Let's chase new totals for the end of 2020!

[ECGordyn]

Just got squat 185 x 1 @ 10. Was a lot harder than I expected. PR anyway, +5 kg from 3 months ago, but I want 195 before year's end. 180 three months ago was much smoother. I'd hate to think I haven't gotten stronger in 3 months if 185 was so hard today.

Anything look off? Any ideas why it was so hard?

[MyEgoProblem]

Just got squat 185 x 1 @ 10. Was a lot harder than I expected. PR anyway, +5 kg from 3 months ago, but I want 195 before year's end. 180 three months ago was much smoother. I'd hate to think I haven't gotten stronger in 3 months if 185 was so hard today.

Anything look off? Any ideas why it was so hard?

Looks fine... 1 small point. After unrack u seemed to blow a lot of air out.. I let maybe 1/3 out max if any helps ME keep super tight

How was rl stress?
Sleep
Fatigue
Recent nutrition
Peak/taper

That being said.. Some times it just be like this. Often have periods of no go as an intermediate onwards.

True strength comes from sticking with it and letting it come organically while putting in the disk.

Time for a block review tho. Assess what you did, how the individual lifts improved ect.
Its possible the assistance and supp work just didn't hit what you needed this block.

Edit. Ffs. Pr! Congrsts not hit a squat pr in years 😂

[EliKoehn]

@EC, congratulations on that PR

[WolfRose7]

Zero training desire left this year so being lazy and running Bulgarian lite to maybe at least match PRs on test day.

Yesterday d1
Squat up to 140
Bench up to 115, butt up.

Today
Bench up to 115, no butt issues.
Beltless pause squat up to 125, 130 fail.

[ECGordyn]

@EC, congratulations on that PR

Looks fine... 1 small point. After unrack u seemed to blow a lot of air out.. I let maybe 1/3 out max if any helps ME keep super tight

How was rl stress?
Sleep
Fatigue
Recent nutrition
Peak/taper

That being said.. Some times it just be like this. Often have periods of no go as an intermediate onwards.

True strength comes from sticking with it and letting it come organically while putting in the disk.

Time for a block review tho. Assess what you did, how the individual lifts improved ect.
Its possible the assistance and supp work just didn't hit what you needed this block.

Edit. Ffs. Pr! Congrsts not hit a squat pr in years ������

Thanks you guys.

rl = real life? Nothing there. 4 day weekend, first day back to work but nothing stressful. Woke up a bit earlier than usual after a good 7 hours' sleep but felt fresh all day.

Food was fine, went by appetite during the day. Big breakfast (egg tacos), decent lunch, protein drink, choc. cereal + protein before lifting.

Recent fatigue: Trained hard last week but spaced out the days for recovery. Last Sunday squat 175 x 2 @ 8.5, then backoffs 6x5 at 130. Bench 127 x 2 @ 10 then backoffs 7x5 at 92. Tuesday DL 195 x 2 @ 8.5 then backoffs 6x5 at 145. Fri. and Sat. were heavy pin squat and pause DL followed by a bit of volume on both. Looking at that, I suspect lingering fatigue was the problem even though I felt fine.

For all that, a 185 / 405 squat has been my goal for 2 years. Still got 2 weeks to maybe break it.

[Camarija]

Just got squat 185 x 1 @ 10. Was a lot harder than I expected. PR anyway, +5 kg from 3 months ago, but I want 195 before year's end. 180 three months ago was much smoother. I'd hate to think I haven't gotten stronger in 3 months if 185 was so hard today.

Anything look off? Any ideas why it was so hard?

First of all, congratulations on the PR!

I know so little about squatting that I can't give you any meaningful feedback. Sorry, but it just looked really good to me.

Today I started my Taper Week that will lead up to my Mock Meet and I was working on my openers. Having had terrible sleep, I was really afraid of my 335 lb (152 kg) Squat opener, but eventually I mustered the courage and it was surprisingly easy. The guys in the power racks to my right and left were practicing with 315 lbs (143 kg)/ 365 lbs (165 kg), and they were making it look so incredibly easy with exaggerated pauses in the hole. It turns out they have squats in the high 600's / low 700's lbs (they showed me their videos from last month) and here they are using working weight of only half of their 1RM. I guess that made me rethink what type of training it takes to get strong. I understood fatigue management was important, but I never would have thought going that light would work.

In other news I was working on my Bench opener:
255 lbs was way too easy


265 lbs was also pretty easy, but I wanted to save my effort to Saturday.


Working on my Deadlift opener tomorrow.

