Death

This weekend was harsh. Trained saturday early in the morning and feeling like shit. Drank heavily last night. And now I'm exhausted, pissed off and tired.

Saturday I was stiff, tired, and up way too early. Squatting felt like shit, but I worked up to 315 and hit it for a miserable single.

Next, strict pressed. Again, felt like shit. Worked up and hit 165 for an okay single, then went to 175 and missed it decisively.

Overall, not bad for a rough day of training, but not great. Gonna rest up and I hope tomorrow will be  good day. We will see.

Bench PR and Press rep PR

Today was a great day.

Started with Chaos and pain bench. Hit the bar for a slew, then 95 x 12 and 135 x 8. Then straight to 180 for 10 sets of 3. Since I did this with no problem last month, I decided to really focus on form. Lately, my paused reps have been feeling awesome, but with touch and go I tend to feel a little sloppy and I think that hurts me. With this 10 x 3, I really focused on moving the weight fast down and up, keeping it in a smooth path, and making all the reps the same with my back tight. It worked really well, all 30 reps were cake. After I finished, I went to 205 and destroyed it for a single, easiest rep I have ever hit at 205. Went straight to 215 and despite some nerves, crushed that too. Then, hit 215 again for a single a few minutes later - tougher and slower this time, but still got it. FINALLY. Been waiting on 215 for over a year now. Take away - move the weight fast and smooth, treat it just like a rep at 135.

Next, fucked up 5/3/1 strict press too. Hit the bar, then 105 x 5, 125 x 5, and finally 140 x 7. That's awesome, and a two rep PR. AND, I breathed out on the way up, which fixed my fucking dizziness and didn't seem to take any power away from my core. This movement just keeps getting stronger. Dropped back and hit 125 for 9 paused reps, and then 105 for 11 paused reps.

Next, upright rows with 130, blew up my biceps. I don't like doing high reps.... but my bench is going up, and I'm getting nice pumps from it, and it's really tough to go heavy with it, so I'm going to keep these in.

Next, 3 sets of pushups to failure. got 38, 22, and 16. I was tired of the 10 x 12 thing. I think instead I'm just going to do bodyweight pressing on this day, whatever sets and reps of whatever I want. Pushups, dips, HSPU, whatever. More to come I guess.

Finally, Lat pulldowns heavy for reps - did 200 x 3 x 10. Thees feel fucking amazing, except I almost got a hamstring cramp from squeezing into the floor hahaha. Anyways, gotta keep these heavy. Tried ending with a max set at a lighter weight, and that felt like shit. All heavy all the time on these.

SO, awesome day. Finally breaking all my pressing plateaus. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I might wake up early and go lift, I might just skip. We will see. Either way, getting strong and having fun. That's the way it should be.

Leg power

Had a powerful leg day today.

Started with Squats. felt a little tight and shitty today. hit the bar for 3 warmup sets, then 135 x 10, then 225 x 6, then straight to my work weight, 275. The ten x 3 was good today. Probably the best it has been since I started doing these kinds of workouts. there were a couple rough sets in the middle, where I got out of position and had to REALLY fight to lock a rep out - but honestly, I think this was due to the fact that I was using a shitty bent bar and it kept shifting on me. Overall, besides 4 or 5 rough reps my form was mostly very nice. I was catching a great bounce, especially on the first reps of my sets, and I didn't fail or even almost fail any reps. After hitting set 10, I decided to go up and hit a few singles. I hit a solid rep at 305, then hit 315 for an agonizing single. I didn't catch much of a bounce and it was SO slow coming up, but I still got it, and I'd say hitting 95+ percent after 30 reps at 275 is pretty good.

Next were front squats. High rep front squats are the worst, but I actuallt moved the weight really nicely today. Hit 155 and 175 for an easy 5, and even 195 mover really nicely, only a little struggle on the 5th rep. After that I jumped up heavy. Hit 225 for a nice single, then 235 for a tough rep - back started to round. I rested up and hit 235 one more time. the weight moved a lot faster this time, and there was less rounding. Pretty happy with that, that's 2 singles at my PR. Hopefully I'll be breaking that PR soon.

Third, deadlifted. These felt nice today, and I worked hard. Hit 205 x 2 singles, 285 x 2 singles, 325 for a solid rep, and then 335 for a nice rep with a flat back. It wasn't easy, but it was solid enough that I ALMOST tried another single... but I think I'll save that for next week. No rush with these. Just trying to keep the hips low and the back flat, and slowlyyyy get them heavier. Then, when I do them fresh, with a belt, and with a little more back rounding, hopefully I'll be able to pull a shitload.

Finally, finished off with 3 sets of hollow rocks and back extensions with a 25 lb plate. The weighted extensions feel awesome. I'm glad I took my time doing unweighted ones, it helped me feel out the movement, but now I'm going to really start to grow and strengthen my back with these.

Overall, awesome day. Worked my ass off, and now I'm eating a fuckload to try and grow my legs. I'm really excited for tomorrow's workout as well. Unfortunately, lifting saturday is going to be tough because of my schedule... but I'm really going to try and make it work. I've been PR ing that day pretty consistently, and I don't want to just skip it. We will see what happens.

