The Elusive 500 Raw Wilks

[ape288]

Love the detail on this log and I've subscribed to your channel, keep it up!

Thanks man. I appreciate the sub!

[ape288]

Solid work on sumo deads and high bar squats on Thursday. I played around with hook grip a little bit, so I used the method I learned from the Calgary Barbell dude: hook the first rep and then strap up for the rest of them since I was doing sets of 5. My hook felt ok, not strong enough right now, but man I need to hook grip over mixed. It makes the transition over the knees so much smoother for sumo without having a supinated hand, it decreases my windmilling issue probably like tenfold, and it doesn't feed into my sacral torsion since everything is in symmetry. I needz it. It's gonna be a tough mountain to climb though to master it. My hands aren't exactly huge or anything. Anyway, deads were good. Easy work. I''ve brought my stance in slightly to save my hips during this volume block and that's making the pulls a bit more back dominant, but the weight is moving well. I knocked 3 sets of 5 and then finished up with a set of 10 @ 455lbs. Body weight is 155-157.

After deads I hit high bar squats. 4 triples with 335lbs. These are still moving easily. No trouble here. Should be fine to jump to 340 next week. And then finished up the day with some heavy hypers using the 200lbs dumbbell. Solid work all around.

I just published a new video on my YouTube channel this afternoon so please check it out! I had a subscriber ask me about how to progress on weighted dips and chin-ups so I made a sample program that is roughly what I'm doing at the moment. Best lifts thus far are 145x5 on dips and 110x3 on chins. Not the strongest in the world on these, but respectable.

Also, I got a little shout on Jason Blaha's YouTube channel last night, which was pretty cool. He made a video about me and 2 other guys who are subbed to his channel and who are all, in his words, "slaying the weights" haha. I thought it was pretty cool of him to give kudos to some smaller channels. Anyway, long update. We'll see if anyone reads it!

Sumo Deadlift(455) - 5,5,5,10
High Bar Squat(335) - 3,3,3,3
Hyperextension(200) - 8,8,9

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was squats and trap bar deads. I knocked out 5 triples with 390lbs on the squat and 4 sets of 6, 6, 6, and 8 reps @ 440lbs on the trap bar deadlift. Squats moved a little slower than I would have liked, unfortunately, and also it seems that the high bar squatting I've been doing has started to affect my motor pattern on my mid bar squat. My body kept naturally breaking at the knees when I'm looking for a simulatenous hip/knee break and this made my technique all screwy for the whole session. Might have to make some changes here.

Trap bar deads were pretty easy. This was the 5th session doing these, I started at 400lbs and have added 10lbs every session. I should be able to do this a few more times and then I'll probably switch this back to deficit deadlfits.

Also, just a posted a new vlog on my channel of a recent bench press/strict press session. I'm doing those lifts EMOM style right now which is pretty damn fun. SO be sure to check that out.

4/1/18
Squat(390lbs) - 3,3,3,3,3
Trap Bar Deadlift(440lbs) - 6,6,6,8

That was all.

[ape288]

Yesterday was funnnn. It was my power/loaded carry day. I did standing box jumps, snatch grip high pulls, and imitation yoke walks with the barbell across the back of my shoulders like in a normal squat. I was going to do farmer's walk because my elbows needed a break from zercher carries, but I got rained out. Anyway, I managed to go up to 48 inches on standing box jumps, which is a 2" PR. I did a few triples with 300lbs on the high pull, which is a weight I've done before, but I felt like these were higher quality. I was getting better hip extension and I was pulling the bar a little higher than previously. Finished up with the barbell carries up to 600lbs. I'm not sure if I've ever even put 600lbs on my back before, let alone taken it for a walk, but I could have actually done way more lol. No point though, it's too risky to go to maximum on that without a yoke. Good stuff though! This was a fun session.

