If you read my last log, you would see that my strength is not where I was hoping it would be. It was a tragic realization. It would probably help if you had a little overview on what my goals were this summer so you have a frame of reference for what’s been going on.
My off season goals were thus: 1) work on weak points (glutes/hips and my back aside from my traps) 2) get FUCKING HUGE.
After my meet, I took about 6-8 weeks off any barbell work. When I got back to the barbell, we did two conditioning cycles then two hypertrophy cycles. We still did max effort work but everything else was higher volume with more bodybuilding type stuff. I mean, I did get bigger.
-I tried to really hammer my hips/glutes since those have always been lacking and have caused quite a few missed deadlifts. I did fit girl exercises like kickbacks and glute bridges.
-I also tried to work on getting the rest of my back to work aside from my traps. They take over for pretty much all back movements so I spent a lot of time doing all different rows and having my training partners prod at my back to make sure I wasn’t shrugging them up.
-Thricely (wow that is actually a word), I tried to bring up the size of my low/mid back. I want erectors that stick out farther than my butt. I did a lot of extension and good morning variations and learned a lot about doing too much volume that will actually hurt my back oops.
The past few training cycles I hammered away at my upper back and it worked. I didn’t round over in my squat like I had in the past. But that upper back work was replaced by my butt n back stuff.
Now about ye olde weight- I compete at about 148. Most meets i weigh in under that. This past meet I had to cut a few lbs but nothing a little water cut couldn't fix.
Dave wanted me to put some weight on to see if I could fill out. So put weight on I have. I have weighed more than I ever have in my life. For reference, I started competing at 114. I am currently sitting a little under 160. I’ve shoved my face with dozens of double bacon McExtreme’s and stroopwafel McFlurries. I now only fit into my elastic clothing.
The results: I got bigger but I didn’t really get stronger. I was kind of surprised I just assumed getting chubby would automatically yield some strength results. Dave thinks all the hypertrophy work kind of hampered our recovery but the strength should come back soon now that we are back on the gain train.
I definitely need to add in my upper back work again- I can’t afford to have that be my limiting factor in my squat.
So my off season was a mixed bag. I will be curious to see how my weight gain translates raw and in gear once we get back into a regular strength phase.
TRAINING, IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING, EH?
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