Power Bench

Today was a powerful day.

On a completely unrelated note, this is awesome. 

Started with Chaos and Pain bench. Hit the bar for a few sets of 10, then 135 for 8 reps or so, then went straight to 195 and was crushing it for my 10 x 1. Had no problems, moved fast, and even managed to hit it for 3 on my final set.

Next was overhead press, and again I was killing it. Hit 115 x 5, 130 x 3 like cake, then hit 145 for a very solid 5, even went for 6 but couldn't get it. 5 is still a PR, and it was NOT a tough 5. Then I dropped back and hit 130 x 6 paused reps, and 115 x 8 paused reps.

I had already had a great day, and didn't want to move far in the gym cause Josh was max squatting, So for horizontal row, I just did 2 sets of 20 each side rows with the 70 lb dumbell.

Next, did 10 x 10 pushups on the minute. Were solid. Gonna move to 10 x 12 on the minute next week.

Finally, Lat pulldowns, 3 x 12 at 150, 15 last set. These were easy, did them with very little rest. Next week I'll drop to 8-10 reps and go HEAVY, try and force the lats to grow.

Jacked woman. Awesome. 

My body is exploding. I don't know what's doing it, but I am eating a ton and walking a ton here at school, getting leaner and my workouts feel amazing. Can't wait to keep at it.

Heaviest squat.

Today was my heaviest squat day of the cycle, It went really well, but my ass is now incredibly sore.

Frank McGrathmaster

Started with Chaos and Pain. Hit the bar, then 125. Jumped to 205, but still felt a bit stiff so I hit 255 for a double before jumping to 285. Overall the C&P squatting was good. There were a couple tough reps, but only one of them was REALLY bad (I lost tension). The rest of them felt pretty solid and nice - I kept my heels planted and my chest up, and a few reps in particular were REALLY nice.

Next was front squatting. hit 160 x 5, then 180 x 3, and finally 200 x 5. That's nice, and the reps were all solid. My chest dropped a little on 4, but I fought it on 5. Then I hit it for 3 more singles.

Wow. HUGE legs. 

Next, deadlifts felt AWESOME. hit 205 for 2 fast singles, then ripped 285 for a few. Then went up to 315 and hit it for 3 singles. couldn't have taken more than a minute or so rest between them, and my back felt flat for every rep. Breathing at the top seems to make a big difference. Might try to push these up to 325 soon. Maybe not next week, but soon.

Gotta love heavy deadlifting

Finally, ended with 3 x 12 hanging leg raises, supersetted with back extensions.

Great workout. Next week the volume returns, which will be hard, but hopefully I have grown from this heavy stuff, and I'll be able to move the lighter weights for a lot of nice reps.

Arms and other things

Figured out my issue with the bench today. There are two types of bench at the gym - one is about an inch higher than the other, and if I use this sort of bench, my setup is FAR more comfortable, and I can use the higher setting (6) on the power rack, which allows me to unrack the weights without any issue. I hit the bar, then 135 x 5 in this manner, then jumped straight to 195 and hit it for a solid triple. Problem solved.

In addition, I did some stretching for squats, including sitting in the bottom position with 125 on my back for 15 - 20 seconds at a time, and then later various calf/ass/hip stretches. I think saturday I might play with doing a heavy paused single.

Finally, did some arms. I've found that doing curls where I keep the weight really tight to my bidy, with my scaps locked back, seems to hit my biceps really well. I did a set of 15 with 10's and 20 lb dumbells,  then did 3 sets of10 with 25's, and then drop sets to 20 and finally 12.5 to near-failure.

Doods. 

Getting adjusted and feeling strong.

Bench

Benching was a little annoying today. Started with 5/3/1 bench, but the equipment here is differrent and tough to get used to. There are little problems, like where I need to set my feet and keeping my butt on the bench, but the biggest problem is the rack height. I either have to set it an inch to low or a little too high, and since high isn't an option, I have to do low and put a lot of energy into unracking it. BUT I'm going to play with the higher setting, and either way I will adjust eventually.

Hit 155 x 5, then 175 x 3 and finally 195 for 2. the 10 x 1 is going to be interesting if I don't quickly adjust to the new equipment. We will see. Next, did 175 for 3 sets of 2 paused reps, and finally 155 x 9. Not a great day on the bench, but not awful either.

Next, did kroc rows, palms facing in, using momentum. 90 x 25 each side.

Next, overhead press went really well. hit the bar and 95, then did 135 x 3, then 150 for 5 singles. I tried for an extra rep on the last set and couldn't get it. Then I dropped back, hit 135 for 3 x 3, then back up to 145 x 1, ALL from a dead stop. I need to be careful not to breathe and squeeze my butt together and create elastic energy. But I made sure not to do that for the 135 x 3 x 2 and the 145 x 1, and it didn't feel harder.

Finally, did neutral grip chins - a set of 7, 6 and 5. Hopefully these won't bother my elbows, and they will help my chinning ability.

Heavy squat

Started today with 5/3/1 squat. Worked up fast and efficiently, without much stress, and it went very well. Hit the bar for 2 sets of 10, then 125 for 10, then straight to 225 x 5 and then 255 x 3. Then I went to 285. I approached this a little tentatively, lowering with a lot of control and probably a bit slower than was ideal, but I managed to hit rep 1 solidly, rep 2 well, and then moved rep 3 a little smoother and got it. 3 reps at 285 is nice. The weight is coming back onto the bar. I think I will leave my 5/3/1 work be for now, hopefully my strength will continue to grow (faster than the weights increase). Either way, 3 reps on 1 week is not bad.

Next were speed deads at 285, no deficit. I did these taking a breath at the TOP, instead of right before I pulled, which felt awesome. 1, it made me feel more stable, and 2 it forced me to do my setup quicker, which I think made the weight move faster. These were really good, I'm excited to start doing them from a deficit.

Next, 5 x 5 at 215 was great. Solid, fast reps. Tried to work on fluidly connecting the down and the up. I'm getting better at it. The chest still drops every once in a while, and my weight still shifts forward every so often, but Im getting it.

Next, superset of hollow rocks and back extensions. these were tough today.

ALSO - weight on first day of this semester, in the morning was 192.5. Gonna weight again at the end of the semester.

