Reactive Training Systems

Nick U · Senior Member

RE: Nick's Training Log

Nick U · Senior Member

Had the cadet wing powerlifting open today, it was alot of fun we had about 15 cadets get up the nerve to compete. I always like running this event cause we get to show the rest of the academy what we do. Had a few AOCs and AMTs show up to watch and this time we actually gave medals away which everyone loved.

LOL, Mike and Grant you may remember Jeff Lippert he was on the team for a short period but lost interest. He competed at the open and on his last deadlift passed out cold as soon as he set his weight down. He completely collapsed over the bar and got a mat burn on his forehead. I couldn't beleive it! He woke up after a few seconds and didn't know what had happened. He is one of those guys that likes to squat down to the bar and take half a dozen deep breaths before pulling so i should have seen it coming but didn't. He did get the lift but the rest of us got a good laugh.

Nick U · Senior Member

Suit Squat

225-4
315-4 @ 7-8
405-2@8 belt straps down
455-2x4@9
420-4@9

3bd

315-2@7 full rom
365-4@8 added 3bd
385-4@9ish
370-4@9

gave the abs a rest

really felt the lactic acid build up today, not sure why but felt like I was doing sets of 10 on both lifts. My legs and chest werer burning when I was done, no idea what could have caused that, it really wasn't a big change in volume
Also learned a valuable lesson on camera angles, I have been taping my squats lately and today I had the camera higher than my hips looking down from the front, well needless to say every squat looked a mile high on the film but I'm sure they were deep enough because I had a mirror in front of me. Won't make that mistake again.

Grant Gavran · Senior Member

Dude that is hilarious to hear about lippert

Nick U · Senior Member

Geared Deficiet Dead 80%
405-2@7 raw
425-4@8 added gear
455-4@9
430-4@9

Reverse Band Bench 80%

375-4@6
465-4@8
495-2x4@9
470-4@9ish
time

Weighted abs

feel like I may have been being lazy on the deadlift, probably had another drop off set in me but I stopped, hips shot up a couple times but generally the form was pretty good. Upper and mid back is looking pretty rounded in the videos even when the form is good so I will need to work on this paticulair weakness.
Reverse Band bench is doing well numbers aren't as impressive as they look since I'm using the blue bands, but generally I'm making some pretty strong progress in this lift

Nick U · Senior Member

Shirt Bench 80%

365-4@8
405-1 @ put it back, had a rotten lift out and couldn't get tight
385-3@9-10, another bad liftout, had some words with the spotter after this, always feel bad about it but it was getting dangerous
365-4@9 still having alot of lactic acid issues, this is something new

Dynamic Squat, suit bottoms + belt (blue band, low box)

195-3x5 @7
185-3x5 @7
8 sets in less than 10 minutes

abs.....yeah right after that, hell no I'm lucky to be alive

OMG! this was the most awful dynamic squats I have ever done, it was like pure torture thought I was gonna puke at least four seperate times, deep squats in the suit is like getting kicked in the crotch, plus with the high volume and low rest times the lactic acid builds up but unlike when its done raw, the suit restricts circulation so it just hangs out in the legs, holy crap is the only thing I can say, it was just f#cking awful. Form was good though and so was the speed, I'll continue doing them but holy crap its not something I will take lightly.

-- Edited by Nick U on Friday 24th of April 2009 03:34:30 PM

Nick U · Senior Member

Suit Squat 85%

315-3 raw
405-3@8 straps down, getting suit on
455-3@8
495-3@9-10 a bit high, fell forward in lift
470-3@9-10 still cut it arguably high on one or two of the reps, need to be unquestionable

Reverse Band BEnch 85%
455-3@8
505-miss, just out of gas
465-3@8
465-#@8-9

weighted bridge

tired as hell today, my hips were really tight too which is likely what caused me to fall forward on the squats, skipped both recovery workouts last week which is what tends to keep me limber, never use to need the extra work but I guess I've advanced to that point won't skip any more.

Nick U · Senior Member

Recovery

Sprints 5x 100m 2:30 rest

1-:30
2- :31
3-:31
3-:31
4-:31
5-:31

front raise 4x10

65-10@8
65-10@8-9
55-10@8
10-10@8

D-bell bench

85-10@6
100-10@8
100-8@8
85-10@8

hip recovery and abs

probably going to replace the chest and shoulder work here with some upper back work very soon, I feel that back work would be a better use of my time

Nick U · Senior Member

Suit Deficiet Deadlift

405-2@8
465-3@9
465-3@9
465-2@9
465-2@9-10

cut it here, my left knee got really tight and started to swell, had trouble walking for the rest of the day. Doctor said its just tendenitous and it shoudl be better a few days. Usually comes from poor form or lack of stretching or both. Most likely lack of stretching, I seem to get really stiff in the peaking phases of my programs, I'm guessing because of the higher weight so I'll need to counter this with more PNF stretching.

