Project Improvement 2012: A 3DMJ Production.

[psychodiver9]

New low and deadlift PR aren't supposed to go together

[xRequiem]

Good job! That looked pretty easy

[ErickStevens]

solid fukking day!

Thanks!

New low and deadlift PR aren't supposed to go together

I am a wizard.

Good job! That looked pretty easy

It was about a 9RPE I'd say.

[PerpetualMotion]

Erick, I've been thinking about messing around with a cycle of band-resisted dynamic work. Any articles or cycles you used that you could share? I just read Wendler's "Top 3 dynamic squat and bench cycles" but was just wondering what you read/used when you first did band work.

And legit DL. Did you say, "Love you, Steve"? For a bit, I thought you said, "**** you."

[ErickStevens]

Meso 2 / Micro 1 / Session 17

Pause Bench
225 x 3
245 x 2
265 x 1
285 x 1
305 x 1 PR

2 Count Pause Bench
245 x 3
235 x 3 (2x)

DB Incline Row
100 x 6 (3x)

Rolling DB Extensions
40 x 10
50 x 6
60 x 6

Delts, tris, abs.

Conditioning

15 minutes of sled work.

[Shazriki]

Well sheeit, grats on that PR Eric.

Been meaning to ask you about smolov jr because you said you ran it in the past with great results... well coming from a chicken breast chest background myself I really want to do it to bring up my bench. Did you adjust your lower body work at all, or did you just do your "usual" lower body stuff concurrently. Also were you able to do any other upper body compounds like OHP and rows while running smolov jr? Just trying to get a rough idea of how I should run it.

[ErickStevens]

Erick, I've been thinking about messing around with a cycle of band-resisted dynamic work. Any articles or cycles you used that you could share? I just read Wendler's "Top 3 dynamic squat and bench cycles" but was just wondering what you read/used when you first did band work.

And legit DL. Did you say, "Love you, Steve"? For a bit, I thought you said, "**** you."

I've never really looked into it to be honest. I'm more of a chain guy myself. I said "love" BTW. No homo.

Well sheeit, grats on that PR Eric.

Been meaning to ask you about smolov jr because you said you ran it in the past with great results... well coming from a chicken breast chest background myself I really want to do it to bring up my bench. Did you adjust your lower body work at all, or did you just do your "usual" lower body stuff concurrently. Also were you able to do any other upper body compounds like OHP and rows while running smolov jr? Just trying to get a rough idea of how I should run it.

This is what I did:

Monday: Bench + Legs
Wednesday: Bench + Pull Hyper
Friday: Bench + Legs
Saturday: Bench + Pull Power

I didn't do any additional tricep or delt work for the duration of the cycle. My first and only successful run of it brought me from a 225 paused bench to a 260 paused bench.

[ErickStevens]

Warning: Rambling ahead...

Sometimes when I get down on myself I go back and look at old pages in my log book and/or this thread. This month will make it one year competing in powerlifting for me and while my numbers aren't that impressive I think I've made some pretty good progress in 12 months. I've brought my squat from 415 to 545, my bench from 260 to 305, and my deadlift from 550 to 615. I also posted a 1225 total in my first meet and a 1443 total in my 5th meet. I know the gains will come slower now and every 5lbs I add will be a battle but I'm fairly confident I can continue to get stronger in 2013. I don't think a 1600ish total is out of the question, especially considering my willingness to gain weight. I will start the year out as a 220lb lifter and compete there until I outgrow the weight class. I've proven to myself that I can lose weight and maintain my strength so if I have to walk around in the 230s/240s for a little bit that's not a big deal to me. I have no desire to ever weigh less than 200lbs again in my life. That doesn't mean that I will become a sloppy pig - I still plan on conditioning 3-4x per week. I take a lot of pride in having a decent gas tank but that doesn't mean I won't be eating. A lot. I want a 600 squat really bad in 2013 and if that means just maintaining my DL then that's fine. It's always been my pet lift and has a way of staying stable and even increasing during training cycles where I don't emphasize it. I wouldn't be surprised if I pull at least 650 at some point though. I obviously want to bench 315 and I imagine that might even happen some time this year, perhaps in December. In 2013 I really want to become a more complete lifter and will be greatly disappointed if I don't add 50lbs to my bench. I am going to pound the fuk out of that lift and make it a little less embarrassing. Anyways, thanks for reading my ramblings!

Cliffs:

- I got a lot stronger this year.
- I'm going to get a lot stronger next year.
- I'm going to be fat and in shape at the same time in 2013.

[Shazriki]

Great post E, will be here the whole time watching you continue add iron slabs to the bar. It's funny but a commonality I see in this forum is that we all have a hard time seeing where we've come from, it's good that you can be objective about your (franky great) progress.

