Jack of two trades, master of none!

[EliteProAli]

21 hours ago, Monarchking said:

Novice or "pro"?

Sorry man I thought I replied to this lol

Nah it's not novice - but definitely not pro LOL

Weighed in at 74.2kg this morning. Should make weight for tomorrow. This is the first time I've had an easy 'weight drop' without really trying. Also probably the first time where I am not so anxious about performing. 

That's a good sign (I hope) - will update y'all tomorrow

[Pseudonym]

Go hard, mate.  

[HarryB]

Be good to see what you manage today! Strong mofo

[EliteProAli]

Hey guys, 

Sorry to keep you in 'suspense' about my meet (LOL yeah right) but for me it wasn't something to 'brag' about really. If anything it sort of made me have an epiphany about my lifting goals.

I think I am going to quit and do break-dancing instead... It was something I was always passionate about when I watch those dance-off movies.

Jokes lol. ANYWAY...

So I usually sit around 75-76kg when I don't have any meets. Like most of you know, I decided to jump into the Auckland Benchpress Championships and managed to get my weight down to 73.7kg (at home that is.) 

Last Friday I weighed in at 76.2kg's and this Friday before the meet I weighed in at 74.2kg all just from drinking water which I was pretty happy about. 

So I drove to the meet Saturday morning weighing 73.7kg and when I stepped on the scales at the meet I was 74.2kg (lol!) - I was a tad surprised to be honest and my friends / people at the meet said it's easy to lose 200g's just have a hot shower, go for a walk etc etc and I just chose not to. Didn't want to go through all the trouble so obviously I didn't compete in the U74kg class and had to be in the U83kg class.

When I was warming up on the bench press, everything felt heavy!! :S - even 80kg was a bit of a... I wouldn't say struggle, but I didn't have that autonomous feeling that you would when you aren't lifting something heavy (relatively speaking) - I kept progressing the weight, 120kg felt pretty tough so I thought I'd put my wrist-wraps on for my final warm up (130kg) - it definitely wasn't a grinder but it made me second-guess myself in regards to my opening weight (140kg) - I wanted to change the weight but I know in my heart that even on the worst day, I can press this weight so my ego stopped me from doing so and I was trying to convince myself that it was going to be all good since in March I opened up on 145kg and that wasn't too bad.

Watch my 140kg here.

 

 

Man that was a close one LOL - when I got stuck all that was going through my mind was "COME ON MAN YOU'VE DONE THIS FOR REPS AND YOU'VE PAUSED IT LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!" 

 

My second lift was 142.5kg and I am happy about that. I told myself depending on how 140kg feels, I will either do 145kg or 150kg but obviously I had to change the plan due to my horrific performance. 

 

 

fortunately, 145kg moved easier for some odd reason. But I knew that this was going to be it. No 145kg and I was right. 145kg was exactly how my 160kg for a pause (at home) felt like. Wouldn't budge. I still kept a smile on the outside and shook the ref's hands for doing their job but deep down I was mad at myself for my performance. Not going to lie. From a 'just over' 2x bw bench press in competition to this was backwards to me but  I guess it was going to happen at some stage right? 

 

I had no one in my class so I came 1st by default. There was 13 lifters in total and I ended up coming 2nd overall to a man named Paul Gattsche who reminded me of Paul Barry (Panda) - forgot what he benched but it was an awesome bench and really stood out.

 

Most people would be happy with a result like this but for myself honestly, I could care less about placings. To me placings are just luck. Who ever decides to show up on the day etc (just my opinion) 

Also I want to reach the elite standard for my weight class (u74kg) which I want to do AT a meet. I just want my personal goals rather than actually try to beat people. Don't get me wrong, 1st overall woulda been awesome but atleast I can say I have a bodybuilding overall and a powerlifting overall under my belt and they felt cool, but nothing feels better than achieving a goal you personally set out for yourself to do. Corny? Indenial? You can make your own assumption, feel free too. I care about performance on the platform and I care about being extremely lean on the stage. Not 1st place when I performed crap or looking soft etc.

