JiP's Powerlifting Log

[JiP]

11.01.18

1 hour walk at lunch


10 min bicycle
10 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Squats
150 x 1
170 x 1 - back was too fried from deadlifts on the 9th
150 x 1

Pause Bench
80 x 3
100 x 3 - back too tired

Dips
BW x 10 x 5

Pull Ups
BW x 6 x 4

Circuit
10 Leg Raises, 35sec Plank x 2

Circuit
12 10kg Hammer Curls, 12 20kg TriExt x 5


10 min bicycle


Notes
Was planning on hitting 3 reps at 170 but back was destroyed. The single reps looked good. Bench felt awful, couldn't set up. Decided to just hammer some accessories.

The competition I was planning on doing on the 28th closed early due to too many entries. Powerlifting has really got a lot more popular. I was putting off my entry until I was sure I would make weight, but I suppose that's life.

[JRMoore82]

Sucks you didn’t get into meet man. Ours fill up here in USA as well.

[JiP]

Sucks you didn’t get into meet man. Ours fill up here in USA as well.

I'm actually kind of relieved now, feeling like I'm falling apart recently! Glad I don't have my ego to force me to a potential injury.


14.01.18

250 Push-ups in 26:41


Notes
Motivation has been in the toilet for the past month or so. My informal coach agreed it was best to end this training cycle early and rest up, as there's no longer a competition.

He wants me to focus on improving my work capacity and being less rigid with my training. Lots of high reps, lots of circuits. Also to keep focus on weight loss. Plan for the next 2 weeks is just to do whatever I feel like doing.

[JiP]

19.01.18

Circuit
4 Chins
10 Press-ups
15 BW Squats

14 rounds in 30 min


20.01.18

Circuit
8 Dips
10 Lunges (Each side, 5kg above head)
8 Burpees
10 Bicycle Crunch (each side)
5 Chins

5 rounds in 24:12


Notes
No heavy squats/deads for the next week. Just doing what I feel like before starting capacity based training.

[JiP]

23.01.18


85.1kg

15 min foam roll
10 min scapular strengthening

100 Hammer Chins in 36:14


Notes
I've always sucked at chins. Now I have a precise figure for how much I suck. Hoping to get sub 20 once I shed more kgs.

On most days I try to walk 10k steps at the moment, although it's pretty difficult a lot of the time as I spend the majority of my day sat on my fat arse looking at a computer screen.

[JiP]

25.01.18


15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up

100 Burpees
14:46

200 BW Squats
14:26


Notes
Hoping to get sub 10 minutes on the burpees. They were fcking hard.

[JiP]

27.01.18


15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up

Circuit
20 DB Swing 20kg
8 Dips
8 RDL 110kg
15 Half-sits
4 Chins
10 Lunges (Each leg, 5kg overhead)
1 min rest

5 Rounds in 31:16


Notes
This wasn't much of a deload workout. Wanted to see how I'd cope with 5 rounds. It was tough, was breathing heavy the entire time.

Decided to split my daily cardio between walking/cycling. 10k steps, 40 mins cycling or a mixture. Walking can be pretty boring.

On an unrelated note, it's been nearly a year since I quit smoking. Also nearly 18 months since I quit drugs/drinking, after spending the night in hospital when I collapsed and hit my head pretty hard on a cocktail of prescription meds and various illicit drugs.

I have also over the past 3 months reduced my pregabalin (the only anti anxiety medication I still take) from 800mg a day to 200mg. This creates a lot of fatigue and is shown to increase weight gain against placebo. I am starting to feel better already without it.

[JiP]

29.01.18

15 min foam rolling
10 min dynamic warm up


Squats
120 x 3
140 x 3
150 x 3
155 x 3

Circuit
Squat 90kg x 8
Dips BW x 8
Rows 60kg x 8
Burpees x 10
Pull-ups x 4
Plank 30sec

5 times in 36:00


Notes
This was exhausting. Plenty of time spent gasping for air. Burpees are the work of the devil.

[JiP]

31.08.18

Bodyweight 83.2kg

15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Pause Bench
90 x 3
95 x 3
100 x 4 @9

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Bench 65kg x 10
Hammer Chins x 5
Bicycle Crunch x 10 (each side)
Push Press 45kg x 6

5 rounds in 26:11

15 min static stretch


Notes
Good session. Coach advised to avoid trying to catch breath to get extra reps. Most sets felt very close to failure. Pause bench felt good, everything at this point is basically a PR based on bodyweight.

Can see the light at the end of the tunnel on weight loss. Planning to go until I'm 15% BF then spend time filling out as an 83, then a 93 while trying to maintain leanness. Hoping I wont have to go any lower than 78-79kg.