15 x 2 Bench Press

Today was a great workout.

Started with 15 sets of 2 bench. Warmed up with the bar, then 95 x 10, then 135 x 8, then straight to 185, which I rarely do. This 15 x 2 was much less difficult and horrible than squats hahaha. Partly I think that is because I am still working to master the new form of squatting, and this bench weight is lighter and easier than what I'm used to, and part of me just thinks that might be the nature of the movements themselves. Either way, it was not as tough, but still took a lot of focus. It was good practice to work on staying in the zone of not being too stressed, panicked, aggressive, but not allowing myself to relax too much. I kept moving, took it one set at a time, and made it through all 30 reps with no missed, and only a couple tough reps. 10 x 1 at 195 should be no problem and a lot of fun compared to these past few workouts.

Apparently, if you can bench 5 plates you turn to pure gold. 

Next was strict pressing. I felt pretty good, even after all the volume I just did. Hit the bar for a couple sets, then 95 for 3. Then did 110 for 3, 125 for 3, and 140 for a tough but solid 5. That ties my pr at that weight, and considering how much pressing I did before that, I'd say that's pretty good. Dropped back to 125 and hit it for 6 paused reps, then went to 110 and hit it for 7 or 8 paused reps.

For my horizontal row I did horizontal pullups, 3 sets of 12 really letting my upper back round in the bottom and trying to pull hard and fast to the bar. these felt good. Might keep them around.

Next, did 10 pushups on the minute for ten minutes. Form was much better this week, and I made it through without having to break up any of the sets. Very nice. Gonna reduce the rest time soon, but not right away.

Finally, 3 sets of 10 kipped pullups.

Great last real workout here. I'm excited to get back to school and have some new and different equipment. Lets keep at it.

Chaos and LOTS of pain

Today was one of the more difficult workout I can remember. It was my first time doing a 15 x 2 and it was HARD. But I made it through.

Me, in between sets of my 15 x 2

Warmed up, then hit the bar for a couple sets. then, 135 for 10, and 225 for 5. Then went up to 270 and got started. I was stiff at first, but got through the first few sets okay. However, I rushed set 5, and ended up having a tough first rep and then getting out of position and missing rep 2. So I re-racked, took set 5 again, and from that point I didn't miss a single rep. Overall, they were fairly good. Some were not as fast and smooth down as I would have liked, and on some of the really hard later ones my chest dropped a bit (the final rep was horrible hahaha). But overall, form was solid. Here are some things I learned that I will need to remember to survive future 15 x 2's. First of all, forget about time. Rushing the rest or worrying about how long it's taking you is not gonna help. Instead, just try and keep your mind on the set right in front of you. Hit a double. Rest till you feel ready, then rest a little more. Hit the next double. Don't panic, no matter how much you have left, and don't rush, no matter how LITTLE you have left. Rest enough so that you are supremely confident you won't miss, and then go again. It takes a TON of focus and self control to get through, but I think this sort of workout is going to be GREAT for my squat.

Next was front squatting. Honestly, after Chaos & Pain squats, everything else is gonna be treated as assistance work, which is fine. I still am doing good solid work, and EVERYTHING feels easy after those squats hahaha. Front squats felt good. I was a little less tight than I could have been, because I was tired, and I was sitting back a little too much and letting my knees scoop in, instead of jacking them out as hard as I could have and keeping my chest up. Still, I got a nice 5 reps at 190, and then did 4 solid singles without much problem. Like I said, chest was a bit forward, but not bad, just need to fight that next thurs.

Next, had a good time with deadlifting. I did 225 for 3 singles, then 275 for 2 singles, and finally 315 for 2 singles. My back felt much stronger and flatter this week than last week - still maybe a little curve, but not bad at all, almost completely flat, and the reps were smoother than last week. I almost wanted to hit a 3rd single, but I backed off instead. There is plenty of time to do more deads, no sense in pushing past good form.

Finally, ended with hanging leg raises and back extensions. These were rough cause I was completely exhausted hahaha, but gotta do my core work.

Overall, incredibly tough workout, but really solid technique and hard hard work to get through. Hopefully 15 x 2 bench will be a little easier, but who knows hahaha. Either way, going heavier for a 10 x 1 next week will hopefully be MUCH nicer. Can't wait.

Stretching

Today was a pretty low-key day. I went in, spent a good amount of time doing some basic stretches, but didn't really feel like pushing too much on that or arms work. So mostly I just warmed up, stretched a bit and then did some basic curl variations, but nothing particularly hard or exciting. Now, I'm just going to try and eat plenty and rest well tonight. Tomorrow AND friday I am doing 15 x 2's, which I have never done and will most likely be very challenging. Should be tough, but also very fun.

A side note - I am in the middle of packing for school right now. It's hectic, and the move back / change of equipment will be a bit of a pain in the ass. I have to try and keep that in mind this next week or two, and remember that some workout might be a little tougher because of the craziness. It's not an excuse, but just a reminder to myself not to be too angry if I'm not at 100% these next few workouts. Just keep at it hard and do my best, and I'm on a good path right now.

Nice Bench

Today was a great bench workout.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Warmed up nicely, then hit the bar for a couple sets, then 95 for 10, then straight to my first work set. I really tried to focus on squeezing the shit out of the bar, as this cue really helps me keep EVERYTHING tight, and lack of tightness was a problem last tuesday. Hit 145 for 3, then 165, then went to 185 and hit it for a very solid 5 reps. I was also very happy with myself for calling it after 5. The 5th rep was tough, but very solid, and I could have tried for a 6th - but I am very happy I didn't. Worked hard without pushing too close to failure. Nice.

Next, backed off to 165 and hit it for 3 sets of 3 paused reps. These felt solid and not too hard. I'm getting the hang of them.

Then, backed off to 145 and hit it for a max set, getting 14. Seeing as how this is what I got at 135 last week, I think this shows that that was just a rough workout hahaha. I tried for a 15th too, because I really thought I could get it, but it just wasn't there. No biggie.

This is awesome and I want to look like this. 

Next up were Kroc rows. Using the 90's, I did these differently this week... with one knee and hand on the bench, and my palm holding the dumbell facing in. These were way tougher than the other way I was doing them - I started off doing strict reps, but could barely get to 10 before switching to using more momentum, and even then I only got 20. I think next week I will use the 90's again, but do them with momentum from the start, see how that feels.

