akboom87
Well-known member
All 3 look good, definitely had more in you on squat and deadlift for sure, bench maybe 205-210. Solid work brother! Awesome to see this come together!
Segansational's Motivation Log
- Thread starter Segansational
- Start date
Dustin07
Legend
I'm now officially insulted. Your top sets look like my 50% warm-up weights in terms of speed and power. I'm not sure how these could possibly be your legit 1RM, you are underselling yourself by a longshot!
Your squats clearly have 20-50lbs+.
Bench probably 20+
Deadlifts look like you're about half of what you can actually pull!
Also I really dig that singlet. I kept picturing red lol.
That deadlift though.... You're much stronger than you think!
Hyde
Legend
Congratulations on a great first meet! I’m glad to hear it was such a positive experience; I expected it would be. I also think you made good decisions for openers and throughout. You have the muscular potential to do more on your lower body lifts right now, but didn’t have enough training time to build skill or confidence with higher squat or deadlift weights yet. You have to believe you can really make the lift after all! You could probably make a 700 total with another 12 weeks of training, just getting more used to a bit heavier/consistent squat & deadlift training.
Your third attempts all looked really clean, and the setup, judging & spotting looked legit. I’m really glad they redlighted you for depth on your squat opener & told you what they needed from you - keeping the lifting to a standard is what separates a competition from gym lifting! You can be proud of all your work. I noticed they didn’t ask you to take your thumb loops off on bench, but that is the dumbest rule anyway & doesn’t help one bit. Just know in the future you will usually have to take the loops off.
Great work. I’m glad you got to experience the camaraderie that I’ve always seen at every contest. It’s a big part of what makes it so great, the push & adrenaline it all gives.
Your third attempts all looked really clean, and the setup, judging & spotting looked legit. I’m really glad they redlighted you for depth on your squat opener & told you what they needed from you - keeping the lifting to a standard is what separates a competition from gym lifting! You can be proud of all your work. I noticed they didn’t ask you to take your thumb loops off on bench, but that is the dumbest rule anyway & doesn’t help one bit. Just know in the future you will usually have to take the loops off.
Great work. I’m glad you got to experience the camaraderie that I’ve always seen at every contest. It’s a big part of what makes it so great, the push & adrenaline it all gives.
Segansational
Well-known member
Yeah, a lot of this I think was based on what I had in my head coming in. Basically for bench I was thinking top set of between 195-205 if things went well, but I ended up splitting the difference.
Deads felt the best tbh. I agree I could've gone more aggressive if given another lift attempt - but a lot of this process and this meet was all about mentally overcoming my own personal limitations. Now that I know I can, I will!
That's what the judges basically told me coming off the meet.
Thanks Hyde, yes, the adrenaline was definitely flowing and I also know that contributed to my positive performance. Nothing quite like that environment to push you to your best!
I was actually surprised it lasted throughout the full meet (~4.5 hrs start to finish).
Segansational
Well-known member
Back at it this morning.
Warm up routine.
Rotator cuff resistance band exercises.
Bench Press:
45x10
95x8
135x3x5
Keeping everything at roughly 65% volume for a deload this week. Just aiming to keep things moving.
Incline DB Press:
25x12
45x3x10
Resistance band flys:
20x3x10
1 hr 1 min, 168 cals.
Pre: 1 scoop Ryse Godzilla, 2.5 mg yo, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 soft gels NuligoXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 10g Collagen.
Intra: Same as usual, minus creatine since Ryse has it included.
Notes
Just working on deload volume this week with major lifts, and adding some more hypertophy movements I haven't practiced in a little bit. Will plan out a true program / next goal after this week concludes.
Warm up routine.
Rotator cuff resistance band exercises.
Bench Press:
45x10
95x8
135x3x5
Keeping everything at roughly 65% volume for a deload this week. Just aiming to keep things moving.
Incline DB Press:
25x12
45x3x10
Resistance band flys:
20x3x10
1 hr 1 min, 168 cals.
