The Story of The Bodybuilding Powerlifter

[MailmanMuscle]

Out of curiosity, what are you doing in respect of posing practice? As you get closer to show day will you be fine tuning the posing to accentuate strengths and hide weaknesses?

Good question! I’m already practicing posing. My wife and I went to a posing clinic 2 weeks ago that was coached by 2 pro competitors and judges in the organization I’m competing in. That was incredibly helpful, and we plan to go to another one on February 17 with the same coaches. They don’t cost too much, so I’m glad to be able to get those in. Plus the organization has a clear and concise online tutorial that is a good reference.

I have been practicing a few minutes at home every day. Also, Gold’s has a posing practice room with mirrors on all the walls and stage type lighting. I’ve been spending about 10 minutes in there after training. I’m just learning how to do them now, but yes - I expect to fine tune them as the weeks progress.

SATURDAY, 1/20/24: 16,213 steps, 7.4 miles, 15 flights climbed

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Houston Texans today. The Ravens will host the AFC Championship, so people around here are ready to party like it’s 1971. That’s the last time that game was hosted here, when the home team was the Colts and they were on their way to winning Super Bow 5. The Ravens are trying to win Super Bowl 58. Not only did this evening’s game have me in a good mood, but it ensured that the gym would be dead. Parking and equipment was easily accessible.

Lower #2, Gold’s - this workout hasn’t fallen on a Gold’s day in a while, and has changed since last time it did (12/31)

Reverse Hack Good Morning - I did squats on this machine on Monday. Turns out it has multiple uses.
empty sled/8-10 reps
90+ lbs/6-8 reps
180+/8
270+/10
320+/14
This was my first time using this machine for this exercise, so I was conservative with weight. But in hindsight, I would have rather gone heavier and landed around 9-10 reps. Also, I lost count of the reps on the first 2 sets. And FYI - I have no idea how much the sled weighs, so that’s why it’s weight+.

Reverse Hack Squat
180+ lbs/8 reps
270+/8
360+/6 - added belt on this set
450+/11
When I did these on Monday, I topped out at 360+/8, and I was sitting on my ankles in the bottom of the movement. But my left knee was feeling bad later in that session, so I tried these with a shorter ROM. I still broke parallel on them, so they weren’t half squats. Plus I never locked out at the top, so constant tension for these. My knee felt better for this whole session, even with 90 more pounds on the top set, so I think I’ll keep this ROM moving forward.

Deadlift
135 lbs/6 reps
225/4
315/3
365/2 - added Versa Gripps on this set
415/5 - added belt on this set
These are the heaviest deadlifts I have done in…. a while. I’d have to flip through the log to find out. I did 365/5 last month. Along with the online bodyfat calculator, I’m using strength performance as a proxy for how much muscle I’m retaining during this prep. It may be on the broscience side of things, but to me it makes sense: if I’m getting weaker, then I’m losing muscle, and if I’m not getting weaker, then I’m maintaining muscle mass. That’s something I can track on every exercise I do, but I’m not training deadlifts regularly right now, or with my normal goal of increasing 1RM. So if I can still deadlift a decent amount on the fly in the middle of a workout, then I’m assuming that muscle isn’t wasting away yet.

Side note: there was a discussion over the past couple of days in @Renascent’s log about double overhand grip on deadlifts. (His is ridiculously strong) I remembered that after my first set, so I tested myself on set 3 and got the first rep at 315 DOH without fear of losing it. But I didn’t have any confidence that I could do it again, so I went OH/UH for the next 2. I was very happy with that, because I thought I could only get 2-something without some grip enhancement.

”Super Abs” machine
145 lbs/20 reps, middle
105/20 + 10, right
105/20 + 10, left
My wife and I alternated sets on these. I did my first set, then she did hers, then I did my second and realized that I hadn’t switched the weight back to what I was using. So I did 10 more reps to make up for it. On the 3rd set, I did the same thing as set 2, but on purpose.

Leg Extension
140 lbs/22 reps
140/16

Prone Leg Curl
95 lbs/13 reps
95/12 + 2 partials

The leg extension and leg curl machines are right next to each other, so I hopped back on forth doing 2 sets on each.