Hard work day

Worked my ass off today.

FUCK I want to grow

Started with 5/3/1 bench. warmed up, then hit 140 and 160 for easy sets of 5. Hit 180, and it was solid but not easy. My form felt a little wobbly. Still, I got 7 nice reps and went for 8, which I just couldn't fight through. That's too bad, I thought I would have 8 today. 7 is still very good though.

Next, dropped back to 160 for sets of paused bench. This continues to be one of my stronger movements, and I love the way it feels. Did an easy 3 x 5 paused reps.

Finally, worked my ass off on the bottom set, hit 140 x 17. I was hoping for a little closer to 20, but still 17 is not bad at all. After a short rest, hit the final 3 reps just to make it an even 20.

Next, strapped myself to the 100 dumbell and kroc rowed it for 40 each side. These fuckin HURT but they explode my back. Gotta work hard to make the food go there.

Next, strict press. Started out feeling shitty. I was tired out by this point. 135 didn't feel great. I hit 155 for a single, which was meh, then another which moved better. Went up to 160 for 2 singles, then 165 for 2 singles, then finally 170 for a single, missed on the second single. Ended up being really awesome. I might have even gotten that second 170, but I rushed it a little. I almost passed out on all of these fucking reps too, but whatever.

Finally, supersetted neutral pullups with dead-stop presses to failure. did 1356 x 6, 8 pullups, then 115 x 10, 6 pullups, and 95 x 10, 4 pullups. My shoulders were on fire and my lats were killing me.

Grow shoulders, grow

Overall, an awesome day. Bench could have gone a little better, but press continues to explode, and I worked hard as fuck on everything today. Tonight, I start new diet. All the carbs better go to my fucking shoulders and back. This could be the start of a new, HUGE era. We will see.

New Diet

I've been reading and thinking a ton about diet lately, and here's what I've come up with.

The keto dieting I have been doing has been great for fat loss, but I haven't put on much (if any) muscle. I love getting stronger, but I'm not nearly big enough to write off muscle gain. I need more mass, and I think I need carbs in order to put on that mass.

So here's what I'm going to do. Basically carb backloading. I'm going to eat 0 carbs until my workout, have a protein shake like usual, and then post workout eat as much protein as I can with clean carbs - Rice, sweet and white potatoes, some whole milk, wheat breads on occasion, etc. Basically whatever I want that is reasonably clean - not gonna jump into pizza and ice cream. Wednesdays and sundays will be pure keto, and saturdays I will keep as a full cheat, with whatever dirty foods I need.

Right now, I am sitting around 12 - 14 % bodyfat, and weight around 195 lbs. I'm going to try this new style diet, probably until December, and re-asses. If I'm getting fat, I know I need to stick with a stricter diet. If I'm getting huge and staying lean, I can either stick with this, or dirty it up more and experiment further.

I'm going to need to really commit to training my ass off, and really keep myself in check so that I don't start eating whatever I want whenever. I've learned a lot of discipline this past year, and I think I have a ton of potential. Lets see what happens.

LIFT HARD
EAT BIG
GET STRONG
GET HUGE

Less Sloppiness, More Focus and Intensity

Today was a good day, but suffered a little bit from sloppiness.

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Felt really good warming up, hit the bar for a few sets, then 125 for a set of 10 and a set of 5. Then work sets. 210 x 5 and 240 x 5 both moved nicely. Then I went after 275. Problem is, I psyched up a little too much, and went past the point of intense focus and into the realm of sloppiness. It's a problem I've faced many times before, especially on 5 week. I know I can hit the weight for a lot of reps, which makes me amped up, but I also know it's going to hurt to do that, which makes me scared and more amped up, so I hit the reps hard and fast and a little sloppy. Don't get me wrong, the set wasn't horrible by any means, I got probably 5 really nice reps, 6 and 7 were especially sloppy, and then I slowed down and took some big breaths before hitting a pretty nice 8th rep. But I honestly think I probably would have gotten 9 or maybe even a 10th rep if I could have eliminated the wasted energy from those sloppy reps. It's really tough to do, but on the rep outs I really need to keep all the intensity and focus, but eliminate the sloppiness. I had my mind set on going all out on this set, getting a ton of reps - but If I had relaxed a little bit and just taken it one rep at a time, I think I would have done better. I just need to eliminate the tiny bit of depth cutting, the small drops of the chest, the slight caving of the knees, all of which take away from my power and make the set worse. STILL though, 8 reps at 275 is very nice, and I'm very happy with that. It's just frustrating to know that IF I focused on making my reps nicer and NOT on how many I get, I probably would get more reps anyways hahaha. Oh well, that's a task for next monday.

Side note: Clarence is the man

Speed pulls were 245 from a big deficit today, 12 x 1 on the minute. First pull was WEIRD haha, haven't pulled from this big of a deficit in a long time. Overall, however, moved pretty fast. It's hard to get my hips low enough, and my legs were tired from the higher-rep squatting, but hopefully this week will get me adjusted, and then 265 and 285 will move like lightning.

