Strange day

Had a bit of a strange squat day. Felt pretty strong, but something was a little off today, so I didn't go too hard. Still, not a bad training session.

Completely irrelevant and absurd

Warmed up, then hit the bar, 135, 185, and 225. Felt pretty strong on all of these. Hit 275 for 3 and felt pretty good. Went to 305 and hit it solidly, then 315 for a very sloppy rep  i lost my balance, and one side rose significantly faster than the other. Very weird. I decided to take that weight again, and got it better on the next single, so then I moved up. 325 was even weirder though... I squatted it down to just about rock bottom, and for about one full second I was completely stuck there, at a point where I NEVER get stuck. It was totally bizarre, and I thought for sure it was a lost rep - and then all of a sudden I just pushed through, and was able to lock it out. Weird. But Not bad. I decided to call it there, before more weird shit happened and I hurt myself or something. But overall, not a bad day.

Hard benching

Today was a very solid but very hard training session. Normally, Chaos and Pain benching feel great, but today it was HARD. Still, I worked my ass off and did well.

This back was on T Nation the other day... holy shit. I want it. 

Warmed up, then hit my first set of 195 x 2. It wasn't easy but wasn't too hard, and I tried to hit the second set pretty quickly - and THAT was hard. I rested a bit, hit the third set, and t that point I was starting to worry that I might not have all 9 sets in me that day. BUT, that doesn't really matter - so I focused up, rested as needed, and just kept hitting the weight until I got to 9 sets. I tried to only rest as much as needed, and not waste time, but I definitely erred on the side of caution today. Still, I'm just happy I made it through all 9 sets. That is a lot of weight moved... assuming my max is 210, that is 18 reps at 92%.

Next was 5/3/1 pressing. Hit 100 for 3, then 115, then 130 for 8, which is pretty cool. Then dropped back down, hitting 115 for 10 paused reps (also very cool), and 100 for who knows how many paused reps.

Next up, bent over rows. Used 135 today, for 3 sets of 12. These feel pretty good and I get a little pump from them, but I feel like these could be harder. Maybe I'll switch it up next week.

Next, did the same pushup-wod type thing I did last week - 10 pushups every 30 seconds for max rounds (the goal being to get 10). I went a little wider this week, closer to my bench grip, but I also was a litttttleee shady on the depth - I like my chest to touch every rep, and it didn't today (although it was close). Still, I made it through a whole extra round, getting 7 sets instead of 6, and even did 4 reps at round 8. Next week, I'll try and hit the floor every rep and see if I might be able to get as far, or even push through round 8.

Finally, wanted to do some pulling to finish the workout, so I just grabbed the 135 again and rowed it for one big set, hitting 30 reps with some body language and an ever rising back angle haha. Still, gets the job done.

Nothing better than back

Overall, A nice day. Looking forward to my cheat tonight/tomorrow. And waiting in fearful anticipation for next week. Bring it on.

Powerful Legs

Today was a very strong day. Took a little bit of a different approach to my heavy squats today and it worked out really well.

Lean strongmen have the best fucking physiques. I want to look like this so bad. 

Started with heavy squats. Hit the bar for a few, then 135, 185, 225, then 275 for a double and then a single. then, instead of jumping straight to 315, I went to 305, which is 90% - my thinking is basically that 315 is too heavy for me to gauge how I'm feeling for the day. So I hit 305, felt good, went to 315, felt good, went to 325 which was hard but solid, and put on 335. It was one of the slowest reps I have ever done, but I fought through and got it, which is awesome.

The king of lean strongmen

Next, I dropped back to 135 to try and get back in the groove of squatting without the belt. My form felt really nice today though, and after hitting it for 5 I went to 225 for 3, then 245, 265, 285, and finally 305 for 3. First time I've ever gotten 305 for a triple, and considering it was after that INSANE rep at 335 and a bunch of other triples, that's pretty awesome. It seems that working up a little more steadily works for me. And as I said, form just felt on today.

Next, did sets of 10 good mornings. started with 135, then did 165, 185, 205, and finally 215. It was hard, and I was completely exhausted by the end, but 215 for 10 is fucking HEAVY.

Finally, I ended with 3 sets of 12 hanging leg raises.

So, a really strong strong day today. Hit my squat pr, broke my 3rm, and did a shitload of heavy good mornings and some awesome ab work. Can't wait for tomorrow.

This guy is fucking AWESOME

Arms + Active recovery

Nothing special today. Went in and took my time getting warm, foam rolling and stretching a little. Started with seated isolation curls, doing sets of 10 at 25, 30, 35, and 40 lbs, then a set to failure at 30 lbs. Then I did some preacher curls to failure with 15 lbs.

Next, I hit triceps by just loading a bar to 115 and strict pressing it for 10, then push pressing it for 6 and finishing the set of 20 by banging out four final reps.

Then, I just pretty much lazed around the gym doing some random extra curls, stretching, playing on the rings, doing box jumps, and muscle snatching.

Just a chill day to have fun and recover. I'm excited for tomorrow, gonna approach my heavy squatting a little differently this week. we will see how it goes.