Strict press from a dead stop actually went really well today. Still trying to keep the grip a little wider, and its starting to feel natural and strong. Hit the bar x 5, then 95 x 5, 125 x 5. Then I loaded up 145 - I wasn't feeling very strong, but I gave it a shot anyways, and actually hit it for 3 nice reps from a dead stop, which is awesome. I hit it for another single, then back to 125 for 5, and finally 95 for 10, all from a dead stop.

Finally, ended with a pyramid of pullups. Worked up to 5 reps, then back down, for a total of 30.

So, a great day. Bench was solid and I didn't push myself to failure, which is awesome. Strict press was great, and I found a better way to do me kroc rows. Excited for arms tomorrow. It's so nice to be back in the swing of training. Can't believe I'll be headed back to school soon.

Good squat

Today was actually a very good squat workout. Form is coming along, at just about exactly the rate I expected hahaha.

Started with 5/3/1 squat. Warmups went well, although My right hip/groin was bugging me a little. I have a bit of an issue with that hip. My setup is often not square, with my left foot being a little furthr back, and my right foot tends to turn out a little more. and, that hip is the one that tends to be sorer. I'm not sure If my right hip is just tighter, or maybeee one leg is longer than the other? Either way, no biggie, just an observation. Took a while to get warm, but then I hit the bar for a few sets, then 135 x 10, then straight to 210 x 3, then 240 x 3. Then I loaded up 270. Hit it for 3 solid reps, but Josh told me I was moving to slow, so on the 4th rep I tried to descend faster and lost my balance, dumping the weight back. It wasn't a failed rep., I just completely lost the bar off my back. But those three reps were solid, so I decided to re-rack the weight and go again. This time, I moved a little faster and got 5 reps, the 5th being a struggle, but still got it. This is nice. In my mind, I predicted that I would probably get 7 reps week one, 5 week two (as my technique improved), and hopefully 4 or 5 week 3. So far, I'm on track, so we will see what happens.

Next were speed deads: 265 for 10 sets of 1 on the minute with no deficit. They moved pretty nicely today. Fast, I felt better dropping my hips a tiny bit lower on later sets. hopefully 285 will be heavy, but solid.

Finally, ended with 5 x 5 at 215, and this was really good. I really got to work on my technique - namely, a faster descent. When I try and descend to the bottom of a squat fast, I feel out of control, like I'm going to lose tension. HOWEVER, I simply do not lose tension. I just hit the stretch reflex better, and it makes all the reps easier. The heavy set was harder than it needed to be, simply because I was moving slower than I needed to move. The same was true for the first set or so of my 5 x 5. However, around set 3 I started forcing myself to drop faster than I was comfortable with. Although for a split second it feels as though I'm out of control, and I will lose it out of the hole, in reality I just hit the bottom smoothly and shoot right back out of it, making every rep cleaner and easier than in the sets where I moved slower. It's still not completely comfortable, but it's a big step in the right direction. Hopefully on thursday when I do my heavy work, I can mimic the speed that I moved at in my 5 x 5 today, and start to make that second nature. If I can move the weight that smoothly and keep my chest up, I think I have quite a few reps waiting for me at 285. We will see.

Finally, ended with snatch grip RDL's supersetted with hollow rocks. I liked the snatch grip RDL's better that the other back stuff I have tried. However, I went fairly heavy (205 for 3 sets of 10), and I hope it didn't mess up my back for benching tomorrow. If I feel I can't get as tight, maybe I will try these with less weight next time. We will see.

SO, good day. My squat technique is getting more and more comfortable, and as it improves to does the weight I'm moving. Hopefully thursday and monday will both go very well, and I can keep my 5/3/1 work this heavy. But, if not, it will only be a small setback on my journey. The squats are returning to me. It's just a matter of time.

Fun day

Had a lot of fun in the gym. My uncle with old man strength came by for a visit, and we had fun playing around.

Started with squatting. Warmed up and pulled the sled a bunch of times to get my legs working. Then put on the oly shoes and started working. The style is feeling more and more natural and less and less painful - my strength definitely wasn't at it's best today, but my movement felt pretty good. I hit 135 for a set of 8, then a set of 5, then 225 for 3 and a few singles. Then 255 for 3 singles, then 275 for 2 singles, and Finally went up to 285 and hit it for 1. The heavier reps were definitely a little more awkward, and the rep at 285 was the worst one - slow on the descent and a little sloppy. However, hard as it was I still made it, which is good.

Also... BACK

After that, I pretty much just goofed off. I loaded the prowler up with 4 45's and pushed it for a few rounds, to get in a little bit of conditioning. Then my uncle and I moved the atlas stones around a little bit. Finally, I did some Klokov pressing up to 115 for a double and a couple singles.

Overall it was a fun day. Not as much stretching as I might have wanted, but hey it was a special occasion. And I'm glad I squatted that 285. It wasn't cake, but it's good to know I can do it. Now to rest and cheat on my diet, and prepare for monday.

Upper Body

Today was a solid upper body day. Slept well last night and had a good day in the gym.

Started with Chaos and Pain bench. Hit 95 and 135 for a warmup, then straight to 175. The ten sets of 3 were very strong. Not easy, but not too tough at all, which is right where I should be at this point. I tried to move through them pretty fast, and did well.

Next was 5/3/1 Press. hit 100 for 5, 115 for 5, then 130 for 7, which is only one off my PR, and after 30 heavy reps that's pretty solid. Then I dropped back, and from a dead stop hit 115 for 8 and then 100 for 9.

Next, I did snatch - grip pendelay rows, 3 sets of 10 with 115. I liked them okay. Gonna keep playing.

Next, pushups, sets of 10 on the minute for 10 minutes - a little easier than what I have been doing, but I figured I'd take it back a little. It was still fuckin hard. I made it, but I had to break up the last 3 or so sets, and my form was less than perfect. I wanna make it through all ten with beautiful form and without breaking them up. Hope it happens soon.

Finally, did 3 sets of 10 kipped pullups. Still feel these a lot in my lats. With I had my Lat pulldown, but soon enough I will.

So, good day. Excited to squat tomorrow. Lets do it.

