Great Squat Workout

Today was a great squat workout. Didn't feel my absolute best today, but I was smart about how I lifted and I worked hard, and it ended up being one of my best workouts in a while.

Started working up to a heavy single. Skipped 95, and did 135 for 8 or so, then 185 for 5, 225 for 3. These all felt okay, but not great. Went to 275 and hit it for 2 singles, both of which felt alright - they weren't particularly easy or fast, but not very hard either. Jumped up to 315 with the belt, and hit it for a hard, but solid single. Then I went up to 325, rested and psyched up a lot, and hit that for a hard single. That was definitely a max for the day, but I was very happy with that, considering that it was kind of an off day. I'm going to try and keep hitting 325 whenever I feel up to it, and once I've gotten that for a few workouts in a row, there will be a day when I rip 315, and then that 335 will be mine.

After that, dropped back to 225 to work up in triples. I'm not sure why, but I ALWAYS have trouble with form and position when I drop back after a heavy single. The weight isn't that hard, but my reps just feel sloppy and off balance which makes the reps a lot harder. I hit 225 for 3, then 255 for 3, then 285 - the first rep was okay, the second was REALLY sloppy and slow, and the third was better but very hard. I knew that I had more in me though, and that that 285 was only hard because of sloppiness, so I went up to 295 and went for it. My reps were a lot better, and although it was hard I got it for 3, and it wasn't even as difficult as the set right before it. That's pretty cool - I've only ever worked up to 285 for a set of 3 after the heavy single. As a matter of fact, 295 is the heaviest triple I've ever done. So that's pretty fuckin cool.

Last, dropped back again and did some sets of 3 good mornings. Did 185 for 2 sets of 3, then 205, 225, 235, and finally 245. The 245 was hard, and I lost my balance a bit on the last rep, but overall I'm pretty happy with that. I've never done good mornings that heavy, and doing it after all the squatting is cool. Finished up with some core work and god out of there.

Overall, an awesome day. That 335 is still elusive, but I'm just gonna make 325 my bitch now that 315 is my bitch, and in the meantime my rep stuff (both 5/3/1 and the heavy 3's on this day) keeps getting stronger. Lets keep at it.

FUCK. Why can't this be real and I look like this?

Heavy bench and Arms day.

Today I benched up heavy again, because I wanted to feel out the slightly different setup I was playing with yesterday. I benched up to 185, and hit that for 4 reps without any dizziness. It was a hard 4, but that's not too bad considering how much I benched yesterday. It made me feel a little better and more optimistic about my benching future. Followed that up with some "behind the neck jm presses," which I still love and will be doing every arm day for eternity. Then I finished up with a ton of sets of 15 seated isolation curls with the 25's with 60 seconds rest. Nothing too special today, just basically felt out that new   bench position, then got a good pump, and that was that.

Side note: had the idea that maybe, on arms day, I should start with a heavy single bench, then after benching up to a max finish up my arms as usual. Might get me more comfortable under the heavy weights? And I've been liking squatting up to a max a lot, why not bench up to a max once a week too? just an idea, maybe i'll feel it out next week, see if I can recover and whatnot.

Heavy bench + Heavy 5 x 10

Today was an interesting day. Overall, it was pretty good - I had some troubles while benching, but I also had some insights and unexpected strength today, which was cool.

HAHAHAHA this guy....

Started out with 5/3/1 bench. The weights weren't really hard today, but I was having some serious trouble with dizziness under the bar - it's affected me before while benching (like last month when I got really dizzy under 185 and only hit it for 4 when I wanted 5), but today it was on EVERY set, including my lighter sets. I hit 135 for 5, then 160 for 6 without much trouble, but with serious dizziness. Then I loaded up 180 and went for it. Again, crazy dizzy under the bar. I still god the RX'd 5 reps, but missed on rep 6. And honestly, it's tough to tell whether I missed because of strength or just because I'm dizzy and unfocused under the weight. Either way, I still got the RX'd reps, AND luckily next month there is an overlap so 5 week will be 180 AGAIN, so I kind of have another crack at it. Even so, I felt pretty frustrated that i'm still doing alright, but I feel as though I could be doing better if it weren't for this problem.

HOWEVER, I had a bit of a potential breakthrough during my 5 x 10. Last week I did this at 125, so this week I decided to take the weight up to 135 and accept that I probably would only be able to get 2 or 3 sets of 10, and then have to accept less reps on the last few sets this week - but that I'd rather go heavy and have to take a few weeks to work on it than to only go up 5 lbs. When I set up for my first set, I did something a little different than my setup for the heavy weights: I wasn't "looser," my back was still as tight as I could get it and I still had plenty of leg drive. But I was arched a little less hard - I gave myself maybe an extra half-inch of looseness in my setup. And I banged out the 10 reps without much problem, and without dizziness. Keeping myself to 90 seconds rest, I was able to get through 4 full sets of 10 with 135, which was way better than I ever expected. On the 5th set, I only got 5 reps, but that was largely because I was crazy sweaty and was a dumb ass and didn't bring a proper shirt, So I was slipping all over the bench. But ANYWAYS, the way it felt, giving myself that extra little bit of "looseness" in my setup/arch was not enough to weaken my bench strength at all, but was JUST enough to make a huge difference in how dizzy I was under the bar. Who knows if it will make any difference under heavy weights - we will have to wait till friday and next tuesday to see - but hopefully this little tweak in my setup will help me to get rid of the dizziness and increase focus and tightness in my heavy reps, which will help me squeeze out that extra rep or two that I've had trouble with the past few weeks. We will see.