Finally, hit my 5 x 5 at 235. At first, some of the weirdness was lingering from my heavy set, but after set 2 I really focused up and worked on making my sets EXACTLY like the sets at 125. I thought about keeping my chest high and sinking nice and low into the squat. That's what made thursday and saturday's workouts so good. And those final 3 sets felt really nice - so good that I even did 2 extra reps on the last set.

Ended with 3 sets of 12 HLR's and 15 back extensions.

SO, overall, a very good day. I just need to remember to FOCUS without letting myself be sloppy. I need to take each set 1 rep at a time, worry about quality, and quantity will take care of itself. Hopefully   on thursday I'll be able to attack this weight again with nicer form, and get in a ton of heavy quality reps.

Stronger

Today was a stronger day.

I felt pretty good, took my time warming up and getting in the groove. Moved 135 pretty well and 225 felt alright too. Hit 275 for a nice double, and went straight to 315. I just kept myself calmer and imagined that it was exactly the same as 135, and the weight moved really nicely. Went up to 325 and did the same, and it was a really good rep - not easy, but not very hard either, good form and nowhere close to failing. That's a ten lb PR since switching styles. Hopefully I'll put up a video a little later.

After that, strict pressed. Yesterday was a pretty tough day and my warmups weren't feeling great, so I didn't expect too much. Hit a bar for a bunch, then 135 x 3, 135 x 1. 155 flew up, so I went straight to 170. I didn't really expect to make it, but I psyched up, got the adrenaline flowing, and then just imagined it was an empty bar and that shit moved NICE. again, not easy, but not even close to failing. That's insane. 170 is 15 lbs more than I could do 3 weeks ago. 175 is right around the corner now... that would be crazy.

After the heavy stuff, did really light leg press and incline pushups for a couple big sets. I'm gonna try and do that shit every saturday, flush blood through my muscles and my joints and reallyyyyy get them healing after the heavy work. Then on sundays, I'm ONLY going to stretch, no lifting at all. The way I felt thursday, after true rest wed, was awesome. Hopefully doing this will leave me physically and mentally EXPLODING for mondays workout, and I can keep getting stronger.

Anyways, time to eat and rest and heal.

Friday's Press Workout

Good day yesterday. Didn't have time to blog it so I'm doing that now.

Chaos and Pain bench was iffy at first, I had a really tough time getting warm, and even after starting I felt shitty. 10 sets of 1 at 200. I was feeling really uptight and angry. Only around set 7 did I start to feel alright, and after that I fucked the reps up. I just imagined it was 135, and relaxing like that made the reps so much cleaner. Got 3 on set 10, which is awesome, ties monday's rep out.

Strict press was also really good, albeit really weird. Hit 95 x 5, then 120 x 5, 135 x 5, and 150 x 4... hit the first three easily, but then was really dizzy, set the weight down on my chest for a few seconds, then pressed it again from a dead stop, paused at the top, and tried for one last tough and go rep - I got it over my head but then my shoulder gave out. It was a fucked set hahaha, the dizziness is really a bitch. But I've never repped out anything heavier than 145, so getting 4, almost 5, at 150 is pretty great. I'm very happy with that. Dropped back and hit 135 x 7 paused reps, which is sweet, then 120 for 8 or 9 paused reps.

Did my standing anti-bench rows with 120, 3 sets of a ton of reps (23 or so on the first set). I love these. They feel awesome and give me a bicep pump. High reps felt great.

10 x 12 pushups on the minute went really well. Got through 8 full sets without having to break the sets up. I'm thinking I'll keep at it for the next two weeks, then on the final week I will do a set of pushups to failure, see if I've increased my max reps. Then I'll switch to dips or something for the next 9 weeks.

Finally, high rep lat pulldowns, did a shitload of reps in 3 sets with 170. Felt good.

So anyways, a great day. Excited to squat and stuff later, we will see how it goes.

Great Squat Day

SO, yesterday I forced myself to ACTUALLY rest, and it payed off a lot today. I felt fresh and had a lot of pop in my squats, and ended up having a great workout. I pushed myself to failure a couple time - something that I normally hate and avoid like the plague. But I think today was a great day to push myself to my limits and even past them. Hopefully my body will respond and grow, and I'll have an even better time next week because of it.

Random dude squatting. Lookin good random dude. 

Started with Chaos & Pain squats. Felt great, and my heart was EXPLODING with coffee. Hit the bar for a few sets, then 125, 205, 265 x 2, and then up to 295. The first rep was actually shitty - ,y chest dropped and I got caught forward and had to fight the weight up. But after that, I tried to just imagine that the weight was 125, and keep everything exactly the same as I would with the light reps, and I wrecked it. The reps were for the most part very smooth and clean, and I moved through the workout fast, I would say taking about 2 and a half minutes rest on average. Rested up extra for set ten though and went all out. Got 4 nice reps and just BARELY missed a 5th. That's pretty crazy, considering that I got a hard 4 on monday, and that was fresh. I program rest days for a reason hahaha, can't forget that.