Ouchie Ouch

Today was a very hard day. Not only am I still not used to this style of squatting, but I ALSO have never done Chaos and Pain with squats, AND I spent last night drinking and not sleeping well, which made today extra horrendous. That being said, it was actually a fairly good workout, Just very hard.

Started with Chaos and Pain squat. Warmed up plenty, hit the bar for some reps, then 135 for a couple sets and 225 for a set of 5. Then up to 255. I tried to move pretty quick with my 10 sets of 3 at this weight, which is probably part of the reason they were tough. But overall, this went very well. I am finally starting to get the feel for the high bar squat. It's still not "natural" to me yet, and there is some slowness and hesitation that is holding me back, but Im starting to feel good reps vs. bad reps, and getting the hang of sitting all the way down with my chest up. One thing I am definitely getting is full depth - every single rep today was veryyyy deep. Also, I didn't really lose tension on any rep (except one, which was horrible), which is good. I still need to work on moving swiftly through my reps and catching that stretch reflex, and fighting to lead with my chest up, because on a few of the harder reps I definitely shot my butt back and let my chest drop on the way up. But overall, Even though this was crazy hard I really feel like I'm getting the hang of it. Hopefully next week will be better.

Afterwards, I did 5/3/1 front squat. Doing these in the shoes, and after warming up with my new style of squatting (which has much better carryover) felt really good. hit 140 for 5, 160 for 5, then 180 for 6. Those 6 reps were nice and not incredibly hard, but it's tough to really push myself to a max after all that back squatting. Front squatting hurts. I'm not going to limit myself by saying "only do the prescribed reps," but probably I will tend to only do a rep or two extra, if any, on my front squat work. I did do a few more singles, however, at 180, which felt awesome. I do a really good job catching my stretch reflex with front squats, something that I need to figure out how to do in my back squat as well.

Next, put on 225 and threw the bar on the ground. Pulled 225 for 2 singles, then 275 for 2 singles, and finally 315 for 2 singles. I fought to keep my back as flat as possible, but it's tough for me at that weight. The first rep was pretty smooth, but definitely a little bit of rounding. Second rep I REALLY fought to keep my back flat, which made breaking it from the floor MUCH harder, and in the end my back still gave a tiny bit. However, considering what a tough day today was, I'm not too bummed about it. I'm just gonna keep lifting up to  heavy single at the end of thursday, till I can do it with my back pretty fucking solid and with a bit of speed.

Finally, did 3 sets of hanging leg raises supersetted with round back back extensions. Didn't push too hard on either of these, just used my core a bit.

Overall, an exhausting day, but good. I'm getting the hang of high bar back squatting - it's still hard for me, but hopefully it will begin to feel more and more natural, and my strength will begin growing in the new ranges of motion and in the new muscles I'm using. Front squatting for reps is horrible, but I think even doing just the minimum 5/3/1 work with good form and the singles after is going to help greatly improve my front squat. And hopefully the heavier single deads will help grow my back and make heavy pulls easier next time I max out with the belt.

Gotta keep working hard. Peace.

Stretching, Arms, + Practice squats

Had a nice little gym time today.

Started with some stretching. Did my normal warmup, then 2 minutes in the bottom of a squat. I tried to focus on keeping my toes pointed forward, and getting comfortable in that position. It helps keep my chest up, and helps to maximize torque. Then I did a minute or so stretching my butt, and then 2 minutes a side on the couch stretch.

After stretching, I did a bunch of practice squatting, woven in to my arms training. For arms, this is what I did:

Straight bar cheat curls: bar x 8, 65 x 8, 75 x 3 sets of 8
Dumbell curls, 20 lb dumbells for 3 x 12
21's, one set with 65lbs, one set with the bar.

Got a bit of a pump. I'm trying to work a bit harder on arms day, but I'm not very good at it haha.

As far as squatting goes, I'm finding a groove that feels nice... but I'm not sure if the reason it feels good is because I'm sitting back and dropping my chest hahaha. I don't know If I need to force myself to do whats uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable, or if this groove I'm finding is the best way for me to high bar. We will experiment tomorrow when I have to squat 255 x 10 x 3.

ALSO, awesome idea for a new program, after these 18 weeks. more to come.

The Change

I have decided to squat on saturdays again, for all 18 weeks of the program, instead of just the last 9.

I had a lot of reasons for taking saturdays off the first 9 weeks - It would give me more time to stretch, focus on condition, it would force me to control myself and stop myself from always doing whatever I WANT (i.e. squatting a ton extra), and doing more of what I need to. It would make me take some mental space from lifting, to try and do the best I could in the 4 workouts I had, and then step back and relax.

But in reality, these were mostly excuses. the best way to increase my mobility for squatting is to squat, deep and often. I can easily stretch and condition after I squat on saturday. And squatting on saturday will make me BETTER - it's not stupid extra bullshit that i'm doing because of a lack of self control.

The real reason I wanted to take that day off is because I don't know how to separate myself mentally form the weight. This last cycle, I put so much pressure on myself to ALWAYS be hitting new pr's, to get better better better every workout. I pushed myself to failure or near failure all the time, and was angry and upset when I didn't hit bigger and better weights. This is the reason for my mental burnout, and probably part of the reason why I slowly let my squat develop more and more bad habits.

But the truth is, I love lifting, and I LOVE squatting. And I WANT to squat on saturday, because it;s fun for me AND will make me better, faster. I just convinced myself that the only way to escape that mental stress was to force myself to back off. But in reality, I need to learn how to enjoy myself, regardless of how much weight I'm putting up any given session. Sometimes a workout will suck, and sometimes it will be amazing, but In the end I will always lose if I can't just be happy doing what I love. And forcing myself away from it isn't the answer. It's just going to slow my progress, and then in 9 weeks when I try to squat 3 days a week again, I'll run into the same problem.

No, I will squat saturdays. But instead of programming anything, or deciding to squat to a max, I'm just going to do what feels good on that day. Feel strong? Squat a heavy triple. Really strong? heavy single. Feel like shit? Do a bunch of sets of 8. Feel like the fuckin master? Go for a new pr. I just need to remember that it's not all about hitting new Pr's every week. I love lifting, and If I just do it for no other reason than that, I WILL get stronger and better. But getting caught up in "stronger" all the time is going to take away my love for what I do, and that's no good.

