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Donati's Log Of Steel Bending, Grip And Powerlifting


Buccos1

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Sun (3/13)

HG 200 (95) 1x3
#2 (114) 1x3
SM (126) 1x1
RB240N-F (124) 3x1

Secret Weapon (3 sec.)
(10x1) 50

DO - IMPs
Yellow Nail
5/16 x 7" Grade 2
Red Nail


KTA is done.  I was going to do another session-or-two, but decided to shut it down.  Having a meet in a few days helped the decision too.  The last week was really weak and continued to get worse.  I was having trouble closing my 123lb. #2.5 on multiple sessions. Throughout most of the program, I had a lot of ups-and-down in closing power, but usually rebounded quickly when I hit a weak point; this time (the past week-or-two) was different, and I was't coming back like before.  I most definitely made progress on KTA, but didn't quite peak like I was planning.  

All-in-all, I closed the #3 for the first time (multiple times) and feel stronger all-around.  After having done it, I have a better idea now where my strengths and weakness are, and can tweak things a little if I decide to do it again (which I probably will).  

I have a Secret Weapon now!  And today was my first workout with it.  I like it and it is definitely something different for me.  I am going to work the SW into my training regularly, but am not sure about the programming yet.

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Tue (3/15)

Barbell Shrugs
(1x8) 135
(1x8) 225
(1x8) 315
(1x8) 405
(1x5) 475
(1x3) 525

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 115
(1x3) 135
(1x3) 155
(1x2) 175

Decline Kettlebell Pushups
(2x20)

Dips
(2x10)

 

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Thur (3/17)

Grippers
(1x5) T
(1x3) #1.5
(1x1) #2 -102
(1x1) #2 -114
(1x1) RB240N -124
(1x0) #3 -139
(1x1) #3 -139
(1x0) #3 -139

Secret Weapon - 3 seconds
(2x1) 50
(2x1) 55

Ironmind Hub
(1x1) 40
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 60

 

I had two close ones with the #3 today, and a pretty solid close.  The Hub felt kinda weak, but I haven't been doing it that much lately.  My meet is coming up this weekend, and I will be competing in the 198 men's open and master's divisions.  Looking at the meet roster, there are 16 guys in my class! :ohmy  If you've ever been to a meet, usually you are lucky to have 2-3 guys in your division.  16 is crazy!  

I'm about 201 right now, but should be OK with weight.  This will be my first raw meet since 1997.  A lot of that had to do with knee issue, but I've been slowly working back into raw squats, and things are coming along ... slowly.  This fed doesn't allow knee wraps or sleeves, so it should be interesting.  

Planned openers:
Squat - 335
Bench - 310
Deadlift - 455

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Lots of good work here man.  I can't imagine doing KTA, and meet prep, AND bending!! 

Kick ass at the meet, and expect a gripper in a couple weeks.  

Good stuff.  

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10 hours ago, KRC said:

Lots of good work here man.  I can't imagine doing KTA, and meet prep, AND bending!! 

Kick ass at the meet, and expect a gripper in a couple weeks.  

Good stuff.  

And a 1-year-old with bronchitis lol.  Just weighed-in at 197.9.  I can't wait to start training with the secret weapon! 

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Good luck at your meet, Carl!

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On March 19, 2016 at 5:32 AM, EricMilfeld said:

Good luck at your meet, Carl!

Thanks Eric!  It was a great meet.  I'll be doing a write-up soon.

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Sat (3/19)

ADAU/100% RAW Great Lakes Championship

198 Men's Open/Masters
Bodyweight: 197.9

Squat
320 - good lift - 3 whites
335 - good lift - 3 whites
360 - good lift - 3 whites

Bench Press
308 - good lift - 3 whites
320 - good lift - 3 whites
Pass

Deadlift
420 - good lift - 3 whites
475 - good lift - 3 whites
500 - good lift - 2 white/1 red
 

The day started off with a challenge.  My wife ended up getting food poisoning at Buffalo Wild Wings, the night before, and was unable to go to the meet with me.  She ended up staying in the hotel room, pretty sick.  The entire meet, I was in contact with her, which definitely added to the normal stress.

