Return of the King

Saturday Apr 5th: Deadlift

High Pulley Face Pull
3x10 ascending

High Pulley Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts)
3x10 ascending

SLDL
20kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10

Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x3 … double overhand
150kg - 1x1 … mixed grip from here
170kg - 1x1 … Fine.

Overhead Press Barbell
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10

Tuesday April 8th: Bench day

FacePull (unilateral pulley)
3x10 ascending

High Pulley Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts)
3x10 ascending

Barbell Row
60kg - 6x8 ... Forgot to switch to underhand after set 3.

Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x1
90kg - 1x1
100kg - 6x3
add slingshot - red original
105kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3
115kg - 1x3

DB Lateral Raise
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

DB Curl to DB Overhead Press (standing)
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

Finished training cycle successfully with 100kg 6x3. Looking forward to competition on Sunday.

That is a 400kg training total from this 6 week cycle:

• Squat 130kg - 1x5. This suggests around a 147.5kg to 150kg 1RM.
• Bench 100kg - 6x3. This suggests around a 107.5kg to 110kg 1RM.
• Deadlift 170kg - 1x1, after 160kg - 1x3 the week before. This suggests a 175kg to 180kg 1RM.

Powerlifting Competition – Penrith Sydney – April 13th.

Short version: Enjoyed this comp. Squat and Bench went well. Missed final two Deadlifts (second on technicality, third on strength). Squat 152.5kg, Bench 107.5kg, Deadlift 170kg. Total 430kg at 82.5kg bodyweight.

Long version: Read on…

It was a 1 hr commute out of the city to Western Sydney ahead of the 9am weigh in and 11am competition start. I arrived approx. 9:15am and did gear check outside in sunlight in less than a couple of mins. Efficient.

I then heard my name being called and was lucky enough to walk straight into the weigh in room and onto scales in boxers without having to wait around. Scales flickered between 82.5 and 82.45kg. It settled on 82.45kg, but they had already classified me as 82.5kg. No big deal.

Handed in my openers (Squat 130, Bench 95 and Deadlift 170), got dressed and went back out to kill the next 1 hr 45 mins before comp starts. Never experienced such a smooth check in and weigh in before. Nice!

There were two flights: females and male masters (i.e. myself) in one, and open and juniors in another. I saw that everyone in my flight was out in the warm up area doing various warm ups more than 1.5 hours before the comp started. I sat tight and sipped some water, Gatorade and snacked on bananas and peanut butter sambos. Waited until 30 mins before comp started to start my own warm ups. I can work up to a top set in the gym very quickly after: hip circles, calves, GHR, abs (which I didn't do today)…. so I did these outside in the sun and was back in the warm up area searching for a Squat rack about 10 mins later.

Squat:

Squat warm ups: 20kg (front Squat), 70kg x5, 100kg x3, 120kg (just walk out to feel a heavier weight).

Squat #1: 130kg. Good. Did this x5 in the gym on last day of training. Easy.

Squat #2: 142.5kg. Good. Wanted to go 2.5kg over the 140kg I did on third attempt in last comp 2 months ago. Fine.

Squat #3: 152.5kg. Good. Initial plan during training was third attempt to be 150kg. Decided to go a bit heavier as training and warm ups had went well. Fine.

During Squats I noticed that the sole competitor I had in the M1 83kg category had opened with 150kg, then failed 160kg on depth… so if he also failed his third on 165kg I’d finish Squats 2.5kg ahead of him. He however ended up getting his 3rd attempt of 165kg and thus he led me by 12.5kg after Squats (152.5kg for myself, vs 165kg for himself). I kept an eye on him throughout the Bench and Deadlifts. This ultimately led me to go a bit heavier than planned on Deadlifts.

There was a gap for me as the second flight had to get through their Squats. I spent the time again eating and sipping a bit. Not too much. I’d had a moderate breakfast earlier in the day (oats, banana, protein powder, almonds, coffee) so I wasn’t feel depleted at all.

Bench:

I was confident going into Bench. Felt like I’d put on some muscle with tweaks to diet in past months. Slingshot also had me handling heavier weights for triples up to 110kg repeatedly in the past weeks, and final day saw me slingshot 115kg x3. So, I knew I could easily handle heavier weights.

I made sure to warm up my Bench as I would in training. This included various band pull apart variations, plus the most important thing for me: Barbell Rows. Didn’t do that in last comp 2 months ago and Bench felt terrible.

Got in a couple of light sets of Barbell Row 40kg x6 and 45kg x6. Usually in the gym I’d rep 60kg x6 between each heavier Bench set. Kept it to approx. 2/3rds of that weight to avoid fatiguing back ahead of Deadlifts. The Barbell Rows at 40kg did still manage to get me a good back, lat, rear delt pump and I felt good ahead of opening Bench attempt.