These are my targets more or less:
(Lift): (Realistic) / (Reach Goal)
Bench: +275 lbs / 285 lbs
Squat: +345 lbs / 355 lbs
Deadlift: +430 lbs / 435 lbs lbs
Total: +1,050 lbs / 1,075 lbs total

[CW47]

Good work boys! Looks like everyone is making good progress, even if it's not exactly the numbers you were hoping to hit.


My belt arrived, and I put it to use today. Seemed to make a really big difference on the max squats today. It's going to take me a few workouts to get used to it. Can't wait to see how it feels deadlifting.




Max Effort Lower: 16 Inch Box Squat
235 pounds x 1 rep
Was hoping to hit 225, since I've never completed any kind of squat with that weight before. The rep at 225 flew up freaking fast. Almost jumped up to 245, but decided to be conservative. Glad I did because the 235 was a challenge. You can see in the video below that I got a little off balance, with my weight shifting forward. I'll gladly take the 20 pound PR though.
Last time I did a Box Squat max attempt, I matched that weight on my regular squat 2 weeks later. I'd be very happy if I can do the same thing this time. My goal going into this was a 225 squat, and that's looking very likely at this point, so I'm a happy man.

Video shows the Box Squat and a set of banded squats (I did 5x5). Still getting used to squatting with bands. It's messing with my balance. Having trouble getting lined up so that the bands aren't pulling me forward or backward. Also, I didn't notice until I watched the uploaded video that I didn't reach full depth. That was a balance issue as well. With the bands pulling me forward/backward, I felt like I was going to fall over at the bottom if the bands lost tension, so I wasn't going all the way down. Will need to keep working on this lift.

[ECGordyn]

Camaro, that 265 looked really clean. You've got a clear shot at 275-285.

CW, that's a beautiful belt. Pioneer is top notch. For band squats, set the bands with 2 anchor points at the base, so that there isn't one point pulling on the bar.
------------------------
In other news, matched bench PR from 3 months ago. At least I haven't gotten weaker on this lift.

[CW47]

For band squats, set the bands with 2 anchor points at the base, so that there isn't one point pulling on the bar.
------------------------
In other news, matched bench PR from 3 months ago. At least I haven't gotten weaker on this lift.

Yeah that makes sense for the band squats. I'm not sure how to set that up. Will have to experiment.
Did that feel like a true max? Looks like you have more in you, even if it's only another 5 pounds.


Did my Max Bench day today and got a small PR.
Incline Press - 30 degree: 160 pounds x 1 rep
This was a true 10 RPE. I did not think it was going up once it stalled. The form and overall bar control was much better than my previous PR at 155 where I had bounced the bar off my chest. I went into today's workout feeling fatigued and low energy, so I'm really happy to have hit 160. This, I think, bodes well for my chances of hitting another Bench Press PR before the end of the year.

[Camarija]

Last week I failed a 435 lb Deadlift, which felt like it shouldn't have been that much of a reach considering I had pulled 415's and 425's without too much effort. Today the 405 lb single felt heavy, and eventually I failed a relatively certain weight of a 415 lb Deadlift. I wish I could feel the rush of joy I used to have from pushing heavy numbers, but it's being eclipsed by my fear of hurting myself, and the fear of heavy weight in general. I think my chase for the big 3 has come to an end, at least for now. I'll still go for a 1 rep max Bench on Saturday, but I'm devoting the rest of the year to rehab work getting my hips, knees, shoulders, wrists back to being happy. So, at least for this year, my maxes are set at:
Squat: 335 lbs - did this a few times on video
Deadlift: 425 lbs - did this once on video
Bench: to be determined but between 275 and 285 lbs
Total: ~ 1,035 - 1,045 lbs
Wilks: 299.71 - 302.60

Cheers and good luck bros!!!

[ECGordyn]

Deadlift PR. Anyone know what was that weird shift backwards a couple inches up?

[CW47]

Deadlift PR. Anyone know what was that weird shift backwards a couple inches up?

Oh yeah! That must have felt good.

[EliKoehn]

Deadlift PR. Anyone know what was that weird shift backwards a couple inches up?

455? Nice. I'd rep you again if I could for the bark lol

I didn't see any weird shift, unless you're referring to the "shrug back" at the top, which looked great to me.

[MyEgoProblem]

Deadlift PR. Anyone know what was that weird shift backwards a couple inches up?

Great tug! Looked quick for a pr

All I can think is
A) ur heels compressed in to the mat a few inches off the floor?
B) **** happens

Either way. It's not an issue.. It was clean as ****

[ECGordyn]

Oh yeah! That must have felt good.

455? Nice. I'd rep you again if I could for the bark lol

I didn't see any weird shift, unless you're referring to the "shrug back" at the top, which looked great to me.