4/3/18
Box Jumps - (31" x 5)(34" x 5)(37" x 5)(40" x 5)(43" x 3)(46" x 3)(43"/46"/48")
1 step - (48"/50"/52")(50"/52"/54")

Snatch grip high pull - (135x3)(185x3)(235x3)(260x3)(280x3)(300x3)(300x3)
Drop Set - all triples (285/270/255/235/185/135)

Barbell Carry (225)(315)(405)(465)(515)(565)(600)(500)

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was deadlifts once again. I was using 465lbs for this session and i did 3 sets of 5 followed up with a burn out set of 10 reps on the 4th set to finish up pulls for the day. The burn out set was pretty easy. It was the only set where I hyped myself up at all. It ended up taking a good bit out of me though, took a while to recover from it. The first 3 sets I used the hook grip on the initial rep and then strapped up for the remaining 4 reps. I taped my thumbs for the first set to save the skin, but it made my hook weak and it ended up making the first set kind of shitty. I removed the thumb tape for sets 2 and 3 and they were a lot better. But still, my hook has a looooooong way to go if it's actually going to become a viable grip method for me.

Did 5 triples @ 340lbs on high bar squats afterward. I added in a 5th triple and these were fine. Not hard or anything. I kept the bar higher than my main squat day and kept my stance narrow, but I wasn't super concerned about breaking at the knee and staying entirely on the quads the whole way through because that was starting to screw up my technique on my competition style squat. Should be able to add some more weight here. Finished up rest-pause style heavy hypers. Cranked out sets of 5, 4, and 4 with 30 seconds rest with the 230lbs dumbbell. That was actually pretty heavy haha.

Anyway, new vlog is up on my channel from my 385 squat session and the instagram video is my 465x10 deadlift set from yesterday.

4/5/18
Sumo DL(465) - 5,5,5,10
High Bar Squat(340)- 3,3,3,3,3
Hyperextension(230)- 5/4/4

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was quality. Squat triples with 395lbs and trap bar deads with 450lbs. I knocked out 4 solid triples on the squat and then finished up wth a set of 5 on the 5th set. On trap bar deads I did 3 sets of 5 and then finished up with a set of 8 followed by a 15 second hold at the top of the final rep for good measure. Quality stuff for sure. The squats with 395 felt waayyyyy better than 390 did last week, so that's good. Technique and bar speed were on point. The trap bar deads felt tough at first, but in reality I was just unaccustomed to them because each set moved faster than the one that came before it. I think I got screwed up because on my first set my belt was squeezing my stomach in a bad way and I had to burp really bad and it made me feel like I was going to puke with every rep lol I sorted it out though. I may keep the trap bar dead for only 2-3 more weeks tops, and then switch it back to the deficit deadlift.

New vlog is up on my channel also. It's my 455 deadlift session from the week before last and is the first session where I experimented with the hook grip. Ow. Check it out and let me know what you think!

4/8/18
Squat(395lbs) - 3,3,3,3,5
Trap Bar DL(450lbs) - 5,5,5,8

Done.

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

If you have something sturdy enough you could make a pretty efficient yoke by just tying some plates together and hanging them off eacheach of the Barbell...it would be so unstable you wouldn't need a great deal of weight either...

[ape288]

you wouldn't need a great deal of weight either...

But where's the FUN in that???

[ape288]

Well, all I had time for was an abbreviated training session last night. Had to do a bit of traveling on Monday/Tuesday and ended up driving 6 hours yesterday and arriving home at about 11 o' clock at night. I had been dreaming of attempting a 500lbs zercher carry all day so naturally I had to try even though it was basically midnight before I got out to the old garage. No time for jumps or high pulls, zercher carries only. No more safety net either because I couldn't load more than 455lbs onto the bar with the bumper plates, so if I wanted to try 500 it was going to be with steel.

That shit was easy, dude.

