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

[CW47]

There is going to be an advantage to a specific group of people regardless of which way it goes (the best rating at the end of the year obviously is going to go to someone who's been consistently training for many years, and most likely will go to the person that already has the best rating right now). That said, I'm perfectly okay with going that route. And actually, I think that would be best.

I could see some major issues with tracking most improved. I'm just planning to focus on that personally, because there's no chance I'll get close to the numbers many of you are putting up. And yeah, I also would prefer to limit it to a small number of lifts - to be honest, I don't care at all about the strict curl (though I know it's all the rage right now), and probably won't even attempt it again until the end of the year. More lifts just muddies the waters as far as I'm concerned. Only one I would even consider adding would be an Overhead Press, but I think the four listed in the OP are plenty.

[CW47]

Switched primarily from Conventional to Sumo Deadlift over a year ago, to work on some weak points. My max conventional was 350 at that time. I struggled with 225 sumo initially. Today was the first time I've done a sumo rep over 300 (this was 305 pounds).



Obviously still have plenty of room for improvement on this lift. I had tried setting up once before the lift shown in the video, and was struggling to keep my weight back. Because of this, I tried rolling the bar out and pulling it back. It's not something I've ever done before, and it DID help me get my weight back initially (which is good), but I couldn't hold it and shifted my weight forward a bit. More work to do, but I was happy to hit over 300 and still have some in the tank.

[WolfRose7]

Switched primarily from Conventional to Sumo Deadlift over a year ago, to work on some weak points. My max conventional was 350 at that time. I struggled with 225 sumo initially. Today was the first time I've done a sumo rep over 300 (this was 305 pounds).

Obviously still have plenty of room for improvement on this lift. I had tried setting up once before the lift shown in the video, and was struggling to keep my weight back. Because of this, I tried rolling the bar out and pulling it back. It's not something I've ever done before, and it DID help me get my weight back initially (which is good), but I couldn't hold it and shifted my weight forward a bit. More work to do, but I was happy to hit over 300 and still have some in the tank.

on the off chance you haven't seen the best walkthrough on the net -


I don't like the roll for Sumo, I need patience and ease in my set up personally for it.
For conv though roll is cool

My last okay pull was 170, rushed set up here to though

Spoiler!

[CW47]

on the off chance you haven't seen the best walkthrough on the net -

Thank you sir! I've watched some stuff from Calgary Barbell, but have not seen this video. Will definitely give it a watch.

Your sumo looks very efficient. That's something I'm lacking, and really working on.
I've typically been a bit more bent over, but I'm trying to keep my back more vertical to ease the strain on my lower back because tweaked it a couple of times recently. Also, started doing some banded Sumo lifts recently, which has given me a good sense of what it feels like to get my weight back where it should be. I struggled today to get into that position without losing my balance. It might just be a matter of needing more practice. But like I said, I'll watch the video and hopefully pick up some helpful tips/cue's.

[WolfRose7]

Thank you sir! I've watched some stuff from Calgary Barbell, but have not seen this video. Will definitely give it a watch.

Your sumo looks very efficient. That's something I'm lacking, and really working on.
I've typically been a bit more bent over, but I'm trying to keep my back more vertical to ease the strain on my lower back because tweaked it a couple of times recently. Also, started doing some banded Sumo lifts recently, which has given me a good sense of what it feels like to get my weight back where it should be. I struggled today to get into that position without losing my balance. It might just be a matter of needing more practice. But like I said, I'll watch the video and hopefully pick up some helpful tips/cue's.

Doesn't feel that way haha, but cheers.
I ran an entire block of only pause sumo leading up to that pull, probably helped a lot.
Pause 1 inch off floor.
I still need a lot more consistency and patience with it, especially rep work.

I'm sure that vid will help!

[CW47]

I'm sure that vid will help!

Just finished it. It helped for sure. One of the benefits of working out at home now is that I can test stuff immediately, and that's what I did as I was going through the video.

I found a couple of things out...
First is foot angle. I tend to have a lot of external rotation, and as a result of this my foot angle was really wide. I found that when I closed it up slightly it helps a fair amount with the balance I mentioned struggling with.
Other thing I found was with the grip, which I'd not paid enough attention to before. I had my thumbs right at the beginning of the knurling. By widening my grip an inch on each side, I was better able to lock in my back. It's actually quite a big difference, and felt much more stable.