Arching hard works for this fucker... but maybe I need to cool it just a little bit. 

I was feeling pretty good about those reps at 135, so I got pretty psyched about my kroc rows. Hit the 110's for 30 reps apiece - still feel like I could be going harder/heavier on these, but this was an improvement over last week, and my back definitely felt it.

Next, did some lighter overhead pressing for a lot of reps - put 75 on the bar and pressed it for 12, then rested 60 seconds, did another set of 12 - 60 more seconds, 12, 60 more seconds, 9, then 60 seconds and a final set of 7. Nothing too special, just trying to get some volume in for my triceps and shoulders, tire them out even more.

Finished with some kipped pullups. I feel a lot better about these after doing some strict pullups on friday - I think the kips are having a lot of carryover, and are helping teach me to use the right muscles when pulling from a dead hang as well. Did 2 sets of 10 and then a set of 15 with the straps, which is an improvement over the 13's of the last few workouts. I'm gonna keep at these, keep pushing at least one set to a max, and then see where my strict pulls are at towards the end of the summer.

I used to love kipping pullups. Then I hated them. Now I re-love them, but only in a very specific context. See how we evolve as lifters? 

Overall, a pretty good day. I would have liked to have had a better time with that 180 - heavy bench for max reps still seems to be a weakness for me. However, I've got a new strategy that might help fix the issue, and every other part of the workout went really well. And whatever problems I may be having, my bench IS definitely getting stronger, which is the important part. Just gotta keep at it, keep experimenting, and it will (slowly but surely) get better.

5/3/1 Squats

Today was a very good day. It got off to a rough start; I had to get up early to do some work this morning, and was on my feet from 7:30 until 11:30. And on top of that, I forgot to have my coffee today. However, despite the rough morning, I felt fulllllll of power from my rest this weekend (I took sat. off and only did 4 sets of 200 m runs yesterday). By the time I got to the gym, I was SERIOUSLY ready to lift.

Warmups felt really good. My hips were a little tight from lost of sitting this weekend, but even so my reps felt beautiful. My work sets were: 205 for 5, 230 for 5, and then 260 for reps. The first two felt amazing, and even thoughI didn't want to get my hopes up I was ready to FUCK UP the 260. And I did. My biggest problem wasn't actually the weight, It was the bar fucking shifting around on my back. I'm not sure if I was just sweaty or the bar was bent or it was just a weird day, but I could not get that fucker to sit in one comfortable spot. I must have rolled and hopped that shit around like 6 times over the course of the set. And because Of that, I had a few shitty reps - I think around rep 5 I had one where I lost some tension from leaning back too far (like rep 5 at 280 last week), and even though I got it no problem I need to watch that. Also, rep 6 or 7 my right knee came in pretty far, which felt bad bad bad. Even so, I managed to get 12 reps, which is a 3 rep pr at that weight and pretty awesome considering that at 265 I only got 10 just a couple weeks ago.

After that were speed deads. I moved the weight up, fairly steeply - I think I'm going to do 225, 245 and 265, see how that feels. the 12 x 2 at 225 moved pretty fast, and pulling them off the ground feels like such a small range of motion after the 45 lb plate last cycle. But anyways, these felt good. I'm sure 265 will feel pretty heavy but that's okay, it's kind of the point. If it's really hard/slow, I'll just only bump the weight up 5 or 10 lbs after this next 3 week cycle. But I think my body will react well to these heavier deads as I wave the deficit height.

Finally, The 5 x 10 at 185 was really hard today, but I made it through - and that alone is a huge accomplishment. Its hard to believe that I'm doing this 5 x 10 with THAT kind of weight already - especially considering I started a full 50 lbs lighter. I was also careful to make every rep full range of motion today (last week I felt like I was banging them out a little too sloppy). Also, I need to try and be careful to force my knees out on every rep, and not get lazy just cause I'm tired. But without picking at the details too much, it's pretty fuckin awesome to be hitting that weight for 50 reps. Before I know it, I'll get that 205 x 5 x 10, and then I can start to knock the reps down and keep upping the weight. there is a LOT of heavy squatting in my future.

Ended with some situps, although they were pretty pathetic after that workout. I didn't have much gas left. Overall, awesome day. I'm really happy with everything, and pumped to bench tomorrow.

Great upper body workout

Today was a really good upper body day. I had to train in my home gym because Crossfit was closed, but It went really well. A great way to leave the gym for a few days as I rest and recover a little extra for mondays workout.

Started with bench. On tuesday, 195 gave me some trouble - I could only hit it for 2, when I was really hoping for 3 reps at the very least. So, I was looking forward to taking another crack at it this friday, and I was not disappointed. I benched it for 9 sets of 1, on the minute, with absolutely no problem. The first single shot up with no problem whatsoever, and even though it slowed down as the sets went on, I still felt like I had absolute control over the weight. It was awesome, one of the best bench sessions I've had in a while.

Next was pressing. I hit 115 for 5, then 130 for 3, and almost passed out haha. Don't know why, it was just in a bad place on my neck and I got crazy wobbly on the third rep. So I was a little nervous going for 145, but I ended up hitting it for 4 reps. That fourth rep was insanely slow, I'm not even sure how I got it, but either way that's pretty awesome - a PR at that weight, and considering my old press pr is only 150, 145 for 4 is pretty damn good. Also, rep 1 has been feeling better - I think the dead-stop work i've been doing after my big rep-out has been helping (speaking of which, I got 6 dead stop reps at both 130 and 115 afterwards)

One day, I WILL have a Klokov press

After such a good start to my workout, and considering I didn't have all my normal equipment, I decided to do things a little differently for the rest of my workout. I put 115 on the bar and benched it for 2 sets of 15, and then a set of 19. I focused on trying to make every rep as nice as I would a heavy single - I think I need to start focusing on this more in my 5 x 10's on tuesdays. I think I'm sacrificing control and range of motion to make sure I get through the reps, and if I rectify that I think it will help my bench a lot in the long run.

