This past week was an eye opener for me. I have not been feeling well at all this past week but I needed to put in my 2 hours of powerlifting.  As of now, I'm doing my Bench, Deads and Squats for reps of 5. 

Since there is never anyone in my gym that I go to, I had to be creative with my spotting.  So I used the power rack to assist with my Bench.  I ended up pushing 195 for 5, I was very happy with that. These were all touch and go reps, no paused reps this week.

On my squats I felt like a beast!  I tired myself out by doing to many sets to start before I squated 275 for 5. I probably could have pulled off the 295 for 5, but I was wasted. According to Marty, 275 for 5 equates to a 320 squat. I'm happy with that too.

On my Deads, I ended up pulling 275 for 5 and they felt very light. For the past 2 weeks I have been deadlifting off a plate so once I stood in front of that bar I felt like I could pull anything of the ground.

In addition to the 2 hours a week with my 3 lifts I have been snatching and banging out pull ups like crazy. I have now been getting 2-3 reps with the 24k on my foot. Overall I have been feeling pretty strong. I never thought I would be where i am now, as far as powerlifting and the best part is that my Kettlebell training has not been affected at all.

I still test my mobility with some FMS drills, like the ASLR and deep squat, plus shoulder mobility test. All 3 have been equal, no change.

I have been training under Marty Gallagher's instruction for about 16 weeks now.  I have gone from a body weight of 140 to over 150pds.  We have focused on only 3 lifts, Front Squat, Bench Press and Dead lift.  Before I started with Marty, I have rarely ever done front squats with a barbell. The only front squats I have ever done is with a kettlebell. Fortunately my squats are pretty good so  it was just getting used to the bar being on my chest. Currently I'm squatting over 225 rock bottom.   Marty says, Front squats will improve my dead lift and they have. In addition they have also made my pistols easy because it's all about the leg drive, forcing the knees out, pressurizing and building tension.

The Bench Press and Dead lift have altered my strength in so many ways. I never thought I was any good at Bench pressing. Again, once Marty taught me the groove of the press, which is similiar to the groove of the military press, every session became better and better.  I am now trying a wider grip on the bar and pausing at the bottom before I press. I feel pretty strong in this position, my arms are not very long so the distance the bar needs to travel is less. I have learned to focus also on my foot position, driving my heels down into the floor and driving my shoulders down into the bench at the same time. This creates a slight arch in my back. The starting position is above my nose and as the bar descends in a C curve it pauses at my sternum. So really the last few inches of the press are all triceps, everything else comes from the lats.

All my dead lifting I have ever done was always conventional dead lifting. Very similar to how we are taught at RKC. I used to pattern the movement with a stick on my back and then proceed dead lifting. Once I met Marty he changed up my stance by narrowing my foot position (Duck stance).  This particular lift took me some time to get down and I am still working on it. Before you start the lift, you are in a squat position, ankle, knee, shoulder and head are all in alignment.  My biggest problem is once I pull the bar off the ground my butt starts to rise, which means my leg strength is lacking. Front squats will help with that and dropping the weight on the deads and focusing on form will bring the movement all together.

April 10th is the TSC, Tactical Strength Challenge in MD. My focus is on 3 events, Dead lift, Pull ups and Snatches. My goal is to pull 375lbs in the Dead lift, minimum 20 pull-ups and over 100 snatches in 5 min.   Follow my journey on PurposefulPrimitiveOnlince.com