Nick U · Senior Member

ended up cutting my recovery work because of the knee

Shirt Bench 85%

365-3@8
395-2 popped out of the groove
395-3@9
375-3@9

knee is still pretty swollen and stiff so I decided not to do the dynamic squats, I missed it but it just wasn't worth the risk this close to competition

D-bell rows

120x3x10

Not a bad showing on the bench, the math comes out to about a 460 bench which is where I figure I should be. Not making as big of gains I have done the previous cycles, don't think its because of poor programming directly I'm more inclined to think that I've moved up a level to a more intermidiate lifter and need to program as such. I will need to start adding in some controls to better equate the cycles with what my numbers are doing and what my body needs, this is gonna take alot of thought and time that I can't give for another couple weeks because of projects and finals. So I'll keep relying on dumb luck to get me through to nationals in June. ThenI'll need to spend a significant amount of time on re tooling my programing approach.

Nick U · Senior Member

Suit Squat 90%

455-2@8
505-1@10
505-2@9 just needed to man up
505-2@9.5
475-1@8 lost my balance on the second rep and had to ditch it to keep from getting hurt

Reverse Band Bench 90%

405-2
455-2
495-2@8
515-1@10
475-2@8-9
475-2@9

Weighted Abs / Rows

I think what caused the loss of balance on the squats was my hips popping up and causing me to fall forward in the lift. Watching the video looks like I compensated by trying to drop my hips back down which caused me to fall backwards. Rookie mistake, I'll add some SS bar squats back in to get a handle on this bad habit before it takes root.

Nick U · Senior Member

I've been feeling lately that my form in the squat and bench may not be where it needs to be, I would appreciate anyone who could take the time to watch the videos and give me their thoughts. Don't need to be a pro to comment and you won't hurt my feelings

dynamic squat
http://www.ironscene.com/videos/2779_dynamic_squat

squat 455 x3
http://www.ironscene.com/videos/2780_bench

bench 395 x 3
http://www.ironscene.com/videos/2781_squat

squat 505 x2 (knee tubes because of a recent flare up in tendenitous, offer very little help) specifically on this one do you think I have too much forward lean?
http://www.ironscene.com/videos/2783_squat_90_percent

thanks for your help

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

#1 looks fine for box squats

#2... you have long femurs, which can be mitigated by widening your stance and/or floating your knees forward. The thing that makes this bad is just that it makes it hard to sit back into good depth. Those were close, but not quite there. I'm not sure what you've tried, so I'm not sure what to tell you to do, exactly, but you have a lot of forward lean in your squat.

#3: you definitely need a belt to help hold your shirt down. Everything else looks pretty solid to me. Maybe someone else will have something to add.

#4: To me, yes it looks like a bit too much forward lean. You may want to try something similar to what I'm doing with my squat technique recently.

Others feel free to chime in as well!

Nick U · Senior Member

Did some playing around in the gym yesterday and I think I got a good handle on how I am going to fix the squat form. This morning was deadlift and I was watching the video after each rep and was noticing the same thing on deadlift. This likely the source of my knee pain since my shoulders are traveling way out in front and I'm stiff legging it up. Not sure when all these problems started to develop but I'm glad I bought the camera.

Nick U · Senior Member

Mike thanks for the tip on moving my stance out, squats today were nothing short of awesome. I also picked up a tip form someone who saw my video on ironscene and noticed that I was starting with bending my knees and causing my knees to travel a bit over my toes, so I made sure to break at the hips first and WOW with the two corrections my squat felt like it was on rails!

Shirt Bench 90%

365-2
405-1@9-10
405-1@9-10
385-1@9-10

Speed Squat + blue bands (suit straps down)

245-8x1 (sets x reps) @7-8
315-1@9

D-bell rows

Despite how well the squats went the bench was pretty awful, the shirt felt alot different but I think that the loss in ability to show strength was probably more of a programming issue. I should be pushing about 420 for doubles at a nine, but it didn't happen. Looking at the intensity compared to volume from last week and this week I'm thinking its just a signal that I need to be switching phases, not too bad of timing I deload for the qualifying meet next week, I'm a bit worried that it won't be enough but I only need 405 out of my bench to qualify so it shouldn't be too much of an issue, I'll remember that my bench needs to switch quicker than my squat for next cycle.