Kyle's Training Log

Okay--I'm starting this up, finally!

yay!

Paused Bench Press
280x5
225x8x4

Bamboo Bar Bench
Three sets

Dumbbell Press at Incline
70x12x2

Bent-Over Rows
135x15x3

Notes: I'll try to give the cribs:

Since moving to Des Moines, I've been dealing with being somebody who does powerlifting as a hobby, not as their life. As a result, it's been a hard adjustment. Most days, I haven't had any interest in training; as a result, my training has been inconsistent. All things considered, my strength really isn't in bad shape right now, but it has taken me a long time to be invested in training again.

I did some soul-searching over the last week and am back on board in a big way. I've made some new plans for the future and am feeling much better about what I have ahead of me now. Otherwise, bench training went fine--I really focused on strict technique and everything felt heavy as hell. For where I'm at in this training cycle, that's what I need.

You still thinking of handing off your programming to someone like Jason? Looking strong man. If there is anything we can do as a team to help just let us know.

Paused Beltless Squats
315x1
345x1
365x3

Double-Paused Beltless Squats
275x5
295x5
315x5

Paused Bench Press
225x10x3

Front Raises, two sets

Notes: This was probably my best top-to-bottom squat session in a while. My wrapped numbers have been good, but I've felt terribly week in the hole, and now that I'm starting to address it via a lot of bottom-position and close-to-bottom-position training, I'm feeling stronger and more confident. The double-paused squats are actually something I took from Chad Wesley Smith, and they fit my squat strength curve pretty well; the first pause (bottom) is easy to throw my hips out of, but the second one (that "half-squat" position) is where I really struggle. I've seen this a lot on my squat since switching to Oly shoes, and I think these will help me tremendously if I drill them hard for a few weeks.

Otherwise, I just made sure this was a productive session. I went real wide on my bench and added 225x10x3 for some additional volume--that felt OK, and I can tell my shoulders are pretty weak right now. Again, I know that to rebuild those sport-specific traits, I just need to train in a more-or-less specific manner for a training cycle. Each week will probably get better.

Andy G wrote:You still thinking of handing off your programming to someone like Jason?  Looking strong man.  If there is anything we can do as a team to help just let us know.

I'm thinking I might, but there's a long time between now and February. It just depends upon how I feel about my ability to program for myself and continually make progress. And thanks, mate--I'm definitely pretty strong right now, but I'm just not "sharp" on all my competition lifts. I have the ability to really push my total in the short term by addressing a few issues and pushing the difficulty of the training (something I haven't done in quite a while).

Squats w/ wraps
390x4
430x4
470x3
w/ reverse average bands
405x12

Notes: 470x3 again, same as on my birthday (August 2nd). The goal for the day was four, but it just wasn't happening. I definitely felt stronger than I did last week, but I wasn't able to hit all my reps.

Overall, it's small progress--the depth on these was better than in previous weeks, and I do feel like that's a direct result of one week's worth of paused and double-paused squatting. I'm going to keep drilling these real hard in the upcoming weeks, and I hope that I can really develop my weakness by using these movements. I'm training my squat much harder right now, and it's starting to respond. I've been stuck at a 500-520 lb. wrapped squat for the last year and a half, and it's about time I really try to sprint for a good 6-8 weeks and move it forward.

Next week's supposed to be 490x3. It's a tall order, but it's definitely not impossible. I will have to get up in the morning to train with the am crew for that one.

Deadlifts
480x2
500x2
520x2
540x3

Kneeling Squats w/ band around hips
135x25x3

Hip Thrusts w/ chains, two sets

Notes: Currently awake after some vivid nightmares, so I figured I'd log while I'm awake. Today we jumped right into our intense block and worked up to a pretty heavy double--that double ended up being 540, which I stupidly took for a third rep. The lockout was soft so it wasn't *really* 540x3, but close enough. Whatever. It reminds me of what I already know, which is that my lockout constantly needs attention. I'm thinking at this point that just programming some light Dimels twice weekly on my squat/bench days might just be what I need to put myself over the top. Okay, back to bed.

I think it should also remind you that you have programming for a reason When it says doubles you shouldn't hit it for triple.