Pre: 1 scoop Ryse Godzilla, 2.5 mg yo, 2 pumps L-carnitine gel, 3 soft gels NuligoXT, 2 caps Pepti-Plex, 1g Choline Citrate, 1g Vit C, 10g Collagen.
Intra: Same as usual, minus creatine since Ryse has it included.
Notes
Just working on deload volume this week with major lifts, and adding some more hypertophy movements I haven't practiced in a little bit. Will plan out a true program / next goal after this week concludes.
Segansational
Well-known member
Another AM, another day up and at it. Just some short cardio today, 25:20 mins on the stationary bike, 111 cals. Used a little Raze energy shot + XPG Napalm Xtreme pre-WO.
Found out yesterday I didn't get the job. This one got to me pretty good, as I'm already doing half the job. Got another, "nothing specific, just went in another direction" again. I have a big deliverable in 2 weeks (another sprint to the finish), but then that's mostly it for the year. Going to get to the holidays and just focus on family and personal goals.
Found out yesterday I didn't get the job. This one got to me pretty good, as I'm already doing half the job. Got another, "nothing specific, just went in another direction" again. I have a big deliverable in 2 weeks (another sprint to the finish), but then that's mostly it for the year. Going to get to the holidays and just focus on family and personal goals.
akboom87
Well-known member
Dang man, sorry to hear that you didn’t land the position. Sounds like you are going to be winding down for the year and yeah holidays and family time and definitely personal goals!
Dustin07
Legend
On the one hand, I have found the old saying "when God closes a door he opens a window" to be insanely true. I remember praying with my ex when I was like 22yrs old, wanting a farm of my own one day. This occurred to me about a week or two ago as I was budgeting fence posts for the microhomestead my now wife and I are building. The incredibly wild ride my unconventional life has been, as a Christian who did get divorced, then remarried, to be in such an oddly blessed position now, with seemingly no reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
On the other hand, keep working on your powerlifting and then they'll have no choice but to just put you in whatever position you want, its the law.
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MrKleen73
Legend
Man, it sounds like you had an awesome meet. Congrats on hitting all of your target weights. Looking at these I feel you had a little more on the squat, maybe another 5-10lbs on bench, and easily 20-30 on deadlifts. I think if you tried you would have taken 255 judging by how fast it moved for you. All in all a great meet and it sounds like you had fun!
So curious where your mind is now regarding moving towards a BB show this year or focusing in on PL for a bit to see what kind of progress you can make. From here I think you could probably set at least a few PR's each meet for a couple of meets at least. So that could be A LOT OF FUN! Of course getting ripped to the gills, may not be as fun, being ripped to the gills is. So I can see you enjoying both paths. The part that wants to see you build on your success makes me hope you stick with PL for a little bit, but I also understand what it is like to feel you are being called to do something while the iron is hot like doing your BB show.
So curious where your mind is now regarding moving towards a BB show this year or focusing in on PL for a bit to see what kind of progress you can make. From here I think you could probably set at least a few PR's each meet for a couple of meets at least. So that could be A LOT OF FUN! Of course getting ripped to the gills, may not be as fun, being ripped to the gills is. So I can see you enjoying both paths. The part that wants to see you build on your success makes me hope you stick with PL for a little bit, but I also understand what it is like to feel you are being called to do something while the iron is hot like doing your BB show.
Dustin07
Legend
man I had all the same thoughts. do you think a PL focus with some level of discipline nutritionally would be a good way to enjoy a bit of a prolonged "bulking" style period to gain more mass in case he wanted to go BB later?
Being shredded is such a great feeling but I know for me, this chapter in life, its a hell of a lot easier to be at least a moderate surplus most of the time to feed strength vs trying to cut. The PL training can be more mentally taxing (for me), because there is this accountability I have to myself to Rx targets, but the nutrition is more relaxed and lifestyle friendly for a married dad in my experience.