All-in-all, though, a pretty great meet.  I was happy with my performance overall, especially deadlifts.  This was my first raw meet since 2008, and it turned out to be a lot easier than geared, in almost every way. 

With squats, I wasn't sure what to expect and wanted to be conservative, or risk derailing the entire meet, and being unable to go 100% on pulls (if my knees became aggravated).  The 100% Raw fed does not let you wear knee wraps or sleeves.  When you have 2 messed-up knees, this can be tough, and turn into a disaster.  But, everything worked out, and I got through squats without any major issues.  If anything, I probably should of attempted 385 for my last attempt, as the 360 felt too easy.

On to bench presses.  I opened at 308.  The guy in front of me in my flight was pretty tall, so I told them to lower the racks right before I went out fro my attempt.  The lowered them, but all the way down to "4" which turned out to be a board press getting the bar out of the racks.  I ended up wasting way too much effort on this, before my first attempt.  On the second, I had this worked out, but wanted a hand-off, so I asked the spotter if he could lift off for me.  He agreed, but the guy from behind ended up coming up to the bar at the last minute.  I told him, "Take it out real slow.  Real slow."  I get set up, and then push the bar out of the racks, exactly as this guy is doing an explosive deadlift with the bar, at the complete opposite of "real slow."  I came very close to losing control of the bar ... actually let out a yell.  Can't remember what I said, but I was pretty pissed.  I've had tons of hand-offs from spotters/loaders etc. but will never take anything for granted again.  I will make sure to grab someone in the warmup area and get a few reps in first.

By the time deadlifts came around, I was pretty drained, and worrying about my wife.  I ended up lowering my opener to 420.  When I made my first attempt, it felt like 315, so I gained some new confidence and called for 475.  At this point, I would've been happy with 475, and was directing my energies into an all-out attempt pull.  When I made the attempt at 475, it went up a lot faster than I was anticipating.  So, for my last attempt, I called for 501.5, which would have been an all-time raw PR (including raw meet PR).  It wasn't an easy lift, but went up pretty smooth.  I received my only red light of the day for my knee coming in a little on the way up.  

It turned out to be a pretty awesome meet!  There ended up being 12 lifters in my class (open) and 5 in the masters division.  I took 4th in the open and 1st in the Masters.  

On another note, I will be having eye surgery this week and will likely take a week off from everything.

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Fantastic performance! Well done, Carl. 

Another option on bench is simply going without a spotter, provided you get those racks just right. 

 

Good of luck with your surgery, and I hope your wife has made a full recovery. I had poisoning from Denny's a couple decades ago that put me in the hospital for a couple hours. Loads of fun. 

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Thanks!  The surgery went pretty well.  No training for awhile ... going on a total of 6 days without doing anything (post-meet too), which is starting to drive me crazy.  And probably have another week too.  I might start back soon, slowly, with some easy grippers, just to keep my sanity.  :laugh

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Sun (3/20)

Grippers - MMS
T (1x5) 
HG200 (95) 1x3
#2 (102) 1x3
#2 (114) 1x1
SM (126) 1x1
#3 (139) 1x1/1x0

Secret Weapon
(6x1) 55 -- 3 seconds


This was my last session before eye surgery.  The #3 close was solid.  Of course I filmed it, but the film quality was not good.  I've spent way too much time trying to film a good close with the #3.  It is getting very frustrating.  (I've gotten perfect closes with slightly easier grippers on film but with a gripper at or near my max level, it has turned into something very difficult to do.)

