Deez Aching Nuts

My nuts have been aching a bit, but it's probably a good thing. I was told that they could hurt both during atrophy and hypertrophy. I think this is hypertrophy because they are feeling fuller. Plus I've dropped off LGD while taking the TESTUP. So my nuts really should be putting themselves back together.

I'm PVC rolling my quads every day, several times a day. My quads are hurting less and less. But they are still far from pain-free. I'm pretty useless for any running or jumping. I'm not okay with that. I imagine that at some point I will have to take a real, long deload. It's just that the squat is the lift that seems to come apart the most quickly out of the Big Three.

Bench is going fine though. No need for a true deload there yet. I'm supposed to be handling 260 for a double tomorrow. But I'm not stressing about how I do on bench for the next few weeks till I have the LGD building up in my system again. I may put the squat on cruise for a couple weeks. I'm definitely going as hard on the deadlift this cycle. My lower back would like me to take it easy.

I weighed just a bit over 185 this morning.

Press PR, Deload Week, Sunday, August 30, 2015

I was supposed to be taking it easy this week. I was thinking of doing absolutely nothing for a full seven days. I should have known better than that.

For three days, I didn't want anything at all to do with barbells, a sure sign that I needed a few days off. But today I felt the urge building up this morning and by afternoon I was back on the bench.

I swore that I wouldn't squat. Then I decided that I would just squat way below my max for low volume. Just like I was doing for bench. I worked up to a heavy bench (the most I've done in years, actually) and instead of trying to get more singles with it, I just called it a day and mosied on over to the squat rack.

8.30.2015/Sun
Bench Press, touch and go (paused first and maybe second rep up to 225)
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 1
260 x 1
Back Squat, high bar, squat shoes, sleeves till 315, light wraps at 345 (first rep paused up to 275), NO BELT
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
345 x 1
STRICT Standing Overhead Barbell Press 155, 165 x 1
Front Squat, squat shoe, light wraps 275 x 2 x 2

Bodyweight: 186 lbs in the afternoon after brunch

The big news is that I very strictly pressed 165 overhead while fatigued from benching and squatting. I'm pretty sure that is a 10-lb personal best. 155 felt heavy but manageable so I upped the weight. It was slow through the sticking point, but I was able to maintain form because I had a lot of speed out of the bottom. It was slow through the sticking point but smooth and there was never a point where I wasn't sure I'd get it if I just stuck with it.

I think it's so very important that anyone reading this note that I don't practice the overhead press at all. I throw it in to test it every two or three weeks. I get all my press volume from the bench. Yet my overhead press keeps going up though I only do 1-3 reps with it every 10-20 days between my back and front squats.

My right shoulder is a little dinged up now in the same way it was before. I'm sure it was because I paused my first bench reps on the warm ups and I lost a bit of tightness at the bottom of those paused reps. I fucking hate paused benches. Despite how much other people praise paused work, pausing has only ever slowed my progress. The stretch reflex is an important component in getting stronger. Pausing is something only very strong people need to bother with. It will just slow down the average bro trying to get his bench from 135 to over 225.

I only bother training the pause at all because if I ever compete again, I'll need to do it for the bench. The fact is I haven't bothered pausing yet my bench has just recently jumped almost 40 lbs. And lo and behold, my paused strength has increased along with my touch and go strength. Fancy that.

I did pause the first rep or two on my squat warmups today, but that was because my quads are still a little sore and I wanted to ease them into the heavier weights. As usual doing squats after benches meant a 5-10% reduction in my squat performance. I suppose it's just as well, though, since I didn't want to go too nuts on the squat today. I just didn't want a whole week to go by without getting 315+ on my shoulders.

Note: back squats are way harder on my quads than front squats.

Anabolic Supplementation Plans 

I've stopped ingesting LGD-4033. This is my second day without taking it. I'm taking TestUp, but I am very curious to see if my strength holds up and continues to improve over the next few days without my anabolic aid. I'll reinitiate ingestion in another 5-7 days. Even then it will take a couple of weeks for the results to show.

I'll be keeping the dosage to just two 4-mg pills per day. It seems I start getting testicular atrophy with three pills. But two pills definitely keep the mass and strength gains coming. I'd like to get to 260 x 2 x 2 on the bench by Friday and maybe even 475 x 2 on the deadlift before I even start up the LGD again.

