I am serious about wanting to qualify and compete at powerlifting. When I started out on this series there were several key problems, such as poor hip mobility. Having had some reasonable successes at the end of 2009, fixing the remaining problems while also driving up the strength numbers are now the priorities of the program.
I’m recording my progress in this series: powerlifting progress. It is serving as a journal and makes me a bit more accountable to my goals.
This week
A good week for quality of workouts, not such a good week for getting into the gym in the first place. I’ve had a really busy week at work – it seems that nearly everyone is on holiday or sick with the same illness that Chris and I had a few weeks ago – so I’ve been doing some 15 hour days in the office which doesn’t really leave enough time for a productive workout. However, there was still a (very) little progress to be reported.
Strongman events
I must confess that my strongman workout was done the day after a hen party and I was still suffering from a slight hangover when I started. Alcohol and I don’t mix very well so I wasn’t expecting miracles that day.
I repeated 60kg. Partly because the week before was also a tough week at work and partly because it had been raining all weekend so the expectation was that the sandbag would have soaked up an extra kilo or two of water (and partly because of the hangover). However, I found 60kg much easier than the week before which was pleasing so next week I will have to bite the bullet and go through the fiasco of unknotting the string which holds the bag closed and adding a 2.5kg plate.
I also kept the Farmers Walk weight the same since I’d missed a few laps of the patio the week before. I didn’t improve much on the previous week, with only an extra half lap to show for my efforts. However, I previously had attempted my pull ups after my farmers walks and this week I did them as the first exercise of the workout. As a result, my grip was already a bit fried so I was pleased to see any improvement.
Bench
Action plan
- Maintain – technique
- Develop – lat and shoulder strength
Progress this week
32kg is still flummoxing me on my bench press. Having got through it last time I was disappointed to get an extra rep out on my fifth set but then to fail on the rest of the workout, thus taking me from 4×4, 1×3,1×1, 3×3, 1×2 last week to 5×4, 1×1 this week. I think part of my problem lies with having moved this down in the workout to exercise three and I think I’m also seeing slower gains because I now only bench once a week instead of twice. However, I’ll keep going for a couple more weeks to check this wasn’t just an anomaly.
I did finally get a full ten sets of pull ups out, although it was a mix of sets of three and two reps, however experience tells me that once I get to that point I can quickly get back to the ten sets of four and three reps which represent my PB. It feels a bit like wading through treacle on my pull up progress, but given my starting point of nothing at all, I should really be quite pleased, and my lats certainly felt this workout.
Squat
Action plan
- Maintain – leg strength and ab strength
- Develop – hip mobility and lower back strength
Progress this week
Only time for one squat workout this week but I put it up to 58kg and got eight of my ten sets of three reps out (before dropping to pairs). This represents a tick in the box and the weight will go up again next week. I certainly seem to have finally got through the pain of the extra depth.
I’m also planning on swapping my Good Mornings back to RDLs for a few weeks, starting with next week, to give my hamstrings, hip mobility and lower back something different for a change. I haven’t done them for about six months so I’m looking forward to how they will go.
Deadlift
Action plan
- Maintain – leg strength and ab strength
- Develop – hip mobility and lower back strength
Progress this week
As explained last week, I’ve stopped doing these on a weekly basis. Instead I’m trying out following the advice of the old-time strongmen and powerlifters, as highlighted on the Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban site.
This week was a final run on Good Mornings and T-Bar Rows with the intention of swapping to RDLs and Bent Over Rows next week. I’ll keep you posted on progress with these.
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