Hyde
Legend
Sorry to hear the new position wasn’t offered to you - definitely a good reminder that family is first, and they don’t care what you do for money as long as you keep them safe & are there for them!
I mean advancement, opportunity, pay increases are all awesome things that can mean a lot on a personal level. And provide better opportunity for your family longterm. But none of that is so important as just being there snuggled up on the couch together for a bit at night. Or sharing a meal, or helping them solve a problem or teaching something. Taking a walk together! That is worth far more than being the CEO even if truly alone. They love you for the husband and father you are.
I know you didn’t ask me, but I would look at another powerlifting meet next. Try to keep your bodyweight around where it is and just see what kind of PRs you can bring out next time - see if you can’t crack 700. Then you can enjoy a bit more holiday food vs if you did a bodybuilding show now, without also getting fatter. Just maintaining size and making a PR total. THEN, late winter you could decide on if you wanted to lean out for a bodybuilding show.
I mean advancement, opportunity, pay increases are all awesome things that can mean a lot on a personal level. And provide better opportunity for your family longterm. But none of that is so important as just being there snuggled up on the couch together for a bit at night. Or sharing a meal, or helping them solve a problem or teaching something. Taking a walk together! That is worth far more than being the CEO even if truly alone. They love you for the husband and father you are.
I know you didn’t ask me, but I would look at another powerlifting meet next. Try to keep your bodyweight around where it is and just see what kind of PRs you can bring out next time - see if you can’t crack 700. Then you can enjoy a bit more holiday food vs if you did a bodybuilding show now, without also getting fatter. Just maintaining size and making a PR total. THEN, late winter you could decide on if you wanted to lean out for a bodybuilding show.
Segansational
Well-known member
I think you're spot on with those weights based on how everything felt. I'd say they were about RPE 7-8 on squats, 8 on bench, and 6-7 on deads.
I'm still a bit undecided, but there's both a PL meet and a BB show that would be in the early April time frame. So either way, I think I try to set my sights on that timeline.
I agree with the lifestyle piece. As long as I am smart about my training (to avoid injury, still my biggest concern with pushing things), I think PL is more conducive to my family & nutritional fortitude.
I definitely think that's within reach as a goal, putting up a 700# total at a meet.
I also have been thinking about the difficulty of dieting while coming up to the holidays, and we also have our all-inclusive Spring break trip in March, so...
What I'd really like to do, is see if I can do a power building type of focus. If that's a real thing. Particularly since eating will be more coming up, I also got back my latest bloodwork with some really interesting hormone values, and I'm a little itching to run a real cycle now that I've been on TRT and had ~6 months to understand how my body responds.
Dustin07
Legend
In my experience it's a switch. You flip into BB or you don't. It's laser focused and it's absolute
. But for me my commitment means that four days a week I push my mental boundaries to lift weights that I've never lifted before and then I go home and eat whatever I want. When I stayed lean it wasn't 4-6 or even 7 gym sessions a week. It was those + 7 days a week of being a food Nazi. Well except Saturday nights. You could go back and reread kleens prep. It's cool as hell but I know for me that flipping that switch doesn't bring as much joy right now as being a gym rat and eating dinner with my wife.
Hyde
Legend
I think people misunderstand powerlifting often, because they see some fat powerlifters that don’t look like bodybuilders - so they assume they don’t have much muscle, or aren’t concerned with building much. No matter how fat or bloated, there MUST be muscle getting built under the blubber to continue getting stronger. And we know how anabolic a consistent surplus with hard training is from the measurements they’ve done on sumo wrestlers (who are not legitimately clean btw, but also not doing BB/PL type doses). Mass moves mass, and like a mammoth, enormous muscle can be stored under enormous blubber.
If you are powerlifting, you basically have to be powerbuilding by default. You do not put 100lbs on a squat with technique improvements. And if you did, you certainly won’t get another 100 - you have to build muscle at some point to lift bigger weights.
