I recently lifted in the 2019 APF Raw Challenge in Chicago. I ended up with an 1802 total via a 705 squat, 463 bench and 633 deadlift.


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I was on my own for this one. Pushed this session to later in the week since I had been out of town over the weekend. Still went fine!

I did make a couple of adjustments. With a short turn around from this session to the next time I will be squatting I pulled back just a little bit and cut out a couple of working sets and skipped pulling from blocks. I still wanted to get the work in, but acknowledged that my schedule is weird this week so an adjustment was made. Erring on the side of being conservative.

1. "Pause" Squats - Top set of five at 435. No matter how it feels, I always completely rush the pause unless someone is keeping me honest. While I don't mind training on my own from time to time, I clearly could have used a little help with this.

Regardless, I feel pretty good about my sleeved squat right now. It isn't crazy strong or anything, but in the past it really sucked. I was not good, at all, at squatting without wraps. Even just getting some volume in without wearing wraps is good for me.

2. Banded Deadlifts - Light band, top triple at 425.

3. GHR - bodyweight x 4 x 8

4. Heel Taps - BW x 4 x 10 per side

5. Planks - 4 holds at 30 seconds.