From Little Acorn to Mighty Oak

[acorn1293]

8/28/20 204.6
Squat 315x3rx3s, x2rx3s 3' rest; belt getting too loose harder to brace against it today

Bench 190x3x5 2' rest

Beltless SGDL 250x5x4 2' timer

Rear Delt Swings 40s 3x20 1' timer

Time: 1 hour 15 min

[acorn1293]

8/31/20 204.6
MM C5W1D1 390/290/425
Squat 272.5x5rx6s 2' rest

Bench 202.5x5x7 2' rest

BB Row in 10' 185 x10, x5rx9s

Time: 1 hour 15 min

Was dragging ass today...squats had me sucking wind and bench felt kinda heavy and slow so hopefully that's just because I haven't went above 65% in a week. BB Row gave me a little too much of a low back pump vs upper back or lat so I may just go back to chins or try a chest supported row.

[acorn1293]

9/2/20 204.0
Squat 350x1 (Tree Fiddy) @8

Bench 247.5x1rx3s 2' rest, CGBP 187.5x8x2 2' rest

Deadlift 382.5x1@~7.5, 317.5 20 singles every 45" first 10 reps then every 50ish" last 10 reps; originally didn't plan on doing this but was feeling lazy and wanted to give it a shot. Resulted in tons of clean reps but a torn callus on my thumb.

Band Pull Aparts mini 4x25

Time: 1 hour 20 min

[JohnHelton]

It looks like MM is working for you. Getting strong.

[acorn1293]

It looks like MM is working for you. Getting strong.

Thanks John, getting there! I'm close to previous squat and bench PR levels, but my deadlift is responding extremely well to MM. I used to think I just sucked at deadlifting but I think it had more to do with the low volume of SSLP. Hopefully I can run quite a few more cycles of MM before I have to make bigger adjustments.

[acorn1293]

9/4/20 204.4
Squat 312.5x3rx5s 3' rest

Bench 232.5x3TnG+1Compx4 3' rest

Beltless SGDL 235x5x4 2' timer

Time: 1 hour 20 min

Shoulders are still a little cranky. Trying to decide if I'm gonna skip press this cycle and see if my shoulders go back to feeling how they were before I started having issues. Never had issues when doing some kind of pressing work 2-3 times per week so I think I might give it a shot. Definitely my fault for being too aggressive with loading though. Lesson learned

[JohnHelton]

Press really benefits from benching anyway. You shouldn't miss that much by putting it on the sidelines for a bit.

[acorn1293]

9/7/20 208.2
MM C5W2D1
Squat 292.5x4rx3s, x3rx4s 2' rest

Bench 217.5x4x3, x3x4 2' rest

Pendlay Row in 7' 205 x10,4,4,4,4,4,3,3; less low back fatigue

Seated Rear Delt Fly 20s 5x20; form a little sloppy...would add a pause next time and do less reps

Time: 1 hour 20 min

[acorn1293]

9/8/20 207.6
Going to the ocean Friday to Sunday so had to move my workouts around a little.
Bench 247.5x1rx2s, 260x1; CGBP 187.5x8x2 2' rest; gonna repeat this cycle and just attempt to do more sets.

Deadlift 392.5x1@~9, 340x1x10 1' rest x1x5 1.5' rest; used straps. Definitely fatigued from yesterday's Squats but still gonna be conservative and just add 5 lbs for next cycle.

Time: 1 hour 10 min

[acorn1293]

9/11/20 207.8
Ended up not leaving early for the ocean so...
Squat 360x1@8.5, 320x3rx3s, x2rx3s 3' rest

Bench 237.5x3x4, x2x2 3'rest; slight pause 1st rep of doubles

Beltless SGDL 255x5x4 2' timer

Stricter Seated Rear Delt Fly 20s 3x20 2' rest

Time: 1 hour 40 min

[acorn1293]

9/14/20 208.2
MM C6W1D1
395/290/430
Squat 277.5x5rx6s 2' rest

Bench 202.5x5x7 2' rest; this wasn't exactly easy again. I'm thinking of recalibrating my training maxes for all lifts at the end of this cycle. I guess I'd just treat Wednesday of next week as a mock meet? @JohnHelton @Wilhelm either of you have any experience doing this with MM?

Modified L-sit Chins in 10' x9,4,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Seated Rear Delt Fly 20s 3x20 1':55" rest

Time: 1 hour 15 min

[Wilhelm]

9/14/20 208.2
MM C6W1D1
395/290/430
Squat 277.5x5rx6s 2' rest

Bench 202.5x5x7 2' rest; this wasn't exactly easy again. I'm thinking of recalibrating my training maxes for all lifts at the end of this cycle. I guess I'd just treat Wednesday of next week as a mock meet? @JohnHelton @Wilhelm either of you have any experience doing this with MM?

Modified L-sit Chins in 10' x9,4,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Seated Rear Delt Fly 20s 3x20 1':55" rest

Time: 1 hour 15 min

I've taken 9 or ten days off deadlift with a 66% pull on monday of meet week.
But i'm older, so maybe a week off.
I guess just don't pull meet week besides that 66%

Squat opener monday and last warmup wednesday.
Use your judgment doing possibly a little less in the week prior to meet week.
Althoughi have broken that "rule" and done my opener wednesday as well.
But i was also opening heavy by the normal standard.
bench opener monday and wednesday.
Something like that.

