The Agony and Goodbye

Today I didn't have a scheduled workout... but it was my last chance to squat before vacation! Couldn't pass that up. So with the help of Joshua, we birthed a squat hell unlike any other.

Started with a max attempt. I played with moving my stance in a little today, and it feels awesome. It's more technical than my old way of squatting, and easy to hit bad reps. But on good reps, My torso is upright, I hit the bottom DEEP and get a great stretch reflex. hit 135, 225, then 275, 305, and 315. 315 was tough, and my form was a little iffy (missed the stretch reflex), so I called that my first "max."Phase one complete.

Phase two: dropped back to 135 and worked up again. Hit 135, 225, 255, then 285. Jumped straight to 315, but I lost it forward a bit and failed. Phase 2 complete

Phase 3: dropped back to 135 and worked up AGAIN. Hit 135, 185, 225, 275, then 305. Then I attempted 315 and got completely stuck in the bottom, had to dump. Phase 3 complete - 3 maxes, one after the other.

Next, I took 90% of my final max (305) and did a 3 x 3 with that. 275 for 3 x 3 was solid, but tough. With the new squat style, it's easy to lose my balance a little forward. But if I am careful to fight to keep my chest up, and I really think about spreading the floor and engaging my hips, they feel really good and athletic. This 3 x 3 was probably the toughest part of today.

Next, I took 90% of 275, (250) and did a 3 x 5 with that. I expected this to be harder than it was. At this weight, my technique was really solid, and although I had bad reps, for the most part I was nailing the stretch reflex out of the hole and didn't have any serious trouble with any rep.

Finally, took 90% of the 3 x 5 weight (225) and did a 3 x 8 with that. Again, I expected this to be miserable, but my technique felt awesome at these lighter weights, and despite bad reps I was able to get through these sets. The 8th rep of set two was soul-crushingly hard, but set 3 I went all out, getting 12 reps. It was an absurd workout. The skin on my back is destroyed from the bar, and I'm thinking my legs are going to be killing me tomorrow. But hey, now I get a full week off. I'll live.

So, I got to feel out this new style a lot, and I think it will be really great for me in time. I need to get used to the different movement. I need to make sure I nail that stretch reflex every time, And I need to increase my quad strength and my core strength in order to be able to handle bigger weights with ease. In time though, I will become much stronger with this new squat.

So here's the plan: I will max out with this new style when I get home, and whatever that max is, I will re-set my 5/3/1 with that max (take 90% of it, treat that as my working 1-rep, and go from there). This will give me time to adjust to the new style without feeling pressured to be as strong as I was with my old technique right away. It will give me a mental break, and time for my quads and core to grow so I can massacre weights that are tough now. I can't wait.

Goodbye for a week. When I return: some light days to get me moving weight again, then MAX OUT WEEK.

The end is the beginning is the end.

It's over. For a short while.

Today was a sick day. I'm tired and beat up, but I managed to have a solid workout today. And now it's time for rest and recovery, finally.

Started with benching. I worked up the way I'm planning to work up to my max bench two thursdays from now - warmed up with 95, 135, 155, 175, hit 195 for a single, then jumped up to 210. I took my time between sets, but I managed to get all 9 singles, which is pretty fucking awesome! All the reps were solid and smooth - not fast, but very nice. Hopefully with some rest, I'll be able to nail 215 when I get back, and maybe even try another single after that. But I know from personal experience that time off normally hurts my bench a lot. We will see. Either way, 9 x 1 at 210 is a sick accomplishment.

Next was overhead press, which also went really well. I hit 115 x 5, 130 x 3, and then 145 x 4 pretty easy (I even tried for rep 5, but to no avail). That's awesome - it ties my pr at that weight, and that 4th rep was much easier than the last time I hit 4 at 145. Then I dropped back andhit 130 x 5 from a dead stop, and 115 x 9 from a dead stop.

Next, I maxed out my pullups - did a quick set of 2, then went for it. I managed to pull 8 from a completely dead hang, then hit a 9th rep with just the tiniest amount of hips to get my chin all the way over. This is pretty fucking awesome too - most pullups I think I have ever gotten in my life is 6 or 7. My lats are definitely growing stronger and larger.

Next, did some pushups, on the 30 seconds, keeping form nice. Got 5 sets of 10 and decided to call it there.

Finally, I couldn't bring myself to pull anything heavy, so I just did 3 sets to failure of band pull aparts. I definitely got a bit of a back pump, no matter how stupid these are hahaha.

