ditching sheiko for the wookie

[maccaz]

w4d3

back quite tight today, stretch lots

 

speed squat

60 x 5

100 x 5

140 x 5

160kg  6 x 2

 

hack squat

160kg 3 x 10

 

widegrip pulldown

60kg 4 x 15

 

 

tried to nail every rep on speed squats as explosive as possible even though felt pretty cooked because this is my second to last session before deload so trying to make it all count. annoyed i missed some reps on squat and bench so far.

 

got one more hard hard squat session on saturday which i have to 100% nail or il be pretty pissed off lol 

[maccaz]

w4d4

deload couldnt have come soon enough. my body is f***ed

I just came home from the hardest session of my life and the hardest lift of my life. 

 

bench press

bar x lots

60 x lots

85kg 6 x 3 

new position and touch is feeling good and strong.

 

squat

60 x 5

100 x 5 

140 x 5

180 x 3

200 x 2 add wraps

220 x 2

232.5 x 1 (dodgy 3 red lights.will write about this below)

220 x 2

200 x 2

 

ok, video below. when i did the first doubles at 200 and 220 i knew i was in trouble. was meant to get a double at 232.5. iv been feeling crap lately so think im just ready for a deload. in hindsight i was dreaming on the 232.5 but tried it anyway, depth not good enough, downward movement at sticking point but my girlfriend yelled and i did some kind of roar and it came back up but it was so close to failure.

 

this is the happiest iv ever been about a failed lift, it was so so so hard, can't express that enough lol, in my brain i thought damn iv failed it when i got stuck but just pushed through.

 

on a good day when i feel good i will get this as a good lift, for now im honestly so happy with how it went considering..

 

leg extension

light weight 3 x 25

 

tricep pressdown

25kg 3 x 20

 

 

 

https://instagram.com/p/9gCLF8PnMk/?taken-by=chrisbazzza

 

 

 

[Skeletor]

The fact you stalled , went downward slightly yet still managed to get it back up should be encouraging enough man. Such good progress aye. Enjoy the deload.

[jigs]

Yeah all blacks

[stalkers]

want some unwanted comments?no? ok.

 

prioritise your bench,the disparity is massive,a guy your size should be pressing more than that.i thought my ratio sucked,yours is terrible.im surprised noone here has said anything,probably scared of that wookie guy.

 

dont worry so much about your squat its good.u dont have to train it so often or so hard.same with deads.bench moar.

[maccaz]

want some unwanted comments?no? ok.

prioritise your bench,the disparity is massive,a guy your size should be pressing more than that.i thought my ratio sucked,yours is terrible.im surprised noone here has said anything,probably scared of that wookie guy.

dont worry so much about your squat its good.u dont have to train it so often or so hard.same with deads.bench moar.

Very aware and i appreciate all input mate. Im working on my strengths and trying to put as good a total together as possible for this competition which bare in mind will be only just over a year of serious training.

After this competition i have a lot of time until next one during which i plan to work hard to bring bench up, including getting some 1 on 1 face to face form coaching.

I dont have the privelege of being strong at benching like a lot of gym rats prior to starting strength training tbh, its always been shit as. 100 was a big milestone for me lol

[Wookie]

dont worry so much about your squat its good.u dont have to train it so often or so hard.same with deads.bench moar.

 

 

Advice from the toilet store.

[BeastBuilder]

Lol f*ck who is this guy srs..

Wonder if he'd give someone like Odell or Lilliebridge advice on their apparent disparity in strength as well..

Totals are built on big Squats and Deads.

All your lifts are improving so don't worry about what this idiot is on about.

You have a coach, a very good one at that and if he is happy and you are happy then who cares lol.

Your bench will come up with some extra upper body muscularity I guarantee it.

You're obviously working hard overall so keep doing what your doing.

Rant/Inspirational post out.

[Skeletor]

Have to agree with above guys. My bench was horrific I had a max of 130 while my deads were near 250 and squats over 200. Specialty bench programs didnt help but simply following a good 3 lift program and the rewards came slowly to where im just off or at a comp 160. Wookies program has been 7.5kg of that in about 9 or 10 weeks. Maccaz has taken massive leaps and bounds in his program whilst still relatively new to powerlifting. Why would he change that? His bench will climb to where its a strong point just give it time

[Wookie]

Maccaz is 5 weeks out from a comp, so he'll be dropping down from 2 squat sessions to 1 very shortly.

I don't dispute for a second that the main reason why his bench has lagged is because of a lack of upper body muscle in the triceps, chest and shoulders, as well as the lats.

That takes time to build. 

It's a simple process of forgetting short term fixes (like brutalising the bench for 6 weeks like Stalkers probably suggests) and focussing on continuing to train while seeking to stay injury free. That's how gains come, slowly and consistently. 

