Jason's Journal

[jason2459]

Good job on the squats and bench man. Looks like you got a good meet comming your way if you deload and rest up!

Thanks, it was like I was starting all over again. Excited my hips are better so I can actually squat down now and hit depth. This will just be a fun meet to get back on the platform then push my squat and deadlift back up and hit all time PR's all around beginning of next year in some meet. I finally got around to making that rack mount reverse hyper....only took 4 years. lol

[byronsru24]

Thanks, it was like I was starting all over again. Excited my hips are better so I can actually squat down now and hit depth. This will just be a fun meet to get back on the platform then push my squat and deadlift back up and hit all time PR's all around beginning of next year in some meet. I finally got around to making that rack mount reverse hyper....only took 4 years. lol

Better late then never man....thats how I felt when I started comming back from the car accident w/ my neck..took damn near 2 years to get my strength back....but now I'm stronger then ever. It shows that persistence is key w/ this thing of ours. Keep at it, and good luck at the meet!

[jason2459]

Week 12/Day 4
warm up

Openers SQ/DL
Squats
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x2@225, 275, 315 (was going to start singles here but didn't hit depth and decided to hit 315 again)
1x1@375 hmph


DL
1x1@135, 185, 225, 275, 315, 375 hmph


RE
Some hanging leg raises and Rever Hypers

Comments
Don't know what to say. I want to rage but have to keep it mentally together and just deal with it. 375 on vid looks smooth but it felt really heavy. Decided to shut it down and will just open with that as I'm not confident with my squat at all. I have to treat this like it's my first meet again and just don't worry about the numbers and just concentrate on not bombing and have some fun. Then hit my hips/glutes and lower back hard after this meet. Can't look back at excuses but fix things going forward as I have no more excuses to train those areas hard. Then on the deadlift I started seeing read just pulling 275. By the time I got to 375 I decided to just shut it down. That felt pretty damn heavy too. I think another big thing is I'm very ready to deload. I'm pretty confident in my pull and will go ahead and open with 405.

[jason2459]

Week 13/Day 1
warm up

Openers Bench
Bench
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x3@135, 185
1x1@225, 255, 255
1x1@275


RE
Some Standing band snatches and face pulls

Comments
Easy. Now bench I've been able to train like I wanted and should. I feel just as strong in the bench as I was before if not stronger as I've lost at least a 1-2 board with my wieght loss.

[jason2459]

Week 13/Day 2
warm up

DE SQ/DL
13" Box
1xseveral@bar, 135

Added Avg. Bands
1x2@135, 155, 185

8x2@205


DL
1x1@bar, 135, 185
added monster mini
1x1@185

6x1@225

RE
Some rev. hypers, ghr, and spread eagle situps

Comments
Well, this was supposed to be last night but I fell asleep while I was warming up....yeah. I was just so freaking tired. Woke up to my kid yelling out for daddy and wondering where the hell I was, very disorienting. Tonight felt great though. So much better then last Friday. I went back wider with my stance and lowered the bar back down. Also walked out a bit different liked it a lot more. I was out of breath after the squats with the average band. First time using those and with the onyx bands the weight builds up really quickly. Looking forward to bringing my squat up after this meet. I'm still going to go ahead and open low and go really conservative just trying to match my first meet.

[jason2459]

Week 13/Day 3
warm up

DE Bench
Bench
1xmany@bar, 135

Added Dbled monster mini
1x3@135

8x3@155


RE
Some pullups, standing band snatches, and tricep pushdowns


Comments
That's it.

[jason2459]

2012 NASA Iowa Regional

I'm to sick to really write up something extravagant. Last Thursday night I started coughing and haven't stopped since. About puked this morning while coughing up a lung and gagging on phlegm.

Woke up 5:30am Saturday and rolled out of bed straight into my car all packed up the night before. Weighed in @ 8:30am lower then I wanted to be. 196 point something and feeling weaker then crap. I stuck with my planned openers though and put them down on the card. 375 Squat, 275 Bench, and 408 DL. I just gave up on the squats two weeks ago and I don't care.

Squats. Yeah I did them. And yes I suck. I didn't even wrap up. I know what I need to do and will fix it for next April. My back is lacking the most and I need to mentally get back in the game here.

