07 Apr Lab Rat – Hamstring Tweaks, London, Weight Loss and Pre Contest Training

I’m back!!  Yes, its been a while since my log has been updated.  Roughly a month ago I got a nice ‘tweak’ and some light bruising in my hamstring towards the end of my offseason.  If you recall, I combined a standard offseason with a PowerBuilding block which drove my curiosity us to see where my heavy singles were.  I was bummed for a few days but shook that off knowing I had intentions to compete towards the end of May.  With that said I made the decision to cut the offseason short and reduce the load place on my leg.  I ended up taking the following week off which was a scheduled deload.  The next week consisted of body weight movements and light fluff and buff work to get some blood flowing.

After two weeks of minimal load I was eager to get back at it as everything was feeling great then BAM.  London.  A short notice trip for work was required, no big deal.  I was to be gone for a week which I thought worked out perfectly as it gave my body a little more time to recover.  Once over there it was evident everything wouldn’t be covered so I extended my stay.  While over there I got to play tourist on the weekend, pretty damn cool!

At the point of getting back to the states I was getting a little stir crazy being away from training for a month. To be honest while overseas I didn’t step foot in a gym, not even the hotel one.  I didn’t spend any time doing core work or the McGill Big 3 either, big mistake.  The one bright side is I achieve my target weight of 250-255.  I ended up dropping ~10 pounds while I was gone.  I attribute it not having a kitchen stacked with peanut butter and other snacks.  Some self discipline and help from Tucker has kept the weight off, easy cut to 242!  The first week back was pretty uneventful, I kept the accessory work to a minimum and focused on the main movements.  Squats consisted of a couple top sets of 5 with 315.  Deadlifts were 405 for a  few top sets and bench was 225.

After getting that initial week under my belt I developed a short offseason to bridge the gap between the current time and the start of pre contest training.  More to come soon!

Leg / Back Power Day – April 1, 2017

Warm Up – McGill Big 3, KB swings, Empty bar for a couple sets

Squat (Buffalo Bar)

• 2 x 6 w/ 145
• 2 x 4 w/ 235
• 2 x 4 w/ 325
• 2 x 4 w/ 375

Deadlift

• 225 x 4
• 2 x 4 w/ 315
• 2 x 4 w/ 365
• 2 x 4 w/ 415

Bench / Accessory Day – April 3, 2017

Bench

• 2 x 6 w/ 135
• 2 x 4 w/ 225
• 3 x 4 w/ 275

Close grip bench (shoulder saver) – 3 x 8 w/ 225

High incline d/b – 12, 12, 10 10

Band Fly – 4 x 25

Getting back into the swing of things with a short off-season.. #1020life #powerrackstrength #teamprs #teamsamson #powerlifting #powerbuilding #squat #bench #deadlift #strong #bodybuilding #crossfit #fitfam

A post shared by Jason Kowalewski (@jasonkowalewski) on Apr 7, 2017 at 5:40pm PDT

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Jason Kowalewski

Jason Kowalewski is an up and coming raw powerlifter residing in Jacksonville, Florida where he trains with Team Samson. In his younger years he was a “gear head” who built his first drag car before obtaining a driver’s license. Within the last 6 years his primary focus has shifted from motorsports to powerlifting. Jason began training under Brian’s tutelage in February 2013. He was actually one of the initial test subjects, hence the name Lab Rat. Since then he has seen significant improvements on all lifts with his commitment to Brian and the 10/20/Life methodology. To date his best total is 1653.4lbs via 633.8lb squat, 435.4lb bench and 584.9lb deadlift at 242lbs.

Latest posts by Jason Kowalewski (see all)

• Lab Rat – Chasing a 600lb Bench - January 30, 2018
• Lab Rat – Back to the Off-Season - January 20, 2018
• Lab Rat – Pulling Out.. of the meet - January 13, 2018