At the end of the day, we're training with the goal of getting over the 600, 650 and 700 barriers, and that isn't done with the 202.5 squat and 230 deadlift that Maccaz had 10 weeks ago.

Big raw totals come from squats, deads and bench in that order. Big equipped totals come from squat, bench, dead in that order, and the truly massive ones seem to even be bench, squat, dead.

Keep calm and carry on.

[stalkers]

Very aware and i appreciate all input mate. Im working on my strengths and trying to put as good a total together as possible for this competition which bare in mind will be only just over a year of serious training.

After this competition i have a lot of time until next one during which i plan to work hard to bring bench up, including getting some 1 on 1 face to face form coaching.

I dont have the privelege of being strong at benching like a lot of gym rats prior to starting strength training tbh, its always been shit as. 100 was a big milestone for me lol

im the same unfortunately,i lose strength real fast up top and find it hard to gain.not only that if i bench too frequently i tend to get injured arms and shoulders.keep at it.its not that easy to program.

[stalkers]

Maccaz is 5 weeks out from a comp, so he'll be dropping down from 2 squat sessions to 1 very shortly.

I don't dispute for a second that the main reason why his bench has lagged is because of a lack of upper body muscle in the triceps, chest and shoulders, as well as the lats.

That takes time to build. 

It's a simple process of forgetting short term fixes (like brutalising the bench for 6 weeks like Stalkers probably suggests) and focussing on continuing to train while seeking to stay injury free. That's how gains come, slowly and consistently. 

At the end of the day, we're training with the goal of getting over the 600, 650 and 700 barriers, and that isn't done with the 202.5 squat and 230 deadlift that Maccaz had 10 weeks ago.

Big raw totals come from squats, deads and bench in that order. Big equipped totals come from squat, bench, dead in that order, and the truly massive ones seem to even be bench, squat, dead.

Keep calm and carry on.

thanks for the explanation,i know from reading results you were a huge equipped lifter,why did you never compete raw?out of curiousity if u chose the next comp on the calendar to do,where would your numbers be at?

[Wookie]

Because I did maybe 3 powerlifting meets ever, during the offseason usually. There was no raw division when I competed in powerlifting. I hated equipment and when the IPF brought in raw lifting I had no interest in sleeves. Due to knee issues.

I was a strongman who dabbled in powerlifting as a junior and wore a squat suit that I got 20-30kg from.

Only really did it because 370ish squat got a medal usually at jnr worlds and I was keen to try.

Could probably do a 770 in wraps right now after a layoff. Around 100k down on my best gym lifts.

Im considering working towards a big super total in 2016. Pl+Wl

[maccaz]

Mini deload d1

Feeling good all round

Bw 108 in evening

Speed bench paused

Big focus on setup and being explosive

Warmup then

90kg 4 x 2

80kg 6 x 3

Speed squat focus on depth. Felt good!

Warmup then

140 3x3

170 3x3 wrapped

Got a video il post later

Lots of rolling and stretching and miring/hating drunk as girls dressed up going to melbourne cup down the road from my house

[maccaz]

lots of foam rolling + stretching today

feeling good and fresh, i reckon will be good as by end of this week ready to smash it. just over a month to go till comp

[maccaz]

Last night

Mini deload d2

Deadlift

Warmup then

8 x 3 x 160kg felt like nothing, body feeling fresh

Widegrip pulldown

Light 3 x 10

Bb curl

30kg 3 x 10

Ready for a big week next week!

[maccaz]

Wookie w6d1

Kind of classic case of maccaz being a pussy i reckon. 

Bench 

60 x lots

80 x 5

90kg 8 x 2 felt good as

 

Squat

60 x 5

100 x 5

140 x 5

180 x 5

200 x 1

225 x 1 nose sprayed blood. Wasnt that hard though

210 x 4

205 x 4 

200 x 4 

 

Leg extension 3 x 25

 

Bit disappointed the 4s squats were short of goal weights but nosebleed threw me off felt like shit need to get used to that kind of thing happening and suck it up like beastbuilder does lol. 

[maccaz]

Wookie comp prep w6d2

last night was episode 1000 in maccaz unpredictable bench series and it went well.

bench press

60 x lots
80 x 10
100 x 1
110 x 1
120 x 1 = pb was comfortable for once. happy. rpe 9.5 probably wouldnt have got a 2nd but it was tidy and felt and looked good.
110 x 3
105 x 4
100 x 4

speed squats (they went quick as even with bad bad doms from monday)
60 x lots
100 x lots
145kg 4 x 3 cruisy as
170kg 2 x 3 in wraps, easy, so quick

leg press
240kg 3 x 10 light for a change just getting good pump

tricep pressdown
25kg 3 x 20

 

good session, biceps a tiny bit uncomfortable on the heavier benches but overall felt mint. setup is good and doing 120 so comfortably is a milestone really, iv done it 2 other times previously and they were both ugly and slow. getting the hang of using some leg drive to get off the chest, quite slow from halfway up but nothing too serious.

