Sheiko#29- W2 D3- Friday- 5/30/08

2 Hours

1)Squats
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x2 x2 x2 x2x x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2
(75%)225x3
(65%)195x5
(55%)165x7

3)45 Degree Incline Flys
20x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Squats
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x5 x5
(70%)280(belt)x4 x4 x4 x4

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5x x5 x5

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x4 (cold/hot)- ending on cold


Notes: The squats felt SUPER easy today. I honestly need to check my depth because they felt eerily easy. I have a hunch, however, that I am getting better at just making depth rather than sinking reps far beyond what is necessary. It would makes sense that this would transfer to some more speed.

I also tried a Kaiser power rack today...those things are crazy. I'm going to stick with Sheiko as long as it works, but if I need a change at some point, I have plenty of new tools at my disposal.

-Matt

5/30/08- Thursday- GPP/Recovery

1a)Neutral Close Grip Chinups
BWx8 x6 x6 x4

1b)Cable Backhands
15x10 x10 10x15 x15

2)DB 1-Arm Row
80x8 90x8 x8

3)DB Alt Curl
35x16

Epsom Salt Bath- 2 cups in hot water

Contrast Shower- 15s/45s (cold/hot) x 4 ending in cold

Notes: I couldn't be more happy. I booked what is basically a dream job for me today at one of the best private training facilities in NYC. I can't wait to phase commercial gyms out of my working environment! :-D

Sheiko#29- W2 D2- Wednesday- 5/28/08

1 Hour 35 Minutes

1)Deadlift To Knees
(50%)275x3
(60%)330x3
(70%)385(belt)x3 x3
(75%)415x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (narrow grip, shoulder width/paused)
(50%)150x6
(60%)180x6 x6
(65%)195x6 x6 x6 x6

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 20x10 x10 x10

4)Rack Deadlifts (3" below knees- aerobic steps and converse)
(50%)275x4
(60%)330x4
(70%)385(belt)x4 x4
(80%)440x4 x4 (2.5" below knees-shoes off) x4 x4

5)Reverse Alternating Lunge
45x10 x10 x10 x10 x10


Notes: Decent training session today...felt pretty strong throughout.

I've decided that I'm going aiming to do the rack pulls from 2" below the knees rather than 3". This is what is intended with the Sheiko program, or at least what my coach has been suggesting. That extra inch does make it quite a deal harder and forces me to round my back a little more than I'm comfortable with. I feel like this will be the smart decision down the line.

Decided to use a more dynamic lunge variation in order to hit some of the stabilizing musculature that's not being stimulated much in all of the repetitive limited motion work.

-Matt

5/28/08- Tuesday- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Medium Grip Pullups
BWx8 x7 x6 x5

1b)VMO External Rotation
20x10 x10 x10 x10

2a)Face Pulls (with ropes that are way too short)
75x12 x12 x11

2b)DB Hammer Curl
35x8 x8

2c)DB Lateral Raise
30x12 x10


40 Minutes Incline Treadmill

Foam Rolling

Sheiko#29- W2 D1- Monday- 5/26/08

2 Hours 5 Minutes

1)Squats
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x2 x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x2 x2
(80%)240x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)Incline DB Flys
20x10 25x10 x10 x10 20x10

4)Narrow Grip Pushups
BWx10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Front Squats
(45%)180x3 x3
(55%)220x3 x3
(65%)240(belt)x2 x2 x2 x2

6)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Recovery- Contrast Showers- 20s/60sx3

Notes: Great session today. To be honest, my bodyweight is too high right now though, hovering around 208 from my loose diet in my week off after the meet. I had to loosen the lever belt today, so I need to tighten things up again, haha.

Squatting felt very good. I cut the depth a bit from my usual, but I'm pretty sure they were all to acceptable depth.

Benching strong as well. Some of the later sets were slow, but definitely not too slow.

Front squats felt the best they ever have. I believe that the heeled shoes during back squats have contributed to strengthening my quads quite a bit. The last time I attempted this part of the workout, I felt like I could barely finish the front squats, but there as no question this time.

-Matt

Sheiko#29- W1 D3- Friday- 5/23/08

2 Hours 5 Minutes

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4
(75%)225x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2
(75%)225x3 x3
(70%)210x4
(60%)180x6
(50%)150x8

2)DB flys (slight incline)
20x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

3)Squats
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4
(70%)280 (belt)x3 x3
(75%)300x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

4)V-Bar Pushdowns
40x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Shower- 20s/60s (cold/hot) x3

Notes: My lower body and lower back was still quite sore and stiff from the training earlier this week. Today definitely wasn't easy but it wasn't a killer either.

Bench and squat form is starting to come back, though.

