Donati's Log Of Steel Bending, Grip And Powerlifting

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/10)

Bench Press

(1x8) 135

(1x3) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 245

(1x1) 275

(1x1) 315

add shirt

(1x1) 365

(1x1) 375

(1x1) 390

[Buccos1]

Tue (5/12)

Deadlifts

(2x3) 135

(2x3) 225

(2x2) 315

(1x1) 405

add suit/straps down

(1x1) 425

(1x1) 475

straps up

(1x1) 535

[Buccos1]

Wed (5/13)

Floor Press - Axle

(1x5) 125

(1x3) 175

(1x3) 215

(1x1) 265

(1x1) 285

(1x1) 300

Speed Bench Press

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 135 - add bands

(5x3) 155

Angled Kettlebell Pushups

(2x20)

Rope Pushdowns

(2x10)

I also did a few singles with 315, trying to vary my foot positioning, to get a more solid lower-base. I am going to start incorporating some full-body stretching into my routine this week too.

[Buccos1]

Thur (5/14)

Grippers - MMS

(1x3) #1

(1x3) #1.5

(1x1) GHP5

(1x0) #2.5 (131lbs.)

(1x1) #2.5 (123lbs.)

DO - IMPs

Yellow Nail

Yellow Nail (4.25")

Red Nail

DU - IMPs

Yellow Nail

1/4 x 6" Grade 5

DU - BBW

1/4 x 6.5" Grade 8

I tried my 131lb. #2.5 for the first time (I think). I got the handles to about 5mm from closing. Right after, I tried my 123lb. #2.5 and smashed it shut. It felt good to hit some bends after the kinda day I had today! I might be done bending though, until after the meet.

[Buccos1]

Sat (5/16)

Squats

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 315

add briefs

(1x1) 405

(1x1) 425

(1x1) 475

(1x1) 485

Silver Bullet Hold

10 sec. -- #2

10 sec. -- RB 240N

6 sec. -- #3

Squats felt OK today. I've been trying to film from different angles, to get judges' perspectives from the side. 485 is over my goal for the comp, but I'm looking to open around 425-440. I'm happy with the 6 seconds on the Silver Bullet. (My best was 16 seconds at Gripmas.) The last few attempts, I've been unable to get a good set, and had the weight keep falling at the start.

485lb. Squat

[EricMilfeld]

Nice squat, Carl!

From that angle maybe depth could have gone either way. Does the organization you lift in judge depth like the usapl?

[Buccos1]

Thanks Eric! This will be a WNPF meet. Overall, they have pretty tight judging. They are typically by-the-book, but not quite like the USAPL. I've never done a USAPL meet, but have seen a ton of videos and know most of the squats are buried. I've also noticed that a lot of their top single-ply guys squat with a more narrow stance (at least from what I've seen). Speaking from experience, I am a good 1-2 inches lower when I take my stance in, but feel overall better (hips, knees, recovery) when I train with a wider-stance. I've watched a lot of my own videos and have seen a lot of variation in the hip/knee plane with a wide and closer stance. Also a lot of my attempts (when squatted to the same safety bar) look completely different in depth when seen from the front and side. I can still go with a close-stance, but start having problems when the weight gets up past 3 plates.

[EricMilfeld]

I agree with your observations. I can squat and pull the same weight whether close or wide stance, although I'm all back regardless. But if I go too wide getting proper depth would be a concern for usapl lifting.

I just finished watching the last day of the usapl equipped nationals on live video courtesy of Bodybuilding. Com. I won't spoil it for anyone, but there were some huge squats and benches in the 120 and superheavy class!

[Buccos1]

I'll definitely check out some of the lifts! A lot of those guys are incredible in what they can do.

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/17)

Bench Press

(1x8) 135

(1x5) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 265

(1x1) 295

(1x1) 325

Reverse-band Bench Press

(1x1) 365

(1x1) 385

(1x1) 405

Shrugs

(1x5) 225

(1x5) 315

(1x5) 405

(1x5) 455

Angled Kettlebell Pushups

(1x20)

(1x15)

[Buccos1]

Tue (5/19)

Floor Press

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x2) 255

(1x1) 300

Speed Bench Press

(1x3) 135

(2x3) 165

(2x3) 155 - add chains

Rope Pushdowns

(1x12) 25

(1x12) 50

Grippers - MMS

(1x5) T

(1x3) #1.5

(1x3) GHP5

(1x0) #2.5 (131lbs.)

