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Sweetlou's training log

I think geared lifting is awsome but as long raw lifters continue to close the gap between the 2 I think it's going to continue be come less and less appealing not to say there aren't great numbers to be had its as geared, just the huge weight gaps aren't there. That's just the way I see it could be wrong only been doing this a year

The answer is simple, buddy. Do your part to save equipped lifting and gear up! Jayson would have you totaling 1600 by March,
 
It sounds so fun

I keep begging and begging for you to gear up lol. I'd love to see you squat something redonkulous in gear after you grab up 705. And bench mid to high 4s and pull mid 6s.
 
The gap closing is a big part of why its going away. My only issue with raw is that the with equipprd lifting i can get better gear or get better at using it. Most top raw guys i know just up the dose. So instead of putting more gear on they put it in them. Most i know cruise on 1g+ year round of test.

I will do my part to keep geared lifting going. Over the next several years i hope to squat over a grand and make a run for a top 10 total. I doubt i could ever take shawn frankls 220 world record tho.
 
My gym still has some big geared guys. We actually had the #1 198er in the world for a couple months. He is now number 3. The owner gets his training from Dave Hoff and does IPA meets in gear.

It is fewer than raw though. Still exists, but I think it takes a special person to put on a bench shirt haha(referring to the pain aspect)
 
My gym still has some big geared guys. We actually had the #1 198er in the world for a couple months. He is now number 3. The owner gets his training from Dave Hoff and does IPA meets in gear.

It is fewer than raw though. Still exists, but I think it takes a special person to put on a bench shirt haha(referring to the pain aspect)

Nice to know its still out there.

The bench shirt is the only thing to blow out blood vessels in my eyes, serious love hate with it.
 
Programing for the next 8 weeks, this should set me up to get back into meet prep come feb to get ready for may. Decided to switch up the way i hit my assistance work. My first movement after the main work will get 100% but everything after that should be more bbing style stuff, more volume, and just work to keep me ready for full gear again. Also will be in gear every 3 weeks for now and light briefs for de work.
 
Looking forward to it. I do something similar; main lift dirt then some bb type stuff.
 
The gap closing is a big part of why its going away. My only issue with raw is that the with equipprd lifting i can get better gear or get better at using it. Most top raw guys i know just up the dose. So instead of putting more gear on they put it in them. Most i know cruise on 1g+ year round of test. I will do my part to keep geared lifting going. Over the next several years i hope to squat over a grand and make a run for a top 10 total. I doubt i could ever take shawn frankls 220 world record tho.

It seems like geared guys have better longevity as well. Lots of the raw guys peak pretty young and then they break down in one form or fashion. Not saying that there isn't a lot of injuries to gear guys, though. I have no doubt you'll get to that 2k mark in the next year.
 
It seems like geared guys have better longevity as well. Lots of the raw guys peak pretty young and then they break down in one form or fashion. Not saying that there isn't a lot of injuries to gear guys, though. I have no doubt you'll get to that 2k mark in the next year.

Thanks man. I hope to push it and finally get the total i want. I have a video of my 755 ill get from my friend and throw it up for you guys.

I like the sound of longevity, id like to stay in the game for awhile and stay as healthy as i can.
 
As far as longevity goes I think the protective nature of the gear definitely helps. However, some of this is off-set by the increased loads you'll be handling. It's give and take
 
As far as longevity goes I think the protective nature of the gear definitely helps. However, some of this is off-set by the increased loads you'll be handling. It's give and take

I agree with this. However i feel tears are less likey. The real problems come when the loads are far far higher than raw. Also when one miss grooves and looses balance.
 
Right. The gear injuries are mostly nagging, and in places like the elbows. Related to extreme poundages moreso than exposing your body to strain without protection.

When a raw guy gets strong enough to move giant weights, they can do everything right and still have a blowout. When you're a raw guy, you have to contend with potential pec and hamstring tears etc. and especially damage to the hip and shoulder joints. Once you fck your shoulder or hip, you're just not the same. Hence the original application of powerlifting equipment.

But the gear guys simply do last longer. A lot still going well in their mid-to-late 40s, Chuck V, Andy Bolton to name a couple. Not without their problems, in Chuck's case. Not the same can be said for raw lifters.
 