1st Lift @375 felt heavy as heck and stalled on the way up and pushed through. 1st goal to not bomb out and I needed this opener.
2nd Lift @ 385 actually felt easy and lighter then the 375
3rd Lift @ 408 I didn't even try. Didn't care. I hit my sticking point and thought 408 Sucks and just isn't worth it.

Bench. What I was looking forward to the most going into the meet. I felt stronger in the bench then ever before especially with the weight loss and loosing belly size. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing.

1st @ 276 I cramped up a lot trying to get setup so luckily this was my opener and really easy.
2nd @ 304 I went back and rolled myself out and stretched a lot. I just wanted to break 300 and this attempt did it. I was happy to call it good for the day at this point. But 304 felt really easy and decided to jump up to an all time PR
3rd @ 315 PR. Smoked it.

Deadlift I was definitely more confident in my deadlift then the squat going into the meet. But I should have trusted my training a lot more then I did. I should have opened up with what I did on my second attempt. I just need to keep up with what I've being doing with deadlifts and bringing my squat up will only help this out as well.

1st @ 408 WAY to easy.
2nd @ 440 Should have easily been my opener if not more
3rd @ 507 I missed but shouldn't have. Not saying it was easy or felt light but it certainly felt doable. Bar got up to my knees and I got out ahead of the bar and couldn't recover. This would have tied my previous meet PR. I still feel good about this weight and feel my deadlift is back.


So, now I have a starting point again and time to look forward to my next meet. Looking at doing three next year in April, July, and October. So, I have 6 months to get my squats back up and keep improving on the bench and deadlift. I want that 1300+ total back.

[jason2459]

Meet Vid.

Video

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 1
warm up

DE Bench
Bench
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x5@155

8x3@185


RE
Incline Bench
1x10@135
3x5@185

CSR
1x20 w/ light band
1x12 w/ avg band
2x10 w/ strong band

Standing band rolling tricep ext. w/ light band
1x20
1x15
1x12
1x10


Comments
Just can't explain how much this past weekend's meet has put a big fire back in my belly. 6 months until the next meet and can't wait. Regardless of how crappy my total and squat are I'm not even bothered by it anymore. I kept getting depressed with where I was and where I'm at but now I have my new starting point again and can only look at that and work with what I have now. This will also be the first time I'll be lifting in the USAPL as that's going to be the next meet in April. After that will be an AAU meet in July. Looking forward to the AAU meet as I hear it's a lot of fun. It's the Husker state games and includes all kinds of sports lasting around a full week. Both look like they occure every year so I should be set on an April USAPL Nebraska State meet, July AAU state games, and an October NASA Iowa regional meet every year from here on out. Nice 3 month spread between each one then a good 6 months to the next years cycle.

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 2
warm up

ME SQ/DL
SSB GM
1xseveral@bar
1x5@115, 155
1x3@175, 205


RE
RDL
1x10@135, 225
3x5@315

Seated Leg Curl
5x12 w/ light band

Spread Eagle Sit ups
4x10 w/ 10lbs plate


Comments
This was tough and I just really hate regular GMs let alone with a SSB. Tried keeping these rounded and legs straight. Back just wanted to keep arching but that's good I guess.

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 3
warm up

ME Bench
Bench
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x5@185, 225

3 Board
1x3@275, 295, 315, 335 PR


RE
Bench
2x5@275
2x5@225

Face Pulls
4x12 w/ mini

Tri pushdowns
5x20 w/ mini

Comments
Back was still fried from last Friday's GM's and can't believe I'm still coughing for over a week now. Felt pretty weak last night so just went for some volume and a triple PR.

[larsen540]

Nice job on the PR bro

[jason2459]

Nice job on the PR bro

Thanks. As beat up as I feel and still sick I don't know if I could have gone for a single PR but happy with it all the same.

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 4
warm up

DE SQ/DL
Squat
1xafew@bar, 135
1x5@185

12x2@205

DL
1x1@135, 225
8x1@265


RE
Hypers w/ dbled mini band
4x12

Hanging Leg Raise
5x10

Comments
Working on my squat stance again...

[byronsru24]

Sorry I haven't been in here for awhile Jason. GREAT job at the meet! Feels good I bet to get some #'s back on the board doesn't it?

[jason2459]

Sorry I haven't been in here for awhile Jason. GREAT job at the meet! Feels good I bet to get some #'s back on the board doesn't it?

Thanks a lot and glad to see you posting. Feels better then I ever imagined it would. I suck but I damn it I have some numbers again and will only go up from here. Looking forward to working on my squat form.

