A minor update; thoughts about the next cycle

I went to The Weight Room yesterday, and worked on my jerk and deadlift 1Rm. The Jerk was weak. Even though my press has gone up, my jerk is at 170. I thought it would be a lot higher, but I couldn't seem to keep my elbows locked. Next time, I think a lot of the problem is in the technique.

My deadlift was another story, I pulled 405, my first time at 4 plates. Thought I had some problems with rounding my back a little, and I raised my hips early out of the hole, it felt like I had a lot left in me. I think my goal of 450+ will be coming sooner than I thought.

Other than that, I've been going over some ideas I have on future training cycles. I still want to get my powerlifting goals, but I've been itching to get back into CrossFit. I wonder if I can get where I want while CrossFitting? The deadlift and press are a given in time, especially if I were to do something along the lines of the ME Black box by Coach Rutherford. I think there's still some juice left in those lifts without having to do anything too complex. Beginning my work back into CrossFit doing workouts like Fran (21-15-9 95# thrusters and pull-ups), Diane(21-15-9 225# deadlifts and handstand push-ups), and Elizabeth(21-15-9 135# cleans and ring dips) would certainly boost my pulling and overhead strength. But like I have said before, nothing quite compares with putting a lot of weight on your back and squatting it.

Anyways, I've got 3 weeks left of the Performance Menu Mass Gain cycle. I'm on the strength portion of it, lets see how it goes.

Some Progress

Well, I'm about 2/3 of the way done with the PM mass gain cycle. I've gained a decent amount of weight, about 10lbs. What's more exciting, is that for every exercise I have gone for a 1RM in, I have set a new PR.

Here's my new PRs: (all weights in #'s)

Press= 145 (from 140)
Clean = 193 (from 185)
Snatch = 135 (from 115)
Weighted pull-up = 135 (from 115)

I'm still going to attempt 1Rm's on deadlift and back squat. I'm a little nervous about getting under the bar again - nothing else compares to putting heavy weight on your back. But I'm pretty confident I can set a new PR in the deadlift.

The next 3 weeks in is the strength cycle portion of the program. I've made some PRs without doing any low rep work the pass month. Some of that is probably the additional mass, some is probably getting some much needed rest. I'm looking forward to some higher numbers after I do some serious strength work and can use this added muscle to the fullest.

A new tactic

Well, I’m glad that I wrote down my goals last post. Honestly, I forgot what they were. No worries, I’m nowhere near them!

My powerlifting kick quickly went from general-strength-leaning-towards-straight-up-powerlifting to just powerlifting. I can’t remember the last time I did a CrossFit workout. I found that once things started to get hard, and really wanted that weight, I couldn’t risk being beat from a CrossFit workout that I had done in the few days leading up to my lift. I went from the Starting Strength program (3x5 on the major lifts, linear increase in weights) to the Texas method (weight increased on a weekly basis, high volume, low intensity on Monday, low volume high intensity, hopefully PR on Friday).It worked, to a degree. I’m stronger. I’ve pulled a 305 Squat with good form, done 295 for 5. Deadlift is up to 400, which came up with ease. I believe my Press is at 145 now. Not bad right? Squat got a little better, and I put 60 pounds on my deadlift, and 30 on the press.

Except…. It’s taken months. Looking back over the past 2, my progress has stalled. Some days, I would have “good days” the weight would go up easy, and I felt like I could do a ton more. Other days, I had to fight for the same weight, or possibly less! But, I’m going to stay true to my goals. I’m not going to stop till I get my lifts. But perhaps, I’m in need of a change of tactics. So, for the past 3 weeks, I’ve been on the Performance Menu “Mass Gain” program. It’s a 7 week cycle, 3 weeks for hypertrophy, one week for unloading, and another 3 weeks on a strength oriented program. Honestly, I don’t really care about the lifting right now. My daily workout is consuming 6000+ calories (hopefully) a day. Here’s a sample of my daily menu

2 cans of coconut milk

Half pound of peanuts

One pound of meat

A dozen eggs

….plus some regular food in there.

I figure this will give my body some time to recover, grow, and hopefully put on some pounds to make my upcoming powerlifting cycle a little more fruitful. I’ve put on about 10 pounds so far, I’ll be making updates on how it goes.