Great tug! Looked quick for a pr

All I can think is
A) ur heels compressed in to the mat a few inches off the floor?
B) **** happens

Either way. It's not an issue.. It was clean as ****

Thanks all. 452 lbs. I might go for more on all 3 in 10 days, no reason not to.

The shift back as I see it might have been that I started with hips too high, so my body shifted back to compensate with a bit more quad engagement. I do the same thing on pause DL where my body needs the quads to hold the weight for an extra second, but yesterday it was a little less noticeable as I wasn't pausing.

Last week I failed a 435 lb Deadlift, which felt like it shouldn't have been that much of a reach considering I had pulled 415's and 425's without too much effort. Today the 405 lb single felt heavy, and eventually I failed a relatively certain weight of a 415 lb Deadlift. I wish I could feel the rush of joy I used to have from pushing heavy numbers, but it's being eclipsed by my fear of hurting myself, and the fear of heavy weight in general. I think my chase for the big 3 has come to an end, at least for now. I'll still go for a 1 rep max Bench on Saturday, but I'm devoting the rest of the year to rehab work getting my hips, knees, shoulders, wrists back to being happy. So, at least for this year, my maxes are set at:
Squat: 335 lbs - did this a few times on video
Deadlift: 425 lbs - did this once on video
Bench: to be determined but between 275 and 285 lbs
Total: ~ 1,035 - 1,045 lbs
Wilks: 299.71 - 302.60

Cheers and good luck bros!!!

What were your maxes at the start of the year? How much was your improvement?

I did the same thing 18 months ago. DL was starting to feel really uncomfortable so I just put off training it seriously. In the long run got stronger, and the long run is what matters.

[MyEgoProblem]

Hip height looked PERFECT..

[Camarija]

What were your maxes at the start of the year? How much was your improvement?

I did the same thing 18 months ago. DL was starting to feel really uncomfortable so I just put off training it seriously. In the long run got stronger, and the long run is what matters.

First off, great PR!!! I think I looped that '**** Yeah!' part at least half a dozen times now

When I started back up again in January of this year, I basically hadn't lifted in years, so this year has felt a lot like starting back from scratch. In that way, it feels like I've made tremendous progress in only a year, but I recognize that a lot of that was just catching up to my old strength.



Overall improvement is coming along, and I'm not abandoning the gym altogether, but yeah, the Deadlift put some real fear in me. I'm going to focus on bringing up my weaknesses and putting more muscle on before I go back to deadlifting. I think my main hip hinge will then be something like Hip Thrusts, and my accessory hip hinge will be something like Reverse Hypers.

*edit*
**I've also read a recent study comparing Pit Shark Belt Squats to Barbell Back Squats in Intermediate Lifters that has me considering switching there as well.**

**edit 2**
**This was the study I was looking into:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/463...ada6ae8d43.pdf
**

I was sad because it felt like I was quitting, but I've had a bit more time to think about. It's not quitting, it's just pivoting.

Cheers mate!

[ECGordyn]

Bench PR! 137 x 1 @ 10. Felt good warming up so decided to try it. Hit 135 x 1 @ 10 just three days ago (Tuesday, today is Friday evening in Thailand), so really didn't expect this. Probably try 140+ before year's end.

[CW47]

Bench PR! 137 x 1 @ 10. Felt good warming up so decided to try it. Hit 135 x 1 @ 10 just three days ago (Tuesday, today is Friday evening in Thailand), so really didn't expect this. Probably try 140+ before year's end.

Nice! That was pretty smooth. I think you have a good shot at 140.



Max Effort Lower day for me today. It was the last chance for me to fit in another max deadlift attempt before the end of the year, so I dumped my plan for the day and did a max sumo deadlift attempt instead. It was a good decision...

Sumo Deadlift: 335 pounds x 1 rep
Did a rep at 325 (a new PR) before this that went up easily. This rep at 335 was a bit slower, but still pretty decent. Under different circumstances I would have attempted 345, but I need to be fresh for the max attempt squat next week and didn't want to go to complete failure and be wiped out. The belt definitely helped, especially with breaking the bar off the floor.

Video shows the Sumo rep at 335 and a squat double at 195 (it's looking like it should be very easy to break my current squat PR of 215 when I do my final max attempt next week).




As I was checking to see what my Sumo Deadlift PR was before this thread was started and realized that I had literally never attempted a PR on it, lol. I guess I'll use my first PR, which came a week after the thread was started. On that day I lifted 305, so I've added 30 pounds to my sumo deadlift over the last 3+ months. My bodyweight is also up some, but still this is darn good. This is for sure going to end up being the best 3 months of lifting I've ever had.