I'll post the video tomorrow or Friday, but in the interim here's what I've been a working on. By popular demand, a whopper of a project outlining my entire current training routine. I hate two part videos, so It's long, but it's comprehensive. If you have the time or the inclination it's a worth a watch. I put a hell of a lot of work into it and it's a good, informative video that I think everyone can extract something valuable from. If you check it out, let me know!

4/10/18
Zercher Carry - (135)(225)(315)(365)(415)(465 - PR+10lbs)(500!!! - PR + 45lbs)
(455)(405)

Done. Forearms are swollen today lol.

[ape288]

Here's the 500lbs Zercher carry I promised yesterday. That's all for now. Deadlifts later today. Everything should go swimmingly, however, my hips are a little bit sore today so we'll see!

[ape288]

...and swimmingly they went! Crushed my deads, crushed my high bar squats, and now after 7 straight weeks of 5,5,5,10 at ever increasing intensities on the deadlift, I shall take a well deserved deload week. The block culminated with 475lbs, which is purdy good. I think the plan now is to drop to 4x3 with an optional rep out not to exceed 6 reps on the 5th and final set. I'll run that for 4-5 weeks, adding 10lbs per session, and then it should be time to make a real run once again. No more straight sets after that. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, there is much work yet to be done.

I did the first two sets of deads yesterday with the mixed grip. I just didn't have the soul to do the hook yesterday and the hook + straps method was starting to be a buzzkill on my rhythm so I dropped it for now. I used the straps on the 3rd set not because I needed to but because I wanted to get a chance to practice for one set with them before I did my AMRAP on set 4. The knurling on that bar is so sharp that I can't loop the straps snugly if they're sitting entirely on the knurl, but when I grip without straps that's how I grip the bar. So the straps force me to take a slightly narrower grip which causes my hands to hit my thighs during the lockout. So it changes things ever so slightly and I just wanted to take a set to feel it out. Everything went fine though. The volume is starting to feel a bit rough on the old body however. When the bar moves easily but your brain still tells you it was "hard," you know you're deep in the throes haha.

Anyway, finished up with high bar squats. I did 5 easy triples with 345lbs, with about 3 minutes rest between sets, which is rather brisk for me when it comes to squatting and deadlifting lol. These are still moving easily though, which is good. I'm focusing a little less on being super upright here and breaking at the knee because it was starting to mess with the motor pattern a smidge on my main squat day, but it's no biggie. I'll just call these "narrow stance" squats from now on. I need to keep at least a 50lbs disparity between these and my main session squats on Sunday, so from here on out my progression on the Sunday session will likely dictate my progression on this session as well.

Here's the video of my 4th set of deads, which was the rep out set of 475x10. And here's my latest vlog on my YouTube channel from last week's heavy bench day, which includes my 3 plate chin-up PR! Not sure if I posted that on Instagram or not. Be sure to show that some loooove too.

Whew! Long update.

4/12/18
Sumo DL(475lbs) - 5,5,5,10
Narrow Stance Squat(345lbs) - 3,3,3,3,3

[ape288]

Yesterday was squatty squat day. Session called of 400lbs for 5 triples, so I knocked out 4 triples and then finished up with a set of 5! Solid work. Squats are getting tough psychologically, but physically, I would say they're still moving pretty damn well. I'm almost pleased with where I am here at the moment. Hitting a fatigued set of 5 to finish up the squats is good stuff. A couple months ago I worked up to 400 and did a single set of 5 with it and that was it, no triples beforehand or afterwards. So this is good progress since then. Moved on to my secondary deadlift slot afterwards and I decided that after 6 weeks of trap bar deads it was time to sub the conventional deficit deadlift back into the mix. I started off with 4 plates from a 2 inch deficit and knocked out 4 triples, then finished up with a semi-burn out set of 8 reps to finish up the session. These felt a little awkward just because i haven't done them in a couple months now, but the weight was moving easily. I should be able to make a nice big jump in poundage here over the next 6-8 weeks, then I'll probably go back to the trap bar! Cool beans. Also, just got a new vlog up afternoon of my full squat session from the previous week which was 395lbs for tripzzz along with some solid 450lbs trap bar deads. Give it a watch and let me know whatcha think!