You just don’t see as much focus on hypertrophy for aesthetics. The emphasis is on building what will most directly support the lifts. But almost everything helps somewhat - even biceps. I would do WAY more arm work, if my elbow could. And the rep ranges used for accessories are almost always for hypertrophy. People aren’t doing 3-rep tricep extensions. You’re going to see 6-100 reps per set.
Look at the 5x10 stuff Dustin has been doing - if that’s not “powerbuilding” then I really don’t know what is. I mean I was doing 5x8 on my bench last week, and do 2x25 on the light days. I think Powerbuilding is just a misnomer for people who want to believe that there’s a different end result somehow - but diet/leanness is what will show muscle, or not.
Rockslide
Veteran member
Well Hyde said it better than I could. Being a better powerlifter will make you a better bodybuilder. Even if as you get older you want to move more towards bodybuilding …. Building that mass now will help you significantly on stage against a group of peers as you age.
Personally, I feel like I’m getting real results by doing more powerlifting stuff, maybe it’s muscle memory coming back from how I trained years ago, but honestly for me I think it’s just consistency. I built a program around what I can do based on my lifestyle instead of chasing the perfect bodybuilding program. In other words, time is my most precious resource and i can get more bang for my buck doing bench/squats/deads and adding in a couple of sets of multiple accessories each day or on inbetween days rather than chasing the perfect bodybuilding program that I actually only have enough time to do 1 out of 4 weeks and I’m left with a half ass program the other 3 weeks.
As far as injury… I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You arent moving superphysiological weights. The weights you are doing are well within the tolerances of a healthy body (even a small frame one). If you start cranking out 500+ squats and 500+ deads on your frame , yeah worth worrying about but if you get to that point then you have committed to that risk. The high volume of work BB brings has its own injury risk as well fwiw
Personally, I feel like I’m getting real results by doing more powerlifting stuff, maybe it’s muscle memory coming back from how I trained years ago, but honestly for me I think it’s just consistency. I built a program around what I can do based on my lifestyle instead of chasing the perfect bodybuilding program. In other words, time is my most precious resource and i can get more bang for my buck doing bench/squats/deads and adding in a couple of sets of multiple accessories each day or on inbetween days rather than chasing the perfect bodybuilding program that I actually only have enough time to do 1 out of 4 weeks and I’m left with a half ass program the other 3 weeks.
As far as injury… I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You arent moving superphysiological weights. The weights you are doing are well within the tolerances of a healthy body (even a small frame one). If you start cranking out 500+ squats and 500+ deads on your frame , yeah worth worrying about but if you get to that point then you have committed to that risk. The high volume of work BB brings has its own injury risk as well fwiw
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Segansational
Well-known member
Well, I'll caveat that about 4 years ago I had a lower back injury that sidelined me for a bit, that I've had reoccur at least 2-3x, only one time for any real stretch keeping me out of the gym since the initial issue. So I do have to be cautious, but I've largely been able to mitigate a lot of that with significant warm up routine before touching a barbell.
This morning was Squat deload:
Warm up routine.
Also added shoulder/trap lacrosse ball work as both sides felt bunched up a bit.
BB Squats:
45x10
95x8
135x3x6
Made sure to go further below parallel than normal this morning to try to ensure I always hit depth moving forward.
DB walking lunges:
5# x 3 times back and forth across the gym floor.
Not a long distance, but lunges are always the worst IMO!
TRX Calf Raises:
x15,12,12
1 hr 10 mins, 179 cals.
Pre: Same as Monday.
Intra: Same as Monday.
Notes
So, Sunday afternoon we spent removing drywall from our basement closet ceiling, as we discovered a leak. Needless to say, my basement gym is now a bit less organized since the closet opens up to my all in one machine / heavy bag area. So, until we finish some clean up, I am a bit more limited and cramped on what I can use. On the other hand, it forced me to do different movements for accessory work this AM.
MrKleen73
Legend
I echo what Hyde said, you can do both, if you spend a bit building up your numbers, and still keep direct arm, medial and rear delt work you will basically be training for both. Plus something like Big But Boring would allow you to get so much practice in you would become very efficient in the movements.