[JohnHelton]

That absolutely works. Give yourself a little break leading up to it. Maybe just hit warmups plus 1x90% a few days before like you would a meet. Then take a deload before resuming.

[JohnHelton]

Yes. Don’t pull for a week before.

[acorn1293]

Okay so if I understand you guys correctly I could probably: still treat this Wednesday as normal (including deadlift), skip SGDLs on Friday but do my squat and bench openers, do my last squat warm up and bench opener on Sunday, then I'll just test next Tuesday instead of next Wednesday?

Also as far as weight selections I was thinking of just basing my selections using the method Izzy from PTW suggests in this article https://www.powerliftingtowin.com/how-t ... ting-meet/ . So opener would be 90%TM, second attempt at 95%TM, and then 97.5-102.5%TM for third attempt using RPE and video from the second attempt as a guide. I also always warm up by doing the bar for 5-10 reps, 30%x5 (depending on the lift), 50%x5, 70%x3, 80%x2, then 90% of my weight for the workset for a single. So my last warm up for squat would be 90% of 90% or ~81%TM on Sunday.

The only problem I see with what I put above is for squat this Wednesday and this Friday all I'm doing is hitting my squat opener. Should I do anything differently or would that be okay?

[Wilhelm]

I think at least a full week of no heavy DL before meet day is good advice.
But your six days might be fine.
I've done that 66% single on monday of meet week (Saturday meet day) everytime so far.

I've had advice of two weeks because i'm older, but i've settled on 9 days.

The only problem I see with what I put above is for squat this Wednesday and this Friday all I'm doing is hitting my squat opener. Should I do anything differently or would that be okay?

For me, i hit my opener on Wednesday of meet week
So that leaves thur/fri off, meet Sat.

The first guidance i got was to only do last warmup on that Wednesday, but i found i like to feel a heavy single closer to meet day.
Actually i was hitting my opener and planned second before last meet, but i wouldn't suggest that.

Friday with three days off and testing Tuesday seems like a longish gap to me.
maybe it's hand wavy, but having your nervous system primed and ready is how i think of it.

I feel wary of advising you, because i only have my own experience, and only three meets under my belt.

I feel solid about the DL advice though.

[acorn1293]

@Wilhelm Just to clarify with squat I was planning on hitting my openers tomorrow and Friday then my last warmup Sunday. I wasn't sure if it was a bad idea to do the same thing on Wednesday and Friday or if I should do a little bit more work on Wednesday, then opener Friday and last warm up Sunday.

It's something I can experiment with and since it's not an actual meet I'm okay with making a couple mistakes because I can learn from it without any real repercussions. I appreciate you and @JohnHelton giving me some guidance!

[Wilhelm]

Ah, that sounds fine then, as far as doing something close to meet day.

A little more "work" that Wednesday would be fine imo.
Just not multiple rep worksets.
A couple of your opener?

last meet i went heavier than almost anyone would recommend, and was hitting opener and 2nd attempt all the way to my last lifts before the meet.
I didn't exceed at the meet, the 413 that i had misloaded and hit once in training, and did for my 3rd at the meet, but i was more rehearsing than setting up for a big step up in the meet.
I had a number in mind i wanted, and people would say not to do that.
I haven't yet gotten to the point where i know how, or am willing to risk setting myself up for that big meet day jump in performance that a serious competitor would be going for.
I've paid a chunk of cash, and traveled to the meet. I want to notch an old man state record for certain.
I've gone 9 for 9 three times, and done exactly what i planned each time.
my last two meets i did hit a deadlift higher than i did in training, but only a little higher.
And i had it planned ahead of time.

Deadlift is the lift i'm closest to embracing high risk on a third.
I'd like to set things up so my target for total is reached with my 2nd attempt DL, and i'm free to go for it on my 3rd.
This has nothing to do with you, maybe just to outline different ways of approaching this thing.

You are as strong as you are going to be already.
But that strength can be more than you've ever hit before.
That's why you want to be rested but not rusty.
Shedding the fatigue of regular training to express your max 1RM

But hell, go for something you've never hit before as a third.
I mean, if your second shows you that it's there.
If not, take what's there.

This is a great time to see how you respond.

You want to be tuned up, but not flat or underrecovered.

And yeah, use your judgement, set a plan and learn from it.

Don't do it my way.

[acorn1293]

9/16/20 207.0
Squat 335x1rx3s 2.5' rest

Bench 247.5x1x3 3' rest; CGBP 187.5x8x3 2' timer

DL 387.5x1@straightpoop, 290x4x5 3' timer

Rear Delts

Time: 1 hour and 45 min

Just felt like shit today. Nothing to do but just move forward.

[acorn1293]

9/18/20 205.2
Squat 355x1@slower than expected

Bench 260x1@felt okay

Deadlift 285x1 no belt

Band ER 20,15,12,10,8