powerlifters log DMZ 4.0

yesterday (sunday) was deadlift and back day.

545 5x5
405 5x5 from a deficit
315 AMRAP x 3

farmers carries (trap bar)
405 for as far as i could carry it x's 4

atlas stone to platform (comes to a little below my nipples. not sure its height)
240 x 10
350 x zero lol

couldnet get the 350 stone up. my tech is still progressing. i can get the first movement to my lap. but after that, i cant extend to really get the stone anywhere.

today i will be hitting squats again.
 
Is there a deadlift day in Smolov? That's a big jump in stone weight. If you can get a 300 or something would really help you bridge the gap
 
No there isnt. You can program it in if you want. But it's just really hard on the hips.
Yea it's a huge jump lol. But there is only 2 stones at the gym for some reason. All I can really do with it is sit it in my lap.
 
Yeah I was surprised you worked that day in as its no joke combined w what you are already doing. We have a 400lb stone and I just look at it like wtf...
 
I'm feeling pretty good. When I was under the weather I rested up pretty well. I also stretch and roll quite a bit. Especially the psoas min/major. What gym do you train at?
 
clk said:
I'm feeling pretty good. When I was under the weather I rested up pretty well. I also stretch and roll quite a bit. Especially the psoas min/major. What gym do you train at?
Click to expand...

A private gym in IL called Be Strong
 
Damn. You're more of a man than me. If I were up there I'd stay in bed with my blankets. I lived in Chicago for almost a year. I'm not about that life. Too cold
 
clk said:
Damn. You're more of a man than me. If I were up there I'd stay in bed with my blankets. I lived in Chicago for almost a year. I'm not about that life. Too cold
Click to expand...

Bahaha nah only halfway up in the cornfields while we go back to school. Summertime here was awesome as it was always less humid, breezier, and 5* cooler than Stl. I can tolerate that for winter, but I don't have the patience for Chi.
 
Squatted today.

295x10
320x8
385x3
430 4x3

My damn hips are really starting to take a beating. I may drop deadlifts all together and slow down on the squats for a few days. Even Hitting 385 during the warm up was painful. I'm going to roll a lot tonight and see if I can dig a lacrosse ball into my hips.
 
I recorded the 385 and the 430. But idk how to insert it on here.
 
Upload it to YouTube and then copy/paste the link in here. Subbed too
 
Yea that's what I figured.
 
Yeah no more stones and prob no deads. Not necessary. If you keep some heavy bb rows in you'll still be training all the same muscles, maybe some grip work. Toss a few beltless speed singles in at 455 when you're already warm every other week just to keep your groove. If your squat goes up and your grip or lats don't get weaker your dead may even improve from more squat muscle.
 
Yea I'll probably have to do that. Right now it hurts like a mofo where my pectinius major connects to my iliac crest. I'll hit chest tomorrow and do some heavy rows and other back work the day after. Give my hips some rest.
 
Whats the pectineus major?
 
Here you go
 

Attachments

  • 1452141060267.jpg
    1452141060267.jpg
    58 KB · Views: 179
I spelled it wrong. I always have issues spelling anatomy terms. I need hooked on phonics for biology majors lol
 
Oh, yah i knew what the pectineus was. Just not the pectineus major. I just wanted to make sure there wasnt a major/minor i was unaware of
 
Hahahaha man its bad. I always get points off in my labs for spelling bio words wrong. Either A ) I pronounce it how it looks (way wrong usually) and spell it correct. Or B ) pronounce it correctly and butcher the spelling.
 
Thats how that's pronounced?! I always said it "kin oh ah" hahaha
 
Ok. So I'm getting progressively worse at updating this lol. Since the last update, ive had a couple rest days, back, chest and squat day. Back was heavy bent over bb rows at
2x8@225
2x8@275
2x3@315

DB rows 4x15 100 (the heaviest dB in my secondary "family" gym
Farmers carries with the 100# dB
Pull ups and other accessory work.
 
