MrKleen73
Legend
Awesome! Thanks should be fun to go there sometime. Much closer than the location out by Silber and i-10.
KLEEN - STRONG BODY STRONG MIND!
- Thread starter MrKleen73
- Start date
Awesome! Thanks should be fun to go there sometime. Much closer than the location out by Silber and i-10.
Hyde
Legend
Perfect base to start the blast and meet prep Monday!
Rocket3015
Legend
Dead lift is looking strong !!
Segansational
Well-known member
Nice progress. I'm lacking that upper chest split like you've got, so any tips?
Rocket3015
Legend
I believe that upper chest split is more genetic than anything.
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MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks Simon!
Thanks Hyde, I am pretty excited to be starting from this point!
Thanks Rocket! Form really improved the last 2 months!
Not really, I have just always had that once I get a little leaner.
I think so too and I always loved that my chest split like Columbo's when lean. Just not as big!
Thanks for the invite, I am there!
So I am excited to go home and get ready for my maxes. Having a bowl of Cream of Rice Cereal now to power up for it. If I can't get my son to spot me then I will end up doing Squats and Bench at the Gym then going home for dead lifts so I can use my round plates and not those stupid octagon ones at the gym. They suck ass for dead lifting.
MrKleen73
Legend
I tested all 3 of my maexs today in about 90 minutes. Just a little to quick but here is how things went. I am pretty happy with them for the recent situation. Well everything but the Dead Lift.
Squats PR 475lbs!
[video=youtube;xypJvuU-jMY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xypJvuU-jMY[/video]
I really feel I could have hit 495 if I had either made a bigger jump from 455 which I wanted to but held back due to shoulder and elbow concerns. Wanted to test it at 475 first and it would still be a PR. Unfortunately the guy recording my attempt at 495 missed it trying to unpause it. I came about half way and then stalled for a bit and started going back down so I sat it on the pins. Elbow did get tight, and shoulder did start to feel a little something after dumping the 495.
Bench Press - I only went to 315, it felt good and still good bar speed but I could feel my shoulder and elbow little bit, not much but I decided not to push it, but there was definitely strength for more I am guessing 335-ish which would make sense to drop some since I haven't done full ROM in so long. The guy spotting me said looked like I had 2-3 reps in the tank. I didn't video the 315 because I was planning to shoot my last two sets and wasn't expecting to stop there...
Dead Lifts were brutal... I learned a bit of a lesson about grinding a heavy squat out and not resting enough before deads. I ended up in kind of rushing due to less sets than planned on bench So I ended up dead lifting less than 20 minutes after my failed 495 squat attempt.
I only pulled 495, it was still kind of a warm up set... moved really well but I didn't want to waste a bunch of effort doing another step up like I did on squats, so I jumped to 600. I had it in my head I could get it and just really wanted it. I couldn't even break the bar. Anyway I tried backing down to 545 after 2 attempts at the 600 and of course I didn't have anything left. That was the first time I maxed out on all 3 like that. I will have to keep in mind if I kill myself on squats my deads might be hurting a bit. My last PR before my form got better was 575 to give you an idea of what I know I can lift.
Here is the 495 as you can tell it was pretty easy.
[video=youtube;THnjP1qrT3g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THnjP1qrT3g[/video]
I am very happy with the 575 and knowing I had a little more in the tank probably another 10lbs makes me feel pretty damn good. Bench is about where I expected and like I said the dead lift well that was just brutal but I understand why when I look back and assess how I structured everything.
Squats PR 475lbs!
[video=youtube;xypJvuU-jMY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xypJvuU-jMY[/video]
I really feel I could have hit 495 if I had either made a bigger jump from 455 which I wanted to but held back due to shoulder and elbow concerns. Wanted to test it at 475 first and it would still be a PR. Unfortunately the guy recording my attempt at 495 missed it trying to unpause it. I came about half way and then stalled for a bit and started going back down so I sat it on the pins. Elbow did get tight, and shoulder did start to feel a little something after dumping the 495.