Also I don't want to feel like this EVER again so I am going to try and stay in the U83kg class and progress to 80-82kg SLOWLY within the next 8 months or so while trying to be semi lean. I want to walk into a meet without the need of waterloading, glycogen depleting etc etc.

Anyway, thanks for reading guys. I appreciate it. 

In the next bench press meet I will try aim for 150kg's to get the elite standard for U83 class.

[EliteProAli]

Here I am today 74.2kg (guess I am still depleted ? Would you say that?) no pump, average lighting. Let the feeding begin.

[Pseudonym]

Looking very depleted, Ali. Especially in the lats.  

 

It's a bugger you didn't perform as well as you'd have liked. But hey - this was your first time manipulating weight, right? It's a learning curve.

[PETN]

10 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Looking very depleted, Ali. Especially in the lats.  

 

It's a bugger you didn't perform as well as you'd have liked. But hey - this was your first time manipulating weight, right? It's a learning curve.

 

What do you mean when you say he looks depleted? Like quite lean or something else?

[Pseudonym]

I meant small. It was a joke, albeit not a very good one.

[Realtalk]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

I meant small. It was a joke, albeit not a very good one.

 

I think what you and PETN think is funny would probably be completley different anyway... Lol

[EliteProAli]

 

 

Yesterdays training just consisted of deadlifts. Weighed in at 74.7 so the plan was to put 225 on the bar and rep it (3x bw) for 8 hopefully. Only managed 6. Definitely need to get my body weight up to around 76kg again. 220 x 8 didnt feel as hard

 

Fucking only put one 2.5kg plate on one side! LOL just my luck. Was trying to redeem myself from the meet.

 

Funniest thing is I am still 74.7kg this morning. Depending on how I feel might do some t n g bench press with 150kg.

 

No Pseudo I have done a water cut before loool ... ahwell. Bound to happen at some point.

[PETN]

3 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

I meant small. It was a joke, albeit not a very good one.

 

Ah yep gotcha, I thought you were being serious. I wouldn't write it off as a great joke based on me not getting it...I'm sure at least some of the members on here with a more sophisticated sense of humor e.g. Cameron_R and the hair-loss-prevention-product-enthusiast lurkers would have had a bit of a giggle to themselves into their chai lattes.

[EliteProAli]

What up homies

Finally gaining some weight lool - 75.2kg's today. Had a decent workout today that consisted of high bar squats, front squats and low bar squats. 

Worked up to a 190kg x 2 (2.5x bw) then dropped the weight to 170 and decided to do it without sleeves and beltless.

Definitely don't have as much confidence doing it that way but at the same time I feel like sleeves and belt make me slack on form. My form in the video isn't the greatest but I push in a way that I have 100% no knee or back discomfort so it's always a good thing (despite what the video shows and how ugly the form looks, it was all good)

Anyway, here's what I did

 

Highbar squats

10 reps on the bar
5 reps 70kg

5 reps 120kg 

3 reps 160kg

 

Front squats

 

5 reps 70kg

5 reps 100kg

2 reps 120kg

1 rep 140kg

 

Low bar squats

 

3 reps 100kg

3 reps 140kg paused

2 reps 160kg paused

1 rep 170kg

2 reps 190kg

2 reps 170kg (beltless / sleeveless)

Didn't take very long which is a good thing too but definitely feeling the pump in the legs and in the back LOL
 

 

[Pseudonym]

3 hours ago, EliteProAli said:

My form in the video isn't the greatest but I push in a way that I have 100% no knee or back discomfort so it's always a good thing (despite what the video shows and how ugly the form looks, it was all good)

I admit I was wincing watching that... But I'm sure you know what you're doing, bro!  

[EliteProAli]

13 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

I admit I was wincing watching that... But I'm sure you know what you're doing, bro!  

Lol hope I know what I'm doing! My form is alot cleaner with knee sleeves and a belt. I can just go a tad deeper without ya know? Good to do both I guess lol. But yeah 100% all good with the knees n back :D

 

Deadlifts and bench tonight

[Realtalk]

Why do you squat with such a narrow stance? Have you tried widening your stance slightly and pointing your feet outward. You are loosing power when your knees come in like that and then you are forcing them outwards which is a good cue but it doesn't really work with such a narrow stance because your narrow foot position is dictating how far you can force your knees out which isn't very much.