Paused Bench:
230x6
245x5x7

Deadlift
455x1
475x1x2
495x1x2

Notes: Paused benching is slowly but surely getting better. I'm at least starting a bit stronger than when I finished my RUM smolov, so I'm hoping I'll be at ~340 again by the end of this. Deadlifting felt like crap, but I pulled twice last week and went 540x3 on one day and 540x2 and 555x1 on the next (failing rep #2); I reduced the training percentages way down and just focused on getting in quality singles. Jury's still out on whether this intelligent training will work.

Andy G wrote:I think it should also remind you that you have programming for a reason  When it says doubles you shouldn't hit it for triple.

Strong foreshadowing, lol.

Paused Bench:
230x6
260x4x7

Notes: Paused bench is still weak, but it'll turn around quickly. I stopped on the seventh set because I hit a high-exertion set, and for this time around on Jr., I think I will just stop when I start really grinding out reps on a session. The training effect will be lower, but I'm also not about to beat the hell out of my body while I'm working through an intense phase on squat and deadlift. I'll settle for a more modest improvement if I have to.

Paused Bench Press
275x3x10

Squats
235x3x5

Notes: I'm about to head out and train, so I'll have to keep this one short and sweet. This was my first 3x10 (or 10x3) day for smolov, and traditionally, these go very poorly. Comparatively speaking, I felt like this was the best of the four times I've run it. The bar-speed on these sets never turned into a horrible grind, and I had good endurance through the session. It was a nice step forward from the previous session, and it should set me up well for subsequent weeks. I came in figuring I wouldn't log all ten sets, but it worked out well. I've got 285x3x10 in two weeks, which will be crazy, but I think it's doable.

Also, this is the best I've felt physically at this point. Left tie-in's grumpy, but otherwise I'm feeling good. No tendonitis and no shoulder pain right now--my right shoulder was getting a little achy in the middle of the week but is fine now.

Squat didn't feel too explosive, but I got in five sets at ~55% for closely clustered triples and worked a bit on refreshing technique and increasing rate of force development. I kept it short for today's deadlifting but felt ultimately like I got something out of a quick squat run-through. It had been six days since I last squatted so I figured I'd be a bit rusty.

Recent trainy:

Bench Press:
250x5x7

Squat:
505x1 in wraps
with reverse-bands, unwrapped:
455x5x2
470x5
480x5
490x5

Deadlift:
with reverse-bands, unwrapped:
600x1x6

Notes: As usual, I've been away and haven't logged. Quick cribs:

1.) Bench is feeling a bit better but I'm going to try heels-down again today. Smolov Jr. has yet to really "click" for me; minus my left tie-in, I'm feeling remarkably healthy. I will be spacing out the sessions a bit, and it'll go something like this: 265x4x8 today, 280x3x10 on Monday; 260x5x7 next Wednesday, 270x4x8 next Friday; 285x3x10 the following Monday. Rest until Saturday, then heavy singles' day.

2.) The single at 505 felt terrible and I just about went out on my feet the first time unracking it. But that was due to the fact that I was way too light for that session and hadn't eaten anything. The single itself wasn't awful and I probably had 10-15 lbs. left in me. I'll be taking a heavier single next week and I'm hoping to nail something in the range of 515-525.

Reverse bands felt much better, even though I was still pretty gassed from working and not sleeping well. 490x5 was 345 at the bottom and close to 490 at the top. I probably had ~515x5 in me for a max set, so that final set was about a RPE@8.

3.) For the deadlifts, the bands took off ~140 at the bottom and nothing at the top. All the singles felt pretty easy, though they did move slow. My last deadlift session for this cycle is on Sunday, and I'll be pulling somewhere in the range of 630-640 for three singles.

Everything's coming together for me to test out above the 1405-lb. total I hit at RUM. My goal is somewhere in the 1425-1450 range, which would mean a minimum of a 515 squat, 330 bench press, and 580 deadlift.

When did I last log? I'm guessing I missed this:

Reverse-Band Squats, 500x4x4, 525x4 (top set was 340 at bottom, 480 at top).

Reverse-Band Deadlifts, 595x1, 620x1, 640x1 (top set was 515 at bottom, ~640 at top).

Notes: This completed one of my best weeks of training in a while. Though my gimpy pec made me shut smolov down, it's feeling really good now and I think I'll be all healed by Friday. Even though I won't see the spike in my bench from completing the program, I feel pretty good about my bench strength now. My squat's feeling better, and I'm progressively adding to the reverse-band work, though I've kept the exertion down thus far. Deadlifts felt as good as they have in a few weeks and I think I probably was capable of ~670 on that last session.