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Tue (3/29)

Grippers - MMS
T - 1x5
#1.5 - 1x3
#2 (102) 1x3
#2 (114) 1x3
SM (126) 1x1
#3 (139) 1x0

Secret Weapon
(5x1) - 55 - 3 seconds

Axle Curls
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 105

Ironmind Hub
(1x1) 45
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55

Finger Walks
(2x1) 8


Today was the first day back after surgery.  I wore goggles to protect from dust etc. which turned into an annoyance pretty quick.  All-in-all, everything is good, and recovery is going well.  I am going to start back at lifting soon, with 75-80% of my max during work sets.

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Wed (3/30)

Bench Press
(1x5) 135
(1x3) 185
(1x3) 225
(1x3) 250
(1x3) 275

Standing Press
(1x3) 95
(1x3) 115
(1x3) 135
(1x3) 155

Barbell Shrugs
(1x5) 225
(1x5) 315
(1x5) 405

Decline Kettlebell Pushups
(1x20)


I was given clearance to lift weights from the eye doctor.  He told me I could go heavy, but to monitor how things felt.  Everything has been feeling pretty good, so I decided to go in the 75-80%-range.  Not being able to lift lately has been driving me crazy!

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Thur (3/31)

Grippers - MMS
(1x5) T
(1x3) HG200 - 95
(1x3) #2 - 102
(1x1) #2 - 114
(1x1) SM - 126
(3x0) #3 - 139

Secret Weapon
55 (3x1) - 5 sec
60 (3x1) - 5 sec
65 (2x1) - 5 sec.

Axle Curls
(1x5) 95
(1x3) 115
(1x3) 125

Rolling Thunder
(1x1) 102.5
(1x1) 112.5
(1x1) 117.5

Finger Walks
(2x1) 8

 

All three attempts at the #3 were close, but it didn't feel that strong today.  The 117.5 on the RT felt really close to a max.  When I was training this lift hard, I was right around 140.  But, if I don't specifically train it, my numbers plummet.  Nothing else I do has any carryover to it.

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Fri (4/1)

Axle Bench Press
(1x5) 125
(1x3) 175
(1x3) 215
(1x3) 265
(1x1) 300

Axle Deadlift - Double Overhand
(1x3) 125
(1x1) 215
(1x1) 245

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 135
(1x1) 165
(1x0) 175

Lying Kettlebell Extensions
(1x8) 35

Dips
(1x8)


Everything felt heavy today, which was to be expected.  On presses, 165 was tough (usually can get this 3 good reps).  I ended up missing 175 pretty badly.  But, there just wasn't much there today.

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Sat (4/2)

Squats
(1x3) 135
(1x2) 225
(1x1) 275
(1x1) 315
(1x1) 325

Grippers - 25mm Block
(1x5) T
(1x3) #1.5
(1x3) #2 - 102
(1x1) #2 - 114
(1x0) SM - 126


I ended up playing-it-by-ear with squats today.  As each rep felt pretty good, I went up a little more.  All-in-all, everything felt pretty good.  I think I could've gotten the 126 on grippers, but was fumbling around too much with the setting block ... just need some more coordination with it.  

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Sun (4/3)

Grippers - MMS
(1x5) T
(1x5) #1.5
(1x5) #2 - 102
(1x1) #2 - 114
(1x1) SM - 126
(1x1) RB280N - 133

DO - IMPs
Yellow Nail
Yellow Nail (5")
Red Nail

Ironmind Pinch Block
(1x1) 40
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55

Secret Weapon
5 sec. - 65 - 2 reps
3 sec. - 65 - 3 reps


Got back to bending today!  I was a little worried about this, but ended up destroying the Red pretty quickly.  Grippers felt strong today too.

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Mon (4/4)

Bench Press
(1x5) 135
(1x3) 185
(1x3) 225
(1x1) 245
(1x1) 295
(1x1) 305

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 135
(1x3) 155

Barbell Shrugs
(1x5) 225
(1x5) 315
(1x5) 405
(1x5) 455

Lying Kettlebell Extensions
(2x8) 35

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Tue (4/5)

Front Squats
(1x3) 135
(2x3) 185
(2x1) 205

Barbell Curls
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 115
(1x3) 125


This was the first-ever workout I have done front squats ... in 30 years of training.  :ohmy  I might have tried them at one point, but never really attempted to do them for sets or with regularity.  With the chance to compete at the 100% Raw World Championships this fall, I really need to improve my raw squat, while still staying healthy.  I figure this would be something smart to include in my routines, while strengthening my quads and helping my raw squat numbers rise.