Bench Press - I only went to 315, it felt good and still good bar speed but I could feel my shoulder and elbow little bit, not much but I decided not to push it, but there was definitely strength for more I am guessing 335-ish which would make sense to drop some since I haven't done full ROM in so long. The guy spotting me said looked like I had 2-3 reps in the tank. I didn't video the 315 because I was planning to shoot my last two sets and wasn't expecting to stop there...
Dead Lifts were brutal... I learned a bit of a lesson about grinding a heavy squat out and not resting enough before deads. I ended up in kind of rushing due to less sets than planned on bench So I ended up dead lifting less than 20 minutes after my failed 495 squat attempt.
I only pulled 495, it was still kind of a warm up set... moved really well but I didn't want to waste a bunch of effort doing another step up like I did on squats, so I jumped to 600. I had it in my head I could get it and just really wanted it. I couldn't even break the bar. Anyway I tried backing down to 545 after 2 attempts at the 600 and of course I didn't have anything left. That was the first time I maxed out on all 3 like that. I will have to keep in mind if I kill myself on squats my deads might be hurting a bit. My last PR before my form got better was 575 to give you an idea of what I know I can lift.
Here is the 495 as you can tell it was pretty easy.
[video=youtube;THnjP1qrT3g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THnjP1qrT3g[/video]
I am very happy with the 575 and knowing I had a little more in the tank probably another 10lbs makes me feel pretty damn good. Bench is about where I expected and like I said the dead lift well that was just brutal but I understand why when I look back and assess how I structured everything.
Hyde
Legend
Well I can't watch your squat PR unfortunately because either the app or my phone is being weird when I click on the YouTube vid, but nice work!
And a lot of people have to eat a slice of humble pie the first time they find out what they can actually put up in a full meet, as a total. It's one thing to bench big with fresh shoulders and pull hard with a fresh back, but squatting hard prior definitely makes it a little bit of a compromise.
My best deadlift in comp I only hit my squat opener, and my best squat I only hit my opener pull. Best bench was in bench only lol
And a lot of people have to eat a slice of humble pie the first time they find out what they can actually put up in a full meet, as a total. It's one thing to bench big with fresh shoulders and pull hard with a fresh back, but squatting hard prior definitely makes it a little bit of a compromise.
My best deadlift in comp I only hit my squat opener, and my best squat I only hit my opener pull. Best bench was in bench only lol
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks the bar travels straight up and down and I definitely hit depth. Can't wait to hear what you think when you can see it.
I hope so! It is a reasonable expectation with how I felt today. Things are about to get crazy.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks.
I was thinking about it but I had a funeral.to go to in Webster so the timing wouldn't work.
MrKleen73
Legend
Coach is finalizing my peaking plan based off of some of these weights. After the recent tests goal numbers are 500 squat, 340-350 bench, and 520+ on dead lifts. We will be re-evaluating in 6 weeks to see if we need to increase the target numbers. I have a feeing we will because all of these tests this time are while recovering from an injury. Was the first full ROM bench session in 6-8 weeks. First squats session in about 3-4, and deads well we know I have a lot more in the tank so long as I don't completely blow my wad on squats. Since in this meet I intend to try and get my highest total possible I probably won't grind out on my squats. Something that is hard work but no stalls.
I will have my plan here in the next few hours and am very excited for it to arrive. I know it will be different than I have been doing.
I will have my plan here in the next few hours and am very excited for it to arrive. I know it will be different than I have been doing.
MrKleen73
Legend
Me too and I think you might be surprised if you ever decided to do a meet. It is a lot of fun chasing numbers IF you lower the volume in the accessories to allow for strength recovery and growth. A nice PHAT done with a little less volume than what you do would yield excellent results with out as much abuse to the body. I am really excited to see what coach brings to the table he said frequency and structure were going to be quite different than the last couple months of training.
Dma378
Legend
Well starting a modified PHAT tomorrow, just to get some strength up on some lifts. Been focusing so much on volume and HT for months now. Will have 2 Power days per week now.
MrKleen73
Legend
Should be fun, just remember to not go overboard on volume, you don't need multiple exercises per movement on Power Days. Use them to focus on the big 4 movements the most Vertical Press, Bench Press, Squats and Dead Lift. Crush your accessories and different angles on Hypertrophy day. How are you splitting them up?
