12

Moved this workout up a day as I anticipate consuming large amounts of beer and watching basketball tomorrow.  Dropped the direct front delt work as planned and focused more on rear delts.  Elbow tightened up a bit on the tricep extensions, so took it somewhat easy.  First time doing face pulls, I'll need to find a different pulley to do these on as I was doing the full stack.


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## DLDave (Mar 21, 2008)

3/21 Squat

Straight bar squat (no box)
415 x 2
Add Metal Ace suit (straps down)
455 x 1
545 x 0 (miss, depth)
545 x 0 (miss, depth)
545 x 0 (miss, depth)
545 x 1 (hit parallel)
595 x 0 (miss depth)

Standing Ab pulldown
4 sets of 10

Glute Ham Raise
3 sets of 10

Hammer Curl
25 x 10
35 x 10
45 x 10

The plan for today was to work up to a meet opener, which I was targeting 550, a weight that I should be able to hit pretty easily as I can get that raw as well as off a box.  First time in a few months in the suit, still having trouble getting deep enough as the misses were all too high by an inch or two.  Had no problem getting the weight back up, even the 595, just have to remember that when it feels like blood is about to spew from my nose, I have another inch to go.  Knees still coming forward when suit catches, and the other usual issues to work out.  The group overall didn't have a great day, but PetetheGreek broke parallel a couple of times with a good amount of weight.


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 22, 2008)

Bench 7:30 am tomorrow at Lexen


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## DLDave (Mar 22, 2008)

Yep.  3 or 4 of us?


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 22, 2008)

You, me, Erik & Lynn.  We gotta get out of there before Chuck shows up at 8:30


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## DLDave (Mar 22, 2008)

Sounds good.  My wife will have my ass if I'm much later than that anyways.


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 23, 2008)

Dave:

I told CV you called him a pole smoker.  You may want to see if BMW will transfer you to Germany


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## DLDave (Mar 23, 2008)

Thanks man.  I listened to Sirius 3 the whole way home just for you.  Nothing finishes off a heavy bench day like some "Sexual Healing", which oddly enough I heard coming out of some out of some dude's Ipod in the locker room at Lifetime yesterday.  Yep, truly hardcore.


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## DLDave (Mar 23, 2008)

Bench:
275 X 1
315 X 3
365 x 1
Added new Inzer Double Denim
405 x 3 (2 board)
455 x 2 (2 board)
455 X 1 (no boards, sloppy)

4 board press, no shirt:
455 x 0 (miss twice, no clue what the deal was)

Floor pin presses:
405 X 5
455 X 5
495 X 3
515 X 3

Today was the day to see how many variables I could change so I'd have no idea what the problem was.  Tried a brand new shirt, which turned out to be looser than I hoped.  Also had new Convict wraps, which seemed to cause issues with controlling the bar as they're incredibly stiff.  And we also benched at a different place, with bench a different height and width and a nice slippery floor that was impossible to get proper leg drive.  And then we had a couple guys with 2400-2600 totals show up towards the end and watch us struggle with what is probably their speed weight.

Chuck, since I'm sure you're following this log, Pete had an issue with the shit you guys put on the radio and turned off our 80's pop station.  You should discuss this issue with him.


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 25, 2008)

Working late, can't get in today


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## DLDave (Mar 25, 2008)

OK, thanks for the heads-up.  I may change up my pulling plan anyways since I'm still 19 days out, will see how things go today.


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## DLDave (Mar 25, 2008)

3/25 Deadlift

Deadlift off floor
405 x 3
455 x 2
500 x 1
550 x 1
570 x 1 (sumo)
605 x 1 (sumo)
635 x 1 (sumo)

Hip Abductor/Adductor
3 sets of 15 (each machine)

Standing ab pulldowns
3 sets of 12

The plan for today was to work up to 500 even and then to 550 (likely opener) if things felt good.  I had mixed-in some sumos during warm-ups, and  decided to see how a heavy sumo went, as I have never done a sumo much past 400.  This stance seems to put me in a better position to pull, although I don't know a damn thing about the technical aspects of it.   It was a slower rep but seemed to have more consistent power throughout.  The 635 is a PR for full range, no straps.  No grip issues today, I razored off the calluses last week which has really helped my hands.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Mar 25, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 635 x 1 (sumo)



Holy shit?


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## PeteTheGreek (Mar 25, 2008)

My advice. Train conventional, pull sumo in meets


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## DLDave (Mar 25, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Holy shit?



Yep, pretty much



PeteTheGreek said:


> My advice. Train conventional, pull sumo in meets



Good advice, similar to other things I've read in the past.  I would still need to get some sumo reps in at least initially to get some idea of hand, feet, and upper body positioning.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 26, 2008)

3/26 DE Bench

Speed bench w/ mini-band looped under bench
205 for 8 sets of 3

Rear delt flyes
170 x 10
210 x 10
230 x 10

Face Pulls
100 for 3 sets of 10

Lat side raises
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Uneventful workout, other than pulling 315 off of some HS football player, shortly after I saw him smirking at my 205 and bands.  Shoulders pretty tight after pulling yesterday.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 26, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 3/25 Deadlift
> 
> Deadlift off floor
> 405 x 3
> ...



Damn i missed this, good shit dave.  If I were to use the straight bar again, I would like to train sumo, since it is easier on my back and I think I have better form on it.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 26, 2008)

*a good plan for squats and deads*

question for you.  What would be a good plan to incorporate the squats and deads into a weekly routine.  I am really not following westside or anything else for that matter, I thought of trying something I will run by you, and you can let me know what you think.

deads on mondays, and squats on fridays.  right now all deads will be with the trap bar, and all squats will be slightly below parallel box squats.  I want to do a 3 week rotation on each one, something like this:
week          1
Deads:go for a new max         
Squats:6x3 with 80% of max
week 2
deads: 6x3 with 80% of max    
squats: 7x1 with 90% of max
week 3
deads: 7x1 with 90% of max    
squats: go for a new max
and repeat. 

Then throw in some accessory stuff like glute ham raises and some back work.  Bench work would be following the Kennelly routine on Wednesdays, and Saturday would be an optional bench accessory day with db benches and some tricep work.

What do you think?


----------



## DLDave (Mar 26, 2008)

Give it a try and see how it works.  Personally, outside of recently leading up to my meet, I try not to pull heavy and squat heavy in the same week as it beats me up pretty bad after a few weeks.  I have followed more of the traditional Westside approach, which would be to do speed pulls only during the week that I'm squatting heavy, and no heavy squats the week that I pull heavy.  Speed work is typically in the 50-60% range of your 1 RM, your plan goes up to 80% for the rep work which I would consider heavy.  So in a cycle like you outlined, would be something like this, stick day 1 or day 2 wherever you want in the week:

Week 1:
Day 1: speed pulls
Day 2: heavy squat

Week 2:
Day 1: heavy pulls
Day 2: speed squat (or other light lower work)

Week 3:
Day 1: speed pulls
Day 2: heavy squat

The typical Westside templates have you speed pulling and speed squatting every week, and rotating heavy pulls, heavy squats, and heavy good mornings on the other day of that week.  You may want to throw in the occassional good morning, which will help both dead and squat.  If you do go heavy twice per week, be sure to take a deload after 4-6 weeks to avoid overtraining.


----------



## Stewart14 (Mar 26, 2008)

Good to get another opinion, I will keep that in mind.  Another idea would be to combine my idea with your idea, so that I could do a heavy squat or deadlift only once per week, but still keep that 80, 90 and 100% rotation going, only it would be every other week instead of weekly.

something to think about   i guess doing a light speed day would allow me to do some heavy accessory work like GMs, that would be out of the question in my plan.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 28, 2008)

No lifting today, had a major fubar at work that resulted in some folks not building a couple hundred very valuable items today.  Fortunately I'm not in the line of fire, but unfortunately dealing with the fallout that surely is coming caused me to work pretty late and miss what should've been my last heavy squat day.  Looks like I'll be changing things up, light lower stuff tomorrow, heavy bench Sunday, and look to get a heavy squat early next week, probably Tues with Pete.  And I think I got the legs in my suit loosened up with basketballs so the damn thing seats correctly, but might be too late to give it another shot.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 29, 2008)

3/29 DE Lower

Speed pulls, sumo stance
315 for 8 singles

Static barbell holds
4 x 15 seconds

Hip Abductor/adductor
3 sets of 15, moderate weight (each machine)

Hex dumbbell holds
5 x 30 seconds, increasing weight, each hand

Reverse wrist curls
3 sets of 12

Kept the weight light on the pulls as I was mainly looking to work on form and get good speed off of the floor.  Did quite a bit of reading on the sumo stance so had a better idea of what to focus on.  Depending on when and how the last heavy squat goes next week, may try to get one more moderate pull in prior to the meet, something in the 450 lb range.  Aside from that, got some good grip work in and stretched the hips.


----------



## DLDave (Mar 30, 2008)

3/30 Bench

275 x 5
315 x 3
Added loose Inzer Double Denim
405 x 1
455 x 1
505 x 1
505 x 0 (completed rep with no help, but bar dipped a bit about 1/4 way off bottom, which would've been red lighted)

Floor pin press lockouts w/ mini-band on each end looped twice around dumbbell
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 5
505 x 5

Standing Ab Pulldowns
4 sets of 10
1 set of 6

Last heavy bench day prior to the meet, which is 14 days out for me.  May work up to an opener next week.  The 455 didn't feel as fast as it has the past few weeks, which is a concern as this is what I wanted to open with.  The first 505 was sloppy but finished it, and felt better than the 495 a few weeks ago.  The 2nd 505 had a dip near the bottom which would've caused it to be red lighted, but I finished the rep with no help and overall it felt better than the first.   I think the issue here was that I touched too high and was out of the groove.  Overall, I should be good for 500 in the meet and will be pissed if I don't hit it, as the strength is there, just a matter of hitting the shirt groove properly.  Convict wraps felt better as I've been wearing them on speed days to get them broken in.  Pete's been watching the big guys at Lexen too much, so we threw some bands onto the floor presses, which added probably 50-70 lbs at the top.  Seemed pretty effective, could definitely feel the added tension once the bands caught.


----------



## DLDave (Apr 1, 2008)

4/01 Squat

Squat w/ Predator briefs
415 X 2
505 X 1
555 x 1
595 x 1 (added knee wraps)
595 x 1 (added knee wraps)

Straight leg deads:
315 X 6
315 X 8
315 X 8

Standing ab pulldowns:
4 sets of 10

Last heavy day before meet.  Will work up to an opener on bench on Saturday.  Lower back has been tight, so won't be pulling again before meet.  Looks like I'll be going with briefs and a singlet in the squat rather than full suit, as I can get sufficient depth in briefs and should be able to hit 600 or so.  The upside of the suit would be higher, but no point in risking bombing out due to depth issues.  My fault for not getting enough time in the Metal suit, so I'll be sure to get plenty of time in it over the next few months.  Looks like it'll just be me and Pete from our group competing but plenty of others from Lexen competing.  If I end up in the 308 class, I should finish about 600-700 pounds behind the top 2 in that class (Matt Wenning, Chuck Fought).  Maybe they'll let me count 2 deadlifts?


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## DLDave (Apr 2, 2008)

4/02 DE Bench

Speed bench:
185 for 8 sets of 3

Seated rear delt row:
3 plates + quarter each side, 3 sets of 10

Chest supported row:
3 plates + quarter, 3 sets of 6

Started with some moderate hammer curls and reverse wrist curls to warm up.  Speed sucked today, fealing beat to hell from yesterday's squats.  This shouldn't happen to a pro


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## DLDave (Apr 5, 2008)

4/05 Bench

Flat bench to opener
225 X 5
315 X 3
Added Inzer double denim
365 X 1 (No touch)
405 X 1 (touch)
455 X 1 (touch)

Floor pin press lockouts:
405 X 5
455 X 5
505 X 5
555 x 3

Standing ab pulldown:
3 sets of 10
1 set of 8

Eight days out from meet, last real workout prior to then.  I'll do some ab work and some other light work to keep things stretched out until middle of the week, then done.  Unless something dramatically goes south between now and meet day, will likely be opening with 455.  Today's 455 was somewhat slow likely due to not hitting groove, but I don't have much problem pressing this back up even when misgrooved.


----------



## Triple Threat (Apr 5, 2008)

Good luck in the meet.


----------



## DLDave (Apr 6, 2008)

Triple Threat said:


> Good luck in the meet.



Thanks!


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 6, 2008)

Flights are posted.  You're in the flight with the 1,000 lb squatters.  Better you than me.

http://ironhousezanesville.com/08 IH Classic/08 Classic Entries In.htm


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## DLDave (Apr 6, 2008)

That's just great.  I saw Wenning at BW3 the other day, was going to ask him to not double my squat.  And somehow you don't even have Harrington either.


----------



## soxmuscle (Apr 7, 2008)

Had a meet at my gym this past Saturday.

Purty cool.

Best of luck to you!


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## DLDave (Apr 7, 2008)

Thanks sox.

4/07 Misc Light stuff

Pullthrus:
60 lb for 4 sets of 10

Hip Abductor/Adductor
4 sets of 15, light weight (each machine)

Ab Pulldowns
5 sets of 12, heavy

45 degree back raise
BW for 2 sets of 10

Except for the regular ab work, kept the weight very light today with weight that would typically what would be a 2nd warm-up set, mainly to keep stretched out and keep the blood flowing.  Will hit a few upper exercises either tomorrow or Wed and then be done until the meet.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 7, 2008)

Dave, you were mentioned on powerliftingwatch.com:

An updated lifter roster is posted for this weekend's Iron House Classic which will be held in Columbus, Ohio. The Iron House Classic traditionally attracts a number of the top lifters and this year is no exception. Included in the lineup is:

Joe Dougherty, 181
Phil Harrington, 220
Nick Roman, 275 (junior who pulled 800 in October)
Luke Edwards, 242
Dave Schwab, 275
Paul Childress, 308
Chuck Fought, 308
Matt Wenning, 308
Matt Smith, shw
Mike Wolfe, shw


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## DLDave (Apr 7, 2008)

Yeah right.  You forgot the part about the kid half your age in your flight with the 800 lb pull.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Apr 7, 2008)

Not anymore.  Looks like I've been moved to the second flight and you're in the first.  They're doing this to keep the strong guys together and the pathetic lifters like us in a different group.


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## DLDave (Apr 7, 2008)

So they have the old guys and the skinny kids in the same flight.  You have a chance to look impressive now.  I was demoted to amateur, so I don't get to lift with the big guys.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 7, 2008)

It's for the loaders' benefit.  When the second attempts start, they don't have to strip a lot of weight off the bar.  So if Paul Childress is the last lifter in his flight with a 1150 lb opener, they don't have to strip 800 lbs off the bar for Joe Blow's second attempt.  

What they should do is have a weight cut off.  Those opening with up to 500 lbs go in the first flight,  750 lb openers go in the second flight,  900 lb openers go in the third.  Saves the loaders a lot of hassle.


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## DLDave (Apr 8, 2008)

I thought they arranged the flights after you provided your openers at weigh in, for the very reasons that you stated.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 8, 2008)

They also have to keep the guys in the same weight class/division together so you know what attempts you need to pick to win.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 8, 2008)

This meet's getting too big now.  16-18 lifters in each flight.  I bet he's still getting entries.  There will be 20 lifters in each flight by meet day.  Minimum 25 minutes rest between each attempt.


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## DLDave (Apr 8, 2008)

The Sunday entries haven't changed much this week, Saturday keeps increasing.   I don't think he had a cap on # of entries per day.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 8, 2008)

Not when you're pulling in $95 a shot


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## Stewart14 (Apr 9, 2008)

just wanted to pop in here and wish you luck at the meet.  do you and Pete have a friendly competition going on??


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## DLDave (Apr 9, 2008)

Thanks Stewart.  Pete and I have no real competition for this one, as his squat should be close to 100 lb more this time and give him a good edge in the total.   More than likely he'll get me by a bit on bench, and deadlift will be close, but even if these went in my favor they would be too close to overcome the gap in squat.  He'll probably be looking at an 1800+ total, while I'll be happy to break 1700 (600-500-600).  But you can be sure I'll have his bench and deadlift numbers in mind when I lift on Sunday, and I know he's trying to retain his title of deadlift King in the group (which he technically lost a few weeks ago)


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 9, 2008)

Dave has an unfair leverage and range of motion advantage, not to mention I'm at least 20 yrs older than him.  I think to keep things on an even playing field, he has to bench 700 and pull 850.


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## DLDave (Apr 9, 2008)

Because everyone knows that it's easier to move 500 lbs 3 feet than it is to move it 5 inches.


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## DLDave (Apr 9, 2008)

4/9 Misc Upper Stuff

Speed bench
185 for 4 sets of 3

Chest supported row
1 plate for 12
2 plates for 12

Rear delt fly
3 sets of 12, light weight

Tri pushdowns
3 sets of 12, light weight

Ab pulldowns
4 sets of 15, heavy

Hip abductor/adductor
3 sets of 12, light weight (each machine)

Fortunately this is the last of these incredibly boring workouts prior to the meet.  One benefit, I feel less beaten up this week than I have in months, badly needed a break and am getting a ton of sleep.  Water intake is at about 3 gallons per day this week, up about 1-1.5 gallons, in an effort to see if I can drop down to 275 by only manipulating water intake.   If it works, I'll post what I did.  If not, no big deal as it shouldn't affect strength as I'm not cutting calories, and I'd have fewer people to compete with at 308.


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## Rubes (Apr 9, 2008)

good luck on sunday


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 11, 2008)

Dave,

The meet scale is heavy (or mine is light).  I weighed 217 on my scale and 1/2 hour later I weighed in at 220 on the meet scale.

Do you have a video camera?


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## DLDave (Apr 11, 2008)

Yes, I have a video camera and can bring it.  Thanks for the heads-up on the scale.  I'm going to be close but not going to do anything dumb at this point just to make 275.  I may be the lightest 308 in history though.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 11, 2008)

I just noticed Laura Phelps is lifting.  She's going to come in at something like a 700 squat, 450 bench, 550 deadlift...............In the 165's.  Glad I'm not in her flight


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## DLDave (Apr 13, 2008)

Results from Iron House Class 2008

308 weight class, amateur

Squat (loose Predator briefs and knee wraps):
Opener: 550 x 1
2nd: 600 x 1
3rd: 650 x 0 (miss depth, at parallel)

Bench (loose Inzer double denim):
Opener: 450 x 1
2nd: 500 x 1
3rd: 520 x 1

Deadlift (raw, sumo):
Opener: 550 x 1
2nd: 600 x 1
3rd: 630 x 1

Total: 1750

My goal when training for this meet was a 1700 total, which I beat by 50 pounds, and missed an 1800 total by a very tight call on my last squat. I probably had another 10-20 pounds in me on the bench and probably another 20 pounds on deadlift. I weighed in at 277.5 after dropping 10 pounds only in water weight, making me probably the lightest 308 in history. Based on several people's comments, it seemed that the scale was slightly heavy, as I was at 273.5 at home in the morning prior to weigh-in. As I had already cut 10 pounds of water weight, I didn't want to mess around and try to weigh in later after morning weigh-ins, as I had to start rehydrating and eating. I regained at least 8 pounds during the day.  All in all, did better than I expected, but still pissed about that squat costing me 1800.  I'll post some video once I have some energy to mess with it.  It was a pretty long day, legs are shot after a 5 hour break between squatting and pulling.  And big thanks to Pete for hanging out with me all day to keep things going, including shooting some video.

Now it's time to figure out the squat suit and tighten the shirt up to work towards 1900.


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## Seanp156 (Apr 13, 2008)

Nice meet Dave, especially for your first one and getting as little time in equipment as you have. That kinda blows about the weigh in though. Are you going to put your lift videos up?


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## DLDave (Apr 13, 2008)

Thanks Sean.  Kinda sucks that it was a mere 2 pounds that I missed by, but it wasn't like I was going to set any records at 275.  Well actually, I would've set the raw amateur deadlift for either weight.  

And I'll eventually get the equipment figured out, then the guys will kick me out.  They already hate lifting off for me.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 13, 2008)

What did Fought end up pulling?


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## DLDave (Apr 13, 2008)

Dunno, I was hungry and left when my flight was over.


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## DLDave (Apr 14, 2008)

Results are posted.  Fought pulled a 840, which is an IPA record at 308.  Wenning finished with a 2600 total and 800 bench, both IPA 308 records.  Don't see any other obvious records from the Pros since most bombed out, other than Chris Smith's bench record and Laura Phelps squat on Saturday.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 17, 2008)

3:00 pm start tomorrow


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## DLDave (Apr 17, 2008)

OK, shouldn't be a problem, just have to get my briefs from Pong earlier in the day


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## DLDave (Apr 17, 2008)

Only 210 pounds out of first!

Deadlift
Rank	Name	Federation	Date	Deadlift
1. 	Chuck Fought	IPA	2008-04-13	 840
2. 	Greg Theriot	APF	2007-11-10	804
3. 	Ernie Lilliebridge Sr	UPA	2008-01-26	777
4. 	Jeffrey Vaughn	APF	2007-10-13	 770
4. 	John Manly	APF	2008-02-23	770
6. 	Mike White	APF	2007-04-29	755
6. 	Zac Coles	IPA	2008-01-20	755
6. 	Matt Rhodes	SSA	2008-02-16	 755
9. 	Mike Brown	IPA	2007-08-19	750
9. 	Jeff Brandon	SPF	2007-04-28	750
11. 	Mark Schott	APF	2007-04-29	749
12. 	Ken Ufford	APA	2007-11-03	740
12. 	Matt Wenning	IPA	2008-04-13	 740
14. 	Jon Grove	APA	2008-02-16	 733
15. 	Clint Ewald	APF	2007-11-17	732
16. 	Clinton Lowe	APF	2007-06-14	727
17. 	Joe Gilpin	IPA	2008-01-19	725
18. 	Scott Cartwright	UPA	2007-06-16	 721
18. 	Eric Stoker	APC	2007-06-23	721
18. 	Gregg Damminga	GPC	2007-10-27	721
21. 	Mark Bell	UPA	2007-06-16	 716
22. 	Matt Lenigar	IPA	2008-04-13	715
23. 	Jason Cross	APF	2007-12-08	711
24. 	Jim Hoskinson	APF	2007-06-17	710
24. 	Greg Tillinghast	APF	2007-06-17	 710
24. 	Tony Bolognone	APF	2007-06-23	710
27. 	AJ Roberts	UPA	2007-12-01	705
27. 	Scott Burgess	UPA	2007-12-01	705
27. 	Brian King	SPF	2008-03-01	705
30. 	Norman Rial	APF	2007-05-05	700
30. 	Charles Fay	APF	2007-10-13	 700
32. 	Jared Davis	APA	2007-06-02	685
33. 	Zak Freiwald	APF	2007-12-02	683
33. 	Matt Israelson	APF	2007-05-06	683
35. 	Chris Janek	SPF	2007-12-01	680
35. 	Tom Mahoney	APA	2007-10-20	680
37. 	Craig Stutes	APC	2007-06-23	677
38. 	David Suldivar	IPA	2007-08-18	670
39. 	William Lee	APF	2007-06-09	666
40. 	Tim Lane	APF	2008-04-13	661
41. 	Dale Steifel	UPA	2008-04-12	655
42. 	 Braden	WNPF	2007-11-11	650
42. 	Karl Tillman	APF	2008-03-15	650
42. 	Pat Schafer	IPA	2008-04-13	650
45. 	Robert Bierschbach	WPC	2007-08-05	639
46. 	Tim Forby	IPA	2007-10-27	635
47. 	Rob Simnick	APF	2007-06-30	633
47. 	Bob Phillips	APF	2007-09-22	633
*49. 	Dave Schwab	IPA	2008-04-13	630*
50. 	Tony Petrino	APF	2007-05-06	628


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 17, 2008)

I wonder where we'd be if we knocked out all the juicers


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## DLDave (Apr 17, 2008)

Good question, too bad it doesn't specify Amateur or Pro, which still wouldn't be totally accurate since there are some drug-free guys with Pro totals.


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## DLDave (Apr 18, 2008)

4/18 Lower

low box squats with cambered bar from hell:
420 for 8 sets of 3

rack pulls with double choked mini-bands, pins 3-4" below knees:
315 X 3
405 X 3
455 X 1
495 X 1/4 (out of gas, didn't feel like fighting the bands)

Standing ab pulldowns
3 sets of 12

Hammer Curls
25 x 12
35 x 12
45 x 12

Hex dumbbell static holds
3 sets for 30 seconds
2 sets until failure

Wasn't planning to do much today, but as I didn't physically feel bad at all during the post-meet time off, figured what the hell when the plates kept increasing.  Besides, I owe myself a lot of squat work so that last week's piss poor performance isn't repeated.  Didn't have much stamina as I've been only on 3 meals per day this week, down from 5, as I was just tired of eating and the lack of lifting left me with no appetite.  Wasn't so much interested in pulling against the bands from hell but rather just work on basic sumo technique with briefs, which was somewhat pointless from pins since hips can only go so low anyways.  No grip problems against the bands though, unlike last time when bar was flying out of my hands.