SOOO: This is the end of 6 months or so of hard, hard lifting, And I have made some awesome accomplishments. Lets do a quick recap of some stuff that has changed over the course of these last few months, what I have learned, etc:

1) I weighed myself today, for the first time in forever. When I started this program, I weighed around 205 pretty consistently. By the time I left school (about 3 months ago) I was down to about 195 in the mornings. And this morning when I woke up, I weighed 185. As far as muscle size goes, I don't think I lost any muscle, but I am FAR leaner - this morning especially, there was NO way I was over 12% body fat. This is a huge improvement from the start of this program, when I was between 16 and 18% bodyfat. AND I'm stronger. so, 20 lbs of fat lighter and stronger - that's pretty awesome. The take away: My diet is working. Keto, with a cheat day and a cheat meal once a weak, has helped me immensely. I'm going to keep at this, and hopefully by the end of my next cycle (december), I will be below 10%. I DO want to gain some muscle as well, so I'm gonna have to EAT EAT EAT on those cheat days. But for now, I'm very happy with my appearance and body comp. I'll re-asses again in december.

2) work capacity has definitely improved a ton. I can do sets of 10 squats and bench with no real problem. I haven't added in much running/rowing/conditioning consistently, but when I do do it, it's not NEARLY as bad as when I started this program. AND, when I do it (in moderation), it normally makes my next lifting session BETTER, not worse. The take away - keep some light conditioning in AT LEAST once a week, to keep my work capacity up, and it will help my lifting immensely.

3) Most importantly, my strength has improved a ton on this program. Obviously, I haven't maxed out all my lifts yet, so my gains could be even BETTER than I think - but even in those maxes are a flop, I still have made tremendous progress. Obviously, my squat is the most impressive - at the start of this program, My heaviest squat ever was 275, and my first rep out (215) was for 8 reps. My best squat ever now is 345, and my best rep out to day is 300 x 8. Awesome gains there. Even with my recent form changes which are pissing me off, I'm much stronger than I was 6 months ago. My bench was 205 (if I was lucky) 6 months ago, and today I crushed 210 for 9 singles - not huge gains, but solid improvement, which is great considering the full YEAR i was stuck at 205. My overhead press is far better - 145 was my 1 rep 6 months ago, and today I hit that for 4 after benching. And my deadlift was 335 back then - My max now is 375, and I have a feeling I may crush that when I max out.

So, bottom line: I'm far stronger, leaner, lighter, and more conditioned than 6 months ago. Improvement across the board.

This next cycle is going to change some things, but hopefully I will still be able to progress pretty much all over - I want to put on some muscle, try to get my bodyfat a little lower, work on my conditioning, and most importantly KEEP GETTING STRONGER. This was a great 6 months - lets hope I can keep the progress up.

I am angry and want to kill you

Today was my first day squatting with the new bar position. It wasn't easy and I'm incredibly angry right now. But in all honesty it didn't go nearly as badly as it could have.

Started with a heavy single. In my warmups, made sure to set the bar in a nice spot, keep my torso much more upright, and hit a good depth. Worked up to 275 for a couple singles, which weren't easy but weren't too hard, then jumped to 315 with the belt. Hit it solidly, but not even close to easily. Decided to move up, and hit 325 a little better. Then, hit 335 for a very slow single that was definitely a max. My form was nice and it was good and deep though. So, considering I made a pretty big change to form, being able to hit within 10 lbs of my pr isn't too bad.

The triples is where I started getting really angry though. Granted, I was tired by this time, AND this is at the end of 12 weeks of lifting so it could just be a rough day anyways, but I started to feel that although I was able to squat up close to my max with this new style, doing rep stuff is going to be hard. I hit 135 for 5, then 3, then 225 x 3, 255 x 3, and 285 x 3. Then I went to 315. I knew I might miss rep 3, but figured I could at least get 1 or 2 quality reps. But I failed on the first rep, and was incredibly angry. This is a weight I shouldn't be missing for a single, ever, and that I have tripled more than once and hit for 5. It's incredibly frustrating to feel like I can't handle a weight that should be easy for me.

BUT - and here's the reasonable me talking - It's my first day switching my style. I will adjust quickly, and that will help, AND I have to keep in mind that it could have been a bad day anyways. If I am patient, try to keep my anger down and just stick with the new style, I will be manhandling those weights again in no time, and it will be BETTER for progress in the long run. I just have to be patient and keep working.

However, the unreasonable me is just livid about missing that 315. I tried doing some good mornings, but I was too angry. So I decided for my sanity to just call it a day. It's time to go on vacation, recover mentally and physically, and deal with this when I get back. Plus, I have saturday to squat, so I'd rather save my legs a little for that.