And thanks for the fast response, looking forward it now.

[PerpetualMotion]

Pause Bench
305 x 1 PR

Pretty impressive to bench PR on a cut. Do you treat this as a competition bench?

I've never really looked into it to be honest. I'm more of a chain guy myself. I said "love" BTW. No homo.

Do you just throw 50-60% 1RM straight weight then add chains and judge speed?

[vinipitta]

Warning: Rambling ahead...

Sometimes when I get down on myself I go back and look at old pages in my log book and/or this thread. This month will make it one year competing in powerlifting for me and while my numbers aren't that impressive I think I've made some pretty good progress in 12 months. I've brought my squat from 415 to 545, my bench from 260 to 305, and my deadlift from 550 to 615. I also posted a 1225 total in my first meet and a 1443 total in my 5th meet. I know the gains will come slower now and every 5lbs I add will be a battle but I'm fairly confident I can continue to get stronger in 2013. I don't think a 1600ish total is out of the question, especially considering my willingness to gain weight. I will start the year out as a 220lb lifter and compete there until I outgrow the weight class. I've proven to myself that I can lose weight and maintain my strength so if I have to walk around in the 230s/240s for a little bit that's not a big deal to me. I have no desire to ever weigh less than 200lbs again in my life. That doesn't mean that I will become a sloppy pig - I still plan on conditioning 3-4x per week. I take a lot of pride in having a decent gas tank but that doesn't mean I won't be eating. A lot. I want a 600 squat really bad in 2013 and if that means just maintaining my DL then that's fine. It's always been my pet lift and has a way of staying stable and even increasing during training cycles where I don't emphasize it. I wouldn't be surprised if I pull at least 650 at some point though. I obviously want to bench 315 and I imagine that might even happen some time this year, perhaps in December. In 2013 I really want to become a more complete lifter and will be greatly disappointed if I don't add 50lbs to my bench. I am going to pound the fuk out of that lift and make it a little less embarrassing. Anyways, thanks for reading my ramblings!

Cliffs:

- I got a lot stronger this year.
- I'm going to get a lot stronger next year.
- I'm going to be fat and in shape at the same time in 2013.

Inspiring!

[ErickStevens]

Great post E, will be here the whole time watching you continue add iron slabs to the bar. It's funny but a commonality I see in this forum is that we all have a hard time seeing where we've come from, it's good that you can be objective about your (franky great) progress.

And thanks for the fast response, looking forward it now.

Make sure you stay diligent with your rotator cuff prehab. They take a beating during those three weeks.

Pretty impressive to bench PR on a cut. Do you treat this as a competition bench?

Do you just throw 50-60% 1RM straight weight then add chains and judge speed?

Yep, competition pause. I should start labeling it as such actually. For speed work with chains I calculate 70% then subtract 40lbs to account for the chains. So typically I'd go with 185 +40c for my speed work.

Inspiring!

Thanks!

[Bonkies]

awesome goals lol

are you still with 3dmj for 2013? or now even

[adamsz]

Call me a dork, but I've now officially read through your entire log. You've accomplished so much in just a short year, I'm definitely inspired bro.

In 1 year you've added 240lbs to your total, which averages out to about 20lbs/month. That's as good as newbie gains! But we all know it's because you have an incredible passion and work ethic for what you're doing. NOT TO MENTION in that same year you got engaged, opened a gym, and have been planing a wedding! For any sane person to do that they would probably put on no more than 100lbs TOPS to their total in the SamE amount of time. Looking forward to what you can bring in 2013 bro!

Oh yeah, and good bench PR. 1 step closer to 3 plates!

[wrkoutfrq]

Call me a dork, but I've now officially read through your entire log. You've accomplished so much in just a short year, I'm definitely inspired bro.

In 1 year you've added 240lbs to your total, which averages out to about 20lbs/month. That's as good as newbie gains! But we all know it's because you have an incredible passion and work ethic for what you're doing. NOT TO MENTION in that same year you got engaged, opened a gym, and have been planing a wedding! For any sane person to do that they would probably put on no more than 100lbs TOPS to their total in the SamE amount of time. Looking forward to what you can bring in 2013 bro!

Oh yeah, and good bench PR. 1 step closer to 3 plates!

all of this man... i know its hard to see things when you are on the inside, and it's discouraging sometimes to not be able to see changes, but you have accomplished SO much in the past year... you are pretty much the epitome of what 90% of athletic guys want to be... a successful competitive powerlifter, who has made incredible gains in almost no time, you own your own gym, you're marrying a beautiful girl who has the same passion for fitness that you do, what's there not to like? i know i probably speak for many here when i say that you have motivated me to work hard and never look back...

