Week 1 of autoregulated frequent training

just lifting by feel now and increasing frequency dramatically. I plan to have 3 weeks on and one week deload of this

friday
squat up to 405 low bar
365x2 paused
bench up to 275 cg
lats
abs

sat
squat up to 385 high bar
345 3x2 high bar
military press up to 185x1, 135 2x5, 95x12
shoulder and rear delts and hammer curls

sun
front squat up to 315x1
front squat 225 3x2 paused
bench up to 255x1 cg, 225 2x5 drop set
flat db + flyes

mon
highbar squat to 405x1, 315 2x3, 315 1x2, 225 double paused 2x3
bench up to 285x1, 245 2x3, 225 2x3
conv dead 365 6x1
dimel dl 225 2x15

tues
front squat to 295x1, drop 225x3
military press up to 175, drop 135x8
rows pyramid up to 185x3 and back down
curls

wed
high bar squat 365x1, 375x1, 385x1, 395x1, 415x1 pr
drop 315x3
drop 225x3 double pause
bench 245x1, 265x1, 275 4x1
lat pull downs 120x10, 140x8, 160x5, 100x15
decline situps w/45 3x10

thurs
front squat to 315
military press to 190pr
sumo dl 365 6x1
lower back work
db curls

fri
low bar squat to 405 3x1
cg bench to 295x1, 235x5 touch n go
landmine rows

Rep Squats/Deload

Felt really really sluggish today. The weight felt heavy, the bar moved slow, and I had no oomph. To me, this means good things after I deload this weekend and into next week for the mock meet.

Squat
barx10
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x2
cut it here. i feel like crap

GM
135 3x10

Highbar Widestance Pause Squats
3 sets

Leg Press
2x20

ABS

Heavy Deadlift Day from 1" Block

Came in feeling kinda crappy as I was warming up and as I got closer to my heavier weights, they were definitely coming off the floor slow. Nonetheless, 500 and 535 felt solid...550 just wasn't going today. Oh well, better things to come soon

Deadlift off 1" Block
135x5
225x5
315x5
365x3
405x3
455x1
500x1 @8
535x1 @9
550x0 miss

Conventional Pulls
405 8x1 @8

Barbell Shrugs 3x15

Leg Press 3x15

Up and down abs - 50 reps

Squat PR Day

Today, the goal was to work up to a heavy single and hopefully set a personal record before my mock-meet coming up in a few weeks. Warm ups felt fine, and everything up to 455 felt great. The first time I took 455, I had trouble "catching" myself out of the hole and getting my hips moving, but nonetheless I got the lift. Then, I took 475....and missed...like an idiot. I came out of the hole and right to my sticking point, then nothing. I couldn't get my hips through, although my form didn't break down at all. I was solid, I just couldn't push through



Dustin told me to take 455 again and crush it--and I did. This time I hit it fast and strong, causing me to want to take 475 again. I attempted 475 and made it this time, pretty solidly I might add. I'm not breaking down much under heavy weight, I just seem to have a problem grinding. What does this mean? Was I just being a little bitch the first time? Was it my head? Did I mis-groove the lift. Whatever the case, I got my act together and came back to kill it.

I was pretty fried afterwards, so I only did a few drop sets of highbar paused squats, abs, and a new exercise that Skursky and I saw from Klokov on YouTube for the lower back. It actually fried me pretty well. I'm thinking I'm going to keep them in the rotation.

Squat
Barx10
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x2
365x2 didn't feel primed enough yet
395x1
435x1
455x1 PR @9
475x0 miss
455x1 better
475x1 PR @9-10

Highbar Paused Squat
365x2
315x5
315x5
315x5

Decline Situps w/ Barbell
3 sets 65lbs

Reverse Plank Back Excercise
20lbs total x 30 sec
50lbs total x 30 sec
50lbs total x 30 sec
70lbs total x 30 sec

Here is a video of them doing these:

Explosive Deadlifts, Snatch Grip Pulls, and Pause Deadlifts

My deadlifts tonight felt mediocre. They were fast-ish, but I just didn't feel "on"--more like I was just going through the motions. Tonight, however, sparked some important ideas and realizations. Last week I made a comment about being too far over the bar and having my hips too far away from the bar. I am positive that if I improve these two things, my deadlift will skyrocket...easier said than done.