Finally, I ended with some strict pullups. Surprisingly, I was able to do 3 sets of 5 strict pullups. In the past, this would have been a VERY good day, and that was when I was regularly training strict pullups. It's good to know that my strict pullup strength is growing even though I am focusing mostly on kroc rows, kipped pullups, and pendelay rows. After the 3 x 5 I did a bunch of doubles and triples, then called it a day.

BACKKK BACK BAKKKKKKKKKKCCKKCKCKCKCKKC

Overall, awesome upper body day. Looking forward to some delicious cheat food and some rest, and then coming back hard next week.

Exhausting heavy day

Today I am very tired, though I had a very good workout.

Started with heavy squats. Felt pretty good today. Worked up to 2275 without the belt. It flew up, so then I put on the belt and hit 315 without any problem really. Again, it was easy enough that I knew I would get 325, so I went to 335 and again, I just barely missed it. This one was really close - I really thought I was going to get it, then it just started moving down. After taking this weekend a little easier, maybe it will happen in the next week or two. I don't think I'm going to attempt it again though until I CRUSH 315. These last few attempts I've hit 315 without much problem, but I've had to work pretty hard. I think I'll wait until I really nail that 315 to jump to 335 again, and if 315 just feels good, not amazing, I'll go to 325 and just hit that for a heavy rep. Probably. We will see.

Next, I dropped back to 225 and started working up in threes; hit 225, 255 and then 285 for three, which made me happy because it was better than last week. I wanted to do more, but I knew i probably didn;t have 295 in me, so I went for 285 for another triple. I got it for 2 and just barely missed the third rep - I think more from sloppy form, although strengthwise it was really hard too. Either way, I wasn't too upset, because I already hit it for a triple.

Next, did some front squats. Hit 185 for 3 singles, then 215 for 2 singles. Then, put on the belt and hit 225, 235, and then missed 245 twice. Then, did a quick set of situps and called the day.

Overall, a good day. A lot of misses, which is very very exhausting. But, I hit 315 with no problem again and was even closer to a new pr, I got the 285 for three that I haven't quite been able to get these past couple weeks, and I tied my front squat pr (though I did it with a belt, that's still pretty good considering I already squatted to a 1 and 3 rep max). So a good day. I think I NEED to take saturday off though. This little break is coming at a good time.

JM behind the neck extension shit

Today was arms day. I didn't want to bench this day, because I feel like my body needs some rest and so I wanted to avoid the compound movements. So instead I did a lot of bicep work and even invented(?) some strange movement.

Started with a slow warmup, then did some seated isolation curls. Did 15's for a warmup, then 5 sets of 12  reps with the 30's. These were hard, but felt pretty good. After the 5th set I did a quick set to failure with the 15's as well, and had a nice pump.

Then, I did this weird tricep.... thing. Basically, I pressed the bar to behind my neck, but rather than keeping my elbows under the bar, I jacked them forward like in a JM press, so it was wort of equal parts press and extension. It was a strange movement, but it KILLED my triceps. I think I'm going to start doing these regularly. Did three sets with 65 lbs and then a finisher set with just the bar.

Finally, ended with a superset of band curls and tricep pushdowns. Super pump.

It was a nice day. I think I'm going to avoid bench a little more on this day.... I think it will be less taxing on my other days, while at the same time letting me hit arms harder. I really want my arms to grow more, now that I'm leaning out I can see that they are a real weakness in my physique.

Wow, this guy is fucking creepy

Anger Bench

Today was a kind of shitty, mostly angry upper body day. That is all. Here's how I felt.

Started with bench. I tried to warm up faster than usual, which might be part of the reason for my kind of bad day. Who knows. Anyways, hit the bar, then 95, then 135. Then did 155 for 5, 175 for 3, and set up 195. I hit it for two, but then completely missed the third rep - which didn't really make sense. The second rep was tough, but I should have at LEAST just barely missed three, if not gotten it. I'm not sure if I just lost focus, or what happened, but the bottom line is I only got it for 2 with a BAD miss on the third, and that made me really angry. So I tried my best to just massacre the rest of my workout.

5 x 10 bench at 125 went well. No real problems on the first four sets, but got 15 on the 5th set, just barely missing lockout on rep 16. I think I will take the weight up on these next week, although I don't know whether to go to 130, or to just go up to 135 and accept that I might not be able to finish all 5 sets of 10 the first month. We will see how I feel next Tues.

Next was Kroc rows. These were tough this week. I was feeling a little disheartened and battling that with rage, and Kroc rows don't work so well unless you are completely focused and going all out. I rowed the 110 for 25 reps each arm, but I feel like I could have maybe gone a little harder. Mentally I just wasn't all there.

Next was overhead press. I went a little heavy on this this tuesday. First set I did was at 125, and I hit that for 6 good reps - I got a 7th, but I used some leg drive on it. Then, I hit 5 at 115, and then 8 or 9 at 95. My triceps were pretty done.

