PR Friday – 21 NOV 2014

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PR Friday — Post your training updates, PR’s, and questions to the comments for the 70′s Big crew. 

Weekly Q&A gives you a chance to ask anyone from the 70′s Big Crew a question in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter. Follow 70’s Big on Instagram. 

Earlier this week Chalk Talk #11 came out and was about barbell complexes.

I’ve been away for a bit, so I’ll be around for some solid question answering in the comments here and on social media. Ask away.

For some people, records exist to be broken. Ilya Ilyin is one of those guys who sees a record and aims to crush it. It’s been fun watching him train over the last year and hit amazing numbers, and even more satisfying to see him hit this 242 kg clean and jerk after moving up to the 105 kg class.

By my count, that’s Ilyin’s fourth world championship spanning three weight classes to go with his two Olympic gold medals. In London two years ago, he hit a 233kg clean and jerk to win the 94kg class, but this year’s 242kg CJ was six kilos over the old world record. Not to mention he currently has the CJ world record in two different weight classes (94 and 105). Ilyin is solidifying his place as one of the greatest weightlifters of our time.

30 thoughts on “PR Friday – 21 NOV 2014”

  1. Week 20 of my linear progression DONE.

    Deadlift – 350 x 2 (PR – previous 345 x 5)
    Press – 145 x 3 x 5 (PR – previous 142.5 x 5,5,6)
    Bench – 207.5 x 5,5,7 (in reset – previous max 215 x 5,5,3)
    Squat – 310 x 3 x 5 (in reset – previous max 320 x 3)

  2. Squat 3plate 5RM PR
    OHP 62.5kg/137lbs 5RM PR
    Couldn’t dead today because although spinal erector fully healed today I pulled something pretty bad in ql/lower lat. pretty annoying when form stayed perfect just went when I hit pins on last rep and had to grind out. Even more annoying when first week recovered and another fucking injury hits me, this one maybe affecting my bench capabilities too.
    Age 16, bw 74.5kg/164 lbs

      • Weak spinal erectors still fatigued maybe, as I just switched to a rippetoe SS textbook lowbar from my Highbar. Perhaps lifting mechanics then. I do plenty of mobility but I do have slightly tight hips and a tight glute medius. As far as calories go I’m in a solid 300+ surplus daily. Thanks for the suggestions, I guess it helps to think about it logically.

  3. Finally posting meet results from 2 weeks ago
    Squat-355-375(f)-375(f)
    Bench-225(f)-245(f)-245(f)
    Deadlift-450-500(pr!)-525(f)
    Weighed in at 180.

    I don’t know what was up with squats. It’s nearly embarrassing. I hit 365 in training. 355 went up fast. I’m trying to figure out what to do next. Right now I’m doing a little hypertrophy cycle and then maybe actually run a TM properly or something similar.
    Bench felt good leading up to the meet. I’m clueless there.

    It was fun to finally hit 500 on dl I’ve been expecting it for awhile.

    I trained a few other guys leading up to the meet which was a lot of fun. One of them went 415-255-500 all prs.

  4. No PRs this week. Haven’t been able to string together consistent workouts due to life/school/being sick. Going to get a solid week of training in during Thanksgiving break, though.

    For the Q&A: Asking this first one for my cousin. He has an old shoulder injury that causes him pretty severe pain when benching. He’s got a legit coach helping him with powerlifting, and his technique is solid, but it seems like once he does anything past 3 reps he starts to give out. Is sticking with 3 reps per set going to be adequate for him to improve his bench? Also, what would you program for extra chest/tri strengthening/jackage?

    For myself: probably a rookie nutrition question, but is there any legitimacy to the whole “eat 5-7 times a day” thing, or does it not matter as long as one is hitting their protein? And, is there any truth to not eating enough causing your body to retain fat? I feel like sometimes I have a hard time dropping the extra body fat because I’m not getting enough food. I’m eating Paleo, and have even cut out stuff like peanut butter at this point. Also doing conditioning a couple times a week.