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## DLDave (Apr 20, 2008)

4/20 Bench

Flat bench (raw)
225 x 6
275 for 3 sets of 6

Dumbbell row
80 x 12
100 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 10

Floor press rack lockout
315 x 5
365 for 3 sets of 5

First day of any upper body work since last weekend's meet, so kept the weight somewhat moderate.  Didn't feel 100% in the arms and shoulders so cut the bench at 3 sets rather than start an injury that impacts future heavy weeks.


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## DLDave (Apr 22, 2008)

4/22 Lower

Good mornings off of pins @ parallel
225 x 5
275 x 4
315 x 3
365 x 3 for 3 sets

Hanging leg raises
3 sets of 12

EZ bar curls
75 x 10
95 x 10
115 x 10

Hip Adductor/Abductor
worked up to heavy set of 12 on each

45 deg back extensions
3 sets of 8 with 25 lb plate behind head

First good mornings in quite awhile, off of pins sucks as it's easier to position when suspended from chains.  Lower back is plenty fried though.


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## DLDave (Apr 24, 2008)

4/24 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 + mini looped under bench
8 sets of 3, controlled speed

Bent over barbell row
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10

H Rolls (rear delts)
20 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10

Rolling dumbbell tri extensions
35 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10
55 x 10

Rear delt flyes
120 x 10
140 x 10
170 x 10

Pulldowns
4 sets of 5, worked up to heavy weight that I don't remember

H Rolls, very effective rear delt movement: 
YouTube - George Halbert - Rotator Work

Rear delts and triceps are shot.  Didn't go too heavy on barbell row to leave myself time to figure out the new movements.  Realize now that I had bench angle too steep for the H Rolls, which left the bench unstable at the top of the movement.  And I thought for sure that the rolling tri extensions would be easier than a regular tri extension, but that was a wrong opinion as the last few reps were tough.


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## DLDave (Apr 25, 2008)

4/25 Squat

Box squat w/ cambered bar (60 lb) and green bands choked around base and 2x4 (w/ Metal Pro Squatter, straps down)
440 for 3 sets of 3
490 for 3 sets of 2

GHR
4 sets of 10

Cut things short today, will add a few extra things tomorrow.
According to this chart, the green bands in this setup add 80 lb at bottom and 135 at top, although this is probably a few pounds less at the top with the cambered bar being lower at top than straight bar.  And this site says 190 at top and 135 at bottom, so who knows.  The 135/80 sounds more accurate.  Wore new Metal Pro Squatter suit with straps down, this one is actually snug/tight through legs and hips and I can get legs up high enough.  What a difference it makes to wear gear that actually fits right.


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## DLDave (Apr 26, 2008)

4/26 Extra Workout

Stationary bike: 15 min @ 70 rpm

Hip Adductor/Abductor
worked up to full stack for 12 reps on each

Hammer Curls
30 x 10
40 x 10
60 x 10

Hex Dumbbell Hold
15 x 30 sec
20 x 30 sec
25 x 30 sec

Standing Ab Pulldown
5 sets of 10

45 deg back extension
BW for 3 sets of 8


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## DLDave (Apr 27, 2008)

4/27 Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 8
275 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 1 (worst rep ever)
Added 3-board
365 x 8
405 x 3
405 x 3

Pin press w/ mini-bands anchored to rack on each side
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 3
455 x 2

DB row
85 x 10
105 x 10
125 x 10
145 x 10

Raw bench sucked today, strength was giving out near bottom on way down, don't know wtf was going on.  Wanted to shirt up to see what it takes to touch with the shirt now that chest was taken in an inch, but that can wait until next week as it probably would've been disastrous today.  Not sure how much tension the bands added on the pin presses, the bar was bending pretty good from the tension, which you don't normally see until the bar weight is up around 600.


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## Stewart14 (Apr 27, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 4/27 Bench
> 
> Flat Bench
> 225 x 8
> ...



OK, not that this was probably the intention of this workout, but that has to be the highest DB row weight I've seen (at least listed in an online journal anyway), and 10 reps of it?  Damn.  Now be honest, were the reps strict, or did you use momentum??


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## DLDave (Apr 27, 2008)

No, those weren't strict reps.  The 125's were pretty strict, used a bit of momentum at 145.  It still hits the back pretty good.  I think the db's go up to 155, so I'll give them a shot next week.


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## DLDave (Apr 29, 2008)

4/29 Deadlift

Reverse band deadlifts, with double-looped minis (conventional stance)
415 x 3
455 x 3
505 x 1
555 x 1
595 x 1
645 x 1
695 x 1 (a grinder, slight hitch, might not have locked knees)


Chain-suspended good mornings with cambered bar
330 x 5
380 x 3
420 x 3

Standing Ab pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Hammer Curls 
25 x 10
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10

Static Hex dumbbell hold
20 x 30 sec
25 x 30 sec
25 x 45 sec (failure)

Using the minis for the reverse band deadlift sounded like a good idea, but it turned out to be fairly worthless as we were getting maybe 40-50 pounds of a deload at the very bottom.  If Pete would've removed his new Friday training partner's bands, we could've had a real dealod.  As usual, the good mornings kicked my ass, which is a good thing.


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## Stewart14 (Apr 29, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 4/29 Deadlift
> 
> Reverse band deadlifts, with double-looped minis (conventional stance)
> 415 x 3
> ...



OK, just give me some point of reference on the good mornings.  if you were to do a regular old good morning, how much would you be able to do for the same three reps?  I ask because 420 for any form of a good morning, just reading it makes my back want to break.

also, on the DB holds, I know you are holding the top of the dumbbell, and I've never really tried it, but is it really that hard to hold a 25 pound dumbbell?  I would figure someone like you would be able to hold it a lot longer than 45 sec.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 29, 2008)

We were doing the good mornings from a dead stop from the bottom.  The bar is hanging about 3 feet off the ground, suspended by chains with are attached to the top of the rack.  You have to crawl under the bar and stand up with the motherfucher.  They are really hard at first but it's easy to get strong at them if you stick with it.  The key is to try to keep the bar in front of your knees at the start.  SOme guys swing the bar back too far and turn it into a squat.

On the hex dumbell holds you're holding the top of the dumbell with your fingers and not the palm of your hand.  I can last maybe 30 seconds with it.

Sorry to hijack your thread Dave but that last deadlift was ugly as sin, hitched to the max with unlocked knees


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 29, 2008)

here's a chain suspended gm that looks OK but the guy rounds his back instead of holding his arch:

YouTube - Chain suspended goodmorning


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## DLDave (Apr 29, 2008)

No problem on the hijack, good descriptions.  And I know the last pull was ugly, it was damn near 700 pounds.  Should we place bets on if I pull 700 before you pull 600? 

Stewart, those hex dumbbell holds exhaust your grip after a few sets, which is the whole point.  I could probably hold 25 pounds longer if I didn't do the couple of 30 sec ones first, but it wouldn't be as effective overall.  I haven't been doing these all that long, but this along with a few other grip exercises have stopped me from losing the bar on heavy pulls.  This gym only has the small hex db's up to 25 pounds, so no clue what heavier weight would be like.  And by small, i mean the head of the dumbbell being small enough to fit in your hand.


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## Stewart14 (Apr 29, 2008)

you guys used the cambered bar like in the video.  OK, I can see how that would be "easier" (I use the term loosely) than using a straight bar due to the placement of the weight.  Makes sense now, thanks guys.

How does doing it suspended from chains differ from doing a good morning from a dead stop off of pins in the same starting position?


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 29, 2008)

DLDave said:


> No problem on the hijack, good descriptions.  And I know the last pull was ugly, it was damn near 700 pounds.  Should we place bets on if I pull 700 before you pull 600?



$100 says I pull 635 at the October meet


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## DLDave (Apr 29, 2008)

What meet is in October? (nevermind, found it on the IPA site).  Didn't know Dan was doing anything for the fall, guess I'll have to rethink my meet plans.  $100 if you hit 635 and I don't break 700.  We're even if we both hit those numbers.

Stewart, I did GM's off of pins just last week and from chains this week.  From the pins, it's hard to get positioned properly as the bar doesn't really move well on the pins.  Hanging from the chains, you can make better adjustments to get in the proper position.  And bringing the weight back down is much more violent on the pins, felt like my brain was being shaken from the vibrations.


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## PeteTheGreek (Apr 29, 2008)

Dan's putting one on at the Marriott

IPA - LexenXtreme Fall Classic | Powerlifting Watch


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## DLDave (May 1, 2008)

5/1 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 for 6 sets of 3 (pause between each rep, then fast down and fast up)

Rear Delt Fly
110 x 10
130 x 10
150 x 10
190 x 10

H Rolls
20 x 10
25 x 10
35 x 10
40 x 10

Rope tricep pushdown (bottom-half range and spread rope, aka Panora rope pushdowns)
55 x 10
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 10
100 x 10

Side lat raise
20 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10

Good workout overall, pulled an oblique muscle yesterday which has been pretty painful today, but it didn't cause issues with any of these movements and so far feels better since it got some indirect stretch.  It might make for an interesting squat day tomorrow.


----------



## thewicked (May 1, 2008)

dave you're a monster! SICK ass pulling! nice to see someone else in here who loves deadlifts as much as I DO!


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## PeteTheGreek (May 1, 2008)

Dave couldn't find his crank in the restroom let alone deadlift.  He's only 5'4" but his arms hang down lower than his knees.  We call him Captain Cave Boy.  He only has a 3 inch range of motion.  He can only pull 635 but he should be doing 950.


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## DLDave (May 1, 2008)

thewicked said:


> dave you're a monster! SICK ass pulling! nice to see someone else in here who loves deadlifts as much as I DO!



Shhh...Pete will hear you and post a smart-ass response since he's having issues accepting the loss of his deadlift crown

EDIT: guess I should've clicked "Post Reply" earlier.  Looks like I was right.


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## thewicked (May 1, 2008)

hahaha you guys are ridiculous... I feel dave's plight.. I'm 6'1" at 250 trying to figure out how to kick the short guys asses in pulling HAHA


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## Triple Threat (May 1, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> How does doing it suspended from chains differ from doing a good morning from a dead stop off of pins in the same starting position?



I'm curious about this too.  Any takers?


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## DLDave (May 1, 2008)

See the 2nd part of post #217 above for explanation of the difference.  The mechanics of the lift are the same, the primary difference is in setup and completion of each rep, as the chains are a bit more flexible.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 1, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Shhh...Pete will hear you and post a smart-ass response since he's having issues accepting the loss of his deadlift crown



Who out squatted the girl at the meet?

Tim and I are out of town this weekend so you'll have to lift off for Lynn.  As soon as he takes his air give him a strong up and out.  Don't let him go up in weight unless he touches.


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## DLDave (May 1, 2008)

There were plenty of girls that I out-squatted.

Just not too many guys.


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## Triple Threat (May 1, 2008)

DLDave said:


> See the 2nd part of post #217 above for explanation of the difference.  The mechanics of the lift are the same, the primary difference is in setup and completion of each rep, as the chains are a bit more flexible.



 Thanks, I missed it.


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## DLDave (May 2, 2008)

5/2 Squat

Box Squat w/straight bar (Metal Pro, straps down)
415 x 5
465 x 3
505 x 2
555 x 2
555 x 1 (spotter returned hooks after 1)
595 x 1 (forgot 2 pads, about 3" below parallel, up easy)
595 x 2
595 x 2
595 x 2

GHR
4 sets of 10

Squatted with a mostly different group today, and most of the guys went higher than I've usually seen them go, so I had to keep pace and went pretty heavy.  The oblique is still pretty sore (coughing or sneezing almost puts me on the floor), but I didn't really feel it until I got past 415.  The belt seemed to keep most of the stress off of it.  Chuck V stopped in for some accessory work midway through our squats and gave some good advice to most of the lifters.  Of course, everytime I squatted he seemed to be in the middle of an ab set with his back to me.  The guy is a monster and definitely a benefit to the gym as he seems to have a genuine interest in helping.  Skipped any core work to give the oblique another day off, try to pick some up tomorrow.


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## thewicked (May 2, 2008)

sick squattin dave..putting my ass to shame for sure! SWEET numbers! 

do you feel like squatting in briefs or power pants will help your raw squat numbers any? or if you want to squat raw..squat raw kinda thing.


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## DLDave (May 2, 2008)

That depends.  If you have a wide stance, the briefs or power pants can provide some hip support and let you work harder/heavier/longer than without, which is going to increase your strength.  I'd recommend something loose though so you're using them primarily for hip support and not getting pop off of the bottom, which you don't get raw.  I've been squatting with some form of brief for a few months now, and I'm pretty sure my raw squat has gone up despite not squatting raw.

I don't squat narrow in briefs, so I have no idea if there's a benefit for narrow-stance squatters.


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## thewicked (May 2, 2008)

DLDave said:


> That depends.  If you have a wide stance, the briefs or power pants can provide some hip support and let you work harder/heavier/longer than without, which is going to increase your strength.  I'd recommend something loose though so you're using them primarily for hip support and not getting pop off of the bottom, which you don't get raw.  I've been squatting with some form of brief for a few months now, and I'm pretty sure my raw squat has gone up despite not squatting raw.
> 
> I don't squat narrow in briefs, so I have no idea if there's a benefit for narrow-stance squatters.



i've recenlty switched to a wide stance for a few reasons..

1) more stabile
2) shorter range of motion
3) COMFY! 

i'm going to invenst in some titan briefs to give it a go just to see what happens.. thanks for the input buddy it's must appreciated. Travis Bell over at westsdie said the same thing about benching in a shirt.. he knew his raw bench went up..it had to have just becasue of the fact he was progressively working with heavier weights!


----------



## DLDave (May 2, 2008)

I follow Travis's log, I think he still does quite a bit of raw work, at least working up heavy raw before shirting up.  Anyways, no doubt your raw bench will increase with shirted work, but probably not as much as if you just benched raw all the time.  With the shirt, you're getting a ton of support in the bottom part of the movement, an area is incredibly important when benching raw.  Squatting in briefs is a bit different, especially if they're loose, as the movement isn't much different raw vs. equipped until you're wearing tight equipment that gives you a good pop.


----------



## DLDave (May 3, 2008)

5/3 Extra workout

Stationary bike
15 min @ 70 rpm 

Hip Abductor/Adductor
worked up to full stack (305) x 15 on each

Pulldown Abs
4 sets of 15

Hanging leg raises
3 sets of 12

Torso rotator (obliques)
3 sets of 10, light weight mainly to stretch.

Didn't do any upper work to hopefully avoid the piss poor bench performance tomorrow that I had last week.  Oblique is feeling much better, threw in a few light sets on the torso rotator machine to get some additional blood into the tissue.


----------



## DLDave (May 4, 2008)

5/4 Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Inzer DD
365 x 3 (3-board)
405 x 3 (3-board)
455 x 3 (2-board)
475 x 1 (2-board, sloppy grinder)

V-bar pushdowns
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 10

Plate-loaded horizontal row
1 plate x 10
2 plates x 10
3 plates x 10
3 plates x 10

Hammer Curls
25 x 10
35 x 10
45 x 10

Better bench workout than last week but still not great.  First time in the shirt since I had chest taken in an inch, seems to provide much better support than before.  Will be interesting to see what it takes to touch.  Hand position felt off with those last 2 heavy sets, don't know if grip was off with the different bar or if thumbs weren't rolled correctly.  Next week I'll go shirted boards again, then a week off for vacation, then 3 heavy weeks until June meet.  Oblique pain is gone, feels pretty stiff so hopefully it's nearly recovered.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 4, 2008)

WHo squatted on Friday and what did Lynn end up doing today?  I think I might just pull in the June meet.


----------



## DLDave (May 4, 2008)

I squatted with Murph, John, Reisser, and Matt.  I think John did a single over 500, and Matt had 1 or 2 singles at 595.  Lynn got there as we were finishing up.  Joe was squatting the Chuck V workout when I got there, 315 on cambered bar with 2 blues and a purple.  Lynn touched his first 365 today (or was damn close) then did 2 sets of 405 and just missed lockout on both.  He did boards afterwards.

Dan said he has 15 from the gym for the June meet so far, and Westside called to get some of their people in.


----------



## thewicked (May 4, 2008)

i need to move to ohio..i've got a possible job opportunity in cincy... man it would be sweet to be in the heart of powerlifting country!

nice board work dave.. strong pressign for sure!


----------



## DLDave (May 4, 2008)

Thanks wicked, unfortunately not where I need to be right now.  

There are a few good PL gyms down in the Cincy area if you relocate, or you could always road-trip it once or twice a week up to Columbus to Westside or Lexen.  I think the guys over at BadAttitudeGym.com are down in your neck of the woods.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 5, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Joe was squatting the Chuck V workout when I got there, 315 on cambered bar with 2 blues and a purple.



That's about 400 lbs of tension?  Anyone else doing them?  I'd like to take a heavy single in my breifs on Friday but not with bands


----------



## DLDave (May 5, 2008)

Probably 450-500 of tension at the top.  He was working by himself.  I'm planning to do heavy singles this week.


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## DLDave (May 6, 2008)

5/6 Lower

45 degree leg press
450 x 12
540 x 12
720 x 12
810 x 12

Static barbell hold
225 x 30 sec
315 x 30 sec
405 x 15 sec

Pullthrus
110 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 10
160 x 15

Standing Ab pulldowns
4 sets of 15, worked up to 160

Hammer Curls
20 x 12
30 x 12
40 x 12

45 degree back extension
BW x 10
add 25 lb plate behind head
3 sets of 10

Back was toast after this.  Added some direct quad work as this has been neglected for awhile.  Unfortunately can only fit 9 plates per side on this leg press.


----------



## DLDave (May 8, 2008)

5/8 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/ mini-band looped under bench
205 for 6 sets of singles

Flat Bench w/ 25 lb plate suspended by mini-band on each side
185 bar weight (+50 suspended) for 3 sets of 5

Pulldown w/ V-grip to face
130 x 10
140 x 10
150 x 10
160 x 10

Rear Delt Flyes
130 x 10
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 8

Straight-bar tricep pushdowns (supersetted with face pulls)
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 12

Face pulls
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Machine shrugs
90 x 12
180 x 12
270 x 12

It's been quite awhile since I've done the suspended plate bench thing, and it really hammers the stabilizers as the swinging and bouncing plate really pulls the bar around.  These are typically done with kettlebells, but there are none at this gym so I used plates with handles and ran the bands through top handle.  Threw some shrugs in at the end as I had some time left, but didn't go too heavy since I'm going to be carrying 600+ pounds up there tomorrow for squats.


----------



## thewicked (May 8, 2008)

sick work dave! working with 205 banded for speed? DAMN MAN! that's gotta transfer over NICELY!


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 8, 2008)

Tomorrow we hit triples and then we're going to a heavy single.  Briefs and belt only.  Loser has to tell CV he doesn't know how to train.  50 lb rule in effect for bodyweight difference, which means you better come up with something in the neighborhood of 700, hehe.


----------



## DLDave (May 8, 2008)

Triples?  I'm the only dumbass that runs myself out of gas doing triples


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 9, 2008)

All bets are off.  I don't think I'll be able to get my shoulders under a straight bar today.  May have to use the cambered bar.


----------



## DLDave (May 9, 2008)

5/9 Squat

Foam box squat w/ straight bar
325 + 200 in chains for 1 set of 5
375 + 200 in chains for 4 sets of 2
415 + 200 in chains for 4 sets of 2
465 + 200 in chains for 1 set of 2

Speed pulls against doubled mini's
275 for 6 singles
315 for 1 single

Today was apparently chain day at the gym as there were 4 separate groups doing the same chain/foam squat workout while I was there, which the big guys had done earlier in the day.  So I didn't get my heavy singles in, but these guys know a hell of a lot more about squatting than I do so I'm glad to go with the flow.  First time I've squatted with the foam cushion on top, not sure I was sinking down far enough on all the sets.  The squats took forever, so ran out of time and will need to pick up a few things tomorrow.


----------



## DLDave (May 10, 2008)

5/10 Extra workout

Stationary bike
15 min @ 70 rpm

Standing pulldown abs
4 sets of 15, worked up to 160

Hip Abductor/Adductor
worked up to full stack (305) x 15 on each

Torso rotator (obliques)
3 sets of 10, worked up to moderate weight

Weighted ab crunches
3 sets of 10


----------



## DLDave (May 11, 2008)

5/11 ME Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Inzer DD shirt
365 x 3 (3-board)
405 x 3 (3-board)
455 x 3 (3-board)
495 x 0 (3-board, wtf?)
500 x 3 (3-board)

Floor pin presses
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 5
495 x 3
585 x 3
675 x 2.5

Seated horizontal plate-loaded row
1 plate for 10 reps
2 plates for 10 reps
3 plates for 12 reps
4 plates for 10 reps

Don't know what happened with the 495 bench attempt, left arm gave out about halfway down.  Think it was a combination of not squeezing the bar tight enough and bringing it down too high.  Maybe someday that damn arm will be fully healthy.  Not sure I got the last pin press rep fully locked out, but I was pressing the bar for about 5 seconds and it wasn't going any higher.  Last heavy bench day for a few weeks, leave for a week vacation next weekend, then have 4 training weeks until June 22 meet.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 13, 2008)

Did Lynn ever reach the box?


----------



## DLDave (May 13, 2008)

Not while I was there.  I think I was there for 2 more sets, the last one he was about an inch away, think there was 615 on the bar.


----------



## DLDave (May 13, 2008)

5/13 Lower

Rack pulls (3" below knees) against doubled mini-bands
405 X 2
455 X 2
495 X 1
545 X 1
585 X 0 (missed at lockout)
585 x 0 (missed at lockout)

Ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10


Barbell curl
bar for 3 sets of 15

GHR
4 sets of 8

Hammer Curls
25 x 8
35 x 8
55 x 8

Once again struggled to get locked-out against the bands.  Bands add at least 100 pounds at lockout, probably more at my height.  Too bad I'm not 6" shorter.  Elbow has been bothering me, so skipped any grip work and added some light barbell curls to stretch it out.  Kept the rest of the back work somewhat light as I'm working up to a squat opener on Friday.  Not sure what the squat plan is for the following 3 weeks prior to meet if we're taking an opener already.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 13, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Not sure what the squat plan is for the following 3 weeks prior to meet if we're taking an opener already.



It's written on the bulletin board next to the bathroom.  They're doing a circa-max band wave leading up to the meet, based on percentages off of what you do this Friday.  Next week is blue plus green, following week is blue plus blue and the week after that I think is straight weight to an opener.


----------



## DLDave (May 13, 2008)

That's about what I figured.  I don't know a damn thing about circa-max, other than the fact that Louie says you shouldn't do it until you're squatting 3.5x body weight.  So I guess I'd better hit 980.


----------



## DLDave (May 15, 2008)

5/15 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/ 2 mini-bands looped under bench
205 for 8 sets of singles

Flat Bench w/ 35 lb plate suspended by mini-band on each side
185 bar weight (+70 suspended) for 3 sets of 5

Rear Delt Flyes (aka reverse pec deck)
130 x 10
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Pulldown w/ V-grip to face
130 x 6
140 x 6
150 x 6
160 x 6
180 x 6

Rolling DB tricep extension
35 x 10
45 x 10

Straight-bar tricep pushdowns (supersetted with face pulls)
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 15

Face pulls
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 15
140 x 15
160 x 15

The bench work was brutal today.  The double mini-bands were a lot of resistance, they really wanted to staple me when I first unracked the bar.  I didn't get my speed until the 3rd or 4th set, so went to 8 sets rather than 6, and the bar was really flying by the end.  And those suspended 35's really hammered my shoulders, as it was difficult to control the bar with those things swinging and bouncing all over.  Last bench workout for 10 days, so didn't mind the extra effort.