I only tested with 95 pounds, so we'll see how it holds up with real weight, but I'm confident it will carry over. Cheers for sharing the video.

[WolfRose7]

Just finished it. It helped for sure. One of the benefits of working out at home now is that I can test stuff immediately, and that's what I did as I was going through the video.

I found a couple of things out...
First is foot angle. I tend to have a lot of external rotation, and as a result of this my foot angle was really wide. I found that when I closed it up slightly it helps a fair amount with the balance I mentioned struggling with.
Other thing I found was with the grip, which I'd not paid enough attention to before. I had my thumbs right at the beginning of the knurling. By widening my grip an inch on each side, I was better able to lock in my back. It's actually quite a big difference, and felt much more stable.

I only tested with 95 pounds, so we'll see how it holds up with real weight, but I'm confident it will carry over. Cheers for sharing the video.

Happy to help man, as much as I'm lazy with it the technical stuff is the reason I keep lifting.

Monday is Comp (even though I don't compete xD) Bench n Squat day

Bench - +4kg Erm over last week
nice little 105, wanted 110 for 2 but isn't there @8 just yet.
spot the difference between lazy rushed 100kg set up and more patient 105.

Spoiler!

Followed by 9 sets of 3 with 92.5, and 5 sets of Close grip floor press.
Squats -
Much better hip tension, which as a result depth ended up high.
Still would rather be high and reach for more depth with good tension, than drop loose like my old squats

Spoiler!

took 132.5kg as my @8 for 117.5kg back off work, 6 sets of 3.

[EliKoehn]

Another question: are we only doing one rep maxes?

Also, is there a formal schedule for this or are we just going to upload as we do them on our own timetables and stack them up at the end of the year?

[WolfRose7]

Another question: are we only doing one rep maxes?

Also, is there a formal schedule for this or are we just going to upload as we do them on our own timetables and stack them up at the end of the year?

Definitely 1rm, I presume we just put in the highest video'd PR for group approval by the end of the year.
Don't think we need to video weights, no incentive for anyone to lie about that so just give weights at the time of lift.

[ECGordyn]

Another question: are we only doing one rep maxes?

Also, is there a formal schedule for this or are we just going to upload as we do them on our own timetables and stack them up at the end of the year?

Yes I'd agree with Wolf that only 1RMs should count. Estimating might steal the glory. Just embed your best lifts by Dec. 31 and we'll see all the totals after that.

Ideally everyone could use this thread to plan out their training for the rest of the year. There are 15 weeks until Dec 31, so a couple of good blocks fit within that timeframe.

Feel free to post as we go along and share training progress or show new numbers, but I'd guess that most will only start peaking in the last week.

[Camarija]

I'm planning on switching over from a more bodybuilding oriented training style to a program that could help me ramp up to my eventual 1 Rep Maxes for the competition. Only issue is that it's been a long time since I've trained this way and I'm hoping someone here could help out with a ramping template? I figure this would be useful for more people who want to join in but are uncertain on how to ramp up the intensity safely/properly.

I'm planning on switching over my training style in about a month, which would leave me with about 8 to 10 weeks to ramp up the intensity.

At a weight of ~200 lbs my lifts would be around:
High Bar Squat ~ 245 x 12
Romanian Deadlift ~ 295 x 12
Bench ~ 175 x 12

Any help would be much appreciated!

[WolfRose7]

I'm planning on switching over from a more bodybuilding oriented training style to a program that could help me ramp up to my eventual 1 Rep Maxes for the competition. Only issue is that it's been a long time since I've trained this way and I'm hoping someone here could help out with a ramping template? I figure this would be useful for more people who want to join in but are uncertain on how to ramp up the intensity safely/properly.

I'm planning on switching over my training style in about a month, which would leave me with about 8 to 10 weeks to ramp up the intensity.

At a weight of ~200 lbs my lifts would be around:
High Bar Squat ~ 245 x 12
Romanian Deadlift ~ 295 x 12
Bench ~ 175 x 12

Any help would be much appreciated!

Calgary barbell free templates are probably the best low cost option for a good ramp to peak.

If you want to do it yourself my advice would be
Practice singles throughout. 1@8s, 1@7s
Do a good amount of low rep (2-4) work direct assistance like pause, pin, and grip/bar placement variations.
Then all the usual 8-12 hypertrophy work, just maybe not quite as much as a pure hypertrophy set up.