Finished with pullups. Again, these were really mentally tough - it was the end of a bad workout, I was tired and angry and just didn't want to do them, AND they felt really hard. But I did 2 sets of 10, and then a third set to failure (13). The straps have been really helping keep elbow pain to a minimum.

Pullups. Most effective when done on a beach. 

Anyways, not the best day. But, later when I was home (about 3 hours after training), I started benching again and worked up to 195 for another double. Which made me feel a little less angry. But that's about it for today. Hopefully benching will go a little better next tuesday.

The Power

This is me today

I had the most powerful day today. Started out with 5/3/1 squats. I wasn't feeling great today, but I just kept at it and was moving the warmups nice. Hit 225 for 5, then 255 for 3, then went up to 280 for reps. This was far easier than I expected - I had my heart set on 5 reps, with 8 being my unlikely but just possible goal. I hit the first 4 easy. 5 was a sloppy rep where I lost my balance back, but even though it was slow and hard, I still finished, and had zero doubt in my mind that I had way more left. 6 7 and 8 were good enough that I know I had a 9th rep in me, but I called it anyways. Better to leave some in the tank. 

Next, speed deads at 245 off the high deficit were pretty good. They moved nicely, although the high deficit definitely made them challenging. Looking forward to moving the weight up and getting rid of the deficit next cycle. 

Next, 5 x 10 at 175 was cake. Not a single rep in the first four sets were really hard at all. Set 5, I got 20 reps without even really pushing. It wasn't exactly easy, but I could have definitely gotten 3, 4, 5 reps more without a doubt. 

Then, I did 3 sets of 30 ghd situps. After the ab work, I hung around for a while and started feeling pretty good - and when I feel good, I want to squat. So on a whim, I decided to - you guessed it - squat up to a max. Hit 135 for 5, 225 for 3, then 275 went up with no problem, so I went straight to 315 and crushed it. That's the 5th time in a row I've attempted and gotten that weight - and this was after more than 75 other squats. I'm incredibly happy with that. Now, I can NOT miss 315 ever again hahaha. 

SO, amazing day. Crushed my 1 weight, destroyed my 5 x 10, and then hit a heavy single over 95% without much problem at all. I don't know if it's the running or just the insane amount of heavy work I'm doing hahaha but my squats are still growing growing growing. Very exciting. 

Running

Couldn't get to a track to run 400's today, so I did something a little different. It was good though

Started out with a light jog and then a full warmup. Then, I picked some hilly/grassy trail to run that is about a half mile, and ran it at a comfortable pace. It was definitely a slower and more controlled run than a 400, but the last 100 meters or so were a tough uphill, and I sprinted that, so I still ended up getting an ass/hamstring pump out of it and was breathing really heavy. HOWEVER, unlike last week I recovered much quicker from this run.

It wasn't exactly what I planned to do, but I think I'm gonna just keep running on sundays; nothing too much, just enough to facilitate recovery, to get comfortable with running again, and to slowly up my cardio. Just gonna keep the times/distances to less than ten minutes/one mile in total, and keep at it. We will see how it goes.

Heavy Squats + Lockouts

Yesterday was very busy, so I didn't have time to write up my workout. However, the workout went pretty well.

Started with heavy singles for squat. I decided to work up quickly. Instead of warming up the way I normally do (bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275, 295, 315), I jumped to heavier weights much faster, skipping some of the middle weights. I hit the bar, then 135, then 225, then 275. After 275, I jumped straight to 315 and hit it (the fourth heavy squat day in a row that I've hit 315). It went up easy enough that I went for 325 and sorttttt of got it - The sticking point was really hard, and I was really fighting to lock the weight out. My spotter had to help, but so little that I had to ask if he even did anything, because I couldn't tell. Even without "making" that rep, however, I'm pretty happy about getting 315 again, and this time making the jump straight from 275. Not too bad.

HOWEVER, that sticking point I have is really bad, and Is the reason why I've just barely missed 335 twice in the past week. So, after the heavy single, I dropped my weight back and did some squat lockouts from where I normally feel myself get stuck. These were great to do - only problem was that for whatever reason, my elbows and even my shoulders started aching REALLY badly from pulling under the weight in that bottom position. It sucked terribly. However, I really feel like these lockouts will help me get those squats that I've just barely been missing, and I'm going to try and do them every saturday that I workout for a while. But ANYWAY, I did 135 for a few sets to try and get the feel for the movement, then 185 for 5, 225 for 5, 255 for 2 sets of 5, and then 275 for 5. At first, I had trouble finding my balance and doing these right, but by the time I got to the 275, I was doing them very well and they were REALLY hard. That last rep at 275 was insanely slow and hard. BUT I locked it out. Which again, is gonna be the difference between making and missing 335.

Anyways, good day. I'm feeling a little beat up this morning, but I might still run. We will see.

I JUST WANNA GET THAT 335 ALREADY!

Getting Heavy

Today was a good day. I realized today how freakin heavy all of my upper body lifts are getting on the regular - 140 and 185 on press and bench used to be pretty damn near all I could do, and now those weights are becoming pretty standard. It's exciting and scary and very hard.

Well this picture is fucking great

Started with Chaos and Pain bench at 185 - 9 sets of 2 on the minute. I fucked this up, which is really nice considering 1) it was really hard last week and 2) 185 was a little hard/sloppy on tues. But I got through all my sets without too much trouble , and even considered (after hitting my 9th set) going up to 205 for a heavy single, but then I thought about that article I read, and realized doing that would be more of a "testing" rather than "training" the lift, and I don't have anything to prove to myself, so I skipped it.