----------



## DLDave (May 16, 2008)

5/16 Squat

Free squat
415 x 1
465 x 1
505 x 1
555 x 1
  straps up
595 x 0 (straps too tight, couldn't get air)
  straps down, add knee wraps
595 x 0 (miss depth, up easy)
645 x 1

GHR 
4 sets of 8

Deadlift
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3
495 x 1
545 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 0 (miss halfway, out of gas)

Not happy with the squats, despite hitting a PR.  Missed a weight that I doubled off a box 2 weeks ago.   Straps on the suit are too damn tight, was seeing stars on the descent, so they're going to be adjusted.  And it sure would've been nice had I known I was pulling heavy before frying my hammies on the GHR, as I had nothing left for the 635 pull, despite smoking the 585.  Oh well, I'm now off for a week, maybe do some band stuff.  Right now it looks like I'll open around 600 squat and 580-ish on deadlift, although I'd like to open with a 600 pull.  I'll need to pull heavy once more in full suit once I get the straps fixed.


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## DLDave (May 24, 2008)

5/24 Squat

Box squat below parallel w/ green bands (135 lb tension at top, 80 at bottom)
235 x 2
285 x 2
Add briefs and belt
325 x 2 (3 sets)
375 x 2 (3 sets)
415 x 2 (2 sets)

Rack pulls (pins below knees)
315 x 2
405 x 2
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
675 x 1
725 x 0 (didn't get hips locked)

Standing leg curl
4 sets of 10

Standing Ab Pulldown
4 sets of 12

Squatted with the Saturday crew this week since I got back from vacation last night.  The big boys went first then helped us out.  Chuck V called my weights on the squat, so I did as told.  According to the gym squat plan leading up to the June meet, today was a light day, next week we go heavy against blues and purples.  Overall, not a bad day considering I haven't done a damn thing in a week except get my GPP in by carrying a 2 year old around all week.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 24, 2008)

Chuck made Joe and I do two heavy sets off a higher box after our work sets?  I opted out of the rack pulls.  I'm gonna try something heavy off the floor on Tue.


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## PeteTheGreek (May 24, 2008)

And I'm pretty fukked up right now.  My hips and lower back are shot.  You'll be feeling this shit tomorrow but it doesn't look like you went real heavy?  I don't know how I'm going to do two more weeks of this band shit.  At least I'm not squatting in this meet.


----------



## DLDave (May 24, 2008)

Well for the group I was with, the 415's were probably their heavy sets.  Chuck was running the monolift for the other group and wasn't paying much attention to us towards the end.  I probably should've done another +50 and +90 pound sets at the end,  but the board said today was a light day.  My sets weren't really all that hard, so I should just have the usual soreness.


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## DLDave (May 25, 2008)

5/25 ME Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Inzer Double Denim
365 x 3 (2-board)
405 x 3 (2-board)
455 x 3 (2-board)

Floor pin press
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 3
495 x 3

Seated horizontal plate-loaded row (rear delts)
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10
3 plates + quarter per side for 10
4 plates per side for 10

Straight bar tricep pushdown
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10
230 x 10

Kept the bench weight somewhat moderate as things felt fairly heavy, either due to squatting and pulling yesterday, the shitty diet for the past week, or both.  I even struggled with the pin presses.  We were short a couple of guys, so didn't want to push it and risk an injury since the weight was feeling heavy.  Next week I'll take the bar to the chest and see where I'm at.  I won't be shocked if I fall short of 520 at this meet, things just don't feel right with the weight in my hands.


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## DLDave (May 27, 2008)

5/27 DE Lower

Speed Pulls
405 for 6 sets of singles (alternate sumo and conventional)

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10 w/ 45 lb plate behind head

Weighted ab crunches
3 sets of 10

Pressed for time today as was first day back to work and buried in bullshit, so didn't get a lot done.


----------



## DLDave (May 28, 2008)

5/28 Extra workout

Stationary bike
10 min @ 70 rpm

Hammer Curls
20 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10
60 x 10

EZ Bar Curls
75 x 10
95 x 10
115 x 10

Reverse grip barbell wrist curls
45 x 10
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
125 x 10

Oblique rotator
3 sets of 12

Picked up a few things that were skipped yesterday, and hit the bike to stretch the legs out as they're tight.


----------



## DLDave (May 29, 2008)

5/29 DE Bench

Speed bench
205 for 8 sets of singles

Incline DB Bench Press
110's for 3 sets of 10

Reverse pec deck
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Side raise
20 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10

Rope tricep pushdown (superset with face pulls)
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10

Rope face pulls
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10

First time I've ever had to share the 110's at Lifetime, they're usually collecting dust when I'm not using them.


----------



## Travis Bell (May 30, 2008)

hey, where do you guys train??

you don't train at Danny Dague's gym do you?


----------



## DLDave (May 31, 2008)

Yep, we're at Lexen, couple of former Westsiders over there now as I'm sure you know.


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## DLDave (May 31, 2008)

5/31 Squat

Box squat, below parallel, against green and purple bands (~225 lb of added tension at top, ~130 at bottom)
235 x 5
285 x 4
325 x 2
375 x 2
415 x 2

GHR
4 sets of 10

Reverse Hyper
140 for 4 sets of 10

Apparently we were only supposed to do 5 work sets today, so I was stopped at 415.  In the junior varsity rack we only got to use the greens and purples instead of blues and purples.  Next week I think we go for a max against the same bands, I should have another 50-90 pounds in me for a single with these bands, we'll see how this carries-over to straight weight free squat here in four weeks.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (May 31, 2008)

The blues and purples in the varsity rack are worse than death.  Everyone's bar weight yesterday was only 265.  I think Joe was using 355 and he missed a single with 445.  Everyone had briefs and suit on.  I'm putting everything on next week and giving a heavy one a ride.


----------



## DLDave (May 31, 2008)

The green and purple wasn't much fun either, until the bar weight got above what the band tension was, as the bands pull you all over the place when the bar weight is too low to balance it out.  I think there's a 70 lb difference between the greens and blues, so I'm surprised Joe had a problem at that weight.  I'll go straps up next week, let's hope the result is better than last time.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 1, 2008)

6/1 ME Bench

Flat Bench
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Inzer Double Denim
365 x 2 (2-board)
405 x 1 (2-board)
455 x 1 (touch)
495 x 1 (touch, misgroove)
525 x 0 (miss at bottom)
525 x 0 (miss coming off chest)

Floor pin press against double mini-band
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3
455 x 3
495 x 3
545 x 3

Seated horizontal plated-loaded row
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
4 plates and quarters for 8

Straight-bar tricep pushdown
80 x 10
110 x 10
130 x 10
150 x 6

Decent day benching, although pissed about the 525 misses.  First time touching in awhile and first time touching since having the shirt altered, so wasn't exactly sure what it would take to touch.  The 495 was misgrooved too high but wasn't much of a problem getting it back up.  Thumb cramped on first 525 and couldn't maintain grip at bottom, which got in my head and led to the 2nd miss as descent took twice as long as it should've.  Elbow finally felt good, so I should be on track to get back over 500 at the meet in 3 weeks if everything stays healthy and on-track.


----------



## Travis Bell (Jun 1, 2008)

how much you weighin man? great benchin!


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jun 1, 2008)

He always jacks my threads so I'll hijack his.  He's 275 but he's 7'6".  His bench stroke is 4 feet long.  He pulls a lot because his hands hang below his knees.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jun 1, 2008)

All kidding aside he has a leverage disadvantage but he's almost as strong as my mom.  He only has a few months experience using a shirt, but he can lock-out a ton.


----------



## Travis Bell (Jun 1, 2008)

Very impressive then for only being in the shirt a short time. No joke, it took me over a year to figure them out. I really hated them to begin with


----------



## DLDave (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks Travis.  I'm sitting around 283 right now at 6'4".  I have long arms, but fortunately also long legs so doesn't give me much of an advantage in the deadlift.  And Pete and the guys just love lifting off for me.  I've been in the shirt off and on since about January, was too loose up until the April meet, just had it taken in an inch and probably still too loose.


----------



## Travis Bell (Jun 2, 2008)

Nice. You are a biiiiig dude!! Don't worry bout the long stroke, Matt Wenning has a pretty long stroke as well. He'll be able to help you out with it. Once you learn the shirt and how to use them, you'll be able to get it jacked up a little and you'll get more follow through to lockout

The nice thing about Cbus is that there is several places you can take shirts to to have them taken in.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 2, 2008)

I think Matt, Chuck, and Chewy bench some morning during the week, which makes it difficult for me with my work schedule, but I've been thinking of trying to jump in with them a few times over the summer to get some pointers and mainly see what their workouts look like.  Matt's 800 at the April meet was damn impressive, hard to argue with whatever it is he's doing.  He had told me before that he does a lot of raw work and a lot of rear delts.  I've been lighter on the raw work lately with the meet prep, trying to keep a balky elbow healthy enough for shirted work.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 3, 2008)

6/3 DE Lower

Good-mornings
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5

Hanging leg raises
3 sets of 10

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10 w/ 45 lb plate behind head

Decline abs
3 sets of 10 w/ 45 lb plate on chest

Kept the back work somewhat light today as back and legs are still wrecked from the weekend, and I have a max squat day coming this weekend.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jun 3, 2008)

Try doing those 45 degree back raises with a bar on your back.  They will jack your erectors up faster than flies on a turd.  First time I tried it I could only do 95 lbs for 5


----------



## DLDave (Jun 3, 2008)

I'd have to haul the bar literally the entire way across Lifetime.  They keep the back raise completely separate from the free weights, with the "stretching equipment".  Maybe I'll just throw a high school kid up there, plenty of those around with school out.  I'll give it a try at Lexen, assuming it's not breaking the rules of which bars are used where.  Besides, my erectors are already jacked up enough for this week.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 5, 2008)

6-5 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 + mini-band for 4 sets of triples
225 for 4 sets of singles

Incline dumbbell press
70 x 10
90 x 10
110 x 6 (stopped, elbow pain)

Reverse pec deck
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Wide-grip pulldown
110 x 10
130 x 10
160 x 10

Straight-bar pushdown (superset with face pulls)
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 20

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 12
140 x 15
160 x 25

Shrugs
3 sets of 12

Decline abs
3 sets of 10 w/ 45 lb plate

We'll see if the elbow can hold up another 2 weeks.  It appears I either have tendinitis or a form of tennis elbow where the tendon is out of alignment, as the pain is definitely from a tendon hitting something it shouldn't when the elbow is bent under load.  Trying to find someone local for some Active Release Therapy or deep tissue massage on it to see if that helps, in the meantime will add some cissus (which fortunately arrived today), increase the glucosamine, and become friends again with the ice bag.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jun 6, 2008)

make sure you put your suit on as soon as you get there, before you start sweating.  Once you start sweating, you'll never get it on.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 6, 2008)

OK, thanks.  Should make for some interesting warm-ups.


----------



## thewicked (Jun 6, 2008)

looking good big dave..numbers are sick! I can't wait to see what you get off the floor in that suit for sure!


----------



## DLDave (Jun 7, 2008)

6/7 Squat

Box squat against purple and green bands (~225 at top, 130 at bottom)
225 x 5
Add briefs
285 x 3
325 x 2
375 x 1
Add suit over briefs
415 x 1
465 x 1

GHR
4 sets of 10

Decline situps
5 sets of 10 with 24kg kettlebell on chest

Hammer Curls 
3 sets of 10, light weight to stretch elbow

I guess I'm going to need to take different jumps if I'm going to be stopped at 5 sets with this circa max, as I felt like I needed another heavy set or two.  I'm still doing warm-up sets when the rest of the group is doing work sets, so I end up a couple short.  More than likely I'll just go with suit, no briefs in this meet as I was slower out of the hole with this combo than I was with just suit.  I'll pull in full gear from the floor on Tuesday up to ~600, and then pretty much done with heavy lower stuff until the meet.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 8, 2008)

6/8 Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 1
Add shirt
405 x 1 (2-board)
455 x 0 (uh oh)
455 x 1 (grinder)

Dumbbell rows
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
135 x 10

Tricep rope pushdowns
60 x 25
80 x 20
100 x 15
120 x 12
140 x 12
170 x 12

Two weeks out from meet, not exactly where I need to be with the bench, considering I'm now missing what was an easy opener in April.  The elbow was really tight today, couldn't get it loosened even with some horse liniments.  This leaves me with very little strength in that arm at about halfway down and through the bottom.  First 455 I came down too high and wrists rolled back trying to overcorrect, which left me with no chance to get it back up.  Second 455 was still too high, pretty ugly and horribly slow going down, but managed to grind it out.  I'll be looking to get some treatment this week and probably skip all pressing until next Sunday, when I'll work back up into the 400's and see where I'm at.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 10, 2008)

6/10 Deadlift

Deadlift
225 x 5
315 x 4
Add suit, straps down
405 x 3
Straps up
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
660 x 1 (slight hitch, probably red lights in meet)
660 x 0 (didn't attempt lock-out, mainly working on floor speed)
405 for 3 sets of singles (straps up)

Reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

Decline abs
3 sets of 10 with 50 lb kettleball

First time pulling in suit with straps up, so most of those sets were spent trying to get technique down.  Took a 2nd 660 mainly to work on floor speed with heavy weight and straps up.  Added 3 moderate sets at the end for the same.  I'll need to make a couple minor adjustments to maintain my floor speed, but should have 650+ in me for the meet.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 12, 2008)

6/12 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 for 2 sets of triples
225 for 2 sets of singles

Reverse Pec Deck
130 x 10
150 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Side raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10

Wide-grip pulldown
110 x 6
130 x 6
150 x 6

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
3 plates + quarter for 10

Tricep rope pushdown (superset with face pulls)
100 for 4 sets of 15

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Shrugs
3 sets of 12

So much for not pressing today.  The elbow has felt much better the past 2 days, and I wanted to work on form as I think I've found that my wrist placement is either causing or contributing to the arm issues.  For whatever reason I've gotten in the habit of purposely bending wrists back while tucking elbows, and I believe this is putting stress on the elbow area.  Today I focused on keeping wrists in a straight line with arm and leading with elbows when tucking.  We'll see how it goes once the weight gets heavier, as it definitely feels more prone to dumping forward, but should also make the arm more stable and hopefully reduce injury.  Other than that, some combination of my rehab/prehab protocol this week seems to be helping as there was zero pain today.  Cissus is at about 4g per day divided into 3 doses, fish oil at 7g per day over 3 doses, ice nightly and sometimes in the morning, 100 miniband pushdowns in the morning to get the blood flowing, light wrist curls, and deep massage with a tennis ball every couple of hours to break up the scar tissue.  So far I've avoided NSAID's to see if the Cissus alone can reduce the inflammation.


----------



## DLDave (Jun 13, 2008)

6/13 Squat

Free squat
235 x 5
Add suit, straps down
325 x 3
415 x 2
Straps up
505 x 1 (up easy)
555 x 1 (up easy)

Reverse Hyper
140 for 4 sets of 10

Standing Pulldown Abs
3 sets of 10

Decline Abs
3 sets of 10 w/ 50 lb kettleball

Last squat day before the meet.  I'll do some light lower stuff on Tues then nothing until meet on Sunday.  We worked up to what should be last warm-up prior to the platform.  Not sure of my squat opener yet, somewhere in the area of 600-620 and then look for a 50 lb jump for 2nd attempt.   Will likely open with a 600 deadlift.  This Sunday is last bench day, will have to see how things go to come up with an opener.


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## DLDave (Jun 16, 2008)

6/16 Bench

Flat bench (wrist wraps only)
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1

Reverse pec deck
80 x 10
110 x 10
130 x 10

Wide-grip pulldowns
80 x 10
100 x 10
100 x 10

Tricep rope pushdowns
60 x 20
60 x 20
60 x 15

Face pulls
60 x 12
80 x 12
100 x 12

I felt some minor discomfort in my elbow on Saturday, so I skipped my planned bench day on Sunday when I was going to work up to a shirted opener. All weekend I kept going back and forth between sticking with the Sunday workout, switching to just light raw work, or skipping all bench work until the meet in order to rest. I was driving myself insane with it, trying to figure out if the rest would offset the potential rustiness of not benching for 2 weeks. So I went in today to get a moderate raw single in just to get some weight in my hands. If I felt anything unusual at all, I was going to be done. Fortunately, no issues at all, and as long as something doesn't come up in the next day or so, it was probably worthwhile as the weight wasn't heavy but moved somewhat slowly. So hopefully this knocked some of the rust off. Everything else was kept pretty light. This probably will be the last bench day before the meet. Right now I'll probably open in the 455 range, which is about 50 lb below where I wanted to be right now, and won't be shocked if that's all I get.  

The plan is to open 615 squat, 455 bench, 600 deadlift, and will be in the 308 class as it's going to be too hot in this little meet location to be screwing with water weight.


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## DLDave (Jun 17, 2008)

6/17 Light Lower

Stationary cycle
10 min @ 70 rpm

Hip Abductor/Adductor
4 sets of 15, moderate weight

Pulldown Abs
4 sets of 12, moderate weight

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10

Boring and uneventful.  6 days out from meet.


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## DLDave (Jun 19, 2008)

6/19 Misc light stuff

Speed bench
185 for 1 set of 3
225 for 3 sets of singles

Reverse pec deck
3 sets of 10, light

Wide grip pulldowns
3 sets of 10, light

Tricep rope pushdowns
3 sets of 12, light

Hip abductor/adductor
4 sets of 15 on each, light

Decline Abs w/20 lb medicine ball on chest
3 sets of 10

45 deg back raise
2 sets of 10

The elbow is still holding up with these lighter bench workouts, so we'll see how things go on Sunday.  The bar was moving pretty well on the 225 bench sets.  Kept everything else light mainly to get some blood flowing, as I've been pretty tight all week, particularly posterior chain.  This should be the last of anything prior to Sunday's meet.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jun 21, 2008)

Is this you running the hooks?  Dude you're world famous now

YouTube - team xtreme trainning

Tommorow will be a clusterfuck, better you than me.


----------



## Stewart14 (Jun 21, 2008)

Good luck at the meet Dave


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## DLDave (Jun 21, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Is this you running the hooks?  Dude you're world famous now
> 
> 
> Tommorow will be a clusterfuck, better you than me.



Nope, that's Spaz, I wasn't in there that day.  Surprised they let that shit be filmed and posted, although I guess it's just straight weight singles and none of their top secret methods.  Hopefully tomorrow isn't too bad since there are only 20-ish full meet lifters, no idea how many benchers Westside is bringing.  



Stewart20 said:


> Good luck at the meet Dave



Thanks Stewart, probably gonna need all the luck I can get.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jun 21, 2008)

the foam blocks finally showed up.


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

6/22 Lexen Xtreme in-house meet results

Squat
615 x 1 (up easy)
665 x 1 (bit of a grinder)
700 x 1 (100 lb meet PR)

Bench
450 x 1 (smoked)
500 x 1 (fairly easy)
530 x 1 (ugly, 10 lb PR)

Deadlift
610 x 1 ("waste of time")
650 x 1 (smoked)
680 x 1 (50 lb meet PR, IPA 308 amateur record)

My goals for this meet were a squat in the area of 670, something over 500 bench (given the recent arm issues), and a 650 pull, which were my 2nd attempts so that I could go after some numbers with 3rds that I thought I had an outside shot at.  I wanted to take a shot a 700 lb squat and 680 pull, and hit them both.  My goal for the year was to break a 1900 lb total at some point this year, and this gives me a 1910 total.  Overall, a pretty good day, arm held up just fine, but my upper back is a wreck as I tweaked it on last squat and then pull lat on 2nd bench and probably affected last bench attempt.  Fortunately it was only painful when pulling shoulder blades together, so didn't cause much of an issue on the deadlift.  I might have had 700 in me on the deadlift, but I wanted a good chance at that record as it's stood for almost 10 years and I might not have many more chances at it.  Time for a long nap.


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

Oh, and I nearly touched 315 in my shirt during warm-ups.  That's the end of that shirt.


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## Seanp156 (Jun 22, 2008)

Damn, nice work Dave. Did you get videos of the meet?


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

Thanks Sean.  No videos this time unfortunately, as Pete got roped into loading and spotting most of the day, Lynn was running the monolift, and Tim was judging.


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## Stewart14 (Jun 22, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Oh, and I nearly touched 315 in my shirt during warm-ups. That's the end of that shirt.


 
Congrats on the record Dave, that's pretty cool stuff.  Out of curiousity, what is the amateur record for someone weighing 215ish (me)?

Why is that the end of that shirt? Educate me?


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## Seanp156 (Jun 22, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> Why is that the end of that shirt? Educate me?



It means the shirt is too loose(due to long term usage) if you can touch, or come close to touching with weight that far below your max. At least, that's my educated guess.


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

Thanks Stewart.  The IPA records are here:
International Powerlifting Association World Record Home

At 215, you'd be a 220, and the amateur records there are 820 squat, 570 bench, 700 deadlift.  I've discovered that a lot of the deadlift records are higher for the lower weights than the 308, for some reason.  I would guess either because most 308's have big guts and can't get to the bar, or because they have huge squat and bench numbers too that puts them outside of the amateur class (think the limit for amateur is a 1980 total, then you have to compete Pro)

And Sean is right, a properly fitted shirt is going to take 50-100 lbs above your raw max to touch in order to get any carry-over from the shirt.  The tougher it is to touch at the bottom, the more pop you're going to get and leaving you with most of the work in the upper half of the lift to lockout.  As my raw max is 420-ish, I should not be touching with 100 lbs less than that.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jun 22, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Pete got roped into loading and spotting most of the day, Lynn was running the monolift, and Tim was judging.



Sorry I couldn't help out more.  Did you see all the volunteers run to the platform when they announced we needed spotters and loaders?  Everyone standing around with their thumbs up their asses.  Fucking douche bags.  

Well here were some other meet highlights and lowlights:

Some ass bag dumped 700 on my arms as I was back spotting his opener.

Steve Greene broke his left arm with 735ish.  I was spotting his left side with Mike Wolfe.  Fucker just snapped in half right above his wrist and his hand was flailing.  I'm no doctor by any stretch but my guess is it will have to be internally fixated.

Jay Fry missed all his attempts ending with 740.  Was able to touch but could not lock out.

Halbert dumped all three of his attempts on his belly.  He tried 855 for a last attempt.  Had trouble touching all three attempts.

Laura Phelps hit 770 at 165.

Didn't stick around for the deadlifts.  Had to get to my son's baseball game.


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

What you expected those young Lexen guys that weren't competing to help out? 

Deadlifts were uneventful other than jacking-up the order for me twice.  I had the biggest pull, Joe hit 675 which I think gives him a pro total, and Ray Cummerlander totaled elite but missed his 680 pull.  I think Dan totaled elite as well and skipped his 3rd pull, so he must've had a higher bench than I though since he didn't hit 800 squat.  I was fine on my own for warm-ups as most of the other guys didn't have much help with warm-ups either so we helped each other.  But thanks for the bench hand-offs, they were pretty much right on.


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## thewicked (Jun 22, 2008)

loving this log and the discussions in it.. kickass work day.


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Halbert dumped all three of his attempts on his belly.  He tried 855 for a last attempt.  Had trouble touching all three attempts.



I'm assuming George was at 220 as he was looking pretty big, but that's still some crazy weight, especially with a torn ACL.  I don't think the top 220 bench is anywhere near 855.



thewicked said:


> loving this log and the discussions in it.. kickass work day.



Thanks man.  We try to entertain, since most of the crowd here has pretty different training interests.


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## thewicked (Jun 22, 2008)

DLDave said:


> I'm assuming George was at 220 as he was looking pretty big, but that's still some crazy weight, especially with a torn ACL.  I don't think the top 220 bench is anywhere near 855.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks man.  We try to entertain, since most of the crowd here has pretty different training interests.



if i remember correctly and I usually don't...if george is to hit 855 at 200 the record will be his. I also heard through some friends that he is handling 800's in training. Scary huh?!


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## DLDave (Jun 22, 2008)

He opened at 800 and looked pretty comfortable with it, but his Rage X was so tight that he couldn't touch and the bar rolled forward at the bottom.


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## DLDave (Jun 28, 2008)

6/28 Squat

Straight bar box squat (raw)
225 x 6
315 x 3
405 x 3

Pull-thru
3 sets of 10, moderate weight

Decline Abs
3 sets of 10 w/ 20 lb ball

Hip Adductor
4 sets of 10, worked up to full stack

45 degree back extension
3 sets of 10, worked up to 45 lb plate behind head

First day in the gym since last weekend's meet, and it certainly felt like it as even the 405 was heavy, and I was spent pretty quickly.  My shoulders and upper back are still very tight, and the straight bar and walk-out didn't help.  Skipped squatting at Lexen so that I could keep it light and get in and out quick.  I'm off next weekend due to travel and will get back at it hard the week after, which gives me a much needed break and then a good 12 weeks of training for the October meet.


