The Elusive 500 Raw Wilks

[ape288]

My laptop crapped out so I haven't really had a chance to update this past week, but I've put in some pretty good work. On Thursday I took a stab at 535 for a triple on the sumo deadlift. I managed two reps (lockout was weak that day) and got the 3rd to my knees where I lost it due to being a technically god-awful sumo puller. The strength was there. I could have locked it out if I had a chance to fight against it, but I let the bar drift just a smidgey smidge and on a sumo pull that's always enough to make me lose my balance and have to let it go, especially with a deadlift bar. After that set though I managed a to do a fatigued set of 5 reps with 500, still sumo, and then finished up with 4 strong sets of 5 with 385lbs on 2 inch deficit conventional deads.

Yesterday, my lower back was still a little sore from all that pulling volume, but in spite of that I managed to knock out 4 solid sets of 5 with 365lbs on the squat. First set moved real easy. My squat is nowhere near peak levels right now, but it's been several years (mostly due to injury) since I've been able to put in this level of volume in the mid-300's in just knee sleeves, so I'm pretty happy with that right now. I don't think that I will be competing in sleeves, but this base that I've been building up should really help to propel my wrapped squat. After these sts I tried doing some zercher carries for the first time because I didn't feel like doing regular farmer's walks. Just short distance, maybe 10yds total per set tops. I worked up to 335, which wasn't that tough, but it hurt like hell. And then did 3 more sets with 285 to finish up. My mid back is toast.

12/7/17
Sumo Deadlift - 135x8, 225x5, 315x3, 375x1, 425x1, 475x1, 515x1, 535x2/3, 500x5
2" Deficit Conventional Deadlift(385lbs)- 5,5,5,5

12/10/17
Back Squat(365lbs)- 5,5,5,5
Zercher Carry - (145)(195)(245)(295)(335)(285)(285)(285)

Done.

[ape288]

My push pressing has gotten a little stale the past few weeks so I decided to change things up for a little while by doing some power jerks instead. Most likely just for a month or two and then I'll return to the push press. Anyway, I've never tried a power jerk in my life. I've only ever done split jerks but I wanted something more symmetrical. So I gave them a go last night and mannnnn they felt awkward. My body just didn't even know what to do with them. Since I'm so used to splitting my legs my brain just kept wanting me to do a push press after the dip and drive and not actually dip back under the bar. And then holding the weight overhead is not nearly as stable as a in a split. So it was interesting. I started to kind of get the hang of it by the time I got up to 250, where I hit a clean double. I finished up by knocking out 10 singles EMOM style with 220lbs afterwards.

12/12/17
Power Jerk - (95x5)(135x5)(165x3)(185x3)(205x3)(225x3)235x3)(245x2)(250x2)(220 x 10 singles EMOM)
Strict curl - (95lbs x 10 cluster singles) (85lbs x 6,6,6)

Done.



Also, new video is up on my YouTube channel showing this past Sunday's entire squat workout. 4 sets of 5 at 365lbs along with my first ever attempt at a Zercher carry.

[ape288]

Yesterday was squat day and it went pretty well. I'm still rebuilding, obviously. I've slowed the progression down to a meager 5lbs per week. I'm only squatting once a week. Body weight has dropped down to 156lbs from a recent high of about 161-162. Most of the weight loss appears to be fat as I have leaned out considerably. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm probably just expending more calories from hard training than I was before and my appetite hasn't really increased. I should probably make it a point to take in some more calories though. I haven't gotten weaker at any rate, which is good. Bench still sucks major ass but what else is knew. Squatting is going well. Hips are a bit stiff at first but things are good once I get going. No pain while squatting and mostly just muscular soreness in the glutes/quads the following day, so that's good. Form is coming together also. I feel confident in my descent and strong in my ascent. These are nowhere near PR weights, but I'm starting to accrue some high quality volume this go around.

