Return of the King

BossArky

Tuesday June 9th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
97.5kg - 8x4 ... 2.5kg PR over last cycle. Achy elbows after yesterdays Squats.. Video'd last set. Worksets done in 73 mins

T-Bar Row (close parallel grip)
frame+15kg - 7x10
---

That feeling when you're busting out PR worksets and its just you and a guy with a vaccum late at night in the gym.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Tuesday June 9th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
97.5kg - 8x4 ... 2.5kg PR over last cycle. Achy elbows after yesterdays Squats.. Video'd last set. Worksets done in 73 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZnOYqfk6J8

BossArky

Thursday June 11th: Squats

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
**add wrist wraps**
110kg - 1x2
**add belt**
125kg - 1x1
140kg - 7x3 ... Some sort of PR. Tough but survived
---

Trained too late. Gym was emptying as I was warming up. Thus I was rushing to get through the sets when there were sufficient people still around to spot me. This gym doesn't have racks in the heavy weights room. Got through 7 worksets and called it quits then as I was keeping three other people from going home as they were just waiting around to spot me. I could have been a pain and requested that they stick around another 30 mins, but that's not me as it was late at night and they have homes to go to.

Anyway, 7x3 is not much different from 10x3. I know I could have ground them out.

Will aim to open in comp on 142.5 before going to 152.5 and then 162.5kg for a 2.5kg PR.

Weighed 87.2kg on the gym scales wearing everything and overhydrated. Will easily be sub 83kg for comp day. Funnily enough this cycle I totally forgot about my usual chocolate milk after each workout. Just couldn't be bothered.

BossArky

Saturday June 13th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
92.5kg - 1x5
**add wrist wraps**
102.5kg - 10x3 ... 1.5kg PR over last cycle. Achy elbows. Video'd last set. Worksets done in 82 mins

T-Bar Row (close parallel grip)
frame+15kg - 7x10
---

Bench PR to end that 12 week training cycle. Pretty happy. That's 1.5kg over what I finished last cycle on 3 months ago. Will aim to open Bench on 102.5 then go 107.5 and 112.5kg for a 2.5kg PR.

Weight didn't feel heavy, but elbows painful from all the low bar Squatting a couple of days ago.

Lifted off the first 6 sets myself. Got a lift off on the last 4 and it made them so much easier. It was like taking 5kg off the bar.

Forgot to do the last row superset but who cares as by now I've done about 10,000 reps of T-Bar Rows on 15kg over the past few months. Just keeping stuff in balance..

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Saturday June 13th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
102.5kg - 10x3 ... 1.5kg PR over last cycle. Achy elbows. Video'd last set. Worksets done in 82 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIUw9UDNgqQ

BossArky

Tuesday June 16th: Deload - 1 of 2

Squat (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 3x5
---
Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5

Lat Pulldown
setting 8 - 3x10
---
Arnold Press (steep-ish incline)
15kg per arm - 3x10

T-Bar Row (wide overhand grip)
frame+15kg - 3x10
---

Elbows and wrists pretty sore. Had to change Squat grip to actually have thumbs around the bar. Thankfully it's deload and they'll have this week to heal up.

I video'd my Squat warm up - for your viewing pleasure. This includes:
- banded side steps
- banded walks
- warm up Squats with plate held to the front
- plus a set of 20kg & 60kg on the actual Squat

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Tuesday June 16th: Deload - 1 of 2

I video'd my Squat warm up - for your viewing pleasure. This includes:
- banded side steps
- banded walks
- warm up Squats with plate held to the front
- plus a set of 20kg & 60kg on the actual Squat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27uyqa-kOxU

BossArky

Thursday June 18th: Deload - 2 of 2

Squat (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 3x5
---
Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 3x5

One Arm DB Row
10kg or 15kg per arm - 3x10
---

Left elbow very sore under just 20kg Squat bar strain whilst trying out some Gansta' Raps. Basically they are totally rock solid super reinforced wrist wraps which translate everything to your eblows... which isn't the best when you're elbows are sore after 3 months of hard training. Took them off and everything was fine wristwrapless on the final Squats (60kg - 3x5).

There ends the deload. Now time to compete on Sunday.