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## DLDave (Jun 29, 2008)

6/29 Bench

Flat bench
225 for 3 sets of 3

One-arm DB row
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10

Seated horizontal plate-load row
1 plate per side for 10
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10

Rope tricep pushdowns
100 for 3 sets of 15

Keeping main movements light for a few weeks to get some extra recovery in before starting next training cycle.  For bench, will probably keep things light to moderate through July to hopefully get past these constant arm/elbow issues but will hit the accessory stuff pretty hard during that time.   I'll have 10 solid weeks of meet prep starting in August to also play around with some different shirts.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jun 29, 2008)

Don't play musical bench shirts leading up to a meet, 10 weeks is not that far away.  Tim has that habit.  He'll mess around with 7 different shirts.  Pick one that you can touch a reasonable weight with and stick with it.  You don't want to invest all that time training for a big squat and pull only to bomb in the bench, hoping something will touch.


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## DLDave (Jun 29, 2008)

No worries, only doing this in early August and then will settle on one for the rest of the way, and really only deciding between 1 or 2 others.  I think the 1st or 2nd time I benched with you guys, Tim was pretty close to his Jan meet and had 3 shirts at the gym that day.


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## DLDave (Jul 1, 2008)

7/1 Posterior Chain stuff

45 degree back extension
4 sets of 10

GHR
4 sets of 10

V-bar pulldown
110 x 10
140 x 10
170 x 10
210 x 10
210 x 10

Hammer Curls
25 x 12
35 x 12
45 x 12

Decline Abs
3 sets of 10 w/ 50 lb kettleball

Reverse Hyper
140 x 10
210 x 10
280 x 10
280 x 10

Didn't want to do any max effort types of movements today, so did some extra posterior chain accessory stuff.  Heavy reverse hypers weren't too bad.  One of the groups were doing cambered bar good mornings into the new foam blocks, which looked brutal.  I passed on that, trying to get the upper back in good shape for a full squat session later this week.  I have a feeling my squat days aren't going to be much fun coming soon as they're going to be pushing me to a 2000 total in October, which means I need a squat in the 730-750 range and deadlift over 700 to have a shot.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jul 1, 2008)

Are you going in Fri or Sat?  I'd like to take a heavy one before vacation


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## DLDave (Jul 1, 2008)

Not sure yet.  Have some family crap this weekend out of town but not sure what day we're traveling yet.  I think Matt Burke and Joe are doing the Aug meet, so I'm sure they'll be back at it on Friday.


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## DLDave (Jul 3, 2008)

7/3 Bench

Flat bench (raw)
225 for 3 sets of 3
275 for 3
315 for 3

Reverse pec deck
210 x 10
230 x 10
250 x 8

H-Rolls
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10

Side lat raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10 (shoulders fried)

Tricep rope pushdowns
100 for 3 sets of 15

Barbell shrugs
315 for 3 sets of 10

So much for keeping the benching light for a few weeks.  I did at least talk myself out of going to 365.  Things felt really good though.  I'm probably doing the Steve Greene benefit bench meet that Lexen is having at end of July, treating it mainly as a ME bench day rather than a meet, so at the latest that's when the "light bench" stuff will end.  Steve Greene is the bencher whose left arm snapped in half at the meet I did a few weeks ago, and he's had to undergo some extensive procedures to get things fixed.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jul 4, 2008)

If you're not squatting, Erik and I will be benching tomorrow (Sat) at 8:00 am.  Actually only Erik is benching, if I can restrain myself.  Lynn's on vacation, Tim won't be in.


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## DLDave (Jul 5, 2008)

7/5 Squat

Box squat w/ chains (below parallel)
235 +140 chains for 1 set of 3
Add briefs
325 +140 chains for 1 set of 2
415 +140 chains for 2 sets of 2
465 +140 chains for 2 sets of 2
505 +140 chains for 1 set of 2

Rack Pulls (pins 3" below knees, conventional)
245 x 3
335 x 3
425 x 1
515 x 1
565 x 1
605 x 1
655 x 1
705 x 1

45 degree back extension (w/ medicine ball behind head)
3 sets of 10

Decline Abs (w/50 lb kettlebell on chest)
4 sets of 10

Hammer Curls
25 x 10
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10

A little heavier than I was hoping to go, but everything felt fine and not a bad day overall considering I've been eating pretty light since the meet.


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## DLDave (Jul 8, 2008)

7/8 Lower stuff

Straight-bar good mornings (off pins)
225 x 8
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5

Pull-downs, palms facing
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 10

Pull-thrus
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 12
160 x 12

Standing Ab pulldowns
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

45 degree back raise
BW x 10
25 lb plate x 10
45 lb plate x 8


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## DLDave (Jul 10, 2008)

7/10 Bench

Flat bench (pinkies on rings)
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
225 for 3 sets of 3 (speed bench)

Reverse pec deck
210 x 10
230 x 10
250 x 10

Face Pulls
100 x 15
120 x 15
140 x 15
160 x 20

Barbell shrugs
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 10
405 x 10

Rolling DB tricep extension
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10
65 x 10

Panora Pressdowns
100 for 3 sets of 10

I usually try to ignore the stupidity happening around me in the gym, but I just couldn't ignore this one today.  Some guy was standing on top of a full stability ball in the power rack, with a barbell on his shoulders w/ 25's on each end, doing 1/4 squats.  He had a spotter on each side essentially holding him up and in turn most likely taking most of the weight off of him, but I was still waiting for him to slip and crack his head open.  No clue what this was supposed to accomplish, but as these guys are "personal trainers" at this place, I'm sure it was highly effective.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 12, 2008)

7/12 Squat

Box squat (belt only)
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 2
495 x 2
545 x 2

Deadlift w/ 3" deficit (conventional)
255 x 3
325 x 3
395 x 3
465 x 1
535 x 1

Standing Ab Pulldown
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Couldn't make it to Lexen today so had to squat in the commercial gym, walking out in power rack, no briefs.  It's been awhile since I've walked-out heavy weight, and my setup was a mess, especially given I had to go with a narrower stance in the rack.  On the deadlifts, used 35 lb hex plates from the floor, which is about a 3" deficit compared to round 45's.  Couldn't fit anymore 35's on the bar, and didn't have chalk or straps, so stopped after the 535 single.


----------



## Stewart14 (Jul 12, 2008)

Nice, the old squat and deadlift workout   You guys must be really spoiled with the monolift huh?  How many steps back do you take when you unrack the bar?  I guess even one step back with each foot with close to 600 pounds on your back can be a treat huh?  I'll let you know when I get there.


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## DLDave (Jul 12, 2008)

Yes, definitely spoiled by the monolift.  And I think I had the hooks set too high today, which didn't help.  I think I take 2 steps back with each foot.  Back when I used to walk everything out, I had it down to 1 step with each foot.


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## DLDave (Jul 14, 2008)

7/14 Back stuff

V-handle pulldowns
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 10
200 x 8

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
4 plates + quarter for 6

H-rolls
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10

Side raises
20 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10

Hammer curls
35 x 10
45 x 10
50 x 10

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10

My schedule is very messed up this week, so i wanted to fit in some back work since I didn't bench yesterday and will miss tomorrow as well.  Mostly uneventful, my biceps and delts had no range of motion left for the face pulls so skipped the last set.  I didn't get a chance to eat prior to lifting and didn't have much gas left after the rows.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 17, 2008)

7-17 DE Bench

Flat bench
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
225 for 3 sets of 3 (speed work)

Reverse pec deck
210 x 10
230 x 10
250 x 8

Face Pulls
100 x 10
120 x 15
140 x 15
160 x 15

Close grip bench
225 for 3 sets of 8

Barbell shrugs
315 for 3 sets of 10

Panora pushdowns
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
160 x 12

I went a little heavier than usual since I haven't benched in a week.   I haven't done close grip bench in ages and didn't want to go too heavy since these always bother my wrists, and I didn't have my wraps.  My crappy diet is catching up with me, I'm losing steam about halfway through these workouts and get very hungry.  I'm probably down about 1000 cals per day for the past few weeks, need to get that fixed.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jul 17, 2008)

DLDave said:


> I haven't done close grip bench in ages



What is that, an 8 foot range of motion?


----------



## DLDave (Jul 17, 2008)

Pretty much, wrists want to bend at an odd angle to get the bar to touch.  Trying to find some tricep movements that won't bother my elbow.


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## DLDave (Jul 19, 2008)

7/17 Squat

Box squat w/ Hatfield bar
345 for 3 sets of 2
435 for 3 sets of 2
525 for 1 set of 2

Reverse Hypers
280 x 10
350 for 3 sets of 10

GHR
4 sets of 10

Decline Abs
4 sets of 10 w/ 50 lb kettlebell

Light crew today as Chuck's crew took a field trip today, and most of those that were there were taking heavy singles in full gear for the August meet.  So I squatted with Matt Lenigar and a few others that aren't in full meet prep and just did weight that Matt did.  Haven't used the Hatfield bar since January, and never out of a monolift, so took some getting used to.  My shoulders could use the break though.


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## DLDave (Jul 20, 2008)

7/18 Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
Add Rage X
365 x 3
405 x 3

Tricep Pushdowns
Straight bar
160 for 3 sets of 15
Rope
120 for 3 sets of 15

Seated horizontal plate-loaded row
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10
4 plates per side for 10
4 plates + quarter per side for 6

Pulldown
3 sets of 10

Worked up to a moderate weight mainly to see how this shirt did.  I found someone selling two and worked out a deal to try out the bigger one first.  Turns out this one is too big, so I'll swap this for the size smaller and see how that does.  Got very little pop off the bottom as chest plate is too big, but both sets were pretty easy.  On a positive note, this is the heaviest I've gone in a month and the elbow felt fine.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 22, 2008)

7/22 Back/Legs

Chain suspended good mornings w/ cambered bar
245 x 5
295 x 5
335 x 3
385 x 1
425 x 1
475 x 1
475 x 1

Speed pulls against doubled minis (alternate conventional and sumo)
315 for 3 sets of singles
365 for 3 sets of singles
405 for 2 sets of singles

Standing hamstring curls
3 sets of 10

Reverse hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

I headed in with a plan to do the good mornings and speed pulls, which turned out to be the same thing that the morning crew had done.  I don't think I've ever done good mornings for heavy singles before, so left some in the tank rather than risk a back injury.  Was pretty hot in the gym, didn't have much left after the pulls.


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## DLDave (Jul 23, 2008)

7/23 Extra Stuff

Stationary bike
15 min @ 70 rpm

Hammer Curls
35 x 10
45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 8

Tricep rope pushdowns
80 for 3 sets of 15

Standing Ab Pulldowns
5 sets of 10, worked up to 160

Static hex dumbbell holds
3 sets @ 30 sec each

Static barbell holds
135 x 30 sec
225 x 30 sec
315 x 20 sec

Hip Abductor/adductor
3 sets of 15, light weight

Torso rotator
3 sets of 10, moderate weight

Foam roller
quads, hamstrings, IT band

Tricep and hip work kept light to stretch out some tightness, the rest is the occassional grip and bicep work that I don't do on a regular schedule.  I've been slacking on the foam roller for rehab after leg work, and I'm really starting to pay as my legs and hips have been very tight for the past 2 weeks.

And my smaller Rage X arrived today.  This one is going to be fun.


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## DLDave (Jul 24, 2008)

7/24 DE Bench

Speed Bench
225 for 3 sets of 3

Wide-grip Pulldowns
worked up to 200 on sets of 5
dropped to to 120 for 3 sets of 12

Reverse pec deck
150 x 12
170 x 12
190 x 12

Face Pulls
100 x 15
120 x 15
140 x 15
160 x 15

Dumbbell 2-hand overhead tricep extension
55 x 10
75 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10

Machine shrugs
405 for 3 sets of 10

Felt like crap today, almost skipped this one.  Started softball double-headers last night and a bunch more swings and throws than usual, which left me with sore arms and shoulders, followed by drinking until midnight.  So I dropped the weight and increased reps on a couple of things.  Haven't done these overhead dumbbell tricep things for probably 6 years, no idea how effective it is for bench press strength (although some of the Big Iron guys do them), but it didn't seem to bother my elbows.


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## DLDave (Jul 26, 2008)

7/26 Squat

Foam box squat, below parallel, w/chains
325 + 200 lb chains for 5 sets of 2 (lost track of sets)
415 + 200 lb chains for 1 set of 2

Deadlifts with plates on 2-3" foam pads (conventional)
225 x 1
315 x 1
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 1
545 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1

Sandbag carry
2 bags + 120 lb dumbbell for 50 yard trip

Reverse hypers
280 for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling pulldown Abs
3 sets of 10

My hips have been in bad shape all week, so today wasn't the best day to squat on the varsity rack with the pros helping.  The chains were throwing me off balance, and the foam was already below parallel before I even sunk into it, which was real good for the already sore hips.  Fortunately I didn't miss any reps, but it was brutal, which I guess is good.  I was told that I need to work on lower back strength, so I see many more good mornings and reverse hypers in my future.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jul 26, 2008)

Yes, you have a weak back.  You can only pull 680.


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## DLDave (Jul 26, 2008)

I think Wenning changed his mind after I pulled today, as he was later telling me to work on some different things.  His main point was that my back is straight up and down when squatting rather than leaning forward so that hips go back, which he attributed to a weak lower back.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jul 26, 2008)

It took me a while to be able to push my ass back.  Lynn is very good at it but he has a weak lower back and I'm not setting the deadlift world on fire either, so it's technical more than anything.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 26, 2008)

I've added more lower back work lately anyways to keep the deadlift moving, so not going to worry about it too much.  Not that I don't think Wenning knows his shit, but I think technique has as much to do with it than anything.  I just don't really think about leaning forward when trying to sit back.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jul 26, 2008)

Problem though is if you're upright while sitting back you will fall backwards.  You have to lean forward a bit while you're sitting back.


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## PeteTheGreek (Jul 26, 2008)

Was Dan on a "you better break parallel" kick today?  He was making everyone bury their squats yesterday.  He made the new guy Dave squat down to box and three pads and the kid is almost as tall as you are.  Sounds like he doesn't want anyone cutting their squats high from now on, which I think is good.  Chuck, Chuck and Matt buried their squats in that latest video.  I must have lost my invitation for that session in the mail or something.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 26, 2008)

No, that was Dan's plan last time I squatted with him (2 weeks ago I think).  I think I had a couple of sets that week with only 2 pads.  Today was all Chuck's call.  I got to use one pad under that taped-up foam thing.  When I added a 2nd pad for one of my sets, he said "you don't need all that" and pulled it out.

That "opener session" in that vid was the road trip they took last week down to Powerstation.


----------



## DLDave (Jul 27, 2008)

7/27  Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 1
Add new Rage X
365 x 3 (no board, nowhere close to touching)
405 x 3 (3-board)
455 x 2 (2-board)
495 x 2 (1-board for first rep, no-board no touch on 2nd)

Floor pin press
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3
495 x 3
585 x 3
635 x 3
675 x 3

Seated plate-load horizontal row
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10
4 plates per side for 10

Tricep pushdowns, straight bar
100 for 4 sets of 15-20

So that's what a properly fitted bench shirt is supposed to feel like.  This one isn't crazy tight but should be good for now.  It's going to take a few weeks to stretch out so that I can touch something in the 450-500 range.  Today it probably would've taken close to 550 to touch.  The tighter fit caused some issues with setup and grip, so I'm going to have some adjustments to make there.  The bar was coming up at a decent speed though.  Think that pin press set is a PR, not that it really matters though, at least not until I can find a pin press federation.


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## DLDave (Jul 29, 2008)

7/29 Back work

V-bar pulldowns
100 x 10
130 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 10

Pull-thrus
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Standing Ab pulldown
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Hammer Curls
35 x 12
45 x 12
45 x 12

45 degree back raise
BW x 10
25 lb plate x 10
25 lb plate x 8

Lower back tightened-up something fierce on the pull-thrus, and barely got the back raise sets in.  I don't think I'm recovered from the squat/deadlift on Saturday.  I also discovered that my hip tightness isn't so much hip as it is a quad strain, which extends from the groin to the outside in the upper quad, and was pretty painful when I dropped my hips on the pull-thrus, just as it was when I squatted low on Saturday.  

I also learned 2 commercial gym lessons from observing today:

1. if your "personal trainer" asks a guy to let you work in, please make sure you're working hard enough that you can't have a 2 minute conversation with her during your set of 20 lb rope extensions.

2. if you're going to attempt a 385 lb bench, please ask the biggest guy nearby to spot you, and not the guy in runner's shorts.  Runner's shorts guy didn't do so well pulling that weight off of you, did he?


----------



## Seanp156 (Jul 30, 2008)

DLDave said:


> I also learned 2 commercial gym lessons from observing today:
> 
> 1. if your "personal trainer" asks a guy to let you work in, please make sure you're working hard enough that you can't have a 2 minute conversation with her during your set of 20 lb rope extensions.
> 
> 2. if you're going to attempt a 385 lb bench, please ask the biggest guy nearby to spot you, and not the guy in runner's shorts.  Runner's shorts guy didn't do so well pulling that weight off of you, did he?



Haha, is this at Lifetime? I bet you get some weird looks when you do pull-throughs there.


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## DLDave (Jul 30, 2008)

Yep, and yep


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## DLDave (Jul 31, 2008)

7/31 DE Bench

Seated military
225 x 10
225 x 10
275 x 5

Reverse pec deck
170 for 3 sets of 12

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
4 plates and a quarter for 10

Close-grip bench (thumbs on smooth)
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10

Machine shrugs
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10
4 plates per side for 10

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 15

Panora pushdowns
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Been awhile since I've done any direct front delt presses, while I've been focusing more on rear delts and lats for bench assistance.  Strength is down on these militaries, not sure if that's something I should address with more work or not.


----------



## Stewart14 (Jul 31, 2008)

strength is DOWN on militaries???? HA! That's comical


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## DLDave (Jul 31, 2008)

I guess you're right Stewart.  The 275 seemed slower than the last time I did it, but I can't find in my log when I did 275 last time.  It may have been prior to January, didn't seem so long ago.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Jul 31, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Strength is down on these militaries, not sure if that's something I should address with more work or not.



front delts kick in on that last 1-2 inches above your belly when you're trying to touch.  Shirted belly dumps are usually related to weak front delts.

Also, looks like I won't have to come in on Sat.  I'm supposed to testify in a criminal case and the defendant didn't show up, so the trial got postponed.  Dodged that Chuck bullet.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 1, 2008)

JL Holdsworth joined Lexen.  He was in there today training some kid.  Lynn said he did a floor press yesterday with 545,  smoked it.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 1, 2008)

I've heard he's been there a few days this week.  No clue who he would be training with.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 1, 2008)

He'll likely hook up with Chuck's group after the pro-am.  I don't see him wasting his time with anyone else.  Lynn claims he almost convinced him to bench with us on Sundays.

I heard Mike Ruggeria might join as well.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 1, 2008)

Dan told me that JL had to train evenings, so that wouldn't work with Chuck's group.  I heard the same about Ruggeria.  I hung around way too long last Sat and got a brain dump from Dan.


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## DLDave (Aug 2, 2008)

8/2 Squat

Box squat w/greens and purples (adds 130 at bottom, 225 at top)
415 + bands for 2 sets of 2
465 + bands for 2 sets of 2
505 + bands for 1 sets of 1 (slow and sloppy)

Deadlifts from floor against much hated doubled mini's
225 for 1
315 for 1
365 for 1
405 for 1
455 for 1
495 for 1
545 for 0 (missed at knees)

Reverse hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

Decline Abs
50 lb kettleball for 3 sets of 10

The quad/hip thing was terribly tight today, couldn't even sit on parallel box with the bar.  It never did get fully loose, but the heavier weight forced me down but didn't have much speed coming off the box.  The last squat was a grinder but put me up around 730 in bar weight + tension, and it sure felt like it.  I let the bar get out in front of me on the missed deadlift.  I need to start paying better attention to form with heavier weights on the deadlift, I can get away with sloppy form with anything under 600 but it catches up with me above 650.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 2, 2008)

DLDave said:


> The quad/hip thing was terribly tight today



The constant tension from the bands is doing this.  Four weeks in a row of that band shit for me and I feel like someone's stabbing me in the hips with a pencil.  The predators didn't help much.

Looking forward to some straight weight for a while.


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## DLDave (Aug 2, 2008)

I'm sure it probably isn't helping, but this was the first band work I've done in awhile.  It's mostly been chains and straight weight the previous few weeks.  It is something I need to get worked out though as I'm sure we'll be doing a lot more band work heading into the meet.

Chuck was doing ~1200 with plates and bands, 2 blues and a green or purple and over 700 on the bar.  I'll be shocked if he doesn't go 1200+ at the Pro-Am.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 2, 2008)

I had 555 bar weight plus the greens so I'm not that far behind LOL.  Greens if my math is correct add 500 lbs, so I did 1055.  I'm not allowed to lift at the Pro-AM because they don't want me kicking Frankl's ass.


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## DLDave (Aug 2, 2008)

135 is close enough to 500 i guess


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 2, 2008)

we had the bands quadruple choked


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## DLDave (Aug 3, 2008)

8/3 Bench

Floor press
225 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 1
425 x 0 (miss off bottom)

Floor pin press against doubled mini's
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
495 x 3
545 x 3

Seated horizontal plate-loaded row
2 plates per side for 10
3 plates per side for 10
4 plates per side for 10
4 plates and quarter per side for 10

I think this was the first time I've ever done full range floor press, so my bar path was a bit off and which threw my arms off on the heavier reps.  I might have been able to grind out that 425 rep but didn't feel comfortable with the different pressure point of having upper arm flat on floor.  Full range leaves me with a good 2-3" between bar and belly.  There are 11 training weeks left until the October meet, so should have plenty of time to mix-on other ME bench movements while getting the Rage X broken in.  Overall strength and stamina appears to be rebounding now that I've got my calories back up, and trying to keep the problem elbow healthy with some extra rehab/prehab work.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 4, 2008)

Check it out:

YouTube - Gary Benford bench-pressing 500 pounds

No side judges, no pause, no lock-out, no rack signal, kirk's hands never leave the bar and he's wearing two bench shirts.  What a disgrace and insult to guys who have legitimately benched 500 lbs.


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## DLDave (Aug 4, 2008)

With that beanie and lack of rules, he's good for another 20 lbs or so.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 4, 2008)

kirk pulled 605.  would have made 650 if he didn't do so many bent over rows during the bench portion of the meet.


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## DLDave (Aug 5, 2008)

8/5 Back/Legs

Close stance foam box squat w/ SSB (raw)
335 x 5
385 x 5
425 x 5

Good mornings w/ Zercher harness
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5

One-legged reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

Kneeling ab pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Lower back is fried.  The Zercher good mornings are quite different as the weight is suspended in front of you, which seems to take shoulders and upper back out of the movement and really hits lower back.  Probably could've added some more weight for both the squats and GM's but didn't want to go too heavy as I haven't been recovering too well between going heavier on Tuesday and squatting on Saturday.


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## DLDave (Aug 7, 2008)

8/7 Bench Assistance

Speed bench
225 for 3 sets of 3

Bent over row
225 for 3 sets of 10

Wide grip pulldown
Sets of 8, worked up to 200

Face Pulls
100 x 15
120 x 15
140 x 15
160 x 15

Panora pushdowns
120 for 3 sets of 15

Overhead 2-handed tricep extension
70 x 10
85 x 10 (stopped here, elbow discomfort)

Barbell shrugs
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 10
365 x 10
405 x 8

Really focused on technique on the bench, as I've done a lot of reading on the Rage X and it appears the ideal way to bench in this shirt (and poly shirts in general) is to lower bar with elbows flared until shirt catches, to load up the chest plate, then tuck elbows.  Worked on this technique with no shirt, and also driving heals into the floor when pressing back up.  Bar speed was really good with 225, will have to see how this transfers over to the shirt.  It's going to be a matter of timing these various things during the movement, at least until I do it enough that it's routine.  Been awhile since I've done barbell rows, and it was really showing.  Felt some minor elbow discomfort on the dumbbell tricep, no pain, but stopped rather than push it to something that causes problems.  And the search for tricep work that doesn't bother elbows continues.


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## Stewart14 (Aug 7, 2008)

Why do you only do 3 sets for speed bench? isn't traditional "protocol" to do something like 9 sets for bench?

Oh, and tricep work that doesn't hurt the elbows?  There are none!  The only ones I can do are dips, floor press, and close grip bench, yep I can do all the heavy compound tricep stuff quite heavy, but if I grab a 40 pound db and try to do an overhead extension, all hell breaks loose!


