(Luc) Laffin's Log, Stardate 12018.9. Computer Nerd gone Powerlifting Bro

[llaffin]

New log, who dis?

My old log is a mess of programming and logging. I feel I've learned a ton about myself, my training, and programming in the last few months, spent months rehabbing my squat/DL and now I'm FINALLY over my persistent low back pain, and just finished my first meet, so I want to start a new log to celebrate a fresh new start to competition oriented programming. I feel more pumped and excited about training now than I ever have before.


I'll kick this log off with a meet recap:

• Did my first powerlifting meet ever on Dec 9 2018. It was a Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) / IPF sanctioned local meet
• I competed in the Men's Open 83kg, weighing in at 78.0kg
• Went 9/9 with a 165/105/182.5kg finish (364/231/402lbs)
• That's an all time high bar squat PR, all time bench PR, and matches my best gym DL PR. My 3rd attempt bench looked like a routine [email protected] lol. Pretty confident I had 110/242 in me that day, if only I had a 4th attempt, oh well, it was a PR nonetheless. The taper week caused my bench strength to skyrocket unbeknownst to me, I guess I was carrying way more pressing fatigue than I thought.
• There was almost 80 lifters total, placed 8th out of 10 in my class, 1st place had a 407 wilks vs my 320 or something. Meet MVP had a 472 wilks, so some strong dudes and dudettes showed up, it was cool (watching a 52kg woman squat 315 will always amaze me, and an unofficial Canadian squat record in one of the Masters I classes). Everyone there was extremely supportive and helpful, no matter how strong or weak they were, I hope it was a good representation of the powerlifting community as a whole.
• Videos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrL9F5vAfNl

My stats of as today: Male, 27yo, 5'7 / 170cm, 78.0kg / 172lbs, 34" waist, ~20%BF according to navy seal calculator.

Long term goals: slowly "fill out" the 83kg weight class over the next 3-5 years (83kg @ ~15%BF). So I've got about 8kg/17.5lbs of lean mass to gain and 2kg/4.5lbs of fat to lose lol... we'll see if my computer nerd genetics can do it Then hopefully I will Squat and Deadlift 500+ and Bench 315 - lifetime milestones of mine.

[llaffin]

Trying out a table format for logging, so I can just easily fill in some excel cells and paste it over here. Unfortunately the formatting doesn't follow the ctrl+v too well, so I'll see if I want to stick to this format.

WEEK ONE		PIVOT
DAY #1		MON. DEC 10, 2018
Daily Summary:	Entering a pivot/washout week since I'm immediately post-meet. Lots of fun tempo work this week.
sRPE:	6
COMPETITION SQUAT
Warmups:	45x5x3, 135x5, 225x5
Set 1	245lbs	8 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	260lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	260lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Summary:	e1rm: 366	Volume: 24	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	Went from empty bar to finishing my last set in just 14 minutes. Enjoying the break from high intensity and doing some #cardio. Man, high bar squats feel so much better.
COMPETITION PRESS
Warmups:	45x5x2
Set 1	95lbs	8 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	100lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	100lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Summary:	e1rm: 141	Volume: 24	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	I've gotten significantly weaker on the press lol. I'm probably extra terrible at 8 reps right now too.
5-0-0 TEMPO BENCH
Warmups:	45x5, 95x5
Set 1	115lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	125lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	135lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	135lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	135lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 173	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	I can definitely bench more than 173 with a 5 second descent, but these were (good) burning so badly with just 1 plate.

[llaffin]

WEEK ONE		PIVOT
DAY # 2		TUES. DEC 11, 2018
Daily Summary:	This is the last session I'll have to do in the AM an hour after waking due to scheduling changes. So happy for that.
sRPE:	8
-
COMPETITION DEADLIFT
Warmups:	135x5x2, 225x5
Set 1	275lbs	8 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	285lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	285lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Summary:	e1rm: 402	Volume: 24	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	No issues, these went fine. Don't think I've ever done 8 rep deadlifts before, so I guess these were technically PRs, hooray!
-
COMPETITION BENCH
Warmups:	45x5x2, 135x5
Set 1	150lbs	8 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	160lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	160lbs	8 REPS	RPE 7
Summary:	e1rm: 226	Volume: 24	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	Weaker than expected, but understandable considering yesterday's novelty movements and volume.
-
5-0-0 TEMPO FRONT SQUAT
Warmups:	45x6, 115x6
Set 1	145lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	155lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	165lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	165lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	165lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 211	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	I know complaining about tempo squats is faux pas, but god damn these are awful. I felt very limited by cardiovascular endurance and not quad strength. Was nauseas and dizzy during the last 2 sets, really brought up my session RPE. My wrists were also really hurting, might need to rethink my front squat strategy.