Next was overhead press. Worked up to 140, which I hit for a solid 4. I went for a 5th, but It wasn't really there. 4 is nice though - last time I repped this weight, I got 4 as well, but that was after 9 singles at 185 - today was after 9 DOUBLES at 185. So definitely stronger. After the heavy 4, I dropped back to 125 and 110 again, hitting them for max paused reps. I think this IS helping my strength right off my chest - but I need more time to tell.

Next was pendelay rows at 185 (20 lbs heavier than last week). Did 12, 10, and 12(?) reps on these. Form was pretty rough hahaha, but I think it's mostly because the weight is pretty heavy. Hopefully next week I'll be able to do them a LITTLE stricter, although they still feel like they're blowing my back up with shitty form.

Again, nothing to do with my workout.... but this is just an awesome picture

Next was dumbell benching, which felt not great today hahaha. Hit 12 at 60, then 9 at 50 and 8(?) at 40. Got a bit of a chest pump, though, and that's all that really matters with these.

Finished off with kroc rows. Used the 110 again, and got 25 reps. I wish I did more though. Doing these tired is tricky - it's hard to take it to failure because you're wiped already, but they just don't feel as good if you don't go all out. Next week I'm gonna try and push it a little more, force myself to push to the limit no matter how tired I am. I think that will feel a lot better.

Anyways, very good day. Upper body strength grows. 

Exhausted

Today I am completely exhausted. But I had a pretty good day at the gym, which is the reason why I'm exhausted. So that's not so bad.

Started with heavy squats. I felt really good today, and knew from the beginning that I was going to squat right up to a near max, if not a new PR. Hit 275 for a double, the second rep of which was a little tough, so I went to 295 instead of 315. Nailed 295, then 315 went up pretty well too - well enough that I knew I would get 325. So, instead of trying for 325, I decided to jump the weight up to 335. I missed it, but it was a much better miss than last saturday. I was really close to getting it, but then needed help right at the very end of the lift. Gonna start doing some squat lockouts on saturdays after my heavy single to try and work through those high sticking points I have.

How 335 felt. SO FUCKING CLOSE.

Next, I dropped the weight back to 225 and started working up to a heavy three. I don't know why, but these always feel incredibly hard and bad after a heavy single. I hit 225, 245, 265, and then went for 285 - the second rep was crazy slow, so I just called it then instead of going for a third. I would have liked to get the triple, but 2 at 285 is better than barely getting the three at 265 last week.

Finally, dropped the weight back to 185 and did 3 sets of 10 good mornings. After the hard day squatting I felt pretty beat, and these were really hard, but I was happy to get through them. That's a lot of reps, and pretty heavy. Then, I finished up with 3 sets of 20 ghd situps.

Overall, It wasn't a bad day, though a little frustrating because I both missed the 335 and couldn't finish the triple at 285. Gotta remember though that this kind of hard work is really going to help me grow. That 335 is going to come very soon. But for now, I need to fucking eat and sleep a lot. I'm exhausted.

Arms

Today was a cool day. Went in, decided to do some close grip benching - did a drop set with 15 lb plates, so I hit 165 for 5 (I think that's a 2 rep pr), then 135 for 5, 105 for 10 and 75 for 20. After that, did some band pushdowns to finish off my triceps. Then, moved on to band curls for my biceps. did 2 hard sets, then a third "drop set" to get a serious pump. Then, did one set to failure of precher curls with the 15 lb dumbells to finish them off and keep my elbows healthy. After that, my friend Jerome and I did a short workout with battling ropes, trying to move through three sets of 20 reps as fast as we could with different types of movements. It was very fun, and a good arms day.

I'm pretty tired and sore today, but I'm hoping to fuck shit up tomorrow, I miss my heavy squats. Lets get ready to lift cities.

Hate

Today was a pretty good gym day, with some small setbacks. Overall, however, it was a very fun and powerful day.

Started with 5/3/1 benching. All my sets leading up to 185 felt really great, including 145 and 165 x 3. However, when I got under 185, thinking I would be able to hit it for an easy 5, maybe 6, I had a tough time. My setup was off, and cut off some bloodflow to my brain I think, because those first three reps were really fuzzy and difficult. After that, I tightened and focused up, but I remember thinking to myself "well, if you miss any of these next reps try not to worry about it, because you're a little fucked." I got rep 4, but missed rep 5. Honestly, I can't be too mad about it because I really think it was just a rough set, rather than a strength issue, but still it kinda sucks that my most important set of the day was also my worst set of the day.

Worked to make up for it with the rest of my workout however. 5 x 10 at 125 was much better than last week: my 5th set I got 13 reps, as compared to 8 last week. Next up, I FUCKED kroc rows up. I did them with a little worse form than usual, but I hit that 110 dumbbell for 30 reps each side, and my back was EXPLODING. Next was overhead press: I did 14 reps at 95, then 10 at 85 and 8 at 75. Doing them as a drop set was SO hard, and it fucked my shoulders AND my upper chest up. Finally, ended with kipped pullups, using the straps. The straps definitely reduced the elbow pain, they barely bothered me at all, and I did more volume than last week: 3 sets of ten and then a fourth set of 13 to finish my back off.

I don't think this is real. But I pray it is. 

So overall, I had a great workout - it's just sad that the set that I want to be the best turned out to be my worst.  But it's okay, I still tied my pr at that weight (4). And hopefully, I'll fuck 185 up with Chaos and Pain friday and then fuck 195 up tuesday.