    • Cousin Q: I’d have to assume something is going awry with the mechanics in sets with more than three reps. It also sounds like he needs some legitimate shoulder rehab (to include pressing overhead, though his particular powerlifting coach may be against it). Pressing, chins, pull-ups, rows, and stabilization exercises are how to strengthen a shoddy shoulder. Proper mechanics will keep it healthy.

      Usually a lack of jackage in the upper body is a lack of pulling exercises (wtd chins, pull-ups, and rows). Getting stronger in those helps the presses, therefore helping the chest and arm size.

    • Your question: You’re saying you are retaining body fat? While eating paleo? You’re doing something weird, then. If you speak da truf, then look at your protein intake, then your carb and fat intake (in grams). See how you can trim the carbs or fat IF they are out of control. Honestly, I have a hard time believing you’re eating legitimate paleo where all the food is fresh, no processed shit, and not any crap added on. People lose weight and fat pretty easily doing it 4 realz.

      As for frequent eating, if frequent eating were the magic trick to help lose body fat, then everyone would be utilizing it. It’s just a conventional bodybuilder mentality that is predicated on the “protein, control carbs, don’t eat much fat” style of nutrition associated with conventional wisdom and figure competitors.

  5. Deadlift 355×3
    Bench 250×5
    Squat 255×5 (don’t judge me)

    Finally starting to hit some PRs on bench and squat. Still adding 10-15 lbs a week on squat so hopefully that will continue. I have been embarrassed that my bench was higher than my squat for a long time but NO MORE! I’m finally no longer a captain upper body, curl bro.

  6. Professional Development PR: currently at the NYSAHPERD annual conference.
    Attempting to teach myself the snatch. I suck ass at it. I have the tendency to fail it by only power snatching the weight instead of snatching it. Gotta fix that.

    Justin, I’m friends with a few people that compete on American Ninja Warrior. Only like 10 out of the 1,000 competitors believe that strength training has any value or carry over to the course. My friends and I are ever vigilant in trying to change that view.

    My question is; how would you organize training for an individual looking to compete on ANW, or I suppose any similar obstacle course?

  7. First time posting, long time Every-Breath-You-Take-type stalking. PRs today included a 365×3 squat and a 275×3 bench press.

    I’ve noticed a big problem with my knees coming in on these Intensity Day squats while the rest of my body feels solid and bar speed is surprisingly good. I was wondering if anybody else had a similar problem and what they did to resolve it aside from cuing knees out as described in the first Chalk Talk.

  8. Overhead press 165 x 5
    Deadlift 435 x 5 (Not sure if PR but I haven’t set a 5RM lately, 1RM is 500)

    Recently purchased an Inzer belt so I’m still getting used to that. I got some nice hickies on my stomach from it :)

    As for a question: Do muscle imbalances end up working themselves out or does lifting heavy exacerbate the issue? Last December I had surgery on my right patellar tendon and I still have some lingering muscle imbalances. The imbalances are mostly in my lower back and possibly posterior chain. I still feel weaker in my right leg than my left and it sometimes begins to affect my form as I start working sets near my max. This form issue is also compounded with a bit of persisting patella pain, although I have been addressing that with icing and stretching. Thanks in advance!

    • Also my hips seem to shift slightly to the right when I squat, any fixes for this. Darkside strength had an article to help with this and have been applying it but was wondering if anyone had anything else.

  10. Justin,

    I have very tight biceps that are loaded with trigger points. Could this be because they are weak? A possible biceps/triceps strength imbalance? Would adding curls potentially fix this problem or is consistently mobilizing them the best course of action? I ask the weakness question because the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook mentions that they could be getting overloaded through lifting activities (they generally hurt during bench and barbell rows). In your Texas Method book you mention that curls are good to strengthen tendons, I’m not sure if that would help this problem or not. Thank you!