4/15/18
Squat(400) - 3,3,3,3,5
2" Deficit DL(405) - 3,3,3,3,8

Done.

[ape288]

Yesterday was funnnnn. I did snatch grip high pulls and then finally was able to get outside and do some actual farmer's walk as a finisher for the first time in like a month. It's crazy how sore the muscles around your hips get when you haven't done those in a while. You always forget, but man that's good stuff. It must really trash all those stabilizers. Anyway, I went up to 3 plates for a double on the high pulls, which wasn't bad. Obviously when I go that heavy it's not a truly a "high pull" for me anymore, but I did reach the nipple line all the way up to 265lbs, so that's solid work. I'm definitely starting to get a bit more pop into these. I like ramping up to a weight that's a bit too heavy on these and then pyramiding back down because I feel like that helps you cross more of the spectrum between true power and strength and help to blend the two a bit better.

As a finisher I got to try something I've been wanting to try for a few weeks now but haven't had the chance. I'm calling it the 200/20/200 Farmer's Walk Challenge, and I'm accepting all challengers haha. The rules are, using 200lbs per hand you do sets of 20 yard carries for a total distance of 200 yards (so 10 sets of 20yds) and record your time. I used straps because I have a weak grip and it's meant to be a conditioning challenge not a grip strength challenge, and also because I already have like 3 torn callouses lol. My time on my first every try was 10:35. I feel I can improve upon that, so hopefully somebody comes along and makes me do it. And you can't walk more than 20yds at any one time because I only have access to a 20 yard stretch of my driveway and I feel like walking farther and doing less sets makes it easier.

I'll have the video of my farmer's walk challenge up next week. But I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel this afternoon talking about if you want to build traps you should try swapping the high pull for those idiotic 2 inch ROM rack pulls that all the kids are doing these days. I just couldn't take it anymore. Check it out and let me know what you think.

4/17/18
Snatch Grip High Pull - 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 245x3, 265x3, 285x3, 305x2, 315x2
285x3, 265x3, 245x3, 225x3

200/20/200 Farmer's Walks - 10 sets of 20 yards in 10:35 with 400lbs! (My conditioning ain't too shabby for someone who does ZERO conditioning)

[ape288]

Haven't had a chance to update in the last week or so, but I wanted to throw this video up here to see if anyone wanted to take me up on my challenge. I attempted my 20/200/200 Farmer's Walk Challenge for a 2nd time because I knew I could smoke my first go at it, and smoke it I did. I took my time down from 10:35 on attempt one to 8:11 on attempt two. Here's the video if you're interested. The rules are 20 yards per carry, 200lbs per hand, for 200 total yards (so 10 sets of 20 yards) and record your time. I was only half dead at the end of this, so I think I can make one more small improvement to my time. But only if someone beats me. I'm not touching that shit again otherwise, it fucking sucks lol. So I s'pose I'll be waiting.

[ape288]

I'm never eating at Olive Garden again lol came down with a nice case of food poisoning which left me with zero appetite and had me puking for half day. Luckily my body cleared it in pretty much 24 hours, but it still screwed up like 3-4 of my workouts, including 2 bench sessions and a deadlift session, probably because I pretty much didn't eat or drink for a full day. Anyway, all that to say I somehow hit some really good heavy dips and chinups after benching the other day even though my bench work was highly subpar. For reference, my last heavy bench day I hit 15 solid singles with 240lbs in my density block. This week I took my jump to 242.5 and only managed 6 reps. So I'll probably have to keep the weight the same here for another 2 workouts.