Bench warm ups: 20kg x5, 60kg x5, 80kg x1

Bench #1: 95kg. Good. No hand-off. Concentrated on heels down and listening for the 3 commands. Easy.

Bench #2: 102.5kg. Good. No problems.

Bench #3: 107.5kg. Good. The most satisfying competition bench I’ve ever done. It flew off my chest like I was wearing a slingshot. Probably could have went 5 to 7.5kg heavier.

Finished Bench 2.5kg heavier than the other guy in my category. So, he was now just 10kg ahead of me going into Deadlifts based on subtotal.

Deadlift:

I was confident going into Deadlifts in general. Training had seen me hit 160kg x3 2.5 weeks out and then 170kg x1 1.5kg weeks out. Was planning to open on 170kg to equal my third from last competition and build from there, whilst keeping an eye on competitor and attempting to top him by 10kg on Deadlift to see if I could take the win.

Deadlift warm ups: 70kg x5, 120kg x3, 150kg x1. Warm ups didn’t feel as easy as they should have. Slightly slow.

Deadlift #1: 170kg. Good. Felt slightly heavier than expected.

Deadlift #2: 190kg. 2 reds / 1 white. Lifted it to lock out ok. Moderately hard. Apparently got called for soft lock out. Not sure if refs meant knees or shoulders. Didn’t ask. Looking back at both my videos and the live stream replay I cannot see anything wrong with it. Similar comments from live stream commentators that it was a harsh ref call.

After the 190kg second attempt fail I originally was just going to reattempt 190kg for third. I told this to the desk, and then put in 190kg for the my third attempt. I spent a couple of mins back in the warm up room feeling disappointed in the initial 190kg miss, and feeling sorry for myself. I dumped my attempt cards in the thrash and was resigned to 2nd place.

I soon snapped out of that and thought “f**k it. I’m here. I don’t get this opportunity often. So load that bar and go for the win on third”. I hadn’t failed the second attempt of 190kg on strength, so potentially I could lift heavier.

I could see that my competitor had Deadlift 180kg, 195kg and was aiming for 207.5kg on his third. So, if I put on 210kg for my third, and if he missed 207.5kg… then I would take the win. Me attempting 210kg would also force him to go first with his 207.5kg and maybe put him under pressure to force some doubts in his mind.

So, I fished my attempt cards out of the trash – wrote 210kg on it, signed it and handed it to the desk.

I could see my competitor and his coach having a moment as they realised what was happening. Suddenly he wasn’t going last cruising to victory and there was a bit of pressure on him to get his 207.5kg in case I got 210kg afterwards.

So what happened? He came out and got 207.5kg relatively easy. It didn’t matter what I did on my third.

Deadlift #3: 210kg. Fail. Spent all my energy on the second attempt above. Barely tried to budge 210kg and just waved thanks to ref. Knew I didn’t have it before approaching the bar.

Great competition experience. Silver medal in the end. No PRs (which are Squat 170kg, Bench 122.5kg, Deadlift 207.5kg), but managing to compete again and putting good progress onto last comp 2 months ago was a success. Increased Squat from 140kg to 152.5kg, increased Bench from bombing to 107.5kg…. and increased Deadlift from 170kg to 190kg (even though judges called it on technicality).

Enjoyed it and it helped re-light the Powerlifting fire in my belly. Taking a few days off now and then will get back in gym later in the week to rebuild and plan ahead for next comp later in year.

Friday April 18th: Bench Day 1 of 12

Barbell Row
70kg - 6x6

Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 6x6

DB Lateral Raise
1.5kg per arm - 1x12
4kg per arm - 2x12

Incline DB Curl (Seated)
12kg per arm - 3x10

Incline DB Overhead Press (Seated)
3kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

Increased the weight on Barbell Rows 6x6 to 70kg (from 60kg last cycle). Will add more reps as I get used to the weight in coming cycles.

Monday April 21th: Squat Day 2 of 12

GHR
3x12

Calves
3x12

Abs on GHR
3x12 ... getting more of a backward bend below parallel

Front (zombie arms)
20kg - 1x5

Squat
70kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
115kg - 1x5

Single Leg Quarter Squats (increasing height drop up)
3x10 ... ending up off top red bumpers.

These single leg quarter Squats are good for a quad pump at the end of lower body day. My Squats don't really hit my quads much. I'm a posterior dominant Squatter. So, that's why I do the token first set warm up Front Squat (zombie arms), Leg Extensions (when in a commercial gym, not today) and then these single leg quarter squats off a ledge for 3x10 at the end of a session.

