Jswain's training log for powerlifting

jswain34 said:
Read "master the squat" by dave tate on tnation. He basically told me to 1: dial in technique and make sure im passing what he calls the "plumb line test". 2. If not, find the stance that allows you to pass the test. 3. Stop being a little pus**, grow some nuts, and squat the weight that is the mental barrier.
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What's this test you speak of?
 
"Above all, be mindful of the path of the barbell. When viewed from the side, the barbell should drop straight down and come straight back up, like you'd dropped a plumb line.

This can occur with any stance and depends 100% on how the lifter is built. So if you're unsure whether your stance is right for you, start there.

However, it's very hard to go from a close stance to a wide stance. It can take upwards of two years to relearn the movement and develop the flexibility, especially if the lifter is very tight.

Many lifters will crap out and just return to their original stance, and I don't blame them. But if the plumb line test reveals they should be squatting wider, they'll never reach their potential if they don't change their ways."
 
8/12 cube bench (heavy) w/ assistance

-was at my girlfriend's gym today so skinny benches and ****ty barbells. Man its crazy how spoiled we get when we go to an actual gym.

Comp BP
Work up
5x2@250
-these felt a little off today. Back kept slipping up on the bench due to it being slippery. I tried putting a rubbery mat down but it didnt help much.
-went with my ring finger on the ring today, the rings felt narrow again, I dunno. They never feel this way at my gym.

CGBP: 2x1-3@265
265x2 @8.5
265x2 - thought about going for 3 here, but decided against it.
Was expecting these to be much harder than they were after last weeks cgbp performance. The pump from the rep day must have just took a lot out od me.
-pinky on edge of knurl and smooth.

SPOTO 1" off chest: 2x4-6@235
2x6@235, these were actually easy. Exaggerated pauses on these.

BW dips:
X20
X10
X10

Supersetted dips with HS MTS high rows:
85x12
85x2x10

Reverse flys
90x15
75x2x15

Chest flys:
105x3x15

Didn't do weighted carries.

Felt pretty good today past the comp benches.

Thats all, thanks for any critiques/comments in advance.
 
Oh, and the rings might be in different places at your gym than a competition bar. I'm almost certain mine are.

But yeah you're right. I'll be in lifting heaven.
 
liftandswim said:
Oh, and the rings might be in different places at your gym than a competition bar. I'm almost certain mine are.

But yeah you're right. I'll be in lifting heaven.
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Theyve gotta be man. Maybe an inch or so?

How far from Herder are you? I'm assuming not very close since you aren't at his gym.
 
jswain34 said:
Theyve gotta be man. Maybe an inch or so?

How far from Herder are you? I'm assuming not very close since you aren't at his gym.
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Idk. These stupid bars aren't a standardized.

And he's in the Pittsburgh area. That's a good 2-2.5 hours from me. I'll find a gym eventually
 
Strong day for sure! One gym I go to has rings that are nowhere near comp rings. Never know where to go. Swim, there are a couple gyms in your area, just have to stay away from the young strong guys that have an invincibility complex, if you know who I mean.
 
liftandswim said:
Oh, and the rings might be in different places at your gym than a competition bar. I'm almost certain mine are.

But yeah you're right. I'll be in lifting heaven.
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When you guys talk about using different bars, I get the feeling our bars are completely inadequate.
 
herderdude said:
Strong day for sure! One gym I go to has rings that are nowhere near comp rings. Never know where to go.
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thanks herder. Yeah, i just kind of go by feel when i think the rings are off. Hopefully i'm right that they're off and am not just randomly switching grip lol.

RegisterJr said:
When you guys talk about using different bars, I get the feeling our bars are completely inadequate.
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You'll understand what we mean when you get your garage gym with a good bar. (Which then i'll be extremely jealous of you for having a cool garage gym).
 
Eh, its not the end of the world to mix grips. Builds peripheral muscle. I wouldn't worry about it until you had a meet in sight.
 
I think some of those commercial gym's weights aren't the same either. I used to switch up LA Fitnesses and I swear I always could lift more at one of them...and it wasn't atmosphere bc it was the ****tiest one of them all.

One good thing Swain, my first couple comps weights were easier than anticipated as I was used to **** bars.

Just trying to stay positive! Solid pressing!
 
rob112 said:
I think some of those commercial gym's weights aren't the same either. I used to switch up LA Fitnesses and I swear I always could lift more at one of them...and it wasn't atmosphere bc it was the ****tiest one of them all.

One good thing Swain, my first couple comps weights were easier than anticipated as I was used to **** bars.

Just trying to stay positive! Solid pressing!
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I totally agree with you. Im sure some of them are 3-5lb off. Luckily i get to use comp bars at my real gym. Just went to LA with the girlfriend last night. I'm staying positive Rob, no worries there!
 
By the way, you all can call me Jared, by my last name Swain, or make up some ending to swain like the majority of my friends do (swainer, etc). It doesn't matter to me. I dunno why I haven't mentioned my actual name way earlier in here.
 