Great Article

A few weeks/months ago I was having a hard time with accepting that I wasn't getting PR's every workout. I kept working myself right up to my limit, and often beyond my limit, and then being really angry and upset when I would fail reps, not be able to lift as much as I wanted, etc etc. Lately, I've been doing a lot better with this. And Elite FTS just posted a great article that talks about similar difficulties. It really helps reinforce what I've learned from changing the way I approach every training session.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/kecks-column-strength-are-you-building-it-or-just-testing-it-needs-formatted/

Enjoy

Perfect Insanity

Today, I had a great day in the gym. I fucked shit up. This is really fuckin awesome, because I wasn't sure if the running yesterday was going to hurt my performance today. However, even with the running AND a less than ideal night's sleep last night, I fucked the workout up, which shows me that I should be able to keep in the 400's without hurting my strength gains.

How I felt today

Started today with 5/3/1 squats. Warmups felt nice - I focused on making all the reps very controlled, without making them too slow, and they felt awesome. Worked up to my work sets - 205 x 3, then 235 x 3. Focused up, and got under 265, and ended up hitting it for 10 solid reps. They were hard, but I was really happy with the set, especially the last rep because I had to grind it out. Often when I squat heavy, I hit a sticking point and if I slow down, I can't grind through the rep, I just fail. However, I worked really hard to get that 10th rep, pushed through a near dead stop, and that makes me happy. Last time I did this weight I only got 9 reps, and that was with a belt. 

Next I did speed deads at 230 off a high deficit. I'm definitely more comfortable off the higher deficit, they moved nicely. 245 will probably be tough, but that's the idea - then, next cycle the weights go up, but I get rid of the deficit and pull from the floor. 

5 x 10 was where I really had a great day. Despite some trouble finding a comfortable spot for the bar, i ripped through the sets with 90 seconds rest, and managed to get 16 reps on the final set. It was hard but very solid, and I'm really glad I'm fucking owning 175 this week. 

Ended with 50 situps on the ghd with a hold every ten reps, just to finish fatiguing my core. Overall, it was an awesome day and workout. Can't WAIT for tomorrow, and the return of JEROME to our gym. Gonna FUCK SHIT UP!

400's

Today is sunday, and as such is normally a rest day. However, lately I've been playing around with adding some light, "weightlifter cardio" on this day. Today, however, I did something a little more extreme - I ran a few 400 meter intervals. 

This random dude has a random video about 400's... Don't know if what he's saying is worth listening to haha but he does look pretty jacked and ripped up. 

My best 400 time ever is 1:06. That's when I was in good running shape - my mile time was sub- 6 mins, and i weighed about 170 instead of the 195 that I weigh now. Today, as I went to the track to do my light cardio, I started wondering how my time for a 400 would be - I haven't legitimately run one in over a year and a half (I have barely run at all in that time), so I figured I might give it a shot. I started with an easier 400 to start, running with moderate intensity. My form is much better now, and running feels very smooth, but even at moderate intensity that 400 was tough. I would say my pace was about 1:30-1:40, and I was feeling it by the end. I rested, warmed up, then ran a second 400, this time for time. I think I may have paced myself a little too much in the beginning, but overall it was a pretty all-out effort, and I came in at 1:14 - 8 seconds behind my best time ever. Considering I haven't really run in well over a year, I was PRETTY happy with that time. It goes to show how important strength training is. 

What I was NOT happy with was how I felt after the 400. Now, granted, 400 meters is one of the most horrible distances to run - but I wasn't recovered for at LEAST 20 minutes after that run. My heart rate was up, all my things hurt, and I was exhausted. Only sitting, completely motionless, helped. 

SO, I think that for these next 12 weeks, I'm going to dedicate sundays to getting my 400 time down to where it used to be (I want to hit 1:05 before summers up, if I can). I don't want to dedicate to much time or effort to it, because I don't want to hurt my strength training at all - in fact, if at any point I feel like this is hurting my performance on monday, I will cease and desist immediately. However, this is the tentative plan: run 2 400 meter sprints every sunday - one on a set pace (I'll probably start at 1:30, then once that feels solid move it down by 3-5 seconds a time), and then the second as a max effort, all-out run. I think limiting my workout to 2 400's only should be easy to recover from and won't hinder my strength gains at all, but should still go a LONG way towards improving both my 400 time AND my work capacity/ability to recover. Without ANY running, I still had a solid time, so just adding a few intervals in once a week should do wonders. Plus, I'll treat these workouts as I treat arm day and strongman day - absolutely worth doing when I have time/feel okay, but my more serious workouts will ALWAYS take precedence.  That way, I can work towards this goal without negatively impacting any of my strength goals. Which are most important. 

Running. Yeah. 

Saturday Stronglifts

Today is saturday, and as such is a heavy/strongman day. I wanted to play around with log pressing today, but I actually couldn't find the log. So instead, I just squatted heavy and called it a day. And what a day it was.

Decided to make sure my form was perfect today, so I took every single squat rep slow and controlled. Hit 275 for 2 singles, then a third with the belt. Then I hit 295, then 315. A friend commented that maybe I was descending a little fast, but that he thought I could get more. So I went to 325, controlled it, and got that rep - hard but smooth. I should have called it then, but I decided to try for 335. It wasn't a bad miss, but I probably should have just been happy wiht 325. 335 will go up very soon though.

Overall, it was an awesome workout. I am psyched about getting 315 thurs then 325 today. definitely stronger.

Slowest. Rep. Ever.

Today was a good day, although it included the slowest rep I have ever done. And it was a bench rep, which is just hilarious.