[jason2459]

Week 2/Day 2
warm up

ME SQ/DL
SSB 14" Box squats
1xseveral@bar, 115
1x3@155, 175, 205, 225, 245
1x2@265
1x1@295, 315, 335 PR, 345 PR


RE
Pull throughs
5x12 w/ avg band

Band GM
3x20 w/ avg Band

Rev. Hyper
many @ 140

Comments
Had to deload wednesday's bench. The nagging cough I've had the past few weeks turned into walking pneumonia and flemmy as all get out. Probably shouldn't have lifted Sunday or Monday either or probably even tonight but I could barely get a breath in with out coughing Wednesday. Still feeling pretty under the weather but cough is finally getting better.

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 2
warm up

DE Bench
Bench
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x5@155
1x3@185

10x3@195


RE
Close Grip 4 Board
1x5@225, 275
1x3@315

Pull ups
4x7
1x10

Comments
wtf. annoying cough into pnumonia, into bronchitis with fluid in the ears... what next. been on a nebulizer the past two days. Feeling so freaking week and took yesterday off and again I probably should have just taken today off too. Oh well I have an off day tomorrow. Switching up my rotation a little just because and starting this week off again back to week 1. I like to do that every so often and have done several variations since I've started from 3 day to 4 day to two week splits. Right now been doing DE ME ME DE and switch up to a DE DE ME ME but really is sort of the same except switching up days and flipping the sq/dl and bench days. Also, going to try out some weightlifting shoes just because I can.

Sunday DE SQ/DL
Monday DE Bench
Tusday off day (rehab/prehab/recovery work)
Wednesday ME SQ/DL
Thursday off day (rehab/prehab/recovery work)
Friday ME Bench
Saturday off day (rehab/prehab/recovery work)

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 3
warm up

ME SQ/DL
warm ups

Zercher Harnes 4 pin pulls
1x1@bar, 135, 185, 205, 225, 245, 275, 295, 315PR


RE
Pull throughs w/ avg band
4x15

BB Suitcase deadlift off 1 pin
1xseveral@bar
1x10@95
2x5@135


Comments
Went a day with out having to use the nebulizer. Pull throughs winded me badly though. I still hate the zercher harness.

[byronsru24]

Thanks a lot and glad to see you posting. Feels better then I ever imagined it would. I suck but I damn it I have some numbers again and will only go up from here. Looking forward to working on my squat form.

One thing you might want to work on is maybe trying to bring your stance in just a hair. I know for myself I squatted like you did raw for awhile, and once I brought in my stance a hair, my squat shot up fast. Just an idea.

Here's my squats from my last meet for a bit of comparison:

[jason2459]

I hear you. Your bar speed is a lot better then it was. My bar speed still sucks especially in the squat. I've picked it up a little in the bench but still need work there too. I definitely will be playing with my squat stance quite a bit and I do want to bring my stance in. I have to watch out though as my knees go forward my knee cap blows out and I'm done for a few weeks. I know pretty quick before it goes out completely though and I'm just in pain for a few days. I'm going to play around with some weightlifting shoes too to help reduce the knee travel as I bring my stance in. I still plan on being outside shoulder width, low bar, pushing my rear back and knees out hard.

[jason2459]

Week 1/Day 4
warm up

ME Bench
warm ups

Rev Band Bench w/ light band
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x5@185, 225
1x3@245, 275, 295, 315, 335
1x1@345 PR

RE
Bench
1x3@275
3x3@225

Standing Band JM Press w/ light band
2x20
1x15
1x12

Face Pulls
4x15 w/ light band



Comments
Finally feeling better and cough going away. Wow, that was just a nasty few weeks there. I felt pretty good energy wise until I hit about 295 then my energy levels started falling fast. I was planning on just going with singles at 315 but forgot and hit a triple anyway. Then I was just going to hit a single at 335 but said screw it just before I racked it and got two more in. Then just stopped at 345 before I dragged myself to far down a path to failure. I took the bands off and took the weights back down to 275 and that felt like a ton of bricks and went 225. Barely able to lift my arms up right now.