12/24/14-active rest
Wide grip pulldowns (broken into two part, downward rotation of scap with straight arms then do pulldown and pause for a second and release)
120x2x8
Goblet squat/glute bridge
25x10/bwx10
45x10/bwx20
Gpp: 1 lap forward and 1 lap backwards with sled. Each step taken with purpose and trying to contract the muscles as hard as i can.
45x3
Unilateral leg press (trying to use tue fullest rom possible each rep)
90x2x12
Bilateral
90x20
Reverse hypers w/ light band (trying to decompress spine as much as possible and contract glutes)
2x15
Notes: since i only had one good lift at the meet i hardly felt beat up from it. I know im not ready for 100% so i came in and went through my upper and lower mobility routines and warm ups. The pulldowns are always done before benching and the goblet/glute bridge superset is always done before squating/pulling i just never list them. My low back and hips were tight so i addressed them also. Hope to be going 100% next week.
 
12/26/14-de bench
De bench w/ slingshot and chain, 2 grips (4 raw comp/4 geared comp)
225+40lbs chainx8x3
Sohp w/ swiss bar wide grip
135x3x8
155x5
Chest supported cambered bar pendlay row
145x10
165x8
185x6
165x2x8
Rolling db ext on floor/light band standing crossovers (pec rehab)
30x4x15/4x10
Bb curls/unilateral micro band facepulls
65x10
55x2x10
100 total reps of facepulls
Notes: went easier on the de work weight wise and sohp was always 1 or so reps short of failure. Otherwise im shocked i was able to handle so much volume my first real session back. I feel like i picked up right where i left off.
 
I'm thinking the bomb day was less stressful than a standard ME day, So you won't have to do nearly as much of the post-meet rigamarole. Perks of bombing, ey?
 
I'm thinking the bomb day was less stressful than a standard ME day, So you won't have to do nearly as much of the post-meet rigamarole. Perks of bombing, ey?

Yeah im gonna agree, i no longer feel beat up and im mentally 100% back. I feel no reason to keep myself out of my gear as much as i thought i needed to. Had i felt this good during meet prep i think it would have all went better.
 
12/27/14-de squat/deadlift
Warm up-goblet squats/Hip thrusts/unilateral leg press (fullest rom possible)
25x10/bwx12/90x5, 2 sets
De box squat to low box w/ soft pad. Sinked to just below parallel. With single ply briefs and chains.
325 floatedx1
375x2
375+40lbs chainx2
375+80lbs chainx6x2
De sumo deadlift with single ply briefs and chains.
315+60lbs chainx9x1
Ghrs
Bwx2x10
15x2x5
Reverse hypers with 2 doubled minis
25+bandsx3x15
Standing cable crunches
105x15
120x12
135x10,8
Gpp: backwards sled dragging with 45lbs on sled.
3 laps.
Notes: still feel great. Moved very fast today. So the base weight ill have to use for de squatting is around 375 or 50% my equipped 1rm. I was hoping lighter would have worked but ill take it. I kept the de pulling on the lighter side. Groove felt great on both lifts tho. Other wise i kept the rest 1-2 reps short of failure and got my volume in. Also figured out i was grabbing to close on squats and need to widen my grip a touch to maintain proper thorasic positioning.
 
12/29/14-me bench
Warm up
Wide grip lat pulldowns, down on tqo part motion with pause at bottom
105x2x8
Floor press
295x1
315x1
325x1
335x1 pr
345x0
Floor jm press with chains
135+120lbs chainx5,5,4
Wide grip lat pulldowns
135x12
150x10,8
135x10,10
Low incline db press with mini band
60+bandx3x10
Side raises/mini band pullapart complex with extra overhand and underhand sets.
15x3x15/2 sets 10 reps each way
Notes: used a thumb away from smooth today instead of pinky on ring grip. I have more pop of the bottom with this grip but i slow down mid way. Thats very unusual for me. I managed a 10lb floor press pr with no direct raw bench work in awhile using this grip. I will have to work with more to smooth out my back tightness too. However i lowered the bar with more speed with this grip and no pec issues. Then smashed my tris and some volume.
 
Looks like a fun day! You'll like thumb from smooth, It "suits' you. Or should I say shirts? The transition is a little odd, it's easy for me to lose my scaps, but if I keep my elbows in it helps me. Your mileage may vary.
 
Looks like a fun day! You'll like thumb from smooth, It "suits' you. Or should I say shirts? The transition is a little odd, it's easy for me to lose my scaps, but if I keep my elbows in it helps me. Your mileage may vary.