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## DLDave (Aug 7, 2008)

Yes, the traditional Westside approach would be 6-8 sets of 3 on speed bench.  I'm trying to limit the amount of pressing I do right now to try to keep the elbow/bicep thing away long enough to get heavy shirted reps in, which is more important to me right now since I'm learning a new shirt.

I try to stay away from dips as it's rough on my shoulder, and so far I'm having some success rotating close grip bench in with some other tricep work that isn't so elbow friendly.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 8, 2008)

Get ready for Sunday.  Possible throw-down between us and the Metro Health Varsity Bench Crew.  Tim will have his service weapon in case shit heads south.


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## DLDave (Aug 9, 2008)

8/9 Squat

Box squat w/greens and purples (adds 130 at bottom, 225 at top)
365 + bands for 2 sets of 2
415 + bands for 2 sets of 2
465 + bands for 2 sets of 2

Standing leg curl
3 sets of 10

Standing pulldown abs
3 sets of 10

Today took a ridiculous amount of time with all of the various groups, so I cut the assistance work short.  We had 3 groups on our monolift, including 1 that was working up to a fully geared max single, so it was a good 2 hours after arriving before I actually squatted.  Once we got going, repeated last week's band setup but skipped the last heavy set to reduce the load a bit.  I brought my stance in a bit as feedback on the close stance squats on Tues was that the setup looked better, and I seemed to be sitting back better with the closer stance today.


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## PeteTheGreek (Aug 9, 2008)

Great News!!!   Dan talked to CV and we're allowed to set up a bench in the gravel portion of the parking lot at 3:00 am on Tuesday mornings, but we will have to bring our own spotlight and pay extra for the electricity to power it.


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## DLDave (Aug 9, 2008)

That must just be you guys that got that deal.  CV told me that I can bench with whatever group I want and that he'll lift off for me.


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## DLDave (Aug 10, 2008)

8/10 Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1
Add Rage X
405 x 3 (2-board)
405 x 3 (2-board)
455 x 2 (1-board)
500 x 2 (no board, no touch)

Pin press (on bench)
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 3
545 x 7

Mini-band pull-aparts
4 sets of 25

Purple band pushdowns
5 sets of 40

The first 405 set was terribly sloppy, so repeated it.  Had some problems tucking elbows, sleeves felt tighter than last time so I think I had it pulled on differently.  The bar felt pretty heavy today, so I think I'll add some heavy 2 or 3 board presses here soon.  The last 500 set was about an inch off the chest, so it's getting closer to touching.  Still have some technical things to work out, which are more important in this shirt since it's less forgiving than the looser denim.  Had to cut the accessory work short due to family stuff this morning, so added some band work at home.


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## DLDave (Aug 12, 2008)

8/12 Lower/Back

SLDL
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
265 x 3
405 x 3

Standing hamstring curl
3 sets of 12

45 degree back raise
4 sets of 10

One-legged reverse hyper
140 for 4 sets of 10

Decline Abs
50 lb kettlebell for 4 sets of 10

Hex dumbbell hold
15 lb for 30 seconds
20 lb for 30 seconds
25 lb for 30 seconds
25 lb for 45 seconds
25 lb for 1 min


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## DLDave (Aug 14, 2008)

8/14 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 6 sets of 3

Wide-grip pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Reverse pec deck
170 for 3 sets of 12

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Dumbbell row
80 x 10
95 x 10
110 x 10

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 15

Panora pressdowns
120 for 3 sets of 12

DB side raise
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10
40 x 6

Experimented with bench setup today and bar path after watching some old Metal Militia video.  I don't have the hip flexibility to pull my feet back farther and get up on toes with feet pointed straight forward, and I couldn't get to a point where things felt stable and comfortable.  I did at least pick up a couple things that were fairly easy to implement.  And on a positive note, the bar speed was pretty good today, and my elbow feels better than it has in a long time, as I've been doing some band stretching for the past couple of weeks that is focused on working out elbow tendinitis.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 16, 2008)

8/16 Squat

Box squat (belt only, no briefs)
315 x 2
405 x 2
455 x 2
495 x 2
545 x 2

Pin pulls (pins 1" below knees, conventional stance, no chalk)
315 x 3
405 x 2
495 x 2
585 x 1
635 x 1
685 x 1
725 x 0 (miss at lockout)
725 x 1
775 x 0 (no way)

Standing ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

Had kid duty this morning, so couldn't make it to Lexen and had to hit the commercial gym, where I got to walk the weight out and pull with no chalk.  The last couple of squat sets felt really heavy with the walk out but had little problem doubling them, although speed is definitely slower without briefs.  The pin pulls were fun, haven't pulled straight weight to failure in awhile and wanted to see where I'm at 9 weeks out from the meet.


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## DLDave (Aug 17, 2008)

8/17 ME Bench

Flat bench
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 1
Add Rage X
405 x 3 (no touch)
405 x 2 (touch 2nd)
455 x 1 (no touch)
495 x 1 (touch)
535 x 1 (no touch)
535 x 1 (touch)

Panora pressdowns
4 sets of 12

Seated horizontal plate-load row
1 plate and a quarter for 10
2 plates and a quarter for 10
3 plates and a quarter for 10

The Rage X is loosening up, as I was able to touch 405, which was nowhere close the last couple of weeks.  The biggest issue right now with touching is making sure my elbows are tucking enough and wrists are in proper alignment, as the reps that aren't touching feel like they're dumping when I get close.  I also need to increase speed of descent.  I was out of gas by the 2nd 535 after yesterday's heavy deadlifts as I was very sore when I got up this morning, but wanted to hit that for a full rep as that's a PR.  It was pretty slow and almost got stuck halfway.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 19, 2008)

8/19 Lower/Back

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10 w/ 25 lb plate

Pull-thrus
160 for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling pulldown abs
4 sets of 10

Hammer Curls
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10
65 x 10

Kept things somewhat light and easy today as I'm feeling pretty beat up after a heavy weekend, and could use a bit of a deload.  It still didn't manage to keep my lower back from tightening up, so spent some time afterwards stretching things out.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 21, 2008)

8/21 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 4 sets of 3

Strip the rack lock-outs
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3

Pin presses
315 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3
495 x 3

Chest supported row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Wide-grip pulldown
4 sets of 5

Reverse pec deck
3 sets of 10


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Aug 21, 2008)

Are you squatting/benching this weekend during normal hours?  Don't know if anyone will be at Lexen on Sat.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 21, 2008)

No, I'm coming in tomorrow to do some moderate stuff.  I'm not sure about benching on Sun, might take the family up to Lake Erie this weekend.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Aug 21, 2008)

Lynn's still on vacation, Tim tore his bicep and Erik can't lift me off.  Great, looks like I'm benching with the varsity crew.  With a good spot I should be able to get 800.


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## DLDave (Aug 21, 2008)

Or you could go light and let your stuff heal for a week


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## DLDave (Aug 22, 2008)

8/22

Box squat w/ straight bar
325 + 100 lb chains for 1 sets of 2
325 + 200 lb chains for 3 sets of 2
375 + 200 lb chains for 1 set of 2

Reverse hypers
140 x 10 (2-legged)
140 x 10 (1-legged)
210 x 10 (1-legged)

Decline Abs
3 sets of 10

Kept the weight moderate as I'm trying to deload this week, which was a good thing as I couldn't get comfortable under the bar today.  The box was too low for the first few warm-up sets, then I couldn't get my briefs seated properly which was affecting ability to push knees out.  I have 7 more squat sessions prior to the meet, so I'll likely be taking a heavy single this coming week or the following then back to the bands for a circa max.  My already sore hips can't wait.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 28, 2008)

8/28 DE Bench

Flat bench, 3 second pause at bottom, up with speed
225 for 3 sets of singles

Speed bench
225 for 2 sets of 3

Flat bench w/ 35's suspended by mini-bands
185 + 70 suspended for 2 sets of 5

Wide grip pulldowns
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 8

Reverse pec deck
170 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Machine shrugs
225 x 10
315 x 10
405 x 10

Panora Pushdowns
100 for 3 sets of 15

First day back in the gym after almost a week off.  I was feeling pretty beat up, particularly in the arms, so figured it would be a good week to get a break and then hit it hard for the stretch run into the October meet.  Everything felt pretty good so I mixed-up the bench movements a bit.  Been awhile since I've done the suspended presses, those are still brutal.  Kept the accessory work somewhat moderate.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 30, 2008)

8/30 Squat

Box squat w/ ~300 lb chains, shortened for stability
185 bar weight + chains for 5 sets of 3

Deficit deadlifts (standing on 2" platform, conventional stance)
315 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3
495 x 3
585 x 3

Standing Ab pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Reverse hypers
210 for 4 sets of 10

The box squats today were brutal.  I'm really not sure what the chain weight was, but it was pretty hard to get back up on the 3rd rep.  The chains were set to a length so that they never touch the ground, making them swing pretty hard and really work your stability.  I was on the varsity mono with Chuck coaching, and the 800 lb squatters were having a hard time too, so I didn't feel bad.  For each set we started with the box just above parallel and removed a pad with each rep, putting the last rep below parallel.


----------



## DLDave (Aug 31, 2008)

8/31 Bench

Flat Bench
275 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1
Add Rage X
405 x 3 (no touch)
450 x 2 (no touch)
475 x 2 (no touch)
495 x 1 (no touch)
545 x 0 (dump, wrist rolled back)
545 x 1 (no touch)

7 Board lock-outs against 2 mini-bands looped under bench
225 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3
475 x 3

This shirt is a pain in the ass.  Two weeks ago I touched 405, today couldn't touch 545.  It seems to fit differently each week.  I think it was the 545 that was pretty close, but I need to be consistently touching 500 for this meet.  I need to get my descent speed up, and I need to figure out how to push my belly up at the bottom.  Aside from the touching problems, the bar came up pretty well on all sets.  The variation of lockouts we did today were interesting, even with 7 boards I still had a good 3-4" ROM to lockout.  I'll pick up some band pull-aparts later today to hit the rear delts.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 2, 2008)

9/2 Lower

Chain suspended good mornings w/ cambered bar against mini-bands
240 + bands x 5
290 + bands x 5
330 + bands x 5 
380 + bands x 3

Belt squat against doubled mini-band off low box
225 + band for 3 sets of 8

One-legged reverse hyper
210 for 3 sets of 10

Wide-grip pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Lower back very tight after this one.  Left something in the tank on the good mornings since I just pulled fairly heavy on Saturday.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 4, 2008)

9/4 DE Bench

Speed Bench
185 for 3 sets of 3
225 for 3 singles
275 for 1 single

Close grip bench (thumbs on smooth)
275 for 3 sets of 5

Bent-over barbell row
225 for 3 sets of 10

Chest assisted row
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Reverse pec deck
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10

Face Pulls
100 x 10
120 x 12
140 x 15
160 x 15

Barbell shrugs
225 x 10
315 x 10
405 x 10

Really worked on descent speed on the speed bench, and went up to 275 just to work on speed with a heavier weight.  Kept the weight somewhat moderate on the barbell rows as these put pressure on my lower back, which has had plenty of work this week.  I'm somewhat week on these anyways as I don't do them very often.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 6, 2008)

9/6 Squat

Box squat @ parallel w/ 160 lb short chains
365 + chains for 2 sets of 2
405 + chains for 2 sets of 2
425 + chains for 2 sets of 2

High box squat
555 x 2
595 x 2
685 x 2
710 x 2

Pin pulls from pin 3 (3-4" below knees)
405 x 1
495 x 1
585 x 1
690 x 1

GHR
3 sets of 10

Pulldown Abs
3 sets of 10

Rear delt rows (hold at top for 3 seconds)
225 + some yellowish band for 3 sets of 10

More squat stability work today (noticing a pattern after the Pro Am), not quite as bad as last week but chains were setup differently and more weight was on the bar to balance it out.  Chuck was calling my weight and had me really pulling elbows under the bar with chest up, which was awkward but was more stable in the hole.   On the pulls we were supposed to go 10 lbs over our meet best, but I could've gone another 50 lb or so.  Next week we free squat in full gear to a heavy single.   Apparently I'm supposed to be squatting 800 at the upcoming meet, so next week is gonna be fun.


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## PeteTheGreek (Sep 6, 2008)

Meet at 7:00 am at the Sawmill/Hard Kroger gas station if you want to carpool.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 6, 2008)

I'll try to get there by then.  If I don't make it by 7, don't wait, I'll just drive down myself.


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## DLDave (Sep 7, 2008)

9/7 Bench

Flat Bench
225 x 8
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Rage X
365 x 3 (3 board)
405 x 3 (3 board)
455 x 3 (3 board)
455 x 3 (no board, no touch)
455 x 1 (collar pulled higher, no touch)
495 x 1 (no touch)

High-board lockouts against mini-bands
315 x 3 (5 board)
365 x 3 (5 board)
405 x 3 (5 board)

Cut things short today since I had done rear delts yesterday and my arms were bothering me.  Pretty frustrated by the shirt right now, can't get anything to touch, have my wrists out of position, and the sleeve cuff is killing my biceps, which I think is contributing to the touching problems as its very tight at the bottom.   I'm going to cut the sleeve ends this week and take a couple of light reps in it next week to see if its improved.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 7, 2008)

You're bringing the bar down too high.  As a result, when you tuck your elbows your wrists will cock back.  Your wrists have to be in a straight vertical line with your elbows and the only way to do this when tucking is for your starting position to be over your belly instead of over your face.  You're still fighting the weight the whole way down, 405 didn't come any closer than 495.   Relax and let the weight come down.

Next week bring your video camera.  We'll tape it, post it and then maybe Travis or someone can help figure out what's wrong.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 7, 2008)

The descent felt a bit faster today.  I didn't hold it as long at the start.  It gets to the same point at the bottom no matter what the weight is where my biceps and forearms feel like they're going to explode from the sleeve cuffs.  I also need to be thinking about leading with my elbows to bring the bar down rather than just thinking of bring the bar down, which will help keep the wrists aligned.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 8, 2008)

LexenXtreme Team Grows | Powerlifting Watch


----------



## DLDave (Sep 8, 2008)

Yep, I saw this last night.  I'm guessing my Saturdays just got even longer, and it's back to the JV mono.  And I guess Phil is not a big fan of bridges.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 8, 2008)

bridges?


----------



## DLDave (Sep 8, 2008)

See his posts in that thread, he's pretty much burning any bridges back to Westside on his way out.  Some interesting gossip over at Outlaws too, hope Dan knows what he's doing.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 8, 2008)

site not coming up.  thought you were talking about mike bridges.


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## DLDave (Sep 9, 2008)

9/9 Lower

Zercher harness good mornings
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 1

45 degree back raises w/ 25 lb-ish bag of salt
3 sets of 10

Single leg reverse hypers
180 for 3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swings
3 sets of 5

Decline Abs w/ kettlebell over face
3 sets of 10

Shrug machine
315 for 3 sets of 10

Plate tree grip work
4 plates for 3 sets of 5 reps, squeeze for 5 seconds

Gym was a full house by the end of this as the recent imports showed up.  It wasn't too long ago when there might be 4 people in there on a Tuesday evening.  I wanted to keep the work somewhat light as I'm taking a heavy squat this weekend, but that didn't work out so well as my lower back was fried.  I did cut the Zercher GM short with a heavy single at the end.  One of our group was laying outside by the end of this trying to puke.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 9, 2008)

are those zercher harness gm's better than the chain suspended gm's?  I haven't tried those yet.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 9, 2008)

I wouldn't say they're better, but they're different.  They hit your lower back very hard, but don't beat the rest of your body to hell like the chain suspended ones do.  You also can't go quite as low with the harness.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 11, 2008)

9/11 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 8 sets of 3

Reverse Pec Deck
130 x 10
150 x 10
170 x 10

Wide-grip pulldowns
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Side raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10

Panora pressdowns
100 for 3 sets of 15

H-rolls on chest-assisted row
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10

Bar speed on the speed bench was really good today.  I was focusing on wrist and elbow positioning, and realized I wasn't cranking my wrist wraps nearly enough, so I had them cranked so hard today that my hands were purple.  Usually when I do this my thumbs cramp, so I did a few more sets than usual to adjust to it.  There's no way I could cock my wrists back with this setup today, hopefully it carries over to the heavier weight this weekend.  The H-rolls on the chest assisted row bench was much easier for me to get into position, as a normal adjustable bench is too damn low.  Kept most everything moderate as I have a heavy squat coming this weekend.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 13, 2008)

9/13 Squat

Free squat
225 x 5
Add briefs
315 x 2
405 x 1
495 x 1
Add suit, straps down
535 x 1
585 x 1
Straps up
635 x 1
Add knee wraps
705 x 1 (cut it slightly high)

Deadlifts from floor, sumo stance
315 x 3
405 x 1
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
675 x 1

Reverse Hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

Only 2nd time I've squatted with briefs under the suit, which I did not do last meet.  I couldn't get the legs on the suit pulled up high enough, which I didn't realize until Chuck pointed out this was preventing me from pushing knees out in the hole.  I then discovered the the suit legs were a good 2" lower than the briefs, so I rolled the ends up, which really helped.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of my gear, as the 705 was easier than the 635, which was easier than the 585, as more gear was added.  I could barely breath with it all on though, my belt may need adjusted slightly to account for the weight gain.  The 675 pull was very slow, probably a combination of adjusting my form and the fact that I was out of gas after the heavy squats.  I have a suspicion that my conventional might be stronger now, but don't know how to test it this close to the meet.  

Right now I'm thinking I'll open in the neighborhood of 675 squat and 650 pull, maybe slightly increase both openers depending on the the circa max goes.  Full house at the gym today, we now have a group of 4 1000 lb squatters and a 5th who is pretty close.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 14, 2008)

9/14 ME Bench

225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add shirt
365 x 3 (no touch)
405 x 3 (no touch)
405 x 2 (no touch)

Seated plate-load row
4 plates + some band for 4 sets of 5

Rope tricep pushdowns
3 sets of 10

Had no plans to touch anything today, mainly wanted to do some light weight in the shirt to see if the sleeve modification helped.  I had taken an inch off before today, which helped, but going to take a little more off as I still had to roll it up a bit.  The sleeves now don't feel like they're going to snap my bicep in half when the weight is at the bottom, probably because I left the sleeve end flat and not cuffed.  I still need to work on speed on the descent and starting the bar lower, but with the sleeves fixed that should remove 1 variable.  I'm beat to hell after yesterday's squatting and pulling, so wouldn't have been able to go any heavier today had I wanted to.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 16, 2008)

9/16 Lower

Close stance belt squats off low box
4 plates for 3 sets of 10

GHR
3 sets of 10

Single-leg reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

Hammer curls
25 x 12
35 x 12
45 x 12

Shrug machine
3 plates per side for 3 sets of 12

Plate tree grip work
4 plates for 3 sets of 5 reps, squeeze each for 5 seconds

Skipped the good mornings today as I'm still not fully recovered from the heavy squat/pulls this weekend.  Everything else was pretty basic, not terribly hard, trying to get back to normal before starting this circa max this weekend.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 18, 2008)

9/18 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 2 sets of 3
225 for 3 sets of 3

Wide-grip pulldowns
140 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 5

Chest-assisted row
1 plate x 10
2 plates x 10
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 10
4 plates and quarter x 8
5 plates x 3

Reverse pec deck
130 x 10
150 x 10
170 x 10


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## DLDave (Sep 20, 2008)

9/20 Squat

Foam box squat w/ short chains, below parallel
225 + 160 chains for 5 sets of 2
455 straight weight for 1 set of 2

Ultrawide sumo pulls, standing on plates (work up to 50% of max)
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3

Reverse Hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling pulldown abs
3 sets of 10

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10

Today's squat session combined the 2 things I like the least, the shortened chains and squatting into the foam which was set below parallel.  I finally felt stable on the last set by really pushing feet out.  The pulls today really forced you to get down into position at the start, I still need to work on my timing with dropping hips but not losing momentum at the start in the sumo stance.  I'm assuming next week we squat against the bands and some sort of heavy pulls.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 20, 2008)

I'm putting the kabash on the bands.  I felt like I was in a glorified smith machine yesterday


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## DLDave (Sep 21, 2008)

9/21 ME Bench

Flat bench
225 x 3
275 x 4
315 x 1
Add Rage X
365 x 3 (no touch)
405 x 0 (partially dumped forward at bottom)
405 x 2 (no touch)
455 x 2 (no touch)
475 x 1 (no touch)

Floor pin press against doubled minis (100+ lb tension)
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3

My shirted bench is a complete mess right now, trying too many different things trying to figure this shirt out and for some reason trying to touch stuff i shouldn't be bothering with.  I'm handcuffing myself on just about everything as I have my wrists misaligned with elbows and can't get my elbows tucked.  I tweaked my bicep on the partial dump, which then led to me fighting the bar again on the next few descents as I had a lot of pain when the shirt caught halfway down.  Skipped any back work to avoid aggravating the bicep.  I'm out of town next weekend, so I'll pick up a moderately heavy raw day next Monday, then have 2 training weeks left to get a shirt figured out before the meet.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 22, 2008)

Are you squatting on Friday then and do you know what you're supposed to do?


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## DLDave (Sep 22, 2008)

I should be able to make the Saturday morning squat session and then leave afterwards for some family reunion BS up near Canton.  A 2 hour car ride immediately after squatting should leave me good and cramped.


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## DLDave (Sep 23, 2008)

9/23 Lower

Cambered bar good mornings in monolift, lowered into foam blocks
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5

Single leg reverse hypers
140 for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling Ab pulldowns
3 sets of 10

GHR
3 sets of 10

Plate tree grip work

Woke up this morning with a very tight lower back, so wisely did some heavy GM's to stretch it out.  Lifted with SHW teenager and Lt. Pete Mitchell since his training partner ditched him, must not be as reliable as his old buddy. Goose.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 23, 2008)

Ian's real excited he gets to lift with the adults.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 23, 2008)

Ian did pretty well, got a couple of reps at 405.  Wasn't pretty but he finished it.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 23, 2008)

thread over at outlaws about touching in a rage x


----------



## DLDave (Sep 23, 2008)

Good info in the thread, unusual for that board.  I forgot that this shirt has a reinforced neck, which doesn't help.  I'm following the advice of DOH for this meet, or at least giving that a shot on my next heavy bench day.  I need to do some reverse bands regularly after this meet.


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## DLDave (Sep 25, 2008)

9/25 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 2 sets of 3
225 for 3 sets of 3
275 for 1 set of 3
315 for 1 set of 3

Close grip bench (thumbs on smooth)
225 x 10
275 x 10
275 x 10

Wide-grip pulldowns
130 x 5
150 x 5
170 x 5
190 x 5

Reverse pec deck
110 x 10
130 x 10
150 x 4 (ouch my shoulder, stopped)

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
5 plates for 5

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 15
160 x 15

Panora pressdowns
100 for 3 sets of 10

Went a little heavier on the bench today since I'm not benching this weekend and to work on descent speed with heavier weight since I have no problem with speed at 225 or under.  Picked up a few things that might help, particularly relaxing shoulders.  We'll see if it carries over to even heavier weights with the shirt.  Softball is finally over, maybe now my shoulders and legs will actually recover during the week.  I'm not designed to run bases anymore.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 26, 2008)

I'm pretty confident we won't be asked to post our logs:

EliteFTS - Superior Products and Knowledge for Lifters, Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers


----------



## DLDave (Sep 26, 2008)

With the wording used in that description, I bet this isn't the log of anyone specific but probably the general gym workout that they come up with each day.  We'll see how it turns out.


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## DLDave (Sep 27, 2008)

9/27 Squat

Box squat against green/purple bands (+225 at top, 130 at bottom)

235 + bands x 3
325 + bands x 2
415 + bands x 2
465 + bands x 2
505 + bands x 0 (mono started to flip while on box)
505 + bands x 1 (grinder)

Speed pulls against doubled mini-bands (sumo stance w/ briefs)
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 1
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1

Reverse hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

Decline Abs w/ 54 lb kettlebell
3 sets of 10

Hammer curls
25 x 15
35 x 15
45 x 15

The box squats were all fast and felt light, until the monolift about flipped on my 505 attempt.  I had just hit the box and saw the monolift starting to go, and I lost all my air and tightness and had no chance to get back up.  I didn't wait long enough to take my 2nd attempt at 505 as everyone else was done, and didn't have much left coming out of the hole.


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## DLDave (Sep 30, 2008)

9/20 Lower

Single leg reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

GHR
4 sets of 10

Single leg hamstring curls
50 for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling pulldown abs
4 sets of 10

It's apparently time to start reducing workload, as I was advised to skip the close stance squats today and only do accessory work.  We'll be in full gear for our last heavy squat this weekend.  I'll pick up my speed bench and bench accessory work tomorrow to give myself an extra day off before a heavy weekend.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 30, 2008)

Does anyone squat there on Tuesdays?