Standing Calf Raise
100 lbs/20 reps
100/15
100/10

Posing room after that. Went home to eat and listen to Ravens’ postgame stuff. I’m actually going to work tomorrow too. Times are hard. Gotta get that overtime when I can get it. But I’ll be off Monday.

[MarkKO]

Posing is something I'm very interested in, although I don't have a physique to show off as such outside maybe my legs. I keep promising myself that one day I'll go to a posing clinic and then strip down the fat again.

[MailmanMuscle]

Posing is something I'm very interested in, although I don't have a physique to show off as such outside maybe my legs. I keep promising myself that one day I'll go to a posing clinic and then strip down the fat again.

Are you in the US? If so, then there’s a pretty good chance that you can find some fairly close to you. My experience was a good one. There were complete novices like me, up to people who had done several shows. In the clinic that started after mine ended, one of the attendees had just won her natty wellness pro card. My wife aspires to compete in figure, but she still has a lot of weight to lose. Even still, they were very accommodating and gave individual insights on how to improve to everyone.

[MarkKO]

Posing is something I'm very interested in, although I don't have a physique to show off as such outside maybe my legs. I keep promising myself that one day I'll go to a posing clinic and then strip down the fat again.

Are you in the US? If so, then there’s a pretty good chance that you can find some fairly close to you. My experience was a good one. There were complete novices like me, up to people who had done several shows. In the clinic that started after mine ended, one of the attendees had just won her natty wellness pro card. My wife aspires to compete in figure, but she still has a lot of weight to lose. Even still, they were very accommodating and gave individual insights on how to improve to everyone.

No, Australia. There are still a fair few around though.

[MailmanMuscle]

No, Australia. There are still a fair few around though.

Gotcha. Hey man, if you have the chance, go ahead and sign up for one.

SUNDAY, 1/21/24: 10,214 steps, 4.5 miles, 7 flights climbed

It occurred to me a few minutes ago that by working today and getting all of those steps in, I won’t have another rest day - no work, no training - until next Sunday or Monday. That’s a 9 or 10 day run. I haven’t had one of those in while.

This week, I’m going to try to train M/W/F and keep the weekend open. Next Saturday is the WWE Royal Rumble, which is my 2nd favorite event of the year. Next Sunday is the AFC Championship which I mentioned previously, and the Ravens are hosting it here. I’m not going to the stadium, but I want to be all in for whatever happens, win or lose. Super Bowl runs are fun, even when you don’t make it.

[Renascent]

Side note: there was a discussion over the past couple of days in @Renascent’s log about double overhand grip on deadlifts

Meh. You've got me wanting to retest this sometime soon. My forearms are smaller than they were a year ago, and I suspect some strength went along with the size.

[MailmanMuscle]

Side note: there was a discussion over the past couple of days in Renascent’s log about double overhand grip on deadlifts

Meh. You've got me wanting to retest this sometime soon. My forearms are smaller than they were a year ago, and I suspect some strength went along with the size

Is forearm size an indicator of, or proxy for grip strength? I’ve never thought about that, but just thinking about it now, it makes sense.

TUESDAY, 1/23/24: 11,934 steps, 5.5 miles, 10 flights climbed

That was today’s urban hiking. I didn’t get a chance to log yesterday’s activity, so here we go…

MONDAY, 1/22/24: 3,731 steps, 1.5 miles, 9 flights climbed

Upper #2, Gold’s- The last time we did Upper #2 was 1/13, but we didn’t do a single one of those exercises this time. Also, I didn’t have my journal with me. I don’t know how accurate the rep counts are on my warm up sets, but the work sets are correct because I got them on video and counted them later.

Decline Bench Press
bar/12 reps
95 lbs/8 reps
145/6
195/6
235/5
205/9

I haven’t done declines in months, and my wife may not have ever done them. Quick story: at last year’s Arnold Classic, she spent a long time talking to Cydney Gillon, the 7x Figure Olympia champion. She is cooler than the proverbial other side of the pillow. They have stayed in touch on a near-daily basis ever since - usually just quick messages on IG. My wife asked her opinion on chest training. She said that she doesn’t do much, so “ask Andrea”, as in Ms. Olympia Andrea Shaw (we met her too) who she happened to be hanging out with. So my wife asked, and among other things, Ms. Olympia told her to try decline bench press. I’m guessing they’ll stay in the rotation for a while.