Lower back feeling normal again. Right shoulder mostly okay, but hurts just a teeny bit when I raise the humerus laterally into one specific position. I PVC rolled my right quad hard last night and it feels better today. But I'm still feeling lethargic and a bit achy in both legs, but it gets better as the day rolls on. I definitely need a few more days of not lifting weights.

I weighed 187 on the nose this morning after only having coffee and going to the restroom.

I was going to switch to Ostarine when I restarted in a week...but I think I'll just finish the LGD and use the Ostarine later. LGD is stronger and will keep my size and strength gains coming. I want to get past 190 lbs bodyweight and over 405 for my beltless squat and 500 for my beltless pull and do them for reps. I also would like to get my touch and go bench close to 300 in the next cycle.

I hope to start lifting again late next week. I hope that by next Wednesday both my little annoying pains and my major ones will have quieted down, and that I will be itching to get back under a barbell.

Okay, so I took a more careful look at my records for the period I started dosing LGD-4033. I've been using my numbers from slightly before that period. But for a more accurate representation of my SARM-induced improvement, I figured I'd use the numbers I got during the day right up to my taking of the LGD.

Now, as always, remember:

My SQ is a high bar squat without a belt but with sleeves and loose wraps (because RAW hurts my knees and impedes my progress)...
My BP in training is a touch and go bench (because pausing impedes my progress)...
My DL is the conventional style performed without a belt in training and always with a hook grip (no straps, no mixed grip) and I perform a full stop between rests, no touch and go nonsense.

July 15 & 16, 2015
SQ: 325 x 2
BP: 225 x 2
DL: 415 x 2

August 26-28, 2015
SQ: 375 x 2
BP: 255 x 2 (x 2)
DL: 455 x 2

Again, I do doubles because they tend to keep me a bit more honest than singles. The first rep has to be clean and with enough energy left for me to dare a second. Form tends to break down a bit on the second (back will start to round on squats and deadlift), but not nearly so badly that I'm too ashamed to count it as a good rep.

In the six-week period from the first time I ingested LGD-4033: my squat has improved 50 lbs, but if you discount the improvement made from replacing sleeves with light, loose wraps on the work sets, the improvement is more like 35 or 40 lbs; my bench improved 30 lbs; my deadlift has improved 40 lbs, right in line with my squat.

Now I know I kept talking about extending this cycle another six weeks for a total of twelve weeks. But I think the more prudent thing to do is to take a week off any SARMs and cycle the weights back.

To be totally honest I am no longer looking forward to putting up heavier weights. I am getting burned out. I have zero desire to even go to the gym which is the opposite of how I usually am. Usually my gym time is the highlight of my day and I can't wait to get to it.

Now my legs feel heavy and I feel sluggish. So it's time to deload. Or maybe an unload. I don't feel like squatting, pressing, or pulling at all. Not even lighter weights for easy reps.

So I'm going to continue with the TestUp but not take any more LGD. I took my last dose of three caps today with an eye toward running at that dosage for a few more weeks. I'll save up my remaining 60+ caps for a later cycle. But in 10 days, the Sunday after next, I'll start taking the Ostarine I got from Olympus. 15 mg 2x/day. I'll do this for six weeks again, then take a week off and either switch to LGD again or maybe try RAD-140.

LGD is much more anabolic than Ostarine. So I don't know if the 6-week Ostarine cycle will get me to my next goals:

SQ: 425 x 2
BP: 315 x 2
DL: 525 x 2

And I may have to wait till I get back on LGD to reach them.

But I hear that Ostarine produces feelings of well-being and it won't suppress test production as much as LGD (a trade off for being less anabolic).

SARMs Don't HARM; They HEAL.

There has been much talk about the healing properties of SARMs and how while they do heal, they don't do so on the level of actual AAS (Anabolic Androgenic Steroids). I've never taken actual steroids, so I can't make the comparison. But I have very little doubt that the LGD-4033 is accelerating my healing beyond normal.

People who have taken SARMs have reported that old nagging injuries just clear up out of the blue. This is what has been happening to me. I have had debilitating bilateral medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow in both elbows) for years. The pain had forced me to abandon chin ups or pull ups of any kind for years. And any time I used my arms at all (for carrying boxes, for example) the pain would flare up. Resting didn't help at all. Anti-inflammatories didn't help much. Stretching provided some temporary relief, but the pain would just come back.

