Push/Pull Meet

So I took the last three days off of training in anticipation of the push pull meet I went to today. My diet has gone completely out the window as well so it is really time to double down on that. The meet went pretty well. I weighed in at 180.4 fully dressed. So I gained a little weight this week as well, not too much to derail my goals though. I bench 225 to open, then hit 245. They were both easy so I took a shot at 265 but failed. I think I had it in me but I dipped a bit and in competition that is an automatic failure so they pulled it. Deadlift was much better. I opened at 450, then crushed 485 and finished with 505. I definitely had more in me but I wanted to get a solid PR and not hurt myself so I was conservative with my 3rd attempt. So all in all, a good day. Met some stupid strong people and got a lot of solid laughs as well. The best part of the day was right before one of the guys did his third bench attempt he was sitting on the edge of the bench huffing and puffing and psyching himself up (pretty standard) and his buddy walks over and just gives him a huge sweeping open hand slap one two combo and yells something in his face like "ALL DAY BABY!". I just burst out laughing, the bromance was unreal.

All meals/ME lower

Breakfast- Chicken split breast and kale
Lunch- Same as breakfast plus a cup of sweet potato
Dinner- Same as lunch but broccoli not kale

I decided to just get some volume today and work on my form with the super wide squat stance. I started with the bar and took 20 lb jumps. I did several sets of 5 then did triples until I hit 225 and did the rest as singles. My last set was at 335 which is when I really started to strain. That took me a while so I finished with 3 sets of Kneeling abs with the green band x20 super set with BW reverse hypers x20.

I am now positive that my hip flexors are a limiting factor when I squat super wide because they are on fire right now. They never get this sore when I do standard low bar squats.

Saturday/DE Press

My workout today
Bench 8x3@55% of 1RM (140#) +20 lbs chain (45 sec rest)
Elbows out Tri Ext 30# 15, 12, 12, 10 (1 min rest)
Chins with 35# 8, 5, 4, 4, 4 (1 min rest) the goal was 25 total reps
1 Arm Press L then R 50x5, 45x5 (3 mins rest)
1 Arm Press L only 40# ss with hammer curls L only 25# 10 sets with 30 sec rest
Standing abs with blue band for 3 mins

Dinner Chicken Split breast, cup of sweet potatoes and some broccoli

Yesterday and today were not the best. Yesterday started with me weighing in at 177.4, a gain of .6 lbs. So that means no snacking next week and I am going to have to increase my activity level in the morning, maybe throw in extra conditioning. Standard meat and veggies for breakfast and lunch but I went to a haunted house with friends so we pre gamed and then got pizza for dinner. It was delicious, but a poor choice. Then I ate work food like all day today. Once I start I just can't stop, it's free, tasty and plentiful. A deadly combination. I definitely took a step back this weekend. Just gotta double down my efforts this week.

Breakfast

Broccoli and split breast.

ME Upper

I went to look at a car today which pushed my workout back to 9. Decided to skip my ME lift and just hit my assistance work.

DB Bench 65# 12, 10, 9, 7 (2 mins rest)
BB row 155# 10, 7, 6
Bent over rear delt raises 15# 12, 12, 12

Dinner: I didn't cook any sweet potatoes or rice so I had to make due. Bowl of raisin bran and a split breast. Yummy.

Breakfast and lunch

Pork chop and kale. Fortunately, this was the last pork chop of this batch. Chicken will be a welcome change.

Dinner

A pork chop.

Lunch

Pork chop, kale and onions and half an avacacado.

Breakfast and lunch

Pork cops and kale. Dinner had sweet potatoes which is the pic.

ME Lower

Squat 275x1, 315x1(epic fail, story later), 295x1, 315x1, 345x1 (epic fail) (all with 40 lbs of chain)

And that's it. That was demoralizing. I did not feel strong coming into this. At the end of this mess I had already been at it for 55 minutes and was zapped. Let's see where I went wrong.
1. Too aggressive when feeling weak. I always try to hit it hard even if I feel shitty but I probably should have been more cautious.
2. Trying multiple new things. First time squatting with chains and first time squatting heavy with a super wide stance. That was dumb.
3. The first time I failed 315 I was so confident I didn't even set my rack up so I got to the bottom and had to place the bar down on one side and try to not destroy my floor with the other side. So dumb.

I am going to set aside some time to learn how to squat powerlifter style, my technique is definitely atrocious. Standard low bar is not gonna cut it for competition. O well, let's hope Wednesday is better. Food time.

Dinner: Pork chop and cup of sweet potatoes.

Dinner

Pork chop and a half and a cup of sweet potatoes.

DE Upper Day

Bench 3x8@ 50% of 1RM +20 lbs of chain (45 sec rests)
Tri Ext Elbows Out 25# for 15, 15, 15, 15 (1 min rest)
Pull-Ups with 55# 5, 4, 3 (1 Min Rest)
1 Arm Press L then R 50x5, 45x5 (3 mins rest)
1 Arm Press L only 40# ss with hammer curls L only 25# 10 sets with 30 sec rest
Ring L sits 2 sets of 30 secs (1 min rest)

Today was the first day I used the chains and it was better than I had hoped. I definitely felt like I was going to throw the bar into the ceiling every time I started to press back up. That combined with the clinking as they crashed to the ground proved to be a mantastic experience. Money well spent. I had close grip bench scheduled but I had no spot so I went with the tri ext. I think I will keep them the rest of this wave though.

Breakfast and lunch

Pork chop and a half and collards for both. Lunch also had a cup of sweet potatoes which is the pic.

Lunch/dinner

The pic is split breast and kale which was lunch and dinner was 3 pork chops and half an avocado. I dropped the other half on the floor :(

Breakfast

2 split breasts and kale.

Weigh in #1

So I have to lose 11.8 lbs in 8 weeks. Im expecting to be able to cut 3-5 lbs in water weight right before the meet so I am shooting for a little over a lb a week. Nothing crazy.

Dinner

Chicken meatloaf, kale and sweet potato. The best part of convincing my mom to become a firebreathing cavewoman? Home cooked paleo meals. Mmmmmmm.

DE Lower Day

Box Squat 2x6@55% of 1RM (205)+ mini bands 45 sec rest
Sumo Deads 1x6@55% of 1RM (275) 30 sec rest
Power Snatch 10x1@65% of 1RM (105) 30 sec rest
Hanging Leg Raise 11, 8, 6

I terminated leg raise sets when I was forced to swing or push down with my lats to complete a rep. Felt good, still having trouble "finishing the lift" on Power Snatches. And keeping my back straight.

Lunch

Pork chop, collards and a cup of mashed sweet potato. Forget to take a pic.

Breakfast

Collards and split breast.