For now, I'm going to go watch a violent movie and eat food. FUCK THE WORLD.

Handling the Truth

So today I went in and spent a lot of time stretching and working on getting to a nice depth in my squat.    I think a large part of the problem is simply 1) my hips are tight and I need to devote more time to stretching, which I will be able to do in my new programming, and 2) I just need to go deeper than I FEEL like I have to, because what I feel is deep enough just isn't.

BUT I think the MAJOR problem is something that I've been ignoring for a while, and that is how low I keep the bar on my back. Because my shoulders are crazy flexible, no matter how close I move my hands I can still jam the bar WAY low on my back. I feel comfortable with the bar here, and despite efforts to change this, when the weight gets heavy and I get nervous, I resort to that lowww bar position. Problem is, it's so low on my back that I have to sit really far back and my chest has to come way forward, which makes it harder and harder to hit depth.

This is what I want to squat like. Then again, who fucking doesn't

This is the truth, and it's a problem. First of all, my bar is so low I'm not even sure it's legal in a meet. Second of all, I just don't want my squat to be an extremely low bar, barely-to-depth squat. Instead, I want a nice athletic squat - moderate width stance, torso strong and upright, and nice and deep. Doing what I'm doing now feels more comfortable and stronger, but in the long run moving my bar position up and doing a squat with my chest more upright and good depth is going to make me stronger and more athletic. THAT is the way I want to squat, and the longer I ignore the fact that i'm doing it wrong, the harder it is gonna be to fix. AS IS, hopefully I can change without a significant hit to my strength, and by focusing on it in my new cycle, I can continue to make huge strength gains with better form.

SO tomorrow, I'm gonna squat to a max with the bar in a better position and see how heavy I can get. Hopefully, it will be close to my current max (who knows, maybe I'll even pr). But even if I have a tough time, I just need to not worry too much about it, know that NOW is the time to make the change, and that a small hit to my max squat in the short term is going to equal better gains in the long term.

This is where I keep the bar currently I feel. Very low, it rolls on my back, and my chest goes way forward. 

Here's where I need to be, and where I will squat from tomorrow. Bar below traps, but sitting on the shoulders, rather than jammed halfway down my fucking back. 

We will see what happens tomorrow. Lets hope for the best.

Rebirth

Today was a good day. This week has been a time of rising from the ashes.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Worked up, hit 165 x 5, 185 x 3, then 210 for an easy 1, fast and beautiful. Went for a second rep but couldn't quite get it. 210 is my old pr though, and I crushed it, much easier than the last time I hit that weight, so that is good.

Next was 5 x 10 bench. Loaded up 155, took my time between sets, and made it through all 5 sets of 10 without a single failed rep.

Next were kroc rows, did one set of 30 each side with the 90 lb dumbell + a big ass chain.

Next, I hit overhead press. Worked up to 135, and hit it for 7 paused reps. This is a new PR at that weight (which is kind of funny, considering 6 was a new pr on friday). Plus they were paused reps - just goes to show that my 5/3/1 press work on fridays isn't really letting me express my press strength. No worries though. I'm getting stronger, that is what matters. I then dropped back, hitting 7 reps at 125, and then 10 reps at 115, al paused.

Finally, did a 5 x 5 of pullups, dead hang, with the straps.

Although I would have loved more than 1 rep at 210, crushing my old PR is satisfactory, and pretty much ALL the other work I did today was awesome. I survived last week and I'm stronger because of it. Gonna go enjoy my 3 hour cheat, heal up, and enjoy my rest/arms day tomorrow. 2 more workouts.  Then the healing. Then the FEATS OF STRENGTH. Then the true rebirth.

Also... BANE BACK

You are more than what you have become

Part of the journey ended today.

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Form felt pretty good, I was nervous but excited. did 135 for 8, 205 x 5, then 245 x 5, and 275 x 3. took my stance out a little wider today, as I have noticed myself moving it in little by little, and wide felt solid. Loaded up 315 and hit it for 5. First 3 were solid. 4 was a little sloppy and HARD to lock out. 5 was a good rep, and then I attempted 6 but couldn't quite get it. I videotaped the set, and depth was decent - pretty much all the reps were to almost exactly parallel. a couple might have been a touch high, but if so only barely. This is a pretty good accomplishment. At the start of this program, I had in my head that If i could somehow get 315 x 5 at the end, that would really be awesome. And today I did that. It's something to be proud of.