Great Bench Workout

Really strong day today.

Started with 5/3/1 benching. Today, I had to rep out 195. Last time I did this weight I was only able to get a disappointing 2 reps, so I was a little nervous (this being 3 week and all). Warmed up with the bar, then 95, then 135, then did three reps at 150 and 170. I psyched up and got under 195 and hit it for 1, 2, and 3 for a hard rep. However, I thought I might have one more in me - so I took a big breath, tightened everything and went for rep 4 - and got it. It was hard, but I'm very happy with that. A 2 rep PR at that weight, and I LOVE being able to grind out a final rep - because for the longest time I could never do that.

This mofo HATES leg drive apparently. 

My 5 x 10 went really well too. I moved the weight up this week, a full 10 lbs from 135 to 145. I figured I would not be able to complete my 5 x 10, but that it would be better to go heavy and have something to work towards than to only go up 5 lbs. To my very pleasant surprise, I was able to get 4 full sets of 10, and a set of 12 on the final set. This is the heaviest 5 x 10 I've ever done, which is awesome, and my form was great on it (probably why I made it through without much trouble). So, I'll hit this weight again next week, and try to take the sets a little faster (I probably took between 3 - 4 minutes between sets), but if it goes as well or better than it did this week, I might move up to 155 pretty soon. Or if it's hard, I'll just keep at it for another few weeks before I push on.

Next were kroc rows. Did a set of 30 each side, starting pretty strict and only breaking form down once it got really hard (around rep 20). These are starting to get a little too easy; I'm going to need to push them harder, and do sets of 35 or 40 soon in order to keep getting benefits.

Thanks for the amazing movement Matt... I wish I was your power. One day I will be. 

Next, I had a little fun with my overhead pressing. I worked up to 115, then did "death by dead-stop overhead presses." Pressing each rep from a dead stop, I did 1 rep the first minute, 2 the second, 3 the third, and so on until I failed a rep. I made it through round 6, getting 3 reps in minute 7. Overall, This was a fun way to get in some volume, and I ended up doing a full 24 reps in just over 6 minutes, which is pretty good - basically the same as a 5 x 5.

Finally, ended with pullups, doing strict reps and then finishing out the set of 10 with kipping. First set I managed 6 (almost 7) strict pullups, second set it was 5, and the third set I got 4, then went all the way to 15 with the kip, with no dreaded crippling headache. I'm hoping to start doing higher-rep kipped sets again, I like those better, but I want to try and take it slow and avoid horrible brain pain.

So, really strong day today. I'm very happy with how well my bench is progressing. It's not fast by any standard, but it's progress, and that's all I'm fighting for. Excited for a nice, fun arm day tomorrow, and for the rest of this week. Then next week, shit gets SERIOUS.

Serious as this fucking guy. Holy Shit. 

Strong Squat + Program Changes for the Future

STRONG DAYY

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Felt good today, squatting the bar, then 135 and 185 for warmups. Went to 225 and the three reps at that weight were beautiful. Went to 255 and felt the same way. I was nervous for 285, but went hard at it, hitting the first three like nothing. Rep 5 was a little sloppy and off balance (this seems to be a trend), but then I got to 8 with almost no problem, and ground out a very tough 9th rep. Strong. 

Next were speed deads. Found a better 25 lb plate to do them off of - it's a little less of a deficit (maybe an inch and a half - 2 inches), but these felt solid - 10 sets at 245. Not easy, but solid. I'm going to have to really focus on moving 265 fast. 

Finally, my 5 x 10 at 195 was really no problem. I tried really hard to focus on making the reps perfect, and fixing little form issues I have when it gets heavy - namely 1) keeping my wrists tight and the bar in one spot on my back, 2) keeping my head more neutral and my core tight, and 3) focusing on keeping the bar in a straight line over my heels. This last cue especially seems to be helping my squat form. 

Ended with 3 sets to failure of hollow rocks. 

Over all a great day. Its good I was able to hit that 285 for so many reps. 

Now that these 6 cycles are coming to a close, it's time to think of what I'm going to be doing afterward. I'm going to take a week off, then take a little time to come back and get back into it/max out. Then, it will be back to work, but with some program changes. Here is what I am thinking: 

1) Keep the 5/3/1 squats on monday, and the speed deads, but instead of 5 x 10 at 215, drop to a 5 x 5. This should be fairly easy after getting 5 x 10's at 205 the month before. Then, I can continue increasing 10 lbs a cycle, pushing that 5 x 5 up to 255, 265, or 275 before changing again. 

1) Keep the assistance work (5/3/1 front squats / heavy good mornings) the same, but instead of squatting to a max, switch to chaos and pain squatting, like I do with my bench - whatever my 5/3/1 weight was for the week, do that for either 10 x 3, 15 x 2, or 10 x 1. This will mentally/physically give me a break from squatting to a max every thurs, and increase my volume at heavy weights. 

3) stop squatting to a max saturday for at least 3 cycles, and rest instead. 