T-Bar Row - old school apparatus with a bar between two elevated steps; empty bar feels like 0, don’t know what it weighs
empty/15 reps
45+ lbs/15 reps
90+/13
135+/14 - wide, overhand, started using Versa Gripps
135+/12 - close, neutral

The last time I did these was 12/29, and topped out with 135+ for 11 reps. On the warmups, I kept switching grips to see which one(s) I wanted on the work set(s). I didn’t know I’d be doing a second set until I finished the first one.

Cable Pulldown - this was with the wide handle that looks like an anchor; best neutral grip device ever made
120 lbs/10 lbs
180/11

Dip
+70 lbs assistance/10 reps
Bodyweight/16

The pulldowns and dips were alternated as supersets.

Seated Lateral Raise Machine
30 lbs/10 reps
drop set: 90/10 + 70/8 + 50/12

Some of those reps at the end of the rounds with 70 lbs and 50 lbs were not full ROM. Delts still felt it.

Cable Pressdown - used V handle, back against pad
50 lbs/10 reps
drop set: 70/11 + 50/8

We planned to do cable curls after these, but out of nowhere, different people occupied every other cable at this station. So we tried a nearby curl machine, and that sucked. Every dumbbell, barbell, and other useful machine for biceps was on the first floor, and we didn’t feel like walking back down there since the locker rooms are on the 2nd floor. We decided to hit the posing room for 10 minutes and go home.

This one felt weird. I felt like I had done some work, but wasn’t sure I’d done enough. I rarely go home from the gym feeling like a wreck, so I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe I’m getting anxious, and worrying that I’m not doing enough.

Hopefully, we hit legs and abs at Planet Fitness tomorrow.

[Renascent]

Side note: there was a discussion over the past couple of days in Renascent’s log about double overhand grip on deadlifts

Meh. You've got me wanting to retest this sometime soon. My forearms are smaller than they were a year ago, and I suspect some strength went along with the size

Is forearm size an indicator of, or proxy for grip strength? I’ve never thought about that, but just thinking about it now, it makes sense.

Based on the little I've read regarding the subject -- along with some anecdotal observations -- I'm inclined to think the correlation isn't that strong. There are some wiry folks out there who train grip strength without regard for hypertrophy, and they seem to do just fine with abnormal feats.

But my weekly pulling and rowing frequency is about half of what it was a year ago at least (and I'm a bit lighter overall), and I suspect some neurological adaptations went away along with the physical gains. I normally only "train" forearms for wrist, fingers, and elbow health -- haven't done it in a while, though I'd like to create my own Rolling Thunder grip eventually.

Seated Lateral Raise Machine
30 lbs/10 reps
drop set: 90/10 + 70/8 + 50/12

Some of those reps at the end of the rounds with 70 lbs and 50 lbs were not full ROM. Delts still felt it.

I was just wondering about this machine the other day -- would love to figure out a way to replicate it in a home gym setting.

I think John Meadows would've co-signed the idea that partials are probably still beneficial (at least that's what I tell myself when the ROM starts to drop on lateral raises).

[MarkKO]

Between Cydney Gillon and Andrea Shaw I don't think there are any bases left uncovered. Two of my favourite physique athletes, especially Andrea.

[cgeorg]

Side note: there was a discussion over the past couple of days in Renascent’s log about double overhand grip on deadlifts

Meh. You've got me wanting to retest this sometime soon. My forearms are smaller than they were a year ago, and I suspect some strength went along with the size

Is forearm size an indicator of, or proxy for grip strength? I’ve never thought about that, but just thinking about it now, it makes sense.

Based on the little I've read regarding the subject -- along with some anecdotal observations -- I'm inclined to think the correlation isn't that strong. There are some wiry folks out there who train grip strength without regard for hypertrophy, and they seem to do just fine with abnormal feats.

While grip strength is very specific to the type of grip, climbers tend to have really good crimp and pinch strength, and not a lot of forearm volume. I guess that's probably also BW relative though.