After the crummy benching though a miracle happened! I worked up to 165lbs for a triple on dips, which is a PR. I've now hit a PR triple on dips for 3 straight weeks (155, 160, 165) as well as a PR single last week with 4 plates! I also managed a PR triple on chins with 115lbs followed by an easy single at 135lbs (which I've now hit for 3 consecutive weeks) and a PR single at 145lbs which is a 10lbs PR and when you include my body weight a 300lbs chinup! Next stop is a double body weight chin.

4/28/18
Bench(242.5) - 6 singles in 10 minutes
Dips(45x5)(75x5)(95x5)(115x3)(135x3)(165x3)(120x8)(120x7)(120x6)
Chins(45x3)(75x3)(95x3)(115x3)(135x1)(145x1)(90x6)(90x5)(90x4)

Done.

[ape288]

On a whim last week I decided to do a couple power snatches while I was warming up my high pulls and I did a pretty easy 185lbs power snatch. So this past week I decided I'll probably start doing this complex at least once a week and I worked up to a pretty easy 190lbs yesterday, that's 3 high pulls done in a rhythmic fashion and finished with a single power snatch. I need to change things up a bit anyway. All my deadlift variations have gone stale so I'll probably cut out heavy pulling for a month or two and shift my emphasis more onto squats and explosive pulls for a little while. Should be a fun change of pace and it will give me the opportunity to try to work in a little bit of heavier squatting and see where I currently stand. For reference, my best ever full snatch from back in the day is 245lbs and my best ever power snatch is 220lbs. I haven't done a snatch since 2013 and I've never attempted this complex before in my life until last week. My pulling power seems substantially increased from what it was back when I used to the Olympic lifts regularly, but my technique is a pittance compared to what it was back then. With a little bit of effort though I think I could potentially match my previous best power snatch of 220lbs, so that'll be the goal here.

5/1/18
High Pull x 3 + Power Snatch (bar)(95lbs)(135lbs)(155)(175)(185)(175)(175)(180)(185)(190)

That was all. I had to deload squats and deads last week and I hit a few heavy squat triples on Sunday and my legs are basically still crippled from that so I didn't do too much yesterday.

[ape288]

Kind of fell off on updating again lol so here's a bunch of squat sessions from the last couple weeks. My straight set work culminated in sessions with 400lbs for sets of 3,3,3,3,5 and then 405 for 3,3,3 after a forced week off. After that I decided to test the waters with some heavy singles to get a better idea of where I am. In 4 sessions over 2 weeks I hit top singles of 430, 440, 450, and 440. The first 440, the 450 that followed it a couple days later, and then the most recent 440 are the three linked videos in that order. I also did either 3 or 4 backoff doubles with 390 in each of those sessions and then finished up with some high pull/power snatch combo sets. Unfortunately, I guess I kind of dove in full bore a little too quickly and I've developed a good deal of soft tissue irritation surrounding my glutes and down the sides of my thighs as well (probably IT band related). As such, tonight's session was basically just phoned in lol. So looks like it's time to dial it back a notch for a week and then either revisit this style of training and re-evaluate, or switch it back to straight sets probably in the form repeat doubles this time. I felt really good for months when I was doing the straight set work and basically burned my self out in 2 weeks of the higher intensity work, so I already know what a smart person would do here. But we'll see if my body is able to get a handle on this inflammation or not and I'll let that dictate the direction things go. I would have liked to be able to put in a longer block of heavy work.

5/3/18
Squat - 335, 375, 405, 430, (385 x 2,2,2,2)

5/6/18
Squat - 335, 375, 410, 440, (390 x 2,2,2,2)

5/10/18
Squat - 335, 375, 415, 450, (390 x 2,2,2)

5/13/18
Squat - 335, 375, 415, 440, (390 x 2,2,2)

[ape288]

Pretty good stuff so far this week. I used 410 for my squats on Sunday and just knocked out 4 doubles with it. The weight was moving decently, though it was a little tougher than I would have liked. Still trying to adapt to heavier loads on the squat. My IT bands have been lit up these last few weeks. It's getting really annoying actually. Thinking about just going back to what I was doing before, a moderately heavy session of triples and then a lighter session of triples later in the week using a narrower stance. I was recovering well from that work and apparently building up a decent strength base as well. I've tested the waters a little, so perhaps it's time to put my head back down.