Dma378
Legend
Upper Power
Lower Power
Back/Shoul HT
Lower HT
Chest/Arms HT
Will probably do a Power movement to start the HT days though
MrKleen73
Legend
What are you planning for exercises and rep schemes?
Upper Power - Bench 4-6 sets, Military Press 3-4 sets, Pendlay Row 4-6 sets, Weighted Pull Ups 3-4 sets
Lower Power - Squats 4-8 work sets, Front Squats 3-4 work sets, toss some jumping in between or finish off with Sprints maybe?
Back/Shoul HT - 12-16 sets on back, 14-18 on shoulders
Lower HT - 4 work sets on squats - 8-12 sets on other thigh exercises, 3-8 sets of calves depending on how much work they need.
Chest/Arms HT - 12-16 sets on chest and 6-10 sets on biceps and triceps.
Dma378
Legend
Pretty damn close to what I have written up for the week.
MrKleen73
Legend
Alright, I got my plan in and am VERY excited!
I will be going down to a 4 workouts per week program, no cardio. Diet is staying pretty close to the same right now. However I can set up my anabolic days to fall on my 3 main Strength workouts which is hugely beneficial in performance because I get some carbs in my pre-workout meal. Without giving his programming away this is the layout. Just 2 exercises per training session, giving my all to them.
Monday:
Squats - Strength focus.
Bench - Speed / Power Focus
Wednesday
Bench - Strength Focus
Squats - Alternate Stance - Speed & Power focus
Friday:
Dead lifts - Strength Focus
Rack Pulls - Speed and Power focus
Saturday - BFR / Hypertrophy training
Leg Ext
Leg Curls
Calve press
Curls
Triceps Press Downs
Lateral Raises 3x20 no BFR
I like this new layout too because it give me a chance to work in more mobility work on the off days. Really start increasing that recovery more.
I will be going down to a 4 workouts per week program, no cardio. Diet is staying pretty close to the same right now. However I can set up my anabolic days to fall on my 3 main Strength workouts which is hugely beneficial in performance because I get some carbs in my pre-workout meal. Without giving his programming away this is the layout. Just 2 exercises per training session, giving my all to them.
Monday:
Squats - Strength focus.
Bench - Speed / Power Focus
Wednesday
Bench - Strength Focus
Squats - Alternate Stance - Speed & Power focus
Friday:
Dead lifts - Strength Focus
Rack Pulls - Speed and Power focus
Saturday - BFR / Hypertrophy training
Leg Ext
Leg Curls
Calve press
Curls
Triceps Press Downs
Lateral Raises 3x20 no BFR
I like this new layout too because it give me a chance to work in more mobility work on the off days. Really start increasing that recovery more.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks Hyde! It slowed down just a tiny bit but I accelerated through, I know I have plenty more in the tank. I still feel if I had skipped from 455 to 495 I would have owned the 495. Good thing for me is that is my natural squat depth, like if I don't hit that depth I feel like it is a partial so I am not likely to get white lighted for missing depth unless it was just a missed lift all together.
I am looking forward to tonight. Some quality squats and some light weight speed work on bench will be perfect. I can't wait to see how my body responds to the extra recovery, and the hormones... Should get pretty interesting pretty quickly.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks Hyde! It slowed down just a tiny bit but I accelerated through, I know I have plenty more in the tank. I still feel if I had skipped from 455 to 495 I would have owned the 495. Good thing for me is that is my natural squat depth, like if I don't hit that depth I feel like it is a partial so I am not likely to get white lighted for missing depth unless it was just a missed lift all together.
I am looking forward to tonight. Some quality squats and some light weight speed work on bench will be perfect. I can't wait to see how my body responds to the extra recovery, and the hormones... Should get pretty interesting pretty quickly.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks!