[EricK]

When I used to do lots and lots of pullups in college my wife said she thought I looked like Popeye because my forearms were big, but I've never had very good grip strength (never managed to close CoC #2 and when I did the forum pinch grip challenge with 2 25 lb plates sandwiched together I could only hold it for a couple seconds). Also, I was a lot skinnier in college so that may have given my forearms a larger appearance...

[MailmanMuscle]

Seated Lateral Raise Machine
30 lbs/10 reps
drop set: 90/10 + 70/8 + 50/12

Some of those reps at the end of the rounds with 70 lbs and 50 lbs were not full ROM. Delts still felt it.

I was just wondering about this machine the other day -- would love to figure out a way to replicate it in a home gym setting.

I think John Meadows would've co-signed the idea that partials are probably still beneficial (at least that's what I tell myself when the ROM starts to drop on lateral raises).

Replicate the seated ones: I have no idea how to do that, particularly because it has elbow pads that your press your forearms into, along with handles to hold. But there is a standing version of this machine with no elbow pads. You’re just holding handles which are on this rotary thing with a cable attached to a stack of plates. I would imagine that you could anchor bands to something on the floor and replicate that one.

As for John Meadows, I just saw a reposted video of him within the last 2 days in which he advocated partials for lateral raises.

Between Cydney Gillon and Andrea Shaw I don't think there are any bases left uncovered. Two of my favourite physique athletes, especially Andrea.

No doubt! Cydney has not only set, but become the standard for figure. Andrea may not compete long enough to rack up the Olympia wins that Lenda Murray or Iris Kyle did, but she might have the best physique in the history of women’s bodybuilding.

While grip strength is very specific to the type of grip, climbers tend to have really good crimp and pinch strength, and not a lot of forearm volume. I guess that's probably also BW relative though.

Very good point and observation.

When I used to do lots and lots of pullups in college my wife said she thought I looked like Popeye because my forearms were big, but I've never had very good grip strength (never managed to close CoC #2 and when I did the forum pinch grip challenge with 2 25 lb plates sandwiched together I could only hold it for a couple seconds). Also, I was a lot skinnier in college so that may have given my forearms a larger appearance...

I don’t know if I’ve ever closed CoC #1, but I also haven’t tried in well over 10 years. I suppose the point above about grip strength being specific to the type of grip has some application here. Did you use straps or a grip aid to do pullups? If not, you must have had enough grip strength to do lots of them.

[MarkKO]

You're not wrong. think what impressed me the most about Andrea was the 2022 Olympia, because IIRC she beat Mona Poursaleh and I don't think I've seen many better physiques, not to mention how hard and conditioned she came in. Not taking anything away from who she beat in 2023, both Jennifer Yeo and Helen Trevino looked very good.

[Skid]

Went home to eat and listen to Ravens’ postgame stuff.

Speaking of the Ravens, I really really hope they beat the Chiefs!

[MailmanMuscle]

This was an abbreviated version of this workout. I worked a 10 hour day (my route plus 1/3 of another route), got off at 7:30 pm, and didn’t get started in the gym until 10:20 pm. Plus I started feeling very tired and hungry from about 4-5 pm. I saved the last bit of food I had until 6:30, and after my favorite preworkout supplement - coffee - I felt better. But I knew I had a short window before I crashed. Shout out to the PF Corporate team for making sure that the front desk has buckets full of miniature Tootsie Rolls at all times. I know this franchise gets clowned for this kind of thing, but it came in handy tonight. I smashed 6 of them (total about 20 grams) while I was in there - just enough to get me over the hump.