  12. 2nd week of TM after reading your ebook, Justin. I’m 35 years old and have been lifting for about a year. Started using SS and recently decided to switch to TM after a few resets in all my lifts and not really getting anywhere.

    Today I hit 255×5 squat which is a PR. It was much more difficult that I thought it should have been. I hit 250×5 last week with a few left in the tank.
    145×4 press which isn’t a PR and I should have hit 5. Not sure why I didn’t. I was pretty wiped after squatting
    260×5 deadlift which isn’t a PR either. I’m working my way back up in weight after unfucking my technique on this lift.
    Bench is 207.5×5 which I set a PR on last Friday.

    Two questions, I am wondering how I should tweak TM given my age? I’m planning on just seeing how it goes for a few weeks and if I can’t make progress on Friday’s, either up the volume or lower it. Thing is, I am not sure what signs to follow to increase volume or decrease volume? Is it a feeling sort of thing?

    Also, given my age should I just go with something like a 5/3/1 setup or see where TM takes me for 6 weeks or so. I am thinking the latter, but would appreciate your input.

  13. with a bit of rest (as it turns out, the day after jumping around a lot is not a good day for intensity day), i managed to match my previous PR’s of 220 for squats and 280 for deadlifts (set of 5 each).

  14. Gym now prohibits Oly lifts, so I’m just doing the big four until I can find a new gym.

    PRs in everything this week.

    Press – 105 for 3×6, then did a set of 7. My old max was 115.
    Deadlift – 255×6 and an easy single with 295.
    Bench – 145 for 4×6
    Squat – 215×7, then an easy single with 255 (last time I figured out max it was 260).

  15. Meet results from my 2nd meet on 11/18 in Long Island, NY:
    Squat: 360/390/410(PR)
    Bench: 235/260/270(miss)
    Deadlift: 430/460/485(miss)

    Total: 410/260/460 = 1130 (PR)
    Great experience. Thanks for the encouragement to compete.

  16. Elbow is almost back to 100%. Still taking it easy, though, so no real lifting PRs just yet.

    Life PR: Quit my part-time job, moving on to better things.

  17. Lots of PRs last week:

    I finished the third week of the base cycle of Smolov. It’s tough but working. I haven’t missed a rep yet and I feel strong.

    I was accepted to graduate school. It’s the same school I attended for undergrad and I started the program back then. I was confident I’d get in but it was great to get that letter. I’ll keep working full time and go at night. My job is supporting/encouraging it. It should only take me 18 months to get the degree. The real trick is going to be keeping up with my training or at least maintaining an acceptable strength and fitness regimen.

    I had my annual review with my boss last week. It went very, very well. I listened to this speech by Arnold four or five times in a row before going into the meeting. Annual reviews are a time to believe in yourself and your mission and to not be afraid to share your vision for the future. He’s an inspiration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TEc_qyKQ0c

    I hunted deer all day Saturday with no luck, but it was great to be out in the mountains. I stayed in the same place the entire time and had a bit of a PR in terms of keeping still and quiet. It’s very zen. The season is really peaking right now at my latitude/climate (Mid-Atlantic). No deer yet, but I have some good trips coming up and still think I can get 3 this year to provide enough venison for several meals/week all year.

  18. Progress is still happening day by day. I’ve learn to love the importance of rest/recovery instead of pushing through pains that tend to compound into real problems. It may be slow but at least it’s not debilitating.
    Soon I will be seeing a neurosurgeon for my back, so hopefully I’ll find some answers other than “have you ever tried taking _____?”

    Speaking of back problems, with an injury that leaves the thoracic spine kyphotic and a big flexion fulcrum around T6-T10, would you suggest sticking with high bar back squat to encourage a proper neutral position (in my case a fair amount of extension)? I can squat fairly well in both, just want to find a way that won’t hinder progress.
    Thank you and all of the 70sBig crew for what you do.

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