Had a good last week of workouts. Good, not great. After the 315 x 13 I was feeling really optimistic and strong, but this last week was a little more humbling. That's not to say I didn't do well - I just didn't smash a bunch of PR's. But that's okay. I need to remember that focusing on building strength - moderate weight, moderate rep ranges, lots of volume - has made me the strongest I've been in a very long time. Strongest I've ever been? Not yet, not across the board. But I'm only just finishing my first cycle. In a couple more cycles, I'll be breaking Pr's without even trying. And that should be the goal, not constantly testing myself and never really improving.
Anyway, last thursday hit 295 x 5 front squat, which is only 20 lbs off my best 5 ever, but it was a tough 5, not a joke. I was hoping it would move nicer than it did.
Friday was the day after a celebratory night with friends, so I took it real easy and hit 185 for some sets of 12, mostly with a close grip. that was really about it for that workout.
Sunday I squatted. I felt surprisingly good after a long and busy weekend, but I suspect I ACTUALLY felt bad - but my strength has improved so much that bad feels good. Anyway, worked up to 365 and hit it for the maximum allowable reps, 4. It moved really nice, but the final rep was definitely tough. Again, my PR at that weight is 8 so I was hoping 4 would feel like a damn joke, but it didn't. Still, that doesn't mean what I'm doing isn't working. 365 x 4 is still one of the best sets I've ever had at that weight.
Monday I benched. I decided to take the weight up to 225. I'm getting sick of moving 185 for tons of reps, and I've already moved it for a set of 20 so I feel okay making the jump to 225. The workout went really well, I hit 225 for a touch n go set of 7 - unfortunately failed the 8th rep. But that ties my PR. Then, I hit it for 4 more sets of 6, pausing the final rep of each set. So that was definitely more volume than I've ever hit at 225. So what I was doing at 185 clearly worked - now my challenge is to find a way to mimic that style of training, with a weight I can't throw around as easily. I want to start incorporating variations in grip width, range of motion, and keeping my feet up ASAP, but I'm not sure how well I will be able to handle those things at this weight. I'm thinking I might start playing around with variations, using sets of 5 - 6's moved really well so hopefully 5's will be manageable, even with variations. I'm nervous to be changing what I'm doing, but ultimately hopeful. Bench is feeling good.
Tuesday I did a bunch of sets of 20 pushups, feet way elevated. I want to keep incorporating lots of pushups, but I want to stat using more challenging variations so I can increase force production and build more muscle with less reps - the reps were starting to get a little ridiculous.
Finally, today I front squatted 335 for a tough single, then did a bunch of powercleans, up to 225 for a handful of reps. Again, I wish 335 was a joke but it wasn't. Still, that's the best front squat I have hit in a long long time, AND my wednesdays are really hard so I suspect that has a significant impact on my lifting this day. The powercleans at 225 were pretty cool though. I don't know exactly how much they will help my deadlift, but I know that speed work always does my deadlift good, so I feel like incorporating more powercleans could be useful. Also, I just think it's generally badass to be able to throw around 225 on a whim. I'd love to be able to do that with 315.
Last thought of the day: I really need to be working more on my upper back. It's probably a big part of the reason front squat feels bad and it'll help my bench too. For a while there I was doing back first every single upper body day, but then I got caught up benching. It's time to re-commit to the back work. That means starting every bench day with back - even if the bench workout suffers, it doesn't REALLY suffer. Performing worse in any one workout doesn't mean I'm not building strength. Also, I may want to start doing more back - heavy variations for deadlift as well - snatch deads come to mind, I used to use those a lot when I was stronger than I am now. Anyway, more back. Lets keep at it
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