Shawn's Wanna-be-a-powerlifter Journal

[wasmeFINAFLEX]

Congrats on the gym... be nice to mix it up with home/gym

[RT1957]

Strong squats Shawn...the 380 went up might fast ....Hope the new gym works out for ya...looking might swole too

[raynerd]

Upper after nightshift sleep

Warmup:
-low back stretch
-forward knee raises (warmup tight hip flexors)
-baby makers x 4

-wide lat pulldowns x 10
-band pullaparts low, high, 1 arm and dislocations

Bench:
10xbar of CGBP, ultra wide and comp
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2

Program Sets: (4-6 reps)
250 x 6
250 x 6 LR paused
250 x 6 all paused @RPE 7 vid

Narrow cable row: pwo
200 x 6
210 x 6
210 x 6

Incline BB bench:
195 x 6
205 x 6
210 x 6 @RPE 8.5

Widegrip pullup:
6
6
6

Dun:

Notes: did this one an hour after waking from nights. Bench went well, felt stronger each set I did, paused all reps the last set and had more in the tank. Off tomorrow, squats on Thursday

[RT1957]

Great work Shawn...bench is really moving now!!...Nice Incline BP numbers too

[polishedball]

Nice work on the squats, hoping to make it to those numbers.

[SixTribes]

strong, strong paused BP work...when is your meet?

[raynerd]

That is a hell of a squat session Shawn. 6 x 335 with an RPE of under 8. Very impressive man. That 380 with wraps was never in doubt either.

Crushing it in here.

Thanks Shane, I think that was the best squat day I have ever had. Just felt great. Hope they continue

Ah cool regarding new gym. Looks like a fun spot Shawn. Great for you to be around other lifters in a place that stokes you for hard work.

Thanks Robert, it is definitely a cool environment. I am going to spend some time there this summer and work on some strongman and conditioning stuff.

Congrats on the gym... be nice to mix it up with home/gym

Thanks Simon, be fun to get out of the bat cave once in a while and actually mix it up with humans lol

Strong squats Shawn...the 380 went up might fast ....Hope the new gym works out for ya...looking might swole too

Thanks Ron, it was a really good day under the bar. The new gym will be a secondary training place for me, maybe a couple sessions a week after the meet. Going to try to expand some new training and conditioning…and have some fun

Great work Shawn...bench is really moving now!!...Nice Incline BP numbers too

Thanks Ron, I felt strong today again….my bench is moving..woohoo!

Nice work on the squats, hoping to make it to those numbers.

Thanks man, I appreciate you popping in. I will check out your journal!

strong, strong paused BP work...when is your meet?

Thanks! My bench had been stagnant for so long I never thought this day would come lol. The meet is an RPS meet April 29th in Utica, Newyork. A few of us from here are meeting up to compete together under coach JTBNY, going to be a blast!

[baker]

Which model of Adidas are you using?

[raynerd]

Which model of Adidas are you using?

I have the Adipowers. Think for at least 3 years now, things are bombproof so far!

[SixTribes]

I did 3 RPS meets last year.. all run by different people. all well run..and its awesome you will have handler/coach there and some friendly faces; should help a lot... sounds you will have a great experience..keep training!

[fittofattofit]

Looking very strong benching @ 250 Shawn ... very easy looking last rep with a nice long pause!

[TM79]

Nice bench work, once again Shawn! No idea how you hit those sets... Honestly, it looked like you had 8-10 reps easy. Great work my friend!

[raynerd]

Morning Weight: 210
Morning workout today

Warmup:
-lumpy roller bottom end
-adductor stretch
-leg swings
-baby makers
-hip circle air squats

Shoulder rolls
Cat/camel
Donkey kicks
Glute bridges
Hollow rocks

Squats:
Bar x 5 paused
135 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1

Program Set:
340 x (4-6) got 6. Vid, 1st rep was a mess

Wrapped set:
390 x 1 moved fast and easy

Rack pulls: (below knee)
135 x 3
225 x 2
315 x 1
390 x 8

Dun:

Notes: felt like crap this morning. 340 was a rough set, my first rep was high and messed up with my knees shooting backwards out of the hole. Pulled it together to get my 6 rep PR but each rep felt equally hard. Think my quads are fatigued from last session which always gets me drifting back out of the hole. Didn't want to do a wrapped set after that but decided to hit one at 390.
This on the otherhand went real good, weight felt great on the back and the rep was deep and flew up easily. Messed up the vid on that one.
Onwards, not complaining, everything has gone almost perfect up until this one

[Hammerhagen]

BOOM...got all the reps at 340 and then 390 moved fast and easy. Thats a good day!