WEDNESDAY 1/24/24: 17,031 steps, 7.8 miles, 5 flights climbed

Lower #1, Planet Fitness - last time we did this at PF was 1/5

Smith Machine Squat - vertical track for the machine’s bar; label says it weighs 25 lbs, but I don’t trust it & only count the plates
Bar/10 reps - maybe more, figuring out where to set my feet
100+ lbs/7 reps
150+/6
200+/6
250+/3 - this could have turned into a work set with 2-3 more reps
270+/7 - started wearing my belt here; My wife said she thought I had another rep in me. Looked at the video - she was right.
220+/10

I did that backoff set because I thought I cheated myself on the first set. There was no open bench nearby, so the backoff set ended with me holding the bar to lower myself to sit on the floor. Also, I mentioned the vertical track on the machine because ever since I’ve been going there, all of the smith machines have those slanted tracks. Some people have commented on my YouTube videos that their PF’s have installed machines with the vertical tracks. Sure enough, one of the locations that we frequent has 2 of them, along with the original 4 slanted ones. I hope they keep all 6 (every PF I have ever been to has 4 smith machines). But it required a bit of a learning curve for me, because when doing smith machine squats for the past 3 years, the bar has been on a slanted track.

Seated Leg Curl

70 lbs/12 reps
115/24 - really 23 1/2

Calf Raise - did this on the seated leg press, the kind where you sit upright and your legs extend in front of you
100 lbs/5-6 reps
drop set: 160/19 + 115/13

I had to abort the warm up set. My hamstrings were so pumped and near cramping, I had to take my knee sleeves off and get some blood moving. I’d rather avoid that feeling again if at all possible.

Ab Crunch Machine - sitting upright, feet on floor, hips/butt don’t move, crunch downward against arm/elbow pads
85 lbs/15 reps
100/15

That was it. Here’s my theory on why I was unusually hungry (aside from “duh, you’re dieting for a bodybuilding show”):

The diet app I’m using prescribes daily macros based on your goal, whether or not you’re training that day, and your activity level for that day. By activity, they mean steps, and you select 1 of 4 ranges of daily steps. Not only was I on pace to surpass the top of the range I’d entered for today, but my steps aren’t simply walking. I’m lifting, moving and carrying bundles of mail and parcels of various sizes. They’re not usually heavy, but they have to be affecting my energy requirements and expenditure at least a little. You can edit the settings of you daily activity at any time during that day, so if you end up being more/less active than expected, your macros will still be on point. I’ll have to stay on top of that when I see I have a longer and/or heavier work day than usual.

[EricK]

When I used to do lots and lots of pullups in college my wife said she thought I looked like Popeye because my forearms were big, but I've never had very good grip strength (never managed to close CoC #2 and when I did the forum pinch grip challenge with 2 25 lb plates sandwiched together I could only hold it for a couple seconds). Also, I was a lot skinnier in college so that may have given my forearms a larger appearance...

I don’t know if I’ve ever closed CoC #1, but I also haven’t tried in well over 10 years. I suppose the point above about grip strength being specific to the type of grip has some application here. Did you use straps or a grip aid to do pullups? If not, you must have had enough grip strength to do lots of them.

I didn't use straps, I used a thumb over top grip. I was about 40 lbs lighter and usually did pyramid pullup workouts (set of 1, then 2, up to 12 and back down then repeat again for 2 or 3 pyramids). The most I managed to do in a single set was 28. I think the specificity was strength endurance more than peak or average force. Holding on to 165 pounds for a few minutes takes more endurance than strength, I think.

[DanCR]

The most I managed to do in a single set was 28.

Wtfff.

[cgeorg]

The most I managed to do in a single set was 28.

Wtfff.

Seriously, as I always manage to take things back to climbing these days, that would be world class in that arena, and they do those a lot.

[EricK]

The most I managed to do in a single set was 28.

Wtfff.

I would say I was an extreme specialist. I started CrossFit after college and couldn't even deadlift 225...

[Renascent]

crimp and pinch strength

Hmm. Ironmind might end up getting more of my money, it seems...

Shout out to the PF Corporate team for making sure that the front desk has buckets full of miniature Tootsie Rolls at all times. I know this franchise gets clowned for this kind of thing, but it came in handy tonight. I smashed 6 of them (total about 20 grams) while I was in there - just enough to get me over the hump.

Planet Fitness gets a lot of shit from people for a variety of reasons, but I'm not sure that many of those reasons are well-founded.

I've never even set foot into one, but I've kinda always wanted to try one out for the sake of creativity.

I didn't use straps, I used a thumb over top grip.

Thumbs-under grip feels weird as hell to me, but I've been trying to make myself get accustomed to it (I kind of want an unscientific way of determining if there is carryover to grip strength).