Winflex's 2012 Goal - > Squat more than 500 lbs - Team Franco Bodybuilding Forum: Competition and Fitness Board

Yoster · The Truth!

RE: Winflex's 2011 Goal - > Squat 500 lbs

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Dave, What are you waiting on then?

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1st Day of Prep for December 10 Powerlifting Meet (Full Meet this time...not only bench)

Squat: bar/5,5, 135/5, 225/5, 325X1X 20 sets...one minute rest
Light Deads (beltless again): 425X1 X 8 sets
Bent Rows: 3X5

Back was a little tight from the deads two days ago....but just a little. This session really tuned in my squat set up and reinforced my back strength with the light beltless deads.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Day 2 Meet Prep: (Running short on time today...so condensed this a lot--it was Familiy Fun Night at my oldest's school)
Bench with pause on chest: bar/20, 135/10, 225/3, 295/2, 335/2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2
Press: 135/5, 175/5, 175/5

Shoulder pain was kept at bay. My training partner and I did the 12 sets of 2 in "I-go-you-go" fashion. I like pausing on the chest. Feels more "strong" to do it this way. But mainly this is for practice pausing like it will be at the meet.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Day 3 Meet Prep: A little bit of squatting and a whole lot of deadlifting
Squats: bar/10,10 135/5, 225/5, 275/5, 325/5,5,5
Deadlift (beltless again): 225/4, 315/3, [405/3, 425/2, 455/2, 480/2], [405/3, 425/2, 455/2, 480/2], [405/3, 425/2, 455/2, 480/1,1]

The deadlift workout ranks right up there with 425X4X8 which I did the day after Alexis was born, and 460X6X5 which I did when I got back from my grandmother's funeral with the only exception that nothing dramatic was happening in my life. Near the end of the deadlift sets, I was having trouble keeping it all together which ended up in some hitching...but nevertheless, I got all my reps in...and I did it without a belt too which is pretty cool. Anyone who says using a belt makes your trunk musculature weaker probably never gave using a belt a chance. I was pretty pysched that I was able to do the entire deadlift portion beltless. Clearly training with a belt made me stronger. With that said, I can't wait until my new deadlift belt arrives in the mail on Wednesday!

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

So as it turns out, after my deadlift workout, I went to go pick something up off of the ground (a piece of paper) and felt a little something in the lower back standing up. Oh the irony! It was around the SI joint area...an area where I've tweaked before doing non-lifting things. I should be able to train through it as it has subsided quite a bit since the initial tweak. I'd say its about 60% better. I just need to be at 85% better to be able to squat and deadlift through it on Sunday; I went from 0 to 60% better in three days--another three days should get me there.....and I was hoping to go to UPenn to train on Sunday but Coach Steel is going to be a bit busy. I'm going to try some time next week.

Other news...My deadlift belt arrived. I tried it out on bench. I like it!...even for bench. Great purchase.

Ok training...

Bench warms ups (touch n go): bar/10, 135/10, 225/8
Bench (paused): 295/3 315/3 335/3 3 360/2 2 335/3 315/4
Bench (touch n go): 295/5 250/7 230/10 210/17
Seated Dumbbell Press: 35x6, 45x6, 55x6 (took it easy here)
Heavy Shrugs (strapped in): 405X6, 495X6, 585X6
Band triceps: light band 1 set of a lot

I finally had time to get some assistance in and also I went into this training session elbow and shoulder pain free. It was pretty great feeling. Its really good to go into a training session feeling good because well most training sessions are not like that. I treasure days like this. I took it easy on the dumbell press because I was having trouble getting the dumbbells in place; one of the reasons I prefer barbell pressing. The weight I chose was really light because my arms shoulders and chest were already congested with blood from the down-zig touch and go benches. Coach Steel explicitly told me to go heavy on the shrugs so I worked up to 585...and since my elbows felt great, I finished off with some band tricep work. Swole!

Yoster · The Truth!

Great numbers Dwayne! It is funny - I messed up my back a few years ago by turning around in my chair and grabbing a binder at work

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Tricky Backs Are Disappoint!

