My journey to a 1500 raw total

[Kenny Powers]

Yep, you heard it, im going for a 1500 raw total. So now you are probably wondering, who the hell am i and how far am i from this total?

Ive been training for just over 3 years and powerlifting for around 6 months. I weigh about 188 right now after getting over a pretty bad sickness where i lost about 6 lbs. I plan to compete in the 198 weight class for the time being and i am taking my time working my way to the top of the weight class as i would like to stay lean and not put on any bad weight.

I train using an Ed Coan 4 day routine (all main lifts periodized) with

Squat Monday
Bench Wednesday
Deadlift Friday (Coan Phillipi program)
Bench assistance Saturday

Now for some stats and numbers so you know what im working with and how far i need to come to reach my goals of a 1500 raw total.

- I am 5'10 188

- My best gym squat was 330x10 or 385x2 however i have not truly maxed in a long time and have never done a full meet so i have no competition numbers for squat

- My best competition lift for bench was 315, going 3 for 3 in my first and only meet

- My best gym deadlift is 545x2, though i have only been doing deficit deads recently

So right now i am right around a 1300 total if i can put it all together at a meet. I was happy to see that i performed well in my first meet and actually hit a 30 lb pr though i had been hitting my opener easy in training before the meet. I have 200 lbs to put on my total to reach my goal and i would like to do so by apa raw nationals next year which gives me about a year to acheive my goal.

My next planned meet is an all raw meet which will be held in october, so i will get my feet wet then and see what i need to work on, and im damn sure it will be alot

Are my goals lofty? Oh hell yes they are, but why set goals if you know you can acheive them?

So if you want to follow along and see if i can pass or fail, be my guest i would be glad to have ya. First workout of the new journal will be up later tonight.

I am very interested as well in any and all advice from more experienced guys, even if its to tell me how much i suck. It all helps, so training talk is encouraged.

[Kenny Powers]

Two main components of my journal are as mentioned training discussion from anyone and everyone and also lifting videos. I will try to get videos anytime a new PR or some sort of particular attempt of note is made. However, i also will fulfill any requests to get vids of any specific movement if asked at any time. So feel free to ask if you want to see any lift or how i do any lift.

The vids i take are for technique purposes as techinque is paramount in this little "sport" that we all love so much.

So for anyone who follows, thanks and enjoy the ride

[Kenny Powers]

Squat- Week 3 of Coan Periodized Program

Squat w/ belt and knee sleeves

295x8
295x8

Paused Squat (2 secs in hole) w/ belt and sleeves

245x5
275x5

Clean Grip Front Squat

225x3
225x3
225x3

GHR

+25x5
+25x5
+25x5

Thoughts

-i havent been able to be consistent in the gym in a while due to work but still felt solid today
-sets were not that tough, squats had good speed and power and were not close to failure at all
-fronts felt great, been a long time since i have done them and was super fast with them today, will experiment with more of these in the future and likely more sets as well, will at least go up to 235
-good session in general though ghr was much tougher than usual, need to check the bench setting next time

[EatMyWay2TheTop]

I'll be following your log closely as Im gunning for the same ballpark. Good luck.

[Kenny Powers]

thanks brotha, good luck on acheiveing your goals as well!

another workout coming in a few hours

[Kenny Powers]

Bench - Week 3 of Coan Periodized Program

Paused Bench Press

235x8
235x8

Close Grip Bench T&G

205x8
205x8

Incline Bench T&G

195x8
195x8

Floor Skullcrushers

Ez-bar + 70x15
Ez-bar + 70x15
Ez-bar + 70x15

Review

-nothing too challenging, though my endurance sucks haha
-a little frustrated in that my setup for bench was a little off today, but found the groove at the end, should be good going into my next workout
-anxious to up the weight and get back to the heavy stuff

[roots]

nice raw numbers, that 545 deadlift for a double is serious weight. Do you train deficit deads every week?

[-JM-]

Kenny, I too will be following along. I have a similar target.

Lofty goals are much more fun!!