I got a new pair of Adidas Adipowers in and if I didn't get a super great deal on them I wouldn't spend near the money they normally cost just to try out a weightlifting shoe with my squats. I wrote this up in another thread but used them benching tonight too. It was different and can see how they can help someone needing to keep the heals down. A lot more grip to the soles then my chucks and the lifted heal was a nice feel but found it much easier to push my butt off the bench which is not good so I will play around with foot placement to reduce that chance. The flex in the toe area of the shoes was totally unrestricted to allow me to setup and unrack the bar easily. I get up on my toes and lift my butt up to help me unrack the bar with out someone else to hand off. Can't wait until Sunday to get a dynamic squat session in and play around with my form.

I wrote this up in another thread on my first impressions of the shoe earlier tonight:

In person I'd say more red then orange but definitely have orangish to them. Fit at 10.5 is very snug but totally bareable and probably is perfect for a weightlifting shoe. I wont wear these for longer then I have to for sure. They may break in a bit but I don't count on to much since it's a PU coated leather making it plyable, rugged, water resistent but wont stretch out to much. If my feet were any wider these shoes would suck as I'm already a good size to size and a half bigger. There is definitely some room in front of the toes but do not see that going to be an issue what so ever with these laced up and that strap cranked down which it seems like it can take a beating itself and is very heavy duty. I don't have flat feet but I can defintely tell someone with flat feet could be annoyed by the arch. I think it feels good but it is very present and seems to be keeping my heels in place very nicely along with the strap. Very nice quality shoe. PU coated leather should last a long time compared to just pure synthetic or pure leather that you don't want to get wet. Haven't seen anything special on needing to condition or maintain PU-Leather so that's good.

I'll try benching in them tonight which could be good since all the feds I lift in I have to keep my heal down. Sunday I'll be squating. I already did some light reps and they feel f'n solid and feels natural to me. I'll have to work on form and foot placement. The soles on these grab the floor really well and the heal makes my chucks feel squishy. I'm already sold on these but will still check out the Romaleos when they come in I can't pass that oportunity up.

[jason2459]

Week 2/Day 1
warm up

DE SQ/DL
Squats
1xseveral@bar, 135

1x2@185, 225

8x2@245



Supp
Squats
1x2@275, 295, 315

DE DL
DL vs. mini
8x1@245

RE
GHR
1x14
3x8

Hanging Leg Raises
1x15
2x12
1x8


Comments



Sold on using the weightlifting shoes for the squat. Played around with my foot placement quite a bit. The heal definitely shifted me just enough to bring my stance in a bit and got minimal knee travel. I felt like I could use my hips more, which is what I was hoping for too, but it also brought out more of my lower back weakness as I found my hips wanting to go up faster then my back could support. Need more lower back and ab work. I could probably get all these results with a cheap shoe like the Risto or Do-Wins so I still wouldn't drop 2 bills for powerlifting needs which I got for much much much cheaper...

Besides what just about any weightlifting shoe could provide for a powerlifter the adipower's are an extremely solid shoe and if I was an oly lifter for sure worth the $200. I have nothing else to compare to but once I stepped back and planted my feet it was pretty hard to shift my foot even just a bit. I guess that's what people are calling feeling like your feet are cemented to the ground. Even with that feeling they are a fairly flexible shoe in the toe area and they are not a heavy shoe at all or at least not anything like I was thinking they would be. I'm making sure to put a couple dryer sheets in them to keep the oder down as my feet were sweating pretty good. Feet are held in place with 0 shifting what so ever and wondering how much they will break in but the way the arch/heal area forms around the foot, plus strap, plus neoprene tongue I don't see my foot moving around one bit.

[jason2459]

Week 2/Day 2
warm up

DE Bench
Bench
1xseveral@bar, 135
1x5@155, 185

10x3@205


RE
Bench
1x5@225, 275
1x1@295

Steep incline Peanuts press
4x8@95

DB BOR
4x10@90

Standing Band Snatches
4x15 w/ mini

Comments
Oh how I absolutely hate bent over rows of any kind. I think I say that just about every time I do them and I don't do them enough. They make me want to puke. Worked with the squat shoes on the bench again and decided, don't like. I feel much more locked in and stable without the heal. But found I really like the wrestling shoes which for some reason I never thought to try them.

[byronsru24]

I've been looking at giving different shoes a try for awhile. $200 seems a bit much to cough out, but maybe come income tax. Anytime I do bent over rows I NEVER ever ever feel it in my lats at all. Even if I use 95lbs and go super slow and strict. I've gotten a lot out of chins, pullups, and pulldowns though. Might look at getting a CSR eventually