Next, dropped to 165 and switched to front squats. Hit that for an easy 5, then 185 for an easy 3. Crushed 210 for a single, and instead of repping it out just decided to go up. Hit 225 for an easy single, and then 235 for a solid and fast single - not easy, but probably better than any other 235 I have squatted, and this was beltless and after a ton of heavy back squats. Went up to 245 and missed it - just didn't have the strength today, though it wasn't a bad miss. But I re-racked it and tried again, and this time it pinned me. I shouldn't have tried again, but I REALLY thought I might have it today. Still that 235 was great. I'll PR soon, just have to be patient.

Konstantinovs, deadlift master

Next, heavy deads. Ripped 205 for a few singles, then 285 was moving really nice. Went to 325 and moved it very well and fairly fast. Jumped to 345 (I was a little overzealous about deads after watching Jaime pull 670) and unfortunately didn't have it in me today, at least not beltless and with a flat back. So I dropped back to 325, and hit it for 2 more nice singles. My back may have rounded just the slightest bit, but I pushed myself really hard today, so I'm not too bummed. probably next week I'll stay at this weight, try and make it fast and keep the back perfect, and if that goes well then I'll move up to 335.

Finally, ended with a ton of hollow rocks.

So overall, a great day. Don't like failing, but sometimes you have to push to and past your limits, or you'll never improve. Now to rest and heal up. I'm really pumped to bench tomorrow, that should be a blast, and I'm excited to hit this final 3 week cycle before my deload week! hopefully 9 weeks is the magic number, and I'll be able to make it through this final cycle, still making PR's and not feeling like death. Then the week off will recharge me, and I will WRECK shit the final 9 weeks of the semester.

My Future

We will see.

Take it Easy

Made sure to take it easy today. Last wednesday I benched to a max and squatted to like 85%, but I'm trying to actually rest this week on my rest days hahaha. So, no squatting, just air squats and stretching to help heal up for tomorrow.

For arms, I did a pyramid of preacher curls, working up and then back down without really counting reps, just trying to make each set count. ALSO, in between curls, I did sets of pushups against the preacher curl thing. They were obviously really easy because it was a steep incline, but I just did sets of like 20-30 and moved my hands all around. It felt really good, got blood flowing all over my upper body, and even gave me a little tricep pump. I'm gonna keep at that I think, it will help me heal better from tuesday's lifting.

Anyways, nothing special today. Feel a little tired and beat up, but hopefully I will heal up and I'm very excited for tomorrow workout.

Pressing Power

Another powerful upper body day. Don't know what's happening, but I like it.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. Hit the bar and felt good. hit 95, 135, then 160 x 5, 180 x 3. Then I psyched up hard and hit 200. I crushed it for three. First two were cake, then I sort of paused the third rep and still nailed it. I SHOULD have stopped there, but I had friends yelling to go for another, and unfortunately it wasn't even close hahaha. Still, I've only ever hit 200 for a triple once, and this was FAR easier. And it wasn't unreasonable to try for 4... I just wish I hadn't.

Next, dropped back to 180. I was feeling really good, and ended up hitting it for 3 completely paused triples, which is pretty awesome. I really am loving paused work, it feels great to me and I think it is helping me a lot.

Finally, dropped back to 160. Last week, I felt like I didn't attack this portion of my workout enough, so I really psyched up and went after it and ended up with 12 reps, which is awesome at this weight. Definitely very happy with that. I paused some reps in the middle of the set too, hahaha, 9 and 10. I need to be careful, I like pausing a lot but I shouldn't get into the habit of doing it when I'm not supposed to. Not that it's going to hurt, but when the point of a set is max reps, I should go for MAX reps, and pausing is gonna hold that back. Anyways, still a great day benching.

Next, Kroc rows. attacked these a little more, and did them the "traditional" way, on an angle. Hit a set of 30 each side with the 100.

Next, killed strict press. Hit 95 for a few, then 135, 155 for easy singles. Went up to 160. I was insanely lightheaded after every rep, BUT... hit it for a tough single, then an easy single, then a tough single, then an easy single, then went up to 165 and hit it for a tough but very solid rep. Pretty insane. I couldn't even hit 160 2 weeks ago, and today I hit it for 4 singles and then 165 for a rep as well. My strict press is really going crazy. Gotta keep pushing it. Dropped back to 135, and hit it for a max set of paused reps, getting 7.

Finally, did a 5 x 5 of neutral grip pullups, which felt pretty solid. Think next week I'll do a couple max sets again.

Overall, sick day. That 200 x 3 bodes well for when I HAVE to hit 200 x 3 in a few cycles - remember, that's where I failed last time. Just gotta keep pushing, and I hopefully can ride this progression all the way to december with ease. Lets keep it up.

EDIT: went back to the gym later and stretched/benched up heavy. Hit 205 for 2 singles. Was actually HOPING to feel a little better, I was getting psyched to try for a new pr tonight, but the 205 was not easy enough to justify any attempt. Still, I'm happy I went up heavy, especially since I'm cheating this night, hopefully it will help me grow. That 215 PR is coming soon. though. Soon.