My attempts will go as follows:
Bench: 100/107.5/112.5 (for 2.5kg PR)
Squat: 142.5/152.5/162.5 (for 2.5kg PR)
Deadlift: ~157.5/~167.5/~172.5

The Deadlift attempts are the only uncertainty. Last comp I did 170kg on my second and failed 177.5kg on my third... so in theory I should be able for 175/177.5kg this time around.

I will see how the Squat and Bench go. If I make the proposed attempts about on Squat/Bench then I'll just need 172.5kg on Deadlift to hit a weird total of 447.5kg which will give me my first Wilks score of 300 points.

If any of the Squat/Bench attempts are missed I'll have to go higher on the Deadlift to push a Total PR about my current best of 440kg.

BossArky

... and here is how the bodyweight has been looking over the past days:

Wed: 82.4kg
Thurs: 82.4kg
Fri: 82.7kg
Sat: 82.9kg

Upon waking on Wednesday morning I was exactly the weight I was on the morning of my last comp 3 months ago... so the lack of chocolate milk this cycle has seen me loose ~1.4kg of fat.

Didn't have to go too crazy on the water loading this week either. Drank a bit, but not too much. Probably about 4 litres per day since Wednesday.

Its the first time in a good while that I've actually been eating up into a comp rather than cutting down.

BossArky

Powerlifting Competition: 21.06.2015

Short Version: Went 7/9 for 442.5kg (+2.5kg) PR total. The day went from bad to good.

Long Version: Read on...

Deload week had me feeling pretty battered in the elbows and wrists from the heavy Squatting. Didn't feel 100% recovered on morning of competition. It was freezing... well 4 degrees C, so the last thing I felt like doing was maxing out on heavy lifts.

Got to the venue 15 mins before weigh in was supposed to start at 10am. Refs were late and thus lots of standing around twiddling thumbs. Finally refs arrived 30 mins later and lots had me drawn last to weigh in! Basically this meant that I was close to an hour too early for my weigh in and killed time standing around and being hungry.

The morning of the comp I was 81.7kg on home scales, so I was giving myself a home scales margin of error of 0.5kg... but still way under the 83kg weight category limit. Ate some porridge and a banana and the home scales was reading 81.9kg before I got dressed proper.

Took some peanut butter oat balls, plus cheese sambos.. and a few motor energy drinks along with the usual rehydration salts for the water, plus a few bottles of normal electrolyte energy drink.

As refs weren't around I hopped on the comp scales and it was good to see that I was well under the weight limit with my tracksuit bottoms still on. Finally when the refs arrived I officially weighed in at 82.05kg... almost 1kg under weight. That is the most casual build up to a comp I've ever had bodyweight wise. Was nice not to have to be totally dying from dehydration and lack of food. I cut the water loading at 1:30pm Saturday. Weigh in was at ~10:40am Sunday.... so about ~21 hours of no liquid. Didn't even feel parched to be honest. It shows the different the warm weather makes for water loading vs cold weather (it's the depths of winter right now in Melbourne).

After weight in I had a few sambos, a few peanut butter oatballs, plus drank close to a litre of water with rehydration salts. Was feel good, but bloody froozen. Went out side to walk around in the grass to grab some sunlight and try to warm my body up. As mentioned earlier above, lifting heavy weights was the last thing I felt like doing as it was so cold.

Started off the Squat warm ups: 20x5, 60x5, 90x3, 110x2, 125x1.

They all felt fine and elbows good too. Last warm up was on a very slippery bar with no knurling, but couldn't be arsed queuing for the powerbar.

Had a buddy from powerlifting club coaching me which was handy. Outsourced all the fiddling about with card writing for attempt selection to him.

Squat:
Squat #1: 140kg - good

Squat #2: 152.5kg - good

Squat #3: 162.5kg - fail. Couldn't grind it out. No excuses. Too heavy on the day.

So, after the above I was 7.5kg below my best ever Squat which was making it look like a Total PR was off the cards today.

On to bench warm ups which all felt super easy: 20x5, 60x5, 80x3, 92.5x1. Caught the left upright on all of the last few sets which was weird. Revised opener upwards from 100 to 102.5 because YOLO. Was half thinking about going for 115kg on third attempt instead of 112.5kg based upon how warm ups felt. This would also help make up some of the subtotal ground I had last on the Squat third attempt selection.