12/17/17
Squat(370) - 5,5,5
Secret Training
Front Squat Hold - (405 x 15 sec)(495x15)(565x17)

Felt like my head was going to explode during that last hold. I had wanted to do front rack carries, not just holds, but I didn't have enough time for all that set up and whatnot. I may try to throw those in on Tuesday though.

[ape288]

Looks like I forgot to update last week's deadlifts. Anyway, long story short it was a poopy day but I went for a PR triple on the deficit deadlift anyway with 485lbs and I gutted out the first two reps and almost got the third rep to my knees but had to let it go. So I decided to try it again this week. Based on bar speed of previous lifts and the fact that I grinded out that single with 510lbs on the same exercise a few weeks ago, I figured 485x3 was there. I just needed an average or better day to hit it, rather than a crummy one like last week was. So I managed to nail it this week. First two reps were pretty solid, way faster than last week. The third rep was tough but I knew I had it the whole way. After that I knocked out 3 sets of 5 with 395lbs to continue on with my progression and then finished up the day with some light farmer's walks at only 160lbs per hand. I managed to carry them 240 yards total in 15 minutes with relative ease, so that's solid work as well. And that was the session. I'll be heading home for the holidays so I plan to rest up the deadlift next week, which is probably overdue. Still going to get in some squats though.

12/20/17
2 inch deficit deadlift (stiff bar) - 135x8, 225x5, 315x5, 375x1, 425x1, 465x1, 485x3 (PR + 10lbs)
(395lbs) - 5,5,5

Farmer's walk (160lbs per hand) - 12 trips of 20yds (240 total) in 15 min

Done.

[Wilhelm]

Have a good holiday rest, and eat some food, @ape288 .

Congrats on the PR. 10lbs is nice.

[ape288]

Have a good holiday rest, and eat some food, @ape288 .

Congrats on the PR. 10lbs is nice.

Thank you, sir. I sure will. Merry Christmas!

[ape288]

I haven’t trained since Wednesday, so no new posts today, just shameless self-promotion of my YouTube channel! The YouTube clicks are more valuable to me so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to like, subscribe, etc. Anyway, this is just a repost of my last deadlift training session. The top set of 485x3 as well as the volume sets of 5 with 395 are included. I didn’t film the farmer’s walks though. I’ve mostly only been posting lifting videos lately, but I have a bunch of “informative” content planned and lined up for the near future. So if you’re interested subscribe to my channel! I’ll be doing some squats either tomorrow, or Monday or Tuesday, whenever I get the chance.

[Wilhelm]

Link to channel?
Tried the title and couldn't find yours.

Derp. nvmd. got it.

[ape288]

Link to channel?
Tried the title and couldn't find yours.

Derp. nvmd. got it.

Shmanks, bud

[ape288]

Haven't had much of a chance to update with the holidays and whatnot. I did some travelling, visited back home for a little bit, and went on a mini vacation for New Year's. Good stuff. I got in a few sessions when I was home. Unfortunately, the bar I left there doesn't have a center knurl which made my squats a bitch, but I was still able to knock out the scheduled work which was 3 sets of 5 with 375. This past week I knocked out 3 sets of 5 with 380 after returning to my home gym. These sets were tough, but much cleaner than the 375 session, likely due to the bar. I haven't deadlifted since I pulled the 485x3 from a deficit but this coming Thursday will be a feeler session for the sumo deadlift. That's about it. Bench is still stuck, press is moving in the right direction, and push press is iffy lately. Morning body weight is generally 155-157 at the moment.

12/31/17
Squat(380) - 5,5,5
Farmer's Walk(170 per hand) - 10 trips of 20yds in 14 minutes

Here are all 3 sets from the 380 session:


2nd set from the 375 session:

[michael]

@ape288 Are those elitefts old school wraps in the above deadlift video? How are they?

[ape288]

@ape288 Are those elitefts old school wraps in the above deadlift video? How are they?