(1x1) SM (126lbs.)

Ironmind Hub

(1x1) 50

(1x1) 60

Ironmind Pinch Block

(1x1) 52.5

(1x1) 57.5

I made another attempt at my 131lb. #2.5 and just missed! It looked like it was 1-2mm from the handles touching. A few minutes after, I tried my 126lb. Super Master and crushed it. (This used to be a hit-or-miss on my best days not too long ago.) I've been getting better at my set, and need to keep working at the transition point where my closing hand starts the close right after the off-hand pulls away. Right now, I think I'm over thinking things as they are happening, which is taking away a lot on the actual close.

[Buccos1]

Thur (5/21)

Grippers - MMS

(1x10) T

(1x3) RB 210N

(1x3) #2

(2x1) #2.5

1" V-Bar

(1x1) 105

(1x1) 150

(1x1) 185

(1x1) 210

Adjustable Thick Bar

(1x1) 100

(1x1) 170

(1x1) 200

Blob 35 - Holds

10 sec.

10 sec.

7 sec.

Everything felt pretty good. I've been trying to scale things down this week, as the meet is coming up on Sunday. It's always been hard for me taking time off! Here are my updated goals for the meet (master's class 198 single-ply):

Squat - 465

Bench - 400

Deadlift - 545

Total - 1410

[Shoggoth]

Nice numbers!

[EricMilfeld]

Good luck, Carl. I think you're gonna do real well, based on your training.

[Buccos1]

Nice numbers!

Good luck, Carl. I think you're gonna do real well, based on your training.

Thanks guys!

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/24)

I just got back from the meet. My plans definitely did not go as planned … oh well … chalk it up to another experience. I weighted in at 195, without any cutting. The meet was WNPF Pas … I competed in the master's 198 single-ply.

Squat

I opened up at 440 and got 2 whites/1 red. Bumped the second attempt to 455 and got 3 whites (really sunk this one). My final attempt was good at 475. It was tough, but got 2 whites/1 red. At this point, I was very happy with getting 475 and was thinking 1425-1430 for a total.

Bench

Both benches in the warm-up area were too low to the ground, which made me change my set-up on every attempt. As we were getting close to starting, I was really second-guessing my opener of 375, especially since I have done almost no shirted work this past year. Right after my second-to-last warmup (245), I changed my opener to 315, and decided to open raw. (I knew this would be risky, especially having a short flight and not being able to get a warmup in the shirt before my attempt.)

My opener of 315 was good: 3 whites. I got back and got my shirt on, and was ready to go for 375, but noticed there was no music or crowd noise. I think my attempt was "lazy," which is my fault, but I was able to get the rep and lock it out, but got red lighted for butt coming off the bench. For my final attempt, I decided to go with 385. I set-up a lot better for this one. I ended up getting really tight and getting my feet back, which I was trying to avoid lower-body movement again. The rep was solid … got right to lockout, but see-sawed just at the top, which made the head judge call it. It was right there too, but no lift, which meant I only got my raw opener of 315. This pretty much killed my plans.

At this point, my lower back started to spasm, which I think was due to getting so tight on the bench. (This is something I'm definitely going to work at … maybe doing some changes to my positioning and set-up … at least with the shirt.) I came close to pulling out, when I wasn't able to roll it out, but decided to rest for 15 minutes and see how warmups went for deadliest.

Deadlift

I took my normal warmup sequence, and everything felt like crap. My final warmup of 455 was a grinder. (This meet was moving really fast too, which might have contributed to some of this feeling.) I decided to change my opener of 500 to 510, which would give me (a pathetic) 1300 total, after my opener. The 510 came up (3 whites), but was a slow pull, and took mostly everything I had left. I thought about going 525, but decided to go all-out for an all-time PR of 565. I got myself ready, hit it hard, but had nothing left. I ended up passing on my last attempt.

