Donati's Log Of Steel Bending, Grip And Powerlifting

[Buccos1]

Sat (7/9)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
add briefs
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  425
(1x1)  440

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5)  45
(1x5)  95
(1x3)  135
(1x3)  155

Pull Ups
(2x5)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 1 (Day 4)

I wasn't sure what to expect with squats, but surprisingly, they did not bother my ribs at all.  Aside from the weight just feeling heavy, squats were good today.  Standing presses ... not so much.  They were bothering both my shoulder and ribs, so I cut them short, after barely plowing through my earlier sets.  

 

[Buccos1]

Sun (7/10)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 1 (Day 5)

I went for a bike ride today (~10 miles) on a semi-challenging trail (at least for me).  This was my first ride on a trail, and first real bike ride since I was a kid.  It was pretty cool and turned into a good workout.  After I was done, my side (ribs) were hurting pretty bad, so I pushed my scheduled bending session to either Monday or Tuesday.  I am planning to skip deadlifts this week, while backing off a little on everything else, with hopes of this resolving itself soon.  

[Buccos1]

Here's a clip from today's bench session.  The pain in my ribs seemed to be worse.  But, this was the most I've gotten 5 reps for in probably 2 years.  

 

[Buccos1]

Mon (7/11)

Bench Press
(1x5)  135
(1x5)  185
(1x5)  225
(1x5)  265
(1x5)  295

Barbell Shrugs
(1x5)  135
(1x5)  225
(1x5)  315
(1x5)  405
(1x5)  475

Pull Ups
(2x5)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 1 (Day 6)

I started off strong today ... bench felt great (aside from pain getting up/down on bench).  But, as I started to get heavier with shrugs, the rib pain intensified.  And pull-ups, for the first time since the injury, were painful.  It seems now, as it starts to get better, I am aggravating it with pulling or pulling variations.  So, I am going to take at least a week off from all pulling type movements ... mainly deadlifts and shrugs, possibly pull-ups and presses.  

[Buccos1]

Tue (7/12)

DO - IMPs
60d Spiral
1/4 x 6" Grade 8
Red Nail

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

Flask
(1x1)  50
(1x1)  55
(1x1)  60

Blob 35
(3x1)

2 25s Hold - 5 sec.
(2x1)

Finger Walk - F/B
(2x1)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 1 (Day 7)

My ribs were feeling a little better after taking some pain meds from the doctor, so I decided to get in a quick grip/bending session.  I started off with some easy 60d spiral nails, to test the pain.  It felt great ... nothing at all.  So I decided to do a grade 8, which felt good too.  I was able to get through the bending without an issue.  I had some pain though on the Hub and Flask, as it seemed to flare up with the rotational movement toward the top of the lift.  All-in-all, though, not too bad of a session.

[Buccos1]

Wed (7/13)

Floor Press
(1x3)  135
(1x3)  185
(1x3)  225
(1x3)  250
(1x3)  275

Barbell Curls
(1x8)  45
(1x5)  95
(1x5)  105
(1x5)  115

Pull Ups
(3x5)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 1)

Well ... today was more of the same.  I had pain in the rib-area while getting in position/up-and-down for floor presses, and shoulder pain with the actual presses.  This was upsetting, and I was determined to get through this planned session.  I took things slow, and did a lot of stretching in between sets, and was able to get through it OK.  Curls and pull ups were pretty good today.  The rib pain is not going away, but is is definitely manageable, depending on what I am doing.  I am not going to deadlift this week, and will likely try light pulls sometime next week, and proceed from there.  

The funny thing is, with the horseshoe I bent ... the people I was bending in front of had no idea of what a good bend was.  When I was bending it, I heard/felt the "pop" at the beginning portion of the sweep, when the shoe was about 50-60 degrees.  Despite this, and the accompanying pain, I kept hitting it until it was past 180 degrees.  If I would have stopped at the first sign of pain, everyone would have still been happy with a horseshoe bent to 45 degrees.  From this experience, with bending, if things start to "pop," I am stopping the bend, and recalibrating things for another go or passing on it for next time.  

Thinking about this a lot, I remember a bend I did about 3-4 years ? ago in single IMPs.  It was a 600lb. x 6" drill rod bar (think it was 5/16) and I was trying to cert it for Benders Battlefield.  I got it to about 90 degrees and felt a "pop" in my elbow/forearm area, which was instantly painful.  Despite this, I spent another two minutes trying to finish the bend (even as time was up).  I remember that this sidelined me for about a month and I had to do PT and get it worked on in order to train.  I continued to work through it with everything, but remember that I couldn't bench heavy for a good few months.  Lesson learned ... finally!