[TM79]

Congrats on the feelin' crappy PR! Unreal numbers Shawn! So is listening to heavy metal the secret to lifting that much weight?

[SixTribes]

340x6 is work no matter how you feel ! excellent effort on rep 6...

[mirroroferised]

Nice work on that pr man!

[Jtbny]

Got max reps on your set so nothing to worry about.

Next week one more wrapped session with preferably your planned opener and walkout at least your end goal (I always like to do more though). (Second squat session and make it count.) Won't be seeing wraps after that until the meet. Week 5 focus on pouring your heart into the reps which should be Prs for all of you guys but no wraps and no walkouts.

[raynerd]

Morning Weight: 209
At Industrial Athletics

Warmup:
Baby maker
Wide pull-ups
-band pullaparts low, high, 1 arm, dislocations

Bench:
10xbar of CGBP, ultra-wide, comp.
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2

Program Sets: 255 (4-6) x 3
255 x 6
255 x 6 LR pause
255 x 6 paused vid

Slingshot:
315 x 5 vid

1 arm DB row:
3 sets of 10 light

CGBP:
245 x 3
245 x 3
245 x 3

Wide grip pull-ups:
6
6
6

Dun:

Notes: Drew was working today and training on his own so figured I would have a session at the new gym. The actual bench felt lower to me so it was a tough different to setup. Hit all my reps and paused the whole last set so happy with that, it was a bit sloppy though.
Think that was a SS PR with 315x5. Good session

[raynerd]

I did 3 RPS meets last year.. all run by different people. all well run..and its awesome you will have handler/coach there and some friendly faces; should help a lot... sounds you will have a great experience..keep training!

Thanks 6T, I am getting excited for sure. It is going to be awesome meeting up with the guys, I am just as pumped for that as the meet. John has been nothing but amazing throughout this whole process, so think we will all be out there trying to make him proud

Looking very strong benching @ 250 Shawn ... very easy looking last rep with a nice long pause!

Thanks Andrew! Bench is feeling real good, hitting all my max reps with strength to spare on the most part!

Nice bench work, once again Shawn! No idea how you hit those sets... Honestly, it looked like you had 8-10 reps easy. Great work my friend!

Thanks Trent, that was a real good set for me. I think maybe 8 for sure was there!

BOOM...got all the reps at 340 and then 390 moved fast and easy. Thats a good day!

Thanks Andrew, happy with the session, I just messed up my first rep and felt a bit banged up. My wrapped set was the best part actually.

Congrats on the feelin' crappy PR! Unreal numbers Shawn! So is listening to heavy metal the secret to lifting that much weight?

lol, the metal helps, but it's not going to be there in Utica dammit It went pretty good I guess, just that first rep made me angry.

340x6 is work no matter how you feel ! excellent effort on rep 6...

Thanks 6T, a PR is a PR I guess.

Nice work on that pr man!

Thanks Davey, great squatting yourself!

Got max reps on your set so nothing to worry about.

Next week one more wrapped session with preferably your planned opener and walkout at least your end goal (I always like to do more though). (Second squat session and make it count.) Won't be seeing wraps after that until the meet. Week 5 focus on pouring your heart into the reps which should be Prs for all of you guys but no wraps and no walkouts.

Thanks John, I am striving to do damn near perfect so hate to mess up a rep like that. It's all good. Sounds good, 1 more wrapped and a walkout next week. Week 5 stays as it is! It's getting damn real now! Thanks coach

[RT1957]

Sorry to be the Ninja...Those last 2 session are showing great progress Shawn...