See my log, ECs, and Suffolk punches. (probably others that I don't know as well) for good powerlifting style programming.

Definitely curious what numbers you get up since your 12 reps are pretty solid

[ECGordyn]

Calgary Barbell 8 week FTW.

Juggernaut 2.0 is another option but that's 16 weeks.

[WolfRose7]

Calgary Barbell 8 week FTW.

Juggernaut 2.0 is another option but that's 16 weeks.

Ugh. I honestly can't stand Chad's stuff.. Too much old periodisation dogma for me

[ECGordyn]

Ugh. I honestly can't stand Chad's stuff.. Too much old periodisation dogma for me

I've never run it and don't think I will, because I hate amraps, but I gave it as an option anyway.

[Camarija]

Calgary barbell free templates are probably the best low cost option for a good ramp to peak.

If you want to do it yourself my advice would be
Practice singles throughout. 1@8s, 1@7s
Do a good amount of low rep (2-4) work direct assistance like pause, pin, and grip/bar placement variations.
Then all the usual 8-12 hypertrophy work, just maybe not quite as much as a pure hypertrophy set up.

See my log, ECs, and Suffolk punches. (probably others that I don't know as well) for good powerlifting style programming.

Definitely curious what numbers you get up since your 12 reps are pretty solid

Thanks, this looks perfect!

I'll probably be shooting for a big 3 between 900 and 1000 this time around, and if I'm feeling ambitious MAYBE somewhere north of 1,000. I used to have a big 3 around 1,200 but my programming was terrible and my upper and lower back were both in perpetual pain. Having started from scratch this year I really worked on slowly developing my form and fixing my weaknesses before any issues would have a chance to develop. Solid novice base and now I'm feeling the HYPE for this challenge!!

Calgary Barbell 8 week FTW.

*bro fist*

Thanks, that settles it! I'll be starting up a new log Monday, October *19 for the Calgary 8 week.

Cheers dudes!

[ECGordyn]

I'll be starting up a new log Monday, October *19 for the Calgary 8 week.

Looking forward to it.

[SuffolkPunch]

Thanks, this looks perfect!

I'll probably be shooting for a big 3 between 900 and 1000 this time around, and if I'm feeling ambitious MAYBE somewhere north of 1,000. I used to have a big 3 around 1,200 but my programming was terrible and my upper and lower back were both in perpetual pain. Having started from scratch this year I really worked on slowly developing my form and fixing my weaknesses before any issues would have a chance to develop. Solid novice base and now I'm feeling the HYPE for this challenge!!



*bro fist*

Thanks, that settles it! I'll be starting up a new log Monday, October *19 for the Calgary 8 week.

Cheers dudes!

Can definitely recommend it. Coming from a bodybuilder style of training, I noticed that some of the percentage based stuff seems a tad easy for me (because I tail off at heavier weight and lower rep stuff) but there is plenty of autoregulation which takes up the slack. And it's producing results so that's all the proof I need.

[WolfRose7]

Keeping this bumped.
And sharing my plan for the rest of the year.

Currently on an 8 week set up from reactive traiming systems, powerbuilding adaptive template.
Will either repeat it after with some variation changes, or possibly run emerging strategies starting with a set up like the PB template but choosing variations to run until I stall.

Test week should be week 8 of my next program block, will very likely run a mock meet week and do all my lifts on the same day full meet style.

[CW47]

Keeping this bumped.
And sharing my plan for the rest of the year.

Currently on an 8 week set up from reactive traiming systems, powerbuilding adaptive template.
Will either repeat it after with some variation changes, or possibly run emerging strategies starting with a set up like the PB template but choosing variations to run until I stall.

Test week should be week 8 of my next program block, will very likely run a mock meet week and do all my lifts on the same day full meet style.

Nice! I saw RTS is offering their templates for a really reasonable price. Curious to see how this goes...

[ECGordyn]

Keeping this bumped.
And sharing my plan for the rest of the year.

Currently on an 8 week set up from reactive traiming systems, powerbuilding adaptive template.
Will either repeat it after with some variation changes, or possibly run emerging strategies starting with a set up like the PB template but choosing variations to run until I stall.

Test week should be week 8 of my next program block, will very likely run a mock meet week and do all my lifts on the same day full meet style.

Any intel on Wolf's current maxes?