Chest
Bp
4x9@245 (smolov)
4x5@225
Ib
5x5@205
Accessories included flys, cable crossover, pull overs.
 
Squats today was

Warm up:
225x8
315x4
365x4
Working sets:
385x3
410 5x5

The weight is moving pretty good now. 410 was starting to suck after the 3rd rep. But now I can hit 5 straight and unbroken. The issue I had with the inability to take a deep breath under the bar has subsided. Not sure if that's due to getting more acquainted to the weight, better posterior chain strength or a combination of all the above.
 
Here is a quick video of one of the warm up triples @385.
I had video of the working set, but my phone never focused. Everything just looks like a color blob. Idk what's up with that.

Invalid Link Removed
 
Also, I made this video today after doing my 410 working set. The guy who got me into powerlifting sent me a video of him hitting a 315 front squat starting from the hole. He left powerlifting for... (monotone voice) crossfit. He made a big deal of it and basically started a challenge. So I obliged. Never trying a front squat from the hole, I went ahead straight to 315. Ended up hitting it for a triple with some pretty good speed considering I had just finished 5x5@410

My video
Invalid Link Removed

His video (the one that started the challenge)
Invalid Link Removed
 
We also got some new toys at the gym. Including my arch nemisis... the atlas stone. Mother effer.
 

Attachments

  • 1452578753341.jpg
    1452578753341.jpg
    44.9 KB · Views: 202
  • 1452578767710.jpg
    1452578767710.jpg
    79.2 KB · Views: 277
Gym looks sweet man. Kinda similar to our back room here really. Except we had to throw out our loading table after our last show and we haven't built a new one so we've been loading over a yoke lol
 
Ok guys. So for the past couple weeks, I upped the dose from 3 caps a day to 4. I was hoping to get something more noticeable at a higher dose. Still didn't get much of anything. My cycle will be ending Thursday and I will be testing my squat on the same day. So far, I have yet to really gain any strength that I can undoubtedly say is from the cycle. Strength is up, but I feel that it's only due to training. No one lift has gained much. Aggression has come and gone. But since it was here one day and not others, I think it was mostly due to my psyche on those days. Not really from the cycle. I'll be testing Thursday and will hopefully hit a 500 pound squat. Judging from the difficulty of my other squats, I'm not sure if I'll make it. At least not without wraps. But we shall see.
 
Just hit 500. Low bar. Knee Wraps and wrist wraps. I'm heading home now. I'll post up the video.
 
Well, gotta go back and try again. After watching the video, I didn't quite make 90. But I feel like I can. The bottom of the lift wasn't the sticking part. Either way, at least I know I can move it. had a sticking point midway up. Weak hams? Glute activation? Weak lowerback? All the above? Talk to me. What do yall think?
Here's the video.
Invalid Link Removed
 
I'm going to rest a few days, get someone to yell at me when I break 90 and try it again. I'm not counting this one. So don't tear me apart too bad.
 
That's a pretty normal sticking point; looks like you could try to get the elbows torqued under the bar a tad more and get the lats and grip locked in tighter before you ever unravel it. Maybe focus on forcing the knees out harder to sit into the wrap harder. Definitely need to pick up some more depth like you mentioned.
 
Great job! It looked like your traps were caving in a bit and the bar was going to drop. The great thing is that you were able to lift it. Next time you'll hit it!!!! ??
 
Hyde said:
That's a pretty normal sticking point; looks like you could try to get the elbows torqued under the bar a tad more and get the lats and grip locked in tighter before you ever unravel it. Maybe focus on forcing the knees out harder to sit into the wrap harder. Definitely need to pick up some more depth like you mentioned.
Click to expand...

Right on. I'll give it a shot. I feel pretty confident I could hit it at 90. Playing with the weight should hopefully carry over on the confidence for the next try. But hey, It's something. I'll work on pulling everything in tight.
 
puccah8808 said:
Great job! It looked like your traps were caving in a bit and the bar was going to drop. The great thing is that you were able to lift it. Next time you'll hit it!!!! ??
Click to expand...

