Montreal Barbell The PR GYM

Been super busy last few days. Moving at the end of the week and have a million things to do, and working a ton. Happy with how training is comming along overall.

Tuesday Oct 19th AM
back accessory

Pullups
50 reps total (21, 12, 10, 7)

Pullups are moving along well. I really want to be able to get 100 total reps eventually. Once I can get that I will add some sort of resistance. 
 
Hammer curls 4sets
Pulldowns 5 sets
Facepulls 5 sets
Preacher curls 4sets
Rear delt flys 3 sets
Rear delts on pec dec 2 sets

Then some gun/upperback work. My arms are tiny and I wouldn’t mind adding some size to them. My back/shoulders/legs grow easily but arms/chest have always been slower.


Tuesday Oct 19th PM
bench


CG bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
295 x 5
295 x 5
X5

CG Reverse green 4 board
315 x 2
365 x 2
410 x 2
435 x 2
410 x 4

I am starting to feel stronger on the bench. A few months ago I missed 435 for a single on this lift and I was using a regular grip (I am much weaker close grip).

Strict standing overhead
140 x 5
160 x 5
190 x 4
X4


Wednesday Oct 20th AM
upper accessory

Machine Declines
1plate per side x 12
2p x 12
3p x 10
4p x 8 + 4 + 3

EZ bar extensions -3 sets
Machine flat - 2 sets
Pushdowns – 3sets

A little less volume in the AM session today, didn`t get enough sleep and the rest-pause set on the declines took out anything I ha
Diet is a high day today which is 4000cals for now (will be bumped up to 4500 soon here).



Wednesday Oct 20th PM
deadlifts

Deads off 4.5 inch blocks (belt only)

225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 3
495 x 3
585 x 3
645 x 2 pr
655 x 2 pr

For whatever reason when the weight gets heavy I am out of gas for the third rep. I wanted 645 x 3 today but 655 x 2 is almost as good. This bar and block setup is brutal, even 585 is heavy and im not sure why. One guy I train with who pulls 650-680 consistently for 10-15 years I think missed 635 on this lift. I really want 7 plates for side for a double in 1-2 weeks which will be 675, matching my best pull off of 6 inch blocks. 655 x 2 felt better this week than 635 x 3 did 2 weeks ago. I think I am on pace to pull a nice PR in January.

Chain suspended GM (Beltless)
230 x 5
320 x 5
410 x 5
500 x 5 pr

Pretty easy, had to run so went through and hit small pr then went home.

squats
135 x 5
225 x 5
add briefs
315 x 2
405 x 1
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
700 x 2
reverse purples
770 x 1
830 x 1

squats felt solid today, the 700 x 2 might be a PR in briefs.. I think I may have done 705 x 3 with knee wraps and briefs though. Briefs I am using are still a size to big and I was hitting depth with 315. Squat form felt very solid, sitting back really nicely and not puting much stress on my bad knee. 830 felt a little heavier then it should but moved nicely.

conventional deads
405 x 3
500 x 3 (15 second break between sets of 500)
x3
x3

deads felt fast as they should, just speed work.

Big group came to train today, I think everyone hit a PR. Feeling very confident with my strength right now will be interesting to see where I am at when i add correctly fitting briefs, a suit and knee wraps. Bodyweight around 215lbs.

Introduction

For those who do not know me, my name is Ryan Selk, I am 23 and have been powerlifting for a little over 3 years. I live in Lethbridge Alberta and work at the University of Lethbridge as a Technical Specialist (ie computer nerd). I own a small garage gym (monolift, racks + everything a powerlifter needs) and coach a growing team of lifters.

Training for Battle of Montreal

Last meet at Nationals / Canadian Pro-am I went 903/501/705 for 2109 @ 242. All these lifts were contest PRs.

Since the meet I dropped some weight, getting to 205lbs at my lightest. I was 250lbs 12 hours from weight in at the pro-am so I lost some substantial fat. Even at this bodyweight I was using the same weights for all the lifts, I actually set some decent deadlift and good morning PRs in training.

Right now I am somewhere around 210-212lbs and getting ready to gain some size for this meet. I am to lean right now for powerlifting I think. I plan on competing in the 220s and on meet day I will weigh around 230lbs. My goal is to put the biggest total up that I possibly can, right now I am not sure what the exact numbers will be but the way things are going I expect a fair sized PR on every lift.

Here is my plan of attack:

Training

Squat – Heavy every other weekend, training with a group that will push me to reach my best possible numbers. Last meet we started with 3-4 work sets of doubles and slowly progressed into working with singles, I imagine that will be the plan again.

Bench – This is where I need to make some big improvements. I had the strength for well over 501 last meet but technical problems left me with going 1/3 in the bench. I have resolved much of these problems in the offseason by changing my foot position and set-up. Training wise I will stick with 2 bench days, following a template similar to what some lifters at Big Iron gym use (one day more focused on upper end, one on lower end, lots of time in the shirt)

Deadlift – I have been doing tons of pulls with the weights sitting on 3-6 inch blocks. I’ve kept it raw and the reps at 3 to try and keep the time under tension similar to a full rom pull. I’m going to continue working with the blocks until my pull stalls out then I will do some basic work off the ground. I have found that if I am pulling heavy every week (not necessarily to a 1rm, but over 90%1rm) my deadlight goes up.

Diet

I’m currently eating 3000cal/day with at least 1.5 x bw in protein. This will be upped to 3500-3700 and I’ll shoot for 1lb a week gain up until the meet. Ill adjust intake depending on how my weight is coming along. Nothing very complicated here, but I do keep track of how much I am eating. I graduated high school at 165lbs and it’s taken me a ways to get here.

Taking a full week off before the meet to let my body recover for the training that is about to come. I am feeling good and ready to start this training cycle. I’m going to keep this log updated with training videos, I am always looking for feedback about my training!