That said, it was a rough go with them.  I couldn't come close to getting in the proper position (as shown in most tutorials) and ended up using the "cross-arm" approach.  On my 3rd or 4th set, it finally started to feel OK, but still hurt my delts a good bit.  I plan on working these into my routine, but have a ton of work to do with form/technique.

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Wed (4/6)

Sumo Deadlifts
(1x3) 135
(1x2) 225
(1x1) 315
add briefs
(1x1) 405
(1x1) 455

Grippers - MMS
(1x3) T
(1x3) #1.5
(1x3) #2 - 102
(1x1) RB240N - 124

Secret Weapon
(5x1) 55 - 5 sec.


Pulling semi-heavy was another big test post-surgery.  Everything seemed to go OK.  Grippers were feeling weak today though, and I stopped at 124, which was a pretty weak close.  My setting finger is busted up now in three places.  I've been filing it and using cream, which has helped, but it keeps busting open during my closes.  I might have to start taping it again, at least for the majority of attempts.

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Thur (4/7)

Grippers - 20mm Block
(1x3) T
(1x3) HG 200 - 95
(1x3) #2 - 102
(1x3) #2 - 114
(1x1) #2.5 - 123

Over crushes (5 sec.)
(5x1) #2 filed - 107

Ironmind Pinch Block
(1x1) 45
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55

Ironmind Pinch Block - Holds
4 sec. - 50
5 sec. - 50

Ironmind Hub
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55

Finger Walks 
(2x1) 8


Things felt a little better today with the block-sets.  The 123lb. #2.5 was tough, but a solid rep.

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Fri (4/8)

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5) 95
(1x5) 115
(1x3) 135
(1x3) 155
(1x1) 175

Speed Bench Press - Axle
(5x3) 125 + mini bands

Landmines
(1x8) 25
(2x8) 50

--Superset--
Pullups (2x5)
Dips (2x10)


Presses still feel weak.  175 felt pretty close to a max-lift today.  

 

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Sat (4/9)

Squats
(1x5) 135
(1x2) 225
(1x1) 315
(1x0) 335
(1x1) 340

Squats - against mini bands
(1x3) 135
(1x2) 185
(3x1) 205


:angry:   Overall, just feeling pretty weak these past few days.  I was kinda going through the motions on squats, and took 335 really deep, and just got slammed in the bottom.  To punish myself (I guess), I ended up doing some squats against bands, which I've never really done before.  The motion was a little weird at first, but I think I am going to work these in somehow into my routine.

I don't know if my knees have had enough, with all of the raw work lately.  But, they feel shot.  Not really in-pain, but just weak.  I am going to start wearing my knee sleeves more, and maybe doing some heavier sets with wraps.  If I am going to do the 100% Raw meet in the fall, I'll go back to wrap/sleeve-less a month-or-so out.

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Sun (4/10)

Grippers - 20mm 
(1x5) T
(1x3) HG200 - 95
(1x1) #2 - 114
(1x1) #2.5 - 123
(1x1) SM - 126

Secret Weapon
(5x1) 55 - 5 seconds
(5x1) 60 - 3 seconds

Ironmind Pinch Block
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55
(1x1) 60

Ironmind Hub
(1x1) 50
(1x1) 55
(1x0) 60
(1x1) 60

Finger Walks
(2x1) 8

Blob 35 - Holds
(2x1) 4-5 seconds


Overall, a pretty solid session today.  I missed my first attempt at 60 on the Hub, but this was mainly due to rushing through the reps, and not being 100% ready.  Grippers were strong today.  The 20mm #2.5 close was smashed; the 126 Super Master was just barely closed, but was good.

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