Thursday April 24th: Squat Day 3 of 12

45DBR
3x10

Calves
3x10

Ab Wheel
3x10

Front (zombie arms)
20kg - 1x5

Squat
70kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x5

Single Leg Quarter Squats (increasing height drop up)
3x10 ... building up to 2 red bumpers plus another inch or so of platform depth.

Leg Extension (unilateral)
3x10 per leg

Leg Abduction
3x25

Leg Adduction
3x25

Saturday Apr 26th: Deadlift Day 2 of 6

High Banded Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts, black band)
3x10

SLDL
20kg - 1x10
40kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10

Deadlift
70kg - 1x10
100kg - 1x10
132.5kg - 1x10 … PR?

Overhead Press Barbell
20kg - 1x10
27.5kg - 1x10
32.5kg - 1x10

Tuesday April 29th: Bench Day 4 of 12

Face Pull (rope pulley)
3x10

High Banded Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts, rope pulley)
3x10

Pull Ups
bodyweight - 6x7 ... Sets 1-3 palms away, Sets 4-6 palm to face

Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 6x3
100kg - 1x3 … slingshot from here down
105kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3

Lat Pull Down (V handle)
50kg - 1x10
60kg - 1x10
70kg - 1x10

DB Lateral Raise
2kg per arm - 3x10 ... only 1 DB so took a while to do 6 sets instead of 3

Incline DB Overhead Press (Seated)
10kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
18kg per arm - 1x10

Incline DB Curl (Seated)
10kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10
10kg per arm - 1x10

Checked out a another gym in a different part of city. Was a bit too busy in the Bench area for my liking. The non adjustable Bench was also slightly too high for me to be super comfy unracking. Felt I had to really strain upwards to get it to clear the racks.

Saturday May 3rd: Deadlift Day 3 of 6, Bench Day 5 of 12.

Deadlift
70kg - 1x5
120kg - 1x5
142.5kg - 1x5

Barbell Row
70kg - 3x7 … ring finger on rings (i.e. exact Bench grip width)
---
Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5 … middle finger on rings (i.e. a finger wider than normal, to see what it felt like).
85kg - 6x6 … ring finger on rings (i.e. back to normal Bench grip width)

High Banded Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts, rope pulley)
3x10

Face Pull (rope pulley)
3x10
---

Overhead Press
3x10

Barbell Curl
3x10

---

Had to skip Bench training yesterday as only slept 23 mins the night beforehand. Body totally trashed from overtraining and resting heart rate through the roof had me unable to sleep.

Managed to sleep 9 hrs last night so was in good condition to combine yesterdays Bench with todays planned Deadlift.

Made sure to keep the assistance low ish today (no RDL warm up for Deads, and very light overhead and curls with Bench. No Lateral DB raise).

Hopefully back to full power in a couple of days when Squatting on Monday.

Tuesday May 6th: Bench day 6 of 12

DB Fly (face down on Bench, two positions)
1kg per arm - 3x10 both positions (out and up)

Pull Ups
bodyweight - 6x7 ... Sets 1-3 palms away, Sets 4-6 palm to face

Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 6x5
100kg - 1x3 … slingshot from here down
105kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3

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Getting the work done on Bench (90kg 6x5) plus slingshot (up to 110kg x3). Assistance was Pull Ups 6x7 and DB Fly to fry the upper back during warm up.

Friday May 9th: Bench Day 7 of 12

High Banded Crossed Arm Pull Apart (for rear delts, rope pulley)
3x10
---
Barbell Row
70kg - 3x7

T-Bar Row
60kg - 1x10
70kg - 1x10
80kg - 1x10

Bench Press
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
95kg - 6x4
---

DB Lateral Raise
2kg per arm - 1x10
4kg per arm - 1x10
5kg per arm - 1x10

DB Incline Bench
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10

DB Curl
10kg per arm - 1x10
12kg per arm - 1x10
14kg per arm - 1x10

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Bench 95kg 6x4 with Barbell Row 70kg 3x7. Did T-Bar Row instead of more Barbell Rows for greater recoverability afterwards. Don't wanna be too fried. The rest was upper bodybuilding.

Monday May 12th: Squat Day 8 of 12

45DBR
3x10

Front (zombie arms)
20kg - 1x5

Squat
70kg - 1x5
100kg - 1x5
130kg - 1x5

Single Leg Quarter Squats (off platform edge & red bumper)
1x10 - bodyweight +5kg DB
1x10 - bodyweight +10kg DB
1x10 - bodyweight +15kg DB

Calves
3x10
---
Leg Extension (unilateral)
20kg per leg - 3x10

Ab Crunch Machine
3x10
---

Squat 130kg x5 was ok. Forgot to do Abs and Calves up front with 45DBR. Finished them off afterwards with the remaining quad work (Single Leg Quarter Squats and Leg Extensions).