I don't really want to change much upper body stuff because that has been going well, but I think taht squatting to a max twice (and even once) a week has taken it's toll mentally. Even though is ic CLEAR from my 5/3/1 work that I'm getting stronger, not being able to set new pr's every thurs or sat is making me FEEL as if those are bad workouts. I think that changing thurs to still be heavy, but be focused on LOTS of heavy reps, will be better physically and psychologically (it works for my bench), and that giving myself saturday as an extra rest day for a few cycles will help me heal and continue to get stronger. Then, I can slowly start to go heavy on that day again, after taking a few month away from heavy squats. 

These are just some basic ideas, but I think they are all good - allowing me to keep the parts of the program that I think are working best, and tweak the parts that I think could be better. BUT, still have to fight through these next 4 - 5 weeks before I make any changes. 

One day....

SO, lets keep working hard and getting better. FUCK YEAH. 

Short Run

Short little run today, on trails. Didn't push too hard, felt nice. Hopefully it will help me recover. I feel pretty shitty tonight, and the thought of heavy squats tomorrow is daunting. But I will persevere.

Squat and Strongman

Today was a cool day.

Squatted up heavy. Form felt okay, not perfect, and felt pretty strong, not amazing. Hit 135, 225, 275, then 315 and felt like my head was going to come off. Hit it for another single that moved faster, so then I went up, hit 325 for a single, and then went for a second single - but I sank a little too low into it and lost tension and really didn't have much of a shot at it.

Next, did a quick little strongman/conditioning type metcon - Jerome and I set up a prowler, loaded to 275, and a tire, about 25 meters apart, and simultaneously crossed the distance, switching our load (tire or prowler) every time, until we had done both implements 3 times. It was a hard and fast little workout - first time I have ever really used the prowler - but it was fun and felt pretty good.

Anyways, nice little workout. I'm taking full advantage of my cheat and trying to rest up, to get back to work on monday.

3 hour Pain-fest

Seeing as how I had very little else to do today, and that it is hot as FUCK and I would just be sweating my balls of no matter where I was, I decided to take my time in the gym today, Have some fun, and work my ass off. Ended up being there for just about 3 hours, which is hilarious. It was a strong day though. Lots of hard work and some heavy weight moved.

Typed in "heavy triple bench" and a bunch of pictures of triple H came up. Whatever, he's huge, he gets respect. 

First was Chaos and Pain benching. Didn't rush the warmups, but I hit 95 for a few sets, then 135, 165, and finally racked up 185. Again, I'm not timing these anymore, just trying to move through them quickly, and I did well. I lost track of how many sets I did, so I erred on the cautious side, doing 1 more set than I thought I needed to, so I'm PRETTY sure I got ten sets of 3, but even if it was 9 x 3 that's still pretty awesome progress from just a few months ago - hitting 185 for just ONE set of three was a rare occasion up until about march, so getting it for 9 or 10 sets without too much trouble is really cool.

Next up was overhead pressing. Again, I dropped the weight back on this, taking my 5/3/1 percentages back about 3 months, and I'm VERY glad I did. Continuing to try and get those fucking heavy reps would have been totally about ego, and wouldn't have made me any better. Dropping the weight feels awesome, and I'm getting new rep PR's, and this will DEFINITELY make me a lot stronger than trying to struggle with weights I can't handle. Anyways, pressed 95 for 5, 110 for 5, then 125 for a set of 10, which is a 2 rep PR (I'm fairly sure). Considering this was AFTER all those triples at 185, that's pretty fucking awesome. After this, I dropped back to 110 and 95 and pressed those weights from a dead stop to failure, a shitload of times. My press is going to get SO strong.

Next were rows. I did these with a little higher back angle today, probably closer to 45 degrees than my normal 75 or so. Went a little heavier today, working up in sets of 10 to 155 and hitting that for three sets. These felt pretty good, I definitely was using the right muscles and got a little bit of a pump. Need to keep playing with different for and variations though.

Next were pushups. Last week I did 3 sets to failure, which wasn't really that fun so I decided to mix things up a little. I tried doing sets of 10 every 30 seconds, the goal being to keep that up for a full 5 minutes, getting in a hundred reps. I made it through set 5 without much problem, and then got set 6 with a LOT of struggle. This was good, it was a fun way to do these and I got a nice pump. I'm probably going to do the same format next week and try and get another round, keep working at it till I can get all 10. It's a fun little WOD-type addition to my fridays.

Finally, I didn't feel like doing any of my normal pulling to finish off the day, so I decided to take a leaf out of Jaime's book and do some heavy shrugs. I've never really done this, so at first I started slow doing 135, 185, and 225, but they just felt stupid. So, I went up to 315 and did it for 3 sets of 10. It's a weird movement to get used to, and I didn't feel like I was working anything particularly hard DURING the lift, but after I started getting a nice little pump in my traps. I actually really liked these, they feel kind of stupid but it's nice to hold some heavy ass weight at the end of a workout. Hopefully I'll be nice and sore in my trap-back tomorrow. I think I'll keep playing with these.