SQ: bar/5, 5, 135/5, 225/3, 315/1, 365/1, 395 X 1 X 6 sets...pretty smooth. Haven't had this much weight on my back in a while...each single was better than the last.
DL: 225/1, 315/1, 405/1, 495/1, 525/X--back tricked out

Everything felt good going into deadlifts. I had my new belt poised and ready to go. My back was at 85%, the minimum I thought I needed it to be to complete the deadlift portion of the session. Everything was feeling really good. I was supposed to do 3 singles with 525. I was ready to do the first set. Stepped up to the bar. Reached down for it. Set my back...belt was feeling nice. Started the pull. Weight felt like it was flying up nice and smooth...then suddenly....POP! POP! on the right side SI joint. It was the same "POP! POP!" when I went to go pick up that piece of paper last week except this time I was pulling 525 and not paperweight. It wasn't audible. I could feel it though. I let the weight go and called it a workout. I am pretty disappointed that I went to go pick up that piece of paper last week and that is effecting my plans to compete.

Meet plans are going to be postponed as I'm going to have to be conservative with the back while it heals. My only explanation is that going from the thick leather belt, to beltless, to this new belt, has changed the deadlift mechanics enough at my sacroiliac junction that there's some work that needs to be done to fix the issue.

Edit: as of now, I'm not sure I'm not going to compete. I may just go ahead and compete but with a token deadlift which would be disappointing but it would be more disappointing to lose out on my entry fee. Plus, I need something to talk about at the Holiday Party..LOL!

-- Edited by winflex on Sunday 20th of November 2011 09:11:34 PM

-- Edited by winflex on Sunday 20th of November 2011 09:16:07 PM

-- Edited by winflex on Wednesday 23rd of November 2011 08:34:25 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

An Awesome bench workout...

Bench (all paused): bar/10, 135/6, 225/4, 315/1, 360/4,4,4,4,4 (20 total reps *PR at this weight....*PR for paused reps...just a super PR in general)
Press: 135/4, 155/4, 175/4, 195/4, 215/4 (felt good)
Shrugs (went Kirk style here): 5X6
Cable Tricep Pushdowns: 3X15

The plan from Coach for today's bench was 85% for 20 reps...in any combination I wanted. I was thinking of going 10 sets of 2 because I knew I could do at least 2 reps with 85%. But then I though 10 sets would take forever; plus, my training partner is out of town for Thanksgiving and I'm on my own--so that would mean that I would have to ask 10 times for a liftoff from a random gym goer. So then, I thought out what my max reps would be with 360...and I figured it would be around 7. I didn't want to do sets of 5 or 6 because I think I'd come too close to failure to get a full 20 reps. So, I settled on fours...and if it started getting close to failure on later sets, I figured I would go with 3's or 2's to finish it out. My initial thought was do 3 4's, 2 3's, and 1 2. But after I hit the third 4...I feel like I hit my stride. The 4th rep on the last two sets were slow but they felt like those reps that make you stronger. Not quite close to failure but definitely an effort-full push.

Rest of session was good. I did my shrugs kind of light since my traps were already torched from pressing and also going heavy on the shrugs seemed to irritate my recent SI issue. I did make a point to deadlift the weight for shrugs first with good form to help get some blood in my lower back. IT FELT GREAT and it was a wise decision. Plus since I was doing it Kirk style I didn't need a ton of weight, just got a good squeeze and didn't strap in to help build the grip up. I'm going to do something light for my lower back everyday while I'm fixing this SI joint thing. The motion helps it to feel better. I won't hit a deadlift PR at the meet but I should be able to deadlift something decent.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Good squat workout

SQ: bar/a bunch 135/a bunch 225/5 315/2 375/2, 395/2, [420/1 1 1 1 1 1 1 *PR]
DL: 135/ a bunch 225/a bunch 275/2 *just to test out my lower back - it was fine...315/2 2 2 2

So this was a collective PR for squatting 420. Its the most times I've ever squatted it in a 1 session. And it felt great. Getting all those chances to practice my set up makes a huge difference. Also, I'm happy that I'm deadlifting pain free. Granted it was not very heavy but its a huge improvement over having a stiff back for a couple of days. Its so funny how squats do not stress my back like deadlifts do.

Yoster · The Truth!

Nice squats there BEAST!

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Thank you Dave.

________

Tough Bench Session but it was worth it

Bench (all paused): bar/ a bunch, 135/5, 225/4, 275/1, 295/3, 315/3, 360/2, 380/2, 400/1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Press: 15 total reps

Shrugs: 25 total reps

Getting late..so I went home.

