Road to an 800lb Pull

[NickAus]

Good luck with the meet!!

I am positive you will hit the numbers you are aiming for!!

[ehubbard]

Good luck with the meet!!

I am positive you will hit the numbers you are aiming for!!

Thanks! Didn't go as planned though....

[ehubbard]

2010 APF New York State Powerlifting Championships

Made weight on Friday at exactly 275.5 lbs. Had to cut about 5 lbs so not a big deal. Woke up Saturday morning and felt like I was hit by a truck. . I was congested, coughing and spent a good deal of the morning on the can. Felt a little better once I got to the meet site, but I was definetly off. Warmups on the squats went awful, so I lowered my opener to 705. All day people were telling me that I didnt look right, and I would say I was probably operating at about 90%. That shouldnt happen when I am well rested for a meet. Anyway...

Squats

705 - good, two whites
750 - no good
770 - good, two whites

Squats looked high to me on the video but they passed. I have been dipping in training with good results but somehow forgot about this meet day. If I dont dip I just dont get the rebound I would like out of the gear. Other problems included taking air into my chest instead of my belly, staying on my toes a bit more than i would like and just not getting down enough. The pressure of the gear was really getting to me today.

Bench

425 - miss
425 - miss
425 - good

Wow. I took 455 in this same loose shirt two weeks ago and I thought this would be conservative opener and then I could switch to my Viking and take a run at 500. Again, see above about not being right today.

Deadlift

675 - good
730 - good
770 - miss

Deadlift went OK. I was still off physically, and to me seemed a little off center on my setup. The 770 miss was actually only my second miss ever in a meet (with the first one being 700). It was late in the day and I would say it was below 60 degrees at this point, so less than ideal but you deal with it. I tore open a huge callous on my left hand and was bleeding pretty good. Hopefully i can get it to heel properly.

Well, the lesson learned is clear to me as day. If I want to compete in gear I need significantly more time in it. Doing a meet last minute and 11 or so weeks after a raw meet just isn't idea for setting the kind of PRs I am looking for. The goal today was 2000 and I feel far short. I also need to handle the heavier loads more often in gear. What I have been doing is great for building base strength, but I don't have enough experience in gear yet to train less frequently in it. This is especially true of the bench shirt. My mid range to lockout strength is completely gone.

Video

[KGM]

Doing a meet last minute and 11 or so weeks after a raw meet just isn't idea for setting the kind of PRs I am looking for.

Well put into perspective, you woke up feeling crappy, you stacked the deck against yourself(quoted) and didn't feel comfortable with your shirt - maybe not the best meet but a good one considering everything. Nice lifts. Those pulls looked awesome.
btw how tall are you? You look huge.

[douglasoh5]

damn still not bad for not really training for the meet. your squat form looked a **** ton better. send that shirt to ginny and get it tightened up a hair

[ehubbard]

Well put into perspective, you woke up feeling crappy, you stacked the deck against yourself(quoted) and didn't feel comfortable with your shirt - maybe not the best meet but a good one considering everything. Nice lifts. Those pulls looked awesome.
btw how tall are you? You look huge.

Thanks! I am 6'4".

damn still not bad for not really training for the meet. your squat form looked a **** ton better. send that shirt to ginny and get it tightened up a hair

Yes, the key for me on the squat was focusing on tightening my lats. I always just responded to people yelling about tightening up my upper back and just let my lats hang like FUPA. The end result was I would fold over like a lawn chair. The shirt is not mine, but the plan is to get a better fiting one for me. It is so loose I can touch 135 in it. I was hoping to hit my opener and then put on my Viking which takes a good amount of weight to touch. Either way I was probably stuck at that weight since what littel lockout strength I had is gone.

[Chris Rodgers]

We both need to do a lot of different things with our shirts/shirt bench training. SO I will not even address that, lol. You have a ton of strength in the squat, I think you just need to squat in gear more often and we will work on that setup and the cues so you remain tighter through the lift. I don't see why you can't be squatting 800+ right now with some adjustments. Your pull is just nasty strong...I love how you just literally bend over and stand up with it, stiff-legging it more than I do and you just smash weights!

[ehubbard]

We both need to do a lot of different things with our shirts/shirt bench training. SO I will not even address that, lol. You have a ton of strength in the squat, I think you just need to squat in gear more often and we will work on that setup and the cues so you remain tighter through the lift. I don't see why you can't be squatting 800+ right now with some adjustments. Your pull is just nasty strong...I love how you just literally bend over and stand up with it, stiff-legging it more than I do and you just smash weights!

Thanks CR! 12 years of bad form on the bench is a hard habit to break. I thought I had 800 in me at this meet based on the way training was going but I really was off yesterday. Looking up into the clear blue sky is a little disorienting too, LOL. I want to work the DL suit more. I think my hips are getting forced just a tad higher than I would like them. I need to push my hips back more too.

[NickAus]

Great total mate well done!!

[ehubbard]

Great total mate well done!!

Thanks!