Thanks for the advice Jaimie, you absurd man. 

Anyways, very solid day. Lots of hard work. Tomorrow, some heavy squats and a little bit of strongman. Hasta la vista, baby.

Triple squat

Had an interesting day today - physically it was pretty strong, mentally it was a little bit of a battle to keep myself in check. Generally, I push myself very hard (maybe even a little too much), and today I tried to control those urges and be satisfied with working hard WITHOUT feeling the need to kill myself.

Squatted up heavy. Felt pretty good, hit 135 for a few very nice reps, then 225 for a few nice reps as well. 275 was solid, but not moving very fast. Went up to 315 and again, it wasn't moving very fast but It felt very strong and my form was nice. I decided to jump straight to 335, and missed it pretty badly - I really didn't have a shot at it. I don't know if it was mental, or my form was off, or I just didn't have the strength today, I just know it was a bad miss. I'm a little bummed out, because I don't know what to do about this weight - my strategy of hitting 325 consistently worked, but now I don't know what's better, to continue hitting 325 and attempting 335, or to work on jumping right from  315 to 335? It's a little frustrating. ANYWAYS, I felt like that miss was kind of out of place and part of me wanted to try again, but I decided against it, and that if I had a lot left in me I would use it to fuel my triples.

Dropped back to 135. Because I tend to have form issues when dropping back from a heavy single in the 3's, I thought dropping REALLY light at first might help. Not sure how I liked it, might try again a few times. Hit 135 for 5, ten 225 for 3, 275 for 3, and finally 305 for 2. The second rep was INCREDIBLY slow, and took a LOT of toughness to finish. Racked it after that insane second rep, because attempting three would have been pointless. Again, part of me wanted to pisk the bar back up and try the 305 for another single, double, or even triple if it was there. But again, I talked myself out of it.

Dropped back to 135 and did my 5/3/1 front squats - 5 at 135, 5 at 160, and then amrap at 180, which ended up being 7. My legs definitely had more in them, but the 7th rep is where my back started rounding and my form wasn't as nice, so I stopped. My goal isn't just to get my front squat up, but to really work on my core strength/stability and make my form beautiful on these, so I'm going to continue to stop as my form breaks down, rather than pushing to absolute failure. Did another couple singles at 180 afterwards with nice form. I might try and continue to do that as well, hitting my final weight for a couple nice singles after repping it out.

Finished up with 3 sets of hanging leg raises.

Overall, I worked hard today, but was a little frustrated. Thursdays are tough; I don't see much progress on these days in general. My inclination is to keep pushing for new PR's, for one more rep, but I think the way I handled things today was good - I worked up to my limit for that day, and backed off without killing myself. It's not easy to do when you just want to WORK WORK WORK and see progress every single week, but I think it's the smarter thing to do and the better thing to do. I need to just keep coming in on these days, working really hard, and knowing that progress will come, even if it's slow. And know that forcing myself to work beyond my capacity for the day and fail isn't making me any better.

Arms day

Today I made a good decision. There was nothing wrong with trying to bench heavy on wednesdays, but in practice all it did was tire me out mentally and physically. Today, I just went into the gym and stretched, rolled out, did some fun arms work and called it a day - and I feel really good because of it. I think I need to keep wednesdays as more of a relaxed/stupid workout.

Anyways, basically did some easy curls, 3 sets of 15 with the 30's, then finished off my biceps with some preacher curl 21's. Then, did some stupid stuff for triceps, kind of bouncing around. Did some band pushdowns, some presses with the bar, some push presses with 115, and then a bunch of 1 arm presses with a 35 lb barbell. Nothing too serious, and that's the way it should be. Overall, a good little workout that just got me moving and healing. Excited to go heavy again tomorrow.

Volume Bench

Today was a tough training session. Pretty strong, but not in the least bit easy.

Started with 5 week benching. Felt pretty good today. Hit the bar for a few sets, then 95 for a few, then jumped right to 140. Hit that for 5, then 160 for 5, then went up to 185 and hit that for 5, just barely missing the 6th rep. I should have gotten rep 6, but I think I was a little too lose under the weight. I should have been squeezing the bar a little more and keeping my whole upped body tighter. Things to think about next week. Either way, 5 reps at 185 is a pr, and that 6th rep was very close.

Next was 5 x 10 bench. Did 135 again. It was a little tougher than it should have been (that tough fail at 185 took it out of me a bit), but even so I got 4 sets of 10 and a set of 12 without much trouble. I think I'm going to take this up to 145 next week, and try and get as close to 5 x 10 as I can. It'll be rough but I'm gonna keep working my ass off and pushing these 5 sets of 10.

Next were Kroc rows. Started strict, letting form only break down when It needed to to get more reps. Did a set of 30 each side, and these were REALLY hard today. My back was done.

Next were strict presses. Did these from a dead stop off my chest, in sets of 5. Huit 75, 95, 105, 115, 125, and then 135 for 4 (couldn't quite get the 5th one). Not bad, considering all 4 of those reps were from a complete stop, and I had already done a shitload of pressing.

