2020...Coronavirus and beyond log

theprodgicalson

Member
10+ Year Member
Figured I'd start a log. Not promising its going to be strictly powerlifting. I'm signed up for 2 strongman comps. One in the middle of June which I'm sure will be rescheduled. Then one the end of July. I will probably do a PL comp in the winter or fall.

Since its dubbed 2020 log ill catch you up to date. Competed in January in a USPA meet. Didnt do well compared to training. In training i hit
SQUAT 535 at 9RPE
BENCH 407 at 9RPE
DEAD 705 at 9RPE
At the meet i hit 496/391/705. Week of the meet i hurt my elbow pretty bad(bowling of all things). Zapped my bench completely, and didnt do any favors on deads.
496 was my opening squat, 3 whites. Went 529 next and knew i cut it high and got red lighted. still felt incredibly easy. went 557 on my third, grinded it out and still got reds. Had video of one side and it was clearly to depth. but thats part of the sport. Took the wind out of my sail and also tore up my elbow grinding it out. hit opener of 391 jumped to 411 and got called for soft/uneven lockout. deads felt decent but not great, pulled my opener of 684 felt like trash.(refs also said that if my socks weren't touching my knee caps on my next attempt i was going to get redlighted. this was my warning).I pull sumo and there are days and weeks were sumo fires on all cylinders amd its extremly fluod, today wasnt that day. so i rolled the dice threw 705 on the bar and pulled conventional (heaviest conventional pull was 660 done almost a year prior). Did it so i could say ive pulled over 700 both stances in comp.

took a few weeks off training and got back to training. Mostly with very little organization, just free lifts at the beginning. Decided to do a strongman comp for a change of pace. All events at both the comps i signed up for are timed events. so lift or carry as much as you can in 60secs. So before all of this Covid stuff i was lifting very high volume along with working on conditioning. Notable lofts during this time were 505 Good Morning, 225x5 SOHP(very good for me, i suck at over head work) 570x8 deads, 300lb/hand farmers carries for 50 feet.

During this time i also decided to hop of Test completely to see if i could naturally recover after being on B&C the last 3 years. Got tested at 422ng/dl. So im on the lower end of the scale, bit still in range. BW is dowm because of that and because of dieting.

so that brings us to current state. found a place to train at last week. a friend of a friends garage gym. will be training there 2xweek for a 1 hour session. He is charging a day rate and im not willing to pay for more than 2 days. especially cause im already paying for 2 gym memberships.

current stats
mid 30's
height- 6'3
bw- 226-230 currently
training years 6, with some injury breaks thrown in there

i will do this log with as much info as i can. i will most likely be going into small calorie surplus here next week. My initial thoughts were to do middleweight in strongman which is 175.5-231.4, but im finally going to commit to getting myself into the 260-270lb range this year. Other goals i have for this year are 600lb good morning, 405 Front squat, 315 OHP and 750 deadlift

Week 1 Day 1
Bike -
7.5 minutes
beltless Front Squat-
195 4x10
SOHP
155 3x10
beltless Deadlift
425 2x10
Yates rows
185
3x12

starting off really light to get into a good groove, build up conditioning, and be able to continually progress over the next month or so. Like i said, i also only have an hour to do all of this so i need to be high paced. Deads felt terrible after the front squat volume so called it at 2 sets. Will replace deads on this day with RDLs or trap bar for the time being.
 
I am in and welcome to the PL section. There are a few of us pretty active here.
Looking forward to following along.

Yeah i still see some familiar faces and some new ones, which is good.

In of course. You still working with a coach these days?

No, not at the moment. Was working with a local guy, which was kinda good. He had me do a RTS emerging strategies style training. Admittedly, worked really well when i wasnt greedy. The first couple months of doing it, i was coming off a lay off of being able to squat because of patellar tendon pain in both knees (getting out of bed or siting up was painful) and deadlifts cause i partially tore my lat. So progress was really good. then i got greedy.

Goal goal for the next couple months is avout adding quality size and insane conditioning.

Week 1 Day 2
Sled drags
200ish lbs
400 ft x5 runs
Band pushdowns
100 reps total
Band pull aparts
100 reps total

I made a makeshift sled with a 20" tire, tow strap, 2x6's inside the tired and a bag with about 180lbs in chains. Serves it purpose and only cost about $20.
 
He’s back

ill try to stick around for this log. The last one i just didnt have the time or desire after a while.

I'm no power lifter, but I'm in for the ride.

appreciate the follow. most of my work for the next couple months will be strictly hypertrophy based via compound movements. And a side goal of bigger biceps with maybe some calves thrown in lol

Week 1 Day 3
Beltless 1" Deficit Deadlifts
135 x8
225 x8
315 x8
365 x8
405 x8
425 x8
445 x8
475 x8

Incline Bench
175 - 4x10

2ct Paused Hi Bar Squats
295 - 3x7

deads felt much better today, plenty left in the tank even with all the volume leading up. My incline bench also sucks compared to flat. After my last meet i started doing strictly incline and OHP work only. Once i found out my gym was closing i wanted to flat bench something heavier. Did 365x4 after not touching anything over 255 in both incline and OHP. i definitely think if your bench is stagnating while, do incline for a month or two.

This is also probably the 4th time ive squatted since the end of January. First straight bar since the meet. Felt surprising really really good.
 
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What's your plan for getting to 260-270lbs? Sounds like a nightmare.

Squatting a ton. When i was my heaviest, 252 i was squatting frequently, and for higher reps.

Taking a slow approach with food. i generally increase food intake roo quickly, which then i get burned out and under eat alot for a few days. Then repeat the cycle a week or two later.

i also think once i add test back in going to gain a good amount of weight. my levels, last i got bloods, were in range bit the low end. I feel okay for the most part. Actually seem to be sleeping better. Before all the shut downs happened i had an appointment for a sleep study. i know i have apnea. My septum is deviated and has been for a long time. So i think solid sleep will help also. Waiting for everything to open back up for that.