Next were speed deads. from about 3 -3.5 inch deficit, I pulled 265 for 8 sets of 2 on the minute. These felt good - I definitely got tired by the end, but they were moving pretty fast, which is great at that weight and from that deficit. I'm excited to switch these to singles in my next program, however.

Next was 5 x 10 squat at 205. This wasn't very hard. My biggest issue is becoming depth - I simply have trouble feeling how low is low enough. I don;t think I'm even weak out of the hole at all, I just don't know where is deep enough. I videotaped this last set, and even though I felt deep on all of them, they were all just to parallel, with a few of them a bit high. And the final rep I paused, in what FELT like a rock-bottom position - and really, that "rock bottom" was pretty much where I want ALL of my reps to be. BUT, I have to remember how beat up I am, and that a 5 x 10 really is not ideal to work on form. In my next program, I will be doing a 5 x 5, and I'm going to REALLY focus on perfect form and going DEEEEEEEEEEEP, to keep depth from becoming a problem again.

Finally, 3 sets of hollow rocks to failure.

SO, I have reached some awesome goals. I need to be careful about depth, but other than that my form is great and I've never even been CLOSE to this strong. I can't wait to rest up, change up my programming, and start fresh again.

Dying

I'm dying. It's not even slow dying anymore.

Went in today. Warmed up, ran a little, and decided to work up to 315 in a bunchhhh of sets. hit 95 for 10 and then 5, 135 for 2 x 5, 185 for 2 x 4, 225 for 2 x 3, 275 for 2 x 2, and then missed 315 x 1. That's the first time I've missed 315 in about 2 months. AND, I just hit 335 for a single and 315 x 3 on thursday. Conclusion: I'm dying. My body needs a rest.

It's okay though. I just need to survive. Just a few more workouts, one week. No injury. Performance doesn't matter, just get through the workouts and work as hard as I can.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage rage against the dying of the light

Actually had a good ass day

Today I actually had a good ass day. which is surprising because of all the shitty ass days I have had lately.

Also, I'm excited to see Bane fuck shit up in the new batman movie

Started with bench. Seeing as how I only got 2 reps at 200 on tues, failing the 3rd, I didn't have high hopes for the 9 sets of 2 I was supposed to do today. BUT, I took my time and just went at it the best I could. It took me a LONG time, but I somehow made it through all 9 sets of 2, without failing a single rep! it was incredibly hard, but I am really happy with that accomplishment. I did not think I would be able to do that, but I pushed myself and I made it, which is pretty fuckin cool.

Next was 5/3/1 overhead press. I was tired after benching, but still did well on this, managing to hit 135 for 6, a new pr. Plus, I just BARELY failed rep 7. Went back down to 120, hitting it for 8, then 105 for 10 (both sets paused reps)

Next, I rowed the 90 lb dumbell for 2 sets of 15 and one set of 20, strict rows, only resting enough to switch my strap and move the bell.

Biceps. fuck yeah. 

Next, pushup challenge. Got through 8 rounds, but my form was a little shitty - I'm getting in the habit of having my hands up near my face instead of at my chest. Next week I'll tighten that up. My reps will probably take a hit, but whatever.

Finally, did 10 sets of 3 pullups, with 4 on the final set. These were good, not easy but not too hard. My shoulders are pretty sore now, but no elbow pain, which is good.

Over all, a solid upper body day, which is a nice surprise. One week left! Gotta keep at it, stay healthy, and just make it through the next few workouts. Very exciting.

Big Jump Squats

Today was a little different. I played around with big jumps, rather than warming up quite so much, for two reasons: one, I knew today might be far worse than a normal workout, so why not play around with some stuff, and two, I figured the less volume I included, the better I can recover.

Started with max squat. Went 135 x 10, then 225 x 5, then 315 x 1, 335 x 1, and missed at 345. My form was a little off on that one, I got caught forward and had to dump it. Still, the 335 was solid.

Next was heavy triple squat. did 135 x 5 and then x 3, then 225 x 3 and finally 315 x 3.

Finally, did front squats. 160 x 5, 180 x 3, 200 x 4, missed on the 5th rep. The first 3 were nice, the 4th was  a little sloppy, tried to tighten up form on 5 but then I missed it. Then I did 3 more singles at that weight.

Ended with 3 sets of hanging leg raises.

Overall, A good workout. Pretty good, especially for playing with the big jumps. Gotta surviveee the next few workouts. Then it's resty rest time.

Arms and updates

Easy day today.