[Buccos1]

Thur (7/14)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 2)

[Buccos1]

Fri (7/15)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
add briefs
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  425
(1x1)  440

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 3)

I decided to test it a little today, as last week's squats weren't too bad.  Today was OK, but a little more pain on the heavier sets (with the belt).  I am still holding off on deadlifts, for now.

[Buccos1]

Sat (7/16)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 4)

We went away for the weekend, so I decided to take a few days off from lifting (instead of trying to find a "vacation" gym, as usual).  Hopefully, this helps heal some things up.  Grippers are going OK, but my crushing strength is sapped.  I tried my 123lb. #2.5 as a last warm-up close, and could barely close it.  

[Buccos1]

Sun (7/17)

DU - IMPs
60d Spiral
1/4 x 6" Grade 5

Finger Walks - F/B
2x1  8lb

Blob 35 - Holds
(2x1)  5 sec.

2 25s Pinch
(2x1)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 5)

[Buccos1]

Mon (7/18)

Axle Bench Press
(1x5)  125
(1x3)  175
(1x3)  215
(1x3)  265
(1x2)  305

Barbell Shrugs
(1x10)  225
(1x10)  315
(1x10)  405

Standing Axle Press
(1x5)  85
(1x3)  125

Pull Ups
(2x5) 

KTA
Phase 1/Week 2 (Day 6)

[Buccos1]

Wed (7/20)

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

Football Bar Rows
(1x10)  75
(2x8)  150

My rib has been feeling better the past few days, so I decided to attempt some deadlifting today, with the intention of starting slow and light, then cutting it off if I had to.  The first few reps felt great; 315 was perfect.  So, I decided to attempt 405, with a little trepidation.  But, after a slower-than-normal pull, everything felt OK.  455 felt like more of a grinder than it should have, but ribs are feeling good.    

I forgot to write, from yesterday ... I had to cut my overhead presses short due to the shoulder pain.    So, I'm going to be starting to work in a lot more shoulder mobility stuff, while easing up with the pressing (or at least calling a session short once the pain starts).

 

[Buccos1]

Thur (7/21)

Football Bar Rows
(1x10)  95
(1x10)  145
(2x8)  175

Pull Ups
(2x5)

--Super Set-- 
Decline KB Pushups  (2x20)
1-arm KB Swings (2x20)  35

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 1)

I started doing light shoulder rotations (front/side) and pull-aparts.  I also have some Indian Clubs coming, and will be working these into the routine, once I figure them out.

[Buccos1]

Fri (7/22)

Barbell Shrugs
(1x8)  135
(1x8)  225
(1x8)  315
(1x8)  405
(1x8)  475

Bamboo Bar Bench Press
(2x15)  75

Finger Walks - F/B
(1x1)  8

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 2)

[Buccos1]

Sat (7/23)

Squats
(1x5)  135
(1x3)  225
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  345
(1x1)  365

Walk Outs
(1x1)  475
(1x1)  525

Pull Ups
(2x5)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 3)

Raw squats felt pretty good today.  I decided to work-in some walk-outs; kinda crazy how heavy 525 feels now, after not having squatted anything over 500 in a long time.  

[Buccos1]

Sun (7/24)

DO - IMPs
60d spiral (2)
1/4 x 5.5" Grade 8
Red Nail

2" V-bar
(1x1)  130
(1x1)  155
(1x1)  165

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

Blob 35 - Holds
(2x1)  5 sec.

Finger Walks - F/B
(2x1)  8

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 4)

The 5.5" Grade 8 was tough!!  ... just about killed my fingers (which are pretty raw from KTA).  Finishing this bend in IMPs took a lot out of me, and made the Red a killer, which took it's toll on the rest of my session.  (This was the main reason for missing 60 on the HUB--just destroyed fingers.)  

On a plus, my ribs are feeling pretty good.  They seem to be responding well to everything; if all goes as planned, I will pull sumo on Wednesday.  I am still avoiding overhead presses due to my shoulder.  But, I've been working in Indian Club swings a little each session, which seem to be getting things opened up.  Too soon to tell yet, especially with me not really knowing what I am doing with them.  (Just following the guide and instructions.)