Ugghhh... I just got a heart breaking call. My son got home from work and found one of my dogs got out of the fence and apparently couldn't get back in to get to some water or something. Anyway, he walked up to the house and noticed she was laying on the front porch not breathing. Somehow she passed away, we aren't sure if she got hit or maybe had an asthma attack or something. He said it doesn't look like she was hit though. Sometimes when she got really excited and chased the other dogs she would wheeze and have to lay down and cool off for a bit. I think she was probably chasing them around and started wheezing and since she didn't have any water out front she just couldn't ever cool herself down.
So I am not sure if I will get my training in tonight or not. Just depends on the emotional state of my wife and daughter. The dog was my wife's of course we all loved her. My daghter took care of them most and she is still dealing with going to her Karate Instructors funeral this weekend. He was an important part of her life. So I am expecting a major emotional fall out when I get home. Luckily my son found her first and already handled the proper disposal of the body. At least that will save JoAnn and Trinity a lot of pain from having to see her.
Anyway wish me luck that the family is handling this well and I can take the time to lift if nothing else as a distraction from the sadness.
MrKleen73
Legend
Sorry to hear that it is a hollowing loss to say the least.Sorry to hear that, I just recently lost one of my pups to
Goodluck with everything at home
Yes I agree. I keep picturing her doing cute things and I start breaking up a bit. Have to keep my mind off of it until I am not at work.
Rocket3015
Legend
Not a bad total at all !!! Impressed !!
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks Rocket!
Thanks, it was a rough night, we did a lot of crying and a lot of hugging. Just kind of hunkered down together and went into family support mode.
I will be doing last nights workout today and probably rotating the whole workout split from a Mon-Wed-Fri-Sat to a Tue-Thur-Sat-Sun schedule. I want to open up Mon-Wed-Friday for possible PT training at a buddies studio. Making sure coach see's no issues with this and I don't assume he will.
MrKleen73
Legend
Very frustrated right now. My shoulder is hurting again. Maxing out on it made it pretty sensitive and no sooner than I got to my working weight it became painful enough that I stopped the workout. The other exercise to be done after squats was Bench and no way I was going into a bench session with my shoulder stiffening up and aching like that.
Contacted coach to see what his thoughts are here. This shoulder is really becoming a bugaboo and not sure I will make it through prep without needing a surgery or something if I keep pushing it. I am okay with training on something that won't hurt my shoulder then competing with a regular bar and dealing with the pain after the meet but really starting to question how well my shoulder will hold up over the next 3 months. Depending on his thoughts I might switch gears and do something physique related if I can't manage this prep. I REALLY want to compete in SOMETHING this year.
Not giving up yet but just frustrated and concerned at this point. This shoulder has been giving me trouble ever since I went to Muscle Beach and had that glute cramp toss me sideways while benching 315. That was in early March!!!!!
Contacted coach to see what his thoughts are here. This shoulder is really becoming a bugaboo and not sure I will make it through prep without needing a surgery or something if I keep pushing it. I am okay with training on something that won't hurt my shoulder then competing with a regular bar and dealing with the pain after the meet but really starting to question how well my shoulder will hold up over the next 3 months. Depending on his thoughts I might switch gears and do something physique related if I can't manage this prep. I REALLY want to compete in SOMETHING this year.
Not giving up yet but just frustrated and concerned at this point. This shoulder has been giving me trouble ever since I went to Muscle Beach and had that glute cramp toss me sideways while benching 315. That was in early March!!!!!
Hyde
Legend
Chad Wesley Smith advocates hi bar work for the first 4 week block before the final 8-9 weeks before a meet. If you can do that painless I would.
I am exclusively doing hi bar for now as I am benching 2x a week aggressively for that push-pull. My shoulders were cashed after yesterday's bench and I squat this morning painlessly.
I am exclusively doing hi bar for now as I am benching 2x a week aggressively for that push-pull. My shoulders were cashed after yesterday's bench and I squat this morning painlessly.
MrKleen73
Legend
Well, I am going to try a Hail Mary here and either get a cheap Safety Squat Bar about $220 delivered, or the Dave Draper Top Squat about $60 delivered. That way I can continue squatting throughout prep. If that doesn't work then I have no clue...
Oh well, I am going to just keep plugging away!!!!