Here's the update on my back: it's alright. Not completely better, but it's not "injured" really. It's just very stiff in the mornings, and loosens up over the course of the day. I need to be very careful not to REALLY injure it over the course of my next 6 workouts before break, but I think I'll be alright as long as I'm careful.

So I went into the gym today. warmed up, did some weightlifter cardio - jumped on the rower and did 10 hard pulls, 10 easy pulls for 5 rounds. Then I rolled for a while, did some bicep stuff - standing curls with the 25's and 21's with the straight bar (I almost never do straight bar bicep stuff, but it didn't bug my elbows at all today). Then I stretched more and rolled my back with the lacrosse ball. I have some nasty knots.

Anyways, my hope is that moving extra today, plus the cheat meal yesterday, might save my workout tomorrow and maybe even friday. Who knows. Either way I just have to push on and BE CAREFUL.

ALSO, been spending some time fine tuning the new program. I'll pus the entire thing up once I solidify it, but I've made some cool changes, especially adding some paused stuff for bench and squat to help my explosion out of the bottom and to really emphasize form. I'm excited to move into the next phase of my lifting life. Just got to survive the end of this phase first...

Bad Bad bad bad BAD

Today, I was crumbling like a burnt english muffin. 

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Form felt pretty good, strength felt okay. Warmed up, then hit 155 x 3, 175 x 3, then loaded up 200. Even though I hit it for 3 a couple cycles ago (on 1 week), I could only hit it for 2 today, missing on the third rep. It was pretty sad. I was planning on re-setting my 5/3/1 bench anyways, after this final cycle, but I really thought I could get through the whole cycle without failing. 

Next was 5 x 10 bench, and I decided to try and push this the best I could. Went to 155 and hit it for 10, then 9 (failing rep 10) then 9 again, then 5 - got an ass cramp, but jumped right back on and hit it for 4 more, then 8 on the final set. 

Did Kroc rows next. Couldn't find the 110 so I used the 90, and rowed it for 50 reps each side. 

Next was overhead pressing, which actually went very well. Worked up to 145 for 5 sets of 1, and repped it out for 3 on the 5th set. 

Finally, did a pyramid of strict pullups. Went 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1, for a total of 30 reps. 

SO, I'm slowly dying. This is my 11th week on and I think I just need a rest and I need to change up my program. But it's alright. All I have to do is survive the next week and a half: don't do anything stupid and get injured, and don't be too sad because of how horrible my workouts will be. And who knows, maybe my cheat today will help bring some life to my workout thursday. Either way, I just have to hold on, keep working hard even though I probably won't feel good or see results, and then make the most out of my rest week + look forward to my new and improved programming once I get back to working.  

The suffering

Today was possibly the most horrible day in the history of the horror. I'm writing this now, as fast as I can, so that I might forget about what just happened. 

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Form felt good, but I didn't feel particularly strong. Hit 235 x 3, 265 x 3, then 295 for 6. Part of the problem was that I wore a shitty shirt today, and the bar was all slippery and shitty on my back. I think part of it was also that it was a horrible day as well. Either way, 6 isn't bad - I need to be careful on depth though. I think I might be calling them a little high, even though I feel nice and low. 

Next were speed deads. 10 x 2 at 245 from 3 or so inch deficit. The first 5 or 6 sets were nice, pretty fast, started to slow down and get a lot harder towards the end. Overall not bad though. 

5 x 10 squats were awful. I was exhausted and just suffered through these. Sad thing is, I don't even know how many of them were to depth - like I said, I think I really need to start being very conscious of going WAY low. But these were incredibly painful and horrible to do. 

Finally, did some hollow rocks. 

Overall, this was mentally one of the hardest days I have had in a long time. I am incredibly happy that I have just one more monday workout left before my break. I hope I feel better tomorrow, because another day like this would be awful. 

Squatty squat

Nothing special today. Back felt a little stiff this morning, but I really think that the work I did yesterday helped. I went in, stretched a bit, and then decided to squat a little bit. Instead of doing my normal heavy single, though, I was fooling around with high bar. It's very different, but it felt pretty good. I worked up to 275 for 2 singles, which were solid, but my depth was a little questionable. I think I need to try and incorporate heavy high bar squats more. I think that they take a ton of focus and control, and that getting my high bar squat up would have some direct carryover to my normal squat.

Anyways, I think it was an especially good idea for today. It let me lift kind of heavy, strain a bit, but without loading up TOO heavy. My back feels pretty goof, so hopefully it is on the road to recovery, and monday will be good as new.

The Horror

Today was a horrible day. Pretty much I felt miserable and incredibly weak, and a little bit injured to boot.