We will see what happens. It already getting really warm where at, which sometimes makes eating a little harder. may try some MK this summer
 
Squatting a ton. When i was my heaviest, 252 i was squatting frequently, and for higher reps.

Taking a slow approach with food. i generally increase food intake roo quickly, which then i get burned out and under eat alot for a few days. Then repeat the cycle a week or two later.

i also think once i add test back in going to gain a good amount of weight. my levels, last i got bloods, were in range bit the low end. I feel okay for the most part. Actually seem to be sleeping better. Before all the shut downs happened i had an appointment for a sleep study. i know i have apnea. My septum is deviated and has been for a long time. So i think solid sleep will help also. Waiting for everything to open back up for that.

We will see what happens. It already getting really warm where at, which sometimes makes eating a little harder. may try some MK this summer

That always happens with food for me. Can't maintain high levels of eating long term. Get so full one day I'm still full the next day and then can't hit calorie goals.

You don't worry about making the apnea worse with increased body weight? Or did you get a CPAP?

MK is good. Increases my hunger a couple weeks, but goes away. Really makes you swell up with water weight though and increases strength. It's nice because it comes on within days and goes away just as quickly when you drop it. Throw some creatine in and you can realistically gain 10+ pounds in a few days. Handy for a strength boost just from increased bodyweight. Like if you haven't filled out your weight class and you're running out of time.
 
That always happens with food for me. Can't maintain high levels of eating long term. Get so full one day I'm still full the next day and then can't hit calorie goals.

You don't worry about making the apnea worse with increased body weight? Or did you get a CPAP?

MK is good. Increases my hunger a couple weeks, but goes away. Really makes you swell up with water weight though and increases strength. It's nice because it comes on within days and goes away just as quickly when you drop it. Throw some creatine in and you can realistically gain 10+ pounds in a few days. Handy for a strength boost just from increased bodyweight. Like if you haven't filled out your weight class and you're running out of time.

yeah, the apnea worries me some. Havent gotten a cpap yet. had an appointment, but was cancelled due to covid. Also going to see a nose, ear and throat specialist when everything opens back up. A buddy had an outpatient surgery at a specialist, and said it was a night and day difference once the swelling went down.

its a risk, i know. Sleep apnea long term isnt something to fuck with. Especially with my family health history. which is why this year im consistently incorporating cardio. GF and i ride our bikes 10-20 miles 3 days a week and walk 5 miles 2-3 days a week. Although, that is about to be cut short or modified since the desert is already heating up to the 90s.
 
Unexpected gym day. Owner of the gym was supposed to have a meet today, so he asked myself and 2 other guys to come help spot and bro out at the gym. 685/485/735 @275

Week 1 Day 4
beltless1" deficit deadlifts
525 x 3
545 x 3
585 x 2

Beltless Front Squats
195
4 x 10

DB Clean & Press
worked up to 3's to 115 x 3 on right side 100 x 3 on left side

Pull ups
4x10

low back was still sore/tender for pulls 2 days ago. Threw on the belt for 2 of the front squat sets. decent day, but my low back clearly needs some work to get back up to speed. will probably ditch the beltless work for now.
 
Week 2 Day 1

Close Grip Bench
135 x 8
155 x 8
175 x 8
195 x 8
225 x 8
245 x 8
265 x 8
285 x 8

Beltless Front Squats
135 x 8
165 x 8
195 x 8
225 x 8
245 x 8 threw on belt
275 x 8

Overhead Press
165
4x10

Not too bad of a day. 3RD time front squatting in 8 days. My comp is potentially happening in a little over a month. Im going to do some training like above to get volume and intensity up simultaneously. Capping all top sets at no more than 8RPE rather than straight sets.

i had planned CGBP 225 4x10 which is 9000 total tonnage plus the warm ups i had planned would have made it 11,275. What i did today was 13,440 total tonnage. Ive done something similar in the past specifically with bench, only making 20lb jumps and it worked well. Easy volume, along with more chances at working on technique.

Weight was up a little bit today to 233.4. Yesterday was GF birthday so zero tracking then along with sunday.

Gyms TENTATIVELY are going to open up the 15th. Could possibly be June 15th off what the Chamber of Commerce are saying. Governor has the ultimate say although. Today he just decided to open up a bunch of stuff on friday, which is ahead of the schedule he laid out on the 30th.
 
Week 3 Day 1

FRONT SQUAT
225 x 10 x 2
245 x 10
265 x 8
265 x 7 (bar slipped down off my shoulders onto my biceps on 7th rep)


OVERHEAD PRESS
175
4 X 8

RDL
295
3X12
SS
PULL UPS
4X8

TRICEP PUSHDOWN
SS
MEADOWS ROWS
2X20

Early AM session. Finished up a tattoo on saturday which wraps from half my quad to some of my hamstring and from my knee up to my hip bone. Squats were a little uncomfortable but manageable. Approaching rep PR territory on Fronts. hitting 315 x 8-10 would be a good indicator that 405 x 1 is there or close. toughest part about reps with heavier front squats is keeping the bar from rolling.

really disappointed with how pull ups have been feeling. Just have to keep them in a progressive manor. would like to easily be able to hit 50 reps over 4 sets then add weight to them for a while
 
Front squat harness. It's a game changer.
This is what my training partners are telling me. We have those at the gym but who knows when I’ll be back in there. Now personally I like the SSB front squats , much more comfortable. I actually like the shoulder challenge front squats present. If you can stabilize the bar it forces a really tight core, I cannot see achieving this with the harness.
 
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