6/28

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
335x1 - this moved fast.
355x1 - this moved slow off the chest, but I got it. Its the heaviest raw press I've done since before the neck issue.

3 board press
335x3
355x3

band rows
20x2

band face pulls
20x2

Glad you're on the mend. I hope you get where you want to be in time for the meet.

Thanks!

Where I want is squatting 804, benching 550-600 and DLing 683. It would take a miracle for any of those to happen. But if I think I can total over 1800, that would be respectable.

I need some cha advise.

My right arm started acting funny today.

Was fine all day, hit 3-4 golf balls, then intense pain around the part of the biceps closest to the elbow. Pain level 8 where 0 is no problem and 10 is blown biceps. I self massaged biceps and triceps for a bit and the pain sort of wandered to my neck. It is okayish now.

Any advise?

Its probably good that the self massage helped, but I wonder if it isnt nerve pain coming from the neck.

6/30

I got a flat tire on the way to the gym and it took a while to get fixed, so I DLed at home alone.

DL
225x5x2
325x3
415x2
505x1

briefs
595x1x2
First one was ok. 2nd one was slow. I went without the suit because I had no one to help get my straps on or off. So I guess this was a deload week.

RDLs
225x5
315x5
405x5
495x5

GHRs
15
vs green band
15x2

Sounds lonely. Of course, pretty cool that even with such a set back you can just go ahead and do it at home anyway.

homegym4life

yeah, I used to lift alone at home all the time. Now that I'm used to lifting with other people, it is a bit lonely. But having this is a very nice option to have.

Couldn't agree more about lifting at home alone vs lifting with other people. I thought being able to lift by myself would be so much better. I had no idea how much I would miss being able to talk to other between sets or get liftoffs for bench.

7/2

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
Everything was sharp. Fast & good form.

size 54 rage x
2 board press
460x2 - smoked
505x1 - fast and solid form

size 52 rage x
545x1 - fast and solid form
585xf - came up maybe 4".
My strength is not what it was before the neck issue. It did feel good to hold 6 plates again though.

band rows & band face pulls

7/3

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit, sides loose, knee wraps
605x1
Depth was right at parallel. Form was good.

675x1
About 4" high. I started getting light headed, so I cut depth.

briefs only
425x3x3

GHRs
15
vs green band x 15
vs green & red bands x 15

bench press

45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

I did 4 board presses with my superfat teammate's new super super phenom shirt
495x3 - ugly, back got loose and I touched way too low, but they went up
495x3 - fast, solid
495x2 - got an uneven handoff and it took significant energy to level the weight out. The two reps I got were good, but I was out of gas after that. Its worth mentioning that the gym was hot as hell too.

pushups
15x3

band rows & band face pulls

7/8

DL
235x5x2
325x3
415x2

briefs - a buddy came over to lift. He gave me a brand new pair of Metal briefs that he didnt want. I wore them for my primary work. The legs are too tight so I took them off after primary stuff and used my 38 Predators for secondary.

505x1

suit
595x1
645x1 - this was slow and shaky, but it would have got 3 whites.

predator briefs only
465x3
485x3
505x3
525x3

GHR
15
vs green band x 15

7/9

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

54 rage x
1 board press
455x1 - solid
495x1 - good, but not fast

size 52 rage x
545xf. It maybe came up 5-6". Disappointing. I'm weak right now.

I'm going to do a meet 7/29, so I need to figure out what I can open with, so I needed to do something off my chest.

54 rage X off chest
465x1 - This works fine as long as I stay near my current body weight. I've been down to ~233-235 lately.

I put on my SHW teammate's new SDP to break it in some more and do my secondary stuff with it. Its loosening up well, so I lowered the weight and used a 3 board instead of a 4 board.
455x3x3

1 arm cable rows
3 sets working up to whole stack x 10

face pulls
20, 15
I dont remember the weights I used on these cable machines.

7/11

squat
155x5
245x5
knee sucked

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1
knee was fine

suit
605x1 - good depth
655xf - I got light headed halfway up
655xf - spent.
I should never miss 655. It was very hot and I probably didnt eat enough food earlier in the day, so I had no energy. bleh.

briefs
425x3x2
meh. No energy.