My arms weren't feeling great today. They were feeling the aftershock of the squats on Monday. It was worse on Wednesday. I'm always sore the most two days later. I was okay to bench today; so it was on. By the time I got up to 380 the pain was gone and I was good to go. This is 95% of my max. After 10 sets of 1, I am very comfortable taking this weight and benching it. I don't see this being a problem come meet time and I really see myself hitting a really nice PR on bench at the meet. Up Up and Away! Here are vids of the 5th set (half way) and the 10th set (the end):

-- Edited by winflex on Friday 2nd of December 2011 12:32:33 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Last Session before the Meet
SQ: bar/some, 135/some, 225/5, 325/2, 375/2,2,2
BP: bar/some, 135/some, 225/5, 315/1, 360/2,2,2
DL: 225/2, 315/2, 365/1

SQ's and BP's were taken to 80 and 85% respectively today according to the plan. Both felt pretty easy but my shoulders still haven't recovered from my last bench session. Once that soreness has dissipated, its going to be on. Took it easy on deadlifts as stated in the plan. Weight flew up effortlessly.

I trained at UPenn today and Coach Steel was calling out the commands. There was a blooper or two. One set, I had taken out the squat, waited for the squat command, did the first rep, and waited for the second squat command, and it didn't happen for a little while because I don't think we had ironed out whether Steel would call "Squat" on all the reps or on just the first; so, I just stood there for a while. Kinda funny...had to be there.
The other blooper was on bench. WNPF doesn't have a START command for lowering the weight to the chest...so, here I am on the first set of bench, I lower it to my chest. Coach calls out PRESS. I press it up....and then for some reason, I hold the weight there waiting for a START command that isn't going to come. I think at some point, Steel says, "There is no START command. What're you waiting for?" So I snap out of my trance and lower the weight, and press it up after the PRESS command. We had a good laugh with that.

Going to get a massage Tuesday...and chilling all week.

-- Edited by winflex on Sunday 4th of December 2011 03:24:10 PM

-- Edited by winflex on Sunday 4th of December 2011 08:19:18 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Last Week Prep and Meet Write-up

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 1 hr full body Swedish massage

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Foam Rolling/Light Stretching/Mobility

Saturday: Meet.....WNPF Sarge McCray Powerlifting Championships

Squats:

Warm ups: bar-135-225-315-365-405

attempts:

420 - X no lift...called for two things: 1st. They said I didn't get depth which I think was BS because I did and maybe they were sleeping since this rep was lightning fast. 2nd. Something about my socks which I didn't understand..so I pulled them down so they knew there was no funny business below them.

420 - Good lift--could have went up but I decided to stay with it since the 'no lift' call kind of demotivated me a little bit...but after I got this, my plan to go over 470 was messed up. I didn't want to take that big of a jump so I went with the heaviest jump I was comfortable with...a 10% jump...which leads me to...

465 - Good lift (15 lb PR) --makes me wish I went with 470. The bounce on this one was really strong. Half way up though the bar started rolling forward on me but I was able to muscle it out. I could have totally done this with 470...but there will be more meets in the future.

Bench:

Warm ups: bar-135-225-315-345-385

Attempts:

405 - Good lift...smoked it to match my old meet PR from last year.

425 - Good lift...This matches my touch and go PR that I made this year in September. So this would be a technique PR....same weight/different technique. Cramped up after this one. Training partner had to help me off the bench. Ate a banana, fig newtons and washed it down with Gatorade. Cramps started going away.

440 - Good lift (15 lb PR)...When my shoulders are feeling good and my elbow aren't hurting and the energy is going high off of all these PR's, I decided it was on for bench today. This being my marquis lift, I decided to go for the 15 lb PR...and while it was slower than the others--it was pretty darn smooth.

Deadlifts

warm ups: 1/2 reps with 315 and 405

attempts:

455 - Good lift - I decided today that I would just repeat the workout where I hurt my back and test out where it is in the healing process. In that workout I was supposed to hit 455, 495, and 525X1X3 but I popped my back on the first go at 525. I needed to prove to myself that this injury is on its way out. 455 went up easily as expected.

500 - Good lift - Same thing here. I hate lifting 495 when its so close to 500. So, I just did 500 and went back to the warm up room to chill. I heard the person next to me call out that they were going to lift 525...so instead of going for 525, I just told the expeditor that I was going for 530 next.

530 - Good lift - nice and easy. I can tell its been a while since I've deadlifted a heavy load...but it went up smoothly and easily. This back strain is most likely on its way out.

Summary:

So I learned a few things at this meet:

1. Don't wear socks so high that they go under your knee sleeves. It makes the judges worry so much that they miss your squat and say you squatted high....and....

