Training Updates & Plans for Future Meets

I took some time off to recover after the June 8th meet and then took a mini vacation at the end of last week so training has been sporadic until this week. Regardless, I did manage to get in a couple good workouts and even hit some PR's along the way. This Monday was the official start of this newest training cycle, so expect more frequent training updates.

My plans had been to compete at XPC semi-finals in October, so that I could qualify for their finals which was suppose to be held at The Arnold. With the announcement that the XPC was not going to be able to have their finals at The Arnold this coming year, I have decided that I will no longer be doing those meets.

I have decided that I will be competing at next year's Raw Unity Meet (RUM) in Florida and am absolutely stoked about it. It will be my first time competing against that level of competition. I will do another meet before then and am eyeing a couple different ones in the September-October timeframe, but haven't made a final decision yet. I will keep everyone updated once I make a decision.


Anyways, here's some highlights from recent training:


Saturday, June 14, 2013

Squats (Walked Out and No Knee Wraps)

375 x 3 (no belt)
415 x 3 (no belt)
465 x 3 (belt)
505 x 3 (belt)

I have become entirely way to relient on using the monolift. I have also decided that I am going to be competing at RUM next February, where I will be required to walk out my squats. So with those two things in mind I am going to be doing most of my squats at least for the near future walking the weight out for the added core work, because it forces you to stay tighter, and simply because it makes the exercise harder (always a good thing!). I am also going to be doing a lot more work without a belt and it will be a while before I wrap my knees again. The 505 triple was easy and I am excited to see where my squat goes once I start pushing it again this week.


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Deads Off 2-3" Blocks

585 x 3 (no belt)
675 x 3 (belt)
725 x 1 (belt)

This was an awesome workout and I am pretty sure all three of the sets I listed represent PR's. Just like on squats, I am going to be doing a lot more beltless work, but these felt so good from the start I decided to put the belt on and really go heavy. The 725 was a nice smooth rep, so I know I can go a little higher when the time comes.


Monday, June 26, 2013

Close Grip Bench

275 x 8 (pause on all reps)
315 x 5 (pause on all reps)
345 x 3
365 x 2

I have had issues with tweaking my right pec (the one I tore) in the past, especially at heavier weights, so for this past meet I did almost exclusively close grip bench presses until the last couple weeks prior to the meet. It didn't seem to hinder my progress either, since I hit an alltime PR and did so at a lower weight class. 365 is more than I had previously ever done for a single so hitting it for a double is a big PR.