[EliteProAli]

2 minutes ago, Realtalk said:

Why do you squat with such a narrow stance? Have you tried widening your stance slightly and pointing your feet outward. You are loosing power when your knees come in like that and then you are forcing them outwards which is a good cue but it doesn't really work with such a narrow stance because your narrow foot position is dictating how far you can force your knees out which isn't very much.

Hey bro thanks for the tip - I have tried squatting a bit wider and it feels REAL awkward :/ my hips take a real beating which is pretty rich coming from a sumo deadlifter.. But that's the honest truth. I actually wish I could go wider trust me man lol. Already have a wide sumo and a decent arch on bench. Just cant. Maybe move my feet an inch more and see how that goes? Perhaps it a mobility issue.

 

I also notice one knee caves in more than the other, is it a glute issue? Knee sleeves and belt seems to fix the issue but I don't want to mask it if that makes sense

[Realtalk]

i don't think it's anything to do with your glutes bro. Everyone seems to be obsessed with this "my glutes aren't firing" nonsense as of late. I don't buy it. If these peoples glutes weren't firing they would know about it. It's the biggest muscle in your body and they're talking about it not working properly... Lol wut. It's a real fashionable thing uo say at the moment and it's mostly BS.

 

knees coming in on squats is just a natural tendency of human movement. When you are squatting heavy it's just what happens. Somewhat As is rounding of the back on deadlift. I'm not saying you are a beginner but it's a beginner problem. It can easily be fixed though by adjusting technique with practice and you should be able to fix your motor pattern and in turn have you squatting with a more knees out technique. I probably could have said that better but you get what I mean in sure. Use bands that's a good one to push out against a band round your knees.

 

not sure why your hips aren't comfortable you want to fix that because your hips are the biggest part of your swear you want to use them to their potential.

 

i don't really like giving technical advice bro I'm not an expert on that but it's not s complicated problem to fix :)

[maccaz]

band around knees for a few set of bodyweight box squats before squatting is what people are usually told to do for that problem as far as i know.

 

few people i know rate using a band around knees for first few sets of warmups too

[Realtalk]

Sorry man few spelling errors in there, iPhone and fat thumb lol.

 

I'm sure one of the self appointed Internet powerlifting coaches will give you Advice, maybe a copy paste off their coach who got it off their coach lol

[jimmybro1]

Get a hip circle ? 

 

 

Are you doing/able to do the classic cup in November? Or is it only WBOP ? 

[EliteProAli]

5 hours ago, Realtalk said:

i don't think it's anything to do with your glutes bro. Everyone seems to be obsessed with this "my glutes aren't firing" nonsense as of late. I don't buy it. If these peoples glutes weren't firing they would know about it. It's the biggest muscle in your body and they're talking about it not working properly... Lol wut. It's a real fashionable thing uo say at the moment and it's mostly BS.

 

knees coming in on squats is just a natural tendency of human movement. When you are squatting heavy it's just what happens. Somewhat As is rounding of the back on deadlift. I'm not saying you are a beginner but it's a beginner problem. It can easily be fixed though by adjusting technique with practice and you should be able to fix your motor pattern and in turn have you squatting with a more knees out technique. I probably could have said that better but you get what I mean in sure. Use bands that's a good one to push out against a band round your knees.

 

not sure why your hips aren't comfortable you want to fix that because your hips are the biggest part of your swear you want to use them to their potential.

 

i don't really like giving technical advice bro I'm not an expert on that but it's not s complicated problem to fix :)

Perhaps you're right bro. - I do see my glutes being squeezed at the top. I guess that was my excuse to be honest lol. Yeah I get you bro - I think past 160 it really starts to 'breakdown' in terms of form unless sleeves etc is used

Bro I know man :( it just feels fucked up to squat wider than shoulder width. It's not so much 'pain' but it's discomfort to the point that if the weight got heavier and I kept doing it, over time it could lead to problems - in other words, I don't push my luck because I'ma pussy LOL. Definitely want to focus on my knee issue and fix it - glad to know it's not something huge. Atleast the plus side to it is that it doesn't hurt at all. ZILCH.
 