After going ape-shit on those squats yesterday, I felt some tightness in my best that I HOPED was nothing - but I know from past experience that this is often due to a slight pull in a back muscle. Sure enough, I woke up today with some serious back tightness. Not nearly as bad as it's been when I hurt myself in the past, but moving my neck in certain positions is really uncomfortable, and pulling my back tight doesn't feel nice, which sucks really horribly on bench day. ANYWAYS, did my best to loosen up, but still felt like shit. Warmed up a ton, then went into my chaos and pain. I was figuring on 185 for 9 sets of 3 being pretty easy, seeing as how I did it last week, BUT it was not. At all. I didn't feel tight at all, and my setup hurt my back. Still, I fought through and made all 27 reps, although the final rep was ROUGH.

Next was Overhead press. My top set was 130 again, which I got for 8 last month. Today, I was only able to get it for 6 - probably partly because there is just way more volume this day before I get to that top set, but also probably cause I was just having a shit day. Dropped back to 115 and 100, and hit those for max paused reps.

Those were the two important things in my workout, and since I was feeling horrible I mentally prepared myself to just take the next few movements to get my blood moving, get healing, and not worry about my performance. Instead of doing my normal heavier barbell rows, I grabbed a 50lb dumbell and just rowed it for 20 reps each side for 3 sets, to try and get a bit of a back pump and get my    pulled muscle healing.

Next, I did my little pushup challenge, but I felt like complete ass. Did 5 wounds of 10 reps, with 3 on the 6th round. Tried to keep form nice, but it was just rough.

Finally, did some band pull aparts, some foam rolling, used the lacrosse ball a bit and did some band stretches. Overall, it was a tough, tough day - my mini injury sucks, and the whole workout was made worse by general weakness and lack of energy. But hey, I pushed through, and I had an AWESOME day yesterday - can't win em all.

SO, I'm definitely going to go stretch tomorrow, but as for squatting - Ill have to decided based on how I feel. Lets just hope that this muscle pull gets healed fast.

Always remember, all the suffering and the setbacks won't matter in the end. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.

The Animal

Today the animal came out. and He helped me wreck some weight.

Started with heavy single squat. Worked up a little differently today, hitting 135 for 3 x 5, 225 for 2 sets of 3 and a single, then 275 for 3 singles. Then 305, which shot up. 320 which was solid. 335 which was a little sloppy (one side rose a lot faster than the other) but I got it. Then, I loaded up 345. I went crazy for this weight, I rested at least 3-5 minutes but I was fucking pumped, and when I finally hit it I crushed it. It was a hard single, DEFINITELY a max, but the rep was beautiful, and I fought hard through the sticking point. Pumped about this. Ten lb pr. And getting ever closer to that 365 that is a long-time goal.

Next I dropped back. Went to 135 and hit it for a set of 5 and then 3, to get my form back, but form felt REALLY good today and so did strength. Hit 225 for 3, then 255, then 285, and I knew it was time. Loaded up 315 and nailed it for three. Hard reps, but very solid. This is great. Im very ready to attack this weight two mondays from now, when I'm fresh. I just have to be as aggressive as I was today.

Next, I did some good mornings, which were also very good. hit 5 at 135, 5 at 185, then 5 x 5 at 225, before dropping back to 185 x 10 and 135 x 15. Powerful.

Finally, hit 3 sets of hanging leg raises. these were hard and a little sloppy today, but I did my best to get my abs tired, and honestly I can't complain too much or be too surprised after the volume of work I had just done.

Strong day. Squat keeps growing growing growing. Gotta keep pushing myself.

Curls

Today, I pretty much just did curls.

I'm crazy sore today. Not sure why, but my whole legs/ass/groin is super sore from squatting monday, and my back is CRAZY sore from kroc rows. So I took my time warming up today, rolled around for a bit, then just did curls - standing dumbell curls. 20 with the 20's, 15 with the 30's, 3 sets of 10 with the 40's, then back to 15 with the 30's and 20 with the 20's. Nothing special.

I did bang out a few squats with just a bar or light weight, and even though I'm really sor,e my movement felt surprisingly smooth, and my form very nice. I'm looking forward to going heavy tomorrow. Hopefully my form will feel as nice. And hopefully I won't be quite so stiff and beat up.

Upper body & new cheat

Had a pretty solid upper body training session. Not perfect, but hit some good numbers and worked hard, even though I wasn't feeling my best.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Didn't feel too strong today. Form felt okay though. Hit 95, then 125, then 145 for 5, 165 for 5, and 185 for 6. Those 6 reps were easy, and I went for a 7th, thinking for sure I'd get it - and then I didn't. Still, 6 reps is a new PR at 185, and that 6th rep was not hard. That's some nice progress.