I noticed my back losing tightness easier but i could finally use my strong triceps for something. I will stick with it the next 8 weeks and test my raw bench then before jumping into my equipped training cycle. I can see the need for more tricep work benching with this grip tho. Will work on it.
 
Ok im posting this for peoples thoughts. After reading the matt wenning article in power magazine a few things stood out to me.
1) waving de bench, i have now programmed this and im curious to see how a progressive band/chain cycle ony de bench and de squat will carryover to my equipped lifting and even raw lifting.
2) using warm up circuits of assistance work to not only increase work capacity but also ensure your work gets in and is quality after the heavy stuff. Idk how many of you train at competitive gyms but usually every workout takes forever bc of all the help fellow lifters need and how crowded it gets. Also geared lifting usually wipes thr floor with me so i dont have a lot left in tjr tank for the other stuff.

So here are the warm ups ive come up with.

Me/de bench
Low incline db press w/ bands 2x25
Light band pushdowns 2x25
Seated medium grip (bench grip) cable row 2x25

Me/de squat/deadlift
Goblet squats 2x15
Hip thrusts i kinda wanna switch this for banded pullthroughs which will also hit my hams and hips, thoughts? 2x25
Unilateral leg press with fullest rom possible 2x25

After about 2 weeks if im handling this well ill go to 3 sets, then another 2 weeks to 4 sets. Then ill start to chang loads or movements based on weaknesses.

I have removed some assistance work bc of the warm up volume. So the db work i did today will be taken out. I condensed my de bench day also, i removed a hamstring/glute assistence on me squat/deadlift day. Then i also condensed my de squat/deadlift day. By condense i mean i turned some stuff into a superset or triset which allows me to keep tue volume but the intensity comes down do to fatigue. Which is fine bc of the warm up. Also this means my bench and deadlift work will be closer to my status at a meet.
 
This is is my layout for now

Me bench
Warmup
Low incline db with mini band 2x25
Light band pressdowns 2x25
Seated cable rows 2x25

Max effort

Triceps 3-4x5-8
Lats 4-5x8-12
Delts/upper back 3-4x12-15/20-30

Me squat/deadlift
Warmup
Goblet squat 2x15
Light band pullthroughs 2x25
Unilateral leg press 2x25

Max effort

Pause squats 3-4x3-5
Abs 3-4x8-12

Conditioning (possibly)

De bench
Warmup
Same as me bench

De bench

Delts 3-4x5-8
Lats 4-5x8-12
Tris/bis/upper back 60 total reps/60 total reps/100 total reps

Sled dragging for tris/upper back

De squat/deadlift
Warmup
Same as me squat/deadlift

De box squat in briefs
De deadlift in briefs

Hamstrings 3-4x5-8
Abs/low back 3-4x8-12/12-15

Sled dragging for hamstrings/quads

Thoughts?
 
If you could, I'd swap the pullthroughs in your warm-up with KB swings. I like swings a lot better than pullthroughs.
 
I cant handle swings, they torch my hips for about a week if i do them with even 15lb bells lol. Idk why but they just tear me up.

They get me bad, too. My glutes were sore from March until July thanks to swings.
 
They get me bad, too. My glutes were sore from March until July thanks to swings.

Kudos to you for keeping up with them. I know if i could recover from them they would most likely carryover to my sumo pull and wide stance squats. But if i do them. I cant squat or pull for a week. So i avoid them bc of that.
 
IMO swap out uni leg press for light BSS warmup. I'm obsessed with whatever chris duffin does and he does that and it works for me.
 
Kudos to you for keeping up with them. I know if i could recover from them they would most likely carryover to my sumo pull and wide stance squats. But if i do them. I cant squat or pull for a week. So i avoid them bc of that.

I took the hit for a few weeks and it all came back around.
 
IMO swap out uni leg press for light BSS warmup. I'm obsessed with whatever chris duffin does and he does that and it works for me.

Im a huge fan of those and step ups. The leg press was to take pressure of my back which i was dealing with some tightness issues in. But i also know matt wenning does 100 leg press reps before his lower body sessions. Maybe some added rom bss.
 
IMO swap out uni leg press for light BSS warmup. I'm obsessed with whatever chris duffin does and he does that and it works for me.