Good luck!

[Kenny Powers]

nice raw numbers, that 545 deadlift for a double is serious weight. Do you train deficit deads every week?

thanks my man

i have been recently. they are my main lift in the Coan Phillipi program which i just started and i was using them for about 2 months before hand as well. i feel like they will give me excellent carryover to regular deads and improve my power off the floor.

im hoping that when i get to a mid 500s deficit pull, i will be able to handle 600 on regular deads. that is my short term goal and if i want to hit 1500 im going to have to pull 600+

Kenny, I too will be following along. I have a similar target.

Lofty goals are much more fun!!

Good luck!

awesome man, ill do the same for you. more powerlifting the better

and hell yea they are, gonna feel badass when i can squat 500+, bench 365 and pull 600+

[Kenny Powers]

Coan Phillipi Deadlift Week 2

Deficit Deadlift off 2.5 inch blocks

435x2
495x1 (no blocks, off the floor)

Deficit DL SPEED WORK (60 sec rests, focus on speed and explosion)

355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3

Massive Superset with RDL, BB Row, Chin then repeat

RDL

365x8
365x8
365x8

Strict BB Row

265x8
265x8
265x8

Chinup

+35x8
+35x8
+35x8

Thoughts

-all in all, not bad for just getting back into deadlifts after a pretty substantial hiatus
-wasnt supposed to do 495, guys i was lifting with were doing some singles and i wanted a taste of some heavy weight haha
-crushed 495, easy rep and probably could have repped it out 5+ times
-assistance work is lagging, should improve soon, rdls and chins were especially weak today but i will continue to improve

[Chalky Palms]

Lifts looks solid, deads are strong as well. Those are big numbers to be pulling for your weight. Good luck with the goals!

[-JM-]

Assistance is lagging you say? I cant wait to see it when its on point.

[EatMyWay2TheTop]

Strong session to say the least

[KoSh]

I'll be watching this one. My goal is to hang with you now, and you're pretty far ahead of me (Read: I'm not even close)

See that figure in the distance in your rear view mirror?

No... Further back...

Not that one either...

I'm the little speck that's barely visible... Keep an eye out, I'm coming!

[Kenny Powers]

Lifts looks solid, deads are strong as well. Those are big numbers to be pulling for your weight. Good luck with the goals!

thanks chalkster, im trying to stay consistent and keep driving to those goals. this week has been a good start so far, im feeling solid

Assistance is lagging you say? I cant wait to see it when its on point.

haha, give it a few weeks hopefully. ive been up to 445x5 on RDL before and up to +75x8 on chins before, so i have a ways to go before i get back there. i just need to continue to imrpove my work capacity and strength

Strong session to say the least

thanks my man, im not satisfied yet! lots of work to do as always...

I'll be watching this one. My goal is to hang with you now, and you're pretty far ahead of me (Read: I'm not even close)

See that figure in the distance in your rear view mirror?

No... Further back...

Not that one either...

I'm the little speck that's barely visible... Keep an eye out, I'm coming!

hahaha, i know what you mean man. we have a few guys im trying to hang with that are just owning all my lifts so we all have improvements to make

thansk for the support man, and ill swing by your log to see whats happening in that bad boy

tear it up man, competiiton is alwayssssssssss a good thing in my eyes!

[Time+Patience]

Coan Phillipi Deadlift Week 2

Deficit Deadlift off 2.5 inch blocks

435x2
495x1 (no blocks, off the floor)

Deficit DL SPEED WORK (60 sec rests, focus on speed and explosion)
355x3

RDL
365x8

Strict BB Row
265x8

1 question for you... The Deficit Deadlifts, are you standing on a block, ie you are elevated higher making the bar placement lower on your shins, or vice versa- the bar is on blocks thus making it higher against your shins.

Those are definitely some impressive numbers. We sound like we have similar bodytypes. When I was PLing I had strong legs, I could get nearly 1200 combined on my Squats and Deads, but the Bench held me back.