Ended with pullups. Using straps, I did three sets of as many reps as I could do strict, then switched to kipping to make the set a set of 10. Did 5 and 5, 5 and 5, and then 4 and 6. These don't make my back feel nearly as tired and worked out as doing big kipped sets, but this didn't hurt my elbows OR give me a crippling headache. So maybe I'll keep doing these for another week or two before trying big kipped sets again.

Overall, tough day but moved some heavy weights for a lot of reps.

I'm Back Bitch

Today I return after a weekend of rest. Honestly, the break did me good. I needed the rest and recovery, both mentally and physically. This morning I was ready and willing to get to the gym, and I had a solid training day as well.

Huge Squat

Started with heavy squats. Warmed up, then did some air squats to help make sure my form was nice. Still working on the mental game of keeping my squats pretty - I think one small problem I have is I still tend to cue myself to sit back into my squat - which actually normally makes me drop my chest and has me come forward. I'm experience enough at squatting now that I need to KNOW that I know how to use the right muscles when I do the movement, and stop THINKING about form too much and just DO IT RIGHT. Just squat.

Anyways, hit the bar for a few sets, then 135 for a few, then jumped right to my first working weight. hit 205 for 5, then 235 for 5 (with a little re-racking mishap haha). Then, hit 270 for 11. It was a good set: I tried to really take each rep individually and I think they were pretty much all nice. One problem is that the bar still tends to roll a lot on my back, which is painful painful for my wrists. But I'm going to continue working on this on my lighter sets, and do my best to hold it in a good position on my heavy sets. Either way, 11 reps at 270 is a very solid day. Last time I did this weight, it was my heaviest set (5/3/1 week) and I got 8 reps, so 11 is an improvement. You can watch the older video HERE

Next were speed deadlifts. Weight dropped back to 225, but I was doing them from a deficit again ( a 25 lb plate). These felt awesome, They moved really fast and felt fine from the deficit. I hope that 265 feels even close to this good, because I have a bad feeling that that weight off a 45 (5 weeks from now) is going to be ROUGH. But for know, these felt awesome. My one complaint is that the 25 I was doing them off had weird ridges that kept my feet from being completely flat as I did them. The deficit was good, about 2.5 inches, but i'm going to see if I can find a better plate, or use two 10 lb bumpers or something, just so I have a flatter surface to stand on.

Next was my 5 x 10 of squats at 195. Being the first week at this weight, These were tough. The first two sets especially, I had a hard time with form, feeling kind of "out of the groove" however, by set three I settled in, and although the final three sets of 10 were not easy, they felt smoother and nicer than the first 20 reps. Next week hopefully the weight will feel more comfortable (having done it once already), and I can make all 5 sets with beautiful form.

Finally, ended with three sets of hollow rocks to failure. I'm trying to take these relatively fast, to make sure my abs are working hard. First set was about 25, then 15, then 10. These are tough, and I really hope that doing them religiously will help take my core strength to new levels.

So overall, powerful day. Rep Pr on my heavy squat, some fast speed deadlifts, and some solid volume/technique work on my 5 x 10. Just have to keep working my ass off, trying to always improve my squat form, and I will keep getting stronger and stronger.

Awesome Workout

Today was an awesome day. I really cannot explain why this week has been so up and down - monday and thursday I was strong, but felt like shit. Wednesday I was weak and felt like shit. And tuesday and today I felt awesome and had the power of a thousand suns. But whatever.

Started with bench today. 200 for 9 sets of 1. And I fucked it up. The first rep felt incredible. Went up to rep 6 with no problems, and then said "fuck it" and turned up the intensity. Started hitting the reps with very little rest, and went past 9, hitting 10, 11, and then 12. Those last 6 reps were all within a 4 and a half minute period. Pretty awesome. I haven't felt that amazing doing ANY lift in a while.

Next, had to overhead press. Even though I'm resetting those weights, I decided to finish off the cycle by trying to hit 150 today, which would tie my old pr. I wasn't sure if it would happen though, because of the extra benching I did. BUT, hit 120 for 5, 135 for 5, then 150 for 1 with NO problem. Instead of repping it, I put 155 on, and hit THAT without much problem. Then racked up 160 and just couldn't quite make it. Still, 155 is a new pr, which I am VERY happy with after all the pressing I already did. Here's the video

After that, Did some bent over rows. These actually felt really good - did 95 for 10, 115 for 10, then 135 for 2 strict sets of 10 and then a final, less strict set to failure. Felt good.

Finally, super-setted pushups to failure and sets of 10 kipped pullups for 3 rounds. Hit 30, 20, and 20 pushups. These feel solid, but honestly I wish I had a bit of an easier time with them. Pullups weren't hard, I wish I could have pushed them more, but I was on the verge of another bad headache so I took it easier. I think maybe I need to just weight these and do less reps? I don't know. I'm going to have to experiment.

ANYWAYS, owned the bench today and got a strict press PR. Very cool. Looking forward to recharging with some binge eating and rest this weekend, and coming back hard on monday.