Tomorrow I squat in wraps, and the plan is to work up to my heaviest single of the training cycle. After that, I do some bench work on Friday, do my second squat session on Saturday, and then come back the following Tuesday to work up to a perceived second attempt in the squat and bench. Yay.

Gotta log the last few days:

Squats:
505x0 in wraps
445x3x3 with lighter reverse bands (100 lbs. at bottom), then 465x3 and 485x3.

Bench Press:
285x3x2, 295x3, 305x3 PR

Notes: Mostly very good work over the last few days. The one hiccup was wrapped squatting, in which I pretty inexplicably missed 505. After taking a couple of days to think it over, my thinking is that the 3m wraps might just be too much, because I feel like they're standing me up and forcing all my weight back; I can't come forward at all and I can't grind out any squats. I'm going to go back to the 2.5m Lilliebridge wraps, because even though they're less stiff, I can at least force my knees forward into them a bit better. Based on how the wrapped numbers have been all this cycle, there's really no reason for a 505 miss besides an off day and a technique screw up; I've got one more wrapped session on Tuesday, and I'll use that day to get a gauge for where I'm at. I'm pretty sure it'll be a conservative second squat of ~500 at this meet, because I can add a decent amount to my push-pull total.

Otherwise, everything was good. 485x3 with reverse bands felt good, especially since it was about 380 at the bottom and mid-400s at the top. These were way harder when I was doing them a year ago (my 1RM then was 515 with the same bands) so something has to be going OK. Squat's definitely going the worst of the three lifts, and even then I've consistently been pretty strong in prep, so I should be strong enough to hit a decent number.

Bench felt great--305x3 was done without a hand-off and with my butt planted firmly on the bench. My pec is still unhappy, but it's gone down a lot, and hopefully by the meet it's feeling close to 100%. I don't feel quite as strong as when I benched 340, but I'm really close now. My bench attempts will very likely end up being 305-320-330; I'll take a small meet PR on the second and hit the target of 330 on the third. I will be a bit conservative at this one due to the injury, and also due to the fact that I want to build towards RUM with a solid number and not gamble too much on these lifts. If I did something like 510-330-580 and got me a 1420 on a nine-for-nine, I would be very satisfied.

Week one (9/29-10/05)



1.5” Deficit Deadlift
275x8x3

Notes: This was just my first session back from the meet, performed on a Monday. The plan was to deadlift the day after the competition, but between driving home from the meet and working that afternoon—and into the night—I really just felt like getting to bed instead of cutting into my sleep to train would be best. I instead trained on Monday and felt OK coming into the session. Once I touched a weight though, my entire back immediately locked up in a fit of soreness; after the third set, I could tell I was tightening up, and even bending over to reach the bar was a struggle.

At that point, I packed it in and called it a day. I didn’t do the last two sets, or the Dimels, but I’ll leave that for another time as I allow myself to recover. This session was supposed to be a really low exertion recovery day with ~50%, but I suppose I wasn’t quite ready for it yet.

Today, I’ll go in to do some of my light benching and squatting. The squatting might also be cut short, but the benching—which will be floor pressing for the foreseeable future as my pec heals—will be easy enough. Again, everything’s very low in exertion, but I’d like to a.) accumulate a lot of quality reps, b.) keep an extremely low pain threshold for my pec, and c.) start working on my face pulls again for antagonist muscle development as I work with this unhappy pec.

Floor Press, pinkies on rings
185x10x4

Double-Paused Beltless Squat
145x10x6

Face Pulls
60x25x5

Notes: This was my first session back pressing and squatting, and the goal for each of those lifts is as follows: ~80 NBL for my press, and ~120 NBL for my squat. I kept the intensity extremely low and treated these as an active recovery session. I actually pushed my floor press more than my squat, because even though I’m coming back from a pec injury, I felt more capable physically of benching.

For the floor press, the goal was just to “feel out” my strength level and use this as a diagnostic session. I determined that I can floor press 185 pain-free with this narrower grip, and so on Friday, I will increase the intensity slightly as I tip-toe into this training cycle. I complimented these with five sets of face pulls, which I will be performing a second time this week.

For my squat, the plan was to perform the movement variation first this month. The bar-speed on these was fine, but my legs were very heavy and still very fatigued from the meet. I used this as a general conditioning and active recovery day, focusing more on technique and rep accumulation than in producing a desired training effect. Overall, a very good first day back.