My raw journey to 1900...

[joey54]

Good luck for the week ahead Brian.

[Brian Hopper]

Ill take 95% lol. Would love to see you hit another geared meet.

Thanks buddy, I really want to. It's just hard because I've been training alone. I'm really excited about it.

[Brian Hopper]

Good luck for the week ahead Brian.

Thanks alot, I appreciate it!

[CHASE TRUSNOVEC]

dude that would be awesome...definitely would love to see you do a geared meet for sure!!

[Brian Hopper]

dude that would be awesome...definitely would love to see you do a geared meet for sure!!

Yeah, I'm excited about it. I just need to be extra careful with my knee. But I'm looking forward to hopefully increasing my geared total.

[LuNa]

Very cool to hear Brian. Good luck this week with pulling, hope your arm feels ok.

[NickAus]

96% yet bro?

[-JM-]

Also, since I got my friend to start training with me and if I can keep him coming in, i'm going to get back in gear and do a geared meet late this year or early next year. I'm still not 100%, more like 95% lol. I will keep you guys updated as the year goes on.

Now you're talkin' big man

Quick question....when you trained in gear the majority of the time would you say you felt less or more beat up? In fact did you carry as many injuries geared than when training raw?

[borracho]

Hope the leg/arm is doing better Brian. GL with the pulls!

[Brian Hopper]

Very cool to hear Brian. Good luck this week with pulling, hope your arm feels ok.

Thanks alot Luna!!!

96% yet bro?

Close

Now you're talkin' big man

Quick question....when you trained in gear the majority of the time would you say you felt less or more beat up? In fact did you carry as many injuries geared than when training raw?

I honestly don't remember any nagging injurys while I was training in gear. Not like I do now, lol. I didn't feel really beat up either.

Hope the leg/arm is doing better Brian. GL with the pulls!

Thanks alot bro!!!

[Brian Hopper]

Monday
02/06/12

Bench press
Bar x alot
135 x 10
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
385 x 1
Added wrist wraps
420 for 6 sets of singles
405 x 2...possible opener

Incline DB presses
70 x 15
70 x 15
70 x 15

Dips
BW x 15
BW x 15
BW x 15

Finished off with some sled pulls: 4 trips for 100ft
and
Hand over hand pulls with the prolwer loaded with 2pps approx. 250lbs.


I'm very happy with how this session went. I'm taking April's advice and dropping the volume. So i'll be picking assistance movements that work. This will hopefully allow me to recover better and maybe start focusing on doing more ab work.

I wanted to work up to a 1RM, but I decided to just stay at 420 and hit my singles. But instead of doing 7 singles, I did 6 and dropped down to what my opener might be and hit a double. I think hitting 405x2 after doing 420 for 6x1, it should be a good opener.

Tomorrow I will be squatting heavy and I will give a go at some pulls. This will determine whether I do the meet or not. The plan is to deadlift up to @ 615 for some doubles. Hopefully this will go good for me

[t gale]

Glad to hear you're thinking about the gear. great job lately. hope you kill it at the meet! good luck this week with training.

[April Mathis]

420 for 6 singles is good Brian. I would just open with that. Obviously it's easy enough. You can probably get at least a 450 bench.

[JSully]

big time benching.. 420x6 singles is strong, great work

[HJP]

Strong benching! Opener for 2 after 6 sets of heavier singles, should be a good clean opener.

Look forward to tomorrows squats and pulling!

[LuNa]

Reducing volume a bit sounds like a good idea. Nice benching Brian!

[covpride]

Great work as always man, and looking forward to see what you can do in gear for sure.

[Tim K]

If you're hitting 420 that easily, it looks like a good opener to me. Of course you'll need to see how you feel after squats. Nice work Hopper! I'm curious to see how you do back in gear. I am expecting some big numbers!

[Brian Hopper]

Glad to hear you're thinking about the gear. great job lately. hope you kill it at the meet! good luck this week with training.

Thanks alot Tim. I'm excited about it, im just not sure when i'll be doing it.

420 for 6 singles is good Brian. I would just open with that. Obviously it's easy enough. You can probably get at least a 450 bench.

Thanks alot April!!! I've thought about it, but I would feel more comfortable going 405 or 410.

big time benching.. 420x6 singles is strong, great work

Thanks alot Sully!!!

Strong benching! Opener for 2 after 6 sets of heavier singles, should be a good clean opener.

Look forward to tomorrows squats and pulling!

Thanks Hayden, that's what im thinking.

Reducing volume a bit sounds like a good idea. Nice benching Brian!

Thanks Luna!!!

Great work as always man, and looking forward to see what you can do in gear for sure.

Thanks alot, hopefully I can go over 2400 my first time back.

If you're hitting 420 that easily, it looks like a good opener to me. Of course you'll need to see how you feel after squats. Nice work Hopper! I'm curious to see how you do back in gear. I am expecting some big numbers!

Thanks alot Tim!!! Exactly, we'll see how I feel after I squat. I think 405 or 410 would be a safe opener.

[Brian Hopper]

Tuesday
02/07/12
SQ/DL

Squat w/ the mastadon
Bar x alot
150 x 5
150 x 5
240 x 5
330 x 3
420 x 1
Added belt and knee sleeves
510 x 1
560 x 1
610-4 x 1
580 x 3

Deadlift
225 x 2
315 x 2
405 x 2
Added belt
495 x 2
555 x 2
615-2 x 2
615 x 3

Reverse hypers
180 x 10
270 x 10
360 x 10
360 x 10

Barbell shrugs
225 x 10
315 x 10
365 x 10
365 x 10
365 x 10


Another pretty decent session, and i'm glad it's over, lol. Lately I've been having difficulty with my squat form as far as setup. Hopefully i'll get it together on meet day. But on a good note, my arm felt pretty good and I didn't feel any pain so it looks like the meet is on!!! Other then my openers in two weeks, i'm done training heavy. Next week i'll be around 80% for all 3 lifts.

[HJP]

Stoked to hear you're doing the meet an that theres no pain in the arm! Big deads there too!

[Coke]

looks like the meet is on!!!

Wished you the best with that, was certain you'd be good to go for the meet - awesome news!!

[Tim K]

Heck, just looking at your current numbers, a 1,710 total will be easy. 1,800 is in the bag!

[Brian Hopper]

Stoked to hear you're doing the meet an that theres no pain in the arm! Big deads there too!

Wished you the best with that, was certain you'd be good to go for the meet - awesome news!!

Heck, just looking at your current numbers, a 1,710 total will be easy. 1,800 is in the bag!

Thanks alot guys for the support. Tim, for this meet I'm probably looking at something over 1750.

[April Mathis]

Squat and pull look good. I think you have a good shot at 1800 if you have a good day -I think you can get around 650 squat, 450 bench, 700 deadlift based on your recent lifting.