24 May Tucker Loken – Week 2 – Squats/Deads and cramps

Week two of my Powerbuilding experiment.

I got a nasty case of the Overtrains last month and I’ve been recovering since. I got a little beat up and tired, then with fatigue and poor form I tweaked my back while Deadlifting, which took me away from Squats and Deads for a month or more. I’ve had a couple light Squat/Dead workouts back and this last weekend was good but I still kept things conservative… Didn’t stop me from cramping like crazy though!

Sunday combo lower

Warm up with core

Bird dogs, planks, McGill crunches

Squats –

Week 2 4×6 RPE 7 – 405 lbs. I wasn’t expecting to feel very good but the weight moved quickly. I didn’t bring a belt or knee sleeves but I just went in a cranked them out and worked form.

Deadlifts –

Week 2 3×3 warm ups and then 1×6 top set RPE 7 – 275 lbs. I went light on these just to make sure I stay healthy and build back up. Especially since Deadlifting was the thing that took me out in the first place, I’m trying to go nice and light and work speed/form.

DB stiff leg dead lift 4×15,12,10,8 – Slow eccentric portion with pause at the bottom

…..Then the fun stuff started. I was going to hit some leg press before moving to smaller movements, so I went to the leg extension machine to get my quads and knees warm again on a light set of 20 or so and I felt some twitches in my quad muscles. I let it rest for a minute and then tried again and my quad went into spasm like the whole thing was going to snap right off. After that I took a break and stretched and went to do some lying leg curls hoping that it wouldn’t be too bad. Nope. The same nasty cramps came around made me jump right off the machine within the first couple reps.

After that I figured it was just my body telling me it had enough so I packed up and went home… Even though I hadn’t gone all out, my body just wasn’t used to pushing decent weight. Even now days later I am SORE. Just goes to show how much stimulation they give and how important the big movements are regardless of whether you’re a powerlifter, bodybuilder or just regular gym goer.

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Tucker Loken

Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

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