[PWard]

5-0-0 Tempo Front Squat... Ouch! LOL.

[llaffin]

Lol right? Reeaally wishing I had access to a leg press

[teddyd]

Noice going at the meet Luc.

What template are you planning on running after the pivot week?

[llaffin]

Thanks man! I actually signed up for some group programming with BBM and this is the first week of it. It's a few weeks of hypertrophy work before moving on to 12-week strength style training.

[teddyd]

Ooh! Nice.
I hope it works out well for you.

[alex.starbuck]

Picard or Janeway?

I laughed my a** off when I saw the title! Another fella from the ITs here.... how do you do the table format in the end?

[llaffin]

Hello fellow nerd! I'm glad someone got the reference, ha. Well my name is Luc, so I have to go with Jean-Luc Picard I've always liked TNG the best of them all too.

Right now I just made a simple excel sheet and literally just ctrl+c ctrl+v it into here. The only formatting that's kept though is the merged cells. When I get more free time later this week I'll see if I can make a nice and pretty html/css table that's easily editable.

[alex.starbuck]

TR
TD
TR

it all the way to hell and back

[llaffin]

Alas, I have no way of displaying a custom HTML table here. Maybe I'll literally post an img of one, ha. For now, an unnecessarily extravagant GPP log:
-

WEEK ONE		PIVOT
GPP #1		WED. DEC 12, 2018
Daily Summary:	Help. Everything hurts and I'm dying. #catastrophizing I have DOMS in my quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, front delts, pecs, and triceps. I actually haven't experienced soreness, especially in my upper body, in a really long time, so I'm masochistically enjoying this.
sRPE:	<6
INVERTED ROWS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	Bodyweight, flat on floor	8, 8, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3	41
Notes:	These are a lot harder than I anticipated. To be fair, I haven't done any GPP in about 9 weeks, so this session as a whole was a disappointing performance.
PLANKS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	Bodyweight	30 x 4, 20 x 3, 10	190 sec
Notes:	Yup, never liked ab work.
TRICEP PUSHDOWNS (ROPE)
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	25lbs	15, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6	53
Notes:	My home pulley system has a tonne of friction, so the effective weight is more than 25lbs. I'm not thaat weak, I swear.
BARBELL CURLS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	45lbs	12, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4	46
Notes:	Feels good to gym bro again.
AIR BIKE (LISS)
Time	Distance	Avg Speed	Heart Rate
25 mins	10.61km	25.5 km/h	-
Notes:	I have an HR monitor, I'll try wearing it next time.

[llaffin]

WEEK ONE		PIVOT
DAY #3		THURS. DEC 13, 2018
Daily Summary:	Woke up feeling pretty damn sick. Which is weird, I was just sick 3 weeks ago and got over it. Wonder if this is something new or the ol' virus making a comeback. Oh well, WAIGDNT? Buckley's and squat time.
Bodyweight:	174.8lbs / 79.4kg	sRPE:	7
-
5-3-0 TEMPO SQUAT
Warmups:	45x6x3, 135x6
Set 1	175lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	185lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	195lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	195lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	195lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 250	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	These actually weren't nearly as bad as the tempo front squats. Pretty sure I could 5-3-0 315lbs for 1, but each rep gets so exponentially fatiguing 195 is all I could muster for 6.
-
5-3-0 TEMPO BENCH
Warmups:	45x6x2
Set 1	95lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	105lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	115lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	115lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	115lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 148	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	Kinda love these. Real nice chest burn. I'm enjoying not caring about the weight on the bar. It's a much appreciated mental break from the meet prep.
-
3-0-0 TEMPO PRESS
Warmups:	45x6
Set 1	70lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	75lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	80lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	80lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	80lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 102	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	Lol reduced to baby weights. Great delt burn - getting jacked over here.