But now six weeks into my taking of Ligandrol (LGD-4033) the pain is almost entirely gone. It's a ghost of its former self. If I over stress the joint with heavy bench presses, for example, it comes back. But I am easily doing sets of pull ups again. I'm picking up and carrying boxes without wanting to cry.

This may not be steroids. But it may be better.

Rapidly increasing muscle mass and strength...

Restoration of connective tissue and healing of even old injuries...

Rapidly improved recovery after exertion...

Side effects limited to slightly worsening lipid profile and relatively minimal suppression of testosterone production instead of complete shutdown of production and accompanying testicular atrophy...no gynecomastia (usually), no baldness, no prostate enlargement...

I have heard that the first cycle of exogenous testosterone results in 10-30 lbs of muscle gain within weeks with the strength to match. With Ligandrol I have put on about 12 lbs in six weeks with a decrease in fat percentage and a significant increase in strength. My only means of measuring bodyfat is taking pictures. So here is an after and before, about three weeks apart...

After precedes before because I'm too lazy to use a photo editor.

I took the pic on the left this morning after I weighed in at 184 lbs. I'd been running more at 186-188 for a few days and suddenly leaned out overnight, despite having had half a large pepperoni pizza and several cans of soda for dinner. I was 176-178 three weeks before in the pic on the right. I think it's pretty clear that I am leaner even though I am heavier. I started taking Cardarine (GW-501516) for lipolysis and I thought it wasn't doing much. Maybe it was helping. Looking at the pics now makes me want to stick with it just in case.

I'd say I went from around 20% to around 15% bodyfat. This is while adding around 8-12 lbs to my overall weight. So adding 10 lbs while losing at least a few pounds of fat. I think it's fair to say I added at least 10 lbs of muscle. In the absence of scientifically valid measuring the change, I submit the nearly 150-lb increase in my raw powerlifting total. 40+ lbs to my touch and go bench press, ~40 lbs to my high bar, beltless squat, and almost 50 lbs to my beltless, conventional-style deadlift. (I pulled 425 a few weeks ago and 465 last night after max effort squatting left me too exhausted to find my true max pull.)

Anyway, my point was that LGD-4033 seems to deliver about as well as a steroid. And this is only the middle of my planned 12-week cycle! I have exactly 68 capsules left which means 34 more days to go. Almost exactly five weeks. I may taper down to a half dose for the last few days, however.

I keep saying it and I'll keep on saying it. I was stuck at the same level of strength for over a year and I would just get fatter when I upped my Calories instead of getting any stronger. But now I am stronger than I have ever been on any of my lifts. And not just stronger...I'm stronger on all of them at the same time. My previous bests were the result of specialized attention that made the other lifts suffer. Not this time around.

I'm really looking forward to the seeing how far I can take things in the second half of this cycle. With five weeks left there is simply no reason I shouldn't be able to surpass 405 x 2 on my beltless, wrapped high bar squat...or 505 x 2 for my beltless, conventional deadlift...or maybe even hit 300 x 2 on my touch and go bench press. That may be just a bit beyond my reach, but my bench press gains have been the most startling and they continue to surprise me. I'd also like to front squat three plates a side for at least a single.

I'm recovering so quickly these days. I can bench three times a week and have recently been able to add five pounds to my bench every other session. And while I woke up feeling like a tackle dummy this morning I am already feeling better...I may go for that big pull tomorrow. If not, there's always next Friday. If I don't pull, I will try to squat 380 for a double. The wraps really are saving my knees so I can squat more frequently and productively, too.

Got My TESTUP

My TestUp from Seth over at Newtrional Healthcare arrived a couple days ago and my Ostarine from Olympus Labs arrived today. The TestUp is supposed to help out my testicles naturally and bring them back up to snuff so that I can more quickly bounce back from any suppression caused by the LGD 4033. The Ostarine is what I plan to use on my next SARM cycle.

Seth Williams on Test Up

Some people say to treat SARMs -- especially the more potently anabolic LGD 4033 -- as if they were steroids when it comes to on-cycle and post-cycle support. I'm not sure I buy that. Various accounts have people going on this stuff for way more weeks than recommended and not having any problems.