I'll be following up on your jounal to see if I can pick up any new tips, I might incorporate some of that Speed work that you are doing.

Do you utilize bands or chains? If so how do you like them?

Get to those heavy weights!

[Kenny Powers]

1 question for you... The Deficit Deadlifts, are you standing on a block, ie you are elevated higher making the bar placement lower on your shins, or vice versa- the bar is on blocks thus making it higher against your shins.

Those are definitely some impressive numbers. We sound like we have similar bodytypes. When I was PLing I had strong legs, I could get nearly 1200 combined on my Squats and Deads, but the Bench held me back.

I'll be following up on your jounal to see if I can pick up any new tips, I might incorporate some of that Speed work that you are doing.

Do you utilize bands or chains? If so how do you like them?

Get to those heavy weights!

deficit deadlifts are done by standing on a box, so i am elevated and the ROM is longer. the bar is basically on my shoetops. i like them because they aid in my speed off the floor when i get back to regular deads. unlike partial pulls (less ROM) i get good carryover to regular deadlifts

haha, yea well actually id say my squat is probably the worst of all my lifts. none are that amazing, but my back work seems to stand out a bit imo. my bench isnt that far behind anymore at 315 paused so thats ok. i basically need to increase everything haha

no bands or chains, imo people have a tendancy to get a little too fancy with that type of stuff. ive never been motivated as a raw lifter to try any of that any farther than some light experimentation. i make better gains when i focus on basics and linear periodization. for me, thats enough

glad to have you man!

[Kenny Powers]

Bench Assistance

MP (periodized, week 2)

160x8
160x8

2 Board Paused Bench

225x5
255x5
275x5

WG Floor Skullcrushers

Ez Bar + 70x12
Ez Bar + 90x10
Ez Bar + 90x10
Ez Bar + 70x15

Pressdown

10 reps
12 reps

Thoughts

-well, was feeling pretty good about this one until i remembered i forgot to do speed bench lol
-board press was good with solid speed, will likely not go heavy like that any more and will relegate them to more of a semi speed movement, focusing on good bar speed and slowly working up while maintaining the same speed
-floor skulls are working well, seem to be effective for tearin up the tri's
-MP feling good, should be smooth sailing for a while until things get heavy later into the periodization
-overall, nice and relaxing weekend session

[Kenny Powers]

think im going to focus on upping the volume a little on the accessory work. my rest times have been lazy and i think that some more volume can help. ill plan to add about 3-5 more total sets per day.

still up in the air what i will do. for sure one more set of pause squats and a few more sets of front squats since thats my bread and butter. maybe some high wide stance box squats as well idk

[Chalky Palms]

think im going to focus on upping the volume a little on the accessory work. my rest times have been lazy and i think that some more volume can help. ill plan to add about 3-5 more total sets per day.

still up in the air what i will do. for sure one more set of pause squats and a few more sets of front squats since thats my bread and butter. maybe some high wide stance box squats as well idk

Nice pressing. Why work your bread and butter? I'd use the extra sets to hit your weaknesses.

[Kenny Powers]

Nice pressing. Why work your bread and butter? I'd use the extra sets to hit your weaknesses.

Thanks CP. What i mean by that is that those exercises seem to work well and carryover well to the actual competition lifts for me. Unlike things like leg press which really dont seem to help at all.

I am keeping the periodized main movements the same but shaking up some of the assistance work and the volume. And i am definitely taking your advice in adding in some work to my weakpoints, mainly my super ****ty hips and triceps.

[Chalky Palms]

Sounds good. How old are you by the way? I'd absolutely hate you if you were younger than me with those numbers lol.

[Kenny Powers]

Sounds good. How old are you by the way? I'd absolutely hate you if you were younger than me with those numbers lol.

lol, in grad school but im a little older than usual for grad school.

how about you?

and these numbers are nothing yet, gotta improve a lot to get to raw elite status!!!!!

[KoSh]

You owned my max in MP.

I hate you.

[Kenny Powers]

You owned my max in MP.

I hate you.

lol, but i do mine seated so i cheat