I have some little things to fix, then hopefully, I'll be back to smash these numbers soon.

Squat

440 - good

455 - good

475 - good

Bench Press

315 - good (raw)

375 - no lift

385 - no lift

Deadlift

510 - good

565 - no lift

pass

Edited May 24, 2015 by Buccos1

[JHenze646]

Nice meet, Carl.

[EricMilfeld]

It sounds like the strength was there, but you were plagued with technical difficulties. Sorry to hear you fell short of your goals, but you still managed some fine lifts.

Carl, is lifting raw an option for you? I know you've mentioned some hip issues.

[Buccos1]

Nice meet, Carl.

Thanks Josh.

It sounds like the strength was there, but you were plagued with technical difficulties. Sorry to hear you fell short of your goals, but you still managed some fine lifts.

Carl, is lifting raw an option for you? I know you've mentioned some hip issues.

Thanks Eric. I would like to do a raw meet, but heavy squats and deadlifts beat me up too much over time. Thinking about yesterday's meet, one thing I could have done is wear my old training shirt to open. I would have had no problems with it as an opener, and could of opened at 340-350. Then, threw the tighter shirt on and gone for 385/400. Taking that second attempt yesterday was almost a wasted effort. I really need to do some fine-tuning of my foot position, to enable me to get more tight, so there is no lower-body movement. I used to bench like this, but changed to feet flat for some ADAU meets the past few years.

[Buccos1]

Mon (5/25)

DO - IMPs

Yellow Nail

Yellow Nail (4.5")

Red Nail

Grippers - MMS

(1x5) T

(1x3) #1

(1x1) RB 210N

(1x1) GHP5

(1x0) GHP6 (128lbs.)

(1x1) #2.5 (123lbs.)

I was feeling kinda beat up from the meet, but wanted to get some closes in. Just missed the GHP6 … ended up fumbling around too much on the set.

[Buccos1]

Tue (5/26)

Bench Press

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 255

(1x1) 295

(1x1) 330

Bench Press - Sling Shot

(2x1) 365

Silver Bullet Holds

#3 (144lbs.) -- 5 sec.

Angled Kettlebell Pushups

(1x20)

I know I shouldn't be benching 2 days after a meet , but just can't stay away. Especially after my screw-up at the meet … need to get things rectified. Prior to last year, I benched primarily on my toes, until I had to go flat-footed for an ADAU/100% Raw meet. Somehow, over the past year-or-so, I have been benching all flat-footed. There is no problem with this, but, when in a shirt, with an arch, flat-footed can be a problem.

I filmed my warmups today and saw almost no foot movement (just before the press trying to get more solid) or lower-body movement. I did feel weak and non-explosive, which is to be predicted. The 330 was slow too … probably should have went lighter today. Getting up on my toes makes it tougher to unrack by myself too, as I am barely clearing the hooks. I think with more reps, this will get better. I am going to try a bunch of things over the next month, with the sole goal of getting tighter in my set-up, with no lower-body movement.

I just decided to get an attempt on the Silver Bullet and was surprised to get about 5 seconds. Hands are still hurting from the meet and doing grippers yesterday.

[EricMilfeld]

Benching two days after a meet just shows you still have the fire in your heart! Sometimes you just have to lift, despite what your schedule might suggest.

[barbe705]

any chance you can get back into celli's to work your bench with the 2 fools?

[Anthony C.]

Hey Carl, sorry the meet didn't go as you planned. But those are still some pretty beastly lifts bro. Good job!!

[Buccos1]

any chance you can get back into celli's to work your bench with the 2 fools?

LOL … I tried a couple of times to set something up with Ray, but there was always a conflict in schedule. I am going to do another meet in July and am going to try to get down there a few times for sure.

Hey Carl, sorry the meet didn't go as you planned. But those are still some pretty beastly lifts bro. Good job!!

Thanks Anthony!

Benching two days after a meet just shows you still have the fire in your heart! Sometimes you just have to lift, despite what your schedule might suggest.

That's right on! It was all I thought about Sunday night … just running things through my mind.