[JRMoore82]

Why is catching breath between reps bad?

Just curious.

[JiP]

Why is catching breath between reps bad?

Just curious.

The aim is train while fatigued, so along with keeping heart rate up also keeping metabolites in the muscle. If you wait too long, it defeats the purpose really.

[RipCJ]

Just getting caught up in here...

I had a very serious neck injury at the beginning of January as well, so I feel your pain from late November. Mine came about from traveling/sleeping incorrectly/being on an airplane for too long. At its peak, it was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my entire lifetime. It's still pretty stiff from time to time and I always need to watch how I'm laying on a pillow. I still do neck stretches throughout the day. Still cannot fully turn my head to the left or right without some pain. Thankfully it has not impacted my training.

Seems like we both need to work on the same things.
- Keep my head down (neutral) on deadlift.
- Not go so deep on squat, otherwise I'll have butt wink and my knees collapse even more. Core doesn't stay as tight as it should either.

I think it was a blessing in disguise that your January meet was full.

[JiP]

Just getting caught up in here...

I had a very serious neck injury at the beginning of January as well, so I feel your pain from late November. Mine came about from traveling/sleeping incorrectly/being on an airplane for too long. At its peak, it was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my entire lifetime. It's still pretty stiff from time to time and I always need to watch how I'm laying on a pillow. I still do neck stretches throughout the day. Still cannot fully turn my head to the left or right without some pain. Thankfully it has not impacted my training.

Seems like we both need to work on the same things.
- Keep my head down (neutral) on deadlift.
- Not go so deep on squat, otherwise I'll have butt wink and my knees collapse even more. Core doesn't stay as tight as it should either.

I think it was a blessing in disguise that your January meet was full.

It was incredibly painful, quite debilitating at the time. Mine cleared up pretty quickly once I started keeping my head down on deadlifts. My PT also gave me some basic exercises. One of the most helpful was to push my head back, but keep my chin tucked. I realised after doing that for a while my posture was pretty bad! Feels way better now.


04.02.18

30 min bicycle
10 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Press
50 x 3
55 x 3
60 x 3 + 1 fail

Circuit
Squat 100kg x 8
Press-ups x 15
BB Row 60kg x 8
One arm, floor to overhead DB Press 15kg x 10 (each arm)
Crunch x 20
Hanging Leg Raise x 6

5 Rounds in 29:28

Notes
Had planned to train yesterday but managed to get a minor strain in low back. Was fine today. Will have to push training forward 1 day to catch up.

I did not enjoy this session. Squats felt a lot better than earlier in the week. Keeping form good is a struggle being so fatigued and with high reps. Felt some slight pain in my left glute on second set, feels a bit tender now but nothing serious.

Total time spent cycling this week was 3 hours 11 min.

[JiP]

05.02.18


10 min dynamic warm up


Deadlift
150 x 3
170 x 3
185 x 3 @9.5

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Dips x 8
RDL 130kg x 6
Half-sits x 15
Hammer Chins x 5
Lunge (5kg above head, each leg) x 10

5 rounds in 25:04

10 min static stretch


Notes
6 minutes faster than last week. Less reps on the deadlift, but 20kg more on the bar. Definitely feel a bit fitter. No pain in glute.

[JiP]

07.02.18


20 min bicycle
15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Squat
120 x 3
140 x 3
155 x 4 @10 (vid)

Circuit
Squat 100kg x 9
Press-up x 15
BB Row 60 x 9
Burpee x 10
Chins x 5
Plank 30s

1 Round


The last rep almost cut me in half


Notes
Had a stabbing pain in my abs earlier in the day, was hoping it would be fine to train on but it started up again. Was too painful to finish off my circuits. I had DOMS in my whole back pretty bad from deadlifts so I was slightly relieved I could stop. Hoping I can get this stuff done by the end of the week.

My weight hasn't moved much in a month. Decided to drop cals by 200 but keep everything else the same. I am very excited about the prospect of slowly bulking for 2 years and seeing my strength increase. Not too long now..

[JiP]

09.02.18


15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Pause Bench
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 4 @9.5

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Bench 65kg x 11
Bicycle Crunch x 10 (each side)
Push Press 45kg x 6
Hammer Chins x 5

5 Rounds in 22:56


Notes
Last week was 26:11. Pretty significant improvement with an increase in reps on bench. Chins are starting to feel easier. Decided to start intermittent fasting this week as it's served me well in the past and I prefer eating large meals anyway.

Ab felt fine today. Pushed training back a day which means I have to train 3 in a row. Can't wait.