I have NOTHING

Gotta keep it short today.

Legs

Good day, but I felt MISERABLE hahaha. I decided to take saturday and maybe sunday off this weekend. I need a little recovery time. But I pushed hard today and did well because of it, even though I feel horrible, and that brings me powerjoy.

Started with heavy squats. Went slower in my warmups today, but honestly it was a little too slow- combination of not feeling very energetic and trying on purpose to take my time. Speeding it up next time. Still, for a day when I didn't feel my best I did well. Worked up to 315, then 325, then 325 again, then attempted 335 but it was a sloppy rep and I had no shot. Decided to call it there; if it had been a better rep I might have had a chance of getting that 335, but it didn't really matter anyways so I called it there.

Next, worked up in threes. 225, then 255, then 285. Then hit 305 for 2. First rep was horrendously slow, second was basically just as slow but I made it. Third, I just didn't have the strength to finish off. But that's okay. Try again next week. Happy to hit that for another double.

Finally, did an insane number of good mornings. Sets of 5 - 135, 135, 165, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225, 235, and then 245 for a PR. The third rep was sloppy, I lost my balance a bit, but even so 5 is pretty awesome at that weight, on a tough day, when I did so many before. Good stuff.

Finished with three sets of HLR. They were miserable, but I forced myself to do it because I know I need it. Overall, very strong day. But man do I need some recovery time. Looking forward to a heavy and fast day tomorrow, then some healing this weekend.

Bench

Nothing complicated today. Felt tired and crappy but went in and benched up to a heavy single. Hit 205 for a single, little bit sloppy but not too hard. Missed 210 again. Not sure why I have so much trouble with that weight, but whatever, I have to expect things like that if I'm benching to a max the day after a heavy bench session. Gonna try and keep hitting 205 the next few weeks, then maybe push to 210. It worked for squat, hopefully it will work for bench.

Kind of neglected the "arms" part of arms day again this week. Gonna make sure I give that more focus next wed.

Strong Bench Press

Had a very strong bench workout today. Unfortunately, random excruciating headache made a return at the every end of the workout, but other than that it was a very focused training session and I performed well.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Learning from my mistakes yesterday, I took a different approach to warming up that worked well. Essentially, when I warm up with LESS changes of weight, but do each weight for MORE sets and reps (until I feel really comfortable at that weight), I think I perform better. I'm in the habit of just doing 5 reps at a given weight, then throwing on another 25 or 45 and doing 5 more, etc. But I think I need to take a little more time/sets/reps at each warmup weight in order to be more comfortable under the heavier weights. Example: today, instead of doing bar, 75, 95, 115, 135, etc, I just did bar, 95, 135 as warmups, but I did 3 or 4 sets with the bar, then 2 sets of 8-10 at 95, and 2 sets of 3-5 at 135. I just stayed at the same weight until I really felt comfortable at that weight. I think that works better for me than just banging out sets of 5 at a bunch of different weights. ANYWAYS, good warmup today. Then I hit 160 for 5, which was not hard but I was dizzy. I was more careful under 180 and hit it for 3 that weren't crazy easy but not very hard. Then I loaded up 200 for reps and hit it for 3. That third rep was NOT easy, but I still got it, and 200 for 3 is a BIG PR. Especially considering that last month I could only get that 195 for 2. Very cool.

Next up was 5 x 10 benching. Like with squatting, I got rid of the timed rest for this for the time being, and just did it as fast as I felt able. The first set or two were a little shaky as far as form goes, but I got through 4 sets of 10 solidly, and then hit 13 reps on the last set. This is pretty cool - last summer my max reps at this weight was 14, so getting 13 after 40 other reps and 5/3/1 reps is pretty good. definitely growing stronger.

Next were kroc rows. I did them a little differently today, doing the first ten or so reps fairly strict, then only letting my form break down after they got really hard to do strict. These were MUCH better than they've been lately, I did 25 each arm and my back was TOAST by the end of them. Awesome pulls.

Then, I did some Overhead press. Did pretty much all of my reps from a dead stop, which I'm basically going to do from now on. Started with 95 lbs on the bar and worked up in singles - hit 95, 105, 115, 125, 135 and then 145 for 3 singles, which is pretty good, considering what happened friday (FUCK THAT WEIGHT). Then I worked down, doing max paused reps at 135, 125, 115, and 95.

Finally, did some pullups. I wanted to do these weighted today, so I did 5 with nothing, 5 with 10 lbs, and then 5 with 15. The weight belt wasn't that comfortable, so I tried to switch to the weight vest, which is about 30 lbs, but then it kept hitting me in the face when I kipped, so I took it off. I then decided to just finish up with a big set of pullups the way I did the kroc rows - do a bunch strict, then switch to kipped and go to failure. Did 5 strict, then did 10 kipped but at about rep 15 I started getting excruciating brain pain. The headache wasn't too bad, but my body's message is clear - doing high rep kipped pullups, I get tired and strain my neck and get headaches. SO, gonna start doing pullups for lost of sets of less reps, rather than to failure.