[Hammerhagen]

great session, you're bench is peaking just like your squats. Great programming+putting in the work=great results

[Sen8or]

Some great sessions Shawn, really setting yourself up well for the meet at the end of the month. I wondered what the "slingshot" reps were but then noticed the red slingshot on your arms (presumably helps with the drive off the chest?).

Keep up the good work

[wasmeFINAFLEX]

Great bench work Shawn.

- And ya I have toyed with the idea of getting a membership to get out and lift with others here and there...

[fittofattofit]

Nothing wrong with that squats session @ 340 x 6: your first rep was a bit wobbly and that probably threw you off but you looked very strong and had no trouble correcting it and all the subsequent reps looked deep and good. Very nice to follow up with a quick and deep 390
Great benching as well ... nailed those SS reps @ 3pps!

[raynerd]

Sorry to be the Ninja...Those last 2 session are showing great progress Shawn...

Thanks Ron, things are on schedule! Very happy with the progress so far!

great session, you're bench is peaking just like your squats. Great programming+putting in the work=great results

Thanks Andrew, hope things continue rolling in a positive way up to the meet. All my kids are sick and hope that doesn't take me out dammit! Felt junky this morning but not too bad right now, gotta kill squats in a few hours!

Some great sessions Shawn, really setting yourself up well for the meet at the end of the month. I wondered what the "slingshot" reps were but then noticed the red slingshot on your arms (presumably helps with the drive off the chest?).

Keep up the good work

Thanks Sen! Things look good for the end of the month so far. Just have to keep healthy and do the work. The Slingshot is an overload tool that gives you help off the chest but not at lockout. It's a great way to get used to heavier weights and overload the tris and lockout.

Great bench work Shawn.

- And ya I have toyed with the idea of getting a membership to get out and lift with others here and there...

Thanks Simon! Honestly I still love my home gym and it will be the majority of my workouts. My sessions at the new gym are going to be conditioning orientated and no more than 2x a week there after my meet. It will be a fun break as well after a full year of running PL'ing programs. I am going to be dieting and change my focus for a while. Fall it will be back to PL'ing and taking a run at beating this years total in the 198 class.

Nothing wrong with that squats session @ 340 x 6: your first rep was a bit wobbly and that probably threw you off but you looked very strong and had no trouble correcting it and all the subsequent reps looked deep and good. Very nice to follow up with a quick and deep 390
Great benching as well ... nailed those SS reps @ 3pps!

Thanks Andrew, not sure what happened that first rep, I must have reversed the squat too soon and high, my quads couldn't handle it so I sailed backwards to my PC. Glad I was able to redeem the set for sure, just hate to see that first rep go wonky when that's the only one that's going to count in Utica. I wish my vid worked for the 390, it felt great and am considering it for my opener. I will do it again on Thursday and make sure my Ipad is running! Bench is going very well, see what happens the next 2 weeks of training.




I moved my training days around a bit this week. I will start week 4 this afternoon and end it on Friday. Week 5 sessions will be pushed to Tuesday squats, Wednesday bench and Friday deads. This works best with mine and Drew's work schedule and it all still fits within the week at a time structure. Squats on the whey!

[Plateauplower]

Great sessions. Weights are moving now. Bench seems to be flying up. Your gonna pass me soon. I don't think I have hit 315x5 SS yet that I recall. Should have those triceps fired up. Squatting when fatigued is brutal.

[pastorgbc]

Looking strong Shawn. I loved the video of the 315 using the slingshot. That was a great pause, then high velocity blast off.

Ray

[TM79]

Here I am slacking off in here again... Great looking bench work the other day Shawn! I love the six reps paused at my current 1RM. Solid work on slingshot as well. Not familiar with that thing, but it would make me nervous to do that at my house. Excellent work my friend!

[shaneinga]

Moving some great weights in here Shawn.

250 x 6 on bench with pauses is strong man. You are just crushing your squats right now. So damn strong there. Closing in on the meet and all signs are looking like you are going to go in as strong as you possibly can.

Kicking ass in here Shawn!