Forgot to mention in my program right off, I will be monitoring rest times from now on with an interval app. 3 minutes rest for main work sets. This is a big change for me. 

Yukon squats

380 x 5, 5, 5

Bent-over dumbbell rows

100 x 8

Bench press 

265 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 8, 107

Iron Woody band pressdowns 

14, 15, 10

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell curls

50s x 10

35s x 10, 10

5 minutes exercise bike 

Interestingly enough, these are basically the weights I used 10 years ago, although my squat is stronger now, but with vastly reduced rest times. It feels fresh and exciting to use that as a progression model.

I had a blast this workout, and even got a good pump at the end. Had to rest a little longer than 3 minutes on the last bench press set but when I got into the bar I realized that was probably not necessary; the first set felt the hardest (partially because of my greatly reduced warm-up prep) and I began to ease into 265.

After 11 years of running 5/3/1 variations I'm ready for programming with a new skeleton. I'm also firmly set on resuming my weight cut to remain in the 198 weight class and optimize my athleticism for martial arts. With those circumstances in mind, I will be embracing abbreviated training once again via Andy Baker's Heavy Light Medium template.

The label is unliteral because Andy actually recommends spreading out the heavy effort throughout the week on all three days if you're not a beginner. Here's what I came up with:

Day 1 (heavy)

Squat: 3x5

Bench: 3x5

Super-set with weighted rows: 3 x 8-10

Bench or press accessory movement: 3 x 8-12

Day 2 (light): 

Press: 3x5

Super-set with chins

Clean: 3x5

Deadlift: 1x5

Hamstring movement: 3 x 8-12

Day 3 (medium):

Squat variation 3 x 8-12

Bench variation: 3 x 8-12

Super-set with weighted rows

Bench or press accessory movement: 3 x 8-12

With that said, I'll be using the day's theme as an intensity guide. On day 1, though I'll be starting with something manageable, I'll eventually get to a point where it's a 90+% 3x5, and I can take the rows to failure. The light day will be a progressive but fairly digestible lineup of pressing, leaving a rep or two in the tank, with only the deadlift being truly heavy. Saturday will basically be what I've done for 5/3/1 accessory work. The weight will be challenging but autoregulated by the higher ranges and not taken to failure. I can throw in a bunch of other exercises on this day too if I feel like it. 

Andy recommends a high calorie cheat day, which I already practice, on the heavy day. 

It was getting exhausting treating every lifting day as a test for a maxing out, which was my fault, not Wendler's. I need a change, and perhaps something else will come out of this based on how I'm progressing. 

 Slept on a small spring mattress I dragged into my room last night and spent about 3/4 of the night on my back, the rest on my side. Initial impressions seem positive, but it's too soon to tell for sure. Still have that sharp pain in the middle of my back if I bend backwards, that's probably something that will need time to heal, if not professional treatment. Will continue testing the bed switch.

Couldn't break anything approaching 500 off the mats today due to my back so I took it as a deload and deadlifted 315x20 super-set with 20 reps of the SSB.

Afterwards I went to lie on the floor with my legs up on the exercise ball for a bit and my back feels a lot better.

Going to be testing out how I feel on a spring mattress the next few nights. 

Press

150, 170, 190 x 3

-

Last set super-set with wide pull-ups

10

Press with Fat Gripz

125 x 5 x 10

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

Sets of 10, last 2 sets with 50 lbs of 5, 8 (finishing each of those with body weight pull ups to get 10)

Axle high pulls

150 x 10, 10, 10

-

Super-set with overhead shrugs

95 x 15, 13, 13, 10, 10

Bent-over dumbbell shrugs

100 x 10

Banded incline dumbbell press

35s x 10, 10, 6 -drop-set to no band x 3

-

Super-set with band flyes

10, 10

Divebomb pushups 

I seriously lagged in this workout. Just felt crummy and tired. After the overhead press sets the I felt a fire light in me and I ran through a bunch of bodybuilding stuff, focusing on traps (which I'm hammering during this bulk) and chest. 

I've been keeping up on training but I feel my motivation to log just plummet. Part of it is my back and the fact that nothing seems to be working so far. If I bend backwards I can feel a point in the middle of my spine that feels like there's a pebble digging into it. I should probably get it checked out. My homemade reverse hyper does seem to provide some immediate relief, but I'm really suspecting my memory foam mattress isn't doing my back any favors and that I need better support, based on how I feel when I wake up. However, my back hurt before on my old spring mattress and going on an expensive wild goose chase to get a new mattress when I just replaced it is something I've dragged my feet on.

Luckily I have a small spring mattress in storage and can try that out for a few days. There's always a way to move forward and always a way to train. 

Woke up and did 15 minutes of the exercise bike, 50 burpees, 80 jumping jacks, and shadowboxing.