Strong Legs

Today was a strong strong day.

Started with 5/3/1 squat. I was feeling a bit off today. I think I squatted too much this past week. It was taking me forever to get warm, and while I didn't feel BAD, I didn't feel great either. Hit the bar for at least 3 or 4 sets, then 125 x 10, 205 x 5, then work sets - 235 x 5, 265 x 3. Loaded up 295, and really tried to psych up for it. Hit it for three solid reps, then took a big breath and hit a 4th rep, which was ABSOLUTELY hideous. I lost tension and started going back down halfway through, then fought through and managed to lock it out. It was ugly. Still, 4 reps at that weight is awesome. First of all, it's ten lbs more than last cycle, AND I hit it for an extra rep. No matter how ugly, that = stronger. And stronger is awesome. I just need to be careful not to let myself lose tension on those later reps where I'm really working to hit the stretch reflex. AND, last time I had to rep this weight out on one week was over the summer, with my old style, and I got 5 reps. Granted, it was a rough week, but STILL, that means I'm right back on track, gaining back the strength that I had with my low bar style. Very exciting, very good.

Next were speed deadlifts at 285. I laughed at how fast the first one came up. Destroyed these - 8 singles on the minute, from a one plate deficit (about 1.5 - 2 inches). I'm so happy these felt as solid as they did. Interesting observation too - I actually feel faster and stronger if I shoot my hips just the smallest bit when I start the pull. But I'm going to keep fighting this through my speed work, try to keep my hips nice and low and rely on my leg strength more than my back strength as much as I can. Then, when the deficit goes away and I'm pulling for a max, my legs will be powerful and my hips will naturally be higher, making my deads a piece of cake.

Put up 225 and did my last 5 x 5 at this weight. It was no problem - although there was a rep or two where I lost tension and had to work harder than I should have. I don't know If I was just having a bit of an off day, but I need to watch this. Just like with the 295, when I work hard to hit that stretch reflex I have a bad habit of getting soft, so that I shoot out of the bottom but then get totally stuck halfway up. I need to get that stretch reflex and keep driving hard and fast. But anyways, easy 5 x 5, then I decided to do a few extra singles. Hit 255, 275, and then 305 for a hard single and decided to call it there.

Finally, Finished with 3 x 12 of hanging leg raises supersetted with back extensions. The HLR's actually felt awesome today. My abs are growing strong.

So, overall it was a great day. I'm going to try and back off squatting  a bit this week. Last week I squatted up to above 85% on wednesday AND sunday, in addition to mon thurs and sat hahaha. I think I need to give my body a little more time to heal. Gonna try to stick to just stretching and squats with 135 or less on those "rest days" to make sure I get through the end of this 9-week cycle healthy. I'm having fun and getting much stronger though, which is great. Lets keep it up.

sundizzle

Squatted up to 275 for 3 singles today. Just cause.

The greatness

Today was another great day.

Started with squats. Hit the bar a bunch of times to loosen up. took my stance out a little wider today. I'm going to try and be consistent with this width. It should help me keep my torso a little more upright, and keep me from shooting my butt back. Hit 135 x 10, then 225 x 5 and then 3 to work on the width. then 275 x 2 singles. Then I hit my goal for the day, which was to jump straight to 305 and hit that for a nice solid rep. Finally, went up to 315 and hit it for a hard but very solid single. Might do the 305 jump for another week, and then start working to make the 275 - 315 jump easy again.

Next, strict pressed and destroyed it today. Hit an empty bar for a few, then 135 x 3, 135 x 1, 155 x 1, 165 x 1 which was easy AND a PR, and then attempted and decisively failed 170. That 165 was cake though, which is crazy. If these gains keep going, I'll get that 170 in a few weeks, and maybe even 175 before long. Lets keep it going.

Upper body Explosion

Destroyed my workout today. Destroyed it.

Started with bench. Hit the bar for a few, then 95, then 135, then jumped straight to 190. The first couple doubles were a little shitty, but as soon as I got warmed up all the way (around set 4), I started crushing the weight. Every double was solid and easy. When I got to set 15, I rested a little extra, psyched up, and then hit it for 4 reps. Pretty fucking awesome considering I had already done 28 reps.

Next up was strict press. I was a little nervous because THIS week (145 on 3 week) is where I failed out of the progression last time, and had to drop back. But I demolished it. Hit 115 x 3, 130 x 3, then hit 145 x 5. Only problem was that I almost fucking passed out, and I barely remember the last two reps. Still, I demolished that weight. I can't believe I hit it for 5 - the ONLY other time I did that was last 1 week, and my bench volume was double that today. Then, I dropped back, and hit 130 for 8 paused reps and 115 for who knows how many paused reps. My strict press it really exploding.

After those two things, as always, I took it a little easier. Did 3 x 16 rows with the lat pulldown, mimicking my bench path. I love these rows, they are hard and I think they are gonna help me a lot. Did them with 130.

