Reactive Training Systems

I have to say, that's the best I've seen your raw squats look ever. Good speed and all!

Week 4 Deload
Tuesday Deload
Squat w/belt
545x3 @7.5
585x3 @8
615x3 @8

Bench
365x3 @7
395x3 @7
415x3 @8

Wednesday
Squat
475x3 @7
515x3 @7
565x3 @7.5

Bench
315x3 @6
335x3 @7
365x3 @7

Deadlift
515x3 @6
565x3 @6
625x2 @7

Friday
Squat- Warmup to 515
Bench- Warmup to 315
Deadlift- Warmup to 515

Saturday Raw Unity Meet
Squat
705, miss (depth)
705, stroked it
750, miss (pretty close)

Bench
475, good
501, stapled
501, stapled

Deadlift
771, stroked it
821, very solid
870, not even close

Total: 2000 on the nose.

Well, I didnt have nearly the day I wanted, but a 2000 pound raw total on a 4/9 day is a pretty solid strength indicator. I took second place to Scott Smith, an underrated 275 guy who has a hell of a squat and bench combo. He totaled 2050 raw and Im pretty sure he missed a big bench to end it with.
I started with 705 on the squat and the weight moved easily, but I sucked with the depth. I cut it high mostly because of nerves (more on this later). I came back on my second and (I felt) I hit it pretty solid. It was solid enough that I asked whether I should go 740 or 750. You know me, I decided on 750. So up we went When it came time for 750, as soon as I hit a wall, I just died with it. No strain whatsoever. Those who watch me squat know this is a bit unusual for me (the inability to strain).
So I was disappointed in the squat and we went on to bench. Everything felt fine and strong. I hit 475 on my opener and it was a solid lift. I went right to 501, just like the plan entailed. And for some reason, I just couldnt get the damn thing off my chest. I couldnt come up with any reasoning for it.
By this time I was livid. I took a walk to try to get a hold of my anger, but it didnt really work that well. I came back in with enough time to watch Eric pull, then it was time to start warming up. And for the first time the whole day, I actually lifted with some emotion. I was seething pretty good on the opener and I drilled it.
Let me back up a second and bring you up on the strategy going on during this time. When we put our openers in, I asked for my opening DL to be 350kg. They must have heard 315 and I didnt notice. When I looked at the attempt sheet, it looked like Scott Smith and I were opening surprisingly close together on the Deadlift. At the subtotal, I was down by about 140 pounds (I think total guess). Well, as he opened, I realized what was going on and changed my opener to 350. Before that, I didnt think there was any reason to give chase anymore, so we were shooting for different objectives (i.e. not to win anymore). After I pulled my opener, I realized that I made up about 100 pounds of the deficit (again, a guess). So now, we were back in the meet and going for the win. My Dad, Eric, and Dave were all running numbers and trying to figure out what I should put in for on my 2nd. We went 821. I hit it better than I ever have before and I think its safe to say my Deadlift is improving at a very good pace compared to worlds or nationals last year. After that, we decided to go for the win no matter what it took. I got as psyched up and crazy as I possibly could. Eric got the crowd involved as much as he possibly could. But no magic was to happen and 870 stayed pretty much glued to the floor. I would like to see a video of it though.

As always, I learned a ton of stuff from this meet. Heres some of the more tangible lessons-learned:

For me, I always do better in training than in meets. That known, since momentum plays such a big role in the meets, I think Im going to shoot for 95% of my training max in the meet. This will result in more completed attempts and less left on the platform. And its apparent that guys who win meets are the guys who go 7, 8, or 9 for 9 on meet day. Gotta have that.

That leads right in to my next lesson. I need to be more flexible with my attempt selection. If winners go 8 or 9 for 9, then I need to be more perceptive if Im having a bad day. If I noticed it, I could have gone to 730 on squat instead of 750. I couldve gone to 490 on bench instead of 501. Then, Id have only needed a ~835 pull to tie and win on bodyweight. I definitely could have done that. But I didnt. As Ive said before competition is not entirely a test of whos strongest. Its a test of who competes better. I dont mean that as a dig toward anyone as Im not trying to take anything away. Given the choice, Id rather be the guy who competes better and wins meets than be the strongest and suck in competition. So, thats what this lesson is about I need to be a better competitor.

And the nerves. By all reasoning, I shouldnt have gotten nervous. Ive competed at several big, high profile meets and not gotten nervous. My only justification for getting nervous at this meet is my inability (refusal) to focus that energy where it needed to go. At the time it seemed paradoxical. If you get excited, then the nerves get worse. If you remain sedated, youre too calm to lift effectively. I didnt even explore my 3rd option which is to concentrate it on the bar, get a little angry and let it rip. Big mistake and it probably cost me my 3rd squat and possibly the meet. I do need to add one caveat to this. Just because I said this doesnt mean youll see me banging my head on the bar and doing other various obnoxious things. I have to stay calm enough to keep my technical points in mind. It does mean that Ill be a little more left-brained while competing than I have been in the past.

Week 1 Accumulation
Tuesday BSB
Bench +180cc
70x3, 75x3, 80x2x2
285 x 3 x 1 @ 8
305 x 3 x 1 @ 8.5
325 x 2 x 2 @ 8

SSB Wide 12" Squat
3x6 @8-9
405 x 6 x 1 @ 8
445 x 6 x 1 @ 8.5
470 x 6 x 1 @ 9


3Board (thumb from smooth) +180pp
3x6 @8-9
285 x 6 x 1 @ 8.5
305 x 6 x 1 @ 8.5
325 x 4 x 1 @ 9

Total Training Time: 103 min

Just getting back into it. Didnt have a ton of energy (expectedly).

