Return of the King

Friday December 27th: Squat

GHR
3x10

Calves
3x10

Ab Wheel
3x10

SSB
52kg - 1x5
62kg - 1x5
72kg - 1x5

Squat
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5

Couch to 5km - Day 6 (outdoors)
5 min warm up
Intervals: 1.5 min vs. 2 min walk for 6 rounds
5 min cool down

First time Squatting 100kg x5 for a while. Used a belt.. sensibly.

Sunday December 29th: Deadlift

Deadlift

60kg - 1x5

80kg - 1x5

100kg - 1x5

Overhead Press

20kg - 1x10

30kg - 1x10

40kg - 1x10

Tuesday December 31st: Bench day 6 of 12.

Barbell Row (with static hold)

60kg - 6x6

Bench

20kg - 1x5

60kg - 1x5

80kg - 6x5

Friday January 3rd: Bench day 7 of 12.

Barbell Row (with static hold)

60kg - 6x6

Bench

20kg - 1x5

60kg - 1x5

90kg - 6x4

Monday January 6th: Squat

GHR

3x10

Calves

3x10

Ab Wheel

3x10

Squat

70kg - 1x5

90kg - 1x5

107.5kg - 1x5

Thursday January 9th: Squat

GHR

3x10

Calves

3x10

Ab Wheel

3x10

Squat

70kg - 1x5

90kg - 1x5

110kg - 1x5

Sunday January 12th: Deadlift

Pulley Row (pulley)

3x10

Deadlift

70kg - 1x5

100kg - 1x6

120kg - 1x5

Overhead Press

25kg - 1x5

35kg - 1x10

45kg - 1x10

Tuesday January 14th: Bench day 10 of 12.

Barbell Row
60kg - 6x6 … with static hold at top

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
85kg - 6x5 … fine

Saturday January 18th: Deadlift

Face Pull (pulley)

3x10

Deadlift

70kg - 1x5

110kg - 1x6

130kg - 1x5 … double overhand

Overhead Press

20kg - 1x5

30kg - 1x10

40kg - 1x10

Tuesday Jan 21st: Squat day 12 of 12

Face Pull (pulley, unilateral)
3x10

Chin Up (with static hold)
bodyweight - 6x5 … sets 1-3 pull up, sets 4-6 chin up

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 1x1
105kg - 6x3 … ok

Got it done. 105kg 6x3 was exactly the right weight to end this Bench cycle. Tough enough, but not super hard.

Tuesday January 28th: Bench day 1 of 12.

Barbell Row
70kg - 6x6 … with static hold at top

Bench
20kg - 1x5
67.5kg - 6x6

Friday January 31st: Bench day 2 of 12.

Face Pull (pulley, unilateral)
3x10

Chin Up (with static hold)
bodyweight - 6x5 … sets 1-3 pull up, sets 4-6 chin up

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
77.5kg - 6x5 … easy

Tuesday January 4th: Bench day 3 of 12.

Face Pull (pulley, unilateral)
3x10

Barbell Row 
60kg - 6x6

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
87.5kg - 6x4 … alright

Saturday Feb 8th: Bench peak.

Face Pull (pulley, unilateral)
3x10

Lat Pull Down (pulley, unilateral)
3x10

Lat Pull Down (machine)
40kg - 1x10
50kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10

Bench
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 2x2 ... fine

DB Curl to DB Overhead Press
3 sets of 10 ... cannot remember weight

Concentration Curl (elbow up against bench)
5kg per arm - 1x10
7.5kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

Behind the Head Tricep DB Press
5kg per arm - 1x10
7.5kg per arm - 1x10
10kg per arm - 1x10

Chest Expander / Lat Pull (over bench)
3 sets of 10 ... light

Some easy 100kg doubles on Bench to peak ahead of comp in a week.

Powerlifting Competition - Sunday Feb 16th 2025.

First competition since late 2022. Weighed in at 82.85kg after a light breakfast (2 cups of coffee and some oats/fruit/nuts in water).

Squat:

120kg - good

132.5kg - good

140kg - good. Fine.

Bench Press: *bombed*

95kg - technical fail. Heels elevated according to judge. Not according to me.

102.5kg - technical fail. Timed out. Heels elevated according to judge. Not according to me.

105kg - got caught on rack on left side on way down. Called spotters to take it. Too much wasted energy for resetting up.

Deadlift:

140kg - good

155kg - good

170kg - good. Fine.

Long story short: Bombed on bench which was super disappointing considering I recently did 105kg 6x3 in training. Head ref was super pedantic on my three attempts holding me for too long and stating that my heels weren't on the ground. Think my Nike Freek footwear have a round heel which makes it look like my heel isn't on the ground from certain angles.

First competition since late 2022. Using it to get back into competing mindset plus hip surgery late 2023.

Was so out of the competition mindset - that I accidentally wore knee sleeves on first bench attempt. Also had my wrist wraps covering too much of joint so had to re-wrap before first bench attempt.

Good to be back on the platform - if a disappointing result to bomb on bench which I consider my strongest lift relatively speaking. Squat and Deadlift weights were ok. Nothing super heavy. Good indications of where I am currently. Can add on 5-10kg per lift next time.

Got another meet scheduled in mid April for redemption.