Next was the 10 x 12, on the minute, of pushups. tried to keep my form as nice as possible, but FUCK it is hard. Still, made it through... had to start breaking up the sets around set 7. Gonna keep at this, even though it's rough hahaha. Once I make it through this one full time, I think I'll switch to dips for a change of pace.

Finally, did some lat pulldowns. For sets of 10, pulled 100, 160, 170, 180, and finally 190.

Overall, an awesome day. I'm still getting stronger. I feel like everything is on track. Gonna eat a TON today and tomorrow, and just try to keep growing. Lets do it.

Great squat day

Today was a great day. did my second 15 x 2 of all time. While it wasn't exactly easier than last time, I knew better how to approach it this time, and did very well.

Hit the bar , then 125, then 205, then 255 x 3, then got started at 280. First couple doubles were a little shitty actually... I was getting caught forward a bit. But I settled into the groove, and just kept at it. Just getting through all 15 sets without allowing yourself to rush, fail, or panic is a feat. I would say it took me about an hour to finish the entire thing. Form wasn't perfect, but I would say there were only really one or two really rough reps, where I maybe lost tension - and even those I managed to fight through. And, I hit 3 reps on the 15th set. Overall, very happy with all that work, and I know it is going to just help me continue growing and improving.

Next were front squats. I decided not to rep that shit out. I hate high rep front squats, they hurt and are not that useful. I did 155 x 3, 175 x 3, 200 x 3, then 200 for a single (which I almost passed out on), 205 for a single, and then jumped up to 225 and hit it for a pretty solid rep as well. Not bad, especially after 30 reps at 280 haha.

Finally, did some pulling. Ripped 205 for 2 singles, and new it was a good day for pulls. Hit 285 for 2 singles that also moved well, and finally hit 325 for 2 singles with a nice flat back. Not easy singles, but very nice form and after a TON of squatting.

Finally, did some hollow rocks and back extensions to finish it off.

Overall, a great workout. Thursdays are tough, and ESPECIALLY this thursday, but all I have to do is be patient and push through, and this insane volume is going to really pay off. Plus, I think before december I'm going to make huge gains on my front squat and deadlift too. We will see.

Strong day and Arms

Today I felt good, So I actually went kind of heavy.

Hahaha... that's what I always do. 

Started with bench. Hit the bar for a few sets, then 135 x 10, then 185 x 3 (started with a paused rep), then 205 for an easy single, then finally 210 for a tougher, but still not tough single. Nice.

Next, squatted a bit. Hit 135 for a few sets to warm up, then 225 for 3 singles, then 275 for a quick single. Also nice.

Finally, ended with a shitload of curls. For big sets, hit 12.5, 17.5, 22.5 27.5, then back down. My biceps were nice and pumped.

Cool day, went well. Almost went up to 215 on the bench... not this day. But soon.

Bench

Very solid upper body day today.

Bench felt good. I felt calm, relaxed, and in the groove today. Hit the bar for  few sets, then 95, then 145 x 3, 170 x 3, and finally 190 x 5. It was a solid 5, the 5th rep wasn't cake, but it was no where near in danger of missing. that was a PR, so I didn't even think about going to 6. A new 5rm is enough.

Next, backed down to 170 and hit it for a 3 x 3 of paused reps. Feels really good. I love pausing reps, it makes me feel so much more confident and smooth in my touch and go benching.

Finally, went back to 145 for reps. I felt a little sloppy and unfocused on this set. Managed to get 15, which is a pr and 1 rep more than last month, but still I felt a bit disappointed about this.

That funk carried over to kroc rows. Did the same thing as last tuesday, 15 reps with palm facing in, 10 with the bell at a 45 degree angle, only this time I put my knee up on a bench. It felt really tough and shitty. I think maybe it was a lack of focus and intensity in the first half of the workout.

This man demands focus

Next, threw on some music and tried to get focused for strict press, which helped a ton. hit the bar, 95, 135, then straight to 155. Hit it for 8 singles. First four were with plenty of rest, but for the second 4 I just threw on a song and tried to do as many as I could before the song ended - probably less than a minute rest between these. After that, I dropped back to 135 and hit it for 3 sets of 5 paused reps, which is great. My strict press is really doing well. I think next week I'm going to trade out doubles at 145 for singles, then go back to singles again the week after, maybe try to push a few of them up into the 160 range if I'm feeling good. We'll see.

Here's that 155 PR from a few months ago. It's so much easier already. Already broke it, but I'm gunning for 165 soon. 

Finally, did a bunch of sets of 3 neutral grip pullups. I switched up doing them from a completely dead hang, or trying to hit a stretch reflex at the bottom, and tried to make the reps smooth and explosive. Did 7 sets of 3 and an 8th set of 4 for 25 total reps.

Overall, solid day. Excited to keep working. My gains have been solid, if I can stay healthy I may make a lot of progress before my week break in october.

Death birth

Today I was dying, but still had an okay workout - despite a horrible cold and a terrible nights sleep.