Bench:
Bench #1: 102.5kg - good & easy

Bench #2: 110kg - good & easy. Equals PR from 3 months ago. I wanted to go for 115kg after this as the 110kg flew up. Coach wanted me to be a bit more conservative and seal the PR with 112.5kg so I said ok.

Bench #3: 112.5kg - fail & WTF. Couldn't press it. Should have been easy based upon the preceding attempt. Went slightly towards face and lost groove. Weird, was 100000% confident of getting that.

On to Deadlift warm ups: 60x5, 100x5, 125x3, 145x2

Notice that I doubled 145kg x2 on last warm up, versus a single on 140kg which I did last comp as last warm up. I think this helped amp me up for the heavier deadlifts, rather than taking it too easy in warm up. Just used belt on last warm up. All warm ups except last one were double overhand too.

Deadlift (Sumo):

Deadlift #1: 160kg - good. Swung out from shins a bit but easy
Deadlift #2: 170kg - good & easy. Wow that felt easier than expected
Deadlift #3: 180kg - good & equals all time Conventional Deadlift record set 4.25 years ago! That is 5kg over my best ever Sumo Deads. Delighted!

So, as you can see... the day went from crappy to pretty awesome. I thought I was in for a horrendous day when I missed the 3rd Squat. Couldn't see how I was going to get a total PR out of it. But, equalling my Bench PR and then pulling out a great Deadlifting performance (my worst lift) saw me sail to an unexpected 2.5kg total personal record of 442.5kg @82.05kg bodyweight. Was I happy? Yes!:pac: Really excited to see that my Deadlift is moving. Kept a slightly narrow sumo stand which feels powerful versus the wider one I used to use. Also I'm dumping the deadlift slippers. Today I deadlift in my converse and feet felt nicely planted/rooted to the ground. Slippers feel a bit insecure.

Left before the medal ceremony but just got a message telling me I got bronze in my category. Will get the videos together from various cameras and post in the coming week or so.

Will take a few days off and have a think about training then get back at it from around Thursday later in the week.

Alf Veedersane

Well done, chief. Great work to get a PR total despite the start! Onwards and upwards.

BossArky

Monday June 22nd:

Swim - a few lengths and general splashing about in the name of recovery.

BossArky

BossArky wrote: »

Powerlifting Competition: 21.06.2015

Short Version: Went 7/9 for 442.5kg (+2.5kg) PR total. The day went from bad to good.

A short video rendering the past weekend in alliteration: crayon, cake & competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Eo0UC0quU

BossArky

Thursday June 25th: Squat Day 1

Squat (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 4x9 ... easy
---
Deadlift (Convo)
70kg - 3x5 ... "deadlift bar" i.e. super springy
---
Prowler
frame +0kg - x2
frame +10kg - x2
frame +20kg - x2
frame +10kg - x2
frame +0kg - x2
---

First session back after comp. Straight into another cycle. Squats felt incredible. Using a thumbs around ground and closer now. Got the exact spring out of the hole due to proper rebound. Will try and keep this setup when the weights get heavier.

Wore oly heels on convo deadlifts because couldn't be arsed going barefoot.

Prowler death consumed me. Drank some freebie new coke beforehand and felt terrible after.

BossArky

Friday June 26th: Bench Day 1

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
75kg - 6x6

Chin Ups
bodyweight - 6x6
---

Blasted through those. Gonna include chins ups for back for a change & also because it targets arms at the same time (more so than T-Bar rows... & as Arnie would say "big guns big - pay checks"). Writing this a couple of days later and DOMs in lats and biceps/forearms is off the scale.

Trained the above on Friday morning, less than 12 hours after the Squat session before on Thursday night... so was low on energy due to no food. Wanted to have the weekend off so scrunched it in.

BossArky

Monday June 29th: Squat Day 2

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
95kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
105kg - 4x7 ... fine
**add knee wraps** :mad::rolleyes::eek:
100kg - 1x3 ... ouch :eek:
110kg - 1x3 ... ouch :eek::mad:
120kg - 1x3 ... ouch :eek::mad:
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
100kg - 6x5
---

Holy Moly. First time ever using knee wraps. The pain. The lack of depth. The futility.