Next up was 5 x 10 bench. This was my hardest thing today. I'm not sure why - two weeks ago, I hit 145 for 5 x 10 no problem, even getting an extra 2 reps on the last set, but since then that weight has felt much tougher. I hit it for 4 sets of 10 today, then KIND of rushed the last set (although not really) and only got 8 reps. So I re-set it, rested plenty, and attempted it again - and again, only got 8. So, I re-set it again and hit the last two reps. Maybe next week I'll get it, and then I can move up to 155 for the final tuesday before my rest week.

Next were kroc rows. Even though I was tired and feeling shitty, I fucked these up today. Hit the 110 for 35 reps either side, and then another set of 25 each side. My back felt like death.

Next was overhead press, which went really well. Worked up in threes to 135, then hit that for 4 sets of 3 paused reps, and a 5th set of 4. I ALMOST had 5, which would have been AMAZING at 135 with paused reps, but I couldn't quite lock out the left arm. Still, my overhead press strength is getting WAY better, all the time.

I want my shoulders to look like cannonballs

Finally, did some pullups. Tried doing weighted kipped pullups, but honestly these are hard to do and feel shitty. I need to get back to school, where I can do heavy ass lat pulldowns again. Till then I guess I'll just keep playing with pullups variations and stuff.

ALSO, today is the first day I'm doing a three-hour cheat during the week. Gonna try this for the next three weeks - hopefully it will up my metabolism and my overall calories, helping add muscle and cut fat. Butttt maybe it will just make me fatter hahaha. I'll have to see if I feel any different at the end of these three weeks, and asses if I want to keep this cheat. We will see.

Power Day

Today was a day of power.

Started with 5/3/1 squat. After hitting the 300 for 8 last week, I decided to focus as much as I could on form on my 5 and 3 weeks and not worry about pushing myself too - just make every rep beautiful and do as many as I can. warmed up with 135 and 185, then hit 215 for 5, 245 for 5. Loaded up 275, tried to crush my nerves, and hit it for as many beautiful reps as I could - and got 12. They were all very nice, and that is still a 2 rep pr. Fuckin awesome.

Next were speed deads. These were at 225 today, from probably a 3 - 3.5 inch deficit, and they were candy. Moved really fast, even though the bar was almost touching my feet hahaha. 12 sets on the minute were not bad at all.

Next was 5 x 10 squat. Today was the culmination of 8 months - I started these at 135, with the mindset of "If I could get this 5 x 10 up to 205, that would be AMAZING." And today I did just that - 5 sets of 10 reps at 205, all very nice reps. I'm psyched. And I'm ready for a change. It will be nice to change this to a 5 x 5 in the next program, I could use a break from this volume.

Finally, ended with 3 sets to failure of hollow rocks.

SO, today I hit my 1-rep at the start of this program (275) for a set of 12. And reached my once far-away goal of squatting 205 for 5 sets of 10. My form feels better than ever, and I haven't had a rest week in three months. Things are looking good. Just gotta keep fighting till the end of this cycle.

Always stronger.

Frank Mcgrath

My future. This man is 5 foot 11, just barely taller than me, and his competition weight is 240... this is what I'm going to look like in 10 years when I hit my 2000 lb total. It will be a long journey... But Here is the future.

Its coming

FUCK

I feel like deep-fried AIDS as I'm writing this, so you can guess what kind of day it was in the gym.

Felt pretty good starting out. Took my time warming up, and worked up to 275 for a very nice triple. HOWEVER, after that 275 I jumped straight to 315, and it was a HORRIBLE rep. I tried to control it on the way down, but what ended up happening is I sank WAY into the bottom, lost all tension, and then was pretty much up shit creek without a paddle. It was only 315 though, so I was determined not to miss the rep - so what followed was about a 6-8 second struggle to the top which took every ounce of strength I had. My face felt like it was going to explode from the pressure. Afterwards, my knees were aching, my entire lower body was trembling and exhausted, and I felt like I was dying.

Nice to know I could hit that weight even on the worst of reps, but holy hell I hope I never have a squat that bad again.

The End Is Neigh

Today was my last official workout of cycle 5. One cycle left, then a week of eating and relaxing on the beach and maxing out my lifts before I start anew. And it was a great way to end this cycle.