 

excited for proraw weekend, have some mates coming from nz and sydney to stay with me and go watch it, and will be lifting at powerlifting gym on all comp standard gear, texas deadlift bar etc, so keen to see the difference (i will be deadlifting)

 

every competition even small novice ones iv been to have given me mad motivation and put me on a training high for a while so 3 days of some of the best lifters in australia (and the world) should get me on a roll for a good year or so 

 

 

[HarryB]

My cousin used to stick cotton wool up his nose when it bled and just kept on training. Bugger that though. I'd hate to wreck a tshirt. 

[maccaz]

w6d3

 

trained in powerlifting gym, organised membership there, used texas deadlift bar, so cool, ripped up my hands real nice

wont type out accessory today just main lifts 

 

deadlift

70 x 5
120 x 5
170 x 5 
220 x 1
230 x 1
210 x 4
200 x 4 
190 x 4
 

felt fucking mint on a good bar no straps obviously so could setup easily etc

the way this 230 felt tells me 250 will soon im 100% confident not even worried about jinxing it

https://www.instagram.com/p/-Bf30LvnPf

[maccaz]

awesome weekend, will do a full write up tomorrow i reckon but some photos of me, beastbuilder, ed coan, chad wesley smith attached

 

chad wesley smith did 1055 total, odell manuel did 1075.

crazy to see someone squat over 400kg

 

chad wesley smith is standing behind on the photo but he is huge in person, weighed in at 160kg i believe. scale doesnt look correct as im a fat 110 and beastbuilder is a lean 110 and we dont look way smaller than him in the photo but we def are. 

 

at one point had my arm around ed coan, only way i can describe his physique is like a bag of cement, just years of being extremely strong has made him so dense lol

[maccaz]

general life pb, few weeks ago posted that i was waiting to hear about a job, found out today that i got it. big upgrade. more senior, will have guys 2x my age reporting to me which is pretty intense. 

this year has gone good as for me.

 

also sunday was a milestone, longest i have been sober since i was 13-14. 

11 months and 1 day. my previous best was 11 months exactly in 2012-2013. so every day from now is another pb and dont imagine il ever start drinking again realistically.

 

job pb and alcoholism pb are probably quite directly linked actually haha

 

on a good buzz for last couple weeks of prep. fun week of training  this week. test squat on saturday, cant wait

 

[maccaz]

w7d1

 

bench press (speed, paused)

bar x lots

60 x lots

80 x 5

90kg 8 x 2 very strong today

 

speed squat

60 x lots

100 x 5

140 x 5 

150kg 3x3 quick as

180kg 2 x 3 wrapped

 

leg extension

medium weight 2 x 25

 

feel strong as today, been eating heaps lately probably helps. i reckon i ate 5000+cal a day all weekend because had friends over for proraw etc, went out for meals etc, noticeable helps me feel stronger, probably helps me get fat too though cant always do that

[maccaz]

some comments from yesterdays session at Iron Revolution (my new permanent gym, powerlifting + strongman gym)

 

If i had done the comp without training there first I would have bombed on squat. should have realised but didnt really think about it but obviously a free standing squat rack in the middle of a room is going to be very different to a power rack with safetys in front of a mirror. had to muck around with heights, get used to noisy metal plates each side, but worst of all with no mirror it was difficult walking out and squatting, because i normally watch myself to get the right place on walkout, and watch my depth in the mirror. luckily i have a bit of time to get used to it. did alright yesterday luckily it was a light day.  sunk squats deep as possible to be safe without being able to see and guys around said they were more than deep enough.

 

the owner (huge strong guy) laughed at my knee wrapping, asked if noone had ever shown me how before lol, showed me how to do it a way better way, felt perfect. previously i was going to high and low on my leg, and not thick enough, new way only goes 4 revolutions up, then lots of crossing over. its more comfortable and focuses more pressure where it matters on the knee joint. he reckoned the way i had been doing it would have held me back a lot because i was compressing the top of my calf muscle so much. dunno if thats true but new way feels good!

 

benching on a proper powerlifting type bench rather than a slippery bench setup in power rack is good as. felt so stable and solid and can set up properly. i reckon instantly got a few kgs from doing it in this type of proper bench, so hopefully pull something good together soon!

[maccaz]

W7d2

 

Deadlift

60 x 5

100 x 5

140 x 5 

160 8 x 3

 

Lower back got real pumped which was annoying should have stretched hamstrings more. Sweet now tho. 

 

Widegrip pulldown

Light 3 x 12

 

Hamstring curl 

Light 3 x 12

 

Easy day 

 

Bw is real high atm 111 today before dinner im not worried tho not gonna control my eating just eat normal and worry bout weight class next year. Also sorted soft suit today because iv been moved to open rather than novice so cant just wear shorts and teeshirt