My bright idea on the weekend was to buy something which would allow me to overload my Squat and get used to heavier weights. Practised wrapping knees a few times on the sofa over the weekend and didn't feel too bad. Felt absolutely horrendous in the gym with weight on the back though. Totally unnatural feeling.

BossArky

Tuesday June 30th: Bench Day 2

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 6x5

Barbell Row
20kg - 1x10
70kg - 3x8 ... may have actually been 8, 10, 12... cannot really remember

One Arm DB Row
30kg per arm - 3x8
---
Military Press
20kg - 1x5
40kg - 3x5

Rev Fly (lying on T-Bar Row incline bench)
2.5kg per arm - 3x10 ... very light getting used to a movement I haven't done in years
---
Tricep Extension with Sled
sled +20kg - 2 lengths
sled +40kg - 6 lengths

Row with Sled
sled +40kg - 4 lengths
---
Lat Raise
2.5kg per arm - 3x10 ... again very light getting used to a movement I haven't done in years
---

Avid readers of my log will notice that I'm limiting the sets to the day 1 number per Squat and Bench workouts (i.e. keeping sets to 4 and 6 respectively). This gives me additional time to do some other brain entertaining accessorising. It also means that when I get back onto a 12 week competition prep cycle in a few weeks I'll be able to up the volume back to normal epic levels and reap the rewards as body goes into catabolic decline quickly followed by super-compensation.

The tricep extension with sled gave some incredible and focused burn in my back of upper arm. Got this idea whilst watching Matt Wenning on SuperTraining TV. He advocates 70% of his upperbody training aimed at triceps and upperback. I was impressed by the level of fatigue the sled extension can build up.

Quite enjoyable training session. Got the bench worksets done (plus the associated super sets for barbell and one arm rows) in 23 minutes. The next 45 mins or so was messing about having fun. Got a nice pump!

BossArky

Thursday July 2nd: Squat Day 3

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
112.5kg - 4x5 ... nearly squeezing dinner up
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
110kg - 6x5
---

Nice to have lower volume Squatting for a change.

Deadlifts were good.

BossArky

Friday July 3rd: Bench Day 3

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
72.5 - 1x3
85kg - 6x4

Pull Up
6x4
---

Quickest workout ever: 12 worksets sets above done in 11 minutes. Everything more or less back to back.

Bench was easy.

First time doing proper palms away (vs. palms to face or parallel) pullups in ages. Felt good. All the double overhand Deadlifts improving grip.

Did the above in evening.... as turned up in morning at 6am but no one opened so had to come back a second time later in day.

BossArky

Monday July 6th: Squat Day 4

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
117.5kg - 4x3
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
120kg - 6x5
---

Squats done in 27 mins. Felt the usual early cycle rusty aches. Deadlifts too about the same time but felt pretty good. All double overhand.

Nice to get home earlier than usual and not be totally rushing to work.

BossArky

Tuesday July 7th: Bench Day 4

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 4x3 ... realised once I was home that I should have done 6 sets, not 4.

Barbell Row
20kg - 1x10
70kg - 3x8

One Arm DB Row
30kg per arm - 3x8
---
Military Press
20kg - 1x5
35kg - 1x3
45kg - 3x5

Rev Fly (lying on T-Bar Row incline bench)
5kg per arm - 3x8
---
Tricep Extension with Sled
sled +20kg - 1 length
sled +40kg - 1 length
sled +60kg - 1 length

Row with Sled
sled +20kg - 1 length
sled +40kg - 1 length
sled +60kg - 1 length
---
Lat Raise
5kg per arm - 3x8
---

BossArky

Thursday July 10th: Squat Day 5

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
92.5kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
105kg - 4x9
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
60kg - 2x5
80kg - 6x5
---

Was wondering why I was falling forward on the first Squat workset 105kg 4x9. Kept coming up on my toes towards the bottom. Realised afterwards when I went to undo belt that I hadn't closed it ahead of set. So, probably a high rep beltless PR.