^the subway guy no longer phases me lol. I've been getting that for far too long though. Every damn time someone meets me they say something about that or they sing the jared jewelry song. Whatever
 
jswain34 said:
Haha cool too. i guess i did say call me whatever you want, that ones on me
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That's Just how James rolls. You should see him around here at Christmas...freaking pissed off, kicking ass, and taking names. If it falls on squat day this year God help us all lol
 
8/14 Speed Squat day with comp deadlifts

BUFFALO BAR: 1x~80%; 3x3 ~70% speed work.

I used 480 as my 1rm for my calculations just based off what i did on Monday.

Work up to 295x3 in just sleeves
325x3 +titaniums
385x1
325x3x3

Continuing to get more comfortable with the wraps. Wrapping is getting better slowly but surely.

PARALLEL PAUSE SQ w/ buffalo bar (taken from my cube spreadsheet)
2x10@280

My conditioning is ****. I was breathing hard as hell by rep 6 each of these sets lol. Pauses were a solid 2-3.

CUBE HEAVY DEADLIFT DAY:
Work up
5 sets of 430x2

Videos of sets 2 and 3. I seemed to have lost my positioning a bit. On set 2 you can see the bar come forward off the floor. Im not doing as good of a job of sitting back and pushing my hips into the bar. I angled my feet out a bit more between sets and it seemed to help a bit. I used straps on sets 2-4 because my gym was out of chalk. Set 1 i double overhanded first rep and it started rolling out at lock out. Went with mixed grip on rep 2 and hated it. So i turned to straps. Set 5 i got annoyed with straps and just hooked it without any chalk..that was fun.

Took it a easy with little accessory stuff today. Didnt wanna go into the race tomorrow with sore ass legs and increase the chance of straining something, etc. Dunno..maybe i couldve done a bit..didnt wanna chance it.

Thats all thanks for any comments in advance. Spartan race early tomorrow morning...not too excited about it lol. I'll edit this post and drop the videos in.

Edit: Invalid Link Removed

You can see what i mean there. Instead of the bar coming off the floor when i push my hips through it is just rolling forward away from my shins. Thats bad news.
 
I've been the same day with high reps all week. Once it gets to like 5-6 it becomes a mental game to finish out. Nice work brotha
 
rob112 said:
I've been the same day with high reps all week. Once it gets to like 5-6 it becomes a mental game to finish out. Nice work brotha
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It was brutal. After this meet im getting aboard the EMOM train. I need to up my conditioning.
 
Your body will adapt to this crap quicker than you think. Improvements in work capacity and general fitness come (and go...) rather quickly.
 
liftandswim said:
Your body will adapt to this crap quicker than you think. Improvements in work capacity and general fitness come (and go...) rather quickly.
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I could see that. I mean i used to to 5/3/1 amraps and know i wasnt as gassed as i was today, despite using more weight.
 
Double overhand at 430? You're an animal.
 
Well. Im alive. Other than the fact that my left quad is cramping like a mfer im good to go. And i have a massive blister on my right big toe but thats whatever. Finished the last 2.5 miles in just socks and left my shoes on the course. Goal for the day: consume 8000+ calories (not all ****ty, but some).
 
liftandswim said:
8000 calories, you got room for shîtty! Good to hear you survived
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Yeah it wasn't bad at all with the exception of the cramping in my left vastus medialis, one of my left hamstrings and one of my right calf muscles. Id try and stretch my quad then my ham would cramp. That was like mile 4-5 then i had some electrolyte salt that my buddy had. Fixed me up decent for the rest of the race.
 
Didnt train today. Went to the arlington horse races. Missed 500$ by 1 horse that i said i wanted to bet on earlier in the day. I effed that one up. I went with some buddies and had a good time. Missed my bb/ohp day. Gonna do speed bench tomorrow (cube layout), i might ef around with some chains (never used em before).

I'll now be squatting on wednesday and Fridays/Saturdays to make my last heavy squat day 10 days out from the meet on 9/26. I'll find a wrapped 3rm on Wednesday to use for my calculations from week 5 on until the meet. Next week i'm taking a deload.
 
8/17 bench and made up OP from this weekend's missed workout.

Bench (cube called for speed day at 8sx3r@205)
Work up to 185 w/o chains
185+chains x8s x3r (all paused)

Each of the big chains are around 30lbs. The small ones id guess are somewhere around 15. I had the small ones on in a loop with the big ones draped over that. There were 3 links of the big chain on the floor at the top of the lift. First time using chains ever. I didnt think it was too hard, but now that i look back at it it was probably pretty far over the prescribed weight with the added chains. Oh well, all reps felt fast and smooth.