You mentioned you thought that PL would be better for family, and nutrition, and I agree. While my wife is super supportive, now that I have told her I really don't have any intentions of competing in BB again she has hopped on that train and damn near celebrated. As much as she was willing to go though that process with me again, it was obvious, she was only doing it for me. Otherwise, it is not an enjoyable time for her, or the rest of the family that lives in the house. Lots of stress, lots of pressure you put on yourself. You really have to make the training and diet your main priority which puts the family on a backburner so to speak. While they may be supportve and even excited for you, there is no doubt they are the ones making the real sacrifices. You are sacrificing for your goals, but they are sacrificing for you.
Go for it if it is truly a passion, or a bucket list item, but if it is just an "I would like to", or "it would be cool if" kind of thing, I would say it is not worth it.
You mentioned you thought that PL would be better for family, and nutrition, and I agree. While my wife is super supportive, now that I have told her I really don't have any intentions of competing in BB again she has hopped on that train and damn near celebrated. As much as she was willing to go though that process with me again, it was obvious, she was only doing it for me. Otherwise, it is not an enjoyable time for her, or the rest of the family that lives in the house. Lots of stress, lots of pressure you put on yourself. You really have to make the training and diet your main priority which puts the family on a backburner so to speak. While they may be supportve and even excited for you, there is no doubt they are the ones making the real sacrifices. You are sacrificing for your goals, but they are sacrificing for you.
Go for it if it is truly a passion, or a bucket list item, but if it is just an "I would like to", or "it would be cool if" kind of thing, I would say it is not worth it.
Dustin07
Legend
@dapack might have history to share too! I remember back in the day he was doing BB before converting to fulltime PL, that must have been like 15+ years ago now?!
man I agree with all that. I'm stereotypical in that my obvious excess fat is mid section, but the BBB has grown my legs again like crazy. my knee sleeves are getting tight, and I notice when I'm walking up the stairs at work my slacks are tight in the quads. Plus each time I cut, I feel like I'm a couple lbs heavier at the same BF than the prior cut. Took years but what was like 180 is closer to 190 now. PL and BB are both super hard when you make them a priority, but the "hard" of PL is just more family and social life friendly, generally speaking, unless your entire circle and family are also bodybuilders.
I remember when my sister in law once asked me if I was comfortable in my own skin at a mexican restaurant as they piled into the chips and bean/cheese dip and I waited for my salad with extra chicken. I was like hell yeah I am, cause I get to the gym, rip my shirt off, run crush a wod of 21 x 225 deadlifts + 6 minute mile in 3 rounds for time
but the level of autistic food nazi-ism I had was cleary spilling into all aspects of my life even then. AND THAT WASN'T BODYBUILDING it was just vanity and CrossFit. to get on stage would have been doubling down.
man I agree with all that. I'm stereotypical in that my obvious excess fat is mid section, but the BBB has grown my legs again like crazy. my knee sleeves are getting tight, and I notice when I'm walking up the stairs at work my slacks are tight in the quads. Plus each time I cut, I feel like I'm a couple lbs heavier at the same BF than the prior cut. Took years but what was like 180 is closer to 190 now. PL and BB are both super hard when you make them a priority, but the "hard" of PL is just more family and social life friendly, generally speaking, unless your entire circle and family are also bodybuilders.
I remember when my sister in law once asked me if I was comfortable in my own skin at a mexican restaurant as they piled into the chips and bean/cheese dip and I waited for my salad with extra chicken. I was like hell yeah I am, cause I get to the gym, rip my shirt off, run crush a wod of 21 x 225 deadlifts + 6 minute mile in 3 rounds for time
but the level of autistic food nazi-ism I had was cleary spilling into all aspects of my life even then. AND THAT WASN'T BODYBUILDING it was just vanity and CrossFit. to get on stage would have been doubling down.