Oh well, I am going to just keep plugging away!!!!
MrKleen73
Legend
I tried it yesterday and no bueno. Then again I had already aggravated it. I think it is just inflamed from the Max effort and will subside enough to allow for that sooner or later. I don't mind if I can work up to the meet, get into position and do a nice lift, and then be sore for a week or whatever. I just want to be able to finish this prep. I have gotten very excited about it and don't want to have to pull out if I don't have too.
I will have to see how bench feels tomorrow, I am hoping it won't be bad especially since I will be using the Slingshot that should help.
jimbuick
Legend
This is probably a good plan for you.
Swiss Bar benching will likely help in the earlier part of prep too.
herderdude
Well-known member
Don't be too alarmed, while it's unfortunate and likely avoidable in many cases, these doubts and pains are a normal part of meet prep. A lot of it will bug you through the cycle, but that week off before the meet clears a lot of pain. Stay the course, you can do this.
Hyde
Legend
I have never had a meet prep that didn't involve some kind of nagging pain popping up.
Just had a mini-flare up on my right lat insert. Left adductor and base of glute seems to be healing as well, and discs have been happy too. Currently working with a pissy left knee, chronically tight right trap, and grouchy right tricep and elbow. Releasing things and good warmups make a big difference, and managing workload/exercise selection make the biggest differences.
When you get to a meet, MOST of the guys are not 100% - everybody battles this or that at different times, if that's any comfort.
Just had a mini-flare up on my right lat insert. Left adductor and base of glute seems to be healing as well, and discs have been happy too. Currently working with a pissy left knee, chronically tight right trap, and grouchy right tricep and elbow. Releasing things and good warmups make a big difference, and managing workload/exercise selection make the biggest differences.
When you get to a meet, MOST of the guys are not 100% - everybody battles this or that at different times, if that's any comfort.
MrKleen73
Legend
Sounds like a pretty solid idea! Hoping the bench goes well tonight. I will either do front or zercher squats tonight as I don't want to get roped into a trip to the gym waiting for people to get out of my way!
Yes that would be AWESOME if I had one. I just spent enough to keep this prep going I might get killed if I bought one but would love too.
Yeah I expect there to be nagging things, this one is just a mofo and was feeling a bit helpless because I really didn't know if I could even afford to get something that would allow me to train the squat. I fixed that problem though with todays order. My wife really pulled through with being supportive in my goals and said "Just put it on the card for now. I know how much this means to you Babe!"
That was pretty awesome because between things for this meet, the cycle, the coaching, buying a new convertible top for my 350Z, dropping 350 on other car repairs and both of my boys birthdays were in the last 3 weeks. So spending money has dwindled down quite a bit.
I am feeling confident again that this meet is going to go down, the more I invest the less willing I will be to allow anything to stop me from competing.
Yeah it is comforting. I would have MUCH more faith in a muscular based pain feeling better than this. I think I have a small tear or abbrasion on my labrum now with the way it feels. So just really trying to make it through this meet before going to get it cleaned up. As long as I control the inflammation I should be okay. Just need to make sure I am careful and not hit failure on reps so I don't have to try and dump the bar behind me. That was when it became an issue during the max attempt. Just a little too much external rotation under all that weight really hit the spot perfectly.
Here is my shopping list from Elite FTS order I placed a little bit ago. I am very excited to be getting this stuff and can't wait for it to get in. I imagine about a week -10 days on the bar and probably 2 weeks on the belt since they are made when ordered. Says allow up to 10 days before shipping due to that.
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Hyde
Legend
That is a beautiful order. That bar is a fantastic investment; the only other bar I would prioritize besides a power bar if I had a home gym. You don't need a deadlift bar to deadlift, and a Swiss bar usually won't mean the difference between pressing at all or not, but you can have totally busted shoulders or pecs and still squat w the SSB when a straight bar just isn't an option. My favorite for good mornings and lunge/bss movements too. A lot of guys frontsquat with it reversed if they don't want to get marked up, and they're great for JM presses too.
Nice belt too.