----------



## DLDave (Sep 30, 2008)

John occasionally squats on Tuesdays.  JL and his buddy usually do too but don't start until 4:30 or so after 30 minutes of stretching.  The rest of us are on the Chuck plan, but there are enough people there before 4 to help you out.  I imagine I'll be repeating today's routine next Tuesday, so will have plenty of downtime as I was done by 4.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Sep 30, 2008)

I'm going to pull thur or fri then go to a squat opener next tuesday.  I really don't want to do them both this Friday.   I'd rather have a dedicated deadlift session so I can end up mind-fucking it.  This worked for me last time, at least for my squat.  I'll have 17 days rest after my last dead workout and 12 days rest after the last squat.


----------



## DLDave (Sep 30, 2008)

sounds like a good plan


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## DLDave (Oct 1, 2008)

10/1 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 2 sets of 3
185 + 1 mini-band looped under bench, for 2 sets of 3
185 + 2 mini-bands looped under bench, for 2 sets of 3
225 straight weight for 2 sets of 3

Wide grip pulldown
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
5 plates for 5

Reverse pec deck
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10

Face pulls
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

H-rolls
20 for 3 sets of 10

Side raises
20 for 2 sets of 10

Kept the weight on assistance work somewhat moderate to start reducing workload and to get some rehab work in for my shoulder.  The H-rolls and side raises at the end were done strictly to get a good stretch in the delts and rotators.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 4, 2008)

10/4 Squat

Box squat against greens and purples (add 225 at top, 130 at bottom)
235 x 5
285 x 3
Add briefs
325 x 2
375 x 1
Add suit, straps down
415 x 1
465 x 1
505 x 1
555 x 0 (lost tightness on box)

Reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

Speed pulls
315 for 4 singles
405 for 1 single

Last heavy squat day before the meet.  It sucks to end this training cycle with a miss, but the good news is that the 505 was much faster than last week, which should put me about where I want to be once I add wraps and straps up.  We were apparently supposed to have gone to a higher box for the last single, which would've been helpful had my group actually been told.  Tomorrow is last heavy bench day, we'll see if I can get that mess sorted out.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 5, 2008)

10/5 ME Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add loose Rage X
365 x 1 (touch)
405 x 1 (touch)
455 x 0 (abort half way)

Plate loaded rear delt row
1 plate per side + band for 4 sets of 10

Dumbbell rotator cuff work
3 sets of 10

Two meets in a row and my bench is a mess 2 weeks out.  Since I hadn't touched in the tight Rage x in quite awhile, that shirt isn't going to work for this meet as the risk for bombing would be high.  So I switched to a size larger shirt for today, which apparently isn't going to work either.  My left shoulder has been bothering me for a few weeks, which hasn't been an issue in the tighter shirt, but this looser shirt provides absolutely no shoulder support.  I aborted the 455 attempt about halfway down as my shoulder was giving out, so I pressed it back up rather than make things worse.  I shut things down after that, did some very light shoulder work to try to get it stretched out.  Right now it looks like my old denim will be the safest bet for the meet, so I'll throw that on next week for an opener, and maybe take a rep in the tight Rage X depending on how things feel.  The biggest thing now is to get this shoulder rested and rehabbed and not let it mess with my head once I'm back under heavy weight.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 6, 2008)

Skipping tomorrow.  Too backed up at work.  I'll take my last one on Fri


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## DLDave (Oct 7, 2008)

10/7 Light Lower

Reverse Hypers
140 for 4 sets of 10

GHR
4 sets of 10

Kneeling pulldown Abs
4 sets of 10

Shoulder/rotator work

Uneventful day, mainly got some blood flowing to lower back and hamstrings.  Added some band and light dumbbell shoulder work for some rehab.  I believe we take a light free squat on Saturday, and then pretty much done with leg and back work.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 8, 2008)

10/8 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 3 sets of 3

Reverse pec deck
3 sets of 15, light weight

V-handle pulldowns
4 sets of 10, light weight

Face Pulls
100 for 3 sets of 15

Rope pushdowns
80 for 3 sets of 15

H-Rolls
15 for 3 sets of 10

Chest assisted row
2 plates for 2 sets of 10

Machine shrugs
worked up to 3 plates per side for 15

Kept most of the accessory work light today to reduce the workload and to get some additional shoulder rehab.  The shoulder is still bothering me right at the top of the tricep with certain movements, but I've found some movements that are able to stretch it out and almost eliminate the pain for awhile.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 11, 2008)

10/11 Squat

Add briefs
235 x 3
325 x 2
415 x 1
Add suit, straps down
505 x 1
Straps up
555 x 1

Reverse hypers
140 x 1 set of 10

Standing hamstring curl
1 set of 10, each leg

Ab pulldowns w/ 2 monster-minis choked on top of rack
3 sets of 10

Last squat day before the meet, 8 days out.  Chuck called my weight today, not exactly sure what percentage we were supposed to be hitting but it was lighter than we'd typically take in full gear.   Our instructions were to not fight the weight in the hole and come up when it got tight.  I think I was hitting depth though, or pretty close.  My setup was a little off as I was in the meet monolift for the first time in awhile, but the weight flew up.  The plan for now is to open 675 squat, 650 deadlift, bench TBD.


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 11, 2008)

tomorrow bring the shirt you used in your last meet,  put it on early so you get used to the groove, go to a last warm-up or first attempt, and be done.


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## DLDave (Oct 11, 2008)

Yep, that's the plan


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## DLDave (Oct 12, 2008)

10/12 ME Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
Add Inzer Double Denim
365 x 1 (1" from touching, up easy)
425 x 1 (touch, up easy)
465 x 1 (touch, up easy)
done

Back to the old double denim shirt, which I'll use in this meet.  It fits a little better than previously as I've added a few pounds, but still a little loose.  It has a much more forgiving groove, and much better shoulder support than the loose Rage X.  Things still aren't perfect, shoulder isn't 100%, but today was a much better day and lets me head into the meet with some confidence.  I'll open at 475, 2nd and 3rd attempts TBD based on how first bench goes and where my squat ends up.  Not much planned this week, mostly rest and maybe some very light shoulder and back rehab work on Tues or Wed.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 14, 2008)

223.5 right now, which puts me at 221 or so in the morning, and all I did was stop drinking diet coke with my lunch.  I'll go in at around 218 on my scale in case the meet scale is heavy


----------



## DLDave (Oct 14, 2008)

Shouldn't be a problem then.  Did Dan change the weigh-in times since he switched to single day, or is it still 6:30a-8a on Sat?


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 14, 2008)

Don't know


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## DLDave (Oct 15, 2008)

10/15  Misc stuff

10 min stationary bike

45 degree back raise 
3 sets of 10

Hip abductor/adductor machines
4 sets of 25, light weight

Wide grip pulldown
120 for 3 sets of 10

Face pulls
100 for 3 sets of 10

Reverse pec deck
100 for 2 sets of 10

Hammer curls
30 for 3 sets of 10

Shrug machine
1 plate per side for 2 sets of 15

Last day of anything prior to the meet.  Everything was kept light to get stretched and get the blood flowing.  Everything feels healthy right now, which feels weird, no aches or pains, shoulder feels fine, no elbow issues for once.  I'll do some stretching and foam rolling the rest of the week, then nothing but rest on Saturday.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 19, 2008)

10/19 Lexen Xtreme Fall Classic Results
308 Amateur class

Squat
1st attempt:675 (good)
2nd attempt:710 (miss,depth)
3rd attempt: 730 (good, ugly, 30 lb PR)

Bench:
1st attempt:480 (good)
2nd attempt: 530 (good)
3rd attempt: 550 (good, 20 lb PR)

Deadlift
1st attempt: 650 (miss, brain fart, didn't wait for down command)
2nd attempt: 680 (good)
3rd attempt: 720 (good, 40 lb PR, IPA 308 amateur record)

Total: 2000 on the nose, IPA Elite total

Two goals heading into this meet, an IPA Elite total at a minimum and wanted to hit a 2000 total.  My usual problems on the squat put me in the hole from the start as I wanted to be up around 750, couldn't get a good feel in full gear and wasn't sitting back, which caused depth issues on the 2nd attempt, and had to take a smaller jump for my 3rd.  By the time the deadlift rolled around, a good 9 hours after the meet started, I was cramping pretty bad in the quads and calves at lockout.  This caused an issue with my opener, as both calves cramped and I stopped paying attention to the head judge and didn't wait for the down command.  At this point I was worried about bombing out on the deadlift, but would've considered this meet a failure anyways had I not hit the elite total, which required a 680 deadlift, and 720 for the 2000 lb total.  The 680 went pretty easy, I waited a good 3 seconds after the down command to be sure.  Barely got the 720 locked-out, was holding on by my fingertips, both calves and a shoulder cramped up at lockout.  We got video of the 720, I'll post tomorrow, as I'm dead tired.   There was professional video shot at the meet, hopefully I'll have that to post soon. 

Three of us from Lexen hit Elite totals today, including PeteTheGreek at 220.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 20, 2008)

Chuck just lost his 275 squat record and the all time total was obliterated by that Ukrainian.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 21, 2008)

Question for you.  I went through your logs since the June meet.  On the Saturdays when you pulled after your squats, were they max effort lifts or did you leave some gas in the tank because you were also doing some heavy lower back shit on Tuesdays?   I also didn't see any speed pulls until right up to the meet.

It appears my problem is lower back strength at the start of the pull.  I'm real fast off the floor and throughout the whole lift, even up to 550,  but once I get close to 600 I can't get the bar off the floor.  I thought the chain suspended gm's would have helped my start but it didn't work out this way.  I think I need to start training conventional or hit some deficit pulls to increase the range of motion.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 21, 2008)

Here's what I have from my logs and as best I can remember the effort level.  It looks like a fair mix of max/near max and lighter work.  Except for the 8/16 session at Lifetime and I think 9/27 when Spazz, Chewy and the pros pulled from pins to failure with the big chains after I was already done, these are all from the Chuck program.  My Tuesdays since the beginning of Sept were all from the Chuck program too, and those were usually pretty heavy days regardless of what we had done on Saturday.  Deficit pulls should help, as will switching between conventional and sumo.  The ultrawides seemed that they would be effective in helping with floor speed, but as my stance is already so wide it's of limited benefit to me.

7/5 Rack pulls, singles to 705 (near max effort)

7/22 heavy GMs, speed pulls on Tuesday (not max)

7/26 pulls with plates on pads, singles to 635 (not max)

8/2 pulls against minis, singles to 545 (miss) (max effort)

8/16 pin pulls to 725 (miss 775) at Lifetime (max effort)

8/30 deficit pulls, triples to 585 (near max effort)

9/6 pin pulls for singles, to 690 (near max effort)

9/13 singles from floor, to 675 (max effort)

9/20 ultrawide pulls for triples, 50% of single max (not max)

9/27 speed pulls against doubled minis for singles, to 405 (not max)

10/4 speed pulls to 405 (not max)


----------



## fufu (Oct 21, 2008)

congrats on the successful meet.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 22, 2008)

Thanks


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 22, 2008)

You Are World Famous Now!!!


----------



## DLDave (Oct 22, 2008)

Guess I'm officially big time when Tim Bruner rips my lift!

No clue where that came from, I didn't even post that video in any of my logs yet.  And really, a 2000 lb total at 308 is what, #250 in PLUSA?  Barely worth a mention.  Must've been the expert camera work.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 22, 2008)

How did PL Watch find it? I didn't know the video was posted.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 22, 2008)

I have no idea.  I just uploaded it yesterday afternoon, and didn't link to it in any logs or tell anyone about it since I had problems uploading it.  All I can guess is he monitors for keywords on Youtube, but that doesn't explain how he knows my history.  Guy has a lot of time on his hands if he's searching Youtube for new lifts and then connecting those with previous meet results.


----------



## PeteTheGreek (Oct 22, 2008)

Impossible for him to know your history, and wasn't this your third meet?  Someone from Lexen must have emailed him your history, but they would have had to know about the video? I showed Spazz his lift then gave the camera back to you.


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## DLDave (Oct 22, 2008)

Well PL Watch does have previous meet results, as my 630 DL was #50 overall (until I just knocked it off).  I just can't imagine he goes back through that history after 6 months for insignificant lifters though.  I haven't been to Lexen this week, so nobody knows about that video.  And if they submitted the news, I'm sure they would've mentioned that I'm a Lexen lifter, and probably would've also submitted Spazz's and Chewy's results (Chewy may have hit a pro total as he dropped to 275).

And yes, this was my 3rd meet, although results were never posted anywhere for the in-house and my DL didn't count as a record, so I'm not sure that it was completely official.


----------



## DLDave (Oct 22, 2008)

Deadlift video and post at Powerlifting Watch, for those wondering wtf we're talking about:

YouTube - Dave Schwab 720 lb Deadlift
Dave Schwab Totals 2,000 in 2nd Meet | Powerlifting Watch


----------



## Stewart14 (Oct 23, 2008)

Dave, you are tremendous, I never realized just how big you are.  Makes me feel very small 

question for you, if I wanted to compete sometime early next year, what weight class do you think I should shoot for if I currently weight around 213ish?  Keep in mind, I want to do this raw, and my current lifts are OK, but aren't exactly noteworthy for someone of my size.  Should I try to lose some weight to compete in a lower class?


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## DLDave (Oct 23, 2008)

Thanks Stewart.  I was at 294 for this meet, the heaviest I've ever been.  I gained a good 10 pounds over the past few months, and ate so much the last couple of weeks that I can barely even look at food this week.

Honestly, for you first meet or two, I wouldn't worry about any particular weight class.  Just get yourself strong and compete at whatever weight you end up at.  At 213, you'd be a somewhat light 220, but would have to drop 15 pounds to get to 198.  And there really isn't a whole lot of difference between those two weight classes in terms of competition.  Where manipulating your weight comes into play is when you're close to hitting an elite total, pro total, winning money, etc, things that a beginner doesn't need to worry about right away, but where it can be beneficial down the road to drop 10 pounds in order to not have to lift another 80 pounds for an elite total in the heavier class.  And competing raw wouldn't be a big deal, there were a few raw lifters in this past meet that I did, despite most lifters competing in gear.


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## Stewart14 (Oct 23, 2008)

thats good advice, thank you. 

How did the raw guys do in comparison to the gear guys? Did they get smoked?  I figure if I do stay raw and want a chance to place I'd have to go into a raw only competition right? (common sense huh?)  I haven't really looked into it, but I imagine it's a lot harder to find a raw competition locally than it is a "regular" one right?


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## DLDave (Oct 23, 2008)

Well the guys that competed raw are entered into a raw division, so in the overall standings within their weight class, age bracket, etc. they're "competing" only against other raw lifters.  Many federations that allow gear also have raw divisions for their open meets, not all do but many do.  The IPA does, I believe the APF does as well, USAPL and NASA probably do.  Pete might be able to chime in with his experiences in those other feds, I've only lifted IPA.  Your best bet is to take a look at Powerlifting by State & Province | Powerlifting Watch and see what federations are holding competitions in your state and area.  I don't recall where you're at, I'm thinking NY/NJ area for some reason, but I don't think that's right.  

But most importantly, don't think of this as competing against other people, especially your first couple of meets.  Set yourself some goals and compete against those.  I honestly couldn't have cared less where I finished in my weight class this time, I had particular numbers I wanted to hit that would've determined whether I felt this was a successful meet or not, it didn't matter to me if I was the top 308 or the 5th best 308.


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## Stewart14 (Oct 23, 2008)

wow, that's cool to know, I didn't know they had raw divisions within the entire meet.  I am so going to do this next year, I am just not happy with my lifts yet, or I would do it now.  Gear lifting is out of the question for me right now, since I don't have time to train at a gym, and I am doing this by myself in my basement, so really, any respectable numbers in the competition would be a win for me, I mean how many competing powerlifters train by themselves at home no less?

and yes, you were right, I live on long island, I have to check out that link you sent to see where the closest comps would be.  I think realistically for my first time, I would love to hit at least a 550 deadlift, 425 squat and 405 bench.  I can see myself getting the deadlift and the bench, the squat is going to be my undoing, although I must say that I am getting better at it by the day.  doing squats every workout might be paying off for me in terms of getting the form down and finding a good groove for them. 

thanks for the tips, hope I'm not bothering you with all the questions.  by the way, do you have a video of your squat and/or bench from this past meet?


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## DLDave (Oct 23, 2008)

No bother at all.  Those are certainly respectable lifts raw.  Heck, I know guys benching 600+ in a shirt that can't bench 405 raw.  And many people in your weight range that can't pull 550.  And worst case, you'll have some good spotters for you to test yourself in the squat and bench.  

No videos of the squat or bench yet.  We didn't shoot any with my camera, but the meet director is going to have a video available of all lifts soon.


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## Stewart14 (Oct 23, 2008)

a 600+ bencher that can't bench 405 raw?  Really? Wow, the shirt makes that much of a difference?

Right now, I just benched 337.5 for 2 singles the other day with 2 second pauses on each one.  I have no doubt I can hit 365+ right now on a good day.  I deadlifted 475 earlier this year, and I know I can get back to that with proper training easily.  The squatting is my achilles heel, but I'm working on it.

Are elbow sleeves allowed in the raw divisions?  I always wear them when I bench heavy to protect my elbows.  And for squatting do they allow knee wraps, or just a belt?  What do the raw lifters usually wear, just sweats and shorts, or can you wear like the power briefs or is that considered gear?


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 23, 2008)

The problem with powerlifting today is that there are too many federations with too many divisions within federations, so you're not going to find any competition.  If you're the strongest of the strong, the only big meets that mean anything are the USAPL Nationals/IPF Worlds and the IPA August and January Pro-Ams.  The Arnold was a big meet before the WPO/APF went to shit.

Back when I started, there was one federation, the USPF, with one set of rules and gear standards.  There were records for only 3 divisions: teenage, open and masters (over 40).  Most meets only had an open division.   My weight class was always stacked with 8 or 9 lifters so there were always some good battles.  Because of gear improvements, drugs and egos, the sport went to shit.  Instead of adapting, lifters went and formed their own federations and it just snowballed from there.  

Nowadays there are probably over 20 federations with multiple divisions within each federation.  A record doesn't mean anything unless it's an all-time record or an IPF record.  Pretty much every federation has a raw division.  If you're not competing because you're worried about getting your ass handed to you, it likely won't happen because you'll find that you will lift uncontested, so the goal is to try to get a personal best each time you go out.


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 23, 2008)

Powerlifting is so divided that there are even disputes over what type of equipment is allowed in raw divisions.  Some federations allow knee wraps, some don't.  SOme allow only knee sleeves, etc.  You have single ply federations and double ply federations.  SOme federations allow briefs, but they have to be the underwear kind.  SOme federations allow multi-ply shirts but they have to be closed back.


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 23, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> a 600+ bencher that can't bench 405 raw?  Really? Wow, the shirt makes that much of a difference?
> 
> Right now, I just benched 337.5 for 2 singles the other day with 2 second pauses on each one.  I have no doubt I can hit 365+ right now on a good day.  I deadlifted 475 earlier this year, and I know I can get back to that with proper training easily.  The squatting is my achilles heel, but I'm working on it.
> 
> Are elbow sleeves allowed in the raw divisions?  I always wear them when I bench heavy to protect my elbows.  And for squatting do they allow knee wraps, or just a belt?  What do the raw lifters usually wear, just sweats and shorts, or can you wear like the power briefs or is that considered gear?




The average carryover is about 100 lbs.  If you're good at shirt benching, 200 lbs.  If you're really good at shirt benching, 300 lbs.  However, you can't just put a shirt on and magically put 100 lbs on your bench.  It's a whole different movement and you have to train your lock-out.  For some, it takes years to learn a shirt.  Go to a multi-ply bench meet and you'll see that probably more than half the lifters will bomb-out.


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## Stewart14 (Oct 23, 2008)

I don't think that my lifts are that bad right now, I just personally want to get them a little better before doing the competition.  From what you guys have said, it seems like a real grueling day, so I want to be prepared as best I can for when I do it.  Besides, I've only really set my sights on doing this maybe only a month or so ago, so I need some time anyway to adjust my training to get it done.

Pete, can you recommend any federations to look into for the best raw divisions?


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 23, 2008)

I wouldn't wait till you get "better" or you'll never compete.  The only time I get better is when I have a meet to train for.  Go to Powerliftingwatch.com and click on the link on the left hand side of the main page for "powerlifting meets".  Click on your home state and it will pull up all meets coming up in your area.  Personally, I would stay away from the USAPL.  They are extremely strict with their rules and the handful of meets I lifted there were boring.  The AAU I think is a raw federation.  The SSA fed is out of New York and those meets I hear are pretty fun.  I don't know if they have a raw division but you can still lift raw in a geared meet.


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## DLDave (Oct 23, 2008)

The rules on what is considered to be gear is going to vary by federation.  For the most part, elbow sleeves aren't allowed at all even in gear divisions.  Most powerlifters train with elbow sleeves, and it's not an issue to take only a few competitive reps on the platform without.  You can use them in the warm-up room.  In most cases, power pants and knee wraps aren't allowed in raw federations/divisions, knee sleeves might me.  Truly raw is a belt and singlet, and nothing else.  I'd suggest finding a meet in your area, or at least one of the more popular federations, and review their rules.  It doesn't look like there is much scheduled very far into 2009 at this point for NY and NJ.

And yes, you'll find that a good shirt with good technique (trust me, that's as important as anything) will get you 200-300 lbs over your raw bench for an experienced lifter.   I have no idea where my raw bench is right now, but it's definitely not 550, so I'm getting a good 100-120 out of my loose fitting shirt with shitty technique.


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## DLDave (Oct 24, 2008)

10/24 Bench

Flat bench
225 for 3 sets of 10

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10

Reverse pec deck
100 for 3 sets of 12

Tricep pushdowns
80 for 3 sets of 12

Hammer Curls
35's for 3 sets of 10

Hex dumbbell static holds
20 for 3 sets of 30 seconds

Some light-ish rehab work today, first day of any lifting since the meet on Sunday.  Haven't felt too bad this week, no real aches or pains, but didn't have much gas today, a combination of still being worn down and not eating much this week.  I'll squat tomorrow and then off until Tuesday, when I'll start ramping up to normal workouts.


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## DLDave (Oct 25, 2008)

10/25 Squat

Box squat
325 x 5 sets of triples

Standing hamstring curl
3 sets of 10

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 10

Kneeling ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

Uneventful day of more rehab work.  Hips were very tight, and the light weight wasn't feeling so light.  We were done in under a half hour, spent the rest of the time loading and spotting for the main squat group, who took heavy singles in full gear, some testing new suits from the EFS sponsorship.  There will probably be video posted of those.


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## DLDave (Oct 27, 2008)

10/27 Bench

Speed bench, against mini-band looped under bench
225 + band for 4 sets of 3

Close-grip bench (thumbs on smooth)
225 for 3 sets of 5

Wide grip pulldown
worked up to 160 for 8 reps

Dumbbell side raises
worked up to 30 for 10 reps

Band pull aparts
4 sets of 12

Schedule is a bit off this week, and felt like getting some moderate bench work in today. Feeling fully recovered from last week's meet, so I'll start ramping things up this week, as the January meet is 12 weeks out, which I'll start training for and decide whether or not to do later based on where my lifts are at.


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## DLDave (Oct 28, 2008)

10/28 Lower

Chain-suspended good mornings w/ cambered bar
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5

Single-leg reverse hypers
140 for 3 sets of 10, each leg

GHR's
4 sets of 10

Kneeling Ab Pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Went a little heavier on the GM's than planned, but felt OK and left a little in the tank.  Back got fairly tight after the rev hypers, but nothing too bad.


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## DLDave (Oct 30, 2008)

10/30 DE Bench

Chaos bench
135 bar weight + 45 suspended on each side
3 sets of 5

Speed bench
225 for 3 sets of 3

Chest-assisted rows
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
5 plates for 5

Reverse pec deck
140 for 10
170 for 10
190 for 10

Face pulls
120 for 12
140 for 12
160 for 12

Dumbbell 2-hand overhead tricep extension
55 x 10
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 10

The chaos bench was brutal today, really hammered the stabilizers and nearly dumped forward a couple of times when those suspended plates were really moving at the top.  It's amazing how much easier the 225 straight weight was immediately after.  Pretty standard stuff other than that, hadn't done the overhead tricep thing in awhile and couldn't remember how heavy I usually go on that.  Looks like I was 10-15 lbs short on the final set.