Yeah, they are. I like them a lot. They're quite minimalist as far as straps go and are actually very similar to using a hook grip. They still force you to take a full grip on the bar and hang onto it tightly otherwise they'll just slip right off. They make for a good middle ground and they allow me to avoid relying on the mixed grip in training.

[ape288]

Had a pretty good session yesterday. My push pressing has been a little stagnant lately so I decided to try widening my grip a smidge to see what would happen and I ended up hitting a pretty solid triple with 230lbs. I'm pretty sure my old PR triple from when I used to train this lift was 225, so I can't really complain. The lockout with the wider grip was much smoother and I probably could have tripled at least 235, but I had done a lot of sets leading up to the 230 set so I decided to drop back down after that and knock out a few more triples with 205. Finished up the day with a few drop sets of dips to get a nice little tricep pump.

Push Press - (bar x 10)(95x5)(135x5)(155x3)(175x3)(185x3)(195x3)(205x3)(215x3)(220x3)(225x3)(230x3)(205x3,3,3)
Dip drop set (100/75/50/25) - (5/5/6/6), (4/4/5/6), (3/4/4/5) - 57 total reps

Done.

[MattimusMaximus]

Wow there is some awesome lifting here! Impressive, especially the wilks!

[ape288]

Wow there is some awesome lifting here! Impressive, especially the wilks!

Thanks! I haven't quite achieved the Wilks score yet though.

[ape288]

Got in some solid deadlifts yesterday. First time pulling sumo in about 4 weeks. I did 2 straight weeks of deficit deadlifts and then took a week off of deadlifting for the holidays. In my last sumo session I failed to lockout the 3rd rep with 535lbs, but this time I was able to hit a pretty solid triple with 540lbs. My all time best triple is 550lbs, but those reps were harder than these. It took me about a minute to complete that set and they were almost more like cluster singles with minimal rest than a continuous set. Either way though I am encroaching on PR territory. I would say I could pull somewhere in the vicinity of 565-575lbs for a max single right now. I know I could break the floor and clear the knees, but the lockout will be the determining factor. The whip is just very difficult for me to handle on the sumo and if I am even the slightest bit forward I'll just lose my balance and get yanked down, no matter how close I am to locking it. It's not an issue of strength, it's an issue of technique. Anyway, this is the year. I will pull 600lbs in 2018.

After the top set with 540 I managed a back off set of 4 reps with 505 and then rounded out the day with conventional deads from a 2" deficit where I did 3 sets of 5 with 400. Good stuff.

1/4/18
Sumo Deadlift - (135x8)(225x5)(315x3)(375x1)(425x1)(475x1)(515x1)(540x3)(505x4)
2" Deficit Conventional Deadlift(400lbs) - 5,5,5

Done.

[ape288]

Got in a good workout yesterday! I jumped up to 385 for my squatties and they were, overall, pretty tough. That said, the first set felt relatively easy in retrospect I have to say. I think it was easier this week with 385 than the first set with 380 was last week. And looking at the video, none of the 3 sets look too too difficult, even though they started to feel that way (mostly just the 4th and 5th reps with fatigue setting in and my form going to shit). Anyway, I should be good to make another small jump for my next session, though I suppose I should plan to incorporate another deaload at some point in the near future. After squats I knocked out some solid farmer's walks. I managed 10 carries of 20yds this time with 175lbs per hand and with all the work done in 12 minutes total. So that's 10lbs more total weight on these from last week and i shaved 2 minutes off the time it took me to do it. Not too shabby.

Also, as promised, I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel! It's a relatively detailed look at one of my favorite exercises that offers a myriad of unique benefits that most people miss out on because most people either don't know this exercise exists, or don't spend serious time and effort working on it. Obviously most of you guys will already know what exercise it is when you see the video, but you guys aren't most people Anyway, give it a watch and let me know what you think!

