After I marked week 24 complete in the Juggernaut app, I got a notice that the next training block would be the peaking phase, something brand new for me.
I have been avoiding anything remotely close to a 1RM. After dropping bodyweight as I did, I know that the chances of me lifting what I was capable of 50lbs heavier is low. That is one of the main reasons why I shifted the percentage of the powerbuilder programming to 40% powerlifting and 60% bodybuilding. Initially, that change was hard for me mentally, but I have come to really enjoy and appreciate what I am doing. Overall, I feel stronger, despite not really testing a 1RM or knowing where that is. I also know that I can’t really avoid this forever and still follow this programming. At some point, I am going to have to bite the bullet and see where I am actually at.
Bench
Tuesday was a heavy single on bench which I am guessing was somewhere around 90%. Initially, the app told me I would work up to 290, but after entering the readiness information in, it shifted the weight down to 280. I already had my mind set on 290, so I figured I would work up to around 280 and if things felt good, I would go for another rep. After all, I feel as if I should be able to hit 90% on my lifts right about now anyway.
I hit a relatively smooth 293 on bench which was the heaviest single I have done in recent memory. Other than rushing it out of the bottom, it wasn’t a difficult lift and surprised me. As did the dropsets. Perhaps the dropsets I am used to are so soul-crushing that I was expecting to have to grind through them, yet that wasn’t the case. Far from it actually. The app even shifted my last dropset up a few pounds because of how easy the others felt.
Squat
This is probably the one lift that has been in my head the most. I very rarely feel good when squatting and because of that, I usually skip sets or just avoid working heavy altogether. But I remembered that even though I have not done a ton of volume with the back squat, I have spent a lot of time developing my legs. It isn’t like they are weak. I saw 390 on the app the night before and figured that might be a struggle, but I am also tired of feeling that way. I did my best to shift my mindset to thinking about hitting that number. When I got to the gym and warmed up, I entered my readiness information and the top single dropped to 380. As with bench, I figured I would take a shot around 380 and go up if I felt good. I didn’t want to go too much heavier as I felt like that might defeat the purpose of the stage of the peaking block I am at.
I tried to take smarter jumps, not be too conservative, but also not hold back as much. I went 165, 235, 295, 325, 375, and then a smooth single at 400. When I went and looked at the video of the lift at 400, it looked so much easier than it felt. If I had been watching someone take a heavy single like that, I would be been inclined to tell them to keep going. I am glad that it felt that good and played it smart by stopping there, saving anything else for later in the training block.
On days where I have squats and deadlifts, I always feel overwhelmed for some reason. I don’t know why, I just do. I think a lot of times I just don’t focus as I should. Today I tried to block everything out and move the weight. When I got to the deadlifts, which was only 2×2 @ 400-420, I loaded the bar with 135 for a quick warmup set and it felt like nothing on the bar. In fact, I didn’t even really feel anything until I got to 4 plates. The weight hasn’t ever moved like that for me. Transitioning from using a squat bar in the power rack over to a deadlift bar felt really good, too. Might be more mental, I don’t know, but I enjoyed it. I hit a set at 405 and then 425 without any issue.
What looked to be a super tough training day, actually turned out to be one of the best so far. After squats and deadlifts, I finished with reverse hack squats, DB RDLs, and seated calf raises. Since I had some time before I had to be at home, I was able to sneak in a 30-minute power walk class on the Peloton app.
The Night Before
What surprised me about the heavy squat and deadlift day was how good I actually felt. I had joined my oldest at CycleBar the night before. Even though it was only a 30-minute ride, those are still extremely hard for me. I still feel that these in-person rides at CycleBar are harder than most of the rides I have done at home on our Peloton. I am slowly figuring out how to fuel and prepare for these as well. Last night was a PR in “Power Points” by about 10 points. I believe my highest previous to this was 436. Rather than focus on being number 1 on the leaderboard, I want to try and see if I can improve my metrics.
If my oldest wasn’t so into CycleBar, I can state with relative confidence that I would have never set foot in there. But now that I have been there with her, I really love it. They do such an outstanding job in every aspect of their business and community so key there. I have fun talking to people after the rides. At the end of the ride last night, we had a 30-45 second sprint. Of course, it felt like a minute or two. When I looked up at the leaderboard, someone was ahead of me so that meant I had to damn near blackout to make sure that didn’t stay that way. Turns out it was the lady next to me on the bike. We had a great convo after and I learned she was 21-weeks pregnant. Super nice and I thanked her for nearly giving me a heart attack on the bike. Ha!
Deadlift
On Saturday, the app was giving me a top-end single of 450 on deadlift. Just as it did with bench, when I got through the warm-up and entered my readiness, the top single was dropped somewhere around 430. I had 450 on my mind anyway, so my plan to was to give that a shot and honestly did not expect it to be all that heavy.
I cannot remember a time when I have ever wanted to do squats first. Normally it takes me forever to warm up on these so I like to do them later in the training session. Given how good it felt earlier in the week, I shifted the order a bit and did the pause HBBS first hoping that the transition from the squat bar over to the deadlift bar would be as good as it was on Tuesday. The squats felt really good, and I ended up with 345 on my last set of 3. Not super great numbers, but given how crappy squats have felt, I was extremely happy. This also gave me a boost going into deadlifts.
The deadlifts felt great, just as they did on Tuesday. Even 405 felt easy. I took singles at 135, 225, 315, and 405, then went to 455 for the top single. Once I was there, I figured a 5-plate pull would be better but was a little hesitant about a 495 attempt when the program said only 430. However, I was told a long time ago that if the kitchen is hot, you cook. I was glad I took the attempt because 495 moved so easily for me. I feel like I should have just put 500lbs on the bar to be able to say that I could still pull that weight. I know 500 is there now, so I called it at 495 and went right to the double at 405 for the planned dropset.
Cryotherapy
When I woke up from a nap Saturday, after lifting and coaching, it was the first time that I had woken up hurting. I feel as if I have been smarter with training and not pushing it over the edge, but for some reason, my body disagreed. My oldest has been wanting to try the float tanks, cryotherapy, and some other recovery options mainly out of curiosity. I thought it might be fun to check out the cryotherapy rooms just to see if it was worth the hype.
For $20 a person, I felt like it was a little pricey so that alone might keep me from going on a regular basis. Just hard to justify dropping $20 for that. Especially knowing it was only a touch over 3 minutes. I can say that we both felt like we hit a reset button when we were done. I was shocked to learn that they estimate your body burns 500-800 calories during that short amount of time given that it is working so hard to try to keep warm. I could care less about the calorie burn. I was just there for the recovery portion.
Bodyweight
My bodyweight is up about 8-10lbs from my lowest. I can feel most of that around my waist, but I also can see more muscle and mass in my chest and arms, so I don’t feel all of the weight gain is necessarily bad. I have been feeling more bloated than normal, so this coming week I want to dial a few things and focus on sodium intake, getting enough water, and making sure I am eating plenty of vegetables.