[KRC]

The fact that you do any other grip work on top of KTA - let alone bending - is impressive.

Keep it up man.  

[Buccos1]

Thanks man!  At this point, for me, most of the accessory stuff I do is therapy.  I don't have much feeling left in my hands anymore either.  

[Buccos1]

Mon (7/25)

Dead Bench Press
(1x5)  135
(1x3)  185
(1x2)  225
(1x2)  255
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  305

Axle Curls
(1x5)  85
(1x3)  105
(1x3)  125

Pull Ups
(1x10)
(1x8)

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 5)
 

[Buccos1]

Tue (7/26)

Sumo Deadlifts
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
add suit/straps down
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  445
(1x1)  475
straps up
(1x1)  525

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 6)

Deadlifts felt good today.  My ribs seem to be close to 100%, or at least, not causing me pain on twisting/pulling movements.  

[Buccos1]

Wed (7/27)

Dead Squats - below parallel
(1x5)  135
(1x2)  185
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  275
(1x0)  305
(1x1)  305

KTA
Phase 1/Week 3 (Day 7)

These were tough!  I had the pins set low, so climbing under the bar was a challenge.  The attempts at 305 were both grinders.

[Buccos1]

Thur (7/28)

DU - IMPs
1/4 x 6" Grade 2
1x4 x 5" Grade 2
1/4 x 6.5" Grade 5

2" V-bar
(1x1)  130
(1x1)  155
(1x1)  165
(1x1)  175
(1x0)  200
(1x1)  190

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

Finger Walks - F/B
(2x1)  8

This was the first time I ever tried 200lbs. on the 2" V-bar.  175 felt really solid, so I figured I'd take a shot.  It came up about a half-inch, but I couldn't hang on.  Right after this (~ 5 sec.), I pulled 190 pretty easy, surprising myself.  I've only been training the 2" V-bar for a few months, but most of my attempts at a max have been in the 150-170 range.

[Buccos1]

Fri (7/29)

Bench Press
(1x5)  135
(1x3)  185
(1x3)  225
(1x1)  255
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  295
(1x1)  315

Dead Bench Press
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  295

KTA
Phase 1/Week 4 (Day 1)

I was planning on hitting a rep with 325 on bench, but called it at 315, when the rep was slower than it should have been.  Instead, I got some dead stop presses in.  I made a few attempts at my #3 today, all of which were 1-2mm from closing.  I'm unhappy that I missed three attempts, but "happy" that all three attempts were within 2 millimeters of closing.  In the past (during KTA), my first rep with he #3 would have closed or been close, but all subsequent attempts would have been increasingly weaker.  This was the best it's been on successive attempts.

[Buccos1]

Sat (7/30)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  345
(1x1)  365

Walk Outs
(1x1)  475
(1x1)  525

KTA
Phase 1/Week 4 (Day 2)

Squats felt pretty strong today.  I have decided to compete in the 100% Raw World Championships this fall.  As such, they don't allow knee wraps or sleeves, and most of my squats will be done raw in training.  Anyone that's been reading my log for awhile probably knows that I have two messed-up knees (one surgically repaired) and have always had trouble with raw squats (at least going back 10-12 years).  So, I will continue to avoid knee wraps in training, but wear sleeves as much as possible, to hopefully prevent any injuries or aggravation of existing problems.  Since I don't get any carryover from sleeves, I'm hoping to put up similar numbers with/without when it counts.  

I made two attempts at the #3 today and both were excruciatingly close ... about 1mm.  Part of the problem, I think, is trying to get it on video and worrying about keeping the gripper in-frame.  On that last part, I have been worrying about the camera angle instead of hitting it 100% all-out.  I'm working on some different angles of the camera and will hopefully get this fixed soon, while I still have a chance of closing this gripper.

[Buccos1]

Sun (7/31)

DO - IMPs
60d Spiral
1/4 x 7" Grade 5
Red Nail

DO - BBW
Red Nail

2" V-bar
(1x1)  130
(1x1)  155
(1x1)  180
(1x0)  200

Blob 35
(2x1)

Finger Walks - F/B
(1x1)  8

KTA
Phase 1/Week 4 (Day 3)

I just missed 200 on the 2" V-bar ... probably got it an inch, maybe a little higher.  Hopefully, this will fall soon.