I have a few stretches that I always do for my hips, but I have a few ideas about some new ones that I will document for people. In the video of my training tonight, I am literally pushing my knees out as hard as I can and trying to get my hips as close to the bar as possible, but if you ask me it's pathetic. You'll notice that far too much of my torso is over the bar and my chest isn't up and strong. Part of it is me being limited by short arms for sure, but I need to do something to get into a better position. I really need to pull myself to the point that my hips come in a few inches and my chin gets right behind the bar, or at least the front of my shoulders. My only fear is that if I am able to get my hips opened up more, it'll take a toll on my squat.

Other than that, I felt strong and tonight was a "down" day of sorts in preparation for my heavy squat personal record day coming friday.

Speed Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x5
365 5x2@6

4" Snatch Grip Pulls
365 2x8@7-8

Pause Deadlifts
225 3x6@6

Shrugs
225 2x20

Lat Pulldown
120 4x15

Belyaev, Close Grip Benching, and Accessory Work

So, this happened...862 at 198lbs, which took down ed coan's record. I'd venture to say Belyaev is hands down the best sumo deadlifter of all time.



Here are the videos of my close grip stuff:

My accessory work today went well. I'm pumped that I have been able to move my close grip bench as much as I have and it is continuing to move with ease. My 5x5 reps today felt great. I am purposely trying to descend as slow as I can for a few reasons:

• I stay tighter
• It allows me to feel my biceps in the movement (weird, I know)
• I can touch in the same spot every time
• I can touch higher on my chest
• I can focus well on driving from my feet when I press

Now, I wanna touch on two of the points I just made. I can usually press really well with my legs benching like this, but today for whatever reason I was having trouble getting my feet set right because of how tight my hips were after squatting the previous day. The other thing I'd like to mention is that focusing on my biceps when I bench and descending relatively slowly are the best things I've done for my bench. I literally think about folding on to my bicep and almost like doing a reverse curl.

Close Grip Bench slow and controlled
Barx10
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
245 5x5
slingshot for fun:
275x5, 225x4, 185x3, 135x2 all one set

Military Press
95x12
115x12
115x10
115x10

Calves
5 sets

Row-Stiff Leg DL-High Pull Complex
5 sets

DB Shrugs
3x15

Preacher Curls
5 sets

Explosive Squat Day

Here is tonight's training video:

Today, my goal was to work to something around rpe 6 and do 5 doubles there, while moving the weight down and up as fast and explosively as possible. I'm pretty happy with the speed of today both set-wise and in concerns to rest time as well. I kept my rest times at a minute or under for all of my speed sets.

The reverse band sets are awesome confidence builders and I encourage anyone doing some speed work to increase the weight a little at the end of your sets, slapping reverse bands on, and smashing some weight. They allow you to move so much quicker than plain straight weight. I do not think this is a result of the bands taking a ton of weight off absolutely. The way I set them up, they weren't taking anything off at the top

The highbar paused squats felt tough today, but totally manageable. I am trying to stay as tight as possible and descend slowly to really build that eccentric part of the motion. I've also noticed that whenever I add in these heavier highbar squats, especially paused, my deadlift moves well, too--something to think about

Squat
Barx10
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x3
335 5x2 @6
reverse band 365x2
reverse band 405x2 @6

Highbar Close Stance Paused Squat
335lbs 5x5 @8-9

Leg Press 4x20

GM's 
135 3x12

DB Stiff Leg Deadlifts
 65lbs each hand 3x15