Squatted the bar, 125 x 10, then 215 x 3, 250 x 3, and finally 280 x 6. All pretty nice reps.

Next, speed deads - 10 x 1 on the minute of 265 from a deficit. Moved nicely. Gotta keep hip position consistent, sometimes they are higher than others, feel the difference in lower back. I think I need to tend towards lower.

5 x 5 squats at 225 were no ptoblem. Did them with an especially high bar, which was good. Hit 7 on the last set.

Finally, 3 sets of Hanging leg raises and back extensions, cause why not.

Hope I feel better tomorrow. And FUCK UP my bench workout.

Timeline

Did some light stretching today. Feel like shit, but hopefully I'll heal up nicely and be ready to go tomorrow.

Also, decided to start a photo timeline, to keep track of my size, body fat, and just generally how I look. Found this old picture of me, right before I started powerlifting exclusively - I was doing some shitty 5/3/1and crossfit hybrid at this point.

December 2010 (age 18)

Weight: 170 lbs.

Squat: 195

Bench:175

Deadlift: 245

Strict Press: 125

And here is now...

September 2012 (age 20)

Weight: 195 lbs

Squat: 315

Bench: 210

Deadlift: 405

Strict Press: 160

Obviously a big difference. Not exactly the lean-and-huge master, but I'm a lot bigger hahaha and not too fat. I've been meaning to post physique pictures on here, and now That I've finally done it I'm going to make sure to keep it up. It will be fun to look back over the years and see the way my physique has changed. I'm going to try and post one at LEAST once every six months, or whenever I feel like it. But the rule is, no "special" light hahaha. I'm gonna try to just get a good, honest shot, and keep updating every few months. Hopefully I will keep getting bigger and leaner. Hopefully. We will see. 

Two more PR's

Had a really good day today. Despite feeling tired and beat up, I went in, took a longgg time warming up, foam rolling, stretching. Then I started squatting. Hit the bar for a couple sets, then 135 x 10, then 225 x 5. Jumped straight to 275 and hit it for a solid single - didn't feel amazing, but good, So I jumped right to 295. A little tougher than Ideal, but good. Went to 305, and again not easy, but solid. I went up to 315, knowing I could hit it, and that if I missed it it was no biggie and almost entirely mental. Psyched up like crazy, went for it and was about 6 inches from lockout when I got caught forward and couldn't push through. But I went for it again, psyching up. This rep was a little slower, more controlled and less smooth, but I managed to get it. That is a 20 lb PR with this new style, which is great. Next goal is to try and get comfortable with 315. Once I can hit it on pretty much any day, good or bad, I'll be that much closer to where I was with the other style.

Afterwards I felt good and decided to strict press heavy. pressed a random bar with like 75 lbs on it to warm up, then did 135 x 3, 135 x 1, 155 x 1 which FLEW up, and then hit 160. Nicee pr, it wasn't even that slow - so I went up to 165. Got it up over my head and was soooo close to locking it out, fighting for like 5 seconds, but couldn't quite get it. Still, a PR is nice, especially considering I just pressed a ton yesterday.

SO, feeling great, getting strong. Timeee and food. That's all I need.

Fun Press Day

Today was fun, and a sick workout.

Started with 10 x 3 bench at 180. Hit the bar for a few sets, then 95 x 10, then 135 for 7 or 8, then straight to 180. Didn't feel amazingly tight at first, but I settled into the groove - the weight was moving really nice, without much trouble. For the first few sets, I tried to make myself take more rest, so that I would explode the weight up. But by the time I finished set 7, I knew I could kill the last three, So I just went hard and fast, doing the last 3 sets in sub-3 minutes - and even then, I still felt like I had a rep in the tank. Really dominated it, felt way better than last week.

Next was strict press. Hit 105 x 5, then 120 x 5, Then psyched up and hit 135 x 8, which is sick. I even tried for a 9th.... didn't happen haha. But 8 is anew pr, and considering the pressing volume I did beforehand, that's pretty sick. Dropped back to 120 for max paused reps, then the same at 105.

Next, did 3 x 12 reps of horizontal pulls with the Lat pulldown, with about 150. These felt awesome.

Next, 10 x 12 pushups on the minute was HARD. Gonna keep at it.

Finally, 3 x 12 Lat pulldown with 180.

So, great workout. Had fun, worked hard. Gettin stronger.

Squat Power

Today was a very good squat day. I was a little rushed because I had to be out of the gym quick, but overall it still went really well.

Started with 10 x 3 squat at 265. warmed up with the bar, 125, then 205, then went straight to 265. This was good - I kind of rushed, and my form wasn't AMAZING (probably related, but I don't want to make excuses). Either way, I made it through, none of the reps were horrible, and I even got 4 reps on the 10th set.

Next, dropped to 145. Hit that for 5 front squats, then 165 x 5, then 185 by 7. Then I jumped up to 205 and hit this for 2 singles - easy, but the second one was a littleeee sloppy, cause I rushed it. Still, I knew I had more, so I went up to 215 and hit that for my third single. I was a little dizzy under the weight, so I can't be sure how good it was, but I couldn't feel my chest drop or much struggle on the way up - so I think it was good.

