SQUATS

Had a great fucking day in the gym today. First of all, it's my favorite day of the week - max effort squats. Second of all, my morning class was cancelled, so I was able to get up, have a delicious omletty - bacon breakfast, a big - ass coffee, and head straight to the gym.

Warmups went well, I did sets of 5 up to 165, then did work sets

185 for 3
215 for 3
240 for 11

I hit that rep max with no belt too, which is awesome. Got little bit soft in the middle reps, though - I hit the first three or four solid, then had my mind set on 10, so reps 5 - 8 or so were a little bit sloppy, my chest was dropping and the bar slid a little too low on my back. But even so, 11 reps well below parallel with 240 would have been unthinkable a month ago. Next week is 250, with the belt, for max reps. I just have to take my time a little bit, not rush through those middle reps, and make every single one perfect. Can't wait.

Anyways, after the set of 11 at 240, I had speed deads, and even though I felt like a piece of shit after that heavy set, I hit them pretty hard and fast. Then, I had 5 x 10 squats @ 145. I wanted to cry thinking about them, but they were pretty easy - I do all the sets with 90 seconds rest, and even so I was fine. So by the time I got to the 5th set, even though I though I was seeing Jesus' eyes, and I wanted to curl up into a fetal position, I put on the belt and banged out a relatively easy 18. A very hard day, but a very good day.

This is definitely how I felt today. Only less old. And my abs aren't that ridiculous yet. 

Also, because I didn't have to go to my morning class, I got to work out with some friends that I don't always get to lift with. One squatted 375 for a heavy single (he max front squatted 345 just about 12 hours before), at 165 lbs weight, and the other benched 345 for a heavy single, and then 320 for a set of 5.

It's great to train with strong people.