Week two of compensatory acceleration. Since the focus was speed, I kept most of my lifts around the same weight. Compared to last week, I increased the height of my box jumps, but primarily kept all of the weights the same.
CATCH UP: It’s All About Speed (Athlete Journal 15)
I had to get a heavy squat day in because my hair starts to fall out if I go too many days without some heavy squats. I also deadlifted heavy during one of my sessions because my hands needed more calluses. Kidding.
Testing Versus Building
Wanting to lift more weights eats me up on weeks like this, but powerlifting training is about building strength, as opposed to testing strength. It’s not sustainable to kill it in the gym every week. So when your body asks for a few weeks off, you just do it. I’m itching to get back into the gym next week for some heavy squatting, but you always have to respect the process.
“It’s not sustainable to kill it in the gym every week. So when your body asks for a few weeks off, you just do it.”
During the next four weeks I’ll be squatting heavy three times per week. I’m all about practice, so I’ll be squatting between five to seven days during those weeks, but I’ll keep the unscheduled squatting loads around 40-60% to focus on technique and speed.
READ: Craving Success? Then Respect the Process
I enjoyed the explosive speed training I’ve been doing during this two-week deload, so I think I’ll use some of the techniques in my future training. The weighted box jumps have been a lot of fun, so I’ve been toying with the idea of adding them to my warm ups every session. This week felt a little boring, but you can’t expect every lifting week to be exhilarating.
Here’s my meat and taters for the week:
Monday
Olympic-Style Pause Squat (3 seconds)
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
155 x 5 (6 sets)
Dead Bench
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
155 x 1 (12 sets)
Speed Pulls
135 x 5 (2 sets)
185 x 5
225 x 3 (5 triples)
Tuesday
Box Jump
15 lbs x 3 (6 sets @ 12 height)
Speed Squat
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
155 x 4 (5 sets)
Olympic-Style Pause Squat (7 seconds)
135 x 5 (3 sets)
Floor Press
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
165 x 1 (12 sets)
Speed Bench
135 x 4 (5 sets)
Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5 (2 sets)
285 x 3
325 x 1 (5 working sets)
Wednesday
Yoga
Thursday
Olympic-Style Pause Squat (3 seconds)
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
165 x 5 (6 sets)
Clean & Jerk
135 x 5 (5 sets)
4” Defecit Deadlifts
135 x 5 (2 sets)
185 x 3 (5 sets)
Friday
Box Jump
15 lbs x 3 (6 sets @ 13 height)
Heavy Squat
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1 (1 single)
285 x 1 (2 singles)
295 x 1 (1 single)
300 x 1 (2 singles)
Speed Squat
155 x 4 (6 sets)
Dead Bench
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
155 x 1 (12 sets)
Speed Bench
145 x 4 (6 sets)
Saturday
Rest
Sunday
Box Jump
15 lbs x 3 (6 sets @ 13 height)
Olympic-Style Pause Squat (7 seconds)
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5 (2 sets)
145 x 5 (3 sets)
Power Clean
135 x 5 (3 sets)
High Pull
155 x 3 (5 sets)
Speed Bench
Bar x 5 (2 sets)
135 x 5
145 x 4 (6 sets)
I added sets and dropped or added weight accordingly during this week. Next week will be some pretty intense squatting. Of course I’ll also be benching and deadlifting as usual, but the loads on the squatting will mostly be above 90%. I can’t wait. Stay active!
Ryan Seaver is a novice powerlifter who found his love for the sport after six years of going to the gym religiously. Follow Ryan’s journals to learn how to get started in competitive lifting.