[JiP]

11.02.18


Press
50 x 3
55 x 3
61 x 3 @10

Circuit
Squat 100kg x 9
Press-up x 18
BB Row 60kg x 10
1 Arm DB Clean & Press 15kg x 10 (each arm)
Crunch x 15
V-Sit x 30sec

5 rounds in 31:56


Notes
Making it through this session wasn't easy. Doing high rep squats while fatigued is spirit crushing. I changed this slightly from last week, increased reps but swapped out knee raises for V-sit. Time was ~2 min slower but the circuit was harder. Surprised myself that I could actually do a V-sit.

3 hours total cycling this week. Really felt tired today.

[JiP]

12.02.18


Deadlift
140 x 3
160 x 3
180 x 5 @10

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Dips BW x 9
RDL 130 x 6
Half-sits x 15
Hammer Chins x 5
Lunge (5kg above head, each leg) x 10

5 Rounds in 25:25


Notes
Time slightly slower than last week (25:04). with only 1 extra dip. I was fatigued today, but that is still disappointing. I suppose my set of 5 on deadlift was also more taxing.

Last time I did 180 for reps on deadlift I got 6 @ 89.9kg bodyweight. Today I was 82.8kg. I have held onto my strength relatively well.

[JiP]

14.02.18

EMOM x 40
8 Press-ups, 8 Crunches

EMOM x 10
15 BW Squats


Notes
Busy day, so just did what I could at home. No time for any cardio or proper gym past two days. This is the most press-ups I've ever done in 1 session.

[JamesA1990]

It pleases my eye balls that someone else logs in KG's not peasant units

[JiP]

It pleases my eye balls that someone else logs in KG's not peasant units

Me too, but it has made me a master converter. The real British way would be to log in Stone. That's a legitimate thing people commonly use here, a stone is roughly 6.5kg. Very odd way to measure things


15.02.18

20 miles bicycle, 2 hours. Mountain bike, but on country roads.


16.02.18

Decided it's about time to end the weight loss. These winter months coupled with losing weight have worn me down. Struggling to maintain strength is very depressing. I think I'm hopefully sub 20% BF. This is a significant change from being fat as hell @110kg, about 3 years ago now. Going to do a very slow weight gain, sticking to 2500-2600 calories clean food. Aiming to gain 0.5kg a month and compete at 83 for now.

[JRMoore82]

It pleases my eye balls that someone else logs in KG's not peasant units

I will hunt you down!!

[JiP]

17.02.18


Squat
130 x 3
150 x 6 @8.5

Circuit
Squat 105kg x 6
Press-up x 18
BB Row 62.5kg x 8
Burpees x 10
Pull-ups x 5
Plank 30sec

5 Rounds in 26:50




Notes
Squat technique is feeling extremely janky when I'm only doing 1 heavy set. Strength was there today which is good. Not sure if I'll be getting much stronger doing these circuits with such light weights.

After 10 weeks of this capacity training I'll probably just do the Texas method for a while. Something similar anyway, keep it simple.

[JRMoore82]

Squats looked good for the most part.

[JiP]

Squats looked good for the most part.

Thanks for the input man.


18.02.18

40 min bicycle
15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up

Press
50 x 5
57.5 x 5 @10

Deadlift
140 x 3
160 x 3
181 x 4 @9.5

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Dips x 10
RDL 130kg x 7
Half-sits x 15
Hammer Chins 6, 6, 5, 5, 5
Lunge (5kg above head, each leg) x 10

5 Rounds in 25:08 (previous week 25:25)


Notes
Already feeling the benefits of extra calories, whether that's purely psychological or not I am unsure but it's great either way. Increased reps and also slightly better time this week. Felt like I had heaps of energy on the cycle beforehand. Mental state is improved.

Messaged coach about adding in some more strict press and belt squats, as I feel the program is lacking (I wrote it myself with his guidance/input). My total 'back' work is: 15 sets of chins, 10 sets of rows, 6 sets of DL. While overhead work is only 5 sets of push press & 5 sets of dumbbell clean and press. But I know very little about bodybuilding/fitness. We'll see what he says.

[JiP]

22.02.18


10 min bicycle
10 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Squats
130 x 3
152.5 x 5 @8

Circuit
Squat 105kg x 7
Press-up x 18
BB Row 62.5kg x 8
Burpees x 10
Pull-ups x 5
Plank 30sec

5 Rounds in 24:55 (previous week 26:50)


Notes
Significantly improved time this week as well as extra reps on squat. Burpees are so fcking hard, they leave me in bits. Coach said adding in OHP & belt squats to the circuit was fine. Max set of squats today was strong.

Could use some input from my wide reader base. I told coach I was increasing calories & planning to gain 0.5kg a month (about as modest a weight gain as you can get). He seems confused why I would want to gain weight after losing it, he hasn't replied yet but I assume he is expecting me to recomp. I can't see why this would be a bad idea, from any point of view. He is a natural bodybuilder, army PT & competes in Iron Man so I imagine for him keeping weight down is ideal. But for myself, I can't see why that would be a good thing. Especially with such a slow gain.