CGBP:
185x5 warmup
220 x 2s x 5 reps (all paused)

Spoto press @1" off chest:
3x8 reps @ 190

3s week OP starting at work sets:
130x3
150x3
165x3+ (7); pretty happy with this considering i did it after all the above work with my tris. RPE was 9.5; i want to keep my RPE at 9 max on OP with the exception of the 5/3/1+ week; so i probably should've stopped at 6. App estimated 1rm (198-203; two different app estimates gave me the range).

My left lat was a little tight so i did some BW pullups with my first two warmups: 8 reps x2 sets

Unilateral lateral raise (no rest between arms):
20lb x15 rep
20lb x12
15lb x15

I like doing these unilaterally so i can tilt my head to the opposite side which helps me keep my trap and levator scapulae out of the movement.

Facepulls
70x15
80x 4 set x 15 reps

Notes:

During one of my early bench warm up sets i felt a little twinge in my right pec. It was bugging me a bit through all the flat presses but i dont think it hindered performance any. Its nothing major at all, im sure itll be gone by my next pressing session. Just something i want to note for future reference.

Thats all thanks for any comments/critiques in advance. Squat test on Wednesday.
 
Wtf is with this pec bug that's making it's rounds?!

Nice work though. Submaximal training ftw. What's your squat test goal?
 
Haha man i'm sorry i did not catch it. I mean, it still kinda made sense with swim and herders injuries last month and lou and i aggravating something today. i was about to respond to it too.
 
liftandswim said:
Wtf is with this pec bug that's making it's rounds?!

Nice work though. Submaximal training ftw. What's your squat test goal?
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Since i hit [email protected] last week im going for 450x3. Id like to hit 500+ in the comp so if i have 475-485 as my 2nd attempt (using the estimated 1rm from tomorrows test for that) then 500+ on a third is doable.
 
Only got [email protected]. Using my RTS percents that puts 430 as 91-92% of my 1rm. Estimated 1rm of 465-470.

Definitely felt like today was gonna go better. Had confidence going in. Was feeling good. Readiness was there, must just be more of a vag than i thought. Another day of being stuck in concrete out of the hole (edit: including lighter sets, just dont have that pop out of the hole, ill elaborate more when i put the videos up..some real energy leaks when i hit the hole).

Full update and 3 videos will be up later. Videos of last sleeved warmup, 405x3 w/ wraps and then the 430x3 w/ wraps.

I'll keep putting in the work. This is my first real plateau in my lifting career. Time to buckle down.

Hope ya'll have a good one.
 
jswain34 said:
Only got [email protected]. Using my RTS percents that puts 430 as 91-92% of my 1rm. Estimated 1rm of 465-470.

Definitely felt like today was gonna go better. Had confidence going in. Was feeling good. Readiness was there, must just be more of a vag than i thought. Another day of being stuck in concrete out of the hole (edit: including lighter sets, just dont have that pop out of the hole, ill elaborate more when i put the videos up..some real energy leaks when i hit the hole).

Full update and 3 videos will be up later. Videos of last sleeved warmup, 405x3 w/ wraps and then the 430x3 w/ wraps.

I'll keep putting in the work. This is my first real plateau in my lifting career. Time to buckle down.

Hope ya'll have a good one.
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Ok so we have a base for you meet prep now. So aim for 470-475 second then hopefully 500 on a third. You have some more time to learn wraps too.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Ok so we have a base for you meet prep now. So aim for 470-475 second then hopefully 500 on a third. You have some more time to learn wraps too.
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Yup. Im gonna keep working at it. May not seem like it, but i'm trying to stay positive.
 
Wraps change the movement, and you really just have to trust them and do your thing. It's a process so don't sweat ma man.
 
rob112 said:
Wraps change the movement, and you really just have to trust them and do your thing. It's a process so don't sweat ma man.
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Dis. Wraps are a learning process too. You'll nail it down soon enough
 
8/19 squat test

Warmup:
-bat hangs w/ ql release
-rumble roll legs and back
-softball glutes
-sledge swings 2x10 each side
-kb swings 1x10
-kb front squats 1x10
-ab pulldown 1x10

Comp squat:
Work up to 365x3 in sleeves
405x3 wrapped
430x3 wrapped
Videos of all of these sets will be up. You can see me kind of "wiggle" when i hit the hole. I need to figure this out, a lot of energy and tightness is lost there. Depth is also questionable on some of these imo. Blow me apart, i need to work on stuff, i know this, critiques/advice more than welcomed.

Back down sets: (80% of new calculated 1rm from above)
375x2 sets x 3 reps

Banded GHR
Iron woody blue band (25->80lb) x3x12

Dimmel deadlifts
Iron woody green band (50-120lb) x2x20
-glutes were torched after banded ghrs and these. I need to do these more, glutes were on fire.

Will edit this post and put the vids in when i get then edited down.

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You'll see what i mean by the wiggle. And the depth...probably pretty close.
 
Video will be up tomorrow.
 
How long are you in the gym training including your prehad/mobility work?
 
Strong work man. Looking forward to your vids.
 
Videos up above
 
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