A training log

[oshiro]

I used to read the other forum and post a little. Only recently found out this one existed and it seems most of the interesting people moved here, so I'm going to start logging here now.

Age: 23 years
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 177 lbs
Brief training history: Exercised and did physically active things in high school. Started training with barbells second year of undergrad. Been training pretty consistently since then, about 4.5 years. I tend to get injured a lot, even though I don't do too many stupid things. I train mostly so that I don't spend my entire day in front of a computer and also because I like competing.

I squat high bar with a moderate stance, bench flat footed with a medium grip and small arch, and deadlift sumo with a relatively wide stance (because I'm short). I overhead press strict, and I also sometimes do real deadlifts. I do my own programming.

All time PRs:
Squat: 440
Bench: 286
Sumo Deadlift: 585
Conventional Deadlift: 500
Press: 200

Competitions:
My first meet was the HI Fit Expo on 6/11/17. Weighed in at 173 lbs in the 181 lb class (USPA) totaling 1300 lbs (590 kg). Went 9/9 ending with 440/286/573 lbs (200/130/260 kg).

Next meet is on 4/8/18, just under 3 weeks. Would've competed sooner, but school and injuries made training productively difficult.

Miscellaneous:
I bowl at a fairly decent level and I have a degree in electrical engineering.

[oshiro]

3/18- WRC 320-510p
Pause bench press 1x255@8, 265@9, 3x2x245@8, 2x4x235@8.5
Overhead press 4x150, 155, 160, 160@8
Chin up 4x8

Forgot my slingshot, so just replaced with regular bench. Shoulder wasn't as good as last week, but still manageable.

[oshiro]

3/19- WRC 540-840p
High bar squat 1x405@9, 2x365, 375, 385@8
Pause high bar squat 3x325, 335, 345@8
Sumo deadlift 1x565@8, 3x2x545@7-7.5

Gym was busy today, so I spent a while waiting for a rack. Squats seemed to feel better as session progressed. Deadlifts went well since I was being sufficiently patient off the floor.

[Wilhelm]

Welcome to the site, @oshiro!

Nice lifting.

[mbasic]

...welcome!

and

"real deadlifts" lol

[oshiro]

Thanks guys.

3/21- WRC 620-830p
Overhead press 1x185@8.5, 4x2x175@7-7.5
Pause bench press 1x260@8, 270@9, 2x255@8.5
Pause slingshot bench press 2x265, 275, 275@8.5, 2x4x245@7.5
Incline bench press 4x180, 190, 200@8
Chin up 4x9

Forearms and elbows aching a little on the heavier nonslingshot bench sets. Overall okay though.

[oshiro]

3/22- WRC 730-920p
High bar squat 1x415@9, 3x335, 350, 365, 365, 365@8
Pause sumo 2x475, 500@7.5
Leg rehab

Aggravated adductor slightly on squats. Made my stance a bit narrower and it was fine. Hands were pretty beat up from Monday's deadlifts so cut pause deads short. Was also short on time since I got to the gym late.

[oshiro]

3/25- WRC 250-450p
Pause bench press 1x260@8.5, 1x270@9, 3x2x250@7.5-8, 2x4x235@8-8.5
Overhead press 3x5x155@7.5
Chin up 4x8

Not too bad, shoulder is holding up. Still some forearm and elbow ache on the heavier bench sets. Two weeks out.

[oshiro]

3/26- WRC 230-500p
High bar squat 1x405@8.5, 415@9, 2x370, 380, 390@8.5
Pause high bar squat 2x335, 345, 350@7.5
Sumo deadlift 1x565@7.5, 590@9 (5lb PR)
Leg rehab
Bw: 177

Widened my stance a little, so was better able to keep my back angle constant coming out of the hole. Solidest squat session so far I think. Deadlifts were good other than a bit of an interruption while setting up for 590. Took 600mg ibuprofen before lifting, so that probably helped with not having any knee or adductor discomfort.

[oshiro]

3/28- WRC 250-420p
Pause bench press 1x265@8.5, 275@9, 275@9, 2x250, 255, 255@9
Overhead press 3x155, 165, 165, 165@7
Chin up 3x9

Took slightly longer pauses on the bench singles. Took 600mg ibuprofen again, which helped a little. Gonna do this up to the meet.