I have also heard that a lot of the negative steroid-like side effects people have reported (and why they say a thorough PCT is needed) is because so many people got prohormones and oral steroids when they thought they were getting SARMs. Seth has put it bluntly, saying that if you paid $40 for your SARM...it probably wasn't a SARM; you were probably sold bunk or prohormones that companies were trying to offload after the ban.

I did indeed pay $40 from Southern SARMs for my first SARM, and I wonder if it might have in fact been a prohormone. I mean, the strength gains did come after a few weeks. But I experienced increased aggression and blood pressure spikes. I wonder if they sold me Halodrol or something.

Either way I've since switched to Olympus Labs UK's LGD-4033 and I've been feeling much better. My strength and mass gains are still coming. By the end of next week I'll be able to say that I increased my bench by a solid 50 lbs within two months. My squat will be up a solid 70 lbs and the same for my deadlift. Granted I've been nearly this strong before...but never on all three lifts at the same time...and I've been struggling for a year to get back to these strength levels with no success. I was plateaued hard thanks to increasing age.

Here I am about to turn 40 and cruising past my highest ever bodyweight and powerlifting total from five years ago when my natural test levels were higher.

My best ever pull was done in competition: 506 lbs done with a belt in the sumo style. A belt and sumo means at least 30 lbs more than my beltless conventional. Sumo is an extra 10 lbs by itself and more when I practice it often and the belt is another 10-20 lbs. I got 495 with a belt and conventional the same season I did the 506 belt and sumo. I should be able to pull 505 conventional without a belt for a double within the next couple of months. Then I will be as strong in my weakest possible deadlift style (conventional, no belt 505 x 2) than I ever was in my strongest deadlift style (sumo with a belt 506 x 1).

My beltless-but-wrapped high bar squat should be 405+ x 2 at that point...which means that my more difficult squat style (high bar, no belt) will be about where my best ever official squat in my best style was (low bar with belt and sleeves for 418 x 1). Because I'm forced to use wraps I won't feel like I've really beaten that best low bar until I've hit high bar with 425 x 2. My best ever high bar in wraps with no belt was done during a warm up for the tenth day of a Smolov base phase. I got 385 wearing the THP Revolution blue and black wraps. They were fairly loosely wound and gave me about 20 lbs. So when I hit 385 for a double in the next couple weeks, I will be at my highest ever high bar with wraps.

I think the SARMs will get me there. The plan right now is to keep the LGD-4033 going till for another two weeks at least to get me to a total of eight weeks. People say that one should have a definite cycle length in mind ahead of time. I do. But I am also willing to stop if I sense that things are going wrong. So we'll see.

I need 4-6 more weeks to hit the squat and deadlift goals I have in mind. So I'd like to make it all the way to 12 weeks total. I will be taking the Test Up alongside the LGD to aid with testicular maintenance. The bottle of Test Up is a two-month supply so that should take me to the end of my LGD run (another month and a half at the very most) and into my post-cycle week-long break before I start with Ostarine and Cardarine (I'm stopping Cardarine for now because I think it's not working so well because LGD anabolic strength has me eating over maintenance).

Ostarine is supposed to be far better at maintaining mass than putting it on. Which suits me fine after my LGD run since Ostarine is also supposed to be far less suppressive to test production. Based on my experience with Test Up I may order another bottle to run with the Ostarine. Heck, I may keep taking Test Up for a total of six months if my libido gets like it was a few years ago.

This is purely anecdotal and has no scientific backing. But I felt a tingling in the boys today an hour or so after swallowing my first Test Up pill. I was informed somewhere that both shrinkage and growth can produce tingling. I felt the tingling of shrinkage a few weeks ago, which has since stopped. Maybe the Test Up is already having some effect..? This is not scientific AT ALL. But it has me feeling good at the start. All I know is that what I've been doing overall has been working. My mood is vastly improved, my outlook on life is the best it's been in a couple of years...if I can regain my old libido, I'll be in heaven.

Oh, and there's the rapid muscle and strength gains. I look at my 2014-2015 log on Starting Strength and I see myself writing my expectations over and over...and failing to meet them over and over. I just didn't have the right hormonal environment. I start taking this stuff and a couple weeks later my muscle mass and my lifts really start taking off.