[ape288]

As I rested deadlifts over the holidays, prior to last night, I had not pulled conventional in 3 weeks. Last week I managed my 540 triple sumo, so this week was back to the stiff bar conventional from a deficit. I'm still loving this variation. I managed to work my way up to a double with 5 wheels last night which is pretty cool and a PR. My plan the whole session was to double it, unfortunately, seeing as how I love to spit on the idea of everything I know, I decided after I stood up with the first rep that I was actually going to triple it instead simply because I knew I could do it. The problem was, every time I set the damn bar down it ran away from me. On the second rep you can see I end up rotated as all hell because I literally started the pull from an asymmetrical position relative to the bar. And same for the third rep. The damn thing bounced one way and then the other every time I set it down. This kind of screwed things up and I gave up on the 3rd reps only a few inches off the ground. But anyway, if I was stronger I still would have been able to bully my way through it regardless, so clearly I need to be stronger haha. All things considered though, I can't really complain about this. It was only 4 weeks ago that I failed the third rep with 485, so at least now I'm failing with 10 more pounds on the bar. After this top set I finished up the day with 3 back off sets of 5 reps at 405. These still feel pretty easy and I should be able to continue to add 5lbs per week to the back off sets for at least a little while longer. Next week I'll go back to sumo and see what happens and then the following week I will attack 495 on this variation once again and see if I can't come out victorious in round 2.

1/11/18
2" Deficit Deadlift (stiff bar) - 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 375x1, 415x1, 455x1, 475x1, 495x2/3,
(405) - 5,5,5

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was squat day. I put in some solid work with 390lbs, successfully completing all 3 sets of 5 reps. It's starting to get hard, but I'd like to get a few more of these sessions in and complete a 3x5 with 4 wheelz before I switch things up. With a little bit of grit, I think that's in the cards for sure. I feel as though I've really refined my squatting technique this training cycle. I began with only 225lbs squatting completely high bar, narrow stance, and as deep as possible. And I've slowly morphed that into a slightly wider stance, shallower, somewhat low bar, more hip driven style of squat. This is something I've never really toyed with before even when I'm lifting PR weights. So it should be interesting as things continue to get heavier and heavier. My ace card right now is that I think that once I hit the wall with 5's, there will be a lot of room to progress with triples. Historically, I tend to put up my best numbers on the squat (relatively of course) in that rep range. And as these 5's get heavier, reps 4 and 5 are roughhhhh, even when the first 3 reps don't feel all that difficult.

Anyway, I finished up the day with some farmer's walks, as usual. I jumped to 180lbs per hand this go around and completed 10 carries of 20yds each in just under 15 minutes. I think I'll keep this weight the same for another week. Also, posted the 495lbs deficit deadlift double from last week on my YouTube channel. That video includes the rest of the training session as well, which was 405lbs for 3 sets of 5, for those who are interested.

1/14/18
Squat(390lbs) - 5,5,5 (tough, but solid)
Farmer's walk(180lbs per hand) - 20yds x 10 carries (15 minutes total)

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was push press day and I put in some solid work. I went up to a single with 245lbs, which is a comeback PR since I have re-implemented this exercise, however it's still 5lbs below my all time PR of 250lbs from back in the day. I'm sure that 300lbs is a long, long way away, but the idea of it keeps me motivated. In the meantime, I do just really enjoy throwing some weight up over my head. After the main sets I put in some pretty routine doubles with 215lbs to get in some extra volume. All in all, it was solid work. I've widened my grip slightly which seems to be helping create a smoother lockout. Just need to keep logging sessions and grinding it out.

In other news, just published a new video on my YouTube channel today. It's part 1 of a new series I've started delving into the psychology of weight training. This video explores the concept of something I discovered several years ago that I refer to as "going into autopilot." An idea which has helped me to nail some of the best lifts of my life. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.

1/16/18
Push Press - bar x 10, (95x5), (135x5), (165x3), (185x3), (200x3), (215x3), (225x3), (235x2), (245x1)
(215) - 2,2,2,2,2

Done.