So, I will squat saturdays, so that I might learn to alleviate that mental stress, rather than simply avoiding it. And I will get better, stronger, faster, and be happier because of it. It is good.

Bench return

Today was another alright day. Not great, but good. It's a little frustrating to come back to lifting and have to get my form back and feel shitty. Plus, I'm adjusting to not having carbs in my body, and since yesterday was my first real training session in a while, I used up all my sugars and felt like AIDS today. But it's okay. I'm getting it back, and hopefully the second half of the week will be better.

Started with bench. My work weight were 135, 155 and 175 today. I felt for sure that I would get a PR at 175 (either 8, 9, or 10 reps), but taking time off made me shittier. I also had a tough time feeling very tight. Hit 175 for 7 (slightly sloppy) reps, failing on the 8th. I was pissed at first, but it's okay - I really think it's simply a product of having taken time off. Hopefully next week, 185 will go better.

Next, dropped back to 155 and hit it for 3 sets of paused reps - 3, then 4, then 3 reps. These felt solid, again a little loose, but not bad. I'm not really planning on pushing this middle set too hard, just trying to get a feel for the pausing. After these three sets, I dropped to 135 and hit it for a set to failure - again, not as tight as I wish I was, but not horrible. Got it for 14 then called it. Hopefully ALL of these things will go better next week.

Kroc rows were good. Rowed the 90's for as many strict reps as I could - around 25 - then used more momentum, doing 35 each side. gonna start rowing them with my palms facing inwards to make these a little harder.

Strict press was good. Did a big pyramid of dead stop reps, tried to move my grip out a tiny bit (which feels weird), but I think it might help in the long run. If I hate it though, I'll just switch back. did 95 for 8, 115 for 5, 135 for 3, 145 for 2 singles, then back down the ladder. The 145's were tough, but do-able.

Finally, ended with pullups. Moving pretty quick, I did 3 triples, 3 doubles, and 3 singles, but repped out the last set for 3. Felt good.

HAHAHA this is funny

Overall, not an AMAZING day, but maybe my expectations were a bit too high for my first day back. Excited to have a day off tomorrow, and a cheat (in about 20 minutes), and to come back hard thursday.

Squat Rebirth

First squat day back, and I actually felt pretty good. Not a perfect day, but solid. 

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Warmed up very well, and did a lot of air squats to start, just to get myself very warm. the reps with the bar and 135 felt really good - I started to sort of find a groove, which made me nervous that I was doing them wrong haha. Im still not very confident about my form. But overall I think they looked good, and they felt pretty good. And Josh said they looked nice, so they couldn't have been too bad. 

Warmed up with 135, then went straight to my first work set at 195. This was no problem for 5. Next was 225, and again this really wasn't any problem for 5. I started getting a feel for the high bar, and the weight was moving nice. 255 was a little bit of a different story. It's not MUCH heavier, but the 30 lbs definitely made a difference. However, I still was able to handle the weight fairly well. My form was pretty good, and I managed to get it for 6 solid reps, failing on the 7th (although I probably should have gotten that rep). My one problem was that I WAS cutting the reps a little high - well below parallel, but higher that "full depth,"which is really the goal. On rep 6 and 7 I went deeper, which is probably part of the reason I missed 7. Still, form was nice, and this was the first time I've squatted heavy with this new style - ideally on 5 week I would like 9 or 10 reps, and 6 isn't so far off when you consider that the technique is still very new. I'm feeling very optimistic that next week will be a little better, and the week after better still. My hope is that by the time I rep out 285, I will be able to hit it for a solid 5 reps. If I can do that, then I will definitely keep the 5/3/1 work where it is. Obviously that's a significant gain from todays workout, but I'm hoping I will have a significant improvement in technique in another 3 or 4 squat workouts, and that alone should make a huge difference. IF I CAN'T get that 285 for 5 though, I need to not be disheartened - just take the weight back or repeat this cycle, and build up. The weight doesn't matter. It's all about nice technique at this point. 

The high bar. 

Next were speed pulls. No deficit, I pulled 245 for 12 singles on the minute. Doing these without shoes now. Also, trying to focus on driving through my heels, to fix my issues that became apparent when I maxed out of shifting my weight forward and (kinda) hitching. These were smooth, not incredibly fast but not bad. 

Next, did my 5 x 5 of squats with 215. I thought this weight might be too heavy, but it was actually pretty good. These reps were not easy, but light enough that I could really focus on good form. I tried my best to keep my elbows locked back, my chest up, and REALLY go as deep as I could go. As The sets went on, I also tried to move the weight faster while still controlling it - on the 255, I was definitely moving pretty slow, and I need to get the hang of moving fast and controlled. But anyways, the 5 x 5 was definitely great practice. If I can do my 10 x 3 on thursday with the same form I did this 5 x 5, I think that 255 will move much nicer than today and feel a lot better. And hopefully that will set me up for a better rep - out when I do 270 next monday. 

It's tricky. I had to talk myself out of doing a lot of extra squatting today. I just want my technique to be perfect so I can start pushing myself again, but I have to remember that doing all this extra bullshit is going to hurt me, not help me. I have a great program set up, and I WILL get the hang od high bar squatting very soon, and I WILL start to get stronger and feel like I can work my ass off and get better very soon. I just need to be patient. I'm really going to try and focus on stretching on my off days, and not letting myself do a bunch of extra squats, and then just work hard and keep my technique as good as possible on squat days. It's going to take a lot of self control, but If I am patient, keep my ego out of it, and focus on technique, I will improve very quickly. 

Finally, ended with some core stuff. Supersetted hollow rocks with some back work - at first I did some weighted back extensions with a round back, but I find that my hamstrings end up killing me well before I get a good back workout. So I switched to a round-backed good morning. Not sure how I feel about these yet - they feel kind of bad on the back, but I think that's the point? Hahaha. And As long as I keep them light for a lot of reps, I don't think I will hurt myself. I'll keep playing, see what works best. 

Overall, a good day. 5/3/1 work is the way I expected it to be - I can get the prescribed reps, not much more, and my form is good, but not beautiful. Hopefully, technique will improve rapidly, and strength will improve with it. that 285 will probably be the first real test of how strong I am with this high bar style. Whatever happens over the next two weeks, I just need to keep my focus on technique and not let myself get discouraged. The strength will come. 