-Matt

5/22/08- Thursday- Active Recovery/GPP

1a)Close Neutral Grip Chinups
BWx10 x7 x5

1b)Band Pushdown
lightx20 x20 x20

1c)Abd. Cable Ext Rotation
12.5x15 x15 x15 x15

2a)DB Lateral Raise
35x12 x9

2b)1 Arm DB Row
75x10 x10

40 Minutes Incline Treadmill

20 Minutes Epsom Salt Bath- 2 cups

Sheiko#29- W1 D2- 5/21/08- Wednesday

1 Hour 50 Minutes

1)Deadlift to Knees
(50%)275x3
(60%)330x3
(70%)385(belt)x3 x3
(75%)415x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Incline Bench Press (paused)
180 (narrow grip)x6 x6 x6 (regular grip) x6

3)Dips
BWx5 x5 x5 x5 x5

4)Rack Deadlifts
(55%)300x4
(65%)360x4
(75%)415 (belt) x4 x4
(85%)470 (aerobic steps and barefoot)x1 (w/chucks) x2 x3 x3 x3

5)Static DB Lunges
45x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

6)Hanging Leg Raises
Straightx10 x10 Bentx10


Notes: After the last workout, my legs were probably as sore as they've ever been. Walking was extremely uncomfortable, let alone sitting down and getting back up.

I was still sore when I went into today's programming, and as usual, this part of the program was pretty brutal. The gym I was at had shitty collars and they kept sliding off along with the weights during rack pulls, which made for a very tilted bar at lockout...certainly not ideal.

The incline bench was actually quite difficult. My triceps were certainly lagging and I was flaring quite quickly. The tricep assistance work in this program should be helpful.

-Matt

Sheiko#29- W1 D1- Monday- 5/18/08

1 Hour 25 Minutes

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4 x3
(70%)210x3 x3
(75%)225x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Squat (Safe Squat Shoes)
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x5 x5
(70%)280(belt)x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

3)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4 x4 x4 x4

4)Incline DB Flys
20x10 x10 x10 x10 (flat) x10

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Recovery- Contrast Shower- 15s/45sx4 (ending on cold)

Notes: First training session today since the meet. It really kicked my ass. Even benching was difficult. The form of course felt a bit off having been awhile since I've done the movements.

The medial part of my right knee was bothering me when I was stepping over benches and setting up for the bench press, but it was fine on squatting and seems to be alright now.

It was my first day squatting in the Safe Squat Shoes. They felt pretty good and definitely more stable than the Nike Frees. The only thing I didn't like was that it was difficult to turn my feet out once I had my stance width set because of the grip on the bottom of the shoes.

The 45 degree incline flys bothered my shoulders a little, so I dropped down to the very slight incline.

Last workout in my Boston gym, graduation tomorrow and then I'm back to NYC!

-Matt

5/10/08- Albany Strength USAPL- Meet Recap

All in all, a very successful meet and a very successful 20 weeks of training between this and the last competition. I'll go piece by piece...

Making Weight
I really didn't have much weight to lose for this meet, so that made things quite easy. I was only coming down from around 203lb during the training cycle. The week before, I avoided the cheat meals that I occasionally have. I dropped the carbs back a bit, and drank 2 gallons of water a day starting the Monday of meet week. I got to step on the scale the day before, and weighed in at 201.4lb. 12 hours out from weigh-ins, I cut out water and food, only having drank a gallon the day before.

I went to bed the night before at 10PM, the earliest I have gone to bed in ages...and I slept almost all the way through until 6:15AM. I've never gotten more than a few hours of sleep before a meet due to nerves, but I seemed to be much more relaxed about it.

I was a bit worried that I wasn't dehydrated enough judging by the color of my piss. It was essentially clear, all they way up until the weigh-ins. I ended up being 197.4lb. Drank 2 cups of water, ate my first "meal", 2 more cups of water, and then Gatorade and more food.


Squat
To say that squat warmups were rushed would be an understatement. Too many people in the room and all of them trying to get warmed up as fast as possible. I was able to do the bar for 2 sets, 185x3, 235x2, 275x1 and then I realized that the flight before mine was ending. So I had to jump from 70% to 90% (my opener). This worried me but 350lb went up pretty easy. As planned, I jumped to 375lb. I sunk it way too deep and it threw me forward. I also forgot to force my elbows forward. The weight moved much more slowly than it should have, and I was pissed to have wasted the energy. 400lb was the plan, but I knew that I wouldn't be getting it up if I sunk it that deep. I decided that I would basically go to what felt like shallow depth and just try to make the lift. Well, what I thought was shallow was deep enough for the judges and on film, and I landed a 400lb squat. My first double bodyweight squat and first 400 to legit depth. A 25lb meet and 10lb gym PR. I have never fought that hard and long for a squat.

Bench Press
Warmups felt good. 260lb went up pretty easily. 280lb went up pretty easily, but slower than it should have. That is a 5lb meet PR. In hindsight, I should have played it safe with 285-290, but not big deal. I missed on 295lb.