Finally, dropped it to the ground - pulled 185 x 2 singles, then 265 x 2 singles, then 315 x 1 and finally 325 x 1, both with a flat nice back. 325 was tough, but nice. I decided to call it after only one, just to leave some in the tank. Next week, I'll try and hit 325 for 2 or 3 singles if I feel strong.

Had to skip core stuff today because of the time crunch. Overall it was a great workout though. I'm pumped for tomorrow. Lets keep at it.

PR day

Today was a great upper body workout. Despite being especially stiff this morning, I fucked my workout UP, and ended up hitting 4 PR's in upper body work.

First was 5/3/1 bench. Approached this calmly and confidently. Hit the bar for a few sets, then 95 x 10, then to my work sets - 135 x 5, 160 x 5, and finally, 180 x 7, a new PR at that weight. 7 was actually incredibly easy, and I went for 8, just BARELY missing the lockout - it sucks to miss, but still 7 reps is a PR, and that number 8 was RIGHT there, So I'm not bummed.

Next, went down to 160 and did some paused reps. I really tried to emphasize the pause on these, and played around with trying to hold the bar barely touching my chest VS. letting it sink into my chest a little. I think I prefer the latter, at least at these lighter weights. Anyways, did a set of 3, 4, and 3 of these. Then I dropped to 135, rested, psyched up, and hit it for one set to failure - and CRUSHED the number I got last cycle (14) with 20 reps. Not only is this 6 reps more than last time I did this, but it was a 3 rep PR as well. And all of the reps were very nice, except 20, where my shoulder got a bit loose while I was pushing to lock it out. So that was PR #2 of the day.

Next were Kroc rows. I used the hundreds today, and actually blended the grips, pulling it for 15 (kipped) reps with my palm facing in, and then finishing with 10 reps with the weight at a 45 degree angle, which reduces range of motion and lets me really hammer my back into submission. Gonna keep playing with this, I like this way the best so far out of all the new stuff I've been trying with these.

Next were overhead presses. I did NOT feel great warming up, and was a little nervous because of my weird shoulder, but I actually did great at these today. After hitting 135 x 2, I jumped straight to 150, not confident I would make it... and I crushed it. I then hit that weight for 4 more singles, without much rest at all ( I would say 2 mins or less). Then I took the weight up to 155, rested, psyched up, and CRUSHED that, even tried for a double (which was stupid, but hey why not). That ties my PR (#3 for the day), which I would say is pretty damn good after all that benching AND 5 singles at 96% or so.

Finally, ended with three sets of neutral grip pullups. Got 8 on the first set, which ties my dead-hang PR (#4) although technically I got 9 last time - I just kipped a little on the last rep. Either way, happy with 8 nice reps. Got 5 on the second set, and then 2 on the third. I was pretty fucking tired.

The greatest back of all time. Dorian Yates. Incredible. 

Anyways, great day. Excited to cheat and get some sugar back in my body. Feeling strong, having fun, eating well - lets keep it all up.

Squat-splosion

Today I believe was the beginning of the strength explosion. As I predicted (and hoped), my body is starting to adapt to the new kind of squat, and my strength is starting to expand faster than the progression, which is amazing.

Started with 5/3/1 squats. Hit the bar for some reps, then 125, then went straight to 205, my first working weight. Hit that for 5, then 235 for 5, then went to 265. I crushed that weight, hitting it for 9 reps. The last rep or two were a little bit sloppy - rep 8 and maybe even 7 my chest dipped a bit, and rep 9 my knees came in a tad as I fought my way up. Even so, 9 reps is really nice. I'm going to try and call my sets a little earlier the next few weeks, at technical failure, because today I definitely pushed a rep or so further than I needed to. Still, compared to the 255 x 6 and the 270 x 5 I got last cycle, 265 x 9 is great.

Next were speed deadlifts - 12 x 1 at 245 from a deficit. I fucked these up today. They were flying up. I think the heavy work I've been doing on thursdays is really helping my speed work move quickly. If I keep pushing heavy on thurs, and the speed work continues to feel this great, I think I will deadlift a LOT come december. Very exciting.

Max Aita is the man

Finally, hit a 5 x 5 with 225 today, and crushed it. Minus one or two sloppy reps, this was no problem at all. I took little rest between sets (I'd say around 2 mins) and felt great. I'm really starting to get the feel for the movement, it's starting to feel much more natural, and I'm moving the weight at a nice speed where it feels smooth without being so fast that I lose control or tension.

Ended with 3 supersets of hollow rocks and back extensions.

Great day today. Unfortunately, I tweaked my shoulder yesterday trying to klokov press 140 (got 135 for 2 singles). It's still a little achey, but I don't think it's a serious injury, and it should be better soon I hope. But aside from that, things are going awesome. My legs are starting to seriously adapt, and with some luck, and a LOT of food and hard work, In a few months time I will be bigger and stronger than I was before I switched my squat style, and I'll be doing my reps with a smooth full range of motion. Very cool.