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 30, 2008)

Back is still fucked up.  Can't put any weight on my right leg.  I'm taking a few weeks off to let shit heal and I'll be back at it probably after Thanksgiving, maybe sooner depending how I feel.  Haven't had any substantial time off since 2001.  Lynn is starting to freak out.  I told him I can come in and help anytime you guys need me.


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## DLDave (Oct 30, 2008)

Probably a good idea, you don't want to be dicking around with your back, as I'm sure you know by now.  What is Lynn freaking out about?  It should be easy enough for him to do his heavy stuff on Thursdays if he needs to, as that's what the rest of Lexen is doing that night when he's in there.


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## PeteTheGreek (Oct 30, 2008)

He's worried about his squats, he doesn't get there till 4:30 on Fridays when everyone else is finishing up.  Told him I'd be there to run the hooks.  Worst case scenario we can drape the chains over the top of the monolift if he's forced to dump weight, or we can get some tow straps.


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## DLDave (Oct 30, 2008)

I'm sure he'll figure it out.  It's only a few weeks, probably wouldn't be the end of the world to take some moderate doubles and triples.


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## DLDave (Nov 1, 2008)

11/ 1 Squat

Box squat against blues and greens (~340 at top, 205 at bottom)
235 + bands x 3
285 + bands x 2
325 + bands for 5 sets of doubles

Full range deadlifts against monster minis
225 x 2
315 x 2
365 x 1
405 x 1

Reverse hypers
140 for 4 sets of 8

Kneeling ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

Standing hamstring curls
3 sets of 10

This was the most tension I've squatted against, never used blues before, last couple of sets were fairly slow.  Wenning worked with me on form, picked up a couple things to get into a good position from the start.


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## DLDave (Nov 2, 2008)

11/2 ME Bench

Raw bench
225 x 10
275 x 10
315 x 8
365 x 3
Add 4-board
365 x 4
405 x 2

Floor pin presses against quadded minis
225 + bands x 5
315 + bands x 3
405 + bands x 3

Seated plate-loaded row
4 plates for 4 sets of 5

Had no real plan for today other than work up for some raw reps.  Ran myself out of gas with the 315 reps, didn't have much left for the rest as pecs really tightened up.  No idea when I last used this heavy of weight for more than 3-5 reps.  The bands on pin presses added a lot of tension, I would guess 200+ lbs.


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## DLDave (Nov 4, 2008)

11/4 Lower Assistance

Belt squat machine, to parallel box
2 plates + green band for 5 reps
2 plates + green + purple for 5 reps
2 plates + green + purple + monster mini for 5 reps
2 plates + green + purple + 2 monster minis for 5 reps
4 plates + green + purple + 2 monster minis for 5 reps

Speed pulls
225 for 3 sets of 5, conventional
225 for 2 sets of 5, sumo

Single leg extension
50 lbs for 3 sets of 10

Standing leg curls
3 sets of 10

45 degree back raise holding 20 lb-ish bag at chest
3 sets of 10

Shrug machine
4 plates for 3 sets of 30

Leg extension, hamstring curl, and back raises were supersetted.  The leg extensions were supposed to be against a green and doubled mini, but I snapped the green band on my 3rd rep, as the morning crew had a setup where a dumbbell was basically sawing at the band.  So we improvised and added some 25's.


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## DLDave (Nov 5, 2008)

11/5 Extra workout

15 min treadmill

Hip abductor/adductor machines
Worked up to full stack for 10 reps

Hammer Curls
35 x 10
45 x 10
55 x 10

Static barbell holds
225 for 30 seconds
315 for 30 seconds
365 for 30 seconds

Standing ab pulldowns
worked up to 140 x 10 reps

EZ bar curls
75 for 3 sets of 15

Had some extra time today so got caught up on a few things I missed yesterday or haven't done in awhile.


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## DLDave (Nov 6, 2008)

11/6 DE Bench

Speed bench, against 2 mini-bands looped under bench
225 + bands for 8 sets of 3

Wide grip pulldowns
worked up to 180 x 10

Reverse pec deck
130 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10

Dumbbell tricep extensions
45 x 10
60 x 10

Rope tricep pushdowns
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Lots of band tension today at the top, made it difficult to keep the speed up on the last couple of sets.  Stopped after 2 sets on the tricep extensions, elbows weren't hurting but movement didn't feel right.


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## DLDave (Nov 8, 2008)

11/8 Squat/Deadlift

Box squat w/ reverse monster mini-bands
325 x 3
415 x 2
Add briefs
505 x 2
595 x 2
645 x 2

Deadlift from floor against doubled minis
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
415 x 3

Reverse hypers (rollers)
140 x 10
210 x 10
210 x 10
210 x 10

Decline abs
bw x 10
small kettlebell x 10
large kettlebell x 10

I think this was the first time I've squatted with reverse bands.  The monster minis probably took around 100 lbs off at the bottom and not much if anything for my height at the top.  I had easily another 100+ in me on those squats and a good amount left in the deadlifts as I was feeling very strong on both, but I kept it moderate to really work on form.  Feedback was that my squat form was much improved.  I've spent a few days this past week doing broomstick squats at home and filming them, so that I can match a visual of what sitting back enough to what it feels like.  The adjustment that Wenning recommended last week when unracking has really clicked for me, hopefully I can maintain it with heavier weight and full gear.


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## DLDave (Nov 9, 2008)

11/9 ME Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
Add Rage X
365 x 3 (3-board)
405 x 3 (2-board)
455 x 3 (2-board)

Floor pin press against quadded mini-band
135 + bands x 5
225 + bands x 5
315 + bands x 3
405 + bands x 3
495 + bands x 3

Plate loaded horizontal row against light band
2 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Rope pushdowns
60 for 3 sets of 12

Kept the weight moderate with the shirt to work on descent speed and since this was first day since meet in a shirt.


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## DLDave (Nov 12, 2008)

11/12 Squat/DL assistance

Good mornings, straight bar from pins at parallel
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5

Pull-thrus
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Seated hamstring curl
3 sets of 10

Standing ab pulldown
100 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

Missed the gym yesterday thanks to having to fire someone at work.  Should've lifted anyways as I was plenty pissed, but it wouldn't have been productive.  Regardless, good mornings from pins suck, but only option at the commercial place.  Didn't go too overboard as I'm thinking of taking a heavy-ish bench tomorrow at Lexen, which tends to be difficult with a fried lower back.

On another note, boy does this place suck lately, where'd all the lifters go?


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 12, 2008)

DLDave said:


> On another note, boy does this place suck lately, where'd all the lifters go?



Just you, me and maybe Pud every 5-6 weeks.

Ran into Palmo at the Y and got a bench workout in with him.  He's doing the Jan meet.


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## DLDave (Nov 13, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Just you, me and maybe Pud every 5-6 weeks.
> 
> Ran into Palmo at the Y and got a bench workout in with him.  He's doing the Jan meet.



Well we've got Stewart hanging in there too.

Dan says that Lynn is doing the Jan meet?


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## DLDave (Nov 13, 2008)

11/13 ME Bench

Floor press
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 6
275 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
425 x 1

Skull crushers w/ easy bar and against monster mini + mini looped under bench
20 + bands for 10
30 + bands for 10
40 + bands for 10

V-bar tricep pushdown superset with overhead tricep cable extension
60 x 20, 60 x 20

Chest-assisted row
70 x 10
105 x 10
140 x 10
165 x 10

DB side raises
25 for 4 sets of 10

Pec deck rear delts
4 sets of 20

Worked with the Thursday AM group at Lexen today as my schedule is going to be off for the next few weeks, and I have work vacation days to burn. Had more in the tank on the floor presses but shut it down at 425 as I lost my tightness and it seemed like a good place to stop since I just did ME bench work on Sunday. The rest of the work was a little off since I usually do this work at a different gym on speed days and the equipment is different. The Pro group was doing shirted bench work into the foam blocks with some big weight to overload, hopefully Wenning posts it at Elite.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 13, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Dan says that Lynn is doing the Jan meet?



Yes, it will be a treat getting him ready.  Are you coming in on Sundays?  I'm missing this Sunday because I have to leave town for a wedding so looks like Lynn will be there by himself.  I have no idea what's happened to Tim.


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## Stewart14 (Nov 13, 2008)

Hey Dave.  I think I'm going to do a local meet in December.  It is sanctioned by the SSA if you've ever heard of that federation.  Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me a quick heads up as to what to expect that day.  The entry form say lifting starts at 10AM with weigh ins prior to that.  

1.  Should I plan to be there for the entire day?  How long do meets usually take?  What do you do about eating during the day?

2.  I know you generally do 3 attempts for each lift.  So 9 max effort type lifts in a day.  How do you handle this without killing yourself in the process?  I know when I used to train westside style, I was wasted after performing just one max effort deadlift, now you need to do it 3 times, plus squat 3 times at max and bench?  DAMN is all I have to say about that.

3.  Are the lifts in succession?  IE, you start with deads and do your 3 attempts in a row, or do you do an attempt, then others go, then you come back and do your second lift, etc.  How do you warm up for the lifts?  Can you warm up in the back and then work right up to your contest lifts without time wasting?

I am sure I will have more questions for you as the day approaches.  I know it's kind of short notice, but this is the only meet scheduled so far that is even within an hour of my home, so I figure, why not?


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## DLDave (Nov 13, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Yes, it will be a treat getting him ready.  Are you coming in on Sundays?  I'm missing this Sunday because I have to leave town for a wedding so looks like Lynn will be there by himself.  I have no idea what's happened to Tim.



Yep, I'll still be there on Sundays, I won't be going down there on Thursdays permanently, and when I do I'll still need to do speed and lockout work on Sundays.  Lynn probably needs a deload, think we'll do suspended kettlebells or something light this Sunday.  I think I'm missing next Sunday (the 22nd), have to check with the wife if that's the day we'll be out of town.


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## DLDave (Nov 13, 2008)

(Snipping Stewart's original post, as this reply is turning into a book)

I've heard of the SSA, a couple of the moderators over at Fortified Iron run some SSA meets in upstate NY.  From what I know it's a pretty well run fed, not sure how big it is though.  But the size and popularity shouldn't really matter to you at this point.

1)  This is going to depend on how many lifters and flights there are.  The meets I have done have been 50-60 lifters per day, split into 2 or 3 flights of 15-20 lifters per flight.  These will take pretty much all day, starting at 9am and usually ending 5pm or later.  In these cases, there is a LOT of downtime between flights.  See below for a description of what a flight is and how that works.  

As far as eating, you'll want to eat foods that are easily digestible and that are familiar to you.  You don't want to be dealing with digestion issues on meet day.  Ideally, you'll go with mostly complex carbs to supply consistent energy without risking insulin spikes (i.e. sugar crashes) that you get from sugary foods.  However, a good Gatorade after an event will help with recovery.  What I typically pack is recovery drink to have immediately after squat and bench events, and then eat a sandwich (turkey, PBJ, etc), prepackaged apple sauce, prepackaged baby food sweet potatoes, and usually a banana after squat and bench.   The baby food may sound funny, but I eat a lot of oatmeal and sweet potatoes as my primary carb sources but those are not easily portable to meets.  So the baby food sweet potatoes come close and are easily digestible.  Energy drinks might also be helpful, but I went overboard on these with the last meet and I'm pretty sure they contributed to my cramping by the end of the meet.  Pack a candy bar or two to have right before the deadlift starts, when the quick sugar spike will be helpful and you won't have to worry about a sugar crash as you'll be done by the time that happens.  And by all means, keep the water intake high all day.  I don't worry too much about protein intake on meet day as the protein probably isn't going to get through your system quickly enough to matter much, but I'm probably going to start adding a protein shake somewhere in the middle of the day.  You'll see some guys eat pretty sloppy on meet day, pizza is pretty popular, but I tend to eat somewhat cleanly normally anyways.

2)  Yes, you'll get pretty run down on meet day, which is why the food and water intake will be important.  Also, the benefit of a larger meet is that you get a ton of rest time between events.  And realistically, you first attempt for each lift shouldn't be a max attempt.  A general rule of thumb is that the first attempt should be a weight that you can triple, 2nd attempt should be a 5 lb PR, and 3rd attempt is all out.  However, for your first meet, I'd suggest being even more conservative, maybe save the PR for your 3rd attempt so you can build some confidence.

3) As I mentioned earlier, the meet will most likely be broken into flights.  Flights for bigger meets are typically arranged by weight class, amateur or pro, teen, female, etc.  A typical breakdown might be flight 1 containing teens, females, and weight classes under 198, flight 2 containing 198-242, and flight 3 275 and over.  This is going to vary depending on how many of each category are entered.  For large 2 day meets, the teens, females, and lightweigh males on day 1, with the  heavyweights and sometimes the pros all on day 2.  Each individual flight is going to be arranged by weight of the opening attempt, with the lighter openers being first, and the heaviest opener going last in the flight.  The flight will take 1 rotation, where each lifter takes one attempt, and then order resets for 2nd attempts, in order from lightest to heaviest.  And repeat for 3rd attempts.  So let's say you are in flight #2 of 3 and there are 12 lifters in your flight, and you're going to open with a 500 lb squat.  First, flight 1 will go through all 3 of their attempt.  You can figure a good hour for each flight, assuming at least 12 lifters per flight.  While the flight before you is lifting, you'll be going through your warm-up lifts (assuming there is a separate warm-up area and equipment).  Once your flight starts, everyone opening with less than 500 lbs will squat their opening attempt first, then you, then everyone with an opener over 500.  Figure 1-2 minutes per lifter multiplied by the number of lifters in your flight, and that will be a rough estimate of how much time you'll have between each of your attempts.  A good estimate would be 15 minutes between each of your attempts.  Now for your 2nd attempt, you'll attempt 550, so the order for 2nd attempts resets.  Normally you'll stay in pretty much the same order, but some people will repeat a missed attempt while others will take bigger jumps.  Just be sure to pay attention to the names that are called, they'll usually call the next 4-5 lifters in order.  This repeats for 3rd attempts.  Once your flight is over, find someplace to relax and start eating.  Ideally you'll get away from the meet area for awhile to chill out.  If there are 3 flights, you'll have a good hour or so until you even need to start warming up, and probably 2 hours until your bench flight hits the platform.  Two flights leaves a little less time, but you still have a good chance to eat and rest before you need to start warming up.

Posting this now, not sure if I've answered everything as this has turned into a long and rambling post.


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## DLDave (Nov 13, 2008)

As far as your warm-ups, just do whatever you do when you work up to a max single, keeping in mind that you're not trying to set a record in the warm-up room, and take reasonable jumps between warm-up sets.  For example, if you're going to open with a 350 bench, don't do sets at 185, 205, 225, 245 as you're just wasting energy.  As you get closer to the meet, work through your warm-ups to get a feel for # of reps at each weight and what reasonable jumps are for you.

Lastly, I would highly recommend finding someone that has some meet experience to help you with this meet.  A handler is invaluable during a meet, particularly your first one, when you're already nervous and probably have no idea what's going on.  Worst case, take along a friend or family member to help out so they can keep track of what flight is up, where you're at in the order, when you should warm-up, etc.

Also, all of the above info is based on my own experiences with pretty well run meets.  Some meets aren't so well run.  Maybe Pete will chime in with some info as well, as he's done a ton more meets in various feds over the past 40 years or however long he's been at it.


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## Stewart14 (Nov 14, 2008)

thanks so much Dave, this is awesome info


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 14, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Also, all of the above info is based on my own experiences with pretty well run meets.  Some meets aren't so well run.  Maybe Pete will chime in with some info as well, as he's done a ton more meets in various feds over the past 40 years or however long he's been at it.



Back when I started there was one federation.  Meets were few and far between so everyone showed up at the same meets.  100-200 lifters per meet, sometimes with dual platforms.  At the Canton open in 1985 there were 220 lifters, dual platforms.  I squatted around 11:00 am,  benched at 5:00 pm, pulled at around 9:00 pm, collected my trophy at 1:00 am and went home.    

We don't want to throw too much information at you at once but the most common mistake I see at meets is people starting their warm-ups too early and then trying to max out in the warm-up room before they even go out on the platform.  Prior to the meet, you should time yourself and determine how long it takes you to warm-up to an opener.  Usually it only takes me about 35 minutes for the squat and 25 for the bench.  If you are in the first squat flight, you want to start warming up about 30 minutes before your flight starts.  If you are in the second or third flight, a good time to start warming up is at the start of the prior flight.  A squat flight of 10 lifters usually takes around 30-40 minutes to complete.  You want your last warm-up to be when there are 10 or so lifters in front of you.  I'm usually one of the last lifters in my flight so I normally take my last warm-up at the start of my flight.   At your meet they will post the flights with the names of all lifters and their opening attempts so you'll know where you're at in the order.

Your last warm-up should be about 90% of your opening weight.  In addition, you don't want to open with something real heavy because if you miss the attempt, you cannot pick a lower weight for your second attempt.  Once you tell them your openers at the weigh in, you cannot lower the weight after your first attempt.  Dave mentioned to open with something you can do for a triple but this may not be a good guage if you don't train doing triples.  For the squat and bench, I follow the 50 lb rule.  If I did a 725 squat training for the meet, I'll open with 675.  For the deadlift I usually open with 70 lbs less because I'm usually pretty tired at this point.

Leading up to the meet, you don't want to take any 100% squat or bench weight less than two weeks out.  You need your rest at this point.  It's ok to go up to maybe an opener or a last warm-up when you're one week out.  I wouldn't pull less than three weeks out.   

Try to stick to your normal daily routine leading up to the meet.  Don't alter your work schedule and go about your normal business.  The night before the meet you'll probably be nervous and won't be able to sleep.  This is normal.  I've been fighting pre-meet nerves for 27 years and I've finally resigned to the fact that this is normal and I don't fight it any more.  Usually the nerves go away once I start my squat warm-ups.  

During the meet eat and drink well and don't eat any foods you're not used to eating.  Finally, as Dave said, find someone to handle you at the meet.  Usually there will be plenty of guys more than willing to help you.   Again, the biggest mistakes I see are people starting their warm-ups too early and doing a full max effort work-out in the warm-up room before the meet even starts.  Good luck.


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## DLDave (Nov 15, 2008)

11/15 Squat

Box squat w/ short chains for stability work
225 + 110 in chains for 3
225 + 230 in chains for 3
285 + 230 in chains for 2
325 + 230 in chains for 2
375 + 230 in chains for 2

GHR + Reverse Hyper superset
3 sets of 10

Standing leg curls + kneeling ab pulldown superset
3 sets of 10

The short chains made this a pretty difficult day, quite a few guys were missing lifts due to the chains throwing them around.  You have to descend somewhat slowly and under control, or the chains knock you back on the box, and you can't shoot out of the hole or they'll throw you forward at the top.   I should've taken one more set as I had a good amount left in the tank, but we had a few guys taking their last squats before a meet and were anxious to get going.  Eight training weeks to go until the Jan meet.


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## DLDave (Nov 15, 2008)

Kungfu Panda is hallucinating today.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 15, 2008)

I forgot to tell you that some guy stopped in yesterday asking Dan if he could join.  He looked to be about 40 yrs old.  Told Dan that he pulled 865 twenty five years ago and wants to start training again.  That's almost as believable as 3 blues, a green and a purple.


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## DLDave (Nov 15, 2008)

Must be Chuck Fought from the future.  I think Dan had one of these guys try to join not too long ago, that supposedly had a monster pull years ago.

Funny that Joe is bitching about these imaginary bands today, when he very easily could've bitched about the real monster chains that were kicking his ass.


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## DLDave (Nov 16, 2008)

11/16 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 6 sets of 3

Close grip pin press (thumbs on smooth)
315 x 5
335 x 5
345 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5

Plate-loaded horizontal row
2 plates + band for 10
4 plates + band for 10
4 plates + 2 quarters + band for 8
4 plates + 2 quarters + band for 8

V-grip pulldown
90 x 10
135 x 10
180 x 10
180 x 10

Seated kettlebell shrugs
57 lb kettlebell in each hand for 3 sets of 15

Mini-band pull aparts
4 sets of 12

Just two of us today, the other guy was doing pin presses so I just did close grips after my speed bench to hit the triceps.  Shoulders and upper back were pretty sore from the bench work on Thurs and yesterday's squat session, so didn't do anything too crazy today.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 16, 2008)

Did he go heavy?  I told him not to do anything stupid today


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## DLDave (Nov 16, 2008)

No, he did a few pin press triples on the bench of 315, then 335, 345 and stopped.  He was doing dumbbell presses when I did my back work, not sure what weight he was doing but it didn't appear to be too heavy.

Wenning and JL moving a good amount of raw weight at Elite today:
EliteFTS - Superior Products and Knowledge for Lifters, Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 16, 2008)

Was that cro-magnum head with the hot girlfriend at the start of that video?  What a cool head band.

Thought for sure JL would get 600 after smoking 545.  Wenning was at Lexen doing some nickel and dime shit when I was there this afternoon.  He made no mention of the bench contest.  Of course he doesn't talk to me to begin with.


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## DLDave (Nov 16, 2008)

Yep, that was cro-magnum with the sweet headband.  He's got a pretty good shirted bench from a couple of vids I've seen, he's apparently testing that new Ace shirt out there.  He shows up a little later shirted-up with ~600 lb with the blue padded board thing.  JL stalled hard just short of lock-out on that last rep.  You should suggest to him to do more 3 and 4 boards to fix that.   I think that was Travis Bell in the red Westside shirt.


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## DLDave (Nov 18, 2008)

11/18 Squat/DL Assistance

Chain suspended cambered bar good mornings against double-choked minis
240 + bands x 5
290 + bands x 5
330 + bands x 5 (3 sets)

Seated leg extensions
3 sets of 10

Single-leg reverse hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10

45 degree back raise
3 sets of 12

Purple band standing ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

Machine shrugs
3 plates per side for 4 sets of 15

Hex dumbbell static holds
25 lb for 30 seconds
25 lb for 30 seconds
25 lb for 60 seconds

Lower back is fried, and shoulders were already beat up coming into today, GM's didn't help.


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## DLDave (Nov 20, 2008)

11/20 DE Bench

Reverse Band Bench (purple bands)
225 x 8
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 3
425 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3

Reverse band bench pulldowns (double-choked purples)
4 sets of 20

Cable low row
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10
210 x 10

Reverse pec deck
130 for 3 sets of 10

Double purple band face pulls (choked at top of Smith rack)
4 sets of 15

Double purple band tricep pushdowns (choked at top of Smith rack)
4 sets of 25

Got called into work this morning and missed ME day at Lexen, so hauled my purple bands into the commercial gym to play around with some new stuff.  Purples felt like they took 50-60 lbs off at the chest and not much if anything at lockout.  The 425 wasn't particularly difficult, but stopped there as I'll probably take something heavy-ish this weekend.   The pulldowns were done with the same band setup in the rack except I double-choked at the top to add a little more resistance, and setup the same on the bench, same bar path, etc.  This would be pretty effective with more resistance, but it still did hit the lats pretty well at the bottom with the purples.  The double band face pulls and pushdowns lit my delts and tris pretty well.


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## DLDave (Nov 22, 2008)

11/22 Squat/Deadlift

Foam box squat w/ reverse mini-bands
235 x 5
325 x 5
415 x 3
Add briefs
465 x 2
505 x 2
555 x 2
595 x 2
645 x 2
685 x 2

Rack pulls against quadded-minis, bottom pin
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 2
455 x 1
495 x 1

Reverse hypers (roller)
210 for 4 sets of 10

Kneeling Ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

Standing hamstring curl
3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swing through
24 kg for 3 sets of 10

Lower back is good and blown up, again.  Using the minis for reverse bands on squat was about useless with the weight we were using, probably took less than 50 off at the bottom, and the foam didn't allow for any rebound with the bands.  This is the heaviest I've gone since adjusting form, and form didn't breakdown with the heavy weight.  Left something in the tank on the pulls, will probably take something to failure next week as it's been awhile.