I'm gaining weight at the moment and the scale read 206.6 this morning. 

Swiss bar bench

187 x 5

215 x 5

245 x 9

-

Last set super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 10

Fat Gripz Swiss bar pause bench

175 x 5 x 10

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 5 x 10

Incline skullscrushers

35s x 10

-

Super-set with keg curls

160 x 10

Press

135 x 5

160 x 5

180 x 5

-

Last set super-set with with wide pull-ups

10

Press with Fat Gripz

120 x 5 x 10

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

10-12

High pulls

140 x 4 x 6-8

Overhead shrugs

95 x 6, 10, 13

35 second chin-up

Bar curls x 20

Swiss bar curls x 20

Had a few entries that I wrote up while training but didn't finish them to submit at the time, so I just uploaded what I had and will continue on from here.

Yukon squats

335 x 5

385 x 5

430 x 5

Usual strip sets

Bench press

275 x 6

225 x 10, 10, 9

185 x 12

-

Super-set with T-bar rows

4 plates x 8, 10, 10, 12, 12

Kettlebell goblet squats

50 lbs x 35, 40, 35

-

Super-set with 1-leg kettlebell SLDLs (unknown reps, just did a bunch with rest pauses)

Press

155 x 5

170 x 5

190 x 3

* Was aiming for five but this is what I had in me with my hurt back. Not much full body drive, felt isolated to shoulder power.

-

Last set super-set with wide pull-ups

10

Press with Fat Gripz

135 x 8, 8, 8

Super-set with wide pull-ups

10, 10, 10

* Fat Gripz work well for making light weight hard. Combined with my back I couldn't blast the weight up much at all, tempo was slow and difficult. 

Decline pull-ups

20, 15

-

Barbell curls with Fat Gripz

30

Last week after my competition I took a diet break and ate a lot of food. Doesn't mean I went lax on my protein requirements or food quality, I just didn't worry about weight loss as my immediate goal. I'm currently walking around close to 206 right now and feeling stronger.

I lifted three times, benching 275x3x6 in one workout and reinjuring my back on squats. Got up to 405 before I realized I couldn't load any weight on it and I was hurt again. Sneaky sneaky. 

Came back the next day and did goblet squats with a 125 lb dumbbell for sets of 10-15 and landmine SLDLs with 4 plates of various reps. Finish that up with Goblet squats using a 50 lb kettlebell for 30.

My back was feeling so bad that I got invented enough to create the best home reverse hyper I've come up with yet. Check out this precious bastard:

Basically I'm using the Swiss bar as a platform with a cushion on top and the  band around the kegs for resistance. It feels good and certainly beats hanging off my bed or the counter at work. Later I removed the patio paver, it wasn't necessary. Finding a better object to grip than white-knuckling the sides of the dip station is the next step.

I should also add I've been looking for used deals on reverse hypers every day. Still figuring out the logistics of transportation, or else just splurging on a new unit from Rogue may be the way. The Scout model is also an option. I do have the space for the regular but I'd want to take great pains to protect it from the rain with a paver base beneath it and tarp. Honestly, next time I get nice new equipment I'm going to be doing that for everything and making a better effort to protect all my stuff. 

NorCall Powerlifting 2022 Meet Report Part 2

Finally, meet day. Despite my positive start, I actually did VERY poor by my own standards at this meet, yet still ended up winning 1st place in my weight class as well as a second award of "Best Lifter". For whatever reason, I thought the bluntness of that was funny. There were other titles like "Best Performance In _________" with some qualification at the end, so that was a surprise.

One big mistake was not taking care of the hotel room earlier. Because my last powerlifting meet, and indeed many of my strongman meets, took 12 hours to finish, I greatly overestimated how much time I had. By about 10:00, we still had 2 flights to go before mine was ready, so at this point I started packing my hotel things. Right as I walked back to the meet area I heard my name being announced. I'd had no warm-up and my gear wasn't ready, so I just ripped my shoes off, put on my knee sleeves, put my shoes back on, and walked up to take my opener, an easy 445. Next was 465, and then 501. Everything went up fine but by the time I was finished squatting I noticed my back was bothering me.

In my hurry, I forgot twice to go to the judges and let them know my next attempt. I'd also cut my pinkie somehow and bled on the judge's table. My card was splattered with blood, which made it easy to locate when writing my attempts down. The judge said she was a surgeon and that it didn't bother her. I actually recognized her as the judge who was rude to me last meet, but she was very nice here.

Anyway, some real amateur shit on my behalf, but I had to move on. The bench press was terrible. I hit 315 on my second attempt, which I intended to be extremely conservative given my weight cut, but then failed 350. I know I should have that and more, but it's not like I've ever crushed that while doing a sudden water weight cut, either. I didn't beat myself up over it, but my mind was already racing about getting back to training and bringing my upper-body strength up.