[JRMoore82]

I added calories to my diet for this meet to keep fatigue away and surprisingly I haven’t added a lot of body weight. I usually train at 130kg (285lbs) and since December I weigh anywhere from there too 136kg (300lbs) but the huge fluctuations are usually from salt cause in the mornings I’m weighing in at 132.5kg (292lbs) which considering I haven’t done cardio these last 3 months I would call it really a minimal body weight gain cause I will start doing cardio as I drop accessories next week.

I’m not sure what he’s worried about but going .5kg a month should be easily reversed if you need to make weight for a weight class.

And I know you follow my log and the weight lifted is moving rapidly right now and I’m not struggling for the PR’s.

[JiP]

I added calories to my diet for this meet to keep fatigue away and surprisingly I haven’t added a lot of body weight. I usually train at 130kg (285lbs) and since December I weigh anywhere from there too 136kg (300lbs) but the huge fluctuations are usually from salt cause in the mornings I’m weighing in at 132.5kg (292lbs) which considering I haven’t done cardio these last 3 months I would call it really a minimal body weight gain cause I will start doing cardio as I drop accessories next week.

I’m not sure what he’s worried about but going .5kg a month should be easily reversed if you need to make weight for a weight class.

And I know you follow my log and the weight lifted is moving rapidly right now and I’m not struggling for the PR’s.

We had a chat about it. He explained that a gain in bodyweight would mean a decrease in fitness (relative to the new bodyweight), where work capacity would then further have to be re-trained. He is quite big on not gaining too much strength/weight too quickly to aid longevity. I understand where he's coming from, but I can't be patient in this regard. I want some more muscle now for vanity reasons more than anything. He said he'll support whatever decision I make either way. I should probably mention I'm not paying him as he's an old school friend.



24.02.18


20 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up

Bench
80 x 3
90 x 3
101 x 4 @10
These reps were scrappy, certainly couldn't count them as paused.

Circuit
DB Swing 20kg x 20
Bench 70kg x 8
Bicycle Crunch x 10 (each side)
Hammer Chins x 6
DB Press 15's x 7

5 Rounds in 19:55

15 min static stretch


Notes
Had some real bad DOMS still in hamstrings/glutes. Avoided push press today as I thought it would break my spirit. Definitely felt fitter today.

[RipCJ]

Squat technique is feeling extremely janky when I'm only doing 1 heavy set. Strength was there today which is good.

I think technique looks good. Mirin lack of knee cave throughout the set.

Not sure if I'll be getting much stronger doing these circuits with such light weights.

No, probably not. But if you're feeling good that's all that really matters.

After 10 weeks of this capacity training I'll probably just do the Texas method for a while. Something similar anyway, keep it simple

That's a good idea!

[JiP]

I think technique looks good. Mirin lack of knee cave throughout the set. No, probably not. But if you're feeling good that's all that really matters. That's a good idea!

Thanks dude. Knee cave is something I'm very conscious of on my left knee, as that was the cause of my recurrent quad strain. It's also a sign my squat is becoming unbalanced again due to my slightly twisted back. It's definitely easier to keep the knees out with a wide stance though, in my own experience.


25.02.18

45 min bicycle
15 min foam roll
10 min dynamic warm up


Press
58 x 4 @10
65 x 5 (push press)

Circuit
Squat 105kg x 7
DB Incline 15's x 15
BB Row 62.5kg x 8
DB Floor to Overhead 15kg x 10 (each side)
Crunch x 20
V-Sit x 6 (not static hold this time, I was doing them wrong)

5 Rounds in 24:55 (Previous week was 25:08, although exercise selection was slightly different)


Notes
My pressing and PP strength has always been disproportionately weak to my other lifts. That's something I'd like to improve over the next couple of years. Strict pressing my bodyweight feels like a very long term goal. I would like to PP 100kg, that would be decent.

Had a big chat with coach about the purpose of capacity training as well as plans for the future. He is very much of the opinion that sports like rugby, basketball, crossfit, weightlifting, track & field etc all utilise cross-training which aids long term development more than specialisation, but powerlifting doesn't seem to have caught up in that regard. I had no athletic background before I started lifting weights when I was 18/19, and I went straight to powerlifting and then weightlifting. I think broadening my horizons is certainly a good idea.

He thinks alternating between periods of capacity based training and strength training would be ideal, where both would be open ended and based on how I was feeling rather than strict weeks of training. That is certainly something I have missed from the Texas Method, it is very intelligent the way the program uses auto-regulation.