Wednesday GPP
Spinal traction
External rotation
Conditioning circuit (low aerobic work), 3 sets (5% fatigue). Took approx 12 minutes.
Stretching

Hey man congrats on the 2000 lb raw total.  I know you wanted a little more but still i keep watching that 821 pull and it was pretty smooth.  Deadlift is going well it seems.  A couple things i learned was the raw meet was a little different than the gear meet (tight gear/making depth/touching on benches).  I found out that you have to go 7,8,9 for 9 in a meet to win and thats exactly what i tried to do with my last meet.  I sunk my first squat so that i would have no doubt which is something you cant always do in gear.  Also with my pauses on bench holding them for a second to simulate the long pause was very helpful, and was about an accurate measurement for a meet pause.  I am sure you have a lot of thoughts from the meet but for my last meet the reactive training really helped.

I would take an attempt and just ask myself how that attempt truly felt and make jumps accordingly, not really having a concrete set of number that i absolutely needed to follow.  You are the only one that knows your body on that specific day, and with raw there are not as many groove issues and such with missing lifts.  Thats the end of my 2 cents and rambling.  haha helping out with the high school powerlifting team tomorrow which should be fun.

Anyways i have been having some issues with a few things so i may try and get in contact with you here soon.

When I do spinal traction, Im laying on a swiss ball (face down) and relaxing my abs. You can feel the spinal decompression when you get it just right.

I assume it would. I don't have any solid reccomendations on how often to do it - I do it in accordance with the rest of the programming, but usually not more than once per week.

Joel Di Battista wrote:

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Mike, do you normally train the day before you compete?

If so, what purpose does this serve? Most people (Sheiko for instance) seem to advocate 2-3 days off before competing.

---

I have done this for about a year or so now.  That will be changing as well.  Here's why...

At first, I never did anything the week before the meet and I was always rusty the day of.  I had lost a lot of the efficiency I had gained.  So I went full-spectrum the other way and I did a deload week (as you see here) with workouts all through the week, albiet with reduced volume and intensity.

My logic behind training the day before was that I'm only going up to warm up weights -- it shouldn't be very taxing.  But using my analysis program, I have found that, for me at least, it probably is somewhat taxing -- probably due to the heightened emotional state.  So, I'm going to move it back a day in the future.  I'll do this workout a day earlier than usual and spend the final day before the meet in a rest status.

I know a lot of people say, "duh" at this, but it's not always as easy as hindsight makes it.

Week 1 Transmutation
Monday SBB
Suit Squat (9) + wraps
75x3, 80x2, 85x3, 85x1x2, 80x2
765 x 3 x 1 @ 7
815 x 2 x 1 @ 8
865 x 3 x 1 @ 9

Total Training Time: 97min

I was still getting over my illness a little today, so I was taking my time between sets. My depth was getting better today. I think Im going to go with this kind of suit at the meet. Depth should be fine with 850-ish. Good to know.
Ran out of time for work again today. Couldnt make it up later, either.

Tuesday GPP
Steady state cardio (barbell circuit)- 113-142bpm (20min)

Wednesday DBS
Deadlift w/belt
75x3, 80x2, 85x3, 85x1x2, 80x2, 75x3
625 x 3 x 1 @ 8
675 x 2 x 1 @ 8
710 x 3 x 1 @ 9
710 x 1 x 1 @ 9.5
710 x 1 x 1 @ 9
675 x 2 x 1 @ 9
625 x 3 x 1 @ 8

Bench +180pp +90c
75x3, 80x2, 85x3, 85x2, 75x3x2
225 x 3 x 1 @ 8
275 x 2 x 1 @ 9
245 x 2 x 1 @ 8
260 x 3 x 1 @ 9
225 x 3 x 1 @ 8
225 x 3 x 1 @ 7

SSB Oly Squat +90c
5x5 @8-9
385 x 5 x 1 @ 9
415 x 5 x 1 @ 8
435 x 5 x 1 @ 9
450 x 5 x 1 @ 8
405 x 5 x 1 @ 7

Total Training Time: 158min

I could feel some efficiency lost on the deadlift due to some time off / sickness. My hamstrings were a bit sore from the GPP work yesterday. But despite that, I still PRed today (average sized PR). My pull is creeping upward. Ill take the slow, steady gains, too.
The bench work wasnt as good as last time I did it (October), but its a starting point. Goes to show you how specific strength can be.
The SSB work was a gut check (like every week). This bar is just a tough old bird. I PRed, which, on a day like this (with all the volume), you cant really complain about.

Friday BDB
Shirt Bench (4)
75x3, 80x2, 85x3, 85x1x2, 80x2, 75x3
565 x 3 x 1 @ 8
605 x 2 x 1 @ 8.5
635 x 3 x 1 @ 10
635 x 1 x 1 @ 8
635 x 1 x 1 @ 9.5
605 x 2 x 1 @ 9
565 x 3 x 1 @ 7.5

Deadlift +220m
75x3, 80x2, 85x3, 85x2, 75x3x2
525 x 3 x 1 @ 7.5
565 x 2 x 1 @ 8
605 x 3 x 1 @ 9
605 x 2 x 1 @ 9
525 x 3 x 2 @ 8

Seated Military +90c
5x6 @8-9
175 x 6 x 1 @ 8
195 x 6 x 1 @ 9
195 x 6 x 1 @ 9
185 x 6 x 1 @ 8.5
185 x 6 x 1 @ 8

Total Training Time: 152min

Not benching for a while has taken its toll. I was really rusty today. I should (better) be back next week for the skills eval.
Deads felt good! I hit some strong lifts here and this was a pretty big PR for me.
The Seated Military were okay. Lots of reps, but my shoulders feel great.