The Calm

Today I spent a lot of time moving and stretching, and I feel good because of it. My hamstrings are very tight and sore from yesterday, but hopefully I will feel much better come monday, and will be able to work my hardest my first squat day.

Started with a normal dynamic warmup, then did a quick bodyweight metcon just to get myself sweating and do a little bit of conditioning - 21-15-9 reps of air squats, pushups, and situps. I moved well on everything, didn't take any significant breaks, although I definitely broke a few sets of pushups and squats, even if it was only for a second or two. Still, did the whole thing in 3:30, so not bad. As I wrote in my post about new programming, I'm going to continue doing a little conditioning every saturday - and I like taking the mini-metcon route, this was fun.

After I recovered, which was a little too long hahaha but not bad, I started some static stretching. Did calves, hamstrings, quads, butt, and ended with a minute each side of the couch stretch (I really need to do 2 mins from now on). After this, I grabbed my wood bar and did a bunch of practice squats in my oly shoes. The stretching and squatting got me nice and loose, and the 75-100 squats I did looked and felt really nice. Here's some video:

My torso was very upright, my elbows weren't turning under so much (moving my grip out helped a bit). These are the cues that are helping me most - thinking about sitting directly in between my heels, and pulling down on the bar to keep my back tight and my elbows back. The other thing I just have to be careful about when I add weight to the bar is to make sure I'm squeezing all the way down into the hole before exploding out, not dropping too hard and loosing tension. With this new style, I definitely want to make use of my stretch reflex and explode out of the bottom, but I can't make the mistake of feeling like I have to dive-bomb into the hole to do a beautiful high bar squat. Here's what I want to look like.

Anyways, I'm in good shape for mondays workout. I have to not get frustrated, no matter how the weight feels, because this will be the first real test of how much weight I'll be able to move with this new squat. It could be rough, and if it is I need to not be disheartened, simply keep at it and take the weight back. HOWEVER, I'm feeling very optimistic and INCREDIBLY excited to resume training.

New Program and Goals

So now I am officially finished with my program. I'm going to write up my new programming for my next big chunk of training. I'm keeping a lot of stuff that has been working the same, but with quite a few changes as well.

Monday, I will be starting a 9 week block of training - 3 cycles. Then, there will be a week - I'm not sure what for, maybe a deload, maybe testing maxes. We will see. Then, another 9 weeks, which will end the week of christmas... So I will probably stretch through Christmas (tuesday), then max squat wed, bench thurs, and dead friday again.

Here's what the program will look like:

MONDAY:

-5/3/1 squat
-Speed Deadlifts, 12, 10, or 8 singles done on the minute, with the weight increasing every week in 3 week waves, and the deficit increasing only every 3 weeks. (light, medium, heavy - add deficit - light, medium, heavy - more deficit - light, medium, heavy - increase weight and remove all deficit)
-5 x 5 squats, increase 10 lbs a cycle.
-Core work supersetted with specific back work.

TUESDAY:

-5/3/1 bench
-After rep-out, drop back to second work set weight, and do paused reps at that weight (as many sets and reps as seem appropriate at that weight). Then, drop back to first work set weight, and do for max reps.
-Kroc rows: go heavy for many reps. As I get stronger, I'll probably have to play with multiple sets, maybe drop sets, to continue building muscle and strength.
-strict press, from a dead stop.
-Pullups

WEDNESDAY:

-mobility work TAKES PRIORITY
-Arms. Whatever I feel like. Keep the elbows healthy

THURSDAY:

-Chaos and Pain squat. Take the top set of my 5/3/1 work for the week. Week 1: 10 x 3. Week 2: 15 x 2. Week 3: 10 x 1.
-5/3/1 front squat. Add extra singles after rep-out.
-Optional lower body work: Instead of doing good morning, I'm just going to leave this space open. If I feel exhausted, be finished after the front squats. But for the first cycle at least, I will probably use this for more squat practice, to get my high-bar even better. Other ideas - pause squats, front squat heavy single, leg press, good mornings, romanian dead lifts, whatever.
-Core work supersetted with specific back work

FRIDAY:

-Chaos and Pain bench: Take top set of 5/3/1 for the week. Week 1: 10 x 3. Week 2: 15 x 2. Week 3: 10 x 1.
-5/3/1 overhead press. After rep out, drop back to second and then first weight, doing each weight for max reps from a dead stop.
-Any horizontal row: inverted pullups, bent over row pendelay row, cable row, more kroc rows, t bar rows. Whatever.
-Bodyweight pressing, in some sort of timed format. Probably start with pushups, move to dips later in the cycle, maybe even play with handstand pushups (against a wall).
- Lat pulldown, heavy for lots of rep. Do kipped pullups if needed.

SATURDAY:

-For the first 3 cycles, before the week deload, Stretching and conditioning. I'm making a strict rule, I'm not allowed to move ANY weight more than an unloaded bar in these first 9 weeks. I need to do some light conditioning - running, elliptical, intervals, jump rope, bodyweight mini-metcon, whatever - and then mobility work and stretching.

After the week deload, I will start adding heavy squatting back in on this day. For the first 3 weeks, I'll work up to a heavy single, but try to leave 20 lbs or so in the tank - which will be tough cause I'll want to max out. Then, for the final 6 weeks I will work up to a full max for the day.

SUNDAY:

Full rest, for the first 9 weeks. If I want to move a little, stretch, I guess that's okay, but I'm going tot try to not even set foot in the gym this day. I think it will mentally be a nice break.

In the second 9 weeks, this will replace Saturday as the day for light conditioning and stretching/mobility work.

So there you have it. My new program. I will follow this for the next 19 weeks (if you include that deload). This is 6 full cycles of 5/3/1, just about 4 and a half months. As such, I will also set some shorter - term goals tHat I will hope to achieve by the end of this training block - although my focus is not on these short term goals, but on my long term goals a set for the end of next school year.

GOALS FOR THIS TRAINING BLOCK

SQUAT: Obviously my squat is the biggest question mark at this point. I have no idea how heavy my squat is at this point, or how quickly it will go up once I find the best 5/3/1 weights to train it with. However, I am going to make my goal for december to be my old pr and then some: 365. I was on my way to hitting 365 with my old style. Even taking a big hit to my strength, I will hopefully be able to hit 365 for a single when I max out in December. And that will put me in good position to make my 405 squat in early May.