Today opened with Chaos and Pain benching: 175 for 9 sets of 3, on the minute. Problem is, I'm still not fully adjusted to the different equipment, And doing the sets that fast made for some sloppy setups. Point it, on the second set I set up weird and was a little sloppy during the reps, which both tired out my muscles and put me behind the clock. I spent the next 4 sets or so trying to A) make up the time that I was behind, and B), trying to figure out my setup a little better. By about set 7 I did both of these things: I was back in synch with the clock and my setup was better. Problem was, I was just about wiped and I had two sets left. Set 8, I hit reps one and two okay, but rep three was literally the SLOWEST rep I have ever done. I thought I was going to fail about 3 seconds in, but didn't give up and kept pushing, and got it probably around second 7. I was really proud - normally, I find it really hard to push through really hard bench reps, and I'm psyched I didn't let myself fail that. HOWEVER, I knew that set nine was going to be a debacle if I tried to go on the minute. So, I rested probably an extra 60-90 seconds, and hit it for my final set of three, which was significantly easier than set 8. It's too bad I couldn't do all9 on the minute, but overall I'm really happy with not failing a single rep, and I think now that I've figured out the setup/equipment a little better, next week will be easier.

Next up was 5 week for overhead press... I forgot to check what my actual weights were haha so I guessed, and did 105, 120, and 135 for 5. The 135 was tough for 5 after the Chaos and Pain, but I got it, and that's what's important. After that, I dropped back to 120 and did a bunch of reps from a dead stop off my shoulders, and then did the same with 105.

Next up were pendelay rows with 165. These were no problem - normally I've been getting about 12 reps in the first set, but I got 16 today without much strain. Think i'm gonna take the weight up to 185 on these for next week.

Next was dumbell benching. Hit the 60's for 12 or so, then again for 5, then hit the 50's for about 6 or 7. That first set was great, but the other two my triceps were giving out. Tried to hit the 30's to get a chest pump, but it didn't really work hahaha.

Finally, Kroc rows with the 110. Hit 18 reps each arm, then did another set of 10. I didn't like goign quite that heavy today, when I've already rowed. I think I might save the 110 for tuesdays only, and try using the 90 dumbbell on friday and see if the higher reps feel a little better.

Overall, it was a solid day. Looking SO forward to my cheat tonight and tomorrow, which will be starting within the next few hours. And pumped to squat heavy and play with strongman stuff tomorrow.

Heavy Heavy Squats

Today was a very heavy squat day. I felt kind of shitty for whatever reason today. My form was a little off, and I had a few sloppy reps that made me really mad. And, I just felt achey and tired all around, especially toward the halfway point of the workout. But overall it was actually a pretty solid training session, a lot better than I'm giving myself credit for.

This is how I feel right now

Started with a heavy single squat. Worked up through 225 for 3, felt pretty good but not very explosive. Did a double at 275 - first rep was good, but then the second rep I dropped like a fucking log into the bottom, with absolutely no tension whatsoever, and had to really fight to get the weight back up. I've been having success with sinking a little deeper into my squats lately, and using my stretch reflex to my advantage, but that only works if you don't fucking lose all tension when dropping into the hole. It was only one or two reps that I did this on, but it makes me angry that every single rep isn't perfect. I need to really focus on squatting quickly and deep, while still completely controlling the motion and never losing tension. ANYWAYS, hit 295 and then 315 for a solid single, and even though part of me wanted more I figured it would be better to call it there than to push myself on a day when I was feeling off and get really angry about missing a rep.

Next, I dropped back down to 225 to work up in triples, and this is where I started feeling really bad. The weight felt heavy, my form felt sloppy, and everything was moving really slow. I hit 225, 245, and then 265 for triples. I really wanted to get to 285 again, or at least do 275, but that 265 was so shitty and slow that I knew it wasn't worth going for any more weight. Its just a shame I didn't feel better, I really had fun two thursdays ago doing this workout, and I was hoping today would be like that.

The saving grace at the end of my workout was front squatting. Don't know why, but I felt like going heavy was the thing to do, so I did. I put on the belt, and hit 185 for a single, then 205 and 225, both pretty easy. 235 is my max, so I jumped to 245. I missed the rep, but it wasn't a bad miss, and honestly I would have gotten it without the mental and physical exhaustion. I hate to say it, but I told myself I would probably miss that rep even as I was stepping under it. But 235 would have definitely gone up, and considering how tough of a day it was, the miss didn't really bother me any. I was just happy with how smooth 205 and 225 were.

So, in the end I feel pretty shitty about todays workout, without any good reason: I squatted to a max back AND max front squat, on a day where I didn't feel great, and managed to get within 10 lbs of my pr on both. and even that heavy three wasn't too bad. So not a bad day. I just need to focus on making all my reps perfect next time I squat to try and dissipate the hate coursing through my veins right now.

Arms

Today, I am making a late night snack of wings as I write this. Yum. Been starving the last few days, I can't wait for my cheat. 

Today was arms day. Went into the gym, warmed up, and then did some close grip benching. Without much rest, hit 135 for 12, then 10, then 7 (it was supposed to be 8 but I couldn't quite hit that final rep. After that, I did a few sets of triceps pushdowns with a band, And then a few sets of bicep curls with the band (standing on it with my feet relatively wide). I really liked the band stuff for hitting my arms, It felt awesome and I got a really solid pump. Ended with some lighter preacher curls, to help rehab my elbows. 

Very excited for tomorrow. Can't wait to squat heavy again. 

Bench DAY

Today was a good benchy bench day. Felt really good due to good sleep and great breakfast and delicious caffeine, and went in ready to fuck shit up.