5 hours ago, maccaz said:

band around knees for a few set of bodyweight box squats before squatting is what people are usually told to do for that problem as far as i know.

 

few people i know rate using a band around knees for first few sets of warmups too

Thanks man, I'll try that. I heard overhead squats with bands help? I'll give that a try. Get my "glutes firing" like Realtalk would say - LOL jkz

5 hours ago, Realtalk said:

Sorry man few spelling errors in there, iPhone and fat thumb lol.

 

I'm sure one of the self appointed Internet powerlifting coaches will give you Advice, maybe a copy paste off their coach who got it off their coach lol

LOL. 

2 hours ago, jimmybro1 said:

Get a hip circle ? 

 

 

Are you doing/able to do the classic cup in November? Or is it only WBOP ? 

Are you trolling me Jimmy or does it actually help? Kinda like what Maccaz is suggesting yeah? I can do WBOP Classic cup and I probably will. Two things to consider.

October I am going to gold coast for 10 days so won't be lifting there and also the past weekend the iron humbled me (sorta?) and gave an uppercut to my ego so if I were to commit to it, I need to bust my ass in the gym.. I kinda am right now I guess you can say? grr..

[EliteProAli]

sup gang.

Weighed in this morning at 75.2kg 

Macros: 190/425/90

Deadlifts and bench press today. Was AMPING to do this shit. I work at Auckland Council doing subdivisions and lately it's been pretty quiet so I was on the verge of going to sleep. Luckily, my wife needed to go to the dentist so I left with her (both work at the council lolz) and managed to train after her appointment.

5 sets of 4 reps with 200kg deadlifts 

 

4 sets of 4 with 122.5kg Benchpress

 

And here's an extra footage demonstrating my Iraqi ingenuity (which I copied some random off youtube LOL)
 

 

 

All in all, it was a good day at the office (gym that is lol) - deadlifts didn't feel hard, I can finally say 200kg is a weight that I can do even on a 'bad' day. Technique is getting better as well. Hoping to get 240+ by the end of the year but only time will tell. 4x bw will be a nice achievement in the next 5-10 years? Or is that too long? Lol

Bench press felt meh so I actually dropped the weight after set 2 and used the RPE scale to gauge the appropriate intensity. If it wasn't for autoregulation, I probably would have quit PLing by now. Great tool to use if you know how to use it and if you are honest with yourself. 

Accessories involved the rows I showed

3 x 8

Bicep curls 3 x 8 @ 15kg DB
Hamstring Curls 3 x 12 @ 25kg

Face Pulls 3 x 15 @ 50kg 

TGIF tomorrow :) - looking forward to chilling the f*ck out with the wife and when she goes to sleep game a bit with a mate lol - life of EPA / Loochi / Naturali / what ever the f*ck you wanna call me ay.

Then it's back at it on Saturday with some front squats - look forward to that. If the day feels good will try my max reps with 140kg Fronts

Cheers for wasting your time reading / watching

[Realtalk]

If it feels weird having your stance wider than shoulders. Get wider shoulders :) haha.

[jimmybro1]

You should do it bro! I'm also heading away in early October will use as a deload. 

 

I will ill compete in it will be trying to get a poverty 6hunndy total 

[EliteProAli]

14 hours ago, Realtalk said:

If it feels weird having your stance wider than shoulders. Get wider shoulders :) haha.

Man... I wish... Forever small clavicles of peace

5 hours ago, jimmybro1 said:

You should do it bro! I'm also heading away in early October will use as a deload. 

 

I will ill compete in it will be trying to get a poverty 6hunndy total 

I was thinking of deloading there bro or I might scope out gyms to train at ( jus 3 days oit of the 7 days and super early in the morning. Am I crazy? Lol)

 

I told the wife about it, didnt give me a hard time considering . 600? Thought youd have atleast 650 or more? Or you injured? In b4 U74kg class with me)

 

Serious question here guys. Anyone got a good peaking program or method? Im so clueless to this.. does it even help? 

 

Also ill be going 12th to 19th Oct and my meet that Jimmy bro is on about is Nov 13th or something. Possible to do a peak within that time frame? 19th til November