I think I'll go with option two for at least another month or so, see where I stand after that. Maybe get a bit of recomp, maybe not. Suspect I'll be close to a squat stall by then, maybe shift to maintaining that and bringing up DL and bench, eat like a horse after the meet.

How do weighins for powerlifting work? Is it day of, or day before?

I gave up on competing at 165... it would be a 10lb cut for me now. I think Id rather just put on 6lbs of muscle.

For the meet Saw and I are aiming for, there is a window the evening before to weigh in. I think this is common.

Long term i don't want to be a 165er, it just sort of fit in with the time scale and how I was a fat 180 rippetard. I needed a cut, and from now on i'll try and keep in the 12-15% bf range as I try and gain some decent weight. A lean 180 is a medium term goal.

Gym was closed this evening for renovations, so we stopped on the way back at the running track where we did:

warm up
6x40m
4x100m
cool down

Jesus Christ I am out of condition.

so if you are lifting sat AM you can weigh in like Friday at noon?

damn ezpz then, could be 100% by the time you lift the next day

Friday 5pm-7pm, for this meet at least. But yeah, pretty comfortable to drop pounds if you know what you are doing, which unfortunately I do not.

looks like you could make an appointment for 11am-noon, unless I'm reading it incorrectly

not sure about you, but my waking up weight is like ~5-7lbs less than my walking around weight. Sleep in, weigh-in, then stuff carbs for 10 hours and pass out.

Ah, missed that. It's a two hour drive, so i'll see what happens. My walk around is only about 3-4lbs higher, so not sure. Could just cut water for the day? Will assess a bit closer to the time and do some experimenting.

Litte/no carbs day before, don't drink etc. Easily googled.

Sad face. No gym as we had a mechanical issue at work that required both of us working late. Made it to the track as it was getting dark for some sprints.

warm up
1x100m @ 80%
3x50m @ 90%
4x30m @ 100%
cool down

Plan was to go in and test 1rm on big three.

Squat: 405x1, 425xf just pinned me wtf (managed 415x3 last week)
got very discouraged
Bench Press: 200x1x3, paused. Pretty good, could have done a bit more
Power cleans: up to 185x1 (tied PR), had four or five go's at 195, think i was pulling high enough but not enough WIM to get under.

Chalk it up to a bad week, next week'll be better.

Why PC and not DL? Also how often are you planning to test maxes?

Nice bench, your squats will come back for sure.

+1 to saw's questions too.

"Plan was to go in and test 1rm on big three" I think that was probably the problem. At your level, even if it's just a casual 1rm attempt, I would adjust my programming a week or so in advance.

For example, if it's a squat pr, reduce volume and intensity of all your workouts but especially for anything that can affect the PR attempt. Don't DL heavy on Wed. Chin/Bench and PC intensely on Friday and then attempt a squat PR on Monday.

Low volume at 85-90% for everything the week before, 1rm exercise only on day of test, imo.

Don't go in the LC thread with that attitude BPA, they'll bite your head off. :P

Plan was for this to be the last time prior to working up to openers as part of the taper close to the meet. As it was an abject failure, will reevaluate and maybe try again in a few weeks. Obviously I wanted to test DL but just wasnt feeling it so mucked around with some cleans cause my buddy was doing them and it had been a while.

Thanks! I think my all time PR is 205 touch n go, and i think i would have had that or more with a pause, so it feels like progress.

i had this entire week out of the gym (renovations monday, work thing wednesday) so i thought it'd be a good opportunity to test maxes. I did do some sprinting throughout the week, no idea if that had an effect or whether it was just mental weakness. Wasnt a great week sleep wise, nutrition was pretty good though.

Good tip to max out on one lift only.

Could just be a mental block too? When is the last time you tested squat 1RM?

Quite a while ago, i think. All of my recent intensity day triple/fives have been legit PRs.

Gonna start this program next week now that I'm done RFL'ing. This week I'm still gonna be transitioning, potentially testing a 1rm or two.

Anyway, I'm wondering how you're choosing your weights for volume and recovery day. When I did regular TM a while back, I'd take my projected intensity day weight, use 90% for volume and 80% for recovery. You seem to be doing much lighter than that. Is it different in this template or are you just going by feel or what?

Keep volume day between 85-90% of projected intensity day, moving up as necessary but not worrying too much about progressing it as long as ID is still successful.

Recovery day just depends on how i'm feeling, some days i'll do triples of 185 just to get some blood flowing, otherwise i'll get it up to close to the recommended 80% of VD weight.

NB: my recent failure to test 1rm may mean that this programming is bad

Got it, thanks!

NB = ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nota_bene

saw --

If you're interested, check out my log for a modified 4 day TM split (two upper, two lower) that essentially does away with recovery day squats and allows for a bit more upper and lower accessory work. This is my second week on it and I'm cautiously optimistic.

23rd July: Volume

Squat: 355x5x3
Bench Press: 180x5x3, paused first rep of all sets
RDL: 205x8x3
Cable Row: 180x5x3

WIM in evidence this evening. Got to the second set of squats and it felt a bit heavy, got through and then was chatting to the friendly guy behind me. He was surprised I got five given how hard the first one seemed, but i just kept grinding them out like a machine he said. Was pretty pleased and the 3rd set seemed easier.

Paused reps on bench felt good. Taking a slightly wider grip - ring finger on ring instead of pinky. Definitely felt easier than last time, no belt.

Progression on RDLs, juice ran out for cable rows and did the minimum.