Cheers to everyone for the advice, support, and motivation!

[ECGordyn]

This is for sure going to end up being the best 3 months of lifting I've ever had.

Cheers to everyone for the advice, support, and motivation!

Very smooth and quick squats man. Looks like you could have done 10 with 195. You have a lot more in you.

It's been a cool thread for sure. Some solid lifting talk, advice, and support. I'm keen to see what everyone posts for the end. Think we still have to see:
Wolf, Eli, JadeMonkey, CW, and me.
Camaro you already called final numbers, right?

[EliKoehn]

Final deadlift preparation lift before the last max attempt of 2020.

Got 405 for 4 here. My form deteriorated somewhat on that last rep and I'm a little disappointed, but I still got it locked out:

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

Otherwise, I got a 2.5, a few doubles, and several singles for 16 total reps at 405. I alternated that with a 5 x 5 Bench at 275 where I failed on the very last rep. Always a sign to me of a psychological give, as it's unlikely one would physically not have the strength only at the very end of their spread. Besides that, a handful of dips for 12s, and I think an 11, a couple incline presses with light weight, and some curls with 50s and 60s.

Great effort everyone. I've appreciated the comradery and the challenge, and it looks like everyone has made progress. I hope we do this again and will log my maxes before New Year's.

[WolfRose7]

Good stuff guys, some hard fought PRs from EC there.

There's not much point me putting up anything at the moment.
But if we do this again next year, or next 6 months maybe I'll finally have something to show again.

[ECGordyn]

No PRs today gents and ladies. Failed 190 squat, and struggled to unrack 135 bench twice, so just called it off there. Might test DL within the next few days, or might just move forward with other training. I'm satisfied with 185 / 137 / 205, posted here within the past ten days. I never posted a strict curl vid, so I guess I'm DQed from the comp., eh?

Overall it's been a great year for training. This year I've learned the most about programming, form, exercises, and on the whole it's been a really productive year. Numbers increased on all 3 lifts: squat I went from 160 -> 185, bench 120 -> 137, DL 170 -> 205, for a total of 527kg / 1,162 lbs at around 88.5 / 195 bodyweight. Some of squat and DL were muscle memory. Best squat ever was 175 x 1 (October 2018), best DL ever was 188 x 2 (August 2018). That's still a 10kg and 17kg gain respectively on each lift, although it took 2 years to get there. (2019 I changed jobs and moved cities, so it wasn't lifting-focused as 2018 and 2020). At intermediate level, 43 years old, no injuries or health problems, that progress is just fine for now.

Going forward, I've got a couple of options. (1) Cut 5-8 kgs over 4-8 weeks, or stay around 88.5; (2) Train seriously on programs like Candito DL and squat programs, Smolov bench, Brazos Barbell, Calgary Barbell, A2S, RTS, BB Med, or other; (3) Train for fun and hypertrophy on an RTS inspired template I made myself; (4) Other. Still deciding, although #3 looks good for a couple of reasons: taking a break from focused, powerlifting specific lifting and training a variety of lifts like front squat, more bench variations, unilateral work, GPP, and building a wider base (and as a result a higher peak) with more hypertrophy work.

Good to train with all you guys in our different styles. Seems we've all finished this year as better lifters, and had a good opportunity to get advice, share interests, and learn more through exchanging here. Thanks all who joined in.

Here's the squat fail. Thoracic spine lost tightness and body collapsed, you can see my upper back tip forward a bit.

[WolfRose7]

No PRs today gents and ladies. Failed 190 squat, and struggled to unrack 135 bench twice, so just called it off there. Might test DL within the next few days, or might just move forward with other training. I'm satisfied with 185 / 137 / 205, posted here within the past ten days. I never posted a strict curl vid, so I guess I'm DQed from the comp., eh?

Overall it's been a great year for training. This year I've learned the most about programming, form, exercises, and on the whole it's been a really productive year. Numbers increased on all 3 lifts: squat I went from 160 -> 185, bench 120 -> 137, DL 170 -> 205, for a total of 527kg / 1,162 lbs at around 88.5 / 195 bodyweight. Some of squat and DL were muscle memory. Best squat ever was 175 x 1 (October 2018), best DL ever was 188 x 2 (August 2018). That's still a 10kg and 17kg gain respectively on each lift, although it took 2 years to get there. (2019 I changed jobs and moved cities, so it wasn't lifting-focused as 2018 and 2020). At intermediate level, 43 years old, no injuries or health problems, that progress is just fine for now.