8.26.2015/Wed, 187 lbs
Back Squat, high bar, squat shoes, wraps (red line @ 355), NO BELT
45 x 10
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
335 x 1
355 x 1
375 x 2
335 x 1
Deadlift, conventional, no shoes, hook grip, NO BELT
405 x 2
435 x 1
455 x 1
465 x 1
475 x miss

I just had to go squat. Could not be helped.

An important note about my use of wraps...

...Knee sleeves just aren't cutting it at all right now. Honestly neither are the light Harbingers. They just aren't thick enough to support my patellar tendons. I used them wrapped loosely enough to keep on throughout my warm ups. I squatted up to an easy, fast 335 with them. I kept them on under my pants and wrapped the red lines over my pants. So I did have more support in terms of wadding behind the bent knee than I did last session. But even so the red lines were wound loosely too.

A thick dude who clearly used to powerlift came over and offered to show me how to wrap tighter to get up to 50 lbs. I explained that I compete raw and just like enough wrapping to offer support for my noodly knees.

Every serious powerlifter who has seen me wrap my knees can't believe I get anything at all out of my wraps. But I do get 20 lbs over completely naked knees, half of which is confidence in the hole. Note that no matter what I am using, I can squat down under my own power and can bend my legs as I walk. I don't wrap so tight that I have to waddle straight-leggedly.

I'm not going to lie. I do like that I can warm up to >90% of my wrapped double with just sleeves or a very light wrap. I pause the first rep of my warm ups up to 275. I like to feel I am completely in control of relatively heavy weight. I even take 315 slowly down in the first rep and while I don't quite pause it, I do treat it as if I have no fear of getting stuck. A little less so on the second rep. But I find it very helpful to wind my system up for new heavy attempts to treat what recently seemed like Big Weight instead as No Big Deal.

The double with 375 was clean. I needed three big breaths between attempts, but it was not a big break. It did take a hell of a lot out of me though. I walked 375 out again for a single and realized right away I did not have it in me. I went down to 335 with the intention of getting some doubles. But just one rep felt like a struggle.

I packed up to go, stretched my quads with a 10-second lying hero pose, but found it was pouring rain outside. I mean awful late summer Florida storm. I went back in to get in some pulls. But I was really drained and couldn't expect much. Got to that 465 which was surprisingly smooth, then found 475 stapled to the floor. Again, my quads were too burnt to do a proper 335 squat in wraps at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if I got 475 for a double when fresh.

I may wait till Friday to bench again because my right shoulder got a tiny bit dinged when I flared a little too much at the sticking point yesterday. If I do that, I'll probably pull again after bench and go for 475 and see if I can do it twice.

Getting Stronger = 1 Part Effort + 1 Part Eating + 8 Parts The Right Hormonal Milieu

8.25.2015/Tues
Bench Press, touch and go @ 184 lbs
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 2, 2

Straight Ledge Pull-Up x 5, 5
One-Arm Dumbbell Row 100 x 16
Bench Press, touch and go 245 x 2, 1, 1
Straight Bar Pull-Up x 6, 6

Wow. Didn't see that coming. Two doubles with 255. I thought for sure I'd get only one and that was if I were lucky. My rate of progress seems to be keeping up...maybe even accelerating a bit.

There's no way I can not extend this into at least an 8-week cycle, 12 if my nuts continue to stay the same size.

A 184-lb man (at time of session) benching 255 a few times isn't the stuff of legend. But it is a personal best for me, especially at this age. My best benches ever were 253 paused in competition back in 2010 and maybe as high as 265 touch and go in the LA Fitness in Uptown, Minneapolis back around 2012. It has been very difficult in the ensuing years to build any of my lifts back up to the levels I accomplished 2010-2012. And now here I finally am on the cusp of surpassing my all-time best.

I've already burst through yearlong plateaus in the past six weeks. But I continue to be amazed by the bench progress the most. When I touch and go bench 275 for a double, I will be confident that I could quickly work up to a paused bench of 255, more than I've ever done in competition. But I really want to keep this cycle going with the touch and go and see how far it can take me.

So amazed that I got 255 for two doubles just two days after I only got that weight for a single. I never thought I'd see such rapid improvements in my bench. I'm adding 5 lbs every other session or so and matching reps. I'm actually thinking of going straight to 260 next planned bench day (the third this week). In fact, I'm thinking of "getting used to the weight" by working up to 260 for a quick single before my next squat/deadlift session in a couple of days. Maybe that will prime me for a double with 260 later...which would mean a solid 10-lb jump in one week..!