[Big Sexy J]

Congrats on the bench PR.

Good luck with your fitness goals in 2013.

Considering I have 4 paid days at SBB, I should probably get up there for a workout sometime. My schedule has just been ridiculous so it's been really hard to get up there on a day I am free. Hopefully I can get those 4 days in before my meet for some deadlifting.

[ErickStevens]

awesome goals lol

are you still with 3dmj for 2013? or now even

I am always 3DMJ but I don't actively consult with Berto right now. I don't want to bother him since he has a ton of clients (my fiancee included) but I touch base from time to time.

Call me a dork, but I've now officially read through your entire log. You've accomplished so much in just a short year, I'm definitely inspired bro.

In 1 year you've added 240lbs to your total, which averages out to about 20lbs/month. That's as good as newbie gains! But we all know it's because you have an incredible passion and work ethic for what you're doing. NOT TO MENTION in that same year you got engaged, opened a gym, and have been planing a wedding! For any sane person to do that they would probably put on no more than 100lbs TOPS to their total in the SamE amount of time. Looking forward to what you can bring in 2013 bro!

Oh yeah, and good bench PR. 1 step closer to 3 plates!

Thanks for reading man. I've done the same thing with a lot of other people's logs so don't think your alone!

all of this man... i know its hard to see things when you are on the inside, and it's discouraging sometimes to not be able to see changes, but you have accomplished SO much in the past year... you are pretty much the epitome of what 90% of athletic guys want to be... a successful competitive powerlifter, who has made incredible gains in almost no time, you own your own gym, you're marrying a beautiful girl who has the same passion for fitness that you do, what's there not to like? i know i probably speak for many here when i say that you have motivated me to work hard and never look back...

Thank you. My life is pretty awesome.

Congrats on the bench PR.

Good luck with your fitness goals in 2013.

Considering I have 4 paid days at SBB, I should probably get up there for a workout sometime. My schedule has just been ridiculous so it's been really hard to get up there on a day I am free. Hopefully I can get those 4 days in before my meet for some deadlifting.

I got some 100lb plates with your name on them.

[ErickStevens]

Meso 2 / Micro 1 / Session 18

Squats (High Bar)
320 x 3
370 x 3
410 x 2
+ Belt
460 x 1 High bar PR
410 x 3 (2x)
370 x 3

Deficit Speed Deadlift (Conventional)
315 x 2 (8x)

GHR
BW x 10
+15 x 8
+20 x 5

Shrugs
405 x 10 (3x)

Bis, upper back, abs.

Conditioning

10 minutes of upper body sled work.

Notes

After the second horrific day of squatting in as many weeks, I'm ending my diet. I will start slowly upping the calories for the next few weeks until I'm in the ~3k range.

[psychodiver9]

PR=horrific day?

[ErickStevens]

PR=horrific day?

I was trying to triple it. lol

[vitornoob]

still an amazing workout, sir

nice job on dat bench too

and inspiring rambling

[snrygo]

Snagged the TM book you were talking about last night with some of my birthday money. Looks promising as heck!

Can't wait to read it next week (starting 8 days from now) after I'm done with the ridiculously reading intensive part of my coursework

[KimValentine]

Yay for bench PR! And nice progress in the past year!

[GalvanizedPail]

What do deficit deadlifts help with?

[ilove2run]

What do deficit deadlifts help with?

Increases ROM; leading to potential greater force/speed production.

[dchan8]

Increases ROM; leading to potential greater force/speed production.

They also help to make sitting extremely uncomfortable for a while due to sore glutes.

[ErickStevens]

still an amazing workout, sir

nice job on dat bench too

and inspiring rambling

Thanks man.

Snagged the TM book you were talking about last night with some of my birthday money. Looks promising as heck!

Can't wait to read it next week (starting 8 days from now) after I'm done with the ridiculously reading intensive part of my coursework

It's a good read. Enjoy!

Yay for bench PR! And nice progress in the past year!

Thank you!

What do deficit deadlifts help with?

Increases ROM; leading to potential greater force/speed production.

They also help to make sitting extremely uncomfortable for a while due to sore glutes.

That greater force/speed production helps me get the weight off the floor faster on a regular deadlift. And it makes my butt sore.

[dchan8]

And it makes my butt sore.

Kinky?

[MiscDemeanor]

Whoooo 9 more days! Very motivational post up there Eric. You are my number 1 inspiration on this site, srs. Have no doubt in my mind that you will achieve greater things in 2013

[ErickStevens]

Whoooo 9 more days! Very motivational post up there Eric. You are my number 1 inspiration on this site, srs. Have no doubt in my mind that you will achieve greater things in 2013

Thank you. That means a lot to me, I'm glad I could inspire you. 2013 is going to be awesome!