BENCH: I hate fucking bench. But I am slowly making progress. I hope that the re-set of my 5/3/1 will allow me to make steady progress, and bust open my old Pr's. I'm going to make my goal for the end of this block 235. That's asking for a lot of progress - but it's possible, and it would put me in good position to hit my goal 255 at the start of May.

DEADLIFT: Deadlift is the one lift that seems to be on track. Hopefully with my new improved squat training, and with heavier speed training, it will continue to improve steadily. 405 today was not bad. I will make the goal 435 at the end of December. If I can get that, I hopefully will be able to even surpass my May goal of 455.

PRESS: Press has also been going very well. I hesitate to set my goals to high because strict press is a bitch, BUT, in order to be on track to hit my 185 goal in may, I'm going to set my December goal at 170. Its a big goal.

FRONT SQUAT: this one is a huge jump from my current PR, but with all the extra front squat work I'm doing AND the fact that my highbar squat technique will have a better carryover to front squat, I'm going to try and front squat 275 in December.

BODY FAT: Right now, I'm hanging out just above 12%. This is a big drop from the 16-18% I was at last december. But I'm going to try and get below 10% by December. I think this is a definite possibility, the way my diet has been working for me. If I can get to 10% by December, then hopefully I can get to 9% or maybe even a little lower by May. That would be an awesome amount of leanness, and hopefully I can do that while still getting stronger and putting on some muscle mass by maximizing my cheats.

So there you have it. My short term goals, and the program I will use to hit them. With a lot of hard work, hopefully my squat will re-explode, my bench and press will continue to slowly climb, and my deadlift will keep making jumps. We will re - assess in December, and see what changes I'll need to make in order to hit my goals in May.

DEAD

Finally a good max out day! With all the extra squatting bullshit I've been doing, I was worried that today too would be a dissappointment, but luckily it was not. It seems my speed pulls are still doing the trick, and I have consistently made 20-30 lb Prs every time I max out my deadlift. Back rounding was not horrible, not ideal - mostly upper back, no discomfort really, but still I want to try and work on my back strength in the next few cycles. 

Warmed up like this - (135 x 3 singles) x 3, then 225 x 3 singles, 275 x 2 singles. Then the belt, hit 315 x 1, 355 x 1, 385 x 1, and finally 405 x 1. Decided to try one last rep at 425 but had no chance. 

Here's the video: 

So things to work on: back strength - the rounding isn't a big deal, but I want to make SURe it stays not a big deal, so I'm going to try and superset my core work with some lower back work as well. The finish of my deadlift also is a little hitch-y. Not quite a hitch, but close enough that in a comp it might get called and I don't want that. Need to work on bringing the bar to my hips, and not shifting my knees forward under the bar. Other than that, however, a 30 lb pr is pretty awesome. considering 1 year ago at this time my deadlift pr was 275, I'd say this is pretty fuckin great. Hopefully the heavier speedwork + switching to singles will help even more. And, even though the weight I will be squatting are lower, hopefully the high bar will cause my quads and legs to explode, and that will further improve my dead.

 gotta get more BACKKKKK

Speaking of squats, I decided thta for this first cycle, I am simply going to try to do all the weights that I already planned - including the 215 5 x 5. I'm HOPING that, although the first week may be tough, I will adjust to the high bar very quickly, and by week 3 285 will be cake. However, if I get to 285 and can't handle it for more than, say, 2 or 3 reps, I will simply drop my 5/3/1 work back. I'm guessing, however, that I will probably be able to hit it for a solid set once I adjust to the new form. We will see. 

Max bench

UNFORTUNATELY today was not the best day. No biggie really, my bench historically sucks ass after a long beak. A PR would have been nice, but I'm not stressing it too much.

Pretty much hit the bar, 95, 135. Started feeling really good at 155, then hit 175 and 195 for a sick single. But then I attempted 215 and just didn't get it. I even tried a second time, but that was even worse than the first. It's aright though. The reset of 5/3/1 and the changes to my programming will hopefully keep pushing me forward. Here's a vid of the 195 and the 215 F

After benching, I put on my brand spanking new oly shoes and did some work on my high bar. The form is looking good. Weight didn't feel easy, but the reps were solid. I'm thinking I might work up to a max on saturday, see if it's at all comparable to the max I just did. If not, I may need to lower my 5/3/1 work even further. Here's some videos of that.

It's going to be a journey. But I am on the path. It's just a matter of time.

There will be squats

Made a decision tonight. Watching that video of my squats, listening to myself and people on TNation forums, and talking with Josh, I realize that I am still not satisfied with my squats. The changes I have made have made them far more athletic, explosive, and has made hitting depth much easier. However, my torso is still so far forward, I feel like I am definitely going to have problems in the future with heavier weights. It's just a matter of time.

So I made the decision that I am going to switch to a pure high bar squat. I love high bar squats. I think they are beautiful and that is the way that I want to squat. Moving the bar up on top of my traps will force me to squat with my torso upright. It will make me go deep and learn how to use my stretch reflex, improve my quad strength, and in time it will be completely natural and I will grow stronger with it. For years and years olympic lifters have squatted absurd amounts of weight high bar, and I will too.

So the plan is to make the change immediately. Based on my max today, my 5 week rep out is 255, my 3 week is 270, and my 1 week is 285 - I THINK i will be able to handle these numbers even with pure high bar form, but if not then I will simply drop the weight and work until I'm stronger.

This is the way I want to squat. Any hit to my strength in the short term will be well worth it in the long run. It will be a long road, and not easy. But one day I will truly be a master of squatting. One day.

Max squat

Max squat went really well today. My form felt really great.

The video pretty much says it all. Warmups were nice and fast. The weights all felt good. I think the difference between that first failed 335 and the second rep, which I made, was pretty much speed and confidence. Now I will re-set my 5/3/1 based on the 335, which should make all my squats fairly easy and light for a few cycles - This means I really need to focus on perfect form, nice depth, and REALLY working on speed and my ability to make perfect use of that stretch reflex. If I can do this, I think my squat will Continue to grow and grow and grow, and I will hit my 405 in no time.