2. My back is ready for some heavy deadlift training again.

So with my top lifts SQ: 465, BP: 440, DL: 530, My total was 1435 (1st official full powerlifting total ever) which was good enough for 1st place in the Open Raw Division of the SHW class. I'm pretty luck that most of the guys in my class went equipped. They were squatting some pretty insane numbers...but bench wise, I was right up there with them, even though they were using shirts...and had my back not been beat, I would have been right there with them on the deadlift too.

Next time out 500, 455, and 600 are the goals. Right on the cusp. I can feel it.

Video to come...

-- Edited by winflex on Saturday 10th of December 2011 08:54:51 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Also forgot to mention that I made some friends at the meet. One of which was the infamous Diesel Weasel from youtube, Max Misch. He's a pretty good powerlifter these days.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Meet Video:

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Today I sucked...

2 Rounds of:

10 Squats with 225 superset with 10 Deadlifts with 225

I was supposed to do 5 rounds. The weight was easy but my stomach couldn't handle all the up and down and up and down. The pulse in my brain was super high and I was feeling sea sick. I was probably not properly loaded for this workout. I also am not accustomed to this type of training either. So, I definitely sucked on this one. Oh well! Can't hit PR's all the time.

-- Edited by winflex on Wednesday 14th of December 2011 07:53:44 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Re-do of the last session today...and I did not suck today

5 rounds of:
10 Squats with 225 superset with 10 Deadlifts with 225.

Got all 5 rounds done. I didn't feel like I was going to throw up at all. I did however accumulate a headache at the end but it was the end and it didn't matter at that point. It went away soon as I caught my breath.

Got it done...now rest.

Interesting non-related story, my uvula is swollen and elongated. So I went to the doctor to get this checked out. I think it was probably due to some post nasal drip. Anyway, I go to the doctor's office and the nurse does my vitals etc. The PA comes in and checks me out and we end up talking about powerlifting for a good 20 minutes and not about my uvula....other than she thought it looked strange. She told me that they would treat me with anti-inflams and an antibiotic. So I'm thinking that I'm going to get a script for amoxicillin pills and I'll just take some Aleve or Advil or something....NOPE.

After she leaves, about 5 minutes later, the original nurse (female) and another male nurse walk into the room with SHOT. The female nurse asks me, "Left or right buttock?"

At this point, I'm just kind of dumbfounded and have no answer. I go with the left cheek. They tell me to lay on my side. The male nurse gives the female nurse instruction and I get a shot in my left butt cheek. They told me they'd be back in 10-15 minutes to check on me and left.

I still do not know how to process the whole situation. But I can say that that is the first time in my adult memory that I remember getting a needle in the butt. And it was...

NOT BAD.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

So there are two more weeks in this year....

I didn't make it to a 500 squat. I officially hit 465. I had more in the tank but that's where I'm calling it. I fell short 35 lbs.

Am I disappointed?
Yeah a little but am I poised to squat 500 in the near future? Yes.

465 in competition is NOT BAD for a years work. There's only 35 more pounds to go...considering that in the last 2 years I've gone from having trouble squatting 265 to proper depth, to squatting 405 for a couple reps, to not squatting for a few months due to an injury, to squatting 405 for a few more reps, to squatting 430 to squatting 450 to squatting 465, I think I will be able to make that 35 lbs and it won't be that arduous a task. That, plus, I probably had 475 in the tank at that meet if they did 4 attempts. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The biggest changes this year have been gaining a training partner and getting lined up with Jim Steel from UPenn.

Good progress has been made since 2009 despite a few setbacks here and there, and I expect no less for 2012. I'll start a new log after the new year as I make new goals and new aspirations in my lifting. I'm thinking anywhere between the range of 525-585 squats by the end of next year depending on how well training goes, if there are any setbacks, etc.

I've learned this year that progress is just as much about working hard and adding weight to the bar as it is about being smart and changing things to work with your level of adaptation. Looking forward to 2012.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Bench: warms: bar, 135
work: 225X10X5 super set with lat pull downs 5X10
Side laterals: 5X10
One arm db tricep extensions (laying on a bench going across chest): 5X10

First 25 minute workout in a while. Funny how supersetting stuff with bench doesn't gas me like supersetting squats and deads. I guess its because there's bunch more movement involved with a squat and deadlift than there is for benches.

Yoster · The Truth!

You'll get it!!

