
14 Oct Brian Carroll | 10/20/Life precontest| Week 3 Day 1 | Squat and deadlift with video
I've recently switched to a pre-contest approach using the 10/20/Life method. I've only been back to training for about 25 weeks, and shoulder has been cooperative, with very few roadblocks and setbacks. Huge thanks to Andrew Lock for the help in my shoulder progressions and understanding a better way to incorporate more efficient cervical, thoracic, and rotator/shoulder training into my approach. Blue and I will be competing in December to qualify for the WPO Semi-finals/XPC Worlds. I need to achieve a top 30 by a coefficient (Glossbrenner) to qualify. The goal is not to peak for this meet, but to get a total. Blue will be joining me as he attempts to qualify for the XPC meet, Arnold weekend-- the day after the WPO men compete.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be adding in more Inzer gear here and there but will not be doing as much gear as I have in the past. For this cycle, I’m going to get in my gear less for a few reasons I outlined here in this video. I’ll do some raw work some weeks only, others I’ll do partially equipped, some weeks overly equipped. For example: Week 1 was raw, Week 2, briefs and wraps. Week 3, this week is full gear. Felt good to get back into gear. Here’s how the session went. PS – I didn’t bench last week as I was on vacation. I think the extra rest did me good, so we will see later tonight when I bench for the first time in 2 weeks.
Week 3, Day 1 Saturday’s Squat & DL Session 10.12.19
- Suitcase carry
- McGill big 3
- Cervical/Thoracic MobilityÂ
- Lock pull-downÂ
- Shoulder big 3
- Goblet squat
Training:
- Squat with 300+lbs of chain. Top set of 750 plus Chain
- Deadlift, Rack pull from the Knee: 745×2 (no belt)
- Belt squat: 5×5 to 4 plates
- Sled drag: 2 trips (trying not to go too ballistic)
*gear used:
Predator Size 46 3ply with grid
Inzer 13mm Inzer Forever Belt Red+White+Blue size XL
Inzer knee Sleeves XT size XLÂ
Something was different about the chains this week; maybe they were loading quicker or unloading less, but this week it was heavy. I worked up to a 730 and 750 single on the squat in full gear. It wasn’t bad. The hardest part was getting used to the pressure again. All of my gear, every single piece is brand new, so that in and of itself is a learning curve.
For the deadlift, we pulled from the rack to feel some weight. The top set I worked up to was not that bad, 750 felt good in my hands and grip felt solid, so thats good. Comparatively, I need to be well into the 9s by meet time to ensure my grip and lockout is where it should be.
After this upcoming deload, I will likely move to the straight bar. We will see. I’ll likely really unload the chain weight to just a little bit, just to keep me moving the bar fast but much more bar weight.
I’m happy with this session as I accomplished what I needed. Like I said in my last post, I’m optomistic about my next couple of meets and looking forward to seeing how it pans out. Either way, I’ll learn something.

Brian Carroll

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