Deadlift
Warmups felt great. I took one set of tripes at 50% and the rest were singles. 480lb was speedy. 515lb was a 2.5lb meet PR and broke the NY State Raw 198 USAPL deadlift record of 500. 550lb was smooth as hell and probably the prettiest max deadlift I have ever done. I also used baby powder on my thighs for the first time during my last attempt. This was a 37.5lb meet PR and a 15lb gym PR...very big improvements!

After the meet had ended, I decided that I wanted to take 555lb for a ride in the warmup room. After some ammonia and the blaring of "Thunderstruck" in my earphones, I ripped it off the ground. It came up, and past the knees, up the thigh and then the impossible happened...I was stuck 2 inches from lockout. I kept pulling and felt like my insides were going to shoot out of my ass. Then I dropped it. Then I almost passed out. Then I took the camera back to look over the video and deleted it by accident. I was pretty pissed, but I learned a hugely valuable lesson. I was going to take rack pulls out of my program because I had never, not once, ever, missed a deadlift above the knees. I think I know to keep them in now.

Total
I went 8/9 and got a 1,230lb total for a 67lb meet PR. Can't really ask for more than that. According to the 100% RAW Classification chart, that puts me at Class I. Next stop Master, then one day...Elite!

Sheiko#32- W4 D2 (Last Training Day) Wednesday- 5/7/08

BW- 201.4lb (3 days out)

35 Minutes

1)Squat
(50%)195x3
(60%)235x3 x3
(70%)275(belt) x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)(ring between middle and ring finger)
(50%)150x3
(60%)175x3 x3
(70%)205x3 x2 x1

Notes: Very easy. Form felt solid all throughout.

I’ll be down to 200 the morning before the meet and cut water 12 hours out. 2 gallons is starting to go a lot easier now as well.

I got to train and grab lunch with another USAPL guy whose been competing for quite a while. Got some good advice about powerlifting in general. He also told me that the bars at the meet will have wider ring spacings, so my grip in the gym here will probably be around pinkies at the rings at the meet.

3 nights rest and I should be all set to go.

5/6/08- Tuesday- Recovery

60 Minute Full Body Relaxation Massage

Sheiko#32- W4 D1- 5/5/08

(1 Week Out)

BW- 201.8lb

45 Minutes

1)Bench Press (paused)(ring btw middle and ring finger)
(50%)150x3
(60%)175x3 x3
(70%)205x2 x2
(75%)220x1 x1 x1 x1

2)Deadlift
(50%)270x3
(60%)320x2 x2
(70%)375 (belt)x2 x2 x2 x2

3)Lever Crunch
10x8 x8


Notes: Easy workout today. Bench felt super easy and deadlifts felt pretty good. I don't think the deadlifts were as fast as last time, but that's probably fine...I'm not setting up for as big of a PR this time around.

Started today drinking 2 gallons of water up until 7PM Friday night.

I've messed with my attempts for the last time (I think). Here they are...

Squat- 350, 375, 400 (25lb meet/10lb gym PR)
Bench- 260, 280, 295 (20lb meet/5lb gym PR)
Deadlift- 480, 515, 550 (37.5lb meet/15lb gym PR)
Total- 1,245 (83lb meet/30lb gym PR)

In the other version, I was going to attempt to match my gym PRs in my second attempt, so that if I failed on the third, at least I would have a meet PR. After giving it some consideration and taking advice into account, I realized that I would be wasting precious energy by taking attempts so close together for my second and third. There is certainly more pressure this way, but I think that it makes more sense. I will smoke my openers, strain a little bit on my second attempts, and grind through my thirds.

I'm a bit anxious about screwing up a technicality on my third attempt and getting redlighted for it without another chance to take a crack at it, especially if the strength is there. But...I suppose this is just part of the risk that goes with it.

I expect to hit some big urination PRs over the next week.

-Matt

Sheiko#32- W3 D3- Friday- 5/2/08

1 Hour

1)Squat
(50%)195x3
(60%)235x3 x3
(70%)275x2 x2
(75%)295 (belt)x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)(ring btw middle and ring finger)
(50%)150x3
(60%)175x3
(70%)205x3 x3
(75%)220x2 x2 x2 x2

3)Lever Crunch
10x10 x10 x10


Notes: Squats didn't feel super easy, but bench felt excellent.

I got to bed at 6AM yesterday for reasons that were my own fault, so I need to get my ass back on track. I plan to get some serious rest come next week.

GPP/Active Recovery- Thursday- 5/1/08

1a)Prone Grip Pullups
Ultra Widex8 Medx7 Closex6

1b)Cable Adduct Ext Rotation
25x15 x15 x15

2a)DB Lateral Raise
30x15 x12 x9

2b)Seated DB Twisting Curl
30x8 25x8 x8


30 Minutes Treadmill


Notes: Feeling a bit tired. This is my last GPP day before the meet. I'm off to take a nap and then write my last college paper.