Going forward, I've got a couple of options. (1) Cut 5-8 kgs over 4-8 weeks, or stay around 88.5; (2) Train seriously on programs like Candito DL and squat programs, Smolov bench, Brazos Barbell, Calgary Barbell, A2S, RTS, BB Med, or other; (3) Train for fun and hypertrophy on an RTS inspired template I made myself; (4) Other. Still deciding, although #3 looks good for a couple of reasons: taking a break from focused, powerlifting specific lifting and training a variety of lifts like front squat, more bench variations, unilateral work, GPP, and building a wider base (and as a result a higher peak) with more hypertrophy work.

Good to train with all you guys in our different styles. Seems we've all finished this year as better lifters, and had a good opportunity to get advice, share interests, and learn more through exchanging here. Thanks all who joined in.

Here's the squat fail. Thoracic spine lost tightness and body collapsed, you can see my upper back tip forward a bit.

I vote 3

[ECGordyn]

I vote 3

You ran the RTS powerbuilding template. I found a copy of the PDF online, and something that struck me was the exercise variety. Even from week to week only the 3 comp lifts are programmed consistently, and all the other lifts seem almost randomly plugged in. Why are the exercises so varied across the 8 weeks? What's the reasoning behind that?

[WolfRose7]

You ran the RTS powerbuilding template. I found a copy of the PDF online, and something that struck me was the exercise variety. Even from week to week only the 3 comp lifts are programmed consistently, and all the other lifts seem almost randomly plugged in. Why are the exercises so varied across the 8 weeks? What's the reasoning behind that?

Two reasons I can think of,
One, you can't write an ES template, so in order to cover the base of many different lifters you need to spread out your assistance work so everyone can find what works well.
Two, it's a hypertrophy template(that just keeps enough of the main lifts in to keep them peaked too) , therefore there's really no need for to much of the same thing.

I wouldn't say it was random though. There are very specific slots with similar movements and then a pivot week on week 4.

[MyEgoProblem]

Because work done is work done... When it comes to supp/spe work for building size.

It doesnt need to be specific like ass/sde work For patter transfer.

Plus.. They don't know you to be able to track es style and follow your progress.

[CW47]

That's a very productive year EC. I would vote for #3 as well, just because it seems like you need to do something different right now to get you mentally engaged after a stretch where your progress hasn't quite been where you wanted it. PR hunting can wear on a person, and this would be a good change up.

What do you guys mean by 'ES'? Is it and acronym, or someone's initials?


Did my Squat PR attempt today, and it turned out better than I hoped and expected. I kind of dropped the ball on the warmup because I was psyching myself out. Did a full and pretty typical warmup up to 185 for a double. But then I was suddenly worried about what a weight higher than 225 would feel like on my back since I've never lifted it before. I changed over to a 20 inch box squat and worked my way up to 255 or 265. Then I wanted to do some standard squats with a belt on to get comfortable with it, but my energy was crashing because I drug the warmup out too long. I took like a 30 minute break, just sitting and relaxing. Took a couple of swigs of soda to get my blood pumping again, and then worked my way up from 135 with the belt on.

225 pounds went up fast. 235 pounds went up even faster. 245 was a little slow. Finally ended up at 255. May have had another 10 pounds in me, but after struggling to unrack the 255, I ended it there quite happily. This was a 45 pound increase of my previous all time squat PR, and a 50 pound increase from my starting point for this friendly competition.



There have been times where I seriously questioned whether I'd ever squat 225 because of how much I've struggled with the lift. At one point a couple of years ago I was nearly convinced that I'd have to stop squatting because of knee pain every time I did it. I'm so happy that I stuck with it, and am now making progress. It feels good to not hate squatting, lol. Hoping I can get close to 300 pounds next year.


I'll do my final PR attempt of the year tomorrow with Bench Press, and then put together a wrap up post with my starting and ending numbers.

[WolfRose7]

That was @8 at most. Maybe you should. Lower the jhooks by one for squat if unrack is awkward.

ES emerging strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGP120e4B0

[CW47]

That was @8 at most. Maybe you should. Lower the jhooks by one for squat if unrack is awkward.

ES emerging strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGP120e4B0

Yes, was much easier than I expected, and was either an 8 or a 9. I've so little experience with squatting near my max that I'm not a good judge.
Had I not botched the warmup I would've attempted 265. Even though it looked pretty smooth, I was a little shaky. And also mentally just wasn't up for another PR attempt, though I probably should've just done it anyway.
Lift off has always been easy on squats, but the extra weight had it sitting a little lower. As I get more experience I'll either get better at unracking it at that height, or I'll have to drop the hooks down 1 notch. We'll see...

Ah, emerging strategies. I'm familiar with it, think I even watched that video before, but didn't make the connection for some reason. Thanks.