Ok i changed my lower body to:

Goblet squat with 2 count in hole 2x8
Light Band Pullthroughs performed like a kb swing 2x25
Added ROM BSS 2x25

I will build the pullthroughs up and then try to switch them for kb swings when ive built my hips up enough

Do you think rowing prior to benching or vertical pulling prior would be better? I use to always do pull-ups/pulldowns. But I feel rowing is better for the shoulders long term so I figured I could add more volume with them there.
 
Ok i changed my lower body to:

Goblet squat with 2 count in hole 2x8
Light Band Pullthroughs performed like a kb swing 2x25
Added ROM BSS 2x25

I will build the pullthroughs up and then try to switch them for kb swings when ive built my hips up enough

Do you think rowing prior to benching or vertical pulling prior would be better? I use to always do pull-ups/pulldowns. But I feel rowing is better for the shoulders long term so I figured I could add more volume with them there.

I try to do equal vertical and horizontal pulling. Though most of my "vertical" pulling is done with a lot of body lean. I always do wide neutral grip pulldowns taken to the chin after My shoulder prep. It does an awesome job of clearing out the final gunk from my shoulders and gets some blood into the upper back and external rotators for benching.
 
I try to do equal vertical and horizontal pulling. Though most of my "vertical" pulling is done with a lot of body lean. I always do wide neutral grip pulldowns taken to the chin after My shoulder prep. It does an awesome job of clearing out the final gunk from my shoulders and gets some blood into the upper back and external rotators for benching.

I think equal or doing more rowing is better long term. I have been on the vertical pulling pre bench for a long time, then vertical pulling again as an assistance and horizontal another day of the week as an assistance. This mean ive had 3/4 vertical pulling for a long time and 1/4 horizontal. Ill switch to the other away around for now I guess and see how it goes.
 
Missed most of the discussion so I'll just throw in key points:
I'd sub for KB, but only initially implement them in off season since they hit your body hard.
All external rotation (including facepulls, rear delt work, pullaparts, etc.) should be roughly equal to presses/pulldowns.
 
Missed most of the discussion so I'll just throw in key points:
I'd sub for KB, but only initially implement them in off season since they hit your body hard.
All external rotation (including facepulls, rear delt work, pullaparts, etc.) should be roughly equal to presses/pulldowns.

You guys are gonna bury me with those kb swings. So youre saying kb swing in off season the come meet prep time sub them out for something like pullthroughs?

Do rows count as external rotation?
Bc if not then ive been slacking on my external rotation for some time.
 
You guys are gonna bury me with those kb swings. So youre saying kb swing in off season the come meet prep time sub them out for something like pullthroughs?

Do rows count as external rotation?
Bc if not then ive been slacking on my external rotation for some time.

Yes.
 
Depends on how heavy you can go, we don't all have access to 300# KBs like herder lol.

300# lol. I have access to 80 or 90s. But 15s make me sore for a week. Probably means i need to do them. I usually do them in my sumo deadlift stance. Is there a better stance to use?
 
300# lol. I have access to 80 or 90s. But 15s make me sore for a week. Probably means i need to do them. I usually do them in my sumo deadlift stance. Is there a better stance to use?

Depends on what you're going for, I'd probably rotate with the stance.

Typically when I do them its with a slightly wider than shoulder width stance, although I've not done them in a while. My heaviest are 53#, I might start doing them after DLs though.
 
Depends on what you're going for, I'd probably rotate with the stance.

Typically when I do them its with a slightly wider than shoulder width stance, although I've not done them in a while. My heaviest are 53#, I might start doing them after DLs though.

The main goal would be carryover to sumo pulling and wide stance squats. So to build the glutes, hips, hamstrings.
 
300# lol. I have access to 80 or 90s. But 15s make me sore for a week. Probably means i need to do them. I usually do them in my sumo deadlift stance. Is there a better stance to use?

I do them as narrow as I can fit the bell between my legs. But lots of people do them with their widest comp stance or wider. I'm with Jim, just swing away and make them happen. Any stance will murder the glutes and hams, wide should hit the hips too. Hell, narrow got my hips pretty good due to the violent external rotation force. You can probably even put a mini around your knees for swings since all swings should be done with the bell as near your genitals as possible

15Th edit: if recovery is still an issue, you could do sled walks holding the harness by your crotch with a band around your knees, too. Doesn't hit the hams as well as swings, though.
 
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