This all just proves to me that getting stronger is mostly about having the right hormonal mix in one's system. I am trying no harder than I ever before nor am I eating any better. What has sent my lifts soaring close to (and soon beyond) all-time highs at an increasing clip: non-steroidal, oral, selective anabolics. The LGD 4033 I'm taking has given me the equivalent of an 18-year-old body in terms of muscle gaining and healing properties.

In any case, today I did some pull ups with my fingers on the ledge of the cable crossover beam because I hate those angled grips. Then I did some DB rows, but it seems I'm a little burned out on that movement from the 120 and 125 pounders I used a couple days ago. I tried to play tough guy and get some more bench volume with 245, but that wasn't really happening. I finished up with some proper pull ups on a straight bar in one of the smith machine-like cages.

In a best case scenario I will continue to put on 10 lbs on my bench every two weeks so that I add 60 lbs in 12 weeks. That's 315 for doubles, yo. I would dare not have dreamed of such results before. But SARMs are...maaaaaagiiiiiic...

[Monday, August 25, 2015, 188 lbs...]

Back Squat, high bar, squat shoes, sleeves @ 225, loose wraps @ 345, no belt

135 x 5

225 x 4

275 x 3

315 x 2

345 x 1

365 x 2, 1

Standing Overhead Press 145 x 3 x 2

Front Squat, squat shoes, wraps, no belt 275 x 2 x 2

Finally. Feels like my squat is moving again. And not a moment too soon. I woke up at 188 the morning of this session. I would be miserable if all this weight I'm gaining (about a pound or more a week) didn't show up in my squat strength. I got 355 for a hard double with these same wraps last time. They are the classic red line made by Valeo and I wraps them crisscross over my pant legs and loose enough that I can keep them on for five minutes before they start to feel uncomfortable. 

Both patellar tendons are hurting now: the left from squatting too much and the right because I knelt down a little too quickly onto the driveway to do some work on the car. Felt okay on unweighted warm up squats, but hurt as soon as I went down with 135. I toughed it out with the ineffective sleeves till 345 when the wraps took away the pain entirely. What I needed was the reinforcement of the patellar tendon that only a wrap can offer.

I am so fucking sick of people who claim wraps are a crutch or -- even more stupid -- that they damage the knees. They prevent injury and reinforce the ligaments and tendons to mute pain from the overuse injuries that happen when the lifter who needs them is too stupid to use wraps in the first place. I could just as easily say that the bench is a crutch ("real lifters press a weight they can handle on their own two feet!") or that the squat rack is a crutch ("real lifters clean their squat weights into position instead of needing a rack to hold it for them...If you can't clean it into position yourself, then you're using too much weight!")

I was shocked -- shocked! -- at how easy that first 365 was. Even the second rep wasn't that bad. But I could not manage another double. I'm still happy because this is a solid ten-pound jump from last week...with the same loosely wrapped red line Valeos that I used last time.

But. I won't rest easy till I get 405 for a double with wraps.

My best ever Olympic high bar squat with these Rehband blue sleeves was 365. I got 385 with the black and blue Titan wraps the next day. My 365 x 2 with light, loose wraps tells me I'm good for 385 x 1 with these wraps. Probably good for 365 x 1 with just sleeves, putting me on par with my best ever squat just as with my bench and deadlift.

Oh...and by the way...another 10-lb jump on my standing overhead barbell press. With zero practice on the movement. Driven entirely by gains on my bench. And my other big lifts are all on par with my best ever lifts done under similar conditons.

My best ever touch and go bench was either 255 or 260 back in 2012. Right now I can do doubles with 250 and am aiming for double with 255 this week. I've already benched 255 once for an easy-ish single last session. 

My best ever high bar back squat with no belt and just sleeves was 365 for a single back in 2011. That was also the time I managed 385 with wraps. This session I got 365 for a double with thinner wraps. I'm not going to max out in sleeves any time soon, so I'm glad I established that wrapped max then. I used the Titan blue and black wraps and I have no intention of using wraps that heavy ever again. 

My best conventional DL was done with a belt and I got 495. That's the equivalent of 475 without a belt. I just recently got 455 for a double with no belt and am hoping to get 465 for a double next session. 