Did some solid upper body stuff yesterday but I won't bore you with that. All I'll say is bench still sucks, but I'm really fucking good dips and chin-ups now lol. I experimented with some hang power snatch triples today on a whim, rather than doing high pulls and power snatches as a combo exercise and they went very well. I actually liked doing the snatch triples better than doing high pulls triples, which I didn't think would be the case. But I knocked out a bunch of them today all the way up to 185 for a solid set of 3. So I figured I'd knock out a few singles to finish up the day and I ended up doing easy singles with 190, 195, and 200. I never once did a hang snatch back when I used to do the O-lifts. It was all floor work. My pulling power is substantially higher now than it was back then. I should be good for a 100kg hang power snatch soon if I can find my nuts.

5/20/18
Squat(410lbs) - 2,2,2,2
Snatch Grip high Pull - (175x3)(185x3)(195x3)205x3)(215x3)(225x3)(235x3)(245x3)(255x3)

5/22/18
Hang Power Snatch (95x3)(125x3)(145x3)(155x3)(165x3)(175x3)(180x3)(185x3)
(175x3)(177.5x3)(180x3)(182.5x3)(185x1)(190x1)(195x1)(200x1)

Done.

[ape288]

2nd time doing hang snatches and I managed 10 more pounds than the first session both in terms of my heaviest single and my heaviest triple. First session I tripled 185 and singled 200, this time I tripled 195 twice, singled 210, and almost tripled 200. Good stuff! These are fun as hell man. I can smell 100kg now! Got bench and heavy dips/chins today, rest tomorrow, and then squats and more snatches on Sunday!!!!

5/24/18
Hang Power Snatch - (95x5)(125x3)(145x3)(165x3)(175x3)(180x3)(185x3)(190x3)(195x3)(200x1)(205x1)(210x1)(200x1)(190x3)(195x3)(200x2)

Done.

[ape288]

I've been working on a couple things recently. I put front squats back into the rotation for the first time in years, and they were incredibly rough at first, but after 4 sessions they're starting to get a little smoother. My body couldn't even get into the correct positions at first though. I've also re-implemented power cleans from the floor for the first time in years, which is another thing my body has "forgotten" how to do. I've just been doing 5x3 twice a week, started with 185 a few weeks ago and have moved up to 205 so far. The weight is easy, but my technique is still not consistent enough or reliable enough to allow me to stack much more on it right now. I'm also deadlifting twice a week st the end of my squat/power clean days. Just working up to one set of 5. I started with 450 a few weeks ago and have been using 470 the past two weeks. Pretty solid stuff.

In addition to this my main goal right now is to try to get to a 45 inch vertical jump before old age sets in and I can't jump high anymore. I'm somewhere in the 41-42" range right now. To get there I'm squatting twice a week, power cleaning twice a week, high pulling twice a week, and depth jumping twice a week. I've been doing the depth jumps for 3 weeks now. I won't do them for more than 6-8 weeks tops. We'll see what happens.

Upper body training has been centered around getting a strong strict press. I've done 172.5 x 3, 177.5 x 2, and 190x1 so far this training cycle. Ultimate goal is 2 wheels obviously, but, I might be 50 years old before that happens. I did a 125lbs strict curl last week. First time I've ever tried a heavy single on those. I've been doing clean rep work with 100lbs. My goal there has been to get to body weight for a single. Anyway, here's my most recent lower body workout:

Front squat(335lbs) - 3,3,3
Power clean(205lbs) - 3,3,3,3,3
Deadlift(470lbs) - 5

Doesn't look like much when you write it down lol.