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## DLDave (Nov 23, 2008)

11/23 ME Bench

Bench
225 x 6
275 x 3
315 x 2
Add Rage X
365 x 3 (no touch)
405 x 3 (no touch)
455 x 1 (2nd rep rolled forward)
475 x 2 (no touch, 2nd almost touched)
Add 4 board for lockout work
495 x 5

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Hammer Curls
25 for 3 sets of 12

Rope pushdowns
3 sets of 15

Tweaked left bicep on one of the shirted reps, most likely the 475 when my wrists cocked way back trying to touch.  I really need to work on keeping wrists straight when trying to touch, when I don't I start having arm issues.  This isn't an issue when benching raw, but adding the shirt throws my technique off.   Bar path was off today too, shirt felt tighter in the arms than it did a few weeks ago.  I will probably limit the pressing for the next week as shoulders, elbow, and now bicep aren't feeling 100%, and with the holiday schedule a deload would fit well.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 23, 2008)

Bar path on your first few raw warm-ups look fine.  As the weight gets heavier you start to bring the bar down higher.  Your starting position needs to be over your belly with your elbows in a straight, vertical line with your wrists.  If you bring the bar down low and your wrists roll forward, you're not tucking your elbows in hard enough to get them in a vertical line with your wrists.  If your wrists cock back, you're bringing the bar down too high and the bar will end up on your face.  Today I tried to push the bar over your belly at the start and you kept pushing it back.  If you're gonna bring the bar down high from the start, you can't tuck your elbows or else you'll handcuff yourself.   I had to completely change the way I bench when I got my first Karins shirt and it took about 8 straight sessions in the shirt to get it right.  

I would suggest skipping this meet and instead work on your shirted form.   This way you can concentrate on perfecting your form instead of trying to get ready for a meet.  You've already done what, like 3 meets in the last 2 months?   If you really feel like competing in January, do a single lift.  Maybe go for a 750 deadlift.  If I can stay healthy, I may do the bench only and go for 550 plus.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 23, 2008)

Here's an old video courtesy of Pud.  See how Lynn guides the bar out and my starting position is over the belly.  Forearms are vertical during the decent and elbows are in a vertical line underneath the wrists.  If my starting position was too high and I tried to tuck, the bar would end up on my face in a tricep extension position, not to mention I'm losing like 3-4 inches range of motion.  

YouTube - Pete's 455lbs x 1 bench


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## DLDave (Nov 23, 2008)

Well I haven't committed to this meet, as I said from the start that I'd train for it and do it if my lifts were progressing enough to my next set of goals.  Right now my squat is, my bench isn't, and who knows about my deadlift.  From now on, any bench rep under 500 is going to boards.  I'm not taking another rep under 500 in competition anyways, so I shouldn't give a damn if I can touch 455.  I'm taking unnecessary wear and tear fighting for that last inch to touch with that light weight, and it's impacting my ability to put a heavier weight in my hands.

Besides, I need to stay within 1000 pounds of Donnie Thompson to still have a shot at him.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 24, 2008)

Problem is you're misgrooving the bar from the start, whether there's a board there or not.  You don't want to work on form using heavy weight or you'll get hurt.  When I was learning the shirt, if there was a form issue during a session, I always repeated the weight before going up.  I still do that in the squat and bench.  Even if I make the weight, if there's a major form issue I'll repeat the weight.  Just make sure you get enough practice touching.  Too many benchers out there train exclusively with boards and wonder why they can't touch anything in a meet.   here's a louie article you've probably seen about this:

http://www.westside-barbell.com/Articles Top Ten/Articles 2008/BENCH_LOCKOUT_aug_08.pdf

Dan went 800-540-660.  He missed an 840 squat and 685 dead.  Burke went 695-535-555.  Only made his squat opener.


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## DLDave (Nov 24, 2008)

The problem with the weight I've been using is that I end up trying to touch.   I start off trying to descend faster and end up fighting for those last inches.   I think I can still work on form and hitting the groove with moderate weight by using boards, might just have to alter the position of the board so I have a target that I can see.  On those weeks, I would still want to end with a weight that I can try to touch, so that I'm not working solely with boards.  Something like boards for 365, 405, 455, etc., and then no boards for 500, 515, etc.  

That's right around where I figured Dan would end up.  I didn't think he'd end up pulling as high as he was talking about.  Did Burke miss on depth?


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 24, 2008)

That will work.  In the Mondo shirt I don't try to touch anything less than 455.  As soon as the bar stops I start pushing back up.  Once you figure out how much weight it takes to touch you don't have to try to touch the lighter warm-ups.

Dan tried to unrack an 840 third attempt but it was misloaded on one side. They let him repeat at the end of the flight but he missed.  He said he locked out a 685 deadlift but judges turned it down for not having his shoulders back.

Burke missed a 740 second because he was hovering too long in the hole and the spotters grabbed the bar.  He then got crushed with a 770 third.


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## DLDave (Nov 25, 2008)

11/25 SQ/DL Assistance

Good mornings, chain-suspended with cambered bar against green bands
150 + bands x 10
200 + bands x 5
240 + bands x 5
290 + bands x 5
330 + bands x 5
380 + bands x 5

Seated leg extension against 2 purples
3 sets of 10

Reverse hypers (roller)
210 for 4 sets of 10

Kneeling ab pulldowns
4 sets of 10

The cambered bar was loaded up in the rack with the greens from the morning crew when I got to the gym, and I laughed at first about doing them, but did them anyways.  Tension wasn't much fun, but it felt like a good workout.  Cut the rest of the back work short as I'll do plenty of tomorrow since I'll move bench assistance up a day.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 25, 2008)

Are you lifting SUnday or are you out of town?


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## DLDave (Nov 25, 2008)

I'm out of town Saturday and Sunday, squatting Friday morning with Lynn.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 25, 2008)

I'm out of town tomorrow through Monday.  I told Lynn to Lynn to hit some reverse band triples, then put the shirt on, load up the weight and do more triples to overload his lock-out but I don't think anyone will be there Sunday to help him.


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## PeteTheGreek (Nov 25, 2008)

How was the tension with the greens?  Were they doubled?  380 with the doubled minis was about my limit.


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## DLDave (Nov 25, 2008)

It was a lot of tension with the greens.  I didn't really check to see how they were hooked, the bottom was around both pegs to form a triangle.  I wasn't going to bother with them since I was by myself and it looked like it was going to be brutal, but Dan was already running his mouth about tying my total, I figured I wouldn't hear the end if I took the bands off.


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## DLDave (Nov 26, 2008)

11/26 Bench Assistance

Flat bench
135 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 10

Wide-grip pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Reverse pec deck
3 sets of 10

Seated low cable row
3 sets of 10

Face Pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10

Panora pressdowns
80 for 3 sets of 15

Dumbbell side raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
40 x 10

I watched a good amount of bench seminar video the past couple of days and couldn't resist putting on some light weight to work on bar path.  Most of the pulling movements were kept moderate to avoid aggravating any of these nagging injuries.


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## DLDave (Nov 28, 2008)

11/28 Squat/Deadlift

Box squat with much-hated SSB
belt-only, no briefs
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 3 for 5 sets

Rack pulls, pin 5 (just below knees)
(some various warm-up weights that I don't remember)
445 x 2
535 x 2
645 x 2
755 x 1
805 x 0 (barely moved, bar too far in front)
805 x 0 (miss at lockout)

Reverse hypers/GHR superset
Hypers: 140 for 3 sets of 10
GHR: 3 sets of 10

Green band standing ab pulldowns
4 sets of 15

Took a bit of a deload on the squat today to give my shoulders a break from holding the straight bar.  I'm not a big fan of the SSB since it's difficult to sit back with it, but it gives the shoulders a break.  Wanted to take some rack pulls to failure since it's been awhile since I've a good strain when pulling, and the 2nd 805 definitely accomplished that, as I couldn't get my shoulders pulled back.  It's been awhile since I've pulled from pins at this height, and I'm not sure I got my hips dropped much at all.


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## Stewart14 (Nov 28, 2008)

dave, well, you know how I feel about gear, but I was actually wondering is there anything you can get that would serve as protection without forcing you to relearn your entire movement or give you a 100 pound edge?  On the Inzer site, they have the blast shirt and the z-suit and both are relatively inexpensive, so I would assume these are far from the real deal bench shirts and squat suits, would something like that if you were to get a bigger size say provide you with hip and shoulder protection without a huge numbers advantage?


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## Stewart14 (Nov 28, 2008)

DLDave said:


> 11/28 Squat/Deadlift
> 
> Box squat with much-hated SSB
> belt-only, no briefs
> ...



is this your normal max effort day?  do you usually do heavy squats and deads in the same session?


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## Seanp156 (Nov 29, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> dave, well, you know how I feel about gear, but I was actually wondering is there anything you can get that would serve as protection without forcing you to relearn your entire movement or give you a 100 pound edge? On the Inzer site, they have the blast shirt and the z-suit and both are relatively inexpensive, so I would assume these are far from the real deal bench shirts and squat suits, would something like that if you were to get a bigger size say provide you with hip and shoulder protection without a huge numbers advantage?


 
I have a ~20 year old Inzer Z-Suit that's sized for a 220lber. When it was given to me, I weighed ~192ish and it still gave me a decent advantage over my raw squat. Nothing incredible, but probably ~40-50lbs. As I've gotten a little more used to it, gained weight (~208lbs now) and used my briefs with it, I get ~80lbs more over raw.


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## DLDave (Nov 29, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> is this your normal max effort day?  do you usually do heavy squats and deads in the same session?



Yes, we typically do some sort of deadlift on squat day.  It's not always a full max effort deadlift, but it's usually somewhere above speed pulls, and pretty heavy every 2-3 weeks.  If you look through my log over the past few months, we've gotten away from the traditional Westside template as we have only 1 day per week where we do both squat and deadlift, and the other lower day is lower back and hamstring work through other movements, instead of speed squats and speed pulls.

On your other question, see Sean's reply on the Z-suit.  I have no experience with the Blast shirt, but I do know some people who use the Blast shirt a size big to get the shoulder support.  Even a properly fitted Blast shirt won't give you much carryover from your raw bench, and I've heard they're very uncomfortable when fitted properly.


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## PeteTheGreek (Dec 1, 2008)

Chuck F's going after the all time shw record?  He'll need to go 1200-800-910.


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## DLDave (Dec 1, 2008)

PeteTheGreek said:


> Chuck F's going after the all time shw record?  He'll need to go 1200-800-910.



I suppose it's doable.  He didn't get crushed by the 1150 or whatever it was he attempted at the last Pro-Am, and he should be good for a 900 pull soon.  That would be a big jump on the bench though.  It would be nice to see the WR set with legit lifts, and Chuck definitely squats to depth.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 1, 2008)

ok posting this here, but really dave, sean, or pete can answer.   What exactly does it feel like to squat in a suit?  I mean, what should I expect to feel the first time I try the z-suit and squat?  The suit lets you squat more.  OK, so lets say I can squat 405 with just my belt.  So with the suit, maybe you figure add 50 pounds to that to get 455.  Now, obviously there is no way I get that raw, so how exactly does it help you squat the weight?  If the weight is more than I can handle without the suit, how do I not get crushed by the weight?  what is the work in period to get up to that advantage?  Like, I just can't see loading up the bar with 50 more pounds and squatting it, do you just proceed like you normally would, but you are able to just keep going up in effect, where without the suit you would be stuck?

i hope i am being clear.


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## DLDave (Dec 1, 2008)

12/1 Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
225 x 8
135 x 8

Chest-assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10
5 plates for 5

Reverse pec deck
150 for 3 sets of 10

Face pulls
100 x 15
120 x 15
140 x 15

Panora pressdowns (hold lockout for 3 seconds each rep)
80 for 3 sets of 10

Was out of town this weekend and missed bench day yesterday, so picked up some moderate raw weight today. Mainly working on faster descent and maintaining a slide type of bar path, got a good feel for it raw but it's a different ballgame with the shirt on. Threw some down sets in at the end to get a few more reps in.

Key clips from the Metal Militia seminar DVD I've been using to work on technique and bar path:





YouTube Video















YouTube Video















YouTube Video















YouTube Video


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## DLDave (Dec 2, 2008)

Stewart20 said:


> ok posting this here, but really dave, sean, or pete can answer.   What exactly does it feel like to squat in a suit?  I mean, what should I expect to feel the first time I try the z-suit and squat?  The suit lets you squat more.  OK, so lets say I can squat 405 with just my belt.  So with the suit, maybe you figure add 50 pounds to that to get 455.  Now, obviously there is no way I get that raw, so how exactly does it help you squat the weight?  If the weight is more than I can handle without the suit, how do I not get crushed by the weight?  what is the work in period to get up to that advantage?  Like, I just can't see loading up the bar with 50 more pounds and squatting it, do you just proceed like you normally would, but you are able to just keep going up in effect, where without the suit you would be stuck?
> 
> i hope i am being clear.



I follow what you're asking.  I don't know if Sean follows this log much, but he could best answer specifics about the Z-suit.  I can tell you some general info based on my experience with a couple different 2-ply briefs and suits, which will be somewhat relevant for you.  A suit or briefs provides support in the hips and legs, and a suit will add support up your back as well.  At the bottom of the squat, with proper form, the suit will act as a harness and catch you.  A good suit will also provide some rebound to help reverse your direction.  That doesn't mean that you can load 300 lbs over your raw max on the bar on Day 1 and the suit will keep you from getting crushed.  Your body is still very much involved.  The suit keeps your body tight so that you hips, groin, etc don't explode.  Once you're ready to use your Z-suit, I'd suggest just going through your normal squat workout a few times to adjust to it.  Once you're comfortable, then start going to your raw max and slightly above to see how it goes.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 2, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Was out of town this weekend and missed bench day yesterday, so picked up some moderate raw weight today. Mainly working on faster descent and maintaining a slide type of bar path, got a good feel for it raw but it's a different ballgame with the shirt on. Threw some down sets in at the end to get a few more reps in.



I like what they were saying about sliding the bar, seems to make sense, I might have to try it with some light weight before saturday to see if it is something that I can use right away, or if I am going to have to spend time perfecting it.  I am sure I will know by 225 whether or not it's going to work for me in time for the meet.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 2, 2008)

DLDave said:


> I follow what you're asking.  I don't know if Sean follows this log much, but he could best answer specifics about the Z-suit.  I can tell you some general info based on my experience with a couple different 2-ply briefs and suits, which will be somewhat relevant for you.  A suit or briefs provides support in the hips and legs, and a suit will add support up your back as well.  At the bottom of the squat, with proper form, the suit will act as a harness and catch you.  A good suit will also provide some rebound to help reverse your direction.  That doesn't mean that you can load 300 lbs over your raw max on the bar on Day 1 and the suit will keep you from getting crushed.  Your body is still very much involved.  The suit keeps your body tight so that you hips, groin, etc don't explode.  Once you're ready to use your Z-suit, I'd suggest just going through your normal squat workout a few times to adjust to it.  Once you're comfortable, then start going to your raw max and slightly above to see how it goes.



so when you say the suit should "catch" you, if you are using proper form should you then be literally "dive bombing" into the squat and not really focus on your muscles doing the lowering?  Right now, I descend pretty quick, but completely under control, it's like a controlled negative, and then go back up, but with the suit, and correct me if I am wrong here, you can just drop with the confidence that the suit will catch you?


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## DLDave (Dec 2, 2008)

You'll still want to descend under control, and I doubt that the Z-suit will fully stop you, but you get the idea.  A tight 2-ply suit with tight 2-ply briefs will require a good amount of weight to get proper depth, but the Z-suit won't give you quite that much support.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 2, 2008)

DLDave said:


> You'll still want to descend under control, and I doubt that the Z-suit will fully stop you, but you get the idea.  A tight 2-ply suit with tight 2-ply briefs will require a good amount of weight to get proper depth, but the Z-suit won't give you quite that much support.



right, i kind of figured that, I was just looking for some support because I am creeping up into 400 pound territory and really don't want to injure myself if I don't have to, lol.  i won't even look at a 2 ply suit until I am able to join a gym full time and train with guys that use them all the time


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## DLDave (Dec 2, 2008)

Honestly, getting some reps in the suit will give you the best answers to your questions.  It's difficult to understand lifting with gear until you give it a try.


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## DLDave (Dec 2, 2008)

12/2 Squat/Deadlift Assistance

Good mornings with chain-suspended cambered bar
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 3, 4 sets

Standing hamstring curl
4 sets of 10

Seated leg extension
75 for 3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swing thrus
small kettlebell for 1 set of 10
52 lb kettlebell for 3 sets of 10

Kneeling ab pulldowns
3 sets of 10

Machine shrugs
315 for 1 sets of 30
315 for 2 sets of 20

45 degree back raise
52 lb kettlebell on chest for 2 sets of 10
BW for 1 set of 10

Would've had 405 on the GM, but the bar was misloaded.  Lower back is good and fried, kb swingthrus did a number on my hamstrings too.  Finally got my altered Predators back from Inzer, had them make some major adjustments so tried them on in the gym as I needed something to hook onto to pull them on.  These are good and tight, I might finally have some briefs that require some weight to get to parallel.


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## DLDave (Dec 4, 2008)

12/4 DE Bench

Speed bench
225 for 6 sets of 3

Barbell rows
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10

Seated low cable rows
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10

Overhead tricep cable extensions
80 for 3 sets of 10

Face pulls
100 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
160 x 12

Panora pressdowns
80 for 3 sets of 10

Reverse wrist curls
50 for 3 sets of 10

Speed bench wasn't so speedy, as I was working on technique again, pretty much resetting between each rep.  I learned during the barbell rows that we're taking a heavy squat this weekend to start circa max, and everyone else deloaded on Tues (I didn't), so I figured I should stop the barbell rows as this stresses my lower back, which is still fairly tight from the GM's on Tues.  So Sat should be fun.


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## PeteTheGreek (Dec 4, 2008)

This guy lifts at the Y, not a bad touch and go bench for an old man.  Says he's benching at the Pro-Am:

YouTube - Jeff Chrissis Hits a Personal Best Bench Press of 425 lbs.!

Here's Palmo, he's doing the full meet at the Pro-Am:

YouTube - Palmo Aracri bench-presses a massive 605 pounds


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## PeteTheGreek (Dec 5, 2008)

Please be advised that Dan took the purple bands off the base of the varsity rack so the girls could do reverse bands squats in the JV rack.  Dan did not put them back when they were done.  In case Chuck has a meltdown, we had nothing to do with it.


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## DLDave (Dec 6, 2008)

No meltdowns today, Chuck and crew took a road trip to EFS


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## DLDave (Dec 6, 2008)

12/6 Squat/Deadlift

Free squat
(various warm-up doubles in Predators and belt)
505 x 1
545 x 1
595 x 1
635 x 1
add suit, straps down, no wraps
685 x 1
straps up
725 x 1 (smoked)
775 x 0 (lost air halfway up)

Deadlifts against doubled minibands
135 x 3
225 x 3
Add suit with straps up
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 1

Kneeling ab pulldowns, superset with standing leg curls
3 sets of 10

Other than the bar crushing my traps somewhere in the 500's and leading to some very painful singles the rest of the way, the squats felt very strong.  Everything was flying up, even the 775 was coming up fast until I took a breath halfway up (wtf?).  Feedback was that form was dialed in today, if I can keep it that way through circa max I should have a shot at something close to 800 in January.  The Predators were very tight, which was good in the hole with the heavier weight.  After having those on for nearly 2 hours, wearing the suit only on the deadlifts felt very loose.  Shutdown the deadlifts a few sets early as I was out of gas and traps were killing me at lockout.


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## PeteTheGreek (Dec 6, 2008)

Did you use that squat bar from hell?  I can barely get my hands around it


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## DLDave (Dec 6, 2008)

No, they took it to Elite.  I guess I'm going to have to wait the 3 hours it will take to squat in the varsity mono if I want to use it before the meet.


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## DLDave (Dec 7, 2008)

12/7 Bench

Flat bench
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Rage X
405 x 3 (2-board)
405 x 3 (2-board)
455 x 3 (2-board)
Add reverse green bands for lockout work
495 x 3 (no touch)
545 x 3 (no touch)

Chest assisted row
1 plate for 10
2 plates for 10
3 plates for 10
4 plates for 10

Rope pushdowns
3 sets of 10

Bench felt much better with new groove, and most of the weight came up pretty fast.  I wanted to stick with moderate weight to work on groove and also since my shoulders are a wreck after the heavy squats yesterday.  Threw in some reverse band lockout work at the end since it was setup, probably shouldn't have tried to touch those weights but didn't fight it too much at the bottom.


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## DLDave (Dec 9, 2008)

12/9 Squat/Deadlift assistance

Zercher GM's
225 for 5 sets of 5

Chuck V lower back harness, worn backwards
2 plates for 3 trips of ~30 yards

Reverse Hypers (strap)
245 for 3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swing thrus
26 kg for 3 sets of 10

Standing hamstring curl
3 sets of 10

Kneeling ab pulldowns
3 sets of 12

Hammer curls
35 for 3 sets of 12

Kettlebell shrugs
16 kg for 4 sets of 15

Hex dumbbell hold
16 kg for 30 seconds
26 kg for 30 seconds, 2 sets
26 kg for 60 seconds

Took it somewhat easy today as shoulders are still in bad shape from the weekend.  The Chuck V harness is some contraption that Chuck had welded together, looks sorta like the Zercher harness but slightly different.  When worn correctly, it blows up your posterior chain.  We were instructed to wear it backwards today, which made it more difficult to stay balanced.


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## DLDave (Dec 11, 2008)

12/11 DE Bench

Speed bench
185 for 4 sets of 3 (reps as fast as possible)
225 for 4 sets of 3 (fast single rep, reset between)

Strip the rack press
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 5
495 x 5

Cable rows
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 10
200 x 10

Side raises
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10

Rope pushdown
60 for 4 sets of 20

Face pulls
100 x 10
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10

Abs
3 sets of 10

Basic stuff, bar was moving fast on the 185 sets and took some heavier reps to work on technique.


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## DLDave (Dec 13, 2008)

12/13 Squat/Deadlift

Reverse band free squat, with green bands
(warm-ups of various weights)
Add Predators
405 x 2
495 x 2
555 x 2
595 x 2
645 x 2
Add parallel box
685 x 2
735 x 2
775 x 2 (smoked)
825 x 1 (smoked)

Speed pulls against doubled minis
325 for 5 sets of singles

45 degree back raise w/ 16 kg kettlebell
3 sets of 10

Abs on decline bench w/ 16 kg kettlebell
3 sets of 10

So much for the deload day that I was expecting.  The 825 felt good, I could've doubled it and had another good 50+ lbs in me.  It's amazing how much easier it is to squat when you put your body in the right position to handle the weight.  The greens feel like they take off maybe 100 in the hole.  All of the free squats were called below parallel per Chuck, as he's expecting tight judging in this meet.  Worked on technique on the speed pulls, including locking my knees hard at lockout, as I've been getting into a bad habit of locking them and then letting them slightly unlock as I pull my shoulders back.  This is probably going to take some verbal cues, as it's an easy fix if I can remember to do it.


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## DLDave (Dec 13, 2008)

Where the hell did PeteTheGreek's journal go?  It's vanished


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## DLDave (Dec 13, 2008)

8 hours later, I remember that the bands we used today were purple.


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## Seanp156 (Dec 13, 2008)

DLDave said:


> Where the hell did PeteTheGreek's journal go?  It's vanished



He had the mod's delete it.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 13, 2008)

why,? what happened?


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## DLDave (Dec 14, 2008)

PeteTheGreek has decided to give mixed martial arts a try, look for him on the old guys circuit


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## DLDave (Dec 14, 2008)

12/14 Bench

Bench
225 x 8
275 x 3
315 x 1
Add Rage X
405 x 3 (2-board)
455 x 3 (2-board)
505 x 1 (no touch)
525 x 1 (no touch)
525 x 1 (no touch)

Skipped reverse bands as arm wasn't feeling great

Wide-grip pulldowns
3 plates for 3 sets of 10

Rope pushdowns
3 sets of 10

Mini-band pull aparts
4 sets of 15

Mini-band face pulls
4 sets of 12

Wanted to try to touch an opener today, which didn't work out as planned, as I took the handoff too far over face on the 505 and tweaked my bicep, which resulted in being too cautious and slow on the 2 525's.  Considering dropping the Rage X again and going with the denim for this meet.  I know I can hit 600 in the Rage X if I can get the bar path dialed-in consistently, not so sure that the denim can get there.


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## Stewart14 (Dec 14, 2008)

DLDave said:


> PeteTheGreek has decided to give mixed martial arts a try, look for him on the old guys circuit



for real?


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## DLDave (Dec 16, 2008)

12/16 Squat/Deadlift assistance

Chain-suspended good mornings w/reverse blue band
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
405 x 5

Speed pulls
315 for 6 sets of singles

Back extension holding plates at chest
2 25's for 10
2 35's for 10
2 45's for 10

Reverse hypers
210 for 3 sets of 10 (strap)

Abs against blue band on GHR
3 sets of 15

Static plate holds
2 25's for 30 seconds for 3 sets (single handed)
2 45's for 30 seconds for 2 sets (two handed)

Reverse band on the GM's didn't do much, starting position wasn't low enough to take much off at the bottom, and the bar came out of the bands before the halfway point.  Lower back was good and tight by the end of the back extensions though.


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