SO, overall, a day full of hard work and progress. The headache sucked, but now I have some new strategies to avoid it. And all my other lifts went really well today. LETS KEEP WORKING

Squats on Squats

Today was a pretty strong day, all things considered. I woke up feeling pretty shitty this morning. my stomach was bothering me, I felt tired, and lifting was about the last thing I wanted to do. Even so, I got up and got moving and had a productive workout.

Started with 5/3/1 squats. hit 230 for 5, then 260 for 3. Then loaded up 290. These squats were pretty good, but I was having a little trouble with my form, and kept feeling my weight shifting forward which is no good. Ever since last week, I was kind of thinking I might take today a little easier, focus on making all the reps nice instead of going all out and being a little sloppy. So I hit the 5th rep, and it was a little sloppy and a little slow, so I decided to call it there, I think If I had focused up and pushed I probably had another rep or two in there, but that's fine. I think It was a good idea to call the set early rather than force out more reps on a day when I wasn't feeling awesome and my form was a little off. And I just got a PR saturday, I think I can afford to push a little bit less on this one day. I haven't put up a video in a while, and of course this day where I wasn't at my best is the day I decided to record hahaha. It's not that easy to tell I'm coming forward on these reps (I felt it more than I see it), but you can see my chest rising a little after my hips and legs, which is  result of my weight not being as far back as it should be. Even so, 5 reps at 290 is pretty solid, strong day or not. Still, my reps not being perfect always pisses me off.

Next were speed deads. Did 8 sets of 2 on the minute with 265 from the floor. These felt pretty good. Not easy, but faster than I had anticipated. I'm ready to move back to the deficit (although going to the 45 lb plate deficit the cycle after this is going to be ROUGH). Still, I really hope these heavier speed deads are really going to help out my heavy pulls. We will see towards the end of the summer.

Next, I did 5 x 10 squat. I decided to stick with 5 x 10 at 185, but to get rid of the time restrictions. Instead, I did them as fast as I could while making every rep beautiful. These REALLY felt great, especially after having only an alright time with the 290. Every rep felt controlled and perfect, and the sets of ten barely even felt hard. I didn't rush or even rest TOO much, I moved through every set and rep smoothly and beautifully. I am going to try and really focus on this 5 x 10 and make it this way every week - I think it will not only continue helping me to build lots of muscle, but being more careful about form will help my technique tons, and help me avoid problems like what I had with that 290 today. Every rep perfect, no matter how heavy the weight. That has to be the goal.

Huge Master

Finally, finished off with some hollow rocks. These are tough and will take some work to master, but I got a much better feel for exactly how these should be today. And they are HARD on your core. Doing  some sets of these to failure every week should really help build up some core strength.

So overall, a solid day of training. Heavy squats still went pretty well, even though it was an off day. Speed deads feel speedy. And my slight changes in focus on my high rep squats felt awesome, and I think will really help me in the coming weeks and months.

Keep working. Always keep working.

400 meter intervals

Today was a fast day. After running that (approximate) half mile last sunday in under 3 minutes, I decided to (very leisurely), begin the pursuit of a sub 6 minute mile (my best time ever is 5:58, and I did that 30 pounds lighter and a hell of a lot weaker than I am now)

Started today with some 400's. My goal was to do 3 400's at 1:30 ish pace, and see how it felt. After warming up, I did the first one, which was no problem - even trying to pace myself, I ran the first 300 very fast and was able to slow down the last 100, coming in at about 1:28. It was pretty easy, So I thought I would try and do the next one at 1:25, and the last one at 1:20. I rested as much as I wanted, and hit the next interval, but wasn't really paying attention to my stopwatch, and ended up coming in at 1:18. Although I was working hard on this one, it still wasn't too bad - I would say about 90%. So I decided to just suck it up and go all out on the last one. Rested a shitload, then hit the last one coming in at 1:09. That's pretty awesome - first of all, it's a full 5 seconds better than a month ago when I did it  and considering I've only trained running once a week, fairly leisurely, that's not too bad. And second of all, it's only 4 seconds slower than my fastest 400 ever - 1:05 - done at about the same time as that 5:58 mile.

SO, bottom line is 400's at 1:30 pace are no problem at all. I'm thinking next week, if I feel up to it, I'll probably go for an 800 at around the same pace (3:00). We will see how it goes. And I'll just keep at this pacing, till I beat that 6:00 mile. Cool.

Strong Squat

Today was a very strong day.

Slept like shit. Pretty much I was running on coffee this morning, but I wanted to squat to a max, so I just took it a rep at a time. Hit the bar for a bunch to warm up. Then 135 for 10, 225 for 5, and 275 for 2. My strategy today was to do a few more reps at those warmup weights then I normally would, because I think my squat strength and technique is improved when I feel out heavy weights for a few tougher reps. Hit 275 for another single. Then belted up and hit 315. It was tough but I wanted to try and hit 325 again and I figured I had it in me, so I went for it. It was a hard but solid rep. rested 5 minutes, then tried it again and hit it even easier than the first one. I was psyched, and almost called it there, but then said fuck it, threw 335 on the bar, and hit it. It was a tough rep, but I got it. Very happy with that ten pound PR. My strategy of getting that 325 for 4 or 5 days in a row worked. Now, I'm going to have to work on getting comfortable with 335 before I push heavier.

