Deadlifts felt pretty good, I videoed my last set to see if I had any form break down. It seems like my hips shoot up a little too fast so I need to sit back into it with more leg drive and push my hips through. Bench Press felt great, moved really fast off my chest.
Close Grip Bench Press:
110kg x2
110kg x2
110kg x2
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Ok, so that's the end of the training since week 9 is test week. Next week I will Squat on Monday, Bench Press on Tuesday and Deadlift on Friday. My goals are:
Squat: 185kg - this would be a 5kg PR, but I feel I might have 190kg in me.
Bench Press: 140kg - Not really a PR since Ive done it before, but having not benched a lot since that time, id like to hit it again. maybe attempt 142.5kg.
Deadlift: 227.5kg - this would be a 7.5kg PR, however I am tempted to go full retard and attempt 230kg.
Turned out that my goal of 185kg moved really well, no grinding or anything, so I knew I had 190kg. Felt a lot heavier, however I had no form breakdown and didn't grind it out. Just felt like a really really heavy rep. (because that is literally what it is). Ive now got my sights set on Squatting 200kg by summer
135kg x1 <------ PR......Kind of.....heaviest bench Ive done in about 18 months
140kg xFAIL
Facepulls:
35kg x30
35kg x30
35kg x30
Lateral Raises:
8kg x15
8kg x15
8kg x15
8kg x15
Aaaaaaaaah so not sure how I feel about today, I got 135kg, which is a +5kg PR over my most recent heavy bench in July but not an all time best. I previously got 140kg but as I mentioned that was about 18 months ago. When I attempted the 140kg today it actually felt ok. I got it off my chest pretty fast, however my sticking point is about the midway point and it felt like I held the 140kg there for about an hour, it just wouldn't budge. So damn close!
I was ill all week with a flu/cold but figured, screw it, Ill come have a go at these deadlifts. Despite the fact that I'm doped up on cold medicine I actually felt like the warm ups went pretty well. When I looked at my 205kg compared to last week, it was definitely less locked in, the form didn't feel quite as good as it should have. When I pulled 215kg my form started to breakdown a little, slight grinding at the top. Decided to go full blown retard mode and attempt 227.5kg, broke it off the floor but didn't get it further than maybe my knees. ****.
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TSA 9 week Program REVIEW
So what did I think of the program? I thought it was ok, this was my first time doing an actual 'powerlifting' program and I actually really enjoy doing almost nothing but Barbell lifts. I added 10kg to my squat with maybe more in the tank, 5kg to my bench press, and ****ed my deadlift(however that may also be due to illness, excuses, excuses, etc). I think the way that I layed out the program was not as good as it should have. I did:
Mon: Day 1
Tues: Day2
Wed: OFF
Thurs: Day 3
Fri: Day 4
Sat: Off
Sun: Off
this is because I work on weekends and am very busy.
I believe it would be better run as:
Mon: Day 1
Tues: OFF
Wed: Day 2
Thurs: OFF
Fri: Day 3
Sat: Day 4
Sun: OFF
This would allow for better recovery between day 1 and 2, where there is a lot of bench volume. It wasn't a problem, but may not have been optimal. I also think that using RPE for the main lifts or some AMRAP sets for bench would have been useful, so that on good days I could have pushed a bit harder, and given me an idea of what progress I had made.
- Change my deadlift technique.
Something is not right and I genuinely believe I could have pulled that 227.5kg if my technique was better. When I look at my deadlift form at 60% and then 90% it looks very different. Comparatively since I changed and perfected my squat technique last year my squat strength has blown up. My 60% squat and 90%+ squat look the exact same, just slower. I'm going to try doing Sumo for the next month and see how it feels.
- Change my Bench Technique.
Not as big a problem as my DL, however I think I might benefit from taking my grip a little wider. My current grip has my hands squarely between the outer ring markings and the inner smooth part. It feel ok but its not super comfortable. However when doing Close Grip with my thumbs actually on the inner smooth part, it feels great. Maybe something to do with how I'm tucking my elbows in to keep my forearms vertical, feels really strong. I'm going to try with my pinky fingers just touching the outer rings and see how that feels
- Deload and then Hypertrophy RPE program
Ive thrown together an RPE based program I would like to try, all based around the barbell lifts. Ive not focused on doing any hypertrophy stuff for maybe a year and I think it would be good to do for a month or so.
Taking it easy the first few days this week, Ive been ill all weekend, missed out on some sleep have some aches in my back and shoulder. Mostly just going through the motions, getting a light pump.
Today was my first time really trying out Sumo technique properly. I watched a ton of 'How To' videos on YouTube. I highly recommend checking out the Calgary Barbell 'Best Sumo Instructional video' that they put on Omar Isufs YouTube Channel. I felt I got a lot of great information from that one video alone.
I think Sumo Deadlifts are going to be the technique I use from now on. Its certainly harder breaking it from the floor, but the rest of the lift the bar flies up. I feel like I can brace better pulling like this. I stopped at 180kg, which did feel heavy but once it was off the floor I had no problems. My original plan was to not go over 160kg but I felt great and fired up so I went for 170kg and 180kg. I'm excited to see how this goes over the coming weeks.
Ive been using Sumo Deadlifts for the past 3 weeks. It feels great, I certainly get a lot less of a form breakdown as the weight get heavier.. During my warmups I pulled 200kg which came off the floor no problem. Pulling 210kg felt incredibly slow off the floor (to the point where I thought I wouldn't move it) but as soon as it broke off the floor I had no problem moving it and locking out.
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