The deadlift phase came by very quick. I could see that this meet was breezing by far more quickly than before. At this point, it was around 1:00 pm; in 2016 we were starting deadlifts around 5:30.

My opener was higher than I remembered choosing, probably because I was thinking about it from a state of being in back pain. I did 515 and then immediately started using my vibrating foam roller and massage gun, which seemed to help quite a bit. I chose a super conservative jump up to 535 after my bench experience and knowing my back was in bad shape. Made a very concerted effort to harden my abs and it flew up faster than 515. Feeling a little good about that, I pondered for awhile before choosing 570 for my third. Not the 600+ I had planned for, but above the 550 I was considering as a safe bet. Well, the bar broke off the floor but I felt a strong twinge in my already painful back so I dropped it. At least I was able to walk away without any hindrance or limp.

As I already went over, I won 1st, but was feeling some imposter syndrome. I felt like I didn't deserve it. I let myself enjoy the moment and my friends being happy about it, but as mentioned before, my mind was racing about the things I need to do for next time. I didn't even bother asking my friend for the footage from the bench and deadlift portions. I wasn't seething over it or anything, I simply didn't care. I would like to see them now, though, but for the time being, I have my squat on video.

I learned a lot going through with this meet and I can at least be satisfied I threw my current best at it. I'm glad I had the know-how and discipline to make weight on advanced notice and max squat without much preparation. I've got a lot to work on and also have to decide where I want my weight to go from here.

NorCall Powerlifting 2022 Meet Report Part 1

Have some time finally to start a write-up of my powerlifting meet experience this past weekend. For once the diet was a major factor in my preparations this time so I'll delve into that.

Because of the short notice (less than a month and a half) and the fact that I was in the middle of a weight gain phase, starting at a bodyweight of 212 lbs, I did a water weight cut for the first time in my life. It went easier than expected. I lost about half of the weight through conventional means, though slightly more aggressively than I would have done had I not been facing a deadline. In the week leading up, I weighed around 206 and knew by that point the water would be coming out. Still, I didn't go too Spartan about it until the final two days. I chose to do as little as possible as late as possible to preserve strength.

On Friday and Saturday, I drank only small sips of water throughout the day and made an attempt to reduce my sodium intake. Again, if I felt more drastic action was needed I would have dialed that effort down even more, but I felt it was sufficient to just make a general effort to eat low salt foods and not bother to make any precise calculations like everyone on YouTube and Reddit were advocating. I even ate some salty poke that a coworker bought for me. By late afternoon, though, the hunger period started getting enforced. Just 3 eggs for my second lunch.

The mini George Foreman grill I ordered for my hotel stay (thanks for the inspiration, Emevas) came that same day and I was able to grill a plain piece of chicken breast in an effort to cut down on sodium and water. I decided I wouldn't need this thing after all because I planned to eat a ton of carby restaurant food after weigh-ins in an effort to replenish myself, but it was still a welcome kitchen addition.

On weigh-in day I woke up weighing 201.6, so I knew I was making a lot of progress. I had some more of my leftover chicken breast for breakfast and a few sips of water. By noon I had another few bites of the chicken. That was all the food and water I allowed myself. I packed and hungout with a sweatshirt, sweatpants, beanie, and wool socks on, slowly and modestly sweating. When I started to feel too lousy I took the hat off for a break. They stayed on except for the beanie during the 1-hour sunny drive to Concord with the windows rolled up. This made me feel the worse, although it was manageable. Felt light-headed but nothing I haven't felt training outdoors in summertime. In fact, my outdoor training prepared me very well for this experience. I was never in uncharted territories of misery. I remember thinking at my lowest that this is uncomfortable but not that hard. Because I was driving, however, I paid due diligence to my state of consciousness and made sure I was alert, ready to pull over if needed.

I got to the gym where the weigh-ins were happening and came in at 197, a pound under what I needed. I was really happy about that. This was something I'd never done before and pooled everything I knew about dieting, metabolism, and intuition about my own body together to make it work, so I finally had validation of all that. I remember having concern at the start of the week about weighing over 205 lbs and a brief pang of despair flashing in my head. I'm not progressing properly at all, I should just do the 220 class. A second later I shook it away and knew I could do it. Anyway, my victory plan was to go straight to Taco Bell afterwards but I was so hot and hungry I immediately had a Gatorade and Kodiak protein granola bar feast out of my trunk before driving to the hotel and continuing the replenishments with canned sardines, more granola bars, and other calorific snacks I had.

That evening I went out to a planned dinner with some friends I wanted to catch-up with. Ate at a Cajun-themed fast food place and ordered the garlic crab fries. They were greasy and glorious.

This ended up being long so part 2 will come soon.