[oshiro]

3/29- WRC 250-440p
High bar squat 1x405@8, 425@9.5, 425@9, 3x365
Sumo deadlift 2x1x525
Bw: 177

Didn't stay tight enough on the descent for 425 the first time, so I repeated it and it went better the second time. Planned for more backoff sets, but decided against it cause fatigue.

[cgeorg]

Welcome!

I bowl at a fairly decent level

Nice! You do tourneys, sport shot stuff? I've been in a trio sport league for a bunch of years (among other stuff) and it's really the highlight of my week.

[oshiro]

@cgeorg thanks. I haven't done a tournament in a while. At the moment I just bowl with some friends in a regular league on a house shot. I wish I could get more practice on challenging patterns, but I don't think there's too many opportunities for that here.

[oshiro]

4/2- Mana Barbell 630-900p
High bar squat 1x405, 415, 425@9
Pause bench press 1x265, 275, 280@9
Sumo deadlift 1x545, 575@9
Bw: 179

Went to another gym to use more specific equipment. Squatted and benched on an ER rack with a power bar and iron plates and deadlifted with a deadlift bar and iron plates. Worked up to planned second attempts. Deadlifts over about 500 are harder with a deadlift bar and iron plates than with a weightlifting bar and bumpers it seems. Everything well reasonably well, except I tore part of my finger on the last deadlift. Hopefully that'll be healed by the meet. 6 days out.

[oshiro]

4/5- WRC 550-700p
High bar squat 1x375
Pause bench press 1x260
Chin up 3x8
Bw: 178

Last session before meet on Sunday. Finger is partially healed.

[Wilhelm]

I hope your meet went well, @oshiro.
Hope you had fun.

[oshiro]

Thanks @Wilhelm. It went pretty well.

[oshiro]

4/8- HI Fit Expo

Results:
Squat 402, 429, 446
Bench 264, 281, 292
Deadlift 550, 578, 600(f)

Went 8/9 ending with 446/292/578 (202.5/132.5/262.5 kg) and totaled 1317 at 176 lbs (597.5 at 80kg), which is a 407 wilks. Placed 2nd in the junior division, about 150 lbs behind first.

Lift specific comments:
Squat- Apparently rehband knee sleeves are no longer allowed in USPA competitions. I borrowed my friend's medium SBD knee sleeves, which just barely fit, and used them for the first time warming up for the competition. The SBDs are rather uncomfortable, but didn't cause me any significant issues.
Bench- I self unrack at competitions, which people think is weird, but I'd rather limit the number of unknown variables at the meet since I train by myself. I had a bit of a back cramp on my second bench attempt, but luckily no issue on my third.
Deadlift- On the first attempt I got a warning about almost having downwards motion from locking out too hard. I slowed down a little on the second attempt and had no issues. I missed my third attempt near the lockout because my calves started cramping and there was no way I could keep pulling.

General comments:
Ended up with 2.5kg PRs on all three lifts and a wilks PR of like 1 point. Strength wise I'm fairly certain I could have done 457/297/617 if I was aiming for RPE 10 third attempts. I was conservative on my squat and bench because of the injuries I had been dealing with this and last year. I don't know what the issue with the cramping was, as I think I ate and drank adequately. Overall I'm satisfied with my attempt selection and technical execution.

Videos of highest successful attempts:

[oshiro]

4/11- WRC 620-740p
Overhead press 5x145, 150, 150
Incline bench press 3x8x155
Chin up 4x8
Dips 2x20

Just some not too heavy upper body lifts. Although, the last few reps of a set of 8 on incline are deceptively hard.

I'm going to incorporate a bunch more variations and higher reps since I just finished the meet and won't have another one coming any time soon. Also got some stuff coming up that will disrupt my training. Maybe a meet near the end of the year would be good.

[oshiro]

4/12- WRC 520-700p
310 tempo squat 1x345, 3x4x295
Front squat 3x5x225
Conventional deadlift 3x6x365

Everything was light, but more than 3 reps is just so difficult, especially just after a meet.