The equipment took a little getting used to - I have to widen my feet a little, because the bench is wider than I'm used to - but after a short while, not only was I used to it but I LOVE it way more than the equipment at school. Warmed up, then hit 135 and 155 for sets of 5 - not crazy easy but felt solid. Then, put 175 on the bar, and messed it up, got 7 reps. Obvious progress - a few months ago, I could only get 4 reps. Then 6, last time I did this weight, and 7 this cycle. Considering I haven't really benched in over a week, I was really happy with this. 

Funnily enough, my 5 x 10 didn't actually go that well. It wasn't too bad the first two sets, but the third and fourth were tough and on the fifth set, I almost failed on the 8th rep - had to rack it, rest 20 seconds then hit the final two. Not sure exactly why this was hard, I was only doing them at 125 which wasn't much trouble the last few weeks I did it. My guess is either I was a little tired out from the 175 x 7, OR, I haven't benched or even pushed with that kind of volume in two weeks, and so even though my strength wasn't hurt much my endurance strength went first. Either way, I'm not too worried about it, hopefully next week it will feel a little better. 

Kroc rows were awesome. Out of NOWHERE, there magically appeared a 110 dumbell, and I rowed it for 20 reps each arm. It was TOUGH, but felt really great. I'm just happy I can do them that heavy. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will be owning that dumbell. 

One day... I'll row with THAT dumbell

Next up was overhead pressing. I put 95 lbs on the bar and hit it for 3 max sets - 13, 8 and 6 reps, with 90 seconds rest. Got a nice shoulder and tricep pump. 

Finally, did 3 sets of 10 kipped pullups. These feel good when I do them at the end of the workout, because my lats are already tired, so I REALLY feel it in my back, rather than my grip first. Problem is, had a little bit of elbow pain later in the day. Not terrible, but it's a bad sign, and I REALLY don't want to set them off again. So, I think I'm going to restrict pullups to one day a week, and on Fridays I'm going to end my workout with Kroc rows instead. Hopefully, this will allow me to continue doing vertical pulls without hurting my elbows. I also might play around with doing the pullups on rings or with straps, to see if that lessens the torque and pain in my bows. 

Overall, it was a pretty great workout. Feeling fresh, feeling strong, and finally starting to lean out even more. Tomorrow is arms day, which should be fun (I think all the crossfitters will judge me though), and then thursday is MAX SQUAT! Can't wait. 

Squatting, Changes & Whatnot

Today, squatting was awesome. I didn't sleep great last night, and I had a shitty breakfast this morning. But I pumped myself full of coffee and headed to the gym. Warm up went nice, though it was pretty short... my first weight for squats was 190, so I basically hit 95 for 5, 135 for 5, then got to work. I felt pretty good - my form was a little choppy from taking time off, but that was counteracted by my intense elation from a combination of the return to training and the black coffee pulsing through my veins. Hit 190, then 225 for 5, then put 250 on the bar.

Pretend 250 looks like this. 

A few reps were a little sloppy (again, rusty form), but even so I managed to get 12 reps. I'm pretty happy with that - first of all, it was my first day back, and secondly last month I only got 10 at 255, so 12 at 250 is pretty nice. It was a hard 12, but still felt great.

Next up were speed deads, which I did from a deep deficit - off a 45 lb bumper, so about 4 inches (I'll talk about why at the end). These moved nicely, it was a little weird to feel out the deeper deficit, but I got the hang of it pretty quick, and I think they will feel even better next week.

Then, did 5 x 10 squats, this time at 175. I can hardly believe they are this heavy now, but they are still moving really nicely. My pain tolerance is a little low cause of the rest, but even so the pain wasn't TERRIBLE, and I managed 12 reps on the final set. I need to keep pushing these, however, because they are gonna get exponentially harder at 185 and 195. The goal is to make it to 205 for a 5 x 10 at the end of the summer. It would be incredible if I could manage that. If I am able to continue to progress to that point, then I will probably switch it to a 5 x 8, in order to keep the volume very high while still pushing the weight up.

PLATZ

Finally, did some sets of ghd situps with weight. Nothing special. I'm gonna keep working on ways to work my core at Crossfit, I'm sad my cable crunches are gone for a few months.

SO, amazing first day back. really happy with my performance today, and looking forward to many many workouts to come.

SLIGHT TWEAKS TO STUFF - firstly, I decided I'm not going to weigh myself until the end of these  4 cycles. I'm going to instead focus on appearance and performance - If I look good and my numbers are going up, then that's enough for now. I'll try and make some serious strength gains while improving my leanness and size, see how I feel about both at the end of this cycle, and THEN weigh myself and get an idea of where I want to go from there. Secondly, I'm going to cut out dumbell shoulder presses on tuesdays, and instead just do regular barbell overhead pressing, with light weight for sets to failure. Just cause I want to and I think it might be more useful to me, and Crossfit doesn't have a great set of dumbells. Thirdly, I'm going to wave the deficits for my speed deads - the first three weeks will be from the floor, the second three weeks from a 25 lb bumper (about 2.5 inches) and the third three weeks, from a 45 (about 4 inches). I think that this will help even out my deadlift progress over the three cycles, rather than having the first cycle be too hard, me make a bunch of progress in the second, and then the third be too easy.

So that's all for this day. I'm excited AND nervous for tomorrow - I haven't benched in a while, and I have to adjust to different equipment. But hopefully I'll still fuck shit up like I did today.

I LOVE SQUATTING.