[llaffin]

WEEK ONE		PIVOT
DAY #4		FRI. DEC 14, 2018
Daily Summary:	Got a pretty gnarly head cold going on. Contributed strongly to spiking up the sRPE. I have a hunch it's an ear infection - I had one several years ago and the ear symptoms I'm getting now are quite similar. We'll see how symptoms progress. Luckily I have no significant plans tonight so I'm just gonna go sleep like a rock for the next 16 hours.
Bodyweight:	175.2lbs / 79.6kg	sRPE:	8.5
-
5-3-0 TEMPO DEADLIFT
Warmups:	135x6, 175x6
Set 1	195lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	210lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 288	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	Wow, okay. I'll never complain about tempo squats again lol, these are way worse. Some major forearm, lat, ab and low back pump though
-
3-0-0 TEMPO FEETUP BENCH
Warmups:	45x6x2, 95x6
Set 1	135lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	145lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	155lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	155lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	155lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 199	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 75%
Notes:	Everything was fine. Technique felt good, and got some more chest burning sensation. Gimme dat sweet hypertrophy.
-
5-0-0 TEMPO RDL
Warmups:	None
Set 1	185lbs	6 REPS	RPE 6
Set 2	205lbs	6 REPS	RPE 7
Set 3	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 4	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Set 5	225lbs	6 REPS	RPE 8
Summary:	e1rm: 288	Volume: 30	Avg Int: 74%
Notes:	Following up those tempo deadlifts with ... more... tempo deadlifts. Really wasn't sure what weight to expect for these but ended up being the same top sets. Back to "normal" training next week!

[llaffin]

WEEK TWO		HYPERTROPHY
DAY #1		MON. DEC 17, 2018
Daily Summary:	Hypertrophy for the next 3 weeks. Overall a decent session, but I seemed to be carrying more fatigue than expected. I'm assuming it's primarily from this head cold I'm still battling (successfully). Let's get this bread. Bring on the volume.
Bodyweight:	174.6lbs / 79.4kg	sRPE:	8.5
Session Length:	1h 15m	Arbitrary Units:	637
-
COMPETITION SQUAT
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 4 sets
Warmups:	45x8x3, 135x8, 225x5
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	250	8	6.5
2	260	8	7.5
3	255	8	7
4	250	8	7
5	245	8	7
Summary:	e1rm: 361	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 69%
Notes:	So this log is unintentionally starting off with me complaining everyday - but this was one of the hardest squat sessions I've ever done. I was horribly out of breath, choking on my own phlegm, and pretty much literally dying between sets #catastrophizing, even though the RPE was <8. I'm gonna assume it's residual viral infection fatigue.
-
COMPETITION PRESS
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 4 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	90	8	6
2	95	8	7
3	95	8	7
4	95	8	7
5	95	8	7
Summary:	e1rm: 135	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	No issues, these were fine, I really enjoy the press. 135 did used to be my [email protected] though before I became a bench bro, now it's my e1rm lol.
-
CLOSEGRIP BENCH
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	135	10	7
2	145	10	8
3	140	10	8
4	140	10	8
Summary:	e1rm: 212	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 67%
Notes:	No issues, lots of groovy chest burn, just working on my man cleavage. Funny that 80 reps of pressing in one session is just another day now, that seemed like preposterous volume before BBM.

[llaffin]

WEEK TWO		HYPERTROPHY
DAY #2		TUES. DEC 18, 2018
Daily Summary:	Feeling much better sickness-wise. Good session overall. Comp e1rms are all down ~5% this week but that's not surprising - I'm no longer 'peaked ' and I'm reentering a state of chronic training fatigue, and [email protected]'s arent very predictive of a 1rm anyways. I expect them to bounce back up in the coming weeks.
Bodyweight:	174.8lbs / 78.4kg	sRPE:	7.5
Session Length:	1h 19m	Arbitrary Units:	593
-
COMPETITION DEADLIFT
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 4 sets
Warmups:	135x8x2, 225x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	265	8	6
2	275	8	7
3	275	8	7
4	275	8	7
5	275	8	7
Summary:	e1rm: 388	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 71%
Notes:	These challenged my conditioning a bit, but went really well overall. Deadlifts were the bane of my existence for most of 2018 due to non specific low back pain, but I freakin' love them now. Looking forward to 500.
-
COMPETITION BENCH
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 4 sets
Warmups:	45x5x4, 95x8, 135x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	150	8	6
2	160	8	7
3	160	8	7
4	160	8	7.5
5	155	8	7
Summary:	e1rm: 226	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	Funny, the first 4-5 reps were a joke and then things very quickly escalated by rep 7 and 8 lol. I've become very inefficient at 6+ reps, heh. Dropped the weight on the last set cuz I was feeling some RPE creep.
-
2CT PAUSE FRONT SQUAT
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x10, 95x10
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	145	10	6.5
2	155	10	7.5
3	160	10	8
4	160	10	8
Summary:	e1rm: 234	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 66%
Notes:	These post-DL squats will always be the "voluntary hardship" of my training. "Embrace the suck", I suppose . Keeping things light as I just focus on re-adapting to volume and managing fatigue.