GHRs
foot plate all the way up
15

ab wheel rollouts
10
6.

7/13

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

teammate's huge SDP shirt
3 board press
455x3x3

band rows

band face pulls

7/14

DL
225x5
275x4
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1 - very fast
585x1 - good form, fast
625x1 - slower. My hamstrings shook through the middle of it, but it was faster than 645 was last week and it gets three whites.
655xf - weak. My form was fine, but it barely broke the floor.

This was the last heavy stuff before the meet. Next week I will pull my opener. I'm now thinking 584 / 628 / ??? 639 to 661 depending how the 2nd pull feels. bleh.

~10" block pulls
585x3x2
625x3
Fast, solid, held 3rd lockouts for a while to hit the glutes hard.

GHRs
15

This was actually on 7/12.

7/16

bench press - last heavy stuff before the meet.
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 rage x
2 board press - 425x1 - super fast and ez
off chest - 465x1 - smoked it. Great speed and form.
500xf. bleh. My left lat cramped up. I can probably get this. I'm thinking 496 or 502 for my second attempt.

size 52 rage x
545xf. ****. This is the lightest weight I have ever touched in this shirt by a lot. I still have yet to touch and press in it. Two reasons why I was able to touch yesterday:
-its more broken in
- I'm light right now, usually weighing in around 234 - 235 in the morning.
I could have gotten this weight. I got it about 2/3 of the way up, but my bar path was straight up. I touched in a good spot and got great speed off the chest, so it would have gotten locked out if I had gotten my elbows out. The bright side is I know now I can do this if I do everything else right.

My plan for the meet now is:
463 and 496 or 502 in size 54 rage x, then put on size 52 rage x and do 545

tall kneeling PNF D2 flexion
15x15, 10, 12

seated cable rows, pulling two stacks of weight individually
80x15
90x12
100x8

My back is still pumped from doing this yesterday.

I'll work up to openers next week.

edit - I just ran some numbers. I could easily total under 1800 in this meet, but if everything goes well, I could total 1900+. I might do something like this:
s 601/656/705
b 463/496/546
d 584/628/650 - 672. If I go 8/8 up til the last DL, I would only need to pull 650 for 1901 total. That would be an 11 lb meet PR. Maybe I'm dreaming, but it seems like it might be within reach if my left knee holds up and my form is dialed in.

If I was you I would go 463/546/insanity.

Dependent on your goal for the meet of course.

Also long term I would aim to open in the 52 at around 525 kg or so.

I have a stronger understanding for your position on IPF doping testing after I heard the fact that local federation testing by number of tests performed is lower in USA#1 than Denmark.

That seems silly.

I dont know if I have insanity in me right now, but I will think about that.

I dont understand what you mean in the bold sentence.

That does not surprise me, but I know of European IPF hearing conversations between steroid users discussing how they get away with it, and the judges did nothing about it.

The fact that the testing that happens over here is directed at certain individuals who have never used, while other fairly well known users never get tested, is a bad joke.

Also long term I would aim to open in the 52 at around 525 lbs or so.

Lbs not kg.

Makes sense now?

yeah, that makes sense.

Longer term, I will probably have a Super Duper Phenom. That is the shirt that almost all of the biggest benchers are wearing now. A few of my teammates have them and are starting to get them broken in. I've been breaking in one for a 330 lb guy and despite the arms being way too big for me, and it is so long it almost feels like wearing a dress, its pretty easy for me to move 450-500 off 3-4 boards in it. These shirts have a bigger sweet spot and are pretty springy. I want one.

7/18

squat
155x5 - knee felt bad, even doing something less than half-squats

briefs
335x3x2 - knee feels better in briefs. I might just skip raw warmups from now on.
425x2
515x1

suit, sides loose, knee wraps
605x1 - depth was good - 3 whites. I think I will open with an easy 606 at the meet.

I kind of tripped over the band holder on the DL platform and tweaked my knee a bit.

655x1 - depth was good. This will make a good 2nd attempt. My knee didnt feel good after tweaking it and then doing this though, so I shut it down.

Knee feels better today. I dont think its going to be a big deal.

How often do you squat completely raw nowadays? Never?