Thanks! I should have more confidence next time. That 500 pounds an I shall meet again. It's not over. ?
 
A very good effort and MAD PROPS FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY.

Hyde and babygirl P got you covered. Think pull down on the bar and elbows pulled into your sides the whole time. Other thing I'll say is drive your chin into the bar from start to finish. Those three things will make that bar feel lighter and keep you tighter.

Now, on to the wrap. I won't get into how to wrap, that would be a book. But how to use the wrap, that's something we can fix quickly with three words. Let. It. Go. ****in let that bad boy ride so it can do its job. Descend with confidence until you hit bottom and ram it back up. Going cautiously and stopping short, you're not maximizing the wrap. Driving yourself down into that painful bottom of the wrap with conviction will give you a ton more bounce out of the hole. When you go for that 500 again, do at least two singles on your way up in the wraps to work on that. That weight will move like crazy when you get that.

Once again, your effort was excellent and you have the strength. Iron out what's been said and you'd have 525 or so.
 
herderdude said:
A very good effort and MAD PROPS FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY.

Hyde and babygirl P got you covered. Think pull down on the bar and elbows pulled into your sides the whole time. Other thing I'll say is drive your chin into the bar from start to finish. Those three things will make that bar feel lighter and keep you tighter.

Now, on to the wrap. I won't get into how to wrap, that would be a book. But how to use the wrap, that's something we can fix quickly with three words. Let. It. Go. ****in let that bad boy ride so it can do its job. Descend with confidence until you hit bottom and ram it back up. Going cautiously and stopping short, you're not maximizing the wrap. Driving yourself down into that painful bottom of the wrap with conviction will give you a ton more bounce out of the hole. When you go for that 500 again, do at least two singles on your way up in the wraps to work on that. That weight will move like crazy when you get that.

Once again, your effort was excellent and you have the strength. Iron out what's been said and you'd have 525 or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the words of affirmation. I worked my ass off to get this half ass 500 ? a lie isn't going to help me any lol.

As far as wraps go, I THINK I have an understanding on wrapping them. However, I never use them in training. So I'm not an expert on their use. I'll work on the details and see what happens. ?
 
What you did will likely work fine. Rule of thumb is always wrap inside to out, and always wrap as tight as you can. Then get in there and let them work. Best way to get more out of them is to use them more often. I'm well versed in mine, so I do 2-3 sets a week in them from about 10 weeks out. But learning to use them, you gotta spend time in them.
 
What kind of wraps are you using? Do you find differences in wraps? Ie... cheap wraps vs something like mark bells 'strong' wraps
 
clk said:
What kind of wraps are you using? Do you find differences in wraps? Ie... cheap wraps vs something like mark bells 'strong' wraps
Click to expand...

The difference between a pair of wraps You buy at Wal-Mart and Mark Bells is, very simply put, about a hundred pounds. I use Overkill brand wraps. My best squat is 633 pounds in my wraps from seven months ago. I hope to be around 670 in a few weeks. Meanwhile my best no knee wrap squat is 540 pounds.

It takes time to develop the strength and technique specific to knee wrap squatting. It took me a few months to get 60 pounds out of them. But over time and with practice, it builds.
 
Bad ass!
 
I hit 475 with no wraps as my last warm up set. My wrists just barely tapped the safety bars on the bottom. So maybe I should just go balls out with the 500 and wraps.
 
Looks to me like your upper back is limiting you in the video. A bet with a bigger air before you drop and really retract the shoulder blades together you'll nail it. You were just getting used to the 500 being on there ?
 
Long shot. But are any of you in Houston? I'll be at the Nas military/fireman strongman event at metroflex all day.
 
It started at 10am. It's over now. It was a pretty good event. Met some good people. Maybe now I won't have to train solo! Sick of not having someone's brain to pick
 
MattB88 said:
The struggle can be real can't it bro?
Click to expand...

I don't mind it for the most part. But it really sucks trying to get good at something when you have nobody to learn from. Owell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top