[llaffin]

WEEK TWO		HYPERTROPHY
GPP #1		WED. DEC 19, 2018
Daily Summary:	Big performance boost from last week's GPP. Regaining all that lost conditioning.
Bodyweight:	175.2lbs / 79.6kg	sRPE:	5
Session Length:	48m	Arbitrary Units:	240
-
INVERTED ROWS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
8 mins	Bodyweight, from floor	8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4	58
Notes:	Brought my feet in a little so my knees had some bend to make these a little easier
-
PLANKS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
8 mins	Bodyweight	30 x 8	240 sec
Notes:
-
TRICEP PUSHDOWN (ROPE)
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	25lbs	15, 12, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6	65
Notes:
-
BARBELL CURLS
Time	Weight	Reps / Set	Total Reps
7 mins	45lbs	15, 10, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6	57
Notes:	Confession: I don't like doing curls.
-
AIR BIKE (LISS)
Time	Distance	Avg Speed	Heart Rate
25 mins	11.76km	28.22 km/h	-
Notes:	Finished up the BBM podcast with Greg Nuckols while doing this - funny guy, good content.

[llaffin]

WEEK TWO		HYPERTROPHY
DAY #3		THURS. DEC 20, 2018
Daily Summary:	Very good training session. Felt strong even though e1rms are down in general. Shortest workout I've done in a long time.
Bodyweight:	175.2lbs / 79.6kg	sRPE:	7
Session Length:	1h 7m	Arbitrary Units:	469
-
SSB SQUAT
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2, 135x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	185	8	6
2	195	8	7
3	205	8	8
4	205	8	8
5	205	8	8
Summary:	e1rm: 280	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 73%
Notes:	In stark contrast to Monday's squats, these didn't challenge my conditioning at all and I blitzed through them from empty to finish in 24 minutes. SSB has to be my favourite squat.
-
TOUCH N' GO BENCH
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2, 95x8, 135x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	155	8	6
2	160	8	7
3	165	8	7.5
4	170	8	8
5	170	8	8
Summary:	e1rm: 232	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 72%
Notes:	Pretty conservative with the weight selection ramping up. No comments really, decent bench session.
-
CLOSEGRIP INCLINE BENCH
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x10
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	95	10	6.5
2	105	10	7.5
3	110	10	8
4	110	10	8
Summary:	e1rm: 161	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 66%
Notes:	Been awhile since I've done these, bar path was all over the place. Seemed to irritate my left shoulder just a tiny bit - probably meaningless. dat iNtErNaL sHoUlDeR rOtAtIoN though

[llaffin]

WEEK TWO		HYPERTROPHY
DAY #4		FRI. DEC 21, 2018
Daily Summary:	Another feel good day. Powered through this with little rest and ease. My bodyweight seems to be ballooning even though my macros/calories haven't changed, waist is the same, I'll keep an eye on it.
Bodyweight:	176.0lbs / 80.0kg	sRPE:	7
Session Length:	57m	Arbitrary Units:	399
-
MID-SHIN RACK PULL
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2, 135x8, 225x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	255	8	6
2	265	8	7
3	275	8	7
4	285	8	7.5
5	295	8	8
Summary:	e1rm: 402	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 70%
Notes:	These are a good lesson in "strength is specific". The slightly modified start position really messed with initial force production, breaking the bar off the pins was by far the hardest part of the lift. Felt like I was improving with each set though, nervous system gains.
-
FEETUP BENCH
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	45x8x2, 95x8
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	135	8	6
2	145	8	7
3	150	8	8
4	150	8	8
5	150	8	8
Summary:	e1rm: 205	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 72%
Notes:	What is balance? I was like a see saw on some reps.
-
PENDLAY ROW
Prescription:	[email protected], [email protected] x 3 sets
Warmups:	135x10
Set #	WEIGHT (lbs)	REPS	RPE
1	145	10	7
2	155	10	8
3	155	10	8
4	155	10	8
Summary:	e1rm: 226	Volume: 40	Avg Int: 67%
Notes:	I mimic my deadlift grip and stance for these, but try to use minimal knee extension, although there is some present.