Blog

Worked up to 540lbs for a new close grip paused PR. Felt good for a little bit more. My close grip and competition grip are usually around 20-25lbs a part, so I’m anxious to see how my bench is going to go when I switch back to regular grip for meet prep training.

2nd week training heavy without wraps. Just having some fun in the gym. First time ever attempting 900+ without wraps. Felt a lot better than I was expecting. I feel like this heavy training without wraps is going to help out my raw with wraps squat a lot.

*60lb Squat bar, on each side: 2 – 50kg (110lb) plates, 4 – 45lbs plates, 2 – 10lb plates, 1 – 2.5lb plate – 905lbs*

This is the most I’ve ever pulled without a belt and also off of a deficit. I ended up doing 2 sets with 840lbs because I missed the first one at the top. As I was warming up, I could feel there was something slippery on the bar, but I didn’t really think anything of it. I just chalked my hands good and it worked fine up until my last warm up. When I tried 840lbs the first time, it blew right out of my hands at the top. So I had my dad clean and wipe down the bar good and I re tried it again shortly after and ended up pulling it faster and easier than the first try. Felt like I probably could have gotten 850 for this training session, but I was very happy to come back and make the lift after missing it the first time. After this training session though I’m now curious to see what I can pull off the floor without a belt since I’ve never tried before. So I will probably try a heavy beltless single off the floor in a couple weeks. Anything over 840lbs will be a PR Beltless.

2nd training week of heavy close grips. Another PR for a single.

Week 1 of my heavy squat training without wraps. This is the heaviest I’ve ever gone without wraps so far, so this is actually a PR. Also, I haven’t squatted heavy at all in 3 weeks since my last meet. I’ll probably try 400+kg for my next heavy squat workout if all goes well. I plan on training heavy without wraps for the next 4-5 weeks. My next meet prep will start in the beginning of February for UPA Nationals in April.