Journey to the XPC Arnold Bench Qualifier

[ckcrown84]

Alright all,

I am a Full Power lifter, but my goal right now is to qualify for the Arnold Bench Bash, compete with the best power lifters around at the Arnold in the bench. This does NOT mean I am not going to be training full power, it just means I have an opportunity to Qualify for the Arnold for the bench, why the fuck wouldn't I go for it?!?

The qualifier for Pro at 198 is 445 and at 220 495. I am probably going to cut to 198 and smash the 445. I hope to be close to a 500 bench by the end of this year.

[ckcrown84]

Today (Saturday) is an accessory day.

We started off with Goodmornings, then did 3x8 speed pulls


After the speed pulls i did some GHR work then abs.

[DaMaster]

What are you weighing now? Will that be a big drop in weight for you?

[ckcrown84]

What are you weighing now? Will that be a big drop in weight for you?

This morning I was 216lbs.

I am not at all worried about the weight, I traditionally walk around at 200 and I ate my ass off to get to where I am now. I am going to organize my diet as follows

Current: maintenance phase (keep weight the same, neither gaining nor loosing for at least a month or more)

September: Cut the calories a bit and begin working my weight down a little (not too much)

October: pre-meet begin water loading, then manipulate the water and hit the sauna for weigh in. Then after I make weight eat my ass off

October: compete for the qualifier, if I fail. Then shoot for December 7th (another qualifier).

[DaMaster]

I'm comfortably hovering around 235. I've thought about trying to cut weight to make the 220 class, but dieting down isn't easy for me. I can do it but I think it would severely affect my strength training. So my plan is to make sure I stay in the 242 class and just get stronger.

Best of luck to you brother. Looking forward to see you make the Arnold

[Usealittle]

This morning I was 216lbs.

I am not at all worried about the weight, I traditionally walk around at 200 and I ate my ass off to get to where I am now. I am going to organize my diet as follows

Current: maintenance phase (keep weight the same, neither gaining nor loosing for at least a month or more)

September: Cut the calories a bit and begin working my weight down a little (not too much)

October: pre-meet begin water loading, then manipulate the water and hit the sauna for weigh in. Then after I make weight eat my ass off

October: compete for the qualifier, if I fail. Then shoot for December 7th (another qualifier).

You won't.

[ckcrown84]

You won't.

Thank you man, I have high hopes. Sucks I can only do bench at this time, but the rest will just have to play catch up.

[ckcrown84]

315x17 reps


Sunday is an accessory day. Do either volume or speed work, opted for volume. Kept it simple 1 set at 315 for reps

After that, did a bunch of accessory work.

3x5 3board press (315)
3x10 hanging kettle bell presses (working on my horrid stabilizers)
Bunch of rear delt work
Dips
Lat work

[Usealittle]

Do your elbows always shake like that?

[ckcrown84]

Do your elbows always shake like that?

I've always had stability issues. going to be doing a lot of stability work over the next six months to try to correct

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Usealittle]

Cool, how do you go about fixing something like that?

[ckcrown84]

Cool, how do you go about fixing something like that?

Work with the bamboo bar,
stabilizer work (think TRX pushups)

[ckcrown84]

Max Effort Buffalo bar work

[ckcrown84]

Getting some blood flow. 230 for 31 reps.

[ckcrown84]

accessory work day

suspended good mornings

[ckcrown84]

[ckcrown84]

After good mornings, we hit the rest

Good mornings
Squats 225lbs 5x5
2sets of lunges (light)
Bands for Leg Curls.

[ckcrown84]

[ckcrown84]

Good afternoon everyone,

Today was that max effort squat with 100lbs chains. I made it to 385lbs without wraps. From there I jumped to 425lbs with wraps (that is 525lbs at the top).

Took me two attempts to smash this weight, but I got it. Had to get my head and technique correct !

[ckcrown84]

[ckcrown84]

[ckcrown84]

[ckcrown84]

465 off a two board. not a bad baseline for 3 months out!

[ckcrown84]

Umm that was 475... lol
Sorry math skills

[ckcrown84]

Sunday is always accessory work.
Did 5x5 with the buffalo bar 285lbs. Strict pause at the bottom and practiced my leg drive as well.
After this we took a break and did max effort push press (video above) got 275lbs. Can't complain with that. Last time I failed to get 275 and it took me two attempts to get 250lbs. So this is a 25lbs PR.

After the push press i kinda forget to right everything down because really who cares? Some triceps with the dumbbells and bands, then some pulldowns. Yippee

[ckcrown84]

Worse deadlift ever.
Glutes not firing,
using too much back.
Too tight going down.

Perks
Well I pulled into the bar better then normal. Small victory.

[ckcrown84]

EPIC frigging squat day !
So my competition PR is 450... Today I smashed 475 on my 2nd attempt. My first attempt I fail, lost my air at the bottom and didn't get it... Tried again and absolutely smashed it.
Can't wait to compete again I will be at 500 in no time




After squats I did some speed pulls about 6 sets *was a bit too heavy*
Then some GHR and hyper extensions for the win
Excellent day
So happy

[ckcrown84]

My thoughts on PSL Gear.

A bit more PIP then I am used to but damn this shit is going good. The M1T definitely has a big of a bang for the buck. I feel stronger on it and ready to smash. However my liver also feels it.

I love the test / eq combo. Nice and mild on the sides and I really feel great.

[ckcrown84]

Very nice reverse band training session today. Went a bit too heavy on the 2nd set and failed... Remember the goal is to NOT FAIL. SO I was very happy that I recovered and dialed it in just right on that third set and got my peak / grinder and was able to complete the rep.



After this we played around with some volume with 185 / 225 / 245 and just did a little bit of rep work.

Then we did a few tripples with the pin presses (working the lockout) I was able to get 405 for 3 then 425 for 2 then 455 for 1. Then we dialed it down to 315 and did some reps (one set) and polished it off. The triceps were DONE.

Then just some back work and flyes with some bands.

[ckcrown84]

Heavy accessory movement. Yes these were a tad high, but my training partners are taller then me so it was a fine compromise. Got a nice PR and was happy with that !

After the heavy accessory I did

3 sets of walking lunges (nothing crazy)
10 sets of leg extensions
10 sets of glute ham raise.

Boom

Side note: Glute Ham Raise properly executed is HARD. I am getting better at them though. The goal is to be able to do 5 sets of 20.
Hah not even close yet!