Started with Chaos and Pain bench. Today was 205 (my nemesis) for 9 sets of one, and I did great. warmed up with 95, 135, 165, 185, then hit the 205. It wasn't easy, but almost all of the reps were very nice and solid, with the exception of rep 8 which was a little sloppy and rough. But then I pulled it together and crushed 9, a beautiful rep. It makes me very proud that I was able to move this weight so many times today. I was stuck at 205 for the longest time, and it feels good to finally be past that plateau. Granted, I'm not THAT far past it hahaha, but it shows that hard work and time are the only things that really matter. I've hated benching for so long, but I never gave up trying to find a solution, and now I'm finally progressing.

Next up was overhead press. Hit 110 for 3, then 125 for 3, and finally 140 for 5. I started going for 6, and gave up on it because my quads felt like they were about to cramp up from all the squeezing. I don't think I would have locked it out anyways, but who knows. Either way, 5 reps at 140 is a new 5rm. and rep 5 was tough, but not so tough that I didn't try for 6. AND, after that I dropped back to 125, and from completely dead stops I pressed that for 8 reps, which is more than I could even do it for 6 months ago. My OP has really progressed as well, and dropping my 5/3/1 weights back was the best decision I've ever made. Hit 110 for max dead stop reps as well.

Next were bent over rows. I worked up heavier, going to 165, and hit it for 2 sets of 10 and then a final set of 20. I still don't love these, but I'm gonna keep playing with them I think. They definitely won't hurt... I just don't feel like they are that effective for my back. Don't know.

Next was my pushup game - sets of 10, every 30 seconds, with the goal being to get 100 reps. I did better this week, getting 8 full rounds and 5 reps in round 9. My form was better in that I touched with my chest/quads/nose pretty much every rep, but my elbows are pretty flared and my hands are a bit out in front of me - very "chest dominant." I think next week I'll try to tighten up a little, and keep pushing towards that 100. And once I get it, I'm thinking I'll play a similar game... only with dips. We will see.

Finally, ended with some t-bar rows. These are kind of silly, but I liked them. You can go pretty heavy on them and do a lot of reps. The rom is small, but I think just supporting and moving a lot of weight like that will help my back grow. did sets of 10 with (I'm just going to refer to the weights as if both sides were loaded, because it's easier to think of it that way) 135, 225, 275, 315, and then did a set to failure (13 reps) with 365.

Overall, a very strong day. Heavy squats tomorrow, but aside from that ONCE CYCLE LEFT!

The growing. 

Squat strength

Strong day today. Very strong.

HUGEEEE

Started with heavy single squat. I felt like shit today, but my form was feeling good. I hit 135, 225, then 275 for 2 singles. Then 305 with the belt, then 315, then 325. All these reps were great. Very controlled on the way down, and tough but strong on the way up. Loaded up 335 and hit it for a tough but very solid single, and decided to go up to 345. I missed the rep, but it was a very good miss. I controlled the weight on the way down, got nice and low, made it about halfway up (to my normal sticking point), and then had to dump. But I had a fighting chance, and it was a beautiful rep, which is good.

Next, dropped back to 135 to get my beltless form feeling nice again, then worked up in triples. These felt really solid today - again, hit 225, 245, 265, 285, and finally 305 for a triple. This felt better than last week, which is impressive considering the miss at 345.

Next was 5/3/1 front squat. hit the bar for a few, then 145 x 3, 170 x 3, and 190 x 5. I'm trying really hard to do every rep perfectly, and to call the set once my form starts to go AT ALL. These are progressing so slowly that I'm sure I'll be able to really help out my front squat with this strategy, over the course of the next 6 months or so. After the rep out, I hit the 190 for 3 or 4 more singles, which I plan to do every week to help cement good form in my mind.

Finally, did 3 sets of hanging leg raises. Worked on really controlling the movement and not using any momentum. These made them harder, but I felt like I was working my core much better, and they are still fairly strict.

Master of littlehuge

Great workout. I worked hard, my squats feel awesome, and I am going to keep pushing these next three weeks to try and get all the extra pounds I can before my break. I'm getting excited to truly max out - in just about 5 weeks! Cool.

Olymaster

Stupid arm day went fine today. I mostly just did preacher curls, and then foam rolled and stretched a bit.

THE AWESOME THING about today is that an oly lifter came to the gym to try out training there. He's a fucking cool ass dude who is REALLY strong - after snatching, cleaning and jerking, I watched him squat up to 455 today, and he weighs the same as I do. He seems like a fucking awesome guy, and I REALLY hope he decided to train with us. He could teach us so much, and having someone THAT much better than me around would help motivate me so much.

Here's to getting better.