BossArky

Friday July 10th: Bench Day 5

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 6x6

Pull Up
bodyweight +5kg - 6x4
---

Did the worksets (Bench & Pull Ups) above supersetted back to back in 14 mins. The upperbody fatigue from the crossfit style approach had me almost fail on the last set of Bench. Chest was on fire even though weight was lighty. Tasty DOMS after!

Was initially disappointed as I remembered that the Friday session last week only took 11 mins. Realized later that it was ok as tonight I was doing 2 extra reps per bench set.

BossArky

Monday July 13th: Squat Day 6

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
115kg - 4x7 ... done in 34 mins
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
110kg - 6x5 ... easy
---

Got to gym a few mins earlier than the advertised 6am opening time. It was open early which is a first. Therefore got through my stuff and home earlier than usual which was good.

Squats still feeling a bit creaky and don't feel like I've come out of the post comp haze yet.

Deadlifts feel awesome. Loving doing conventional again. Beltless too. The double overhand grip makes seems to allow me concentrate on locking in my lats, which is something I wasn't doing in previous cycles/years.

BossArky

Tuesday July 14th: Bench Day 6

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 6x5

Barbell Row
20kg - 1x10
70kg - 3x8

One Arm DB Row
32.5kg per arm - 3x8
---
Military Press
20kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
50kg - 3x5 ... alright

Rev Fly (lying on T-Bar Row incline bench)
2.5kg per arm - 3x8
---
Machine Rows (4 handles)
60lbs - many reps suppersetted across the 4 handles in three giant sets.

Lat Raise
2.5kg per arm - 3x8
---

Good. Did some nice machine rowing on a new old school 4 handle row.

BossArky

Thursday July 16th: Squat Day 7

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
82.5kg - 1x5
102.5kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
122.5kg - 4x5
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
120kg - 2x5
---

Rushed through the above in about 40 mins to get to a meeting. Squats felt terrible initially but warmed up towards the 4th set. Rushed Deadlifts and lower back pumped/fatigued after convo.

BossArky

Friday July 17th: Bench Day 7

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x4

Pull Up
bodyweight +7.5kg - 6x4
---

The 12 supersetted bench & pull up worksets above completed in 17 mins. Good.

BossArky

Monday July 20th: Squat Day 8

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
90kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
127.5kg - 4x3
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 2x5
100kg - 2x5
130kg - 6x5 ... good & probably a beltless and doubleoverhand PR
---

It was -1 (minus 1) degrees when I was in the gym at 6:19am about to do my first workset. Was too asleep to notice the cold whilst walking to gym, but other people there remarked on how they had to scrape their windows clear with keys. It was cold alright but not impossible to Squat. Got the job done.

Deadlifts feel awesome these days. Writing this a couple of days later and my underforearms (what is that called?) are DOMs'ed to the hilt from double overhand grip. First 4 sets on 130kg double overhand were fine. Grip started to go a bit on sets 5&6. That was probably the heaviest sets of 5 both conventional and sumo that I've ever done beltless and double overhand.

BossArky

Tuesday July 21st: Bench Day 8

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 6x3 ... easy. No wrist wraps

Barbell Row
20kg - 1x10
70kg - 3x8

One Arm DB Row
32.5kg per arm - 3x8
---
Military Press
20kg - 1x5
40kg - 1x3
52.5kg - 3x5 ... fine. Probably a PR although its been years since I went "heavy" / even did these

Rev Fly (lying on T-Bar Row incline bench)
2.5kg per arm - 3x12
---
Machine Rows (4 handles)
100lbs - 4x4x10 ... 160 reps

Lat Raise
2.5kg per arm - 3x8
---

Pretty happy with the above. Bench feels incredibly easy. Think the reduction in volume in recent weeks has granted a bit of room for recovery / super compensation. Didn't bother with wrist wraps on the 95kg worksets. Usually I'd throw them on from 90kg upwards. Didn't notice much difference (i.e. was easy).

12 worksets (6+6) on bench and BB rows/DB Rows completed in 29 mins.

BossArky

Thursday July 23rd: Squat Day 9

Squat
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
100kg - 1x2
**add belt & wrist wraps**
110kg - 4x9 ... video'd 4th set
---
Deadlift ... alternating conventional & sumo each set
70kg - 6x5
---

Just doing the work.