Here's the vid.

Lift Hard my friends

PS: Definitely scoring some oly shoes very soon. very excited to start working with those.

Ready your breakfasts and eat hearty...

Today was my medium/heavy upper body day - and the final day before I start maxing out. It went really well and I feel great. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Started with bench. warmed up nice, then hit the bar, 95, 135, 155, 175 x 2, and finally 195 x 1. It felt good, solid, but not perfect. I was a little dizzy under the weight and it was a little harder than I would have liked - but at the same time, it's the heaviest I have benched in over a week and a half, and it STILL moved very nicely. After that, I dropped back to 175 and that's where I really got my groove and confidence back. I hit it for a few singles, doubles, and triples, and with very few exceptions all the reps moved fast and easy and my form felt really good. AND, my final 2 singles I did with a pause at the bottom, something I have NEVER done before (and will be doing in my new program), and I actually had no problem at all. the weight moved almost as easily as if I hadn't paused, which is awesome. Overall, I need to take time warming up on thurs to make sure my form is on point, but otherwise I'm just really excited to hit a nice heavy single, hopefully a PR. We will see.

Next up, I hit some overhead pressing, and this actually felt awesome. My plan was to keep it simple  warm up, hit a bunch of moderately heavy singles at 135, and move on. But I felt awesome. I hit 135 immediately, with no warm up sets. Hit it for another single or two, then a triple, then another single or two. then I went to 145 x 1 and then 155 x 1. the 155 was not easy, harder than the last time I hit that weight - but still, that's pretty cool that I could hit my pr today without really pushing or having pressed heavy in a while. Dropped back and hit 135 for a couple more singles, then called it a day for that.

Finally, I did a few singles, doubles, and triples of pullups, just to move a little more, and then spent a while stretching for squats tomorrow.

Overall it was a solid day. And I feel prepared and excited for the next three days. My main concern is just warming up well and making sure my form is great. I would much rather miss a PR with perfect form than miss a PR because my form is shit. But I've done plenty of stretching and prep work to get back in the groove, and for the most part I'm just excited to go heavy and then get back to training again. We will see.

Oh and also - gonna make gooood use of my cheat tonight, see If it doesn't help me get an extra pound or two tomorrow. Yum.

First day back

Had a solid first day REAL day back in the gym.

Took my time warming up because that made me feel awesome yesterday. Then I started with squats. They felt pretty good. I worked up to 275 for 3, then hit 315 for a solid single. Not fast, not perfect, but very solid. Then I dropped back to 275 and hit it for like 7 or 8 singles and then another triple. Then I dropped to 135 and tried out some oly shoes for the first time. I really liked them, and am thinking about buying some asap. Hit 135 for 5, then 225 for an easy 5. Then hit 275 for 2 more singles.

Next, did some speed pulls from a high deficit. pulled 225 for 5 singles, then 275 for 3, then 225 for 2 more. Moved nicely.

Finally, did some hollow rocks and a shitload of stretching. I feel good and loose. Hopefully wednesday I will be able to squat a lot. We will see.

The Re-engrowing

I am rebuilding. Yesterday felt like shit... but that was to be expected. But today was much better. I spent a good 45 minutes or so stretching. I warmed up as usual, then did a few passes with the foam roller. Then, I did a total of 5 minutes in the bottom of a squat - but I broke it up so that I didn't kill myself, doing a minute, then a minute rest, then 2 minutes, then a minute rest, then the final 2 minutes. Again, I did some foam rolling, and although it normally doesn't hurt me my IT band and my quads were KILLING me. I did the best I could, doing slow passes. Then I did the couch stretch to open up my hip flexors, which always sucks, but feels AMAZING afterwards. My hip flexors are really tight, and I need to work harder at stretching them (I'm really going to commit myself to stretching on saturdays in this new program).

After this, I just did a bunch of squats with just the bar, and they actually felt really good. Yesterday, my squats hurt horribly in the beginning, then felt okay in the middle sets, then in the later sets started feeling like I was losing tension in the bottom - I just felt sad and floppy. But today my reps felt deep and controlled. My hips were open, I was using my butt, my torso was upright. It felt good. I'm really excited to start going a little bit heavier tomorrow, I'm hoping that my squats will really feel great. We will see.

One other thing - Over a bunch of my past few workouts, people have been noticing asymmetries in my squat form - my bar is a little crooked on my back, one foot turns out more than another, one shoulder is a little more forward than the other, and my feet are a bit staggered. I'm not sure how much of a problem these things are, or might become? I feel inclined to fix them, but I don't know if they really matter. And the cause could be anything from tightness, or just bad habits, or even one leg being longer than the other. I don't know. Just a note for now, and in time we will see if this seems imperative to fix.

Side note: wow this fucker looks absurd

Anyways, feeling good and excited for tomorrow.

EDITS: First of all, Cheat ended today, and I decided to kick off the return to the diet with a PSMF, of protein sparing modified fast. I figured my metabolism is at it's highest after all that cheating, So today would be a great Day to fast, with the exception of a few shakes. I am fucking STARVING right now, but tomorrow will be a return to normal and hopefully back on track with my fat loss.

Second of all, I think I'm going to start training to do a split. I can't think of anything that would make me more athletic than being able to squat a shitload AND do a split. And it will give me a reason to keep up with my stretching, a goal to work towards. I'm gonna work at it. We will see where it goes.

The Return

I have returned.

Vacation was supremely restful. I gained a full 5 pounds in my week off, which is awesome. The only bad thing is that my hips are still just as tight because of all the fucking driving.

Today was my first day back in the gym. I wanted to get moving and back in the groove of lifting, but without going to heavy on anything just yet.

Started with some stretching. Then squats: put 135 on the bar and did it for 8 or 9 sets of 5. These felt okay. The form was a little tricky but not bad. Next, put 95 lbs on the bench and hit that for a few sets of 5 and a set of 10. This actually felt good, even though it hurttt because I was tight. Next, loaded up 185 and pulled it for some speedy singles. these felt good. Finally, strict pressed 95 for a few sets.

I'm tight and out of practice, but hopefully monday and tuesday will get me back in the groove nicely, and then I can crush some weight when I max out. It's good to be back.