Nice belt too.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks! I am VERY excited about it. I can't wait to get it and squat comfortably again. Plus with what I have read it should really strengthen that upper back / thoracic area making my up and back motion out of the hole even stronger. I never thought about all the other uses for them. Pretty exciting stuff! You know I am going to be addicted to this by the time the meet get's here.
I have a cable attachment in my rack for pec deck that takes up most of the inside of the rack. So squatting inside it is pretty much impossible but I want to have some type of spotting bracket. I think I may remove that peice and find a way to secure the end of the cables that attacth to the pec deck to the frame so the rowing and lat raise portion still work.
What I really want is a new rack with closer holes for the J hooks and safety pins. However that is definitely going to have to wait a bit. Maybe Christmas.
MrKleen73
Legend
Thanks! I am VERY excited about it. I can't wait to get it and squat comfortably again. Plus with what I have read it should really strengthen that upper back / thoracic area making my up and back motion out of the hole even stronger. I never thought about all the other uses for them. Pretty exciting stuff! You know I am going to be addicted to this by the time the meet get's here.
I have a cable attachment in my rack for pec deck that takes up most of the inside of the rack. So squatting inside it is pretty much impossible but I want to have some type of spotting bracket. I think I may remove that peice and find a way to secure the end of the cables that attacth to the pec deck to the frame so the rowing and lat raise portion still work.
What I really want is a new rack with closer holes for the J hooks and safety pins. However that is definitely going to have to wait a bit. Maybe Christmas.
kenpoengineer
Well-known member
Back and catching up on your log! Still inspirational, for sure. Sorry to hear about your daughter's Sensei.
MrKleen73
Legend
Welcome Back Mark, missed you around here! You going to be logging in your old log?
MrKleen73
Legend
Last night's workout went pretty well. I have to do some babying of the shoulder but still got in a nice and effective workout.
SlingShot Bench w/ Short Pause in bottom - warm ups done Raw - Bar x 20, 95x8, 135x8 - Added SlingShot 185x5, 225x6, 245x6 245x6, 245x6, 245x6, 245x6, 245x6 My shoulder felt pretty good up until the last set when fatigue was setting in more and then it got a little stiff and achy but went right away when I started warming up my Front Squats. So feeling confident I will be feeling pretty decent by this time next week.
Speed Front Squats - Empty Bar x10. 95x10, 135x8, 185x6, 225x6, 225x6, 225x6 - All sets were done with Oly grip other than the final set. My wrist got pretty tight from being stretch so hard. So I put some hand towels around the bar and used them like handles for the front squat on the last set and it went quite well.
It had been a while since I did these so there was some re-aquainting myself to them. Plus they were to be Fast and I have noever done "fast" front squats. My descent is always very controlled so it was interesting to get my CNS to cooperate. Felt good once I got going though.
Tomorrow I hit Dead lifts, that should be fun, then Sunday it is beach muscle time, AKA Hypertrophy focus. I will be doing all BFR work that day so I better get ready for the pain!
SlingShot Bench w/ Short Pause in bottom - warm ups done Raw - Bar x 20, 95x8, 135x8 - Added SlingShot 185x5, 225x6, 245x6 245x6, 245x6, 245x6, 245x6, 245x6 My shoulder felt pretty good up until the last set when fatigue was setting in more and then it got a little stiff and achy but went right away when I started warming up my Front Squats. So feeling confident I will be feeling pretty decent by this time next week.
Speed Front Squats - Empty Bar x10. 95x10, 135x8, 185x6, 225x6, 225x6, 225x6 - All sets were done with Oly grip other than the final set. My wrist got pretty tight from being stretch so hard. So I put some hand towels around the bar and used them like handles for the front squat on the last set and it went quite well.
It had been a while since I did these so there was some re-aquainting myself to them. Plus they were to be Fast and I have noever done "fast" front squats. My descent is always very controlled so it was interesting to get my CNS to cooperate. Felt good once I got going though.
Tomorrow I hit Dead lifts, that should be fun, then Sunday it is beach muscle time, AKA Hypertrophy focus. I will be doing all BFR work that day so I better get ready for the pain!