[Sunday, August 23, 2015, 185 lbs]
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
250 x 1
255 x 1
One-Arm DB Row, semi-supinated 120 x 6 x 4
Bench Press, touch and go 235 x 2 x 6
One-Arm DB Row, semi-supinated 125 x 5 x 2

Some days I just don't feel like it's a session unless I squat. Today was one of those days.

But I really need to allow another day of rest after squatting and deadlifting so heavy Friday. So in order to quench my desire to squat I upped the volume on benches and rows. And, boy, are my arms tired.

Volume made sense after 250 and 255 felt too hard for doubles. I was at the LA Fitness on Colonial because that location has heavier dumbbells (for rows)...but their bars, benches, and squat racks suck. The benches are all too close to the floor (great for lifters with short lower legs though, like women and tiny men). And I kept brushing the top of my right shoulder against the rack as I pressed because the uprights were angled a little steeply. I probably lost 5 lbs of press strength to the shittiness of the bench preventing me from setting up properly.

I made up for the lack of intensity by dropping back to 235 to get a bunch of doubles there. Last time I used 235 was August 6 when I got three doubles and some singles (last double was after a single): 235 x 2,2,1,2,1. I got twice as many doubles this time even though I was fairly spent by the time I got around to doing the doubles today. The last time I was at this LAF location a month ago I barely eked out 230 for a double and then got 240 for a single. So it was nice to come back and get so much volume with the average of those two weights.

Now that I think about it I should have used 240...just to say I got all those doubles with my former single...

Rows were the stars today, however. Grip on the left hand was tricky at times. But lots more volume with 120 and 125 than ever before. I really need to invest in a dumbbell bar that I can load up with tens. My hope was to be able to do these with bodyweight one day. I can say pretty confidently that while squat strength is what is driving my deadlift progress, it is the heavy/high-rep "Kroc"-style DB rows that make sure my deadlift never fails because my grip or upper back muscles give out as I push with the squat muscles.

My eagerness to squat today is a good sign that I'm on the road to recovery. I hope to get 360 for a double tomorrow and then maybe front squat 275 for a double or two.

Knee Wraps Are A Really, Really Good Idea For A Lot Of Lifters

There is just so much bad training advice on the Internet in general. But the piece of training advice I personally hate the most is the one that says that using wraps in squat training is a bad idea for everybody. 

There's just a point where not wearing any knee protection at all gets me hurt when I squat. That point is actually rather low for me, around the low 200's. I have to start putting on knee sleeves when I'm strong enough to work with 250. Under 200, I can squat safely with nothing on. 200-300 requires the minimalist protection of knee sleeves to help guarantee pain-free lifting. Over 300 requires some light wrapping; not powerlifiting competition thick or tight, but something more than knee sleeves.

Not everyone is equally endowed. I've seen time and time again that when I get up to around 300 lbs or so on the squat, it's time to bust out the wraps if I want to train with any meaningful volume. There there are lifters who will never need knee protection even if they squat several hundred pounds. There are those who can do without wraps till much higher weights than I can...but who will still eventually have to wrap at some point to remains pain-free.

The best deep squatters in the world pound-for-pound are the top Olympic weightlifters. And I see a lot them wrapping up for big squats and cleans. Sure, they warm up wrap-free with more than I can max. But some of them wrap when things get heavy for them. My "wrap point" is in the low 300's; theirs may be in the 600's. But wrapping at around 300 for training will allow me to progress to 400 and beyond because I won't keep getting hurt. 

"Do you even raw, brah?"

(And I know that Olympic weightlifters use Ace bandages which don't give as much support as thicker powerlifting wraps, but that's because they need more flexibility and depth. The takeaway point is they still go a little further than mere knee sleeves.)

As impressive as top Olympic weightlifters are, top single-ply powerlifters are just as if not even more impressive squatters. These lifters do their heaviest work in wraps and more and still manage to get almost unbelievably strong. Again, they are the genetic cream and the point at which they need to wraps is higher than someone like me whose frame is more suited to running across the plains of Africa south of the Saharan. 

Do you really think this guy should ever squat heavy without wraps?

I know for a fact that using wraps spares my knees, keeps them from getting banged up by heavy squatting so I can keep my squat progressing. It's also nice to be able to use my legs normally between squat sessions for activities like getting into and out of my car. 