4/27/2010 - Bench Assistance

Standing Cambered Bar Military Press
2x5 165
1x5 175

Floor Press
1x8 225
1x21 225

Inverted Rows
3x12

DB Tri Extension / Reverse Curl
3x25 / 3x15

[ehubbard]

4/28/2010 - Lower

GCB Pause Squat
2x5 345
(+belt)
1x1 435

Strict GCB Good Mornings
4x8 195

Abs
3 sets

[Lones Green]

Good job at the meet, Eric. The gear can really mess with you.

It still amazes me you can straight leg your pulls like that, haha

I am also tall like an ogre, join the club

[ehubbard]

Good job at the meet, Eric. The gear can really mess with you.

It still amazes me you can straight leg your pulls like that, haha

I am also tall like an ogre, join the club

Thanks! It can really REALLY mess with you if you don't train in it enough. Well, at least I know I have been getting stronger out of the gear which can only help.

[KGM]

Wow that is a heavy paused squat! Nicely done! What kind of bar did you use(GCB)?
I have finally started doing paused squats - they seem to really hit the hips, stretch the glutes/hams and help me get better depth.

[ehubbard]

Wow that is a heavy paused squat! Nicely done! What kind of bar did you use(GCB)?
I have finally started doing paused squats - they seem to really hit the hips, stretch the glutes/hams and help me get better depth.

Thanks! GCB = Giant Cambered Bar.

Yes, they help me get better depth, but clearly not in the gear LOL. I like them because they are hard, but don't stress your body as much as regular raw or geared squats.

[ehubbard]

5/1/2010 - Bench

3-Board
1x5 275
1x5 315
1x5 335
1x5 315

Paused Bench
(3 count)
3x5 225

Reverse Curls / Side Raises
3x10 / 3x12

Wrist Roller / Band Resisted Situps
3 sets / 3x15

[smitsky]

Great job at the meet Eric! Way to go. You put in a solid performance in spite of fact that you felt terrible.

I'm thinking you were a victim of allergies - this is a very bad allergy season. I haven't missed a training session, but my doctor put me on an inhaler as my allergy-produced cough and congestion got so bad.

Keep up the great work. The Squat and Deadlift looked superb! Sorry the bench didn't go better.

[luigisacs]

Do you think you should introduce speed work for your bench? It may be the missing component you require.

[ehubbard]

Great job at the meet Eric! Way to go. You put in a solid performance in spite of fact that you felt terrible.

I'm thinking you were a victim of allergies - this is a very bad allergy season. I haven't missed a training session, but my doctor put me on an inhaler as my allergy-produced cough and congestion got so bad.

Keep up the great work. The Squat and Deadlift looked superb! Sorry the bench didn't go better.

Thanks Steve! I dont know about th3e allergies but it's a possibility.

Do you think you should introduce speed work for your bench? It may be the missing component you require.

I am fast off the chest. I have no lockout. Speed works tends to do more harm than good to my shoulders and technique. I try and lift everything fast concentrically, so doing direct "speed work" isn't necessary. The focus is on mid range and lockout strength right now. Even my 370 raw miss I missed at a 3 board. So it should help both in and out of the shirt. I will use bands here and there but will probably not do any speed work any time soon.

[ehubbard]

5/2/2010 – Cardio

Treadmill
30 min – 135 bpm

5/4/2010 – Bench Assistance

Standing GCB Military Press
1x5 165
1x5 170
1x5 180

DB Bench
1x10 60
1x10 95
1x18 95

DB Rows
(+straps)
1x10 95
1x10 110
1x10 140

DB Extension
5x20 15 + 10 lb ankle weights

Light Band Pullapart
3x15

Ab Rollups
3 sets

[luigisacs]

Eric, I was wondering where you received your template for the periodization you currently are on. I have been doing some study on the different types of periodization and wanted to get an understanding what you were doing. I am assuming you are doing a block periodization.

[ehubbard]

Eric, I was wondering where you received your template for the periodization you currently are on. I have been doing some study on the different types of periodization and wanted to get an understanding what you were doing. I am assuming you are doing a block periodization.

There isn't a set template, but the general outline was taken from one of Jeremy Frey's posts on EFS. Right now I am just going by feel. Not sure when my next meet will be since there are some things going on this summer I need to plan around. Once those plans are set I will pick a meet.

5/5/2010 - Deadlift

Spent the better part of the day outside in the sun and was fairly dehydrated heading into this session.

Deadlift
(+straps)
bunch of singles with 405
1x5 405

GCB Pause Squat
2x5 350

Back Extension
2x10 25

Wrist Roller
3 sets

[ehubbard]

5/7/2010 - Bench

2-Board
1x5 285
1x5 295
(+Huge SDP)
1x5 365
1x4 375 - hit pins hard on the way up so just racked it

Paused Bench
(3 count)
3x5 230

Inverted Rows
3x10

Band Facepull
3x12 - Light Band

Reverse Curl
4x10

DB Tricep Extension
3x15

Reverse Crunches
3x15

[ehubbard]

5/8/2010 – Lower

GCB Squat
4x5 375

DB Shrugs
3x15 110

Back Extension
3x15

Band TKE
3x15 – Light

Band Resisted Situps
2x20 - Average

[NickAus]

Great work in here again!!