Excited for rest and running tomorrow, and then MORE SQUATTING. Gotta love it.

Bench and Overhead Press

Today was a pretty strong day.

Also, this is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Gorilla battle. 

Started with chaos and pain benching. I got rid of the timer on this after last week; the goal is just to get through all the sets. I'm going to continue to try and rest as little as possible, but the emphasis will be on not missing any reps. I hit the 190 x 9 x 2 pretty hard. I was very happy with how well the weight moved, and my pacing was on - when the second rep felt easy, I hit the next set faster, when it was hard I rested more. Only the last rep was a real struggle, and even that was solid.

Next was Overhead press. I had to hit 145 for 3 today, and to be honest I knew it was going to be a real challenge. I've never had to hit this weight on a day where I did a 9 x 2, only days when I've done 9 sets of 1, so I'm a little fresher. I was close: I hit 110 for 3, then 130 for 3, then got 145 for 2 reps and even got it over my head on the third... but my left arm just couldn't lock it out. I attempted 2 more times, but it was a lost cause. The 5/3/1 has DEFINITELY made my press stronger, and I know on a different day I could get that 145 for 3 - I got it for 4 last cycle. But I think I am going to reset my 5/3/1 for my press. I'm going to try and hit 150 next week, to tie my old pr (if I can do that after benching 200 for a shitload of reps, that would be pretty solid). Then, I'm gonna take the weight back so that 1 week is 140 or maybe even 135. I'll make sure I focus hard on doing those drop sets (after my big set) where I press the weight for reps from a dead stop, and rebuild back up to this point. Hopefully when I get here, the 145 will be easier and I'll me able to take a few more steps forward before I have to take a step back again. I'm excited to have another shot at some lighter weights.

Thanks Jim. You fucking Rule. 

Next up, Pendelay rows. These were pretty good. Last week I felt like shit doing these, and did them really sloppy, so this week I tried to be a LITTLE better about form. I did 3 sets of 10, and they felt better. I still feel these better when I do them without too much attention to form, but if I get too lazy they are worthless.

Did some dumbbell benching today. Did them a little different... Didn't really go to failure, did a warmup set with 45's, then 10 at 60, 8 at 60, and 4 and a half at 60. Then hit the 45's again for a set of 8 or 9. I'm starting to get bored with these. They definitely have their benefits, but I'm not sure I really feel they're worth doing, they feel like a filler movement right now. Don't know. We will see.

Finally, ended with some Kroc rows. The 110 is starting to get a little easy, so again I'm going to try and do them stricter, and only let form get sloppy to bang out some extra reps at the end. Did the 90 for 25 each arm and called it a day.

Don't care how many abs you have, NOTHING beats huge BACK!

Looking forward to squatting tomorrow, though I have to go in early. And its good that I could fuck up that 190 for the 9 x 2. Good shit.

I Have Filled My Heart With Hate

Today was the angriest day I think I have ever had lifting. So much hate filled me today. I wanted to kill everyone and destroy everything.

Started with squats. The second I picked up the bar, I got a shooting headache again. Not as bad as tuesday, but pretty painful. It made me incredibly angry. I squatted the bar for 4 or 5 warmup sets to work on the new way I am holding the bar, on keeping my core tight and not throwing my head back, and to let the pain subside. Then I started working up. 95, 135, 185. 225 for 3, then 1, then 275 for a single. Then 315, and finally 325. The 325 was tough, but I got it. It was hard enough though that I didn't go for a second single. Maybe saturday or next week.

My hate grew. squatted 225 for 3, then 255 for 3, then 285 for 3. Hit 285 for another 1, then went up to 305. hit it for once, then missed on the second rep. Re-racked the weight, hit it for 2, then barely missed on the third rep. I've never hit any weight over 300 for more than one rep, and I've rarely ever squatted that heavy without a belt, so the fact that I hit that 305 for 2 after everything I'd done, and with no belt, is pretty cool.

After that, my hate subsided a little. front squatted up slowly, hitting 135 and 165 for a few, then 185 and 205 without a belt. missed 225 twice without the belt, then put it on and destroyed that weight. Went up to 235, but I missed that pretty bad, and decided to call it a day.

Finally, ended with three sets to failure hanging leg raises. I'm going to make my core bulletproof with these and hollow rocks.

Overall, a good day, but full of rage and hate. I hate that my head hurts for no reason, and it needs to stop. I hate having to think so fucking much about my squats, because it takes away from my ability to do them well. I need to just fucking fix these problems so I can focus on getting stronger. And I hate fucking front squats.

Side note: thinking about trying a heavier 5 x 5 on monday, instead of continuing doing the 5 x 10. This will help me focus more on individual reps, which hopefully will improve my squat technique while still having a good bit of volume.