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Thanks Dave! I've been working a long time for it. I really hope that I get there soon.
______________________

Squats: warms: air squats/10, 10 135/5, 225/5. work: 315X1X10 sets...

Good practice for set up, squat, and rack--I finished this in less than 5 minutes. I really didn't rest between sets. I would unrack, set up, squat, re-rack, duck away from the bar, take a breath or two, duck under the bar, unrack, set up, etc. repeated 10 times. Making it automatic.

Also, I realized that I'm all over the place with empty bar squats. Its not enough wieght for me to practice keeping the bar in the "slot" during the warm up. So I just went with air squats instead. I like to do something to get the general sweat started and the knees and lower back nice and greased up.

Leg curls: 5 sets of 10

-- Edited by winflex on Friday 23rd of December 2011 06:09:14 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Bench: bar/bunch 135/5, 225/5, 275/5, 315/5, 225/20
Triceps: 12 sets of 10 on one arm pushdowns....just going right arm then left arm then right arm then left arm, no rest, massive pump

Quick workout today. Probably about 25 minutes from first set of bench to last set of triceps. Got some good volume in even though I was still a little sore in the left shoulder from the 50 rep bench workout earlier this week and the 10 rapid fire squats from yesterday. Now to get some good rest and good food and enjoy Christmas. I'll be back at it with deadlifts on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Deadlifts: 135/5 225/5 275/5 315/5 365/5 225/15
1 arm Rows: 5 sets of 10 with 60 lb db's (non-stop)
Curls: 4x5 with 45's, 1X12 with 25's (one arm at a time, non-stop)

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Combo today...won't be able to train tomorrow.

Squats: 135/5, 225/5, 315/5, 350/5, 250/12
Bench: bar/10, 135/10, 225/24 (disappointed a little in this since my best was 30 in the past...but that was fresh without squatting and also not right after eating breakfast--I trained early today and I usually train in the afternoon)

Did the next series of exercises like a giant set (one exercise after the other, repeating with no rest):
Leg Curls: 5 sets of 15...went up 20 lbs on the last two sets...will do all 5 sets at the heavier weight next time
Side Laterals: 5 sets of 10...not sure I got anything out of these
Lying one arm tricep extension (cross body): 5 sets of 12
Cable pushdowns: 5 sets of 12

Finished off with:
Pushups: 1 set of 20

All this work was done in less than an hour. I'm getting more efficient on my recovery times between sets so that's a good thing.

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Deads: 135/5, 225/5, 315/5 365/3, 405/10 (had about 7-9 more in me, but the prescribed reppage was 8 and I didn't want to go to failure since I'm going to be moving some heavy boxes tomorrow instead of going to work)
Lat Pulls: 5 sets of 10. Increased weight ten pounds over two weeks ago...still went fast pace--less than 30 secs between sets (lats were blown up!)
Preacher curls: 2 sets of 12 Cable curls: 1 set of 12

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

RE: Winflex's 2012 Goal - > Squat more than 500 lbs

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Bench: warms: 135/5,5, 225/5,5, 300/1, work: 300/11, 300/9, 250/26

Triset: Front Raises - Lateral Raises - Rear Raises: 3 sets of 15

Triceps (cable pushdowns): 3 sets of 15

Edit:looking at the video...it looks like I only did 10 on that 11 set..oh well. Good thing I warmed up with the 1 on 300..its still a total of 20.

-- Edited by winflex on Saturday 7th of January 2012 05:39:16 PM

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Deadlifts: 135/5, 5, 225/5,5, 315/3, 365/12

(12 was the assigned reppage. I had a lot more in the tank but it took me a while to warm up because my hammies were really sore from the leg curls on Friday. I won't push them that hard next time. Normally I don't bounce reps but with higher rep ranges I sometimes will.)

Seated Cable Row: 5 sets of 12

Hammer Curls: 5 sets of 12...jacked!

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Squats: 135/5, 225/5, 315/3, 350/5,5 , 370/5,5, 225/20

Bench (paused): bar/10 (not paused), 135/5, 225/2, 275/1, 315/2,2,2,2,2

Bench (touch n go): 275/10

Curls: 3 sets of 15

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Press: bar/5 95/5 125/5 150/5 175/5 5 5 5 5
Power Snatch from the hang: bar/3 95/3 100/3 105/3
Triceps: 7 sets of 15 (one arm cable extensions non-stop alternating arms)

Trained up in Northeast PA at Brown's Gym where I met up with a fellow strength enthusiast and we discussed squat technique. It was a good training session.