Here's my plan:
--Cut until 28 Oct. Goal weight 81.5 down from 86.5, losing 1% of bodyweight each week for 6 weeks.
--29 Oct., start CB8W.

Current real maxes 180/135/190

[EliKoehn]

Any intel on Wolf's current maxes?

Here's my plan:
--Cut until 28 Oct. Goal weight 81.5 down from 86.5, losing 1% of bodyweight each week for 6 weeks.
--29 Oct., start CB8W.

Current real maxes 180/135/190

I intend to start posting maxes at the end of October, as well. Currently cutting and am about halfway to where I want to be before slowing the cut enough to be competing for strength.

I do choose a heavy lift on Monday, coming off of the weekend where I'm eating at maintenance, if anyone wants proof or a starting benchmark before we get going.

[WolfRose7]

Any intel on Wolf's current maxes?

Here's my plan:
--Cut until 28 Oct. Goal weight 81.5 down from 86.5, losing 1% of bodyweight each week for 6 weeks.
--29 Oct., start CB8W.

Current real maxes 180/135/190

Best singles on average to savage blocks were 135/110/170

Current Erm's are 152.5/117.5/170
Dead might be a lot better if I dropped fatigue, or it might not haha.

Bodyweight dropped over A2S2, has been a steady 86-86.5 mostly for last couple of weeks. Gaintains shall continue

[CW47]

Here's some entertainment for you. Just tried a Bamboo Bar for the first time... with 86 pounds...



Definitely need to work on those stabilizer muscles. :O
It's a seriously cool bar though, and I can clearly see it's benefits. Will be using it a lot over the coming months.

[ECGordyn]

Here's some entertainment for you. Just tried a Bamboo Bar for the first time... with 86 pounds...



Definitely need to work on those stabilizer muscles. :O
It's a seriously cool bar though, and I can clearly see it's benefits. Will be using it a lot over the coming months.

Looks like you're benching during an earthquake. What would you say are the benefits?

[CW47]

Looks like you're benching during an earthquake. What would you say are the benefits?

Lmao, yeah I think it rated about a 6.2 on the Richter Scale.

As far as benefits, it's designed to strengthen stabilizer muscles. For those that don't know, it was actually initially developed as a tool for shoulder rehab.

For weight training, stronger stabilizer muscles will help keep a stable bar path, especially with heavier loads, and also help with recovery if/when a lift gets away from you a little bit.
I'm already feeling some slight soreness in places I don't typically feel it, so I can tell that it's doing work on something I don't typically work. Obviously, only time will tell how much regular use actually helps.

[EliKoehn]

Lmao, yeah I think it rated about a 6.2 on the Richter Scale.

As far as benefits, it's designed to strengthen stabilizer muscles. For those that don't know, it was actually initially developed as a tool for shoulder rehab.

For weight training, stronger stabilizer muscles will help keep a stable bar path, especially with heavier loads, and also help with recovery if/when a lift gets away from you a little bit.
I'm already feeling some slight soreness in places I don't typically feel it, so I can tell that it's doing work on something I don't typically work. Obviously, only time will tell how much regular use actually helps.

Also looks safer for failure as a home workout setup without a spot.

[WolfRose7]

Bump

Comp this week

Bench 110 clean, 115 butt up.
Squat 140 clean, 145 above depth.
Deadlift 160 on unfamiliar bar, without belt.

[EliKoehn]

Bump

Comp this week

Bench 110 clean, 115 butt up.
Squat 140 clean, 145 above depth.
Deadlift 160 on unfamiliar bar, without belt.

When do we need to start posting videos? I've actually never done that but agree that it's going to be necessary when we start competing.

I'm about ready to start if you guys are. Still cutting but I'm going to slow it down since I've already lost a lot of weight.

[WolfRose7]

When do we need to start posting videos? I've actually never done that but agree that it's going to be necessary when we start competing.

I'm about ready to start if you guys are. Still cutting but I'm going to slow it down since I've already lost a lot of weight.

Whenever really, we technically only need them for the end maxes, but I'm happy to throw stuff up regular

Here's the start of the weeks,
Bench has hit a bit of a fatigue wall at the moment, but it's a building program not a peaking one.
Squats hitting a groove, wouldn't be surprised if I jump 10+kg ERM in the next couple of weeks.


Bench

Spoiler!

Squat

Spoiler!