Back around 2010 I trained Smolov base phase twice a few months apart. The first time without wraps and the second time with wraps. The first time I was virtually crippled and it took my knees months to recover. The second time my knees were just fine both during and after the cycle.

More recently I've been trying to stick with the much less supportive knee sleeves because of understandable desire to be able to make evaluate progress. I try to keep style (bar placement, stance width) and equipment used (shoes, knee protection, belt) consistent. But with the squat there just comes a  point where I need to start putting on the wraps and accept that they give me as much as 20 lbs over what I can get with nothing at all on my knees.

My knees have been hurting quite a bit lately because I've been using the less supportive sleeves even as my work weights have climbed over 315. But last night I did my first squat session with the old school red line wraps and my knees felt so good. The wraps secured my little knee ligaments in place and provided a cushion at the very bottom of the movement that took some of the worst of the stress off the connective tissue at the bottom of the squat. 

There are people who argue that such support is precisely why wraps prevent the knees from getting "stronger". This is such outrageous bullshit. There are those whose joints are naturally robust enough to squat several hundred pounds without wraps...just as there are those with thick enough skulls to go really far as professional fighters. But my knees can only get "stronger" enough to handle about 300 lbs or so on their own. So why should I limit the progress of my squat musculature and the poundages I can handle in the movement because my unprotected knees keep breaking down at certain loads? 

Are you going to tell Klokov his knees would be "stronger"
if he ditched the sleeves and wraps?

I have fairly long fingers and can comfortably hook grip maximal deadlift loads. There is no point at which I have to resort to mixing my grip or relying on straps. I think hook grip is more bad ass looking than mixed grip or straps. But I understand that some people just don't have the long fingers I do that make hook grip comfortable at max loads. So I don't look down on them for using mixed grip or straps in training so that their grip doesn't limit their deadlift progression. I wish the people who look down on knee wraps would apply this same courtesy and logic to the use of knee wraps by people who didn't win the genetic lottery with knee joints. 

Maybe this isn't even a debate anymore. It seems that over time a lot of bad advice is slowly drifting into the detritus of old forum posts (Lord knows I added my share...  low bar and belts ). I just like to post things that may help some other lifters not suffer like I have. I took advice that really wasn't suited to me on a lot of things, but not using wraps earlier has probably been the most destructive to my health and hindering to my progress. 

Yesterday's Training (Friday, August 21, 2015)

(Power cleaned and squatted 135 x 6 and 185 x 5 while waiting to share the squat rack. )

Back Squat, high bar, weightlifting shoes, sleeves, light wraps @ 315, no belt

225 x 4

275 x 3

315 x 2

335 x 2

355 x 2

Deadlift, conventional, no shoes, no belt, hook grip

365 x 3

405 x 2

435 x 1

450 x 1

455 x 2, 1

I'd actually started using wraps in the session before this one, but those were the slightly thinner Harbinger solid blacks. Those are essentially Ace bandages. I felt I needed something a little bit more supportive so yesterday I upped the ante to the classic Red Line white wraps. These were just right. They kept my knees in a nice groove and kept everything just tight enough. At the bottom of the squat they bunched up thickly enough to keep undue stress off my knees. It was almost like sitting on a box! 

It's hard to say how much these wraps add to my squat because there is more at play here than rebound from the wraps. Part of it is comfort and confidence. So I can squat 10 lbs more with these wraps than I could in my Rehband blues, but maybe five of those pounds are rebound while the other five is just the fact that I'm more efficient because my ligaments aren't sliding around at all. 

I felt free to experiment yesterday because these squats were just warm ups for my deadlift. That's why I didn't attempt to get a couple more singles with 355 (No way I was getting another double!). I was supposed to use 450 on the deadlift which was already a 15-lb jump from last week. But 450 felt so easy and I wanted to replace those 2.5 plates so bad! So I jumped to 455. A 10-lb jump next time would be sensible, but I'm probably going to go for a 15-lb jump. 

My best ever conventional pull was 495 with a belt when I was a few years younger when I also could use 405 for reps in the low bar squat with a a belt. I'm probably good for a beltless conventional pull of 475 right now and maybe 490 with a belt. I very desperately want to get a 500-lb conventional beltless pull. Then maybe I'll start exploring various powerlifting cheats like a belt and sumo.